The Death of Spider-Gwen?

By Brandon T. McClure (Cover Art by Mark Brooks)

In 2013 Marvel Comics Introduced Marcus Johnson, a previously unknown S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that was revealed to be using an alias because his real name was Nick Fury Jr. Revealed to be the son of the original Nick Fury, Nick Fury Jr. was modeled to look like Samuel L. Jackson who played Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and the Ultimate Universe Nick Fury. Marvel decided to do this to try and synergize their comics with the far more popular films, but it wasn’t the first time they did this and it wouldn’t be the last. The latest example of this synergistic mindset is Gwen Stacy aka Spider-Gwen aka Spider-Woman aka Ghost-Spider. A character that Marvel has struggled with for almost a decade because of her popularity outside of the realm of comic books.

Spider-Gwen first appeared in the second issue of the 2014 mini-series Edge of Spider-Verse, which was released in the lead up to the massive Spider-Man event, Spider-Verse. This issue was massively popular and sold out at comic shops almost immediately. It received more than five reprints, tons of variants, and is the only issue from that series to spin off into an ongoing series. The point of Edge of Spider-Verse, wasn’t just to set up the Spider-Verse event, it was also to introduce new Spider characters into Marvel's multiverse. Edge of Spider-Verse #2, written by Jason Latour with art by Robbi Rodriguez, introduced readers to a version of Gwen Stacy living on Earth-65 where she became Spider-Woman and Peter Parker became the Lizard. Her costume was immediately iconic and she would go on to have nine solo titles, appear in multiple crossovers, and multiversal team-up titles, and very quickly make the jump to the small and big screen. She was so popular that Marvel commissioned an entire line of “Gwen-Verse” variant covers that lead to the creation of Gwenpoole (no relation).

Earth-65 is populated by unique takes on familiar Marvel heroes and villains, such as the lovable Bodega Bandit. On her Earth, Gwen went up against Matt Murdock, Kingpin of crime in this universe, a Trump inspired M.O.D.O.K., named M.O.D.A.A.K. (Mental Organism Designed As America's King), and more familiar villains such as The Punisher and The Vulture. Gwen even teamed up with Earth-65’s Captain America, Samantha Wilson. Other heroes weren’t explored but a 13 year old Reed Richards, who’s no less a genius, was introduced. Gwen would even get her own Venom suit after losing her powers to Earth-65’s version of Cindy Moon. But her most iconic trait is that she plays drums for The Mary Janes, a band where Mary Jane Watson (who became Carnage once) is the lead singer with a hit single called “Face It Tiger”. All of these stories were told by Jason Latour, the character's co-creator. Earth-65 started to look a lot less special after he left.

After Jason Latour, who would later be accused of sexual misconduct, left the title, the character fell to Seanan McGuire who would have Gwen hop back and forth between Earth-65 and Earth-616, the main Marvel universe where all their comics are set. In the two series that McGuire wrote, Gwen would go up against Earth-616 threats like The Jackel, a villain historically obsessed with Gwen Stacy. But the new series did set up new antagonists for Gwen in her home dimension in the form of Sue and Johnny Storm. The siblings were celebrities who were captured by Dr. Doom, only to return to New York City as superpowered heroes. It’s heavily implied that Sue is the new Dr. Doom and she demands that Gwen leave Earth-65 permanently. This story has never been followed up on, and was possibly ignored by the time of her next solo title. Not to say that Seanan McGuire didn’t do good work on the two Spider-Gwen titles she worked on. She was restricted by Marvel editorial in what she could do and only had a total of twenty issues that ended at the start of the COVD-19 pandemic.  

Spider-Gwen’s popularity led her to be adapted into many shows, which, along with her film appearances, began to reveal a problem with how Marvel was handling this once popular character. In 2018, Marvel released a multi-media series called Marvel Rising. This series focused on teenage heroes and introduced Gwen Stacy as Ghost-Spider. Since Spider-Gwen would begin interacting with the larger Marvel universe, she could not be called Spider-Woman (there were already three female heroes with that name), even though that was the name she went by in her home universe. She could also not be called Spider-Gwen by the other characters she interacted with because that was the title of the comic book and not her codename. That same year, Marvel launched a new ongoing series titled Ghost-Spider to try and get that name to stick. Considering the current ongoing series is called All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider, it’s safe to assume that it still hasn’t stuck. If two heroes can hold the moniker of Spider-Man, then two heroes can be called Spider-Woman.

2018 was a big year for Spider-Gwen as she also appeared in the Academy Award winning film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman and written by Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman. This film saw multiple Spider people from across the multiverse, including Peter B. Parker, Spider-Man Noir, Penny Parker, Spider-Ham, and Spider-Gwen, team up with Miles Morales to stop the Kingpin from destroying the multiverse. This film plays with the idea of Gwen and Miles forming a romantic bond, something that Marvel tried to capitalize on by crossing Gwen over into Miles’ comic book series. This was the start of what would eventually lead to Spider-Gwen’s downfall. Marvel Comics felt that the popularity of Spider-Gwen came from her crossover appeal. It’s the same reason why Marvel Comics revisits the Spider-Verse storyline every couple of years. In the case of Spider-Gwen, they began to chase what made the movie popular.

Marvel Comics has a habit of trying to align their comic book characters with the ones in the films. It makes a certain amount of sense when you think about it because movies make millions or even billions of dollars and are seen by millions of people. By contrast, comic books are read by thousands. How do you get movie viewers to become comic book readers? Comics can feel impenetrable to the general audience so if someone wanted to pick up an Avengers comic and the team didn't look like the one on the big screen, they might decide to skip it. This mentality is the only reason why Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley launched Avengers Assemble in 2012, or why Marvel just released The New Avengers by Sam Humphries and Ton Lima, which was originally announced as Thunderbolts*. It even happened to Blade after the film came out in 1998. Marvel loves synergy. They feel like it will help ease the general public into becoming comic book readers despite most evidence pointing to the contrary. It’s not to say that it doesn’t happen, but it hasn’t happened in a way that significantly moves the needle. So in order to make it easier for Spider-Gwen to crossover with the other spider heroes of New York City, Marvel has removed her from Earth-65 and placed her on Earth-616. 

There’s potentially another reason for this move, just to play devil's advocate. For ten years, Marvel published a line of comics called The Ultimate Universe. What started as an immensely popular line of comics that lead to the creation of Miles Morales, began to dwindle in popularity. It came to an end with Secret Wars, an event created by Jonathan Hickman that forced every Marvel comic to be either cancelled or placed on hold. At the end of the event, the Ultimate Universe was gone and some heroes and villains had been folded into Earth-616 such as Miles Morales and The Maker (an evil version of Reed Richards). Publishing a series set in an alternate reality probably creates some confusion with readers and considering it was the only series like that post-Secret Wars, it was probably causing a headache for Marvel publishing. It probably made sense to fold her into Earth-616 because Miles regained his popularity when it happened to him.

Recently Marvel Comics launched All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider, the ninth solo title for the character, written by Stephanie Phillips with art by Paolo Villanelli. The new series reveals that Gwen has made Earth-616 her new permanent home. Gwen has now permanently left Earth-65, the villains, the heroes, and the friends behind in favor of the all too familiar cast of Earth-616. She is no longer a unique spider in a world that can be explored and expanded upon indefinitely. She’s now just another spider hero in a world with far too many spider heroes. The hard part for fans was how slow it happened. It was inevitable, but it started small. Just one off crossovers at first, then she was going to school in Earth-616 with Peter Parker as her professor, then she teamed up with Loki to rewrite the universe, and now Ghost-Spider has moved in. It’s not to say that the character can’t flourish under the watchful eye of a talented writer like Stephanie Phillips, it’s just hard to watch a character lose all they’re potential in favor of the Marvel synergy that comes for everyone, even Tony Stark (they were writing him like RDJ for about 10 years. No one was happy about it).

In fairness the series had a hard time maintaining the momentum of her debut issue. The ongoing series was fast tracked to come out before Secret Wars but was then cancelled after five issues, then returned after Secret Wars. But while the new series went for 34 issues, the book struggled in sales and then Marvel decided to make things confusing by trying to make “Ghost-Spider” happen. There’s a reason why whenever The Amazing Spider-Man gets a reboot it doesn’t change its title. Changing the title of a series confuses longtime and new readers. Nine solo titles in ten years is a hard sell for readers. Eventually they stop trying. But Marvel is constantly chasing the first issue bump in sales. Basically they noticed that new number ones make more money, so they try to capitalize on that whenever they can. Spider-Gwen became a shell of the character that fans first fell in love with and every subsequent series took her away from her world and the stories fans were invested in. Or perhaps she was never meant to have this popularity and should have stayed within the pages of Edge of Spider-Verse #2.

Her popularity doesn’t seem to ever translate to her comics. Spider-Gwen has a flourishing merchandise line for girls of all ages. Her iconic design persists through popular culture and has broken through to the mainstream. It sometimes feels like she’s passed Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman, as the most iconic female Spider hero. Hot Topic is littered with jackets, sweaters, shirts, skirts, bras, and more sporting the white, pink and black of Spider-Gwen. But does this translate to comic book sales? Sadly no. Spider-Gwen may not actually be a popular comic book character but is instead a popular design or brand. Her merchandise sales are likely the only reason why Marvel keeps publishing her comic and keeping her on Earth-616 is the only way they could think to boost her popularity. But in doing so, she’s basically become nothing more than a brand ambassador for Marvel and not a character with a rich comic book history. Just a Frankenstein monster of a character kept alive through the power of merchandise. A cynical way of looking at it for sure.

Rather than exploring a rich new world of possibilities Marvel has chosen to ignore all of that in favor of easy crossover with other spider heroes. It's almost like they’re ashamed that she's from another universe and would rather everyone forget that. Perhaps her new title will ignite her popularity again, and Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse is just around the corner which will see Hayley Steinfeld reprise her role as the most popular version of the character. But the potential she once had is gone. Her supporting cast is gone in favor of Peter Parker and his gang. Her world is gone. Now fans have to watch as a character who burst on to the scene with excitement dies a slow and painful death into obscurity, overshadowed by the more popular spider heroes. Her life on Earth-616 just isn't as interesting as what could have been on Earth-65.

MARVEL & FoX-Men

By Brandon T. McClure

In a comedically long announcement, Marvel Studios announced the cast of the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday. The next Avengers film will see new and old heroes face Robert Downey Jr. 's miscast Doctor Doom. Yet, they won’t be alone. Almost half the cast is made up of actors who haven’t been in a Marvel movie in a decade. Indeed, the X-Men are finally going to make their MCU debut, just not in the way that fans were expecting, and certainly not in the way they should be. It seems that Kevin Feige can now realize a nearly 20 year old dream and all it took was Disney buying 20th Century Fox. The cast from 2000s X-Men and 2003s X2: X-Men United are back (plus Kelsey Grammer from X3: X-Men United).

Since Disney purchased 20th Century Fox in 2019, fans have been wondering when the Fantastic Four and the X-Men will make their MCU enternance. While the Fantastic Four have made that debut this year, news of the X-Men has been sparse. The internet is littered with fan theories and rumors ranging from the mundane to the ridiculous. This question has obviously been on the mind of everyone at Marvel Studios as well. Many fans felt that the X-Men were too big of a property to introduce in the same way that every character or team has been previously introduced. How do you explain their long absence when they have such an expanded history? This is the same scrutiny that the Eternals fell into back in 2001. If they have been around so long, why didn’t they help defeat Thanos?

Eternals is likely why the multiverse approach was taken. For example, Fantastic Four: First Steps is set in an alternate timeline to get away from the “Thanos” question. While comic book audiences are accustomed to not questioning why past events didn’t include newly introduced heroes, the same cannot be said for film audiences. The MCU has trained general audiences to accept “silly” ideas or concepts that comic book audiences have been accepting for decades, but this was a hurdle they couldn’t get over. So the multiverse was needed. While Namor (Tenoch Huerta) in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Ms. Marvel (Iman Vilani) in Ms. Marvel were introduced as MCU mutants, major characters like Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Beast (Kelsey Grammer) were relegated to the multiverse with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and The Marvels. However, this highlights a growing concern within Marvel Studios.

Rather than recasting the X-Men, Marvel Studios has chosen to bring back the original actors who burst onto the screen clad in black leather. A team that people don't even remember fondly and constantly talk about how misguided the films were. Marvel Studios is looking for the instant gratification of feeling like they're the biggest franchise in the world again. They know that the secret ingredient to making a quick billion dollar hit is to add aging former Marvel stars like in Spider-Man: No Way Home and the aforementioned Deadpool & Wolverine. The sad thing is that it's going to work. Avengers: Doomsday will be the biggest movie in the world regardless of how good it is because of all the returning actors that are known and unknown. The only film that will be bigger is Avengers: Secret Wars which comes out the following year.

Interestingly, this seems to be the realization of a major dream of Kevin Feiges. Having been part of the production of almost every Marvel film from X-Men to the formation of Marvel Studios, Feige probably has a lot of affection for the casts of these earlier films. In an alternate take for the post-credits scene of Iron Man, Nick Fury alludes to the X-Men and Spider-Man, which seems to imply that Feige, at some point, thought that he could connect all the Marvel films being produced by different studios under one universe. Rights issues don’t work that way and since Marvel sold the rights to various heroes, including the X-Men and Spider-Man in the 90s, Feige had to settle and build the Avengers with what he had. The rest is history, as they say.

Deadpool & Wolverine was supposedly meant to be a farewell of sorts to the pre-MCU era of Marvel films. Faced with the destruction of his entire universe, Wade Wilson aka Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), is sent to the wasteland, the TVA’s dumping grounds (This makes sense if you’ve seen Loki). Here he meets dozens of heroes and villains from across the Marvel multiverse such as Chris Evans as the Human Torch, Wesley Snipes as Blade, and Dafne Keen as X-23. Channing Tatum is also there as a version of Gambit that only exists in an ambitious cast photo from a Comic Con long past. Wade has to find a version of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to replace the one that died in Logan so that his universe can be saved. Sadly the film ultimately collapses under the weight of its references and only continues to muddy the already complicated X-Men timeline (is it the same timeline from the end of The Marvels? Because Beast should be dead). No one believed that it would be the promised “farewell” since everyone figured most, if not all these characters would show up in Avengers: Secret Wars. Frankly, they should have committed to the film serving as an ending to those characters and used the goodwill to move on.

There’s been a trend in the 21st century of older actors returning to roles many many years after their initial time as the character. Star Trek: Picard, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Terminator: Dark Fate, Top Gun: Maverick and so on and so on. There’s value to seeing older actors reprise these roles because it has destigmatized age and allowed older audiences to realize that there is no such thing as aging out of something. But, this trend has become so successful that it has begun to overshadow new and upcoming talent; creating an environment where younger audiences don’t have heroes of their own and are forced to relate to the heroes of a bygone age. Rather than giving a new generation an X-Men team to relate to, Marvel Studios has decided to give older fans their X-Men back. Although, it’s arguable over whether or not these older fans even want to see “their “ X-Men back. At a time when the MCU should be focusing on new heroes, they’ve doubled down on old ones which speaks more to how they’ve done a poor job cultivating a new generation of heroes (where are the Young Avengers Feige??)

That original X-Men cast are getting quite old at this point with none of the announced returning cast members younger than 51. Fans have always enjoyed seeing returning actors in outfits they didn’t wear when they were initially cast. Patrick Stewart in the yellow hover chair, Hugh Jackman in the yellow and blue, and Kelsey Grammer as a CGI Beast that looked closer to his comic book counterpart then he did in X-Men: The Last Stand. The internet got very excited when the announcement of these returning actors dropped. Curiously so. Is the excitement just so 60 year old Alan Cumming will look closer to his comic book counterpart? Or perhaps fans are excited to see James Marsden (51 and looking good by the way) in blue spandex, Ian McKellen (87) with a slightly different looking helmet, or Rebecca Romijn (52) in a white sleeveless dress with a belt made of skulls? Should Marvel Studios go all in on nostalgia and put them in black spandex again? Is that really all it takes for people to get excited? Or do fans want to see new actors take on these roles with a new director that actually likes the X-Men (this is a snipe against Bryan Singer, not the Russo Brothers). It’s too late to stop the juggernaut (heh) of Avengers: Doomsday. But the smell of desperation is all over it. A new cast of X-Men should have been the priority, and not whatever this is.

Recently Kevin Feige has confirmed that Avengers: Secret Wars will lead to a soft reboot by saying there are plans to “reset singular timelines” and promised that classic superheroes will begin to get recast. “X-Men is where that will happen” he said to a crowd of journalists. So there are plans to recast the X-Men as he also confirmed that Jake Schreier, director of Thunderbolts* will be directing whatever they’ll call the first X-Men film produced by Marvel Studios. But you can’t help but wonder if this is a little late for Marvel. Perhaps they’ve overthought it and in response to the questions posed by Eternals (why didn’t they fight Thanos?) and their desire to regain their notoriety in pop culture, they’ve dug themselves deeper into a hole of unoriginality and nostalgia. Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars feel like desperate pleas for an audience's affection where Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame felt like a victory lap.

Are The Alien Vs. Predator Films Canon?

By Brandon T. McClure

At one point it was assumed that the Alien and Predator franchises were in fact one franchise. Thanks to comics and video games, Alien vs. Predator was a massive juggernaut, but it didn’t jump to the big screen until 2004 with the release of AVP: Alien vs. Predator. It was official that both of 20th Century Fox’s massively popular horror franchises were now one. But as of now, there hasn’t been another crossover film since 2007 with Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. Both franchises have continued beyond yet the AVP films have felt like a simple blip in the timeline, rather than a massive sea change. This has led many to wonder if the AVP films are still canon.

While 1990’s Predator 2 would be the first on-screen hint at a potential connective universe, the first crossover actually happened a few months prior in 1989 in the pages of Dark Horse Presents, an anthology comic book published by Dark Horse Comics that featured three consecutive stories written by Randy Stradley with art by Phill Norwood. The final of the three stories revealed that it was a prelude to a comic simply titled Alien vs. Predator and included Chris Warner (who was the artist on Dark Horse’ Predator comics). This series was the beginning of the Machiko Noguchi saga which followed a young girl rescued from a colony overrun with Xemomorphs and then trained by Predators to become one of them. The success of this comic would lead to dozens more and eventually a thriving video game franchise that lasted from 1993 to 2010.

Machiko Noguchi - Dark Horse Comics

Due to the success of the comics and video games, fans were eager to see a big screen version. 20th Century Fox began pursuing a film version by commissioning a script by Peter Briggs, who would go on to write the first Hellboy movie, in 1991. In response, Ridley Scott, who was at one point interested in directing Alien 3 reportedly turned it down because he didn’t like the idea of Alien vs Predator. Rumors also seem to imply that Fox’s desire for a crossover was one of the many reasons that led to Sigourney Weaver demanding her character, Ripley, be killed off in Alien 3. Despite all this, the film would sit in development hell for more than a decade before Paul W.S. Anderson came on board to see the film reach the finish line in 2004. While AVP: Alien vs. Predator was a success for both franchises, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem was not and derailed any future crossover plans.

AVP: Alien vs Predator (2004)

Since Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, directed by Colin and Greg Strause, failed with both critics and audiences (12% and 30% on Rotten Tomatoes respectively), 20th Century Fox decided not to move forward with a third film that would have seen the franchise move into the far future. Instead the studio moved forward with new entries in each respective franchise. This manifested due to the financially disappointing releases of Predators (2010) and the divisive Prometheus (2012). In the minds of 20th Century Fox (before Disney bought them), and more specifically, Ridley Scott, the Alien and Predator franchises had a divorce and were no longer considered to be a connected franchise. Unfortunately, Ridley Scott was not interested in any crossover potential. He elected to return to the Alien franchise (after much coaxing) with a prequel to Alien that would become Prometheus. The film's promise was to explain where the fabled “Space Jockey” came from and by extension the origins of the Xenomorphs. Regrettably, Scott wasn’t interested in telling that story either and opted to make a yet far grander tale of the origin of humanity that may or may not also serve as an origin to the Xenomorphs. While he would attempt to course correct this with Alien: Covenant, telling what many believe to be the origin of the Xenomorph, the story that both films tell is one that makes any connection to the Predator films all but impossible.

David (Michael Fassbender) in his lab - Alien: Covenant

This disconnecting of two franchises only went one direction and was not true for Predator. AVP has a long history of referencing its sister horror franchise that goes back to the aforementioned 1990s film Predator 2 and a cancelled third AVP film wasn’t going to stop them. While Predators doesn’t have any references to Alien, The Predator has a very interesting one. Located in Project Stargazer is the spear that Scar (the surviving predator from AVP) gave to Lex (Sanaa Lathan) to help her fight her way out of the pyramid. It’s not even subtle as the camera lingers on it for quite some time. Predator: Killer of Killers may also have a reference in the form of bone tails from Aliens that form a cape for the Grendel King. But the most overt reference is yet to come in Predator: Badlands. Elle Fanning’s character Thia is a Weyland/Yutani android. A reference on this scale has never been seen before in this franchise. This proves one thing about the canonicity of the AVP films: They are only canon to the Predator franchise.

Thia (Elle Fanning) in Predator: Badlands

But is that true?

There’s a few reasons why it would be hard to fit Alien vs. Predator films into the cannon of the Alien franchise. Interestingly, both AVP: Alien vs. Predator and Aliens vs. Predator introduced the founders of the mega corporation Weyland/Yutani before Prometheus did the same thing. As fans, connections can be found, but there’s some pretty heavy mental gymnastics that need to happen. Shortly after the release of Prometheus, Dark Horse Comics published a massive crossover called Fire & Stone. This series spanned four mini-series titled Prometheus: Fire & Stone, Predator: Fire & Stone, Aliens: Fire & Stone, and Alien vs. Predator: Fire & Stone. The goal was to reconnect the two franchises through the lens of Prometheus, or at least try. It was a valiant effort and features some great horror moments as the Predator goes up against the new elements of Alien lore introduced in Prometheus. Ultimately it did not land with readers in any meaningful way though. So on the surface it looks like Predator cannot connect with the Alien franchise as Prometheus and Alien: Covenant seem to stand in the way.

Thematically speaking, it’s almost impossible to imagine the two connecting now anyway. Like most horror movies, the Alien franchise used to have some light at the end of the tunnel. Both Alien and Aliens end in a hopeful way for Ripley. Even Alien: Resurrection doesn’t portray the franchise as a hopeless universe. Alien 3 was the outlier until Prometheus. But thanks to Ridley Scott's prequel duology, the Alien franchise is now a universe devoid of hope. Something that Alien: Romulus builds on, built from the very ground up to be about the futility of mankind. Our very creators sought to wipe us out after sending a “savior” who was killed (Jesus was an Engineer, Google it). The Alien exists to punish mankind in an ever repeating cycle that you can’t escape from. It’s in the very DNA of the Alien universe. Conversely, the Predator franchise is more action than horror. Often relying on heroes beating the Predators and going home (unless you’re the sore loser clan from Predator: Killer of Killers). Sometimes the Predators may even respect you and treat you with honor. It’s hard to imagine the two being able to connect.

Interestingly, AVP: Alien vs. Predator details that the Predators have a long history on Earth. They were worshiped like gods and taught ancient people how to build pyramids. It doesn’t seem likely that this would be the case where Jesus was an 8 foot pale alien and the first “facehugger” was born from a woman in the year 2093. Again, maybe there’s some mental gymnastics that can be done without retconning any film. There’s enough subtext in both Prometheus and Alien: Covenant to suggest that David didn’t create the Alien, he recreated it. Ridley Scott wasn’t interested in telling the origin of the Alien, and perhaps he didn’t. Instead detailed the story of a madman stumbling onto something that the Engineers tried to lock away centuries ago. Also, while slightly racist to humanity's ancestors, a Predator clan could have positioned themselves as gods while others were more interested in hunting humans for sport. So now what once seemed like two disconnected franchises, now appear to be connected again.

There’s even renewed interest in a crossover as both Fede Alverez (director of Alien: Romulus) and Dan Trachtenberg (director of Prey and Predator: Badlands) have both talked about their willingness.. It’s not hard to believe that Trachtenberg would be willing considering the references to Alien that he’s included in both 2025 Predator films. There was even interest from 20th Century Fox before being swallowed by Disney, as it was revealed that there was a completed anime series based on Alien vs. Predator. This series will likely never see the light of day, but one could hope that some good samaritan at the Disney vault will get it out there to the fans eager to see it. When discussing the new Predator movies and the sequel to Alien: Romulus, 20th Century Studios President Steve Asbell, said that a crossover is likely to happen but will only happen organically from both. With the Predator franchise jumping into the far future with Predator: Badlands, could that be the first step in setting up this epic rematch?

If you’re a strict canon junkie, then it’s clearly not possible that the AVP films are connected to both franchises. As the Alien franchise continued, it grew further away from its sister franchise, while Predator continued in a grand tradition of references. It makes far more sense that the films are canon only to Predator. The relationship has always been one sided and it only makes sense for Predator to get the films in the divorce. But a reconciliation could be on the horizon and at the end of the day, canon is what you, the audience, deem it to be.

MOVIE REVIEW: How To Train Your Dragon (2025)

By Brandon T. McClure

Released in 2010, the original How to Train Your Dragon launched a new and more confident era for Dreamworks Animation. With a new theme park in tow, Universal Studios has now remade the classic adventure of Hiccup and Toothless, this time for a live-action audience. While it feels like Universal has adopted at the end of its life cycle, they are no doubt hoping to cash in on Disney’s trend that has plagued much of the 21st century. Directed by the original’s co-director, Dean Deblois, How To Train Your Dragon, sports the tagline “the legend becomes real” but falls short of the original's greatness. While there is fun to be had, the film can’t get away from the cynical nature of the very style it’s cashing in on.

Once again, audiences are introduced to Hiccup, the scrawniest Viking in Berk. His desire to prove himself leads to him taking down a Night Fury, the most dreaded dragon the Vikings of Berk have ever faced. At this point, you know the story. Hiccup couldn’t kill the Dragon and the two form an unlikely bond that allows Hiccup to learn more about Dragons and change his world for the better. All the while his stubborn father has to be dragged kicking and screaming away from his Ahab-like hatred for Dragons in order to finally see his son. If you’ve seen the animated version, then there’s nothing on a macro scale that’s entirely new. But there’s a lot of tiny changes that both add and subtract to the overall theme of the film.

Much criticism has been lobbied at Disney for making unnecessary changes to their animated films when remaking them into live-action. Truthfully, it’s a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation. If you keep the film exactly as it is, then it feels unnecessary, but if you change little things, then it still feels unnecessary. At the same time, with little changes they to try and trick the audience into thinking they’re watching a different version. For example, it’s never explained in the original Beauty and the Beast how the village that Belle lives in could forget about a castle right next door to them. The live-action version explains it by saying it was part of the curse that befell the inhabitants of that castle. No one who watched the original film ever had that question in mind, however, and having it answered doesn’t change the movie for the worse. It just feels like an unnecessary detail that was added for the sake of it. How To Train Your Dragon is no different, but there is one change that does help this live-action film stand-out from its animated counterpart in a positive way. That is the character arc of Astrid. 

Hiccup (Mason Thames) and Astrid (Nico Parker) in How to Train Your Dragon

While the original film sees Astrid as the object of Hiccup’s affection, she doesn’t get much of a character arc in the film. She’s strong and dogmatic in her desire to be the best dragon hunter in Berk, but she serves the story as an extension of Hiccup and only comes into her own in the sequels. Here, director Dean Deblois attempts to give Astrid more motivation and character throughout the story. Since the cast of the new film is far more diverse than the original, Deblois feels the need to explain where all these Vikings came from, in a long monologue from Gerard Butler’s Stoic. In this film, the Vikings came from far and wide to settle in Berk with the hopes of defeating the dragons at the very source of where they came from. This iteration of Astrid, who is from one of these far off viking clans, feels like Hiccup has had everything handed to him as the son of the chief and resents him due to her family not being as privileged as the other Vikings on Berk. However, while it’s great to give Astrid more of a character, following it to its natural conclusion robs Hiccup of the climax of his.

In the original film, HIccup leads the other viking children into battle with The Red Death (the Queen on the island) while riding Stormfly with Astrid. He barks out orders to the other children as Stoic looks up in awe at his son as he finally sees Hiccup as the chief he will one day become. In the live-action version, Hiccups and Astrid's roles in the scene are reversed. While Hiccup and Astrid are still riding Stormfly into the battle, it’s Astrid who is leading the charge. A seemingly small change but does stop Hiccup's character arc in its tracks in favor of Astrids. In some ways it’s refreshing that Dean Deblois committed to following Astrids new character arc to its natural conclusion but it will be a change that will likely be debated in fandom circles for years to come.

Outside of that, much of the film plays out the same way as the original with very little cut out or changed. In fact, many of the actors feel like they’re trying to copy the performances of their animated counterparts and other times they feel like they’re deliberately trying to avoid copying them. This creates an identity crisis for the film in both design and performance. This has the unfortunate issue of making the film far less charming and even less funny than the original. Almost every single joke is left in the script, but the deliveries rob them of their charm. Hiccup is a far more depressing main character then he was in the original. To be fair though, if you took out Jay Baruchel’s charming performance, then the character probably reads just as sad. But there does seem to be a concerted effort to take out the inherent charm of the original Dreamworks classic in order to be taken more seriously as a film. Sadly, it has the opposite effect.

One of the biggest unfortunate side effects of the shift to live-action is that change in cinematographer. One of the reasons why the animated How To Train Your Dragon looks so striking and impressive all these years later is because Roger Deakins consulted on all three films. This was revolutionary for the time because it gave the film a far more cinematic look that truly changed the game. Now for the live-action film, Bill Pope steps into the cinematographer seat. Pope is an incredibly prolific cinematographer who has worked on films such as The Matrix, Chang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Baby Driver, but he’s not Roger Deakins. Without Deakins' eye, the film feels flat and lifeless as all the color has been stripped from Berk.

The cast is a mixed bag. Nico Parker and Gerard Butler are the strongest in the cast by miles. Parker is wonderful as Astrid and perfectly captures America Ferrera’s performance while merging the new aspects of the character introduced in this film. Butler, the only returning cast member from the animated film, is a veteran of this story so it should be no surprise at how well he’s able to bring Stoic from animation to live-action. He hits most of the same beats, this time without much of the humor, and still manages to capture what the animators were able to bring to his vocal performance. Mason Thames as Hiccup often feels miscast but still plays a decent enough Hiccup that proves he’ll likely be better in the sequel. The rest of the main cast is fine. They get similar moments to their animated counterparts, and Snotlout gets a new subplot that’s, frankly useless. Finally, Nick Frost is the weakest link in the cast. His Gobber, originally played by Craig Ferguson is a boring and pale imitation of Stoic’s loveable friend and sidekick.

Ruffnut (Bronwyn James), Tuffnut (Harry Trevaldwyn), Snotlout (Gabriel Howell), and Fishlegs (Julian Dennison) in How to Train Your Dragon

John Powell, who scored the original trilogy, returns to score the live-action film. The animated score can be argued as one of the best film soundtracks ever composed, and now that Powell has a bigger budget, he’s able to make an even grander version of the original. It frankly makes the entire film worth it. All the themes are present and in the exact same places but bigger and more grand this time around. Powell even sneaks in a track from How To Train Your Dragon 2 that eagle eared listeners will delight in. The only mark against it is that he makes a truly baffling change to the iconic “Test Drive” that will leave many fans scratching their heads. 

Speaking of scratching their heads, fans will likely forget about this scene until the very end, but a (once again baffling) change to the story happens after the test drive scene. See, in the original, Hiccup learns much about the true nature of dragons, such as their weaknesses through his relationship with Toothless. The final thing he learns is that dragons aren’t fireproof on the inside of their bodies, through a cute little encounter with a couple of Terrible Terrors. This scene leads to Hiccup being able to defeat the Red Death by igniting a fire inside her that forces her to crash and explode. This scene is removed from the film but the way that Hiccup defeats the Red Death is not changed. It may seem like a small change on paper but audiences will be left wondering how Hiccup knew that would work in this new version of the story. This highlights one of the issues with these live-action remakes. While a change could seem small in the moment, it has the potential to dramatically change the outcome of the film and if you don’t follow that change to a new conclusion, but rather force the story to reach the same conclusion, then you end up hurting the film rather than helping it.

A more apt analogy of this idea would be if you were remaking a murder mystery. The audience already knows the outcome of the story so you decide to change all the clues so they point to a different murderer. The only problem is that the reveal in the original is so good and fans will be expecting to see that moment play out again, so at the last moment you reveal the murder to be the same person it was in the original. Except this time, it doesn’t make any sense because you robbed the audience of all the set up that was necessary for everything to pay off and didn’t follow the new clues set up to their natural conclusion. This is a much grander example than a bunch of animated films being made into live-action, but it gets the point across. 

If you’re a longtime fan of the How To Train Your Dragon franchise, then you’ll delight in seeing the same scenes play out in live-action. As remakes go, it could have gone way worse. It’s honestly one of the better attempts at this trend and the financial success of the film means that Universal Studios will likely be looking at Dreamworks' library to see what else they can try and remake. But you’ll never be able to shake off the idea that it feels unnecessary. While director Dean Deblois clearly has immense love for the story he helped bring to life 15 years ago, even he can’t wipe away the stench of a cash grab. He referred to this film as a “second draft” and if it is, then it’s an unnecessary one. The original is a classic that will be remembered for decades, and this will simply be a footnote in its memory.

Will Dr. Ben Song Return Home? - Quantum Leap Canceled By NBC

By Brandon T. McClure

“Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home.”

So ends the final episode of Quantum Leap in 1993. One of the most heartbreaking endings in television history as the entire premise of the show was built around the hope that Dr. Beckett (Scott Bakula) would find a way home. It is apparently the fate of all Leapers to never find their way home as, more than thirty years later, Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) will suffer the same fate. As Quantum Leap fans found out on April 5, 2024, the sequel series of the same name has been canceled by NBC.

Originally created by Donald P. Bellisario in 1989, Quantum Leap aired for five seasons on NBC and followed the time traveling trials of Dr. Sam Beckett as he attempted to put events right that originally went wrong. Thirty years after the show's cancellation in 1993, Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt revived the show with a new cast of characters and a new leaper, Dr. Ben Song. Together with his friends in the present, including his hologram and fiancé Addison Augustine (Caitlin Bassett), he attempts to put right what once went wrong, all the while trying to discover the larger mysteries surrounding the Quantum Leap program.

There have been talks of a new Quantum Leap series for decades and at one point Bellisario had suggested a movie could come to fruition. Ever since the finale's title card, fans had been hoping that someday Sam Beckett could return home. Practically every convention or public appearance made by the cast or Bellisario had them saying “maybe”. But that changed after the death of Dean Stockwell who played Sam’s best friend and hologram Al. It was Bakula’s belief that there was no Quantum Leap without Stockwell’s Al. But shortly after Stockwell’s death, NBC ordered a revival of the cult classic series centered around a new Leaper. Fans had wondered if Bakula would return but he set the record straight just before the new series began airing. Before the series aired Scott Bakula confirmed that he would not be returning, leaving the new show with a large shadow hanging over it. But the show prevailed and was able to find a dedicated audience, admittedly not a large one. While the first season wasn’t the smash success that NBC was surely hoping for, it was successful enough to get a second season.

Unlike the original show, this new Quantum Leap leaned on serialized storytelling, in order for it to compete in age of streaming television. The first season centered around the mystery surrounding his fiancé, Addison’s future death. Ben had somehow manipulated his leaps to arrive at the point where he could save her life. The second season found Ben at the whim of Ziggy, the supercomputer that seemingly controlled the leaps through time. Through the season Ben unknowingly manipulated the life of a a young woman named Hannah Carson (Eliza Taylor ).

Quantum Leap quite brilliantly began to implement a story that was reminiscent of the Doctor and River Song’s story from Doctor Who. Ben had told her who he was and she would help him through his leaps. All the while, Hannah was working on something in the background as her knowledge in quantum physics grew. She appears in many of the episodes of the second season, and audiences began to wonder if she would discover how to bring Ben back to his own time. As it turns out, she had created a code that would help Ben in the future, but it didn’t bring him home,. Instead, it brought Addison to him in the past. The finale of the second season set up a third season where Addison and Ben would be reunited, leaping through time putting right what once went wrong. Interestingly enough this is not the first time this idea was presented.

In May of 2019 a video was uploaded to Reddit which confirmed that there was a filmed alternate ending, should the show be renewed for a sixth season. This alternate ending was going to send Al through the quantum accelerator to find Sam, who was now leaping through time as himself, rather than in the bodies of other people. This suggests that the sixth season would have Sam and Al leaping together through time, working as a team without the limitations of the hologram idea. Even though Bellisario is only an executive producer and not a creative voice on the show, his original idea (which he denies he had even, though there’s proof) still found its way into the new Quantum Leap writers room. This means that both shows were cancelled before this exciting idea could come to life.

But now the excitement has been replaced by disappointment as NBC has seen fit to cut its losses. The show struggled during its second season, like many shows, due to the studios’ greed driving the writers and actors of Hollywood to go on strike. Quantum Leap struggled in the ratings and will probably never receive the same cult-like fandom the original has, but it had fans and they deserved better. So like Dr. Sam Beckett before him, Dr. Ben Song never returned home.

The End of The Tomorrowverse & The Future Of The DC Animated Original Movies

By Brandon T. McClure

For 17 years, Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment have been releasing successful direct-to-video animated films through an imprint known as DC Animated Original Movies. These films were based on some of DC’s most iconic characters and comics. In 2020 they released Superman: Man of Tomorrow, a new adaptation of Superman’s origins that launched what would become known as the Tomorrowverse. Meant as a fresh start for the line of movies, the Tomorrowverse laid the groundwork for a new and unique take on DC’s most iconic characters. But after only four years, the Tomorrowverse is coming to an end, and it’s possible this may signal the end of the DC Animated Original Movies.

In 2007, Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment launched the DC Animated Original Movies line with the launch of Superman: Doomsday, a trimmed-down adaptation of The Death of Superman and The Return of Superman. The goal of this new line of films was to appeal to a more adult audience, often getting “PG-13” (and sometimes “R”) ratings and allowing for more faithful adaptations. With this new line of films animators, writers, and directors, could adapt comic storylines more faithfully than live-action films and shows, and represent the various art styles of the adapted comics. Many popular films came from this line including Justice League: Doom (which saw the return of many cast members of the Justice League animated show), All-Star Superman, Superman vs. The Elite, and many more. Save for a few exceptions, each film was a standalone movie, unconnected to any larger storyline. But that changed in 2013 with the release of Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox and the start of the DCAMU.

Bruce Timm has been working exclusively with DC Animation since 1993 and was one of the major producers of the DC Animated Original Movies. He wanted to take a step back to focus on Green Lantern: The Animated Series, so James Tucker came on board to produce the next film, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, and effectively took over from Timm. Tucker had been a part of DC Animation for many years at this point but suddenly found himself in charge of a new DC Universe. According to Tucker, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, based on the popular comic event Flashpoint, was initially going to be a standalone film but they learned pretty late into production that the “higher-ups” were interested in using the film to launch a series of interconnected films. This series would be dubbed the DCAMU and would go on to release 15 films, and 2 Constantine specials (one posthumously released in 2022 not produced by Tucker), including Justice League: War, Son of Batman, Death of Superman, Wonder Woman: Bloodlines, and more.

Constantine: The House of Mysteries - MAX

It’s important to note that the DCAMU, like many universe designations (Arrowverse, DCAU, etc.) is a fan name that only applies to a particular set of films. Between 2013 and 2020, Warner Bros. Animation released 23 direct-to-video animated films through the DC Animated Original Moves line, but only 16 (including the Constantine special), were part of the DCAMU. Batman: Assault On Arkham, Justice League: Gods and Monsters, Batman: The Killing Joke, and others were all released during the period of time that the DCAMU was running, but were not considered a part of the universe. The DCAMU had a distinct art style and saw most of their voice actors return throughout the entire run, which helped differentiate itself from the other films in the DC Animated Original Movies line.

The DCAMU ended up being a blessing for James Tucker in more ways than one. Before it, Warner Bros. was releasing three unique animated films every year, each by the same team of animators. Since the animation styles were often very different between films, the team would have to start from scratch each time. Creating a “house style” for a franchise allowed them to reuse character assets, which had the added benefit of cutting down on budget and time, and increasing the amount of films that could be released in a year. By 2018, they were releasing four films a year, which generally had one film be a standalone feature and the other three be part of the DCAMU. Probably the most important benefit of the DCAMU was that James Tucker was able to use the franchise as a way of introducing other characters. WB has always been hesitant to greenlight any movie that didn’t have “Batman” or “Justice League” in the title (This is a problem across DC as a whole). For reference, the DC Animated Original Movies have released 20 movies with “Batman” in the title, the most out of any character. With a franchise like the DCAMU, Tucker was able to introduce characters and spin them off into other films. This is how the likes of Justice League Dark, Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay, and Teen Titans: The Judas Contract were able to get made. In an interview with the Word Balloon podcast, after Justice League Dark: Apokolips War was released, he mentioned that it was important for him to showcase other characters, even though it was always a struggle to get them made.

Justice League Dark: Apokolips - MAX

Sometime before 2019 (the timeline is unclear, but likely 2017 or 2018), Tucker was told that the DCAMU would be coming to an end with the, already greenlit, Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. To this day, he claims he doesn’t know why the films ended and there has been no official word from WB. Critics and fans have thrown out ideas for why the DCAMU ended but most just say it was because “they were bad”, which is a ridiculous statement considering their Rotten Tomatoes scores were often within the “fresh” threshold. One theory suggested that the films ended because James Tucker stepped down, but he made it clear that it was not his plan to end. He likely used the ending as an excuse to step down and not the other way around. What’s more likely is that the sales weren’t what WB was interested in seeing. Only two of the nine films released between 2017 and 2020 grossed over $4 million in sales. 

To put this in perspective, the DC Animated Original Movies were relatively inexpensive to make. Each one would cost roughly $2 million or less, so $4 million is a profit for them. These films are also easy to market and repackage for continuous sales over long periods of time. What’s more, Warner Bros. streaming service, MAX (formerly HBO Max), could stream these movies till David Zazlov (head of WBD) wants to save some more taxes. So these films aren’t unprofitable or not successful, but there has been a significant downward trend. The most successful film they’ve ever made was Batman: Under the Red Hood in 2010, which made $12 million according to the-numbers.com. While some Batman films have gotten close to that number, the entries of the DCAMU never made it above $6 million and began to plummet in sales. The highest-grossing film was Son of Batman with $7 million in 2014 and the lowest-grossing entry was Wonder Woman: Bloodlines in 2019 with only $1.7 million. The hope with any film franchise is that there would be growth in sales, but if audiences were voting with their wallets, then it was pretty clear that interest in the DCAMU was waning.

Justice League: Warworld - MAX

Even so, James Tucker was just as surprised as anyone that the DCAMU was ending. He didn’t have a plan for one and was hoping that he could continue for many more years. He had hoped to one day get to do another Teen Titans film, but those desires had to be put aside. He had already gotten WB to greenlight a new Justice League Dark film and now had to find a way to turn that film into a universe-ending epic. Justice League Dark: Apokolips War starts after Darkseid has already taken over the world and many of Earth's heroes and villains have died. Constantine gets a team together for one last-ditch effort to destroy Darkseid and in the process frees the Justice League and the remaining heroes. But so much had already been lost in the battle so Constantine convinces Flash that the only way to fix everything is to reset the universe in the same way that he did during the Flashpoint (the events of Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox). It’s revealed in Constantine: House of Mystery (a short film released after the end of the DCAMU in 2022) that Constantine used his magic to help Flash, which made it so Darkseid couldn’t find the Earth in the new universe that would be created. Darkseid had been an ever-looming threat in the DCAMU, and this plan would allow the new universe a fighting chance, but it opened up Earth to a new, more dangerous enemy.

Regardless of why WB ended the DCAMU, plans began for a new universe that would be dubbed the Tomorrowverse. Named after the first film in the franchise, Superman: Man of Tomorrow, the Tomorrowverse began months after Justice League Dark: Apokolipse War. This new universe was spearheaded by Butch Lukic, Jim Krieg (who wrote Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox), and Kimberly S. Moreau. There was one big difference between the DCAMU and the Tomorrowverse that fans didn’t know, and that was it was always going to end. Butch Lukic told Cinemablend, in January of 2024, that “it was just preplanned. [It was] five, six years ago where we laid out 10 movies that we were gonna do. Because we were basically given 10 movies only, and then you’re out, you’re done.” This marks a stark contrast to the development of the DCAMU, which had no set ending until WB decided it was time.

During an interview with ComicBookMovie.com, Jim Krieg and Butch Lukic discussed what it was like to pitch the Tomorrowverse. “Butch and I had this idea that we would have a long time to build to Crisis,” Krieg said and added “I remember [Butch] and I talking to Sam Register (president of WB Animation) and saying, ‘Maybe we can have twenty films and then end in Crisis?’ I think he said, ‘How about three?’” Judging by this, Sam Register and WB Animation weren’t all that interested in another long-running universe. Krieg and his team went into the pitch meeting with the idea that they could have, at least, as many films as the DCAMU. Krieg told  ScreenRant that “we would have been happy to do 20. But when you want to do 20, and someone offers you 10, you'd say yes anyway," Krieg and his team were insistent and had big plans, but ten movies were all they could get. Butch lamented in the ComicBookMovie.com interview that he “originally wanted to keep doing a slow build with movies like [Batman:] The Long Halloween and [Superman:] Man of Tomorrow. I wanted to take as long as possible and once we gave them our pitch, they said they wanted Crisis involved and they wanted it done in ten movies. That’s why we had to fast-track some of these stories and build it towards this.” Through every interview, it’s clear that everyone is happy with how the Tomorrowverse has played out, but they had to condense 20 movies into 10.

Batman: The Long Halloween

Many of the criticisms that have been lobbied towards the Tomorrowverse make more sense with the realization that they only had ten films to work with. One of the issues that the series was plagued with was the quick-moving and eclectic way the story unfolded. It makes it very difficult for audiences to engage and get emotionally invested in characters and character arcs if the story isn’t properly unfolded. This is not to say that the Tomorrowverse doesn’t work. Many of these films are very good, despite the limitations (except Justice League: Warworld). Batman: The Long Halloween is a near-perfect adaptation of the comic it’s based on and Legion of Superheroes is a great story centered around Supergirl and her journey in the 31st century. The Tomorrowverse, while short, has been very good at utilizing characters outside of Batman and Superman. Characters like Green Lantern and the Justice Society don’t often get the same attention that DC’s heavy hitters do in animation, so it’s been great to have a franchise attempt to change that. As standalone films, they’re all strong features with good voice casts and expressive animation. The connections and the universe-building have just been the Tomorrowverse’s weakness. But, that said, Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths could make it all come together in the end as one complete ten-movie arc. It just feels like it’s ending before it even got to start.

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part 1

Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths is not the first time WB has adapted Marv Wolfman and George Perez’s seminal event. Famously, the Arrowverse aired a five-part adaptation on the CW that crossed over all their shows at the time (which ended up being the beginning of the end for them) in 2019. But Butch Lukic revealed to ScreenRant, that they’d been working on the animated version since before that by saying “we already were figuring out that we were going to do Crisis before they even were filming anything on their Crisis.” This lines up with what has been revealed about the timeline of when they were told how many films they would get and a particularly weird trend within WB at the time.

It appears that there was a point in WB’s history that saw many DC departments interested in adapting Crisis On Infinite Earths. From TV to animation, to movies, everyone was racing to get theirs made, and the Arrowverse was just the one to make it to the finish line. Before James Gunn and Peter Safran became the head of DC Studios, a man named Walter Hamada was the head of DC Films. After he exited the company in 2022 (in the wake of Batgirl’s tax write-off), The Hollywood Reporter found out that he had been mapping out a new trajectory for his DC films that would culminate in a big-screen adaptation of Crisis on Infinite Earths. Hamada was so confident in this plan that one of the filmed endings to The Flash (the movie) saw Barry receiving a call from Ben Affleck’s Batman that would reveal they were now on separate Earths. Sadly, the changing of the guard at DC meant that this plan was scrapped and a new ending was filmed (this is why the George Clooney ending exists).

While Krieg and his team may have known that an animated Crisis film would be the end of the Tomorrowverse back in 2019, fans did not. But rumors began swirling of the animated Crisis adaptation in 2021 when Journalist Matías Lértora tweeted “An animated TRILOGY adaptation of CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS is coming” and “It is expected that all the DC animated Universes will come together.” Finally, at the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that 2024 will see two ambitious releases from the DC Animated Original Movies line, Watchmen, based on the Alan Morre and Dave Gibbons comic, and the rumored Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths. Only later was it revealed that Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths would be a three-part ending to the Tomorrowverse. No new information has been released about Watchmen at the time of this writing.

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part 2

The first part of Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths is out now (with part two out in April) and follows Flash as he travels through time and universes to try and stop an Anti-Matter wave that is destroying the multiverse with the help of the Justice League and alternate universe heroes. Matt Ryan’s Constantine makes a surprise appearance in the film to connect the Tomorrowverse to the DCAMU, which was alluded to in the aforementioned Constantine: House of Mystery. It seems that when Constantine and Flash changed the universe, they hid it from Darkseid but opened it up to a new threat, likely the Anti-Monitor, the villain of the original comic. While the first part of the rumor turned out to be true, it remains to be seen if the second part is. So far, no familiar heroes from other DC animated universes have popped up but Krieg and Lukic said to stay tuned. Indeed a rumor came about that suggested that Kevin Conroy had reprised his role as Batman for one last time in a future installment. 

One of the more fun aspects of animated shows crossing over is the opportunity to utilize the unique animation styles of the various shows (see any Teen Titans Go! crossover for examples). It’s now been confirmed that Will Friedle will reprise his role as Terry McGinnis/Batman from the wildly popular animated show Batman Beyond, in Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths - Part Two, but he will appear in the animation of the Tomorrowverse. It appears that, rather than having different universes represented by different animation styles, in order to celebrate the animated history of DC, the creators opted to keep it simple. It was likely more of a budget choice than a style choice, honestly. Besides, Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths needs to act as an ending to the Tomorrowverse first and foremost. While multiverse stories can be a fun way to celebrate the storied history of a property, they need to serve the story of the main characters they’re following. The allure of nostalgia is strong and this is something that multiverse stories often struggle with (see The Flash for examples).

When asked about the future, Krieg said that "whatever happened afterward would be someone else; a couple of producers would do another universe, which turned out to be the James Gunn-verse." It’s unclear what he means by this, however, when James Gunn was asked on Threads if Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths has anything to do with the start of his new DCU, Gunn simply said “They do not.” Considering the timing of his hiring and when these films would have been in production, it is very unlikely that he had anything to do with this. But there’s also the case of his plans for the DCU throughout all mediums. In his original announcement, Gunn stated “It's one of our jobs to make sure the DCU is connected in film, television, gaming, and animation. That the characters are consistent, played by the same actors, and it works within one story.” Gunn said this after implying that the disconnected nature of the various DC projects was diminishing the brand and many shows were canceled in the wake of his hiring. The question of what exactly he means has come up far more times than not. Does he mean that there will be entries in the DCU that are video games or animated films? Or does he mean that all future video games, animated films, and so on will be part of the DCU? The distinction is an important one, but not one that has been made.

To be clear, DC Animation isn’t going anywhere. Harley Quinn: The Animated Series is still a hugely popular MAX show, with a Kite Man spin-off on the way, and it’s just been announced that Gunn will produce a big-screen animated adaptation of Daniel Warren Johnson and Juan Gedeon's comic

The Jurassic League. They’re just now being developed by DC Studios, along with everything else DC-related. Gunn seems like he wants to keep the door open for unconnected stories, like The Batman Part II, but wants to make it clear to audiences that they are “Elseworlds” stories and not part of his DCU. So while there will be video games, animated shows, and movies connected to his DCU, that’s not all there will be. So there is still room for something like the DC Animated Original Movies, even though there might be a significant downsizing in the amount of films made. 

The DC Animated Original Movies are not huge releases for Warner Bros. and with studios insisting that physical media should die out, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that the line of films could be ending (whatever happened to that Milestone movie announced in 2021?). David Zaslav has come into Warner Bros. to clean house (and probably sell it for parts) and has become a ruthless player in the studio system. Not only has he canceled shows, but erased shows and movies to never be seen again. All in the name of tax breaks. Nothing stops him from looking at the measly $2.6 million that Injustice made in sales (the previous six movies didn’t do much better) and deciding that the entire line of films isn’t worth the money anymore.

While it’s undeniably sad that the Tomorrowverse is coming to an end, the future of the DC Animated Original Movies remains unknown. No films have been announced for 2025, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any, some could be announced at this years San Diego Comic-Con as is tradition. As for this year, two animated Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths films and a Watchmen animated film (possibly two) are still on the schedule and Warner Bros. Animation is  hard at work on Creature Commandos, the first part of James Gunn’s new DCU, which is likely out at the end of the year. So that begs the question, is the future of the DC Animated Original Movies, to end with Watchmen? Or will they continue under the watchful eye of James Gunn to either be part of the DCU or somewhere in his multiverse? Or will they just continue as is until David Zaslav notices they exist and comes barging into their offices with a flamethrower to burn it all down? Only time will tell.

INTERVIEW / Zoey is Too Drunk for This Dystopia by Jason Pargin

Matt sits down with author Jason Pargin to discuss his latest book, Zoey is Too Drunk For This Dystopia as well as his other works. They also talk about the power fiction has to comment on very real things and make you think.

For audio, please check out the Atomic Geekdom Podcast to listen in.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

JASON PARGIN is the New York Times bestselling author of the John Dies at the End series as well as the award-winning Zoey Ashe novels. He previously published under the pseudonym David Wong. His essays at Cracked.com and other outlets have been enjoyed by tens of millions of readers around the world.

NIC GAUGE / Running With The Devil

MOVIE: Running With The Devil

STARRING: Nicolas Cage, Laurence Fishburne, Leslie Bibb, Cole Hauser, Adam Goldberg, Peter Ficinelli, Bary Pepper

RELEASE DATE: September 20th, 2019

WHERE TO WATCH: VOD (Hulu, Apple TV, Amazon Prime)

By Justin Pomerville (2 Broke Geeks)

The Man (Laurence Fishburne) and The Cook (Nicolas Cage) in Running With The Devil.

I know the film business can be tough, and sometimes it’s even harder to write a cohesive story that reads well on screen. But then, there are people who make filler films. These are films that a production company puts out that are just there. They had to fill an obligation for making a film, pull a shell of a script together, and then put it out (usually straight to DVD). Running With The Devil is not the first nor the last film that does this.

What is really baffling about this movie, is that they have a pretty good cast list. On top of having Cage, you have Laurence Fishburne, Leslie Bibb, and Adam Goldberg. This could have had the makings of a decent film but the plot is very generic. A tenacious federal agent (played by Bibbs) follows the supply line of a group of experienced cocaine dealers. They are followed from origins on the farm, through the smugglers, cartel bosses and onto corrupt officials. All with the DEA trying to bring them down. I don’t really need to explain much more on the plot than that. It’s not a terribly bad one, but there were ways they could have elevated it. And that needs to start with giving your characters names.

It’s rare for me to be invested in a character when I don’t know a single thing about them, especially their name. Cage is “The Cook”, Fishburne is “The Man”, Bibbs is “The Agent In Charge”, and the trend continues from there. To the point where no one in the film ever gives anyone a name. Not a single name was uttered in this film making it frustrating to watch.

The Cook (Nicolas Cage) in Running With The Devil.

This film is going to go at the bottom end of “Terrible” on the Nic Gauge scale. Everything about this film was insignificant, but still better than a good handful of films that have also come out.

NIC GAUGE / Renfield

MOVIE: Renfield

STARRING: Nicolas Cage, Nicolas Hoult, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Brandon Scott Jones, Jenna Kanell, Bess Rous, Shohreh Aghdashloo

RELEASE DATE: April 14th, 2023

WHERE TO WATCH: VOD (Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Roku, Vudu)

By Justin Pomerville (2 Broke Geeks)

Dracula (Nicolas Cage) in Renfield.

Growing up, I was exposed to the old Universal Monster films. Personally, Creature from the Black Lagoon is my favorite, but Dracula has always been a close second. When it was announced that Nicolas Cage was playing Dracula in a modern-day version of the classic film, I was extremely excited. At the time of writing this, it was still in some theaters, but I had to wait till it became available on VOD in order to enjoy it, due to the lack of theaters near me actually playing it. At that time, I have heard many things about this film that had me confused about what kind of experience I was in for.

After centuries of servitude to Dracula (Cage), Renfield (played by Nicolas Hoult) has had enough of his boss and is desperate to have a life out of his shadow. While going to meetings to learn about his codependency issues, he finally gets the power to find his voice, if only for a short time. When Renfield has a run-in with a crime family and befriends a cop named Rebecca (played by Awkwafina), Dracula soon learns how weak Renfield has become and decides to take matters into his own hands.

Dracula (Nicolas Cage) and Ella (Shohreh Aghdashloo) in Renfield.

Overall, this movie was everything I expected it to be. More of a comedy than a horror film, with lots of violence, and somewhat good humor. Cage and Hoult are obviously the most interesting characters of the film, Cage specifically because of how over the top he played Dracula. However, everyone else in this film kind of fell flat for me. Awkwafina and Ben Schwartz (who plays one of the crime bosses) have the majority of the more “comedic” moments. I use quotation marks because although they are mainly known for being comedy actors, I didn’t really find their jokes and timing great.

Tedward Lobo (Ben Schwartz) and Dracula (Nicolas Cage) in Renfield.

The other problems I had were, for a film that is 1½ hour runtime, the story feels nonexistent. They rush through a lot of plot with hardly any story to tell. Just characters giving their backstories so it can be used as plot fodder later. I wish they spent more time on the character’s relationships with each other. Even the Dracula/Renfield relationship felt like it suffered from pacing. The runtime felt like it was more dedicated to violence and fighting. Which, although fun to watch with creative kills, the cartoonish effects of the blood spraying off bodies was too distracting.

Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) and Dracula (Nicolas Cage) in Renfield.

Yes, this film was fun, but not as strong as I hoped it would be. Cage carries this film and as I said earlier, the violence and fighting are fun. But the story and effects bring it down a significant level. This film is going to the lower end of “Good” on the Nic Gauge.

COUNT DOWN #27: Iron Man’s PTSD

By Brandon T. McClure (@btmcclure @fakenerdpodcast)

The MCU, specifically the Infinity Saga (2008-2019) has meant a great deal to me, as I am sure it has for many people. What first started as a book pitch is now a series of essays of mine that will be (hopefully) published every week. The goal is to pick a specific moment within The Infinity Saga and share with you why I believe it’s a defining moment. To revisit previous posts, visit our site HERE.

Enjoy the ride as we count down from 50 of the most defining moments and share your thoughts in the comments. 

• Iron Man’s PTSD •

MOMENT# 27

MOVIE: Iron Man 3

DIRECTORS: Shane Black

WRITERS: Drew Pearce & Shane Black

Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) in Iron Man 3.

Marvel is often considered a comic book company with more relatable superheroes. Readers point to Spider-Man’s struggles or Iron Man’s alcoholism as examples of this. The heroes of the Marvel universe would often go through similar personal struggles that the readers would. This allows readers to relate to the characters in a way that they felt they couldn’t with characters like Superman or Green Lantern. Translating this to the MCU was instrumental in the long-running success of the franchise. In the third Iron Man film, Tony Stark is reeling from the events of The Avengers and can’t find a way to move past his near-death experience. In short, he had PTSD.

Iron Man 3 is a curious anomaly in the MCU. While Marvel had already been sold to Disney by the time of The Avengers, Iron Man 3 was still produced by Paramount Pictures. Shane Black stepped in to direct this film when Jon Favreau declined to return. It was the first of the solo franchises to finish their trilogy, which left the future of Iron Man in question until Avengers: Age of Ultron. The hype coming off of The Avengers also propelled this film to $1 billion. Finally, while it’s seen somewhat of a reevaluation over the years, it’s still not remembered all that fondly by the larger fandom. All this is to say that the history surrounding Iron Man 3 is kind of weird. Seriously, it’s the only film in the Infinity Saga that had a separate cut screened for Chinese audiences (But that’s a whole other thing).

In Iron Man 3, Tony is having trouble moving on from the Battle of New York. During the battle, Tony took a nuclear bomb through the portal and nearly didn’t make it back. Now that things have gone back to normal, he’s having trouble going back to his life. “You experience things and then they’re over and you still can’t explain them,” he says to Pepper after she confronts him. While this is happening, a series of bombings are taking place around the United States that are being linked to a terrorist known as The Mandarin. Tony takes it upon himself to uncover The Mandarin’s true plans but he’s having a difficult time due to his undiagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in Iron Man 3.

PTSD is largely considered to be a disorder that only develops in soldiers that have seen combat. But it’s far more common than that. PTSD can develop in any person who’s been exposed to a traumatic event. Sexual assault, car crashes, domestic violence, or emotional abuse can all result in PTSD or its symptoms. It stands to reason then that any man who suffers a near-death experience would develop this disorder. Tony experiences all the hallmark symptoms and doesn’t know how to handle them. During one severe anxiety attack, he denies it happened and runs away. He can’t sleep because his nightmares are plagued with the memories of the battle and the move that almost cost him his life. Of course, this is also a science fiction superhero movie, so the movie uses Tony’s suits as an allegory. He’s trying to make sure that he’s prepared for next time, rather than dealing with the issue he’s dealing with now.

These days, mental disorders like PTSD are taken more seriously than they used to be and this is actually where Iron Man 3 fails. Pepper and Rhodey don’t take Tony’s illness seriously. Pepper’s reactions are pretty common for partners of people who suffer from PTSD in fairness. She loves Tony but can’t understand why he’s changed. Rhodey’s reactions are a bit more questionable since he’ll sometimes make a joke at Starks expense. It’s only strange because Rhodey is a soldier, but this was indicative of the time. Things have gotten better over the years, but these misgivings don’t negate the importance of Iron Man 3 showing Tony with PTSD. Art has a profound effect on the world and can lead to a path of normalization for things that aren’t considered “normal” (for lack of a better word). Iron Man 3 proudly made it known that the battle didn’t end for Stark when the Avengers went for Shawarama, it continued into his everyday life.

Tony Start/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) in Iron Man 3.

Throughout the movie, Tony learns to open up about his problems which aren’t easy. Luckily the trials that Tony is put through in the movie, send him on a clear path of healing and he’s able to learn to cope and live with the disorder (although it does lead to him making Ultron…). By destroying all his new Iron Man suits, Tony symbolically learns that he doesn’t need them anymore and that there is a clearer and safer path to healing. Something that every person who suffers from PTSD would like to learn. Through this hero, PTSD victims see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Iron Man 3 is a far more important entry in the Infinity Saga than people are willing to give it credit for. Truthfully it’s time for the narrative around Iron Man 3 to change. It’s a well-shot, well-written film, with great action set pieces, and a story about a hero struggling with a disorder that millions struggle with. Marvel likes to say it’s home to the relatable hero, and Iron Man 3 delivered one of the most relatable stories that had ever been seen in a superhero film at that point. Because of this, Iron Man’s PTSD remains an important moment in the Infinity Saga.

Star Trek Needs Star Trek: Legacy

By Brandon T. McClure (@btmcclure @fakenerdpodcast)

It’s a crazy time to be a Star Trek fan right now. Five shows have been released since 2017’s Star Trek: Discovery with a sixth one on the way. Currently Star Trek: Picard is airing its third and final season which sees the return of the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This season has been better received than the previous two seasons and that’s got the fans begging for more. Turns out the showrunner for this season of Star Trek: Picard has plans to continue the story, should Paramount be interested, through a show called Star Trek: Legacy.

When Star Trek: Picard first aired on CBS All Access (Which became Paramount+) in 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the series saw an older retired Jean-Luc Picard now living in his family's vineyard, content with making wine for the rest of his life. But a young being, who claimed to be Data’s daughter, sought him out and set him off on a new journey that took him to new worlds with a new crew. This season was ran by Michael Chabon, who would leave during the production of season 2 due to a massive contract he signed to develop more in the world of Star Trek. This, however, has yet to come of anything. Terry Matalas took over the show and season 2 was released in 2022. That season saw Q return to help Picard come to terms with the death of his mother. As ambitious as those two seasons were, they were generally not loved by the fandom at large. But season 3 had a lot of promise.

After being contacted by Beverly Crusher, Picard reconnects with Captain William Riker to help him find her. While this is going on, Raffi, a character introduced in the first season, is uncovering a plot to destroy the Federation. This is all connected and sets the stage for a story that would be filled with nostalgic callbacks, returning cast, and exciting new characters. Terry Matalas and his crew of writers, production designers, directors, and more, crafted a season that harkened back to the 90s era of Trek, which is commonly referred to as the golden age. Star Trek: Picard season 3 is capable of standing on its own without the support of the first two seasons and operates as a legacy sequel to not just Star Trek: The Next Generation, but Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. 

William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in Star Trek: Picard

With any legacy sequel, there need to be characters to pick up the mantle from the older generation. That’s where Star Trek: Picard truly shines. While some characters already had kids, like Worf’s long-forgotten son Alexander, or Riker and Troi’s daughter Kestra, this season introduces Jack Crusher as the son of Picard and Beverly. What’s more, this season also introduces Geordi’s children in the form of Alandra and Sydney LaForge. The frustrating thing about these characters is that fans like them. They like them a lot and there are not that many episodes left with them (1 at the time of this writing). It’s a good problem to have, certainly, but many fans are wondering if these characters will ever be seen again.

Lt. Commander La Forge (LeVar Burton) and Alandra La Forge (Mica Burton) in Star Trek: Picard

This is where Star Trek: Legacy comes in. Terry Matalas’ proposed spin-off of Star Trek: Picard would pick up after the events of the series and seemingly feature these characters that fans have fallen in love with. Matalas is talking to everyone about this show (except for me) in the hopes of gaining interest in it. When speaking with TrekMovie.com he spoke about how he feels the 25th century, the year that Star Trek: Picard is set, is the present day of the Star Trek universe, and that he would love to explore what the century looks like around the galaxy. “Boy, wouldn’t you want to check in with the Klingon Empire? Wouldn’t you want to check in with Deep Space Nine and The Doctor [from Voyager] and everything that went on with the Berman-verse?” He adds that he would like to “explore the galaxy and sort of get back to the Next Gen roots of storytelling” and that that is the “kind of version of Star Trek I’d like to see, with this group of characters that we’re seeing”.

Strangely enough, this is not new territory for fans. When Star Trek: Discovery aired its second season, it introduced Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, the second captain of the USS Enterprise. Captain Pike took command of the USS Discovery for a mission to search for Spock, whose disappearance was related to a mission that threatened the galaxy. Anson Mount’s Captain Pike and the other two returning characters Spock and Number One were so well received that fans began demanding a series focused on them. Eventually, Paramount+ gave in to fan demand and greenlit Star Trek: Strange New Worlds in May of 2020. When it was released in 2022, it was an instant hit with new and old fans alike. Now, Trek fans are being called on once again to campaign for Star Trek: Legacy. 

Paramount+ has already announced a new show in the form of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, but that’ll most likely be set in the future of Star Trek: Discovery, which leaves a gap of time not being explored by the franchise. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is set in the mid-23rd century, just before Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: Lower Decks and Prodigy are set in the early 2380s, which technically makes every Star Trek show on the air a prequel series. There’s still plenty of room for a series set in the early 25th century, the “present” of the Star Trek timeline as Terry Matalas said. The show could continue to explore strange new worlds and pick up characters that fans haven’t seen in ages. Characters from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine like Ezrie Dax, Bashir, or even Miles O’Brien (who let's face it, should have been in this season of Star Trek: Picard). There is plenty of room for a show that deals with nostalgia while also paving the way for the “next generation”.

There is a legitimate fear with Star Trek: Legacy that is worth bringing up. Star Trek has never been a nostalgia machine. It’s always been a franchise that’s more concerned with moving forward than backward. In fairness, this changed with the 2009 film Star Trek, and the current era has been struggling with that ever since. Both the first seasons of Star Trek: Discovery and Picard were less concerned with nostalgia than doing something new and the fans were not receptive to that. Sure, it probably had more to do with creative choices, but studios often take the wrong lessons from these things. Star Trek: Lower Decks is a show built upon reference jokes to past Trek and was very well received when it launched. So Star Trek: Legacy could be more interested in looking backward than forwards. Ideally, that wouldn’t be the case. The show would hopefully not center around nostalgia and only sprinkle it in when the story called for it. For the most part, that is how season 3 of Star Trek: Picard has been structured so there’s no reason to think that Star Trek: Legacy would be any different.

Following a story about the kids of the crew of Enterprise D is incredibly appealing because they’re good characters that fans have enjoyed. Perhaps Kestra Troi-Riker joins the USS Titan with Sydney LaForge at the helm and her sister Alandra in Engineering. Captain Seven of Nine and her first officer/girlfriend Commander Raffi Musiker at the conn. The cast is already there and waiting to explore the final frontier of the 25th century. Hell, maybe they’ll finally remember Alexander. One thing is for sure, if this is the last time we see these new characters, it’ll be a shame.

COUNT DOWN #28: The Hellicarrier

By Brandon T. McClure (@btmcclure @fakenerdpodcast)

The MCU, specifically the Infinity Saga (2008-2019) has meant a great deal to me, as I am sure it has for many people. What first started as a book pitch is now a series of essays of mine that will be (hopefully) published every week. The goal is to pick a specific moment within The Infinity Saga and share with you why I believe it’s a defining moment. To revisit previous posts, visit our site HERE.

Enjoy the ride as we count down from 50 of the most defining moments and share your thoughts in the comments. 

• The Hellicarrier •

MOMENT# 28

MOVIE: The Avengers

DIRECTORS: Joss Whedon

WRITERS: Joss Whedon & Zak Penn

Bruce Banner / Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Steve Rogers / Captain America (Chris Evans) in The Avengers.

Most fans would argue that the MCU’s early success came from them taking the source material seriously where other comic book films hadn’t. Something that’s overlooked in that argument is the way early MCU writers and directors were able to interpret and reinvent the source material and make them more digestible to the mainstream audience. Captain America didn’t wear red, white, and blue spandex, instead wore a red, white, and blue military uniform. Thor wasn’t a god, he was an alien. There are many examples of this that led comic book fans to believe that the more outlandish elements would never be adapted. But then a giant aircraft carrier lifted out of the ocean and into the sky.

The Avengers came out in 2012 and was the final film of what became known as “Phase One”. It saw the heroes of the previous movies unite to save the world from the evil Loki and his army of Chitauri warriors. The movie also shines more light on the mysterious organization that had been introduced in the background of the previous films called S.H.I.E.L.D. While Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury had appeared in every phase one movie with the exception of The Incredible Hulk, much about the organization he ran was still a mystery. Comic book fans were left wondering if the flying base that S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury called home would ever make an appearance in the new franchise. Luckily they didn’t have to wait long.

The Helicarrier is a flying aircraft carrier originally created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the pages of Strange Tales #135, all the way back in 1965. It’s often depicted as the signature ship for S.H.I.E.L.D. and is one of the most iconic vehicles in Marvel Comics. Because of its iconic status, fans had hoped that Marvel Studios would find a way to incorporate it down the line. While it certainly seemed a little unreasonable to expect it in the first Avengers movie, perhaps it was possible the flying ship could show up in the second or third. Luckily Kevin Feige and co. were just as eager to incorporate it as fans were.

In order to deal with the threat of Loki, Fury assembles the mightiest heroes of Earth on an aircraft career in the middle of the ocean. Just after Captain America and Bruce Banner meet on the carrier, Natasha tells them to head inside because it’ll get hard to breathe. Certainly, a weird thing to say about an aircraft carrier. Steve wonders if they’re in some fancy new submarine, but the truth was much cooler (or “worse” as Banner puts it). As the water around the ship begins to swirl, four large turbine engines rise out of the water. With these engines in place, the aircraft carrier rises out of the ocean and into the air, revealing the Helicariar to millions of people watching The Avengers.

The Hellicarrier in The Avengers.

It’s hard to understate how big of a deal this moment was in 2012. The Dark Knight trilogy and X-Men films were some of the biggest names in comics, but both seemed to be ashamed of their source material. Audiences were conditioned to believe that the source material was “silly” and that the medium of film could legitimize it by stripping away the more fantastical elements. Compared to the things that Marvel Studios is doing now, the Hellicarier is small potatoes, but in 2012 it rewrote the brain chemistry of every comic fan watching. These things weren’t “silly” anymore. A Hellicarier was featured in a movie that made over $1 billion.

The Hellicarier was the first in a long line of promises that Marvel Studios would make to their fans. By including the Hellicarier in The Avengers, the creatives behind Marvel were telling the audience that nothing was off limits anymore. Comic books weren’t something to be ashamed of when making the adaptations, they were something to be taken seriously. Sure, the Hellicarier isn’t the reason why The Avengers passed the billion-dollar mark, but fans could rest easy knowing that the comics they loved were respected.

NIC GAUGE / The Humanity Bureau

MOVIE: The Humanity Bureau

STARRING: Nicolas Cage, Jakob Davies, Destee Klyne, Sarah Lind, Hugh Dillon, Vicelous Reon, Nikolas Filipovic, Kurt Max Runte

RELEASE DATE: April 6th, 2018

WHERE TO WATCH: VOD (Peacock, Ruku, Tubi, Pluto TV)

By Justin Pomerville (2 Broke Geeks)

Noah Kross (Nicolas Cage) and Rachel Weller (Sarah Lind) in The Humanity Bureau.

I always find it interesting to look at the world we live in and when there is a movie that comes out that is based on the future. Especially when you get close to when that future film has taken place. Great examples are The Purge which takes place in 2022, Soylent Green which also takes place in 2022, and Blade Runner which takes place in 2019. My point is, we like to see if the events actually come about, even in a joking manner. Considering how things on Earth currently have been going, it will be interesting to see if the events of The Humanity Bureau come to pass, even just a sliver of it.

It’s the year 2030, and global warming and economic recession have turned a majority of the American Midwest into a deserted wasteland. In order to combat this, a government agency called the Humanity Bureau was born. Its purpose is to exile members of society that they deemed unproductive and banish them to a colony called New Eden. Humanity Bureau caseworker, Noah Kross (played by Cage) is investigating a case appeal by single mother Rachel (played by Sarah Lind) and son Lukas (played by Jakob Davies). Kross learns the truth of what New Eden actually is and decides to protect Rachel and Lukas from Kross’s boss, Adam Westinghouse (played by Hugh Dillon).

Noah Kross (Nicolas Cage) in The Humanity Bureau.

As I said before, when movies take place in the future actually reach that time frame, we like to revisit those movies and compare if those films got it right. Obviously, we haven’t been eating people like in Soylent Green and we don’t have a lot of the technology that is showcased in Bladerunner, but with something like global warming, The Humanity Bureau does kind of hit a little closer to home. However, we won’t know for sure until we get there.

Beyond that, this film is very much a cut-and-paste Nicolas Cage thriller. Cage’s character gets invested in a woman for some reason, goes against his work to protect her, and gun fights and car chases ensue. The CGI in this film is not the greatest, especially the green screen behind Cage while he is driving. Because of its generic nature overall and the uneventful acting and plot, it will rank pretty low on the Nic Gauge. However, the kind of social commentary on global warming does give it a slight leg up from some others, so it sits in the middle of “Terrible”.

INTERVIEW / Actor & Recording Artist - Jovan Armand

We have a very special episode this week with a very special guest. Kyle and Dave are joined by one of the stars of the recently released Shazam: Fury of the Gods, Jovan Armand. Jovan joins us to talk about the new movie, how he was cast in the original film, and what got him into acting. He also talks about his new song that he recorded and is available NOW!

Interview can also be found on your favorite podcast app at Atomic Geekdom @atomicgeekdom

NIC GAUGE / Kill Chain

MOVIE: Kill Chain

STARRING: Anabelle Acosta, Angie Cepeda, Nicolas Cage, Luna Baxter, Ryan Kwanten, Pedro Calvo

RELEASE DATE: October 18th, 2019

WHERE TO WATCH: VOD (Amazon Prime, Apple TV)

By Justin Pomerville (2 Broke Geeks)

Araña (Nicolas Cage) in Kill Chain.

You ever watch a movie that just has a bunch of stuff happening, but yet it feels like nothing actually happened? Or that the point of the movie got lost somewhere between the script to film? 2019’s Kill Chain feels like that kind of movie.

This film’s synopsis can be summed up in one sentence; A shootout between two hitmen begins an evening of murder, betrayal, and revenge amongst a crooked gang of police, gangsters, assassins, and mercenaries. I don’t know what else to add to this. It’s one of those films where it had so many subplots that only come together at the end. By coming together, I mean they had no other way to make this film end in a reasonable manner. 

Cage’s character becomes the most important person because although he is only in the movie for approximately 30 minutes of the 1hr. 30 runtime, he set into motion all the events that lead the very specific characters to his location. Characters that are specific yet not important enough to give them all actual names. Only 5 cast members (including Cage) had names. All other supporting “important” characters had names like “The Very Bad Woman”, “The Old Sniper, “The Curious Assasin”, and “The Woman in Red”. I use quotation marks around “important” because although they have lines and progress the story, they have no significant role in this film. 

Araña (Nicolas Cage) and Gigi’s Friend (Jon Mack) in Kill Chain.

This movie was a chore to get through and even Cage could not save it. Because I don't really have much left to say about this entry, Kill Chain is listed in the lower end of “Hot Mess” on the Nic Gauge.