Month: December 2016

Character Of The Month: January 2017: Carnage

Ben DeSanti

Welcome to another edition of Character Of The Month, where I like to spotlight a comic book character that’s not a character well known to the average, non-comic reading audience, such as Spider-Man, Batman, The Joker, or Captain America, and this week we’re going to be going over one of my favorite Spider-Man rogues, Cletus Kasady, A.K.A. Carnage.

Kasady had the typical non-rich supervillain origin, he had an abusive father that ended up killing Cletus’ mom, but before that, Kid Crazy (not a real character, just a nickname for Kasady) threw his granny down the stairs, killing her, and torturing the family Fido. After Daddy killed Mommy, little Kasady refused to testify, and dear old Dad went to prison, because he should have. Cletus was shipped off to an orphanage, where he was mocked by everyone, even the staff, which in that case, what the hell, staff, you are adults, making fun of a parentless, mentally- unstable child. What did you think would happen? Have you ever heard of Batman, even though you’re in a Marvel comic? Eventually, he breaks out of his shell, and asks a girl out. Of course she rebuffs him, and guess what? He’s okay with it? No. No, he is not, because he throws her in front of a bus, and burns the entire orphanage to the ground.

Well, because of all of the people dying in the fire, Homicidal Carn-iac is serving eleven consecutive life sentences. He ends up getting a celly in the form of Eddie Brock, the human host of the Venom symbiote. The symbiote was separated from Brock during a fight with Spider-Man. It ends up coming back for Brock, and unbeknownst to anyone, Venom is pregnant, I guess, and during the whole thing, it gives birth. And the symbiote it gives birth to bonds with Kasady, inherits his homicidal ways, and becomes Carnage, the craziest person not in spandex! And as an added bonus, Carnage’s first victim, Gunther Stein, is literally chosen out of a phonebook.

He’s never appeared in live-action, but it is rumored that Michael Mando will be playing Carnage as one of the many villains in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and it also seems he’ll be among a sort of Sinister Six-like team, seemingly lead by Michael Keaton’s Vulture, and supplied with tech by Michael Chernus’ Tinkerer, and at least two of the other members are played by Bokeem Woodbine (who is playing Shocker, for some reason) and Logan Marshall-Greene (who is probably someone equally stupid and obscure). Damn, I just realized how many ‘Michael’s are in this film. Like, three.

Anyways, thanks for reading. Next month, in honor of Doctor Strange, I’m going to double up on Marvel villains, and make Kaecilius, the film’s villain, the Character Of The Month. But I may do it a week early (so the last week of October), if I can get tickets to Doctor Strange Thursday night at the nationwide premiere, and try to write my review for it in time for my publishing deadline at 1:59 pm on Friday. Another anyways, have a nerdy day, and see you later.

Featured News: December 2016

Ben DeSanti

(WARNING: ROGUE ONE SPOILERS, I DON’T REALLY BLAME YOU FOR THINKING THERE WASN’T GOING TO BE SPOILERS, SO YOU’RE NOT AN IDIOT THIS TIME AROUND)

Hello, and welcome back to my monthly edition of Featured News, the only legitimate segment that isn’t filled with stupidity and what not. This was a pretty fun month for comic book movies, so let’s get to it.

Obviously, the biggest story of the month is obviously the debut of the first Skywalker-less Star Wars flick, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. As of Wednesday, December 21st, the movie’s made a fantastic $357.1 million, making back it’s budget almost twice in presales and six days of theater run, which is pretty incredible. Only one star is supposedly one for one more film, that actor, or should I say actress, is none other than the film’s star, Felicity Jones.While a smart person would think she would appear in the Han Solo solo film as possibly a fellow prison or maybe even a Millennium Falcon team member, or maybe even she could appear in the hopefully happening Obi-Wan Kenobi or Boba Fett solo movies. But some idiots like to think that her second film will be, and listen closely now, EVERY MAIN CAST MEMBER FUCKING DIED. Seriously, people, it is obviously not going to be a sequel, so what else could it possibly be. God.

Now, personally, I wanted to do this one last, but I probably would have been skewered for not saving the Marvel movie trailers for last. Secondly, we’ve got Patrick Wilson being cast as Orm in Aquaman. To be honest, I thought it was just a fancast at first. The way I found out was through the edit that BossLogic for Wilson as Orm, and BossLogic does have a tendency to make a lot of art based on random, yet fantastic and fascinating, fancasts, so it’s not a large stretch that I, nor anyone else, just brushed it off as another wonderful piece of artwork about a pipedream. Hey, I do make mistakes, and I try to admit them. But yes, I eventually did find out the casting was true through the handy, dandy ComicBook.com , and I got on my knees and thanked the Lord. Wilson is very involved with Wan, having starred under him four films. We’ve seen Wilson as a fantastic action star in movies, such as Bone Tomahawk and Watchmen, and of course we saw Wan blow minds with some stir-crazy shit in Fast and The Furious 7. But we’ve never see them do action together, and that’s where Aquaman comes in. Even if Wilson doesn’t end up being the primary villain, which I hope to God he is, he’ll definetly have at least one kick-ass, physical scene, and he’ll probably be the main villain at one point.

And, finally, we have the first Spider-Man: Homecoming and the second Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 2 trailers that came out earlier this month. Well, they were fun to watch, but there was not a whole lot of plot details in either trailers. We obviously saw the designs of Mantis and Vulture, which was a nice teaser for those films, but they were really just kind of there, ya know? I mean, it was fun to see Spider-Man and the Guardians again, but there’s not a whole lot I could grab from those trailers.

Okay, guys, that has been my time. While the isn’t my last article of 2016, it’s the latest in terms of writing, because this Friday’s Character Of The Month on Carnage has been finished for months. Anyways, this’ll post the day after Christmas, so I hope you all had a good one. And remember, have a nerdy day.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Review

Ben DeSanti

(WARNING: SPOILERS FOR ROGUE ONE, IF THE TITLE WAS ENOUGH OF A WARNING TO YOU)

Hello, and welcome to this review which will be my last for 2016, and the last until Logan, and the review of that movie is supposed to be released on March 10th, 2017. So, it’s going to be a while until my next, so let’s savor it a little. Put on a smoking jacket, get some wine, I recommend a nice chardonnay to pair with this, just relax, and let’s get jiggy with it.

Well, let’s start with my favorite character: Chirrut Imwe. While I’m very partial to blind badasses, and I am very partial to blind badasses i.e Daredevil, that’s not the only reason I liked him. Personally, I appreciated his sense of humor, and beyond that, his belief in The Force. Seeing a character believe in something like that just makes them seem a little more human and entertaining. Ultimately, I thought his death was the most tragic, because while his death happens after his part of the equation to get the plans to the Rebel Fleet, and right after he sighs in relief, he just gets blown up, chants his Force thing one last time, and then Baze ends up chanting the same thing Chirrut was chanting the entire film, which Baze hated to think about, and then Baze gets killed as well. Which, the deal with The Force religion, when Chirrut is dying and still chanting, The Force still doesn’t save him, and it almost seems that him not being hit by the blasters while he was walking towards the switch that opened up one part of the communications to the Fleet was simply luck, and that The Force was never truly with him.

Now, while the overall plot is fairly simple, as in that the whole thing is about the Rebel Alliance and Jyn butting heads over what Galen Erso is doing with The Empire, and eventually they all end up coming together to get the plans in the end, and all the main characters die. We do actually more in terms of story than just than, as in major cameos from Darth Vader, Princess Leia, and Grand Moff Tarkin, who is revealed to be the figure who was kneeling in front of Darth Vader in the trailers. We have Forrest Whittaker’s Saw Gerrera, who didn’t disappoint, in terms of his craziness and overall mysterious feel. Ben Mendelsohn’s Krennic, while a somewhat formidable villain, just ended up seeming like a whiny kid on the playground.

To be honest, my least favorite part of the movie was that supposedly, Galen Erso built in the ventilation flaw into the Death Star. While I figured Gareth Edwards was going to insert this “twist” in Rogue One since the first trailer (no, really, I did), it almost made the overall feel of the movie dull, and just plain dumb. The twist could have been fun, but it just fell on its face.

The cameos of Darth Vader and Princess Leia were actually incredible, in contrast of Grand Moff Tarkin’s cameo. Realistically, Disney could have just recast the role, it’s been forty years since he was in Star Wars: A New Hope, the CGI of his face was cartoo-like, and Lucas Films had already recast an actor by the name of Wayne Pygram in Episode III, so Disney wouldn’t suffer wrath from researched nerds like myself. And the CGI probably cost them more than it would have to simple hire any old, white theater actor to play him. No disrespect to Peter Cushing, of course. All the disrespect to the casting agency, however.

The movie did indeed come across as just another shit space-based film, albeit excluding a few cool moments, like Chirrut kicking some serious Stormtrooper as. And this all goe until the heroes met with the Senate, and then the whole movie turns from bland-shit movie, all the way to kick-ass Suicide Squad in space, where every member of the team become necessary to the third act’s plot. As the main characters are slowly picked off, you feel bad about every death and somehow connected to each character, even Krennic somewhat. I actually figured about half away through the movie all of them would die, but it was more of a “they might, but probably not” figuring, becuase I though they would keep around someone like Saw Gerrera or Cassian Andor for the Han Solo solo film, in a smaller supporting role. I never figured all of them would die, and while I hated that they all died, I had to applaud the ending.

Personally, if Disney and Lucasfilm didn’t both end up with that specific ending, the movie probably would have been a solid C, maybe a C-plus in my book. When all is considered, I decided to up the overall rating a full letter, because I give that third act a score somewhere in the A-plus rnage. But overall, I give Rogue One: A Star Wars Story          4,2 out of 5 stars.

Welp, that has been my time. While I have two more articles due in the last week of 2016, this is the last one before Christmas, so I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you have a Merry Christmas, or a Happy Hanukkah and Kwaanza. Okay, see you Monday for the last Featured News of 2016. And always remember, have a nerdy day.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Theories

Ben DeSanti

Hello, welcome to Week Three of Star Wars month, and welcome to this article. This week I’m gonna go over a couple theories I have about the plot of Rogue One. Now I really only have two this time, but it’s gonna be good. So, let’s get to it.

So, my main theory this time is that Princess Leia will be showing up in Rogue One. Now, obviously, this wouldn’t be Carrie Fisher, though she has some of the best odds out of anyone from the original films to cameo. This whole thing is actually pushed on by the fact that Jimmy Smits will be playing Bail Organa, who is actually Leia’s adoptive father, in Rogue One. The most likely candidate to play Leia would be Billie Lourd, Carrie Fisher’s daughter. It also helps that Lourd is already involved with the Star Wars universe, as she did play the small role of Lieutenant Connix in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

I feel like Darth Vader will only be in the film for one or two scenes, to look over Orson Krennic, kind of in the same capacity Darth Sidious did in A New Hope. I feel like the writing team will really let Ben Mendelsohn do his thing as a main villain.

Well, that was incredibly short. There’s not really a lot to go off of with Rogue One. Like always, I had a lot of fun writing. I will catch you next week for my review of Rogue One: A Star Wars. The film is going to be fantastic, I’m a really big fan of the Star Wars films, as well as the cast, especially Mad Mikkelsen, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen, and Ben Mendelsohn. I really and honestly feel like it could be one of the best films the Star Wars franchise has seen yet. Anyways, thanks for reading, see you next week for the review, and remember, have a nerdy day.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Expectations

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome to my newest article, in which I’ll be going over the financial side of how I think Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is going to go, both critically, and financial-wise. So, once again, without further ado, let’s get it, and I hope you enjoy.

Well, considering Rogue One is the first Star Wars movie outside of the main storyline, meaning odds are it’s not going to hit that highly coveted two-billion dollar mark that has only ever be broken by the last Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, Avatar, and Titanic. However, considering that it still is a Star Wars film, this movie is bound to make at least one-billion dollars, and I say this with about 90% certainty, because there is the off chance that it ends up like a “for sure” shot at a billion dollars, such as Batman v. Superman, the last two Hobbit movies, and Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I think this movie has the potential to make more than a billion, but I really don’t think this movie will make more than 1.5 billion dollars, just considering that a good portion of the viewers of The Force Awakens only watched that movie because it was in the main story of the Star Wars franchise. But I do think that Rogue One will be able to cruise to a solid one billion dollars in the box office due to how amazing this movie looks. Which brings me to the subject of how I think this movie’s going to do with audiences and critics.

I’m honestly thinking that Rogue One is going to do very well among everyone. The Forces Awakens was actually critiqued a whole lot because it’s basic seeming plot, it’s eerie similarity to the plot of the original trilogy, and the heavy comparisons drawn between Rey, Finn, Poe, Kylo Ren, General Hux, Older Han, and Older Leia to Luke, Leia, Han, Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, Ben Kenobi, and Mon Mothma. Considering The Force Awakens scored an astounding 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 81% on Metacritic. I’m figuring that Rouge One, in that respect, will be just a few points ahead, so about 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 84% on Metacritic.

Alrighty. As always, I’ve had a lot of fun writing this article, as per usual. I really hope you all enjoyed. I invite you to join me Friday for my Rogue One Theories, and join me next Friday on the Twenty-Third for my Rogue One Review. Anyways, thanks for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day!

What Would I Do: Star Wars Franchise Part 1; Episode I: Jedi Knights

Ben DeSanti

Listen, I love Star Wars. Empire Strikes Back is one of my favorite films ever, and the franchise is why I, for some strange reason, like Roman Numerals. But there are so many things that the franchise had done very, very, very wrong. Like the prequels. And just about everything relating to the prequels. Except for Ewan McGregor, because he doesn’t look like the spawn of Donald Trump for once. I want an expanded, damn near flawless Star Wars Universe, so here goes absolutely nothing.

STAR WARS: EPISODE I: JEDI KNIGHTS; Reference Release Date: 7/8/16

I want damn near everything to be different starting with the sequence of the films. Here’s a description:

“The first installment of the rebooted Star Wars in nearly upon us, with ‘STAR WARS: EPISODE I: JEDI KNIGHTS’! Go on a trek to fight the resurrected Sith, and expose a larger plot that spans across the universe!”

Basically, the Jedi Knights are the elite Jedi, answering only to the Jedi Praetors, which is the name for the Council in this, made up of guys like Mace Windu and headed up by Master Yoda. Basically, it’s the Jedi Council with a cooler name Instead of the stupid Jedi braid thing, rookies have to have done that cool, super badass crew cut, and they’re allowed to grow it out on top like the guys in Fury, and it’s optional for the Knights, and Obi-Wan has that style in this, as well.

Anyways, to the cast!

  • Sebastian Stan as Anakin Skywalker
  • Christian Bale as Obi-Wan Kenobi
  • Bryan Cranston as Qui Gon Jinn
  • Idris Elba as Darth Maul
  • Olivia Wilde as Padme Amidala
  • Djimon Hounsou as Mace Windu
  • Frank Oz as Yoda
  • Marisa Tomei as Shmi Skywalker

Well, for the plot, I want a kind of space thriller more than the space operas that Star Wars. Inception or Triple 9 combined with well, Star Wars.The main storyline of the film is Darth Maul being discovered the first Sith in a long time, as the Sith are thought to be long dead, and the three main Jedi trying to fight back the Sith forces. The romantic relationship between Anakin and Padme also isn’t creepy because they are characters that are in their 20s and about the same age. No one wanted to see an eight-year-old and a twelve-year-old either staring or trying to avoid eye contact at all costs. No one. The biggest changes from Phantom Menace is that Qui Gon and Darth Maul don’t die. I feel Obi-Wan is still growing as a Jedi, he’s still brash and hard-headed, and even though he’s a Jedi Knight, he needs a little help, and so does Anakin. Also, the prequel trilogy was always lacking a villain over the entire trilogy, and Darth Maul could easily fill this role, just like Darth Vader did for the original trilogy, and what Kylo Ren will most likely do for the sequel trilogy. I want to give Shmi and Mace a much larger role because I think they could be so much better as characters. Honestly, I don’t even think Samuel L. Jackson did a bad job, it’s just that the prequels didn’t utilize him enough. But anyway, by the end of the movie, Anakin has learned the Force and is at least able to fend Darth Maul from a group of Padawans long enough to get them to safety.

Okay, the ending of the movie would be after the final battle with Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Qui Gon back on Tatooine with Shmi after an epic battle that destroyed the main Jedi temple in ruins, and showed that the Jedi need to hide and strike from the shadows, at least for now. The actual end minute is the three making a plan for an attack on a holograph.

Alright, thank you for reading. I’m excited for this series, I pretty much have it all planned out by now. Okay, thanks for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

 

Character Of The Month: December 2016: Saw Gerrera

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome to Star Wars Month 2016! Now, in case you don’t know why I would ever chose Saw Gerrera as my Character Of The Month, he is only two of four characters in this movie that existed before Rouge One to have more than two sentences of information of them, and the other one was Darth Vader, and obviously, I didn’t want to do him because he’s way too famous in the Star Wars Universe. So there’s your answer to that question.

Saw Gerrera is a veteran of the Clone Wars, and he fought directly alongside Anakin Skywalker and his apprentic, Ahsoka Tano. He was on of the leaders of the Onderon rebels, along with his sister, Steela. The Gerreras eventually claimed victory over the Confederacy of Independent Systems on the planet Onderon. He was also the leader of a Rebel cell on Onderon that fought against the Galactic Empire. He was also a form of a politician after the wars, a partisan, back on Onderon.

Forrest Whitaker will be playing Gerrera in the upcoming Star Wars film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which will be the character’s live-action debut. The Gerrera character was actually originally meant by George Lucas to be in a live-action Star Wars show, as confirmed by Pablo Hidalgo. And unforunately, that’s about it.

Well, that’s for reading. I know this was incredibly short, but that’s all I could possibly dig up on Saw. He’s a very interesting character, and I can’t wait to see even more of him in Rogue One: A Star War Story, which comes out December 16th. Join me again next week when I debut my new series Erase The Prequels!, where I do a Star Wars Saga that’s true to fan. Well, I guess this is goodbye, see you later, and remember, have a nerdy day.