Author: Maurice Mitchell

Dark Phoenix (2019) is a bad movie, but not in the way you’d expect. In some ways, it’s better than X-Men: The Last Stand which came out 13 years ago. In some ways (most ways) it’s worse. First a mini-review. Dark Phoenix is a good example of a poorly executed plan. If you haven’t seen X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) it was an attempt to adapt the beloved comic book storyline known as the “Dark Phoenix Saga”. It started in Uncanny X-Men #101-108 (1976–1977) and written by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, and John Byrne. That’s the story where Jean Grey aka Marvel…

Late last year it was revealed that Marvel Studios is “fast-tracking” a movie about Shang-Chi and making the first Marvel movie to have a lead Asian character. It’s pretty awesome and could change the face of Asian representation in American films. The only problem is that Shang-Chi is racist. Very racist. So racist that Chinese people are already talking about boycotting the film. I’m a huge fan of the character but there are some improvements that would make him even better. First, I’ll talk about the history of Shang-Chi. Then I’ll talk about how Shang-Chi was born out of the…

News broke today that the new DC Universe show Swamp Thing has not been renewed for a second season. Basically, it’s been canceled less than a week after airing. Does that mean DC Universe is shutting down too? What is DC Universe? DC Universe is a subscription-based streaming video service that includes original television shows, access to some of the animated series and films from DC’s back catalog, a rotating selection of comics from DC Comics, forum discussion space, and a merchandise store. It formally launched in September of 2018. It has three original live-action series running including Titans and Doom…

War of the Realms #5 cover by Arthur Adams Find out the top 11 comics featuring ethnic characters or talent this week. Will Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel get their lives back? Can the Super Sons stop Rex Luthor from destroying Earth? Can the might of Superman stop the World Forger? 1. Adventures of the Super Sons #11 Publisher: DC Comics Writer: Peter J. Tomasi Artist: Carlo Barberi, Matt Santorelli Cover Artist: Dan Mora Summary: Superboy and Robin have been chased through the galaxy by Rex Luthor and his band of murdering minors…and at last the final battle has begun! Using…

Spider-Man: Far From Home is less than a month away and Marvel is cranking up the marketing material for International audiences. The newest batch of promotional character sheets spotlights the main characters Michelle “MJ” Jones (Zendaya), Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau), Peter Parker (Tom Holland), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Quentin Beck aka Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal). A new Chinese poster shows a few more characters and adds the stone elemental (not Molten Man). New International trailer for China. Here are the new promo photos Betty Brant (Angourie Rice), Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), and MJ look on in horror as the water…

Read on to find out about Robert Pattinson’s new role as Batman. Last week news broke that Robert Pattinson has been cast as the billionaire superhero Bruce Wayne aka Batman. He’s starring in the movie tentatively titled The Batman scheduled for 2021. Matt Reeves is best known for the Cloverfield (2008), before making the Planet of the Apes prequels. The announcement has been met with applause and disdain but here’s everything you need to know about Robert Pattinson’s Batman. 1. Pattinson is More Than Twilight The Lighthouse (2019) – Willem Dafoe, Robert Pattinson Pattinson is best known as the hunky…

Read the review to find out if Doomsday Clock #10 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank is worth buying. If you want to avoid spoilers for this comic then skip to the overall section at the end. Warning: Spoilers for Doomsday Clock #10 This series has been in the works for a long time. The first issue was released in November back in 2017! Years later we finally get the answer to the big question of who’s manipulating the timeline of the DC Universe. After waiting all this time is it worth it? Yes! Doomsday Clock is a 12-issue limited…

Superman: Leviathan Rising Special #1 cover by Yanick Paquette Find out the top 10 comics featuring ethnic characters or talent this week. Spider-Man and Heroes in Crisis storylines end. Ms. Marvel goes to space. Superman faces death by Leviathan. Plus, T’Challa’s history as a slave is revealed. All this and more in this week’s comic book pull list. 1. The Amazing Spider-Man #22 Publisher: Marvel Comics Writer: Nick Spencer Artist: Humberto Ramos Cover Artist: Humberto Ramos Summary: THE CLIMACTIC CONCLUSION OF “HUNTED” IS HERE! Spidey faces an impossible situation that will push him as far as he’s ever been pushed.…

For decades Thor’s hammer has been unliftable by those “unworthy”. But, in the comics, several very unworthy people have lifted and used Mjolnir. There are lots of “rules” set in comic books that get broken by creative writers. Nothing can break Captain America’s shield. Batman can’t beat Superman. No one unworthy can lift Thor’s hammer. In Avengers: Endgame Captain America lifts the hammer of Thor. Thor says “I knew it!” But who else can lift his special hammer? Here’s a list of supervillains, and some who used to be supervillains, that have lifted Thor’s hammer for various reasons. 1.​ Magneto…

Find out everything you never noticed in the Picard teaser. The first teaser for the CBS All Access series Picard dropped this week. The Picard Vineyards Most of the trailer shows Picard walking through a vineyard. This is his family wine vineyards in La Barre, France named “Chateau Picard”. In The Next Generation, it was established that Picard was French thanks to his namesake. In the season four episode “Family”, Picard visits his estranged brother at the vineyard. In the series finale two-parter “All Good Things” it established that one of his possible futures was tending to the family business.…

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) – Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) The first trailer for the new Terminator movie Terminator: Dark Fate dropped this morning and it features some very familiar faces and insane action. We talked about the movie trailer when it was released at ComiCon and now we have more info. Schwarzenneger has always been the star but Linda Hamilton is now the new Queen of the Terminator series. Here’s the official poster. Linda Hamilton played Sarah Connor thirty-five years ago and she’s still our best defense against Skynet delayed plans for humanities destruction. In Terminator: Dark Fate, the actress returns as…

Shuri #8 cover by Kirbi Fagan Find out the top 10 comics featuring ethnic characters or talent this week. It’s a fun bag this week from DC and Marvel. The Thor Frost Giant event crosses over to Moon Girl. Batman discovers the shocking identity of the Arkham Knight. Miles continues his adventures (relationship?) with the new WOC superhero Starling. Shuri gets a new costume and a new mission to save the African nation of Wakanda. A Nazi Superman fights the Freedom Force. Plus, Superman faces the final end of the massive “Leviathan” story arc! 1. Action Comics #1011 Publisher: DC…

Vanity Fair released a new behind-the-scenes article on the making of the newest Star Wars movie Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). It includes in-depth interviews with the cast and crew and lots of amazing photos by masterful portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz. The whole article is worth reading but here are the biggest highlights. First, here are the covers: 1. The Return of the Knights of Ren While we got a brief look at the Dark Side order of elite warriors led by Kylo Ren under Supreme Leader Snoke. They showed up in a flashback of the fall of Luke…

Avengers: Endgame is quickly climbing up the box office ladder. It earned an estimated $63 million this past weekend and Avengers: Endgame is now the number one movie at the box office for the third straight weekend in a row. It’s domestic cume now stands at $723.5 million. Endgame is the third movie to ever make more than $700 million domestically. It’s now the third highest grossing domestic release of all-time ahead of Marvel’s Black Panther. At the time of this writing, there have been 39 movies to make over one billion worldwide and each movie has taken a different path…

For years fans have speculated that Chris Evans was retiring from his role as Captain America in Avengers 3 or 4 and another actor would take his place. Many fans expected his old friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) would take over, but that didn’t happen. Sam Wilson is the new Captain America and it makes perfect sense. Warning: Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame follow In Avengers: Endgame the team has to do a “Time Heist” and steal all the Infinity Stones from the past. In the last moments of Endgame, Steve goes back in time to return the six Infinity Stones. To the surprise…

Find out which superhero has the best beard. Who do you think will be number one? Throughout history attitudes about beards have varied widely. Whether people love them or hate them has a lot to do with where and when the person lives. Some religions (like as Islam and Sikhism) consider a full beard a requirement. Some cultures look down on a beard as showing the man to be savage or uncivilized. Others see a beard as a sign of a man’s virility, wisdom, strength, sexual prowess. Superheroes with beards are relatively rare in movies mainly because they contradict the idea…

Thor: The Dark World (2013) – Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård) One thing about the Marvel films is there is a fair amount of foreshadowing. A random image can open the door to new characters and movies. It turns out a big one from Thor 2 didn’t pay off till six years later. Since the Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer dropped fans have been talking about the shocking reveal that the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) contains multiple universes. In the trailer, Quentin Beck aka Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) says Spider-Man (Tom Holland) exists in Earth-616 while he’s from Earth-833 (which is a lie).…

Batman And the Outsiders #1 cover by Tyler Kirkham Find out the top 10 comics featuring ethnic characters or talent this week. 1. Aliens: Resistance #4 Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Writer: Brian Wood Artist: Robert Carey Cover Artist: Roberto De La Torre Summary: Amanda Ripley and Zula Hendricks are engaged in a desperate battle on the jungle moon, losing the fight against genetically modified Aliens and synthetics for survival. One desperate, last-ditch, option remains, and the two women are forced to decide how much of a sacrifice they are willing to make. Written by Brian Wood of Aliens: Defiance. On…

Erik Davis of Fandango released marvel’s upcoming schedule on Twitter. Some are old (like Avatar 5) and some are brand new. Check out the list! 2019 Films 5/10/19 – FOX SEARCHLIGHT – Tolkien 5/24/19 – DIS – Aladdin 6/7/19 – FOX – Dark Phoenix 6/21/19 – DIS – Toy Story 4 7/12/19 – FOX – Stuber 7/19/19 – DIS – Lion King, the 8/9/19 – FOX – Art of Racing in the Rain, the 8/23/19 – Fsl – Ready or Not 9/20/19 – FOX – Ad Astra 10/4/19 – FOX – Woman in the Window, the 10/18/19 – DIS -…

The new Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer reveals big things coming from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Warning: Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame & Spider-man: Far From Home Kevin Feige promised big changes to the MCU in “Phase 4” and the new trailer confirms it. Spider-Man: Far From Home introduces the new hero Quentin Beck AKA Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) to the MCU. But the new trailer for the Spider-Man sequel shows this classic Marvel villain may have a different origin than his comic book counterpart. The three-minute trailer, released Monday, shows Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) grieving the…

Today’s May 4th which is traditionally known as “Star Wars Day” because of the pun “May the Fourth be with you”. This year we’re sharing an amazing photo. The company Moonpig put together hundreds of greeting cards to make a mosaic that recreates the classic image of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) facing off against Darth Vader (David Prowse). The mosaic is 16-feet tall and took over six hours. Here’s the press release: April 29th, 2019 (London) – As the world once again comes together to celebrate the Star Wars universe this May the Fourth, the UK’s leading online personalised cards,…

Yesterday Star Wars fans got terrible news. Peter Mayhew, who’s best known for playing Chewbacca in the Star Wars films, has died at 74. Peter William Mayhew was born May 19, 1944, and died on April 30, 2019. He played Chewbacca in every live-action appearance from the 1977 original to 2015’s The Force Awakens before he retired from the role. The actor’s been around for decades but there are some things even die-hard fans don’t know. Here are 16 touching and interesting facts about Peter Mayhew. 1.​ Peter Mayhew’s Height Mayhew was born on 19 May 1944 in London and was raised…

John Singleton John Singleton revolutionized the movie industry, but he almost revolutionized the science-fiction industry. The revolutionary director John Daniel Singleton died on April 29, 2019, at 51. He died a week after suffering a major stroke. Singleton was a renowned American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was best known for directing the urban drama Boyz n the Hood in 1991. For that movie, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. At age 24, he’s the first African American and the youngest person be nominated for that award. Regina King called him “one of the greatest to…

The first trailer for the live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie was released and it’s…interesting. It looks like the worst and best idea for a video game movie. Currently, the trailer has an astonishing 3.5 million views with 83 thousand likes and 107 thousand dislikes. So it’s not going well. Let’s break it down. 1. Sonic is Set in Our World – Worst One of the best thing about the Sonic games is the colorful psychedelic world the game takes place in. For this movie, they put Sonic and the other characters in our world. At least a world where talking…

Avengers: Infinity War (2018) – Tony Stark / Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) Here are all the scenes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe moments that almost (or may have) brought us to tears. If you think the Marvel movies are all jokes and fun you’re wrong. There have been some truly heartbreaking moments in the movies. Avengers: Endgame opens in a few days and there will probably have more gloomy scenes. It’s expected that a few core Avengers members will die. But, for now, we can look back at all the gut-punching scenes from the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) ranked…

Here’s everything we know so far about the cast and crew of the Suicide Squad movie sequel. in 2016 Warner Bros released Suicide Squad. It was a movie starring Will Smith (Deadshot), Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Jay Hernandez, Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Killer Croc), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flagg), Cara Delevingne (Enchantress), Karen Fukuhara (Katana), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), and Jared Leto (Joker). The movie was a box office disappointment but the studio always planned to make a sequel. It went through a variety of writers and directors. Now it’s gotten new life with the hiring of James Gunn. The movie, now called The…

Mama K’s Team 4 For the first time, an African’s children’s series from will air on Netflix. South Africa is slowly growing into a major player in the international animation and live-action production. Triggerfish’s ‘Mama K’s Team 4’ series follows four teenage girls living in a futuristic version of Lusaka, Zambia. They’re recruited by a retired secret agent to save the world. Netflix says “the series joins Netflix’s growing slate of original animated programming designed for kids and families everywhere, brought to 190 countries by artists from around the world”. Malenga Mulendema It was created by Zambian writer Malenga Mulendema, who…

Five years ago I said Disney was going to kill Star Wars with their release schedule. I was proven mostly right. The short TLDR; (Too Long Didn’t read) version is this: Two years between movies isn’t enough time to make a good movie, assaults with advertising, ruins characters, and burns out fans. Since then we’ve had two Star Wars movies that have been plagued with production problems. They had to reshoot massive parts of Rogue One and changed directors and reshot huge parts of Solo. While the spin-off movie Rogue One earned more than $1 billion worldwide Solo turned out…

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker (2019) – Rey (Daisy Ridley) The first trailer for the next Star Wars movie along with a poster and teaser trailer dropped at Star Wars Celebration Chicago today. The new Episode IX teaser, now officially named Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker dropped today and it’s a mind-blower. At the very end of the trailer, Luke says “No one is ever really gone” and we hear the Emperor Palpatine’s distinctive cackle. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Here are some HD quality screencaps Here’s the poster which just confirms the title. So many questions. As Pat said…

Back while filming Superman 1979 in London Christopher Reeve got to know about the Special Olympics GB (Great Britain) a program for mentally retarded individuals. That year, he served as a track and field coach at the Special Olympics, alongside O. J. Simpson. Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver asked Reeve to help with the TV commercial shoot. He fittingly wore a jersey with a Superman logo on it. The Special Olympics GB athletes in the PSA are from Gloucester and this television commercial was filmed at Pinewood Studios around 1980 and shown on US TV in 1982. It’s a…