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The Superhero Imagination of Stan Lee Continues to Live on

Sarah Leone
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The Superhero Imagination of Stan Lee Continues to Live on

In 2018, the world mourned the loss of a man who had change the way we see Superheroes. Before he completely dove into the superhero world, superheroes had a tendency to be flawless, idealistic characters who’s main point was to save the day and do good. Stan Lee kept the idea of saving the day and doing good. But then he did something that, at the time in the 1950s, was considered unique. He gave his characters flaws and imperfections, whether it be worrying about everyday life, having a temper, or a physical illness. Here the characters were struggling with things that we could all relate to on different levels, and yet they still rose to fight for something bigger than themselves.

From that concept developed the characters we know and love today. Some of the characters are Thor, Iron Man, Daredevil, Spider-man, and Doctor Strange.

It seemed as though Stan Lee was always creating something new. Right up to weeks before he died, he was working on new stories with other creators. When he suddenly passed away, out of respect to Stan Lee, many felt it was the right thing to do to hold off on continuing to publish work started under him. Now, two years later, we are starting to see the projects come to life.

The first one is a Kickstarter project of a webcomic called Backchannel. From the co-writer of Backchannel, Tom Akel:

“In 2015, when working with Stan and the team at POW! on another project, we sort of stumbled into an idea that Stan had developed – a new hero, Tom Tanner, who while dealing with very modern familial problems had also discovered incredible new abilities. Tom’s powers and the themes of the story made it a perfect choice to become the first webcomic created by Stan Lee.

Soon after, Andie Tong, who had previously worked with Stan and POW! on The Zodiac Legacy, came on board, then Sean Lee from Komikaki Studios and Taylor Esposito, and later Omi Remalante, and after what felt like an eternal development period but in hindsight wasn’t, we launched Backchannel in October 2018.

Then, just 8 weeks in, Stan passed, and so we paused. 

But, to paraphrase his immortal words, we have the power to finish this story and the responsibility to do so. And that brings us to today.”

The Kickstarter, run by Rocketship, went live on April 19th. And within 24 hours the campaign was fully funded. If you would like to support it or just take a look, you can check it out here:

The second project is the very last property Stan Lee created before passing away. He teamed up with Arnold Schwarzenegger to create a fun animated series for children to enjoy. Schwarzenegger plays a former superhero named Arnold Armstrong, who finds himself a kindergarten teacher, teaching kids how to use their superhero powers and learn lessens about health, exercise and anti-bullying.

“This is a deeply personal project for me and I am so pumped to introduce it to the world. Not only has it allowed me to bring to life the work of the fantastic Stan Lee, but the series also touches on subjects I’ve spent my life working on, from health and fitness tips and anti-bullying messages to inclusivity and diversity. It brings me great joy to share that messaging with kids in a way that is vibrant, dynamic and most important – fun! It’s an honor to have worked with Stan Lee and I know he would be proud of the message we’re delivering.” -Arnold Schwarzenegger

Watch the trailer here:

Genius Brand recently announced the 26 episode series airs on April 23rd, celebrating the premier with two episodes, only on Kartoon Channel. After that, it will air one episode per week. You can watch Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten on Kartoon Channel which is available on most streaming devices such as Apple, Android, Roku, and Amazon. Click here to see full options of where to watch this series.

Stan Lee’s influence is still being felt today, as new content born from his imagination continues to come to life, for all generations.

Indie Comic Publisher Mad Cave Studios Signs Film And Television Deal

Jacob Airey
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Indie Comic Publisher Mad Cave Studios Signs Film And Television Deal

Mad Cave Studios, known for publishing comic books such as the fantasy series ‘Battlecats,’ medieval noir ‘Nottingham,’ and cyberpunk adventure ‘RV9,’ has signed on with Echo Lake Entertainment to represent their IPs for film and television deals.
This deal will not only encompass their comic book franchises but also their young adult imprint Maverick, which includes such titles as the romantic comedy ‘Needle and Thread.’
Echo Lake Entertainment Head of Management said in a press release, “With a deep bench of high-quality stories across many genres, Mark and the team at Mad Cave have put together an impressive organization.” He added, “We are excited to represent them as they create great material for years to come, and we look forward to helping them bring these stories to life in film and TV.”
Mark London, CEO of Mad Cave, echoed those sentiments.
“For Mad Cave, it’s an honor to be collaborating with Echo Lake Entertainment,” he said. “Now, our diverse portfolio of over 30 properties will have an experienced and knowledgeable team to support and drive their growth into television, film, and animation. Thanks to the increase in streaming platforms and the world’s insatiable desire for entertainment, we can think of no better partner than Echo Lake to help Mad Cave properties transcend into new forms of media.”
He elaborated further on Twitter.
Today is an amazing day for (Mad Cave Studios) and the whole team,” London tweeted. “A million thanks to all our fans and supporters. This couldn’t have happened without you. Epic things are coming, folks. Stay tuned.”


Mark London founded Mad Cave Studios in 2014, saying that the indie comic publisher is “driven by madness and committed to quality.” Their imprint Maverick claims to “be an authentic and inspiring universal story of personal struggle where anyone can find themselves within the pages.”
Echo Lake Entertainment co-produces such television shows as Hulu’s ‘The Great’ starring Elle Fanning and Netflix’s ‘All The Bright Places’ starring Justice Smith.

‘Disgusting,’ James Corden Decries Move To Create European Super League Soccer

Jacob Airey
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0
‘Disgusting,’ James Corden Decries Move To Create European Super League Soccer

‘The Late Late Show’ host James Corden is a known fan of European football also known as soccer, particularly the England-based West Ham United club.
During a Monday monologue, Corden shares his very passionate and pointed thoughts on the news that twelve soccer clubs plan to disrupt the traditional merit-based soccer leagues by establishing a so-called Super League that would play with a different schedule. The late-night host called the move, ‘disgusting.’
“The truth is, this whole thing, making this move, these teams, these owners are killing, they will kill hundreds of other football teams that compete with them and have competed with them many times over the years, disregarding the fan bases of those teams and disregarding the fan bases of their own teams who are devastated too,” the ‘Cats’ star said. “I’m heartbroken by it, genuinely heartbroken by it. I’m heartbroken because the owners of these teams have displayed the worst kind of greed I’ve ever seen in sport.”
The Hollywood Reporter notes that Corden acknowledged his American audience “don’t care” about soccer leagues, but that these soccer clubs bring communities together.
“It’s hard to express how much these communities rely on football, not just financially, which is considerable, but football is like a focal point of a town’s hopes and dreams. That’s what it is, you know,” he explained. “And these dreams, they’ve just been shattered not just in Britain, all across Europe. And the reason these dreams have been shattered and discarded is so that a group of billionaires can buy themselves a bigger boat, or a second boat.”
“Football is a working-class game where anyone can beat anyone on their day, and it’s that that makes it incredible, it’s that that’s made it the global force it is today,” he continued.
Corden said that this deal will happen due to the greed of the club owners, saying, “Don’t ever forget that it was them, those owners. They took something so pure and so beautiful and they beat the love and the joy out of it and they did it for money. They just did it for money. And it’s disgusting.”
You can watch the clip below:

Could New Product Placements Be Coming To Classic Films?

Jacob Airey
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0
Could New Product Placements Be Coming To Classic Films?

It is hard to forget the giant Hello Kitty Pez dispenser in ‘Ant-Man And The Wasp’ during a car chase or the blatantly obvious army of products from Triumph motorcycles to Verizon in ‘Jurassic World.’
Product placements have been commonplace in television and cinema for generations, but more could soon be retroactively added to some of your favorite classic films.
The BBC reports that there are some advertisers who are interested in using digital technology to place a logo or ad in a movie. The effort would prove seamless as it has been tried successfully in television and movies previously from such companies as UK advertising firm Mirriad.
“We started out working in movies,” Mirriad chief executive Stephan Beringer explains. “Our chief scientist Philip McLauchlan, with his team, came up with the technology that won an Academy Award for the film ‘Black Swan.'”
He continued, “The technology can ‘read’ an image, it understands the depth, the motion, the fabric, anything. So you can introduce new images that basically the human eye does not realize has been done after the fact, after the production.”
It will not just affect films, but also music videos says Red Light Management managing director James Sandom. His company represents singers and musicians in the United Kingdom. He opined that singers will “leap” at the revenue that product placements being digitally added to their music videos will bring.
“The opportunity to carve open a new revenue stream is rare, and the ability to retrospectively use existing content and build new content with it in mind is exciting,” Sandom said.
While the move to replace Yul Brynner’s cigarette from ‘Port Of New York’ with a can of soup (as shown above) may seem lucrative to some, the suggestion does not come without its detractors.
Film critic Anne Billson told the BBC that digital advertisers could create a PR and copyright claim nightmare for some.
“I would be interested in finding out about the legal angle vis-à-vis digital reworking of a copyrighted work, or whether the advertisers would have to buy the film before they tampered with it,” she said.
“It also calls into question the role of the production designer, who has put a lot of thought into the look of something, only for some random advertiser to come along at a later date and spoil it with changes or additions that might be anachronistic, or that might not mesh with their other carefully considered design choices.”

Yul Brynner & K.T. Stevens in ‘Port of New York’ (1949) / Public Domain
Will viewers take to being bombarded with even more advertising in classic films and television, or will this  just become the new normal? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
[Source: BBC]

Shaun Escayg Dumps Marvel’s Avengers, Returns to Naughty Dog

Mike Phalin
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0
Shaun Escayg Dumps Marvel’s Avengers, Returns to Naughty Dog

Square Enix’s troubled ‘Avengers’ game is taking more punches to the gut than The Blob. Unlike the obese mutant, however, the game in question may not be able to withstand a new barrage of bad news.
Via GameSpot, we learned that the creative director of last year’s ‘Avengers’ game had left his post to return to Naughty Dog. Shaun Escayg has dumped Black Widow to go join up with Abby. Trading in Thor’s hammer for Abby’s golf club, I see.


Escayg had been with Naughty Dog during the original ‘The Last of Us,’ acting as the lead cinematic animator. He also wrote and directed the ‘Uncharted’ spin-off game ‘The Lost Legacy.’
What was the straw that broke and had Escayg return to Naughty Dog? That’s not clear. No ill will was present as he stated, “Marvel’s Avengers is in good hands.” Maybe greener grass. Or maybe it was time to join the winning team.
Let’s hope that is true. The AAA title featuring Earth’s Mightiest Heroes hit the market with a bit of a thud. The game sold about 3 million copies but failed to recoup its $200 million budget. This led to a small player base further shrunk by a mediocre post-campaign grind fest.
Further expansions and story content is coming, and PS4 owners have yet to receive their exclusive Spider-Man DLC. Given the amount of time that has passed, will these carrots be enough to keep players coming back?
Did you play Marvel’s ‘Avengers’? What are your thoughts on the game? Did it hold your interest, or did your copy end up at a GameStop? Let us know in the comments.
[Source: GameSpot]

The Mitchells vs The Machines: Special Premiere Event Ahead of it’s Netflix Release

Sarah Leone
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The Mitchells vs The Machines: Special Premiere Event Ahead of it’s Netflix Release

Last year, Sony Animation’s 21st theatrical film The Mitchells vs The Machines was set to be released on October 23, 2020. But, as with everything else, it was to be postponed into the next year. The movie was renamed Connected. But after it was bought by Netflix earlier this year, the movie title reverted back to The Mitchells vs The Machines.

In March, Netflix announced the movie would be released on April 30th. But you may not have to wait that long to watch it. Netflix has teamed up with a theater company called Little Cinema. They specialized in an immersive theater experience, which were massive successes. When everything began to shut down last year, Little Cinema had to find a creative way to keep up with engaging with the audience, even if they were not physically there. After a week of planning and preparing, they took the immersive concept to the digital platform, which received critical acclaim from Vanity Fair. From that first digital experience, Little Cinema had developed a way to give Hollywood virtual red carpet events for new movies and specials. After things start to settle down from the pandemic, it will be interesting to see if the entertainment industry continues to use this digital platform, instead of the red carpet high profile events.

On Netflixs’ part, they hold on average 20 premiere events per month through Little Cinema. Other companies who also use Little Cinema include WarnerMedia, Paramount Pictures, and Amazon, to name a few.

On Monday afternoon, The Mitchells vs The Machines social media pages announced a special premiere event will be held on April 24th, for those who sign up for RSVP access. Spots are limited, so sign up as soon as you can if you want to see the movie before April 30th.

Here is the trailer for The Mitchells vs. The Machines:

I think it looks like a fun movie, so I’m looking forward to watching it this Saturday! Will you be watching it early, or are you content enough to wait until the official release date on April 30th? Let me know!

Bipartisan Bill Hopes To Bring The Film Industry To Minnesota

Jacob Airey
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0
Bipartisan Bill Hopes To Bring The Film Industry To Minnesota

A bipartisan bill in the Minnesota state legislator hopes to bring the film industry to the Gopher State with tax incentives.
If passed, Senate bill SF 1986 would create a transferable tax credit of up to 25% on in-state purchases for the production of movies and TV shows, according to the West Central Tribune.
The bill’s author, State Senator David Tomassoni of Chisholm, explained, “An incentive program like a film credit is the only way to build a thriving industry in Minnesota because so many other states and countries have implemented film credits.” He added, “Due to their success, it’s now a necessary condition for attracting large projects.”
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Minnesota entertainment rep Brian Simpson praised the measure before the Senate tax committee.
“It is sometimes said that film and TV is nothing but temp jobs, but we are just as temporary as the construction industry in that we are a project-based industry,” he said. “We are not temp jobs.”
‘American Skin’ associate producer and Minnesota native Van Hayden also shared his support for the incentive.
“Unfortunately, because of the lack of tax incentives in Minnesota, all but two of those 90 feature films or TV series, I’ve had to go out of state to work on,” he told the Senate tax committee. “I would love to bring production back to Minnesota.”
This incentive follows a regional incentive passed by the St. Louis County’s board of commissioners in December creating a rebate of up to 25% in the county, which encompasses parts of Duluth.
“Here in Duluth, we are seeing tremendous interest in this area,” explained Duluth Mayor Emily Larson to the Senate tax committee Thursday morning. “Part of it is that Duluth is so beautiful. Part of it is that we have this incredible workforce. Part of it is that we have this amazing geography. It’s deep and rich and tells a beautiful story.”

‘The Crown’ Producer Glad The Netflix Show Did Not Film At Buckingham Palace

Jacob Airey
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0
‘The Crown’ Producer Glad The Netflix Show Did Not Film At Buckingham Palace

Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ production designer Martin Childs recently opened up about how the TV series was barred from filming at Buckingham Palace and why Childs was happy about it.
The show chronicles the lives of Queen Elizabeth II, her family, and her relationships with various other historical figures including British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former US President John F. Kennedy, and even evangelist Billy Graham.
Initially, the studio was hoping to shoot some scenes within Buckingham Palace in London but was denied permission. Childs discussed why this ultimately was a blessing for the critically acclaimed and audience-adored show.
“I did a little exercise recently to work out how many locations we’ve used to play the parts of Buckingham Palace, and it was 50, including the five places that we built at Elstree,” he explained to the Express that he did an ‘undercover tour’ of the palace.
“So part of the exercise really is looking at all those rooms in all of those houses, connecting them to look like one house,” Childs said. “So the invisible thread between all of them needs to establish itself so that all of the bits that you have to necessarily invent, like private apartments, must feel real must feel like they belong to all of the bits that we’re more familiar with.”
“And I went through all of these rooms, and I thought how on earth we were going to distinguish one from another,” he continued. “So in the sense that using many houses, although they have a sort of constant thread of continuity, was helpful to me, because all of those rooms could then look different. But if you walk through Buckingham Palace, there’s no noticeable distinction between all the roles.”
“And so in the end, I thought, ‘I’m really pleased they’re not giving us permission to shoot’, because we’re going to have difficulty making this look great,” Child said.
‘The Crown’ starred Claire Foy as the Queen of England for the first two seasons before Olivia Colman took over the role in seasons three and four. ‘Sense and Sensibility’ actress Imelda Staunton will take over the role for its final two seasons.

Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ MMO Has Been Canned

Mike Phalin
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Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ MMO Has Been Canned

A “free” massively multiplayer online game based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien to compete with Codemasters’ ‘Lord of the Rings Online’ has come to an end before even hitting the market. It looks like now there is only one way to have an online adventure in Middle Earth.
Kotaku reports that the MMO in development via Amazon and Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited is kaput. Last year LTHL was purchased by Tencent. This looks to be the source of the issue. A statement was released by Amazon recently. It narrows down what caused the cancellation. The company mentions that it had “been unable to secure terms to proceed with this title at this time.”
I wouldn’t entirely rule the project out yet. Tencent won’t want to pass up what could be a potential cash cow. Possibly more negotiations will be had. Perhaps we’ll see something announced when Amazon’s ‘LotR’ series debuts.
The ‘Lord of the Rings’ title was announced in 2019. After the initial news, things had been pretty quiet. Given the time it takes to craft an MMO, a year or so is far too soon to expect anything worth showing. So, we really have no idea how this thing was coming along.
If you’re looking for a way to enjoy the characters and lore of Tolkien’s stories, the original MMO from 2007 is still up and running. Best of all, it’s free. I had played it for a time in the late 2000s. It isn’t as polished as, say, ‘World of Warcraft,’ but it has a lot of charm of its own.

Though LotRO is a bit dated, the game is still fun to play. You can sign up to play for free by clicking here.
Were you eagerly awaiting this game? Did you play Codemasters’ version of ‘LotR’? Let us know in the comments.
[Source: Kotaku]

Rumor: Skrulls May Return In MARVEL’s She-Hulk

Mike Phalin
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0
Rumor: Skrulls May Return In MARVEL’s She-Hulk

The Skrulls may be returning to the MCU soon. It was already hinted that they were still among us in the current part of the MARVEL timeline. So, it only makes sense that they would return via one of the upcoming Disney+ series.
The DisInsider posted a story regarding a casting call for a unique character who will appear in ‘She-Hulk.’ The supposed character description of the casting notice reads as such, “She is a 20-30-year-old female described as a mysterious shapeshifter that embraces Earth’s pop culture. Enjoying the way she lives life, she uses her power in any way that she can to make her happy, including to get herself power, money, and attention.”
To be fair, there are lots of shapeshifters in the MARVEL universe. The mention of Earth’s pop culture tells us that this person is an alien or at least from another dimension. So, it’s most likely a Skrull. If the rumors are true that MARVEL will start merging dimensions in future films to incorporate the Fox and Sony versions of characters, she may be someone else.
If the description isn’t totally nailing down that she’s an outer space alien and maybe just someone who isn’t from our version of Earth, let’s see who she can be. A female version of Morph? An alternate dimension Mystique? A Symbiote like Venom? Miss Sinister? Maybe Excalibur’s Meggan?
Nah, it’s probably gonna be a Skrull. Not super exciting, but it could be a lead-up to “The Secret Invasion” arc. That event stretched over several comics, including ‘She-Hulk’ and other active MARVEL Studios properties. That’d be a hell of a way to tie this new series in with the bigger players like The Avengers, Captain Marvel, and potentially the X-Men.
That storyline is a big event. This could possibly be the next multi-movie arc now that Thanos is gone. The seeds were already sown in ‘Captain Marvel.’ Will Skrulls be able to captivate audiences that same way that Thanos did, though?
‘She-Hulk’ is currently in production, and many of the rumored characters have yet to be confirmed. The series will most likely premiere in 2022 and will star Tatiana Maslany (‘Orphan Black’) in the lead role of Jennifer Walters / She-Hulk.
She-Hulk first appeared in the 1980’s ‘Savage She-Hulk.’ Her first origin on Earth-616 occurred due to a blood transfusion with her cousin, Bruce Banner. However, Jennifer’s Hulk form was a bit different than Bruce’s. Rather than becoming a being of unhinged rage, Walters still possessed the mind of her human form and could, eventually, transform at will.
This explains why Mark Ruffalo will be returning as Bruce Banner. Rumblings are that this series may mark the end of his run as the Hulk. Hopefully, we get to see the angry green giant trade punches with a couple more of his old foes before that happens.
[Source: The DisInsider]

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