Your 2020 Predictions, Part Four: Behemoth from the World Below.
So here’s another bucket full o’funnybook foresights from you, my friendly readers, left a year ago on this very internet web homepage. There have already been three parts to this year’s journal (one and a two and a three)
And like I keep reminding you, YOUR 2021 COMIC INDSTRY PREDICTIONS ARE WANTED…NAY, NEEDED! Get ’em in before, you know, February hits, at the very least.
Okay, let’s see what you characters have for me this time:
Rob S. steals my heart with
“1) Josh Williamson will move from Flash after issue 100 (or what would be issue 100, since they’re renumbering). It’ll be the longest run of a writer on a Rebirth title, surpassing King on Batman. He’ll move on to a JSA book.”
It looks like #762 (or “#101” by this volume’s original numbering) appears to have been his swan song on the title, so you did, you magnificent bastard. As for moving on to a Justice Society title…I could’ve sworn I’d seen news about a JSA comic coming soon-ish, but darned if I can track it down now. Thus, let me put a pin in that part of the prediction ’til I can jumpstart my head and figure out where I saw that, if in fact I did.
“2) The DC Walmart books will get another revamping sometime this year, as their schedules and plans become clearer. Also, the previously announced and canceled DC War Giant will arrive around May, for Memorial Day.”
Appears they were revamped into prepacks of 4 individual comics (with “collectible backing board.” DC seems to have put the kibosh on the giants for now, both through Walmart and in comic shops. At least the Our Fighting Forces giant did get released on May 27th…so, same week as Memorial Day, anyway!
“3) Adam Strange’s ‘mystery co-star’ in the Tom King/Mitch Gerads/Doc Shaner Strange Adventures book will be Deadman, another former star of the title.”
‘Twasn’t Deadman, alas, but I wouldn’t mind seeing this team do a Deadman mini, actually.
Dave Carter hauls in the following
“1) After the huge success of Action #1000 & Detective #1000, and to a lesser extent Wonder Woman #750 & Flash #750, DC’s 5G reboot will see a return to legacy numbering for many of the DCU titles.”
Would’ve been nice. Like, let’s get Justice League back to its original numbering. Who knows, with Bendis coming onto that title, maybe there’s a chance? We’ll see.
“2) Wonder Woman 1984 will be the highest grossing movie by a non-Disney studio.”
Well, all things considered…yes, actually, far as I can tell. I mean, in worldwide totals it, but just domestically The Croods, for which there was apparently a sequel, took in a bit more green. Anyway, who the hell is going to movie theaters right now. I mean, domestically, mostly.
“3) Someone publishes a comic featuring super-hero (or otherwise fantastical) versions of the Democratic & Republican presidential nominees fighting it out via fisticuffs.”
Seemed like, aside from the plethora of Donald Trump comics, we didn’t seem to get a whole lot of this sort of comic this time ’round, versus like how it was in the Obama era. THANKS, OBAMA. Anyway, there was an issue of Donald Who Laughs that looked like it had Trump versus Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and I think that was as close as we got. Look, we were all hoping Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente would have had his own comic book last year, because if any name needs to be logo on a cover….
googum googummed
“1. Some Black Label or such book is going to take off for DC; and they’ll of course take the wrong lessons from it and try to cram all sorts of titles in there.”
Did any of them really “take off” this year? I mean, they mostly all did well, and people seemed to like them, but nothing stands out as spurring on more of the same. I mean, aside from having multiple Joker titles in the imprint. Anyway, I thought I remember reading that some new overseer at DC ain’t thrilled about “mature reader” books, so who knows what’s gonna happen.
“2. After Iron Man 2020, Marvel will follow-up with some of their other futures between then and 2099; like Deathlok and Killraven.”
If those characters (and related timeframes) did make an appearance, I don’t think it was anything major. I didn’t read many Marvel titles (or much of anything) this past year, but I can’t say I’d seen much along those lines.
“3. This would be late 2020 at best, but assuming some orange clown doesn’t win re-election, Marvel is going to have some comics that assumed he did, or that a more conservative regime is in place. (I think Dark Reign did the same thing some time back? Like it didn’t fit under Obama.)”
It’s my sense Marvel didn’t do much in this vein, but again, like I said, I didn’t read much Marvel this year, so if anyone has a better clue to what googum has googummed, please drop it in the comments.
Jeff R. rites
“1. Kalel Kent, Superman III of 2020 will appear in continuity during his year.”
THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY in that I don’t think this happened. I miss the Superman of 2020!
“2. At the end of the year we still won’t know when Doomsday Clock is supposed to be happened with regard to DC continuity around Alfred, Superman,etc.”
Well, we sort of know it takes place before Death Metal, I think. I mean, kinda sorta.
“3. The legion will still be going at years end and will have a cw show announced.”
Well, yes, technically it was still going since #12 is out this week, but after the Future State mini the series doesn’t seem to be back on the schedule. …Would love to see a live-action LSH series outside of their guest appearances in Supergirl but not holding my breath.
Andrew-TLA ventures on with
“1. Dark Horse will lose another of their major properties, either creator-owned or licensed.”
Were the losses of Alien and Predator known by the end of 2019? You know, it was probably presumed but it was definitely a thing in 2020. Especially once Marvel started announcing Alien variant covers for their comics late in the year.
“2. Rumors will fly fast and furious on the alleged news sites about possible casting choices for Wolverine and the Thing. That one of them will eventually be proven right is down more to the fact that every possible name was listed rather than any sort of insider information.”
I don’t think there’s been any Real Announcements as per actual casting, so alas, we have to wait to find out if Daniel Dae Kim really will be Wolverine or Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will be the Thing. (Don’t lie, you know these are great choices.)
“3. Comic books will continue to be published in their traditional single-issue format.”
Despite my best efforts, yes.
@misterjayem “at”s me with
“2020 in review:
“1) It was the best of times,”
Well, I’m not so sure about that.
“2) It was the worst of times,”
But here, I think you might be onto something.
“3) J.A.K.E., the G.I. Robot”
Had to do a little Googling to check, and there was surprisingly a handful of appearances in recent years, but alas, not in 2020, when we needed G.I. Robot the most.
The King of the Moon waxes and wanes with the following
“The witch who put a curse on Mike’s eyeballs will finally be brought to justice”
Not yet, but definitely being held at bay. (And let’s be fair, it could be a warlock.)
“Disney+ announces a Power Pack cartoon”
Supposedly there’s a film in the works, but the fact that there’s no Disney+ cartoon could only mean Disney has decided they’ve made enough money and don’t need to make any more.
“Johnny Tremain – the motion comic”
Just no appreciation for the classics these days, what can I tell you.
Okay, we’re within spittin’ distance of the end here, and hopefully I can wrap it up next time! Thanks for reading pals, and I’ll see you soon.
Daniel Dae Kim would be INSPIRED Wolverine casting. What made you think of that? I originally said no to the Rock as the Thing, but darned if he doesn’t have that weird sense of humor and the ability to laugh at himself that we all want in Ben Grimm, so yeah! Plus, the Rock jokes would just write themselves!
Robcat – I just like Daniel Dae Kim is all!
I can’t really see Mr. Johnson doing himself up in 40 pounds of foam rubber or letting himself be replaced with CGI.
That said, some of Kirby’s Thing expressions do look a lot like the ol’ People’s Eyebrow. There are worse choices out there.
You have got me remembering all the speculation when the first X-Men movie was in pre-production. LOTS of names were thrown around for Wolverine, such as Russell Crowe (the general favorite), Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson, Gary Sinise (who, oddly, seemed to be the runner-up in fan expectation), numerous wrestlers (though not, as best I can recall, Dwayne Johnson), and some heavy metal musician whose sole qualification was that he already wore his hair in Wolverine-style–for a lot of fans, this was seriously taken as conclusive proof of his suitability. One name that was conspicuously absent was Hugh Jackman.
I also remember one person who was arguing for Crowe, or maybe it was Gibson, and who stressed as a point in the actor’s favor that he was Australian, just like the character. This took me aback, until I realized that this person was basing this on a memory of one of the animated versions of Wolverine, I forget which, who had been given an Australian accent. And, given who actually did get the role, maybe this speculator was on to something. Indeed, if Australianness* was considered a necessary factor, that explains the lesser known Jackman (a true Australian) being chosen over Crowe (actually a New Zealander) and Gibson (an American who lived for awhile in Australia).
Another X-Men movie is years ago, and quite probably no more than the more general sort of thinking has been done about it by the people who will actually be making it, but I notice that the Intertubes already buzzing with details of the casting. One British tabloid tried to get the story going that Meghan Markle would be playing Storm, but no one seems to have taken the bait on that. Presumably that is because the tabloid clearly based its story not on any insider information but rather on the dubious logic of “She’s a woman, she’s African-American, she used to be an actress, who else could possibly play the part?” In some fan circles, it is taken as a certainty that Denzel Washington will play Magneto–an idea good enough that I am willing to believe it has actually been discussed at Marvel Headquarters, but surely not tied down this far in advance of a script being written or a director being named. I note that the people who object to this insist that Washington cannot play the role because Magneto absolutely must be a Holocaust survivor (a detail which, I note, was not introduced until 18 years after the character’s debut). When someone points out that this will make him in his 90s by the time the movie comes out, this will be waved away with the assertion “Everyone knows mutants age at a different rate from normal people.” Well, yes, Marvel could use that excuse, but I think it far more likely the character will simply be re-conceived to fit the period–just as, for example, the movie Hulk’s origin was not tied to an above-ground nuclear test, something which has not happened in the real world since 1962. Sure, you could argue that in the Marvel Cinematic Universe the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was never ratified, and that would make a few nerds happy, but to most of the people watching the movie that would seem merely proof that the movie makers knew nothing of reality.
*Australianhood? Australianity?
“Another X-Men movie is years away,” not “years ago.” You really need an edit function–or, I suppose, I really need to proofread before posting.
One more thought: I remember that the original speculation about the casting of Professor X was entirely limited to actors who were already bald (Patrick Stewart, Robert Duvall, Ben Kingsley, Billy Bob Thornton). I wonder if the same will happen this time, or if the example of James McAvoy will finally get the fans to acknowledge the possibility that an actor can shave his head for a role. (As I have mentioned here a few times, I marvel at the tendency of fans to limit their casting considerations to actors who already match the character’s hair. The example that most amused me was in one of those “casting call” features in WIZARD magazine. The character in question was a bald woman–presumably Moondragon, though my memory is fuzzy after all these years. WIZARD’s choice was Persis Khambatta, who was obviously chosen because she had played a bald woman in the first STAR TREK movie. However, Khambatta was not naturally bald; she had shaved her head, a fact that had been widely reported. So, WIZARD was acknowledging the fact that an actress might alter her appearance to fit a role, but it was acknowledging the fact for only one actress. If you needed a bald woman, you had to cast Persis Khambatta; surely there was no other woman who would even consider shaving her head.)
While a LOSH show on CW would probably be fairly cost prohibitive to pull off on a regular basis, I still would love to see an eventual crossover where all the various characters get pulled to the 30th century for some treason or another and we see them interacting with the Legion (and the outcome of their own nascent superheroics) for a few self-contained episodes. You could even “bring back” other characters if they were drawn from different points in the time line, leading to the classic soap opera dilemma of fighting together for the combined future without letting them know of their individual future…