Tuesday, March 1, 2022

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Is Joker in The Batman? Matt Reeves Discusses Deleted Scene

Posted: 28 Feb 2022 03:35 PM PST

 

With the release of The Batman less than a week away, the press tour has begun and in an interview with Tech Radar, director Matt Reeves talked about a deleted scene that he really liked that involved Eternals actor Barry Keoghan whose role has yet to be revealed, but has been the cause of a lot of speculation.

 

 

"There were scenes we cut that I liked. In fact, there's a scene with the unseen prisoner (the role Keoghan has been credited as), who appears at the end of the movie in Arkham with the Riddler. There was an earlier scene where Batman went to Arkham to profile the Riddler, and Barry is in that scene. It's a very cool scene, and I'm sure we'll release the scene after the movie comes out, because it's a really cool deleted scene."

 

Originally it was reported that Keoghan would be playing GCPD officer Stanley Merkel, but a since-deleted Tweet by Keoghan's brother claimed the actor was playing the Joker.

 

 

The film already introduces various members of the Dark Knight's rogues gallery including Paul Dano as the Riddler, Colin Farrell as Penguin and Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, so it would make sense to have them tease another for a future film… but the deleted tweet aside, the description given by Reeves of the scene and knowing that Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale's The Long Halloween was a partial influence on the film makes me think of how in the comics Batman goes to Calendar Man for help finding the Holiday Killer. We will find out for sure this Friday when The Batman hits theaters.  

The post Is Joker in The Batman? Matt Reeves Discusses Deleted Scene appeared first on Bleeding Fool.

Uncharted Stays on Top of Weekend Box Office, but The Batman Cometh

Posted: 28 Feb 2022 01:15 PM PST

It was a bit of a lull at the weekend box office, as moviegoers seem to be most excited for this weekend’s release of The Batman. Meanwhile, studios have been shifting movies around so much since the pandemic started that we have weekends like this were there are no major film releases and the majority of the top ten is filled with films that have been out a while.

 

 

The only two new releases to crack the chart are Studio 666 with $1.58 million taking the 8th slot and the limited release of Cyrano in 9th with $1.4 million over the three days. The rest of the chart looked a lot like the previous week with Uncharted coming in at number one with $23.2 million and Dog hauling in $10.1 million, both in their second week. Spider-Man: No Way Home continues to earn, bringing in another $5.75 million in third place and Death on the Nile sailing to another $4.5 million in fourth.

 

This should be greatly shaken up next week as The Batman is expected to easily top $100 million in its debut, likely syphoning away viewers from the other action films and with what is on the schedule there is a good chance the Warner Bros film will hold the top spot until the first of April when Morbius releases.

The post Uncharted Stays on Top of Weekend Box Office, but The Batman Cometh appeared first on Bleeding Fool.

Watch: New Trailer for ‘Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore’ Arrives

Posted: 28 Feb 2022 11:11 AM PST

 

Another glimpse at Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore has arrived, THR reports.

 

In the new trailer that debuted this morning, Warner Bros.' continues to tease a return to Hogwarts and a takedown of Gellert Grindelwald (played by Mads Mikkelsen, who takes over the role from Johnny Depp), who is considered to be among the most powerful and dangerous Dark Wizards, as he continues to wreak havoc in his attempts to seize control of the wizarding world.

 

YouTube Video

 

The only one able to stop him is his former friend Professor Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law); however, due to a blood pact the pair made years ago to never fight each other, Dumbledore joins forces with Magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to lead a team of wizards, witches and muggle (Dan Fogler) as they clash with a legion of Grindelwald followers. Meanwhile, danger also lurks with Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), whose real identity was claimed by Grindelwald in the franchise's second installment to be Aurelius Dumbledore.

 

In the trailer for the upcoming film, which will detail the untold backstory of Dumbledore for the first time, familiar Harry Potter locations are revisited including the Room of Requirement, Hogsmeade and The Great Hall.

 

Secrets of Dumbledore  will debut in theaters globally on April 15, 2022.

The post Watch: New Trailer for ‘Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore’ Arrives appeared first on Bleeding Fool.

Zack Snyder Urges Fans to Vote for Army of the Dead for an Oscar

Posted: 28 Feb 2022 08:25 AM PST

 

Fans of Zack Snyder are feverishly advocating for Army of the Dead to be recognized at the 94th Academy Awards, and now the director himself has added his voice to the chorus.

 

It was previously revealed that the Oscars would allow people to vote for a unique award for a “Fan Favorite” film released in the previous year. Though Zack Snyder’s Justice League immediately rose to prominence, fans were disappointed to learn that the film was ineligible because it was a director’s cut of a previously released film. While “The Snyder Cut” was not nominated for an Oscar, another major release by the director qualified; last year’s action-packed zombie film Army of the Dead on Netflix was one of the streamer’s biggest releases of the year.

 

 

After seeing his fans lobbying for Army of the Dead to get the Fan Favorite award, Snyder jumped on Twitter to encourage fans to keep up the voting.

 

 

Of course fans banding together on social media can sometimes make things happen, coincidentally the “Snyder Cut” getting released. Fans campaigned for Warner Bros. to release the original, extended version of Justice League more in line with Snyder’s original vision, and ultimately, for better or worse, the company obliged the fans by putting Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max in 2021.

 

Will there be enough fans to vote for Army of the Dead to similarly get that movie enough votes to be named the Fan Favorite movie as the Oscars this year? I hope not. The movie sucked, but then again, so does the Oscars.

The post Zack Snyder Urges Fans to Vote for Army of the Dead for an Oscar appeared first on Bleeding Fool.

Examining Reports of a So-Called “Boom” in the Comics Industry

Posted: 28 Feb 2022 06:15 AM PST

 

WZZM-13 from Grand Rapids, Michigan has a report on a specialty store interviewed, and claims that the industry’s seen a boom in the past 2 years since the Corona pandemic:

 

They’ve been around for decades, and most people today associate them with a bygone era. But against all odds, in an age of electronic gadgets with endless movies and TV shows at your fingertips, comic books press on.

“This store has been open since 1979,” says Gavin Willard, describing Tardy’s Collector’s Corner in Grand Rapids.

 

But do the mainstream retain any quality, or is it the independents we’re talking about? The former has pressed on, but by a fluke, considering many individual titles don’t sell in the millions, which nobody’s willing to acknowledge. The superhero titles from the mainstream could sadly but certainly be associated with bygone eras, if only due to how terribly abused they became in over 2 decades, all while only so many people just stood around silently and never did anything to protest poor quality, and the company staffers who led to the dire situation.

 

Willard and his wife own Tardy’s, taking it over after many years of visiting.

“We were always just avid customers,” says Willard. “It’s such a part of my life that it’s like breathing. I don’t even think about it anymore.”

And business has been booming.

So much so, that for the first time in decades, they’re opening a new location, this time in Allegan County.

 

It’s great if their business store is doing well, but there’s plenty of others that collapsed due to poor sales taking a toll even before the Corona pandemic occurred, and little has improved since.

 

The comic book industry as a whole has been booming as well. Publishers Weekly reported that in 2020, comic book sales hit an all time high of $1.28 billion.

And in 2021, a copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of Spider-Man, sold for $3.6 million.

 

 

As I’ve argued before, I find it frustrating when the speculator market’s dragged into this subject, because it damaged the market as early as the mid-90s, and turned it into a joke. It doesn’t address story merit at all. The mainstream offerings sure aren’t doing well in this regard, and again, without sales figures, it’s laughable to say the business has been booming. Yet this does make a good point about something to consider:

 

So what’s the draw these days? Willard says the industry has expanded to new horizons.

“There’s so much more to it now than just the big costumes and the spandex,” he says.

Don Myers, owner of The Comic Signal in Grand Rapids, agrees.

“It’s not for one age group,” says Myers, who has been collecting comics since 1973. “It’s not for just one genre, not just superheroes. Horror, sci-fi, you know, westerns.”

 

Ah, now here, we’re at least getting somewhere significant. Yes, there’ve been more genres that came to prominence over past decades, and science-fantasy doesn’t have to be built solely on superhero fare. But a valid point can be made that the Big Two went way too far in seeking dominance over the marketplace, and it hurt the industry badly.

 

Myers also believes the everlasting popularity of superheroes in other mediums, whether it’s through video games, television shows or at the movies, keeps people coming back to these characters’ original format.

“I kind of call it a symbiotic relationship,” says Myers. “I think people are seeing these movies and saying, that’s a good story. I didn’t realize comics had that good of stories.”

 

But does anybody take an objective view of modern mainstream scriptwriting? It’s never elaborated upon in puff pieces like these. Nor do they acknowledge publicity stunts like turning superhero characters and co-stars homosexual or race-swapping has done more harm than good to famous properties like the Superman franchise, and who in the right frame of mind wants to put money into the pockets of an awful writer like Tom Taylor?

 

 

The Comic Signal offers an expansive children’s section as well. Myers strongly believes in the power of getting kids involved at a young age.

“They’ve had so many studies that show that any reading, and reading comics, is good for your vocabulary,” says Myers. “It engages a lot more visual because you have the visuals there in front of you, which really kind of sparks your imagination to go on.”

 

Well it’s good somebody believes children should be able to give them a try, but I hope they realize there’s all sorts of propaganda out there now that’s inappropriate for children in the USA industry proper that almost makes some Japanese fare look tame by comparison. And if nobody’s willing to acknowledge that, they’re failing the medium.

 

Next, this article published on KRTV-3 says comicdom’s grown during the Corona pandemic:

 

As comic book movies made their way back onto the big screen last year, comic books themselves also saw huge growth.

Sales for adult graphic novels more than doubled in 2021, and one publisher said it was their biggest year ever.

“While television productions kind of shut down, the rise in reading and books and comics actually increased,” said Jessica Tsaeng, international comic book historian.

 

I just hope they don’t think it’s entirely due to mainstream superhero fare, given the dire state it’s been in for a long time. And say, what about that time the industry declared “pencils down” circa April 2020? Isn’t that the same as TV going on hiatus, along with some movie productions? The talk of “adult” GNs is pretty telling though, that there are adults reading, though not necessarily children. But, here’s where things get interesting:

 

Tsaeng credits the growing popularity of graphic novels to the pandemic, as well as the rise of comic book writers and artists from all over the world.

“There’s great comics from South America, Africa, Australia, India,” Tsaeng said. “I would love for more of a global love of it.”

The top-selling graphic novel from the beginning of 2021 was a volume of the Japanese superhero series My Hero Academia — which was also one of the most in-demand animes of the year.

Other experts say anime is one of the driving forces behind the growing popularity of graphic novels, and specifically Manga from Japan.

That subgenre of graphic novels saw a growth of 171% in 2021 compared to 2020, and that amounts to a little more than 24 million books sold last year. […]

“The rise of an increasing popularity of Manga and graphic novels is bringing our stores — our stores are just full of young people, and that’s exactly the demographic that you want in your stores.”

 

And what does that tell? What various other news outlets have admitted, that Japanese fare has overtaken USA fare in popularity, because they’re delivering the goods, though that obviously doesn’t mean they’re immune to political correctness. It all depends how firm the mangakas themselves are going to stand on specific positions in their creative process.

 

 

However, at the end of this article, they tell:

 

Some of this year’s most-anticipated graphic novels — including “Fine: A Comic About Gender” and “The High Desert: Black. Punk. Nowhere” — are throwing big spotlights on diversity.

 

Considering all the leftist propaganda that’s been coming out this past decade, that’s why anything with that kind of a title is surely best avoided and forgotten. Social justice propaganda stateside is just what’s bringing the medium down.

 

On the subject of stores, there’s also this report on Dayton Daily News about a new store for both comics and coffee in Miamisburg, and they parrot the ambiguous narrative:

 

Comic books are far more popular now than when he was younger, [Adam] Remillard said.

"I think with the success of the … Marvel Cinematic Universe, that has really helped with a new generation of readers of comic books who really want to get into it and see new and different stories from what they're seeing on the screen," he said.

 

Again, without sales figures, what good does this do to claim? For the millionth time, when sales are below 100,000 copies for pamphlets, and prices are more than 4-5 dollars, it doesn’t prove they’re winning over the masses coming from the movie theaters. A real shame some retailers are so lacking in confidence, they won’t acknowledge reality.

 

Originally published here

The post Examining Reports of a So-Called “Boom” in the Comics Industry appeared first on Bleeding Fool.

Charlie Cox Confirms He Will Return as Daredevil in the MCU

Posted: 28 Feb 2022 04:45 AM PST

 

Following his well-received cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home, the star of Netflix’s Daredevil is teasing the Marvel vigilante’s future exploits, suggesting that something is on the way very soon.

 

Speaking to the Radio Times, Charlie Cox says he doesn’t know how much he can tell about what’s next for Matt Murdock, but he assures fans that additional appearances are definitely on the way.

 

“I know something. I don’t know much, but I know there will be something else.”

 

The actor is either keeping things tight to his chest or is being kept in the dark by the studio, but for now, knowing that Charlie Cox’s iteration of the superhero will return is enough.

 

 

After making his Netflix debut as Matt Murdock in 2015, fans were devastated when the series was canceled after its third season in 2018, and the remaining Defenders shows were also cancelled.

 

Charlie Cox was reintroduced into the MCU during the first act of Spider-Man: No Way Home, no doubt due to the backlash from Marvel and Daredevil fans, with lawyer Matt Murdock brought in to help Tom Holland’s Peter Parker after his secret identity as Spider-Man is revealed to the world.

 

“I think at this point, I expect to be involved in some capacity," he said regarding his MCU future following the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home. "Otherwise, it would be a bit of a weird one-scene moment. I don’t know much, I know a little, and what I do know I’m very excited about…there's a chance it could be the next ten years of my life.”

 

Were you a fan of Cox’s portrayal of hornhead? Can the character support his own solo film or would you rather see him in another series?

The post Charlie Cox Confirms He Will Return as Daredevil in the MCU appeared first on Bleeding Fool.
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