#ralph breaks the internet rewrite

[thatonelesbianfander]

Rewriting Bad Cinema: Ralph Breaks the Internet (WIR 2)

Okay, so I’m bored and have no idea what to post and I’ve had this idea in my head for a while so welcome to a new series thingy I’m going to do on my account called “Rewriting Bad Cinema” where I go and rewrite bad movies and sequels to something better.

Disclaimer: This is just for fun and not to be taken seriously, this is just my what if takes on how to change a piece of media. Please do not take any of what I say seriously. :)

Warning: This post contains spoilers for both Wreck It Ralph 1 and Ralph Breaks the Internet. If you would like to experience any of these movies yourself without spoilers, please go watch them and then come back here!

For this first installment of Rewriting Bad Media, we are going to be taking a look at Wreck It Ralph 2!

More under cut

For Rewriting Bad Cinema, we're first going to establish the movie's plot, establish its problems that make it bad, and then come up with a way to rewrite the movie that remedies most of the problems as best as possible including removal of some elements, restructuring of the plot, and adding to it.

What's the original plot of the movie?

Wreck It Ralph 2 is a 2018 film released by Disney. In WIR 2, the steering wheel for Sugar Rush is broken in an accident after Vanellope goes against the player’s controls and drives on a bonus track Ralph constructed for her. Litwak attempts to fix the game but is unsuccessful and ends up breaking the steering wheel even more, and after the search for a replacement wheel is unsuccessful, Litwak unplugs the game. This causes all the Sugar Rush citizens to become homeless. This causes Ralph and Vanellope to hatch a plan to go to the internet and find a new steering wheel before Sugar Rush is taken out of the arcade for good. Hijinks and brand placement happens and in the end, Sugar Rush is repaired, the citizens are no longer homeless, and Vanellope ends up staying in a new game on the internet called Slaughter Race.

What are the main problems?

Wreck It Ralph 2 is majorly considered a bad film because of:

Too many brands: WIR 2 is mostly criticized on how often it focuses on brands and cameos. In the first movie, most brands and IPs such as Sonic, Mario, Pac-Man, etc, were placed there as tributes to gaming and the culture that surrounds it. Most of the brands were limited to gaming brands, which made it feel more thought out and less like a cash grab. The brands also had an impact on the movie and its plot and world building. In WIR 2, there is no limitation on the brands represented. The movie includes a whole mess of brands from social media platforms to stuff from the Disney company. This made these additions feel soulless and worthless. The brands also had little impact on the plot and its world building, making them feel more worthless.

Mischaracterization of Characters: WIR 2 is often criticized for how much it mischaracterizes Ralph and Vanellope. For Ralph, it mischaracterizes him into a needy, insecure guy even after he completed a character arc for the same thing in the first movie. For Vanellope, it mischaracterizes her into a selfish person and makes her act a lot like the first movie's villain, Turbo.

No Mention of Past Events: WIR 2 is often criticized for how it just ignores a lot about the original movie. There are barely any mentions of the first movie at all, not even the original villain, Turbo, is mentioned. The only thing that is mentioned is the medal that Vanellope made Ralph in the first movie.

No Use of Other Characters: WIR 2 is also criticized for how little it uses any of the characters from the first movie with Ralph and Vanellope being the only two who are focused on throughout the entire movie. Felix and Calhoun, the other two MAIN characters from WIR 1 seem to have a B-plot in the first part of the movie, but are eventually totally forgotten about and their plot wraps up entirely in the background.

My proposal for a rewrite

Wreck it Ralph 2, in my opinion, is not really a needed sequel. I believe this because of how well the first movie wraps up any lose ends with its ending. However, if I were to write a sequel to Wreck It Ralph, this is most likely how I would handle it.

Removals and Restructuring

First of all, let's just get rid of the internet world entirely. The internet world as a concept was pretty cool, but in execution, there's not really a good way to have the internet world and not have a lot of the brands without it being really confusing. The internet will still be a thing as it seems like a really natural way for the movie's plot to go, but the internet world will not play a factor into the movie's plot.

One thing I kind of liked from the original WIR 2 was the beginning segment before any of the main plot gets started. If you ignore the small bits of mischaracterization from Ralph and Vanellope, it's a nice little opener and establishes what the two have been up to since the first movie pretty well. So, we are going to be bringing that segment with us to the rewrite with a few writing tweaks to recharacterize Ralph and Vanellope into how they were at the end of the movie. Let's also add Felix and Calhoun into this segment to catch up with how they've been doing since the first movie. This slice of life segment will help establish our characters as well as establishing the world for any new viewers who may have not seen the first movie.

Main Plot Proposal

Since we've gotten rid of the entire internet world which was the main premise of the film, the plot is going to need an entire overhaul. So, first, let's change the main focus of the film. In the original Wreck It Ralph 1, Ralph's struggle with his identity and self worth was the main focus of the film and that carries over to the second film with the sequel focusing more on Ralph than Vanellope. For the rewrite, the story is going to be focusing on Vanellope and diving into her character more. For the rewrite, I think it would be interesting to dive into Turbo and the effects his actions have on the cast specifically Vanellope. This would let the movie have a nice message about coming to terms with your trauma and not letting it control you. The catalyst for this? Bringing back Turbo.

Hear me out. The movie opens. It's been about five-ish years since the events of the first, and Vanellope has a problem. Even after everything has been reset and she finally has her life together, she just can't seem to move on from the trauma that Turbo/King Candy has caused her over the 15 years of his reign. She seems to flinch at the mere mention of his name and gets uncomfortable and upset when confronted with anything that resembles him. Ralph, Felix, and Calhoun try to help her with it in their own ways, but since she's a kid, Vanellope doesn't really have the tools required for dealing with her feelings. The day the movie opens up, Ralph, Calhoun, Felix, and Vanellope are all hanging out around the arcade to try to help Vanellope feel better. The four are all hanging out in the power strip when people start gathering around an outlet, finding that a new game is being plugged in. The four go over to investigate, and find that the new game being plugged in is Turbotime Remastered.

Turbotime Remastered Backstory and Aftermath of the Plugging In

Around a decade and a half after Turbotime was released a remastered version of it was created with upgraded graphics, more tracks, a bigger cast of playable characters, and more. Mr. Litwak, being a big fan of the original Turbotime, always dreamed of being able to buy the remaster for the arcade and after not being able to afford it for so long, he has finally managed to safe up enough funds to buy the cabinet. The day the cabinet arrived, Litwak immediately had it plugged in, placing the console right next to Sugar Rush. Meanwhile, in the power strip, all hell has broken loose. Everyone is freaking out about the game being plugged in, especially Vanellope, who is just unconsolable. Before anyone can process anything, a group of people step out into the power strip. In the front center of this group stands Turbo, however, this Turbo is much different from how everyone remembers him. Instead of being this evil asshole, this Turbo is chipper and kind. Turbo excitedly introduces his friends to the power strip, walking to every single person, and eventually getting to the main four. Turbo tries to introduce himself to the four but Vanellope starts freaking out, causing Calhoun and Ralph to get defensive. Felix manages to deescalate the situation before it gets too out of hand and awkwardly apologizes and excuses the group. The group discusses the situation in secret with Vanellope being silent the whole time. They don't really have the time to process anything however, as the arcade is about to open, causing them to all have to go their separate ways.

That day after the arcade closes, Vanellope leaves her game to meet up with the others and ends up bumping into Turbo again. Vanellope starts to freak out again but Turbo doesn't really seem fazed. He helps Vanellope up and introduces himself again. Vanellope introduces herself to Turbo and the two get to talking a little. Vanellope finds out that Turbo has no recollection of any of the events from the years past, no recollection of the Road Blasters event, no recollection of his takeover of Sugar Rush, no recollection of the race and CyBug takeover, nothing. Eventually, Turbo and Vanellope end up going their separate ways with Vanellope going off and joining her group while Turbo heads to explore the arcade with his group.

Plot Throughout the Movie

Throughout the movie, Vanellope and Turbo start talking and hanging out more, eventually forming somewhat of a friendship. Throughout their time together, Vanellope starts telling Turbo about her past experiences with him but doesn't tell him he was the one who caused everything. Turbo responds to this very supportingly, telling her that it wasn't her fault that any of that happened to her. Throughout the rest of the plot, Vanellope ends up refinding herself and starts to move on from her trauma.

B-Plot Revisions

Another thing I really liked from the original Wreck It Ralph 2 was the little snippets of the B-plot with Felix, Calhoun, and the Sugar Rush racers. I'm a sucker for unconventional found family, so I love the small snippets of the B-plot in WIR 2, so I want to carry it over to the rewrite. Now, Turbo being back isn't only going to really affect Vanellope, but it's also going to affect the other Sugar Rush racers as his actions majorly affected them as well. So, for the B-plot, Felix and Calhoun would act as adoptive parents to the Sugar Rush racers, helping them conquer their fears and move on. This plot would happen over the span of the movie and finish before the ending climax in a few shorter scenes. The B-plot would probably get as much screen time as WIR 1's B-plot.

As for Ralph, he would act as Vanellope's support/wingman throughout the movie and a mediator between her and Turbo while she interacts with him and his group. The movie wouldn't focus on him as much as Vanellope since his character arc has mostly concluded nicely in the first movie but he would still get a decent amount of screen time since his relationship with Vanellope is an important part of both his and Vanellope's characters.

Story Additions: Lore of Turbotime Remastered

Turbotime Remastered consists of 6 total characters all complete with a special gimmick that would give each character an advantage and disadvantage in a race. Of course, there's Turbo. He acts as a kind of leader of the group. His gimmick is bug themed and would give him the advantage of being speedy and the disadvantage of not being very durable. Then, there would be Avery, the moral support of the group. Avery would have a land animal gimmick, which would give her the advantage of stealth, but the disadvantage of slower recovery. The next character would be Rocket, the brains of the group. Rocket would have a robot gimmick which would give him the advantage of being very durable but the disadvantage of being the slowest. The next character would be Ivy, the healer of the group. Ivy would have a plant gimmick which would give her the advantage of quick recovery, but the disadvantage of not being very stealthy. The next character would be Quinn, the wildcard of the group. Quinn would have a clown gimmick which would give her the advantage of evading, but the disadvantage of unpredictablilty. The last character would be Deino, the brawn of the group. Deino would have a dinosaur gimmick which would give him the advantage of strength but the disadvantage of speed.

Another addition to Turbo Remastered are the new racing tracks, each being themed to a certain character. For Turbo's map, his would be an updated version of his original map with more variety and turns added to the donut. Avery's map would follow her animal theme and consist of four different quarters each themed to a major habitat that animals live in. Rocket's map would be machine themed, featuring a bunch of robots and machines. Ivy's map would be plant themed, featuring a bunch of different plants. Quinn's map would be circus themed, featuring a three section race through a circus performance. Deino's map would be dinosaur themed, featuring a sectioned race where each section takes place in a period of dinosaur time. These tracks would act as the character's home and place of residence.

In the coded backstory, Turbo met his friends while adventuring and the six ended up forming a somewhat family type of bond with each other. The group all has there counter opposites, with Turbo countering Rocket, and Avery countering Ivy and Deino. Quinn, being the wildcard, would be the odd one out, not having any counters to anyone. Despite their differences, the six all have sincere friendships with each other.

Ending of Wreck It Ralph 2 Rewrite

There are multiple ways for this ending to go. One way is to give new Turbo all the memories of old Turbo and causing Turbo to go mad and try to take over the arcade. This would split off into two possible endings of Turbo either being totally defeated like before and Turbotime Remastered being unplugged, or Turbo being redeemed and making up for all his past mistakes. I'm not going to be going down that route however, as I feel like both endings would be a little too cliche and predictable. The unplugging ending would also probably get rid of a lot of character development that the movie had built up. So, instead, let's do an ending like this:

After Turbo, Vanellope, and Ralph are done hanging out for the day, Turbo is confronted by Avery. Avery spills the beans on how everything Vanellope has been telling Turbo about is about him and starts manipulating him into believing that Vanellope hates him. This makes Turbo angry since he was starting to believe he and Vanellope were friends, and he agrees to help Avery and the others get "revenge". After the arcade closes, the Turbotime Racers invade and take over Sugar Rush, leading the Sugar Rush Racers to have to defeat the Turbotime Racers with the help of Felix, Calhoun, and Ralph before the arcade opens or they will have both Turbotime Remastered and Sugar Rush unplugged.

In the final confrontation, Turbo and Vanellope meet face to face. Vanellope ends up confessing to Turbo that yes, she was scared of him at first but now she's ready to accept that he isn't the same person anymore, and his past actions don't have to affect her anymore. Turbo and Vanellope make up, causing Avery to lash out, leading to a final showdown of some sorts and Avery's redemption. In the end, Avery admits she was jealous of how close Turbo and Vanellope were getting and she was scared of being abandoned. Avery's redeemed and everything goes back to normal.

Story Conclusion

In the end, Vanellope realizes her feelings about the past don't have to define her and she's able to move on and heal from her trauma and live her life free of fear, Turbo doesn't gain any of old Turbo's memories, he realizes that he is a different person from old Turbo and movs on to create his own identity, separate from his old self, The Sugar Rush Racers are adopted by Calhoun and Felix and get over their fears, Ralph continues to be supportive of Vanellope, and The Turbotime Racers learn to not be easily jealous. In the end, Turbotime Remastered stays plugged in, and Turbo and Vanellope's friendship goes back to normal.

TL;DR of the Rewrite's Plot

The trauma from Turbo/King Candy's actions have heavily affected Vanellope to the point its difficult for her to move past it, but when a remaster of Turbo's game, Turbotime, is plugged in, Vanellope is forced to come to terms with her trauma and reconcile her feelings about it with the man behind it all.

Conclusion

Okay, that's all! This was a long one, so if you made it all the way here, thanks for reading! I'm probably not going to do anything with this since this was just a fun little writing exercise, but if you would like to make it into a fanfiction of some sorts or something then feel free to take this idea and credit me! I'm most likely going to do more of these so look out for that! Anyway, thanks again for reading and have a nice day :)

[cannedbabs]

More on that RBTI rewrite thing. I only meant to do the top pieces but added the other two for shits and giggles

I could practically hear the “but Litwack didn’t get internet until 2018! Why do you imagine Turbo accessing it in 2013?” And the funniest answer is the right answer

(Anyone is free to ask questions about this Rewrite/AU thing!! I tried to write out an explanations worth but tbh it turned into a whole novel and idk a better way to give details except stupid doodles which are only 50% lore related)

[natsuki208]

A RWTI Rewrite!

I made it clear once that I think the sequel to Wreck-It Ralph is hot garbage, but there is still one key thing - it could’ve worked.

I’m not entirely against the idea of our beloved main cast going to the internet; they should’ve just tossed aside all the product placement, to not assassinate the characters and themes from the first movie, and I don’t know… have an actual main villain.

Let’s say that instead of Sugar Rush breaking its steering wheel (and for the record, Vanellope being bored with her game), Litwack’s is slowly going bankrupt due to less and less people going to the arcade. So after several games being unplugged, the Core Four head off to the newly linked wifi server to see what they can do about the situation.

Some things happen that led them needing to raise money for the arcade, maybe they meet Spamley whom informs them to go to one particular side of the internet; the online games section that includes Slaughter Race.

That’s honestly what I have so far, but I will come back to this and add on some new ideas (you guys can give advice as well).

-

Tagging: @rascalentertainments and @king-candybug-backup and @mondo-tastic

[mbat]

yknow, ralph breaks the internet has been rightfully criticised to death for years because its one of the worst mainstream animated movies to have ever been released, and honestly is one of the worst sequels ive ever seen or heard of, which is really funny when sequels are famously not very good in most cases

all this to say that i think my biggest issues with it aside from the abysmal writing and the product placement up the ass, is that first off, its not even about video games. the original wreck it ralph is basically a love letter to video games, the references and the care put into those aspects of the movie are so delightful, but the sequel is practically not about video games at all, not really.

also moreso, you literally couldve just replaced any of the characters in ralph breaks the internet with brand new original characters and it wouldve been the same tbh. it just didnt feel like a story unique to those characters and their setting, and they were so out of character that it wasnt even them anyway.

if the sequel had been them discovering the world of online and modern video games, it wouldve been cool. theres so much potential there because of the evolution of video games, and how limited arcade machines are compared to online games, and the things these characters couldve discovered about themselves and eachother couldve been cool (not to mention any new characters introduced and the plots those could have), but instead we got product placement self advertising emoji movie out of character hell

[projectedensautism]

been obsessed with wreck it ralph this week and got bored enough to work on a lil rewrite for breaks the internet. this guy just exists mostly for my rewrite/au and also i just wanted t omake something silly for myself alalalaaa

also as a bonus

instead of ralph being weirdly clingy its this random sewer rat ralph and vanellope met. instead of product placement bs, bti is more focused on the characters and world. vanellope doesnt go turbo however, her and ralph's friendship dynamic still changes by the end (tho they still hang out, its just more "oh wow over the 6 years we've known each other we've changed)

spamley's now the more "clingy" aspect of everything, he more or less mirrors what is now VANELLOPE'S struggles with ralph and her's friendship (shes scared to grow distant from her best friend who helped her so much, because she is still a child and does not handle things well i think because she is a child. less weird than ralph doing it)

still figuring out things but i will update. um. eventually and make things more readable alala

[snailstrailz]

More wbti rewrite ideas:

In part thanks to @scentedwonderlandpoetry for originating some of these ideas!

- hero's duty online, that one really sticks with me

- I said it before but more emotional focus on felix. He should have a bigger character arc here

- the arcade gets closed and everyone gets separated and have to find each other. Possible locations: the Internet, a different (bigger) arcade, a game console

- if they go into a console and it's like a cult in there those people are CRAZY.

- or in another arcade it's a toy story 3 prison break thing.

- they meet another version of Turbo from a whole different Turbo Time cabinet or game who's actually a pretty nice guy and helps them. Maybe differentiate him by giving him blue eyes like on the art on the side of the machine

- modern version of Ralph from a spinoff does the old switcheroo with our Ralph by effectively kidnapping original Ralph and taking his place

- Calhoun and Vanellope have time together, I wanna see them interacting. Like, they're trying to do a getaway but Vanellope can't reach the pedals in the car they find so she has to teach Calhoun to drive on the fly

- polybius joke they have to do a polybius joke

- exploring the concept of going turbo more. Is there situations where it's ok?

- I actually like knowsmore and spamley they can stay

[jitteryjive]

im rewatching ralph breaks the internet right now and this movie is so fucking bad i Need to rewrite it I Need To

[marvelvsmarvel]

WandaVision Ep7 Speculation #1

Episode 7: Breaking the Fourth Wall left a lot to be digested and honestly too much for a single post so I’ll be doing a few topical breakdowns.

NEXUS: I know we’re getting into Multiverse and the commercial specifically spoke on realities but it does seem like many people forgot that the MCU showed NEXUS as the epicenter of the World Wide Web in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Consider that all but the Lagos commercial touched on an aspect of AoU from Stark to Strucker to Hyrdra and this would include Nexus. Why is this important?

Ultron: Before the premiere I revealed that Google had Evan Peters cast in the show that heavily spoiled his reveal but another interesting cast was SPOILER James Spader as Ultron’s Voice. In my pre-premiere prediction I had stated that there would be an error in reanimating Vision and the Ultron portion could take over as the big finale battle (think Iron Giant). Think about it. Vision supposedly blocked Ultron out of the Internet only into the bodies he inhabited and that’s why it was important not to let any of the Ultronbots leave Sokovia. And yet it didn’t specify that the bodiless digital Ultron was gone. And if his attempt to kill digital Jarvis is anything you probably can’t completely kill Ultron and he’s simply been waiting for Vision’s body to be compromised which leads me to-

SWORD: Sentient Weapon OBSERVATION and RESPONSE Division. Jimmy Woo and Monica Rambeau instantly took Director Hayward’s motives with Vision as weaponization but if the above info proves true SWORD really was just tracking Vision to make sure that if it occurs and Ultron returns in an even more powerful form that they would hopefully have a response prepared for it. Armor Wars anyone? Could also explain why they wouldn’t help him when he was trying to break free because who honestly knows who or what Vision is right now? Though it doesn’t explain why they tried to shoot at Wanda (Insert Secret Invasion - Hayward is an evil Skrull prediction tie in).

Vision: So the lingering question is how does this effect Vision and the only way to go is a prediction. I believe our Vision is gone and is not coming back. When Wanda saw the dead Vision back in Ep3 it seemingly confirmed that she reanimated an empty shell but if Wanda is rewriting reality then why he can’t leave the Hex? I’m proposing a question and answer towards that statement that if Wanda is only rewriting reality then is nothing made from scratch? What I mean is are her own sons Tommy and Billy other children that were rewritten? Errgh food for thought. Vision even asked Darcy “What am I now? We really don’t know.

Prediction: Agnes or her husband Ralph or Señor Scratchy or Dormammu or Nightmare or Mephisto whoever turns out to be the big bad is possessing Vision’s “soul” and they want Wanda to as Tommy said “fix the dead” for them which could simply mean to free them from their dimension and make them “alive” in the MCU which sounds very Dormammu motivated. But in a very Mephisto fashion it is the villain that created the children for Wanda but obviously not for free. To tie it in with the above info the villain offers Wanda to choose either her children or Vision to which for Young Avengers purposes among others I believe she’ll have her third and final tragic goodbye to Vision in which case the villain will be freed Wanda will get to keep Tommy and Billy but then a battle with UltronVision will close the series with Monica Rambeau coming to the rescue and showing off her new powers.

[trinketstar]

Also I assume that Sans is met at the end of your Ralph Breaks the Internet rewrite because he slept through the rest of the movie and only just woke up?

Oh yeah all the end credits pass by, theres silence, and then sans pops up like "hey what did i miss?" And the first 4 notes of megalovania plays and the movie reel abruptly ends

[breckstonevailskier]

Frozen II thoughts

While there is some good stuff in the movie, it’s sadly held back by the movie’s flaws.

In terms of stuff I liked, well first off, the visual effects are excellent. These are probably the most stunning visuals I’ve ever seen in an animated film. It really shows how talented the animators and artists at Disney are. There’s also something to appreciate about the more epic scale of the story, even if it does come off like Avatar: The Last Airbender or The Legend of Zelda at times. While the songs aren’t quite as memorable as the first film's, they’re well put together (Kristoff’s number aside). Heck, the film has some of the best and most powerful individual scenes I've seen from a Disney movie, including  Elsa's number in Ahtohallan and Anna's emotional breakdown in the cave.

Here's the thing though. While the scenes are amazing, it feels as though the filmmakers came up with a whole bunch of ideas they wanted to animate, and then worried about the story to connect it all. Far too often, the movie kinda hinges on coincidences in order for the plot to progress. For example,  at the end, Anna just so happens to exit the cave close to the dam, which just so happens to be close to the Earth Spirits who can destroy it. Not to mention, she can only do this because she just so happened to veer off the path Elsa sent her and Olaf down. Oh, and Kristoff just so happened to be close enough to rescue her after she woke them up. Like seriously, talk about overly convenient. And that's just one moment out of several that feels really off in terms of connective tissue holding everything together.

It also makes the story come off as convoluted once the main characters reach the enchanted forest, with the movie introducing pointless characters, jumping back and forth in time too much and having a hard time keeping track of all the characters and their intentions.

Ryder and Honeymaren were completely pointless to the story. The trailers made it seem like they were going to be important, and considering this movie went through 50 rewrites and 12 animated versions, they probably did originally have larger parts in the narrative at one point. Instead, they just sort of interact with the main cast once or twice and that’s it. They didn’t really push the story along. They weren’t a part of the main plot or add anything really.

Same with Bruni the fire salamander. He’s cute, but he doesn’t add anything that Olaf and Sven already did as the cute/funny side characters. Just felt like another merchandising opportunity. If they got rid of those three characters, it would have helped the story feel less messy.

Kristoff was also criminally pointless. He feels like he was put in only because he appeared in the first film. He seriously does almost nothing of note until the very end. In fact, he has a continuous span of 26.5 minutes off-camera between the end of his song and his reappearance with the earth giant scene leading to the dam

The ending was also rushed. It needed like an extra 15 or 20 minutes. And it’s kinda odd that we’ve had three Disney-animated related features in a row (Ralph Breaks the Internet, Toy Story 4 and Frozen II) that have all had the main cast split up.

In Frozen II’s case, while this is not as egregious as something like Ralph Breaks The Internet, it still breaks down when you start to seriously think about it. Like, I don't buy that Elsa would so willingly stay behind, even if she does plan to visit Arendelle every week, nor does Anna immediately becoming queen instead feel like anything other than forced. For one, Elsa was the one who was groomed to be queen, not Anna. Secondly, as the tie-in book Forest of Shadows shows, Elsa has a pretty demanding workload as queen even with Anna there to provide her help, and Anna is going to have that as well. As @l-egionaire  has pointed out nicely here in this post, Anna’s going to find herself very overwhelmed and possibly even hate the job. Not only will Anna have such a busy schedule, but she won’t get as much downtime as before, and she will also probably have difficulty maintaining an image of grace in front of her staff, her advisors, her constituents, and foreign dignitaries. Would’ve made more sense for Elsa to return to Arendelle with Anna, Elsa stay as queen while Anna gets duties that give her reasons to go off on adventures away from the castle.

Really, it seems that, in the attempt to make everything bigger and better than the first movie, the writers sacrificed cohesion and proper build-up.

Don't get me wrong though, the movie is arguably one of Disney Animation's better sequels that isn't related to Pixar, so it's definitely not 100% a case of  sequelitis. But that just makes it all the more frustrating, because it's this close to being something truly spectacular, only to be brought down by the problems I mentioned above. If the writers had put a little more effort into making sure each scene flowed properly, as opposed to just getting to each scene they wanted to make (which they would’ve been able to do if Jennifer Lee hadn’t started at the end and worked her way backwards), this could have been one of the best out of the Disney canon. As it is though, it settles for being merely "good enough".

[swift-and-styles]

twenty eighteen

Rules: Answer the questions about 2018 and tag some people!

Tagged by: the lovely @casaharrington <3

Top 5 films you watched in 2018:

Bad Times at the El Royale (Goddard, 2018)

Avengers: Infinity War (Russo’s, 2018)

Wreck It Ralph: Ralph Breaks the Internet (Moore, Johnston 2018)

Hereditary (Aster, 2018)

Halloween (Green, 2018)

Top 5 TV shows in 2018: 

Stranger Things

The Walking Dead

Grey’s Anatomy

Riverdale

MTV Scream

Top 5 songs of 2018:

Delicate - Taylor Swift

Hard Feelings - Lorde

Guys My Age - Hey Violet

Youngblood - 5 Seconds of Summer

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

Top 5 books you read in 2018:

I haven’t read any books except imagines and fafiction... is that bad???

Five Good/Positive things that happened to you in 2018:

my cousin came down form Vancouver and is now living here with her family of 3 (i’m an aunt to a beautiful niece and nephew)

I finished a fanfic that was fun to write (i’m rewriting and going to post on here)

I made some wonderful new friends this year and they all make me go uwu

made a bestie on here and she’s the Audrey to my Noah

i have nothing else to put here but those 4 thngs im very proud to be part of.

Tagging all the lovelies I think will enjoy this @partayswiftie @bleachella @complexstyles @imjustgonnaswift @taylorize-me @idsb @autumnsletters and some others i can’t think of but you can do this if you’d want :) happy new years!!!

[cannedbabs]

Rbti rewrite post :] (was gonna be more but I’ve had an eventful day.. will say later ofc)

Closeup of KCB, some more evolution of lore, and my day below cut!

((If I had the choice to redo this bug piece it would be to turn off his glowy eyes. Plot reasons. Also sorry I only ever post sketches, I fear if I do more it’ll sap my energy to get content out at ALL so))

I will say the plot has been wavering a LOT! I’ve been talking with some of my irl friends (all of them have lovely story writing or creative backgrounds which is amazing) and so it’s being patched significantly. Still not 100% finished, that’s why I haven’t made an entire lore post yet!! There’s a lot of loose ends and placement that needs to be figured out. But I feel like it’s only appropriate to state some at least :] you guys have given me amazing feedback and showed interest and I can’t thank you enough!

The “big bad” has been juggled around. I do like BEV, her motives are a little grey and need to be strung together accurately and cohesively. I also don’t want a twist villain, as much as that’s amazing I am not trying to rewrite WIR. Turbo in himself is a “big bad”, always will be, he’s the worst of the worst and completely irredeemable, that’s why the writing is so hard. “How do you put in a big bad that has to contest with one of the worst characters of all time?”

My answer is to make BEV solely target Turbo, and in turn it’s a domino effect for everyone, but then that makes this rewrite a little more Turbo centric than I wanted ((granted it IS because of my bias, but even then I realize he is NOT the main character of the previous movie))

These are out loud thoughts tho!! Def the story is gonna take a route where it’s more Ralph vs(?) Vanellope, where they realize their goals don’t really align but are trying to keep it from the other person (kinda like RBTI actually! But not as ‘drama needs to get in the way to actually make an issue’). Ralph is gonna be taking BEV’s side and Vanellope will be taking Turbo’s side, at least that’s the concept for now!

Talking about my day will be super short. Basically I showed my friend group (who doesn’t have the turbo autism I do, but Turbo has become such a referenced joke in my group. Instead of saying ‘this is my hyperfixation’ we say ‘This is my turbo’) the entire 2hr analysis video (thank you Randomalistic :]) and they loved it! Sat through it all front to back!! And I’m having a sleep over w them tomorrow and having a DnD session yippee!! But that’s the only reason why I’m posting this and not accumulating more for a bigger post.

I AM planning on working on ref sheets and even stuff like a ref sheet for their chat bubbles since they’re all different :] idk this became a super long ramble post idk have some funny WIR-related Jack box things my friend group made you earned it

[omniversalobservations]

Will We Ever See a Star Wars/MCU Crossover?

Ben Lindbergh: Daniel, Kevin Feige says that Patton Oswalt’s 2013 pitch on Parks and Recreation is “probably as close as we’ll ever get” to seeing a Star Wars–MCU crossover. In February, the Marvel mastermind dashed hopes (and assuaged fears) that he and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy would join forces and rule the galaxy together, telling Yahoo! Entertainment, “I really don’t think so … I don’t think there’s any reason for it.”

However, I can think of one reason: It would make a gazillion dollars. The new Space Jam may be bad, but it still bodied Black Widow at the box office last weekend, posting the strongest opening of any pandemic-era Warners or family film despite a simultaneous streaming release on HBO Max. A Star Wars–MCU crossover would be a much bigger deal than a team-up between Tweety and LeBron James. Granted, Star Wars and the MCU are already raking it in as separate entities, but with Disney’s non-streaming revenue depressed by the pandemic and its streaming subscriber growth slowing, the pressure to milk Marvel and Lucasfilm for all that they’re worth could become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

Another Marvel mastermind, the late Stan Lee, anticipated that temptation in 2016. “Obviously the people who produce these [movies] are looking to be as successful as possible,” he said. “If they feel that incorporating Star Wars with the Marvel characters will be very successful, they’ll find a way to do it.” Even Feige—who, by the way, is producing a Star Wars movie—didn’t totally rule out the idea, noting that “If you’d ask me if anything we’re talking about right now was in the realm of possibility 20 years ago, I would’ve said, ‘I don’t think so.’” My take? Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. And so will a Star Wars–MCU crossover, someday and in some way.

What say you? Will Disney bring together a group of remarkable characters to see whether they could become something more?

Daniel Chin: Yeah, as much as I hope that this never happens, I agree, Ben. No matter how you might feel about it, a Star Wars–MCU crossover is inevitable.

Despite Feige shooting down the idea, the fact that the architect of the MCU is himself crossing over to a galaxy far, far away shows how closely tied these two mega franchises are already becoming. Feige even handpicked Michael Waldron, head writer of Loki and cowriter of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, to work on his secretive Star Wars project as well.

And speaking of Waldron, the finale of Loki just set up the MCU with limitless storytelling possibilities in the years to come. The era of the multiverse has officially arrived, and with Feige recently holding a meeting at Marvel Studios to establish the rules of the multiverse and discuss how they’ll deliver on all the excitement surrounding it, it’s clear that these interdimensional stories aren’t going anywhere any time soon. If the MCU is already rewriting its own history with the upcoming animated anthology series What If…? based on the notion of colliding realities (along with the rumors that we may soon see three Spider-Men in Spider-Man: No Way Home), then what’s to stop the House of Mouse from linking up Baby Yoda and Baby Groot in the near future?

Since we’re both in agreement here that this extremely lucrative crossover is sure to happen one way or another, what do you think it could look like and how do you think Disney could actually make it work?

BL: I imagine the Mouse’s attitude would be similar to the Avengers’ in Endgame: whatever it takes. On top of the creative connections we’ve already mentioned, Marvel is the primary publisher for Star Wars comics. It wouldn’t be a big leap for the crossover to start on the page, where the expectations and scrutiny would be a bit more muted than they would if this were built up as a blockbuster movie or major streaming series.

The urge to create crossovers is nothing new, and there’s precedent for a smaller-scale meeting of Marvel heroes and characters from a famous sci-fi franchise: In the 1990s, the X-Men crossed over with Star Trek via two one-shot comics and an accompanying novel. The comics were kind of a home-and-home series: In the first one, the X-Men traveled through a dimensional rift into the 23rd century of the Star Trek timeline while pursuing Proteus. In the follow-up, a rift in the space-time continuum caused by a malfunctioning time-displacement field sent the 24th-century crew of the Enterprise into the parallel reality of the 1990s X-Men. Those setups could serve as a template for a future Star Wars–MCU merger: Just dream up a temporal rift into an alternate dimension, insert some technobabble, and presto, you’ve got yourself a crossover episode.

Of course, there was no MCU in the 1990s. Nor were there streaming services. If and when Disney decides to bring together its two biggest moneymakers, it will probably want to do so in a way that would bolster its streaming catalog. One possibility is a noncanonical, just-for-fun spoof along the lines of last year’s LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special, which featured crossovers between characters from multiple eras of Star Wars. This year, another Disney acquisition, The Simpsons, crossed over first with Star Wars and then with the MCU via short films on Disney+. By the transitive property, then, we’re due for a short film featuring Star Wars and the MCU (both of which were already represented in Disney’s 2018 animated movie Ralph Breaks the Internet). Video games are another medium where this would work: Both Star Wars and the MCU have made forays into Fortnite, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see them overlap there, in DLC for Marvel’s Avengers, or even in a Super Smash Bros.–style brawler.

Source: The Ringer

[mceproductions]

2018 Countdown Recap

For those who havent been keeping up here is the recap of the contdown. 

Best of 2018

   Movies

  1.  Black Panther

2. ��Mission Impossible: Fallout

3.  Avengers: Infinity War

4.  Ready Player One

5.  Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse

6.   Ralph Breaks The Internet

7.   Crazy Rich Asians

8.   Aquaman and A Star is Born

9.   A Quiet Place and Marry Poppins Returns

10. Deadpool 2 and Incredibles 2

11. Bohemian Rhapsody

12. Maze Runner: The Death Cure

13. Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again and Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom

14. Ant Man and the Wasp

15. The Meg

 Runners Up:

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Oceans 8

Christopher Robin

Paddington 2

Venom

 Honorable Mention

Wont You be my Neighbor and Isle of Dogs

  Worst

 1. The Cloverfield Paradox

2. Fifty Shades Freed

3. Pacific Rim Uprising

    TV Shows

   Best New Show of 2018 Nominee*

Winner^

 1.  The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (CBS)

2.  RWBY (ROOSTER TEETH)

3.  The Good Doctor (ABC)^

4.  FLCL Progressive and Alternative (ADULT SWIM)

5.  This is Us (NBC)

6.  SNL (NBC)

7.  The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

8.  Late Night with Seth Meyers (NBC)

9.  Steven Universe (CARTOON NETWORK) and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

10. Westworld (HBO)*

11. The Late Late Show with James Corden (CBS) and DuckTales (Disney)

12. Adventure Time (CARTOON NETWORK) and Attack on Titan (ADULT SWIM)

13. Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

14. Big Hero 6 The Series (Disney)* and The Handmaids Tale (HULU)

15. Star Wars Rebels (DISNEY XD)

16. Will & Grace (NBC) and Outlander (STARZ)

17. Marvel Netflix Shows (NETFLIX)

18. Cobra Kai (YouTube RED)* and Black-ISH (ABC)

19. The Simpsons (FOX)

20. CITRUS (Funimation)

21. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee (TBS) and Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia (FXX)

22. Castle Rock (Hulu)

23. SpongeBob (NICK)

24. Black Lightning (CW)*

25. New Girl (FOX)

 Runners Up:

The Flash (CW)

Pokemon Sun and Moon Ultra Adventures (DISNEY XD)

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC)

The Loud House (NICK)

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (COMEDY CENTRAL)

  Honorable Mention

Roseanne and The Conners (ABC)

  Worst

 1. 13 Reasons Why (NETFLIX)

2. The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead (AMC)

3. Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits (FUNIMATION)

   MUSIC

  1.  Maroon 5 and Cardi B “Girls Like You”

2.  Keala Settle “This is Me”

3.  Childish Gambino “This is America”

4.  Kendrick Lamar & SZA “All the Stars”

5.  Justin Timberlake “Filthy”

6.  Bruno Mars and Cardi B “Finesse”

7.  Ariana Grande “Thank U Next”

8.  Celine Dion “Ashes”

9.   Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper “Shallow”

10. Ed Sheeran “Perfect”

11. BTS “IDOL”

12. The Greatest Showman Ensemble “The Greatest Show”

13. Alan Silvestri “Porch”

14. Imagine Dragons “Whatever It Takes”

15. Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt “Found Tonight” and Drake “Gods Plan”

16. Weezer “AFRICA”

17. Camilla Cabano “Havana” and Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin “I Like It”

18. Lilly James, Jessica Wynn, Alexa Davies and Celia Irme “When I Kissed the Teacher”

19. Lady Gaga “I’ll Never Love Again.” and Arianna Grande “No Tears Left to Cry”

20. Zac Efron and Zedaya “Rewrite the Stars”

21. The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar “Pray for Me”

22. DJ Khlaed, Justin Bieber, Chance the Rapper and Quavo “No Brainer”

23. Jeff Williams and Casey Lee Williams “All that Matters”

24. Liam Payne and Rita Ora “For You”

25. Eminem “Venom”

26. Selena Gomez “Back to You”

27. Ziv Zaifman, Hugh Jackman and Michelle Williams “A Million Dreams”

28. Zedd “The Middle”

29. Imagine Dragons “Thunder”

30. LiSA “Catch the Moment”

 Runners Up:

 Mamma Mia Cast “Super Trouper”

Katherine Ho “Yellow”

Twenty One Pilots “Jumpsuit”

RADWIMPS “NANDEMONIYA”

Carrie Underwood and Ludacris “Champion”

   Honorable Mention:

Loren Allred “Never Enough”

    WORST

 1. Tyler the Creator “You’re a Mean one. Mr. Grinch”

2. Lil Dicky and Chris Brown “Freaky Friday”

3. DJ Khaled and Demi Lovato “I Believe”

[furederiko]

Wanted to post this yesterday, but couldn't make it because... well, life happened. And also long weekend, which means traffic both in real and virtual world *sigh*. On the bright side, this last Random News Digest for April 2017, gets to be the final post of the month as well. Enjoy!

Disney Live Action

Itching for another live action revisit of your favorite classic Walt Disney animated movies? Then you only need to wait a little longer, because the coming years will be a BLAST. Guy Ritchie's "Aladdin" is expected to begin filming very soon. Likely this very summer, as that casting call suggested. Meaning, it's probably aiming for that UNTITLED August 3rd, 2018 opening. Niki Caro will later move forward with her 'extremely muscular' rendition of "Mulan". A movie that is set to be released on November 2nd, 2018. And guess what will come after? Jon Favreau's "The Lion King"! Yes, Favreau himself announced via Twitter, that the movie is now expected to arrive on July 19th, 2019. Does this mean, the sequel to "The Jungle Book" will need to wait a bit longer, then? Hmmm... I hope Neel Sethi doesn't age up too fast to reprise his role. Otherwise, it would end up becoming a "Tarzan" movie instead.

We know that Donald Glover is voicing Simba, and James Earl Jones will reprise his role as Mufasa. We also aware that Disney is openly pursuing the one and only Queen-Bey, Beyoncé Knowles to voice Nala. What about the other characters? Well, guess what... apparently two actors are currently in final talks to voice Simba's jungle guardians, his foster fathers, the never-ever-worry outcasts, Timon and Pumbaa. The scene-stealing dynamic-duo carefree-combi who are responsible for Simba's growth in the movie. And these actors are... Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen. Ain't that an interesting choice, eh?

While I'm a bit disappointed that Favreau decided not to ask Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella to reprise their roles, the thought of Rogen's voice coming out of an adorkable gruff-voiced fat warthog is just too good to dismiss. What can I say, I AM a bit biased when it comes to Rogen. As for Eichner, I'm honestly not that familiar with his work (don't ask why I haven't seen "Parks and Recreation"). But from my quick research... it's obvious he's a genuine HILLARIOUS guys, and does sound like a younger version of Lane. His real life rambunctious mannerism basically screams, "that's how the snobbish meerkat Timon would look as a human!". In fact, I think he'll make an awesome coupl... I mean duo with Rogen *grins*. Nope, I'm not kidding, go ahead and watch their one time togetherness on Eichner's "Billy on the Street"! Doesn't that feel like Timon and Pumbaa already?!... So yeah, I wholeheartedly APPROVE of this pair!!! b(^o^)d

I do hope that these two goofballs' singing ability, is as good as their comedy though. After all, this movie WILL be a musical as planned, right? At least that's how I have been assuming until now, because "The Lion King" without "Hakuna Matata" would totally sound off. But perhaps we shouldn't worry about that, because Favreau is determined, if not feel a bit daunted to deliver and live up to audience's expectation. Especially because the original animated movie was such a beloved title, that still has a strong fanbase with "an emotional connection" until now. "When you direct it, you have to love it, especially one of those that takes like two or three years to do,... Love it to the point of obsession. So there are things that I might want to see or be involved with or act in but that's a lot different than I have to live, breathe, sleep it, dream it. If I'm going to do my best work, I have to be completely immersed.", he said, which was definitely a reassuring point of view. Let's just cross our fingers that Favreau will be able to replicate the same success of "The Jungle Book", whether in modernized storytelling, nostalgic music, or through dazzling photo-realistic visual effects.

The Hollywood Reporter also revealed, that there's another popular animated title freshly entering the live action circuit. This new one is "Christopher Robin", and yes, it's about that one and only boy who is best friends with THE Winnie the Pooh!!! Does this mean it's a Winnie the Pooh live action remake? Probably... but it comes with a twist. Our gentle Christopher has become a dashing handsome middle-aged man! HUH? Yes, this movie will focus on an adult version of the character, who has lost his sense of imagination. Marc Forster is currently working on it, and the actor being approached to portray Christopher, is the dashing Ewan McGregor. Fantastic choice, because I totally can see him as a much older version of this character. Allison Schroeder is said to be working on the script's third rewrite, which doesn't sound encouraging. Then again, the idea of the movie alone is already a make or break situation. Will this even work? Yes and no, it's still anyone's guess. I just hope the animal characters are still an important part of it, otherwise, what's the point, right?

Disney have also announced new release dates for two UNTITLED live action movies. On April 3rd, 2020, and on March 12th, 2021. Is "Christopher Robin" one of said title? How about Tim Burton's "Dumbo", "Cruella", "Tinker Bell", "The Little Mermaid", and those other titles currently in development? Hmmm... this is getting confusing. All I can say is, the House of Mouse is totally on a roll. So it's a good time to be a Disney fans!

Disney Animation

If you think "The Lion King", as well as the fourth Avengers movie from Marvel Studios are enough a reason to make you anticipate the year 2019, then you'll be ecstatic to know what comes next. "Frozen 2", the sequel to that 2013 mega-hit animated movie, is also set to arrive on November 27th, 2019! Directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee are returning, alongside the cast members like Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, and Josh Gad. Eventhough most of them are not yet confirmed. I have to admit, I'm not too certain if the first movie even needed a sequel, nor that it's necessary. But its massive success alone would be more than enough to attract a lot of audience, particularly those little girls who grew up with, and likely are still humming the tune of "Let it Go" until now. Yep, that song is EVERYWHERE, isn't it? Personally, I think the Pacific Island version is a better and stronger number (That's "How Far I'll Go" from "Moana", in case you don't get it), but who am I to argue with popular opinion, right? Here's hoping the SIX years gap would be worth the wait. After all, the original audience should be teenagers when this sequel finally arrives. And you know how it is when children grows up!

Unfortunately, this news arrived alongside several release dates shuffling for upcoming Walt Disney's releases. This covers all of their divisions, which means the animation titles are inevitably affected as well. "Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2" will now open on November 21st, 2018, which is a 7-months delay from its initial March 9th release. "Gigantic", which is Disney's long overdue take on classic "Jack and the Beanstalk" tale, was initially scheduled to be out on that precise date. It will now open on November 25th... 2020, which is a two-years delay! Ouch. An UNTITLED animated movie that was supposed to open on that date, will now arrive on November 24th, 2021, alongside a Pixar release on June 18th of the same year.

Indiana Jones

Through the same release date announcement, Disney also revealed that "Indiana Jones 5" has been delayed from July 2019, to July 10th, 2020. According to Collider, it might be caused by director Steven Spielberg, who is pushing in his other projects beforehand. This movie has limited Spielberg's availability to work on this sequel, which can only begin production on Fall 2018, if not Spring 2019, at the earliest. For the time being, actor Harrison Ford is still set to reprise his role as the legendary Professor Jones, and David Koepp is currently working on the script. But one can never tell nor predict what's going to happen in the future, so their participations have easily become uncertainty thanks to this delay. Let's just hope the best for this project, okay? But of course, no matter how you see it, this is definitely Disney's way of world domination! LOL.

Star Wars

Whooa, there! Wait a sec, apparently I'm not done yet with Disney *sigh*. This time it's from their Lucasfilm divison, as the much anticipated and tentatively titled "Star Wars: Episode IX" has received an official release date. Unlike the first two modern-era movies, the 2015 "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" and "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" that's coming later this year, the 9th core iteration of the franchise will NO LONGER open in December. Instead, Disney has moved it forward to premiere on May 24th, 2019. Yes, Christmas comes early that year for "Star Wars" fans! I guess with no other Marvel Studios' releases in 2019 following UNTITLED Avengers movie (don't forget, the Spider-Man sequel is distributed by SONY), "Star Wars" has no problem vacating its usual December spot to jump into the Summer slot. Which could either be a good or bad news. Good, because in a way, the franchise does belong as a Summer blockbuster. But bad, because of the inevitable fierce competition. Forget about other studios, Disney's own Avengers 4 should still be playing that week! Risky move...

Of course, I agree with Collider, in that the primary intention might be to not keep "Star Wars" fans waiting too long. "Han Solo: A Star Wars Story", also a tentative title by the way, is set to be released on May 25th, 2018. If Episode IX sticks to its December landing, then there will be a long 18 months hiatus between them. Add to that, the absence of "Star Wars REBELS", which should have ended its final season months prior to the Han Solo movie? It can end up damaging the franchise due to the lack of hype. A gap too long can always produce negative result to a franchise. Colin Trevorrow is set to helm the final part of this new trilogy. If his previous experience with "Jurassic Park" worries you, then you need to remember that Rian Johnson is the one writing the script. That clearly ensures the connectivity between his Episode VIII to Trevorrow's Episode IX. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this movie, as soon as "The Last Jedi" is released later in December. May the Force be with this franchise. But seriously, 2019 (particularly in Summer), is shaping up into one massive of a year for movies, eh?

Jurassic Park

Speaking of Colin Trevorrow, the sequel to his 2015 movie, "Jurassic World 2" has been in production for a while. But that doesn't stop the J.A. Bayona movie to add more star power to its roster. It's a familiar face too, someone who's no stranger to being chased by dinosaurs, having starred in the first two movies of the franchise. Yep, Jeff Goldblum... is set to reprise his role as Dr. Ian Malcolm in the upcoming movie. He'll be joining the new leads, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, fellow actor from the original movies in B.D. Wong, and new faces in the franchise like Justice Smith, James Cromwell, Geraldine Chapling, Ted Levine, and Toby Jones. This would be Goldblum's second comeback role, after returning for "Independence Day: Resurgence" last year. A movie that had a Hemsworth, before he took on the older brother in the upcoming Thor movie. Looks like he only needs to co-star with the third, eldest one, to score a Hemsworth-Jackpot! LOL to that!

As I said above, if there's something you need to worry, then it's not "Star Wars: Episode IX". It's THIS movie that I believe you should be concerned with. Why? Because eventhough Trevorrow isn't directing, he's the one writing the script with Derek Connolly. In case you forget, it's the script to "Jurassic World" that bogged the movie down among critics. I can't help but feel concerned that the same thing is going to happen with this one. But as always, we'll see if that's the case or not. After all, the first movie did become financially success despite being challenged critically. "Jurassic World 2" will arrive next year, on June 22nd.

X-Men Universe

In case you missed the news last week, FOX has dated "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" to arrive on November 2nd, 2018. I didn't discuss about it much, because the news arrived mere hours before my queued post went up. Thus, I was only able to make a quick minor update for it.

For that reason, I feel like talking about it now. And by talking, OBVIOUSLY it means 'ranting', what else? LOL. Nope, I won't point out the similarity of powerset between Jean Grey's Phoenix and Carol Danvers' Captain Marvel, whose solo movie is set to arrive just a few months later. It's about my issue with Quicksilver. No really, call me crazy, but I actually wonder if FOX is intentionally pushing "Dark Phoenix" just to exercise their copyright property with him again. After all, there IS a rumor that Marvel Studios is going to feature their version of Marvel's famous speedster again in the next Avengers movie. Whether that 4chan originated report is credible or not (NOTE: it didn't get it right for Sylvester Stallone's character, so there's that). But seriously, it's the timing that intrigues me. Why? Because both movies will be released in the same year! Coincidence much?

Judging from past experience, in how the studio managed to pointlessly shoehorn Quicksilver in "X-Men: Apocalypse"... the movie that suspiciously arrived in the SAME year to "Captain America: Civil War"? I doubt it. Just stop and think about it. Had the Marvel Studios' version survived "Avengers: Age of Ultron" in the previous year (remember, Aaron Taylor-Johnson even filmed a scene wearing a new official Avengers costume, which could be briefly spotted in the Bluray featurette), his next logical step would be to show up alongside his twin-sister in "Civil War". Things clearly did NOT go that way, and instead, we got a FOX version who raced through time to reenact a now-boring slow-motion sequence last year. In a movie so dull and bad, I feel openly ashamed to have seen it. So yeah, feel free to consider me as a conspiracy theorist, but I sure will NOT be surprised if Evan Peters' Quicksilver is somehow included again in "Dark Phoenix".

I also didn't have time to talk about who might be directing this dreaded-sounding (I'm praising and being sarcastic at the same time) movie. We know for sure, that producer Simon Kinberg (who wrote "X-Men: The Last Stand", the Brett Ratner movie that misguidedly butchered the story in the first place), IS writing the script to this movie. But since Bryan Singer might be out of the picture, Kinberg is stepping up by openly thinking of making this his directorial debut as well! Here's what he said, "I definitely would love to take another stab at the Dark Phoenix story. The seeds of Phoenix definitely are planted in (Apocalypse). She can’t control her powers unless she either fully stops them or lets them all loose, and that’s kind of Phoenix. I think in future movies to come we’ll definitely see a bit more of that.". Ignoring the fact that Kinberg has a messy understanding of the source material... emphasis on the phrase 'take ANOTHER STAB', perhaps? Because that already spells like sinister trouble *sigh*. These guys have failed Phoenix the first time. They made Magneto a borish nagging character. They've wasted the Silver Samurai into an ugly mess of CGI. They turned Apocalypse, into one big joke/meme. Will they have better luck with Phoenix redux? We'll see...

Kingsman

The good news is, even with the atrocities of their X-Men franchise (not talking about solo movies like "Deadpool" or "Logan"), FOX DOES have a strong trump card on their sleeve: the "Kingsman" franchise. 2015's "Kingsman: The Secret Service" was an unexpected pleasant surprise. The whole James Bond-esque nod and satire worked, it had amazing and likeable cast of characters, and the R-rated action scenes were bloody thrilling albeit religiously controversial. Suffice to say, director Matthew Vaugh definitely hit the ball off the park so far, that he even did something unprecented: agreeing to do a follow-up!

Its sequel, "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" is already showing off signs of equal greatness! The first trailer for this sequel has been released last week, and it's looking fantastic. The swagger, the action, and the style? WOW!!! I became a fan of Taron Egerton as soon as the first movie ended, and here, we get to see him fully owning his role as Eggsy. Ain't that a sight for sore eyes! This Eggsy is no longer the apprentice, he's a full-blown Kingsman now, and takes on a far crucial role in the organization. Particularly when it is directly targetted, and well... literally blown to pieces. Thus they need to cooperate with the US counterpart, the Statesman, and this is where the cowboy Channing Tatum comes to play. It's always fascinating to see and hear American and British clashing heads and accents with one another. That alone already sold the movie for me. But really, this movie is loaded with great actors, including the return of Colin Firth. Dang it, this feels amazing already! So yeah, September 27th, 2017 is the date to look out for!

The Chronicles of Narnia

Turns out, we're getting the 4th movie after all! So... yaaaay, I guess? According to Variety, director Joe Johnston is set to direct "Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair". Which itself is the title of the sixth volume out of seven, if Wikipedia is not mistaken. This movie series might feel a little under-appreciated, but there are people who are looking forward to see more. Particularly, those who are fans of the author C.S. Lewis, like several members of my extended family. The benefit of this particular chapter, is that it will focus on a separate story from the first trilogy. So Johnston won't need to bring back all of the old characters, some whose actors have already retired from acting. Only Will Poulter would be needed to reprise his role as Eustace Scrubb. But he has grown up since the third movie, while the story requires a younger age. This means, Johnston has the benefit of working with mostly, if not entirely new cast members this time. A set that possibly lead towards more sequels in the future. No release date has been set for the time being, but I won't be surprised if it will arrive late next year. Let's just hope this one will be more faithful to the book, unlike what happened with the third movie.

Gintama

This live action movie looks interesting as well! Yes, a new 30 seconds trailer for "Gintama the Movie" has recently been released, and it's showcasing new footage from the movie. That includes Gintouki and Shinpachi's first meeting. I'm not familiar with the series, so I can't say anything about it. But the slick action, and level of talents who are participating in this title, is enough to make me excited. Yes, Shun Oguri is everywhere, and has played numerous lead characters from various manga/anime adaptations. But dang it he's a good actor, who gives it all when it comes to building a character. And that's a good reassurance to the quality we can expect from this adaptation. If anything, I sincerely hope it would be as delightful as the "Rurouni Kenshin" adaptation several years back. It's certainly looking that way. "Gintama" will open in Japan on July 14th, 2017.

DC Films

Hmmm... I didn't want to talk about this, but it's a rather interesting news so I've decided to make a quick detour. Remember "The Flash"? The movie that was supposed to arrive next year, but has fallen into a circle of development limbo? Well, according to Screen Junkies, director Robert Zemeckis is being approached by Warner Bros to take on the movie. This is BIG news, because Zemeckis is famous and beloved for his "Back to the Future" movie series. Problem is, as soon as the Youtube Channel reported this news, El Mayimbe of The Wrap debunked it on Twitter. He said that Zemeckis only had a meeting, and that WB is talking with other directors for the project. Hmmm... perhaps Screen Junkies got it wrong, or they could be right, who can really tell. But the fact that El Mayimbe doesn't have a good track record with many of his latest scoops, is also something important we need to consider. The good sign that we can take from this report however, is that WB is still intent on making the movie. So that could serve as an encouraging news to DC Fans out there. But as always, don't get your hopes up too soon. Please also consider the studio's track record, particular for this exact project...

SONY Marvel Universe

Collider talked to actor Liev Schreiber about his upcoming voice role as the mysterious villain for Miles Morales' "Animated Spider-Man" movie. He didn't really reveal any major hints about WHO the character will be, but he did mention that he has seen the script and will soon be recording his lines in the coming months. According to Schreiber, the story will "feel very familiar, in a good way, in a kind of throwback way", especially for real hardcore Spider-Man fans. Considering Morales himself is a new character who was created in 2011, the word 'throwback' becomes a big question mark. If I need to make a wild guess, I say his character is going to be the Goblin, or Norman Osborn. Morales might live in a different universe to Peter Parker, but it's a parallel world, so most of Peter's adversaries are his as well, albeit in different form/look. I guess we'll have to wait and see if my prediction is correct or not. This movie will arrive on December 21st, 2018. Will you be watching this family-friendly animated movie, or WB's "Aquaman" instead? Hmmm...

Marvel Studios

As you can guess from my rather-melancholic review, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" has opened early in several countries, including mine. The North American region won't be seeing it until later this week (on May 5th), but it has been expected to arrive with an approximately $150 million domestic opening weekend. That number would be the second-biggest number of the year, following the $174 million of Disney's very own "Beauty and the Beast". I say, that estimation sounds quite plausible, despite the fact that some of the critical reviews are calling out this movie as 'Not so fresh'. After all, the general idea that negative reviews would affect audience's response and the movie's overall revenue, has been negated gracefully by "Beauty and the Beast" last month, or "The Fate of the Furious" earlier this month. As of writing (April 30th 01:00AM local time... don't ask why), the Rotten Tomatoes score for "Vol. 2" is sitting comfortably on 87%, which is admittedly a bit lower than the 91% of the first movie.

I need not to remind you, that "Vol. 2" IS a visually gorgeous and compelling character-driven movie that will undeniably attract families and die-hard Marvel fans. Yes, it's a risky sequel that might not work with everyone. Yes, it did hit me hard emotionally. But the fact that I'm already itching to see it again, is a clear sign that... yes, it's THAT good. I honestly want to go back to retrace those abundant Easter Eggs, as well as seeing it in again 3D. Because darn it, my country's a jerk. It didn't held any 3D viewings on the day of premiere! Otherwise I would've chosen that feature instead *sigh*.

Speaking of Easter Eggs, director James Gunn reached fans through his social media, to explain about his friend, Nathan Fillion's statement regarding his deleted cameo. As has been spotted before on set by keen-eyed fans, Gunn confirmed that Fillion was supposed to appear as Simon Williams... "in some movie POSTERS in a scene cut from the movie.". This could be that 'Easter Eggs loaded' scene that Gunn admitted had to cut during editing. He added that, "It was a way to have fun with one of my best pals.". It's possible that the sequence will later be made available on the Bluray, but I'm not so certain. Without spoiling anything, while the movie did take place on Earth several times, I can't help but wonder where exactly this particular scene would've taken place. Oh well, I hope Fillion will still be playing the character in future Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, because that's a brilliant and spot-on casting for the superhero turned actor!

Director Peyton Reed has revealed that "Ant-Man & The Wasp" will start filming very soon in June. This statement was inline with Kevin Feige's word during the press junket for "Vol. 2". Confirming that Evangeline Lilly will not be in "Avengers: Infinity War", Reed expressed his excitement to promote Lilly's Hope van Dyne, into becoming a full pledged superheroine alongside Paul Rudd's Scott Lang. Reed said, that Ant-Man and Wasp has always worked as a team for him, and that sentiment would be the prime focus of the movie. Reed even assured that "It’s every bit as much her movie as it is Scott Lang’s". "Ant-Man & The Wasp" will arrive on July 6th, 2018, but I'm sure we're going know more and probably see bits of the movie in this year's San Diego Comic Con International, and/or during Disney's D23 Expo that will take place just several days earlier.

Production for this 'duo movie', will certainly run in parallel with the UNTITLED 2019's Avengers movie, or as many would love to call it, "AVENGERS 4". The "Infinity War" team is expected to proceed with its production in August. Which means, the chance of Lilly's Wasp and also Brie Larson's Captain Marvel (her movie is scheduled to begin production afterwards, in February 2018) to have crucial part in it, has become significantly higher. The title for Avengers 4, is still being kept tightly wrapped by the folks at Marvel Studios. Feige casually agreed to Cinema Blend, that revealing the title too early might be a spoiler for "Infinity War". Intriguingly, the European premiere for "Vol. 2" took place the following days, and actress Zoe Saldana accidentally worded out some interesting statement that caused the fans buzzing. Why? Because it was indicated, that the title would be something along the line of "Avengers: Infinity Gauntlet". Makes sense, but... not so spoilery, huh? Indeed, because her director had gone out to clarify that it's NOT the title. Talking to Yahoo.UK, Gunn said that Saldana might have merely misspoken. Which is good, because now we can continue speculating about it! LOL.

Of course, Saldana's interview still confirmed that the Guardians will also appear in the movie. Meaning the crossover with the Avengers will not take place in "Infinity War" alone, which CAN be considered spoiler on its own. More interestingly, Feige revealed that while "Vol. 2" only took place several months (with its own valid reason) after 2014's "Guardians of the Galaxy", the gap towards "Infinity War" would be four years. That means, during such time span, Earth would have been challenged by various events that ranged from Ultron's sinister plan for humanity's extinction, the disassembling of the Avengers in "Captain America: Civil War", Dormammu's dimensional breakout in "Doctor Strange", up to whatever is going on in "Black Panther". Naturally, there will be more character growth and 'changes' among the Guardians themselves, and that is indeed the case. Members of the Guardians "will have evolved slightly, in some recognizable ways", Feige said. Having seen "Vol. 2" a few days ago, I can personally attest that these gang of misfit has already changed 'emotionally' through the course of the movie. And that its mid-credit scenes took place at least months if not a year or two afterwards. It's definitely going to be interesting to see how far they have become when we see them again in "Infinity War".

As I have mentioned last week, "Avengers 4" will mark a conclusion, and migration to a new era. Feige already said that the MCU will be VERY different after that. Even the 'Phase' system might evolve into a different concept starting in 2019. With the infinite ways it will take shape (remember the Multiverse?), fans everywhere are chiming in with their own speculations and personal hopes about it. But what about Marvel Studios themselves? Turns out, talking to Fandango, Feige himself thought that "it’s a little early to know what it’s going to look like. I think things are going to look very different at that point". He did however, reveal the reason why Gunn had signed up early on for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3". A little something the studio will call, the 'COSMIC UNIVERSE'. Indeed, just like how "Doctor Strange" paved way for the existence of Multiverse, in a way "Vol. 2" also worked as a gateway towards bigger, broader, and more outlandish cosmic adventures. And yes, several (of five) mid-credit scenes of "Vol. 2" HAVE already alluded the vastness of the cosmic side alone. At the very least, it has shown us what kind of story or character we can expect to see in "Vol. 3".

Last but not least, in case you forgot or are not aware of this, Marvel Studios had already put three 'UNTITLED' placeholders for the year 2020: May 1st, July 10th, and November 6th. But since it is a division of Disney, one of its future release date also got affected by the recent shift. Namely, the July 10th has been pushed into August 7th. Why am I talking about these future dates? The current common sense is that, "Vol. 3" would be taking the May 1st date. But now I can also see it taking the August 7th one, because the first movie DID open in that month. Especially if the studios wishes for May to be Earth-based. Perhaps, "Doctor Strange 2" then? Remember, the first movie was initially meant as Summer movie, but was delayed to accomodate Benedict Cumberbatch's theatre schedule. What about the third date then? Just a wild guess, but it's likely going to be a new property, and if Feige's words is any indication, it'll be something that takes place in the Cosmic Universe. Nobody knows what it will be for now, but here's a wild guess: "Nova"!!! Let's just wait and see if I'm right or not! ;D

Marvel TV

This one will be another quick one! After doing several memorable episodes on Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", there are signs that director Kevin Tancharoen will be involved in Marvel's "The Inhumans" as well. Which is a GOOD news, because the guy has a good taste when it comes to action scenes. And boy, judging from the result of showrunner Scott Buck with "Iron Fist"? This show needs ALL the help it could get. Of course, the report was not official, and was only deducted through stalking observing his activity on social media. But Tancharoen has maintained a tight-knit relationship with ABC Studios in recent years, not to mention AoS is produced by his own sister and brother-in-law. So it makes A LOT of sense for him to take part in this series as well. At the very least, we can look forward for the episode he directed, even if we might end up skipping the rest... *sigh*.

Netflix

Earlier this month, some fansites reported that Marvel's "Luke Cage" has begun filming. I even stated that on last week's R-N-D. As it turns out, that was inaccurate report! *mindblown* LOL. Lead actor Mike Colter was present at the Chicago's C2E2 Convention, and aside from revealing fun little details during the production of Marvel's "The Defenders", he clarified the report that filming for Season 2 will begin later in June. Perhaps the ones spotted in New York was merely second unit doing prepping work? Who knows. But there you have it folks, right now, only Marvel's "Jessica Jones" is in production. Colter did share a little hint about "Jessica Jones" second season as well, having worked closely alongside Krysten Ritter throughout "The Defenders". According to him, audience can expect the vibe of the new season to be "dark and heavy". That's intriguing, right?

Meanwhile, Jessica Henwick shared to Entertainment Weekly, that "The Defenders" will take place one month following the ending of Marvel's "Iron Fist". She also added that her character, and possibly Finn Jones' Danny Rand who will be actively busy hunting members for The Hand, will not be in New York when the mini series begins. This helps explain why both Colleen Wing and Danny are rarely seen alongside the other Defenders during filming. But not to worry, she also teased that seeing different characters from different series interact with one another, will make Marvel fans excited. "They’re going to see Colleen and Misty... they’re going to love seeing Luke Cage with the Iron Fist, Danny Rand. I think fans are going to freak out.", she teased. Well, no kidding girl! This will be the ONLY show where we'll be able to see those, right? To think that we could have had it more, had we have a "Heroes for Hire" show. Such a waste of potentials...

DC Television

WB Television has been toying with this one idea for quite some time, and looks like it's finally happening. "Titans", a live action adaptation of the popular "Teen Titans", is set to debut on 2018. Remember back in 2014 when "Vampire Diaries" star Steven R. McQueen stated his desire to play Nightwing? He even pursued it for quite some time, especially back when TNT was still interested in the project. Well, with opportunities opening in both movie and TV side, looks like he might finally have a shot after all. "Titans" is expected to star Dick Grayson as the leader of characters like Starfire, Raven, and others. So it sounds like the roster will be precisely like in the comics.

Greg Berlanti, the godfather of all the recent DC series on CW Network, is of course one of the man behind this. He's teaming up with Akiva Goldsman, a very excited Geoff Johns, and Sarah Schechter to write and produce the series. Intriguingly, these guys chose the name "Titans" while dropping the 'Teens' part completely. Does this mean the characters are going to be grownups, then? I actually thought this would be WB/DC's attempt to enter the young adult market, following Marvel's foray with their upcoming new shows. Looks like that might not be the case. But hold on right there... apparently, this show won't even air in the CW (so don't expect crossovers with "Arrow" or "The Flash"! LOL)! It will arrive in a whole new platform, a DC-branded, direct-to-consumer digital service. Developed by WB Digital Networks Group, this service is designed to deliver immersive experience for DC fans. So general audience aren't allowed, right? Bummer. It remains to be seen if this is a good strategy, but I guess we'll see what happens next year.

The good news is, that new series will not be alone in the new service. "Young Justice: Outsider", the long awaited third season of the fan-favorite series, will also arrive in it. In this new season, the teenage heroes will take on meta-human trafficking and terrifying threat it creates. Sam Register, Brandon Vietti, and Greg Weisman are producing, while Phil Bourassa is tackling as the art director for WB Animation. All of these names are people who are experienced in animated series/movies. For the time being, both series are still in early stages of production, so it might still take a while before we get to know about them.

Many fans of the series have been asking for this new season, and some like yours truly, have wanted a Teen Titans live action show. Looks like, we have received our request. But here's the big question: how would people react with the fact that it won't air on broadcast network like CW or Cartoon Network? I'm aware that the popularity of "Young Justice" and the hype for "Titans" alone could attract audience to check out this new DC-only service. But it's also still unclear whether the service is free or comes with a price. If it's the latter, would audience be willing to pay a sum amount of money, just to catch these two shows? I kind of doubt it. Perhaps if they also move "Powerless", "Gotham", and all those CW shows? Hmmmm. I personally would decide it after proper consideration first, because just like what's happening with Marvel's "Runaways" that will only be available on Hulu... I need to make sure if it's really worth the price. Because if otherwise, it's totally a no go!

Dynasty Warriors

Previously announced in December 2016, updates regarding "Dynasty Warriors 9" can soon be expected to arrive next month. While the cause for such long delay was never explained, producer Akihiro Suzuki did openly apologize for it via Twitter. Since May is just a day away (LOL!) in the Asian region, can we expect some information real soon? I hope so. Let's just wait and see...

Marvel vs. Capcom

The first story trailer for the "Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite" game has been released, and several new characters have been confirmed. Uhmm... okay, perhaps the phrase 'new characters' is pushing it a little too much. I think the better term would be 'returning characters'. Why? From the Marvel side, we're getting the jade giant Incredible Hulk, Thor Odinson, Hawkeye, and Rocket Raccoon... AGAIN. While from the CAPCOM side, we'll be seeing Interpol agent Chun-Li, cyber ninja Strider Hiryu, and the hunky zombie-killer Chris Redfield... AGAIN. These characters sounds all too familiar! Yes, because they have all been featured in previous titles before this. Which means... the game's more of the same, huh? And here I thought we're going to see fresh names like Star-Lord from "Guardians of the Galaxy", or even Rashid from "Street Fighter V"!

The only new characters announced to be joining Captain Marvel, are Ultron and Sigma (who will sadly be available as post-launch DLC). They serve as villainous characters from both sides, who will form the game's main villain when they combined into... *drumrolls* Ultron Sigma. In theory, this idea makes sense, since both are digital and mechanical beings. But will this work story-wise? It sure looks like it, because the trailer looks tense and serious, but honestly who knows. It's a pretty gutsy move though, because I don't recall CAPCOM have done this before in previous title. CAPCOM have also released a new gameplay video, that focused on the recently announced characters. Dang it, seeing Hawkeye teams up with Chris makes me all giddy with joy! LOL. We also get to see the Space Stone in effect, as it is used to trap opponents in a limited force field. That looks fun!

The game is set to be released for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on September 19th, 2017. Pre-order has been made available at most online/offline retailers, and there are two premium editions that devoted fans can choose to purchase. You can read the pricing and details on the Capcom Unity blog. So far, we only have 14 characters (8 from Marvel, and 6 from Capcom) in the game, so there will be at least 10 others or even more. Here's hoping that we'll be getting actual new characters like Scarlet Witch, Vision, or unexpected Capcom characters like Miles Edgeworth in the next update. Crossing my fingers...

Nintendo

The sale of their console, the Nintendo Switch has successfully topped 2,74 million worldwide so far. In just one single month of release! And the company has just recently announced the arrival of Nintendo 2DS XL. The latest in the 3DS family that already looks slick and colorfully better than its tacky non-flippable original, and might be primed to mark the final stage of the 3DS era. After all, there was that rumor that a handheld only Switch Mini is in development to replace it.

Yet Nintendo isn't stopping with the news front, no sir! It just made another surprising statement that undeniably turned people's head: they are skipping E3... AGAIN! Sure, they are famous for being notoriously absent in the recent years, but one would assume that they would be go all out this year to promote Switch and its relatively small catalogue of games. And some of us have also thought that the company will be using this opportunity to announce the heavily rumored "Pokemon Stars". A title that would totally benefit the console's appeal. I guess we're all caught off guard, eh? Then again, it seems they might be holding a Digital Event once again to compensate, because they ARE extremely comfortable with their "Nintendo Direct". So I guess, the likelihood of "Pokemon Stars" being announced still exists after all, huh? Crossing my fingers again...

[cannedbabs]

Friend or foe?

((More RBTI rewrite stuffs :] sorry if this is hard to read))