Marvel vs. DC 6: Post-Infinity War, Phase 4 and Beyond

Namaste and welcome my readers to another posting in this series of blogs about Marvel vs. DC. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read my thoughts. Hope you enjoy my short discourse.

I've been a movie fan all of my life and a comic book/movie fan nearly as long. I've seen pretty much all the movies, including the 1970's adaptations of Captain America, the Avengers, Hulk (Lou Ferrigno), and Fantastic 4. I have not, however seen the Doctor Strange from the same era. I've also seen all of the DC adaptations of film all the way back to the original Batman Adam West facing off against the likes of Caesar Romero (Joker), Burgess Merideth (Penguin), and Julie Newmar (Cat Woman). And who can forget the ever famous "shark repellent" carried on the Caped Crusader's belt. Or how about Howard the Duck? Come on... in the 80's it was great. His reprisal in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies put him in prime position for a rebooted franchise!! Just a fan-boy saying...

Moving on, I'd like to discuss Infinity War, itself, since now everyone has seen this divisive movie and has formed biased opinions based upon the deaths of vital characters to whom the fans had grown attached. There also came about many negative opinions, particularly toward Peter Quill a.k.a. Star Lord over his behavior toward Thanos. But what if Doctor Strange foresaw this event in is over 14  million visions of alternate futures and it had to happen for the endgame. Sounds like a good title for Avengers 4: Endgame. Survivors: Steve Rodgers a.k.a. Captain America a.k.a. Nomad, Natasha Romanof a.k.a. Black Widow, Thor Odinson, ruler of the Asgardians, Rocket Racoon, Bruce Banner/Hulk, James Rhodes a.k.a. War Machine, Shuri, and Okoye. On Titan we know that Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man survives with Nebula. We also know from Ant Man and the Wasp that Scott Lang survives in the Quantum Realm. Online theory and alleged plot leak suggests that Ant Man will escape the Quantum Realm via some kind of time tunnel and potentially alert the Avengers members in the past of Thanos' threat to the universe, probably before the events of the first Avengers, possibly even before that. Time travel is likely be the key in bringing Captain Marvel into the fight as well. We saw her overpowered first trailer drop. WOW! With the return of the Kree, Ronan the Accuser and his pal Korrath, plus adding in the Skrull threat, and a younger (pre-eyepatch) Nick Fury with hair.

Another character missing from the whole Avengers roster is Hawkeye. Where the fuck is this dude at? Training to become Ronin, perhaps? Time will indeed tell as the countdown continues toward the completion of the Infinity Stone saga that, once complete, will span over 22 films. Somehow they seem to keep making them better and better... in my humble opinion.

Sony is pushing forward with their Spider-verse with Venom, set to launch soon, but sadly downgraded from a R rating to a PG-13 rating. No doubt Tom Hardy will do well in the role, but I'm an old school fan and always wanted to see him play Logan/ Wolverine. Now that Disney has completed the purchase of Fox movie studios and assets we might some day soon see a new Logan after all.

Moving forward, Spiderman: Far From Home is set for release next year after the as yet untitled Avengers 4, starting the not- phase 4 of the MCU. Not sure if GotG Vol. 3 is going to happen now after all, due to the firing of James Gunn over controversial remarks on Twitter, as I understand... unfortunate. Hopefully Disney and Marvel will reconcile with the disgruntled cast and finish the trilogy.

Since this is Marvel vs. DC, I have to dredge into the waters that is the DCEU. Coming off the losses of Superman Henry Cavill and Batman Ben Affleck, the DCEU is SHOOK (cause ain't so such thing as halfway crooks... look at your boy making a Mobb Deep reference). A lot of weight falls on the shoulders of Wonder Woman and a company that can't keep actors or directors. I have to be honest and say that Joaquin Phoenix playing the Joker looks like GARBAGE. Not hating cause it's DC, I just don't like the way dude looks like a circus clown, far from the esteemed performances of the late Heath Ledger or Jack Nicholson. With Captain Marvel and Avengers 4, followed by Spiderman: far from home I'm starting to think the nail is going into the coffin for the DCEU. If they did a good story like the Flashpoint Paradox or Doomsday Clock, I think it'd be a hit, especially when they stick to what they're good at... gritty, dark stories with broken characters, crime, and violence. DC needs an R rated super hero or villain film; badly. Sadly seems like Wonder Woman 2 and Suicide Squad 2 are the highlights on the horizon for DC...

Overall the edge goes unanimously to the MCU. DC just can't seem to hang, despite all the advantages, the executives over at Warner Bros. keep fucking it up and not making the movies the way the fans want to see. The characters are good. The villains are good. Even the actors are mostly good (except Affleck and Phoenix... smh): Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Jason Mamoa, Amy Adams, among others...
But Marvel's got RDJ, Chris Hemsworth, Don Cheadle (formerly Terrance Howard), Idris Elba, Karl Urban, Tom Hiddleston, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Hopkins, Anthony Mackie, Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Benicio del Toro, Michael Rooker, Josh Brolin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Lee Pace, Rene Russo, Tommy Lee Jones, Brie Larson, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Bettany, Sebastian Stan, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Evangeline Lily, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana, Cate Blanchett, Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis, Tilda Swinton, Hugo Weaving, Marisa Tomei, Robert Redford, Michael Keaton, Michael Douglas, Kurt Russell, Michelle Pfeifer, Donald Glover, Stanley Tucci, and so many more; even a surprise appearance from Matt Damon, Luke Haynesworth, and Sam Neil in Thor: Ragnarok.

(Mic drop*!)

Have a nice day and the Quiet Mouse will see you at the movies.

Go! Go! Pokemon Go!

Namaste and welcome, my friends, family, and fellow knowledge seekers to another posting on the Quiet Mouse Strikes Back. I'm gonna keep this short and jump right in...

With 1 in 3 Americans being overweight or obese, according to a recent survey, it goes without saying that Americans need to get up off their asses, out from in front of the TV (a.k.a. idiot box), and get to moving. I have been stunned lately at 39 years of age to see how many folks around me, near to my own age, that are suffering from diseases and medical conditions that were once only seen in seniors and old folks.
Even though the game has been out for several years, my family and I have gotten back into Pokemon Go! Due to heath and ethical issues we went vegan at the first of the year. I'm not going to preach on and on about my diet and lifestyle change, but to recognize the fact that, with addition of walking and moderate exercise to our dietary changes, we have lost a combined weight of >50 lbs.
Truly though, one of the best ways to get me, personally, out to exercise and to be more active is to hunt down Pokemon with my wife and kids. We live in a small, but active town in rural Washington state that has many Poke-stops and Poke-gyms, along with many people out socializing in public and in nature. All in all, a good thing.

There are, however, some well known facts and pitfalls surrounding this phone game. There have been some folks who have walked out in traffic and been hit by cars for not paying attention to surroundings. I even read a story about a guy walking off a cliff... yeah.  The most common problem I've seen and heard of with this game is TRESPASSING, which is a HUGE NO-NO, but due to the in game warning, ought to be a no-brainer. Unfortunately warning labels/ messages have to be put on everything for the lowest common denominator: the under-educated and sometimes law breaking persons I mentioned above.  Bearing all that in mind, with a watchful eye on traffic, property signs,  and your phone screen, this game is and can be fun for all ages... with safety and awareness in mind.

Get outside and get moving! And if you don't like Pokemon Go, I've heard there is a Walking Dead game with the same premise, to get you outside walking around, but to kill zombie walkers rather than catching cute little pocket monsters, if you are into the more macabre, haha.

Well, this has been the one and only Quiet Mouse. I hope you have a great afternoon and I hope to have you back soon to read more of my blogs in The Quiet Mouse Strikes Back.
Team Valor all day!!

Attention Racist Idiots

There's not gonna be any "Namaste" here on today's post. I just have to make a quick post here cause i'm fed up with the stupidity running around here today in the United States of America. Let's just get this cracking...

The OKAY hand gesture AND the "circle game" hand gesture are NOT considered racist by the majority of people! These hand gestures have been around LONGER than the whiny fucking bitching of soft, weak, loser idiots that are racist against white folks. Just cause you are black or brown does NOT mean that you can't be or aren't racist. AND it doesn't actually make YOU a victim of racism.
Even if you are called a derogatory name by an actual racist, so what?!? That's just some ignorant mother fuckers dumb ass OWN OPINION. It's a reflection of him or her, NOT YOURSELF. Are those racists going to call deaf people using sign language racist too? Or the fact that 80% of all communication is "body language"... is that racist too? I THINK NOT!

There will probably always be dumb ass ignorant fuckers out there spouting out WORDS, that may indeed be deemed as racist. I can't tell you how many times, as a white person, I've been called names by brown and black people. Names like "Whitey", "Cracker", "Snowflake", "Saltine", "Wonder bread" and been told I was racist by proxy, just for being white. And being blamed and held accountable for racist crimes that neither me, nor anyone down my family tree ever owned slaves. My ancestor came over from Scotland during the potato famine and got treated like an indentured servant and treated badly because ignorant people thought he was Irish, cause at that time, being prejudice toward Irish immigrants was deemed acceptable...
All at the same time this shit was going on, I'm being told to my face that colored folks don't like or trust me cause I'm white, without even getting to know me.

The point is that colored folks aren't the only ones that have to deal with prejudice, as their communities put out every bit as much hatred and racism as they claim to receive. Bringing it full circle, though, racism can exist in ANY part of the globe, by any skin color or nationality, by any religion or creed, by any gender or sexual orientation. Hatred is hatred is hatred... doesn't matter what mask you hide behind to attempt to justify horrible behaviors that need to die.

The truth is that ALL humans share 99.5% to 99.9% DNA, and a lot of that same DNA is shared with the animal and plant kingdoms as well. Such trivialities as geographic ancestry, skin color, and religion has more to do with where and how you are raised, rather than some genetic lottery some think they've won by being born a certain skin color.
Is there racism. Absolutely! But it is prevalent in ALL cultures and skin colors across the globe and it can only be eradicated through education, empathy, compassion, and love. This is the opposite of what governments want. Their divide and conquer strategy only works when undereducated people allow the negativity of others to jade themselves into the SAME mindset they claim to abhor.
Making a hand gesture doesn't equate in and of itself to racism. If there is obvious hate and anger behind it, sure... BUT... there is ALWAYS a choice. You could just go on with your day and NOT allow the negative opinions of others affect you in such a profound way. Just let it be like water on a duck's ass, and let it wash away. Again... someone else's opinion of you is a reflection of THEM, NOT YOU.

This has been the one and only Quiet Mouse.
Peace. Love. Respect. Communication. Compassion. Empathy.