Anime and Events

Convention season is officially cancelled. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will take place in 2021. Spring and early Summer cons are cancelling to comply with the large gathering regulations. Crunchyroll Dubbing is experiencing delays, and new Spring titles are noticeably less. Though slowed, anime production is likely to continue, as most of the production aspects can be done digitally.

Comics

The Comics Industry has officially crashed. How? Diamond Comic Distributors is the exclusive direct market distributor for DC, Marvel, and many more. Earlier this month, Diamond announced they are forced to close due to COVID-19. This has put the print comics industry in a choke hold. For the indie side, it’s “pencils down” as production screeches to a halt. For DC and Marvel however, it’s “business as usual”. The big two are expected to release comics digitally as well as utilize smaller distribution companies.

Sales will undoubtedly decrease as most print comics do not sell well online. This is due to indie web comics following a tipping model rather than a purchase model. Sites like Webtoon and Tapas allow creators to earn revenue via ads and reader tipping. And while Comixology is the digital go-to for mainstream style comics, the print format is not web friendly.

Console Wars

Playstation and Microsoft have stated there is no production delay for their new consoles Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X respectively. This news comes as a pleasant surprise as a lot of industries are experiencing delays. Current specs for both are available on this IGN chart. With most of the specs being identical, price will remain priority. We at GeekCaster speculate Playstation will remain on top due to its international consumer base.

Meanwhile, Nintendo is right on time. In addition to the Animal Crossing release, the company had a surprise mini-direct. The direct hints at a new Smash DLC character. The character will be from Nintendo’s newest fighting game; ARMS. Characters Min Min and Twintelle are fan favorites and most speculated to join. The mystery character will release in June.

TV & Film

The Entertainment Industry is floundering. Production grinding to a halt. Release dates pushed back. Films direct-to-streaming. Streaming services like Netflix and Hulu are reducing video quality to conserve bandwidth as the world’s internet usage increases. Netflix is currently the least impacted, with most of it’s original titles wrapping up production just before the virus escalation. The second season of Altered Carbon aired in February. Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy is currently in post-production. The release of Disney+ in France and India is delayed, while the streaming service cuts bandwidth use by 25% in active countries.

Most noted film postponements are the Wonder Woman sequel, Wonder Woman 1984 and Black Widow. Both films feature a female lead, and both films follow the recent hype of Birds of Prey. Comic projects have finally started to focus on women in comics. Because of the virus, we have to wait a little longer.

Video Games

Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing recently shared a release date (March 20). Game Stop received a large amount of backlash after refusing to close for the releases. The video game retailer attempted to claim “essential business” status, citing their tech products as vital resources for the newly created home workforce. This did not go over well with many state and local governments, Pennsylvania even suspending the company’s business license for the state. Game Stop is set to close 300+ locations in 2020.

Blizzard servers are experiencing an increase in issues due to the surge in online play. Overatch and COD: Modern Warfare have seen an increase in wait time for online matches.

Stay tuned for updates and in-depth analysis on the topics above!

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Marvel Cinematic Universe fans have been waiting for the next story arc for Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye ever since Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 have been in production. There’s long been rumor that the MCU Hawkeye would be undergoing the same kind of evolution that his Marvel Comics counterpart did in the 2000s, losing the purple archer theme and trading for the darker persona of the ninja/samurai crimefighter, Ronin.

Avengers 4 set photos and videos have indeed confirmed that Renner’s Clint Barton will get a big design change in the film, but we’re still waiting on the official look at what MCU Ronin will be.

Thankfully, Marvel fans have been pumping out more and more concept artwork of what Jeremy Renner’s Ronin could look like, and BossLogic has created what may be the best concept for a live-action Ronin yet!

Renner’s Ronin will come with some kind of hood option with his costume. The hood will make Ronin stand out and who doesn’t like a hoodie!

What makes this BossLogic artwork so stunning is the level of detail in the mask. It’s done in a way that definitely brings the comics to life, but also reflects a certain amount of personality in its look, if only a mysterious personality, as well as walking the tightrope between being heroic in the ninja or samurai mask tradition and just plain awesome.

That design aesthetic could be very important to both Ronin’s costume and character arc in Avengers 4. A lot of current fan theory leans towards a scenario in which the retired Clint Barton’s beloved wife and kids were disintegrated in The Snap, leaving Clint traumatized and broken. Instead of returning to Hawkeye work, Clint could presumably become either obsessed with reversing The Snap, or get violent and reckless as a man with nothing left to lose. Either path would definitely require the kind of fearsome Ronin persona depicted above. What do you think of the artwork?

What are your thoughts? Let me know on Twitter and Instagram @BlueJayHJB

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Clark Gregg, who will reprise his role as Agent Coulson in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe venture, recently responded to a fan’s comment about his de-aged look in the film. As Gregg joked, they didn’t need to use any de-aging software on him, and all he had to do was take “a four day nap”.

Not bad age reduction VFX work. https://t.co/4OFPZTk8lH

— Mark Kolpack (@MarkKolpack) September 18, 2018

Didn’t use any. Just took a 4 day nap.

— Clark Gregg (@clarkgregg) September 18, 2018

Other Twitter Users replied to Clark Gregg’s Tweet:

Tahiti?

— Amie (@amiejennifer) September 18, 2018

Don’t forget Tahiti is a magical place!

I heard it's a magical place

— greg (@BroPenny) September 18, 2018

The joke is pretty hilarious, and has made some fans reminisce about Coulson’s time in the TAHITI program in between The Avengers and Agents of SHIELD. As it turns out, that task of playing a significantly younger Coulson was a pretty interesting pitch to Gregg.

“That was a fun call from my friends in the Cinematic Universe,” Gregg explained in an interview earlier this year. “who I normally see at these events, saying, ‘You know, we think once again we have some work for you, but it takes place in the ’90s. Can you go to the gym?’ Yeah, I said, ‘The ’90s? I mean, there is no gym that can get me back to the ’90s.’ And they said, ‘Well, don’t worry. We’ve been working on that technology, and we think we can goose you back a few years.’”

In the movie, Coulson will manifest in some particularly interesting ways within Captain Marvel, including a sort of “cool” moment between him and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).

“[Coulson] is a relatively new S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who is obsessed with MC Hammer and dresses just like him, and it makes Director Fury so angry,” Gregg quipped earlier this month. “The genie pants don’t really go with the Armani.”

Clark Gregg added, “Getting to see Captain Marvel come to life, I mean that’s a really cool character…and, at least in the comics, one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel universe.” Gregg explained. “Perhaps more powerful than any character we’ve seen, with the exception of Thanos, so to have that be Brie Larson was cool for me. I’m excited to go with my daughter to see it.”

Are you excited to see Agent Coulson in Captain Marvel? Let me know on Twitter and Instagram @BlueJayHJB and follow GeekCaster on Facebook.

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We all remember Iron Man coming out in 2008. We even remember the X-Men movies in which most eyes kicked off the golden age of super hero movies. How soon we forget about the man they called Blade and his movie back in 1998. While it and its accompanying sequels were more straight action films, Blade proved that comic books could make for good movies when treated seriously. It’s not much of a wonder then that Marvel Studios has apparently been meeting with Snipes about the future of the franchise.

How can Blade fit in the MCU?

After 20 films, the MCU has established a concrete story. Tony Stark started it all when he announced himself as Iron Man. His buddy Rhodes tagged along to watch his back as War Machine. Agent Coulson found a hammer out in the middle of a desert which led to Thor. Agents of SHIELD were able to fish a man out of time for the icy grave who turns out to be Captain America.

Many movies later we see Thanos snap his fingers and erase half of humanity.

Where does this leave Blade? At the end of Blade: Trinity Blade and Drac beat the heck out of each other which led to the cops finally reaching the building. The cops always show up late but anyway, Drac respects Blade’s fight and changes into Blade to throw off cops from him. He also says that the future of vampires rests with Blade. At this point, we don’t really know what happened to Blade. Did Blade hide in the shadows until he thought his kind was safe? Did he travel far to make vampire babies?

The MCU can bring Blade into a mentor role for the younger Avengers and the other heroes in the MCU. Wesley Snipes is up there but he can still kick ass. During his time away from the world, he could’ve been training a person who is ready to take his place. Maybe his son? Maybe Hannibal King’s son? After the Avengers take out Thanos in Avengers 4, Blade and his new allies can ride in to tell the Avengers of a new threat.

What do you think? Let me know on Twitter and Instagram @BlueJayHJB and follow Geekcaster on Facebook.

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Let’s learn about the challengers! First we will start off with Toad from Marvel Comics.

Toad (Mortimer Toynbee) is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, he first appeared in X-Men #4 (March 1964).

He is most often depicted as an enemy of the X-Men, and was originally a weak, hunchbacked mutant, with a superhuman leaping ability. He was Magneto‘s servant in the 1960s line-up of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Mortimer was a mutant outcast until Magneto invited him to join his quest for mutant rights.

As the Toad, Mortimer became an integral piece of Magneto’s Brotherhood and he was right by Magneto’s side during all of the greatest mutant victories, including the final battle in Central Park which led to mutant supremacy. He eventually led his own version of the Brotherhood, which was more involved in petty crime than mutant liberation.

The character has appeared in numerous media adaptations, such as television series, films and video games. Actor Ray Park played a significantly different version of Toad in 2000’s X-Men film, and after the movie, aspects of this Toad have since been implemented into the comic book version.

The Toad’s intellect and physical abilities have gone through some changes over the years. In the character’s inception, he possessed superhuman leg strength and endurance. Toad also has high levels of agility, reflexes, coordination, balance, a superhuman ability to leap great distances. However, over the years, the Toad’s original powers have increased and he has gained additional powers through further mutation, including adhesive saliva and an elongated prehensile tongue.

Toad’s primary mutant ability is a superhuman leaping ability that allows him to leap many times higher and farther than an ordinary human. He possesses some degree of superhuman strength and endurance, primarily concentrated in his lower torso and legs, which grants him his superior leaping abilities.

Now let’s talk about Reptile from Mortal Kombat:

Reptile is a video game character from the Mortal Kombat fighting game franchise created for Midway Games  by Ed Boon and John Tobias. Since then NetherRealm Studios has taken over. NetherRealm Studios is an American video game developer based in Chicago, Illinois, founded in May 2010 to replace Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment‘s WB Games Chicago subsidiary.

Led by video game industry veteran and Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon, the studio is in charge of developing the Mortal Kombat and Injustice series of fighting games.

Reptile debuted in Mortal Kombat as a hidden opponent and appeared in subsequent titles as a playable character.

Reptile is a green garbed, humanoid reptilian creature that embodies the archetype of the unhappy underling. Said to be physically hideous and repulsive, he is renowned for his great stealth and unquestioning loyalty. Unlike many other henchmen, Reptile does not strive for power. He is caught in a delusional state of mind, obsessed with finding the last remaining member of his race, or freeing his homeworld of Zaterra from Outworld‘s grasp. Thus, he always remains loyal to Shao Kahn. While well-meaning and sincere, his obsession is so important to him that it causes him temporary fits of insanity.

Reptile appears to take abilities from several reptilian creatures. His saliva is composed of powerful, corrosive fluids that can easily burn right through steel, much like acid. He also can fire concussive blasts of homing energy. Reptile’s distinguishing trait is his ability to render himself completely invisible.

So who will win this encounter?

Let’s take a look below.

The fight takes place in the Chagres National Park in Panama. There are no rules … except the two can’t use other animals in the forest as weapons. No animals will be harmed … except the two warriors in this fight.

Let Mortal Kombat begin!

Reptile is seen eating dead bugs against a tree. That’s right, the bugs were already dead. Toad, who is sitting on top of a branch on the same tree,  lashes his tongue at Reptile.

Reptile is pissed off Toad interrupted his lunch. Toad starts to laugh as he jumps down from the branch. Reptile pulls out a blade to throw at Toad. The ever so clever Toad catches the blade with his tongue then throws it back at Reptile.

The blade pierces the side of Reptile. He is obviously furious about this. Reptile removes his mask and spits acid at Toad. Sometimes, the jet of acid spit would hinder the opponent for a very short time as the steam from the acid burns away at the opponent’s skin. In this case, Reptile missed Toad. Toad jumps over Reptile, grabs him from behind and flips him into another tree.

Toad turns around to tongue lash Reptile in the face over and over until Reptile reaches into his pocket for some green mist. Reptile throws the green mist into Toad’s face that temporarily blinds him. Reptile takes advantage by jumping over Toad then running toward him to deliver a flying elbow to the back of the neck. This blow by Reptile breaks the neck of Toad thus making Reptile the winner.

Flawless Victory!

What do you think? Let me know on Twitter and Instagram @BlueJayHJB

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The character played by Laurence Fishburne got into a humorous conversation with Scott Lang where the two compared how big they could grow, prompting Hope van Dyne to make a quip about sizing, but that’s the extent of Foster’s superheroics in the film. But at one point, the filmmakers planned for a scene that showed him as Goliath.

“We had a draft when Ava [Starr AKA Ghost] is recounting her backstory, and then there was a version where Bill was recounting a backstory,” director Peyton Reed said on the Empire Film Podcast. “At one point we were going to have one brief flashback with young Hank Pym and young Bill Foster where he reaches his 21 feet in trying [to grow]. And it just felt, narratively, it just was too much of a left turn. As much as we felt like it might get a big cheer from a small percentage of Marvel Comics fans, it just was too far a reach. But who knows for the future.”

While the film did not show Bill utilizing the tech to enlarge as Goliath, the film does end with the character seemingly repairing his relationship with Hank. This possibly leaves the door open for a future partnership to take shape, though it seems unlikely that the character will get his own spinoff movie.

But the actor is not opposed to some more heroics in the future. While speaking with Den of Geek, Fishburne revealed that he would like to suit up as Goliath in a future film.

“If it happens, if I get to suit up, great. If I don’t get to suit up, at least I’m in the MCU,” Fishburne said.

The actor added that he was not a major Ant-Man fan growing up, despite being an avid comic book reader.

“I was not familiar with Bill Foster, ’cause I wasn’t an Ant-Man reader,” Fishburne revealed. “Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, Avengers, Hulk, Iron Fist; I was in that world. Ant-Man, I never really got to, but Bill Foster’s a cool character.”

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @BlueJayHJB and follow GEEKCASTER on Facebook and Instagram.

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For all the Jubilee fans out there, you no longer have to feel disappointed. All the X-Men films have let us down when it came to the woman who can create fireworks with her hands. Last year, I took matters into my own hands. When I sat down in front of my desk, I pulled out my notebook to write a script. At the end of my writing, I was satisfied with what I wrote. My short film entitled “Jubilee: Ostra” was born. Below is the synopsis of the film:

Jubilee and Double Shot have to stop the duo of Ostra and Belon from unleashing the Oyster of Energy. The Oyster of Energy has the ability to drain all the Selenium in the world. It is up to Jubilee and Double Shot to prevent that from happening.

Jubilee: Ostra stars Jane Wishashan, Harry Bailey, Leah Scully and Michael S. Benjamin. This film gave birth to the character of Double Shot … You’re welcome.

There is an AFTER CREDITS scene so don’t stop watching the film once the credits show up.

Jubilation “Jubilee” Lee is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Marc Silvestri, the character first appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #244 (May 1989).

Jubilee is a member of the human subspecies known as mutants, born with superhuman abilities. She can generate pyrotechnic energy blasts from her hands. Introduced as an orphaned “mall rat” from Beverly Hills, Jubilee joined the X-Men in the early 1990s, becoming the team’s youngest member and often playing a sidekick role to her father-figure, Wolverine. (Wolverine is not in the film.)

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @BlueJayHJB and follow GEEKCASTER on Facebook … Right now!

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The development has been completed for Marvel’s Spider-Man and Peter Parker’s latest adventure has been sent to manufacturing ahead of its September 7 release date.

Announced on Twitter by developer Insomniac Games, they used the popular Spider-Man meme to celebrate the occasion:

We are pleased to announce that #SpiderManPS4 has GONE GOLD for its worldwide release on September 7th. Thanks to @PlayStation and @MarvelGames for their support in the creation of this original Spider-Man adventure. pic.twitter.com/iD4mJmqGfK

— Insomniac Games (@insomniacgames) July 30, 2018

Santa Monica Studio responded to the news with a funny gif of their top character Kratos:

pic.twitter.com/I3Kk1bnqBN

— Santa Monica Studio is Watching Raising Kratos (@SonySantaMonica) July 30, 2018

Marvel’s Spider-Man was a big part of PlayStation’s E3 2018 Showcase and Mr. Negative, Electro, Rhino, Scorpion, and Vulture all made an appearance during the gameplay demo. The demo also teased a sixth mystery villain who appeared in the final seconds of the trailer, leaving fans around the world in suspense.

San Diego Comic-Con 2018 also gave us a ton of new information about this original adventure by Insomniac Games, including that Silver Sable and her security force would be another obstacle in Spider-Man’s path and that Laura Bailey, of Uncharted and Final Fantasy fame, would be joining the cast and lending her voice to Mary Jane.

Marvel’s Spider-Man for PlayStation 4 will be released on September 7, 2018 and Sony will be offering a Limited Edition Marvel’s Spider-Man PlayStation 4 Pro bundle that features an Amazing Red-colored 1TB PS4 Pro.

Are you excited about Spider-Man the Game? Let me know on Twitter and Instagram @BlueJayHJB and follow GEEKCASTER on Facebook

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