Wildcard Wednesday || The Dawn of Phase 3 (and Justice)

Greetings everyone and thank you for stopping by for another edition of Wildcard Wednesday! A lot has happened between my last post on July 8th; most of it coming from San Diego Comic-Con 2015 with trailers galore for the ultimate DC and Marvel fans. For this week's blog, I would just like to go over what we can expect from our favorite superheroes next year and I am also going to give a little recap about Ant-Man and my thoughts about the film.

2016 is anticipated to bust the block throughout the year with a whopping 7 scheduled releases from DC and Marvel:

• February 12: Deadpool (Fox)
• March 25: Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice
• May 6: Captain America: Civil War
• May 27: X-Men: Apocalypse (Fox)
• August 5: Suicide Squad
• October 7: Gambit (Fox)
• November 4: Doctor Strange

(Sinister Six was scheduled to release in 2016 prior to the recent news of Marvel and Sony co-producing a rebooted Spider-Man film, so that is currently pending)

I know that Star Wars isn't within the Marvel or DC universe, but since it's being released in the middle of December, it will technically be a 2016 film. Star Wars is arguably one of the biggest franchises is movie history. Given the fan-base has been waiting for a sequel like this to come we can expect huge numbers from Episode VII, setting a bar for Batman v Superman to inevitably beat. I mean c'mon...Batman and Superman are obviously the most popular superheroes ever. This is the first time they will be featured in a live-action film, they've got to beat the record by a landslide right?

Deadpool is a relatively new character. Although he was introduced in 1991, his unique personality and connection to the comic-book readers has created a huge cult; convincing Marvel to have his own film. That preview from Comic-Con brings a lot to the table. The origin story and his crowd-pleasing personality already has me excited to watch his movie.

For the X-Men franchise, Bryan Singer has done an amazing job cleaning up the mess made from X-Men: The Last Stand and essentially rebooting everything with Days of Future Past. Now that all the X-Men are back, their ultimate super villain Apocalypse is lurking around the corner. He is an ancient mutant known to be the first to carry the mutant X-gene. He has the power to control molecules, which allows him to change his form, enhance his strength and size, regenerate limbs, and he has the capability of virtually all physical superhuman powers.  If you're a Dragonball Z fan, imagine Apocalypse being like Cell. That's what the X-Men have to face. However, it's not like Wolverine can just kick Apocalypse in the stomach, he spits out an android, and then he is powered down a level. It ain't gonna happen like that.

I'll be honest with you, I don't follow DC as much as I know about Marvel, but the Suicide Squad looked pretty interesting as well. Since I'm being honest, I'm mostly curious to see Jared Leto play the Joker. I'm assuming that's why they inserted his piece last in the Comic-Con trailer. He looked pretty awesome. Similar to how he looks in Arkham Asylum. I believe we also saw a glimpse of Batman intruding with the Squad's plans so we'll see how the Batman v Superman aftermath keys into the story there.

We haven't gotten a lot of news about Gambit and Doctor Strange, but there's obviously still a lot of time in between for a little teaser to be released.

Now...two huge storylines from DC and Marvel's franchises come to the big screen. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will loosely follow Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and their meet-up in Gotham. On the other side, we have the famous Marvel Civil War storyline where the U.S. Government passes a Superhuman Registration Act. Those who oppose the act are led by Captain America and those who support the act are led by Iron Man. A major component in the story is Spider-Man/Peter Parker. As far as the box office goes, I think Batman v Superman will blow away the records previously set by the first Avengers film and Age of Ultron. Sorry, Cap...you've got enough on your plate to worry about box office numbers with your Civil War and all...

Alrighty. Last thing I wanna talk about is Ant-Man. Where do I start...I really enjoyed the film. I would give it a B+ with its solid character development and including important origin stories that fill in the background of the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym and the passing of the torch to Scott Lang. You might hear from people that they didn't like Ant-Man because it was slow and there wasn't a lot of action. These are the kinds of people who are spoiled with action-packed films and don't enjoy filling in plot points and character development. You cannot come into this film expecting it start off fast like how Age of Ultron did. It's a new character. An original Avenger...that shrinks down to an ant-sized man. What more can you expect?

That is all that I have for you this week. Lots of trailers. Lots of speculation. Lots of anticipation. 2016 will be about the beginning of Marvel's Phase 3 in the MCU vs. DC's start of the Justice League. Even though they are 8 years behind, I believe DC can easily make up ground if and only if the rest of the League can shine in their stand-alone films. I'm excite. Are you?!

Wildcard Wednesday || Baymax to the Bare Minimum

Welcome everyone and thank you for stopping by for Blog #3 of Wildcard Wednesday. Since last week's blog was extensive and contained multiple topics, I figured I would go complete opposite and be quick and straight to the point. Today's topic: Big Hero 6 with a little Frozen rant.

Please note that as a Cast Member: All content represent my views/opinions and are in no way affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

I was on Twitter yesterday and I saw @Forbes tweet the following:

"Disney sold $1 billion in Frozen-licensed merchandise last year (link)"

Which isn't very surprising because Frozen was released November 2013 and started building momentum during the beginning of 2014. What does surprise me is that Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger has mentioned that Frozen is considered to be one of Disney's top 5 properties...after less than 2 years.

With the spotlight all over Frozen, Big Hero 6 quietly became one of Disney's biggest box-office hits. Oh, it also won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, but who cares about that when Cinderella was featuring an all-new Frozen short right? I don't recall Paperman or Feast getting merchandise, but Disney was quick to design merchandise for Frozen Fever. I've seen more merchandise for Frozen Fever than Big Hero 6. That's just sad.

Who had the chance to meet Baymax and Hiro Hamada? Not many. If I knew that Disney was only going to keep their meet n' greet for less than 3 months, then I would've stayed in that 2-hour line on that December day. How many of you got to meet Anna and Elsa? Probably a good amount of you because Disney has had a special Frozen Fun extravaganza in Disney's California Adventure since January  7, 2015. There was so much marketing for this, it pretty much eliminated any signs of Big Hero 6. Let me remind you that BH6 was released the first week of November. After 2 months, Baymax and Hiro were pulled from Tomorrowland and Arendelle took over DCA.

I remember how disappointed I was as a guest when I visited Animation Academy and they only offered to draw Olaf. Their headline being "Do you want to draw a snowman?" No, I wanted to draw BAYMAX! Frozen was 14 months ago. Big Hero 6 was 3 months ago.

In my honest opinion, I would've preferred a re-creation of San Fransokyo instead of Arendelle. Don't get me wrong, what Disney did in a short span of time to design the snow play area and the meet n' greet spots for Anna, Elsa, and Olaf is impressive. It makes ZERO sense for Arendelle to have a club/dance scene with alcohol. That's not magical at all. I have some other opinions on the Frozen Fun extravaganza, but I don't want to drag this post along. I'm glad Frozen Fun will be over after May 21st. Sorry, not sorry. 

Disney has milked out as much as they could from their Frozen franchise and unfortunately Big Hero 6 will always live under the shadows. Why? There are a couple of reasons:

1. Disney underestimated the amount of praise and popularity Big Hero 6 was going to receive.
2. Disney had a lot on its production plate for 2015: Cinderella in March, Age of Ultron and Tomorrowland in May, Inside Out in June, Ant-Man in July, The Good Dinosaur in November, and Star Wars in December.

Look at that line-up. No wonder Disney wasn't able to market and produce merchandise for Big Hero 6. They have 2 Pixar productions, their flagship Marvel film, and the beginning of another Star Wars trilogy to budget for in 2015. On the bright side, a recent report has claimed that Stan Lee confirmed a Big Hero 7 sequel. (link) I'm really hoping that this is true because the Marvel and Disney Animation Studio team deserve it. 

Until then, Baymax will be waiting in his docking station charging awaiting for the call to suit up.

Wildcard Wednesday || MARVEL'S Avengers: Age of Deflating Floyd "Money" Mayweather

Hello everyone and thanks for stopping for by for Blog #2 of Wildcard Wednesday. The difficult part about having a blog about Disney, sports, and entertainment is that a lot goes on in a week. I went from wanting to talk about the Chargers 2015 draft selections, then I was on a roll to vent my hatred for Floyd "Money" Mayweather and everything he stands for. I watched Avengers: Age of Ultron opening weekend and boy am I willing to spend another $15 to watch it again. Earlier last week I finished watching Marvel's Agents of SHIELD. I was bored so what did I turn to? The Netflix exclusive Marvel's Daredevil. I am now on episode 9, but I am 100% certain I will finish this season by the time you read this (there are only 13 episodes. HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT). This past weekend showcased back-to-back-to-back buzzer-beaters by Paul Pierce, Derrick Rose, and LeBron James in the NBA Playoffs. How about that Hack-a-Jordan huh? Now, there's this whole DEFLATE-GATE fiasco.

I'll make a few quick points on everything because I really want to give you thoughts about Floyd Mayweather before I explode.

Chargers 2015 Draft
Melvin Gordan III? Approve 110%. The Chargers made the sacrifice to get their impact guy and it will pay 10-fold when he looks to fill in the big shoes of LaDainian Tomlinson. Chargers added depth and filled in key defensive holes for the remainder of the draft. Others may argue that they should've drafted an offensive lineman, but they really just need to mend together and build chemistry after going through 5 centers and too many different starting o-lines.

Avengers: Age of Ultron
Lights, camera, ACTION! Right from the get go. Some critics say that there was "too much" action and not enough time to build the plot. Who cares? It's not like this movie is going to be nominated for an Oscar. Here's your plot. Ultron...bad. Avengers...good. Round 1...FIGHT! And then for the finisher...wait for it...THANOS!

Marvel's Agents of SHIELD Season 1
I didn't watch the show on a weekly basis, but seeing how even the Season 2 timeline matched up with Age of Ultron makes me want to watch Season 3 when it ties in with Captain America: Civil War. Season 1 starts off really slow up to the first 5 episodes, then it just gets awesome. I started to appreciation the things that Marvel has done to tie in their TV series to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and then all of a sudden I was engulfed into another perspective that wasn't shown in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Marvel's Daredevil (Netflix Exclusive)
Man this show is dark. Literally and emotionally. But I guess that's reflective of Matthew Murdock and his gift. I'll probably be done with this show by the time you're reading this, but it's 13 episodes of a deep plot stirring in Hell's Kitchen. If you're not subscribed to Netflix, I would definitely say that $7.99 for that first month is worth it just for this show.

2015 NBA Playoffs
After seeing 5 out of 8 first round playoff matchups going 5 games or less we actually have some good playoff basketball for the conference semi-finals. Both #1 seeds are being tested by the #5's. After Derrick Rose banks in a 3-point buzzer beater to keep home-court advantage, LeBron James strikes back with a buzzer beater of his own to make it a 3-game series. What was said after the game just goes to show that David Blatt means nothing to that team. LeBron James is really the coach of that team and he'll do whatever he wants because he's LeBron James. Lastly, here are my quick thoughts about the Hack-A-Whoever shenanigans. There is no need to change the rules. If a team wants to rack up personal fouls and risk being in the bonus early in the quarter that's their problem. If you have a professional basketball player (who is getting paid millions of dollars by the way) that can't shoot more than 50% at the free throw line then that's your problem. How about you put that player in the gym and don't let him leave until he makes 50 in a row.

Deflate-Gate
I could care less about the pressure inside a football. The QB still needs to throw the ball. The receiver still needs to get open and catch the ball. If you're going to care about the pressure inside the ball, then I expect every team will have an inspection for every game. And for the sake of the fans they should show on the screen the pressure of the ball that is being used. If they really want to take it that far, maybe they should regulate how sticky a receivers gloves are because that gives a competitive advantage. Maybe should regulate the length of a players cleats because that also gives a player a competitive edge on the field. It's all bogus. The obvious issue here is the cover-up. If Brady was innocent why didn't he just give up his phone? Even Ted Wells explained that he offered Brady and his agent to be in the same room and Brady's agent would just read the messages off the phone with Wells not putting a finger on the device. If you can't even allow that, then something is obviously fishy.


Floyd "Money" Mayweather: The False Idol
This isn't a bitter Filipino complaining about how "The Fight of the Century" turned out to be a chicken run. This is more about a human being disappointed at another human being's character, lifestyle, and the media attention the latter receives.

I don't use the word hate a lot, but man do I hate Floyd "Money" Mayweather and everything he stands for. He is known to be THE highest paid athlete in the world. More than Kobe Bryant. More than LeBron James. More than Tiger Woods. More than Cristiano Ronaldo. You know what's even crazier? That's all from salary/winnings. $0 in endorsements (http://www.forbes.com/athletes/list/#tab:overall). What makes matters worse is that he is undefeated in his sport. Haters can't even prove that he "sucks" because no one has even been able to take him down. Unfortunately, Floyd is also a smart businessman. He has brainwashed groups of confused losers into believing that money is everything; hence "The Money Team". I'll be honest with you...that May 2nd bout between Pacquiao and Mayweather was the first time I've seen Mayweather fight (those slow motion highlight clips don't count). Not only was I pissed about Mayweather's fighting style, but I was pissed about the commentators reaction during and after the fight. Why? Because they are pretty much down on bended knee praising Mayweather like he is some kind of boxing God. All I can hear and read about Mayweather was "...what a smart boxer!", "...look at his technique!", "...this is just another day in the office". Wow, are you kidding me? It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to learn how to run away from a flurry of punches. It wouldn't take me more than a day to learn how to hug my opponent whenever I'm in trouble against the ropes. These analysts/commentators praise this kind of boxing? That doesn't sound like greatness to me. That doesn't sound like "the best ever" to me. It sounds like you can plug in anyone with speed and agility and they could just be like Mayweather. Sorry y'all, I hope you're still with me on this because I have one more point I would like to make. Last year Ray Rice knocked out his wife and after further investigation was suspended indefinitely by the NFL. As of December 1, 2014 Rice has become a free agent and has yet to be signed by an NFL team. Mayweather has been charged not once, not twice, but numerous times of domestic-violence. This guy obviously has a problem. Look at his history and the "punishments" he has received:

• 2002: 6-month suspension -- 2 days of house arrest -- 48 hours of community service
• 2004: 12-month jail sentence  -- $1,000 fine OR 100 hours of community service
• 2005: 90-day jail sentence
• 2010: $3,000 bail
• 2011: 90-day jail sentence -- 100 hours of community service -- 12-month domestic violence program -- $2,500 fine

Not only do I believe that Mayweather's style of boxing will eventually kill the sport (if it hasn't already), but letting this despicable human-being continue to represent the sport sickens me. I imagine that the only reason why WBO and other boxing organizations haven't banned Mayweather from the sport (just like how Adam Silver did to Donald Sterling) is because they crave the amount of amount of money Mayweather brings each and every time he steps into the ring.

It's disappointing that businesses care more about the $$$ than the image that they present to fans or even aspiring young boxers. It's disappointing that God has "blessed" this man with a $200 million paycheck after the May 2nd hug-fest. It's disappointing that the poor will put more value on $5 while  this man will continue to eat $1,000 meals or even take a picture of himself with stacks of money on his bed asking his followers for a caption.

Sigh...

Give this man some humble juice. He might need a gold-plated goblet with 20-carot diamonds sprinkled all over it in order to drink it though.