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Geek Tyrant
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY - What's Going On With Ned Leeds and the Rumored Villain? — GeekTyrant
There's a couple of new rumors swinging in around regarding Spider-Man: Brand New Day , and if you've been wondering about what is going on with Ned Leeds or who Spidey might be up against in the movie, there's a couple rumors to chew on. Let's start with Jacob Batalon's Ned. While he played a main role of the first three films, it sounds like he'll be taking a back seat in the next film. According to inside scooper MTTSH, 'Batalon's Ned Leeds only makes a cameo in the most recent draft of the script.' Given how No Way Home ended with Peter erased from everyone's memory, I guess it makes sense he would move on. The franchise is shifting toward new territory, and it looks like Ned's off the board, at least for now. Brand New Day is sure to introduce a whole new supporting cast centered around Peter's college life. That pivot includes speculation around who the next villain might be. The name rumored is Mr. Negative. The reports around Mr. Negative picked up after Marvel's Spider-Man video game actor Stephen Oyoung was asked if he'd been contacted about a live-action version of the character. His answer was vague, saying: 'I have not been contacted by Sony. Let me just say I know certain things, but as far as contacting me, that is yet to manifest itself,' Oyoung said. 'I have sort of a nebulous idea, but I also kind of have no idea. Marvel, and gaming, and Sony. There are so many big parts. There is so much machinery to this that even if I did know, I couldn't tell you if I wanted to. 'What I can say, though, is, again, I am hopeful, very, very hopeful. Personally, I think there is a pretty good chance you will see Mr. Negative in the future in some sort of media, whether it is me or not.' Word is that Into the Badlands star Daniel Wu is now the frontrunner to play Mr. Negative, and there are even claims of concept art featuring his likeness. While the first three MCU Spidey films weren't directly named after comic arcs, Brand New Day is. In the comics, that storyline follows Peter rebuilding his life after the status-reshuffling events of One More Day and Civil War . With No Way Home ending on a similarly life-altering note, this next chapter could draw from that same well, even if the adaptation is more spiritual than literal. Some fans are speculating that Sadie Sink may have joined the cast as either Carlie Cooper or Lily Hollister, aka the villain Menace. Neither character is confirmed, but Brand New Day offers plenty of room for reinvention. There's also a rumored synopsis making the rounds, which reads: 'Following the events of Doomsday, Peter Parker is determined to lead a normal life and focus on college, stepping back from his responsibilities as Spider-Man. 'However, peace is short-lived when a deadly new threat emerges, endangering his friends and forcing Peter to reconsider his promise. With stakes higher than ever, Peter reluctantly returns to his Spider-Man identity and finds himself teaming up with an unlikely ally to protect those he loves.' While the synopsis doesn't give much away, the 'unlikely ally' line has triggered a fresh round of theories—some think it could be Sink's character, others are hoping for a surprise twist from the broader MCU. Director Destin Daniel Cretton teased what's ahead during CinemaCon: 'I'm spending my time exploring the next stage of this amazing character with a team of the most incredible artists in the world. We're all, just daily, nerding out over the suit, how to swing, how to create an event, an emotional story, and a ride that we haven't really seen before.' Tom Holland, who's busy filming Christopher Nolan's Odysseus, chimed in with a quick video message: 'I am so sorry I can't be with you. I am halfway around the world shooting a movie. I know we left you with a massive cliffhanger at the end of No Way Home, so Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a fresh start. It is exactly that. That's all I can say.' Production kicks off in August, and the film was recently shifted to a new release date: July 31, 2026.
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Korea Herald
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
[Kim Seong-kon] Out of the 'Badlands' and into a 'Dreamland'
These days, we are witnessing some extraordinary global crises: territorial disputes, trade wars and ideological clashes. Many of us are worried about severe inflation and the sharp increase in prices. Others are concerned about the worldwide decline of democracy and the prospect of Orwellian societies looming everywhere. Suffice to say, many of us feel that our future has become nebulous and grim. Recently, I watched a television drama that mirrors our present and foretells our possible future. It was a 2015 American TV series titled 'Into the Badlands,' a futuristic, post-apocalyptic drama that depicts the world five hundred years from now after it is completely ruined by war. The narrator says, 'They destroyed themselves because they had no way to control the power they unleashed.' In the drama, human beings have degenerated into primitive tribes who fight with swords and crossbows. In a territory called the Badlands, several feudal states have developed, ruled by tyrannical barons. People there live in an authoritarian society that demands absolute loyalty to their baron, who seeks total power and control. Among the states, there are endless territorial disputes, trade wars over drugs and fuel, and ideological conflicts. Naturally, the states are divided by an 'us and them' mentality of antagonism toward one another. 'The Badlands' presciently depicts the predicament of our world today. The Widow, one of the barons, leads an antifeudal campaign and opens her territory as a sanctuary for escapees from other states. To accomplish her grand cause, however, she cannot avoid battles with other barons and thus causes many warriors to die. Then one day, she wonders, 'I told myself it was for the greater good. But what if it wasn't? What if I've become the monster I swore to defend them from?' Our ideologically oriented politicians should ask themselves the same question, because they do not seem to hesitate to sacrifice others for their ideologies, which they believe are for the 'greater good.' They also believe 'the ends justify the means' and that collateral damage is inevitable in the pursuit of a grand cause. Such firm convictions eventually lead to a self-righteousness that makes them believe they are always right, whatever they do. Indeed, when fighting a tyrant, it is easy to become a tyrant oneself. In "Badlands," there are those who have dark energy inside them that turns them into black-eyed, ferocious killing machines when they get angry or see their own blood spilled. Blinded by hate, they attack others in madness. Naturally, the barons want to use these people as lethal weapons to win wars with other states. Originally, this ability was considered a 'gift' for healing the injured, but they mistook it for a tool for revenge. In our real world, we can also find people who become easily enraged and vengeful when provoked or offended. Such extremists are prone to manipulation by belligerent politicians. The Totemists and some other people in the Badlands believe there is a utopian city called Azra outside the Badlands. Thus, they set out on a journey to find the mythical city. Their leader is a pseudoreligious man called the Pilgrim, who is, in fact, another self-righteous, power-wielding tyrant who pretends that he is both God and the Messiah. He calls himself a liberator and savior, while condemning others as 'heretics.' He does not tolerate differences and kills those who do not believe in him. Under the pretext of rebuilding the lost utopian city, he and his black-eyed warriors attack the Badlands and massacre innocent people. His religion has become a dogmatic ideology. The Pilgrim reminds us of some of our political leaders whose ideologies have become religions to them. The series illustrates that choosing the wrong leader destroys not only our lives but also our country. The wrong leader can be either an autocratic tyrant or a phony preacher who deludes himself that he can resuscitate an already failed and obsolete ideology that he believes will save the world. Both will take us down the wrong path, and we all will have to suffer the consequences. In 'Badlands,' people do not welcome pregnancy because they see a bleak future. However, the Widow, who is pregnant, decides to give birth to her baby because 'children can be a new beginning.' Sagely, she says, 'We should teach our children not to make the same mistakes we made.' These days, the world seems to be turning into the Badlands. Young people are reluctant to have children because of the uncertain future, and their elders either hate and fight one another out of prejudice or join the 'panic buying' madness, worrying about drastic rises in prices. As a result, we feel that we are going through another pandemic frenzy. Indeed, fears, ideologies and racial biases in our world are as contagious and harmful as the COVID-19 virus. Nevertheless, we will overcome this crisis, too -- and prevail. We should build a Dreamland for our children, instead of stumbling mindlessly into the nightmarish Badlands.
