TITANTALK 002: "Cast of the Titans" is Up!

"R-Robin?  What's going on?"
"Can't you guess, Beautiful?  It's the one and only Changeling, live and in person!"

-- Wonder Girl and Changeling, The New Teen Titans (vol.1) #1: "The New Teen Titans"

That's right, my fellow TitanTalker Jesse Jackson and I are back with another new episode of TitanTalk: The Titans Podcast! 

In this second episode of our three-part rollout, Jesse and I discuss what we know so far about the upcoming Titans TV series, the previous failed attempt at doing a Titans TV series on TNT, Jesse preferring substance over style, what we want to see from Titans, why a shorter season may benefit the series, the show's main cast and their previous acting credits, the costumes for Robin, Hawk and Dove, and more!

If you'd like to check out episodes of TitanTalk, you can find us on...

iTunes -- RIGHT HERE

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TitanTalk's Facebook page

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Be sure to come back tomorrow for Episode 003 as Jesse and I discuss the first two trade paperback volumes of the current Titans series from DC Comics, along with more news from the upcoming DC Universe series Titans!  Look for more of TitanTalk: The Titans Podcast on iTunes, Google Play Music, YouTube, Libsyn, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

TITANTALK 001: "TitanTalk Together" is Up!

"I'd like to propose a toast -- an obvious one.  To my friends, past, present and future -- to the Titans."

-- Nightwing, Secret Origins Annual #3: "Pieces of the Puzzle"

After months of teasing this project, I'm very proud to announce that my longtime friend and fellow TitanTalker from back in the day Jesse Jackson and I have just launched our brand-new podcast, TitanTalk: The Titans Podcast, as part of the Southgate Media Group!  Our first introductory episode, "TitanTalk Together", was posted this afternoon and we hope you'll give us a listen.

In addition, we've set up a TitanTalk show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE, and we're also on Twitter using the account @TitanTalkCast.  Be sure to share these with all of your friends, love interests, mentors, sidekicks, archenemies, otherdimensional beings, whomever, and help build our new podcast into something special.

In our first introductory episode, Jesse and I discuss being destined to do a Titans podcast, our other podcasts for the Southgate Media Group, our backgrounds as longtime comics and Titans fans, how Jesse and I met back in the day as members of the amateur press association TitanTalk, writing Titans fan fiction, zines being the original blogs, fans vs. fanatics, Jesse giving my wife Lori away at our wedding, Jesse recruiting me into the world of podcasting, covering other Titans material in addition to the upcoming TV show, our decision to resurrect TitanTalk as a podcast, things will be covering in upcoming episodes, how to email TitanTalk and follow us on social media, and more!

If you'd like to check out our first episode, you can find us on...

iTunes -- COMING SOON!

Direct MP3 downloads/Libsyn --  RIGHT HERE

Google Play Music -- COMING SOON!

TitanTalk's Facebook page

TitanTalk's Twitter account

Be sure to come back tomorrow for Episode 002 as Jesse and I discuss news from the upcoming DC Universe series Titans, including a rundown of the main and recurring cast!  Look for more of TitanTalk: The Titans Podcast on iTunes, Google Play Music, YouTube, Libsyn, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

TITANS Casts Jake Michaels as Robotman

The Doom Patrol is almost complete.

ComicBook.com has revealed that the upcoming DC Universe digital series Titans has cast Jake Michaels as Cliff Steele, better known to DC Comics fans as Robotman, member of the team of strange superheroes known as The Doom Patrol.  

Michaels joins Bruno Bichir as The Chief and April Bowlby as Elasti-Girl.  The Doom Patrol will make their debut in the series' fifth episode, "The Doom Patrol", written by Geoff Johns.

According to the article, Robotman is described as "A former race car driver, Cliff Steele was in a horrific accident that left his body uninhabitable.  Cliff’s brain was saved by the mysterious Dr. Niles Caulder and he lives on in a powerful robotic body."

Michaels has previously appeared in episodes of Designated Survivor, Killjoys, Condor, Saving Hope, Suits, 11.22.63, Beauty and the Beast, Lost Girl, Nikita, Na dobre i na złe, and Transporter: The Series.

Created in 1963 by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani, Robotman first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 as Clifford "Cliff" Steele, a race car driver who had an accident that destroyed his body (a later retcon had the accident intentionally caused by Niles Caulder).  Caulder subsequently placed Cliff's intact brain into a robotic body which had superhuman strength, speed and endurance. After the operation, Cliff suffered from frequent depression because he viewed himself as less than human.

Cliff was approached by Caulder, who offered him a place among fellow "freaks" attempting to use their powers for good.  As Robotman, he joined Caulder's team, the Doom Patrol.  Eventually, tragedy struck when the Doom Patrol's enemies, the Brotherhood of Evil, threatened a small New England fishing village.  The Patrol members opted to sacrifice themselves to save the innocents, and were killed in an explosion.

Although initially believed to have been killed by Madame Rouge, Cliff's brain had survived. Will Magnus, the robotics expert who created the Metal Men, recovered Cliff's brain and built him a new body.  Cliff then joined a new Doom Patrol headed by a woman claiming to be Caulder's wife, Arani.  Refusing to believe that Niles was dead, she formed this new team to search for him and took his place as leader, calling herself Celsius, due to her heat-and-cold-based powers.  This new Doom Patrol was eventually almost all killed in action, with the exceptions of Cliff, Tempest, Negative Woman, and Rhea Jones (who remained comatose).  Caulder had turned up alive by this time, and denied having been married to Arani, although he admitted having known her.

Cliff voluntarily committed himself to an asylum, having fallen into a state of depression due to his condition and the loss of his teammates.  In particular, he was angry about being in a metal body and unable to enjoy the feeling and senses that humans take for granted. Caulder sent Magnus to try to help Cliff, and he introduced Cliff to a person with "worse problems than [his]", a woman called Crazy Jane.  Forming a new incarnation of the Doom Patrol, Cliff became Jane's guardian, and eventually fell in love with her.  Later, his human brain was revealed to have been replaced with a Central Processing Unit (CPU), making him a robot in reality.

In the current DC Comics continuity known as "The New 52", Cliff Steele is an adventurer and daredevil who agrees to be injected with experimental nanomachines designed to improve and repair his body.  After he's involved in a fatal car crash during a high-speed race, the nanomachines respond by creating a robotic body in order to encase and protect his still living brain.  Though initially distraught over his condition, the nanomachines prevent Cliff from being able to kill himself.  After coming to terms with his new body, he becomes a freelance hero, later joining the latest incarnation of the Doom Patrol.

This will be the first time the character will appear in live-action, although Robotman has appeared in various animation projects, including Teen Titans (voiced by Peter Onorati), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (voiced by Henry Rollins), and in the DC Nation Doom Patrol shorts (voiced by David Kaye).

Titans is expected to debut on the DC Universe digital service sometime in 2018.

THE FANDOM ZONE 130: "Daddy Darhkest" is Up!

"That was Rip.  This is John Constantine."
"Skinny Brit in a trench coat.  Same thing."
"Oh, doubtful, mate.  You see, I am an accomplished warlock, an expert of the occult, and a master of exorcism.  I'm also a Taurus for those of you taking notes."
-- Sara Lance, Mick Rory & John Constantine, Legends of Tomorrow: "Daddy Darhkest" 

Back in The Fandom Zone once again, Karen and I have returned with another new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Legends of Tomorrow 3x10: "Daddy Darhkest"  (Midseason Premiere)

Black Lightning 1x05: "And Then the Devil Brought the Plague: The Book of Green Light"

In this episode, Karen and I talk about things like more technical difficulties with Karen's sound card, my Constantine action figure's flaming cupcakes, wanting a Legends of Tomorrow soundtrack with songs used in the episodes, the Michael Keaton movie Mr. Mom, the return of Matt Ryan as John Constantine, Constantine flirting with Citizen Cold, why Heat Wave isn't homophobic, Mallus trolling Constantine about Astra, Amaya getting knowledge of the future from Kuasa, the Star Wars parody Thumb Wars, Sara reminding everyone she's bisexual and not a lesbian by shagging Constantine, Ava Sharpe doing her best Princess Leia hologram, Team Fandom Zone, Frozone looking for his super-suit, the famous Casey Kasem rant, Annisa shopping for her first Thunder costume, Tobias Whale and his sister confronting their abusive power, Jennifer breaking the wrist of a bully, Black Lightning being closer to the Marvel Netflix shows than the other CW superhero shows, some new Justina feedback, wanting our editor Rob to bring my TitanTalk podcast out of the darkness, and more!

You can now check out episodes of The Fandom Zone using...

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iTunes -- HERE

Direct Download MP3s/Libsyn -- HERE

The Fandom Zone on Facebook -- HERE

The Fandom Zone on Twitter -- @FandomZoneCast

And if that isn't enough for you, you can also check us out on YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!  Oh, and if you're interested in an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt that all the cool kids are wearing, you can get those on TeePublic HERE as well!  Feel free to post a picture on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come back in two weeks as Karen and I review the Season 4 premiere of The CW's iZombie, the midseason premieres of AMC's The Walking Dead, Fox's Gotham and ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., the sixth episode of The CW's Black Lightning, and new episodes of Fox's Lucifer and The CW's Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, and Arrow, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 106: "The Power of Three" is Up!

"Right, I’m due at work."
"What, you’ve got a job?"
"Of course I’ve got a job.  What do you think we do when we’re not with you?"
"I’d imagine mostly kissing."
-- Rory Williams and The Eleventh Doctor, Doctor Who: "The Power of Three"

You guessed it, my partner in time Jesse Jackson and I are back with a new episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!  This time, we finish our Chris Chibnall Doctor Who retrospective and review "The Power of Three", the 2012 episode from Series Seven of Doctor Who, featuring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams, and the introduction of Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart!

In this episode, Jesse and I discuss things like Amy and Rory adjusting to real life on Earth, my magic black cube I've had decades before the episode aired, Brian taking the Doctor's request to watch the cubes way too seriously, the official introduction of Kate Stewart, science leading UNIT in the modern era, the Doctor wondering how humans can get along with only one heart, why a slow invasion doesn't really work as a Doctor Who threat, my Reverse the Polarity segment, new feedback from Holly from Wisconsin and Paul from Australia, my quick take on the movie Black Panther, and more!

If you'd like to check out our latest episode, you can find us on...

Google Play Music -- RIGHT HERE

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Next Stop Everywhere's Facebook page

Next Stop Everywhere's Twitter account

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 and feel free to post pictures on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come back in three weeks as Jesse and I are joined by special guest companion Christine Peruski to review "The Shakespeare Code", the 2007 episode from Series Three of Doctor Who, featuring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones!  Look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Google Play Music, YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

GHOSTWOOD 029: "My Life, My Tapes - Part 2" is Up!

"What did you see?"
"The abyss, Coop.  The abyss."
"What did you find there?"
"Wonderful things."
-- Dale Cooper and Windom Earle, The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes

It is happening again...My co-host with the most Xan Sprouse and I are back with a new episode of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast!  This time, we finish up our review the 1991 Scott Frost novel The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes! 

LET'S ROCK!

In our latest episode, Xan and I discuss things like Xan being a fidgeter, Cooper impressing F.B.I. agents with his autographed photo of J. Edgar Hoover, more of Cooper's draft-dodging brother Emmet, love on the F.B.I. Academy gun range, Cooper dictating his tapes to his secretary Diane Evans but knowing that he's talking to himself, Cooper's first encounter with Albert Rosenfield and his first meeting with Gordon Cole, the early chess games between Cooper and Windom Earle, Windom Earle's mysterious abduction, Cooper working a joint FBI/DEA task force with Dennis (Denise) Bryson, Caroline Earle's mysterious abduction, Cooper and Caroline's mutual attraction, Dale Cooper's brain not being wired for love, Cooper's stabbing and Caroline's murder at the hands of Windom Earle, Cooper transferring to the F.B.I.'s San Francisco office, Cooper going undercover at a gay bar, Cooper's fear of dentists, Cooper investigating the death of Theresa Banks in Deer Meadow instead of Chet Desmond, a question from listener Rachel O'Rourke Williams on Facebook, Xan taking a trip to Spain, hoping our old "Diane..." cassette tapes won't get eaten, and more!

If you'd like to check out our latest episode, you can find us on...

iTunes -- RIGHT HERE

Direct MP3 downloads/Libsyn -- RIGHT HERE

YouTube -- RIGHT HERE

Ghostwood's Facebook page

Ghostwood's Twitter account

Be sure to come back in three weeks as Xan and I review the 1990 Scott Frost audiobook "Diane..." - The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper!  Look for more of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast on iTunes, YouTube, Libsyn, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

THE FANDOM ZONE 129: "The Devil's Greatest Trick" is Up!

"I don't trust anyone's word, Mr. Diaz.  I put my faith in data, information.  Ones and zeros never lie.  This is digital proof that one of you has betrayed me."
-- Cayden James to Ricardo Diaz, Arrow: "The Devil's Greatest Trick" 

Back in The Fandom Zone once again, Karen and I have returned with another HUGE new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Lucifer 3x14: "My Brother's Keeper"

Supergirl 3x13: "Both Sides Now"

The Flash 4x13: "True Colors"

Black Lightning 1x04: "Black Jesus"

Arrow 6x13: "The Devil's Greatest Trick"

In this episode, Karen and I talk about things like problems with Karen's sound mixer, racism against Muppets, Lucifer's respect for Ella's faith, Ella being naive about her shady brother Jay, Pierce vs. Amenadiel, Dr. Linda needing some counseling, speculating if Ella is Pierce's weakness, my not being a fan of folk music, Supergirl getting hate tweets for disrupting the subway, wondering by Lena Luthor doesn't figure out that Kara Danvers is Supergirl, Karen's rant about Saturn Girl just being arm candy for Mon-El, Martian Manhunter moonshine, wondering how Elongated Man can flood his skin with melanin, wondering why the Thinker decided to download himself into Hazard's female supervillain body while having several male supervillain bodies to choose from, Barry actually doing science for once, the Black Mirror episode "The Callister", Annisa confronting some drug dealers, Jennifer regretting quitting track to take care of her famewhore paralyzed boyfriend, Black Siren taking the heat for killing Cayden James' son, Dinah raging on everyone to kill Black Siren, Green Arrow using the Flash as an Uber substitute, my theory that Arrow brought in Oliver's son William so that Felicity isn't the most annoying character on the show, Oliver's Take Your Son to Superhero Day, our Wooden William smack, the color of polar bear fur, and more!

You can now check out episodes of The Fandom Zone using...

Google Play Music -- HERE 

iTunes -- HERE

Direct Download MP3s/Libsyn -- HERE

The Fandom Zone on Facebook -- HERE

The Fandom Zone on Twitter -- @FandomZoneCast

And if that isn't enough for you, you can also check us out on YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!  Oh, and if you're interested in an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt that all the cool kids are wearing, you can get those on TeePublic HERE as well!  Feel free to post a picture on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come back next week as Karen and I review the midseason premiere of The CW's Legends of Tomorrow and the fifth episode of The CW's Black Lightning, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

TITANS Casts April Bowlby as Elasti-Girl

The Doom Patrol is about to really grow in size.

Entertainment Weekly has word that the upcoming DC Universe digital series Titans has April Bowlby as Rita Farr, better known to DC Comics fans as Elasti-Girl, member of the team of strange superheroes known as The Doom Patrol.  

Bowlby joins Bruno Bichir as Dr. Niles Caulder, a.k.a. The Chief.  The Doom Patrol will make their debut in the series' fifth episode, "The Doom Patrol", written by Geoff Johns.

According to the article, Elasti-Girl is described as "An actress on the rise, Rita Farr was exposed to a toxic gas that altered her cellular structure — which, in the comics, allows her to expand or shrink her body at will. Longing for the days of old, Rita finds a place for herself among The Doom Patrol."

Bowlby, 37, is best known as Kandi on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men and as Stacy Barrett on the Lifetime series Drop Dead Diva.  She's also appeared in episodes of The Big Bang Theory, Mom, Psych, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, How I Met Your Mother, and CSI: NY.

Created in 1963 by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani, Elasti-Girl first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 as Rita Farr, an Olympic swimming gold medalist turned Hollywood actress who was exposed to unusual volcanic gases while shooting a film in Africa.  When Farr recovered, she discovered that she could expand or shrink her body at will—from hundreds of feet tall to mere inches in height.  When she gained greater control of her powers, she discovered that she could enlarge one limb at a time.

Although not physically disfigured, Rita initially had no control over her size changes.  Considered a freak and a menace, she became a recluse, leaving her Hollywood career in ruins.  However, Rita was approached by Dr. Niles Caulder who offered her a place among fellow "freaks" attempting to use their powers for good.  As Elasti-Girl, she joined Caulder's team, the Doom Patrol.

Rita soon fell in love with and married Steve Dayton, an ally of the Doom Patrol known as Mento.  Later on, the couple adopted young Gar Logan, became the Teen Titans member Beast Boy.  Eventually, tragedy struck when the Doom Patrol's enemies, the Brotherhood of Evil, threatened a small New England fishing village.  The Patrol members opted to sacrifice themselves to save the innocents, and were killed in an explosion.  It was later revealed that several members of the team actually cheated death (to appear in Doom Patrol revivals), although Elasti-Girl would remain dead until John Byrne rebooted the team's continuity in 2004 as if none of the previous events ever happened.  Byrne's reboot was later removed from continuity in the Infinite Crisis mini-series.

Following the "One Year Later" storyline, the Doom Patrol changed considerably, losing several members and gaining Beast Boy, Bumblebee and Vox.  Rita's resurrection was explained that The Chief salvaged a piece of Elasti-Girl's skull and used his technology to regrow her entire body due to its malleable form.  Consequently, Elasti-Girl was very docile, and was reluctant to question the Chief.  The Chief hinted that her malleable form hampered her thinking abilities, leading to her lack of personal initiative which makes her dependent upon Caulder.  As he observed her interaction with the Chief, Robin suspected that the Chief had brainwashed Rita and the other Patrol members.  Rita's husband Mento was under the control of his Mento-helmet, and believed that his wife would never love him without it.  Following their battle against the Brotherhood, the Titans and the Doom Patrol confronted the Chief.  Mento finally removed his helmet and pointedly told the Chief that he was no longer leader of the Patrol and if he ever again insulted his wife and son, he would use his powers to destroy the Chief's intellect.  Rita firmly stood behind her husband, breaking out of the Chief's control.

In the most recent Doom Patrol series, Rita changed her codename to Elasti-Woman.  It was revealed that when the Chief regrew her, he did so using protoplasm to eliminate "weaknesses" such as bones and internal organs and therefore Rita was no longer human. When she slept, Rita lost her human shape and reverted to a puddle of goo, having to reshape herself when she wakes up every morning.

This will be the first time the character will appear in live-action, although Elasti-Girl has appeared in various animation projects, including Teen Titans (voiced by Tara Strong), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (voiced by Olivia d'Abo), and in the DC Nation Doom Patrol shorts (voiced by Kari Wahlgren).

Titans is expected to debut on the DC Universe digital service sometime in 2018.

DOCTOR WHO Reveals New Logo & Teaser for the Jodie Whittaker Era

My thoughts on the new logo?  "Oh, brilliant!"

At a BBC Worldwide showcase earlier today, Jodie Whittaker revealed the new logo for Doctor Who's upcoming Series 11, the first season featuring Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor, Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole, and Mandip Gill as new companions Graham, Ryan, and Yasmin, and Chris Chibnall as the new Doctor Who showrunner.

The new orange-gold logo, produced by creative agency Little Hawk, harkens back to the logo colors from the Russell T. Davies era during 2005-2009, while offering something new along with a sly female symbolism Easter egg if you turn the "ho" in "Who" sideways.

The Doctor Who logo and insignia are the quintessential signifier for the brand," said BBC Worldwide Executive Creative Director Rafaela Perera.  "Our aim was to create modern and elegant designs that were anchored in the things that we love most about Doctor Who."

A brief 17-second teaser for the new logo and Series 11 also debuted, with music from British musician and sound artist Matthew Herbert.  The video features the TARDIS bursting through a crystalline debris field to illuminate the new lettering, which you can view below thanks to the official Doctor Who account on YouTube...




Doctor Who will return to BBC America for Series 11 sometime in Fall 2018.

DAMN Good Movies -- BLACK PANTHER

That's right, I'm back once again with another movie take, this time on the movie Black Panther, the latest film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  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...Wakanda forever!

The struggle to get a Black Panther movie made has been going on longer than you think.  Back in 1992, actor Wesley Snipes (who went on to play Blade, of course) announced his intention to bring the character to the big screen and entered talks with Columbia Pictures, but script problems and confusion with the Black Panther Party affected the film's development.  In 1998, Marvel placed the movie on its film slate, but corporate problems put the project on hold for two years, when Artisan Entertainment announced a deal to co-produce and finance the film.  

That eventually went nowhere, so jumping ahead to 2005, Marvel announced Black Panther would be one of ten films developed by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures.  Marvel spent the next several years trying to develop the film, approaching director John Singleton and a number of writers, but still no movie sign.  Finally in 2014, Marvel announced Black Panther for November 2017, with Chadwick Boseman in the title role.  They spent another year trying to land a director, eventually bringing aboard Ryan Coogler after the success of his 2015 film Creed.

Black Panther opens centuries ago, with a backstory presented as a fable of five African tribes who warred over a meteorite containing the fictional metal vibranium.  A warrior consumed a "heart-shaped herb" that was affected by the metal and gained superhuman abilities, becoming the first "Black Panther" and uniting all tribes (except the declining Jabari Tribe) to form the nation of Wakanda.  Over time, the Wakandans used the vibranium to develop highly advanced technology and hid their advanced civilization from the world by disguising themselves as a poor Third World country.

We skip ahead to 1992, where King T'Chaka, the reigning Black Panther, travels to Oakland, California, to visit his undercover brother, N'Jobu.  It turns out super-shady arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (from Avengers: Age of Ultron) had infiltrated Wakanda and stolen vibranium, leading T'Chaka to accuse N'Jobu of helping him.  N'Jobu's friend reveals himself to be Zuri, another undercover Wakandan, who confirms T'Chaka's suspicions.

Finally switching to he present day, we pick up with events following T'Chaka's death at the hands of Helmut Zemo in Captain America; Civil War.  His son T'Challa, last seen in Civil War, returns to Wakanda to assume the throne and the mantle of the Black Panther.  He and Okoye, the leader of the Amazonesque elite bodyguards known as the Dora Milaje, extract his ex-lover Nakia from an undercover assignment so she can attend his coronation ceremony, along with T'Challa's mother Ramonda and his younger sister Shuri.  At the ceremony held at Warrior Falls, the Jabari Tribe's leader M'Baku challenges T'Challa for the crown in ritual combat.  T'Challa soon defeats M'Baku and convinces him to yield instead of dying during their fight.

By this point, it becomes more than clear that this isn't your typical Marvel movie.  After introducing us to the amazing technological spectacle of Wakanda, Coogler delivers an impressive sight of hundreds of people from the five tribes, all with painted faces and brightly-colored ceremonial costumes, decorating the waterfall's rockface and taking part in the ritual.  It's not Peter Parker crushing on a girl in high school or Tony Stark throwing a glitzy party, that's for sure.

Klaue and a man named Erik Stevens, meanwhile, steal an ancient Wakandan artifact from a museum that contains vibranium.  T'Challa learns that Klaue plans to sell the artifact in an underground casino in Busan, South Korea, and W'Kabi, T'Challa's friend and Okoye's lover, tells him to either kill Klaue or bring him to Wakanda for trial because Klaue was responsible for murdering his parents.  T'Challa, Okoye, and Nakia travel to the casino (which looks a lot like the Macau casino in the James Bond movie Skyfall), where T'Challa learns CIA agent Everett K. Ross, whom he met in Civil War, is the intended buyer.  A firefight breaks out, Klaue escapes, and Okoye, Nakia and Ross take off after him.  A very Bondish car chase through the streets of Busan follows, with T'Challa capturing Klaue with Shuri's help.

We head into the Second Act with Ross interrogating Klaue, who reveals that Wakanda's international image of being a Third World nation is just a front.  They get ambushed by Erik, who extracts Klaue, leaving Ross severely injured intercepting a bullet meant for Nakia.  Oh, and T'Challa notices Erik is wearing a ring identical to his own, which of course pays off later.  T'Challa decides to take Ross to Wakanda, where their technology can save him, instead of going after Klaue.  While Shuri heals Ross, T'Challa confronts Zuri about what happened to N'Jobu.  Zuri explains that N'Jobu planned to share Wakanda's technology with people of African descent around the world to help them conquer their oppressors.  When T'Chaka arrested N'Jobu, N'Jobu attacked Zuri, forcing T'Chaka to kill him.  They left behind N'Jobu's son, Erik, because returning with him would complicate their lie that N'Jobu had disappeared.  Erik eventually became a U.S. black ops soldier, earning the name "Killmonger".

Killmonger kills Klaue, then takes his body to Wakanda as proof T'Challa isn't all that, flipping W'Kabi over to Team Killmonger in the process.  Killmonger is brought before the tribal elders, then he reveals his identity as N'Jadaka, son of N'Jobu, and stakes a claim to the throne.  He challenges T'Challa to ritual combat and after killing Zuri, he defeats T'Challa, throwing him over the waterfall to his presumed death.  Now large and in charge, Killmonger order the heart-shaped herbs to be burned, but Nakia rescues one because once again, it will pay off later.  Supported by W'Kabi and his army, Killmonger uses his new authority to prepare shipments of Wakandan weapons to his operatives around the world.

The Third Act has Nakia, Shuri, Ramonda and Ross heading into the mountains to ask the Jabari Tribe for aid, where they find T'Challa comatose after being rescued by the Jabari in repayment for sparing M'Baku's life.  (Good thing he did that, hunh?)  Healed by Nakia's herb, T'Challa requests help from M'Baku, who isn't quite feeling it and passes.  T'Challa returns to fight Killmonger, who orders W'Kabi and his army to attack T'Challa.  The Dora Milaje, Shuri and Nakia battle Killmonger, who dons his own spiffy Black Panther suit.  In the middle of fighting, Shuri instructs Ross to remotely pilot a jet to shoot down the planes leaving with the vibranium weapons.  

Just when all seems lost though, M'Baku and the Jabari finally show up to help T'Challa., while Okoye calls out her boyfriend W'Kabi, encouraging him and his army to stand down. This leads to the big climactic fight in Wakanda's vibranium mine, where T'Challa eventually disrupts Killmonger's suit and fatally stabs him.  Fearing imprisonment, Killmonger declines an offer to be healed, instead choosing to die a free man.  Reclaiming his throne, T'Challa brings Shuri to Oakland and tells her he bought the building where N'Jobu died to establish a Wakanda outreach center, which will be run by Shuri and Nakia.  The End.

Later, in a mid-credits bonus scene that probably would've made a better ending for the film, T'Challa appears before the United Nations to reveal Wakanda's true nature to the world.  Presumably, he's unaware that he'll probably be lit up on Twitter for not telling the world about Wakanda's advances in technology and health care years ago.

There were a number of great actors in this film who made their characters particularly notable.  Here are some of the things that stood out:

BLACK PANTHER/T'CHALLA -- In his second outing as Black Panther, Chadwick Boseman obviously get the chance to shine more here than he did in Civil War.  His T'Challa is a stoic, noble hero, desperate to be a good king like his father T'Chaka and to do right by his people.  He's sympathetic to what was done to Killmonger as a child, respectful to everyone who serves under him, and even allowed to have a little bit of a sense of humor where his younger sister is concerned.  Boseman is a formidable Black Panther, but he's an even better T'Challa.

KILLMONGER/ERIK STEVENS/N'JADAKA -- Michael B. Jordan proves to be much more effective as a supervillain than he was as the Human Torch in Josh Trank's unfantastic Fantastic Four reboot film from 2015.  Killmonger could've easily been a one-note Marvel villain wanting to take over Wakanda and use it's resources to control the world, but Jordan gives his character considerable depth.  He shows the cultural divide between Africans and their American offspring, bringing something very new to the traditional bad guy role.

NAKIA -- After slumming it as Maz Kanata in the recent Star Wars trilogy, Lupita Nyong'o plays Nakia, T'Challa's ex-girlfriend and a War Dog, an undercover spy for Wakanda placed in other countries to complete missions.  Thankfully, Nakia is allowed to be more than just the Bond Girl to T'Challa's James Bond, with Nyong'o shpwing the heart of a true Wakandan warrior in various scenes and displaying wise counsel for T'Challa.  Hell, Nakia could easily have her own spy movie spinoff and I'd be all over it.

OKOYE -- Danai Gurira takes a break from killing zombies with her katana as Michonne on The Walking Dead and all of us are better for it.  As Okoye, she heads the Dora Milaje, the special forces group that serves as T'Challa's bodyguards.  And like T'Challa, she's a very stoic figure who also gets the occasional sense of humor, especially when Shuri is in the room.

SHURI -- And while on the subject of Shuri, Letitia Wright pretty much steals every scene she's in.  Your new favorite Disney princess is the Q to T'Challa's Bond, providing him with all sorts of high-tech devices...even though she's only 16!  Her teenage rebelliousness makes for some fun, socially awkward moments, especially during T'Challa's coronation ceremony, but the character's intelligence is really what matters most here.  Just imagine what would happen if Shuri, Peter Parker, Tony Stark, and Bruce Banner were locked in a research lab together...

EVERETT K. ROSS -- Martin Freeman, famous for playing Dr. John Watson on Sherlock, Arthur Dent in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie and the younger Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit trilogy, positively excels as a white guy placed in uncomfortable situations.  Reprising his role from Captain America: Civil War, Freeman gets to develop Ross as something of a new Phil Coulson here.  He's not just comic relief though, and even gets a couple of decent action sequences.

KLAW/ULYSSES KLAUE -- Andy Serkis, the film's other white guy who was also in The Hobbit (as Gollum), reprises his character from Avengers: Age of Ultron.  Once again, Klaue is a sleazebag from South Africa with zero redeeming qualities, this time filling the role of Killmonger's main henchman until Killmonger decides he's no longer useful.  Klaue gets a great interrogation scene with Ross, spilling the beans on Wakanda's true nature just for shits and giggles

W'KABI -- Hot off his Oscar nomination for Get Out, Daniel Kaluuya is W'Kabi, T'Challa's best friend and head of security for the Border Tribe, which serves as the first line of defense for Wakanda.  W'Kbai is a minor supporting character here, but his resentment of T'Challa's inability to capture or kill Klaue and willingness to support Killmonger make for some great dramatic moments.  Ultimately, he makes the wise choice and stands down, primarily because his girlfriend Okoye was about to rip his head from his body and use it for spear practice.

M'BAKU -- Winston Duke takes what could've been a thankless role, T'Challa's rival for the throne who ultimately helps him to save Wakanda, and turns it into something more special when Nakia, Shuri, Ramonda and Ross show up looking for help.  He trolls Ross into thinking that he's going to eat him before revealing he's vegan, then trolls the others into thinking he's going to help for a moment before refusing them outright.  And yes, let's just be really glad he didn't go by his comics alias "Man-Ape"...

RAMONDA -- Once everyone's favorite pick 25 years ago to play Storm in a movie, Angela Bassett finally makes it into the Marvel Cinematic Universe after playing Linda Lake on an episode of the 1990-91 DC Comics series The Flash and DC's Amanda Waller in Green Lantern.  As Wakanda's Queen Mother, Ramonda is a trusted advisor to T'Challa but she doesn't get to do a whole lot apart from look concerned at key moments and wear an impressive white dreadlock wig.

OBLIGATORY STAN LEE CAMEO -- Stan "The Man" turns up as a gambler at the South Korea casino, who swoops in after T’Challa wins at a table, suggesting that he’ll look after T’Challa’s sizable amount of chips until the king returns.

WINTER SOLDIER CAMEO -- Sebastian Stan returns as Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, in a post-credits bonus scene that reveals Shuri has revived Bucky from suspended animation, where he's been ever since the end of Civil War.  Time to suit up for Avengers: Infinity War, Buck!

All in all, Black Panther is a major step forward for the Marvel Cinematic Universe...and for superhero films in general.  With the movie bringing in over $235 million domestically in its first four days, it's already destroyed the notion that the public won't turn out in big numbers for films starring black superheroes, paving the way for potential Marvel movies starring Storm, Luke Cage, War Machine, Deathlok, and others somewhere down the line.  It's proof that if you make a superhero movie with a solid story, strong casting, and great production values, audiences will show up no matter the character's racial or ethnic background.  And even better, the film brings hope and inspiration to thousands of young boys and girls all over the world, who've been waiting and waiting for a major black superhero film that represents them.  So with all this in mind, DC Films...How's your Cyborg solo movie coming along?

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. Batman Begins (2005)

5. Logan (2017)

6. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

7. Black Panther (2018)

8. Man of Steel (2013)

9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

10. Doctor Strange (2016)

11. Wonder Woman (2017)

12. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

13. Spider-Man (2002)

14. Iron Man (2008)

15. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
16. Watchmen (2009)
17. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

18. Thor (2011)

19. Justice League (2017)

20. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

TITANS Casts Bruno Bichir as The Chief

The Doom Patrol has found their leader.

Deadline has word that the upcoming DC Universe digital series Titans has cast Bruno Bichir as Dr. Niles Caulder, better known to DC Comics fans as The Chief, leader of the team of strange superheroes known as The Doom Patrol.  The Doom Patrol will make their debut in the series' fifth episode, "The Doom Patrol", written by Geoff Johns.

According to the article, The Chief is described as "a pioneer in medical science, searching the world over for those on the edge of death in need of a miracle.  Brilliant, but controversial, Dr. Caulder will stop at nothing to help those he believes are in need, including his collection of strange heroes known as The Doom Patrol."

Bichir, 50, is a Mexican actor best known as Fernando Duque on the Netflix series Narcos and for the Mexican films as El evangelio de las maravillas and El callejón de los milagros.  His U.S. films include Julia, Casa de los Babys, Death and the Compass, and Under Fire.

Created in 1963 by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani, The Chief first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 as Dr. Niles Caulder, a paraplegic gifted with a genius-level intellect.  At a young age, Caulder developed an interest in creating better life, proving to be both a brilliant inventor and engineer.  He received funding from a mysterious benefactor, which allowed him to succeed in creating a chemical capable of prolonging life.  Ultimately, it was revealed that the benefactor was a man called General Immortus, who hired Caulder to create a chemical to replace the one that had been prolonging his life for centuries but was now failing.  When the young scientist discovered the truth about his employer, he refused to continue the work.  Immortus responded by implanting an explosive device in Caulder's upper torso, which he could set off remotely, and any attempt to remove it while Niles lived would also detonate it.  Caulder eventually devised a plan to get the bomb out, but it cost him his ability to walk.

Caulder used his scientific knowledge to develop numerous inventions and innovations that made him wealthy.  He later founded and organized the team called the Doom Patrol to protect the innocent and fight crime, and to teach humanity to accept others who live as ostracized "freaks," who have been radically transformed from terrible accidents.  It was Caulder's genius that allowed the team's members to survive their various accidents, such as Caulder designing Robotman's android body and devising Negative Man's medicated bandages).

In a later incarnation of the Doom Patrol, Caulder was discovered working on a nanotechnology bomb that would destroy half the world and replace it with humans transformed into freaks of nature, under his theory that a better human race would rise from the destruction.  He murdered the original Tempest, Joshua Clay, to protect his secret but the Doom Patrol succeeded in stopping his plans.  During these events, he was decapitated by a creation of Dorothy Spinner's known as the Candlemaker.  Doctor Will Magnus, creator of the Metal Men, built a new body for the Chief, telling him that he should try helping the Patrol to make up for what he did.  Becoming suicidal with guilt, the Chief stated that he could never do enough to make up for his actions, and used his new body to rip off his head.  Magnus wa able to save the Chief by getting the head to a cryogenic chamber, but after this, the Chief existed solely as a severed head in a bucket of ice, subsisting on milkshakes.  He expressed remorse at his actions and rebuilt the Doom Patrol to continue their efforts in the war against weird crime.

In the current DC Comics continuity known as "The New 52", a young and healthy Niles Caulder was introduced in 2011's The Ravagers #4.  Operating a deep underground science and engineering facility located beneath Los Angeles, Caulder provided a headquarters and combat training for the team in their campaign against the organization of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. Infiltrating the compound, Caulder was captured along with the rest of the Ravagers by Deathstroke on the behest of Harvest.  During the events of Forever Evil, it was revealed that Caulder had created the Doom Patrol and seemed to be free from Harvest, but this Doom Patrol was unfortunately killed by Crime Syndicate of America members Johnny Quick and Atomica, except for Celsius and Tempest who, according to Lex Luthor, faked their deaths to escape him, prompting Caulder to make plans to "start over".

This will be the first time The Chief will appear in live-action, although the character has appeared in the animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold (voiced by Richard McGonagle) and various DC Nation shorts (voiced by Jeffrey Combs).

Titans is scheduled to debut on the DC Universe digital service later in 2018.

GHOSTWOOD 028: "My Life, My Tapes - Part 1" is Up!

"I am sure of nothing, except that to believe you know where you are headed is not to understand where one is at the moment."
-- Dale Cooper, The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes

It is happening again...My co-host with the most Xan Sprouse and I are back with a new episode of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast!  This time, we begin our review the 1991 Scott Frost novel The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes! 

LET'S ROCK!

In our latest episode, Xan and I discuss things like Peaks Geeks, Twin Peaks nepotism, getting through a Level 2 snow emergency, Xan falling asleep to Dune, young Dale Cooper getting his first tape recorder and his early interest in the F.B.I., Cooper's life being defined by the women in his life and violence, Cooper's doomed crush on neighbor Marie Schlurman, Cooper's draft-dodging brother Emmet, hints that BOB was watching Cooper, Cooper's mom's ominous dreams, that awkward moment when your new English teacher turns out to be the hippie chick that pressed your face into her breasts, the mystery of Cooper's gold ring, that awkward moment when fireworks land next to you while you're getting oral sex in the woods and your clothes catch on fire, Cooper's unusual set of skills, Xan watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail in the same theatre as John Cleese, Cooper's experiment with not sleeping, Homer Simpson in New York, Cooper's experiment with not urinating while drinking coffee, the awkward moment when your girlfriend's mom comes to your room at 2 a.m. and you realize your girlfriend is an arsonist, Cooper's first meeting with Windom Earle, ordering Twin Peaks stuff through the mail back in the day, and more!

If you'd like to check out our latest episode, you can find us on...

iTunes -- RIGHT HERE

Direct MP3 downloads/Libsyn -- RIGHT HERE

YouTube -- RIGHT HERE

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Be sure to come back next week as Xan and I finish our review of the 1991 Scott Frost novel The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes!  Look for more of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast on iTunes, YouTube, Libsyn, and the official Southgate Media Group website!