Poptic Nerve

during the 90s, Marvel has had a period of success courtesy of their animation division starting with Spider-Man and especially X-Men to which the latter involving Marvel's ensemble team of mutants was well received thanks in part to complex storylines that go against your standard convention in Saturday morning cartoons. X-Men became so popular that the series inspired the Capcom videogame. The show had a five-year run and now decades later, in the current trend of Revival films and legacy sequels there was a big announcement that the Series which ended on a bittersweet note, will make its return this March, with presumably the same voice actors reprising their roles, and animation that slightly resembles the original aesthetics just for you nostalgia purists out there. I'm curious to see what transpires after it's series 25 plus year hiatus other than what was shown like Magneto being the heir to Xavier's school which inevitably leads to an challenge of leadership bet

"Walloping web snappers!"  Who would've thunk it that Sony’s latest Spider-Man spinoff underperformed at the box office, not to mention very poor critical reception? The SPUMC film tallied a paltry $26.2 million during the Week of Valentine's Day followed by $25.7 million from 61 International markets. I'm shocked, completely shocked I say! Ok, sarcasm aside, as predicted from a previous video, Madame Web "will be da bomb, yo!" It bombed so bad that Sony ditched their plans for future installments based on the Marvel Comics median character. Actress Dakota Johnson has been seen on camera mocking the female led suspense Superhero thriller during press junkets and interviews.  She claimed that there were " drastic changes"  as in possibly script revisions and additional camera set-ups, with the  project that was very different from what was presented in the theaters. While some are quick to blame Web's dismal reception on Superhero fatigue is

"And I was thinkin' How the world should have cried On the day Jack Kirby died" -Lyrics from the song, "Melt" courtesy of Monster Magnet I can recall that day early February, 30 years ago when a friend I grew up with, told me that Jack "King" Kirby the architect of the Marvel Universe, had made the transition at the age of 76 and it’s kinda ironic how his age during the time of death matched the later year of the bicentennial (1776) where his greatest co creation Captain America was often affiliated with America's celebratory event. Jack was one of the most, if not the most visionary comic artists, who would conjure up these bizarre yet ultra-modern concepts that complemented his amazing pencil work. There was hardly a dull uninspired panel when gazing up his exposition of storytelling while most would say how his aesthetics would leap from the pages, it's the ingenious methods and innovative worldbuilding that made me a fan of Kirby even since

1974 was a year which further defined the age of the Antihero in pop culture, where a fictional protagonist takes extreme measures outside of the idealistic convention to reach his or her objective. After the unfortunate and unforeseen passing of martial arts legend Bruce Lee in 1973, there was really no one who could take his place.  However, the following year, entered the "Tiger"! His name was Sadaho Maeda internationally referred to as "Sonny Chiba!" Chiba's career started from two tokusatsu superhero shows shot in Japan. And while many are quick to familiarize his work as retired swordsman Hanzo from Kill Bill, it was 1974's The Street Fighter that made the Martial Artist and actor a household name outside of Japan during the Kung Fu craze, which Bruce Lee helped to gain pop culture status around the World. In the first of the three-part martial arts Crime Drama, Chiba plays Takuma Tsurugi, written in the U.S. as Terry Sugury who is an immoral martial a

2002's Spider-Man along with Blade and X-Men helped paved the way to what would eventually be the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  However, two decades later, it seems that Sony Pictures, Avi Arad, and Amy Pascal is desperately clinging on Marvel's flagship Superhero to the extent of establishing their own self-contained Spider-Man Cinematic Universe known as Sony Pictures’ Universe of Marvel Characters. SPUMC for short. After a string of Spider-Man films including a well-received debut into the MCU via Captain America: Civil War, along with two animated projects and two Venom films, the Studio has no signs of slowing down as both Kraven the Hunter and Madame Web are slated for release in 2024. So, is too much of a good thing, bad? Why is Arad beating a dead horse by developing other character-based films from the Spider-Man comics? Especially those that underperformed. Has anyone seen "Morbius?" Madame Web's box office reception is already projected to fall under The

So this morning my father tells me Rocky died. I was like :”Shit.” I went looking for info about Stallone and then I found out it was Carl Weathers who died. Now that really sunk my heart. That was way worse than Stallone dying. Sometimes in life you see people perform in movies who touch your heart. They touch your heart because they do a great job, or they touch your heart because the are class acts. Or both.Carl Weathers is such a person. The first time I saw Carl Weathers it was in Rocky. I can easily say that without Carl Weathers Stallone would not have had a career. Everybody saw Rocky fighting the odds against the unbeatable world champ Apollo Creed. Carl Weather oozed champion in Rocky. As a kid, for me it was so badass to see Apollo Creed train Rocky in Rocky III. Apollo was the man to train Rocky against ferocious fighter Clubber Lang.As a kid I had a lump in my throat when the evil Ivan Drago killed Apollo in the ring. Those were very powerful scenes. Scenes I didn’t encoun

This is fucking surreal; I was somewhat shocked when I learned via social media that prolific actor and action hero Carl Weathers has made the transition.And the timing just couldn't be any worse as it happened during the start of Black History Month. talk about 'irony!" According to Deadline, Weathers died on Thursday Feb 1st at the age of 76. "We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Carl Weathers,” his family said in a statement. “He died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, February 1st, 2024. … Carl was an exceptional human being who lived an extraordinary life. Through his contributions to film, television, the arts and sports, he has left an indelible mark and is recognized worldwide and across generations. He was a beloved brother, father, grandfather, partner and friend.” Weathers signed with the Oakland Raiders and played eight NFL games for Coach John Madden in 1970-71 but decided to take his career in a different turn by going into acting with hum