This Will Be A Day Long Remembered

Geekville Radio #232: Star Wars Day, Free Comic Book Day, RIP Peter Mayhew

May The Fourth Be With You

It’s May 4th, aka May The Fourth: Star Wars Day. For anybody new to the concept, that means it’s the Unofficial Star Wars Day. Unless you’re in California, where it became a recognized Star Wars Day.

RIP Peter Mayhew (1922-2019)

We can’t mention Star Wars Day without mentioning the sad news of Peter Mayhew’s passing. He of course portrayed Chewbacca in five Star Wars films, and in numerous TV appearances.

According to his IMDB page, he has almost a dozen credits as Chewbacca. If there was Chewbacca appearing in any sort of Star Wars event, chances are it was really Peter in the costume. If not, Peter would often be consulted on how Chewie should be portrayed.

He worked with the fan community up to the very end. He was originally set to appear this weekend at the Dallas Fan Expo. His booth had already been built. Rather than take the booth down, it was changed into a memorial where fans could sign a guest book to give their condolences. One of those “Faith in Humanity Restored” stories.

Lastly, here is the simple but entertaining story of Peter meeting George Lucas for the first time about Star Wars.

https://youtu.be/Hv0trnfoRKc?t=35
Peter Mayhew talks about meeting George Lucas for the first time

Knights Of The Old Republic Movie

Back during Star Wars Celebration, Kathleen Kennedy seemed to confirm that a Knights of The Old Republic movie was in development.

Kathleen Kennedy apparently confirming development on a KOTR feature film

Very little is known about what a Knights Of The Old Republic film would be about, or who is involved. Kennedy herself said she didn’t know what’s in store. Rian Johnson has publicly stated that he is not doing a KOTOR trilogy. It is well known that Game of Thrones creators David Benoiff and D.B. Weiss are developing their own trilogy as well. The presumably mystical setting for a KOTOR film (or trilogy) would seem to be a good fit.

Even George Lucas himself had entertained the idea of a movie about The Old Republic. Specifically, the defeat of The Sith, and how Yoda was instrumental in that role.

Free Comic Book Day

Not only was it Star Wars Day, but it was also Free Comic Book Day.

The complete list of comics that were released is at the official FCBD website.

I can only review two releases, since I could only get two of the titles I was hoping for.

Star Wars Adventures: Droid Hunters – Written by Cavan Scott with art by Derek Charm, Droid Hunters stars Han Solo and Chewbacca and a quest for treasure. The story definitely has that “Saturday Morning Cartoon” vibe to it, and I mean that as a compliment. It’s clearly geared for kids. Nobody dies, and nobody is terribly ruthless. Sure, there’s a double-cross that is fairly obvious, but it’s still enjoyable.

Spider-Man – This one had two stories. The first is by the Venom team of Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman. Eddie Brock is now Carnage, not Venom. Cletus Kasady is not only back, but he has the original Knull symbiote.

The other story is more of a standalone comedy by Saladin Ahmed and Tom Taylor, with art by Corey Smith and Jay Lester. Peter and Miles compare pizza and then take down Shocker… who also has opinions on pizza.

War Of The Realms

Finally, here is the update on War Of The Realms. A SPOILER ALERT has been pressed

The heroes are organizing Strike Force teams to retaliate against Malekith and his armies. There are currently at least two Strike Force.

Captain America, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Wolverine travel to Jotunheim, where they find a LOT of dead Frost Giants, and a certain one-armed Thunder God. It’s worth mentioning that Spidey, Cage, and Danny are all apparently worthy of wielding Asgard weaponry.

Another team, led by Freya herself, consists of Punisher, Ghost Rider, She-Hulk, and Blade. One of these things just doesn’t belong here. But they will be going to Svartalfheim, the home of the dark elves.

Note: When getting these comics, I didn’t see the upcoming War Avengers Strike Force team of Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Captain Britain, Weapon H, Winter Soldier, Venom, and Sif. So I didn’t touch on them during recording.

That’s it for War Of The Realms news. Is there anything I missed?



News from War Of The Realms

After much anticipation, Marvel’s epic universe-wide story has finally arrived. The gist of War Of The Realms is the ongoing war throughout all the Asgardian realms finally comes to Midgard, aka Earth. I would be surprised if this doesn’t get made into a film within the next decade or so, as the concept is just too cool to not do on a blockbuster big screen.

Here are six noteworthy things concerning War Of The Realms. Spoiler alerts of course.

1) Laufey Is Back

Unless you’re an old school Marvel fan, or remember the first Thor movie very well, you may not know the name Laufey. Well, as depicted in said first Thor movie, Odin adopts Loki. Laufey is Loki’s biological father. It’s not mentioned a ton in the MCU, but Loki does have the last name of Laufeyson. After being deader than dead to the point of being a skeleton, Laufey is brought back from the dead by Malekith. Plus, he is a true Frost Giant and stands probably a good 50 feet tall.

2) Loki is Dead… Again

Speaking of The God Of Mischief and Evil, Loki is literally eaten alive by Laufey. Yep, munched down like a potato chip by his own dad. This is probably the 173rd time Loki has died, but who’s counting? We’ve seen him die time and time again, and he always has some plan for coming back. This time will likely be no different. Plus, just like Infinity War, he dies in the opening act of the story. Not a usual trope to kill a character out of the gate, if he’s going to stay dead. Or stay dead by the comics standards of a few months at least.

3) Valkyrie Is Dead

It was Malekith himself that did the deed in the final page of issue #2. Now, some Marvel fans know that Jason Aaron is penning the new Valkyrie title. And now that the “real” Valkyrie is dead (or at least dead by the comics standards of a few months), it explains why Jane Foster is stepping into the role.

4) Thor Wields Dual Hammers

Of course, with Mjolnir’s destruction last year, Thor has been using different hammers. Now, he openly wields two. One has a very similar shape to Mjiolnir, while the other one has a flat end, while the other has a ball end similar to Stormbearker. Perhaps it was inspired by the hammer Thor made during Infinity War.

5) Luke Cage Is (Apparently) Worthy Of Asgard Weapons

In a teaser cover image for the War Of The Realms tie-in Strikeforce (which sadly does not feature Tito Santana or Rick Martel), Luke Cage is carrying a hammer that looks very similar to Mjolnir. It’s possible it may be in cosmetics only, and not a true mystic hammer, but I think most fans would have no problem seeing Luke as being worthy of picking up an Asgardian Enchanted Hammer.

6) Bog Tigers Are Cool

Malekith has been seen on and around a white tiger that has wings similar to a bat or dragon. The proper name of this creature is Svartalfheim Bog Tiger. If War Of The Realms is ever turned into a movie, the bog tiger will be a new hit sensation with fans. Many stuffed animals would be sold. As big as BB-8 or porgs were to Star Wars? Only time will tell.

That’s only 1/4th of the way through the main story, so there is probably more to come. You can pick up War Of The Realms #1 and #2 now, along with the other tie in issues throughout the Marvel brand.

Anything you liked about War Of The Realms? Sound off below!

Marvel Comics Upcoming Stories

Geekville Radio #226: Upcoming Marvel Stories

At C2E2, Marvel unveiled their upcoming major storylines that will take place in 2019.

War Of The Realms (1:55)

The major universe-wide crossover is called War Of The Realms. As the name implies, it is all 10 Asgardian Realms. The last one left is Midgard, aka Earth. This may be an attempt to put Malekith on the level of a Dr. Doom or Kang, as he will be the central villain.

Marvel’s teaser for War Of The Realms

House Of X (7:55)

Every few years, Marvel does something to refresh the X-Men franchise. This summer brings two new X-Men titles, House Of X, and Powers Of X. Both set to be written by Jonathan Hickman.

As usual, Marvel was tight lipped over what will happen, but the presentation did have an interesting piece of art showing many characters from, as they put it “Past, Present, and Future”.

Official artwork for House Of X and Powers Of X hint characters from the Past, Present, and Future

Absolute Carnage (14:30)

Yes, Cletus Kassidy is back from the dead… again!

This time around, Carnage is hunting down everybody who has EVER used a symbiote suit. This means not just Peter Parker, Eddie Brock, or the other usual suspects. Even The Guardians Of The Galaxy, Deadpool, and dinosaurs are potential targets.

Admittedly, I could only think of about 20 off the bat, but there were others who fit the bill of using a symbiote

  1. Peter Parker (obviously)
  2. Eddie Brock
  3. John Jameson (He brought symbiotes to Earth in the first place)
  4. Ben Reilly (Spider-Carnage)
  5. Scorpion
  6. Scream
  7. Flash Thompson (dead, but dead characters always come back in comics)
  8. Norman Osborn
  9. Dr. Octopus
  10. Maniac
  11. Toxin
  12. Scream
  13. Punisher
  14. Deadpool
  15. Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel
  16. Hybrid
  17. Silver Surfer
  18. Knull

I’m curious how Carnage would last against those last two, wince their cosmic level characters

The others that I forgot were (and this is by no means a complete list)

  1. Wolverine
  2. Rocket Raccoon
  3. Groot
  4. Drax
  5. Gwen Stacy
  6. Thunderbolt Ross
  7. Tony Stark (if artificial symbiotes count)

Not only that, the special variant covers seem to imply other Marvel heroes may bond with symbiotes. Including Captain America, Black Panther, and Thor.

As discussed, I attended C2E2 with Clint from Geek Dig Podcast, and Joe from Beside The Point.

And Norko from The Wrestling Brethren Podcast did have this unintentionally hilarious post due to Autocorrect.

Can’t wait for that Ryan Rembrandt Deadpool

C2E2 Report: Marvel’s War Of The Realms

At Friday’s C2E2 panel, Marvel announced the next epic story to span across the Marvel Universe will be called War Of The Realms. The proper series drops in April, and will consist of six issues. Like with most Marvel Universe tie-ins, multiple heroes will be affected in their own ongoing titles.

As the name implies, this involves Asgard and all the other realms in Marvel lore. Malekith The Accursed, the Dark Elf Lord, will be the main force behind these wars. All but one realm has felt the effects of these wars. The last one left untouched is, of course, Midgard aka Earth.

This means Asgardians, Frost Giants, Dark Elves, Light Elves, etc… will all be wreaking havoc on Earth, in it will be up to the Marvel heroes to deal with it. It also seems to be an attempt to make Malekith an “A-Lister” on the level of Loki, Dr. Doom, or Kang.

Marvel has pulled out all the stops with this tale, including releasing an official theme song for this comic event. It is linked below for listening

Squadron Supreme will be re-introduced and will be based out of Washington DC, making them “DC’s Finest Heroes” (ba-dump CHING!). Not to be outdone, fan favorite Phil Coulson will be a part of the war as well in the Avengers title.

War Of The Realms will be written by veteran Thor writer Jason Aaron. art will be by Russell Dauterman and Natthew Wilson. The first issue hits April 3rd and the series will run through the summer. Aaron did state that this will end his seven year run on Thor, and he will be part of a new (presumably ongoing) Valkyrie stand-alone title.

Overall, this is looking like another solid epic story from Marvel. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this becomes the basis for a future Thor film, should Chris Hemsworth stick around for Phase Four or Five.