Another December and Another Gift to Fans

Last December saw the return of iconic hero Luke Skywalker in the Mandalorian. It was a shockingly well-kept secret and I can tell you that I sure didn't see it coming. As a fandom-dweller, it was a beautiful moment that still brings a smile to my scraggly, wrinkled face to this day.



This past week I saw the new Spider Man movie. I don't get out to new movies often…don't really care to. But this one motivated me after a very exciting trailer. What the trailer showed, with franchise villains (from another Spider Man series entirely) showing up in a new universe was too enticing to resist. Well set-up in Marvel's Multiverse reality, it seemed like a good time, potentially.

I will admit that it was the promise of MORE visitors from alternate franchises that really made me want to go. I knew spoilers were imminent, and I wanted to experience it for myself, for better or worse.



It was for BETTER!

The movie is doing great and getting quite a few rave reviews (as far as I know; I don't track this stuff very closely at all anymore).

and…


SPOILER ALERT


…it delivers on the promise I thought was being made, and it doesn't just do it in a lame, eye-candy, blink-and-it's-over kind of way. It really delivers in a beautiful way.

My review/sum up is that it does some really wild stuff for a live action movie, pretty much everything I could hope for from a flick of this kind - but what really makes it work is that it's not afraid to be earnest, and serious. That's when the movie is at it's best. The rapid fire "wit" (not-so-witty wit) that marks a lot of Marvel is there in the first act, but once the story proper kicks in (with a metal tentacle as seen in the trailer), it gets SO much better.

Real emotion. Real stakes. Real consequences. All of that PLUS the giddy pleasure of fan nostalgia and multiverse fun.



A friend of mine lamented the comic book movie takeover of all cinema entertainment and I see the point. I understand it and maybe even agree. I do believe that the future of entertainment lies with individual creators like those right here, making original web comics on the Duck.

I also feel a bit strange going on about stuff like this with so many significant and serious things happening to so many people everywhere.

But as a fan, it's a real pleasure to see beloved characters treated well. After multiple years of disregard and, in my opinion, downright nastiness to icons over the past few years, we have a real treat for the second December in a row.



A pretty fine Christmas gift for many fans!


Merry Christmas and the Best of the Season to you,


Banes