Sony and Marvel Studios are in the early casting stage for the MCU Spider-Man. 19-year-old Singer Zendaya has landed the role of Michelle, according to Deadline.
Michelle could possibly be Michelle Gonzales from the comics:
Michele Gonzales is a supporting character in Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man series. She first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #592 as the sister of Vin Gonzales, who went to represent her brother in court. Later she becomes Peter Parker’s roommate and a potential love interest. She is a criminal defense lawyer and is known for her volcanic temper. She is a student of Muay Thai and Tae Bo Kickboxing and also has a shotgun in her bedroom. (Source: Wikipedia)
Zendaya has some glamour to her, she could be the new Mary Jane. Anything is possible at this point, rumors are buzzing that Ice Cube could be the next J. Jonah Jameson.
No official announcement has been made by Marvel or Sony.
Tom Holland will make his first appearance as Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War on May 6.
Spider-Man is directed by Jon Watts, and stars Holland, Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, and now Zendaya.
This episode served as a means to highlights the major shortcomings The Walking Dead still struggles with. Sure, it wasn’t 40 minutes of forest walking, but a lot of this episode was trying to string together a lot of ideas and a big fight scene into an episode that ultimately didn’t deliver anything new or exciting.
One of the problems with having such a large, constantly revolving cast is that many characters are frequently sidelined. “Not Tomorrow Yet” tried to bring as many people back up to the foreground as possible, but none of them were all that interesting. Tobin is now Carol’s love interest, which might be more interesting if we weren’t coming off the reveal of Rick & Michonne’s pairing up. Poor Tara has gone from being one of the more passionate leading women to a moping girlfriend to Denise. Aaron contradicts himself with the two lines of dialogue that he has, and I’d almost completely forgotten who Heath was. The only somewhat redeemable side characters were Gabriel – who got an okay speech & a bible verse kill shot – and Jesus (though his “combat clothes” change made him look like Sheik from Legend of Zelda).
Even The Walking Dead’s main characters weren’t as gripping this week. Glenn’s speech about death made next to no sense, and his weeping over killing a Savior seemed like a whole new character, especially as he then killed Heath’s Savior. Abraham leaving Rosita makes some sense, but since we don’t see how that plays into his courtship of Sasha, it feels excessive for this episode. Maggie’s decision to go along with the raid also makes sense, based on her character, as does Rick’s choice to let her go along. But Rick’s also very protective of his people, particularly Judith, so letting Maggie put her own child at risk makes less sense. Clearly, the intention was for Maggie and Carol to get themselves captured, but the way it happened just felt too obvious.
The primary focus of this episode was Carol, who’s normally one of my favorite characters, but this week it was hard to say who Carol is. Carol’s juggling three kinds of characters all at once, and while Melissa McBride does a good job with what’s given to her, there’s not enough tie-in between each of her personas for them to seem sensible. Is she the guilt-ridden killer that covers for Morgan’s protection of the Wolf character? Is she the kind house wife that bakes cookies? Or the cold killer that drove Sam to be as screwed up as he was before it got him killed?
The action scene at the end was gripping and bloody, as the Alexandrians make their first strike against the Saviors. And while the capture of Maggie & Carol did seem too obvious, the twist of Rick’s new walkie friend was a good cliffhanger. But the fact it took that long to get invested in the episode is downright wasteful. Hopefully picking up off that beat will give next week’s episode a better springboard, but The Walking Dead definitely needs to straighten out all its characters before the bloody battles feel worth fighting.
Last week’s Ghostbusters reboot trailer damn near melted the internet, stoking the fanboy fire unlike anything that has ever come along in these modern days of social media outrage. The trailer has a staggering 345,000 plus dislikes on YouTube. Paul Feig’s female remake of the 1984 classic has drawn the ire of angry, bitter little boys claiming “I’m not being sexist but…” right before crying into the abyss that this new film is “raping their childhood” and “this is just contrived feminist agenda.” There’s plenty of vitriolic, garbage comments like this one out there:
“Yes, I dislike this move because it’s an all female cast. And it has nothing to do with being sexist. This is just ruining an iconic story/movie.”
There are some legitimate complaints about the film scattered here and there, namely the CGI and the Leslie Jones character (more on that later). Those are perfectly fine, of course. But if these were the only complaints circulating, the trailer wouldn’t have an unprecedented number of dislikes and a comment section full of hateful bile. Consider the Batman v Superman trailers, which are polarizing to say the least. The highest number of dislikes for any one of those trailers is around 14,000. The hatred toward Ghostbusters, after one trailer, is not only unjustified and primarily gender driven, it’s an example of how disgusting little boys who are afraid of losing sight of their childhood can be when they are allowed to spew their insecurities online anonymously.
Angry fanboys, stop complaining about the all-female cast ruining your childhood. Despite what you might think in your warped little brain, not all copies of Ivan Reitman’s original film are being collected and burned in a fire on this film’s opening night. It isn’t being taken off streaming services or television. You can still watch the original Ghostbusters as often as you’d like. Nobody is invading your nostalgic, juvenile memory banks and erasing your memory of the original film. Two things can exist at the same time in the universe. If you don’t like it, don’t see it. Keep your inner teenage angst off the comment sections. Grow up.
Maybe you should stop and think about the fact that your childhood exists in your memory, it is not a fluid, present-day ideology that shapes the rest of your life. Here’s a weird thought: maybe this new Ghostbusters film will inspire an entirely new generation of female fans, young girls who can identify with these characters and who will have their own childhoods shaped by this reboot. Yes, contrary to the thoughts in your narrow mind, not everything is about your childhood. There are new movie fans each and every day, and some of them are even icky girls with cooties. Crazy, isn’t it? Who knows, maybe this new film will turn some of these young girls into women who appreciate and embrace their own geek culture. Maybe they’ll create their own club where dumb boys aren’t allowed. Let’s hope they do.
Let’s think about the RoboCop remake. Remember that one? The trailer on YouTube looked like nothing more than a tired, listless, pointless remake of a seminal 80s science fiction masterpiece. And to boot, the hard R rating was gone in lieu of a cash-grabbing PG-13. That trailer has just over 1,000 dislikes on YouTube. It came and went, and was mostly forgotten. And believe it or not, I’ve actually seen the original film a couple of times since this reboot came out, and I still enjoy it! What a crazy notion. The hate for this senseless reboot was lukewarm, yet here was a film as iconic (even more iconic in some circles) than Ghostbusters. Why didn’t all these little boys in their mother’s basement burn the first trailer to the ground? Well, because RoboCop was still a boy in the movie. Switch out Joel Kinneman with, say, Rose Byrne, and we would have all heard the collective sound of grown ass men’s heads exploding.
You can justify your sexist comments all you want by beginning them with “this isn’t sexist, but…” That doesn’t change the fact that whatever you’re about to say is entirely motivated by the fact you’re being inherently sexist. And while we’re at it, when did the original Ghostbusters become an untouchable classic? Remakes, reboots, and long-gap sequels are more common these days than original films. The original Ghostbusters is a good film, one I do enjoy and yes, one that shaped a great deal of my own childhood. It’s right up there with The Never Ending Story and The Goonies as movies I wore out watching over and over. I love it. But is it some sort of masterpiece? No. It’s a fun, effects-heavy action comedy with some great icons of the 80s. But I’m not angry that this new Ghostbusters has swapped all the gender roles, because somewhere between 1984 and the present I grew up. I matured into an adult with the ability to separate things in my brain, and I came to understand – as most actual adults do – that women have enough of an uphill battle in society in a number of different areas that them getting their own version of a pop culture classic is the least we can do. Literally. The least.
All you angry fanboys don’t have an opinion about the fact women make less doing the same job in our work force. You don’t think there is a rape culture all over college campuses and beyond, probably because you are part of it. You just know that these yucky girls are hurting your sensitive little feelings. And I guarantee that, of all the 350,000 of you who took the time to click the dislike button on the trailer, less than 20% of you will take the same amount of time to vote in November to keep a raving fascist lunatic out of the White House. Because those are real issues you know nothing about. Because they have nothing to do with a movie you really liked when you were a little boy. Besides, you’d probably have to have your mom give you a ride to go vote in November, and we all know women can’t drive.
Some of you have your head in the right spot when you complain about Leslie Jones’s character in the trailer, who seems to be playing up racial stereotypes. But complaining she isn’t a scientist? Give me a break. Even Jones herself has defended the character, all thirty second we saw from the first trailer:
Why can't a regular person be a ghostbuster. Im confused. And why can't i be the one who plays them i am a performer. Just go see the movie!
Sure, Jones is being paid millions of dollars (probably less than what a man would be paid for the same role in 2016) to support her film, but if she’s okay with the interpretation of her character that’s fine with me.
There are legitimate complaints to be had about this Ghostbusters trailer, but be realistic here. The CGI may look a little shoddy, but remember early trailers sometimes don’t have refined CGI (see: BvS). Jones could turn out to be problematic, but let’s wait and see. Perhaps you don’t think it looks very funny, or good, or whatever. I wasn’t blown away really. But did I take the time to dislike the trailer on YouTube? No, for a number of reasons. First of all, this is Paul Feig, and after Spy, Bridesmaids, and even a larger portion of The Heat, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Feig knows how to allow women to flex their comedic muscles. I also wouldn’t take the time to click the dislike button because I’m secure in my masculinity. I don’t feel threatened by these girls sneaking into the boy’s club.
And if there were nothing but legitimate complaints about the film, the dislike button wouldn’t be filling up at a record pace. It would have a few thousand dislikes and comments. The Doomsday CGI in BvS was obviously unrefined, but the dislikes didn’t come close to Ghostbusters. No, this is about gender, no matter how you want to frame your trash sexist opinion. Complain about the actual film all you want if you don’t think it looks good, but setting your sights on the fact these Ghostbusters are women? Save that for your tree house club.
The Walking Dead went head hunting last night and if you haven’t watched Not Tomorrow Yet, there will be spoilers.
Carol and Maggie stay and watch outside the facility of the Saviors while Rick and the Alexandrian’s head in to kill them. But not everything goes according to the plan and a gunfight breaks out between the two groups.
Rick puts together a plan that includes giving the Saviors the head of Gregory, the leader of the Hilltop. Rick doesn’t actually kill Gregory. Instead, the people of Alexandria look for a zombie that looks like Gregory. The group finds three heads and Rick has an interesting exchange with Andy as he punches one of the zombie heads to make it look more like Gregory.
EW spoke with executive producer and episode director Greg Nicotero about the three zombie heads and he a very funny story and a surprise cameo.
“It’s kind of funny because a lot of people ask me how many cameos I do in the show as a walker. The Gregory head is actually a cast of my head. When Xander Berkeley was cast as Gregory, we didn’t have enough time to get him to Los Angeles to do a head cast and make a dummy head of him, so I sent photos of him and I said, “Here’s a picture of the actor. Let’s see what we have in stock that looks as close to Xander as it can be. “It ended up being a mold of my head. So that head that he picks up is actually a fake head of me!” said Nicotero.
“One of the other heads, I don’t know if I’m going to get in trouble if I say this, was Johnny Depp. I think we had sculpted an emaciated version of a dummy head for something and we used Johnny Depp’s head as a basis just for a clay sculpt. I can’t remember who the third one is, but I’m in good company. Norman kept saying he wanted the heads when we were done shooting. I said we’ve got to wait until the picture is logged. I think one of the funniest moments we’ve shot in the season is when the Savior sticks his hand inside the head and puppeteers it to start talking. I laughed so hard when we shot that scene,” said Nicotero.
Did you notice Johnny Depp when you were watching the show live?
It looks like Nicotero was inspired by Depp’s James ‘Whitey’ Bulger in Black Mass.
Star Wars fans still love the best part of the prequels, Darth Maul. Production company T7pro, based out of Germany released a 17-minute fan film DARTH MAUL: Apprentice on Saturday, the short has 900,000 views as of Monday morning and growing.
We worked incredibly hard on this film for almost two years! We always felt that Darth Maul should have had more screen time. So we wanted to create a film just for him with the best lightsaber fights we could do! This is not based on any books, comics, etc. – T7pro
DARTH MAUL: Apprentice is written and directed by Shawn Bu. The film stars Ben Schamma as Darth Maul, Mathis Landwehr, Svenja Jung, Eskindir, Maja Felicitas, Paul Cless, Sefa Demirbas, Dirk Chwialkowsky, Stina Amedick, Khoa Huyhn, and Lee Hua.
The film was shot on Shot on RED Dragon, RED Epic, Blackmagic 4K, Blackmagic URSA and DJI Phantom 3 which means you can watch DARTH MAUL: Apprentice in 4K on Youtube.
Will Bu’s hard work influence Disney and Lucasfilm to produce a Darth Maul solo adventure?
This past Thursday, Kendrick Lamar surprised fans by releasing an eight-track project titled untitled unmastered that consists of one song that was recorded this year and seven demo tracks that were made at recording sessions for the album To Pimp a Butterfly. The project shows early traces of what would later become one of the greatest rap albums of all time while also giving the listener a look into the creative process of the Compton-born rapper. From a lyrical standpoint, the themes of TPAB are present with lyrics about police brutality, inequality between race and class, and what Kendrick himself said to be the overall message, leadership. The similarities between the demos and finished album also can be found in the music and instrumentals. What I found to be the most obvious and blatant similarity was the use of a jazz saxophone (“untitled 02” and “untitled 05” compared to TPAB songs such as “u” and “For Free?”) and the use of funk filled synthesizers (“untitled 08” compared to TPAB song “Wesley’s Theory”). Kendrick released the project to show what went into the creation of such an amazing and thorough project as TPAB as well as to unveil details about his creative process as an artist. What might be the most revealing part of untitled unmastered is the date of each project. The seven songs that were created before the release of TPAB range from the dates of May 28, 2013 to August 29, 2014. Kendrick Lamar spent more than a full year of toying around with song ideas and recordings until settling on the 16 songs that are featured on TPAB. This release is an important milestone for Kendrick not because of the quality or sound of the tracks, but because it is the first time that he is sharing his creative process with us. If audiences overlook everything that I wrote above, than there is at least one thing that they should check out: the date next to “untitled 07” says 2014-2016. Could this possibly be a new demo for a new project?
You can check out Kendrick’s performance of what would become “untitled 03” during a 2014 episode of The Colbert Report here.
On March 25, The DC Cinematic Universe is set to take a giant leap forward with the release of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Of course, Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) will all play significant roles in the film. We now know that we will also get a glimpse at Aquaman (Jason Moma), Flash (Ezra Miller), and Cyborg (Ray Fisher). However, one member of the Justice League is missing. We still don’t know who’s playing Green Lantern. Well, we might have our answer.
Let me introduce you to Dan Amboyer who some may know as Thad from the tv show Younger. He is cast in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice but is listed as “Drone Pilot” (odd don’t you think). The only pilot of significance that I’m aware in the DC universe is Hal Jordan. Check out this photo from Dan Amboyer’s Instagram account. He took it while filming Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. I went ahead and placed it next to a picture of Hal Jordan.
Looks very similar to me. Plus we have this interview that Dan did with the website PopSugar that certainly opened my eyes.
POPSUGAR: So, let’s talk about Batman v Superman.
Dan Amboyer: Oh, gosh. OK.
PS: I don’t know how much you can give away about this, but what kind of scenes did you film?
DA: Um, I don’t know what I can say that’s not spoilery. So, let’s just say, I filmed good ones.
PS: Were you a fan of comics growing up?
DA: That was more my brother’s thing. I had an appreciation from the outside, but I never got deep into it. But I’ve become more interested in it and it’s strange because I have started to audition for more of that stuff. I auditioned to play Superman in Man of Steel originally and I auditioned for The Flash. I’ve constantly been coming back to these characters.
PS: There are a lot of superhero cameos in this movie, from Doomsday to Wonder Woman; do you know if there’s going to be any other superheroes?
DA: It’s hard for me to keep up with what’s officially been announced, but yes, there are some other possibilities.
PS: Now, there’s been a lot of speculation, but are you able to tell me more about your character?
DA: I can’t. They told me I couldn’t say anything.
PS: Hasn’t a name been released though?
DA: Oh, yes. It does appear, but it’s kind of an undercover thing. The name appears on me at one point.
PS: Well, I was going to ask what’s your favorite color, but maybe I shouldn’t go there.
DA: No? Blue. Definitely blue, but I appreciate nature as well and everything green.
Doesn’t it strike you as weird that someone who’s cast as “Drone Pilot” can’t talk about his role? Besides does a drone even need a “pilot”?I’ve heard of drone operators, but the term pilot seems way out of place. If that wasn’t enough evidence, then let me reintroduce you to actress Christina Wren.
Christina Wren plays Major Carrie Farris both in Man Of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. Why should you care about this casting? Carrie Farris is strikingly similar to Carol Farris, who’s best known as Hal Jordan’s love interest and turns into the superhero, Star Sapphire. Why would you cast that character if you weren’t planning on introducing her boyfriend?
The producer Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice Charles Roven when asked about Green Lantern had this to say.
“Green Lantern would probably make his debut in Justice League: Part Two. Assuming plans don’t change, that is. “Every beat of the movie is not yet worked out. So there’s the possibility that he may or may not be in Justice League 2,” he said. “For now, we felt that we were introducing enough characters that the best possible place we could put Green Lantern is some introduction in Justice League 2, or barring that, a movie after.”
Notice how the producer is careful to mention Green Lantern and not once mentions the name Hal Jordan. We certainly could see a scenario where Hal Jordan is introduced in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and is part of the buildup that leads to the Green Lantern Corps film in 2020.
In one of the more unusual casting rumors that have hit the Internet lately, there is a rumor swimming around that Ice Cube, former N.W.A. member and star of the Ride Along and Friday film franchises, is being considered to play Spider-Man boss/comic relief J. Jonah Jameson (All HipHop).
Yes, almost every Spider-Man fan that even bothers to comment on a story like this wants them to bring J.K. Simmons back as J. Jonah. Bringing back the same actor to play the same character in an entirely different version of the series would be unusual, but J.J. is an integral part of the Spider-Man mythos which was completely skipped in the last two films, dismissed with one line as Aunt May complains about “that Mr. Jameson” being cheap. He was never shown, so no actor was cast.
It is unlikely that Jameson will be appearing in Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man’s first appearance on the Avengers’ side of the MCU, as Spidey will be part of a large cast of superheroes. But Sony and Marvel are teaming up for more solo Spidey adventures with the cast of The Avengers (something that fans have been clamoring for online for a while) and J.K. did say in an interview that he would be open to returning as J.J. (something he is already doing on the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series). So, never say that Hollywood doesn’t listen to their fans…sometimes.
“Sometimes!”
Getting back to Ice Cube, I can’t help but think about how some people will respond to this news, complaining about changing the ethnicity of a character. I have absolutely no problem with that, as I thought that Laurence Fishburne did an incredible job playing Perry White in Man of Steel. I hated Fant4stic like most people, but Michael B. Jordan played Johnny Storm very well. My only problem with this kind of thing is if the character’s backstory involves them coming from another country. Like when they were going to make Shredder white in the last TMNT movie, something that they wisely fixed with a series of poorly-edited, laughably shoe-horned reshoots that erased the need for an “Eric Sachs” with an Asian “Oroku Saki”. Shredder comes from Japan. Perry White and Johnny Storm are Americans and can be any race because the story doesn’t center around their home country.
But Laurence Fishburne and Michael B. Jordan are great actors. Ice Cube is not. He is a decent writer, having written a few of his Friday films, not to mention many N.W.A. songs back in the day. He wisely sticks to comedies because he plays a thousand variations on himself….but J. Jonah Jameson is a comedic character. Cube can definitely play a funny irritated guy. I can see him sticking a cigar in his mouth and barking orders around the Daily Bugle. And the character of Jameson was always sort of a bigot, starting back in the comics. Back in the 60’s, Jameson hated teenagers because they were all hippies protesting the Vietnam war. He had a black editor named Robbie Robertson and didn’t seem to have much of a problem with him. Would making Jameson black put a modern spin on this bigoted character and his relationship with Peter Parker? Would Sony/Marvel make Ice Cube’s Jameson racist to explain why he doesn’t like Peter, since the character has always been a bigot, but no longer has the Vietnam-era context?
True, this is just a casting rumor for the moment, but I hope they pick a better actor (like J.K. Simmons). What do you think? Who should play J.J. Jameson in the new Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man films? Are you with me on Team J.K.? Do you think the Ice Cube rumor is “just kidding”? Comment below.
“Bye. Felicia…Hardy! The Black Cat! See what I did there?”
In an announcement that seemed to come out of nowhere, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has left his Sandman project at New Line Cinema. The reason given for his departure was due to a disagreement with the studio. This news was shocking because it came one day after New Line announced Eric Hesserier was hired to write the DC Comic Adaptation.
The Sandman was set up at Warner Brother in 2013 after the success of the Dark Knight. Gordon-Levitt was to produce along with screenwriter David Goyer. Joseph Gordon-Levitt took to social media late today to explain what happened.
Now with Joseph Gordon-Levitt dropping out, it’s anyone’s guess as to who you will step in. Who would you want to play Sandman?
Venture Bros. opens with a fight between Dr. Mrs. The Monarch and The Monarch/Blue Morpho. It’s something audiences saw coming way back from the beginning of the season. The Monarch’s identity crisis with discovering the truth about his father, and all the subsequent lies he’s telling the Missus by keeping it from her slowly build into a relationship crisis. It’s all just a catastrophe waiting to happen.
Despite watching The Monarch self-destruct, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch is really coming into her own. The woman doesn’t take any crap. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch starts her own storyline with her role in The Guild. She’s got her own villain outfit, her own limo, and spends all her time with fellow career-villains. The scenes with her and Battle Axe, while short-lived, work incredibly well. The villain to hero ratio, which includes the strange anti-heroes, seems incredibly disproportionate in the world of Venture Bros. It would be interesting to see Dr. Mrs. The Monarch rise up in The Guild. But then what would her name be? This woman has always been known as a variation on Dr. Girlfriend, meaning a person in relation to another person. She’s got the stuff to take on her own super villain storyline, and hopefully she will.
Now this will probably come into fruition when The Monarch’s Blue Morpho ploy blows up in his face. At this point, everyone thinks The Blue Morpho is actually Dr. Venture. The man is too practical for the Batman strategy. Villains are targeting Dr. Venture quite a lot lately, so really no one would blame him for the costumed alter ego. The man is more concerned with the value of his company first, as without it he won’t get to continue his R&D the basement.
Brock and Warriana continue their romance, or I should say not-typical romance, in this episode. Warriana is clearly the dominant one in the relationship, and surprisingly Brock doesn’t see his masculinity threatened. Although it’s likely the two of them will have a conflict of interest, because of their respective bosses.
This episode chock full of great female characters, good job Venture Bros.
The similarities between the demos and finished album also can be found in the music and instrumentals. What I found to be the most obvious and blatant similarity was the use of a jazz saxophone (“untitled 02” and “untitled 05” compared to TPAB songs such as “u” and “For Free?”) and the use of funk filled synthesizers (“untitled 08” compared to TPAB song “Wesley’s Theory”). Kendrick released the project to show what went into the creation of such an amazing and thorough project as TPAB as well as to unveil details about his creative process as an artist. What might be the most revealing part of untitled unmastered is the date of each project. The seven songs that were created before the release of TPAB range from the dates of May 28, 2013 to August 29, 2014. Kendrick Lamar spent more than a full year of toying around with song ideas and recordings until settling on the 16 songs that are featured on TPAB. This release is an important milestone for Kendrick not because of the quality or sound of the tracks, but because it is the first time that he is sharing his creative process with us. If audiences overlook everything that I wrote above, than there is at least one thing that they should check out: the date next to “untitled 07” says 2014-2016. Could this possibly be a new demo for a new project?
