Pop Culture Princess

Pop Culture Princess
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Monday, July 24, 2017

Comic Con delights abound in the Movie Trailer Park

This year's Comic Con at San Diego has wrapped up, leaving in it's wake a considerable number of trailers and promos for both film and TV genre fare to discuss and debate.

For those of us unable to attend, this pop culture platter of previews has plenty to savor but let's not get too overwhelmed here. I'll start with the latest look at the upcoming Justice League movie, set to hit theaters this November. The trailer is already placing Wonder Woman in a more prominent position, while showcasing Cyborg and The Flash quite nicely.

From what is shown of the story line, this gang of superheroes(including Aquaman and yes, Batman with a good dose of Alfred) is teaming up to save the world from outer space invaders Steppenwolf and his crew of planet Apokolips soldiers loyal to supreme leader Darkseid in search of hidden objects with immense power and yes, this does sound a lot like that upcoming Infinity Wars movie from Marvel, doesn't it?

It's no secret that this epic plot is DC's version of that major Marvel event but in my opinion, Infinity Wars will be the far better film due to having earned the cinematic momentum by building up their fictional film world. As much as I hope Justice League is a decent movie, I think it would have been wiser to develop more investment in many of the newer characters first:


 Meanwhile, Marvel is premiering a new TV series by having an IMAX-only limited run in movie theaters first. Marvel's Inhumans were introduced to mainstream audiences on the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D series and intended to have their own big screen film at one point but plans changed.

This show will focus on the intergalactic royal family, led by Black Bolt(Anson Mount) and Medusa(Serinda Swan) who take refuge on Earth after being ousted by a military coup.

Early previews for this series had mixed reactions from the fans but this new trailer seems to have calmed some of those concerns. Still, it may come off a bit hokey and not in the good sense of that term, so it's a fingers-crossed situation for the Inhumans at moment:


A much more promising prospect is the second season of Stranger Things, which released a full trailer at Comic Con and boy, did they give us a lot to unpack!

We've got Will going in and out of the Upside Down, a Ghostbusters trap that may have caught something all too real, more spooky disturbances and the possible return of Eleven. No sign of Barb so far, yet it's too soon to count her out here.

Placing the story line this time around at Halloween of 1984 is a great choice, along with adding Vincent Price's Thriller narrative to this trailer for total popcorn flavor to the horrifying delights soon to come:


 Back at the multiplex, a new trailer for Kingsmen: The Golden Circle was featured, with the British spies seeking serious aid from their American counterparts(known as Statesmen) upon the destruction of their headquarters\ by new villainess Poppy(Julianne Moore).

Joining in the fight are Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges and Halle Berry whose character is named Ginger Ale(not sure whether to laugh or wince at that moniker). Colin Firth is also on board, his mentor character's death having been greatly exaggerated, I suppose.

I did like the first Kingsmen movie and this one should be good fun, although I hope it has more to offer than a simple replay of it's cinematic predecessor:


 One of the biggest trailer premieres at Comic Con,however, was for Ready Player One, based on Ernest Cline's novel about a not too distant future where the best place to be is the virtual reality realm known as OASIS.

As fans of the book are well aware, turning this story into a movie is tricky, due to the massive pop culture references from the eighties that are key to the plot, from video games to iconic films such as War Games and Back to the Future.

Fortunately, having Stephen Spielberg as your director opens many doors and no doubt a good number of favors were cashed in to make this ultimate modern day adventure come to life for the silver screen. RPO is set for 2018, giving us at least one good reason to hope for the future and by the time that Comic Con arrives next year, we may have other causes for celebration but for now, I'm thankful to see such a world of pure imagination being prepared for our arrival:


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