Now these are coming off the heels of the announcement of the Muppets One-Shot that Marvel is releasing in September. The characters that will be on the covers include:
Kermit
Miss Piggy
Rizzo
Sam Eagle
Sweetems
Now all of the books getting these covers have been revealed, and they include:
September 2nd:
Captain America #15 Variant Cover By Nicoletta Baldari
September 16th:
Amazing Spider-Man #1000 Variant Cover By Paco Medina
Daredevil #7 Variant Cover By TBD
Jeff The Land Shark: Superstar #3 Variant Cover By Matteo Lolli
September 23rd:
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #2 Variant Cover By Taurin Clarke
Wolverine #28 Variant Cover By Terry Dodson
September 30th:
Fantastic Four #17 Variant Cover By Giuseppe Camuncoli
Uncanny X-Men #36 Variant Cover By Ben Su
X-Men United #7 Variant Cover By Annie Wu
October 21st:
Doomquest #5 Variant Cover By Phil Noto
Wolverine #28 Muppets Variant Cover By Terry Dodson (Credit: Marvel Comics)
Captain America #15 Muppets Variant Cover By Nicoletta Baldari (Credit: Marvel Comics)
Marvel has begun to shape the X-Men, announcing they’ve cast Samara Weaving as Emma Frost. Marvel’s X-Men is the most anticipated film, with the X-Men seemingly moving on after Avengers: Doomsday comes this holiday season. Emma Frost is one of the leaders of the X-Men, and signals a broader potential idea of where the story might be going. Director Jake Schrier and studio head Kevin Feige have not yet commented on the casting.
Frost began as a villain, starting as a member of the villainous Hellfire Club. Known as the White Queen, Emma is famous for being beautiful, powerful, and rich. From villain to anti-hero to hero and leader of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, Emma has a dedicated fanbase in the comics. She’s also popular in Marvel’s hero shooter Marvel Rivals, where gamers can play her as a tank using her two mutations (she can turn her body into diamond in addition to being a powerful telepath) to take down enemies.
Weaving has an acting resume suitable for being an action hero. Known for films like Ready or Not and The Babysitter, Weaving has demonstrated a vulnerability along with a willingness to do battle, blowing up evil billionaires with a shotgun. There’s probably very little difference to her role as Emma, except she’ll be using her mind.
Throw in the potential [SPOILER] casting for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and it seems as if the X-Men might be taking shape. There are several questions comic fans could ask, from which stories are being adapted to which characters might shape the original team. Frost herself is a post-Xavier mutant, taking more charge as the famous leader of the X-Men is forced by his actions on the mutant island of Krakoa to face his crimes and relinquish his school.
Emma is an iconic character and signals an incredible direction the X-Men movies could take. So far, Marvel’s slow releases could signal something cool. It’s likely the studio will release more information at Disney’s D23, but in the meantime, fans should feel free to speculate and theorize!
Do you have any theories or speculations? Share them with us in the comments below!
Tom Holland’s seventh swing in the spandex is the charm: Spider-Man: Brand New Day has hit theaters and it is near perfect. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the mastermind behind Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Disney+’s Wonder Man, this film highlights Peter Parker’s most emotional story to date, out-performing every MCU appearance before it and pushing the character to his sharpest refinement yet.
Who is Peter Parker?
After the events of No Way Home, the world has forgotten Peter Parker, but not Spider-Man. The film sets this up immediately in the opening Marvel Studios sequence, showing depictions of Peter interacting with MJ and Ned in previous outings just before he literally fades away in the images and from the minds of those he loves. It’s devastating and lets viewers know right away the isolation he feels. Spider-Man as a hero is celebrated for his many contributions to New York City and the world while Peter is completely adrift, a specter in the world he used to call home.
Unable to reject the call of hero, Peter rebuilds Spider-Man from square one, reconstructing his suit, his web-shooters, and even his HUD interface with AI EV (voiced by Naomi Watts). He takes down a cadre of villains in the first seven minutes of the film, all while watching Ned and MJ run the whole gamut of their education and social lives at MIT through Ned’s Instagram. He’s keeping tabs on his friends, keeping a vigil over Aunt May’s grave, and saving the city… all alone.
Spider-Man Threat Assessment at Damage Control / Image Courtesy of Sony Pictures
In a series of sequences that prove Peter’s intelligence is more scientific than intuitive, Peter safeguards his identity with more vigor than previously. He refuses to show his face to even those he considers allies, despite the fact that no one would know who the hell he is even if he did. Peter Parker is a construct that lives singularly in the head of Peter Parker, which should give him the anonymity he craves, lest he encounter a villain that can see into that head. And wouldn’t you know it? He does.
Enter Sadie Sink
The main “villain” of Brand New Day is played by Sadie Sink, a character who has the ability to “jump” her consciousness into anyone and puppet them to her designs. She is using this ability to raid facilities owned and operated by Damage Control, the organization founded by Tony Stark for the clean-up and containment of Superhero collateral introduced in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Her objective is a MacGuffin of her own interest, spinning a web of intrigue that turns this particular outing into a street-level adventure with our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man playing detective.
While she manages to jump into Peter’s mind for a brief moment, he is able to push her out, which makes her understandably frustrated and curious. This deepens their connection, coupled with Peter’s “tingle” which allows him to sense when she’s puppeteering an innocent. The advantage this gives to the audience and to Tom Holland is that the latter has to do a considerable amount more acting in the mask. Holland has grown into an incredible actor since his first appearance in Captain America: Civil War ten years ago, and to convey the required levels of confidence, befuddlement, and insecurity one must feel in these sequences is a Herculean feat which he takes to with admirable aplomb. This is truly Holland’s best work as Peter Parker and Spider-Man.
…And His Amazing Friends
Peter Parker is alone; dreadfully alone, but Spider-Man is not. After taking down Scorpion, Tombstone, Boomerang, and the Hand, he has made a friend of high-ranking NYPD detective Jean DeWolff, played by Liza Colón-Zayas, of The Bear fame. They chat on the phone and develop a loose friendship based on mutual admiration and respect. She chastises his work ethic, all while admiring his tireless pursuit to helping the innocent and putting away the wicked.
Peter also has a connection inside the Thunderbolts, aka The New Avengers, on whom he can call when his small potatoes problems start to look like larger potatoes. Frank Castle is a colleague, even if their conflicting approach to neutralizing threats offers startling differences. He even makes a visit to Professor Bruce Banner at Empire State University, discussing inhibitors and RNA isolation, sparking a spirited conversation and debate in which the latter seems to revel. It is this last partnership that truly reveals the film’s central theme.
A Coldplay Song Reveals Parker’s Truth?
A characteristic of Peter Parker’s that has always been the subject of deep admiration is his relatability as a young man with real-world concerns and great responsibility. “Spider-Man and his control” is a thing at which to marvel, and a virtue to which to aspire. That control is the core theme of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Peter is trying to compartmentalize his entire life, going so far as to even deny one entirely to Peter while facilitating all of his purpose and energy to Spider-Man. When the thing inside him that makes him Spider-Man, his arachnid DNA, starts to wrest control from him and make him more monster than man, he seeks out another individual who knows about the struggle with the Beast within.
Spider-Man Struggles with the Beast Within / Image Courtesy of Sony Pictures
Professor Hulk, whom we met in Avengers: Endgame, was a feat of personal victory for Bruce Banner, but after his arm is severely damaged following his Snap, he uses an inhibitor to keep the Hulk at bay so that he can heal. We see this inhibitor in Brand New Day, and Peter discusses how it works and how it can be modified to accept the benefits of a mutation and suppress the dangers therein. I’m sure you’re starting to think that this level of “control” can be dangerous, twisted to less than heroic pursuits. It’s not bad enough that he’s literally asking to have his cake and eat it, too, but he’s also considering universal applications, i.e. power dampeners that can be used to stop threats or even neutralize allies.
My Thoughts
I was able to see this film virtually for free thanks to the voucher I received when AMC couldn’t get their IMAX camera to operate on a hot day last July to show Fantastic Four: First Steps, but my poor time management had me walking into the film about seven minutes after it first started. I realized very quickly as the story progressed that I had missed A LOT. Seriously, get there early. I ended up buying another ticket to the next showing to watch the opening, and damn I’m glad I did.
Going into this film, I had avoided spoilers as best as I could. I’d seen the first trailer but then turned my eyes away as the release date drew nearer. Anytime I saw Tom Holland on social media I’d scroll away like I was averting my eyes from the face of God. I’d heard rumblings that the Hulk would be in the film but I purposefully declined looking any further into it. All that said, I couldn’t escape mentions that the Savage Hulk would be in the film. And he was, sort of.
I’m a fan of Hulk and Spider-Man in comics and cartoons and I’ve watched the two work together and square off plenty of times. While this film does feature a scene with the Hulk furiously wresting control from both Bruce Banner and Sadie Sink’s character, I still feel like he didn’t truly become the Savage Hulk. He was destructive, sure, and driven by bloodlust, and even had a taller, bulkier frame that signalled a difference in the Beast within, but the filmmakers didn’t go as far as they could. Ang Lee’s Hulk, for all its detractors, showed the fear and total loss of control that Banner experiences when the Hulk takes over. Moreso, Louis Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk demonstrated the ferocity with which an enraged Hulk operates. When he full-footed kicks Emil Blonksy (Tim Roth) after their second altercation, we are right to fear him.
Ruffalo’s Hulk has always been big and green and oftentimes mean, but rarely scary. When we see the Hulk for the first time in this film, it’s the Professor Hulk version, which is, let’s face it, just a big green Mark Ruffalo. When the Savage Hulk takes over, his face exceeds Ruffalo’s proportions and we get a sense that we’re seeing a Monster, an inhuman Beast, and the danger is palpable. This illusion is shattered, however, when he’s talked down at the mere mention of his human name by a young man in a mask. We love Peter and his tireless mission to save everyone, but he is no Betty Ross. It frankly shouldn’t have been that easy.
It’s a Brand New Day for Spider-Man and the MCU / Image Courtesy of Sony Pictures
That one petty gripe aside, this movie is truly excellent. Street-level Spider-Man running down leads to take down a threat unlike any he’s ever encountered before while fighting to suppress his own literal inner animal makes for an engaging, fast-paced, exciting story. Bringing in the wider roster of his Amazing Friends really showcases what the fictional and ticket-buying world sees in Spider-Man: the best of us, the relentless pursuit of justice, peace, and what it means to be a neighbor. Watching Peter struggle with his own feelings of being so far removed from the community he’s protecting, struggling with the moral quandary of wanting to be in his friends’ lives but knowing the danger therein, makes for compelling drama and a heartfelt film.
Spider-Man has been to the edge of the galaxy and back but we all agree that he’s at his best when he’s swinging through New York City and protecting individuals he knows by name and loves as neighbors. While we all know we’ll next see him in Battleworld in Avengers: Secret Wars, this outing brings him back to his roots, both literally and metaphorically. Spider-Man has always been about hope, doing what’s right, and leading with empathy. While the film does use archival footage to frame certain story points throughout, there is a freshly-filmed scene with Marissa Tomei as Aunt May that serves as a memory to ground Peter Parker. In it, she articulates that whatever adoration Peter may receive as Spider-Man pales in comparison to the human bond he creates with the people who love Peter Parker. That the hero is a construct, created by the empathy and community that propels it to action. Spider-Man is an acrobatic and impressive hero of enormous strength and ability, but he’s just a suit. Peter Parker is a hero, not because of his power, but because of his innate acceptance of his responsibility and the love that fuels his actions.
Overall Score: 9/10
Spider-Man: Brand New Day marks a transformative chapter in the life of one of Marvel’s foundational superheroes. One that reminds us that our power comes from our hearts rather than our bodies. Intelligence can take one far but without intent or community it is wasted in a vacuum. No man is an island and we can’t nurture our relationships by ignoring them. All that sentimentality aside, Spider-Man: Brand New Day also gives us our busiest Spider-Man, offering the most fights with the strongest adversaries, a bevy of new friends, and a universe-expanding introduction of new characters, abilities, and classes of heroes and villains. This will go down as one of the finest entries in the MCU, and if the upper brass has any sense, a blank check for director Destin Daniel Cretton to do with as he pleases.
Have you seen Spider-Man: Brand New Day yet? What did you think of it? Where is it intimating that we’re headed to next, and are you excited to go there? Let us know in the comments below and check back here for all your movies, comics, and pop culture news and reviews.
Mahershala has shared with GQ that he has left his role as Blade for Marvel Studios behind. The action star, known for Cottonmouth in Marvel’s Luke Cage, has walked away from the role with a definitive declaration: “If they wanted to do it, they would have done it,” leaving fans who saw the film announced in 2019 at Comic Con’s Hall H disappointed and intrigued about the direction the character has taken.
Ali’s only contribution to the MCU outside of the iconic Cornell Stokes (Cottonmouth) was a single voice line with Kit Harrington’s Black Knight at the end of The Eternals. The MCU then turned it into a bit of a running joke featuring Wesley Snipes. The actor who originated the Blade role for film is quoted as saying: “There’s only been one Blade, there’s ever gonna only be one blade.” In Marvel’s Deadpool and Wolverine. In a nod to Marvel’s backlog of content, poking fun at how the studio has handed such a dearth of material, Deadpool stares directly into the camera.
The character’s importance to the MCU’s future can’t be overstated. While Marvel’s Phase 6 moves into mutants, the X-Men, and possibly resetting the main Avengers canon, the next logical progression is to head into the supernatural side of the MCU. They’ve briefly dipped their toes into the water with Wanda Maximoff and Agatha Harkness. With the addition of The Hood in Ryan Coogler’s Iron Heart, the obvious (and iconic) Moon Knight, and the beacon of horror – Michael Giacchino’s Werewolf by Night – Blade is the heart of the Midnight Sons team. The Midnight Sons have featured a rotating cast of Marvel’s horror characters.
While Marvel has a long history of horror, with the DCU about to launch Clay Face this October, comic fans are primed for a more mature look at the MCU. It’s possible to divide the more child-friendly fare (things like the MCU’s take on Spider-Man) and something more R-rated and mature for adult audiences. The wonderful thing about comic books is that they can appeal to everyone regardless of age.
As for Mahershala, he’s making the best of a bad situation. According to GQ, the two-time Oscar Winner has re-teamed with Blade’s original director Bassem Tariq. Tariq departed Blade in 2022 and turned both personal and professional feelings into his new project, Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother. Ali stars as a Muslim hitman who, while on a quest for breast milk for his baby, is thrust into a political and religious war.
Ali is taking the sword training he did for Blade and applying it to the film. Blade itself is a subject the actor is ready to move on from. Excited to tackle serious original projects, Ali says he wants to be known for “original work” more than remakes.
Not with me. The best way I can answer this question is, when I look at what is for me, it was either this or that—and I’ll take this—no offense to them. I’ve been doing this professionally for pushing 30 years now, and one thing I’ve learned is that what is for you is for you and what is not is not. For whatever reason, that project is not for me. If they wanted to do it, we would’ve done it. So I have to move on, and I have moved on. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother feels very much in alignment with the type of work I want to be known for. I don’t really want to be known for remakes. I’d love to do original work that resonates with people and impacts them in unique ways.
Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother seems to be that kind of work. It seems to operate in the lane of popular films like 2026’s Furious and films like Old Boy and Collateral, and it looks like it’s going to deliver plenty of hits and serious original filmmaking. Blade, for the moment, is in the rearview mirror for Marvel, and it’s gone for the original actor himself.
Are you sad to lose Mahershala Ali for Blade? Do you have any fancasts? Share them with us in the comments below!
Marvel’s Wonder Man has been cancelled at Disney + despite it’s renewal for a second season. The meta look at how Hollywood handles super heroics and what it’s like to live in a world with heroes and mutants was criticallyacclaimed and enjoyed by critics and fans alike. The renewal shocked internet and nerd circle; the series had after all been renewed for a second season back in March, two months after it came out.
According to Variety, a writer’s room never opened and the show’s writers were released to pursue other projects. The series starred Yahya Abdul Mateen II and Ben Kingsley as Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery, the super powered actor and his acting coach. The first season focused on the two of them with Simon Williams auditioning for the remake of the original Wonder Man film and Slattery acting as his acting coach helping him cover up his super human abilities.
Abdul-Mateen earned an emmy nomination for the show for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series making him the only actor to get an emmy nomination for his work on both a Marvel and DC comics property. He originally won for his work in DC’s Watchmen.
The fresh take on super heroics focusing on what life is like for super powered people seemed like a focus for Marvel outside of the series. Marvel’s Reborn: Ultimate Impact focused on various characters finding origin boxes from the seemingly defunct Universe 1610. Construction worker Vin Lerner found Wonder Man’s origin box and took up the mantle with his abilities slightly altered to fit the 616 Universe.
Regardless, it remains to be seen where Simon Williams, and his new comic counterpart will go in both the MCU and the 616 comics universe. While comic studios have a history of putting toys back in a box for a moment, they almost always make a re-appearance. We might wonder with Wonder Man and experience the meta side of the MCU at a future date.
How do you feel about Wonder Man’s cancellation? Share with us in the comments below!
For his newly released comic, The Last Watchtower, Karl Slominsky had a relatively simple approach: one finished page a day with no plans, no script, no layouts, no revisions. What started as a way to kill time during the initial lockdown of the pandemic eventually became a habit, and a way to escape COVID’s uncertainty. That uncertainty takes the story to a new level regarding structure, tone, and pacing. Slominsky’s story about a voluntarily isolated astronaut forced to reckon with his past through extraordinary events says more about mental health and grief than any therapist can.
Courtesy of Black Panel Press
Dystopian Grief
Years after his family was killed in a meteor shower, Cal Ferris lives on an isolated observation station in space to observe and report violent events on Earth. While he is alone in the material sense, Cal is able to speak to the space station’s AI computer. His life is put into a tailspin when he finds another ship floating in space with a sign of life: Vaya. Vaya ends up disrupting Cal’s self-narrative of avoidance to face the past, present, and future of his grief and his self-assigned punishment.
Courtesy of Black Panel Press
Narrative Experimentation
The Last Watchtower may seem like your typical run-of-the-mill twisty sci-fi story, but beneath its surface is a story of loneliness and the feeling of catastrophe we get every time we turn around. While Slominsky’s approach gives this story an odd shape in its pacing and sometimes abrupt transitions, it definitely works. I think knowing the improvised nature of how the story came together gives you the hint that even Slominsky had no clue what was coming.
Slominsky’s framing of the story with Cal’s letters to his dead wife is an interesting take on the whole concept of a captain’s diary. His mourning makes him more vulnerable the longer he stays up in space and makes him more emotionally unstable; as much as Slominsky’s vulnerability can be on display, the longer the narrative of his comic lasts.
Cal may want solitude to deal with his grief, but he does everything in his power to not deal with it until the power is no longer in his hands. The same can be said for Slominsky’s process. However, the universe doesn’t give us what we want, but what we need. Slominsky’s improvisational method doesn’t just shape the comic, but mirrors Cal’s unraveling.
Courtesy of Black Panel Press
Slominsky’s self-imposed rules led him to do the drawings in only ink. The whole book is in black and white, and has a very 1950s space cadet feeling to it, aesthetically closer to something like Fear Agent meets The Underwater Welder. The lack of color reinforces Cal’s emotional numbness while the AI companion reflects coping mechanisms that dull Cal even further. It feels like it gives the story permission to live in that Twilight Zone type of storytelling. Using the violent tragedies that plague Earth as a hyperbolic way to eulogize the growing number of COVID deaths while writing makes sense in that Rod Serling way to put things into perspective.
Overall Grade 8/10
The Last Watchtower isn’t perfect, and that’s very much by design, but it doesn’t need to be. While there are plenty of warts to find as it gets to its ending, they do not distract from the story. Karl Slominsky’s surreal trip into grief, isolation, and how they both lead to mental destruction says a lot in its one hundred fifty-ish pages. The concept and method of storytelling is a fun experiment that pays off well. The Last Watchtower is a slow-burn fantastical sci-fi horror story that pushes the genres with its structure while having something poignant to say about its under-the-surface themes. The Last Watchtower is out now on Black Panel Press.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is hitting theaters and making a splash because of the sheer number of villains, some of which might need more of an introduction. While parts of the production are a bit confusing, with audiences asking things like “Where does Sadie Sink fit in?” the rogues gallery has some very interesting through lines drawing from creators like Gerry Conway and other comic books like Daredevil.
The title itself had fans concerned. The Spider-Man: Brand New Day storyline takes place post the controversial Spider-Man: One More Day. One More Day saw Peter sell his marriage and memories to Mephisto to save Aunt May, splitting up Peter Parker and MJ Watson for over 20 years. While fans still argue about the comics, this story has an interesting through line between this and the comics. Spider-Man: No Way Home resulted in the death of Aunt May (much like One More Day) and Peter Parker being erased from everyone’s memories (just like Peter and MJ’s marriage). While the characters never got together or got married, audiences can experience Peter and MJ falling in love without the comic book characters’ history.
That love doesn’t come without trials, however. Let’s take a moment and break down just who Peter will be fighting when it comes to basic heroes. Spider-Man’s rogues gallery is massive, with several standouts. Let’s break down just who the standouts are, where they started, and how they might make things difficult for our favorite webslinger.
Tarantula (1974), created by Punisher creator Gerry Conway, was inspired by the idea that other countries/regimes could have their own Captain America. Hailing from the dictatorship of Delvadia, Antonio acted as a government enforcer and symbol similar to Captain America or the Red Guardian. Antonio’s appearance in Spider-Man ended with Peter Parker thwarting him, but Tarantula came to a more tragic end after his encounter with the Brand Corporation. In an effort to give him tarantula-like powers, the Brand Corporation injected him with a mutagenic serum that was designed to give him spider powers. The process was interrupted and caused him to be turned into a tarantula-like creature. He was eventually captured by Kraven the Hunter and participated in Kraven’s last hunt.
Ramrod (1973)Originally appearing in Daredevil #103, Ramrod was a construction foreman turned into a cyborg by Moon Dragon and attorney Kerwin J Brodrick. With this technology, Ramrod was designed to be an unstoppable force with strength, durability, and steel plates that allowed him to take hits and keep on coming. He is the definition of a “street-level hero,” using his street-level fighting skills to go up against Daredevil in San Francisco.
Boomerang (1966)Frederick Meyers was born in Australia and moved to America as a child. Developing himself into a baseball star, he was pushed out of his baseball career when he was caught accepting bribes. He joined The Secret Empire, a criminal organization loosely connected to HYDRA. Meyers was given a special suit designed to suit his baseball skills. The character has a cult following, leading to him having a long history battling everyone from Spider-Man to Hawkeye, Nick Fury, and Morlun. Recently, Meyers has teamed up with a symbiote from another dimension named Passenger, the two of them calling themselves Comeback.
Scorpion (1964)MacDonald “Mac” Gargan is one of Spider-Man’s more serious foes. A former private investigator hired by J Jonah Jameson to discover how Peter Parker could take amazing pictures of Spider-Man; he joined Jameson on his crusade against Spider-Man. Jameson signed him up for a procedure where he would get the abilities of an animal from a scientist named Stillwell. Stillwell outfits him with a club tail and calls him Scorpion since the scorpion is a predator of the spider. Gargan became a feature of Peter’s rogues gallery, joining the Sinister Six with the likes of Venom and the Green Goblin. Gargan’s mind, warped by the procedure that made him the Scorpion, has had multiple adventures, from being Venom in the Dark Avengers to joining an invasion of Asgard.
Hulk (1962)One of the most famous Avengers and members of the MCU, Bruce Banner’s alter ego Hulk is set up as an accidental villain of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Exposed to a gamma bomb test after saving teenager Rick Jones, Banner transforms when enraged and angry – becoming a hulking monster with immense strength that acts as a battering ram and tank for the Avengers. Banner and his alter ego have a great deal of control in the MCU – or at least they seemed to – until Brand New Day revealed that Hulk would be a major villain and take on both Spider-Man and the Punisher.
WHO IS WILLIAM METZGER?
William Metzger is an unusual character. Appearing in the miniseries X-Men: Children of the Atom (1999), the character doesn’t seem to have any powers or abilities. Metzger’s an extremely minor character with no abilities and a connection to politics. Metzger dies at the end of the miniseries, but he runs an anti-mutant organization. He runs propaganda through “The Militia,” an anti-mutant publication. Metzger stirs controversy, encouraging anti-mutant sentiment and even joining in on the development of an anti-mutant weapon.
Metzger isn’t a well-known figure in X-Men rogues galleries. He’s not William Stryker, one of the X-Men’s famous military antagonists. He’s not Bolivar Trask, the famous inventor of the Sentinels. Metzger is specifically a propagandist who is in charge of Damage Control, the department responsible for attempting to manage the growing number of people affected by superpowers and superhuman abilities in the MCU.
The choice of Metzger might make him the most intriguing character in the film. One could ask questions about how Metzger fits in with the likes of Trask and Stryker. The idea of propagandists being villainous has real-world connections and implications. Putting such a figure at the head of an organization like Damage Control is an intriguing concept with wide-reaching implications. While Metzger is an interesting choice, audiences are fickle. They might not trust the idea of Metzger when they’re looking for Stryker (one of the figures behind the Weapon X program that gave us Wolverine in the X-Men films) or Trask (consistently the inventor of the Sentinels). Propagandists, in a world where the truth is seen through a lens of political bias and artificial intelligence, make sense – but it’s not familiar.
These standout villains have a long and sordid history with Spider-Man’s mythos. As the comics continue to shift and create new heroes and villains, the movies offer a way for audiences to have a passing familiarity with these characters. While it doesn’t look like we’ll spend a lot of time with each of these characters, it’s a nice nod for people who don’t want to get into the comics but still interact with the world. One way or another, paying attention to the history of these characters is important. The MCU shouldn’t erase its comics history like Peter erased his marriage or his identity in Spider-Man: No Way Home. It’s paid homage, and it’s paid it rather well.
Which villain are you the most excited to see? Share with us in the comments below!
Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster Odyssey has scored a record $ 303 million worldwide, the impressive feat signaling that there might be a return of the sword-and-sandals genre in Hollywood. Popularized in the 1950s, sword-and-sandals epics, also known as biblical epics, predate the spaghetti western and have shaped some of Hollywood’s early film series.
Originating in Italy, sword and sandals stories and biblical epics predate modern film going audiences. One of the first films, 1911’s Agrippina, was only 19 minutes long but demonstrated the interest in the genre. Others followed including several that featured including one of the first recurring characters in cinema – Maciste. Maciste ties swords-and-sandals epics with modern superheroes. Making his debut in the 1914 film Cabiria, the character (created by Gabriele d’Annunzio and Giovanni Pastrone) used his feats of strength to rescue princesses, slay Gods, and act as an unofficial grandfather to figures like Conan the Barbarian, He-Man of Eternia, and Steve Rogers. As films became an international business, Maciste’s name was changed to reflect more popular figures like Hercules, Sampson, and others.
These epics weren’t without their controversy. The genre saw a resurgence in the 1950s, when it received wider audiences and became a focus of Italian cinema. Italian directors, famous for experimentation, would push it to new heights. Critics found the characters childish. Missing the experimentation of original stories, these features all had a similar through line. There was always a group rebelling against oppressors (gladiators, enslaved people), always someone to save (a princess or priestess), and always some monster to slay. Dubbed Peplum (a Greek garment used for casual wear), critic Robert Rushing said-
“In its most stereotypical form, [FILM] depicts muscle-bound heroes (professional bodybuilders, athletes, wrestlers, or brawny actors) in mythological antiquity, fighting fantastic monsters and saving scantily clad beauties. Rather than lavish epics set in the classical world, they are low-budget films that focus on the hero’s extraordinary body.”
The films would focus instead on audience entertainment and box office returns. Ridiculed for their bad dubbing and poor production value, the formulaic films reached their peak from 1958 to 1965 and spanned multiple genres, series, and even media ranging from film to television. Every country found a hero, every country found a dragon to slay, and much like superheroes, spaghetti westerns, Eurospy films, and other genres rising and falling, the sword-and-sandals epic won the hearts of audiences. The films were phased out by the spaghetti western (more Italian cinema) and the Eurospy film, but it remains a beloved genre. It saw a resurgence in the 1980s with characters like Conan and He-Man, returning audiences to a simpler time of swords, dragons, muscular heroes, brave heroines, and femme fatales.
Peplum and the biblical epic film clash in Nolan’s Odyssey. Epic films are less a genre and more a title given to a film grand in scope and sweeping in production value. Films like Ben-Hur, Italy’s Cabiria, and How the West Was Won compete for the title with films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Star Wars movies. The difference between Epic Films and the beloved peplum- common, simple, and a little silly teaching people that heroism isn’t just superpowered but armored and possibly fighting with a sword can either be a cinematic masterpiece or a way to catch up with the cultural zeitgeist. The debate, very clearly illustrated between Masters of the Universe, Amazon’s adaptation of the popular 1980s cartoon, and Nolan’s Odyssey, is prime to be reignited. What defines an epic piece of filmmaking that shapes a generation versus what an audience enjoys?
The answer based on historical precedent, is whatever the audience wants to see. 8 shots and 7 inter titles would eventually lead to 3 hours of an epic, filmed entirely on a 70 mm IMAX camera so powerful that it would burn projectors down to a film that did not break even at the box office but jumped to the number one spot on Amazon’s streaming charts makes it clear. History repeats itself in both story, character, and audience taste. What matters is less the product and more what individuals let sweep them away for two hours at the movies.
Do you think that the Odyssey is a sweeping epic or a typical sword and sandals type adventure? Let us know in the comments below!
All-new projects are coming soon, and the team showed the roadmap for the next 3 years of the game. Now these projects are all different and will make gameplay even more fun. But first, we start off with 3 upcoming Youtooz plushies.
These plushes will include:
Adventuring Ribbet
Beans The Bacat (A Half-Bat, Half-Cat From Daggerheart: Hope & Fear)
Beans The Bacat Plush (Credit: Darrington Press & Youtooz)
Badger Plush (Credit: Darrington Press & Youtooz)
More information for these plushies will be coming soon.
This November sees the release of the Daggerheart GM Screen, Fear Trackers & Adversary Deck. These new products will help enhance your games. They launch first to the Critical Role Shops & Darrington Press Guild Stores, and then to other Friendly Local Game Shops not long after.
Now, the team at Bards Of New York are doing a new mini-series titled Voltaire’s Aces. This series is set within their main campaign, Dark Ages, and has the vibes of Ocean’s 11, Suicide Squad & Dragon Age. And the trailer for this new 10-episode mini-series is online:
The dates & companies for the International Translations have been revealed, and can be checked out below:
Simplified Chinese from BO3 Studio: Daggerheart Core Set in both standard and deluxe editions (Q4 2026), and Daggerheart: Hope & Fear in both standard and deluxe editions (Q4 2026)
Hungarian from Gémklub: Daggerheart Core Set (2027)
French from Black Book Editions: Daggerheart Core Set in both standard and deluxe editions (Q3 2026), and Daggerheart: Hope & Fear in both standard and deluxe editions (Q1 2027)
Brazilian Portuguese from Jambô Editora: Daggerheart Core Set (released) and Daggerheart: Hope & Fear (Q1 2027)
Italian from Acheron Games: Daggerheart Core Set (released) and Daggerheart: Hope & Fear (Q4 2026)
German from Pegasus Spiele: Daggerheart Core Set (released) and Daggerheart: Hope & Fear (TBD)
Spanish from Devir: Daggerheart Core Set (Q2 2027)
Also announced new updates for the various VTTs that host Daggerheart, and that info can be seen below:
NEW: Foundry VTT has joined us as a digital partner for Daggerheart! Foundry Virtual Tabletop and Metamorphic Digital Studios are working directly with the incredible system modules built by Foundryborne to bring Daggerheart to life for Foundry VTT. FINALLY! This project would not be possible without the passion of the developers from Foundryborne. Initial modules are expected in Q4 of this year!
Demiplane has been there with us from the start, and their Daggerheart offerings are only getting better with new homebrew and group tools that recently launched on the platform! Hope & Fear will release on Demiplane on August 25th, and if you pre-order a physical copy of the expansion in Critical Role shops (US, CA, EU, UK, AU), you’ll receive a 20% off coupon to pre-order the Demiplane Nexus Digital version!
Alchemy VTT is expanding their offering to Hope & Fear, bringing their gorgeous cinematic VTT treatment to the expansion in both a standard edition and an Alchemy Enhanced edition with immersive environments and audio!
Darrington Press’ Chris Perkins is going to be GM’ing his own Mini-Series, Reign of the Weredragon. This is going to be his Campaign Frame from Daggerheart: Hope & Fear being played, and the players will get the chance to craft the big bad together. More details for this will be announced at a later date.
We also have Acquisitions Inc news. The next episode will be at PAX West in early September, and it will be Chris Perkins will be DMing the Wedding of Jim Darkmagic. Then, later in the year at PAX Unplugged, Jeremy Crawford will be DMing the first episode of the new season.
Finally, we got the info for what’s to come in the game’s future, and it’s a lot:
2 Tentpole Projects Per Year, which can include settings, campaigns, expansions, adventures, and more!
Free Digital Adventure Pipeline, which will include adventures and sidequests that hop genres, tiers, and styles of gameplay, being launched for free on Daggerheart.com. We have a ton of those in the works right now and you’ll start seeing them with our next drop later in August!!
Standalone Digital Releases for Sale, like the Romantasy Campaign Frame coming this fall.
Additional Game Accessories coming alongside all this great playable content!
With Thor gone, and Asgard just a myth in the mind of the midguardians, Hela moves to improve her lot as more than the Queen of Hel. With Knull defeated and the Black Throne empty, Hela attempts to take the mantle and become the Queen in Black. Come along as Karnilla recounts the tale.
This review is brought to you by Nerd Initiative’s Shawn!
Creative Team
Writers: Al Ewing Artist: Carlos Magno Color Artist: Espen Grundetjern Letterer: Joe Caramagna Cover Artist: Pasqual Ferry
Writing
I have to say I think this is my favorite of the Queen in Black stories so far. I really love that Al Ewing gives us a recap of how Hela becomes the Queen in Black. Not only does he provide the necessary information, but he does so through an unique storytelling mechanism with Karnilla acting as a narrator to catch readers up to speed. The result is a story that sets the tone for the world to come with Hela on the Black Throne.
As the Queen in Black, Hela will make a formidable figure, but Ewing also provides the knowledge that many things may still come to pass. The story is intriguing and probably one of the best examples I’ve seen of a writer providing Queen in Black readers with the key points they need to be caught up and ready to read the event. Doing so in a manner that feels like enjoyment rather than work is a special talent that Ewing captures perfectly.
Art
Queen In Black: Hela#1 cover by Pasqual Ferry. Image from Marvel Comics
Carlos Magno, Espen Grundetjern, and Joe Caramanga really set a solid tone right out of the gate on this first issue. The scenes in Hel are simply spectacular. The souls of anguish swirling in the world around Hela and the other characters felt both haunting and yet lifellike thanks to the incredible line work of Magno.
Grundetjern helps capture the vibe of this story perfectly through the colors. There is both dark and cosmic colors that drench the panels, creating a beautiful contrast. Gundetjern’s colors establish Hela as a worthy foe capable of respect and wielding immense power. Joe Caramagna helps the storytelling device used in this issue to work really well by helping the reader follow along with the story easily. Caramagna’s work is so smooth that at times you forget the panels you are reading are functioning as a story within a story.
Final Thoughts
This was an impeccable issue. This book, rather than Queen In Black #1, should serve as the jumping-off point for anyone wanting to get into the story arc. Ewing sets the tone right out of the gate, and using Karnilla as the storyteller works brilliantly. All comic writers should read this book as a great example of how to catch readers up on your event, enjoyably and refreshingly.
Overall Grade: 10/10
What did you think about this new series? Let me know in the comments
