DAMN Good Movies -- SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY

I thought we were in trouble there for a second, but it's fine.  We're fine.

That's right, it's time once again for another of my movie takes, this time on Solo: A Star Wars Story, the latest in the Star Wars film series exploring the origin of Han Solo.  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...I've got a good feeling about this.

With the first Star Wars Story anthology film Rogue One making over $1 billion worldwide, Walt Disney Studios and Lucasfilm were understandably ready to go forward with a second.  Before selling the Star Wars franchise to Disney, George Lucas was developing his "Young Han Solo Chronicles" project and hired veteran Star Wars screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan for the screenplay.  While Kasdan left to help finish up the Star Wars: The Force Awakens script, his son Jonathan Kasdan took over until he was able to get back to it.  The LEGO Movie's Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were tapped to direct, and after finding new Han Solo Alden Ehrenreich after a reported search of over 3,000 people, the project was off and running.  All good, right?  Right?

In June 2017, Lucasfilm cited the old "creative differences" and parted ways with Lord and Miller, following reports of them encouraging too much improvisation from Kasdan's script and Lucasfilm not exactly feeling the footage they reviewed.  Ron Howard, who was directed by George Lucas in the 1973 movie American Graffiti, was brought in to take the reins and get things back on track.  The rumor of an acting coach being brought in for Aldenreich was later debunked, but Michael K. Williams, who had already been filmed as the movie's villain Dryden Vos, was replaced with Paul Bettany when Williams became unavailable for reshoots and the character being reworked from a motion-capture alien.  Star Wars fans and critics already skeptical about the need for a Han Solo movie trolled the production pretty hard by this point, leaving a big question about what Howard's end result would be.

The second Star Wars Story film begins missing the classic crawl once again, but this time,  it's replaced with some opening text that helps establish the setting better than in the start of Rogue One.  We're told that the galaxy is in a state of disorder (Thanks a lot,  @realEmperorPalpatine), with criminal syndicates competing for valuable resources such as hyperfuel.  We open on the shipbuilding world of Corellia, finally getting to see Han Solo's homeworld, where orphaned children are made to steal in order to survive.  

Our introduction to young Han (just Han at this point) and his girlfriend Qi'ra sets the movie's fast pace, with a landspeeder chase that ultimately leads them back into the clutches of a local criminal gang led by a snakelike alien named Lady Proxima.  Tramps like them, baby, they're born to run from Corellia, so they successfully bribe an Imperial officer who grants them passage on an outgoing transport.  Han makes it through the checkpoint gate, but Qi'ra is snagged by their pursuers before she can join him.  Now separated, Han vows to return for her, and with no means of income, he joins the Imperial Navy as a flight cadet, with the Imperial recruiting officer dubbing him "Han Solo" as a surname.

Three years later, we find out that Han was expelled from the Imperial Flight Academy for insubordination, and now serves as an infantryman during a battle on the planet Mimban. Seeing the senselessness of war, he's drawn to a gang of criminals posing as Imperial soldiers, led by Tobias Beckett and conisting of his wife Val and an annoying four-armed alien named Rio Durant.  He tries to blackmail the gang into allowing him to join, but Beckett instead has him arrested as a deserter and condemned to battle a "beast" held in captivity. The beast, of course, turns out to be the mighty Chewbacca and a friendship is born.  Thanks to Han's ability to speak enough Shyriiwook to communicate, the two stage a fight for the benefit of their captors and escape after collapsing their cell.  Strangely sympathetic, Beckett decides to rescue Han and Chewie, and enlists them for a planned train heist to steal a shipment of the hyperfuel coaxium on the planet Vandor.

In the movie's Second Act, an impressive train heist sequence continues the film's hyperpace (See what I did there?), with Han and Chewie getting some on-the-job training as they fend off Imperial guards protecting the shipment and a gang of marauders led by the masked Enfys Nest.  Tobias' pilot Rio is predictably killed off in the process, giving Han a chance to step up in the role, but rather disappointingly, so is Val.  The heist ends up going south, when Han, on the ship, gets into a tug of war with Enfys Nest and is forced to ditch the shipment.  Having lost his wife and his pilot, all for nothing, Beckett is understandably piiiiiiiissed.  He reveals he was ordered to steal the shipment for Dryden Vos, leader of the Crimson Dawn criminal syndicate, and now he's worried that Vos willing be coming for him.  Han and Chewie volunteer to help him steal another shipment as repayment, then travel to Vos' yacht where Han is stunned to find Qi'ra there as Vos' arm candy.  Oh, and it turns out she's a member of Crimson Dawn as well.  Han scrambles a bit, but comes up with a plan to steal unrefined coaxium from the mines on Kessel (Yes, the famous "Kessel Run" Kessel).  Vos, meanwhile, insists on Qi'ra accompanying them.

Looking for a fast ship to pull the heist, Qi'ra introduces Han and Chewie to Lando Calrissian, who is as egocentric in his youth as Han is impulsive.  Han challenges Lando to a game of sabacc, with the wager being Lando's ship, reputed to be the fastest in the galaxy.  Diehard Star Wars fans expect the game to end a certain way, but Lando actually wins by cheating.  Regardless, he still ends up joining the mission in exchange for a share of the profits.  The team boards his ship—you guessed it, the Millennium Falcon—and head for Kessel.  After reaching the planet and infiltrating the mine, Lando's equal rights crusader/co-pilot droid L3-37 gives them a small distraction by causing a mass revolt from other droids and enslaved Wookiees.  They use the chaos to steal a consignment of unprocessed, volatile coaxium, but L3 gets severely damaged and Lando is injured during the escape.  At long last, Han gets to pilot the Falcon, knowing that they need to make a "Kessel Run" in less than twenty parsecs to reach a processing station before the coaxium explodes.  Things naturally go sideways when an Imperial blockade shows up to complicate things, but Han proves he's a hell of a pilot that would make Poe Dameron proud.  They rendezvous with Vos on the planet Savareen, although the Falcon ends up considerably dinged during the run.

As we head into the Third Act, things take on more of a space Western vibe.  Vos surprises the team by announcing that the coaxium is fake and that Beckett betrayed them, to the surprise of no one actually paying attention.   Beckett ratted to Vos about Han's plan to give the real shipment to the Cloud Riders, the group led by Enfys Nest who turn out to be rebels.  However, in a nice turnaround, Han mentions he anticipated Beckett's shady move and the coaxium they're holding is real.  Beckett takes Chewbacca hostage (somehow) and takes off with the coaxium, leading to a gunfight between Han, Qi'ra and Vos that ends up with Qi'ra killing Vos.  She urges Han to help the Cloud Riders and tells him she'll join him shortly, only to seal the room and look all ominous after Han leaves.

Han catches up with Beckett and Chewbacca and in welcome moment, he shoots first and kills Beckett.  Han and Chewbacca turn over the coaxium to Enfys Nest, who reveals her plans to use the fuel to aid the rebellion against the Empire.  She offers Han the chance to join her but he passes, leaving Enfys Nest to suggest that some day he might feel more sympathetic to the rebels because foreshadowing.  

The movie's one real surprise moment happens when Qi'ra contacts her superior, who unexpectedly turns out to be Darth Maul, with the presumption that everyone watched the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series.  She informs Maul of the mission's failure and assumes Vos' position, because apparently, being a Khaleesi isn't enough.  Meanwhile, to check off one last important box, Han and Chewie track down Lando at another sabacc game and Han challenges him once again or ownership of the Falcon.  Now hip to Lando's tricksy ways, though, Han relieves Lando of the cards hidden in his sleeve and wins the second game.  As the new captain of the Millennium Falcon, Han tells Chewie his plan is to go to Tatooine, where Beckett mentioned a "gangster" who's putting an organization together.  Hope you like having a price on your head, Han...

So what about the performances from the cast and the characters they portrayed?  Well, as you might expect, I have a few thoughts...

HAN SOLO -- Let's face it, Alden Ehrenreich was in a no-win scenario taking over for Harrison Ford.  Either he doesn't act enough like Ford to satisfy fans of the character or he doesn't make the role his own, like Roger Moore did taking over from Sean Connery as James Bond.  He does well enough here, bringing Han's cocky attitude in all the right moments, but he doesn't seem as confident in the role as Ford did.

CHEWBACCA -- After fully assuming the role of Chewie in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Joonas Suotamo finally gets to do something more with the character than just being annoyed by Porgs.  He gets to throw down with Han in a mud pit during their first encounter, helps Han during the train heist, and even gets to liberate some of his fellow Wookiees.  As always, Chewie steals every scene he's in and it was great to see him get so much screen time here.

TOBIAS BECKETT -- Woody Harrelson takes on the role of Han's mentor in crime, showing us what Han probably would've turned out like had he never met Leia and joined the Rebellion.  We get a small taste of his relationship with Val, but she's killed off far too soon for it to matter.  It was a little disappointing to see him turn on Han at the end so easily, but unlike George Lucas, at least Beckett respects Han for shooting first.

QI'RA -- Fresh from Westeros, Emilia Clarke plays Han's lover from Corellia, whose life diverges considerably from his.  She's essentially the femme fatale here, the character you know is nothing but bad news for the hero, who can't help but be romantically attracted to her.  We learn Qi'ra is under Dryden Vos' thumb, so we're glad to see her take him out until we quickly find out she did it as a power move to work more closely with Darth Maul.

LANDO CALRISSIAN -- Taking over from Billy Dee Williams, Donald Glover also had to live up to portraying a classic Star Wars character.  Unlike Ehrenreich, though, Glover seems far more comfortable doing so and comes off enjoying himself as Lando.  Glover doesn't have Williams' natural smooth charm, but he definitely depicts Lando's egocentrism and occasional shallowness.  Regardless, Lando's strong desire to rescue L3-37 was surprising, and now I want to know more of why Lando felt so much over a droid.

DRYDEN VOS -- As mentioned above, Paul Bettany took over from Michael K. Williams as the film's villain and I think the decision to make Vos humanoid was a good one.  Bettany is solid at this type of role, and displays his power over Qi'ra while also being quietly menacing in social settings as if he were a James Bond villain.  Ultimately, he ends up underestimating Qi'ra's ambition, or overestimating his power over her, which leads to his downfall.

L3-37 -- Phoebe Waller-Bridge is Star Wars' first major female droid character, a self-made droid that given the personality of an equal rights crusader.  L3 gets a strange but fun scene with Qi'ra talking about the ability of droids to have physical relationships with humans, but her big moment is obviously when she creates a "distraction" in the coaxium mines on Kessel that quickly turns into a full-fledged uprising.  And even though L3 is destroyed, it's somehow comforting to know she lives on as the Falcon's navigational system.

VAL -- Taking a break from HBO's Westworld, Thandie Newton turns up as Val, Beckett's lover and fellow scoundrel.  We don't really learn that much about Val, apart from her being a no-nonsense type that's great with a blaster rifle.  And because Val is such a underdeveloped character, her death scene during the train heist only causes the barest of shrugs.  

RIO DURANT -- Jon Favreau voices a four-armed Ardennian pilot named Rio, who was so obviously expendable you expected him to have the word "expendable" tattooed onto his forehead.  As Beckett's first pilot, Rio's character tries way too hard to be funny and comes off more annoying than anything else.

DARTH MAUL CAMEO -- Ray Park (with Sam Witwer providing the voice) returns as Maul, who's revealed to be the Big Bad that Dryden Vos, the public leader of the crime syndicate Crimson Dawn, answers to.  We don't get an explanation of how Maul survived the end of The Phantom Menace or how he's suddenly rocking a replacement bottom half, so you'll have to research that on your own.  In this cameo scene, Maul commands Qi'ra to meet with him on Dathomir and warns her they'll work more closely from now on, igniting his lightsaber.  To be continued...?

All in all, Solo: A Star Wars Story is better than a lot of us were dreading.  It's a fun, fast-paced ride that often feels more like a space Western than a heist movie, revealing the promised backstory of Han Solo with some old friends and new characters along the way.  It's a credit to Ron Howard that he could step in over two-thirds into production and pull things together into a decent, entertaining movie, but I have to think there was some lost potential here.  Solo ends in a such a way to hint at more with Han Solo, Qi'ra and Darth Maul, and Ehrenreich was reportedly signed for three films should they choose to do a sequel, but with an underperforming opening weekend, I honestly don't know if that's going to happen.  But hey, never tell Han Solo the odds.

And for those who may be wondering, here's my personal ranking of the Star Wars films:

1. Star Wars (1977)
2. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
4. Return of the Jedi (1983)
5. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
6. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
7. Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
8. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
9. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
10. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)

James Mangold to Write & Direct BOBA FETT Movie

His film is no good to Disney dead.

The Hollywood Reporter revealed yesterday that James Mangold will write and direct an upcoming Star Wars spinoff film based on popular bounty hunter character Boba Fett.  Presumably, the film will be part of the A Star Wars Story series that began in 2016 with Rogue One and continues this week with Solo: A Star Wars Story.

According to the article, it was rumored that Simon Kinberg, the writer-producer behind the X-Men film franchise and films such as The Martian, was working on a Boba Fett movie.  Lucasfilm and Disney have yet to make any official confirmation, but THR's sources say that Mangold will co-write the script with Kinberg, who will also produce the project.

Mangold, 54, is best known as the director of the Wolverine films The Wolverine and Logan, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.  In addition, Mangold has directed such other films as 3:10 to Yuma (2007), Walk the Line, Knight and Day, Kate & Leopold, Girl Interrupted, and Cop Land.

Boba Fett has been in the works off and on since February 2013, when it was revealed that Disney was planning a spinoff film.  In May 2015, director Josh Trank exited the project, after reports of Trank's "erratic behavior" during the production of Fantastic Four, which was produced by Kinberg.

Boba Fett first appeared in the infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special in an animated segment as a mysterious figure who betrays Luke Skywalker (after saving him, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 from a giant monster), only to be revealed as a bounty hunter working for Darth Vader.  The character first appeared in live action in the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back, where Fett (Jermey Bulloch) tracked the Millennium Falcon to Cloud City, where Vader captured its passengers and tortures Han Solo.  Wanting to collect a bounty on Solo, Fett confronts Vader about whether Solo will survive the carbon freeze process Vader intends to use on Skywalker.  Vader promises that the Empire will compensate Fett if Solo dies, and after Solo is determined to be alive following the process, Vader turns him over to Fett.

Fett met his apparent end in 1983's Return of the Jedi, at Jabba the Hutt's palace where Solo's rescuers are captured, and traveled on Jabba's sail barge to a sarlacc pit, where the prisoners were to be executed.  After the prisoners mounted an escape, Fett attempted to intervene, and ended up in a brief battle with Luke Skywalker, but Solo accidentally ignited Fett's rocket pack, sending the bounty hunter falling into the Sarlacc's mouth.

In 2002, Boba Fett received hints of an origin in the prequel film Attack of the Clones, where a young Boba Fett (Daniel Logan) is revealed to be a child clone of Jango Fett, who raised Boba as his son.  Boba helped Jango escape from Obi-Wan Kenobi, but later witnessed Jango's decapitation at the hands of Jedi Master Mace Windu.

THE FANDOM ZONE 137: "The Force of Gravity" is Up!

"Thought that might shut you up."

-- Phil Coulson to Melinda May, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: "The Force of Gravity" 

You guessed it, Karen and I are back with another episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Legion 2x06: "Chapter 14"

Krypton 1x08: "Savage Night" 

Gotham 4x21: "One Bad Day"

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 5x21: "The Force of Gravity"

In this episode, Karen and I talk about things like Karen joining Xan Sprouse and I on Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast to discuss the Psych episode "Dual Spires", Fox cancelling Lucifer, Legion's Crisis on Infinite Davids, a mouse singing Bryan Ferry's "Slave to Love", Brainiac using a kid as a suicide bomber, General Zod wanting to save Krypton and Adam Strange wanting to let Krypton die, genderswapping the character of Jax-Ur, Sardath and his daughter Alanna, the possible introduction of Hawkwoman, being burned repeatedly by Syfy, Jeremiah planting bombs all over Gotham, Harvey Bullock finally stepping up to the plate and getting respect, Lee not being as committed to the Riddler as he would like to think, Gotham's nod to Batman: The Killing Joke, Alfred finally accepting Selina as being part of Bruce's life, Glenn Talbot becoming the supervillain Graviton, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. connecting to Avengers: Infinity War, Coulson and May finally kissing, the Absorbing Man getting absorbed, why Deke sucks, not being Team Guyliner, ABC cancelling Inhumans, and more!

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

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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 series finale of Fox's Lucifer, the season finales of Fox's Gotham, The CW's Arrow and ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and a new episode of FX's Legion, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

Jake Gyllenhaal in Talks for Mysterio in SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING Sequel

Spider-Man's world is about to get a lot more mysterious.

Deadline has revealed that actor Jake Gyllenhaal is in talks for the role of lead villain Mysterio in the upcoming Sony Pictures sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming.  The film will once again be directed by Jon Watts and star Tom Holland as Spider-Man, who presumably gets a lot better after the events of Avengers: Infinity War.

Gyllenhaal, 37, is best known as the title character in Donnie Darko, and as Jack Twist in the movie Brokeback Mountain, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor.  His other films include Zodiac, Life, Nightcrawler, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Jarhead, The Day After Tomorrow, October Sky, City Slickers, Nocturnal Animals, Demolition, Stronger, and Everest.

Created in 1964 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Mysterio first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man (vol.1) #13 as Quentin Beck,  a special effects wizard and stuntman working for a major Hollywood studio with dreams of making a name for himself in the film industry. However, he came to see his career in special effects as a dead-end job.  His attempts to become an actor were poorly received, but he realized that his expertise in illusions could make him an effective supervillain.

In his first battle with Spider-Man, after framing Spider-Man for robbing the Midtown Museum, Mysterio obstructed the hero's spider-sense with gas and dissolved Spider-Man's webbing with a chemical abrasive.  However Spider-Man tricked Mysterio into revealing he robbed the museum, then Spider-Man revealed he had captured it on tape.  Mysterio was then jailed, blaming Spider-Man for his ruined career.  Mysterio later joined the Sinister Six in an attempt at revenge on Spider-Man, and battled him using android duplicates of the X-Men.  He battled Spider-Man and joined Doctor Octopus' Sinister Six on several occasions, but this never gave him the edge against his foe that he desired.  Eventually, he began to lose credibility as a supervillain, with his defeat at the hands of preteen superhero team Power Pack being a particularly humiliating moment.

After his final imprisonment during the "Guardian Devil" storyline, Mysterio was given an early release, after being diagnosed with a brain tumor and lung cancer, both caused by the chemicals and radiation from his equipment.  He was given one year to live, but this imminent death caused prison psychiatrists to grant him an early release.  Obsessed with exacting his final revenge on Spider-Man, he was disappointed when he deduced from newspaper articles that the current Spider-Man was just a clone and saw no dignity in overpowering a 'copy' of the real thing (even though by then, the clone had been killed and the current Spider-Man was indeed the original).  Mysterio decided to change his plan and focus on Daredevil, whom he had encountered recently during an insurance scam that the hero had thwarted.

After the Kingpin gave Mysterio all the information he possessed about Daredevil's past, Mysterio developed an elaborate plot to drive Daredevil insane using a special designed drug to influence Daredevil's mood, presenting him with a baby girl and conflicting reports that she was the second coming of Christ or the Antichrist, with the drug rendering Daredevil violent if anyone suggested that the child was innocent.  In the course of the scheme, Karen Page was killed by Bullseye after Mysterio had convinced her that she was suffering from HIV due to her time as a porn star, Matt Murdock's partner Foggy Nelson was framed for murder after cheating on his current lover, and Daredevil nearly lost his mind as he appeared to be tormented by the forces of Hell.  However, Daredevil's will proved stronger than Mysterio expected, and once Doctor Strange discovered and magically removed the drug from Daredevil's bloodstream, Daredevil unmasked Mysterio as the mastermind, shattering the villain's helmet in fury and revealing his now languishing appearance. Beck had thought Daredevil would kill him upon discovery, but Daredevil denied him this and instead dismissed Mysterio's scheme as a basic B-movie plot.  Broken in every sense of the word, Mysterio, saying he was stealing an idea from Kraven the Hunter, pulled out a gun and shot himself dead.  While Mysterio has faked his own death several times in the past, this act was apparently legitimate, as Mysterio literally had nothing left to live for.

Mysterio reappeared during "The Gauntlet" storyline, which reintroduced several past Spider-Man villains with new twists. This Mysterio claimed to be a returned Quentin Beck who had faked his death.  He was under the employ of Maggia crime member Carmine, creating androids of various deceased Maggia (including their dead leader Silvermane) to give them a credibility boost in their gang war with Mister Negative.  He tried to drive Spider-Man mad by making him think he'd accidentally killed several gang members, while trying to convince him that a returned Captain George Stacy, who claimed to have always been the gangster known as the Big Man, also faked his death years earlier.  This made Spider-Man realize that Mysterio was behind the recent mysterious return of so many deceased individuals, and he vowed to have Mysterio pay for making it personal.  Shortly after, Mysterio used the Silvermane robot to murder Carmine in an attempt to secretly seize control of the Maggia and its fortune.  Spider-Man eventually exposed and confronted Mysterio, who fled.

This will be the first time Mysterio will appear in live action, although the character has appeared in various animated projects including the 1960s Spider-Man series (voiced by Chris Wiggins), the 1981 Spider-Man series (voiced by Michael Rye), Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (voiced by Peter Cullen), Spider-Man: The Animated Series (voiced by Gregg Berger), The Spectacular Spider-Man (voiced by Xander Berekley), and Ultimate Spider-Man (voiced by Paul Scheer).

The untitled sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming is expected to arrive in theaters on July 5, 2019.

Batwoman & Gotham City to Debut in 2018 Arrowverse Crossover

The Arrowverse is expanding to include Gotham City.

TVLine has word that this fall's crossover event between Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, and Arrow will introduce DC superhero Batwoman and Gotham City to the Arrowverse.

Speaking at The CW's Upfronts event, Arrow star Stephen Amell announced, "We will be doing another crossover event this fall on The CW [and] we will be introducing a new character.  We will be fighting alongside Batwoman."

CW president Mark Pedowitz added, "We’re adding the city of Gotham into the Arrowverse."  He also promised "another full-throttled action packed event."

Created in 1956 by Edmond Hamilton and Sheldon Moldoff, Batwoman first appeared in Detective Comics (vol.1) #233 as Kathy Kane, a wealthy heiress who gained great acrobatic skills during her career as a circus trapeze artist and stunt cyclist.  Becoming infatuated with the Batman, she fashioned herself a costume and secret hideout and started operating as Batwoman.  She upstaged Batman and his sidekick Robin in capturing crooks, but Batman eventually learned her true identity and tracked her to her secret cave hideout.  Showing her how easily it was for him to learn her identity, Batman pointed out that criminals could probably do it just as easily and tried to convince her to drop out of crime fighting.  Disobeying Batman's advice, she tried to capture mobster Curt Briggs.  During this caper, Batman went missing and Briggs, struck with amnesia, left thinking he was Batman. Ultimately the real Batman reappeared, and Biggs was turned over to the police.

Batwoman came out of retirement to aid Batgirl against Killer Moth and the Cavalier, but her return was never intended to be permanent.  Kathy Kane was then present at a surprise party for Bruce Wayne at Wayne Manor.  When Batwoman was later disintegrated into nothingness on Barbara Gordon's doorstep, Batgirl and Robin teamed-up to find the cure and restore Batwoman to her normal form.  Shortly after this, Batwoman met the Huntress from Earth-Two and aided her and Batwoman in capturing Catwoman, Poison Ivy and Madame Zodiac.  When the Freedom Fighters of Earth-X searched for a group of criminals known as the Warmakers, their search led them to the carnival owned by Kathy Kane. Kathy, as Batwoman, aided the Freedom Fighters and Batgirl in defeating the Warmakers.  In her last recorded adventure, Kathy Kane was murdered by the League of Assassins, who were being manipulated by Ra's al Ghul.  Her death was eventually avenged by Batman.

In 2006, the character was reinvented by Greg Rucka, Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns, Mark Waid, and Keith Giffen, making her debut in 52 #7 as Kate Kane.  In their early childhood, Katherine Rebecca "Kate" Kane and her sister Elizabeth "Beth" Kane were identical twins and were very close to each other.  On their twelfth birthday their military father couldn't come home so Kate and Beth were taken by their mother, Gabrielle "Gabi" Kane, to an expensive restaurant for chocolate and waffles, their favorite dish.  On the way to the restaurant, a group of gunmen attacked the family and took them hostage, killing their bodyguard in the process.  After learning of her family's kidnapping, Kate's father, Colonel Jacob "Jake" Kane, led a rescue mission to save his captured family, which ended with Kate's mother executed and Beth apparently killed after being caught in the crossfire between the kidnappers and soldiers.

Years later, Kate attended the United States Military Academy, West Point, where she received excellent grades and ranked at the top of her class.  However, when it was alleged that she was in a lesbian relationship with another student, Kate's commanding officer asked her to disavow the allegation.  Telling the officer that she refused to lie and violate the code of the Academy, Kate admitted to being lesbian and was forced to leave the school.  When she confronted her father with the news, he supported her and affirmed that she upheld her honor and integrity.  She then moved back to Gotham City, where she attended college and pursued a wild social lifestyle, consisting of parties and tattoos.  Kate was eventually pulled over for speeding by a young Renee Montoya, who was just a traffic cop at this point.  The two dated for several months but broke up following a fight where Kate berated Renee for keeping her sexuality hidden from her colleagues and family.  While attempting to call Renee and apologize for her behavior, Kate was attacked by a mugger who wanted her wallet and cell phone.  Using her military training, Kate easily defeated the criminal just as Batman arrived and helped her off the ground.  She was fixated by the Bat Signal as Batman departed the scene.

Inspired by her encounter with Batman, Kate began fighting crime using military body armor and weaponry stolen from her father's military base.  After being confronted by Jake, Kate accepted his offer for assistance and began an intense two years of training across the globe with her father's military friends.  Upon returning to Gotham, Kate discovered that her father has created a Batsuit for her, along with an arsenal of experimental weaponry based on Batman's known gadgetry and a bunker hidden in the Kane home.  She soon adopted the identity of Batwoman and was soon accepted as a member of the Batman family.

This will be the first time Batwoman will appear in live action, although the character has appeared in various animated projects including Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (voiced by Kyra Sedgwick), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (voiced by Vanessa Marshall), and Batman: Bad Blood (voiced by Yvonne Strahovski).

The next Arrowverse crossover should air on The CW sometime in November 2018.

THE FANDOM ZONE 136: "That Old Corpse" is Up!

"Behold...the face of true sanity."

-- Jeremiah Valeska, Gotham: "That Old Corpse" 

At long last, Karen and I are finally back with another episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  This week's reviews of comics on television include:

The Flash 4x20: "Therefore She Is"

Legion 2x05: "Chapter 13"

Krypton 1x07: "Transformation" 

Gotham 4x20: "That Old Corpse"

In this episode, Karen and I talk about things like finally learning the Thinker's plan, how the Mechanic and the Thinker hooked up, Marlize going through Groundhog Day and  her #MeToo moment, Cisco and Gypsy's CW Angst breakup, Caitlin having a relationship with her Killer Frost alternate personality, the mystery of Mystery Girl, Lenny enjoying her new body, David not taking Amy's death well, Oliver casually telling the Shadow King that he's going to kill him, Oliver being way more focused, the worst fortune cookie fortune ever, Brainiac taking over the Voice of Rao, Donald Trump as the Voice of Rao, my getting retweeted by Nyssa-Vex, Drunk Adam Strange sulking about not having super powers and a cool nickname, Jeremiah being The Joker instead of Jerome, Ecco's creepy harlequin costume, Jeremiah's direct homage to Jack Nicholson's Joker, the Riddler dressing up like a clown to rescue Lee, wondering why Lee hooked up with the Riddler, wondering what the hell is up with Archer these days, my recruiting Karen to be on Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast, and more!

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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 new episodes of FX's Legion, Syfy's Krypton, Fox's Gotham, and ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

Batman Prequel PENNYWORTH Gets Series Order from EPIX

Two TV shows with Alfred and still no sign of Batman.

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that the premium cable network EPIX has given a straight-to-series order for Pennyworth, a new drama based on the DC Comics character and set in the Batman universe.

The series will be from Warner Horizon Scripted Television, executive producer/writer Bruno Heller and executive producer/director Danny Cannon. Heller write the script and Cannon will direct the pilot, as he did with the Fox series Gotham.

According to the article, Pennyworth will have ten episodes and "follows Bruce Wayne’s legendary butler, Alfred Pennyworth, a former British SAS soldier who forms a security company and goes to work with Thomas Wayne, Bruce’s billionaire father, in 1960’s London."

The series will not be a Gotham spinoff, but an entirely new story exploring Alfred's origins. Sean Pertwee, who plays Alfred Pennyworth on Fox's recently renewed Gotham, is not involved with the project.

Michael Wright, President of EPIX, stated, "As genuine fans of these classic DC characters, as well as the incredibly talented Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon, we couldn’t be more excited to make EPIX the home of this series. We can’t wait to work with Bruno and Danny—along with Peter Roth, Susan Rovner, Brett Paul and the team at Warner Horizon—on this fantastic origin story."

Heller and Cannon added, "Michael and his colleagues have created the perfect venue for original storytelling, and all of us working on Pennyworth are thrilled to be on the EPIX slate."

Created in 1943 by Don Cameron and Bob Kane, Alfred Pennyworth first appeared in Batman (vol.1) #16 as a retired actor and intelligence agent who followed the deathbed wish of his dying father Jarvis Pennyworth to carry on the tradition of serving the Wayne family. To that end, Alfred introduced himself to Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson at Wayne Manor and insisted on becoming their valet. Although the pair did not want one, especially since they did not want to jeopardize their secret identities with a servant in the house, they did not have the heart to reject Alfred.

Initially, Alfred discovered their identities by accident. While fighting a burglar in his first appearance, Alfred accidentally hit a switch and opened a sliding panel leading to the Batcave. He was helpful to the duo, following them to a theatre where they were captured, bound and gagged by a criminal gang, and rescued them after Batman attracted his attention by knocking a rope down before the crooks return. In 1957's Batman (vol.1) #110, this discovery was revised so that during his first night at Wayne Manor, Alfred awoke to moaning and followed the sound to the secret passage to the staircase leading to the Batcave and met his would-be employers in their superhero identities. As it turned out, the wounds were actually insignificant, but Alfred's care convinced the residents that their butler could be trusted. Since then, Alfred included the support staff duties for Batman and Robin on top of his regular tasks.

Alfred helped Bruce raise Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake, all of whom were adopted by Bruce Wayne and became his partner Robin.  He also had close friendships with other members of the Batman family including Barbara Gordon and Cassandra Cain. Alfred often acts as a father-figure to Bruce, and a grandfather to Dick, Jason, and Tim.  He is also highly respected by those heroes who are aware of his existence, including Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the original Teen Titans.  Alfred has also been romantically linked to Dr. Leslie Thompkins, though his relationship with her never came to anything.  He also developed feelings for Tim Drake's stepmother, but again, nothing came of it.

In the current DC Comics continuity known as The New 52, it was revealed that Alfred's father Jarvis Pennyworth was the butler of the Wayne family before Alfred when Bruce was still a child.  Jarvis was blackmailed by the Court of Owls to set a trap for the pregnant Martha Wayne.  Despite declining, the Court managed to cause a car accident that caused the child to be born prematurely and eventually to have died.  Jarvis attempted to resign from his services and wrote a letter to his son in which he described the manor as a cursed place, and told Alfred that he should not begin his service under the Wayne family.  However, Jarvis was unable to send it after being murdered that night.

During the events of Batman: Eternal, Alfred was reunited with his long-absent daughter, Julia Pennyworth, an agent of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment.  Batman found her in Hong Kong and took her back to Wayne Manor for medical treatment after she was stabbed with a katana through the chest by a Chinese gang boss she was hunting.  Julia was initially hostile to Alfred, feeling that he had wasted his life going from a soldier to tending to a fop like Bruce Wayne.  After Alfred was attacked by Hush and infected with a fear toxin, she discovered the Batcave and took on her father's role to coordinate the Batman family's efforts against their enemies.

Pennyworth is expected to debut on EPIX sometime in 2019.

GHOSTWOOD 033: "Dual Spires" is Up!

"Dude, do you know they make silent window shades?  Some woman in Washington invented them back in the early '90s." 
"Since when is the sound of opening and closing shades so disruptive that it needs to be alleviated?"
-- Shawn Spencer and Burton "Gus" Guster, Psych: "Dual Spires" 

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're joined by special guest Karen Lindsay from The Fandom Zone Podcast to review "Dual Spires", the 2010 Twin Peaks tribute episode of the USA series Psych, featuring Twin Peaks actors Sheryl Lee, Sherilyn Fenn, Ray Wise, Dana Ashbrook, Lenny Von Dohlen, Robin Lively, and Catherine Coulson.

LET'S ROCK!

In our latest episode, Xan, Karen and I discuss things like me being totally outnumbered by my podcast co-hosts, Karen and Xan's background with Psych, my big scheduling fails, the rumor that Gus on Psych was Kenny from The Cosby Show, Psych making really obscure Twin Peaks references, remembering the late Pamela Gidley, Ray Wise recurring on Psych, Julee Cruise's version of the Psych theme, Paula Merral vs. Laura Palmer, the freaky "Is it future or is it past?" moment with "I Love How You Love Me" by the Paris Sisters, Dana Ashbrook homaging Ray Wise as Leland Palmer, Xan and Karen's mutual fondness for Lenny Von Dohlen, Catherine Coulson as the Woman with Wood, Betty Boop Night at the Roadhouse, 2 x 4s not actually being 2 x 4, Father Westley's hair turning white, Psych being the gold standard for pop culture references, Karen's thoughts on Kyle MacLachlan hosting Saturday Night Live, Xan and I hating Chads before Incels, Karen and I scaling back our Fandom Zone show reviews, Mark Harmon in Summer School, wanting everyone to keep my mom in your thoughts, and more!

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Be sure to come back in two weeks as Xan and I discuss the 1990 Saturday Night Live sketch parody of Twin Peaks featuring host Kyle MacLachlan, along with other Twin Peaks shoutouts in pop culture!  Look for more of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast on iTunes, YouTube, Libsyn, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

DAREDEVIL Casts Wilson Bethel as Bullseye

Here's hoping this casting is on target.

That Hashtag Show has revealed that the Netflix series Daredevil, based on the Marvel Comics superhero, has cast Wilson Bethel as Daredevil's most dangerous enemy, the assassin known as Bullseye.

Bethel was cast for the series in November, although it was originally reported he would "portray an FBI agent who will play a critical role in the conflict between Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk, better known as Daredevil and Kingpin respectively."

He joins new Season 3 actors Jay Ali as an fellow FBI agent named Ray Nadeem, and Joanne Whaley as Matt’s mother, Sister Maggie.  The season is expected to adapt the storyline "Born Again", by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli.

Bethel, 34, is probably best known as Wade Kinsella on The CW series Hart of Dixie.  In addition, he's appeared in episodes of How to Get Away with Murder, Criminal Minds, The Astronaut Wives Club, Bates Motel, The Young and the Restless, NCIS, JAG, and The O.C.

Created in 1976 by Marv Wolfman and John Romita, Sr., Bullseye first appeared in Daredevil (vol.1) #131 as Lester, who grew up in The Bronx, where he lived with his brother and his abusive father.  His brother's main form of recreation was playing with rifles, leading Bullseye to become an expert shot.  When he was 10 years old, his brother started a fire in their home in an unsuccessful attempt to kill their father.  Shortly thereafter, Bullseye was placed in a foster home, and became a baseball player in high school.  Bullseye was an extremely talented pitcher, and was offered a scholarship, but instead opted to enter the minor leagues.  After three games, he was called up to play a sold-out Major League game. He had surrendered no hits the entire game, and in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, he became bored and requested the coach pull him from the game.  The coach refused, and insisted that he finish the game. The opposing team's batter mocked him, accusing him of cowardice.  Bullseye threw the ball at his head, killing him.  As the ball struck, he said only one word: "Bullseye".  He was barred from professional baseball and convicted of manslaughter.

His cold demeanor and unique skills, however, meant subsequent recruitment by the National Security Agency as an assassin was inevitable.  He was soon assigned to train Contras in Nicaragua, but by the time he arrived, he claimed to have already been planning to leave the NSA.  He had planned on robbing the Contras blind and fleeing, but soon discovered they were desperately poor.  After leading the Contras in seizing a landing strip that the Colombian cocaine smugglers were using as a staging area before moving on to the United States, Bullseye planned to invite several organized crime heads to the airfield to broker a new deal with him.  He took their money, but before the deal could be finalized, the Punisher (Frank Castle) arrived.  Castle killed all the organized crime leaders in a fiery explosion from which Bullseye barely escaped.  The two engaged in a fierce battle, where Bullseye used some blood-reddened mud to paint a bull's-eye on his forehead, mocking Castle's inability to hit him.  The fight concluded when Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrived, and the Punisher fled.  Bullseye turned himself in to the D.E.A. agents and soon was assigned to infiltrate the Kingpin's criminal empire.  He obtained a costume, fled once again, and became one of the most dangerous hitmen in the world.

Bullseye soon battled (and defeated) Daredevil at a circus in order to establish his reputation as an extortionist.  Shortly after, Daredevil by chance overheard him in the midst of an extortion attempt and captured him.  Bullseye was later hired by Maxwell Glenn to kill Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson, until Daredevil interfered.  Although Bullseye defeated him again, Daredevil escaped with his life, and Bullseye's professional reputation was damaged as a result.  Seeking to regain his credibility, he challenged Daredevil on live television, but was soundly defeated.

While in prison, he learned that the Kingpin had employed a new chief assassin named Elektra, Daredevil's former lover.  After escaping prison, Bullseye attacked Elektra and impaled her on her own sai. This failed to convinced the Kingpin, who said he would only rehire him if he killed Daredevil.  Bullseye attempted to ambush Daredevil, but their battle ended with Daredevil dropping him from atop a telephone wire.  The multi-story fall broke Bullseye's back, paralyzing him.  During Bullseye's extended hospital stay following the fall, Daredevil broke into his hospital room and forced him to participate in a two-man variation on Russian roulette.  The revolver used in the game was secretly unloaded, but Daredevil had Bullseye take the even-numbered turns so that he would feel sure that the last shot was going to kill him.  Bullseye has repeatedly cited this incident as his greatest grudge against Daredevil.

Japanese scientist Lord Dark Wind liberated Bullseye and brought him to Japan, where he laced his bones with adamantium, thus restoring his mobility.  Lord Dark Wind did this so that Bullseye would work for him as an assassin in return, but in spite the favor done for him, Bullseye refused to work for free.  He instead made another play to regain the position of chief assassin for the Kingpin, who again said he would give him the position if he killed Daredevil, knowing he would fail.  He was lated hired by the villain Mysterio to attack and confuse Daredevil.  In the course of their battle, Bullseye killed Daredevil's longtime love interest, Karen Page, with one of Daredevil's own billy clubs.

Bullseye eventually made his way back to Hell's Kitchen and arrived at Shadowland, Daredevil's fortress, where he was confronted by Daredevil and a legion of Hand ninjas.  Bullseye was unprepared for his enemy's newfound ruthlessness, as Daredevil dislocated both his shoulders and then stabbed him through the heart with his own sai, in much the same way Bullseye had killed Elektra years before.  Daredevil later exhumed Bullseye's corpse, intending to resurrect him as a soldier loyal to the Hand, but the ceremony was interrupted by various superheroes, preventing Bullseye's resurrection.  It was later revealed that Bullseye was still barely alive as his body disappeared after the battle, but due to his injuries he became an invalid who had to rely on a metal lung in order to survive.  To get revenge, he was revealed to be the mastermind behind Klaw, Coyote, and Ikari's actions against Daredevil.  He was later found by the hero, who defeated Ikari and Lady Bullseye.  The warehouse where they were was subsequently destroyed, and Bullseye was nearly drowned in radioactive waste, leaving him scarred and blind.

This will be the second time the character will appear in live action, after Colin Farrell in the 2003 movie Daredevil.

Daredevil Season 3 is expected to be released on Netflix sometime in 2018.

TITANS Spinoff DOOM PATROL Gets Series Order from DC Universe

DC's strangest heroes are finally getting their own series.

Deadline has word that the upcoming digital service DC Universe has given a straight-to-series order for Doom Patrol, based on the DC Comics superteam.  The live-action drama series has received an order for 13 episodes and will spin out of the events of the Titans TV series.

The Doom Patrol is expected to debut in the fifth Titans episode, "The Doom Patrol", written by Geoff Johns.  The spinoff series should star Bruno Bichir as The Chief, April Bowlby as Elasti-Girl, Dwain Murphy as Negative Man, and Jake Michaels as Robotman.

The series is the sixth DC Comics adaptation in development for DC Universe, after the animated series Harley Quinn and Young Justice: Outsiders, and the live-action series Titans, Swamp Thing and Metropolis. 

According to the article, Doom Patrol is described as "a re-imagining of the beloved group of outcast superheroes: Robotman, Negative Man, Elasti-Girl and Crazy Jane, led by modern-day mad scientist Dr. Niles Caulder (The Chief).  The Doom Patrol’s members each suffered horrible accidents that gave them superhuman abilities — but also left them scarred and disfigured. Traumatized and downtrodden, the team found purpose through The Chief, who brought them together to investigate the weirdest phenomena in existence — and to protect Earth from what they find. Part support group, part Super Hero team, the Doom Patrol is a band of super-powered freaks who fight for a world that wants nothing to do with them."

In addition, the series will pick up "after the events of Titans, Doom Patrol will find these reluctant heroes in a place they never expected to be, called to action by none other than Cyborg, who comes to them with a mission hard to refuse, but with a warning that is hard to ignore: their lives will never, ever be the same."

Supernatural's Jeremy Carver will write and executive produce the series with Geoff Johns (Titans), Greg Berlanti and Berlanti Productions’ Sarah Schechter.  Berlanti Productions will produce in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Created in 1963 by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani, The Doom Patrol first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 as a team of super-powered misfits brought together by Dr. Niles Caulder, a.k.a. The Chief, 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.  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.  It was soon revealed that the Chief secretly caused the "accidents" which turned Cliff, Larry Trainor, and Rita Farr into super beings.  The Chief stated he caused them to gain their powers (or in the case of Robotman, destroyed his original body in order to obtain his brain to put into his robot body) because of his hatred for them.  He felt they were spoiled and narcissistic and shallow individuals, and that by turning them into "freaks," he could "improve" them as human beings.  He further revealed that he lied about not being married to Celsius, whom Caulder claimed was insane/lying about being married to him) out of anger.  He was upset over how the experiments performed on her (like with Elasti-Girl) only gave her super-powers and did not turn her into a freak.  When Tempest and Robotman found out his role in "creating" Robotman, Elasti-Girl, and Negative Man, Tempest was killed and Robotman paralyzed. Having been exposed as a villain, Caulder planned to unleash nanobots into the world, hoping to create a catastrophe that would "improve" humanity, regardless of the carnage it would cause.  However, Caulder's plan was hijacked by the Candlemaker, a violent cosmic horror who was freed by Dorothy Spinner in exchange for him resurrecting Tempest (whom Candlemaker killed once again).  Candlemaker then decapitated Caulder and sought to use the nanobots to enslave humanity.  Dorothy, Crazy Jane and Robotman (freed by the former two) defeated the Candlemaker.

In the current DC Comics continuity known as "The New 52", the Doom Patrol went on a mission to capture the Ring of Volthoom, which had attached itself onto a woman named Jessica Cruz.  Their mission put them in opposition of the Justice League.  However, it was revealed by Lex Luthor that Caulder caused the team's respective accidents, forcing them to lose morale and give up.  It is also revealed that Caulder poisoned an entire fishing village as part of an experiment, and cured the residents only after Luthor discovered the truth and threatened to expose him.

This will be the first time the Doom Patrol will have their own television series, although they've appeared in various animated projects, including the Teen Titans animated series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, the DC Nation animated shorts, and a cameo in the animated film Justice League: The New Frontier.

Doom Patrol is expected to premiere on DC Universe sometime in 2019.

BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC is Most Official, Alex Winter & Keanu Reeves to Return

Strange things are afoot once again at the Circle K.

In a most triumphant article, The Hollywood Reporter has word that the long-discussed third Bill & Ted movie, Bill & Ted Face the Music, is officially in pre-production and will feature the return of Alex Winter as Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Keanu Reeves as Ted "Theodore" Logan.

According to the article, original creators Chris Matheson (Imagine That) and Ed Solomon (Men in Black, Mosaic, Now You See Me) have written the script, with Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest, Red 2, Fun With Dick and Jane) confirmed as director.  Scott Kroopf (Limitless) will produce the movie together with Alex Lebovici and Steve Ponce of Hammerstone Studios, with Steven Soderbergh serving as an executive producer alongside Scott Fischer, John Ryan Jr. and John Santilli.

Bill & Ted Face the Music will reportedly "see the duo long past their days as time-traveling teenagers and now weighed down by middle age and the responsibilities of family.  They’ve written thousands of tunes, but they have yet to write a good one, much less the greatest song ever written.  With the fabric of time and space tearing around them, a visitor from the future warns our heroes that only their song can save life as we know it.  Out of luck and fresh out of inspiration, Bill and Ted set out on a time travel adventure to seek the song that will set their world right and bring harmony in the universe as we know it.  Together with the aid of their daughters, a new crop of historical figures, and some sympathetic music legends, they find much, much more than just a song."

MGM owns the rights to the film and will release it in the U.S. under its Orion Pictures banner, while Bloom is handling international sales, which commenced in Cannes.

Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves said in a joint statement, "We couldn’t be more excited to get the whole band back together again.  Chris and Ed wrote an amazing script, and with Dean at the helm, we’ve got a dream team!"

Bloom's Alex Walton remarked, "Fans of Bill and Ted have been waiting for Reeves and Winter to reunite since their last Bogus Journey in 1991. This is excellent!"

Created in 1989 by Matheson and Solomon, Bill and Ted made their debut in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, where they attended high school in 1988 San Dimas, California as slackers and are told they will fail their high school history class if they don't achieve a good grade on their reports.  Ted's father threatens him with military school in Alaska if he failed, which would end Bill and Ted's dreams of success with their band, Wyld Stallyns.  In 2688, humanity has built a utopia thanks to the music and wisdom of Bill and Ted.  A man named Rufus traveled back in time to 1988 using a time machine disguised as a telephone booth to ensure that Bill and Ted pass their class.  Gathering various historical figures, they returned to the present to deliver their presentation that received a standing ovation and allowed them to pass the class.

In the 1991 sequel, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, the music of Bill and Ted's band, Wyld Stallyns, was detested by Chuck De Nomolos, who stole one of the time-traveling phone booths and sent two robots modeled after Bill and Ted back to the late 20th century to prevent Bill and Ted from winning the San Dimas Battle of the Bands.  Evil Bill and Evil Ted arrived eventually replaced Bill and Ted, killing them by throwing the two over the side of a cliff at Vasquez Rocks.  While posting as the real Bill and Ted, the robots behaved rudely to their fiancées and worked to ruin the duo's fame.  Bill and Ted's souls were met by Death, who challenged them in a game for their souls and eventually returned them to Earth.  After defeating De Nomolos and reuniting with their fiancées, they realized they were still terrible musicians and used the time booth for "an intense 16 months of guitar training plus a two week honeymoon".  Before returning to their original point of departure, they married the princesses and are raising young infants named "Little Ted" and "Little Bill".  They began to perform a stunning rock ballad, joined by Death, and Wyld Stallyns' music was played across the globe, creating harmony.

DAMN Good Movies -- AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

You guessed it, I'm back once again with another movie take, this time on the movie Avengers: Infinity War, the nineteenth 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...time to assemble!

It's all been leading to this.  Eighteen Marvel Cinematic Universe films introducing and connecting various Marvel characters, all with the ultimate goal of having the Marvel superheroes and assorted supporting characters finally face the looming threat of Big Bad supervillain Thanos.  Directors Anthony and Joe Russo and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who earned their geek cred with the stellar Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War films, loosely based the film on Jim Starlin's The Infinity Gauntlet comic series and elements from Jonathan Hickman's Infinity event series.  Oh, and there was only the ridiculous expectations of millions of MCU fans to consider as well.

Believe it or not, though...they pulled it off.

The film opens with Thanos and his Black Order lieutenants — Corvus Glaive, Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, and Proxima Midnight — intercepting the spaceship carrying the survivors of Asgard's destruction after the events of Thor: Ragnarok.  Having already acquired the Power Stone from the planet Xandar, Thanos extracts the Space Stone from the Tesseract that Loki nicked when everyone wasn't looking.  Eyepatch Thor is taken out, and Thanos beats the unholy hell out of the Hulk (!!!) and kills Loki, traumatizing thousands of weeping Hiddlestoners in the process.  Before being taken off the board as well, Heimdall sends the Hulk to Earth using the Bifröst.  Thanos and the Black Order depart, and the ship is obliterated.

So right off the bat, we see that Thanos isn't playing around and neither are the Russos.  Two longtime characters dead, and the two strongest Avengers thrown around like they were nothing.  All before you've made a dent in your bag of popcorn.

The Hulk crash-lands into Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum in New York, reverting to Bruce Banner.  He warns Strange and his assistant Wong about Thanos' plan to kill half of all life in the universe, so Doctor Strange decides maybe bringing in Tony Stark would be a good idea.  Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian arrive to get the Time Stone from Strange's Eye of Agamotto, with their big, wheel-shaped spaceship tingling the Spider-Sense of Peter Parker.  During a brutal friendly neighborhood battle, Ebony Maw captures Doctor Strange, but fails to take the Time Stone due to an enchantment.  Iron Man and Spider-Man pursue Ebony Maw's spaceship as it leaves orbit, while Banner splits to contact Steve Rogers, and Wong decides he's staying behind to guard the Sanctum.  Smart move, Wong.

Meanwhile in Scotland, Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive ambush the Vision and the Scarlet Witch in order to retrieve the Mind Stone from Vision's forehead.  Steve Rogers (Don't call him Captain America), Black Widow and The Falcon rescue them and hide out with War Machine and Bruce Banner at the Avengers Compound.  Vision offers to sacrifice himself by having the Scarlet Witch destroy the Mind Stone to keep Thanos from getting his oversized mitts on it.  Steve suggests they go to Wakanda, where he believes has the resources to remove the Mind Stone without destroying the Vision and is a very popular place these days.

At this point, with most of the film's major players revealed, anyone who hasn't seen at least 3/4 of the MCU movies is probably going to feel a bit lost.  It becomes all too apparent that Avengers: Infinity War is the advanced class for Marvel fans, and the Russos make no apology for it.  They give only the barest explanations for who all these characters are, and plow straight ahead, expecting everyone watching to know their MCU lore back to front.

We go into the Second Act with the Guardians of the Galaxy responding to a distress call from the Asgardian ship and giving the movie a much-needed humor boost.  They find and rescue Thor, who guesses that Thanos wants the Reality Stone, which is in the possession of the Collector on Knowhere.  The group splits up, with Rocket and Groot accompanying Thor to Nidavellir, where they and a giant Dwarf named Eitri create an enchanted axe hammer called Stormbreaker that's capable of killing Thanos.  On Knowhere, Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, and Mantis find Thanos with the Reality Stone already in his possession.  Ruh-roh!  Thanos kidnaps Gamora, his adoptive daughter, who reveals the location of the Soul Stone to save her captive adoptive sister Nebula from torture.  Thanos and Gamora head to a planet called Vormir, where we're stunned to find the Red Skull, of all people, is now the keeper of the Soul Stone.  The Red Skull informs Thanos that the stone can only be retrieved by sacrificing someone he loves, so Thanos reluctantly sends Gamora over a cliff, granting him the Soul Stone and delivering another big death.

Nebula escapes her captivity and asks the remaining Guardians to meet her on Thanos' homeworld, Titan.  Iron Man and Spider-Man kill Ebony Maw (as "heroes" do these days) by ejecting him from his ship, and rescue Doctor Strange.  Landing on Titan, they meet Star-Lord, Drax, and Mantis, and there's some quippy banter as Tony Stark and Peter Quill butt heads to become the alpha.  The group forms a plan to remove Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet,  after Doctor Strange uses the Time Stone to view millions of possible futures, seeing only one in which Thanos loses, so...no pressure.  Thanos arrives, justifying his plans as necessary for the survival of a universe threatened by overpopulation.  The big plan actually put Thanos on the ropes...until Nebula realizes that Thanos killed Gamora.  As you might expect, Star-Lord flips out and goes after Thanos, breaking their hold on him, who then overpowers everyone.  D'oh!  Doctor Strange surrenders the Time Stone in exchange for Thanos sparing Iron Man, because remember, he saw all those possible futures, and Thanos heads for Earth to finish off his jewelry set.

It's time for the Third Act and boy, is this one a doozy.  In Wakanda, Steve Rogers reunites with his ol' pal the Winter Soldier before Thanos' army of Outriders invades.  This group of Avengers, alongside the Black Panther and bunch of ready-to-throw-down Wakandans, mount a defense while the Panther's sister Shuri scrambles to extract the Mind Stone from Vision. Banner, unable to transform into the Hulk because the Hulk's a'scared, is forced to fights using Iron Man's Hulkbuster armor.  Just when the battle starts to go south, Thor, Rocket, and Groot arrive as reinforcements.  Proxima Midnight, Cull Obsidian, and Corvus Glaive are killed and their Outrider army is defeated.  The victory is short-lived, however, as Thanos arrives.  Despite the Scarlet Witch's attempt to destroy the Mind Stone, Thanos retrieves the stone from the Vision, destroying him in the latest gut-punch.  Thor severely wounds Thanos, but Thanos uses his now-complete Infinity Gauntlet and teleports away.

And then, everyone (especially the audience) sees the ramifications of what just happened.  With Thanos' plan all kinds of winning, half of all life across the universe starts disintegrating in a series of horrific moments.  One by one, fan favorites like the Winter Soldier, the Black Panther, Groot, the Scarlet Witch, the Falcon, Mantis, Drax, Star-Lord, Doctor Strange, and even Spider-Man are taken off the board.  Iron Man and Nebula remain on Titan while Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Black Widow, Okoye, War Machine, M'Baku, and Thor are left on the Wakandan battlefield wondering what the hell just happened.  Meanwhile, on some other planet, Thanos finally kicks back and rests in satisfaction as the credits start rolling, and millions of voices in movie theaters all over the world suddenly cry out in terror and are suddenly silenced.

As expected, the film's ginormous cast give some great performances, with some entertaining and emotionally powerful character moments.  Here are some of the things that stood out:

IRON MAN/TONY STARK -- We may be seeing the final two-part ride for Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man.  In this film, Tony still has some residual PTSD issues from the first Avengers film and some wedding issues with Pepper Potts to work out, but his best moments come when he views Peter Parker as he son he'll never have.  This, of course, makes Peter's disintegration at the end so powerful.

STEVE ROGERS -- Chris Evans isn't going by his Captain America handle this time, as anyone who saw Captain America: Civil War can understand.  Regardless, Steve is still very much the hero and leader we need him to be, and gets a great moment when he's defiantly struggling and pushing back against Thanos, for all the good both know it will do.

THOR ODINSON -- Fresh off the events of Thor: Ragnarok, Chris Hemsworth's Thor is still being played more for laughs as he was there.  He gets some fun moments meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy, but it's his acquisition of Stormbreaker that I find more intriguing.  Does this mean we could finally see Beta Ray Bill?

HULK/BRUCE BANNER -- Mark Ruffalo finally gets to be more active in a Marvel movie than his big, green alter ego.  After having the gamma rays kicked out of him by Thanos, the Hulk is now refusing to come out and play, even with Puny Banner becoming angry.  This movie is probably a big letdown for Hulk fans, so hopefully The Strongest One There Is gets off the bench early in Avengers 4.

BLACK WIDOW/NATASHA ROMANOFF -- For some reason, Scarlett Johansson is sporting her natural blond hair this time as Black Widow.  Sure, it can be easily explained away as a dye job while she's being a fugitive from justice, but why wouldn't Natasha just wear a wig instead?  And more importantly, why wouldn't Johansson at least wear a red wig if she didn't want to dye her hair this time?  Thanos, would you mind fixing this with your Infinity Gauntlet, because this is obviously really important.

THANOS -- Josh Brolin has been playing Thanos in post-credit cameos since 2014 and finally gets to step up as the Big Bad.  Interestingly, Thanos ditches the armor he's typically known for, presumably in an attempt to make the character more relatable and less like a throwaway CGI villain like Steppenwolf in DC's Justice League movie.  A good villain sees themself as a the hero of the story, and Thanos certainly does that, even when erasing half the population of the universe from existence.

BLACK PANTHER/T'CHALLA -- It seems a little weird to see Chadwick Boseman here as Black Panther while his insanely popular solo film is still making money in movie theaters.  Regardless, it's still great to see T'Challa leading Okoye, M'Baku and the other Wakandans into battle in a sequence that feels like the Marvel Comics version of Lord of the Rings.

DOCTOR STRANGE/DR. STEPHEN STRANGE -- Benedict Cumberbatch is still waiting for Doctor Strange 2 to be greenlit, so it was nice to see him be a major player in this movie.  Strange has a great moment with Spider-Man that makes me want to see them do a Marvel team-up at some point.

SPIDER-MAN/PETER PARKER -- And speaking of our friendly neighboorhood wall-crawler, Tom Holland seems more comfortable in the role with each movie he does.  Peter finally gets his Iron Spider suit from Tony this time and gets some good Spidey quips in, but it's his disintegration moment that proves most powerful.  We see Peter as just a scared kid that doesn't want to die and the moment is truly heartbreaking, even though common sense tells us Marvel isn't about to let Spider-Man go after fighting to get him back all these years.

THE FALCON/SAM WILSON -- Anthony Mackie's Falcon is one of the more underused Avengers.  He gets some good action scenes, but nothing truly notable, even his disintegration.

SCARLET WITCH/WANDA MAXIMOFF -- As the Scarlet Witch, Elizabeth Olsen gets to explore a little romance with the Vision this time.  Her biggest moment comes when Wanda has to set aside her love and try to destroy the Mind Stone, but of course, far too late.

THE VISION -- Paul Bettany gets a little character development this time, with the Vision taking on hair and a more human appearance (presumably so Bettany wouldn't always be in hours of makeup).  He also proves his selflessness by being willing to risk losing himself with the destruction of the Mind Stone.

WAR MACHINE/JAMES "RHODEY" RHODES -- As Rhodey, Don Cheadle is another underused Avenger, but he does get a fun moment where he tricks Bruce Banner into needlessly bowing before Black Panther.

THE WINTER SOLDIER/JAMES "BUCKY" BARNES -- Sebastian Stan's Bucky is finally reunited with his longtime friend Steve Rogers, which I'm sure made the Stucky shippers squee with delight.  Even better, Bucky gets a new bionic arm and some solid action scenes during the Outriders battle.

STAR-LORD/PETER QUILL -- Chris Pratt's Star-Lord never changes, nor should he.  As the MCU's Han Solo, Star-Lord gets into an alpha male contest with Tony Stark, but you just want to smack Quill upside the head when he flips out on Thanos and lets him break free.

GAMORA -- As Thanos' adoptive daughter, Zoe Saldana finally gets to explore the connection between the two characters.  We even get to see how Thanos met Gamora as a small child after wiping out her mother and her entire race.  She even gets a big death scene moment, arguably the biggest of the movie if you don't count Thanos wiping out half the universe.

DRAX THE DESTROYER -- Dave Bautista's Drax finally gets to attempt some vengeance on Thanos for the murder of his wife and child, but of course, it doesn't lead anywhere.  

ROCKET RACCOON -- Bradley Cooper has some fun moments with mopey teenaged Groot this time and gets to hang out with Thor for a bit, but for those paying attention, Rocket is now the sole surviving Guardian of the Galaxy.  I'm sure he's not going to take that well in the next Avengers movie and I can't wait to see what happens.

GROOT -- Groot fans wanting to see everyone's favorite living tree back to normal get some progress, but we're still not there yet.  Vin Diesel is now voicing the character as a sulky teen obsessed with his retro hand-held video game, which is cute for a couple of scenes, but I'm ready to see adult Groot again.

MANTIS -- Pom Klementieff only really gets to shine as Mantis when she and the other Guardians recover Thor in space, but she does help with the big attempt to subdue Thanos and take his Infinity Gauntlet, for all the good it does.  Way to go, "Star-Lord"...

NEBULA -- As Thanos' other adoptive daughter, Karen Gillan's Nebula spends most of the movie being tortured and stretched apart by Thanos.  She does make her escape though, and if you've read The Infinity Gauntlet, you know how important she might be in Avengers 4.  Definitely a character to watch very closely next time.

EITRI -- I have to think Peter Dinklage took some joy in playing a character who's a giant, even though he's considered a Dwarf.  As Eitri, he gets to craft a new hammer for Thor to use and any fan of Walt Simonson's Thor comics run had to be smiling when he was on the screen.

THE COLLECTOR/TANELEER TIVAN -- Benicio del Toro's reprises the Collector once again, but this time as an illusion created by Thanos using the Reality Stone.  We're not really sure if he's actually dead or not, but it's implied that Thanos killed him before the Guardians of the Galaxy arrived at Knowhere.

OKOYE -- As one of the big highlights of the solo Black Panther movie, Danai Gurira's Okoye gets to help T'Challa lead the Wakandan forces into battle against the Outriders, and her eyeroll is strong when Bruce Banner faceplants while running in the Hulkbuster armor.

SHURI -- Another highlight from the Black Panther movie was Letitia Wright as Shuri, who practically stole every scene she was in.  Here, she has a fun moment being a science geek with Bruce Banner before she is forced to scramble attempting to remove the Vision's Mind Stone before Thanos arrived.

WONG -- Also waiting for the Doctor Strange 2 greenlight, Benedict Wong's Wong (Yes, I know what I just typed) gets to use his typical deadpan humor to great effect.  You also have to respect Wong for having the sense to deliberately sit this one out and stick to his responsibilities.

LOKI LAUFEYSON CAMEO -- As Loki once again, Tom Hiddleston tries to pull a fast one on Thanos in the opening sequence, only to end up dead in the film's first shocking moment.

HEIMDALL CAMEO -- Idris Elba only gets one scene in the movie as Heimdall, but it's a big one as Heimdall is killed after sending the Hulk to Earth.  

RED SKULL CAMEO -- The Walking Dead's Ross Marquand takes over for Hugo Weaving as Captain America's arch-enemy, who turns up unexpectedly on Vormir as the keeper of the Soul Stone.  Now that he doesn't have the Soul Stone, maybe he should return to Earth and be Captain America's main bad guy again?  Just sayin'.

OBLIGATORY STAN LEE CAMEO -- Stan "The Man" turns up as a school bus driver taking Peter to school, only for Peter to duck out to investigate the arrival of Ebony Maw's spaceship.

NICK FURY AND MARIA HILL CAMEOS -- Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders appear in the post-credits scene, where Nick Fury transmits a distress signal just in the nick of time (See what I did there?) as he, Maria Hill and others also disintegrate.  The transmitter displays a yellow star insignia of Captain Marvel on a red-and-blue background, so be sure to go see her movie.

All in all, Avengers: Infinity War actually lives up to its insane amount of hype.  The film is essentially The Empire Strikes Back of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, bringing everything fans love only to end on a brutal downbeat cliffhanger.  While we wait for the big Cosmic Reset Button to be pushed in Avengers 4 (Quick, go read The Infinity Gauntlet to find out how), the big question is, will that film stick the landing better than Return of the Jedi did?  Well, at least there shouldn't be any Ewoks...although that could be kind of amazing and Disney does own both franchises...Hmmm...

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. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

4. The Avengers (2012)

5. Batman Begins (2005)

6. Logan (2017)

7. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

8. Black Panther (2018)

9. Man of Steel (2013)

10. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

11. Doctor Strange (2016)

12. Wonder Woman (2017)

13. Spider-Man 2 (2004)

14. Spider-Man (2002)

15. Iron Man (2008)

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

19. Thor (2011)

20. Justice League (2017)