Fans of classic rock are undoubtedly familiar with Joan Jett, the rockstar known for her hit songs such as “I Love Rock and Roll,” “Cherry Bomb,” and the eponymous “Bad Reputation.”
This documentary is about Jett’s career and music, following her from her beginnings in The Runaways through her career with the Blackhearts. It utilizes interviews, concert footage, and archive footage of her previous appearances to tell her story.
For fans of Jett’s music, this documentary has plenty to offer. The film very much focuses on her as a musician rather than as a person. As such, the soundtrack is absolutely pivotal in the movie, dictating both the movement of the story and the flow of the editing.
A scene from BAD REPUTATION, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
Since Jett’s music is exceptionally high energy and exciting, the film also exhibits those qualities. The movie is quite kinetic, with a rapid rhythm that makes it hard not to enjoy. Her songs are among the best rock songs of the 1980’s (if not all time), so that alone makes it a fun documentary to watch.
Jett’s charisma also shines through as a reason why the movie is so enjoyable to watch. It is interesting to see how her personality hasn’t changed since her big break. Her rockstar persona commands the screen and steals the spotlight every time it is given a chance. The other interviewees chosen for the film do an excellent job of grabbing attention, too.
The story of how Jett broke onto the scene is a compelling one. Her struggles make her a likable subject and make her a great role model for future generations of musicians. The movie contains some strong positive messaging, promoting both female empowerment and perseverance in pursuing one’s dreams.
Joan Jett in BAD REPUTATION, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.
That being said, the documentary is surprisingly shallow. Even though it’s great to hear the excellent music, that doesn’t make the film alone. There are some sequences in which the film begins to explore Jett’s personal life, but these were often cut short in favor of a musical segment. This makes the movie feel more typical, which is slightly disappointing since it is about such a groundbreaking artist.
Additionally, the film has a few weird inconsistencies in its execution, particularly in the cinematography. Some of the modern-day interviews were shot in color, whereas others were shot in black-and-white. These changes are mostly random, without any apparent justification or reasoning behind them.
Overall, Bad Reputation was an enjoyable documentary— but don’t expect it to be particularly insightful. However, the soundtrack makes it worth the price of admission by itself.
Bad Reputation is now in select theaters and on VOD.
Marvel Comics held its Next Big Thing Panel Saturday afternoon at the Javits Center during New York Comic Con with host Editor-in-Chief CB Cebulski and featuring Jason Aaron, Donny Cates, Gerry Duggan, Dan Slott, and Jim Zub.
About the panel: Monumental events are on the horizon for the Marvel Universe, and Editor-in-Chief CB Cebulski can’t wait to tell you all about them along with Associate Editor Sarah Brunstad! Industry luminaries Jason Aaron (Avengers, Conan the Barbarian), Donny Cates (Guardians of the Galaxy), Gerry Duggan (Infinity Wars), Dan Slott (Fantastic Four, Tony Stark: Iron Man), and Jim Zub (Champions) have incredible new stories in store for your favorite characters, and this is the place to hear about them first!
Play By Play of the Panel
Cebulski comes out first.
He says there’s gonna be cool announcements, fun little bits, and lots of cool artwork shared over the next hour.
He introduces everyone one-by-one: Aaron, Cates, Duggan, Slott, Zub, and then Brunstad. Executive Editor Tom Brevoort joined, too.
Cebulski says some of the heroes and villains will appear onscreen to ask the panelists questions, as well.
Avengers 700 is coming up.
Aaron says a lot of action is going on, with everything he’s building toward starting to explode.
There’s a talking Russian bear, Namor, and multiple surprises and returns.
With the debut of the next new Avenger.
Cates says, “Cosmic Ghost Rider.”
Brevoort thanks the fans for Avengers going to 2nd and 3rd and 4th printings.
Cebulski also asks Aaron about Thor.
He’s been on Thor for 6 years now.
The last issue was old King Thor vs. Old Man Phoenix (Wolverine with the power of the Phoenix)
There was also old man Dr. Doom, with all the powers of the prehistoric Avengers.
It’s 3 super old men beating the hell out of each other.
There will be a standalone young Thor story in #7-8.
Angela returns in that arc, as well.
Next, Slott talks about Iron Man.
He mentions Jocasta and Machine Man in the first arc, and says that plays into the year 2020 coming up.
That’s a slow burn, but Tony’s brother Arno Stark will show up in the next upcoming arc.
“We’re doing these very kind of Black Mirror-ish things every now and then.”
It’s “nightmare fuel.” Very creepy.
Slott says “Nick Lowe would never let me do this in Spider-Man.
“If you’re a retailer, order heavy on #6.” The “Stark Realities” is their first big arc.
Dan talks Fantastic Four next.
In No. 3, all four are reunited.
When they return to Earth, someone else is inhabiting the Baxter Building.
They’ll have to deal with that, but they’ll go somewhere very FF-ish.
Fantastic Four #5 will have the VERY REAL wedding of Ben and Alicia.
But Reed is being a very big jerk and is very concerned about other things now that he’s back on Earth.
Allred is also doing a backup story in the Ben/Alicia wedding issue on how Sue is the matchmaker of Ben and Alicia. There will also be a story showing how Johnny steps up to help throw the best bachelor party ever.
In #6, HERALD OF DOOM.
A Doom cosplayer shows up on screen and says that if there’s a Superior Octopus, there needs to be a Superior Doom.
Slott says there can be no superior Doom. Doom is superior.
Next, Cebulski asks Cates about Cosmic Ghost Rider.
Cates: “I thought you were gonna say Jugger-Duck.”
“Cosmic Ghost Rider is a book I’ve somehow been allowed to do.”
He details the backstory about the “Thanos Wins” story where he killed everyone on Earth. Frank Castle makes a deal with the devil to become a Ghost Rider because he wants to punish Thanos, but everyone is dead, leaving no one to punish. Galactus shows up, but has come to Earth for sanctuary because Thanos is now killing everyone in the galaxy. Frank asks Galactus for some herald powers, but Thanos kills Galactus and Frank has to serve him.
This is all literally the first three pages of the comic, Cates says.
This is all getting very complicated and Slott asks, “What happens in issue 2?”
A Venom cosplayer on the screen asks if he has any recipes for Spider-Man’s brains.
Cates is talking about how the first arc deals with the symbiotes’ god, Knull, returning.
While Eddie survived that, something is drastically wrong with the symbiote.
Old school Venom fans will be happy with things coming up that he can’t talk about.
There will be a Venom dog, though.
But he’s not allowed to kill any more dogs. He’s killed 3 in his time at Marvel.
“Two in comics.”
Oy.
Cebulski talks about Duggan’s Infinity Wars, drawn by Deodato.
Duggan talks about the premise of what a tragedy it would be if Gamora hadn’t been able to avoid becoming her father.
She mashes up the entire Marvel Universe into the soul stone, resulting in amalgams like Diamond Patch — Wolverine and Emma Frost mashed up.
Cebulski announces the new Defenders title.
Tom Breevort says it’s a special event coming in December in 5 books that culminate in the new Defenders #1.
The four books leading up to Defenders #1 focus on the original 4 Defenders: Strange, Silver Surfer, Namor, and Hulk.
Defenders will be written by Al Ewing, drawn by Joe Bennett.
A Watcher cosplayer onscreen asks Brevoort what his first appearance was and who inked him.
Fantastic Four #13, and inked by Ditko.
Conan the Barbarian is returning to Marvel to be written by Aaron, drawn by Mahmud Asrar.
Aaron says it’s the book he’s wanted to do since he was 12, “which I guess tells you something about my formative years.”
When he got wind Marvel was getting the rights, he sent C.B. a photo of a shelf with all his “ratty, dog-eared” Conan books on it.
There will be a second Conan book called “The Savage Sword of Conan,” written by Duggan, drawn by Ron Garney, colored by Richard Isanove, with covers by Alex Ross.
Duggan says this is very much Conan on the hunt for treasure, but what he finds won’t be what he expects.
The back of each issue will feature serialized novellas, inspired by Robert E. Howard’s literary work.
Cebulski says that the cosmic craziness of last year’s Avengers: No Surrender will lead to a story called Avengers: No Road Home. A standalone book written by Waid, Zub, and Ewing, with art by Medina and Izaakse.
Zub says “No Surrender” ended as soon as they were figuring out how to make that ball roll.
This story is big and mythic and epic. It’s the “biggest Avengers story we can get our hands on.”
Brevoort says Izaakse has been renewed as a Marvel exclusive artist.
The covers are by Yasmine Putri.
There will be a “big crazy thing” happening in the middle of No Road Home, like Hulk coming back in the middle of No Surrender.
Cebulski asks if everyone saw the Captain Marvel trailer.
Captain Marvel will get a new series with Captain Marvel #1 written by Kelly Thompson with art by Carmen Carnero.
Carnero has resigned as a Marvel exclusive and flew in from Spain to join the panel.
She comes out and, via a translator, tells the crowd that working on the book is a dream come true for her and she hopes the fans are excited and will do her best.
Brunstad tells the crowd that Life of Captain Marvel explored Carol’s history and where she’s from. It sets up a new landmark moment for her where she knows her powers come from within her and not another hero.
Spider-Woman will also be in the first issue, and Carol will be re-establsihing relationships from before she stepped away.
Zub is also doing the relaunched Champions.
Steven Cummings to draw it.
He’s bringing “every damn teen hero I can get my hands on.”
He starts to say they’re bringing a legion of teen heroes to Marvel (obvious Legion of Superheroes joke).
Donny Cates is taking over Guardians of the Galaxy with a huge cast.
Only Cosmic Ghost Rider revealed on the team so far.
Cebulski note that next year is the 80th anniversary of Marvel
January will start a year-long celebration of Marvel’s 80 years.
This will include genre books like Crypt of Shadows, Journey Into Unknown Worlds, War Is Hell, and others with creators like Ewing, Bunn, and Chaykin.
Love Romances, Ziggy Pig Silly Seal, and Gunhawks also announced.
Cebulski says the anniversary will include Marvel legends vehicle packages from Hasbro, with Professor X and his chair and Deadpool and his vespa.
Next year is also the 25th anniversary of Marvels.
Cebulski says Busiek and Ross will be coming back next year to curate and participate in all sorts of projects they can’t talk about just yet.
Brevoort says there will be a celebratory series of Marvels-inspired variant covers, but there will be a whole stack of things done beyond that to celebrate the legacy of Marvels.
Zub asks the crowd to wish his family a happy Canadian Thanksgiving in a cell phone video.
Q&A
Fan asks about more Gwenpool.
Cebulski says Gwenpool is currently in West Coast Avengers. Brevoort says she’ll be a big part of that book, and her gross disturbing relationship with Quentin Quire will continue. There’s some other stuff they can’t talk about yet involving Gwenpool.
Fan asks the panel what books they’d like to work on in the future.
Slott wants Moon Knight, Zub wants Blade, Duggan wants Dr. Strange, Cates wants Thor, and Aaron wants Guardians of the Galaxy.
Fan asks if there are any plans to bring back the Marvel/DC amalgam universe.
“We sent Brian over there. That’s about as amalgam as it gets.”
But Cebulski says there are talks to do crossovers all the time, and maybe someday in the future, we’ll get something like that.
Donny Cates jokes his name is “DC”
A fan asks if Armless Tiger Man will make a comeback.
Brevoort says they were just talking about him a week or a week and a half ago.
Duggan: “If anything bad happens to me, I want Tom to come to my hospital bed and read me golden age comic books.”
Someone suggests Armless Tiger Man should be mentioned to Skottie Young for Deadpool.
Fan asks if they’ve considered giving heroes that can’t necessarily sustain an ongoing series their own original graphic novels.
Cebulski says Marvel has a history of doing many original graphic novels over the years, but the finances of printing and distributing have changed over the years. There’s a third Starling one coming out this year, and Marvel will continue experimenting with new publishing formats as they go forward.
A fan asks about the overall decrease in solo titles led by female characters.
Cebulski says there isn’t necessarily a lack of female centric books. There’s Captain Marvel, Shuri, Marvel Rising, and so on.
There’s also the X-23 relaunch, and a big female character is getting a relaunch in January that they can’t mention yet.
Duggan also points out Gamora being the big villain of Infinity Wars.
A new event titled The War of the Realms is teased at the end of the panel, written by Jason Aaron with Russell Dauterman and Matthew Wilson on art.
Aaron’s Thor run has been building toward this for 6 years.
Brevoort calls it a “big, huge, sweeping, epic Marvel story.”
“The sword-and-sorcery Marvel story of your dreams — or your nightmares.”
The whole Marvel Universe is in this.
Cebulski thanks everyone for coming.
End of panel.
What did you think of the Next Big Thing Panel, did anything jump out at you? Comment below with your thoughts.
DC Comics Saturday afternoon held a special DC SUPERMAN 80TH Panel at the Javits Center during New York Comic Con featuring Frank Miller, Brian Michael Bendis, and hosted by Dan Didio.
About the panel: Join legendary creators celebrating the spirit of truth, hope, and justice during Superman’s 80th-anniversary panel. Don’t miss this insightful conversation between industry giants as they discuss the relevance of Superman 80 years after his creation, how they’re interpreting the Man of Steel in their perspective projects and their favorite Superman moments in comics, television, and movies!
PLAY BY PLAY OF THE PANEL
Didio greets everyone.
Says this panel is special because it has just a couple of creators. You get to hear what inspires them — what they love, what they hate.
He introduces Bendis to the stage first, noting the return of Young Justice. Also praises Bendis’ work on Superman and Action Comics so far.
Didio jokes that Bendis is going to text Quesada, “Look at the crowd I’m getting now.”
He introduces Frank Miller next.
Sidebar • This place is going nuts for Frank.
Didio says “This is the only time I’m gonna be nice to you today, Frank, so enjoy it.”
Frank says, “He’s nice to me in public.”
Didio brings up Action Comics #1000 first before mentioning they’re both identified with Daredevil also.
He starts with Frank, saying, “Age before beauty,” and Bendis says, “I think we just found out who’s dying in Dark Knight IV.”
Frank says he’s on thin ice. HA
Didio asks Frank about whether he hates Superman based on his portrayal in Dark Knight Returns.
Frank says “Batman did knock the snot out of him,” but his intro to superheroes was the old Superman cartoons of the 1940s. He dressed up in a Superman costume under his school clothes when he went to grade school.
In the course of doing Dark Knight, he went through a variety of endings. The first one didn’t go over really well because it involved Batman dying in a blaze of police gunfire.
He realized it couldn’t end that way and it got more focused on the contest between Batman and Superman.
“Dark Knight didn’t really work if the world was a place of freedom, so you had to have the most powerful force working for oppression.”
So Superman had to be deluded into thinking that unwavering devotion to God and country was the right way.
Now he’s doing Superman Year One. He says he underscores his love of Superman with the way he portrays Batman in this city, flipping the tables a lot.
Didio asks Bendis how he came to this point.
DC was surprised Bendis wanted to do Superman.
But Bendis is a “Jewish kid from Cleveland,” and being from Cleveland, all you hear about is Superman and rock and roll.
Miller notes that Superman was created by two Jewish kids from Cleveland.
Bendis went back to Cleveland for his brother’s wedding, and he visited the public library and saw a Superman exhibit that was put together.
He didn’t know it was going to be there, and he was thinking about jumping to DC at that point. He saw the exhibit and his youth smacked him in the face, and he knew he had to do Superman.
In the Superman 50th anniversary, he was actually involved in some way.
He was a college kid, and there was supposed to be a museum. The museum and statue never happened “because Cleveland’s run by gangsters.” But the parade and so on became part of his DNA.
Bendis and Didio joke about Stan Lee appearing at that, because it was a DC event. (Stan appeared there in place of Siegel and Schuster because they weren’t well enough to attend.)
Didio talks about Frank breaking in at DC. Frank jokes it was in the 1870s.
Frank says Neal Adams had the greatest presence when he came in, calling him his “godfather” in comics.
He initially had small bits and pieces to do with the horror comics, which at the time were called “mystery” comics because of horror being banned for a generation or two by the Comics Code.
Frank was offered a regular job at DC on a book he said was a “Conan ripoff,” but he used it to get a regular gig at Marvel during the Jim Shooter era, doing a couple of Spider-Man issues featuring Daredevil before getting the Daredevil gig.
Daredevil was on the chopping block at the time, but turning around a comic at that point makes you a “golden boy” in the business.
Miller: “Everyone always just assumes I’m the dark guy.” He said he told DC he wanted to do Superman.
Didio asks him about his approach to telling Superman’s story in Year One.
He says romantically, Batman jumps and falls and grabs a rope, but Superman stays up.
Miller says if you look at Superman’s history, “he really had the best girlfriends in comics, at every stage of his year, everywhere he went.”
“There’s no reason Superman shouldn’t be the sexiest character around.”
He doesn’t even hide his face!
“I’m pushing for a certain Amazon to get involved.”
Didio asks Bendis about the apprehension when he came onboard with Superman.
Bendis: “Because I sometimes jump on a book and blow it all up.”
Miller: “We’re part of the blow-up club.”
Bendis: “I learned it from you.”
Bendis also likes that the character exudes hope, and he needed hope.
When writing Superman, you’re also constantly thinking about what the best person in the world would be thinking RIGHT NOW.
You can’t turn that off, and you have to be a nice person.
He finds himself now asking little old ladies if he can help with their groceries.
Didio mentions Superman’s aspirational and iconic status is often seen as one of the problems with the character. How do you open that up?
Miller says he goes over the old material and finds pieces of it that haven’t jumped out before, like putting the reader in the rocket ship with the kid and viewing the destruction of Krypton from that point of view. Or the discovery of powers.
“What a strange childhood he must have had. It wasn’t just joyfully finding out you could do stuff.”
“What was the first heat vision like? I wouldn’t want to be Ma Kent.”
Bendis says he felt there was a Daredevil connection, too, because of the extrasensory perception and how that impacts how they view everyone around them.
Miller says that Superman knows a little too much about everybody because of his powers.
It’s the agoraphobe’s nightmare.
Didio asks if that wide breadth of powers makes him difficult to write.
All those extra powers that got added on over the years can diminish the character in some ways.
Bendis says ultimately his powers don’t matter. He’s a good guy doing good stuff, and you can’t “get wrapped up in the cosmicness of it.”
Miller says DC had to climb a mountain of keeping Superman as the No. 1 superhero during an era when they kept adding more powers.
Didio asks if they put limitations on a character’s powers to fit within the realm of the logic of their stories.
Bendis says he doesn’t power him down, but much like sometimes a tweet isn’t the best way to handle a situation, sometimes punching isn’t the best way to handle a situation. Lots of applause to that.
Miller: “That wasn’t a reference to anything.” More laughs.
Didio says Superman doesn’t often have the same number of alternate interpretations as Batman.
Miller says Batman is a guy who’s irrevocably traumatized by personal trauma in all incarnations by the death of his parents. Superman was traumatized at birth by the destruction of his entire planet and race, but he got good stepparents and got better.
Didio: “Are you placing the blame for Batman on Alfred now?”
Miller says he wouldn’t blame Alfred, but he would pin it on Robin. Lots of “oooohhhhhs.”
Miller mentions Bat-MIte and the rainbow Batman when talking about the variety of things that can be done to Batman and people still say, “Yeah, that’s Batman.”
“This guy’s flexible.”
Miller: “Superman’s wonderful in many ways, but just when Superman needs a lift, it seems like the world provides one.”
Superman took a “quantum leap” during WWII, for example.
Superman was a force out for justice with no affiliation.
Then he became a status quo hero who wanted everything to stay just as it was.
Now he’s evolving again. Miller wants Superman to play up the truth and justice and not be so noisy about the American way.
Bendis says that truth is now something people are arguing about, that we’ve all seen justice is not for everyone, and that with the American way, not everyone is still free to come here.
“Will someone please fight for them? Superman.”
Didio talks about Superman’s impact on society. Does that change how they approach what they might write?
Bendis says he finds himself feeling, “Have I done enough in my life?”
That propels his approach.
As much as Superman does every day, he never thinks it’s enough.
Now he has his father telling him, “I was hoping you’d do more than put out fires in your baby clothes. What else ya got?”
Didio asks Miller about the expectation of his work to shock or challenge what’s going on in comics. How does he reconcile that with Superman?
Miller grins really big.
Miller: “Dan, folks, it’s your job to reconcile it.”
He says he’ll do his very best to make Superman the character he ought to be, but “you don’t know where I live.” Lots of laughs.
Didio asks if there are things they wouldn’t want to use this character for.
Bendis says he doesn’t want to have Superman lecture the audience.
Superman should teach you through his actions.
Miller says he’s mythic.
“My Superman is not going to be the Superman from The Dark Knight. That is an older, compromised Superman stuck in a Batman book.”
“He’s not gonna tell you how to vote. He’s going after much larger truths. The truth should be emotional and moral, not political,” Frank Miller On Superman.
Bendis says we’re making a mistake by talking about Superman when Lois Lane is the best character in comics.
Miller: “You haven’t dived into Jimmy Olsen, man. Jimmy Olsen’s got some serious issues.”
Bendis: “Every cover looks like a PTSD for Jimmy.”
Miller: “You know who else got Lois was Richard Donner.”
They talk about how Lois is everything Superman is without the powers. She’s strong and not just some woman in love with the Man of Steel.
Bendis: “If you really look at Clark’s life, so much of things are thrust upon him.” But being with Lois was a choice he made for himself.
Didio talks about Jonathan Kent. How difficult is it to write a character as mythic as Superman but with domestic relationships?
Bendis says that that’s how kids often look at their parents, like mythic figures who can’t do wrong.
“It’s just fathers and sons” — this man trying to be for this boy what he needs, and every kid needs different things.
Didio says the strength of the villain often defines the hero.
Miller says Batman got all the great villains except two.
Bendis says, “Doctor Octopus and who? Magneto?”
Laughs
They then say Lex Luthor is a great villain when handled well.
Bendis is excited that Scott Snyder is so busy with Lex, though, because he has a chance to play with new villains.
Miller: “I can’t wait to bring Lex Luthor in! Thanks for the softball, Brian!”
Miller says that the way Schuster drew Luthor, he was a big, brawny thug. And he was terrifying. He was a menace on one side, and then on the other, you had Brainiac, who holds a whole city from Krypton hostage.
There are a lot of silly villains like Toyman and Prankster, though.
Miller says Prankster’s a Daredevil villain and they correct to Jester.
Miller goes back to Brainiac: “He robbed the bank when Krypton was about to erupt.”
Didio says Bendis changed some aspects of the origin of Superman.
Bendis: “I would never do that.”
Miller: “What, you got Superman evicted from Krypton?”
Bendis talks about a new villain who hated the idea of Kryptonian society so much he wanted to wipe them out, which changes a tragedy already to a genocide.
Miller jokes the villain is Galactus before it gets to the genocide point, but then notes the detail makes Superman an even more biblical origin.
Bendis and Miller talk about, though, how this essentially makes Superman a refugee of a Holocaust.
He’s a refugee and the ultimate immigrant.
And Miller says that makes him “the ultimate American.”
They work their way back to Miller doing Superman at this point in his career.
“I look back at Dark Knight and think, ‘OOO, was I pissed off or what?!”
He says that as the industry opens up and becomes more free (there’s no more Comics Code anymore), playing the rebel becomes goofy.
Shock is a “rare and powerful spice,” so you have to know when to use it well.
Bendis asks if he’d ever do a monthly book again.
“I imagine. I imagine, yeah. But the only thing I’d do on it is letterer.”
They talk about Superman being Clark Kent’s costume in comparison to Bruce Wayne being Batman’s costume.
Didio asks Bendis if there’s one thing he wants to push more than anything else.
Bendis says Didio knows what it is, but he’s not going to say it in the room.
At the end of the epic storyline he’s currently working on, they’re going to reintroduce something to the DC Universe in the modern setting.
Where the united planets came from in the Legion of Superheroes.
Didio asks Miller if he has one closing takeaway about what he thinks of Superman.
“Dan Didio, master of the easy question. What part of the Bible do you like best, Dan?”
He says he’s most excited about the romantic side of Superman.
“This is an angle that hasn’t really been investigated.”
He says it’s not that he’s going to treat Superman like he’s a playboy, but he’s immensely attractive, and he’s in love with life, so naturally, there’s a romantic aspect. That doesn’t mean he’s going out having a wild time with every gal in the universe.
Bendis then says that sharing a stage with Frank was a great gift and thanks, Dan.
Panel ends.
What did you think of the Superman Panel, did anything jump out at you? Comment below with your thoughts.
Marvel Comics held its Spider-Man Panel Friday night at the Javits Center at New York Comic Con with host Nick Lowe, Editor at Marvel.
About the panel: Look out, here comes the Spider-Man panel! Editor Nick Lowe does whatever a moderator can along with Spider-Writers Saladin Ahmed (Miles Morales: Spider-Man), Seanan McGuire (Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider), Priest (Spider-Force), Nick Spencer (Amazing Spider-Man), and Kathleen Wisneski (Assistant Editor). Listen buds, as we’ll tell you all about the Amazing Spider-Man’s next adventure! Action will be your reward as you learn the latest about the multiversal mega-crossover Spider-Geddon! Plus – like a streak of light, Miles Morales news will arrive just in time!
SPIDER-GEDDON Trailer
Play By Play of the Panel
Nick Lowe greets everyone and says there’s an announcement on this panel he doesn’t think anyone has talked about yet.
He introduces everyone.
Christopher Priest’s repeated mention of Spider-Force during the Marvel Knights panel has become a running joke for the panel.
Nick Spencer talks about the current Amazing Spider-Man arc, where Peter goes to the Bar With No Name with current roommate Boomerang.
Peter goes there with him because Boomerang wants to win Spidey Trivia Night and knows that Peter was Spider-Man’s former photographer (and Spidey’s “employer,” since he was Peter’s “bodyguard” during Parker Industries era)
It’s meant to be a fun, light-hearted two-parter.
Amazing Spider-Man #8-10 is a new arc that will explore Spider-Man and Black Cat’s relationship.
All of the Marvel heroes’ stuff is going missing.
Some new villains will be introduced in this arc.
Peter and MJ are happily back together, and the arc will also explore how MJ is processing that.
She’ll be “going on a little adventure of her own.”
Spider-Geddon #1 comes in just ONE WEEK.
Lowe consistently says the event’s name in a raspy, doomy voice.
Seanan McGuire talks about the new Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider series.
It starts parallel with Spider-Geddon. “I can’t do the voice. It’ll hurt my throat. I’m sorry.”
Says Gwen is taken off the board for Spider-Geddon and has to get back to the others.
“There are a lot of exploding seasonal fruits” in this series. She’ll be fighting a Goblin.
Jody Houser will be writing a series called Spider-Girls with Andrés Genolet.
Genolet is on art.
Kathleen Wisneski says the series will feature a number of characters who’ve been “Spider-Girl” in various timelines. Anya Corazon, Annie May from Renew Your Vows, etc.
Spider-Girls will tie into Spider-Geddon.
Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man will be written by Sean Ryan, with art by Juan Frigeri.
There will be a Morlun arc tying into Spider-Geddon in #311-313.
Priest talks about Spider-Force
He was the Spider-Man editor “for quite a while.”
Priest was sitting next to Dan Slott at a dinner last year, and Dan proceeded to tell him 10 years of Spider-Man continuity because Priest hadn’t been up on what was going on.
Spider-Force features Kaine Parker assembling a strike team to go on what is maybe a suicide mission.
One new character is a child spider character who is “like Damien Wayne with web-shooters.”
It’s a Spider-Geddon tie-in.
“They may or may not succeed or fail.”
Spider-Force will also feature Jessica Drew Spider-Woman, Ashton Barton from Old Man Logan, and another new spider character called Astro-Spider, because he’s also an astronaut.
Anthology book coming up called Vault of Spiders, featuring stories by Cullen Bunn Jed Mackay, Javier Pulido, etc.
Japanese Spider-Man will be in it, LEOPARDON!
There will also be “The Savage Spider-Man,” a Peter Parker who was raised in the Savage Land by mutant spiders after surviving a plane crash that killed his parents.
There will also be a George Stacy Spider-Man, and an Aunt May Spider-Ma’am.
And there will be a Spider-Geddon Handbook in December with entries about all of the spider characters to catch people up.
Christos Gage will be writing the new Superior Spider-Man series, with art by Mike Hawthorne.
Terrax will be a villain in the first arc
“Something happens, and I can’t tell you what, in Spider-Geddon that makes him have to put the Superior Spider-Man costume back on.”
Next, Miles Morales: Spider-Man
Ahmed says they want to reward long-time Miles fans and also bring in people who haven’t checked him out yet.
After the events of Spider-Geddon, he’s back in Brooklyn, it’s a new semester, and we join him at the beginning of the year — taking him back deep into high school.
“We don’t always pay attention to how hard that is, trying to balance these kinds of things.”
He’s also “perhaps ill-advisedly” keeping a journal where he’s revealing more than he probably should.
The first arc leads to classic Spidey villain the Rhino, but everything may not be as it seems.
There will be “mega-star guest appearances,” but the book is really about introducing readers to Miles.
There will be some wrangling with his uncle a few arcs down the line, as well. Plus fun one-shots.
It’s Miles back to basics as both a superhero and a high-schooler.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man re-debuts in January with a new #1, written by Tom Taylor with Juann Cabal on art.
Q&A segment
Fan asks if school shooting in a recent issue of Champions will factor into Ahmed’s Miles Morales.
Ahmed says this book will tackle things happening in the real world. “If I’m going to write about a teenager in the 21st Century, I have to talk about the world they’re inheriting.” But he says it will always serve the story first and foremost.
Marvel’s always been a place where people write stories that talk about the world around them without beating people over the head with a stick.
Next fan chides Priest for killing Ned Leeds. But he then asks Nick Spencer about Spectacular Spider-Man revealing Theresa and Peter were actually brother and sister.
Spencer says he “might have something cooking. You never know.”
Next fan, dressed as Spider-Man 2099, asks if we’ll see him anytime soon.
Lowe says he doesn’t have any major announcements, but “there is a story going on that has many spider people in it.”
Next fan asks about the incredibly poor shape of Peter Parker’s life and if anything’s going to be done about it.
Spencer says, “Yes. It’s gonna get worse.”
Spencer talks about how it’s always fun to watch Peter rise above adversity time and time again. “But yeah, he’s unemployed.”
“You’re supposed to feel bad for him. That’s the idea. That’s the magic.”
Next fan mentions that things aren’t looking too good for Ben Reilly on some of the covers shown and asks if he should be concerned.
Lowe suggests maybe he should be concerned. But Reilly has some cool stuff coming up in Spider-Geddon, and you’ll have to read it to find out.
Fan asks Spencer who he’d cast if he could make casting decisions.
He says Tom Holland, obviously. “Where do you think I work, buddy?” HA
Next fan asks how they come up with all these spider people.
Spencer says, “The motivation is they’ll pay you for it.” He says he’s been reading Spider-Man his entire life and it’s the greatest honor of his career.
Next fan starts, “One thing I like that DC does better than Marvel…” before being cut off and booed by EVERYONE.
People chant “Shame!” at him.
He finally finishes that he likes that DC does soft reboots every now and then.
He says, he falls off every now and then and then has to read pages and pages of Wikipedia to catch up.
Lowe said, “So you want us to do it for your convenience?”
Spencer then says, Marvel doesn’t have to do soft reboots because they don’t screw up the characters in the first place.
Priest then says that the solution to catching up on years of continuity is to have dinner with Dan Slott.
Fan asks what everyone’s favorite alternate spider-character is.
Spencer says 2099, Wisneski says Spider-Ham, McGuire says Spider-Gwen, Ahmed says Spiders-Man (a bunch of spiders who think they’re a human), and Priest agrees Spiders-Man sounds awesome, but says he’s also having fun writing Ashley Barton in Spider-Force.
Next fan is distraught Flash Thompson was killed in ASM #800.
Spencer says there’s no plans to bring him back right now.
Next fan asks what Venom has to do with Miles Morales.
In the Ultimate Universe, that Venom killed someone close to Miles. Cates and Stegman are both big Miles fans, so we haven’t seen the last of him in the Venom book.
Fan asks about the mysterious creature that’s been haunting Mysterio.
Spencer says we’ll see more of him soon, but it’s a slow build.
End of panel.
What did you think of the Spider-Man Panel, did anything jump out at you? Comment below with your thoughts.
Cast: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, and Jenny Slate
Synopsis: Journalist Eddie Brock is trying to take down Carlton Drake, the notorious and brilliant founder of the Life Foundation. While investigating one of Drake’s experiments, Eddie’s body merges with the alien Venom — leaving him with superhuman strength and power. Twisted, dark and fueled by rage, Venom tries to control the new and dangerous abilities that Eddie finds so intoxicating.
When Sony Pictures first announced that they were making a standalone Venom movie, which would have no connections to the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, we called them crazy, stupid and downright greedy. As it turns out, we were absolutely and unquestionably correct. Even though the film has one of the coolest comic-book characters and a fantastic cast at its disposal, Venomproves itself to be little more than a soulless cash-grab.
The script, which was written by Jeff Pinkner, Scott Rosenberg and Kelly Marcel, is undoubtedly where most of the film’s problems originate. Following the triumphant formula set by movies like Deadpool, the script for Venom is obviously attempting to blend comedy with a more dramatic tone and unfortunately, Fleischer is unable to combine the two genres. In a lot of ways, Venom doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be. Is it supposed to be a bizarre comedy with dramatic elements, or was it intended to be a serious superhero film with flashes of comedy? Even if I watched this movie a dozen more times, I doubt I would be able to answer that question definitively. If that wasn’t bad enough, the script is also to blame for the dialogue, which ranges from bad to excruciatingly horrific. Tom Hardy and the rest of the cast are trying their hardest to make Venom a watchable and even enjoyable movie, but thanks to the laughably bad dialogue, their efforts are wasted.
You would think that with a cast including proven actors like Hardy, Michelle Williams, and Riz Ahmed, Venom would at least be able to offer a few standout performances. The terrible dialogue and clunky direction, however, have left the cast looking mediocre at best. Don’t get me wrong, the performances are in no way bad, and the actors are trying their best to elevate the material, but there are certain things that even an award-worthy performance couldn’t fix. Hardy does an admirable job as Eddie Brock/Venom and his performance more often than not distracts from everything else going on, but with a better script and a different director, Hardy could have given a genuinely brilliant performance as this character. Michelle Williams, who has proven herself to be one of Hollywood’s most talented actors, is completely wasted in this movie. Her character has no actual purpose in the story and more often than not, Williams is reduced to the annoying girlfriend role, which was rightfully eliminated from comic-book movies years ago. When it comes to the cast and the performances, no one seems to have been affected by the script more than Riz Ahmed. While the rest of the characters and performances feel like they belong in the weird and comedic film that is unfolding, Ahmed’s cliche villain feels as if he’s in a completely different and far more dramatic movie.
It must be noted, however, that Venom is not a complete failure. The film finds moderate success in the way that Eddie Brock and the symbiote interact, and the bizarre relationship between the two personalities brings a fun and strangely comedic dynamic to the film. Ruben Fleischer was attempting to create a dark twist on the buddy comedy genre and, for the most part, he succeeds in his attempts. Despite the films many, many flaws, it’s impossible to deny that the relationship we see form between Eddie Brock and Venom is enjoyable and exciting to watch.
While this version of Venom doesn’t have the R-rating that many fans were hoping to see, it must be said that the film does have plenty of head-biting action on display. Fleischer has rightfully placed most of his attention of building the relationship between Eddie and the symbiote, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t put some aside for a few action-packed sequences. As a comic-book character, Venom is one of the most violent and monstrous anti-heroes around, and the action scenes brilliantly show how powerful and brutally horrific he can be. Admittedly, the film could have benefited from an R-rating, as the character lends himself to that level of violence, but it’s fair to say that Fleischer pushed the boundaries the PG-13 rating and delivered a few wonderfully violent sequences.
OVERALL
There is some fun to be had with Ruben Fleischer’s Venom, largely thanks to Hardy’s portrayal of the character, but a weak script, horrific dialogue and disappointing performances push the film towards the bottom of the pile when it comes to comic-book adaptations. This certainly ain’t Catwoman, but it’s not good either.
Born and raised in New York, Zainab Johnson is an incredibly hilarious comedian, whose comedy is based on her unique point of view, which was shaped growing up in Harlem as one of thirteen siblings in a Muslim family. We spoke to her about the Epix stand-up series UNPROTECTED SETS.
What can we expect to see from your episode of UNPROTECTED SETS?
Zainab Johnson: I think what I’m always trying to achieve, and I think you get it on this show, is inviting people into my world. So you watch me, whether it’s on stage, or whether you watch me in the docu-style interviews, and you get to know me. You get to know who I am, and where my humor and topics come from. You know why my perspective is the way it is, and hopefully, after doing that, you’re laughing, having a good time, or feeling something significant enough that it’s memorable.
What was it like to do UNPROTECTED SETS, where they encouraged a “no limits” focus for your material?
Yeah, I think that was the beauty of UNPROTECTED SETS. Wanda [Sykes] and Page [Hurwitz], the producers, they’re comedians. So they understand why it’s important to not restrict the creativity of the artist. For me, two things happened. One, I’m never concerned about language for any of the shows I perform on, because my language is never necessarily offensive. But some of my set that I chose to do on this addresses a lot of social, color, and political issues. I was happy that no one came back and said “oh, you can’t do that,” or “this isn’t appropriate.” There was the freedom to try and make conversation that is usually hard. Like I talk about #MeToo in a very different way than it’s talked about right now. I just felt like “wow, I get the freedom and the encouragement to broach this topic that is very sensitive.” Even when you’re in a club, even when it’s not taped, it’s sensitive, because people feel a very specific way about it. The fact that I was able to talk about it on TV was really good.
How did you try to balance out your set with bigger political topics and jokes about your personal life?
I think that most times, it’s seamlessly weaves in and out one another. Meaning that by virtue of being a black woman, a sister to twelve other siblings, me being Muslim – all of those things are already political, you know? So it makes it easy because that is my foundation, that is my person. It makes it easy for me to weave in and out of my personal life, my family life, into those topics, because I’m actually living it. And I prefer to hear people speak on something they’re actually experiencing, versus someone who is “an expert” by literature, or commenting outside of it, if that makes sense.
I know you also dig into these topics with your podcast. Do you find there’s a difference between how you talk about these topics on your podcast versus your stand-up?
Absolutely. On my podcast, I have the freedom of conversing about something without the pressure of it being funny. Like on UNPROTECTED SETS, it’s like “yeah, I want to talk about what I want to talk about, and I want to talk about some serious issues, but there has to be laughs.” That’s comedy. If there’s no laughs, then it’s not comedy. And with my podcast, I have the freedom sometimes where if it’s funny, cool, but that is not the main goal. The main goal is to start a conversation that I hope continues beyond my podcast, about issues that are going on in the world amongst a generation of people that the public isn’t as quick to speak either the honesty of it, or the not so popular opinion.
Like recently, on my podcast, I posed the question of should a person who falsely accuses another person of sexual assault have to do some sort of time, or be criminalized in the same way as someone who actually did it? And I think that’s a very hard question for people to answer, because it seems like a lesser offense, but I mean, is it? Or isn’t it? I like to approach the topics on my podcast in a way that I can’t necessarily onstage, because sometimes I don’t know how to make it funny yet, so I can’t talk about it on stage, but my podcast is where I can figure out how to make it funny.
It’s also a way where I can discover a lot of ideas. My podcast is just me. I’ve only ever had one guest, it was my mother, and it’s probably the highest listened to episode. We talk about respect to elders, even in my opinion, when the elders aren’t showing you respect. And that’s something everybody deals with – how do I respect my mother, or grandmother, or father, when they don’t respect me? So because I do the podcast alone, it’s like 30 minutes of me hearing myself. You know how sometimes, when you have a conversation, you may just be reacting to somebody else’s ideas. But when I’m just talking by myself, I really get an idea of how I feel about things, what I’m struggling with, and how I communicate.
How did you get your start with comedy, and how long do you think it took to find your voice & approach?
I like to think of my comedy as conversational, and I found that out really early in my process. I would tell my friends stories, and they’d be like “that’s a great story, you should say that on stage.” Then I would write it, I’d say it on stage, and it would be lacking everything that I had when I told it to my friends. I was like “oh, something’s getting lost in translation.” So very early on, I stopped writing material, and I started to just talk on stage. Like I would go into a show or open mic with a topic, or an idea, and then I’d just spend the five minutes with no script, trying to flesh it out. I recorded myself, and I studied myself almost like it wasn’t me. I was like “I need to have that every single time – this is great! I feel like I’m a fly on a wall, and I’m just watching this girl converse with a group of people.”
Once I learned that about myself, it was always my goal to achieve that when I was on stage. Now in terms of my voice, I think that I have a good sense of who I am. My ongoing journey is to keep developing it, and cultivating it. Comedy has honestly made me so much more confident in who I am. Like “this is me, and this is okay, and I share the world with how and why I’m me.” It’s made me so much more comfortable in my every day life, existing how I exist, being the person that I am, and being proud of myself. I feel like it’s interchangeable – life is helping comedy, but comedy is helping life, you know? (laughs)
Zainab’s episode of UNPROTECTED SETS airs tonight, Friday October 5th, at 11:00 PM.
UNPROTECTED SETS is an intelligent, provocative, and original new series that takes an unfiltered look at stand up through the eyes of the funniest working comedians from across the country…who are poised to become the next big names in comedy. From executive producers Wanda Sykes and Page Hurwitz (Push It Productions) & Barry Poznick, President of MGM’s Unscripted Television and MGM Television, new episodes of Unprotected Sets will air every Friday at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT on EPIX.
Composers Matthew Carl Earl and Jason Walsh work for Hexany Audio and make music for a wide range of video game projects including Colina: Legacy, a psychological horror story, inspired by classics like the Silent Hill series.
About Colina: Legacy
What’s this game about? Jason starts it off “The story of the game is kind of a throwback to 90s horror video games like Silent Hill or Resident Evil. A lot of mystery and puzzle exploration to get to the bottom of what’s going on.”
Colina: Legacy comes from publisher Chance6, and Matthew says that the game dives deep “No spoilers but the game is very lore-driven, a lot of callouts to ancient Greece and mythology. The more you play, the more you learn about this really rich and interesting world.”
Matthew and Jason collectively have a massive list of projects under their belt. So, when it came to the Colina: Legacy soundtrack “We were given free reign to kind of have fun with it.”
Collaboration
At Hexany Audio the pair collaborates often. However, Matthew explains “This [Colina: Legacy] was a little bit more in-depth in that we were touching each other’s music a lot.
Jason adds “We’re down the hall from each other and we go back and forth all the time.”
Inspired by the 90s
Colina: Legacy has players navigate Alex, the young protagonist, around a tense, but beautifully rendered world. How did the pair of composers set the mood?
Jason answers “A lot of the things we were listening to were 90s game soundtracks. The evolution of those games. Silent Hill 1 has a ton of soundscape music made from metal and noises and then later games it gets into these weird, synthetic-organic sounds that are still really abstract.
Matthew affirms “Going through … some of those franchises and the beautiful, haunting, character-driven stuff they did was an inspiration.”
Jason: “We did a lot of what we called ‘one shots’ like 20-30 second tracks that would help avoid the kind of looping tracks you find a lot in games.”
Wrapping Up
Who do video game music composers talk about as the legend of their business? Jason’s first “Jason Graves is one guy who just does incredible stuff.
Matthew shares his thoughts “In a lot of the circles I run in we always talk about the classics from the Nintendo era. I’ve been super into Mick Gordon’s stuff.”
An interesting trend is occurring according to the composers “You see a lot of film composers now crossing over to make video game music.” At the same time, non-traditional composes like Trent Reznor, and Thom Yorke are in the business of making film scores.
What’s next? Matthew and Jason are currently working on some new projects together, however, “Nothing we’re working on we can publicly announce.” Who doesn’t love some mystery, right?
Thanks to Matthew and Jason and Impact24 PR
for making this interview possible.
Are you playing Colina: Legacy? Leave your comments!
Netflix released the trailer to Voltron Legendary Defender Season 8, Friday afternoon at New York Comic Con, and also announced the final season will air December 14.
Season 8 Synopsis After saving the Earth, the Paladins embark to prevent Honerva from setting into motion her deadliest plan yet. It’s a race against the clock as the Voltron Coalition gathers from the corners of the galaxy to defend the universe once and for all.
BREAKING DOWN STAR WARS NEWS FROM WEEK 1, OCTOBER 2018. BECAUSE IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR, AWAY — THERE’S NEVER A DULL MOMENT.
Fall is in the air, with an abundance of Star Wars news this week to make it feel like December is right around the corner, even if we aren’t getting a movie this year. Fans were concerned when Disney and Lucasfilm stated “all standalone movies were getting put on the backburner,” however, after the news of Jon Favreau’s seriesThe Mandalorian dropped — it became abundantly clear why there’s been a shift in priorities.
Everything We Know About Favreau’s The Mandalorian
After getting snippets of production set-up, thanks to Making Star Wars, Jon Favreau made an official announcement regarding his television series for the Disney streaming service. Titled, The Mandalorian, the show will take place shortly after Return of the Jedi, and before the reconstruction of the First Order.
Shortly after this bomb dropped, an image of this lone Mandalorian gunslinger was revealed (courtesy of Starwars.com). In addition, fans were also rewarded with a hot-list of directors for the series.
Image via Starwars.com, Lucasfilm, and Disney Studios
According to Starwars.com, production of The Mandalorian is officially underway with Dave Filoni taking the helm of director for Episode 1. Additional directors of The Mandalorian series include, “Deborah Chow (Jessica Jones), Rick Famuyiwa (Dope), Bryce Dallas Howard (Solemates), and Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok).”
If this Star Wars news wasn’t exciting enough, Filoni is also named as an Executive Producer of the series. This move makes sense, considering his extensive background in laying the foundation of Mandalorian characters in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. Additional EP’s include Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, and Colin Wilson. Serving as co-executive producer will be Karen Gilchrist.
LEGO Set Of Vader’s Castle
If The Mandalorian Star Wars news wasn’t enough to get your blood pumping, perhaps building Darth Vader’s Castle featured first in Rogue One will. Available November 26, 2018, the set includes a ton of nostalgic figurines, weapons, and accessories.
Image via Amazon and LEGO
What’s Included In LEGO Vader’s Castle
Retailing at $129, the Vader LEGO set has everything a Star Wars fan could want. The castle measures at 16 inches high and includes pieces to build a TIE Advanced Fighter. Five mini-figures also come with the set, which contains 2 Darth Vader’s, 2 Royal Guards, and an Imperial Transport Pilot. Accessories include a bacta tank, meditation chamber, and even a hook for Vader’s cape.
Image via LEGO and Amazon
Weapons featured in the LEGO set are cannons on the TIE, along with special turrets on Vader’s Castle. Darth Vader will naturally have his red lightsaber — in addition, Royal Guards have their Force Pikes, and the Imperial pilot comes with a blaster.
Episode IX Emergency Shoot Disrupts Adam Drivers Schedule
Image via Lucasfilm and Disney Studios
According to a press release, Adam Driver rescheduled a university appearance due to “a massive schedule change,” in the shooting for Episode IX. Because of the change, Driver was needed to rehearse his part for a full day before the shooting begins.
It’s unknown as to what this “massive schedule change” could be, however, it likely involves a fight scene. Perhaps there’s additional choreography he needs to learn.
Star Wars Resistance Episode 1&2 Air Sunday, October 7th
Image via Lucasfilm and Disney Studios
Buried under other Star Wars news, the premiere of Star Wars Resistance is here. Despite grumblings from a few fans, critics are giving the series positive reviews. Much like Star Wars Rebels, Resistance is a show for “all ages” of Star Wars fans.
The animated series created by Dave Filoni and directed by Amy Beth Christenson will reveal story arcs leading up to The Force Awakens. Featuring a host of new and returning characters, the series takes place on landing platform called the Colossus.
“It’s like a floating Cantina… It’s just like this place where you fix your ship, you go get gas, you go get food,” stated Bobby Moynihan during a press junket interview. “All of the Star Wars we’ve seen before is about the Force and the Skywalker family in some capacity, and this is about all the guys that will drink at the cantina afterward.”
Image via Starwars.com, and Lucasfilm
Star Wars Resistance will also feature the return of actor Greg Proops. The comedian first entered the Star Wars world in the prequels, voicing Fode and Beed in The Phantom Menace. While the double-headed podracer announcer isn’t around for Resistance, Proops is voicing another announcer under the name of Jak Sivrak.
For those keen on their Star Wars lore, Jak Sivrak is a nod towards a character removed from the special edition cut of A New Hope named Lak Sivrak.
I always found it odd that George Lucas removed Lak Sivrak until I realized it was just a stock mask that they had laying around. pic.twitter.com/EOCIdWsr8b
NYCC is underway and we’ve got a sneak peek at the table of contents for Women of the Galaxy.
Image via Reddit user u/confederalis
Pedro Pascal As The Mandalorian
Image via HBO and Warner Bros. Studio Distribution
Rumors are floating around as to who will play the lead role in Favreau’s The Mandalorian with Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones) being at the top of the list. This tidbit of Star Wars news remains unconfirmed, likely due to the Lucasfilm marketing team milking the excitement surrounding the series. Pascal is a perfect casting in our opinion, however, we’re still holding out hope that Bo Katan will also make an appearance in the show as well.
Coupled with fans nerding out over the first look of The Mandalorian, some are wondering about the rifle strapped to the characters back. Thanks to artist Phil Noto, we have an idea of what it might look like.
Does the Star Wars news from this week have you geeking out? Is The Mandalorian the biggest news of the week, or are you more hyped for Star Wars Resistance? Let us know in the comments below!
Stay current on all Star Wars news related items with The Weekly Spiel, and throughout the week here on Monkeys Fighting Robots. Until next time, “May the Force be with you, always.”
The most made fun of character in DC Comics history just became the biggest badass in the DC Cinematic Universe with the release of a 5-minute trailer for Aquaman Friday afternoon.
About Aquaman: The film reveals the origin story of half-human, half-Atlantean Arthur Curry and takes him on the journey of his lifetime—one that will not only force him to face who he really is, but to discover if he is worthy of who he was born to be…a king.
Aquaman stars Jason Momoa, Amber Heard as Mera, a fierce warrior and Aquaman’s ally throughout his journey; Willem Dafoe as Vulko, council to the Atlantean throne; Patrick Wilson as Orm/Ocean Master, the present King of Atlantis; Dolph Lundgren as Nereus, King of the Atlantean tribe Xebel; Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as the vengeful Black Manta; and Nicole Kidman as Arthur’s mom, Atlanna; as well as Ludi Lin as Captain Murk, Atlantean Commando; and Temuera Morrison as Arthur’s dad, Tom Curry.
James Wan directs from a screenplay by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Will Beall, story by Geoff Johns & James Wan and Will Beall, based on characters from DC, Aquaman created by Paul Norris and Mort Weisinger.
Aquaman is set to hit theaters beginning December 21, 2018, in 3D and 2D and IMAX.
