Amazing Spider-Man 2

So a couple days ago, we got the first trailer for the sequel to Amazing Spider-Man, and like many other people, I have mixed feelings about it. If you haven't seen it yet, here it is:

Alright, now that everyone is caught up, let's get into it. So in this trailer, we see Electro, the Rhino, and the Green Goblin. Personally, I'm usually against introducing a major villain in a movie along with at least two other villains, but I think in this case they have a somewhat reasonable excuse. While the Green Goblin has enough of a story to be in his own movie, I would assume the thought is that they don't want to make a movie too similar to the first Spider-Man movie. Because of this, I hope he doesn't suit up until at least halfway through the movie,  spending the first part of the movie as an evil mastermind, but not a costumed villain. As for the costume itself, it looked pretty high tech, so judging from that and the fact that Norman looked pretty sick in the one shot where we see his face, I'm gonna assume that his suit contains some sort of life support not unlike Darth Vader. His glider could be part of that too as some sort of mobility device, but maybe not. We also see Harry Osborn in this trailer, but his hairstyle black clothes remind me a little of the infamous Spider-Man 3 dance scene, so I'm slightly biased against him. I'll give him a chance though. Let's talk about the rest of the villains though.
Electro was the first villain announced and the one we see most of in this trailer, so I assume he'll be one of the more important villains. They've gone with a more Ultimate Comics look, which is a good thing, since as much as I love this:

 

...it really wouldn't translate very well to the big screen. It seemed a little cheesy at first when he talked about showing everyone what it's like to live without power, but he saved it by adding mercy to the list of things people would be living without. We also saw a little bit of the Rhino, who looks very different from his original look, but maybe a little less different than you think. For a time in the comicbooks, he was upgraded to Mecha-Rhino and looked kind of like he does in this trailer. On his armor we can see a red star painted on, making him look kind of Soviet, especially since in the comicbooks he was born in Russia. Could this mean that we'll get a villain who's not connected to Oscorp, or is that too much to hope for? I guess we'll see. I don't want to get my hopes up, since Oscorp seems to be quite the villain factory. Speaking of which, you may have noticed earlier that I said there would be the Green Goblin and at least two other villains. In one scene of the trailer, there is a mysterious man with a hat walking through a corridor. Firstly, I'm pretty sure that's Norman Osborn due to the fact that when the Green Goblin was first introduced in the comicbooks, his identity was always concealed by a coat and hat when he wasn't in costume. Secondly, there's something very interesting in the background. Two things to be specific. Behind some glass, we see what look like Doctor Octopus' tentacles and harness, and to the left of those we see a similar looking harness but with wings attached to it instead of tentacles. Whether this is just fan service, setup for the next movie, or a hint that they'll be in this one, we can be fairly sure that Doctor Octopus and the Vulture are both products of Oscorp in this universe. I realize that Oscorp is much bigger and more important in the Ultimate universe than the mainstream Marvel universe, but I still don't like that they're involved with basically everything (except possibly the Rhino I hesitantly hope), including Richard and Mary Parker. I suppose connecting everything is the only way to put at least three villains and the Richard and Mary Parker plotline in the same movie without having way too much going on, but still. I hope they use the Green Goblin to end the Oscorp story and then find another convenient plot device to connect all their plot elements. I also wish that they would wait to deal with the Rhino and Peter's parents until another movie. Since that's not going to happen though, the best I dare to hope for is for this movie to only use the three villains we've seen, then set up the Vulture and Doctor Octopus for the next one. If the third Amazing Spider-Man brings back these three and introduces two more villains, they'll only need one more to make a somewhat reimagined Sinister Six. Since they love making Oscorp responsible for everything, it would be fairly easy to bring in either Kraven the Hunter or Mysterio. Kraven could be an Oscorp mercenary outfitted with advanced technology and tasked with hunting down Spider-Man and happen to be a passionate hunter, and Mysterio could be an inventor who works for Oscorp, then takes his inventions and goes rogue. These aren't the best movie backstories I can think of, but they're the best ones that involve Oscorp, and they seem to have a monopoly on everything in these movies. That is, unless our boy the Rhino comes through for us. Now that I think about it though, I'd really like to see Kraven as an assassin who thinks of his contracts as hunting trips. I can't think of a better story for Mysterio, but that's what the movie writers get paid for, so they could probably think of something good.............. Ok who are we kidding? They'd just use Oscorp. Well actually now that I think about it, the Untimate Universe's version of the Sinister Six was actually five villains since they tried to recruit Spider-Man as the sixth member, so that's quite possible for the movie. Anyway, as you can tell I'm a little skeptical of this movie, but I remain hopeful. I just talk more about what I'm doubtful of since it would be boring to read a post that just lists things that look cool. So to sum it up, I think Amazing Spider-Man 2 can be really good if they do it right, but if not it's going to have too many plotlines with underdeveloped villains. Either way, we'll probably get a cool video game out of this movie, which is one of those sentences I never expect myself to say. I only have hope since the first Amazing Spider-Man game was pretty good. So I guess that's that.

Comicbooks You Need to Read

Ok, so if you're really into comicbooks, you've probably read most of these already, but just for the purpose of sharing, I'll list a few comicbooks I think people should read and why I think so for each one. It would take too long for me to list all the comicbooks I like, so I'll just name the important ones in the order that I think of them. Ready? Let's begin.
Secret Wars:
This is a classic Marvel story where a wide range of heroes and villains are brought to an alien planet to battle. Besides being a classic and the first appearance of the Beyonder, it tells the origin of Spider-Man's black suit, and indirectly causes Venom and Carnage to be created. I think that's important. Another little detail is that this was the first Marvel series on which action figures were based, and I like action figures, so yeah.
Watchmen:
You have no excuse not to read Watchmen. It's a self contained story, meaning that when you pick up the book, you don't need any background knowledge of the Watchmen universe. It's pretty famous and got fantastic reviews, and rightly so. This more realistic take on superheroes (with the exception of one blue guy who controls atom:s) is brilliantly written and really makes you think.
Hellboy:
If your only experience with Hellboy is the movies, you might not expect the comicbooks to be very deep or philosophical. However, if you pick one up, you'll find that that couldn't be further from the truth. I'm all for occult steampunk Nazis summoning demons, and these stories are written so intelligently that sometimes I even think to myself "Look at me readin' smart stuff!"
the Walking Dead:
This has to be one of the most disturbing comicbooks I've ever read, and if that doesn't hook you, I don't know what will. It really does mess with your emotions, but in a good way. The black and white art style adds interest, along with the emphasis on the character development of the human characters instead of the mindless action you find in some other zombie stories.
Judge Dredd:
You're missing out if you've never read Judge Dredd. Even in its earliest days, this is a dark series with lots of murder and death, but good storytelling with a great protagonist and a dark sense of humor. People who liked the movie will like the comicbooks, and while we're on the topic of the movie, you should sign the petition to make another over here: http://2000adonline.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=a6e40236aa24d482cfff600d2&id=62906ebdcc. Also, I think the idea of the world getting blown up by war and civilization only existing in large dystopian cities surrounded by radiation desert is completely possible, so we might as well read up and get ready.
Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt:
Many argue that this is the best Spider-Man story ever told, and I think I agree. Just like Hellboy, it's written all smart and quotes poetry and stuff, so it has that going for it. It also made me respect Kraven the Hunter more than I thought I ever would, which sounds cheesy but it's true. Anyway, really good story, pick it up, etc.
Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle:
At first glance, this may look a bit like anti-alcohol propaganda, but I pinky promise it's better than that, and you can't break a pinky promise, so believe me on this. It depicts Iron Man at his absolute worst, having lost nearly everything, and makes him a much more interesting character since we see that the one thing armor can't protect him from is himself. Besides his internal struggle, the story also has a nice lineup of villains, a retelling of his origin, and is the first appearance of Justin Hammer.
Batman: Knightfall:
For me, this is the classic Batman story. It has tons of villains, and is the first appearance of Bane, who's one of my absolute favorites. You may know Bane as the man who broke the bat, and this is when he does it. It also tells the story of Batman's comeback and how the cowl was almost usurped and corrupted by Azrael. This is the same kind of deal as Demon in a Bottle where the hero becomes a deeper character by falling and then rising.

And that's it. Those are the ones I think everyone who likes comicbooks should read. Regardless of what publisher or what style you usually read, all of these are worth your while.

Still don't buy an Xbox One

This is old news, but in case you haven't heard, Microsoft did an Xbox One Eighty with their DRM policies, meaning that used games will be fully supported, sharing games will be possible, and disks will work like they do now. All because when they announced their plans, we said no. There was so much protesting, and we did it. If you posted anything saying what madness their proposed policies were, you did it too. Be proud, because the voice of the people made a difference. That may sound a little cheesy, but it's true. I don't know if you like Doctor Who or not, but if you do, you may remember a scene where the Daleks are threatening to exterminate people if the ninth Doctor doesn't comply, and he just keeps saying no to them. Basically, Microsoft is the Daleks and get excited, since that makes us the Doctor. Anyway, I'm happy about this victory, but Microsoft has shown that they are clearly unhappy about this and only doing it so people will at least consider buying their console and stop hating on it. So because of this, they've decided to be petty about it and take away family sharing, which was one of the few kinda decent things they had announced before. It's petty and contemptible, but I have to admit that it's smart. Now all the people who were looking forward to having family sharing are turning against us, the people who fought for their freedom from oppressive DRM. I'm not sure if they planned that to happen or were just trying to punish us for wanting to own the games that we pay them money for (since last time I checked, that's how a transaction works. If they want us to have no choice but to basically rent games, they had better be a lot cheaper than the price to buy them). If they did plan to turn gamers against each other though, I'll admit that's pretty good as far as corporate evil schemes go. I don't like it, but I do respect it. That's allowed, right? Doctor Doom sincerely respects both Mister Fantastic and Iron Man. Now that I think about it, I think villains are usually the ones who both hate and respect their enemies. Especially Kraven the Hunter with his philosophy about every man having his "spider." But this isn't really a you're-my-spider kind of thing as much as an I-don't-like-what-you-did-but-I'll-admit-it-was-smart kind of thing. Besides lacking my and many other people's respect and not deserving our money, there are still other reasons not to buy an Xbox One. It costs One hundred dollars more, and relies a lot on voice commands, which you can't expect to always work. You just can't. And the most important reason is still the fact that it's not truly about games anymore. Honestly, if you want a new console, buy a PS4, if you have some money you want to blow after buying one and like Nintendo, buy a Wii U, and if you still have $500 you want to spend on something, buy those gold pills I mentioned in my last post , and I honestly could not care less what you do with the remaining $75. I'll take it if you don't want it.

Comicbook Christmas Specials

I'm a fan of Christmas issues in comicbooks. A lot of titles have them, like Batman, Spider-Man, or even Judge Dredd. One that I like is actually one of Batman's Halloween specials, but it's a retelling of Dickens' A Christmas Carrol, so I'm counting it. It has Bruce Wayne as Scrooge, since he's focusing too much on the Batman and not doing enough as Bruce Wayne, Poison Ivy as Christmas Past, the Joker as Christmas Present, and a brief pointless appearance by the Penguin. But Batman isn't the only one making Dickens references, Dredd does it too. In one of his Christmas issues, there's a starving family with a disabled kid, and a really mean guy who won't help them. He eventually changes his mind and tries to help. He goes out, shoots a bird, but it looks completely pathetic by the time he reaches their home, plus he apparently broke some law at some point, so Judge Dredd shows up and shoots him. But it's a happy ending since they cook his body and eat him. Ok, so maybe it's not that happy, but you gotta love the dark sense of humor in Judge Dredd's stories. One with an actual happy ending is an issue of Marvel Team-Up with Spider-Man and the Human Torch. They're chasing down the Sandman, coincidentally one of my favorite Spider-Man villains, and also stopping small crimes on the way. When they finally catch him, he explains that he's visiting his mother, which he makes sure to do every Christmas. Spider-Man even gives him a gift that he had intended for his girlfriend, but didn't want Sandman to show up empty handed. He visits his mother and escapes down a drain, but all is well in the Marvel universe, and it ends with Human Torch putting a giant flaming "Happy Holidays!" or something like that in the sky. That one has the most Christmas spirit, but I do like stories that are dark and just a little messed up, so it's hard to say which one is my favorite. But anyway, happy holidays, everyone!

Spiders

I've decided that giant spiders are my least favorite enemies in video games. Most of them aren't that hard to beat, but they're just annoying. In Skyrim, frostbite spiders are my least favorite minor enemies because of the annoying sound they make when they walk, plus they shoot poison at you that adds a greenish tint to the screen, which also bothers me. Darksiders also had a level where you fight a bunch of different types of spiders. The smallest ones weren't that annoying but they still were just because of their numbers and the fact that they jump onto you, but the big ones were way worse. There were four micro-bosses that you had to pull their outer shell off with a grappling hook, and they still just took way too long to die, then there was the mini-boss, an even bigger spider that it took me half an hour to figure out how to kill it, and finally the boss, who I knew how to kill, but it kept teleporting. Corpsers from Gears of War are also one of the tougher enemy types, so they annoy me just with their sheer hardtokillness. Giant Spiders from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow are also bothersome because they're fairly tough, but also they keep jumping around and can trap you if you're not careful. Then there are robot spiders. They're typically relatively small, like Dwarven spiders in Skyrim. They're not that hard to kill, but when you do they explode in a ball of lightning stuff that hurts you. In the Amazing Spider-Man game, there are robot spiders with force fields protecting them. Those are a pain to take down. In War for Cybertron, there are little spiders that crawl around in large numbers and try to surround you. Not all robot spiders are small though. One War for Cybertron boss was a giant robot spider. And Spider-Man also had a huge robotic spider type thing with lasers and missiles and stuff. I hate spiders.

Amazing Spider -Man

Last night I went and saw the Amazing Spider-Man. It was actually better than I was expecting. Not that I thought it would be bad or anything, but I'm always a little skeptical of series reboots. The movie was fairly accurate to the comic books, but they tie everything to Oscorp. For example: Curt Connors, Richard Parker, Gwen Stacy, Peter's synthetic web, the radioactive spider that bit him, the list goes on. In the game they do that even more: Vermin, Alistair Smythe, the Rhino, the Scorpion, the Iguana, possibly the Vulture, once again, the list goes on. But that doesn't bug me that much. My only other complaints are that they spent a little too much time with the high school romance stuff, and also (this is a small one) he unmasks too much and too willingly. He took his mask off so a kid he was saving wouldn't be scared, which I understand but wouldn't do in his place, and he also told Gwen who he was, even though he hadn't known her for that long. Captain Stacy and the Lizard knowing who he was doesn't bother me though. What I think they did well though is that they did a good job with the personality of Parker as both Peter and as Spider-Man. Making fun of a thug for trying to threaten him with a knife is totally something the real Spider-Man would do. Notice my use of the word real. I'm referring to the one that inhabits the mainstream Marvel comic book universe, with the numerical designation 616 if I'm not mistaken. Also, before he becomes Spider-Man, he's noble even though he's weak, but he's a little bit awkward and not very confident. That seemed about right to me. And I don't mean to just suddenly change the subject, but I will anyway. After the credits, there was a mysterious scene. Not exactly as tantalizing as the ones from Iron Man 1 through Avengers, but it still made it look like they plan on making a sequel. It showed Connors in jail talking to someone (you can't see who, but I think it's Norman Osborne) who asks him if he told Parker the truth about his father. I was actually expecting there to be more about Richard and Mary Parker in this movie, but there wasn't. I can feel that a second one is on the way, but we won't get it for a long time to come. At least we can still look forward to the Dark Knight Rises. Maybe I shouldn't talk about a DC hero in a Marvel post, but we're allowed to like both, right?

Masks

First of all, sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've just been really busy with stuff. But anyway, there are a few different types of masks I would wear if I had a costumed identity. I'm thinking maybe a pseudoderm mask like the Question's. It looks like skin, so the wearer looks like he doesn't have a face, which would be cool. But I feel kinda bad about the Question. I never really payed any attention to him until they killed him off in 52. Anyway, I've already mentioned Japanese menpo masks and hoods in my last post, so that's still on the table. And of course, a classic cowl. Kind of Batmanesque, but with no ears or anything. Or I could combine these last two. Either cowl and menpo or cowl and hood; all three is just two much for my taste. Another one I like is the Guy Fawkes mask (V For Vendetta). It's a great symbol of freedom and stuff. Or I do like the concept of Rorschach's mask. The moving ink blots make that such a cool mask to have. Looks good with a hat too. Plus you wouldn't get bored looking at it. I've never loved those narrow eye masks though (with exceptions). I don't really know for sure why, but I guess I just think they don't cover enough of the face. A couple exceptions to that are Cyclops if you count his visor, but it's not really the same thing so I don't count it, and the ones like Green Lantern or the Comedian because they're a little bigger and cover more area. Or also when the person's identity has already been revealed to the public and/or the cops. The other mask option is just a regular full face mask like Spider - Man's or someone like that. It's effective, but I feel like it might get a little stuffy in there. I guess it depends on the material. That's all for today.

        

Minions

I feel the need for an army of some kind of nonhuman minions, besides the various armies I've mentioned in other posts. Please note, this post is different from my armies post because now I'm talking about relatively small squads of specialized operatives instead of huge armies. Plus, I forgot all about one of the minion types I want most! I just read Iron Man: Legacy of Doom, and in Mephisto's realm, there were tons of semisolid slime beings, aka protoplasmic imps. They just jump on people and use their super-corrosive bodies as weapons. But as deadly as they can be, they really don't look that menacing, which is why I want those guys as another division of the extremely diverse army that I may or may not ever command. There's just something funny about them, so I like them. I'd also like an army of tiny robots, but for safety, I couldn't let them be too powerful or too plentiful, since as you may already know, I don't trust robots. Though I do like the ones from Transformers that come out of Soundwave as cassettes, then fold/unfold into 3D robots, like Ravage and Laserbeak. Mine would probably deploy out of a nonrobotic tank though, since I would have a hard time trusting a giant Decepticon, and also so I would be protected in case they rebel. Like I said, I don't trust robots. Well, there are a few that I trust, like C3PO, R2D2, the Metal Men, Machine Man, and a few others. (And I'm not counting androids here; I'm wary of them, but they're innocent until proven guilty.) Or some kind of flying sea creatures would also be good, kinda like Lobo's companion Fishy, or also, I saw a Doctor Who episode a while ago which may or may not have been a Christmas special, and there were all kinds of fish, but they swam through the air instead of water, so some more appropriately named flying fish and sharks and stuff would be awesome. Also, of course there are elementals, like fire, water, etc. creatures. Though now that I think about it, this is more than a minion, but I would positively love a Balrog. If I were to gain electrical powers, I'd probably create electrical beings to do my bidding. Diablo once tried to make what he called an Electroll until Spider-Man stopped him, but it's a good idea, since they can get into computers and other electronics. I'd probably go with a different name though. Or maybe it could be like Zzzzzax (I have no idea how many z's are supposed to be there, so I just guessed and put five).  And here is another time that on the page where I write my posts, the parentheses align perfectly, but when you read it, they probably will not. For a longer and more pointless discussion of that, see last month's Sherlock Holmes post.

Marvel Lanterns

In Blackest Night, each lantern corps temporarily recruited a hero or villain of Earth, so I sometimes think about what Marvel character would be recruited into each corps, and this is what I've come up with so far. Red is definitely the easiest choice: the Hulk. Think about it: he changes from Bruce to Hulk when he gets really mad, he's relatively mindless in his Hulk form, yeah that's about it, but isn't that enough? I'm thinking the Collector for orange, since his only power is his immense collection of stuff and always being able to find whatever he needs in his collection. Also, all his schemes and plots are to get more stuff, so he would be a great avatar of avarice. Sinestro Corps would probably choose Marvel's Scarecrow. I like Jonathan Crane more, but this Scarecrow does have the ability to instill great fear.  And being called Scarecrow automatically gives him an edge. For green, I can't quite decide between Daredevil and Captain America, since they're both known for having a lot of willpower. I'm leaning toward Cap though, since he's more known than Daredevil for having the ability to overcome great fear. Spider - Man would be a good Blue Lantern since he's always optimistic and hopeful, but I haven't come up with any good ideas for Star Saphire or Indigo Tribe recruits.

Powers I Want Most

1. Matter transmutation (as long as I don't have to know the chemical name or whatever like Firestorm)
2. Energy construct creation
3. Telekinesis
4. Everything Wolverine has
5. Shapeshifting and size changing
6. Control over fire, water etc.
7. Teleportation
8. Spider powers
9. Ghost stuff like invisibility, intangibility, flight, etc.
10. Controling the weather