The Walking Dead and Alternate Realities

by Chris Vegvary

I don’t know how many of you out there are fans of the comic books of The Walking Dead, but I’ve read all issues so far and am completely current on my knowledge of all things regarding both the comics, the TV show (minus what’s about to happen when the show comes back from its mid-season break, because I’m trying not to ruin it for myself), and the 2012 video game by Telltale Games that is based on the comics. For those of you with a similar mindset to mine, you wanted to see more influence from the comics in the TV show, and you felt that season 1 should have been long enough to include the death of Shane, because that is a major plot point in the sixth issue of the comic.

In my mind, the universes of the comics and the TV show are the same, up to a point. I’m not sure at what point from the TV show skews off in a different direction because the events that cause this to be an alternate reality from the comics would have occurred before the events in the show, as evidenced by conversations and events playing out differently from the very beginning of the first episode, but whatever this event was caused certain characters to not appear, certain other characters that shouldn’t have been seen appeared, and it caused many a ripple in the space-time continuum. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now.

After the Walkers attack the camp in the first season of the show, Rick was supposed to blame Shane for the massacre, and then a little while later, Shane was to go crazy with jealousy over Lori and attempt to kill Rick before being shot in the neck by Carl. In the first season, this “ripple” caused a similar conversation between Rick and Shane, but the outcome was changed due to the fact that Dale was nearby, watching Shane take aim at Rick with his shotgun, which caused Shane to change his mind for the moment. This caused Shane’s life to be spared then, and events began to play out differently from there. Although there were some differences before, this is what I like to think of as the focal point in the show, where everything really started to change.

This is when Shane was supposed to kill Rick,
according to the comic

Because Shane was spared, Andrea and Dale never became a couple due to the fact that they went to the CDC instead of moving on to Hershel’s farm, and in going to the CDC, the group did not encounter Tyreese until much later. Things played out differently at Hershel’s farm because the group still had Shane with them, who was becoming more dangerous by the moment, and Rick never met up with the Governor and had his hand chopped off because Andrea was driven off the farm by Walkers, and was subsequently the first to meet Michonne. While Andrea is still alive in the comics, this “ripple” caused her to be killed in the last episode of the third season. It also caused Lori to die in childbirth, because Rick never encountered the Governor first, got his hand chopped off, and met the doctor who delivers Lori’s baby.

I can go on forever about how one man’s actions screwed everything up (I’m talking about you, Shane) due to a rip in space and time from some unknown event. Whatever it was, it caused characters to switch places, or appear very late, or in some cases, not appear at all (yet, anyway). However, it can be considered lucky that it played out this way, because without this alternate universe, we wouldn’t have Daryl Dixon.

Which is Better: Marvel or DC Movies?

by Chris Vegvary

When you ask this question, you better be prepared for a lot of debate and fanboy arguments. With the success of Marvel’s “Phase 1” films that ended with the 2012 smash success The Avengers, some would say that Marvel is definitely the frontrunner in regards to big film blockbusters based on their characters. Their line of solo films for each of the (main) characters and subsequent massive crossover featuring even more characters from the comics definitely took a step in the direction of uncharted territory. Some would say it’s been done before, but I put it to you that it has never been done in such a way, and has never been as huge a success.

...is what FOX said to Marvel Studios regarding the use of the term in their films.

Unfortunately for Marvel Studios, they don’t own the film rights to all their characters, which makes certain story arcs unavailable to them, unless they drastically change the roster, and at that point, why bother following a particular story arc instead of just making it your own thing? Fox owns the rights to Marvel film properties such as X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man, so we shouldn’t expect to see key characters from those movies appear in any Marvel Studios films (however awesome that would be). This makes things difficult for Marvel, being that they can’t refer to mutants in any of their films or TV shows, like Agents of Shield, because Fox holds the rights to that term when it comes to the Marvel universe.

And what of DC? It’s obvious that their track record of films hasn’t been too great, and only now are they finally doing it right. Everyone remembers the 2011 film Green Lantern, which starred Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan. Yes, it was somewhat of a disaster, and any plans for sequels or any movies related to it fell through after people saw it. Personally, I didn’t have a huge problem with it, but I have barely read a Green Lantern comic. But in 2012, DC seemed to take a step in the right direction with the movie Man of Steel, which is following Marvel’s idea of a shared cinematic universe. Does that mean they’re copying Marvel? I say no, it just means that they’re catching on. It’s a good idea, and I’m excited to see them implement it. Even if they’re not going to have as many solo films for their characters as Marvel Studios did, at least DC owns the film rights to their most widely-recognized and popular characters.

So who’s better, you may wonder? While at one point I would have been inclined to say that Marvel is way better than DC, I’ve changed my mind on that. To me, they’re much closer to equals now, at least in terms of the comics, and I’m genuinely excited to see Ben Affleck (yeah, I said it…do with me what you will) as Batman in the sequel to Man of Steel, and I’m very excited to see how Ultron comes to be in Avengers: Age of Ultron. I’m both Marvel and DC now, and it feels good. Can we not all just accept that both have their advantage? I did.

A “World of Warcraft” Movie is Being Made

by Chris Vegvary

There are apparently those of you out there who have played a little game, possibly in the last decade or so, called World of Warcraft. While I consider myself a somewhat decently hardcore player of video games, I’ve never played this particular game. In general, I don’t like online multiplayer games. I prefer the games that have long, engaging single-player campaigns for me to go through for hours and hours on end. However the point of this article is that there is a movie being made of the game that quite a few people have played and still play to this day.

The film is supposed to be directed by Duncan Jones, who directed a movie called Moon, which I’ve never seen, but I am aware that it stars Sam Rockwell (who played Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2) alone on the moon. He also directed a movie called Source Code, which starred Jake Gyllenhaal. Another film I’ve never seen, but I have heard that both are good. It’s probably worth looking into for fans of World of Warcraft awaiting the movie’s eventual completion and release.

Who, you might ask, will be starring in such a film? For now, it is known that Daniel Wu, who has been in many, many films since 1998, will have a role in the film, as will Ben Foster. Dominic Cooper may be in the running. Clancy Brown, who I remember most recently from the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street (but also as far back as Highlander and Pet Sematary) will also play a character, although it is not known who. He might be the good guy this time, for all we know.

I can honestly say that I’m not too excited to see this one, but all that might change by the time an actual trailer comes out. By then, who knows? I might be at the first showing at the theater on opening morning.

Who Are the Guardians of the Galaxy?

by Chris Vegvary

For those of you who may not be aware, Marvel still has two films planned in “Phase 2” of their plan for their cinematic universe before the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the next being Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which will be followed by Guardians of the Galaxy. There are many people out there unfamiliar with this band of misfits from the comics, which is a group of outlaws and aliens that come together to fight for the greater good.

The leader of the group, Peter Quill, is also known as Star-Lord, and will be played in the film by Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation, Zero Dark Thirty). Star-Lord is the only human member of the team, and one can speculate that with Chris Pratt playing him, there will be quite a bit of humor coming from this character. Another member of the team is called Drax the Destroyer, played by former professional wrestler Dave Bautista, who is essentially the Wolverine of the team, in that he is a vengeful, unstoppable killing machine who is targeting Thanos, the person responsible for his death and the death of his daughter. Although in the comics, Drax was killed when Thanos invaded Earth for the Cosmic Cube (or Tesseract, as it’s called in the Marvel Cinematic Universe), his origin may be altered since it is believed that Thanos won’t invade Earth until the third Avengers film.

Gamora, a green-skinned alien woman played by Zoe Saldana, is the adopted daughter of Thanos. She is known as the deadliest woman in the galaxy, and while she is initially loyal to Thanos, she appears to eventually have a change of heart and has a major bone to pick with Thanos, on account of his evil agenda. Groot, who is of a race of large, tree-like aliens, will be played and voiced by actor Vin Diesel. Groot can possibly be seen as the Hulk of the team, with his incredible strength, ability to heal (by absorbing wood), and seemingly low intelligence (being able to say only one phrase: “I am Groot.”).

Finally, we have Rocket Raccoon, an anthropomorphized raccoon who has endured genetic alteration and experimentation, and who is an expert with guns. A smart-mouthed little guy with a lot of spunk, Rocket is as hilarious as he is deadly, and should provide some decent comic relief throughout the film, although it has been stated that the character will not be like a cartoon character. Rocket Raccoon will be voiced by Bradley Cooper.

Now that you know who the Guardians of the Galaxy are, does that make you more interested in seeing their adventures on the big screen? While they won’t each get their own individual movies like most of the characters from The Avengers did, it should be interesting to see a space epic with Marvel characters who may one day appear to stand beside the likes of the Avengers when Thanos decides to invade Earth.

Who is Ant-Man?

by Chris Vegvary

I find that whenever I mention Ant-Man to someone, even some of my friends who know comic books, I get blank stares. No one seems to know who the guy is. Obviously, Hank Pym is not as popular as some of the more mainstream Marvel characters, such as Iron Man, but he still plays a large part in the world of the comics. He’s one of the top brains in the Marvel universe, and has been around since the 1960s, although there’s been some alteration to his background in order to keep him young enough to still be relevant in the comics, as there has been with all of our beloved characters.

Hank Pym started out as Ant-Man, and has since changed personas many times, having aliases such as Goliath, Giant Man, and Yellowjacket. Ant-Man has the ability to shrink down to the size of an ant, and also to communicate with them and have them do his bidding. That may not sound like such a great power, but that combined with his intelligence landed him a spot on the Avengers team, which was named by his girlfriend and eventual wife, Janet Van Dyne (the superhero known as the Wasp), of which they were both founding members. Unfortunately for the both of them, the 2012 Marvel film The Avengers decided to go with Hawkeye and Black Widow instead.

Why else would Ant-Man/Hank Pym be important? Well, besides the creation of Pym Particles, which is what allows him to grow or shrink in size, Hank Pym is also directly responsible for the creation of an artificially intelligent robot that becomes progressively smarter and decides it needs to wipe out mankind. No, I’m not talking about Skynet or Terminators here; I’m talking about Ultron. But again, unfortunately, Hank Pym is left out of this process in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, because the film Ant-Man won’t be released until after The Avengers: Age of Ultron, where it is suspected (but not confirmed) that Ultron will evolve out of the JARVIS AI used in Tony Stark’s Iron Man armor.

The film Ant-Man, which just found it leading man to play the character finally, was originally slated to appear in what is referred to as “Phase 2” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which includes previous films Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World, and upcoming films Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy) before the sequel to The Avengers, Ant-Man was pushed back to the beginning of “Phase 3”, which will see the release of movies like Doctor Strange and possibly Black Panther. I feel it would have been not only smart, but excellent to see Hank Pym be responsible for the creation of Ultron in an end-credits scene of the film Ant-Man, leading into The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Sadly, it wasn’t meant to be.

So now Paul Rudd, comedic actor, will be playing Ant-Man in the film, but it is still unknown at this time whether the character he is playing will be Hank Pym or someone else who took up the mantle of Ant-Man at some point, like Scott Lang or Eric O’Grady. Regardless of whether he creates Ultron in the cinematic universe or not (it’s already been said that he won’t), I’m still curious to see how director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) can make turning into a tiny person and fighting crime into an interesting movie. I know I’ll be seeing it no matter what.

What Can We Expect From Captain America 2?

by Chris Vegvary

Captain America in WWII

A super-soldier experiment from the days of World War II, Steve Rogers, or Captain America as he is more commonly known, now leads the superhero group known as the Avengers. Marvel Studios introduced Cap to the world in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger where we saw him go from being an extraordinary weakling to becoming the world’s first superhero (that we know of in the Marvel Cinematic Universe), going on adventures with best friend Bucky Barnes to thwart Hitler and his right-hand man, the Red Skull. Unfortunately for Cap, his friend Bucky is lost when he falls from a train to a snowy river below, but after that, Cap is able to defeat the Red Skull...at the cost of his life.

The Avengers

In 2012’s Marvel’s The Avengers, Captain America awoke to discover that he had been frozen in ice for close to 70 years after his last battle with the Red Skull caused him to crash-land a prototype plane in the arctic. Nick Fury offered Cap a place in the Avengers, along with fellow superheroes Tony Stark (also known as Iron Man), the Hulk, Thor (God of Thunder), Hawkeye, and Black Widow. Together they battled Thor’s mad brother, the Asgardian Loki, and stopped his crazy schemes, locking him up and taking away his magical weapons. While Steve Rogers does not understand this new world, he still fights to protect it.

Steve Rogers vs. the Winter Soldier

And now we come to modern times. Captain America has a new outfit, possibly a new shield, and is fighting against the enemies of today while working for the worldwide organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. What do we know about this film so far? Well, to start with, it’s called Captain America: The Winter Soldier. For those of you who don’t know, the Winter Soldier is the codename for a brainwashed Russian agent that is taken out of cryogenic stasis every few years or so to complete an assassination mission. The Winter Soldier is also Steve Rogers’ former best friend, Bucky Barnes, who was thought dead since World War II. Another character, Sam Wilson, also known as The Falcon, will be making his first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and so will a character named Brock Rumlow, who will become the villain known as Crossbones (who is responsible for Cap’s death in the comic – don’t worry, he comes back eventually). Black Widow and Nick Fury also feature heavily in this film, fighting alongside Captain America against some kind of secret threat. Will it be better than the first one? In my opinion, yes it will be, and I truly can’t wait to see it.

“Gotham” TV Series Headed Our Way

by Chris Vegvary

Did you ever think to yourself that you wanted to see a television show based on the life of James Gordon when he was still just a rookie? If so, then Fox has something special in mind for you. From Adam West classic TV show to Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, Batman is probably the most well-known household name. He fights the good fight so that you don’t have to, facing off against villains like the Joker, his sometimes-girlfriend Catwoman, and former lawyer and current bad guy Harvey Dent, AKA Two-Face.

So it only makes sense to create a modern television show based on Batman, right? Maybe, but why stop at Batman when we can learn so much more about James Gordon? Ugh, I say. I can’t honestly say that idea is too appealing to me. I’d kind of rather know about Bruce Wayne before he became Batman in a way similar to what they did with Clark Kent before he became Superman in the show Smallville, but maybe with less…emotions. Smallville was decent and all, but it was way too PG, if you understand what I’m saying. Everyone always learns a lesson and it’s always all warm and fuzzy, where that kind of stuff makes me slightly ill, because people don’t act like that in real life. I need to see more shows like Teen Titans GO!, even though aimed towards children, are still enjoyable for adults.

Back to the point, though. While 10-year-old Bruce Wayne is supposed to be a series regular, this show is mainly about Detective Gordon and his experiences in Gotham City from back in the day. Even though TV shows like Arrow have other characters like the Flash showing up in some episodes, don’t expect to see cameos from characters like Clark Kent or Wonder Woman. And even though Barbara Gordon eventually goes on to become Batgirl, I very much doubt that will happen in the course of this series.

While well-known characters like Green Lantern or Supergirl may not appear in the show, seeing as how it’s before their time, don’t let that stop you from at least giving it a chance. At least we'll see Bruce Wayne before he became Batman. I suspect it’s going to be a gritty cop drama (that’s actually really obvious), but now that I think about it, is it possible we might actually see some of the characters from the Arrow television series, such as Slade Wilson, AKA Deathstroke? That would certainly make things interesting.

X-Men: Apocalypse Finally Happening

by Chris Vegvary

Marvel Studios has its hands full with properties like Iron Man, Hulk, and the Avengers, there are still movies based on Marvel comics owned by other studios. Fox owns the film rights to franchises like Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and the X-Men. While Fox doesn’t have the greatest track record when it comes to their Marvel film properties, they’re aiming to do something about it and are trying to create a world similar to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, in which all their franchises are tied together.

When X-Men: Days of Future Past was announced as both a sequel to X-Men: First Class as well as X-Men: The Last Stand, I knew things were starting to go right at Fox. First Class introduced us to the “first” generation of Charles Xavier’s mutant team (I’m basing this only on the movie, not the comics) and showed the creation of his greatest foe, Magneto. Days of Future Past will feature not only the X-Men of the past, but the X-Men of the future coming together to stop the creation of the Sentinels, giant mutant-hunting robots that eventually end up wiping out the mutant race.

Not too long after we learned of Fox’s plans for Days of Future Past, they went and announced that there would soon be an X-Force film in the works. X-Force is sort of like the X-Men’s black ops team, doing the dirty work behind the scenes so that mutants like Charles Xavier can stay on the front lines fighting the good fight in public. This team could feature mutants like Cable, Deadpool, Domino, and even Wolverine. Hearing about that made me think that Fox was maybe just announcing things just so that they could get the public riled up, but now I’m more hopeful than ever.

Earlier in the week, it was announced that the next film in the X-Men franchise following Days of Future Past would be called X-Men: Apocalypse. For those of you who don’t know, Apocalypse is an ancient being that claims to be the first mutant. Along with Mr. Sinister, Apocalypse performs experiments on mutants, transforming them into beings that bend only to his will. Apocalypse is responsible for the techno-organic virus running through Cable’s body, having injected him with it as a baby.

Does this mean that we’ll see characters like Cable and Mr. Sinister in X-Men: Apocalypse? If so, then they need to find a way to revive Cyclops and Jean Grey, because Cable is their son. We already know that other time-traveling mutants, like Bishop, will be featured in Days of Future Past, so it stands to reason that if Apocalypse is going to be featured, his greatest enemy (Cable) should be featured as well. I can’t wait for the next few years to come around and show us all the good movies that are coming out. Properties owned by Fox, such as the Spider-Man and X-Men franchises, are said to be crossing over in a cinematic universe similar to Marvel's. That would be something.

The Walking Dead is Good Again

by Chris Vegvary

(Note: Spoilers for both the TV show and comic to follow. If you have not watched it yet, or if you plan on checking out the comics, read at your own risk.)

A while ago, I posted an article on how I felt The Walking Dead TV show was declining in quality. From the beginning, there have been many ups and downs, including the showrunners’ apparent insistence on straying from the source material, confusing fans of the comics. For instance, if the show were to have followed the comics, Andrea would not have died at the end of season 3. She is one of the few survivors from the original group who is currently still alive in the comics.

For the first season of The Walking Dead, there were only six episodes. Not nearly enough time to tell the story they wanted to, which would have included killing off Shane in one of the later episodes of season 1 (probably towards the end of the season, episode 11 or 12) instead of waiting so long into season 2. At the end of season 1, Andrea is extremely unhappy with Dale, whereas in the comics, they become a couple after Amy is killed by Walkers.

The first half of season 2 spent way too long focusing on the search for the missing little girl, and the second half of the season saw Rick flip-flopping back and forth on whether or not to kill a survivor that attacked them, much to Shane’s disapproval. The best part of the season came in the last few episodes, when Dale was killed (which didn’t happen until much later in the comics) and then Rick finally killed Shane.

Season 3 was very intense, but it did more than a few things wrong. Oscar, while not in the comics, should have lived, in my opinion; Andrea was not supposed to die, and that felt like a middle finger to fans of the comics; the season should have ended with the Governor’s assault on the prison, and Lori and the baby were supposed to die in the attack. Instead, it ends with Rick taking in the residents of Woodbury while the Governor disappears, and that left me feeling like the show was taking some of us for granted.

When season 4 started, I was disappointed. I had no excitement for any of the episodes like I had for previous seasons, and the storyline about a virus of some kind running through the prison was pretty boring to me. But now that I look back on it, maybe it was to thin out the herd a little, because the Governor finally comes back with a tank and a small army, and the assault on the prison that should have happened in season 3 finally happens. The mid-season finale was full of iconic moments from the comic books, including the beheading of Hershel, who took Tyreese’s place in that event from the comic. The Governor is also killed when Michonne impales him with her sword, and his lady-friend Lilly shoots him in the head for being a scumbag.

I could go on forever about how excited I am now that the show seems to be getting back on track, but I implore you to read the comics and find out for yourself what good stuff you might be in store for. Don’t forget to check out the links throughout the article to find yourself some great deals on Walking Dead costumes and accessories.

Another “Reboot” of Friday the 13th On Its Way?

by Chris Vegvary

Undead serial killer Jason Voorhees; no matter how many times you kill him, he just keeps coming back to destroy. Starting his killing spree in the 1980’s, we first knew Jason Voorhees as a deformed little boy who drowned at Camp Crystal Lake when the camp counselors were busy sex-ifying one another, and his mother, Pamela, went insane and began to kill all those she felt was responsible, including people who had nothing to do with it. After Pamela was beheaded by one of her would-be victims, Jason Voorhees returns as an adult, having not actually drowned as a child, but most likely hiding out in the woods after witnessing the death of his mother, kills the woman responsible, and returns to Camp Crystal Lake where he waits to punish any teenagers that come by.

Since then, Jason Voorhees has been defeated, killed, raised from the dead as a hulking zombie, killed more, went to Hell, fought fellow psychopath and manipulative dream demon Freddy Krueger, and even went to space. Not many serial killers, fictional or not, get to live that kind of (after)life. In 2009, Platinum Dunes remade Friday the13th, and in my opinion, it was a great movie. The opening of the film was the end of the original film, and then the rest of the movie is a combination of the first four movies in the original series, mixed with some of the best kills from throughout the franchise’s history. Talk about fan service. But unfortunately, the public didn’t love it, and there’s been no activity since except for a few rumors floating around that there may be a sequel.

Now, instead of a sequel, they’ve decided to go ahead and remake the film yet again. As if this isn’t bad enough, there’s talk of it being a “found footage” film, in the vein of movies like The Blair Witch Project. What? Really, Hollywood? You can’t ever just leave anything alone, can you? I’ll never understand why they don’t pursue licenses to any of the great horror characters, like Michael Myers or Leatherface, and pit them all against each other. Instead, they’re going to take a film that has been remade once already recently after ten successful films and a crossover, and remake it again. Why did plans fall through on a sequel to 2009’s remake? Was it really that terrible that people would rather see a brand new version of Jason (again) as seen through the eyes of a group of obnoxious teenagers holding cameras and shaking them around enough to induce motion sickness in quite a lot of viewers? Well, if that’s what you wanted (or even if it’s not), it appears you’ll be getting it sometime around March 2015, most likely on a Friday the 13^th. Now, if you like Jason and all things Friday the 13th, then don't forget to follow the links embedded throughout the article to see some of the great stuff we have available for you.

What's Up with DC Comics' The Flash?

by Chris Vegvary

Whether you enjoy Marvel or DC entertainment, one thing is for sure: Marvel is blowing up when it comes to big-name movies and hopefully, DC will be soon to follow. For example, DC appears to like throwing random movies out there based on their characters, never seeming like they have a real game plan. Case in point: the movie Green Lantern. It barely even had references to other parts of the DC Universe. Then, when Man of Steel was released, everything changed. Soon after that, we were told that a sequel would be coming out in 2015, which would feature both Batman AND Superman fighting each other before banding together to fight the real villain. When that was announced, they also said there were plans for a movie based on The Flash.

Barry Allen, also known as the superhero The Flash, was introduced in a story arc in the television show Arrow, based on DC’s Green Arrow character. While Barry Allen was to be featured in three episodes, the final one showing his transformation into The Flash (and therefore starting a new television series based on the character), apparently the character was so well-received on Arrow that they scrapped his next two appearances on the show in favor of just giving him his own show as soon as possible.

We’ve been told things like Arrow does not take place in the DC cinematic universe that was set up in Man of Steel. If that’s the case, we won’t be seeing Stephen Amell playing Green Arrow in any movie any time soon. So what does that say about their supposed Flash movie? If they planned on bringing the character to film, but then they changed their mind and wanted to give him a television series, does that mean that they no longer have a film based on him planned because he was also in an episode of Arrow, which isn’t in the DC cinematic universe? It’s all so confusing.

You like DC, you like The Flash, and you like yourself some Justice League. There’s no point denying it, in fact, it might help you to let it all out. Take a look at the posted throughout the article and you just might find yourself a costume you'll want to wear next Halloween, or whatever parties you have coming up.

How Many Villains Will We See in The Amazing Spider-Man 2?

by Chris Vegvary

Seems like Peter Parker has it pretty rough these days. Did you know that in the Ultimate Marvel comics (which is designed to be geared towards newer readers who don’t want to go through the decades of backstory), Peter Parker was beaten to death by that reality’s version of the Sinister Six? He was then replaced by a 12-year-old kid in a cooler outfit. About a year ago now, in the mainstream Marvel Comics universe (Earth-616), Otto Octavius, better known as Dr. Octopus, switched bodies with Peter Parker so that Otto was Spider-Man and Peter was stuck in Otto’s dying body. Finally, while trying to stop Otto, Peter was killed and somehow, Otto decided to take up the mantle of a hero better than all the rest and becomes the “Superior” Spider-Man. That still continues to be the case to this day.

I bring all that up because it looks to me like Peter Parker’s going to get wailed on in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 by maybe three or more villains. I won’t be giving away anything super major here, but some of it could be considered spoilery, so look away now if you don’t want to know anything about the film. Are you looking away? Look here. Ok, check out this movie poster below

Here’s what we know: the plot seems to revolve mainly around the rise of the villain Electro, played by Jamie Fox in the movie. We also know that Paul Giamatti is going to be playing the villain called the Rhino, who in the mainstream Marvel Comics is a big guy in a huge rhino suit. In Ultimate Spider-Man comics, the Rhino was a giant robotic rhino controlled by a pilot inside of it. Looks like they’re going with the Ultimate version. We know that Norman Osborn will be in the movie, as well as Harry Osborn, so there’s a chance we could see one or two different Goblins here. On the official poster, there is clearly a figure off in the distance on a glider who many people agree is the Green Goblin. I’ve heard in rumors that the villain Shocker may also make an appearance, and I swear I thought I saw a mechanical octopus arm on that poster in the background, but that’s honestly probably just wishful thinking.

While I know more about the movie than I really want to discuss here, I’ll leave you with this: If you can’t get enough Spider-Man in your life, I’m going to recommend you follow the link below and check out all the good stuff we have for you, including Spider-Man costumes, gear, and accessories for your next Halloween party or costumed get-together.

Spider-Man Costumes

Star Wars is Coming Back, Thanks to Disney

by Chris Vegvary

Disney’s been doing a lot lately, haven’t they? It seems like they’re extending ever outward, acquiring all the properties we love so much. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I say that remains to be seen, but either way you look at it, they’re involved in some of the best entertainment out there. First they got ahold of Marvel Entertainment (which really hasn’t changed it all that much, despite what I heard some people saying), then they decided they wanted to buy Lucasfilm and own Star Wars.

Star Wars has this cult following. Even little kids today love it, because there’s all kinds of shows, games, Legos, and all kinds of other stuff based around the mythology of Star Wars. That just goes to show how popular laser swords and telekinesis are; very. That’s why the world seemed so overjoyed when they finally heard that Disney was giving a release date for the highly-anticipated-yet-we-never-thought-it-would-actually-happen movie, Star Wars Episode VII. Truly, it should be an experience.

And yet, what kind of experience would it be if the original cast wasn’t in it? Surely Luke Skywalker will be in it, right? Maybe, but rumor has it that Mark Hamill has not been contacted by the current filmmakers or offered a script or anything like that yet, whereas Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher appear to have already confirmed that they will be returning for their respective roles. I just can’t picture a Star Wars movie with Han Solo and Princess Leia that doesn’t have Luke Skywalker in it. Even the droids are returning, come on now.

So will it be a success? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see right now, but one thing’s for sure: if you like the Force and you like watching Jedi and Sith swinging around lightsabers like ninjas, you're going to be in luck in 2015. Speaking of weapons, if you happen to be on the lookout for a good costume accessory like a sword or butcher knife for Halloween, then check out our selection of Halloween weapons here.