NYCC • Marvel Comics: SPIDER-MAN PANEL Recap With Crazy Q&A

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October 6, 2018

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.

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Review: VENOM Certainly Ain’t CATWOMAN, But It Isn’t Good Either

By

Kieran McLean

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Director: Ruben Fleischer

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.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLCn88bfW1o[/embedyt]

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, Venom proves 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.

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Comedian Zainab Johnson Talks ‘UNPROTECTED SETS’

By

Jon Barr - TV Editor

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October 5, 2018

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.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrwH2jwR5DM[/embedyt]

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.

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INTERVIEW: Composers Of Colina: Legacy Create Haunting Horror Music

By

Ruben Diaz

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October 5, 2018

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!

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VOLTRON LEGENDARY DEFENDER • Season 8 Trailer – Get Ready To Say Goodbye

By

Matthew Sardo

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October 5, 2018

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.

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STAR WARS NEWS SPIEL: Favreau THE MANDALORIAN Updates, LEGO Vader’s Castle, Adam Driver Episode IX, Resistance, And More

By

Daniel Forster

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October 5, 2018

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 series The Mandalorian dropped — it became abundantly clear why there’s been a shift in priorities.

Everything We Know About Favreau’s The Mandalorian

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#starwars #TheMandalorian

A post shared by Jon Favreau (@jonfavreau) on Oct 3, 2018 at 4:17pm PDT

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.

Breaking Star Wars news withFirst Look Of Favreau's The Mandalorian — 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.

Star Wars Darth Vader LEGO Castle — 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.

Darth Vader LEGO Set Bacta Tank and Figures — 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

Throne Room Battle Star Wars The Last Jedi with Rey and Kylo Ren — 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 7^th

Image via Disney Studios and Lucasfilm — 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.”

Fode and Beed during podrace in Star Wars The Phantom Menace — 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

— Bryan Young (@swankmotron) October 2, 2018

Other Star Wars News

NYCC is underway and we’ve got a sneak peek at the table of contents for Women of the Galaxy.

Star Wars Women of the Galaxy table of contents — Image via Reddit user u/confederalis

Pedro Pascal As The Mandalorian

Pedro Pascal Game Of Thrones and possible role in 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.

The Mandalorian Rifle Might Look Familiar

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The Mandalorian – very exciting 🙂

A post shared by Phil Noto (@philnoto) on Oct 5, 2018 at 2:48am PDT

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.”

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Watch 5 Minutes Of AQUAMAN Because It’s Awesome!

By

Matthew Sardo

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October 5, 2018

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.

What did you think of the trailer? Comment below.

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FIRST MAN Red Carpet: Ryan Gosling Is The New Tom Hanks

By

Matthew Sardo

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October 5, 2018

Ryan Gosling hit the red carpet Thursday night at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C for the premiere of First Man in which he plays Neil Armstrong. In the interview, you realize how humble a person Gosling is and how much respect and honor he has for Armstrong, it was very Tom Hanks like.

About the film:
On the heels of their six-time Academy Award®-winning smash, La La Land, Oscar®-winning director Damien Chazelle and star Ryan Gosling reteam for Universal Pictures’ First Man, the riveting story of NASA’s mission to land a man on the moon, focusing on Neil Armstrong and the years 1961-1969. A visceral, first-person account, based on the book by James R. Hansen, the movie will explore the sacrifices and the cost-on Armstrong and on the nation-of one of the most dangerous missions in history.

First Man hits theaters October 12.

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INTERVIEW: Showrunner Guy Toubes And Making STINKY AND DIRTY

By

Ruben Diaz

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October 5, 2018

Guy Toubes is the Emmy-nominated writer, producer, and creator of hit Amazon kids TV show Stinky and Dirty about two friends, a dump truck and a backhoe loader, figuring out the world together.

Monkeys Fighting Robots spoke with Guy about his work on Stinky and Dirty, what’s inspired him to be a TV show creator for pre-schoolers, and find out a little more about this thing called T.O.T.S.

Guy Toubes … Roll Out!

Before Stinky and Dirty, pop culture geeks will recognize a show Guy worked on just a few years ago, Transformers: Robots in Disguise. “It’s so funny because I kind of missed Transformers and that era.”

So, what was it like to step into the world of sentient, shape-changing machines? “When I came onto the show, I knew there was all this backstory. It was really important that we write Optimus Prime to fit in with the character’s history. I learned a lot. But I saw my role as the guy who could gauge if anybody could come to this show and enjoy it.”

Lore is precious though, but there’s something that’s slightly more important “We tried to make sure that we were following the lore. But it also all comes down to the audience, seven or ten-year-olds, are they going to enjoy what’s happening on screen.”

Guy is a nerd himself and fan of Star Wars “I understand when something doesn’t feel the right way. I want to stay true as much as possible to the original way something was done. But you can’t be too precious.”

About Stinky and Dirty

Stinky and Dirty is a kids show starring two somewhat unlikely friends. Stinky is a garbage truck, and Dirty is the backhoe loader; together they navigate a beautifully-rendered CG world “We have a fundamental goal on our show. Our curriculum is about resourcefulness. It’s not about facts or figures or learning about things. It’s more about learning a way of thinking.”

Stinky and Dirty hopes to give young viewers the tools to think through things “The goal of being resourceful is not just about how to think but think with whatever you have around you. Limited resources.”

The show promotes other valuable ideas too “When you make a mistake, that’s a learning opportunity. So, we have this consultant on the show who wrote a book called ‘The Gift of Failure.’ It’s by Jessica Lahey. Her message is all about ‘Let your kids fail. Let them try hard and fail and try again. Let them make mistakes. That’s how they learn.’”

The optimism of failure “You’ll see that in our show Stinky and Dirty fail over and over again. They don’t care. They say ‘that didn’t work’ and try something else.”

Writing for Kids

Guy has a filmography filled with a broad range of genres and styles of storytelling “I’ve worked all over the industry. I attribute that to a good story is a good story. I feel like I can feel in my gut whether a story is working or not.”

Of all the genres he’s worked on, Guy thinks “The hardest in my experience, and perhaps least respected, is writing for pre-school. It’s the most responsibility. You have to be extra-extra careful of what you’re putting in front of our precious boys and girls.”

Guy elaborates “For instance, pre-schoolers don’t have a great concept of time. So the idea of creating tension with the proverbial ‘ticking clock’ goes out the window. So writers have to re-think how to do certain things. Even veteran writers sometimes struggle with it.”

The process for creating any story starts with the spark “It all starts with what’s a good idea. What’s a great idea for our show. In particular, pre-school animation, we’re heavily involved with a curriculum expert who really understands what kids are watching and what they’ll gain from watching. Our show is geared toward two to five-year-olds. So we have to understand what’s cool for a three-year-old to watch and be able to follow.”

Wrapping Up

Guy’s next project is for Disney, and it’s called Tiny Ones Transport Service “T.O.T.S. is basically the storks. A penguin and a flamingo want to join the storks and deliver babies. Of course, the penguin can’t fly, and the flamingo is constantly lost, but together they make the perfect team.”

Inspiration comes from all sorts of sources that don’t often inspire a direct line. “I would love you to know how I got into making kids TV. I grew up on Spielberg movies. All those movies where kids were the main character. I always thought ‘that guy knows what it’s like to be a kid’ and that was a huge influence on me.”

Spielberg was a spark, the big bang of inspiration if you will “Then I became a dad. And for about five years I was a stay at home dad. I made a point to sit down with my kids and watch shows with them. I didn’t like much of it. In my brain, I thought ‘if I ever do this I’m coming at it with a Steven Spielberg point of view. That wonderment.’”

Guy’s ultimate goal “When a kid and a parent are both laughing and responding to what’s on TV, that’s the best kids TV there is.”

I mentioned before that Guy is a Star Wars fan. Well, something magical happened for the showrunner. One of Stinky and Dirty’s most notable characters is Spacy a spaceship voiced by none other than Mark Hamill “It was the highlight of my life. He’s one celebrity I totally geeked out over. I had to get a photo.”

Thanks to Guy Toubes and Impact24 PR for making this interview possible.

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Review: Think Twice Before Taking This RIDE

By

Sean Boelman

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Anyone who has ever used a ride-sharing app has probably questioned its safety. That is precisely the idea upon which the new film Ride is based.

The movie is about James (Jessie T. Usher, Independence Day: Resurgence), a driver whose night goes awry when he picks up the alluring Jessica (Bella Thorne, Midnight Sun) and the charming, yet manipulative Bruno (Will Brill, Slice).

The film is short, clocking in at less than an hour and twenty minutes. The story is very briskly-paced and to-the-point, economically delivering its thrills. Because of this, the movie never overstays its welcome and will quickly capture the attention of its younger target audience.

Unfortunately, the film ultimately feels disjointed. It is almost as if there are two separate movies in one. The first half of the film is practically a comedy, the characters exchanging playful banter and getting into hijinks. The transition into the thriller teased by the synopsis is abrupt and unsatisfying.

ride bella thorne jessie t usher — (L-R) Bella Thorne as Jessica and Jessie T. Usher as James in the thriller “RIDE,” an RLJE Films release. Photo courtesy of Rob C. Givens.

The first act is quite enjoyable. The characters are charming and likable, and the dialogue is solid enough. The second act, on the other hand, isn’t as successful. The changes in the characters were unjustified and far too sudden. The situation in which these characters found themselves in wasn’t believable. Additionally, the pacing in this section felt rushed. Even though the short runtime is ultimately to its advantage, the film could have added ten more good minutes at the climax and still been fine.

The movie also has a message about trust. It even markets itself as a cautionary tale. However, this message is lost in the shuffle, as the movie settles on fleeting references to the moral, opting instead to go for blind thrills. Much of the film’s mystery is unresolved, too. There is a brief news clip and a short monologue about the antagonist’s justification, but this is insufficient.

The cinematography and editing of the movie are both solid. The film’s visual style is sleek and modern, which works well given the movie’s thematic focus. Some very interesting editing techniques were used, particularly in the first half of the film, making it flow even better.

ride bella thorne gunpoint — Bella Thorne as Jessica in the thriller “RIDE,” an RLJE Films release. Photo courtesy of Rob C. Givens.

There were quite a few issues with the sound quality, though. The score is electronic-based. Though it fits the film nicely, it is very bass-heavy. As a result, there was a lot of reverberation with the sound. The dialogue also lacks clarity or has reverb at times.

The actors have great chemistry together, but the performances individually are nothing special. The best parts of the film are when any two of the three main characters are interacting together. The actors bounce lines off of each other well. Thorne is likable but had a hard time hitting the emotional beats. She often went too over-the-top. On the other hand, Usher is a little too subtle. It seems like he should be showing more emotion. Brill’s performance is the best of the three. He does an excellent job of capturing the character’s charm and mysteriousness.

Overall, Ride gets off to a strong start but falters towards the end. At the very least, it’s an amusing watch. Perhaps the film would have been better if the thriller elements would have been left out entirely.

Ride opens in theaters and is available on VOD October 5.

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SPIDER-GEDDON Trailer

Play By Play of the Panel

Q&A segment

OVERALL

About Colina: Legacy

Collaboration

Inspired by the 90s

Wrapping Up

BREAKING DOWN STAR WARS NEWS FROM WEEK 1, OCTOBER 2018. BECAUSE IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR, AWAY — THERE’S NEVER A DULL MOMENT.

Everything We Know About Favreau’s The Mandalorian

LEGO Set Of Vader’s Castle

What’s Included In LEGO Vader’s Castle

Episode IX Emergency Shoot Disrupts Adam Drivers Schedule

Star Wars Resistance Episode 1&2 Air Sunday, October 7th

Other Star Wars News

Pedro Pascal As The Mandalorian

The Mandalorian Rifle Might Look Familiar

Guy Toubes … Roll Out!

About Stinky and Dirty

Writing for Kids

Wrapping Up

Star Wars Resistance Episode 1&2 Air Sunday, October 7^th