The importance of Stan Lee to the history of comic books and superheroes cannot be overstated. Lee was so influential, writers to this day may be borrowing from his storytelling style without even knowing it.
Some of the topics discussed include how, instead of the mega-hero like Superman, Stan Lee gave the world the “flawed hero”. He also was able to provide social commentary on the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s through The X-Men comics. And, of course, Stan popularized the “shared universe” where what happens in one title might affect characters in another title. All of these things are so commonplace in comics and movies today that people may not even realize that the very basis of The Marvel Cinematic Universe was brought to us by Stan Lee in the Silver Age of Marvel.
Here is the image of Stan from the 1970s that is discussed in the show
This episode of Geekville Radio is dedicated to the memory of Gary Kurtz. Who, with the exception of George Lucas himself, may be the man most responsible for Star Wars getting made.
RIP Gary Kurtz
He will obviously best known for Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back, but he did have other titles to his credit. He also produced George’s first big hit, 1973’s American Graffiti, along with 1989’s Slipstream starring Mark Hamill and the late great Bill Paxton.
RIP Scott Wilson
Scott Wilson is probably best known to the current generation as Hershel in The Walking Dead. He was a regular series cast member in the first couple seasons. He also voiced Hershel for video game releases, and Robot Chicken. Hs career dates back to the mid 1960’s, and his first credited role according to IMDB is the original In The Heat Of The Night
Both Iron Fist and Luke Cage have been canceled by Netlfix
While it may not be surprising just for Iron Fist, fans were a little shocked at the cancellation of both Iron Fist and Luke Cage by Netflix. Both shows were well received, with Iron Fist almost universally praised as being a huge improvement over the first season. Especially when it comes to Finn Jones and fight choreography.
The big question is “Why both shows?”. Seth and Train can really only speculate, but there are a few possible reasons. Could this mean a Heroes For Hire show? Or even a Daughters Of The Dragon? And if so would it be for Netflix or Disney? Is it in either Netflix’s or Disney’s best interests to keep shows on Netflix, and not move them to Disney’s streaming service? And if they are Disney bound, than theoretically they could cross over with Agents Of SHIELD, another show that is rumored to move to Disney either next year or the year after.
On a side note, Seth and Train point out how Luke Cage can be considered the ‘White Meat Babyface” of the Netflix Marvel programming.
Kathleen Kennedy’s contract with LucasFilm has been renewed
The only Star Wars movie currently in production is Episode IX. It will be the final “Episode”, and it will be marketed as such. There will be the aforementioned films by Game Of Thrones creators. Plus the Rian Johnson trilogy is still in development. So there will be no shortage of Star Wars on the big screen, despite the reported dialing back on films
One title that is absent from this list is the rumored Obi-Wan Kenobi film. We had reported a few months back that the film was set to begin filming in Ireland after Episode IX had wrapped. Just because that movie wasn’t mentioned, doesn’t necessarily mean that it is dead in the water.
When you look at the past films under her watch, several films did have some bumps along the way.
Rogue One went through a direction change, with Tony Gilroy taking over to adjust what Gareth Edwards had done. However Edwards maintained Director credit.
Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were outright fired from Solo and Ron Howard was hired to almost completely re-shoot the film. When you factor that in, it’s amazing it still made its release deadline.
Colin Trevorrow left Episode IX and got replaced by JJ
It seems the only movies that DIDN’T have troubles were with Abrams and Johnson.
Jon Favreau’s Series
In other Star Wars news, Jon Favreau’s series The Mandalorianhas begun filming. It of course will be one of the flagship shows on Disney’s upcoming streaming service, now called Disney Play.
While no cast or characters have been announced, the premise will be a few years after Return of The Jedi, but well before The Force Awakens. There will be no First Order as of yet.
On the subject of Disney, Hollywood Reporter has also stated Kevin Feige will be overseeing future X-Men movies with the Disney purchase of Fox. Disney’s Bob Iger gave some key answers to questions about Fox-owned properties in the MCU
I think it only makes sense,” Iger said. “I want to be careful here because of what’s been communicated to the Fox folks, but I think they know. It only makes sense for Marvel to be supervised by one entity. There shouldn’t be two Marvels.
When asked about talent
Very good question. We’re going to take the best people from both companies and that’s who’s gonna basically be on the playing field for us. Meaning, talent will prevail. Fox Searchlight is a great example. You look at FX, NatGeo. Yeah, you’re buying libraries and brands, but you’re also buying the people. I’m not gonna talk about specific people right now except to say that I’ve met with virtually the entire senior management team at Fox and I’m not only fully engaged with them on what the possibilities for them might be but I’m excited about the prospects.
It would stand to reason that many of the characters may get re-cast. As much as fans may want it, they probably shouldn’t hold their breath for an onscreen meeting between Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds’s Deadpool.
The Next Spider-Man villain will be Mysterio
Jake Gyllenhaall was officially announced in the cast for Spider-Man Far From Home. He will be portraying Quentin Black, aka Mysterio. This will be the live-action film debut for the longtime Spider-Man villain. It’s also confirmed that Michael Keaton will be reprising the role of Adrian Toombs/Vulture. A leaked set photo shows Gyllenhaal in costume. Sadly, no “Fish Bowl Look”. At least not yet.
WB Crossover will be Elseworlds.
The annual CW “Flarrowverse” crossover will be titled Elseworlds. Entertainment Weekly reports that it will be a three part crossover, not the previous four part.
The Flash will kick it off on Sunday, which will be followed up by Arrow on Monday, and wrapped up with Supergirl on Tuesday. This breaks the previous pattern of Supergirl having the first part in the last two years.
While there will be no regular involvement with the Legends Of Tomorrow cast, it has been revealed that Superman will join in, and Lois Lane will make her debut.
In an unexpected turn, an official internet poster showed Stephen Amell in the Flash costume, and Grant Gustin in the Green Arrow threads.
Also notable is the name Nora Fries in the cast of characters. Nora is of course the ill-fated wife of Victor Fries, aka Mr. Freeze. When you factor that this will also serve as the introduction to Batwoman, it may be an indicator to the premise of the Batwoman series.
Supergirl made a regular habit of taking lesser known villains from Superman lore, and adapting classic Superman stories to fit The Girl Of Steel. Could this mean we’ll see some Batman villains on the small screen for Batwoman? Time will tell.
Finally, Train talks the major news surrounding the release of the long anticipated Read Dead Redemption 2. IGN gave the game a perfect 10 score. An act that is incredibly rare.
Are you in the Halloween spirit yet? If you need anything to scratch your Halloween itch, check out the latest episode of Examining The Dead. Train reviews the movie Train To Busan, and talk the outcome of the Friday The 13th lawsuit. And of course, Dan Wilson talks his new horror themed production company One Good Scare.
You have probably heard of The Phantom, and yes you’ve probably seen him in a newspaper comic strip. But do you truly know the origin of The Phantom? Seth and Crazy Train talk the creation of The Phantom, as well as his origin. Why is the character called The Ghost Who Walks?
A lot of people may not know how long The Phantom has been around. Creator Lee Falk started writing the character in 1936, and continued to write up until his death in 1999. That means he had a 63 year run writing Phantom, which could be a record for longest stint for a writer on a specific character. The Phantom has also been in print regularly since 1936, which is a record for oldest superhero title at 82 years and counting.
If you want to learn more about The Phantom, there is the awesome Phantom Wiki. And check out the good people at Chronicle Chamber, who have a podcast dedicated to all things Phantom!
In case you hadn’t hear, a little independent artsy film was released this past weekend called Avengers: Infinity War. Seth and Crazy Train spend the better part of two hours breaking down the film and talking the full movie. Easter Eggs, trivial knowledge, and differences between the movie and the comics.
To kick off the show Train takes a look at the unprecedented media blitz for the movie. Including the hilarious mashup with The Brady Bunch as it appeared on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon
The main part of the show dives into the plot and ramifications of the story (Yes, this means SPOILERS) and some of the surprising apparent fates of the heroes.
The final segment of the show is devoted to speculation on the future of the MCU, and what might happen in Phase Four.
In some pretty major Star Wars movie news, Hollywood Reporter has announced LucasFilm plans for a standalone Obi-Wan Kenobi film. No writer or star have been attached, but Academy Award nominated director Stephen Daldry is in negotiations to direct the film. Join Seth and Train as they discuss the possibilities of the film, and where this could lead to as far as future standalone movies.
Who would you like to see in their own movie? Boba Fett? Jabba The Hutt? Yoda?
In other Star Wars talk, there has been rampant fan speculation as to whether Han Solo was Force Sentsitive. Train and Seth discuss the possibility, including a pretty rock solid theory by Seth.
The latter half of the show is devoted to reviewing the latest Marvel Netflix series The Defenders. Did it live up to the hype? Did it have a suitable ending? And how awesome was Evil Sigourney Weaver?
Plus, Seth and Train speculate on where the MNU may be heading after Defenders.
All this and more in another fun-filled Geekville Radio!
Examining The Dead is back with a giant sized show for the month of May. There are three segments for the show: The Coroner’s Report (News), The Gruesome Twosome (Reviews and Opinions on two shows or events), and Into The Crystal Ball (Special Topic to talk about)
The Coroner’s Report
iZombie and Lucifer are back. Hear some of the highlights of the new season so far
First up, the 2012 documentary West Of Memphis, which is about the controversy and release of The West Memphis Three.
Second, a rundown of Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s panel, simply titled Negan, at the Heroes & Villains/Walker Stalker Convention in Chicago. There are sound clips with F-Bombs aplenty.
Into The Crystal Ball
The final segment of the show is a discussion on the real life history of The West Memphis Three, with speculation on what is right or wrong about the news reports, and the documentaries. Plus talk on who the real murderer may have been, and subjects not brought up in the documentaries. For further evidence on The West Memphis Three check out The West Memphis Three Case Document Archive.
It can’t be emphasized enough that this is a mature themed podcast. Not just in language but in content. You have been warned.
Theme music: “Martian Cowboy” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
A more personal show this week, as Seth tells Train about two major panels at Wizard World Chicago Comic Con. Namely the Back To The Future and Daredevil panels. What were the favorite lines and scenes of Michael J Fox, Lea Thompson, and Christopher Lloyd’s? What songs would Elektra, Karen Page, and Foggy Nelson sing at late night karaoke? All these questions and more are answered! Plus commentary on some of the amazing cosplay artists, and talk of the new female Iron Man: Ironheart! Not to mention a whole lotta random tomfoolery!
Theme Music: “Adventure Meme” and “Cyborg Ninja”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
