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24 Sep 06:09

Avengers 4: Does Gamora’s Costume Confirm Time-Travel Theory?

by Tom Chapman
Avengers 4: Does Gamora’s Costume Confirm Time-Travel Theory?

Another Avengers 4 fan theory suggests star Zoe Saldana’s costume proves time travel will play a big part the upcoming Marvel Studios sequel.

The suggestion is that a behind-the-scenes shot of the Guardians of the Galaxy star in her Gamora costume may have spoiled Joe and Anthony Russo’s big twist.

TIME TRAVEL CONFIRMED IN AVENGERS 4? from marvelstudios

Reddit user SuperheroNick noticed that Saldana’s outfit matches what she wore in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy rather than in Avengers: Infinity War. Taken during the filming of Avengers 4, the photo seems to suggest either a flashback or a time-travel scene. That also links to a post from December showing Saldana in the makeup chair for her Gamora transformation, and wearing her Guardians of the Galaxy outfit.

Gamora has a cold.

A post shared by Zoe Saldana (@zoesaldana) on

Saldana’s makeup post made waves, as it confirmed Gamora returns in Avengers 4, so many will have missed that she has worn the outfit before. Looking back, Saldana’s costume is definitely different to what she wore in both Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Infinity War.

RELATED: Avengers 4 May Be Teasing An Alternate Reality, Not Time Travel

Gamora was one of Infinity War‘scasualties, and only a select few know what role the character will have in Avengers 4. Although Gamora is expected to return in some form, a scene that includes the green-skinned daughter of Thanos following her death would surely feature her Infinity War costume. Returning to her original Guardians outfit is particularly specific.

Why the remaining Avengers would travel back to the events of Guardians of the Galaxy is a mystery, but considering the purple Power Stone was a major part of that film, the team could try and claim the Infinity Stones before Thanos does.

RELATED: How Zoe Saldana Found Out About Gamora’s Infinity War Twist

After an old Avengers 4 set photo first sparked the time travel theories, more and more evidence has come to light. As well as Saldana’s possible spoiler, remember that one photo appeared to recreate Loki’s attack on New York from 2012’s The Avengers. Whatever happens in Avengers 4, it looks like the movie will be a trip down memory lane.

While even Ant-Man and the Wasp‘s Peyton Reed refuses to rule out time travel, fans will have to wait until next year to find out how the Russo brothers intend wrap up Phase Three of the MCU.

Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers 4 stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Brie Larson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillan, Evangeline Lilly, and Josh Brolin. The film is set to hit theaters on May 3, 2019.

The post Avengers 4: Does Gamora’s Costume Confirm Time-Travel Theory? appeared first on CBR.

16 Sep 06:13

Darth Vader: There’s A Sith Civil War Brewing in the Star Wars Universe

by Renaldo Matadeen
Darth Vader: There’s A Sith Civil War Brewing in the Star Wars Universe

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Darth Vader #20, by Charles Soule, Daniele Orlandini, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Dono Sanchez-Almara, Erick Arciniega and Travis Lanham, on sale now.


Marvel’s Darth Vader comics haven’t just given us deeper insight into the former Jedi known as Anakin Skywalker; we’re learning more about Emperor Palpatine as well. We’ve seen them as master and apprentice, shifting power to the Dark Side by eliminating the remnants of the Jedi Order. But as strong as the Sith have become in the wake of Order 66 (the purging of the Jedi), cracks have begun to show in the foundation.

In Darth Vader #20, we’re seeing a major flaw in what appears to be a civil war brewing between the followers of Palpatine, which could truly hinder the vision he has for the galaxy.

RELATED: Marvel’s Darth Vader Unravels A Huge Phantom Menace Easter Egg

After killing the Jedi Eeth Koth in the last issue, Vader confronts two new additions to the Inquisitors, who don’t even have titles yet. Thinking they did a good job on the last hunt, they’re shocked when the Sith Lord and their military leader draws his lightsaber and engages them. They wonder if it’s a training drill, but soon enough, he begins chasing them, cutting a swath of destruction across Coruscant.

In the melee, Vader drops a spaceship on two political figures Palpatine needs, showing his relentless nature. Eventually, he uses the Force and makes the two stab each other to death. However, the Emperor isn’t happy with what transpired because the public saw the fracture with his disciples. More so, Vader’s showing insubordination, which he needs to snuff out ASAP.

RELATED: Marvel Adds Another Intriguing Layer to the Origin of Darth Vader’s Castle

When reprimanded, Vader tells his master the two were traitors. The Fifth Inquisitor (the senior on the hit against Koth) revealed that on their outing, the female Inquisitor almost allowed Koth’s wife and baby to escape, only to take the child after she was spotted showing mercy to their target. This tipped Vader off and so, he studied her and the other rookie, realizing they were actually in love. Ironically, Vader’s lying because the female Inquisitor was simply playing games with Koth’s wife, offering her a glimmer of hope, and taking it away so as to make her hate women.

Vader merely used this as an excuse as he hated seeing love, as it reminds him of the times he spent with Queen Amidala, his wife when he was a Jedi. He tells Palpatine the Inquisitors, initially placed under his care, may not be as pure as first assumed, and he has heard whispers from his spies they’re planning to overthrow the Emperor. Again, this isn’t true; Vader just wants control and to be Palpatine’s lone war-dog.

The Emperor is suspicious, chiding his protege, and deciding to burn him emotionally by gifting him Amidala’s ship from The Phantom Menace. He is grateful for the work he’s doing but this reward is just to show Vader, no matter what, Palpatine owns him, mind, body and soul. The potential for civil war is simmering with a quiet intensity, though, due to Vader turning down a request to go and intimidate Alderaan’s Bail Organa (Leia’s adoptive father). Palpatine’s shocked by this newfound stubborn disposition, but becomes intrigued by the fact his right-hand man wants his own world to meditate and hone his anger.

RELATED: Marvel’s Poe Dameron Comics Just Revealed The First Order’s Secret Weapon

From Rogue One, we know Palpatine gives him this planet to build his obsidian castle, but there are hints he’s distancing himself from Coruscant in order to plot against his boss (which would eventually come full-circle when he kills him in Return of the Jedi). This issue may have been the catalyst for Vader turning on Palpatine for good, and it’s also a public relations disaster which could make the Inquisitorius think twice about the man who’s supposed to lead them. Given Vader’s actions, they may even be secretly coming for revenge.

The post Darth Vader: There’s A Sith Civil War Brewing in the Star Wars Universe appeared first on CBR.

16 Sep 06:09

Disney Streaming Service Has a Name, Potential Price Point

by Kevin Melrose
Disney Streaming Service Has a Name, Potential Price Point

Disney’s much-discussed subscription streaming service is reportedly called Disney Play, and will be cost viewers less than the competing Netflix.

The new details are found in a Variety feature about efforts by Disney, and the rest of “Hollywood’s old guard,” to catch up to Netflix and its imitators. The House of Mouse’s answer, of course, is its own branded streaming service, targeted to launch in 2019 with such heavy hitters as a live-action Star Wars series from Jon Favreau, some sort of Marvel show, and remakes of such animated classics as Lady and the Tramp and The Sword in the Stone.

RELATED: Disney Streaming Service Won’t Include Pre-2019 Star Wars Films

That’s in addition to a robust catalog of movies, both old and new: The article reaffirms that, beginning in 2019, Disney Play will be the streaming home for the studio’s entire feature slate, including Captain Marvel, Avengers 4, Dumbo, Toy Story 4, The Lion King, Frozen 2 and Star Wars: Episode IX. That means Disney will lose out on the $300 million in revenues it now receives annually from Netflix for the streaming rights to its films.

With select Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars and Disney properties as its primary selling point, Disney Play hopes to lure subscribers with a monthly fee that’s lower than the $8 to $14 they now pay for Netflix. Disney CEO Bob Iger acknowledged that price reflects that Disney Play won’t have the breadth of content that its chief competitor does. (Variety notes the entertainment conglomerate won’t pull Disney- and Fox-owned  properties from current licensing agreements in order to fuel the new service, as such a move would be costly and difficult.)

RELATED: Disney’s Streaming Service Won’t Include Any R-Rated Movies

“We have the luxury of programming this product with programs from those brands or derived from those brands, which obviously creates a demand and gives us the ability to not necessarily be in the volume game, but to be in the quality game,” Iger said.

According to analyst Todd Juenger of Bernstein Research, Disney Play would need 40 million subscribers paying $6 a month for Disney to break even, a calculation that takes into account not only programming and marketing costs but also customer service, payment processing and the like.

The post Disney Streaming Service Has a Name, Potential Price Point appeared first on CBR.

16 Sep 00:47

Game of Thrones: HBO Releases First Footage From Season 8

by Jon Arvedon
Game of Thrones: HBO Releases First Footage From Season 8

Fans are eagerly awaiting the eighth and final season of HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones. However, while there’s still plenty of time before the show returns, the premium cable network has revealed the first footage from the upcoming season.

The footage is interspersed in a short promo video for HBO’s 2019 lineup, and while it also includes shots from Season 7, there are a few noticeably new scenes featuring Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen.

RELATED: Game of Thrones’ Ice Dragon Scream Is Actually Drunken Fans Yelling

Few details have been revealed about  Game of Thrones’ final season, aside from the fact that it will be shorter than previous seasons. Season 8 will contain six episodes, each one running two hours and directed by one of four directors lined up: David Nutter, Miguel Sapochnik and D.B Weiss and David Benioff.

Game of Thrones Season 8 will air in 2019. No official release date has been given, though it’s expected to return during the latter half of the year, despite earlier reports that it was scheduled to air in April. Either way, one thing remains undeniably certain: Winter has finally arrived in Westeros

KEEP READING: Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams Bids Farewell, Hints at Arya’s Fate

The post Game of Thrones: HBO Releases First Footage From Season 8 appeared first on CBR.

09 Sep 08:40

‘Battlestar Galactica’ Oral History Book Details the Death of Starbuck

by Mary Anne Butler

Still one of the most successful reboots of a classic television property to date, the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series still holds mysteries and intrigue. Some of these things are looked at in depth in the new tome “So Say We All: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Battlestar Galactica” by authors Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross.

There is an excerpt from the book making the rounds today that centers on the strange affair of nu-Starbuck (played in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica by the amazing Katee Sackhoff) dying and being brought back. As what you may ask? Don’t worry, no one is absolutely sure, still, what she was (angel, demon, ghost, shared hallucination brought on by Chief’s moonshine).

In the excerpt, Battlestar Galactica (reimagined) series writers David Weddle, Bradley Thompson, and Ronald D. Moore as well as Sackhoff herself talk about how the connections were created between Starbuck and the Eye of Jupiter, as well as the resulting decision to kill her off (and ultimately bringing her back).

BRADLEY THOMPSON [writer and producer]: Katee was absolutely fearless about going to all these horrible, emotional places. The attitude was, “Can we make this character the most infuriating person ever?” Because she’s totally self-­sabotaging and tremendously talented. But a really, really big heart. All of these things that are fighting within her. Then we tried to come up with why would that be. What was her freight damage, so to speak, that brought her to this spot? It was a pretty incredible journey, especially if you’re going to turn her into Christ or something that comes back from the dead and leads you to the promised land and then vanishes . . . I thought that was pretty cool.

DAVID WEDDLE [writer and producer]: We didn’t really know how we were going to pay things off yet, because it was such an organic process on Battlestar, and I was up for the preproduction in the first couple days of shooting on “Rapture” and “The Eye of Jupiter.” Katee Sackhoff came up to me and said, “So what’s the deal with the mandala? What does that mean?” Of course I didn’t know yet, and I said, “Well, we’re still developing that. It’s kind of premature to talk about it.” I was tap-­dancing, and Katee said, “You know, I think that in light of seeing this mandala, and in light of knowing I have some other destiny”—because Ron had talked to her about that—she said, “Maybe there’s something in my past. Maybe there’s an event in my past that seems innocuous, never seemed important, but now in light of my mandala on the temple, I interpret it in a whole dif­ferent way.” So I said, “That’s a really interesting idea, Katee.”

I came back to the writers’ room in L.A., and the story up on the board for the episode that they were going to have Brad and I write. In it, Lee and Kara are orbiting this planet with a lot of cloud cover, and while they’re doing their missions, they talk about their fraught relationship. I said, “Well, we kind of have done that over and over. Can’t we try to advance it in some way? And here’s what Katee Sackhoff has to say.” And I told them, and Ron just grabbed that and ran with it and said, “Yes. Let’s do that.” Then we got the idea of the cloud around the planet starting to look to her like the mandala, and then this whole theme of her always tiptoeing up to the edge of death. You know this might be a vehicle for exploring that.

RONALD D. MOORE [creator]: They were struggling with it and I wasn’t in on the break. Then they pitched it, “You know, it just feels unsatisfying that in the end, she’s just going to figure out a way to beat this thing. She’s just going to come out smelling like a rose like she always does; it just feels like it’s about nothing, and we had an idea. What if we killed her?” I was like, “What?” They’re like, “We kill her. She dies. But we bring her back a few episodes later and she’s been resurrected and she’s some kind of guardian angel or prophet. We feed her into the larger mythology in some way; we shock the audience and really take her out of the show for a while. We let Lee and Adama and everyone deal with the ramifications of her death.” I was really surprised and even said, “That’s reallyunexpected.”

WEDDLE: So we got the idea as it is in the show “Maelstrom,” of her being drawn down into the mandala, and having a 2001 sort of vision and then pulling out again. So as we developed that, Ron said, “Why does she have to pull out? Maybe she goes all the way in and she dies.” Which was an incredible, radical idea none of us would have ever dared to think of, and of course it plays into all the mythologies that’s great about where Battlestar evolved to, and myths throughout every culture. Of course, most prominently Christianity, there is in every civilization with this death and rebirth, and a rebirth that offers a vision forward for the human race. So Kara was starting to jell as a character like that.

KATEE SACKHOFF [actor]: They didn’t send the script out first and I got this cryptic phone call from Ron and David in my trailer. They were like, “So we want to talk to you about something. You’ve done nothing wrong.” In my mind I’m thinking, “I totally did something wrong.” “We’re going to kill you, but we’re going to bring you back, so don’t worry. You’re not going to be you. Don’t worry about it. Everyone’s going to think you’re dead. We’re going to take your name out of the credits. You’re going to go home. We’re not telling anyone anything.” I’m like, “Okay. . . .” So I went to Mexico for a couple of episodes, but the problem was that I was lying to everyone.

MOORE: This was one of the stupidest things that David and I did in the entire run of the show. You’re right at the cusp of social media and the internet starting to ferret out spoilers from shows. Various plotlines are getting blown online for the first time. This is becoming a thing that none of us had ever had to deal with before. Our feeling was this was only going to work if the audience thinks we mean it, and the characters mean it. We’ll take her name out of the main credits, we want this to be a shock. Katee knows she’s coming back and we swear her to secrecy, so then, of course, it just becomes a fiasco and Katee is telling everyone she’s leaving the show. The script comes out and she’s dead.

SACKHOFF: I’m like this child; I tell my mom, because I had to tell someone. My mom’s on set. The crew were like, “So sorry about Katee.” My mom’s like, “I know. She’ll be okay. She’ll land on her feet.”

MICHAEL ANGELI [writer and co-executive-producer]: We knew we were going to bring her back, so we wrote two endings for that script. One is that she doesn’t die. That’s the one that we circulated, because, first of all, we wanted it to be a surprise. Second of all, we didn’t want to raise concern with the cast thinking, “Oh my God, they’re killing her off. What are they doing?” Well, somehow the real draft got leaked, and there was just chaos. Everybody thought, “You’re killing off Katee?” Leading the charge was Eddie Olmos. He was like, “This is preposterous. This is wrong. She’s one of the signature characters in the show. What the hell are you guys doing?” Her mother even called, saying, “Why are you killing her? How could you possibly . . . ?” Of course we had to explain what was going on, and come clean about everything. But it was astonishing how militant Eddie got about keeping her on the show.

MOORE: Eddie puts the script down after he reads it, and says, “The show will never be the same.”

SACKHOFF: Finally I was like, “I can’t do this anymore. I’m telling Eddie.” So I called him and then he told everyone. We were doing the Maxim photo shoot and he stood up on something and he told the entire cast that I wasn’t really dead, and I felt like such an asshole.

MOORE: While this is happening in Vancouver, David and I are getting calls in Los Angeles from the set saying, “They’re really upset. You don’t understand, people are freaking out that you’re killing Starbuck.” We’re like, “Hey, it’s working. Nobody’s going to know. This is going to be the greatest prank of all time.” A little time goes by and I get a phone call. Eddie’s pissed, walking around saying, “This is the death of the show.” It just spiraled completely out of control and we’re like, “We’re just trying to keep a secret on a TV show. We didn’t want to upset anybody.”

SACKHOFF: I don’t even think we made it a week.

MOORE: It was just a matter of days and we were like, “Okay, call it off. Tell everybody. We’re sorry.”

The book, which just released today, is NOT the “So Say We All: An Unauthorized Collection of Thoughts and Opinions on Battlestar Galactica” written by Richard Hatch, who starred in both the original and reimagined series.

You can pick up a copy of “So Say We All: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Battlestar Galactica” through AmazonSo Say We All: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Battlestar Galactica.

The post ‘Battlestar Galactica’ Oral History Book Details the Death of Starbuck appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

23 Aug 05:30

Henry Cavill Wants to Star in Netflix’s The Witcher Adaptation

by Ian Cardona
Henry Cavill Wants to Star in Netflix’s The Witcher Adaptation

Coming off of an incredibly strong and critically-acclaimed performance in this summer’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Henry Cavill may have just set his sights on his next dream project. It’s not enough that the actor has played Superman in over three films — now, the actor is keen on playing a different kind of hero.

During an interview with IGN to promote Fallout, Cavill revealed that he would love to play the title character in Netflix’s upcoming The Witcher, the television series adaptation of the popular CD Projekt Red video game of the same name.

RELATED: The Witcher: Which Monsters Can We Expect in Netflix’s Fantasy Series?

During the interview, Cavill first revealed his passion for the video game. “The Witcher 3 I just replayed, all the way through. Love that game, really good game.” Then, when asked if he would be interested in playing Geralt of Rivia, the lead character of the game, the actor answered with an earnest “Absolutely, yeah. That would be an amazing role.”

But then, Cavill proved how big a fan of the franchise he was by throwing a question back to his interviewer: “Have you read the books? The books are amazing,” he confirmed. “The books I started reading and they are well worth the read. They’re really, really good.”

The Witcher video game franchise is actually based on the book series written by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. Of course, there is always the possibility that Cavill isn’t reading the book series by accident. After all, it’s been said that Netflix’s The Witcher adaptation will not only mine source from the video game, but the novels as well — something that Cavill is very well aware of. “From what I understand it’s a bit of both,” the actor said, “they’re picking a bit of from the game and a bit from the book — a lot from the books.”

Cavill is a fan of the franchise, so he could be reading the books simply for expansive fun, given how he played The Witcher 3 a few times already. But could it be possible he decided to delve into the books to familiarize himself with the source material behind the Netflix adaptation? The series hasn’t begun casting yet, so there’s always a chance Cavill could free up his schedule to film the eight episodes of the first season of The Witcher.

RELATED: Netflix’s The Witcher to Begin Casting ‘Soon’

The Defenders‘ Lauren Schmidt Hissrich is the showrunner behind Netflix’s The Witcher adaptation, with a writers’ room that includes Daredevil‘s Sneha Koora and The Originals‘ Declan de Barra. Sapkowski is said to serve as a creative consultant, and the series is set to shoot in Eastern Europe. While there is no official release date for the highly-anticipated series, The Witcher is expected to drop sometime in 2020.

The post Henry Cavill Wants to Star in Netflix’s The Witcher Adaptation appeared first on CBR.

23 Aug 05:28

Movie Legends: Was John Wayne Secretly in Star Wars?

by Brian Cronin
Movie Legends: Was John Wayne Secretly in Star Wars?

MOVIE URBAN LEGEND: George Lucas included a voice “cameo” by John Wayne in Star Wars.

It is not overstating it to say that John Wayne is one of the most popular movie stars of all-time. He routinely ranks among the most popular movie stars among fans…NOW. The guy’s been dead for almost 40 years and he STILL typically ranks in the top ten every year when people are asked, “Who is your favorite movie star?” That’s the sort of list that guys like Tom Cruise routinely fall off of and Cruise is still making blockbuster movies every other year while Wayne’s last starring role occurred over four decades ago. So that’s how much of an impact that John Wayne had had on the American popular culture.

Naturally, George Lucas is no exception when it comes to filmmakers who were fans of “The Duke.” I wrote in the past about how one of the reasons why George Lucas edited the original Star Wars film to make Han Solo kill Greedo only AFTER Greedo shot at Han is because Lucas felt that shooting first wasn’t something that a John Wayne character would do and so he didn’t want Han Solo to do it, either.

In addition, the John Wayne influence on Star Wars is also evident in the scene where Luke races home to discover the burned bodies of his beloved uncle and aunt. The sequence is practically a shot for shot remake of the sequence in The Searchers when Wayne’s character races home to discover the burned bodies of his brother, sister-in-law and nephew.

Here’s the scene from the Searchers…

Here’s the scene from Star Wars…

So it would certainly make sense if Lucas were to include a tribute to John Wayne that would involve his voice being used in the movie. After all, Wayne had done cameos in movies before (including the “awe”-inspiring cameo in The Greatest Story Ever Told).

However, that’s not really what happened. Wayne’s voice DID make it into the film, but in a really weird fashion.

Garindan is the fellow who lets the Stormtroopers know where Luke, Obi-Wan and the Droids are in the first film (here’s from a Special Edition version of a scene)…

Here is Garindan ratting them out…

As it turned out, that squeaky voice was, technically, John Wayne’s voice heavily distorted!

It does not appear, though, that Lucas had any say in it. Ben Burtt, the legendary sound designer for Star Wars (the guy who came up with R2-D2’s beeps and boops), explained what happened years later:

“I always wanted to do an insect man – we didn’t really have an insect man come along until Poggle the Lesser [from Episodes II and III]. We had that character that looked kind of like a mosquito from the first Star Wars [Garindan] that we found we needed a sound for. And I was wondering back a few months ago how I did it – because I keep notes and tapes – and I discovered it was an electronic buzzing which had come off of my synthesizer that was triggered by a human voice. And I listened to it and realized it was John Wayne – I had found some loop lines in the trash from the studio that had been thrown away. So the buzzing was triggered by some dialog like ‘All right, what are you doin’ in this town’ or something like that.

So yes, Wayne is kind of sort of in Star Wars, but it wasn’t an intentional homage and Wayne had no active involvement in it.

The legend is…

STATUS: More False Than True

Thanks to Ben Burtt and the Star Wars Blog for the information!

Be sure to check out my archive of Movie Legends Revealed for more urban legends about the world of film. Click here for more legends specifically about Star Wars movies!

Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future installments! My e-mail address is bcronin@legendsrevealed.com.

The post Movie Legends: Was John Wayne Secretly in Star Wars? appeared first on CBR.

03 Aug 06:05

Rare ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Card Sells for Over $87k

by Gavin Sheehan

Back in the day, when Magic: The Gathering first released their Alpha, Beta, and Unlimited editions, no one had a clue keeping them would be lucrative. But a lot of things can change in 25 years, and a rare Black Lotus card from 1993 has now been sold for over $87k.

The actual grand total is $87,672, as reported by Kotaku, when the sale closed on eBay this week. No word as to who the buyer was who had that much cash to burn on a card that, for all intents and purposes, is useless beyond display.

credit//WotC

In case you’re not familiar with what this card is and why it’s so valuable, here’s a quick history lesson.

When the game first came out, Alpha and Beta were basically all there was to Magic: The Gathering, with some cards being much rarer than others. The artifact known as Black Lotus happens to be one of those original rare cards, which by itself is pretty powerful as you get three mana instantly by tapping it. Some have called it overpowered, like the Fork card, but that’s another topic altogether. Over the years the card has been re-released as it was in Unlimited and subsequent other sets as a throwback card, but the original remains pretty valuable. You can identify it by the black border for being original, as re-releases have a white border, like the Unlimited version that can be sold for $8k online.

Congrats to the seller, and the buyer, I guess. If you’re really into MTG and your jam is owning cards you can’t play, all the happiness in the world to you.

The post Rare ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Card Sells for Over $87k appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

27 Jul 19:36

DISNEY-FOX Deal APPROVED: The X-MEN & FF Are Coming Home

Shareholders voted to approve Disney and Fox's merge in 2019. Exactly when the Marvel Cinematic Universe will grow remains unknown.
27 Jul 19:31

DC’s New 52 Is the Aquaman Movie’s ‘Touchstone’

by Sam Stone
DC’s New 52 Is the Aquaman Movie’s ‘Touchstone’

The upcoming Aquaman film took much of its inspiration from a very specific source: Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis’ run on the character at the start of DC’s New 52.

With Johns co-writing the DCEU film’s story with director James Wan and screenwriter Will Beall, Aquaman was strongly influenced by Johns and artist Reis’ two-year run on the Atlantean superhero. While the film isn’t a direct adaptation, much of the visual design and backstory comes from the inaugural New 52 run relaunching the character along with the rest of the DC Universe.

RELATED: Aquaman’s First Movie Poster Arrives Ahead of SDCC

“The New 52 version of Aquaman was definitely our touchstone and our starting point,” producer Peter Safran during a visit by journalists to the film’s set. “Even though the film is not a direct adaptation of that, that was certainly, in terms of his origin, who he is: that Tom Curry is his father and Atlanna is his mother, who Orm is, etc. That all comes from the New 52. And, there are certainly creature elements from it, from the Trench. So, that was our biggest influence.”

The centerpiece of Johns and Reis’ New 52 run pitted Aquaman against his half-brother Orm for the throne of Atlantis with the siblings fighting over whether the undersea kingdom could coexist with the surface world. This conflict looks to be central to the upcoming film as Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry faces off against Patrick Wilson’s Orm.

RELATED: Aquaman Director Offers Sneak Peek At SDCC Trailer

“I think that the fact that they [Wan & Johns] broke the story together, Geoff has tremendous creative involvement all the way through, on a day-to- day basis to the present day.” continued Safran. “he really is a great touchstone to making sure we keep it in the correct world.”

Directed by James Wan, Aquaman stars Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Amber Heard as Mera, Patrick Wilson as Ocean Master, Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, Temuera Morrison as Thomas Curry, and Dolph Lundgren as Nereus. It is scheduled to arrive in theaters on December 21.

(via ComicBook.com)

The post DC’s New 52 Is the Aquaman Movie’s ‘Touchstone’ appeared first on CBR.

27 Jul 18:00

Aquaman Comic to Be Momoa-ized With the Coming of Kelly Sue DeConnick and Robson Rocha?

by Rich Johnston

We mentioned that Kelly Sue DeConnick and Robson Rocha were coming onto Aquaman in December. So what do they have planned?

Well, the word out of San Diego Comic-Con is that from the off, Aquaman is about to look a lot more like how he will be appearing in the upcoming movie, also out in December. Starring Jason Momoa.

That Kelly Sue and Robson will be “Momoa-izing” Aquaman – though no word yet if that includes the tattoos. And that his contact with Sea Gods will alter his look, his personality and even his origin. And possibly whether or not he is married.

The word “sexy” was used to describe their take on the character, but some aspects are up in the air. They have yet to settle on one of Rocha’s designs as the one they’ll go with.

Whether that’s permanent will be down to DC (and the performance of the movie). They can wipe it all away by reversing the mystic stuff in the storyline… if they have to.

That’s the San Diego Aquaman goss at least… can I find a relevant equivalent for a Lying In The Gutters yellow traffic light?

That’ll do.

The post Aquaman Comic to Be Momoa-ized With the Coming of Kelly Sue DeConnick and Robson Rocha? appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

27 Jul 05:52

HBO Must ‘Change Direction,’ WarnerMedia Chief Says

by Monique Jones
HBO Must ‘Change Direction,’ WarnerMedia Chief Says

Last month, Time Warner and AT&T completed their $85.4 billion merger, with AT&T renaming Time Warner WarnerMedia. This month, as a result of the merger, Warner Media Chief Executive John Stankey informed his company that HBO must become “bigger and broader.” Stankey told 150 employees during a town hall meeting that changes are ahead.

“It’s going to be a tough year,” Stankey said in an interview with The New York Times. “It’s going to be a lot of work to alter and change direction a little bit.”

RELATED: Watchmen: Don Johnson Suits Up in First Set Photos From HBO Series

HBO, which is a part of the AT&T network, has significant adjustments ahead of it. Even though AT&T promised, as The New York Times wrote, “to take a hands-off approach to the company’s crown jewel, HBO, which has won endless Emmys while generating billions in profits.” The town hall suggested that AT&T will guide how HBO does business in this new phase.

For instance, Stankey suggested that HBO would have to become more like a streaming service to stay on top and compete. To increase subscriber base and viewer watching hours, HBO will have to focus on becoming less of niche network and more of a bigger, broader service.

“I want more hours of engagement,” he said. “Why are more hours of engagement important? Because you get more data and information about a customer that then allows you to do things like monetize through alternate models of advertising as well as subscriptions, which I think is very important to play in tomorrow’s world.”

The post HBO Must ‘Change Direction,’ WarnerMedia Chief Says appeared first on CBR.

27 Jul 05:41

How Was Rogue Able to Kiss Gambit on Their Wedding Day? And The Rest? (Mr & Mrs X #1 Spoilers)

by Rich Johnston

It was the first of the comic book industry’s summer weddings that weren’t. Kitty Pryde and Colossus fell apart at the altar, but it was an opportunity that the slightly drunk Rogue and Gambit decided to seize. And suddenly…

But how could Rogue kiss Gambit? Don’t they know that one touch of the skin and Rogue will absorb the totality of the other person’s life essence? Taking their powers, their memories and their will to live? You know, just like any marriage… yeah okay, that joke belongs in another decade. As maybe did Rogue and Gambit’s relationship, though it successfully pulled in fans of the nineties X-Men cartoon that so established their courting for a generation.

Anyway, the new Mr & Mrs X #1 has the answer. And it was around Rogue’s neck the whole time.

A power dampener and an accessoriser, giving her a monster of a headache but allowing her to kiss her beau… and a lot more.

See, she can be… tickled as well. And it looks like having a splitting headache won’t stop her being tickled on her wedding night. On honeymoon. On a satellite. So it looks like the Earth moved for both of them.

Published today…

MR AND MRS X #1
(W) Kelly Thompson (A) Oscar Bazaldua (CA) Terry Dodson
LOVE & MARRIAGE PART 1! Straight from the pages of X-MEN GOLD…to the surprise of everyone, the Marvel Universe’s hottest couple has finally tied the knot! In their extraordinary lives, they’ve faced nearly every challenge imaginable, but how will they fare against former flames making trouble? An entire galaxy in jeopardy? You want it? We got it, as Kelly Thompson (HAWKEYE, ROGUE & GAMBIT) and Oscar Bazaldua (SPIDER-MAN, STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE) bring you the tantalizing tale of a modern marriage…X-MEN STYLE!
Rated T+
In Shops: Jul 25, 2018
SRP: $3.99

The post How Was Rogue Able to Kiss Gambit on Their Wedding Day? And The Rest? (Mr & Mrs X #1 Spoilers) appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

27 Jul 02:18

John Byrne is Writing and Drawing His Own X-Men Fanfic Comic, Evermore

by Rich Johnston

Comic book creator John Byrne used to create X-Men comic books with Chris Claremont. Then, after the death of Jean Grey, he left. He continued to work for Marvel, DC and Dark Horse, writing and drawing a stunning array of different comic books including the likes of Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight, Hulk, Superman, Man of Steel, She-Hulk, Namor, West Coast Avengers, Wonder Woman run, New Gods and Fourth World, Amazing Spider-Man, X-Men The Hidden Years, Next Men, 2112, Babe, Danger UnlimitedGanthet’s Tale, Superman: True Brit, Superman And Batman: Generations, JLA, Doom Patrol, Atom, Demon, Action Comics, and many more.

But he fell out of love with Marvel and DC — and only returned to comics working for IDW on titles such as FXCold War, a Next Men revival, and the recent Star Trek fumetti comic.

But he is still best known for his earlier Marvel work, which keeps getting reinvented in comics, games, TV shows  — and most blatantly the recent X:Men: Days of Future Past movie.

Recently on the John Byrne Message Board, a forum for John and his biggest fans, he posted a new piece with the following note:

That thread about going back to Marvel created an itch I needed to scratch. I asked myself if I could still pencil for someone else to ink. This was the result.

I think the only way I could even get close to these characters again would be if Marvel decided to give HIDDEN YEARS back to me, and then stood back and let me do my job.

Then, as he was drawing other pages, something came to him.

Just had one of my wilder ideas. Remember when Chris was doing X-MEN FOREVER, picking up from when he left the book? Immediately some people started speculating about me doing the same, X-MEN EVERMORE, picking up from my own exit point.

But just now I thought of something that would be even more fun. For the sake of reference, let’s call it X-MEN ELSEWHEN, picking up with the coda of X-MEN 136, but proceeding as if Shooter hadn’t thrown his king-sized monkey wrench into the works! So Jean* doesn’t die, Scott doesn’t leave, and, well, a whole bunch of other stuff does and doesn’t happen.

(And, no, not scripted by Chris!!)

Never gonna happen, but fun to think about.

—————–

* Yes, Jean.

And the readers of the John Byrne Forum started to get a new, never-before-seen X-Men comic book by John Byrne. For free.

A number of readers started using the pages as inking practice as well, posting the results.

John Byrne also started adding dialogue as he went along, to help people to understand what was going on. Especially if they were trying to ink him.

And suddenly the comic book was in full gear.

The last page published so far was yesterday.

As above, John Byrne hasn’t ruled out returning to Marvel for a project like this under certain circumstances. And I do know that Marvel Comics would be open to John Byrne returning, also under certain circumstances.

Is there any chance those circumstances could coincide?

The post John Byrne is Writing and Drawing His Own X-Men Fanfic Comic, Evermore appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

18 Jul 06:10

Batwoman: 25 Things Arrowverse Fans Should Know About Their New Favorite Hero

by Derek Stauffer
Batwoman: 25 Things Arrowverse Fans Should Know About Their New Favorite Hero

As every year goes by, the Arrowverse is gets just a little bit bigger. The next season of The CW’s superhero universe won’t add another superhero series to the line-up or even pull the metaphorical trigger had have Black Lightning become an official part of the world. Yet, despite all of that, a new and major hero is being added. The next annual Arrowverse crossover will introduce Batwoman to the CW’s constatly expanding universe. Batwoman, otherwise known as Kate Kane, will meet Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, Kara Danvers and the rest as the heroes finally travel to the city of Gotham. Even though Batwoman’s male counterpart, Batman is one of the most popular heroes ever, little is known about Batwoman. Batman would need no introduction in the Arrowverse. Batwoman, however, is a little more obscure and non-comic fans might not know anything about her.

Batwoman’s name shouldn’t fool anyone. The female Dark Knight is it a lot more than Batman with a different set of chromosomes. Batwoman might take her name from the biggest hero in Gotham but she’s very much her own hero, while she’s wearing the costume and in her civilian life. In fact, Batwoman will properly fit into the Arrowverse far better and in a far cleaner fashion than Batman. Only the most hardcore comic fans are truly excited about Batwoman joining the Arrowverse but everyone who watches the shows, even the most casual fans, should be counting down the days to her introduction. There’s a lot to love and know about Batwoman.

BATWOMAN COULD BE ON EARTH-1 OR EARTH-38

Although Batwoman will be introduced in the next Arrowverse crossover we don’t know what Earth she’ll call home. She could belong to Earth-1, with Green Arrow and Flash, or Earth-38, with Supergirl and Superman. There’s evidence for either.

Supergirl has dropped a few references to Batman, although not by name, and has called out Gotham City. Arrow, meanwhile, had Oliver Queen namedrop Bruce Wayne and Gotham both in season 6. This means that Batwoman could conceivably belong to either reality. Although hopefully it’s Earth-38 as Kara needs more heroes on her own Earth.

BATWOMAN WAS REINTRODUCED IN 2006

Batwoman has quickly climbed to the top of many fans’ best DC characters. However, she’s a relatively new addition. Kate Kane, the Batwoman who will join the Arrowverse, was only introduced in 2006 in the pages of the weekly comic book event 52.

Kate Kane first appeared as a civilian in 52 #7 and it was only later she was revealed to be the vigilante Batwoman. So, she’s entering that Arrowverse with much less of a comic book history than all the other heroes.

THE TWO BATWOMEN

While Kate Kane is a new-ish character, Batwoman isn’t a new title. The first Batwoman was Kathy Kane, no relation. She appeared in 1956 due to the Comics Code Authority which “cleaned up” comics and instituted several ridiculous changes. Batwoman was a love interest for Batman that existed to convince people that Batman and Robin weren’t gay.

In 2011, Kathy Kane was reintroduced as Katherine Webb. This Kathy joined the spy organization Spyral and became its super-secret leader. She wasn’t even close to being Batman’s ally, let alone love interest.

THE EVIL TWIN SISTER

It might sound soap-opera-y but so does a lot of comics. However, one of Batwoman’s biggest enemies, if not her main one, is her twin sister Beth. As children Beth and Kate were separated, for reasons that will become clear later in this list.

They met again later in life, when Beth, going by the name Alice, showed up as a new villain in Gotham. Alice had  some disturbed plans and only spoke in lines from Lewis Caroll’s books. Batwoman has repeatedly tried to redeem her sister but it’s been a slippery slope.

THE COUSIN OF BATMAN

batwoman batman fighting header

Beth/Alice isn’t Kate’s only costumed relative. Batwoman is also directly related to Batman. Kate Kane is the cousin of Bruce Wayne. Kate Kane’s father, Jacob Kane, is one of Martha Kane’s brothers. Martha would meet, marry and take the name of Thomas Wayne, becoming the mother of Batman.

The exact ages and birth order of the Kane children have always been in flux but it’s never seemed like Jacob and Martha were especially close. Although the Kane and Wayne families do revolve in the same social circles.

SHE WAS INSPIRED BY BATMAN

It’s only after Kate Kane became Batwoman that she discovered her cousin was the vigilante hero. However, when Kate was just Kate her life was saved by The Dark Knight. Kate was attacked while walking on the Gotham streets and Batman swooped in to save her. When Batman disappeared for a year, Batwoman was inspired by his example and took up the mantle of Batwoman becoming her own hero.

The Arrowverse doesn’t necessarily need to follow this origin story for their Batwoman. Although, if do they follow the comics, the existence of Batwoman implies there’s a Batman.

SHE’S SUPER RICH

The Kane Family isn’t quite as wealthy as the Waynes. Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor are considered two of the wealthiest people in the DC Universe. Yet even if the Kane Family is a few billions shy of the Waynes, they’re still stupidly rich.

Like Batman, Batwoman uses her family’s wealth to fund her vigilante operations. Kate doesn’t need to work a day in her life and instead can be a socialite/vicious vigilante with all her free time. Since Oliver lost his fortune in Arrow, it’s been awhile since the Arrowverse has had an independently wealthy hero.

HER DAD IS HER ALFRED

For Bruce Wayne, his closest ally is his father figure Alfred Pennyworth. For Kate Kane, her closest ally is her actual father, Jacob Kane. Jacob is a mostly retired and highly decorated Colonel in the army. Jacob is one of the few people that knows his daughter is Batwoman.

He brings his military expertise into guiding his daughter as Batwoman and the two typically talk in military jargon while in the field. This father/daughter duo would fit quite well in the Arrowverse where the relationships between parents and children is typically discussed.

SHE LOST HER MOTHER WHEN SHE WAS YOUNG

Kate has a mostly happy relationship with her dad. However, she’s still a superhero so that means she has at least one deceased parent. Kate’s mother, Gabi, was also a member of the military. This is where she met Jacob. It’s also how the family was torn apart.

When Kate was a girl, she was attacked and taken along with her mother and sister. Kate was believed to be the only survivor. Yet it was later revealed that while Gabi met her end, Beth survived and was separated from her family during the attack. This is what started Beth down the journey to becoming Alice and broke the Kane Family forever.

SHE WORKS IN GOTHAM CITY

The size of Gotham City seems rather impossible. Looking at things logically, there are way too many heroes and villains in one singular metropolitan area to seem possible. Yet Batwoman, along with 75% of the Batfamily, works and operates mainly in Gotham City.

Although she occasionally brushes shoulders with Batman and the rest, Kate mainly works alone or works alone with her own team. Batman might consider Gotham his turf, but he’s sharing it with a lot of heroes.

SHE DOESN’T JUST BURROW BATMAN VILLAINS

The truly impressive thing about Batwoman working in Gotham is that she rarely, if ever, faces off against Batman’s own villains. Batwoman isn’t going face-to-face with The Joker or engaging in a battle of wits with The Riddler on a regular basis. This doesn’t mean Batwoman’s never met Batman’s rogues gallery.

In DC Rebirth’s initial run of Detective Comics, Batwoman was much closer to the classic Batman mythology. However, Kate has many of her own villains that have no interest in Batman. Any of them could show up in the Arrowverse crossover.

SHE’S ONE OF THE BIGGEST LGBTQ HEROES…

The Arrowverse has always been very welcoming and open about representing different types of superheroes. The make-up of the Arrowverse is a lot like the real world with characters of different colors and orientations. Batwoman will add to that diversity as she’s DC’s most prominent gay hero.

It’s ironic that the original Batwoman was created to dissuade people from the notion that Batman and Robin were gay because Kate Kane is very open about her personal preferences. Kate, as Batwoman or in her personal life, is out and proud. This will undoubtedly make its way into the Arrowverse.

…BUT MALE HEROES HAVE HAD CRUSHES ON HER

Kate Kane is out and proud but not every male hero has gotten the message. In fact, when Batwoman first showed up, Nightwing was quite smitten with her. Upon first meeting Batwoman, Nightwing tried several times to woo Kate. She was, obviously, not all that into him. Grayson eventually got the message but not until after making a bit of fool of himself.

There’s not many unattached straight male heroes in the Arrowverse. Yet the chances one of them flirting or showing interest in Batwoman, only for her to go in the complete opposite, sounds pretty likely.

SHE WAS ENGAGED TO MAGGIE SAWYER

Though there’s a chance Batwoman could be on Earth-1 or Earth-38, the latter seems like the odds-on favorite. This is because Supergirl has already introduced a rather important Batwoman supporting character, Maggie Sawyer. Maggie isn’t Kate Kane’s only major girlfriend but she’s one of her most longest running and serious. Maggie and Kate were even engaged for a time, before tragically breaking off their relationship.

It’s unknown if Supergirl’s Maggie did date Kate Kane but it’s possible. Maggie has been out for much longer than her eventual Supergirl fiancée, Alex Danvers. It’s possible she could’ve been with Kate first.

DC WOULDN’T LET KATE GET MARRIED

Kate and Maggie got engaged during the New 52 era of DC Comics. They got very close to the altar but infamously DC forbade the creative team from going through with the marriage. This caused the writers, J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman, to resign from the Batwoman series.

DC head Dan Dido had to give the lame excuse that none of their heroes could get married. Happiness didn’t lead to interesting stories. DC has since reversed that lame position but the damage was done when it came to Kate and Maggie — their relationship is over (for now).

SHE ALSO DATED THE QUESTION

Maggie Sawyer and Kate’s romance made headlines. However, it’s not the only Batwoman relationship that was a source of interest. Before the New 52 reboot of the DC Universe, Kate Kane’s main love interest was Renee Montoya. Renee and Kate met and initially dated when Renee was still a cop and in the closet.

Yet when Renee was publicly outed and took over the mantle of the superhero The Question, their romance was reunited, and it got very serious. Renee’s Question has yet to show up in DC Rebirth but there’s always a chance. If not, the Arrowverse could always provide a Bat and Question reunion.

SHE’S JEWISH

Batwoman

The religious life of superheroes is rarely discussed unless it’s somewhat out of the ordinary. For example, everyone pretty much assumes that Superman is white bread protestant because of everything else in his background, but Superman rarely talks about God. With Kate Kane and Batwoman, her religion is in the forefront of her character.

Kate is very open about being Jewish and celebrating her faith. This will, undoubtedly, make its way into the Arrowverse. Felicity Smoak is the big Jewish representative of the Arrowverse and it’d be a shame if Batwoman and Felicity don’t connect over it.

THE LIFE OF A FORMER SOLDIER

Kate grew up as military brat being shipped around the world because of her mother and father. Yet this isn’t Kate’s only military connection. When she came of age, Kate joined the military herself. Kate quickly established herself and was enrolled in West Point Academy.

It’s during her training at West Point that Kate gained all the military techniques that she would eventually carry over to her military life. Kate isn’t the military anymore, but she’s treats her crusade as Batwoman like it’s a war.

SHE WAS DISCHARGED FROM THE MILITARY

Kate would’ve stayed in the military and likely joined the army if it wasn’t for one big aspect of her personality: She’s gay. At West Point, Kate engaged in a romantic relationship with her roommate. Kate’s commanding officer confronted her about it and gave her a chance to lie. Kate, though, refused. Kate admitted to her relationship and under the policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” she was expelled from West Point.

Given the Arrowverse’s capacity for tackling real-life political issues, this will almost certainly come up in the crossover. Especially if Batwoman interacts with (current) DEO Head Alex Danvers.

NOT A BATMOBILE BUT A BATCYCLE

Even though Batwoman’s suit is, objectively, much better than Batman’s own, she still borrows a lot from her cousin. Batwoman has her own Bat Cave, her private operations and even her own Bat Tools. Yet there’s one way that the two differ, ever so slightly. Batman has the Batmobile but Batwoman has the Red Knight One. This is Batwoman’s fancy codename for her motorcycle.

True, Batman has his own Batcycle. Yet his is not nearly as impressive or used quite as often as Red Knight One. The sleek cycle if Batwoman’s main transportation and method from getting to one crime to another.

SHE HAS HER OWN SIDEKICK

The original Batwoman had her own sidekick, Bat-Girl. This Bat-Girl was different from the one most fans know although she still was meant to be a love interest for Robin. Kate Kane though was given her own sidekick shortly after her introduction. Since Batgirl was already taken, that sidekick got her own name. Kate Kane roams the night with her niece Bette Kane, aka Flamebird.

Bette Kane probably won’t make her way onto the Arrowverse crossover — there’s enough heroes already. But if the Arrowverse wants to have a Batwoman series, and they should, Bette would be a natural inclusion.

THE SUPERNATURAL KNIGHT

Magic has always been an element of the Arrowverse but it’s come into clearer focus after the second season of Legends of Tomorrow, with the demon Mallus being the main villain and Constantine becoming a more active character. So it’s rather fitting that now Batwoman is joining the Arrowverse as she’s always been a very supernatural character.

Batwoman has faced off and/or worked with vampires, werewolves and all manners of monsters. Batwoman takes the gothic elements of Gotham very seriously which should make her introduction into the Arrowverse more unique than her being Batman… but a woman.

SHE WAS ALMOST RITUALLY SACRIFICED

The supernatural elements of Batwoman really emerged in her solo series. Yet from the start, prophecy was involved in her story. During 52, which introduced Batwoman, the organization Intergang became convinced that Batwoman was the answer to prophecy in the mystical Crime Bible.

Intergang believed they had to sacrifice Batwoman to fulfill the prophecy. They actually nearly succeeded, and it took The Question swooping in to save Batwoman at the literal last second to stop the craziness that was going down.

THE DEO CONNECTION

In the Arrowverse, the DEO is the very altruistic group that works hand-in-hand with Supergirl to neutralize extraterrestrial threats. In the comics, the DEO is a little shadier. The DEO, which still stands for the Department of Extranormal Operations, deals with aliens in the comics but more often with monsters and supernatural baddies.

Batwoman has worked off and on with the DEO in the comics. However, she’s never truly trusted them or vice versa. If the Arrowverse’s Batwoman has a history with the DEO, it’ll be predate Kara Danvers joining them but it’s possible.

BATMAN AND BATWOMAN’S RIVALRY

The natural assumption with Batwoman joining the Arrowverse is that Batman won’t be far behind. While it’s true that it’ll be difficult to do Batwoman’s origins without mentioning Bruce Wayne, the two aren’t really that friendly. Batwoman and Batman are frequently at odds in the comics.

Often, Batwoman and Batman tolerate each other more than really work together. Batwoman and Batman both want peace for Gotham but their methods often differ with dramatic results. Recently Batman even threatened to take away Batwoman’s superhero name because she didn’t “deserve” it.

The post Batwoman: 25 Things Arrowverse Fans Should Know About Their New Favorite Hero appeared first on CBR.

18 Jul 06:02

Movie Legends: How Harlan Ellison Got an Acknowledgement on Terminator

by Brian Cronin
Movie Legends: How Harlan Ellison Got an Acknowledgement on Terminator

MOVIE URBAN LEGEND: Some errant comments from James Cameron got Harlan Ellison a special credit at the end of Terminator.

On the home video release of 1984’s The Terminator, there is the following credit…

It’s a very interesting credit, as it doesn’t really say “based on Harlan Ellison’s work” or anything like that, just a general “Hey, here’s an acknowledgement.”

How that acknowledgment came to be is a curious case of movie history that, due to various agreements, we’ll probably never get the FULL story on how it happened, but from what we do know, it sounds like a few errant comments from James Cameron ended up getting Ellison the credit.

Okay, in case you’re unfamiliar with either “Soldier” or The Terminator, let’s fill in the blanks a bit.

The Terminator is about a robot (dubbed the Terminator) that is sent back in time (from the future to the present of 1984) to kill the mother of the man who will later lead a counter-revolution against the robots following the robot uprising. An agent from the future is sent to stop the Terminator from achieving his goal (as an aside, I did a Movie Legends years ago about how close OJ Simpson came to playing the Terminator role).

“Soldier” is an episode of the Outer Limits by Harlan Ellison, adapted from Ellison’s short story, “Soldier From Tomorrow,” about two soldiers in the future (in a future where people are pretty much built just to continually fight an unending war) who are caught in a timewarp. One of them ends up in 1964, where he is befriended by a man who slowly teaches the man from the future how to live his own life outside of being a “soldier” until the other soldier also ends up in 1964. The original soldier sacrifices himself to save his new friends.

As you might have noticed, the two stories are not particularly similar. However, the opening of The Terminator is extremely similar to the opening of “Soldier.” We see the fighting in the distant future, we see the people sent back in time and we see them end up on a city street. The first few minutes of the film and the first few minutes of the TV episode were very similar.

When Harlan Ellison saw the movie, he instantly felt that his story had been used for the film’s opening. He contacted Orion Pictures and they were initially dismissive, but Ellison had a trump card.

First off, Ellison’s friend, screenwriter and producer Tracy Torme, had told Ellison before the movie even came out that he had visited the set of the film and when he asked where the story came from, Cameron had told him, “Oh, I ripped off a couple of Harlan Ellison stories.”

More damning, though, was an infamous Starlog interview with Cameron. Here is the article as it was published. However, apparently the article as published wasn’t what was originally written. From David Brennan on JamesCameronOnline.com,

So, Ellison and his attorneys then contacted Hemdale (the financiers of The Terminator) and Orion (the movie’s distributor) to discuss a payment or settlement, with the obvious threat of a lawsuit in case none was offered. And soon after this initial contact, Ellison’s complaint received even more support. A Houston criminal defense attorney might have agreed that Ellison seemed to have some grounds for a lawsuit

“About a week after my attorney contacted Hemdale, I got a call from the editor of Starlog magazine. ….It turned out Cameron had given an interview to Starlog and, after I began inquiring at Hemdale, [The Terminator producer Gale Anne] Hurd sent Starlog a legal demand to see the interview.” According to Ellison, Gale Anne Hurd then modified Starlog’s article on The Terminator. She omitted a quote from Cameron in the article that read, “’Oh, I took a couple of Outer Limits segments.’” The reason that the Starlog editor had contacted Ellison was to provide him with the original version of the article, the one without Gale Anne Hurd’s editing. Said Ellison, “At this point we went to Hemdale and to Orion and we said, ‘I’m afraid we got him with the smoking gun. Now do you want to do something about this or do you want us to whip your ass in open court? We’d be perfectly happy to do it either way.’” Between the account of Tracy Torme and the Starlog interview, the attorneys for Hemdale and Orion quickly realized that they wanted no part of a lawsuit, by Ellison’s accounts. “They took one look at this shit and their attorneys said, ‘Settle.’”

It is disputed exactly how much money Ellison got besides the acknowledgement credit. He said 65-70,000, but other reports said it was closer to 400,000 all said and done.

The fact that they settled on a relatively weak infringement claim (it’s literally the first three minutes of the film and that’s it) certainly does suggest that Ellison is not lying when he says that the Cameron comment was edited out of the Starlog article. That’s a huge smoking gun.

Hemdale, the financiers of the film, and Orion were willing to go to court still on the matter, but only if Cameron was willing to pay them if they lost.

Cameron later recalled, “It was a nuisance suit that could easily have been fought. I expected Hemdale and Orion to fight for my rights, but they abandoned me. The insurance company told me if I didn’t agree to the settlement, they would come after me personally for the damages if they lost the suit. Having no money at the time, I had no choice but to agree to the settlement. Of course there was a gag order as well, so I couldn’t tell this story but now I frankly don’t care. It’s the truth. Harlan Ellison is a parasite who can kiss my ass”

So, again, the fact that they settled sure does make it sound like Cameron’s comments were what hurt them, so I’m willing to go with this legend as….

STATUS: True

Thanks to David Brennan for his excellent article that I linked to earlier. Great, great work on the topic. Thanks to my buddy, Chris Nowlin, for asking me to look into this.

Be sure to check out my archive of Movie Legends Revealed for more urban legends about the world of film.

Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future installments! My e-mail address is bcronin@legendsrevealed.com.

The post Movie Legends: How Harlan Ellison Got an Acknowledgement on Terminator appeared first on CBR.

18 Jul 05:56

REPORT: Avengers 4 Title Confirmed

by Joshua Olivieri
REPORT: Avengers 4 Title Confirmed

When Avengers: Infinity War was first announced, it was hyped up as a two-part movie, with both installments boasting the Infinity War subtitle. However, Marvel scrapped those initial plans, keeping the third Avengers film Infinity War and giving the fourth film a new title. Well, they’ve been extremely tight-lipped about that mysterious new title, but a new report on a cinematographer’s website may have just revealed, finally, what the film will be called.

RELATED: Your Avengers 4 Title Theory Isn’t Right, But It May Be Close

Cinematographer Trent Opaloch is known for working on directors Joe and Anthony Russo’s Marvel movies. He previously worked on Captain America: Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, and Avengers: Infinity War. According to the credits on his website, he also worked on Avengers 4, which he lists as Avengers: End Game (via Omega Underground).

While this title has yet to be confirmed, it does have a lot of weight behind it, considering its source. However, Joe Russo previously indicated the Avengers 4 title wasn’t spoken in Infinity War. “End Game,” of course, was said by Doctor Strange in the film’s third act.

RELATED: Avengers 4 Leaked Art Highlights Captain America’s Uniform and Ant-Man

Avengers 4 will release on May 3, 2019.

The post REPORT: Avengers 4 Title Confirmed appeared first on CBR.

18 Jul 05:52

John Wick: 15 Secrets Only Real Fans Know (And 10 Juicy Rumors About Part 3)

by Sarah LaPointe
John Wick: 15 Secrets Only Real Fans Know (And 10 Juicy Rumors About Part 3)

Beginning in 2014, the John Wick franchise has quickly evolved into a worldwide phenomenon. Following a retired assassin’s desire for revenge, the first film grossed over $88 million while the second reached an overwhelming $171 million. Intended to be a story about “the worst man in existence [finding] salvation,” the first film sets out to explore the vulnerable, emotional side of a violent killer as he seeks revenge. Centering around themes of loyalty and betrayal, the second film has John Wick playing a dangerous game when he is forced to return to a life he had wished to keep dead and buried. Inspired by classic action thrillers, much of the adoration for the films is due to the attention to detail regarding the visual effects and choreography.

Seeking to finish the last chapter of Wick’s story, a third and final installment of the John Wick films was announced in January 2018. After breaking a cardinal rule, Wick finds himself the target of his fellow assassins and is forced to rely on himself and the few remaining allies he has to survive. The final film teases a return of familiar faces and the introduction of new foes as well as new locations for the famed killer to seek refuge. In an attempt to satisfy the growing interest in exploring more of the assassin’s complex universe, various spin-off series have also been announced. Seeking to gain entrance into this criminal underworld, CBR has compiled a list of secrets and rumors regarding the John Wick films.

FACT: BETTER WITH AGE

During the first film’s initial stages, John Wick was supposed to be much older. Given his legendary mythic status as a “Boogey-Man” figure, Wick was written as “a man in his mid-sixties.”

For believability purposes, Basil Iwanyk, head of Thunder Road Pictures, stated he’d prefer “someone who is not literally older, but who has a seasoned history in the film world.” Though close in age, Keanu Reeves’ impressive acting career proved he was up to the challenge of portraying the hardened assassin.

FACT: ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN

Despite being the reason for Wick’s return to his vigilante lifestyle, the directors were given notes by the studio department heads not to kill off Daisy. The assassin receives the beloved beagle as a gift from his late wife. When he’s attacked by Iosef and his men, they savagely beat Daisy and leave her beside Wick to find when he wakes up.

Trainer Kim Krafsky remarks filming the death scene was emotional, especially for Omer Barnea who played the killer: “He felt horrible. Every time the director yelled ‘cut”, he just picked up the dog and cuddled him.”

FACT: ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT

Casting the role of Viggo’s arrogant son Iosef came easy for the directors, who chose Game of Thrones alum Alfie Allen. Wanting the audience to sympathize with Wick over losing Daisy and his determined need for revenge, they purposely sought an actor who “looked like a complete [jerk].”

As Theon Greyjoy, Allen was able to draw from his character’s narcissistic and ignorant personality and amplify it during his performance as Iosef. In complete contrast to both these characters, the directors found Allen to be genuinely charming and nice.

FACT: ONLY A FLESH WOUND

Michael Nyqvist, who plays Viggo Tarasov, suffered a horrible injury on set when his head was sliced open during a fighting scene. The event resulted in a severed ear and required 80 stitches. Due to the severity of his injury, numerous scenes during the end of the film had to be re-shot to hide the actor’s noticeable scar.

As Viggo, Nyqvist plays the leader of one of New York’s most notorious crime families. Upon completing an “impossible task,” he released John Wick from his employment to care for his ailing wife.

FACT: MISCHIEF MAKER

Dean Winters plays Viggo’s closest associate Avi, who underestimates John Wick’s killing capabilities. After placing a sizeable bounty on Wick’s head, Avi is contacted by Miss Perkins, who seeks to put an end to the feared assassin’s long reign of terror and claim the fortune for herself.

Some may recognize Winters as the Allstate Insurance spokesperson Mayhem. Portraying everything from “an emotionally-compromised teenage girl” to “a four year-old ring bearer with a bad habit of swallowing stuff,” Winters has made a hilarious career out of demonstrating all of the awful things that can happen to those without insurance.

FACT: RESPECTING THE MASTERS

During hand-to-hand fighting scenes in the film, John Wick shows himself as a practitioner of traditional Japanese jujutsu. His reliance on head and arm throws demonstrates his training as a Judoka; someone who practices Judo which emphasizes a competitive takedown of an enemy using hand and feet strikes.

In contrast, Wick’s rival Miss Perkins uses Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu which emphasizes the use of a person’s smaller frame against a larger person; relying on chokeholds and joint locks to take their opponent down. One of these techniques can be seen when Perkins uses her jacket to put Wick in a wing choke hold.

FACT: LOCKED AND LOADED

Along with demonstrating impressive fighting techniques, John Wick is also an expert marksman. During various confrontations, Wick changes between shooting styles. In restricting, confined situations, he uses a Center Axis Relock stance which emphasizes a “close-to-body firearm hold.” By holding the gun closer to their face, the stance allows the shooter to have better vision when targeting their subject.

When it comes to shooting with longer ranges, Wick uses a Weaver or Isosceles stance. Positioning his feet “in a boxer stance” and holding the gun with both hands allows Wick to have “faster, follow-up shots” to take down his opponent.

FACT: FANCY FOOTWORK

One of the most intense fighting sequences in the first film is the Red Circle nightclub scene when John Wick attacks Iosef and his men. Despite the complexity of the choreography, Keanu Reeves was able to learn and memorize it all within the first day of shooting.

Not only that, but Reeves performed the scene while suffering from the flu with a fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit. According to Reeves, he performed roughly 90% of his stunts in the film.

FACT: A LITTLE MORE ACTION PLEASE

The directors’ commentary for the first film reveals the original cut was over two hours long, which led to them cutting over 39 minutes of footage. One scene that had to be edited was the ending fight between John and Viggo due to their belief that “Viggo shouldn’t really pose a big physical threat to Wick.”

David Leitch also admitted “there’s a ton of great shots… that’s just Keanu Reeves walking in cool environments” that had to be left on the cutting-room floor.

FACT: GUN-FU FIGHTING

In order to be better prepared for the action-packed sequel, Reeves had to undergo intense weapons and fighting training for three months. The training involved practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, driving lessons, and “Gun-Fu.” Training under champion competitive shooter Taran Butler, Reeves was able to “expand martial arts beyond hand-to-hand combat to encompass gun-play.”

In this film, Reeves performed roughly 95-98% of his own stunts. The only ones he didn’t perform were when his character gets hit by a car and his fighting scene with Cassian in which he falls down the stairs.

FACT: CAR-FU FIGHTING

One of the most unique aspects of John Wick: Chapter Two is the use of “car-fu.” Using cars as weapons, the fight sequence in the taxi warehouse “took three months to choreograph.”

Stunt coordinator Darrin Prescott praised Reeves as “one of the best actor-drivers in the business,” though during one of the scenes in which he has to drive backwards, Reeves admitted “I hit the car so hard, I ripped the steering wheel.” To better illustrate the “vehicular mayhem,” the crew used realistic quality crash-test dummies to get an understanding of how certain joints would react to such intense injury.

FACT: A MOMENT TO REFLECT

Inspired by the mirror scene in Enter The Dragon, director Chad Stahelski sought to re-create it in Chapter Two. Despite comments that such a complex scene would take too much time and money to create, Stahelski was adamant on showing Wick’s reflection on his two dueling personas: “the grieving husband” versus “the assassin.”

Using three dozen moveable mirrors, the crew spent hours determining the correct angles and staging visual gags throughout the scene. They took three months to plan choreography that would hide the cameras’ reflections, but also highlight the skilled gunfights that would take place in such a maze-like area.

FACT: SHARPENING HIS SKILLS

Borrowing from Joker’s playbook in The Dark Knight, Wick uses a pencil to kill two assassins wanting to collect the bounty on his head. The act was hinted at in the previous film where Viggo tries to instill fear in his son after learning he attacked John Wick: “I once saw him kill three men in a bar… with a pencil, with a [expletive] pencil.”

Reeves revealed he had to fight for the scene to be included in the film: “I wanted to have a pencil fight… I kept saying ‘Where’s the pencil fight?'”

FACT: DO YOU BELIEVE IN FATE

In John Wick: Chapter Two, Reeve is reunited with his Matrix co-star Laurence Fishburne who plays Bowery King. As leader of The Soup Kitchen, an underground intelligence organization using operatives disguised as New York’s homeless population, King is able to spy on everyone.

In The Matrix franchise, Fishburne played Reeves’ mentor Morpheus who strongly believes Neo is “The One” who will end the Machine War. While the actors enjoyed their reunion, they also praised the lasting legacy their first film together still has: “It’s a huge blessing to know you’ve done something that has affected people the way The Matrix has.”

RYMOR: AN AUDIENCE WITH THE DIVINE

In a deleted scene, John Wick pays a visit to the Vatican. After a brief encounter with the front desk clerk, Wick is given permission to speak to a high-ranking member of the Catholic faith, who greets him with the same words tattooed across his back: “Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat” meaning “Fortune Favors The Bold.”

A reason for both the inclusion and removal of the scene has yet to be known, but one theory on Reddit suggests Wick might be a literal “Hitman of God” and goes on to hint at a possible connection between the holy Catholic Church and the seedy underworld in which the assassins operate.

RUMOR: BACK FOR MORE

Formerly referred to as “Alpha Cop,” the third installment of the John Wick trilogy is now known as Parabellum. While weapons experts know the new title references a German automatic firearm, it also issues a warning to “prepare for war.” The title is fitting, seeing as how we last we saw John Wick excommunicated and on-the-run for breaking the law of the Continental to never kill on their property.

As for the strange work-in-progress title, some believe “Alpha Cop” may have been in reference to NYPD Officer Jimmy, who visited John on two occasions, curious about whether the retired assassin was “working again.”

RUMOR: ON THE RUN

Picking up where the last film ended, the final installment in the trilogy will see John Wick on-the-run after being made a worldwide target for his fellow assassins. Set to be released May 17, 2019, the film’s synopsis reveals that after being completely cut off, Wick will be forced to stay alive by any means necessary.

The directors purposely wanted to drive the character toward the realization “he’s starting to become a little anti-establishment.” No longer confined to “the rules and world that he lived by,” Wick is free to leave as much devastation in his wake as he pleases.

RUMOR: THE END OF AN ERA

Seeking “a nice completion to Mr. Wick’s journey,” the third installment promises to wrap up the loose ends left over by the previous films. The film is teased to delve into Wick’s personal background and how he earned the mythic “Baba Yaga” title. It will also provide more history behind the secretive council known as The High Table.

Though fans of the film franchise would like to see it expand further, director Stahelski sees Wick’s tale coming to an end with the trilogy. To dull the anguish over seeing their beloved assassin’s story ending, various spin-offs are in the works offering more insight into John Wick’s world.

RUMOR: MORE RESERVATIONS EXPECTED

Referred to as John Wick: Parabellum, the last film in the trilogy promises to introduce new faces. One includes Halle Berry, who will be playing a character named Sophia. Judging by the photo above, it appears she may be a among the guests of the Continental.

Slated to make appearances are Anjelica Huston, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillion, and Jason Mantzoukas. The later all play various assassins while Huston has been teased to portray the Director of the mysterious High Table.

RUMOR: BACK FROM THE DEAD

Along with a new cast, a few returning faces have been teased to make an appearance. Ruby Rose and Common are rumored to reappear as Ares and Cassian. Last we saw them, both had been left for dead after being stabbed by John Wick. Leaked footage from the set suggests confirmation of these rumors, but IMDB has yet to list them as part of the cast for the third installment.

Laurence Fishburne is also rumored to return as Bowery King, a former frenemy of Wick turned possible ally. Confirmed to return are Ian McShane as Continental Hotel owner Winston and faithful concierge Charon.

RUMOR: SEEKING A FRIEND

With both familiar and new faces joining the cast of John Wick 3, one person Reeves has expressed interest in having among the cast is Tilda Swinton. Having previously worked together in Constantine and Thumbsucker, the actor revealed he’d love the opportunity to join forces again, saying, “She’s a remarkable person and actress, so I’m all aboard with that!”

Swinton expressed her desire for a reunion during promotion for Snowpiercer. Though a match made in Heaven, no word has been made regarding the actress’ possible involvement in the film.

RUMOR: A NEW VILLAIN

Remaining unconfirmed, a persistent rumor suggests Hiroyuki Sanada will be playing the villain in John Wick 3. Speculation has it that he will be the leader of the Japanese crime syndicate known as The Yakuza. Despite their violent nature, this mafia-style organization is well-known for a sense of honor and loyalty. If the rumor proves true, this will be the second time Reeves and Sanada have worked together; having co-starred in 47 Ronin.

Various articles and leaked footage suggests instead of Sanada, Mark Dacascos will be facing off against John Wick. Though well-known as the chairman of Iron Chef America, Dacascos is also a well-respected martial artist and film actor.

RUMOR: NEW LOCATION(S)

Keeping in mind the assumption of a Japanese villain, one of the locations suggested for John Wick 3 is Tokyo. Screenwriter Derek Kolstad revealed his vision of having Wick’s “defining character moment” in the beautiful city.

Stahelski expressed his desire to explore the United Kingdom, Paris, and possibly the Middle East. Spain and Russia have also been reported as possible filming destinations while Reeves sought to have his character venture to Jerusalem; a location “older and more mythic” than the second film’s Rome.

RUMOR: CHECKING IN

With the John Wick franchise coming to an end, Starz announced a spin-off series focusing on The Continental. Being the safe-haven for New York’s assassins, the series would delve into the “compelling characters who inhabit this underground world.” Not wanting to veer from their source material, the show would also provide “thunderous fight sequences and intensely staged shootouts.”

Though still kept under-wraps, Lionsgate expressed a desire to expand the franchise with a La Femme Nikita-inspired series called Ballerina. The show would follow a young female assassin seeking revenge against her family’s murderer(s).

RUMOR: DIVINE INTERVENTION

Inspiration for the John Wick franchise may have come from Greek and Roman mythology. Taking into consideration various character names, many draw their source from Greek gods and mythic monsters. If the hotel is considered “the Underworld,” Charon is paid in gold coins to “ferry” each guest to his / her room. In Chapter Two, Wick faces off against Ares, named after the God of War.

Other characters reference famous emperors: combining William Dafoe’s Marcus and John Leguizamo’s Aureilo to form “Marcus Aureilo” and Franco Nero’s ode to Julius Caesar. Wick’s wife Helen could also reference Helen of Troy, known as “the most beautiful woman in the world.”

The post John Wick: 15 Secrets Only Real Fans Know (And 10 Juicy Rumors About Part 3) appeared first on CBR.

18 Jul 05:43

It: Chapter 2 Cast Assembles in James McAvoy Photo

by Justin Carter
cyrus.mortazavi

Chastain as Bev is a dream cast

It: Chapter 2 Cast Assembles in James McAvoy Photo

The members of the Losers Club have gathered for a much-needed reunion.

With filming under way on It: Chapter 2, James McAvoy has captured a photo of series of snapshots of himself and his co-stars, including Jessica Chastain, Isiah Mustafa and Bill Hader. Additionally, McAvoy has a photo of himself with Jaeden Lieberher and Jack Dylan Grazer. McAvoy plays the older version of Lieberher’s character Bill Denbrough. This photo comes not long after Jessica Chastain used her own Instagram to tease her role as the older counterpart to Sophia Lillis’ Beverly Marsh.

Snapped IT. #itmovie #thedisapearanceofthemoviesweshot #itmovie🎈

A post shared by James Mcavoy (@jamesmcavoyrealdeal) on

The second film of the It duology will jump ahead to the present day, with the Losers Club all grown up and moved away from Derry, Maine. But the time has come to keep their promise to return to their home town and bring an end to Pennywise’s reign of terror, unaware that in the near 30 years of waiting, he’s grown even stronger. Although the film primarily stars the older actors, the kids from the 2017 original will return as well to reprise their original roles in flashbacks.

RELATED: James McAvoy Confirms It: Chapter 2 Has Begun Filming

In theaters Sept. 6, 2019, It: Chapter 2 stars James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isiah Mustafa, Jessica Chastain, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Andy Bean, Teach Grant and Bill Skarsgard.

The post It: Chapter 2 Cast Assembles in James McAvoy Photo appeared first on CBR.

18 Jul 00:05

Luke Cage Has A Secret ‘Crossover’ with Cloak & Dagger That You Totally Missed

by Meagan Damore
Luke Cage Has A Secret ‘Crossover’ with Cloak & Dagger That You Totally Missed

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Luke Cage Season 2, now streaming on Netlix.


It’s official: Cloak & Dagger definitely shares the same corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Luke Cage. In the Season 2 episode “If It Ain’t Rough, It Ain’t Right,” the Netflix series referenced a key character from the freshman Freeform show, in what might be Marvel Netflix’s first mention of a Marvel TV series outside its own network. As it turns out, Luke Cage characters Misty Knight and Nandi Tyler know Cloak & Dagger‘s Brigid O’Reilly.

Following the death of Captain Tom Ridenhour, Misty visited in his former office. There, she discovered he had kept her badge and gun, though she had turned them in when she quit in an earlier episode. As she struggled to maintain her composure, Nandi joined her. Nandi revealed that Ridenhour had never told anyone Misty quit. What’s more, considering Ridenhour’s death and the departure of a few other detectives, Nandi was sure Misty would be back.

RELATED: Is Cloak & Dagger’s Det. O’Reilly Doomed to Become a Marvel Supervillain?

“Inspector West called. Callahan is in Maui, and O’Reilly moved to New Orleans,” Nandi explained. “None of them know you quit. West said until One Police Plaza sends somebody else, you’re the highest ranking detective here. You’re in charge.”

The mention of O’Reilly here is, of course, paramount. Considering Cloak & Dagger takes place in New Orleans, it seems very likely that the O’Reilly namedropped on Luke Cage is the same character that appears in the flesh on Cloak & Dagger. What’s more, on Cloak & Dagger, O’Reilly’s coworkers have made it abundantly clear she is from out of town.

RELATED: How Luke Cage’s Big Finale Twist Sets Up Season 3

In “Stained Glass,” Cloak & Dagger‘s third episode, Detective Connors taunted O’Reilly with the fact she isn’t from New Orleans. “I thought the NYPD only hired the best and brightest,” he said. When he told her she owed him a beer, he added, “Make sure it’s none of that Brooklyn hipster shit.”

At this point in Cloak & Dagger, O’Reilly hasn’t specified where exactly she transferred from. Luke Cage Season 2, however, establishes she worked in Harlem. It’s possible, then, that she has past experience with enhanced individuals like Luke Cage, which may prepare her to work with Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson. Considering this major reference, we might even hear her refer to the events of Luke Cage in a future Cloak & Dagger episode. Regardless, Luke Cage proves once again that the MCU is all connected.


Streaming now on Netflix, Marvel’s Luke Cage Season 2 stars Mike Colter, Simone Missick, Alfre Woodard, Theo Rossi, Mustafa Shakir, Gabrielle Dennis, Rosario Dawson and Reg E. Cathey.

Airing Thursdays at 8 pm ET/PT on Freeform, Cloak & Dagger stars Olivia Holt as Tandy Bowen/Dagger and Aubrey Joseph as Tyrone Johnson/Cloak, as well as Andrea Roth as Tandy’s mother Melissa Bowen, Gloria Reuben as Tyrone’s mother Adina Johnson, Miles Mussenden as Tyrone’s father Michael Johnson, Carl Lundstedt as Tandy’s partner in crime Liam, James Saito as Dr. Bernard Sanjo and J.D. Evermore as Detective Connors.

The post Luke Cage Has A Secret ‘Crossover’ with Cloak & Dagger That You Totally Missed appeared first on CBR.

18 Jul 00:04

Spider-Man: Far From Home Fan Art Is the Venom Crossover We Crave

by Renaldo Matadeen
Spider-Man: Far From Home Fan Art Is the Venom Crossover We Crave

As Spider-Man actor Tom Holland adds his voice to the chorus that wants to see Peter Parker suited up against Venom, some fans are already envisioning that might look like.

Bringing together the events of Avengers: Infinity War and the title of the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming, artist Boss Logic envisions a wall-crawler who is “Far From Home,” and being enveloped by the alien symbiote.

The timing couldn’t be better given Holland’s statements at ACE Comic-Con in Seattle, where he indicated he would indeed like to fight Venom some day. However, that doesn’t seem likely to happen anytime soon, as Sony’s Venom movie isn’t part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (Holland’s Spider-Man exists in the MCU as part of a co-production deal between Marvel Studios and Sony, but many of the related characters, including Venom, do not.)

RELATED: Spider-Man Holland Wants to Face-Off Against Hardy’s Venom

Still, there have been rumors of a Holland cameo in director Ruben Fleischer’s Venom, so perhaps there remains a glimmer of hope that he could face off against Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock, eventually.

Opening Oct. 25, Sony’s Venom stars Tom Hardy, Riz Ahmed, Michelle Williams, Jenny Slate, Scott Haze, and Reed Scott. Directed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: Far From Home stars Tom Holland and Marisa Tomei. The film opens July 5, 2019.

RELATED: Spider-Man 2 Title Confirmed By Marvel’s Kevin Feige

The post Spider-Man: Far From Home Fan Art Is the Venom Crossover We Crave appeared first on CBR.

16 Jul 06:14

BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS Signs With WME - Report

12 Jul 22:59

Superman Cover Unites the Man of Steel with a Sworn Enemy

by Tim Adams
Superman Cover Unites the Man of Steel with a Sworn Enemy

Yesterday, Brian Michael Bendis took over the DC Comics Instagram account, where he posted behind-the-scenes pictures and videos of the publisher’s writers summit. One such post revealed artist Ivan Reis’ penciled cover to Superman #5, featuring the Man of Steel standing side-by-side with one of his fiercest enemies, General Zod.

Bendis’ post reads, “The Cover to Superman number five by @ivanreisart @joeprado2017 this is chapter 5 in the year-long United Saga #zod #manofsteel #actioncomics #superman #bendisdcinstatakeover”

RELATED: Superman Does the Unthinkable by Destroying [REDACTED] in Man of Steel #4

Another revelation in the Instagram post is the potential name of the writer’s year-long Superman story arc: “United Saga,” or merely “United.” A big question leading into Superman #5 will be what events have transpired that will lead the Man of Steel to stand with a sworn enemy like General Zod? Aside from both characters hailing from the destroyed Krypton, they have fundamentally different viewpoints when it comes to humanity.

The weekly Man of Steel miniseries is setting the stage for the relaunch of Action Comics and Superman, which will mark Bendis’ big debut as the writer of both series. General Zod was last seen in Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #40-41, where he established a new home for his family and the Eradicator.

KEEP READING: DC & Superman Stand Up for What’s Right on World Refugee Day

The post Superman Cover Unites the Man of Steel with a Sworn Enemy appeared first on CBR.

12 Jul 20:04

20 Unused Pieces Of Arrowverse Concept Art (That Would Change Everything)

by Brian Cronin
20 Unused Pieces Of Arrowverse Concept Art (That Would Change Everything)

In the world of superhero television series, one of the most important stages in the production of the shows is in the concept art stage. This is the time that the wonderful artists working for Arrow, Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl actually design the costumes that the actors on the show will wear. This is so important because this is the point where the wild ideas of the writers actually become realities.

However, concept art still is, by its very definition, just a concept and not a reality. Therefore, while the Arrowverse concept artists have been tremendous in actually getting their vision translated to the actual screen, there are going to be times when their designs do not make it into the show. Sometimes, the changes are just slight ones, while other times it is more notable. Money often plays a role, as a design is determined to be too cost-prohibitive to use on the show. Sometimes the changes are notable enough that they really would have changed the direction of the shows had they made it onto the air. We will take a look at 20 examples of these unused Arrowverse concept art drawings that would have changed everything.

REVERSE FLASH (EOBARD THAWNE)

When it comes to designing superhero costumes for television and film, there is a major question that has to be asked of all production designers — how dark do we want to get? When superhero movies were still a relative rarity, the first X-Men film in 2000 said, in effect, “Remove all possible color!” The X-Men went from the comic book outfits that were filled with colors to the plain black leather outfits of the film. The film even poked fun of the comic book costumes, famously riffing on Wolverine’s yellow spandex.

Of course, one of the Flash’s biggest villains wore a costume that was precisely that! Eobard Thawne, the Reverse Flash, wore an almost all-yellow costume. Therefore, when Maya Mani and Andy Poon debated the design of the Reverse Flash’s costume on Season 1 of the Flash, they initially tried to overload the yellow with lots of extra design elements to tamper it down. Had they gone with that design, it would have likely informed all of their design work going forward on the show.

SUPERGIRL

Famously, the costumes for the first three major solo heroes of the Arrowverse, namely Green Arrow, Flash and Supergirl, were all designed by 12-time Academy Award-nominated (and four-time Academy Award-winning) costume designer, Colleen Atwood. Atwood did a wonderful job with Arrow and Flash, but she probably got the most attention for her work on Melissa Benoist’s Supergirl costume. Atwood put so much attention into the design that she specifically had Benoist lay on a bench during a fitting so that Atwood could see what it would look like in flight.

Interestingly, though, Atwood specifically noted about Supergirl’s bare legs, “I feel like there’s a real love for Americana with Supergirl, and I wanted to really embrace that heart of women — there’s enough skin out there in the world, it’s not for everybody and Melissa was just the right person to pull it off.” While that is a fine sentiment, the initial design for Supergirl by Atwood seemingly does show a decent amount of Supergirl’s bare legs. In the final costume, that is all covered in shaded tights. The reaction to the costume would have certainly been a lot different had Supergirl’s legs not been covered in the final costume.

BATMAN BEYOND

Generally speaking, when you see concept art of a character, that means that that character is set to appear on a television series or a film. That is why that the internet went nuts in March of 2018 when Andy Poon, the acclaimed concept artist on a number of Arrowverse series, revealed on his Instagram account a concept art drawing of Terry McGinnis, the Batman of the future that starred in the animated series, Batman Beyond. Was this a sign that the future Batman was going to show up in the Arrowverse? Perhaps as part of the time-traveling Legends of Tomorrow?

As it turned out, it was all a bit of a false alarm as this was just Poon doing some concept art for fun on his own. Still, his design work was so good that it really makes you want to see McGinnis is the Arrowverse, right? Recently, there have been some mentions in Arrowverse episodes that seem to suggest that Batman actually does exist in this universe, so maybe it is not so crazy to think that this version of Batman might actually show up. If so, that would certainly mark a major change in the Arrwoverse as a whole.

FIRESTORM

Outside of the issue about how colorful you want to get your costumes to look in person, probably the next biggest issue when it comes to designing costumes for film and television is the sheer cost that is involved in the production of the costume. Perhaps no regular hero in the Arrowverse made that clearer than Firestorm. You see, the entire set-up of Firestorm involved the use of heavy-duty computer graphics. Just how much computer graphics would be needed, however, were reliant on how the costume was designed.

When the CW first revealed concept art for the cast of Legends of Tomorrow in action, it showed a Firestorm who had a much more intricate costume that would have required a good deal more computer graphics to make it look good. This was before it was revealed precisely which Firestorm was going to be in the show. When the show came out, the design was different and more streamlined. However, even with the streamlined look, Firestorm was still a difficult look to reproduce on a regular basis and the show would often have to come up with explanations as to why Jefferson Jackson and Martin Stein would have to split up so that they could not form Firestorm.

MARTIAN MANHUNTER

Hilariously enough, Martian Manhunter only became a character on the Supergirl TV series because of a joke that the producers made about actor David Harewood’s ears. Harewood had been cast as the alien-hating head of the DEO, Hank Henshaw. One of the producers noted that Harewood’s ears almost looked alien and that if they ever needed to cast the Martian Manhunter, that Harewood would be perfect. Then producer Geoff Johns thought that, hey, why not just reveal that Martian Manhunter was Henshaw?

While he was excited to play such a major character, Harewood was concerned about the makeup that would be involved, noting, “Andrew gave me this model of a green Martian, and at first, I was a bit horrified. I thought, ‘I’m going to be playing Shrek for the next seven years.’ I was anxious because I could see hours of prosthetic makeup and that was simply not something I wanted to do. But then I started reading it, and I was blown away.” The original design for Martian Manhunter by Alan Villanueva, though, was probably a bit too elaborate for the show’s special effects department. They did a good job coming pretty darn close to Villanueva’s design, though, just slightly less realistic.

CANARY

In the early days of the Arrowverse, it was a difficult decision as to just how much to lean into the “superhero” style designs of characters. If you recall, when Oliver Queen first returns to Starling City and starts killing people who had “failed the city” in his mind, he not only was not called the Green Arrow, he didn’t even have any sort of colorful superhero name at all. He was just “The Hood.” Not only that, but he literally did not wear a mask! He just covered his face with grease paint. It was not until he met Barry Allen that Oliver began to adopt a domino mask.

Similarly, then, that was a question that the producers were asking themselves about the rest of the Arrowverse. Should they deck out in masks or should they go without them? It was a question that was still in their minds when they first designed Sara Lance’s debut as the Canary. Her initial concept art for her first appearance shows the character without a mask. When she showed up on the show, though, she was now rocking a domino mask herself. It would be interesting to think of how the show would look if they had gone in that direction.

REVERSE FLASH (DANIEL WEST)

As you will see on the rest of the list, the biggest departures from the concept art to the actual character on the show is definitely John Gallagher’s designs. In the case of this Reverse Flash design art, he went so far as to try to adapt an entirely different character into the one on the series.

You see, in the “New 52” relaunch of the Flash in 2011, the Reverse Flash was actually Daniel West, the brother of Iris West! Their mother had died when they were young, which drove their father to become an abusive alcoholic. Daniel eventually grew so sick of their abuse that he decided to save his sister and himself by trying to kill his father. He pushed him down a flight of stairs, paralyzing him but not killing him. Daniel then left home and become a criminal. Later, he gained speed powers and learned that he could run fast enough to go back in time. His plan was to make Iris respect him by killing their father. The Flash stopped him. Daniel later joined the Suicide Squad and died in action. Naturally, having the Reverse Flash be someone else entirely would dramatically change the shape of the series.

MULTIPLEX

One of the ways that the Flash changed the Arrowverse forever is that it opened the universe up to the concept of more colorful heroes and villains. For instance, the producers of Arrow initially were reluctant to ever even have a real super-powered character on the series and even went out of their way to come up with “realistic” superpowers like the Mirakuru super soldier serum that gave Deathstroke his enhanced abilities. When the Flash was so successful, Arrow reversed course and has had a number of super powered heroes and villains since then.

However, when the Flash debuted, there was debate there, too, over how over-the-top to go with their villains. Note that the first villain on the series, Cylde Mardon, had no superhero name and no costume. The second villain on the series, Multiplex, had the ability to make duplicates of himself but the question remained whether he would wear a real super villain costume. After showing a variety of more traditional masked looks, the ultimate design was sans mask. This made it clear that, early on at least, the Flash was going to follow Arrow‘s footsteps and keep the villains a little more down to Earth. That quickly went out the window, but it cold have gone out the window even earlier in the series!

GIRDER

Again, when it comes to dramatic changes between concept art and the show itself, you are often going to find yourself with a John Gallagher piece. In the case of Girder on the Flash, the difference is like night and day. Gallagher designed the character like he looked in the comics. Girder fell into a vat of liquid metal and scrap parts, transforming into a walking metal man, decked out with the various metal bits that were in the vat when he gained his abilities.

In the TV series, though, they decided to avoid the excess metal and just have Girder become purely a metal man. That was an important decision, because it allowed Girder to be used more frequently in the series. If they had actually tried to use computer graphics to make the comic book version of Girder appear in the show, it would be a King Shark situation where they would only be able to show him for a few seconds at a time. We would have missed out on some interesting dynamics in the series like the fact that, in his previous life before gaining his powers, Girder knew both Barry and Iris from school.

SLADE WILSON

In some ways, concept art can be really tricky when it comes to actually being a guide towards the show itself. A perfect example of this is the depiction of Slade Wilson from the early days of Arrow. It is almost a certainty that Maya Mani and Andy Poon were working without a specific actor in mind when they came up with their design for the mercenary Wilson, who was set to team-up with Oliver Queen in the flashbacks set on the mysterious island in Season 1 of Arrow.

Thus, their design could really only be used in terms of the costume itself and not how the actor playing Slade would look. However, concept art typically at least has a rough estimate of what the actor is supposed to look like in the role and Manu Bennett’s portrayal of Slade Wilson did not even come remotely close to looking like this concept art. If you stretch a bit, you can note that it looks like he probably has some of the facial scars from the drawing, but that’s about it. Not only that, but the whole spirit of the character in the drawing is different from Bennet’s Wilson, in that the Slade in the drawing is reserved and distant while Bennett played Slade as a bombastic type.

REVERSE FLASH (EOBARD THAWNE)

So we have one piece of concept art for the Reverse Flash where they seemingly tried to de-emphasize the yellow as much as they could, now let us look at a different artist’s approach that took things in the completely opposite direction. John Galagher’s concept art often embraces the over-the-top comic book feel of characters. In other words, he tends to try to take the character directly from the page to reality as much as he can. So when it came time for him to design a look for the Reverse Flash, he went old school and basically just used the actual costume that the Reverse Flash wears in the comics.

Of course, instead of spandex, the outfit looks like it is yellow leather, but the effect is essentially the same — it looks like it leapt off of the comic book page. This, naturally, has the opposite effect of the previous design. While that outfit tried to de-emphasize the yellow, this one embraced it fully. That would have the possibility of coming out looking silly when seen in reality. When it comes down to it, the perfect solution would be a sort of middle ground between the Mani/Poon design and the Gallagher one and that is precisely what the show ended up doing.

CAPTAIN COLD

When the “New 52” relaunched all of DC’s titles, it gave writers a chance to completely re-interpret the DC Universe of characters. In many cases, the characters were barely changed. Besides being de-aged along with the rest of the DCU and thus no longer married to Iris West, Barry Allen generally maintained a fairly consistent portrayal in the “New 52” as he did in the earlier continuity. However, some characters received changes that almost seemed to be just for the sake of change, like how Flash’s Rogues suddenly all had their weapons integrated into their very being.

Thus, instead of having a cold gun, Captain Cold could literally just create blasts of cold himself. When John Gallagher did concept art for Captain Cold for the Flash TV series, he had Cold wearing his “New 52” costume and he is shown with cold powers, as well. Oddly enough, he also has a cold gun for some reason. Fairly quickly, Geoff Johns changed Captain Cold so that he went back to just the cold gun and to his familiar older costume design. The Flash TV series stuck with the gun idea and had him wear a close approximation of his original comic book costume on the show.

FLASH (ARMOR)

As noted, the big change in the Arrowverse when it comes to costume design was when Colleen Atwood gave the Flash one of the brightest costumes that the nascent Arrowverse had ever seen. What’s funny about that, of course, is that it really was not all that bright of a costume. However, the fact, though, that it used a primary color like red throughout it was still a bold choice. This soon led to brighter and brighter costumes on all of the various shows of the Arrowverse.

The Flash had gone through three different versions of his costume by the end of Season 3. In Season 4, the Flash debuted a new costume that was designed by Cisco in case Barry Allen made it out of the Speed Force prison he was trapped in at the end of Season 3. The costume contained a lot of extra little gizmos and technological advantages, although these “advantages” didn’t help so much when they ran afoul of a criminal named Killg%re who could control technology. In their initial design of the new costume, Maya Mani and Andy Poon leaned into the “armor” aspect of the costume but they eventually pulled back from making the Flash look too much like a really fast Iron Man.

LIVEWIRE

An interesting aspect of the Supergirl series has been the way that the producers have adopted a number of the members of Superman’s rogues gallery to make them foes of Supergirl instead. One of the villains that made this transition was Livewire, who was a popular villain from the 1990s Superman Animated Series and later made her way into the official DC Universe continuity. In the original version of the electricity-driven super villain in Supergirl, costume designer Kiersten Ronning and concept artist Alan Villanueva came up with a striking goth look for Livewire.

The problem with that design, though, is that it did not fit the character that they ultimately came up with on the show. On Supergirl, Livewire is actually a shock jock who works for CatCo that complained about Supergirl so much that Cat Grant decides to take away her talk show. Since she is under a two-year contract, she can’t fire her, so she instead transfers her to the traffic helicopter beat before she is struck by lightning and became Livewire. The original design was for a much different take on the character, who ultimately redeemed herself later on the series and became an ally of Supergirl in the fight against Reign.

GRODD

When it comes to Grodd, the gorilla subject who gained telepathic powers in the particle accelerator explosion in Flash, it is probably unfair to point out the differences between the depiction of the villain on the series and how concept artist John Gallagher drew him. This is because the show actually has done an excellent job with Grodd. Considering that the entire character has to be generated using computer graphics, the show does a marvelous job. Remember, this is the same series that had King Shark show up for 10 second clips in the dark.

Grodd, in the meantime, has been featured prominently in a number of episodes. One episode even saw Grodd sent to Gorilla City on Earth-2 and take over that city. So the show managed to do a convincing city of gorillas! Producers and artists should be commended for how good of a job that they have done with Grodd and his corresponding characters. However, that does not change the fact that Gallagher’s design for the character is even cooler than the one that we saw on the series. It is likely asking for too much to expect them to be able to replicate Gallagher’s Grodd design on the budget of a TV series, but we can still pine for it a little bit, can’t we?

FELICITY AS A SUPERHERO

Longtime Arrow showrunner Marc Guggenheim once said about Felicity Smoak that the one thing he wouldn’t do with the character was to make her an outright superhero. He told Entertainment Weekly, ” I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: I have zero intention of ever putting Felicity in a mask and costume on Arrow.” So that made her appearance in Season 2 of Legends of Tomorrow such a major event. You see, time had been altered by the Legion of Doom so that the present was basically a dystopia and Felicity was one of the only people fighting back against their oppressors.

The Legends, though, were under the control of the Legion of Doom and this was proven when Sara Lance actually snapped the neck of the alternate reality Felicity! Luckily, time was fixed, so this reality did not actually come to pass. It’s interesting to note that, while show artists designed a superhero costume for Felicity to wear for the episode, complete with a mask, when the episode was actually released, Felicity wore the costume but not the mask. Who knows if perhaps people would have gotten such a kick out of Felicity in full superhero attire that it might have seeped into the regular universe!

JESSIE QUICK

Just like Arrow, what began on Flash as a superhero with a small support staff has slowly blossomed into a team with a number of superheroes on it. Not only superheroes, but in the world of the Flash, he is not even the only speedster on the team! While he fought super fast villains in the first three seasons of the show, he also managed to add three super fast allies, as well, with Jay Garrick, Wally West and Jessie Quick all showing up on the show in the first three seasons.

When Jessie Quick debuted, there was some debate over exactly how connected she should be to the Flash. In the comics, after all, Jessie Quick was her own type of superhero and not directly tied into the Flash mythos. So when Jessie’s first costume was designed, she did not have the Flash logo on her chest. However, they ended up deciding to tie her in more directly and so she ultimately gained the famous logo on her costume. She was firmly on “Team Flash.” Perhaps not quite as obvious as Wally becoming “Kid Flash,” but she was still pretty darn committed to the cause before she began to travel to other Earths where she could be a superhero in her own right.

PROMETHEUS

In the comic books, Prometheus has a fiendish set-up. He has a special helmet that feeds him information directly into his brain. He can upload all sorts of things and then instantly become an expert in whatever he uploaded. If he wants to speak Russian, he can upload Russian to his mind. If he wants to be able to figure skate, he can upload skating into his brain. He actually used this helmet to defeat Batman in hand to hand combat!

When the concept art began for Prometheus in Arrow Season 5, his mask was originally more technologically-designed like the original comic book mask. Ultimately, though, artists decided on a more simple mask for the villain. However, the character ended up being technologically savvy, so it was perhaps a case of them not wanting to spoil just how dangerous the villain would end up being, with us being fooled into thinking that he was “just” a simple fighter. That might have been the right decision, but it is fair to say that a lot of the designs that Maya Mani and Andy Poon came up for the alternate looks for his helmet/mask looked really cool, so it is a shame that we did not get to see them on the series.

EARTH X GUARDIAN

When it comes to designing alternate reality costumes, it seems like it is always a lot of fun to mess around with designs to come up with some fresh and new ideas. Amanda Riley and Greg Hopwood certainly took advantage of that opportunity when they designed an outfit for James Olsen to wear in the “Crisis on Earth-X” crossover between the four Arrowverse series in 2017. However, despite the fact that the concept art was the only place where the character was actually called the Guardian, there was another notable change between the concept art and the finished product.

The concept art has the Guardian rocking an American Flag motif on his chest, which is a clever twist on both Captain America’s famous costume and the fact that, on Earth-X, the rebels on the planet are all Americans, so a patriotic theme was appropriate. However, the finished costume in the actual episode took the Captain America comparison to a whole new level that was not predicted in the concept art. The shield was a plain one in the design for the character, but in the actual episode, it becomes a flag-like design, as well. Besides being a bummer that it was a world controlled by the Nazis, Earth-X also was a pain because they eliminated this version of the Guardian before we could appreciate it for too long.

RIVAL

A major concern that a costume designer has for a TV series is that it might end up feeling repetitive. In other words, if you are making costumes for a team of archers or a team of speedsters, how do you avoid hitting the same notes on all of the costumes? That was a concern that the Flash series had with the villains, as well, as there was a similar sort of “dark leather” approach that was used for a few different bad guys on the show.

That approach likely led to the problem with Rival’s costume in Season 3 of the series. The Rival was a rogue of Kid Flash in the alternate reality that Barry Allen created when he went back in time to save his mother’s life. When Barry returned reality to normal (mostly), a villain remembered the other reality and created the Rival in this reality, as well. His initial design was awesome-looking, but it was also extremely similar to the design of Zoom, the main villain of Season 2. So they shifted the costume dramatically and ended up with a weird-looking mask that was way too big for Rival’s head.

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12 Jul 19:49

New DC Films Chief Inherited a ‘Sh*tshow’

by Ian Cardona
New DC Films Chief Inherited a ‘Sh*tshow’

Suicide Squad 2, a Joker solo spin-off, Birds of Prey, New Gods, The Batman, a separate Joker project, Green Lantern Corps, Black Adam, Flashpoint, a Deathstroke-fronted film — these are all DC Extended Universe movies that Warner Bros. announced over the past year. There were so many different projects thrown in the air that it was getting difficult keeping track of them all, and now it appears as if the new DC Films Chief Walter Hamada is cleaning house.

Following the recent departures of DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson and DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns, Hamada, who was named the head of Warner Bros.’ DC Entertainment movies last January, is finding himself with a big task on his hands. According to The Hollywood Reporter, an insider close to the scene said that Hamada “walked into a shitshow, and he’s trying to clean it up.”

RELATED: All the Joker Movies DC Supposedly Has In Development

Trouble began brewing a long time ago, following the release of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, which failed to connect with audiences and critics alike. Following that, Warner Bros., who were entrusting Zack Snyder with his vision of the DCEU, felt compelled to salvage Justice League and turn it into a lighter, more hopeful affair.

The plans for all of the following DC movies have been constantly shifting and changing ever since, and now Hamada seems intent on streamlining the large number of films that are actively in development.

RELATED: Rumor: Justice League Script Turmoil Began Before Whedon Arrived

Next up on Warner Bros. DCEU docket is James Wan’s Aquaman solo film, which will hit theaters Dec. 21. After this, fans can look foward to David F. Sandberg’s Shazam! which bows April 5, 2019 and Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 1984, slated for a Nov. 1, 2019 release.

The post New DC Films Chief Inherited a ‘Sh*tshow’ appeared first on CBR.

01 Jul 19:28

Humberto Ramos Warping Marvel Characters Together for New Comic? #WhoGetsWarped

by Rich Johnston

Marvel Comics writer Al Ewing tweeted out the first one.

A mashup between Iron Man and Mjolnir, called Iron Hammer, designed by Humberto Ramos.

Then Marvel Editor-In-Chief CB Cebulski followed with Arachknight, a smash up of Spider-Man and Moon Knight.

I get the feeling there may be more to come… and yes it does feel a little like the Amalgamverse… but just for Marvel.

UPDATE: Here we go… editor Jordan White tweets out Ghost Panther.

 

 

The post Humberto Ramos Warping Marvel Characters Together for New Comic? #WhoGetsWarped appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

01 Jul 19:27

Has Geoff Johns Remembered Justice League: Rise Of The Seven Seas?

by Rich Johnston

Last year we ran a piece asking the question, whatever happened to Geoff Johns‘ teased and promised Justice League story Rise Of The Seven Years, as we now celebrate five years of empty promises… and we’ve heard nothing but crickets from Geoff and DC since then.

Until last week when in the wave of Aquaman movie hype The Aquaman Shrine tweeted,

Well, it seems highly likely they may just be right and have the edit to back it up. Pictured are the rulers of the “Seven Seas” of Atlantis — separate kingdoms that resulted when Atlan caused the continent to sink beneath the wave thousands of years ago (see Geoff’s New 52 run). As of now the only kingdoms we know of are the Atlantean capital of Atlantis and Xebel, the penal colony where Mera is from.

Rise of the Seven Seas was originally to be a Justice League/Aquaman event and it’s clear Geoff planned to introduce a whole lot more into his Sea King mythos. New rulers and kingdoms now likely to be introduced first in the December movie rather than the comics.

Well, will the Seven Seas ever make its way back into comics canon? Scott Snyder has teased the second arc of his Justice League run to be a big Aquaman story-line… Kelly Sue DeConnick is believed to be taking on the Aquaman comic as well as part of the DC Creative Refresh…. and Geoff Johns didn’t mention Aquaman in his lineup of titles. But doesn’t mean that in his new position he couldn’t get an Aquaman comic away that toes in with the movie, showing his original comic book plans for the storyline…

And who’s the classic Aquaman villain referenced in The Shrine’s tweet? That would make three or four for the movie eh? But who’s counting on their trident, er pentadent right?

 

The post Has Geoff Johns Remembered Justice League: Rise Of The Seven Seas? appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

01 Jul 19:19

The Shanghai Dragons Finish Overwatch League With a 0-40 Record

by Gavin Sheehan

It may not be their finest moment, but the Overwatch League just set a new esports record with the Shanghai Dragons this week. Usually, when a new league or tournament or round-robin starts up, you expect some teams to do better than others, and some to do worse than others. After losing their match on June 16th to the San Francisco Shock, the Shanghai Dragons officially have become the worst team in all of esports history by having an impressive 0-40 record. To put this into context, teams in other leagues that have a long season and bad records usually pick up a handful of wins along the way, or those who go winless usually don’t have as long of a season as the Dragons do.

The Dragons, however, managed to go winless over the course of several months, even with roster changes and bringing in one of the best Overwatch players in the world with Geguri. Obviously, there’s going to be some restructuring with this team in the off-season while those who are still under contract (and may not be for long) watch the Stage Four finals today and the playoffs from home. But it does sound like they’ll be back for the second season, as shown in their Twitter post after the match below.

The post The Shanghai Dragons Finish Overwatch League With a 0-40 Record appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

26 Jun 14:04

Does Jordan Peele Want to Make a ‘Gargoyles’ Something for Disney?

by Mary Anne Butler

Is Oscar winner Jordan Peele working on a possible Gargoyles project? According to a highly irreverent piece from entertainment newsletter The Ankler and writer Richard Rushfield, he might be.

By Peabody Awards (Keegan-Michael Key / Jordan Peele) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
The Ankler suggests that Peele might “walk in and says he wants to do a new version of Gargoyles.”

This is in no way an actual report of something that happened, or at the very least, Rushfield is trying really hard to make this ‘report’ as much of a “what if” as he possibly can without outright saying anything has happened. An example from the newsletter:

“How do you turn down Jordan Peele? Well, you can’t. Who wants to be responsible for that decision? So in the absence of a good reason to say no, but prevented by their Big IP box from saying yes, Disney is slow walking the decision. It’s hoping, it seems, that they’ll run out the clock, he’ll sign other deals elsewhere, and the project will just fade away.”

Slashfilm goes on to say that Rushfield’s thoughts as to why Disney didn’t glide on the idea right away was Peele’s idea being “too much of a risk”. Perhaps the lack of decisiveness is purely a timing issue though, and maybe they’ll change their minds as audience reaction to this possibility.

It’s happened before — a timely “leak” of possible information of an upcoming project prompts action — much like that Deadpool test footage from a million years ago that eventually became the record-breaking R-rated film we know now.

I personally hope Gargoyles is NOT remade or touched, as the ’90s Disney animated series remains my personal favorite cartoon ever. The mix of magic and legend with incredible artwork, and the best Star Trek voice cast assembled continue to make it a special tv series which I rewatch at least once a year.  (Except for, you know, the lack of a complete series release).

We’ll let you know if Peele or Disney responds to this possible thing.

The post Does Jordan Peele Want to Make a ‘Gargoyles’ Something for Disney? appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

21 Jun 07:23

Why Hulk May Wear a New Suit in Avengers 4

by Justin Carter
Why Hulk May Wear a New Suit in Avengers 4

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Hulk is going through perhaps his biggest change to date.

What appears to be promotional art for the upcoming Avengers 4 surfaced earlier today showing the surviving heroes of Thanos’ Infinity Gauntlet-powered snap banding together, and the strongest Avenger is wearing not just black pants, but a black (or purple) top as well. Assuming the art in question is real — it looks like it would be used for backpacks or a lunchbox, yet has no artist’s signature — it could mean a number of things for Hulk.

For most of Infinity War, Bruce Banner was unable to summon his other half when he needed it, including during the film’s climactic battle of Wakanda. Whenever Bruce tried to transform, the change would actually stop midway, and it didn’t seem like a solution with an easy fix. The choice of whether or not to be Hulk has never been up to Bruce fully, and the time without his other half has likely given him a new outlook on a side of himself he didn’t think he wanted, and a solution to his transformation issue.

RELATED: Amadeus Cho Debuts a New Look as a Different Kind of Hulk

It’s possible that Hulk’s new outfit is laced with something capable of triggering a transformation when Bruce needs it. It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility; with Stark still alive, he and Banner could easily conceive of such a suit for Bruce to use, one that combines the former’s tech with the latter’s gamma-focused research.

There also appears to be blue lines along the edges of his forearms, which could mean that if our Stark suit theory is true, Shuri may have had a hand in making it as well. After all, it would make sense to incorporate some Wakandan Black Panther tech into the outfit. Plus, with Hulk’s mental state being somewhat fragile at the moment, the added protection a vibranium-laced outfit would provide could help boost the Jade Giant’s confidence levels a bit for the next time he finds himself face to face with Thanos.

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