GHOST WRITES

Tag: mcu

  • The Doomsday Project

    The Doomsday Project

     – Doomsday is coming-

    In exactly one year from now – 365 days – 8760 hours – 525600 minutes – The MCU will come to some sort of grand conclusion. Wrapping up the last quarter century of cinematic superhero films into an extravaganza blockbuster. Yet there have been many bumps in the road on this long journey that the MCU has taken us on. It’s safe to say that, after many cinematic duds – both financial and critical – and television shows that failed to gather audiences in a substantial way, the MCU isn’t standing on as-solid-a-foundation as it did when they had their previous big event with Infinity War and Endgame. I’ll be the first to say that I am the opposite of excited for Doomsday, both because of the lackluster build up to it as well as everything else we know about the film, yet I feel there are parts of this grand tapestry that work very well. Some of the pieces that are and have been in play for the last 7 years are incredibly fun and exciting and could lead to some very satisfying world-building – yet it’s just not working, is it!?

    That’s what “Project Doomsday” is. A series of articles in which I try to remold “The Sacred Timeline” into something more palpable, something more exciting and engaging then what we have now. How? Well it’s simple really: just rewrite half a decade of film-making in a year’s time. 

    Okay not really, I won’t be delivering like 12 whole screenplays about a bunch of movies I don’t really care about: this is more an exercise in improving. In using the knowledge I have off this universe, the comics, the entire Marvel world and smashing it together to hopefully deliver a version of this story that makes people more excited to see it all culminate in Doomsday and Secret Wars. That’s also where the limitations of this challenge come into play. I’m not doing a fanfiction thing. Don’t expect me to be like: “I hate She Hulk! What if She-Hulk was actually Iron Man 4 and in Iron Man 4 no one is WOKE and all the ladies are sexy!” – if you want that then go write your own stuff, I’m sure it’ll be wonderful buddy! No, I’m really trying to keep Phase 4-through-6 intact, I won’t take out any movies or shows from the already existing line-up and I’ll try not to add a billion-trillion extra shows and films (I might add one or two but that’s an idea for later). I will use what is there and just shift it into something else. 

    I will change a lot about those movies though. Yes, I’ll try to keep most of them intact, I don’t really want to completely overhaul these stories but I’ll definitely change them in substantial ways. Most of the casts of these films will remain the same, A lot of the story beats will remain the same and endings are mostly already set in stone given what I need to work towards, but things will be different. To give you a little hint as to my first project: My version of “The Marvels” will NOT feature any body-swapping quantum-band hijinks – nor will it feature Nick Fury in a substantial role, but it will of course feature all the titular Marvels (I won’t give away too much else though).

    I also won’t be changing ALL of the projects released in the last 7 years. Realistically speaking I’ll only be overhauling like 20 percent of what’s there (especially since phase 4-6 features something around 35 projects, which is quite frankly ridiculous) but I will be overhauling some of the major films released. If you’re expecting me to really dig into “Echo” or “Moon Knight” you can set those expectations a little lower. These projects are largely inconsequential to the already predetermined roadmap leading to Doomsday and will not be any more important in my version. That does not mean that I’ll be tackling every major hit the MCU has had either – Thunderbolts fans can rest soundly knowing I don’t see any reason to change what is already there. 

    This brings me to my final point: Don’t read too much into this, please. I am doing this for fun, I’m doing this because it’s simple and low-stakes and if I mess up I won’t accidentally flush 200 million of Mickey Mouse’s hard earned dollars down the drain. Filmmaking is hard and hindsight is 2020. Of course my job is a million times easier than what Feige and his compatriots have had to do post Endgame – I don’t envy them at all (Maybe I envy them a little bit). I just think I can do something fun with what is there and I wanna show people that work.

    Establishing the Timeline:

    I wanna make sure everyone knows our jumping off point, You’ll need to know what is and isn’t canon as we go into the project. First off, the most obvious point to make: Everything released pre-Endgame is canon, that includes Endgame. The Infinity Saga is off-limits. The first few Phase 4 releases are also largely off-limits. Wandavision, Falcon and Winter Soldier, Black Widow as well as the first season of Loki will need to be almost completely intact for this to work. The set-up in those shows are too important for the future of this Saga to fuck with- if I did we’d be getting a completely different story and that is not what I’m trying to do. 

    As my articles go on over the next few months I’ll be updating what is and isn’t canon as these projects go on. To streamline this I’ll be updating this handy little timeline in every article as well:

    You’ll find similar timelines in each article to kind of give you a sense of what has and hasn’t happened. Some shows and films won’t get complete overhauls but I will change aspects of them so things mesh better with my new canon, if that happens you’ll see a little “CANON NOTE” where I’ll explain the details of what changes. 

    I think those are all the rules. I hope so at least. If more rules pop up i’m sure everyone will figure it out. You can expect part 1 of this project to be released before the end of this year. With that said: 

    In exactly 364 days from now – 8759 hours – 525594 minutes –  Doomsday will arrive.

    (I thought of this ticking clock idea two weeks ago and then Marvel Studios decided to copy me actually!)

  • Brand New Day Could be Adapting The Craziest Punisher Story Ever

    Brand New Day Could be Adapting The Craziest Punisher Story Ever

    After many months of delays, rewrites and speculations it seems that “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is finally starting production, and with it a load of new theories about what this fourth solo-Spidey film could entail. Even though more and more set photos leak, castings are announced and Twitter leakers continue to flap their gums, the story of the MCU’s latest Spider-Man film is not becoming any clearer. So far we know shockingly little about the film besides some official casting (which have quite frankly only made this entire thing more confusing) and unofficial rumors. Truly one of the only things we know for sure is the inclusion of Frank Castle, who will be starring alongside Peter Parker in this adventure, though to what his role in the story may be remains to be seen. Yet, what if I said I had an idea – a theory that, though based on set pictures and credible rumors, seems so implausibly plausible that I couldn’t even decide if I should keep it to myself or not. A theory that, if true, could create one of the most controversial takes on these characters we’ve ever seen. Let me explain.

    This theory popped into my head like lightning. I was scrolling on Twitter reading about the leaks that were happening because of the beginning of “Brand New Day’s” shoot when the idea just appeared – it hit me like a truck… or a tank. See there had been a picture taken of this big tank, set to rampage through the fake New York City streets – and on it we see a red devil logo, adding a menacing touch to the already imposing vehicle. Many assumed that this devil is a connection to Martin Li, better known as Mister Negative, who fans have been waiting to see in live action for a while now. Following this a lot of people ran with that assumption, speculating about how and why Martin Li could be involved in the story. Yet, as plausible as that is, scooper DanielRPK did also tease that Punisher will be the one driving the vehicle – it is after all not really the style of Li and his goons to drive a huge tank like that. So why would Frank drive a tank branded by the Inner Demons? That’s the question I posed myself when I realized it.. what if it’s not Mr. Negative, what if it’s not the inner demons or anything even remotely associated with that – what if it’s The Hand!

    Do you guys remember The Hand, of course you do. The bad guys from “Daredevil” season 2 and then “The Defenders” and I guess they were also in a bunch of Iron Fist episodes. The Hand were a big deal in the MCU for a while (during the Netflix era of the MCU that is, the canon of it all still remains a little vague but I’m pretty sure it’s all MCU now… right?) so why not bring them back? “Because it doesn’t make any sense!” I hear you say – to which I can only say: “Yeah! That’s what I thought too, but maybe it does make sense!”. For starters, there is precedent in the comics for it. It was only a few years ago when Jason Aaron launched his Punisher series, in which Frank got recruited by the Hand to serve as “The Fist of The Beast” – so there is precedent to have The Hand return – this time in Frank’s world instead of Matt’s. Sure, This was a pretty controversial time for the character, loved by one half of the audience and despised by the other half, so I understand it might not seem like the most obvious of stories to adapt but there is more evidence that this whole thing could be happening. 

    We know the street level side of the MCU has up until this point been almost exclusively explored in “Daredevil: Born Again”. The show has largely been inspired by Charles Soule’s time writing the Daredevil comics but – with its season finale – is steadily morphing into something more akin to Chip Zdarsky’s books. It is during his tenure on Daredevil that Jason Aaron started writing his Punisher book, leading to a lot of crossover between the two stories. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think the creatives behind “Born Again” and this new street level saga in the MCU have read those Punisher books as well – maybe they even liked them so much they’re planning on adapting it in some way – and where better to start than a highly anticipated Spider-Man film?!

    Obviously it would also end up tying into Daredevil, but It’s not like it doesn’t fit into the narrative “Born Again” has been building. Frank obviously escapes Fisk’s detainment and I’m sure revenge is at the forefront of his mind right now but with Fisk’s mayoral influence spreading and the Anti-Vigilante task force growing in strength, Frank needs a serious upgrade to get that payback he so craves. The Hand could be that payback. He gains a serious boost in strength and abilities during his time with them – upgrades Matt’s little army cannot possible grant him. On top of that we also know Frank is not too keen on Matt’s way of doing things, so joining his Vigilante team isn’t in the cards either. Yet joining The Hand would only fuel the ferocity of his ways, he’d become the unstoppable crime-destroying force he could never be before – now aided by an unstoppable ninja army as a bonus. 

    This would need to be explored in both the second season of Born Again as well as the Punisher special Bernthal is currently filming – and from set photos and videos it doesn’t seem like mysticism is all that involved yet BUT, there is some more evidence pointing towards a return of The Hand in the near future. Look, it is quite a stretch but Elodie Yung, who portrayed Elektra in Season 2 of “Daredevil” and then returned for “The Defenders” series as well, did post an instagram picture that could hint towards a Daredevil return… really it’s only because she used a devil emoji in her caption but a lead is a lead and as a real Geek-tective I have to take into account every lead I get. “Born Again” Producer Sana Amanat also stated a desire to have the character return when the first season debuted earlier this year, saying; “One hundred percent it’s in the back of our heads. Eventually, we’ll try to figure out a bit more with that.” So we know this is something they’ve been thinking about, who knows how quickly they figured it out. 

    It could also be that the idea stemmed from the “BND” team instead, realizing Frank and The Hand neatly slotted into what they were already building. We’ve heard two substantial rumors over the course of BND’s pre-production; first off, the film would be street level, featuring many lower class villains for Peter to face off against over the course of the film. On top of that rumors indicated that Silver Samurai and Viper could also be making an appearance as a more bigger looming threat, possibly orchestrating whatever scheme Peter finds himself in. If both of these leaks turn out to be true it would serve as the metaphorical glue holding these two sides of the theory together given that the Silver Samurai and The Hand are both major players in Marvel’s Japanese organized crime world.

    I imagine it going something like this – Silver Samurai and Viper are concocting some sort of plan, I say they’re supplying the New York underworld with weapons, and Spider-Man catches wind of that some way or another. Let’s say he runs into a couple of villains like Boomerang and Scorpion sporting crazy upgraded weaponry which sets him on a path to finding out where they’re getting it from. It’s on that path that he crosses The Hand, being led by Frank. The Hand is on a crusade to rid the city of these weapons as well but classic comic book confusion will get in the way of an initial team-up (like it always does) as Punisher and Spider-Man face off against each other – both under the assumption that the other one is orchestrating this weapons-business. Obviously after a big fight breaks out (possibly the one we’re witnessing being filmed right now) the two characters team-up to thwart Silver Samurai and Viper (A team-up is something the synopsis released earlier this week backs up). 

    Who knows, this could even lead to a fun post-credits-sequence that sees Matt visiting Peter while on his friendly-neighborhood-patrol, warning him that Frank is dangerous, that his methods are wrong and that any friend of the Hand is an enemy of Daredevil – a very organic way of having the two characters meet up finally. It could even be a great slow-burn problem for Matt which he has to put on the backburner while dealing with Fisk in season 2, a problem that grows stronger and stronger everyday they are not put in their place. Zdarsky’s book actually features a ton of animosity between Frank and Matt, a dynamic I’d love to see recreated by Cox and Bernthal given just how well they’ve adapted that butting-heads relationship before.

    Now truth be told, this all doesn’t fit in together as neatly as I would like, there are still so many loose ends that need to be tied up to make this all make sense. Why is Hulk involved for instance? And where do all those other villains fit in? Or what about Jon Bernthal, he’s producing the Punisher special and I do not think he’s completely down to go in such a mystical route (even though this could be explained away by just depowering Frank compared to his comic counterpart) – let alone the fans, how would they react to such a wild departure from the Frank they know and love. Many questions still remain but I can’t deny that I kind of love this idea. I’m one of those people who appreciated what Aaron did with his Punisher book and seeing that play out in the MCU would be cool. You can’t tell me that a Sword wielding unstoppable Punisher doesn’t sound like a hell of a good time!?

    What do you think? Am I making sense? And let me know if you have any good theories about Brand New Day that you’d like to talk about. As always, give me a follow wherever you can and make sure to stick around for more articles about Marvel, Spider-Man and comics in general!

  • Iron Man V Superman: Starting a Cinematic Universe

    Iron Man V Superman: Starting a Cinematic Universe

    LOOK UP! It is finally upon us. The Summer of Superman is reaching new heights as audiences slowly but surely flock into theaters to watch James Gunn’s “Superman” film. A weirdly momentous moment for a whole platitude of reasons. Of course for starters: Hopefully it’ll turn the public’s perception of the blue boy scout around after a few years of middling wide-spread success – but, maybe more importantly, it’ll also kickstart a brand new Cinematic-Superhero-Universe, something DC, under the WB umbrella, has been trying to accomplish for a decade now. After their first attempt slowly fizzled out into increasingly confusing course corrections, leaving the entire brand tarnished in a ditch, James Gunn now holds the reins to the DC universe and his take on the “Man Of Tomorrow” is set to start it all off in a big way. But is “Superman” enough to get audiences back to the big screen for one of comics’ oldest and most iconic universes? Having seen it, I am not so sure…

    Before I get into why, maybe we should look back to the past, back to where it all began. Back to 2008. Back to Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man”. The movie that started it all – the movie that launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a monumental achievement in blockbuster film-making that studios have tried – and failed – to replicate ever since. The MCU seems to be this unobtainable gem to these conglomerate studios, time and time again they try to launch their own universes, releasing spin-offs and remakes and big-budget-blockbusters to absolutely no success. Valiant comics tried to start up a universe with Vin Diesel’s “Bloodshot” film – an attempt so laughable I had to take a minute to recoup after finishing typing the previous sentence. Sony Pictures really did try their hardest to make the SPUMM universe work (Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Movies) – releasing a whole slate of critically, and often commercially, panned films for almost a decade – and Universal will always live in infamy over their Dark Universe announcement photo. Yet Marvel somehow managed to avoid that, they managed to create this incredible sprawling universe, surviving even after steadily releasing unimaginable levels of MID for half-a-decade.

    DC does have a lot of good faith going for it at the moment, it seems like audiences are excited to see more of this universe and “Superman” is projected to do good; this is the closest I think we’ve ever gotten to a studio replicating that MCU formula for success. Yet it’s the general audiences that need to be onboard the most, and that’s where I’m afraid “Superman” will lose people. 

    Gunn’s “Superman” is a comic book movie. It is the silver age brought to life, not only in design and feel but also in story structure. The entire thing plays out like a series single issues played in rapid succession, you can almost see where each issue would end and the next would start if this were a 6 issue mini-series instead of a big Hollywood blockbuster; a quality the film both suffers from as it does excel in. Because yes, it’s so refreshing to see a movie actually respect this medium that is often only used to be gutted for parts and “inspiration” – giving us scenes that feel like their ripped straight out of a comic book – silliness and wackiness included, yet it can also feel out of place at times. All the wackiness takes up screen time that I would’ve personally much rather seen used on other more important things like… I don’t know… characterization maybe!

    CHARACTERIZATION

    See, when a comic book consistently throws characters at me like Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, Mr Terrific or even Jimmy Olsen, I’m totally down to roll with that. I know what I can and need to expect in a big-two/canon comic book – them’s the rules and I love the medium for it – but that is a completely different way of storytelling, the medium makes that work, when you apply that same story-structure to the first movie of your big franchise it becomes convoluted, stuffed to the brim with characters that I cannot imagine general audiences would be into at first glance. I’ve seen many people compare the films narrative to that of a random single issue in a 30+ issue comic book run and I totally get that, there’s so much lore and story that is only being hinted at or referred to but never actually shown that it can become convoluted – even for someone like me, who is aware of all this stuff on a not-so-normal level.

    Here’s where Iron Man comes in. Iron Man is a comic book film, yes; it has most of the things that make Iron Man who he is and is as faithful as I think time allowed it to be. But it is also a movie. It’s a film that uses the language and structure of said medium to adapt the comics – and I don’t think “Superman” does the same. “Superman” is so faithful to the comic book medium that, at times, it ends up feeling like less of a movie because of it. At times it can feel more like a series of Rick and Morty episodes strung together, with all the characters and all the different settings pulling the movie in so many different directions making the entire thing feel messy and detached from one-another. 

    Imagine a version of Iron Man 2008, with the same cast and the same runtime, but it also includes Whiplash and The Crimson Dynamo as henchmen for Obadiah Stane. That’d already be a pretty stacked film right? But then, when Iron Man keeps running into the West Coast Avengers for some reason, things become even more convoluted. Instead of the great moments between Tony and Rhodey, you’d instead get a scene where Tigra rips apart bad guys or instead of getting the cheeseburger scene with Happy and Tony, Hawkeye shows up instead to get made fun of for his bow and arrow skills. Yeah it’s fun on paper but when you think of what you get instead – what these characters are replacing in the runtime – you realize it might not make for a more satisfying final product. “Superman” is that film.

    Take the Daily Planet. A staple of the Superman mythos attached to a plethora of iconic side characters to the Superman expanded cast and vital to understanding the character of Clark Kent. I was so excited to see what Gunn was cooking with the Daily Planet. All the casting was great, I know Gunn can handle a group of big colorful characters like the Daily Planet crew and we’ve been sorely lacking a nice faithful adaptation of this side of the DC world for decades now. Yet, in the final film, they’re kind of… absent. Sure yeah they’re in the film and they have like a funny scene… but that is it. They have a scene. One maybe two scenes dedicated to the entire group. They are not in it nearly enough for how important their subplot is to the main story. Most egregious of all, one member of the Daily Planet, maybe the most vital member, is only in the film for about 2 minutes total (if not less)…  and that is Clark Kent. 

    Yes, Clark Kent is in the film for mere moments. The rest of the film is entirely dedicated to Superman. In a way I can appreciate that the film doesn’t ever make the audience believe Clark and Superman are different characters – Clark is Clark, no matter if he wears the costume or the glasses – yet characters in the film don’t know that obviously. There is an entire investigation in the film led by Lois and Jimmy that then directly ties into the final act of the film and guess what! Clark does not help a single bit. He’s so absent from the Daily Planet no one is even really concerned about him not being there. The entirety of Metropolis is evacuated in the third act, the whole crew evacuate the Daily Planet building together (that’s the only scene in the film that features them all interacting by the way) and no one is like… “Where’s Clark?”. Not a funny remark from Steve calling Clark a wuss for sitting this out or Perry White yelling out for him during the commotion. No, Kent’s presence is barely acknowledged throughout the whole film? WHY? Because instead I’m watching this weird alien creature Lex Luthor created for some reason. There’s a huge disconnect between plotline: Superman and plotline: Daily Planet – which makes the latter feel weirdly inconsequential given how much it ties into the third act. 

    And it’s not like the Justice Gang gets enough shine because of it. The exact same issues I have with the Daily Planet arise with the Justice Gang. I know nothing about these characters, about what makes them tick, what they’re like and what having them here adds to the final story beyond what I already knew about them going in. Yes, Mr. Terrific leaves a lasting impression sure, but I wouldn’t say he’s a really fleshed put character. Again, general audiences don’t have the luxury of having comic-book-brain-worms that make you store useless capeshit information in your head like some of us do. They will just be left wondering who they just saw flying around the film without ever getting an answer (until some of these guys ultimately get their own HBO miniseries or whatever). 

    It’s an even bigger shame because Gunn is clearly gifted at characterization. He made audiences fall in love with Rocket Raccoon of all characters and even in this film it’s obvious just how good he is at it. Jimmy is really fun, he might be the only supporting character that actually works in the entire film. There’s also a really nice moment where Perry White listens to Lois’ story as the entire office melts down in a panic. Character beats like that work so well but the movie just doesn’t have enough of those moments to engage you fully. 

    INTENT V EXPECTATION

    But where I think Iron Man and Superman differ the most, where I think these films’ paths leading to Cinematic Universes diverge most is with Intent and with Expectation. Superman is being released in a completely different cultural landscape compared to Iron man. The movie industry, fandom, culture as a whole has so drastically changed since 2008 (a lot of that stemming from the existence of the MCU) and audiences expectations have shifted alongside that change. “Iron Man”, unlike all the other attempts we’ve touched on so far – including “Superman” – didn’t know what it was capable of doing. Not Feige, Not the studios’, not even the audience knew what this could grow into (I’m sure there were hopes and dreams of course, but no one could’ve expected what happened). That’s the difference. Now everyone knows what Superman is gonna become, they know they can expect more – as do the studios and filmmakers. They’re launching a cinematic-universe knowing full well that, post “Guardians Of The Galaxy”, you can get away with putting a bunch of colorful stuff in your film. But I don’t think you wanna start by going at a 100 percent, “Iron Man” barely started at ten and the MCU didn’t go to one-hundred until like 5 years later.

    You need to set that foundation first. You need to grow your world from the characters, not the behind the scenes chitter-chat and background easter eggs – audiences want fully realized main characters and side characters they can really sink their teeth into, that’s how you get them onboard, that is how you get them to come back. Think of that first wave of MCU films and how those side-characters, still to this moment in the MCU, are relevant and fan favorites. Bucky, Pepper, Happy, Loki, Rhodey – these characters are the backbone of the universe and I just don’t think the DC Studios universe is starting off strong in that regard. 

    I’m not just saying this about the DC universe to be a prick, Marvel is suffering from the exact same thing at the moment (fans had to patiently wait on Karen Page to return in the Born Again finally before they could finally get some engaging characters back, for instance). Fact of the matter is I want all of this to succeed. I want to see more DC projects get the greenlight, I wanna see The Justice League finally form in a meaningful way, I want Batman and Superman to team-up for once, I want more deep-cut characters to get solo projects. But it needs to be engaging first which is why I think this start is a little bit rocky. Luckily rocky isn’t disastrous – I’m not trying to bait people and say “JAMES GUNN FAILED, THE DC UNIVERSE IS DEAD, LONG LIVE DADDY FEIGE!!!” – far from it. Like I said, I think the cinematic future of DC is looking incredibly bright and i’m so excited to see more of it, I’ve just been burned so many times – I’ve seen so many off these films underperform and get destroyed by the general public that I really hope Superman comes out of this blockbuster-summer unscathed. 

    What do you think? Did you like Superman? And what’re you hoping to see from the future of DC movies? Let me know in the comments and follow Ghost-Writes wherever you can for more ramblings about DC, Marvel and the rest of the comic book industry.

  • What To Read: Daredevil: Born Again

    What To Read: Daredevil: Born Again

    We live in a day and age filled with comic book adaptations. Movies starring our favorite superheroes, villains, anti-heroes and pulpy characters seem to pop up every month, tv shows adapting cult classic independent books are released so fast you can barely keep up with it and every now and again they even try to adapt the books we love for the stage (to middling success). Yet the stories that inspire these films and shows often get overlooked. The books that breathe life and color into these – often inferior – adaptations are sometimes completely ignored when a major studio gets their claws into them, a trend that frustrates me endlessly. That’s why I’m starting this series, where we look at upcoming comic book adaptations and discuss the books that inspired them, so you know what to pick up next time you’re in your local comic book shop.

    Today we will be looking at Marvel Studios’ latest straight-to-streaming series “Daredevil: Born Again”, a continuation of the original Netflix show that released in 2015. With the episodes that have released so far we know a little of what to expect, but for those who want to know more, this list is for you. 

    Spoilers for the first 3 episodes of “Daredevil Born Again” from here on out!

    Daredevil by Charles Soule

    If you want to be prepared for “Born Again”, you need to start here. Charles Soule’s time on the Daredevil title is without a doubt the foundation on which this new season is built, not only introducing you to new-comers like Muse, but it’s also the book that kick-started Wilson Fisk’s reign over New York City, a storyline which will slowly make its way into the MCU in Born Again.

    Charles Soule’s run is quite wonderful; After Mark Waid’s took Matt into a lighter and more colorful direction in his critically lauded run on the character, Soule proceeds to rip Matt back into darkness, into the shadows of Hell’s Kitchen all the while sporting an amazing black suit and a gritty new personality. Especially that last part seems to have inspired “Born Again” at least a little, as we know Matt is going to go through some rough shit at the start of the season, dictating his personality for the entire rest of the show. 

    But it’s not just Matt’s MCU path laid out by Soule’s time on the book, it seems like Wilson Fisk might just be inspired by Soule as well. Soule took Fisk and his dirty operations out from the city’s seedy underbelly and brought him to new levels of power by making The Kingpin of New York City its newest mayor. We obviously saw Fisk becoming the Mayor of New York in the show’s first episode and I’m excited to see how the show tackles his new rise to power. One of my favorite moments from Soule’s time on the book (that I will refrain from spoiling) happens after he’s appointed as New York’s mayor so I truly hope the MCU will do this storyline justice.

    The most obvious hint towards a possible Soule adaptation though is Muse’s inclusion in the show. The artistic serial killer introduced by Soule and Ron Garney is making his on-screen debut in the new show, setting the stage for what I can only assume to be some gore-y mayhem.

    Soule’s time on the character is a wonderful return to tone, perfect for anyone who loves the Netflix Daredevil series and wants more of that gritty feel. Soule brings a unique flavor to the book with his background as a real lawyer, perfectly balancing the work of Matt and the work of Daredevil into an exciting saga filled with amazing art by a stellar line-up of artists.

    Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky

    Unlike most of these lists I write, this is mostly a pretty chronological list of books I’m recommending. After Soule quit his time on the Daredevil title came Zdarsky, taking over the saga of Matt Murdock and running with it in a new yet familiar direction. Zdarsky’s Matt is still gritty, still that catholic boy grown up wracked with guilt and anger, but he’s also just sort of beaten down. He’s tired, hurt and broken. All of which catches up to him in a major way when he faces a gang of low-tier street thugs and makes a mistake he can’t turn back. Trailers for Born Again have suggested that Matt will make a similar mistake early on in the show which is where the similarities between these two takes on the character start. 

    While Soule started Fisk’s reign over New York as Mayor, Zdarsky is the one who fledges it out into the same territory I expect from the MCU. While this might not be super important yet, I can’t imagine this stuff won’t be touched upon later in the show. Maybe that’s in the show’s next season set to release next year or it could be touched upon in other shows / movies as the street-level saga of the MCU starts to take shape. 

    Zdarsky’s time on the character spans multiple books making it a little bit more difficult to read the entire thing in one go. Essentially, this story is split up over 3 parts; starting with Daredevil (2019) issue #1 which ends and leads into “Devil’s Reign” – the 7 issue event with plethora of tie-in issues that connect to it- and finally ending with 2022’s Daredevil run. Those first two parts are most important for those who wanna get ready for “Born Again” and the future of the MCU. Many of these similar lists will tell you to skip that last part of Zdarsky’s saga as its magical “Hand” focused story might put off those looking for a gritty crime drama, but personally I have to disagree. If you wanna experience Zdarsky’s voice for Matt to its fullest, you need that last stretch to fully make it all make sense, it brings the entire thing together and wraps up one of the most satisfying runs the character has ever had. 

    The show also includes a bunch of minor characters from Zdarsky’s run; We know we’ll see Cole North in the show, a rough and tough cop who comes after Daredevil in Zdarsky’s run but quickly learns the importance of his role as the Devil Of Hell’s Kitchen. The show’s version of Bullseye seems inspired by Zdarsky’s run as well, with Poindexter donning a suit inspired by Checchetto’s design and newly introduced character Daniel Blake reminds me a lot of Zdarsky creation Butch Farris.

    Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis

    Now we skip back in time to the early 2000s, way before either Zdarsky or Soule took over on the Daredevil title, before the character had appeared on Netflix and even before Ben Affleck donned the red leather on the big screen. Before all of that we had Brian Michael Bendis’ phenomenal run on the character. 

    The Bendis era is amazing. It’s Bendis at his best as he effortlessly seemed to create a narrative that spanned 50+ issues without ever taking a breather or having a fill-in issue to pad for time. He draws in from all corners of the Marvel Universe – which he seemed to be running during the early 2000s – to create his own little cohesive street-level world within this larger universe of capes and tights.

    The only reason this series isn’t higher on this list is because I just don’t see that much of it factoring in during the MCU’s“Born Again”. Some of Bendis’ storylines might be adapted later on (though I expect that to be more-so a season 3 or 4 story than a season 2 plot) but for now not all of his 50+ issues are exactly important if you want to immerse yourself in the world of the MCU show. What is important to read though is the White Tiger arc, a storyline the show has taken major inspiration from in episode 2 and 3. Sure, there are some differences the show has made that fans might not be entirely agreeing with, but if you want a glimpse at the story of Hector Ayala in the comics, this is the book to pick up.

    Nobody does the grit, the angst and the violence of Daredevil better than Bendis, leaving his mark on the character forever, infusing any adaptation off the character with that little extra something that makes Daredevil stand out from the rest of the Marvel universe. 

    Honorable Mentions

    Since the Man Without Fear has such an incredible track record in comics, with an unrivaled amount of classic and critically acclaimed runs under his name, I think it best if I give you all a little run down off other amazing Daredevil stories you should check out, even if they might not tie in with the new show’s story as much as the previous entries have. 

    Obviously the show takes its title from the seminal “Born Again” arc by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, which might be one of Daredevil’s greatest and most classic stories ever told. Yet the show and the book truly don’t bear any resemblance to each other, with the story instead being the main inspiration for the Netflix show’s third season. Still, picking up “Born Again” cannot do you any harm, it is a truly astounding read and I dare you not to fall in love with Miller and Mazzuccchelli’s work instantly. 

    Since I put Bendis’ run on here I do also feel like checking out Brubaker’s follow up run is a good idea. Not only do the two stories directly lead into each other, but the book also features the death of Foggy Nelson, a major plot point in the MCU show as we’ve come to learn. If the rest off the book is adapted into the show as well remains to be seen, but no matter what the book is still very solid and the perfect supplement to Bendis’ time on the title. 

    One of the show’s newest additions to the Daredevil world is that of Kristen McDuffie, whom Matt decides to set up a law-firm with in the show after Foggy’s supposed passing. Kirsten is heavily featured in Mark Waid’s run on Daredevil which – and I understand I am repeating myself here, but Daredevil just has this many hits under his belt – is another modern day classic run on the character. 

    There are many more incredible Daredevil titles for you to revel in, and I certainly hope you do check out more once you’ve gotten through this list, but for now these are all the books I think you’ll want to read as you dive in Matt’s return to the small screen. Are there any titles you think I’ve missed? And how are you liking the MCU show so far? Let me know in the comments or on my socials and be sure to follow us as to not miss any Daredevil coverage (and believe me, there is more on the way)

  • Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man – What’s Next?

    Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man – What’s Next?

    The two episode finale of “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” left us with many exciting cliffhangers and set-ups for next season, some obvious and others less-so. Where do we think these storylines could lead to and can we uncover more hidden storylines if we look to the comics for leads? Let’s talk about it.

    Before we can really start I do have to say that I won’t be discussing the obvious; Yes, Norman will become Green Goblin. Yes, Lonnie will turn into a more comic accurate Tombstone. Yeah, I also saw the symbiote and Yes, Doc Ock will get his tentacles. Sure, those things are exciting but they’re not super fun to talk about compared to the outlandish theories I have cooked up, hence I’m not touching on them.

    Spoiler warning for Season 1 of “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man”

    Taskmaster

    Last year, way before the show came out, even before we got any official trailers or promo material, I wrote a speculative article on the series trying to piece together what we could expect from its first season. One of my more outlandish theories from that article was a surprise appearance from none-other than Taskmaster, one of Marvel’s most iconic bad guys and a fan favorite for many. Now we obviously didn’t see Taskmaster in the show’s first season but the ending of episode 10 weirdly enough made me more certain we’ll see the skull-faced bad guy in the second season. 

    See Taskmaster is connected to one of the show’s minor characters; Jeanne Foucault, who we see teaming up with Daredevil at the end of season 1. Jeanne, going by Finesse in the comics, is a gifted Polymath, being able to copy anyone’s fighting abilities in an instance. Obviously these powers are very similar to that of Taskmaster, often implying that he’s Jeanne’s biological father in the comics. Now obviously her inclusion does not have to mean Taskmaster will show up next season, but the fact that the show opted for Jeanne instead of someone like Blindspot, who’s an actual Daredevil sidekick in the comics, leads me to believe Taskmaster has at the very least been discussed by the show’s creative team. 

    Imagine how cool a team-up episode would be where Daredevil, Finesse and Peter have to face Taskmaster? Tell me you don’t wanna see that!

    The Future of W.E.B.

    One of the final scenes in season 1’s finale ended with Harry Osborn establishing W.E.B, a tech company set up to help young scientific minds fund their brilliant ideas. We see a list of potential names to join the organization including Ned Leeds; a classic member of Spider-Man’s supporting cast with a headache-inducing amount of lore and retcons to his name – including being the Hobgoblin, and Max Dillon; better known as classic Spider-Man bad guy Electro. Also included are a bunch of the show’s crew members and a wide-array of minor characters from the comics. While those latter additions to the list are far from household names, there is a shared link between some of them; G.I.R.L.

    No, that doesn’t mean they’re all girls, it’s actually an acronym for the “Geniuses In Action Research Lab”, another enterprise focused on honing the skills of young scientific minds (though this one only focused on female members). This group is founded by Nadia Van Dyne, daughter of Hank Pym and known as the Unstoppable Wasp in the comics. I’d love to see Spidey team-up with another bug-themed do-gooder and the inclusion of Nadia would be another fun way for the show to differentiate itself from the sacred MCU timeline. I’d also enjoy seeing the W.E.B team face off against the G.I.R.L group as the two strive for scientific dominance. 

    Fallout of War

    Now what you might forget as a viewer is that “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” is basically a “What If…” episode expanded into an entire show. It might be a bit of an unconventional one but the show does explore what would’ve happened to Peter’s life had he not joined team Iron Man during the events of Civil War. While the show never addresses the Sokovia accords and subsequent fallout of the new superhero laws in detail, Civil War is alluded to on several occasions, so much so that I wouldn’t be surprised if the show delves much deeper into this “What If…” in subsequent seasons. 

    The inclusion of General Ross and Iron Man are my main reason for thinking we might be getting more down the line. Not only is their appearance in the show a sort of random addition, as neither character really interacts with Peter’s story at all, mainly being used as a tool by Norman, but the show also reiterates their importance in the season’s finale. Norman specifically mentions both characters in his speech to Octavius in jail as if the writers really wanted you to remember their inclusion in the show. 

    We also saw the actual Accords in the show’s final episodes and Cap makes a very minor appearance in the hallways of Oscorp, posing for a picture with Norman that’s hung on the wall for all of his visitors to see. To me it’s clear that the show keeps reminding the viewer that the superhero Civil War happened so people keep it in the back of their minds once season 2 or 3 continues developing the scenario. 

    The “YFNSM” prequel comic that Marvel has been publishing also established that this version of Peter is a bigger fan of Cap than he is off Tony, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the show decides to retroactively make Pete a member of Team Cap, especially since the webhead is definitely in conflict with the Sokovia Accords as a masked vigilante. I’d love to see what Peter would do once Cap is the first Avenger he meets instead of Tony and if he would join him in a fight against Iron Man.

    Future Villains

    Now the show has set up a whole heap of exciting new adversaries for Spidey to face next season with the obvious inclusions being more Doc Ock, Green Goblin and a Venom of sorts, but the show planted many more seeds for the future of Peter’s rogues.

    The show gives us a bunch of future bad guy material in episode 4 and 5 by establishing a crew of criminals looking to buy some of Octavius’ gear before being apprehended by the cops. These characters obviously included The Unicorn, who I don’t expect to see much more of, but it also included characters like Mikhail Sytsevich; father of the original Rhino in the comics. While this could mean his son Aleksei vows to take revenge on Spider-Man for putting his father away in prison, he does also sport a very bulky body himself, perfect for a Rhino suit in the future? Someone on the crew who does get their comic accurate costume already is Dmitri, better known as the Chameleon, the groups getaway driver. He dons his iconic white mask later on in the season while helping the 110th find Octavius’ gear. 

    While the 110th is obviously led by an increasingly scary Lonnie Lincoln now, the group does also include another well known Marvel bad guy; Bulldozer. Bulldozer is normally a part of the Wrecking Crew (who we saw in She-Hulk previously) alongside Wrecker, Piledriver and Thunderball. If we’ll see those three pop up in the 110th later on as well remains to be seen, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Lonnie goes to look for more super-powered allies after discovering what Ocatvius’ gas did to him.

    One of the show’s final teasers and one that puzzled me the most was that of Nico Minoru, as she used her previously hidden magical abilities to conjure up a spell. Now it wasn’t entirely clear to me what her spell was going to do but it obviously has something to do with her mother. Nico has sort of mystified me in this show, her inclusion is fun and I get that the series wanted to differentiate Peter’s supporting cast from other adaptations, but putting in the biggest member of one of Marvel’s most interesting titles, a character with such a well-established back story and identity, seems on purpose. While we don’t know what happened to Nico’s parents, we do know her story is much different from her comic book counterpart, yet I wouldn’t be surprised if the show manages to align the two versions a little more in subsequent seasons. For those who don’t know, the original Runaways story establishes Nico’s parents as villains working for an evil cult-like organization called the Cabal. I’m guessing “YFNSM” ‘s version of Nico’s mom is lost somewhere in a magical realm and Nico is desperately trying to get her back, but once she manages to do so, her mom will have turned in some way, either voluntarily or possessed by something on the other side (Mephisto?? We did see a hint of him in her Tarot deck…). 

    Whatever or whoever will appear in the shows upcoming seasons remain to be seen (though we did get an exciting Gwen Stacy reveal on Twitter today), but if the response to season 1 is any indication, fans will love whatever happens!

    There were many more exciting reveals in “Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” and I’d love to hear what you are most excited to see happen next! And what did you think of the show’s first season. Did you love it? Hate it? Let me know! Be sure to follow along as I can promise the Wall-Crawler will be discussed much more in the future!

  • Thrillers Or Spectacle: The MCU Dillemma

    Thrillers Or Spectacle: The MCU Dillemma

    Marvel Studios’ latest cinema release, “Captain America: Brave New World”, is the umpteenth film in a long line of projects developed by the movie-conglomerate to disappoint fans. While there are many factors to consider in the film’s critical failure – some just and others unjust – one of the most prevalent points I keep hearing online is the unmet expectation of an “Espionage Thriller”. People seem to be champing at the bit for a gritty spy flick that takes the bureaucracy of the Marvel Universe and runs with it to create a tense, world shattering, conspiracy that only the heroes of this world can fix. That craving has been prevailing for years now while films and series released under the MCU banner promising to deliver on this specific genre more often than not end up being quite bad. We’ve seen it with “Secret Invasion”, a spectacular misfire that tried to turn the gigantic comic book event of the same name into a small scale conspiracy story to little success, and before that we also got the solo Black Widow film that seemed to be interested in relighting this gritty fire missing for so long. While that movie certainly isn’t as bad as “Secret Invasion” was, it definitely wasn’t great either; quickly falling back into the studios’ worst habits and turning into a generic action film with forgettable set pieces. So why are MCU fans still hung up on this genre if the studio can’t seem to ever get it right? Why do they think Feige and his creative partners are even capable of making a film of that kind?

    Well before we can even answer that question I say we need to take a step back and ask a bigger question instead; “Has Marvel ever made a real espionage thriller?”. I say Yes and No. You see the MCU and its hordes of fans have been chasing one high ever since 2014, hoping to fill the “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” sized cavern left by the studio. A movie so good it might end up being a negative for the MCU in the long run. “The Winter Soldier” was something so incredibly fresh, so invigorating and cool, that fans have elevated their standards to such a degree that any and all attempts at recreating the magic have fallen on deaf-ears. But, and pardon my bluntness, do MCU fans really know what they’re talking about? Or have they been chasing an unachievable high left by a film that never even really existed in the way they remember? I think so. See I agree that“The Winter Soldier” is good, it’s a tense mystery filled with great action, but any great Espionage Thriller needs that bit of realism embedded in it to create stakes. It needs to grip you, relate to you and the fears you have about the world. It needs to take from real world issues and use that to create something gripping and tense. It needs politics, an identity, maybe a little anger aimed at the world as it is. But “The Winter Soldier” has absolutely nothing to say about anything besides a surface level “good vs bad” narrative. Sure, inspired by actual political thrillers from the past like “All The President’s Men” and “Three Days Of The Condor”, “Winter Soldier” might make you feel like you’re watching something meaningful, but it’s only ever an emulation of said genre rather than actually trying to be it.

    The MCU is maybe one of the most apolitical worlds you’ll ever see on the big screen, where any real world conundrum about race or war or equality or every other very basic surface level political interest is reduced to a minor hurdle in the road to a large world ending threat or even ignored all together. I can’t remember the last time one of these movies actually used it’s heightened – super – version of reality to put a mirror up to the real world, not even using it’s super-powered foundation as an allegory for real world problems, which is probably one of the MCU’s most apparent short-comings given that almost every comic book that’s even come close to being lauded a masterpiece by general readers builds entire narratives around that exact enhanced mirror. It seems Feige and the upper-creatives at Marvel Studios are desperate to say as little as possible, often only saying things when convenient for them rather than for any artistic reasoning. 

    “But Ghost, The MCU is built on a foundation of social commentary, didn’t you see Iron Man! He hates weapons!” I hear you yell at your digital screen, and yes, Iron Man certainly tries to say something about… war I guess? That making weapons is bad… unless you use the weapon yourself? I think that’s what Iron Man tries to say, I can’t be sure though as any meaningful – though very confusing and muddled – message you try to squeeze out of the first Iron Man film is in fact buried underneath a thick layer of genuine US Military propaganda. I know I’m far from the first person to have spoken about this but Marvel has on numerous occasions (including on the production of “Iron Man”) actively worked with the US Military for their films, including giving the Department Of Defense final say on the film’s script in exchange for access to real military equipment for the film’s production. Marvel traded their entire artistic integrity just to pay a little less. A spineless decision for a quick buck. 

    Now I don’t want to get ahead of myself here but… I feel like we’ve sort of found ourselves at the root cause of this issue fairly quickly. It’s money, because of course it is. I know, I know, what a boring conclusion to come to, but I can’t help that we are living in a world built atop a foundation of currency over humanity. When you make art with the sole purpose of making money from it, you’re gonna end up saying nothing, because saying something means you’ll undoubtedly step on someone’s toes – and that person is not paying for a ticket to see your next film about a purple guy trying to kill a spider-guy. You can only make billions by making movies for everyone, which means you have to also appeal to everyone, thus saying nothing in the process. Because if you didn’t appeal to everyone, you’d end up only making hundreds of millions of dollars at once, and who’d want that when you could be making a billion instead? 

    There is honestly only one MCU project that I believe dares to say something even remotely controversial ; “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier” (coincidentally a project independent from Box Office numbers since it’s a streaming series not a cinematic release) A story all about a black man becoming Captain America, this show simply couldn’t not make a statement about race and what it means to be black in America. By mirroring the real life vitriol Sam Wilson (and in extension Anthony Mackie) got for portraying the new Captain America, this show was the only thing actually willing to take a stand against that hate and by adding Isaiah Bradley to the story the show also managed to use that enhanced mirror I mentioned previously to create a really solid series. Sure, the political commentary isn’t all that scathing and falls on deaf ears for a lot of its run time, but even a small step in the right direction will get you to where you need to be eventually. Yet then, when it’s time to give Sam his own solo film, when it’s time to put Isaiah on the big screen and to continue making that same statement, the studio instead flops over into something else, a spineless film about nothing. Absolutely nothing. In a time where elections are maybe the most important they’ve ever been, Marvel studios makes a film about the president turning into a big jello pudding hulk. A sad display of cowardice but one also not all too surprising given their track record. 

    So no. A political espionage thriller isn’t happening. Not now and maybe not ever. But is there still room for a thriller of any other sort? A tense and grounded story focusing on a smaller scale adventure for any of the heroes in the MCU? Honestly, I’m not so sure about that either.

    Post-Endgame it’s been apparent that the once king of blockbuster film-making just isn’t what it used to be. While pre-Endgame Marvel movies certainly didn’t all hit, the general reputation of the MCU felt untouchable, hit after hit after hit, billions coming in at the box-office, it really felt like the MCU had the formula down. But post-Endgame the conglomerate seems to have slipped a bit. With their focus shifting to bigger and bigger slates of films and tv, the overall cohesion of the Universe slowly seemed to disappear and with it quality seemed to slip a little more as well. I wouldn’t say everything has gone to shit, that we’re watching an unmitigated disaster spin out of control until it reaches its inevitable whimper of an ending, but I do think the studio has, in an attempt to course correct, started relying too much on big spectacle moments to make up for poor critical reception, and those spectacle moments will end up leaving no lasting impact. 

    Yes, putting Red Hulk in your movie and then marketing his inclusion like crazy might compensate for the lack of audience investment in this world in the short-run, but it’s not gonna be a sustainable solution. You will run out of these characters eventually, there’s not an endless supply of glup-shitto’s in the Marvel Comics vault, and when you do, audiences will realize there’s nothing left for them in this universe, no cohesion, no stakes, no dynamics they love between characters they stan on twitter! Just a universe mistaking cameos for spectacle. 

    That same mistake is also what’s causing their Thriller problem – or lack-thereof I should say. Yes, you can give us a story about The Leader pulling the strings behind the US government as an all out world-war is set to break out, but if the stakes can only conclude in a big smash fest between Captain America and Red Hulk well then you kind of lose the tension you’ve been building (now a weak script and massive reshoots don’t help this case either but my point still stands). Same with “Secret Invasion”, which has arguably the worst finale of any Marvel project ever made with that god awful fight between Giah and Gravik forever stained upon this universe. Thrills can come from more than just bad Dragonball battles, more than power-scaling and smashing action figures into each other, especially when your entire story depends on tension on a much smaller scale!

    So can Marvel make Thrillers anymore? Probably! But there has to be some change before any of that can happen. The studio needs to take some risks. I know big studios don’t like taking those these days, but risks are what is going to get butts in seats in the long run. Risks make the audience engage in your stories and risks are how you build a franchise out. And yes that might cost money, yes you might not hit a billion with every movie you make, but you will have an audience left after your big expanding universe reaches its 20th year anniversary.

  • What To Read: Captain America – Brave New World

    What To Read: Captain America – Brave New World

    We live in a day and age filled with comic book adaptations. Movies starring our favorite superheroes, villains, anti-heroes and pulpy characters seem to pop up every month, tv shows adapting cult classic independent books are released so fast you can barely keep up with it and every now and again they even try to adapt the books we love for the stage (to middling success). Yet the stories that inspire these films and shows often get overlooked. The books that breathe life and color into these – often inferior – adaptations are sometimes completely ignored when a major studio gets their claws into them, a trend that frustrates me endlessly. That’s why I’m starting this series, where we look at upcoming comic book adaptations and discuss the books that inspired them, so you know what to pick up next time you’re in your local comic book shop.

    Today we’ll be looking at Captain America’s latest big-screen outing “Brave New World” and the books that inspired it as well as books that will supplement your Gamma radiated cravings after seeing the film. 

    All-New Captain America

    Sam Wilson’s first solo title as Captain America is immediately his best. This 6 issue mini-series written by Rick Remender with art by Stuart Immonen is exactly what you want from a book like this. It introduces you to this new era of Captain America with no-holds-barred action. Seriously, this thing opens right in the middle of the fight and just doesn’t let up the entire time, it’s really thrilling. Cap is sent on a mission against Hydra that sees him facing off against every pseudo-nazi Steve Rogers has ever faced. Having Sam stuck in this adventure that encompassess almost the entirety of Steve’s past is genius and a lot of fun, solidifying it as one of my favorite ways off relaunching a legacy character like this. 

    Sam is put through the ringer here as he’s thrown into the modern-day version of a Kirby and Simon era story, including evil super-nazis trying to take over the world with a ridiculous scheme and colourful interior pages. It’s clear that Remender really went for it here to prove just how worthy Sam is of the shield as he beats down 80 years of Cap villains in 6 issues. But the story doesn’t just use its incredible action to convince the reader of Sam’s competency. It does much more.

    The entire adventure plays alongside several flashbacks scenes that explore Sam’s past and instill the entire story with motivation as we realize more and more why Sam is supposed to be Cap. These flashback sequences aren’t just good to create that sense of morality that fuels Sam but it also gives readers a sense of Sam’s back story. Sam has a sort of convoluted past because of a retcon from a few decades ago but Remender uses this book to clean that up a little, making it easier to stomach as this new status quo for the character is ushered in. 

    “All New Captain America” is a non-stop action book great for new readers and old readers alike.

    Captain America: Sam Wilson

    Remender’s Sam Wilson Mini is followed up by Nick Spencer’s run on the winged Avenger, another solid entry in this character’s new status quo. While I think Remender’s mini is the better of the two, this book feels much more akin to his Live-action counterpart. The book focuses on more grounded issues compared to the “sci-fi nazis try to sterilize the entire earth using inhumans” of our previous entry, often commentating on real world events and the rhetoric present in 2016’s America (and also 2025 America sadly). But by tackling said issues in a heightened way the book still manages to be fun and engaging instead of simply depressing. 

    The book also features the origin of Joaquin Torres’ Falcon, who we will see more of in “Brave New World” after his Disney+ debut 4 years ago. I really like Joaquin as Falcon in the comics, he’s got a very fun, young, energy around him and the total ridiculousness of his origin story is something I mess with heavily. 

    Also present in this book which may or may not tie into “Brave New World” is the Serpent Society, a group of snake-themed evil doers who were originally featured in this new film but reshoots and rewrites seem to have done away with them for the most part. It’s not entirely clear what happened to them but if you wanna make sure you’re not missing out on any snake related activity in the film, make sure to check out this book since they’re the big bad of the entire thing.

    While this run is solid, it does tie into a bunch of other Marvel Universe stuff later on which might make it a bit of a tough read for those who aren’t fully engaged into that world-building yet. I recommend starting with the first 6 issues and seeing what you think before either continuing on or pivoting to one of the other books on this list!  

    Thunderbolts Red

    No, I didn’t confuse the next two MCU releases, I know we’re not talking about the “Thunderbolts*” yet. But the inclusion of Thaddeus Ross and The Leader in Brave New World make “Thunderbolts Red” (or Thunderbolts 2013) the perfect supplementary reading material as you prepare for the new MCU blockbuster. Especially Ross’ shines here, both in his role as a no-nonsense general and as the Red Hulk. Written by Daniel Way (and later Charles Soule), this run on the Thunderbolts is unlike any of the others sharing the name. While previous incarnations of the team focused on groups of (reformed) villains, this take on the character sees a group of anti-heroes coming together under the leadership of Ross to do the big scale stuff they can’t do alone.

    Their first mission revolves all around Samuel Sterns AKA The Leader, who might not be exactly as smart as you expect him to be in this run (or the color you expect him to be for that matter), but he’s still as dastardly as you want him to be (especially in the later half of this run once other writers take over the book). The Leader doesn’t necessarily have the most iconic line-up of books under his belt, so finding a run that prominently features him the way this one does isn’t as easy as you might think.

    This book is a ton of fun. Bloody, violent, action packed and filled with fun characters like Ghost Rider, Deadpool, Elektra and Punisher alongside the aforementioned Hulk characters. 

    Honorable Mentions

    There’s many more stories to get through as we prepare for Brave New World, but many of them might not be entirely relevant to the movie’s story. That’s why they’re in this little paragraph. I still recommend reading these stories, but if you don’t get through them before the film’s release it’s not going to affect your viewing experience. 

    Red Hulk was created in 2008 by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness in the aptly titled “HULK” book, an unstoppable tour de force of a comic. Loeb has undoubtedly written some beautifully emotional books before but his Hulk run sure as shit isn’t that. I wouldn’t even really call this book good yet it is still very entertaining. Each issue whizzes by you like a freight train and before you know it you’ll be 12 issues in and pondering what the fuck you’re even reading about. If you have a Marvel Unlimited subscription and a free afternoon I’d highly suggest cracking this open and turning your brain off. But if you don’t have any of these, maybe let the book lay to your wayside.

    On the flipside I’d recommend reading Immortal Hulk, my personal favorite Hulk book ever written and one of the most solid runs the big two have had to offer readers in the last 20 years. Immortal Hulk, written by Al Ewing and drawn by Joe Bennett, is a body-horror thrill ride that introduces readers to a whole new mythology surrounding Bruce Banner. Sure, this isn’t focused on Captain America necessarily, neither is it too focused on Thaddeus Ross, but if we want a story that focuses all on Gamma then Immortal Hulk is the book to bat for. 

    A book I’ll always recommend people read if they want to get into Captain America is “United States Of Captain America”, a story all about what it means to be Captain America, a concept I’m sure Sam will struggle with as well in Brave New World. The book features both Steve and Sam suiting up as the titular red-white-and-blue hero but it also includes a plethora of other Captain Americas, both old and new. It’s a fun cross-country adventure that celebrates the 80 year history of Cap perfectly and introduces you to a whole new cast of fun characters.

    Are you excited for “Brave New World”? And If so, will you be checking out any of these aforementioned books in preparation? Let us know in the comments and give us a follow if you’d like to read more!

  • 4 Fantastic Yet Underrated Fantastic Four Comics

    4 Fantastic Yet Underrated Fantastic Four Comics

    The year of The Fantastic Four has officially started. Yesterday’s incredible teaser trailer for “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” ushers in the start of an exciting few months of promo – both on screen and on the page. But as we get ready to see Marvel’s First Family finally portrayed on the big screen for a third – and hopefully most successful – time, I’d love to shine a light on some of the best books this team has to offer. The Four have many astonishing titles under their name, critically acclaimed books from some of the biggest writers comics have ever seen. But over the course of their 60 year history they’ve also had so many incredible smaller books that don’t get put into the spotlight as often. That’s what I want to focus on today. The books that deserve the spotlight just as much as those aforementioned critically acclaimed runs. Let’s dig in!

    Fantastic Four: Full Circle

    “Fantastic Four: Full Circle” is nothing short of breathtaking. Made as a sequel to maybe the most famous Fantastic Four issue ever written – “This Man, This Monster” – Full Circle is a glorious mix of vintage sci-fi mixed with hypercolored modern comic making. Written and Illustrated by the legendary Alex Ross, this book is a clear labor of love; love for the Fantastic Four, love for the Silver Age, love for Kirby and love for Ben Grimm specifically. 

    It’s the most gorgeous Fantastic Four book I own. A stunning work of art from start to finish with each page seemingly better than the next. I know I sound like a broken record here but what Ross does in this book is mind-blowing. My jaw drops to the floor with each flip off the page. I own the newly released Deluxe Edition of the book and I can’t recommend reading the back-material in there enough. The creative journey Ross has been on while making this book is inspiring and instills the entire book with a new level of beauty.

    Plus it’s not like the story is bad either. It’s actually really good. An incredibly classic little thrill-ride that lets all members of the Four shine as they journey through the Negative Zone. Not since Kirby has the Negative Zone been portrayed with such life, exploring a unique new side of this staple of the Marvel Universe while never straying too far from what made it so classic in the first place. If you need something to scratch the itch left by the original Kirby and Lee works I highly recommend “Full Circle”.

    The Thing (2021)

    He’s the heart and soul of the Four. He’s the ever-loving blue-eyed Thing. He’s Ben Grimm. He’s the only member of Marvel’s first family who has his own solo series on this list! And that’s not for no reason. Walter Mosley and Tom Reilly’s Thing mini sets Ben on a journey across the globe (and beyond it) that quickly spirals into something much more cosmic. I love a book like this. An ever expanding story that unravels into all corners of the Marvel Universe, including appearances from a ton of other F4 characters. 

    If you’ve read “Batman Universe” by Brian Michael Bendis you sort of know what you’re getting with this book, an adventure across wacky worlds that sets its titular character completely out of their element. But whereas that book purposely strays away from the classic tropes of the Caped Crusader, this mini goes full on Fantastic, not only going for the wild intergalactic sci-fi characters and worlds that make the F4 who they are, but also the equally important character work. The entire thing (pardon the pun) is delightfully classic, with Tom Reilly’s art being the pulpy centrepoint. 

    Tom Reilly’s art is just stunning. He nails Ben’s look; This is that version of The Thing that the kids of the Marvel Universe love, The Thing who sells Action Figures and The Thing who’s lovable face is plastered on t-shirts. But it’s also the brawler. It’s also The Thing who makes the ground beneath his feet shake with every punch. He’s big and tough yet loveable. He’s perfect. 

    If you want to read a fun and breezy book about arguably one of comics’ most layered heroes, pick this up!

    Marvel Two-In-One

    “Marvel Two-In-One” is a strange book published in an even stranger time. Marvel seemed to be struggling with what to do with the Four given that their exclusion from the MCU (and subsequent inclusion in stories made by other rivaling companies) meant the studio behind Marvel couldn’t milk the cow completely dry – they’d have to share the poor aching bovine with other conglomerates. Thus, post Hickman’s “Secret Wars”, Marvel’s first family was banished from their publishing line-up. In-universe this meant Reed, Sue and their children had decided to leave this universe in order to rebuild the universe. Leaving behind Ben and Johnny, who believed they had passed during the Secret Wars event. With this in mind, Chip Zdarsky set out to write “Marvel Two-In-One”, A wonderful little book that sets out to explore the grief left behind by Reed’s sudden departure. 

    While the family might be split up in “Marvel Two-In-One”, it’s still a Fantastic Four book through and through. It’s got the exploration of different worlds that make the Four standout from the other more typical hero-types, it has family dynamics that are both fun and emotionally resonant, plus it even has all the heart you’ve come to expect from this group. Chip writes Ben and Johnny so incredibly well; They are well rounded characters, strained brothers-from-other-mothers whose rekindling is both satisfying as it is real. Sue has always been Johnny’s sister, but Ben really grows into Johnny’s big brother here. 

    It’s not like Reed and Sue aren’t present in the book either. The book introduces a plethora of different multiversal versions of Reed and Sue who help highlight the importance of the teams dynamic with one-another, cementing this book as a giant love letter to the Four as we wait on their return. 

    Their return to the Marvel Universe is touched upon by Zdarsky in his final issues on the title, which are both satisfying as they are bitter sweet. I feel this book’s biggest flaw is its corporate mandated end. Zdarsky could’ve written this for another 50 issues as he prepared to relaunch the main FF title but alas, the publisher had other things in mind. Thankfully there’s still these 12 exciting and beautiful issues left for you to delve into. 

    Silver Surfer: Requiem

    Now to be fair, I know putting a solo Silver Surfer book on this list might not be entirely accurate to what I set out to do in this article but I felt like The Surfer is so ingrained into the Four and their lore that he’s basically a member of the team at this point (plus, The Four do heavily feature in this book). Written by J. Michael Straczynski and illustrated by Esad Ribic, this four issue mini focuses on the final days of Norrin Radd’s life as the power cosmic that gave him his powers turns out to be his undoing as well. 

    As I start this off I must say that I have truly no words to describe how much I adore this book. I read it for the first time when I was much-too-young to fully understand it, but as I have grown a little older I love it more and more. That is what I love most about “Requiem”, the fact that I know I haven’t fully wrapped my brain around the entire thing yet, I know there is so much more emotional development left to gain here that I’m simply not feeling yet. One day I will, One day this thing will tear me apart completely and leave me entirely breathless and that’s something I’m looking forward to very much.

    Exploring all sides of Norrin Radd’s life, both on Earth as on Zenn-La, “Requiem” explores who the Silver Surfer is in such a beautiful way that I challenge anyone who reads this not to fall in love with the character. Frankly, his death might be the best place to start reading Silver Surfer comics, because no other book will make you feel for Norrin the way this one does. No book will make you understand why Silver Surfer might just be Stan’s greatest creation. No book will make you understand why we need Silver Surfer. 

    The book is an emotional ride from start to finish, exploring all corners of the Marvel Universe as it jumps from one beautiful character moment to the next. Requiem is wonderful. Truly wonderful.

    I hope you decide to check out one or more of these books as we all anxiously await the release of“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” this summer. Make sure to follow Ghost Writes since we will be covering so much more of The Fantastic Four in the upcoming months (and beyond).

    Make sure to let me know what you think are some of the most underrated Fantastic Four titles ever released!