by Stone Marshall | Aug 7, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald may explain the backstory to Voldemort's snake, Nagini. The prequel film series is ostensibly focused on Grindelwald's rise to power, and the terror he inflicted upon the wizarding communities across Europe during the 1930s and 40s. However, it seems as though J.K. Rowling is also working on weaving in many elements from Harry Potter into the Fantastic Beasts story, so that eventually the whole arc of 13 movies, from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II, will exist as a complete whole.
We know Grindelwald's reign of terror came to an end in the infamous duel between him and his former lover, Albus Dumbledore, in 1945, when Dumbledore emerged triumphant and took ownership of the Elder Wand. From there, Voldemort eventually rose to power as the darkest wizard of all, until a baby boy named Harry Potter almost destroyed him in 1981. Rowling has always been a master at laying strong foundations and backstories to all of her work, and that's becoming ever more evident in Fantastic Beasts. In the lastest trailer for The Crimes of Grindelwald, we meet Nicolas Flamel, immortal alchemist and creator of the Sorcerer's Stone, which was the first artifact that Voldemort sought to help him regain strength. But there's another connection to Voldemort lurking in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and it's something (or someone) that goes on to hold great significance throughout all of Harry Potter.
The unknown character played by Claudia Kim has no name billed other than Maledictus; in the Wizarding World, someone who will at some point turn into a beast. She resides in the circus that Credence joins, and all things point to her eventually turning into a snake named Nagini.
Nagini was a large, female snake who was always by Voldemort's side. In part, this was because she was one of his Horcruxes, and so, as Dumbledore suspected, Voldemort kept her close by in order to preserve the life fragment within. She was eventually killed by Neville Longbottom during the Battle of Hogwarts.
Nagini's origins, though, have always been unclear. It's not even known if Voldemort owned the snake before his downfall at the hands of Harry Potter in 1981, or if he came by her when he was hiding in the forests of Albania. However, what we do know is that Voldemort used Nagini's venom (obtained by Peter Pettigrew) to sustain him in a temporary form until he could regain his body. She was turned into a Horcrux after Voldemort murdered Bertha Jorkins in 1994.
The lack of backstory for Nagini is curious; Rowling is meticulous in making sure all major characters and creatures in her stories have them, and for Nagini's to be so vague would point towards Rowling planning on telling it at some point. Certainly, Nagini will have a complete backstory, even if it's only Rowling who knows about it for now. Could that all change with Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald?
by Stone Marshall | Aug 6, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
In an interview with ComicBook.com, Venom director Ruben Fleischer confirms that his film will lay the groundwork for sequels down the road, depending on the success of the feature:
We’ve definitely laid some groundwork for different directions that the franchise could go, but obviously it all hinges on people’s excitement about this film. I hope people will stay and see what seeds have been planted.
That last sentence appears to be a clue that sequels will be teased during the post-credits scene, rather than peppered throughout the story – hopefully. We all remember the overloaded insanity of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which packed Rhino, Green Goblin, and Electro inside an already bloated story, and indicated that Vulture and Doctor Octopus were on their way, eventually.
In Venom, the titular Venom will be facing off against “Riot,” a lesser-known villain and fellow symbiote who is extremely similar to Venom himself, at least, in the comics. It is believed that Woody Harrelson, who will eventually play fan-favorite Carnage, might be making a small cameo in the film, though this hasn’t been officially confirmed.
If I had to guess, I’d say that we’re going to watch Tom Hardy “become” Venom by fighting Riot, and then get treated to a post-credits scene of Woody Harrelson in a jail cell, being infected by a red-tinged symbiote.
This begs the question, why wait? We’ve been watching cinematic universes form and quickly die for years now, and I think the audience is getting pretty sick of origin stories which serve as little more than a lengthy trailer for a more interesting narrative, usually involving popular villains facing off against now-established characters. Post-credits scenes have become a promise: “next time we’ll give you what you came for. Just wait.”
Why should we? We all know who Venom is, and if we don’t, it’s really not difficult to catch up – the idea isn’t exactly complicated. I’d love to see a comic-book character introduced in the first five minutes of a film, instead of dragging out yet another origin. And watching Venom face off against his big-name nemesis Carnage, a visually distinct and vicious psychopath that makes the morally ambiguous Venom look like a saint, would be much more exciting than watching Venom fight “Diet-Venom.”
Even Marvel failed when they tried to do something similar with The Incredible Hulk, by setting Hulk up to fight Abomination. Watching the two green giants duke it out wasn’t an interesting situation at all, and just served as a stall for a real challenge somewhere down the line.
Of course, the real problem here is that Spider-Man isn’t around to team up with Venom to take down Carnage – “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” is always an interesting narrative for a superhero flick, and it’s doubtful that we’re ever going to see it in the oddly-titled “Spider-Verse.”
And to be fair, there’s nothing Sony can do about that; the MCU obviously doesn’t want to merge. But I do think they should have set Venom up with an interesting antagonist, if they want to establish sequels. Carnage can always be defeated, and return for a sequel, even if he dies.
Just tease his resurrection in the post-credits sequence.
by Stone Marshall | Aug 6, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Sony's Venom no longer has any major box office competition in October. The studio has bet the house on Venom, which is intended to launch a new shared universe featuring Spider-Man secondary characters. If Venom proves to be a box office success, then viewers can expect other spinoffs such as Morbius, Silver & Black, and Silk. If it doesn't perform well, then Sony's plans could potentially come crashing down. With so much riding on one film, the studio understandably chose a release date with as little competition as possible (no easy task in a year increasingly packed with big-budget tentpoles). Luckily for Venom, however, what little competition there was seems to be slipping away.
The most direct competition was Andy Serkis' Mowgli, a “faithful” adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book. Serkis's pitch is darker than Disney's films, and has a great cast – including the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, and Christian Bale. Unfortunately, it has only been two-and-a-half years since Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book took the world by storm. As a result, Mowgli had long been expected to underperform, and Warner Bros. has taken the unusual step of pulling it from theaters outright. Instead, Mowgli will release straight on to Netflix. For Warner Bros., it avoids the gamble of an expensive theatrical release for a movie with poor prospects, and means they're able to focus marketing on A Star is Born, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and Aquaman.
Mowgli's departure from the box office is very good news for Venom. The film is expected to be a blend of superhero action and classic horror tropes, although it may not actually be R-rated after all; the Sony panel at SDCC suggested the studio is aiming for a PG-13, and producer Avi Arad insisted in a recent interview with Vulture that “Kids love Venom.” If that's the case, then Venom's only real competition for October is Damien Chazelle's First Man, starring Ryan Gosling as Noel Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon. The concepts are so different that they shouldn't affect one another. Halloween is the next major horror, releasing on October 19, but that's going to have a higher age-rating and so shouldn't put too much of a dent in Venom's box office.
In theory, October could yet become a little busier; there are a lot of major releases in December, including the Warner Bros. Aquaman movie. In practice, however, it's too late in the day to push a major release forward to October. The marketing campaigns for the December releases are kicking into gear, with the first Aquaman trailer dropping at San Diego Comic-Con. What's more, major films like that tend to continue post-production until only very close to the theatrical release, so pushing a December release back to October would mean a visual effects rush-job (which Aquaman really can't afford). With that in mind, it's unlikely Venom will find itself facing any increase in competition.
Even with this boost, it remains to be seen whether or not Venom will be a box office hit. Audiences were initially skeptical – especially after the first teaser trailer didn't even show a glimpse of the Venom symbiote. But the first full trailer was moderately well-received, becoming the most-viewed in the entire Spider-Man franchise. Another trailer is expected soon, and hopefully that will be followed up with a strong marketing campaign. Ultimately, though, everything will depend on the quality of the product. In the absence of any real competition, good reviews and positive word-of-mouth will likely make or break this film.
by Stone Marshall | Aug 5, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Superhero movies are everywhere. With the MCU, DC Universe, and X-Men franchise, there's a ton of superheroic properties being released every few months. Sony is now trying to get back into the superhero game, developing a series of films with Spider-Man's supporting characters. The first of these is Venom, which will bring Eddie Brock and his antihero alter ego to the silver screen for the first time since the less than stellar attempt in Spider-Man 3. Joining Tom Hardy's title character is four-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams, playing his love interest Anne Weying. Williams isn't exactly a superhero regular like Zoe Saldana, so why did she sign on? As she recently revealed:
I always like to do things I haven't done before—genres, parts. I like a challenge. And one of those challenges has been stepping into a bigger world.
It looks like Michelle Williams is an actress who like to challenge herself. And what could be more challenging than a Venom movie without Spider-Man? The odds are stacked against Ruben Fleischer's upcoming blockbuster, so only time will tell if Williams made the right call by joining the infant Spider-Verse.
Michelle Williams' comments to Vanity Fair make a great deal of sense, as the actress has been in a ton of different projects throughout the years. This includes big budget CGI wonders like Oz the Great and Powerful, intimate dramas like Brokeback Mountain, horror flicks like H20, and comedies like I Feel Pretty. Williams has never been one to take predictable acting jobs, so playing Anne Weying in Venom is just another way to continue challenging herself.
From the looks of Venom's first trailers, Michelle Williams will mostly be playing a love interest and supporting character in Venom. In addition to her relationship with Eddie Brock, she's also an attorney representing shady Life Foundation, run by Riz Ahmed's Carlton Drake. Anne Weying will likely be the connective tissue between Venom and the Foundation, and will hopefully be able to get into some action of her own by the film's end. With a talent like Williams attached, it would be a waste to keep her on the sidelines.
If Venom ends up being a success, then Michelle Williams' role in the still growing Sony Spider-Verse will likely grow as well. In the comics, Anne Weying ends up eventually bonding with the symbiote herself. After being shot, it temporarily bonded with her to save her life, thus transforming her into She-Venom. This made her far more aggressive and violent, totally flipping the character on its head. This seems like a great storyline to explore in a possible Venom sequel, and will incentivize William to return for another go at Anne.
Venom will hit theaters on October 5th. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
by Stone Marshall | Aug 5, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
Video: When comic book fans think “Venom”, they automatically think “Spider-Man”. That isn’t just because Venom is one of Spider-Man’s most famous villains, it’s also because his comic book origins are tied directly to those of Spider-Man.
However, in Sony’s upcoming movie Venom, the villain is on his own — and we asked the director how that was going to work.
We spoke to director Ruben Fleischer at San Diego Comic-Con about how the focus of Venom is, well, Venom.
“We just focused on making the best Venom movie that we could possibly make and tried to be true to the nature of Venom in the comics,” Fleischer said. “As far as the origin, that’s already been portrayed on screen before and so we wanted to make a new movie with an original story.”
Fleischer also told us which comic book runs most influenced the film (Lethal Protector, Planet of the Symbiotes) as well as movies (An American Werewolf in London). Watch it above and read more about what happened Venom-wise at Comic-Con here.
Venom opens October 4.
by Stone Marshall | Aug 4, 2018 | Awesome Book News, Free, Intro, Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, news, parent-news, State of Stone, Stone Marshall Book News, Stone Marshall Books, Stone Marshall Club, Stone Marshall Minecraft Adventures, Uncategorized |
COMME des GARÇONS has just released a new selection of tote bags, currently available at Dover Street Market New York, Dover Street Market London, and COMME des GARÇONS Chelsea.
Released under the brand’s SHIRT label, the bags come optioned in paper and plastic, featuring silver CDG branding against a black backdrop. Multicolored artwork then livens up the accessory, which boasts a nod to X-Files and Minecraft‘s Creeper enemies.
Again, you can find the new COMME des GARÇONS SHIRT tote bags at Dover Street Market New York, Dover Street Market London, and COMME des GARÇONS Chelsea.
In other style news, Gosha Rubchinskiy’s PACCBET just debuted a new collection.
