It was pretty funny seeing Iris and Joe question Barry about how upset he got with Wally for disobeying his orders in last week’s winter premiere of The Flash. During the first-half of the season, their fears about Wally’s safety hindered his speedster progress, so they should be happy that Barry wants Wally to only shadow him at this point in his training. One does not become a hero overnight.
Even so, by the end of the episode, The Flash has the bright idea of going after Plunder with Kid Flash and lets his new sidekick capture plunder and get the credit. By changing who took down Plunder, Barry was able to prove that the future is fluid, not fixed. Now he knows with certainty that Iris’s future death at the hands of Savitar can be prevented by his present-day choices.
Now check out a cool new poster (via The Flash Brasil) with Kid Flash and The Flash running side-by-side, and its tagline reads: “LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE.”
H.R.’s (Tom Cavanagh) past catches up with him when a bounty hunter with vibe powers named Gypsy (guest star Jessica Camacho) arrives in Central City to bring him back to Earth-19 to stand trial for his crime. It turns out inter-dimensional travel is illegal on their Earth. H.R. surrenders but when Barry (Grant Gustin) and Cisco (Carlos Valdes) find out that H.R.’s only hope would be to challenge Gypsy to a fight to the death, they intercede and Cisco offers to fight Gypsy instead.
Harry Jierjian directed the episode with story by Benjamin Raab and Deric A. Hughes and teleplay by Zack Stentz
If you’re looking for a way to satiate your appetite for The Flash, then you can check out ComicBook.com’s ‘Flashback,’ an aftershow dedicated to the hit series. Flashback will air at 9 PM ET on ComicBook.com’s Facebook page, with new episodes airing Tuesday nights after each new hour of the CW series.
The Flash airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW. “Dead or Alive” will air on The CW next week on January 31st to continue The Flash’s third season.
We might see some newer Spider-Man storylines on Disney XD’s new cartoon adaptation premiering later this year.
Marvel’s Spider-Man has been teased as a back-to-basics approach for the wall crawler after Ultimate Spider-Man concludes, and concept art has teased new spider characters such Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen.
Bit in a recent interview with CBR promoting the finale of Avengers: Ultron Revolution, Marvel Animation Vice President Steve Wacker revealed that his team is looking to adapt more contemporary comic book stories, includingSuperior Spider-Man.
“That was the last big story I worked on in the comics side with Dan Slott,” Wacker said. “I’m not quite sure how we get there, but I’d love to see it.”
He also hinted at another recent event that shook up the Spidey mythos in the comics.
“We’ll get toSpider Island at some point. That was a big Spider-Man story in publishing,” Wacker added.
He said he’d like to see newer stories like Annihilation than Kree/Skrull War or Spider Man: No More, perhaps hinting at a future storyline for the Guardians of the Galaxy cartoon.
Whether these developments are on the horizon or a ways away is still up in the air, as Marvel’s Spider-Man has yet to premier. Look for more information in the coming months as a release date is locked down.
Hugh Jackman is now famous for bringing X-Men icon Wolverine to life for the X-Men movies franchise, but that wasn’t always the case. Jackman just filmed his final performance as Wolverine for the upcoming movie Logan. Now that his 18-year-long journey is over, Jackman is opening up a bit about how he struggle with the role of Wolverine.
Jackman tells E! News that getting into character for the original X-Men movie wasn’t easy.
“I was kind of struggling, to be honest,” Jackman said. “It was the first movie I had ever done in America. I was pretty tight. I was nervous. I was average, to be honest, at best. No one was saying anything and I sort of thought I was getting away with it, but I wasn’t.”
It took a little tough love from studio executive Tom Rothman to get Jackman back on track.
“He told me that he believed in me, that from the moment he’d seen my tape he had a gut feeling I was the guy, but watching my dailies was like watching someone put a lampshade over a light,” Jackman admitted.
That was probably a tough pill for Jackman to swallow, but it seems Rothman was right to believe in Jackman. Once Jackman got over that initial struggle, he came to own the role of Wolverine over eight films and became an icon of superhero cinema.
Logan takes place in the year 2029, where mutant births have become extremely rare. The defenders of mutant kind, the X-Men, are long gone, and the only remains of them are an old and struggling Charles Xavier and a weary Logan. Logan’s vaunted healing factor has slowed, and at times doesn’t seem to work at all. When a young mutant needs his help, Logan has to unsheathe his claws once more. His job isn’t over yet.
Logan stars Hugh Jackman (Logan), Boyd Holbrook (Donald Pierce), Patrick Stewart (Charles Xavier), Dafne Keen (Laura Kinney/X-23), Doris Morgado (Maria), Stephen Merchant (Caliban), Elizabeth Rodriguez (Gabriela), and Richard E. Grant (Dr. Zander Rice). James Mangold is directing and helped on the screenplay along with Scott Frank and Michael Green.
While walking the red carpet at the 2017 Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Jim Parsons was asked if an actor has been chosen yet to potray the 12-year-old version of Sheldon Cooper for The Big Bang Theory spinoff series—which CBS is developing and is simply titled: Sheldon.
“We do,” Parsons told ET’s Nancy O’Dell, when she asked if a lead had been chosen. “They’re supposed to release it but I’m not going to say.”
Okay, so what could Parsons share about the young actor? “He’s wonderful,” he shared. “So many kids sent in [tapes] and it was really overwhelming. But this one little guy was really special.”
Since Parsons has played the character for ten seasons and is executive producing the series—along with Big Bang co-creator Chuck Lorre and showrunner Steve Molaro—his input on the casting process was welcomed. “Chuck Lorre, Steve Molaro are really heading it but they’re always really sweet about asking, ‘What would you think?’ and I’m like, ‘I think it’s great,'” he added. “I kind of don’t want to get in the way too much because whoever the kids is has to do his own thing. You know what I mean? If it’s going to be special it has to be related to what’s going on but also it’s own creature, you know? I’m excited about it though.”
Sheldon beta-tests an MIT invention after hearing it can help him read people’s emotions. Also, Leonard can’t hide his feelings when Penny announces her brother is coming to town, and Raj invites his ex-girlfriends over to give him dating advice.
The main cast features Johnny Galecki as Leonard, Jim Parsons as Sheldon, Kaley Cuoco as Penny, Simon Helberg as Wolowitz, Kunal Nayyar as Koothrappali, Mayim Bialik as Amy, and Melissa Rauch as Bernadette.
The recurring cast includes Laura Spencer as Emily Sweeney, Kate Micucci as Lucy, Alessandra Torresani as Claire, and Katie Leclerc as Emily.
The story was created by Chuck Lorre, Steven Molaro, and Eric Kaplan. The teleplay was written by Steve Holland, Jim Reynolds, and Saladin K. Patterson. It was directed by Mark Cendrowski.
“The Emotion Detection Automation” episode of The Big Bang Theory will air Thursday, Feb. 2 at 8:00-8:31 PM, ET/PT on the CBS Television Network.
The Founder tells the story of Ray Kroc, an American entrepreneur who would not discover the success he dreamed of until his 50s. It was then that he encountered the first McDonald’s, a bustling enterprise in San Bernadino, and worked with the owners to franchise the concept across America and then the world. Eventually, he took over the entire corporation, forcing the original creators out and making himself one of the richest and cementing his legacy in American business and culture. It’s a fascinating tale and one that The Founder tells with stunning style and purpose.
While The Founder may not have been a big hit upon its opening weekend, it’s not for a lack of talent or effort. Unfortunately, it appears to have been a victim of studio mismanagement and poor timing. What should have been an Oscar contender has been left to wallow in January. It may still have more to give than a chance for all of us to catch a great, underappreciated flick this weekend though. The Founder is a story of American business, big personalities, and “true”-ly legendary happenings. It also parralels the story of Marvel Comics in all of these aspects.
The Founder lays out a model for the telling of the Marvel story and shows how such a tale could be just as fascinating as the superhero stories they sell tickets to today. Here’s why some smart producers ought to be looking at this as an opportunity to tell the story behind the heroes.
A True American Story
Movies have been using the phrase “Base on a true story” for decades. It’s for a good reason too. We love to see stories about what can really be done or, at least, what seems possible. Whether it exposes the good or bad of humanity, “true” stories are easier to believe and accept than those filled with fantastic characters for many. The great thing about the story of early Marvel Comics is that just like the early expansion of McDonald’s, it’s a true story that’s 100% true.
Sean Howe’s history Marvel: The Untold Story has been praised both for its research and enthralling narrative. Every bit of the company’s history is packed with tantalizing anecdotes and drama, enough to form the foundation an entire television series. The early years are especially potent with events occurring on a monthly basis. It’s a story about people with big dreams, a company with a big future, and fictions that would encompass the world. And it’s all true.
Bigger Than Life Characters
The Founder wouldn’t work if it weren’t for the personality of Ray Kroc. Love him or hate him (and the film definitely leans towards the latter) he was able to fill an entire room with his charisma and ego. No matter how successful or influential a company may be, a story is only as interesting as its characters. The men and women who populated Marvel Comics in the 1960s were absolutely fascinating.
Everyone knows Stan Lee as the charming huckster and renowned writer of many Marvel creations, but he’s far from the only leading man in this story. Both Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko were just as essential to the early success of Marvel Comics, if not more so, and came with their own big personalities. Kirby was a hard-working family man with a penchant for chomping cigars and thinking of so many ideas he could barely drive a car. Ditko was an eccentric objectivist who pulled ever deeper into his shell leading to bigger philosophical proclamations and conflicts with colleagues. Any one of these three men could be the star of a film, together they’re a trio that absolutely must be explored.
The Stuff of Legends
True events and big personalities aren’t enough to make a great film; there has to be something more. That’s something the story of Marvel Comics has though. The Founder isn’t just about the growth of McDonald’s, in fact it’s not really about that at all. It is a story about capitalism, innovation, and corruption. If you have a chance to see The Founder, you’ll notice parallels to many modern narratives in and out of business. What makes it a great film is that it’s about so much more than what’s in the synopsis.
That’s true to the founding of Marvel Comics and it’s explosive growth in the 1960s, as well. It was a time in which the rules surrounding intellectual property were vague and the company was just as likely to go under as survive for another year. Knowing the outcome doesn’t make those days any less treacherous or the coming conflicts any less disastrous. There are many parallels between those early days at Marvel and the same at McDonald’s. While some might seek to cast villains and heroes purely, the situations were complex and help expose the complexities found in creation, advancement, and success. Those ambiguities don’t just make for some good stories, they also make for the sort of legends that never grow stale.
Marvel: The Untold Story
No matter how The Founder fares in the weeks ahead (hopefully better once the word gets out), it does lay out a clear path to success for Marvel Comics to follow. Pitching the concept of “McDonald’s: The Movie” may not be easy, but the world has never been more interested in the heroes of Marvel Comics than they are today. There has been talk of a fictional film recasting Stan Lee as a superspy, but that’s so much less interesting than the real story behind the early days of this comics juggernaut.
All of the elements that make The Founder so compelling are easily found within the history of Marvel Comics, as well. A quick read of the early chapters in Marvel: The Untold Story make it clear just how much potential can be found in the lives of creators like Kirby, Ditko, and Lee. What they accomplished has continued to shake the comics medium, the superhero genre, and the American entertainment industry. People care about what they accomplished and the story of how they did it is every bit as fascinating. Yet for many that story remains untold; it’s about time that a studio changes that and gives these creators a fair shake in theaters right alongside the heroes they created.
Marvel has just released a new trailer hyping up the Inhumans vs. X-Men event series to their YouTube page off the heels of the release of issue #3.
The trailer gives a brief overview of the event with some animated scenes based on artwork from Aaron Kuder, Leinil Francis Yu, Kenneth Rocafort and Javier Garrón.
This new video summarizes some of the happenings that transpired, bringing these two factions of superhumans closer to their inevitable battle currently taking place.
Specifically, it highlights the X-Men’s destruction of one Terrigen Cloud, while also showing the murder of Cyclops at the hands of Black Bolt (however, readers of Death of X may recall that the event did not occur exactly as most people remember it, thanks to the machinations of Emma Frost.)
Issues #0 through #3 are currently out in stores and on digital storefronts, and Inhumans vs. X-Men #4 is set for release on February 8th.
(Photo: Leinil Francis Yu)
Inhumans vs. X-Men #4
Writer: Charles Soule, Jeff Lemire Penciller: Javier Garron Cover Artist: Leinil Francis Yu The young Inhumans devise a crazy plan to infiltrate Muir Island…The only thing standing in their way: the master of magnetism himself, MAGNETO. Meanwhile, Medusa and the other royals mount a desperate effort to escape from the mutants’ prison in Limbo…and an X-Man changes sides!!
