SDCC 3: Worlds of DC is Here!

Welcome Back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

Today was the big day for DC fans at SDCC as we got our first look at the future of DC films. With a shake up in leadership over at Warner Bros DC division, tonight was the launch of the 3rd cinematic rebrand: Worlds of DC, and what worlds we got to see. Tonight we got first glimpses at these worlds in trailers for two of their upcoming features.

Aquaman 

Possibly the most anticipated of these trailers, we finally got our first look at James Wan's Aquaman with Jason Momoa reprising his role as Arthur Curry, Amber Heard reprising Mera, and welcoming Patrick Wilson and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Orm/Ocean Master and Black Manta respectively. This first look does not disappoint, visually stunning and vibrant colors, Atlantis is next generation Pandora from Avatar. The trailer also promises some fantastical action sequences of sea monster cavalry charges and epic under water duels, and a Black Manta that might just steal the show. All in all a fantastic first step for redeeming the DC brand.

SHAZAM

After so much controversy on "suit padding," it came somewhat of a surprise that the best trailer DC put out this comic con was SHAZAM. Some of you may have remembered that a long time ago I wrote a piece on my hopes and expectations of SHAZAM. Well folks, if this trailer is anything to go by, it has superceded my expectations. This movie just looks great, but most of all it looks genuinely fun. Zachary Levi proves he was the perfect decision for this movie, and it's exactly as I said it should be, Harry Potter meets Big. While it looks like they are double downing far more on the Big aspect, the magic is still there in moments like the train sequence, and him calling down the power of SHAZAM. 

There were some other big announcements for DC's Hall H panel this year. Gal Gadot spoke a bit about Wonder Woman 1984 being it's own film, and not being a sequel. They announced that the next animated feature after Reign of the Supermen will be coming the summer of 2019 and will be the first ever adaptation of the iconic Batman story: Hush. This begs to question on whether this will finally confirm the existence of other Robin's in this New 52 slate of animated features as Jason Todd plays a substantial role to the Hush storyline. 

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! we will be finishing up the SDCC round up here today as the convention comes to a close! Hope you all have enjoyed! 

SDCC pt 2: Animation Domination

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

While SDCC 2018 had a bit of a rough start, there has been a definite highlight: animation is dominating this convention in full force, and it started off with Dragon Ball last night.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly

When it comes to the Shounen anime/manga genre, there is no conversation that can be had without the mention of Dragon Ball. Having been the inspiration to so many other works, Dragon Ball has had quite the legacy with its most recent series Dragon Ball: Super reaching its finale point here just months ago. Akira Toryama and his team have been hard at work readying a movie for us. This movie would bring a fan favorite movie villain an official member of Dragon Ball canon. Broly is coming to Dragon Ball in Dragon Ball Super: Broly. Here is the trailer below:

This latest feature promises to give us quite the spectacle while simultaneously improving the experience by adding Frieza to the fight and having Vegeta not be utterly useless. Broly coming to the universe of Dragonball is a very welcome addition as most were less than please with his female knock off from the Tournament of Power.

Star Wars: Clone Wars (The Final Season) 

When it comes to franchises there are few that can come even close to matching Star Wars in its influence. One of the most divisive topics on this franchise are the set of prequel films from the early 2000's. However, while the prequels may not be loved by all, the spinoff Clone Wars, both of its iterations was lauded by all as a fun and complex view into the story taking place in the background of the prequels. When Disney acquired the rights of Star Wars, this show was given a final filler season, but was then brought to a conclusion. Well as of last night, Star Wars: Clone Wars has been saved and will return for a final season with a tagline that is sure to give chills: "A war unfinished... until now"

The first half of this trailer honestly gave me chills. It's great to see that we will get to see the end of the Clone War in the show. While some may feel this may not be needed with the success of Rebels, there is a lot of potential here and the trailer even has a really fun surprise reveal at the end. Either way, Star Wars: Clone Wars' return is much welcome and I am pretty damn excited to see the war's conclusion!

Young Justice: Outsiders 

While Titans has shown itself to be not worth spending 7.99 a month for a subscription to DC Universe, the long awaited third season of Young Justice has certainly made up for it. Young Justice is probably the most known example of a modern cartoon being saved by its fanbase as the show was cancelled at the end of its second season due to a lack of sales in merchandise. After years of petitions and rumor, the show is back and the 5 minute trailer has a lot to show off: 

Where to even begin, so much to love about this trailer. We have a genuinely interesting plot of metahuman trafficing on earth and some really cool looks at some of the new blood for this season. However, for me the highlights are obviously Darkseid, and Orion. Orion is one of my favorite DC characters, and given his status as a B or C list character in the universe, I am very excited to see how the Young Justice creative team handles him as they do an amazing job with niche characters.

While this Convention had a rough start that left me a bit cynical, these three trailers alone have renewed my energy for this convention! We have a lot things to talk about and tomorrow will be a really big day with the Aquaman trailer reveal and maybe even the trailers for Shazam and Wonder Woman: 1984.

Hope you have enjoyed this edition of Comic Relief! we look forward to bringing you more from SDCC this year!

SDCC pt 1: No I Wasn't a Fan of the 'Titans' Trailer

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

Well folks it's here, San Diego Comic Con, the convention of conventions, started yesterday and it kicked off with a bang, and don't get me wrong, there was an explosion, it just was in DC's face. Why is this you ask, because the long awaited show Titans debuted it's trailer, and to be nice we'll just say it's divisive.

Titans is the live action show focused on the fan favorite super team: The Teen Titans. The show stars Robin, Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Hawk & Dove coming together to form the iconic team. There are even confirmed appearances by other iconic young characters such as Jason Todd, most know as Red Hood, and Donn Troy, Wonder Girl. There has been a lot of build up and hype behind this show as they have been promoting, in particular, Robin in costume. Before we go any further here is the trailer so that you can have a frame of refference for what I have to say:

Now there are some moments in the trailer I like, but they are VASTLY outweighed by things I very much dislike. There is one thing I want to focus on in particular, and no it's not that Starfire still looks atrocious (really, a fur coat?), its not that beast boy only turns green when he's about to use his powers, it's not even the cringeworthy dialogue displayed at points, it's the shere brutality shown in the trailer, namely from Dick Grayson.

I understand that this show finds Dick in a darker place going between his transition from Boy Wonder to Nightwing. In the books and the animated series this time period shows Dick prone to bouts of angst. However, this first fight shows off Dick Grayson straight up murdering people. He snaps a dudes neck by stomping on it and punctuates the deed with a "Fuck Batman" line. Most obviously the direct thing that should be noticed is this sounds like a great Jason Todd. However, this isn't Jason, this is Dick Grayson. Honestly that's one of the things that stung most about this trailer, Dick Grayson doesn't feel like Dick Grayson at all.

Nightwing Annual 1 

Dick Grayson has a super power, it's not physical, it's not in the mind, it's that his compassion for others brings out the best in the people around him. It's why Batman and him are the dynamic duo, it's why in so many teams filled with super powered people, Dick takes point as the leader. There was a moment in the first annual of the current Nightwing run that teams the character up with Superman, where superman talks about Dick Grayson's approval being worth more than it's weight in gold, and it's all because of how much even Batman respects his opinion. Dick Grayson may be troubled in this time, but to make him cold and ruthless, to have him completely toss out the code enstilled in him after years of training by Batman. However, as out of character as this brutality was, what's even worse was that the violence in this trailer doesn't at all feel organic. It feels completely unnecessary.

There is so much excessive violence in this trailer. Dick Grayson brutalizing and potentially murdering a group of common street criminals, Dove slicing open the back of a guys knees with absolutely no context other than show her being a "badass." Look violence is a great selling point, but the amount of gore in this first trailer honestly makes me feel they werent using this violence to tell a story and show off their characters' abilities, it's actively just there to get an R rating essentially. The fact they thought this was the only way to get a mature rating on a Teen Titans show, it's fucking disappointing. They are TEENAGERS, a good friend of mine came up with a great idea to have the offtime for the Titans feel like an American Pie movie. Like there are so many ways, however, they just wanted to double down on DCEU's dark thematic tone, something it has received a great deal of blowback for. I mean I enjoyed the DCEU's tone, however, this was just ridiculous. What's worse is that it's supposed to be the foundation for a whole new set of shows and along with Young Justice season 3 is supposed to be the selling point of the DC Universe app (which oh by the way, is super over priced at 7.99 a month).