TOP 5 FAVORITE HALLOWEEN MOVIES/TV SHOWS

We all enjoy Halloween right? I mean, I'm sure there are some people who flat out don't like this holiday, but who cares about them. I like Halloween. I'm not a big fan of crowds of people though, and trick or treating isn't appealing to me now like it was when I was a kid. I do enjoy putting together a costume, but I also really like to be lazy, so costumes are rare for me.

Last year, my wife and I, along with a friend tried doing a Halloween bar crawl. We dressed in costumes, and joined a mob of people at 3 of the bars in my town that stay open passed 10pm. It was OK. It turned out that I had severe bronchitis and almost didn't make it home that night. I was sick for the next 2 weeks. Needless to say, we didn't bother this year.

This year, today at this very moment in fact, I'm doing exactly what I love to do the most on Halloween. No, not answering the door for trick or treaters, that's actually my LEAST FAVORITE thing to do. Damn kids trying to take MY candy...

No, my favorite thing is watching Halloween themed entertainment. So, I'm going to give you my TOP 5 FAVORITE THINGS TO WATCH ON HALLOWEEN.

5. Random horror movie marathons on cable networks. Like Friday the 13th, or just random horror movies that I enjoy like Cabin in the Woods or the parodies like Scary Movie IV or A Haunted House 2 (I seriously really like this movie, ask me about it sometime).

4. THE GREAT PUMPKIN CHARLIE BROWN!!! Mostly for nostalgia, but also because it's a great piece of American television and terrific comic strip humor. I loved both this and the Charlie Brown Christmas special, but I believe the Great Pumpkin to be the better of the 2. Snoopy's dog fight with the Red Baron, Linus and Sally waiting for the Great Pumpkin (when she finally freaks out! Oh man, it cracks me up every time!), Charlie Brown only getting rocks while trick or treating!!! Such classic moments!

3. Halloween (the original movie from 1978). My FAVORITE Halloween movie, and arguably the best horror movie (or best SLASHER movie at least) of all time. Michael Meyers is a great villain, and the entire movie is absolutely terrifying!

2. Halloween Specials by my favorite network TV shows! The Office did some fantastic Halloween episodes, and Modern Family has one every year! The first Halloween episode I remember as a kid also scared the shit out of me! It was an episode of the Facts of Life and I was forever changed. I don't even remember what it was about, but I remember being really scared.

Another show that had stand out Halloween episodes: Community (season 2, Epidemiology).

1. The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror(s)! I have seen every single one of them and could not possibly tell you which is my favorite. I am a lifelong, hardcore Simpsons fan. First show that my parents allowed me to watch, I remember I was allowed to stay up a half hour later JUST SO I could watch The Simpsons. My favorite show of ALL TIME. The Treehouse of Horror episodes are always stand outs. As a young comic book reader, I learned about alternate universes, so an entire episode devoted to alternate universes of The Simpsons was right up my alley from the get go!


In Treehouse of Horror 2: The one with the Monkey Paw and they were all making wishes:

Lisa (whispering): I wish for world peace.
Homer: LISA! That was very selfish of you!

or in the intro to ToH 3 when Homer dares the "crybabies out there - religious types, mostly" to keep watching the show despite definitely being offended. He calls them all "Chicken" and then the lights go out and you just hear Marge and Homer's voices:

Marge: Homer, did you just call everyone "chicken"?
Homer: No, I swear on this bible!
Marge: That's not a bible, that's a book of carpet samples.
Homer: Mmm...fuzzy.

or later in that same episode when Homer buys an evil possessed talking Krusty doll for Bart and it tries to kill him. Homer comes falling into the kitchen as the doll is again trying to kill him, Marge finally sees it happen:

Homer: Marge the doll is trying to kill me and the toasters been laughing at me!

Hahahahahahaha! I love it. I could go on, but nah, just go watch them yourself.

Anyway...

What are YOUR Top 5 Favorite Things to do for Halloween? Let me know in the comments on here, or Facebook, or Twitter @SuperNerdyNews #Top5FavHalloween

GoT Monday - Poor Jorah the Andal

So there's been some major spoilers for season 7 leaked over the last week or so.  I read them, because I'm dying for something, but I'm not going to share them.

I am going to say just one thing that will lead to the subject of this post. JORAH MORMONT was spotted on set IN COSTUME! He's interacting with some interesting people, but I will leave you to wonder who.

Anyway, last we saw Ser Jorah, Daenarys sent him away to find the cure to his greyscale. If you don't remember what greyscale is, it's a disease from the World of Ice and Fire that turns a persons skin scaly, flaky, dried out and rock-like. The most famous case of greyscale that we've seen on the show is Princess Shireen Baratheon.

She was infected with the sickness as a baby, but was mysteriously cured by a Red Priest. Children seem to have a better chance of surviving the illness than adults do. If you are infected as an adult, it is pretty much a death sentence. Once a person is infected, they have anywhere from 1 to 5 years left to live. Greyscale slowly spreads throughout your entire body, turning your insides into dried out stone like grossness.

If you remember back to season 5, Tyrion is on his way to Meereen with Varys when he is kidnapped by Jorah. Thinking he's won a way back into Daenarys' good graces by capturing a Lannister, Jorah takes Tyrion to Meereen himself. However, he decides to take a road much less travel. Their trek takes them through Old Valaryia, where most of the greyscale victims (called Stone Men) can be found. Of course, they're attacked, and while saving Tyrion from drowning, Jorah gets infected. He manages to hide it from everyone until season 6 when Daario notices it while searching for Dany with Jorah. When Dany finds out about it, she sends Jorah on a quest to find a cure for himself.

SO my question becomes...did he do it?

Honestly it could go either way. Jorah is the kind of guy that puts others needs ahead of his own. However, I do believe that he took Dany's words to heart and did in fact seek out a cure. So where did he go? Who did he go to for help? Well I have a couple of ideas.

There has been a Red Priestess that's been following Dany around and secretly offering her guidance. I'm talking about Quaithe. If you don't remember Quaithe, that's ok, cause we haven't seen her since season 2 when Dany and her Dothraki were in Qarth. Quaithe wears a red lacquered mask that could actually be hiding her own scarred face, scarred from maybe her own battle with greyscale? That would be a good reason to wear the mask to begin with. Also, she's a Red Priestess, it's possible that she knows of some fire magic that could help cure Jorah.

In the books we see that Red Priests are able to perform some form of magical healing. Maqorro (spelling?) is a Red Priest that is picked up by Victarion Greyjoy. Victarion had wounded his hand and was afraid of losing it completely. He strikes a deal with Maqorro, who heals the hand in dramatic fashion. The "healed" hand is more powerful than it was ever before (he demonstrates this by crushing some items), and is now black and looks like it's smoking.

That would be a pretty cool thing to happen to Jorah. There's already a theory that Jorah is the real LAST HERO or possibly even the actual Azor Ahai. A blackened, smoking arm would be a pretty cool accessory for an already bad ass hero.

So what's another way Jorah could cure himself? Well, what if after leaving Vaes Dothrak, Jorah journeys further East in Essos, to a place where magic thrives. A place where followers of every dark entity are free to practice their religion and experiment with their magic. Of all the places in this world, the one city that Jorah is most likely to find a cure and what makes the most sense (to me anyway, or it could just be wishful thinking) is Asshai-by-the-Shadow. Check out my post about Asshai! From Meereen, it's not that far away. Of course it's in the opposite direction than where Dany is heading, but Jorah is a man of his word. And if there is a possibility of a cure in Asshai, I'm certain Jorah would go there.

Asshai is where Red Priests are known to come from. It's where Melisandre is said to have come from. She started as a slave there, and was trained as a Red Priestess from an early age. We now know that her magic is quite powerful, because she's actually hundreds of years old but has a powerful glamor spell hiding her true appearance.

I, for one, would love a side plot of Jorah traveling to Asshai. It's supposed to be one of the most terrifying places in the World of Ice & Fire, and while we most likely will never see it, it will at least be cool to hear about it.

One last idea of where Jorah's quest may take him. Seeing as how the actor has been sighted on set, Jorah might have found some clues that will lead him home to the North. Maybe the cure to greyscale isn't fire, but ice. Maybe there's magic in the North that could help him. I don't think this is likely, but I DO hope to see a Mormont reunion between Jorah and Lyanna. And I wonder if Jon Snow would give up Longclaw (his Valaryian steel sword, originally belonging to Jorah and House Mormont) to Jorah in honor of his father, Jeor. If Jon is Azor Ahai reborn, then part of his prophecy says that he'll reforge Lightbringer (the fabled flaming sword of Azor Ahai), so needing a new sword because he no longer has Longclaw could be a cool plot point.

Anway, I hope Jorah is cured next season. What do you think? Will Jorah find a cure, or will he use his affliction as motivation to sacrifice himself for Dany's cause? ARRGGGHHHHH MAKE IT JUNE 2017 ALREADY!!!!! Happy Halloween everybody!

WHAT WOULD BATMAN DO??...Against the X-MEN!!???

Last week we discussed possible strategies that Batman would use to beat the Avengers. The Avengers are THE super hero team in the Marvel Universe. This week we're going to talk about another great Marvel super hero team with a different set of powers and abilities. The X-Men!

I grew up reading the X-Men, and during the 1990's it was almost impossible to avoid them whether you were a comic fan or not. In the comics, becoming an Avengers is an honor and a big moment for a super hero. Becoming a member of the X-Men means something much different. The X-Men are made up of mutants, people who were born with their abilities. They were then sought out by Professor Xavier or someone else representing Professor X and brought to the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters. There the children would be trained to control their powers.

Once they "graduate", the students are given the opportunity to join the team. I can't think of an instance of one of the these students refusing to join the X-Men. They all seem to see membership as a necessity, which is part of the teaching staff's influence. The students are taught to use their abilities to fight for good.

So where the Avengers are made up of a mix of meta humans, Inhumans, and mutants, the X-Men are just mutants but still offer a wide variety of power levels and abilities. So for today's WHAT WOULD BATMAN DO?...we're going to go with a classic X-Men line up of:

Cyclops, Jean Grey, Rogue, Wolverine, Gambit, Nightcrawler, and Colossus.

Once again, Batman would not stand a chance against the X-Men if he were to confront them head on. So, his plan would be to keep the X-Men separated or get them separated.

Let's take a look at the angles here. Batman needs to separate the X-Men, not a very difficult thing to do, but getting to them won't be easy either. Let's say that Batman needs to take the fight to the X-Men. Meaning that he has to go to the X-Mansion and either draw them out, or get inside. The better strategy would be to get inside, but there lies the problem; the X-Men are not the only mutants inside the X-Mansion. It's literally filled with mutants of varying powers and abilities. So while the active members of the X-Men are Batman's targets, if he isn't careful, he could find himself facing an entire school of super powered people!

Having said that, you can see how Batman needs to keep this quiet. So... in order to do that, Batman needs an over-arching strategy to keep the students where they are while also isolating the main team members. I'll get to that in a minute.

As for the specific targets, this is what I think Batman would/could do to immobilize them:

Colossus: I think he's the easiest target, despite how physically formidable he is. Collossus' weakness is his love for his sister and wife Kitty Pryde. Batman's plan would begin weeks before he even stepped foot on the school grounds. Batman would exploit Colossus fear of losing his sister, and so would send Colossus a ransom note including pictures of his sister Illyana or wife Kitty Pryde bound and gagged. Now, fans of the X-Men know that both of these characters have the power to easily slip their bonds. HOWEVER, Colossus reacts before thinking, and therefore would explode with emotion and run off without even explaining himself to his team mates. It's happened before. I have always thought that Colossus was the weak link when it came to cracking the X-Men. He even joined Magneto once, literally turning his back on his friends and joining up with the greatest enemy of the X-Men. 1 down, Colossus leaves the X-Mansion, leaving the rest of the team to cover for him. Team members have side adventures all of the time, and so they wouldn't think much of his absence.

Rogue: this is a tricky one. Rogue is one tough cookie. (I'm going with the 90's Rogue, btw, which means she has the same power-siphoning powers, but can also fly, is invulnerable, and has superhuman strength). She is the air support for the X-Men and also one of the team's strongest members. Most of the time, in order to defeat a strong opponent, you exploit their weaknesses. The X-Men don't really have many weaknesses, and Rogue especially does not have a real weakness like Superman has kryptonite. The key to taking down Rogue is to exacerbate her strengths, overwhelm her senses and use her own powers against her. Her power-siphoning ability would be Batman's primary target. So, let's say then that Batman is able to get close enough to Rogue to "infect" her with Doomsday's power and mindless rage. Rogue would become so overwhelmed with what's in her head and what it's making her body do that it would take every ounce of energy she has to control it. Eventually the effect would fade, but the residual effects would be enough to knock out Rogue. 2 down.

Nightcrawler: also a very dangerous team member. His teleportation ability being his greatest advantage in a fight against the World's Greatest martial artist, but also that's where Batman would win. This is a situation where Batman would use one of his wonderful toys to solve the problem. A gadget that would grab onto Nightcrawler and anchor him to a single spot and then fry Nightcrawler with a strong electrical current. 3 down.

This last move would cause a stir in the Mansion, drawing the attention of the rest of the team. There's 4 left, still too many for Batman to face on his own. To counter this, Batman would hack the X-Mansion's security and use that to lock down every room in the house. Keeping the students and the X-Men confined to whatever room they are in. Leaving Batman the freedom to move about the mansion at his leisure. The remaining X-Men are Cyclops, Jean Grey, Gambit, and Wolverine. Very very dangerous people. Batman needs to take out Jean first. Her telepathic powers are far to strong to face in a one on one encounter, and Batman can't counter these powers himself, nor can he protect himself from her mental attacks. He can, however, manipulate those powers.

Jean Grey: as mentally powerful as Jean is, physically she is the weakest of the team. Here is another situation that a gadget would help Batman. He would most likely develop some drug that would make Jean think she was under attack by one of the X-Men's villains. While she defended herself and counter attacked, believing the whole time that it's a bad guy she's fighting, it would actually be the rest of the X-Men she's attacking.

Gambit and Cyclops: These two would do everything they could to stop Jean from killing them, the students and herself. They'd be forced to physically fight with Jean in order to help her, this would keep them distracted and most likely leave only one of them standing by the end. Will say Gambit, because Cyclops would definitely sacrifice himself in order to help Jean. I'm not saying anyone dies here, just unconscious.

Wolverine: I purposefully left him out of the Jean situation. Once Wolverine realizes what is going on, he would see that there was nothing he could do to help Gambit and Cyclops and so would track down Batman himself. Batman would plan for this and thus lure Wolverine outside to where he could face him on more even battle terms.

Again, since this is a Batman plan that he had plenty of time to figure out, he'd lure Wolverine right into a trap. Using Wolverine's adamantium skeleton against him by utilizing a giant magnet to keep Wolverine immobilized. At that point Batman would then use a high powered weapon to continuously fire at Wolverine while he's stuck, attempting to overwhelm his healing factor. This would give Batman plenty of time to make his escape.

Boom. X-Men are done.

Now, I don't actually believe that these plans of Batman's would last long enough to keep the X-Men down. Nor were they meant to. This was to show that Batman could temporarily immobilize the X-Men and Avengers. If you want to talk about how to kill these teams, then maybe I'll consider a WHAT WOULD THE PUNISHER DO?... set of scenarios another time.

So what would you have Batman do against the X-Men? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading! Just in case there is anyone that follows my weekly articles, and has noticed that I haven't done a Friday Night Fights in a while, know this:

I started working on Batman vs. The Punisher last week, and it turned into something much more than I thought it would be and so I am taking some extra time to really make this great. It's a lot different than anything else I've written before and I'm very excited about it. So, if I don't have a FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS out for a bit, it's because I'm still working on it! The same thing goes for my Deadpool & the Infinity Gauntlet. That's going to be an ongoing series, and needs time to be worked on. I am very excited about both projects, so please stay tuned! Have a great weekend and see you on Halloween for GoT Monday!

WHAT WOULD BATMAN DO...Against THE AVENGERS!!! (Part 2 of 3)

Welcome back! Last week I talked about the events of JLA: Tower of Babel in which it was revealed that Batman had strategies to take down each member of the Justice League of America. Today we're going to discuss what Batman would do in a similar situation, except this time against the Avengers!

Ok, so let's put Batman in a similar situation he had in Tower of Babel. We'll say that there's some reason that Batman needs to take out the Avengers in a "for the greater good" situation. He has no deadline and so has all the time necessary to plan and execute those plans.

Just like the Justice League of America, the Avengers have a long list of members that I can pick and choose from. We'll go with a somewhat classic line up: Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Thor, Falcon, and the Hulk.

So obviously Batman could never take the Avengers on directly. In fact, at least two of the Avengers would DESTROY Batman in a one on one confrontation, and there are super strong arguments for several more Avengers that could give Batman a hell of a hard time. So Batman needs a strategy that targets each Avenger individually. So that means separating them.  Let's say these are the Avengers that are on active duty and so they are free to leave Avengers Tower freely, but are just a button press away from alerting the rest of the team for backup.

For this scenario I'm going to say that Batman and Bruce Wayne exist in the same universe as the Avengers. Batman has full access to his gadgets, billions of dollars, vehicles, and arsenal in the Batcave.

OK, so because of their ability to alert their team so quickly, Batman would target the strongest team members first in order to keep them from being called in. In order for Batman's plans to work completely, he needs to avoid any instance of facing two Avengers at the same time. And so most of his actions must be from the distance, so as to not give away the fact that there's an attack on the team. If the Avengers are able to get together and figure out what is happening, then Batman needs to make sure that he can face them physically. I mean right? Who wants to fight Hulk or Thor if they don't have to? I wouldn't.

So here's how Batman would take them out:

Hulk - having been able to thoroughly research the Hulk. Which wouldn't be very difficult. A lot of Bruce Banner's tragic life as the Hulk is widely known publicly within the Marvel Universe. So Batman wouldn't have to dig too deep to find out how Banner became the Hulk. Discovering that Banner's transformation is triggered by an emotional reaction, Batman would then create some kind of drug that targeted the amygdala and hippocampus. The two parts of your brain that involve emotions. The substance would keep Banner in a calm state that would worsen to where he falls into a coma. Once immobilized, Banner would be able to be revived, but only once the knowledge of what was causing this was obtained. So Batman could release that information whenever he wanted.

Only question here is, how does he get this substance in the Hulk's body? Well, easy enough. Batman gets into Banner's lab and adds the drug to whatever Banner's water source is. He'd probably even drug a couple different things in order to ensure that Banner drank it.

The results would happen over time, say within 2-3 days. Then Banner would eventually collapse and be hospitalized.

Thor - I think Batman would have to approach Thor much like he would Wonder Woman. He would need to exploit the negative aspects of Thor's personality. Tick away at his ego and use his competitiveness against him. So what if Batman started sending messages as another person, and catfishes Thor? Hahaha I don't mean like the MTV show necessarily, but more like he creates a persona that really pisses off Thor. Enraging him enough as to challenge Batman to open combat. Batman, as this other persona, would accept (with conditions of course) and Thor would fly off to wherever Batman told him to go. Thor would be so mad that he wouldn't stop to think of what he's doing.

Once Thor arrives he finds himself inside a labyrinth, where obstacles keep Thor distracted and angry. While working his way through the maze, Batman would be monitoring his progress, and at just the right time would fire off a series of gizmos designed to disorient Thor. High powered sonic sound waves blasted at him from two sides, sudden bright blinking lights. The idea would be to force Thor to drop his hammer. Once that happens, Batman would enter to blindfold, gag, and bind Thor with a chain made of vibranium. In order to keep Thor from reaching for his hammer, Batman would remove Thor from the room while keeping up with the disorienting tactics. Basically he would keep Thor locked up like he was kidnapped and awaiting ransom.

Iron Man - as Bruce Wayne, Batman would be able to get very close to Tony Stark. He might even be given a tour of Avengers Tower! I think Batman would manipulate Stark easy enough to make him give a tour. While on the tour, Batman would find an opportunity to attach a computer "bug" onto a Stark tech terminal. Since Tony Stark is the developer of the most advanced tech on the planet, Batman's own tech would have to be from off the planet. This would also be a way for Batman to hide his tracks.

So let's say that this alien computer virus infects all of Stark's tech, rendering all of his armors useless. That just leaves a physical confrontation between the two. Obviously Batman wins that one, but I think for story's sake he would probably use whatever friendship he created with Tony Stark as a weapon.

Captain America - this would be another case of using a character's personality against them. Steve Rogers believes in fighting for what's right, and protecting his friends and country. I think Batman would leave very small clues for Cap alluding to a possible attack on the country or the Avengers. From there he would just send Cap on a wild goose chase that eventually takes him off planet and therefore absent for the rest of Batman's plan as it unfolds.

Scarlet Witch - Wanda is very dangerous. She is immensely powerful and also can become mentally unstable. Knowing of what possibilities could come from manipulating Wanda's mental problems, Batman would stay far away from that. So this one is solved with a gadget. As long as Batman can avoid Wanda sensing his presence, or even if she did the plan would be to lure her into a trap where she is knocked unconscious. Then bound and gagged and kept unconscious.

Hawkeye - This is the last Avenger that Batman would have to worry about being called in as backup. Batman has faced a shooter like Hawkeye many times in Deadshot. BUT Hawkeye is at a different level. Hawkeye's abilities are so good that they toe the line at superhuman. He is 100% deadly accurate ALL THE TIME. So, Batman needs to get up close and personal. Using his ninja skills, Batman would get Hawkeye isolated and positioned exactly where he wanted. From there Batman attacks. Hawkeye's fighting skills are great, and so he'd be able to keep up with Batman's attack, but it wouldn't take long for Batman to make his big moves. Those moves are breaking every bone in Hawkeye's arms, taking away any chance he has of using a ranged weapon. Brutal I know, but imagine that scene!

Last and least there's Falcon. I think Batman openly reveals himself at this point. Maybe Falcon even arrives just as Batman finishes off Hawkeye. The fight would be a decent one, with Batman eventually beating Falcon with a combo of gadgets and fists.

I'm sure there's plenty of ways to argue against me, but remember that this is a comic book situation. So science and logic and the laws of physics even need to be thrown out the window.

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. Be sure to come back next week for PART 3 when we find out WHAT WOULD BATMAN DO...AGAINST THE X-MEN!!!

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE Blu Ray & Special Features Review

This was the movie that took me by surprise this year and became what I thought was the second best comic book movie released this year, and the home viewing totally holds up!

I have talked a lot about the X-Men, especially recently if you listened to the latest episode of the Good Shit podcast. The recent news of the final Wolverine movie sparked my noggin to thinkin all about Logan and the rest of the X-men, and then this movie came out on Blu Ray. Perfect. Anyway, I'm not going to go into detail about how exhausting it is to be a comic book fan and watch the X-Men movies. There's just so much different stuff that it becomes an entirely different conversation. So today, I'm going to talk straight about this movie and it's special features.

Pros:

There's a bunch! I really enjoyed this movie. It was my favorite of the X movies since X2 and (also like X2) it featured the best on screen version of my favorite character (Wolverine) that we've seen!

 If the new Wolverine movie is something like that + Donald Pierce and the Reavers as the villains + an R rating = a potentially AWESOME MOVIE!!! But, but, but I've been burned too badly before to get my hopes up.

But I digress...BIG PROS: A FULL POWERED MAGNETO!!!! First of all Michael Fassbender KILLS it as the Mutant Master of Magnetism, but what I loved the most was getting to see a fully powered Magneto surrounded by a magnetic force field and pulling all magnetic objects out of the Earth! Wow!

The character performances really made this movie great. Quicksilver was the brightest point amongst the other shiny parts. One of the best scenes of the whole movie was when he rescues everyone from the X-Mansion before it explodes! So great! This Quicksilver is just SO MUCH  better than the Avengers' Quicksilver.

As I started to say above, it's the character performances that make this movie. The young blood especially helps everything. I never liked Halle Berry as Storm, or Famke Janssen as Jean Grey or James Marsden as Cyclops for that matter, so to see all new actors playing those great characters is just terrific. Plus the addition of Nightcrawler was a lot of fun!

The final boss battle is one of the coolest things I've ever seen in a comic book movie! From the devastation of Magneto's power, to the physical fight with Apocalypse vs. the X-Men at the same time as a mental battle of Apocalypse vs. Professor X! Wow! Just really really well done.

My final pro is the part when Professor X tells Jean to let go and unleash her full power potential and she let's out what looks like the Phoenix Force. I don't think it was the actual Phoenix Force, but a tease at what could be. But we'll see, that could have very well been the introduction of Phoenix the character. One moment of this sequence sticks out to me as the coolest. It's when Jean realizes what she has to do and stands up to confront Apocalypse. She starts walking out of the half of a room, but instead of stopping right where the floor drops off, she just casually continues walking on the air above Apocalypse. It's just a cool scene with a simple moment that made me go, "OH SHIT it's about to go DOWN!"

The Cons

There aren't many, just a few. For instance, I didn't DISLIKE Oscar Isaac's performance as Apocalypse, but I did feel like it was missing something. As far as villains go, they kind of nailed the power level of Apocalypse, but his appearance and screen presence seemed a bit lacking. Apocalypse should be the kind of character that completely dominates the environment he is in. If they had upped the intimidation factor a bit, and made him sound a bit more menacing it would have been perfect. But honestly, I have nothing to complain about here, Apocalypse was a GREAT bad guy!

Archangel, while he looked cool and is a cool character, he was underused and totally disappointing. I'm sorry, but I don't understand why Archangel had to be different than how he is in the source material. His real name is Warren Worthington III, and he is an over-priviledged, and very wealthy dude! Finding him fighting in a cage against nobodies does the character a disservice and also did not do a great job of making Archangel seem like much of a threat. That goes for the rest of Apocalypse's "Horsemen". Storm was really cool, Pyslocke was a nice addition but was underwhelming, Magneto was a total bad ass, and then Archangel lost in a one on one vs. Nightcrawler then is beaten two more times in the final battle. Disappointing. The Horsemen are supposed to be who Apocalypse believes to be the STRONGEST mutants. Magneto totally fits the bill, hell even Storm and Pyslocke have a decent argument going for them, but Archangel... BORRRRRR-INNGGGG!

2nd to last Con and it's in 2 parts. Jennifer Lawrence's performance and Mystique as a character in the movie are both points that I did not like at all. First of all Mystique is NOT that interesting of a character, nor was she ever a member of the X-Men let alone ever led them! I had a big problem with this because it was obviously studio involvement that placed JLaw and Mystique at the center of this movie. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Jennifer Lawrence as an actress. I think she's very talented, but her involvement in this movie was purely for profits. Fox Studios knows how big her star power is and so would NEVER allow anything other than her or Hugh Jackman as the "lead" character of the story. This is just another of the MANY reasons these movies are so exhausting to X-Men comic fans. There's just SO MANY differences between the movies and the comics, and most of the complaints are about the changes in the characters rather than the stories.

The second part of this complaint is Mystique herself. As a comic fan and X-Men fan in general, I HATED seeing Mystique take a leadership role. WHY?? Aside from JLaw's star power what other reason was there? Answer: none. Even in the other X-movies, I've felt that Mystique's role was too much. She's not a feature character, she's a wild card and she was never used in that way well enough. I'm reminded of the first time I discovered (as a reader) that comic book characters had sexual relationships. I knew that a lot of my favorite characters were involved in romantic relationships, but as a pre-pubescent young man just learning about sex, it wasn't something I looked for in my comic books. So when my favorite character Wolverine takes off from the X-Mansion to blow off some steam at a bar, I was shocked to discover that he winds up sleeping with Mystique. As I grew up and became more familiar with Wolverine, I learned how common this was. Not just hooking up with Mystique, but his casual relationships with women other than Jean Grey, Silverfox, and Mariko Yashida (his "true loves").

This wasn't all what Mystique was about. No. The point here is that she would pop up out of no where, disguised as someone else until it was time in the story for the big reveal. I know that using this device in more than one movie is redundant, but there's still a lot to play with. I guess what it comes down to for me is this; there are SO MANY characters associated with the X-Men and the mutants connected to their universe that I don't understand why Mystique became as popular as she did. I didn't think Rebecca Romijn, while not a bad performance, wasn't that popular of a character. Nor did I think that Jennifer Lawrence's portrayal gained any more new fans, but obviously the studio saw more than I did. Whatever.

Finally, my last con and biggest pet peeve of the entire franchise is FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING HOLY CAN WE PLEASE STOP CALLING MAGNETO "ERIC"????!!!!!!! I can't even begin to describe how much this irritates me. As an X-Men comic reader for most of my life, I discovered Magneto's real name in the late 1990's just like all the other comic book readers. Then the X-Men movie came out in 2000 and EVERYONE was calling him Eric. In my eyes this is a total snub of the character. Magneto is a complex character, and has done MANY terrible things in his life. This movie did a great job of showing what Magneto really wants. A peaceful and quiet family life where he can work and raise his family without fear of being persecuted. In the comics, he did this several times, changing his identity each time. That's how Wanda and Pietro Maximoff (the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver) are revealed to be HIS children (this has since been redacted and Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver have been rewritten to actually possibly be Inhumans rather than Mutants)! Or how Polaris is also his kid! Magneto even had a family and family life almost identical to the scene in the movie where he kills all those policemen! He's so dangerous and awesome and NEEDS to be called by his real character name. MAGNETO. Not fucking Eric.

Final Thoughts: Overall this movie is the most fun I've had watching an X-Men movie. And while it has it's negative points and continues the tradition of exhausting fans of the source material, it really is a well made movie. The visuals are stunning, the action is fantastic, and best of all we get to see a young but FULLY POWERED X-MEN team! I definitely recommend this and maintain it's place in the Year (So Far) rankings of #2 after Deadpool and followed by Captain America: Civil War.

The Special Features:
Deleted/Extended scenes are OK. Not that long, so if you're into what "could have been" then it's worth it.
The gag reel produces some chuckles. You can tell that the actors seemed to be enjoying themselves. But it also makes Jennifer Lawrence seem like she's only interested in lunch.
The Behind the Scenes stuff is what's cool. There are several short documentaries that give us a closer look at the new characters, new villain, and some of the returning vets.
There's also a wrap party video. The music annoyed the hell out of me so I shut if off soon after it started.

Thanks for reading! Be sure to check back tomorrow for Part 2 of WHAT WOULD BATMAN DO...Against a Team of "Evil" Super Heroes!

Jaqen H'ghar & the Faceless Men - #GoTMondays

I have been fascinated with the Faceless Men since Jaqen revealed himself to Arya in Season 2. He appears to be a cold and calculating and very talented assassin but also with some compassion, as he helps Arya, Gendry, and Hot Pie escape Harrenhal.

In the books, Jaqen (presumably) appears here only, the Kindly Man Arya meets in Braavos is supposedly someone else. We're never made aware of how mancy Faceless Men there actually are, but we do know that they have apprentices in training (like the Waif).

But who are the Faceless Men really? Do they have an agenda? There are several book moments that give us clues to a possible agenda. Jaqen also seems to be the one pursuing this agenda too.

First off, the Faceless Men are revealed to be worshippers of the Many-Faced God, but even more specifically, they seem to worship death. When Arya first saves Jaqen, Rorge, and Biter from the flaming cage they were in, Jaqen offers her a deal in return.

"A man pays his debts. A man owes three"
"Three?"
"The Red God has his due, sweet girl, and only death may pay for life. This girl took three that were his. This girl must give three in their place. Speak the names, and a man will do the rest." - A Clash of Kings, Arya VII

When Jaqen says "the Red God", he's referring to the Lord of Light or R'hllor, the God that Melisandre worships. Jaqen and the Faceless Men do not believe that R'hllor is THE God, just one of God's MANY faces. The Faceless Men see death as a gift, and by presenting this gift to an individual is a way to honor the Many-Faced God.

What are these creepy dudes up to though? It seems to me that Arya is a very important person to the Many-Faced God. And if you go back to season 1 or book 1, you can argue that the Faceless Men have been attempting to recruit Arya since she arrived in King's Landing. Her father, Ned Stark, arranges for Syrio Forel to train her in "water dancing" or sword fighting. This is Arya's first encounter with a Braavosi, and she's intrigued by his knowledge and abilities. Under Syrio's teachings, Arya learns many things that will help her later when she's being trained at the House of Black and White. There is a theory that Syrio Forel and Jaqen H'ghar are the same person. Not a crazy theory, knowing what we know now about the Faceless Men. The theory goes that Syrio Forel did not die after fighting Maryn Trant but was taken captive and thrown in the Black Cells below the Red Keep. There he switched his face to the one we know as Jaqen, and he's given over to Yorin when he comes for recruits for the Night's Watch. That's how Jaqen winds up in the cage with Rorge and Biter. This is how Jaqen is able to keep tabs on his new recruit, and further entice her by showing her that killing gives her power. He proves this with the names she gives him. By killing off Arya's enemies, Jaqen has shown Arya how she can feel strong.

So if Jaqen has been actively recruiting Arya, what's the reason? Why is she important? Well, it could be that Arya is just another piece in a much larger puzzle that the Faceless Men are attempting to put together. There is evidence of a much larger plot.

Book readers may remember that Jaqen doesn't completely disappear after helping Arya at Harrenhal. He (possibly) appears in the prologue for A Feast for Crows as "The Alchemist", a mysterious character in Oldtown who befriends a young would-be Maester named Pate.  He makes a deal with Pate where he will give him gold in exchange for a key. The key was said to be able to open every door in the Citadel. We aren't given many details about the Alchemist, but we are given a description of his face. That description matches the description of the face that Jaqen reveals to Arya just before he leaves Harrenhal.

"His cheeks grew fuller, his eyes closer; his nose hooked, a scar appeared on his right cheek where no scar had been before...his long straight hair...dissolved away to reveal a cap of tight black curls" - A Clash of Kings, Arya IX

"A young man's face, ordinary, with full cheeks and the shadow of a beard. A car showed faintly on his right cheek. He had a hooked nose, and a mat of dense black hair that curled tightly around his ears" - A Feast for Crows, Prologue

After the exchange for the key is made, the Alchemist appears to kill Pate, but when Sam arrives at the Citadel he meets Pate. Although Pate seems to be much different. It looks like Jaqen took on Pate's identity so that he had access to the Citadel. Well now Sam is sharing a room with Pate who is most likely a Faceless Man and holds a key that unlocks EVERY door in the Citadel! Seriously, George R.R. Martin, you need to hurry the F up with Winds of Winter, bud, cause I really need to know what happens!

So what do the Faceless Men want with the Citadel? What else is at the Citadel besides Maesters? KNOWLEDGE! That's right, books! Extremely rare and in this case a one of a kind book! called Blood and Fire or sometimes called The Death of Dragons.

"the fragmentary, anonymous, blood-soaked tome sometimes called Blood and Fire and sometimes The Death of Dragons, the only surviving copy of which was supposedly hidden away in a locked vault beneath the Citadel" - A Dance with Dragons, Tyrion IV

This just creates another question. What do the Faceless Men want with a book called the Death of Dragons? Well that might have to do with the origins of the Faceless Men. We learn from the Kindly Man in A Feast for Crows that the Faceless Men came from the slave mines of ancient Valyria. He tells Arya the story...

"Men of a hundred different nations labored in the mines, and each prayed to his own god in his own tongue, yet all were praying for the same thing. It was release they asked for, an end to pain...That very night he chose the most wretched of the slaves, the one who had prayed most earnestly for release, and freed him from his bondage. The first gift had been given" - A Feast for Crows, The Kindly Man, Arya II

Arya says they should have killed the slaves' masters, not the slaves themselves, but the Kindly Man responds, "He would bring the gift to them as well, but that's a tale for another day..." He might be referring to the "Doom of Valyria" when the volcanoes surrounding the great city, called the 14 Flames, erupted and destroyed everything including ALL the dragonlords and slave masters. Except, of course, for the Targaryans, who had fled to Westeros 12 years earlier. There's no evidence to say that the Faceless Men caused the Doom, but it's possible.

I'm sure the Faceless Men have heard about Daenarys and her dragons. Could the Faceless Men be plotting to finish the job they started in Old Valyria?

One last thing. Jaqen may have appeared somewhere else in Westeros and is responsible for another sacrifice to the Many-Faced God. This time on Pyke in the Iron Islands. Balon Greyjoy meets his fate on a bridge that connects this castle spires. On this bridge he meets someone that we think is his brother, Euron. Balon is killed and soon after a Kingsmoot is ordered to name a new heir. The way the scene is described, it sounds like Euron killed Balon himself, but a sample chapter from Winds of Winter reveal otherwise.

"I have killed three brothers...Balon was the third...I could not do the deed myself, but it was my hand that pushed him off the bridge" - The Winds of Winter, Euron Greyjoy in The Forsaken

Maybe Euron hired a Faceless Man to assassinate his brother Balon? A quote from A Storm of Swords supports this theory.

"I dreamt of a man without a face, waiting on a bridge that swayed and swung. On his shoulder perched a drowned crow with seaweed hanging from his wings" - A Storm of Swords, "the ghost of High Heart", in Arya IV.

Furthermore, George R.R. Martin himself talked about how difficult it was to hire a Faceless Man. Assassinations were expensive already, but the price increased depending on how important the person was. So, presumably, killing the King of the Iron Islands must cost a pretty penny. I'm certain a sack of gold dragons wasn't enough to pay for this job. Euron, however, also admits to once possessing something EXTREMELY valuable.

"I once held a dragon's egg...I threw it in the sea during one of my dark moods" - A Feast for Crows, Euron Greyjoy in The Reaver.

I don't believe he would have just threw away a dragon's egg. I don't believe that at all. Euron strikes me as a braggart. Someone who wants to talk about their "accomplishments" to make them feel better about themselves. I don't think Euron would just throw away something like this. He brags about having a dragon's egg, which is quite remarkable in itself, so why would he throw away something so rare and valuable? Maybe "threw it into the sea" means something different. Maybe he parted with the egg in exchange for his brother's death.

Kind of makes this quest for a book called Fire and Blood a lot more interesting for the Faceless Men, huh? I don't know if I believe that the Faceless Men are interested in that much power for themselves, or would possibly use the book as a weapon against their "enemies", or if they are actually under the employ of someone else with great power and influence. Maybe the Faceless Men were hired by someone that has yet to be revealed? It's all possible!

Thanks for reading! What do you think about the Faceless Men? Do they have a plot larger than what we've seen or are they just another death worshipping cult that teaches young ladies how to kill?

Iron Man vs. Green Lantern - FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS!

Originally published on heroicuniverse.com http://heroicuniverse.com/saturday-night-main-event-iron-man-vs-green-lantern/

Overview

These two match up a lot more than you would think. One is a technological genius in a nearly indestructible suit, the other is a fearless, strong willed man with the most powerful weapon in the universe on his finger.

This fight comes down to one objective for both combatants; remove the ring from Hal Jordan's finger and seperate Tony Stark from his armor. In order to outmatch the other, the fight would come down to how much firepowerthe other could withstand. No doubt about it, there would be a lot of collateral damage with these two. Between all the explosions you'd probably hear both heroes trading insults and trash talk along with energy blasts and repulsor beams.


THE FIGHTERS!!!!

GREEN LANTERN

Hal Jordan is fearless. Hal Jordan has a steel will. And Hal Jordan wields the most powerful weapon in the universe on his finger.  The power of the ring is limited only to Jordan's willpower and imagination, and to top it off Hal Jordan is known as the greatest Green Lantern ever to wear the ring.

Green Lantern's ability to create solid light based objects will be a great asset against Iron Man's physical attack. The ring reacts as quickly as Green Lantern can think of an idea, and so can easily take Iron Man's defenses by surprise as well as acting as both offense and defense simultaneously.

Because of Iron Man's armor, this will have to be a ranged battle; which is to Green Lantern's advantage. Keeping Stark from getting too close allows Green Lantern's projections to gain mass and momentum. His most devestating attacks come from his creation of large objects, like a runaway train or a giant baseball bat.

Green Lantern can also launch multiple attacks at once, forcing Iron Man to remain on the defensive while Green Lantern figures out how to penetrate Stark's armor. He can match Iron Man gun for gun, missle for missle, and invent new weapons on the spot, all immediately available.

If the fight were to get up close and personal, Green Lantern is only slightly at disadvantage. The ring would allow him to create either a force field or a mechanized looking suit to match Iron Man to protect him from a physical assault.

Of all these points, Green Lantern strongest asset is his imagination. Whatever he could possibly think of can be created by his power ring, and against a man like Tony Stark he's going to need it.

IRON MAN

Tony Stark is a complicated man with a storied and legendary career. His life experiences alone give him an advantage. On top of being a billionaire genius that has invented and built an army of different Iron Man Armors over the years, he's been a founding member of the Avengers, a former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., a founding member of the Illuminati, and the former Secretary of Defense. His suits evolve to fit Tony's strengths and weaknesses at each point of his life, and also evolve along with his StarkTech. At one point Stark invents the &Bleeding Edge& suit, which stores his armor inside the hollow parts of his bones and when needed, seeps through his skin to form around him.

Stark has suits capable of handling a wide range of threats and problems. From his usual suit to the Hulkbuster armor to the armor he wears as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, he seems to have an answer to anything put in front of him.

Iron Man's firepower will be helpful in this fight. He's going to need to attack and move, attack and move. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. If he stays in one place for too long, he's going to get caught in one of Green Lantern's creations.

Because Green Lantern is just a human without the ring, Iron Man needs to get it off of him; which means he's going to need to get in close. In order to do that he's going to have to immobilize Green Lantern or knock him out.

Iron Man has a finite amount of ammunition, and therefore would need to come up with a creative way to take out Green Lantern. Luckily Tony Stark has that genius level intellect he can count on.

THE FIGHT!!!

Iron Man soars through the air launching a barrage of missles and repulsor blasts at Green Lantern. In defense, Green Lantern simply creates a green bubble around him, easily deflecting the assault. From out of the bubble, enormous anti-aircraft cannons form and begin firing back at Iron Man.

Iron Man is forced into evasive maneuvers, dodging around the canon fire and firing repulsor blasts back. He dodges once again and sees an opening, letting loose with a strong burst of the Uni-Beam from his chest.

The canon disappears, as Green Lantern puts up a shield just in time to deflect the blast. The force doesn't let up as Iron Man begins flying right at Green Lantern with pulsors at full power. Green Lantern can feel Iron Man getting closer, and as it looks like Iron Man is about to fly straight through the shield it envelops him as if he's flown into a sponge. Using Iron Man's own momentum against him, he allows Iron Man to crash to Earth.

As Iron Man shakes the stars out of his eyes, Green Lantern creates a projection of a staple gun and fires it at Iron Man's extremities; pinning him to the ground. Green Lantern then lands in front of him to trade sass talk, but Stark doesn't waste any time. He fires off a series of pulsor blasts, distracting Green Lantern enough to remove the staples keeping him pinned. He's up fast enough to land a strong punch to Green Lantern's jaw knocking him down.

Now Iron Man is on the attack, assaulting Green Lantern with everything he's got. Green Lantern is being hit hard and very fast; so fast that he doesn't have time to think. Finally, Iron Man stops and looks down at Green Lantern's motionless body, scanning it for vital signs. Iron Man puts his foot on the wrist of Green Lantern's ringed arm. As he bends to pick it up, his armor heaves and then  forces him to a standing position.
A warning flashes on Stark's on-screen display inside his helmet.

"VIRUS DETECTED" it reads.

Iron Man looks down to see green light pouring out of the power ring and penetrating through any crack or crevice in his armor. It seems to be crawling over the armor, finding anyway inside it can, however microscopic. He can feel it cover him from head to in-between his toes like a luke warm shower. Suddenly the light seems to thicken and expand until the armor explodes off of his body. The explosion sends Stark to his knees, nearing unconciousness. Green Lantern stands, power ring glowing bright. He looks at his hand as it forms a gauntlet identical to Iron Man's; and punches Stark dead in the face as hard as he can.


WINNER: GREEN LANTERN

What Would Batman Do...Against an Evil Super Hero Team?

This week we're going to explore Batman's planning. For those familiar with Batman's stories then you know that this is more of a "What Batman Did" rather than a "What would he do" situation.

One of the major reasons I titled this series the way I did is because of the story I'm going to talk about today. Batman is known as a man with a plan. Whenever I hear an argument about who would win between Batman vs. whomever, the most popular phrase that people use in their argument for Batman is, "if he has time to plan and prepare...". This is mostly true. I say mostly because Batman is not unbeatable, and even when he plans something out not everything goes according to that plan. But that's also why he's so great. Batman can adapt to a situation and improvise on the spot.

The most famous story of Batman's strategies, paranoia, and secrecy is called Justice League of America: The Tower of Babel or the animated movie Justice League: Doom. In this book, members of the JLA are being immobilized and Batman quickly realizes that it is HIS fault. He's not doing it, but it's HIS plans that are being used. It turns out that someone stole Batman's plans on how to immobilize the JLA if it ever became necessary.

For this story, the active members of the JLA are Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern (Kyle Raynor), The Flash, Aquaman, The Atom, and Plastic Man. In order to not give away too much of the story, I'll just talk about the individual plans to take out each member of the JLA.

First up was Martian Manhunter. Batman knew that J'onn J'onzz's weakness was his fear of fire. Batman's plan for him was to fire a military grade missle at him, but instead of exploding it released a gas. The gas was filled with microscopic nano robots that make Martian Manhunter's skin flammable when exposed to oxygen. So no matter what the poor guy does, he's constantly set ablaze.

The next two heroes to suffer from Batman's plans are Plastic Man and Aquaman. Plastic Man gets shot with a device that freezes him to his core (he can't die) then is shattered into millions of pieces. The Flash has to use his speed to put Plastic Man back together and then he's put into a big tube to help defrost him.

Aquaman is injected with a fear toxin that makes him terrified of water. Obviously, with a name like Aquaman you can guess that that's where he is most powerful.

That still leaves 4 very powerful teammates; Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Green Lantern. Kyle Raynor is not as experienced of a Green Lantern as Hal Jordan is, but the story is also about how Batman used his friendships against his friends. So there's a flashback scene of Batman talking with Green Lantern at JLA headquarters. Batman finds out that Kyle Raynor is an artist and that's where he gets his inspiration for his projections. Batman's answer to immobilizing Kyle Raynor is taking away his inspirations, so that means taking away Raynor's sight. Green Lantern wakes up one morning to discover that he's blind. It turns out that while he slept a message was suggested into his brain, causing him to lose his vision. I know, I love comic book science too.

Then Wonder Woman and Flash are attacked. Wonder Woman is injected with a device that makes her think that she is in constant battle. She's actually unconscious but in her mind she's fighting for her life. The strain on her mind and body actually causes her to have a heart attack.

Meanwhile the Flash gets shot with a special bullet. Knowing that he would start to vibrate as soon as he felt the pressure of the bullet, this special bullet gets lodged in his spinal column and forces his body to experience epileptic seizures at light speed!

That leaves Superman. Well how do you stop Superman? Magic and/or kryptonite. In this case it's kryptonite, but not the green rock that we're used to. In this book, the bad guy experimented on this kryptonite and increased it's radioactive half-life and therefore shifting the color to create RED Kryptonite. This doesn't kill Superman, but it's radiation is still strong enough to mess with his Kryptonian physiology. It actually causes Superman incredible pain!

Of course, because Batman isn't actually causing these things to happen, he works with the JLA to help his friends. They reunite and take out the villain, as usual, but Batman's relationship with the team is forever changed. They don't trust him like they used to and are now better aware of what Batman is capable of.

So now the question is...What would Batman do against a different super hero team? Say like the Avengers or the X-Men?

We'll get into that next week!