Tag: Spider-Man

Dennis Reynolds is Untethered and His Rage Knows No Bounds in His New Movie “Archenemy”

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I have to give Joe Manganiello credit because he’s come a long way from playing the affable bro you got brunch with back on How I Met Your Mother.

Dude climbed the ladder from dumb jock (he was Flash Thompson in the original Spider-Man) to juiced up eye candy in Magic Mike, to locking down Sofia Vergara and eventually action movie star. Although, he did kinda get screwed after his portrayal of Deathstroke was teased at the very end of Justice League only for the entire DC Universe to collapse on itself before he had a chance to shine.

Anyways, “Archenemy” is an interesting idea that sort of seems like a cross between Will Smith’s homeless man turned superhero “Hancock” and a spin on when Superman loses his powers on Krypton due to the Red Sun. Here’s the official synopsis from IMDB.

Max Fist, who claims to be a hero from another dimension who fell through time and space to earth, where he has no powers.No one believes his stories except for a local teen named Hamster.

Okay, now that we got that out of the way we can get to the real star of “Archenemy,” which is easily Dennis Reynolds AKA Glenn Howerton in a role that he seems to have been lusting after for years. It basically looks like Dennis Reynolds’ peak insanity playing out in the form of a violent gangster of sorts.

What do we have here??

Becoming more and more unhinged over the years in Always Sunny, Howerton turned Dennis from a self absorbed narcissist into a legitimate sociopath.

Hell they even did a Making a Murderer mockumentary where they implied he killed his ex-wife. Only Always Sunny could make something as dark as that legitimately hilarious.

My point being, this movie looked fine, something I would catch on HBO or Netflix at some point and be sufficiently entertained. That is until I saw a bleach blonde Glenn Howerton unleashing his rage. As Rob McElhenney has pointed out in podcasts over the years, Howerton is a legitimately classically trained actor, which is why he kills it every time he gets a wild storyline in Always Sunny.

Now I’m all in.

Deepfakes Are Wild. Check Out Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Holland IN Back to the Future

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Deepfake videos are an absolute trip and probably will start a war one day. But as we do with all new technology in it’s infancy, we utilize it in utterly ridiculous ways until we figure out what to really do with it. When people truly perfect deepfakes and then combine that with machine learning audio, then we are all truly in some deep shit.

This Obama deepfake from a couple of years ago gets pretty close.

Until then enjoy the harmless fun of seeing the buddy cop duo of Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Holland dropped into a completely different cinematic universe together.

The 300s Marvel Cinematic Rewind Presents: Phase Three

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11 years. It’s been more than a decade since Tony Stark “built this in a cave with a box of scraps.” Avengers: Endgame is officially in theaters and I’ve been hiding from Twitter for the past week, minus a few ribbings at the expense of Mr. John Tavares and the Toronto Chokealeafs. Endgame is the culmination of everything in the MCU, a definitive end for many of the characters we’ve been watching since the days of George W.

As a final installment of the The 300s Marvel Cinematic Rewind, we wanted to touch base on the films of Phase Three that we haven’t covered yet, which also now apparently ends with Spider-Man: Far From Home. (Make up your mind, Kevin Feige!) So let’s get into it.

Dr. Strange

Giorgio: To be honest, Dr. Strange did nothing for me. I love Cumberbatch, but this film to me just seemed too much of a Christopher Nolan knockoff. The film is almost a literal combination of Batman Begins and Inception. One of these was good enough for me. 5/10

Red: This movie was a trip and one I did not expect to enjoy. I punted on it for so long that I actually ended up watching it for the first time on Netflix. I have to admit though I really enjoyed it. As Kyle mentions above it pretty much is like someone threw the scripts of Batman Begins and Inception together, but I loved both of those movies so it was right up my alley. Cumberbatch is excellent as the smarmy Dr. Strange and a really solid addition to the Avengers. 7/10

Guardians of the Galaxy 2

Giorgio: I liked it, but wasn’t nearly as good as the original. It was also really depressing. I’ll take as much Rocket as possible though. Bradley Cooper is an actor’s actor. 7/10

Red: I know Kyle is a bigger Guardians fan than I am, but I just could not get into GOTG2. The music as always was excellent (like the opening scene featuring Mr. Blue Sky), Rocket steals just about every scene he’s in, but I hated the “Ego is a planet” storyline and I’m a big Kurt Russell guy. But with all the aforementioned factors propping it up, this is still an entertaining flick. 7/10

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Giorgio: This movie was incredible. First Spider-Man I’ve liked since probably the original with MTV Best Kiss Winner Tobey Maguire. Tom Holland is a perfect Peter Parker, and the film does a great job of not taking itself too seriously. Shoutout to Michael Keaton as Vulture, essentially playing Birdman twice within the span of a few years. 8/10. Also, Aunt May 10 out of 10.

Red: Kyle described it in the best way possible; Tom Holland is a perfect Peter Parker. Michael Keaton was a kickass villain in a truly surprising twist and a legitimately frightening Vulture. Oh and Aunt May is a rocket. 9/10

Thor: Ragnarok

Giorgio: Possibly my favorite film of Phase Three. After two boring as hell solo films, Ragnarok takes a completely new approach to a stale franchise and gives it new life. It was hilarious, weird, and charming all at the same time. Tessa Thompson is a pleasure to watch on screen. Oh, and Jeff Goldblum. Horniest/smoothest man in Hollywood. 9.5/10

Red: This was one of the best comic book movies ever because it not only had top notch popcorn flick action, but it also was very self aware in how ridiculous it was (i.e. the opening scene/rock montage). Ragnarok also managed to work in Hulk perfectly without Marvel having to go out on a limb on ANOTHER Hulk standalone movie, despite how many people wanted a true Planet Hulk movie. I’ve always been partial to Thor despite it not being the strongest MCU trilogy (neither is Iron Man), but Thor 3 kicks all the asses and sets us up nicely for Infinity War, which starts minutes after Ragnarok ends. 9/10 

Black Panther

Giorgio: Had zero idea what to expect, but came out really enjoying it. Great cast, great story. Michael B. Jordan is one of the best actors currently working. Also made over a billion dollars, so no surprises how universally liked this movie is. 9/10

Red: Same as Kyle I had zero idea what to expect out of this movie. Chadwick Boseman was pretty badass in Civil War so I knew they had a shot, but Michael B. Jordan stole the goddamn show as, in my opinion, the best villain in the MCU. 8.5/10

Avengers: Infinity War

Giorgio: For a film that has about 50 main characters, they did a great job not making the plot stroke-inducing to follow. Thanos finally shows his ass after a decade of sending his minions to inevitably just do it himself. We get a great Peter Dinklage cameo, always a pleasure to see him. It was great to finally see the beginning of the end. 8/10

Red: Bravo! Bravo! One of the few movies I made sure to see opening weekend because you have about a day before Twitter eggs ruin the movie for you and about a week before Yahoo just straight up starts posting spoilers in the headlines. As Kyle said this movie did an incredible job balancing dozens and dozens of characters that you legitimately cared about as the world building of Kevin Feige really started to pay dividends. This movie could have been 4 hours long and I wouldn’t have moved an inch. 9/10

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Giorgio: Fuck this movie. 2/10

Red: Very forgettable. All I remember is the villain that can phase through walls, yet is slowly dying. Also, if we’re being  honest I’ve always disliked Evangeline Lilly for how she cucked Jack on LOST, but I admit thats not exactly fair. Paul Rudd is a treat to watch per usual and the movie introduces the Quantum Realm which I think we all expect to be one of the keys to Endgame. So decent movie, but very forgettable. 6/10

Giorgio: I….never saw this movie. Guilty as charged. I’m sure it was swell though, right? Nothing like shoehorning in a last minute character a month before the grand finale. At least I heard there’s an orange cat in it named Goose. Rating N/A

Red: Unlike Kyle, I paid 14 of my hard earned Schrute Bucks to go see this last weekend because I didn’t want to be completely lost when a Deus Ex Machina write in comes out of nowhere to save the day in Endgame. While I was less than excited going into this move (I just got a very Green Lantern vibe with the fighter pilot turned super hero with bad CGI), it wasn’t bad. Nothing great, nothing terrible. A de-aged Samuel L. Jackson (good CGI) carries the movie, but Jude Law is a great character/foil in Capt. Marvel. Some hamhanded naming conventions (Mar-Vel? Really?) and the lazy explanation for where Poochie, er I mean Captan Marvel, has been for the past 20 years leads to an OK, but highly skippable cinema experience. 6.5/10

Now I just need to make it to Sunday afternoon without someone spoiling Endgame for me. Do what I did kids, mute anything and everything related to Avengers on Twitter and stay off the news sites. We’re in the endgame now…

The 300s Marvel Cinematic Rewind Presents: Captain America: Civil War

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Captain America: Civil War (2016) is one of my favorite Marvel movies and I think a lot of people agree with that sentiment. My worry going back and watching Cap 3 for the first time in years was that it would just be me remembering another OK movie through rose colored glasses because of the incredible airport scene. Fear not, despite yet another convoluted villain character, this movie still kicks ass all these years later. As it should, considering this movie really made up for the disappointing Avengers 2. They should have called this movie Avengers 2.5. It also has the distinction of giving Captain America hands down the best complete trilogy in all of the MCU. Iron Man 2 and 3 leave much to be desired. Thor 2 was not great, and Guardians 3 is TBD. Now lets get to it!

Oooooh I love cold opens.

It’s 1991 and Winter Solider is back. It seems like he’s being tortured by the Russians, but after a series of code words uttered wake him up you see he’s basically a brainwashed spy for the Russki’s. They send him out on a retrieval mission and he whacks someone driving a caddy and takes some blue goo from their trunk. Title card.

We cut to Scarlet Witch, Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon scouting out a scene in Nigeria for a mission which quickly turns into an all out firefight

“Wanda, just like we practiced,” Cap says to Scarlet Witch, implying the training thats been taking place before this.

But, wait its not just some faceless mercs, it’s Crossbones who is already an established villain apparently, but someone I again had to look up to remember his story. For anyone thats forgot like me he played Brock Rumlow in Captain America 2 as a sleeper cell agent for HYDRA. Welp Crossbones tries to suicide bomb Cap, only to be temporarily stopped by Scarlet Witch, who in an effort to levitate him to safety accidentally blows up half a building.

And thats how you get the Sokovia Accords.

Holy christ they CGI’d Tony Stark’s de-aged face onto a teenager’s body.

Tony Stark gets confronted by a woman who blames Stark for her son’s death in….you guessed it, Sokovia.

And thats how you get the Sokovia Accords.

The Secretary of State drops in on Avengers HQ to lecture the team about all the collateral damage they’ve caused with literally no repercussions.

It raises an interesting question though, what gives the Avengers the right to operate with “unlimited power and no supervision,” as the Secretary puts it?

We are introduced to Helmut Zimo, who is another HYDRA agent on a mission. Zimo is torturing another old Russian general. When he asks how Zimo found him he directly references the gigantic Wiki Leaks dump Black Widow did at the end of Winter Soldier.

This is where the split between the team members of the Avengers begins. Tony Stark the rogue “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist” immediately opts to surrender his rights and sign the Sokovia Accords. This basically gives the Avengers the United Nations for a boss, which military lifer Captain America is just unwilling to do. It’s quite the role reversal we see here and drives the wedge between the team when half of them sign and half of them don’t.

Sokovia Accords ceremony gets bombed to high hell and King T’Chaka, of one Wakanda, is killed in the blast, which we will learn later leads to the introduction of another hero.

But who would bomb the Sokovia Accords? Oh well the news immediately identifies the culprit as one Bucky Barnes. That took 5 minutes, but sure. We’re then introduced to the first incident with the Sokovia Accords exposing why it’s such a pain in the ass. By not signing the document, Captain America isn’t allowed to interfere so he and his crew are officially outlaws at this point.

Cap going to help his friend out turns into Cap aiding and abetting a wanted terrorist realll quick though. He nearly gets out of it unscathed too until a goddamn Black Panther drops out of the clouds to stop them. United Nations sanctioned War Machine joins the party and congratulates Cap for now being a criminal before all three are arrested. Oh and we learn that Black Panther is in fact King T’Chaka’s son, T’Challa.

“I’m not getting that shield back am I,” Cap asks.

“Technically it’s the government’s property,” Black Widow shoots back.

This movie has a lot of parallels to X-Men 3: The Last Stand. As bad as that movie was it’s how this storyline could very easily turn, with the world calling for the eradication of Mutants and the Mutants fighting back. Here we have Tony trying to stave off “something worse” than signing a document.

Hey look its Zimo who somehow works for the government and is the exact guy interrogating Bucky Barnes. K? Zimo uses an EMP to knock out all the power in the building so he can say the code words to turn Bucky back into the Russian spy he was back in 1991. But, before we get into that, maybe War Machine can explain what the hell happened with that EMP?

Bucky is in brainwashed mode yet again and nearly kills everyone before Cap is able to knock him out before he can escape. He snaps out of it and explains to Cap how he got his brain scrambled again and what these guys might be looking for exactly.

“Because I’m not the only Winter Soldier,” Bucky says as a flashback shows exactly what that Blue Goo was from the opening of the movie. A group of psychos Bucky refers to as the most elite death squad in Hydra history were also injected with that serum, but they all seem to be pretty unhinged.

Tony Stark is officially given an assignment to bring in the rogue Avengers, but without half their team, Hulk, and Thor to back them up it’s time to do a little recruiting.

We head to Queens to meet the best Peter Parker ever put on film, who Tony quickly takes a liking to and invites him to Germany for a little project. Cut to Hawkeye who’s come out of “retirement” to bust Scarlet Witch out of house arrest, which takes a little duel with Vision to do so. Black Widow recruits Black Panther and Cap hits up Agent Peggy’s niece (whom he also macks on) to get back his shield and Falcon’s  suit. And to round out the crew we got a starstruck Ant-Man meeting Cap and the rest of the rogue Avengers.

Paul Rudd should be in every one of these movies from here on out.

Tony and his crew of War Machine, Black Widow, Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Vision show up to shut that shit down. Let the Battle Royale begin.

Most of it’s all fun and games with some cheeky one liners, ya know except for Rhodes getting paralyzed. Other than that though, it’s all a pretty good time before Cap and Bucky escape and head to Russia to figure out WTF is going on. HYDRA winter soldier death squad, sleeper cell evil scientists?

The rest of Cap’s crew is on lockdown in the “max security underwater super pokey” as Tony describes it. He seems to be realizing this whole Sakovia Accords thing may have been a bad idea.

Tony learns of Zemo and with a tip from Falcon heads to Berlin, which don’t ya know is exactly where Bucky and Cap are headed. Zemo finds the old HYDRA lab in Berlin and locates the other winter soldiers saved on ice.

In a change of heart Tony realizes what Cap has been trying to do this whole time and joins forces with him.

Now this is where this movie gets weird. We finally see those other winter soldiers, but Zemo has already killed them all? So this whole thing was all a ploy to get the Avengers here? Bombing the UN, framing Bucky Barnes, killing innocent people for what?

“An empire toppled by its enemies can be rebuilt, but one that crumbles from within, thats dead forever,” Zemo says.

Zemo plays the security cam footage of Tony Stark’s parents not actually dying in a car crash, but getting straight up murdered by Bucky Barnes all those years ago. And it turns out Captain America knew the whole time.

Welp, there goes Tony’s renewed alliance with Cap and Buck. Blind with rage Tony will stop at nothing to kill Bucky now, even if it means going through Cap. After some serious hand to hand combat, it seems like Iron Man is in some deep shit, but with a blast from his goddamn chest piece Tony blows off Bucky’s metal arm.

Turns out Zemo’s family was killed in the shitshow that was Sokovia. Knowing he couldn’t kill the Avengers himself, he plotted to have them destroy each other. Black Panther apprehends Zemo before he can kill himself meanwhile Cap and Ton continue to beat the hell out of each other. Cap gets the upperhand and Tony drops a real heart wrenching quote that forces him to leave his shield.

Captain America goes full rogue and busts his half of the Avengers out of super max prison and leaves Tony with a promise, and a flip phone, that if he ever needs him he’ll be there.

Mid credits scene: Cap and Bucky are in Wakanda as Bucky decides being frozen once again is the best thing for everyone until they can figure out whats up. Oh and these guys have quite the technology don’t they?

Post credits scene:

This movie absolutely holds up and is one of the best of the entire MCU. It doesn’t really advance the overall plot of the Infinity Stones or the impending threat from Thanos, but this is a popcorn flick to beat all popcorn flicks. Captain America: Civil War is like when you finally get to open all your presents on Christmas Day and play with all your toys at once.

Final Rating: 9/10

The 300s Marvel Cinematic Rewind Presents: Iron Man 3

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At this time I would like anyone who enjoys Iron Man 3 to vacate the premises because this film makes me physically ill. I’ve been dreading this movie in my re-watch from day one and lo and behold it’s just as terrible as I remember. Iron Man 3 was the first film to drop after The Avengers finally came to life on the big screen after years of teasing in the MCU. Yet, if Iron Man 3‘s job was to set the tone on what was to come in Phase Two, boy oh boy did it miss the mark. Let’s dive in.

Here’s a brief summary because I just can’t be bothered to relive this madness.

Iron Man 3 worried the hell out of me when I got out of the theatre. After all the hype surrounding The Avengers and us finally getting the amazing team up film we were all promised, we were back to individual movies and solo adventures for all our heroes. This was a brutal start. I honestly fully expected the MCU to fall apart after this movie, solely based on the reintroduction to stand alone films. My big problem with much of Phase Two was that it all feels like filler. We know at this point that Thanos is coming, and that the infinity stones will surely play a part in things to come. The problem is we were being set up for some complete waste of time films like Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and yes, even Avengers: Age of Ultron (I honestly couldn’t tell you a single thing that happens in Thor 2, so i’ll let Red tackle that next week).

Iron Man 3’s biggest flaw is that it does almost nothing to advance the plot of the MCU. It takes everything the first two Iron Man films did and turns it on it’s head. Remember how it was a big deal Tony had an arc reactor in his chest to keep the shrapnel in his body from entering his heart and killing him? Ah forget it, let’s just have surgery to remove it. Not necessary anymore. Wait, so why was that impossible the first two times around, but now it’s completely feasible? And don’t even get me started on The Mandarin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdVOdW7kQwk

You take one of the most badass villains in the Iron Man universe and you turn him into an actor pretending to be terrorist just so we the audience can look and say “ooooh” “aaaah” “classic bait and switch!” It totally nullifies the tension in the beginning of the film where for a second I thought we were about to get something totally insane from an MCU where good villains are tough to come by. Finally, how about Pepper turning into the Human Torch for a grand total of five minutes just to bypass the fact that she fell to her death. Oh, and they fixed her off screen by the way. Back to normal Pepper!

Honestly, Phase Two is incredibly hit or miss for me. I just thank my lucky stars that Iron Man 3 is behind me. Could have derailed the whole thing. At this point in time I would like to officially declare it to be the worst movie of the MCU.

Final Rating: 2.0 out of 10

And not to leave on a completely downer of a note, I present to you the one scene I enjoy in the movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lid6feCW-DY

 

 

Spider-Man: Far From Home Trailer Just Dropped and Yes Spidey is Alive

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Okay first things first, this movie looks incredible, but it is such a bummer because it takes all of the suspense out of Avengers: Endgame. We all know what’s going to happen, but at least let us pretend to think differently. Having the actors for Black Panther, Spider-Man and others already signed on to do multiple sequels and then dropping the trailers for those movies while they’re still technically dead is a lame duck move. Kinda takes the venom (see what I did there?) out of this scene too.

But aside from all that, this movie looks awesome and Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio?

LETS GOO

Can Marvel do what Sony failed to do over and over again? Build a universe around the Sinister Six? I don’t know, but this is a hell of a start from the small sample size we’ve seen.

We also get some always welcomed Nick Fury in this movie, which I was not expecting.

Clearly this movie is going to have a much larger impact on the MCU as a whole, which makes sense since some key Avengers are definitely going to die in Endgame. We might be looking at Spidey taking on the mantle as one of the leaders of the Avengers moving forward and Nick Fury will help launch us into that next Phase of movies.

This spring and summer is going to be an adrenaline shot to the chest if you’re a fan of the MUC with Captain Marvel coming out on March 8th, then Avengers: Endgame on April 26th, and then followed up shortly thereafter with Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th. Buckle up.

The 300s Marvel Cinematic Rewind Presents: The Incredible Hulk

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The300s MCU

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Raise your hand if you completely forgot this film was a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Trust me, from time to time I forget it too. A month after Iron Man hit theaters in May 2008, The Incredible Hulk burst onto the scene to keep the Marvel momentum alive. To be fair to all those involved in making this movie, it’s not as a bad as most people remember. In fact, I think many forget this film’s ties to the MCU mainly because  Ed Norton (who is a great actor by the way) was almost immediately replaced with Mark Ruffalo. It once again had something to do with a contract dispute (Norton wanted more creative control over the finished product and it caused a lot of headaches behind the scenes) so Marvel went in a different direction to get Bruce Banner ready for his Avengers debut.

So recently I sat down and re-watched this forgotten gem just to see how well it held up. This was only my second viewing of the film as I had not seen it since it was playing in theaters. Still, we promised a Marvel Cinematic Rewind, which means watching even some of the more obscure entries in the universe.

To quickly summarize, The Incredible Hulk is the second entry in the MCU. It follows Bruce Banner, a brilliant scientist who’s experiment goes wrong, turning him into one of the most dangerous and fearsome players in comic book history. The movie starts with Banner on the run in Brazil, laying low chatting up online with a mysterious Mr. Blue, who is trying to help cure him. By day, Banner is helping out in a bottling plant (where they produce green soda!) and naturally some of his blood gets mixed in a shipment causing Stan Lee to get Gamma radiation poisoning, leading the government to track down his whereabouts. Still with me so far?  Banner barely gets away when the SWAT team kicks in his door and a chase ensues around the city. He narrowly escapes and decides to head back to America, hitchhiking and bumming it on foot from Brazil all the way back to Virginia, in a cool 16 days. You’re still with me right? The head SWAT guy, played by Tim Roth, doesn’t like this very much and winds up taking a dose of super soldier serum mixed with a little Banner blood and becomes Abomination. They do battle, Hulk wins, and Banner once again goes on the run.

The Incredible Hulk definitely sits near the bottom of my MCU rankings. The entire movie is essentially just a cat and mouse game with the government consistently trying to bring Banner in, only to finally utilize him to stop Abomination. While I normally like Ed Norton, his Banner is, well, boring. This is definitely the beginning of the lazy villain stereotype that has plagued Marvel films. Tim Roth brings little to the table as Abomination, who probably has a total of 10 minutes screen time. And while i’m not particularly drawn to any specific aspect of this film, it is at least what most would refer to as a good popcorn movie. Good action sequences, paced pretty well, and it keeps your attention. Hey, at least it’s not that god awful 2003 Hulk. I still have nightmares about that one. If this movie proved anything though, it’s that i’m completely content with just one standalone Hulk movie in the MCU.

Final Verdict: 5.0 out of 10

And while you’re here, enjoy this nonsense.

The Avengers: Endgame Trailer Has Finally Arrived and We’re Breaking It Down

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The Avengers: Endgame trailer just dropped and in the words of my friend Pikachu:

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First off, I need to address that aside from the trailer, we finally got a title reveal. ENDGAME. Short, sweet, and to the point. I like it. After 11 years in this wonderfully constructed cinematic universe, we are at the end of this current iteration of the story. Now we all know this is not the actual end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hell, they already announced Spider-Man: Far From Home which is interesting considering where we last left our friendly neighborhood spider. This is a turning point in the road, where we may actually see some of our favorite heroes meet their demise. Some serious shit is about to go down. SPOILERS FROM HERE ON SO BE WARNED.

So when we last left our heroes in Infinity War, half of the universe was completely dusted. A bunch of our Avengers disappeared in front of our eyes and we were left with what pretty much resembled the original Avengers lineup, and there is absolutely zero chance that wasn’t done on purpose. We’re back to where we started and in the words of George Lucas, “It’s like poetry, they rhyme.”

We were also left with a lot of questions. Where the hell is Hawkeye? Is Ant-man still stuck in the quantum realm? Is Pepper pregnant? Oh, the humanity!

Luckily, we have our brand spanking new Avengers trailer to help answer some of those questions.

I think I can speak for most when I say, holy shit. I know this trailer doesn’t give away too much, but it does set us up perfectly for what’s to come. Sure, there’s no hint at what the actual plot is, but a friend of the blog put it as “Well, we’re all going to see it anyway, let’s just use it to hype us up.” Solid advice from a solid individual.

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So we start with a stranded Tony Stark in space. The chaos perceived after the Thanos snap is awesome. None of our heroes seem to have tabs on where the heck anyone is, and who is actually still standing which is great for the tension in the beginning of the film. So how will Iron Man find his way out of this one? Well, we pretty much have one option I can think of off the top of my head. Captain Marvel.

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I feel ya, Cap.

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Next up, we have the Incredible Hu….Bruce Banner going over what seems to be images of the people the Avengers think to have hit the old dusty trail. Here’s hoping in Endgame that Bruce takes some of Michael’s Secret Stuff from Space Jam and figures out how to Hulk out again.*

*He will, duh.

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Nebula! Kind of forgot you were still alive!

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Now this is where things start picking up. Who’s our new assassin friend?

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By Golly! It’s our old pal Hawkeye! Way to make an appearance!

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Title card. Yeah, i’m pretty damn excited for this thing now.

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And finally, we get the return of Scott Lang. So many questions. How did you get here Scott??? I guess we’ll all have to collectively wait and see April 26th.

The 300s Top 20 Most Anticipated Movies of 2019

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I’m not exaggerating when I say there are a billion movies coming out next year. Seriously, I was pretty shocked to see just how much is coming to theaters in 2019. So for your reading pleasure, I picked my 20 most anticipated and break down what you need to know.

20) The New Mutants

Release Date: August 2nd, 2019

Starring: Maisie Williams, Antonio Banderas, Charlie Heaton

This will probably be the last X-Men movie under the Fox umbrella. It’s billed as a horror film so it’ll be interesting to see how this goes. Disney is set to acquire Fox in January so you can fully expect to see the X-Men completely rebooted and added to Marvel’s Phase 4 plans. This film was supposed to come out this past February and has been pushed back several times so make of that what you will. Personally, i’m excited to see Arya Stark in a new role.

19) Men In Black

Release Date: June 14th, 2019

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson

We have the first reboot of the list on our hands! It stars a re-team of our two leads from Thor 3. I was a huge fan of the original 1997 film, but thought the two sequels it spawned were forgettable at best. I’m kind of surprised this wasn’t rebooted sooner to be honest. At least we’re not getting that rumored MIB/21 Jump Street spinoff. Nobody was asking for that. Dodged a bullet there.

18) Frozen 2

Release Date: November 22nd, 2019

Starring: Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Idina Menzel

I was the last person on planet earth to see the first Frozen and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I’m a big Disney guy (especially a big fan of Disney actually being Frozen himself) so this makes the list on curiosity alone. It’s ironic because the best part of the movie is Olaf who is voiced by Josh Gad, who I absolutely despise. Cautiously optimistic on this one.

17) Dumbo

Release Date: March 29th, 2019

Starring: Danny Devito, Colin Farrell, Eva Green, Michael Keaton, Dumbo The Elephant

Another Disney entry, the first of three live action remakes on my list. The cast is stacked and the CGI Dumbo is fucking adorable so how could you not be in on this? The original cartoon is low key one of the most depressing movies of all time so the inner emo in me is down to sob in a Regal Theater over a computerized elephant that can fly. Plus it’s directed by Tim Burton so you know we’re in for a trip.

16) The Lego Movie 2

Release Date: February 8th, 2019

Starring: Chris Pratt, Alison Brie, Jonah Hill

Legos are the shit. Case closed.

15) Dark Phoenix

Release Date: June 7th, 2019

Starring: Sophie Turner, Jennifer Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence

We actually have two X-Men movies coming out next year, and as I mentioned previously, it’s not looking likely we’ll see a continuation of this version of the supergroup after the Disney acquisition of Fox. Still, it’ll be nice to see these actors at least one more time to shine. If anything, we get one more turn of Fassbender as Magneto which is worth the price of admission alone.

14) Aladdin

Release Date: May 24th, 2019

Starring: Will Smith, Naomi Scott, Mena Massoud

2nd of 3 live action Disney remakes. This one has Will Smith as the Genie though. Big shoes to fill replacing the legendary Robin Williams, but if anyone can step into the role it’s the Fresh Prince.

13) Untitled Terminator 6

Release Date: November 1st, 2019

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton

We are FINALLY getting a direct sequel to Terminator 2. We’re just gonna pretend those pesky 3 other sequels never happened, okay? Linda Hamilton returns as Sarah Connor and i’m just praying we get a worthy sequel to what I consider one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time. Hopefully the Governator brings his A game too.

12) Hobbs and Shaw

Release Date: August 2nd, 2019

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham

It only took 18 years and 8 movies to get a spinoff of the Fast and the Furious franchise going. Now that we got one coming soon, i’m not really sure how I feel about it. Vin Diesel is pissed about it. Tyrese is pissed about it. Hell, even Paul Walker is pissed about it I think. I’m a huge fan of the Rock, but this is not his franchise to take over. I’ll still be there opening weekend, but I am a bit weary.

11) Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Release Date: August 9th, 2019

Starring: Every actor in Hollywood

No seriously. The better question would be to ask who is not starring in this movie. Quentin Tarantino brings us back to the 60s and tells us the story of Charles Manson and the murders he inspired. Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, Dakota Fanning, Kurt Russell, Damian Lewis, Emile Hirsch, Tim Roth, Timothy Olyphant, Michael Madsen, Luke Perry, James Marsden, and Zoe Bell star (to name a few).

10) Captain Marvel

Release Date: March 8th, 2019

Starring: Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson

This would probably rank higher for me if I had any clue who Captain Marvel is. I love Brie Larson and it’s a Marvel movie so it’s bound to be awesome and make a billion dollars. Cool to see a female led Marvel movie as well. I just wasn’t exposed to this character growing up so this will be my first real introduction to her. Very excited about it nonetheless.

9) Joker

Release Date: October 4th, 2019

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro

This movie is not my most anticipated of 2019, but it’s probably the one that intrigues me the most. Jared Leto was so bad as the Joker that it left a sour taste in my mouth. This version however, directed by Todd Phillips, looks to stray towards Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the character which i’m more than happy with. Couple that with the lead being Joaquin Phoenix, a phenomenal actor in his own right, and this film has the potential to be something special. It apparently also operates independently of the DC Universe films which is completely fine by me, and i’m sure to you the reader.

8) John Wick: Chapter 3

Release Date: May 17th, 2019

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Ian McShane

It’s great seeing Keanu Reeves utilized to his potential as he’s always been a phenomenal actor when given the right material. The John Wick films have been a great addition to the man’s already stellar catalogue (Point Break, i’m looking at you). Then again, I would watch Keanu eat breakfast so it’s no surprise i’ll be there in theaters when Chapter 3 drops next May.

7) The Lion King

Release Date: July 19th, 2019

Starring: Donald Glover, Beyonce, Seth Rogen, James Earl Jones

The final Disney live action remake on my list is the GOAT of Disney movies from the 1990s. Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino takes the role of Simba, which is just another badass resume booster for one of the most talented dudes out there. They even got James Earl Jones to return as Mufasa. This movie is going to make a billion dollars, mark my words.

6) Spider-Man: Far From Home

Release Date: July 5th, 2019

Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jake Gyllenhaal

A sequel to last year’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, this movie will be the first set in Marvel’s Phase 4. Jake Gyllenhaal steps into the role of Mysterio, a character i’ve been waiting to see on the big screen since I was a kid. The action takes place in London this time, hence the title Far From Home. I love Tom Holland as Spider-Man too. Count me in for this one come next July.

5) Toy Story 4

Release Date: June 21st, 2019

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Jordan Peele

I thought Toy Story 3 was the perfect way to end the series, yet here we are. I’m not going to complain about getting more adventures in this universe, they just better have a great story to back it up. I still haven’t fully recovered from all the toys almost getting incinerated at the end of the last movie. Really traumatic shit, even for a 20 year old.

4) Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Release Date: May 31st, 2019

Starring: Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobby Brown, Sally Hawkins

I absolutely adored the last Godzilla movie, despite Aaron Taylor Johnson giving the most boring performance of all time. The subtle and gradual use of Godzilla himself throughout the movie was perfectly executed in my opinion and it brought us to a world I want to spend more time in. We’re getting all the big bads this time around like Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Rodan. Not to mention Coach Taylor is the lead this time around so i’ll obviously be seeing this one.

3) Pokemon: Detective Pikachu

Release Date: May 10th, 2019

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Justice Smith

It only took a billion years, but we’re finally getting a live-action Pokemon movie and it looks…great? I was insanely pessimistic about this when I heard it was coming out, but the trailer completely sold it for me. Not to mention it apparently did some test screenings last week and got rave reviews. Do we finally have a good video game to film adaptation on our hands? I’m hopeful. Having Ryan Reynolds voicing Pikachu always helps.

2) Star Wars: Episode IX

Release Date: December 20th, 2019

Starring: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Mark Hamill

Episode IX is being billed as the final chapter in the Skywalker saga. Whether or not you believe that is up to you. I’ve really enjoyed this new trilogy thus far. Disney has done well keeping the spirit of the original films alive while adding new layers of depth to a universe that will surely go on well after we’re all dead. Couple that with two announced live-action shows on the yet-to-be launched Disney streaming service, and we’re looking at a whole lot of Star Wars in the near future folks. All hail the supreme leader, Kylo Ren.

1) Avengers 4

Release Date: May 3rd, 2019 (But likely to get bumped up to the last week of April)

Starring: Everyone that didn’t get snapped in the last movie

An obvious choice for #1. We’ve been waiting 11 years for the conclusion to this storyline, and the Marvel movies will likely never be the same after it’s done. How it all plays out is anyone’s guess. Some big names will probably bite the dust in this one too so get those tissues ready. My guess? Steve Rogers is a goner and Tony Stark becomes the new Nick Fury.

RIP Stan Lee

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TMZ – Stan Lee, the man who co-created Marvel Comics, has died … Stan’s daughter tells TMZ. We’re told an ambulance rushed to Lee’s Hollywood Hills home early Monday morning and he was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. We’re told that’s where he died. Lee had suffered several illnesses over the last year or so — he had a bout of pneumonia and vision issues.

Stan started Marvel with Jack Kirby in 1961 with The Fantastic Four. He went on to create Spider-Man, Black Panther, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, Iron Man and The Avengers. Stan made cameo appearances in all of the Marvel movies.

Wow, what a sad and sobering headline to write. He was 95-years-old so he lived a long and incredibly successful life, but still a sad thing to see. Stan Lee made comic books cool. Fact, not opinion. Sure Kevin Feige deserves a ton of credit for nailing the formula for making a good superhero movie, but it was all based on Stan Lee’s work. Even before all the blockbusters, there were the 90s cartoons like Spider-Man the Animated Series.

But just think about the creative juices you need to have in your brain to create Spider-Man, the Hulk, Black Panther, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and the freaking X-Men! The guy was a genius and a lot of his comics touched on some pretty sensitive subjects way ahead of their time. While the underlying message of X-Men has become abundantly clear over the past couple of films, at its core this was a story that tackled civil rights and how they were granted to some types of people, but not others. Whether that was mutants, gay people, transgender, African Americans etc. – it was a pretty radical thing to write about when the X-Men were first created in 1963.

So Stan Lee was a wildly successful guy who created some of the most iconic characters and intellectual property of all time. The only sad part is that Disney just bought FOX and all its Marvel character rights, which is why we’ve only recently started to see crossovers like Spider-Man finally joining the Avengers. So unfortunately Stan Lee won’t get to see all his kids playing on screen together. I’m not sure what Marvel will do to honor the godfather of comic books, but after having a cameo appearance in every single Marvel movie, I’m sure it’ll be something special.