World’s Best Media

PODCAST: TV Roundup! Jack Ryan! Preacher! Castle Rock! & Iron Fist!

Published on September 7, 2018November 24, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everybody,

Paul here…

On this episode of The World’s Best Podcast, this week’s guest co-host, Paul Sr. and I look back, discuss, and review some of the late summer TV shows! We also look at some upcoming returning series that look pretty interesting. We review Jack Ryan on Amazon Prime, talk about Preacher Season 3 on AMC, Castle Rock on Hulu, and premiering tonight Iron Fist Season 2 on Netflix! Beware of some light spoilers! Listen here or subscribe on Stitcher and iTunes:

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/15661120

ITunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-worlds-best-podcast/id1246038441?mt=2#episodeGuid=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.spreaker.com%2Fepisode%2F15661120

Stitcher:

https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=56149253&autoplay=1

Thanks for listening!

-Paul

FIRST LOOK: Captain Marvel!

Published on September 6, 2018November 24, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwright2 Comments

Hey Everybody,

Paul here…

I’ve always been a big Entertainment Weekly fan. For a major publication, they were on the geek bandwagon way before it was as mainstream as it is now. Some of my favorite books, TV series, and so much more have been put on my radar because of EW (I never would have discovered The Dresden Files without them and what a tragedy that would be). I have digital subscription to the magazine and check out their website almost every day, they have great stuff. Presently, I would argue the magazine covers more sci-fi-fi, fantasy, comic book, and superhero content ( Y’know… “Geeky Stuff”) than any other kind of entertainment. Being so “geek friendly”, EW gets some fantastic scoops and access from companies and studios like Marvel, DC, Disney, and HBO to name a few.

Of course, Marvel decided to give us our best look yet at the upcoming Captain Marvel movie starring Brie Larson as the title character. Captain Marvel real name is Carol Danvers. The cover story of their next issue is a Captain Marvel article. As much as I would have liked to see a trailer, (fingers crossed we’ll get that soon) these pictures are cool as fuck.

As has been reported before, this movie takes place in the 90’s, so all kinds of characters are fair game that would otherwise be unavailable. Either for story reasons or because their dead. One of the coolest things revealed by EW is that even though this is an origin film, the movie starts with Carol already having gained her powers. She’s off in space working for The Kree Empire as part of a kind of alien special forces team called Starforce.

To refresh your memory, The Kree are a race of aliens we’ve seen pop up in multiple MCU projects, most notably Guardians of the Galaxy and Agents of SHIELD (Surprising right? Agents of SHIELD ended up getting pretty fucking good). The Kree are blue, very technologically advanced, pretty huge pricks, and have always been fascinated by Earth and humanity. Basically thousands of years ago, The Kree experiment on a select group of humans and altered their DNA. When exposed to “ Terrigen”, a Kree chemical which can be administered as a mist or ingested, humans with Kree DNA undergo a metamorphosis that usually gives them some kind of superhuman ability. However, in some cases the metamorphosis can also change their biology so radically they no longer appear human. These individuals, anyone who went through “Terrigenesis” became know as The Inhumans. The original purpose of this was for The Kree to use these Inhumans as warrior weapons, but humans can be hard to control. The ancestors of the humans who underwent these original experiments are still alive today with Inhuman DNA. These are the people SHIELD has to deal with. Like anyone else superpowers, some of them are good some of them are bad. This is NOT how Carol Danvers gets her powers, but it is an important piece of history between The Kree and the human race.

The most prominent Kree we’ve seen on screen so far is Ronan The Accuser, the villain from the first Guardians of the Galaxy, who also died at the end of the movie (Yeah, I know spoilers, but fuck you if haven’t seen that movie yet). With Captain Marvel being set in the 90’s, Ronan will return for this film, as you can see in one of the photos below. Also returning from Guardians Vol.1 is one of Ronan’s lieutenants, Korath played by Djimon Hounsou.

Inhumans and The Kree have been a large part of Agents of SHIELD throughout the show. They were like the MCU’s answer to Mutants, which were off the table (But maybe for not much longer). Everyday, average people with Inhuman DNA who developed superpowers and the problems that come along with that. Like I said very similar to Mutants in X-Men.

MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. – ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” stars Matthew Willig as Lash. (ABC/Mark Kolpack)

F9B1227B-F38F-49A8-92EA-80808781F255 — Some of the uglier, more evil Inhumans, secret badass Phil Coulson has had to deal with.

We also get to see Carol as an Air Force fighter pilot before she becomes Captain Marvel.

Carol’s mentor in the movie is a Kree Captain named Mar-Vell played by Jude Law. Apparently he runs the Kree Special Forces Team she’s apart of. In the comics, he’s the original Captain Marvel, so it’s really cool to see him included. He can appear more or less human.

Of course, at least some of the movie takes place on Earth. Again taking advantage of the 90’s setting, here we see a young Nick Fury. With both eyes! It might seem stupid, but I love that we’re going to get to see how he loses the eye. In one of the rare jumps from the small screen back to the big screen, none other than SHIELD agent Phil Coulson will be joining in on the fun.

Marvel Studios' CAPTAIN MARVELNick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) — They’re just getting better and better with this de-aging VFX. I mean, LOOK AT THAT!

Oh yeah, it’s the 90’s

Possibly my favorite picture, this gives us our first look at one of the most significant alien races in the history of Marvel Comics: The Skrull. Like The Kree, The Skrull also have always had an interest in Earth. In the comics, some Skrull believe it’s their destiny to inherit (fucking take over) the Earth. Most importantly, every Skrull is born with unparalleled shapeshifting abilities. They can become anyone and that’s what makes them so dangerous. They’re master infiltrators. It’s also worth noting that The Kree and The Skrulls have been mortal enemies for thousands of years. So it’s likely this movie will draw heavily from the classic Avengers story, “The Kree/Skrull War”.

Marvel Studios' CAPTAIN MARVELLeft: Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) — The Skrulls, led by Talos (Ben Mendelsohn)

Here we see one of The Skrull called Talos, played by Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One), in his human form as a SHIELD agent.

In the comics, Monica Rambeau is a superhero that has gone by both Photon (like the call sign on her jet) and Spectrum. The name on the plane is MARIA Rambeau. Is this the the same character or a relative? Are they setting up Spectrum for the Captain Marvel sequel?

This is Spectrum from Marvel Comics.

Everything I see about this movie gets me more excited. This looks fucking great. Now we just need a goddamn trailer!

-Paul

* All photos source Ew.com

What I Want to See: The Women Of The MCU

Published on September 3, 2018November 24, 2020 by Michael Christopher Cole1 Comment

I finally saw Ant-Man and The Wasp yesterday, and I realized something, Hope Van Dyne is my favorite female character in the MCU. Realizing that made me reflect on the role of women in the MCU.

It’s been pretty well discussed among critics and fans that for a while the MCU had a female problem. Despite Black Widow having been introduced in the third (of 20 so far) MCU films, she took a long time to gain prominence in screen time, or plot relevance (I’m not sure we’ve even seen her have more screen time or relevance to the story, than anyone but Hawkeye). Fans were asking for a Black Widow film, and Marvel Studios’ response was something along the lines of “when it’s right we’ll do it”. which at the time probably felt like a cop-out, but they were having the same complaints made about having a non-white main character and they were giving the same response. At the time, it really felt like the MCU had a diversity problem, but in fairness they tried to address the problem. They quickly began to introduce characters like Sam Wilson as the Falcon, Rhodey to be War Machine/Iron Patriot started to have a larger role and more screen time, they added Scarlett Witch to the team, for example. Many argued this was a half measure, they were all secondary characters and not a solution to the problem. They were definitely steps in the right direction and they filled in some gaps. It was very clear that women and non-white males needed to be the titles characters of their own movies.

36C165FD-4EDA-4A12-9E07-8DA04799C217 — Black Widow’s 1st Appearance In The MCU: Iron Man 2

The MCU started using crossovers and the team films to be able to add new characters, layer their universe, and make it more three dimensional. In Civil War, we were introduced to the MCU version of Spider-Man and finally Black Panther. Pretty quickly, it was clear that both would be getting their own films, but the MCU as a single cohesive piece was more important, so they tend not to rush into things and it payed off.

0E657B27-90E4-4D7E-BB9A-F65098C699B7 — Shuri stole the show in Black Panther.

Spider-Man: Homecoming was a big success, but Black Panther was a cultural phenomenon. Black Panther showed us that the MCU could handle a film with a non-white main character, a majority non-white cast, and come out with a critical and box office smash. Black Panther not only stood on its own two feet, but it absolutely crushed the competition. The two most prominent white characters are played by Andy Serkis and Martin Freeman. Both are well established actors, but they’re certainly not mega-stars like Tom Cruise or Matt Damon.

The second crucial thing Black Panther did, was almost double the MCU’s roster current of important, strong female characters. Prior to this what did we have? Scarlett Witch, is a decent character, but I personally don’t think she’s nearly as fleshed out as she could be. Black Widow, tends to be used more in her relationship with which ever male hero needs her (i.e. in Winter Soldier with Cap, or in Age of Ultron with Bruce/Hulk). Pepper? I think we’re all honestly surprised when Pepper pops up for a cameo anymore, but really she isn’t much more fleshed out than Friday. Jane Foster, might have been a good addition, except it seems that Natalie Portmant doesnt have much interest in playing Jane Foster anymore. So that’s not entirely the fault of the MCU. The only two pre-Black Panther characters that seemed to be totally realized and fleshed out female characters were Gamora and Hope Van Dyne. In Ant-Man, Hope is the most capable character, the main character arc belongs to Scott Lang.

In Black Panther, we got three really great female characters in; Shuri (who is strong willed, intelligent, competitive, funny); Nakia who almost forces T’Challa to play the ‘fawning love-interest’ character due to her commitment to bettering Africa and the world; and Okoye who is one of the fiercest normal humans in the MCU. Would you want to fight Okoye? Do you think you could outsmart Shuri on literally anything? Do you have more compassion for any group of people than Nakia does? They’re all incredible, and while they have their ‘defining’ attributes, they’re not only those things. Shuri is funny, and brave. Nakia is in love with T’Challa, but refuses to let that be her guiding principal. Okoye, despite being a total bad-ass is also a loving girlfriend/wife (they don’t really say) who also stands up to her love when he is on the wrong side.

Black Panther pushed us further toward the MCU ‘sweet spot. Now we have Ant-Man and The Wasp and it’s the first time in the MCU that a woman is one of the title characters. The Wasp does not disappoint. She’s the most bad-ass fighter in the film, she totally shows up Ant-Man and even the pseudo-villain Ghost. She’s a dedicated, intelligent woman trying to be reunited her mother.

Something Hope/Wasp and the women of Black Panther manage to do, is balance the characters between being what we want in super-heroes while not removing their femininity. They also don’t play on any female stereotypes or tropes. We don’t see any of the female characters being played as ’emotionally erratic,’ while also not playing them off as unfeeling. It’s a hard balance that Hollywood in general has difficulty was and the MCU has done pretty well avoiding those pitfalls. Which is really impressive considering that so far, all the directors in the MCU has been mad.

So what do I want to see when it comes to females in the MCU? That leads us to Captain Marvel. For Captain Marvel, we’re going to get our first female (solo) title character. We’re also going to get our first female director (co-director, but to be fair, Anna Boden has directed all of her films with her husband Ryan Fleck). I really want Captain Marvel to be great. I want it to be as great as Black Panther and a game changer in the same way Black Panther was. I want Captain Marvel to be an amazing character with depth, but also a total bad-ass. The DCEU had their only smash success to date with Wonder Woman because it’s a genuinely good film. I hope Captain Marvel is at least as good (perhaps with a better villain). Because Captain Marvel will not have the momentum of being the first like Wonder Woman was, but it does need to be successful. One of the major takeaways from Black Panther and Wonder Woman was that people respond to diversity in their entertainment. However, if a movie like Captain Marvel fails, Hollywood probably won’t learn the right lesson from it. They won’t say “oh Captain Marvel sucked, let’s try a Black Widow film instead!”, they’re more likely to say “oh maybe Wonder Woman was an anomaly and the audiences don’t really want female lead superhero movies.” It’s bullshit logic, but as I’ve written before Hollywood almost always learns the wrong lessons.

If Captain Marvel has some great action set pieces and the character is as well developed and well acted as Hope Van Dyne, Okoye, Nakia, Shuri, and Gamora, I think they’ll have a hit on their hands. If that happens Hollywood will do more to replicate it. The MCU has done a great job creating this universe and I’m confident that Captain Marvel will not be an exception to that rule. I know I’m really excited.

Because, honestly? I love watching great women characters, especially when they kick ass. That’s so much more interesting to me than the damsel in distress. I don’t know maybe I’m not ‘alpha’ enough, but something I find attractive (not just on a romantic/sexual level, but attractive in a friend, or in my wife, or when I’m proud of my sister ) is characters/people who have passion. It’s what we admire about male characters right? You love that Tony Stark is pursuing (albeit awfully) the betterment of human kind through science, or that Captain America is passionate about the ideals of freedom and what America is supposed to be. Why wouldn’t we look for the same in our female characters? I never understood that.

So, what I want to see, is an excellent Captain Marvel movie, and if there is a love interest, I hope it’s not shoe-horned in. After that, I hope that Captain Marvel opens us up to more female lead films in the MCU. I’m patient, I know it won’t be overnight, but with a few more hits in Phase Four, and then they’ll be on a roll.

Written by Michael Cole

PODCAST: The Kevin Smith Episode (Part-2)!

Published on August 31, 2018November 24, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everybody,

Paul here…

Guest co-host Mike Cole returns to The World’s Best Podcast to finish Part 2 of our discussion of the work of filmmaker Kevin Smith! The best part is, we actually talk about Kevin Smith in this episode! As opposed to the last episode where we just bullshitted for most of the show. But it was fun! In this episode Mike and I cover Kevin Smiths’ comic book work on books like Daredevil and Green Arrow! As well as, his work on the screenplay for the never made Tim Burton Superman film ( concept art below ), our favorite lines from his films, his podcast work, and upcoming work Smith currently has in the pipe! We had a blast recording this episode, so please enjoy! Listen here or subscribe on Stitcher and iTunes:

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/15609383

iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-worlds-best-podcast/id1246038441?mt=2&i=1000418840874

Stitcher:

https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=56026689&autoplay=1

In the episode we mention the Superman movie that Tim Burton was going to make with Nic Cage as Superman, involving The Death Of Superman story, Brainiac, and Doomsday. Here’s some of the early concept art:

As always, thanks for listening!

– Paul

TRAILERS & MORE: Fall TV Superhero Shows!

Published on August 30, 2018November 23, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey, Everybody

Paul here…

A lot of trailers and promotional videos for upcoming superhero shows dropped today and they’re all pretty cool. I even have a few interesting promo images to shows you guys as well! So let’s get right into it!

First we two videos promoting Iron Fist Season 2 which premieres on Netflix on 9/7. I actually have high hopes for Season 2. Issues with the show’s fight choreography was one of the big criticisms of Season One. It seems like the purpose of these two videos was to tell the audience that the creators heard your criticisms and stepped it up big time with the fight sequences and the martial arts. Based on the content I’ve seen so far, I think they‘ve succeeded. You be the judge…

1FB24AF2-ADCD-4348-893E-D58238CF2A83 — Misty Knight and Colleen Wing: The Daughters Of The Dragon!

Next up, The CW and it’s Arrowverse, released a sizzle real proclaiming that it’s going to be “Superhero Season” pretty soon. I love these videos and I have to admit, it’ll be fun to see Oliver Queen, Black Lightning (I’m still not sure if this one is in the Arrowverse), The Flash, Supergirl, and all the other DC heroes and villains on these shows. They may not always knock it out of the park, but when they do, goddammit these shows are great!

Finally, DC’s new streaming service, DC Universe is coming closer to it’s launch, which has now officially been confirmed as Sept. 15. They’re running a pretty decent special if you pre-order your membership. It’s $75 for a 15 month subscription and a few other cool perks. As they gear up for the launch they showed a clip from the upcoming Young Justice: Outsiders, set to premiere on the streaming service in early 2019. Young Justice was one of the best superhero TV series ever made, so especially if you’re an older fan looking for slightly more mature content that’s still really, really fun, check out the first two seasons of Young Justice on iTunes, or Blu Ray.

Also premiering on the new streaming service is Titans, a dark, adult take on the classic comic. Titans premiers on 10/12. DC released a few character photos which you can check out below.

Robin

Starfire

Raven

Beast Boy

As always, thanks for reading! Keep it here for all the latest updates on comic book, movie, streaming, TV, superhero news and more!

-Paul

Jensen Ackles Should Play The Red Hood In The New Batman Movie

Published on August 27, 2018November 23, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwright2 Comments

Hey Everybody,

Paul here…

I wanted to touch on a casting rumor that’s been going around recently: Jensen Ackles playing The Red Hood in one of the upcoming Batman film projects. Regardless of what you think of the final film, the inclusion of the suit of a dead Robin in The Batcave caught everyone’s attention in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. As soon as the image was shown in the trailer for BvS, fans immediately speculated what this meant in the larger context of the DCEU.

As a weird side note that I think is indicative of the state of DC’s cinematic universe, the DCEU (or the DC Extended Universe) didn’t originate with Warner Bros. or DC. They never actually had a name for this cinematic universe they were creating. Apparently, it the name came from a writer at Entertainment Weekly and it just stuck. So, the powers that be finally got around to naming this shit show of a universe, with the official title now being: The Worlds of DC. Wow, there really is no one flying the fucking plane here…

Anyway, when fans saw the Robin suit displayed in The Batcave with “HA HA HA JOKE’S ON YOU BATMAN” spray painted on it, it was assumed that this was the former suit of Jason Todd. Jason Todd was the second Robin after Dick Grayson got tired of Bruce’s bullshit and went off to follow his own path as Nightwing. In the comics, after Jason died, Bruce eventually took in Tim Drake who became the new Robin. What do you get for the billionaire who has everything? Young boys to put in mortal danger every night!

A2662B79-07ED-46CD-B995-63F5949A6D09 — NOPE! He’s Dead. Very, Very dead.

In one of The Joker’s many acts of horrific violence, he brutally beat Jason with a crowbar in a warehouse and then left him for dead as the warehouse exploded with Jason inside. Arguably, Jason’s death was as much of a defining traumatic loss for Bruce Wayne as the death of his parents. Bruce (very rightly) felt responsible for Jason’s death and blamed himself for not being able to save him. But that didn’t stop Bruce from continuing to churn out Robin’s! No, sir! At least 3 or 4 of these poor little bastards have bit the dust since Jason. What’s that? Another Robin is dead? Must be Wednesday!

In comics, no one stays dead forever. So, after several years and an insanely convoluted series of events, but for the sake of this article lets just keep it simple and say Ra’s Al Ghul’s Lazarus Pit was involved, Jason was resurrected. (if you want, you can look up the whole story of EXACTLY how Jason came back to life, good luck and God be with you). The point is that Jason Todd was back.

So the story of Jason’s return to Gotham and taking on the persona of The Red Hood, was told in Judd Winnick’s excellent Batman: Under The Red Hood. I highly recommend you check it out, it’s a great read and I put the Amazon link below if you want to pick up the graphic novel. https://www.amazon.com/Batman-Under-Hood-Judd-Winick/dp/1401231454/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1535344301&sr=8-3&keywords=batman+under+the+red+hood

At this point, you guys probably know that I’m a big fan of the direct to Blu Ray and Digital DC Animated Movies, like The Death of Superman (you can read my review for that film right here: https://best-media-world.com/2018/07/29/movie-review-the-death-of-superman/ )

One of the best DC Animated movies is Batman: Under The Red Hood, based on the graphic novel of the same name. Again, I highly recommend this one so here’s the Amazon link to the Blu Ray: https://www.amazon.com/Batman-Under-Red-Hood-Blu-ray/dp/B003ITZBVI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1535344301&sr=8-2&keywords=batman+under+the+red+hood

From here on in I’m going to be specifically referring to the Animated Movie version of Batman: Under The Red Hood, which combines story elements from A Death In The Family into the narrative. A new and brutal vigilante going by The Red Hood shows up in Gotham and starts killing criminals and crime bosses left and right. Batman can’t have this shit going on in his town, so he confronts the very well trained Red Hood and is horrified to find out that The Red Hood is his formally dead ward, Jason Todd.

Jason had always been a more violent Robin, but getting killed playing by Bruce’s rules seriously changed his perspective on dealing with criminals. Basically he subscribes to the “see bad guy, kill bad guy” philosophy of crime fighting. More than anything Jason isn’t angry at Bruce because he was killed. He forgives him for that, what he can’t forgive is: Why the fuck didn’t Bruce kill The Joker? Jason doesn’t think Bruce should go all Charles Bronson on the Gotham Rogues gallery, but if ever there was an exception to Bruce’s (bullshit) “No Killing” rule, it’s The Joker. As you can imagine Jason is pretty fucking pissed. I don’t want to go into too much more of the story in case you want to watch the movie or read the graphic novel.

I should probably point out that one of the reasons this movie is great is the voice performances. Bruce Greenwood is probably the second best actor behind Kevin Conroy to voice Batman. He plays him in the soon to be returning Young Justice animated series as well. Aaaaaaand finally we come to the point: Jason Todd is perfectly played by Jensen Ackles who plays Dean Winchester on one of my favorite TV shows, Supernatural.

If any of you listen to my podcast, The World’s Best Podcast, you may find this funny because my love of the show Supernatural is sort of a running joke on the show. But, like I said, the whole point of this article is that Jensen Ackels would make a fucking great live action Jason Todd. About a week ago a picture went viral of Ackles standing next to a Red Hood statue or costume or something.

Now this might mean nothing, but sometimes pictures like this are posted when actors are in talks with a studio to take a role. Or sometimes actors will post pictures like these to get conversations exactly like this one started, so they get on filmmakers radar. Regardless, this photo prompted a lot of fans to jockey for Ackles to be cast as The Red Hood in an upcoming Worlds of DC film. Rumor has it, Matt Reeve’s Batman film may contain elements of the Under The Red Hood story. With multiple Joker movies, a Nightwing film, and Gotham City Sirens all in different points of development, there are plenty of places The Red Hood could pop up. The flames of fandom were fanned when this fucking spectacular piece of artwork, featuring Ackles as The Red Hood, made the rounds online. The very cool piece was done by artist BossLogic, who’s done some incredible artwork over the years.

7717AB99-C1AB-47CA-A440-7147BAD2C85F — Fucking awesome, right?

Supernatural is going into it’s 14th season this fall and there’s a reason a show like that has such staying power. Especially the last few season have been among the best in the show’s run. Jensen Ackles is a huge part of that. He’s an incredibly underrated actor who’s given some amazing performances on the show.

This isn’t the first time he’s been associated with a superhero project either. He was one of the front runners for Captain America before Chris Evans ultimately took up the shield. He was offered the role of Hawkeye in the MCU, but turned it down (I love Supernatural, but I bet he regrets that move a little bit). Personally, I always thought he would make a great Hal Jordan. Bottom line is, anyone familiar with Supernatural knows he would crush it as The Red Hood. He has the physicality for the role and he’s a great fucking actor. He has a raw edge to him that would work great for a character like Jason as opposed to say, Nightwing. Not to mention He already knows the character of The Red Hood well. He’s the appropriate age, because we’re dealing with an older Batman. Interestingly, Supernatural is producing 20 episodes this season instead of it’s usual 23. They gave a very plausible reason for this, basically that it’s easier on the cast. The main actors have families and they shoot the show in Vancouver, but they live in Texas. Or perhaps one of the two leads needed a few extra months off to shoot a high profile film project? Hmmm..

Nothing official has come from Warner Bros or DC about this potential casting, but DC fans seem to have really gotten behind it. The World’s of DC need solid, talented actors to fill out their universe. Whatever form the new Batman movie takes, I’ve always wanted to see more of the Bat Family in a Batman film. I don’t think Under The Red Hood would be the Batman story I’d like to see DC make, but that doesn’t mean Jason Todd couldn’t be a part of the film. Jensen Ackles would be a fucking awesome Red Hood. As always, thanks for reading!

-Paul

PODCAST: A Kevin Smith Episode! (But We End Up Mostly Telling Funny Stories Instead)

Published on August 24, 2018November 23, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwright1 Comment

Hey Everybody!

Paul here…

At long last, Special guest co-host Mike Cole returns to The World’s Best Podcast! He and I set out to discuss the work of filmmaker Kevin Smith. His movies, his comics, his podcasts, his whole career. The highs and the lows. Buuuuut… when you get a couple of old friends together and the crazy, absurd stories start flying, it’s easy for everything to go of the rails. Boy, did it! In the best possible way. This is a 2-Part Episode so we still have plenty of Kevin Smith analysis coming your way. But in this podcast, enjoy some ridiculous, profane, and hopefully pretty damn funny stories! We did manage to get just a little bit of Kevin Smith discussion here or there, though.

(His weight loss transformation has been incredible. He’s the last guy I’d expect to make a change like this. Yes, the heart attack was a huge factor, but he’d already lost a lot of weight at least a year or two before the incident. I think it’s very inspirational)

We had a lot of fun recording this one and I hope it shows in the episode. On a technical note, Mike and I recorded this in different states, so just once or twice in the show his voice is a little lower than mine, but you can still hear him loud and clear. For now please enjoy this hilarious episode about love, life, high school, mental illness, and of course, penises. Listen here or subscribe on Stitcher and iTunes:

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/15557798

ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-worlds-best-podcast/id1246038441?mt=2&i=1000418408432

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=55925798&autoplay=1

Check out the scene below from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, probably one of my favorite scenes in any Kevin Smith flick (or any flick for that matter). From Jay’s incredulous, pitch perfect “What The Fuck Is The Internet?!” to Affleck reading the comments section, it’s all gold.

Thanks for listening!

-Paul

FIRST LOOK: The CW Annual Superhero Crossover! Batwoman! Superman! Lois Lane!

Published on August 22, 2018November 23, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everybody,

Paul here…

Without a doubt one of my favorite things that I look forward to each year is The CW’s Arrowverse Crossover Event. They hit a new high last year with Crisis On Earth-X and this year looks to be just as exciting with the crossover involving “the world” of Gotham City and the debut of Ruby Rose as Batwoman. But that’s not all, which I’ll get to in a minute.

No Batman though. Warner Bros. just will not let them play with Batman for some reason on live action TV (No, Gotham doesn’t count). Which is weird because they’ve established that Batman exists in this universe:

*(If you’re curious I’ve put a longer video with all of the Batman/Bruce Wayne references in the Arrowverse so far at the end if this article)

Also, it seems problematic from a storytelling standpoint to introduce Batwoman as a major new character in this universe (she’s getting her own show next year in case you didn’t know) and not reference Batman AT ALL. I mean, sure it’s not impossible, but it seems like unnecessarily complicated writing. People don’t know the deal with Batwoman like they do with Batgirl, Robin, or Nightwing. She is a fucking awesome character, FYI and anyone who’s curious about her should check out this fantastic graphic novel by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams:

(Here’ the link to buy it on amazon, which I highly recommend)

This has been an annoying line in the sand that WB drew a long time ago. I remember for years fans of that Smallville clamored for a young Bruce Wayne cameo to no avail. Fortunately, they did allow the Arrowverse to have a pretty fucking awesome Superman with Tyler Hoechlin in the role as Clark Kent. To make this crossover 100 time more exciting, SUPERMAN and LOIS LANE are joining the crossover for all 3 episodes! This isn’t a cameo either, they will be major players in the entire story. Hoechlin is an excellent Superman, and almost more importantly, a great Clark Kent. So it’s great to see him back in the role in a big way.

This is really cool for a few reason, first this will be the first time Superman has interacted with any characters in the Arrowverse besides Supergirl characters. Supergirl technically lives on another Earth than all of the other Arrowverse heroes and Superman has only ever appeared on Supergirl. Though on last years crossover, Eobard Thawne AKA Reverse-Flash makes a comment to Supergirl that he fought he cousin in the future and smugly says “He’s fast. But I’m faster.” Could this mean Thawne could pop up as well in the crossover? I know I’d love to see him fight Superman. Anyway, it will be so cool to see the MAN OF STEEL finally fighting along side Green Arrow, Flash, Vibe, and all the other heroes of the Arrowverse. Unfortunately, Legends of Tomorrow will NOT be a part of this crossover. As much as I would have liked to see the crew of The Waverider and especially John Constantine as a part of all this, I understand why they chose to exclude the show this year.

Which brings me the other reason this is a really cool piece of news, coming over to Earth-1 along with her husband is iconic DC character Lois Lane, making her Arrowverse debut! Lois hasn’t been cast yet, but the fact that she’s a big part of the crossover as well is really thrilling to this old comic book fan!

Now, we just need an awesome DC villain (Or Villains?) worthy to go up against these iconic characters…

The 3 Episode Crossover begins with a special Sunday night premiere on 12/9 at 8pm and wraps up Tuesday 12/11 at 8pm! I cant fucking wait!

* (Oh and here’s that video with ALL of the Arrowverse references to Batman)

FALL 2018 COMIC BOOK PREVIEW: Part 1 (DC COMICS)! UPDATED!

Published on August 22, 2018November 23, 2020 by theworldsbestblogwithpaulwrightLeave a comment

Hey Everybody,

Paul here..

There are a lot of great comics hitting the stands this fall so I wanted to highlight some of the best books to look out for in my 2018 Fall Comic Book Preview! This’ll be a 2 or maybe 3-part series, with Part-1 focusing on DC COMICS and Part-2 focusing on MARVEL. Comic Books are an amazing storytelling medium and there are a lot of great jumping on points for new readers in the books featured here. So don’t be afraid to go to your local comic book store or ComiXology on your tablet to give these comics a try. You may be surprised how much you like what you’ll find. Without further ado, here are some of the DC COMICS to keep an eye out for…

BATMAN: DAMNED

Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Lee Bermejo
Release Date: 9/19/18

This 3-issue miniseries is part of DC’S new Black Label, using their most talented writers and artists to tell exciting and edgy stories without necessarily worrying about continuity. You’re going to see DC’s Black Label pop up more than once in this article because some of the most interesting upcoming stories are being published under that label, so stay tuned.

Batman: Damned follows what happens after The Joker is killed and Batman himself may or may not have been the one to finally put an end to The Clown Prince of Crime. What follows is a story about Batman teaming up with John Constantine on a trip through the supernatural side of Gotham City.

This is definitely a book to be very excited about. The prospect of Batman finally just offing The Joker is interesting enough on it’s own, but throwing John Constantine into the mix and a trip into the supernatural corners of the DC Universe makes this even more fun.

The creative team of Azzarello and Bermejo have given us great stories like Lex Luthor: Man of Steel and Joker, which were both fantastic graphic novels. So make sure this at the top of your pull list when it hits shelves.
THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS

Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Jock
Release Date: November

The Batman Who Laughs was arguably the breakout character from the Dark Nights: Metal event miniseries. He was a version of Bruce Wayne from an Earth where he finally killed The Joker. But at the moment of his death, The Joker’s released a gas concocted specifically to turn the person that killed him into the next Joker. Not only did The Joker win by finally getting Bruce to cross his (very, very blurry) moral line of not killing him, but the gas essentially turned Bruce into The Joker.
A Batman retaining all his knowledge, skills, and intelligence, but mixed with The Joker’s lack of empathy, sick psychopathic behavior, and evil was a true nightmare. This essentially made The Batman Who Laughs the apex predator of the Dark Multiverse. As The Batman Who Laughs, he was the most dangerous being on his world and systematically killed everyone and everything on his world in the most twisted way imaginable.

By the end of Dark Nights: Metal, he was still in play and fans have been wondering when he’d rear his rictus grin again. This miniseries sees The Batman Who Laughs teaming up with another dark alternate reality Batman, who’s been described as Bruce’s second worst nightmare of what he could have become. This Batman got a hold of the gun the night his parents were killed and gunned down Joe Chill. He would grown up to become a gun toting, killing machine. Basically, Batman combined with The Punisher.

I feel I should point out that Scott Snyder has probably been my favorite comic book writer for quite awhile now. I haven’t enjoyed some of his newer work as mush as say, his Batman run. However, Snyder re-teaming with Jock on a Batman story will be something to behold. Their work on the modern classic Batman story The Black Mirror is one of the best Batman stories ever told. So, my excitement isn’t quite where it would normally be, but I’m still looking forward to this one. Not much else is known about this miniseries except that it will draw heavily from Snyder’s roots as a horror writer, with Snyder saying this book has some of the most twisted, terrifying stuff he’s ever written. With the characters involved and the creative team, it’s a must read when it comes out in November. I can’t wait to see what nightmares The Batman Who Laughs has in store for the DC Universe.

HEROES IN CRISIS

Writer: Tom King
Artist: Clay Mann
Release Date: 9/26/18

Tom King is fucking killing it lately. He first caught my attention with his incredible Vision miniseries over at Marvel. Now, King had the unenviable task of following Scott Snyder’s legendary Batman run when he took over the book with Batman Rebirth #1. But goddammit, King is giving Snyder a run for his money, where he’s crushing it on Batman right now.

B2D701FC-52DE-48EA-89FE-F41EC377E152 — Interior art from then first issue featuring Harley Quinn and Booster Gold.

This new story HEROES IN CRISIS is a apparently a very personal project for King. Superheroes and the people around them, have to deal with some very fucked up situations. Not dealing with mental health issues like PTSD or the death of a loved one can be unhealthy and dangerous. Much like real life soldiers coming home from war and having to deal with challenges of having seen horrible things and what that does to a person’s psyche. As a former member of the CIA, King knows all about the challenges our soldiers coming home after war have to endure. In the DC Universe, heroes like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman have created a place where heroes and people in their community can get the help they need, in a facility called The Sanctuary.

The story revolves around some unexpected deaths and unexpected killers at The Sanctuary. CRISIS is a loaded word in DC Comics, but this seems more like Identity Crisis than Final Crisis. Little bread crumbs and references to The Sanctuary have popped up in several DC books over the past few months. A good example being the original Wally West being sent to The Sanctuary at the end of Flash War after the emotional roller coaster he goes on in that story. DC released these covers depicting iconic and traumatic moments in DC comics history. Supposedly incidents like this are the reason The Sanctuary was created. The idea is that The Sanctuary has been a part of the DCU for longer than readers have known, dealing with physical and psychological trauma these heroes has endured over the years.

I’m really curious to see what King does with this story and I like the idea of a DC event being more of a psychological thriller than a multiverse ending mega crossover.

JUSTICE LEAGUE/AQUAMAN: DROWNED EARTH

Writer: Scott Snyder/Dan Abnett/ James Tynion IV
Artist: Francis Manapul/Howard Porter/Fraser Erving/Jorge Medina
Release Date: 10/31/18

This story will run through both Justice League and Aquaman, picking up story threads from each book. This 5-Part story involves the origins of Atlantis and introducing a new pantheon of gods into the DC Universe. It sounds like this story will highlight big changes to the mythology of Aquaman. Similar to the huge changes we’ve seen play out with The Flash and Green Lantern in Justice League, with concepts like “The Still Force” and the “Ultraviolet Spectrum” being introduced. Since Scott Snyder came onto the book, Justice League has been excellent, so at least the JL chapters of the story stand to be pretty good.

The last time JL and Aquaman crossed over was in the “Throne of Atlantis” storyline and that was a great read. On the other hand, I don’t like crossovers where I’m required to pick up a series I don’t read (in this case, Aquaman) to follow the entire story. One the other hand I’m hearing some rumbling about some cool and interesting stories in Aquaman’s future, so this may be a good time to jump onto the book. So, this gets a cautiously optimistic thumbs up from me.

THE GREEN LANTERN

Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Liam Sharp
Release Date: 11/7/18

Grant Morrison returning to write a monthly superhero book is something to be celebrated. His Green Lantern book will focus on Hal Jordan and really lean into the idea that the Green Lanterns are “space cops”. The book is supposed to have an almost police procedural feel to it. Hal is a cop working a beat, but his beat is the crazy alien worlds of deep space. Apparently Earth isn’t part of the story at all. This is solely Hal, doing Green Lantern, space cop work in the farthest reaches of the universe. With Grant Morrison writing and Liam Sharp drawing, that sounds fucking spectacular!