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Actor Tim Blake Nelson is a Dirty, Rotten Traitor!

I mean that in the nicest way possible, with the utmost respect for this delightful actor. But what the heck, Tim Blake Nelson? Does loyalty mean nothing to you?

I am, of course, talking about the news that Tim Blake Nelson has been cast as the Mole Man in the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot. Technically he’s been cast as scientist Harvey Elder, with the implication that he’ll become the Mole Man in one of the sequels, because that has worked out so well in the past.

This time it’ll work for sure!

But Tim Blake Nelson has been in this exact scenario before! Nelson was cast as scientist Samuel Sterns in The Incredible Hulk in 2008, with the implication that he’d transform into the villainous Leader in one of the sequels. Heck, they even started transforming Nelson in the climax of that film.

Remember this scene?

Like it was yesterday

Obviously the Incredible Hulk sequel never came to pass and Nelson never got to play the super-villain. Is that his motivation here? Was he sad that Marvel never came through for him, so like a jilted lover, he’s jumped ship to join FOX and their Fantastic Four reboot? Which one of these companies is the trail-blazing leader in superhero films, Tim Blake Nelson? How could you do this to us! I had such high hopes for you!

This actually puts me in a real dilly of a pickle. You see, in my List of Six of the things I wanted to see on the TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Tim Blake Nelson returning as the Leader was my #1 choice! The show is the perfect place to pick up abandoned plotlines from the Hulk movie! They’ve already introduced Hulk adversary Glenn Talbot to the show. Why not have Nelson guest star on Agents as the Leader? He would be perfect as a Big Bad for a season! He’s a real, legitimate comic book villain, but he’s clearly not going to appear in any future Marvel movies! Plus how cool would it be for an abandoned movie storyline to be picked up by the show? That should be exactly why Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. exists.

But here’s the thing, in my List of six of the things I wanted to see in the Fantastic Four reboot, Mole Man was my #2 entry! So the gods of pop culture gave me one of my wishes by stealing from another. It’s madness.

Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 4/26/14

This is the week of zero issues, apparently! All of the cool kids are starting off their new comic books with an issue #0 instead of the traditional #1. Because who needs tradition, amiright? Besides, ‘zero’ starts with a ‘Z’, so that makes it cooler already.

We’ve got both Justice League United #0, the start off the next Justice League spin-off , and Original Sin #0, a prologue to this Summer’s Big Event from Marvel. Original Sin actually makes for a nice little prologue, while this #0 issue of Justice League United actually reads like a #1 issue. I wouldn’t be surprised if Justice League United #1 just picks right up from where #0 left off.

So what was the point?

Beyond those zero books, we’ve got new issues of Aquaman, Fantastic Four and Batman Eternal, which continues its efforts to drive me insane. I also decided to jump back into Red Lanterns, which was a good choice, because Red Lanterns #30 wins Comic Book of the Week! Though, admittedly, there wasn’t much released this week.

Comic Reviews: Aquaman #30, Batman Eternal #3, Fantastic Four #3, Justice League United #0, Original Sin #0 and Red Lanterns #30.

You can also check out my review for Elektra #1 at Word of the Nerd!

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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/15/14

Welcome to the Ides of March my friends! Why isn’t this holiday celebrated anymore? You never heard about any other Ides of any other months. I wonder why this one went out of style…oh wait…right. But let’s not dwell on history’s murderous past! Let’s celebrate the present, and all the great comic books its giving us!

First of all, Captain Marvel is back! It was one of my favorite comics from the past year, and I was very excited to see it return…until it started making some startling changes! We’ll see if they’re good changes or bad. Beyond that, we’ve got explosive issues of Batman, Superior Spider-Man and Superman/Wonder Woman, as well as the second issues of X-Force and Fantastic Four. One of those is doing better than the other. And now I’m starting feel like a broken record for declaring Hawkeye #17 the Comic Book of the Week. But with panels like this one, how could I choose anything else?

It only gets better from here

This is a story you’ve got to see to believe.

Comic Reviews: Batman #29, Captain Marvel #1, Fantastic Four #2, Hawkeye #17, Superior Spider-Man #29, Superman/Wonder Woman #6 and X-Force #2.

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Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 3/1/14

This week, Aquaman attends his high school reunion. And no, that’s not the set up for a joke. It sounds like one though, when I write it out like that, doesn’t it? But seriously, it’s a legitimate story, and it’s utterly fantastic! I seriously wish more DC comics these days were like Aquaman. Do you hear that, DC superheroes? Be more like Aquaman!

As for Marvel heroes, you need to be more like Hawkeye. Even more seriously, how did we not see Hawkeye coming? I am going to gush about this comic every week that it comes out, because I think Hawkeye is not only the best comic book on the stands today, but it’s also the wave of the future, baby! And it’s just so weird, considering Hawkeye the comic probably got greenlit because of Hawkeye in The Avengers movie, and the two characters couldn’t be more dissimilar!

Hawkeye #15, the epic team-up of the Barton Brothers, easily wins Comic Book of the Week.

And that is why Barney Barton is not a superhero.

Comic Reviews: Aquaman #28, Fantastic Four #1, Hawkeye #15, Superior Spider-Man #28, and Wolverine and the X-Men #42.

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The New Cast of the Fantastic Four!

The new Fantastic Four movie got a little bit closer today with the announced cast: Miles Teller as Mr. Fantastic, Kate Mara as the Invisible Woman, Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch and Jamie Bell as the Thing. The only one of the four I’m all that familiar with is Kate Mara, and I’ve liked what I’ve seen. I saw Jordan in Chronicle, and Jamie Bell in The Eagle, and I’m pretty sure both were good. So I am definitely confident about this quartet!

From left: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell

The Hollywood Reporter says they’re all close to closing the deals, so they’re all pretty much a sure thing.

Obviously, of note is the fact that the the new movie is going to make the Human Torch black. But who gives a flying poop? I am no comic book adaptation purist. If the new creative team has some new ideas, then I’m all in favor of trying them out. The only thing that annoys me is when the creative changes miss the point of the characters in the first place, like the altered origin for the Punisher in the Thomas Jane movie.

I am all for cosmetic changes to the Fantastic Four. Look at the first films; did making Jessica Alba a blonde help or hinder the movie? And Reed Richards absolutely does not need those stupid white tufts of hair at his temples. I definitely support creating a younger Fantastic Four for the new reboot.

From left: Human Torch, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman and the Thing

The director is going to be Josh Trank, who directed Chronicle. That was a fun film, so I have faith enough in him to pull this off. And anyone interested in more of my thoughts can check out this previous List of Six of things I’d like to see in the reboot. The list is more than a year old, though, so some parts of it might not hold up. I think it’s still a solid blueprint for a good reboot, but of course I would think that.

What do you henchpersons think about the new cast? And the reboot itself?