Latest news with #JusticeLeague
Arab Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Arab Times
The villains steal the show in 'Fantastic Four: First Steps'
LOS ANGELES, July 24, (AP): More than six decades after Jack Kirby and Stan Lee created a superhero team to rival the Justice League, the Fantastic Four finally get a worthy big-screen adaptation in a spiffy '60s-era romp, bathed in retrofuturism and bygone American optimism. Though the Fantastic Four go to the very origins of Marvel Comics, their movie forays have been marked by missteps and disappointments. The first try was a Roger Corman-produced, low-budget 1994 film that was never even released. But, after some failed reboots and a little rights maneuvering, Matt Shakman's "The Fantastic Four: First Steps' is the first Fantastic Four movie released by Marvel Studios. And a sense of returning to Marvel roots permeates this one, an endearingly earnest superhero drama about family and heroism, filled with modernist "Jetsons' designs that hark back to a time when the future held only promise. "First Steps,' with a title that nods to Neil Armstrong, quickly reminds that before the Fantastic Four were superheroes, they were astronauts. Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm (a soulful Ebon Moss-Bachrach) flew into space but return altered by cosmic rays. "We came back with anomalies,' explains Reed, sounding like me after a family road trip. They are now, respectively, the bendy Mister Fantastic, the fast-disappearing Invisible Woman, the fiery Human Torch, and the Thing, a craggy CGI boulder of a man. In the glimpses of them as astronauts, the images are styled after NASA footage of Apollo 11, like those seen in the great documentaries "For All Mankind' and "Apollo 11.' But part of the fun of the Fantastic Four has always been that while the foursome might have the right stuff, they also bicker and joke and argue like any other family. The chemistry here never feels intimate enough in "First Steps' to quite capture that interplay, but the cast is good, particularly Kirby. In the first moments of "First Steps,' Sue sets down a positive pregnancy test before a surprised Reed. That night at dinner - Moss-Bachrach, now an uncle rather than a cousin, is again at work in the kitchen - Ben and Johnny immediately guess what's up. The rest of the world is also eager to find out what, if any, powers the baby will have. We aren't quite in our world, but a very similar parallel one called Earth-828. New York looks about the same, and world leaders gather in a version of the United Nations named the Future Foundation. The Thing wears a Brooklyn Dodgers cap. Someone sounding a lot like Walter Cronkite reads the news. And there's a lot to read when the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) suddenly hovers over the city, announcing: "I herald your end. I herald Galactus.' The TV blares, as it could on so many days: "Earth in Peril. Developing Story.' Yes, the Earth (or some Earth) might be in danger, but did you get a look at that Silver Surfer? That's Johnny Storm's response, and perhaps ours, too. She's all chrome, like a smelted Chrysler Building, with slicked-back hair and melancholy eyes. He's immediately taken by her, but she shoots off into space. In a rousing, NASA-like launch (the original Kirby and Lee comic came eight years before the moon landing), the Fantastic Four blast off into the unknown to meet this Galactus. But if the Silver Surfer made an impression, Galactus (voiced by Ralph Ineson) does even more so. Fantastic Four movies have always before gone straight for Doctor Doom as a villain, but his entrance, this time, is being held up for "Avengers: Doomsday.' Still, Galactus, a planet-eating tyrant, is no slouch. A mechanical colossus and evident fan of Fritz Lang's "Metropolis,' he sits on an enormous throne in space. Sensing enormous power in Sue's unborn child, he offers to spare Earth for the baby. What follows casts motherhood - its empowerments and sacrifices - onto a cosmic plane. There's a nifty chase sequence in space that plays out during contractions. The two "Incredibles' movies covered some similar ground, in both retro design and stretchy parent and superhuman baby, with notably more zip and comic verve than "The Fantastic Four.' That's part of the trouble of not getting a proper movie for so long: Better films have already come along inspired by the '60s comic. But as good as Vanessa Kirby is in "First Steps,' the movie is never better than when the Silver Surfer or Galactus are around. Shakman, a former child actor who's directed mostly in television (most relevantly, "WandaVision' ), proves especially adept at capturing the enormous scale of Galactus. "First Steps' may be, at heart, a kaiju movie. What it certainly is, though, is a very solid comic book movie. It's a little surface over substance, and the time capsule feeling is pervasive. This is an earnest-enough superhero movie where even the angry mob protesting the superheroes turns quiet and pensive. I was more likely to be moved by a really handsome chalkboard than I was by its vision of motherhood. But, especially for a superhero team that's never before quite taken flight on screen, "First Steps' is a sturdy beginning, with impeccable production design by Kasra Farahani and a rousing score by Michael Giacchino. Even if the unifying space-age spirit of Kirby and Lee's comic feels very long ago, indeed.
Geek Tyrant
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
BOOSTER GOLD TV Series Finally Moving Forward at DC Studios — GeekTyrant
After more than two years of waiting, the fan-favorite time-traveling superhero Booster Gold is officially making his way to the small screen. According to Deadline, DC Studios has greenlit a pilot episode for the series at HBO Max, bringing a cult comic book character into the spotlight. The project has landed David Jenkins, best known as the creator of HBO Max's pirate comedy-drama Our Flag Means Death , to write the pilot and serve as showrunner if the series gets a full-season order. Originally announced back in January 2023 during the DCU Chapter One slate reveal, the synopsis teased that the series will follow Booster Gold as he uses 'basic technology from the future to pretend to be a superhero in the present day.' Booster Gold's real name is Michael Jon Carter, a former football star from the 25th century who steals advanced technology and travels back in time. His mission? To reinvent himself as a celebrity superhero in our era. In the comics, Booster isn't just a self-promoter, he eventually becomes a trusted member of the Justice League. That Justice League is shaping up in the DCU too, featuring characters like Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Mister Terrific, who recently appeared in Superman , and they're bankrolled by Maxwell Lord, adding an interesting dynamic to the team's future. While we wait for Booster's big debut, DC fans have plenty to look forward to on HBO Max. Peacemaker Season 2, starring John Cena as the foul-mouthed antihero, drops on August 21. Further down the line, we have Lanterns , which is set for an early 2026 release. That series will follow Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) as they investigate a mysterious murder in Nebraska. With Jenkins at the helm and James Gunn's DCU vision in play, Booster Gold could bring a fresh, funny, and heartfelt tone to the superhero genre.
Geek Dad
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Dad
Review – Justice League Unlimited #9: Battle for Time
Justice League Unlimited #9 cover, via DC Comics. Ray: It's the aftermath of 'We Are Yesterday', and the big threat is resolved – but it's created a few dozen new perils for the League. Grodd has been captured, but his machinations have created a ripple that have left countless timelost heroes stranded in the present including Batman Beyond, Jonah Hex, and even the deceased Abin Sur. Additionally, new characters keep popping in and out – including a chaotic Harley Quinn who still loves her 'Mistah J'. The timeline is increasingly unstable, the anomalies are increasing, Air Wave is still missing and possibly dead, and everyone is worried about time paradoxes – except Mister Terrific, who has holed up in his lab with his past self as they try to figure out how to get Air Wave back to the present. Michael Holt once again proves that he's one of the DCU's best characters, but the past Terrific blinks out of existence just before he can reveal his findings. Mistah J. Via DC Comics. And as the chaos escalates, the heroes get an unexpected helping hand – from the Time Trapper, aka Doomsday, who has become an unlikely ally of Superman. He's brought with him the World Forger, a cosmic being who was linked to Perpetua and the Monitor. They both want to set things right – but they might need to claim Grodd's life to pull it off. Grodd wastes no time manipulating things in his favor, and it nearly sets off a war between the present-day heroes and the time-displaced ones. There is a lot going on in this issue, with a bunch of fantastic easter eggs and cameos through the issue, but the story is at its best as Holt tries to solve this puzzle and bring Air Wave back to the land of the living. The story of this abandoned kid who was manipulated by Grodd has been the emotional core of this run in many ways, and this issue brings the whole story full circle with style. To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week. GeekDad received this comic for review purposes. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
With Superman, James Gunn projects America's favourite superhero as an outcast, but that's not his sharpest comment on the country's politics
James Gunn has made a career out of telling the outcast's story. From his early films that went under the radar — the 2006 sci-fi horror comedy Slither and his 2010 maiden superhero movie Super — to his much-celebrated Marvel franchise Guardians of the Galaxy and DC debut The Suicide Squad, Gunn has even infiltrated the saturated superhero universes with oddball energy and subversive quirks. Who else could take America's favourite superhero and turn him into an outcast, an outsider, an 'immigrant,' as he put it. In fact, the first time Superman is addressed in Gunn's iteration, he's referred to as an 'alien.' Identity crisis is not new to Superman's conflicts. Even in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel (2013), Superman grappled with the idea of being an outsider, but that jostling is more internalized than external. In fact, it gets to the external in Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), when even the Caped Crusader turns on his future Justice League teammate and levels allegations of conspiracy against America on him. During the interval block, when Superman is on trial, and a suicide bomber destroys the court building in order to frame him, the lone survivor in him knows he'll be blamed for the explosion. But unlike Snyder, Gunn enjoys the unique position of straddling both DCEU and MCU. He took his signature lightness of touch, that made Guardians of the Galaxy so watchable, and showered it all over The Suicide Squad, making it stand out as a far cry from David Ayer's gruesome 2016 version. Sure, Snyder's gritty treatment made the internet demand his cut of Justice League (2021), but one shouldn't forget that the Guardians of the Galaxy cast also lobbied for Gunn to be reinstated as the threequel director even after he'd joined the rival gang in DC. Also, unlike Snyder, Gunn is able to focus more on the external than the internal because he's able to make his characters self-aware, unassuming, and not as holier than thou that they're often perceived to be. What jarred so much in a Snyder film — that Martha twist in Batman v Superman — could very well land in a Gunn world, with two more punches rolled in along with it for good effect. Gunn stamps his trademark creative motifs all over Superman — an exaggerated villain in Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor, a furry companion to the protagonist in Krypto, and allegiance with fellow anomalous superheroes in Justice Gang. Hawkeye, Green Lantern, and Metamorpho's warring of words with Superman make them a team trying to reconcile their eccentricities in order to meet the higher purpose of saving the day. It's no Guardians of the Galaxy, but the departure from a cohesive unit like Avengers or Justice League underlines the theme Gunn is trying to spotlight through his iteration. Gunn reflects an America where the big tech chief shapes and controls the narrative because he owns everything from the mainstream media, social media to search engine algorithms. Gunn's Elon Musk-like Luthor is dating a dumb-as-a-doorbell Instagram influencer. But again, in a James Gunn world, no outcast is disregarded as a tokenistic presence. The very influencer, who's considered merely a flowerpot in a room full of technologically proficient, advanced individuals, in fact turns out to be their Kryptonite. Even the one she's in cahoots with — a reporter who often goes unnoticed in the newsroom thanks to his everyman-ness — ends up using that very anonymity to gain an edge over America's gravest internal threat. Every life — a woman in a car, a girl crossing the road, and a dog barking at a life-sized monster — is accounted for. Superman spends most of his time and energy saving each and every one of them, instead of flagging the American stripes at the cost of civilian or individual casualties. That's why when Superman's past and origin are used as tools for his character assassination, his adoptive parents remind him of his strongest superpower — his choices. Even if his biological parents from Krypton sent him off to Earth to lord over the gullible and the less mighty, he chooses otherwise. It's only when he comes to terms with the fact that he's as human as the Earthlings — because he wrestles with self-doubt like the rest of them — that he makes Luthor confess to his real motive. Luthor wants to eliminate Superman because as a proud innovator, he wants to prove brain's supremacy over brawn. But what good is a brain if it wants to dumb the other brains down? What good is an insider if he betrays his nation for power? Similarly, what good is a peace-keeping nation if it engages in war to chase that idea of peace? Gunn invokes America's political irony in Superman, but he reserved his sharpest commentary for another character — Peacemaker. John Cena's anti-superhero was introduced in The Suicide Squad as a part of the squad who turns on his teammates on the order of US government stooge Viola Davis' orders. He claims his goal is to achieve peace at any cost, which involves even murdering people left, right, and centre. Like Superman, an outsider who makes America his own, Peacemaker is an insider who infests on his own country, both wearing irony as a cape. Peacemaker grabbed eyeballs for his evil turn in The Suicide Squad, but Gunn, having felt he gave the character a short strife, revives him in a spin-off show on HBO. The length of the format allowed Peacemaker to be presented as a full-blown, well-rounded character. Luthor, or even Superman, couldn't enjoy that because of Gunn's attempt to pack a host of themes and characters into two hours. In Peacemaker, Cena's character has a dad who looks and behaves like Uncle Sam and a bestie in Eagly, a bald eagle who's seen resting on Uncle Sam's arm in pop culture. His central conflict is to not get bogged down by Uncle Sam's pointy finger, but let the eagle guide his allegiance to a nation. An eagle preys, sure, but it also flies. It doesn't let its vision be confined to a country. Christopher Smith aka Peacemaker is the son of a white supremacist who injects his son's blood with racial lordship. Right from childhood, he's shamed for crying like a girl and banished for even harbouring an interest in rap and rock & roll, gifts of the Blacks to the land of America. Smith is hardened to an extent that he doesn't even realize when he accidentally punches his brother to death in a casual, childhood brawl. But because his father blames him for his brother's death, Smith's gnawing guilt sabotages his latent will to do better. He doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps and engage in war in the name of his nation. All he wants is peace — but the years of conditioning compels him to resort to violence as the path to peace. He becomes a vulture circling his past, even when he wants to chase the dove of peace. While internally, he needs to save America from ingrained white supremacy, externally also, he has to save the world from a rather absurd threat — butterflies taking over human bodies and serving as the hosts in order to bring a new world order. Transformation is in the DNA of a butterfly, so when one of them convinces Peacemaker to join forces because he also desires a better planet, he shakes off the toxic temptation to control and thwarts the threat. His internal journey meets his external — Chris Smith becomes one with Peacemaker, one who wants peace for all, and not peace for the immediate at the cost of war for the other. Also Read — Superman: James Gunn's idea of an India-coded country is regressive and riddled with stereotypes; the Man of Steel wouldn't stand for it This journey felt far too rushed in Superman. The external also weighed heavy on the internal, as is the case with many of these superhero tentpoles. Gunn managed to paint Superman as the ultimate outsider, but his protagonist was too busy saving the world to go on through that internal metamorphosis without spelling it out in dialogues like he does in his final battle scene against Luthor. He announces himself as a human, but the fact is no human proclaims he's one. He just makes peace with the fact that he's no peacemaker; he's just a man battling demons within to choose peace, every day.
NBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- NBC News
Trisha Paytas makes waves with unique name of baby no. 3
Trisha Paytas has revealed the aquatic-themed name of her third child — Aquaman Moses. Some fans had guessed Triton, Percy Jackson or Splash, and they weren't that far off. The celebrity YouTuber selected Aquaman Moses for her newborn son, she announced during an episode of her podcast 'Just Trish' on July 22. Paytas welcomed baby number three on July 12. The influencer already has two daughters with her husband Moses Hacmon, Malibu Barbie, 2, and Elvis, 1. She revealed the name by unzipping a hoodie sweatshirt to reveal a pink, bedazzled Aquaman t-shirt. 'It's Aquaman, and I said it loud and proud in the C-section room,' Paytas said. Paytas gained fame for her YouTube career, and made her Broadway debut earlier this year. The celebrity has inspired conspiracy theories online — the 'Trisha Paytas Baby Curse' —with people speculating that her kids are reincarnated celebrities. During her podcast, Paytas explained her connection to the name Aquaman Moses. She said she and Hacmon wanted a water-related name. She added that anyone who has known her for a while knows she has loved the Aquaman franchise and said she was 'shocked' more people didn't guess the name. She added the name felt fated, as she noticed that a doctor's office she recently visited had an Aquaman poster hanging on the wall. She also shared that she has always loved the Aquaman comic book character and the 'Justice League' movies. When she rewatched the movie with Hacmon, Paytas said, the decision was sealed. 'I really fell in love when we rewatched Aquaman,' Paytas said. 'Watching the movie we got so many goosebumps,' Hacmon agreed. 'It was like watching our baby.' Leading up to the name announcement, Paytas ruled out fan's name guesses such as Poseidon, Nemo and Atlantis. She listed the names she considered but didn't select, including Watersnake, Waterworld, Aladdin and Papermate. In a July 8 TikTok video, Paytas also said she considered the names Lemon, Squeezie, Squooshie and Rainbow Sherbert. Paytas also opened up about her birth story, which she described as 'surprising and traumatic.' Paytas shared during the podcast episode that her third pregnancy was a 'the shock of the century,' and while she was 'thankful,' it was 'dangerous' for her. She said she plans not to have any more children. 'I did get my tubes out' during the C-section, she shared. 'I feel so good about the decision,' Paytas said. She said she chose to share the choice with followers because of how often people ask when she will have her next baby. 'Don't ask about people's next babies,' Paytas added. 'Because there's a lot of reasons people might not have babies, so be cautious with your words.'
