‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ has not lost its momentum as a draw for comic book fans and general audiences. It has become such a pull that even star Andrew Garfield admitted to sneaking into a screening of the movie with co-star Tobey Maguire to check it out.
“I still can’t believe it happened,” Garfield told ET. “I snuck into a theater on opening night and just watched with my baseball cap on and my mask. In fact, I was also with Tobey, me and Tobey snuck into a theater together and no one knew we were there. It was just a really beautiful thing to share together.”
He continued, “And to find a brotherhood with Tobey as well, and with Tom, and the fact that we do share a very unique experience.”
When asked why he thought the movie resonated so well with fans, the ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ actor pointed to the themes of the film that touched the hearts of Spidey fans.
“The theme of mentorship and how these two people across the universe were the only ones that could really, fully understand what this young man was going through, and that was really important to us as well, that it was really about Tom and Tom’s character, Tom’s Peter, Tom’s journey as the center of that,” Garfield explained. “And we were just there to kind of support and have a lot of fun…”
When asked if he would ever return to portray Spider-Man in the future, he said, “Never say never.”
“I think if there’s a way, because that’s what that character is all about, he’s all about serving the greater good and serving his fellow people, serving humanity and all life,” he continued. “So, if there’s a way for me to continue to add to the legacy of that character in a way that feels like it’s of service to an audience, of service to the themes that Stan Lee injected that character with, I’m open, of course, I’m very, very open, but it would have to be very, very special. It would have to be very, very meaningful and fun, and joyful, like doing No Way Home was.”
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ continues to dominate the box office with the recent announcement that it surpassed James Cameron’s ‘Titanic’ record at the box office.
Andrew Garfield Snuck Into A Screening Of ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ With Tobey Maguire
Andrew Garfield Snuck Into A Screening Of ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ With Tobey Maguire
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ has not lost its momentum as a draw for comic book fans and general audiences. It has become such a pull that even star Andrew Garfield admitted to sneaking into a screening of the movie with co-star Tobey Maguire to check it out.
“I still can’t believe it happened,” Garfield told ET. “I snuck into a theater on opening night and just watched with my baseball cap on and my mask. In fact, I was also with Tobey, me and Tobey snuck into a theater together and no one knew we were there. It was just a really beautiful thing to share together.”
He continued, “And to find a brotherhood with Tobey as well, and with Tom, and the fact that we do share a very unique experience.”
When asked why he thought the movie resonated so well with fans, the ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ actor pointed to the themes of the film that touched the hearts of Spidey fans.
“The theme of mentorship and how these two people across the universe were the only ones that could really, fully understand what this young man was going through, and that was really important to us as well, that it was really about Tom and Tom’s character, Tom’s Peter, Tom’s journey as the center of that,” Garfield explained. “And we were just there to kind of support and have a lot of fun…”
When asked if he would ever return to portray Spider-Man in the future, he said, “Never say never.”
“I think if there’s a way, because that’s what that character is all about, he’s all about serving the greater good and serving his fellow people, serving humanity and all life,” he continued. “So, if there’s a way for me to continue to add to the legacy of that character in a way that feels like it’s of service to an audience, of service to the themes that Stan Lee injected that character with, I’m open, of course, I’m very, very open, but it would have to be very, very special. It would have to be very, very meaningful and fun, and joyful, like doing No Way Home was.”
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ continues to dominate the box office with the recent announcement that it surpassed James Cameron’s ‘Titanic’ record at the box office.
‘The Boys’ Season 3 Release Date Announced
‘The Boys’ are making their comeback for a third season. The irreverent superhero series will be making a return to its home at Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service on June 3, 2022.
“The Boys are back! The highly anticipated third season of the Emmy-nominated drama The Boys will debut on Prime Video with three episodes on Friday, June 3. New episodes will be available each Friday following, leading up to the epic season finale on July 8. The eight-episode season will stream exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide,” Amazon Studios said in a press release.
You can watch the “First look” teaser below:
Amazon Studios describes ‘The Boys’ as “a fun and irreverent take on what happens when superheroes—who are as popular as celebrities, as influential as politicians, and as revered as gods—abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good. Intent on stopping the corrupt superheroes, The Boys, a group of vigilantes, continue their heroic quest to expose the truth about The Seven and Vought—the multibillion-dollar conglomerate that manages the superheroes and covers up their dirty secrets. It’s the seemingly powerless against the super powerful.”
The cast for season three includes Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capon, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, Claudia Doumit, and Jensen Ackles.
Executive producer and showrunner Eric Kripke developed the series based on ‘The Boys,’ a The New York Times best-selling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, who also serve as executive producers on the show.
D-Rezzed previously reported that Amazon announced they will produce an animated series that ‘reveals unseen stories within The Boys universe,’ and will be made with Sony Pictures Television.
The show will feature the voice talents of Awkwafina, Garth Ennis, Eliot Glazer, Ilana Glazer, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen, Simon Racioppa, Justin Roiland, Ben Bayouth, Andy Samberg, and Aisha Tyler.
You Got Battletoads? These New Premium DNA Toys Look Ribbiting
The Battletoads resurgence is in full effect. OK, maybe it’s not as impactful as we’d hoped, but at least a series of action figures based on the classic video game designs are on the way from Premium DNA and the Big Bad Toy Store.
Zitz, Rash, Porka Pig, Rat Bones, General Vermin, and General Salguther make the roster of the initial wave of high-end toys. The figures range in price from $44.99 to $149.99. The entire first wave can be purchased as a bundle for $429.99.
Premium DNA has not included all three Battletoads in this wave in a smart move. No Pimple for you! Also, there’s no Dark Queen. I cannot wait to see how her figure looks. We don’t have enough dominatrix action figures these days.
- Zitz figure
- 2 Head sculpts
- Giant plow
- Drill arm
- Giant spiked fist
- Rash figure
- 3 Pairs of hands
- Giant spiked boot
- Mace
- Axe
- Porka Pig figure
- Rat Bones figure
- 3 Shields
- General Vermin figure
- 2 Pairs of hands
- Whip
- 3 Head sculpts
- General Slaughter figure
- 2 Pairs of hands
- 3 Head sculpts
Battletoads hit the video game scene in 1991, riding the hot tide of anthropomorphic animals with attitude. Created by Rare, the toads made their way onto the NES, SNES, Arcade, and just about every major console on the market during the early ’90s.
Recently the Toads emerged in a new beat-em-up for XBOX and Windows. It is free for Game Pass holders and has a seriously toned-down Dark Queen. Disappointing.
Although the Battletoads did have a lot in common with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, they never had a successful life outside the video game market. The trio had an animated TV pilot in 1992, but it was less than impressive. If you want to see something super derivative, check out the animated one-off below:
[Source: Big Bad Toy Store]
New Arcade1UP Mortal Kombat, Pacmania, and Centipede Cabs Incoming
Arcade1UP cabinets are still going strong, even though the prices are getting out of hand. $600+ for TMNT? Really? Come on! I digress.
The company has announced three new cabinets, including one based on the original and most iconic Mortal Kombat game. Relive all that excitement of watching adults getting their panties in a bunch over pixelated violence and gore!
Unlike the previous MKII cabinet, this one comes with WiFi online play. Other features include a lighted marquee, molded coin door, and the inclusion of a bunch of classic Midway games, including:
- Mortal Kombat
- Mortal Kombat II
- Mortal Kombat 3
- Ultimate MK 3
- Toobin
- Rampage
- Joust
- Wizard Of Woz
- Gauntlet
- Rootbeer Tapper
- Defender
- Bubbles
- Paperboy
- Klax
Like with previous Pac-Man cabinets, Aracde1UP includes many other Namco games to go along with it. The cab also includes WiFi leaderboards and a light-up marquee.
You’ll get the following Namco titles:
- Pac-Mania
- Pac-Man
- Pac & Pal
- Super Pac-Man
- Pac-Man Plus
- Pac-Land
- Galaga
- Galaxian
- Galaga ‘88
- Mappy
- Dig Dug
- Dig Dug II
- Rompers
- Rolling Thunder
From personal experience modding these cabinets, I’d suggest swapping out the spinner knob for a higher-end one. It’s a simple fix. The same can be said for the buttons, too.
The Atari Legacy cab comes with the following games:
- Centipede
- Millipede
- Asteroids
- Asteroids Deluxe
- Major Havoc
- Missile Command
- Akka Arrh
- Crystal Castles
- Tempest
- Gravitar
- Liberator
- Space Duel (1 Player)
- Super Breakout
- Lunar Lander
[Source: Arcade1UP]
The Bionic Woman Robo-Leaps Into Super7’s ReAction Toy Line
After a tragic skydiving accident, tennis pro Jaime Sommers undergoes life-altering surgery, which turns her into the superhuman Bionic Woman! You can now relive the short-lived spinoff series to The Six Million Dollar Man with these two new figures from Super7.
A Fembot joins Jaime Sommers in the 3.75″ tall ReAction series. Each figure is priced at $18.00. Unfortunately, neither figure has accessories or special features, which is a shame considering how much stuff Kenner packed in the box of the ’70s figures.
Aside from random references in shows here and there, the Bionic duo vanished from the mainstream. However, in 2007 NBC attempted to revive the Bionic Woman with English actress Michelle Ryan, who was amazing in BBC’s Jekyll.
The reboot only lasted one season, with eight episodes in total. Bionic Woman of 2007 was met with harsh criticism and produced during the Writer’s Strike, which probably didn’t help matters.
This is a really odd franchise to make a figure for. I don’t think Super7 has made a Six Million Dollar Man figure yet. Perhaps this figure is a gateway into that franchise. However, Steve Austin will need to come with some accessories or a Big Foot to fight.
If you want to catch up on the old series, you can stream it via NBC. Sadly, The Bionic Woman isn’t available.
What do you think of this latest addition to the ReAction toyline? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
[Source: Super7]
Worries For Another Day! See Fraggle Rock’s New Trailer Today
The Fraggles are back, exclusively on Apple TV+ starting on January 21st. Thankfully, the show appears to be keeping with the original series tone, aesthetics, and Jim Henson’s designs.
The noticeable change is that the role of Doc is now in the hands of Lilli Cooper. Gerald Parkes, who played Doc in the original ’80s series, passed away in 2014. This brings up a question, is this a reboot of Fraggle Rock?
The new trailer didn’t answer that question. Near the conclusion of the original series, Gobo eventually meets Doc, but in the trailer, it looks like everything is starting over. That’s a slap in the face to Parkes. At least they kept Sprocket.
I’m not sure why Fraggle Rock would need a reboot if everything is kept the same except for one character. Maybe I’m wrong.
The new show, regardless, still looks and feels like classic Henson. There are lots of noticeable chromakey, and the physical limitations of the Doozers and Fraggles are still apparent but charming.
The best thing yet? Marjory, the Trash Heap, is back! Her segments of wisdom and song were always my favorite parts of Fraggle Rock. Yes, the Gorgs are returning as well! I’m stunned at how little was changed to get the show back, to be honest.
We’ve grown so accustomed to everything having to be updated for “modern audiences” that I was sure Ma, Pa, and Junior would have been tossed in the trash because they were too much like an average family, except royal.
Travelling Matt has a very brief appearance in the trailer. Hopefully, this means we’ll get more segments with him in the real world, but please don’t let this be a gateway to let modern sociopolitical garbage infest the show. Please.
What do you think of the latest trailer? Let us know in the comments.
[Source: AppleTV Youtube Channel]
Ubisoft’s Subscription Service Ubisoft+ Coming To XBOX Soon
We learned that Ubisoft+, the developer/publisher’s gaming subscription service, will be making its way onto XBOX come January 20th, according to PC Mag. From the look of the lineup that’s available for the PC, you’ll get to play several Ultimate Editions of games, saving you quite a lot of money.
The subscription service currently comes in two tiers. One is strictly for PC, and the other includes PC and cloud gaming from two competitors. The cost of Ubisoft+ for XBOX has not yet been announced.
We checked Ubisoft’s website, and only the following two tiers are priced.
If you don’t have an XBOX and for some reason only have access to Google’s Stadia or Amazon’s Luna, there are cloud gaming options available for Ubisoft+, too. The subscription is a bit more than PC Access, sitting at $17.99. However, several new and classic games are available to stream. These include the Ultimate Edition of Far Cry 6 and Valhalla, Scott Pilgrim, Beyond Good & Evil, and Rayman Legends.
From personal experience, if it’s a toss-up between Luna and Stadia, pick Luna. I’ve used both, and Luna provided a much better experience with almost no input lag and better overall quality of the stream. Stadia has been and continues to be a poor performer regardless of wifi or direct connection.
I’m a bit on the outs with Ubisoft right now. The last couple of games I’ve purchased has had bugs involving game saves, which the company has yet to fix. Yeah, I’m still waiting for AC Valhalla to receive a patch, and that game has been out for quite some time. Nothing makes you put a game back on the shelf faster than losing 8+ hours of progress because all the manual saves didn’t actually save anything.
What do you think of Ubisoft’s push into the subscription service business? Let us know in the comments section.
[Source: PC MAG]
A Scott Pilgrim Anime Series Being Developed for Netflix
Continuing to add onto its’ anime collection, Netflix will be bringing back Scott Pilgrim as an anime series. The creator and artist of the graphic novels, Bryan Lee O’Malley, will be writing and executive producing with BenDavid Grabinski. Grabinski was the showrunner behind the revival of Are You Afraid of the Dark? for Nickelodeon. O’Malley and Grabinski will showrun the series if the project continues to move forward. Japanese animation studio Science SARU, located in Tokyo, Japan, will be providing the animation work. The company’s co-founder Eunyoung Choi will be the producer.
The director of the series will be Abel Gongora. Gongora began his work in animation as a location designer, and later an animator, at Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon. He then moved onto a French animation studio named Ankama. Ankama had opened up a subsidiary in Japan, taking along with them 25 European animators to the Tokyo studio, working alongside a team of Japanese artists. After the studio closed, this would eventually lead Gongora to become one of the first of five staff members to join Science SARU (Science Monkey in English) in 2014.
Given how much influence manga and anime had on the creation of his graphic novel series, it feels rather fitting to have a production company in Japan doing the animation.
Band members from the 2010 movie “Scott Pilgrim vs the World” will be involved with the development of the anime. Wright and producing partner Nira Park will receive exec producer credits along with Marc Platt, Jared LeBoff, and Adam Seigel of Marc Platt Productions, and Michael Bacall.
Scott Pilgrim centers on the main character as a slacker living in Toronto and in a garage band called Sex Bob-Omb with his friends. His life is turned upside down when he meets Ramona Flowers, an American girl who is recently single. But before their love can blossom, Pilgrim finds himself challenged by his love’s seven previous relationships, and must defeat them in over-the-top fashion.
Six volumes of the series were published by Oni Press between 2004 and 2010, with the graphic novels not just becoming indie comic hits but a publishing phenomenon that broke out into the mainstream, selling millions of copies.
Although the 2010 movie bombed at the box office, it eventually gained a cult following. The movie cast included Michael Cera as Pilgrim, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Flowers, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman and Brie Larson.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Osamu Tezuka’s Childhood Manga to be Published for the First Time
On January 3rd, 2022, it was announced in Japan a manga will be published for the first time in March of this year. When he was between the ages 13-14, Osamu Tezuka had created a manga story with his younger brother and sister. The main character is snowman-shaped and named “Mama” as the character goes on adventures involving things such as treasure hunting. Titled “Mama Detective Story”, only a few pages have ever been publicly shown to the world. This will be available for pre-order on the official website of the publisher 888 Books in Japan.
Osamu Tezuka is considered the Godfather of manga and anime, forever changing the manga and animation industry to become what it is today. Throughout his career, Tezuka created and wrote more than 700 manga series consisting of around 170,000 pages of drawings, and another 200,000 pages of anime storyboards and scripts. Though he came from a family of doctors, lawyers, and military men, his interests in art was always encouraged. His father was an engineer, but he used to draw manga before he married, and he also collected manga books over time. Tezuka’s father had bought a movie projector, which is how Osamu was introduced to his greatest influences in art and animation, Walt Disney and Max Fleischer.
These are just a few pieces of works Tezuka is best known for creating:
- Jungle Taitei (Jungle Emperor), 1950-54. Later released as the animated series Kimba the White Lion in the U.S.
- Tetsuwan ATOM (Astro Boy), 1952-68
- Ribon no Kishi (Princess Knight), 1953-56
- Hi no Tori (The Phoenix), 1956-89. Tezuka’s personal favorite and the series he worked on continuously from its inception until his death.
- Black Jack, 1973-83
- Buddha, 1974-84
Through his work, Tezuka initiated a new way of telling a visual story in manga form through dynamic action, as if you are part of the characters world.
“I felt [after the war] that existing comics were limiting. Most were drawn as if seated in an audience viewing from a stage, where the actors emerge from the wings and interact. This made it impossible to create dramatic or psychological effects, so I began to use cinematic techniques. French and German movies that I had seen as a schoolboy became my model. I experimented with close-ups and different angles, and instead of using only one frame for an action scene or the climax (as was customary), I made a point of depicting a movement or facial expression with many frames, even many pages. The result was a super-long comic that ran to 500, 600, even 1,000 pages. I also believed that comics were capable of more than just making people laugh. So in my themes, I incorporated tears, grief, anger, and hate, and I created stories where the ending was not always happy.” -Osamu Tezuka
Manga is virtual. Manga is sentiment. Manga is resistance. Manga is bizarre. Manga is pathos. Manga is destruction. Manga is arrogance. Manga is love. Manga is kitsch. Manga is a sense of wonder. Manga is … there is no conclusion yet.
-Osamu Tezuka-
In February 9, 1989, Tokyo, Japan, Osamu died of stomach cancer.
Hopefully this manga will make its’ way outside of Japan so that the rest of the world can also have a chance of owning their own copy of this manga collection. It will be fascinating to see the beginnings and growths of someone who has done such amazing works of art in writing and drawings.
What do you think of this? Would you want this as part of your manga collection if you were able to own your own copy? Let us know!
Sources: LiveAbout, 888Books, and Twitter @Musicrobita
