It's A Brand New Day For Spider-Man

After the record-breaking global success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Spider-Man: Brand New Day marks an entirely new chapter for Peter Parker and Spider-Man.

Four years have passed since the events of No Way Home, and Peter is now an adult living entirely alone, having voluntarily erased himself from the lives and memories of those he loves.

Crime-fighting in a New York that no longer knows his name, he's devoted himself entirely to protecting his city — a full-time Spider-Man — but as the demands on him intensify, the pressure sparks a surprising physical evolution that threatens his existence, even as a strange new pattern of crimes gives rise to one of the most powerful threats he has ever faced.

After First Steps, The Fantastic Four Face First Foes!

Main cover art for First Foes #1 by Phil Noto

With Avengers: Doomsday crashing into cinemas at the end of this year, Marvel is producing a series of quarterly one-shots helping to cement the Fantastic Four into the MCU.

These kick-off in March with First Foes, by Dan Slott and Mark Buckingham, profiling the classic FF comic book villain, The Mad Thinker.

Return to the world of Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps in the first of a series of quarterly one-shot specials throughout 2026 expanding on different characters and moments from the film!

On Earth-828, a cosmic mishap has transformed four brave astronauts into the world’s champions and protectors.

They are the Fantastic Four — but one person isn’t happy about things. He’s known as the Mad Thinker, and he’s determined to get his proper due by turning the city of tomorrow against its heroic patrons!

In addition to the main story, Fantastic Four: First Foes #1 will also include a two page Fantastic Science feature inspired by Reed Richards’ educational programming in the world of the film.

Written by Ryan North, the current mastermind behind Marvel’s ongoing FANTASTIC FOUR comic book series, this short story is one fans of all ages won’t want to miss!

Variant cover art by Kaare Andrews

Variant cover art by Phil Noto

Guardians (2017)

It may have taken me several years to track down a physical copy of this Russian superhero flick - that I first learned of it back in October 2015 - but now that I've finally gotten to see Guardians I have to say I wasn't disappointed.

It's far from perfect, but as silly fun goes it's hugely entertaining, and coming in at under an hour-and-a-half knows not to outstay its welcome

Whether due to budgetary cuts, poor editing, or something simply got lost in translation, the story's all over the place; ultimately feeling more Power Rangers or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles than Marvel Cinematic Universe.

During the cold War, mad scientist Avgust Kuratov (Stanislav Shirin) pioneered experimental techniques to turn civilians into superpowered Soviet soldiers - aka The Guardians - but then went too far, resulting in his own transformation into superstrong villain, with the power to control technology with his mind.

Kuratov has now returned, at the head of an army of clones and stolen military technology under this psychic control, and laid siege to Moscow.

The Russian authorities track down four of Kuratov's experiments - Ler (Sebastien Sisak Grigoryan), who has the power to telekinetically move rocks and earth; speedster and blademaster Khan (Sanzhar Madiev); werebear Arsus (Anton Pampushnyy); and amnesiac Kseniya (Alina Lanina), who can turn invisible and has resistance to temperature extremes - enlisting them to fight their creator.

The backstory connection between the villain and the members of The Guardians brings a strong Fantastic Four vibe to the proceedings, and while not much time is spent on sub-plots at least some effort is made to add a modicum of depth to the main characters.

Massive kudos to whoever realised the only way you could improve on having a hulking werebear as a main character would be to equip him with a frakking big machine gun, instantly turning the otherwise amusingly-named Arsus into a cult hero for the ages.

With its very simplistic, linear, storyline, Guardians is pulptastic, weird science at its finest, with surprisingly effective special effects that only occasionally feel overextended.

While best watched in the original Russian with sub-titles (the dubbing is reminiscent of cheesy '70s Hong Kong martial arts movies), this requires an extra level of commitment that I'm not sure the film truly warrants.

But if you're in the right frame of mind, and looking for a superhero film that isn't traditional American fare (but also doesn't stray too far away the standard tropes of the genre), then Guardians is well worth 86 minutes of your time.

The ending - and then the mid-credit scene - are clearly opening the door for sequels, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

It's worth noting that while the blurb on the back of the DVD packaging references a long history of "superpowered characters" - going back to Nazi experiments in the Second World War and then spreading around the globe - none of this is ever mentioned on screen.

This was either something invented by the DVD distributors, to possibly broaden the film's appeal, or backstory lifted from the original script that never made it into the actual movie.

Arsus

Kseniya

Khan

Ler

Kuratov

Dr. Strange (1978)

With the official Marvel Cinematic Universe iteration of Doctor Strange now well established and part of the general public's consciousness (thanks, in large part, to casting Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular Sorcerer Supreme),  I thought it was time to set the Wayback Machine to the 1970s and fall under the spell of the original Dr. Strange movie.

As ever, this 1978 TV movie needs to be considered on its own merits, taking into account the budgetary and technological restrictions of its time.

The Ditko-verse

Five hundred-year-old sorceress Morgan LeFey (Jessica Walter) is tasked by her nameless, demonic master (a giant, mist-enshrouded puppet, voiced by David Hooks) to slay Earth's current sorcerer supreme, Thomas Lindmer (John Mills... yes, THE John Mills) within an arbitrary timeframe of three days. I suspect he's supposed to be Dormammu.

The legendary Arthurian villianness has been hanging around the "higher levels of the Astral plane", a set clearly influenced by the iconic artwork of Dr. Strange comic book artist Steve Ditko. This opening sequence gave me hope that the film would be treating its source material with some respect.

Morgan's scheme involves mind-controlling beautiful student Clea Lake (Eddie Benton aka Anne-Marie Martin) to push Lindmer off a bridge.

Lindmer survives, but Clea is traumatised by the event and ends up in hospital under the care of psychiatrist Doctor Stephen Strange (Peter Hooten), who wears his father's ring that bears the same symbol as seen on Lindmer's window and on a painting in his Sanctum Sanctorum.

Strange finds himself drawn to Clea and Lindmer offers to help out in her treatment, convincing Strange to come to his home where he sends the doctor off on an astral voyage to save Clea's soul.

Astral Tripping

This 2001-style, kaleidoscopic light-show - complete with a phantom horseman in the form of the demon Balzaroth (voiced by The Addams Family's Ted Cassidy) - is the visual highlight of the film, being surprisingly imaginative and trippy despite the limitations of '70s TV special effects.

After this, Strange declares he doesn't want anything more to do with Lindmer's magic, but Morgan isn't listening and after bitch-slapping Lindmer's chum Wong (Clyde Kusatsu) and then seemingly doing the same to the old man, she turns her attention to Stephen Strange.

It turns out that Morgan has a bit of a cougar-thing going and wants to use her womanly wiles (which apparently haven't seen much action during her centuries in The Dark Dimension) to seduce the good doctor. He, of course, is having none of this - as his eyes are focussed on Clea.

Dr. Strange is quite a dialogue-heavy piece, but still manages to break this up with some flashy light shows and demonic summonings, so that even in the many hospital scenes the pace never sags too badly.

However, things go bizarrely off the rails in the film's denouement - presumably these were meant as plot hooks if this pilot spawned a TV show - when Clea and Strange repeat (almost verbatim) a conversation they had earlier in the film, but neither notice, and then neither seem that perturbed by Morgan popping up on TV as a self-help guru!

There are a lot of changes from the source material in Dr. Strange, most of which I can understand for the sake of brevity, such as stripping out Strange's adventures in Tibet and making him a psychiatrist rather than a surgeon to tie him in to Clea's sub-plot.

What were they thinking?

It's a bit of a shame that in removing the Eastern aspects of Strange's backstory (thus explaining why Lindmer becomes Strange's mentor, rather than The Ancient One - who, confusingly, makes a vocal appearance during Strange's transformation sequence) they also decided to Westernise Wong and change Clea to a normal human being.

But I guess they didn't want to overload a mainstream audience with too much extraneous weirdness in a 90-minute television show about dimension-hopping sorcerers battling demons for the fate of humanity.

The worst change though is the inexplicable reworking of the classic Dr Strange look into a kitsch superhero costume with a bizarre starburst on the front.

Thankfully this only appears briefly towards the end of the film, after Morgan has magically dressed him in robes that do a far better job of emulating his comic book look.

Overall, Dr. Strange - as you would expect - is a product of its time. A bit slow in parts and very cheesy, but with some great touches along the way that suggest the people behind it had ambitious plans should it have been picked up to run as a series.

It was clearly going to be a very different superhero show to The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man and Captain America that were making similar, difficult, transitions from the comic book page to the television screen at that time.

Annabelle - Creation (2017)

It's the little things that can make a good movie.

During the first act of Annabelle: Creation, before the expected ghostly horrors begin, Sister Charlotte (Stephanie Sigman) is sharing a photograph of her fellow nuns and, at one point, she tilts it at a certain angle and, briefly, a face appears in the shadows of the picture, lenticular-like: it's Valak (from The Nun and The Conjuring 2).

It's never mentioned again, never referenced, but it's a marvellous Easter Egg tying this film - beyond the presence of its titular antagonist - to the wider Conjuring Universe.

Director David F Sandberg (who also directed Shazam!) makes great use of light and shadows in this creative origin story for the demonic doll, Annabelle, that far exceeds her disappointing first 'solo' film for scares and coherence.

Written by Gary Dauberman (who was also responsible for Annabelle, Annabelle Comes Home, The Nun, IT: Chapter Two, and developing Swamp Thing for DC Universe), Annabelle: Creation sees melancholic, former toy maker, Samuel Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia) and his bed-bound wife, Esther (Miranda Otto), opening their isolated home to Sister Charlotte and half-a-dozen orphan girls.

Twelve years earlier, in the mid 1940s, their young daughter, Annabelle (Samara Lee) had been run over and killed, and despite the generous nature of Mr Mullins, there's a definite creepy cloud of gloom hanging over the house.

Exploring a room in the house she was forbidden to enter, one girl, Janice (Talitha Bateman) is attacked in the night by some kind of demonic entity. Already hobbled by polio, this attack leaves her in a wheelchair, and the other girls start to believe her stories of 'ghosts', especially when Janice's behaviour takes a turn for the worse.

Although the climax of the main plot is slightly jumbled, even feeling a bit rushed, overall Annabelle: Creation is tightly scripted and delivers on most counts.

For the most part it avoids cheap jump scares, and instead oozes unnerving, "it's behind you", tension and atmosphere.

Taking a lesson from the first Annabelle flick, director David Sandberg doesn't dwell too long on the static doll, instead drawing the story's terror from what goes on around her.

The all-important "creation" of the central demonic doll is surprisingly interesting and clever (although I don't understand why no one ever suggested pouring a can of petrol over the doll and setting it alight, especially once it became clear how evil it was).

Towards the end of the film there's a nice nod to the "real Annabelle doll" in a sequence that dovetails neatly into the first Annabelle movie.

Besides the fantastic Easter Eggs, a strength of many of The Conjuring Universe movies has been their period settings, and that's ever-prevalent in Annabelle: Creation, with its story eventually spanning spanning three decades.

And, I know I came to this franchise late, but I love the way it really is a "cinematic universe" - in the style of the Marvel movies - with its stories not focusing on a single demonic entity or ghostly group simply repeating the same narrative over and over through unending sequels of ever-decreasing quality and budget.

If Superheroes Can Share Universes, Why Not Horror Films?

Conjuring Universe graphic by Jarvisrama99

The idea of a "shared horror universe" may have faltered with Universal's Dark Universe, but that approached the scenario from the wrong direction (establishing that there was a 'shared universe' then expecting audiences to automatically care).

The Conjuring franchise, on the other hand, popped out sequels, prequels, and spin-offs at a steady rate for several years - which people are obviously grokking - so confirming a "shared universe" was the next logical step.

I'll confess that for the longest time I'd never given them the time of day because I have problems with lauding real-life charlatans (Ed and Lorraine Warren) as 'heroes' in the fight against the (fictional) supernatural or giving credence to nonsense like the so-called Enfield Haunting.

It's one thing to enjoy the world of ghosts and ghoulies as the make-believe thrill-rides that good horror stories are, but when you start preying on the gullible and telling them this balloon juice is real then I have problems.

That's not to say I wouldn't relish really living in a world of "gods and monsters" (although I'd take "comic book superheroes" first if there's a choice), but I know they're just stories.

Mini-rant aside, this featurette promoting The Nun and - by extension - The Conjuring Universe, has actually piqued my interest in these movies, so I plan to revisit the ones I have on my shelf and give them a spin.

NB. The cinematic Warrens' arc (Phase One, to borrow MCU nomenclature?) supposedly wraps up in September's The Conjuring: Last Rites, but let's hope The Conjuring Universe continues with more monster-centric spin-offs and perhaps some new "heroes" coming to the fore. 

PULP PICTURE OF THE MONTH: John Carter (2012)

Andrew Stanton's take on John Carter isn't a pure adaptation of A Princess of Mars - Edgar Rice Burrough's literary launchpad for his Barsoom cycle - but a distillation of elements from the first couple of books, with some elements added or expanded and others abridged.

Nineteenth Century Southern gentleman and cavalry captain-turned-treasure hunter John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) finds himself transported to ancient Mars (or Barsoom as the natives call it) and drawn into an alien war beyond his comprehension.

A mysterious race of shape-changing beings called Therns - and represented by the coolly evil Mark Strong - are manipulating the humanoid Red Martians of the cities of Zodanga and Helium into an apocalyptic conflict.

In the meantime, Carter is captured by the Tharks, a tribe of giant, four-armed Green Martians, who have their own conflicts with the Wahoons (another tribe of Green Martians) to worry about.

While with the Tharks, Carter meets the gorgeous Helium Princess - and scientist - Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins), whose marriage to the leader of Zodanga, Sab Than (Dominic West) could spell an end to the conflict... if it wasn't a duplicitous trick to leave Helium vulnerable to invasion.

Carter, naturally, falls in love with Dejah (and vice versa), and while striving to find a way home he also aids in turning the tide of the war... by getting the Tharks involved.

The sundry machinations of various parties make for a quite complex plot, against which the love story of Carter and Dejah plays out, and if the film has a fault it's that the motivations and objectives of the Therns aren't explicitly spelled out.

However, that's a small price to pay when we are presented with some of the most exquisite world-building I've seen on screen.

Barsoom, its creatures, its landscape and language come alive at the hands of master storyteller Andrew Stanton. He manages to simultaneously re-invent Edgar Rice Burrough's 100-year-old classic for the 21st Century and lovingly pay it tribute.

Remember - if you're old enough - that feeling you felt the first time you saw Star Wars at the cinema (the original, not the prequels)? Well, brace yourself for a return performance.

This is a sweeping, epic, summer blockbuster that you actually have to pay attention to, not a popcorn slugfest like the highly enjoyable MCU but an intelligent and layered piece of pulp sci-fi.

I always had high hopes for John Carter, but the reality far exceeded my expectations. It is a truly impressive feat of film-making that deserves a far larger audience - and far more acclaim - than it got upon its release at the cinema.

Everything about it - from the nuanced performances and special effects to the breath-taking realisation of Barsoom - is pitch perfect. No-one involved with this masterful movie should be ashamed to say they had a part in bringing the iconic science-fiction character of John Carter to life.

Ignore a lot of the nonsense that has been written about this movie - and the negative reviews - and be prepared to visit another planet for the adventure of a lifetime.

I sincerely hope that - eventually - Disney gets round to making a well-deserved sequel to John Carter, but perhaps learns from its mistakes and markets it a bit more aggressively (like they did with its MCU movies) next time round.

The Complete Timeline Of The Fantastic Four

This video looks at all the complete publishing history of the Fantastic Four from its beginning in 1961 to modern times. It highlights the major developments, changes in creative teams and why the title has stopped and started numerous times over the last six decades.

Another quality feature from the marvellous Strange Brain Parts, the erudite king of comic book analysis on YouTube.

This 13-minute film breaks down the various incarnations of the main Fantastic Four title, since their creation by Stan Lee and Jack Lee, right up to the modern Ryan North era. It also offers some suggested "jumping on" points for newcomers to the title.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

I've been reading the Fantastic Four for over 50 years and have seen all the previous movies (even the unreleased Roger Corman version), but the latest offering from the official Marvel Cinematic Universe is - beyond a shadow of a doubt - the most comic book accurate to date.

Taking place on an alternate Earth to the main Earth-616 of the MCU, Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces us to the planet's heroes - Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic (The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal), his wife Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman (Napoleon's Vanessa Kirby), Sue's brother Johnny Storm/The Human Torch (Stranger Things' Joseph Quinn), and family friend Ben Grimm/The Thing (The Bear's Ebon Moss-Bachrach).

In fast order, a chat show - hosted by Mark Gatiss - summarises the team's origin story and gives us a good look at the retro-futuristic 1960's world the team inhabit.

Soon after Sue reveals to the team that she's pregnant, Earth-828 is visited by the alien herald known as the Silver Surfer (Ozark's Julia Garner) to tell everyone that the planet has been selected as the next meal for the ever-hungry extraterrestrial "god" known as Galactus (The Witch's Ralph Ineson).

Naturally, Reed and co. want to prevent this and travel back out into space to try and negotiate with Galactus. 

The incomprehensible space kaiju, seated in his cyclopean planet-devouring spaceship, offers them a trade: it will spare the Earth if Reed and Sue give him their child, who Galactus says is a powerful cosmic being and the only creature that can take his place.

Of course, the Fantastic Four refuse this deal and head back to Earth, with the Silver Surfer and Galactus in pursuit across the vast expanse of space.

Once home, the people of Earth are initially angry at our heroes for turning down the offer that would have saved them all, but nevertheless the Fantastic Four knuckle down and try to come up with a scheme to dispose of Galactus and save the world.

With influences from classic science fiction films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and numerous period B-movies, Fantastic Four: First Steps has more of a pure pulpy sci-fi feel than any previous MCU offering and, to my tastes, is all the better for it.

Kudos to director Matt Shakman (of WandaVision fame) and scriptwriters Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer, for channelling the spirit of the original Fantastic Four comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (there's a lovely explanation at the end of the credits tying Kirby to the choice of Earth designation).

I might have tweaked the look of a couple of the supporting members of the cast, but that's trivial compared to how much of First Steps is just so right in the eyes of this life-long Fantastic Four fan.

I cannot stress enough how "comic book" this film is. I nearly cried a number of times because it was so perfect, and the rest of the time I was either grinning from ear-to-ear or my jaw was on the floor from the sheer awesomeness and grandeur unfolding before me. 

For my money - although I'm obviously biased - Fantastic Four: First Steps is the best Marvel movie yet, perfectly encapsulating why I've always loved this team of characters as well as dropping multiple breadcrumbs and potential plot hooks for future movies.

We're going to have to wait until the end of next year and the release of Avengers: Doomsday though before we see the team again.

Although I can't wait for the home video release and the film's appearance on Disney Plus to watch it again... and again... and again.

I'd booked cinema tickets for Rachel and I to see Fantastic Four: First Steps weeks ago, prior to the whole "losing the power to walk" nonsense, but a kind attendant in the foyer of The Odeon (Tunbridge Wells) today swapped them for two spots in the third row. One was a place for me to park my chair, the other was an adjacent sofa seat for Rachel.

Naturally, she turned it into a comfortable bed and slept through about an hour in the middle of the movie - as is her wont. 

Rachel on her comfy sofa, next to me in my wheelchair slot

Having spied some Fantastic Four-themed merch on the way in, after the movie I was directed to the food counter where I was able to order an empty drink container and popcorn bucket (not that I eat popcorn).

Rachel had agreed to pay for these treats, but we both realised my "schoolboy error" in ordering them without asking the price. Both items were way more expensive than we'd naively imagined, but Rachel kindly got them for me anyway.

Back home, showing off my unexpectedly expensive Fantastic Four merch

More In-Universe Material For Fantastic Four: First Steps

When Johnny Storm first claimed the hearts of millions as the Human Torch, fanfare around the heated hero exploded. The very first Johnny fan club, the Flaming Hearts, launched the day after the Fantastic Four’s first heroic mission and amassed thousands of loyal members. This ad marked their first major fan outreach.

While admittance to the Flaming Hearts is now closed, fans all over the world continue to find ways to share their Johnny Storm love together.

Complementing the faux magazine appearances of the other three members of the Fantastic Four, Johnny, of course, marches to his own drum and instead is all about promoting his own fan club.

Another wonderful example of Marvel's "in-universe" material for the retro-futuristic 1960's of Fantastic Four: First Steps, which debuts in cinemas later this month.

Reed Richards Works With ANSA??? Is There A Fantastic Four Connection To The Planet Of The Apes Franchise?

In an era of rapid technological advancement and scientific discovery, one man stands at the forefront, driving humanity toward new horizons: Dr. Reed Richards. His expansive credentials stretch beyond what could be expected of a single man:

• An advisor to the ANSA, Dr. Richards has played a crucial role in the United States' burgeoning space program.
• His theoretical models on propulsion systems and space travel have been instrumental in developing technologies that have made manned missions to the stars a reality.
• In the field of biology, Richards' research of genetics is opening new doors to understanding life itself.
• Beyond his research, he is deeply committed to the education and mentorship of our future scientists.

Fantastic Science with Mister Fantastic airs weekly on ABC.

• In his spare time, Dr. Richards develops fantastic new technologies to make everyday life easier as CEO of ReedTech.
• And last but certainly not least, Dr. Richards has regularly saved the planet from threats unknown as a member of the Fantastic Four!

So, in the alternate 1960s of Fantastic Four: First Steps, Reed Richards works with the "United States' burgeoning space program" i.e. the American National Space Administration (ANSA).

In the 1968 movie (on our world) Planet of The Apes, astronaut George Taylor (Charlton Heston) and the crew of the Icarus were also part of ANSA.

Again, in our world, Disney controls the rights to both the Planet of The Apes franchise and, of course, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Is this some subtle hint of an impending crossover? Or just a sly wink and an Easter Egg for us Apes/FF geeks?

I'm hoping for the former, but suspect the latter.

More faux magazine covers from the Fantastic Four: First Steps

Black Adam (2022)

Thousands of years before Billy Batson was granted the power of Shazam, the Wizards chose a rebellious young slave in the kingdom of Kahndaq, where a corrupt king is forcing his citizens to mine for the magical Eternium metal necessary to forge the powerful Crown of Sabbac.

Flash forward 5,000 years and Kahndaq is now controlled by the mercenary army of Intergang (a major criminal organisation in the world of DC Comics), but archaeologist Adrianna Tomaz (Person of Interest's Sarah Shahi) has a lead on the location of the Crown of Sabbac.

However, her expedition is ambushed by Intergang soldiers and her only hope is call upon the land's mythical protector... and so ends up summoning Teth Adam aka Black Adam (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson).

Black Adam makes short work of the Intergang army, but in the process attracts the attention of Suicide Squad's Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) who dispatches The Justice Society (the very first comic book superhero team, from the 1940s) to bring him in.

Without any fuss we are introduced to team leader Hawkman aka Carter Hall (Leverage's Aldis Hodge), powerful sorcerer Dr Fate aka Kent Nelson (James Bond himself, Pierce Brosnan), the delightfully clumsy and goofy Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell).

Not only do the heroes find their hands full when they confront Black Adam, but they find the people of Kahndaq are against them as well, being more inclined to support their home-grown saviour than 'invading' Americans.

Directed by Orphan's Jaume Collet-Serra, Black Adam really caught me by surprise with its superb balance of action and character work.

One of the best recent DC superhero movies, and certainly better than both of Zack Snyder's first two Superman films, Black Adam finally presents a convincing justification for the harder edge that DC films are perceived to have over those of MCU. 

I've always had difficulty getting my head around the idea of Black Adam as a hero - or even anti-hero - because of one particular image that is forever burned into my brain from 2006's comic book series 52 (issue three) ... when he suddenly ripped the B-list villain Terra-Man in half.

The fate of Terra-Man at the hands of Black Adam

But the movie presents a genuinely rounded view of Adam, with his origin story turning out to not be as straight forward as we presumed, that goes out of its way to explain his complex character.

In fact, to my eyes, pretty much everything about Black Adam is perfect, from the set design to the costumes, creating a sense of verisimilitude that makes the film feel like a comic book brought to life.

The film only really goes off the rails slightly in the third act, with the introduction of the demonic villain Sabacc, a visually stunning entity that is sadly devoid of any personality and whose sole purpose is to serve as a punching bag for the protagonists.

There was also a suggestion quite early on that the only thing that could really hurt Adam was Eternium, but that seems to soon be forgotten in all the excitement.

Beyond the obvious Shazam! connection (check out the mid-credit scene in Shazam! Fury of The Gods where Waller tries to recruit Captain Marvel for the JSA), Black Adam has lots of Easter Eggs entwining it in the broader DC Universe of movies and there's even an awkward mid-credit scene here (clearly pieced together from shots of the two characters not in the same room) designed to further cement this.

It's almost a shame then that Warner Bros decided to reboot the whole cinematic shindig under the auspices of James Gunn because with Black Adam (and the far weaker Shazam! Fury of The Gods) you get the feeling that this particular cinematic universe was just starting to pull itself together.

I really want to see Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's Black Adam in action again in the new Gunn'verse, perhaps fighting alongside (a recast) Captain Marvel and other more traditionally heroic comic book characters.

Fantastic Four: First Steps Tie-In Comic Announced

cover art by Phil Noto

Unsurprisingly, Marvel Comics has announced a tie-in comic for the upcoming Fantastic Four: First Steps movie which will (finally) welcome the First Family into the MCU.

Written by Matt Fraction, with art by Mark Buckingham, the Fantastic Four: First Steps one-shot is scheduled to land in stores on July 2, just ahead of the film's opening.

The suggestion from Marvel's publicity is this could actually be an in-universe artifact, released to celebrate the Fantastic Four's fourth anniversary "in our world", produced in partnership with the Future Foundation and recounting the early adventures of the team (the Phil Noto cover art is an obvious homage to the iconic first issue of the Fantastic Four from 1961).

Welcome To The Family: A First Step For The Fantastic Four, One Giant Leap For Superhero Cinema

Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives in theaters July 25.

This trailer makes the MCU's Fantastic Four look as near to perfect as an old school superhero flick can get. Honestly, I cannot wait, I'm buzzing to see First Steps.

It's also quite sneaky of Marvel to release this trailer today, the day before Superman Day, when we expect to see a new, full trailer for James Gunn's Superman.

For me they're not competition, but complementary displays of the positivity that symbolises the best comic book adventures of both The Fantastic Four and Superman.

Scream VI (2023)

It's a year after the last Ghostface rampage in Woodsboro and the "Core Four" - Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) and the twins, Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding) - now find themselves in New York.

While the latter three are in college, at Blackmore University, Sam is doing menial jobs to cover the rent while she keeps an eye on her sister.

The film kicks off with an extended cold open, featuring cameos from Ready or Not's Samara Weaving and Tony Revolori, from the recent Spider-Man movies, again subverting the classic Scream opening with what is just the beginning of a trail of obfuscation and misdirection.

Ghostface has come to New York and states - on the phone - upfront that he's targeting Sam "for what she did" and anyone, such as her sister and friends, who gets in the way.

Sam is already persona non grata because of internet conspiracy theories that she in fact orchestrated the attacks in Woodsboro - because of her heritage - and then framed the actual killers.

This is all part of Scream VI's evolution of the central theme that it's now no longer 'enough' to 'simply' kill a person, you also have to kill their reputation as well.

As bodies start to inevitably mount up, Mindy declares to the group that they are not in a sequel, they're now part of a franchise and thus the rules have changed again, meaning everyone is fair game. 

As with the previous film, Scream VI presents us with a broad collection of potential murderers and victims, including legacy characters such as Hayden Panettiere's Kirby Reed, from Scream 4 (now an FBI agent) and fresh meat, including Sam's "secret" boyfriend, Danny Brackett (Josh Segarra, who you might recognise from playing the excellent Pug in She-Hulk, Attorney at Law, or Adrian Chase in Arrow).

Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) returns, of course, and even the ghost of Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) pops up a couple of times.

Thankfully, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are back as directors, working with a script, again, by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, which really helps ensure that Scream VI feels like an organic continuation of the previous instalment in the horrific murder-mystery franchise.

Whereas I posited the idea that 2022's Scream would have provided a satisfying conclusion to the overarching story, Scream VI now leaves the door well and truly open for a continuation of the saga of the Ghostface killings.

I would hope though that should another entry be made it would be under the auspices of the same team responsible for these last two Scream movies.

But now it's officially a franchise, who knows what direction the story will go in? 

And I must add the point that Marvel movies have broken me: I now scroll through the credits of every film I watch to see if there's a post-credit scene, and I have to say the one snuck on the end of Scream VI is perfect.

Venom - The Last Dance (2024)

Back from his brief sojourn on the MCU's Earth-616, Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his alien symbiote, Venom, find themselves pursued across America by both the military and extra-dimensional symbiote-hunting monsters called Xenophages.

The military want to study Venom in their underground base, concealed beneath Area 51 in the Nevada desert, while the monsters serve Knull (Andy Serkis, director of Venom: Let There Be Carnage), the god-like creator of the symbiotes.

With nebulous goals of universal suppression, Knull needs "the codex", part of Eddie and Venom's bond, to free himself from Klyntar, a space prison built for him by his rebellious symbiotes.

While on the run, Eddie meets up with a potentially-irritating family of hippies (Rhys Ifans is the alien-mad father, Martin Moon, and Alanna Ubach is his wife, Nova) whose aggravation quotient mellows as the story unfolds. Rather than being just amusing cameos, the Moon family ultimately prove pivotal in the film's third act.

Eddie eventually runs out of luck, is captured by General Rex Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and transported to the subterranean base, where Stephen Graham's presumed-dead Detective Patrick Mulligan is also being held.

But the Xenophages are still on Eddie's trail, leading to a final - grand scale - showdown at Area 51.

While the Venom trilogy peaked with its second chapter, The Last Dance has an easy-to-follow, straight-forward "chase-and-fight" plot that makes its 110-minute duration bounce along at an engaging pace.

Don't get me wrong, The Last Dance is a chaotic mess - full of extraneous, undeveloped characters - but it simultaneously manages to finely balance absolute silliness and existential cosmic horror.

The scenes featuring Knull look as though they were lifted direct from the comic book source material, and the fact that his menace is never fully realised only adds to the overwhelming sense of dread he exudes.

Although it seems certain that this film is the end of Tom Hardy/Eddie Brock's involvement with Venom, it does leave the door open for an MCU symbiote (just with a new host) and the potentially multiversal threat of Knull and his legions of Xenophages.

As dumb as it was, I actually really enjoyed Venom: The Last Dance, and was genuinely surprised by the main movie's downbeat ending.

There's (of course) a mid- and a post-credit scene, but neither really add much to the story (except to remind us that Knull still very much exists in the Sony'verse, and possibly leaving the door open for further adventures).

Until I discovered the movies, I was never really that interested in Venom as a comic book character, but it's been Tom Hardy's passion for the character and this trilogy that really sold me on it.

I'm not sure, as it stands, how bothered I'd be about future cinematic outings for the character if Tom Hardy wasn't playing the lead.

• Venom: The Last Dance is now available on Blu-Ray in the UK.

In 2025 We Can Look Up Again...

Now this is what I want from a superhero picture: inspirational and optimistic. 

And Krypto!!!

It's looking like 2025 is going to be a great year for superhero films, but, truth be told, I have no particular interest in seeing Marvel's pair of military-fetish offerings - Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* - at the cinema.

I can comfortably wait for the Blu-Rays (or Disney Plus release) of those.

However, then we get to July and it's a double-hit of my favourites getting (hopefully) the treatment they deserve.

First we have James Gunn's Superman on July 11 (my favourite character in DC Comics) and then on July 25 The Fantastic Four: First Steps (my favourite superhero team finally earn their place in the MCU).

I rarely go the cinema these days (I think the last time was in late 2023 to see The Marvels), but I really feel as though July is going to see a couple of carpe diem days as I really need to see both these pictures on the silver screen.

As bleak as the world is probably going to be by then, these two films should prove the ultimate fillip in the dark days ahead.