To celebrate Father’s Day, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 director James Gunn has shared a photo on Instagram. To understand the implications of the image and caption, one must have seen Gunn’s latest film.
“Set to the backdrop of ‘Awesome Mixtape #2,’ Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the team’s adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos. The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries of Peter Quill’s true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favorite characters from the classic comics will come to our heroes’ aid as the Marvel cinematic universe continues to expand.”
GotG Vol. 2 stars Chris Pratt as Star-Lord/Peter Quill, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket Raccoon, Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot, Michael Rooker as Yondu, Kurt Russel as Ego The Living Planet, Karen Gillian as Nebula, Dave Bautista as Drax, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, and Sylvester Stallone in a currently unknown role. The film is directed by James Gunn.
The film is still in theaters. Take your Dad to see it before it’s gone!
‘Batman & Robin’ Is The Gayest Superhero Film Of All Time
I’m not here to tell you that Batman & Robin is good. It’s impossible, especially after the director has publicly apologized for making the movie. But I’ve always had a spot in my heart for the campy Joel Schumacher movie.
Seeing it in my youth, the film is just a colorful assault on the eyes with eccentric characters & slapstick humor. Much like the 1960’s Batman, it plays to a child-like wonderment. Comparing the two, you can see many similarities between Adam West and George Clooney’s performances. Even the score & sound effects seem lifted from an episode of the show; the only thing missing are the “POWS!” and “BAMS!”. This is before I found out others thought Batman & Robin was a soulless cash grab or it exists only as a way to further the franchise from Tim Burton’s grim Batman Returns. In the eyes of the ignorant, it’s just harmless fun.
For me, Batman is the most versatile character in fiction. I love the brutal & callous version we see in Batman v Superman and I love the cartoony fun time in this incarnation. My love for this version made more sense when I later found out that Clooney played Bruce Wayne/Batman as a homosexual. Of course! It’s like a super gay bell rang in my head. The gay subtext also helps explain why Batman would keep around the annoying yet hunky Chris O’Donnell’s Robin. Touching on this subject matter is very meta. For decades, some questioned why Bruce Wayne would keep young boys as sidekicks. Batman & Robin took that idea and ran away with it…for better or worse.
“I was in a rubber suit and I had rubber nipples. I could have played Batman straight, but I made him gay.”
–George Clooney to Barbra Walters (2006)
Homoeroticism aside, Batman & Robin also has the two best Batman movie villains that aren’t named The Joker. Batman’s film franchise has a problem with no villain ever coming close to The Joker. The Nolan series is a perfect example but even the three Batman movies in the 1990’s struggle. Matching the legacy of Jack Nicholson’s Joker is hard. That curse broke momentarily with the memorable Mr. Freeze & Poison Ivy. Played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma Thurman respectively, the two understood what movie they were starring in and played it for the back row.
Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze is probably one of the most quotable movie characters ever. I won’t credit the screenwriters for much but they did find a variety of cold puns! Portraying Victor Fries in this way feels like another callback to the 60’s as Arnold Schwarzenegger would fit in with Cesar Romero’s Joker and Burgess Meredith’s Penguin. Other than The Terminator, no other Arnold performance sticks in our brains like this.
He has competition for chewing up the scenery because Uma Thurman lives comfortably in the Poison Ivy skin. I often cite Thurman as one of the first drag queens that I remember. She encapsulates this campy style of acting that I can only compare to Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest. Every word Poison Ivy utters comes with Mae West attitude. She also looks straight from the animated series. Nothing about her performance feels wrong.
(Uma Thurman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jeep Swenson)
Getting to look at this film as an adult brings the same joy as it did 20 years ago. Being on countless “worst movies ever” lists makes it a prime candidate to be a cult classic. And that’s exactly what happened! Somewhere along the way, this insane Joel Schumacher movie found a fanbase. Gaining a cult following helps a movie live on forever in infamy.
Everything feels intentional in Batman & Robin. While cast & crew have apologized to disappointed fans, they knowingly made those decisions. And why should they be sorry? No one could know Warner Bros would put the franchise on an 8-year hiatus. They set out to make the campiest Batman ever and succeeded.
Like I said at the start, my intention wasn’t to sell Batman & Robin as something it wasn’t. The goal is to simply show there is a vocal minority who actually enjoy this film. Everyone deserves a little love on their 20th birthday!
It may not be the Batman and Robin of your youth but it was mine. I’ll never apologize for loving this masterclass in camp. And if you can’t find anything to praise about this movie…just remember that without this fiery crash, you’d have no Nolan Batman.
Let me know your feelings about 1997’s Batman & Robin in the comments below!
Once I planned on reviewing books telling the histories of both Wonder Woman and Batman, along with their respective creators, I knew that I would have to do another to round off this series by reviewing a novel covering the last member of DC’s trinity and the two men who created him. While Jill Lepore’s The Secret History of Wonder Womanhad a tendency to read like a history textbook, which covered the time period in which William Moulton Marston lived, and Glen Weldon’s The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture reads like a detailed timeline of Batman’s evolution and the resulting factions of fandoms that sprung up in response to the character over the years, Brad Ricca’s Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster – The Creators of Superman strikes the perfect balance between establishing a historical context, telling complete author biographies, and laying out a timeline of the Man of Steel’s development through the years.
Artist Matt Ferguson has shared his official Spider-Man: Homecoming poster. It features your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, along with Iron Man and the
Avengers tower. Check it out below.
“A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging super hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine – distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man – but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.”
Are you looking forward to the film? How do you feel about the poster? Comment below, let us know!
It looks like we’ll be getting to see the iconic X-Mansion (and maybe a few X-Men) in Deadpool 2. Ryan Reynolds created what can only be described as the best marketing campaign of all time with Deadpool, and it looks like he’s gonna try it again with the sequel. Reynolds just revealed that Deadpool 2 has officially started principal photography, releasing an awesome behind-the-scenes image of himself back in the costume.
Deadpool 2 will be directed by David Leitch, with Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller, Brianna Hildebrand, Leslie Uggams, Karan Soni, and Stefan Kapičić all returning from the first movie. The film will introduce new cast members Josh Brolin, Zazie Beetz, Jack Kesy, and Shioli Kutsuna.
After this past week’s release of the excellent Dark Days: The Forge, the DC: Rebirth universe is well on the path to DC: Metal. The next step on that road is Dark Days: The Casting, and you can check out some early pages and images below!
I think it looks great, and everything that has been discussed by the creators has been nothing but exciting! Anyways, check out the following goodies and comment and discuss below!
Joss Whedon is a writer-director known for strong female protagonists. Whedon has been celebrated for his work on projects like Avengers and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Whedon is a nerd hero to many for his work in film & TV.It’s not surprising that Whedon tried to make a Wonder Woman movie happen in the late 2000’s. What’s surprising, however, is the quality of the script. For an outspoken feminist writer, Whedon’s Wonder Woman script is rather underwhelming.
A version of Whedon’s Wonder Woman script is available to read online. The script has actually been available to read for over a month. However, it has now gained more online traction – largely due to criticism. Twitter user Rave Sashayed (@_sashayed) wrote a thread about the script, including screenshots of excerpts. The thread, and Joss Whedon’s script, blew up online. Since then, the script has sparked anger from many users. As of reporting, Whedon has not commented on the script.
reading the wh*don wonder woman script was never any fun but after seeing/crying at actual WW it becomes a viscerally insulting experience
This is now the second time Whedon has received criticism on Twitter. Joss Whedon faced a similar outcry following Avengers: Age of Ultron. Many Marvel fans were angry with the relationship between Black Widow and Hulk. People called the relationship sexist, as it diminished Widow’s character to a love interest, rather than a true superhero. Whedon later expressed interest in helming a solo Black Widow movie, perhaps to fix his mistakes with the character. Now, his upcoming run with the DCEU may provide him similar redemption.
The surge of interest in Whedon’s script is likely due to the recently released Wonder Woman film. Patty Jenkins’ film has garnered a lot of love, both critically and from fans. The release of Wonder Woman gives fans something to directly compare Whedon’s script with. Fans can also contrast it with Whedon’s other work with strong female characters.
Whedon’s script leaking over a month ago hardly constitutes as news. Nor is it surprising that not every script ever written gets made. What makes this relevant and news-worthy is Whedon’s upcoming work with the DCEU. Obviously, Whedon didn’t write the script for Patty Jenkins’ successful Wonder Woman film. However, Whedon is taking over reshooting responsibilities for Justice League. Additionally, Whedon is writing and directing a solo Batgirl film. It’s a bummer to see a bad script come from a writer whose work with DC characters has only just begun.
The criticism around this script doesn’t necessarily spell doom for Whedon’s upcoming work. Supposedly, Whedon is not reworking Snyder’s film too much. The outcry over his old Wonder Woman script will probably motivate Whedon to do better with Batgirl. However, this news will probably turn some fans off of the Batgirl film. Fans are still upset about Batgirl’s role in the animated Batman: The Killing Joke movie.The fear is that, with this script, Whedon may damn Barbara to a similarly misogynistic film.
I got to see Wonder Woman by myself weeks ago so shut up there’s already been a man-only screening.
Readers interested in reading the script can find it here. Feel free to share your thoughts on Whedon, his script, or future work in the DCEU in the comments.
Jared Leto, actor behind the controvertial Joker performance in Suicide Squad, talked about Wonder Woman on Instagram. See the praise he gave the film below.
“Took the entire @30secondstomars CREW to #WONDERWOMAN last night!!! Loved the movie. Loved the actors. Loved everything about it. And @gal_gadot was perfect. 💪🏻 Great work, congrats and thx to team #WonderWoman and @warnerbrosentertainment ps. When I was a kid I used to watch the og tv series religiously.”
In a recent Facebook live stream with AlloCine, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was asked about the Fantastic Four joining the Marvel cinematic universe. Here was his response.
“[We have] no plans with the Fantastic Four right now. No discussions about it.”
It’s no surprise that outlets are badgering Feige about the superhero team joining his studio, as Spider-Man has a film coming up and was originally a Sony property.
Do you think we’ll ever see the Fantastic Four join the MCU? Comment below, let us know.
“A young Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging super hero in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily routine – distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man – but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain, everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.”
