Something Something Hot Trailers

So, two long awaited trailers dropped this week.

The first was for Thor: Ragnarok which looks incredible. This looks like the sort of epic scale the Thor movies should have always been aiming for. Thus far, the series has been, let’s face it, a series of well produced romcoms with fantasy elements not unlike the white thirst cinema that is Starz’ Outlander. Jane and Thor make doe eyes at each other, Kat Dennings looks hot and cracks jokes, Tom Hiddleston steals the show, Kat Dennings looks hot and…..you get the idea. Rinse and repeat. Thor is one of those properties where each and every adventure should have all of existence hanging in the balance. This franchise and the Hulk’s movies should always be about super destructive epic god battles. For context, Jason Aaron’s God of Thunder series features a future vision in which an older, war worn Thor who now rules Asgard gets into a fist fight with Galactus where he thrown into the moon so hard he comes flying out the other side. I shit you not. So, a slugfest with the Hulk is more than welcome.

Until now, the movies never had that sense of scale and urgency. The trailer alludes to that and it also manages to look fun which, at the end of the day, is really the most important element to maintaining the kind of audience these movies attract or should attract (are you listening, DC?). A movie about a thunder god should go for broke AT LEAST and Ragnarok looks like it does just that.

Then, there was The Last Jedi….

Though I could geek the fuck out about every detail, I’m going to try not to go on very long about about it because I have a feeling I’m going to be talking about Star Wars a lot in the near future. First of all, the Tron inspired poster look spectacular and really gives Rey that epic hero look she needed in the Force Awakens poster.

The trailer was epic, though. I mean, it was only a minute and a half and it threw out thrills and questions to be answered faster than Janet Hubert tweeting during a Fresh Prince marathon. The part I’m most interested in is the part at the end where Luke said, “It’s time for the Jedi to end.” That line alone opens up potential for some interesting directions for Luke’s character to go. Even though the Jedi are mostly about order and learning to center your emotions and letting go of earthly attachments and shit, Skywalkers tend to have a complicated relationship with the Force. With him being literally the LAST of the Jedi, there’s no telling what secrets he learned once he found the Jedi temple. He could have learned the truth of how his father was seduced by the dark side (and how his mother was dating Anakin when he was clearly still a minor) which would be enough to give anyone resentment issues. Who knows? I’ve even heard some theories that we might get introduced to the beginning of the “Grey Order”, something we’ve never seen in mainstream canon. Also, make sure you get a good look at Poe Dameron’s black X-Wing. The ball’s in your court to pump out some quality toys and model kits, Disney. I’ll be waiting.

My review of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps is available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing pleasure.

The Week In Geek 10/14/15

This week in Superhero Television....Arrow seems to be getting back on the right path so far. Season Three's heart was in the right place even though it got a little existential "when is the Arrow not the Arrow". Granted, it looks like the writers are taking the long way around, but it's nice that the new season is getting back to the good old fashioned swashbuckling action we loved this show for originally. I also have to appreciate the fact that John Diggle's concerns about Oliver Queen coming out of retirement and his disdain for the Arrow's behavior (I mean, he kidnapped the guy's wife, for fuck's sake) basically mirrors our own. The show fell pretty far...like Robin Thicke level far...and still has a lot of making up to do, but it's off to a decent start. So, there's that. 

This Week In MCU News We Would Have Rather Been Surprised With.... It's finally been confirmed that the Mark Ruffalo will make an appearance as the Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok, scheduled for July 28, 2017. This is a big thing because up until this point, it was said that we wouldn't see the Hulk again after Age of Ultron for a long while. The rumored plot is Thor and the Hulk somehow teaming up with Valkyrie for what Marvel has promised to be the darkest Thor story yet. First of all, let me stop right there and establish that "a dark Thor story" is NOT a very high bar to clear. As much as I enjoyed the previously two movies, in the sense of the scope that Marvel builds at, they're essentially romcoms (The Dark World moreso than its predecessor). Also, I get the addition of Valkyrie in the interest of adding some spice to the already shaky gender politics, but what about Lady Sif? She's pretty badass in the comics, she's already established in the previous movies and the only real notable screentime she's seen is her basically getting friend zoned for Jane "I Don't Need Saving Until I Totally Do" Foster (not to mention her appearances on Agents of SHIELD...gotta love her referring to Agent Coulson as "Phil, Son of Coul"). Hopefully, Ragnarok makes more of an effort to shine more of a light on existing female characters before trying to bring new ones into the fold.

My comic reviews for the week on Ms. Marvel and Batman are up and available on Black Nerd Problems for your viewing enjoyment. Also, don't forget about my ongoing fantasy webcomic, Neverland: The Untold. As always, feel free to like and share and comment at your leisure.