Ternals!

Supergroups

Thinking about the DCEU. That developing cinematic universe with the DC superheroes. I've found some of the individual films to be enjoyable by themselves, but they don't lend themselves to the sort of cohesion the dudes in charge seem to want.

It's like . . .

Imagine if someone rolled up five dump trucks of fat cash to Paul McCartney's house at 9:15 in the morning and told him to lead a musical supergroup with Jack White, Angus Young, and Ed Sheeran. They'd be hanging in the studio and coming up with sweet licks, wouldn't they? And some of those ideas would probably have the potential to be great songs, but they might not mesh well together without the concerted efforts of an attentive leader. And that's probably not Paul McCartney in this case. He's already led some amazing bands. He's probably just sitting on the side  now and jotting down notes for his next solo album while the other fellows are spinning off in their own directions.

That's how the DC films feel to me sometimes. I'm stil having fun with them, though. And let's be honest. If this fictional supergroup of Paul and the boys ever became a thing, I'd doubtless have fun with that too.

Bonus Question!

Lockheed from Excalibur versus that beast from the Asia album cover! Battle of English supergroup dragons!

Mmm . . . Lockheed can definitely breathe fire, and I assume that he has more combat experience. He was hanging out with Kitty Pryde and the X-Men for a while before he joined Britain's premier superhero team. The Asia dragon splashes around with a shiny metal ball. Does it have telekinetic control over the ball or something? Can it scry with the ball? Is it like what Jareth does with his oft spinning orbs in "Labyrinth"? I don't know. But I'm giving the win to Lockheed. Even without my X-Men bias, it seems pretty clear.

Grimly Phoenix

Just saw "Dark Phoenix". Can't understand the hate. It was a fun X-Men film filled with classic X-Men nonsense. Like "Apocalypse". On a tonal level, I did prefer "Apocalypse", but that's  because it was more uplifting, and my own tastes might have liked that to be the end point. But I'm also the guy who used to end the Ziggy Stardust album on "Suffragette City" because "Suicide" seemed too dour to end on, and now that's one of my favourite songs.

But it's pretty rare for a dude to get a second chance at seeing his vision through without interference, and that's what Kinberg got for this after the complications of "Last Stand". He rose from the ashes of that and made his Phoenix play here.

I will say that the X-Men uniform popped better onscreen than I expected, though I still would have preferred the wilder costumes that were teased at the end of "Apocalypse". What else popped? Mystique's hair. That  coif was radical. It could have come from a bottle called "Radical Red". Pure comic book colour. Cheers for that. And cheers to Kinberg for managing to convince her to come back for endless hours of makeup application.

And I realise now that Tye Sheridan might have won the casting call in large part by virtue of his mouth. That blind pout is pure Cyclops. I loved Marsden in the old movies, but he might have almost been too stylish for the role. He might have made me like Scott more than I should have. But Tye's performance is incredibly honest.

Also. At one point, the X-Men are antagonised by the Mutant Control Unit or whatever, with big letters on their outfits that read "MCU", which seems appropriate after all the legal issues between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Fox's X-Men franchise.

And the ending reminded me of the epilogue to "Dark Knight Rises", which mainly had the effect of making me want to watch a conversation between Xavier and Michael Caine. It doesn't even have to be with Alfred. Any Michael Caine.

Bonus Question!

How was the last season of "Jessica Jones"?

She's not my favourite character of the Netflix Defenders, but for some reason, her show always goes down smoothest.

Avengers 4-Ever After

Restlessness lost! I was worried about being able to sit through the running time of "Endgame" despite fervent desire to see it,  which drove me further to see it with company in an extra effort to fight off that discomfort. But I probably would have managed without that. Honestly, the pacing might have suited me more than that of "Infinity War" despite the increased length.

Another mild surprise?

I liked the quantum suits more than I thought I would when the Avengers actually put them on. The colour palette still isn't my favourite, but it lent a bit of a Japanese super squad effect to things. Like Power Rangers or Voltron. That kind of thing. It mitigated the loss of those diverse costumes with more inherent appeal.

And Rob Downey basically felt like Ian Malcolm for the first 15 minutes, which hit me with a bit of desire to see Stark hang with the Grandmaster. Though even when the first "Iron Man" came out, I felt a sort of affinity between Jeff and Downey. Anyway.

Also, isn't this around the 3rd anniversary of that comic  where Cap first hailed Hydra? It was amusing to hear that line cheered in the movie after its harsh decrial in the books.

Ultimately? Ridiculous. But not ridicilulous like the Ultimate universe's analogous chapter ender Ultimatum, which was a whole other kind of ridiculousness. This was far more satisfying, in part because it still left a full world that allows for all sorts of future stories to be told. After Ultimatum, that universe felt slightly like the first bit of "Endgame" where the whole world was depressed after the snap. People say the movie's take a lot from Ultimate Marvel, but regardless of that claim's truth, they're better at wiping the slate clean. For one thing, they actually clean it instead of smashing it to bits.

And hey. The longest paragraph of my "Endgame" post was only tangentially related to the film. Seems on brand.

Also! In being a saga ender with an expressive green giant, a bunch of time travel in sevice of fixing a broken world, and a notably attractive character that got fat and lazy, "Endgame" really reminded me of "Shrek Forever After". And because "Endgame" had a mellow Kinks song in it, I was also reminded of my friend's insistence on listening to his favourite "Waterloo Sunset" in the car as he drove me from the Shrek movie. I was also listening to a lot of Kinks before I went to see "Endgame", but it wasn't the mellow stuff.

Bonus Question!

Best Hawkeye moment?

Jeremy Renner has his own kind of endearing charm, but it's not that of comic book  Clint Barton. That's fine, but Jer's "totally awesome" line felt like the closest thing to the Hawkeye of the page.

With the possible exception of pictures of young Jeremy Renner.

Hella Boys

So. New Hellboy movie.

Here's the thing. Guillermo del Toro has inimitable charm, and the same can be said for Ron Perlman. Though the films they made together largely predated the modern superhero movie landscape and its fairly consistent ability to distill the outlandish glories of its source material into quality cinema, they were well made, well performed, and filled with the eccentric warmth of their director. It's hard not to want more of that.

But if you put that aside, 2019's "Hellboy" is a fun romp too.  Some of the marketing made it seem overly grom, which probably would have made me miss the Guillermo works, but honestly, the actual film didn't feel too different in overall tone from the previous stuff. The biggest difference was probably the preponderance of hard rock in the soundtrack, which seems like something Guill wouldn't do too much, but I don't actually remember. I walked in slightly late, but the first scene I saw was some sort of masked wrestling match, and professional wrestling is probably a good point of comparison for the film's feel. Machismo, hard rock, and a kind of endearing ridiculousness leavened by an implicit absence of self-seriousness.

Bonus Question!

Best boy from Hell?

Daimon Hellstrom, Son of Satan!

Not actually the son of Satan! But still the son of one of many demons who claim that name in the Marvel universe! Also probably has a portal to Hell in his kitchen or something! Also called Hellstorm!

Shazamming

Just saw "Shazam". It's a movie about a child mind in an adult body with sparkly power. I couldn't miss it.

Also, it followed "Spider-Man 2" in the classic superhero movie tradition of having a villain who looks like a dude in Matrix cosplay.

One other thing. The combination of the marketing slogan "Just Say The Word" in combination with the throwback 80s feel makes me think of Phil Collins's "Sussudio", and I don't know if that was intentional. In any case, it's my head canon theme song for the movie.

Bonus Question!

Are Redditors in Reddit's Star Wars section Jeditors?

Alien Slaying

I finally saw "Captain Marvel", and I really just want to say that I loved the look of the Skrulls. For real. They reminded me of random villains from "Buffy", which totally feels appropriate for an emotionally oblique blond heroine in the 90s.

Also, these movie versions do a good job of looking distinct from Thanos, who's always basically looked like a Skrull with a purple tan and an Infinity Gauntlet full of protein powder.

Bonus Question!

Best flavour of protein powder?

I've been swearing by maple syrup pancake, but the new Reese's peanut butter cup kind intrigues me. Can anyone attest to it?

Aladdin Stained

I don't really know why people are so down on Will Smith's genie. He'll be fine.

Actually, what he'll be is Will Smith. Blue skin, which would look like that on anyone, won't change anyone's opinions of him. Personally, I tend to enjoy his antics, and he did a pretty good job of breaking out of my head casting of Jeffrey Dean Morgan for Deadshot. He's not a perfect fit for everything, but at the very least, his roles don't suffer by comparisons to other actors. He'll never fall into anyone's shadow because he's at the level where he doesn't even live under the same sun that creates other people's shadows in the first place. He's like Robin Williams in the fact that he has his own orbit, which is important when you're replacing such a prestigious dude. In light of the fact that the new "Lion King" guys brought back James Earl Jones to record his lines again because they didn't think that a replacement for that iconic voice would be accepted , I'm inclined to think Robin Williams's death was the only thing that prevented his inclusion in the "Aladdin" remake from being discussed. With his absence from the world, getting a star who's ebulliently charming in a unique way that's not comparable to Robin seems like the best call.

I'm probably not going to see "The Lion King" because it replaces the original's heightened cartoonish aesthetic with a level of realism I don't personally care for, but it'll be fine. But I am actually feeling some excitement for "Aladdin".

Bonus Question!

Best blue humanoid?

Nightcrawler.

Flyndral

So. Pretty excited for "Shazam".

Before this, I was aware of Zach Levi's history in the Thor movies with the character of Fandral. I didn't realise that he was also Flynn in the Tangled franchise. Still doing it in the ongoing series and Kingdom Hearts even. Which means that he's played two fantastical characters inspired by Errol Flynn? That speaks well of the dude to my mind. Now I want to see his Shaz even more.

Bonus Question!

"Tangled" versus "Frozen"?

Both are good, but I was more receptive to "Tangled" at the time. Flynn was probably a big part of that. But I think Elsa's become my favourite princess since. We'll see how I feel when the sequel arrives. Also, hey! Disney cartoon  with a theatrical sequel! Yay!

Spider-Prose

 "Spider-Verse" basically looked like a blend of every kind of animation. 2-D. 3-D. Clay. Like . . . Digital clay.

Weird thing. It's doing really well. My theatre was packed. But most of the people I've mentioned it to barely seem to know that it exists. Anyway.

I knew some of the cast before I saw it, but I wasn't expecting Lily Tomlin. Getting Ms. Frizzle to aid in numinously scientific dimensional weirdness feels appropriate somehow.

And somehow, tired, bedraggled Peter B. Parker looked like a pretty version of his voice actor Jake Johnson. Maybe it's mostly the art style? His face is just a more angular version of Jake's? Maybe the resemblance is nothing more than the natural similarity between the demeanours of two white dudes in their 30s with brown hair and stubble. That's a possibility.

Bonus Question!

Best white dude in his 30s with brown hair and stubble?

I don't know, but I'll be 30 in a year,

my sideburns are brown, and I've been trying the stubbly look for the last few days for the fun of it. Maybe I'll be in the running.

From Bye to Bae with Bendis

I've spoken on the mixture of excitement I had to see Bendis write at DC and the longing for all the potential Marvel stuff he'd never write because of his new exclusive contract. I've been enjoying his Superman work, but that character still doesn't land in the tenderest spot of my heart. But now . . .

Now he's getting his own imprint at DC, and he's headlining it with a the first big use of the Young Justice team since the New 52 started. And that's just . . . Alright. I love Miles Morales and Jessie Jones, but if you're offering me Bendis on Bart Allen and buddies to replace that, my soul's scales feel balanced in a way that just wasn't the case when Superman was his main output.

In the immortal words of Madonna, I say "Forever Justice".

Bonus Question! 

Last Marvel project I'd want from Bendis? 

In an age without Jason Aaron's wild and sprawling saga of cosmic Norse myth, seeing Bendis on  Thor's world would be a treat.

Meat Guilt

That latest issue of "Tony Stark: Iron Man". The one without Tony Stark. Instead, it had his recently discovered brother Arno, who's been travelling the world and solving corporate problems. Or dispensing Twilight Zone justice. It depends on the situation. In this situation, he let some farmers get eaten by the brainless cows they'd raised to alleviate meat guilt.

But the most amusing thing about this might be the idea that scientists in the Marvel universe, known for a fairly noticeable pervasion of advanced technology, thought that brainless cows were the best way to get around the guilt of killing sentient beings for food. The real world's already focusing on growing meat without animals! But nah. Arno's clients still wanted to have things to farm. Maybe that was their real goal. It wasn't to feel better about eating animals. It was to feel better about living that old rancher life without the idea of imprisoning thinking beings.

Bonus Question!

Brainless cow versus cowless brain!

It depends. Does the brain have the kinds of powers that are usually ascriped to independent clumps of cerebral matter? Like levitation and mind bolts? If it doesn't, the win goes to the cow.

Mos Dev

Man, when I started watching Daredevil's new season, I knew that I was in for good times with the gang. More Foggy! Karen's back! Incel Fisk!

And then that Bullseye flashback started in the fifth episode. And I just wanted to get back to the good stuff. But then it became good stuff. The classical version of Bullseye is similar to  Joker in a way. You're not really supposed to care for him. The investment comes from being drawn into what he's doing. But sometimes things can come along to humanize him.  I wasn't expecting that from this series, but there were some moments in the monochrome flashback where I really did feel for the guy.  As he was struggling to develop a sense of empathy, I saw myself empathizing with him.  That relationship with his doctor or whatever was quite poignant. Obviously, he's awful. No question about that. But they did a good job of displaying the humanity behind that, which is important. Monsters are people too. It doesn't mean that they're less monstrous. It doesn't always necessitate treating them as though they're not monsters,  but it can serve to give  a better understanding of what's going on behind all of that,  which can sometimes be helpful. Or just fun.

Bonus Question! 

If Bullseye played with marbles, which he'd obviously do well, I think that his favourite would be a cat's-eye. 

Space Suit

 "Venom" was a solid watch. Even when it felt somewhat like a gritty remake of an Adam Sandler film.

On another note, the symbiote's reaction to Stan Lee sounded like anyone's grandparent who got dragged to a Marvel movie.

Also, Anne made me think of a version of Pepper Potts who'd advanced further along the path of being justifably tired of her superhero boyfriend's  nonsense.

And it was good to see Hero Astronaut John Jameson onscreen again. Pretty sure that they're setting up Man-Wolf for the sequel.

Bonus Question!

Stargod versus Star-Lord! Hero Astronaut versus astronaut antihero!

Stargod Jameson's got that discipline to win.

One More Grayson

 I've been reading the new storyline in "Nightwing", which features the dude in a somewhat amnesiac state after he got shot in the head by an assassin. Now he's got no aspirations to exemplary heroism. He's just wandering about, hanging around in bars, and living a bit of that low life. His new attitude, combined with the fresh haircut, goes a way to reminding me of the first version of Dick Grayson that made a significant impression on me. That would be Chris O'Donnell's version from the 90s movies.

Later, I'd learn that that portrayal owed a fair bit to Jason Todd, who's probably my favourite of Batman's partners for various reasons, but amnesiac Dick, now called Ric, evokes that recollection well for me.

Especially after the Luddite Dick from that recent story about the dangers of technology. That felt odd.

Anyway. I'm here for it. Now they've just got to give him that earring.

Bonus Question!

Amnesiac Ric Grayson versus New Mutant Rictor! Battle of the young extreme Rics!

Grayson's still probably the better fighter. And now he's probably even less averse to dirty tricksiness.

Feeling Fantastic

I just read the first actual Fantastic Four comic that Marvel's put out in ages. Apparently, it was released with consideration for an anniversary of their first appearance? Which made me think about the story I heard about Stan Lee's impetus to create the group.

He had this uncle or something who knew that Stan's comic business wasn't doing too well. Stan didn't think that he could keep going much longer. Mr Uncle-or-whatever comes and says "Hey, Stanley. Those DC dudes . . . " I'm probably paraphrasing. But.

"Those DC dudes are killing it with their Justice League mag. Whole team of heroes. That's what sells, m'boy. Making all the dusty dollar bills. Why don't you make one of those super teams?"

And he did. In a way. But the Justice League's popularity owed something to the prominence of the heroes that composed the team. It starred DC's greatest hits, who were already firmly established. By that point, some had been around for decades. Stan Lee's response, the Fantastic Four, were completely new. They weren't building on anything. But they still exploded. They basically built the foundation for the modern Marvel universe.

Today, people criticise DC for making a Justice League movie that hasn't earned its existence as Marvel's Avengers film did with years of solo movies for the team's major figures. It's the reverse situation. And the creation of the Fantastic Four belies those criticisms. It doesn't matter how you put the thing out there if what you put out there is good.

And that's an argument I won't take further around Justice League because my ability to objectively judge the quality of entertainment is firmly dubious. That's avowed.

But hey. I did like that movie.

Bonus Question!

Which Beatle would provide the best company for Ben Grimm?

My first instinct was George Harrison, but I think that Ringo's tastes would be more compatible with Ben's.

Perspective Narratives

I tend to view reality through a narrative lens. Sometimes life feels like a movie. Sometimes it's closer to a myth or  a novel. It differs. Life's capricious. Or I am.

But if I had to choose one medium to represent my life, I'd probably go with a superhero comic. For one thing, they excel at being outrageously bombastic without budgetary concerns. Also, they tend to dwell in an eternal second act, which is how life can feel. The end isn't in sight. I've had my origin. I'm a definitive version of myself. I can develop, but I won't ever be developed. I'm just continuing on in my dramatic way. Individual story arcs can get wrapped up, and victories will be had, but there doesn't seem to be an ultimate resolution.

Bonus Question!

Best lens?

Because I usually just wear sunglasses when I want to keep weather out of my eyes, I have very light lenses, but they have a ruby kind of tint to make them gorgeous.

Bendis!

Marvel's comics were my entrance to the entire comic book world, but Brian Michael Bendis was the writer who eventually made me care about writers. When I realised the effect his cadence had on my reading experience, I began to look at the names of the creators on comic covers instead of focusing solely on the titles. Before that, credits were gibberish. His Ultimate Peter Parker was the first version I'd read with a real appeal to me. The period after I picked up that random issue near the start of Bendis's epic run caused a minor vexation in my best friend, who briefly felt that I was attempting to usurp his fixation on Spidey instead of staying in my own little X-Men realm.

I'm actually quite excited to see a DC book by Bendis now, but it'd be even better if it didn't mean the end of his Marvel work. Exclusivity's an emetic, man.

Bonus Question!

What effect has Brian Bendis had on your life outside of comics?

He provoked an interest in David Mamet, which is why I've seen "Glengarry Glen Ross".