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Hopes and Dreams for the Future of Legendary Picture’s Monsterverse

It’s safe to say that not everyone wants more of Kong with Godzilla should the Monsterverse continue. Now that the film is leaving theatres, we offer some thoughts:

Godzilla King of the Monsters Movie Poster If we’re supposed to believe all the Monsterverse films share the same DNA, then the slow reveal about an ancient civilization as Earth’s true guardians must hint at a greater plot. Now that the latest film Godzilla X King Kong is leaving theatres, I can offer some thoughts after repeated views. I’m willing to support this film franchise for so long, and hope it can be steered back to what it was.

When Gareth Edwards made his 2014 film, all he wanted to do was to make a movie that is a love letter to TOHO. His take had Yoshimitsu Banno‘s blessing and I’m sure the later instalments did not. This Japanese studio sent this director (best known for Godzilla vs Hedorah) to look at how Japan’s most iconic antihero, would be remade for American sensitivities. Back then, what he saw excited him. The idea of creating a shared universe didn’t happen right away and this film was considered a modest success before the King Kong movie revealed a greater concept. Michael Dougherty and Adam Wingard‘s take is decent enough where it made enough callbacks to the ol’ classic style, but it’s not as well thought out as Edward’s vision.

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On Doctor Who at 60 Years, Disney Plus’ Desire to Restart the Numbering System and Beyond

As much as I’d love to see Doctor Who last forever, it’s living on borrowed time.

Doctor Who at 60 Years As much as I love BBC’s Doctor Who, to distinguish between their time and what Disney Branded Television announced may well be troubling for anyone maintaining online episode guides. According to Dark Horizons‘ report over last weekend, the season count is being reset! And honestly, after catching David Tennant’s return and departure in the three anniversary specials, that’ll be the end for me.

Although I sense this announcement is more of a method to make the “acquisition of broadcast rights” more distinguished, there may be other reasons for the change. It’s about how their handling can be recognised in the eyes of many. What they’re doing is no less confusing than how LEGO Ninjago‘s seasons are represented. Series One to Ten are known as Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu (also known as the WILFilm years) and eleven on up is simply Ninjago (aka Wildbrain). The latest, which is sixteen, is Ninjago: Dragons Rising (also handled by this new studio). If there’s a rename to the British series because Disney wants to, I’m going to be furious!

When the two broadcasters made a deal to deliver Doctor Who to a worldwide audience rather than stay “in the country,” I’m sure the house of the mouse had some requirements. Although reports say the BBC has creative control, I suspect not every detail in the contract got revealed a year ago. I’m sure many coins from Disney’s golden vaults will get offered to influence how Doctor Who will now look!

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What’s Next for Ninjago in 2023?

After giving the entire 16 season series many views over the holidays and into the new year with the knowledge of their future, upcoming seasons have been foreshadowed for Ninjago in 2023.

LEGO Ninjago in 2023 The LEGO Ninjago animated series isn’t over. Although Crystalized concluded with an epilogue showing Sensei Wu, Lloyd, Jay, Cole, Nya and Zane rebuilding, what’s slated for the future may well be akin to Star Trek: The Next Generation. After giving the entire 16 season series many views over the holidays and into the Lunar New Year with the knowledge of their future, upcoming seasons have been foreshadowed for Ninjago in 2023.

One major example includes Wu often mentioning how one can’t mess with “The Hands of Time,” which started in season two’s “Child’s Play.” It seems Wu knew a lot more than the Ninja when they got turned into kids, and had to use a potion to restore them back into young adults, along with Lloyd. This later season would also see Wu age and get thrown to a void, only to be reborn as a baby and relearn everything, which demonstrates how cyclic this series’s narrative is.

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Looking Back and My Hopes for Pokémon Go in 2023 (After its First Community Day)

Despite problems from last year, Niantic’s Pokémon GO is still a game played around the world. Hopefully it’ll fare better this year.

Niantic’s Pokémon GO had quite the mish mash of hits and misses back in 2022. From massive coding gaffes that made gameplay frustrating to the release of new pocket monsters with statistics that can break the game, I’m glad this year is off with a good start. This weekend’s Community Day bonus went off without a hitch! Although how the new pokémon is supposed to appear at stops is said to be a bug by this software developer, I hope they can leave it alone because it makes finding them easier.

I’m guessing the coders learned from their mistakes. As I look back at everything they’ve offered in the past, all I did was shake my head. Whoever wrote the code didn’t consider all the permutations, or considered the issues that would go along with “copy and overlaying” one Pokémon’s appearance (and statistics) over another, or where spawns should exist, leading to these pocket monsters disappearing off the map! As a result with the former problem, if placed in a battle environment, there would be unbalanced fights. That is, their biggest gaffe was with Zorua. This mimic was launched at the end of Community Day in early October. The lack of testing caused this Pokémon to get crazy stats and, if used in PvP battle or raids, it would break the game.

As we enter 2023, a new ‘mon for completionists is finally released! This weekend released the elusive Kecleon, and it likes hiding. Thankfully, it does not copy the abilities of another pocket monster. But, it won’t pop up unless gamers touch every spinner in hopes this invisible wonder is there.

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Disney’s Night at the Museum is when Kahmunrah Rises Again! Quick Thoughts Before the Premiere.

Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again looks like it will deliver The Mummy 2001 animated series style shenanigans, and that’s enough to win me over!

Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again Release Date:
Dec 9, 2022 on Disney Plus

Even though the transition of 20th Century Fox’s Night at the Museum franchise to a Disney animated work may sound like a bad idea, I’m rather glad it continues from where the trilogy left off. To say Kahmunrah Rises Again shows this film is picking up from where the second climaxed at. The trailer isn’t saying how it connects with the third movie. Had it have been, we would have Ahkmenrah involved in this narrative more.

From the press release, the people from the house of the mouse believe, “The Original Movie is about the mischief that takes place every night at the American Museum of Natural History when the sun goes down. Nick Daley’s summer gig as night watchman at the museum is a challenging job for a high school student, but he is following in his father’s footsteps and is determined not to let him down. Luckily, he is familiar with the museum’s ancient tablet that brings everything to life when the sun goes down and is happy to see his old friends, including Jedediah, Octavius, and Sacagawea, when he arrives. But when the maniacal ruler Kahmunrah escapes with plans to unlock the Egyptian underworld and free its Army of the Dead, it is up to Nick to stop the demented overlord and save the museum once and for all.”

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Comic Con, Media Con, However You Con Call Them–We Got Pacific Northwest’s Latest Updates

Ever since 2022, comic book / pop culture conventions are resuming with either strict health guildelines or none for those wanting that geek/media/nerd culture experience.

Over the Spring and Summer, the Pacific Northwest is very busy because Comic Cons in all its various iterations are resuming. It started with Fan Expo Vancouver in February 2022 and no Kevin Smith wasn’t at this latest. We are hoping that Jay and Silent Bob cancelled appearance prior to this pandemic mess will come back in a future event though!

Even though the province of British Columbia had a lot of health regulations to guide what these indoor shows can do or not, thankfully they were lifted in time for this event, and I had a terrific time. My con report can be read here.

In the past two months, we also had The Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo (June 25), Kelowna Fan Experience (July 15-17) and Anirevo Summer (July 29-31) in one side of the border, and the Washington State Summer Con 2022 (June 23-25) on the other. There were no reports from the groups I monitor to say there were lots of covid cases. Most of these events communicated that attendance is at the participant’s own risk, and none of them advertised what the entry requirement was. That was buried in their webpage’s FAQ under the Health and Safety section. Everyone accepts this pandemic is not going away, and it’s up to the attendee to decide on how to stay safe. The concensus is that people just want life to go on as “normal” as possible instead of living in constant worry.

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