Back in 1991, I did a coffee table art book “The Art of Mickey
Mouse”, I got artists from around the world to do their interpretation
of “The World’s Favorite Mouse.” One of the first people I called was
Jack Kirby. He and his wife Roz were very excited about the idea. He
sent me two drawings, as I recall, and I chose this one. I colored it
“animation style,” with the black line on an overlay and the
background colors underneath. Jack’s contribution was part of a touring
exhibit of art from the book throughout Japan. So, Marvel is called by
some fans “The House that Jack Built” (not, in my opinion to take
ANYTHING away from the brilliant genius Stan Lee’s more than vital
part.) And here’s Jack doing Mickey! Is this weird, or what?
New York, NY— April 17, 2024 — Over the last few years, acclaimed writer Steve Orlando has breathed new life into Marvel’s revolutionary 2099 future. This July, he returns alongside a lineup of superstar artists to go where no 2099 story has gone before in ANNIHILATION 2099!
Together with a lineup of incredible artists, including Nick Bradshaw, Ibraim Roberson, José Luis, Pete Woods, Ario Anindito, and Dale Eaglesham, Orlando will introduce a new cast of 2099 characters in a bold new vision of the galaxy-shattering Annihilation storyline. Taking place after last year’s Miguel O’Hara – Spider-Man 2099 series, ANNIHILATION 2099 will continue the tradition of introducing fresh takes on classic Marvel icons. Releasing weekly throughout July, get ready to meet Nova 2099, Starlord 2099, Red Hulk 2099, and Silver Surfer 2099, and witness the return of Dracula 2099. The thrilling saga will be perfect for both newcomers to the 2099 landscape and longtime fans, and it gears readers up for what’s to come for 2099 storytelling later this year.
Read on to discover what awaits!
ANNIHILATION 2099 #1 Written by STEVE ORLANDO Art by IBRAIM ROBERSON
WHO IS THE LAST NOVA?!
A remote town on a remote world is devastated by the ravenous, unforgiving Knull Set, a gang of raiders and thieves obsessed with offering all life up to the darkness. But that all changes when a stranger comes to town, a stranger from the stars who answers to his own code. The last survivor of Xandar… the last NOVA. Who is the Last Nova, and what great tragedy does he carry on his back? Is he the inheritor of the Nova Corps or its destroyer? Plus, in a special backup by Orlando and Dale Eaglesham, Dracula’s ship set course for the stars, seeking the brave new world his daughter Lilith forged for the vampires of Earth. But what tragedy does fate have in store for his journey and will he ever be reunited with his people?
ANNIHILATION 2099 #2 (OF 5) Written by STEVE ORLANDO Art by JOSÉ LUÍS
A WAKANDAN TECH GODDESS!
STARLORD guards the solar systems of 2099! But she faces a villain like no other: Quasar, the Living Star! Born to a fallen star and raised on Planet Wakanda, Starlord risks her life to save a world against a sun gone mad!
ANNIHILATION 2099 #3 Written by STEVE ORLANDO Art by PETE WOODS
RAGE OF THE RED HULK!
Explorer Ross Romero’s team ends up mining Ego the Living Planet! What makes Ross transform into an ALL-NEW RED HULK whose cosmic strength and hyperspace jumps are fueled by the power primordial? And is the new Red Hulk’s power enough to defeat Terrax, the Planet Hunter?
ANNIHILATION 2099 #4 Written by STEVE ORLANDO Art by ARIO ANINDITO
A FAUSTIAN PACT TO SHAKE THE STARS!
His life cut short, Mephisto offers Jonah Marlo a deal– more time among the living in return for his soul. Now he collects souls for his master…as the SILVER SURFER of 2099! But he can do the devil’s bidding no longer! It’s Mephisto vs the Silver Surfer with a galaxy of souls on the line!
ANNIHILATION 2099 #5 Written by STEVE ORLANDO Art by DALE EAGLESHAM
FIRST CONTACT WITH THE IMPALER!
After a derelict spacecraft crashes on an alien world, the wreck reveals a deadly discovery – DRACULA! But this is a planet terrified of the daylight, which Dracula couldn’t love more. Soon, he’s their hero. When a Darkhawk attacks from the stars, Dracula fights back! But does he want to save the planet or make it the first world in his new empire?
“2099 is back, and it’s going cosmic!” Orlando said. “ANNIHILATION 2099 has been the best kind of challenge — bringing even more cosmic into Marvel’s iconic cyberpunk line and keeping it all fresh, provocative, and surprising!”
“No pun intended, but Steve, Ibraim, Ario, Jose, Pete, and Dale have knocked this 2099 epic out of orbit!” Editor Mark Paniccia said. “Each issue is action-packed with a unique vibe and tone. There’s horror, western, 50’s sci-fi, superhero, and all COSMIC! It’s hard to pick a favorite, but they’re all so good! And Pete Woods’ character designs are incredible. I hope they make action figures of them all soon!”
“The heroes introduced in ANNIHILATION 2099 are each heroes I could write forever–each with their own tragic beginnings in the Mighty Marvel Tradition,” he continued. “And behind it all? An iconic horror antihero who is taking his vengeance to the stars. Red Hulk 2099! Silver Surfer 2099! Nova 2099! Marvel’s future goes intergalactic this summer, and I can’t wait for everyone to see it!”
New York, NY— In 1984, Marvel’s greatest heroes and deadliest villains were pit against each other on Battleworld by the unbelievably powerful Beyonder in Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck, and Bob Layton’s SECRET WARS! Regarded as the pioneer Marvel Comics crossover event, Secret Wars had an undeniable impact on comic book storytelling and to celebrate this landmark series’ 40th anniversary, Marvel will return to Battleworld this November in an all-new four-issue limited series: MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS: BATTLEWORLD!
Announced this past weekend at San Diego Comic-Con, MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS: BATTLEWORLD is written by industry icon Tom DeFalco, former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief and the editor of the original Secret Wars. Joined by acclaimed artist Pat Olliffe, DeFalco will expose never-before-told secrets behind one of the significant conflicts in Marvel history. Fans can expect revelations beyond the Beyonder’s true motives, shocking appearances by characters that you didn’t even know fought in the Secret Wars, and more. Starring iconic super hero best friend duo Spider-Man and the Human Torch, MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS: BATTLEWORLD will fit seamlessly between the pages of the beloved original series and hold the answers to questions you never knew you had!
The mysteries of the Secret Wars deepen! Get ready for an all-new cataclysmic battle from when Spider-Man first got his alien costume and a mysterious being called the Beyonder assembled super heroes and villains from Earth to do battle on a patchwork planet. Witness now an untold adventure set during the original Secret Wars!
Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars set the standard for Marvel Comics events (as well as action figures and the characters existing at the forefront of pop culture), and this new story will at last reveal some secret connections and missing characters going back to the original series! What secret test are the Beyonders conducting…and how will Spider-Man, the Human Torch and the whole cast determine the fate of the universe? (PLUS: Surprise super villain appearances inside!)
“Pat Olliffe and I were handed a daunting creative challenge,” DeFalco said. “We were asked to do a sequel/new tale of a classic Marvel story that first saw print 40 years ago and created ripples that are still felt throughout the universe today. Since we share a kinship with a certain web-swinger (and his family), we were also compelled to do a story that ripped to his core and defined his unique place in the Marvel Universe while examining the budding relationship with his new black costume. With the aid of editors Mark Basso and Drew Baumgartner, Pat and I constructed a tale that we believe has repercussions for today’s readers and creative ripples that we hope will still be felt 40 years from now.”
“The original Secret Wars was so multi-dimensional, it’s been thrilling to add new dimensions to the saga!” Editor Mark Basso added. “While the new story fully stands alone, I can tease that the connection to the original Secret Wars goes even further than just the comics pages…Old-school fans will know what I’m talking about…!”
Don’t miss Tom DeFalco and Pat Olliffe’s all-new, in-continuity tale packed with exciting surprises when MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WARS: BATTLEWORLD #1 arrives on November 22! In the meantime, check out a slew of new covers including an homage variant cover by Ryan Stegman, the first part of a connecting cover series by Todd Nauck, a cover by series artist Olliffe, and more!
New York, NY— June 16, 2023 — This past week fans saw the end of Kelly Thompson’s historic run of CAPTAIN MARVEL, but you can’t keep Carol Danvers down for long! This October, enter an all-new era of CAPTAIN MARVEL as writer Alyssa Wong and Marvel’s Stormbreaker artist Jan Bazaldua take the reins in a new ongoing series!
CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 will mark a revolutionary shift for the iconic cosmic hero as she gets a glow-up courtesy of superstar artist Jen Bartel! Bartel’s recent Hellfire Gala design for Carol was a hit with fans, and now she’s delivered a sleeker, modified version for Carol’s new journey. In addition, CAPTAIN MARVEL will see the rise of a new overwhelming omniversal entity who recognizes Carol is the only hero who can stand against its’ vision of total annihilation. After being ambushed and trapped, Carol will need to rely on the reluctant help of a young ally who holds the key to victory! Ripe with high-stakes adventure, cosmic mystery, and epic feats, it’s an exciting new status quo worthy of Marvel’s brightest stars!
HIGHEST, FURTHEST, FASTEST! Carol Danvers is one of the powerhouses of the Marvel Universe, a woman capable of harnessing the energy of the sun. So if you’re coming for Earth? She’s the first one you take off the board. Someone’s figured just how to do just that. Introducing a new supporting cast and villains both beloved and dangerously fresh as Wong and Bazaldua’s exhilarating new series kicks off!
“I’m so excited to be writing Captain Marvel!” Wong said. “Carol is such an iconic character with a rich history, and I can’t wait to add to her story. It’s an honor to work with Jan and I hope everyone enjoys what we’ve got coming!”
“Captain Marvel is one of my favorite female characters, that’s why I’m very excited to draw her,” Bazaldua added. “I have always seen her as a very self-confident woman with nothing she cannot face, and not just because she has superpowers, but because she has inner strength. That’s what I really enjoy about her and why I really appreciate this opportunity!”
New York, NY — The Marvel’s Wastelanders adventure continues! Marvel Entertainment and SiriusXM announced their latest original scripted podcast series, Marvel’s Wastelanders: Hawkeye, will premiere on Monday, October 4.
Marvel’s Wastelanders: Hawkeye is the second installment in the Marvel’s Wastelanders audio epic. The 10-episode original scripted podcast series is written by J. Holtham (Jessica Jones), directed by Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown), with original sound design by One Thousand Birds, and an original score by James Harrison Monaco and JJJJJerome Ellis.
The series stars Stephen Lang (Avatar) as Hawkeye, Sasha Lane (Loki) as Ash, and features performances by Jess Barbagallo (Max), Michelle Hurd (Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird), Bobby Moreno (Junior), Joe Morton (Ringmaster), Tracie Thoms (Kate Bishop), with Lea DeLaria (Raven/Mystique).
Thirty years ago, the villains of the world rose up and killed all the heroes. Well, all the heroes that mattered. The sole survivor of the Avengers , Hawkeye (Lang) is now a sideshow freak, re-living the worst day of his life for paying audiences. He’s surly, broken, and losing his sight, but there’s still that fire in him to be a hero, to avenge his friends. And he’s ready to do what needs to be done: killing every last person responsible for the deaths of those he loved the most.
When the Brotherhood Traveling Circus, Carnival and Ringmaster’s Road Show arrives at the Kingdom (in the territory formerly known as the southwest desert), Hawkeye gets an unexpected visitor, his estranged 17-year-old daughter Ash (Lane). On her own mission for vengeance after losing her best friend, Ash insists on following Hawkeye on his secret mission. In a world without heroes, Ash learns what a true hero can really be. Listen to the series teaser here.
“I’m thrilled for this next series set in the Wastelands! We were lucky enough to work on the show with a top-notch creative team, writer J. Holtham and Tony Award-winning director Rachel Chavkin, along with actors Stephen Lang and Sasha Lane to name a few members of the incredibly talented cast,” said Jill Du Boff, Director of Audio at Marvel. “This show is such a fun and wild ride, and we can’t wait for everyone to hear it!”
The series will be available exclusively on the SXM App and Marvel Podcasts Unlimited on Apple Podcasts. Episodes will be widely available two weeks later on Pandora, Stitcher, and all major podcast platforms in the U.S. Learn more at siriusxm.com/wastelanders.
Marvel’s Wastelanders: Hawkeye follows Marvel’s Wastelanders: Star-Lord,the first installment in the multi-part original scripted podcast series set in the Wastelands. The audio series featured a star-studded cast including Timothy Busfield (Peter Quill), Danny Glover (Red), Chris Elliott (Rocket), and Vanessa Williams (Emma Frost).
Adrian Tomine has always struck me as the closest thing to a literary short-story writer in the comics field – our Raymond Carver, perhaps – with his tight, focused stories of real people in real worlds dealing with mundane lives and just interacting with each other. It’s the kind of work that sounds dull when I try to describe it, but is thrillingly true when done right, and Tomine generally gets it right.
So it was strange first to see that his new book last year, The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist, was a memoir – I wondered if that knife-edge would still be there when writing about his own life. (It wasn’t, obviously, in his wedding-favor-cum-celebration-GN Scenes from an Impending Marriage
, because if a book like that was in the typical Tomine tone, it would be a horrible sign for the marriage in question.)
And it was even more surprising to meet eight-year-old Adrian on the first page, on his first day at a new school in Fresno in 1982, declaring his undying love for John Romita. OK, sure, he was mercilessly tormented for it – that’s how he remembers it, so I’ll buy it on that level, but my memory is that eight-year-olds in 1982 liked to read superhero comics a lot, though I was not in hoity-toity Fresno – but the origin story of Adrian Tomine, as he presents it here, is basically the same as every other Gen-X cartoonist: imprinted on Marvel early, spent too much time in his own room making comics, ended up socially stunted and possessed of a massive imposter complex.
I’m being reductive, here. And Tomine doesn’t linger on that childhood: it’s the one quick sequence at age eight, and then smash-cut to 1995, when he’s on his way to his first San Diego Comic-Con. The bulk of Loneliness is made up of scenes from his professional life – moments when he’s “on-stage” as a cartoonist, at a signing or convention or publicity interview or just in public where someone recognizes him. And these moments are the ones I would have expected from Tomine: they’re all ones where things go wrong, or he’s embarrassed, where he says the wrong thing or is more clearly lonely and confused and out-of-place than he wishes he was. It could be a giant wall of cringe, but it’s all particular and grounded in the kind of person we learn Tomine is: he’s a creator, who spends his days in a chair thinking up stories. People like that always have trouble interfacing with the world: other people don’t know their lines in your story, and wouldn’t follow those lines if they did.
Tomine quietly keeps the focus on himself and his insecurities. There’s a number of places where names and faces are obscured – comics insiders probably already have a secret cheat sheet to figure out who all of those people are – so that the story is not “big name pro was mean to Adrian Tomine!” but instead stays “Adrian Tomine is insecure and obsesses about these moments, which exist in everyone’s lives.”
So Loneliness is the story of a career, but only the worst, saddest moments. The moments that you remember when you wake up randomly at 3AM, the ones that you can’t stop thinking about and that you can’t do anything about. Because it’s Tomine, it’s very specific: these are his issues, his anxieties, his worst moments.
The last thirty pages are the culmination of the book, a sequence of events in 2018 that I probably shouldn’t go into too much depth about. He presents it as what drove him to make this book, and that makes sense…but I think a lot of these moments have been in his head a long time, and he had been trying to figure out a way to contextualize them and turn them into a story and not just a list of bad moments.
It may be more personal , but it’s still an Adrian Tomine book. He doesn’t tell the reader how to feel in the end, he doesn’t contextualize it all and wrap it up in a bow. He does have a long speech, at nearly the very end, that comes close to explaining it — he even says outright “my clearest memories related to comics – to being a cartoonist – are the embarrassing gaffes, the small humiliations, the perceived insults.” But is this book his way to get beyond those moments? Or does it come out of a realization that the material that hits you the hardest is the stuff you need to do next? Or both? Or neither?
We’re not all famous cartoonists. (Tomine might even say that he isn’t a famous cartoonist, except in very specific circumstances – that’s the buried message of the first two pages.) But we all obsess about things. We all have memories we don’t want to think about but keep coming back to. Loneliness is the exploration of one life through those moments, by a master cartoonist and storyteller.
I don’t care what you say, 2020 could have been worse. Want proof? Marvel’s Civil War II didn’t come out in 2020, now did it?
Ah, Civil War II, the gift that kept on giving, even after we had taken it to the return window. It continued to haunt us in Ms. Marvel Vol 4 #20, after we thought we had put it out of our misery. Bear with me, to explain how, requires more back story than the Illustrated Man’s dorsal region.
Kamala Khan wasn’t always Ms. Marvel. Her latent Inhuman gene activated after she was exposed to the Terrigen Mist during Terrigenesis. That’s when she got powers and became protector of Jersey City. I realize that if you’re not up on Marvel continuity, the preceding sentences make no sense. I am up on Marvel continuity, after a fashion, and they don’t make complete sense to me. But explaining it further would make this column longer than Stephen King’s The Stand; abridged and unabridged versions. Combined. So, like a Lee fake fingernail, we press on.
Some months later, Kamala’s brother, Aamir Khan, was exposed to something. It wasn’t Terrigen, but it still gave Aamir powers. How it gave Aamir powers isn’t important, not unless we want to add Stephen King’s Under the Dome to this column’s word count. What is important is that Aamir got his powers when he was an adult.
During the events of Civil War II, Aamir openly displayed his super powers. Then, after Charles Worthy, a front man for Hydra, became Mayor of Jersey City, he started a policy of taking the city back from the “activist super heroes” who have disrupted Jersey City. To accomplish this, Worthy issued an executive order requiring all super heroes in Jersey City to register.
Aamir didn’t register. He was arrested pursuant to the executive order and held in a detention center, where a police officer reminded Aamir that he was an emigree who became a naturalized citizen when he was eight. The officer advised Aamir that “Under the new law, failing to disclose super-powers could potentially count as immigration fraud. If you obtained your citizenship under false pretenses, this could be grounds for revocation.” Meaning, Jersey City would revoke Aamir’s citizenship and deport him.
Let’s deal with the ridiculous assumption, that if Aamir didn’t disclose powers he didn’t have at the time he became a naturalized citizen, he obtained his citizenship under false pretenses. Aamir didn’t have his powers when he was naturalized, he got them years later. To say he concealed something he didn’t have is like saying I – all 5 feet 7 inches of me – concealed my two-handed, behind-the-back slam dunk. Go ahead, try to conceal something you don’t have. That’s a trick that would fool Penn & Teller.
Aamir obtained nothing under false pretenses. The only false thing in the story is Mayor Worthy’s knowledge of the law. Especially if Worthy thought he could unconstitutionally apply an executive order which he issued after Aamir was naturalized to revoke Aamir’s citizenship. Don’t believe me? Look up the Ex Post Facto clause. Tell you what, I’ll save you a little research. You’ll find it in Article I §§ 9 and 10 of the United States Constitution. Next I’ll save you some time and tell you ex post facto is not a discontinued breakfast cereal but Latin for after the fact.
The Ex Post Facto clause says that neither the federal government (§ 9) nor a state (§ 10) can pass a law that punishes behavior that occurred before the law was passed. So Jersey City can’t revoke someone’s citizenship for not following an executive order that didn’t exist at the time that person became a citizen.
I know the Constitution doesn’t mention executive orders in the Ex Post Facto clause. But in ex post facto analysis there’s no real difference between an executive order and a law, so I don’t think that even the strictest textualist would deny relief on that pretext.
But let’s say that Jersey City could get past the arguments that Mayor Worthy’s executive order violated the Ex Post Facto clause– it can’t, but I have a few more words to go before I hit my word count quota, so I’ll use them up with another hypothetical – it still couldn’t use the executive order to argue that Aamir obtained his citizenship through fraud.
Remember how we proved Aamir didn’t conceal his super powers when he became a citizen, because he didn’t have any super powers when he became a citizen? (Yes, you do. Time may seem to pass more slowly during a pandemic lock down, but five paragraphs wasn’t that long ago.) That argument also negatives Jersey City’s fraud claim.
Fraud requires a specific intent to deceive to gain a benefit. That’s the culpable mental state of the crime. When Aamir was naturalized, he lacked an intent to deceive by concealing his super powers, because he lacked super powers.
Finally, does Mayor Worthy think he’s going to be able to use that fraud argument to expatriate Aamir and then deport him? If so, he’s dumber than a bag of door knobs. And not the good kind, we’re talking the kind that come out in your hand so you can’t open the door.
I refer you back to the Constitution. Specifically Article 1 , § 8, clause 4 which gives the United States Congress the power to establish the rules of naturalization. Congress. You know, five hundred thirty-five men and women in Washington D.C. Not one mayor in central New Jersey. Give the mayor of Jersey City immigration authority? Hell, Congress wouldn’t even do that for Snooki.
So what does this mean? It means Jersey City wronged Mr. Khan bigly. We’re talking serious constitutional violations here, not Aamir inconvenience.
ESPN and Marvel announced a groundbreaking collaboration today to launch the first-ever Marvel-inspired alternate presentation for the Golden State Warriors vs. New Orleans Pelicans game on Monday, May 3. The exclusive alternate presentation, NBA Special Edition Presented by State Farm: Marvel’s Arena of Heroes, will start at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2, ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes with the traditional game telecast on ESPN. This marks ESPN’s second live NBA game on ESPN+.
The latest development in Marvel and ESPN’s long history of sports content collaboration, the telecast will integrate elements from an original Marvel story and iconic characters including Iron Man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Captain America, Black Widow, and Doctor Strange throughout the live game, including 3D virtual characters, custom graphics and animation packages.
After a narrow victory over an invading alien army, the Avengers receive an ominous threat from the enemy who vows to return in greater numbers and force. The Black Panther and Iron Man quickly realize they will need more help and form a plan to expand their ranks to fight this impending threat. Recognizing the superior physical abilities, agility, and tenacity of Earth’s greatest athletes, the Avengers will hold a series of contests where the winners earn the right to train and fight alongside them as Marvel’s Champions! The Avengers will begin their recruitment with the NBA elite and observe the battle between the Warriors and the Pelicans, focusing on three star players from each team.
Golden State Warriors:
Stephen Curry, three-time NBA Champion and two-time NBA MVP;
Draymond Green, three-time NBA Champion;
Andrew Wiggins, 2014-15 NBA Rookie of the Year.
New Orleans Pelicans:
Zion Williamson, 2019 NBA Draft top pick;
Brandon Ingram, 2019-20 NBA Most Improved Player;
Lonzo Ball, 2017-18 NBA All-Rookie Second Team.
Fans will be able to follow along as these athletes are put to the test, gaining Marvel Hero Points for their achievements and performance during the game. The player with the most Marvel Hero Points on the winning team will be crowned as Marvel’s first Champion following the NBA Special Edition Presented by State Farm: Marvel’s Arena of Heroes.
Scoring system:
One Marvel Hero Point will be awarded for every point, rebound, assist, steal and block;
One Marvel Hero Point will be deducted for every missed field goal, free throw or turnover.
ESPN commentators Ryan Ruocco and Richard Jefferson will provide commentary in a fully customized Marvel-themed studio at ESPN’s Bristol, Conn. campus. Additionally , the special presentation will include commentary and analysis from Marvel expert Angélique Roché.
“Marvel and ESPN have brought the worlds of sports and Super Heroes together for years through comics, documentaries, and other stories celebrating athletes and their extraordinary abilities,” said Mike Pasciullo, vice president, marketing and communications, Marvel Entertainment. “The new Marvel’sArena of Heroes telecast will be the first of its kind to bring Marvel’s storytelling directly to the real-time experience of a NBA game, and we are excited for fans to be able to watch their favorite players through the lens of Marvel’s mightiest heroes.”
“We’re eager for fans to experience this unique, innovative presentation that will pair Marvel and ESPN’s exceptional storytelling and production,” said Matt Kenny, ESPN vice president, programming and acquisitions. “We are proud to showcase the ‘larger than life’ abilities of these NBA stars in a manner in which only Disney and Marvel can deliver.”
“Marvel and ESPN have brought the worlds of sports and Super Heroes together for years through comics, documentaries, and other stories celebrating athletes and their extraordinary abilities,” said Mike Pasciullo, vice president, marketing and communications, Marvel Entertainment. “The new Marvel’sArena of Heroes telecast will be the first of its kind to bring Marvel’s storytelling directly to the real-time experience of a NBA game, and we are excited for fans to be able to watch their favorite players through the lens of Marvel’s mightiest heroes.”
“We are thrilled to work alongside ESPN and Marvel to present fans with the first-ever Marvel-inspired alternate NBA telecast,” said David Denenberg, NBA senior vice president, global media distribution & business affairs. “This fun and innovative game presentation builds upon our goal of providing personalized and compelling viewing options for our fans.”
The traditional telecast of the Warriors vs. Pelicans game will be exclusive in the New Orleans market and will air simultaneously on ESPN. Dave Pasch will call the action with analyst Mark Jackson and reporter Cassidy Hubbarth on site in New Orleans. Both the NBA Special Edition Presented by State Farm: Marvel’s Arena of Heroes alternate presentation and the traditional game telecast will stream via the ESPN App.
NEW YORK CITY (May 9, 2019) — At yesterday’s espnW Summit NYC, Marvel Studios hosted a Captain Marvel panel and revealed an all-new trailer and in-home release dates for its first female-led franchise film, centered on Carol Danvers a.k.a. Captain Marvel. The spectacular, 1990s-era Super Hero adventure, which electrified and inspired audiences worldwide and surpassed $1 billion in ticket sales, is available on Digital in HD and 4K Ultra HD™ and Movies Anywhere May 28, and lands on Blu-ray™ and Blu-ray 4K Ultra HD™ June 11.
Arriving home with extensive line-up of extras detailing the development of this highly anticipated addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Captain Marvel includes Featurettes that highlight the transformative journey of Brie Larson (Captain Marvel) and her character’s impact on audiences around the globe; the influence of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) on significant events within the MCU; the perfect pairing of directors Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck; the ongoing conflict between the Skrulls and the Kree; and the raw talent behind the fetching feline named Goose. Viewers also gain access to six deleted scenes, director commentary, a gag reel loaded with funnies, flubs and Flerkens, and never-before-seen concept art and production photography.
Captain Marvel comes packaged in various formats to best fit today’s varying consumer desires. Viewers can bring home the film two weeks early on Digital 4K Ultra HD, HD and SD and gain access to two exclusive features, including a behind-the-scenes visit with the Visual Effects team that makes the filmmakers’ visions of the MCU come to life and an inside look at the epic team effort that goes into an action-packed sequence within a Marvel Studios film. A physical copy of Captain Marvel is available as either a 4K Cinematic Universe Edition (4K UHD+Blu-ray+Digital Copy) or a Multi-Screen Edition (Blu-ray+Digital Copy), granting fans the flexibility to watch on devices of their choice.
BONUS MATERIAL (may vary by retailer):
Blu-ray & Digital:
Alternate Movie Versions
Movie with Intro – An introduction by directors/screenwriters Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck.
Movie with Commentary – Commentary by directors/screenwriters Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck.
Featurettes:
Becoming a Super Hero – Follow Brie Larson’s journey as she joins the MCU, and see what it takes to be a Marvel Super Hero in every sense of the word.
Big Hero Moment – Explore how impactful Captain Marvel’s entrance into the MCU is, and how she inspires audiences around the world.
The Origin of Nick Fury – Witness some of the MCU’s most significant events through Nick Fury’s eyes, and see how his influence helped shape the MCU.
The Dream Team – Discover why Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck are the perfect pair to direct Marvel Studios’ most powerful hero.
The Skrulls and the Kree – Take a deeper look into the Skrulls and the Kree, their ongoing conflict, and the importance of shifting perspectives in the film.
Hiss-sterical Cat-titude – The cast and crew dish on working with Goose and the raw talent it takes to portray such a complex character on-screen.
Deleted Scenes
“Who Do You Admire Above All Others?” – Kree Commander Yon-Rogg must answer to the Supreme Intelligence, who questions his leadership ability.
Starforce Recruits – Yon-Rogg lectures a roomful of students on the Kree’s mission to defend all nations from the scourge of the Skrulls.
Heading to Torfa – Vers (Danvers) and her fellow Starforce members banter as they prepare for their rescue mission to Torfa.
“What, No Smile?” – In this alternate version of a scene from the movie, Vers is consulting a map when she receives a dubious offer of assistance.
Black Box – Keller attempts to track Vers and Fury after their escape in a quadjet from the Joint USAFA Facility.
Rookie Mistake – Novice S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson helps Director Keller out of an embarrassing situation.
Gag Reel – The fate of the universe hangs in the balance as the cast battles props, flubs and Flerkens in these outtakes from the set.
Digital Exclusives:
Journey into Visual Effects with Victoria Alonso – Experience how filmmakers’ visions of the MCU come to life on-screen through the skill of the Visual Effects team.
What Makes a Memory: Inside the “Mind Frack” – What does it take to craft an action-packed sequence for a Marvel Studios film? Nothing short of an epic team effort!
Concept Art – Explore artwork from “Captain Marvel” and trace the visual development of characters.
On-Set Images – Uncover a trove of behind-the-scenes and production photography.
Set in the 1990s, Captain Marvel is an all-new adventure from a previously unseen period in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that introduces the MCU’s first stand-alone, female-franchise title character—Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel. When we first meet Danvers, she already possesses her superhero powers, having left her earthly life behind and become a member of an intergalactic elite Kree military team called Starforce, led by their enigmatic commander, Yon-Rogg. But after Danvers has trained and worked with the Starforce team, and become a valued member, she finds herself back on Earth with new questions about her past. While on Earth she quickly lands on the radar of Nick Fury, and they must work together against a formidable enemy in the form of the Skrulls—the notorious Marvel bad guys made even more dangerous by their shape-shifting abilities—and their leader, Talos, who is spearheading a Skrull invasion of Earth.
Based on the beloved Marvel comic-book series, first published in 1967, Captain Marvel stars Academy Award® winner Brie Larson (Room, Kong: Skull Island) as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Samuel L. Jackson (Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Hateful Eight) as Nick Fury, Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Mississippi Grind) as Talos, with Annette Bening (American Beauty, 20th Century Women) as Supreme Intelligence, with Clark Gregg (Marvel’s The Avengers, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as Agent Coulson and Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald) as Yon-Rogg.
The film also includes a talented supporting cast that features Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond, Guardians of the Galaxy) as Korath, Lee Pace (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Guardians of the Galaxy) as Ronan, Lashana Lynch (Bulletproof, Brotherhood) as Maria Rambeau, Gemma Chan (Crazy Rich Asians, Humans) as Minn-Erva, Rune Temte (Eddie the Eagle, The Last Kingdom) as Bron-Char, Algenis Perez Soto (Sugar, Isolated Victim) as Att-Lass, Mckenna Grace (Gifted, I, Tonya) as Young Carol Danvers and Akira Akbar (Grey’s Anatomy) as Monica Rambeau.
Marvel Studios’ Captain Marvel is produced by Kevin Feige and directed by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson, Sugar, Mississippi Grind). Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Jonathan Schwartz, Patricia Whitcher and Stan Lee are the executive producers. The story is by Nicole Perlman & Meg LeFauve and Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck & Geneva Robertson-Dworet, and the screenplay is by Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck & Geneva Robertson-Dworet.
Directors Boden and Fleck’s creative team also includes director of photography Ben Davis (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange), production designer Andy Nicholson (Gravity, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), costume designer Sanja Hays (The Fate of the Furious, Star Trek Beyond), editors Elliot Graham (Steve Jobs, Molly’s Game) and Debbie Berman (Marvel Studios’ Black Panther, Spider-Man: Homecoming), visual effects supervisor Christopher Townsend (Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Age of Ultron, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2), special effects supervisor Dan Sudick (Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther) and composer Pinar Toprak (The Angel, The Challenger).
DISC SPECIFICATIONS (applies to film content only):
Product SKUs: Digital: 4K Ultra HD, HD, SD
Physical: 4K Cinematic Universe Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Copy), Multi-Screen Edition (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy), and DVD
Feature Run Time: Approximately 123 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio: Ultra HD Blu-ray: English Dolby Atmos; Latin Spanish, French Parisian, Japan, German & Italian 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus; French Canadian 5.1 Dolby Digital; English Descriptive Audio 2.0 Dolby Digital; Blu-ray: English 7.1 DTS-HDMA; Brazilian Portuguese, French Canadian and Latin Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital; English Descriptive Audio 2.0 Dolby Digital; DVD: English, French Canadian and Latin Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital; English Descriptive Audio 2.0 Dolby Digital; Ultra HD Digital: English Dolby Atmos (some platforms), English 5.1 & 2.0 Dolby Digital, Latin Spanish 5.1 & 2.0 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 & 2.0 Dolby Digital, English Descriptive Audio 2.0 Dolby Digital (some platforms); HD Digital: English 5.1 & 2.0 Dolby Digital, Latin Spanish 5.1 & 2.0 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 & 2.0 Dolby Digital, English Descriptive Audio 2.0 Dolby Digital (some platforms); SD Digital: English 5.1 & 2.0 Dolby Digital, Latin Spanish 5.1 & 2.0 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 & 2.0 Dolby Digital, English Descriptive Audio 2.0 Dolby Digital (some platforms)
Subtitles: Ultra HD: English SDH, French Canadian, Latin Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Swedish, Traditional Chinese, Cantonese, Korean, Thai, Norwegian, French Parisian; Blu-ray: English SDH, French Canadian, Latin Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese; DVD: English SDH, French Canadian, Latin Spanish; Digital: English SDH, French Canadian, Latin Spanish
I don’t know if superhero conflicts are required to be based on the stupidest possible interpretation of premises, but it certainly seems that way. Subtlety or nuance don’t exist in superhero universes; in a world where people can punch each other through brick walls, that’s the only way to do anything.
Ms.Marvel Vol. 6: Civil War II is another piece of crossover, which means it’s substantially stupider than a standalone Ms. Marvel story. I’m not claiming they’re brain-teasers in the best of situations, but they generally consist of believable characters doing understandable things for plausible reasons.
Before I go on to talk about the story, here’s who brought it to us: writer G. Willow Wilson continues as usual, with original series artist Adrian Alphona taking the first issue and flashback scenes in the next four, Takeshi Miyazawa doing the non-flashbacks for those issues, and Mirka Andolfo drawing the last one collected here.
Those first and last issues (numbers 7 and 12 of the 2015 Ms. Marvel series, for those of you scoring at home) are standalones, and I’ll get to them later.
The main story here spins out of the big dumb [1] crossover Civil War II, which apparently triggered when someone discovered a new Inhuman — yeah, they were still on that kick in early 2016 — named Ulysses, who, well, I’ll let Captain Marvel [2] do the honors:
It’s more like mathematics — he can determine, to within a fraction of a percent, the probability that certain events are going to take place.
As described, this covers any event, of any kind. And, since it’s a superhero power, it’s declared to be absolutely, totally reliable all of the time. Extremely improbably, Ulysses is not already the richest man on Earth from stock-picking or craps or sports book. Nor will his powers be used to, oh, predict earthquakes and hurricanes for the betterment of all mankind. Nor to fiendishly predict the weak spots in other nations or corporations for the power-enhancement and enrichment of his friends and bosses. Nor to turbo-charge scientific development by focusing attention on the areas most amenable to breakthroughs. Nor to do a million other things that you need to actually take five minutes to think through.
No, instead Ulysses’s vast powers will be used to predict street-level crime in Jersey City, New Jersey so a group of teen vigilantes can go beat up people a day before they would have done something bad, and/or vaguely “citizen’s arrest” them, holding them down until after the time they were going to do the thing they were just stopped from doing.
Mere human language cannot adequately convey how deeply, utterly stupid an idea this is, nor now vastly it undervalues Ulysses’s powers. I am in awe of the weapons-grade idiocy here, and wonder if Ulysses is actually some idiot-savant who is just endlessly shouting out things like “John Smith of 331B 25th Street, New York, has a 37.562% chance of shoplifting a fun-size Snickers bar from the Sunny Day bodega on the corner of 24th and Market at 4:52 PM local time today.” The story would almost make sense if he had no control of his power and was psychologically focused on stupid minor crimes close to him for some plot-sufficient reason.
So, yeah. Ms. Marvel, the girl of stretch, is brought in by the senior Marvel, Carol Danvers, to supervise a random group of gung-ho crime-fighting teenagers in her neighborhood, because of course that’s how serious government projects work. (The other crime-fighting teens are all people we’ve never seen before, and probably mostly people we will never see again: utterly plot furniture.) They get random updates from Ulysses, run off, and punch people generally mere moments before they’re about to do something naughty. These updates only come in when they’re not in school or sleeping or doing homework — they’re foiling convenient crimes.
Their MO is wildly inconsistent: one actual supervillain who stole a government tank is told he’ll be held for fifteen minutes until the unfoilable super-security system blows up the tank, because they apparently can’t arrest him for stealing a tank, or driving it down a city street, or attacking civilians, but only could stop him if it blew up with him in it when he didn’t realize it would. But then when an otherwise honor-student teen boy might — Ulysses’s supposed “fraction of a percent” predictions are never actually cited; everything is a sure bet every single time — cause a power surge the next day that would start a fire, they grab him and throw him into some kind of black-box high-security private prison.
This makes no fucking sense. Not for a second. Ulysses isn’t providing percentages for anything, and the focus on teenagers in Jersey City is deeply ludicrous. And the outcomes go so far beyond arbitrary and capricious that they turn into the opposite of anything reasonable. Even assuming crime-fighting was the best use of these powers — and, again, it totally isn’t — this is quite possibly the single worst way of doing so.
But wait! The whole stupid plot seems to be designed to make our Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, realize that, hey, y’know, maybe beating up people and locking them up without due process just might be a bad thing…as long as it’s purely based on something they haven’t done yet, of course, since doing that to people otherwise would be totally fine! And that realization is purely to fuel her break with Danvers, the current Captain Marvel.
Danvers is a former military test pilot and big fan of the chain of command…except when an ill-defined group is using a random superhuman for bizarre crime-fighting activities, but it’s her ill-defined group, and crime-fighting is the only thing these caped lunatics know, so let’s go with it — and so barks out the kind of cliche conversation where she talks down to “junior” superheroes and calls them things like “soldier” using random Army jargon picked up from Full Metal Jacket.
Because military people in comics are all about “shut up and do as you’re told,” since the question of legal and appropriate use of force never comes up in fictional universes. Obviously.
So The Lesson Kamala learns here is that your idols sometimes assholes who aren’t going to do what you want them to, and also that semi-fascist panopticons are not as cool an idea as they might seem. I know! Who would have thought! (Presumably somewhere in the actual Civil War II series it all ended when we learned that Ulysses’s powers can’t handle vibranium, or he’s a Skrull spy, or some such stupid bullshit, so everything could go back to normal.)
Oh! Also another Lesson: it is your fault if your best friend does something you warn him is really dangerous and gets seriously injured, because you are A Superhero and should be able to make everything nice all the time. (Well, maybe there’s also a bit of “You went along with something that didn’t smell right and it turned out horribly and crippled your best friend.”) But, as a bonus, Wilson is totally setting up ex-best-friend to return as a supervillain in another 5-10 issues. So we have that to look forward to.
This book also contains two single issues untainted by crossover, and so therefore relatively intelligent. The one up front is a cute science-fair story, with a side order of Millennials Have It So Much Worse Than Other Generations (Even the Ones That Had to Go To War and Stuff) Because Student Loans, and guest appearances by Spider-Man and Nova, to underline how much they are all basically the same damn character.
And the closing story sees Kamala take a trip back to her native Pakistan. This seems unlikely to happen during the school year for a student as much of a grind as Kamala, but it’s not clear when any of these stories take place during the year, so maybe it’s suddenly summer? And there she Learns Things, though she doesn’t notice that her new friend is also totally that local superhero she runs into. Oh, and the local society is corrupt and riddled with bad actors in multiple ways, but she shouldn’t be judge-y about it! Let the locals deal with it!
I’m beginning to think I only read Ms. Marvel because the different ways it annoys me amuse me. It may also be that I had all the superhero bullshit I could stand about twenty years ago, so even “good” superhero comics are so full of crap they make me break out in fits of swearing. Either way, my relationship with this comic is not particularly healthy. Luckily, I just get collections of it from the library about two years late!
[1] I haven’t actually read anything else from Civil War II, so it’s possible that I’m maligning its intelligence. But I wouldn’t bet on it.
In a case of incredibly lucky timing, Craig Yoe, the author of Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-Creator Joe Shuster, The Art of Ditko, The Complete Milt Gross Comic Book Stories and Life Story, The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers, and The Great Anti-War Cartoons, has started blogging again on Super I.T.C.H. (International Team of Comics Historians) with a well-timed piece: Jack Kirby’s drawing of Mickey Mouse:
ESPN and Marvel announced
ESPN commentators Ryan Ruocco and Richard Jefferson will provide commentary in a fully customized Marvel-themed studio at ESPN’s Bristol, Conn. campus. Additionally , the special presentation will include commentary and analysis from Marvel expert Angélique Roché.
