#The Wolverine The Path of a Ronin | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

newhologram · 7 years ago

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Glorious purpose, sacrifice, and the god who started it all

Send a heartbeat to The void that cries through you Relive the pictures that have come to pass For now we stand alone The world is lost and blown And we are flesh and blood disintegrate With no more to hate

- The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning by Smashing Pumpkins (because this song is 100% about Avengers)

Been on an MCU binge to put everything under a microscope, so here’s what’s been rolling around in my brain.

Infinity War spoilers below with speculation/theories for Avengers 4 that includes A4 spoilery set leak stuff.

**SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT**

* * *

There’s a lot to talk about as far as theories as we were given some hopeful leads in IW and other films. Just to take inventory on some other speculations and fun ideas:

Shuri may have backed Vision up

Soul World: is that where Gamora is? Is that where everyone who was dusted went?

Nebula may get a meaningful role in helping to take Thanos down

Captain Marvel’s role in all this??

The possibility of Adam Warlock coming out of his cocoon

The Eternals maybe

Hawkeye/Ronin

Thor’s Stormbreaker handle being made of Groot somehow solving something

Thanos being overcome with grief in his isolation

The possibility of a major time jump in A4 to see how Earth has moved on after the snap, which may include Tony’s future with Pepper and their child. Everyone will have lived so many years with the consequences of the snap.

It also feels like each character might have to go on their own hunt for the stones, which might lead to an interesting reversal of the loss and sacrifice they faced in IW. I wonder who gets assigned to each stone and how that’ll play out for their individual character arc? There’s one stone for each original Avenger, so that’s cool to think about

Erasing versus dying. If you’ve heard anything about “the Event” that a lot of astrologers have been talking about lately, basically our reality is due for a cosmic event which splits us—leaving people behind and taking the rest into a prosperous new universe. Some will be “erased” from this existence. It’s been called the Rapture. Which is uh. Pretty interesting considering IW premiered on the actual date of the rapture prediction and how the Snap is absolutely a kind of sad superhero bad ending rapture.

Rewriting everything that we’ve seen in the past 6 years in canon

I’ve also seen some talk of theories such as “Loki is Bruce Banner in disguise”. I can see why this theory is popular because Bruce acts really weird the whole movie and seems to know things he shouldn’t. But I’m not too into it because it feels like there’s a big payoff coming with the Hulk (as in, we better get a cool shot of him bursting out of the Hulkbuster armor, like the toy).

There’s also some talk about spotting Quicksilver and even Wolverine on the set but I have nooo idea what those would even mean, not just in regards to the plot but with the whole joint custody thing Sony, Fox and Disney have been working out.

All of that said, I’ve been thinking about a few other threads in particular though, so that’s what I’ll be exploring here. Just speculation for fun. Let’s see where it leads.

☀ Undying Fidelity

The opening scene was really suspicious to me for many reasons. These directors are sharp and I believe there is purpose to everything we see as well as what we don’t see.

Let’s talk about my boy Loki.

He starts out pretty scared. The guy is sweating bullets.

After the Hulk engages Thanos, Loki isn’t on screen for several minutes. We don’t see him reacting or hiding or anything. I don’t trust that, especially not with the Russo bros directing it. I feel as though something is being hidden from us in this moment, distracted by the Hulk just as much as the bad guys are.

When he reappears to offer himself as a guide to Thanos, suddenly his demeanor is totally different. He seems calm, resolved even.

His choice of words is very important. The most suspicious to me are: “rightful heir to Jotunheim”, “God of Mischief”, “do hereby pledge my undying fidelity”. Loki does not want us to forget that he’s not only a Jotunn, not Asgardian by blood, but he’s a God, and a very, very cunning one. To be honest, it doesn’t feel like that last line was for Thanos at all. It honestly feels like he’s saying it to someone else—maybe himself. To his own duty in this moment. Which brings me to the next bullet point:

After that last line, dagger forming, his eyes quickly dart down. There’s a pause. A small beat there. He looks as though he’s steeling himself. That, to me, is the face of a man who very much knows he’s about to die. It’s a very Obi-Wan moment, right in front of Thor. It’s somehow even more heartbreaking if he knew it was coming, and was still so scared and small when Thanos wrapped his fist around his neck.

Loki’s a smart cookie. He may be relatively young for a god/alien but this isn’t his first rodeo. He already knows how deadly and terrifying Thanos is without the Gauntlet/stones, so what does he think he can do right now? He knows a little dagger isn’t going to win this for them and that’s precisely the point. He isn’t dumb enough to try that sincerely, which makes me believe even more that it was strategic. I have a feeling Thanos chiding him about his choice in words (”undying”) is going to come back to bite him in the ass.

Back to Loki’s words being important. When he’s first about to surrender the Tesseract earlier in the scene, he says to Thor, "I promise you, brother, the sun will shine on us again." He says it with so much purpose.

And his final words to Thanos: “You will never be a god.” Another reminder: Loki is a god. He’s survived a black hole, stabbing, Hulk-smashing, Grandmaster’s orgies, and likely more in his years. We’ve come to expect him to fake his own death by this point, though I’m still on the fence about whether this one was fake, or a necessary one he knew needed to happen, or somehow a bit of both. I wonder, only a little, where did Loki’s body go, is it just floating around with the rest of the dead?

For that matter, where the hell is Valkyrie? Is there any meaningful payoff rather than just humor for Korg calling Loki a ghost in Ragnarok? I’m not too hopeful for something like that, but it’s a thought.

Later on in the film we see Thor, another god, (barely) survive the concentrated full force of a dying star. I’m supposed to believe Loki, an incredibly gifted frost giant child trained in the arts of magic, Loki Ha Ha Duplicates of Me Everywhere Odinson, Loki I’m Right Where I Need to Be Laufeyson just has a sudden brain fart, tries to stab the Mad Titan, gets his neck snapped in front of his brother, and it’s not on purpose?

BITCH. DID. NOT. TURN. BACK. TO. BLUE.

Do I really think Loki is still alive? I don’t know. Loki is very, very dear to me but like I said, I’m on the fence. Because it seems like the deaths that happened before the snap, save for Gamora, might be permanent because we needed to feel that the stakes were high. On the other hand, again, Loki is very gifted. We’ve seen him “die” before and I still have a very hard time believing he’s fully dead and not god-level deep coma smacked down needing time to regenerate if he doesn’t just turn blue right after since his iconic look is an illusion too. His line about the sun shining on them again uses the word “us”, which could indicate a revival and reunion somehow.

But I’m cry because you know he and Thor got into a lot of trouble growing up, and big brother was always there for him. But then little brother goes through some hard stuff, falls into a black hole, gets picked up by a cult, and it all comes down to this moment now: no home to return safely to, no mother to console him after Odin’s discipline, Thor unable to save him.

♥ We Don’t Trade Lives

Before I go into A4 speculation, let’s look at how each character deals with sacrifice, just for fun:

Loki is given a choice: his brother’s life, or the Space Stone → Loki surrenders and sacrifices himself

Quill is given a choice: the love of his life, or Thanos getting closer to winning → Quill is hesitates and is unable to keep his promise of sacrificing Gamora

Gamora is given a choice: her sister, or the location of the Soul Stone → Gamora surrenders to spare Nebula

Thanos is given a choice: his favorite daughter, or the Soul Stone → Thanos sacrifices Gamora for the stone

Dr. Strange is given a choice: Tony Stark, or the Time Stone → Despite earlier warning Tony he wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice either him or Peter if it means keeping the Time Stone safe, he surrenders the stone → He sacrifices his duty, his life, and the lives of everyone else who gets dusted in order to put them on the one right path he saw out of over 14 million

Wanda is given a choice: Vision, or the Mind Stone → Her struggle with this choice starts earlier on when Vision offers to sacrifice himself to destroy the Mind Stone → Cap tells him “we don’t trade lives” → Wanda is also not willing to immediately kill him when asked → They run out of time and options, Wanda finally sacrifices Vision, which as we saw didn’t really work out the way they wanted

Our characters struggle with sacrificing something important to them in order to save the universe (remember, in the eyes of Thanos, he’s saving the universe too). Many of the characters value their loved ones above everything else and don’t want to have to make that choice. They don’t want to face the pain of a life without that person, or they don’t want another person to suffer or die painfully because of them.

Alright. Let’s talk bidness.

♛ Reframe the Future

Yeah—remember B.A.R.F.? Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing.

This has to be what Tony will use to look back at things. I see him replaying the events of the first Avengers over and over, trying to figure out how it all could’ve gone so wrong, what clues they missed, and how to fix it.

Which brings us to the question of time travel. Is this where the idea of Infinite Avengers will come in, if the multiverse is explored? I don’t have too much of a lead on that, but it’s interesting to think about. If that ends up being the title of A4 it would certainly point to that.

(Note Tony’s greying hair which supports the idea that A4 will start 5-10 years after Infinity War)

Many have speculated about the devices on their wrists in these photos, as well as the fact that while Tony and Ant-Man seem to be their present selves, others are in their old costumes from the first Avengers. Doesn’t quite answer why Cap is wearing a device, unless they recruit lots of multiversal Avengers from various timelines/realities/points in history to help? (Wouldn’t it be crazy to find out that Ant-Man has been a secret tiny time traveling Avenger the whole time?)

It’s hard to know exactly what kind of time travel shenanigans we’re dealing with. Maybe we’ll learn more when we see Ant-Man and the Wasp, since they’re going to be dealing with the quantum realm, where time doesn’t really exist. In the quantum realm, every possibility exists at the same time.

We do have some clues though.

Exhibit A: Loki in all his muzzled glory, as seen at the end of Avengers.

We know that this time travel plot would involve going back to where it all started. But what could be done, what is Tony’s play?

Exhibit B: Tony Stark in S.H.I.E.L.D. gear. More specifically—

As one of Loki’s escorts.

What we don’t see in Avengers is how everything goes down when they take Loki back into custody (after grubbing on shawarma). We don’t see the discussion about what to do with him and Thor’s decision to take Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard.

So, again, what the hell is Tony’s game plan?

If he’s disguised as a guard, there could be a chance to get alone with Loki and talk to him. Tell him everything that goes down. Get him to help. Get info from him, and make sure he knows how things need to play out in order for this all to work.

I’m not sure how yet though. It seems this could somehow involve Stark making his own Infinity Gauntlet, but that’s later down the line. Where does Loki fit into the plan beyond the time travel scene? That may be all we get of him.

I’m so excited for the possibility of my two favorite characters working together or even having just once more scene together, however it plays out. Tony and Loki both smiled at each others’ jokes in A1 and I loved it. I feel like their dynamic would be so interesting to explore more. Tony totally clocked that Loki is a diva, because they’re both like that lol.

☮ Glorious Purpose

But what’s most interesting to me right now is the implication that if this is the closed loop kind of time travel, it would mean Loki has known about all this since the end of Avengers.

When the Hulk was distracting everyone, was Loki hiding behind a wall, readying himself for what he knew he needed to do next? I’ve heard talk of the possibility of a duplicate since that’s what Loki does, but would Thanos have been able to tell he was killing an illusion? He didn’t have the Soul Stone then which likely helped him tell which Strange was real later. I’ve also heard talk of a Loki switchout, but I’m not too convinced because it would involve somehow transporting another Loki there. Not so sure there would be a stealthy way to do any of that.

Did Loki die in the beginning of Infinity War fully knowing all those years that it was going to happen, that it needed to happen, in order for the sun to shine again?

Did Loki die to help save the universe?

...

If Loki knew those few weeks on Sakaar were going to be his last, do you think he was like, “Guess I better live my best life and spend my final days sipping cocktails on Grandmaster’s lap.”

My final speculation prediction REQUIREMENT from Marvel Studios is to have Avengers 4 end with a beautiful Pepperony wedding filled with superheroes. Whoever’s left, that is.

(This also means if there’s a time jump, Tony will possibly erase the present he has with Pepper and their child in order to save everyone... Should be interesting.)

In conclusion, have this whiteboard drawing I did for @spazzeon as I tried to explain all of this

#avengers #mcu #infinity war #marvel #loki #infinity war spoilers #teku #long post

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anhed-nia · 7 years ago

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BLOGTOBER TAILGATE PARTY, PT 1 - 9/29/17: BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL

When I first heard that Takashi Miike’s 100th movie was to be an adaption of Hiraoki Samura’s recently concluded manga epic Blade of the Immortal, I had to double check that my dream journal was still under my pillow. I’ve been such a fan of Samura’s punk-inflected samurai opera since someone first handed me an early issue of Dark Horse’s floppy run, that it is honestly very difficult for me to discuss the film without plunging into a needy, nerdy interrogation of the minute differences between each version. For everyone’s sake, I will instead try to take a lesson in brevity from Miike, who managed to extract an extraordinarily brisk and even fun two and a half hour movie from the perverse and often miserable thirty-one volume tale of the “killer of 100″.

Put briefly, somehow: Manji, a scruffy ronin deformed by battle, is cursed to roam the earth forever after an ancient crone infects him with “bloodworms” that repair his every new wound. His solitude is interrupted by the arrival of Rin, an orphaned child of nobility in search of an avenger; her father’s sword school was annihilated by the emerging Itto-ryu gang of warrior outcasts, and she can only be satisfied by the death of their leader Anotsu Kagehisa. Rin’s quest gives way to rivers of gore, and peels back layers of conspiracy and betrayal emanating from the corrupt and crumbling shogunate. As the plot thickens, moral ambiguity becomes the order of the day, and a founding concept becomes a footnote--that Manji’s agonizing immortality can only be rescinded once he has killed 100 deserving villains, to balance out the taking of innocent life that preceded the curse of the bloodworms. This is really for the best, as Blade’s tally of spectacular murders rises.

Although I was beyond delighted to hear that one of my favorite directors was adapting one of my favorite books, I had a suspicion that the result would be on the shallow, conservative end of the Miike spectrum. I was basically right. The BLADE movie breezes through the key events of Samura’s serial, striking all the critical moments with rigorous efficiency. Having heard the names Miike and Samura together, I thought first of the latter’s fathomless perversity--not only of Blade’s detailed index of torture and rape, but of the artist’s collection of somehow-erotic ero guro illustrations called The Love of the Brute, which displays a level of misogynist violence so extreme that it may cause the viewer to overhaul their personal definition of what is identifiable as pornography. Curiously, Miike forgoes this opportunity to exercise his own interest in gruesome sexuality, in favor of crafting a lean, energetic action movie that gets right to the point. When I noted the impressive running time, I wasn’t totally sure what to expect. As it turned out, the film represents a rare case not of bloating due to a fatty plot, but simply expanding to accommodate the enormous amount of time required for a handful of characters to slaughter what appears to be half the population of Japan.

Miike distills Blade’s story down to its barest essence, in which morality is interrogated in its every aspect. Even a painfully sincere little girl is susceptible to the thirst for vengeance, and by the same token, a murdering narcissist harbors complex justifications for his genocide of traditional sword schools. It may sound like it now, but BLADE’s discourse does not degenerate into lame plot twists and tired bravado about hypocrisy. Instead, it dutifully examines the lives of people who live by their own rules, in which tyrannical concepts like good and evil are supplanted by subjective experience of love and hate. In this world, the genuine evil manifests not through physical violence, but through the institutional enforcement of artificial mores and values. Without giving away too much, Anotsu’s motivation for destroying Japan’s sword school system is that in peacetime, the noble class’ study of martial arts has become decadent, redundant and nonsensical. In spite of Rin’s personal tragedy, Anotsu’s view of this meaningless practice is awfully familiar to anyone who lives among so many kickboxing studios overloaded with soccer moms, and in that way becomes bitterly sympathetic.

All of this moral flux is mirrored by an element from the book that Miike translates fairly directly. Though Samura’s opus occurs in the 1700s, his art is marked by an unusual aesthetic. Rather than simply following the fashion sensibilities that were well established in manga by the time Blade of the Immortal launched in 1993, the porcupine coifs and darkly sexy costumes of Samura’s mercenaries appropriately align them with punk rock ethics and attitudes. The story takes place during the Tokugawa Shogunate, which was Japan’s last feudal government. Blade reverberates with the rumble of oncoming modernity and internationalization, which would see traditional customs and lifestyles dead and buried by the end of the Edo Period. Miike’s film is almost perfectly cast, which should come as no surprise, but I have to admit that I had been wondering whether he hadn’t read Blade of the Immortal ever since he adapted another manga in 2001:

On that note, I might complain that Tadanobu Asano is much better cast in ICHI THE KILLER than Takuya Kimura is in BLADE, but possibly there’s a design at work: Samura’s Rin reads as a mature but naive 20 year old, where Miike’s Rin (Hana Sugisaki) is aged way down to a pouty sprite. Similarly, Samura’s Manji, a youthful, sarcastic nihilist, is not too recognizable in Kimura’s more seasoned and philosophical hermit. But, maybe the exaggerated dynamic between the film pair contributes to the movie’s economy of storytelling.

Before I risk going too far afield, it’s important to remember that the driving force behind Miike’s adaptation is pure violence. Samura is somewhat famous for his preposterously chaotic fight scenes, which deploy a psychotic swirl of motion from which it can be difficult to extract anything like real human action. The BLADE film gets pretty close with its abattoir-like battles that somehow conclude with just one or two men standing atop a Mount Everest of corpses. Manji’s billowing sleeves readily vomit forth a ludicrous armory of exotic-looking weapons taken directly from Samura, who would sometimes admit in a chapter’s footnotes that they couldn’t possibly function in real life. Each blade is destined for a thousand guts and gullets, and the effect is pure delight.

It probably won’t surprise Blogtober veterans that I’ve managed to make a mountain out of a mole hill yet again, without much in the way of an actual conclusion. So, to come down from my rickety intellectual high horse, I’ll leave you with my truly idiotic notion, to which I’ve clung for years just to spite my childhood, that Manji is the ~good~ version of Wolverine: A scruffy, solitary mercenary who is damned to live through every mortal injury imaginable, yet who still finds space in his dark and gritty life for a precocious young orphan girl who needs him to set her on the right path.

Maybe I’ve stuck by Manji all these years because he offers me a classier version of my shameful childhood obsession with the paternalistic canuck who basically adopted Jubilee from the mall, and taught Kitty Pryde not to smoke cigars. I’d prefer to insist that I have better reasons, some of which are stated herein. All that said, you don’t have to care about Hiroaki Samura, or his 24-year old manga, or have any preexisting conditions in order to enjoy Takashi Miike’s explosive sword opera. But, if you wanna talk about comics, let me know.

#takashi miike #hiroaki samura #blade of the immortal #takuya kimora #hana sugisaki #blogtober #manga #sword opera #chanbara #action #period piece #edo period #tokugawa shogunate #ero guro #mugen no juunin #ichi the killer

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aion-rsa · 6 years ago

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Avengers: Endgame - Who is Ronin?

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Clint Barton has a darker look and new costume in Avengers: Endgame. Here's what you need to know about Hawkeye, Ronin, and more.

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Gavin Jasper

Marvel

Apr 26, 2019

Avengers: Endgame

This article contains Avengers: Endgame spoilers. You’ve been warned. We have a completely spoiler free review right here.

After being nowhere to be found in Avengers: Infinity War, Hawkeye is front and center again in Avengers: Endgame. Unfortunately for Clint Barton, losing his family thanks to Thanos' snap drives him a little bonkers, and he spends a little time running around the MCU in a black costume, wiping out criminals with a samurai sword, under the moniker of Ronin (even though that name is never actually said in the movie).

But who is Ronin, exactly?

Originally, Ronin had little to do with Clint Barton unless you considered him a red herring. Brian Michael Bendis was writing Avengers in the mid-2000s and gave us Avengers: Disassembled, a chaotic storyline that killed off a handful of Avengers members. Hawkeye was one of those victims, getting blown up in a fight against a Kree invasion that was ultimately conjured up by an insane Scarlet Witch.

Shortly after this story, Bendis started up a new Avengers series...New Avengers. Rather than go for a more classic line-up, he got a bit unorthodox. Captain America and Iron Man returned as representatives of the old guard. Spider-Man and Wolverine were brought in due to Bendis’ belief that if the Avengers are Marvel’s Justice League, then they should have the most popular characters. Spider-Woman and Luke Cage acted as Marvel mainstays who needed a day in the sun. Then you had the two wildcards in the Sentry – an X-factor of a hero who had only appeared in a miniseries at that point – and Ronin.

read more - Avengers: Endgame Ending Explained

Ronin appeared on many New Avengers covers despite not showing up until the eleventh issue. In the speculation, many felt that Ronin was supposed to be Daredevil in a new disguise for some reason. After all, Bendis was also in the middle of his legendary Daredevil run at the time. Bendis later admitted that that was the original plan, but it wouldn’t have worked out.

Instead, when they finally got around to telling Ronin’s story, they made hints that this mysterious ninja was not just a woman, but Elektra. She was an associate with Daredevil, Captain America said he didn’t approve of her history with the Kingpin, and we got to see what looked like her hair from behind. Also, her mission involved taking on the Hand, which is totally an Elektra thing to do.

But there was a bit of a hint of Ronin’s true identity. An army of ninjas was able to sneak up behind her. Sure, they’re supposed to be stealthy, but there were so many of them that you’d have to be deaf not to notice. Sure enough, by the time the Ronin storyline finished up, she unmasked to reveal she was Echo, otherwise known as Maya Lopez. A former flame of Matt Murdock’s and adopted daughter of Wilson Fisk, Echo was introduced in the Daredevil comic right before Bendis took over (David Mack and Joe Quesada were the creative team at the time, and they created Echo). Much like Daredevil, she had enhanced abilities despite a physical handicap, only it was deafness instead of blindness.

read more - Complete Guide to Marvel and MCU Easter Eggs in Avengers: Endgame

That quick Ronin story was about all there was for Echo’s relevancy, though. It was the hazard of Bendis’ writing. He would write interesting scenarios for the New Avengers, but he’d stretch it out so long that he was too busy catching up with the big Marvel events going on to really explore his ideas. That plot thread would rest for a while as Marvel books dedicated themselves to House of M and Civil War, two other major storylines.

During yet another big Marvel event, House of M, Scarlet Witch rewrote reality so that mutants were in charge. She also magically brought Hawkeye back to life with no memory of the original timeline or his death. He eventually regained those memories and it put him on a dark path that would last for several years, including a couple attempts to straight-up murder Scarlet Witch in the name of revenge. When the world returned to normal (albeit with most mutants depowered), Hawkeye remained alive, but went on his own path.

While they’re a bit more open to it these days, having two superheroes share the same name at the same time in Marvel is something they usually go out of their way to avoid. One of the two has to die, be taken out of commission, or simply change their name. Since Marvel had just introduced a new Hawkeye in Young Avengers (Kate Bishop) and Clint was no longer dead, that meant a new identity.

Clint gave up on his revenge plot, but was less than thrilled to hear that Captain America died in the aftermath of Civil War. Even for a guy who was brought back from the dead, Clint was about to have a string of bad times. Stark offered him the shield as the new Captain America, but Clint refused. It wasn’t for him and he wasn’t exactly pleased with Stark in general.

Meanwhile, Echo’s adventures against the Hand got her captured, killed, and resurrected by their new leader Elektra. The anti-Stark Avengers team went on a mission to rescue her and with them was a new Ronin. We didn’t get many hints on the identity this time other than it not being Matt Murdock.

A flashback showed the truth: Clint visited New Avengers member Doctor Strange and came across the rest of the rebel team, all confused that he was alive. He offered to join them in their Echo rescue mission, but didn’t want to be Hawkeye anymore. Wolverine instead gave him the Ronin costume.

read more: Complete Schedule of Upcoming Marvel Movies

It worked out, though. Yet another flashback revealed that in their early Avengers days, Captain America taught Hawkeye how to fight with more than a bow and arrow. Kicking ass with katanas and martial arts was Clint’s own way of honoring his fallen leader. After Echo was safe, she let Clint keep the identity, seeing as she didn’t need it and she felt that he did, at least for a little while.

Then the bad times really started to kick in.

Secret Invasion was going on and that meant there were heroes all over who were secretly shape-shifting Skrulls meant to take over the planet. This included some that weren’t aware of the truth, such as one posing as Hawkeye's dead wife Mockingbird. She knew some incredibly intimate facts about their relationship, but she was just another fake. Clint, in an act of rage, gunned down the confused alien and ranted about how he was going to go genocidal on the invaders.

He does manage to kill a few Skrulls, and in context, that's kinda good. The end of the invasion means that Norman Osborn is now in charge of everything military and superhero-related in the government and that’s bad. The real Mockingbird turns out to be alive after all and that’s good. She does point out that she divorced him before she was abducted by Skrulls and that’s bad.

Ronin would lead the New Avengers, who were more of a rebel team than ever before because Osborn had his own team of Dark Avengers wearing their identities and every good guy was on their shit list. Osborn being in charge – not to mention mass murderer Bullseye dressing up as the new Hawkeye – drove Clint to wanting to straight-up assassinate the weird-haired dickhead. He went on a one-man mission to just that and failed because Osborn had crazy plot armor back then.

Clint didn’t die either because, come on, they weren’t going to kill a guy so fresh from stepping out of the grave.

read more: Marvel Cinematic Universe Viewing Order

Luckily, good things started happening for our man Clint. Steve Rogers came back from the dead and led the team again, including putting an end to Norman Osborn’s reign of terror. The Superhero Registration Act finally died. Clint and Mockingbird started having fun adventures together. He started dating Spider-Woman. Being an Avenger no longer had a scummy stigma to it. Scarlet Witch even chilled out a bit. Things were back to normal enough that Clint could be himself. He was alive and he could live his life.

And so, there would be two Hawkeyes coexisting. The grim, katana-wielding ninja would find his stride as a dopey archer with a sidekick and a one-eyed, pizza-loving dog.

As for “Ronin,” the gimmick got used plenty more in the main Marvel universe and beyond. The Red Guardian and even Blade wore the mask. In the Ultimate Universe, it was just another identity for Moon Knight. Even on the Japanese cartoon Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers, Ronin ended up being a secret identity for Nozomu Akatsuki, benevolent scientist and father of the protagonists, who was mind-controlled by Loki.

read more - Avengers: Endgame - Who is Kate Bishop?

While Ronin is a fun way for Marvel to add mystery to their stories, it truly found the most meaning in its Clint Barton days. He didn’t truly need to wear the black costume. It simply represented that he was going through a very bad time. Experiencing death, having your heart broken, losing a close friend, being vilified for being a good person, and seeing the world go to Hell could break a person.

So could having your beloved family turn to dust because of the acts of a Mad Titan.

Gavin Jasper writes for Den of Geek and remembers that Hawkeye was a major player in saving both universes in the JLA/Avengers crossover. Even against Thanos, he shouldn’t be underestimated. Read more of Gavin’s stuff here and follow him on Twitter @Gavin4L

from Books http://bit.ly/2GJnhml

#aion-rsa #Books

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greenbraincomics · 5 years ago

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New Comics List for 07/15 @ Green Brain Comics

A decade has passed since the first Waves hit, unleashing humanity's darkest impulses and plunging the world into chaos. Paxton, a single father of three, must venture from the secluded haven they've built to restock the medicine his chronically-ill youngest son needs to survive. When the somewhat routine trip goes awry, Paxton and his children-now separated-will battle everything in their path to reunite.

RESONANT #1 from VAULT COMICS, writer David Andry, and artist Alejandro Aragon. This dynamic first issue hits the shelf this Wednesday, July 17, along with over 100 other new comics & graphic novels. Curated and presented by your pals at Green Brain Comics.

K-6 NEW COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS DISNEY SNOW WHITE AND SEVEN DWARFS #2 (OF 3) $3.99 TEEN TITANS GO #35 $2.99 MIDDLE GRADE NEW COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS DISNEY DRACULA STARRING MICKEY MOUSE TP $10.99 YOUNG ADULT NEW COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS BAGS OR A STORY THEREOF ORIGINAL GN $12.99 BEASTARS GN VOL 01 $12.99 BY NIGHT TP VOL 02 $14.99 CHESHIRE CROSSING GN $14.99 DOCTOR WHO 13TH #10 $3.99 FIREFLY #8 $3.99 GODZILLA KINGDOM OF MONSTERS TP $29.99 JUGHEAD TIME POLICE #2 (OF 5) $3.99 MAGUS OF LIBRARY GN VOL 01 $12.99 NYANKEES GN VOL 03 $13.00 RONIN ISLAND TP VOL 01 PX DISCOVER NOW ED $14.99 STAR WARS DOCTOR APHRA #34 $3.99 STAR WARS TIE FIGHTER #4 (OF 5) $3.99 JIM HENSON STORYTELLER SIRENS #4 $3.99 TRANSFORMERS #9 $3.99 TRANSFORMERS GHOSTBUSTERS #2 $3.99 VINCENT GN BOOK 02 HEARTBREAK & PARTIES 101 $10.99 MARVEL UNIVERSE NEW COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS BLACK WIDOW TP NO RESTRAINTS PLAY $15.99 CAPTAIN MARVEL #8 $3.99 TRUE BELIEVERS ABSOLUTE CARNAGE MAXIMUM CARNAGE #1 $1.00 TRUE BELIEVERS ABSOLUTE CARNAGE SAVAGE REBIRTH #1 $1.00 DAREDEVIL #8 $3.99 DEADPOOL #15 $4.99 DOMINO HOTSHOTS #5 (OF 5) $3.99 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY ANNUAL #1 2ND PTG $4.99 IMMORTAL HULK #19 2ND PTG $3.99 IMMORTAL HULK #21 $3.99 INCREDIBLE HULK LAST CALL #1 2ND PTG $4.99 INVADERS #7 $3.99 LOKI #1 $3.99 MARVELS EYE OF CAMERA TP NEW PTG $19.99 PUNISHER ANNUAL #1 $4.99 SECRET WARPS GHOST PANTHER ANNUAL #1 $4.99 SILVER SURFER BLACK #1 (OF 5) 3RD PTG $3.99 SILVER SURFER BLACK #2 (OF 5) $3.99 SPIDER-MAN CITY AT WAR #5 (OF 6) $3.99 SPIDER-MAN LIFE STORY #5 (OF 6) $4.99 SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #9 $3.99 MILES MORALES SPIDER-MAN #4 2ND PTG $3.99 MILES MORALES SPIDER-MAN #6 2ND PTG $3.99 MILES MORALES TP VOL 01 STRAIGHT OUT OF BROOKLYN $17.99 UNSTOPPABLE WASP #10 $3.99 HAVOK AND WOLVERINE TP MELTDOWN NEW PTG $24.99 WOLVERINE TP LONG NIGHT $15.99 X-FORCE #10 $3.99 AGE OF X-MAN OMEGA #1 $4.99 UNCANNY X-MEN #22 $4.99 GIANT SIZED X-MEN #1 FACSIMILE EDITION $4.99 X-MEN EPIC COLLECTION TP ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE DAWN $39.99 DC UNIVERSE NEW COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS AQUAMAN #50 YOTV THE OFFER $4.99 BATMAN #75 YOTV THE OFFER $4.99 EVENT LEVIATHAN #2 (OF 6) $3.99 JUSTICE LEAGUE #28 YOTV THE OFFER $3.99 JUSTICE LEAGUE TP VOL 03 HAWKWORLD $17.99 NIGHTWING #62 YOTV THE OFFER $3.99 SUPERMANS PAL JIMMY OLSEN #1 (OF 12) $3.99 TEEN TITANS #32 YOTV THE OFFER $3.99 WONDER WOMAN COME BACK TO ME #1 (OF 6) $4.99 ACTION /ADVENTURE NEW COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS AMBER BLAKE #4 2ND PTG $3.99 NEIL GAIMAN AMERICAN GODS MOMENT OF STORM #4 $3.99 ASSASSIN NATION #5 (OF 5) (MR) $3.99 BLACK BADGE #12 $3.99 BLACK SCIENCE #41 $3.99 BLADE RUNNER 2019 #1 $3.99 BLOSSOMS 666 #5 (OF 5) $3.99 BPRD DEVIL YOU KNOW TP VOL 03 RAGNA ROK $19.99 BRONZE AGE BOOGIE #4 $3.99 COLLAPSER #1 (OF 6) (MR) $3.99 CRIMSON LOTUS TP $19.99 DIE DIE DIE TP VOL 01 (MR) $19.99 BRAM STOKERS DRACULA TP $19.99 ELVIRA MISTRESS OF DARK #7 $3.99 EVOLUTION #17 (MR) $3.99 EXCELLENCE #3 $3.99 FAIRLADY #4 $3.99 FAITHLESS #4 (OF 5) $3.99 FROM HELL MASTER EDITION #6 (MR) $7.99 GHOST TREE #4 $3.99 GIDEON FALLS #15 $3.99 GRUMBLE TP VOL 01 YOURE THE DOG NOW MAN $17.99 GUNNING FOR HITS TP (MR) $16.99 HIT-GIRL SEASON TWO #6 $3.99 JAMES BOND 007 #9 $3.99 JOE GOLEM OCCULT DETECTIVE CONJURORS #3 (OF 5) $3.99 JUGHEAD HUNGER VS VAMPIRONICA #3 $3.99 LADY MECHANIKA SANGRE #2 (OF 5) $3.99 LAGUARDIA TP (MR) $19.99 LIFE & DEATH OF TOYO HARADA #5 (OF 6) $4.99 LITTLE BIRD #5 (OF 5) (MR) $3.99 LOEG TEMPEST #6 $4.99 LUCIFER #10 (MR) $3.99 MARY SHELLEY MONSTER HUNTER #4 $3.99 NEON FUTURE #5 (OF 6) $3.99 ORVILLE NEW BEGINNINGS #1 $3.99 OUTPOST ZERO #11 $3.99 PEARL #11 (MR) $3.99 PORT OF EARTH #12 $3.99 QUIET KIND ONE SHOT $5.99 RAGNAROK BREAKING OF HELHEIM #1 (OF 6) $4.99 RESONANT #1 $3.99 RIDE BURNING DESIRE #2 (OF 5) $3.99 ROAD OF BONES #3 (OF 5) $3.99 RUMBLE #14 $3.99 SANDMAN TP VOL 10 THE WAKE 30TH ANNIV ED (MR) $19.99 SERA & ROYAL STARS #1 $3.99 SONATA #2 (MR) $3.99 TROUT HOLLOWEST KNOCK #2 (OF 4) $3.99 TUROK #4 $3.99 USAGI YOJIMBO #2 $3.99 VAMPIRELLA #1 1969 REPLICA ED $6.99 VAMPIRELLA #1 $3.99 VINDICATION TP (MR) $12.99 WARNING #9 (MR) $3.99 WITCHER TP VOL 04 OF FLESH AND FLAME $17.99 INDY NEW COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS ADVANCE DEATH SAVES FALLEN HEROES O/T KITCHEN TABLE HC $24.99 BEFORE HOUDINI GN VOL 02 $16.99 GOBLIN SLAYER BRAND NEW DAY GN VOL 01 (MR) $13.00 HOW I TRIED TO BE A GOOD PERSON HC ULLI LUST (MR) $34.99 LETS MAKE RAMEN COMIC BOOK COOKBOOK $19.99 LOVE & ROCKETS MAGAZINE #7 $4.99 OUR SUPER ADVENTURE HC VOL 02 VIDEO GAMES & PIZZA PARTIES $19.99 THEY CALLED US ENEMY TP $19.99 MISC STUFF MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER ENAMEL PIN SET $14.99

#New Comic Day #new comics #resonant #david andry #alejandro aragon

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actionfigureinsider · 6 years ago

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The One:12 Collective Wolverine 5 Ronin figure depicts the mutant enduring the brutality of 17th century Japan. Based on his appearance in ‘5 Ronin’, Wolverine is authentically dressed in traditional samurai clothing and comes complete with two katana swords of arming length, and two sheaths that can be neatly tucked into his waist belt and a scarf.

Wolverine is forced to walk the lonely path of the masterless samurai in the violent and tumultuous world of feudal Japan. Determined to avenge his brother, Wolverine sets off to find the Damiyo who is responsible for his brother’s demise.

THE ONE:12 COLLECTIVE WOLVERINE 5 RONIN FIGURE FEATURES:

One:12 Collective body with over 28 points of articulation

Two (2) head portraits

Hand painted authentic detailing

Approximately 17cm tall

Seven (7) interchangeable hands

One (1) pair of fists (L&R)

One (1) pair of clawed fists (L&R)

One (1) pair of sword holding hands (L&R)

One (1) posing hand (R)

COSTUME:

Kamishimo with kimono, hakama, jacket and waist belt

Scarf with integrated posing wire

Geta style shoes

ACCESSORIES:

One (1) long katana sword with sheath

One (1) short katana sword with sheath

One (1) One:12 Collective display base with logo

One (1) One:12 Collective adjustable display post

Each One:12 Collective Wolverine 5 Ronin figure is packaged in a collector friendly box, designed with collectors in mind.

This limited edition Mezco Fall Exclusive is only available via our website and at the Mezco Toyz NYCC booth #1954, while supplies last.

One:12 Collective Wolverine 5 Ronin from @MezcoToyz The One:12 Collective Wolverine 5 Ronin figure depicts the mutant enduring the brutality of 17th century Japan.

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xprojectrpg · 1 year ago

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This Day in X-Project - November 13

PHASE 2

2015: Clea is excited about the Homecoming Dance that night. Miles posts a photo to Instagram of himself and Bobby at the dance. North gets retribution for that one time Felicia stole all of North's clothes and sent them to her tailor.

2016: Maya asks Wade if they can go camping. Laurie posts about it being Match Day for med students.

2017:

2018: Jubilee posts about food. Laurie posts about volunteering in a soup kitchen during Thanksgiving.

2019: Topaz wonders about the wisdom of the Chicago Library transcribing spellbooks. Clea posts a link to a new band, heavily featuring hammers and spaceships.

2020: Gabriel reflects on how the mansion never ceases to surprise him. Time Stand Still: Alex meets Franklin early in the morning in the kitchen and helps him achieve mac and cheese and cartoons; Kurt meets Talia and it’s not actually weird at all; Cypher calls for volunteers for the ambush in Avalon; Changeling draws the Other Topaz to Avalon and the trap is executed; Wolverine, Facade and Sombra cut a path through Other Topaz’s shadow creatures on one side, while Ronin, Blink and Pyro do the same on the other side; Echo, Skin and Sentinel take care of the third side and the Frosts - the White Queen, Fourteen and Ruby and Garnet - psychically prevent her from draining emotions for power; finally, Tarot, Dust, Marvel Girl, Psylocke and Topaz overload Evil!Topaz, allowing Daytripper to come in and kill her.

2021: Gabe runs into Jean at a bar where she reveals she has quit Claremont. Operation: Wideawake: Amanda emails Marie-Ange about receiving a tip about another Sentinel project and an asset inside who needs extracting before the Brotherhood turn up; Marie-Ange alerts the team they have a job. Arise, X-Man: Laurie takes Nate to a movie to test his powers and uses an unorthodox technique to calm him down when he panics.

2022:

#this day in xproject #plot #plots #xprpg #xproject #phase 2 #rpg #rp

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aion-rsa · 6 years ago

Text

Avengers: Endgame - Who is Ronin?

https://ift.tt/2EbVvOD

Clint Barton is shown donning a darker look in Avengers: Endgame trailers. Here's what you need to know about Hawkeye, Ronin, and more.

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twitter

google+

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Feature

Books

Gavin Jasper

Marvel

Mar 14, 2019

Avengers: Endgame

We finally get a little taste of the next Avengers tale with that Avengers: Endgame trailer. It doesn’t tell us too much and the glimpses we get only ask more questions. It also gives us a quick look at what’s up with the two biggest Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes to skip out on Infinity War in Ant-Man and Hawkeye. Both were described as being under house arrest in the last movie, but now we see Hawkeye’s back in action...albeit not in the most mentally healthy way.

In his scant seconds in the Avengers: Endgame trailer, we see Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton cleaning off a used sword while standing over a handful of goons who are probably dead. Instead of his SHIELD uniform, he’s dressed in an armored ninja costume. He’s no longer Hawkeye, but Ronin.

But who is Ronin, exactly?

read more - Avengers: Infinity War Easter Eggs Guide

read more: Complete Schedule of Upcoming Marvel Movies

Then the bad times really started to kick in.

Clint didn’t die either because, come on, they weren’t going to kill a guy so fresh from stepping out of the grave.

read more: Marvel Cinematic Universe Viewing Order

And so, there would be two Hawkeyes coexisting. The grim, katana-wielding ninja would find his stride as a dopey archer with a sidekick and a one-eyed, pizza-loving dog.

read more - Avengers: Endgame - Who is Kate Bishop?

So could having your beloved family turn to dust because of the acts of a Mad Titan.

from Books https://ift.tt/2zUgGlc

#aion-rsa #Books

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aion-rsa · 6 years ago

Text

Avengers: Endgame - Who is Ronin?

https://ift.tt/2EbVvOD

Clint Barton is shown donning a darker look in Avengers: Endgame trailer. Here's a look at what it's all about and what it represents.

facebook

twitter

google+

tumblr

Feature

Books

Gavin Jasper

Marvel

Dec 10, 2018

Avengers: Endgame

We finally get a little taste of the next Avengers tale with that Avengers: End Game trailer. It doesn’t tell us too much and the glimpses we get only ask more questions. It also gives us a quick look at what’s up with the two biggest Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes to skip out on Infinity War in Ant-Man and Hawkeye. Both were described as being under house arrest in the last movie, but now we see Hawkeye’s back in action...albeit not in the most mentally healthy way.

In his scant seconds in the trailer, Clint Barton is shown cleaning off a used sword while standing over a handful of goons who are probably dead. Instead of his SHIELD uniform, he’s dressed in an armored ninja costume. He’s no longer Hawkeye, but Ronin.

But who is Ronin, exactly?

further reading - Avengers: Infinity War Easter Eggs Guide

further reading: Complete Schedule of Upcoming Marvel Movies

Then the bad times really started to kick in.

Clint didn’t die either because, come on, they weren’t going to kill a guy so fresh from stepping out of the grave.

further reading: Marvel Cinematic Universe Viewing Order

And so, there would be two Hawkeyes coexisting. The grim, katana-wielding ninja would find his stride as a dopey archer with a sidekick and a one-eyed, pizza-loving dog.

So could having your beloved family turn to dust because of the acts of a Mad Titan.

from Books https://ift.tt/2zUgGlc

#aion-rsa #Books

0 notes