Week of July 15, 2015
In which Apocalypse has always been pretty silly; Cyclops is probably not actually the ‘bad boy’ of the X-Men; Years of Future Past continues to rock; and a lot of Wolverines fight.
REVIEWED:
- X-Men: Apocalypse character reveals (00:20)
- *Years of Future Past #3 (3:04)
- Secret Wars: Battleworld #3 (07:32)
*Pick of the week (10:05)
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Don’t know if you would have picked up Siege #1, but Abigail Brand leads a team that includes the Endless Summers…an army of Scott Summers clones. A lot more entertaining then I expected.
Also, in Angela: Witchhunter #1 we see the most ignominious Wolverine death ever.
To anyone who happens to read the comments first, for some reason, SILENT HILL SPOILERS AT THE END OF THIS VIDEO.
Erm, at least it sounded like. Sorta? I’ve not been able to play the games but it sounds like a spoiler warning is warranted. Apologies if I got that wrong.
I was really really excited about the Reverend Nightcrawler. Partially because Inferno has given us THAT version of Nightcrawler(wow, I’m really mindful of spoilers today. Am I overthinking this?), so it’s interesting to see that Secret Wars gives us both ends of the spectrum, but mostly because of a throwaway line from Inferno, when Kurt talks of his faith in Doom.
It’s a running Secret Wars joke, replacing “God” with “Doom”(I’ve even started saying Doomdammit whenever possible, which is remarkably more satisfying), but it got me really, really curious as to how faith would operate in a world where you know EXACTLY who god is and can place a very specific shiny metal face to him. It was really nice being able to get a larger glimpse into that, with Kurt, to see an alternate universe’s Christianity. Is it odd I want more of that? Perhaps one of the anthology SW stories’ll give me a glimpse of that.
For a 14-year-old game? Yeah, no.
To clarify: the ending we talk about is a joke/parody ending that doesn’t have anything to do with the plot. We definitely wouldn’t spoil any of the real endings of the game. 🙂
I like Battleworld’s very literal take on religion too. It’s strange and fascinating, exactly as everything in Secret Wars should be.
Well. Except that it’s a 14-year-old game, and the subject of a huge volume of critical and public discussion, including its ending. There has to be a reasonable statute of limitations, or a point after which it can reasonably understood that leaving twists pristine and unturned will no longer be the first priority of commentators.
This is a subject that’s come up at at every publication I’ve written for, and I feel SO strongly about it, especially as it applies on this site. We try to be very sensitive to spoilers and spoiler warnings as they pertain to significant reveals in newly released work, but there has to be a line. We’ve gotten angry e-mails for “spoiling” details previously revealed in press releases and official solicitations. Ultimately, we are a review and commentary site focused on media. It’s what we do, and I think there are certain reasonable conclusions regarding our own content that can and should be read into that scope without needing to be spelled out.
Understood, and I apologize.
No worries! And sorry for going a bit soapbox-y there!
I could see being a bit disappointed in Apocalypse’s design if you were really invested in X-men being the more grounded super hero film franchise (that still involves time-travel and magnets being able to do anything). However, claiming that Apocalypse’s design isn’t true to comics is just… silly. He doesn’t translate exactly, but I don’t think anyone could reasonably expect that. I for one, am glad that the X-men movies seem to have taken a cue from the Avengers line of movies, it’s okay to have people dressed in stupid costumes. People will still go see it, and take the movie seriously if it’s good.
Miles, there’s something about you today that makes me wonder if I can trust you. Can’t quite put my finger on it.
Gotta say, I’m not familiar with Devil Dinosaur at all, but he does make Planet Hulk awesome just by being there. Could well be true. Well, that and Hulk everything, obviously.
Ok, I know that the Apocalypse of the comics looks like the accidental offspring of Plastic Man, a Transformer and a circus clown. Moreover, Oscar Isaac is a great actor and the costume itself is pleasingly ornate. But the overall effect of the ensemble and makeup is a diminutive, bloated, ‘smooshed” look that — yes — resembles Ooze and some of Dr. Who’s lesser villains. Apocalypse is meant to have an imposing stature, if nothing else. But given that everything else I’m seeing in Xmen photos, especially Mohawk Storm, so I’m going to give Singer the benefit of the doubt.
I love Devil Dinosaur too, although the comic missed the opportunity to reboot Moon Boy. I want a superteam consisting of Devil Dinosaur, Zabu, Lockjaw and Lockheed.
Jubilee’s costume design is so, so amazing, but I’m not sure we can call it “perfect” until she gets new earrings…
30 Wolverines agree. You can’t pay too much for a good pair of shoes.