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Thursday, February 25, 2016

IRON FIST Casts Finn Jones as Danny Rand


From the Iron Throne to becoming like unto a thing of iron!

Entertainment Weekly has revealed that the upcoming Netflix series Iron Fist has cast Finn Jones in the lead role of Daniel "Danny" Rand, better known as Marvel Comics character the immortal Iron Fist!  Scott Buck will serve as showrunner on the series.  

Iron Fist will be the fourth Netflix adaptation of a Marvel Comics character, after Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage.  The four character are expected to team up in the miniseries The Defenders, following the release of Iron Fist.

Jones, 27, is an English actor best known as Ser Loras Tyrell on the HBO series Game of Thrones, and has appeared as Santiago Jones (grandson of Doctor Who character Jo Grant) on The Sarah Jane Adventures, as Jamie on the soap opera Hollyoaks, and Barrow in the 2014 version of Sleeping Beauty.


Created in 1974 by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, Iron Fist first appeared in Marvel Premiere #15 as Danny Rand, the son of Wendell Rand, who discovered the mystical city of K'un-L'un as a young boy.  During his time in K'un L'un, Wendell saved the life of the city's ruler, Lord Tuan, and was adopted as Tuan's son.  However, Wendell eventually left K'un L'un and became a wealthy entrepreneur in the United States.  He married socialite Heather Duncan and together, they had a son named Daniel.

Wendell later organized an expedition to again seek out K'un L'un, taking his wife Heather, his business partner Harold Meachum, and nine-year-old Danny. During the journey up the mountain, Danny slipped off the path, causing his tie-rope to take his mother and father with him.  Meachum, who also loved Heather, forced Wendell to plunge to his death but offered to rescue Heather and Danny, although Heather refused his help.  Heather and Danny came across a makeshift bridge that appeared out of nowhere and were attacked by a pack of wolves.  Heather threw herself on the wolves to save Danny and was killed, even as archers from K'un L'un attempted to save her. The archers took the grieving Danny to see Yü-Ti, the mysterious hooded ruler of K'un L'un.  When Danny expressed his desire for vengeance, Yü-Ti sent him to Lei Kung, the Thunderer, who taught him the martial arts.

Daniel proved to be the most gifted of Lei Kung's students, conditioning his fists by plunging them into buckets of sand, gravel, and rock to toughen them.  At 19, Daniel was given the chance to attain the power of the Iron Fist by fighting and defeating the dragon Shou-Lao the Undying, who guarded the molten heart that had been torn from its body.  During the battle, Danny threw himself against the scar of Shou-Lao, which burned a dragon tattoo into his chest.  Having killed Shou-Lao, Danny entered its cave and plunged his fists into a brazier containing the creature's molten heart, emerging with the power of the Iron Fist.  It was later revealed that Danny is part of a long lineage of Iron Fists.

When K'un L'un reappeared on Earth after 10 years, Daniel left to find his father's killer. Returning to New York, Daniel Rand, dressed in the ceremonial garb of the Iron Fist, sought out Harold Meachum, now head of Meachum Industries.  After overcoming a number of attempts on his life, he confronted Meachum in his office, only to find the man legless, from an amputation carried out when he was caught in heavy snow and his legs became frostbitten after abandoning Danny and his mother.

Meachum accepted his fate and told Iron Fist to kill him.  Overcome with pity, Iron Fist walked away, but Meachum was murdered by a mysterious ninja, and his daughter Joy blamed Iron Fist for the death.  Eventually, Iron Fist cleared his name and began a career as a superhero, aided by his friends Colleen Wing and Misty Knight, falling in love with the latter.

While working undercover, Misty Knight infiltrated the organization of crime lord John Bushmaster.  When Bushmaster discovered Knight's treachery, he kidnapped Claire Temple and Noah Burstein, close associates of Luke Cage, better known as Power Man, and held them hostage to force Cage to eliminate Knight.  Danny helped Luke and the Daughters of the Dragon (Knight and Wing) battle Bushmaster, rescued Temple and Burstein, and obtained evidence that proved Luke's innocence of prior drug charges. Afterwards, Iron Fist and Power Man become partners, forming Heroes for Hire, Inc.

Iron Fist is expected to premiere on Netflix sometime in 2017.

New DAREDEVIL Season 2 Trailer Teases Elektra and The Rising


The Rising is coming.

Netflix has released the second of two trailers for the second season of their hit series Daredevil, based on the Marvel Comics superhero.  In this latest two-minute, twenty-five-second trailer, we see Elektra Natchios (Élodie Yung) in action with Daredevil/Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) against the Yakuza along with ominous hints of something coming.

The second trailer picks up from the first, with Elektra waiting for Matt inside his New York apartment.  "Would you believe it if I said I missed you?" she asks.  Matt answers "No," with Elektra continuing, "I need your help, Matthew.  You're the only person I can trust."

"Well, Sweetheart," replies Matt, "you don't break into my house and then talk to me about trust."

Sitting down at a local diner, Matt asks Elektra, "What do you want from me?"

"You fight better than anyone I know," she replies, "and I have information.  The Yakuza never left."

As we see glimpses of Japanese criminals at work, Matt replies "That's impossible.  I drove them out of New York City."

"No, you didn't.  They've just hibernated and watched you take out all of their enemies. Now, New York is ripe for the taking."

We then see a group of motorcycle assassins about to make a hit on someone, Matt tells Elektra, "If we do this, nobody dies.  Do you understand?"

Daredevil and Elektra face off against the Yakuza, swiftly taking down several gangsters. Elektra lowers her facial half-mask and smiles at Daredevil.  "Hungry?" she asks.

We return to a discussion between Matt and Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson).  "Every time I walk up those stairs," Foggy tells Matt, "I wonder if today's the day you're dead in your living room."

"There are horrible things happening in this city," Matt replies as we see The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) aiming his weapon at Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll).  "I'm doing apologizing to you for who I am."

Next, we cut to a scene with Matt and Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), with Matt telling her "The city needs me."

"This isn't your city anymore," counters Claire as we glimpse a rooftop brawl between Daredevil and The Punisher.  

Matt begins to doubt himself, however, as he see him sitting in his living room and holding his mask.  "My way isn't working," he begins.  "What if it never has?"

As The Punisher blows up a bunch of biker gang motorcycles, Elektra responds, "The battle has begun, Matthew.  There's nothing we can do but fight."

We glimpse a familiar group of assassins scaling a building as Daredevil's mentor Stick (Scott Glenn) explains, "They're called The Hand."

"You cannot stop what we have started," says a member of The Hand as Daredevil and Elektra come across a deep pit.  "The Rising is coming."

A fast montage of images follows of Daredevil facing off against The Hand, Daredevil facing off against The Punisher, Karen helpelessly watching near a squad of police cars, and Matt and Elektra making love.

Lastly, we return to the diner, with Elektra remarking to Matt, "You've been working out, by the way.  I appreciate that."

If you'd like to check out the second trailer, you can view it below thanks to the official Netflix account on YouTube...




Daredevil returns to Netflix for Season 2 on March 18, 2016.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

THE FANDOM ZONE 047: "No Way Out" is Up!


"I want to show you the new world, Carl.  I want to make it a reality for you."
– Rick Grimes to Carl Grimes, The Walking Dead: "No Way Out"

That's right, Karen Lindsay and I are back with another HUGE episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

The Walking Dead
6x09 -- "No Way Out" (Midseason Premiere)
Lucifer 1x04 -- "Manly Whatnots"
The Flash 2x14 -- "Escape from Earth-2"
iZombie 2x13 -- "The Whopper"
Agent Carter 2x06 -- "Life of the Party"
Agent Carter 2x07 -- "Monsters"
Arrow 4x14 -- "Code of Silence"
Legends of Tomorrow 1x05 -- "Fail-Safe"

This time, we talk about things like fun with new Doctor Who Funko figures, a big zombie camouflage fail, speculating on the fate of Rick's hand, Glenn being Walker Bait again, which Walking Dead characters to watch closely, Chloe dropping her towel, Mazikeen vs. Amenadiel, more love for Neil Gaiman's Sandman, speculating on Zoom's Man in the Iron Mask, skipping Velocity 8 to go straight to Velocity 9, calling our guess on Zoom's true identity, Blaine's former abusive nanny Frau Blücher, Blaine scamming his zombie dad into thinking he woke up from suspended animation in the far future, more love for Ray Wise, Wilkes getting solid for Peggy Carter, wanting Oliver to kill the rest of the Season 4 flashback, wondering why Oliver's illegitimate kid is a major election scandal in 2016, Karen's sorely-missed Thea impression, Oliver and Mrs. Darhk's off-camera debate, everybody loving Captain Cold, Days of Future Past in Star City, another new Justina review, our appearance on Phil Perich's Before the Bat podcast, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

And hey, if you're interested in an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt, you can get those on TeePublic HERE as well!

Be sure to come back next week as we review new episodes of The Walking Dead, Supergirl, Lucifer, iZombie, Legends of Tomorrow, Agent Carter, The Flash, and Arrow, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 053: "Blood of the Daleks" is Up!


"Now that's what I call a spaceship!  Proper saucer shape and everything!"
-- Lucie Miller, Doctor Who: "Blood of the Daleks"

Returning from the farthest reaches of time and space, my good friend and co-host Jesse Jackson and I are finally back with a new episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!  And this time, we review the Eighth Doctor Big Finish audio adventure "Blood of the Daleks," which you can purchase for download at the link if you don't already own it.

This time, Jesse and I discuss things like chipping away at the latest Doctor Who hiatus, Jesse using a TARDIS to see Bruce Springsteen concerts, Jesse's growing appreciation for Big Finish audio adventures, Doctor Who trusting its audience, our impressions on Sheridan Smith as Lucie Miller, companions bickering with the Doctor, Steven Moffat sometimes being a little too full of himself, the Daleks' xenophobia and need for racial purity, Agent Carter star Hayley Atwell appearing in the story, whether the Daleks are better on audio than on television, Jesse fanboying over hearing Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, explaining the teaser at the end with the Headhunter, not one but two Reverse the Reverse the Polarity segments, Jesse's meeting with Jon Pertwee's son Sean Pertwee, some interesting speculation on Sean Pertwee appearing on Doctor Who when Chris Chibnall takes over as showrunner, and more!

And for those who still aren't aware of this yet, we're available on iTunes RIGHT HERE as well as Stitcher RIGHT HERE, so please subscribe and tell your friends about us. If you're looking for direct MP3 downloads, you can find them RIGHT HERE as well. Oh, and don't forget we have an officially official Next Stop Everywhere Facebook page and Twitter account, so be sure to Like and/or Follow us, okay?

And hey, if you'd like to pick up the officially official Next Stop Everywhere t-shirt, you can find it on TeePublic right HERE!  Help support the show!

Be sure to come back soon for our review of the Tenth Doctor story "The Unicorn and the Wasp" starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate, and look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

Thursday, February 18, 2016

DC Comics Announces REBIRTH Line with All Titles at $2.99


The curtain has finally been raised.

Comic Book Resources has posted the full list of titles for DC Comics'  upcoming "Rebirth" that is scheduled to begin on May 25, 2016 with the release of an 80-page special DC Universe: Rebirth #1, priced at just $2.99.

Afterwards, DC will start releasing various "Rebirth" specials and relaunched #1 issues for their ongoing series, apart from Action Comics and Detective Comics, which will return to their original numberings where they left off at #957 and #934, respectively.

According to the article, the line will include two types of books -- those published twice monthly and those published on a monthly basis.  Every DC Universe book, regardless of their publication schedule, will be priced at $2.99.  The line will consist of 32 total ongoings, 17 twice-monthly and 15 monthly titles.  DC will also publish 23 "Rebirth" one-shots ahead of launching the new ongoings.

"At DC we believe in superheroes, and what makes them great," said DC Entertainment Co-Publisher Dan DiDio in a statement.  "And, we also believe in the direct market and the core comics fan. 'Rebirth' is designed to bring back the best of DC's past, embrace the stories we currently love and move the entire epic universe into the future.  We are returning to the essence of the DCU.  With 'Rebirth' we are putting the highest priority on the direct market and we will continue to create and cultivate new opportunities for retailers to thrive and prosper, grow readers, fans and customers."

The article also states that creative team information on DC's new lineup is set to be revealed next month at WonderCon in Los Angeles, on Saturday, March 26.  The event will be live-streamed on DC's YouTube channel, for those unable to attend the event in person.

And here's the full release rundown...

June:

Rebirth Specials:

AQUAMAN REBIRTH #1
BATMAN REBIRTH #1
THE FLASH REBIRTH #1
GREEN ARROW REBIRTH #1
GREEN LANTERNS REBIRTH #1
SUPERMAN REBIRTH #1
TITANS REBIRTH #1
WONDER WOMAN REBIRTH #1

New #1 Issues (Shipping twice monthly):

AQUAMAN #1
BATMAN #1
THE FLASH #1
GREEN ARROW #1
GREEN LANTERNS #1
SUPERMAN #1
WONDER WOMAN #1

New Issues (Shipping twice monthly):

ACTION COMICS #957
DETECTIVE COMICS #934

July

Rebirth Specials:

BATGIRL & THE BIRDS OF PREY REBIRTH #1
HAL JORDAN & THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS REBIRTH #1
THE HELLBLAZER REBIRTH #1
JUSTICE LEAGUE REBIRTH #1
NIGHTWING REBIRTH #1
RED HOOD & THE OUTLAWS REBIRTH #1

New #1 Issues (Shipping twice monthly):

HAL JORDAN & THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS #1
JUSTICE LEAGUE #1
NIGHTWING #1

New #1 Issues (Shipping monthly):

BATGIRL #1
BATGIRL & THE BIRDS OF PREY #1
THE HELLBLAZER #1
RED HOOD & THE OUTLAWS #1
THE SUPER-MAN #1
TITANS #1

Fall

Rebirth Specials:

BATMAN BEYOND REBIRTH #1
BLUE BEETLE REBIRTH #1
CYBORG REBIRTH #1
DEATHSTROKE REBIRTH #1
EARTH 2 REBIRTH #1
SUICIDE SQUAD REBIRTH #1
SUPERGIRL REBIRTH #1
TEEN TITANS REBIRTH #1
TRINITY REBIRTH #1

New #1 Issues (Shipping twice monthly):

CYBORG #1
DEATHSTROKE #1
HARLEY QUINN #1
JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #1
SUICIDE SQUAD #1

New #1 Issues (Shipping monthly):

BATMAN BEYOND #1
BLUE BEETLE #1
EARTH 2 #1
GOTHAM ACADEMY: NEXT SEMESTER #1
SUPERGIRL #1
SUPERWOMAN #1
SUPER SONS #1
TEEN TITANS #1
TRINITY #1



Wednesday, February 17, 2016

THE FANDOM ZONE 046: "Welcome to Earth-2" is Up!


"Look, Mirror Mirror, I already said I'm not going Dark Side with you."
– Cisco "Vibe" Ramon to Cisco "Reverb" Ramon, The Flash: "Welcome to Earth-2"

That's right, Karen Lindsay and I are back with another HUGE episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Supergirl
1x13 -- "For the Girl Who Has Everything"
Lucifer 1x03 -- "The Would-Be Prince of Darkness"
The Flash 2x13 -- "Welcome to Earth-2"
iZombie 2x12 -- "Physician, Heal Thy Selfie"
Agent Carter 2x05 -- "The Atomic Job"
Arrow 4x13 -- "Sins of the Father"
Legends of Tomorrow 1x04 -- "White Knights"

This time, we talk about things like Firestorm raising the roof, why Agent Carter Season 3 is probably not going to happen, Karen's Valentine's Day plans, the Deadpool post-credits scene, the movie Dreamscape, the original "For the Man Who Has Everything" comic story by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, the awkwardness of Supergirl's adopted sister murdering her aunt, 7-Up vs. Sprite, the most famous guest-star being the killer on police procedurals, Dr. Linda cougaring Lucifer, Karen defending the spelling of her last name, the awkwardness of being impaled by a piece of rebar, the greatness of Ray Wise, running down the fleeting DC TV Multiverse images, Barry Allen's Eleventh Doctor cosplay, Earth-2 Barry White, the greatness of D.A. Baracus, Ravi's drinking fail, Donna Smoak being the body in the Mystery Grave, the movie White Knights, some background on Firestorm character Pozhar and Professor Stein as a fire elemental, Hawkgirl and White Canary's anger issuesanother new Justina review, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

And hey, if you're interested in an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt, you can get those on TeePublic HERE as well!

Be sure to come back next week as we review the midseason premiere of The Walking Dead, along with new episodes of Lucifer, iZombie, Legends of Tomorrow, Agent Carter, The Flash and Arrow, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. Casts Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Slingshot


Add another Secret Warrior to the roster.

ComicBook.com has revealed that the ABC series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has cast Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez, better known to Marvel Comics fans as the Secret Warrior calling Slingshot.

The article describes Slingshot as "a street-wise Colombian woman given Inhuman abilities" and is the third member of Daisy's Secret Warriors team along with Lincoln, who generates electricity, and Joey, who can melt anything metal once he's in proximity to it.

Cordova-Buckley, 33, is a Mexican actress probably best known as Señora Valles in the 2015 film McFarland, USA starring Kevin Costner.  She also had roles on Ella y el Candidato and Ventanas al mar.


Created in 2008 by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev, Slingshot first appeared in Mighty Avengers (vol.1) #13 as Yo-Yo Rodriguez, the daughter of known super-criminal John Horton, better known as the Griffin. Through her father's mutated DNA, Yo-Yo somehow gained super-speed.

Before the event known as Secret Invasion started, Nick Fury tasked Daisy Johnson with recruiting select individuals he had files on for what would become his secret strike force team.  As a member of the "Secret Warriors," Yo-Yo was given the codename Slingshot and was trained alongside Stonewall (Jerry Sledge), Manifold (Eden Fesi), Phobos, Hellfire, and Sebastian Druid. During a meal, Phobos revealed to the team that he could see the future and prophesized about each member, including Slingshot who would get hurt, but Stonewall would care for her.

Fury's Secret Warriors were sent to an old S.H.I.E.L.D. base in Texas to observe activity there, where they discovered Hydra operatives.  In defiance of their orders to observe only, Slingshot, The Druid, and Stonewall engaged the terrorists.  When Daisy led the Secret Warriors in an engagement against The Gorgon (a presumed deceased member of Hydra), the prophecy came true as Yo-Yo was severely injured and her arms were both cut off. However, they were able to restore her back to health and gave her two prosthetic arms which allowed her full dexterity again.

Returning to active duty, Yo-Yo and the team were taken to Heaven's Hell, a secret base in orbit.  There, Fury explained the plan for the main team to hit Hydra, while the other teams took on the last Leviathan bases.  Using Manifold's portal, they traveled to Gehenna in order to blow it up, but they were expected.  Once the bomb was armed, Baron von Strucker cornered the Secret Warriors and they were forced to flee as the bomb neared the end of its countdown.  Shocked at the death of Phobos at the hands of the Gorgon, Daisy brought down the entire cavern around them while the team retreated.  Eventually, they were able to defeat the Gorgon.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. returns to ABC on Tuesday, March 8th at 9:00 p.m. EST.

Monday, February 15, 2016

DAREDEVIL Season 2 Trailer Teases The Punisher & Elektra


The Man Without Fear's life is about to get way more complicated.

Netflix has released the first of two trailers for the second season of their hit series Daredevil, based on the Marvel Comics superhero.  In this two-minute, forty-second trailer, we see that Matt Murdock is about to encounter a new player in town, The Punisher (Jon Bernthal), and face the return of an old flame, Elektra Natchios (Élodie Yung).

The trailer opens with images of Frank Castle's home, as we hear him whisper "One batch, two batch" from a children's book as he readies one of his weapons.

We then see Matt having another discussion with Father Lantom (Peter McRobbie), his priest from Season One.  "Father, why do I still feel guilty?" Matt asks.

"The guilt," replies Father Lantom, "means your work is not yet finished."

At the scene of multiple murders, Matt meets up with an NYPD cop to get some information.  "Downtown office thinks we got a new player in Hell's Kitchen," remarks the detective.

"What do they want?" asks Matt, apparently thinking this was a gang hit.

"D.A.'s office says the shooter is independent," replies the cop.  "He's tracking gangs to their home turf and taking them out with military precision, with knowledge and hardware to take out half the city.  Hell's Kitchen is about to explode."

As we see The Punisher blowing up something and watching with cold detachment, we hear the voice of Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll) discussing the new threat.  "Maybe we created him," Karen remarks to Matt Murdock.  "All of us."

"There's no connection," replies Matt.  

"We never stopped to think that Daredevil's actions could open the door for men like this," Karen adds, as she studies the X-ray of someone's skull, teasing the Punisher's familiar chest emblem from the comics.  

"How much longer before innocent people start getting caught in his crossfire?" Matt asks as The Punisher takes out another target with a sniper rifle.

We cut to a heated discussion between Matt and Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson).  "Blood is being shed!" Matt exclaims.

"And you've donated more than your fair share!" counters Foggy as we see someone (probably Matt), wringing blood out of a wet article of clothing.

We briefly see the return of Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson), who tells Foggy, "The city needs him."

Cut to The Punisher, who says to Daredevil, "I need to take care of the scum that killed my family"

We see Daredevil in another hallway fight, as Daredevil continues the discussion.  "People don't have to die."

"You hit 'em and they get back up, I hit 'em and they stay down," counters The Punisher.

We see The Punisher shooting at Daredevil, who asks why he's doing this.

"Because I think you're a half measure," replies The Punisher.  "I think you're a man who can't finish the job.  I think that you're a coward."

"You know you're one bad day away from being me," he adds.

Lastly, we see Matt returning home to find his college girlfriend Elektra waiting for him on the couch.  "Hello, Matthew," she says with a calm demeanor.

If you'd like to check out the first trailer, you can view it below thanks to the official Netflix account on YouTube...




The second trailer will be released on February 25th, while Daredevil Season Two will be released on Netflix on March 18, 2016.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

DAMN Good Movies -- DEADPOOL


You guessed it, it's time once again for another of my movie takes, this one on the movie Deadpoolbased on Marvel Comics' merc with a mouth.  As always, if you haven't seen the movie yet and you don't want it spoiled for you, then please step back from your computer or whatever electronic device you're reading this on and stop reading now.  If, however, you're wise enough to know that movie reviews with spoilers are always more interesting than the ones without them...well...grab yourself a chimichanga and enjoy...

It's been a long and winding road for Deadpool.  The battle to bring Wade Wilson to the big screen started as far back as 2000, when Artisan Entertainment announced a deal with Marvel Entertainment to co-produce, finance and distribute the film.  In 2004, New Line Cinema made an attempt, with David S. Goyer working on the project and Ryan Reynolds in the title role.  However, New Line put the film in turnaround a year later, which is when 20th Century Fox got involved.  Fox thought about a Deadpool spinoff during the development of 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which featured Reynolds as a bizarre version of the character that ended up with his mouth sewn shut and arm blades along with a variety of X-Men powers.  Thankfully, producer Lauren Shuler Donner wisely decided to ignore that hot mess, and in 2011, Tim Miller was hired as director.  The project stalled again, until the visual effects test footage suddenly leaked online in July 2014, which was very well-received by Deadpool fans and pushed Fox to announce the official release date two months later as part of a new X-Men shared cinematic universe.

The movie opens with Deadpool already suited up, attacking a convoy of cars on an expressway, and breaking the fourth wall to the audience before jumping back to his secret origin.  We see Wade Wilson working as a low-profile mercenary protecting teenage girls from would-be stalkers, until he meets Copycat Vanessa Carlysle, a sassy escort/prostitute at a local bar and they fall deeply, madly in love.  A year later, Wade ends up diagosed with terminal cancer and fears losing her, even though she remains right by his side.  The chemistry between Reynolds and Morena Baccarin is electric, as their characters complement one another perfectly and take full advantage of that R rating in a hot little sex scene.

Desperate to stay alive, Wade ends up recruited by the Weapon X program -- yes, that same program that created Wolverine -- and is injected with a special serum by the movie's Big Bad Ajax and tortured for days by Ajax's henchwoman Angel Dust to trigger a mutation inside Wade.  After being deprived of oxygen in an airtight chamber, Wade's skin becomes severly disfigured (or as Wade's best friend Weasel describes it later, "an avocado that had sex with an older avocado"), but with a handy-dandy little healing factor that effectively makes him immortal.

Eventually, we head right back to the events of the opening expressway sequence, learning that Deadpool really wants to get his mitts on Ajax for a cure to his avocadoesque appearance.  The battle gets interrupted by none other than the X-Man Colossus (now with an actual Russian accent) and his sulky Millennial sidekick Negasonic Teenage Warhead, who want Deadpool to join the X-Men for some bizarre reason.  Deadpool isn't really down with the idea, however, and ends up cutting off his own hand to escape a pair of handcuffs.

The gruesomeness, like most of the over-the-top violence in this movie, is played for laughs and captures the tone of most Deadpool comics.  The film is totally self-aware, knowing that it shouldn't take itself seriously and that you -- yes, you -- are an outright idiot if you're taking it seriously.  There are potshots at Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman being People's "Sexiest Man Alive," the lack of film budget to afford more than two X-Men, Reynolds' previous superhero appearance as Green Lantern, you name it, it's pretty much there.

The movie's Third Act takes us to a decommissioned aircraft carrier at a scrapyard, where Ajax has taken Vanessa hostage and has set up a trap for ol' Wade.  Deadpool, of course, talks Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead into helping him, giving us the predictable amount of superhero destruction and carnage.  And after Ajax is defeated and Vanessa is rescued, Deadpool does the craziest thing possible by reminding us that it's actually a love story.

Oh, and before I forget, you definitely need to watch the post-credit scenes.  If you're a diehard fan of the John Hughes classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off, as I am, you'll love it. Chicka-chickaaaahhhh...

The movie's cast work well with one another, with a lot of fun exchanges and quippy dialogue.  Here are some of the things that stood out:

DEADPOOL/WADE WILSON -- Ryan Reynolds is Deadpool, no way around it.  This movie was a passion project for Reynolds and it shows, as it sometimes feels as if he's been destined for the role since his breakout film National Lampoon's Van Wilder in 2002.  After Blade: Trinity and the disappointing Green Lantern adaptation in 2011, it seems Reynolds finally found his true superhero calling.

VANESSA CARLYSLE -- As the mandatory superhero damsel in distress, Morena Baccarin positively smolders in the role of Vanessa.  After her previous characters Inara Serra in Firefly and Serenity and Dr. Leslie Thompkins on Gotham, it's interesting to see her play a character with more than a bit of edge and sass.  I was a little disappointed though, that Vanessa didn't have her metamorphic superpowers as Copycat from the comics.  At least...not yet.

AJAX/FRANCIS FREEMAN -- You may remember Ed Skrein as the original, less impressive Daario Naharis on Game of Thrones or possibly as the wannabe Jason Staham replacement in The Transporter Refueled, and that's probably what you'll go on remembering after seeing him here.  Ajax is pretty much a one-note villain, a sadist who desperately wants Deadpool to say his name for some reason.  However, that makes him a perfect bad guy for Deadpool to mock and make fun of throughout the film.  Go figure.

WEASEL -- T.J. Miller is the mandatory comic relief in a film that's mostly comic relief.  As Weasel, Wade's best friend, he gets to trade quips with Wade and make fun of his new appearance.  He's there for one-liners and that's pretty much it.

ANGEL DUST -- After failing to become some comic fans' ideal Wonder Woman, Gina Carano ends up with the henchwoman role here.  She doesn't get much dialogue, although she does get a pretty funny scene where her breasts pop out during a fight scene with Colossus and takes advantage of him trying not to look.

COLOSSUS/PIOTR "PETER" RASPUTIN -- Stefan Kapičić voices a mo-cap version of Colossus, giving the character a Russian accent at long last, even though it comes off a little too Boris Badenov from the old Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons.  And after all the criticism against Bryan Singer's X-Men films not featuring Colossus in his metallic form for longer than two seconds, how great was it that he's metallic through this entire movie?

NEGASONIC TEENAGE WARHEAD -- Brianna Hildebrand is pretty much perfect as the eye-rolling, sarcastic teenage mutant that Deadpool keeps trying to win over.  Balancing her character with Colossus was a great idea, and I have to wonder if her black and yellow X-Men costume means she's going to be a member of The New Mutants in the upcoming spinoff film.

BLIND AL -- Leslie Uggams is Deadpool's roommate, a character who first appeared in the first issue of the original Deadpool comic by Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness.  She's more comic relief who creates some wonderfully politically incorrect blind jokes and has a very odd scene with Deadpool's regenerating hand.

OBLIGATORY STAN LEE CAMEO -- Stan "The Man" turns up, I kid you not, as a strip club DJ.  The co-creator of Spider-Man, The Hulk and the X-Men shares screen time with topless strippers and it's pure magic.

ROB LIEFELD CAMEO -- As the person who swiped DC Comics' Deathstroke (I mean, Slade Wilson/Wade Wilson, come on!) co-created Deadpool with Fabian Nicieza in New Mutants (vol.1) #98, you knew Liefeld was going to be worked into the movie somehow.  He turns up as someone getting a tattoo that Wade briefly encounters and reluctantly acknowledges by his actual name.

All in all, Deadpool is the Deadpooliest film that Deadpool fans could ever have wished for. Ryan Reynolds' personal crusade to finally do the character justice on screen has totally paid off, so much so, the movie had a huge opening weekend and is already greenlit for a sequel.  And if you stayed to watch the post-credit scenes, you should know which major X-Men character is slated to be a part of it.

And for those who may be wondering, here's the updated list of my Top 20 Comic Book Films:

1. Superman (1978)
2. The Dark Knight (2008)
3. The Avengers (2012)
4. Man of Steel (2013)
5. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
6. Spider-Man (2002)
7. Batman Begins (2005)

8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

9. Iron Man (2008)
10. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
11. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
12. Watchmen (2009)
13. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
14. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
15. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
16. X-Men: First Class (2011)
17: The Wolverine (2013)

18. X2: X-Men United (2003)
19. X-Men (2000)

20. Deadpool (2016)

Friday, February 12, 2016

THE FANDOM ZONE 045: "Fifty Shades of Grey Matter" is Up!


"Go forth and direct your lust elsewhere."
– Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti to Olivia "Liv" Moore, iZombie: "Fifty Shades of Grey Matter"

That's right, Karen Lindsay and I are back with another HUGE episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Supergirl
1x12 -- "Bizarro"
Lucifer 1x02 -- "Lucifer, Stay. Good Devil."
The Flash 2x12 -- "Fast Lane"
iZombie 2x11 -- "Fifty Shades of Grey Matter"
Agent Carter 2x04 -- "Smoke & Mirrors"
Arrow 4x12 -- "Unchained"
Legends of Tomorrow 1x03 -- "Blood Ties"

This time, we talk about things like Lucifer's "Sit, Ubu, sit, good dog" from Family Ties reset, Lex Luthor Maxwell Lord being smug, duct-taping Jimmy Olsen to a forklift, reversing the polarity of the Kryptonite flow, Dr. Linda being a cougar, Chloe's daughter Trixie on the internet, Karen's Ronan the Accuser and The Collector Funko toys, Tasha Yar's death on Star Trek: The Next Generation, everyone thinking Felicity is a better hacker than Cisco, the "All Your Base Are Belong to Us" meme, the Leroy Jenkins YouTube video, Dirty Harry Wells being dirty, the dual origins of Peggy Carter and Madame Masque, Kristen Bell pranking her husband, Liv on porny librarian brain, hoping for Ravi and Minor to be reunited, the growing zombie cast on iZombie, some background on The Calculator, Felicity and The Calculator's painful hacker smackoff, The Doctor Rip Hunter lies again, wondering what to call the shipping of Rip Hunter and Sara Lance, Captain Cold's timeline alteration failanother new Justina review, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

And hey, if you're interested in an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt, you can get those on TeePublic HERE as well!

Be sure to come back next week as we review new episodes of Lucifer, iZombie, Legends of Tomorrow, Agent Carter, Supergirl, The Flash and Arrow, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!