Tag: Bucky Barnes

COMIC-CON 2022!!! Marvel Studios! DC! The Sandman! & Much More!

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Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

*EDITOR’S NOTE: A lot of interesting content was revealed at this year’s COMIC-CON, so I’ll be updating this page with new content over the next several days.

Its that time of year and Comic-Con is upon us once again! This the venue where audiences get a sneak peek at some of the most exciting and anticipated projects in the superhero, sci-fi, and fantasy genres. There were quite a few notable announcements, trailers, and first looks, so let’s dive right in!

MARVEL STUDIOS

After The Infinity Saga came to a close, fans have been eager to see where The MCU would go next. The head of Marvel Studios, Kevin Fiege, did not disappoint. As we’re heading towards the end of Phase 4, Marvel debuted the films and Disney+ shows that would make up not only Phase 5, but Phase 6 as well!

As you’ll notice, not all of the films and TV shows that make up Phase 6 have been revealed. Some of these projects could hidden beceause even their title would spoil certain surprises that Marvel has in store. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see some of those spots taken up by sequels for characters like Shang-Chi and Doctor Strange or even an X-Men related project. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a film about the main Marvel Universe version of The Illuminati or even a Doctor Doom solo movie. We’ll have to wait and see. Like The Infinity Saga before it, Phases 4, 5, and 6 will collectively make up…

Culminating in not one, but TWO Avengers films, with monumentally exciting titles…

Exciting stuff, but there’s more MCU where that came from…

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania

The 3rd installment in the Ant-Man franchise marks the beginning of Marvel’s Phase 5. The big news in this movie is Jonathan Majors appearing as Kang The Conqueror. When we met He Who Remains, a much nicer variant of Kang, in Loki Season 1, we were warned that his variant’s are dangerous to put it mildly. When it comes to The Avengers’ the greatest foes, three names top the list: Thanos, Ultron, and Kang. Considering that the next Avengers movie is called Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, you get the idea that Kang is as bad and as dangerous as they come. Jonathan Majors did a fantastic job of playing a variant of Kang in Loki Season One so I’m very excited to see what he does with a much more malevolent version of the character in this film. Below Marvel revealed an exciting poster for the upcoming movie, where you get a good look at not only Ant-Man and The Wasp, but Kang The Conqueror in his traditional comic book attire, along with Scott Lang’s daughter Cassie as her superhero alter ego, Stature.


Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3

While some of the Guardians of The Galaxy panel is available to watch on YouTube, the brief teaser James Gunn cut together for the audience in Hall H , hasn’t made it’s way online yet. However, there were some cool reveals, it was officially confirmed that the film’s villain will be The High Evolutionary. The character will be played by Chukwudi Iwuji. Earlier this year, Iwuji played Clemson Murn in the spectacular “Peacemaker” series. He made a hell of the entrance by taking a page out of Tom Hiddleston’s playbook and showing up for the panel in character and costume.

Chukwudi Iwuji on stage in Hall H as The High Evolutionary.

The High Evolutionary is Doctor Herbert Wyndham, a geneticist who specializes in creating human/animal hybrids. Rocket has been frequently referred to as the central character in Vol.3., so going on some sort of journey of self discovery to find his ”creator” or ”father”, makes a lot of sense. Many fans have speculated that The High Evolutionary would be revealed to be Rocket’s creator. This reveal seems to have confirmed this running fan theory.

Daredevil: Born Again

Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio return as Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk in the first 18 Episode Disney+ series. Notably, Fiege referred to this as the show’s “First Season”, implying that this isn’t a one off, like WandaVision, for example. Born Again refers to one of Daredevil’s most iconic stories, however Season 3 of the Netflix Daredevil series was largely an adaptation of this classic Born Again storyline. Even if the Netflix shows aren’t completely considered canon in The MCU, I doubt Marvel would rehash a story that we’ve, mostly, already seen, canon or not. Especially with Cox and D’Onofrio returning. If i had to guess, I’d say this is probably a Civil War or Age of Ultron situation, adaptations in name only and vastly different from the source material. I think that’s the most likely situation with Daredevil: Born Again. Out of all the projects revealed at COMIC CON this year, this is the one I’m most excited about.

In this video, IGN does a great job of explaining what Daredevil’s future in The MCU looks like. Check it out:

DC ENTERTAINMENT

The Sandman

Neil Gaiman, the celebrated author and creator of The Sandman comic series that the new show’s based on, breaks down the trailer in the video below.

SHAZAM: Fury of The Gods

Black Adam

Thanks for reading! Follow us on Twitter @PJWrightWBM, Instagram @worldsbestmedia2017, and our Facebook Page, Worlds Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews for the podcast, 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! Stay healthy and stay safe!

-Paul

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Captain America’s Legacy in the MCU

Published on by Michael Christopher ColeLeave a comment

This article contains minor spoilers Episode 2 of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier

Last week, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier premiered and we got our first glimpse of, what seemed to be the new government sponsored Cap. So, I went to Google. I wanted to know who he was, and what was the deal with him. Who is this guy? and What

One thing that was clear right away from the context of the episode: this New Captain America is going to be a big issue for Sam and Bucky. But is he supposed to be a good guy or a bad guy? Or something else entirely?

Is John Walker a Villain, a Pawn, or The Real Deal?

Based on what I learned about the character from the comics, there have been multiple attempts recreate Captain America over the years. The secret to the super soldier serum that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America, died with Dr. Erskine. Imperfect versions of the formula had been tested on more people than the public (and probably Steve) ever knew. Something we learn more about later in this episode. Characters like Nuke, who appeared in Season 1 of Jessica Jones, Weapon X aka Wolverine, and even The Hulk were all created in an attempt to make the next Captain America. The new Captain America on The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, John Walker was another fill in for Steven Rogers who went by US Agent. He’s been both a villain and an anti-hero. So, I was kind of under that impression he’s going to be a villain. What surprised me was that I didn’t think he was a particularly likable character. You would think a big bad would more of an attempt to hide his smug arrogance.

His nice guy routipetoo paper this. Sam and Bucky certainly don’t trust him, seeing Walker with that shield is a slap in the face to Bucky and Sam. I was suspicious from the start to be fair the opening scenes of the episode go along way to humanizing the character. To me, the cracks in Walker’s facade are already showing.

If He’s a Good Guy…

On the other hand, the series could be trying to subvert audience expectations. Sam and Bucky, along with the viewers, don’t trust Walker and even find his very existence to be an insult to the legacy of their friend. Walker could surprise us by realizing he’s in over his head and return the shield, and the legacy that comes with it, back to Sam. But don’t hold your breath.

John Walker & The Shadow of Steve Rogers

Steve Rogers is and always will be synonymous with Captain America. In the comics, Bucky and Sam have both taken up Cap’s mantle. Walker never earned the role. It was handed to him by the the government. Steve didn’t serve a country or government, he fought for the dream of what America can be at its best. Which led to some serious conflicts between Steve and the U.S. government in both The MCU and the comics. So it makes a lot of sense that the U.S. would want a Captain America they could completely control. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s something much darker in John Walker’s past that hasn’t been revealed to the audience yet. I’d even go so far as to say that some of his backstory that told to us in Episode 2, had been at least partially fabricated for propaganda purposes.

When Will Sam Reclaim The SHIELD?

The heart of this series is Sam Wilson’s journey to accept Steve’s choice and become the true Captain America. More broadly, it’s about America and it’s complicated history with race. Captain America is the personification of the country, so what better way to explore those themes than to tell a story about a black Captain America? We’re already seeing how race politics are playing out in the show. By choosing John Walker instead of Sam, a statement has been made that the government is unwilling to pick a black Captain America. A, sadly, unsurprising move.

Sam is an Avenger, after coming back from the blip and saving the world only to be treated with the same discrimination that people of color deal with every day. When Sam and Bucky are in Baltimore in Episode 2, when the police arrive and their subsequent treatment of Sam was an all too familiar scene. Had the cops not realized that they were talking to 2 Avengers, that scene could have played in very different and horrifying way.

If and when Sam becomes Captain America within The MCU, he’ll face an uphill battle that Steve or Bucky wouldn’t because of bigots and racists in the public, politics and big business who won’t accept a black Captain America. During his time as Captain America in the comics they would even touch on everyday acts of racism, like negative social media reactions with #NotMyCaptainAmerica trending on social media. That’s one of the reasons Sam makes a very compelling Captain America in the comic book and he’ll make a compelling Cap in The MCU. Questions about race and class were baked in to the story when Sam was Captain America. It’s one of the reasons he’s so interesting in that role, because the writers could touch on real world issues that exist around us every day, in a way they couldn’t when Steve or Bucky were Captain America.

Marvel did a good job of showing that Steve was a product of his time and his war. That same opportunity is there when telling a story about Sam Wilson. With only two episodes so far, this series has touched upon some incredibly deep and fascinating issues and beings only promised to get more interesting as the season progresses.

WBM Spring 2021 Movie & TV Preview (Week 1) PODCAST: THE FALCON & THE WINTER SOLDIER- Series Premiere (SPOILERS)!

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Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

I’m going to keep this relatively brief. This episode of the podcast is all about one my most anticipated new projects of The MCU, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. If you’re a World’s Best Media regular, first let me say Thank You and you’re awesome, (if you’re not a frequent visitor, welcome and thanks for being here!), you may have noticed our SPRING 2021 Movie & TV Preview announcement! The COVID-19 pandemic lead to a lot of rescheduling in Hollywood, which resulted in a lot of films and shows getting their release dates shuffled around. As these projects begin to finally have concrete release dates, a lot of really cool stuff ended up with premieres between March and the beginning of May. We have some really really exciting pieces of content coming our way very soon. We’re going to have continuing coverage on all of it, so stay tuned! Kicking things off with Week 1, DC and Marvel are slugging it out for supremacy, with the release of Zack Snyder‘s Justice League and Marvel’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. We have a great breakdown and review of Zack Snyder‘s Justice League on the next installment of the podcast, coming very soon!

On this episode of The World’s Best Podcast, we dive right into a FULL SPOILER review of the series premiere of The Falcon & The Winter Soldier! This was a fun episode to record so I hope you all enjoy it! Thanks for listening and enjoy! Listen here or subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, and more!

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-worlds-best-podcast/id1246038441#episodeGuid=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.spreaker.com%2Fepisode%2F4397346

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/11mA9kClyevVZjWYMQB1Io?si=7TfnqkBiShqTQpZhh2UDsA

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=185563

Thanks for listening! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM, our Facebook page; World’s Best Media, and Instagram @worldsbestmedia2017. 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! Stay healthy and stay safe!

-Paul

PODCAST: AVENGERS:ENDGAME Review (SPOILERS)!

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Hey Everyone,

Paul here…

Holy Fuck! Avengers: Endgame is finally here! I wanna say right up front that there will be absolutely NO SPOILERS in this article. However, we go into FULL SPOILERS in our deep dive review of Avengers: Endgame on this episode of The World’s Best Podcast! My Marvel Movie companion, Paul Sr. and I had a chance to see the movie a few days early, but we wanted to wait until at least some of our listeners had a chance to see the film, before we posted this SPOILER-RIFFIC review.

 It so rare for movies to live up to the hype, but Endgame manages to surpass expectations. One of the many things fans love about comics, especially from DC and MARVEL, is the interconnected universes. You could be reading a Spider-Man comic and the X-Men or Iron Man or Daredevil would pop up. That was the ingredient that had been missing from superhero movies when the “Superhero Boom” began with movies like Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and Singer’s X-Men. 

It seems so obvious, but it was still brilliant. I remember seeing Iron Man for the first time and being blown away that SHIELD was in the movie. It seems so small now, in retrospect, but that little addition made it feel like the Marvel Universe (It was also the first appearance of fan favorite character, Agent Phil Coulson). Then of course there’s the immortal post credits scene from the first Iron Man film, when Tony meets Nick Fury which I’ve posted here below:

The beginning…

Building off the incredible success of Iron Man and then creating 22 films that make this beautiful tapestry of a story, is mind blowing. The fact that out of the 22 films released so far, there have been so few missteps is astonishing. Even their weakest movies, and there’s only 3 or 4 like Thor: The Dark World, are pretty good or not bad at their worst. Everything else is more less gold.

The Russo Brothers, who’ve directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and now Avengers: Endgame, absolutely stuck the landing with this movie, it’s a must see. The films directed by The Russo Brothers, Joe and Anthony, aired the 4 best films in The MCU. Who would’ve thought that guys who worked on TV shows like Community would go on to tell some of the most epic stories of our generation? For the record, I loved Community.

The Infinity Stones…

I think the real hero in all of this is Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel Studios. He was not only a massive fan of the source material, but he’d seen what mistakes other Marvel superhero films had made in the past and learned from them. So when it was time for Marvel Studios to start producing their own films, he knew what he was doing and he got the right people involved to work with them. Another huge kudos goes out to Casting Director Sarah Finn, who’s worked on almost all of the films, if not all of them. With maybe one or two exceptions out of literally hundreds, each character was a flawlessly cast. We owe a lot to her work as the reason these films came out so well.

All right then, enough chitchat. You can check out our podcast on Avengers:Endgame right here or you can subscribe on Spotify, Stitcher or iTunes: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/17766535

iTunes:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-worlds-best-podcast/id1246038441#episodeGuid=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.spreaker.com%2Fepisode%2F17766535

Stitcher:

https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=60315762&autoplay=1

Thanks for listening!

-Paul


Avengers: Endgame, Disney +, and The Future of The MCU!

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Hey Everyone,

Paul here,

I know what you’re thinking, “Didn’t the first trailer drop for the final film in a franchise Paul is obsessed with to an unhealthy degree? Why isn’t he on that like flies on shit!?” A very fair question. I’ll just say we have quite a bit on that in the very near future, so stay tuned…

Anyway, with just a few agonizing weeks until Avengers: Endgame hits theatres, it feels like the movie cant get here fast enough. In the meantime, I have some cool stuff to share to make the wait a little easier.

This fantastic poster was done exclusively for MARVEL by BossLogic

First off, Entertainment Weekly and their website EW.com always give fantastic coverage to genre entertainment. From Game of Thrones to Star Wars they always have some great content. The MCU is no exception, for their cover story this week they put out 6 exclusive covers featuring each of the founding Avengers. Check them out:

Another magazine, Empire, probably the best movie magazine in the world had this awesome cover of Thanos in full armor for this month’s issue:

Pretty cool right? We also had some light shed on some intriguing upcoming MCU projects. Marvel and Kevin Feige made some big announcements this week that made me VERY excited. Pretty much since I began reading comics, Hawkeye was always my favorite Avenger. In the Avengers comics, he’s a much more beloved character. To many comic book readers, Clint Barton is THE quintessential Avenger. Even more so than Cap or Iron Man.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Jeremy Renner is a great Hawkeye (Though I do think Jensen Ackles who passed on the role to continue playing Dean Winchester on Supernatural would be closer to the comic book interpretation). However, I do feel like audiences haven’t fallen in love with Hawkeye as much as other characters in the MCU. I don’t think this is Renner’s fault at all, I think he’s great with what he’s given. Any failures when it comes to Hawkeye lie with the writers and how they’ve chosen to use him in the stories.

I think Hawkeye really got his time to shine in Avengers: Age of Ultron. I know that’s one of the more divisive MCU films, but I love it. Hawkeye has some fantastic moments throughout the film, I’d even go so far as to say Hawkeye is the central Avenger in the movie. He even has a cool costume upgrade with a coat that harkened back to his classic comic book look.


A number of things stand out to show the audience his importance in the film: He has few great action sequences, I think they stepped up the archery tricks and showed off Hawkeye’s agility and acrobatic skills. More importantly, I loved the surprising look into his private life on his family’s farm, it’s the type of scene I adore in MCU movies. The Avengers. In one place. Together. Their chemistry is so real. I don’t care of it’s played for laughs or heavier dramatic scenes. I love seeing The Avengers put into situations where the chemistry between the characters shines and The Farm scenes facilitate that. It’s sort of implied that he’s the rock on the team. He’s the guy who’s going to always show up and get the job done. Like Clint’s wife says “I see these guys, these… gods…” Clint replies “You don’t think they need me.” His wife says finally “I think they do, which is a lot scarier.”. The last thing I want to mention is one of my favorite scenes in the movie. At the beginning of The Ultron Offensive on Socaovia there this awesome scene/speech with Hawkeye and Wanda which you can watch here:

All of this has been a long winded way of saying that despite what some people think, Hawkeye is a great character. I always thought the ideal way to tell a fantastic Hawkeye story would be a TV series, like what they were doing on Netflix. Even though we’ve lost great characters like Daredevil to the Netflix purge, the good news is Jeremy Renner will be starring as Hawkeye in his own miniseries on Disney Plus. The more I hear about Disney Plus, the better it sounds. After all Disney does have all the good toys to play with. The Hawkeye series will be one of the first Marvel miniseries to launch with the new streaming service. The story will focus on Clint and his protege Kate Bishop. In the trailer for Endgame we see Hawkeye teaching a teenage girl archery. Is this his daughter? In the comics Kate Bishop isn’t related to Hawkeye. Will they change the character for this series and make Kate Bishop his daughter or will they introduce here as a completely new character? Time will tell.

This sounds like the series will be taking it’s cues from the fantastic Hawkeye comic book series written by Matt Fraction and artist David Aja. The entire series is avaiable in trade paperback with a hardcover omnibus containing the entire run. This is one of the best Marvel comic of the last decade, so I’ll be thrilled if the miniseries even partially adapts this comic book run. Which is pretty much what Marvel usually does anyway. Like Civil War and Planet Hulk, Marvel never directly adapts these stories, they take what they need from the story that will work within the context of the MCU. The first volume of this Hawkeye series is “My Life As A Weapon” and I strongly recommend giving it a read. You can pick up the book here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Hawkeye-Vol-Life-Weapon-Marvel/dp/0785165622/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3TSGCJUV1IWW4&keywords=hawkeye+my+life+as+a+weapon&qid=1555198699&s=gateway&sprefix=Hawkeye+my%2Caps%2C146&sr=8-1

Other miniseries announced for Disney Plus include Loki, a prequel taking place before his death at the hands of Thanos, this series will chronicle the trouble marking shenanigans and adventures of The God of Mischief over the several thousand years he’s been alive in the MCU. We also have a Vision & Scarlet Witch miniseries called WandaVision, which we know the least about right now.

Finally, we have The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, the team up series about Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes. This is speculation on my part, but one way or another I strongly believe Steve Rogers is not going to make it out of Endgame. I think he’ll probably die or at the very least, be taken off the board in some way. Considering that Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson have both carried the mantel of Captain America in the comic books in the past, I wouldn’t be surprised if this miniseries revolves around some kind of Who Wields The Shield concept. Who will be the next Captain America? Factoring in the two of them don’t like each other all that much, just makes it that much more interesting. It isn’t the best resolution, but we do have our first look a the logo for the miniseries, which I have posted below.

This is and Hawkeye are the Disney + shows I’m most looking forward too.

Along with The other MCU series I mentioned an animated What if? series is in the works. Like What if Peggy Carter beacame Captain America? or What of Loki was able to use Mjonir?

Disney + will be launching on November 12th for $6.99 per month or $69.99 for the year. In addition to the original content, 500 movies from the Disney library will be available along with 7,000 episodes of Disney TV shows. To put a cherry on top, The Mandelorian will premier on November 12th, available to watch the whole season as soon as the service launches. Disney + will also be the exclusive home to ALL EPISODES of The Simpsons, which is a big move from its current home on one of the FX apps. Fucking crazy, right? Below is photo of the homepage interface that will be broken up into 5 major categories: Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic.

Bottom line is that a SPECTACULAR as everything we’ve seen from The MCU so far, I think thes type of annoucements as well as Kevin Fiege confirming that though it’s great to have the X-Men back home, it would be a mistake to rush them onto the MCU. Fiege explained that a 5 years plan is in place for the films AFTER Endgame. Let the good times rolll! EXCELSIOR!

As always, thanks for reading!

-Paul