Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. Today’s post will be moving to Thanksgiving.
We’ll be doing something a little different with Thursday’s post. I’m going to rank each of the ten Thanksgiving Friends episodes. I hope you enjoy it.
We’ll see you in a few days. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Hello, Geekly Community! My name is Skye, and I love movies and TV. You could call me a “Screen Geek.” I make deep dives on TV shows and movies on TGIMovies (here’s the link to my website). Everyone who clicks the link gets a free year-long Netflix subscription (JK, just kidding). I’m excited to write for this site and get to know you all. Thank you for inviting me to this platform, it means a lot to be here. Without further ado, let’s begin my very first post. Woo-hoo!
Happy Halloween! Since it’s that time of year, let’s talk about something scary. But not too scary. (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). While I view myself as a refined connoisseur of visual media (don’t we all?), I’m drawn to certain tropes (whether they’re good or not). Sure, I love killers and dumb idiots dying as much as the next person, but there are other tropes in horror that I just can’t resist. With that said, these are my 5 favorite horror tropes.
The Evil Children trope has been done to death. Sometimes, literally. Creepy Children show up a lot in horror because children are supposed to be innocent and non-threatening, and this trope flips that expectation on its head. It can be jarring when done well. Unfortunately, I’ve seen far too many poor implementations of Evil Children to put it higher on the list. But let’s focus on good Creepy Children.
While mostly associated with slasher films, the “Final Girl” trope has experienced an expansion in recent horror media. In the past she was the most moral character of the movie, typically a virgin—and usually white—she suffers more hardship than any other character. She’s always the last to survive, hence the term “Final Girl.” Since Sally Hardesty from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this was the purpose of “Final Girls.” Look pretty, be nice/modest, and maintain innocence throughout her ordeal.
The type of horror that scares me the most is the kind that takes its time. Too many movies are desperate to get reactions out of people and blow their load in over-the-top jump scares which only exist to create the illusion of fear. In case you were wondering, jump scares didn‘t make the list. When it comes to legitimate horror, you must get your audience invested in your characters, story, atmosphere, and of course, pacing.
Monsters are awesome! I love a good creature feature, and that’s because you can do so much with monsters. My personal favorites are the ones created through practical effects and shot in front of the camera. It makes them more real and horrifying. I’m not entirely against computer-generated effects but considering Hollywood’s overuse of these kinds of effects in the past 30 years, you can’t deny that CGI has become easy to spot. If I had to choose between a bad practical effect and a bad digital effect, I’d choose the former 10 times out of 10.
This one is a cheat. Music and sound design are less a trope and more an essential part of filmmaking. But I believe music and sound design are the most important parts of filmmaking when it comes to Horror. Music instills emotions. Horror needs to create specific emotions to get its audience on edge. It’s been scientifically proven that jump scares almost entirely lose their power without the assistance of sound.
-Skye
Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here!
I’m giving you a heads-up. We’re moving today’s post to Thursday, Halloween. We’ll have a guest blogger for the holiday.
Weekend Movie Night Reviews will be subbing in; here’s a link to Skye’s blog. I hope you enjoy the upcoming holiday post.
And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a fantabulastical week.
Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. It’s still spooky season, so I figured I share another Top 5 that fits that theme. This week’s Top 5 is recently spotted cryptids. Cryptids are animals that cryptozoologists believe may exist but whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science. We’re talking the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot. I don’t buy into cryptids. But they can be fun to speculate and since it’s still spooky season, let’s talk about the Top 5 recently spotted cryptids.
What if Bigfoot (or Sasquatch) turned man killer? If you’ve ever asked yourself that question, you don’t have to look much further than Nantinaq. In fact, the Nantinaq is blamed for the abandonment of the Alaskan fishing village Portlock. The killings become so plentiful that people fled for their lives.
Nantinaq sightings began in the 1700s when Europeans conducted expeditions, and Native Alaskans began encountering the mysterious creature. The Nantinaq is believed to rip out trees from their roots and plant them back into the ground upside down. I don’t know how accurate these images are, and I don’t know if there may be another natural explanation for this, but that sounds weird.
The Nantinaq has also been known to kill huge moose and carry the moose on their back several yards. Discovery+ filmed a reality television series in Portlock. The series, Alaskan Killer Bigfoot, follows a team exploring the abandoned village. It aired at the end of 2021 and recorded the most recent sighting of the Nantinaq.
I may have to watch the Alaskan Killer Bigfoot. It’s most likely a trash docuseries, but a trash docuseries can be fun.
The Dobhar-chu is a giant carnivorous lake monster that lives in Ireland. It most closely resembles a large otter. That can’t be too intimidating. Only its alternate name is Irish-Crocodile. The Dobhar-chu attacks in pairs and they are known to get aggressive with humans and dogs. And because the Dobhar-chu is a huge, nightmare fuel otter, it can chase its prey on land and in the water. Great.
There haven’t been as many sightings of the Dobhar-chu as there had been in previous decades. The most recent reports came from 2003 by an Irish artist and his wife on Omey Island, Connemara. The couple saw a giant creature with dark coloring and membranes on the feet to swim.
The Dobhar-chu sounds goofy but these artist renderings make them more formidable. I wouldn’t want to run into one of these things. Yikes!
We have another Bigfoot like creature, but Orang Gadang comes from Indonesia. Orang means person and gadang means giant. Since Orang Gadang are giant people, they stand between 7.5-12 feet tall and are covered with bushy dark hair. They’ve been spotted for centuries in Sumatra and Malaya. They can also be named Orang Tinggi (Tinggi meaning tall), so Tall Person and sometimes Hantu Tinggi or tall ghost.
The most recent sighting of the Orang Gadang occurred in 2013. Seven people were injured and sent to the hospital. One was in critical condition. The group had been attacked by 10 monkeys. The monkeys in question stood upright like gorillas and stood between four to five feet. Monkeys exist in Indonesia, but none of them grow to that height. The group described the creature as having “stub noses and glaring eyes.”
Who knows? This one could be true. A lot of primates, both extinct and living, have been found in Indonesia. Even hobbits. Yes. Hobbits were real and found in Sumatra, which happens to be where the Orang Gadang originate. Oh no!
Fresno nightcrawlers may be the oddest creature on this list. They only grow to about five feet with most of their heigh made up of their legs. In fact, they look like a walking pair of pants. The Fresno nightcrawler is also the youngest creature on this list. The first sighting occurred in 2007 with the most recent on April 25th, 2020.
The earlier sightings happened around Fresno, California, hence the name, but the most recent happened in two distant locations. The first occurred in Poland of all places. A man caught the creature on a handheld camera. But the most recent sighting happened in Billings, Montana. A home surveillance system spotted the creature at 9:45 PM in April, 2020.
Okay. This one is silly and sounds like it came from an old Dr. Seuss story “What Was I Scared Of?” where the main character repeatedly meets an empty pair of pale-green pants. “I said, ‘I do not fear those pants with nobody inside them.’ I said, and said, and said those words. I said them. But I lied them.” I kind of want this one to be true because it’s too silly. Shout out to Dr. Seuss.
I had to include a large spider; my wife hates spiders. Love you. The J’ba FoFi, pronounced CHOO-Bah Foo Fee, has been spotted in the Congo. It weaves a trap-door like web to catch its prey. There are plenty of spiders in Africa that hunt this way, so that doesn’t raise eyebrows. What does is that the trap-door this spider weaves must be gigantic. The J’ba FoFi can grow as long as four feet.
J’ba FoFi sightings began in 1850 and remained plentiful until recent years. Many of the natives blame the lack of sightings on the J’ba FoFi becoming a vanishing species. Encroaching civilization and the rain forest being converted into farmland have driven the spiders from their natural habitats.
Some have posted pictures of a massive web system. I don’t know if this is photoshopped, AI, or another creature building this web system. Again, J’ba FoFi is supposed to be a trap-door spider, so webs like these, while impressive and large, must be the work of some other animal.
The most recent sighting occurred in March 2013. A video surfaced on YouTube of an alleged J’ba Fofi caught on night vision camera near a waterhole in Mozambique. The J’ba FoFi appears out of the darkness for a moment and scurries into the darkness on the far-right side of the screen.
I don’t know. Giant spiders, like the goliath birdeater, exist, but they only grow to a foot long. There may be a reason for this. Ahem, a spider’s body construct cannot maintain a body larger than about a foot. But a large spider could exist in Africa. That isn’t far-fetched.
So, which one of these cryptids do you wish are true? Heck, which ones do you think are true? And should I plan a trip to try and spot one? Let us know in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Hey, hey, folks! Just checking in with another personal update. It’s been a month since the last update. JK Geekly has been going strong this past month. We even have a couple of new writers for the site. Yay!
We started a new guide series. This time we made one for Marvel United. I still plan to release a 3 Lists of 3 Board Games for my mom’s birthday. She would’ve been 74-years-old on November 4th, and Marvel United will feature in that post. The game has easy enough rules to learn and remember with a lot of little tweaks for each villain to make each one unique. And Mom loved the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I could’ve seen us recreating MCU moments through Marvel United.
I’m still waiting to hear back from the tabletop game publishers about my submissions. We’re nearing the window of when I could hear back from them. Fingers crossed.
I continue to refine my other games. Some are getting closer toward being ready to submit. Others a little more stubborn.
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) occurs next month. I don’t agree with a lot of what NaNoWriMo has done the past year or so. It’s been one scandal after another. But I will participate outside the confines of the site and organization. I belong to a couple of writing groups. If you’re in the southeast corner of Nebraska, feel free to say hi.
I may even hear from the literary agent looking over Crooked as a Dogwood during NaNoWriMo. A good rule of thumb is three-six months. Mid-November will be the three-month mark. Hopefully, I won’t have to wait until Valentines Day.
I’ll keep making new posts and busying myself with my next novel, while trying not to dwell on the multiple projects I have out for review. I appreciate everyone who has spent time and who does spend time reading these posts. Thank you!
That’s all I have for this month’s personal update. This may become a monthly thing. We’ll see.
I hope that wherever you are, you’re having a great day.
~ Kyra
After years of speculation and arguments, we may have some resolution to the Spider-Man movie drama.
Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. And today we have a big development between Sony Pictures (the owners of Spider-Man’s movie license) and Marvel Pictures. Ever since 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, Sony couldn’t include Peter Parker in any of their live-action Spider-Man universe movies, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe couldn’t use a secondary Spider-Man character (like some of Spidey’s rogues) if Sony included that Spider-Man character in a Sony-backed Spider-Man movie. This arrangement led to Venom getting a trilogy of movies without Spider-Man (those weren’t so bad) and other Spidey characters like Morbius and Madame Web also got greenlit (both of which tanked). This kept Marvel from using Venom, Morbius, and any of the gagillion characters in Madame Web. All of that may change soon.
Multiple sources have stated that Sony plans to reboot their Spider-Man Cinematic Universe. This will most likely occur after the third and final Venom film. We still don’t know what this will mean for the upcoming Kraven the Hunter film. If the agreement takes effect, Kraven the Hunter could be included in the Marvel Cinematic Universe canon.
The details of this agreement are not finalized. Things can change. But the gist is that Sony will be able to include Peter Parker in any of their future live-action Spider-Man Universe movies, and any Spider-Man Cinematic Universe movie will be included within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I don’t believe this means that Marvel will oversee every Spider-Man Cinematic Universe movie that doesn’t involve Peter Parker’s Spider-Man, but it does mean that the characters within Spider-Man’s mythos will be available for both movie universes. And new Spider-Man Cinematic Universe movies could have an impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe going forward.
This potential deal could help both sides as several Spider-Man villains become unfrozen by the current deal, and we could finally see that Tom Holland Spider-Man and Tom Hardy Venom mash-up fans have been waiting for. This deal couldn’t come at a better moment. As I mentioned, Sony Pictures will finish their Venom trilogy (their most successful live-action Spider-Man franchise to date), while the Marvel Cinematic Universe wraps up the Multiverse Saga, which could go a long way to merge these two Spider-Man universes. And Secret Wars isn’t too far away. Peter Parker first met the Symbiote Suit (the black Spider-Man suit that would become Venom) during Secret Wars.
I can’t wait to see what a new agreement between Sony and Marvel Pictures brings. Let us know in the comments which movies you’d like to see. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.
Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. I haven’t shared a video game review in quite a while. I started by covering a bunch of Gacha games and intended on including them all in this post, but I pared that down to one gacha Genshin Impact, which will post tomorrow. I found that most video game reviews aren’t effective when discussing free-to-play video games. So, let’s give video game reviews the enema it needs.
Video game reviews often cover things that are easy to spot. Visuals? You can see screenshots: unnecessary. Audio? I guess that’s helpful, but again there are video shorts, and one can get the feel of a game’s audio before purchasing. Gameplay might be the most useful and some sites will even include a video game’s replayability. But we’re living in a free-to-play video game world, and there are video game review categories that get overlooked.
Respecting a player’s time may be the biggest omission. Replayability is fine and all, but video gamers are getting older. So many of us are parents and grandparents and even the ones who don’t have kids have other real-world obligations.
Respecting a player’s time has become more important than replayability. I said it. Whenever I see a game boast that it has 100s of hours of replayability, I lose interest. I don’t need another part-time job playing a video game for certain unlockables or item upgrades. That’s good for someone whose job is video games or someone still in grade school. The rest of us have other things we could be doing or other things we need to do.
True cost. Free-to-play games need a true cost category. Can players effectively play a game without buying the battle pass every patch? Yes. Battle passes should also have their own category, because most free-to-play games include one. Heck! Several paid games include a battle pass in today’s climate.
But Gacha games, which have gained popularity in recent years because of their monetization system, find ways to price-gouge players with drop rates for characters and items. But Kyra, you could play 40 hours a week to—see respecting a player’s time. I guess this one could also be called respecting a player’s money.
I’d take it further with splitting gameplay into mechanisms and gameplay loop. Mechanisms are what you’re mechanically doing in a game, but what one does in a game only matters if the game mechanisms are unique. And gameplay loop is how satisfying and engaging the mechanisms work together as a whole.
Gameplay combines the two ideas. I guess the combo works, but separate categories may attract different gamers. Some like playing a unique game even if the combination of elements gets clunky. Other gamers look for a cohesive whole.
I’d do a similar thing with story or narrative. Storytelling and a story are not the same thing. John Updike’s A&P has a simple premise, but Updike’s storytelling elevates the story into a classic. On the flip side, Genshin Impact has a great story if you can follow it, but Hoyoverse has done a piss pour job at storytelling. Oops! That may have spoiled the Genshin Impact review.
With all of that said, let’s see if we can pin down a good set of video game review criteria before covering the first of a few larger gacha games. But before we do that, we’ll need to discuss what makes a gacha game for the folks who may not know. For those of you who know what a gacha game is, feel free to scroll past this next section. I’ll try and keep it short.
Gacha games have been around for decades. One of the first, MapleStory released in 2003. Yikes! It has been decades. But the polish and larger budget and success of 2020’s Genshin Impact launched gacha games into mainstream popularity.
Gachas have always been popular, especially in eastern Asia, but Genshin’s blend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s gameplay and the gacha monetization system brought in new fans. Let’s be real. Genshin is a Breath of the Wild clone. So, the only new thing Genshin really introduced to that formula was the gacha system. So, let’s discuss what makes a Gacha game.
Gachas work like collectible card games or like the gacha machines the game type borrows the word. Gacha machines are the machines one can find at the front of a grocery store. Insert a coin (quarter) into the machine, turn the crank, and a plastic ball with a toy inside spits out from a spout. Gacha originates in Japan. The Japanese call it that because they believe that’s the sound a gacha machine makes as one turns the crank. Gacha. Gacha! Gacha!!!
In gacha games, players wish or warp or convene—each game has its own word for what you’re doing, so let’s come up with a universal term “turn”—or takes a turn on a banner. Each banner will feature a character.
Usually, but not always, players take a certain number of turns on the banner before they can receive the featured character (usually about 80-100 turns). I say “can receive” because gachas typically employ a percentage chance of gaining the featured character or item. Often, one needs to lose their percentage chance of gaining a featured item before receiving a guaranteed character/item.
As you can guess, this monetization system is how gacha games make most of their money. And they make a LOT of money. Despite most gacha games using a free-to-play model, one will often find gacha games at the top of the most money earned over any given month. This fact is also why gachas became popular. Video game companies like money.
With those new ways of earning—or syphoning—money from customers, we may need new video game review criteria. So, let’s pin down some free-to-play/gacha video game categories.
This will be a category for the folks who like interesting mechanisms in their game. Games that push what can be done with video games from a technical gameplay standpoint will earn good scores.
Above image from GameDesigning.org
This is how the mechanisms work together to make a cohesive product. A formulaic game can score a high Gameplay Loop score, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t anything unique.
This applies more to free-to-play games, but I’ve seen plenty of other games waste a players time. Games that don’t waste a player’s time with busy work will score high in this category.
If a game has a battle pass, it will receive a score in this category. Who are we kidding? Most, if not every, gacha game has a battle pass. Even some paid games boast battle passes. I’ll split this score between the necessity of buying the pass and what one gets for completing it, giving difference to the latter.
How much does the game actually cost? Again, this is more a question for free-to-play games, but players can be asked to purchase add-ons. How much does everything cost?
I mentioned this prior. This is the story, not the storytelling. Gachas have a nasty habit of chopping up their narratives and tossing them into the wind. I’ll be leaning on YouTubers and other people to help me piecemeal these stories together.
Again, this I mentioned this prior. How well does the game tell its story? These are two very different concepts, especially for gacha games.
Gachas are also notorious for having difficult to manage menus. This wouldn’t be that big of an issue for most video games, but free-to-play games have a knack for hiding things within sub-sub-sub-sub menus so gamers can’t find them.
Yes. It’s obvious but still a necessary category. I’ll use this as a catch all for graphics and audio, giving an internal score for both within the segment.
And with that, I think we have a good set of parameters. I’ll see you tomorrow. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a nice day.
Hey, hey, folks! Just checking in with another personal update. It’s been a month since the last update, and we’ve had weekly posts up until this point. I’ll have another post later today. Hopefully, that won’t be too many emails from me in a single day. 😊
I’m still waiting to hear back from the company who said they were interested in Spill the Beans. I discussed this game more in last month’s update. They had promised me that the contract would be finished by the end of August, and I haven’t received an official contract yet. I believe they had some issues with their upcoming Kickstarter; it was supposed to launch in June or July at the latest and hasn’t yet hit Kickstarter. Fingers crossed that everything is okay.
I won’t hear back from publishers for another couple of months for the other game I submitted Whistlestop Pets. From what I’ve seen and heard, it takes about three months or more for a game publisher to respond to an email query. There isn’t a standard, so it could be a longer wait.
Speaking of waits, I also heard back from a literary agent for my novel Crooked as a Dogwood last month. The agent asked for a full manuscript. Yay! But it will also take an additional couple of months for a response. It takes time to read a full novel and even longer to figure out if it’s something an agent would like to take on. Fingers crossed for some good news in a couple of months.
So, it looks like I’ll have to busy myself with projects, so I don’t dwell on all of that waiting. Eek!
As a result, I’ve pursued other projects. Let’s begin with tabletop games. There a few games that far away from discussing here, but one stands above the rest: Pick Your Poison.
The phrase “Pick Your Poison” comes from the Prohibition era. Not only did prohibition ban alcohol, they added literal poison (like thallium and strychnine) to household products like after shave and the like (this is also called denaturing alcohol) in order to dissuade people from switching to drinking those household products. So, when a bartender at a speakeasy would say, pick your poison, they knew they were serving their customers poison.
In the game Pick Your Poison, you play as a public figure in the final year of Prohibition, and you dictate how much poison is in those household products. For prohibition to succeed, one needs to kill enough citizens…but not too many or you’ll incur the public’s wrath. Players add or subtract marbles from test tubes that will show how many people die from denatured alcohol each round (which is every two months).
If your role card is face down, you win the game if Prohibition has a positive public opinion at the end of a year. If your role card faces up, you win the game if Prohibition has a negative public opinion. Pick Your Poison is a semi-cooperative game for 3-6 players.
I’m ironing out the details but intend to submit Pick Your Poison to next year’s Zenobia Award. It’s a contest for designers belonging to underrepresented groups. The games must be based on history. I think Pick Your Poison fits that bill.
In terms of writing (not related to Geekly), I continue to work on the unnamed novel that’s based in the same universe as Whistlestop Pets and two other games in the offing. I should have a working draft by the end of the year. NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month) is in November, and I typically participate each year with the Omaha chapter. I encourage others to reach out to their local NaNoWriMo groups if they’d like to write a novel. You could make new friends. And I’ve noticed that my group holds people accountable. They’re focusing on getting people published.
And of course, Geekly has been another escape from remembering that I have multiple projects out for review. I appreciate everyone who has spent time and who does spend time reading these posts. Thank you!
That’s all I have for this month’s personal update. This may become a monthly thing. We’ll see.
I hope that wherever you are, you’re having a great day.
~ Kyra
Hey, hey! Kyra here. I’m still figuring out what kind of content a rebooted JK Geekly should include. If you have any suggestions, let me know in the comments. I’m also working my through older content, but we’ll run out of that soon enough. Lastly, I’m late with a reaction to Deadpool and Wolverine. Instead of writing a review (I’d rather not get back into traditional reviews), I’m doing more of a reaction and what I think of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s future.
Deadpool 3 and Its Place in the MCU
I enjoyed Deadpool and Wolverine. Was it perfect? No. It dragged in parts and that’s something with which the MCU during the Multiverse Saga has struggled, but Deadpool and Wolverine did what a Deadpool movie was meant to do. It made fun of the MCU, particularly the maligned Multiverse Saga. Deadpool and Wolverine served as a good penultimate film for the Multiverse. The Multiverse isn’t yet finished but there aren’t that many movies/TV shows remaining before it wraps. So, I’m calling it a penultimate movie. Deadpool 3 also acted like a Monty Python’s “this is getting too silly” and signaled an abrupt turn that the MCU intends to make: the Mutant Saga.
Right. Before we get too much further, I’m going to try and avoid spoilers. But the nature of posts like this makes that impossible. Consider this a spoiler warning.
Wow! I took this long to say spoiler alert. I am rusty.
Not only was Deadpool and Wolverine the penultimate Multiverse Saga film, it also said farewell to the 20th Century Fox Era X-Men and the Fantastic Four (to a lesser extent). I’ll echo other critics and express concern about Disney/Marvel relying on nostalgia to make a quick buck. I dislike the idea of the MCU using nostalgia as much as it has lately. Disney has worn out their nostalgia button. Did anyone ask for live-action versions of every Disney animated classic?
It’s true that Spider-Man: No Way Home tapped into nostalgia big time, but not necessarily in a bad way. With its proximity to the latest Spider-Man film, one could view Deadpool and Wolverine as nostalgia porn. But Deadpool and Wolverine hits different.
Legally, Disney/Marvel cannot cast their own X-Men actors until 2025. Most of the X-Men, including Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) and Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) are under contract to play these characters until the end of 2024. It makes sense for Disney/Marvel to say “Bye, Bye, Bye” to these actors before the end of their contracts.
That said, I hope Disney/Marvel does something new with these characters. They had best cast their own actors for these roles after these contracts expire. I’d also like to see the MCU cover different X-Men stories. The world doesn’t need three Dark Phoenix Sagas in two decades. I’d love it if Disney/Marvel puts that storyline to rest for a good decade or more and concentrate on other great X-Men stories. It’s not like the X-Men have decades of great stories.
We’ll get into some of these potential storylines with the Wolverine montage. Oops! We’re heading into definite spoilers for Deadpool and Wolverine. Anyone who hasn’t yet watched the movie should turn away for the next section. You can pick back up in the MCU’s future section.
Wolverine Montage
The Wolverine montage at the beginning of Deadpool and Wolverine was not only fun but showcased the various worlds in which Wolverine/Logan existed. Most of the scenes depicted during this montage could make for a good movie or movie series. Let’s cover each one as quickly as possible and in the order in which they first appeared.
Short Wolvie
This is the 5′ 3″ Hugh Jackman Wolverine. There isn’t much to say except this Wolverine is the most accurate to the comics, and he was the most eager of the bunch to join Deadpool. Too bad Deadpool went in a different direction.
Brown And Tan Wolvie
Deadpool references John Byrne (X-Men artist during the late 70s and early 80s) and Wolverine’s classic brown and tan outfit that Byrne designed. The scene they chose for this one comes from Incredible Hulk #340 (drawn by Seth MacFarlane) where Wolverine and the Hulk throw down. There have been plenty of instances of this happening. In fact, Wolverine was first introduced in an Incredible Hulk comic (#180 in a cameo and #181 in full), where the two fought each other. This may not be the only time the MCU will depict this fight.
One-Handed Wolvie
The one-handed Wolverine in the dilapidated city comes from Age of Apocalypse. I don’t think the MCU will dive headfirst into this storyline but if they did choose to cover it, I’d like to see Marvel characters not mentioned in this world. The original Age of Apocalypse run mostly affected the X-Men. Other characters were mentioned and a few made appearances, but it could be fun watching alternate versions of The Avengers. But we’ve had enough of the Multiverse and this could be more of the same.
In case you’re wondering, this reality’s Cyclops severed Wolverine’s missing hand.
Old Man Logan
The Wolverine who looks like he’s cosplaying as Joe from the Dollars Trilogy comes from the Old Man Logan storyline. This is another post-apocalyptic story, and I doubt the MCU will go in this direction.
Oddly enough, Deadpool and Wolverine borrows a major set piece from Old Man Logan. Giant Man’s skeletal remains–the ones in which Cassandra Nova has established a lair–makes an appearance in this comic book story. And technically, we’ve already seen a variation of the Old Man Logan story in the movie Logan.
Crucified Wolvie
The Uncanny X-Men #251’s famous comic book cover features Wolverine on an X-shaped crucifix. I don’t think the MCU will go in this direction, because the Siege Perilous (a crystal that opens doors to other dimensions) features heavily. The MCU won’t want to go back into the Multiverse too soon. However, this Siege Perilous could be one of the many ways the MCU could “fix” the Multiverse and catapult the MCU into the Mutant Saga.
I won’t go into too much detail because there’s a lot going on, but the people who placed Wolverine on the crucifix were the Reavers. The Reavers were the main antagonists in the movie Logan. Reavers have cybernetic implants but in this universe, most Reavers have them because Wolverine cut off their biological limbs. The Reavers hate all mutants, but especially Wolverine, which is why they placed Wolvie on a crucifix.
Patch
This one could easily happen, and there are two prominent storylines with Patch Wolverine. The above with Hulk’s alternate identity Joe Fixit pits Patch Wolverine as a casino bouncer. This could happen, but it might be a bit silly and would most likely be a cameo like we saw during Deadpool and Wolverine. If Patch Wolverine made an extended appearance in the MCU, the story they’d most likely use would come from the 2022 Patch Wolverine mini series.
This Patch is an alternate Wolverine who hides his mutant identity. He has a knack for gambling and espionage. He even teams up with Nick Fury; two patches for the price of one. This could be another way the MCU could bridge the current timeline with a mutant heavy one. They’d have to change a lot of the story, but that wouldn’t be the first time the MCU did so. Age of Ultron didn’t resemble its comic book counterpart.
The Cavillrine
One might think, this is just Henry Cavill as Wolverine, and one would be correct. It is just Henry Cavill as Wolverine, but let’s add a little context. Cavill portrayed Superman in the DC Extended Universe and Geralt in the Witcher Netflix series. Many comic fans love him. Cavill is the leading fan-casting for the next Wolverine, and many ardent fans of this casting insist that Cavill IS the Wolverine of Earth-199999, also known as Earth-616, which is the world in which the MCU takes place. Who knows? These fans could be right. Deadpool and Wolverine could’ve introduced the next actor to portray Wolverine.
The MCU’s Future
We’ve discussed some of the directions in which the X-Men could go or more specifically Wolverine. The above Wolverine Montage by no means covers all stories for Marvel’s mutants, but it’s a good start.
I’ll reiterate, wherever Disney/Marvel goes with these characters, I hope they go in a direction not yet explored. And they should cast their own actors in these roles. Channing Tatum as Gambit is fine; he never had the chance to portray Gambit in a full-length feature before his cameo, and he’s meme gold. Wesley Snipes as Blade might be fun, but he can’t play the character until he’s 90. Can he?
The next thing the MCU should do is contract the number of shows and movies they release; they’re already doing this to some extent, so that’s good. Additionally, they should reduce the number of characters in their active slate of characters. What do I mean? The Infinity Saga focused on the core six Avengers: Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye. It added a few here and there over time like Falcon, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, Ant-Man, and Vision, but the core six were in most–if not all– the team-up films, and prominent members Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor received a trilogy of films in a short timeframe. Go back to that.
It’s difficult to grow attached to a character when you haven’t seen said character in half a decade. I’m looking at you, Shang-Chi (his first movie released in 2021 and 2026 may be the soonest he’ll get a follow-up–the soonest is 2026, yikes!). There have been issues outside the MCU’s control. The pandemic didn’t help. I still get choked up over Chadwick Bosman’s passing. Jonathan (Kang) Majors’ domestic assault and harassment case derailed the Multiverse’s story. And navigating the Spider-Man license and other licenses haven’t been easy.
A lot has happened outside Disney/Marvel’s control, but the MCU hasn’t helped itself by making some questionable choices. It concerns me that the two highest grossing films during the Multiverse Saga are the two (Spider-Man: No Way Home and Deadpool and Wolverine) that lean heavily on nostalgia. It’s too easy to learn the wrong lesson.
Those two movies succeeded because one didn’t need to do as much homework (watching a gagillion hours of content before watching the movies) and both films were the third part of movie trilogies that took five years (for Spider-Man) and eight years (for Deadpool) to complete. These two factors may have done more for these movies’ success than nostalgia alone. But hey, hit the nostalgia button.
Okay. I’m done ranting about Disney’s overuse of nostalgia. For now. Let’s discuss some other developments, beginning with everyone’s favorite Marvel character trapped in license hell.
There’s a tentative agreement between Sony and Disney/Marvel for Peter Parker Spider-Man . The Spider-Verse films may prevent Disney/Marvel from using Miles Morales. I haven’t read the terms of the contract as it pertains to Sony animation, but another series of talks may need to be had for Miles entering the MCU. I’d imagine that will come to fruition. Eventually. It’s going to take a fleet of Brink’s truck cash.
Spider-Man Noir will not appear in the MCU because Nicholas Cage will portray him in a live-action TV series. I’m okay with that. I’ll be watching the show after it drops on Amazon Prime. Any Spider-Man character who receives a Sony-led live-action movie or TV series is ineligible to be included in the MCU. That’s why we’ve seen a Venom trilogy (that includes characters like Carnage and Rhino), Morbius, Madame Web (with at least a half dozen other Spider-Man characters), and the upcoming Kraven films. Sony is playing keep away from Disney/Marvel.
I don’t blame Sony too much. Disney/Marvel has countless intellectual properties and makes several movies annually. Sony produces far fewer movies and their largest IP is Spider-Man. Spidey and Spidey related films account for over half of Sony’s major film releases each year. They’re forced to make Spider-Man content, even if that content isn’t the best. And with the exception of the Spider-Verse franchise, Sony Spidey content hasn’t been good.
But Spidey isn’t the only character who’s had licensing issues. Universal’s deal with the Hulk concluded this year (2024 if you happen to be reading this after the new year; happy new year btw). According to the previous deal, the Hulk could be in MCU films but only as a supporting character. Thor: Ragnarok touched on Planet Hulk themes (namely Gladiator Hulk), and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law laid the ground work for a potential full-fledged Planet Hulk movie (Hulk traveled the cosmos and found his son Skaar). I don’t know if we’ll ever see another movie with Hulk as the title character, but it’s a possibility. I wouldn’t mind at least one with Mark Ruffalo.
Is this casting odd? Yes. But Downey Jr. as Doom could’ve been the plan from the beginning, but only as a cameo. The MCU could easily combine Earth-11029’s Doom (who mind swapped with Tony Stark) and the Doctor Doom from Secret Wars. The MCU was always headed toward Secret Wars, and toward the end of that story, Doom assumed the Beyonder’s powers and ruled Battleworld. The MCU probably intended an homage to the source material with a quick look at an alternate Doom (perhaps Downey), much like the alternate Reed Richards (John Krasinski) in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Kang was the original big bad for the MCU’s Secret Wars, but Majors’ legal troubles thrusted Doom to the forefront. Will it work? I’m unsure. We’ll have to wait and see. A Downey Doom would’ve worked better as a cameo or teaser for the next leg of the Fantastic Four’s story. But the MCU is trying to salvage what’s left of the Multiverse Saga. I guess it’s worth a shot, but this reeks of desperation and hitting the nostalgia button. Remember when RDJ was in Avengers movies? Here he is again. Wait. We haven’t had an Avengers movie without RDJ yet. He’s got to maintain his Avengers streak.
The MCU is barreling toward the Fantastic Four and the X-Men. These two teams will feature heavily in the upcoming MCU. That’s a great thing and a bad thing. The MCU already has a bloated roster and now it’s adding two massive teams. These two teams could delay the third film of major MCU characters.
Going back to my point that the MCU should return to a tighter character roster, the three main Avengers during the Infinity Saga had a small window for their film trilogies. Cap’s original trilogy took five years in total. Iron Man’s also took five years. And Thor’s original trilogy took six years. Six years passed between Doctor Strange and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Strange continues to wait for the third movie in his trilogy. That’s way too long. There’s also the aforementioned Shang-Chi and his five year wait for a second film. And is Captain Marvel getting a third movie? Rewatching older films in a film series becomes part of an MCU movie’s homework.
Deadpool needed eight years to conclude its trilogy. That’s impressive considering that Fox was bought out between the second and third films. A tighter release window for movies in a series and a smaller cast of recurring characters are the lessons Disney/Marvel should take from Deadpool and Wolverine’s success. That and R rated films can rake in money. We’ll have to see which lessons the MCU takes to heart.
That’s all I have for now. Let me know your thoughts on what the MCU should do going forward. See you soon. Bye, bye, bye.
~ Kyra
Hey, hey, folks! Long time, no upload. I’m Kyra Kyle, and JK Geekly has returned.
A lot has happened since we last updated this website. Some events spanned the globe like the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown. Glad that’s over.
I had a few personal events occur. I’ve been diagnosed as autistic and ADHD. I didn’t know one could have both, but I’m an AuDHDer. Is that how I spell it? The two don’t always play well with each other. I attended the Origins Game Fair last year and was alternately over and under stimulated. Meltdowns are fun. Other times, the two play too well with each other. I paced a trail into the carpet. It’s okay; we needed new carpet.
Pacing aided me to finish writing a novel or two. I’m pitching my first novel, Crooked as a Dogwood, to agents. I’ve gotten further than I’ve ever gone before with this process, so that’s great. I’m unsure if it’ll get picked up but that hasn’t stopped me from editing the next one and writing the one after that. Just keep writing. Just keep writing. Autism loves the routine; ADHD wants some strange. So, I’ll pace in between stories.
Speaking of stories, my short stories and poems have been published in several journals since the last update. I’ll have to look back and see which ones were published in which journals over these past several years. I’m fighting the urge to backtrack these past few years. No. I’ll do it later. Ack! I’m so bad at making shameless promotions for my work. Consider this a generic, hopefully modified soon plug.
On a somber note, my mom passed away last year. I’m still processing the loss over a year later, but I’ll do something in her memory, perhaps a top five tabletop games that she liked to play on her birthday in November. Or a list of games that I play that remind me of her. There may be at least a few games that have been released around or since her passing that Mom would’ve enjoyed.
Mom also liked that I design tabletop games, and it turns out that I’m also pitching multiple games. I’m less familiar with this medium’s pitch process, but I’ll learn. One company has already expressed interest in Spill the Beans, but as of this post, I have yet to sign a contract, so I’m still pitching until a deal is reached. Here’s an initial Spill the Beans sell sheet.
And here’s the sell sheet for a second game I’m pitching to board game companies, Whistlestop Pets.
Whistlestop Pets factors into one of the books I’m working on as well. There may be some crossover possibilities.
I have several other projects (both game designs and writing) that aren’t as far along or I’m not at a stage where I’m comfortable talking about them here, but I’ll keep you updated. Hopefully.
And that brings me to the last point: What will happen to JK Geekly? In short, I don’t know. The site can go in many directions. I have one article I want to upload this November (love you, Mom), but aside from that I don’t know. I’ll probably try several things. If anyone has any suggestions, leave them in the comments.
I hope that wherever you are, you’re having a great day.
~ Kyra
jkgeekly.com 