All posts tagged: superhero

Influential Superhero Comics of the 1990s and Early 2000s

Influential Superhero Comics of the 1990s and Early 2000s

Published by José Betancourt

Marvel & Bloomsbury Explore the stories behind the legends in Marvel Age of Comics—an epic deep-dive into the creators, characters, and cultural forces that shaped the Marvel Universe. With new volumes on The Ultimates, Wolverine, and Miles Morales, this series is a must-read for fans of comics, super heroes, and pop culture history. If you weren’t reading comics in the 1990s and early 2000s, let me tell you: you missed A TIME. Comics were selling like crazy. There were variant covers upon variant covers upon variant covers. Many of the top executives in comics now like Jim Lee, Robert Kirkman, Todd MacFarlane, and Joe Quesada were merely fan-favorite writers and artists. And that era saw massive upheavals in the industry. After comics like Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns, the ’90s saw the creation of DC’s Vertigo imprint and a flood of mature comics that told bigger stories. A superstar quintet of creators broke off from the Big Two to create Image Comics. The Big Two responded with massive events with shocking twists. And superheroes? …

Check Out These Banned Episodes of Superhero Cartoons (If You Can)

Check Out These Banned Episodes of Superhero Cartoons (If You Can)

Published by Jenni Sidey

“The Mask of Matches Malone!” – Batman: The Brave and the Bold I covered this one extensively last year, so I won’t harp on it here. Still, this highly enjoyable episode got banned everywhere except Australia due to a raunchy musical number in which Catwoman, Black Canary, and Huntress insulted the male heroes’ skills in bed — uh, I mean, crime-fighting. Skills in crime-fighting. Yup. Like “Apokolips…Now!” it has since been made available in its full glory on HBO Max. “Insane in the Membrane” – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 series) Scientist Baxter Stockman had an extremely rough go of it in this series, body-wise. He eventually required a cloned body, which he succeeded in making for himself. Sort of. Before long, the clone’s body started literally falling apart. That’s where the trouble with the network started, too. The scenes of Stockman’s body falling apart were deemed so graphic that the episode never aired on television. But you can now watch the whole thing on Paramount+, if you’ve got the stomach for it. “The Gatekeeper” …

Eight Twisted Noir Superhero Stories

Eight Twisted Noir Superhero Stories

Published by Jenni Sidey

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. What do you think of when I say “noir superhero stories?” Dark, damp alleyways. Criminals lurking around every corner. Steam billowing out of the sewers. Fedoras. Capes. Villains straight from a horror film. And, of course, superheroes boldly patrolling these frightening streets. From basically the beginning of comic book history, noir has been part of the tapestry. From the old pulps and strips to modern-day graphic novels, these stories still capture our imaginations and create great characters. Here are eight great noir superhero stories full of crime, revenge, and those awesome superheroes. Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale Pretty much all of Batman is noir superhero goodness, but I decided to limit myself to just one for this list. In this case, one of the greatest and my favorite Batman story that leans heavily into old-school crime. A serial killer is stalking Gotham, murdering on the holidays as the year crawls by. Classic rogues and …

Marvel director admits Rachel McAdams was ‘underutilised’ in superhero sequel

Marvel director admits Rachel McAdams was ‘underutilised’ in superhero sequel

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Director Sam Raimi has admitted that Rachel McAdams was “underutilised” in the 2022 superhero movie Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. McAdams took on the role of Christine Palmer, an ex-girlfriend of the title character Stephen Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, in the 2016 Marvel movie and its sequel. Speaking to Total Film about their latest collaboration Send Help, Raimi revealed that he “promised [him]self” that he would team up with the Oscar nominee again after they worked together on The Multiverse of Madness. “First, she was the perfect person because she’s such a brilliant actress,” he said. “I had a chance to work with her on my last film and saw how talented she was and actually underutilised. “And I promised myself that I would work with her again. And then this film came up, and her warmth is …

Tom Cruise has ‘angered’ Ethan Hawke with ‘superhero’ movie stunts

Tom Cruise has ‘angered’ Ethan Hawke with ‘superhero’ movie stunts

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter For Tom Cruise, death-defying stunts might be par for the course, but Ethan Hawke is “getting angry” by the precedent the action hero has unintentionally set for actors. Cruise is known for bypassing doubles to performing his own stunts, pulling off wild sequences in the Mission: Impossible franchise, which has variously seen him hang off a plane in mid-air, ride off a cliff on a motorcycle and hold his breath underwater for more than six minutes. Hawke, who last week received an Oscar nomination for his role in Blue Moon, did his own stunts in forthcoming drama The Weight, but is concerned that some stars feel inferior if they decide against doing the same. “Tom Cruise has totally changed what’s expected for actors,” he told Variety after The Weight premiered at Sundance Film Festival. “Some part of me is getting angry …

All 10 seasons of beloved superhero series arrive on Netflix

All 10 seasons of beloved superhero series arrive on Netflix

Published by Daniella Wilson

Netflix’s latest acquisition has sent fans into a spin as it has acquired one of the most beloved superhero TV series of all time. Subscribers of the streaming service can now immerse themselves in all 10 seasons of the Superman coming-of-age series Smallville. Originally airing from 2001 to 2011 on The WB and later on The CW, Tom Welling plays the iconic Clark Kent as a Kansas teen, who uses his superpowers to fight crime while also battling the everyday troubles and concerns of growing up. The first five seasons chart Clark’s journey through high school where he encounters young love in early flame Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) and also develops a friendship with Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), who will become his nemesis in the future. The second half focuses on his early adult years where Kent finds a job at The Daily Planet, the famous fictional newspaper in the DC Comics universe. Here we meet familiar love interest Lois Lane (Erica Durance) and colleague Jimmy Olsen (Aaron Ashmore) as they combat corruption in Metropolis. …

Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: like a superhero cloak, a white shirt gives you formidable power | Fashion

Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion: like a superhero cloak, a white shirt gives you formidable power | Fashion

Published by Sam Flores

The eternal appeal of the white shirt is not just that it goes with anything, although it does. And not only that it can take you anywhere, although it can. It is not even that it never goes out of style, or that good quality versions are accessible at real-world prices, although those are true also. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. A white shirt is self-confidence. It stands for it, and it brings it, and that’s the real secret. It is a superhero cloak that bestows you with this formidable power. Self-confidence is not as snazzy as the ability to fly or live for ever, but arguably it’s more practical. I don’t know why or how it works, but it doesn’t matter, because if you feel confident then you are confident. Faking it and making it are one and the same here. Courage is everything at this time of year, when life can feel a bit daunting. Perhaps your instinct is to hibernate in a hoodie. Hey, I hear you. But …