The Batman : an underrated series

Take out the sidekicks & raccoons, and it would have been as good as The Animated Series from the 90s.  This series had some serious versions of the Rogue's Gallery that are even superior to those in TAS (The Animated Series).  The stories were mostly well done with the exception of the silliness to get by "standards & practices" nonsense.  But the show always seemed rushed, each change or addition of character seemed as if it was being forced through, which is too bad, it was a strong show.  Redone and extended, several would make excellent feature length versions.  The entire series is now available on Blue-Ray. 

They skipped straight into the 3rd year of Bruce's time as Batman and instantly started introducing the Rogues Gallery for each episode, another way it felt rushed and forced, even though the stories were very strong.   Probably wouldn't have been better if they spread it out a bit.

One of the major changes that was made was in the shows theme song and, even though it was a great tribute to the 1966 classic  Adam West show, it was a mistake to replace the first theme that was written by, U2's, The Edge and gave the show a good grit to it.

The characters in the show were strong and some were even better than those of TAS, with some tweaking, it could have been a huge success, with a bit of an alternate worlds feel to it, but they tried to remake TAS and Unlimited instead of something that could have really stood on it's own.

Alfred was a good character on the show but I wish they would have settled more on how to portray him, sometimes he was very strong and other times, not so much, I feel that a better backstory could have made him a better part of the stories, rather than just being there to fix Bruce up and keep the house.

In a one-off movie, that was never once referenced in the series, this Batman took on Dracula, at the time, it was a bit corny and unbelievable for the character at such an early time, but after the series, it was easier to take seriously from the Batman standpoint.  The lead up should have been part of the show, even if only as flashbacks from certain characters, it would have had more believability at the time and given more time for story in the film itself.  The screenplay for the film was excellent in most of its plots except for a Batman with such limited experience with powered foes, especially the Prince of Darkness himself.  They may have done it to try and give this Batman more credibility but that backfired and really left a whole with no follow up on the relationship with Vikki Vale at all.  Tying it into the series would have been far better.

First for the show itself, is that they should have never brought in Batgirl and Robin, although they had some good humor moments, it made the show to juvenile and drug it down more then it picked it up.  Both of them were just too young and acted that way, and not in the classic sense but more like today's brats and it wasn't a good role model style for either of them.  Don't get me wrong, they had a few good episodes but didn't really need to be part of the show, other than some exec's attempt to program to a younger audience and it brought the show down, especially in its potential to cut new ground for an animated Batman. 

The character of Ethan Bennett and the first Clayface could have been a great ally to the Bat.  He and Bruce had been friends since they were kids, the bond was already there but because he wasn't an established character, they didn't seem to want to take risks with a new twist on the character.  His time as a cop could have been extended by one more season before the became Clayface.   Although I'd have had him disappear for a couple of seasons then turn up later as part of the League.  Could have even had a one season spinoff of him in other places doing the hero thing.

After Ethan was turned into Clayface, his partner, Ellen Yen (who at one time was all gung-ho to get the Batman arrested) became a great ally and she should have stayed, maybe made Commissioner at some point, being the Bats inside person in the Gotham Police Department, that would have been a great swerve away from the traditional version of the Batman world.  Unfortunately after Batgirl showed up, Lt Yet went MIA from the rest of the show, which was a major mistake after giving her a great buildup to becoming the Bat's ally in the department.

One character that made absolutely no sense at all from his first appearance was, Chief Angel Rojas, the officer in charge of the precinct that Bennett and Yen reported to.  At best he was bad comic relief as each time he was on the screen you wondered how bad the department was that this guy even made the force, let alone became a bureau chief.  The man had absolutely no brains or detective skills at all, none, he is the perfect example of a wasted character space.  Obviously meant to be a comedy speed bump, he was really just a walking plot hole that went absolutely nowhere.

Another great ally they could have/should have turned quicker was, Cat Woman, which was a very strong and playful version of the character, it stuck a lot to the core of the character and the look was awesome.   She was strong and confident, not as back and fourth as the one from TAS, this one had her place and she was good in it, she would have made a great ally on a long term basis and would have pulled off the romance part a lot better then others before.

Another good looking character for the series was Manbat, but unlike others, the backstory on this one wasn't as good as in TAS, this was just another mad scientist but the Manbat character looked awesome and was a bit sympathetic in that form away from his human form.  When Mothman changed into the giant moth creature, they should have turned Manbat after showing that his transformation was now permanent, as a new ally to Batman.

As far as villains go, they went with Mr. Freeze as the long term foe for this Batman and it really worked well, the episode "Artifacts" is arguably one of the best animated episodes of Batman in any series.  This Freeze had a weak backstory, a two part episode developing the criminal before Freeze would have been better, but as Freeze he was one of the strongest villains ever, he didn't have any sympathy to his character at all, just a criminal out for himself alone, nothing else, his heart was cold as ice already, the freeze made him into a completely heartless adversary.   One of the biggest mistakes they made with this one was making him a hired thug for Luthor in the Superman episode, waste of the character and his build.

In Batman's more famous foe, The Joker here was much more a constant thorn rather than an intellectual opponent, a maniacal and very physical one, this Joker could fight.  Very little was given in the backstory of this one, but he had fallen into a vat of something, but not by Batman like in so many others.   He first shows up after breaking himself into Arkham Asylum.  The voice fit the look perfectly, it was outrageous and loud, as were his actions.  They could have easily redone the Joker Fish story with this version and it might have come off better than the one in TAS, and that's one of the best episodes of that show, which is saying something.  This Joker was more accurate in his maniacal ways and unpredictability but not as keen a mind as the original character, but what he lacked there, he made up for in physical combat against Batman.  This Joker also was almost always barefoot, which gave him a wilder more untamed manner, it fit well.  There were also a lot of Joker episodes that felt very forced into the series, as if they were trying to force him as the main villain, it really got awkward. 

The Penguin in this series was also very physical and well trained, they established early that he's spent a great deal of time in "the Orient" (one of the last uses of that term before it stopped being used for brainless PC reasons).  With him he had two deadly Geisha Girls, with big razor sharp knives and mad fighting skills.  This Penguin also had a mad obsession with his family name and reputation but always took himself down when he'd tried to use modern lingo like from some rap video.  A bit more stuffiness, rather than that modern foolishness, would have done the character more good.  His stories of controlling birds was excellent and using them in his crimes and protection was a step up from TAS version, but in TAS version he was a "legit" businessman with a club, rather than abandoned buildings or run down mansions.

With one guy that took a major step up from TAS was, Killer Croc, instead of a dumb freak, we got a former special ops soldier who had volunteered for some "special projects" and turned his new ability to being a crime boss, and it came off really well with an amazing new look.  This should have been this Batman's version of Bane, the more than physical opponent but with the mind of a very cunning and intelligent criminal and specially trained skills.  In one episode, that probably should have been two, he floods the city of Gotham so he can rule "his swamp".  If anyone could have, or should have broken this version of the Bat, it's this version of Croc.

Speaking of Bane, by the time this show came out, Bane wasn't as big of a deal as he once was.  He had been showcased in TAS and the films associated with that universe and shown very well, but now, "cut the feeding tube" was a pretty standard bit, although they showed him well in his debut, it was kind of pointless by this time and I believe it would have been better if we'd never even seen him in this incarnation of Batman.  By now, Bane just was just a "roid freak" and not that scary anymore, not to mention that he dropped down to just being mob-muscle almost instantly after his first episodes.

Another villain that should have been showcased far more here was, The Riddler, this one was a good intellectual challenge for the Bat and should have been given a lot more respect, even over Joker and Penguin.  More time with this one and less Joker episodes would have been a major step up.  This Riddler put riddles in his riddles and did so from a very dark but intellectual place of the mind, he came off very well.  He had good skill with his staff and double question mark knives, but should have been even better, maybe even once scarring the Bat.  The twist with this one, is that he never should have been caught, always having some kind of backup plan to get away, sometimes staying away for longer times, but never being caught.  He also had a small sympathy factor as it was his love that betrayed him and pushed him into becoming a criminal.

The biggest standout of this series set of villains was, Dr. Hugo Strange, who started as a member of the Arkham staff and would be moved into the head of Arkham post, but it should have been drawn out longer, much longer, even past the Justice League intro.  With Batman only thinking he was behind some crimes, us fans seeing his plans and work behind the scenes, but never quite able to prove it until the aid of Martian Manhunter.  Along with Croc, this was the other character that was so much better than TAS version, the way the character deserved, he was truly eerie. 

There were other strong villains like Ragdoll and Cluemaster, but they never really did a lot with them past their initial appearances on the show.  

Firefly was far better here than on TAS, even though he had a better backstory there with being obsessed with a singing star, but was later turned into, Phosphorus and it basically ruined him for future use, unless there had been more stories before his transformation.  The smarter course of action was to work the original backstory into this version, have him give up on the singer and then have Dr Blasedale become a "groupie" of his, as a nuclear physicist, she would have had a fascination with him and his work.

One character that could have been a sympathetic villain could have been, Gearhead, the cyborg criminal racer.  We never got a lot of backstory on him but it could have been a good villain, given this Batman's use of computer tech on top of the gadgets.  A famous Indy race car driver who, after a near fatal crash discovered he had cancer, in an attempt to save his life, he began mechanically altering his body, eventually replacing his blood with "turbo" and adrenaline like chemical that upped his need for speed and thrills.  You have the body dysmorphia and addiction for the motives behind his imbalance. 

Another villain with hero potential was, John Marlowe, the Everywhere Man, he developed a technology to copy himself in an unlimited number, whose copies took him prisoner and started an art stealing ring until the Batman exposed the fake.  It's possible that he could have altered the device to create temporary copies that had better personality traits and occasionally come in to help when needed in extreme crisis.

In what can best be described as a Halloween episode, we got to see Solomon Grundy (or so we thought), as he rose after 150 years to wreak havoc on Gotham's elite, and if it had stayed that way it would have been a much better episode, with him simply being driven back to the swamp by the stroke of a certain hour.  However it turned out to be the Bennett version of Clayface and that revelation made the great episode into a waste.  It would have been far better to have brought the monster back as a threat to the city and needing help to stop him.

The one truly sympathetic soul in this worlds Rogue's Gallery has to be Arnold Wesker, The Ventriloquist, who was just an innocent entertainer who developed a split personality into, Scarface, a criminal underworld boss.  Wesker was truly the man drug along down the path to crime from his mental illness.  Like in TAS they did a rehabilitation episode, and like in TAS the dummy was used to drag poor Arnold back down to crime, but this time by his own doctor, Hugo Strange instead of his bosses former goons.  It would have been nice to see one of Batman's foe's "cured" and on to a good life, it would have given the Bat some hope for all the work he was doing.

Lastly is the Justice League that was formed in this universe, which had been formed under Martian Manhunter with Flash, Hawkman, Green Arrow and Hal Jordan's version of Green Lantern.  Finally Superman would be introduced and join the League after an adventure with Batman.  This was a nice combo and their tribute to the Hall of Justice on their satellite/meteor was very cool but didn't have to go this traditional route and could have been better.  Like having Bruce's friend Ethan as a good version of Clayface would be a nice twist, brought in by Manhunter to Batman's surprise.

Batman would have individual adventures with each member of the League and all were very well written.  Instead of Superman, Plastic Man, Doctor Midnight, Blue Devil and Dr. Fate could have given some more story options.

Another option for this universe of Batman could have been to have The All Star Squad instead of, The Justice League.  Characters like Dollman, The Ray, Star Man, Phantom Lady, Black Condor and maybe even Uncle Sam himself.

The All Star Squadron has never been part of an animated series and this would have been a great opportunity to introduce them to the masses.

Most of this group of the Rogue's Gallery seemed far more apt for the SuperMax prison rather than Arkham, not many of them had sympathetic stories behind them, and were just common crooks with flashy names and gadgets, not any real mental issues.

Disney's Bronze Age - The STAR Age

 After the passing of Walt Disney and one horrible film that took over 5 years to make and get released, we almost had the complete end of Disney Animation.   Many refer to the Bronze Age of Disney animation as, The Dark Age, but I like to think of it as 🌟THE STAR AGE🌟

This era of Disney filmmaking lasted from 1970 to 1988 and like other films of this era had Disney trying new avenues and experiments in movie trends.   It was the final years of, The Nine Old Men, and a changing of the guard in Disney Animation that almost cost the company it's base.

Here we'll go from "worst" to Best, and even though I don't think there really has ever been a "bad" Disney animated feature, this era did hold the worst of them all in one film...

The Black Cauldron, released in 1985, it's production began in 1980 and was one disaster after another, with rewrites, refocus, and went through a slew of producers and directors.  It was released and remains somewhat unfinished with gaps in dialogue and story.  Other than The Horned King and the annoying imp Gurgi, the characters lacked any real strength or depth at all.  The legendary, John Hurt (Alien) was the only major actor of 🌟Star Age🌟 power, but he brought it big as the villain, The Horned King.  It was an attempt to reach a more mature fantasy crowd that would become more defined in 1981's release of, Heavy Metal, in a mix of animated films to catch up to the sword & sorcery genre.  Part of the films "rise of the dead warriors" scene had to be cut to get it a more family friendly rating, something Disney had never had to worry about before.  It was an experimental age for Disney as they also tried getting into the motion picture version of The Space Race with their release of, The Black Hole in 1979 (I'll get into the detail of that film in another post).  This one movie and it's delays almost caused the complete closure of Disney Animation.

Next up is a Disney classic that has some of the most hilarious scenes in the companies animated history and one music scene that is an all time favorite, The Aristocats.  It had some fabulous music and memorable moments, but overall it just didn't really stack up to the classic Disney animation standards, and this was the final film that Walt Disney himself was a part of, but died during production, this might have been why the film, at times, feels a bit lost and unsure where to go.  With the loss of Walt, it seems that many of the others involved simply went with some general Disney ideas and didn't really have anyone to push their limits and creativity.  Also, voice actor Phil Harris (Baloo the bear) lent his voice to the male lead, Thomas and it seems he brought a lot of Baloo with him, more than the role needed.  Eva Gabor voiced Dutchess but it still didn't seem to lend the star power the film really needed, but was part of this 🌟Star Age🌟.  The film also featured Sterling Holloway (Winnie the Pooh), Scatman Crothers, Thurl Ravenscroft (Tony the Tiger),  and Nancy Culp (Mrs Hathaway, The Beverly Hillbillies).

Ranking this next one so low breaks my heart a bit, but it wasn't originally a feature film, it's a piece work of three Winnie the Pooh shorts with animated scenes made to put them together and titled, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.  If this had been a full feature with more time around it, it would be higher.  The film is a truly fun watch but is just one fun time after another. The film is memorable and really plays well when paired on a movie night with the live-action film, Christopher Robin.  But the film lacked any kind of villain and any story than just being a funny buddy-picture with he and his friends.  To this day it still holds one of the quickest re-release dates only 3 years after the initial release, on that re-release the extra title of "and Tigger too" was officially connected to the film.  While it's cast didn't carry the star power of others on this list, even though having Sebastian Cabot as the Narrator is still impressive, Pooh has taken his place as Disney's 2nd biggest leading man.

Robin Hood (1973), it's hard to think of that name without thinking of this Disney venture into the classic adventures.  It still matches up with almost any of its live-action counterparts, it's the same strong adventure story, but with animals...  One of the things that does hold the film back is another bear performance by Phil Harris and it's even harder to ignore this time, since it's actually a brown Baloo.  But the support characters really make the difference with this one, lots of very strong secondary characters that hold up the film throughout.  Here we do have another piece of the 🌟Star Age🌟 with Peter Ustinov playing a double-role of Prince John and King Richard.  Along with musical maestro Roger Miller as Alan A Dale, the musical minstrel and narrator of the tale.

Another big leap for Disney was, The Fox & The Hound (1981), a not so normal buddy-picture that brings in some darker elements of friendship gone bad and the violence of hunting.  The bad guy turns out to be not such a bad guy but a very large and angry bear (this time NOT played by Phil Harris) gave smaller theater goers some scary moments.  There was another 🌟Star Age🌟 with one of the most incredible and yet overlooked performances with Pearl Bailey playing the wise old owl, Big Mama, and if you saw it, you never forget her amazing performance.  But she wasn't the only one, a younger Kurt Russell and a very young Cory Feldman both lent their voices to, Copper the hound dog.  Legendary Mickey Rooney also was in the cast, as he portrayed, Tod the fox, and Sandy Duncan as Vixey the bird.  Jack Albertson (Uncle Joe, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) played the old hunter, Amos Slade.  And a rare Disney "appearance" by Looney Tunes legend, Mel Blanc.  The picture disc of the soundtrack was a big seller for the studio with all these voices attached.  The man who would finally bring Batman back to the big screen, Director, producer and writer, Tim Burton also worked on this film for Disney in production.

Modern times and popular music elevated our #3 on the list, Oliver and Company (1988) was a modern twist on, Oliver Twist for a homeless kitten who took up with a pack of street wise mutts in the Big Apple and all it's commotion.  This films 🌟Star Age🌟 cast is one of the biggest ever, a young Joey Lawrence voices Oliver and legendary New York piano-man Billy Joel was in for, the Artful Dodger.  Bette Midler, Cheech Marin, Roscoe Lee Brown, Dom DeLuise, Robert Loggia, Sheryl Lee Ralph were also part of this star studded gathering of voices.  Also probably the second more famous voice actor of all time, Frank Welker (Megatron, Freddie from Scooby Doo) had a small part as the hotdog vendor, along with other animals sound effects.  The soundtrack was a big hit and brought Disney animation into the modern age of America and pop culture.  Other pop stars like Huey Lewis and Ruth Pointer (the Pointer Sisters) were part of the soundtrack.

In at the "silver medal" position in this countdown is the movie that brought Disney Animation back from the brink of doom, The Great Mouse Detective (1986) and back to the more classic style of story telling that the company was famous for.  Based on the children's book, Basil of Bakerstreet (a kids ode to Sherlock Holmes), a mouse that lives in the house of the famous detective solves cases of his own.  The 🌟Star Age🌟 power here came from a legend who had wanted to lend his voice to Disney for a couple of decades, the master of the macabre, Vincent Price, who took the role of the dark and sinister villain, Professor Ratigan, one of the darker and more vicious villains Disney had tried so far.  While it didn't have the numbers that Oliver and Company had, it also gave a respectful bit to Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce who had portrayed Holmes and Watson on the radio for decades and in many major motion pictures, giving them a cameo towards the end of the film.  The writers and producers of the era understood that radio dramas had helped advance the cause of voice actors far more than films and made Disney's animated success possible.  They also tapped into the pop music scene with a rousing song by, Melissa Manchester (You Should Hear).

Finally, the winner of this age of Disney, The Rescuers (1977).  With this list it seems a bit of an easy call but this film had it's future animation stars attached along with the 🌟Star Age🌟 cast.  It's not hard to look back and see that Don Bluth had a heavy part of this classics animation and feel.  Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor would lead a mighty cast through a great adventure that had a bit more grit to it than most Disney films before it.  The cast also featured Bernard Fox, Geraldine Page, George Lindsay, John Fiedler and Joe Flynn.  In another respectful nod to the history of voice acting, Jim Jordan came out of retirement to portray Orville, who was famous for his role as Fibber McGhee in the golden age of radio, he passed away before the release of the film, which ended up being dedicated to him.  This film set a tone for much stronger storytelling in Disney's future and became a major fan favorite, spawning a sequel to theaters, The Rescuers Down Under.  When I was a kid, my sister and I named our pet dobermans, Bernard & Bianca after the two lead characters.  The dark visuals of the city and swamp would later come back to us with Don Bluth's work on his own films, Secret of Nhim, and, An American Tale.

With the death of Walt Disney and the long distance of 18 years for only 8 films, it's not surprising how some see this as Disney Animations "dark period" as well as it was part of Disney's experimental time with sword & sorcery, super hero's and science fiction.  We can only be glad for the classics that brought the studio back from the brink and gave us some wonderful memories. 

Even those who try to claim this as the "weaker" age of Disney has to acknowledge the 🌟Star🌟 power that was part of these classics.

SHIELD and the Winter Soldier

The title of this is correct and a correction for part of what Marvel Studios did wrong, this was much bigger than just a Captain America film, it took in so much more of Fury, SHIELD and beyond.

This is where they should have already begun the television series, Agents of SHIELD, so that it could tie directly into this film and the rest of the MCU.

The film begins with Steve Rogers, literally running circles around Sam Wilson (The Falcon) at the Capitol Plaza in DC.  Each time Steve passes Sam he says, "on your left", which remains an ongoing line between the two to the end of Endgame.  It begins a bond that doesn't begin to touch the one they had in the comics, and should have already happened and been expanded, but I digress...

Widow picks up Cap for a mission, rescuing hostages onboard a ship that isn't where it should be, with Batroc the Leaper as the primary villain in the ships capture, a formidable matchup with Cap and they have a great fight scene.  Meanwhile Widow has her own mission, obtaining data the ship was carrying and we start to get hints that all isn't well in SHIELD.  

If you've followed the MCU and Agents of SHIELD, you know where this goes, Cap, Widow, Fury & Falcon take down most of Hydra and SHIELD as well, but Coulson and others carry on SHIELD's fight in the series.

One of the most interesting parts of the film is when Doctor Zola (Toby Jones) reappears as a living computer, who tells Cap & Widow how Hydra survived and grew inside SHIELD.  With the way computers can transfer data, we have to wonder if Zola is really gone, or will he pop up on another computer screen someday?

Of course the great spin/twist in this one is that Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) is still alive and going by The Winter Soldier for the last 30-sum years as an assassin for hire, only the most important of targets.  He does an excellent job setting up and showing us who the character has become, the reprogramming scene is pretty intense, even one of the worst of the Hydra guys seems to almost feel sorry for him.

Nick Fury is killed, sorta, then comes back, and it must have been right after this that he went off world and was replaced by a skrull, went out for some intergalactic R&R I suppose, he'd earned it.

Like a lot of films that hit this order of an ongoing story, one has to ask, where was Iron Man and the others?  When all hell breaks loose in the nations capital, why don't other heroes come running?

Overall it's a pretty good film and finally brings Falcon into the MCU, but it was still to use this as a Captain America film.  Chris Evans needs to just accept his fate, he IS Captain America and should be willing to come back for whatever the MCU needs.

There is a lot more to this story, parts of it mirror real life, with a twist, but the writing is pretty obvious about it, I'll talk about it somewhere else, but not this page.

.... on your left! 😉

 

Thor, the dark world and the lousy story

One of the films regarded as the worst of the MCU and rightly so, it's pretty damn bad, for everyone, but Loki, although we do get a bit more of Thor's friends in Asgard like Sif and the Warriors Three.

The writers could have found a better way to address Thor's love and the transfer of the reality "stone".

Kenneth Branagh should have been left in charge of the world of Thor, he just understands the classics.

This film just feels uncomfortable from moment one to the end.  The over use of humor is really obvious and just makes it worse.  There is no real focus to the film at all, it's just handling a few points to move them on for the rest of the MCU.

Then there is the subtitling for the elves speech is just annoying for this kind of film, it's not a historical epic, it's a super hero film.  I'm guessing that Branagh left because he wanted to bring the script back to something more sane.

With a weak villain and a very weak script, the forced humor only adds to how bad it all is, and Marvel would foolishly up the "humor" in Thor's other adventures, taking away from the core of the character.

One of the better parts of the film, is the connection between Thor's mother Frigga, and Jane Foster, we should have gotten more of them together, but she gives her life to protect Foster.  Killing off Frigga was a huge mistake for all of it, especially for such and insanely weak story.  The short interactions between Russo and Hopkins were very good.  "It's only because I worry over you, that you have survived this long." great stuff.

Thor enlists the aid of his half-brother Loki to help him against the dark elves and Loki sacrifices himself in the battle (or so we think), and in the end Thor tells his father of Loki's sacrifice, only for us to find out that Loki is alive and has replaced Odin.  If this story had been told from the perspective of Loki, it would have been far better.

I consider, Howard The Duck, to be of greater value to the overall Marvel Universe than I do this sad film, Iron Man 3 might have been bad, but it's still worlds above this one.  Sad that I had to review two of the worst in a row, but that's how Marvel set the timeline. 

Next up : SHIELD and the Winter Soldier ... yes, you read that correctly... 

 

Afterlife showing respect for the dead

Ghostbusters II is a really great film to watch on New Years Eve, pairs up great with the disaster classic, The Poseidon Adventure, although I'd watch GB second to ensure you go to bed after a more happy ending.

One of the things that was so great about, Ghostbusters Afterlife is how it was respectful to the 2nd Ghostbusters film, it didn't mention it at all, in fact, if you didn't know any better, Afterlife would have you think that II didn't even happen, but also, they didn't say it didn't happen.  Too many people condemn Ghostbusters II, as sequels go, it could have been a lot worse, at least the Titanic finally arrived (awesome scene)!

The entire focus of Afterlife was on their film and the effects of the original movie alone.  There was absolutely no reference to the second film at all, none.  They also left it open that it could have happened, there was just nothing about it that held over for the new generation.

It ticked me off that when they released, Superman Returns, they made a HUGE deal out of denying the 3rd and 4th Superman films, it was made an issue, publicly and it was one of the dumber ideas in film history.  But here, they passed over a sequel with class and dignity, but left it open to being part of the GB world.  Maybe Oscar was running Ray's store while he went off to Oklahoma to help the kids?

In the next film, hopefully they do one, we could meet a character named Oscar, maybe the manager of a coffee house haunted by Slimer, or just a quick glimpse of that painting in a post credit scene, where Janine says something like, "oh good grief, take that awful thing down" from the walls of the firehouse.

The post credit scenes of Afterlife certainly did act as if they were going to make another film and move the crew back to NYC with Winston as the financial backer, which I thought was a great spin for his character.  No matter what, Afterlife will go down as one of the best sequels of all time, and sets up a TON of possibilities for the future of the franchise.

 

Spider Man and his Amazing Friends

When we last left Spider Man, he was swinging off to reboot his life, with a new home made costume and return to a more classic, Friendly Neighborhood Spider Man.

This opens up the opportunity for something fans have wanted for quite a while, but it's only now, with the merger of companies that it's finally possible.

The post credit scene I wanted for this Spider Man was meeting two fellow young people, Bobby Drake & Angelica Jones with her little friend Miss Lion, just into the world, but also with special abilities, and a team up seems like just what they'd all need for their next journey in life, Spider Man and his Amazing Friends.

Spidey is looking for a new beginning, about to start college and looking for some new friends, it only seems appropriate as many other parts of the MCU reset after the events of Endgame and the world has forgotten Peter Parker, it's a great new start all around for him.

This  is also a perfect way to introduce mutants into the MCU, explaining that they've been around for a long time.  No need for some dramatic and possibly ridiculous storyline to force them suddenly into this universe.  Let it just be that they have been a closely guarded secret.  This can also help explain he line Nick Fury had in the Avengers, "the world is filling up with people who just can't be matched." and part of that, could be the X-Men and other mutants.  At some point, when they meet, Professor Xavier should thank Peter for his "great sacrifice", without going into any explanation for the statement.

It would seem that several of the Spider Man villains of old won't be part of this Spideyverse, Doctor Octopus probably won't pop up, and Norman Osbourne said, "someone's living in my house and there is on OsCorp", seems doubtful that Sandman will be here again either.  That still leaves a great host of awesome villains like Hobgoblin and Kraven can come along.  We've already seen Vulture, King Pin and Shocker (who was a great villain in the comics) plus we don't necessarily know that Mysterio is dead, he could always come back.

To me, the characters Morbius and Venom are too dark for this version of the Spiderverse, they would be much better suited to the Andrew Garfield universe, even though they are trying to set them up for this universe, it just doesn't fit.

Spider Man & His Amazing Friends is a much smarter and lucrative way to go for Feige and the Disney/Sony version of the Spider Man storyline.

I know this is absolutely insane, three Spider-verses going on at once, but it could be a success storm for Marvel, Disney and Sony if they can pull it off, and I believe they can.  We've seen other film franchises ruined by taking a brighter world and forcing it into dark places, and vice-versa, so why not let them each have their own?  There are multiple publishings of Spider Man in comic form, why not in films?

THIS is the next daring step that Kevin Feige needs to take for Spider Man.

Spider Friends.... GO FOR IT!!!

 

Andrew and the arrival of Madame Web

Seeing the two former Spider Men in the new film was a truly great moment, but it also allowed us to see deeper into each of them and see their differences.

What we saw from Andrew Garfield's version, is that he's the tragic Spidey, the lonely one, the lost one.  He lost his parents, lost his Gwen and has yet to find his Mary Jane.

Garfield did a great job, as he had done in his films, but seeing him with these other two made you wonder what happened to him, in his universe after he was returned.

In this version of Spider Man I see the opportunity to introduce one of the characters from the Spider-verse that crosses over them all, something that this Spider Man could really use in his journey, a guide, Madame Web.

McGuire's version seems a bit old for this to be introduced on him now, Holland's version is looking for a whole new way in the world but Garfield's version is the one who needs Madame Web the most.

She not only could help guide him on his journey as Spider Man but also on his personal journey to find out the mystery of his parents.

Garfield's personality and look seem to be good for a more mystical Spider Man and a bit darker New York.

After a couple of very rough nights, both in which he wasn't in time to save everyone from tragedies, Parker is wondering if it's all worth it, even with what he learned from the other Spidey's, he's really not sure of himself.

As he swings into a dark alley to retrieve his clothes and head home, the dark alley turns into a very deep hole in space, as he finally lands and dark bluish/purple light comes up and there sits Madame Web. 

Web tells Peter that Spider-Man is a very crucial thread throughout the multiverse, a part that even Stephen Strange doesn't yet understand, and that's why there are so many of them, his core is special to the web of existence.   The mantra of Spider Man, "With great power comes great responsibility" is part of Peter's core being in each universe.   She explains that Peter Parker is one of the few beings in the multiverse who doesn't have a "dark side" in some other realm, that he is a beacon of Good.

As far as his love interest, this would be the perfect universe to introduce, The Black Cat, Felecia Hardy and her style and history seems to fit here.  Hardy comes from a very rich family, Peter would be a fish out of water in that aristocratic world, could make for the humorous parts of the films.  The Tobey-verse has, in my opinion, the bast Mary Jane Watson, and the Holland-verse is rebooting, open for many possibilities, but The Cat just seems to fit here,

It's this that sets up his confrontation with Morbius.  Yes, I know there are scenes that set him up for the Holland-verse but I think this is the one that the Venom and Morbius characters need to be centered in, it just seems to feel like a more perfect fit than the Tom Holland universe.  I'm very excited for the Morbius film but it just all seems far too dark for the MCU of today, but would work in the Andrew-verse perfectly.

In one of the post film scenes of, No Way Home, we see Eddie Brock (why he was brought to that universe is unknown, he had no idea who Peter Parker or Spider Man even were at all), this should set up them coming to NYC.

Like Morbius, the Venom storyline is pretty dark, and a lot more violent than the Holland films have seen so far, why mess up that formula when it works better here?

This, to me, would fix that mistake of Brock in the Holland-verse, and yes I think it was a major mistake.  Let Holland's version find Venom the way the character did in the original story, during Secret Wars.

With the introduction of Madame Web we could also see the different Spider Men come together again in some kind of convergence like we saw in the 90's animated series, allowing some characters to jump from one universe to another.