Marvel Announces New Movies & Disney+ Shows at Disney's 2020 Investor Day Presentation

 
There's no escaping Marvel in 2021.

Marvel Studios was one of the big highlights yesterday from The Walt Disney Company’s 2020 Investor Day presentation.  Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios and chief creative officer of Marvel, revealed a number of new series coming to Disney+, along with new details of their upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 4 films.

Feige remarked, "The Cinematic Universe weaves storylines, heroes and villains across 23 feature films to date.  And with Disney+, we’re able to extend this way of storytelling to a new format — creating series that are connected to our theatrical releases, making the MCU more immersive than ever."

Here's the rundown of big reveals during the presentation:

WANDAVISION (Disney+, Premieres January 15, 2021)

The second trailer for the series was revealed, which you can check out HERE.

Wanda Maximoff and Vision are two super-powered beings living the idealized suburban life, but begin to suspect everything is not as it seems. The series has Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany returning to their roles as Wanda and Vision, respectively. Also joining the series are Kat Dennings, who reprises her role as Darcy Lewis from Marvel Studios' Thor and Thor: The Dark World; Randall Park, who reprises his role as Agent Jimmy Woo from Ant-Man and The Wasp; and newcomers Kathryn Hahn, who plays their plucky neighbor, and Teyonah Parris, who plays the adult Monica Rambeau, who was introduced in Captain Marvel.

THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER (Disney+, Premieres March 19, 2021)

A First Look trailer for the series was revealed, which you can check out HERE.

Anthony Mackie returns as Sam Wilson a.k.a. The Falcon, and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes a.k.a. The Winter Soldier. Sam and Bucky, who came together in the final moments of Avengers: Endgame, team up in a global adventure that tests their abilities—and their patience.  The six-episode original series also stars Daniel Brühl, reprising his role as Baron Zemo, Emily VanCamp, reprising her role as Sharon Carter, and newcomer Wyatt Russell as John Walker.

LOKI (Disney+, Premieres May 2021)

An Exclusive Clip trailer for the series was revealed, which you can check out HERE.

The God of Mischief is back — and now Loki is stepping out of his big brother’s shadow. Marvel Studios’ Loki takes place after the events of Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame with Tom Hiddleston returning as the titular character.  Joining Hiddleston in the series are Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Wunmi Mosaku and Richard E. Grant. Loki is directed by Kate Herron with Michael Waldron serving as head writer.

WHAT IF...? (Disney+, Premieres Summer 2021)

A First Look trailer for the animated series was revealed, which you can check out HERE.

Space. Time. Reality. It’s more than a linear path.  What If…?, which takes inspiration from the comic books of the same name, flips the script on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reimagines famous events from the films in unexpected ways.  As revealed last year, each episode will explore a pivotal moment from the MCU and turn it on its head, leading the audience into uncharted territory, such as “What if Peggy Carter was the one who became a super soldier?”  What If…? focuses on different heroes from the MCU, featuring a voice cast that includes a host of stars who will reprise their roles, such as the previously announced Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter. The series will star Jeffrey Wright as the voice of The Watcher.

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (Film, Scheduled for July 9, 2021)

Opening Summer 2021, Simu Liu stars as Shang-Chi in Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings. Shang-Chi must confront the past he thought he left behind when he is drawn into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings organization.  The film’s cast also includes Tony Leung as Wenwu, Awkwafina as Shang-Chi’s friend Katy, and Michelle Yeoh as Jiang Nan. Additionally, Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian Munteanu and Ronny Chieng appear in the upcoming movie, which is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton.

MS. MARVEL (Disney+, Premieres Late 2021)

A Sizzle Reel for the series was revealed, which you can check out HERE.

Ms. Marvel, a newer character to Marvel Comics, has grabbed the world’s imagination and Kevin Feige, president, Marvel Studios, and chief creative officer, Marvel, was excited to announce during The Walt Disney Company’s Investor Day presentation that newcomer Iman Vellani will star as Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel in the series, Ms. Marvel, set to arrive on Disney+ in late 2021!  The Marvel Studios original series centers on fan-favorite Kamala Khan — a 16-year-old Pakistani-American growing up in Jersey City. A great student, avid gamer, and voracious fan-fic scribe, Kamala has a special affinity for superheroes, particularly Captain Marvel.

However, Kamala struggles to fit in at home and at school — that is, until she gets super powers like the heroes she’s always looked up to. Life is easier with super powers, right?  Joining Vellani in Ms. Marvel, the cast also includes Aramis Knight, Saagar Shaikh, Rish Shah, Zenobia Shroff, Mohan Kapur, Matt Lintz, Yasmeen Fletcher, Laith Naki, Azher Usman, Travina Springer and Nimra Bucha.  Fans will get to meet Ms. Marvel in her series before Iman Vellani joins Brie Larson (Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel) and Teyonah Parris (Monica Rambeau) in the upcoming feature film, Captain Marvel 2, directed by Nia DaCosta, which will open in theaters on November 11, 2022!

HAWKEYE (Disney+, Premieres Late 2021)

Marvel has confirmed Hailee Steinfeld will join Jeremy Renner, who reprises his role as Clint Barton a.k.a. Hawkeye, in his series Hawkeye, as the well-known archer from Marvel Comics, Kate Bishop.  Rounding out the cast of the original Marvel Studios series are Vera Farmiga, Fra Fee, Tony Dalton, Zahn McClarnon, Brian d’Arcy James, and newcomer Alaqua Cox who will star as Maya Lopez.

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS (Film, Scheduled for March 25, 2022)

Currently in production, the Sam Raimi-directed sequel stars returning cast Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), Benedict Wong (Wong), Rachel McAdams (Christine Palmer), and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Mordo), as well as the addition of Elizabeth Olsen (Wanda Maximoff) and newcomer Xochitl Gomez who will portray America Chavez, a new fan-favorite from the comics.  The Marvel Studios adventure, set to debut in theaters March 25, 2022, will connect the events of next month’s WandaVision, the original new series debuting on Disney+, and the upcoming Spider-Man film.

THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER (Film, Scheduled for May 6, 2022)

With Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Natalie Portman (Jane Foster), and Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie) returning to their roles, they will be joined by Christian Bale, who will portray the villain Gorr the God Butcher.  The fourth film in the Thor franchise, Waititi previously revealed, "When we were shooting Ragnarok, I was reading one storyline by Jason Aaron, called THE MIGHTY THOR. And for those of you that don't know that storyline, it's incredible and full of emotion and love and thunder. And it introduces, for the first time, a female Thor,” confirming that Jane Foster, played by Portman, will become the Mighty Thor, Goddess of Thunder.

BLACK PANTHER II (Film, Scheduled for July 8, 2022)

Marvel Studios’ Black Panther 2 will continue to honor the legacy of Chadwick Boseman and his portrayal of King T’Challa, and will not recast the character. The sequel will continue to explore the incomparable world of Wakanda and all of the rich and varied characters introduced in the first film.  Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, who was behind Black Panther, the film will be released on July 8, 2022.

CAPTAIN MARVEL 2 (Film, Scheduled for November 11, 2022)

Returning to her role as Carol Danvers in Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel 2, Brie Larson will be joined by Iman Vellani, who makes her debut as Ms. Marvel in the Disney+ series of the same name. Additionally, joining the cast is Teyonah Parris, who portrays grown-up Monica Rambeau — a character introduced as a child in Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel — in Marvel Studios’ WandaVision.  The film, directed by Nia DaCosta, is slated to open November 11, 2022.

THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY HOLIDAY SPECIAL (Disney+, Premieres December 2022)

A ragtag bunch of misfits. The holidays. James Gunn. Do we really need to say anything else?  Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to write and direct The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special for Disney+!  Before Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot hit the big screen with the next Guardians of the Galaxy film in 2023, watch the Guardians engage in some spirited shenanigans in an all-new original special, created for Disney+, during the 2022 holiday season.

SHE-HULK (Disney+, Premiere Date TBD)

It’s time to dive into the world of superhuman-oriented legal cases with Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk, a brand new comedy series coming to Disney+. Tatiana Maslany stars in the show as Jennifer Walters — a.k.a. She-Hulk — a lawyer who specializes in this specific kind of legal case.  Additionally, the show will welcome a bevy of different Marvel characters to the series, including the Hulk, once again played by Mark Ruffalo, along with the Abomination, with Tim Roth returning to the role.  She-Hulk is directed by Kat Coiro and Anu Valia, with Jessica Gao serving as head writer.

MOON KNIGHT (Disney+, Premiere Date TBD)

The Marvel Studios original series for Disney+ centers on the character Marc Spector a.k.a. Moon Knight, a complex vigilante who suffers from dissociative identity disorder. These multiple identities who live inside him are distinct characters in the series and will appear against a backdrop of Egyptian iconography.  The action-adventure Marvel Studios’ Moon Knight series, created for Disney+, is directed by Mohamed Diab.

SECRET INVASION (Disney+, Premiere Date TBD)

They might have gotten off to a rocky start in Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel, but now Nick Fury and Talos are back!  Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion, a new series coming to Disney+, has Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn reprising their roles as the former S.H.I.E.L.D. director and Skrull, respectively.  The crossover comic event series showcases a faction of shapeshifting Skrulls who have been infiltrating Earth for years.

IRONHEART (Disney+, Premiere Date TBD)

Marvel Studios’ Ironheart stars Dominique Thorne as genius inventor Riri Williams who creates the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man himself, Tony Stark.

ARMOR WARS (Disney+, Premiere Date TBD)

What happens if Tony Stark’s tech falls into the wrong hands? Find out in the newly announced series, Marvel Studios’ Armor Wars, coming to Disney+.  Don Cheadle returns to the role as James Rhodes — aka War Machine —  who must face these tech consequences in this classic Marvel story.

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA (Film, Release Date TBD)

It’s a family affair! Kathryn Newton joins the cast of Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania as Cassie Lang, the daughter of Scott Lang. Paul Rudd reprises his role as Ant-Man, alongside Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne/Wasp. Joining them are returning cast members Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym, and Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne — aka, Hope’s parents.  Additionally, Jonathan Majors will portray Kang the Conqueror, with three-time repeat Ant-Man director Peyton Reed returning behind the camera.

FANTASTIC FOUR (Film, Release Date TBD)

Make way for Marvel’s First Family — Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic), Sue Storm (Invisible Woman), Johnny Storm (Human Torch) and Ben Grimm (The Thing)!  Closing out The Walt Disney Company’s Investor Day presentation, Kevin Feige revealed the studio will bring one of Marvel’s most iconic families to the big screen with the release of Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four! Spider-Man veteran Jon Watts is on board to direct.

DAMN Good Movies -- AVENGERS: ENDGAME

You guessed it, I'm back once again with another movie take, this time on the movie Avengers: Endgame, the 22nd film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  As always, if you haven't seen the movie yet and you don't want it spoiled for you, then please step back from your computer or whatever electronic device you're reading this on and stop reading now.  If, however, you're wise enough to know that movie reviews with spoilers are always more interesting than the ones without them...well...time to assemble!

One year ago, Marvel Studios shocked the world (Well, the part of the world that doesn't read comics) by having big bad Thanos use his spiffy Infinity Gauntlet to snap half of the universe's population out of existence at the end of Avengers: Infinity War.  Fans gasped in horror as one by one, major MCU players like Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Scarlet Witch and more crumbled into ash and blew away in the gentle wind.  At long last, we had a superhero film where the supervillain actually won.

Twelve months of Thanos Snap internet memes later, directors Anthony and Joe Russo are back with a massive three-hours-long Part Two, with the surviving members of the Avengers and their allies working to reverse the damage and also bring what is essentially a 22-film saga to a resounding conclusion.  It's an incredible achievement of coordination that Marvel Studios accomplishes here, but one with a sense of finality as we say goodbye to some of our favorite heroes.

The film opens with Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, still under house arrest at his homestead after the events of Captain America: Civil War.  As he trains his daughter Lila in archery, his wife Laura prepares a picnic while the couple's two sons play catch.  However, while retrieving an arrow, Clint turns his back for a few seconds and when he turns back around, his entire family is gone, having disintegrated in The Snap.

This somber tone fills the entire First Act, as we jump ahead three weeks after Avengers: Infinity War.  New player Captain Marvel, somehow still looking as youthful as in her solo film set in the 1990s, rescues Nebula and Tony Stark from being stranded in deep space. They return to Earth and join the remaining Avengers—Black Widow, Bruce Banner, Captain America, Rocket, Thor, and War Machine.  Using Nebula's knowledge, they find Thanos on an unguarded planet, intending to retake the Stones to reverse his action.  Once there, they learn whoops, he already destroyed them to prevent further use, severely burning himself in the process.  After this horribly awkward moment, an enraged Thor finally goes for the head and decapitates Thanos.

We jump ahead FIVE...YEARS...LATER, with the resulting fallout of the Avengers not being able to reverse The Snap.  No longer operating as superheroes, Steve Rogers now heads a support group for Snap survivors, Natasha Romanoff coordinates updates from Nebula and Rocket, Okoye, Captain Marvel, and War Machine, and Tony Stark seems content living in a cabin with his wife Pepper and their young daughter Morgan Stark.  All of them seem to have reached the Acceptance stage about their new status quo.

Thankfully, we head into Act Two with Ant-Man finally escaping the quantum realm and learning that his daughter Cassie is now five years older.  He joins Steve and Natasha at the Avengers' compound and explains he lived through a duration of five hours instead of five years, theorizing that the quantum realm can let them time travel.  Desperately needing the smartest guy left on the planet before Mr. Fantastic joins the MCU, they go to Tony to help them retrieve the Stones from the past so they can reverse Thanos' actions in the present, but he refuses out of fear of losing Morgan.  

Still in desperate need of a big brain, Steve, Natasha and Scott Lang meet up with Bruce at a restaurant, where we learn Bruce has managed to merge his intelligence with the Hulk's body.  An hour of hopelessness finally gives way to some much-needed humor, with Bruce enjoying his newfound celebrity before agreeing to help the others as best as he can with his limited knowledge of quantum physics.  Bruce experiments with trying to send Ant-Man back in time using the quantum realm, turning him into a kid, then an old man, and finally a baby before finally restoring him to normal.

After getting a pep talk from Pepper, Tony finally shows up and agrees to help, under the condition that reversing The Snap won't reset what's happened since, keeping Morgan from being erased.  With Tony back in play, Bruce goes off with Rocket to the Asgardian refugees' new home in Tønsberg, Norway, now known as New Asgard, to recruit Thor, who has become embarrassingly overweight and alcoholic after sliding into depression and watching The Big Lebowski way too many times.  Natasha, meanwhile, heads to Tokyo to recruit Hawkeye, who has turned into a Zack Snyder version of himself, killing Yakuza members as a ruthless vigilante.

Hawkeye rejoins the Avengers and agrees to road test Tony's tweaked time machine, proving that it works.  The team figures out when and where to retrieve the Infinity Stones from the past, and the movie lays out its version of time travel rules -- affecting the past won't change the present like in Back to the Future, but creates an alternate universe instead.  And because of this, they have to bring the stones back to their original times and places after half the universe is restored.  Oh, and by the way...They only have a limited amount of trips because Hank Pym isn't around to make more Pym Particles.

So, somehow, Back to the Future is nonsense but Back to the Future Part II is perfectly cool.  Bruce, Steve, Tony and Scott travel to New York City in 2012, during the Chitauri invasion from the first Avengers movie.  Bruce visits the Sanctum Sanctorum before the Doctor Strange movie and convinces the Ancient One to give him the Time Stone, promising to later return the stones to their original place.  Steve successfully retrieves the Mind Stone, but Tony and Scott fail to retrieve the Space Stone after Loki escapes with it. Quickly needing a backup plan, Steve and Tony travel to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in 1970 and steal an earlier version of the Space Stone along with more vials of Pym Particles from younger Hank Pym, then return to the present.

Everybody got that?

Rocket and Dude Thor travel to Asgard in 2013, during Thor: The Dark World, to retrieve the Reality Stone from Jane Foster, and Dude Thor swipes his former hammer, Mjolnir.  On Morag in 2014, during the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Nebula and War Machine steal the Power Stone before Star-Lord can.  War Machine returns to the present with the Power Stone, but Nebula is unable to return due to her cybernetic implants interfacing with those of her 2014 self.  Through this connection, the 2014 Thanos learns of his future success and the Avengers' attempts to undo it.  Ruh-roh!  Thanos captures Good 2023 Nebula and sends Bad 2014 Nebula to the present to replace her because shenanigans.  Meanwhile, Black Widow and Hawkeye travel to Vormir in the same year and learn from the Soul Stone's keeper, the Red Skull, that it can only be acquired by sacrificing someone they love.  (Remember, like Thanos did to his adopted daughter Gamora?)  After a brief battle to see who can sacrifice themself first, Black Widow commits suicide in the film's first big death, allowing Hawkeye to claim the stone.

We head into the film's third hour and Third Act with all of the Infinity Stones obtained, and Tony, Bruce and Rocket create a new Infinity Gauntlet to hold them.  Bruce is the only one able to use the Gauntlet and stay alive, but he's able to snap his fingers just in time to restore half the universe's population, who should be really surprised to find out they've jumped ahead five years.

While this is going on, Bad 2014 Nebula uses the time machine to transport Thanos, 2014 Gamora, and the Black Order to 2023, and he destroys the Avengers' compound.  In the resulting chaos, Bad 2014 Nebula tricks Hawkeye into giving her the Infinity Gauntlet, until 2014 Gamora and Good 2023 Nebula team-up and kill Bad 2014 Nebula, which should make things really awkward for Good 2023 Nebula.

The Big Three go after Thanos, who easily defeats them then realizes his plan to wipe out half the universe wasn't that great, because the survivors were too busy thinking about what was lost instead of making the most of the "opportunity" they were given.  So now he has a new plan -- wipe out all life in the universe and then rebuild it in his own image, with no one having any idea about what happened before.  Thanos is about to kill Dude Thor with his own Stormbreaker hammer, until the audience-cheering moment when Captain America becomes worthy enough to use Mjolnir to pound on Thanos' big purple face.

The cheers continue when the restored Doctor Strange arrives with the restored Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and assorted other heroes, as well as the armies of Wakanda, Asgard, and the Ravagers.  Captain Marvel checks back into the film and together, they fight Thanos' army in an epic and insane battle sequence that works in a special shoutout to all the female MCU superheroes.  Eventually though, Thanos seizes the Gauntlet and is about to snap himself another victory...but nothing happens.  It turns out Iron Man stole the Infinity Stones back and snaps Thanos' army, the Black Order, and in a very satisfying moment, Thanos himself into dust in the wind.

Unfortunately, Iron Man is mortally wounded from using the Gauntlet and dies in the film's second big death.  Following Tony's funeral, Thor appoints Valkyrie as the king of New Asgard and goes off to join the Guardians of the Galaxy in their third movie.  Star-Lord begins searching for 2014 Gamora, still in love with her even though she has no idea who he is.  

And in the film's final moments, Captain America is tasked with returning the Infinity Stones and Mjolnir to the original places in time.  After doing so, however, he apparently goes rogue and ignores all the previous time travel rules, choosing to remain in the past and live out the rest of his life.  Now in 2023, he returns as Old Man Rogers, passing on his shield to Sam Wilson, The Falcon, and making him his official successor as Captain America.  Anyone familiar with Captain America: The First Avenger will start reaching for the tissues in the closing flashback scene, where Steve is shown reunited with his time-lost love Peggy Carter, finally getting his dance that he missed all those years ago.  An absolutely perfect ending.

As expected, the film's ginormous cast once again give great performances, with some entertaining and emotionally powerful character moments.  Here are just some of the dozens and dozens or characters that stood out:

IRON MAN/TONY STARK -- Robert Downey, Jr. launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2008's Iron Man, so it was only fitting to have Avengers: Endgame be the end of his time as Tony Stark.  Over the past eleven years, the actor became the character and vice versa, and as impossible as it is right now to picture someone else as Tony Stark, Iron Man will return...someday.  For now though, let's stop and appreciate everything Downey helped build as the invincible -- and definitive -- Iron Man.

CAPTAIN AMERICA/STEVE ROGERS -- In presumably his final outing as Cap, Chris Evans swings for the fences in action scenes and saves his best work as the character for his final scene as Old Man Rogers.  Captain America is more than just a superhero, he's inspirational, and it's a credit to Evans that he was able to embody that so well on screen and in real life.  More than all the other Avengers, Cap is the one who deserved a happy ending and I'm so glad that's what he received. 

THOR ODINSON -- Unlike Downey and Evans, Chris Hemsworth doesn't seem quite ready to let go of his character yet, especially if the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 tease is any indication.  Unfortunately, after the success of Thor: Ragnarok, it feels like Marvel wants to keep playing Thor for laughs and that's exactly what happens here.  With his comically excessive fake beer gut, Hemsworth looks more like Volstagg the Voluminous than the God of Thunder, so let's just hope this wasn't his last appearance as Thor.

HULK/BRUCE BANNER -- After being somewhat marginalized in Avengers: Infinity War, Mark Ruffalo returns in a Hulk-sized way here, with Bruce having merged his brain with the Hulk's brawn as if he was taken right out of Peter David's Incredible Hulk comic book run.  It seemed a bit odd to have the dangling plot thread of the Hulk's fear of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War completely abandoned as a result of the five-year time jump, but obviously the story had more important things to worry about.

BLACK WIDOW/NATASHA ROMANOFF -- The death of Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow gets completely overshadowed by Tony Stark's death, but knowing that a Black Widow solo movie is finally happening, the big question here is, did Natasha's death even matter?  Will the solo movie be a prequel, or did Cap do some more tweaking to the timeline that somehow allows Black Widow to return?  Keep watching those upcoming MCU post-credit scenes...

HAWKEYE/CLINT BARTON -- And just to complete the set of the original six movie Avengers, Jeremy Renner returns as Hawkeye, albeit more like his Ronin persona from Brian Bendis' The New Avengers series.  Renner gets a powerful opening scene as Clint's entire family are snapped out of existence, but Clint's silly edgelord haircut and arm tats make it harder to take his major personality change seriously.

THANOS -- Once again, Josh Brolin kills it as the voice and motion-capture model of Thanos.  Even though his Thanos is just a big CGI special effects creation, Brolin brings a ton of gravitas to the character and his interactions with others. Thanos will be remembered fondly as one of the best movie villains ever, although I'm wondering since 2014 Thanos was taken off the board by Tony in 2023, how was everything Thanos originally did from 2014 to 2018 affected?

ANT-MAN/SCOTT LANG -- Paul Rudd's Ant-Man steps up in a big way in this film, after being rescued from the quantum realm by the Ratus Ex Machina.  Scott brought a lot of humor that was definitely needed to offset all the sadness and hopelessness caused by The Snap, but Rudd's best moment has to be when Scott is reunited with his daughter Cassie after fearing her dead, only to take her sudden five-year age increase in stride.

CAPTAIN MARVEL/CAROL DANVERS -- After being teased as Nick Fury's paged ace in the hole to stop Thanos, it's was really surprising that Brie Larson only got a few scenes here and there as Captain Marvel.  And I'm not sure how much sense it made to have Carol fly right back into space, when there obviously was a huge need for someone of her strength and power to help get Earth back on its feet.  At least she got a few good punches in on Thanos.

NEBULA -- It's kind of amazing that Karen Gillan got more to do here as Nebula than she did in two Guardians of the Galaxy films combined.  As two versions of the same character from 2014 and 2023, Gillan was able to showcase her character's development from Thanos' compliant minion into an independent positive force and unofficial Avenger.  Like Thanos, however, the death of her 2014 self poses some serious timey-wimey questions that still beg to be explained.

ROCKET RACCOON -- Bradley Cooper returns as Rocket, who still delivers one-liners with the best of them and even serves as a new Science Bro along with Tony and Bruce.  Regardless, as the only survivor of the original Guardians of the Galaxy team, his pain and survivor's guilt is often heartbreaking.

DOCTOR STRANGE/DR. STEPHEN STRANGE -- As one of the returned heroes, Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange does his thing with his sling ring and brings everyone in for the final battle with Thanos and his forces.  He's also key for inspiring Tony to sacrifice his life to stop Thanos once and for all.  And now, we wait for his solo movie sequel.

SPIDER-MAN/PETER PARKER -- Tom Holland also returns as his character Spider-Man, but since his second solo movie is right around the corner, there was no need to make Spidey a major player here.  He's there for Tony's death scene though, bringing their mentor/student and surrogate father/son relationship to a touching close. 

THE FALCON/SAM WILSON -- Anthony Mackie's Falcon returns for the final battle, but obviously Steve passing the shield on to Sam is his character's big moment.  Will there be a fourth Captain America movie, this time with Sam as the new Cap?  All I know is, Disney Plus' upcoming Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV series just got a lot more interesting...

SCARLET WITCH/WANDA MAXIMOFF -- After losing the Vision and being dusted in Avengers: Infinity War, Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch definitely deserved some payback on Thanos.  She got her chance in the final battle, smacking Big Purple around pretty good for a little while.  And her upcoming Disney Plus series, WandaVision, also has my attention after this film.

GAMORA -- After 2018 Gamora was killed off in Infinity War, Zoe Saldana is back to start playing 2014 Gamora.  And now that 2014 Gamora has become 2023 Gamora, with no memory of her adventures with the Guardians of the Galaxy because they hadn't happened yet, her relationship with Chris Pratt's Star-Lord is now awkward as hell.  But hey, James Gunn is back to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, so she's got that going for her, which is nice.

RESCUE/VIRGINIA "PEPPER" POTTS -- Gwyneth Paltrow got a taste of armor in Iron Man 3, but here we finally see her in her Rescue armor from the comics.  With Tony dead, will Pepper continue as Rescue in future Avengers movies or is this the last we see of her as well?

VALKYRIE -- After joining in on the final battle, Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie is named king of New Asgard by Dude Thor before he completely bails on them.  Will Valkyrie take Thor's place on the Avengers?  Here's hoping...

HANK PYM CAMEO -- Michael Douglas has a brief cameo as the 1970s Hank Pym, during the Pym Particles heist scene.  It's interesting that he used to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. back in the day.

LOKI LAUFEYSON CAMEO -- Despite being killed at the beginning of Infinity War, Tom Hiddleston has a great 2012 flashback cameo, as if we were watching deleted scenes from the Avengers Blu-Ray.  And relax, Hiddlestoners, Loki's also getting a Disney Plus series.

RED SKULL CAMEO -- Ross Marquand reprises the Red Skull from Infinity War, this time as the 2014 version who watches as Black Widow and Hawkeye try to out-suicide one another.  We still have no idea how the Red Skull ended up on Vormir, so maybe he needs a Disney Plus series, too.

NICK FURY CAMEO -- Samuel L. Jackson returns for Tony Stark's funeral, just to remind everyone that he's back and that he'll probably be in the Captain Marvel sequel.  But where's Goose?

THE ANCIENT ONE CAMEO -- In one of the more unexpected cameos, Tilda Swinton returns as the 2012 Ancient One, who magically knows somehow that Doctor Strange will become her successor as the Sorcerer Supreme.  A really fun scene with her and Mark Ruffalo's Incredible Brulk.

PEGGY CARTER CAMEOS -- After being teased earlier in the film as 1970s Peggy, Hayley Atwell returns as 1940s Peggy for the superb final scene of Steve and Peggy finally sharing their long-awaited dance and bringing their characters full circle.  And now I want Agent Carter Season 3 on Disney Plus.

POSTHUMOUS STAN LEE CAMEO -- In his final Marvel Cinematic Universe cameo, Stan "The Man" turns up digitally de-aged as a car driver in 1970.  It's not one of his greatest cameos, certainly not for being his last, but it was nice to see Stan looking in his prime once again before we said goodbye.

JIM STARLIN CAMEO -- Thanos' creator turns up as one of the people at Steve's support group for Snap survivors.  You would think he'd be feeling really guilty about that.

All in all, Avengers: Endgame is an immensely satisfying conclusion to the past eleven years of Marvel Cinematic Universe films.  It's not perfect though, and has some noticeable issues with timey-wimey story logic, but you have to give a lot of credit to the Russo brothers and the screenwriters for giving Marvel fans the big payoff to all their invested time and ticket purchases.  And even though we know this film franchise is nowhere near close to ending, Endgame is an ending for this moment in time, with this particular group of talented actors portraying some of comics' greatest heroes and legends.  And that's okay.

One important question remains, however.  What happens next?

And for those who may be wondering, here's the updated list of my Top 20 Comic Book Films:

1. Superman (1978)
2. The Dark Knight (2008)

3. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
4. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

5. The Avengers (2012)

6. Batman Begins (2005)

7. Logan (2017)

8. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

9. Black Panther (2018)

10. Man of Steel (2013)

11. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

12. Doctor Strange (2016)

13. Wonder Woman (2017)

14. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

15. Spider-Man (2002)

16. Aquaman (2018)

17. Iron Man (2008)

18. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
19. Watchmen (2009)
20. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

James Gunn to Write & Possibly Direct SUICIDE SQUAD 2

Looks like Marvel's loss is DC's gain.

Deadline has revealed that Warner Bros. has hired James Gunn to write and possibly direct the sequel to the 2016 DC Extended Universe film Suicide Squad. 

According to the article, Warner Bros. had director Gavin O’Connor lined up, but he's now directing Ben Affleck in the drama Torrance, which is also at the studio.  Reportedly, Warner Bros. has been in talks with Gunn to step in and develop Suicide Squad 2, and the deal was made after he settled out of Disney/Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.  

Disney let him go in July, following a series of old, controversial tweets compiled by alt-right journalists and sent to Disney.  Fans and various Guardians actors lobbied Disney to have Gunn reinstated as the director for Vol. 3, but Disney remained adamant in their position.

Gunn, 52, is best known as the director of the hit Marvel Cinematic Universe films Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which made $773 million and $863 million worldwide, respectively.  In addition, he's directed the films Super and Slither, and has also written these four films, along with Dawn of the Dead (2004), Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, The Specials, and Tromeo and Juliet.

The first Suicide Squad film, written and directed by David Ayer, made over $746 million worldwide with a reported budget of $175 million, so a sequel was inevitable.  However, the film was critically panned, receiving a 28% approval rating based on 341 reviews.

In the meantime, Suicide Squad star Margot Robbie will be reprising her character of Harley Quinn in a film adaptation of DC Comics' Birds of Prey, directed by Cathy Yan.

DAMN Good Movies -- AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

You guessed it, I'm back once again with another movie take, this time on the movie Avengers: Infinity War, the nineteenth film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  As always, if you haven't seen the movie yet and you don't want it spoiled for you, then please step back from your computer or whatever electronic device you're reading this on and stop reading now. If, however, you're wise enough to know that movie reviews with spoilers are always more interesting than the ones without them...well...time to assemble!

It's all been leading to this.  Eighteen Marvel Cinematic Universe films introducing and connecting various Marvel characters, all with the ultimate goal of having the Marvel superheroes and assorted supporting characters finally face the looming threat of Big Bad supervillain Thanos.  Directors Anthony and Joe Russo and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who earned their geek cred with the stellar Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War films, loosely based the film on Jim Starlin's The Infinity Gauntlet comic series and elements from Jonathan Hickman's Infinity event series.  Oh, and there was only the ridiculous expectations of millions of MCU fans to consider as well.

Believe it or not, though...they pulled it off.

The film opens with Thanos and his Black Order lieutenants — Corvus Glaive, Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, and Proxima Midnight — intercepting the spaceship carrying the survivors of Asgard's destruction after the events of Thor: Ragnarok.  Having already acquired the Power Stone from the planet Xandar, Thanos extracts the Space Stone from the Tesseract that Loki nicked when everyone wasn't looking.  Eyepatch Thor is taken out, and Thanos beats the unholy hell out of the Hulk (!!!) and kills Loki, traumatizing thousands of weeping Hiddlestoners in the process.  Before being taken off the board as well, Heimdall sends the Hulk to Earth using the Bifröst.  Thanos and the Black Order depart, and the ship is obliterated.

So right off the bat, we see that Thanos isn't playing around and neither are the Russos.  Two longtime characters dead, and the two strongest Avengers thrown around like they were nothing.  All before you've made a dent in your bag of popcorn.

The Hulk crash-lands into Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum in New York, reverting to Bruce Banner.  He warns Strange and his assistant Wong about Thanos' plan to kill half of all life in the universe, so Doctor Strange decides maybe bringing in Tony Stark would be a good idea.  Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian arrive to get the Time Stone from Strange's Eye of Agamotto, with their big, wheel-shaped spaceship tingling the Spider-Sense of Peter Parker.  During a brutal friendly neighborhood battle, Ebony Maw captures Doctor Strange, but fails to take the Time Stone due to an enchantment.  Iron Man and Spider-Man pursue Ebony Maw's spaceship as it leaves orbit, while Banner splits to contact Steve Rogers, and Wong decides he's staying behind to guard the Sanctum.  Smart move, Wong.

Meanwhile in Scotland, Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive ambush the Vision and the Scarlet Witch in order to retrieve the Mind Stone from Vision's forehead.  Steve Rogers (Don't call him Captain America), Black Widow and The Falcon rescue them and hide out with War Machine and Bruce Banner at the Avengers Compound.  Vision offers to sacrifice himself by having the Scarlet Witch destroy the Mind Stone to keep Thanos from getting his oversized mitts on it.  Steve suggests they go to Wakanda, where he believes has the resources to remove the Mind Stone without destroying the Vision and is a very popular place these days.

At this point, with most of the film's major players revealed, anyone who hasn't seen at least 3/4 of the MCU movies is probably going to feel a bit lost.  It becomes all too apparent that Avengers: Infinity War is the advanced class for Marvel fans, and the Russos make no apology for it.  They give only the barest explanations for who all these characters are, and plow straight ahead, expecting everyone watching to know their MCU lore back to front.

We go into the Second Act with the Guardians of the Galaxy responding to a distress call from the Asgardian ship and giving the movie a much-needed humor boost.  They find and rescue Thor, who guesses that Thanos wants the Reality Stone, which is in the possession of the Collector on Knowhere.  The group splits up, with Rocket and Groot accompanying Thor to Nidavellir, where they and a giant Dwarf named Eitri create an enchanted axe hammer called Stormbreaker that's capable of killing Thanos.  On Knowhere, Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, and Mantis find Thanos with the Reality Stone already in his possession.  Ruh-roh!  Thanos kidnaps Gamora, his adoptive daughter, who reveals the location of the Soul Stone to save her captive adoptive sister Nebula from torture.  Thanos and Gamora head to a planet called Vormir, where we're stunned to find the Red Skull, of all people, is now the keeper of the Soul Stone.  The Red Skull informs Thanos that the stone can only be retrieved by sacrificing someone he loves, so Thanos reluctantly sends Gamora over a cliff, granting him the Soul Stone and delivering another big death.

Nebula escapes her captivity and asks the remaining Guardians to meet her on Thanos' homeworld, Titan.  Iron Man and Spider-Man kill Ebony Maw (as "heroes" do these days) by ejecting him from his ship, and rescue Doctor Strange.  Landing on Titan, they meet Star-Lord, Drax, and Mantis, and there's some quippy banter as Tony Stark and Peter Quill butt heads to become the alpha.  The group forms a plan to remove Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet,  after Doctor Strange uses the Time Stone to view millions of possible futures, seeing only one in which Thanos loses, so...no pressure.  Thanos arrives, justifying his plans as necessary for the survival of a universe threatened by overpopulation.  The big plan actually put Thanos on the ropes...until Nebula realizes that Thanos killed Gamora.  As you might expect, Star-Lord flips out and goes after Thanos, breaking their hold on him, who then overpowers everyone.  D'oh!  Doctor Strange surrenders the Time Stone in exchange for Thanos sparing Iron Man, because remember, he saw all those possible futures, and Thanos heads for Earth to finish off his jewelry set.

It's time for the Third Act and boy, is this one a doozy.  In Wakanda, Steve Rogers reunites with his ol' pal the Winter Soldier before Thanos' army of Outriders invades.  This group of Avengers, alongside the Black Panther and bunch of ready-to-throw-down Wakandans, mount a defense while the Panther's sister Shuri scrambles to extract the Mind Stone from Vision. Banner, unable to transform into the Hulk because the Hulk's a'scared, is forced to fights using Iron Man's Hulkbuster armor.  Just when the battle starts to go south, Thor, Rocket, and Groot arrive as reinforcements.  Proxima Midnight, Cull Obsidian, and Corvus Glaive are killed and their Outrider army is defeated.  The victory is short-lived, however, as Thanos arrives.  Despite the Scarlet Witch's attempt to destroy the Mind Stone, Thanos retrieves the stone from the Vision, destroying him in the latest gut-punch.  Thor severely wounds Thanos, but Thanos uses his now-complete Infinity Gauntlet and teleports away.

And then, everyone (especially the audience) sees the ramifications of what just happened.  With Thanos' plan all kinds of winning, half of all life across the universe starts disintegrating in a series of horrific moments.  One by one, fan favorites like the Winter Soldier, the Black Panther, Groot, the Scarlet Witch, the Falcon, Mantis, Drax, Star-Lord, Doctor Strange, and even Spider-Man are taken off the board.  Iron Man and Nebula remain on Titan while Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Black Widow, Okoye, War Machine, M'Baku, and Thor are left on the Wakandan battlefield wondering what the hell just happened.  Meanwhile, on some other planet, Thanos finally kicks back and rests in satisfaction as the credits start rolling, and millions of voices in movie theaters all over the world suddenly cry out in terror and are suddenly silenced.

As expected, the film's ginormous cast give some great performances, with some entertaining and emotionally powerful character moments.  Here are some of the things that stood out:

IRON MAN/TONY STARK -- We may be seeing the final two-part ride for Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man.  In this film, Tony still has some residual PTSD issues from the first Avengers film and some wedding issues with Pepper Potts to work out, but his best moments come when he views Peter Parker as he son he'll never have.  This, of course, makes Peter's disintegration at the end so powerful.

STEVE ROGERS -- Chris Evans isn't going by his Captain America handle this time, as anyone who saw Captain America: Civil War can understand.  Regardless, Steve is still very much the hero and leader we need him to be, and gets a great moment when he's defiantly struggling and pushing back against Thanos, for all the good both know it will do.

THOR ODINSON -- Fresh off the events of Thor: Ragnarok, Chris Hemsworth's Thor is still being played more for laughs as he was there.  He gets some fun moments meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy, but it's his acquisition of Stormbreaker that I find more intriguing.  Does this mean we could finally see Beta Ray Bill?

HULK/BRUCE BANNER -- Mark Ruffalo finally gets to be more active in a Marvel movie than his big, green alter ego.  After having the gamma rays kicked out of him by Thanos, the Hulk is now refusing to come out and play, even with Puny Banner becoming angry.  This movie is probably a big letdown for Hulk fans, so hopefully The Strongest One There Is gets off the bench early in Avengers 4.

BLACK WIDOW/NATASHA ROMANOFF -- For some reason, Scarlett Johansson is sporting her natural blond hair this time as Black Widow.  Sure, it can be easily explained away as a dye job while she's being a fugitive from justice, but why wouldn't Natasha just wear a wig instead?  And more importantly, why wouldn't Johansson at least wear a red wig if she didn't want to dye her hair this time?  Thanos, would you mind fixing this with your Infinity Gauntlet, because this is obviously really important.

THANOS -- Josh Brolin has been playing Thanos in post-credit cameos since 2014 and finally gets to step up as the Big Bad.  Interestingly, Thanos ditches the armor he's typically known for, presumably in an attempt to make the character more relatable and less like a throwaway CGI villain like Steppenwolf in DC's Justice League movie.  A good villain sees themself as a the hero of the story, and Thanos certainly does that, even when erasing half the population of the universe from existence.

BLACK PANTHER/T'CHALLA -- It seems a little weird to see Chadwick Boseman here as Black Panther while his insanely popular solo film is still making money in movie theaters.  Regardless, it's still great to see T'Challa leading Okoye, M'Baku and the other Wakandans into battle in a sequence that feels like the Marvel Comics version of Lord of the Rings.

DOCTOR STRANGE/DR. STEPHEN STRANGE -- Benedict Cumberbatch is still waiting for Doctor Strange 2 to be greenlit, so it was nice to see him be a major player in this movie.  Strange has a great moment with Spider-Man that makes me want to see them do a Marvel team-up at some point.

SPIDER-MAN/PETER PARKER -- And speaking of our friendly neighboorhood wall-crawler, Tom Holland seems more comfortable in the role with each movie he does.  Peter finally gets his Iron Spider suit from Tony this time and gets some good Spidey quips in, but it's his disintegration moment that proves most powerful.  We see Peter as just a scared kid that doesn't want to die and the moment is truly heartbreaking, even though common sense tells us Marvel isn't about to let Spider-Man go after fighting to get him back all these years.

THE FALCON/SAM WILSON -- Anthony Mackie's Falcon is one of the more underused Avengers.  He gets some good action scenes, but nothing truly notable, even his disintegration.

SCARLET WITCH/WANDA MAXIMOFF -- As the Scarlet Witch, Elizabeth Olsen gets to explore a little romance with the Vision this time.  Her biggest moment comes when Wanda has to set aside her love and try to destroy the Mind Stone, but of course, far too late.

THE VISION -- Paul Bettany gets a little character development this time, with the Vision taking on hair and a more human appearance (presumably so Bettany wouldn't always be in hours of makeup).  He also proves his selflessness by being willing to risk losing himself with the destruction of the Mind Stone.

WAR MACHINE/JAMES "RHODEY" RHODES -- As Rhodey, Don Cheadle is another underused Avenger, but he does get a fun moment where he tricks Bruce Banner into needlessly bowing before Black Panther.

THE WINTER SOLDIER/JAMES "BUCKY" BARNES -- Sebastian Stan's Bucky is finally reunited with his longtime friend Steve Rogers, which I'm sure made the Stucky shippers squee with delight.  Even better, Bucky gets a new bionic arm and some solid action scenes during the Outriders battle.

STAR-LORD/PETER QUILL -- Chris Pratt's Star-Lord never changes, nor should he.  As the MCU's Han Solo, Star-Lord gets into an alpha male contest with Tony Stark, but you just want to smack Quill upside the head when he flips out on Thanos and lets him break free.

GAMORA -- As Thanos' adoptive daughter, Zoe Saldana finally gets to explore the connection between the two characters.  We even get to see how Thanos met Gamora as a small child after wiping out her mother and her entire race.  She even gets a big death scene moment, arguably the biggest of the movie if you don't count Thanos wiping out half the universe.

DRAX THE DESTROYER -- Dave Bautista's Drax finally gets to attempt some vengeance on Thanos for the murder of his wife and child, but of course, it doesn't lead anywhere.  

ROCKET RACCOON -- Bradley Cooper has some fun moments with mopey teenaged Groot this time and gets to hang out with Thor for a bit, but for those paying attention, Rocket is now the sole surviving Guardian of the Galaxy.  I'm sure he's not going to take that well in the next Avengers movie and I can't wait to see what happens.

GROOT -- Groot fans wanting to see everyone's favorite living tree back to normal get some progress, but we're still not there yet.  Vin Diesel is now voicing the character as a sulky teen obsessed with his retro hand-held video game, which is cute for a couple of scenes, but I'm ready to see adult Groot again.

MANTIS -- Pom Klementieff only really gets to shine as Mantis when she and the other Guardians recover Thor in space, but she does help with the big attempt to subdue Thanos and take his Infinity Gauntlet, for all the good it does.  Way to go, "Star-Lord"...

NEBULA -- As Thanos' other adoptive daughter, Karen Gillan's Nebula spends most of the movie being tortured and stretched apart by Thanos.  She does make her escape though, and if you've read The Infinity Gauntlet, you know how important she might be in Avengers 4.  Definitely a character to watch very closely next time.

EITRI -- I have to think Peter Dinklage took some joy in playing a character who's a giant, even though he's considered a Dwarf.  As Eitri, he gets to craft a new hammer for Thor to use and any fan of Walt Simonson's Thor comics run had to be smiling when he was on the screen.

THE COLLECTOR/TANELEER TIVAN -- Benicio del Toro's reprises the Collector once again, but this time as an illusion created by Thanos using the Reality Stone.  We're not really sure if he's actually dead or not, but it's implied that Thanos killed him before the Guardians of the Galaxy arrived at Knowhere.

OKOYE -- As one of the big highlights of the solo Black Panther movie, Danai Gurira's Okoye gets to help T'Challa lead the Wakandan forces into battle against the Outriders, and her eyeroll is strong when Bruce Banner faceplants while running in the Hulkbuster armor.

SHURI -- Another highlight from the Black Panther movie was Letitia Wright as Shuri, who practically stole every scene she was in.  Here, she has a fun moment being a science geek with Bruce Banner before she is forced to scramble attempting to remove the Vision's Mind Stone before Thanos arrived.

WONG -- Also waiting for the Doctor Strange 2 greenlight, Benedict Wong's Wong (Yes, I know what I just typed) gets to use his typical deadpan humor to great effect.  You also have to respect Wong for having the sense to deliberately sit this one out and stick to his responsibilities.

LOKI LAUFEYSON CAMEO -- As Loki once again, Tom Hiddleston tries to pull a fast one on Thanos in the opening sequence, only to end up dead in the film's first shocking moment.

HEIMDALL CAMEO -- Idris Elba only gets one scene in the movie as Heimdall, but it's a big one as Heimdall is killed after sending the Hulk to Earth.  

RED SKULL CAMEO -- The Walking Dead's Ross Marquand takes over for Hugo Weaving as Captain America's arch-enemy, who turns up unexpectedly on Vormir as the keeper of the Soul Stone.  Now that he doesn't have the Soul Stone, maybe he should return to Earth and be Captain America's main bad guy again?  Just sayin'.

OBLIGATORY STAN LEE CAMEO -- Stan "The Man" turns up as a school bus driver taking Peter to school, only for Peter to duck out to investigate the arrival of Ebony Maw's spaceship.

NICK FURY AND MARIA HILL CAMEOS -- Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders appear in the post-credits scene, where Nick Fury transmits a distress signal just in the nick of time (See what I did there?) as he, Maria Hill and others also disintegrate.  The transmitter displays a yellow star insignia of Captain Marvel on a red-and-blue background, so be sure to go see her movie.

All in all, Avengers: Infinity War actually lives up to its insane amount of hype.  The film is essentially The Empire Strikes Back of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, bringing everything fans love only to end on a brutal downbeat cliffhanger.  While we wait for the big Cosmic Reset Button to be pushed in Avengers 4 (Quick, go read The Infinity Gauntlet to find out how), the big question is, will that film stick the landing better than Return of the Jedi did?  Well, at least there shouldn't be any Ewoks...although that could be kind of amazing and Disney does own both franchises...Hmmm...

And for those who may be wondering, here's the updated list of my Top 20 Comic Book Films:

1. Superman (1978)
2. The Dark Knight (2008)

3. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

4. The Avengers (2012)

5. Batman Begins (2005)

6. Logan (2017)

7. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

8. Black Panther (2018)

9. Man of Steel (2013)

10. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

11. Doctor Strange (2016)

12. Wonder Woman (2017)

13. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

14. Spider-Man (2002)

15. Iron Man (2008)

16. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
17. Watchmen (2009)
18. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

19. Thor (2011)

20. Justice League (2017)

Final AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Trailer Teases Captain America vs. Thanos

Avengers Reassemble!

Marvel has released the final trailer for Avengers: Infinity War, giving us a look at the Black Order and what appears to be major confrontation between Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and supervillain Thanos (Josh Brolin).

The two minute, fifteen second trailer opens with an upside down view of Manhattan as we hear a voiceover from Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Thanos' adopted daugher, who says, "The entire time I knew him, he only ever had one goal...to wipe out half the universe.  If he gets all the Infinity Stones, he can do it with a snap of his fingers.  Just like that."

"Tell me his name again," replies Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.).

"Thanos."

We then see images of Peter Parker (Tom Holland) leaving his school bus, putting on his Spider-Man mask, and web swinging off a bridge.

"We've got one advantage," Iron Man says in a voiceover as we see him flying after a spaceship.  "He's coming to us."

"We have what Thanos wants," Iron Man continues as Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) activates the Eye of Agamotto, "so that's what we'll use."

Steve and the other Avengers arrive in the African nation of Wakanda, where Steve shakes the hand of Black Panther/T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), who is accompanied by his Dora Milaje bodyguards.  We then see T'Challa's sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) looking down at a hologram of The Vision (Paul Bettany) in the palm of her hand.

The trailer cuts to a different scene, where Star-Lord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is talking with Iron Man, Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) and Spider-Man.  "Let's talk about this plan of yours," he says to Tony.  "I think it's good, except, it sucks, so let me do the plan and that way, it might be really good."

Tony rolls his eyes and replies, "Wow."

We then see Black Panther and Steve Rogers on a flying craft, leading the Wakandan forces into battle alongside Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and Steve's longtime friend The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan).

"The end is near," remarks Thanos in a voiceover as we see Thor (Chris Hemsworth) briefly blinding Groot (Vin Diesel) and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) with a burst of lightning, "and when I'm done, half of humanity will still exist."

We glimpse the larger Thanos squeezing Thor's head in the palm of his hand, causing his agony as Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and the Black Order look on.  Thanos then crushes the Tesseract in the palm of his other hand.

As the battle in Wakanda begins, Thanos remarks in another voiceover, "Perfectly balanced, as all things should be."  We see Corvus Glaive torturing Doctor Strange, followed by Thanos saying "I hope they remember you."

This is immediately followed by Thanos' large Infinity Gauntlet coming down on Steve, who blocks it and struggles to hold it back with everything he has, much to Thanos' surprise.

A final scene has Spider-Man awkwardly meeting Doctor Strange, with Peter offering his hand, saying "I'm Peter, by the way."

"Doctor Strange," replies the Sorcerer Supreme.

"Oh!" exclaims Peter.  "Using our made-up names.  Then I am Spider-Man."  This is followed by a brief shot of Spider-Man swinging into the chaotic battle from before.

If you'd like to view the trailer, you can check it out below thanks to the official Marvel Entertainment account on YouTube...




Avengers: Infinity War will arrive in theaters on April 27, 2018.

First AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Trailer Teases Steve Rogers as Nomad

And there came a day unlike any other, when Earth's mightiest heroes were united against a common threat...

Marvel has officially released the first trailer for Avengers: Infinity War, the third film in the Avengers film series directed by Anthony & Joe Russo.  

The two-minute, 25-second trailer opens with a shot of what appears to be an alien world with Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) sorrowfully clutching something in his hands.  We see fleeting images of Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Wong (Benedict Wong) finding Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) after he had crashed through the roof of the Sanctum Sanctorum, followed by The Vision (Paul Bettany) looking more human (with hair!) as he caresses the face of the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen).

A series of connecting voiceovers plays over these images from various cast members...

Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson):  "There was an idea..."
Iron Man:  "...to bring together a group of remarkable people..."
The Vision: "...to see if we could become something more..."
Thor (Chris Hemsworth):  "...so when they needed us, we could fight the battles..."
Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson)  "...that they never could."

As we see Tony join Bruce, Doctor Strange and Wong, we hear the voice of Thanos (Josh Brolin) say "In time, you will know what it's like to lose...to feel so desperately that you're right, yet to fail all the same."

The hairs on the arm of Peter Parker (Tom Holland) stand up as he senses something ominous with the large hoop-shaped spacecraft hovering near the Chrysler Building.

"Dread it...run from it..." continues Thanos, "...destiny still arrives."  

We see Loki (Tom Hiddleston) holding up the Tesseract he reclaimed in Thor: Ragnarok as Thanos arrives.  This is followed by fleeting images of Spider-Man wearing the Iron Spider suit that Tony Stark gave him in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

"Evacuate the city," begins Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), "engage our defenses, and get this man a shield."  Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) steps into view, now sporting a full beard under his possible Nomad identity from the comics.  The Hulkbuster Iron Man armor from Avengers: Age of Ultron makes a return, while Black Widow now has short blond hair instead of her traditional red.

"Fun isn't something one considers while balancing the universe," remarks Thanos as he takes the Mind Stone from the Vision's forehead for his Infinity Gauntlet, "but this does put a smile on my face."

An impressive shot follows of Steve, Black Panther, Okoye (Danai Gurira), the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), Black Widow, and the Hulk leading a charge of the Wakandan army into battle.

In the final scene, we see a breathless, one-eyed Thor asking "Who the Hel are you guys?"  The camera turns and we see none other than the Guardians of the Galaxy, with Mantis waving hello.

If you'd to check out the trailer, you can view it below thanks to the official Marvel Entertainment account on YouTube...



Avengers: Infinity War is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 4, 2018.
 

DAMN Good Movies -- GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2

Yep, time once again for another of my movie takes, this time on the film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the sequel to the hit Marvel Cinematic Universe film Guardians of the Galaxy.  As always, if you haven't seen the movie yet and you don't want it spoiled for you, then please step back from your computer or whatever electronic device you're reading this on and stop reading now.  If, however, you're wise enough to know that movie reviews with spoilers are always more interesting than the ones without them...well...get ready for something good, something bad, a bit of both...

Three years ago, Marvel Studios rolled the dice hard on a big-screen adaptation of their comic series Guardians of the Galaxy, which turned out to be one of the big hits of 2014 and brought in a nice little $773 million worldwide, with a reported budget of $170 million.  James Gunn, who co-wrote and directed the original movie, was contractually obligated to return if asked, and wrote and directed this film as well.  In addition to the new character Mantis, Gunn originally planned to introduce Adam Warlock, but ended up cutting him because he thought the film was "getting too busy."  A good call, in my opinion, because the film is still too busy without him.

Set in 2014 shortly after the events of the first film, the Guardians of the Galaxy are recruited by Ayesha, the leader of a bunch of gold aliens called the Sovereign, to protect valuable batteries from an inter-dimensional monster in exchange for Gamora's eternally pissed-off sister Nebula, who was caught trying to steal the batteries.  After Rocket steals some for himself, the Sovereign attacks the Guardians' ship with a fleet of drones that have remote controls that use classic '80s videogame sound effects. The drones are destroyed by a mysterious figure, but as a result of the attack, the Guardians are forced to crash-land on a nearby planet.  Said mysterious figure reveals himself to be Peter's father, Ego, who just happened to be looking for his long-lost son from Earth.  Ego invites Peter, Gamora and Drax to his home planet (or is that the planet's home?), while Rocket and Baby Groot stay behind to repair the ship and babysit Nebula.  Lucky them.

Ayesha, meanwhile, is really not happy that Rocket stole the batteries and hires Yondu Udonta and his crew, who were exiled from the Ravagers for child trafficking, to go after the Guardians.  They capture Rocket -- eventually -- but when Yondu is reluctant to turn over Peter, Yondu's second-in-command Taserface (Yes, that's right, Taserface) leads a mutiny with some help from Nebula.  Taserface imprisons Rocket and Yondu aboard Yondu's ship and shoves everyone loyal to Yondu out an airlock, while Nebula quickly bails to kill Gamora, whom she blames for all the horrible crap in her horrible cyborg life.

As if that's not enough to deal with, Ego explains to Peter, Gamora and Drax that he's a god-like Celestial, an eternal consciousness that formed a planet with itself at the core. Feeling lonely and because Tinder hadn't been invented yet, Ego created a human body to travel the universe and interact with other species, eventually meeting and falling in love with Peter's dead mom Meredith.  Ego hired Yondu to collect Peter as a boy after Meredith's death, but Yondu never delivered Peter and Ego has been searching for him ever since. And yes, it turns out that Peter has Celestial power, too.

See, I told you this film was too busy.

And just when Peter starts feeling happy about finally being able to play catch with his dad, Ego drops the bomb on Peter that while exploring the universe, he planted seedlings upon thousands of worlds that can terraform them into new extensions of himself, but they can only be activated by the combined power of two Celestials.  So in order to make another Celestial, he knocked up countless alien women and hired Yondu to collect the children, only to kill them all when they failed to show Celestial power.  Losing tons of "Father of the Year" votes by the second, Ego forces Peter to activate the seedlings, which begin to consume every world they're on.  And then, just when you think things can't go any worse, Ego kicks Peter right in the teeth by revealing that he deliberately caused Meredith's death because his love for her distracted him from his true purpose.  Oh, hell no.

The film heads into the Third Act, with Gunn cranking up his latest classic rock mix tape and throwing everything he can at the screen.  The reunited Guardians fight the Sovereign's drones in the skies above while trying to reach Ego's brain at the planet's core and detonate a bomb Rocket made out of the stolen batteries.  The bomb naturally explodes just in the nick of time, killing Ego and causing the planet to go all Krypton.  And to help Peter cope with all of his new daddy issues, Yondu sacrifices himself to save Peter, who realizes Yondu didn't deliver him to Ego because he was saving him from being killed like the other Ego Juniors.  Yondu was Quill's real "daddy" after all!  Awwwww!

And thankfully, the film's cast give some great performances with a lot of entertaining character moments. Here are some of the things that stood out:

STAR-LORD/PETER JASON QUILL -- In his second outing as Star-Lord, Chris Pratt gets some serious emotional character development.  He finally meets his father Ego, discovers he has superpowers, tries to figure out what the hell he and Gamora are to each other, learns Ego is a major space douche, loses said space douche father and his superpowers, realizes Yondu was his unofficial father all along, and then loses Yondu as well.  As a result, Peter isn't nearly as fun this time and the film suffers a little because of it. 

GAMORA -- Zoe Saldana gets sidelined for a good portion of the sequel, pretty much reduced to playing "Will they or won't they?" with Peter, except for working out her issues (sort of) with her adopted sister Nebula.  The sequence where Gamora picks up a BFG and just unloads on Nebula is a particular highlight that just makes you smile.

DRAX THE DESTROYER -- Dave Bautista, the surprising comedic weapon of the first film, returns as Drax and thankfully hasn't changed at all.  Well, he does get a romance of his own with Mantis, whom he keeps referring to as physically ugly despite having apparent feelings towards her.  But don't worry, Drax's greatest trick of laughing hard at really inappropriate moments is still there.

ROCKET -- With all these emotional humanoids, you'd think Bradley Cooper's Rocket wouldn't be affected, but nope, nope, nope, he also goes through the emotional wringer. After a great spotlight sequence where Rocket pretty much owns the Ravagers before he ends up captured, he realizes he and Yondu are pretty much Angry Jerk Bros, and is genuinely affected by Yondu's death.  

BABY GROOT -- Vin Diesel reprises the voice of Groot, although you'd never know it because after the events of the first film, Groot is now a cute little tree toddler fresh out of the flower pot.  Baby Groot is pretty much all kinds of adorbz throughout the film, and you find yourself feeling really bad for him when the Ravagers turn him into their mascot and treat him like crap.  In a fun mid-credits scene, Groot starts growing back to his normal adult size, exhibiting typical sulky teenage behavior in the process.

EGO, THE LIVING PLANET -- The always entertaining Kurt Russell is Ego, a planet-sized change from Peter's father in the comics, J'Son, the emperor of the planet Sparta.  I'm sure a lot of diehard Marvel Comics fans were concerned about Gunn making The Living Planet a human, but the explanations provided work nicely, and we do get to see the comic version when everything goes to hell in the third act.  And hey, how about those Kurt Russell de-aging special effects during the flashback scenes with Meredith?  I think we need a new Snake Plissken Escape movie, don't you?

MANTIS -- Ditching the whole Celestial Madonna thing from the comics (for now at least), Pom Klementieff is a bit of a scene-stealer as the empath Mantis.  Her social awkwardness makes for great pairing with Drax, although I wish she wasn't quite so naïve at times.  It's nice to see another female character join the team though, especially as a contrast to Gamora.

YONDU UDONTA -- Speaking of scene-stealing, Michael Rooker comes dangerously close to stealing the entire movie as Yondu.  Rooker's "good ol' boy" charm comes through once again as he shares some great moments with Pratt and Cooper, as well as going through his own character arc of having his command taken away by disloyal mutineers.  He also gets the best line of the movie, after Yondu rescues Peter with the help of a rocket pack and lowers him slowly to the ground, proudly proclaiming "I'm Mary Poppins, y'all!"

NEBULA -- Returning as the cyborg sourpuss Nebula, Karen Gillan gets some character development of her own with the strained relationship between her and Gamora as adoptive daughters of Thanos.  Her best moments, however, are when she becomes the sci-fi version of Burt Kwouk's Cato from the Pink Panther movies and just shows up out of nowhere to try and kill Gamora.  Their battle on Ego's planet is truly epic.

AYESHA -- Looking like a victim of James Bond villain Auric Goldfinger, Elizabeth Debicki portrays Ayesha as a high priestess and leader of the Sovereign people and spends most of the film trying to kill the Guardians because Rocket stole the Sovereign's valuable batteries. In a mid-credits scene, Ayesha creates a new artificial being in a familiar cocoon with whom she plans to destroy the Guardians, naming him Adam.  If you're a Marvel Comics fan, you should recognize "Adam" as none other Adam Warlock.   

STARHAWK/STAKAR OGORD CAMEOS -- Making a couple of "Hey, it's Sylvester Stallone!" cameos in the film, Sylvester Stallone's Starhawk is the guy who saved Yondu from years of slavery by the Kree.  He later appears in a mid-credits scene, where he's inspired by Yondu's sacrifice and reunites with his former team, the original Guardians of the Galaxy.

MARTINEX CAMEOS -- Michael Rosenbaum appears as the crystalline Martinex, here a member of Stakar's team of Ravagers, who visits Yondu along with his leader to remind him that he is in exile.  After Yondu sacrifices himself, Martinex is also moved to bring the rest of the original Guardians back together to honor him.

CHARLIE-27 AND ALETA CAMEOS -- Ving Rhames and Michelle Yeoh turn up in the mid-credits scene where Starhawk and Martinex reunite with Charlie-27 and Aleta in a great nod to the original Guardians of the Galaxy team from the comics.

HOWARD THE DUCK CAMEO -- Steve Gerber's creation returns with Seth Green's voice once again.  Howard is shown having a drink with his date in the Iron Lotus on Contraxia, where Yondu Udonta was exiled for breaking the Ravagers Code.  In the scene, he flirts with his date by saying "You're out of luck until you've got duck." 

OBLIGATORY STAN LEE CAMEO -- Stan "The Man" turns up in a great post-credits scene as an informant to the Watchers, discussing previous adventures that include Stan's cameos in other Marvel Cinematic Universe films. This is a great nod to the popular fan theory that Stan was actually one of the Watchers in his various cameo appearances.

All in all, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a worthy sequel to the original, even though it's not quite as good.  James Gunn makes another fun summer movie with the morally dubious Guardians, once again filled with lots of old-school songs you never knew you liked, snappy one-liners, and a ton of sci-fi action goodness.  But if you thought this film had a lot going on, just imagine how crazy things are going to get when the Guardians turn up next in Avengers: Infinity War to help take on Thanos...

And for those who may be wondering, here's the updated list of my Top 20 Comic Book Films:

1. Superman (1978)
2. The Dark Knight (2008)
3. The Avengers (2012)

4. Batman Begins (2005)

5. Logan (2017)

6. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

7. Man of Steel (2013)

8. Doctor Strange (2016)

9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

10. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
11. Spider-Man (2002)
12. Iron Man (2008)

13. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
14. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
15. Watchmen (2009)
16. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

17. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

18. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

19. X-Men: First Class (2011)

20. Deadpool (2016)

Extended GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 Super Bowl Trailer Reveals Ayesha

Well, at least Drax tried.

Once again, Disney/Marvel took advantage of America's most-watched sporting event by promoting the next Marvel Cinematic Universe film during last night's Super Bowl.  The 30-second TV spot was just as thrilling as the New England Patriots' comeback to beat the Atlanta Falcons in overtime, showing us more from James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.  However, a spiffier extended trailer was immediately released online, with a full minute providing even more anticipation.

Opening to the classic rock goodness of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain", we find the Guardians brought before a new villain, Ayesha (played by Elizabeth Debicki).  Ayesha asks the Guardians, "Just who...in the hell...do you think you are?"

Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) replies "Well...", which is immediately followed by multiple fleeting images of the Guardians in outer space action.  We see glimpses of new team members Yondu (Michael Rooker) with a more traditional Yondu headfin, Mantis (Pom Klementieff) in awe at how cute Baby Groot is, and Nebula (Karen Gillan) unleashing a battle cry as she swoops down in some sort of fighter craft.

Yondu, however, is apparently a little freaked out by Baby Groot and asks Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) what Baby Groot meant by "I am Groot."  "He says welcome to the frickin' Guardians of the Galaxy..." replies Rocket.  "...only he didn't use frickin."

In the final scene, the Guardians stand assembled, but a fireball abruptly comes down from the sky and takes out Mantis.  "Look out!" cries Drax (Dave Bautista), far too late after the fireball has already struck.  Drax looks up at the astonished others and says "I tried, guys."

If you'd like to check out the one-minute extended Super Bowl trailer, you can view it below thanks to Marvel Entertainment's official YouTube account...




Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 5, 2017.

Your 2017 Geek Movie and TV Calendar

Once again, the new year brings us closer to The Films and TV Shows You've Been Dying to See for Like Forever.  If you enjoy sci-fi, fantasy and comic book based entertainment as I do, you already have several must-see flicks and television programs in the pipeline for 2017.  With that in mind, I thought I'd go ahead and give a helpful chronological rundown of which geek movie and TV goodness arrives when.  Some of these films will be worth the long wait, others you wouldn't watch even if they were on Netflix, but each have their audiences and key target demographics.  Start planning your work vacation/sick/personal days accordingly.

JANUARY

6 - Underworld: Blood Wars (Movie)
8 - Elementary, Sherlock: The Lying Detective, The Simpsons (TV)
10 - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
15 - Sherlock: The Final Problem (TV)
16 - Gotham, Lucifer, Supergirl (TV)
24 - The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
25 - Arrow (TV)
26 - Riverdale (TV)

FEBRUARY

2 - Powerless (TV)
8 - Legion (TV)
10 - John Wick: Chapter 2, The LEGO Batman Movie (Movie)
12 - Last Week Tonight, The Walking Dead (TV)

MARCH

March 2017? -- Better Call Saul, The Americans (TV)
3 - Logan (Movie)
10 - Kong: Skull Island (Movie)
17 - Iron Fist (TV)
24 - Power Rangers (Movie)
31 - Ghost in the Shell (Movie)

APRIL

April 2017? - American Gods, Class, Doctor Who, Fear the Walking Dead, Into the Badlands, Orphan Black, Twin Peaks (TV)
4 - iZombie (TV)

MAY

May 2017? - Preacher, Star Trek: Discovery (TV)
5 - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (Movie)
19 - Alien: Covenant (Movie)
26 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (Movie)

JUNE

June 2017? - The Defenders, Game of Thrones, Outcast (TV)
2 - Wonder Woman (Movie)
9 - The Mummy (Movie)
23 - Transformers: The Last Knight (Movie)
30 - Despicable Me 3 (Movie)

JULY

July 2017? - Stranger Things (TV)
7 - Spider-Man: Homecoming (Movie)
14 - War for the Planet of the Apes (Movie)
28 - The Dark Tower (Movie)

AUGUST

August 2017? -- Halt and Catch Fire, The Strain (TV)

SEPTEMBER

September 2017? - Gotham, The Inhumans, Lucifer, The Punisher, The Simpsons (TV)
4 - The Inhumans (Movie)
8 - Stephen King's IT Part One (Movie)

OCTOBER

October 2017? - American Horror Story, Arrow, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Elementary, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, The Walking Dead (TV)
6 - Blade Runner 2049, Kingsman: The Golden Circle (Movie)

NOVEMBER

3 - Thor: Ragnarok (Movie)
17 - Justice League (Movie)

DECEMBER

15 - Star Wars Episode VIII (Movie)
25 - Doctor Who 2017 Christmas Special

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 Teaser Trailer Reveals Mantis

Baby Groot is happening, people!

Marvel has released the first teaser trailer to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the sequel to the popular 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy from director James Gunn.  Gunn returns to write and direct the sequel, and this two minute, ten second trailer gives us our first good look at Pom Klementieff as the team's new member, Mantis.

Opening to the classic rock goodness of Sweet's "Fox on the Run," we open on some platform on an alien world, where the Guardians are fighting a big alien monster.  "The fate of the universe lies on your shoulders," begins Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) to the toddler-like Baby Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) as Rocket points to a nasty-looking device. "Now whatever you do...don't push this button.  Because that will set off the bomb immediately and we'll all be dead."

Rocket asks Baby Groot to repeat back what he just said, which he does in his only phrase "I am Groot."

"No!" shouts Rocket angrily.  "That's the button that will kill everyone!  Try again."

Baby Groot repeats "I am Groot" over and over in response, only to point at pressing the button once again and cause Rocket to groan in extreme frustration.

We cut to a montage of the various Guardians members fighting aliens and flying in the middle of a spaceship battle before cutting back to the scene of Rocket and Baby Groot.

"Does anyone have any tape out there?!" asks Rocket.  "I wanna put some tape over the death button."

"Nobody has any tape!" yells Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) in response as laser fire is shown overhead.

"Not a single person has tape?!"

"You have an atomic bomb in your bag!  If anybody's gonna have tape, it's you!"

As Rocket and Star-Lord continue to argue, Baby Groot grabs the bomb and runs off with it, excitedly exclaiming "I...am...Grooooooot!"

"That's a really bad sign," quips Rocket.

We then cut to a second scene, this time inside a spaceship or base with Mantis, Star-Lord and Drax (Dave Bautista) as Gamora (Zoe Saldana) looks on.  "If I touch someone," says Mantis as she reaches for Star-Lord's hand, "I can feel their feelings.  You feel...love!"

"Yeah, I guess, yeah, I feel a general unselfish love for just about everybody," replies Star-Lord.

"No," counters Mantis.  "Sexual love."  When Star-Lord protests, Mantis points over at Gamora and exclaims "For her!"

Drax immediately bursts into loud, socially awkward laughter and points at Star-Lord.  "She just told everyone your deepest, darkest secret!"

"Dude, come on!" replies Star-Lord, embarrassed.  "I think you're overreacting a little bit!"

"You must be so embarrassed!" laughs Drax once again as he turns to Mantis.  "Do me!  Do me!  Do me!"

And here's the teaser trailer, thanks to Marvel Entertainment's official account on YouTube...




Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 5, 2017.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 Casts Pom Klementieff as Mantis

We have ourselves a new Guardian.  You know, of the galaxy.

Just one day after The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Pom Klementieff has been cast in a major role for James Gunn's upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Deadline now reports that Klementieff will be playing Marvel's celestial madonna Mantis.

Marvel reportedly held a wide casting search for Mantis, which called for an Asian actress, and did several rounds of chemistry reads.

Klementieff, 29, is a French actress of Korean and French-Russian descent, best known as Haeng-Bok in the 2013 version of Oldboy.  She will also be appearing in the upcoming film Hacker's Game.

Created in 1973 by Steve Englehart and Don Heck, Mantis first appeared in The Avengers (vol.1) #112 as the half-Vietnamese, half-German daughter Libra, member of the Zodiac.  During her childhood, Mantis' father left her in Vietnam at the Temple of the alien Priests of Pama, a sect of the Kree.  The Kree believed she might become the Celestial Madonna and mate with the eldest Cotati on Earth to become the mother of the Celestial Messiah, "the most important being in the universe."

Mantis excelled in her martial arts studies, but when she reached adulthood, her mind was wiped and was sent into the world to gain life experience.  She became a prostitute and barmaid in a Vietnamese bar, where she met the Swordsman.  She helped him regain his self-respect and followed him when he attempted to rejoin the Avengers.

She soon witnessed the death of the Swordsman at the hands of Kang, only realizing the depth of her love for the Swordsman just as he died.  She then buried the Swordsman, learned the origins of the Kree-Skrull War, the Cotati, and the Priests of Pama.  Mantis then formally joined the Avengers and was revealed to be the Celestial Madonna.  She married a Cotati in the reanimated body of the Swordsman, leaving the Avengers and the Earth to mate with him.

Later, after being a prisoner of the Kree, Mantis took up residence on the Knowhere station with the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy.  She assumed the role of counselor for the group, using her knowledge of the mind to maintain a balance with their various personalities.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is scheduled to be released on May 5, 2017.

Wizard World Columbus 2015: Day Two Photos

Wizard World Comic Con Columbus 2015 was all kinds of busy today at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, with William Shatner, Mike Tyson, Dave Bautista, Michael Rooker, Emily Kinney, and others signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans. Sadly, David Ramsey was a no-show.


Even with a pretty flimsy celebrity guest roster and the lack of major comics creators, there was still a surprisingly heavy Saturday attendance.  I did some more bargain hunting, picked up a great Constantine t-shirt, and of course, got a lot of great cosplay photos.

Here are some of my photos from Day Two...

The Batman v Superman Batman armor starts off Day Two

Emily Kinney (Beth from Walking Dead, The Bug-Eyed Bandit on The Flash)

Genderbending Marty McFly is all dressed for 2015

Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy is probably hunting Dave Bautista and Michael Rooker

See?  Melissandre brought Jon Snow back from the dead for Game of Thrones Season 6

Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend Day Three this year, but if you'd like to see more pics from Wizard World Columbus, I've set up an album on my Facebook page HERE.  See you next year!