Marvel Comics released a 4-page preview of Marvel Legacy by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic Monday afternoon, which readers their first look at the 1,000,000 BC Avengers (Odin, Iron Fist, Starbrand, Ghost Rider, Phoenix, Agamotto, and Black Panther).
“Marvel Legacy #1 isn’t simply a history lesson. Rather, it’s the starting gun to a bevy of mysteries, secrets, and revelations that will reverberate across the Marvel Universe in the weeks and months to come! No character, no franchise will be untouched by the game-changing events that play out across its pages. Jason and Esad pulled out all the stops to fat-pack this colossal issue with as much intrigue, action, surprise, mystery, shock, and adventure as possible,” said describes SVP and Executive Editor Tom Brevoort to Newsarama.
About Marvel Legacy #1
Since its inception, Marvel has been delivering groundbreaking heroes and explosive stories. Now, prepare to return to the dawn of time, as Marvel introduces you to the first Avengers from 1,000,000 BC – when iconic torch-bearers such as Odin, Iron Fist, Star Brand, Ghost Rider, Phoenix, Agamotto, and Black Panther come together for the startling origin of the Marvel Universe, in MARVEL LEGACY #1!
The acclaimed team of writer Jason Aaron (Mighty Thor) and artist Esad Ribic (Secret Wars) reunite for an all-new 50-page blockbuster one-shot that will take you through time to the current Marvel Universe, showing you how it’s truly “all connected.” A true homage to Marvel’s groundbreaking stories, MARVEL LEGACY brings your favorite characters together for exciting and epic new stories that will culminate in returning to original series numbering for long-running titles.
The 50-page Marvel Legacy #1 special hits your local comic book store on September 27.
Some may think that this is a bit of an overstatement, but when it comes to its popularity as an anime it comes up short. Nurarihyon no Mago is incredibly interesting as it delves into both Japanese Folklore as well as action. Despite being interesting, however, it never found its way to the top of the charts. Instead many have forgotten a treasure, lost in the sands of time.
A Summary of Nurarihyon
Before we begin to look at the anime, Japanese folklore has us look at Nurarihyon in general. Derived from Japanese stories, Nurarihyon is said to be a Youkai with an elongated head. Besides that his appearance resembles an elderly man in wealthy clothing, stealing foods from the rich. Much of this is seen in the anime as well, however, they depict him as both a younger and older spirit when Youkai truly doesn’t age. However, the story is focused on the grandson of the great Youkai, Nura Rikuo, a human child with ¼ the blood of a youkai. With the previous successor dead, Rikuo must now be the one to take control of the Youkai Army that was created by his grandfather. Yet succession is not easily accepted as many do not believe this young child is able to unite them all.
Falling Short
While I do like the concept and watched the anime when it did come out, it did feel like it didn’t gain steam fast enough. Not a failure in its own rights, but at the same time, it never gained enough momentum to stay afloat. It did manage 48 episodes despite this and I eventually found myself turning to the manga as well. In my opinion, if an anime makes you want to read into it deeper, the underlying potential is great.
Is it a masterpiece? I would have to go with no, but I find well told Youkai stories to be incredibly fascinating. With a large amount of research in Japanese Folklore required, the hard effort didn’t go unnoticed. While it is not the flashiest anime/manga it does take you on an interesting journey, something that shouldn’t be missed.
It seems the now almost a decade old Marvel Cinematic Universe has an internal timeline that may be as thought out as its comic book universe sibling. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts revealed this tidbit:
There’s an actual scroll that they unrolled for me. One of my producers, Eric Carroll, it was his first job at Marvel to work on a timeline and see where things line up and see where things didn’t quite line up. Like, ‘Oh, that’s when Captain America is born.’ Uh yes, it’s very long. It’s the most amazing thing because it starts, honestly, at the beginning of time — I don’t remember specifically, but I think it has something to do with Thor. It is truly an amazing document.
That’s not a surprise considering the MCU approach is kind of like a movie version of a multi-season TV show. And on TV, showrunners have been creating such timelines and show bibles for years. What do you guys think? Does that level of detail add to a cinematic universe? Or is it just overkill? Let us know and comment below!
Spider-Man: Homecoming swings intotheaters July 7.
“About Last Night” is a movie review show, where writer EJ Moreno talks about the movie he saw last night. This week’s episode is all about Marvel and Sony’s newest film Spider-Man: Homecoming. Check out the review below:
“Several months after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Peter Parker, with the help of his mentor Tony Stark, tries to balance his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens, New York City while fighting crime as his superhero alter ego Spider-Man as a new threat, the Vulture, emerges.”
Spider-Man: Homecoming stars Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, Zendaya, and Robert Downey Jr.
Let me know what you think of this review below!
Check out the latest movie from the MCU, swinging into theaters on July 7th.
Deadline has confirmed that production on the still untitled Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them sequel began today at Leavesden Studios just outside of London. Along with this announcement, they also provide readers with the first plot synopsis of the film, supplied to them by Warner Bros. Pictures, which offers up the first revealing details on its story.
Adventures in Babysitting, starring the never-aging Elisabeth Shue, was released on this day thirty-years ago. As such, I thought it would be fun to look back at what is – in my mind – not only one of my personal favorite eighties films, but also one of the best, quintessential movies to come out of that decade period!
Spider-Man fans have had a rough go of it at the theater. We’ve gotten emo Spider-Man from the Sam Raimi films and hipster Spider-Man from Marc Webb’s, but never “true” Spider-Man. Then Tom Holland stole the show in Captain America Civil War and webheads everywhere rejoiced. They had finally done it; they brought Peter Parker to life. And so Homecoming quickly became one of the most anticipated superhero movies in quite some time. Everyone wanted to see how Holland could do without the rest of the Avengers around to bolster him. It’s finally hitting theaters this week, and while it’s easily the best Spider-Man film yet, it’s just a perfectly ok superhero piece overall.
Homecoming takes place several months after the events of Civil War. Peter is back in Queens being a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man while anxiously awaiting Tony Stark to call him with his next assignment. Just when it feels like that call might never come, Pete crosses paths with the Vulture and his crew, and realizes that this may be his chance to prove his worth once and for all.
That’s a perfectly adequate plotline for a superhero movie. It’s not the most conventional movie in the MCU, but it’s also far from original. As Tony Stark says in the film, “there’s a little grey area in there, and that’s where [Homecoming operates].” It’s a simple, enjoyable story overall, but it’s not genre-defining. If you’re looking for a groundbreaking superhero movie, please temper your expectations before July 7th.
However, what really makes Homecoming special is all of its non-superhero related content. What’s always made Spider-Man a captivating character is how the writers focused on his personal life, and that’s finally translated to film here. Watching Peter in his everyday life – going to school, dealing with girls – is what’s going to keep your interest when the Vulture stuff wanes. It’s character development at its best, and it’s relatable.
Every critic out there is comparing Homecoming to a John Hughes movie, and that’s absolutely intentional on the part of director Jon Watts. There are tons of visual cues – some more blatant than others – meant to recall the likes of Ferris Bueller and The Breakfast Club. And much like those films, this is a coming-of-age story. Perhaps that’s why the superhero action sticks out as somewhat weak. Because we want to see less action and more of Peter coming to grips with who he is as a hero. He dreams of being called to The Show, but he also thrives as the man on the ground – the guy that deals with threats, again as Tony says, “below [the Avengers’] paygrade.”
Tom Holland further proves himself to be the best Spider-Man put to film yet. He’s the perfect amount of awkward, chatty, and energetic. He plays Peter as someone just happy to be where he is, as Holland himself must feel. Watts and his team of screenwriters also deserve a lot of credit for bringing this character to life. They hit all of the quintessential beats for both alter egos (something previous films have failed miserably at). Peter struggles to balance his social life with superheroing; he’s forced to let his friends down on more than one occasion. Plus there’s an early scene that shows Spidey stopping small time crooks and helping little old ladies that will put a huge grin on lifelong fans’ faces.
Admittedly, they might go a little too far with the suit. It crosses into Iron Man territory with all that it can do now. But it actually helps to emphasize the awkward, comedic side to Peter, since he has such a hard time figuring out how to use it at first.
With all that said, if you are a Spider-Man purist, you might walk out of this film with some issues. They nail the titular hero himself, but they take some mighty fine liberties with his supporting cast. It definitely feels like an Ultimate version of the universe, where everything is just slightly left of center. But this is one of those times where you just have to suck it up and accept that not everything from the comics will carry over into the films.
Especially because the supporting characters in Homecoming are so much fun to watch. Marisa Tomei as May, Jacob Batalon as Ganke Ned – they’re all as stellar in their roles as Holland is as Peter. And Michael Keaton absolutely slaughters as the Vulture, even if his storyline falters a little. Keaton plays Toomes so low key and menacing, kind of like Vincent D’Onofrio in Daredevil, making a previously goofy rogue terrifying.
The Bottom Line
Homecoming is the most accurate film portrayal of Spider-Man to date. And while the overall superhero story is just ok (but not bad by any means), the smaller coming-of-age story is what makes this a movie to watch time and time again – just like those John Hughes movies you’ve seen a hundred times.
Despicable Me 3 is a combination of visual decadence, 80’s gags, and a re-hashed narrative that will have children laughing their butts off.
Summary
The film is framed around two different stories. It begins by talking about the origin of super villain Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker) and how a failed child star became the world’s greatest evil-doer. Gru (Steve Carell) and Lucy (Kristen Wiig) are now veteran members of the Anti-Villian League, and they are hot on the trail of Bratt. The Anti-Villian gets word that he’s attempting to steal a huge diamond off of a freighter and dispatches our two heroes to go and apprehend the thief. Gru manages to retrieve the diamond but allows Bratt to slip away. This leads to them being fired. Seemingly out of nowhere, Gru finds out the very next day that he has a very wealthy twin brother named Dru and that he’s invited his family to his mansion. Lucy views this as an opportunity to bond with the girls. Gru sees it as a chance to connect with family. Dru thinks he can learn a thing or two about the family business. Of course, nothing happens as planned.
The other narrative centers around the Minions. They have grown weary of being safe and long for Gru to go back to being evil. When the minions beg to go back to their evil ways, he tells them no, so they decide to split. Soon after leaving, their shenanigans land all of them in prison. Will they wait out their sentences or bust out to rejoin with Gru?
What Worked
The animation is so crisp, and the lines are so clean that it gave the film a type of certain realism.
Parker’s vocal talents made Bratt a fun villain for Gru to go head to head with.
Lucy has this minor story line where she’s trying to figure out what it means to be a step mother. Very relatable to many families who will be paying to see this over the weekend.
Making the villain someone who was stuck in the 80’s was a great decision.
It was good to see Gru’s commitment to staying good even when his brother is tempting to back to what he knows best.
What Didn’t Work
It’s a paper thin story that appears to borrow from the first two films.
We see the same gags from the minions that we’ve seen over and over again.
Overall
There is much to say about Despicable Me 3. If we are judging this film on its merits, then no one should bother paying to see it this weekend. However, sometimes we venture to the movies because our kids are super jazzed to see something. There’s nothing in the film that wouldn’t appeal to children from the ages of 3-11. It’s not very often that something is released which is 100% kid friendly and if the kids are laughing a ton, sometimes that’s good enough.
Although 20th Century Fox already has a stacked lineup of coming book films, their lineup just got six films added to it. While we don’t know what movies will be coming out on these dates, it’s been confirmed that each is a Marvel Comics property.
The dates include June 7 & November 22 (2019), March 13, June 26, & October 2 (2020), & March 5 (2021). The release seem to be well spread out, with nothing coming out too close to another film.
Since we have the official dates, it’s time to speculate. Though the Fantastic Four are still owned by FOX, I doubt they’ll be using that property. Instead, however, I have a feeling these slots are related to Deadpool,X-Force, or X-Men.
What movies do you think we’ll see announced? Sound off in the comments below.
It’s been an eventful weekend for comic book covers from Image, and now over on his Twitter, original Image co-founder, and The Savage Dragon creator/writer/artist has revealed the image for his upcoming ‘Not Safe For Work’ explicit cover for the over-sized issue #225.
A censored version of the NSFW Savage Dragon cover by @krashzzone has found its way onto the Internet. It looks hilarious as censored. pic.twitter.com/B7MWB7a0yL
Sometimes I do things just because it amuses me. Image has done a few NSFW covers of late, and while they certainly qualify as NSFW, they haven’t been especially raunchy. The thought of some reader unwrapping this from its plastic sheath and doing a spit-take makes me laugh. I love comics—all comics. Every kind of comic book. If it’s well done, you can count me in as a fan. Love the underground comics from the ’60s and ’70s. Love European comics. I love a good superhero comic. I love a good horror comic. I love a good fantasy comic. I love a good Western comic. I love a good sex comic. I love a good comic—period. Love ‘em all.
You can head over to CBR to read the rest of his statements. The solicitation for Savage Dragon #225 reads:
In “The Merging of Multiple Earths,” SAVAGE DRAGON boasts a giant-sized 25th anniversary special that fans won’t want to miss out on. The Dragon is restored to his former glory as he bulks up to take on Darklord in a final battle! Mr. Glum’s devious plot to merge the multiverse comes to its cataclysmic conclusion! Savage Dragon and Malcolm Dragon join forces to save Angel Murphy and the very Earth itself!
The issue will hit stores on July 25th has a cover price of $11.99.
What do you guys think? Comment and discuss below!
