“Where’re Batinson’s legs?” — Jokershorts Pop Culture roundup: 1 July 2019
The news and talking points that become long-reads @ Jokerside
Jokershorts’ mix of news and reviews across 10 realms of pop culture… It’s the end of our second season. We’ll pop back for specials but in the meantime, soak up these points and join us on Twitter & Facebook and by digging through Pop-Culture at Jokerside.com.
In this Jokershorts:
Dark Phoenix reviewed, last Knight on Earth reviewed, Leviathan Rising reviewed, More on that bat-trilogy? Doctor Sleep caught us napping, Pennyworth allies with Small Faces (not a new villain, Marvel Avengers fall back to reality, animated Doctor Who takes us by surprise, Swamp thing submerges, Keanu reaches new heights and the Magic Eightball says ‘so long’…
The Jokershorts’ Classic theme
Well, it had to be a classic in honour of the great, recently departed Paul Darrow. It could only be the theme for the show that barely contained his most famous character. Not his best though, because every character was brilliant! By the by, one of the greatest television themes of all time — if a teeny bit derivative: Blakes Seven. Not the best version, but it still packs a Liberating punch.
Trailers of the Now! Doctor Sleep; Pennyworth; Hope for James Bond
Sneaking in at the last, and a fittingly surprising trailer for this final ‘Shorts of the second series. We really weren’t expecting Doctor Sleep to trade on its illustrious forbear. After all, Stephen King was famously ‘not so keen’ on Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation of The Shining and the departures it made from his novel as it reached unbearable levels of ambiguity. But whaddya know? After a rather un-Shining opening (pacing, gleam, grain, acting) they drop in actual scenes. The references and tie-up come thick and fast as this sequel lives up to its description and refuses to break out on its own. We don’t think we’ve ever said with utter sincerity and pleasure: it’s a throwback overload. It remains to be seen how far the film will go — will it actually swap McGregor’s young Danny Torrance for his father in the original? It seems unlikely, considering that difference of ambiguity between King and Kubrick’s vision (not to mention the topiary). But for now, Doctor Sleep looks utterly chilling. Marketing ploy or not, it didn’t half make us jump. Hello indeed…
And then there’s Pennyworth:
We’ve taken to Gotham, although its mix of daft comic book antics and ultra-violent procedural has always baffled us. With its departure after five seasons, key players from behind the scenes are tracking back to the emergence of Alfred Pennyworth in the 1960s London, fresh from the army and chock full of Brit spirit, fisticuffs and one-liners. It’s a prequel-prequel if you will, and quite extraordinary the more you think about it. It needs to do better than Marvel’s Agent Carter, which was unnecessarily constrained by the weight of MCU-lore. We’re more than hopeful if they keep packing out the Small Faces.
There’s still a while before Bond 25 gets to cinemas, let alone gets a name. After the huge disappointment of SPECTRE we really hope Cary Joji Fukunaga and the gang can pull this together. if it’s as interesting as its publicity so far, we may be in for a treat…
1. Film. Batman’s found his man, now where are his feet?
After wading through a No Man’s Land of vagueness, Robert Patinson has finally been confirmed as the latest Dark Knight. Good thing too — we’d have been furious if he hadn’t after all the hype. In our view, RPatz has the chops and the chin for the role. As rumours of the (tantalising) villainous cadre he’ll be facing off against leaks out (Bane, Penguin…), it sounds like director Matt Reeves has found a neat way to dodging the origin story bullet (seriously, we need nothing else less) but retaining some easily found danger. The #Battinson will be finding his feet. Rumours suggest Richard E Grant may be confirmed as an Alfred shortly…
Naturally, finding feet is swiftly followed by a mooted trilogy.
Stranger news elsewhere in the DC Universe as Swamp Thing’s lauded arrival on streaming service DCU has been cut short. The much anticipated James Wan-produced adaptation had production shutdown and its inaugural season chopped by three episodes before it was semmingly axed after one episode had aired. Genre and media press reported a creative and tonal conflict, but press local to production in North Carolina dug up the growing issues around tax incentives falling through and costing several productions,
DC’s vague statement in the past couple of days suggests an existential crisis amid DCU’s success — although typically, subscription levels and audience numbers have not been revealed. it’s likely that Warner media’s epic plans to take on Disney+ and Netflix had a part to play.
2. Film. In the MCU, Keanu?
Over at the MCU, rumours swirl that Keanu Reeves is being courted for a Phase 4 appearance. It would be a shrewd move. With Ted still to return to cinemas, he’s already taken John Wick to new levels, surfaced as several memes, and wowed audiences at E3 this year (“You’re breathtaking!”) so Marvel, grab him while he’s hot (hey, when is he not?). The role under negotiation is for Eternals, but fans aren’t giving up hope of him taking to the seas as Namor: the Sib-Mariner. Hold that thought.
Side note: Across the lot, Disney Lucasfilm kicked off production on Indiana Jones 5 this week. No biggie. Or they did in a parallel universe after a quote from Harrison Ford caught everyone by surprise, including Disney reps. Confirmed: Indy 5 begins shooting next year for its 2021 release.
3. Streaming: Dinos Reanimated at Netflix.
The unexpected and irrefutable success of the Jurassic World franchise at Universal has awoken interest in a franchise that’s always felt kind of dormant. Perhaps an animated series is what’s required.
4. Review: Comics: DC’s Last Knight on Earth; Leviathan Rising.
Two huge releases for DC last week as the publisher kicked off its summer event, the first from star transfer Brian M Bendis, alongside the last ever Batman story from legendary Gotham duo Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo.
Leviathan Rising
Bendis has relished his arrival at DC. Far from just seeing how things work together on the other side of the coin, he’s picked up multiple titles, spun a new life into Superman (who wasn’t in terrible shape) and added that extra level of street-level chutzpah to the line (see Naomi), just as he did at Marvel. This isn’t derivative work though — Bendis knows his subjects. And if he didn’t fully know them before, he really does now. Leviathan Rising kicks off an event with a planet-full of subversion. There’s the mysterious head of Leviathan’s wise approach to taking down big Blue: take out Clark Kent. There’s Superman deliberately framing himself (one of Bendis’ great moves has been to double-down on the journalists at the heart of the story) and almost coming a cropper as a result. There’s the unlikely help Big Blue receives as back in town, Lois Lane owns Batman at his own game. Then there’s the secret cartel at the heart of Metropoli and the identity of the new head of Leviathan themselves. We know it’s not Talia al Ghul as, well… All in all, it’s a joy. Bendis hasn’t lost any of the storytelling verve he brought to DC .
But truth be told, the stand-out part of the issue is Matt Faction and Steve Lieber’s surprising Jimmy Olsen interlude (this special features three stories, all linked). Hilarious and jaw-dropping. Remember when Jack Kirby picked up Superman’s Pal and proceeded to introduce the entire Fourth World mythology? If that’s too much to hope for, astounding cat sick jokes (is that you Dex-Starr? Is that you?) sets the bar high for the series to follow.
It’s a fine start to an event, delivered in blockbuster fashion and posing questions and really selling the mysterious heart Bendis has built at the heart of the DC lines. Year of the Villain is on!
Batman: The Last Knight on Earth
The Last Knight is a different kettle of fish. Last decade, Grant Morrison turned in a classic run on the Dark Knight, steeped in history and ideas. Tom King has normalised the dysfunction of Gotham with detail (believe me, that’s a great thing) since Rebirth. In-between Snyder and Capullo voyaged from Court of owls to Bloom during the distracting New 52 era. that will remain a definitive run in the Caped Crusader’s history and a centre-point in an incredible time to be a Batman fan. Now they return to bring a close to their Gotham-based collaboration. Released in three volumes on DC’s Black label, the concept of a final tale, set in a dystopian future infused with mystery is so far, so Old man Logan. But Snyder and Capullo haven’t taken the easy route. There’s a wonderful, heart-wrenching, ridiculous and genuinely perplexing story here that confirms that this really has been several years in the making. The twists and turns demonstrate these creative forces at their peak — it’s all the better that they know their subject so well. There was never a risk they wouldn’t give Batman a fine send-off, but what’s particularly pleasing is that this time it’s these two who are beating a line back to Batman’s rich mythology after crafting so many new elements of their own. The references are sublime and achieve the impossible, but necessary: The all-encompassing dystopia of Dark Knight Returns barely registers at all. There’s a touch of Neil Gaiman’s Alfred (from his wonderful Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?) in the loyal servant’s antics too. That’s a clear sign of class.
Two landmark comics then. the latter may stand the test of time longer as a mini-series and the end of an era, rather than the start of one. But we expect these to both extended lives in the DCAU et al. DC is getting a lot right at the moment.
Next stop for Scott Snyder: rebooting the JSA for the DC Rebirth era. Cannot wait…
5.E3 Disassembles Avengers
E3 was a bit of a squib this year, with big gaps in the schedule the size of Sony and, oh, the New Batman game. One of the biggest pop culture smashes was the team-up of Marvel, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics in the game everyone was waiting for… or thought they were until they saw the screenshots. Marvel’s Avengers threatens to be as bland as its name, which is a great shame. Insomniac’s Spider-Man lulled us all into a false sense of security. Comic-based videogames are still an immense risk and although there’s a while till this surfaces, there are many early misgivings. no multi-player, micro-transactions, no plans to resculpt the appearances (they don’t need to be movie-aligned, but the rest of the design is — except Thor’s chest). While the quality and aspirations behind it are top draw, fans are a bit angsty.
666. Horror. Eight ball says…
Of course Blumhouse is making a Magic Eightball movie, of course they are. It’ll cost nothing, reap the box office, demand a sequel and everything…
Big Stu at the Guardian was not convinced, but he should know better with these guys.
7. DVD: Doctor Who’s Faceless Ones return
Another surprise package from the animating impresarios as we all hope to complete our Doctor Who collections. Just when we’d been convinced that four-parters were the only hope. Things are improving rapidly on the animation front considering reasonably restricted resources and fans should give them some leeway. If they have to release The Daleks’ Masterplan in two sets, so be it. But first, where’s that Evil of the Daleks..?
8. Fan Strife: Doctor Who catch up.
Talking of Doctor Who, two significant moments in the changing shape of fandom occurred in the past week. It’s a time when fandom is morphing into something new, and leading the charge is the most adaptive fanbase. As the series takes a curious break, fandom is splitting more than ever, not so much in a Classic or New sense, but New v New, through the prism of our fast-changing society. Doctor Who is wonderfully responsive and adaptive, there will always be slings and arrows. This is an objective take btw, but we’re clearly on a journey here…
One was the mass divide over Gareth Roberts exclusion from a BBC story collection following fan backlash. It prompted an unusual written response from the writer and cast a light on the difficult job BBC Studios have to make moving forward. Here’s an article laying out Roberts’ view of the New fandom, and the effective dead-heading of Studios’ policy.
As I say, this is a developing situation. Find the counter-argument to the above on Twitter about now!
Later, poor Billie Piper was caught out by a lesson in the dangers of trailing anything with the picture of a rose (unless that was her intention all along, huh? Huh?) Clue: It was nothing to do with Doctor Who, everything to do with charity. Honestly, as if she was going to ‘announce’ her return to the show — that’s what BBC press departments are for.
9. Review: Film. Dark Phoenix.
Excusing New Mutants, as many have been doing for the last year (if it’s still allowed a cinema release), the last hurrah for Fox’s 19 year steering of the X-Man draws the mega-franchise to a close with a whimper. Never, necessarily a bad thing, but one that’s left it open to attacks from critics — whose reviews haven’t been nearly as bad as their ratings, and a limp and awkward box office that ‘s a little unfair. Naturally, people are rushing to judge this as the end of a franchise and Dark Phoenix answers with myriad problems. But, sitting through the quite lean and structurally strange film was quite enjoyable. While missing its cue from the movies past and the source comic book, it isn’t quite as easy to categorise its failings as it was with Apocalypse.
If anything, Dark Phoenix showcases the problems that have always dogged this series. Firstly the overpowering Magneto, so brilliant and cool and a step above the rest, he really is this franchise’s Batman and they insist on putting him through the wringer. Unlike the previous three films in this timeline, Phoenix serves up a villain who can inspire and shape the Magneto who’ll now never emerge (I’m not sure that name is used here once by the way). In fact, the film doesn’t serve up much at all. It tries for its version of Civil War, but with a skeleton crew, It tries to shock but it’s wasteful (of the film’s major star, no less). It tries to head to space but villainous aliens aren’t fleshed out They stick out on their journey to being mutant cannon-fodder for their blandness — a great shame considering their comic book inspiration.
The previous film, Apocalypse, suffered from an over-abundance of origins and an inexplicable villain who simply threatened mass extinction (strangely, you can’t get much vaguer than that). This film fails to introduce any new mutant to any great degree. Token debuts from the famous storyline that inspired it — Dazzler! — are less than cameos. The early interest in the X-Men being a team, and the chance to follow them into adulthood and responsibility, at school and on the world stage, is lost. It’s 10 years since Raven admitted that she and beast were the last of the First Class. Repeating it in the 1990s is slavish. Pinning emotion on the academic beast, no disrespect to Nic Hoult, is a mistake.
James McAvoy’s Xavier is a different beast to the one we know, and he pays for it. In previous films, he emerged as an unlikely source of humour (as much as Magneto was the source of tragedy), but this film hasn’t any time for any comedy, which is a huge mistake. Quicksilver is denied a set-piece and only has a pitiful line to raise a chuckle. The inevitable confrontation with magneto is ignored and the biggest victim is the 1990s. CaptainMarvel proved what we all knew: The 1990s was a dull decade, presumably why it’s all but ignored here. Arriving in 1992, there’s barely a 90s song on the soundtrack or a riff on contemporary politics. That really is a missed opportunity, especially when Quicksilver even managed to don a Nirvana tee-shirt for his brief Deadpool 2 cameo. There is sterling work from Hans Zimmer on the score, an odd acceptance after he resigned for superheroic duties, which recalls the Prowlery aspects of Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse.
Sadly, it looks like the world has turned on the mutants at the last. A shame for Simon Kinberg and the core group that has done so well with the X-Franchise this decade, even as Marvel overwhelmed them. Phoenix does have its moments and for all Kinberg’s overbearing love of the extreme close-up, has a brash class that’s well beyond the dark 2000 original.
10. On the Jokerside. Stomp… Stomp…
Godzilla roared back to the cinema this month in the third of the Monsterverse smashes that Legendary Entertainment has pinned so much on. A risky business these shared cinematic universes, but they’ve done well so far. Godzilla: King of Monsters may not have inspired the critics (they’ve been prickly for the last month!) but it’s roared on to $300m so far… In preparation, or perhaps readiness for the big ones’ reappearance we took a look at a definitive period in the ‘Zilla’s life: the two reboots each side of the Pacific in the middle of the decade.
So that’s a wrap on Series 2, a slightly shorter series of Jokershorts as we’ve got some special projects on the boil. With the passing of Paul Darrow and the dive in blockbuster cinema — as the critics have it — it seems like a good time to do it! But we shall return… For SDCC so stay tuned. And be sure to keep up the conversation on Twitter & Facebook and by digging through Pop-Culture at Jokerside.com.
One last thing…
Where would spiderman be without a disappointing film poster? that’s pretty special, but fans are happy to help.
Oh and… Who’d have thought? Banana Splits horror.
See ya!
