Guardians of the Galaxy Vs. Despero

 

Despero's return in the pages of Justice League really took me by surprise. It had been a few years and I had gotten used to the more humorous take on DC's premiere team - and then comes the Despero arc.  What was once a standard Silver Age alien villain came back in a way that was anything but humorous!  It was a welcome change for me, I was ready for some more serous action - and boy did he deliver!

Flaming Carrot and Groot

 

We've seen Adult Groot in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Baby Groot in the sequel, and Teen Groot in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame.  What stage will Groot be in for the third Guardians film?  It's supposed to take place a few years after Endgame (and Thor: Love and Thunder, in which we may get a Teen Groot appearance).  It will be interesting to see the personality tweaks that he will be given.

Groot and BB-8

 

The characters introduced in the third Star Wars trilogy were hit and miss with me, but one that I really got a kick out of was BB-8.  I was very impressed with his simple yet effective design, and really liked all the personality that was put into the droid.  Best of all, he was realized mostly practically, which made him feel all the more real on screen.

Rocket Raccoon & Groot Vs. Woody Woodpecker

James Gunn has a way with inhuman characters with limited vocabularies.  Just as he did with Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy, he managed to make King Shark a fan favorite character in The Suicide Squad.  He managed to make a creature that eats men whole kind of sympathetic! The rest of the cast is as well envisioned and the movie is certainly worth a watch, even if (like me) you aren't a big fan of the more violent moments and not all of the comedy lands.  The visuals, great character work and performances (including the best Harley Quinn scene to date) make it a fun, crazy romp.

Thank you to Marc Tyler Nobleman, comics' historian and Patron of this Blog, for suggesting this match up!

 

The Ivy League

 

Ever since Poison Ivy mentioned that she was building an Ivy League in STF #2714, I've been meaning to actually put that team together on a cover.  I've also been meaning to use Audrey II for a while.  I still remember going to see a live production of Little Shop of Horrors in Boston when I was in my teens, and loving it.  I still listen to the soundtrack, so many fun songs. 

Robocop, Groot and Rocket Raccoon

 

I remember first seeing Robocop on the big screen.  In those pre-Batman 1989 days, it was the closest thing to a big superhero movie out there.  My friends and I decided to watch it at a drive-in theater.  We were quite enjoying it when for some reason, the sound cut out half way through.  When we went to the front office to complain, nobody was there!  It would be years before I rented a copy and finally saw the end of the movie.

Kilowog and Rocket Raccoon

Continuing from yesterday's Part One, we see that more players have joined in on the action. 

There has been much speculation that JJ Abrams will be taking the reigns of the DCEU now that he has a huge production deal with Warner Brothers.  Most are guessing that his first film will be  a Superman project, which could be cool - but what I would really like to see is his take on The Green Lantern Corps.  Yes, he can be derivative at times, but he knows how to make a space epic look great.

Make sure you come back tomorrow for the thrilling conclusion!

Batman and Groot

I am hoping that we hear some more news about who will be joining Robert Pattinson in the cast when he takes over as Batman.  With Commissioner Gordon, Alfred and at least five villains in the mix, there are plenty of roles to be filled.  One rumor I have heard is John David Washington for Two-Face, but nothing concrete yet.  Ralph Fiennes has expressed interest in playing Alfred, but I am not sure if anything has come of that either.

Guardians of the Galaxy and Green Lantern

The Hulks took multiple attempts to get right in live action.  The same is true with The Punisher and Daredevil, and even the Fantastic Four will eventually get another shot.  This makes it all the more frustrating that we haven't heard any news about a new Green Lantern or Green Lantern Corps movie for so long.  I think plenty of time has passed since the Ryan Reynolds GL movie and general audiences would be willing to give another iteration of the ring slinger a chance.  I suppose taking their time to get a quality production together is important though, after what happened with Hellboy, so DC's probably treading very carefully.  Hopefully we will hear of some momentum on the project soon.

Rocket Raccoon & Groot and Calvin & Hobbes

This was a suggestion by Mike Shirley, a Patron of this Blog, among others. It seems that the third installment of Guardians of the Galaxy has been put off for a while, while the search continues for a new director to replace James Gunn.  Marvel has so many new properties to introduce that maybe a pause wont be a bad thing.  We still have to find out in what shape and how intact the Guardians will be after the events of the upcoming Avengers: Endgame, after all.  Hopefully, though,  we will see them back within five years - with Warlock in the mix!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vs. The Anti-Monitor

OK, if by some chance you haven't seen it and haven't had it spoiled for you yet - here there be SPOILERS for Avengers: Infinity War...

I loved the movie, even if I was a little annoyed by the cliffhanger ending, when we were led to believe that there wouldn't be one. You have to give the Russo Brothers credit for being able to balance to many characters so well, giving almost everyone a moment to shine.  They also balanced the humor, action and drama very deftly.  In some of Marvel's more recent attempts, the humor undercut the tension an bit too much for my taste, but here it was done just right. Gamora's death was the big shocker for me, I didn't expect it at all, even though story wise it was probably inevitable.  I think it will stick, too - as will all the deaths before the SNAP!  Zoe Saldana will be OK - she has two other space epic franchises with Star Trek and Avatar, after all - and her absence will make for great drama in the third Guardians of the Galaxy film.  There may be some hope for The Vision to return as the seeds were planted there with Shuri's attempts to save him.  As for those who turned to ash after the SNAP!, I think the question is about how they return rather than if, considering how many are slated to appear in already announced sequels.  I am sure I will enjoy this movie a lot more once the follow-up Avengers movie is released.  As it stands, it's a great half of a story.

Swamp Thing and Groot

This would be one of the few team-up ups with Swamp Thing where he would turn out to be the talkative one.  While the dialog between the two may not be all that stimulating, I can still imagine that pairing them together could lead to a pretty fun story.  I wonder what Groot would think of The Parliament of Trees - or vice versa?

Chewbacca and Groot

Continued from yesterday's cover, we see that Han & Rocket's partners have been having an adventure of their own...

Now that Han Solo is gone. I hope that Chewbacca will still be featured prominently in Star Wars: The Last Jedi and beyond.  With the passing of Carrie Fisher, we don't have much of the original cast left, and while I like all the new characters, I still get a thrill out of seeing the classic heroes in action.

Harley Quinn Vs. Groot

I checked out the new poster for Guardians if the Galaxy Vol. 2,  and I like what I saw (especially Yondu's longer head fin!) but something was missing - where was Groot?  Then I saw him - Baby Groot peeking out from behind Starlord's leg.  It will be fun to see this new incarnation of Groot running around - I wonder, though,  if he will remain pint-sized for the duration of the movie?

Krypto and Groot & Rocket Raccoon

When I used to see Rocket Raccoon operate complex weaponry, I accepted it as artistic licence - now I'm not so sure.  I was camping recently and while we thought we had safely put all the food and snacks away inside containers that were themselves inside latched coolers, we were completely ransacked by one or more Raccoons in the middle of the night.  We woke to find all the meat, bread and snacks gone, they had no trouble getting into everything!  It's a good thing we didn't have any laser cannons lying around!

Groot and Mr. Spock

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has added started to get rolling, adding in Mantis to join Groot and the rest of the crew on their next adventure. I understand that The Collector will be back as well, but no word yet on who will be the villain of the sequel.  Whatever they decide, I am really looking forward to it, especially if director James Gunn can put together another great soundtrack to go with it!

Green Lantern Vs. Groot

Groot was understandably the breakout star of Guardians of the Galaxy.  I was very happy with how well realized the character was, from his appearance, to his personality and varied use of his abilities.  I don't know anyone who can watch the final 30 seconds of the film for the first time without smiling.  Even his limited dialogue was used wisely.  I figured that Groot would really give the original Green Lantern a run for his money, given his ring's inability to affect wood.