Five Reasons You Should Watch… Hannibal

Hannibal Is One of the Best Shows on TV You Aren't Watching

This Friday, the very best thriller on television returns.  Hannibal premiered last year to stellar reviews but middling ratings.  It told a familiar story in an unfamiliar way.  The first season detailed the first meeting between FBI profiler Will Graham and psychologist/cannibal Hannibal Lecter.  Will is cursed with pure empathy, which means that he can walk in the shoes of psychopaths, but the crux of the show is how this affects Will's psyche.  In the finale, Hannibal has framed Will for four murders that he commited and Will is sent to the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.  The final scene is reminiscent of Clarice Starling's first meeting with Lecter, but with Lecter outside and Will inside.  This sets up a second season of Will trying to convince everyone that it's Hannibal who is the murderer while Hannibal takes Will's place helping the FBI.  So, why should you start watching Hannibal?  Hit the jump for five compelling reasons.

Bandwagon Jumpers: Venom & Sinister Six Movies Announced

Sony Announces Expanded Spider-Man Universe with Venom and Sinister Six Films

Sony decided to jump on the shared movie universe bandwagon, announcing this week that they would be releasing two spin-off films in the rebooted Amazing Spider-Man universe, Venom and Sinister Six.  This isn't the first time that Venom has appeared onscreen.  He was one of the villains in the much maligned Spider-Man 3.  Sony has been talking about bringing a solo Venom film to screen since they found out that the re-booted Amazing Spider-Man was a global box office success.  This isn't a huge surprise.  In comic books, Venom is a hero.  The alien symbiote has bonded to Peter Parkers enemy turned friend and former president of the Spider-Man fan club, Flash Thompson, a veteran who lost both legs in the Iraq War.  Flash can only wear the symbiote suit for a brief period of time, to make sure that it doesn't warp him and force him to do not so nice things like eat folks.  So, if Sony decides to go with the current incarnation of Venom, we've got a hero or an antihero, someone that audiences can root for.  

A movie focusing on the Sinister Six is a little more puzzling.  The Sinister Six are a collection of some of Spider-Man's greatest enemies.  They are originally brought together by Doctor Octopus who, sick of being humiliated by Spidey, thinks that his chances of defeating the Wall Crawler will raise if he brings together some likeminded individuals.  The original Sinister Six were Doc Ock, Vulture, Mysterio, Electro, Kraven the Hunter and Sandman.  I don't think that will be the group in the film.  Electro and the Rhino are being introduced in the new film.  In the newly released trailer, we catch a glimpse of Dock Ock's arms and the Vulture's wings.  So, if we just assume that those four will be in the group, who will be the last two?  Could the film introduce us to Kraven and Mysterio?  That would be awesome.  Kraven is a big game hunter who comes to NYC to hunt Spider-Man.  In modern incarnations, Kraven has had his own reality TV show, which I think would translate well to the big screen.  Mysterio's alter ego, Quentin Beck, is a special effects wizard who decides to use his talents and make it big in the crime game.

The problem is who will be the POV character?  Will audiences be able to relate to a film where every character is a villain?  We'll see.  What do you guys think?  Who would be your ideal Sinister Six?  Do you think the Green Goblin will be a member?  Any casting ideas?  Let me know in the comments.

Casting News: She's a Wonder Woman

Fast & Furious Actress, Gal Gadot, cast as Diana Prince in Batman vs. Superman

More casting news is coming out of the sequel to this year's hit, Man of Steel.  After the divisive casting of Ben Affleck as Batman, comes another casting announcement that will probably be just as divisive.  Gal Gado has been cast as Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman in the sequel that people are just calling Batman vs. Superman, even thought that is probably not the actual title of the film.

Gadot is an Israeli fashion model who transitioned to acting.  She doesn't have that much experience.  She played Gisele in the last three Fast & Furious films.  To be fair, she didn't have to do much acting. So, who knows how she'll do playing, arguably, the most iconic female superhero of all time.  It's a daunting task and I don't envy her.  It seems like Warner Bros./DC are using the Superman films as a sort of springboard for their own cohesive universe, like Marvel, so, it would seem that a Wonder Woman solo film, could finally be in the works.

I will say that Gadot certainly looks the part and she proved that she could kick ass in the F&F films, but I'm nervous about the whole acting thing.  I'm an avowed Batfleck defender.  My first post on this blog was a defense of the Oscar winner playing Batman.  I can't really get behind Gadot as Wonder Woman right now.  I'm not going to bash her or say that this is the worst or that it "raped my childhood."  I'm going to take a wait and see approach and just be happy that the Amazing Amazon is finally going to make her way to the big screen.  I mean, if she sucks, the role can always be recast.

So, what do you guys think?  Excited?  Neverous?  Hate it?  Ambivalent?  Let me know in the comments.

Trailer Time: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

The Summer of Marvel continues with the first trailer for the follow-up to Spidey's rebooted adventures.

Next summer is shaping up to be the summer of Marvel and I coudln't be happier.  You've got Captain America, the X-Men, the Guardians of the Galaxy and the most famous of them all, Spider-Man.  Lots of fanboys and girls, myself included, were skeptical.  Is it too soon to reboot?  Honestly, it probably is, but the new movie was pretty amazing.  Andrew Garfield was a great Spidey and the chemistry between him and Emma Stone's, Gwen Stacy, was off the charts.  The second film looks to be bigger, better, and more badass than the first one.  It adds three new villains to the mix:  Jamie Foxx's Electo, Paul Giamatti's The Rhino and The Green Goblin, which could be Dane Dehaan's Harry or Chris Cooper's Norman.  The trailer also gives us a glimpse of Vulture wings and Doc Ock arms.  Could we be setting things up for the Sinister Six in the next film?

Hit the jump to check out the first official trailer for the Spidey sequel.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Recap: Gravity

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Episode 3: "The Asset"

When Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D was first announced, one of the things that Marvel fans, myself included, were looking forward to, were seeing Marvel characters that maybe weren't big enough to be in a movie make their debut.  Now, I certainly wasn't expecting the Wasp to be flying around by episode three, but I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't a little disappointed that after two episodes we still weren't seeing anything familiar.  Well, that changed slightly with this episode, where the series introduced the man who would be the villain Graviton.  So, what went down?  Hit the jump to find out.

Things That Suck: Fables Ending with Issue 150

Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham announce critcally acclaimed Vertigo series, Fables, will end with issue #150

When I first decided to get back into reading comic books some 11 years ago, I stuck to what I knew.  I started out reading X-Men comics and then eventually branched out to other Marvel titles, then I meandered over to DC.  I really wasn't familiar with independent or non-mainstream comics.  I remember there was an article from IGN talking about the best comic series of the moment from both major publishers.  Number one on the list for DC was the book Fables.  I had never heard of it and I thought I was pretty up on what DC was publishing.  Well, I wasn't the well-informed fanboy that I thought I was, because I didn't realize that DC had separate imprint for their more "edgier" titles - Vertigo.

Well, I tracked down all the trades that were out and I was hooked.  I loved this grown-up take on the fairy tale characters that I had grown up loving in print and in various Disney movies.  A town hidden in New York where Snow White is the deputy mayor and the Big Bad Wolf, now going by the name of Bigby, is the sherriff.  Mortal enemies working together, grudingly, due to a treaty that was signed pardoning everyone for crimes committed in the homelands.

Fables is amazing.  It is adult, but still whimsical.  Some of the characters have been changed dramatically -- The Frog Prince a janitor!  Cinderella a secret agent! -- but the core of what makes them who they are still remains intact.  The book moves at a surprsing clip, months going by in one arc.  Willingham isn't scared to kill off characters, or alter the status quo dramatically if that is what best serves the characters and the story he is trying to tell.

The art by Mark Buckingham is some of the best in comic books.  It walks that fine line of looking like it came straight out of a Hans Christensen or Brothers Grimm tale, but still being realistic looking.  Willingham and Buckingham are the dictionary definition of a dream team.

Fables has been a resounding success for DC.  It has spawned spin-off comic series like Jack of Fables, focused on Jack, from the various Jack fairy tale stores, and the currently running Fairest, telling untold tales of the various princesses from Aurora to Rapunzel to Cinderella.  (It was announced that Fairest would also be ending at the same time as the flagship title.)  Willingham has wrote prose stories and the first episode of a new video game series from Telltale Games, The Wolf Among Us, was just released.

Why mention these things?  Well, because I'm sad, and these things give me hope.  Hope that when the series does end, it won't be the last time that I spend with these characters that have been very important to me in the few years.  Also, I'm comforted by the fact that I still have a year and a half before I really have to grieve for the end of this series.

So, how do you guys feel?  Any Fables fans out there?  Let me know in the comments.

Trailer Time: X-Men Days of Future Past

The first trailer for Bryan Singer's return to the X franchise promises epic awesomeness

The X-Men film franchise has had it's fair share of ups and downs.  The first film was a decent introduction to the merry mutants.  It had it's faults, I'm looking at you Halle Berry and you toad and lightning comment.  X2 is still the high water mark for the franchise and one of the best comic book films ever made.  After Singer left, the third movie was helmed by Brett Ratner of Rush Hour fame (?). It was pretty all over the place and there was talk that it may be the last film.  

Well, Twentieth Century Fox was not going to let their cash cow go quietly into that good night.  You know what time it was.  Reboot time!  They hired James Mcavoy and Michael Fassbender to play the younger versions of friends turned enemies Xavier and Magneto.  Aside from a terrible wooden performance by January Jones, X-Men First Class was a return to form and a critical and box office hit.  

A sequel was inevitable and fandom let out a cheer when it was announced that not only was Bryan Singer making his triumphant return but he was going to loosely base the story on one of the most famous X-Men stories of all time: Days of Future Past.  Singer was super active on Twitter and announcements came fast and furious.  Cast members past would be returning and new additions would be made.  If you saw The Wolverine this summer, you got the first tease to whet your appetite.  

Now, we have the first official trailer for the film and it is pretty awesome.  We get glimpses of old favorites like Storm, Rogue, Iceman and Kitty Pryde as well as new additions like Bishop, Blink and Peter Dinklage's '70's iteration of Sentinel creator, Bolivar Trask.  It looks like the framework of the comic book story is going to be the same.  Professor X transports Wolverine's mind back to his past body and hijinks ensue.  Seriously.  This trailer is awesome.  McAvoy and his Seventies 'do.  Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique being threatened by Magneto.  I can't do it justice.  Just watch the trailer after the jump and leave your comments.