Month: August 2018

Character Of The Month; September 2018: Typhoid Mary

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 Mary Walker, who is also known as Typhoid Mary, a notable assassin and occasional lover of Matt Murdock, also known as Daredevil. Typhoid Mary has appeared in live-action before and was played by Natassia Mathe in 2005’s Elektra, and will be played in live-action again by Alice Eve in the upcoming second season of Netflix’s Marvel’s Iron Fist, which is set to debut on September 7th to Netflix users around the world. 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.

Mary Walker, also known as Typhoid Mary, is a mutant with low-level psionic abilities, including that of telekinesis. She, as mentioned above, is a former lover of Matthew Murdock. She has also taken up the role of Mutant Zero. She is highly mentally ill, as well. Her initial origin story was that while she was working as a prostitute, Daredevil accidentally knocked her out of a window, and after she recovered from her injuries, she vowed that “no man would ever hurt her again”. Later on, her origin was changed to be that she was a victim of child abuse. Mary has dissociative identity disorder with four distinctive personalities; “Mary”, which is a quiet and timid pacifist, “Typhoid”, which is adventurous and lustful, “Bloody Mary”, which is brutal and sadistic, and a fourth yet-to-be-shown personality.

In her first appearance as Typhoid Mary, she was hired by Kingpin to take out Daredevil, but that attempt was of course unsuccessful. She again battled Daredevil a few more times, before falling in love with him, and starting a relationship with him. After Daredevil broke up with her, she started a relationship with Kingpin, and then led a team of assassins against Daredevil, who again won the battle, and sent Mary into hiding.

Alright, guys, thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed. If you want to see more of Typhoid Mary, go check out Season Two of Marvel’s Iron Fist, which will be out to Netflix users worldwide September 7th. Please remember to come back Friday for my theories on Season Two of Marvel’s Iron Fist. Once again, thank you for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

CBMs of Earth 2; Paul Greengrass’s Watchmen

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome back to another edition of CBMs Of Earth 2. This edition of the CBMs Of Earth 2 series is on Paul Greengrass’s version of Watchmen. Notice that this is not connected to the aborted Terry Gilliam version of Watchmen, or the 2009-released Zach Snyder version, and will be treated as a separate entity by the team here at Blog Of Hell’s Kitchen. And with that, let’s get started with this adaption of Watchmen.

Release Date: June 2nd, 2006

Cast

  • Paddy Considine as Walter Kovacs/ Rorschach (Director’s Choice)
  • Joaquin Phoenix as Dan Drieberg/ Nite Owl II (Director’s Choice)
  • Matt Damon as Dr. Jon Osterman/ Doctor Manhattan (My Pick)
  • Hilary Swank as Laurie Jusperczyk/ Silk Spectre II (Director’s Choice)
  • Jude Law as Adrian Veidt/ Ozymandias (Director’s Choice)
  • Ron Perlman as Edward Blake/ The Comedian (Director’s Choice)

Plot Synopsis

The plot of Paul Greengrass’s Watchmen would have been the same as Zach Snyder’s Watchmen movie.

Butterfly Effects

Paddy Considine would possibly miss out on starring in Hot Fuzz in 2007, but likely doesn’t.

Joaquin Phoenix had no major movies that are affected by Watchmen.

Matt Damon likely would have missed out on starring in 2006’s The Departed. Kenneth Lonergan originally recommended Damon for the role because he was from Boston, where The Departed was set, so going with that logic, let’s say Lonergan recommends Damon’s best friend, Ben Affleck, for the same reason.

Ben Affleck takes the role in The Departed, which means he misses out on Hollywoodland, which was his resurgence to the spotlight after the dumpster fire that was 2003’s Daredevil. Let’s say Affleck has a similar resurgence because of The Departed. The runner-up for Affleck’s Hollywoodland was Keanu Reeves, let’s say he takes the role.

Keanu Reeves had no major movies that are affected by Hollywoodland.

Hilary Swank had no major movies that are affected by Watchmen.

Ron Perlman had no major movies that are affected by Watchmen.

Alright, guys, thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Please remember to come back Friday for my Character of the Month on Typhoid Mary in anticipation for Iron Fist Season Two. Once again, thank you for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

CBMs Of Earth 2; Tim Burton’s Batman 3: Batman Continues

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome back to another edition of CBMs Of Earth 2. This edition of the CBMs Of Earth 2 series is Tim Burton’s third Batman film, Batman Continues. Notice that this is a continuation of Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns trilogy, and will be treated as such by the team here at Blog Of Hell’s Kitchen. And with that, let’s get started with this next chapter of the Burtonverse.

Release Date: June 9th, 1995

Principal Cast And Staff

  • Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/ Batman
  • Robin Williams as Edward Nygma/ The Riddler
  • Marlon Wayans as Dick Grayson/ Robin
  • Rene Russo as Dr. Chase Meridian
  • Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth
  • Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent/ Two-Face
  • Brad Dourif as Dr. Jonathan Crane/ Scarecrow
  • Pat Hingle as Commissioner James Gordon

Plot Synopsis

Tim Burton’s ideas for the plot of this film have never been released to the public, so I’m just to say what I would have loved to see. I think the story of Batman: Riddler and the Riddle Factory would have fit very well into Tim Burton’s trilogy. Realistically, it would have never served as inspiration for the actual movie, because the comic come out only 5 months before my projected release date, well after the writing of the script and probably the filming of the movie had been done, but I feel that the story of that comic would have fit very well with the characters.

A brief synopsis of the Riddler and the Riddle Factory is that the Riddler starts to host a public access television show from a secret underground location where he exposes various Gotham celebrities from different crimes and immoral choices, and a few celebrities commit suicide due to their secrets being exposed. Obviously, we can already see where Batman, Alfred, Gordon, and Riddler fit into that story, but what about the other characters? Perhaps the Flying Graysons are exposed of illegal operations, leaving Dick an orphan and allowing Bruce to adopt him. Maybe Dr. Chase Meridian and Dr. Jonathan Crane are partners in a psychiatry firm, and Crane is revealing to be embezzling from the firm by the Riddler and locks himself away until he can perfect his “fear toxin”. Also, Harvey Dent could be exposed for taking money from the mob to throw out cases, and when he goes to commit suicide, he fails. and was scarred, became psychotic, and accepts his new life as Two-Face. Unfortunately, we’ll never know what would have really happened.

Alright, guys, thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Please remember to come back Friday for the next edition of my CBMs of Earth 2 series. Once again, thank you for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

Character Of The Month: August 2018: The Wasp

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 Hope Pym, who is also known as The Wasp, Scott Lang/ Ant-Man’s partner and the daughter of Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne in Ant-Man and Ant-Man and The Wasp, the original Ant-Man and The Wasp in the Marvel Universe. Hope van Dyne has appeared in live-action before and was played by Evangeline Lilly in 2015’s Ant-Man, who has once again resumed the role for Ant-Man And The Wasp, which debuted all the way back on Friday, July 6th in the United States. 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.

Hope Pym’s character in the comics is actually vastly different from the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She actually does not exist in the main continuity of the Marvel Universe, but in a universe nicknamed “MC2”, a parallel universe set in the future of the main Marvel continuity which focuses most the children of fan-favorite heroes. Hope Pym and her brother, Henry Pym Jr. are two of these such children, both being the children of Hank and Janet Pym, the original Ant-Man and The Wasp.

The MC2 version of Hope was actually a villain to “A-Next”, the next generation of the Avengers. Her supervillain alter-ego was “Red Queen”, and along with her brother, assembled a team of supervillains named “The Revengers”. The Revengers launched an assault on Avengers Mansion and tortured an adult Cassandra Lang, Scott Lang’s daughter and member of A-Next. Hope felt that she was the rightful heir to the Avengers and that she deserved to be treated as such. Hope then went to initiate the self-destruct sequence on Avengers Mansion using her father’s old code, but Henry Jr. stopped her in time, and she was arrested along with the rest of the Revengers, minus Henry Jr.

Alright, guys, thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed. If you want to see more of Hope Pym, go check out Ant-Man And The Wasp, which is out in theatres now. Please remember to come back Friday for the next edition of my CBMs of Earth 2 series. Once again, thank you for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

Ant-Man And The Wasp Review

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome once again to another edition of my Reviews series. If you read the title, you should already know this article is on Ant-Man And The Wasp, which released in the United States on Friday, July 6th. The 1-hour-and-58-minute film is set to star Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, Evangeline Lilly as Hope Van Dyne, Laurence Fishburne as Bill Foster, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Walton Goggins as Sonny Burch, Michael Peña as Luis, Abby Ryder Fortson as Cassie, Randall Park as Jimmy Woo, Bobby Cannavale as Paxton, Judy Greer as Maggie, and Michelle Pfieffer as Hope Van Dyne. Before I start, I just want to say there are MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ALL MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE MOVIES, so proceed with caution. Anyways, let’s get into it.

First, let’s talk about the theories I put forward in my Theories article for this season. In that article, I predicted that:

  1. Bill Foster was the father of Ghost.
  2. Ghost is some sort of a secret operative.
  3. Neither Ghost nor Sonny Burch will end up being the main villains of the film, Egghead would be the true villain.

First, it turns out that while Bill was the paternal figure of Ghost, he was not her actual father. Her father actually turned out to be Elihas Starr, who is also known as Egghead in the comics, so I’m 0-for-1. Second, Ghost was revealed to in fact be a former special operative for S.H.I.E.L.D. before the organization’s fall in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, so now I’m 1-for-2. Finally, Ghost and Burch were indeed the actual villains, and Egghead just turned out to be in the movie for one scene. So when all the points are totaled up, I have been 1-for-3 in my predictions for Ant-Man And The Wasp.

I’d have to say, my favorite character in the movie had to be Michael Peña’s Luis. His development from a common criminal in the first film to a business owner was really cool to see from a person of color in a major action film, but that didn’t make him any less funny. He still had a fantastic flashback moment just like in the first film, and I would say it may have been even better than the one from the original. Also, he had some really great dialogue with Scott and the other members of the XCON security firm he owns.

Overall, I’d said Ant-Man And The Wasp earned a score of 4 out of 5 stars.

Alright, guys, that has been my time, thank you so much for reading. Remember to come back next Friday for my Character Of The Month for August 2018 on The Wasp. Also, don’t forget, I am substituting my SDCC 2018 Recap for my Featured News for July 2018, so don’t expect a Featured News article on the first Monday of August. Alright, thanks again for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.