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Gabe: The Xbox One did not win me over this console generation. I’ve said a lot of bad things about the console since it came out, although suggesting that playing an Xbox One during pregnancy is dangerous to the fetus, might be the worst. I’ve made no secret about the fact that I play all my games on the PS4, that I’ve really enjoyed the PS4 Pro and that I’ve actually outfitted my entire family with Playstations so that we can all play together. A few years earlier I was a huge Xbox 360 fan and refused to even touch a PS3 controller. I was ready to love the Xbox One but it ended up being a…

There were a couple of really fun cameos in Thor: Ragnarok, and some of them came from some rather large names in Hollywood. Those cameos are considered spoilers — mostly because you want to see them play out for yourself, but also for their content. They are also part of what director Taika Waititi would do if he made the hypothetical fourth Thor movie, according to Cinema Blend. However, that’s also a bit of a spoiler, so we’ll see you after you’ve seen the movie.

After defeating the fire demon Surtur, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns home to Asgard to see a play being put on of Loki’s (Tom Hiddleston) “death” in Thor: The Dark World. The play takes some creative liberties, what with the very not-dead Loki impersonating Odin at the moment, and also some great cameos such as Sam Neill playing Odin, Luke Hemsworth as Thor, and Matt Damon as Loki. Neill and Jeff Goldblum were famously in Jurassic Park together, and Cinema Blend asked Waititi about the reunion — which led into a conversation about how he would open Thor 4:

“I would have loved that. I don’t think they were around at the same time. That would have been amazing just to somehow make that work. It would be awesome if we somehow got Laura Dern in there, as well… Thor 4, exactly. All of them go back and do the play again. It’s a new play about Asgard’s destruction. That might be a great way to start that film.”

Laura Dern reenacting Cate Blanchett‘s Hela in a “Shakespeare in the Park” rendition of Thor: Ragnarok is not a thing I knew I needed until this very moment.

Summary: Imprisoned, the mighty Thor finds himself in a lethal gladiatorial contest against the Hulk, his former ally. Thor must fight for survival and race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela from destroying his home and the Asgardian civilization.

Thor: Ragnarok, directed by Taika Waititi, stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Idris Elba, and Mark Ruffalo. Check it out in theaters now.

The post [SPOILERS] Taika Waititi Already Knows How He’d Open Thor 4 appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But it wouldn’t have the kudos.

The word is out and it hit with a bang. Brian Michael Bendis, who has been writing continuously for Marvel Comics since 2000 has signed an exclusive contract with DC Comics. But why.

No doubt there will be PR-friendly soundbites with the words “challenge”, “fresh start”, or “a whole new universe of characters to play with” but from involved sources, Bleeding Cool has been able to put together this timeline. All of this is unofficial, of course.

Much of it was spurred by the Marvel Comics Writers Summit that occurred last month just before New York Comic-Con, which we dubbed Fear And Loathing Before NYCC 2017. 

But first, what was going on with Bendis at Marvel? He was writing Jessica Jones, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Defenders, Spider-Man, Spider-Men II, Invincible Iron Man and Infamous Iron Man. He had written the Civil War II crossover event. But he deliberately stayed well away from Secret Empire. His books didn’t crossover with the big event, and Guardians only did when he left.

However his books weren’t getting the big numbers like they used to. And a number of them were subject to being later than usual. His contract was up, the likelihood of getting a raise was low.

The Marvel Comics Creative Committee of which he played a strong part no longer had any influence on the films, after Kevin Feige at Marvel Studios stopped reporting to Ike Perlmutter but to Disney instead. Bendis, who wrote the first of the Marvel end credit scenes with Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury in Iron Man, was no longer a part of that mix.

Bendis had written pretty much every Marvel character he was interested in – and there was no chance of Marvel publishing a Fantastic Four comic now.

So, the Marvel Comics Writers Summit, before New York Comic Con. We mentioned how the issue of increased diversity of Marvel Comics and how to deal with negative reaction towards that, was a significant aspect. I am told that Brian Bendis, creator of Miles Morales and Riri Williams, had quite the disagreement with David Gabriel, whose interview with Miles Griepp for ICV2 regarding diversity at the publisher needed repeated clarifications.

That there was a decision made to give the title called simply Spider-Man to the Peter Parker iteration of the character in 2018, rather than the current Miles Morales, which would become Miles Morales: Spider-Man again, a battle Bendis thought he had previously won for Marvel Legacy.

That Gabriel told Bendis that diversity doesn’t sell. The counter to that being, what does at Marvel aside from Dan Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man and Star Wars?

Now, to be clear,  the fight isn’t why he left – but just part of his overall discontent.

Bendis was losing his swagger, none of his friends were there anymore, it was time to leave the stage – and get a brand new spotlight. And probably a raise into the bargain.

Oh yes, and DC Comics has offered him a spot at their films/multi-media table, working alongside Geoff Johns, something denied him by Kevin Feige at Marvel.

The other question to ask is… who will be following Brian Bendis? How long do the likes of David Marquez, Stefano Caselli, Sara Pichelli, have on their Marvel contracts? John Romita Jr is already at DC Comics, so is Olivier Coipel (after he’s finished Mark Millar‘s new comic – and yes, Netflix’s decision to delay that announcement as it was too close to the Texas shooting, saw it buried by the Bendis news today). And Alex Maleev is contractless right now…

But Bendis and Pichelli on Zatanna seems a really easy sell, no?

Anyway, this is the skuttlebutt. We’ll see what the official PR version looks like at a later date… Brian did not respond to e-mails sent earlier in the day. But he’s probably been very busy.

The post The Big Reasons Brian Michael Bendis Left Marvel For DC Comics appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

According to the Stranger Things aftershow Beyond Stranger Things, the Upside Down isn’t actually referred to by that name in the scripts.

RELATED: Stranger Things: Eleven Didn’t Survive Duffer Brothers’ Original Pitch

For two seasons, the alternate dimension that invades reality and is the home of monsters like the Demogorgon and the Mind Flayer has been referred to as the Upside Down. But while the characters on the show exclusively use that name, the series’ aftershow revealed that the script actually calls it The Nether. In fact, during the first season, the cast and crew referred to it as such whenever they weren’t on camera.

By now, the name has taken hold among viewers, so it’s unlikely many would ever refer to it as The Other, even if the show does adopt that name, but it’s interesting to learn what the Duffer Brothers initially envisioned before the project took on a mind of its own.

RELATED: Can Stranger Things Season 3 Be Better Than The Previous Two?

Now streaming on Netflix, the second season of Stranger Things stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, Matthew Modine, Noah Schnapp, Joe Keery, Sadie Sink and Dacre Montgomery.

Via Entertainment Weekly

The post Stranger Things’ Mirror Universe Isn’t Really Named the Upside Down appeared first on CBR.

Fans have been watching and re-watching the original Star Wars trilogy for over 30 years now, and for some of us, it has become a point of pride that we can recite every line because we have gone through the original films frame by frame just to know the Star Wars universe a little better. In the time that we’ve been watching these films, it’s become clear that they’re not perfect. Everyone has noticed objects disappearing between shots and little mistakes made by the actors, but despite Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope being released in 1977 and Return of the Jedi being released in 1983, some of the biggest mistakes of the original trilogy went unnoticed by fans and George Lucas alike for years!

RELATED: 15 Controversies That Nearly Destroyed Star Wars

Even the most eagle-eyed of fans might be surprised by some of the original trilogy mistakes in this list because despite George Lucas going back half a dozen times to “improve” his Star Wars films, even he hasn’t been able to catch them all! If you think you know all there is to know about the original Star Wars trilogy, then prepare to be surprised with these 15 huge mistakes that went unnoticed for DECADES!

LIGHTLESS SABERS

In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, there are two moments on the Death Star where the lightsaber special effects aren’t fully rendered, revealing the clear tube that serves as the “blade” of the lightsaber prop. First, Obi-Wan’s blade disappears at certain angles during the battle with Darth Vader.

Later on, as Luke, Han and Leia escape from the Death Star, Darth Vader’s red blade is missing in a wide shot where he’s carrying his lightsaber. The red lightsaber was added back in digitally by George Lucas to the special edition edits of Star Wars, and although a minor glowing effect was added to Obi-Wan’s lightsaber in the shots in question, you can still see the plastic tube beneath it, even in the blu-ray release.

G.I. LANDO

At the end of Empire Strikes Back, Luke escapes the fight with Darth Vader by dropping down a chute and catching himself on a scaffolding. Leia communicates with Luke using the Force and they turn around to rescue him. In order to save money for the shot, rather than constructing a full-size panel that could open up and lift Lando, they made a model of the top part of the Millennium Falcon and shot it close up.

However, maybe they should have shot it further away because when Lando opens the top hatch of the Millennium Falcon to rescue Luke from the scaffolding, there’s a shot where it’s clear that he has been replaced by a plastic action figure to fit the size of the model ship.

THE EWOK SHUFFLE

In Return of the Jedi, after the Death Star explodes, we get a few shots of Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO surrounded by Ewoks and some other rebels on the forest moon of Endor. In the first shot, a grey Ewok is standing next to Chewbacca. In the next shot, this Ewok is gone, and a black one is standing next to C-3PO.

In the following shot, we see Han and Leia with Chewbacca, C-3P0 and R2-D2 in the background, this time with a new brown Ewok, who was nowhere to be seen in the previous shots, now standing in front of Chewbacca. Also, throughout the scene C-3PO, Chewbacca and the rebel next to him keep standing in different positions relative to each other between shots without enough time in between to conceivably actually move.

CLUMSY STORMTROOPER

It’s one of the most infamous movie mistakes in the world now, but when A New Hope was released, it went unnoticed for years by most Star Wars fans. For the uninitiated, there’s a moment in Episode IV, when the stormtroopers break into the control room to go after Han, but the door doesn’t open all the way and the one on the right bumps his head on the door as he tries to walk through.

Over the years, it became such a popular movie slip-up, that George Lucas even added in a thunk sound effect in the Special Editions to call attention to it. There are a lot of people who hate most or all of the changes George Lucas made including this one, but just be happy he has a sense of humor about it. He always could have digitally removed the door and shortened the stormtrooper.

YODA’S TELEPORTATION

In Empire Strikes Back, after Luke escapes from the cave on Dagobah, he talks to Yoda before trying and failing to lift his X-Wing out of the swamp with Yoda standing next to him. Dejected, Luke goes off to pout under a nearby tree, and we see Yoda standing on the ground while he walks away.

It cuts over to Luke as he sits down, then it cuts back to Yoda, who is now sitting up on a clumping of swamp tree roots several yards away when he lifts the X-Wing himself. We can tell how far away he’s moved, because there are shots of Luke as he comes out to watch and we can see the distance between them, much too far away for Yoda too have sprinted over there in the space of two seconds.

CLUMSY LANDO

It must be hard to be a tall guy on the set of a Star Wars movie. Everybody has seen the infamous clumsy stormtrooper as he bumps his head into the door, but you’ll have to look a little closer to see the always smooth Lando Calrissian do the same thing in Return of the Jedi.

As Jabba has Han taken away to the dungeons of his palace, he’s followed out by a mysterious guard in a horned helmet who we find out to be Lando. Just before Lando tilts his mask down so we can see who he is, he walks through the doorway and bumps his helmet into the ceiling so that it pulls the mask back. It’s a pretty subtle moment, and Billy Dee Williams has never looked uncool in his life, so he plays it off well, but it’s there if you’re watching.

THE EXPANDING METAL GRATE

One of the tensest and most memorable scenes in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is the garbage compactor scene where Luke, Han, Leia and Chewbacca are about to be crushed as the walls close in, before R2-D2 finally manages to shut down the system.

Leia takes one of the guns and blasts a hole in the metal grate near them to escape into the garbage compactor room, but what you may not have noticed is that when she makes the hole, it’s a bit too small for all of them to fit through, especially Chewbacca. This turns out not to be a problem though, since the hole they use to escape gets bigger in the shot when they actually have to climb through it.

LEIA’S QUICK COSTUME CHANGE

This is one of the more baffling mistakes in the entire saga, simply because there are people on set whose sole job is to look for inconsistencies from shot to shot, yet that person (and everyone else involved in the movie) didn’t notice that one of the main characters wears a completely different outfit between two scenes with no justifiable explanation.

In Empire Strikes Back, Lando leads Han, Leia and Chewbacca down the hall for “refreshments” where he’ll turn them over to Dart Vader. When they get captured, Leia is wearing a red outfit, but in the next scene, she has changed into the white jumpsuit that she wears for the rest of the movie. Was Darth Vader really that concerned about a single prisoner’s look?

FAKE TEXT

In Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, after Luke, Lando and Leia manage to rescue Han from Jabba’s palace, Luke decides to go back to see Yoda on Dagobah one last time. When Luke is in his X-Wing preparing to make the jump to Dagobah, we get a quick shot of red text appearing on the viewer screen in the cockpit.

It’s no surprise that it went unnoticed for so long, since the red text isn’t in English, but if you look closely, you can see that the red text has been superimposed onto the screen, which you can tell as it remains stationary relative to the frame even when the rest of the cockpit panel is moving around. It’s surprising that George Lucas didn’t even stabilize this for the Special Edition, but then again, maybe he still hasn’t noticed it.

MAN INSIDE THE CAN

It wasn’t widely known at the time the original Star Wars was released, but R2-D2 was actually played by an actor named Kenny Baker, who got inside of the R2-D2 canister to operate him and move around. However, if audiences had been watching closely, they might have gotten their first clue in the theatre in 1977.

When R2-D2 wakes up on the Jawa Sandcrawler after being captured, he starts looking around at the other droids, and as his head whips around you can clearly see actor Kenny Baker’s face through R2-D2’s eyehole with a light on inside. It’s a “blink and you’ll miss it” moment, and it’s nearly impossible to adequately make out in a screenshot, but go back to the DVD or blu-ray and watch frame by frame, and you can see it.

VADER’S NOT GOOD AT KILLING PEOPLE

Darth Vader is one of the most menacing and merciless figures in the history of pop culture. When another character has an interaction with him, you genuinely fear for their lives, but maybe you shouldn’t because the only person we can confirm that he actually killed in the original trilogy is Emperor Palpatine… probably. What about Captain Needa, from the famous “Apology accepted, Captain Needa” scene, you ask?

When Captain Needa is “killed” by Darth Vader, two guards come to take him away and Vader starts to walk away, but if you watch the two guards in the background as they start to pick him up, you can clearly see the dead captain sit up and start to stand by himself with little assistance from the two helpers.

THE GHOST X-WINGS

The digital effects of the Star Wars saga were pretty next level at the time, but that doesn’t mean they were perfect. One of the more commonly known ones is the shot where you can see the outside landscape through Luke’s ship in Empire Strikes Back, due to the way these effects are rendered on screen, but Return of the Jedi has one that’s even worse, yet infinitely harder to spot.

After Wicket tells the rebels where the secret entrance to the shield generator base is on the forest moon of Endor, there’s a shot of several kinds of spaceships flying in space. Through the course of the sequence, we see one X-Wing pass through the Millennium Falcon and another one through a Calamarian cruiser above it. The reason for this is that the models of the ships were recorded separately, then superimposed into a single shot.

SERIOUSLY, VADER’S REALLY NOT GOOD AT KILLING PEOPLE

Is Darth Vader secretly a pacifist, or are all the actors playing people he supposedly kills just really terrible at playing dead? The very first innocent person we see him interact with is in the opening scene when he’s holding one of the rebels by the neck to interrogate him. We hear a nasty crack, indicating his neck is broken, before Vader tosses the body against the wall.

However, then the “dead” rebel puts his hands up to protect his face from hitting the wall. Then he lands on his feet and spins around before falling to the ground where he can pretend to be dead. The way he lands, it almost looks like they were just rehearsing the shot, because even if he wasn’t supposed to die in the scene, he still wouldn’t agilely land on his feet before spinning around and falling.

HAN’S JACKET

Leia wasn’t the only person in Cloud City with wardrobe accuracy problems on the set of Empire Strikes Back. Han Solo spent most of his time wearing a dark leather vest over his white shirt, but when the time comes for him to be frozen in carbonite so Boba Fett can deliver him to Jabba the Hutt,  the vest has been removed and he’s just in the white shirt. The problem happens in a single shot just before Han is lowered into the carbonite chamber.

In a closeup shot of Han’s face and shoulders, you can see that his vest or jacket is back on over the white shirt again, then it’s gone in the rest of the scene. This was slightly altered for the DVD release, lightening Han’s jacket, but it’s still clearly darker than his shirt and shiny like leather.

EYELESS EWOK

The Ewoks. They were as divisive as Jar Jar Binks in their time before Jar Jar made the Ewoks look as cool as Shaft. People might have hated them even more if they had noticed the mistake that completely spoiled the immersion of the movie.

Most of the Ewoks originally had black glass eyes, but in Return of the Jedi, when Luke, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO first encounter the Ewoks on the forest moon of Endor, they start bowing to C-3PO, believing him to be a god. One of the Ewoks is missing the black costume eyes, and the actor’s eyes can clearly be seen through the eyeholes of the costume. Lucas later went in and added wonky-looking CG eyes, which is still better than seeing the guy in the costume.

Can you think of any other mistakes that Star Wars fans have missed all these years? Let us know in the comments!

The post Star Wars: 15 Original Trilogy Mistakes That Went Unnoticed For Decades appeared first on CBR.

“Tell me something…what do you know about Wakanda?” is the first line heard during the opening moments of the teaser trailer for 2018’s Black Panther. Chadwick Boseman, who portrays the titular hero, revealed what he knows of the fictional country, describing it as a utopia.

Asked to describe Wakanda in an interview with c|net, Boseman’s response was to the point. “It’s a utopia,” he said. “It’s not just an African utopia — it’s a utopia. It’s a place where spirituality and science do not war with each other.”

RELATED: What is The Djalia? Black Panther’s Mystical Realm, Explained

Boseman went on to explain how the utopian nature of Wakanda influenced the development of the accent he speaks with while portraying Wakanda’s king, T’Challa. “People think about how race has affected the world. It’s not just in the States. Colonialism is the cousin of slavery. Colonialism in Africa would have it that, in order to be a ruler, his education comes from Europe. I wanted to be completely sure that we didn’t convey that idea because that would be counter to everything that Wakanda is about it,” the actor explained. “It’s supposed to be the most technologically advanced nation on the planet. If it’s supposed to not have been conquered — which means that advancement has happened without colonialism tainting it, poisoning the well of it, without stopping it or disrupting it — then there’s no way he would speak with a European accent.”

“If I did that, I would be conveying a white supremacist idea of what being educated is and what being royal or presidential is,” Boseman continued. “Because it’s not just about him running around fighting. He’s the ruler of a nation. And if he’s the ruler of a nation, he has to speak to his people. He has to galvanize his people. And there’s no way I could speak to my people, who have never been conquered by Europeans, with a European voice.”

RELATED: Black Panther: Breaking Down Marvel’s Most Complex Trailer Yet

Black Panther, written and directed by Ryan Coogler, opens in theaters on February 16, 2018, and stars Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Daniel Kaluuya as W’Kabi, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross, Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue, and Forest Whitaker as Zuri.

The post Boseman Calls Black Panther’s Accent A Response to White Supremacism appeared first on CBR.

Writer Mark Millar will be joined by artist Oliver Coipel for The Magic Order, the first Millarworld comic project to be published by Netflix. Combining elements of fantasy and crime thrillers, the six-issue series follows five magical families who must face a new threat to their survival.

RELATED: Mark Millar Teases Announcement of First Millarworld Netflix Series

“So my idea with The Magic Order was to take something that’s essentially about a secret order of good wizards who got rid of all the bad things hundreds of years ago, but live quietly among us now with blue-collar jobs and ordinary domestic lives,” Millar told Entertainment Weekly. “They have this secret life, but to the outside world it’s all very normal and it makes the idea look more like The Sopranos than Lord of the Rings.”

The news arrives three months after Netflix acquired Millarworld, the comics imprint founded in 2013 by Millar, the co-creator of Kick-Ass, Kingsman and Wanted. Under the terms of the deal, Millar will develop properties for television and film, and publish new comics under the Netflix banner.

When it came to working with Coipel, Millar said other commitments have kept them apart. However, the lure of Netflix was too much to pass up. “Olivier is probably the best artist working in comics right now,” Millar said. “I’ve been trying to get him for almost 10 years, but he just kept re-upping his deals elsewhere and I couldn’t get my hands on him. But Netflix is very persuasive. This is where everyone wants to be right now, and he’s as excited as I am about drawing this.”

The Magic Order will debut in spring 2018.

The post Mark Millar’s First Netflix Comic Is a Fantasy Crime Series With Olivier Coipel appeared first on CBR.

The first teaser for the Arrowverse’s “Crisis on Earth-X” crossover event has debuted. The video shows the assembled heroes of the Arrowverse ready to do battle with the inhabitants of Earth-X. The four-part event will bring together characters from the CW’s The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl series.

RELATED: Arrowverse’s Crossover: What is the Nazi-Filled World of Earth-X?

A superhero crossover event is an annual tradition at the CW these days. Last year, the “Invasion” crossover event saw the Arrowverse’s heroes assemble to face the Dominators. This year, the threat is perhaps even more serious.

“Crisis on Earth-X” will kick off with the heroes of the Arrowverse in town for Barry Allen and Iris West’s wedding, only for the villains of Earth-X to crash the party. Earth-X is an alternate Earth that saw Germany with World War II. As a result, Earth-X’s Arrowverse heroes are all evil Nazi doppelgangers.

RELATED: Arrowverse Crossover: What To Expect From Crisis on Earth-X

Being an alternate reality, the event will bring back villains of old. Prometheus, who died at the end of Season 5 on Arrow, will make his return. Gypsy, however, won’t be a part of the crossover event.

This year’s four-part crossover will air across two nights, beginning Monday, Nov. 27, with Supergirl and Arrow (on a special night for one week only), and concluding Tuesday, Nov. 28, with The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow.

The post Arrowverse: First Crisis on Earth-X Teaser Released appeared first on CBR.

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Stranger Things Season 2, streaming now on Netflix.

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When Stranger Things Season 2 ended, fans were left guessing if the villainous Dr. Martin Brenner is actually alive. He appeared as a hallucination to Eleven thanks to the mental projections of Kali, a fellow test subject labelled Eight, and then in conversation when the duo almost killed Brenner’s former employee Ray Carroll, who revealed that he could take them to Brenner. According to the show’s executive producer Shawn Levy, Carroll is correct and Brenner is indeed alive and well.

“Whether or not people feel that episode [7] was entirely successful, the Duffers want to take some swings, and they know that they’re not gonna please everybody. But that feeling of the world getting a bit bigger especially coupled with the fact that it now seems clear that Brenner is alive, Brenner is out there,” Levy told Collider.

RELATED: How Stranger Things 2’s Ending Sets Up Season 3

“I, for one, think that that one scene with Modine and Millie in Episode 7 is one of the juiciest scenes, and it kind of brought me back to how haunting Modine is in that Brenner role,” he added. With Season 3 already in the works, Levy indicated that Brenner’s return could be explored, as well as the other test subjects like Eleven.

Now streaming on Netflix, Stranger Things Season 2 stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, Matthew Modine, Noah Schnapp, Joe Keery, Sadie Sink and Dacre Montgomery.

The post Stranger Things 2: [SPOILER] Is Alive, EPs Confirm appeared first on CBR.

One of the more stunning scenes in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens occurred in its final moments, as Mark Hamill finally returned to the screen as Luke Skywalker. Although he was only seen for a few seconds in that film, Hamill admits he was hesitant to reprise his iconic role after three decades.

RELATED: Star Wars: The Last Jedi BTS Footage Features Carrie Fisher

After not being involved in the Star Wars prequels, Hamill and Carrie Fisher were invited to lunch by franchise creator George Lucas, before Disney’s 2012 purchase of Lucasfilm, and asked whether they would be up for a return for the new trilogy. “I was completely stunned,” Hamill recalled to The New York Times. “Carrie, not a minute went by — she slapped the table and goes, ‘I’m in!’ I said, ‘Carrie, poker face!’”

“I was just really scared,” he added. “I thought, why mess with it? The idea of catching lightning in a bottle twice was ridiculously remote.”

There was also the fear that audiences wouldn’t want to pay to see aged versions of Luke, Han Solo, and Leia. “No one wants to see the 50-, 60-, 70-year-old versions of us, running around, bumping heads on the Death Star,” Hamill said. “It’s sad.”

RELATED: Does This Star Wars: The Last Jedi Merch Contain a Big Spoiler?

He ultimately rested his hopes on Harrison Ford declining an invitation to return for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. To his surprise, however, Ford said yes. “Can you imagine if I was the only one to say no?” Hamill asked. “I’d be the most hated man in nerd-dom.”

Opening Dec. 15, director Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi features returning cast members Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Daisy Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata, Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma and Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke, joined by franchise newcomers Kelly Marie Tran as Rose, Benicio del Toro as “DJ” and Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo.

The post Mark Hamill Admits He Was ‘Really Scared’ to Return to Star Wars appeared first on CBR.

With the release of Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther, everything will be in place for next year’s Avengers: Infinity War. With so much hype and excitement surrounding the mysterious yet undoubtedly massive cosmic team-up movie, everyone is wondering how every one of their favorite characters will factor into the plot, what Thanos will bring to the table, and how the Guardians of the Galaxy will react to meeting Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. But Infinity War is only the first part of this milestone event. The final chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase Three era, the still untitlted Avengers 4, is shrouded in even more mystery.

RELATED: Rumor: Hawkeye Assumes New Identity in Avengers 4

While the fate of many characters going out of Infinity War is being kept under wraps, some details have begun to surface as the cameras roll on Avengers 4. Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, is one of the earliest characters to have been confirmed for the sequel, with the actor himself posting a picture of the new haircut that his character would be sporting in the film — something that sparked quite a few theories regarding the character’s story arc across the two movies. Another piece of the Hawkeye puzzle recently fell into place as set pictures surfaced that seem to hint at a new superheroic identity for the Avengers’ premier archer.

What we could see of Clint’s new costume points to the nigh-inevitable conclusion that Hawkeye will ditch his current codename to embrace another alter-ego. But who is Ronin, and what was his history in the comic books?

The masked ninja was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Joe Quesada in the former’s original New Avengers run, making a first appearance in New Avengers #11. While Maya Lopez, aka Echo, was the first character to take on the mantle, she wouldn’t be the last. A few years later, Clint Barton would adopt the secret identity. But why?

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How The Avengers' Archer Became A Masked Ninja

The post Who Is Ronin? The Significance of Hawkeye’s Avengers 4 Identity appeared first on CBR.

With six mainline X-Men movies, three Wolverine spinoffs, and Deadpool behind us, with another four movies on the way (New Mutants, Dark Phoenix, Deadpool 2, and Gambit), plus two TV series, the X-Men franchise is one of the cornerstones of American superhero media. For all that, there’s been a lot of speculation on what could have been. The reboot that started with First Class brought with it a host of predictions and wishlists when it became clear that the entire cast was being replaced. When Deadpool teased Cable in the sequel with an after-credits scene, the internet exploded with theories. As rumors swirl that Hugh Jackman will finally retire after 17 years and seven movies as Wolverine, who will replace him is a question on everyone’s mind. But it’s not the only one.

RELATED: 15 Supervillain Fan-Casting Photoshops Way Better Than What We Got

This list is a look at a world that might have been, a Days of Future Past alternate history where things went a little differently in various casting directors’ heads. Some of these entries are for movies that haven’t come out yet, but the roles have already been cast and we’ve already seen promotional images of the characters.

THE ROCK AS APOCALYPSE

X-Men Apocalypse was, frankly, kind of disappointing. Another round of Magneto waffling between hero and villain, another disappointing villain, and another episode of the “Mystique is the real hero” show. There’s probably not a lot that could balance out the mediocre script and acting, but if anything could, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson playing Apocalypse to the full bombastic hilt would be it.

While this photoshop decided to give him a comically huge neck for some reason, picturing a hulking Apocalypse towering over his horsemen and the X-Men presents a far better (and more comics-accurate) image than average-height, average-build Oscar Isaac. And of course, someone somewhere thought The Rock was appropriate to play an Egyptian supervillain, as evidenced by his casting as Captain Marvel villain Black Adam.

TOM HARDY AS WOLVERINE

With Huge Jackman’s time as Wolverine coming to a close with Logan, speculation runs rampant as to who will replace him as the iconic angry Canadian mutant. Already seasoned in superhero films with his turn as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, he even has a pedigree to replace Jackman, having portrayed an Australian in Mad Max: Fury Road. Even Jackman himself wants Hardy for the role.

Hardy certainly has the acting and action movie chops to take the place of the ol’ Canucklehead, and is certainly a big enough guy for us to support his casting. Whether he can live up to Jackman’s 17-year run on the character is another story, and whether there are even enough Wolverine stories to tell after six movies is yet another wrench in the works.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON AS EMMA FROST

Making her cinematic debut in X-Men First Class, the White Queen of the Hellfire Club was, disappointingly, almost a complete non-entity. January Jones, normally a strong performer, played the part a little too far into “ice queen,” with none of the haughty, sarcastic and sexual character from the comics on display, reduced to little more than a prop and plot device. A large part of that is on the script, of course, but Jones also dropped the ball on what could have been a truly breakout performance.

Johansson, on the other hand, is a tried-and-true superhero actor, and while First Class came a year before Avengers, her continued excellence in the MCU shows that she’s comfortable in a superhero universe, while Jones clearly was not. Even further, her work in things like Lucy and Ghost In the Shell show that she can work with a bad script.

DANIEL CRAIG AS MAGNETO

There’s no denying Michael Fassbender has done a fine job as Magneto, and Ian McKellen in the role is virtually untouchable. However, with Daniel Craig leaving behind the role of James Bond, and Michael Fassbender expressing an interest in the role, maybe it’s time for a swap? Few actors can match Craig’s on-screen charisma, and he would certainly bring new life to a role that has already fallen into rote as Magneto has, just as he did for Bond.

Although it’s unlikely Craig will step into the role of Mutant Master of Magnetism, if or when Fassbender steps into Bond, there are other X-Men casting rumors surrounding Craig, namely that he is in talks to play Victorian villain Mr. Sinister in the upcoming Gambit movie.

DIANNA AGRON AS POLARIS

Lorna Dane is Magneto’s third child, after Pietro and Wanda Maximoff (although recent comics developments may mean she is now Magneto’s only child). Inheriting her father’s mutant mastery of magnetism, she’s something of a bit player in the main X-Men story, usually relegated to spinoffs that end up better than the main series like X-Factor, and, in the live action universe, spinoff TV series The Gifted.

While The Gifted is off to a strong start, and Emma Dumont is putting in a strong performance as Lorna, it’s no X-Factor. Dianna Agron is probably the best thing to come out of the teenage nightmare that was Glee, and she could certainly hold her own as the green haired Mutant Mistress of Magnetism; perhaps as an older, more experienced version compared to Dumont’s.

CHARLIZE THERON AS MYSTIQUE

Mystique in the X-Men franchise has gone through some pretty drastic changes across the 17-year run of movies. Starting out with Rebecca Romijin’s almost-silent body-painted villain, the role moved on to an actual plank of wood, who had a star-making turn as a more morally ambiguous protagonist. While both performances have their merits, neither really live up to the comics or even the cartoon version of X-Men Evolution.

Charlize Theron, on the other hand, is unafraid to be sexy, unafraid to play the villain, has quite a bit of experience in action films, and most importantly, isn’t an actual plank of wood. With the possibility of the X-Men film universe moving away from a single narrative and into several different storylines across multiple time periods, there’s certainly a place for an older, non-wooden Mystique.

MORENA BACCARIN AS DOMINO

This one is a little more of a plot speculation (since disproved) than a wishlist. Morena Baccarin of course played Deadpool’s love interest Vanessa Carlysle in Deadpool, but upon the announcement that mutant mercenary Domino would appear in Deadpool 2, speculation swirled as to who would play the longtime X-Force member. One popular theory was that Baccarin’s Vanessa would become Domino to match Wade Wilson’s change into Deadpool.

Although Atlanta‘s Zazie Beetz was eventually cast in the role and will probably turn in an excellent performance (although her costume and makeup is a little disappointing to some fans), Vanessa in the comics is in fact a mutant with the power to copy others’ powers. This leaves some window open for Vanessa (and Baccarin) to become a second Domino.

JENNA DEWAN TATUM AS ROGUE

With Gambit barreling down the pipeline, and with Anna Paquin seemingly out as Rogue pretty definitively, theories once again begin to fly as to who will play the Ragin’ Cajun’s most famous love interest. Since Channing Tatum is already confirmed to play Gambit, it seems fairly obvious to cast his real-life actress wife as Rogue, not least because this image looks really good.

Pre-baked chemistry is probably the strongest argument, but Dewan Tatum also already has some experience with live-action superheroes, playing Lois Lane’s younger sister Lucy Lane on CW’s Supergirl. Although there’s no confirmation that Rogue will appear in Gambit, the filmmakers would be foolish to pass up an opportunity like this, and it could certainly open the door to reintroducing Rogue into the larger franchise.

LUPITA NYONG’O AS STORM

When Storm was announced to appear in X-Men Apocalypse, the fandom train hopped right on the speculation. Lupita Nyong’o quickly emerged as a fan favorite for Storm, having become a household name since her relatively recent success on the big screen.

After some surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly) racist reasoning as to why and why not Nyong’o would be perfect/terrible for Storm, the role was eventually cast with Alexandra Shipp, who went on to be the best new face in the film. It would have been interesting to see Nyong’o as a slightly older Storm, but fortunately we’ll get to see her take another superhero universe in the upcoming Black Panther, wherein she plays Nakia, one of the titular hero’s Dora Milaje, or personal guard.

CLINT EASTWOOD AS OLD MAN LOGAN

When Logan was announced, speculation ran rampant that it would be an adaptation of Mark Millar and Steve McNiven’s Old Man Logan. While these theories were eventually confirmed, fans still wondered if Hugh Jackman would continue to play Wolverine, or if an older actor would be brought in. Among these theories was Clint Eastwood, well known for playing grumpy and growly old men.

While Eastwood is well past his action movie prime, he’s still an accomplished actor, and it would have been interesting to see a Wolverine that has lived so long as to actually age significantly. It would also have brought the movie more in line with the comic it loosely adapted, which sees Logan in a future pretty significantly different from our own

LILY COLLINS AS SCARLET WITCH

Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch. has thus far been an almost-non-presence in the X-Men movies, with a possible cameo as Quicksilver’s much younger sister in Days of Future Past and a reference to her in Apocalypse. However, there has been no official confirmation that this character is Wanda, or if she even exists in this universe at all. She has, however, established herself over in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, played by Elizabeth Olsen.

Lily Collins is a relatively unknown British actress, but after turning in a powerful performance in To the Bone, she certainly has demonstrated that she has talent and the capability to play a troubled young woman, much in the vein of Scarlet Witch and her many, many mental health issues. She could certainly bring the final missing piece of Magneto’s family to the big screen.

THOMAS KRETSCHMANN AS NIGHTCRAWLER

Nightcrawler is one of those really popular characters that never gets enough justice in the movies. Vanishing from the original X-Men trilogy after appearing in X2 played by Alan Cumming, and reappearing younger for X-Men Apocalypse played by Kodi Smit-McPhee, he’s never quite landed in the public consciousness to the same degree as Storm or Wolverine. While Smit-McPhee is unlikely to be replaced for Dark Phoenix, there is still a possibility of X-films focusing on older X-Men later in the timeline.

Thomas Kretschmann is an excellent German actor probably best known to American audiences for playing Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Between experience in superhero films, a fine acting pedigree, and being German, he seems like a natural fit for Nightcrawler.

SUMMER GLAU AS X-23

Logan introduced Wolverine clone and fan-favorite ass-kicking girl Laura Kinney, better known as X-23, to live action. Originally created for the X-Men Evolution cartoon, she made the jump to comics in NYX as a lady of the evening, written by Marvel’s current Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada. While Logan showed X-23 as younger than she’d ever been portrayed, fans speculated on an older X-23, more in line with her comics counterpart.

And who better than ass-kicking waif extraordinaire Summer Glau, cult famous for her turn in Firefly, and then proceeding to play basically the same character in every appearance since. She certainly has the action-star chops to play the role, and X-23 certainly fits into the mold of characters she’s played in the pas. And of course, an older X-23 would certainly be interesting to see, and a huge deal for her fans everywhere.

RINKO KIKUCHI AS DOMINO

With Domino confirmed for Deadpool 2, fans started speculating. One wishlist included Rinko Kikuchi. Best known to Western audiences for her role as Mako Mori in Pacific Rim (to be reprised in the upcoming sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising), Kikuchi has had a pretty long career in Japan, showing herself to be an accomplished and talented actress in multiple languages.

The photoshop also just really evokes that sort of punk-ish aura that Domino can find herself with as well, even though it’s a fairly simple addition. Her performance in 47 Ronin as the morally ambiguous mercenary Witch also provide a strong argument for her capability to play equally morally ambiguous mercenary Domino. While actual Domino Zazie Beetz is a talented actress, she doesn’t have nearly the same breadth of experience as Kikuchi.

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY AS CABLE

Let’s be real, this is the best one on the list. Springing out of an after-credits teaser of Deadpool, Deadpool teased that Deadpool 2 would include Cable, and jokingly hinted that Keira Knightley was being considered. While obviously the casting department for Deadpool 2 didn’t follow through on the joke, casting Josh Brolin as Cable, can you imagine if they did?

What if they went all in and cast a major character in a superhero action movie based entirely on an after-credits joke? Knightley playing post-apocalyptic future mutant savior Cable to the hilt in all his gruff and grim ’90s poster boy glory would have been amazing! One of the most petit actresses in Hollywood playing a character popularized by Rob Liefeld would also have been quite a coup! People wouldn’t even be mad that they gender-bent Cable. Okay, they would, but who cares about them?

Which other fan-casting photoshops have you seen that would rule? Let us know in the comments!

The post Days Of Future Cast: 15 Fan-Made X-Men Photoshops Better Than What We Got appeared first on CBR.

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for “Luck Be a Lady,” the latest episode of The Flash.

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Wally West is taking a sabbatical from Team Flash. In “Luck Be a Lady,” the latest episode of The Flash, the speedster known as Kid Flash revealed that he is leaving Central City for Blue Valley in order to “focus on himself.”

Wally announced his decision in the wake of Hazard’s capture. “The city was about to blow up and no one realized I wasn’t here,” he said to the team. “I went to Earth-2. I had to talk to Jesse [about her decision to break up with me]. Hear it from her. She told me she needs to focus on herself, and I get it. And I think I have to do the same, right? So I’m leaving Central City. I’m going to go stay with a friend in Blue Valley for a while.”

RELATED: Flash’s Nifty New Ability & Its JLA Comics Connection, Explained

This revelation, of course, stunned the team. Nevertheless, Barry was quick to validate Wally’s decision. “Every hero has their own journey. If yours is taking you on a new path, you owe it to yourself to go,” he told Wally.

Wally responded by giving Barry a hug, then moved around the room to hug the rest of the team, pausing only when his father Joe pulled him aside. “I don’t want anything more than for you to find what you’re looking for, but I’ve spent so much time without you in my life. I don’t want to lose you,” Joe said tearfully.

“You’ll never lose me, Dad,” Wally replied. “Plus, I’m a speedster. You need me, and I’ll come running.” This opens the door for Wally to return whenever he is needed.

RELATED: It’s Time For The CW’s Flash To Think As Fast As He Runs

Notably, Wally will be headed to Blue Valley, a location which should sound familiar to longtime Flash fans. In the comics, Wally West was born and raised in Blue Valley, a town in northeastern Nebraska. The town is also the home of Pat Dugan, aka S.T.R.I.P.E., and Courtney Whitmore, aka Stargirl, who also appeared in DC’s Legends of Tomorrow as a member of the Justice Society of America.

Team Flash won’t have to wait long to fill the gap left by Wally’s absence. In the next episode, “Elongated Journey Into Night,” Ralph Dibney — aka Elongated Man — will turn up in Central City.

Starring Grant Gustin as the Scarlet Speedster, The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW. The series also stars Jesse L. Martin, Tom Cavanagh, Carlos Valdes, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Keiynan Lonsdale and more.

The post The Flash: [SPOILER] Leaves the Team – And Central City appeared first on CBR.

As part of the Dark Nights: Metal miniseries, DC Comics has released one-shot comics for each of the Dark Knights, who are dark, mashed up versions of Batman and other iconic Justice League members. Now, artist Greg Capullo has shared concept art of one of these Dark Knights: the Red Death, a Batman who took control of the Speed Force from the Flash of his Earth.

RELATED: Grant Morrison Co-Writing Metal One-Shot with Scott Snyder

Here was one of my concept sketches. #Metal pic.twitter.com/IewOuWBc6M

— Greg Capullo (@GregCapullo) October 20, 2017

RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Mercy Is For the Weak in Batman: The Merciless #1

The Red Death’s design originally played up more of the Batman elements. His wings look more Bat-like, and the classic fins that Bats wears on his boots were also included. True to the Metal event, there are also spikes on his shoulders that make him look menacing. In both designs, the Red Death certainly is one intimidating foe. If the Flash and Batman are dangerous individually, the two of them combined is something worse, as evidenced both here and in the Metal event.

The Red Death will go up against the Flash in The Flash #33, which goes on sale October 25.

The post Capullo Shares Early Batman: The Red Death Concept Drawing appeared first on CBR.

There have been a few plot holes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that have needed to be cleared up. One of them is going to affect a big movie going forward, and /Film asked Kevin Feige about the scene in question that takes place in Thor: Ragnarok. However, it is a bit of a spoiler, so it’s below the image. Come back after you’ve seen the movie.

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After Hela (Cate Blanchett) invades Asgard we see her go into Odin’s Vault. While there she looks at the Gauntlet and knocks it to the ground declaring it to be “fake”. Fans have been wondering about this since Thanos took the gauntlet and declared in an after-credits scene that he was going “do this himself”. Fans were wondering how Thanos got the Gauntlet from Odin’s vault or if that was a different one than we saw in the original Thor. Feige talked about how the shot of the original gauntlet was one from the first movie.

Going all the way back to Phase One, where Infinity War was a barely a glint in our eye, we were working on Avengers and trying to get just put that all together for the conclusion of Phase One. And it’s in one shot. It’s in one shot in the background.

He went on to explain how it was on display at Comic-Con which just made the inconsistencies even worse.

And also, it was on display, I think at Comic-Con. In the Marvel booth. And pretty quickly after that, within a couple years, we were like, well that’s clearly not the Gauntlet. The Gauntlet can’t be in there. And we had an internal Marvel theory that it was fake. That Odin who you’ve seen in the other films and who’s a… I guess a good father. He’s kind of an okay father. Kind of fosters the rivalry.

As we learn in this movie, he vanished his firstborn daughter because he sort of got what he needed, he got to the top of the Nine Realms and it was like oh, this is much too violent. And Hela says, glad to have it, ashamed of how we got it. And we see that mural in the movie of [how] it was not a pleasant history of how Asgard got all that gold. So Odin has a history of doing what he wants to do to maintain power. And going back, I mean, now it’s probably five years ago we started again just in our internal creative group saying, “Well, it’s fake.” Because if the Asgardians knew that there was something that had that kind of power, that could theoretically wipe out Asgard and whatever else with a, in the comics, a literal snap of the fingers. They might question Odin’s ability to protect them.

So Odin put a fake and he goes, it’s fine, I got it. Look, it’s fine, it’s in our vault, don’t worry about it. And it’s not until Hela goes down there. It was fun being back in that vault, by the way, for the first time since Thor 1. It was just the opportunity to call it a fake. So for people like yourself, and like all of us at Marvel Studios who were paying attention, that answers that question. And for people who have no idea that an out-of-focus Infinity Gauntlet appeared in the back of Thor 1, it just showcases her knowledge and her sort of disgust with the way Odin had handled things on her way to the true power that is below the surface.

So there we go. It was a fake that was put there so Odin could say Thanos didn’t have it and everything was under control. It’s an interesting little retcon and clears things up for Avengers: Infinity War in May.

Summary: Imprisoned, the mighty Thor finds himself in a lethal gladiatorial contest against the Hulk, his former ally. Thor must fight for survival and race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela from destroying his home and the Asgardian civilization.

Thor: Ragnarok, directed by Taika Waititi, stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Idris Elba, and Mark Ruffalo. Check it out in theaters now.

The post [SPOILERS] Kevin Feige Talks That Retcon In Thor: Ragnarok appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

There has been a lot of debate about what kind of character Luke Skywalker is going to be in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. There are a lot of people assuming that Luke is going to end up the bad guy, but Mark Hamill assured fans in a Disney Rewards Insider interview that it isn’t the case.

When asked how Luke has changed over the years, Hamill explained:

“Actually, I don’t think Luke’s fundamental personality has changed, except that he is older and his life experiences have shaped his outlook the same way they do for all of us.”

Luke has been described as “dark” in this movie, but Hamill believes it’s not that simple:

“In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Luke has lost confidence in his ability to make good choices. It haunts him to the core. But he hasn’t gone to the dark side. This isn’t an evil version of him. But it’s still an incarnation of the character I never expected. It has pulled me out of my comfort zone. It’s a real challenge.”

As for the line “It’s time for the Jedi to end,” Hamill liked the line and that the movie is filled with lots of moments that will take everyone by surprise. He continued:

“I’m sure this line is a great shock to the audience, so you can imagine how I felt! This is a huge change for a character who once represented optimism and hope. It’s a radical decision to drop out of everything he’s ever believed in. The entire movie is filled with these kinds of jaw-dropping surprises, but you’ll just have to see the film itself to discover what they are.”

So it sounds like all of those theories about Luke being the villain of The Last Jedi aren’t correct — or at least that is what Hamill is saying right now. Maybe that’ll change, but seeing a Luke Skywalker who has lost hope is going to make for an interesting movie, at least.

Summary: Having taken her first steps into a larger world in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Rey continues her epic journey with Finn, Poe and Luke Skywalker in the next chapter of the saga, Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi, directed by Rian Johnson, stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill, Oscar Isaac, Carrie Fisher, and Adam Driver. It will be released on December 15th.

The post Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Luke Hasn’t Gone To The Dark Side, Says Mark Hamill appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

Half of the fun of going to Marvel movies is seeing what kind of Easter eggs are hiding in the margins. Sometimes they’re rather big and sometimes they’re much more subtle. There were a bunch in Thor: Ragnarok and Crave Online asked Marvel megaboss Kevin Feige about one of them. It’s kind of a cool one though so we’re going to throw up a spoiler warning for the movie. If you haven’t seen Thor: Ragnarok perhaps come back after you’ve seen the movie.

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Fans have been wondering when Beta Ray Bill was going to make an appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There have been hints that he exists such as his hammer making an appearance in the Mission: Breakout ride but nothing concrete. In Thor: Ragnarok there is a statue that looks a lot like Beta Ray Bill. The interviewer ask Feige about that statue and whether or not there was a cameo at some point.

There was a Beta Ray Bill, but it was so quick that you would have the same complaints that you have now. He was in it a little bit more and it just didn’t do justice. And the feeling is, if you can’t do it justice, do it later.

So it sounds like Beta Ray Bill is in the cards for sometime in the future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Feige seems to have realized the character is important enough that he deserves more than a brief moment as a background character.

Summary: Imprisoned, the mighty Thor finds himself in a lethal gladiatorial contest against the Hulk, his former ally. Thor must fight for survival and race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela from destroying his home and the Asgardian civilization.

Thor: Ragnarok, directed by Taika Waititi, stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Idris Elba, and Mark Ruffalo. Check it out in theaters now.

The post [SPOILER] Had A Cameo In Thor: Ragnarok But They Cut It appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

There were a couple of genuine surprises in Thor: Ragnarok, and one of them is less surprising that it happened and more that marketing was able to keep it a secret. Between toys and a ton of marketing, no one is surprised when comic book movies get spoiled — but this spoiler is one no one ruined. Entertainment Weekly spoke to Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi and actor Chris Hemsworth about this spoiler but if you haven’t seen the movie yet, you should probably come back to this article after.

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So the big spoiler is that Thor loses an eye in the battle with Hela (Cate Blanchett) toward the end of the movie. We’ve seen scenes from that fight and they made sure that Thor had two eyes so we didn’t get spoiled.

Looking at it now you can see the edge of the full wound on his cheek and the rest is just editing. Entertainment Weekly asked Waititi about the decision to deprive Thor of his eyes.

Says director Taika Waititi, “That kind of just evolved just throughout the script process, to just keep stripping that character down, having him lose the hammer and all those things and to kind of create a broken version of the character. At the end, he sort of becomes a refugee.”

Fans who saw the Avengers: Infinity War footage noted that Thor appeared to have both of his eyes in the shots we saw. That appears to be something they changed in digital as well because Hemsworth confirmed that Thor is minus an eye in Infinity War.

Says the actor, “Yeah we carry it into the film with the eye patch you see in this film.”

It was nice to actually be surprised by something in a superhero movie for once. Good job Marvel and Disney for not spoiling anything.

Summary: Imprisoned, the mighty Thor finds himself in a lethal gladiatorial contest against the Hulk, his former ally. Thor must fight for survival and race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela from destroying his home and the Asgardian civilization.

Thor: Ragnarok, directed by Taika Waititi, stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Idris Elba, and Mark Ruffalo. Check it out in theaters now.

The post Chris Hemsworth Confirms That Thor Will Be [SPOILER] For Infinity War appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

It looks like papa Disney has learned a few tricks from their subsidiary, Marvel Comics, and their use of incentive variants, price hikes, and other shrewd capitalist gimmickry to spike single-issue comic book sales revenue (often while decreasing actual readership). According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Disney is forcing theaters to agree to terms that some theater owners have called “the most onerous [they’ve] ever seen” before they’re allowed to show Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Further, the terms are secret, with the contracts individually watermarked to prevent anyone leaking them.

Thankfully, some anonymous theaters have revealed some of the terms.

According to the report, Disney is demanding 65% of ticket sales, compared to a usual 55%-60%, which the WSJ claims is a new benchmark. However, past Star Wars films have given Disney up to 64% of ticket sales. Additionally, the studio demands that theaters show Star Wars: The Last Jedi in their largest auditorium for at least a month, regardless of whether people are still buying enough tickets to fill it.

That move will force theaters who want to show The Last Jedi to relegate any potential competition, like December 20th’s Jumanji, into smaller auditoriums on their opening weekends, while The Last Jedi plays in a potentially empty or half-full auditorium. If a theater violates any terms of their agreement, which includes pulling any scheduled Star Wars screening, Disney collects an additional 5% of ticket sales, bringing their total cut up to 70%. That extra 5%, according to the report, is “unusual.”

While the box office has been slow in general this year, Disney continues to have a strong track record of producing hits, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi will undoubtedly be a big one. That gives Disney a huge amount of leverage over theaters, who can’t afford to miss out on one of the few movies guaranteed to be a big hit. That being said, some smaller independent theaters who have no hopes of selling four weeks of tickets to their largest auditorium are reportedly declining to show the movie.

The post Report: Disney Puts The Squeeze On Theaters In “Secret” Terms For Star Wars: The Last Jedi appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

It’s hard not to find a topic that isn’t divisive in this moment in history. Whether it’s political parties, views on statues or even the comic book company you support — everyone seems to be taking side and few are talking honestly and openly about their own failings. Then there is Henry Cavill, the DCEU’s Superman, who was talking to The Rake Magazine and the topic of Marvel vs. DC came up.

Cavill was very honest about the lack of critical success with the current slate of film up until Wonder Woman. And he doesn’t just lay the blame at the feet of the competition.

He said in the printed portion of the magazine:

Even if Marvel didn’t exist, we’d struggle. There was a style they [DC] were going for, an attempt to be different and look at things from a slightly different perspective, which hasn’t necessarily worked. Yes, it has made money but it has not been a critical success; it hasn’t given everyone that sensation which superheroes should give the viewer.

I think it is a wonderful time for the female hero. It is the perfect setting in social politics right now, we need it, we want that perspective, and Wonder Woman has struck at the ideal time and has become a phenomenal success, which is fantastic. Any success within the superhero universe, especially within the DC Universe, is wonderful, because I want to keep telling the Superman story; selfishly, that works for me.

I feel like now the right mistakes have been made and they haven’t been pandered [to], and we can start telling the stories in the way they need to be told. It is even better to come back from a mistake or stylistic error into the correct vein because it will make it seem that much stronger. Wonder Woman was the first step in the right direction.

The man who plays the symbol of hope still has hope for this film universe. This sounds like it’s part of a bigger move away from the tone and look spearheaded by Zack Snyder in Man of Steel and Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. Snyder stepping aside due to a family tragedy created an opportunity to try and tonally shift the upcoming Justice League film after the success of Wonder Woman.

As Geoff Johns takes more control over the direction of the universe and with the help of Joss Whedon, there is a growing hope among fans that DC will start making fun, exciting films, like Wonder Woman, the norm. It appears to be a hope Cavill shares.

Our chance to see if it works comes on November 17th as Justice League hits theaters with Cavill once more playing the Man of Steel.

henry’s quote isn’t fake, I just read the whole interview and this is the bit in question. pic.twitter.com/7GfzizCFAo

— extrala (@sliickslack) October 31, 2017

The post Henry Cavill Says DC Films Would Have Struggled Regardless Of Marvel’s Success appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

It’s hard to tell what a new season is going to look like based off of the season premiere. Most of the time they use the first episode to clean up any cliffhangers and set the show back to status quo. This was always prevalent on X-Files where the season finales showed us hard evidence and Dana Scully was amazed only to have the genie put back in the bottle with the next season premiere and Scully return to being skeptical. But with the second episodes now in, we can look at what may be in store this season of the Arrowverse.

Going into this season of the Flash, the producers talked about wanting to get back some of the levity of the first season. Part of why it worked is that they had the Man in the Yellow Suit story building slowly in the background, but mostly the series dealt with the villain of the week formula that many new shows start with. With a character like the Flash, he has so many great villains that fans want to see, it made a lot of sense to do that. And they quickly built up the live-action rogues gallery. Later seasons had the big bad guy jump in early and Barry had to deal with the knowledge he wasn’t fast enough to beat them.

What we learned in the second episode is that there are twelve metas that The Thinker needs for whatever plan he has. He has the first, Kilg%re, locked up in Iron Heights prison exactly where he wants him. I’m guessing that this is going to be the status quo for a while. New metas being introduced on a regular basis with a couple episode stepping away from that formula. Next week looks like the character of Hazard may be the next one. But then when Breacher comes to town, that might be outside of the Thinker’s plan. We will likely be well into the second half of the season before Barry and the team are certain there even is a big bad for the season. The bigger focus will likely be where these metas are coming from.

Outside of the main story, the overall them so far seems to be relationships and communications. Barry and Iris couldn’t communicate. Gypsy didn’t let Cisco know how important their date was. Caitlin is obviously keeping secrets from the rest of the team. This may be why the character of Ralph Dibney is bring brought in. He’s an outside but as a detective he is extremely observant and may force some of the issues to the surface by not having been in the mix for the last three years.

The biggest piece of the puzzle we’re missing to see how this season is going to go is Harrison Wells. Each season has had a different Harrison Wells… evil Eobard Thawne in season 1, Earth-2 Harry obsessed with saving his daughter in season 2 and the fun loving, not so brilliant H.R. in season 3. Harry is supposed to be back next week with news that will get him a chilly reception. What is that news and will he be the Wells of the season? There was word that Tom Cavanagh would be playing yet another different version this season, but I think that might be referring to the character he will be playing in the Crisis on Earth-X crossover and not the one he’ll be most of the season… unless that one comes back to Earth-1 at the end.

The fun thing to do going into the rest of the season would be to scour old Flash comics looking for slightly obscure villains who might be part of the Thinker’s dirty dozen.

The post Flash Season 4: Where Is This Season Speeding Off To? appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

When Joss Whedon took over Justice League following Zack Snyder’s departure to deal with a family tragedy, the director immediately embarked on reshoots, leading many to speculate that the alleged fake feminist was drastically altering the tone of the film. However, a new report seems to indicate that Whedon may have spent most of his time cutting out large swathes of the movie.

Back in March, a rumor was floating around that the runtime for Justice League would be 170 minutes, 20 minutes longer than even the outrageously long and terrible Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. At the time, DC producer Geoff Johns mocked, but did not deny the rumor. In any case, it was probably too early for a final cut of the film to be ready, so the runtime was bound to change.

However, a new report coming from multiple cinema chains including Regal and AMC says that the runtime given to the chains by Warner Bros is just 121 minutes, the shortest of any DCEU movie to date, despite featuring virtually every character to ever come from a DC comic book.

One can’t help but wonder if DC is taking a three bears approach to filming Justice League, and if, following Zack Snyder’s Justice League that was too long, and Joss Whedon’s Justice League that is too short, the studio will bring on a third director to make a film whose length is just right.

Justice League hits theaters on November 17, so Warner Bros had better hurry up.

The post After Joss Whedon Reshoots, Justice League Runtime Now 50 Minutes Shorter appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

It turns out an early villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe wasn’t supposed to die. According to UPROXX, Jeff Bridges revealed back in August that when he first signed on, Obadiah Stane wasn’t supposed to die:

“No, in the script, the script that I hired onto, my character lives! They open my suit up and I’m gone. But then when we got to shoot that scene, they didn’t open my suit up! I said, ‘Aren’t you going to open my suit up?’ They said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘You’re going to kill my guy?’ And they say, ‘Well, it’s a comic book. You could come back. Who knows?’ You know? But anyway.”

UPROXX recently talked to Marvel bossman Kevin Feige about the comment and what it meant:

“Well, that would be awesome to have him come back. That would be great. […] As you may recall, when he was hired, he was a secondary villain to the Mandarin. And as we were prepping the movie we realized we didn’t want to do the Mandarin in that movie. And when we took him out and made Obadiah the lead villain, Iron Man became what Iron Man became. But what was required is that Iron Monger [Obadiah Stane] had to go down into that arc reactor.”

Feige went on to explain that he and Iron Man director Jon Favreau thought that not only was the Mandarin kind of problematic he was also a bit too weird for the first movie in this new series of movies. We have to remember that this was 2008, so the world hadn’t come around to the weird superhero stuff yet. Thor was considered a “risky” movie at the time. It’s not surprising that they decided to hold off on some of the “weirdness” until they were sure this entire MCU thing would work out.

Will Bridges come back? He sounds open to it — and no one stays dead in comic books (well, except for Uncle Ben).

The post Kevin Feige Explains A Major Change That Happened To The Original Iron Man Script appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

DC said it was a sequel to WATCHMEN... and once you read this, you'll realize just how much it is.

I’ve been following the CW’s raitings numbers this week as the network officially started it’s 2017/2018 season. Most of the returning series have done well or went up while the new series have been a bit of a disappointment. Last night featured two returning series, Supernatural kicking off it’s 13th season in the same slot as last year while Arrow began season six on a new night and time.

Riverdale moved to Arrow’s old slot, Wednesday at 8 PM and almost doubled it’s numbers, which left the question of how would Arrow do in the old Riverdale slot? Turns out the move didn’t affect the show that much at all. The numbers (1.6 million/0.6 rating 18-49) were on par with both the May finale (1.7/0.6) and the season 5 average (1.76/0.6)… so Arrow fans had no problem following the show to the new time. But the season premiere did much better than Riverdale did in the same slot last year (1.0/0.4). Meaning the swap has turned out as a win-win for the network as both time slots improved.

As for the earlier show, Supernatural had 2.1 million viewers and a 0.7 rating. This was up from the finale and the season average (1.7/0.6). This is the shows biggest audience in a year.

Now, unlike other networks, the early numbers are likely to go up as well as the shows were preempted by high school football in a lot of small markets… not something the other networks have to deal with most of the time.

 

The post Arrow Sticks The Landing On It’s New Night And Time appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

Coming out of New York Comic Con, a new Star Wars novel about Grand Admiral Thrawn novel has already been written Timothy Zahn, who wrote the prior novel released earlier this year.

It will follow up the previous Thrawn novel, and will feature the Grand Admiral teaming up with the Dark Lord of the Sith himself, Darth Vader.

A publication date hasn’t been announced yet, but we will let you know as soon as we hear it.

For those who don’t know, Grand Admiral Thrawn is among the highest-ranking officers in the Galactic Empire and among the few non-humans to be promoted so high by the Emperor. He made waves in his original Expanded Universe appearances, showing up in both novels and games. He’s been resurrected in the new canon under Disney, even making an appearance in the Rebels series.

The post [Breaking] Grand Admiral Thrawn Novel Sequel Featuring Darth Vader appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

Written by Amanda Gurall  at New York Comic Con

Todd McFarlane gave a passionate spotlight panel today where he implored anyone who wants to create a comic to do it now. He proposed that this is the best time to make your project because the major corporations own so many licenses that the only way they or the smaller companies can get new content is to look at the independent and new talent. It’s happening in television as well, because of the sheer number of outlets being financed both traditional and non. They are all scrambling for fresh content because they are locked out of most of the biggest titles by Disney and Warner Brothers, etc.

He spoke a bit about the founding of Image and how the power of numbers allowed them to create their own path between Marvel and DC and to attract the artists who were bouncing between them, unhappy. One of the keys to their success is allowing the artists to retain control over their own properties and to encourage them to make their own decisions. He mentioned that people like Robert Kirkman and Brian K. Vaughan are artists making their own way with their own control and doing it now, under modern circumstances.

“The average artist does one book a month, writers can do 2-5 a month. So I go, here’s why you will fail: you are popular writer A and you do five books. You do Thor and The Avengers for Marvel, you do Batman and The Flash for DC and you go do your fifth book, your own Rutabaga Man. Ok? Now I know you have a lot of fans but a lot of fans don’t have the money to buy everything you do. Are they going to buy big brand A,B,C or they going to buy this unknown book? It becomes low priority. If you had shut this spigot (big titles) off and did five books of Rutabaga Man, they will buy all of your stuff. Robert Kirkman came along and did this on his own for awhile and I said wow, he’s playing the game the way it should be played. He was doing it the way it should be done and advocating for other people as well.”

He also lamented that it’s getting harder to hire people to do comic books because they are making more short-term money drawing other artist’s work for conventions and on small commissions. Long term though they are hurting their career.

“If you never do any body of work they will never know who you are so you’ll only be able to raise your prices based on inflation. Where I can go do a sketch and it’s worth ten times as much because of my body of work. So I would put in a little bit of hard work and then take the easy street. As long as I have one eye and my hand moves I can theoretically make money as long as I have breath.”

McFarlane talked a bit about the meetings he is having with AMC for Sam and Twitch with Kevin Smith, they are waiting for the green light but next year we should be able to be discuss that show at next year’s NYCC.

He did not reveal anything new for the new Spawn film as they are in the budgeting stage now with production starting in February. He intends on doing one Facebook live each day of filming to show us behind the scenes “stupid stuff”. The film will be a fully R rated drama and not a super hero movie.

“It’s going to be dark, and it will come, and you will never, ever see Spawn’s full anatomy. I will have a shark in black water and if you’re not looking, and you’re swimming..then you are gone and he will fuck you up.”

Look for the new Stranger Things line of toys, an untitled project with HBO, more books and Of course Spawn, directed by McFarnane himself coming soon.

The post Todd McFarlane Wants Everyone To Write Their Own Comic Books At NYCC appeared first on Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

Princess Diana of Themyscira, Wonder Woman, is an emissary of love and peace — she loves everyone she meets. Ironically, those who wish her destruction and beset her at all sides don’t want her love and affection. From the moment she walked into Man’s World, Diana struggled to find her place. An outsider to many, she remained undeterred, constantly fighting in the name of righteousness in the hopes that one day Man’s World will no longer need her. Until that time however, Wonder Woman refuses to give up, despite having to contend with villains for all types and varieties.

RELATED: Left Wondering: 15 Issues With The Wonder Woman Movie We All Choose To Ignore

One of the world’s strongest beings, it takes a lot to significantly endanger Wonder Woman and even though she has plenty of enemies, some are goofy and lame, while others are diabolical and threatening. Not every bad guy can be a Cheetah or a Circe, sometimes you get a Paper Man or a Blue Snowman, but that only works to Wonder Woman’s advantage. The fewer world-ending bad guys she has to stop, the more time she can spend preventing practically harmless criminals from making bigger fools of themselves. Today at CBR we’re looking not only at 8 of Wonder Woman’s lamest villains, but also 8 of her strongest.

LAME: PAPER-MAN

One of Wonder Woman’s lamest, and generally weirdest, villains, was the Silver Age bad guy known as Paper-Man. Originally a normal guy named Horace, he worked at a chemical plan for the military, making some kind of special paper. Unfortunately for Horace, tragedy struck. He fell into one of the paper vats and was turned into flat, sentient piece of paper. Such an incident would probably be enough to make anyone jump on over in to crazy town, and that’s exactly what happened to Horace.

Now going by the name Paper-Man, he would manipulate his form to turn into paper airplanes and balls of paper, all in the name of wooing Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman. Which was ironic since he hated Wonder Woman. As you might imagine, Paper-Man wasn’t especially threatening…unless you hate the idea of paper cuts.

POWERFUL: ARES

Ares, the God of War, is among Wonder Woman’s most iconic foes. A being with neigh unlimited power, defeating his physical form isn’t enough; he’s fueled by war and the evil in men’s hearts. So long as there’s violence, Ares will be there. He’s fought Wonder Woman on multiple occasions and even if she pushes him back, it’s only by the skin of her teeth. Luckily for her, Ares prefers manipulating others into doing his bidding rather than engaging in physical combat.

That said, Ares can teleport, uses necromancy, and has superhuman strength, mind control, energy projection, telepathy and generally every other power out there. While physically Wonder Woman might not be able to beat Ares, she’s beaten him through more devious means. Once she hogtied him with her lasso, making him experience the suffering he’d wrought on the world, which made him abandon his mad quest for a time.

LAME: MOUSE MAN

Mouse Man, much as his name implies, was a tiny mouse-sized villain. Rather than using his mousiness for good, he joined the Academy of Arch-Villains and thought it would be a grand idea to attack Wonder Woman. Armed with uncanny swiftness and occasional mind-control, he was a marvelous annoyance to the Amazing Amazon. However, after she first defeated him, Wonder Woman locked Mouse Man in a birdcage.

Upon escaping, and with a grudge against the superhero, Mouse Man attacked Wonder Woman again, but accidentally shrunk her, which allowed Diana to knock him out with a piece of cheese. Later, he’d face defeat when she sneezed. Why Mouse Man continued going after one of the planet’s strongest heroes is a mystery onto itself. Rarely will you come across a lamer villain.

POWERFUL: DARKSEID

Traditionally considered more of a nemesis to Superman, seeing as they’ve squared off multiple times, the fearsome New God is also a bane to not just Wonder Woman, but the Amazons as a whole. One of DC’s strongest beings, Darkseid is generally considered a threat to the entire cosmos. On multiple occasions, and for varying reasons, Darkseid has perpetually laid siege to Themyscira, otherwise known as Paradise Island, the home of the Amazons.

Usually his reasons involve something along the lines of godhood or questing for greater power, but every time he and his armies of malicious Parademon shock troops attack the island, Wonder Woman and her band of sisters are there to stop him. It hasn’t always been easy, as Darkseid has nearly proven victorious on more than one occasion.

LAME: ANGLE MAN

As physically imposing or downright threatening villains go, it wouldn’t be terribly difficult to take down Angle Man on your own. Since he first appeared in the Golden Age of comics, somehow this businessman, who’s only real ability was to work out every “angle” of a crime, proved a bother to poor Wonder Woman, who really just wanted to go and fight someone like the Cheetah or Ares. He was defeated multiple times, with little effort on Wonder Woman’s part. He later died during “Crisis On Infinite Earths”.

However, the infamous Angle Man would return during the Modern Age, receiving an update along the way. Yet no matter what modifications were made to him or his ridiculous costume, or even the inclusion of silly super powers, Angle Man never proved to be anything more than a lame villain.

POWERFUL: CIRCE

The dreaded witch Circe hates Wonder Woman with a passion that will not be extinguished. For the longest time Circe has tried to kill Wonder Woman over and over again, and at least on one occasion, she’s succeeded. Going so far as to kick off Crisis-level events like “War of the Gods”, Wonder Woman has few enemies quite as deadly as Circe.

The sorceress is so powerful, she’s killed the god Hermes, transformed all the male superheroes into animal-human hybrids, and even mind-controlled Superman into nearly killing Wonder Woman. She’s been partly responsible for the “Amazons Attack!” event and constantly plagues Wonder Woman whenever she gets the opportunity. Even though the Princess Diana can befriend most of her villains, Circe consistently remains an evil wretch. Any emotional headway Diana makes with Circe lasts briefly.

LAME: THE BLUE SNOWMAN

The Blue Snowman is without question one of the more peculiar — and by peculiar we mean dumb — bad guys to cross Wonder Woman’s path. As it turns out, the Blue Snowman is actually a female scientist who disguises herself as a man so she can commit crimes. It’s a mystery why she didn’t just commit crimes as a woman. Did she think she’d be taken more seriously? It didn’t work. With no powers to speak of, Byrna Brilyant relied on her telescopic snow ray to create blizzards.

During the Golden Age, Wonder Woman, fed up with someone running around dressed as a blue snowman, locked Byrna up in the Amazon penal colony Transformation Island. She escaped and disappeared into obscurity for decades at a time. Probably for good reason too.

POWERFUL: GENOCIDE

Ruthless beyond measure and more dangerous than nearly anyone Diana faced, the villainess known as Genocide came as close as anyone ever has to killing Wonder Woman. The bizarre thing about this particular monster is that Genocide is Wonder Woman. Actually, Ares stole the dead body of Wonder Woman in the future, went back to the present era and the Secret Society of Super Villains and Dr. T.O. Morrow reassembled the corpse until a living engine of destruction.

Genocide would go on to defeat the Justice League, Wonder Woman, and even fused with the Lasso of Truth, something no villain had previously done. With an incredible array of abilities, Genocide proved nearly unstoppable. While Genocide eventually met defeat, she did not die, disappearing, and remaining out in the world until the next time she strikes.

LAME: ZARA, PRIESTESS OF THE CRIMSON FLAME

When you’ve got a title like Priestess of the Crimson Flame then you better be able to scare the dickens out of everyone you face; raining fire and brimstone down all those who dare oppose you. Zara never got the memo and instead relied on belly dancing to commit crime. With an intense hatred for men, and combing her belly dancing with her skills in pyrotechnics, Zara formed a cult, fought Wonder Woman, and lost badly.

Afterwards she joined Villainy Inc., who also housed such winners like the Blue Snowman. Ultimately, Zara had no powers and when all was said and done, all but one of her followers abandoned her, leaving her to join other misfit villains before she was forgotten to time, mentioned only in hushed whispers.

POWERFUL: DARK ANGEL

Dark Angel is a terrifying spirit that inhabits the body of its victims. She’s best known for inhabiting the body of Baroness Paula Von Gunther during World War II. At this time, Wonder Woman’s mother Hippolyta did battle with Dark Angel, but was never able to successfully eliminate her. Dark Angel even tried kidnapping young Princess Diana, but failed and accidentally kidnapped her double Donna Troy instead.

After that fracas was over, another version of her appeared following “Crisis on Infinite Earths”; this Dark Angel was actually the Donna Troy of Earth-Seven. She would constantly fight Donna and Wonder Woman and even spent some time psychologically torturing Supergirl. Dark Angel is incredibly powerful, able to teleport control her size, use mind control, and even time travel and alter the timestream.

LAME: FIREWORKS MAN

Fireworks Man, because all the other good names were taken, had the misfortune of being a nameless chemist in a Wonder Woman comic book. Somewhere along the way, he transformed himself into a being made of, well, fireworks, with the plan to steal a Wonder Woman statue. In his mind, this theft would symbolize defeating her. Of course Wonder Woman promptly arrived on the scene and was about to put an end to his shenanigans when Fireworks Man proved more formidable than her, or the reader for that matter, probably expected.

Spinning like a top, he knocked her into space with his fireworks, at which point Wonder Woman probably seriously contemplated her life’s choices. Fireworks Man began gloating about his imminent victory before his boasting left him distracted to get hit by a meteor. Is there a moral to the story? If not, it feels like there ought to be.

POWERFUL: SILVER SWAN

A classic Wonder Woman villain, Silver Swan, or at least the Vanessa Kapatelis iteration didn’t start off as a diehard antagonist. Initially, Wonder Woman and Vanessa’s mom, Julia, were best of friends. As for Vanessa, she became jealous about her mother’s relationship with Diana, but eventually outgrew the negative feelings and befriended the Amazon.

That was until some of Wonder Woman’s villains took Vanessa, whose mother had just been crippled, and transformed her into the Silver Swan. Directing her anger over the incident at Wonder Woman, Silver Swan proved remarkably deadly, nearly defeating the Amazon on more than one occasion. With cybernetic enhancement and a destructive sonic scream, Silver Swan would plague Wonder Woman, even when the heroine was trying to save Vanessa from herself.

LAME: EGG FU

Incredibly strange, and somewhat racist-looking, Egg Fu was a Chinese bad guy who inexplicably was shaped like a giant egg. First appearing in 1965 in Wonder Woman #157, Egg Fu wasn’t just an awful awful caricature, but he was a stupidly lame character too. Associating himself with criminal organizations like Intergang, Egg Fu brilliance was undermined by his general awfulness. While he might have started off as a serious threat all that came to end when he met Wonder Woman for the second time.

Or at least his relative, Egg Fu the Fifth did. Though he captures Diana and Steve Trevor, ensnaring her with her magic lasso Wonder Woman offers to dance for him. Egg Fu lets her dance which in turn allows Diana to perform a bracelet-clashing dance that cracks Egg Fu’s…egg, leaving him defeated. If Egg Fu sounds like a terrible character, it’s only because he is.

POWERFUL: DOCTOR CYBER

Many of Wonder Woman’s top adversaries are gods or cursed beings, but Doctor Cyber is a different blend of villain altogether. Relying on cybernetics and technology, Doctor Cyber was the head of a large global criminal and terrorist group. Yet after she got disfigured, a recurring trend for supervillains, she took a more hands-on approach to combating Wonder Woman. Donning a gold mask and a high tech exoskeleton, the cybernetic enhancements gave her the ability to shoot energy blasts and even made her strong enough to take on the Amazing Amazon.

However, no matter how great a power she achieved, Doctor Cyber would become obsessed with restoring her beauty, which in turn led to experimenting with planting her mind in Wonder Woman and then later Doctor Moon. Completely vicious and utterly unforgiving, Doctor Cyber is and was one of Wonder Woman’s most dangerous and formidable foes.

LAME: GIGANTA

These days, Giganta is a towering giant of a woman. She’s fearsome, impossibly strong, and also pretty intelligent (except for always wanting to fight Wonder Woman), but we’re not here to talk about that Giganta, but rather her Golden Age iteration. The original Giganta had an incredibly wacky and inane backstory. In it, the scientist Professor Zool mutated an ape named Giganta and turned her in an angry red-headed woman. Understandably, she was upset, even more so when the machine broke.

With nothing else to occupy her time, the ape-lady Giganta fought Wonder Woman over and over again, losing each and every time. After issue #28 of Wonder Woman, she wouldn’t be seen again until 1966 in issue #163; by then, she’d been modernized. Yet the original Giganta will always be a sore spot in Wonder Woman history.

POWERFUL: CHEETAH

Whether it’s Barbara Minerva, Priscilla Rich, or even Deborah Domaine, the story of the Cheetah is a tragic case among Wonder Woman foes. That said, the Cheetah is also one of the strongest and most ruthless opponents Wonder Woman’s ever fought, and she’s fought Superman for goodness sake! Every woman to take on the mantle of the Cheetah finds herself cursed in one way or another, as it’s usually the prerequisite for harnessing the awesome power. From there, the Cheetah is typically driven insane, yet Wonder Woman never stops in trying to find a cure for her friends.

Despite Wonder Woman’s affection for Cheetah, this is one villain Diana can’t hold back against. The Cheetah has beaten Wonder Woman, nearly killed the Flash, and came this close to defeating the Justice League in the New 52 by herself. Diana’s most famous baddie, the Cheetah is practically nature’s wrath incarnate.

Which of these villains is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

The post Wonder Woman: 8 Of Her Lamest Villains (And 8 That Are Super Powerful) appeared first on CBR.

The Saturday Night Live Twitter account has teased the next big skit for the long-running weekend sketch comedy series: Justice League. An image uploaded to the account page shows one of the film’s iconic posters retrofitted to include members of the cast, including Kate McKinnon as the Flash and Kenan Thompson as Cyborg.

This Saturday, we’re all in. #SNL pic.twitter.com/QfhAeREt4A

— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) October 5, 2017

One of the characters not represented by an SNL cast member is Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, which should come as no surprise to fans of the show. Gadot, star of this year’s massively popular Wonder Woman who will reprise her role as the Amazonian warrior princess in Justice League, will host SNL this coming Saturday, Oct. 7.

RELATED: Justice League: Batman, Wonder Woman Head to the Batcave in New Photo

Little else I known about the sketch now, though Gadot and SNL have been playing up the actress’s Wonder Woman role in promotional material. One such short video saw Gadot erupting through a stage wall while the cast was rehearsing for an upcoming episode, which was Diana of Themyscira’s preferred way of making an entrance in Wonder Woman — loud and proud.

Saturday Night Live airs weekly every Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET/10:30 p.m. CT. The series was created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol, first premiering in 1975. The show is currently in its 43rd season.

The post SNL Teases Justice League Skit with Gal Gadot appeared first on CBR.

Director M. Night Shyamalan‏ has announced the start of principal photography on Glass, the third film in his Unbreakable trilogy.

RELATED: Shyamalan’s Glass Adds More Unbreakable Characters

“Seventeen years in the making,” the filmmaker wrote in the tweet accompanying an image of a clapboard emblazoned with the movie’s logo.

Day 1: Seventeen years in the making. #Glass pic.twitter.com/La6X6alKgx

— M. Night Shyamalan (@MNightShyamalan) October 2, 2017

Starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, 2000’s Unbreakable centered on the discovery by David Dunn that he’s a real-life superhero. The thriller grossed $248.1 million worldwide.

Early this year, Shyamalan‏ released Split as a standalone sequel, starring James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy and Betty Buckley, about a man with 23 personalities who kidnaps and imprisons three teenage girls; Willis makes an appearance as Dunn. The movie was a commercial success, earning $276.9 million, and spurring Shyamalan‏ to begin production on Glass almost immediately.

RELATED: Glass Synopsis Surfaces Online

Glass will continue where Split left off, depicting Dunn’s pursuit of McAvoy’s Kevin Wendell Crumb. The character Mr. Glass will be revealed as the person behind many of the film’s events.

Directed and written by M. Night Shyamalan, Glass is slated for release Jan. 18, 2019. The film stars James McAvoy as Kevin Wendell Crumb/The Beast, Bruce Willis as David Dunn, Anya Taylor-Joy as Casey Cooke, Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price/Mr. Glass and Sarah Paulson in an unknown role.

The post Shyamalan’s Glass Begins Filming appeared first on CBR.