A Grouch for All Seasons

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Tonight, Snyder Cut, Subway Sandwiches, Birds of Prey is not a sequel, and we say farewell to the man in the big bird on this comic edition of Multiverse Tonight. Comic book sci-fi. Alright, let's see. And more. If you're looking for a roundup of eating news, you're in the right place. This is Multiverse Tonight. A little over a week from uh the end of the year, and you know, I gotta ask, what do you want for Christmas? What what do you want from next year? I had I have no idea. And uh if uh here's what I do want though. I want to do a good job for you with this podcast. You know. All I ask of you would be to share the show with your friends. You know, maybe throw in a buck or two from time to time if you feel generous. You know, just go to uh our website and uh you know, talk to us there. Leave it, you know, check out our uh links to uh other sites, check out the show notes, you know. That's uh all I've ever wanted. But uh all I ever want right now is to bring you some uh comic book news. So uh let's get on with it with some uh DC news. Are you starting to get tired of all the calls to release the Snyder cut of Justice League? You know, it's just kind of been one of those things that just won't die until it actually happens. Well, Subway Restaurants has put their two cents in via Twitter. Snyder fans started it by asking the company how many retweets it would take to get a donation of 10,000 sandwiches by Subway. Subway responded by saying that 5,000 retweets in five hours would get it done. The fans came through, Subway soon tweeted, quote, so you're fast. And since you did it in under 214 minutes, we're going to up the donation of 15,000 sandwiches. Oh yeah, and oh yeah, hashtag release the Snyder cut, unquote. Now that's good on them, you know, giving those those sandwiches to charity, and uh very good on the fans. My guess is that this cut will eventually see the light of day, you know? Maybe if if uh they all pledge to make some movie of Warner Brothers a success that normally wouldn't get uh s be very successful, that might get the studio's attention. Or you know filling up the office with ping pong balls. I don't know. Uh I th I think eventually the Snyder Cut will be released, because well it just doesn't seem like one of those things they're gonna sit on forever. The cinematographer for Black Adam, Lawrence Scher, is making some high claims for what the movie will be, telling Kleider during a Q ⁇ A for Joker, quote, one of my interests about it is to continue to sort of, and we've talked about it with Duane and obviously with Jom and DC, can can we continue to sort of sort of reshape what a comic movie book movie is? Like yes, of course you want it to be entertaining, but it has to make a decent amount of money, so it can't live in such a fringe place that doesn't bring people in. But can we do something inventive? So that's the goal is to continue to try to do something a bit inventive with it. Unquote. You know, that's kind of a big bold claim for a movie that we haven't seen anything uh from yet. Uh hopefully he won't end up eating those words, as you know, I've had a hard time trying to say them. Anyway, uh let's get on and uh here's a question. Uh what do you think of Joker's potential for an Oscar nomination? Well, if uh the Critics Choice Award nominations are any indication, there's a good chance. Joker has received seven nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix, Best Adapted Screenplay for Todd Phillips and Scott Silver, Best Cinematography for Lawrence Scher, Best Production Design for Mark Friedberg and Chris Moran, Best Hair and Makeup, and Best Score for Hilda Gun Gwan and Daughter, that they weren't uh the only comics property to get some nominations. Avengers Endgame and Spider-Man Far From Home got nominations for Best Action Movie. Avengers Endgame also got Nod for Best Sci-Fi or Horror Movie, as well as Best Visual Effects. HBO's Watchmen got a nomination for Best Drama, and it faces off against Game of Thrones in that category, but I think Watchmen's got this. Watchmen's Regina King got got uh a nomination for Best Actress in the Drama. Tim Blake Nelson is up for Best Supporting Actor. Gene Smart and Gwendolyn Christie are also up for Best Supporting Actress. And uh that brings us to uh the date when this will uh come out. The 25th Critics Choice Awards will be handed out on Sunday, January 12th. So, uh here's something to make you go, huh? The upcoming Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn will have no ties to Suicide Squad, according to BOP director Sue Kroll during a set visit by Screenrand. She told them, quote, You'll see it in the movie. It's a standalone movie. It's not connected to Suicide Squad, it's not a sequel, it's not a continuation of that story, so it has nothing to do with her breakout of prison. But you're right, and we've been very upfront that this is about her emancipation. She and the Joker have broken up. This is her personal journey of discovery with these women, so it's not related at all. So don't try to apply linear logic to how the two go because they don't. She also told them that it has no similarities to Suicide Squad and that it was an opportunity to celebrate the amazing character. Okay. So so let's take a step back and unwind this what this movie is. Now I'm assuming it's in the same universe as Suicide Squad, but it's no way connected to Suicide Squad, not even a mention. Uh they do realize that having Harley Quinn, the same character played by the same actress, still connects them to Suicide Squad, don't they? You know, maybe I should just go lie down for a while and uh stop. You know, this just makes my head hurt. Uh Birds of Prey comes out on February 7th. Now, let's go and talk TV for a moment. The big crisis on Intant Earth, Crossover, had many cameos. Uh Burt Ward's Dick Grayson, Lucifer, uh, but apparently Aeroverse producer Mark Guggenheim put out feelers to another big star, Nicholas Cage. In an interview with IndieWire, Mr. Guggenheim said, quote, We did reach out to Nick Cage, and uh we reached out to a lot of people, and there were people who didn't want to do it. There were people who would only do it for amounts of money that we could never ever afford. And there were other people who really wanted to do it, but couldn't for scheduling. That was the ca case with a lot of, I have to say, the movie stars that we reached out to. The thing about movie stars is they're all shooting movies. And unless those movies are shooting in Vancouver, we're kind of out of luck. But I have to say that the sheer number of actors that we did end up getting exceeded my expectation. You know, that's too bad. He could have finally gotten to wear that Superman suit on screen. The crisis will conclude on January 14th. You know, maybe next year they should go do Zero Hour. Or wait a year or two. You know. Anyway, let's uh go to some Marvel news. Kevin Feige, a Marvel Studios president and chief creative officer of Marvel, confirmed at Brazil's CCXP19 con that Disney Plus's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will be all about what happens to the Falcon after Endgame. Quote, we saw Old Man Cap hand that shield to Sam Wilson at the end of Endgame, and the question is, what did he do with it next? What does it mean for Sam Wilson and that shield? That's a big responsibility, and that's very much what the show focuses on and is about. Unquote. Unfortunately, Wilson will have to deal with the US government's US agent just in time for Helmet Zemo to come back on the scene. You know, sounds interesting, and we still have no release date though, other than the always ignorant enematic fall 2020. Now, speaking of the Falcon and the Wear Soldier, they've just added two new cast members, Desmond Tayam and Miki Izukawa, have been added in two unknown roles. Also, at CCXP19, in a sit-down interview, Mr. Feige confirmed that the Marvel Multiverse will be something that will shape take shape in the MCU for a long time to come. Quote: When we first started the MCU, it was all about Tony Stark. Introduced the world of to Tony Stark and the Iron Man armor. Then we went on to teach people what as guardians were and learn about super soldiers and bring them together in Avengers. I've always loved space movies, and I've always loved big intergalactic tales, which is why we did guardians and the audience came with us so we could do a movie like Endgame. I always wanted to do time travel, which is why we eventually got to do what eventually got to do in Endgame. The Multiverse is the next step in the evolution of the MCU, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is going to crack it open in ways that will have repercussions for a Disney Plus series before that's not one division before it's that's not one division and for movies after it in a big fun way. Anyway, speaking of Wandavision, some paparazzi photos from the set of the show have surfaced online, and they show the that the space frame version of SHIELD will be in the show. Sword. Sword, aka the sentient world observation and response department was one of those properties that used to belong to 20th Century Fox's subset of Marvel characters, and uh will be pretty much the first of those uh of those characters to be ported over to the regular Marvel un to the uh Disney Marvel universe. Could Venom 2 get an R rating? And you might think you might be able to thank Joker's billion-dollar box office if it happens. A Venom producer Matt Tolcom tellmac told Cinema Blend, quote, I mean, I think you always have to think about it now that that works. Having said that, our movie worked really well. Our franchise exists as it is, and I don't think anybody is looking to just say, hey, they did it. We have we have a place in the world, so it isn't like suddenly everybody's considering what to do with the reading. I think what Joker does is it tells you what you can succeed. For a long time, that was the narrative, and Deadpool sort of wrestled that to the turf, and then the Logan, but for a long time that was considered totally forbidden. So you know, I think that's the greatest thing in the world in the that R-rated movies are being embraced by massive audiences, and it means that there are more opportunities for that kind of storytelling. Yeah, I don't know. Does uh an R-rated Venom 2 speak to you? Let us know. Uh anyway, let's talk about the comic books. Prepare to relive the greatest moments in Marvel's eighty year history. Yep, eighty years, folks. Marvel Snapshots will see Kurt Busick bring together several creative teams for these eight standalone double-sized issues, which will include characters from the Golden Age to today, through the eyes of ordinary people. Alex Ross will provide the covers. First off is submariner Marvel Snapshot No. 1, best-selling novelist and Emmy Award-winning writer Alex Brainert, and artist Jerry Ordway join forces to tell an unforgettable story about Prince Namor set during World War II and featuring Namor, Betty Dean, and the All-Winner Squad. Alan Brennert, in a statement on Marvel.com, said, quote, I can honestly say that I enjoyed working on this story more than any comic story I've done in years. I grew up reading and loving Marvel's Golden Age heroes in the 60s in reprints and fantastic masterpieces and fantasy masterpieces, but I never thought I'd have a shot at writing them, especially the All-Winner Squad. And I'm grateful to Kurt Busick and Tom Brivert for providing me the opportunity, and to Jerry Ordway for bringing it all to glorious life. I'm extremely enormously proud of Reunion and honored to be the first story published in Marvel Snapshots. Issue five will now be out on January 29th. Issue 6 will come to will come out on February 12th, and issue 7 will come out on the 26th of February. Now, let's go to some geek news. We start the Geek News with a record-setting opening, and not a good one. Playmobil, the movie, is set just set the record for the lowest box office for a film opening in over 2,000 theaters. The movie, based on the toys, was sort of an answer to the Lego movie. Unfortunately, Playmobil is not as well known as Lego. Rotten Tomatoes has given the movie a 16% rating. Uh now we'll uh check and see what it did this weekend uh when we look at the box office news. Now, this will be a pre-Star Wars box office report, so this will be interesting. From one record to another potential record setter, Disney's Frozen 2 just became the sixth film from the House of Mouse to cross the $1 billion mark this year. According to Variety, the movie has over $6 million internationally and $306 million in the US alone. It's currently the eighth highest grossing movie of the year. We will see if the Rise of Skywalker makes it seven, it would have just 11 days to do so. Dark Horse Comics is set to adapt Neil Gaiman's Norse mythology into a miniseries. The book was released back in 2017 and features Neil retelling Norse mythology starring Thor, Odin, Loki, and others. It has been adapted into a BBC radio production. Next year, it will be an 18-issue series adapted by Gaiman and P. Craig Russell with colors from Dave Stewart and Laverne Kodernsky, letters by Galen Schumann, and art from a round table of artists like Jerry Ordway and Mike Magnola. North Mythology will hit comic book stores on May 27, 2020. Dynamite Entertainment is getting into the novel business. The company has announced the formation of Dynamite Books. First up is Vampirella Blood Invasion, written by Nancy A. Collins. Here's the blurb. After years out of contact, the skies of Earth fill with an armada ships from her home planet. Thrilled at first to see her people, Vampirella is horrified to learn that General General Orlock's plan for her adopted planet. She must choose between her own kind or take up arms with her partner Pantha and join a rebel army led by Count Dracula, Evely the Witch, and Dr. Frankenstein and his patchwork monstrosities. Now, uh let's take a look at this past weekend's box office report. Now, uh look here really quick. Uh as I mentioned, Playmobil, the movie, uh dropped from number 14 to number 23. Uh it's making an average of $61 per screen. So in other words, like what is that? Maybe 10 people? And has grossed just under a million dollars. 966,458 total gross. Yeah. That movie just didn't do well. But uh let's you know look up further in the box further in the list here. Joker has fallen from number 11 to number 15, and uh that's a 53% drop from the week before. But uh let's start at number 10. Uh falling from number seven to number ten is 21 Bridges, falling from number six to number nine is Dark Waters. The the uh Tom Hanks movie A Beautiful Day in a Neighborhood dropped from number five to number eight. Uh Queen and Slim dropped from number four to number seven. Ford vs. Ferrari dropped from number three to number six. The movie Black Christmas, uh the horror the horror Christmas movie, uh debuts at number five, bringing in four point two million dollars. Uh Clint Eastwood's Richard Jewel, which I've not really heard good things about. Sorry, Clint. Uh debuts at number four with four point six million dollars. Knives Out, which I hear is is great and and funny, uh dropped from number two to number three. Uh it's made a total gross of $78 million. Frozen 2, which has been number one for weeks now, finally fell. To number two. And uh it's made uh $19 million this past weekend, losing nearly half from the previous week. And uh but its total domestic growth is $366.4 million. So that's that's a win, anyway you look at it. And our number one, uh Jumanji, the next level, debuted at number one with $59.2 million. Uh at that averaging $14,000 a screen and about four uh four thousand two hundred twenty seven screens. And uh again, this movie will drop significantly next week, unfortunately. Uh Star Wars. Is just going to suck all the the air out of the box office. So uh that's your box office report. Finally, we uh tonight we say s goodbye to someone who's been a big part of all our childhoods, Carol Spinney. Now, you might not know that name, but you'll know the characters he played on Sesame Street, Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. Carroll was born in Waltham, Massachusetts, on December 26, 1933, and became interested in puppet puppetry at a young age. After high school, he served in the Air Force where he created a comic strip called Harvey. Now, after he left the service, he moved to Las Vegas, where he performed in the show Rascal Rabbit, and a few years later moved to Boston, where he would eventually perform on Boston's broadcast of Bozo's Big Top. In 1960, he got married to his first wife, Janice, and had three children. He would divorce they would divorce in 1971. In 1962, Carroll would first meet Jim Henson at a puppeteering festival, where Jim asked him if he wanted to talk about the Muppets. Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding, Carol didn't know that he was actually being offered a job and turned him down. He would meet Henson again in 1969 at a puppeteer festival in Utah, where this time he was offered again to talk about the Muppets. This time, Carroll took him up on the offer and joined the Muppeteers full-time later that year, joining the cast of a brand new show called Sesame Street. In 1979, Carroll would get married again, this time to Deborah Joy Gilroy, whom he would remain married to for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, Carroll would eventually develop Distonia, and in October of last year, Spinium announced his retirement from Sesame Street, handing the role of Big Bird to Matt Fokel and Oscar to Eric Jacobson. In his long career, Carroll went on to win four daytime Emmys, two Grammys, a gold record, have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, be awarded the Library of Congress Living Legend Award, and the National Academy of Telegram Arts and Sciences Lifetime Achievement Award. Carroll passed away on December 8th at his home in Connecticut. He was 85 years old. And that will bring us to the end of the comic book news. Now uh be sure to check us out on our social media. We're at Twitter, at multiverse tom, we're also on Facebook and Instagram as well. And uh if you'd like to contribute some money, call it my Christmas present. Why don't you? Uh please visit us over at mtpodcast.com where uh you can just click on our coffee or patreon links, and uh be sure to also visit us at multiverstonight.com and check out the affiliate marketplace links. I have some new affiliates there. Uh especially go to Things from Another World. Uh it's a great place, they have lots of stuff, comic books and uh you know comic book related items. You can also find the link to our T-Public store. They've had several sales uh this past month. Uh we also have our show notes there and so much more. And if you're a subscriber, please be sure to share us with your friends. And if you're brand new to the show, please be sure to subscribe and leave us with some feedback and let us know how we're doing. Special thanks to Shane Ivers for intro music and Lobo Loco for our outro music theme. Now, thanks for watching the comic book edition of Multiverse Tonight. We'll be back in two weeks with the sci-fi edition. Now please exit the universe in an orderly fashion. Good night. Multiverse tonight is a production of Half Big Genre Productions Copyright twenty nineteen. All rights reserved.