Hard NOC Life 235: Emmys So What
Keith, Britney, and Dominic rant about who won — but more importantly, who didn’t — during the Emmy Awards last night. Then, they break down the new Hawkeye trailer and recap the latest episode of What If.
Tag: Superheroes
Why this ‘American Sikh’ Cosplays as Captain America
Animator and cosplayer Vishavjit Singh has experienced tremendous trauma in his life. He survived a genocide against Sikh people in India as a young boy, and after he and his family fled to the US, he’s constantly experienced racism and Islamophobia (despite not being Muslim) in the pre- and post-9/11 era. Despite all of this, he remains an optimist for people to treat each other better, and found through his regular cosplaying as Captain America that he could somehow achieve that. But what drew him to this initially?
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‘Titans’ Star Jay Lycurgo on Representing and That Major Moment For Tim Drake
Jay Lycurgo is ready to represent mixed kids everywhere as Tim Drake in HBO Max’s Titans.
The 23-year-old British actor, who is himself a fanboy of comic books and pop culture, never saw someone who looked like him on television or in film. Prior to his casting, Lycurgo tweeted about needing more people of color as superheroes because these kids need more role models. After he was cast as Tim Drake, the biracial actor recalled seeing a mixed race kid wearing a Robin suit and feeling proud about it.
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DC’s ‘Batman Unburied’ Finds Its Riddler in Hasan Minhaj
The Batman Unburied podcast has just gotten a little bigger. Previously, it was reported that Winston Duke (Black Panther, Us) would voice Bruce Wayne/Batman, while Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter) would voice his trusted butler/father figure Alfred. The two are headlining the podcast written by David S. Goyer, which promises an original story that tests the limits of Batman’s physical strength as well as his mental capabilities as Gotham City’s greatest protector.
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Abubakr Ali Cast as Titular Anti-Hero for Netflix’s ‘Grendel’
Middle East and North African (MENA) and Muslim people have had scant options when it comes to the superhero genre or comic book adaptations generally. Arab and Persian people in particular have most often been vilified in popular media through the decades. But this is thankfully starting to change, such as with the Tarazi siblings on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow for Persian people, but perhaps now for Arab people with the news from Deadline that Netflix is developing a Grendel series, based on Matt Wagner’s comic series of the same name, and has cast The CW’s Katy Keene star and Abubakr Ali in the starring role!
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New ‘Amazing Spider-Man Beyond’ Trailer Introduces a Familiar Comic Face
Spider-Man has had some truly iconic moments in his comic book history. From Peter Parker’s initial debut as the wall-crawling webhead in Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962, to the introduction of the vast Spider-Verse in 2014. Arguably one of his most controversial moments was during the “Clone Saga.”
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‘Batman: Year One’ Celebrates 10th Anniversary with Special Commemorative Edition
How is a legend created? What separates an individual from the rest of life and history to become something truly greater than flesh and bone? Ten years ago, Warner Bros. released the animated adaptation of Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One, and in that film, all of those answers were discovered. And to this day, the story and legend of the Batman has gripped audiences by their collective cores and continues to take them on the greatest ride imaginable.
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Hard NOC Life 234: Falling Down the Rabbit Hole
Keith, Britney, and Dominic are back on Hard NOC Life to break down the new trailer for The Matrix Resurrections and tumble down the rabbit hole of Marvel movie speculation. They also give their thoughts on the latest episode of What If and the merits of Marvel Zombies.
Watch the New Trailer for Marvel Studios’ ‘Hawkeye’
Disney+ and Marvel Studios have just released an official teaser trailer and poster for Hawkeye. The new series stars Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye and Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop. The cast also includes Vera Farmiga, Florence Pugh, Fra Fee, Tony Dalton, Zahn McClarnon, Brian d’Arcy James, and Alaqua Cox.
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FDI Cast 119: Justice for Suki
This has nothing to do with what we’re talking about, but seriously, Suki needs to return to the Fast franchise in these last two movies!
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‘Aquaman: King of Atlantis’ Makes a Splash in First HBO Max Promo
The first promo for Aquaman: King of Atlantis, a new animated reimagining of the iconic DC Super Hero. This original story follows Aquaman’s first adventures as King of Atlantis alongside his royal advisor Vulko, and warrior-princess Mera.
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Why Asian Americans Feel Compelled to Defend ‘Shang-Chi’
Recently and on their own initiative, my 11-year old child became interested in Greek mythology. As a single co-parent father continually desperate for reasons to relate to and bond with my child, this delighted me, because by coincidence I became infatuated with Greek myths when I was young. As a broke Vietnamese refugee nerd kid, I’d go to the Franklin library and read up about the messed up Gods, the flawed heroes, the fantastic creatures.
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Hard NOC Life 233: Did ‘Shang-Chi’ Live Up to the Hype?
Now that it’s breaking box office records, Keith, Britney, and Dominic are joined by HK cinema and martial arts movie expert Raymond Chow to break down Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on a new episode of Hard NOC Life.
‘Shang-Chi’ Is Not NOT Like ‘Black Panther’
As Bruce Lee might say, we must start with dispelling what is not useful and replace it with what is useful. I will not rehash any arguments comparing Shang-Chi to Black Panther which are based in speculation, impulse-tweeted, or otherwise made in bad faith. The phrase “Asian American Black Panther” has been tossed around (including by me), in various contexts, since Black Panther came out in 2018.
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Two Chinese Americans Explain How to Pronounce ‘Shang-Chi’
Keith and Dominic tap into their Chinese American backgrounds to provide YouTube’s definitive explainer on how to pronounce “Shang-Chi,” a name that the entire world will want to know now that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the biggest movie in the world!
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‘Shang-Chi’ and the Ten Asian American Things (To Be Aware Of)
Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings opens in theaters tonight! Be safe, be curious!
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‘Shang-Chi’ Screenwriter Dave Callaham on Keeping it Authentically Asian American
Marvel’s Shang-Chi premieres this week. As the first Asian-led Marvel film, there’s a lot of pressure to get this character and story right, given the comic book’s problematic history being rooted in stereotypical Asian tropes. Director Destin Daniel Cretton and screenwriter Dave Callaham did a lot of research on Shang-Chi’s comic book origins and knew what they wanted to do with him.
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Animated ‘Injustice’ Movie Coming This October
Who’s ready for more “evil crazy Superman” action? If your name is Zack Snyder, you probably raised your hand already. Because your favorite edgy storyline (based on a video game rather than an actual comic book — unless you count the comic series inspired by the video game) about everyone’s favorite superhero going crazy and killing a bunch of characters in a dark and broody apocalyptic way is coming to Home Entertainment, courtesy of DC Animation: Injustice!
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Mezco Announces One:12 Collective ‘The Crow’ Figure
I haven’t been this hyped for a Mezco One:12 figure since the Christopher Reeve Superman was announced last summer. That figure absolutely blew me away and turned my opinion around on the entire line. Now, another figure has been announced that might be even better: Brandon Lee as Eric Draven from the ’90s goth classic, The Crow.
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Welcome Back to the DC FanDome
Suit up, DC Fans! Because on Saturday, October 16, you’re needed back at the DC FanDome!
That’s right! After the overwhelming success of last year’s inaugural virtual event, DC announced earlier this year that DC FanDome would be returning. And as of this morning, we are finally getting an official press release, and an announcement regarding the programming we can expect from this year’s event. And it’s looking to be just as epic the second time around.
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Hard NOC Life 232: ‘Shang-Chi’ and the Legend of the Rep Sweats
On a new episode of Hard NOC Life, Keith, Britney, and Dominic revisit the Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer, worry about the discourse surrounding Shang-Chi, how the Free Guy creative team should bring Deadpool to the MCU, and recap the latest episode of Disney+’s What If. They also look back at the one-year anniversary of Chadwick Boseman’s passing.
Raise Your Brellies! ‘The Umbrella Academy’ Season 3 Has Wrapped
Hargreeves stans rejoice because The Umbrella Academy has officially wrapped production of season three. Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s stellar graphic novel turned groundbreaking Netflix series has fans eagerly waiting for its release. Per the series’ official Twitter page, the super kids turned badass time travelers (oops, spoilers I guess?) came together to announce the end of production and how excited they were for fans to dive into the new season. With the end of season two came countless questions, like who the hell is the Sparrow Academy, why is Ben their leader, what planet is Sir Reginald Hargreeves from, and where’d Lila go at the end of it all?
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‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ is Getting a #GoldOpen
In just one week, Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is set to premiere in theaters everywhere. As the first Asian-led Marvel film, with a predominantly Asian cast, Shang-Chi is about to get its very own #GoldOpen.
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