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Scarlet Witch Unleashes The Magic Of The Darkhold On The Marvel Universe

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 20:19:58 +0000

The Darkhold has a long and storied history in the Marvel Universe – both in the comics, where it was first introduced back in June 1972 in the pages of Marvel Spotlight #4, and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where it has appeared canonically in ‘WandaVision’ and as well as the tangential TV series ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ and ‘Runaways.’ Before we see the book next on-screen – likely in next year’s ‘Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness’ – this Fall, Marvel Comics will feature the dark tome in a series of one-shot special-issue stories, featuring characters from across the pages of the company’s various titles. Written by long-time comics writer Steve Orlando, the tale will start with the self-titled Darkhold Alpha #1 before moving from character to character via their own special issues. Details of the story are being kept mostly under wraps, but Marvel does tell us that both the Scarlet Witch and Doctor Doom will try (and apparently fail to some degree) to contain the Darkhold from wreaking it’s magical destruction across the Marvel Universe. The company was kind enough to share the covers to two of the upcoming special issues, Darkhold: Iron Man #1 and Darkhold: Blade #1, as well […]

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Marvel Comics Announces Their New ‘Space Age’

Tony Schaab - Senior Editor — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 18:30:33 +0000

While 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic weren’t exactly kind to the film industry, with many films seeing their release dates bumped an entire year or more in order to accommodate audiences being able to safely return to theaters, the realm of the comic book was able to keep plugging on, largely with business as usual. Marvel Comics, the inspiration for the widely successful Marvel Cinematic Universe and its groupings of movies and TV shows, has kept fresh stories coming forth featuring readers’ favorite characters; now they have announced that, in just a few short months, some of the world’s greatest superheroes will be entering a “new Space Age” of their own. Directly from Marvel: For Earth, there are the Avengers. For everywhere else, there’s the Guardians of the Galaxy. This April, writer Al Ewing teams up with artist Juan Frigeri for a new arc of his epic run on GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. The double-sized milestone 175th issue, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #13, will introduce the book’s new lineup, reveal the Guardian’s bold new mission, and welcome readers to Marvel’s new space age! They were soldiers, misfits, mercenaries, thieves and a family. They were heroes… but times have changed. The […]

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Super Saturday: ‘X-Men’ Season 1 (1992)

Jax Motes — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 11:00:42 +0000

This column has been in the works since I started writing Super Saturday. While I will get into the issues with ‘X-Men’– and there are quite a few– I will go on the record as saying that this might be the most IMPORTANT cartoon in Saturday morning history. (It’s debatable, I admit.) But I fully believe that the first ‘X-Men’ movie probably never would have been made had it not been for the massive success of the cartoon. And if the first ‘X-Men’ movie hadn’t been made, the steady deluge of superhero movies that followed wouldn’t have happened. If those movies hadn’t been made, it’s very likely that Marvel Comics would have gone out of business, as it was already facing bankruptcy before licensing these movies saved their bacon. And of course, had that happened, there wouldn’t be a Marvel Cinematic Universe. Is that overselling the ‘X-Men’ cartoon? No, I actually don’t think so. Had this show not existed, it would have set off a chain of events that would have resulted in a pop culture landscape far, far different than the one we know today. So, speaking of ‘X-Men’… let’s get to it! (If you want to read about […]

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Does Ming-Na Wen Wish ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Had Been Connected To The Marvel Cinematic Universe? “No, Uh-Uh, No”

Jax Motes — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 12:00:15 +0000

When ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ launched in 2013, it was an extension of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, fronted by Clark Gregg, who had become a fan-favorite for his humorous and charming role as Agent Phil Coulson in ‘Iron Man’, ‘Iron Man 2’, ‘Thor’, and ‘Avengers’ as well as two “One-Shot” shorts. Early episodes of ‘Agents of SHIELD’ dealt with the aftermath of the Battle of New York and featured cameo appearances from Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, Cobie Smulders’ Maria Hill, Jaimie Alexander as Lady Sif, Maximiliano Hernández as Jasper Sitwell, Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan, and of course Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, who went on to star in her own ABC series, ‘Agent Carter’, for two seasons. At that point in time, Marvel Studios fell under the control of Marvel Entertainment, headed by Isaac Perlmutter. Perlmutter attempted to exert too much control over the films, including only offering them shoestring budgets, refusing to make movies with a Black lead (‘Black Panther’) or female (‘Captain Marvel’) while forcing MS to make an ‘Inhumans’ movie to recast the moon-dwelling superbeings as the new ‘X-Men’, because the film rights to the mutants lied at 20th Century Fox. Eventually, Marvel Studios CEO […]

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Clark Gregg Says Goodbye To ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ In A Heartfelt Video

Jax Motes — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 13:00:03 +0000

“If you had told me, while I sipped coffee on ‘Iron Man’ I, that I would go this many layers into this character… it’s really bittersweet to let that journey go. I can only be grateful for it,” laments Clark Gregg as ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ is set to leave airwaves at the end of the current seventh season. Indeed, Gregg’s S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson was an early breakout fan-favorite thanks to his humorous role in ‘Iron Man’. Charming everyguy Coulson returned in ‘Iron Man 2’, and ‘Thor’, starred in two of his own ‘One-Shot’ shorts, “The Consultant” and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer.” But the ride appeared to be over when, in ‘Avengers’, Coulson died at the hands of Loki. But even his death scene was funny and endearing. You can’t keep a good side character dead, so Gregg and Culson became the foundation for an ongoing TV series, with the mystery of his being alive as one of the central mysteries. As ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ prepares to sign off, Gregg recorded a heartfelt goodbye message to the show itself and to the loyal fans. You can check it out below: Accompanying Gregg on his […]

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Super Saturday: X-Men Before ‘X-Men’ (The Eighties)

Jax Motes — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 12:00:01 +0000

In 1984, Margaret Loesch became the president of Marvel Productions, the animation studio owned by Marvel Comics, which included the remnants of DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, the studio that had produced the cartoons ‘The New Fantastic Four’ and ‘Spider-Woman’ in the ’70s. Loesch was particularly enamored of Marvel’s comic book ‘The Uncanny X-Men’ and felt strongly that the mutants would make a great cartoon series. She made it her mission to bring them to Saturday mornings, but it was an uphill battle. Marvel Productions had one hit Saturday morning cartoon on NBC, ‘Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends’, which costarred Iceman, a former X-Man in the comics, and Firestar (spelled “Fire-Star” on this show), an original creation who was also given the backstory of having also been an X-Man on the cartoon. The X-Men popped up in numerous cameos and had larger guest-starring roles in two episodes– Season 2’s “A Fire-Star is Born” and S3’s “The X-Men Adventure.” They also made a significant but silent cameo in S3’s “The Education of a Superhero.” In the latter, Spidey, Iceman, and Firestar befriended a fledgling super being, Francis Byte, who transformed into an electrical monster called Video-Man. (Video-Man had previously appeared as a stand-alone villain, […]

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‘Candyman’s Nia DaCosta Set To Direct ‘Captain Marvel 2’

Jax Motes — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 00:53:14 +0000

Tribeca Film Festival award-winner Nia DaCosta has landed the job of helming the sequel to Disney/Marvel Studios’ ‘Captain Marvel’. DaCosta’s latest film is the remake of ‘Candyman’, executive produced by Jordan Peele, the release of which has been delayed until October 16, 2020, due to COVID-19. In 2018, her debut film, ‘Little Woods’, which she financed through Kickstarter, debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and was awarded the Nora Ephron Award for “excellence in storytelling by a female writer or director.” Beyond that and ‘Candyman’, DaCosta’s only other professional directing job has been on two episodes of the British TV series ‘Top Boy’. And now she’s in the big leagues! DaCosta becomes the first Black woman to direct a Marvel Studios movie, and only the second Black woman to direct any comic book movie, following Gina Prince-Blythewood, who helmed Netflix’s ‘The Old Guard’, which was released just weeks ago. Reportedly, DaCosta met with Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige over the weekend and it seems he liked what he heard. She replaces Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who co-directed the first ‘Captain Marvel’. That picture grossed over $1 billion worldwide. The screenplay for the sequel is being penned by Megan McDonnell, a […]

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20 Years Later, Does Bryan Singer’s Reputation Ruin ‘X-Men’?

Jax Motes — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 15:00:15 +0000

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the first ‘X-Men’ movie, which kicked off a new approach to superhero films and paved the way for everything that came after including the mammoth Marvel Cinematic Universe. As former Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman, Tom Rothman: “X-Men was a truly pioneering film. You have to remember, this was before Spider-Man. It was the first major Marvel adaptation to reach mainstream audiences. The seriousness with which it treated its themes of otherness, discrimination and alienation gave commercial action filmmaking a jolt of emotion and purpose.” While ‘X-Men’ is not a perfect film, it is a very important entry in this genre. Unfortunately, the enjoyment of it and many of its sequels has been damaged, perhaps irreparably by accusations leveled against director Bryan Singer. Starting before ‘X-Men’ was even filmed, in 1997, two teenage male extras from his previous movie, ‘Apt Pupil’ filed a civil lawsuit after they stated that they were forced to strip naked for a group shower scene. (The case was settled out of court.) Singer’s penchant for young boys became well-known. It also appears that his drug use caused problems on the set, which eventually led to Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) being injured and […]

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Super Saturday: ‘Spider-Woman’ 1979 – Marvel’s Copyright-Driven Creation

Jax Motes — Sat, 01 Aug 2020 11:00:49 +0000

Continuing my look at the Marvel ‘toons of yesteryear, I’m moving from the ’60s to a decade later to examine a truly bizarre entry– ‘Spider-Woman’. This series debuted on ABC Saturday mornings in the fall of 1979. It was created by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, who had, the year before, created ‘The New Fantastic Four’ which aired on NBC. (I haven’t featured that cartoon yet, but I mentioned it in my discussion of the ’60s ‘Fantastic Four’ series.) The animation studio was best known for creating the various ‘Pink Panther’ cartoons throughout the 1960s-80s, including the animations used in the live-action movies, starring Peter Sellers. Before I talk about the show itself, though, we need to look at the creation of the character, Spider-Woman. You see, in the late 1970s, after the success of the Hanna-Barbera/ABC series ‘Super Friends’, networks and studios realized it was safe to create superhero/action cartoons again, after parents groups forced them off the air in the late ’60s, because they thought these shows were too violent. One studio, Filmation, began developing several shows including one called ‘Spider-Woman’, about a female crusader who drew her abilities from various bugs of the world. There was no other Spider-Woman in […]

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Justice Con: Ray Fisher On Why DC’s Superhero Movies Are The Best

Jax Motes — Mon, 27 Jul 2020 13:00:18 +0000

Ray Fisher didn’t spend all of his time during Justice Con trashing Joss Whedon. Fisher has been a vocal advocate for ‘Justice League’s original director Zack Snyder, who previously helmed ‘Man of Steel’ and ‘Batman V Superman’. ‘Man of Steel’ did okay, but ‘Batman V Superman’ was loudly decried for being a terrible movie that was too dark (among other flaws). But Fisher thinks this was what the ocean of superhero movies needs. “For me personally, I need something new. I need something that speaks to the way the world is today, not this idealized sort of yesteryear version of who these individuals are. The world is complicated. The heroes need to be just as complicated to help people deal with the circumstances that we’re facing every single day… If an alien with superpowers came down to Earth today do you think people would be like, ‘Yeah, come on let’s go!’? We can’t even get along with one another.” Guess he didn’t see ‘Black Panther’. Despite Fisher’s tastes, the DC movies performed rather poorly, until the tone was changed to bring them a bit closer in style to the Marvel offerings. ‘Wonder Woman’ was a smash, and ‘Aquaman’ made over […]

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SDCC: Hulu Conjures The First Trailer For ‘Helstrom’

Jax Motes — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 22:37:47 +0000

Are you ready for your first look at ‘Helstrom’? Hulu has delivered it courtesy of SDCC@Home. This is the last Marvel-based live-action series before Marvel Studios begins delivering its original Marvel shows through Disney+, which will actually connect to the ultra-popular Marvel Cinematic Universe. To make sure no one makes a mistake that this has anything to do with the films, ‘Helstrom’ isn’t branded as a Marvel project. It is simply labeled as a “Hulu Original.” Tom Austen and Sydney Lemmon star as siblings Daimon and Ana Helstrom, the children of a notorious serial killer and a mother, Victoria (played by Elizabeth Marvel) who is locked away in an asylum. Daimon and Ana spend their time investigating paranormal activities, but it seems that perhaps the darkest evil is closer to them than they realize. The cast also includes Robert Wisdom, June Carryl, and Alain Uy. Speaking to Comicbook.com, Marvel described the tone of ‘Helstrom’, saying: “I think it’s, I wouldn’t say it’s too scary or scarier than a lot of the territory explored in, you know, something like Daredevil or a lot of shows and movies that are out there can get dark, but it’s just different. It’s a different kind […]

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Disney+ Docuseries ‘Marvel 616’ Examines The Creation Of Ms. Marvel, The Rise Of Black Panther, And Forgotten Oddballs In Two Clips

Jax Motes — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 22:55:01 +0000

Disney traditionally seems to work magic on the screen, but with Disney+, the studio is drawing back the curtain to show fans just how much real work goes into their TV shows and movies. ‘Disney Insider’ lays out the making-of all things Disney, but there are also docuseries that examine more specific subjects. ‘Disney Gallery – Star Wars: The Mandalorian’ examines the creation of the streaming service’s popular flagship series. ‘Prop Culture’ takes a deep dive into specific objects from films. ‘The Imagineering Story’ focuses on the creation of theme park rides and attractions. And now, ‘Marvel 616’ is set to offer viewers a look at the creation of Marvel Comics. Disney+ has released two new clips from the series, which you can view below. In the first, from the episode “Higher, Further, Faster,” co-creators Sana Amanat and G. Willow Wilson discuss the creation of Ms. Marvel, a.k.a. Kamala Khan, a breakout character, noted for being a young Muslim American girl. Gillian Jacobs directed this episode. ‘Ms. Marvel’ is also set to star in a live-action Disney+ series which is tentatively expected in 2022. In the second clip, comedian Paul Scheer talks to Marvel creators about lifting Black Panther from […]

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What If… The First ‘X-Men’ Movie Had Starred Russell Crowe, Shaquille O’Neal, Mariah Carey, And Michael Jackson? Because It Could Have!

Jax Motes — Mon, 20 Jul 2020 14:00:48 +0000

Nowadays, it’s laughable when an actor or director says “Oh, I’d love to work with Marvel!” Yeah, no kidding. Who wouldn’t? But back in the day, it seems 20th Century Fox’s gambit (no pun intended), the original ‘X-Men’ movie was also a hot ticket and some pretty big names wanted in! Names like… Shaquille O’Neal, Mariah Carey, and even the King of Pop, Michael Jackson approached producers to score roles! In honor of the 20th anniversary of ‘X-Men’, producer Ralph Winter participated in an interview with the Observer, and recalled: “I have lots of warm memories of people that came in wanting to be in the movie. Michael Jackson was a big comic fan and wanted to play Charles Xavier. Shaquille O’Neal showed up at the offices and wanted to play Forge, who wasn’t in the movie… Every day I was surprised by the faces coming in. Like, I’d find Mariah Carey sitting in my office wanting to go talk to Bryan about being Storm or something. So that’s always shocking.” Hoo boy. Can you imagine? O’Neal seems to have a thing for techie heroes. In 1997, he starred in the box office disaster ‘Steel’, based on the armored DC superhero of […]

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Super Saturday: ‘Spider-Man’ (1967): The Web-Head Embarks On His First Animated Exploits

Jax Motes — Sat, 18 Jul 2020 11:00:33 +0000

In 1967, the Marvel Super Heroes weren’t yet household names. They had only been around for seven years, versus the DC heroes who had over two decades to their names. Even so, in 1966, the Marvel characters were introduced to a wider audience, via the limited-animation syndicated series ‘The Marvel Super Heroes’ from Grantray-Lawrence Animation, distributed by Krantz Films. 1966 was also the first year that all three networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC, aired blocks of original cartoons on Saturday morning, and among the offerings were Filmation’s ‘The New Adventures of Superman’ and Hanna-Barbera’s ‘Space Ghost and Dino-Boy’ and ‘Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles’. These superhero shows were so popular that in the second year of Saturday morning cartoons, all three networks let loose a torrent of super shows. In the fall of 1967, two Marvel books were transformed into Saturday morning cartoons– the ‘Fantastic Four’ and ‘Spider-Man’. Hanna-Barbera produced the ‘FF’, while Grantray-Lawrence and Krantz took another swing with ‘Spider-Man’. Despite these shows originating from different animators, they aired back-to-back on ABC. ‘Spider-Man’ is best remembered for the swingin’ theme song, “Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can…” While Grantray-Lawrence had to xerox actual comic book art to make […]

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Disney+’s ‘Hawkeye’ Targets Its Directors

Jax Motes — Sat, 18 Jul 2020 00:58:36 +0000

All of the Marvel Studios shows set for Disney+ are on hold due to coronavirus shutdowns, but one show has taken a significant step forward. ‘Hawkeye’ has lined up a trio of directors. One “block” of episodes will be helmed by ‘Troop Zero’s Bert and Bertie, and the other will be by ‘Saturday Night Live’ vet Rhys Thomas. Jonathan Igla serves as head writer and showrunner. Katie Mathewson and Tanner Bean are also part of the writing team. Jeremy Renner will return to play Clint Barton… possibly for the last time, as it is believed that the show will depict him passing his bow on to a new Hawkeye, Kate Bishop. No one has been cast in that role yet. At one point, Hailee Steinfeld was the top choice and Steinfeld herself seemed interested, but her commitment to her Apple TV+ series ‘Dickenson’ may prevent that. (Then again, who knows when this show will actually be able to begin production? She could have outgrown the role by that point.) It looks as though Disney+ is experimenting with methods of producing its series. ‘The Mandalorian’ S1 was directed by several different individuals. However, ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ will be […]

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