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  • ‘Hawkeye’ Writer Reveals Series Was Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies

    ‘Hawkeye’ Writer Reveals Series Was Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies

    From the moment the series was announced in the spring of 2019, it was obvious that Marvel Studios’ Hawkeye was going to draw a lot of inspiration from the comic run by Matt Fraction and David Aja. The promotional material for the show, right down to its title card, has done nothing but point to the live-action Disney+ show borrowing heavily from the vibe and aesthetic the creative duo pioneered in 2012. Yet, in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the series head writer Jonathan Igla revealed that the pages of Marvel comics weren’t the only place he found inspiration when bringing Hawkeye to life.

    It would seem all those wonderfully cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies played a role in the writing process as well. Igla spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about watching plenty of the made-for-tv films with Elise Climent, his partner in both life and writing to find inspiration on bringing the Christmas spirit to life in the series:

    I couldn’t say they did not inform the Christmas of the show, a little bit. In the same way that those movies are comforting, I was reading those [Hawkeye] comics so many times. There was something that was comforting and relaxing about it. To turn off the stress of the day and try to disconnect from work.

    Jonathan Igla

    When it comes to stories set around the holidays, there’s no better place to look than the Hallmark Channel. The network pumps out numerous new Christmas-themed projects every year, all of which are laced with the feel-good energy of the season. It’s not a bad thing to hear that the team behind Hawkeye found themselves drawing from the comforting, cozy nature of movies like A Very Merry Mix-Up and Coming Home for Christmas. It’s a bit of a contrast to the influences highlighted by director Rhys Thomas included, such as Die Hard, Home Alone, and even Gremlins. It shows just how many corners of Christmas films are out there.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • John Krasinski’s ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’ Expands Cast for Season 4

    John Krasinski’s ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’ Expands Cast for Season 4

    It looks like the upcoming fourth season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan has expanded its cast by five new recruits. The John Krasinski-led project on Amazon Prime will add Zulekha Robinson, Louis Ozawa, and Okieriete Onaodowan as series regulars. Derek Cecil and Nancy Lenehan will join the project in recurring roles throughout the season.

    The casting is at perfect timing, as production has only just wrapped on the third season, which still doesn’t have a release date. So, it seems they might be jumping into the next season shortly while the other airs. They will play alongside returning actors Wendell Pierce as James Greer and Michael Kelly as Mike November.

    The Exorcist star Robinson will take on the role of Zeyara, while HuntersOzawa is Chao Fah. Onaodowan of Station 19 fame has been tapped as Adebayo ‘Ade’ Osoji. People of the Earth‘s Lenehan will tackle the role of Senator Joan Henshaw with House of CardsCecil as Senator Morgan.

    Source: Deadline

  • RUMOR: Leaked Marvel Legends’ Code Names Tease  ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Additions

    RUMOR: Leaked Marvel Legends’ Code Names Tease ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Additions

    Throughout the pandemic, it seemed like the only real update we have for upcoming Marvel Studios projects was through merchandise. Even now, as film shave finally returned to theaters, sometimes leaks from toy companies offer some insight into the upcoming project, or at the very least a sign we can expect teases for upcoming projects. Twitter user @preterniadotcom shared a list that may potentially hint at the first wave of Marvel Legends figurines for Thor: Love and Thunder.

    Some of these could be quite easy to connect. Necro might be in reference to the Necrosword, so that’ll likely be Gorr the God Butcher. Korg is a good candidate for Cracked, while Pew Pew could be in reference to Star-Lord. Biceps is likely Chris Hemsworth‘s Thor, which could be as a reference to the image teased of him on set included in the tweet. The rest get a bit more difficult but Sabaton, a Swedish heavy metal band could be in reference to Valkyrie while Helm is Jane, due to her character famously wearing a helmet in the comics.

    Still, we have to keep in mind that not every single figurine in this line-up will be from the film. Even the What If…? series included at least one character from the comics. Perhaps we’ll get a Loki figurine in addition that isn’t directly connected to the film. IF code names are available and they are eyeing an April release, there’s a chance we might get a good look at them around February or March. Spider-Man: No Way Home’s toy tie-ins were released ahead of the trailer as well that offered some teases of the film.

    Source: Twitter

  • REVIEW: ‘Cowboy Bebop’ 1×02 “Venus Pop”

    REVIEW: ‘Cowboy Bebop’ 1×02 “Venus Pop”

    “Venus Pop” takes a departure from the original by exploring the Teddy Bomber, who doesn’t appear until shortly before the final episodes of the anime. Well, he’s a bit sidelined in this story, as it primarily is continuing the story set-up in the past episodes. Spike gets attacked by an assassin and it sets him out on a small side story to make sure that his past doesn’t catch up with him. Jet, on the other hand, is trying his best to get a bounty to buy his daughter a present, who is also a new addition. So, for most of the episode, our duo is on their own stories.

    COWBOY BEBOP Recap: (S01E02) Venus Pop

    In my opinion, it wasn’t the best idea to separate them this early on. Their banter and dynamic give the series some energy, but we take a detour so early that it kind of downplays the highlight of the original series. It was all about their dynamic early on so their splitting on adventures had a stronger impact. Once again we’re focusing more on world-building than character development, which is something carried over from the first episode. It adds to the fact that it’s a show that fell in love with Spike’s backstory and wanted to flesh it out more.

    Speaking of, this episode gives u our first real change from the original, as Vicious is married to Julia and both are given quite a bit of screentime. In the original, they are a non-factor until the ending, as Julia is famously described as a distant dream. This episode purposely changes the core storyline with some familiar aspects to ease fans into the fact that this show is not following the original closely. Vicious is much more complex yet not as intimidating as he was in the original. He was a mystery and that’s why he was scary.

    New Cowboy Bebop Image Is a Vicious Thirst Trap | CBR

    Here, he’s a bit more of a coward and that’s a hard pill to swallow, but does give him some more agency within the story. We even get hints about the inner workings of the Syndicate, and I did love the touch of the anime’s version of the Elders being masks. That was quite a nice visual touch. Still, while great for developing our antagonists, this does come at cost of the actual main characters we spend the most time with. It’s probably why the show feels like it doesn’t quite capture the original, as its focus is completely different.

    Still, we do get some great character moments even if it is closer to the end. When they reunite, their banter was a highlight in the episode. Cho and Shakir play off of each other quite nicely. They even carried over the joke surrounding the Teddy Bomber by playing on his insecurities was quite fun. Though, it does feel like them being bounty hunters is more of an afterthought at times. The show is still trying to find its legs but this departure from the original offer new opportunities moving forward.

  • How Kingpin is the Perfect Antagonist for ‘Spider-Man: Freshman Year’

    How Kingpin is the Perfect Antagonist for ‘Spider-Man: Freshman Year’

    There are a lot of questions to be asked regarding where Spider-Man will go after the December release of No Way Home. While it’s unknown what the next chapter in Spidey’s cinematic book will be, we do have an answer about where we’ll see him next. According to the recent Disney+ Day event, the future of Spider-Man will be found in his past. Marvel Studios is producing an animated series with the subtitle Freshman Year. It’ll explore the character’s origins in the MCU. The problem is, aside from the likelihood we’ll see yet another iteration of Ben Parker get gunned down in the streets, we know almost nothing about the story’s details. It also opens up the question: who will Spidey face in this prequel series?

    Spider-Man Animated Series Coming From Marvel

    The parameters set by the cartoon’s place in the Marvel timeline prevent it from showing Peter Parker going head-to-head with any of his major rogues. Spider-Man: Homecoming was fairly clear in its assertion that Michael Keaton‘s Vulture is the most intimidating villain Parker has faced by that point in his career. Plus, context clues would indicate the web-head hadn’t done anything extravagant enough to be more than a YouTube star before Tony Stark discovers him in Civil War. This would mean that, for the show to have a genuine bad guy looming over our freshly made hero, they would have to be a threat that both exists outside of the public eye and appears low on Peter’s danger scale. As such, it’s the perfect time to introduce Wilson Fisk as his main threat.

    The Kingpin has made a profession out of appearing moral. There is arguably no character who has mastered the art of discreet villainy like Fisk, who simultaneously runs New York with an iron fist and an entrepreneurial spirit. Fans are, obviously, no strangers to the character, who reached peak popularity in the last decade with a recurring role on Netflix’s acclaimed Daredevil series. It feels like a return to the screen, big or small, is imminent, with live-action MCU shows like Hawkeye and Echo bringing the criminal underworld back to the forefront of Marvel’s storytelling. If the Kingpin of Crime were to be slipped into either, or both, of these projects, placing him and his infamous gangster land into a story that is set nearly a decade earlier would be a wonderful way to retroactively tie that part of the MCU together.

    Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Soundtrack - Kingpin Theme - YouTube

    It would be far less than a stretch if whoever takes out Ben is portrayed as being in the employ of Fisk, whose on-the-low activity happened to cross paths with a newly-powered Peter and his altruistic uncle. From there, a misguided, vengeful, and inexperienced Spider-Man may want to hunt down whoever was responsible for the death of his father figure, much like the first act of 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man. However, in this story, Parker’s search would lead him directly into the path of “Mr. Big” and his Enforcers, a group of men with wildly individual and specific skill sets like having quick feet and being large (yes, those Enforcers).

    There are enough goons, like the Enforcers who worked for Tombstone in The Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, that could provide an appropriately difficult combat challenge for an untrained Spidey. They might also be small enough not to garner any headlines for the wallcrawler. Skirmishes with Spider-Man may be chalked up to one of the aforementioned YouTube videos. That way, they could be the prominent threat of Freshman Year before it is inevitably revealed who they work for. This plot point would line up with the original Amazing Spider-Man comics, while still leaving room for creative interpretation.

    Montana (Character) - Comic Vine

    It should be acknowledged that a member of the Enforcers did appear in Homecoming, played by Logan Marshall-Green as a member of Adrian Toomes’ team and the first person to wield the Shocker gauntlets. However, this version of Jackson Brice has almost nothing in common with his comic namesake Montana. Freshman Year could easily separate those names into two characters. Brice could also be left out of the Enforcers altogether, with another rotating member of their squad taking his place.

    Using Kingpin and the Enforcers as antagonists allows for a story that features plenty of Spidey action without ever dipping into “Avengers-level” notoriety. Peter would be able to dig into the mystery of his new opponents and come to terms with a full emotional arc, learning about great power and great responsibility, as well as plant seeds for a connection with the MCU’s underworld without ever actually taking down Kingpin or his empire. The end of the show would fit perfectly into the MCU if it saw the wall-crawler taking down the Enforcers, embracing his newfound heroism, and placing himself on Wilson Fisk’s list of threats for a possible future showdown. All without contradicting anything we’ve seen from the film trilogy so far.

  • Don’t Expect an Italian Accent from Chris Pratt’s Mario in ‘Super Mario’ Film

    Don’t Expect an Italian Accent from Chris Pratt’s Mario in ‘Super Mario’ Film

    It looks like the upcoming Super Mario film will change something quite iconic about the popular Nintendo mascot. Throughout the games, the character famously was brought to life by Charles Martinet, who gave the character an iconic Italian accent. He’s also voiced most of the supporting cast including his brother Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi. That all will change when Chris Pratt takes over the voice role for the gaming icons grand return to the silver screen, but it looks like he’ll have a very different approach.

    In an interview with toofab, Illumination Entertainment producer Chris Meledandri revealed that we shouldn’t expect his iconic Italian accent for the film. He added that Pratt will add his own spin of the character’s voice, which will be greatly different from what fans are used to. Though, he does highlight that there will be a reason given for the character’s new voice in the film. Meledandri goes on to highlight that:

    All I can tell you is the voice that he’s doing for us, and Mario, is phenomenal,” the 62-year-old insisted upon a recent return to LAX. “Yeah I can’t wait for people to hear it

    He does highlight that there will be some representation of their Italian heritage in the film, but that’ll be in the form of Charlie Day as Luigi.

    Charlie Day, who’s playing Luigi, actually comes from Italian heritage. Yeah so that’s our nod

    It’s certainly a strange decision to move completely away from the voice that made the character iconic. Even when the film SCOOB! replaced the franchise’s iconic voice cast, the voice of Shaggy copied that of the original character. It’s a recurring theme that animated projects hire non-voice actors to add as a selling point to its advertising, but we’ll see what Pratt brings to the table.

    Source: toofab

  • ‘Hawkeye’s Inspirations Include ‘Home Alone’, ‘Die Hard’ And Many More

    ‘Hawkeye’s Inspirations Include ‘Home Alone’, ‘Die Hard’ And Many More

    When the first trailer for tomorrow’s Hawkeye dropped, many have noted a similarity in style to the classic Bruce Willis-led film Die Hard. The comparison was aided by the visual of him escaping out of a skyscraper. Well, it seems that the iconic 90s action film played a role in bringing this series to life, but it looks like they had some other interesting inspiration when tackling the project.

    In an interview with ComicBook.com, director Rhys Thomas discussed what influenced their take on the character’s first solo adventure in the MCU, where he lists that the first two Home Alone films and even Gremlin also played a part in their inspiration for bringing the Christmas feeling to the Disney+ series. His full quote states that:

    People mentioned Die Hard being one side of things, but yeah. I mean Home Alone is definitely a big atmospheric Christmas touchstone… both the original and Lost In New York. Yeah, I don’t know. Like I, kinda, again, I would just do, I mean, Gremlins as well. It’s like… I’m the type of person that sort of whether a direct reference makes it into a show or a movie or not, I will take any excuse to sort of keep plumbing my memory, my cultural memory.

    There have been many classic holiday-themed films in the past years. Of course, Die Hard is the most obvious inspiration due to the action aspect. Sadly, they didn’t use the opportunity to have Shane Black tackle an episode due to his love for projects including the Christmas theme. After his work with Iron Man 3, it’s surprising they wouldn’t have him back to add his unique style. Perhaps he’ll get to tackle a Christmas special another time, as the Guardians of the Galaxy are likely the next one.

    Source: ComicBook.com

  • WandaVision’s “Agatha All Along’ Nominated for Grammy

    WandaVision’s “Agatha All Along’ Nominated for Grammy

    Here’s something you don’t expect every day. It looks like the catchy “Agatha All Along” song from WandaVision has been nominated for the Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media. It is joined in the category by From Inside‘s “All Eyes on Me”, Judas and the Black Messiah‘s “Fight for You”, One Night in Miami‘s “Speak Now,” and Respect‘s “Here I Am.” Agatha’s theme song from the seventh episode was written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez with the lyrics sung by Agatha herself, Kathryn Hahn, with back-up from Eric Bradley, Greg Whippie, Jasper Randall, and Gerald Whites. You can check out the announcement here:

    It’s a great win for Marvel Studios and their first venture into Disney+ long-form storytelling. In September, the series won the studio’s first Emmys, which was impressive for their first venture into TV-style programming. Loki also included a song that was quite popular but it hasn’t been nominated. The Mandalorian, however, was nominated for its soundtrack in this year’s Grammys. So, WandaVision won’t be the only Disney+ series represented at the award.

    Source: Twitter

  • ‘Hawkeye’ Episodes 1 and 2 Primer

    ‘Hawkeye’ Episodes 1 and 2 Primer

    Fans should be excited to see these first two episodes of Hawkeye because we haven’t seen Clint since Avengers: Endgame. The show is placed two years after the end of Endgame. Infinity War and Endgame were very hard on Clint. First, he lost his family due to the Snap. Then, he lost his mind and started killing criminals while taking on the identity of Ronin. Finally, in Endgame he lost his best friend. It would be nice for him to have a relaxing holiday with his family, but we all know that’s not going to happen.

    The series will introduce Kate Bishop, a member of the Young Avengers in the comics and Clint’s partner in the Matt Fraction and David Aja Hawkeye run. Kate, played by Hailee Steinfeld, has the potential to be a big part of the future of the MCU. The show will also introduce The Tracksuit Mafia, who you may know as the “Bros” in the comics (they just go around saying “Bro” all of the time, Bro). It is also introducing Echo to MCU, played by Alaqua Cox. Echo is a great character and, in the comics, is the adopted daughter of a character who is rumored to show up, but we’ll save that for later.

    Arlyn’s Assumptions

    Black Widow Post-Credits Scene Explained: 5 Hints About the Future of the  MCU

    If you remember, Yelena Belova from Black Widow is also going to enter into the mix. She was told that Hawkeye killed Natasha and she is coming after him. Even though she was given some bad info and that she and Clint will get off to a rough start, I think they’ll eventually become friends once Clint explains to her what Nat really did. If you did not know Jacque Duquesne, Clint’s mentor in the comics, is also in the show. Maybe he will still have some loose ends with Clint that could explain those fancy sword skills Clint showed off in Endgame. And rumor has it that Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, is lurking in the shadows as the big boss behind the organized crime in New York, like the Tracksuits. As I hinted above, Fisk has a big role in Echo’s life and obviously would hint at other characters showing up soon as well. There’s really a lot going on here and a lot to sort out. Let’s get started!

  • ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Wraps Production

    ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Wraps Production

    It looks like the upcoming third entry of the Ant-Man and the Wasp films with the subtitle Quantumania has wrapped production. Director Peyton Reed took to Twitter to announce that they’ve finished principal photography on the film alongside some beautiful artwork by Mark James Hiblin. It naturally doesn’t give anything away of what we can expect from the upcoming threequel and they’ll likely enter reshoots in the coming months, but it’ll be interesting to see if we get some casting news or teases about what the sequel might have in store for us.

    The only confirmation we have for the upcoming film is that Jonathan Majors will appear as Kang the Conqueror, which will build upon his appearance in the Disney+ Loki series. Of course, there’s also the confusing choice to recast Cassie Lang with Kathryn Newton taking over the role of Emma Fuhrmann. Just recently, we also learned that Bill Murphy will appear in the sequel as confirmed in an interview with German journalist Patrick Heidmann. It’ll be interesting to see what the film has in store for us with this incredible cast, as we explore the Quantum Realm once again.

    Source: Twitter