Gone Girl Review

Despite Hollywood – for some bizarre reason – seemingly finding it impossible to come up with any original ideas that don’t include remakes, reboots, books or comics adaptations, Gone Girl is a unfortunately not exempt from that list… However, it does break away from the dismal mould of poor adaptations and slips nicely into a sharp, clever social commentary.

Based on the book by the same name, Gone Girl provides the viewer with an exciting and somewhat disturbing look at dishonesty, appearances, the effects of the media and the institution of marriage and relationships. The mystery-thriller, that was directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network), was a brilliant choice to take control and helm this adaptation; really making the film his own in terms of vision and structure.

Gone Girl is an intricately well-thawed out and layered narrative experience, with an intriguing mystery at its core that unearths the secrets at the heart of a modern marriage. On the occasion of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne (Affleck), who now lives a quiet life in the suburbs of Missouri, reports that his beautiful wife, Amy (Pike), has gone missing. Under pressure from the police and a growing interest from the public thanks to an uncontrollable media frenzy, Nick’s portrait of a blissful union begins to crumble. Soon his lies, deceits and strange behaviour have everyone asking the same dark question: Did Nick Dunne kill his wife?

Ben Affleck as Nick Dunne trying to find his wife.

The film utilises the use of the flashback technique to advance and flesh out the story and the characters superbly. Ben Affleck, who to some remains as a controversial actor in some of his roles (being casted as the new Batman, anyone?) takes the role of a struggling, distant and awkward husband and delivers an exceptional performance throughout. From the continual character development to the sudden outbursts of a range of motions, Affleck takes the laidback yet troubled Nick Dunne as he deals with the accusations of murdering his wife causing the audience to switch back and forth between empathy and suspicion as the events unfold. Throughout the film, you continually question his temperament by asking the same question: is he a victim or is he a complete sociopath?

His performance is only elevated by the talented Rosamund Pike, who portrays the missing “girl” in question, his wife Amy Dunne. Her character arc is essentially the main plot thread of the entire film, which is something Pike adapts to and makes her own in a never ending exploration of the perks and worries that comes with any long term relationship. The contrasting emotions of the two, when on screen together, help to paint the picture of the potential struggles of relationships in the modern era.

With any good film that has strong and convincing leads, it helps to have a talented supporting cast. Gone Girl has Neil Patrick Harris playing the somewhat creepy, rich and spoilt ex-boyfriend of Amy Dunne, Desi Collings. Tyler Perry plays the contrasting character as the nonchalant and arrogant attorney of Nick Dunne, Tanner Bolt. But the most impressive performance is perhaps by Carrie Coon, who plays Nick Dunne’s twin sister, Margo. Coon provides a solid platform for Affleck to work off from and gives a further insight to his character and their family’s past.

The script is one of the noticeable high points of the film, something that is becoming harder to find in many of today’s blockbusters, and this could be down to the fact that the author of the book, Gillian Flynn had the opportunity to write the screenplay herself. With this, it helped to grab the essence of the book while making it an entirely different entity in itself.

Who's telling the truth then...?

The focus of media exploitation and manipulation of appearances is something that Fincher unravels throughout the film, something that is a major theme throughout the book as well. He takes the fickle opinions of popular news culture and that alone helps to set out the story, supplying the next thread to follow. What makes Gone Girl an enticing film for the casual movie-goers all the way to the raging cinephiles wanting to see it is the fact that it is not a completely straight forward mystery-thriller, with a heavy focus on character development.

Gone Girl is another noteworthy cinematic experience from David Fincher, something that encapsulates the feel and themes of the novel that are portrayed expertly onto the big screen, with its cast really standing out in their respective roles as the ugly side of love rears its head into a memorable movie viewing. Perhaps one of the more memorable – albeit a little disturbing – films of the year that is worth that trip to the cinema.

 

9/10.

TV Shows Cancelled Before Their Time

Nothing lasts forever.

Yes, I know, a rather woeful start but I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s applicable to the world of television. Throughout the calendar year, we see countless shows that fall under the axe of TV networks. If, like me, that the debris of multiple mid-season finales over the last few months are still causing you to squeal and throw your fists in a sea of raging tantrums, then this can only be seen as a good thing for your favourite shows; it at least means that people are tuning in to keep the show on the air to create big twists.

Other shows have not been so lucky… Over the years, you might come across a rare gem of a show and to you, it’s perfect. It has everything you wanted in a show. But then a few months later, you find out that the network that aired it have cancelled the show. They cancelled it?!!

…But let’s be honest, you could be one of those few people who only liked that show and it is probably rubbish, hence why they cancelled it.

Too harsh? Well clearly you haven’t taken a step back and

witnessed some of the drivel that is on TV, aside from the talentless reality shows and fake, monotonous talent shows… wait, do I have that the right way round?


ABC's Selfie, that was cancelled not long after it started. No surprise there...

Either way, this year saw shows like Utopia on FOX (a social experiment where random people were placed in a ‘utopic’ space to see how they’d get along with each other) or Karen Gillan in ABC’s Selfie (a rom-com series about… well…) Because who thought that these were good ideas for TV shows?!

But there are times when these “all-knowing” TV networks get it completely wrong and cancel a show that is, in fact, perfect. To millions. A show that has every aspect crafted with perfectly with meticulous detail.

Sometimes, they’ll blame budget cuts, forcing the show off the air. Others, they just don’t like and don’t care too much about it; they then take this show and air it either out of order or at irregular timeslots or they just stop airing it altogether!

Sometimes the Network Gods really know how to push my buttons… But just humour me and read on, I’ll show you, on numerous occasions, where these “omnipotent” network executives have gotten it oh so very wrong.

Let’s start with FOX. Ha! FOX…So many things can be said about the handling of their programming and their incompetence in managing a network, but I digress. Last year, you may have missed it, thanks to their complete disregard for the show – airing it on random days and even out of order – Almost Human hit the air waves.

The cast of futuristic sci-fi police procedural Almost Human.

Set in 2048, Almost Human starred Dredd actor Karl Urban as police officer John Kennex, who wakes up from a 17-month coma without his girlfriend, his partner and without one of his legs. Surviving a catastrophic attack on the police department and now outfitted with a highly sophisticated synthetic appendage – along with depression, trauma on-set OCD and PTSD – Kennex is persuaded to come back to work. As all cops are required to work with a robot, Kennex must overcome his aversion to androids and get accustomed to his new partner: a discontinued android with unexpected emotional responses.

The tagline for the show.

What set this show apart from the other mundane police procedurals that clog our justice system of television were the outstanding special effects, perhaps thanks to producer J.J.Abrams, and the onscreen chemistry between Urban and Michael Ealy, who plays the new robot partner Kennex is paired with. The storylines of the episodes were well-crafted and meticulously planned as well as believable, given it was set in the future. The downfall of this show however was that FOX had failed to air the episodes in order and not to mention taking long and frequent breaks from airing them.

But they didn’t stop there. A short-lived summer comedy by the name of Surviving Jack aired last year that, set with a nostalgic 90’s vibe, followed Jack Dunlevy, an ex-military man and no-nonsense guy who becomes a full-time parent when his wife decides to go to law school. He takes an unorthodox approach to keeping his teenagers, Frankie and Rachel, in line.

Any kid born in the nineties would not only adore this show for its visual appreciation but the humour of the show is something that is hard to come; the jokes were well-timed, witty and well delivered by each of its actors. But because of irregular time slots and not even airing the final episode, FOX pulled the plug on another great show.

 

Why FOX?!

 

Yet this wasn’t the first time that they had thrown away something so precious. I’m sure you’ve heard of Firefly. Oh you haven’t? THAT’S BECAUSE FOX CANCELLED IT!

Another short-lived cult phenomenon that, set in the future, explores the lives of a group of people who fought on the losing side of a civil war and others who now make a living on the fringe of society, as part of the pioneer culture that exists on the fringes of their star system.

I’ve tried to understand why this show was cancelled but I… just… can’t.

So let’s move away from the abysmal decision-making and the past blunders of FOX to a more reputable network. Let’s go with HBO; the home of The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, True Detective and Game of Thrones. Surely a pedigree network such as this couldn’t have made mistakes like that of *eurgh* FOX?

Rome wasn't built in a day... yet that didn't stop HBO cancelling the show before it was at its best.

Before the days of Spartacus and Game of Thrones, HBO had another hit show called Rome. But Rome’s demise was in fact felled by its own doing. Because of the complex expense of the production, HBO had to make the decision on the second and third season at the same time. HBO ordered a second and declined to order a third – a decision they must have regretted when season two debuted to a better reception than the first (with a few Emmy nominations as well). By the time the network realized its mistake, it was too late since it had already released the actors, who’d moved on to other things. Still, Rome was a real game-changer that helped pave the way for Game of Thrones, Spartacus, The Borgias and The Tudors to name a few.

But this wasn’t the first thread to be cut short by HBO; Deadwood, a drama about wrangling the West into shape included a cast as big as a small, uncivilized frontier town. But Deadwood ended before the West was truly won, and even creator David Milch’s empty promise of a series of TV movies to accompany the show wasn’t enough to stop the cancellation of a nostalgia-hitting phenomenon.

Keeping with the theme of shows that helped pave the way for hit shows today is none other than CBS’s Jericho.

The apocalypse wasn’t nearly as hot in 2006 as it is today in shows like AMC’s The Walking Dead and (the now cancelled) NBC show Revolution – Don’t worry, we’ll get to NBC shortly. A fervent fan-base saved the series from becoming a one-season wonder by mailing CBS execs 20 tonnes of nuts (a nod to a quote on the show by Skeet Ulrich’s Jake Green), but consistent lackluster ratings in season 2 forced the “all-seeing” Eye (get it, because CBS’s logo is an eye…forget it) to pull the plug after seven episodes. But that didn’t stop Lennie James from playing mysterious characters in post-apocalyptic shows, first in Jericho and now he portrays Morgan Jones in The Walking Dead.

 

Now before I bore you to death with too much pessimism and over-the-top-pent-up anger issues with certain television networks, let me tell you about the “home of comedy” that is NBC.

Before the turn of the century, back in 1999, NBC had a revolutionary show in Judd Apatow’s Dramedy Freaks & Geeks. The show that starred James Franco, Seth Rogen, Linda Cardellini and Jason Segel would be an instantaneous hit today with names like that attached.

a young stellar cast graced the show Freaks & Geeks.

But this was unfortunately not the case. Freaks & Geeks emphasized the struggles of teenagers and the transitions they take as it follows the lives of Lindsay Weir (Cardellini) and her younger brother Sam and their relationships with their new friends, as well as the friction they cause with their parents. One central strand of the show is Lindsay’s own self-image from a star academic to a troubled slacker; the other follows Sam and his group of geeky friends as they navigate a different part of the social universe.

The inconvenient truth of this is that they pulled the plug on a show that was so hard-hitting and undercut expertly by well-timed comedy, it had the potential to set NBC apart from the rest… As did Community.

Community is an American sitcom that follows a group of students at a community college in the fictional and dysfunctional locale of Greendale. The series heavily uses meta-humour and popular culture references, often parodying other films and television clichés and tropes. The show also holds many familiar and famous faces in its main cast, along the likes of Ken Jeong, Alison Brie, Johnathan Banks, Joel McHale, Donald Glover and many others.

But this summer, NBC decided to pull the plug after five illustrious seasons, even with a cult following bigger than Firefly; the tagline fans had “Six Seasons and a Movie” was just not what NBC wanted for some reason…


Time to grab the books and get studying; Community is here to stay!

But before things slipped into the “darkest timeline”, there is always that beacon of light. And much like the Beacons of Gondor, the Beacons of Television have been lit to warn television networks that something big is coming; online subscription services. Yahoo!, keen to get their online service up and running revived the innovative show that is Community for another season. Let’s hope the season pays off and the movie shortly follows!

But this is not the first time that ground-breaking shows have been saved by the internet. Arrested Development, which had its plug pulled by FOX – why even bother with this network – will be seeing a revival on the online conglomerate that is Netflix.

So while we’ve seen the demise of some exceptionally great shows, with the constant growth of online networks, it’s quite possible that some shows will start to make the jump and move with the times… especially with television networks continually making blunders like the ones above, what do you expect.

Nightcrawler Review

After a somewhat lacklustre summer for major blockbusters in terms of originality, the winter seems to be providing us with what we needed. After the release of films such as Fury, Interstellar and The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler slots neatly into the mix of these outstanding cinematic experiences.


Set in Los Angeles, Louis Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) survives by scavenging and petty theft. He quickly stumbles on to a new career and the world of “nightcrawling” – a nocturnal profession where freelance video crews roam the city, striving to be the first to shoot up-close-and-personal footage of crime scenes, vehicle collisions, and other assorted tragedies, which can then be sold to the highest bidding local news station. Armed with a camcorder and police scanner, Lou proves that he has the determination and the perfect temperament necessary to strive at this profession and sniff out the shocking and grisly crimes of LA.

 

As Lou wrestles his way towards the top of this cut-throat business, he goes to increasingly greater lengths to catch the “money shot” and secure that bigger pay-check. Director Dan Gilroy demonstrates an uncommon assurance within its audience in his directorial debut. As well as this, he creates an audacious neo-noir thriller with constant tonal shifts and outstanding performances from its cast.

Gyllenhall with Rene Russo

Jake Gyllenhaal provides a chilling performance, constantly hiding behind a hollow smile and an articulate demeanor to trick others into believing him. The performance is unbelievably captivating and unnerving; one that would be a crime to not be considered come awards time with Gyllenhaal deserving every bit of praise for his almost psychotic portrayal of the character.

 Nightcrawler also acts as an effective insight – although troubling – into social commentary and the sharp critique of contemporary social issues. The film focuses a lot of its attention with the media’s exploitation of assorted tragedies as entertainment and the demand for it in our contemporary society. It is however amplified and then presented as a dark and disturbing tale about a ghoulish protagonist who prospers by abandoning any moral qualms he might have with the corrupt system and the consequent effects. But there is still truth to the film.

Despite the social commentary, the visual aspect of the film is almost breathtaking. With shots of LA at night creating an eerily accurate setting for the narrative unfolding of Lou Bloom, the film takes a nice blend of a true thriller mixed with an element of horror and action to create a neo-noir phenomenon.

Lou Bloom losing his marbles

Nightcrawler would be worth seeing just for Jake Gyllenhaal, whose performance carries the film to its worthy position as one of the best films of the year. But it’s also a gripping and entertaining dive into a nocturnal world of ruthless opportunism and dark secrets, accompanied with an enthralling supporting cast acting as the voices of reason, an enticing soundtrack and a refreshingly corrosive satire on moral responsibility.

 

9/10

Interstellar Review

The space shuttle Endurance

Coming from the minds of one of the most prestigious directors and writers that the 21^st Century has had the privilege to witness, Christopher Nolan continues to strike gold with his new film Interstellar.

Having grossed over $3.5 billion worldwide from his previous films as director (including The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception and Memento), Interstellar had quite a reputation to live up to. Starring Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey, Interstellar is a science-fiction adventure that follows a team of space travellers who journey through a wormhole in search of a new habitable planet to escape the demise of planet Earth.

Much like other Nolan blockbusters, Interstellar provides the viewer with a special effects masterpiece, this time in the form of an intergalactic visual spectacle. After being consulted by an Kip Thorne, a theoretical physicist who was there to ensure the depictions of wormholes and relativity were as accurate as possible, the scenes of a wormhole may not be wholly accurate (as you cannot actually see a what it looks like anyway) but the cosmic scenes within the film are enough to wow the audience, that is, if the cast and storyline hasn’t done so already.

Nolan’s films are mainly rooted in philosophical and sociological concepts and ideals, exploring human morality, the construction of time and the malleable nature of memory and personal identity. Interstellar does this expertly through the experimentation of metafictive elements, solipsistic perspectives, nonlinear storytelling and the relationship between visual language and narrative construction that permeate throughout the entire film.

With an excellent cast supporting McConaughey (Michael Caine, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and Matt Damon), the film really starts to hit home about morality when highlighting the relationship between Cooper and Murph (McConaughey and Chastain respectively).

A trip through time and space

Without giving too much away, Interstellar is a fantastic film to add to the Nolan Collection and a nice alternative to the constant remakes, reboots and adaptations currently plaguing our cinema screens. A highly recommended film, even for people who are not a fan of sci-fi, this is one of the best films of the year… just be prepared for a convoluted storyline that will really only make sense by the end of the film.

 

10/10

Destiny Game Review

Destiny has some of the most amazingly ethereal backdrops for a game

When it comes to creating something memorable and enticing, something to blow people out of the water, like a new game, there’s certain standards and protocols that have been set in our media-saturated world and now must be reached by every new release. The standard ranges from the level of graphics, the gameplay and of course the multiplayer platform. A game like Destiny seems to nearly tick every one of those boxes and more.

Destiny may be a brand new game, yet the concept is very similar – an ancient science-fiction mythology-based post-apocalyptic storyline that’s accompanied by heroes and villains… where the villains happen to be these creepy sentient alien-like creatures. Nothing like the Halo, Fallout and Resistance game franchises or films like War of the Worlds, Edge of Tomorrow, Pacific Rim, Oblivion or even I Am Legend. No, haven’t seen *anything* like this before…

 

Set 700 years in a post-apocalyptic future following an age of exploration, peace and technological advancement, the human race has colonised planets within the solar system and the far reaches of space. An event known as “the Collapse” saw the mysterious dissolution of all these colonies and leaving mankind precariously balanced on the brink of extinction. The only known survivors of the human race are those living on earth in The Last City, which was saved by “The Traveler”, a giant, white, spherical celestial body whose appearance centuries before had enabled mankind to reach the stars and new technological feats.

A Guardian that watches over The Last City. Literally.

The Traveler now hovers above The Last City and its presence allows the Guardians – no, not Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – who are the defenders of the city, to wield an unknown power of skill to fight off the hostile alien races who are encroaching the city. The player, who controls a Guardian of their choosing, has to work on reviving the Traveler, destroying the alien invaders and saving the human race.

Despite the idea of the game being remarkably similar to a lot of other media releases that we’ve seen in the last decade, Destiny has its own distinct take on the genre in terms of gaming. The entirety of the first-person shooter, story missions included, takes place in a constantly evolving online world, dubbed as one of the first “shared-world shooters”. As well as the standard need for online multiplayer that many gamers now look for, the game provides a much more consistent matchmaking entity that differs from other massively multiplayer online (MMO) games and creates a more natural experience in either cooperative or competitive multiplayer modes.

The fact that the entire story takes place in this online world is one of Destiny’s most intriguing aspects. As you play the core story missions, you are accompanied by your very own companion known as The Ghost, a robot AI that is voiced by the celebrated Game of Thrones star and fan favourite Tyrion Lannister, A.K.A Peter Dinklage.

The graphics may not be as up-to-scratch as other recent games – on a Playstation 3 at least – and, while definitely nowhere near as spellbindingly beautiful as The Last of Us or Grand Theft Auto V, it is the vast backdrops that really catch your eye. The futuristic setting of the solar system has allowed the developers to experiment and explore a world of desolated planets in an advanced post-apocalyptic future, leaving you in a sense of awe and wonder about the cosmos.

Guardians in action against some of the enemies of the Darkness

This is accompanied by an ethereal-like soundtrack which, to some, might not be all that enticing yet it fits almost perfectly throughout the game. From travelling between planets to fighting off an army that rose from the deepest depths of the darkness, the soundtrack intertwines nicely between scenarios.

But what about the actual gameplay? You start off with having the choice of three different advanced races, all Guardians: Titans, Warlocks and Hunters; each with their own set of advantages. From there on, you are born from “the light” where you spend the entirety fighting off the armies of The Darkness. Yes. It is that literal. The game acts like any other online shooter; the higher level you are the more weapons armour and perks will become available to you, rewarding the countless hours you will no doubt be clocking over the next few months.

The three different types of Guardians you can play as

With some nice added play features and an upgrade system, the game runs smoothly in an online world. Along with the standard PvP matches and story missions, there are Strike missions which team you up with other players of a similar ability (or level) to take down a specific target… and the countless respawning of their minions. These side-missions, along with a number of bounties – yes, so you can finally take the mantle of Boba Fett, hunting enemies across the galaxy for prizes (…Star Wars? No?) – are just another of extremely handy ways to level up quickly.

These will be a welcomed aspect to take on as you progress mainly because of the repetitive nature of the story missions. While they are still enjoyable, they become rather predictable very early on with the only difference being a new location and a different enemy.

Despite the price of Destiny being in excess of £50 and the obvious flaws you will find throughout the game there is no stopping it from being enjoyable and somewhat beautiful to play. The Shared-World Shooter provides endless hours of entertainment and a constant online-mode that will relight that competitive spark within you if the lethargic missions start to take their toll, that is.

So is it worth getting? If you love games like Halo and live for online modes then you should really have this game by now but it really isn’t as much of a defining game as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare or The Last of Us. While it shouldn’t really be categorised in that “best games ever” league, Destiny has starting something incredible and should be recognised for that along with its endless entertaining hours of gameplay. It’s a great game… but far from perfect.

 

8/10.

The Age of Cinematic Superheroes

Back in 2008, when Marvel Studios released their first film Iron Man with their first post-credit scene, it spawned the dawn of a new era in cinematic history; the Age of Superheroes & cinematic universes never before seen (an argument can be made for the first X-Men Trilogy back in the early 2000s, but I digress). This year, after nearly two decades of having our pallets gradually taste the coming epoch, we have finally reached a level of comic book stardom that everyone wants a piece of.

 

It wasn’t that long ago that I wrote a piece about the emerging Shared Universe Syndrome sweeping across Hollywood, pinpointing specifically the comic-book genre as well as others.

Marvel have undoubtedly set the bar extremely high with their current shared and established line-up (of ten films!) within their shared cinematic universe, most recently with their cosmic Avengers the Guardians of the Galaxy receiving their first outing and origin; a review for which you can find here. Now FOX, Sony and Warner Bros. are all slowly piecing together their attempts at creating a cleverly intertwined cinematic network of films established in their own particular universe.

It’s all becoming a little complicated and over-saturated to follow with so many recent announcements, no? So how about I expand and explain the individual universes, their slate of films and “un-complicate” it a little:

[SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE ARTICLE FOR THE FULL LIST OF COMIC BOOK FILMS BETWEEN NOW AND 2020]

Marvel Studios

Before the start of the San Diego Comic-Con this year, something where you can find highlights for here, Marvel stunned fans and studios alike by releasing a slate of nine unannounced films up to 2020, after the official Ant-Man property:

The Avengers: Age of Ultron – May 1, 2015

Ant-Man – July 17, 2015 

         Captain America 3 – May 6, 2016

         Unannounced film – July 8, 2016

         Unannounced film – May 5, 2017 

         Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – July 28, 2017

         Unannounced film – November 3, 2017

         Unannounced film – May 4, 2018

         Unannounced film – July 6, 2018

         Unannounced film – November 2, 2018

         Unannounced film – May 3, 2019

Without any official announcements yet regarding what the other films could be, it is purely speculation of what the upcoming slate of films might be, something that I have also looked into with my Marvel Phases 3-5 theories and possible routes the conglomerate Marvel Studios might take.

The Avengers reunite again in 2015

Sony

Sony has no doubt had an unprecedented uphill battle to contend with against fans and critics alike. Coming off only a few years after Sam Raimi’s Spiderman trilogy, Sony decided to reboot the classic webslinger in the form of The Amazing Spiderman, taking an alternate origin and route to the character.

This year saw the release of The Amazing Spiderman 2, which while being enjoyable and frankly welcoming to see Andrew Garfield on screen with Emma Stone again, was almost butchered by critics (even with its flaws, I personally enjoyed it). Said to be the Iron Man 2 of the Spidey-verse – as in, it sacrificed a well thought out story/characters for world building – TAS2 at least opened the door for other Spiderman films and spinoffs.

Trying to stand apart from the competition at hand (as frankly, with a rather limited scope to go into they really have no choice) Sony is now plotting the release of a full villain team up, in the form of the Sinister Six, as well as a female lead movie (still unannounced) set to reach our screens by 2017. Not to mention a Venom movie planned at some point down the line accompanied with other instalments of TAS story line.

The upcoming Spidey-verse movie dates are:

The Sinister Six – November 11, 2016

Unannounced Female Lead Spiderman film – TBA, 2017 

         The Amazing Spiderman 3 – TBA, 2018

Unannounced Venom film – TBA, 2018

FOX

FOX on the other hand, used to hold the monopoly on Marvel superhero films back in the early noughties with their X-Men trilogy and their Fantastic Four films. While rather quickly falling behind with few releases few and far between (A few Wolverine films as well as the X-Men: First Class) it seems they played their biggest hand yet this summer with the release of the epic X-Men: Days of Future Past.

 

As well as filling in some of the gaps, DOFP also raised further questions

Undoubtedly their biggest film to date (and the superhero film to have the largest budget to date) FOX reunited most of the cast of the original X-Men films with the semi-reboot/remake of the First Class film, threw them altogether into one big pot, and added a dash of time travel to make a film of epic proportions, Days of Future Past.

The scale and scope of this film was so large and a rather complicated concept, FOX, Singer and Co. managed to make it a success as well as coherent enough to tie up the loose ends left from the original trilogy and connect it together with the reboot.

With the big bad villain Apocalypse teased at the post-credits scene of DOFP, FOX are clearly on their way to creating a cinematic universe to rival that of Marvel’s. As well as this, Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four reboot has recently finished filming, ready for a summer 2015 release date. With a younger cast and a different take on the FF team, perhaps a crossover between the Fantastic Four and the X-Men is in the at some point down the line…

Fantastic Four – June 19, 2015

X-Men: Apocalypse – May 27, 2016

         The Wolverine 2 – March 3, 2017

Fantastic Four 2 – July 14, 2017

Unannounced FOX superhero film – July 7, 2018

Let’s just hope that FOX announce another date in order to make a long awaited Deadpool movie, especially since test footage of the character from a few years ago leaked online last week to such a positive response from fans of the comic.

Deadpool approves of this post!

 The only way for Comic book movies to stand out nowadays is that they have to be different. Take The Guardians of The Galaxy; that team up brought a new and interesting twist on superhero films (showing that comedy can work) and with Sony planning to change the game a little as well, perhaps a Deadpool film could happen. The Merc with a Mouth could be a real game changer if it was an R-Rated movie with lots of violence. It has technically worked with Karl Urban’s Judge Dredd film, Dredd, which has gathered a massive cult following. The fans are there and would no doubt pay for a true Deadpool film, but this might just be one crazy fan who wants it to happen…

Warner Bros.

After Comic-Con, where WB revealed the official look of Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman for the upcoming Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice film, last night they also released NINE extra dates up to 2020, as well as bumping up the release of BVS in order to avoid a Box Office clash with Marvel’s Captain America 3.

The release of these dates has place WB squarely into the middle of the fight for supremacy at the Box Office and to show that they’re not messing around anymore. Unfortunately, we still have to wait until 2016 till we get our next fill of DC heroes.

That being said, it doesn’t mean that we can’t speculate. With actors like Jason Mamoa and Dwayne Johnson teasing to fans that they might be playing the roles of Aquaman and Shazam respectively, it almost throws the upcoming dates into a well of confusion.

There are countless rumours that BVS and the long awaited Justice League movie are planning to shoot back-to-back, meaning that the other slot in 2016 could be Justice League movie. As well as this, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has made it clear that he wants to direct/write and perhaps star in a Sandman film only adds fuel to the fire of what WB have up their sleeves for their expanding universe.

Moreover, WB have more or less indicated that their film universe and their TV universe (The Flash & Arrow, The CW’s big hitters with Arrow having a huge following) will in fact be separate. This comes as a bit of a disappointment seeing as the TV shows fit in nicely with the current DC themes within their films and would work as an excellent platform to bring the two into the Justice League film without having to release an origin story for both.

Never rule it out however; as we’ve found out in the past, it could just be smokescreens to throw people off their scent.

The list of titles that WB released last night are:

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice – March 25, 2016

Unannounced DC film – August 5, 2016 

        Unannounced DC film – June 23, 2017

        Unannounced DC film – November 17, 2017

        Unannounced DC film – March 23, 2018

Unannounced FOX superhero film – July 7, 2018

        Unannounced DC film – July 27, 2018

        Unannounced DC film – April 5, 2019

         Unannounced DC film – June 14, 2019

         Unannounced DC film – April 3, 2020

         Unannounced DC film – June 19, 2020

        

This means that by the end of 2020 we will be getting AT LEAST 29 different superhero movies from all four studios combined, with perhaps more unannounced dates from Sony and FOX to bring that number up even higher. But altogether, the films look like this:

When an unstoppable force meets and immovable object...

 

The Avengers: Age of Ultron – May 1, 2015

Fantastic Four – June 19, 2015

Ant-Man – July 17, 2015 

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice – March 25, 2016

         Captain America 3 – May 6, 2016

X-Men: Apocalypse – May 27, 2016

         Unannounced Marvel film – July 8, 2016

The Sinister Six – November 11, 2016

         The Wolverine 2 – March 3, 2017

         Unannounced Marvel film – May 5, 2017

        Unannounced DC film – June 23, 2017

Fantastic Four 2 – July 14, 2017

         Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – July 28, 2017

         Unannounced Marvel film – November 3, 2017

Unannounced Female Lead Spiderman film – TBA, 2017 

        Unannounced DC film – March 23, 2018

         Unannounced Marvel film – May 4, 2018

         Unannounced Marvel film – July 6, 2018

        Unannounced DC film – July 27, 2018

         Unannounced Marvel film – November 2, 2018

         The Amazing Spiderman 3 – TBA, 2018

Unannounced Venom film – TBA, 2018

                Unannounced DC film – April 5, 2019

Unannounced Marvel film – May 3, 2019

         Unannounced DC film – June 14, 2019

         Unannounced DC film – April 3, 2020

         Unannounced DC film – June 19, 2020

Is that too many? Is the Age of the Superhero and comic book movies something you’re looking forward to or are you fed up already? Or was this just a matter of time?