Game of Thrones Season 6 Finale Thoughts

I can't believe it's been 10 weeks already! This season has flown by! This was arguably the best season of Game of Thrones yet for several reasons.

1. The highly anticipated reveal of Jon Snow's fate. After the end of Season 5, we were all concerned what would happen to our favorite bastard. The show runners thankfully did not wait long to tell us.

2. This season sped the story along quickly and I really appreciated that. Some people were up in arms about how quickly the characters seemed to travel around Westeros. Especially Little Finger, who seemed to have some kind of teleportation device to make it from King's Landing to The Eyrie to Mole's Town then to Winterfell with an entire bloody army!  BTW, I know Sansa should have told Jon wtf she was planning with Little Finger, but also they totally could have shown up just a bit sooner, so ALL THOSE PEOPLE didn't have to die. Great episode though.

Moving on. Finale is on Sunday, here are some of my thoughts about what's to come.

Cersei is a crazy bitch and will blow up King's Landing or at least the Great Sept of Baelor using the cache of Wild Fire the Mad King Aerys stashed away. Cersei is at the end of her rope here. Her ace up her sleeve was the Trial By Combat that Tommen took away from her. She knows in her heart that she's guilty, and therefore to make whomever she feels needs to suffer, she will blow them all to hell.  I also think Tommen will die because of her actions.  Possible twist included would be the return of Gendry to testify on behalf of the Faith to prove that Cersei is lying and that all of her children are born out of incest.  This is possible, but also unlikely, as the High Sparrow's plan seems to involve controlling Tommen, so why would he prove that Tommen is not the true King? Either way, I think Tommen dies on Sunday night.

Daenerys Targaryan will leave Meerheen and Easteros by the end of the episode. Her story is progressing nicely now. She's got her fleet of ships, her Khalasar army, her Unsullied infantry, and 3 big ass dragons! Her team of counselors seems more trusting and wiser than ever before AND Varys has already left to start a campaign to align Westerosi houses to her cause! I believe her first stop will be Dragonstone, where she was born. The castle her ancestors built will be retaken by a Targaryan. Either that or she will meet Euron Greyjoy's Iron Fleet in open battle at some point, taking his ships too. I really think she'll go to Dragonstone though. She needs to confirm the ties to her ancestors, AND there's a possibility of more dragon eggs there. Maybe, don't hold me to that.

I'm excited to see what will happen with Jamie and the Freys. I do think Jamie will make a move that Crown will not be too happy about. Ala killing Walder Frey. The theories are that we'll see a reverse Red Wedding with Jamie and his army slaughtering the Freys. I highly doubt it. Why? Because it's been done! Why do it again? Maybe something similar happens, but from a story writer's pov, I don't see it happening. I could be way off though.

Moving North to what is arguably the most interesting story line. What will happen to Jon and Sansa? Well, I think we'll finally get a pay off to the R + L = J theory, but not in the way everyone thinks. We're going to get at least 1 more flashback through Bran, which will probably be that Tower of Joy scene that got cut off in Episode 2. BUT that doesn't help Jon at all, who isn't with Bran. Jon is the one that needs to know his heritage. So how does he find out without a telepathic time traveler? Easy. He already ordered Rickon's remains be buried in the crypt next to Ned's. Jon will go down there himself and have a look around. He'll notice something he never did before (in the books, Jon never went to the crypts in Winterfell because he had dreams that kept him from ever bothering), and that's a crypt reserved for him. Yes, he'll find out that Ned had a crypt readied for Jon Snow, and on his tomb will be 

                      Here Lies the Son of Lyanna Stark and Rhagar Targaryan

Or something like that. Jon needs some direction now that he's been brought back from the dead, retaken his childhood home and entered into an unknown alliance with a man he's never met. Speaking of which...

What is up with Petyr Baelish? This dude is the most coniving, cold and calculating SOB in Westeros. I am uncertain as what his endgame plan actually is, or what his ultimate goal is, but there are plenty of ideas. He's made deals with everyone, and they've unfolded so well that it leads me to believe that a major reveal is coming from him. Before he left King's Landing, Little Finger met with the Queen of Thorns, Lady Olenna. At the end of their talk, Baelish left her by saying, "I have a gift for you." I think that gift is Gendry. Some people think he was talking about how he knows where Sansa is. No, I think he has other plans for Sansa and Winterfell. He told Cersei to make him Warden of the North if he takes Winterfell, and he just did.  He also has a history with the Starks, especially Catlyn and Sansa. The clues are there, I believe he means to marry Sansa himself. However, I also think there's more to his plan than that. He obviously is interested in the events happening in King's Landing, I wonder if he means to take it after unifying the North?

We're a few days away from getting some resolution. But there are so many questions about the future of our favorite characters. Who will fight the White Walkers now that the best warriors of this generation have been killed? I think Samwell Tarley is the key to finding out how to fight the White Walkers. He took Heartsbane (the Tarley family Valaryian steel sword) and I don't think he'll make it to Oldtown to study. I think next season will see Sam and Gilly traveling through Westeros in search of more Valaryian steel weaopons.

Before I let you go, don't forget that Margaery Tyrell also has her own plan. Could she have made a deal with the High Septon, or a secret plan of her own, that leads to the death of King Tommen and keeps her on the Iron Throne herself? If Tommen dies, who inherits the throne? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE I CAN'T WAIT FOR SUNDAY NIGHT!!!!!

All of these Game of Thrones theories are way too complicated

The title of this blog says it all. If you are a Game of Thrones fan and one of your favorite things this season is (what feels like) THOUSANDS of internet fan theories.

We're now about 5 days from the season 6 finale, and the internet continues to churn out more and more theories and most of them are about specific characters.

Arya is the most popular topic it seems. Fan reactions were mixed about how she ended her time with the Faceless Men in Episode 8 No One. I will admit that the scene with the Waif was way too much like Terminator 2, but I fully believed that Arya was able to beat her in the dark with Needle, wounded and everything.

Before Episode 8, the most popular theories suggested that the Arya we saw get stabbed, was not Arya at all. Or that the Waif and Arya were the same person, and the Waif was a figment of Arya's imagination. Like Tyler Durden in Fight Club. Now the latest theories offers the idea that the Waif actually killed Arya, and took Arya's face to wear. Basically saying that the Waif took over as Arya and will go live as Arya Stark now. I call bull shit.

I'm sorry, but these theories are just way too complicated. What all of these people, and the theorists in general, are forgetting is how great of a story teller George RR Martin is. The few people that have been able to guess his final outcome, remain silent for a reason! Some of these ideas we hear, while creative, are also just way too much. Martin is a great writer, but every twist (once revealed) has clues hidden throughout his books that you can find once you go back and read the series again. The show is the exact same way.

Season 6 was the show's first season that was not based on an already published book. Winds of Winter still has yet to be released.  So the huge cliffhanger from last season was unknown to even the most adept reader. HOWEVER, not to toot my own horn, I WAS ABLE TO FIGURE OUT HOW JON SNOW CAME BACK BEFORE THE EPISODE AIRED. I know, I'm not the only one who did, and that's because all the clues that you needed to figure it out were all right in front of you.

Clues went all the way back to Season 2, when Melisandre (the Red Woman) was traveling through the Riverlands in search of King Robert Baratheon's bastard Gendry, who had escaped King's Landing and was traveling with Arya. When Melisandre arrived, Gendry and Arya were traveling with the Brotherhood Without Banners; one of the brothers was another Red Priest, Thoros of Myr.

Thoros told Melisandre a story of how he was able to bring his compatriot Beric Dondarrion back to life. He said that he had lost his faith a long time ago, and hadn't practiced his faith to the Red God for many years. Until he, along with Ser Beric, were ordered by Ned Stark (then King Robert's Hand) to find and kill Ser Gregor Clegane. During their quest, Beric was felled. As a last ditch effort, Thoros whispered a prayer to the Red God. He went on to reveal that he had brought Dondarrion back 6 times in total. Melisandre admits that she does not have that power. But then what happens in Episode 2 this season? Davos asked Melisandre is there is anything she can do. Any spells she might know maybe? Yeah? Well, give it a shot. She does and Bobs your Uncle, we have a new Jon!

Every bit of info needed to predict that was there. But not everyone has read the books, and not everyone has seen the show or rewatched the show. Every year. From start to finish. For 6 years. About to be 7.

Theories are fun. Don't think I don't like them. I LOVE Game of Thrones theories. Do you have any? let me know on Facebook on the Super Nerdy News page or on Twitter @SuperNerdyNews.

SO MANY IDEAS!!!

Hey there, Interweb Slingers! I know it's been awhile since my last post, but sometimes that happens. Anyway, there have been some new developments over the last couple of weeks that I am very excited about, but I'll talk about that another time.

Today is about new ideas, but first a little catch up.

Captain America: Civil War came out in April of this year, and was totally awesome. I saw it twice and can't wait to see it again. There are some complaints that I have, but I would like to take a look at the movie at least 1 more time before giving my analysis. Overall: A.

X-Men: Apocolyspse!!! Now this movie took me by surprise. By that I mean I was schocked about how much I enjoyed it. I felt like Apocolypse was the best villain the X-Men franchise has ever seen so far, it was the closest to the source material than any other X-Movie before it, and restored my faith in the franchise. I still don't have a lot of hope for Wolverine 3, but that's another blog post entirely. This movie, however, introduced some much needed new blood. Sophie Turner as Jean Grey was particularly good, as I never liked Famke Janssen in the role. FINALLY A GOOD CYCLOPS!!! I mean, no offense to James Marsden at all, he didn't write the scripts that made Cyclops look terrible; Tye Sheridan absolutely kills it as the future leader of the team! Gotta mention some negatives though. I am totally over Mystique and Jennifer Lawrence. I think she's a great actress and has done a decent job with the character, but I just don't find her interesting anymore. She's better as a bad guy. Also, I feel like Fox Studios missed out on a great opportunity to introduce another X-Team.  (You can thank a Mr. Andy Gleaner for this idea!) ***SPOILERS FOR X-MEN APOCOLYPSE AHEAD***

 We're looking at the destruction of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters after Stryker has kidnapped the students another "official looking" group shows up. Led by the instructions of a blond woman, we see metal girders bend and lift off the ground; revealed to be moved by a young green haired girl.

Polaris: HE'S ALIVE!

Using her magenetic ability, Polaris lifts the debris hiding Havoc's body. A young man nearby stomps his foot, creating dublicates of himself to help clear away the wreckage along with an enormous oddly shapped and bulky Strong Guy. The Blond woman steps into frame, she wears a military like uniform with COOPER written on her chest.

X-Factor movie is set up. I love that idea! Nice job, Andy!

Moving on though...

I've had a ton of ideas for comic book story lines as of late and I am actively pursuing a job at Marvel Comics. I would LOVE to list out and flush out my ideas on here, but I'm actually afraid of them getting stolen. So i will leave you with this question.

Would you buy a comic book about THE INCREDIBLE HULK being blasted off into space (just like the beginning of PLANET HULK), getting sucked through a wormhole in space, and arriving in the Star Wars universe? Imagine the beginning of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, just before the Battle of Hoth; LUKE SKYWALKER is investigating a meteor strike that turns out to be a Probe Droid sent by the evil Galactic Empire. But instead of just sending back images of the Rebel base, the last image the droid sends is that of a GREEN GOLIATH leaping at and destroying it. Fast forward arriving at the base after the Battle of Hoth, to find a weakened Hulk. Vader uses Force abilities to control the Hulk's mind and leads him away. Hulk is trained as a Jedi and later sent into battle against a still training Luke Skywalker. Luke proves that he is no one to mess with as he defeates the Hulk, by cutting off his hand.

Hulk has a cybernetic hand grafted on, and continues his own Jedi training alongside Luke. Together they resuce Leia and Chewie from Cloud City, but not before Han is frozen in carbonite and brought to Jabba the Hut. The Hulk takes on Jabba and his crew single handedly, as Luke and his friends rescue Han.

The Rebels, with the Hulk, attack the Death Star. Luke confronts Vader and the Emperor while Hulk smashes the Death Star forcing the Emperor to make his move quicker than he normally would have. He sends Vader to deal with the Hulk. Hulk vs. Vader.

That's what I have so far. I just love the image of Hulk vs. Luke and Hulk vs. Vader. I really think I can showcase the vast power that The Hulk, Darth Vader, and Luke Skywalker possess individually.  What do you think?

Everything you have read here, (except for where noted) is the intellectual property of Michael Milnes and this blog. 

Batman v. Superman Spoileriffic Review

***DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT THE MOVIE SPOILED.****

Oh man, where to start here?...

So, I've been waiting for this movie for 30 years. Ever since I was a little kid, playing with my Super Powers Action Figures, I have dreamt of a movie starring two of my favorite super heroes of all time. Batman and Superman; well, last night I finally got my wish and I can sum up my viewing experience with two words:

SQUANDERED OPPORTUNITY.

Yeah, doesn't sound very promising huh? I know. Let me start with the good points, because there are some really good things.

1. Ben Affleck is the best part of this movie. His Batman is THE MOST comic book accurate depiction of Batman we have ever seen on screen. He is awesome, he plays the part perfectly and I can't wait to see his solo Batman movies.  I read a week or so ago, that Ben did some script rewrites on set for his character. You can tell, but I'll get to that. Batman had the best scenes in the whole movie.

2. Wonder Woman. I have always liked her character and this movie uses her very well, as limited as her screen time was. She effectively teased a much my complicated and cool character, and made me interested in her first solo film. She also has some of the best action sequences in the movie as well, right up there with Batman.

3. The action! Easily best part of the whole movie. Zach Snyder is an absolute hack, but he does know how to make shit look cool and he showed off that talent throughout the movie. The visual effects were great, and almost...ALMOST were enough to save the movie.

And not topping the chart of good stuff, but a strong runner up is Henry Caville's Superman. He does a good job as the character, but he does not have a lot to work with. And with that let's get into the bad stuff...

1. Right off the bat (no pun intended) we get Batman's fucking origin story. Again. So right away the audience is getting something they have seen at least 2 different times on screen; more if they've seen the DC animated movies, or the Batman animated tv shows. The point is that even novice fans know that Batman's parents were killed during a robbery and that is his motivation to fight crime. We all know it, so why do we need to be reminded again?

This is just the beginning of the problems we get in the writing.  The biggest problem is actually one of the first things you learn about in story writing: character motivation.  I was confused throughout the entire movie as to what was motivating these characters to behave the way they were. The most fleshed out character was Batman; you could tell Snyder was excited to have Batman in this movie, because he's really at the center of everything.

Superman seems to get a bug up his ass about Batman's treatment of criminals in Gotham City. Perry White has a line that sums it up perfectly, "No one cares about Clark Kent going up against the Batman." Yeah, I know, "But, Mike, the movie is called Batman V. Superman! We all wanna see them fight!" Yeah, of course we do, but come on, we also know they're going to get over it and team up. My point is that when they actually do fight, you're kind of left thinking, "uh, why didn't they talk about anything first?" There are certain parts that you can tell where Affleck rewrote some lines, you can just hear the difference. It's strange, but also makes me hopeful for the future solo Batman flicks.

The writing overall just feels clunky, like things were just thrown together. You never feel like there is a flow to the movie. Just one part after another.

Lex Luthor's behaviour and motivation is the most confounding. He has no backstory, which is unfortunate because Eisenberg goes balls out with his performance. He really goes for it, but I can't say he nailed it because we have NO IDEA WHO THIS GUY IS. Goyer, Terrio, and Snyder (the writers and Director) seem to go off the assumption that the audience  knows who these characters are and what they are like. This doesn't work though when you are introducing an audience to a brand new expanded universe. For one thing Eisenberg plays Alexander Luthor Jr. or Lex II, his father is the billionaire genius who founded LexCorp (or at least I think that's how it is). So Eisenberg's Luthor Jr. seems like a spoiled rich kid who's also a bit eccentric.  No further character description is given.  Also, it seemed like the Joker was originally intened to be in the movie but was cut and then combined with Luthor. Because Eisenberg seems to be playing The Joker rather than Lex Luthor, but I digress.

2. There are many parts of the film that just seemed to be shoved in for the hell of it. I described the movie as having "lots of cool parts, but we didn't get enough info during those cool parts". There was too much bull shit in between scenes featuring cool shit. Understand what I mean? No? Ok. For example: Holly Hunter is in this movie. She plays a Junior Senator from Kentucky and is in charge of the Senate hearings about (and I'm guessing here because it's not made very clear in the movie) the events of Man of Steel. There are several scenes involving Holly Hunter's character and Lex Luthor or another minor character, discussing something blah blah blah, I can't remember because I zoned out. Seriously, this happened several times. I found myself thinking about what I had to do the next day, and then smacking myself in the face because I was supposed to be watching an awesome movie.  Yeah, I got bored. Several times. I wasn't happy about it.

3. Our heroes are murderers! I know the end of Man of Steel created a lot of controversy with Superman snapping Zod's neck. It also started a lot of great conversations about character development and modernization, as well as artists' interpretation and all that stuff. It was a solid plot point in Man of Steel, but Batman v. Superman it's just run of the mill. There's a scene (it's a dream, but still...) where Batman straight up shoots (WITH A FUCKING GUN!!!) like 15 people in a row. When we first meet Superman, saving Lois Lane, he murders a guy by flying him through not just 1 wall, but several walls! Also, Batman is seen with a gun in his hands more often than he's not! As a life long fan of the character, I am astounded. No guns and no killing is a major part of Batman's persona, and Snyder just threw it out the window.

4. This is my last negative point, it's also the one I had the biggest problem with. There was so much potential for this movie to be awesome and they threw it away. The coolest scenes (besides the action sequences) were the scenes teasing other elements of the expanded universe. SPOILER: Batman's nightmare on what looks like Apokolips, fighting a Darkseid influenced Superman and his army, along with Darkseid's Parademons. Very cool stuff, but it's just a dream Batman has. There is no talk about why he has this dream, or what it means. It's such a vivid dream, that you would think that the World's Greatest Detective would want to look into it a bit more, but no.

There is no post credits stinger scenes like in Marvel movies, because WB wants us all to know that they do things differently. So we get what should have been a sweet teaser scene in the middle of the movie, for no apparent reason. So were given 3 shorts featuring the next members of the Justice League. The Flash is caught on security camera that only has 2 angles; on the cash register where the robbery is happening and the refrigerator where Barry Allen is shopping for a cold drink and sees the robbery. Then we meet Aquaman in one of the dumbest looking and odd cameos I have ever seen. It's underwater footage of a shipwreck; we first see 2 glowing eyes peering out of the darkness, then Aquaman emerges; stares at the camera for a minute or so and then swims away. Ok...whatever. Jason Mamoa (who plays Aquaman) has been talking a lot about how we are going to love Aquaman. Well, not because of this cameo, it was soooooo dumb. Then we get Cyborg's entire origin including a glimpse of a motherbox (another Darkseid tease).  They could have easily made this cameos so much cooler, or placed them better. Maybe even incorporated them into the script, but no.

The worst part of not utilizing the potential is Batman's fight with Superman. He really beats the shit out of him, but in the laziest way a writer could possibly describe. I can honestly say that most fun I have had during my wait time for this movie is the conversations about how Batman could beat Superman. I have talked about this ad nauseum with whomever would ask and I have loved every bit. Well, Snyder and Co. had the opportunity to make Batman look like a total smart bad ass and they decided to dial it in. Batman relies almost entirely on kryptonite and his kryptonite gas gun to fight Superman. He uses one other gadget that fails immediately, and then it's all armor and krptonite. I was so disapointed. However, the fight itself makes up for it, because it's still pretty cool.

So, what's the bottom line here? Did I like it? Did I hate it?  Well, neither really. I definitely didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. There was much to like about this movie and liked the shit out of that stuff, but there was also plenty to hate too.

I went in not expecting a great movie and that's what I got. So final conclusion. I'm giving this a 6 out of 10. It warrents another viewing, and I stand by my previous statement: I will watch this movie 1000 times.

I will own it and analyze it, but I have serious concerns over the future of the DC Extended Universe. I was on the fence about Suicide Squad, and now I don't have much hope for it at all.  One positive thing that this movie did: it made Captain America: Civil War look like it will be fantastic.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I appreciate it. Be sure to leave me a comment on here or Facebook (Super Nerdy News) or Twitter (@SuperNerdyNews) about your feelings on the movie. This was a big one for me. 30 years in the making, so I'll be happy to talk about it some more, as well as the future installments of the DCEU.

 Next up is Captain America: Civil War, see ya next month with that review.


ONE LAST THING: You can't help but compare this movie and Man of Steel to the Marvel movies. And WB is going out of their way to make sure you see the difference between the studios. But I believe, in their effort to differentiate themselves, they kind of shot themselves in the foot. Comic book movies are meant to take on the feel of their source material. Marvel Studios has done a wonderful job of this (even if you don't like the Marvel films, you have to admit they are well made and keep their fans in mind while making them). WB and the creators of the new DCEU seem to be saying to us, "we know what we are doing, just let us make the movies, you'll get them when we give them to you." Not the best attitude, because after seeing this movie Snyder and Co. clearly don't seem to know what they're doing.  Anyway, thanks for reading! See you next time!

THE 4 HORSEMEN OF APOCALYPSE

As a kid I always enjoyed making up teams of characters. Whether it was pro wrestlers I liked or super hero action figures or GI Joes or whatever. I would mix and match and make up new teams all of the time.

A few years back, Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis took over the reigns of The Avengers stories. He started with blowing them up. Literally. In Avengers: Disassembled, Bendis literally blows up Avengers mansion on one of the first few pages. By the end, the classic Avengers, as comic fans knew them, were no more. Bendis' next step was introducing the New Avengers which would prove a bit controversial. The new team would consist of Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Wolverine, The Sentry, The Thing, Dr. Strange, Sider-Woman, Ronin (Hawkeye in a different costume), DareDevil, Iron Fist, Captain Marvel, and Jessica Jones. Readers began to ask, "can anyone be an Avenger?" Well, as a big fan of super hero team-ups, I loved it! Two of my favorite characters became Avengers! Wolverine and Spider-Man.  Anyway, this isn't what today's topic is about.

In June, we're getting a brand new X-Men movie; X-Men: Apocalypse. The character of Apocalypse is quite interesting in himself, but my favorite thing about him is that he would surround himself with 4 elite soldiers he called; The Horsemen of Apocalyspe! The premise was simple enough, each time Apocalyspe would return he would seek out 4 people that would fill the roles of the Horsemen; War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death.

There have been several incarnations of the Horsemen over the years. Since most aren't really worth going into detail about, I will mention the worthy ones before getting to my main topic. Major characters that were chosen as Horsemen:

ARCHANGEL: Formally known as Angel. Warren Worthington III was an original member of the X-Men. He was a blond haired, blue eyed, white dude with wings. That was it. For years! Until Marvel reinvented Angel, had him dewinged and sabotage his own airplane. Instead of doing a kamikaze into a mountain, Angel was taken by Apocalypse who did some comic book sciencey stuff and created Archangel. A much cooler looking character with blue skin and metallic wings. Archangel's appearance as the Horsemen Death was a major shocker in the comics. Great read, great episode of the 90's animated show too.

Hulk: Even the Hulk is susceptible to Apocalypse. For a short time, he was the Horsemen War, before he came to his senses after injuring his friend Rick Jones.

Wolverine: This is probably my favorite Horsemen because it combined two important story lines for me as a fan. It introduced Wolverine as a Horsemen and a bad guy AND gave answer for Wolverine to have adamantium again. At the time, Wolverine was going through some major character changes. In issue #75 he had his adamantium ripped out of him by Magneto. 70 issues later it's revealed that at some point the Wolverine everyone knew had been replaced by a shape-shifting Skrull and the real Wolverine had been captured and brainwashed by Apocalypse to become the latest Horsemen: Death.  Apocalyspe forced Wolverine to fight his long time nemesis, Sabertooth (whom also had an adamantium laced skeleton), with the winner to become Death. Wolverine, being the kind of guy he is, decided that he could at least try to fight off Apocalypse's influence while Sabertooth would embrace it, and so he defeats Sabertooth. Apocalypse then strips Sabertooth of his adamantium and gives it to Wolverine.

Other significant members of the group at one point or another: Spider-Man, Gambit, Psylocke, Banshee, Red Hulk, Scarlet Witch, and Daken (Wolverine's son).

Now, being the kind of guy that I am, I've been thinking of and have always thought of who I would choose as MY 4 Horsemen, but I'm opening it up to ALL of Nerdiverse.  

I'll start with the Marvel universe: Pestilence - Norman Osborn aka the Green Goblin, Famine - Spider-Man or Deadpool , War - Cable, The Sentry or The Hulk, Death - Wolverine or Captain Marvel.

DC Universe: Pestilence - Lex Luthor or The Flash, Famine - Sinestro or Black Manta, War - Superman or Doomsday, Death - Wonder Woman or Black Adam.

Entire Nerdiverse (representing the ULTIMATE team up): Pestilence - Skeletor (from the Masters of the Universe universe), Famine - Mumra (from the Thundercats Universe), War - The Silver Surfer (from Marvel) and Death - Superman or Black Adam from DC. I'd even throw Wolverine in as Death again.

But who would face these Horsemen and win? How about the ULTIMATE GOOD GUY TEAM UP: HE-MAN, LION-O, BATMAN, THE HULK, WOLVERINE, SHAZAM, WONDER WOMAN, CAPTAIN MARVEL, and led by CABLE!

Now, who would YOU choose to be your Horsemen?

The Punisher vs. Deathstroke

Originally published on HeroicUniverse.com http://heroicuniverse.com/saturday-night-main-event-deathstroke-vs-the-punisher/

I wrote this awhile back. This was my favorite.

DEATHSTROKE VS. THE PUNISHER

OVERVIEW

These two are both highly skilled, killing machines. Deathstroke is more skilled when it comes to hand to hand combat, but Punisher is no slouch. A fist fight between these two would be very entertaining.
Both men are easily able to adapt to their surroundings, and can therefore operate in nearly any enviorment from rooftops of the city to the dense jungle.
This is a great match up, with Deathstroke holding a slight edge. Although Punisher's toughness and drive could be just enough to overcome the Terminator.

ARGUMENT FOR DEATHSTROKE

Deathstroke the Terminator (aka Slade Wilson) is a very highly skilled mercenary who can give Batman a run for his money. He is a master martial artist, as well as a master of his weapons of choice; which are mainly guns, broadswords or katannas, and a bo staff. On occasion, Wilson has been known to carry specialized gadgets as weapons such as grappling guns.
Slade was injected with a serum that gives him regenerative powers, as well as nearly superhuman strength and speed.
Deathstroke would be the aggressor in this fight, hunting the Punisher and use his superior fighting skills to take Castle out.

ARGUMENT FOR THE PUNISHER

Frank Castle has been trained in several disciplines of the military. He's served as a marine, completeing

OUTCOME

a jungle. day.

The sun shines through in patches as Deathstroke walks through the trees. He picks his way over fallen trees and ducks under creeping vines, looking for any clues that a man had been this way. A broken branch and partial bootprint tell him he's headed in the right direction.
Deathstroke arrives at a clearing, when something catches his eye. The shining sun reveals a tripwire attached to a land mine buried nearby. He bends to examine and disarm it. 

Suddenly Deathstroke is stuck in the head, his helmet is knocked off and bounces away.
Deathstroke acts on instinct, diving for cover as several more shots fly by, striking a tree. Behind a log, Deathstroke tries to look out for where the shots are coming from, he's able to spot a flash from the rifle in the far distance just before a bullet hits the log just below his face. He leaps over the log with great agility and speed and runs for cover behind a large rock.

Jumping to avoid a rain of bullets, he lands and rolls behind the rock. As he leans up behind the rock, he hears a high-pitched beeping sound. Deathstroke doesn't wait, he's back on his feet as a proximity bomb explodes behind him, throwing him into the underbrush.
About 3 hundred yards away, the Punisher sees the explosion and starts to move his position. So far his plan is working. He's managed to position Deathstroke right in the middle of an obstacle course of booby-traps. The first mine was a decoy, giving Punisher time to line up a shot to take off Deathstroke's helmet; exposing a weak point.

Punisher knows he can't stay in the same sniper position for too long, so he's on the move, trying to keep an eye on Deathstroke's location at the same time. That's not as easy as it sounds. Deathstroke is on the defensive now and will be trying to gain the advantage any way he can. As Punisher is thinking that, another explosion erupts in the distance, now about 175 yards out.

"Damn he's moving fast," thinks Castle. "Hopefully, he's at least wounded."

Punisher crouches for cover amongst a few fallen trees and rocks, his rifle at the ready for the moment Deathstroke's head comes into view.

As he searches for his hiding foe, he senses movement from above. Punisher looks up just in time to see Deathstroke come leaping at him firing a sub machine gun. Punisher is hit across his chest, luckily he's armored, but he's still knocked back. Deathstroke follows up his attack with a strong kick to Punisher's face. Now it's Punisher being knocked into the underbrush. Castle recovers quickly, though, and pulls a high powered machine gun from over his shoulder, spraying a hail of bullets in Deathstroke's direction, but he's gone.

Punisher is back on the search again, this time checking the trees around him. He moves forward cautiously when he's hit in the shoulder by something. It sticks to him and fires off a grappling line. The other end hits a tree, and Castle is lifted off his feet flying towards the tree. He hits it hard and flips around, his body landing in some bushes.

Deathstroke steps out from behind a tree, and draws his bo staff. He slowly walks up to Punisher crawling out of the bushes.

"You're resilient. I'll give you that." says Slade. "That only makes me want to hurt you more."

WIlson twirls his staff and hits Castle across the back, knocking him to the ground and the wind from his lungs. Punisher rolls over as Deathstroke comes down with his staff again, this time Punisher is able to dodge out of the way; pulling a pistol from a holster on his hip, he fires at Deathstroke, who jumps away.

Punisher empties his clip and reloads as Deathstroke comes flipping at him; Deathstroke swings his staff and knocks Punisher's gun away; then the bo comes at Punisher again. This time Punisher is able to get a hold of the staff. Using Slade's momentum against him, he's able to hurl Deathstroke into a tree, the bo staff disappears amongst the strees.

Deathstroke is up quickly though, and Punisher is staring him down. Punisher reaches down, and pulls out an enormous hunting knife. Deathstroke reaches over his shoulder and unsheaths his katanna sword. They start running at each other, blades colliding and throwing up sparks. Deathstroke comes slashing down with his katanna, forcing Punisher to a knee as he blocks the blow with his knife. Deathstroke is too fast for Punisher's defenses and is able to open up a few deep cuts on Punishers arms along with a big gash across his cheek.

Deathstroke attacks again, Punisher is able to block a few more slashes, but the last two cut deep on his shoulder and chest; Deathstroke follows the barrage up with a devestating punch to Castle's jaw and knocking the knife from his hand.

"You really can take a beating." Deathstroke taunts. "But you're only making things worse for yourself."

He swings his katanna at Punisher's head, but Punisher ducks out of the way, grabbing the fallen knife. He lunges at Deathstroke, who dodges the blade, grabs Punisher by the wrist and drives an elbow into Punisher's forearm; breaking his arm. Punisher yells in pain and looks down at his arm, a sharp arm bone is sticking out of the skin.
Punisher falls against a tree, cradling his arm. Deathstroke twirls his katanna and steps in closer.

"I warned you about this. The longer you fight, the more pain you will suffer." He says as he kneels down next to Castle, their faces inches apart.

"Have you had enough?" Deathstroke asks. "Shall I end it quickly? Or should I just leave you here to bleed out and let the animals have you?"

"How's this for enough?!" grunts Punisher, using a burst of adrenaline; he rips off his arm and stabs Deathstroke in the neck with the pointed end!

Deathstroke staggers back, and grabs at the arm sticking out of his neck. He pulls it out of him with blood spurting out of the wound, he puts his hand over to stop it.

"Ahh You fool!" Deathstroke yells. "No more games!"

And with that, Deathstroke takes Punisher's own arm and stabs him through the top of the head with it.

WINNER: DEATHSTROKE 

Happy 2016!

Hello InterWeb-Slingers! It's been a decent amount of time since I've posted, I know, but some times life gets in the way. Anyway, I've got some things I would like to discuss.

First off, it is 2016 and this year is set up to be the BIGGEST year for super hero movies and media! I am very excited. 2015 ended on a strong high note with Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I personally loved it and have a strong theory that I will post at another time. Onto 2016!

So the first offering of the new year was one of my most anticipated: DEADPOOL! And it did not disapoint! This movie was EXACTLY what I hoped it was going to be! Ryan Reynolds is perfectly cast as the Merc with the Mouth, the story is good, the action is great and the humor is perfect! I loved how the X-Men were incorporated into the movie and look forward to the sequel.

Now, the success of Deadpool is actually very important. It was Rated R, which was somewhat of a struggle to get, and was met with resistance all the way up to the release. Parents who don't understand comic book characters could not understand why a super hero movie needed to be R rated. Deadpool definitely needed to be R rated to work. This was a big deal, because if Fox studios (and hopefully other studios) saw that a Comic Book Movie could see box office success with an R rating, then maybe (finally) we would get more R rated films that actually depict comic characters like they are in the comics.  That is essentially what comic fans want out of all of these movies; true depictions of their favorite characters.

The biggest character and franchise to benefit from Deadpool's R rated success (besides Deadpool) is Wolverine. The 3rd installment of the franchise is due out in 2017 and really needs to be good. The last 2 movies have been pitiful attempts at showing the true awesomeness of Wolverine. And now the latest rumors seem to be leading in that direction.  I will believe it when I see it. Wolverine is a huge character and I don't necessarily believe Fox would limit their box office potential with an R rating. BUT, creatively speaking, Wolverine needs an R rating. We need a Wolverine movie with blood and gore! We need to see him ripping and tearing through a pile of bad guys, getting ripped apart himself and barely coming through the other side. THAT's what Wolverine is all about; his unrelenting belief that what he's doing is for the greater good, and no one else can do what he does because he is the best!  We'll have to wait and see how this unfolds.

Moving along, I just want to quickly mention some TV shows. I have heard really great things about Supergirl on CBS. I haven't actually watched any episodes after the pilot, but only because there are so many things to watch these days and I have to choose what to put off for awhile. I will get to it. Supergirl show runners recently released set photos of Supergirl and The Flash crossing over! Which means that they share a universe! This is awesome for a couple of reasons:

          1. The Flash is kiling it and is currently the best Super Hero Show on TV right now. It's fun, light hearted, easy to follow and features a lot of super powers in use. They've introduced Earth 2 and the multiverse of DC and have alluded to major heroes like Superman and Batman a few times as well as the possible formation of the Justice League. (More on this another time).
          2. Flash, Arrow and Supergirl now share a universe. The DCTV universe has grown exponentially, and judging on the success of the Flash and Supergirl, there is nothing but awesome potential for both shows. (I gave up on Arrow in Season 2, kept losing interest).
         3. The Multiverse itself offers so many possibilities including a crossover with the movie universe (Cavill and Affleck's Superman and Batman). To comic fans this could lead to a "Crisis on Infinite Earths" movie event. For non-readers, read it. it is bad ass. Also read Infinite Crisis. (Once again, more on these another time).

If you haven't seen The Flash or Supergirl yet, that's ok, you've got plenty of time. Supergirl will be entering the 2nd half of the first season and Flash is in the 2nd half of the 2nd season, with the first available of Netflix.

So what's next to look forward to? A whole hell of a lot. Next up is the possibly the most anticipated movie of all time; Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. There is a lot of speculation on whether or not this movie is going to be good, but no matter the quality this movie is historical. It will be the first time Batman and Superman share the big screen together. I'm so excited for this movie. I don't care if it's bad, I will watch this movie so many times.  BvS:DoJ hits theaters March 25, but I will be seeing an advanced screening on the 24th. Come back here for a my spoiler free review!

Also released on March 25th will be the 2nd Season of Marvel's DareDevil on Netflix. So what a weekend this is going to be! Season 2's trailer is worth a look as it introduces a couple of new characters that should make for some awesome tv. First off we have DareDevil in his suit, full time now and he meets one of my favorite comic characters: The Punisher. I can't wait to see what they do with Frank Castle.  The other character is also close to DD and she is just as deadly as the Punisher. Electra makes her debut this season; friend of foe though? We have to wait and see; although the trailer alludes to a past between Matt Murdock and Electra. Can't f'n wait!

So that's March, April brings another HUGE movie event. Marvel's CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR! I've seen all of the trailers, and read all of the rumors and my speculation is that this movie is going to be awesome! Comic fanboys aren't convinced, because the movie differs from their beloved comic story line; however from what I can tell, it doesn't matter! The MCU is much different than the Comic Universe, and this new movie looks great!

Do you know what I'm most excited about though? It's not Cap vs. Iron Man believe it or not, but actually the new characters that we haven't met yet. Black Panther and SPIDER-MAN! I LOVE Spidey and I CANNOT wait to meet the MCU's version of the Wallcrawler. May 6th is the release date for this one.

We're not slowing down though. We've got a little breathing time between BvS:DoJ and Civil War, but after Civil War the next major release is 3 weeks later! X-Men: Apocalypse comes out on May 27th! Now, I haven't really been looking forward to this one much. I kind of liked the last X-Men movie, and First Class was pretty good, but I haven't really been that impressed with the X-Men franchise at all. However, the trailer that was shown during the Super Bowl has changed my mind. I am now pretty pumped to see this one, but I still have some reservations.

After X-Men, we've got some more breathing time before the next Comic Book Movie. But there are a couple blockbusters that people will be excited for including:TMNT 2: Out of the Shadows June 3rd, Warcraft June 10th, Independence Day: Resurgence June 24th, the Ghostbusters reboot (BOOOOOO!) July 15th, Star Trek Beyond July 22nd, and the new Bourne movie July 29th. If you see any of them, I hope you enjoy them. I'll be taking a break. Until August.

August 5th brings us the next installment of the DC extended universe; Suicide Squad. I am the least excited for this one, only because there is a lot of ego in this movie and also of stuff that has to happen for it to make sense. You have a group of bad guys that would ordinarily have their own movie to develop their backgrounds are thrown together into a team. It's an interesting concept, but untested on film. This could be a runaway hit as easily as it could be a total dud. It has potential though, and we're still months away with plenty of marketing opportunity; so I'm going to keep an open mind.

Second to last is another highly anticipated film and Marvel's 2nd release of the year; Dr. Strange starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the good doctor. This movie is being said to open up the MCU in ways never seen before. Basically meaning the introductin of parallel dimensions, as well as magic. Dr. Stephen Strange is Marvel's Sorceror Supreme and is a major player in the comic book universe. He, along with the Black Panther, are very powerful and will have major roles in the upcoming Avengers movies; Infinity War Part 1 & 2. More on Doctor Strange as we get closer to the release date.

Finally we come to December and the last of my most anticiapted movies. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a spinoff movie that tells the story of the rebel squad that steals the plans for the Death Star. Lots of potential for an awesome movie. For those that enjoyed the new blood in The Force Awakens, here is your opportunity to meet new characters in an already established universe. I am very excited for this. December 16th is the official release date.

That's all for now. I'll be back soon to expand on things I touched on earlier. Til then, read some good stuff, watch some good stuff and let me know what you think! Later.