There’s a big shakeup in the works at Marvel TV. No doubt the Netflix division is having some changes.
Creator Melissa Rosenberg is leaving Jessica Jones as showrunner.
According to reports, Rosenberg will leave the show after its third season. She is preparing for an exclusive deal with Warner Brothers Television. The Hollywood Reporter reveals Warners did beat out Netflix in a bidding war. Needless to say, the former would be successful, but the latter did try courting her to stay.
“As I look ahead after this season, I’m thrilled that I will be able to explore new projects with the talented team at Warner Bros Television and push myself in new challenging creative directions,” Rosenberg says.
Rosenberg has been with the show since its inception. After years of development, the ABC network did pass on the series. Undaunted, Rosenberg’s show would find a home at Netflix. This is part of a Marvel TV deal with the streaming service. The deal also includes Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and the Punisher.
As of now, Jessica Jones is a hit, and the title character is a pop culture icon. Ditto series star Krysten Ritter. Season one actor Mike Colter would find success in this show and Luke Cage.
As a writer, Rosenberg is known for her TV credits on series like Dexter, Ally McBeal, The O.C. and Boston Public. With regard to film, she’s been with the Step Up and Twilight franchises.
“All of my attention remains with the extraordinary cast, writers and production team of Marvel’s Jessica Jones, until the completion of season three,” she says. “It continues to be a career highlight working with my partners at Marvel Television and Netflix.”
Should Jessica Jones get a fourth season, Rosenberg will have a credit as creator and executive producer. After all, she is responsible for making the show.
“We’re extraordinarily grateful to the viewers who have supported us every step of the way on Jessica’s journey,” she says.
Rosenberg credits the crew and cast, including Krysten Ritter, Rachael Taylor and Carrie-Anne Moss, for the show’s success. “We have so many talented storytellers in every area of this show, who I’m honoured to call friends and collaborators.”
For now, Rosenberg is preparing for the third season of Jessica Jones. It will premiere on Netflix in 2019, and Ritter will be making her directorial debut on one episode.
Who should replace Rosenberg as the showrunner? Share your thoughts below!
The weekend that Ontarian pop-culture nerds have been waiting for is finally here, well, kind of. Starting August 30th at 4 PM, the festivities got underway by featuring a variety of Doctor Who- and Harry Potter-themed escape rooms, LARPing, celebrity photo-ops, and a retro video gaming arcade. One presumes that there are also a variety of costumed folk hanging about, and, if there’s any sanity left in the world, a variety of back issues, vintage and otherwise, for fans to riffle through. Unfortunately, I wasn’t there to witness the kickoff of FanExpo Canada 2018, but I will be providing some coverage of events on Friday and Sunday.
And, although I’ll be attending FanExpo Canada 2018 in my official capacity as a writer for Monkeys Fighting Robots, I’ll also be searching for a few back issues.
If you’re anything like me, a compulsive buyer of comicbooks, you’ll have a list of desired issues with you whenever you go comicbook shopping. I will be bringing my tattered six-page list to direct me in my purchases, and I hope to take it down a few pages. Because celebrity interviews are uncertain, but comicbook purchasing isn’t, I thought I’d provide my own kickoff of FanExpo Canada 2018 by sharing some parts of the extensive list of comicbooks I’m looking for. After all, the 14 boxes I already own are getting lonely.
FanExpo Canada 2018 Bound: My Love for Machine Man
“No, I’m not Jim Hammond or the Vision. My name is Machine Man. I made it easy to remember.”
Perhaps more than others, I have a soft spot for ’70s and ’80s B-list heroes and villains that over the years just didn’t develop a solid fan-base, Beta-Ray Bill among them. Unsurprisingly then, I am in search of Machine Man’s entire published bibliography. For those of you who have never heard of Machine Man, he’s another in a long line of Marvel’s sentient androids, but, significantly, he was one of the final Marvel properties created by Jack “King” Kirby, followed only by Devil Dinosaur and his pal Moon-Boy.
Machine Man was created and raised like a son by Dr. Abel Stack. For an alias, MM alternately goes by the first digits of his registry, X-51, or the name Aaron Stack, given to him by his creator.
FanExpo Canada 2018 Bound: Morlocks and the Mutant Massacres of the ’80s
“What I do best ain’t nice, but it looks real good in chromium.”
In addition to looking for Machine Man comicbooks, I’ll be looking for some others from the ’70s and ’80s, including issues of the “Mutant Massacre” story-line from 1986. This crossover hunt involves one of the most embarrassing titles on my list, Power Pack #27. For casual readers, the Power Pack are a group of super-powered children created by Louise Simonson and June Brigman in 1984. Although the series was actually quite popular, I never feel right, as a childless adult male, purchasing a comicbook about a bunch of super-brats.
In addition to rounding out my collection of the “Mutant Massacre” story-line, I’m also looking to finish off a few other mini-series and crossovers from the ’80s, including The Sword of Solomon Kane, Storm and Illyana: Magik, Havok and Wolverine: Meltdown, Warlock: Special Edition, and the “Atlantis Attacks” crossover featured in Marvel’s selection of annuals from 1989.
FanExpo Canada 2018 Bound: The ’90s and Beyond!
“Behold my cosmic cover!!”
Since I really started reading, and buying, comicbooks in the ’90s, I’m also on the hunt for several issues from that decade, including such classics as Silver Surfer/Warlock: Resurrection, X-Men Spotlight on...Starjammers, Warlock Chronicles, and the complete run of Warlock & The Infinity Watch. Of course, I was collecting Infinity War and Infinity Gauntlet comicbooks before they were cool, and have been on the hunt for all of both multi-title crossovers for the past nine years — my progress slowed substantially by fans of the Avengers: Infinity War movie buying up all the film’s source material.
Bound to love any property thrown at me in the ’90s, I’ll also be looking for Deathlok comicbooks, specifically his initial four-part run from 1990.
I’m also a hopeless follower of of Spider-Man’s interminable clone saga, and have been trying to find every comicbook featuring Ben Reilly or any other creation of Professor Miles Warren for the past 11 years.
FanExpo Canada 2018 Bound: Special Selections
Not quite the last Galactus story…
Although my quest to find basically every Spider-Man comic published between 1995 and 1997 is no less valid than any other title hunt I’m on, I think that the coolest issues I’m looking for, and have been for some time, are Epic Illustrated #26–34. I’ve only found one so far, but I hope to find more. These nine comicbooks feature “The Last Galactus Story” by John Byrne and Terry Austin.
Although this epic tale of Galactus’s origin and life was cut short by the cancellation of Epic Illustrated in 1985, it remains one of the most fan and critically acclaimed tellings of the planet-eater’s origins, and, as there doesn’t appear to be a movie featuring Galactus currently in the works, I just might find some issues of this cool story at a reasonable price.
FanExpo Canada 2018 Bound: Great Community
Although I have to admit that I’m more excited about getting a chance to find some of my missing comicbooks than hobnobbing with fellow nerds, going to conventions is always a fun, if somewhat expensive, way to meet people with similar hobbies, or obsessions as the case may be.
The last convention I attended was a lot of fun, so I’m happy to be able to cover another one for Monkeys Fighting Robots. I’m even happier, though, that I’ll have my list with me this time.
Filmmaker Shane Black doesn’t hold anything back in the final trailer for The Predator. The f-bomb filled trailer reminds fans why we love Thomas Jane, “We’re all going to die!”
About the film: From the outer reaches of space to the to the backwoods of southern Georgia, the hunt comes home in Shane Black’s explosive reinvention of the Predator series. Now, the universe’s most lethal hunters are stronger, smarter and deadlier than ever before. And only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and an evolutionary biology professor can prevent the end of the human race.
Based on the characters created by Jim Thomas and John Thomas; Fred Dekker and Shane Black put the screenplay together for the film.
The Predator stars Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Munn, Sterling K. Brown, Alfie Allen, Thomas Jane, Augusto Aguilera, Jake Busey, and Yvonne Strahovski.
The Predator hits theaters September 14.
Are you going to see The Predator opening night? Comment below with your thoughts on the next installment of the Predator franchise.
James Franco on the set of KIN breaks down the script and what Jonathan and Josh Baker bring to as filmmakers and twins.
About the film:
KIN is a pulse-pounding crime thriller with a sci-fi twist, is the story of an unexpected hero destined for greatness. Chased by a vengeful criminal (James Franco) and two otherworldly soldiers, a recently released ex-con (Jack Reynor) and his adopted teenage brother (Myles Truitt) are forced to go on the run with a weapon of mysterious origin as their only protection.
KIN is directed by the Baker Bros. from a screenplay written by Daniel Casey, based on the short film Bag Man by the brothers.
The film stars Jack Reynor, Myles Truitt, Zoë Kravitz, Carrie Coon, Dennis Quaid, and James Franco.
A new Mister Fantastic, a powerless Ben Grimm, and an original Fantastic Four member finally makes a return all in this week’s MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #9 as Chip Zdarsky nails the unbreakable bond between Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm.
WRITTEN BY: Chip Zdarsky
ART BY: Ramon K Perez
COLORS: Federico Blee
LETTERS: Joe Caramagna
WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE SPOILERS TOO!
To see what happened last issue, click on the writer’s name below.
Summary
The story opens with Johnny and Ben taking on the new Fantastic Four from the Multiverse created by the Mad Thinker. It turns out; the Mad Thinker stole Koul’s (the women who left them in this Multiverse) technology that she used issues ago to give people metahuman abilities to recreate the Fantastic Four. Then, the Thinker stole the Multisect and tracked down Ben and Johnny by following Amadeus Cho’s signal.
Well, even without powers, Ben and Johnny put up a good fight and manage to hold off the Mad Thinker Four. The two powerless O.G.’s escape out into the desert where their car flips over, pins them down, and explodes just as they crawl to safety. Zdarsky closes the issue with Ben and Johnny starting to get their cosmic abilities back and Sue Storm standing over them! Is it THEIR Suzie? Are Reed and Susan both back? And, are their powers back for good? We’ll have to wait until next issue to find out.
Hail Mary
Zdarsky threw a Hail Mary on the powerless Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm angle during MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #8. How exciting would the Thing and Human Torch be without their abilities, as well as their other team members? Well, issue 8 was dull and bland leaving readers to have their doubts on the direction of MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE, but Zdarsky’s Hail Mary was caught in the end zone for a touchdown this issue.
Zdarsky rebuilt Ben and Johnny’s relationship against a classic FF villain and ended the comic with a splash of hope. He also managed to combined and revisit elements throughout his run to make the puzzle fit together perfectly like the metahuman powers angle from the beginning of the series and the Mad Thinker stealing the Multisect.
Brothers Forever
Zdarsky nails Ben and Johnny’s relationship wonderfully throughout the issue. These two may not be related by blood, but they are just as much connected as Sue and Johnny. Ben and Johnny fight, bicker, hang out on road trips, are overly protective of each other, and even after Ben’s bold face lie, they are always there for one another because deep down they’re family. Zdarsky drives this point home by showing their heroism against the Mad Thinker in the face of danger. These two are willing to die for each other, as well as a universe they don’t belong in.
Readers feel for Johnny and know that these two knuckleheads have to find Reed and Sue at some point. Well, the wait appears to be over, and readers will finally get to see the reunion years in the making. Fans should get excited for what Zdarsky has planned.
The Art
Ramon K. Perez’ art continues to underwhelm. His lack of facial detail, thick outlines, and depth of expression don’t convey tone or reaction well. At times, Perez’ faces were blurry, distorted, and confusing while inadvertently mimicking a look of sickness and continual sadness in each panel. Federico Blee’s colors were soft, warm, and made Perez’ designs seem flat and two-dimensional. However, Perez shows glimmers of greatness when he takes the time to focus on the characters faces like on page 10 and 17.
Should you buy this issue and/or add it to your pull list?
If readers want to get a firm grasp of the family mechanics of Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm, as well as what makes the Fantastic Four so fantastic, this issue hammers that point home so well. Pick this issue up if you are new to the characters and wish to dive into Slott’s FANTASTIC FOUR run. Fans should also add this to their pull list if they would like to see how the team gets back together.
Zdarsky reassured fans on the last page that his comic still has weight, merit, and that he appears to have been given the keys to the Fantastic Four’s reunification. Opinions can change from issue to issue. This series began well out of the gate and became a must-read. Then, the series started to fizzle in the last two issues. Now, this series needs to be back on every FF fans pull list going forward. How will Zdarsky get the team back together? Hopefully, fans find out next issue.
What did you guys think of MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #9? Comment below or hit me up on Twitter @dispatchdcu. If you would like to read more of my reviews, just click HERE!
We need to talk about Yoshiyuki Tomino, the father of Gundam. Why do we need to? Simple, because of the insanity, the downright misery, and that slight glimmer of hope that is present in Tomino’s work, which is present in everyday life. Again, it’s going to be one of those articles.
There are a lot of things you can say about Tomino. His often contradictory views of popular anime, his shows have the propensity to kill off more characters than any season of Game of Thrones or any show written by the Urobutcher (looking at you, Madoka Magica, and Aldnoah.Zero), a lot of his later work has not been thought of highly in the popular consensus (looking at you, Gundam Reconguista in G). He seems a relic of a bygone age. Yet this is the same man who brought us the cash cow known as Gundam, provided the road map for Evangelion with Ideon, and created one of the worst anime ever in Garzey’s Wing. Clearly there is something within Tomino’s creative sensibilities worth talking about.
What you think of when you mention Tomino’s work
None of the points I mentioned above, have answered the important question which needs to be asked: “Is his work any good?” This question is kicking off this retrospective called “The Complete Mecha Works of Yoshiyuki Tomino.” Or CMWYT, for short. I’ll work on the title.
Let me lay out some ground rules beforehand. First off, these are shows he directed featuring giant robots or are tied directly to giant robots. This is why I won’t be reviewing Triton of the Sea, yet I will be reviewing Garzey’s Wing and The Wings of Rean, the latter two have connections to Aura Battler Dunbine.
Yes I will talk about the evolution of Gundam, why do you ask?
Secondly, things like novels, radio dramas or manga will not be included (Gaia Gear and Crossbone Gundam will appear as a special appendix to the series when it nears the end).
Thirdly, because this is Tomino we’re talking about, I’ve included two extra qualifiers to the final summation: the “The Tomino depression scale.” If the fans are to be believed, the more depressed Tomino was, the better the series is. We’ll test this theory to see if there’s a ring of truth to it. The second qualifier is “What makes a Tomino show, a Tomino show?” We’ll try to figure out this question, yet here’s what I have so far:
If it turns out Victory Gundam is the most representative of all his shows, I’m stopping the retrospective.
Whiny “girlfriend”
Mysterious “girlfriend”
Char Aznable style rival
The Bright Slap
Death (and lots of it)
Unintentional comedy
Annoying kids
An adorable animal (or equivalent)
Ineffectual protagonist
An aristocratic evil force
A series compromised to fit the constraints placed upon it.
A supporting team of questionable support.
I’ll be adding more to this list as time goes on. Yet before the shows themselves, I want to talk about Tomino’s background.
I didn’t mean himself in the background, never mind.
Yoshiyuki Tomino was born November 5, 1941, after graduating from Nihon University, he joined Osamu Tezuka’s (then) anime studio: Mushi Production in 1964. The first show he directed was episodes for the original Astro Boy and proceed to parlay this work into directing episodes of Princess Knight (1967-68). During his time at Mushi Production, he worked on a show called Wandering Sun [aka Nozomi of the Sun] (1971), and met future co-collaborator Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, who worked as the character designer. One year later, after leaving Mushi Production, Tomino got his chance to direct his first series, an adaptation of a different Osamu Tezuka manga: Triton of the Sea (1972). He continued to direct episodes of series: like the original Casshan series (1973-74), and even did storyboard work for the first season of Space Battleship Yamato (1974-75). By 1975, he had joined Nippon Sunrise, a then low key studio formed three years prior by former Mushi Production employees, and was assigned to direct a series, known as Brave Raideen.
So join me, in this retrospective of a famous anime director. I hope you have fun and get downright frustrated with me as I try to figure what makes his work tick.
The 2018 Summer Movie Season is almost over, which means it’s time to start talking about some of the biggest and best new movies. From Solo: A Star Wars Story and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom to Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Incredibles 2 and Avengers: Infinity War, this Summer has been loaded with great movies (and some pretty bad ones), but which has been the greatest? In the latest episode of Kieran’s Movie Space, Kieran McLean ranks and discusses his top five Summer movies of 2018.
Kieran’s Movie Space is an insightful, fun and reliable new podcast for fans of all things cinema. Host Kieran McLean delivers in-depth reviews of the latest movie releases, from small indie movies to massive blockbusters.
Make sure you hit the like button, subscribe and review the podcast! Alternatively, you can subscribe to the Monkeys Fighting Robots newsletter to be notified when new episodes are available, plus amazing content!
Composer Kurt Oldman was, I argue, born to create music, and his talent and skill lead him to the movie business and projects like the recent The Spy Who Dumped Me, some Marvel films, indie films, and currently SuperMansion on Sony’s Crackle streaming service.
Monkeys Fighting Robots talked about SuperMansion with Kurt and about the process of making music for projects of wildly varying budgets and genres.
In the Beginning …
Kurt’s parents are both musicians, so it’s safe to say his DNA was coded for an aptitude in music. Film scoring came a little later “It was really something that developed slowly for me. I knew I wanted to be in music since I was very little but it really wasn’t until I got my first chance to score a film that I considered it.” The film was a two-and-a-half hour Swiss docu-drama called Endless Escape.
Kurt’s work on Endless Escape was the spark “I was in UCLA studying film scoring a year and a half later, and the rest is history.”
About SuperMansion
What’s SuperMansion all about? “SuperMansion is about retired superheroes. They’re trying really hard, but they’re always pretty much failing. I came on board pretty late in season one … and ended up writing the music for season two and from there.”
Picking Kurt’s Brain
What mental steps does a new project entail? “The process is always different. Sometimes I get to read a script early on, but most of the time the spotting session is where we first really discuss things. I think the tone of the final film is hard to get from the script. Seeing the film is a must.”
With age comes experience “Something I try to do now … write 10-15 minutes worth of just initial reactions to the project. Write whatever feels right. Most of the time it’s the right general idea, this gut instinct, that just needs some refinement instead of thinking things to death.”
What’s Kurt’s go-to instrument when he first sits down to work on a score? “… it’s always the piano.”
Big versus Small
Kurt’s worked on projects from large tentpole films like both Guardians of the Galaxy films, smaller budget films like Hardcore Henry, to projects on TV that typically don’t boast film budgets. How does the money behind a project affect Kurt’s process “A lot of the studio films, you’d be surprised how much gets replaced, reshot, trimmed down. You can go from a four-minute scene to a minute and a half scene and the piece you wrote for it doesn’t quite make sense anymore. So, you have to kind of rethink it.”
However, for indies, things work differently because you can’t afford to tinker forever “That’s the good thing about smaller films, you don’t have the money to take that into consideration.”
Another significant difference between a smaller project and a bigger one “It’s amazing how many people are involved [on big-budget films], how many opinions have to be considered.”
Challenge of Change
Composers sometimes see various cuts of a single film “You might plan ahead for something that’s going to happen, create a theme but the storyline [with an edit or two] changes …”
Part of the filmmaking process for all players to understand “At some point, you have to let go, confident that you delivered the best version you possibly can.”
As with every creative process, there are frustrations and breakthroughs “There was one TV movie I did where I was pulling my hair out for a week. Something about it did not gel. I did the obvious kind of stuff for a thriller, suspense type of TV movie, but it just did not gel. So, we sat down and said let’s try something else … we went full film noir and tried to be as unsubtle with the music as possible, and it worked.”
Influences Now And Then
Like many people, Kurt cites films like E.T. and Hitchcock movies as early influences “I grew up on people like [Jerry] Goldsmith and [Bernard] Herrmann. I studied these guys to death. I’m still studying the score to Vertigo to this day.”
Later on in life “Chris Young was a big influence for me. Everything I ever learned about horror films came from him.”
And today “The person who comes closest for me these days is the writing style of James Newton Howard. I think he sort of has the same sort of influences, the same sort of a point of view as I do.”
What’s Next …
On the agenda for Kurt “SuperMansion season three. I’m on a project with Hasbro that I can’t really say much more about. (TEASE!) A few more TV movies too.”
Thanks to Kurt Oldman and Impact24 PR for making this interview possible.
The Unexpected #4 hits your local comic book store on September 5, but thanks to DC Comics, Monkeys Fighting Robots has a five-page exclusive preview for you to check out.
Dark Nights: Metal aftermath continues to rock the DC Universe. With a comic like The Unexpected, this is where things can get interesting and fresh ideas are born. Steve Orlando has free reign to create adventures, look for the unexpected in this series (Ugh, I can’t believe I just typed that!).
About The Unexpected #4: The Unexpected race to save Gotham City from exposure to the toxic Nth metal—and you don’t come to Gotham without meeting the Bat-Family! But who else besides Batman knows enough about the Dark Multiverse and the poisonous Nth metal to be of help? Enter the Huntress! And it all wraps up in Castle Frankenstein!
The book is written by Orlando, with the talents of Yvel Guichet, Cary Nord, Scott Hanna, and Jeromy Cox handling the artwork.
Check out the preview below.
Do you have The Unexpected on your pull list? Comment below with your thoughts on the Dark Nights: Metal aftermath.
In a crossover, no one (or everyone depending on how hopefully you are) saw coming, Rick and Morty embark on a grand adventure of playing Dungeons and Dragons. Is the issue a natural 20 or a critical miss?
Rick and Morty play Dungeons and Dragons. Seriously bro do you need any more of an introduction?
Writing
Patrick Rothfuss and Jim Zub approach the issue with a slow build up which throws the reader off guard to when the comedy finally shows up. The book starts off flat and bland. It reads like a commercial comic from the 80s where everyone is into the product except for the main character. Here it’s Morty who doesn’t know what Dungeons and Dragons is, until he searches, and finds out it might help get him laid. The book seems as it had utterly wasted potential it could have explored. Then Rick shows up, realizes Morty wants to learn how to play D & D, and it’s as if the light switch connected to the comedy was flipped. When the comedy does arrive, Zub and Rothfuss nail it. The rest of the issue is overflowing with gut-busting comedy.
Artwork
The art by Troy Little finds a way to capture the look of the characters in the show perfectly. Rick and Morty look closer to their animated counterparts than some of the designs from the main comic series. At the same time when the characters are drawn in their D & D personas, the art doesn’t detract, and it reads like a natural progression.
The color work by Leonardo Ito aids with capturing the look of the show. Everything from the color of Rick’s portal to the alien creatures they encounter is able to find a perfect call back to the show.
The lettering by Robbie Robbins is astonishingly good. Thanks to the use of timing and style, the comedy is tight and the moments of action flow smoothly. Also, some impressive use of very bizarre sound effects to help what is happening in different panels.
Conclusion
Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons and Dragons finds a way to perfectly capture not only the humor of the show but the perfect synergy of two great properties crossing over. If you are a fan of Rick and Morty and can’t wait for a new episode, then you owe it to yourself to pick up this issue and leave with a smile. You’re welcome, bro.
Are you an insane Rick and Morty fan? Comment below with your thoughts on this issue.
