Newest & Final Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer

Two days ago, the third and, sadly, final AoU trailer premiered online and as they say, third time's the charm. Not that the first two didn't kick ass as well, but this one takes first price. Among other things this trailer gives us the first real look at the Vision, played by Paul Bethany, known as Jarvis from the Iron Man films. How Jarvis evolves into the Vision, the humanoid looking android, a so-called synthezoid as he is dubbed by his maker Ultron, is yet unknown. Though the part with Ultron being the creator of the Vision is pleasing to a fan, staying true to the comics there, evolving from Jarvis is not. It always kind of bugged me that we didn't get a real live butler Jarvis, like in the comics. The Alfred Pennyworth of the Marvel universe basically, Anyways, Bethany's gonna make a good Vision for sure, true to the comics or not. 

Even though it's always nice to see new things, the thing that gets to me the most in this one is the same as the first two trailers. Ultron. Jams Spader. Both, what's the difference, honestly. Typical Spader, to completely become whatever character he's portraying. That voice, I mean, wtf. Don't think I've had chills from a movie villain like that since Darth Vader, which is not even an exaggerating comparison. 

But as they say, show it, don't tell it, so without much further ado, ladies and gentlemen, The Avengers: Age of Ultron Trailer 3. Cue the music!

So, there you go. Even though it's difficult to choose a favorite trailer, you know, considering they're all amazing, imo, this one tops them. It seems every trailer gives a little more reason to fear and worry about what Ultron has planned for Earths mightiest heroes. As I said, Spader's voice is the perfect fit for the part and he sure is making it hard to decide which of his quotes is the most menacing. Just for the heck if it, here comes my personal top 4:

• 1: "I was designed to save the world. People would look to the sky and see... hope... I'll take that from them first."
• 2: "I'm gonna show you something beautiful. Everyone screaming.. For mercy."
• 3: There's only one path to peace... Their extinction."
• 4: "you are all puppets... Tangled in, strings... Strings."

In general, this film seems to have a much creepier and darker tone than the first one and Ultron's Vader-like voice definitely helps that along nicely. 
Besides Ultron, we also get a glimpse of Ulysses Klaw (Andy Serkis) in the first two trailers. 

Ulyssed Klaw

This is important for several reasons. First of all, Klaw is traditionally a Black Panther villain, meaning that this character is at least hinted at in AoU. We know for a fact he's coming later on, but perhaps we could get a first look already this summer. More importantly, the connection to BP and therefore his nation Wakanda, might very well mean the first appearance of Vibranium as well. The ultra strong and resilient metal came from space to Earth thousands of years back and is the main source for Wakanda's wealth and technological advances. Plus, in the comics, Vibranium is part of what makes up Cap's shield. Since we see the shield shattered in the first trailer, there's every chance a new one will be made through some connection to Wakanda and the Black Panther.

Pietro & Wanda Maximoff

The trailers all also gave us better looks at the two new candidates for the team, the maximoff twins, Pietro & Wanda Maximoff. In the comics, their name and origin is important since they are the mutant children of Magneto. This connection will without a doubt not be featured in AoU, simply because Marvel studios doesn't hold the rights to Magneto or mutants in general. Which also means they won't be mutants.

The Inhumans, King Black Bolt

As seen in Winter Soldier's post-credits scene, Hydra affiliated Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker refers to the two captive twins as part of the "age of miracles". They might be referred to as such or perhaps they'll turn out to be Inhumans. Recently, the Inhumans was introduced in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Roughly put, they are a race of people in the MU, regular people at first, but with the Inhuman gene in them. When exposed to Terrigenesis, the mists of Terrigen crystals, the gene is unlocked and transforms them into their true self, their form as an Inhuman. Whatever the twins origin will be, they are an exciting addition to the team. 
Naturally, there are tons and tons of more things I could talk about from these trailers, but all good things must come to an end. Besides, they speak volumes by themselves and for good measure, the first and second trailer is here as well.
Until next time, keep reading. Comics, that is!
Mo

CapMoComics . Take Two

Back in Business!

As it is with most of our superheroes, so is the way of this blog; Nothing stays dead and gone forever. In the spirit of that, I decided to make a second attempt at keeping this thing updated regularly. I could explain why nothing has happened here for so long, but why talk about life when we can talk about what’s really important? comics.

First of all, my latest entry here revolved around the death of Peter Parker. At that point, I predicted Parker would be back within a year or less and as it turned out I was a bit off on that. The Superior Spider-Man, with Dr. Ock’s mind in Spidey’s body, lasted for 31 issues, about 14 months. I’ll admit, it was kind of fun seeing Spider-Man acting a little more villainous and selfish. But thankfully and damn straight rightfully so, Parker is now back in the red and blue, web covered outfit. No more superior, simply your good old fashioned, friendly-neighborhood Spider-Man.

Of course, tons and tons of other things has happened both in the MU and comics in general, new movies and what not. It would be impossible to try and get it all in here, too much time with too many news and changes. So instead I decided to list some of the most important and biggest in my own opinion.

Guardians of the Galaxy came out last year and smashed everything. Of course it did, how could it not with a talking, gun slinging raccoon, voiced to perfection by Bradley Cooper. And let’s not forget Chris Pratt aka Peter Quill/Star-Lord. Easily the best casting in Marvel film history to date. There is no longer any Chris Pratt, there is only the Star-Lord. Soundtrack hit the spot, as no soundtrack has ever done for me before and I’m still muttering ooga-chaka, ooga-chaka, all the time. Even though The Avengers and Guardians are two extremely different teams and worlds, making it difficult to compare the two, I’m torn between favorite MCU directors now; Joss Whedon or James Gunn? Calling it a tie and loving them both seems to be the best solution. 

Staying in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a minute, I have to talk about their big announcement last November. At a press conference, head of studios Kevin Fiege announced their film slate, going as far ahead as 2019. Once phase 2 ends with Ant-Man in November this year and more importantly before that, Avengers: Age of Ultron in May, the final and third phase of the MCU commences in 2016. On May 6, Captain America: Civil War premieres. Fans of the comics will know that this title means Cap vs. Iron Man. How the story is handled on the big screen is yet unknown, but one thing is for sure; Only one of the two will walk away at the end of it. More than that, Cap 3 is set to introduce the long awaited arrival of the Black Panther, T'Challa, King of the fictional African nation Wakanda. A solo film is set for 2018. 

Following Civil War comes the debut of the mystical and magic parts of Marvel with Doctor Strange, November 2016. Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast as the sorcerer supreme Stephen Strange. 

GotG 2 is coming may 2017, nothing is known about this except the cast, crew and director returns and we can expect new characters. Perhaps that cocoon spotted in the Collectors museum was Adam Warlock’s? Wouldn’t that be something. 

Thor: Ragnarok, November same year, promises to reinvent the character and franchise as a whole, same way Winter Soldier did for Cap. As we all know, at least those of us living in Scandinavia, Ragnarok means the end of everything, doomsday etc. so expect major outcome from this one.

Then the biggest thing of the whole press conference, the announcement of the culmination of everything the MCU has been building forward to. Avengers: Infinity War part 1 is released on May 4 2018 and part 2 on May 3 2019. The Infinity War subtitle means the long awaited confrontation with Thanos, whom we can expect to have collected the infinity stones and therefore wielding the infinity gauntlet. Very, very bad for everyone.

Between the two IW parts, we have aforementioned Black Panther in 17 and in 18 we get the debut of a female solo Marvel character Ms. Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel. 

Concluding the Phase 3 brings us a little something already touched upon in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s second season, the Inhumans. Blackagar Boltagon/Black Bolt, the king of the Inhumans,  who’s voice can shatter mountains and leave cities in ruins, is an interesting add to the MCU, along with his wife Queen Medusa.

Lots and lots of great things happening in the MCU, but that’s not all. Marvel and Netflix together are producing four series of 13 episodes all leading to a fifth show, The Defenders. The four characters getting their own series are Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. All of them are what you’d call the street-level kind of heroes, among other things meaning we can expect these shows to be darker, grittier and bloodier than the MCU. Daredevil recently released a first trailer and it looks good and it’s great to finally see DD portrayed in live action.

What’s that? Fox already made a theatrical release back in 2003? 

Nah, can’t seem to recall that, must’ve been a fever induced nightmare. Anyways, DD’s first REAL live portrayal is coming this April, followed by JJ in November and the rest has yet to get a release date attached.

Manu Bennet- Slade Wilson/Deathstroke

Staying in tv but switching to DC, I recommend both Arrow and The Flash. A funny thing they have in common; both shows has average to good lead and support actors in good guy roles, but in each show, it’s the villains that make them worth watching. From Arrow’s John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn/The Dark Archer, Manu Bennet as Slade Wilson/Deathstroke or the current third season’s Matt Nable as Ra’s Al Guhl and to The Flash’s Tom Cavanagh as Harrison Wells/Reverse-Flash, the supreme acting of the main antagonists, is what keeps me coming back. 

Cavanagh is Harrison Wells/Reverse-Flash

There’s also some sort of Batman related show going on, but somehow I didn’t care much for the idea of a Batman show not involving.. Well, Batman, imagine that. 

Something that will involve Batman however, is the 2016 release of Batman VS. Superman: Dawn of Justice. This will be the first time ever they appear on live action film together and naturally it has the nerd community in a frenzy. Also because this film is set to mark the real beginning of a shared cinematic DC universe, much like Marvel’s. Difference is, the lead guy on DC’s front, Zack Snyder, is a no-talented hack. Yes, I’ll watch it, but considering the director, the mess that was Man of Steel and the fact that Ben Affleck is playing Batman, I keep my expectations low.

I could keep going on about the massive amounts of comic related stuff that’s happened the past two years, but these were a couple of the biggest I think. Lastly, I’d like to mention this summer’s big Marvel Crossover event, Secret Wars, which bring the word crossover to a whole new level. The Marvel universe is ending, this is what Jonathan Hickman’s run on the Avengers titles has been leading too. Speculation has it that this is Marvel’s attempt at a semi-reboot of their universe/continuity, similar to DC’s New 52 a couple of years back. All we can do is wait and see. In any case, Hickman’s Avengers has been some the best stories of these titles for years and years back and once it wraps up, I’ll do an entry on it here. 

As usual, this ended up being longer than planned, nothing new there. 

Hope you enjoyed and until next time, here’s a quote summing up well how sometimes it difficult to find the time for these looong posts:

“the older I get, the more life just seems to be all the stupid stuff, getting in between me and reading comics.” Danny Rand/Iron Fist. 

Mo