Swamp Thing Vs. Thanos

I have been re-watching the Silver Surfer animated series and getting a kick out the Jack Kirby designs and of all the Marvel characters they included.  It's interesting to see quite different iterations of now popular MCU characters like Drax, Nebula, Gamora and especially Thanos.  I'm glad the movies gave him more of a motivation then mooning after Lady Chaos (couldn't use Lady Death in a cartoon, I guess)! 

Buzz Lightyear and Asterix

Like many, I felt that Toy Story 3 closed out the series perfectly, and wasn't sure that there was a need for another sequel.  I was happy to find out the Toy Story 4 was just as enjoyable as the rest.  I re-watched the first three installments to get ready for it and I was amazed at how the quality of the animation keeps improving. If I had one complaint with the movie, it's that Buzz kind of got sidelined and didn't have as strong of a sub-plot as Woody. 

Hawkeye and Guy Gardner

I used to like how Hawkeye used to butt heads with Captain America and some of the other Avengers back in the day because he felt like he should be the one in charge.  It gave the team an interesting dynamic.  Guy Gardner would act similarly with The Guardians of the Universe and his fellow Green Lantern Corps members.  It might be fun to see these two hotheads join forces.

Doctor Fate Vs. Loki in: "Exiled... on Earth!"

It will be interesting to see where Loki goes in his solo Disney+ series.  Will he seek redemption for his past deeds or revert to his villainous ways?  How will he use the Tesseract which he now possesses? And just how many timelines or alternate realities will he visit? There seem to be plenty of opportunities for a fun tale to be told.

These two first battled in STF #2101...

Photon and Batman

Norm Breyfogle was a truly unique talent.  Batman has had a lot of talented artists working on his titles over the years, but most more or less followed  a house style.  Breyfogle came along and broke all the rules of character design and panel layout.  His Batman tales looked unlike any that I had seen before, but somehow it all worked beautifully.  He joins an elite group in my mind including Neal Adams, Jim Aparo, Trevor Von Eeden,  Marshall Rogers and David Mazzuchelli that helped to evolve the Dark Kinght artistically.

Zatanna Vs. The Enchantress

This George Perez-designed costume for Zatanna gets a lot of flack, but I have always kind of liked it.  Sure, the classic fishnets look is great, but I didn't mind this more superhero-ish outfit for Zatanna, especially since it came at a time when she was serving as a regular member of the Justice League. I don't know how practical it would be for battle, but it looked great to my eyes.

Captain Marvel Vs. the Super Skrull

Will there be a sequel to Shazam?  The film was well received, but did not make a huge dent at the box office in comparison to other superhero movies.  It sounds like Black Adam is underway - perhaps DC is waiting to see how well that film does before committing to a third film that combines both characters.  If that's the case, I can see them having to re-cast Billy Batson since Asher Angel is not getting any younger.

Calvin & Hobbes and The Iron Giant

These are two of my favorite properties ever - but I don't think I want either to return.  The Iron Giant is a flawless animated film, and I just can't see how a sequel would be able to live up to it (I wasn't even crazy about the Giant showing up in Ready Player One).  Bill Watterson finished Calvin & Hobbes while it was still at its peak, and nobody else is qualified to take it over for him.  Even if he wanted to return to the strip himself, so much time has passed that I don't know if it would be able to capture the same magic as the first time around.  I could be wrong - I keep liking Toy Story sequels after I think they should have stopped, after all!

Metamorpho Vs. Sandman

I think this would be an interesting pairing.  Rex Mason and Flint Marko both seem like regular hard working blue collar guys who have undergone amazing alterations to their bodies' chemistry.  Rex chose to be a hero, although he has had temptations to go over to the wrong side of the law.  Flint engaged in a life of crime, but his heroic aspirations still come through from time to time.  They really aren't that different from one another.

Metal Men Vs. Godzilla

It has recently been announced that the Godzilla Vs. Kong movie has been delayed by several  months.  That's OK with me, I'd rather the time betaken to get the film just right. Godzilla: King of All Monsters corrected the main flaw from the first film in the series - not enough monster battles - but still had humans that were hard to care about and some very silly plotting.  If they can get the story up to the same quality as the special effects, they'll really have something special and go out in a high note.

Beta Ray Bill Vs. Mongul

Thor: Love and Thunder seems that it will be a busy move with a lot going in it.  I had been hoping there would be room to fit Beta Ray Bill into the mix, but so far, I have not read anything about his inclusion.  He can't just have a small part, we need to find out how he will come to possess Stormbreaker, which Thor currently wields.  Will we have to hope for a Thor 5 to bring his saga to the big screen?

Power Pack and Power Rangers

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was a little too old to get into them, but I do remember being surprised at the popularity of The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers when they first hit the scene.  I recently watched an episode about the property on Netflix' awesome series The Toys That Made Us, and it shed a lot of light on how they were developed.  Why Marvel never tried to market Power Pack with toys or a cartoon show I do not know.

Bug vs. Annihilus

I was glad to see Forager the Bug get some time in the spotlight in the character's recent Mike Allred-Illustrated mini-series. I remember his role in Cosmic Odyssey decades ago, and I always wondered why more was not done with the New God.  Let's hope its not another 30 years before he gets an opportunity to shine again.

Space Cabbie and Doctor Who

One of the best parts of Justice League Action was that I could really tell that the creators were true fans of DC comics history.  There were some great references to classic stories.  The fact that they would do deep dives and include characters like Space Cabbie in the mix made the show really rewarding to watch for a ling time comics fan.  I was hoping the series would have more episodes, but I think it has unfortunately run its course.

Spider-Man and The Suicide Squad

I am interested to see what James Gunn has in store for The Suicide Squad.  The large cast consisting of lots of C and D-list DC villains indicates to me that there's going to be a high mortality rate, yet comments from the actors point to a more comedic take than the David Ayer film. Set photos also show that Gunn will not be shying away from giving colorful costumes to the characters.  I just hope that Amanda Waller is given better material this time around.

Xena and Hercules

There are so many places that Hercules could show up in the MCU and add to the fun and action.  His rivalry with Thor was always enjoyable, I'd love to see the two of them together.  He'd be great with She-Hulk as well, once her show gets off the ground.  He would fit in with The Eternals or Guardians of the Galaxy as well.  Heck, stick him with Howard The Duck and let them loose on the big screen!

Captain America and Sandman in: "A Debt to Yesterday!"

I like the concept art that I am seeing for Falcon & The Winter Soldier.  The Falcon's new costume looks great, the most comic accurate so far.  It should  be even more impressive when he has the wings and shield out.  Baron Zemo apparently will be donning his famous purple head mask at some point in the series as well. 

Starfire and Thundercats

Thank you to Mike Shirley, a patron of this blog, for suggesting this team-up! I had forgotten that Starfire's people were said to have evolved from a feline race.  That actually explains a lot about her personality.  She has a very affectionate side, but is also ready to switch into attack mode at a moments notice.  That certainly reminds me of some cats that I have known!

Darth Vader Vs. Brainiac

After The Last Jedi, I lost a lot of enthusiasm for Star Wars.  I am hoping that JJ Abrams can redeem it somewhat with The Rise of Skywalker, but he's got his work cut out for him.  The Mandalorian on Disney+, however, has been a lot of fun so far.  I really enjoyed the first two episodes, the story is relatively simple while expanding the Star Wars world in enjoyable ways.  The special effects have had a few dodgy moments, but pretty impressive for TV so far.  Let's hope the show can maintain its quality for a nice long run.

Geo-Force and Black Panther in: "Return of the Kings!"

Our Five -Part Epic concludes!  Don't forget to check out Part One ,  Part Two... , Part Three and Part Four to get the complete story!

It will be interesting to see who is eventually cast as Doctor Doom in the MCU.  This is one character that can't get away with removing his mask every other scene, so they are going to need someone with a great vocal presence that doesn't mind having their face obscured. Let's hope we get the most comics-accurate screen Doom yet!