In a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Kurt Russell confirmed that Ego the Living Planet will indeed be connected to Pom Klementieff's Mantis in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. According to the report, he kept mum about the true nature of the relationship and only divulged enough to whet our appetite without fully satisfying it.
Kong: Skull Island has finally roared into theaters, and the critical response hasn't been unkind. The film's 79% Rotten Tomatoes score, coupled with the promise of enough beast-bashing goodness to keep most audiences happy, bodes well for Legendary's planned cinematic MonsterVerse. As one would expect, though, the movie lacks several ingredients that could've pushed it from goodness to greatness.
As a rule, superhero films hardly ever embrace minimalism. Instead, they emphasize heroics on a cosmic scale, preferring grand displays of courage and sacrifice over simple moments of quiet reflection and introspection. With a reported budget of $97 million and an extensive use of practical effects, Logan, the last movie starring Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, challenges this perceived need for more with less, becoming the closest thing to a minimalist's superhero film even as it expands upon and explores bigger, deeper concepts characteristic of Fox's X-Men universe.
A character piece at heart, Luke Cage prioritizes smaller, more intimate moments that turn pleasantries into payoffs and ultimately make for a more sophisticated, more focused series. Showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker, a former journalist, cuts into Cage with an almost surgical care, pulling out pieces of him we didn't get to see when he first busted onto the scene in last year's incredible Jessica Jones.
Recognition of the Joker's significance stretches back to the character's first appearance in April of 1940, when a last-minute editorial move saved the Clown Prince of Crime from a swift exit from Batman lore. Bill Finger, co-creator of the Caped Crusader himself, initially expressed a desire to kill off the villainous jokester before his ever-wise editor, Whitney Ellsworth, demanded that the character live on. And live on he has.
