Comic Years |
- The Fallout 76 2022 Roadmap Proves That The Franchise Lives
- DC Comics NFTs Explained – Superheroes Jump Into Blockchain Ecosystem
- Moon Knight Easter Egg – QR Code In Premiere Episode Gives You A Free Comic
- Daredevil MCU Canon – The Debate Might Be Over
- Renew Batwoman Trends As Fans Rally Demanding The CW Continue The Series
- The Morbius Opening Box Office Numbers Are Here and They’re Better Than the Reviews
| The Fallout 76 2022 Roadmap Proves That The Franchise Lives Posted: 04 Apr 2022 12:05 AM PDT Anyone looking for the Fallout 76 2022 roadmap knows a secret — this is a pretty good game. This poor, put-upon prequel to the handsome, dashing Fallouts 3, 4, and New Vegas, Fallout 76 had a wobbly start in 2018. However, it long ago became a worthy addition to the series’ post-apocalyptic canon. You want nukes? Fallout 76 will let you launch them. You want a bevy of creative monsters, and disturbing environmental storytelling? Got that, too. The game always featured a gorgeous backdrop of West Virginia forests and mountains. Now, its mix of real humans and NPCs is nicely balanced. You can wave to a new friend, and have dialogue with a cool robotic one. You can wander alone, or you can team up with other humans and fight a fearsome mutated bat, or an army of super mutants. Casual gamers may have given up on Fallout 76 years ago, but surprisingly, Bethesda has not. They even recently hired the UK developer Double Eleven to work on additional content. Though the game wasn't quite as dire as some people claim when it began, it was a disappointing collection of quests ending in robots, or sad notes on dead bodies. Subsequently, the 2020 Wastelanders expansion was the shot in the arm the game needed. Turns out that even a game that includes other human beings things don't feel right without other, non-hostile NPC humans as well.  Image courtesy of Bethesda Softworks After Fallout 76 brought back humans in Wastelanders, the game added scoreboards and seasons with rewards. They added more game events, and even annual holidays such as the real-world celebration Fastnacht, and "Meat Week" with its friendly super mutant and his friendly, two-headed cow. Bowing to fan love for those power armor-clad anti-heroes, Bethesda even released a Brotherhood of Steel DLC in 2020. The 2022 Fallout Roadmap brings new content Image Courtesy of Bethesda Softworks Bethesda's plans for the Fallout 76 2022 roadmap include two weeks of alien invasion earlier in the year, "Invaders from Beyond." That added scary UFOs and swarms of little green men to the map in varying locations. In summer, players will get to try "Test Your Metal" with a robot invasion. Autumn brings back a familiar location, "The Pitt," which was a DLC in Fallout 3. Fallout 76, however, is set almost 200 years before that. This means that fans who played Fallout 3 can play Fallout 76 to see how the former Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania fell into such dire, post-apocalyptic shape in 3. Finally, in winter, another familiar location, but this time it comes to Appalachia —Nuka World, first seen in a Fallout 4 DLC, sends a traveling road show. The Fallout 2022 roadmap includes new rewards, seasons, events, and later in the year, a new big boss to join the likes of the Scorchbeast Queen, Earl the Wendigo, and the Sheepsquatch. Fallout 76 is far from perfect. Bethesda provokes controversy over its sometimes-for-real money Atom Shop. They have made more than a few shoddy merch manufacturing decisions. There are bugs in Fallout 76 still. You can almost always depend on notifications for events, or for rewards after events to pop up at a weird time. But the game is eminently playable, and it feels like a true Fallout game, even as it opens up the lore and adds new tragically irradiated creatures. None of the DLCs or updates have cost extra. If you bought the game, you own its future content. And due to its sour reputation, that $60 release day price has been known to dip pretty low. Fallout 3, 4, and 76 ‘Ruined’ the Franchise! Image courtesy of Bethesda Softworks There is plenty of debate over the state of the franchise all over Youtube, Fallout subreddits, and social media. Some people think Fallout 76 is an insult to nuclear war, but plenty of other people thought Fallout 4 was, too. Famously, there was a cranky web forum called No Mutants Allowed that only liked the original Fallout and Fallout 2. As soon as things went 3D and non isometric, it was all over for these video game luddites. Once the Fallout television show hits Amazon Prime, undoubtedly some no fun people will claim that it has ruined the franchise as well. But in the meantime, what's the secret of Fallout? The secret is that they're good games, Brent. The Fallout games contain gorgeous, spooky environments, from the deserts of the southwest, to the cities of Boston, and DC, to the mountains of West Virginia. If retro-future, nukes, scares, and kitsch in your sandbox sounds appealing, play them all. (Play the isometric ones, too.) The negativity around Fallout 76 is reflected in mediocre Metacritic scores, and worse user reviews. But whether or not you bought it upon release, and threw it away, or you were scared off by the backlash, Fallout 76 is now a valued part of the family. Do you play any of the Fallout games? Are you excited about Fallout 5, or the Amazon Prime TV show? Will you try out the 2022 Fallout 76 roadmap? Let us know in the comments. Featured image courtesy of Bethesda Softworks The Fallout 76 2022 Roadmap Proves That The Franchise Lives |
| DC Comics NFTs Explained – Superheroes Jump Into Blockchain Ecosystem Posted: 03 Apr 2022 09:30 PM PDT As announced at DC FanDome, publisher DC comics has now launched its collection of NFTs, a significant step for both the legendary publisher and the NFT industry. DC Comics has partnered with Palm NFT Studio, a company specializing in introducing projects and platforms to the Palm ecosystem, supporting and collaborating with artists, creatives, rights holders, and marketplaces. But what is this collection all about? If you are a DC Comic books fan but are not familiar with this new digital industry, you probably didn’t know about its existence. Here we will explain it to you. DC Comics Enters the Blockchain TechnologyWith the launch of this collection by Palm NFT, DC Comics has officially jumped into this cutting-edge industry, which is currently making a big splash. The President of DC Entertainment, Jim Lee, has been in charge of selecting the NFTs launched by DC. It was an initiative associated with the DC fandom to encourage users to register on the official DCFanDome.com event website. Since October 5, registered users have had free access to one NFT and a second to those who shared the information on social media. The DC Comics NFTs collection includes superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman and characters like Harley Quinn. Palm NFT Studios offered the possibility of collecting comic book covers according to their rarity level. These NFTs range between different issues of each characters’ comic book cover.  Image via DC Comics Some of the NFTs include common, as in the case of Wonder Woman by George Perez, rare, such as #1 Nubia and the Amazons by Alitha Martinez, and legendary NFTs, such as Wonder Woman #1 from 2021 by author Jenny Frison. New Batman NFT: the Bat Cowl CollectionLess than a week ago, Warner Bros. Consumer Products, in collaboration with Palm NFT and DC, announced the imminent release of NFTs, the Bat Cowl Collection. This collection is the most extensive compilation of the character to date, boasting an incredible 200,000 NFTs of Batman’s cowl, influenced by 83 years of DC’s Batman and rendered in 3D. The official launch of this collection is scheduled for next April 26, 2022, and users who already own DC FanDome NFTs will have access to the presale exclusively. On the website, we can see the pieces that will go on sale in 3D format with a countdown of the days remaining until the Batman cowls go on sale. According to Jim Lee, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer for DC, "What's exciting about this amazing collaboration is that we are continuing the evolution of his distinctive Bat Cowl by bringing it into the modern digital world, making it accessible and more wildly engaging than ever before.” The world of NFTs has already made its way into gaming and is now reaching all areas. Art is one of the fields where this new technology has more depth, as many artists have opted to sell their art digitally, leaving aside the traditional physical pieces. Now, fans of DC superheroes will be able to own their non-fungible tokens related to this universe. You can be the owner of an item from the Bat Cowl Collection NFT for USD 300 each. Fans can obtain all upgrades on nft.dcuniverse.com. Are you ready to put your hands on one of these DC Comics NFTs? We want to read your thoughts. Featured Image via DC Comics DC Comics NFTs Explained – Superheroes Jump Into Blockchain Ecosystem |
| Moon Knight Easter Egg – QR Code In Premiere Episode Gives You A Free Comic Posted: 03 Apr 2022 08:39 PM PDT Comic book adaptations are notorious for containing Easter eggs. Sometimes they have plot threads from other movies within that shared universe, such as Odin’s weapons vault in Thor. Other times, they provide nuggets of awesomeness from the comics that have nothing to do with the plot. For instance, Cosmo the Spacedog’s appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy. However, there’s one unlike any we’ve seen yet in the newest Marvel Comics adaptation, Moon Knight. This Easter Egg is actually a QR code that gives you a classic Moon Knight comic, Werewolf By Night #32, for the low price of free. QR Code Unlocks a Classic Moon Knight Comic (Image: Disney+, modified) Marvel’s alabastrine garbed vigilante, Moon Knight, made his live-action debut on Disney+ on March 30. The series stars Golden Globe Award Winner Oscar Isaac as Steven Grant, a man with dissociative identity disorder. The show opened to mostly positive reviews, receiving an 87% aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes. People flooded social media feeds for a good week with discussions about the pilot episode. Primarily, these discussions encompassed every piece of comic lore stitched into the fabric of the narrative. One Moon Knight Easter egg that even hardcore fans couldn’t have predicted – a “blink, and you’ll miss it” QR code on a wall. All you have to do is open the camera on your phone and point it at the screen during this scene. But where does this QR code take you? A comic book classic you can read for free. Werewolf By Night Issue 32 Featured the First Appearance of Moon Knight (Image: Marvel Comics) Werewolf By Night #32 was published on August 1, 1975. The book was written by prolific author Doug Moench and drawn and inked by the Perlin brothers. Additionally, it was adorned with a cover by comic legends Gil Kane and Al Milgrom. The book features the very first appearance of Moon Knight. The titular character, Jack Russell, was the victim of a lycanthropy curse in his bloodline, causing werewolf transformations. In this particular story, a secret organization paid the vigilante ten thousand dollars to bring Russell in alive. Moon Knight battered the Werewolf with several weapons made of silver, a bane of the Werewolf. Of course, this comic was the perfect comic to give to the audience. At the same time, it’s a marketing tactic studios and publishers should have utilized for decades. Moon Knight debuts new episodes Wednesday on Disney+Would more free comics help or hurt the industry? Do you want to read Moon Knight comic stories or just discover the character in the show? Let us know what you think below! (Featured Image: Disney+) Moon Knight Easter Egg – QR Code In Premiere Episode Gives You A Free Comic |
| Daredevil MCU Canon – The Debate Might Be Over Posted: 03 Apr 2022 01:45 PM PDT We live in a golden age of superhero series thanks to Disney+ productions of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a series format that connects with the movies. However, fans are still wondering if Daredevil is MCU Canon. In 2015, the Daredevil series premiered as highly acclaimed by fans due to its rawness, realism, character treatment, and stunts. In retrospect, many fans now appreciate this series’ quality, which Netflix canceled in 2018, and have nothing to envy for the new Disney+ productions. That is why many wonder if Matt Murdock’s adventures will have continuity in the catalog of the Disney+ series, especially if what we have already seen of the character can be considered canon. The Defenders MCU Debate is Still OngoingWe’ve recently had two brilliant introductions of characters from this series into the MCU. If you haven’t seen Spider-Man No Way Home or the Hawkeye series, watch out because spoilers are coming. In December 2021, we had the acclaimed appearance of the legendary villain Kingpin in the final episode of the Hawkeye series and the appearance of Matt Murdock as Peter Parker’s lawyer in Spider-Man No Way Home. In what was a masterful move for Marvel, we could see two Daredevil characters making appearances in the MCU almost simultaneously.  image via Netflix From this moment on, fan speculation began about whether they were the characters we had seen on Netflix and if they now belonged in the MCU. One of the first to fan the flame of this debate was actor Vincent D’Onofrio, who gave life to Kingpin in the Daredevil series and claimed that the character who appeared in Hawkeye was the same as in the Netflix series. To these characters, we should add those who make up the so-called DefendersVerse, formed by Daredevil, The Punisher, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. All these characters shared a universe within the Netflix fiction, and it isn’t easy to reference Daredevil without the rest of the characters coming up. Series Canon Confirmation on Marvel’s Official WebsiteWhat many consider to be an official confirmation of the shared universe of Daredevil and the MCU is the character biography on the Marvel website. Let’s look at the character biography of Daredevil in the on-screen complete report section. We can see the entire story that unfolded in the Netflix series until the last paragraph, where it refers to the events of Spider-Man No Way Home. As is happening sometime after the plot of the series: “Sometime later, Matt was hired as an attorney to defend Peter Parker, as Peter had been publicly outed as Spider-Man and accused of Mysterio’s murder. Though Peter was legally cleared of any wrongdoing, Matt warned him he’d still have to face the court of public opinion and advised Harold “Happy” Hogan to hire a good lawyer.”  Image via Netflix However, suppose we do the same with Kingpin’s character. In that case, the biography develops only references the end of Kingpin’s participation in the Daredevil series without mentioning the events in the Hawkeye series. Waiting for an Official Statement from the MCU’s LeadershipAt this point, it seems that we cannot categorically state that the DefendersVerse characters will be part of the MCU, despite what we can read about Daredevil on Marvel’s official website. However, fans are eager to see this team on screen again in the hand of Disney+. On the one hand, the rumors arose due to the photos uploaded by hairstylist Melanie Jacobs, of actress Krysten Ritter, with a look very similar to Jessica Jones, which drove fans crazy. On the other hand, actor Finn Jones from Iron Fist uploaded a story to his Instagram account where he is seen training to gain muscle mass.  Image Via Instagram You can stream all the Marvel TV and Netflix series now on Disney+Could it be that Kevin Feige has decided to make Daredevil MCU canon? Are you excited to see Matt Murdock or Kingpin in future MCU projects? Tell us in the comments. Featured Image Via Netflix
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| Renew Batwoman Trends As Fans Rally Demanding The CW Continue The Series Posted: 03 Apr 2022 12:03 PM PDT Over the weekend, fans of Batwoman rallied on Twitter and social media, hoping to convince the CW to renew the series starring Javica Leslie. Recently, a number of the CW DC superhero shows have been granted renewals, including The Flash and Superman and Lois. Yet, as the third season of Batwoman hits HBO Max, folks who enjoy this TV version of Gotham City hope to see the CW renew the show for season 4. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, your humble correspondent here is totally in the tank for this show. Not only do I enjoy it a great deal, I think it is an important series for kids and adult because of the quality of storytelling and the representation on the screen. In fact, I tweeted as much yesterday, with a signal boost from Batwoman herself.
So, let's talk about why the CW should renew Batwoman, which feels strange to even write as anything but a certainty. With The Batman currently the biggest movie of 2022, and even more Bat-family related projects in the works – from video games like Gotham Knights to the CW series Gotham Knights. In the comic books, Kate Kane is the cousin of Bruce Wayne and Batwoman, thus a literal part of the Bat-family. However, Ryan Wilder, as played by Javicia Leslie, also is part of the Bat-family, even though she's never technically met Bruce Wayne. In all the adaptations, Bruce Wayne suits up as Batman to create a symbol larger than any one person. This Batwoman – along with Camrus Johnson as Luke Fox A.K.A. Batwing – is proof that Bruce's mission was a success. Regardless of where Earth-Prime's Bruce Wayne is, Ryan Wilder carries on his Bat-legacy as Gotham City's protector. And she does it with style. Why the CW Should Renew Batwoman and How HBO Max May Help (or Hurt) Image via the CW When it comes to these sorts of genre stories featuring iconic character archetypes there are two things to consider. The first is how "good" (subjective as that may be) is the adaptation. The second is what "good" does the adaptation do for pop culture. While Batwoman may have gotten off to a bit of a rocky start, that was always about social media politics and never about the quality of the show. Once original Kate Kane, Ruby Rose, left the show, that should have been it for the series. Yet, in an ambitious move (and one I didn't initially agree with), they cast Javicia Leslie as Ryan Wilder, a new character to don the cape and cowl. Instead of signaling the end of a show before it started, it gave Batwoman a new beginning.
A huge part of every Batman story is how the trauma in billionaire Bruce Wayne's life motivated him to become the Dark Knight. While Ryan's life has been no walk in the Gotham Central Park, she is nonetheless a hero. She became what Matt Reeves' Dark Knight did at the end of The Batman: not a symbol of vengeance but a symbol of hope. As fun as the tortured Dark Knight story is, we've seen that again and again. A Bat-hero who is motivated less by revenge and more by a sense of duty to care for the city is a fresh take on the archetype. Again, these shows are ultimately melodramatic morality plays for kids with no small amount of bait for shippers. Yet, the result is a story that fans of all ages and backgrounds can enjoy. Yet, for fans of some backgrounds, this might be the most important Bat-story out there. As Javicia Leslie said to the AP in 2021:
This series is led by LGBT+ characters of color, which while more common today is still something of a rarity. For folks of a certain age, we can recognize this and celebrate it. What's even more amazing and powerful is that kids today may not recognize this. They will enter the world believing that "superheroes" look like everyone around them. Men, women, LGBT or straight, and from every ethnic background can be the hero. What Black Panther did for the movies in 2018, Batwoman (and Naomi and Legends of Tomorrow) does each week on TV, for the low price of FREE.
The CW should renew Batwoman simply because it is a fun superhero adaptation that tells entertaining stories with a fully-realized world. However, they should also do it because it makes the world of superheroes more accurately reflect the world today. For all the problems that remain, we are an integrated society where our neighbors and friends come from all walks of life. Because of the unconscious way bias and prejudice manifests in society, it sometimes takes work for people to overcome that. When kids grow up with epic mythical tales about heroes from various backgrounds and perspectives, that work gets so easy a place of tolerance and acceptance becomes the default. The Business of TV and Movies Affects the Bat-Family Image via the CW As Warner Bros. continues its merger with Discovery Media, the CW network is also up for sale. Throughout the history of the CW, the network has not turned a profit. Yet, joint owners WarnerMedia and ViacomCBS use this network as place to air new series aimed at pre-teens through young adults. The real money comes from licensing these shows out for either syndication or, in today's streaming world, places like Netflix or Warner Bros.' own HBO Max. These DC on the CW series create morality plays for young people and help build the next generation of superhero obsessives. Yet, for the parent companies, it's all about the bottom line.
Part of the reason, I believe, that Superman and Lois exists is because Warner Bros. is taking a break from Kal-El on the big screen. Sure, Henry Cavill may come back as Superman in small doses, but it does seem like Sasha Calle's Supergirl is the go-to Kryptonian for the DCEU. And that's okay, because Kara Zor-El deserves her time on the big-screen, especially since the great Supergirl TV series ended. When we do get a new Superman in the movies, he will look different and have different experiences than the more traditional Kal-El as played by Tyler Hoechlin. Yet, with Batman on the big-screen and not coming to TV anytime soon, Batwoman is even more important. We get to see street-level Dark Knight stories that don't involve the utter destruction of Gotham City. We can have our Batman in the movies, and still see the stories we love about that character via Batwoman, who is an equally valid and exciting superhero. Even if Batman and Batwoman never meet up on screen, kids who identify with one character or the other will imagine adventures on adventures with the two figures in their play. Not only is that a good thing because kids need superhero stories, it's a smart business decision for WB because it will create the next generation of superhero obsessives. If you want to help convince the CW to renew Batwoman, stream season 3 on HBO Max.What do you think? Why do you think the CW should renew Batwoman and what is your favorite part of this show? Share your thoughts, reactions, and hopes for the future in the comments below. Featured image via Warner Bros. Renew Batwoman Trends As Fans Rally Demanding The CW Continue The Series |
| The Morbius Opening Box Office Numbers Are Here and They’re Better Than the Reviews Posted: 03 Apr 2022 10:43 AM PDT Dr. Michael Morbius was always going to have a challenging journey to the big screen. It isn’t the easiest to adapt, especially considering the differences in tone to the Marvel adaptations that came before it. But the various COVID-19 related delays gave the film a lengthy advertising campaign and fans were tired of the trailers long before it would find its way to a release date. It finally premiered earlier this week, and it’s time to see how well it did. The Morbius opening box office numbers are better than we would have expected but don’t expect them to hold up. How Are The Opening Box Office Numbers For Morbius?Morbius, the Living Vampire, is a scientist that is desperate to cure his rare blood disease. He will eventually find a cure, but it’s one that will afflict him with vampirish side effects. The film, appropriately titled, deals with his descent into superpowered morals, and he must decide what kind of powered person he would like to be. The box office opening weekend numbers for Morbius are in line with what we could have expected. Domestically, the film earned $39.1 million. Internationally, it found $44.9 million. The film stands at $84 million after its opening weekend. The film only cost Sony and Marvel a pretty $75 million penny, which is low for superhero movies these days. Comparatively, Venom cost as much as $116 million back in 2018. However, it did fare much better at the opening box office, pulling in an excellent and unexpected $80 million domestically.  Venom, Sony’s other box office champion. Image via Sony Pictures Why Is Morbius Making Less?Plenty of comic book adaptations have been incredible box office draws these days, and the power is undeniable after Spider-Man: No Way Home got close to $2 billion. So, why are we calling the opening box office numbers for Morbius acceptable? We can get the COVID-19 excuse out of the way. While the world continues to open up, many places are in new waves of infection. This means that some people are still hesitant to return to the theater, which is more than fair. Studios wouldn’t have expected pre-pandemic numbers, but they also wouldn’t expect it to hurt as much as it did in 2020 and 2021. The reason that $39.1 million seems acceptable is that it doesn’t compare to the horrible reviews that the film is getting. Our Comic Years reaction to Morbius wasn’t quite as negative as some other responses. Our editor, Joshua M. Patton, calls it a fun film that, ultimately, forgets the comic book formula that’s been proven to work. Elsewhere, Morbius looks unwatchable. The film holds a 17% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes (compared to a much better 70% audience score.) It has a C+ on CinemaScore. This marks one of the lowest scores for a superhero movie, beating only 2015’s Fantastic Four.  Image via Sony Pictures The Opening Box Office Numbers Will Be Higher Than What’s To ComeFew things will stop superhero fans from going to the theater to celebrate the opening weekend of a movie. No number of terrible reviews will be so much as a bump in the road. But it will stop those who consider themselves more casual fans, or who aren’t up to date with where the film falls in the Marvel movie lineup. The film does exist in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, rather than the official MCU lineup, but that doesn’t mean they won’t keep crossing paths down the road. Our predictions estimate that the film will have a serious drop by the end of its second weekend. It hasn’t been long since Black Widow saw a massive drop on its second weekend, losing 67% of its ticketholders. A drop of this size would leave Morbius finding closer to $13 million next weekend. We aren’t sure if it’ll be that severe, but a drop of at least 60% seems believable. Does a terrible box office turnout hurt the chances of the character returning? It might mean that the studio is less excited about a direct sequel. However, nothing stops the future plans of Sony, and especially not Marvel. We never expect a character to turn up only once these days, so we won’t be surprised to see him in various films to come. Though, he might not be the lead. Morbius Is Currently In Theaters.Have you helped the opening box office numbers by going to see Morbius in theaters yet? If you’re going to wait for Morbius to hit streaming services but don’t want to miss out on how it connects to the larger franchise, check out our spoiler-filled rundown on the post-credit scenes. Featured image via Sony Pictures Releasing. The Morbius Opening Box Office Numbers Are Here and They're Better Than the Reviews |
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