‘Can’t You Be a Friendly, Neighborhood Spider-Man?’

So this new trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming is really fun, and makes the movie feel a lot like the classic Spidey comics, in which ol’ Webhead is a wisecracking hero having the time of his life stopping street-level crime in New York City. This is a good thing. A very good thing.

Who wouldn’t want to watch that movie? I think Homecoming has a lot of potential to appeal to non-superhero fans, which could really boost its box-office numbers. And that’s not even factoring in fans of Robert Downey Jr.‘s Tony Stark/Iron Man.

New ‘Spider-Man’ Posters: The Good News and the Bad News

Spider-Man: Homecoming, the Sony/Marvel Studios co-production that aims to rehabilitate the film franchise saw the release of two new posters today — and the results are decidedly mixed. Like the two-headed monster that this dual-studio movie is, the promotional material appears schizophrenic. One poster looks like it’s promoting a new Iron Man flick, while the other looks much more like a Spider-Man movie.

Let’s look at the posters designed for release in the USA first. This poster is a jumbled mess: a bunch of no-Spider-Man characters dominate — most notably, Robert Downey Jr.‘s Tony Stark and Iron Man. Now, I don’t blame Marvel for wanting to make sure audiences know that one of their most popular characters is in this movie, but is he the star? RDJ’s matinee-idol mug is clearly the largest, while his alter ego, Iron Man, is depicted rocketing toward the viewer, no doubt to save the day!

But what about Peter Parker/Spider-Man? The movie’s star, relative newcomer Tom Holland, is there, but as a fresh face, is he immediately identifiable? Who are all those other people? And, to top it off, Spidey himself is depicted turning around, as if in shock. Maybe he’s thinking, “How did all those people get behind me?” Way to go, Spidey-Sense!

Poor hard-luck Webhead — he doesn’t even get to be the star of his own poster!

Wonder Where Wonder Woman Comes From?

The latest trailer for this summer’s hotly anticipated Wonder Woman claims to be the “official origin trailer,” but it only teases at Diana’s true secret origins. Instead, it gives us glimpses of her girlhood and the martial society of the Amazons on the island of Themyscira. It looks like we’ll have to wait until the film opens to see which of her several origin stories (if any) from the comic books  will be used.

The trailer itself, however, is another gem, full of action of and great visuals, and further amps up my hopes for a great movie. I really want this one to break the DC curse and be genuinely great, with no reservations. And how about this terrific new poster, depicting WW on a beach at dusk? Awesome!

X-23 Tears It Up in NSFW ‘Logan’ Trailer

The final Hugh Jackman Wolverine movie, Logan, opens today, and from all accounts, this is going to be the Wolverine movie we’ve all been waiting for: one packed with action, bloodshed and Professor X dropping F-bombs.

Who cares if the movie’s 2024 setting makes the already mishmashed X-Men movie timeline look like ground hamburger? Just accept that it’s two years after X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Professor X is suddenly 90, Logan is.. really old and there’s a little girl named Laura (aka X-23) with adamantium claws causing havoc while on the run from Hellfire Club exile Donald Pierce, who has grafted cybernetic parts to himself and runs a group of rogues called the Ravagers.

Based on the story “Old Man Logan” from Wolvie’s comic book series, Logan is directed by James Mangold, who also did 2013’s The Wolverine, but it is not set in the same timeline as that previous film. Got that? Actually, it doesn’t matter to the casual movie fan.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’ Trailer Introduces Star-Lord’s Father!

After focusing on Star-Lord’s relationship with his late mother in the first film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 tackles Peter Quill’s missing father — who turns out to be Ego, played by screen legend Kurt Russell!

There’s a lot more to the story of Peter’s long-lost Dad than just who he is; readers of Marvel Comics know that when it comes to Ego the Living Planet, what he is poses a much… uh, bigger question.

Director James Gunn decided to change the identity of Star-Lord’s father from the comics, and hopefully we’ll see just why when the movie opens, but it’s worth noting that Russell‘s costume makes him look just like J’son, the emperor of Spartax, who was Peter’s dad in the comics. Hmmmm…

Anyway, check out the trailer, which is packed with action, bright colors and quick quips, which is just what we want from this sequel:

New ‘Justice League’ Image Totally Fails to Impress

Warner Brother released this image to USA Today for its promotional package on “must-see” movies in 2017, and I must say, the gambit totally backfired: This doesn’t make me want to see Justice League. It makes me want to laugh and then feel sorry for DC Comics.

The photo depicts most of the Justice League, DC’s team of superheroes meant to compete on the silver screen with Marvel’s Avengers. Included here are Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Cyborg (Ray Fisher), the Flash (Ezra Miller) and Aquaman (Jason Momoa) — but the team’s final member, Superman (Henry Cavill), is nowhere to be seen.

That could be because Supes was killed in the abominable Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and producers are trying to keep his resurrection a scret. But I think he’s just hiding because he doesn’t want to be associated with another bloated, self-important turkey that collapses under its own weight.

“[Filming Justice League] was all about the filling-out of this massive comic-book pantheon with the biggest and coolest heroes we could,” director Zack Snyder told the newspaper.

Look! A ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Synopsis at Last!

Disney has finally released a synopsis for Thor: Ragnarok that at least hints at how the movie will tie together the dangling plot threads from Thor: The Dark World, the “Planet Hulk” comic book story and the “Twilight of the Gods” tale from Norse mythology — not to mention a guest appearance by Doctor Strange, the villainous plotting of Hela, queen of the underworld, and, of course, Loki.

Fans have known for some time that these story elements would be involved on the third Thor solo (or “solo”) movie, but not how. Check this out to see if it helps:

In Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok, Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok — the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization — at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger — the Incredible Hulk!

Wonder Woman Draws (Steals) a Special Sword

Director Patty Jenkins‘ Wonder Woman is one of the most anticipated movies of the upcoming summer season, so every sliver of information about it is worth examining.

In this photo, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, the future Wonder Woman, Diana of Themyscira (Gal Gadot), is stealing a magical Amazonian sword known as the “god killer,” which she intends to take to Man’s World. The theft angers her mother, Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nielsen).

Jenkins described the import of the scene to the magazine: “This is her moment. She’s heard all the terrible things about man’s land. But she’s also heard that mankind is in need and under duress. This is her great moment to make the decision to be the one to try and save them.”

Let’s look at the pulse-pounding trailers for the action flick (both spliced together):

Third Wolverine Flick Named Simply ‘Logan’

The third Wolverine solo movie got a name and a teaser poster today. As revealed by star Hugh Jackman on Twitter, director James Mangold‘s second Wolvie film — and Jackman’s last — will be called simply Logan.

To go along with the spare name, Jackman also unveiled a minimalist poster, which appears to depict Wolverine Logan holding the hand of a child. The vibe of the poster is very Schindler’s List, evocative of the supposed darker direction of this installment.

I like the name a lot — especially considering the horrible alternatives. We could have ended up with The X-Men: Logan or Wolverine 3: Logan or Wolverine: Episode III — An X-Men Story or, worse, X-Men Origins: Wolverine 3, or some other monstrosity. But 20th Century Fox is trusting the audience to recognize this is an X-Men-related movie, so it isn’t spoonfeeding fans a saga title like The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials or (the worst) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2.

As for the poster, it hints at the story line, which is supposedly loosely based on the “Old Man Logan” story from the comics, which saw an aged Logan back in action in a dystopian far future. Notice that Logan’s hand is heavily scarred and cut.

Introducing “Doctor Strange” Characters via Posters

Doctor Strange, the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, opens in just over one month, and these character posters are intended to get folks familiar with the main characters — and the topsy-turvy mystical world they inhabit.

Magic has not yet been seen in a Marvel movie, but Doctor Strange will introduce the concept in a big way. Ant-Man showed vans that other realities, such as the microverse, are possible, so viewers shouldn’t be too shocked that magic can exist in the largely science-fiction-based MCU.

The reality-bending images include Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo, Rachel McAdams as Christine “Night Nurse” Palmer, Benedict Wong  as Wong, Mads Mikkelsen as Kaecilius and Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One.

Directed by Scott Derrickson (Sinister), Doctor Strange also stars Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt and Scott Adkins. Jon Spaihts (Prometheus), Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill wrote the screenplay.

Doctor Strange will appear in theaters Nov. 4.