Blaque Rabbit
Pop Culture FOR the Culture!
or decades, Luke Cage was a stereotype. Let’s call it like it is. It wasn’t just the way he talked. Everything he did from the way he carried himself to the villains he fought was a symptom of the era. A time where Marvel Comics was capitalizing on Blaxploitation movies to sell a character. Without the genre, why would anyone care about Luke Cage? Well, they didn’t…
If you don’t know, I love Kitty Pryde. I mentioned it on the previous podcast and to anyone who’ll listen. Issue No. 2 of the Marauders series just amplified that love for the character. Kate Pryde became the new Red Queen. That means she’s now part of the new council on Krakoa. Much to the chagrin of Sebastian Shaw. Her new position isn’t the only interesting change. It’s her personality as well.
Previously, on The Culture Comic Book News podcast, Old Man Wade and The Superior Woke Octavius discussed the new run of X-Titles. The six new X-titles are X-Men, New Mutants, Marauders, Fallen Angels, X-Force, and Excalibur. Since House of X and Powers of X were both incredible, there was going to be some pressure for those runs to be just as good. Those six comic books also have to carry continuity from the House of X and Powers of X. If the first issues of these runs are any indication of what’s to come, we’ll be in good hands. However, some of us may not have the loot to spend $3.99 or more every week on comics. So I’ll give you the 3 Old Man Wade X-titles to follow.
The Boys has been a project I’ve been waiting for since I read volume 1 Name of the Game. Amazon picked up the comic book and turned it into a TV show. There’s an issue with a comic book becoming a movie or a show. How much of the source material will be used in the project? The Boys is a series that has be handled with delicacy. There are certain things that need to be in the show to keep authenticity. This series did an amazing job of combining the source material and making a show with a ton of potential. With this season only being 8 episodes, you have to get into things pretty quick. So things have to be changed.
Marvel Comics has a hero that may have the best growth we’ve seen to date. She went from a shy teenager with no fighting experience to a hero who’s helped save the universe on more than a few occasions. Her name is Katherine “Kitty” Pryde.
Black Lightning has become a popular show for a few reasons. One, it’s a good show that develops characters that aren’t just the main characters. Most shows will focus on a few characters forgetting how important it is to develop everyone. Second, a lot of fans didn’t know who Black Lightning was. This allowed the writers to explore the lore of the character without criticism. Third, the show makes it a point to focus on black issues and the culture without beating around the bush. Luke Cage was also like this, but not to the extent that Black Lightning goes.
The success of Black Panther in theaters was one of the biggest surprises of the year. Characters like Okoye, Shuri, and M’Baku went from little-known characters to have their own merchandise made after them. The biggest surprise was Erik Killmonger. Michael B. Jordan went in and went well above what people thought he could do in that role. Hashtags like #KillmongerWasRight and #BuryMeInTheOcean flooded twitter for weeks. It was only a matter of time before Marvel capitalized on Killmonger’s popularity and gave him his own comic. That comic will be coming out on December 5th.
Recently, Ruby Rose was cast to play Kate Kane a.k.a Batwoman in the soon to be released Batwoman live-action TV series on the CW. For those who may not know, in 2006 Kate Kane was reintroduced as a lesbian. Since there isn’t a lot of representation of gay characters in comic books this was seen as a great idea and very progressive on DC Comics part.
Ant-Man and the Wasp debuted at number one despite going up against Jurassic World and Incredibles 2. It also did better than Ant-Man (which debuted with $57 million over the weekend) bringing in $75 million a box office. Ant-Man and the Wasp was a family-friendly movie that managed to not have many Shrek like jokes that only adults would get. In every movie, there is a character or actor that steals the show. Someone you can point at and go, “Without you, this movie doesn’t succeed.” Paul Rudd may have been the MVP in the first movie, but he wasn’t in this one. That honor goes to Evangeline Lilly. Evangeline Lilly was already great as Hope van Dyne in Ant-Man, but she stepped her game up dramatically in Ant-Man and The Wasp. How? Allow me to explain.
In 1941, Captain America was introduced to the world. He was the Sentinel of Liberty. A character created to represent the best of America. During a time where racism and sexism were things that weren’t considered issues to the common person, Steve Rogers was a character who was above that. Steve Rogers, the son of two immigrant parents, was always a person who fought for equality. As Rogers evolved, so did the things he represented. Rogers understood that things aren’t so black and white. People deserve second chances and some laws are just wrong (see 2006-2007’s Marvel Comics Civil War) are just a couple of things that Rogers had to come to terms with. Despite how great Steve Rogers is, it’s time for him to pass the mantle of Captain America to someone else.
Deadpool 2 has been one of the most anticipated movies of 2018. This is a feat considering it’s being surrounded by movies like Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, and Solo: A Star Wars Story. The first Deadpool hit theaters and broke more than a few R-rated records. It was also facing something that ruins franchises; the sequel curse. After an estimated $125 million opening weekend, it’s fair to say that Deadpool 2 is going to continue to crush it at the box office. But what made Deadpool 2 a must-see movie?
