Month: February 2017

Featured News: February 2017

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome again to Featured News. February has been quite a big month for news, so let’s get into it.

Now, let’s start with a little bit of Aquaman. We have a Black Manta for the movie in the form of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. If you haven’t heard of Abdul-Mateen, don’t feel bad, but feel really bad. His most famous role to date was as “Cadillac” Caldwell in the brilliant Netflix disco musical The Get Down. He’ll actually be showing up in this year’s Dwayne Johnson-led Baywatch. We’ve also heard that Temeura Morrison, who played Jango Fett in Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones will be cast as the human father of Aquaman, Thomas Curry, and legendary actress Nicole Kidman will be playing Atlanna, the Queen of Atlantis and Aquaman’s mother.

Of course this last month has been absolutely terrible for The Batman. The highly anticipated DC film lost it’s director in Ben Affleck, found and then lost a director in Cloverfield‘s Matt Reeves, and rumors started swirling that Affleck himself wanted to leave the entire project; as producer, star, and writer. But all that seems to be all but resolved when Matt Reeves came back on to the project officially as a director. On the other side of the Batman conundrum, we found out that LEGO Batman Movie helmer and and first-time director Chris McKay, still swimming in that sweet LEGO money Scrooge McDuck- style, has been asked to direct a live-action Nightwing movie! What? Yes, hell yes! I’m beyond excited for this, and I’m sure we’ll hear more about this in the coming days.

And finally, we finally have a director for X-Force, and it’s Joe Carnahan of The Grey and the A-Team reboot fame. He famously planned a Daredevil film trilogy back in 2012 before the rights of the character and related characters moved from FOX back to Marvel Studios. FOX also announce that Carnahan will team with Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds to write the X-Force film. No date is set for the movie as of yet.

Akright, and that’s it for today, join me Wednesday for my Logan expectations, and Friday for my Logan theories. And as always, thanks for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

Character Of The Month: March 2017: Donald Pierce

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome to this Character Of The Month article. I generally right Character Of The Month articles long before it’s due, so it’s nice to be back to the format. This week we have Donald Pierce, who’ll appearing in Logan as the main villain. So, let’s get to it.

Donald Pierce, A.K.A. White Bishop, was originally a member of The Hellfire Club, a membership of evil mutants based in New York. The twist here is that Blake was actually just a mutant-hating cyborg that only entered The Hellfire Club so that he would be able to kill off the mutant members of The Inner Circle. He’s also a serious racist. He has a major sense of self-loathing, and feels like he’s only truly half of a man because he is a cyborg. Anyways, he eventually acted on his desires to kill all the mutant leaders inside The Hellfire Club, but is promptly stopped by Professor X and The X-Men, which, ironically, is one of the main villains of The Hellfire Club.

Now, after this whole Hellfire Club debacle, Pierce is sent to a Shaw Industries facility in Kentucky, where he’s held for about three months. But eventually, his cyborg creations, collectively named The Reavers, break him out of his Moonshine-encased prison, and they go on all sorts of shit-hitting-fan type adventures. He really doesn’t much in terms of bad guy shit. They don’t truly get featured as lead villains for the X-Men, because you have     A-list guys like Magneto, Apocalypse, Sebastian Shaw, B-listers like Cassandra Nova, and even C-listers such as John Sublime and the U-Men. Pierce and his poor mutilated, bastardized excuses for human beings are solid D-listers, based on appearances, evil schemes, how well those schemes end up working out, and finally how much the heroes legitimately fear their capabilities and what those abilities can do when used against civilians and the hero. It’s not that The Reavers are bad, they are actually a very fun and cool concept for a villain team, it’s just that they’re almost never in the spotlight, so no one likes/ knows them.

Alright, and here comes my favorite part of every Character Of The Month that’s based on an upcoming movie: trying to figure out what the fuck that character’s deal is in said movie. So, Boyd Holbrook, of Jane Got A Gun and Narcos fame, is going to play Pierce in Logan, coming out in theaters nest week. It looks as if he’s going to play a much more militaristic version of Pierce, rather than a crazy half-man from Philadelphia as he is in the comics. What I’ve seen from the character in the trailers, he kind of reminds me of a General Thaddeus Ross (also known as Red Hulk in the comics), and I can’t wait to see what he does, because in all honesty, he kind of seems to act like General Zod commanding the other Kryptonians in Man Of Steel. Again, can’t wait for his performance.

Okay, thanks for reading, as always. I’ve actually got three articles posting next week, something I haven’t had since the week Doctor Strange came out in November. I’ve got the Featured News article for February coming on Monday, February 27th, the Expectations article for Logan comes out on Wednesday, March 1st, and finally, my Logan Theories comes out on Friday, March 3rd. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed, I hope you’ll be around for all three articles next week, and remember, have a nerdy day.

State Of The Image Comics Shows 2017

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome to my sixth and penultimate article of my State Of The CBM Union 2017 series. Today, we’ve got the shows based off Image Comics, which means The Walking Dead, Fear The Walking Dead, and Wynonna Earp. I don’t have too much on the final two, so most of this is gonna be about TWD, so buckle up, let’s get to it. Oh, and major spoilers for The Walking Dead follow.

Okay, first, The Walking Dead is probably the biggest show on TV right now, doing things that Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and Game Of Thrones could never do in terms of viewership (HAHA, NOT REALLY). The show’s had a really explosive year, what with everything that’s gone on with our good friend Negan. The whole cast has become completely shaken upon with the departures of *SPOILERS NOW* Steven Yeun and Michael Cudlitz from the cast, or Glenn and Abraham to the layman. He’s been a merciless villain, and I can’t wait to see even more from him. The Alexandrians, however, are just suffering from this whole thing. I’m constantly on the edge of my seat watching it, waiting to see the next to die (I don’t really watch this show). And that’s the big thing about Glenn and Abraham, the whole thing was unpredictable. We all figured it was just going to be one dead, but the writers threw that curveball just right, as to fuck up the fan’s predictions for the rest of the year. And it’s already been renewed, of course.

Fear The Walking Dead is apparently doing very well with fans. It’s not garnering the viewership that The Walking Dead has (or maybe it is, I don’t watch it either), but that was to be expected, because it just didn’t have the previous, individually earned fanbase TWD had when AMC announced it about ten years ago. Wow, has it really been ten years since The Walking Dead started. I guess so. Anyways, it’ll already has been renewed for a third season.

And finally, Wynonna Earp on SyFy was really good. I watched, and it just gave me a hardcore iZombie kind of vibe. It was just right enough to get me on the hook after one episode, and after Season One, I was down for a lot more. Good thing it was already renewed back last July at San Diego COmic-Con for another season.

So yeah, Image Comics, while they only have three active projects, they are killing it. I actually heard they were in talks to sell a Savage Dragon, Chew and Invincible show a while ago, but I’m not sure what happened. Anyways, it’s all good, I’ll see you next week for a Character Of The Month on Donald Pierce and the Reavers. Okay, see you then, and remember, have a nerdy day.

State Of The DC Shows 2017

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome to this fifth week of the State Of The CBM Union article, and this week, we get to go over all DC-based shows. This obviously includes the CW shows, but it also includes Gotham, Lucifer, Preacher, and Powerless.  I honestly had no clue they were adapting Scalped and Black Lightning. I’m just going to do like 40 or 50 word blurb on each show, so let’s get to it.

Okay, first is Arrow. It’s actually had a return to form with Season Five. I actually liked Season Three and Four, but I guess every other human being hated it with the same brooding passion Batman received after his parents were killed. But I do think Season Five is definitely better that Three and Four. It looks like it’ll be renewed, and at this point, it’ll probably make it all the way through Stephen Amell’s contract that goes through eight seasons.

The Flash is extremely successful, and will be renewed for a fourth season. It’s a fan favorite show, and it’ll probably make it 10 seasons or something crazy like that, like Smallville. I mean, after it was ordered to pilot, I figured that it would make it a solid three seasons, and that’s just after the order. And if Grant Gusrin leaves, Keiynan Lonsdale would be a fantastic lead for the show, and he could become The Flash.

Legends Of Tomorrow is great, but I guess the guys over at CW don’t think so, because for one, they aren’t getting a full 23 episode season, and in January, it’s going to be moved to the 9 pm slot after The Flash. But CW could just be making room for yet another DC show on Thursday, which is the best case scenario.

Supergirl, the newest member of the DC/CW family, is actually doing swimmingly with fans. I honestly think it’s a fantastic role model for not just young women, but all people. It’s by far the most entertaining DC/CW show on air now in my opinion, and I hope it gets another season. Also, it introduced a main member of the Justice League, which is huge for The CW, because as of late, DC Films has been making them not use major characters, as to not confuse the audience with two versions of a character in screen.

iZombie is supposedly in a lot of trouble. I’ve heard it’s actually close to being cancel after this next season. I really hope it doesn’t get screwed. I really enjoy the film. Even though it’s so different from the comics, it’s still really good.

Gotham has just become atrocious. Its liberties from the comics, unlike iZombie, make zero fucking sense. It’s pointless, it truly is. I’m surprised it wasn’t cancelled long ago, and honestly, no offense to actors, because it’s mainly the writers’ faults, but I really hope this season comes to a head, and gets cancelled.

Lucifer, while I have only watched the first episode for the second season, I have watched the first season, and I thought it was great. Season Two looks really good, and I really need to catch up on it. Tom Ellis is a fantastic leading man, and perfect for the leading role. I hear Season Two is good, and it should be renewed for a third season.

And, I’ve saved the best DC show for last, Preacher. Or at least the last of the currently running shows, I still have to do Powerless. Preacher is by far my favorite comic related show that’s not a Netflix Original, and it’s one of my top ten favorite shows overall. It’s supposed to get a second season later this summer, and I can’t wait for it. Dom Cooper is a fantastic Jesse Custer, and the cast just gets even better from there. I think the narrative and direction of the show is far superior to most, and I hope it runs as long as possible.

And finally, we have Powerless. While it’s not based off a specific character, it’s actually based off an insurance company in the DC Universe. I think it’s a really interesting idea, because the show will be able to, well, showcase a lot of minor heroes and villains, and they all have to deal with Vanessa Hudgens. It’ll be great, it’s like The Office meets Team Arrow.

Okay, that was longer than I originally thought it was going to be, but nevermind, I still had fun writing it. I’ll catch you next week for my article on the Image Comics shows, meaning The Walking Dead, Fear The Walking Dead, and Wynonna Earp. Alright, guys, thanks for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

Character Of The Month: February 2017: Doc Samson

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome to today’s Character Of The Month, and we’ve got one I’ve been looking forward to for a while. Today, we have Leonard Samson, A.K.A. Doc Samson, a frequent ally of The Hulk, and his cousin, She-Hulk

Leonard Samson was born Leonard Skivorski Junior to Jewish parents in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Which is by far the weirdest sentence I have ever said. He was a psychiatrist, prior to becoming a human mutate. Which is basically a person that is born without mutant genes, and then develops their powers later in life, rather than a true mutant, which always has the genes for their mutant powers.

Samson became a human mutate when he took in a portion of the gamma radiation that was taken from Bruce Banner when he was depowered at one point in time. Leonard’s power originally came from him hair, much like his Biblical namesake, but he soon became able to control his power. Samson is considered a psychiatrist for superheroes, and has been able to talk down The Hulk on multiple occasions. At one point, Samson was offered a leadership position on a Midwestern Avengers team, but declined because of his recent accepting of a teaching position at Northwestern University. During Civil War and World War Hulk, Samson was on the side of Iron Man and the Illuminati, respectively. He attempted to help Iron Man depower She-Hulk, but she punched him into another state.

He’s only been featured once in live action, by Ty Burrell, in The Incredible Hulk, which is in the MCU. It’s highly unlikely that he’ll ever reappear in the role, but William Hurt returned as General Ross from this movie in Captain America: Civil War, and crazier things have happened, so it’s definitely possible that it could happen.

Welp, as always, I’ve had a lot of fun writing this. Join me next week, where I’m going to go over what I think the rest of 2017 holds for all of the Marvel-based shows, including Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, The Punisher, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., Runaways, and Cloak And Dagger. Anyways, thanks for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.