Month: March 2018

Character Of The Month: April 2018: Thanos

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome once again to the Blog Of Hell’s Kitchen. This week, we have a Character Of The Month article about Thanos, most famously known as one of the most powerful beings in the entire Marvel Universe, and frequent holder of the Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos has previously appeared in live-action in uncredited cameo roles in three MCU movies so far, The Avengers, Guardians Of The Galaxy, and Avengers: Age of Ultron, portrayed by Damion Poitier in the first film, and Josh Brolin in the last two. He will make his return to live-action in Avengers: Infinity War, which will debut later this month. As per usual, this article will only go over the featured character’s history from the comics, and not what they’ve done in other film and television projects. So, without further ado, let’s get to it.

Thanos was born on Saturn’s moon of Titan to a pair of Eternals, a powerful alien race in the Marvel Universe that looks similar to humans. However, Thanos carried the gene of the Deviants, a sister race to the Eternals, and these genes rendered him looking vastly different from his family and his race, giving him tough purple skin and a larger frame than the average Eternal. When he came out of the womb, his mother, Sui-San, was so shocked by his appearance, that, out of shame, she tried and failed to kill baby Thanos.

As a child, Thanos was a major pacifist and a major loner. The only living things that he regularly interacted with were his parents, his brother, Starfox, and his pets. As he aged, Thanos became more of a nihilist and became obsessed with death. Eventually, he begins worshipping and falling in love with Mistress Death, who, as you could probably guess, is the physical embodiment of Death. He believes that he needs to make a sacrifice to Mistress Death so she will love him back. He devises a plan to acquire all of the Infinity Stones in the Infinity Gauntlet to bring about mayhem on the Marvel Universe, which is where the comic version of Infinity Gauntlet begins.

Alright, guys, thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Please remember to come back Monday for my Featured News article for February 2018, and again on Friday for my State of the Comic Book Union on the Star Wars Cinematic Universe article. Once again, thank you for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

Jessica Jones Season Two Review

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome once again to another one of my reviews. If you read the title, you should already know this article is on Marvel’s Jessica Jones, which released in the United States on Netflix this Thursday, March 8th. The 13-episode-long season is set to star Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, Eka Darville as Malcolm Ducasse, Rachael Taylor as Patricia “Trish” Walker, Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth, Leah Gibson as Ingrid, J.R. Ramirez as Oscar, Rebecca De Mornay as Dorothy Walker, David Tennant as Kilgrave. Before I start, I just want to say there are MAJOR SPOILERS for Marvel’s Jessica Jones Season One and Two, so proceed with caution. Anyways, let’s get into it.

Now, the first thing I want to get at is the references to the recent sexual harassment allegations in Hollywood and the #MeToo movement in Season Two of Marvel’s Jessica Jones. One of the main characters of the series, Trish Walker, was a former child star, and I figured the subject was bound to come up at some point in the season, but I had no idea that it would come up in the way it did. We learn pretty early in the season that when she was 15, she was forced by her mother to perform sexual acts on a popular director. Learning that was a pretty big shock, and it showcased an even bigger reason for Jessica and Trish to hate Dorothy Walker. I only figured that they would bring it up in the show because it is the only female-led show in Marvel’s lineup. Honestly, I never even thought of the “actress” angle of the story from Trish. That arc is probably the most notable of the entire season.

Now, we didn’t have a clear-cut villain until a few episodes into the season, but what we got wasn’t the greatest we could have gotten, but it was certainly interesting. We find out there’s another superhuman with greater strength than Jessica that is also the product of the evil genius Karl Malus. This mysterious figure is found out to be Jessica’s mother, Alisa, who apparently was saved by Malus from the aftermath of the same car accident Jessica was in. This twist certainly had a lot of shock value when it happened, but as they explored it over the last half of the season, it lost a lot of value. It untimely just ended up seeming like the arc from Season One where Jessica convinces Kilgrave to go well for a little while, and then eventually the villain just goes back to evildoing, and Jessica is forced to have to put them down for the safety of ordinary people. It was just a rehash of the back half of Season One, albeit with a few small changes.

After everything is said and done, I give Marvel’s Jessica Jones Season Two 3.85 out of 5 stars.

Alright, thank you so much for reading. Please, remember to tune in next Friday for Character of the Month article for April 2018 on Thanos in anticipation of Avengers: Infinity War. Thank you again for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

State of the X-Men Cinematic Universe

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome to The State Of The Comic Book Movie Union Series: 2018 Edition: Part 5 of 6, on the X-Men Cinematic Universe. Fortunately, there are two X-Men films to talk about, with Deadpool 2 and X-Men: Dark Phoenix all having release dates later this year, so we’ll have plenty talk about today. Anyways, without further ado, let’s get to it.

Now, The Untitled Deadpool Sequel is probably one of, if not the most anticipated comic book movies of the year. The sequel to the widely revered original, the newest installment will return all of the main cast from the last go-around, save for Gina Carano and Ed Skrien, and will debut new characters such as Cable, Domino, and Black Tom Cassidy, who is the partner of Juggernaut in the comics. The movie was originally supposed to come out on June 1st, 2018, but it was moved up to May 18th, 2018 to get ahead of Solo: A Star Wars Story and to take away some money from Avengers: Infinity War, which will be in its fourth week in the box office on the 18th. The Untitled Deadpool Sequel will star Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/ Deadpool, Josh Brolin as Nathan Summers/ Cable, Zazie Beets as Neena Thurman/ Domino, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Stefan Kapcic as the voice of Colossus, and Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, and will debut to American viewers on May 18th.

Second and finally, we have X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Dark Phoenix, like The Untitled Deadpool Sequel, is a continuation, but this time, it’s a continuation of the main X-Men franchise. Many fans and critics alike are very wary of the film after X-Men: Apocalypse‘s lack of critical and financial success, and the fact that the movie will be long-time X-Men producer Simon Kinberg’s first attempt at directing a film. All of those problems don’t even include the aging and timeline problems the X-Men Cinematic Universe still have, which are still pretty blatant. However, I really hope it all goes well, against all odds. X-Men: Dark Phoenix will star James McAvoy as Charles Xavier, Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr, Jennifer Lawerence as Raven, Nicolas Hoult as Hank McCoy, Tye Sheridan as Scott Summers, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, and Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff, and will debut to American viewers on November 2nd.

Alright, thank you so much for reading. Please, remember to tune in on Friday for my Review of Marvel’s Jessica Jones Season Two. Thank you again for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

Jessica Jones Season Two Theories

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome once again to another edition of my Theories series. If you read the title, you should already know this article is on Marvel’s Jessica Jones, which releases in the United States on Netflix this Thursday, March 8th. The 13-episode-long season is set to star Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones, Eka Darville as Malcolm Ducasse, Rachael Taylor as Patricia “Trish” Walker, Carrie-Anne Moss as Jeri Hogarth, Leah Gibson as Ingrid, J.R. Ramirez as Oscar, Rebecca De Mornay as Dorothy Walker, David Tennant as Kilgrave. Before I start, I just want to say there are MAJOR SPOILERS for Marvel’s Jessica Jones Season One and POSSIBLE SPOILERS for Marvel’s Jessica Jones Season Two, so proceed with caution. Anyways, let’s get into it.

First, I think Kilgrave may actually not be dead. I know he had his neck snapped by Jessica in the season finale of Season One, but who knows? David Tennant is confirmed to have a major supporting role in Season Two, which very well could be just him appearing in Jessica’s dreams. However, we’ve seen crazier things in the Marvel Netflix Universe. As much as I would like the Marvel’s Jessica Jones team to switch it up, I would be perfectly fine with Kilgrave returning as Season Two’s main villain, similar to how Kingpin with reportedly be the main villain for Season Three of Marvel’s Daredevil after he had already been the main villain of Season One of that show.

Secondly, I think that Season Two will heavily address the #MeToo movement and the sexual harassment scandals that are currently taking over Hollywood. One of the central themes of last season was Jessica’s PTSD, which she received from her experiences of being under Kilgrave’s control. A big part of that PTSD came from Kilgrave essentially raping Jessica by coercing her into seemingly consensual sex with him with his mind control powers. Considering the way the sexual harassment scandals, especially the high profile cases such as Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey, it would be interesting to see the way Netflix responds to the allegations.

Finally, I believe Ingrid and Oscar, the supposed main villains of Season Two, are completely original characters. It would be an unprecedented move by the writers of the show, but I figured it would have to happen eventually. The only results I can find on and “Ingrid” in the Marvel comics canon is Ingrid Trask of Earth-161, a cousin of Tony Stark and distant relative of Professor Bolivar Trask, and the only result for Oscar is Oscar Stamp, who is an ancestor of Cyclops, Havok, and Cannonball. I suppose you could use those characters in a project, but I would figure Marvel would use them as minor characters in an X-Men project. However, it’s possible Marvel just wanted to use those characters on television instead of the big screen.

Alright, thank you so much for reading. Please, remember to tune in on Friday for State of The Comic Book Union on the X-Men Franchise. Thank you again for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

Featured News: February 2018

Ben DeSanti

Welcome once again to another edition of Featured News. First, we’re going to talk about the reaction to Black Panther. Secondly, we’ve got major news on Avengers: Infinity War‘s release date. Finally, we’re talking about a major update in the Marvel Cinematic Universe release schedule. So without any further ado, let’s get into it.

Most figured that Black Panther would make a good amount of money considering it’s part of a major franchise, had picked up a lot of hype within the African-American community, and had little to no competition in it’s February release date, but no one would have ever figured it would have gotten as much coverage and box office profit the way it has. In just two weeks since Black Panther‘s release, the movie has made nearly quadruple its budget, making approximately $770 million worldwide against a $200 million budget, including a staggering $435.4 million domestic gross. The movie has also garnered much applause from critics and fans alike, boasting a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 88% on Metacritic.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a mainstay the first week of May for years, but that looks like that will be changing this year. The Russo Brothers, the directors of Avengers: Infinity War, and Marvel Studios have announced that the newest installment of the Avengers tetralogy and the MCU as a whole will be moving up its US release date one week to April 27th, 2018. At the time of writing this article, the Russo Brothers nor Marvel Studios has given an exact reason as to why they have decided to move up the date, but most assume that it is to coincide with the movie release everywhere else the same week. This was most likely to avoid spoilers from other countries to leak into the US before any of us have a chance to even see it. Much appreciated, Marvel, we know you’ve got us.

Moving Avengers: Infinity War up a week wasn’t the only release calendar change made this last week. Shortly after the Avengers: Infinity War move was announced, Marvel put up 6 more release dates with yet-to-be-announced films on their release calendar. The dates are as follows; May 7th, July 30th, and November 5, 2021, and February 18th, May 6th, and July 29, 2022. This adds to the already scheduled Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 on July 5th, 2019, and the also-yet-to-be-titled dates of May 1st, July 31st, and November 6th, 2020. Now, if I had to guess that what these movies were, I wouldn’t because I have no idea what goes on in Kevin Feige’s head, so I choose not to comment and look like a fool when the actual schedule comes out. We already know Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 will debut some time in 2020, but beyond that, we don’t know, and I’m not going to try and act like I know.

Alright, guys, thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Please remember to come back Thursday for my Marvel’s Jessica Jones Theories article. Again, thank you for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

Character Of The Month: March 2018: Jessica Jones

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome once again to the Blog Of Hell’s Kitchen. This week, we have a Character Of The Month article about Jessica Jones, most famously known as a rough-and-tumble superhuman private investigator in New York. Jones has previously appeared in live-action in Season One of her own show, Marvel’s Jessica Jones, as well as a starring role in Marvel’s The Defenders. She will make her return to live-action in Season Two of Marvel’s Jessica Jones, which will debut later this month. As per usual, this article will only go over the featured character’s history from the comics, and not what they’ve done in other film and television projects. So, without further ado, let’s get to it.

Jessica Jones started out as a legitimate superhero, cape and all, with the alias Jewel. She had first received her powers from an accident involving radioactive waste that killed her parents and younger brother. Her career as Jewel was relatively uneventful until she went to intervene in an incident in a restaurant. This is where she met Zebediah Kilgrave. See, Kilgrave has the literal power of persuasion, he is able to mind control people into doing whatever he wants with a single word. Not to mention, he sticks out like a sore thumb because of his purple skins, thus his nickname “The Purple Man”. Over the next few months, Kilgrave manipulated Jones into being his personal bodyguard. He also coerced her into having sex with him with his powers, essentially raping her. After Jones finally snapped out of Kilgrave’s control when Carol Danvers, also known as Captain Marvel, stops her from killing Daredevil at Avengers Mansion on \Kilgrave’s orders, she retreated, is diagnosed with PTSD, and Kilgrave it put in a maximum security prison.

Fast forwarding a little while into the future, Jones has now given up her superhero persona and has now become a private investigator. She still hadn’t worked through her issues and was a functioning alcoholic at that point in time. She ends up dating Scott Lang, the second Ant-Man, all the while having a relationship with Luke Cage on the side. Eventually, Kilgrave escapes from the prison where he was being held, and he heads out to find Jessica.

Alright, guys, thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Please remember to come back Monday for my Featured News article for February 2018, and again on Thursday for my Marvel’s Jessica Jones Theories article. Yes, Thursday, because that is the day the new season debuts, but we should be back to normal posting the next week. Once again, thank you for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.