This poster was done by my favorite artists, BossLogic. It’s a direct homage to one of the most famous images in Crisis On Infinite Earths, which I’ve posted below. Left: The famous Death of Supergirl image from Crisis On Infinite Earth; Right: A promo poster for a Season 2 Supergirl episode, that directly referenced this iconic comic book image.
The CW’s Ultimate DC Superhero Crossover: Crisis On Infinite Earths is coming! This is like DC‘s version of endgame in many ways. The Arrowverse , like the MCU after Endgame, will be fundamentally altered. Heroes will live. Heroes will die. They’ve been building to this since the very first episode of The Flash. I’ve loved every annual crossover The Arrowverse has done, but this is one of the most iconic stories in the history of comics, I just really hope they knock it out of the park with this one. Despite the looming threat he’s been posing for more then a year and a half, we have yet to see the biggest bad, The Anti-Monitor himself, in the flesh. Well, we don’t have to wait any longer due to this exclusive, very cool unveiling of the character from EW.com. Take a look!
The Anti-Monitor
You may notice how similar he looks to The Monitor, that’s because not only are they played by the same actor (Lamonica Garret), but they’re also brothers. The Monitor, The Anti-Monitor, and a being called The Forger (though don’t expect to be seeing him popping up), were three of the first living beings in creation. Each brother was tasked with a sacred duty by their Mother, the creator of the entire Multiverse. However, these roles and duties sometimes brought the brothers in conflict with one another, like in Crisis. The Anti-Monitor needs to destroy The Multiverse and The Monitor will stop at nothing to ensure that he does not succeed.
LaMonica Garrett as The Monitor
Though not quite as exciting as the reveal of The Anti-Monitor, official photos have been unveiled to show a few characters we know, but in a way we’ve never seen them before. First, there’s Digg’s wife Lyla Michaels (The Head of A.R.G.US.) as the character, Harbinger. I knew actress Audrey Marie Anderson, who plays Lyla, would be playing a character called Harbinger in Crisis. Without saying too much, Harbinger had a role to play in the original Crisis On Infinite Earths. When I heard Anderson would be playing Harbinger. I assumed that this was one of Lyla’s doppelgängers from another Earth, but considering that her call sign on missions has always been Harbinger and the recent reveal that she is actually working with The Monitor, makes me think that this is probably the Lyla and we know from Earth-1. Then we have an image of what seems to be a new “Wells”, as the character Pariah. I don’t wanna say too much about Pariah and the role he plays in Crisis from the source material, for fear of accidentally spoiling certain key plot points. However, like Lyla, when Tom Cavanaugh was revealed to be playing Pariah, I initially thought Pariah would be just another version of Wells from The Multiverse, but with the recent introduction of Nash Wells (and he is very personal, intense desire to find and learn more about The Monitor, to some thus far unknown end). I don’t think it’s too far of a stretch to say that Nash Wells is Pariah.
Audrey Marie Anderson as Harbinger
Tom Cavanaugh as Pariah
It’s also been revealed that the iconic DC character The Spectre will appear in the crossover. The Spectre is one of the most powerful and terrifying beings in the DC Universe. Regarded as literally the right hand of God, he is the spirit of vengeance personified. While neither good nor evil, his immense power and tendency to deal out brutal punishment to those he sees as evil, make him one of the most feared beings in The Multiverse. The Spectre needs to bond with the spirit of a recently dead human, most famously crooked cop Jim Corrigan. Which is the iteration of the character we will be seeing in Crisis, played by Stephen Lobo.
The Spectre is a being that exist on a completely different power level than even the strongest DC characters and he doesn’t bother to get involved in “minor” mortal events. So, his presence in Crisis means that the shit has REALLY hit the fan. Regardless of how it all turns out, this is going to be a blast to watch! So don’t miss the full schedule for each show that’s part of the crossover, which I’ve posted below.
It’s always fun to see John Constantine interacting with other characters from the Arrowverse. He always mixes things up in a fun way. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to hook up with Oliver‘s daughter, Mia. Which would be pretty funny. Plus, Jonah Hex is always excellent!
It all begins with the first 3 Parts of the 5-Part crossover, with Supergirl on Sunday, Dec. 8, followed by Batwoman on Monday, Dec. 9, and The Flash on Tuesday, Dec. 10. When the show’s return from the annual winter break, the final 2 chapters of the crossover will continue on Tuesday, Jan. 14, with Arrow at 8 p.m., and conclude with Legends of Tomorrow at 9 p.m.
Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, which go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again!
The various streaming services have been absolutely fucking crushing it this year with their original programming. With only a few exceptions, all of my favorite shows of the year have all come from Netflix, Amazon Prime, and even DC Universe. I’m talking about shows like; The Umbrella Academy, Good Omens, Young Justice, Stranger Things 3, The Boys, Titans, Jessica Jones, Doom Patrol. Each and every one of those shows are spectacular (with the possible exception of the flawed, but still great, Titans)! In my opinion, this is the year streaming’s content stepped things up big time and the year isn’t even over yet! We still have The Mandalorian to look forward to, as well as the subject of today’s article: Netflix’s The Witcher!
The Witcher, hitting Netflix on 12/20, is one of the most highly anticipated genre projects of the year. It took a while, but Netflix finally announced the 12/20 release date for The Witcher last week. A brand new trailer accompanying the release date announcement, which you can watch below. In my opinion, it looks spectacular. Though some people are fans of this story and these characters through The Witcher video game series, those games were based on a series of classic fantasy novels. It’s the fantasy novel that the series is adapting.
You can tell from the trailer how much care and attention went into creating this brand new fantasy world. If I didn’t know this was a streaming series, I’d probably think it was a movie. If The Witcher is a success, it will be yet another example of how some of the most exciting storytelling in genre entertainment is being done on TV, rather than in film.
Even though I’ve never read the books that the show is based on, I’ve been looking forward to this series pretty much since it was announced a few years ago. It has so much that is right up my alley. Whether it’s Abraham Van Helsing from Bram Stoker‘s classic novel Dracula or Sam and Dean Winchester in the TV series Supernatural, I love stories about people who hunt monsters. As much as I enjoy the monster hunters, I love a really cool monster/creature even more and it looks like this new series has that in spades! I’ve always been drawn to stories involving magic, monsters, and bad ass sword fighters. Despite the fact that some people have criticized his casting in this role, I love Henry Cavill and I think he looks fantastic as the show’s anti-hero Geralt of Rivia. If The Witcher is able to stick the landing and give us a truly great show, this will have been, without a doubt the best year so far for excellent content from streaming services. Something tells me The Witcher is really going to deliver. Please comment below and let me know what streaming services you’ve been really digging these days! Check out the trailer right here:
THE MANDALORIAN
The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and the Trandoshans
I can’t wait for The Mandalorian! It had so much positive buzz, the first trailer was fantastic, and the people working on this project are some of my favorite creators in Hollywood. As if my anticipated wasn’t already high enough, today Disney and Lucasfilm released a beautiful set of character posters and second trailer to get us hyped up for the shows November 12 release! It’s short, but God damn if it ain’t sweet! As cool as the visuals and production value are, I really love the strange, but fucking wonderful cast assembled to star in this series. You got Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell from Game of Thrones) as the titular Mandalorian and there are solid mainstays of film and television like Giancarlo Esposito and Carl Weathers. Finally you have these fantastic, weird, out of left field, pieces of casting that sound nuts, but are fucking awesome. Guys like Taika Watitti as the vicious droid bounty hunter, IG-88 and the always delightful Werner Herzog popping up as some kind of imperial officer or local official (I love to see pop up in these random roles). But I think my personal favorite piece of casting is seeing Bill Burr of all people, blasters in both hands and a mechanical shoulder rig, popping out a third gun out from behind his back! This truly is the best of all possible universes! Watch the trailer right here and check out the cool characters posters below:
On this week’s episode of The World’s Best Podcast, I review the new HBO series WATCHMEN, from creator Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers)! This new series serves as a quasi-sequel to the original WATCHMEN comic book, a brilliant deconstruction of the superhero genre. Written by the legendary Alan Moore with amazing art by Dave Gibbons, Watchmen is a true masterpiece of the comic book medium. TIME Magazine listed the graphic novel among their list of 100 greatest novels of the 20th century.
The graphic novel was adapted into a 2009 film by director, Zack Snyder to a mostly positive reception. DC Comics has published multiple prequel comic book miniseries’ under the banner “Before Watchmen”, telling stories about classic Watchmen characters like Rorschach, Doctor Manhattan, The Comedian and more.
Set 30 years after the classic graphic novel in an alternate 2019, police wear masks to protect their identities from a brutal terrorist organization. Following a shocking crime, characters both new and familiar find themselves in the middle of a vast conspiracy. Who Watches The Watchmen? Thanks for listening! Enjoy!
Thanks for listening! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, which go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again!
-Paul
We’re also continuing our attempt to bring attention to fundraising for cancer research and support for people fighting cancer and their families. At the beginning of the episode, we announced that we’d calling attention to a great charity dedicated to fighting colon cancer. The organization is Colon Cancer Coalition of Boston, you can check out their website right here: https://donate.coloncancercoalition.org/Boston Where you can make donations and find out about upcoming events! Make sure you donate and support #teammichelle 💩 (Michelle’s favorite emoji!)
We’re also trying to raise money directly for the family of Michelle Fabri, who recently lost her fight with colon cancer. Every donation, no matter how small helps, so check out their Go Fund Me page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/michellefabri
With Episode 2 of Arrow Season 8 airing tonight at 9pm on The CW, I wanted to post my review of last week’s season premiere….
Arrow deserves a lot of credit for being the show that changed the landscape of superhero television. Arrow’s the show that started it all, they don’t call it The Arrowverse for nothing. Besides being the birth place of The Flash, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow, I’d even go so far as to say that shows like Titans, Doom Patrol, and a lot of other series, would not have existed without Arrow. Other high profile TV projects have taken the spotlight from Arrow a bit over the years, but going into it’s final season, the series deserves a lot of recognition for making superhero television main stream. The series certainly has it’s critics, but I’ve always been a big Arrow fan.
Crisis On Infinite Earths loomed large in the Season Premiere. I think it was pretty clear after last year’s Elseworlds Crossover, that Arrow was setting things up for the series to end with Oliver Queen’s death. I think it’s a good way to end the heroic journey Oliver has been on. Plus, he still has a debt to pay to Mar Novu (The Monitor), as we saw in last season’s finale.
In the finale episode of Elseworlds, Oliver faced down The Monitor and made a deal with the cosmic being to save the lives of Supergirl and The Flash, in exchange for his own. As Oliver puts it his confrontation with The Monitor “ They are the best of us! And if you can’t see that… well, as gods go, you’re not a very smart one.“. So it was only a matter of time before The Monitor came around to collect. However, in classic Arrow fashion, Oliver has achieved a hard-fought peace and happiness. No more running around the city and putting himself in mortal danger, instead he’s living happily in his new cabin in the woods with Felicity and their newborn daughter Mia. But surprise, surprise! That’s when The Monitor decides to crash the party. A lot of the set up for the Season 8 was accomplished in last season’s finale, so the show hits the ground running in an awesome way.
When it comes to Arrow, they are not fucking around for their final season. Thins show clearly wants to go out on a high note and that’s very apparent from the thrilling season premiere. This episode of Arrow just kicked all kinds of ass. The whole thing was a blast from start to finish. If the rest of the season lives up to (or surpasses) the excellent standard set by this premiere episode, then we are in for one hell of a final season of Arrow.
Leading up to Arrow‘s final season, interviews with the cast, as well as the show’s writers and producers, have indicated that the structure of the final 10 episodes would look like each episode would serve to both be in homage to past seasons while also tying up certain loose ends from the series. Along with Oliver helping The Monitor prepare from the coming Crisis. This episode did a damn near perfect job of marrying those ideas. If each episode is going to be an homage to past seasons, this episode was a excellent call back to Season One, it’s the mission that Oliver is sent on by The Monitor that precipitates this celebration of the show’s past. It was very impressive how they weave together saying goodbye to the show in it’s final season, without forgetting that a lot of prep work needs to be done to lead into Crisis On Infinite Earths.
Of course this wouldn’t be Arrow without some spectacular action sequences and the episode delivers in a big way. There are a few fights scenes in particular that are very well executed. There’s a brutality and viciousness to the fights that adds an emotional edge. Especially because a few of the people Oliver finds himself fighting are surprising to see on the show again. One or two of the fights have a few small moments of confusion just because two characters in one of the fight scenes happen to be dressed very similarly, but that’s just a nitpick. Like I alluded to before, this episode has the added benefit of having some of the show’s best actors and characters from the show’s long run, return in this episode. Many of whom are in vastly different places in their lives than they were when Oliver last encountered them. There are also one or two killer Easter eggs that will put a big smile on this face of any DC fan. And this episode has on hell of an ending!
Overall this wasn’t just a great season premiere, it was a great episode and the beginning of a great send off to one of the most beloved shows in recent memory. If you haven’t been watching Arrow for a while, tune back in. It’s pretty easy to follow what’s going on and it’s definitely worth going out of your way to check it out again if you’re a lapsed fan. This was probably my pick of the week for best episode on TV (really my pick for LAST week because I didn’t get the damn article up in time). Make sure you check it out! Thanks for reading!
Episode Score
Arrow Season 8 Premiere: 9/10
Episode 2 of Arrow Season 8 airs tonight at 9pm on The CW!
Galileo Galilei, Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Prof. Paul Wright Sr. PhD. These are the names of some of the greatest scientific geniuses of all time. We may not be able to have Stephen Hawking or Albert Einstein on the show, but we can get Paul Wright Sr.! We’ll certainly need him, because on this week’s show we’re tackling one of the world’s most compelling unexplained phenomena: U.F.O.s!
U.F.O.s or Unidentified Flying Objects, have been one of mankind’s great mysteries for as long as we’ve looked up at the sky and wondered, are we alone in the universe? As 2 of the foremost minds of our time, Paul Sr. and I (a scientific wunderkind) set out on a journey of discovery to answer that very question! We discuss some of the most incredible and dramatic UFO encounters on record. With more information on the subject being declassified by the U.S. government all the time, we barely hit the tip of the iceberg on this endlessly fascinating subject! So come join Paul Sr. and I (2 of the most celebrated thinkers of our respective generations) on this whirlwind adventure into the unknown!
This episode is a bit a change from our normal subject matter, so if you’d like to see us cover this kind of topic more often, comment below or on social media!
Thanks for listening! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again!
In Part 2 of our Fall 2019 TV Preview, we’ll be focusing on one of my personal favorite corners of pop culture, The CW’s Arrowverse. The Arrowverse, as it’s come to be known, began 8 years ago on The CW with the series premiere of Arrow, a dark, gritty take on the story of classic DC hero, The Green Arrow. The series premiere of Arrow was, at the time, the most watched episode of television in the network’s history (that record went on to be broken by The Flash and Riverdale). Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy was clearly a massive influence on the series in its first season. Even the most grounded and “realistic” superheroes, like Green Arrow and Batman, still require some level of suspension of disbelief. Having said that, the show’s first episodes showed us a world where there weren’t other superheroes, super powers didn’t exist, and any “crazy, comic book elements” you’d normally see in a story based on a long time DC Universe character, were absent in the first season. Boy, did that fucking change! When they introduced Barry Allen in Season 2, they began with super soldiers, from there we got The Flash, The first real super powered superhero in The Arrowverse. From there this universe has expanded to include time travel, meta-humans, aliens, the multi-verse, psychic gorillas, demons, alternate timelines, and literally thousands of other batshit crazy things. I think the smartest thing Arrow ever did was the show’s decision to stop trying to be a cheap carbon copy of Christopher Nolan‘s Dark Knight Trilogy and instead create their own identity by embracing some of the more in sane and out there aspects of the DC Universe. In this article, I’ll be previewing what we know about the individual seasons of the shows that make up The Arrowverse, as well is the up-to-date news about the mega crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths. The annual crossover is by far one of the most ambitious things ever attempted on television so it’s going to loom large over all of the shows for the first half of their seasons.
Arrow Season Premiere: 10/15/19
As far as what the final season will look like, Season 8 will consist of 10 episodes. 7 of the episodes will each act as an homage to specific parts of the show’s history from Season’s 1-7, while also tying up any loose ends associated with that part of the show’s journey. At the same time, the first 7 episodes will also serve to help set up Crisis on Infinite Earths, with Oliver traveling the world with The Monitor in an attempt to prepare for the coming disaster. Episode 8 will be Arrow’s installment of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Once the crossover has ended, the final two episodes, airing at the beginning of 2020, will serve as the show’s true series finale. A new trailer for Season 8 has been released, check it out below:
The Flash Season 6 Premiere 10/8/19
There hasn’t been much news from The Flash Season 6 since the first trailer for the season dropped during Comic-Con A few months ago. However, as we get closer to the show’s season premiere, more content is becoming available. Like this new trailer released today. Check it out, then I’ll can give you some of my thoughts:
I think it looks very cool. The Flash used to be one of my favorite shows, but I felt over the last few years, it had lost its way a little bit. I think the series can only benefit from tying into Crisis on Infinite Earths. After all, Crisis was first teased in the pilot episode of The Flash and no other show in The Arrowverse has more consistently referenced the event since. Barry Allen is one of the most significant and important characters in Crisis On Infinite Earths, so I think this is the perfect opportunity for the show to get back to the greatness it once had. It should also be mentioned that unlike other seasons, season six will have two big bags.
One for the first half of the season, the character Bloodwork played by Sendhil Ramamurthy (Heroes) and an unknown villain for the second half of the Season 6 in 2020. Considering that both The Thinker in Season 4 and Cicada in Season 5 were both pretty lackluster villains, I’m on board with any kind of new strategy to inject some life into the threats that Team Flash faces.
Legends of Tomorrow Season Premiere 1/21/20/Crisis On Infinite Earths begin 12/8/19:
Easily one of the coolest pieces of news concerning a member of the Legends Of Tomorrow cast, is the first photo of Brandon Routh (Ray Palmer AKA The Atom on Legends) as Kingdom Comic Superman! We already new Routh would be returning to the role that made him famous, just not quite the EXACT same Superman, but actually seeing him in the Kingdom Come Superman uniform is really exciting!
Speaking of The Atom, a new bit of casting news broke today, reports surfaced that actor Osric Chau, Best known for playing Kevin Tran on one of my all-time favorite television shows supernatural, will be playing DC character Ryan Choi in the upcoming Crisis Crossover. According to EW.com, Ryan Choi is an Ivy Town University Physics professor with a “key” role to play in the crossover event. In the comics, the character is a protégé of Ray Palmer who takes up the mantle of The Atom alongside Ray Palmer and in his absence. This makes a lot of sense because unfortunately Brandon Routh will be leaving Legends of Tomorrow by the end of this coming season. So you can see why they would want to have a character in place to become The New Atom, if need be. Osric Chau looks great on supernatural and I’m sure he’ll fit right in with the Legends cast. Right now he’s only being reported as a recurring guest star role in the crossover. But don’t be surprised if he ends up becoming a part of The Waverider crew on Legends.
Another interesting last-minute addition to the ever growing cast of this massive and ambitious event will be Ashley Scott reprising her role as The Huntress from the short lived and god awful Birds of Prey series in the early 2000’s. Considering how many characters are involved in this project I have a feeling that appearances like this one will be closer to a cameo status then a significant role. More like just a fun wink and nod to the audience, but we’ll see.
Even though it had been heavily rumored to the point that most people considered it a foregone conclusion, last week it was confirmed, 100%, that Tom Welling would be returning to play Smallville’s Clark Kent in Crisis. A pleasant surprise is that Smallville’s Lois Lane, Erica Durance, will also be returning in the crossover. Unfortunately, Michael Rosenbaum will not be reprising his iconic role as Lex Luthor in the project. He was approached about appearing, but for his own reasons, declined to participate.
I think what’s really interesting here is that it’s very clear that Welling will be playing Smallville‘s version of Superman in the crossover. Which should be exciting to Smallville fans because despite all of the heroics we saw Clark perform across 10 years of television, we really only saw him as Superman for about 20 seconds in the series finale. It looks like his role in Crisis is a significant one, so multiple episodes of that Clark Kent in his prime as Superman will be really cool to see. It’ll be especially exciting to see Welling as Superman alongside Tyler Hoechlin‘s established and already beloved take on Superman in The Arrowverse, and Brandon Routh playing the Kingdom Come version of Superman. All three are pretty different takes on the character, so I imagine seeing 3 different Supermen in the mix will not only be thrilling, but it’s also a great way to show just how much of a threat The Anti-Monitor poses. Below I have two cool pictures, one is from the set of the currently filming Crisis on Infinite Earths and shows Tom Welling and Erica Durance reunited at The Kent Family Farm. I also have a fantastic rendition of what the Smallville Clark Kent could look like in the full superman costume, in this awesome piece of fan art. Check out both below:
Supergirl Season Premiere 10/6/2019:
Last but not least we have Supergirl. Supergirl has a tough act to follow after it’s phenomenal 4th season. I think it was probably my favorite Arrowverse show last year and that’s saying a lot. That was due in no small part to Jon Cryer’s unexpectedly spectacular performance as Lex Luthor. Luckily, he’ll be back for Crisis On Infinite Earths, so it’s pretty likely he’ll pop up in Supergirl Season 5, as well. As far as the story for Season 5, I have heard that this Season will be very much about Kara and Lena‘s relationship. That will be the main focus of the season. Will they repair their friendship? Or are they doomed to repeat the same pattern that Superman and Lex fell into? Along with the looming threat of Crisis On Infinite Earths, when it comes to villains this season, the secret society Leviathan will be making their presence known after their introduction in the Season 4 finale. J’onn J’onzz’s evil brother, Ma’alefa’ak. so it will be interesting to see how the show in ports that relatively new concepts from the comics. Another really interesting development on the show this season, is Supergirl will be introducing Atlanteans, like Aquaman Atlantean’s! It’s pretty fucking cool. With superman and Batman pretty soon officially becoming part of the hour of hers maybe we’ll get to see the arrow verse version of Aquaman?. This is not the first time Aquaman has been referenced, in fact there have been multiple references to The King of The Seven Seas in The Flash. Anyway you can check out the latest trailer below. And by the way? I ❤️her new costume :
Crisis on Infinite Earths will kick off on December 8 in Supergirl. Part 2 will hit Batwoman on December 9, before The Flash takes part 3 on December 10. Then on January 14, 2020, Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow will wrap up the crossover
Finally,
Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty shown to us by our fans, so thanks again!
Starting this week, World’s Best Media begins our 2019 Fall TV Preview! On our website, podcasts, and social media we’ll be covering all of the coolest new and returning shows on TV and Streaming for the rest of the month! Please let us know what you think of our coverage and what series you’d like to see us cover! For our first article we’ll be covering one of my most anticipated new shows and one my favorite returning series…
Watchmen – New Series (HBO)
HBO’s upcoming series Watchmen is, by far, one of my most anticipated film or television projects of the year. It comes to us from Damon Lindelof, the co-creator of LOST and the creator of The Leftovers. Despite some of the haters out there, I think Lindelöf is extremely talented storyteller. Here’s HBO’s official synopsis for the series:
“Set in an alternate history where masked vigilantes are treated as outlaws, Watchmen embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel of the same name, while attempting to break new ground of its own.”
Check out the new trailer here:
Despite any missteps taken throughout the series, I still believe LOST is on incredible achievement in long form storytelling. In fact, warts and all, it’s probably still one of my all-time favorite TV shows. So when I heard Lindelof was developing a Watchmen series for HBO I wasn’t that enthusiastic, but not for the reasons you might think.
When Zack Snyder released he is 2009 film adaptation of the classic graphic novel from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, many felt that the film was too slavish to the source material. So I felt that after receiving an adaptation of Watchmen that was so close to the comic book, what more could this HBO series really say? Of course my assumptions were all wrong and the story Lindelof is telling isn’t a direct adaptation at all, but more of a sequel. While shrouded in mystery we do know certain characters and story elements like Laurie Jupiter, Mothman, Hooded Justice, Ozymandias, Doctor Manhattan, and even Dan’s Nightowl ship Archie are a part of the show.
While on the subject of the 2009 Watchmen, though flawed, I think Snyder’s take is ahead of it’s time and a truly excellent film. This is just my opinion, but I think it’s a great adaptation of a phenomenal comic book. Ironically my largest problem with the film, is the change that most people felt was necessary. I strongly felt that Ozymandias’ grand plan didn’t work, as presented in the movie. Veidt’s plan in the comics is a master stroke. Despite how insane it may seem, you can’t deny the twisted logic of it all: Show humanity a clear and present threat that is completely “other”, totally “alien” and it will bring the species together like never before for the sake of mutual survival.
The way Veidt’s attack went down in the graphic novel could in no way be mistaken for anything other than some type of alien invasion. He teleports a giant alien monster (that he spent billions to create using cloning and the minds of some of the world’s best artists) into the heart of New York City, the creature dies on arrival but not before telepathically kills millions of people. No one could mistake this catastrophe for a nuclear launch.
However, in the film Veidt blows up multiple major cities around the world (both in the U.S. and U.S.S.R.), using bombs he’s designed to mimic the energy signature of Doctor Manhattan. This is just as Russia and The U.S. are on the brink of full on nuclear war. My problem with this version of Ozymandias’ plan is that, in the graphic novel there’s no actual explosions that could in anyway be misconstrued for a bomb of any kind. Blowing up multiple major cities both in the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. seems incredibly risky considering how close to nuclear annihilation the world is at that moment. The success of his whole plan and the survival of the human race, rests on whether or not “the powers that be” will somehow take the time to analyze the energy signature and determine it’s from Doctor Manhattan. What if they just panic when one of the cities explode and one of the two superpowers launch there nukes? It seems like an awfully big gamble for the so called “smartest man in the world” to be taking. I think changing Veidt’s plan in the films takes away from it’s genius and ultimately hurts the film, fortunately it looks like the the HBO series is sticking with the graphic novels version of events in this department. With Oscar Winner Jeremy Irons taking on the role of Adrian Veidt, I cant fucking wait to see what role he plays in the series. I can’t imagine a man like him sitting on the sidelines…
Regardless, that’s just my two cents on a Watchmen film we’ve already seen. This new series has nothing to do with the 2009 film. As you’ll see in the new trailer and behind the scenes video below, it’s almost a quasi-sequel to the classic graphic graphic novel. As a weekly comic book reader, I’m really primed for a story like this. DC Comics has been doing a lot with the Watchmen characters lately with fantastic stories like Before Watchmen and the incredible Doomsday Clock, DC’s own quasi-sequel to Watchmen. Unlike some other fans, after reading spectacular comics like Doomsday Clock, Watchmen isn’t the sacred cow to me that it may be for some other fans.
The past few years have shown me that excellent stories with the characters and world of Watchmen can be told without Alan Moore. I’m pretty sure Dave Gibbons, Watchmen’s artist is involved with the show in some capacity. The cast looks great and I’d like the creative team involved a lot. HBO is the perfect network for something like this, but check out this very cool behind the scenes video below and judge for yourself. It sheds a little more light on exactly what’s going on with this series…
Watchmen premieres on HBO on October 20th.
Supernatural: The Final Season
New Poster Supernatural – Season 15 (L-R): Misha Collins as Castiel, Jared Padalecki as Sam, Jensen Ackles as Dean and Alexander Calvert as Jack Credit: The CW
The returning show I wanted to talk about today is this one of my all-time favorite television shows. A series I have written about here on the site and has been brought up on the podcast so often, it’s a bit of a running joke. I am of course referring to none other than Supernatural. The hit CW series is heading into its 15th and final season in October. Though the fans and The CW network were more than happy to allow the show to continue pretty much as long as the creative team involved wanted, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, who plays Sam and Dean Winchester wanted to show to go out on a high note. So it is tough as it is to say goodbye to the boys and characters like Castiel, as long time, fan I’d rather see the show go out in a blaze of glory than whimper across the finish line.
Courtesy of EW.com, are the first official photos from Season 15. The pictures are definitely from the first or second episodes of the season because last time we saw them, The Winchesters and Castiel were up shit’s creek surrounded by a fucking horde of zombies. Not to mention all the other monsters and spirits Chuck freed from Hell, which was a really dick move. I think it’s a safe bet The Boys make it out of this situation in one piece, but that victory will be short lived. Because when it come to The Winchesters and company nothing’s ever easy or simple. Hey, shit happens when you piss of an all powerful cosmic entity that gets off on toying with people’s lives. Check it out…
We don’t know a ton about the final season (man, that sucks to write), but one thing we’ve heard from the cast is that dead means DEAD. In the past, this is a show that’s seen a lot of resurrections. Hell, Sam and Dean themselves have died literally dozens of times. So expect a lot more finality when one of the characters checks out this season. Below you can check out a brief trailer, but damn if it doesn’t make me excited!
It also appears that the final season will be seeing a lot of returning characters. Already confirmed are, of course, Chuck, Amara, Adam Winchester, Bobby Singer, Ellen Harvell, and that’s just to name a few. Expect to see some of The Winchester’s oldest friends and worst enemies show up before the series ends. Finally I have an interview with Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki talking about what sans can expect from the 15th in the final season especially in the first few episodes.
Man, it’s gonna be tough to see this one go, we posted a few more images below. The Final Season of Supernatural begins on October 10th on The CW
Thanks for reading! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews for our podcast, go a long way to help support the show. We really appreciate the loyalty shown to us by World’s Best Media fans, so thanks again!
This man is ENTIRELY too calm considering what’s going on around him.
On this episode of “The World’s Best Podcast”, I have a minor mental breakdown as I freak out while discussing the cataclysmic, APOCALYPTIC changes in store for mankind as a result of climate change. Don’t judge me, this is scary shit! With The Bahamas suffering from the devastation of last weeks storm, I thought it might be a good time to talk about how we should all pay more attention to the negative consequence of climate change before it’s too late.
Oh, and I also review the Season 2 premiere of TITANS. even if you don’t have the DC UNIVERSE app where TITANS is available for streaming, you can also check it out on Blu-ray and iTunes. Once the season has been on DC UNIVERSE for a little while, they usually make the series available on Netflix for awhile.
TITANS isn’t without its flaws, but it’s a really cool superhero show that deserves more attention than it’s getting. With appearances by Bruce Wayne, Deathstroke, Superboy, and more classic DC characters, TITANS Season 2 is shaping up to be pretty entertaining.
This some great content, people! Listen here or subscribe on Stitcher, Spreaker, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, & Apple Podcasts/ITunes: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/18985244
During my review for the Season 2 premiere of TITANS on DC UNIVERSE, I discuss how extensive and impressive their comic book library is. Pretty much any great DC Comics story you would want to read is available on the app right now. With more being added all the time. So below I made a list of the 10 best comic book stories that are currently available on DC UNIVERSE, check it out…
The Top Ten Best Comic Books Available On DC UNIVERSE
The Dark Knight Returns (Writer: Frank Miller, Artist: Frank Miller/ Klaus Janson)
All Star Superman (Writer: Grant Morrison, Artist: Frank Quietly)
Batman: The Long Halloween (Writer: Jeph Loeb, Artist: Tim Sale)
Superman: Red Son (Writer: Mark Millar, Artist: Dave Johnson)
Batman: The Court of Owls (Writer: Scott Snyder, Artist: Greg Capullo)
Wonder Woman: Year One (Writer: Greg Rucka, Artist: Nicola Scott)
Swamp Thing (The New 52, Issue #1-40) (Writer: Scott Snyder/Charles Soule, Artist: Yanick Paquette/Jesus Saiz)
Justice League: The Darkseid War (Writer: Geoff Johns, Artist: Jason Fabok)
Green Lantern: Rebirth (Writer: Geoff Johns, Artist: Ethan Van Sciver)
Batman: Year One (Writer: Frank Miller, Artist: David Mazzucchelli)
These stories are just the tip of the iceberg. I honestly could’ve listed at least 20 more phenomenal, classic DC tales you can download and read, completely for free, as a DC UNIVERSE subscriber.
Thanks for listening! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, go a long way to supporting the show. We really appreciate the loyalty shown to us by World’s Best Media fans, so thanks again!
-Paul
*Editors Note (correction)- In this episode of the podcast, I mentioned Iceland’s melting glaciers. While there are glaciers in Iceland, experiencing melting due to Man made climate chang , some of the world’s most dangerous and major glacier melting is largely taking place in Greenland. I misspoke, sorry for the confusion. As a bonus, I’ve posted a brief, but informative video about Greenland’s melting glaciers you should definitely check out. Watch it right here:
We have a GREAT episode of “The World’s Best Podcast” this week! After dropping the final trailer last week,the upcoming film, “JOKER” (opening 10/4) starring Joaquin Phoenix and directed by Todd Phillips (The Hangover), has screened for critic to rave reviews. Some even calling the movie a “masterpiece”. So on this podcast, I go through everything you need to know about the various on screen depictions of The Joker in the past, on TV and the big screen. What’s the deal with this new version of The Clown Prince Of Crime and why did I think this new movie broke one of the cardinal rules of the character?
We also give an update on the Marvel/Sony Spider-Man standoff. Is everyone’s favorite Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man really out of The MCU? Time will tell, hopefully some kind of deal between Disney and Sony can still be reached.
Finally, we wrap up the episode with a couple of reviews, first for Amazon Prime’s new series “Carnival Row” starring Orlando Bloom. Then we dive into Dave Chappelle’s new comedy special on Netflix “Sticks and Stones”. Enjoy!
Thanks for listening! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, go a long way to supporting the show. We really appreciate the loyalty shown to us by World’s Best Media fans, so thanks again!
World’s Best Media 