by admin | May 2, 2025 | News, TV & Beyond Articles
Marvel Legends action figure of the symbiote suit webslinger from “Spider-Man 3,” LEGO is turning the incredible train sequence from “Spider-Man 2” into a LEGO set.
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But that’s not all, because LEGO also continues to build out the legacy Batman on both the silver screen and the flickering box. Along with massive sets like the LEGO “Batman Returns” Batcave and the “Batman: The Animated Series” LEGO Gotham City skyline, they’ve also been dabbling in the Dark Knight’s signature Batmobiles, from the original 1966 TV series to Robert Pattinson’s terrifying hot rod in “The Batman.” This year, they’re finally giving the Batmobile from “Batman Forever” its due in building brick form, and I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve always thought it was the coolest Batmobile from any movie.
Take a look at the new “Spider-Man 2” and “Batman Forever” LEGO sets below!
The new Spider-Man 2 LEGO set has a train to catch
LEGO
Plenty of movie fans agree that “Spider-Man 2” is still one of the best superhero movies of all time, and the train sequence with Doc Ock battling Spider-Man while sending an elevated train through New York City at a dangerous speed is simply fantastic. That action-packed scene is being brought to life in LEGO form, albeit in a slightly scaled down version.
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While LEGO fans won’t be getting an entire train to recreate the famous sequence, the 393-piece set does provide the front car that Peter Parker has to stop from careening off the end of the track and into the busy city streets of New York.
LEGO
Along with the train, the set includes minifigures of Doc Ock and his mechanical arms, as well as Spider-Man with some webbing and both a masked and unmasked head for the minifigure. Joining them is Aunt May, even though she’s not part of this sequence in the movie, and just because he doesn’t fit in well in any other LEGO set, we’re getting a minifigure of J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. But if you want other passengers inside the train to cower in fear, you’ll have to get a different assembly of minifigures.
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This is the kind of set you could place on a track in the middle of a big LEGO city diorama and give yourself a cinematic scene to play out among the rest of your plastic blocks. Should be a fun build!
The “Spider-Man 2” LEGO set is available to pre-order now for $54.99, and it will ship on August 1.
Will chicks still dig the car when it’s a LEGO Batmobile?
LEGO
Meanwhile, over in Gotham City, we’ve got one of the most stylish and impractical Batmobiles that has ever graced the big screen. From “Batman Forever,” a movie that could have been much darker, this version of the Caped Crusader’s signature ride had a teal glow inside of it, as well as glowing wheels featuring the Bat symbol as hubcaps.
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But perhaps the coolest trait of the “Batman Forever” Batmobile was the trademark spoiler, which was situated as a single batwing coming out of the back. However, when Robin takes the vehicle out for a spin, referring to it as his “love machine,” the batwing is split in two, making it look even more awesome. Sadly, you can’t split the batwing into two in this LEGO set, but it still looks sick.
LEGO
Batman is also included as a minifigure in this 909-piece set, and he even gets a little stand to display him. This one will certainly go well next to all of the other LEGO Batmobiles from “Batman,” “The Batman,” “Batman: The Animated Series,” “Batman ’66” and more.
The “Batman Forever” LEGO Batmobile is available for pre-order for $99.99, and it will ship on August 1.
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by admin | May 2, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles
The Hollywood Reporter, Reynolds is working on “various treatments” for a movie that would include Deadpool and three or four other X-Men characters. As for who exactly might join up with Wade this time around? That remains a mystery, but Reynolds previously shared his belief that Deadpool works better as a supporting character, so this news lines up with what the actor/writer/producer has said in the past. It also further builds on something Reynolds teased himself recently.
“I’m writing a little something right now,” Reynolds revealed in an interview with Time. “It’s an ensemble but I like that he’s isolated. If Deadpool becomes an Avenger or an X-Man, we’re at the end. That’s his wish fulfillment and you can’t give him that.”
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Even though Marvel and Disney haven’t officially given this team-up film the green light, it’s easy to imagine they would be on board. Last year’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” made more than $1.3 billion at the box office, becoming the biggest R-rated movie ever. It’s one of the biggest hits the Marvel Cinematic Universe has enjoyed in the last handful of years. Undoubtedly, the powers that be would like to tap into that juice again if they can.
Deadpool can expand the scope of the X-Men franchise in the MCU
20th Century Studios
In light of how little information has been confirmed at this point, we’re left to speculate. The most obvious answer would be an “X-Force” movie, which Reynolds very much wanted to make several years back. That spin-off was even teed up rather nicely by 2018’s “Deadpool 2,” but when Disney purchased Fox in 2019, those plans went out the window. Why not revisit that concept now?
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The report also noted that the ensemble concept “could allow for the X-Men characters to be used in unexpected ways.” Marvel Studios is currently prepping an “X-Men” movie reboot, with Michael Lesslie (“Hunger Games”) set to pen the screenplay. Reynolds’ concept could make room for more obscure characters to enter the MCU fold without having to overcrowd the flagship “X-Men” movies.
“Deadpool & Wolverine” proved that more mutants can, under the right circumstances, equal more success. Channing Tatum finally got to play Gambit in that movie and now he’s returning for next year’s “Avengers: Doomsday,” no doubt thanks to the overwhelmingly positive response from audiences to his take on the card-throwing mutant. Deadpool could, in theory, serve as a springboard for other mutants to take the spotlight.
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Before anyone gets too excited, it needs to be made clear that this probably won’t happen too soon. At the very least, Marvel probably wants to get through “Avengers: Secret Wars,” which is due to hit theaters in 2027. But after that? Anything is possible.
The next “Deadpool” movie doesn’t have a release date yet, but stay tuned.
by admin | May 2, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles
(played by Lewis Pullman, who replaced Steven Yeun after he parted ways with the project). Designed to fill the gap left by The Avengers, who haven’t assembled since the events of “Avengers: Endgame,” The Sentry is the superforce that goes out of control, leaving the titular team to get together and try to stop him. But just what kind of force are they going up against, and how much of The Sentry’s original power set from the comics is making its way into the MCU?
Well, much like his comic book iteration, there’s really not much Bob can’t do, and that’s precisely why he’s something to be afraid of here and going forward for his eventual reappearance in “Avengers: Doomsday” and whatever side he’ll be on when we’re reunited with him there. See, our boy Bob is a complex fellow with multiple sides to him, one of which we’d advise you absolutely don’t come face to face with, unless you’re happy with staring into The Void.
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The Sentry is Marvel’s answer to Superman – just a very broken one
Marvel / John Romita Jr. / Dean White / Mark Morales
Debuting in his own comic in 2000, The Sentry was a superhero who had all the basic but equally brilliant abilities that all standard superheroes have. Blessed with super strength, speed, and the ability to fly, The Sentry felt like Marvel’s answer to DC’s Superman. He was simply unstoppable, and with his transition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, things haven’t changed.
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In the comics, The Sentry has been known to hold his own against some of the most powerful entities in the Marvel universe. Going toe-to-toe with the likes of Thor, Hulk, and Doctor Doom, there was even one brutal and memorable instance where Bob went up against Ares, the god of war, and ripped the deity in half. Over time, The Sentry even discovered new powers that he didn’t initially possess, including molecularization, giving him the power to alter objects down to a molecular level, and psionics, which allow him to manipulate reality itself.
The movie version of the character is described in the movie as being “more powerful than all of the Avengers combined,” and has, so far, developed super strength, speed, the ability to fly, potentially some kind of extra-sensory perception where he can anticipate where Ghost is going to phase in and out of vision, and an apparent invulnerability. But if his comics counterpart points the way toward the live-action version gaining even more powers, he might find himself in a prime place on the battlefield for “Avengers: Doomsday.” The only concern is whether he will be able to maintain control, given that, as powerful as Bob might be, another presence in him poses an even greater threat. Haunting Bob’s subconscious and just itching to get out is Bob’s darker alias, The Void, bent on causing chaos and disaster with a mere thought.
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The Void is The Sentry’s dark half and a force to be reckoned with
Jae Lee / José Villarrubia / Marvel Comics
With characters like Norman Osborn, Bruce Banner, and Marc Spector, the Marvel universe is full of characters with split identities, and one of the most terrifying is Bob Reynolds’ unhinged alter-ego, The Void. The counter personality to The Sentry, The Void taunts Bob when he takes over, luring him on a path of destruction that, if not restrained, can destroy the universe. Its history is equally as dark and mysterious as the threat it poses, given that in the comics, it’s alluded to that The Void may have been present at around 1600 BCE and could very well be the Angel of Death before it latched onto Bob. Such a title is fitting, given that one of The Void’s most despicable acts in the comics was killing over a million civilians in Manhattan.
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As we’ve already seen in the trailer, the black shadow definitely makes an appearance in “Thunderbolts*,” seemingly snapping people out of existence in a way that even Thanos might be impressed with. How will the fallout of Bob’s opposing identities tee up whatever dangers are headed our heroes way when they return for “Avengers: Doomsday?” Let’s hope Victor Von Doom doesn’t find a way to get a hold of them for himself.
“Thunderbolts*” is in theaters now.
by admin | May 2, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles
As Peter Biskind’s 2008 piece about “The Deer Hunter” and “Coming Home” at the 1979 Oscars in Vanity Fair details, producer Barry Spikings bought “The Man Who Came to Play” for EMI, and couldn’t figure out how to make it until he met with Cimino. According to Spikings’ recollection, the director succinctly solved that problem:
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“You know why you’re obsessed with [that script]? It’s because the Russian roulette is a metaphor for what America was doing with its young people, sending them to a war in a foreign place, when there was no justification for it. I know something about Vietnam, and I’ve always wanted to do a movie about it. Are you up for it?”
Spikings’ answer was a resounding yes, and Cimino’s “The Deer Hunter” got underway. Yet the story grew, and so did the shooting schedule and budget, so much so that there was controversy surrounding the film before a cut was ever completed. Once a version of the finished movie existed, it screened for executives at Universal Pictures, who owned the rights to the film’s domestic distribution. When Lew Wasserman (head of Universal’s then-parent company MCA) and Sid Sheinberg saw the film, their reception of it was especially bad. According to Spikings:
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“I think they were shocked…They really didn’t like the movie. And they certainly didn’t like it at three hours two minutes.”
In addition to the controversy over the film’s political content (more on that in a second), the executives subscribed to what became a popular notion, that Cimino’s film was too lengthy, especially the first half, where the main characters attend a wedding of one of their buddies, just before many of them are sent to Vietnam. While myself and other aficionados of the film find this criticism erroneous, it was something that nearly prevented “The Deer Hunter” from being released at all. As Spikings recalled, Sheinberg gave him and Cimino an ultimatum:
“You’ve got to get one hour out of this movie—then we might think about releasing it.”
The controversy over the ending of The Deer Hunter
Universal Pictures
Although the Universal execs hired one of their own editors, Verna Fields (who worked on “Jaws”), to try and cut “The Deer Hunter” down to their size, the final choice of which cut to release fell to the CEO of EMI, Bernard Delfont, who ended up choosing Cimino’s cut. The executives didn’t just have an issue with the movie’s length, however. Much more concerning to them, according to Spikings, was its commentary on America:
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“What really upset them was ‘God Bless America.’ Sheinberg thought it was anti-American. He was vehement. He said something like ‘You’re poking a stick in the eye of America.'”
The “God Bless America” moment is the ending of the film, where the broken yet surviving characters sing the hymn as they sit down to a meal. Indeed as Sheinberg said, it became a flashpoint scene for discourse about what the movie was trying to say about Vietnam and America in general, whether the song choice was intended as ironic, satiric, or genuinely patriotic. Fortunately, even though it’s not clear whether Fields’ cut removed or softened the ending somehow, the moment remained intact thanks to Delfont preferring Cimino’s cut of the movie.
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Cimino remains one of the most divisive figures in American film, and while “The Deer Hunter” is generally regarded as his masterpiece, its merits and flaws are still debated to this day. Some of those flaws aside (including playing fast and loose with its politics), one of the strengths of the film is how it gives the viewer the opportunity to draw their own conclusions while still having a point of view. The Vietnam War was far too fresh in American’s minds in 1978, so much so that of course a movie as bold as “The Deer Hunter” would be shocking. In 2025, it’s far easier to comprehend an ending (and a film) that has affection for America while pointing a bitter, condemning finger at it. Being able to simultaneously love and criticize our country is one of the greatest freedoms we Americans get to enjoy — for now.
by admin | May 2, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles
powerful new character in the form of Lewis Pullman’s Sentry. It was the relatively rare post-“Endgame” Marvel Cinematic Universe movie to not deal with the multiverse, for the most part. It also featured one of the most cold-blooded and definitive deaths in the history of the MCU.
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Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster first appeared in 2021’s “Black Widow” and her return in “Thunderbolts” was a big part of the marketing from early on. However, as anyone who’s seen the movie now knows, she didn’t make it long. In the first act, Yelena Belova, John Walker, Ghost, and Taskmaster are sent by Val to an underground lab. Unbeknownst to any of them, they’re all supposed to kill each other in an attempt to tie up loose ends. Before they all realize this, Ghost shoots Taskmaster in the head.
There were no fake outs. There was no return. Taskmaster was definitely killed. Especially since everything in that room was later burned to ash. Director Jake Schreier spoke with the folks at GamesRadar about the decision, explaining why they did what they did. Here’s what he had to say about it:
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“Obviously, it’s a big decision. We felt like a movie like this needed something like that, where you’re like, ‘Okay, if they’ll do that, they could do anything,’ you know, and you don’t really know exactly where the thing is going to go. It needed a bit of shock or surprise.”
That reasoning makes sense. That death does make it clear the movie is willing to go to surprising places early on. Be that as it may, no other major characters bite the dust and none of that explains why it had to be Taskmaster, specifically. But it had to be someone.
The director of Thunderbolts ignored the online chatter about Taskmaster
Marvel Studios
Marvel, despite its best efforts, didn’t do the greatest job of hiding the death. The trailer for “Thunderbolts” hardly featured Taskmaster, leading many to guess she was going to die. That proved to be correct. So it perhaps wasn’t all that surprising to the overvant MCU faithful, but it probably carried some weight for the average moviegoer. Still, the speculation was something that was tough to ignore at a certain point, though Schreier and the team tried their best.
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“Definitely, when we were making it, we ignored all of that. I didn’t read anything,” Schreier said. “I mean, I’ve read since then, and it’s like, yeah, there’s a long lead time of getting these movies out there, and people are definitely going to have their theories in the marketing, it’s such a part of it.”
The big spoiler for those who pay attention to this stuff came when Marvel made a big splashy announcement revealing the cast for next year’s “Avengers: Doomsday.” Nearly every single core cast member from “Thunderbolts” is returning, save for Kurylenko. That added even more fuel to the speculation fire. Speaking to that, Schreier revealed that he got some advice from Jon Watts, who directed Tom Holland’s “Spider-Man” trilogy.
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“Something that my friend Jon Watts told me, who has been through this, and I think maybe it was something Kevin [Feige] told him, is that when you sit in the theater and the lights go down, all of that stuff goes away, and you really want to try to not worry too much about what people are going to be bringing to the movie, and make sure that on a story level that stuff works.”
For what it’s worth, this movie has been met with some of the most positive reviews for any MCU movie in recent memory, perhaps rivaled only by “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” So it does seem as though the movie itself is a ride people are enjoying, even if this death wasn’t a huge surprise to certain audience members.
“Thunderbolts” is in theaters now.
by admin | May 2, 2025 | TV & Beyond Articles
This leads to a post-credits scene, set 14 months later, where the New Avengers have already been installed in their tower-bound New York headquarters. Although they were all previously mercenaries and killers, they are clearly trying very hard to fit into their new roles as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. They still don’t have all the techno-jargon down, and they haven’t bothered to decorate; their headquarters seems a little empty. Most frustratingly, they are in a legal copyright battle over the name “The Avengers.” Captain America, they say, owns the rights. Who would have thought legal haggling would be a major concern for Marvel’s freelance military?
Yelena is looking at a high-tech tablet when a buzzer goes off. Their scanning equipment has detected something wonky in the upper atmosphere. Yelena pushes a few buttons, and brings up a spacebound camera feed on her wall-sized TV screen. They mention that something seems to have traveled to their planet from another dimension (!). They take a look at a spaceship, and you can guess the number emblazoned on the side.
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As the reader might intuit from the description, this is a somewhat long scene. Indeed, it now holds a record as the longest post-credits sequence from any MCU film, running a full 174 seconds. That beat the record held by “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” which had five post-credits scenes that ran for a combined 171 seconds.
The Thunderbolts* post-credits scene is the longest in MCU history
Marvel Studios
Coming in at 2 minutes at 54 seconds, the new post-credits scene beat the record held by “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” which had five post-credits scenes that ran for a combined 2 minutes and 51 seconds.
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As the world’s many MCU fans know, Marvel post-credit scenes tend to serve as previews and/or advertisements for upcoming installations in the series. They introduce new characters, remind audiences that a heretofore unseen villain is still operating in the background, or tell viewers that some kind of universe-altering cataclysm is at hand. The post-credits scenes are typically greeted with wiggly enthusiasm, and MCU fans will immediately storm into their theater lobbies to discuss the potential meeting between a classic MCU character and the new ones they just saw. Marvel Comics know-it-alls will happy begin detailing the history of the new character, and some outlets (hi!) will write articles about how the post-credits sequence is significant.
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The post-credits scene in “Thunderbolts*” does indeed serve that function, as it is a reminder that the MCU has a third film coming out in 2025. People excited for “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” will only be made more excited.
But the “Thunderbolts*” post-credits sequence serves a more interesting function as well. The film audiences just saw (one of the best in the MCU, frankly) was about depression and trauma. The Thunderbolts all had terrible lives leading up to their heroic careers, or they had fallen into destitution after their heyday ended. The Thunderbolts/New Avengers are not happy people, and kind of hate that they’re good at murder. Indeed, the filmmakers seemed to declare that trauma is a prerequisite for becoming a superhero. One needs to be emotionally damaged if they elect to take a job that requires constant violence and perpetual death.
The function of the post-credits scene
Marvel Studios
The post-credits sequence shows that the Thunderbolts/New Avengers are not the wacky banter-machines or slick-haired party-boys like the last batch. None of the old Avengers are ever astonished by the miracle technologies around them, as they’re just everyday objects to them. As such, they typically come across as too-cool-for-school, only acknowledging that something is weird with a “Well … that happened”-style joke. The brisk brand of Marvel banter that once made the series popular has long since fallen into insufferable territory. It’s telling that there are no secret identities in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Instead, heroes show their faces in public, gather fame, accumulate fanboys and fangirls, and sign autographs. The Avengers are well-known to everyone, and most of them seem to enjoy their fame. When “lesser” Avengers aren’t recognized, they get miffed. Heroism, for them, isn’t so much about committing acts of justice from the shadows. It’s about getting credit for their hard work. In a generation that was raised with the possibility of online fame lurking around every corner, anonymous heroics is anathema.
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The Thunderbolts are very different people. They don’t want to be Avengers, don’t want to be famous, and don’t really know how to do this well. The post-credits scene shows a different kind of off-duty status quo for the heroes. They’re angrier (or at least more exhausted), and see their job as a weary obligation. They aren’t eager to use the widgets and toys, and don’t necessarily want to leap into action. The Thunderbolts/New Avengers are put-upon, slovenly, and embroiled in legal battles. One of them reads all day.
The post-credits scene needed a little extra time to establish all that. It wasn’t just an ad for an upcoming movie. It needed to reinforce the character of the New Avengers, and it broke a Marvel record in the process.
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A couple of my colleagues had a conversation about “Thunderbolts*” on today’s episode of the /Film Daily podcast, which you can listen to below:
