Batson's Blog

Everyone is talking about the Disney (Marvel) / Sony feud right now. It's a complicated situation, especially since we don't really know what the tone of all the discussions is like. There are some conflicting reports. Based on what I've seen, Sony and Disney made a deal. Spider-Man was successful in the MCU, so Disney wanted to renegotiate so that they had better terms in the deal. I don't blame Sony for saying 'Hold up' because legally they've been doing everything right. But the MCU is where all the action is, so of course fans want Spider-Man there. That being said, I think now may be the best time for Spidey to go solo with Sony. Both of Spider-Man's movies so far benefitted from having Nick Fury, Happy Hogan and Iron Man (or at least references to him in the second movie). Spider-Man got a huge rub from Fury and Iron Man. It's time to take that and move on and do his own thing. The crowded, crossover-filled MCU: It's ...

I remember everyone groaning when it was announced that Sony was making a Venom movie. Then they saw the trailer and got excited. I was kind of in the ‘meh’ camp until I heard Tom Hardy was on board to play Eddie Brock. He did such a great job as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises that I figured he’d be a great hero/anti-hero in Venom. And he did! His portrayal of Eddie Brock was very interesting. Always likable but definitely a character with flaws. He was someone you were rooting for even when he was messing up. The symbiote storyline isn’t one that’s been told in this way before. Sure, Venom was in Spider-Man 3 but it doesn’t even compare to this version, honestly. This one was much better. It was done in a more comedic way. The only negative I have is that the comedy almost made the movie a little too cartoonish. Just a little. It felt like Venom could’ve been a little more diabolical. His lines were delivered in a way that seemed like they were supposed to be pun...

Most of these movies, of course, are super hero movies. But as each year passes and more and more super hero movies are released, the genre keeps re-inventing itself. They have to in order to stay relevant and successful. I don't know if all of these innovations will work, but we'll find out. The New Mutants Kicking off this list is March's latest X-Men movie: The New Mutants. Unlike other X-Men movies, this one is basically a horror movie. The initial preview I saw didn't impress me too much. It seemed a little bit normal in terms of horror movies. But it's the first horror movie of the super hero genre. We'll see how it goes, but I'm thinking it won't be the biggest box office hit, straying too far from the formula that makes super hero movies work. Will I still go see it? Yeah, probably. Tomb Raider I was surprised that they were remaking Tomb Raider, but I guess it has been 14 years since the last Tomb Raider, featur...