Catwoman Meme
Category: Unscripted
Ranking Thunderbolts* Characters Before Watching the Movie
Thunderbolts* was released the other day. Geekly hasn’t yet watched the movie, to the best of my knowledge. There is a chance that while you’re reading this, we’re watching Thunderbolts*, but that got me thinking, which Thunderbolts* characters interest me the most before watching the movie?
Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. We’re trying something a little different with this post. It’s a pre-viewing post of Thunderbolts* where we’ll cite which characters on the Thunderbolts roster interest us the most. This list will be subjected. I fully expect people to leg-wrestle me to move a character up or down a spot. Without further ado, here’s our ranking of which Thunderbolts* characters are the most interesting before watching the movie.
Unranked: Bob/Sentry
I know Sentry from the comics. He can be the most interesting character on this list. If I were to rate him ahead of Thunderbolts*, I would’ve struggled with putting him at 1 or 2. Yes. Sentry can be the most interesting character in this lot. He’s also making his MCU debut.
The MCU’s version of Sentry may not be as intriguing as what occurred in the comics. I’m playing it safe and leaving him unranked, but make no mistake, if Sentry were included in this list, he’d be high. I don’t want to spoil any potential plot points (I haven’t seen the movie, so I don’t know particulars about the MCU Sentry), but Sentry can be a lot of fun.
6: Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian
I liked David Harbour’s portrayal of Red Guardian in Black Widow. I also don’t think there’s much left for the character to explore. I hope I’m wrong.
Red Guardian serves as comic relief and little else. Going back to Sentry, there’s little chance that the Thunderbolts encounter Sentry, and everyone survives. There’s a good chance Red Guardian becomes a martyr. I could see the loss of Red Guardian deepening Yelena Belova’s storyline (the loss of a mentor/father figure). I could also see the death of one or more Thunderbolts reminding viewers that no one’s safe.
5: Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster
I considered not ranking Taskmaster either. The character’s a blank slate. No longer brainwashed by her father (in Black Widow), Antonia Dreykov’s character could go in any direction. Heck. She suffered an accident (bombing) and became brainwashed by her father at a young age. Her character could go in multiple directions at once, while she tries to find herself.
This fact also made me want to raise her ranking. I want to see who she is in a different setting. She has plenty of trauma for Thunderbolts* to mine.
4: Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier
Stop me if this sounds familiar. I like Sebastian Stan as the Winter Soldier, but I don’t think there’s much left for his character to explore. I hope I’m wrong.
Okay. There may be more for the MCU to explore with Bucky than there is with Red Guardian. Bucky is an iconic character and there are plenty of Bucky stories to tell that don’t include Steve Rogers and some of those stories include the Thunderbolts. But if you know much about the Thunderbolts, you know that they don’t keep leaders for long, and the Winter Soldier is the team’s de facto leader. I can see the team getting a change in leadership at the end of the movie. A change in leadership may be necessary.
3: Yelena Belova/Black Widow
Florence Pugh is too electric as Yelena for her not to show up multiple times in the MCU. I also liked Pugh’s voice-over as Yelena during the second trailer. She shares that there’s something wrong with her, an emptiness. She’s just drifting. She doesn’t have a purpose, so she throws herself into her work. This shows how human Yelena is as a character.
There are a couple of other characters who narrowly edge out Yelena Belova. Seriously, you could rearrange these top three, and I’d be okay with it. I can’t wait to watch Yelena in Thunderbolts*.
2: John Walker/U. S. Agent
Wyatt Russell’s John Walker lives a disgraced life as the man who tarnished Captain America’s name. That has some depth. Throw in the fact that someone else (Sam Wilson) wears Captain America’s uniform, and Walker must be a bundle of emotions.
I could see Walker finding his redemption story. Does that mean that he has a story beyond this one? Perhaps. Does that mean that he could sacrifice himself for the good of the team? Maybe. There’s a high probability that Walker doesn’t survive the events of Thunderbolts* either. I’m not kidding. One or more members of the Thunderbolts could die before the credits roll. Sentry is no joke.
I can’t imagine a group of assassins and super soldiers will fare well against Marvel’s version of a psychologically unstable Superman. Oops. Spoilers. Sentry has a power set like Superman’s.
1: Ava Starr/Ghost
Ghost was the best thing out of Ant-Man and the Wasp. She deserved another vehicle, and I’m glad that Thunderbolts* is giving her that vehicle. Starr gained the ability to render herself intangible and generate extreme amounts of power following a quantum accident that killed her parents. The United States government took advantage of her powers and turned her into an assassin in return for a cure for her condition. They lied.
After Janet van Dyne heals Starr, she’s free to forge her own path. Unfortunately, it looks as if old habits die hard. Ghost only knows how to be an assassin. I can’t wait to see her fight against her training.
Did we get the list right? Let us know who you would rank where. Thank you for reading and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Moving Geekly Casting to Next Week
Sorry about the late notice. Some of the Geekly Gang had scheduling difficulties, so our inaugural Geekly Casting post on the MCU’s X-Men is rescheduled for next Friday.
Kyra Kyle will continue their review of Daredevil: Born Again later today. See you later.
Genshin Impact Lisa Mains
Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) 2025 Preview
Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. We covered the DCU earlier this month because we didn’t know when Harley Quinn Season 5 would be released. Who knows? Perhaps I finally broke down and purchased Max and I’m binge-watching DC Comics movies and television shows right now. But we know that the MCU’s 2025 will kick off in a couple of days. We’re getting our preview of the upcoming year’s MCU movies and television shows in the nick of time.
Marvel didn’t release too many projects in 2024, but the ones it did release were well received. Echo, the X-Men ’97 cartoon series, Deadpool and Wolverine, Agatha All Along, and What If? Season 3 were at least fun. You can let us know which one of these 2024 MCU projects was your favorite. 2024 was a good year for Marvel, a recovery year of sorts. 2025 has a much larger slate of projects. Almost double last year’s projects. Looks like I’ll be busy. Real busy.
This will be a big year for Marvel and not only because the MCU has nine projects that will be released in 2025. The fate of the MCU’s future rests in the hands of two specific projects: Daredevil: Born Again and Fantastic Four. Like Superman: Legacy for the DCU, these two projects must succeed. We’ll get to both projects soon enough, but let’s discuss each project in release date order.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (On Disney+ Starting January 29, 2025)
I’ll be honest. I don’t care for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’s animation, but I’m glad the showrunners are going in a different artistic direction. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man doesn’t copy the Spider-Verse’s homework. It also doesn’t mimic the art style of the 1990s Spider-Man cartoon, even though X-Men ’97 was a triumph; that would’ve been an easy path to take. Nope. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man forges its own path, and that deserves respect.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man will focus on Spidey’s origin story and early days as a crimefighter. I’m not a huge fan of retelling Spider-Man’s origin story—most people know Spidey’s origin by this point—but this should only take up an episode. I’m more forgiving of this with a series. Charlie Cox voicing Daredevil is my big highlight in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. We don’t know if the new Marvel Animated Multiverse will tie into the greater MCU, but anything to link these two properties together is fantastic. Cox’s appearance as Daredevil could also raise interest in the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again.
Captain America: Brave New World (In Theaters February 14, 2025)
Some may say that Captain America: Brave New World is the third Marvel project that must succeed this year. I can see their perspective; Captain America films grounded the first few phases of the MCU. Respectfully, I disagree.
The MCU is pivoting to other characters—too many characters, in my opinion—and the new Captain America is one of several potential “anchor characters,” if you will. There are plenty of other Marvel projects this year. Captain America: Brave New World is the first of three films and the second of nine—that’s NINE—Marvel projects for 2025.
Plenty of issues have plagued Captain America: Brave New World. Test audiences have seen the film and disliked it. Reportedly, these audiences believed Brave New World was too boring. That’s not good. After the test screenings, reshoot after reshoot occurred. That doesn’t mean that the final movie will stink. Not all reshot movies end up like the original Suicide Squad. I’m still trying to block out that one.
Captain America movies don’t have the same cache they did with the first three Marvel phases. The big threat of the Multiverse Saga may be Doctor Doom, and he’s a Fantastic Four villain. And this Captain America film isn’t a huge crossover film—that we know of yet—or a glorified Avengers film like Civil War. I’ll let them cook with the new Cap.
General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross as President of the United States is an interesting choice. Thunderbolt Ross would fit better with the upcoming Thunderbolts* movie. Ross is a member of the Thunderbolts in the comics. Harrison Ford’s Ross may make an appearance in that film, too. Tim Blake Nelson reprises his role as The Leader over a decade and a half after The Incredible Hulk (2008). Liv Tyler returns as Bruce Banner’s love interest Betty Ross after the same hiatus. It might be best Hulk doesn’t show up in the one; he may have some explaining to do after his romance with Natasha Romanov. Is that canon?
The Leader and Ross are usually Hulk villains, so there’s another connection with Hulk. Throw in Giancarlo Esposito as Sidewinder (the leader of the Serpent Society) and Shira Haas as a former Black Widow and high-ranking US government official Ruth Bat-Seraph (who is also the mutant Sabra in the comics), and there are plenty of directions Captain America: Brave New World could go. And that’s where the movie may have lost test audiences; there may be too much going on at once. But I trust the team trimmed down the final project to a point where Captain America: Brave New World will be good. It could even be a sleeper hit. Let ‘em cook.
Daredevil: Born Again (On Disney+ Starting March 4, 2025)
In my opinion, Daredevil: Born Again must succeed. The Netflix Daredevil series has a built-in audience. Several fans claim it to be the best Marvel television show, and Daredevil: Born Again brings back most of the original cast. They brought in the showrunner Dario Scardapane from the original Daredevil spin-off series The Punisher to head the Born Again project. And the series title “Born Again” references a classic Daredevil comic book story arc of the 1980s that the third season of the Daredevil Netflix MCU television series loosely adapted. Daredevil: Born Again is also the first Disney+ Marvel television show that uses their new method of producing shows (a leaner and more focused production plan). Yeah. Daredevil: Born Again has a lot to live up to and sets the tone for future Marvel shows. It must be good.
But many of those elements I mentioned above are also reasons why Daredevil: Born Again has an advantage. Returning more than 75% of the original Daredevil cast is a boon. Bringing in a showrunner with Marvel Netflix experience is another feather in Daredevil: Born Again’s cap. And I’ve heard that we’ll see more of the courtroom in this series. That makes sense as Matt Murdock (Daredevil) and Wilson Fisk (Kingpin) barrel toward an inevitable showdown both legally and on the street. I can’t wait.
Thunderbolts* (In Theaters May 2, 2025)
Thunderbolts* doesn’t have the same colorful cast as the comic book team of the same name. Even Winter Soldier’s variant of the team had its Moonstone and MACH-X and Kobik, who is a Cosmic Cube (the MCU renamed the Cosmic Cube to the Tesseract) shard in human form. What? The asterisk may make sense. This may not be the first iteration of the Thunderbolts. There have been numerous variants in the comics. Interestingly, Bucky’s Thunderbolts take place between Thunderbolt Ross’s and Mayor Wilson (Kingpin) Fisk’s iterations. Given the previous two projects on this list, is that a coincidence?
Wild speculation aside, the Thunderbolts in Thunderbolts* are a combination of super soldiers and assassins. These characters are mostly cast-offs.
Here’s a quick breakdown of each of them:
Yelena Belova (from Black Widow and Natasha’s sister and a Black Widow herself) needed another vehicle; Florence Pugh is too electric as the character.
David Harbour’s Red Guardian (Black Widow) is funny.
Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster (Black Widow) will no longer be under her father Dreykov’s control, so she’s a blank slate. I wonder what the writers/director will do with her.
Sebastian Stan is good as Bucky/Winter Soldier.
Wyatt Russell’s John Walker/U.S. Agent (from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) lives a disgraced life as the man who tarnished Captain America’s name; that has some depth.
And Hannah John-Kamen’s Ghost was the best thing from Ant-Man and the Wasp; I’m glad she’s getting more to do in Thunderbolts*.
Phew! That’s a large cast. And it still ends up as a list of B-list heroes.
Still, Thunderbolts* could deliver more than just a superhero movie. Pugh’s Yelena (through a voice-over) in the second trailer shares that there’s something wrong with her, an emptiness. She’s just drifting. She doesn’t have purpose, so she throws herself into her work. This may be the most human and relatable a superhero has sounded in years.
And then I saw that the director was Jake Schreier and one of the writers was Lee Sung Jin; both worked on the Netflix series Beef, and that makes sense. Thunderbolts* may have the least pressure of any of the three Marvel movies. It can also be a surprise hit.
The premise: The Thunderbolts run into Bob at a secret facility. Turns out this “Bob” is Sentry. I won’t spoil it here, but Sentry can be a lot of fun, especially with the prospect of him entering the MCU. And he should be more than what a team of super soldiers and assassins can handle. Me thinks someone will die.
Ironheart (On Disney+ Starting June 4, 2025)
Dominique Thorne reprises her role as Riri Williams/Ironheart from the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Ironheart has been on the schedule and then off the schedule and for a time, folks thought the idea had been scrapped. Nope. Marvel returned to Ironheart after the writers’ strike. From what I’ve heard, the series got reworked.
I don’t know much about Ironheart as I was writing this post. Many of the actors assigned to the project have undisclosed roles and given the premise, I can see why. Following the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Williams returns home to Chicago where she becomes entangled with the enigmatic Parker Robbins/The Hood, discovering secrets that pit technology against magic. The Hood, which is short for neighborhood (he doesn’t wear a hood, but I think he should), has often been linked to one of two mystical beings: Loki and Dormammu. He also controls a massive Crime Syndicate. Confirmed actors with unconfirmed roles (like Shakira Berrera, Paul Calderon, Cree Summer, and Sacha Baron Cohen to name a few) could play any number of colorful characters. I’d love to see Cohen portray Armadillo. Armadillo is a guy dressed in a massive Armadillo costume. Think of the LOLs.
The special effects for Ironheart intrigue me, too. For those of you who think the MCU’s painted-on CGI armor was getting stale, Ironheart’s armor may be what the doctor ordered. Riri doesn’t have the resources Tony Stark has. Most of her armor looks more lived-in and low-tech. Ironheart’s use of more practical effects, its premise, and its varied cast pique my interest.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (In Theaters July 25, 2025)
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is another big one. This film must succeed. You don’t have to take my word for it. Look at what Marvel has done with this movie. Most—if not all—of the main cast have won Academy Awards or Emmys or Golden Globes or have been nominated for one. The main antagonist for the upcoming Avengers movie, Doctor Doom, is the archenemy of the Fantastic Four; there should be a Robert Downey Jr. post-credit scene as Doom, so that’s another Academy Award-nominated actor in the cast. Marvel brought in Matt Shakman, the showrunner of WandaVision, one of the MCU’s better projects of the last phase, to direct. And The Fantastic Four: First Steps marks the first film and the beginning of the MCU’s Phase Six. Marvel knows a lot is riding on this movie.
All that said, I don’t know too much about the film at the time of writing this post. Marvel’s playing this one close to the vest, and I don’t blame them. What I do know is that The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be a 1960s-inspired retro-futuristic Earth, and the Fantastic Four will go up against Galactus and the Silver Surfer. I also sense a little montage as we may get vignettes of the Fantastic Four’s previous exploits. This will be a Fantastic Four that has had many adventures. I prefer that to the Fantastic Four’s origin story. Again.
I don’t know what more there is to say except I hope this Fantastic Four movie lives up to the name. We haven’t had a “fantastic” Fantastic Four movie. When the idea of Marvel making a Fantastic Four movie was still theoretical, folks kept saying to wait until Marvel made its own Fantastic Four movie. Well. That time is now.
Eyes of Wakanda (On Disney+ Starting August 6, 2025)
Eyes of Wakanda is another Marvel project that I didn’t know too much about at the time of writing this post. Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler will direct this animated television miniseries. That’s a great start. Many cast members from the Black Panther film franchise will reprise their roles as voice actors. This show sounds phenomenal.
Initially, the series was supposed to have eight episodes, but it got pared down to four. This could be another sign of the MCU tightening its releases. And Eyes of Wakanda will explore the various people who have donned the Black Panther mantle. There’s even an Iron Fist sighting. Hopefully, we’ll get a better interpretation of the character.
I’ve seen Eyes of Wakanda’s sizzle reel several times. It looks fabulous. I imagine we won’t get much more than this reel for some months. There’s a chance Marvel intends to see how well-received Eyes of Wakanda will be. That’s part of why I watched the sizzle reel several times. If you like what Eyes of Wakanda offers, watch it several times. Perhaps we’ll get the other four episodes.
Marvel Zombies (On Disney+ Starting October 3, 2025)
Marvel Zombies functions as a sequel to the What If? animated series of sorts. I didn’t know there was enough story for Marvel Zombies to have its own series, so I always thought a couple of episodes of What If? made sense for that story. Marvel Zombies will release in October 2025, just in time for Spooky Season.
Disney/Marvel has been good about releasing a horror-adjacent project in October most years. Werewolf by Night was released in October 2022 and Agatha All Along hit Disney+ in October 2024. I’ll probably give Marvel Zombies a watch.
Wonder Man (On Disney+ Starting December 2025)
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II portrays Simon Williams in Wonder Man. Like so much of Marvel’s later slate of 2025 releases, I don’t know much about Wonder Man. Williams auditions for the lead role in a superhero television series—most likely named Wonder Man—but I don’t know if Simon Williams already has powers or if he’s faking that he has superpowers. Either way, Wonder Man should be hilarious.
Andrew Guest show runs Wonder Man, and he’s written some of the greatest Community episodes (“Advanced Dungeons & Dragons” and “A Fistful of Paintballs,” to name a couple). Wonder Man is in great hands. And the character Simon Williams has done a lot of things in the Marvel Universe. He’s even been an actor for more than one stint in the comics, so this premise works for the character. Wonder Man is also Vision’s brain brother. Wasn’t VisionQuest releasing soon, too? There might be a reason Marvel wants to introduce Simon Williams.
Wonder Man’s supporting cast includes Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery, the man who pretended he was the Mandarin in Iron Man 3. Slattery will serve as Williams’ acting coach. That should be good. Demetrius Grosse will portray Simon’s brother Eric, who becomes Grim Reaper, Wonder Man’s archnemesis and persistent thorn in the side of the Avengers. So, there may be more going on in Wonder Man than a goofy comedy. But I wouldn’t mind a goofy comedy.
That’s all I have for now. Let us know which Marvel Cinematic Universe has you the most excited this year. See you soon. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Geekly Update: Honkai Star Rail New Region Amphorius
Honkai Star Rail Version 3.0 was released on January 14, 2025. Geekly has had some time to play the new patch, and we have some initial impressions.
Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. I finished the first chapter of the new planet Amphorius. Yes. Honkai Star Rail (HSR) introduced a brand new planet. Any HSR patch that includes a new planet is a massive one, but HSR Version 3.0 tops most other HSR patches because it introduces a brand new path, Remembrance.
For those who may not know, Honkai Star Rail paths dictate which playstyle a character will have. Abundance heals. Preservation shields characters. Harmony buffs. Speaking of Harmony, one of the latest new characters, Sunday, suggested that a certain playstyle would see more play: summons. As a Harmony character, Sunday buffs, which becomes a stronger buff if the character he’s buffing has a summon.
Since Sunday had an interesting game mechanism that we had yet to see, I expected any new path or characters to feature summoning. I anticipated Propagation. Instead, HSR added Remembrance. Turns out, Remembrance focuses on summoned creatures.
The following is conjecture. Judging from Remembrance Trailblazer (they receive a new path and element this patch) and the upcoming Aglaea, Remembrance will focus on summons that support, while Propagation (which will most likely be released at some point) may focus on summons that deal damage. Enough conjecture. Let’s return to the first impression. What I’ve seen of Remembrance is fun and provides more design space. Honkai Star Rail developers added a new path before the game’s formula grew stale. Remembrance does give hope for the future.
Everything I’ve said is positive or explains the state of Honkai Star Rail. If you haven’t noticed, I’m stalling. I wanted to like Amphorius and the new patch, but unfortunately, Version 3.0 is the worst.
The latest Honkai Star Rail patch features wooden characters, a derivative storyline that an Edge Lord thinks is unique, voice acting for equally Edge Lord characters, and HSR’s answer to Paimon. No. That insults Paimon. Mem is worse than Paimon. I didn’t think it was possible, but Hoyoverse has unleashed a character far worse than a character so annoying it’s become a meme. Any one of these reasons could be why I say Version 3.0 is the worst Honkai Star Rail patch, but the patch suffers the most from level design.
Bear with me. This will be relevant. I conducted an experiment. Each HSR planet has a unique currency that players can turn in at a shop (or some other venue) for upgrades. I fast traveled to the closest space anchor (fast travel location) and ran to each shop to see how long it would take me to reach the upgrade shop. Every other planet (including the Herta Space Station) took an average of 2 seconds to go from the space anchor to the shop. It took me almost 19 seconds to go from the closest space anchor to Amphorius’s upgrade shop. Amphorius increased the time to do a simple task ten-fold.
You may think that 19 seconds to visit an upgrade shop isn’t bad, but Amphorius does this with almost every task. Everything in Amphorius takes 8-10 times longer to complete. It turns HSR into a walking simulator. A five minute action on any other Honkai Star Rail location would take you between thirty minutes to an hour on Amphorius. Yes. You can smash some flying pigs and double your speed, but even after the speed boost, you’re speed is still (effectively) nerfed, and that’s if you remember to smash a flying pig or one’s available. Ugh!
Some of you may say that Amphorius’s scale is larger-than-life. This increase in size makes sense for the space. Sure. I didn’t lead with this, but I like Amphorius’s art design. When I say design, I mean level design as a game designer. Make no mistake, this shift in Honkai Star Rail’s game design philosophy marks a naked attempt to keep gamers logged into HSR longer. The design team could’ve done anything to denote the size of Amphorius. Keep the vaulted ceilings. Design options like this makes a space seem bigger.
Heck. You could keep the stages the same size. But if you insist on increasing the stages by ten, include ten times more chests. Each stage has the same number of chests, which makes Amphorius seem empty. There’s a whole lot of nothing.
Okay. Rant over. I want to enjoy Amphorius. Despite the poor level design choices, I have hope that Honkai Star Rail Version 3.1 will be better, and I’m excited to see what the developers will do with the new path Remembrance.
That’s all I have for now. Thank you for reading. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a nice day.
Richest Comic Book Characters
Happy Tuesday! We compiled the following images and statistics to showcase the net worth of comic book characters. We threw in some real world people for reference.
The following statistics for comic book character wealth comes from Wealthy Gorilla, while the wealth of real world people comes from Forbes. These statistics were retrieved on January 13, 2025; they are subject to change.
We’ll begin with the characters/people with a net worth of $2 Billion and work our way up to the richest person or character. Can you guess who tops this list?
We may be one or two stacks short for T’Challa. Nothing beats Vibranium and other-worldly tech.
Wherever you are, we hope you’re having a great day.
DC Universe (DCU) 2025 Preview
Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. Geekly hasn’t covered any movies or television series recently and it’s the new year, so let’s talk about the properties being released by DC Comics Studios in 2025. Full disclosure: I haven’t purchased a Max account yet; I’m woefully behind on most DC Comics-related television series. But I plan on signing up for Max soon, and there’s plenty of a back catalog to watch. Yay!
Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be as much for the DCU on Max in 2025 as in 2024. Our first property on this list was supposed to be released in late 2024 but was pushed back to January 2025. Let’s see what I’ll be binging as soon as I sign up for Max.
Harley Quinn (Season 5) (On Max Starting January, 16 2025)
Harley Quinn has lasted five seasons? My goodness!
Harley Quinn looks like a show I’d enjoy. It follows Harley’s exploits after she breaks up with The Joker. She discovers who she is without Mr. J and meets a lot of Arkham’s colorful characters along the way. The cast elevates this premise even more. Kaley Cuoco (of The Big Bang Theory) portrays Harley, while long-time voice actor Lake Bell takes on the role of Poison Ivy. Throw in Alan Tudyk as the Joker, Ron (Bunches of) Funches as King Shark, Tony Hale as Doctor Psycho, and Jason Alexander as Sy Borgman, and you’ve got yourself a party.
As I said, Harley Quinn’s Season 5 was supposed to be released in December 2024. The DCU must’ve thought that would make Max’s end-of-year schedule too tight. Creature Commandos began airing on December 5, 2024. I’ll have to add Creature Commandos to my laundry list of shows to binge.
Unlike the MCU, which shows its roadmap of titles for the following five or six years (mild exaggeration), the DCU keeps its schedule a mystery. Max didn’t even announce that Harley Quinn Season 5 was pushed back. It just vanished from Max’s December lineup with no warning. Mid-way through December 2024, it popped back up with a January, 16 2025 release. This will be a recurring issue with the DCU.
Superman: Legacy (In Theaters July 11, 2025)
As of December 14, 2024, Superman: Legacy was the only 2025 DCU release with an official release date of July 11, 2025. I’ve got a second one that I know the exact release date for. XD
The new DC Universe rides on the success of its first entry, Superman: Legacy. No pressure.
Fortunately, Superman: Legacy has a lot going for it. I trust James Gunn as a writer and director of comic book movies. Gunn used All-Star Superman as inspiration for the film. That’s another vote of confidence. (Note: Jim Plath made a Superman Starter Stories post several years ago, and All-Star Superman made his list; see what other stories made his list.) DC Studios cast a relative no-name to portray Superman/Clark Kent; I’m glad they resisted the urge to cast a big name. And the rest of the cast holds plenty of accomplished actors. My favorite may have to be Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner. This ought to be fun.
Superman: Legacy also precedes any other major DCU release. Man of Steel followed in the footsteps of The Dark Knight (not even the first movie of the Dark Knight Trilogy) and felt as if it had to mimic the Nolanverse’s vibe. The rest of the DCEU kept that same energy for too long. I know that The Dark Knight didn’t officially take part in the DCEU, but the DCEU maintained the Nolanverse grit, whether the characters warranted it or not. Superman: Legacy is a much better choice to anchor the DCU.
I’m excited for Superman: Legacy. I hope it goes well and that the DCU can become more than an afterthought to the MCU. DC Comics has way too many great characters to be overshadowed for long. But I’m also nervous about Superman: Legacy. It needs to be a hit.
Peacemaker (Season 2) (On Max Starting August 2025)
Peacemaker Season was a huge success. Like many other titles on this list, I have yet to watch it. More binging! John Cena returns as the titular Peacemaker. Season one’s premise sounds interesting. Peacemaker joins a black ops squad, “Project Butterfly,” as it identifies and eliminates parasitic butterfly-like creatures who have taken over human bodies around the world.
Peacemaker served as a “soft reboot” for the 2021 DCEU movie Suicide Squad. Showrunner James Gunn postponed the second season because of his involvement in the Superman movie. This time, we have a month for Peacemaker Season 2’s release, and we know that Peacemaker’s second season can’t be released until after Superman in July 2025 because the events in Peacemaker Season 2 directly follow Superman. Think of this season as the bridge between the old DCEU and the new DCU. Fingers are crossed for a great DCU one-two punch.
Sandman (Season 2) (On Netflix Sometime in 2025)
We have no idea when Sandman Season 2 will be released, but it will most likely be released sometime in 2025. And there may be a good reason for this delay: Sandman writer Neil Gaiman’s allegations of sexual assault. Gaiman denies any wrongdoing. He’s innocent until he is proven guilty. I don’t want to get into detail about his legal issues here.
I don’t know exactly why Netflix has delayed Sandman Season 2’s release or given it a month for its release, but I wager it’s because Netflix wants to wait and see how Gaiman’s legal battle goes. Netflix canceled Dead Boy Detectives, another show based on a Gaiman-penned DC comic book, shortly after the allegations in July 2024, but that was because Dead Boy Detectives didn’t get enough viewers. Sandman Season 1 received plenty of viewers.
I was looking forward to Sandman Season 2, but that was before these allegations came to light. It’s difficult to separate art from the artist. It’s even more difficult to ignore allegations when (as of this writing) five women have accused Neil Gaiman of sexual assault.
Deep breath.
Let’s get back to Sandman. Despite what some viewers claimed, Sandman’s first season stayed true to the source material. Kirby made an excellent Death, likewise for Mason Alexander Park as Desire. The rest of the cast was fantastic. I didn’t think anyone could effectively pull off Morpheus. Tom Sturridge gives a solid performance. Did the first season take some liberties? Yes. But the heart of the story remained the same. Sandman Season 2 was my most anticipated DC Comics project for this year, and that includes a year with a Superman movie.
Okay. I was stoked about Superman: Legacy, too.
That’s all I have for now. Let me know your thoughts on the upcoming DCU movies and television shows. See you soon. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Happy New Year!
We don’t have a usual post planned for today. Normally, we post on Mondays and Saturdays. We also don’t have New Years Resolutions, but we do have some intentions and announcements for this next calendar year. That’s close enough to a resolution.
New Members
We may have more than one or two new members. It’ll all depend on what happens over the next couple of weeks. Season has returned. She’s signed on to do some much-needed editorial work. She’ll also produce articles during the year. We don’t know if she intends to write about anime or manga or go in a different route.
Skye will continue posting every other month or so. Besides those two additions, we may have a slew of newcomers this upcoming year. If we do, that will be because of a future point on this list: a new series of posts about fantasy and mythological creatures.
Monday and Saturday Posts
We’ll continue with our regularly scheduled posts for the foreseeable future. There may be the occasional rescheduling because of holidays, but for the most part, JK Geekly should continue its weekly Monday and Saturday posts. We’ll try to mix in some more video game coverage as well: at least one video game post a month.
Our top 5 board games throughout the years series will continue with a new post each month. At some point soon, we’ll switch those lists from every two years to each year. That will happen either with the 1992 or 1994 list.
With all future content, we’ll try to theme posts with new cinema and streaming releases. 2025 looks exciting.
Color Palette Quizzes
Starting tomorrow, we’re bringing back quizzes. Specifically, color palette quizzes. These will be abstract color palettes of famous characters. See if you can figure out who is whom. Color palette quizzes should continue throughout the year and will release on Thursdays. We hope you enjoy them. We enjoyed producing them.
Return of Reviews?
We scheduled a couple of TV/movie previews for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Comics Universe in 2025. In addition to weekly Monday and Saturday posts, Geekly will produce reviews of some of these movies and shows and maybe others. We don’t know what that will look like, but Harley Quinn Season 5 begins airing January 16th on Max, and we should have some reviews beginning with that series. Fingers crossed.
Geekly News
We only had a couple of Geekly News posts this past year. Granted, we relaunched in September and there wasn’t that much time remaining in the year. We’ll post more than two Geekly News posts this year. We’re unsure how many will get posted, but it’ll be more than two in a calendar year. Geekly News will also not count toward the weekly posts. They’ll be extra and unscripted like this post. XD
Fantasy and Mythological Creatures
Geekly has crafted a series of fantasy and mythological creatures questionnaires for fellow writers to complete. Our first questionnaire is about dragons. This series should include several new voices on JK Geekly. If you’re a writer and would like to contribute, contact us at jkgeekly@gmail.com.
If you run a blog of your own, let us know and we can include it with your contribution. We may have to cap the number of entries if we receive too many. But don’t worry, there are plenty of fantasy/mythological creatures to go around. If you have a preference for a specific fantasy creature, let us know and we’ll try to accommodate you.
The nature of these posts can mean that this content will most likely be irregular. We intend to begin this series in February. This will give people a chance to fill out their questionnaires. We’ll aim for a monthly release, but this could change, depending on the series’ response.
Closing Thoughts
That’s all we have for now. The only other thing worth mentioning is that we may include quarterly check-ins like this one. The next one of these should show up in April 2025. Or that could be an elaborate and early April Fools’ Joke. We hope you’ve had a fantabulastical New Years, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Moving Today’s Post to Christmas
Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. We’re moving today’s post to Wednesday, Christmas Day. We hope to have another Skye sighting. Fingers crossed.
Happy Early Christmas! Yay!
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