This post is almost two days later than I like to post, but there was just so much happening, I realized I had like five blogs’ worth of writing that needed to be trimmed down into one wrap-up.
Marvel:
Let’s be honest- for a large group of comics fans, this week finally gave them what they’ve been begging for. Spider-Man: No Way Home had a leak on Monday, and then on Tuesday they finally dropped the first trailer for the multiverse-based film. Not only did we get adorable moments between MJ and Peter, we got to see “cool-Dad” Dr. Strange, casting a spell to make everyone forget that Peter is Spider-Man… which of course goes horribly wrong. The trailer hints at a Sinister Six-style storyline, confirming the previously announced return of villains Doc Ock and Electro, but also potentially Sandman and Lizard. The biggest surprise revel of the trailer was the Green Goblin’s Pumpkin Bomb and William Dafoe’s iconic laugh echoed across my screen. While I’m personally going to revolt if Charlie Cox’s Daredevil/ Matt Murdock isn’t in the film (I think those are his arms!), I’m so excited to see how the part of the different stories of live-action Spider-Man we’ve grown up with come together. The joy of a multiverse means that all these different stories can exist together and I think that’s such a neat concept.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is scheduled to be released in theaters December 17th, 2021.
Of course, this week’s What If… continued the expansion of the MCU Multiverse by questioning what would have happened if the Avengers died before they became the Avengers. After the heart that last week’s What If had, and the excitement and action of the previous week, I felt like this week’s episode was a bit of a disappointment. The first two episodes were really great uses of time- the previously established story and the new story built together. This week’s episode didn’t have that feeling. It felt rushed and not as fleshed out. I was really looking forward to it, as I’m on a Loki kick right now (I just finished The God That Fell to Earth, and I’m halfway through Journey of Mystery) but there was so much potential for the spooky/scary murder mystery concept that didn’t get a chance to be fleshed out solely because of the episode runtime. It made the reveal feel like less of a twist and more like a shoehorn of more characters into the plot. While part of the fun of these stories is seeing how these characters could have been, trying to turn a hero into a villain without the plot’s support didn’t quite work for me. Maybe if it had been one of the anti-heroes of the universe, it would have made more sense to me.
Stream new episodes of What If… every Wednesday on Disney+.
In terms of some of Marvel’s darker heroes, they got a chance to be spotlighted in the first released trailer to Midnight Suns,the upcoming Firaxis RPG game. Characters that have become iconic to the Marvel brand like Wolverine, Iron Man, Captain America, and Dr. Strange are in the trailer, there’s also Blade, Magik, Ghost Rider, and Nico Minoru. Clearly, I’m most excited to see Nico, as she was originally a member of the Runaways. The game centers on stopping Hydra from world domination by stopping Lilith, mother of demons. The heroes team up with a player-designed character who is “The Hunter” and a child of Lilith. The creators have confirmed that the game takes a little from the 90’s arc Rise of the Midnight Sons but isn’t a retelling of that story, instead creating a more original story from the inspiration of that arc.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns is scheduled for release in 2022.
DC:
While it wasn’t released to the general public yet, a first look at another big superhero film was released at CinemaCon. Matt Reeve’s The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as a younger Batman. The clips were reportedly interspersed with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews from the cast and the crew. Reeves talks about the decision to use Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One to tell a variation of the iconic origin story without having to tell the story… again. Hopefully, some of this footage will be released to the public soon, maybe during DC’s Fandome in October.
The Batman is scheduled to be released in theaters March 4th, 2022.
In other Batman related news, DC announced the new team taking over the Dark Knight’s title at the end of the year. Joshua Williamson and Jorge Molina are taking over the creative team in December with issue #118. Williamson’s currently writing Damian Wayne’s Robin title, which is getting praise this week for a touching moment where Dick Grayson reminds Damian that Damian was his Robin before Damian was Bruce’s. Dick and Damian were my first dynamic duo in print, and I love seeing references to it. I’m really excited to see Williamson’s take on the writing.
Batman #111 in stores now. Issue #111 begins the Fear State arc, the last arc for James Tynion IV and before the new creative team takes over.
On the small screen, this week’s episode of Titans, titled Lazurus, gives us a bit of a flashback as to how Jason became the Red Hood in the Titans continuity. I’m a firm believer that the Red Hood storyline is happening far too quickly. I think that Jason needed to stay dead longer than the show allowed, and if I was the show runner, I would have killed him and made him next season’s villain. However getting to see Curran Walters’s incredible span of talent and character development. It’s clear that Walters is a huge fan of Jason Todd. The heart and soul and the pain of Jason is on display as Walters plays a much larger role than previous seasons. I’m excited to see where it goes. I really think the transition of HBOMax was what the series really needed to be successful.
Stream Titans on HBOMax, new episodes releasing on Thursdays.
Outside of the Batman stories I apparently am obsessed with, CW’s The Flash announced the cast list for season 8’s crossover event. While no one from Superman and Lois makes an appearance, lots of other Arrowverse stars of past and present are slated to appear. Black Lightning’s titular hero, played by Cress Williams will be appearing, as well as Chyler Leigh’s Alex Danvers/Sentinel from Supergirl and the future Green Arrow, Kat McNamara’s Mia Queen from Arrow. This is interesting as all three of these shows will be finished before this crossover event, with this current season being Supergirl’s last. Joining them in her first crossover will be Batwoman’s Ryan Wilder, played by Javicia Leslie. I’m quite bummed that we won’t get to see Ryan and Melissa Benoist’s Supergirl interact, as the original Batwoman and Supergirl made up the Arrowverse’s World’s Finest team in a really cool and fun way. Also appearing will be Neal McDonough as Damien Darhk, who we saw die in Legends of Tomorrow, but part of Darhk’s whole shtick is that he’s immortal, so it’s not a huge surprise. Another time traveling baddie on the roster is Eobard Thawne, The Flash’s first and most iconic villain. While Tom Cavanagh’s played a plethora of characters on the Flash (Wells as a character is basically a one man DC What If…), his single minded focus on defeating the Flash as the Reverse-Flash is my favorite of his characters. There’s only one actor in the Arrowverse I love more than Tom Cavanagh, and it’s Brendon Roth. I loved him as my Superman as a kid, I loved him as Ray Palmer as an adult, I loved him as Kingdom Come Superman as an adult and knowing that his Ray Palmer/Atom and Osric Chau’s Ryan Choi are both going to be in this crossover is bittersweet. I’m excited to see Palmer hand over the Atom’s mantle to Choi, but I don’t understand why DC can’t just let Brendon Roth be a superhero. They wrote him out of Legends of Tomorrow in early 2020, and let’s just look at how that year turned out. Give the man a cape and let him keep it, for god’s sakes. This crossover is titled Armageddon, and I’m pretty sure it’s based on the Armageddon 2001 storyline, and not the last eighteen months or so, but who knows?
The Flash: Armageddon is a five part crossover event beginning November 16 on the CW. Episodes of The Flash and other Arrowverse shows are streaming on CW.
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