Flash Thompson is a lot of things. Soldier. Veteran. Double amputee. Host to a powerful alien symbiote. Guardians of the galaxy. Spider-Man’s biggest fan. But now, apart from his fellow guardians, he’s going solo for a brand new ongoing series in VENOM: SPACE KNIGHT #1! From creators Robbie Thompson and Ariel Olivetti comes a tale of action, adventure and alien intrigue. Now an ambassador of Earth and an Agent of the Cosmos – Flash Thompson is getting to be the one thing he always wanted. A BIG. DAMN. HERO. Strap in, hold on and blast off – you won’t want to miss the start of a brand-new adventure as Venom swashbuckles across the universe in VENOM: SPACE KNIGHT #1 this November!
VENOM: SPACE KNIGHT #1
Written by ROBBIE THOMPSON
Art & Cover by ARIEL OLIVETTI
Variant Covers by MIKE DEODATO And RON LIM
Action Figure Variant by JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
Hip-Hop Variant by MIKE CHOI
On-Sale – 11/25/15
AMC’s The Walking Dead Executive Producer, Greg Nicotero spoke with the Sydney Morning Herald about if the zombie series needs to have a feature length film at some point.
“People go, are you going to do a Walking Dead movie? We do a movie every f—ing week. There’s no reason to try to truncate the story that we’re telling into two hours. We’ve had 83 hours to tell this fascinating story. It’s a world rich with options,” said Nicotero.
Nicotero also talked about how he treats each episode as a feature length film.
“I wanted to really aim high visually and I wanted the episode to feel bigger than it had ever felt before, so in the design of some of the sequences, I designed them as if we were shooting a $100 million movie,” said Nicotero.
With Nicotero’s next statement, it’s a good and bad thing that Scott M. Gimple respects the source material. Robert Kirkman’s comic book has some brutal deaths of fan favorite characters.
“Thank God we have a show runner who respects the genre, understands the genre and respects the source material,” said Nicotero.
At season six, the television series is just over halfway through the source material and with each chapter of the book, Kirkman raises the stakes. If you’re a regular of the comic series, you know the next few seasons are going to be one insane rollercoaster ride. On January 13, 2016, the 150th issue of The Walking Dead will be out in your local comic book store.
This Sunday (Nov. 1), The Walking Dead will be a 90-minute episode that looks to focus on Morgan.
“It’s almost like a standalone film, and I believe it’s going to be shown as a 90-minute special. It’s going to be an intense ride. It’s very much going to be in keeping with the mythology of ‘The Walking Dead.’ But is a very different kind of episode. Hopefully it’s one that the fans will like,” said Lennie James in an interview with HeyUGuys.com.
Suicide Squad director David Ayer and Executive Producer Charles Roven spoke with Empire about how the film fits in the DC Universe and the difference in this film compared to other comic book films.
“You know, all these movies are about defeating the evil alien robot from f*cking Planet X, before it destroys the world with its ticking clock. And who the f*ck cares? But you do this story about struggle and isolation and people who have been shit on that suddenly get thrown this lifeline… that’s not so bad… I like to think of this as the Comic Book Movie 2.0,” said Ayer.
Did Ayer just call out the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
“We’d just started shooting Batman v Superman, we were figuring out our path through the expanding DC Justice League universe. Then David Ayer came and pitched his take on Suicide Squad. It had this darkness and edge, while still tonally in the zone of what we’re trying to do with these movies. And it’s impossible that you could get a big tentpole picture from pitch to start of principal photography any faster than we did,” said Roven.
Suicide Squad is written and directed by Ayer, and stars Will Smith as Deadshot, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jared Leto as the Joker, Jai Courtney as Boomerang, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc, Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, and Ben Affleck as Batman.
Kimito gets invited to a tea party by Reiko but AIka is quick to pull him away and remind him of his duties for the commoner club and how Aika is still working on a commoner party that will make her more popular. As the tea party begins, minus Kimito, Reiko can’t stand hearing her guests talk about Kimito and Aiko hanging out so Reiko is…abrasive to one of them! Oh the melodramatic horror!
Reiko immediately feels depressed for her actions and wishes to could make amends. Wanting everything to be peaceful in the school, AIka permits Kimito to use the supplies and party idea to patch things up between Reiko and her classmates. Reiko is able to give everyone cell phones and everything is fine. Until Kimito reveals the party was originally Aika’s idea which leads to Reiko finding her and the two girls engaging in a wrestling match on Kimito’s bed and shouting how much they hate each other. Considering Reiko was originally upset about being a little curt with another classmate, this is an amusing development for her character. Reiko then decides to join the commoner club herself despite Aika’s protest.
The comedy gets into high gear as Reiko and Aika finally show just how much they can’t stand one another. So much for being ladies of exceptional birth and nobility. The commoner club now has four members and Kimito’s life is as always far from normal, but still it’s moments like which will keep the audience watching.
Shomin sample is simulcast streaming from Funimation.
Pom Klementieff has been cast as a key character in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The article states that Marvel conducted a wide search for its mystery part, which called for an Asian actress, and did several rounds of chemistry reads.
Who is this key character that Klementieff will play? Director James Gunn has admitted several times that he is a huge fan of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s reinvention of the Guardians of the Galaxy. The two characters that immediately jump out as possibilities are Moondragon and Mantis.
UPDATE: Deadline is reporting that Klementieff has been cast as Mantis.
Moondragon has a similar origin to Star-Lord:
Heather Douglas was born in Los Angeles, California, daughter of Arthur and Yvette Steckley Douglas. When Heather was still a girl, her father was driving her and her mother through the desert when they accidentally happened to see the spaceship of Thanos land; the space villain did not want any witnesses, so he destroyed their car. Heather was thrown clear and survived, but her parents were killed. (She would later discover that her father’s soul was bound into a new body, becoming Drax the Destroyer.) She was found by Thanos’ father, Mentor, who took her to his home world, Titan, to be raised by the monks of Shao-Lom.
From the monks, Heather develops her body to its full potential, becoming a formidable martial artist. They teach Heather various scientific disciplines such as chemistry and genetic engineering; but most significantly, they help Heather tap into her latent psionic powers, present within all humans. Heather is able to develop her mental powers far beyond even those of her teachers, so much so that she eventually mentally contacts a powerful entity called the Dragon of the Moon. The Dragon immediately tries to corrupt and take her over, but she fights back, driving the Dragon away. This fills her with pride and an overwhelming sense of superiority. To commemorate her victory, she takes the name Moondragon. Unknown to Heather, the Dragon subtly continues to influence her on a subconscious level. (Wikipedia)
The origin of Mantis is a bit more complicated:
Mantis is the half-Vietnamese, half-German daughter of Gustav Brandt—Libra—and was born in Huế, Vietnam. In her childhood, her father leaves her in Vietnam at the Temple of the alien Priests of Pama, a sect of the Kree. The Kree believe she might become the Celestial Madonna and mate with the eldest Cotati on Earth to become the mother of the Celestial Messiah, “the most important being in the universe.”
She excels in her martial arts studies, but when she reaches adulthood, she is mind-wiped and sent into the world to gain life experience. She becomes a prostitute and barmaid in a Vietnamese bar, where she meets the Swordsman. She helps him regain his self-respect and follows him when the former villain attempts to rejoin the Avengers. She became an Avengers ally when the Swordsman rejoined the Avengers, and she battled the Lion God alongside them. (Wikipedia)
After reading the report that, Marvel was looking for an Asian actress, Mantis sounds like an easy call. Gunn loves his aliens and Mantis is a fun character that could provide comic relief.
But…
The casting call that when out earlier this week for the film mentioned that they were looking for beautiful bald women. Moondragon is bald, arrogant, and the long lost daughter of Drax. This dynamic practically writes its self. Who doesn’t want to see Peter Quil try to sleep with Drax’s daughter?
What character do you want to see in Guardians of the Galaxy 2?
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is written and directed by James Gunn and stars Bradley Cooper, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Michael Rooker, Vin Diesel, and Zoe Saldana.
The show takes places after a tragic end to her short-lived Super hero career. The series follows Jessica as she rebuilds her personal life and career as a detective who seems to get cases involving people with super abilities in New York City. Marvel’s Jessica Jones premieres on November 20th on Netflix.
The series stars Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, David Tennant as Kilgrave, Mike Colter as Luke Cage, Rachael Taylor as Patricia “Trish” Walker, and Carrie-Anne Moss. Marvel’s Jessica Jones is Executive Produced by series Showrunner Melissa Rosenberg and Liz Friedman, along with Jeph Loeb, who also serves as Marvel’s Head of Television.
Marvel’s Jessica Jones is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios for Netflix. The series premieres on Netflix November 20.
The “All-New, All-Different” Marvel is set to reunite a classic creative team from the past – Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev. Together, Bendis and Maleev revolutionized Daredevil, crafting a unique and powerful run comparable only to Frank Miller’s seminal work. Now these two creators have set their sights on Marvel’s Armored Avenger.
Late last week, Marvel announced Bendis’ second ongoing title staring the character, International Iron Man. The series will see Tony Stark take his futurist philosophy and high-tech superheroics across the globe. Marvel plans to make this series truly international by translating and publishing the title in over 20 different countries.
I will inform you right now, if you haven’t seen Season 6, Episode 3 of The Walking Dead, this is a ginormous SPOILER ALLERT!!! And I can’t believe you have yet to watch it. Episode 3: Thank You is shocking and heart-wrenching.
I thought about writing this review Sunday night and posting it first thing Monday morning, but I needed a minute to pause and absorb what happened. I HAD to process. It was definitely an emotional night for me and I was stunned into silence.
I watch The Walking Dead every week, at pool hall called the Green Room, with a group of friends who are dedicated, and sometimes rabid, fans. I am an enthusiastic watcher. I L.O.V. E the damned show. The suspense, the gore, the action, it is right down my alley of things that excite the gore-monger within me. We have a Mystery Science Theater 3000 type of atmosphere where clever remarks are thrown into the mix as the show plays. We don’t speak over the dialogue; we just add our own special brand of commentary. RULE: If you don’t get that, then don’t come out to play when the “stories” are on. Shut up!
Sunday night started off in the usual fashion. We all gathered around the bar to watch the episode. As it began we sat in almost complete silence for the lead-in. The previous week was filled with Wolves and more “dead walking” than you could shake a stick at. The sheer size of the herd that had amassed was enough to take your breath away.
Rick’s plan to lead them away was a solid one until the damned Wolves showed up and started killing folks. Our ever steady Carol (Melissa McBride) kept her head and came up with a plan to infiltrate the aggressors. Morgan (Lennie James) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) took care of business and rallied the troops that were left to defend and keep their home. The stage was set for the more Walker wrangling and near-death experiences.
The group outside the wall runs toward the sound of the horn blaring from home. The second half of the herd had broken off and was now following the sound of the truck horn and were close on the hills of Rick, Michonne, Glenn, and the rest. As they fled they lost an Alexandrian fairly quickly after stopping to take a break and regroup. He wasn’t paying attention and a walker snuck up on him. The Alexandrian woman fell and injured herself and was now a burden.
We can see quite clearly that these sheltered people from Alexandria have no idea how to survive in the wilderness and will slow our core team down. What I hoped to see was that some among them would step up and show us what they were made of – besides Heath (Corey Hawkins), the new T-Dog/Tyreese replacement. Rick was right to tell his team to save them if they could, but to leave them if they couldn’t – Just Survive Somehow (Episode 2, Season 6).
The battered and bruised second team.
With two members of the team injured and another bitten, it did not look good for their survival. But Glenn, OH Glenn, our moral center since the demise of our beloved Hershel and Dale , is determined to leave NO ONE behind in spite of Rick’s words. His determination to keep his humanity in check and still do what he needs to do to survive is both admirable and frustrating. But we trust/trusted in Glenn to lead as many in the team he was leading back to safety. That’s what he does…or did.
I mean, we knew people were going to die. What they were attempting was a dangerous feat. But it needed to be done. If horde of Walkers broke through the truck barrier in that valet without warning there was no way the community could have survived. The walls of the Alexandria would have come tumbling down around them.
I am not naïve enough to think that everything was going to be OK during “Operation Steer the Dead Away from Alexandria,” but I was not expecting all that took place on Sunday. If you are a follower of the graphic novels you knew that Glenn is living on borrowed time. His death is imminent, but it’s not supposed to happen yet.
Glenn is a lynchpin in the group dynamic of the show. His strong character and his steadfast decency are needed. It keeps a healthy balance in the family. And really, are they going to play the Hershel/Tyreese switch-a-roo again? Or, are they attempting to distract us from the possibility of killing another Season 1 character? Maybe Daryl? We all know he is not tied to the comics, but his level of popularity is through the roof!
The thing about the character is also that his inherent goodness was bound to get him into trouble. He has often risked too much of his own safety in order to follow a “righteous” path and “save” people. In Episode 3 of Season 6 Glenn did not stray from his self. His need to save and rehabilitate those that we, as the audience, just don’t have the ability to make it on the outside is admirable if not just damned naïve!
When Glenn sets off with that coward Nicholas, we all knew it was a bad idea. But the closeted optimist in me wanted to believe that perhaps this would be a turning point for Nicholas. I hoped, for once, he would nut up and be the man who Glenn hoped he could be. But you could see it in his beady little eyes. He just didn’t have IT!
When that coward shot himself in the head and took Glenn down with him into a pool of the undead to be eaten alive, I was stunned into silence and disbelief. Actually, we were all stunned into silence.
Room for hope?
There are some conspiracy theorists out there who think that Glenn may be alive just yet. The last time we see him he is surrounded my sea of Walkers with blood gushing around him, but not out of his mouth. It appears that the dead are making a buffet out of our beloved Glenn. But did he fall under Nicholas? Was that actually Nicholas that the undead were feasting on? Did they lose his scent in all the gore? Like Michonne used her walkers or when the team covered themselves in dead goo to get through the city.
I mean, for those of you that watch The Talking Dead wrap-up on a regs, you know that when a major character dies on The Walking Dead, they are usually featured on that show afterwards. But there was no Steven Yeun on the show. Yvette Nicole Brown was there, but no Steven Yeun. Glenn was also noticeable left out of the post-mortem wrap-up of the characters that died during the show. The statement that Scott Gimple gave about Glenn’s fate was also VERY vague.
We just don’t really know what has happened. I will give it to the show’s writers though; they definitely got me on that one. I had to take a minute to myself to “get over” that one and I continue to need a pause. If our fair Glenn survives this, I will start my own Facebook page entitled: If Glenn Dies, We Riot Up In This BITCH!! – I’m already a member of the Daryl one.
The Horror Advocate makes cases for the under-appreciated cinematic treasures that lurk just beneath your bed. If your horror film is publicly derided, undeservedly ridiculed or generally forgotten, you may find yourself in need of… The Horror Advocate.
Resolved: Sometimes, being batshit crazy is a good thing and House on Haunted Hill (1999) is exactly that.
The original House on Haunted Hill is a seminal classic of 50s B-horror. William Castle was no stranger to movies by the time he directed the 1959 classic, having produced and directed over 40 movies prior. House on Haunted Hill, starring the legend, Vincent Price, represented Castle’s great foray into absurd film exhibition. Castle wanted to make the experience of watching a movie something visceral; a great magic trick that descended upon the audience and touched them in their seats. Literally. The movie’s plot about a millionaire inviting complete strangers to his mansion daring them to survive a night in his esteemed house and, in doing so, earning themselves $10,000, is just as well a dare to the audience. Castle knew that he’d have to up the ante during these screenings so he instituted a feature called, Emergo. When a skeleton arose from the events on screen, an actual fake skeleton would fly over the audience in the theater attached to a wire (3D eat your heart out). Castle continued these gimmicks in movies like The Tingler and 13 Ghosts using vibrating seats and hide-and-seek glasses features, respectively. Castle wasn’t just shameless in creating an immersive experience for his audience, he was downright crazy in his efforts.
The 1999 remake of House on Haunted Hill represents the best and worst of Castle’s intentions and is a deliciously crazy movie as a result.
As the first film produced by Dark Castle Entertainment (the production company put together by Robert Zemeckis to remake Castle’s films), House on Haunted Hill is very much aware of its source material and the spirit behind it. The movie closely follows the plot of the original, this time the winner’s purse is up to $1 million for surviving the night. The strangeness (and admittedly, a little bit of unbelievability) begins as we learn the house is the one who has written, signed and mailed the invitations to each of its guests. Taking up the reins from Vincent Price here is Geoffrey Rush starring as a Castle-esque showman named, get this, Stephen PRICE. Rush is wonderful in the role, relishing the chance to play a rendition of two horror legends. The rest of the cast is filled-out by millennial favorites such as Taye Diggs, Famke Janssen, Ali Larter, Peter Gallagher, Chris Kattan and Jeffrey Combs. Most are fairly aware of the movie they’re in and play each scene accordingly. Famke Janssen, in particular, vamps it up as the sensually seedy wife of Price.
The tongue-in-cheek humor is wonderfully undercut by the absolute absurdity of the horror that takes place. When House on Haunted Hill gets mean, it gets really, strangely mean. A flashback detailing why the house is now a legendarily haunted establishment shows the once mental institution in the middle of a takeover by the interred. The sequence is off-putting and brutal as nurses are killed with pencils and put through the tests that the patients once had to endure. This scene establishes techniques that have come to haunt the genre for years after, never having been employed better than here.
Director, William Malone uses quick cuts and jump cuts in action to show how these ghosts move with violent immediacy. The technique is jarring and useful in jump scares that are telegraphed but effective. The style matches the substance of the characters and ghosts within the story. This is an insane asylum that was run by a sadistic, insane, doctor who performed unspeakable acts. The story sets up the style used throughout which made me genuinely nervous whenever one of the house’s shifty inhabitants threatened their presence.
The strangeness doesn’t stop there as Price learns each of the evening’s attendees aren’t guests of his or his wife’s choosing and are actually descendants of those who once worked at the insane asylum. The house is taking revenge on those who had caused its demise.
The house and the spirits within are the protagonists and our lead group of characters are the antagonists, even if they’re innocent and merely paying for the “sins of the father”.
The movie and its success are responsible for a lot of what made studio horror nigh unbearable in the early 00’s. From the emo/hard rock soaked soundtracks (though I personally dig the hell out of Marilyn Manson’s version of “Sweet Dreams“) to the bloated CGI finales, House on Haunted Hill has a lot to answer for. And it’s not that House is a perfect movie either! The plot is ridiculous, the dialogue is atrocious and the movie ends in one of the biggest, ugliest CGI finales I’ve ever seen.
But it has charm. Movies in all genres are able to get away with a lot of plot holes and character discrepancies if its genuinely fun to watch. Go back and try to explain to me the geography of the T-Rex paddock scene in Jurassic Park. You can’t but no one cares because it’s so much fun. In horror, if you establish characters that you’d like to see offed in a situation that is unique and intense, we tend to let those things go as well. House on Haunted Hill is a love letter to William Castle’s exhibitionism. Instead of skeletons flying from the theater rafters, Geoffrey Rush lets a roller coaster literally fly off its rails. Sure, the trick may really only work once, but that charm and effort remain forever.
Captain America: Civil War comes out next summer and with filming wrapped on the project fans are anticipating the first trailer. If you went to D23, then you got a glimpse of the trailer and footage from the film. If you didn’t attend the convention then you watched a bootleg version of the footage with not sound.
Collider is reporting that the Captain America: Civil War trailer will appear before Star Wars: The Force Awakens. This move makes sense because The Force Awakes will be the most watched film of 2015-2016 and the fact Disney owns both properties makes business sense too.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be in theaters on December 18, 2015 Captain America: Civil War will be in theaters on May 6, 2016.
