First Joker Poster Will Creep You Out

First Joker Poster Will Creep You Out

The DC live-action universe has had a fascinating life in theaters, full of peaks and valleys. Despite the success of Wonder Woman, the DCEU seemed in jeopardy after the poor reception of Batman v Superman and Justice League. But Warner Bros. seems to have pivoted away from serialized storytelling and ensemble projects, instead allowing filmmakers to work on a project unencumbered by crossovers.

Perhaps the biggest example of this is Todd Phillips' Joker, which will give the Clown Prince of Crime an origin story. The upcoming spinoff will be disconnected from the rest of the DCEU, and will star Joaquin Phoenix as the title character instead of Jared Leto. Phillips recently debuted the film's first poster, while also revealing that a trailer is (finally) coming shortly. Check it out.

Does anyone else have the chills? The Joker has always been a beloved and scary aspect of Batman lore, and this first Joker poster shows what an intimate look we'll get at the villain. And the teaser trailer is coming in just one day.

The above Joker poster has the title character largely absent, with this painted face taking up only the last quarter of the space. But it's a powerful image, that teases the emotionality and violence we'll be privy to when the film arrives in theaters this coming October. Joaquin Phoenix is shown in full makeup, although it looks like he's got some blood smeared on his face as well. There are tears in the characters' eyes, while his makeup keeps a grin painted on his face. That's what the tagline references, saying "Put on a happy face."

Joker will follow the title character, and watch as he eventually starts a life of chaos and destruction as the Clown Prince of Crime. But Joaquin Phoenix's Arthur Fleck won't start off as a violent anarchist. Instead, he'll be a failing standup comic, and a clown. Audiences will watch as he descends into madness, and eventually becomes the villain we know and love. The project will also reportedly focus quite a bit on Arthur's mental illness, explaining how he ends up becoming Batman's biggest foe.

The entire concept of a Joker origin story is somewhat counterintuitive, as part of the character's appeal is his mysterious background. Just look at Heath Ledger's characterization in The Dark Knight. His scars had a different story every time he told it, and his mysterious unknown only makes him more terrified and unhinged. As such, Joker will be in stark juxtaposition to that version, as the audience is privy to the psychological and emotional traumas that result in the title character's birth.

Todd Phillips has assembled an impressive cast to join Joaquin Phoenix in this unique take on a comic book movie. Robert De Niro has a role, as well as GLOW's Marc Maron and Deadpool 2 standout Zazie Beetz and Frances Conroy. The movie will also be connected to the Batman lore by including Thomas Wayne as a major character.

Joker will arrive in theaters on October 4th, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

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12 Major Questions We Have After Seeing Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

12 Major Questions We Have After Seeing Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. You'll want to come back after you've seen it.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom had a massive opening weekend at the box office and it has promised even bigger things to come in the forthcoming end to the trilogy. However, before we get there, we have some unfinished business with the movie that we just saw. The movie was a massive spectacle that was just as big and impressive as we hoped, but after the thrill wore off, the questions remained.

Some of these are questions of curiosity, questions that make us wonder where the story will go from here. Others are questions that cropped up because we're not entirely sure what we saw made any sense. Either way, here are all the questions we were asking after seeing Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.

Why Do The DNA Thieves At The Beginning Think the Dinosaurs Are Dead?In the opening sequence of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom we meet a group of thieves who have broken into the old park in order to steal a bone, and thus the DNA, of the dead Indominous Rex. While this would seem to be a quite dangerous job, nobody is taking any particular precaution against dinosaurs, and it turns out the reason is, as one of the mercenaries states, they believe the dinosaurs are all dead. Except, Congress is also holding a hearing about what to do with the animals, so clearly Congress believes at least some of the dinos are alive. Were they told the dinos were dead so that the villains could convince them to go? Was it just the predators they thought were dead? If so, why did they believe that?

Would the Volcano Really Have Destroyed The Entire Island?Volcanic eruptions are absolutely dangerous events that can cause massive damage. However, from all indications on the map, Isla Nublar should be a pretty massive place, and since we see one face of the volcano give way, that means that the pressure that has been built up is being released there. That almost certainly means that the opposite side of the mountain should be safer. Whatever dinosaurs were lucky enough to find themselves on that side of the island would have been safe from the worst damage and some dinos would almost certainly have survived, making this entire mission less important. I'm no scientist, but it's still a question worth asking.

Just How Long Is This Dinosaur's Neck?After being locked inside part of the old park complex, Claire and Franklin get attacked by a large dinosaur intent on eating them. They escape through a trap door in the ceiling by climbing a long enclosed ladder, with the dinosaur on their tail the entire time. When they finally emerge through the hatch in the island, the dinosaurs head is right there snapping at their heels. Seconds before, it was grabbing at Franklin's shoe, and now it's all the way up the ladder. The dino either learned to climb ladders or has a deceptively long neck.

Why Didn't Anybody Notice The Truck When It Jumped On The Boat?As the volcano erupts and destroys the island, and nobody so much as puts on a face mask to protect from the volcanic smog, our heroes escape on a truck left behind and drive it off the dock at high speed in order to catch the boat before it leaves. The truck had the keys in it and started up fine, so why was it left behind? It wasn't because they were in a hurry and it needed a jump. Then, when it comes crashing into the back of the boat, where there is plenty of space for it, not a single person comes to investigate the noise. Was literally every person on the ship busy elsewhere?

How Did The Guard Know Owen And Claire Shouldn't Be There?Claire and Owen are successfully able to draw blood from a T. Rex without being made, but as soon as their truck drives by the guard shack at the Lockwood Estate, they get busted. It's never made clear what this guard saw that made him suspicious. Even if he recognized Claire from her previous visit -- at 40 miles per hour wearing a John Deer cap-- is the guy watching the door really so in on the plan to know she's not part of it, too? That would seem to give that guy a lot more importance in this plot than is really needed.

How Did Nobody At The Estate Notice All The Work Going On?It seems to be a shock to everybody, from Mr. Lockwood to his staff to his "granddaughter" that there is anything strange going on at the estate. When Lockwood's righthand man shows up with a bunch of trucks full of dinosaurs, nobody seems to think anything is strange. Even before that, however, they were breeding dinosaurs in the basement, which one would think would involve a significant amount of commotion that would have been noticed. You'd think the nanny would have asked what all the people were doing in the lab at some point.

Why Did Owen Leave the Indoraptor Sitting in the Cage?Upon discovering that a new breed of killer raptor has been genetically engineered from the Indominous Rex, Chris Pratt's Owen decides he must make sure the creature never leaves the building. He runs down, fights off a bunch of guys with guns and cattle prods, and proceeds to... break the conveyer belt and apparently run off. He doesn't pick up one of the dropped guns and shoot the thing until it bleeds out. He apparently decides if the belt is busted, the world is safe. The next time we see him he's trying to escape with Claire and Maisie and the raptor is left alone in a room, sitting in a cage, where nothing could possibly go wrong.

Where Did The Nanny Go?After James Cromwell's Benjamin Lockwood is found dead, Maisie's Nanny Iris is unceremoniously dismissed from her position. She pleads with Eli Mills to let her stay, but then walks off and she's never seen again. Considering her job, she almost certainly lived on the grounds and thus would probably need to spend a considerable amount of time packing before actually leaving. However, by then, there's quite a bit going on. Did she spend the rest of the movie hiding under her bed? She clearly doesn't trust Eli and loves Maisie, so why didn't she try to rescue the girl? Maybe she did and was eaten by dinosaurs...

How Did Franklin Become a Lab Tech?While trying to escape the ship, Franklin gets mistaken for a deckhand, gets thrown a coil of rope and is separated from the rest of the group. The next time we see him, he's wearing a shower cap in a clean room and is working as some kind of lab assistant in the dino DNA room. How exactly did that transformation happen? Was it just another random bit of mistaken identity on the part of somebody else? Did Zia help him out? I would have loved to have seen the sequence of events that led to this.

Why Did The Indoraptor Play Possum?One of the more satisfying moments in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is when the Indoraptor bites the arm off of the mercenary who originally turns on our heroes. It's a great moment, but it's also confusing. Was the Indoraptor supposed to know that if it faked being unconscious the guy would open the cage? Having never dealt with him before it would have no reason to know that would happen. Even assuming the creature, which can't be all that old, was intelligent enough to figure that out in the first place. If it had ever done this with another person before, surely they would have taken additional precautions when wheeling out the cage.

Why Does Cloning Humans Even Feature In This Movie?The strangest twist of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingom is the discovery that little Maisie, the "granddaughter" of Lockwood, is, in fact, a clone of his daughter. It feels like an odd and out-of-place reveal, as no discussion of human cloning has ever been a significant part of this particular franchise. It's not clear why it's even here. Maisie could honestly be removed from the film entirely and little would change. It's possible the answer to this question is "because it will be important in Jurassic World III. However, at the moment, it feels like the answer is "because the movie needed a character who would think releasing a bunch of dinosaurs into Humboldt County was a good idea." Or "because the movie needed a kid."

Why Isn't Anybody Suspicious Of Anybody In These Movies?Of all the repeated tropes in this franchise, it seems the one that gets the heaviest workout is that everybody is always out for themselves in these films. Time and time again, somebody gets lured to the island under false pretenses or somebody else has their own agenda being kept secret from the rest of the characters. Yet again, in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, it seems like the bad guys set a land speed record with how quickly they turn on the good guys. We barely get to meet them before we discover they're actually bad guys. Maybe in the next movie, somebody will be at least mildly suspicious of anybody claiming to want to go good? It's cynical, sure, but how often do you have to be fooled?

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However, some people have already seen the ending to Avengers: Endgame, as the Russo Brothers explained: The Russo Brothers are trying to keep the film's secrets as best as possible, and although they haven't told anyone the ending to Avengers: Endgame , they are far from the only ones that have seen it.
Has Anyone Seen The Ending To Avengers: Endgame Yet? Here's

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Tony Stark and Pepper Potts are back together in Avengers: Infinity War, and according to Robert Downey Jr., this is how they are making it work.
Robert Downey Jr. Reveals How Tony Stark and Pepper Potts

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Gladiator 2 Will Feature A Time Jump - cinemablend.com

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Anyways without further ado here are all the new originals coming to netflix this October 2018. October 3, 2018 Operation Finale - Film October 5, 2018 Big Mouth - Season 2
14 Best New Kids Movies on Netflix in October 2018

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi (also known as Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi) is a 2017 American epic space-opera film written and directed by Rian Johnson. It is the second installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, following The Force Awakens (2015). It was produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

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Much like every other Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Captain Marvel makes some changes to the source material. One of changes was to name of Carol's beloved cat, Goose. In the comics, Goose is actually named Chewie, referencing Carol's love of Star Wars. So, why did the film opt to change that element of the character?
Captain Marvel's Cat Renamed for Film | CBR

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During the press conference for Ant-Man & The Wasp, which Screen Rant attended, the veteran actor opened up about channeling Pfeiffer's Janet van Dyne during one of the most bizarre moments in the movie. When asked specifically about the wild sequence, during which Rudd must portray Pfeiffer's Janet interacting with Hank and Hope, Rudd responded:
Paul Rudd is Ant-Man - His "Ant-Man and the Wasp" Interview
sarahscoop.com/paul-rudd-is-ant-man-his-ant-man-and-the-wasp-interview/
Paul Rudd is Ant-Man - His "Ant-Man and the Wasp" Interview This weekend I traveled to LA and got to see an advanced screening of Ant-Man and the Wasp! The next day, I got to sit down and interview my fellow KC native, Paul Rudd, and ask him all my must know post-viewing questions.
Ant-Man And The Wasp - Opening Scene - YouTube

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Veteran producer Charles Roven says the new film isn't really a direct sequel built on the events was just determined that this movie should be the next iteration of Wonder Woman but not
Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman 1984 Isn't a Sequel, Says Producer

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IT Chapter Two Will Include Controversial Scene Cut From The

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Why Ryan Coogler Was Terrified To Take On Black Panther

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IT: Chapter Two co-stars Jessica Chastain as the older Beverley Marsh and Bill Hader as Richie Tozier, with Skarsgard returning as the malevolent Pennywise. Filming completed in October last year and the movie is scheduled for release on 6th September 2019. Stay tuned for the breakdown of the first trailer as it arrives.

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Elizabeth Moss Cast In The Invisible Man Remake by steve wandling May 23, 2019, 12:00 pm Blumhouse and Universal announced that Emmy winner Elizabeth Moss ( The Handmaid's Tale, Us) is set to star in the remake of the 1933 horror classic The Invisible Man from writer-director Leigh Whannell ( Upgrade) .
Elizabeth Moss Is NOT The Invisible Man - Dark Horizons

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Charlie Hunnam has faced a lot of scrutiny over his decision to quit the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise, a part that eventually went to Jamie Dornan. Most of the talk has centered on how different the movies would have been with Hunnam at the helm, but the Triple Frontier star still has zero regrets about turning down what could have been one of his most lucrative roles to date.
Charlie Hunnam Still Doesn't Regret Quitting Fifty Shades Of

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Disney's New Streaming Service Is Finally Casting Its First Movie

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Best Funko Pop! on Amazon TechnoBuffalo 2019. From movies to TV to sports, there's Funko Pop! for virtually everything. As such, there are thousands and thousands of figures out there, each
Guillermo Del Toro's Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark: An

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Why Captain Marvel Got A New Look For Avengers: Endgame

Why Captain Marvel Got A New Look For Avengers: Endgame

Brie Larson's Captain Marvel doesn't have a massive part to play in Avengers: Endgame, but the small role is an important one that required a lot of work when it comes to post-production digital effects.

However, it turns out it wasn't simply Carol Danvers' powers that required a lot of effects, but her costume as well. While Brie Larson wore a physical superhero suit on the set of Avengers: Endgame, it was decided later the suit needed to be changed up, and so a completely digital costume was drawn over Captain Marvel in post-production. According to visual effects supervisor Matt Aitken...

She was filmed with her physical costume with a great costume from the costume department. But after her sequences were filmed, it was decided by the filmmakers that her costume needed to be more different from the costume that she was wearing in the 25 years ago, whatever the era of the Captain Marvel movie. So we ended up replacing her costume with a CG suit for all her shots.

Brie Larson actually filmed Avengers: Endgame prior to making the Captain Marvel movie. It seems that one side effect of this was that only one suit was produced for the character. At the time, this probably made sense, but eventually it was decided that it Carol Danvers was going to change other things about her appearance in the 25 years of time that pass between the two films chronologically, she'd probably change her costume at some point as well.

Since the scenes had already been filmed, it just meant changing the costume in post-production as Matt Aitken told Comicbook.com. CGI costumes are nothing new, Iron Man's entire suit is a digital effect after all.

Captain Marvel is one of the more interesting characters in the MCU right now simply by virtue of how new she is. Introduced in between the two recent Avengers film, and not having a massive role in the finale, we're still not sure quite where the character stands. The feeling is that Carol Danvers will be playing a major role in the future of the MCU, but we didn't really get that idea from Avengers: Endgame. She's clearly powerful, but that's about all we can say with certainty.

The fact that the character was introduced so recently, and then used so quickly, so much so that they clearly didn't consider how the chronology would impact the character's look, shows how Captain Marvel may still be something of an unknown quantity to Marvel Studios as well.

Or at the very least, she was at the time. While we don't know what the future holds for the MCU characters, Marvel certainly does. Bob Iger has said that we'll learn more about what Marvel has planned for the future this summer, and with both SDCC and D23 set to happen in the coming months, we can guess one or both of those events will be our massive unveiling.

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Keanu Reeves Really Tried Not To Imitate Buzz Lightyear For Toy Story 4 Role

Keanu Reeves Really Tried Not To Imitate Buzz Lightyear For Toy Story 4 Role

We probably said this in 2010 about Toy Story 3, but this time, Toy Story 4 might really mark Buzz Lightyear's last appearance on screen, so we’d hate to see anyone stealing the thunder of the iconic toy voiced by Tim Allen. When Keanu Reeves came on board to play a new character named Duke Caboom on the upcoming film, there was some discussion regarding the similarities of their Pixar personas.

In Toy Story 4, Keanu Reeves plays "Canada’s favorite stuntman," a mustachioed motorcyclist who loves to show off his poses. When Duke Caboom was first pitched, both Tim Allen and Reeves sensed the two characters had some similarities. However, the John Wick actor assured that he had no intention of imitating the space cadet the role. Here’s what he recently told EW:

I wanted to make sure I didn’t do anything that would go into Tim Allen’s space as Buzz Lightyear. That was one thing I was really paying attention to when I was thinking about the character and how he would talk. So I made Duke a little more gravelly but still tried to give him energy and a big personality… I just thought that Duke should love what he does. He’s the greatest stuntman in Canada! I wanted him to be constantly doing poses on the bike while he was talking, to have this great extroverted passion.

The new character actually has a pretty tragic backstory! He’s advertised as an Evil Knievel-esque stuntman but he cannot actually perform what the commercials say he can do. Because of this, Duke Caboom let his kid down and has a fear of failure. In Toy Story 4, it looks like he will have an important role to play as Woody and Bo team up to rescue Forky and get back to Bonnie.

A new trailer for the film heavily features the Keanu Reeves’ Duke Caboom. See it for yourself:

I guess we’ll have to check out the movie if we want to see how Duke’s important motorcycle stunt pans out! The final trailer ahead of the movie’s release next month also features some more footage of the other new characters ,including Forky, who is central to the movie’s plot. Key and Peele’s Ducky and Bunny also deliver some funny moments to look forward in the film as well.

When a franchise such as this one has had many entries, it’s easy for some plot points and characters to start running together a bit, but Buzz Lightyear and Duke Caboom don’t look to be stepping on each others’ toes as far as we can see. Keanu Reeves found it important to give Duke a gruffer voice and inject some sensitivity and heart to him amidst his enthusiasm for motorcycle stunts.

Funny enough, the actor is actually Canadian and rides motorcycles of his own, so perhaps Duke is a bit of a character of himself in some ways.

Pixar recently said Toy Story 4 will be its last sequel for a while, so fans can look forward to more new characters from the story! The movie is expected to make a grand entrance when it opens on June 21, as tracking has its first weekend at as much as $130 million.

Keanu Reeves has just seen success with his latest John Wick film, which dethroned Avengers: Endgame at the box office over the weekend after reigning for almost a month at number one. It has also just been announced that John Wick 4 is in the works.

Are you excited to see Keanu Reeves Toy Story 4 character? Let us know in the comments below!

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Is Shazam! OK For Kids?

Is Shazam! OK For Kids?

The following contains some minor SPOILERS for Shazam!

For a long time, comic books were viewed as a medium geared toward kids, but the movies based on them certainly have not been. While most aren’t as mature as Deadpool or Logan, you probably still don’t want to take really little ones to watch their favorite heroes turn to dust in Avengers: Infinity War. That was mentally scarring even for some of the grown-ups.

Part of the appeal of Shazam! as a character is that the hero is actually a young kid who gains superpowers. Even when Shazam looks like Zachary Levi, he's still mentally the same kid. You might think that this means the movie is more accessible for younger children than some of the other recent films of the genre, and while that’s largely true, there are a few elements that parents are going to want to be aware of before taking kids to see this one.

Shazam! is absolutely a movie that many kids can enjoy and it will probably work for a wider cross section of the younger audience than most superhero movies. However, the important distinction is that while Shazam! is largely going to be ok for kids, if you have the impression that Shazam! is for kids, we should clear that up right now.

As with every superhero movie, there is a lot of action that comes from the hero. Shazam and the villain Doctor Sivana fight each other in multiple bombastic, over-the-top sequences. While bodies go through walls and get hit by cars, the action is almost entirely bloodless, as is standard for PG-13 superhero movies. Shazam gets a bit of blood around his nose after being punched in the face by the supervillain, as a way to show the bad guy is actually capable of hurting the otherwise invulnerable hero.

However, while a lot of the action is what you're likely familiar with, the movie isn't without darker, and potentially scarier, elements. The film actually opens with a fairly visceral car wreck. One of the passengers is shown to be seriously injured and their ultimate fate isn't revealed until later in the movie.

In addition, Mark Strong’s villain Doctor Sivana works alongside physical manifestations of the Seven Deadly Sins. They are represented as a collection of monstrous creatures with demonic faces. Young children might be truly terrified by these monsters. The recent character Venom comes to mind as a comparison, probably because one of the monsters has an incredibly long tongue that's meant to creep you out, and many of the creatures have some disturbing teeth as well. This image isn't quite what you get from the Sins, but it's close. If the picture below is too disturbing for your child, then a few parts of Shazam! might be as well.

However, beyond what the creatures look like, what they do is equally disturbing, The Sins kill an entire conference room full of people at one point. One victim is thrown from a window dozens of stories in the air, and we watch the body go falling out of sight. We see several others get killed by the creatures from the other side of a translucent wall. Their bodes are thrown up against the wall and we hear them screaming. Again, there's no blood, but what's happening to them is being made perfectly clear.

I’m not sure if the way we see these characters die is inherently any more violent than characters in other superhero movies, but the juxtaposition feels far greater because so much of the rest of the film is silly fun. These potentially scary moments feel that much more violent because you didn't see them coming. I could certainly see some kids hiding their faces to avoid seeing some of this. Shazam! director David F. Sandberg compares the scares and the violence to the original Jurassic Park, and that's probably a fair comparison. If the viewer can handle watching a dinosaur eat somebody, as well as the tension of velociraptors stalking children, then they can handle Shazam!'s darker moments.

Beyond the violence, there are a few other elements parents should be aware of. Shazam! is a funny movie, and while most of the humor is perfect for kids, some of that humor, as is often the case with young teenagers, is sexual in nature. During the sequence when Billy Batson is first testing his grown-up body, he uses his new adult look to get by the doorman at a strip club. He comes out with chicken wings, but all his friend Freddy wants to know is what he saw inside. The same location makes a second appearance later in the film as well and several kids end up inside the club. The camera never goes inside the building either time, so we never see anything, but references to what can be seen are certainly made. Freddy takes his time exiting in the latter sequence. Somehow he ended up with some glitter on his face.

Another scene played for laughs sees our two main characters purchase beer at a convenient store, since Zachary Levi clearly looks older than 21. For what it’s worth, both characters take one sip of the beer, spit it out because they think it tastes awful and go back to buy soda, energy drinks and junk food.

Finally, we have the question of language. As a PG-13 movie, Shazam! is allowed to use profanity in a limited fashion and it certainly does. A few characters do use profanity but it is primarily, if not entirely, the adult characters (I don't recall hearing the teen or child characters using words they should not), who tend to use it to punctuate lines of dialogue at highly emotional moments. The movie never uses any F-bombs, although one minor character does break into a profanity laced diatribe near the end of the movie that clearly would include the F-word if you could hear it. Because the scene takes place as part of a television news broadcast inside the movie, everything gets bleeped.

Everybody's kids are different, and so how much any of these issues are actually problems will certainly not be the same across the board. Still, it's best to go in knowing what you're going to get.

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Detective Pikachu Had One Job To Do And It Nailed It

Detective Pikachu Had One Job To Do And It Nailed It

Going into Pokemon: Detective Pikachu this past weekend, there was a lot of anticipation as to how the first live-action entry in the Pokemon canon was going to pull off what seemed impossible. Indeed, there was one job that this film had to do, and it needed to get it done properly. That task was to create a world where people and Pokemon could live together in a way that was believable on film.

After seeing the film twice this past weekend, I was struck with the same feeling in each viewing of Pokemon: Detective Pikachu: the world of Pokemon was absolutely nailed in the film. What’s better is, this monumental achievement was accomplished thanks to several components the film incorporated into its whole.

While it was one job that needed to be done, to make the world of Pokemon believable on screen, several components needed to be in place in order for total success. And here’s our list of what those components were and how they benefitted the film’s overall goal of bringing these Pocket Monsters to life in a believable manner.

Pokemon Have Been Translated Perfectly To Live Action

With creatures as unique-looking as Pokemon are, there was obviously a need to get their appearance correct in Pokemon: Detective Pikachu. And if there was any component that this world would need to build the rest of its strategy upon, it’d be the fact that if you don’t have Pokemon that look comparatively believable in a world full of flesh and blood humans, your movie’s not going to make it very far.

Lucky for director Rob Letterman and the rest of the folks involved in Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, the actual creatures that populate this film's universe are absolutely stunning. In particular, the look of Detective Pikachu himself, with very wavy and texture fur covering every inch of his person, is a firm example of how getting the design of a Pokemon is so crucial to correctly conveying the entire enterprise this film represents.

Detective Pikachu Showed That A Parent/Child Friendly Tone Can Be Struck

Ryan Reynolds has basically admitted that if Warner Bros and The Pokemon Company really wanted to, they could release a separate, more mature cut of Pokemon: Detective Pikachu. While that isn’t a surprise, it’s also equally unsurprising that the finished product released into theaters this past weekend played exceedingly well for children and parents, with two levels of humor present in one package.

For the children, the physical antics involving all of the characters present throughout Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, as well as some good natured humor, are easy to enjoy while watching the Pokemon of this universe do their thing. Meanwhile, there was some subtle, line-toeing innuendos that slid into the script for parents to get some sly chuckles out of, such as Detective Pikachu’s off-handed comment about people putting their fingers in him. All in all, everyone could have a laugh, and no one had to be any wiser about the fun stuff that snuck in for older viewers.

The Movie Created A Fantastic Story Out Of An Open Ended Game Universe

When you’re trying to craft a universe as spectacular as Pokemon: Detective Pikachu in a live-action film, another key component is using the source material to your advantage. And as it turns out, Pokemon has a storied history of telling a narrative in the open-ended universe of the original games. But even with that history, this film’s story exceeded expectations.

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu not only plays around with the usual story of Pokemon and their place in a world of humans that's also been explored in animated TV shows and movies, it also dug into a story of a son dealing with his feelings towards his father. With Justice Smith’s Tim trying to sort out his feelings of his presumed dead father, while solving a case with his Pikachu partner, married a very emotional story with the usual message of co-existence between the species that Pokemon has always tried to advance.

It Proved That People Still Want To See A Pokemon Movie

You can make a movie look, sound and feel as fantastic as Pokemon: Detective Pikachu all you want, but if people aren’t interested in the content, any potential cinematic universe will fall flat on its face. Getting the world of Pokemon itself was a big step, but the greatest thing this movie did was prove the fact that people are still very much invested in the property’s fate.

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu managed to not only make itself a movie that was worth seeing, but it also attracted fans of the franchise and newbies to flock to theaters and see what it had. If anyone was wondering if what Pokemon would look like in a live-action adventure, all they have to do now is go see this film and they’ll find out. The ultimate sign that Warner Bros nailed Pokemon on the big screen is the fact that so many people have already gone to see it in its first weekend, with more weekends ahead to show just how well the idea holds up.

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu’s one important job was to convince the world that Pokemon could believably exist alongside humans, be it in the fictional confines of Ryme City or the world of our modern blockbuster box office. Through the factors described above, that job was absolutely nailed, and a promising new cinematic universe was born.

We’ll have to wait and see what the future for Pokemon looks like, as Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is still in its first week of release. But if the results are as promising as the film itself, we might not have seen the last of these lovable creatures, or the stories they can tell. Here’s hoping we get a chance to catch them all.

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is in theaters now. If you haven’t seen it yet, whether you’re a Pokemon fan or not, you owe it to yourself to experience the wonder first hand.

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Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3: What We Know So Far

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3: What We Know So Far

There is no questioning that the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is one of the greatest achievements of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Prior to the titular group’s big screen debut, general pop culture awareness of their existence was basically zero, and many questioned why Marvel Studios would take such a huge risk on an unknown property. Two blockbusters later, the brand has earned $1.6 billion at the global box office, and the characters have become some of the most popular in the entire comic book movie canon.

Because of this, fans have spent years both expecting and waiting for the third movie in the series, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and soon enough it will be making its way to a theater near you. But, what do we know about the project? When is it coming out? Who is making it? Who will appear? It’s for addressing all those questions and more that we have written this latest installment of our What We Know So Far series, so read on and find out everything you need to know about the upcoming space adventure.

What Is The Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Release Date?

In October 2014 – approximately seven months before the release of The Avengers: Age of Ultron – Marvel Studios held a special event in Los Angeles where they made a big show of announcing their Phase 3 slate, revealing all of the projects they were making for the next five years (or at least all the ones that were in the works at that time). Unfortunately, the company hasn’t been as forthcoming when it comes to information about their Phase 4 plans. Not wanting to count their chickens before they hatch / give everything away, Marvel has held off on officially announcing release dates for films coming out after July 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, and that includes Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

That doesn’t mean that there haven’t been clues – but it’s also worth noting that plans have very much changed during the blockbuster’s development. Originally it looked as though Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was going to be one of the three films slated for release in 2020, but for reasons we’ll get into in a minute those plans were put on hold after July 2018. Now, with James Gunn working on another project at another studio, it appears that the movie won’t be released until at least 2022, but even that isn’t 100% certain.

What Is The Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Rating?

In 2016, Tim Miller’s Deadpool changed the comic book movie world forever. While it had once been thought that superhero features couldn’t be successful without attracting teenage audiences, the Merc With The Mouth put that theory to rest by making a stunning $783.1 million worldwide with an epic number of swear words, a touch of nudity, and quite a bit of ultra-violence. We’ve seen a few more success stories since then as well, including both Deadpool 2, and Logan, but Marvel Studios has not yet made the plunge when it comes to R-rated blockbusters – and as a result we can definitely assume that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be certified with a PG-13.

As a writer / director, James Gunn does have a number of R-rated credits on his resume, including his first two features – Slither and Super – and there are a few adult references to be found in both Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. That being said, the idea that this series will change gears for its third installment is ridiculous. We won’t actually know what Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be rated until the movie is ready to come out, as the MPAA doesn’t do its grading until after a project has been assembled, but you can be certain that this is a blockbuster that will be made with a PG-13 rating in mind.

The Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Writer/Director

This one is a bit of a journey, so strap in.

To the surprise of very, very few, in the weeks leading up to the 2017 release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, James Gunn announced that he had made a deal with Marvel Studios to take the helm of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – confirming that the movie would “conclude the story of this iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy.” He wrote the script himself, and wheels were clearly in motion to make the blockbuster one of the earliest films released as a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase Four.

But then the troll attack happened. In the days surrounding San Diego Comic-Con 2018, James Gunn found himself at the center of some controversy due to some nearly decade-old Tweets that had been dug up by those who were, apparently, unhappy with his politics. The social media messages, which featured extremely distasteful jokes about horrendous subjects, put the family-friendly Walt Disney Company in an awkward situation, and they made the decision to remove Gunn as the director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in response.

Of course, that was only the start of the controversy. In the following days, weeks, and months, it wasn’t only fans who voiced thunderous support for James Gunn (with over 400,000 signing a petition for his reinstatement), but also many of his colleagues. The members of the Guardians of the Galaxy cast – including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Sean Gunn, Pom Klementieff and Michael Rooker – all signed an open letter requesting that Gunn be reinstated, and many fellow directors made their voices heard on the subject as well. When names like Edgar Wright, Taika Waititi, Chris Lord and Phil Miller were proposed as possible replacements at the helm of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the filmmakers let it be known that they stood behind Gunn and had no interest in taking the job.

For more than half a year it was unclear how exactly Marvel Studios would be able to move forward with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but the situation was resolved in mid-March 2019. Following the release of Captain Marvel, the news was made official that a new deal had been made with James Gunn that would see him reinstated as the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy capper. This coincided with a few plan changes for the project in terms of scheduling, as Gunn had spent his months being fired working out a deal with Warner Bros. to both write and direct the upcoming The Suicide Squad – which is currently on track for release in August 2021. This is why it’s unlikely we will see the filmmaker’s third epic space opera until 2022 at the earliest.

Now that he’s directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 again, James Gunn will actually become the first filmmaker in Marvel Studios history to complete a full trilogy for the franchise. At this stage it’s unclear exactly what he has planned story-wise for the film – which is no surprise given the secrecy surrounding these projects – but details should start to come out as we get closer to the movie entering production.

Star-Lord

The role of Peter Quill a.k.a. Star-Lord completely changed Chris Pratt’s career overnight. One minute he was the goofy, lovable idiot on Parks and Recreation, and the next he was one of the biggest movie stars in the world. He is now known in pop culture as one of the “Chrises” (along with Evans, Hemsworth, and Pine), and because of his popularity it’s basically impossible to imagine that he won’t be back for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. There is, however, one little hitch.

Those who saw Avengers: Infinity War know that as things currently stand in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star-Lord is dead. Along with half of the universe, the leader of the Guardians was turned to dust when Thanos managed to assemble the Infinity Gauntlet and snap his fingers. We suspect that the events that go down in the upcoming Avengers: Endgame will change this status, but right now we have no idea if that’s actually true, or really any clue how it might happen.

Gamora

Like Star-Lord, Gamora is another character who is technically dead in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at this time (prepare to see a lot more of this as we continue), but it’s worth noting that her situation is a bit different. Rather than being dusted in The Decimation, Gamora was killed by Thanos when he was trying to acquire the Soul Stone – with the Mad Titan forced to make a sacrifice of something he loved in order to acquire the precious ingot. Because of this, it’s unclear if Gamora will be brought to life should the surviving members of the Avengers and Guardians save everyone destroyed by the snap, or if her timeline has come to an end.

It would certainly be an earned death story-wise, though the permanence of it would be a serious bummer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, as the film would be missing one of the best characters from the first two movies. That being said, even if Gamora is gone for good it’s still possible that Zoe Saldana could make an appearance in the upcoming blockbuster, via dreams, flashbacks, or any other various narrative devices. She did, after all, form an incredibly close relationship with Star-Lord during the four years in which they knew each other, and it’s hard to imagine him just forgetting about her after the whole Thanos ordeal is over.

Drax The Destroyer

During the whole “James Gunn getting fired” saga, nobody stood up for the writer / director the way that Dave Bautista did. Clearly recognizing and fully acknowledging how Gunn very much changed his career by casting him as Drax, Bautista was extremely vocal about how incredibly pissed off the whole situation made him. Even though it could have potentially hurt his career, he wasn’t at all shy about his fury aimed towards Disney, and he even suggested that he would request a release from his contract with the studio if Gunn’s script for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 wasn’t used.

Now that James Gunn has been rehired, one can imagine him seriously rewarding Dave Bautista for his incredible loyalty – but exactly how that might play out is currently up the air. Why? Because like the previous two characters mentioned, Drax The Destroyer currently exists as flakes of dust floating around the atmosphere on Titan. Again, there is expectation that he will somehow be resurrected in Avengers: Endgame, and going by the comics he may even be the one to put Thanos down, but we have no evidence right now to suggest that will happen.

Rocket

Finally, a character who is currently alive! Rocket is one of only two Guardians of the Galaxy who survived The Decimation – left without any of his teammates on Earth in the aftermath of the Battle Of Wakanda. He did what he could to try and help the heroes stop Thanos from completing the Infinity Gauntlet, including assisting Thor in the creation of Stormbreaker, but the efforts weren’t enough at the end of the day, so in Avengers: Endgame we’ll watch as he teams with all of the survivors to try and save the universe.

James Gunn has said many times that Rocket is his favorite character among the Guardians, and the one he most relates to, so it’s pretty easy to imagine that he will have a meaty role to play in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. We can assume that he will once again be brought to life courtesy of performance capture work from Sean Gunn, and with the voice of Bradley Cooper, but beyond that we won’t have any firm expectations for the character until after we see Endgame.

Groot

Of all the characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, weirdly it’s Groot who has the hardest time staying alive. The original version of the living tree sacrificed himself so that the Guardians of the Galaxy could live through their first movie, and while Baby Groot managed to survive Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the slightly older version of himself – Adolescent Groot – was another character turned to dust in Avengers: Infinity War.

It’s hard to imagine Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 featuring a somber narrative following Rocket in a post-Groot universe, however, and we expect that somehow events will transpire that bring the character back to life. At the very least we hope this to be the case just because we want to see what the next stage of his evolution looks like.

Nebula

Nebula, played by Karen Gillan, has had a very different trajectory than most in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She started out as a rage-filled antagonist – an ally of Thanos and possessing a true hatred for her sister, Gamora – but her edges definitely softened through the events of both Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Avengers: Infinity War. And, based on what we know about Avengers: Endgame, it seems like she is going to evolve even more by the time we see her in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Along with Rocket, Nebula is the only surviving member of the Guardians of the Galaxy after The Decimation, though they were in two very different places when the snap went down. In the case of the blue cyborg, she was stranded on Titan along with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), and there is a presumption that they will have to work together closely in order to A) get back to Earth, and B) get revenge against Thanos. But will she survive the mission and have the opportunity to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3? As of right now that’s a very big question mark.

Mantis

Brought to the big screen by Pom Klementieff, Mantis became a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy when the team saved her from Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and her special extraterrestrial skills have been put to good use. She is not only a powerful empath, but also can put even the most powerful beings to sleep with her hands – though it takes a good amount of concentration and energy. This was useful for a good minute in the battle against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, but sadly right now she can be counted among the dead Guardians of the Galaxy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Given that she hasn’t exactly been around very long (less time than every other Guardians character), we definitely want to believe that Mantis will be back in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but right now we technically don’t have any actual evidence of that being true. We’ll just have to wait and see how things play out in Avengers: Endgame, and once we know the details of the fallout we’ll be able to judge the situation better.

Be sure to keep your eye on this guide, as we'll keep it fresh with new details on the development of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as they become available to us!

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