Join us, as we take a thrilling dive into Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness on this episode of The World’s Best Podcast! Beware of FULL SPOILERS as we discuss the latest film in The MCU! We also cover the Season (or Series?) Finale of the Disney+ series, Moon Knight! Don’t miss this epic entry in our excellent podcast!
Thanks for listening! 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!
Disney recently celebrated it’s first Disney+ Day. This was a chance for the streaming service to show its existing and potential new subscribers, the best currently available content on the platform. Perhaps importantly, this was an opportunity to showcase the thrilling new projects expected to debut over the next year. Unsurprisingly, a particular emphasis was put upon their plans for The Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars. Including first looks at the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series, new MCU shows like Moon Knight and She-Hulk, as well as some cool surprises, like the revival of the beloved 90’s show, X-Men: The Animated Series. Below we have some teasers, behind the scenes video, concept art, and more, to help you get the lowdown on the most interesting stuff coming to streaming service over the next year. A huge amount of material was released and revealed during Disney+ Day, so I decided to pick a few of my favorites and give you everything you need to know about these new shows/projects. Take a look, enjoy…
The Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase 4 Continues…
Moon Knight
When Moon Knight was first announced, I remember it was described by one of the producers, as “Indiana Jones meets Batman“. Well, that is one hell of a high bar to set, but from what I know about the character, I think I know what he was getting at. “Indiana Jones meets Batman“ is an appropriate way to describe the tone of some Moon Knight stories. Moon Knight is the story of Marc Spector, a mercenary and adventurer who becomes a brutal vigilante as the avatar of the Egyptian moon god, Khonshu. His adventures often involve various ancient and mystical forces. The Marvel presentation for Disney+ Day presentation only gave us the briefest of glimpses at how Moon Knight is being approached by Marvel’s show-runners. Its not a full trailer, but the video is long enough to be get some sense of where they’re going with the show and this fascinating character.
Official Synopsis:
Moon Knight is a new globetrotting action-adventure series featuring a complex vigilante who suffers from dissociative identity disorder. The multiple identities who live inside him find themselves thrust into a deadly war of the gods against the backdrop of modern and ancient Egypt. Moon Knight is directed by Mohamed Diab and is coming to Disney+ in 2022.
Speaking of ancient, mystical forces Ethan Hawke is playing the shows antagonist, which is extremely exciting. Hawke is still in the middle of filming Moon Knight, so during a recent interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers, he still looked like his mysterious character from Moon Knight. Myers, who’s a big lover, supporter, and advocate of Comic Books and Graphic Novels, casually mentioned that Ethan Hawke was sporting “a real David Koresh vibe.” David Koresh was the cult leader at the center of the infamous Waco siege in 1993. Hawke was astonished and shocked because, as he told Myers, he did, actually, base his character on Koresh. Hawke went on to say, with great admiration for Myer’s correct guess, “I guess it’s working. You’re good, Seth. Or maybe I’m not out of character yet…I will say that he is the source of great character inspiration.”. Many have speculated that Hawke is playing Dracula in the series, which would be fucking awesome.
She-Hulk
She-Hulk, a new comedy series coming to Disney+, stars Tatiana Maslany as She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters, a lawyer who specializes in superhuman-oriented legal cases. She-Hulk will welcome a host of Marvel characters to the series, including the Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo, and the Abomination, played by Tim Roth. The series is directed by Kat Coiro and Anu Valia; Jessica Gao is head writer.
One of the things I was most curious about with this series, was how they would handle the look of the character. She-Hulk isn’t an inhumanly large powerhouse like her cousin Bruce Banner, but she’s not exactly a petite young woman either. She’s usually portrayed as being almost like an Amazon. Slightly larger and more muscular than a normal human. Even though she inherited her cousin‘s green skin with her transformation, what she lacks in raw physical power like the classic Hulk, she makes up for by having complete control over her mental faculties at all times. Meaning there is no split between Jennifer Walters and She-Hulk. We don’t see a lot of Jennifer Walters in her She-Hulk form, but I thought what little we saw looked great. Tatiana Maslany is a spectacular actress whose going to absolutely crush it in the role. Plus, it’ll be cool to have another Hulk running around The MCU, and any opportunity for an appearance of Prof. Hulk is a win! Check out the quick teaser here:
Marvel Animation Drops A Bomb!
X-Men: The Animated Series ‘97
Now this was a pleasant surprise! With the exception of Batman: The Animated Series, there is no superhero animated show of that era, more beloved, than X-Men: The Animated Series. The show’s ability to tackle mature content, not typically seen in “children’s programming“ at the time, as well as the extremely faithful adaptations of classic X-Men stories, made the show a hit, fan favorite.
Courtesy of Marvel.com, the producers of the new series have said that it will have the “DNA of the original show,” and follow a roster of X-Men similar to the original 90’s series. A major “impactful event” will be the jumping of point for this new series, setting the story in motion, and acting as a call to action for the X-Men. Many of the series original cast members will be returning for the new series, including Cal Dodd (Logan/Wolverine), Lenore Zann (Rogue), George Buza (Beast), Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm), Chris Potter (Gambit), Catherine Disher (Jean Grey/Phoenix), Adrian Hough (Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler), and Christopher Britton (Nathaniel Essex/Mr. Sinister). Unfortunately, some members of the voice cast have since passed a way. It also seems as if the show intends to grow along with it’s original audience, at least to some degree. Most diehard fans of the series are adults now and it sounds like this new iteration is evolving along with it audience. According to the show’s producers at Marvel; “As an animated show, the original X-Men was the forerunner to some amazing action series. Everyone that is making X-Men ’97, top-down, is a fan. On this project, instinctually, we knew exactly what this is. To bring this series forward and pick up that baton, and not just keep running at the same pace, but to really elevate. That’s the responsibility.”Unfortunately we have quite a wait until the show premieres in 2023. Despite the wait, I am really interested and intrigued by this new project.
Star Wars (Or Lack Thereof …
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Official Synopsis:
“The story begins 10 years after the dramatic events of ‘Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith’ where Kenobi faced his greatest defeat: the downfall and corruption of his best friend and Jedi apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, turned evil Sith Lord Darth Vader.”
After huge presentations from both Marvel and Pixar, many found it extremely odd that this teaser trailer for Obi-Wan was literally the only new Star Wars project showcased or discussed for this event. Nothing was announced about The Book of Boba Fett, or The Mandalorian Season 3. Let’s hope there aren’t any behind the scenes problems at Lucasfilm. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before we start to hear gossip one way or another.
Anyway, people has been clamoring for on Obi-Wan Kenobi film for years. Despite the reputation of the prequel‘s, they’ve aged surprisingly well. An entire generation grew up with the prequel trilogy as “their Star Wars”. With Ewan McGregor being particularly beloved in his portrayal of the Jedi Master also known as Ben Kenobi. With the Obi-Wan Kenobi series debuting in 2022, I would argue that a mini series on Disney+ is a much better option as a fan, than one movie. Considering how fantastic the Star Wars shows on Disney+ have been, I think we can expect to get what is a miniseries that’s essentially an 8 to 10 episode Obi-Wan Kenobi movie. One of the most exciting piece of information confirmed during this presentation is the return of Hayden Christiansen as Anakin Skywalker. I love the idea of another confrontation between Vader and his old master, taking place sometime between their duel in Revenge of The Sith and when they meet again in A New Hope.
It’s sort of tracks that there would’ve been another confrontation or fight between the two of them, before their final reckoning in A New Hope. Because, when you think about it, Vader is pretty calm when he runs into Obi-Wan on The Death Star in Episode IV. I would think that if someone cut off my arms and legs, left me to burn alive, forcing me to live in agony inside a cybernetic suit that keeps me from dying, I’d be fucking PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISED! It will be interesting to see if and how they rehash the past upon their meeting. Will Vader blame Obi-Wan for Padme’? Will Ashoka be discussed? As much as I love the idea of Hayden Christiansen returning to play Anakin Skywalker again, I wonder exactly how they’re going to use him. For example, when he becomes Vader in Revenge of the Sith, that’s Hayden Christiansen in the Vader costume, but it’s still James Earl Jones‘s voice. I would think if they’re going to go to the trouble of using Hayden Christiansen, they would want the audiences to at least see him. I think flashbacks are probably very likely, we may even see some thing like his helmet get partially damaged, just enough damage to keep him going, but also just enough to see Hayden Christensen’s face inside. Allowing him to show us his portrayal of Anakin whose utterly and completely given himself to The Dark Side. I’ve always wondered what it would’ve looked like if Anakin wasn’t mutilated in his fight on Mustafar. Even if Anakin didn’t necessarily beat mObi-Wan in the fight, what would’ve happened if he had gotten away more or less in one piece? Without his horrific injuries, the robotic suit, and a near constant state of agony, what would Anakin have become? Based on his track record and what we know about The Force. Anakin most likely would’ve killed The Emperor after a relatively short amounts time and seized control of The Empire himself. I can say with confidence that he probably would’ve ended up as the most powerful and horrifically dangerous threat, the galaxy had seen in thousands of years.
The show boasts and impressive cast of new and returning characters like Luke’s aunt and uncle, Owen and Beru Lars. You can take a look at the full cast below.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is by far one of my most anticipated projects of 2022!
As of Disney+ Day, Disney upgraded multiple MCU films to IMAX level quality. You’ll notice a bit of a crisper, cleaner, more realistic look. All of the upgraded titles are listed below:
Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings
Iron Man
Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Captain America: Civil War
Doctor Strange
Thor: Ragnarok
Black Panther
Avengers: Infinity War
Ant-Man and The Wasp
Captain Marvel
Avengers: Endgame
Black Widow
Thanks for reading! Follow us on Twitter @PJWrightWBM, on 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!
The SUMMER ain’t over yet! These are my picks for the movie, TV, streaming, and comic book content to check out in August 2021.
TV
UFO – Documentary Series (Sunday 8/8) Showtime
UFO’s have been in the news now more than ever. As a long time UFO researcher, it’s very satisfying to see this topic finally being taken seriously. This is a 4-part documentary series from JJ Abrams premiering on Showtime. Abrams may have fallen out of grace as a filmmaker, for me at least, but the subject matter makes this a must watch.
Stargirl Season 2 (Tuesday 8/10) The CW
This was a very pleasant surprise when the first season premiered last year. A great cast, cool villains, and fantastic use of classic characters and lore from throughout DC‘s history. This is a great superhero show that the whole family can enjoy. From what I’ve seen, they seem to have really kicked it up a notch in Season 2.
Marvel Studio’s WHAT IF…? (8/11) Disney+
After the events of LOKI, this promises to be very cool.
Titans Season 3 (8/12) HBO
An underrated superhero show that I highly recommend checking out. The first two seasons are available on HBO Max right now.
The Walking Dead: The Final Season (8/22) AMC
I gave up on The Walking Dead a few seasons back, but I just might tune in to see how everything wraps up.
Blu-Ray/4K
Batman: The Long Halloween Part II (8/10)
This has been one of the stronger stories put out by DC Animation over the last few years. Part 1 was great and reviews for Part 2 are even better. I’ve heard that the best way to watch this, is to watch Part 1 & 2, back-to-back. As one movie, like the filmmakers created it to be. I’m sure that, just like their adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns, DC animation will release a Deluxe Edition that is the entire Long Halloween story as one film.
Movies
The Suicide Squad (8/6)
This is a James Gunn movie. Enough said
Free Guy (8/13)
I had zero interest in seeing this film, however I’ve heard nothing but great things about it. The early word is that it’s phenomenal, which is kind of shocking. Friend of the podcast Mark Fitzgerald, who I interviewed, a few months back worked on this movie. So I’m definitely going at the very least auto for loyalty my friend Mark.
The Green Knight (8/18)
This unique and captivating retelling of a classic Arthurian fable has been receiving rave reviews since its release. The film is very far from your typical fantasy movies like Lord of The Rings, as a result some have found it difficult to find a local theater playing the movie on the big screen. So the company that produced the film is giving moviegoers as chances to watch this excellent new story online. Here are the details on how to watch courtesy of Screen Rant: The A24 Screening Room will be playing The Green Knight for one night only in an online format. It will be available on Wednesday, August 18 at 9PM EST and tickets are available now on the A24 Screening Room site at the price of $20 per ticket. The film is accessible through the web, Apple TV, and Roku. After creating an account and buying a ticket, customers will be able to have access to the movie at the aforementioned date and time. Audiences will have 4 hours to watch the film and any other content provided.
New Movies On Streaming
Godzilla VS Kong (Available on HBO Max on 8/17)
A sometimes dumb, but nonetheless fun watch.
Comic Books/Graphic Novels
The Trial of Magneto (8/18)
Someone murdered Wanda Maximoff, The Scarlet Witch, and Magneto is the prime suspect. But what if Magneto is innocent? Did he really kill his own daughter or is there something far more sinister at play? The 5-Issue miniseries is the latest chapter in Jonathan Hickman’s ongoing X-Men Saga that continues to rock the Marvel Universe to it’s core.
Kang The Conqueror #1
SPOILERS FOR LOKI!!!! Fans of the recently wrapped first season of Loki, had a lot of questions following the standout finale episode. The character at the center of many of those questions, was the man pulling strings of The TVA: He Who Remains. He Who Remains, is of course better known to comic book readers as Kang The Conqueror. Kang, He Who Remains, or whoever you want to call him, has gone by many names while becoming the self proclaimed Master of Time. No matter the incarnation we see him in next, this character is going to be massively important moving forward into Phase 4 of The MCU. This 5-issue miniseries is a great place to start for anyone wanting a better understanding Kang and how this fascinating villain will shape the past, present, and future of The MCU.
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, 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!
This week on The World’s Best Podcast, guest co-host Mike Cole and I dive right into the Season Finale of WandaVision! How’d the story wrap up? What did we think of the series in general? & What does this mean for the future of the characters and The MCU, after one of Marvel’s most wildly unique and compelling stories yet?
Listen here: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/43761901 Or subscribe/listen on Spotify, Stitcher, Spreaker, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Podchaser, Castbox, Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, & Apple Podcasts/ITunes…
One of the best moments in the finale, is during the fight between the 2 Visions. What begins as a pretty cool physical confrontation, is ultimately resolved when “our” Vision proposes a thought experimental his double (specifically, The Ship of Theseus). This reveals to Vision’s white, doppelgänger, the flawed and conflicting nature of his programming. I loved this scene because it’s a clever way to subvert the superhero story troupe of “The Final Battle”, which was in keeping with the unique nature of the series. I didn’t know at the time, but this was taken straight out of one of a recent Avengers comics! Take a look…
Cool, right?
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. We’re on 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!
Things are getting CRAZY in the town of Westview, folks! On this episode of The World’s Best Podcast , we breakdown Episodes 5 & 6 of the excellent, new Disney+ series, (FULL SPOILERS) Over the last 2 episodes, WandaVision has has broken records to become the #1 show in the world!
WandaVision: The #1 Show In The World
I’m not that surprised by the ultra-positive response to the series. Among the reasons for the show’s popularity, is how unique and beautifully unconventional the series. There’s never been a major, mainstream comic book, superhero movie or TV series like this. Which is why it’s attracting so many new viewer who’d normally avoid the genre. It doesn’t look like it’s filled with the big CGI battles that turn some people off. Now audiences who normally avoid superhero-fare like this, are tuning into WandaVision for it’s charm, mystery, nostalgia, and the fact that it could be the most widely unique superhero project of the decade. The MCU seems to have another home run on his hands, now I can’t wait to see what they do with The Falcon and The Winter Soldier which premieres a week after WandaVision wraps up.
Ôjopp
Listen here: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/43472059 Or subscribe/listen on Spotify, Stitcher, Spreaker, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Podchaser, Castbox, Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, & Apple Podcasts/ITunes…
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. We’re on 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!
X-Men: The Animated Series Now Streaming on Disney+! Watch the trailer below!
As a child of the 90s, there were really only three superhero cartoons that defined the era for most kids. The best, was of course, the absolute classic Batman: The Animated Series, Spider-Man, and X-Men: The Animated Series. Batman: The Animated Series aired on Kid’s WB, while Spider-Man, and X-Men: The Animated Series were both on Fox Kids or Fox (Though there may have been some overlap at some point). I was a Batman and Spider-Man kid all the way, I loved both of the shows. Those shows were the reason I started reading comic books. When I went to my local comic book store, while I was in middle school, I asked the owner to set me up with the Spider-Man and Batman comic books.
While Spider-Man has its charms, it doesn’t hold a candle to Batman: The Animated Series, which still holds up as one of the best television shows of all time. It may surprise you to hear that, despite my love for superhero comics and my love of the X-Men in general, for some reason I never got into X-Men: The Animated Series. It was a big deal for all the kids I went to school with, but something about just turned me off and I never got into it. As time went on and I started to get into actual comic books and I became a huge X-Men comic book fan I would check out random episodes here and there, but I hadn’t seen very much of the show. At that point X-Men: Evolution had begun to coincide with the X-Men live action films that were being released. However, to many people who grew up in that era, X-Men: The Animated Series is the definitive take on the characters. I knew a lot of people who based their expectations of the X-Men films on what was done on the animated series. Like I said, I haven’t seen more than a few episodes, but from what I understand they took on classic stories like The Dark Phoenix Saga, Days of Future Past, and Age of Apocalypse.
The one problem I will really always have with an X-Men cartoon that’s aimed at kids, is that I think the subject matter just doesn’t translate well to a heavily censored audience. One of the biggest issues I‘ll always have is the fact that everyone’s favorite character from that series is Wolverine. I’ve viewed Wolverine as a perfect example of main stream popular culture’s fundamental misunderstanding of comic book superheroes. Let me see right away, this is something that has hugely improved over the last few years. I think that as a culture, we have become more understanding that superhero stories run the gamut from something that’s appropriate for young children to stories that are only appropriate for adults. The example I love give is, when Batman Returns came out, McDonald’s had toys for that film in their happy meals as part of a promotional deal. Yet that is one of the most fucked up, dark, superhero movies that exists. The Penguin bites a guy’s nose off at one point. Which brings me back to X-Men: The Animated Series and the man called Logan. When Wolverine, one of the main protagonists of an animated show aimed at children, whose defining ability are the razor sharp adamantium claws that shoot out from his hands, there’s a disconnect between content and audience. I mean, there’s only so many times someone can throw a chair at him and he cuts it in half with his claws, with the pieces knocking the assailant out. Or Wolverine cuts a door or weapon. Come on, those things were created for one thing and one thing only and that is to take chunks out of people and stab them until they’re dead. But obviously you can’t do that on a kids show. I always felt like there was extra silliness to the character because it was so obvious that he was being toned down just by the very nature of his powers. His powers revolve around his excellence at murdering people, it’s just right there. Anyway that’s my nitpick.
The point is that, up untill now, X-Men: The Complete Animated Series was never available easily on any streaming service or even some of the major digital purchasers. And there’s never been a DVD or Blu-ray release for The Complete Animated Series or even season by season. Well, that has all changed with Disney+, for the first time X-Men: The Animated Series is available in it’s entirety on Disney+. I think they know that they have an asset with this series, not only will all the original fans go out of their way to watch and enjoy the show, but many of those original fans will share the series with their own children. So Disney+ has putout a special trailer to commemorate the X-Men: The Complete Animated Series becoming fully available on their streaming service. It’s actually pretty cool. Check it out here:
Unfortunately they missed the opportunity to include the iconic X-Men opening theme song. If they put out this trailer, with the X-Men theme song playing at some point in the background, people would be running to their tablets and computers to sign up for Disney+. Even though it isn’t in this pretty cool trailer, the theme song is so goddamn catchy I wanted to make sure I included here for your viewing and listening pleasure…
It’s always worth noting that Disney+ may be promoting the show to gauge audience interest in producing a new season. That’s just conjecture, but it’s worth asking the question. Disney+ actually has a fantastic back catalogue of TV shows, especially when it comes to great cartoons from the 90s and early 2000s. You can find Spiderman: The Complete Animated Series, the aforementioned X-Men: Evolution, and a lot more to discover and explore. My personal favorite is the classic 90s Disney Afternoon series, Gargoyles, which is available in its entirety streaming on Disney+. This show is ridiculously fucking good. It is amazing the shit they got away with for a late 90s cartoon on Disney Afternoon. It is extremely dark, there are on screen murders, they even swear a few times, which is crazy for any animated series that is directed at children. The show is so fucking cool, deep, with characters that are compelling and fascinating, along with a rich and complex mythology that sucks you in. I will definitely write a much longer article about why you need to go out of your way to watch Gargoyles, because it’s fucking awesome. In fact, rumor has it for a while now that Jordan Peele actually wants to make a live action Gargoyles movie, which would be fucking amazing. I really hope that one comes through. Anyway I thought you guys might be interested in these trailers and the info about what is available over on Disney+. Enjoy your binge watching and bring your kids if you have them, I guess. Or screw your kids, go enjoy yourself, pawn your kid off on your spouse or just let them walk around in the yard or some thing. Lock yourself in a room for a few hours and kick back to a time when you were the kid instead of worrying about your goddamn kid. That’s pretty good advice right? All you need is a leash attached to one of those runners that goes across the yard, so kid can just run back and forth and tire itself out. Set out a bowl of water, watch your cartoons, and you’re good to go.
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. We’re on 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!
THE QUIET COUNCIL: The governing body of the mutant, island nation of Krakoa
We have some exciting news from the world of comic books today. Last summer, writer Jonathan Hickman rocked the comic book world with the debut of his dual X-Men miniseries House of X and Powers of X. The two intertwined books were designed to be a prologue for all of the current X-Men comic book series. The miniseries established a dramatic new status quo for the X-Men and the mutants of planet earth. Under the leadership of Charles Xavier, Magneto and Moira McTaggert, an nation of for all of Earth’s mutants is formed on the living island, Krakoa. Mutantkind has never been more united. A general amnesty is give to all citizens of Krakoa. So the X-Men now live alongside many longtime enemiIn fact it was probably my favorite comic book series published last year.es. Even Apocalypse is on board and so far, for the most part, looopeveryone has been playing nice. Despite how complicated it may sound, House of X and Powers of X were both pretty easy for new readers to follow. Personally, I hadn’t read a new X-Men book in years and I was able to follow the story quite. In fact, it was probably my favorite comic book series published last year.
This summer Marvel Comics will be launching their first X-Men crossover under this new status quo. Jonathan Hickman called X of Swords, debuting this July. While details on the plot of the crossover event are scarce, we do know that it will be a 15-part story, spread across all of the X-Men books. From X-Men to X-Force, from Wolverine to Children of The Atom, each of the X-Books will be involved. The entire event will be overseen by Jonathan Hickman who will also be writing the “key” chapters of the miniseries, the rest of the installments in the crossover will be written by the other X-Book writers. Below is the very cool piece of promo art by artist Mark Brooks that Marvel used to announce the crossover. We will have more news on X of Swords as it becomes available!
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I really love how we’ve been seeing trailers for big comic books lately. It’s mostly been from DC Comics, but now it’s nice to see that Marvel got in on the game. Jonathan Hickman is absolutely crushing it right now with his dual miniseries House of X and Powers of X, both will be leading into this new era for Marvel’s Mutants, Dawn of X and new books like Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men #1. House of X and Powers of X are unlike anything I’ve seen in the superhero genre in years. They are changing the game. The future looks bright for the X-Men, so all of these books are going to be must reads. Check it out:
Follow us 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!
2000’s X-Men, directed by Bryan Singer was the first REAL comic book superhero of the modern age. Some people say Blade should get some credit in that department, but most people at the time (myself included) didn’t even realize it’s was based on a comic book. However, X-Men had all of the trappings and troupes of a classic comic book: the team of heroes, colorful costumes, SUPER-VILLAINS!, and of course very, very cool super powers. What story from the team’s 40 year history would the filmmakers choose to tell?
Sure, we’d seen Superman and Batman on the big screen, but they’re fairly simple compared to something like X-Men. Superman and Batman are seemingly much easier and less complicated to adapt to the big screen. (You guys can debate amongst yourselves if you that’s actually true or not).
Wolverine alone has one of the most complicated and intricate back stories in Marvel Comics history and that doesn’t even take into account telling the story of the rest of the X-Men. Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, and Rogue would all needs their place to shine in this tale. Then there’s perhaps the most interesting characters relationship in the film: Xavier and Magneto!
Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and the films portrayal of Charles Xavier and Magneto’s frenemy relationship were the highlights of the first X-Men film. Logan, Charles, and Eric were the center of almost all the other future X-Men films in one way or another.
Anyway, back to July 2000, they pulled it off in the end! The first X-Men was a bona fide hit and proved that comic book superheroes that weren’t household names, with their silly costumes and childish powers could translate into big bucks at the box office. However, It wasn’t until Sam Raimi’s 2002 Spider-Man debuted to the bigggest opening weekend ever at the time. Hollywood realized there was golden them there hills and every movie studio with the rights to a comic book superhero property had a movie in development and the superher movie boom again.
It wasn’t perfected until 2008 which saw the release of Iron Man starting off Marvel Cinematic Universe and The Dark Knight; a neo-crime epic classic. Since the first X-Men film hit theaters, there has been more than a dozen movies taking place within the X-Universe, some have been good, some have been terrible.
Now the X-Men are moving on to greener pastures. To the Elysium, that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s a shame the final film in Fox’s X-Men franchise will be Dark Phoenix because it’s such a poor way to end the series. If the studio had any sense they would’ve ended it with Logan, a true masterpiece and a perfect ending to the X-Men story. Unfortunately that’s how you roll the dice with an X-Men movie. You never know if the creative people trying to tell a great X-Men story, will occasionally have their film ruined by the movie studio trying to fuck it up. So even though there have been masterpieces and pieces of shit in the Men films, we should still be great-full that this series blazed a trail for superhero movies over the last 20 years!
So on this week’s episode of The World’s Best Podcast we watched the final X-Men film of the FOX era and… it sure is… a movie! We review DARK PHOENIX, so you don’t have to! This weeks podcast may be all about shitting on the new and final X-Men movie for quite some time, but we still love the X-Men! We also discuss our thoughts on Robert Pattinson’s casting as the new Batman! Listen here or subscribe on Stitcher, iTunes, and more: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/18229983
I wanted to take a minute to talk about the new trailer that dropped for the latest X-Men film, Dark Phoenix. This is very likely the last incarnation of these characters we’ll see on the big screen, with the big Fox/Disney merger finalizing. Which means this is the last X-Men movie with this cast. Since X-Men: First Class (In my opinion, the best X-Men film, not counting Logan) the series was really about telling the story of Charles, Eric, Mystique, and to a lesser extent, Beast. Quick side note , Beast is probably one of my favorite Marvel characters and I’ve always liked Nicholas Hoult in the role. Unfortunately they never quite nailed Beast’s look. Don’t give me wrong, I actually think it has its moments where it looks pretty cool, but I think this is a character that requires either CGI or very elaborate Hellboy-esque make up effects. Anyway at least it’s a hell of a lot better than that God awful Kelsey Grammer Beast make up.
Back to Dark Phoenix, First Class was Magneto’s film, Days of Future Past was all about Charles, Apocalypse was… um… kind of Mystique? Or the new X-Men, like Jean and Cyclops… I guess? I feel like these movies work best when they have a clear,strong character to anchor the plot and story. The Dark Phoenix Saga is arguably one of the best X-Men stories of all time and don’t get me wrong, Jean is a great character to build a movie around and Sophie Turner is a great actress. But from what I hear, this movie is dog shit. For a while I really thought they were just going to release this thing on Netflix, if at all. I mean the trailer isn’t particularly bad, but this movie was supposed to come out over a year ago, that’s not a good sign. People who have supposedly seen the movie have reported that it is a absolute piece of shit.
What kills me even more is that what may turn out to be one of the shittiest X-Men movies is taking its visual cues from my all-time favorite X-Men run, Grant Morrison‘s New X-Men. All of the costumes, from the X-Men uniforms, even how Charles is dressed, is straight out of that whole run. They cast aside the whole spandex superhero look for some thing that took what they tried to do in the first X-Men film, mix it up with The Matrix, throw all that into a blender and you end up with a really cool, unique uniform instead of a “costume”.
I love how Jennifer Lawrence is so done with these movies that they pretty much show us she’s going to die IMMEDIATELY in the trailer.
I just hope they don’t fuck up Jean’s connection to The Phoenix Force by pulling the same bullshit from X-Men: The Last Stand, where the Phoenix is some sort of dark, alternate personality of Jean’s. Just make it the fucking Phoenix Force already! It’s a god like force from outer space for chrissake, embrace the material! Oh well, take a look at the trailer and judge for yourself. As another YouTuber put it in his breakdown video of this trailer, at this point I’m kind of just hoping for it to be entertaining. If it’s close to Apocalypse, which I know a lot of people hated, that will be good enough for me. Then we can move on to where Marvel’s Merry Mutants really belong… in the MCU!
On the other hand we have this SICK red band trailer for Hellboy which is coming out in April. I’ve been 100% on board with this one for a while now. This trailer just makes me feel even better about it. I will always lament that we never got to see the end of the Ron Perlman and Guillermo Del Toro Hellboy trilogy. However, life moves on and this looks fucking great.
I love David Harbour as Hellboy, I love that they’re using some new characters from the BPRD as part of the rich mythology of Hellboy’s world, and I love how it looks like they’re taking most of this story straight out of the comics. While the last two Hellboy films had been loyal to the Hellboy comics, the sequel in particular, was very much about using those pieces from the graphic novels to tell their own story. This seems to be more of an adaptation of some specific, great, epic Hellboy stories. To top it all off, this whole thing looks bad shit insane! Fucking sign me up! Check it out:
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