Howdy, y’all! Welcome back to another week of my comic ramblings! Having spent a wonderful day last Saturday at my comic shop and Tuesday there for Nightwing, I was surrounded by some really exciting discussion this week.
Marvel:
Disney+ broke our hearts this week with the second episode of What If…, their alternate reality anthology series. While last week’s episode highlighted the kickassery of Peggy Carter, this week’s focused on the inherent goodness of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa. Boseman shines as a more humorous lighthearted T’Challa, unburdened by the responsibilities of royal life after being abducted as a child by Yondu. Their team of Ravagers is far more ethical than the team that raised Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy (including a mildly less genocidal Thanos in a delightful twist!) This episode was heartfelt and felt a fitting tribute to Boseman’s T’Challa. While I’ve heard it’s not the last time we’ll be seeing him, the theme of the inherent goodness of the character served as a gentle farewell to the actor who brought that heart to life.
What If… new episodes stream Wednesdays on Disney+.
We already know that after What If… the next Disney+ show from Marvel is going to be Hawkeye. While the series is finally letting poor Clint have a moment in the spotlight, it also promises the MCU arrival of Kate Bishop, a fan favorite character. Hailee Steinfeld will be bringing her from page to screen, but Marvel is clearly already banking on her popularity continuing, as they announced that Kate’s getting a new title this November. Following up to her last title, Kate’s return to New York from LA will be anything but smooth and quiet in the five issue miniseries. It’s very smart to time this miniseries release the same month as the streaming service premiere of the series, and sets up Kate’s future as Marvel’s new sharpshooter. I’m very ready.
Other things I’m very ready for? The release of Shang-Chi: Legends of the Ten Rings. My ticket is purchased, and I’m going to the theatre for the first showing here in two weeks. But this past week was the film’s premiere. And from the whispers I’m hearing, it sounds like it’s going to be a blast.
Shang-Chi: Legends of the Ten Rings premieres September 3rd in theaters. Tickets now available. Please follow your local theater’s masking guidelines while seeing your film.
To top off the MCU big-screen excitement, Marvel also dropped a new trailer for Eternals, the next film to release in November. While I don’t know much about the heroes, I know I love, love, love, both Gemma Chan and Richard Madden and I’m so very excited to see them take on roles in the superhero genre. (I’m not counting Chan’s first MCU appearance in Captain Marvel since she didn’t make it out alive.) As someone whose main educational background in the arts was centered around theatre and in particular ensemble theatre, I’m very excited to see how Eternals plays out. With this many major names in one film, the individual character development can very easily fall flat in favor of one star or another’s screen time. But this most recent trailer felt the most “ensemble” thus far, and so I’m holding my breath.
Eternals releases November 5th, 2021.
DC:
For DC, after the events of Titans episode three last week, I was pretty sure I had no breath left to hold. I wasn’t surprised by the show’s choice to kill off Hank (especially considering the very exciting move that lead Alan Richardson to leave. Jack Reacher is a great fit for him, and I will be watching that series for the sole reason that I think Richardson is a talent.) This week’s episode felt a little lackluster in response. I think I was still on the same emotional roller coaster as Connor and Dick, and being taken out of that to deal with the introduction of Blackfire for this season messed with the pacing of the episode for me. My biggest fear was that there would be too many villains crammed into one season, and that is exactly why I was worried. But I will say, the fight between Red Hood and Nightwing in the forest was exceptional. I’m so glad that the transition to HBOMax has resulted in a slightly higher quality of show. This is what Titans has been trying to feel like for two seasons and it finally has enough capital to do their concepts justice. This is the live-action Nightwing I’ve been dying to see.
Titans season three, episodes 1-4 now streaming on HBOMax. New episodes every Thursday.
Of course, I used my favorite boy as a transition because SURPRISE! This week was also the release of Nightwing #83, the end of Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo’s first arc as the creative team behind the title. I talked about how much I loved the first issue of this arc before, and the conclusion felt pretty dang satisfying as well. I still have a lot of questions, and I’m not sure who to trust in the story, but in the very best way. I can’t wait to read the next issue because of those questions. This issue did grace us with some very sweet moments. While there was a kiss (I’m sorry, that boy needs to focus on himself and be single for a while), I was very moved by Nightwing and Superman discussing Dick’s plan to start a charity in Alfred’s name. And then Clark asked Dick to keep an eye on Jon for him (in a nice little connection to the current Superman run, also written by Taylor) and I wept. And then Bruce told Dick how proud Alfred would be and I WEPT. Tom also just posted that the bound edition of this first arc (titled “Leaping into the Light”) is being released in a volume this winter.
Nightwing #83 now available in stores. Nightwing: Leaping into the Light is now available for pre-order. Collects issues #78-#83, releases in December.
In slightly related Tom-Taylor-making-me-cry news, a series of potential leaked still was posted on Facebook this week from the animated Injustice film, based off Taylor’s Gods Among Us comic that ties into the video game. One image shows Bruce and Dick side by side in my least favorite scene from the comic… But that’s a spoiler.
DC did also release some official news about their animated film projects, with a cast list for Catwoman: Hunted. The anime-styled film features Elizabeth Gilles as Catwoman, but also Stephanie Beatriz as Batwoman. I’m already bummed it’s not a musical. I’d pay a lot for that.
In the next few weeks, I’m going to be posting about comic shops. If you’ve got a shop you’d like me to shout out, feel free to contact me and let me know why!
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