Ice Cream Man by W. Maxwell Prince, Martin Morazzo, and Chris O’Halloran is a special kind of creepy, and Image Comics has provided Monkeys Fighting Robots with an exclusive reveal of the variant covers for issues five six, seven, and eight (because we don’t want you to sleep at night).
The gorgeous and deeply unsettling variants are by Frazer Irving, Christian Ward, Fábio Moon, and Vanesa Del Rey. Prince talked about his emotional response to each cover.
“Frazer’s variant (much like Martín’s main cover) is literally vertiginous—it erases the ground from beneath your feet, giving you a sense of plummeting forever. It’s a beautiful piece, but it gives me the willies; I think it might have something to do with the Falling Man’s infinite, ice-cream-covered mouths…” said W. Maxwell Prince.
“Christian Ward’s is 3 flavors of despair, Fabio Moon’s has nostalgia, and Vanesa Del Rey’s brings deep, true terror”
Prince also has great advice for working with artists and commissioning work.
“My motto for commissioning cover art is: get out of the way. Which is to say that I like to let an artist do their job with as little interjection from me as possible. Generally, I give an artist a rundown of what a given issue is about—this includes main characters, important scenes, or the sort of “music” I’m trying to make with the story. But after that, I run as far in the other direction as possible, waiting like a child until a beautiful piece of art pops up in my inbox. This hands-off approach has worked swimmingly for me so far, and I recommend it to anyone working with specialists they trust,” said Prince.
What do you think of the covers? Comment below.
Ice Cream Man, Vol. 1: Rainbow Sprinkles TP hits your local comic book store on June 20, and issue five comes out on July 18.
About ICE CREAM MAN Chocolate, vanilla, existential horror, drug addiction, musical fantasy…there’s a flavor for everyone’s misery. ICE CREAM MAN is a genre-defying comic book series featuring disparate ‘one-shot’ tales of sorrow, wonder, and redemption. Each installment features its own cast of strange characters, dealing with their own special sundae of suffering. And on the periphery of all of them, like the twinkly music of his colorful truck, is the Ice Cream Man-a weaver of stories, a purveyor of sweet treats. Friend. Foe. God. Demon. The man who, with a snap of his fingers-lickety split!-can change the course of your life forever.
Since our breaking news on season six of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Hollywood Reporter has come out with the news that the show will air its 13 episode season during the summer of 2019.
S.H.E.I.L.D. Season Six
Perhaps the reason for the delay is the upcoming Infinity War: Part 2 film, which may have major repercussions for the Agents. Whether this year’s Infinity War will affect them in any way remains to be seen.
According to an article on The Hollywood Reporter‘s website, the hiatus between seasons five and six is sizable. While the day and time are still unknown, the mini-season does not return until Summer 2019. The finale to season five airs this Friday, May 18th, at 9PM.
The show is the only Marvel property to survive more than two seasons on basic cable. Both Agent Carter and Ihumans were cut short, however Netflix originals including Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Daredevil have fared much better. S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s future has been rocky for several seasons, but showrunners Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen “…negotiated a reduced licensing fee that helped secure a fifth-season pickup.” They are likely behind the greenlit sixth season, as well.
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. currently airs Friday nights at 9/8C.
It’s finally here.
A teaser trailer for Bohemian Rhapsody is finally here.
The trailer rocks as hard as any Queen-centric project can and promises a release date of November 2nd, 2018. Take a moment to watch it and try sitting still through the whole thing.
We Are Already Rocking You
Rami Malek is electric as Freddie Mercury, the ill-fated lead singer of Queen, easily the most innovative and daring band in the post-Beatles landscape. Whether you’re familiar with deep tracks, or only ever stomp to “Another One Bites the Dust”, it’s hard to deny Queen’s magnetic pull, even after all these years. So hard to deny, in fact, that the British west end theatre that houses “We Will Rock You” (a Queen-based jukebox musical from the brain of Brian May) had a larger-than-life faux gold statue of Freddie outside the ticket booth for its first ten years’ worth of shows. “We Will Rock You” opened in 2002, and on its tenth anniversary the statue disappeared.
Bohemian Rhapsody: The Trailer
Have you rewatched it yet? Maybe do that now, then come back. We good? Great.
Freddie was singular, but that doesn’t make him faultless. An easy thing to do here would be to clean up his legacy, ignore the flaws and the affairs and the short temper. But even in this 1:37 teaser, it’s clear that Bohemian Rhapsody doesn’t flinch. Malek manages to show off Freddie’s vulnerability, genius, anger, and, most importantly, his charisma. Sometimes all it takes is a tilt of his shoulder. Other times it’s the way he could get an entire stadium of people to sing along with wordless riffs.
Perfect casting doesn’t stop with Malek, though. See below for side-by-side comparisons of the original band members and their modern-day counterparts.
The trailer also blends songs from the Queen catalogue as though that’s the only way they should be heard: bleeding seamlessly back and forth between tracks. The result is a heady, non-stop ride that leaves you dizzy in the best of ways by the end.
Don’t even get me started on the costumes.
After a rocky start, a change in directors, and a complete halting of production, Bohemian Rhapsody’s future could have been cut short. Thank goodness it rallied and returned, ready for theatres this fall. Without any blockbusters as competition, here’s to hoping it does as well in theatres as it clearly deserves.
As beautiful and puzzling as the sphinx itself, “The Riddle of the Sphinx” is a divisive episode that may split the audience, but will leave people talking about it. Featuring the return of a fan-favorite character while omitting a few mainstays, some threads are connected while the whole cloth is pulled in different directions. SPOILERS follow, so tread no further if you are not yet prepared. If you need a refresher on what happened last week, point your browser here.
“If you aim to cheat the Devil, you owe him an offering.”
The Rolling Stones song “Play with Fire” opens the episode, but instead we’re asked if we can find sympathy for the devil as we pan around (and around) a stylish, circular little living space that turns out to be the apartment/cell of James Delos (magnificently played by Peter Mullan). Delos finds out that he has died, and his consciousness is now in a host (“If you can’t tell, does it matter?”). It turns out the reason William was able to convince Delos to back Westworld financially was so that he could try to achieve immortality. Delos wanted to be able to “live on” as a host. There’s a problem, though. His mind, unable to accept reality, can’t effectively bond with his new body, and quickly deteriorates. Each new version of the host is destroyed (along, for some reason, with everything else in the apartment). After years and 149 attempts, William tells Delos that the process won’t work (never mind that the monitoring tech later says Delos was stable until William walked in) and that he thinks it’s meant to be. Man, or at least some men, aren’t meant to live forever. He tells Delos that his wife, son, and daughter are all dead, then leaves him to rot in his glass cell.
The series of scenes focused on Delos are ingeniously layered to create for us a subconscious sense of inescapable, cyclic time that Delos feels. From the round room to the repeating conversations, to the swirl of coffee, director Lisa Joy shows us that Delos achieves a form of immortality, but the Devil is not cheated so easily, and his Hell seems fitting retribution for the suffering of the hosts.
“Is this now?”
Bernard, whose failing mind has left him lost in his own series of loops, is reunited with season one favorite Elsie (Shannon Woodward), his former coworker in Behavior. Elsie is not pleased to see him, since the last time they met, Bernard (under Ford’s orders) was choking her out in the abandoned theater. It seems he left her chained in a cave to prevent her from ruining Ford’s plans. He fills her in on what’s been happening and in turn, she helps him understand what’s happening to him. Due to the damage to his system, Bernard has a faulty sense of time. At any given moment, he doesn’t know if what he’s “experiencing” is happening now, or if he’s stuck in a memory of it.
The pair step into Hell as they enter the chamber where William abandoned Delos. Delos, now deranged, attacks Elsie, but Bernard saves her. Delos gives a maniacal speech about the nature of his torment before Elsie incinerates him. Bernard flashes to a memory of Ford sending him to retrieve another control unit (the digital “brain” on which a human’s mind is stored), leading to Bernard slaying several humans and drone hosts. He doesn’t remember who was imprinted on the unit, but signs seem to indicate it was Ford himself.
“Time is coming.”
Grace, the mysterious guest from the Raj is driven by the Ghost Nation to a camp where Stubbs tells her rescue is coming to get them out of the park, but she tells him she’s not interested in leaving. The hostages are taken in front of “the first of us” (Akecheta, who was the man pitching Westworld to Logan in “Reunion”), presumably to be killed. Grace escapes and Akecheta tells Stubbs “You live only as long as the last person who remembers you.” then…lets him go.
“You haven’t known a true thing in all your life.”
William and Lawrence find their way back to Las Mudas (home of Lawrence’s wife and daughter). They are taken captive, along with the rest of the citizens, by Craddock and what remains of his Confederados. The sight of Craddock menacing Lawrence’s family brings William back to memories of his own, he remembers his wife’s suicide (which his daughter says was his fault). In a spectacular, rain-soaked gunfight, William kills the Confederados, risking his own life to save Lawrence’s family. But is that enough to redeem him? Not according to Ford, speaking once again through Lawrence’s daughter. William tells Ford he wasn’t trying to redeem himself, just playing Ford’s game. They ride off towards Glory, and run into Grace, who with a smirk greets William, “Hi, Dad.”
Wrapping It Up
Delving into Delos’s “living” hell made for maybe the best single installment of Westworld, but there’s only so much that can be shown in a episode (even if it clocks in at over an hour), and it shows at times. Previous episodes have done a better job of incorporating all the main characters so the audience doesn’t lose sight of what all is happening. The scenes with Elsie and Bernard are muddled and the dialogue seems too overtly expository, a sign that the writers may be stretching too far in an attempt mystify viewers. We, like Bernard, have limits to how many plotlines and timelines we can keep in mind at once. Or maybe I’ve just reached a “cognitive plateau”.
Deadpool 2 shows what happens when you let Ryan Reynolds and company do what they want to do – like in the first film – and actually put the studio’s support behind it.
Following the events of Deadpool, Wade Wilson is back to his mercenary ways, and living happily with his sweetheart Vanessa. But when Cable, a time traveler with a metal arm, arrives from the future to kill a young mutant, Wade decides to step up and protect the kid.
Real talk: the story here is just ok. The first Deadpool‘s plot was more interesting. This one is basic and straightforward. It’s a traditional antihero arc and pretty predictable. It’s not bad, just average. But honestly, the story isn’t why you’re going to see this movie.
You’re going to see it to see Deadpool be Deadpool, and he’s FAR more Deadpool in this movie than he was in Deadpool (did you get all that?).
Where the first flick broke the fourth wall, DP2 demolishes it. From literally the first line of the film, the meta jokes and cultural references come flying at you at breakneck speed. This is what makes DP2 so damn fun. It’s everything fans have come to know and want from the character. The jokes are great, and they hold nothing back. No one – no character, no film, no real life cultural icon – is safe.
The references aren’t only packed in the dialogue either; they’re everywhere. The sets are full of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Easter eggs and visual gags. You’ll have to watch the movie multiple times to catch everything crammed in here, and you’ll be happy to do so. The filmmakers truly went above and beyond to make this movie fun for the fans. (Especially comic book fans. There are a ton of jokes that are just for those of us who know why a car is driving down “Gerry Duggan Boulevard”.)
And while the story is average, it too benefits from this rapid fire writing. There’s no fat in this script. It’s not weighed down by the overstuffing that most sequels suffer from. Good on director David Leitch and writers Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Ryan Reynolds for crafting such a tight, engaging follow-up. The time just flies by, and before you know it the movie’s over and you want to watch it again.
It’s not all fun and games, however (just mostly). The filmmakers again do an excellent job exploring the tragedy of Deadpool. He’s not all dick and fart jokes (again, just mostly). He uses that humor to mask something deeper, and sadder. And it’s that something that makes him such a compelling and interesting protagonist.
Speaking of compelling and interesting characters, Deadpool 2 introduces some great new members to the team. Josh Brolin’s Cable and Zazie Beetz’s Domino in particular are standouts. They’ve got great chemistry with Reynolds and do their comics counterparts justice. It’s their addition that makes the future of this franchise look bright.
There are a few times throughout the movie where the visual effects look shabby and unfinished, unfortunately. The more traditional action sequences are great. There’s a montage at the start of the film and the fight choreography is top notch. But then, during larger, more explosive chase scenes, the green screen and CGI is downright painful if you notice that sort of thing. So if you watched the Final Trailer and thought, “I guess they still need to clean up the effects before it’s released,” just know that no, what you see there is what you get.
Deadpool 2 proves that this series is in the right hands. Reynolds and his crew of dazzling degenerates know what makes this character tick, and they’re intent on putting the fans first. Now that they’ve gotten the studio’s support behind them, there’s no stopping them.
Deadpool 2 opens everywhere this Friday, May 18th.
Here’s the actual Final Trailer if you fell for that other link.
David Leitch’s Deadpool 2 is the perfect mix of severed heads, pantsless vigilantes, awkward touching, and a family-centric narrative which will leave audiences delighted.
Often the crush of expectations can derail the success of a sequel, but Ryan Reynolds inner-merc (some might refer to it as his ability to be a smart-ass) was enough to overcome them. Deadpool 2 doesn’t seek to explore previously visited portions of Wilson’s rich source material but does take the time expand where the narrative of the first film left off. Each member of Wade’s inner circle experiences some evolution (even our lovable, foul-mouthed, unicorn loving hero). Now, this doesn’t mean Deadpool is suddenly a rational crime fighter; it just means even cocaine sniffing spandex wearing slayers of bad guys can gain perspective.
To avoid spoiling the film, the only thing fans need to know is Wade Wilson has taken his hero for hire campaign internationally. Writers Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Reynolds developed a story which seamlessly connected the original film with their vision of an expanded universe for Deadpool. What was remarkable is how close they remained to the source material. The comedic beats appeared effortless and tailored towards Reynolds brand of humor. Reese and Wernick not only have a good sense of their co-writers comedic talents, but they were also able to bring out the best in the ensemble.
Josh Brolin shows the world why he was chosen to play Cable by turning in a strong performance highlighting the physicality and emotional torment of our favorite time traveling soldier. Zazie Beetz is fantastic as Domino. The chemistry between Beetz and Reynolds is undeniable which makes me hopeful for any future X-Force film. Loved how the narrative gave Stefan Kapicic (Colossus) an expanded role. Kapicic is excellent in the original movie, and the trend continues in Deadpool 2. Brianna Hildebrand returns as Negasonic Teenage Warhead providing great moments as she is continually clashing with Deadpool.
Leitch managed to keep the pace consistent allowing for no lag in the film. He utilized quite a few closeup shots to enhance the vicious action sequences. Those moments certainly had a Kill Bill Volume 2 vibe to them. During the more emotional moments, he went to a two-shot allowing both participants to share the spotlight. Even though there was some drama surrounding who was directing the Deadpool sequel, Leitch indeed shows why he was the best director to move this franchise forward.
Johnathan Sela’s cinematography indeed is on display during the numerous action sequences in Deadpool. Sela used camera placement to enhance the hilarity of the scenes. For example, by shooting behind Deadpool and Weasel, it made the interview scenes hysterical. Speaking of hysterical, the post-credit scenes in the film are the best of any superhero film. Any slight hint would ruin how great they are. Just remember to stay until the very end of Deadpool 2.
Overall, fans couldn’t have asked for a better sequel which appeals to both the hardcore and regular comic book readers. Reynolds will be forever tied to this role (in the same way Robert Downey, Jr. is connected to Iron Man). Even if you aren’t a fan of comic books, but are looking to laugh your ass off, then this film should indeed be on your list.
When the writing team of Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Ryan Reynolds make more references to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Deadpool 2 than a full season of Daredevil on Netflix does, Deadpool forces his way into the MCU, and that’s how it should be.
Deadpool 2 is also part of DC Extended Universe, the My Little Pony Universe, and our universe; all of the fourth wall breaking and sidebar jokes at everyone’s expense are what makes the movie amazing and better than the original. The movie is also the perfect anti-Avengers: Infinity War without putting down or taking away from the Russo Bros.’ film.
What’s surprising about Deadpool 2 is how much the film makes you care about the individual characters. There are so many jokes and action sequences that when a personal moment hits the screen, it has such impact that the emotion takes you back. Then Deadpool kicks your legs out and carries you back to the action. As crazy and over the top the film is, you care about the characters and Reynolds takes full advantage of your emotion.
Credit for this film’s success needs to go in the direction of David Leitch. As the director, Leitch was able to control the chaos and ride the wave of action. He exceeds expectations in how he handles Zazie Beetz’s portrayal of Domino and her powers. The insane amount of time that was put into choreographing Domino’s action sequences is apparent, and it was worth every ounce of sweat.
One of the most fantastic aspects of the Deadpool film franchise is its ability to fix past mistakes in the X-Men Universe and beyond, and make the most cynical fanboy squeal. This goes back to the writing team and their ability to push the envelope as far as possible. The final battle is ripped directly from comics with an R-rated twist.
If Johnny Knoxville and his team at Jackass were great writers, Deadpool 2 is the film they would make.
Josh Brolin is serviceable as Cable, and I’m surprised there were not more Terminator jokes. As crazy as the rest of the film was, Cable’s story is relatively simple and the movie avoids the complexity of his origin. Brolin is the perfect straight man to Reynolds antics.
Overall, Deadpool 2 will be one of the best rides you will have in a theater this year. Reynolds and company weren’t holding anything back for a third film and gave you the most insane Deadpool experience possible.
If you’re a fan of the WWE and you read those two simple words “Excuse Me,” the voice in your head isn’t saying them politely… it’s screaming in an obnoxiously deafening tone. This is the work of one of the most successful and recognizable women in the WWE, Vickie Guerrero. Sometimes it takes a loud voice to get heard, and the women of the WWE and the WWE Universe have certainly been shouting as well. And now, they’re being heard.
I was honored to chat with Vickie Guerrero after she had made an appearance at Steel City Con in Monroeville, PA, last month. We talked about a lot of things, some of which I’ll keep to myself because KAYFABE, and locker room gossip shouldn’t be general public knowledge out of respect for the business of sports entertainment. We did, however, talk a lot about the women of the WWE and how things have changed over the years.
The term Diva was coined by Sable during the height of the Attitude Era. This time period saw the women as eye candy, with storylines that weren’t taken seriously. These ladies competed in things like evening gown matches, bikini matches, bra-and-panties matches, and pillow fights.
“I remember Eddie calling home often and telling me not to let the girls watch that night,” Guerrero explained, after he learned what matches would be included in the night’s television lineup. Things were a little more raunchy back then. Do we all remember Debra’s “puppies?” I admitted to Vickie that, even as a life-long WWE fan, I had stopped watching for a time because of the annoyance of this phrase and the disgusting representation of the women in the business.
Body image was something that was exploited in the Women’s Division. Guerrero and I discussed Chyna as an example. She was a powerful, strong, talented, and beautiful woman. Yet, they dressed her in bikini-style attire, when the focus should have been more on her athletic ability.
Lita – Photo Credit: Sportskeeda.com
The tides changed slightly when women like Molly Holly, Lita, and Trish Stratus debuted. Their ring attire was more modest, and their athletic abilities were unmatched. Lita performed higher-risk moves including moonsaults and diving hurricanas. She flew through the ring just as effortlessly as her Team Xtreme brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy. Still, the women were showcased as a novelty, with a handful of decent matches, but the WWE was still a very male-dominated business.
The ladies started to get some more attention paid to them with the debut of Total Divas, a reality show on the E! Network based on the personal lives of several of the women in the WWE. The show, which debuted in 2013, highlights real-life situations of love, money struggles, family drama, travel, injuries, and more. Total Divas and Total Bellas are a guilty pleasure, myself included, knowing that a show about the WWE can only be so open before the kayfabe curtain stands in the way. Still, it let the public in, giving these women more respect and admiration for their wild lives.
A giant wakeup call to the WWE creative team came in the form of a hashtag that was a surprising worldwide trend. After a match in February 2015 featuring The BellaTwins versus Paige and Emma that lasted less than 30 seconds, #GiveDivasAChance lit up Twitter like a Christmas tree. The WWE Universe ran with it. Media outlets ran with it. And even the superstars themselves ran with it. The heads of WWE noticed, and it seems that things haven’t been the same since… in a good way.
The WWE Divas Championship, created as part of the brand extension to SmackDown, was introduced by then-General Manager Guerrero in 2008. The Divas belt lasted 8 years until the title was changed to the WWE Women’s Championship (eventually becoming the RAW Women’s Championship) at WrestleMania 32 (2016). In a meeting with the women prior to the event, WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon announced: “You will no longer be referred to as Divas, you will simply be Superstars. There is no reason why there should be any difference between the caliber of performance of our male and female performers.”
Emma, Paige, Summer Rae, Alicia Fox, Brie Bella, and Renee Young – Photo Credit: WWE Network/E! Entertainment/Total Divas
McMahon’s words that night were just the start of the history-making advances that the WWE would make with the Women’s Division over the next few years: The Women’s Revolution. Hell in a Cell and Money in the Bank were just the beginning. The women got their first major pay per view main event at the 2018 Royal Rumble.
First Ever Women’s Royal Rumble
All it took was a phone call from Vice President of Talent Relations Mark Carrano for Vickie Guerrero to agree to make an in-ring appearance as an entrant in the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble. With the match fielding 30 competitors, the current women’s roster wasn’t large enough to fill the card. Fan speculation began over who would come back or get called up from NXT.
2018 Women’s Royal Rumble – Photo Credit: WWE.com
Guerrero’s call came in December, and she was told to keep it a secret. “I kept quiet about it because of the respect for the business, but to keep the surprise for the fans as well.” The women who were participating in the event didn’t know who was rounding out the card until everyone arrived at the hotel conference room for rehearsal the night before the event. It was then that they were all told that their match would be the main event of the pay per view, much to everyone’s surprise and delight.
As part of her ring attire, Guerrero packed slouch heeled boots. “I figured I’d just cheat and slide out of the ring! I was told no, I had to get eliminated by going over the top rope, so if I twisted an ankle, just play it off.” She had considered doing some shopping for different shoes on the day of the event, but couldn’t risk being seen out in public in Philadelphia. Guerrero spent less than a minute in the match before being eliminated, giving her the shortest competitive time of any entrant. “I got booed and I got to hit Carmella with her Money in the Bank case! It was amazing!”
Eddie’s Legacy
It’s no surprise that even after his untimely passing in 2005, Eddie Guerrero’s legacy still lives on today.
Eddie Guerrero – Photo Credit: WWE.com
“Eddie was a perfectionist. I would often catch him rehearsing his lines in the bathroom mirror,” explained Vickie. “Every time I cut a promo, I would think ‘What would Eddie do.’ I always wanted to make him proud.”
Eddie and Vickie’s eldest daughter, Shaul, spent a few years wrestling in the WWE’s developmental league, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), which was later rebranded as NXT. As her ring name Raquel Diaz, she held the Queen of FCW and FCW Divas Championship. However, she left in-ring performing in 2014. In 2016, she married Matt Rehwoldt, better known to all of you as Aiden English.
But one current superstar who has been very vocal that Eddie Guerrero is her inspiration is Sasha Banks. “I tried to avoid seeing Sasha during the weekend of the Rumble. I knew if I saw her, I’d cry,” Guerrero admitted. The two were able to sit and talk, and the WWE cameras captured their conversation.
So, what’s next for Vickie Guerrero? She recently celebrated her 50th birthday by skydiving, she’s attending college for medical administration, she just launched her YouTube channel, and she’s penning a book. She’s also involved with a new promotion called Wrestle Kings 3 Productions, which will work closely with charities such as the Veterans Freedom Project.
Jessika Carr – Photo Credit: WWE.com
What’s next for the women of the WWE? Paige was recently named SmackDown Live’s General Manager, making her the third woman to hold a general manager position on the weekly episodic shows. Last year, the WWE and NXT introduced the first full-time female official Jessika Carr, who I had the opportunity to see at a recent local NXT Live event. So still, the women continue to make history. Guerrero’s hunch? “Extreme Rules and Summerslam are coming up soon. I guess we’ll have to wait and see!”
With Justice League now in the rear view, fans are looking towards Aquaman as the release date nears. The film will follow Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry as he begins his ascension to the king of Atlantis. It will not be an easy journey as Curry will deal with villains Ocean Master and Black Manta. And we may have just gotten our first look at the latter.
A leaked Lego figure, posted on Instagram, may have revealed our first look at Black Manta in the upcoming DC film. You can check out the post below:
Black Manta, aka David Hyde, has an extensive comic history, first appearing in Aquaman #35 in 1967. Since then the character has grown to become Aquaman’s greatest nemesis, which included stints with both the Legion of Doom and Suicide Squad. Hyde has also become a staple of DC animation, appearing in a plethora of TV including Young Justice, Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Justice League Unlimited.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is set to play Manta in the upcoming DC film. His other work includes Baywatch and The Greatest Showman. He also appeared in Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Abdul-Mateen is looking to bring a menacing presence to the screen as he will likely team up with Patrick Wilson’s Ocean Master to attempt to gain the Atlantean throne.
Aquaman is in an interesting spot. It’s set to be the first DCU film released following the lackluster Justice League. It’ll take a strong outing from James Wan and crew to get this universe back on track.
What do you think of Black Manta’s look in the upcoming Aquaman? Let us know in the comments below!
Aquaman star Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Ludi Lin, Randall Park, Nicole Kidman and Dolph Lundgren. It will be directed by horror guru James Wan with a script by Will Beall.
Beloved superhero group Doom Patrol is heading to production for the DC Universe streaming service, according to Deadline. Thirteen episodes have been ordered and the show will tie in to the upcoming Titanslive-action series.
The show will be executive produced by Greg Berlanti, whose work on Supergirl, Arrow, and Black Lightning should make him familiar to DC fans everywhere. Also exec-producing are Geoff Johns, Sarah Schechter, and Jeremy Carver. No casting decisions have been announced, but we should have news soon, since the show is scheduled to premiere in 2019.
DC released the following description of the series:
DOOM PATROL is a re-imagining of one of DC’s most beloved group of outcast Super Heroes: Robotman, Negative Man, Elasti-Girl and Crazy Jane, led by modern-day mad scientist Dr. Niles Caulder (The Chief). The Doom Patrol’s members each suffered horrible accidents that gave them superhuman abilities—but also left them scarred and disfigured. Traumatized and downtrodden, the team found purpose through The Chief, who brought them together to investigate the weirdest phenomena in existence—and to protect Earth from what they find. Part support group, part Super Hero team, the Doom Patrol is a band of super-powered freaks who fight for a world that wants nothing to do with them. Picking up after the events of TITANS, DOOM PATROL will find these reluctant heroes in a place they never expected to be, called to action by none other than Cyborg, who comes to them with a mission hard to refuse, but with a warning that is hard to ignore: their lives will never, ever be the same.
Who’s your favorite member of Doom Patrol? Sound off in the comments.
The show is the only Marvel property to survive more than two seasons on basic cable. Both 
Rami Malek is electric as Freddie Mercury, the ill-fated lead singer of Queen, easily the most innovative and daring band in the post-Beatles landscape. Whether you’re familiar with deep tracks, or only ever stomp to “Another One Bites the Dust”, it’s hard to deny Queen’s magnetic pull, even after all these years. So hard to deny, in fact, that the British west end theatre that houses “We Will Rock You” (a Queen-based jukebox musical from the brain of Brian May) had a larger-than-life faux gold statue of Freddie outside the ticket booth for its first ten years’ worth of shows. “We Will Rock You” opened in 2002, and on its tenth anniversary the statue 
