Latest news with #TorontoComicon
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
WHAM! KAPOW! BAM!: Canadian Superhero Sticks It To Trump In New Comic Book
Canadians are fighting Donald Trump's trade war in more ways than one — including superhero Captain Canuck, who's grabbing the U.S. president by his blazer on the cover of a new comic book. The superhero, co-created by cartoonist Ron Leishman along with artist and writer Richard Comely nearly 50 years ago, wags his finger at the U.S. president on a new issue seen at Toronto Comicon this past weekend. The art is in response to Trump's tariffs and his threats of making America's northern neighbor the 51st state, fueling a rise in patriotism in Canada. 'Captain Canuck is chastising Trump, basically just telling him, 'No way. This is ridiculous. What's wrong with you?'' Comely, who drew the new cover, told Canada's CTV News. The superhero sports a red and white suit along with a maple leaf buckle symbolizing the Canadian flag. Comely, in an interview with Canada's CBC News, noted that the character is taking a 'Canadian approach' on the cover as he's not taking 'violent action' against Trump. 'It may come to blows, eventually, but only if we're pushed way too far,' he added. Comely signed autographs for fans at the comic convention, including on new art showing Captain Canuck telling Uncle Sam, 'Don't make me fight you,' as the hero decks the American icon with a jab to the face. Inside Captain Canuck's universe, Trump has previously referred to the hero as a 'loser' and declared that 'America doesn't need anyone's help.' 'I think Trump is uniting us, he's uniting Canadians. Everybody's on pins and needles,' Comely told CBC News. 'I wonder, what's going to happen next, what crazy thing is he going to do next so I banged [the Trump art] out.' He noted that the hero's speech bubble on the cover is empty so Canadians can decide on how to respond to Trump. 'He's a symbol, Captain Canuck kind of symbolizes Canada, doesn't he? And this is Captain Canuck expressing what all Canadians are saying in their hearts right now,' he said. Fed Chair Blames Trump's Tariffs For Pushing Up Inflation Again Amtrak CEO Steps Down To Keep Trump's 'Confidence' In Agency Hundreds Of Jewish Academics Slam Trump Attacks On Universities
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
WHAM! KAPOW! BAM!: Canadian Superhero Sticks It To Trump In New Comic Book
Canadians are fighting Donald Trump's trade war in more ways than one — including superhero Captain Canuck, who's grabbing the U.S. president by his blazer on the cover of a new comic book. The superhero, co-created by cartoonist Ron Leishman along with artist and writer Richard Comely nearly 50 years ago, wags his finger at the U.S. president on a new issue seen at Toronto Comicon this past weekend. The art is in response to Trump's tariffs and his threats of making America's northern neighbor the 51st state, fueling a rise in patriotism in Canada. 'Captain Canuck is chastising Trump, basically just telling him, 'No way. This is ridiculous. What's wrong with you?'' Comely, who drew the new cover, told Canada's CTV News. The superhero sports a red and white suit along with a maple leaf buckle symbolizing the Canadian flag. Comely, in an interview with Canada's CBC News, noted that the character is taking a 'Canadian approach' on the cover as he's not taking 'violent action' against Trump. 'It may come to blows, eventually, but only if we're pushed way too far,' he added. Comely signed autographs for fans at the comic convention, including on new art showing Captain Canuck telling Uncle Sam, 'Don't make me fight you,' as the hero decks the American icon with a jab to the face. Inside Captain Canuck's universe, Trump has previously referred to the hero as a 'loser' and declared that 'America doesn't need anyone's help.' 'I think Trump is uniting us, he's uniting Canadians. Everybody's on pins and needles,' Comely told CBC News. 'I wonder, what's going to happen next, what crazy thing is he going to do next so I banged [the Trump art] out.' He noted that the hero's speech bubble on the cover is empty so Canadians can decide on how to respond to Trump. 'He's a symbol, Captain Canuck kind of symbolizes Canada, doesn't he? And this is Captain Canuck expressing what all Canadians are saying in their hearts right now,' he said. Fed Chair Blames Trump's Tariffs For Pushing Up Inflation Again Amtrak CEO Steps Down To Keep Trump's 'Confidence' In Agency Hundreds Of Jewish Academics Slam Trump Attacks On Universities
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' star James Marsters says New York and Chicago 'wish' they were like Toronto
While the Buffy the Vampire Slayer legacy is haunted by the cloud of its creator, Joss Whedon, who has faced several allegations of misconduct since 2021, fans are still incredibly supportive of the show's stars. The Toronto Comicon main stage was packed with people excited to hear from James Marsters, who played Spike on Buffy, and then Angel. Marsters started the discussion by putting the crowd in a great mood, where he shared his love for Toronto. It's the city where he filmed the 2005 movie Cool Money. "I think that Toronto is kind of like what New York or Chicago wishes it was like," the 62-year-old actor said on Saturday at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. "Whenever they use Toronto for New York, I'm just like, 'New York doesn't look that good.'" But one of the first questions of the discussion had Marsters confirm that his beloved Buffy character, Spike, was only supposed to have a small arc in the show's second season before quickly being killed off. As Marsters revealed, when he started working on the show, things changed after an act of rebellion on the actor's part. "Joss backed me up against a wall one time and he goes, 'I don't care how popular you are, you are dead.' ... Like, dude, it's your football, whatever," Marsters said. "I was told that ... vampires for Buffy were just metaphors for the challenges that one has to overcome in adolescence, and they were designed to be overcome." While Marsters initially said he would oblige, he had other ideas. Specifically, Marsters remembers Season 2, Episode 14, titled "Innocence." In that episode, Drusilla said she's naming all the stars and Spike responded by saying, "You can't see the stars, love. That's the ceiling." Marsters highlighted that in the script it was a rather rude line. However, he decided to play it in a way that was more endearing on the day, which the actor still can't believe he got away with while filming that episode. Marsters also shared that becoming a father gave him the confidence to go against the script. As he explained to the crowd in Toronto, he moved to Los Angeles because he had become a dad. While he had a "blast" as a performing artist, he was also "poor" and had to think about financially providing for his child. "When you're a father and you can't provide health coverage to your baby, that's not a good place to be in," Marsters said. "So almost anything becomes justified." Later in the Comicon discussion in Toronto, Marsters confirmed a few interesting tidbits about filming Buffy and Angel. Firstly, Angel was "easy" in terms of the schedule because the Buffy spinoff filmed for about 12 hours a day. On the other hand, Buffy was minimum 16-hour days, but oftentimes 20-hour days. Additionally, instead of reading the lines for Spike in his first audition, he decided to perform lines from Macbeth. "I had just come from Seattle, where I had done a really successful Macbeth, and I was so arrogant, which worked for Spike," Marsters said. "I felt like I was the only real actor, ... the rest of these people wanted to be stars, and that was a very different thing." The actor also has a particular affinity for Spike, saying that he had "the best role on the show" and that "I still pinch myself that I got to do that." A significant element of Buffy is that it has been able to establish and sustain this intense fandom for decades. Even after Whedon's scandal, the show and these character are particularly important to people worldwide. When asked about the impact Buffy has made, Marsters highlighted that the show is truthful about one of the most universal, timeless messages: "it's hard to be a human being." "To just admit that, it's very powerful," Marsters said. "What Buffy did was ask the writers ... to come up with their worst day, the day that they don't like to talk about, the one that keeps them up at night, ... the day they almost gave up, and then slap fangs, metaphorically speaking, on that painful memory of theirs, and tell the whole world about it. "It was a sustained act of courage and vulnerability from some very talented writers. ... And then it says the kicker, which is, but life is worth it. Keep going. Don't give up. And a lot of projects have the 'don't give up' part, ... but it lands so much harder with Buffy because ... of giving space to the truth, which is hard, for all of us."
CBC
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Elaborate costumes and sense of community draw fans to Toronto Comicon
Toronto Comicon kicked off Friday for three days dedicated to sci-fi, horror, anime and gaming, with this year's event featuring celebrity guests from shows like Supernatural and The Boys. We headed to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to chat with fans about what draws them to the event.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Supernatural' alum Ruth Connell is still 'in denial' about 'Dead Boy Detectives' cancellation on Netflix
Supernatural alum Ruth Connell was part of one of the most infamous show cancellations, Dead Boy Detectives, the Netflix series axed after just one season. Playing the Night Nurse, starring alongside George Rexstrew as Edwin Payne, Jayden Revri as Charles Rowland, and who can forget Lukas Gage as the Cat King, Connell still isn't over the show's untimely cancellation. "I thought she was such a terrific character. I thought it was an important show for a lightly alternative audience, for younger people, that need representation. Very mindfully made, very thoughtfully made by the right people whose hearts were in the right place," Connell told Yahoo Canada. "We all cared about it. It wasn't just a job. We all were really invested." "I'm personally still not over it and it's one of the most successful shows that's been cancelled. It's an algorithm that probably decides, at this point. We had fans pay for billboards to go up outside Netflix to say, 'Bring back Dead Boy Detectives.' And especially for my character, I knew she had a lot more to do in Season 2, so I was particularly devastated. ... I'm in denial. I don't know if there's some other universe where it's being made and happening." While Dead Boy Detectives is among the projects stalled or cancelled based on Neil Gaiman's work, the novelist accused of sexual assault by multiple women, it has not been confirmed that the allegations are related to the cancellation. The series was developed by Steve Yockey, who served as co-showrunner with Beth Schwartz, who worked alongside Greg Berlanti, Jeremy Carver, and Sarah Schechter as executive producers. But Connell still has a lot to celebrate, playing one of the most beloved Supernatural characters, Rowena MacLeod, and she's now heading to Toronto Comicon (March 14-16) to meet fans and participate in a panel for the show, alongside costars Jared Padalecki, Mark Sheppard, Alexander Calvert and Jim Beaver. "I come from a theatre background and it's the closest thing to live performance that I'm getting right now," Connell said. "I really enjoy the panels a lot, ... and you get that immediate feedback from the audience." "Five years after the show's ended the audience is packed, and still to this day there will always be somebody that comes up with a new, original question. ... We're in this kind of travelling circus together." With much of Supernatural being filmed in Vancouver, Connell loved the experience filming in Canada and enjoys going back to B.C., and Toronto as well, for fan events. And meeting up with Toronto-based Lisa Berry, who played Billie on Supernatural. "I used to go in a day or two early, now I have a baby, I'm a bit more limited with the time that I have, but it's home [away] from home, in a way," Connell said. "And there's the British element to Canada too. ... It's always good in the shops you can get British biscuits." What's particularly impressive is that Supernatural became one of the few shows that has developed a lasting level of fandom, a rare occurrence. "As actors, one of the things that you're looking for is community. You want to be part of something bigger than yourself," Connell said. "It is rare. And I know there's a Marvel Universe and a DC universe, but this is one little show that could." "I think that's partly what makes it work, in a way. ... You feel like you've discovered it for yourself, and it's yours, and you're part of the chosen family, an extended family." While Connell highlighted that Supernatural is a show that's watched by families and people of different generations, fans have a special connection to Rowena, a female character with a unique story and wit. She was far different than the "witch" characters we had seen on screen in the past. "We had Harry Potter, but there was this kind of rise, I would say, the divine feminine happened. Witches became so much more popular just as Rowena was coming through," Connell said. "It's interesting the timing, and I was happy to be part of that." "And I think I had a little bit of a stigma about it, about playing a witch. ... Meryl Streep famously said this, when she got over 40 that's kind of all she was offered. But that's not what really happened. It was more about this woman being very good at what she did. She was a career woman and this was her art form, and she was very good at it. And women have been good at things for centuries, and they're not not defined by it, but it's a big part of who they are. And I think that to me, was the flesh of it. That was the bit that was important. I think people relate to that where, here's this woman who's really a boss at what she does." In terms of future projects, Connell has something personal up her sleeve, hoping to create a project based on her grandmother's story, Ruby Connell, the only female member of the Scottish Football Association, developing the idea with Lisa Berry. "I really would love to, because I'd like to tell her story. She's a really interesting person, and not just because she's my grandma, she really was a character," Connell stressed. "They don't make them like that anymore, ... a woman in a man's world, but never felt hard done because of it. Just held her own, somehow. Was an equal, somehow." "It tells the story of Scotland, in that area of Scotland which we don't really see very much. We see Glasgow and Edinburgh, but we don't really see central Scotland, where she grew up and where she was from. ... It's just been very interesting for me and my family history. ... I think there's a story there to be told."
