Thursday, March 29, 2018

Heroes For Rehire

You know, apart from Iron Fist and The Hand and how short it felt, the only thing I didn't like about The Defenders Netflix show was that it was called The Defenders. When I think of The Defenders I think of Doctor Strange, Namor The Sub-Mariner, and The Hulk! I get the name makes sense for that version of the team, but we comic book fans all know it should have been called...
And with Bendis leaving Marvel and his Defenders comic ending, now is the perfect time to bring The Heroes For Hire back in a big new way. So if Marvel wants a fresh idea for their fresh start allow me to present The Panel Biter's very first, Raffi's Roster, the series where I pitch a team, a plot, and an overall message behind some of comic book's best superhero teams.

The Roster
First, we get The Defenders and treat this like the next step from that. Bendis' Defenders felt like an exploration of Marvel's street level characters while also using characters featuring on Netflix, so that's our focus. Leading this team is Luke Cage, as he has led two Avengers teams, a Thunderbolts team, and is the founder of The Heroes For Hire. With him he brings his wife and badass private eye Jessica Jones, his best friend and master martial artist Danny Rand/Iron Fist, and the Man Without Fear himself Matt Murdock/Daredevil. Then we got Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, Patsy Walker/Hellcat, and one of the Night Nurses. All characters we've seen on TV. The one rookie and yet-to-be movie character on the team is Miles Morales/Spider-Man. And also Foggy Nelson. I'll explain soon. So that's ten members of the team. And just to make it convenient Matt and Miles tell their coworkers who they are.

The Plan
This team isn't just a throw-together team of Netflix characters, everyone has a purpose. Luke basically establishes this new Heroes For Hire as a means of income for his family. They have Rand Industries support, they have a trained doctor on hand, two lawyers, a former cop, a PI, a celebrity spokesperson, and Luke-who has done it all. So when people call the HfH they won't just be calling because of alien attacks. They need legal guidance or they need an investigator or they need some bodyguards or they need a doctor. The Heroes For Hire provide for everybody, their motto is "Everybody Needs a Hero". And the money the organization makes goes half to themselves and half to the community. That way for every criminal caught and for every life saved, the people of New York are giving back to the community, cleaning up parks, repairing old neighborhoods, and making New York more of a unity. That's what The Heroes For Hire are all about. They are also about giving people the chance to be heroes. The Heroes For Hire will hire civilians to help too. If you have kitchen experience they'll send you to feed the homeless. If you've done construction or heavy lifting they'll send you to help fix broken structures. If you have no talents whatsoever they'll pair you with other people who do so you can help and observe. They'll make you a janitor or a call-desk employee. They give jobs, they solve problems, the help their people. That is what Luke Cage has always done and what he'll want to keep doing. Matt and Foggy may be their as lawyers, but Daredevil is more of a night-watch participant. And Miles may be there to baby-sit for Luke and Jess, but by night he is their Spider-Man. Guest characters like Shang-Chi, Power Man II, and White Tiger could cameo too!

The Threat
Another idea from Bendis I always liked was The Illuminati. Definitely another team I'll have to pitch, but if a bunch of New York's vigilantes were teaming up in a way that would shift the economic and community statuses of New York, some of New York wealthiest and most dastardly would likely come together to destroy this new organization. So we would have an anti-Heroes For Hire. Lets call them The Lords of New York. And they'll include such crime bosses as Kingpin, Tombstone, Black Cat, Diamondback, Black Mariah, and Jigsaw. And the person who assembles them could be Miles' criminal uncle and newest Iron Spider, Aaron Davis. They could hire multiple criminals, form Sinister Six teams, frame Daredevil of murder and Foggy has to defend him in court. Planting bombs, hiring a small time crook to work for Heroes For Hire to destroy them from the inside. Get the organization into financial trouble so people have to be laid off. Just a group of rich, awful people who target all their money and power towards this humanitarian superhero team. Maybe  in the third of fourth arc The Punisher shows up and shoots the Lords up, kills a few of them, and we learn someone on The Heroes For Hire ratted out the spy and told The Punisher where the criminals were, so now the HfH look like they work with Frank Castle and the people loose faith in them. The Lords can hire fun villains like Taskmaster and Bullseye while they're at it.

The Point
The book would be about community, family, and working together. The whole reason I choose Miles instead of Peter is because I think Miles needs-not only-a team like this that's all about community, but he needs a role model like Luke Cage. A self-made man who did his time and redeemed himself, who spent his whole time being his own boss, making his own choices, and fixing his own mistakes. Peter Parker may have taught Miles how to be Spider-Man, but Luke Cage can teach Miles how to be a man. Superheroes should save the world. Not kill bad guys or bully people with more money then them or cause destruction, heroes should help people. Otherwise they aren't heroes, they're just people who aren't doing enough. I have been dying for a progressive Marvel team. A group of heroes who don't sit around an\d wait, a group of heroes who solve people's problems. And it would be totally within the characters of the mentioned Marvel superheroes to be part of something like this. These people are't just Heroes For Hire, they are Heroes For The People. So get David F. Walker to write it and get David Marquez to draw it.
Thanks for reading.

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Marvel Gemology

The Soul Gem isn't in Wakanda. And, yes, I'm calling it a Gem. Marvel wants you to think their stones because gems sound girly. They've even gone out of their way to destroy The Infinity Gems in the comics and fully replace them with a new set of Infinity Stones, complete with colors that match their MCU counterparts. You know what? Screw The Infinity Pebbles! Let me educate your readers on some seriously awesome rocks that don't come in the "Thanos Jewelers Collection".

Godstone
Found on the surface of the moon by John Jameson-astronaut and proud of J. Jonah Jameson-the Godstone. At first, the stone borrowed into his body and turned him into a superpowered werewolf when he was hit with moonlight (because 70's) and Spider-Man has to fight him. The stone came from another dimension John visited for a while, eventually becoming it's protector. Over the years John has been both Man-Wolf and Stargod, but rarely uses his powers for crime-fighting anymore. So God is a werewolf? Cool.

Crimson Gem of Cyttorak
This large ruby was found by Charles Xavier's step-brother Cain Marko while the two were station in Korea. Cain was stuck in a cave where he found the gem and a temple honoring the god Cyttorak. In exchange for being the mad god's avatar of destruction, Cyttorak channeled his powers into the stone and gave Cain the power of a human Juggernaut. As a result, Juggernaut is incredibly strong and nearly indestructible. It has been shown that the Gem can be removed and used by other people who are willing to give their souls to Cyttorak. Doctor Strange has even tapped into the god's power by casting "The Crimson Bands of Cyttorak". Because when I think Sorcerer Supreme I think jumprope.

Moonstone
As the name implies, this stone was found on the moon. Specifically the Blue Area of The Moon, a spot on the moon created by The Kree that has oxygen. The Moonstone is charged with an unknown energy and gives it's wielder super strength, durability, and flight. After therapist Karla Sofen convinced the villain Nefarius to give her the stone, she developed more powers like intangibility, gravity manipulation, light manipulation, and energy blasts. It can also be used to evolve Jigglypuff, Clafairy, Nidorina, and Nidorino into their final evolutions.

Bloodstone
Like most things, it came as a meteor. During the Hyborian Age, there was a simple hunter who found the meteor and an alien trying to take it. Their battle broke the stone and jammed into his chest. This man became Ulysses Bloodstone, the most renowned monster hunter in the Marvel Universe, only followed by his daughter Elsa Bloodstone, who had a fragment of the rock too. Whoever has the Bloodstone lodged into their body gains a boost in speed, strength, and endurance, they also become immune to age and don't need food or water to live. The icing on the cake is a healing factor like Deadpool's, but smarter. Basically, the smaller the injury the quicker the regeneration. So getting some skin torn off will heal in an hour, getting an arm ripped off will repair itself in a day or so. Fun fact, The Punisher once defeated Daken-Son of Wolverine-by shoving the Bloodstone inside of him and then shooting him until the mutant healing factor + Bloodstone healing magic turned Daken into a giant mound of unneeded flesh.

Norn Stones
No one knows where they originate, but The Norn Stones are eight stones usually kept by the Sorceress Queen of Nornhiem, Karnilla. Each stone is connected to one of the eight realms and grant their wielders great power. How much power? Well, Morgan Le Fay used the Norn Stones to restructure reality, they revived both mortal and immortal heroes during "Siege", and then were used to defeat The Void-the dark entity inside The Sentry. And The Sentry is like Superman, but f#$king insane. Somebody remind me why The Avengers don't carries these things in their pockets? Or them on the end of sticks and whack people with them?

Forever Crystal
So this is gonna get complicated. There's this guy named Kang, okay. He's an Avengers villain who can travel through time and does so to take over various time periods. When Kang gets older he becomes Immortal, condenses his futuristic city into a crystal, and-by the command of Time Masters-uses it's power to manipulate events in several timelines. He prevents one version of Earth from achieving space travel centuries early. He splits the original Human Torch in half so that one can be an android superhero and the other can be the base for The Vision, who in turn will prevent The Scarlet Witch from having reality-shaping children. The Avengers try to stop this awful story and Captain America shatters the Forever Crystal. My main reason for even including this one is that it technically counts as a "Doomlock". A "Doomlock" is a device implanted into inorganic entities, like The Vision for example-that vibrates in such a way that if the machine were travel through time it would not create other timelines by doing so. Just that it was neat Marvel had a legit reason some characters don't F-up the timeline.

M'Kraan Crystal
The granddaddy of all Marvel gems, The M'Krann Crystal is also known as "The End of That Is", "The Nexus of All Realities" and "The Master Emerald's Bi-Dimensional Sister". This big, pink rock is really important and is guarded on planet Sh'ar. It's older than time itself and inside it holds another realm. A city immune to time that houses something called The White Hot Room, a type of afterlife and the rumored birthplace of The Phoenix Force. In the center of the city is a Nexus that is linked to all realities. If that Nexus is destroyed it is not only the end of the world, but every world. Ever. Forever ever? Forever ever. So, yeah, it's pretty damn important. Kinda surprised this thing isn't brought up more often, being the preverbal on/off switch for everything. Well, it came from an X-Men book, so that checks out. Can you imagine if everything just vanished? You, your world, your universe, your reality, and then everything outside of that? That would suck!

So don't worry, movie-goers! Just because big, bad, raisin face has all those pretty jewels doesn't mean we won't see more shiny things in the future!
Thanks for reading!

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Patsy Facts

Are you a fan of Patsy Walker? Well, we got One Dozen Hellcat Facts!
1. Patsy remains one of Marvel Comic's earliest characters, first appearing in 1944. Originally, Patsy was Marvel's female answer to Archie Comics. Patsy had a boyfriend named Buzz and a rival named Hedy. When Patsy was integrated into the Marvel Universe properly, her mother Dorothy wrote stories about Patsy's life in comic book form, establishing the 1940's and 50's comics were works of fiction by Dorothy. Hedy once bought the rights of the books from Dorothy, but with She-Hulk and Jessica Jones' help Patsy proved Dorothy was sedated when the papers were signed.

2. In 1976, Patsy joined The Avengers as Hellcat. The original Hellcat was Greer Grant Nelson, who went by the alias The Cat in 1972. In 1974, Greer was cursed by a mystical cult called The Cat People. This turned Greer into Tigra. Tigra gained super strength, speed, reflexes, and agility, she got sharpened nails/claws, and limited mystical abilities. Tigra was a member of The West Coast Avengers and had a brief relationship with Hank Pym.

3. Before becoming an Avenger, Patsy joined her boyfriend-turned-husband Buzz on his investigation of the mutant Beast. By being around Beast, Patsy grew distant from Buzz, they got divorced, and Beast got her a spot on The Avengers.

4. Buzz went on to become Mad-Dog after being experimented on by Roxxon Oil. As Mad-Dog he has tried to abduct Hellcat multiple times, once even interrupting Patsy's wedding with Daimon Hellstrom, The Son of Satan.

5. Patsy and Daimon became married and worked on paranormal investigations in 1994, but being around so many demonic essences drove Patsy to madness and then to suicide. With the help of Hawkeye and his Thunderbolts team, Daimon was able to revive Patsy, who returned to Hell with superpowers. Now stronger and darker, Patsy went through a 90's era reworking featuring a three-issue miniseries and a black costume.

6. Following her trip to Hell, Pasty gained the ability to track magic whether it be a magic person or item or event. He also gained the ability to summon her suit from anywhere and project force fields. She has retractable claws that can shoot out like grappling hooks, and she was trained in combat by Captain America and Beast. She has made it as a trained Private Eye.

7. Alongside Photon, Black Cat, and Firestar, Hellcat starred in a 2009 miniseries called "Marvel Divas" which the writer described as Marvel's "Sex and The City".

8. Patsy has been a member of The Avengers, The Defenders, She-Hulk's Lady Liberators, and The Legion of The Unliving. She was also employed by She-Hulk as her private investigator. She and Jennifer worked out of the same building as Howard The Duck and his assistant May Parker.

9. During Civil War, Patsy was an instructor as Camp Hammond where she trained young superheroes. She was also placed in Alaska during The 50 State Initiative, which was a program to place Avengers teams in all 50 states of America.

10. Patsy once caught a cold from the demon Belial that caused her to alter reality every time she sneezed.

11. In the Ultimate Universe, Patsy Walker is a spokeswoman, supermodel for Maxim magazine, and show host, doing biographies on people like Doctor Stephan Strange and Norman Osborn. She later takes the name Hellcat when she joins The Ultimate Defenders, a group of non-powered civilians who just want to become celebrities. The Defenders are later given powers from Loki in a plot against Thor.

12. In the MCU, Patsy appears as Trish Walker. A former child star on television and the music industry who grows up to be a radio talkshow host on "Trish Talk". As a celebrity Trish deals with the paparazzi and the tabloids and crazy fans, going so far as to take self-defense classes and buy expensive high security tools for her home. She had gone through addiction problems and family disputes with her mother who essentially made income by being her agent. She grew up alongside Jessica Jones, who was adopted by Dorothy Walker after her parents died as Dorothy's attempt at making Trish seem more generous to the public. In "Alias", the book Jessica was created in, Jess' best friend was Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel. Because Carol will be the star of the "Captain Marvel" movie, "Jessica Jones" writers used Trish as a substitute and main character to fit the best friend role.
Thanks for reading.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Snap First, Ask Questions Later

Here are twenty things Superman could have done instead of snapping Zod's neck.
1. Cover his eyes. It'll hurt, but then the people can run off and you can let go of Zod's face.

2. Tilt his head up, or down, or any direction that isn't straight at the people!

3. Tell the people to run. I'm pretty sure they'll listen to you if you're holding actual death away from them.

4. Freeze his head with your freeze breath. That'll at least slow Zod down and give those people-WHO CAN RUN-a minute to run off.

5. Fly up. F$%king fly up. What's Superman always saying about going up? "Up, up, and away". Do that. F$%king do that. Go up. Up. And away! Far away!

6. Run with him! You have your arm around him, just run away with him! Far away! You're almost as fast as the fastest man alive!

7. Poke his eyes out. You don't have to kill him, just "rock, paper, scissors" him without the first two parts.

8. Twist his head and kiss him. Then, once he is confused about his sexuality, punch him in the face.

9. Use your super breath to blow those civilians away.

10. Use your super breath to suck the air out his head.

11. Use your super breath to blow air into his head.

12. Black Canary this bitch! You can yell really loud! Scream in his ear and knock his ass out.

13. Vibrate your body so fast he vomits on himself.

14. Vibrate your body so fast you phase through the floor. You'll either end up in a basement or in China.

15. Suplex. No complications, no fanciness, just straight up suplex. Put that man down.

16. Bite his ear off. You're right there. You got super strength. Rip it off! He's bleeding and deaf and screaming. And you're just standing there like a champion.

17. Tell him you had sex with his girlfriend. Zod would probably get mad about that.

18. Choke him out.

19. Kick him in the balls.

20. Heat vision his heat vision and cause them to clash away from each other. You know, like lasers work. That's how lasers work, right?

The end.

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Bizarro Lies

Are you not a fan of Bizarro Superman? Well, we do not have some lies about Bizarro!
1. Almost everything about Bizarro is the opposite of Superman. This includes his perception. If Bizarro does something bad, he believes it to be good. And if he does something good, he believes it to be bad. This means Bizarro can try all he wants to be like Superman, but ultimately he will be seen as a villain.

2. Bizarro's speech is also opposite. "Goodbye" means "Hello". "Love" means "Hate". "Is" means "Am", and so on. For this reason some writers have opted to just have Bizarro speak very little or just make grunts to avoid confusing the reader.

3. Bizarro can also say words in reverse like a second language. This once allowed him to replicate the magical abilities of Zatanna.

4. Bizarro's powers are also reversed. Instead of heat vision he has ice vision, instead of freeze breath he has flame breath, he can see through lead, but nothing else. However, he still has the same strength, speed, flight, and invincibility as Superman. Rather than Green Kryptonite weakening him, Bizarro becomes stronger around it. Blue Kryptonite-which makes Superman stronger-makes Bizarro weaker.

5. There is more than one Bizarro Superman. Most Bizarro's were created by Lex Luthor, in an attempt to defeat Superman. He first created a Bizarro clone using a "Duplication Ray". Bizarro uses this ray to create "Bizarro Lois" a copy of Lois Lane. The two of them create a cube-shaped planet called Bizarro World (also called Htrae). In Geoff Johns' "Escape From Bizarro World" we see Bizarro developed a new superpower where he can shoot himself or another Bizarro with "Bizarro Vision" causing a new Bizarro clone to be created. This is how he and Bizarro Lois populated Bizarro World. Bizarro World is constantly is chaos and destruction thanks to Bizarro Superman's commitment to "destroying it all costs", which to to him is the right thing to do. The world has been destroyed a few times, but always manages to come back to the Superman mythos.

6. While "Bizarro #1" remained on Bizarro World and even had a family, multiple clones of Bizarro Superman have lived on Earth, serving as generic copies of Superman rather than fleshing out into their own characters. As of The New 52, the first Bizarro clone was an experiment released from development early by Lex Luthor when The Crime Syndicate of America from Earth 3 invaded the Earth. Lex had to release Bizarro to help him fight the Syndicate, despite the adverse effects of the clone's premature development. Another Bizarro appeared with no real origin in a self-tiltled miniseries in 2014 where Bizarro and Jimmy Olsen go on a road trip. The current Bizarro clone was captured in a development tube by Black Mask, only to be freed by The Red Hood. That Bizarro Superman is now part of The Outlaws with Red Hood and Artemis.

7. Bizarro once tried to send Lex Luthor's illegitimate daughter to space to replicate Superman's origin. He did this by strapping bombs to a rocket ship and trying to launch her, but the explosion would have killed her. Luckily, Superman saved the child and Bizarro died in the explosion.

8. The Joker once created a Bizarro Superman by tricking the 5th dimensional reality-warpimg imp Mr. Mxyzptlk into giving him god-like power. In the "Amalgam Universe" Bizarro is combed with Carnage and is called Bizarnage. On a version of Earth 2, Superman dies fighting Darkseid and Steppenwolf and the villains create a clone called Brutaal. He eventually decomposes and learns he was a Bizarro-like clone. In "Superman: Red Son", Lex Luthor creates a Bizarro clone of Superman called Superman 2 who is "America's answer to Russia's Superman". Ultimately, this clone gives his life to save millions from a nuke.

9. General Zod once captured and tortured Bizarro just because he looked like Superman. Coincidentally, the reason General Zod was considered a criminal on Krypton and was sent into The Phantom Zone was a because he created clones of himself similar to Bizarro.

10. Bizarro Superman helped Adam Strange battle against the Hawkmen and Hawkwomen of Thanagar during the Rann-Thanagar War. He also has a rivalry with the villain Solomon Grundy, once driving him through the sun.

11. Bizarro #1's family includes his wife Bizarro Lois/Loiz and his son Boyzarro, and has also had Bizarro versions of Krypto, Connor Kent/Superboy, and Supergirl. His arch enemy is Bizarro Lex Luthor-the dumbest man on Htrae. His allies include Batzarro (the world's worst detective). Bizarra (Bizarro Wonder Woman), Bizarro Flash (who is obese), Bizarro Aquaman (who cannot swim), and Bizarro Green Lantern (who is a Yellow Lantern). Bizarro Green Lantern cannot use his ring without Sinestro being alerted of the illegal use of his Sinestro Corps Ring.

12. In Grant Morrison's "All-Star Superman" the Bizarro World exists in an alternate universe called The Underverse and Superman becomes trapped there. He meets a Bizarro named Zibarro who-for some reason-looks like a human and has the intelligence of a human. He is shunned by other Bizarro's for being different, but Superman believes he is a symbol of the Bizarro species becoming smarter and that he should keep believing in himself. Before leaving, Zibarro gives Superman a piece of his poetry which Superman laminates and hangs in The Fortress of Solitude.
No thank you for writing!

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Injustice 3: Because We Can

"Injustice 3" is gonna happen, people. As soon as "Mortal Kombat 11" is done, we're gonna get another one. And I thought it would be appropriate of me-a comic book fan-to offer what kind of new characters I'd wanna see added to this series of fighting games. Without any knowledge of how the comic series is doing, these are just some ideas I'd love to see in action. So, here is The Panel Biter's Top 10 Most Wanted Characters for Injustice 3.

10. Killer Croc
I love Bane. I really do. But he's old hat. Buff guy, takes drugs to become stronger, grappler-type character. That's great, but I think Killer Croc would make a perfect replacement for Bane. You can keep the grappler play style, you have a character who is part of a very popular team right now-The Suicide Squad-and Killer Croc makes a good "thug for hire" character in a story mode. He isn't extremely deep other than the "I'm a monster because you say I am" aspect, either. His trait ability could be throwing a slab of raw meat at the opponent. If it hits them, they're covered in blood which gets Croc hungry. He becomes faster and stronger as a result. And his finisher could be dragging them into an open sewer where he rips them a new one! I didn't want to flood this list with Batman characters, so I picked a simple and easy one to make a great heavy-hitter.

9. John Constantine
I was hesitant to put ol' John on this list because he isn't really a fighter, more of a conman, a manipulator. But given his plethora of dark, paranormal abilities and his personality I felt he deserved a shot. His moves would consist of small, basic spells, some diversion spells and protection spells. A teleport, a distant grab move, maybe he summons a damned soul or a demon or he creates an evil clone of himself or the opponent. His special trait could be lighting a cigarette which causing the opponent's health to lower when they're close to him. And his ultimate could be summoning a hoard of demons-who he has screwed over in the past-to chase him down, only he uses magic to make the opponent look like him. Just imagine if Loki fused with Rorschach and that's your character.

8. Booster Gold (and Johnny Cage)
Well, obviously. Booster is here just to tell Superman he broke the future. Booster Gold isn't really unique in terms of powers. Starfire can basically do what he does, save for time travel which would be mixed into his move set. However, his one-time alter ego Supernova could send people to The Phantom Zone and shrink like The Atom, so we could incorporate those abilities. And his trait could be Skeets, his robot companion. Either sending Skeets flying at the opponent or having the robot create a bubble around Booster to protect him. His finisher would involve teleporting the opponent to the future where The Legion of Super-Heroes gang up on them. And one of the best parts could be giving Booster Gold an alternate skin where he looks like Johnny Cage from Mortal Kombat, like how Black Lightning and Raiden work. Johnny already has green energy blasts, the teleporting and shrinking could be references to bad CGI in movies, instead of Skeets it's some remote controlled video camera, and instead of time traveling to the future Johnny uses a movie crew van to take himself and his opponent to a movie set where actors dressed as Mortal Kombat characters attack. But why is Johnny Cage in the DCU? He thinks it's all a big superhero movie.

7. Captain Atom
The straight-laced military nuclear man with the power to defeat Superman. I imagine someone like Captain Atom-who can create Red Sunlight and Kryptonite radiation-would be a heavy part of Injustice 3's story mode, and his actual gameplay would be pretty heavy. Various forms of energy blasts, teleportation, time travel, and the ability to manipulate projectile attacks. Absorbing projectiles could even be his trait, absorb enough power to burst with energy and overwhelm the opponent. His ultimate would just be opening the containment unit that is his suit and letting all the energy flood out. He's literally a walking nuke. He could a have Doctor Manhatten costume too! Not much else to talk about. Outrageous power behind the heart of an American solider.

6. Etrigan The Demon
First of all, he rhymes and that's freaking awesome. He's got fire breath, he can manipulate magic to summon swords and axes and spears, he can warp through hellscapes and morph his cape into wings and he's just so cool. His trait could be summoning in a weapon of the player's choice and sending it flying at the opponent (like Ares), with it's speed, direction and arc depending on the weapon. Etrigan's finisher could be separating himself from Jason Blood and going full-demon, becoming giant and spewing lava from his mouth until Blood regains control of the demon. Seeing his human counterpart Jason Blood's perspective on Superman taking over the Earth and upsetting the natural order would be interesting. With the absence of Zatanna and Dr. Fate, there needs to be a paranormal lead character and if this guy AND Constantine could fill that role we'd be in for one hell of a ride. And if Etrigan could reference Baraka or something that'd be great.

5. Impulse
"But Raffi, we already have The Flash". Sure, but there are a lot of things Flash can do that he doesn't do in Injustice. Things his witty, hyper-active grandson from the future can do while being a little snot towards his opponent. Like Booster, we have a character who is from the future and can reference how Superman has effected everything. We also have a character who can vibrate punch a force field at the opponent, phase through them and deliver a swift back kick, create a whirlwind and then back away from it, and-for his trait-he could create a time clone. A time clone? Impulse runs into the future by a few seconds, grabs his future self, comes back with the copy, and they team up. Doing this could be like those "shadow clone" moves fighting game characters have where the copy stands beside the player, copies all their moves, and doubles the damage done to the opponent. And his ultimate could be recruiting every Flash throughout time and have each of them run through the opponent. One punch after another. Having Bart Simpson with super speed would give the game some much-needed charm.

4. Mera
Best. Wife. Ever. Remind the world why this woman is the Queen of Atlantis and make her a playable character. Unlike Aquaman, Mera doesn't need a big fork to get the job done. Not while she can bend the ocean to her whim. Forty-two years before "Avatar: The Last Airbender" was a thing. Mera can create weapons, turn water to ice, fade into a mist, crash waves and create whirlpools. Her trait could be turning all her water-based moves into ice attacks for a short time, making them hit harder and remain on screen longer. Her finishing move would be flooding the stage and blasting a pillar of water into the sky, and then having it cascade down like icicle spears onto the opponent. I wonder if she'd agree with Superman's actions or not? She could even have a Mortal Kombat skin to look like Skarlet or a skin to look like Tula/Aquagirl. And if you don't wanna use her, use Aqualad. He could do all that AND shock people.

3. Larfleeze
Not Sinestro, not Atrocitus, The Agent Orange and sole member of The Orange Lantern Corps himself, Larfleeze. Watching him crave all the toys and properties of the DCU's heroes would be entertaining to say the least. He's a bizarre villain who's motivated by greed. He wouldn't care about what Superman has done, he'd just want the Earth to himself. I'm not saying he has to be main villain or anything, but that would be a pretty ballsy move. Like The Green Lantern, Larfleeze can create objects with his ring. Now, I understand it might be hard for Nether Realm Studios to come up with a move set for Green Lantern given the limitless possibilities of his powers, but with Larfleeze comes a common theme: greed. Wanting something. This could mean he could make nets or grappling hooks or claws or pouches or containers, and his trait could be leeching his opponent's health for himself. And his finisher could involve absorbing all the life from his opponent and then using all that energy to create a giant maggot or leech to tunnel through them. Come on, Ed Boone, you put that Red Lantern cat in the last one!

2. Plastic Man
You can really tell I went personal with this list, huh? Plastic Man is one of the strongest heroes on Earth, take it or leave it. He's a shapeshifting wisecracker with tons of imagination and the strength to back it up. Imagine how an ex-criminal turned Justice Leaguer would react to his friend and heroic idol becoming the ruler of the Earth. That's gotta sting. Plas could become a wrecking ball, slingshot his arms, turn his head into a hammer, use his legs as springs, and so on. His trait could be becoming so rubbery attacks don't stun him and projectiles bounce off of him. And his ultimate could be slinging the opponent across the planet, meeting them on the other side with his torso as a baseball bat, hitting them back around, and then grabbing them as a giant mitt and dunking them into the ground. Again, like a Lantern you can be as creative as you want with his move set. If I have one gripe about the Injustice games it's been the lack of creativity when it comes to the Lantern characters, so use a character who's whole gimmick is changing shape and making crazy weapons. And make him funny and likable and give people a reason to love him as much as I do.

Honorable Mention/Guest Character: The Green Ranger
DC Comics and Boom Studios worked on a Justice League/Power Rangers crossover a year ago and I will never let it go. If the Turtles can be in Injustice than so can a Power Ranger. I thought about including the first five Rangers the same way the TMNT worked, but I thought just Tommy himself would be enough. He is everyone's favorite and I'm sure Jason David Frank would love to voice him. His base appearance would be his Green Ranger form, but with other colors comes his Black, White, and Red variants, armor pieces from his other Ranger forms and maybe borrowing the gear and colors of his fellow Rangers. He fights with his blaster, his Dragon Dagger, and his martial arts. He can teleport (hmm, a lot of people can do that), throw the dagger, and shoot the opponent with his blaster which could result in sparks like in the show. Maybe create a big, green explosion by posing. His trait would be upgrading his offense or defense. If the player picks defense, Tommy's Dragon Shield glows and he takes less damage and has super-armor. If the player chooses offense, the Dragon Dagger is swapped out with The Sword of Darkness for longer reach and more damage. And for his ultimate Tommy teleports himself and his opponent to a high cliff where he hops onto the Dragonzord and commands it to fire all it's weapons on his opponent. All the quips, references, and spirit from this character would be just as awesome as how the TMNT were and I'm sure both DC fans and Power Ranger fans would rejoice with his inclusion.

1. Superboy & Krypto
Surprised? Don't be. What's the thing about the Injustice universe that makes it different from the main DCU? There's many answers, but the correct one is Superman. The beacon of hope, man of tomorrow, greatest hero on Earth has become a dictator who's actions are supporting by a mistake he made. Superman is broken and the world needs a new one. That's where his clone, his adopted brother, and the Teen Titan himself Conner Kent-Superboy-comes in. Superboy would be your main character, set on defeating Superman and taking his place as he was designed to do. Skirting the line between being like Superman and being like Lex Luthor. Superboy can leap far, he's super strong, and he can create force fields and barrier blasts with his tactile telekinesis, so he's at least a little different from other Kryptonian characters. His trait would be summoning his companion Krypto The   Superdog. Krypto can fire heat vision, sonic bark, and straight-up tackle and bite the opponent just to give Conner some support. Conner could command Krypto to "Sit" to hold the opponent down or "fetch" to grab the opponent and bring them closer. The combination of boy and dog could rack up some serious damage. And for his ultimate-similar to "Young Justice"-he slaps on a patch that gives him all of Superman's powers and lays into his opponent with the force of a mad god. So other than all the cool powers and Krypto and stuff, I really wanna see Conner in a world like Injustice and see how he'd react. Maybe we'd even get a happy ending where Superman dies or leaves Earth and says "You're right, Conner. I'm not Superman anymore. You are".
Thanks for reading.

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Once You Go Black

So, not long ago I wrote an article describing what I though the sequels to the newest line of Marvel movies would be like. My "Black Panther 2" pitch kinda depending on a certain South African smuggler being alive. Seeing as how that is out the window, I wanted to pitch another possible sequel. So, here are a few ideas!

The Summery
The first film focused a lot on the royal people of Wakanda, not really the people. You gotta figure after the in-house war of Wakanda at the end of the first film, T'Challa's mission to aid other nations, and the alien battle that's going to happen in "Infinity War", the people of Wakanda could be pretty pissed. All of that discomfort with the direction Wakanda is heading in causes some political dispute between the people who want Wakanda to reach out to other nations and those you believe in old traditions of staying secret. This obviously parallels the "left vs right" debates in modern America. Spearheading the discomfort is an older gentleman named Achebe (Denzel Washington?). T'Challa, meanwhile, is struggling to hold his council together. Among the council is the new leader of The Border Tribe-Eden Fesi. In the comics Eden is a mutant with the ability to teleport anyone to anywhere. Here he can be a mutant (which would be progressive) or  sorcerer in training (which boosts magic's presence), doesn't matter. And he can be played by Tyler James Williamson. M'Baku-leader of the Mountain Tribe-expressed great disappointment with T'Challa, claiming his heart has gone to the world and away from his people. T'Challa must also defend his actions when it comes to Bucky Barnes-the former Winter Soldier. Bucky was allowed citizenship in Wakanda until he feels he is ready to face the world, but most people don't like him living there. Even Nakia and Oyoke are hesitant abut having a former assassin living among them. Everett Ross volunteers to be America's ambassador to Wakanda, but the U.S. government sends in former NY cop and current FBI agent Kasper Cole (played by Ice T) instead. Kasper is mixed, he is very strict in his approach, and he can't be bought, while Ross clearly owes T'Challa a great deal.

The Threat
First we got Achebe, seemingly the voice of the people. Achebe's charisma and understanding lands him the position of Elder Statesman-a position left open after Zuri's death. Achebe also believes T'Challa isn't fit to be King and asks the council to consider putting him on probation until he can decide which he wants to be-a king or an Avenger. While the council votes, Achebe manages to sneak small supplies of liquid into T'Challa's food and drinks throughout the film, this will be important later. Achebe convinces M'Baku that actions need to be taken and The Mountain Tribe plan to overthrow T'Challa and force him into exile. In preparation, Achebe is able to make a temporary ritual to give M'Baku the power of the monkey god Hunaman. Now with powers equal to The Black Panther, M'Baku is ready overthrow his old ally. When they fight, T'Challa loses due to his strength being sapped away. The liquid Achebe put in T'Challa? The same elixir that stripped the power of The Black Panther away before challenges. It takes Bucky, Kasper, Nakia, Shuri, and Oyoke to help Panther defeat M'Baku. However, the fight isn't over as the people of Wakanda have raided Shuri's lab with Achebe and they refuse to give the armory back.

The Reveal
Shuri naturally has a backup laboratory where Black Panther gets an upgraded suit his father T'Chaka kept for emergencies, a suit that can simulate the strength and speed the Heart Shaped Herb provides. Which is fitting because-after what Killmonger did-there are no Heart Shaped Herbs left. The five of them get through the civilians and into Shuri's lab where Achebe is setting something up. Achebe uses a powerful spell to hold everyone in place. Achebe then projects to T'Challa his backstory. How Achebe used to be a farmer living near the border and how he allowed American soldiers to stay on the farm for a night, planning on having them captured by Wakandan trooper in the morning. The soldiers stabbed him to death in his sleep, killed his family, and burnt down his farm. Did King T'Chaka save him? Did The Panther God save him? No, Anansi-trickster god and owner of stories-used his blood as a means to bring Achebe back to life. This would explain Achebe's habit of talking to himself. Achebe gained heightened magical abilities, strength and speed, but manipulation? That was all him. Achebe knew The Black Panther was just a front, a face to be worn by leaders with no heart, no concern. There are no such things as perfect leaders, but those who try to hard cost too much. Achebe then explains he modified Shuri's sonic panels to vibrate throughout the cave, which will render all Vibranium inert. With no mystic connections or Vibranium tools to depend on, T'Challa will be a mere mortal and unable to defend himself against the mutiny. T'Challa grabs Achebe and they fall deep into the caves, surrounded by darkness. The blue lights of Vibranium fading in and out as Achebe's sonic panels do their work. Back on the surface, our heroes try to stop the Wakandan rebellion, but the fight is stopped by Bucky. He tries to talk the rebellion into stopping, but they revolt more. But Bucky has a Cap moment where his speech makes the people realize their mistakes.

The Climax
Achebe and Black Panther fight in the caves, with Achebe having the advantage. Panther has no powers, no suit, and no hope of overpowering Achebe's magic. T'Challa is able to defeat Achebe through sheer force of will and ferociousness. Panther leaves him alive, knowing too many emeries and loses have come from death. The people watch and wait as Panther drags Achebe to the surface and makes his own little "I love you all" speech. But before anyone can celebrate, spiders pour out from Achebe's mouth and form the Trickster God Anansi-who becomes a giant spider-monster and claims Wakanda ruined all his fun. Bucky makes a Spider-Man reference. A Kaiju attack hits Wakanda and our heroes have to protect people the best that they can. T'Challa seeks the help of his ancestors, afraid without his suit or powers he cannot save Wakanda. But T'Chaka reminds T'Challa of his first piece of advice "You must surround yourself with people you trust". This is where Eden comes in. Though he is afraid of his teleporting powers, T'Challa only needs one person: Doctor Strange. It takes all of Eden's strength, but he manages to pull Doc from wherever he was. Doc is a little pissed because he was dealing with something important, but he cuts T'Challa some slack and seals Anansi away. Achebe reappears and tries to convince the people that their king had to go begging to an American for help, but one by one the people stand by their king. Achebe is powerless and locked away. 

The Ending
T'Challa agrees with Achebe's suggestion and puts the council in charge while he does some soul searching in the U.S., Kasper even gives him the guest bedroom at his place. Bucky remains in Wakanda, and turns down a suit Shuri has been designing, one she can't decide to name "White Wolf" or "White Tiger". M'Baku is hospitalized after the side effects of Achebe's ritual, so his wife takes his place on the council. Eden recruits another a representative for civilians of Wakanda on the council. After credit is Panther one a proof with Spider-Man telling him about the giant spider and Peter saying "That's dumb".
Those are just some ideas for what BP2 could be about, in terms of themes and threats and character growth. Thanks for reading.

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Wasp Facts

Are you a fan of Janet Van Dyne? Well, here are One Dozen Wasp Facts!
1. Janet Van Dyne was a founding member of The Avengers and the first female member. In addition, she came up with the name "The Avengers". Although she started out being their weak link, she grew to be very crafty and had even led The Avengers on several occasions.

2. During a time when her former husband was mentally unstable, Janet was slapped across the room by Hank Pym in a 1981 story. Editor Jim Shooter claimed it was written that he hit her by accident while gesturing for her to leave him alone, but what artist Bob Hall drew became an infamous aspect of Hank Pym's character, forever solidifying him as a "wife beater" to the readers.

3. Hank's shameful act was made all the worse in Mark Millar's "The Ultimates" which showed a version of The Avengers a bit less glamorous than the main canon. In The Ultimate Universe, Janet was a mutant with the power to grow wings and shrink herself and Hank used her mutant DNA to create Pym Particles and achieve his Giant-Man form. Unknown to the public, Hank and Janet have an abusive relationship. When Captain America found out, he hunted Hank down and beat him near to death.

4. During George Perez 1970's run as artist for The Avengers, The Wasp would change her costume almost every other issue. It became a running joke and even led The Wasp into a clothing design career. She has also been the host of a reality show called "America's Newest Superhero".

5. After Hank, Janet briefly dated Tony Stark until she learned he and Iron Man were the same person and she didn't want to be dating a friend of Hank's. She dated the anti-hero Paladin, she was once seduced by Magneto, she had a fling with Hawkeye, and had a romantic relationship with Alex Summers-younger brother of Cyclops and the X-Man known as Havok. She and Havok are even married in an alternate future and have a daughter. She and Hank have tried to date again a few times.

6. During the event "Secret Invasion", Janet was seemingly killed by a sabotaged sample of Pym Particles. In the wake of her death, Hank took up the mantle of "The Wasp". In 2010, The Avengers received a distress call from the Microverse where Janet had been apparently trapped.

7. Hank Pym's evil robot-Ultron-created a wife named Jocasta from the body and mind of Janet and he named her Jocasta. Jocasta, much like Ultron's other creation-The Vision-she betrayed her creator and became an Avenger. When Hank became The Wasp, he had Jocasta act as his partner.

8. In 1970, Thor villain Enchantress once disguised herself as the superhero Valkyrie and used mind-control to convince The Wasp, Black Widow, Medusa, and Scarlet Witch to rebel against their male teammates and form The Lady Liberators.

9. In "Marvel Zombies" a zombified Wasp discovers her husband Hank has been keeping a drugged and slightly eaten Black Panther hostage in secret from the other zombified Avengers. To keep her quiet he grows giant and bites her head off. She is seen in sequel book later to have her severed head on a robot body. In the "Ultimate Comics" Universe, Wasp is killed and partially eaten by The Blob. Hank grows giant, bites off Blob's head, and throws in into the ocean. In the young reader's book "Marvel Adventures"-which exists in it's own universe-Janet is Giant-Girl. She is independent of Hank, but got a suit charged with Pym Particles from Hank Pym, who is an employee of her father. She is a member of The Avengers and is presumed younger than her canon counterpart. In the "MC2" universe Hank and Janet had children, Henry Jr. and Hope. The two sadly died when their children reached their teens and formed a group called The Revengers. Their goal was to destroy A-Next, the next generation of Avengers because they believed they should inherit the Avengers legacy. Henry-as Big Man-betrayed his sister Hope-as Red Queen-and joined a government sponsored superhero team. Hope Pym was seen once more in the Marvel Cinematic Universe once again as Hank and Janet's daughter, but this time as an adult who wanted to follow in her father's footsteps. She takes on Janet's mantle of The Wasp in "Ant-Man & The Wasp".

10. Following Hope's decision to become The Wasp at the end of "Ant-Man", Mark Waid and Alan Davis created a new Wasp (with a costume similar to the MCU version of Janet) named Nadia. She was the illegitimate daughter of Hank and his Russian girlfriend Maria Trovaya from before he met Janet. Maria had Nadia in secret and Maria was killed by foreign agent. Nadia was locked away in The Red Room-the same place Black Widow received her training-and escaped when she was a teenager. She became the new Wasp, joined The Avengers, and became close to Janet. So close in fact that when Nadia had to choose a surname for U.S. citizenship she chose the name "Van Dyne".

11. Off the back of her TV career and fashion career, Janet funded The Avengers for a short time.

12. In Janet's first origin story in 1963's "Tales to Astonish #44", her father was experimenting with alien transportation and brought a creature known as Pilai from the planet Kosmos. An entirely liquid-based being, the alien killed Janet's father. Janet went to her father's friend Hank Pam-who she knew was Ant-Man-and demanded the two of them team up to defeat the alien and avenge her father. After she had wings implanted into her and received Pym Particles, Janet became The Wasp, they defeated Pilai, and became superheroes.
Thanks for reading.

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Okay, But WTF Happened To Terra?

Who is The Red X? I don't know. Had a theory, but I missed an obvious detail. Luckily, I have one more Teen Titans theory up my sleeve!
In episode three of season two we're introduced to Terra, a new hero and love interest for Beast Boy. But her membership is short lived when she believes The Teen Titans don't trust her with her earth-shaking powers. Believing Beast Boy warned them she ran off only to return midway through the season with more control of her powers. But just like in the comics, Terra had been swayed by Slade to betray her friends and help him take over Jump City. And yes, the city in Teen Titans is called Jump City. The finale of season two has Terra unleash her full power, killing Slade and turning herself into a stone statue. That's where her story should have ended. Should have.
The last episode of "Teen Titans" has the team return from a long-fought battle against The Brotherhood of Evil. They see many places in Jump City have changed, but a new villain still ravages the neighborhood. Beast Boy finds a blonde girl he once knew too well. Terra, alive and attending a private school. Seemingly with no memory of Beast Boy or her lifer as a Titan. She has no powers either, and when Beast Boy takes her to places they've gone to remind her, she shows disinterest. No powers, no desire to sleep outside, no liking of her old foods, no memory. We even see that the statue of Terra is gone from it's old spot. We aren't given anymore answers, but I think I can answer a few.
First, how did Terra return from stone? Did she will it to happen or did her powers just wear off? Both are likely, but not proof positive. The season finally of season four was The Teen Titans battling Raven's father Trigon. When Trigon comes to Earth he turns every living being on the planet into stone. Not including Slade or Raven's teammates. By the end of the arc Raven is able to restore the Earth and turn everyone back to normal. And that's happened to Terra. Terra was already turned to stone before Trigon appeared, but Raven's spell to reverse Trigon's stone spell could have effected Terra as well.
Second question, is she lying to Beast Boy or does she really have no memory of her old life? Both have legitimate stances. We don't really see a lot of civilian reactions to The Teen Titans, but one would think they'd be a bit more hostile towards them if they knew Raven was the cause of literal Hell on Earth. Further more, I don't think being turned to stone and then being cured leaves you the same. Something like that could traumatize you. And, again, nobody brings it up to Raven later, not even villains. So maybe being turned to stone erases memories and that's why nobody on Earth hates Raven for what Trigon did, because they were "stoned" for such a short amount of time they just don't remember the experience. And after realizing she'd had been manipulated by Slade and that The Titans were truly her friends all along, it wouldn't be likely she'd lie to them and hide away. Then again it was a bit coincidental that she didn't like the food she used to and hated sleeping outdoors like she used to. Like she's trying too hard to not be the girl she was before.
So, if I were to build a theory as to what happened to Terra I would say she was brought back to life by Raven reversing the stone curse her father created and came back with repressed memories of her old life. Geokinesis is described as a psychic ability, so if you have no memory of how to do it that could mean Terra really lost her memories and just developed as her own person over the course of season five, the season where The Titans weren't near Jump City and couldn't check on her statue. You gotta imagine too to get amnesia, develop a new personality and get a new life, to be told you were someone else, someone who's life was kinda lonely and dangerous you'd try your best to deny that.
If "Teen Titans" got a season six we might have seen a true ending to Terra's story. Raven could recover her memories, or she could just be a supporting civilian character. There's no telling what the writers had planned for her or if they just left it up to the viewers. But I'm certain that's what happened to Terra. Hope you believe it too!
Thanks for reading.

Sunday, March 4, 2018

Terra Facts

Are you a fan of Terra? Well, we got One Dozen Terra Facts for ya!
Related image
1. Terra was created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez in 1982 in "The New Teen Titans #26". Perez designed Terra to be cute, but not beautiful. She had an overbite, big eyes, a slim build and small breasts. Perez designed her to seem petite and innocent so that when her reveal of being Deathstroke's partner and her sexual presence was surprising.

2. Terra or Tara Markov is the illegitimate daughter of The King of Marvokia. Much like her half-brother Brian Markov she was experimented on and received geokinesis, the control of earth. Because she was the product of an affair her father had her sent to the US. Due to her psychological issues she decided her powers made her better than normal people and she became a hitwoman.

3. Brian Markov goes by the superhero name Geo-Force. He was a founding member of Batman's Outsiders, a team Batman put together in secrecy to do the things The Justice League wouldn't do. Like Terra, Geo-Force can control the element of earth.

4. Terra helped Deathstroke attack The Teen Titans by joining them as a superhero, gaining their trust, and learning their weaknesses. When it was revealed to the readers that she was working with Deathstroke, it was also revealed the two of them had a sexual relationship. Terra was 15 at the time and Deathstroke was older than 40. In recent issues of "Deathstroke" she returns as part of Deathstroke's superhero team. At this point she is eighteen and makes that very clear to Slade, only for him to reject her and admit the relationship was wrong.

5. During her time with Deathstroke, Terra picked up a smoking habit. While her "Teen Titans: Earth One" counterpart was clearly a protagonist with many differences from the main universe Terra, she too smoked.

6. During "Blackest Night", Terra-alongside other dead Titans-returned to life as a Black Lantern Zombie. She first attempted to seduce Beast Boy with the help of Black Lantern Lilith's illusions, and later met with her brother Brian and begged him to kill her so she could be free of the Black Lantern Ring. Geo-Force turned his sister into stone once again.

7. Matching both her deaths in the comics, the version of Terra featured in the "Teen Titans" animated series also died by turning herself into stone. Only this time it was to save her friends who she regretfully betrayed. However, the last episode of the show introduced a schoolgirl who looked just like Terra. After Beast Boy returned to Terra's resting place he found her stone body to be missing. Beast Boy believes her to be alive again, but there is never a clear answer given.

8. In 1992, Terra seemingly returned to life. However, it was revealed Terra was a girl from the far future infused with an element that replicated Terra's powers and given a DNA virus that made her look like Terra. Despite having her own backstory, Terra II was attracted to Beast Boy. He rejected her advances, though. In the mid-2000's Terra II would die during an event called World War III when Black Adam punched her through the chest.

9. In 2007, a new Terra named Atlee was created by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor. She was a member of the same alien race as Terra II-but wasn't from the future-and has the same element inside her that gave her earth-controlling powers. She has allied herself with the likes of Supergirl, Powergirl, Harley Quinn, and Starfire. She was also a slave of Darkseid alongside other Teen Titans for a short time.

10. On Earth-33, a world of sorcerers, Terra is an Earth Mage and is "one with the soil".

11. In the world of Flashpoint, Terra is a member of Wonder Woman's Female Furies. She joined Wonder Woman because Aquaman manipulated her brother Brian into sinking Western Europe.

12. The story in which Terra betrays the Teen Titans-The Judas Contract-is the same story where Wally West retires from being Kid Flash, Deathstroke's son Joseph joins The Teen Titans as Jericho, and Dick Grayson retires from being Robin and becomes Nightwing.
Thanks for reading.

Thursday, March 1, 2018

The New Avengers?

With all the excitement surrounding The X-Men and The Fantastic Four being part of the MCU, I think we all need to remember their are at least four actors with trilogies of films who deserve a chance to carry the big "A". So, what will The Avengers of the MCU look like next?
Image result for mcu new avengers
For those of you worried about Doctor Strange getting more movies or Ant-Man getting a third one: stop. With the exclusion of The Hulk, every Marvel movie will have three films. I know this may be off topic but everytime people seem to think their won't be sequels to the newest Marvel heroes I just roll my eyes and hang my head. Even if a movie doesn't make as much as a Cap movie or an Iron Man movie it will still get a sequel. It has to. The Marvel formula demands it. When they make a failure of a flick than you people can worry, but Marvel/Disney isn't going to let their brand named characters collect dust when their are plenty more stories to tell. Furthermore, you are not getting a fourth Iron Man movie. You are not getting a fourth Thor movie, either. The Avengers is a different subject because it's about a team, and teams have much more pull than single films. But when it comes to Tony and Thor those movies have hit the magic 3. The actors may not want to do them unless they get more money and Marvel/Disney has a line of other actors who have at least one or two more films in them. Benedict Cumberbatch is our new Robert Downey Junior, Brie Larson is gonna be our new Chris Evans, and Chadwick Boseman is our new Chris Hemsworth. And that's that!
So, let's actually answer my question: who will be the next group of Avengers? Well, we already know the third Avengers is called "Avengers: Infinity War". The fourth could easily be called "New Avengers" or some other variation that would technically be branded as a new series of films so we can keep that magic three thing alive. Here are some easy candidates: Ant-Man, The Wasp, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel. Each of those characters (except for The Wasp) lead their own movie franchises now and are taking the frontline for the MCU from the old Avengers. Granted Strange and Panther may be preoccupied with their responsibilities they could still be like Thor and/or The Hulk. Summoned when they are needed. And speaking of responsibility you'll notice a lack of red spandex on this team. Yes, Spider-Man has his own series of films now, but Sony is acting awfully shady with the movie rights. Besides, I personally think Spidey would be best kept as a leader for a "Young Avengers" type of movie series. And the Guardians? Well, they'll most likely stay cameo characters for their cosmic replacement (possibly Nova) so I don't see any of them on this Earth-based roster. What about past supporting characters like Scarlet Witch, The Vision, War Machine, The Falcon, and Valkyrie? It's entirely possible these characters could show up in other films and be part of other teams, but I think if this new Avengers team is supposed to focus on our new heroes you might want to keep the roster pretty small. That being said every new Avengers team need a veteran member, someone who was on the last team who could lead this new generation. In the comics both Cap and Tony have taken this role, movie-wise Hemsworth has stated he wants to stay part of this universe. But, if we think about it, Black Widow will most likely lead The New Avengers.
A Black Widow movie has been announced, much to my disappointment. If this movie is completed then we'll get two more down the road. Because that's what Marvel does, people who hate the number 3. So she's not going anywhere unless somewhere in these films she passes the mantle on or maybe becomes a shadowy secret hero or starts a new SHIELD team. Which is all a possibility. But imagine the surprise and pride Marvel would scoop up if they made the first lady of the MCU the leader of the New Avengers AND gave her three films. Make what once seemed like a simple secret agent character into the new Nick Fury or Captain America. Oh, God what if they actually made her Captain America? Nah, I'm pretty sure Bucky-who has a longer contract than most-will be the new Cap. Maybe he'll be the secret hero we were talking about. And, in case you didn't know, Widow led the Avengers in the comics before. It was the worst era of The Avengers, but still.
So we end up with an Avengers team led by Black Widow comprised of Ant-Man, The Wasp, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, and Captain Marvel. What interactions could we get? Ant-Man shrinking a Dr. Strange and Strange being like "oh, The Quantum Realm, I've been here before". The Wasp making bug puns about her, Ant-Man, and Widow. Cap and Panther arguing about the matters of politics and government. Everyone getting Vibranium weapons, visits from Valkyrie because people like that character. And what threats could they face? Kang The Conqueror who is upset with the effects of The Time Stone? Shuma-Gorath, an horror so powerful Doc needs a whole team to fight him? The shape-shifting aliens known as The Skrulls? There are options here for sure!
I look forward to seeing what The New Avengers end up being and I really hope Marvel doesn't take the chance of being A-Listers away from these actors just because of a shift of properties. All these Avengers have an opportunity to create new experiences and carry on the potential of their predecessors. No matter how the next ten or twenty years look, we can all hope The Avengers can Assemble in an all-new way!
Thanks for reading!