Daredevil Season Two Trailer Focuses on Punisher

Embedded below is the latest trailer for Daredevil season two, coming to Netflix on March 18, 2016. The first season was a fantastic success, lauded by critics and comic-book fanboys alike. Daredevil season two aims to take the show to new heights with new characters and new conflicts on top of the series’ trademark device of hero Matt Murdock getting beaten to a bloody pulp. For comics fans, the trailer is particularly interesting because it focuses on the Punisher character and has a lovely surprise at the end.

Let’s start with the Punisher. In the comics, Vietnam War veteran Frank Castle becomes an unhinged vigilante after his family is gunned down in Central Park. Daredevil season two Punisher looks the same, with the dead family, wanton violence, and ridiculous ordnance. (Seriously, how does he afford all those guns and bullets?) The Punisher aims to kill bad guys and doesn’t care what he has to do in order to get the job done. Daredevil, while a vigilante, prefers to keep his villains alive and let the legal system rehabilitate the baddies. As a lawyer-by-day, Daredevil — perhaps hypocritically — considers the Punisher an outlaw. On the flip side, the Punisher considers Daredevil a pussy.

What’s really juicy is that Daredevil seems alone in his Punisher angst. The Daredevil season two trailer showed clips of his nearest and dearest empathizing with the Punisher. This includes his business parter and best friend Foggy Nelson, his receptionist and future romantic interest Karen Page, and the lovely nurse that patches him (after getting his ass kicked engaging in illegal activities) Claire Temple. Their sentiment seems to be along the lines of, “Yeah, the Punisher dude is breaking the law, but he’s doing what’s necessary for Hell’s Kitchen. If he keeps killing bad guys then maybe this awful lightbulb shortage will finally be over!” (I may have made up that last part. Seriously though, I’ve lived in Hell’s Kitchen and it never looked that dark.)

In addition to some glorious fight sequences, the Daredevil season two conflict between the hero and the antihero allows for lots of dramatic possibilities. My fear is that it will get overbearing, with Matt whining about what the Punisher is doing and getting all uppity about his way of breaking the law being a vigilante. In some ways, I foresee a Bret Hart vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin situation developing. In this case, Daredevil is the good guy that fans will get sick of and turn on. The Punisher will be the cool “heel” character that fans will love. Besides, dude has a cool logo and lots of guns.

Closing out the trailer is a quick glimpse of Elektra Natchios. *schwing*

Anyway, check out the Daredevil season two trailer when you have a chance and let me know what you think (please!).

Random Thoughts on Deadpool (Movie Review)

Deadpool’s journey from pulp to cinema took many twists and turns. People were worried that a big movie studio wouldn’t let Marvel’s “Merc With a Mouth” be true to the comics. Some were worried that the Deadpool movie couldn’t possibly live up to the outstanding marketing campaign that preceded it. I’m incredibly happy to tell you that the movie is all that and then some. The movie is true to one of Marvel’s most unique characters and Fox’s best comic-book movie to date.

Now let’s break it down using the hallowed RPadTV binary system. Naturally, turn on your spoiler shields!

Ryan Reynolds Redeemed (Good): It’s no secret that I hated the Green Lantern movie — like physically, palpably hated that piece of sh*t. I was a Ryan Reynolds fan going into Green Lantern and wanted to kick the crap out of him after watching that craptastic failure of a film. He ruined one of my favorite characters in comics and I was deathly afraid that he was going to do it again, but…

Deadpool was so enjoyable that after the movie was over, I thought to myself, “You’re forgiven, Ryan Reynolds. It’s all good.” It took a remarkable effort (maximum effort!) and a great performance to redeem him, but Reynolds did it (to my delightful amazement).

Best. Opening. Credits. Ever. (Good): I can’t even spoil this one for you. It was too good. It even had little Easter eggs, like Rob L’s cup of coffee.

Deadpool Movie Review 2

Perfect Tone (Good): As expected, there were some changes from the source material, but the tone of the movie and the character were spot on. The combination of Reynolds’ performance, sharp writing, crude language, and ridiculous action made the movie feel like the real Deadpool. Of course it wasn’t as literal as The Watchmen, but Deadpool is still among the most faithful movie adaptations of a comic book.

Daario Nawhatshisface (Bad): One of the movie’s few weaknesses was Ajax. The movie version of the villain was totally “generic British baddie.” Actor Ed Skrein had a few fun moments, but his performance was otherwise flat. Also, I couldn’t stop seeing him as Daario Naharis v1 from Game of Thrones. I’m pretty sure all Game of Thrones fans that see Deadpool will recognize him. Those summer teeth are unforgettable.

Angel Dust (Bad): While Gina Carano made for a menacing villainess, I was bummed that this role was a budgetary amalgam. Originally, the cast of baddies was larger. For monetary reasons, the characters of Garrison Kane, Sluggo, and Wyre were mashed into Angel Dust. I’m particularly fond of the Kane character, so it was a bummer that he didn’t make the cut. While Carano had some nice fight scenes, her acting is…pretty much what you’d expect from an ex-MMA fighter.

Fourth Wall Follies (Good): One of the most entertaining aspects of Deadpool (the comics character) is his penchant for breaking down the fourth wall. Deadpool (the movie character) does this too and he does it well. It would have been easy to lean too heavily on this device, but I think the writers kept it on the right side of the line between entertaining and overzealous. The fourth-wall humor and constant pop-culture references are two of the reasons the Deadpool character is unique and they had to be part of the movie. Witty words delivered sharply by Reynolds made it work.

Deadpool Negasonic Teenage Warhead

Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Good): Okay, the movie version of the character is nothing like the comics version, but it totally worked. Brianna Hildebrand had a small role in the film, but she maximized her screen time. She was great as an angsty teen mutant with energy-based powers. Plus, it’s just fun to say and type Negasonic Teenage Warhead.

Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Negasonic Teenage Warhead — see?!?

Surprisingly Heartfelt (Good): One aspect of the movie that I wasn’t expecting was effective romance. Ryan Reynolds and Morena Baccarin had great onscreen chemistry, making the romance between Deadpool and Vanessa believable. The movie had a shocking amount of romantic charm, making it one of the few comic-book movies that works for a Valentine’s Day date (provided you’re dating or married to a cool chick).

Ultra Violence (Good): Like the comics, the Deadpool movie has a zany type of violence. Fierce gunplay, acrobatic swordsmanship, and physical comedy were blended together marvelously. There was a nice contrast between Deadpool’s dynamic fight scenes and Colossus’ power moves. The brief “fight” between Deadpool and Colossus was frickin’ hilarious.

Music Sweet Music (Good): You have to give it up for a movie that effectively uses Juice Newton, Salt-N-Pepa, Neil Sedaka, Chicago, and Wham! in the same soundtrack.

Bring On the Director’s Cut (Good): I’m looking forward to watching a longer edit of the movie. As it is, the pace of the theatrical release is just about perfect for a mainstream audience. As a lifelong comics nerd, I want more — especially more scenes with Weasel and Blind Al. I love both of those characters and the talent playing them in movie is fantastic.

Bottom Line: Deadpool exceeded my expectations. I was expecting a movie packed with raucous action and lewd humor. While the movie did have those elements, it also had deeper characterization than I was expecting, as well as smarter writing. Deadpool has been one of my favorite Marvel characters for decades and I’m thrilled that Fox did him justice on the big screen. Again, I’m comfortable saying that this is Fox’s best comic-book movie to date. More importantly, I’m happy to say that Deadpool makes up for the travesty that was Green Lantern. Thank you, Ryan Reynolds, for championing this movie and delivering a fantastic performance.

Random Thoughts on Lucifer S1E1

As a huge fan of The Sandman: Season of Mists, I was curious about the Lucifer television series. In the comics, Lucifer Morningstar is the lord of hell and has grown tired of ruling the damned for 10,000,000,000 years. He absconds his throne, throwing the world of gods in disarray. His adventures continue in his own comic, which blends supernatural adventures with a core theme — predestination vs. free will. The first episode of the Lucifer television series touches on this theme, but adds a new dimension that could be possibly doom the series.

Here are some random thoughts on Lucifer season one episode one, brought to you in battle-tested RPadTV binary system.

Lucifer s1e1

Charming Cast (Good): Tom Ellis is absolutely delightful as Lucifer Morningstar. He’s charming, witty, and hilarious. As you’d expected from a devilish character, he’s dashingly obnoxious. He’s kind of a dick, but you can’t help but like him.

The rapport between Ellis and Lauren German (playing LAPD detective Chloe Decker) is excellent. They play off of each other well, in a way that you’d expect established characters in a third season of a TV show to work with each other. Their vibe is so strong in the pilot and I’m looking forward to seeing it burgeon.

LAPD What?!? (Bad): From what I’ve read, the former lord of hell will be spending a bulk of the season…assisting LAPD investigations. This seems idiotic and takes away from the character’s central theme. What made the books so enjoyable is the dichotomy of Lucifer’s life; running a club in Los Angeles and dealing with gods from different pantheons is a stark contrast.

My fear is that the LAPD angle will make the show seem too much like NYPD: Satan or CSI: Fallen Angel. If the show winds up being a procedural then that would be a big fail. At its best, the comics examine how much free will beings (human and otherwise) really have vs. everything being part of God’s plan. That’s what I want the focus of the show to be (set in the ridiculous backdrop of the ridiculous city of Los Angeles).

Lucifer s1e1

Great Cinematography (Good, duh): The visuals of Lucifer surprised me. My expectations for a Fox television show are low and I was impressed by Lucifer’s feel. The show favors an oversaturated color palette, giving Los Angeles a dreamy look. In some ways, the gratuitous portrayal of Los Angeles reminded me of how the city was used in Entourage, but in a more artful and less heavy-handed fashion.

Angel (Good): The angel Amenadiel was introduced early in the show, trying to get Lucifer back to his station in hell. I want more of this and less of the LAPD nonsense. Amenadiel is a proud angel and clearly hates Lucifer. He also seems annoyed with being tasked with getting a guy to do his damn job. Hell not having a ruler has enormous repercussions for the universe and God isn’t too happy about it. Since the protagonist of the show is supernatural, I want to see him in supernatural adventures dealing with angels, God, and gods. Hopefully Amenadiel play a bigger role in future episodes.

Angels (Bad): The downer is that Amenadiel looks like he’ll be an amalgam of the various angels used in The Sandman and Lucifer comics. Instead of having multiple angels, the Lucifer television show seems to have one serving all of their roles. I’d rather see Amenadiel, Michael, Gabriel, Duma, and Remiel on the show separately than one Swiss Army Knife angel. Though I suppose the angel mash was necessary in order for Lucifer to romp around with an LAPD detective. *sigh*

Lucifer Amenadiel

Mazikeen (Bad): In the comics, Mazikeen first appears as a frail and deformed demon that’s completely devoted to Lucifer. She develops into a strong and powerful character with enough moxie to call Lucifer out on his crap. In the television show, Mazikeen already has the attitude and is tired of Lucifer simply being a nightclub owner. I’m bummed that the show won’t show this character’s interesting development.

Bottom Line: I went into Lucifer episode one with a lot of apprehension. The LAPD angle is infuriatingly stupid and I don’t see any way that it will work out. Despite that, I enjoyed the pilot. Tom Ellis and Lauren German were great. The imagery was surprisingly strong. While I don’t have high hopes for the series in the long run, I’m going to give it a few more episodes.

Coffee Talk #667: Is Galactus Just a Cosmic Jobber?

A bunch of nerd friends and I were having a debate on the new Galactus. Without spoiling anything, the character underwent a major change (and a bit of retconning) in this week’s Ultimates #2. He went from being a supremely powerful cosmic threat to…uhm, that thing he is now (that I won’t reveal so as not to spoilarz you). Then again, was Galactus ever that much of a cosmic threat? Sure, he ate the occasional planet every now and then, but he got his ass handed to him every time he tried to eat Earth. During the debate, one of my friends said, “Galactus is just a cosmic jobber! It’s about time they made him interesting.”

As a fan of pro-wrestling and comics, I loved that he combined those two worlds. And he has a point. Galactus was beat up by his former herald, the Silver Surfer — a low-level employee! Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four) scared off Galactus by showing him the Ultimate Nullifier. He didn’t even have to fire it up or shoot out a warning blast. Galactus turned tail at the mere sight of a weapon. If that doesn’t scream galactic pussy then I don’t know what does.

To keep going with the analogy, Galactus eating random planets is like getting a WWE win on SmackDown or a pay-per-view pre-show. In the Marvel Universe, that’s pretty much all Galactus has ever accomplished. He’s never gotten the comics equivalent of a big win on WWE Raw or a PPV main event victory. As large as he is and as menacing a headdress as he wears, it appears that Galactus is nothing more than a giant, purple jobber. Has he ever posed a real threat to the heroes of the Marvel Universe? Will he ever? In the immortal words of the late, great Gorilla Monsoon, “I find that highly unlikely.”

What’s your take on Galactus? Is he a menacing cosmic force? Or the comics equivalent of Mark Henry? Leave a comment and let me know (please!).

The Latest Batman v. Superman Trailer is Better!

After several “meh” clips, things are starting to heat up for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Today’s trailer was, to me, easily the best footage released from the upcoming blockbuster. Yes, Superman is still vanilla-ish and annoying as Clark Kent, but Ben Affleck was better than expected as Batman and Bruce Wayne. Ignore the fact that he did his stupid trademark smirk; he was great at the whole bitter-and-angry thing. While many purists have issues with Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, I found him totally charming in the clip. That said, the attitude was not at all what I expect from Lex Luthor, but I’m happy to give Eisenberg’s take on the character a chance. Lastly, Wonder Woman is hot.

Anyway, check out the latest Batman v Superman clip when you have a chance and let me know what you think.

Coffee Talk #666: Random Thoughts on Jessica Jones

Following up on Marvel’s excellent Daredevil original series for Netflix comes Jessica Jones. While the titular heroine has a small following among comics readers, I expect that the general public will react to her name with a, “Who?” Thankfully, Marvel’s latest Netflix series allows people to get to know her intimately, in a fantastically cerebral ride. I was really impressed with the job Marvel did with Daredevil and while Jessica Jones isn’t as broadly appealing, in many ways it’s a superior show. Here are some random thoughts on the Jessica Jones Netflix series, using the trusty RPadTV binary system.

[Turn your spoiler shields on!]

Better Than Daredevil (Good): My biggest problem with Daredevil was that the supporting cast was better than the lead. Charlie Cox was decent, but not as good as the actors and actresses that surrounded him most episodes. That’s not an issue with Jessica Jones. Krysten Ritter was phenomenal playing a damaged, layered, and gritty hero. Her Jessica Jones was complex and interesting, powerful and vulnerable, charming and off-putting. Thanks to some great writing and a strong performance, Jessica Jones is one of the most fascinating characters the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever seen.

As Good As Daredevil (Good): That isn’t to say that Miss Ritter wasn’t surrounded by similarly strong performances. Her antagonist and supporting cast were great too. Jessica Jones‘ Luke Cage and Trish Walker were a little bit better than Daredevil’s Foggy Nelson and Karen Page. Most of my nerd friend’s liked Daredevil’s Kingpin better than Jessica Jones‘ Kilgrave, but to me they were equally strong — but very different — villains. Similar to how Jessica Jones is one of the most unique heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kilgrave is one of its most unique villains (more on him later).

Poor Hell’s Kitchen (Bad): People that aren’t familiar with New York City will think that Hell’s Kitchen is the most dangerous part of Manhattan. In reality, it hasn’t been dangerous for decades. On the plus side, Hell’s Kitchen in Jessica Jones wasn’t as ridiculously dark as it was in Daredevil (where apparently there was a lightbulb shortage). Still, the real Hell’s Kitchen is a gentrified neighborhood, complete with several Starbucks, Subways, and other soulless franchises. Seeing it portrayed the way it is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe makes me laugh.

Jessica Jones Kilgrave Purple Man

Kilgrave? More Like Deprave! (Good): Jessica Jones‘ villain, Kilgrave, is…f*cked up. With the ability to control minds, Kilgrave makes everyone do whatever the hell he wants. He’s depraved and debauched, enjoying his powers to the fullest. He has no problem making a daughter shoot her parents to further his goals. He’s fine with taking both of a man’s kidneys, leaving the victim to rely on dialysis for the rest of his life. He steals, kills (indirectly, most of the time), and rapes as he sees fit. You get the sense that he doesn’t feel like he’s doing anything too wrong; he’s just using the powers he ended up with. Actually, you get the sense that he doesn’t think about the consequences of most of his actions. Kilgrave is a villain of pure id.

A Faithful Sidekick (Good): As a longtime Marvel Comics reader, I’m curious to see where the show goes with Patricia “Trish” Walker. Jessica Jones’ best friend, the two have a long and complicated relationship. I loved how Trish’s background as a child actress was used throughout the series. While she doesn’t have her bestie’s super powers, she’s a strong woman in her own right. Trish grew from a manipulated child star with a hellacious stage mom to a confident and capable adult. Comics fans know that she becomes Hellcat and joins The Defenders. With The Defenders series looming, I’m hoping that Netflix Trish follows a similar path. Plus, the It’s Patsy (the show she starred in as a kid) theme song is funny.

Jessica Jones Trish Walker

Fizzled Nuke (Bad): The Will Simpson character had lots of potential, but ultimately didn’t live up to it. Simpson started out in an interesting way — a cop controlled by Kilgrave that tried to kill Trish. After coming to his senses, he was remorseful and started a relationship with his victim. He interrupted the dynamic between Jessica and Trish while adding a direct connection to the police…and then he got powered up by super drugs…and became an uninteresting psycho. This character was better off as a somewhat meddlesome good guy than a generic baddie.

Sweet Christmas! (Good): Also looming in Netflix’s future is a Luke Cage series. A supporting character in Jessica Jones, Luke shines in the time that he’s given. In the show, he’s a bartender that’s getting over the senseless death of his wife and hiding several secrets. He’s a great complement to Jess, as they’re both damaged, but deal with things in different ways. I really liked this version of Luke Cage as a supporting character and am looking forward to seeing him star in his own show. I love that they kept his “Sweet Christmas!” phrase, but wish they slipped in an old photo of Luke wearing a yellow silk shirt and a metal tiara. That would have been awesome.

Jessica Jones Luke Cage

Atypical Heroics (Possibly Bad): If you like your heroes large, loud, and bashing things then Jessica Jones isn’t for you. As I mentioned in the intro, the show is cerebral. This isn’t a beat-em-up action show. Daredevil was beaten up a lot in his show. By contrast, some of the biggest hits Jessica takes are mental and emotional. While there are some nice action sequences in Jessica Jones, there are even more mystery, thriller, and film noir elements. When Daredevil first aired, I enjoyed how different it was from anything else in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Jessica Jones takes it to a whole other level.

Contrary Backlash (Bad): Some people are hating on the show because it’s so different. Some feel that critics are overly praising Jessica Jones because it has several strong female characters. RPadholic Smartguy mentioned that he thought the show was about sexual abuse because of an article he read. Try to ignore all the backlash, because you’ll be missing out on a great show. Yes, Jessica Jones has several strong female characters, but that’s a wonderful thing. It also has physically and emotionally strong male character in Luke Cage. Yes, Kilgrave has sexually abused some of his victims, including Jessica, but the show and the characters are about much more than that. This is a complex television show and some people are oversimplifying it.

Bottom Line: While I loved Jessica Jones and think that’s it’s even better than Daredevil, I understand why some people won’t like it as much. It is, perhaps, too different from the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It has more in common with CSI than it does with The Avengers. As for me, I enjoyed the show’s distinct tone and characters. The protagonists are all wonderfully flawed and layered. While he’s not as powerful as Loki, Kilgrave is an even scarier villain. Jessica Jones has continued Marvel’s tradition of exceeding expectations with its Netflix series. In many ways, what’s happening in the small-screen corner of the MCU is more interesting than what’s happening on the big screen. Jessica Jones is a big reason why.

AMC Releases First Trailer For Preacher TV Series

AMC has released the first trailer for the Preacher television series. Based on the outstanding Preacher comics by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, the television show is being written and produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. A wonderful combination of heady writing, bizarre characters, and grotesque violence, the comics are some of my all-time favorites. When the show was announced, I was excited and apprehensive. The trailer, embedded below, gives a clearer picture of where the show is heading, but I shall continue to temper my excitement with caution.

The clip shows Dominic Cooper as Jesse Custer (the titular preacher), Joseph Gilgun as the vampiric Cassidy, and Ruth Negga as Tulip. As far as the protagonists go, Jesse and Tulip don’t really look the way the comic-book characters do in my head, but I could get used to them if they play the parts right. Cassidy seems on point, with his high-pitched voice and Irish charm. Considering that this is the first trailer for the series, not a lot was shown, but the clip did indicate that the show would be as wacky and violent as the comics were. Hopefully the next trailer has more scenes with The Saint of Killers and Arseface.

Again, since this was the first footage AMC has released, this was more of a teaser than anything else. With that in mind, it did make me more curious about the show. While Walking Dead has been a popular television show for AMC, there are some purists that are…unhappy with the liberties the showrunners have taken. I’m hoping that Rogen and Goldberg are fanboy enough to stick as close to the source material as possible while deftly adapting parts of the comics that translate poorly to television.

I have faith that Rogen and Goldberg will make a supreme effort to make Preacher nerds proud, but I also worry about the scale of the whole thing. Preacher was one of the most unique and brilliant comics ever made. Adapting it to television — without pissing off fanboys — seems like an extremely difficult task. While it was nice to finally see a trailer for Preacher, I remain apprehensively excited. How about you guys and gals? Please share your thoughts on the trailer in the comments section.

Preacher will premiere on AMC in 2016.

Coffee Talk #665: ESPN’s Closure of Grantland is Disheartening

On October 30, 2015, ESPN made the horrible decision to shut down Grantland. The website offered a fantastic combination of sports and pop-culture coverage. It quickly became my favorite website on the Internet shortly after it launched. Grantland’s writing was longer, smarter, and sharper than most of what you’ll find on the Internet. The site’s closure is disheartening on several levels.

As a readerGrantland’s closure is disappointing because it had some of ESPN’s best writing. The site excelled at long-form articles that were informative and entertaining. It had a wide variety of writers that skillfully covered a wide variety of topics. While sports was Grantland’s emphasis, it also covered movies, music, television, pro-wrestling, and more. No matter the topic, I could always depend on a well-written article on Grantland that always entertained me and often left me a bit smarter than I was before I read it.

As a reader, I also appreciated Grantland’s simple layout. The design emphasized content and the advertising was tame by today’s standards. Grantland loaded quickly on desktop and mobile devices, unlike some of my other favorite websites (I’m looking at you, The Verge). Sadly, a website with great writing and user-friendly design is uncommon these days. That Grantland offered both was extraordinary.

As a longtime Internet writerGrantland’s closure is depressing. It shows that corporate hacks are unwilling and/or unable to support great content creation. It’s sad that the dozens of fantastic editors and writers at Grantland no longer have jobs, while ESPN continues to pay Stephen A. Smith to act like an idiot on television. It makes me wonder what kind of support the website had from the suits, its advertisers, and its readers. Obviously something was missing. The high-quality content was there, but did the suits support it with enough marketing? Did the site not get enough ad dollars? Were people uninterested in longer articles? It’s baffling.

As a longtime ESPN.com reader, I’m amused that Grantland’s closure killed the best writing the company had to offer. I used to love ESPN.com, but it has become garbage. While the site is ESPN’s Internet flagship, the writing on Grantland and FiveThirtyEight (another ESPN-owned website) was superior to anything on the “main” website. ESPN.com has devolved in a mashup of moronic click bait, AP reposts, thoughtless opinion pieces, daily LeBron James updates, and the occasional solid article. Copyediting is, sadly, optional on ESPN.com.

Add it all up and it’s disheartening. My favorite website is gone. Another corporate overlord has pissed on the value of quality content. Instead of enjoying my daily dose of Grantland, I’ll have to read the crap on ESPN.com. Oh well, maybe it’s time to give Yahoo! Sports another look.

Latest Jessica Jones Trailer is Wonderfully Dark

The newest trailer for the Jessica Jones series on Netflix is exactly what I want from the show. It has the dark and moody tone that made the Alias comics so striking. Jessica Jones is not your typical idealistic superhero that always looks on the bright side of life. She’s flawed and damaged, running away from a career as a superhero and trying her luck as a private investigator (fueled by alcoholic beverages). The trailer, embedded below, shows all of that and more.

Featuring prominently in the clip is Luke Cage. The hero formerly known as Power Man, Cage becomes Jessica Jones’ confidante, lover, and husband. Underneath numerous super villain attacks and the occasional superhero civil war, the two have one of the most realistic relationships in comics. They clearly love each other deeply, but they also struggle. I’m curious to see how the relationship is portrayed in the Netflix series.

The best part of the trailer is Zebediah Killgrave. Known as Purple Man in the comics (I’m not sure if the Netflix series will use such a silly name), this villain uses mind control for some truly messed up activities. As in Alias, it appears that Killgrave used his powers to torment Jessica Jones in numerous ways. She’s still traumatized by the experience and she’s haunted by Killgrave every day of her life. When Killgrave was announced for the series, I wondered if the show would go as far with him as they did in the comics. The trailer strongly suggests that Netflix Killgrave is just as f*cked up as comics Killgrave.

As a fan of the character, I really enjoyed the Jessica Jones trailer. Some of my friends are down on Krysten Ritter, saying that she doesn’t have the right attitude or body type for Jess. After seeing the trailer, I couldn’t care less about that. The tone looks correct and I can’t wait to to binge-watch the messed up adventures of a super-powered PI when the series hits on November 20.

LEGO The Avengers: Age of Ultron in Two Minutes

How it Should Have Ended is one of my favorite YouTube channels, but the content has been lacking in both quantity and quality for the last few months. Thankfully, the guys and gals at HISHE got their groove back with this excellent LEGO The Avengers: Age of Ultron in Two Minutes video. It’s a glorious piece of stop-motion video that pokes fun at everything people loved and hated about The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Check out the clip below and let me know what you think (please!).