Scheduled to release during Monday Night Football here in the States is the new trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The movie is releasing December 15th and is expected to be the cinema event of the year.
The director Rian Johnson upped the drama by stating that people who want to go into this movie “clean” should use restraint and not watch the trailer. He later changed the tone to dispel rumours the trailer was spoiler-heavy by stating that he meant “100% clean.”
Despite the rhetoric, assuredly millions will watch the trailer tonight either during the game or online. Will you have the discipline to wait for the movie?
Don’t worry about it – when the trailer is live, we’ll embed it here, and we can all discuss it together.
UPDATE
Here’s the trailer. Feast your eyes on it, then discuss it in the comments below. (If you like.)
Hot news coming out of New York Comic Con! Batman: The Animated Series is coming to Blu-Ray in 2018! Fans around the world rejoice, one of the best and highest regarded superhero cartoons ever will be available in beautiful HD quality. The word remaster was thrown around, so hopefully, this will be a complete HD collection. No word yet on 4K. At this time a concrete release date other than 2018 hasn’t been given. Also unspecified is whether it will be the original 85 episode run, or if it will include the 25 The New Adventures of Batman and Robin as well. This will be the first time the series has been released like this since the DVD collections in 2004-2005.
Any fan of RickandMorty knows the true drive behind everything Rick Sanchez does is to get McDonald’s to bring back that sweet Szechuan sauce. Originally used as a promotion for the Disney movie Mulan, the sauce disappeared soon after. Famously now, on an episode of the brilliant Rick and Morty, Rick hilariously ranted that the sole motivation for everything he does is to bring that sauce back. Even an insect Nathan Fillion agreed to its epicness. In response to this going viral, McDonald’s brought the sauce back. Before you get too excited, this is quickly becoming an unmitigated disaster. Some restaurants have already run out and some got no sauce delivered at all. People are getting really angry with the fast-food chain. Apparently, Rick was onto something. Hopefully, this doesn’t become a purge planet situation! Maybe Rick can portal gun us in some sauce from a dimension that never stopped supplying it.
Sad to be writing this. The world of comedy got a little darker today with the news of comedian Ralphie May’s passing. He suffered a heart attack after a battle with pneumonia. He was still performing despite being ill, and even performed last night in Vegas at Harrah’s.
Ralphie May leaves behind two children who he had with ex-wife comedian Lahna Turner.
Already the comic world and fans are pouring comments into social media recalling stories and celebrating him for his kindness and generosity. As a fan of his comedy, I can say he will be greatly remembered and greatly missed. He was 45.
The announcement sure to split fans and start fires on social media was made public today. New York City Comic-Con, along with Marvel and Netflix, have agreed to pull The Punisher from the show, thus depriving the fanbase of a highly-anticipated panel and a possible release-date announcement.
The Las Vegas shooting earlier this week is being given as the reason for the abrupt cancellation. The NYCC and Marvel have said the slot will be filled with something else. Though, seeing as how as how most comic book properties these days have violence in them, that message seems a little cloudy. As more details come out we will keep you informed.
There was also a Punisher related simulcast scheduled for Paris on the same day, that has also been cancelled. Whether or not this affects the release date of the show on Netflix remains to be seen. In similar fashion, the Ryan Phillipe-led show Shooter was affected in the same way last year, in the wake of other publicized shootings.
Love him or hate him, Negan’s coming back in a big, bad way. After a violent season finale, The Walking Dead returns this month with Rick and his increased allies poised to square off with the full brunt of Negan’s army. We saw the communities all pull together at the climax of last year’s explosive closing. How have the losses affected the group? Has it been offset by a rallying victory against Negan and the traitors known only as “the garbage people”? Will we get to see more of Shiva? Hopefully, chowing down on more of Negan’s men. As a follower of the long-running comic series I know we’ve entered into the All Out War storyline. This season will definitely be far more violent than the past ones, and the stakes will be much higher.
Episode 1 has been titled “Mercy” and is directed by longtime special effects guru and showrunner Greg Nicotero. It’ll be interesting to see if we jump right in at the season opener, or if we get some breathing room from the last confrontation. Either way, this year promises to be the most dangerous for the beloved group. As a reader, I’m interested to see what changes to the All Out War storyline Mr Gimple and company have thrown in.
The season opener is also the 100th episode! Andrew Lincoln teased in a thank you video to the fans, “Stay tuned, because 100’s gonna be big.”
The Walking Dead returns October 22 in the states, and October 23 in the UK.
Fresh off the heels of The Defenders this summer, Netflix and Marvel Studios take aim at a different character. Debuting as a much welcomed and visceral new character in the street-level universe Marvel and Netflix have masterfully built, came Frank Castle, aka “The Punisher”. For those new to the Marvel universe by way of TV and movies, this take on the character was very well done from his introduction down to his origin. While the Netflix shows have been gritty, dark, and violent, Frank Castle upped the stakes significantly. Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead, Fury, Baby Driver) channels the very essence of Castle better than previous efforts have been able to accomplish. The interactions between Castle and Daredevil were some of the best of the entire Daredevil series. The conversation in the graveyard, particularly, was the best telling of Punisher’s origin this long-time comic book reader had ever heard. In the second Daredevil season, Punisher has his own separate arc, setting up this solo season perfectly. I highly recommend watching Daredevil season 2 to be caught up on the events that set this upcoming series into motion.
From what we’ve seen in trailers and sneak previews there will be a deeper look at what Castle lost to inspire his violent and merciless crusade. In a time when good and evil are often confused, Frank’s pure sense of vengeance and justice is refreshing. The character has always done a good job of vicariously showing us what justice looks like without laws protecting criminals and monsters. It’ll be interesting to see who he goes after in this season. Will it be a more in-depth revenge tale, criminals in general, or both? I’m sure we’ll see Karen Page show back up after their tumultuous relationship formed in Daredevil, and for those who know the character, I almost guarantee we’ll see Micro in person. No matter where they go, I’ll be waiting to see them top the prison hallway scene. If you’ve seen Daredevil you know exactly what I’m talking about. Jon Bernthal is an amazing talent and is sure to bring us the best live action Punisher to date.
There is a new theory some have speculated on, regarding the release date of the series. There is a motion poster from the official Punisher Twitter account that invites fans to “Read between the lines.”
Some people have picked up on the bottom of the screen where the date is scratched out but reveals some numbers and then 2017. The theory is that the number 701 (you can take a closer look here) could be a mirror-flip of 107, or 10/7. This would seem unlikely, but the date happens to coincide with Marvel TV’s Punisher panel at New York Comic-Con, where speculation suggests the first episode might be screened. Another keen-eyed fan indicated that he saw the numbers 10 and 20 in the poster, which might suggest an October 20th release date. That would be a Friday, when Netflix are known to drop their originals. Who knows? Maybe Punishment is coming quicker than we thought.
