Month: November 2018

Character Of The Month: December 2018: Ocean Master

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 Ocean Master, the true king of Atlantis, and one of Aquaman’s biggest arch-nemesis, second only to Black Manta. Ocean Master has yet to appear in live-action and will be played by Patrick Wilson in the upcoming Aquaman solo film, which is set to debut to U.S. movie-goers on December 21st. 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.

Orm Curry is Arthur Curry’s full human brother, the son of Arthur’s father Tom, and a woman named Mary O’Sullivan. Orm was always jealous of Arthur because he had powers, and Orm didn’t. Later down the line, he became a petty criminal. During a crime, he was knocked unconscious, and suffered from a bout of amnesia. This caused Orm to forget all about his previous life, including his familial relationship to Aquaman.

Years after his accident, Orm resurfaced under the assumed named of Orm Marius and the moniker of Ocean Master. He was now a sort of high-tech sea pirate. He initially started out attacking ships and robbing them of their shipments. He quickly turned to create natural disasters like tsunamis and hurricanes with his technology and quickly came into conflict with Aquaman and Aqualad because of it. At one point, he did end up capturing Aquaman and Aqualad, but they both escaped. During the escape, Aquaman knocked off Orm’s mask, revealing to Arthur that he was fighting his half-brother, even though Orm had no idea of their relationship because of the amnesia. Aquaman then refused to fight his brother but did end up stifling Orm’s plans, and brought him to justice.

Alright, guys, thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed. If you want to see more of Ocean Master, go check out Aquaman, which will be available to U.S. movie-goers on December 21st. There will be no Featured News article for November 2018, because anything I would go over in that article has been gone over in my various State of The Comic Book Movie Union articles, but come back on Friday for my State Of The Sony Marvel Universe article. Once again, thank you for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

State of the Star Wars Films and Disney+ Shows 2019

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome to The State Of The Comic Book Movie Union Series: 2019 Edition: Part 3 of 6, on the Star Wars films and their related live-action Disney+ projects. There are only two Star Wars universe projects that will debut in 2019 that we’ll talk about today; Star Wars: Episode IX and Disney+’s show, The Mandalorian. Anyways, without further ado, let’s get to it.

Star Wars: Episode IX is supposedly going to be the last installment of the “Skywalker Saga”, the live-action Star Wars movies that showcase the Skywalker family, as opposed to the Star Wars Anthology films. I don’t necessarily believe this will be the last time we see the Skywalkers. I partly think this because the Skywalkers are the most famous characters in the series, and partly because I still believe that Rey has a chance to be a Skywalker. Daisy Ridley is just too bankable of a star for Disney to just get rid of after 3 movies. The family includes at least 6 of the main characters; Anakin, Padme (by marriage), Luke, Leia, Han (by marriage), and Kylo Ren, so it just wouldn’t make sense for them to disappear after this next movie. Anyways, the movie will return cast members Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita N’yongo, Domnhall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher (posthumously), Billy Dee Williams, and Anthony Daniels, while bringing in new cast members Keri Russell, Richard E. Grant, Matt Smith, and Dominic Monaghan. Star Wars: Episode IX is scheduled to release on December 20th, 2019.

The Mandalorian is probably the season of television I am most excited for in 2019, which is probably only rivaled by Season  9 of American Horror Story and Season 2 of The Punisher. So far, not a whole lot has been announced about the show. Disney described it as being about “a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.” The show will be set approximately three years after the end of Return Of The Jedi, so sometime around 7 ABY (Years After The Battle of Yavin), considering Return Of The Jedi took place during the year 4 ABY. The main character is, as the title suggests, a Mandalorian, which is another name for a clone in the Star Wars Universe, so we can theorize from that information that the main character is a rouge clone that was cast to the wayside after the fall of the Galactic Empire, and ends up working as a bounty hunter to survive. Does that not sound at least somewhat like the story of Boba Fett? I mean, I really doubt that this show will be about Boba Fett, but it sounds like a proxy for Boba Fett. The only two cast members that have been announced so far, Pedro Pascal and Gina Carano. It would be amazing to see Pedro Pascal as Boba Fett, I think he could fit into the role as a military man who’s stoic facade slowly starts to melt away into either a charismatic Casanova or an emotional wreck that’s been fighting to survive for years. Gina Carano would also be amazing in that same role, but I would also very much like to see her play the type of character that Captain Phasma was supposed to be in the sequel trilogy; this kind of legit physical threat to the hero of the story and not just someone that stands around and gives orders. The production team has worked very hard to make sure that we can’t tell at all who is behind the bounty hunter helmet that they’ve shown in set stills so either actor could be the main character, or it could be a completely different actor that has yet to be announced for the project. The Mandalorian will debut on Disney+ sometime in 2019

Alright, thank you so much for reading. Please, remember to tune in on Friday for my Character Of The Month article for December 2018, which will be on Ocean Master, in anticipation of Aquaman coming out later next month. Thank you again for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

State of the X-Men Films 2019

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome to The State Of The Comic Book Movie Union Series: 2019 Edition: Part 2 of 6, on the X-Men films. There are three X-Men universe films to talk about; Dark Phoenix, The New Mutants, and Gambit, and we’re going to just devote a couple of sentences to each. Anyways, without further ado, let’s get to it.

Dark Phoenix is the first movie on our list, and it looks kind of shaky. Long-time X-Men producer Simon Kinberg has signed on to direct the film, marking his directorial debut, which is pretty odd for a major superhero film. The entire main cast from X-Men: Apocalypse, save for Oscar Isaac’s Apocalypse, is confirmed to return, and will faceoff against Jean Grey’s Dark Phoenix alter-ego and Jessica Chastain’s yet-to-be-named character, who will act as a “devil on Jean’s shoulder”. Dark Phoenix is scheduled to be released on June 7th, 2019.

New Mutants is the next movie we’ll talk about today, and it looks more promising than Dark Phoenix. Josh Boone of The Fault In Our Stars fame will direct and write the film. The stars include Charlie Heaton as Sam Guthrie/ Cannonball, Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin/ Magik, Maisie Williams as Rahne Sinclair/ Wolfsbane, Henry Zaga as Roberto da Costa/ Sunspot, Blu Munt as Danielle Moonstar/ Mirage, and Alice Braga as Cecilia Reyes. New Mutants is scheduled to be released on August 2nd, 2019.

Gambit is the third and final movie on our list, and it’s probably the shakiest movie on this list. This movie has been suffering in developmental hell for 11 years now, and it’s still not clear whether or not it will actually happen. The movie has gone through three directors, Rupert Wyatt, Doug Liman, and Gore Verbinski, since Lauren Shuler Donner, one of the producers, officially announced the start of development of the film back in 2014. The film currently has no director and was supposed to start filming with star Channing Tatum back in Quarter 3 of 2018, but that never happened. Gambit is scheduled to be released on March 13th, 2020, but who knows if it will ever actually get off the ground.

Alright, thank you so much for reading. Please, remember to tune in on Friday for my next State of The Comic Book Union article, which will be on the upcoming Star Wars films. Thank you again for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

State of The Marvel Netflix and Disney+ Shows 2019

Ben DeSanti

Hello, and welcome to The State Of The Comic Book Movie Union Series: 2019 Edition: Part 1 of 6, on the Marvel Netflix and Disney+ shows. Fortunately, there are five Marvel Netflix shows to talk about; Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher, and Jessica Jones, one Hulu show in Runaways, and plenty of possible shows that may happen on Disney’s new streaming service, Disney+, we’re going to just devote a couple sentences to each show. Anyways, without further ado, let’s get to it.

Jessica Jones Season 2 was released all the way back in March 2018, and while it didn’t do quite as well as the first season, it was still very well received by fans and critics alike. It garnered an 83% critic score and a 67% audience score from Rotten Tomatoes. The show was renewed for a third season in April, and based on current trends for the show, I project Season 3 will debut on Netflix on July 26th, 2019.

Luke Cage Season 2 was released in June 2018. It, like Jessica Jones Season2, didn’t quite stack up to the expectations put forth by the previous installment of the respective shows, but it was relatively well received by audiences and critics. Unfortunately, the show was canceled back in October, reportedly due to “creative differences”. Cage is rumored to come back to Disney+, Disney’s newly announced streaming service, along with Danny Rand, whose show was also canceled in October, for a Heroes for Hire series, but nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

Iron Fist, whose Season 2 was a shortened 10-episode season as opposed the typical 13 episodes for a normal Marvel Netflix show, was released back in September 2018, and overall, did a lot better than it’s previous season, but that wasn’t enough to get a third season. the show was canceled back in October, reportedly due to “poor reception”. As previously stated, Rand is rumored to come back to Disney+ with Luke Cage for a Heroes for Hire series, but nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

Daredevil Season 2 was released back in October 2018, less than a month before the release of this article. It has mostly far surpassed the critical reviews of the second season, but the fans seem to love all three seasons equally. So far, the series has yet to be renewed for a fourth season, but it is very likely unless Disney decides to move it over to Disney+ when it debuts next year. Based on current trends, I think that Daredevil Season 4, if renewed, will debut on March 5th, 2021.

The Punisher Season 1 is the only Netflix show on this list that didn’t have an installment come out in 2018. The series was renewed back in December of 2017, and as current trends go, I expect that, unless it is moved to Disney+, Season 2 will debut on March 6th, 2020.

Loki is the only Disney+ Marvel Original that I’ll be covering today. It was just officially announced yesterday, November 8th. In all honesty, I can’t give an exact estimate on when it would come out, but my best guess would be Quarter 4 of 2019, most likely mid-October to mid-November after the service has been up and on its feet for a couple months, but there’s really no “for sure” answer I can give.

Alright, thank you so much for reading. Please, remember to tune in on Friday for my next State of The Comic Book Union article, which will be on the upcoming X-Men films. Thank you again for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.

Featured News: October 2018

Ben DeSanti

Welcome once again to another edition of Featured News. First, we’re going to talk about some news from Netflix on Marvel’s Iron Fist. Secondly, we’re going to talk about the reaction to Sony’s Venom. Finally, we’re talking about three new major shows that will be coming to Disney’s new streaming service. So without any further ado, let’s get into it.

First and foremost, we need to talk about Marvel’s Iron Fist. Unfortunately, the show was canceled by Netflix after two pretty solid. I was actually pretty surprised that the show was canceled, especially so soon after the second season considering it was canceled on about 5 weeks after it first debuted on Netflix. Personally, I think that while the last half of Season One was better than most episodes of Season Two, Season Two was a step up from Season One as a whole, considering the most of the first half of Season One, specifically the first two episodes, were pretty bad. Since the show was canceled, rumors have swirled about the cancellation, specifically about it possibly being canceled in favor of making room on Netflix’s Marvel slate for a Moon Knight or Blade-centric show, and about a potential revival of the show on Disney’s streaming service, which is supposed to debut sometime in 2019.

Second, let’s talk a little bit about Venom. As of October 13th, the movie has netted $244 million against a $100 million budget, but that’s not what we’re here to talk about. Let’s talk a little bit about the critical response to Venom. So far, the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes score is an abysmal 30%, while the audience score on the same site is a cool 89%, and the score on IMDb is a solid 7.1/10. Many fans of the movie, myself included, have been pointing to reviewers being paid off by either DC to discredit Marvel films, or by members of Lady Gaga’s crew so that her new movie, A Star Is Born, does better financially than Venom. Either way, some shady stuff is going on, because Venom deserves a much better score than 30%.

Third and finally, let’s talk about some news I wasn’t actually able to get to last month, which is The Mandalorian, the Loki limited series, and the Scarlet Witch limited series. All three were announced last month as being some of the first original content to appear on Disney’s new streaming service, which is projected to debut in 2019. The Mandalorian will be the first live-action Star Wars-based television show, and it will focus on a rogue clone-turned-bounty hunter that roams the galaxy looking for their next contract and will have a first season budget of approximately $100 million. Both the Loki and Scarlet Witch limited series are sparse on details, but sources close to Marvel have said that both shows plan to return their actors from the movies, Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen, respectively. They will be directly overseen by Kevin Feige and will have little to no involvement from Marvel TV, and they will supposedly have budgets just as large as that of The Mandalorian. There is a third limited series that will also debut around the same time on the platform as the other two, and while nothing is confirmed, many are speculating that it will be based on either The Hulk or Hawkeye.

Alright, thank you so much for reading. Please, remember to tune in on Friday for my first State of The Comic Book Union article, which will be on all Marvel television projects currently airing or in development. Thank you again for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day, and don’t forget to get out and vote tomorrow.

Daredevil Season 3 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 Daredevil Season 3, which released on Netflix worldwide Friday, October 19th. The 13 episode season returned stars Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock/ Daredevil, Deborah Ann Woll as Karen Page, Elden Henson as Foggy Nelson, Vincent D’Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, and brought in two new main cast members in Wilson Bethel as Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter/ Bullseye and Jay Ali as Ray Nadeem. Before I start, I just want to say there are MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ALL MARVEL NETFLIX SHOWS, 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. Season Three is based on the Born Again storyline from the comics.
  2. Dex will be the officer that frames Matt for bribing a witness.
  3. Karen Page is killed by Bullseye.

First, while it wasn’t a 100% spot-on recreation of Born Again, Season 3 had the main plot points of the story, such as Matt losing everything, including his religion, and Bullseye being hired by Kingpin to take down Daredevil, so I’d call that 1-for-1. Secondly, there was no sort of framing of Matt for bribing, not even a mention of it, so, unfortunately, I’ve got to call that a loss and my score comes to 1-for-2. Third and finally, Karen Page didn’t end up getting killed, so I ended up being 1-for-3.

I do definitely want to talk about my favorite character, which was Bullseye. His character was just so well written, he just had to be the character I highlighted in this article. He started out as this sort of straight man FBI agent, and he just went downhill from there, but not in terms of the quality of his arc, but more in the terms of his mental health. I really liked that, just like Born Again, Kingpin just turned his life completely upside down by killing the girl he likes/ stalks, Julie. He also turned Dex’s employer, the New York branch of the FBI into his own personal bodyguard/ hitman service. On top of all of that, Kingpin also had Dex dress up as Daredevil and attack the Bulletin in order to both a kill a key witness to Kingpin’s crimes and to frame Matt for murder, which resulted in a pretty cool fight scene between Dex and Matt in his Season 1 costume, which he wore for most of the season. Dex did end up killing Agent Nadeem in his own backyard. During the final episode, he was involved in a fight with Kingpin and Daredevil, and Kingpin shattered Dex’s spine. However, in the last moments of the show, Dex was shown to be in surgery, getting a new robotic spine, and hinting at his official debut as Bullseye in later seasons of Daredevil.

When all is said and done, I give Daredevil Season 3 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Alright, thank you so much for reading. Please, remember to tune in next Friday for my State of the CBM Union article on Marvel Television. Thank you again for reading, and remember, have a nerdy day.