Week of Review - Mutant X

If you liked this article, please like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and please consider Donating to keep the blog going

A key evolution of the modern age of superhero blockbusters is that more and more the story of a film has become the story of the film’s behind the scenes drama.  Whether it’s the corporate mismanagement of the Amazing Spider-Man films, Josh Trank’s prima donna antics on Fant4stic, or the family tragedy & directorial scarpering of Justice League the behind the scenes stories are now the stories of those films.  

The oldest and largest looming example of this is the Fox/Marvel feud, a war between companies that’s raged for well over a decade.  The two absolutely loathe each other, to the point Marvel has canceled publishing Fantastic Four comics because Fox owns the movie rights and Fox, in turn, was willing to waste everyone’s time and money with Fant4stic.  But where did all this animosity come from, what’s the origin of their feud?  Well, it all goes back to a little show from 2001 called Mutant X- let’s dive in. 

Comics Rainbow - Vampires

If you liked this article, please like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and please consider Donating to keep the blog going

Vampires; there’s a trend that really didn’t manage to survive the decade.  I’m not saying we don’t have vampire stories anymore, in fact, the upcoming release of the 5^th Underworld film is the entire reason I elected to dedicate this article to the subject.  But in a much more pointed way vampires just aren’t the cultural draw they were in that window of transition from 2007-2010.  

You can probably blame Twilight for that, as it both catalyzed vampires as a popular craze while also poisoning the well for all future vampire stories- hence why most of the Twilight imitators gravitated towards young adult fiction than vampires.  Still, the undead probably won’t be going away entirely given that they’ve been a staple of pop culture since Nosferatu, to the point they’ve thoroughly colonized comics as well as movies, TV, and books.  So let’s get the full spectrum on comic book vampires.

Panel Vision - 8 Films to Expect From Marvel Phase 4

If you liked this article, please like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and please consider Donating to keep the blog going

Edited by Robert Beach

About 13 months ago, I made a prediction on ten possible films Marvel might have scheduled for the year 2020. While some of those names still stand, and we’ll get to them, I feel the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as the entire film landscape has changed SO much over this past year. It’s time to revisit that issue.  

For one, Marvel has announced several new projects coming to TV like New Warriors, Ghost Rider on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and the Punisher show that confirm those characters aren’t open for cinematic adaptation. All of that pushes Marvel closer and closer to being out of viable heroes for cinematic adaptation unless you think folks like Stingray or Darkhawk are ripe for film. 

Meanwhile, several of Marvel’s key heroes are close to finishing their runs in key roles while others have been secured following Marvel Studio’s split with Marvel Comics CEO Ike Perlmutter. It’s a different time is my point. And different times call for different solutions, so here are 8 Marvel movies we might see in 2020. 

Cover Story - Top 12 Tomb of Dracula Covers

If you liked this article, please like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and please consider Donating to keep the blog going

It is currently the dregs of August, and there’s really nothing going on in pop culture.  The dizzying high of summer blockbuster season has given away to the drippy sludge that is the late August offerings while the fall awards season has yet to begin.  If there is one small bit of comfort in the pre-labor day dark, it’s that we’re entering the season of fall TV premieres, which is perfect for someone like me that clings to media topicality as a guiding light in these troubled and rudderless times.  

This week will be bringing us the premiere of the latest season of The Strain, FX’s prestige vampire apocalypse show from the mind of Guillermo Del Toro (he wrote the books it’s based on.)  Even though I don’t like The Strain all that much it is pretty much the only name in vampire fiction these days, thank Twilight, which means I get to talk about the biggest name in comic book vampires- Count Dracula.  I’ll get more into this as we go along but for a time in the ‘70s Count Dracula was one of Marvel comics biggest success stories and today- we honor that legacy. 

Ghost Rider Cast in Agents of SHIELD S3

If you liked this article, please like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and please consider Donating to keep the blog going

So, it’s official; Ghost Rider is coming to Agents of SHIELD and will be played by Gabriel Luna.  In retrospect this was pretty much inevitable.  Agents of SHIELD remains Marvel’s most prominent failure, especially with how much the show has struggled to keep up with a cinematic universe that’s consistently leaving it in the dust, so this kind of shake up was badly needed to try and win back an audience and make the show relevant once more. 

Let me be clear on this, even if you like Agents of SHIELD the show is definitely not what Marvel wanted it to be in terms of ratings or importance, especially compared to the blossoming CW stable of shows or Marvel’s own vaunted Netflix series.  However, the Ghost Rider they’ve conscripted isn’t quite the one everybody knows which means we’ve got to dive into the history of the character to get the full view of what’s going on here. 

Is Ghost Rider coming to Agents of SHIELD?

If you like this post or want to support the blog, please consider donating

We are now about 2 weeks out from San Diego Comic Con, the biggest event of the geek media calendar year.  It’s basically Christmas in July for the geek world, the point in the year where we catch a glimpse of everything that’s going to dominate our social media conversations and news feeds for the next year or so.  Lately, each year has been marked by some major announces from the good people at Marvel Studios, even though recent offerings have been a little sparse given their greater focus on the Disney Expo.  As we all impatiently salivate for the latest major announcement from the little multi-billion dollar business that could one of the more shockingly relevant Marvel properties up at bat this year is Agents of SHIELD. 

Despite spending 3 years hemorrhaging viewers and slowly becoming the least integral aspect of the Marvel Cinematic Universe the show has managed to turn quite a few heads with a shocking train reveal of their new logo design which features a flaming chain.  While there are several Marvel heroes that use both chains and flames as weapon most fans have taken this to mean that Agents of SHIELD season 4 is planning to introduce Ghost Rider to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Panel Vision - 8 Dumbest/Weirdest Punisher Moments

Edited by Robert Beach 

By now you’ve probably joined the rest of the Internet in enjoying the latest season of Marvel and Netflix’s shockingly quality Daredevil show. The fact that Marvel could produce a grim and gritty superhero show out of such a fractured and failed property like Daredevil and have it actually turn out good is pretty impressive. This season Marvel has doubled down on the darkness by integrating the Punisher into its dark and sleazy Netflix corner of the Marvel universe.  

Punisher’s always been a landmark character for Marvel, a violent vigilante who actually kills people in a world of colorful children’s heroes; however, the fact that Frank Castle, man with a gun and PTSD, has to co-exist with the craziness of magic, aliens, and monsters means there’ve been a lot of weird and just plain-old stupid moments in the Punisher canon. Today, we honor them. 

Ryan Coogler Directing Black Panther

So, the first major comic book adaptation news story of 2016 is officially here with the announcement that Ryan Coogler will be directing Black Panther for Marvel Studios.  This is one of those announcements that’s been in the post for a long time but it’s nice to finally have official confirmation on it.  Black Panther has been lingering over Marvel’s phase 3 schedule alongside Captain Marvel ever since they both got bumped from the 2017 spot by the new Spider-Man movie so getting some kind of information on it is thoroughly welcome.  At the same time it’s great to see Marvel pursuing an African American director for the film, especially an up and coming talent like Ryan Coogler. 

Coogler may be new but so far he’s shown amazing directorial skill mixed with a consummate and confident sense of vision that makes him feel like an old pro.  His twin success, Fruitvale Station and Creed, have helped make him a serious name in both critical circles and with audiences so throwing him the reigns to a big budget Marvel superhero film feels like the next natural step in his evolution as a filmmaker.  However, Black Panther isn’t just a big budget superhero film, it’s an adaptation of the most important black superhero of all time and possibly the biggest mark for diversity in this genre since Blade.

Comics Rainbow - Marvel's Legion of Monsters

Edited by Robert Beach

Well, it’s October: the Goosebumps movie is about to come out; Halloween is just around the corner, and I have a crippling addiction to ‘70s comic books. Let’s talk about Marvel's Legion of Monsters. As I’ve mentioned before, the ‘70s was a time of serious upheaval and horizontal expansion at both DC and Marvel. The young readers the companies had attracted over the Silver Age were growing up to be young adults with disposable income and a continued interest in comic books, a relative first for the medium. 

This ended up fueling a rush to diverse the story market with stuff beyond the straightforward superhero fair of the previous decade.  Marvel had always prided itself on creating stories and content that was beyond the boundaries of the superhero genre. Many of their core characters like the Fantastic Four or Thor sprung out of weird science and epic fantasy respectively. 

When it came time to diversify, they were ahead of the game on DC and came out of the gates strong with a whole slew of new, horror-based comics. This was right around the time the Comics Code, a self-imposed industry code of censorship, was losing its teeth, so the horror genre was finally getting its fangs back after being neutered for well over a decade. 

Marvel cranked out all sundry manner of demons, vampires, zombies, mummies and anything else they could come up with and, occasionally, they all teamed up to become the Legion of Monsters. Since then, the title has been resurrected multiple times for new monsters of the Marvel universe. So this is your full spectrum look at the Legion of Monsters in all their shades, shames, and successes. 

Female-Led Blade Reboot Coming?

Edited by Robert Beach

So the rumor mill has begun cranking once more over the future plans of Marvel studios. The latest word on the comic company turned studio juggernaut is that they’re currently in plans for a new Blade film that will apparently revolve around the vampire hunter’s daughter. This would be in line with the new upcoming Blade comic slatted for release as part of the All-New Marvel branding initiative this fall. 

The initiative is part of the company’s first major universe reboot in the wake of the ongoing Secret Wars comic and is very much a continuation of the current Marvel ethos of increased diversity and representation. Film wise, this rumor says a lot about Marvel’s priorities going forward and how far in advance they’re willing to try and plan things out. If Marvel is starting work on a new Blade movie, it’d have to be slotted for release in 2019 as part of the so far unrevealed phase 4. 

Deadpool Trailer

So the Deadpool trailer has finally dropped.  While not the same trailer that blew up Comic Con earlier in the summer the red band trailer is still pretty fun and impressive with a lot of the same beats from the comic con trailer.  The main things that are missing are a lot more of the swearing and fourth wall jokes but a lot of that was ultimately added flavor more than legitimate substance.  All the important stuff the trailer needed to get across is still here: Deadpool looks like Deadpool, the action is bloody, the humor gross and juvenile, and the character will be intermittently self-aware.  It’s also confirmed this will be the first R-rated superhero film since the Blade series concluded, though the first ever R-rated superhero film was 1989’s Punisher.  

Nosferatu Remake Finds Director

Something that’s become abundantly clear in recent years is that remakes, reboots, reimaginings, and all other sundry manner of “RE” terms for bringing back old recognizable franchises, aren’t just a passing trend but a full on cultural force.  For the most part it’s not a surprising shift as the Internet age has helped a lot of older media franchises persist in public memory without really exposing newer generations to the originals, allowing for cheap retreads of classics to seem fresh and new while also milking lucrative nostalgia dollars from completionists fans.  It’s a viscous cycle to be sure but sometimes the system works as with the sequel/reboot Mad Max: Fury Road, the rebooted Hannibal show on NBC, or the highly underrated remake of The Crazies.  My point is that revisitation seems to work best for works of horror which is why I’m kind of on board with the recently announced remake/reboot of Nosferatu.