When Wally West returned in DC Universe: Rebirth, fans rejoiced. As arguably the most popular version of the character, his return symbolized a return to form. Since his escape from the Speed Force, Wally has been going on adventures with the Titans throughout the DC Earth, while his mentor Barry has been sticking to Central City. This April, however, these two Flashes will go to war with one another. This Flash Annual is the prelude to this event, so how does it all start?
**Some Spoilers Below**
Story:
Wally West, now about a year and a half out of the Speed Force, has yet to approach his Aunt Iris. He’s worried that like his former wife Linda, Iris won’t remember him. Due to this, he decides to try and talk to an old flame, Frances Kane. When Wally approaches her, it does trigger her memories… But as a supervillain. Meanwhile, in the 25th century, a group of time-traveling agents are investigating the murder of Eobard Thawne. When they learn the suspect is Iris West, they prepare to travel back and arrest her.
I loved this issue, despite the little Flash War set up. This is a character piece, examining Wally West and his adjustment to his return. The last time we had a story like this was during the first arc in Titans with him trying to get his wife back. Most of his stories now are action packed and full of excitement. It’s nice to see this slower issue that has Wally working on the burden he’s carrying.
My one gripe with this comic is a nitpick, but a noticeable one at that. Wally decides to try and talk to Frances Kane, one of his former rogues. It doesn’t matter if she’s a former love interest and former Titan, Wally should have expected a fight. This leads to a nice reconciliation between the two characters either way, so it doesn’t derail the story too bad.
Art:
Both art teams did an amazing job illustrating this issue. Christian Duce illustrates the present day story, where he masterfully draws the story of Wally West. The emotion on the characters’ faces feel authentic and pull on the emotional strings. You can feel the sadness of Wally, the anger of Frances, and the frustration between the two Flashes. It fits the story perfectly. The future part of the issue was drawn by Howard Porter, who also illustrated the Running Scared arc a few months back. He’s always drawn the future of DC well, as seen in the Justice League 3000 series, and this is no exception. While I won’t spoil the team that is sent back, I will say they are the best looking characters I have seen from him in a while. With his style penciling the future, and Duce penciling the present, we have one fantastic looking book.
Conclusion:
This was a great annual for not only Flash fanatics, but also any comic fan. It has great action and character arcs that readers will find interesting. The art looks fantastic, from the epic designs in the future to the emotional details of the present. If you’re looking for a book to read this week, give this one a look.
The time has come to get into your giant robot lion to fight against the evil of the universe as Voltron: Legendary Defender will soon have its fifth season available on Netflix. After months of waiting, the next installment of the adventures of the paladins of Voltron has been scheduled for release.
SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4 FOLLOW
The latest season will be a welcome site fans of the series. The season finale of season 4 left the story with an immense cliffhanger. Sure, the cliffhangers of the first and second season were pretty intense but this last one offered a very unique plot twist. After the betrayal of his team, Prince Lotor decided he needed some new allies. In the final moments of the season finale, Lotor arrived in time to to bring aid and save the Paladins and their comrades from certain destruction. The episode ended with Lotor insisting they needed to discuss working together. The fifth season will allow the consequences of this unforeseen new development to properly play out.
The fifth season of Voltron: Legendary Defender is set to debut on March 2nd 2018.
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Are you looking forward to new episodes of Voltron: Legendary Defender? Leave a comment
As if we weren’t anxious enough waiting for the movie to open in theaters, Kendrick Lamar just made it worse! The Grammy award-winning rapper released the full track list for Marvel’s Black Panther via Twitter.
Lamar is on five of the tracks. Other artists include School Boy Q, Khalid, and The Weeknd.
Kendrick Lamar Twitter
K.Dot who also is a producer on the album had this to say when the album was first announced, “Marvel Studios’ ‘Black Panther’ is amazing, from its cast to its director. The magnitude of this film showcases a great marriage of art and culture. I’m truly honored to contribute my knowledge of producing sound and writing music alongside [director] Ryan [Coogler] and Marvel’s vision.”
The first single “All The Stars” featuring SZA was released earlier this year.
Black Panther: The Album Tracklist
1. “Black Panther” feat. Kendrick Lamar
2. “All the Stars” feat. Kendrick Lamar and SZA
3. “X” feat. ScHoolboy Q, 2 Chainz and Saudi
4. “The Ways” feat. Khalid and Swae Lee
5. “Opps” feat. Vince Staples and Yugen Blakrok
6. “I Am” feat. Jorja Smith
7. “Paramedic!” SOB x RBE
8. “Bloody Waters” feat. Ab-Soul, Anderson. Paak and James Blake
9. “King’s Dead” feat. Jay Rock, Kendrick Lamar, Future and James Blake
10. “Redemption Interlude”
11. “Redemption” feat. Zacari and Babes Wodumo
12. “Seasons” feat. Mozzy, Sjava and Reason
13. “Big Shot” feat. Kendrick Lamar and Travis Scott
14. “Pray for Me” feat. The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar
We are not alone in saying that there are plenty of Women of Marvel that we would like to see in their very-own feature films one day. Now that The Walt Disney Co. has purchased a lot of important characters from 21st Century Fox, we thought we’d touch on a few we’d like to see.
There are at least 3-4 famous leading ladies set to star in their own respective films that we know of, Captain Marvel, which is currently filming, and both Black Widow, which is looooooong overdue, and Kitty Pryde. There have also been some rumblings on a possible Squirrel Girl project as well.
We think it’s time to shine the spotlight on some other super women and X-gals. Now that creative control is back with the creator of all these great characters, it should do what it does best, interloop all these individual stories into stand-alone films and then mash them up into one big team-up blockbuster with each of their own respective super squads.
With all that said, see below for seven characters, that might be too powerful for their own good, but all of whom we’d love to see front-and-center.
Abilities: She is a mutant with the capability to absorb the powers, personalities, memories and outward physical characteristics of others through skin-to-skin contact [BIO].
Cool Story, Bruh: After permanently absorbing the powers of Ms. Marvel, who possesses a mutant/alien (Kree) physiology, it granted Rogue immunity to poisons and a near-indestructible body, to go along with the ability of supersonic flight and incredible strength. She also collected her ‘seventh sense’, psychic powers to help anticipate an opponent’s moves.
Abilities: This mutant has psionic powers that allow her to manipulate the weather. She can create any form of precipitation, varying degrees of winds and induce lightning-type bolts and electrical bursts, all by using her hands. She can also fly via wind generating [BIO].
Cool Story, Bruh: Ororo Munroe is a descendant of African priestesses, an ancient line, all of whom possess her trademark white hair, blue eyes and the potential to wield magic.
Abilities: She is a ninja, skilled in hand-to-hand combat and prolific with weapons. She is immune to telepathic probes and can generate a telekinetic katana sword or blade through her fists, which can be used to stun, control or kill opponents [BIO].
Cool Story, Bruh: Born Betsy Braddock, she has been brainwashed numerous times and fallen victim to the biddings of the aggressors, including by foes like Mojo, the Hand clan and the Mandarin, but Wolverine, has bailed her out countless times.
Possible Actor(s): We can’t really imagine anyone else other than Olivia Munn in this role since she took it and ran with it in X-Men: Apocalypse, but some other great options might see: Elodie Yung, Christine Ko or Tao Okamoto.
Abilities: She has the power to manipulate magnetism with the potential to exercise that of magnetic, electrical and gravitic fields. She can also levitate metallic objects, suspending them in air, and create force fields [BIO].
Cool Story, Bruh: Her adopted name is Lorna Dane, but she is actually the daughter of Magneto, which, in turn, makes her the half-sister of both Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch.
Possible Actor(s): So, yeah, Emma Dumont plays the character on The Gifted and is awesome in the role, but if the ‘powers that be’ don’t bring her to the big screen, a few options might include: Hailee Steinfeld, Bella Thorne or Naomi Scott.
Abilities: She does not possess any special powers, but is a skilled gymnast and highly talented in hand-to-hand combat, weaponry and overall athleticism [BIO].
Cool Story, Bruh: She is the last of the Zen-Whoberi race and is the adopted daughter of Thanos, who crafted her into the perfect killing machine. She turned on her ‘father’ when she realized his true intentions and joined up with the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Possible Actor(s): We refuse to believe anyone can top the performance that Zoe Saldana has done as this character in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, so no ‘other possibilities’ will be listed. She must be this character till further notice. Alright, fine. Let’s go with: Dominique Tipper, Kat Graham or Zoë Kravitz.
Abilities: Clarice Ferguson is a mutant that can create teleportation warps. She can use them to travel, move people and objects and can even teleport to other planets. She also has the ability to generate her powers into javelins, which when thrown at a foe, will send them away [BIO].
Cool Story, Bruh: She was born into the nightmare scenario of the Age of Apocalypse, a wacky time where Professor X is dead and a bevy of factions have formed, while the world is literally upside-down. She was taken in and raised by her surrogate father, Sabretooth.
Possible Actor(s): This is also another character currently being portrayed on The Gifted, by Jamie Chung, who has been great. If she isn’t the star of a possible movie, then the part could maybe go to: Kelli Berglund, Marie Avgeropoulos or Jessica Green.
Abilities: She possesses great strength, durability and endurance, as well as a stout healing factor. She can actually control her transformation at times as well [BIO].
Cool Story, Bruh: She is Bruce Banner’s cousin, born Jennifer Walters and, unlike the Hulk, she actually retains her intelligence and personality in her altered form.
Which leading lady would you prefer to helm these characters? Do you have a favorite female superhero you would like to see in her own film? Let us know in the comments section below!
Before you leave, make sure to click HERE to check out the five Women of DC we’d like to see get their own respective movies.
Clint Eastwood is 87-years old, and still directing features with the consistency of a filmmaker half his age. He has The 15:17 to Paris out in February, a thriller about three men who thwarted a terrorist attack – starring the three men who actually did it in lieu of actors. Now, he’s lined up his next project, The Mule.
Eastwood will not only direct The Mule, but he will star. Which makes perfect sense, as the story is about Leo Sharp, a 90-year old horticulturist who became a drug courier for the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. He was busted with $3 million in cocaine in his truck, and in order to try and avoid a three-year jail sentence his lawyer claimed Sharp was suffering from dementia. But not suffering severely enough to not mule drugs…
This will be the first time Eastwood has been in front of the camera since 2012’s mediocre baseball dramedy Trouble With the Curve. But let’s not worry with that one, prior to that Clint Eastwood last starred in 2008’s Gran Torino, which is definitely something to see with 2018 eyeballs.
Stay tuned for updates on The Mule, which will probably be in some manner of postproduction by the end of February. Seriously, the guy is a machine!
News of a Bad Boys 3 has been floating around in the ether for what feels like decades now. In recent years, those rumors of a third adventure of wisecracking Miami cops Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowrey picked up steam, even getting a fresh new title: Bad Boys For Life.
Then, everything dissipated once again because Will Smith was busy making bad decisions (hi, Bright) and everyone else was either busy or… I don’t know. That doesn’t matter, what does matter is Bad Boys for Life is back in the discussion, and it’s brought a pair of directors in Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.
Arbi and Fallah won the Discovery award at the Toronto International Film Festival for their film Black. Deadline announced their involvement, and also announced that screenwriter Chris Bremner has written a draft. This is Remner’s first writing credit, although he did produce 2015’s The Wedding Ringer, which is not a real movie. It’s not. Have you seen it? Find one person who’s seen it and prove me wrong.
As for Bad Boys For Life, it’s probably not the best idea. Who knows. There’s still no guarantee this is going to happen, however, as studios and Will Smith haven’t been as eager as everyone else involved with the project, including Jerry Bruckheimer who is still making a push.
Stay tuned as this bizarre odyssey continues to unfold.
Truth be told, DC Comics has a depth chart as long as a laundry list when it comes to female characters, with so many awesome heroes and villains in its lineup. It is because of that reason that we settled on five, or else we’d be here all night.
That being said, you got Gotham City Sirens coming, which is supposed to feature Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, who is also rumored to have a solo project coming out. We also know there is a Batwoman film on the way and Wonder Woman 2 is already in pre-production. However, here are a few women of DC that we’d love to see in the starring role as well.
Abilities: While under a yellow sun, she possesses superhuman strength, speed and stamina, invulnerability and x-ray vision [BIO].
Cool Story, Bruh: Born Kara Zor-El, she was sent away from her planet, Kandor, amidst an attack by Braniac, to look after cousin on Earth, Kal-El from Krypton, aka Superman.
Possible Actor(s): Everyone has to admit that Melissa Benoist as Supergirl on The CW is pretty darn great, but the ‘powers that be’ have publicly said they plan on keeping TV separate from films (sigh). So, some possible choices include: Katheryn Winnick, Haley Bennett or Zoey Deutch.
Abilities: She is a martial arts expert, highly skilled in both hand-to-hand combat and weaponry and possesses the ability to produce a deafening sonic scream attack on foes [BIO].
Cool Story, Bruh: On one of DC’s many multiverses, namely ‘New Earth’, she is part of a crime-fighting group called The Birds of Prey, along with fellow members Oracle, the team leader, Huntress, Blackhawk, Dove and Hawk.
Possible Actor(s): This character, as far as the Arrowverse is concerned, has seen a lot of actors play it. Like we said, it doesn’t look like the TV actors will adapt the character on the silver screen, so it would seem that the awesome Juliana Harkavy is not an option. Maybe we could see any of the following: Anna Kendrick, Samara Weaving or Hunter King.
Abilities: She is an alien princess, from the planet Tamaran, with the abilities of flight and energy projection. She also possesses both superhuman strength and durability [BIO].
Cool Story, Bruh: When she is using her powers, Koriand’r’s hair seems to glow and looks to be on fire, especially when shooting off her starbolts.
Abilities: She is highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat as a ninja warrior. She wields a magical katana called, the Soultaker, which steals the essence of those she strikes down with it and stores their souls inside. [BIO].
Cool Story, Bruh: Her magical katana actually contains the spirits of her family, who were all struck down by the villain, Takeo Yamashiro. The spirit of her husband speaks to her through it.
Possible Actor(s): Karen Fukuhara was awesome as this character in Suicide Squad, so we’d expect her to take on the role. However, such is Hollywood and, should she not be cast, a few fall-backs might include: Arden Cho, Tian Jing or Rila Fukushima.
Abilities: She is extremely athletic and highly skilled in gymnastics and hand-to-hand combat. She carries a cosmic staff which gives her the powers of energy projection and flight, while her cosmic converter belt allows her enhanced agility, durability, speed, stamina and strength [BIO].
Cool Story, Bruh: Her given name is Courtney Whitmore and was created by DC Comics Editor Geoff Johns. She apparently has the characteristics of his actual sister, who tragically died, among others, on TWA Flight 800.
Which leading lady would you prefer to helm these characters? Do you have a favorite female superhero you would like to see in her own film? Let us know in the comments section below!
Before you leave, make sure to click HERE to check out the seven Women of Marvel we’d like to see get their own respective movies.
Brian Michael Bendis reported for duty at DC Comics on January 2, and the publisher previously announced Bendis’s involvement with Action Comics #1000 in the form of a short, with art by DC Co-Publisher Jim Lee.
The next announcement from DC about Bendis looks to be in the form of Batman news. The writer teased the Batman announcement on Twitter he did a big interview Tuesday night and attached a GIF of Michael Keaton from Tim Burton’s Batman. Bendis also mentioned on his Tumblr confirming he’s working on a Batman book.
thatadamtaylor asked: Now that you’re moving to DC, any chance you can talk them into letting you do that Daredevil/Batman crossover that was talked about years ago?
“I’ll do better than that. What if I were to tell you that my daredevil run was one half of the Batman crossover, and now I’m going to do the other half, and you guys will be able to put it together,” said Bendis.
The question now becomes what Batman book he plans to work on. The most significant draw would be a stand-alone twelve-issue maxi-series. It is hard to imagine DC giving Tom King the boot on the main Batman title. On the other hand, Bendis would raise the profile of Detective Comics as it approaches #1000 (no offense to James T Tynion IV). Detective makes the most business sense as sales would skyrocket if Bendis has a two-year storyline planned out.
We reached out to DC Comics for comment, and the publisher replied with “We have no information on Brian Michael Bendis to share. Stay tuned for news: dccomics.com/blog/press.” Which means, the announcement is coming it is just a matter of time.
What do you think, do you want to see Bendis take over Detective or work on a new series? Comment below.
For reference: Bendis worked on Daredevil vol. 2 from May 2001 until March 2006 (Issues #16–19, #26–50, #56–81).
This is it! The final chapter of Matthew Rosenberg’s Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey!
***SPOILERS LIE AHEAD***
There’s a lot of tension as Logan enters that diner in the opening scene. Is the tension from the narrative or the desire for this story to successfully cross the finish line without cringe? I think it’s fair to say it’s a little bit of both.
After a violent throat slash by wrinkly Logan, Jean remembers who she is and has it out with the Phoenix Force once and for all. They literally hash it out in a way we’ve never seen the Phoenix before.
While the entirety of Phoenix Resurrection hasn’t been without some drag, there’s none to be found here. Matthew Rosenberg takes us into a new chapter for one of the most crucial X-Men in a fresh way without inducing any eye rolls.
Somehow Rosenberg made the Phoenix a sympathetic entity, with Jean’s well being at heart. It was fantastic to come into this expecting some big battle, only to find a heartfelt conversation about living life with all its risks. It’s a fragile human denying the immortal offer of a god in order to live her life. It was a touching, human moment.
The moment with Scott was a heartbreaking tease that resulted in a strong moment for Jean. She played the last ditch effort of the Phoenix in her favor and got to say goodbye to her husband. His rotting corpse on the final page is a bit unsettling afterwards, a curious choice by the art team.
At the end of the issue, it really feels like our Jean is back and that it matters. It doesn’t feel shoe-horned or thrown together, it feels earned. Rosenberg had a tough task in front of him and fully delivered.
The story as a whole five-issues definitely had some fat that could’ve been trimmed. I fail to see why every available X-Men had to be there still, especially having now seen the final page. There was a lot of standing around and pointless walking to fill pages. A smaller cast would’ve made for a more intimate affair, but Marvel probably requested a full roster and the usual “BIG EPIC, FOREVER CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE” kind of story.
X-Men comics have this thing they do all the time where they constantly find a reason to take a visual tour through the history of costumes. It’s not an exclusive to X-Men comics, it just happens most frequently (especially recently) with the mutants.
I can’t tell if it’s a frequent celebration of history or a lazy trick to fill pages. Either way, it works every time because no X-Fan gets tired of going down memory lane. It’s hard to make the largest and most iconic collection of superhero costumes unappealing.
Artists Leinil Francis Yu and Joe Bennett, inkers Gerry Alanguilan and Belardino Brabo, and colorist Rachelle Rosenberg land the plane smoothly. Jean’s emotional return and struggle against the Phoenix were supremely illustrated. A big reason in why a return of this magnitude is such an easy pill to swallow is because of the art. Also, that new black and red Phoenix costume is dynamite.
In the age where nobody is satisfied with anything, even when it’s tailor-made for them, this book manages to take home a win. The original Jean Grey is successfully back in our lives. Phoenix Resurrection. continues the trend of righting the X-Men ship and buying the goodwill of fans back
“Andy Serkis, with his unparalleled flexibility and understanding of movement, has made motion capture his own,” ICG President Steven Poster said. “We are delighted that he will be flying in from England to be with us.”
The multidimensional actor made his directorial debut with 2017’s Breathe and is currently in post-production, having directed the live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book. Serkis is also set to appear in the movie as the character, Baloo.
Serkis is set to costar in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe project, Black Panther, in which he is reprising his character, Ulysses Klaue (Klaw) from Avengers: Age of Ultron.
