Dragon Ball Super: Broly's Box Office Performance in The US

So the weekend Box Office numbers in the US are in, and as you can see in the photo, Dragonball Super: Broly made quite a good amount of money in its debut. It's also one of only 2 new releases that made the Top 10.

I've been reading a lot of posts of DBS: Broly's performance in Facebook and a lot of them try to make the narrative that it had earned a lot more money than its competing movies, especially animated films. Of course, a simple Google search would reveal that is not the case. What IS certain is that it has surpassed Resurrection F's near $65 million worldwide gross, making DBS: Broly the highest grossing Dragonball film of all time. It is also currently the highest grossing film from Toei, which produces the anime.

What's more interesting is that it is on route to making the $100 million gross mark - something the Dragonball movies have never done before. The last film that earned it was last year's Dectective Conan: Zero The Enforcer sitting at $106 million, while Pokemon: The Movie 2000 is the 10th highest grossing anime of all time with around $134 million. Both Toei and DB fans would be extremely happy if DBS: Broly's BO performance manages to surpass these two movies before the end of its run.

Wreck It Ralph Duology Review

Well, new year, a new set of movies, shows, and whatnot I can dig myself into if I so choose. But also more stuff that I tend to miss out on for a variety of reasons. One of them was Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph from 2012 (I’m awfully surprised that it took me 7 years to finally give notice to this movie). And given that the recent sequel was out for awhile in theaters, and soon to be released on DVD and Blu-Ray, I decided to give the Wreck-It Ralph Duology a shot.

Now I am certain from my own perspective that there are other people who have not seen Wreck-It Ralph. So I’ll break it down to you: it’s set in a world where video game characters have a life of their own beyond their programming. So when the a local arcade’s closed, the characters spring to life during after-hours and live out and socilaize like pretty much any other normal human being.

We are introduced to our main protagonist, Ralph, the villain of the fictional video game “Fix It Felix Jr.”, as he is tired of playing the villain and being treated as one beyond the game by its local populace. In an attempt to get on their good graces, Ralph goes beyond his video game world to seek out a medal as proof that he’s one of the good guys. This results in an unintended consequence of Ralph’s game being shut down, thus the danger of erasing that game’s world and its population, prompting Ralph’s rival Fix It Felix Jr. to look for Ralph and bring him home.

Ralph’s journey has him end up in another game called Sugar Rush, where he meets the movie’s secondary protagonist, a little girl named Vanellope von Schweetz. Together the two concoct a plan to help Vanellope win the race on Sugar Rush and present Ralph with the medal he needs. But Sugar Rush’s King Candy plots to ensure Vanellope doesn’t even get to finish the raise at all costs.

The main selling point of Wreck-It Ralph is its various references to video games throughout history, and is quite the nostalgia trip for someone like myself who has played games like Sonic The Hedgehog or Street Fighter II back in the day. It does gradually transition to the plot, and despite that there’s a lot going on, it’s still easy enough for younger viewers to grasp into. I in particular love the chemistry between Ralph and Vanellope, which is enhanced further by their respective voice actors, John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman.

In 2018, Disney released Ralph Breaks The Internet, the sequel to Wreck-It Ralph. As the name suggests, the sequel goes beyond the video game references and into the internet and social media. In this movie, Ralph causes a freak accident in Sugar Rush that resulted in the game’s steering wheel in the real world to end up broken. The game is thus shut down and its population forced to seek refuge in other video game worlds. Ralph and Vanellope learn that the only remaining Steering Wheel replacement is found on eBay. So the two journey to the World Wide Web to find the steering wheel, deliver it to the arcade, and put Sugar Rush back in order. Of course being two video game characters who don’t know a thing about the real world, let alone the internet, hilarious shenanigans are about to come their way – and my god there’s a ton of it.

Ralph Breaks The Internet is essentially its own version of Shrek 2. The latter gained fame in that its comedy is from the numerous pulp culture references you find throughout that film. In Ralph Breaks The Internet, the references are through internet culture. And given that the majority of the human population has experienced the internet at one point, you can easily spot the reference and have quite a laugh at it. This is added further later in the film when Vanellope encounters the Disney Princesses (all reprised by their respective voice actors) and poke fun at the tropes those films have. I’m also surprised the film delves into a bit of dark comedy in the mid-credits scene.

If there is one thing I do have an issue with the sequel is that it lacks an actual antagonist. Instead, the conflict this time is the characterizations of Ralph and Vanellope, which has an impact on their relationship that gradually results in the name of the title. Ralph does have a knack for causing a lot of trouble even with his good intentions, which makes him his own worst enemy. That said, the focus on character development for Ralph and Vanellope is executed very well, and the emotional resolve between the two near the end of the film is quite heart-warming, and also a coming-of-age progress so to speak for the two characters.

If I were to choose, I’d pick the 2nd film as it’s the funnier of the two. I just wished it had more references for me to look at. Regardless, these films are worth watching even if you’re not a fan of gaming or the internet. It’ll be another 6 or so years before we see a third film, but I don’t mind at all. The Wreck-It Ralph films are pretty fun and I can’t help but ask myself why I missed out on these films for so long. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give both films a 4 out of 5.

UNCONFIRMED Disney Movie Release Dates until 2023

So the Enterainment Hub Wordpress site released an article that laid out all of Disney's upcoming films untl 2023. The site itself is unfortunately locked, so the list here is from those who have claimed to have seen it. It's by no means a complete list and I'd take these with a grain of salt:

Gigantic - Nov 2018
5th Indiana Jones film
Rocketeer (different from the Disney Jr series)
Boba Fett solo movie
Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers - May 2022
Mulan - 2020
Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 3 - May 2020
Black Widow - July 2020
Doctor Strange 2 - November 2020
Black Panther 2 - May 2021
Spider-Man 3 (Sony) - July 2021
Ravagers - Nov 2021
Captain Marvel 2 - 2022
Antman 3 - 2022
5th Avengers moviie - 2022
Zootopia 2 - 2023
Moana 2 - 2023

Godzilla: Planet of The Monsters Review

Godzilla: Planet of The Monsters is the latest installment of the popular giant monster franchise. It is also the first time in its history that a Godzilla movie is produced in an anime format. Animated versions of Godzilla were produced before, most notably two from America - one  by Hannah Barbera in the late 70's, and the animated sequel to the Roland Emmerich film in 1998.

Gen Urobochi, the man behind the successful Madoka Magica series, as well as the puppet theatre hit Thunderbolt Fantasy, wrote the screenplay for Planet of The Monsters. Animation is co-produced by Polygon Pictures, who worked on other anime projects like Knights of Sidonia and Ajin: Demi-Fiend. Planet of The Monsters is a first in a trilogy of Godzilla anime films.

The movie begins with a very long prologue. Earth was in a constant state of conflict between the human race and the various Kaiju or giant monsters that keep popping up here and there. The turning point came when Godzilla came along and is shown to be unstoppable, even when the humans have advanced technological support from two alien races - the Exif and the Bilusaludo. As a result, the three races are forced to leave Earth to find a new home somewhere in the cosmos.

Fast forward to our main story, taking place 20 years later. Tensions rose within the survivors as they have yet to find a habitable planet and with supplies and rations being extremely low. In a last ditch effort for their survival, the three races travel back to Earth, where 20,000 years have passed on that planet. Despite the huge time skip, Godzilla is apparently still alive. But Haruo Sakazaki, a human who witnessed Godzilla's rampage when he left Earth 20 years earlier, has a plan to destroy the King of The Monsters once and for all.....

I have been a Godzilla fan for many years now, with  2004's Final Wars being my most favorite Godzilla film, as it shows him being a virtually unstoppable force. So when I heard that this trilogy of anime films will be written by the man behind Thunderbolt Fantasy, and developed by the team behind Knights of Sidonia, there's pretty much hype on this one. To be honest, I was left with a bit of a mixed taste by the end of the film. But I'm not really that surprised, either.

Urobochi's writing results in the film being like something taken from the 90's upscaled to modern times. There has been a number of Godzilla stories where the humans interact with aliens for good or bad. So there is nothing new in this alliance of the three races. And like other Godzilla films, a conspiracy is brewing from behind the scenes that will likely be explored in the sequels. Nevertheless, Godzilla is the prime antatonist, which places the alliance as the good guys.

One of the biggest issues with the Godzilla franchsie is that much of the human characters are pretty much forgettable, save two - Miki Saegusa, played by Megumi Odaka in the Godzilla films from 1984-1995; and Captain Douglas Gordon, played by Don Frye in Final Wars. Like every other film, Planet of The Monsters features a number of human and alien characters that, the audience really wouldn't care for. This is most especially with the film's protagonist Sakazaki, who I can best describe as being its version of Captain Ahab from Moby-Dick. Sakazaki is so obsessed in killing Godzilla that he would take extreme measures to do so, even if it means nearly endangering his comrades. While we have seen protagonists who do questionable and even immoral acts, like Code Geass's Lelouch aka Zero, they still retain enough charm to be likable by the audience. Sakazaki lacks such charm.

Another issue I have is that in nearly every movie, Godzilla tends to get bigger in size, used as a marketing ploy. Next thing you know Godzilla would be so gigantic he could swallow all of Earth if he wants to. It's ridiculous. I'd rather see Godzilla just cause mindless mayhem than see him get bigger. It's what makes him a nearly unstoppable force. While there is a story element that explains Godzilla's enormous size in Planet of The Monsters, it still leaves me with a sour taste. While you do get to hear the iconic roar, it's not as often and the famous Godzilla theme is totally absent. This is the third film in which the Godzilla theme is never played and the last movie to have done so was Final Wars - that's a staggering 18 years back.

Godzilla obviously is the one that truly carries the film around and he does deliver. His design is more akin to the 2014 film version, only a bit more aggressive. You can't help but cheer for him when he starts squashing Sakazaki and his troops, even though he's technically the bad guy here. So it's a given that Godzilla is bound to lose to Sakazaki, until the twist that leads to the second film. There are also some Easter Eggs found for die-hard Godzilla fans.

So the only reason one should watch Planet of The Monsters is because of Godzilla himself, and he does show why he is deemed the King of The Monsters. Everything else is subpar, but that is to be expected in virtually every Godzilla film. It's a B-Monster Movie after all, just that in anime format. Not the best Godzilla out there, but it leaves room to check back the sequels which out of curiosity, will leave you to look forward to it at least. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Godzila: Planet of The Monsters, a 3 out of 5.

Mazinger Z INFINITY Film Review

In my last MPX review, I talked about Go Nagai and how he made his mark in anime and manga history with Devilman, and now with the remade Devilman Crybaby on Netflix. I also talked a bit about his other work, Mazinger Z, which made the mecha genre we now know today. This review will tackle the latter, more specifically the film "Mazinger Z Infinity", which came out in Europe in late 2017, and the past several weeks has been made available in Japan and the US. The film is to celebrate the series's 45th anniversary, having first aired in 1972.

In case you don't know Mazinger Z, it is the first work of its kind that feature the concept of a giant robot with a human pilot. It's why we had Voltron, Gundam, Sym-Bionic Titan, and pretty much every other giant robot show that you know of. Mazinger Z did came out in English under the name "Tranzor Z", but it's a heavily butchered version of the original series.

The plot of Mazinger Z goes like this: A young teenager named Koji Kabuto pilots his late grandfather's invention - the giant robot Mazinger Z, to do battle against the mad scientist Dr. Hell, who plans to conquer the world with his army of giant robots called the "Kikaiju", which translates to 'Mechanical Beasts', or for a more literal term 'Robot Beasts' or 'Ro-Beasts', just like the ones in Voltron.

92 episodes later (plus an additional 56 more episodes from the sequel series Great Mazinger), Koji successfully takes out Dr. Hell for good. Mazinger Z Infinity takes place 10 years after the fall of Dr. Hell and the world experienced a moment of peace. Koji follows his grandfather's footsteps and becomes a science researcher. When Dr. Hell suddenly comes back from the dead and attacks the world, a new Mazinger discovered in Mt. Fuji, and a mysterious woman named Lisa being the key to all of this, Koji must pilot Mazinger Z for one final mission to save the world once again.

 First off, let it be known that the film is made specifically for fans of the original Mazinger Z series from 1972, as well as its sequel Great Mazinger. This is mainly because the movie has zero time to provide a quickstart on the franchise's lore and just puts everything there, assuming the audience already knows what they are. So this is not, in any shape or form, an entry point for newcomers to the Mazinger franchise.

And that's actually quite the downer with this movie because unless you're knowledgeable about the franchise, you'll be almost out of the loop with the movie's plot. I due recommend before going into this film that, if you do not have the time or access to watch the orignal Mazinger Z series, then watch either MazinKaiser from 2001, or Mazinger Edition Z: The Impact from 2009. Both follow the same basic premise of the original Mazinger Z series, though taken to different directions, but it at least gives you the basic idea of the show's lore.

I have grown up watching Mazinger Z as it's one of the earliest anime I've gotten into. So yes, Mazinger Z Infinity does bring up a lot of nostalgia of my love for the franchise. But it's not without its problems.

I personally have a negative look towards CG animation because as cool looking as they are, come back a decade or so and they won't look as good anymore. 2D animation has a better chance of aging well than 3D animation. With that being said, the CG animation in the film is cool looking and makes the action sequences very appealing, but I don't think it will age well many years down the line. It doesn't help either that there were moments the CG scenes tend to get choppy, it's as though I was watching the 2011 version of the Thundercats, where it had that very issue back then. It is 2018 and I expect 3D animation to be better looking and more fluid.

Hiroya Iijima serves as character designer for Mazinger Z Infinity, and in his interview, he wants his own interpretation of the characters, and not trying to be too close to the original designs made by Go Nagai. Iijima previously did character designs for Afro Samurai, but is better known in providing Key Animation sequences for Bleach, Dragon Ball Z, Iron-Blooded Orphans, and Saint Seiya. The latter more especially because the characters in Mazinger Z Infinity do look a lot more like Saint Seiya characters than Mazinger characters. I don't blame Iijima for his designs, but imagine if Akira Toriyama does the character design instead and you can see how awkward it's going to be given that Toriyama's style is more associated with Dragon Ball than anything else.

If there is one thing that I really disliked most of the movie, is in the middle part, when the action stops and the plot has slowed to a crawl in favor of social commentary. Thing is, Devilman Crybaby already tackled that subject and did it 100 times better than Mazinger Z Infinity. Having to tackle to it again in Mazinger for 20+ minutes got me so bloody bored I nearly dozed off! I also don't like the idea of putting in characters that have absolutely nothing to do with the movie's plot and is only there as mere fan-service.

Without putting in any spoilers, the explanation as to what is going on ends up adding a number of plot holes as far as overall lore of the franchise is concerned. Mazinger Z has a complicated history behind the scenes of which I will not elaborate in this review. But the best I could say is that Mazinger Z Infinity is Toei's attempt to "set the record straight" in a sense.

During the interview segment at the beginning of the film, when asked what the theme of the movie is, director Junji Shimizu (who previously worked on One Piece and Dragon Ball Super) stated the theme is "entertainment". Well, if a 20-minute soap opera on social commentary is part of their definition of "entertainment", he and the rest of the staff have gone mental.

That being said, the action sequences of the movie are its true highlights. Seeing Mazinger Z (and Great Mazinger) decimate hordes of enemy mechs got my blood heating up with excitement. This is essentially what made Mazinger Z a groundbreaking series back in the day that would spawn every other mecha show since. And this is what I really want out of this sequel film. The movie doesn't need social commentary or anyhting like that. Just throw in all the action in there and I'd be really happy about it. But that is not the case.

Don't get me wrong, though. Mazinger Z Infinity is by no means a bad film and I do enjoy it in part due to nostalgia. It's just that the drama and whatnot thrown in is not only unnecessary, it also drags it down from being a really great film to watch. Nevertheless, the movie is to celebrate franchise's mark in history in what made giant robots cool like we know now today, and it deserves to receive that credit and respect. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Mazinger Z Infinity, 3 Rocket Punches out of 5

Alita Battle Angel Trailer Released

The first trailer for "Alita Battle Angel" is finally made available on Youtube.

The movie is an adaptation of the manga series "Battle Angel Alita" (known in Japan as "Gunnm") by Yukito Kishiro in 1990. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, it depicts a female cyborg brought back to life by a scientist. Having no memory of her past, the cyborg Alita becomes a bounty hunter in hopes of finding clues as to her origins.

A two-episode OVA (Original Video Animation), incorporating elements from the first two volumeso of the manga was released in 1993. Both the manga and anime received critical praise when released in the US. James Cameron, famous for directing movies like Titantic and Avatar, has long been a fan of Battle Angel and has acquired the rights to produced the live-action film.

Cameron serves as co-producer for the film, while Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) serves as director. The film stars Rosa Salazar (The Maze Runner, The Divergent Series) as Alita, and Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained, Spectre) as Dr. Ido. Other notable actors includes Jennifer Connelly (Betty Ross from Ang Lee's Hulk), and Mahershala Ali (Cottonmouth from Netflix's Luke Cage). The film is scheduled to be released in theaters in the Summer of 2018.

Resident Evil: Vendetta Review

Resident Evil Vendetta is the third animated CG film based on the Resident Evil franchise. Unlike the live-action series of films starring Milla Jovovich, the CG films are directly linked to the games themselves, serving as a bridge to fill in the gap between the various installments.

All three CG films feature Leon Kennedy, the protagonist of Resident Evil parts 2, 4, and 6. But rather than once again play the protagonist like in the previous films, Leon plays a more supportive role, with the main protagonist mantle given instead to Chris Redfield - the protagonist of the first Resident Evil game, as well as in Resident Evil 5.

Vendetta takes place between the events of Resident Evil 6, and most recently Resident Evil 7. We are introduced to Glenn Arias, the latest baddie creating a brand new virus strain for making zombies under his command. Aside from using the new strain to sell it to the highest bidder as bio-weapons, Glenn also has a personal vendetta against the US government for wiping out his fiancee and the rest of their families during their wedding day.

Anyhow, Chris has a personal grudge against Glenn after the latter wiped out the former's entire team during a search and rescue operation that took place in the mansion from the first Resident Evil game. Another character from that very game, Rebecca Chambers, learns about the new virus and develops a cure, making her Arias's target, and acting as your typical damsel-in-distress. Leon is seen as a total drunkard after his team gets wiped out on a mission. (somehow characters acting drunk and alone after losing their team is becoming a bit a staple in the Resident Evil games)  Leon refuses to help at first, but after Rebecca is captured, he teams up with Chris to rescue Rebecca, as well as to stop Glenn's latest outbreak of the new virus.

If you think the plot seems a bit awful, you are right. It is. Though I honestly don't know if it's from a really bad scriptwriting, or is made intentional. This is because Resident Evil Vendetta has plenty of homages to the games. And one of the staples of the early games was the bad writing and dialogue. Thankfully, the voice acting is great, so the dialogue isn't entirely horrible.

Speaking of homages to the games, Vendetta also shows the transition of the franchise from a survival horror to an action shooter. The early parts of the film really give that creepy horror feel and a few jump scares that went really well. I'm just disappointed that this didn't go throughout the entire film as the rest was pure action. The action is great, I won't deny it, but the film would've been much better if it stayed with the horror element.

Vendetta's best comes from its overall animation, which along with the character designs is superb. I really enjoy the detail given to these characters. And yes, I find Rebecca to be incredibly cute. If there's one thing I would complain, it's Leon as he's given a major overhaul to look like he's one of the characters from Final Fantasy XV that got booted off because he's too sexy or something.

Despite the great CG animation, homages to the games, and being produced by the man behind the Ju-On/The Grudge movies, Resident Evil Vendetta doesn't look like an actual bridge between Resident Evil 6 and 7, and is more of a filler movie at best. The transition from horror to action didn't make the film any better and totally missed the mark. It's still not a bad film and you can still watch and enjoy it as is. It's just that it had plenty of chances of being a great film, and it blew it. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give Resident Evil Vendetta, a 3 out of 5.

Wonder Woman Review

So I got to see the Wonder Woman movie, which is far sooner than I would expect. By sooner I mean a few days after the premiere. I was planning to watch it on premiere day, but real world issues has gotten me into quite the flunk, if you know what I mean, that I may not be able to watch the film for a long time even with the Home Video release. But a stroke of luck has managed to have me watch the film. And I must say, it did lifted my spirits.

Another is that Wonder Woman is a breath of fresh air on so many levels. One, it helps you forget the previous movies from the DC Expanded Universe. Let's face it, despite the money raking in from those movies, they were pretty bad. Wonder Woman is basically what Warner Bros. SHOULD HAVE done with their Cinematic Universe, instead of what they've been doing lately. And in spite of the production problems Wonder Woman has faced, it was well worth it.

Before I give more thoughts on the film, a quick summary of the plot - It is indeed an origin story, though how much accurate it is to the comics, I have no idea as I am not that knowledgeable with regards to DC's lore.

In Wonder Woman, Diana is the only female child living in Themyscira, the Land of The Amazons. The history of the Amazons and its ties to Greek Mythology have been revamped for the modern audience. In the film, the Amazonians are given character that of the goddess Athena, with the role of providing wisdom and guidance towards humankind before Themyscira isolated itself from the world after the battle between Odin and Aries. Now the way they told the history of these two Greek Gods got me surprised a bit, as it made me question how it affects the history of Shazam, aka Captain Marvel, with regards to his origin story in the upcoming film.

Anyhow, fast forward to World War I and a grown-up Diana encounters Steve Trevor, a spy of the Allied Forces on the run from the then German Emprie. This resulted with the latter entering Themyscira and a battle ensues. I have to say I commend whoever constructed this battle scenario - on one hand, we have the German Empire with their firearms; On the other, the Amazons on horseback, bow and arrow, sword and shield. You'd think the Germans have this, but in reality, it was the Amazons who have the advantage and the fight comes out nicely without feeling like it's forced to make the Amazons look good.

Or to put it another way, imagine the sword fight scenes from 300, except with the Amazons taking down German troops. Yeah, that kind of bad ass-ery.

Steve reveals that he has information of the German Empire developing a poisonous gas as a WMD - Weapon of Mass Desruction, and thus he must report  to the Allied Forces. Diana thinks that Aries is the cause of the war and naive-ly believes killing Aries will end all wars. And so she joins Steve in the war in hopes of finding Aries and ending him for good.

The one thing I hate about the current DC films is that they happen to be totally dark, literally speaking. It's not just the tone, but the overall atmosphere and scenery as well. Color and brightness, as trivial as they seem, play a big role in making a visual work appealing. Dark and bleak colors may work in horror or suspense films, but in the case of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Suicide Squad, it only made them less appealing to watch.

Wonder Woman fixed that by making the colors brighter and more attentive to the naked eye. Essentially they followed Marvel's example, directly or otherwise, when it comes to using these visuals even in projects like Daredevil. Another way of seeing this is in Bruce Timm's "Batman: The Animated Series". While much of the show's setting is at night and in dark places, it still uses bright colors. This means your eyes are indeed glued to the screen because "ooh! birght colors! me likey!"

And thank god, the so-called ban on 'no jokes allowed' on DC films is gone. Because you get a lot of humor in this film and all of them are quitte funny. There is great chemistry with Gal Gadot and Chris Pine as Diana and Steve, while the rest of the supporting cast really helped keep the film on a steady course of its greatness, as opposed to having Gadot take the bulk of the film.

Gadot really pulled it off as Diana and presented herself worthy of being the definitive version of the modern-day Wonder Woman. If there is any criticism I have of Gadot, it's that for a Amazonian who tends to fight a lot, she sure as hell wears a whole lot of makeup.

Some say Wonder Woman's plot seems simlar to Captain America: The First Avenger. Understandable, but I think the similarities don't harm the film in any way. I would say it's more of a flattery. That being said, Diana's interactions with the outside world reminded me a lot of Starfire from Teen Titans, which I find amusing.

The fact that the movie neither has an End Credits scene, nor provide any reference to the upcoming Justice League film makes Wonder Woman itself a stand-alone DC film you can watch and enjoy without having to backtrack to the previous films to get an idea what's going on.

Not to talk about feminist themes, but they are indeed present in Wonder Woman. Unlike others such as The Powerpuff Girls and Ghostbusters reboots where the themes are pressed against your face, Wonder Woman presents the theme naturally, it isn't forced, and is presented in a way that lets you appreciate, and even support, its existence. Diana is a feminist in this film, but also shows a lot of compassion and even learns to love Steve, making her all the more appreciative and likable.

The success of Wonder Woman by both critics and the box office have some analysts believe that Warner Bros can just throw their money with Justice League and not worry about it, pointing to the success of the Wonder Woman film. I honestly hope they don't do that and the studio does work hard to make Justice League a really good film, and not because Wonder Woman is in it. What is certain is that DC has laid the groundwork f a very good superhero film with a female lead, and the pressure is on for Marvel to do the same, if not better, with their upcoming Captain Marvel film starring Brie Larson.

It may sound bias of me saying this, but Wonder Woman has redefined the superhero genre in the 10 years since the Marvel Cinematic Universe began and has raised the bar on how to make such films, and not just the superhero genre itself. Marvel and other studios should take note from this. Whether you are a long-time fan of Wonder Woman, or just stepping in to the character herself, the movie is, no pun intended, a "Wonder" to behold. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the Wonder Woman film, a 5 out of 5.

Alleged Marvel Leaks Details

Got these leaks from /co/ so take them with a grain of salt. Also spoilers.

    >SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING - Test-screenings have been very positive so far. Angourie Rice is playing Gwen Stacy. Logan Marshall-Green is playing Jackson Brice. Donald Glover is playing Hobie Brown. The Vulture doesn't die and there are plans to bring Michael Keaton back further down the line.

    >THOR: RAGNAROK - In post-production and coming along nicely. The Soul Stone is introduced. Thor finds out about Thanos just as Asgard, the universe's first line of defense, is nearly destroyed, leaving the cosmos unprotected. He then returns to Earth to recruit the Avengers to help him fight Thanos.

    >BLACK PANTHER - Just wrapped filming. It's a standalone movie and it's more serious, in the same vein as "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". Sebastian Stan makes an appearance as Bucky Barnes.

    >ANT-MAN & THE WASP - Gearing up for production. It's standalone and set simultaneously to "Avengers: Infinity War". Same humorous tone as the first movie. JulIianne Moore is in early talks to play the original Wasp, Janet Van Dyne. Jared Harris is in advanced talks to play the main villain.

    >CAPTAIN MARVEL - In pre-production. Carol Danvers will be briefly introduced in "Avengers: Infinity War". Yon-Rogg is slated to be the villain. Richard Rider will also be featured ahead a potential movie about his transformation into Nova.

    >AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR - Filming. The core characters are Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Falcon, Winter Soldier, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and the Guardians of the Galaxy, although other make appearances. The Black Order is featured as Thanos' enforcers, formed by Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw and Black Dwarf. Peter Dinklage is playing Pip the Troll. The plot revolves around the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy joining forces to collect the Infinity Stones before Thanos. Thanos reveals that he masterminded numerous events right down to Loki's defeat at the hands of the Avengers to facilitate the creation of the Infinity Gauntlet and destroys an en entire galaxy with it. The heroes manage to retreat back to Earth, defeated, but refuse to give up and decide to assemble an army to stop Thanos.

    >AVENGERS 4 - Pre-production. The culmination of the entire MCU so far and the final battle against Thanos. Numerous characters will die, but some of these deaths will be reverted at the end of the movie through the Infinity Stones. The most notable permanent deaths are Captain America and Odin, setting up Bucky becoming Captain America and Thor becoming king of Asgard. Iron Man will retire but the door will be left open for future appearances.

    >PHASE 4 - Early development, therefore subjected to change. There are talks about separating upcoming movies between Cosmic Marvel and Earth Marvel and having each pocket follow their own overarching storylines, although nothing quite as ambitious as the Infinity Saga. The Russos and James Gunn will be creative consultants throughout the whole process. "Doctor Strange 2", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" and the "Spider-Man: Homecoming" sequel are givens. There are plans for "Captain America 4", "Thor 4" and "Ant-Man 3" as well as "Nova" and "Thunderbolts". Sequels to "Black Panther" and "Captain Marvel" are also expected.


Biggest disappointment is that the films do not address Marvel TV (Agents of SHIELD, The Defenders, Cloak & Dagger). I was hoping the narrative of Infinity War would have a multiverse concept, if only to resolve the issues regarding the ties between the films and the TV shows. Since that is not happening, it means Marvel TV is absolutely separate from Marvel Films and the connection is in name only.