DAMN Good Movies -- AVENGERS: ENDGAME

You guessed it, I'm back once again with another movie take, this time on the movie Avengers: Endgame, the 22nd film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  As always, if you haven't seen the movie yet and you don't want it spoiled for you, then please step back from your computer or whatever electronic device you're reading this on and stop reading now.  If, however, you're wise enough to know that movie reviews with spoilers are always more interesting than the ones without them...well...time to assemble!

One year ago, Marvel Studios shocked the world (Well, the part of the world that doesn't read comics) by having big bad Thanos use his spiffy Infinity Gauntlet to snap half of the universe's population out of existence at the end of Avengers: Infinity War.  Fans gasped in horror as one by one, major MCU players like Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Scarlet Witch and more crumbled into ash and blew away in the gentle wind.  At long last, we had a superhero film where the supervillain actually won.

Twelve months of Thanos Snap internet memes later, directors Anthony and Joe Russo are back with a massive three-hours-long Part Two, with the surviving members of the Avengers and their allies working to reverse the damage and also bring what is essentially a 22-film saga to a resounding conclusion.  It's an incredible achievement of coordination that Marvel Studios accomplishes here, but one with a sense of finality as we say goodbye to some of our favorite heroes.

The film opens with Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, still under house arrest at his homestead after the events of Captain America: Civil War.  As he trains his daughter Lila in archery, his wife Laura prepares a picnic while the couple's two sons play catch.  However, while retrieving an arrow, Clint turns his back for a few seconds and when he turns back around, his entire family is gone, having disintegrated in The Snap.

This somber tone fills the entire First Act, as we jump ahead three weeks after Avengers: Infinity War.  New player Captain Marvel, somehow still looking as youthful as in her solo film set in the 1990s, rescues Nebula and Tony Stark from being stranded in deep space. They return to Earth and join the remaining Avengers—Black Widow, Bruce Banner, Captain America, Rocket, Thor, and War Machine.  Using Nebula's knowledge, they find Thanos on an unguarded planet, intending to retake the Stones to reverse his action.  Once there, they learn whoops, he already destroyed them to prevent further use, severely burning himself in the process.  After this horribly awkward moment, an enraged Thor finally goes for the head and decapitates Thanos.

We jump ahead FIVE...YEARS...LATER, with the resulting fallout of the Avengers not being able to reverse The Snap.  No longer operating as superheroes, Steve Rogers now heads a support group for Snap survivors, Natasha Romanoff coordinates updates from Nebula and Rocket, Okoye, Captain Marvel, and War Machine, and Tony Stark seems content living in a cabin with his wife Pepper and their young daughter Morgan Stark.  All of them seem to have reached the Acceptance stage about their new status quo.

Thankfully, we head into Act Two with Ant-Man finally escaping the quantum realm and learning that his daughter Cassie is now five years older.  He joins Steve and Natasha at the Avengers' compound and explains he lived through a duration of five hours instead of five years, theorizing that the quantum realm can let them time travel.  Desperately needing the smartest guy left on the planet before Mr. Fantastic joins the MCU, they go to Tony to help them retrieve the Stones from the past so they can reverse Thanos' actions in the present, but he refuses out of fear of losing Morgan.  

Still in desperate need of a big brain, Steve, Natasha and Scott Lang meet up with Bruce at a restaurant, where we learn Bruce has managed to merge his intelligence with the Hulk's body.  An hour of hopelessness finally gives way to some much-needed humor, with Bruce enjoying his newfound celebrity before agreeing to help the others as best as he can with his limited knowledge of quantum physics.  Bruce experiments with trying to send Ant-Man back in time using the quantum realm, turning him into a kid, then an old man, and finally a baby before finally restoring him to normal.

After getting a pep talk from Pepper, Tony finally shows up and agrees to help, under the condition that reversing The Snap won't reset what's happened since, keeping Morgan from being erased.  With Tony back in play, Bruce goes off with Rocket to the Asgardian refugees' new home in Tønsberg, Norway, now known as New Asgard, to recruit Thor, who has become embarrassingly overweight and alcoholic after sliding into depression and watching The Big Lebowski way too many times.  Natasha, meanwhile, heads to Tokyo to recruit Hawkeye, who has turned into a Zack Snyder version of himself, killing Yakuza members as a ruthless vigilante.

Hawkeye rejoins the Avengers and agrees to road test Tony's tweaked time machine, proving that it works.  The team figures out when and where to retrieve the Infinity Stones from the past, and the movie lays out its version of time travel rules -- affecting the past won't change the present like in Back to the Future, but creates an alternate universe instead.  And because of this, they have to bring the stones back to their original times and places after half the universe is restored.  Oh, and by the way...They only have a limited amount of trips because Hank Pym isn't around to make more Pym Particles.

So, somehow, Back to the Future is nonsense but Back to the Future Part II is perfectly cool.  Bruce, Steve, Tony and Scott travel to New York City in 2012, during the Chitauri invasion from the first Avengers movie.  Bruce visits the Sanctum Sanctorum before the Doctor Strange movie and convinces the Ancient One to give him the Time Stone, promising to later return the stones to their original place.  Steve successfully retrieves the Mind Stone, but Tony and Scott fail to retrieve the Space Stone after Loki escapes with it. Quickly needing a backup plan, Steve and Tony travel to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters in 1970 and steal an earlier version of the Space Stone along with more vials of Pym Particles from younger Hank Pym, then return to the present.

Everybody got that?

Rocket and Dude Thor travel to Asgard in 2013, during Thor: The Dark World, to retrieve the Reality Stone from Jane Foster, and Dude Thor swipes his former hammer, Mjolnir.  On Morag in 2014, during the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Nebula and War Machine steal the Power Stone before Star-Lord can.  War Machine returns to the present with the Power Stone, but Nebula is unable to return due to her cybernetic implants interfacing with those of her 2014 self.  Through this connection, the 2014 Thanos learns of his future success and the Avengers' attempts to undo it.  Ruh-roh!  Thanos captures Good 2023 Nebula and sends Bad 2014 Nebula to the present to replace her because shenanigans.  Meanwhile, Black Widow and Hawkeye travel to Vormir in the same year and learn from the Soul Stone's keeper, the Red Skull, that it can only be acquired by sacrificing someone they love.  (Remember, like Thanos did to his adopted daughter Gamora?)  After a brief battle to see who can sacrifice themself first, Black Widow commits suicide in the film's first big death, allowing Hawkeye to claim the stone.

We head into the film's third hour and Third Act with all of the Infinity Stones obtained, and Tony, Bruce and Rocket create a new Infinity Gauntlet to hold them.  Bruce is the only one able to use the Gauntlet and stay alive, but he's able to snap his fingers just in time to restore half the universe's population, who should be really surprised to find out they've jumped ahead five years.

While this is going on, Bad 2014 Nebula uses the time machine to transport Thanos, 2014 Gamora, and the Black Order to 2023, and he destroys the Avengers' compound.  In the resulting chaos, Bad 2014 Nebula tricks Hawkeye into giving her the Infinity Gauntlet, until 2014 Gamora and Good 2023 Nebula team-up and kill Bad 2014 Nebula, which should make things really awkward for Good 2023 Nebula.

The Big Three go after Thanos, who easily defeats them then realizes his plan to wipe out half the universe wasn't that great, because the survivors were too busy thinking about what was lost instead of making the most of the "opportunity" they were given.  So now he has a new plan -- wipe out all life in the universe and then rebuild it in his own image, with no one having any idea about what happened before.  Thanos is about to kill Dude Thor with his own Stormbreaker hammer, until the audience-cheering moment when Captain America becomes worthy enough to use Mjolnir to pound on Thanos' big purple face.

The cheers continue when the restored Doctor Strange arrives with the restored Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and assorted other heroes, as well as the armies of Wakanda, Asgard, and the Ravagers.  Captain Marvel checks back into the film and together, they fight Thanos' army in an epic and insane battle sequence that works in a special shoutout to all the female MCU superheroes.  Eventually though, Thanos seizes the Gauntlet and is about to snap himself another victory...but nothing happens.  It turns out Iron Man stole the Infinity Stones back and snaps Thanos' army, the Black Order, and in a very satisfying moment, Thanos himself into dust in the wind.

Unfortunately, Iron Man is mortally wounded from using the Gauntlet and dies in the film's second big death.  Following Tony's funeral, Thor appoints Valkyrie as the king of New Asgard and goes off to join the Guardians of the Galaxy in their third movie.  Star-Lord begins searching for 2014 Gamora, still in love with her even though she has no idea who he is.  

And in the film's final moments, Captain America is tasked with returning the Infinity Stones and Mjolnir to the original places in time.  After doing so, however, he apparently goes rogue and ignores all the previous time travel rules, choosing to remain in the past and live out the rest of his life.  Now in 2023, he returns as Old Man Rogers, passing on his shield to Sam Wilson, The Falcon, and making him his official successor as Captain America.  Anyone familiar with Captain America: The First Avenger will start reaching for the tissues in the closing flashback scene, where Steve is shown reunited with his time-lost love Peggy Carter, finally getting his dance that he missed all those years ago.  An absolutely perfect ending.

As expected, the film's ginormous cast once again give great performances, with some entertaining and emotionally powerful character moments.  Here are just some of the dozens and dozens or characters that stood out:

IRON MAN/TONY STARK -- Robert Downey, Jr. launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2008's Iron Man, so it was only fitting to have Avengers: Endgame be the end of his time as Tony Stark.  Over the past eleven years, the actor became the character and vice versa, and as impossible as it is right now to picture someone else as Tony Stark, Iron Man will return...someday.  For now though, let's stop and appreciate everything Downey helped build as the invincible -- and definitive -- Iron Man.

CAPTAIN AMERICA/STEVE ROGERS -- In presumably his final outing as Cap, Chris Evans swings for the fences in action scenes and saves his best work as the character for his final scene as Old Man Rogers.  Captain America is more than just a superhero, he's inspirational, and it's a credit to Evans that he was able to embody that so well on screen and in real life.  More than all the other Avengers, Cap is the one who deserved a happy ending and I'm so glad that's what he received. 

THOR ODINSON -- Unlike Downey and Evans, Chris Hemsworth doesn't seem quite ready to let go of his character yet, especially if the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 tease is any indication.  Unfortunately, after the success of Thor: Ragnarok, it feels like Marvel wants to keep playing Thor for laughs and that's exactly what happens here.  With his comically excessive fake beer gut, Hemsworth looks more like Volstagg the Voluminous than the God of Thunder, so let's just hope this wasn't his last appearance as Thor.

HULK/BRUCE BANNER -- After being somewhat marginalized in Avengers: Infinity War, Mark Ruffalo returns in a Hulk-sized way here, with Bruce having merged his brain with the Hulk's brawn as if he was taken right out of Peter David's Incredible Hulk comic book run.  It seemed a bit odd to have the dangling plot thread of the Hulk's fear of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War completely abandoned as a result of the five-year time jump, but obviously the story had more important things to worry about.

BLACK WIDOW/NATASHA ROMANOFF -- The death of Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow gets completely overshadowed by Tony Stark's death, but knowing that a Black Widow solo movie is finally happening, the big question here is, did Natasha's death even matter?  Will the solo movie be a prequel, or did Cap do some more tweaking to the timeline that somehow allows Black Widow to return?  Keep watching those upcoming MCU post-credit scenes...

HAWKEYE/CLINT BARTON -- And just to complete the set of the original six movie Avengers, Jeremy Renner returns as Hawkeye, albeit more like his Ronin persona from Brian Bendis' The New Avengers series.  Renner gets a powerful opening scene as Clint's entire family are snapped out of existence, but Clint's silly edgelord haircut and arm tats make it harder to take his major personality change seriously.

THANOS -- Once again, Josh Brolin kills it as the voice and motion-capture model of Thanos.  Even though his Thanos is just a big CGI special effects creation, Brolin brings a ton of gravitas to the character and his interactions with others. Thanos will be remembered fondly as one of the best movie villains ever, although I'm wondering since 2014 Thanos was taken off the board by Tony in 2023, how was everything Thanos originally did from 2014 to 2018 affected?

ANT-MAN/SCOTT LANG -- Paul Rudd's Ant-Man steps up in a big way in this film, after being rescued from the quantum realm by the Ratus Ex Machina.  Scott brought a lot of humor that was definitely needed to offset all the sadness and hopelessness caused by The Snap, but Rudd's best moment has to be when Scott is reunited with his daughter Cassie after fearing her dead, only to take her sudden five-year age increase in stride.

CAPTAIN MARVEL/CAROL DANVERS -- After being teased as Nick Fury's paged ace in the hole to stop Thanos, it's was really surprising that Brie Larson only got a few scenes here and there as Captain Marvel.  And I'm not sure how much sense it made to have Carol fly right back into space, when there obviously was a huge need for someone of her strength and power to help get Earth back on its feet.  At least she got a few good punches in on Thanos.

NEBULA -- It's kind of amazing that Karen Gillan got more to do here as Nebula than she did in two Guardians of the Galaxy films combined.  As two versions of the same character from 2014 and 2023, Gillan was able to showcase her character's development from Thanos' compliant minion into an independent positive force and unofficial Avenger.  Like Thanos, however, the death of her 2014 self poses some serious timey-wimey questions that still beg to be explained.

ROCKET RACCOON -- Bradley Cooper returns as Rocket, who still delivers one-liners with the best of them and even serves as a new Science Bro along with Tony and Bruce.  Regardless, as the only survivor of the original Guardians of the Galaxy team, his pain and survivor's guilt is often heartbreaking.

DOCTOR STRANGE/DR. STEPHEN STRANGE -- As one of the returned heroes, Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange does his thing with his sling ring and brings everyone in for the final battle with Thanos and his forces.  He's also key for inspiring Tony to sacrifice his life to stop Thanos once and for all.  And now, we wait for his solo movie sequel.

SPIDER-MAN/PETER PARKER -- Tom Holland also returns as his character Spider-Man, but since his second solo movie is right around the corner, there was no need to make Spidey a major player here.  He's there for Tony's death scene though, bringing their mentor/student and surrogate father/son relationship to a touching close. 

THE FALCON/SAM WILSON -- Anthony Mackie's Falcon returns for the final battle, but obviously Steve passing the shield on to Sam is his character's big moment.  Will there be a fourth Captain America movie, this time with Sam as the new Cap?  All I know is, Disney Plus' upcoming Falcon and the Winter Soldier TV series just got a lot more interesting...

SCARLET WITCH/WANDA MAXIMOFF -- After losing the Vision and being dusted in Avengers: Infinity War, Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch definitely deserved some payback on Thanos.  She got her chance in the final battle, smacking Big Purple around pretty good for a little while.  And her upcoming Disney Plus series, WandaVision, also has my attention after this film.

GAMORA -- After 2018 Gamora was killed off in Infinity War, Zoe Saldana is back to start playing 2014 Gamora.  And now that 2014 Gamora has become 2023 Gamora, with no memory of her adventures with the Guardians of the Galaxy because they hadn't happened yet, her relationship with Chris Pratt's Star-Lord is now awkward as hell.  But hey, James Gunn is back to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, so she's got that going for her, which is nice.

RESCUE/VIRGINIA "PEPPER" POTTS -- Gwyneth Paltrow got a taste of armor in Iron Man 3, but here we finally see her in her Rescue armor from the comics.  With Tony dead, will Pepper continue as Rescue in future Avengers movies or is this the last we see of her as well?

VALKYRIE -- After joining in on the final battle, Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie is named king of New Asgard by Dude Thor before he completely bails on them.  Will Valkyrie take Thor's place on the Avengers?  Here's hoping...

HANK PYM CAMEO -- Michael Douglas has a brief cameo as the 1970s Hank Pym, during the Pym Particles heist scene.  It's interesting that he used to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. back in the day.

LOKI LAUFEYSON CAMEO -- Despite being killed at the beginning of Infinity War, Tom Hiddleston has a great 2012 flashback cameo, as if we were watching deleted scenes from the Avengers Blu-Ray.  And relax, Hiddlestoners, Loki's also getting a Disney Plus series.

RED SKULL CAMEO -- Ross Marquand reprises the Red Skull from Infinity War, this time as the 2014 version who watches as Black Widow and Hawkeye try to out-suicide one another.  We still have no idea how the Red Skull ended up on Vormir, so maybe he needs a Disney Plus series, too.

NICK FURY CAMEO -- Samuel L. Jackson returns for Tony Stark's funeral, just to remind everyone that he's back and that he'll probably be in the Captain Marvel sequel.  But where's Goose?

THE ANCIENT ONE CAMEO -- In one of the more unexpected cameos, Tilda Swinton returns as the 2012 Ancient One, who magically knows somehow that Doctor Strange will become her successor as the Sorcerer Supreme.  A really fun scene with her and Mark Ruffalo's Incredible Brulk.

PEGGY CARTER CAMEOS -- After being teased earlier in the film as 1970s Peggy, Hayley Atwell returns as 1940s Peggy for the superb final scene of Steve and Peggy finally sharing their long-awaited dance and bringing their characters full circle.  And now I want Agent Carter Season 3 on Disney Plus.

POSTHUMOUS STAN LEE CAMEO -- In his final Marvel Cinematic Universe cameo, Stan "The Man" turns up digitally de-aged as a car driver in 1970.  It's not one of his greatest cameos, certainly not for being his last, but it was nice to see Stan looking in his prime once again before we said goodbye.

JIM STARLIN CAMEO -- Thanos' creator turns up as one of the people at Steve's support group for Snap survivors.  You would think he'd be feeling really guilty about that.

All in all, Avengers: Endgame is an immensely satisfying conclusion to the past eleven years of Marvel Cinematic Universe films.  It's not perfect though, and has some noticeable issues with timey-wimey story logic, but you have to give a lot of credit to the Russo brothers and the screenwriters for giving Marvel fans the big payoff to all their invested time and ticket purchases.  And even though we know this film franchise is nowhere near close to ending, Endgame is an ending for this moment in time, with this particular group of talented actors portraying some of comics' greatest heroes and legends.  And that's okay.

One important question remains, however.  What happens next?

And for those who may be wondering, here's the updated list of my Top 20 Comic Book Films:

1. Superman (1978)
2. The Dark Knight (2008)

3. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
4. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

5. The Avengers (2012)

6. Batman Begins (2005)

7. Logan (2017)

8. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

9. Black Panther (2018)

10. Man of Steel (2013)

11. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

12. Doctor Strange (2016)

13. Wonder Woman (2017)

14. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

15. Spider-Man (2002)

16. Aquaman (2018)

17. Iron Man (2008)

18. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
19. Watchmen (2009)
20. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

JAMES BOND 25 Cast Announced, Rami Malek Confirmed as Film's Villain

The cast is not enough.

BBC News has provided details from this morning's announcement of the still-untitled 25th official James Bond film, currently referred to only as Bond 25, starring Daniel Craig in his fifth and final outing as British MI6 agent James Bond.

The live announcement was made at Goldeneye, the original name of James Bond creator Ian Fleming's estate on Oracabessa bay on the northern coastline of Jamaica, which now operates as Goldeneye Hotel and Resort.

Asked about the plot, producer Barbara Broccoli stated, "Bond is not on active service when we start the film.  He is actually enjoying himself in Jamaica.  He starts his journey here. We've built an extraordinary house for him.  We've got quite a ride in store for Mr. Bond... and no title, unfortunately."

Phoebe Waller-Bridge was announced as a writer of the screenplay along with Scott Z. Burns.  She's best known as the writer and producer of BBC America's Killing Eve, and as the voice of the droid L3-37 in Solo: A Star Wars Story.

In addition to Craig as Agent 007, the Bond 25 cast includes:

• Rami Malek, who has been confirmed as the film's villain.  Malek wasn't at the official launch but sent a video message saying, "I'm stuck here in New York in production but I'm very much looking forward to joining the whole cast and crew.  I will be making sure Mr. Bond does not have an easy ride in this, his twenty-fifth outing.  See you all soon."  Malek recently won Best Actor at the Oscars for his performance of Freddie Mercury in the film Bohemian Rhapsody, and has won an Emmy for playing Elliot Alderson in the USA Network series Mr. Robot.
  
• Léa Seydoux, returning as Dr. Madeleine Swann after appearing in the previous Bond film Spectre.
  
• Lashana Lynch, who recently appeared as Maria Rambeau in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Captain Marvel.
  
• Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Rory Kinnear, and Jeffrey Wright, coming back in their respective roles as M/Gareth Mallory, Q, Eve Moneypenny, Bill Tanner, and Felix Leiter.
  
• Ana de Armas, Dali Benssalah, David Dencik, and Billy Magnussen, all appearing in unspecified roles.

Bond 25 is currently expected to arrive in theaters on April 8, 2020.

First SWAMP THING Trailer Teases The Floronic Man & Blue Devil

Get ready for a case of Swamp fever.

DC Universe has released the first trailer its upcoming TV series Swamp Thing, based on the DC Comics elemental creature.  The one-minute, 25-second trailer gives us our first good look at the new series, emphasizing horror along with teasing other DC characters such as the Floronic Man and Blue Devil.

The trailer opens in Houma, Louisiana, with some men in a small motorboat traveling the swamps at night, only to stop and presumably have a confrontation with Swamp Thing.

Next, we see a young girl lying on the floor of a classroom with nose bleeding.  This is followed by a disturbing image of a man stabbing someone and the young girl screaming.

We cut to some sort of examination room, where Abby Arcane (Crystal Reed) is blissfully unaware that the body she's examining has come back to life as some sort of plant creature with growing vines.  The creature lashes out with vines and grabs Abby as her assistant Harlan Edwards (Leonardo Nam) looks on helplessly.

We then see Lucilia Cable (Jennifer Beals), the sheriff of Marais, aim her flashlight at Alec Holland (Andy Bean), followed by a young woman drowning underwater.  

Maria Sunderland (Virginia Madsen) is shown being visibly upset at someone and pointing at them, which is followed by a man wearing a pig mask and wielding a hatchet.

We get a quick glimpse of Ian Ziering as Daniel Cassidy, who opens a drawer that reveals his Blue Devil mask and costume, followed by Jason Woodrue (Kevin Durand), the future Floronic Man, examining the plant creature.

In the final scene, Abby apparently gets stranded in the swamp, leading to her encounter with Swamp Thing as he emerges from the water and crawls towards her in a monster movie-like fashion.

If you'd like to check out the trailer, you can view it below thanks to the official DC account on YouTube...



Swamp Thing debuts on DC Universe on May 31st.

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 139: "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy" is Up!

"Sometimes I think it's you that's crazy, not Deadbeat here."
"Anybody remotely interesting is mad in some way or another."
-- Ace and the Seventh Doctor, Doctor Who: "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy"

Hello again, my fellow Whovians!  My Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast co-host with the most Xan Sprouse joins me on Next Stop Everywhere and we discuss "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy", the fourth serial from Doctor Who Season 25 in 1988, featuring Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor, Sophie Aldred as Ace, Jessica Martin as Mags, and Ian Reddington as the Chief Clown!

In this episode, Xan and I discuss things like trying to talk Doctor Who with Xan instead of Twin Peaks, Ace getting a full name in The New Adventures novels, why Xan chose this episode to discuss, Xan lobbying for Ace as Best Companion Ever, Xan working the WOSU PBS auction phones back in the day, the Seventh Doctor's question-mark pullover, comparing the Sixth and Seventh Doctors, Sylvester McCoy utilizing his talents for stage comedy and physical performing, Ace wearing the Fourth Doctor's scarf, Whizz Kid as Doctor Who's parody of entitled fandom, Jessica Martin voicing Queen Elizabeth II in "Voyage of the Damned", boycotting Tom Cruise movies, why junk mail needs to teleport inside your home as a cute little spider robot, the Seventh Doctor's attempts to make Ace face her fears, the Seventh Doctor geeking out over the circus, Captain Cook manipulating others into sacrificing themselves in the ring so he doesn't have to, Mags the neon alien werewolf, wondering why Mags stayed with Captain Cook, Xan happily discussing Billy Zane as The Phantom, the metaphor of hippies being wiped out and becoming cogs in the machine, the creepy homicidal Bus Conductor, the Gods of Ragnarok not being traditional Norse gods and being a recurring off-camera Doctor Who villain, Sylvester McCoy getting a little too cooked by the circus tent explosion, the Chief Clown and is robot clown henchmen riding around in a hearse, filming the circus tent scenes in a parking lot, ranking Zappas, our favorite quotes of the episode, my Reverse the Reverse the Polarity segment, Xan's bonus Reverse the Reverse the Polarity segment, some feedback from Holly from Wisconsin, and more!

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Be sure to come back in two weeks as my partner in time Jesse Jackson returns to Next Stop Everywhere and we discuss "Dalek", the sixth episode from Doctor Who Series One in 2005, featuring Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor, Billie Piper as Rose Tyler, Bruno Langley as Adam Mitchell, and the first appearance of the Daleks in the modern era!  Look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Google Play Music, YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

TITANTALK 029: "Jane Patrol" is Up!

"What happened in there?"
"That’s not my story to tell."
-- Cyborg and Robotman, Doom Patrol -- "Jane Patrol"

Hello again, Titans and Doom Patrol fans!  My fellow TitanTalker Jesse Jackson and I are back with another new episode of TitanTalk: The Titans Podcast!  This time, we discuss "Jane Patrol", the ninth episode of the DC Universe series Doom Patrol, featuring Diane Guerrero as Crazy Jane/Driver 8/Karen, Brendan Fraser as Cliff Steele, Anna Lore as Penny Farthing, and Stephanie Czajkowski as Hammerhead!

In this episode, Jesse and I discuss things like Grant Morrison's original story "Going Underground" from Doom Patrol (vol.2) #30, seeing Jane's other personalities inside Jane's fractured mind, differences between the comic book and the TV adaptation, Cliff looking human again and meeting Driver 8, Jane looking to escape and not being the dominant personality, Cliff apologizing to make himself feel better instead of Jane, Karen thinking the other personalities should be normal like her, Penny Farthing leading Cliff through Jane's memories, Miranda the previous primary personality, the Sisters trying to manipulate Jane into destroying herself in the Well, young Kay's last moment of innocence before being sexually abused by her Daddy, my theory on when Kay's mind splintered, Jane confronting Daddy and standing up to him, the introduction of Black Annis, Cliff embracing that he's not a man anymore, our favorite quotes of the episode, the animated kids show Magic School Bus, Brendan Fraser appearing as Cliff in more than just a flashback cameo, Iain Glen being cast as Bruce Wayne in Titans Season 2, the Game of Thrones Season 8 premiere, teasing the Beard Hunter, and more!

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Be sure to come back next week for Episode 030 as Jesse and I discuss "Hair Patrol", the tenth episode of the DC Universe series Doom Patrol, featuring Tommy Snider as The Beard Hunter and the return of Alan Tudyk as Mr. Nobody!  Look for more of TitanTalk: The Titans Podcast on iTunes, Google Play Music, YouTube, Libsyn, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

KRYPTON Season 2 Trailer Teases General Zod's Rise to Power & Lobo

The Main Man is almost here.

Syfy has dropped the first full trailer for the second season of Krypton, based on the lore of DC Comics' Superman.  The one-minute, 35-second trailer features the rise of General Dru-Zod (Colin Salmon), the return of Brainiac (Blake Ritson), Doomsday, and the introduction of the intergalactic bounty hunter known as Lobo (Emmett J. Scanlan).

The trailer opens with an address from General Zod, who remarks, "My fellow Kryptonians.  Six months ago, we came together to face the dawn of a new era, to rebuild a Krypton, unrecognizable in its perfection."

We see fleeting glimpses of the Superman cape's House of El crest being replaced by the House of Zod's and Nyssa-Vex (Wallis Day) looking out of a spaceship window in orbit.

"Whatever game you're playing," says a bearded Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe), "you will lose."

"Zod's taken control of the planet," remarks Adam Strange (Shaun Sipos) as we see Lyta-Zod (Georgina Campbell) apparently working with her adult son and walking away as a Rankless woman is tortured, "he's trying to conquer the galaxy, Val's leading a rebellion..."

Val-El (Ian McElhinney), Seg's grandfather, tells the one-eyed Jax-Ur (Hannah Waddingham) and the Black Zero resistance group, "That bastard has stolen our better tomorrow.  We're stealing it back!"

"...and I believe that you're the only one who can make that right," continues Adam as we see Seg-El using some sort of energy knife and cutting into the Phantom Zone where's been trapped since the end of Season One.

"You didn't really think it would be that easy, did you?" Brainiac asks Seg in a forest somewhere.  

Lyta tells someone, presumably Val-El, "If we have to, we will finish your rebellion with force."

We see Seg calling out to General Zod from the Phantom Zone, saying, "It's time for this madness to end!"  This is followed by a glimpse of Doomsday and someone trying to shoot Adam Strange, only for him to disappear.

"You think you are the Man of Steel," replies General Zod.  Next, we see Nyssa leading a charge of Black Zero fighters against Zod's soldiers.

We go back to the forest, where Seg watches helplessly as Adam is blasted back by a large gun belonging to Lobo.  "Name's Lobo!" he introduces himself.

We glimpse Seg facing a charging Doomsday, then see him leaping and attacking Brainiac.

Lastly, after his introduction, Lobo makes the sound of a cheering crowd, then says in false modesty, "Please, stop, you're makin' me blush."

If you'd like to check out the new Season 2 trailer, you can view it below thanks to the official Syfy account on YouTube...




Krypton returns to Syfy for Season 2 on June 12, 2019.

THE BOYS Are Ready to Spank The Seven in New NSFW Trailer

Fucking diabolical.

Amazon has released a new NSFW trailer for their upcoming Amazon Prime Video series The Boys, based on the Dynamite Entertainment comic series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, showcasing the determination of Billy Butcher (Karl Urban) to take down corrupt superheroes like The Seven.

The uncensored, one-minute, ten-second teaser trailer "Spank" opens with Butcher telling his new Boys recruit "Wee" Hughie Campbell (Jack Quaid) that "People love superheroes, but if you knew half the shit they get up to...Fucking diabolical."

We glimpse various members of The Seven, including The Homelander (Antony Starr), A-Train (Jessie Usher), and Queen Maeve (Dominique McElligott), doing superheroic things and basking in their fame and celebrity status, followed by disturbing images of a superhero with shrinking powers diving into a woman's vagina, and Queen Maeve sitting on a man's face and completely crushing his head as she orgasms.  Presumably watching the act on recorded video, The Boys wince at the sight, with Wee Hughie gasping in absolute horror.

Yes, this definitely isn't an Arrowverse superhero series found on The CW.

"We're the world's greatest superheroes..." remarks The Homelander in a nod to DC Comics' classic tagline for the Justice League, "...and I can do whatever the fuck I want."

"That's where I come in," Butcher tells Wee Hughie, continuing their discussion.

"Come in to do what?" asks Hughie.

We see fleeting images of various Boys members arming themselves with huge guns and getting ready for action.  "Spank the bastards," replies Butcher as we see him smashing someone's face into a toilet.  

"How do you spank a superhero?" asks Wee Hughie.  

We glimpse Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue) pouring pumped breast milk into a small jar, presumably for Boys member Mother's Milk (Laz Alonso), Wee Hughie detonating a small explosive and being sprayed in a bloody mess, The Deep (Chace Crawford) hydrating a dolphin with a spray bottle, someone with stretching powers choking Hughie with an elongated arm, Butcher aiming a baby using heat vision at someone as a weapon, and finally, Butcher closing the trunk of his car, presumably with someone inside.

If you'd like to check out the NSFW trailer, you can view it below thanks to the official Amazon Prime Video account on YouTube...




The Boys debuts on Amazon Prime Video on July 26, 2019.

SWAMP THING Production Halted at 10 Episodes, Warner Bros. Evaluating Future of DC Universe Service

Warner Bros. is draining the swamp.

The Wilmington Star-News is reporting that the upcoming DC Universe series Swamp Thing, based on the DC Comics character, is wrapping production earlier than expected as Warner Bros. "evaluates the future of its DC Universe streaming service."

According to the article, local crew members were notified Tuesday night that the project would wrap production on Episode 10, and then stop as writers and producers rewrite the finale.  The series was originally scheduled to film 13 episodes through May.  In addition, several more days of reshoots for previously filmed episodes are expected.

Intending to have multiple seasons, the Swamp Thing series reportedly made significant investments in the Wilmington region, estimating to spend around $85 million locally on its entire first season, according to film grant applications filed with the state.  The production occupies multiple sound stages and offices on the EUE/Screen Gems Studios lot, and built a massive swamp set on Stage 10, which houses a water tank for filming.

Swamp Thing stars Crystal Reed as Abby Arcane, a scientist who returns home to Houma, Louisiana to investigate a deadly swamp-borne virus, only to develop a bond with scientist Alec Holland (Andy Bean), who will be transformed into the elemental hero, Swamp Thing (Derek Mears).  The series also stars Virginia Madsen, Jennifer Beals, Will Patton, Ian Ziering, Henderson Wade, and Kevin Durand.

The news puts the future of the show in doubt, as well as the future of the DC Universe streaming service.  DC Universe launched just seven months ago on September 15, 2018 and has featured the live action series Titans and Doom Patrol, along with the animated series Young Justice: Outsiders.  Young Justice: Outsiders is slated to return for the second half of its season on July 2nd, with the Harley Quinn animated series scheduled for October, and Stargirl, originally planned for 2019, pushed back to 2020.

After the recent Disney+ streaming service announcement offered at only $6.99 per month, Warner Bros. could potentially fold DC Universe into the planned WarnerMedia streaming service as a way to compete with Disney.  WarnerMedia is expected to launch in late 2019, and could feature the DC Universe content similar to how Disney+ will feature Marvel Studios content.

In the meantime, Swamp Thing is currently scheduled to debut on DC Universe on May 31st.

First STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER Trailer Teases Lando & Emperor Palpatine

Begun the Episode IX hype machine has.

At the Lucasfilm expo Star Wars Celebration in Chicago's McCormick Place, Disney's Lucasfilm revealed the full title and first teaser trailer for Star Wars Episode IX, now officially known as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

The two-minute teaser opens on the planet Jakku, not seen since Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2005.  We're reintroduced to Rey, (Daisy Ridley), who is breathing heavy on the desert planet.

We hear a voiceover from Rey's Jedi mentor, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who says, "We've passed on all we know.  A thousand generations live in you now...but this is your fight."

Rey readies her lightsaber and we hear the the sounds of Kylo Ren's TIE silencer in the distance.  Rey takes off running as the ship quickly approaches, and she does a huge backflip leap as it reaches her, presumably to attack it from the top.

Next, we see Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), the Supreme Leader of the First Order, cutting down someone with his lightsaber in a crimson forest, followed by someone with a very hairy hand welding Kylo Ren's shattered helmet back together.

Everyone's favorite bromance, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) are shown somewhere on Jakku, then we see BB-8 alongside an ever smaller, one-wheeled droid.  

This is followed by a quick scene of Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) laughing while piloting the Millennium Falcon through hyperspace alongside Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo).

We glimpse Poe, Finn and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) taking fire while on Jakku, followed by General Leia Organa (the late Carrie Fisher) gently caressing the medal she gave to Han Solo at the end of the original Star Wars film.  Leia and Rey also share another tearful hug.

"We'll always be with you," Luke continues in a voiceover as we see Rey and the others staring out at the crashed ruins of what appears to be the second Death Star from Return of the Jedi, hinting that they may be on the forest moon of Endor.  "No one's ever really gone."

Suddenly, the screen goes back and we hear the familiar cackling laughter of Emperor Sheev Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), whom we thought was killed at the end of Return of the Jedi.  Ruh-roh!

If you'd like to check out the teaser trailer, you can view it below thanks to the official Star Wars account on YouTube...



Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is scheduled to arrive in theaters on December 20, 2019.