Why Godzilla Chose Its Three Main Villains For King Of The Monsters

Why Godzilla Chose Its Three Main Villains For King Of The Monsters

When Godzilla returns to the big screen in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, he'll go up against three new (for this franchise) threats in Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah. While there were any number of other giant monsters that Godzilla could have battled from his decades long film history, King of the Monsters director Michael Dougherty told CinemaBlend during a recent Q&A in Japan that these three were chosen because they were the best known, even among those who don't necessarily know Godzilla. According to Dougherty...

They are the crown jewels of the Toho universe. They are the ones that I feel like most Godzilla fans, and non-Godzilla fans, are the most familiar with. So as much as I love King Caesar and Gigan and those guys, they're a little bit more obscure.

As pragmatic as it is, it certainly makes a lot of sense. The reason that remakes and sequels are so popular is because audiences tend to be attracted to stories and characters that they are already comfortable with. So if you want to get people interested in a Godzilla movie, give them the monsters they love the most.

I certainly fall into the category of somebody who isn't a major Godzilla fan. While I've seen a few the films I'm far from an expert, but I do know the names of Rodan, Mothra, and Ghidorah. This is exactly what the new production is counting on.

While the name recognition was part of the reason that these three were chosen to appear in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Michael Dougherty says there's another reason they were used. The four characters have a connected history in the past of the Godzilla franchise. The director goes on...

But [these are] also the first ones who kind of teamed up. There's a key point in Godzilla history when Mothra, Rodan and Godzilla put aside their differences and decided to team up against King Ghidorah. It's an amazing scene, by the way. I strongly suggest you go back and watch that movie. But there's, there's literally a scene where Mothra goes to Rodan and Godzilla and says, ‘Hey, this new asshole just showed up and he's going to mess everything up if we don't stop him.’ And the two twin fairies are translating for the monsters, so the humans can understand what the monsters are talking to her about. But they're actually having dialogue. Rodan and Godzilla are like, ‘Fuck the humans! They bully us. Why should we help them?’

The movie in question is 1964's Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. The sequence is an important one in the history of the the Godzilla franchise because, according to Dougherty, it's the first time that the giant monsters are seen as anything other than, well, monsters...

And suddenly, for the first time as a kid, that was where you suddenly saw things from the monsters’ point of view. Where the monsters saw us as the monster. The monsters saw us as the bullies that we're trying to prevent them from having happy lives. But anyway, they were the first giant monster team up, box and I feel like their truly the most iconic of the Toho universe. So it made sense that they should be the first ones to get adapted to the big screen for Hollywood.

Could we see any of the other, more obscure Godzilla antagonists appear in future films? At this point, it's hard to say. The only film in this particular franchise that we know is coming is Godzilla vs. Kong, which, based on the title, is unlikely to include any other giant monsters, though it certainly could. And depending on the outcome of that battle, we could still see more Godzilla films in the future. So if you're a serious fan of Megalon the giant beetle, don't lose hope.

When Shazam! Will Finally Arrive On DVD And Digital

When Shazam! Will Finally Arrive On DVD And Digital

If you holler “Shazam!” starting on July 2nd, you’ll be treated to copy of the popular DC flick starring Zachary Levi. OK, OK, perhaps a click or two on Amazon will also be required. The point is, Shazam is about to hit DVD, Blu-ray and Digital and should be the perfect summer treat for your family, particularly if your school kids are home and sitting on their laurels.

As has become more common of late, Shazam!’s Digital release will be coming earlier than the physical copies of the DC movie. Digital will be out on July 2nd, followed by the DVD and Blu-ray releases on July 16. The good news? You can pre-order your copy now.

The movie is also hitting 4K, which is great news for fans of the format. Those copies will also have Dolby Vision HDR.

All of the hard copies of the flick will come with the same special features. There’s a motion comic that will be included, although the deleted scenes should be the most delightful extra here.

Previously, we learned there were 20-24 minutes of deleted scenes that were cut from the film. CinemaBlend spoke with editor Michel Aller, who noted the lengthy amount of deleted footage before giving us a tidbit about what we could see with the set:

One of the scenes that regretfully we had to pull out was a scene between young Billy and Mary, when he’s about to sneak out. It’s just a really touching scene, but it came so early in the movie, and we were trying to get to get to the Shazam character, that we couldn’t put everything that we liked at the front of the movie. So that was one scene that we pulled out. I’m glad there are DVDs out there so we can show these great scenes.

It's not always easy to get a movie just right, and it will be interesting to see what Shazam! left on the cutting room floor with the home entertainment release.

Take a look at the other extras below.

Shazam Exclusive Motion Comic

The Magical World of Shazam

Super Fun Zac

Carnival Scene Study

Shazamily Values

Who is Shazam?

Deleted Scenes

Gag Reel

Shazam’s kind of an interesting flick. The movie had a nice run – albeit not spectacular – at the box office, pulling in over $361 million worldwide on an alleged $100 million budget. So far, DC has started looking into Shazam 2, hiring screenwriter Henry Gayden to pen the sequel.

The problem is that DC and Warner Bros.’ movie schedule is a little bit of a mess right now, and it’s not like Shazam 2 has gotten off the ground in terms of production, much less gotten an official release date yet.

A nice run on DVD and Digital could always help the process move a little faster, however. So, if you liked the movie, it may be one to add to your collections.

New Detective Pikachu Video Is A Great Primer If You Don't Know Anything About Pokemon

New Detective Pikachu Video Is A Great Primer If You Don't Know Anything About Pokemon

Picture the following scenario: a popular franchise is about to hit theaters with a brand new installment that promises to spark a new cinematic universe. While you’re interested in catching this film in theaters, you’re not sure if you’ll be able to as there’s a bit of a knowledge gap that stands in your way. That’s the time that a nice, easy video like the one Ryan Reynolds just shared for Pokemon: Detective Pikachu would be handy. If you’re not particularly familiar with the world of Pokemon, take a deep breath and watch the video below:

As you’ve now seen, the world of Pokemon is a pretty diverse ecosystem of creatures, each with their own classifications and abilities. So if you’ve been watching the trailers for Pokemon: Detective Pikachu and have marveled at the live-action debut of not only Pikachu, but also tons more Pokemon that will reach the eyes and hearts of audiences in May, you’re not alone in being interested to know more about their names and skill sets.

Of course, you don’t need to know anything about Pokemon to want to see Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, as anyone who enjoys a good crime caper and/or Ryan Reynolds’ comedy stylings might happen to be up your alley anyway. The trailers have certainly done a good job setting up the world of the famous pocket monster video games for the common moviegoer, and now with this extra bit of background, audiences should be ready for the adventure that Pokemon: Detective Pikachu is ready to dish out.

But if you really want to take in the world of Rime City, and the other locales that Pokemon: Detective Pikachu will travel to, it helps to know if that little pink creature in the coffee shop will write on your face, should you be lulled to sleep. Pop quiz, hot shot: that creature is a Jigglypuff, and it will draw on your face if you fall asleep to its song. If you knew that, you’re pretty well off, but if you didn’t, you might want to hit the books a couple more times before setting off.

Still, if you’re interested in the deeper world of Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, you have this video Ryan Reynolds posted to his Twitter account to start you off. After which, you’ll probably want to check out the film’s various trailers again, as you’ll basically have the visual equivalent of flash cards to help guide you. However, if you’re really industrious and ready to test yourself in the world of Pokemon, you should try getting into the official augmented reality game Pokemon Go.

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu begins its quest to be the very best on May 10. Though if Pokemon isn’t your thing and you’ve somehow found yourself tricked into reading this entire article, the 2019 release schedule is going to be your new best friend. And we promise, there’s nary a Jigglypuff to lure you to sleep.

Josh Brolin Preps For Dune Filming With Intense Shirtless Photo

Josh Brolin Preps For Dune Filming With Intense Shirtless Photo

Denis Villeneuve's 2020 Dune movie has officially started filming. Josh Brolin is one of the many, many -- seriously, so many -- major stars of the film adapting Frank Herbert's novel. Brolin plays Gurney Halleck, weapons master for House Atreides, who teaches young Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet). Brolin got into battle mode with his usual intensity, staring into the camera for a photo he posted with a caption quoting the Dune author:

Fear is the mind-killer. It's clear Josh Brolin is not afraid to strip himself down to the basics and #cowboyup for his role. Since filming just started, it looks like Brolin is getting in on the early action, possibly for some training scenes with young Paul.

Patrick Stewart played Gurney Halleck in David Lynch's 1984 Dune. Denis Villeneuve has his own very different plans for the story, which is also meant to carry across more than one film. Just the physicality of Josh Brolin alone hints in a different direction, not that SirPatStew isn't boss in his own right.

Dune is filming on location in Budapest, Hungary, and Jordan, so those countries can look forward to seeing many famous faces in the next few months.

So far, Denis Villeneuve's Dune cast includes Rebecca Ferguson as Jessica Atreides; Oscar Isaac as Duke Leto; Zendaya as Chani; Javier Bardem as Stilgar; Dave Bautista as Glossu Rabban; Stellan Skarsgård as Vladimir Harkonnen; Charlotte Rampling as Reverend Mother Mohiam; Jason Momoa as Duncan Idaho; David Dastmalchian as Piter De Vries; and Chang Chen as Dr. Wellington Yueh.

No wonder Stellan Skarsgard compared that cast to the Avengers. Get more details on each star and character with our cast list.

Here's the film's official synopsis, from Warner Bros. and Legendary:

A mythic and emotionally charged hero’s journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, who must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence—a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential—only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049) is not only directing the film, he also co-wrote the screenplay (with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts) and he's one of the film's producers. Dune is currently scheduled for worldwide release on November 20, 2020.

Meanwhile, Josh Brolin -- no stranger to major films, from Deadpool 2 to Avengers: Infinity War -- will soon be seen back in action as Thanos in Avengers: Endgame. That movie opens April 26, 2019 as one of the many films hitting the big screen this year.

The Avengers Vs The Justice League: Which Is The Better Superhero Team?

The Avengers Vs The Justice League: Which Is The Better Superhero Team?

In Avengers: Endgame, the Avengers proved they could best the most powerful villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but could those characters take out their counterparts from The Justice League movie? At the box office, it’s not been much of a fight, Marvel and the MCU have been crushing DC and the DCEU.

Sure, Marvel got a head start on the competition when it kicked off Phase One of the MCU with Iron Man in 2008, but DC had previously been sucking wind trying to catch up, although it is finally starting to make great strides. While the MCU has had an outline and a playbook that that has been laid out and followed to a T, at times, it seems like the DCEU has been in total chaos and flying by the seat of the tights.

Still, none of this has anything to do with how powerful the characters are, and there's nothing we love more at CinemaBlend than superhero hypotheticals. So, could The Avengers beat The Justice League in a fight between superheroes? Marvel’s Avengers may do better at the box office, but DC’s Justice League would give them one heck of a fight in the ring. Who would come out on top? We state the case below.

It should be noted, that just to keep this from spiraling out into infinity, we’re going to limit the argument to only six members of The Avengers and the six members of The Justice League introduced in the DCEU so far. On the Avengers side, it will be Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Panther, Captain Marvel and The Hulk. So, that means no Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man, or any of The Guardians Of The Galaxy. On the Justice League side, it’s Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg.

The Avengers Versus The Justice League

The Avengers biggest strengths are their brains and technical skills. Tony Stark’s genius and engineer would have to be their biggest asset against any potential DCEU foes. Let’s face it, The Avengers are going to need Iron Man to come up with something big to help them stop The Justice League’s most powerful superhero, Superman. Superman is going to be the biggest problem for them and stopping him is almost impossible. Thor will also be critical here.

Superman is almost indestructible. The only chance The Avengers would have against The Justice League would be to somehow sideline him maybe using the power of Thor. Thor’s Mjolnir or Stormbreaker are the most powerful weapons in any universe and he’s going to need all of it. The Incredible Hulk’s incredible strength would also be important in isolating the biggest threats from The Justice League.

While this is going on, Batman and Captain America would probably face off in one of the most epic battles that superhero fans could ever wish for. They are pretty evenly matched too. That leaves the wild card: Wonder Woman. Could the Justice League gain the advantage over The Avengers here with Wonder Woman?

Of course, there other concerns too. Would The Hulk decimate the competition outside of Superman or could The Flash and Aquaman someone contain him? As with Superman, The Hulk is probably not going to fall in a one-on-one battle. If The Flash and Aquaman were distracted by The Hulk, where does that leave Cyborg? With a powerful superhero like Captain Marvel teamed with Black Panther, could Cyborg come out on top? He may be the biggest weakness in the Justice League in this fight. He’d be better matched with Iron Man, with his hacker skills, but he may not get the opportunity in this battle.

Most likely what would happen is that the six leaders of each team with battle it out while the three “lesser” members would be left facing each other. This makes the larger battle slightly more even, because, again, Superman really puts the Avengers at a major disadvantage. What can you do to stop him?

Iron Man, Thor, And Captain America Vs. Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman

The leaders of The Avenger and The Justice League would definitely need to face off with each other. This is the only way The Avengers would have a chance.

First, The Avengers would need to have made sure that Tony Stark had invented some kind of Kryptonite-shooting weapon to fire at Superman. With Superman weakened, a charge from Thor and healthy smack of his hammer would be the Avengers best chance to flip the script on The Justice League. Maybe Thor could somehow plant an unconscious Superman on the moon or something, giving The Avengers a chance.

This is all if the much-anticipated battle between Batman and Captain America keeps those two distracted. In all of The Avengers vs. Justice League possible match-ups, this is the one people should want to see most. They are pretty evenly matched and both are incredible in hand-to-hand combat. Whoever comes out on top in this fight could also swing the battle in one direction or the other as both are crucial to the success of their respective teams.

This leaves Wonder Woman. If Iron Man and Thor were distracted with Superman, it leaves an opening for Wonder Woman to take on one or both. She is pretty evenly matched with Thor, with both of them being gods and all. Plus – who wouldn’t want to see Gal Godot fighting with Chris Hemsworth -- that’s a dreamy match up. Frankly, she might be pretty evenly matched with Iron Man too, as he was when he fought Thor in The Avengers.

It’s probably best she go for Thor though, and leave Iron Man to Superman, because that is the mismatch of the century. All due respect to Iron Man, but if Tony Stark failed to get the kryptonite shot off effectively, Superman would waste him. This pairing gives the Justice League a big advantage. But what about the undercard, could that change things?

Captain Marvel, Blank Panther And The Hulk Vs. Aquaman, The Flash And Cyborg

This is where things get even more interesting. Captain Marvel is a huge X-factor here. As powerful as she is, Aquaman, The Flash, and Cyborg would need to find a way to contain her. That may not even be possible, and if they do somehow manage to do it, how do they stop The Hulk?

Another issue is Aquaman. How does the Justice League maximize his strengths? Is there a way for him to face off with The Hulk and come out on top? That could tilt the battle significantly. He might be the only Justice League member that could handle The Hulk one on one (besides Superman of course).

The Flash is the weak point for the Justice League here, there just isn’t a good match up for him among these Avengers. Maybe he can go after Black Panther but the more natural matchup for Black Panther seems like Cyborg, given both of their technology expertise?

But then that would leave Captain Marvel versus the Flash and that feels like a huge mismatch in favor of Marvel’s Avengers. So DC’s The Justice League will need to counteract that somehow.

How The Avengers Could Beat The Justice League

In a fight between The Avengers and The Justice League, there is one clear way The Avengers could come out on top.

First, Tony Stark would need that kryptonite particle shooter. With Iron Man taking a shot at Superman, stunning and weakening him, one mighty clobber from Thor’s hammer could send him spinning into space. Knocking Superman out of the fight (and far away from Earth’s sun) is the only chance they have to get the upper hand in the battle.

From there, it would still be up to Captain America to take out Batman, and in hand-to-hand combat, both heroes are pretty evenly matched, which makes Captain America’s shield the most important weapon here. If Captain America can hold off an onslaught of projectiles that Bruce Wayne would have certainly prepared with and get in close, he should be able to deflect some those back towards Batman and hopefully knock him out.

With Superman out of the fight, Thor and The Hulk would need to team up to take on the powerful Aquaman. The only way The Avengers would be able to overcome his speed and reflexes is with an all-out frontal assault by their two strongest members. If Thor and The Hulk could bat Aquaman around and back and forth for a few minutes, he just might be down for the count.

Meanwhile, that leaves Iron Man and Black Panther to hold off the The Flash and Cyborg for the time being. This will be a tough ask from the two. Black Panther would need every bit of strength and his ancestor’s knowledge to take down Cyborg, but if Iron Man can serve as bait, Cyborg could get distracted by trying to hack Jarvis and take out Tony Stark’s technology, then Black Panther would gain the advantage in hand to hand combat.

The Flash is a big part of this. How do The Avengers slow him down? Carol Danvers of course. If anyone is prepared for the incredible speed of The Flash, it’s the fighter pilot Captain Marvel. If she can catch him, she can take him out.

That leaves Wonder Woman. Hardly a slouch, right? With the others out of the battle, The Avengers would need all hands on deck to take out the mighty Wonder Woman. Thor’s Hammer is the only weapon that I really believe could do the trick here. He would need to get in a solid shot with his powerful hammer and leave her vulnerable to attack.

In the end The Avengers would be in rough shape, but they could stand victorious over their rivals. But what about an alternate universe, one where The Justice League prevails?

How The Justice League Could Beat The Avengers

So, how do The Justice League prevail in this epic battle against The Avengers? Well, they have Superman, and that alone gives them a major advantage. Cyborg is the key though.

Superman could take mighty blows from Hulk and Thor all day if Cyborg is able hack Jarvis, preventing Iron Man from releasing a hail of kryptonite particles on Superman. If Superman is at full strength, he could easily do a rope-a-dope against Thor and The Hulk until the other Avengers were taken out. But how does that happen?

With Jarvis hacked, Iron Man would be easy to take out. Wonder Woman would be free to take on Captain Marvel in a classic head-to-head matchup of the two most powerful women in the Universe. Wonder Woman’s best chance here would be to land some heavy blows and count in The Flash to harass Carol Danvers enough to allow for Wonder Woman’s blows to take effect. Wonder Woman’s god-level strength would overcome Captain Marvel and leave her jetting the other direction.

After Iron Man and Captain Marvel were sidelined, Batman would need to win his one on one with Captain America. To do this, he would need to be stealth, something he can excel at. Batman would need to devise a plan to get around Captain America’s shield and to do that, he’ll need to use his combat knowledge. Attacking Captain America from behind would be his best chance. Once he does, he would wrap Cap up and force him to watch from the sidelines.

Once Batman has done this, he and Cyborg would need to face Black Panther together. Only their combination of brains and brawn could match the Wakandan’s brains and brawn. They might be able to get some help from Wonder Woman at this point. It would be an epic hand-to-hand fight, but three on one is probably too much, even for Black Panther.

Now the attention of the entire Justice League could turn to the two most powerful Avengers, Thor and Hulk. Superman would be able to focus all his attention on Hulk, in what would be the most epic boxing match of all time, while Wonder Woman, The Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman and Cyborg would be able to focus on Thor. Cyborg would be a little out of his element, but in a battle of seriously powerful gods, Aquaman and Wonder Woman would be key to defeating Thor.

If Wonder Woman could deflect or even – gasp – catch Thor’s Hammer, Aquaman would have free reign to come down on the mighty Thor, meaning a God from the sea could sink the hero named for a Norse god.

With Thor out, it’s going to take all six members of Justice League to take out Hulk, unless Superman alone can demoralize him until he quits, which is probably what would happen.

Is This A Battle That Could Ever Really Happen?

Well, probably not. Sure, there have been some epic crossover issues between DC and Marvel over the years, including a big one in 2002, but those came at time when both companies were struggling financially, which is definitely no longer the case and, of course, there are real-world constraints to this too. Both imprints are owned by two different enormous media companies DC is owned AT&T through Warner Brothers and Marvel is owned by Disney.

If The Predator can fight The Alien, and Jason can battle Freddy, What are the chances those two rivals would come together allow this battle to happen, to determine the supremacy of one media world over another? About as good a chance as Ant-Man would have against a giant bottle of Raid, so for now, we’ll just have to live with speculation.

Avengers: Endgame Rumors That Turned Out To Be True

Avengers: Endgame Rumors That Turned Out To Be True

Warning: spoilers for Avengers: Endgame are in play. If you haven’t seen the film yet, use the Time Stone to rewind and see the film before reading this piece. And if you have seen the film, please make sure not to spoil the Endgame for those who haven’t made it out yet.

Readers, it’s time to take a big, deep breath. We made it through Avengers: Endgame, and now we know where the path has led us. All secrets are revealed, tears have been shed, and the foundation to the future has been laid out.

But most importantly, the biggest theories circulating on the internet before the film’s release have now been either proven or disproven. So while your friends are processing the results of their death pools, and you’re recovering from the emotional highs and lows that filled Avengers: Endgame, it’s a good time to look at those theories and see who obviously had Pym Particles in their suits. Anyone who made the following guesses before seeing Avengers: Endgame is either a great guesser, a time traveler, or a Marvel Studios employee.

Hawkeye’s Family Disappeared, Spurring Him To Become Ronin

Right out of the gate, one pretty big theory was proven to be A-#1 accurate. As the trailers had teased, and anyone who saw Avengers: Infinity War had guessed, there was a good reason for Hawkeye to return after being absent in that first half of the combined story Avengers: Endgame closed off.

As we saw at the beginning of the film, the Barton clan disappeared in their own individual dust clouds, one by one, leaving Clint alone with all of the hot dogs he could ever want to eat. Of course, not wanting those hot dogs more than he wanted his family back, he went dark and became Ronin, a vigilante that we saw killing up a ton of Yakuza.

There Was A Five Year Time Jump

What do you do when you go on a quest to avenge your friends, and the guy that killed them wastes the Infinity Stones he used to do the job? If you’re Thor, you behead the beast in a fit of anger. If you’re Avengers: Endgame, you cut to black and flash the words “Five Years Later” on the screen, real slow like.

Folks had called out the possibility that there would be a jump in time, and they flagged that call correctly. And as it turns out, the casting involving Scott Lang’s daughter Cassie was exactly the clue that tipped fans off to that very possibility, and now proven theory.

Bruce Banner and The Hulk Became One Entity

The fact that The Hulk was as small a part of Avengers: Infinity War as he was had fans wondering what exactly happened to the large, green rage monster that everybody knew and loved. Scared away by Thanos, it was only a matter of time until he came back, and some thought that rather than splitting apart into two entities or going back to business as usual, a happy medium would be struck.

And it was indeed a happy outcome, as a sort of crossroads Hulk appeared in Avengers: Endgame. We finally saw Bruce and The Hulk in a state of co-existence, where the brains of Banner met the brawn of Hulk, in a mid-sized package that was very selfie ready. It took them a while, but both halves of the Banner package became a workable unit.

Time Travel Played A Big Part In The Endgame

One of the biggest theories to come out of the pre-release scrum of Avengers: Endgame press was the usage of time travel. With leaked set photos showing, in the most telling case, Steve Rogers in his Captain America costume from 2012’s The Avengers, there was a lot of speculation that to save the future our heroes would have to go back in time.

Score another one for the fans, as four separate time heists were carried out, with the Battle of New York being one of the most key examples. While it was also theorized that Hank Pym would be brought into the fold through these methods, that theory only gets half credit, as Pym was shown as being duped to leave his Pym Particles unattended in 1970, rather than directly aiding Ant-Man in 1983.

The Quantum Realm Was A Key Element In Said Time Travel

Ant-Man and The Wasp was a fun romp that made Avengers: Infinity War’s dour cliffhanger ending more palatable in the long run. But what it also did was provide the perfect cover for just how everything could be solved, as the exploration of the Quantum Realm opened a lot of temporal doors.

Between the plot of trying to rescue Janet Van Dyne, who was previously lost to the realm herself, and the post-credits sequence seeing Scott Lang trapped for five years in Earth time, we learned that time works differently in the Quantum Realm. So differently, that it’s apparently really easy to guess that it would be used to pull off the biggest time heist ever.

Pepper Potts Got To Become Rescue

This theory wasn’t too hard of a sell, considering the evidence that supported it. As you’ll remember, Gwyneth Paltrow showed off some photos of herself during the filming of Avengers: Endgame, sporting a classic mo-cap tennis ball suit. So obviously, there was one pretty good reason why Ms. Potts would be wearing such gear in her time on set.

It also wasn’t that hard of a theory to cook up considering not only did Pepper previously wear a suit for a brief spell in Iron Man 3, but her role in Tony’s life was even greater than ever. So if Tony trusted anyone to accept/use a suit of iron responsibly, it was his wife.

Tony Stark Died A Hero’s Death

Speaking of Tony, a late phase sentiment swept the fandom, thinking that Iron Man himself was on borrowed time. With Robert Downey Jr. himself promising a huge finale, and his time as the character looking like it was going to be drawing to a close, the audience wasn’t feeling so good about Mr. Stark’s chances in Avengers: Endgame.

Sure enough, the 55% of readers that thought Tony was going to go to the great beyond were correct. Dying the most heroic death possible, he got control of the Infinity Gauntlet, cracked off the perfect one-liner, and set the universe in order for good. Sometimes, being right sucks.

Steve Rogers Finally Went Back To The Past

Captain America’s origin story is a bittersweet tale. While the world gained a stalwart fighter for truth and freedom, he lost an entire life that could have been in the process. But with time travel in play, there was always a thought about Steve Rogers going back in time to have that dance with Peggy.

And as you could see through all of the tears in your eyes, Steve went back after returning those Infinity Stones to the past, and did just that. Coming back as Old Man Rogers, Steve admitted to a life that was full of happiness. While he wouldn’t speak on the exact circumstances when pressed by Sam Wilson, Steve did give his Falcon buddy something even better.

Falcon Is The New Captain America

As Chris Evans was also one of the original six Avengers team to be rumored as leaving, the line of succession was a burning question. While the comics originally had Bucky Barnes taking over as the new Captain America, a recent run introduced Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, as the Star Spangled Man of today.

While both guesses seemed pretty valid, Sam had the edge of being the more recent replacement in the source books, as well as striking a blow in the name of progressive representation on screen. Anthony Mackie looks good with the shield, and the approving nod of Sebastian Stan’s Bucky in Avengers: Endgame is all anyone should need to see how good of an idea this truly is.

There Was No End Credits Scene

Perhaps the latest, and most interesting theory, came out of the Avengers: Endgame premiere. While the credits were cut off during appearances from the cast of the film, it was initially reported that there may be no end credits scene. This only intensified as the press screenings held last week had no scene attached to them, though this had happened previously in Marvel Cinematic Universe history when 2012’s The Avengers added that shawarma stinger for public release.

But sure enough, there was an absence of any sort of tease for the future. Instead, the world got an audio cue of a hammer striking iron, symbolizing the closing of a story arc, and the opening of the future.

These theories, above all others, proved to make Avengers: Endgame a film that lived up to fan expectations, while also exceeding them. And ultimately, that’s the name of the game when delivering a film such as this to the masses. With just the right blend of surprising twists, but foreseeable developments, you can close the book in a proper, satisfying manner.

See for yourself if Avengers: Endgame met your expectations, and defied some of your best fan theories, as it’s currently unfurling in theaters with a record breaking debut.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix International Trailer Finally Shows Us Some Cool Space Action

X-Men: Dark Phoenix International Trailer Finally Shows Us Some Cool Space Action

Thus far, the marketing for Simon Kinberg's Dark Phoenix hasn't exactly been top notch. Only two domestic trailers have been released so far, and more than anything they've brought back unfortunate memories of X-Men: The Last Stand (a.k.a. the last time this storyline was adapted). Not much has been done to show the unique elements of the new release, but fortunately we have this fresh international package filled with new footage:

It's not uncommon for there to be differences between domestic and international trailers, as we just saw another example of this a couple months ago with Jon Watt's Spider-Man: Far From Home. The difference here is that this look at Dark Phoenix is way better than the previous trailers we've seen. This is partially because of certain small details that are included, but primarily because this actually gives us a legitimate look at the X-Men's first big screen space adventure.

Previous previews have given us dribs and drabs of what to expect when the X-Men travel beyond Earth's atmosphere, but this is the first Dark Phoenix trailer to actually dedicate a significant chunk of time to the subject. Everyone aware of the movie knows it's coming, and it's expected that the incident will happen in the first act, and now we finally have a better idea of what to expect. There is a 20 second stretch in this new look that sums the whole thing up rather nicely: the X-Men travel into space to help during an emergency, however, things don't go exactly as planned, and Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) gets left behind after all of the astronauts from a space station are rescued. There is a massive burst of cosmic energy that Jean seems to absorb, and while she should be dead, she instead is able to travel with the team back down to Earth. It looks surprisingly great, and it has us wondering why the marketing has kept it hidden for the most part so far.

Alongside the extended space material, this Dark Phoenix international trailer also offers some familiar stuff - such as the incident with young Jean Grey and her parents, as well as the big train lift at the end, but there is also some other cool stuff peppered in as well. For example, we're apparently getting some form of new Quicksilver sequence, as Evan Peter's character can be seen charging at Phoenix in "slow motion," and there's a bit more of Jessica Chastain's mystery character doing her very best to manipulate the extraordinarily powerful titular mutant. There is also once again heavy suggestion that the film will be the end of the line for Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique - but it's actually less obvious here than it is in the spot from last week.

This is arguably our most intriguing look at Dark Phoenix, and despite numerous past delays, we are now getting legitimately close to actually seeing the thing. Co-starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, and Kodi Smit-McPhee in addition to all the names mentioned earlier, the film will be arriving in theaters on June 7th.