In 2019 Disney and Marvel teased fans, confirming that Mahershala Ali would be reprising the role of Blade in an upcoming movie. Supporters of the original Blade trilogy held their breaths for a Wesley Snipes return, but since the Comicon news, any information has been scarce at best.
Piggybacking off of a more established Marvel project, Deadpool 3 was recently reconfirmed as a rated (R) picture, coupled with a creator’s promise that it would not be “Disneyfied.” For once it seems the upper brass is letting writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick do their thing. Shortly after this confirmation by Variety: Productionlist.com updated their site, listing a Blade shoot date/location for July 4th in Atlanta and New Orleans. Putting all your hopes in one basket is never a good idea, but with the coincidental timing for updates on Blade and Deadpool 3, fans have to ask will Blade be Rated (R)?
The answer is it’s possible. Marvel’s original Blade was rated R and garnered significant success financially. Since other popular Marvel film adaptions like Logan and Deadpool have followed a similar design, satisfying an audience niche that appreciates dismemberment.
Given the comic lore for Blade, writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour may find it challenging to keep the material under the rated (R) guidelines. But to be honest, would that be such a bad thing? Let us know if you’re a pro horror blood and guts blade or looking for something tamer that the kiddos can watch. Leave your comments, love, and hate below.
Evil Dead The Game was released on May 13th and has received a generally welcoming reception across the gaming community. In an industry where multi-million dollar franchises become complete flops, a smooth launch is a breath of fresh air for even the staunchest of critics.
Best described as a 4v1 survivor horror game, four players try and survive the onslaught of an ancient Kandarian Demon. Human and demon characters have access to a detailed skill tree, upgrading and improving stats after matches, and a rudimentary temporary leveling system available during gameplay. Survivors have several primary and secondary objectives to complete, but a demon’s only focus is to eliminate all the humans. Players can use dozens of tiered melee and ranged weapons found throughout the map, drive cars, and even visit familiar areas like the Knowby Cabin. The general game design might not be original; it works very well with lore that doesn’t try and take itself too seriously.
All of this was made possible by STARZ and all three studios (Renaissance Pictures, StudioCanal, and MGM) that own the franchise coming together to create a single product. This collaboration is almost guaranteed to ensnare fans from the original cult classic films like “Evil Dead”, “Evil Dead 2”, “Army of Darkness” and audiences introduced to the universe by the Ash vs Evil Dead series. Meticulous detailing gives the player a genuine feeling of being in the Evil Dead universe. Everything feels accurate and holds to what fans have already seen on screen. Bruce Campbell and even the less well-known characters display an almost uncanny design accuracy. Even if the game had been a flop, the horror and comical atmosphere created would almost certainly cement it as a Halloween seasonal favorite for fans that just can’t get enough boomstick.
But Evil Dead: the game is anything but a flop; over 500,000 copies sold, and platforms like Xbox, Sony, and PC are still running store weeks after launch. We can assume sales are steady. An initial rocky early release nearly ruined developers’ hopes for a successful launch. Even after a twelve-hour delay, and some slightly salty Twitter backlash for the said delay, the game has continued to surprise fans.
With more human survivors, weapons, levels, and Kandarian Demons undoubtedly on the way, Evil Dead lobbies seem jam-packed even without the future details. With all the hype building around the game, we are excited to see what Saber Interactive has in store for the coming holiday season. What did you love about the game, what did you hate, or are you still on the fence about buying? Leave your comments below!
Marvel and DC are without a doubt the top dogs in the comic game and have been for sometime. Both were quick to dismantle any competitors following the golden age of comics. While Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige has stated in regards to a modern DC Marvel rivalry, “There’s not really a rivalry…”the resulting similarities of some of the two’s biggest icons says otherwise
Character rip offs are nothing comic fans haven’t already dissected and quantified countless times, reflecting on some of the more similar Marvel and DC characters let’s strive to determine who did it better. Leave all deliberation regarding who beats who in a fight to the diligent comic battle vines.
Solomon Grundy is Technically the Original
Created by Alfred Bester, Grundy first appeared in All-American Comics #61 (October 1944). You could argue that at the time of his creation he was a far cry from the monster he is now but sometimes character evolution is unhurried.
Cyrus Gold or better known as Solomon Grundy is the DC’s lumbering gray un dead “hulk” or vice versa, just keep reading. After refusing a blackmail from the pimp of a prostitute he had become romantically involved with, Cyrus was met with an unexpected shovel to the back of the head. Without remorse his body was tossed into the infamous Slaughter Swamp and left to stew in some primordial juices for the next five decades. Through yet unexplained means he emerged a zombie horror that would come to be known as Solomon Grundy. Depending on who is doing the writing Grundy is a nearly unstoppable un dead force that has contested power houses like Superman. Unlike the not so cheery associated nursery rhyme Grundy seems to have no plans on being buried Sunday or on any day of the week for that matter. Grundy can take an insane amount of damage, he has had Superman fly through the middle of his chest and been pretty much unaffected. Not just a punching bag by any means Grundy’s peak incarnations have shown him beating the likes of Wonder Woman in Injustice: Gods Among Us and even the Man of Steel himself in Superman 15 (1976).
Unique in his own right Grundy started off as a villain for the hero known as the Green Lantern Alan Scott but has since squared off with every member of the Justice League and countless others. At least at this point it would seem DC is content with using Grundy as a villainous brick that doesn’t quite go down. Be that as it may he has landed himself in over a dozen separate comic series, animated cartoons and even parts in some notable video games. You might be thinking Grundy takes the cake but when it comes down to selling comics but he is after all a villain and villains usually finish last in terms of popularity. Winning popular contests or not, nothing in the DC universe has put this lumbering monstrosity to rest yet.
“Solomon Grundy, Born on a Monday, Christened on a Tuesday, Wedded on a Wednesday, Took ill on a Thursday, Grew Worse on a FridayDied on a Saturday, Buried on Sunday, that was the end of Solomon Grundy…“
Hulk Came Second but Don’t Count Him Out
Created by the legend himself Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of The Incredible Hulk (May 1962)showing up to the big angry monster game a little he’s just in time to become one of the biggest reluctant heroes at Marvel Comics.
Hulk is everyone’s lovable green ball of infinite childhood induced rage, one of Stan Lee’s greats, joining the ranks of immortal characters thanks to Al Ewings awesome series Immortal Hulk. Hulks duality is what makes him stand out, think Dr Jekyll and Mr Hide; the Hulk is after all a manifestation from the scientist Bruce Banner. Banner meets his lifelong angry contemporary when exposed to an experimental gamma bomb saving the life of fellow scientist Rick Jones. Now whenever Banner is put under physical or emotional stress he is able to transform into the hulk with near limitless strength depending on his level of anger, super speed, durability and regeneration to name a few. Taking it with just a pinch of salt this is of course the classic take on the Hulk and just like Grundy it can vary from writer to writer. Now when it comes to tough, tough ain’t enough for the Hulk. Surviving some of the most awesome attacks in the Marvel universes:he reluctantly tanks some of the hardest blows the Skyfather Zeus had to offer, in one alternate timeline The Incredible Hulk: The End (Vol 11) Hulk lives in a post apocalyptic world where his flesh is devoured everyday by mutant cockroaches.
Apparently everyone really likes to see the Hulk just going mental and just leveling things. There have been a few versions of the hulk that were not all about smashing like Joe Fix It but what sells is an angry Hulk. Permeating through nearly every nook and cranny of western culture you can hardly go to the store or turn on a TV without seeing some reference to the Hulk be it movies, toys, clothing, food, video games or comics the hulk is almost as synonymous with America as Captain America himself. If your thinking this sounds a lot like how popular Grundy is among the fans, sadly that thought might be stretching it at best. While Solomon Grundy has become a staple villain in the DC universe the hulk has since grown out of the comic and media scene and has become somewhat of an icon. Be honest you’ve put on a pair of Hulk hands and tried to smash a wall, but you haven’t done that with Grundy hands. Do they even make those?
““There ain’t many around who can describe what it feels like to get hit by the Hulk… Simple fact bein’ there ain’t many around who can survive to tell the tale. There ain’t no pain at first. It’s like he hits ya so damn hard ya actually leave yer own body. It’s when ya come back that ya feel the pain. An’ ya realize yer goin’ toe-to-toe with a walkin’ earthquake.” – Wolverine
The Outcome
If you stuck around from start to finish to see the results you’re amazing, if you just scrolled to the bottom to see the outcome you are my people and I don’t blame you. Crunching the numbers Grundy came first and the award for originality has to go to DC (Grundy), both characters are eerily similar but have some glaring difference making each unique. Switching gears and comparing the monster level of power they both possess this was a little bit harder to determine, both had astounding feats but the Hulk simply had more and has proven his strength is all but set. Hulk takes the round for Marvel toting a nearly limitless level of physical strength. Lastly who was more popular this is indeed a popularity contest, Hulk wins this one for marvel as well hands down. Both characters sell comics and have had significant character development but apples and oranges. Hulk has had several stand alone movies, animated series etc. proving he doesn’t need a team to garner loyal fans.
Final Results
Winner is the Hulk for his dominating level of power and a fan base that continues to grow, cementing a status as one of the most popular Marvel heroes of all time. Did you see it going differently, are you a DC hard fan that knows for a fact Grundy takes the cake and the Hulk is generic knock off let us know. If your a die hard DC fan or a hard core Marvel reader or if you just enjoyed the piece, post your comments below and shoot a suggestion of what characters are a mirror image of each other.
Content starved fans of the hit western adventure game Read Dead Redemption 2 are no strangers to waiting months on end for game updates. As recently as June 2020 online players rallied together adorning clown outfits and make up to mock RockStar developers for the lack of attention to the community. No one can be sure if that was the catalyst for what came after but Rockstar rolled out a massive update for the new Naturalist role to sated the masses. While it has been a breath of fresh “content”, taking into account Rockstars update timeline so far it could be months before the community see’s anything new. That is unless Rockstar is working on something, maybe a pandemic outbreak just in time for Halloween?
Mosey around the fantastic and breathtaking open world that is RDR2 long enough and you simply run out of things to do. So you usually find yourself in some quaint town somewhere hog tying the locals, photographing wildlife or causing trouble for law enforcement.This exact behavior led me to stumble on what could be Read Dead’s biggest update yet.
Screenshot on the Xbox One X
Fans of the original RDR can recall the nostalgic maps setting close to the Mexican border,the successor map being much larger actually encompasses the entire original area featuring some of the old favorites. Tumbleweed and Armadillo being two of the most prominent markers for the area. In the tiny desolate town of Armadillo players can probably recall the bleak absence of NPC’s or really anything in the area. Striving to complete a distance daily challenge I stopped in the town notating its usual Tim Burton cheer but what caught my eye was most of the towns people appeared gravely ill (sicker than usual for Armadillos residents). Some coughing as they seemed to struggle breathing, just getting up and walking around seemed painful, it’s important to mention that not all of the town exhibited these changes in behavior and appearance. You can see the dark depressions on the characters face and the absence of any color when compared to a regular NPC. The theory is that Armadillo is ground zero for a future update that will resemble the popular Undead Nightmare add for the first RDR. Not convinced, did I mention that as you follow these poor souls around they respond with unique dialogue like, “ I wouldn’t get too close to me if I were you” the foreshadowing if essentially overflowing.
You can argue that the whole area of Armadillo is surrounded in legend and cursed by a prominent character from the first title, the “Strange Man”. What you can’t argue with is residents lying on benches wearing face masks, the detailed in-game weather effects are well known but to this date I’ve never come across an NPC using a banana in rain or snow. Again it could simply be a symptom of an upcoming dust storm but plague seems logical if not more exciting. What is most interesting is the graves around Armadillo seem to now be littered with diseased and deformed bodies. One of the take away pieces of evidence is featured below, deformed corpses that seem actually give an option to pick up and de spawn after being shot in the head.Before taking the screenshot I did get a little trigger happy and decided to shoot most of the corpses in the head this confirmed they are not just deco.
Will this be another un dead outbreak, a pandemic that sweeps through the map crippling players stats, are these the ramblings of a conspiracy gamer who hasn’t seen the light of day in few days, that’s rhetorical don’t answer go ahead and leave your thoughts theories and comments below.
With the conclusion of Thor #6 there can be no debating that Thor is the mightiest Avenger, was there ever a doubt. As we painstakingly await release of issue #7 we can take a look at this run so far and marvel at the depth of the story so far.
First off why is Cates writing Venom? He is and always should be first and foremost a Thor writer, I haven’t been this engaged in a comic book since Jason Aaron’s Thor God Butcher . Donny Cates is on fire, it seems the guys keyboard or fingertips have the Midas touch. Just as quickly as Thor was brought into the conflict with the Black Winter, issue 6 keeps that pace and ends an an unbearable cliff hanger for number 7. All we know up to this point is the fight so far was just warm up round.
It’s hard to put a starting point on where the magic starts in this series, is it when King Thor butchers the devourer Galactus or does it begin in the first pages of issue #1 as Thor hurls Mljonir across all ten realms. Whatever panel gets you hooked you won’t have been waiting long to appreciate the vibrant artwork and detail Nick Klein throws at you from the gate. Even if every pannel was void of a single word the tone draw into Thors face is he’s in charge and regardless of what Galactus, his heralds, Loki or the Silver Surfer think will stop at nothing do what he thinks is right. Spurned on by the Black Winter power of revealing your death has driven the King to near desperation
WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW
Personally I feel it reminds me of a darker Unworthy Thor setting, something no one is going to complain about. Apart from aesthetic scenes worthy of a forehead tattoo Cates dialogue is phenomenal. Thor’s progression through his time as King is not an evolution but a devolution of him from God to King to Herald and by the end to hopeless. The way audiences see this is unique because never once is Thor’s ability or power called into question if anything he shows new unheard of levels of strength; instead we see these holes emerging in Thor’s Psyche as he fights to save everyone and be a moral king. Avengers Endgame may have touched on this emotional mental dilemma with the chubby Thor equaling the depressed model, even Thor can only take so much. What Donny Cates highlights is Thor has been in a state of war for a very very long time, has escaped his death countless times and it is all building to something so terrible Thor can feel
Thor facing images of past foes shown by the Black Winter
The big takeaway is the demise shown to Thor by the Black Winter. The horror so profound it led Thor to return home in silence with no mention of his deeds and exploits to save everyone. Cates tries to put a scale for the challenges ahead, having the Black Winter itself state it was never here for his universe that fate is already guaranteed.
What Thor saw when Black Death showed him his end
Now at first I was giddy as a schoolgirl with the imagery but the excitement soon faded as I realized Marvel Zombies has been done time and time again. If you notice though Thanos is wielding a black gauntlet, maybe this is not the Zombie virus at all. Could Thanos have trapped death itself into a weapon? I definitely have no more ideas under my tin foil hat but maybe you do, leave your theories and comments in the section below.
NERD CHUM 