Why we never got to see Iron Man 4

by Stone Marshall | Oct 16, 2016 | Awesome Book News | 0 comments

If the Iron Man series can be remembered for one thing, it’s for single-handedly kickstarting the absolute hurricane of comic book movies that has come to define our current pop culture moment. Before Iron Man, there was no Marvel Cinematic Universe. There was no copycat DC Extended Universe. Hell, the very concept of shared universes hadn’t really even gotten off the ground, for better or worse. Suffice it to say that when Iron Man premiered eight years ago in 2008, no one could have possibly anticipated its influence—and now what had been predicted to be a box office gamble, a mildly successful B-tier blockbuster at best, has the distinction of anchoring one of the most successful series in film history.

We’ll be living with Iron Man’s influence for years to come, that much is a given. But what about the curious absence of Iron Man 4? At this point, are we ever getting one? Let’s dig through the gossip and find out whether we’ll ever see one more solo adventure with Robert Downey, Jr. as the invincible Iron Man.

RDJ is too expensive

Robert Downey, Jr.’s value to the Marvel Cinematic Universe simply can’t be overstated; for years, he’s been the charismatic center of the Avengers initiative, taking the first movie, the first face-to-face with Nick Fury, and the first trilogy. This storytelling value, however, comes with a high real-world monetary price tag. As Tony Stark, RDJ hasn’t just been one of the most valuable players in the Marvel stable, he’s become one of the most valuable actors in the entire world. While nobody outside the negotiations can be precisely sure of the dollar amount Downey’s netting these days, one thing’s for certain—it isn’t small. Even modest estimates have his earning capacity at hundreds of millions of dollars, with nearly half-a-billion dollars in earnings not outside the realm of possibility. And it’s not as though these numbers ever go down. It would be no surprise if the cost-benefit analysis of an Iron Man 4, from Marvel’s side, shows less and less of a reward. And that’s fine! The end of RDJ’s involvement would by no means spell the end for a big-screen Iron Man. Like it or not, his version—beloved as it is—is more likely the beginning of something that will last awhile, rather than a role that ends with his departure.

The comic storylines are more exciting

In the comics, it’s not surprising to see an occasional dramatic passing of the mantle, wherein one hero steps into the shoes of another. Commissioner Gordon has been Batman; Doctor Octopus has been the Superior Spider-Man; Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson, the Winter Soldier and Falcon, have both been Captain America. These departures do tend to curve back toward a status quo or reset, with the “original” version of a hero rarely being permanently sidelined. But that doesn’t invalidate the other narratives starring different heroes, and the Iron Man comics are currently going through an exciting stretch: Tony Stark is no longer Iron Man. In his place, a 15-year-old girl genius named Riri Williams has assumed the mantle—and so has Doctor Doom, in his own Infamous Iron Man title. It’s about the biggest 180-degree-turn one could imagine, and fertile ground for storytelling possibilities. You think you wouldn’t be curious to see some of these changes unfold on the big screen?

We’ve got other heroes to get to

If you’re a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you’ve likely heard about their peculiar strategy of releasing movies in “phases.” Phase 1 was the original “Avengers assemble” arc, introducing our main heroes. Phase 2, leading up to Age of Ultron, broadened the world, taking us into space and folding new heroes like Scott Lang’s Ant-Man and Janet Van Dyne’s Wasp into the mix. Now we’re at the start of Phase 3, set to introduce a slew of new heroes (and likely send a few off by the end). Phase 3 is set to culminate with the long-awaited fight with Thanos, teased for what feels like 40 or 50 years now, in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. Meanwhile, Captain America has already had his third adventure, and Thor will also see his third movie before Phase 4 begins. The plan appears to be a gradual handoff, as older heroes are phased out and newer ones are introduced. It’s hard to see how another Robert Downey Jr. Iron Man can fit into the mix—or the overall strategy of new heroes in, old heroes out.

Iron Man has taken on the Nick Fury role

When the MCU started, the movies weren’t as interconnected, easing audiences into the “shared universe” concept with hints and references rather than a truly serialized story. In those pre-Avengers days, the real connecting tissue was Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury and the organization S.H.I.E.L.D. After a few movies spent thoroughly dismantling and destroying that institution—Hail Hydra, and all that—Nick Fury is lately nowhere to be seen, and the strongest connection between all of the movies has become Tony Stark. It’s Stark, after all, who propels the events of Captain America: Civil War, in which he basically shares top billing. It’s Stark who pulls Spider-Man into the fold, and he’ll be appearing in the web-slinger’s upcoming solo outing, acting presumably as a sort of mentor to Peter Parker (and maybe a sorta something else to single lady Aunt May, if you know what we’re saying). In short, we don’t need a fourth Iron Man movie to see Iron Man anymore. He’s already popping up everywhere else.

We’re running out of villains

Villains have admittedly never been the strong point of the otherwise very entertaining MCU. They’re all fairly one-note, and their surface-level diversity fails to cover for the fact that all of their master plans boil down to using some unearthly power to blow up buildings for 20 minutes before getting their asses handed to them by the Avengers (or the Guardians of the Galaxy, or Black Panther, Ant-Man, Moondragon, Warlock, Pip the Troll, the Nova Corps, Beta Ray Bill… whatever). No one’s seeing these movies for the villains—or, as Will Smith’s Deadshot so aptly put it in this summer’s DCEU entry Suicide Squad, the swirling rings of trash in the sky that threaten all-so-frequently to destroy humanity.

It wouldn’t be prudent for a potential Iron Man 4 to come out swinging with a villain that impresses less than the previous three, and honestly, we’re sort of running out of interesting villains that are Iron Man-specific. Now, in our opinion, there are still interesting directions they can go with this, but with Marvel’s past unwillingness to feature a female villain, particularly in the Iron Man series, it seems unfortunately unlikely. The thinking may well be that more valuable Iron Man villains, like the Green Goblin, would be better off showing up elsewhere in the universe, like Spider-Man’s neck of the woods, where he’s much more commonly known.

Oh, the rest of the cast is expensive, too

Lest we put all of the blame for running up the budget on Robert Downey, Jr.’s popularity alone, we should remember that he’s not the only superstar in his cast. Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle are in these movies, too, and they likely take home more money the more they appear as well. Add in a villain played by an actor with some star power, and it’d probably be a lot cheaper to try and make a profit on a Squirrel Girl movie than an overstuffed Iron Man sequel.

Tony Stark is running out of interesting storylines

One of Iron Man’s most famous storylines seems unlikely, at this point, to ever make it to the big screen, for better or for worse. The odds of family-friendly fun-time Disney being cool with a movie where Tony Stark confronts one of his most famous foes—alcohol—seem minimal at this point. If the character were going this direction, we would have probably seen it by now; it would be somewhat jarring for Tony Stark to start hitting the bottle after this many appearances. It’s ground that was fairly well covered, in euphemistic terms, by other movies in the series, with PTSD being the major concern of Iron Man 3. At this point, Marvel is in a bad position, story-wise. They can’t use Tony’s most famous story, but is it a good idea to go more obscure? Especially for a fourth movie. Could it be they’d rather not push their luck?

An unnecessary risk

The Iron Man trilogy is, in critics’ eyes, a three-for-three success story, despite some dispute about the merits of Iron Man 2. (Hey, we liked it.) This is hard to do! Ask the Spider-Man, X-Men, and Batman franchises how well their third installments went, for instance. Or look at series like Fantastic Four and The Amazing Spider-Man that were put to rest before getting a chance at a third at-bat. There’s a certain level of accomplishment to pulling off a trilogy that succeeds critically—not even The Godfather could do it!—and executives may well be hesitant to risk even making a fourth Iron Man movie. In short, they stand to lose more than they stand to gain. What if it’s lousy? What if it’s tired? Wouldn’t it be easier to call it a day? Especially since…

Iron Man 3 was a perfect ending

We’re getting more into the realm of opinion here, but it’s really hard to argue with the conclusion of Iron Man 3, which even at the time felt like a pretty final statement on the character. Scripted and directed by the celebrated writer-director Shane Black, the up-to-now final chapter of the Iron Man series had a lot of fun analyzing the meaning of the series and the character, playing around with a lot of metatextual concepts about what Iron Man meant. Pepper Potts wears the suit twice in the movie (which was super-fun and true to the comics), and the climax, an insane action sequence in which Stark summons something like 50 sentient uninhabited Iron Man suits to save him from an unstable, explosive villain, seems impossible to top.

It was a movie where Tony was separated from his suit for a long stretch; the movie made us analyze Tony Stark and Iron Man as separate entities, before ultimately reconciling them in the end. “My armor was never a distraction or a hobby,” says Tony, as he drives into the sunset before the credits roll. “It was a cocoon—and now I’m a changed man. You can take away my house, all my tricks and toys, but one thing you can’t take away—I am Iron Man.” It’s just a fantastic way to end the series, and to risk spoiling it with a fourth installment means flirting with diminishing the whole series. Sometimes the only way to win is not to play, and with all of these other superheroes on the shelf, maybe the smartest move is to let the series lie. We don’t need Iron Man 4, not really. The next best thing is right around the corner.

Why we never got to see Iron Man 4

‘Supergirl’ Trailer: Why Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman Is Already Better Than Henry Cavill’s In BvS

by Stone Marshall | Oct 16, 2016 | Awesome Book News | 0 comments

Time and time again, fans have criticized the DCEU for being too dark. Often, fans compare it unfavorably to The CW’s Arrowverse, where DC’s light-hearted comic book origins are embraced in shows like Arrow and The Flash.

However, this is grossly misleading. While the CW are clearly restricted to a degree by the ratings and their younger demographic, heroes such as Green Arrow and the Scarlet Speedster have suffered their fair share of tragedies over the past five years, including personal heartbreak and many, many deaths. The key here is maintaining a balance between light and dark — something that the DCEU is still struggling to manage.

The secret to the Arrowverse’s success is the harmony between light and shadow. Their world is populated by both lighthearted heroes and more brooding figures. Tyler Hoechlin, who’s about to join the Arrowverse as Superman, looks set to be the former. Comparisons will inevitably be drawn between this Last Son of Krypton and Henry Cavill’s interpretation of the character, which can be currently found brooding over in the DCEU.

Check out our first glimpse of Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman in action below:

While we’re yet to see a full episode featuring Supergirl’s new Man of Steel, we’re already confident that Tyler Hoechlin has nailed the role — and here’s why.

It’s Ok To Be Dark, But Not All The Time

The problem with the DCEU isn’t that Warner Bros. has chosen to take a darker route than the CW. After all, stories such as Injustice and Arkham Asylum have resonated with comic book fans in recent years for their unflinching depiction of heroics in a cruel and unjust world. So why don’t films like Man of Steel receive the same acclaim?

The answer lies in the characterization. People were quick to criticize the ruthless attitude of Ben Affleck’s Batman, but ultimately, his performance was considered to be one of the high points of the DCEU — and that’s because there’s a basis for this approach in the comics. Despite protestations to the contrary, a similar version of Bruce Wayne can be found in critically lauded material such as Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns.

The Real Problem Is Henry Cavill’s Superman

It’s important to establish from the outset that Henry Cavill isn’t a bad actor. The British hunk nailed his suave role in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and also impressed during his time on The Tudors. But whether he’s playing Clark Kent or Superman himself, something just doesn’t sit right with Cavill’s pivotal role in the DCEU.

At his best, Cavill’s Superman is purely aesthetic; and the comic-faithful attributes certainly weren’t the only parts of his appearance fans appreciated:

At his worst though, Cavill’s Superman was ripped apart by critics for a lack of strong characterization. Sure, it would be great to discuss Cavill’s hotness if we had 4 hours to spare, but instead, we’re too busy poring through the many negative reactions that Cavill’s performance received when Man of Steel first came out in 2013:

A.V. Club: “Cavill — whose performance involves more posing than acting — is alternately presented as an alien messiah, a superweapon, and an American flag flapping in the wind; the one thing he never gets to be is a character.”

Boston Globe: “British actor Henry Cavill gives a strong, likable, occasionally moving performance in the title role, but doesn’t quite come out a movie star. I missed the dorky modesty of Christopher Reeves Superman, the squareness that really marked the character as an alien. Cavill’s Superman is an interestingly conflicted hunk, but he doesn’t resonate beyond the borders of the screen.”

Inquirer: “Cavill’s performance is less memorable for his introspective brooding than for his six-pack (a fetish for Snyder, the director of “300”). He’s handsome and capable, but one can’t help missing Christopher Reeve’s twinkle. At least he smiled.”

It’s hard to deny that the constant Christopher Reeves comparisons are somewhat unfair. After all, it’s commendable that both Snyder and Cavill put their own stamp on the legacy of Superman, rather than simply recycle what had come before. But the problem is that by trying something different, the pair ended up distancing themselves from what makes Superman a legitimate icon.

The DCEU itself doesn’t need to be lighter, but a moral counterpoint is needed to balance out the likes of Harley Quinn and Batman. Instead, we’ve been left with a destructive, god-like figure who seems too far removed from humanity to care; something that even Cavill himself has poked fun of in the past.

How Will Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman Differ?

When CW’s Supergirl first announced that Tyler Hoechlin would join the show as Superman, the reaction was mixed to say the least. But now that we’ve seen the Big Blue in action, it looks like Hoechlin will nail the role in every way that Cavill failed to do so.

Far too much of Cavill’s portrayal in the DCEU revolved around this idea of Kal-El as a messiah figure without imbuing him with a sense of humanity. The moments when Snyder chose to explore Clark Kent’s personal life were rather lacking in comparison, and felt more perfunctory than anything else.

In contrast, The CW’s decision to introduce Hoechlin first as his alter-ego, awkwardly conversing with his boss, was the perfect move. It would have been easy to open with a flashy reveal of Hoechlin in spandex — but with this approach, The CW reminded us that Superman may be a powerful symbol of hope, but Clark Kent’s humanity remains the real essence of the character, “lickety-splits” and all.

Hoechlin’s Superman Does Seem Rather Familiar Though…

Sure, detractors might argue that Hoechlin’s portrayal is trying too hard, striving to copy Reeves’s iconic performance without bringing anything new to the table, but they’d be wrong. Instead of paying tribute to performances from the past, Hoechlin is tapping into the same ideals that Reeves drew from the comics, reminding us why Superman has endured as an icon for so long in the first place.

Check out Hoechlin’s Superman in this second Supergirl trailer for Season 2:

In an interview with EW, Hoechlin summed up his portrayal perfectly:

“It’s Superman as I think he was intended to be, which is just an incredible symbol of hope to kids that they can do anything, that they can be good people, and that good people can triumph over evil. You don’t have to be dark and brooding and always in this state of masculine toughness. He sits in that very hopeful and optimistic place that Kara tends to be in.”

Sure, Spider-Man’s funny, Wolverine’s a badass and Batman’s got that fancy car, but Superman represents something far more important: hope. At the risk of stepping on my soapbox, it’s worth remembering that the symbol on Big Blue’s chest is a stark reminder that the world really does need someone like Superman. In these trying times, the message of hope that Superman embodies is more vital than ever.

Check out Supergirl’s adorable conversation with her cousin in Season 1 below:

Of course, we’ve yet to see Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman in full flight — but even with just these trailers to go on, we hope that the DCEU will learn some much-needed lessons from the CW. If Hoechlin embodies Clark Kent as well as we think he will, then both the films and the TV shows could help draw the very best out of our favorite heroes to create the best adaptations yet. The red capes are coming, and we couldn’t be more excited.

‘Supergirl’ Trailer: Why Tyler Hoechlin’s Superman Is Already Better Than Henry Cavill’s In BvS

Rogue One: 14 Things We Learned From The New Trailer

by Stone Marshall | Oct 15, 2016 | Awesome Book News | 0 comments

The third – and final – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailer is here, just two months before the film will finally land in theaters. And it turns out the long wait for all the new footage was more than worth it – new snippets of this first “anthology” Star Wars installment’s various action set pieces, character beats, and, even, storyline are a-plenty, whetting fans’ appetites for the home stretch. We see glimpses of Jyn Erso’s past, understand how her family history is tied to the Empire, and see some of the best action we’ve seen in any Star Wars film to date.

In fact, we think there are so many clues packed into this two-minute trailer, we had to list ‘em all out and explore them in some depth. Here, then, are the 14 Things We Learned from the New Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Trailer – and be sure to add any that we may have missed in the comments section.

14. The meaning of “Rogue One”

When Jyn Erso’s (Felicity Jones) motley crew of various Rebels is aboard their vessel and, presumably, prepping for some type of action, K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), a former Imperial enforcer droid, informs them that their wingmen are asking for a call sign. “Rogue,” Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed), another former Imperial (this time, a pilot), says. “Rogue One.” (Okay, okay – we fully admit that there is another possible scenario this scene may fall into, although one that is perhaps not as likely: the Rebel team is attempting to infiltrate Imperial space.)

While many had already guessed that the name Rogue One derived from the main cast’s call sign, it’s nice to get official confirmation from Lucasfilm on the matter. It’s also interesting to see if their name becomes something of an ongoing narrative device, as the unit’s eventual coming together and forming a shared identity seems to play such a large role in the story; “Rogue One” can become just as much of an indicator of character or thematic progression as “Dark Knight” was in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.

13. How Jyn Erso “joins” the Rebellion

Previous trailers had hinted at Jyn’s prisoner backstory and clearly established that she was not a proper member of the Rebel Alliance; her testy standoff with Rebel leader Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) more than attests to this. However, what we didn’t know until just today was that it was none other than the Rebellion that broke Jyn out of jail, which changes the context of their interpersonal dynamics subtly but thoroughly.

It also establishes something of a parallel to the previous Star Wars trilogies (interesting for a movie that is supposed to be so different from all of its predecessors): each time, whatever organization that represents the light side of the Force (the Jedi, the Rebel Alliance, the Resistance) must rely on an outsider to come in and rally them to the finish line, whether that be Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), or Rey (Daisy Ridley).

12. It’s a stealth mission

Most of the missions that we’ve seen undertaken in the various Star Wars films have been more overt in nature and more action-based in execution (more on this very point in just a moment) – attacking the Death Star, knocking out a shield generator on Endor, rescuing a Jedi strike team on Geonosis. What Rogue One offers audiences is an interesting twist on this formula, showing Jyn Erso’s crew relying on stealth and subterfuge in order to infiltrate highly defended Imperial outposts, such as the one on Scarif, the tropical planet that has been described by Lucasfilm as being defended by a huge garrison and featuring “impenetrable” deflector shields (and which has also been added to Star Wars: Battlefront’s playable lineup).

Again, this is a rather basic plot point that many had probably already deduced, based upon all the previously released information, but it’s nonetheless good to get actual confirmation on – not to mention its being a refreshing change of pace. When combined with the film’s emphasis on a larger ensemble as opposed to just a trio of main characters and more gritty action than Force-powered fisticuffs, fans should be in for a real treat this Christmas.

11. A return to space

Episode IV: A New Hope made its spacecraft dogfights the stuff of cinematic legend, and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi doubled down on the visual effects and visceral nature of the combat. Since then, the Star Wars films have largely opted to focus on more land-based battles, with last year’s Episode VII: The Force Awakens threading the needle a bit by only depicting in-atmosphere dogfights (something which both technology and story precluded before).

Although just a tiny glimpse, this latest trailer clearly shows Rogue One taking its action back to the stars, showing a squadron of X-wings taking out – or trying to take out, at the very least – the massive drydock in orbit around Scarif, which is able to service several Star Destroyers simultaneously. This is undoubtedly just a small snippet of the starfighter action, but it’s nonetheless nice to see a bit of the classic Star Wars that Disney has spent so much time talking about over the past four years come crashing back to the screen.

Speaking of which…

10. The most action of any Star Wars yet

That Rogue One would potentially contain the biggest amount of action scenes from any Star Wars installment is not surprising in the least; not only did previous trailers and photos feature a goodly number of them, but director Gareth Edwards has repeatedly mentioned how his anthology movie would be a grittier, more war-based adventure rather than the Jedi-vs.-Sith antics from the main saga.

Still, getting the nice cross-section of all the different types of action that will be featured in the film – undercover insertions, AT-STs mowing down people in the streets, martial-arts fights, those space-based dogfights – is nothing short of stunning, especially considering that most of these action beats have never before been seen in the franchise (we’re looking at you, warrior-monk Chirrut Imwe [Donnie Yen]). Even more importantly, this diversity arguably does the most to sell what Disney and Lucasfilm initially promised about these anthologies: they can do things and go places, both literally and figuratively, that no mainline chapter can.

9. The most lived-in Star Wars yet

Much was made of the original Star Wars’s aesthetic when it bowed 39 years ago, with its “lived-in” future contrasting so heavily with Star Trek’s pristine reality (and inspiring the grungy, horror-fueled Alien franchise). While the prequel trilogy deliberately took a turn away from this style, depicting a cleaner, happier time in that galaxy far, far away, Rogue One seems to jump on the original idea with a vengeance: Jedha, the Ottoman-inspired planet that features Imperial-occupied marketplaces and narrow, twisting alleyways, has a quality that seems to leap straight from various holy cities in the real-world Middle East, from Jerusalem to Mecca (appropriate, given that it’s a holy planet in the SW canon). This location alone should give a whole new meaning to the term “populated.”

Speaking of which, this one trailer alone seems to contain more extras than probably any other previous installment in the franchise, helping to flesh out – literally – the movie’s sense of place and the series’s galactic hustle-and-bustle, whether it be the halls of the Rebellion’s secret base on Yavin IV or the aforementioned streets of Jedha. It’s already an impressively high bar, and it’ll be interesting to see how Rian Johnson can top it in Episode VIII.

8. Carrying the torch of the Force

The prequels showed audiences how prevalent the Jedi Knights were, and how their order was known by people all throughout the galaxy, whether they were denizens of the Old Republic or not. The original films, however, depicted the “ancient” Jedi as a “dead religion,” with the Galactic Empire imposing a very strict form of atheism, as it were, with the sequels (thus far) carrying this idea even further, depicting the last Jedi, Luke Skywalker, as more a figure of myth than a flesh-and-blood man.

Rogue One is intended to help smooth out this transition, depicting a galaxy that, yes, is told to no longer believe in the existence of the Force but that still features various peoples who not only continue to do so, but who make their pilgrimage to Jedha, a planet crucial to the Jedi Order’s existence way back when. One of the planet’s residents, Chirrut Imwe, even boldly declares in the trailer, “The Force is strong” – with Rebel intelligence officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) immediately adding, “Makes 10 men feel like 100.”

Most interesting, however, is the possibility that this “Force cult” that seems to be centered on Jedha directly leads to the creation of the Church of the Force, one of whose adherents, Lor San Tekka (Max von Sydow), plays a small-but-crucial role in The Force Awakens.

7. No Geonosians

Rogue One may be working double-time to maintain – or establish – continuity with both the original and sequel films, but beyond the inclusion of the character Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), who was originally introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, there seems to be no (overt) references to the prequel period. This most painfully becomes obvious when the trailer lingers on the Imperial side of the equation, showing Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) and his Death Troopers but no Geonosians, those alien drones that were initially employed by Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid) to design the Death Star back during the Clone Wars and who, according to creator George Lucas on the commentary track for Episode II: Attack of the Clones, were the battle station’s construction workers, as well.

Then again, this omission might actually work to the saga’s benefit; since Lucasfilm officially describes Krennic’s role as completing the “long-delayed” mega-weapon, this initial Star Wars Story might explain how a project that got well underway 19 years earlier still hasn’t found itself completed – a question many fans had upon their first viewing of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

6. Homages galore

J.J. Abrams, the director of Episode VII: The Force Awakens, never let fans forget throughout all of his many interviews that he wanted to step away from the CG-heavy production style of the prequels in favor of the more practical nature of the original film. And Rogue One, in turn, takes place literally moments before Episode IV: A New Hope, continuing the 1970s vibe whether it deliberately wanted to or not.

What we didn’t know before this latest trailer dropped this morning, however, was just how much that original Star Wars (plus its sequels) was going to permeate this production in the form of a series of homages: Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen) looking out over the horizon of his homeplanet while standing next to that iconic tower; Darth Vader’s smoke-filled entrance; the many scenes on Yavin IV, with its famed pyramids; and, finally, the shot from within the cockpit of Jyn’s ship as it shoots off into hyperspace, recalling the same exact vantage point from within the Millennium Falcon.

5. A family affair

For all that Rogue One is supposed to be so fundamentally different from its cinematic brethren in the Star Wars universe, its core dynamic has now irrefutably been revealed to be about family relationships – in this case, between a father and his daughter, and how the one has been subverted by the dark side, thereby forcing the other to rescue him through the light (no, that doesn’t sound like Anakin and Luke Skywalker at all).

But such a revelation also means that the heart of the film will revolve around the Ersos, adding a personal dimension that has been missing from the marketing materials up until this point. It also paints Jyn in a far more sympathetic light, as her cold interactions with the Rebel leaders in the beginning of the first trailer perhaps left an emotionally distant taste in viewers’ mouths.

This may also point to how the movie, which obviously has a plot that is doomed to failure (in terms of the crews’ lives, at the least, and not in the success of smuggling the Death Star’s plans to the Rebellion), can still have a satisfying amount of closure, emotionally and thematically.

4. There are flashbacks!

Despite all the various time jumps that occur in between the various Star Wars movies – there’s 10 years that pass in between Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, and three between A New Hope and Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back – there curiously has never been any flashbacks.

Until last year, that is. Force Awakens features a montage when Rey picks up Anakin’s lightsaber within the bowels of Maz Kanata’s (Lupita Nyong’o) castle, showing various tidbits that have taken place in the past, including Rey’s abandonment on the remote desert planet of Jakku (then again, there were also some obvious flash-forwards, including Rey’s duel in the snow with Kylo Ren [Adam Driver]). Now, Rogue One delivers flashbacks to Jyn’s childhood, when her father is first taken by Director Krennic, this time couched in the form of dreams (while Jyn nods off in her Imperial jail cell). It should be interesting to see how else both this installment and the future sequels can continue to push the franchise’s standard storytelling methodology.

3. A close-up look at the Rebellion

For as much as the original trilogy was all about the Galactic Civil War, our focus stayed overwhelmingly with our trio of main characters; glimpses at either the leadership of the Rebellion or of the rest of the Imperial structure beyond the ruling Dark Lords of the Sith are fleeting, at best.

This has already started to change with Star Wars: Rebels, which has, over the course of its three seasons, been slowly charting the formation of the Rebel Alliance, and Rogue One looks set to provide a more in-depth examination on the big screen (which is only helped by its decision to have the most lived-in SW yet, as noted above). There seem to be tons of different types of extras gathered around Mon Mothma’s central command station on Yavin IV, meant to represent all the different worlds and peoples that comprise the movement but also meant, perhaps, to flesh out all the different factions that constitute the Alliance, as well. Such a move would not only be a throwback to the politics-heavy prequels, but could also help chart out a closer look at the New Republic in Episode VIII, as well.

2. Darth Vader’s role

Okay – this is where we leave the safe ground of direct information and start to climb up the slippery slope of speculation and supposition.

Given the few scant scenes that Lord Vader appears in in the trailer (and, we have to assume, the finished film, as well), and given the flow of all the other shots, one can provisionally assemble a rough model of how – and why – the Dark Lord of the Sith enters the picture. Here it goes: Orson Krennic’s goal of taking control of the failing Death Star project and actually completing it is starting to fall apart, in no small part because of Jyn Erso’s Rebels arriving on the scene to stir up some trouble. Nervous that the crown jewel of his galactic machinations will become endangered once again, Emperor Palpatine dispatches his most loyal – and fearsome – servant to personally oversee the final stages of construction.

When we stop to consider the other “echoes” to the previous movies contained in Rogue One, having a reflection of Vader’s role from Return of the Jedi only makes sense.

1. Saw Gerrera’s fate

All right – now on to a piece of speculation even more out-there than our Darth Vader hypothesis.

The extremist Saw Gerrera – who, once again, already has quite the fierce reputation from the Expanded Universe of novels, comic books, short stories, and television series – appears to be the last member of Jyn Erso’s crew to join up; he’s been busy on Jedha, attempting to wage an insurgency against the Imperial occupation there. Given his age, his already-dire physical ailments, the intensity of some of his lines of dialogue (“Save the Rebellion! Save the dream!”), and, finally, given the likelihood that all of the main cast dies, anyway, it’s our best guess that we’ll see Saw perish on-screen, in a blaze of glory that will serve to further motivate Jyn’s team – and to appropriately ratchet up the tension as we approach the latter half of the film, of course. Maybe we’ll even get to see Vader himself do the honors, which would only be appropriate, given Saw and Anakin’s interactions in The Clone Wars.

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Did we miss some rather obvious clues? Or did we jump to the wrong conclusions about the tidbits we picked out? Let us know in the comments.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens in U.S. theaters on December 16, 2016, followed by Star Wars: Episode VIII on December 15, 2017, the Han Solo Star Wars Anthology film on May 25, 2018, Star Wars: Episode IX in 2019, and the third Star Wars Anthology film in 2020.

Rogue One: 14 Things We Learned From The New Trailer

First Look at Marvel Comics’ New Iron Man Riri Williams

by Stone Marshall | Oct 15, 2016 | Awesome Book News | 0 comments

Robert Downey Jr. might have the Marvel Cinematic Universe iteration of Iron Man nailed down for the foreseeable future but over in the comic world, things couldn’t be more different. Back in July, Marvel announced that original Iron Man, Tony Stark, would be relinquishing his superhero mantle and bestowing it upon a 15-year-old girl named Riri Williams. With the Iron Man name now somewhat redundant, it has been announced that Riri’s superhero moniker will be Ironheart.

MIT prodigy Williams first comes to Stark’s attention in Invincible Iron Man #12 where she reverse engineers an old Iron Man suit and uses it to quell a prison break. Having proven herself a worthy pilot of the iconic armor, Tony drops in on Riri and recognizes certain attributes and qualities in the young girl that remind him of himself.

Now, as reported by Time, Marvel and Invincible Iron Man scribe Brian Michael Bendis have unveiled more of Riri’s backstory and a further glimpse of her Iron-armor. Bendis says:

“She’s smarter than Tony… As we say in the story: high intellects, out of frustration, can sometimes retreat into their own world. This young woman has had that burden but she also has a grounded parent who helped her get to this point. But she also has had terrible tragedy that has informed her more than anything… Some of the intellectual characters at Marvel get to the point where they want to conquer the world and make it over in their own image, the fact that Riri, even after all she has been through, does not makes her mother the hero of this story. And we need to celebrate that kind of thing more anyhow.”

The excerpts depict a flashback of Riri at age five and her parents being informed of their child’s super-genius intellect. The parents are warned that such geniuses have a tendency to retreat into their own minds and lose their ability to empathize with others, and are reminded that it’s their job to ensure Riri doesn’t fall into that trap. The final page shows clearly that the parents, and in particular Riri’s mother, succeeded, with the new superhero joyously piloting her Ironheart suit.

Marvel Comics have taken considerable steps in recent years to diversify their characters, with a female taking over as Thor, Union Jack coming out as homosexual and an increasingly varied racial diversity thanks to characters such as Miles Morales and Kamala Khan, as well as the popularization of older characters such as Black Panther and Luke Cage. However, shifting Iron Man from a white, middle-aged man to an African-American teenage girl is perhaps the biggest risk yet from the company, especially considering the title Iron Man specifies the gender in the name itself.

Many Marvel fans will likely be receptive to the changes and will hopefully judge Riri Williams’ stint as Ironheart purely on the strength of her character and story line, rather than race, gender or the fact that it just isn’t Tony Stark. By diversifying their roster, Marvel is practicing the qualities of acceptance and inclusion that are so often preached by the heroes in their comics and even if the new run isn’t successful, that should be commended.

The Invincible Iron Man series is currently running, the latest issue #14 is out now.

First Look at Marvel Comics’ New Iron Man Riri Williams