controversy

Fortunately, domo arigato, Hollywood learns from their mistakes.

HA! Fooled you. Are you really looking from cultural awareness from a group of elderly white men who think hiring a Mexican maid is enlightened?

Cofi Outlaw, over at Comic Book Movies, says that the Hellboy reboot, which fans have been clamoring for, is catching flack for casting Ed Skrein, as Ben Daimio, who is Japanese-American in the comic.

Ed, for the record, is not very Asian.

Controversy over race-changes to popular geek culture characters has been a mounting trend in Hollywood. Whether it’s casting traditionally white characters with actors of color or vice versa, the change usually sparks intense debate amongst fans and creators, alike.

In this case, the character of Ben Daimio has important cultural elements attached to his character, as his grandmother was an Imperial assassin for Japan during WWII. Like with the Hollywood adaptations of both Ghost In Shell and Death Note this year, it’s being argued that characters with such strong cultural ties should be played by some of the many fine actors in the industry who are actually Asian.

The Hellboy is ramping up in its pre-production. The reboot will have an R-rating, and will be much darker than the version (that) Guillermo del Toro put out.

Hellboy has cast Stranger Things star David Harbour as the titular character, with Milla Jovovich playing the evil Blood Queen, Ian McShane as Hellboy’s “father” Professor Broom, Sasha Lane as Alice Monaghan, and Ed Skrein as Major Ben Daimio.

While, in some cases, race really doesn’t matter, such as with almost any galactic super villain, there are times it does. This is one of them.

Another time it shouldn’t matter is if the original character is orange. And, much to my surprise, casting a very black woman to be a sexy orange alien has not really broke the Interweb thingie I type into.

Michael Mistroff, over at heroic Hollywood, reports that Anna Diop is going to be the new Starfire in the upcoming Teen Titans live action show.

Deadline reports Anna Diop (24: Legacy) has joined the cast of DC’s live-action Titans series as the alien princess Koriand’r aka Starfire.

Diop joins 13-year old actress Teagan Croft who stars as Raven. In addition to Raven and Starfire, the series is also expected to feature Dick Grayson (Nightwing), and Garfield Logan (Beast Boy), with other heroes possibly appearing as well.

The series written by Akiva Goldsman (Star Trek: Discovery), DC chief creative officer Geoff Johns (The Flash, Arrow) and Greg Berlanti (Arrow, DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow, The Flash, Supergirl) follows a group of young superheroes from all over the DC Universe when Dick Grayson emerges from the shadows to become the leader of the fearless band of new heroes known as the Titans.

This is what they are expecting her to look like on screen.

Thanks again to the internet we have a little more info on the new Titans.

Megan Peters, over at ComicBook.com, breaks it down.

Looking at the summaries, it seems like Titans has a specific era from which each of its character are drawn from. Nightwing appears to be sourced from Dick Grayson 1990s Nightwing run where he worked for the Bludhaven police in an attempt to take down corruption. As for Raven, much of her description is sourced from creator Marv Wolfman’s runs as she tries to run from her demonic father Trigon.

When it comes to Starfire, the ethereal character looks to be sourced straight from her first origin story. And, for Beast Boy fans, the green shape-shifting superhero will come off as a petty thief before Titans can turn him into a bonafide hero.

Titans is being produced by Geoff Johns, Greg Berlanti, and Akiva Goldsman – the same team that brings the DC Universe on The CW. Goldsman has written the script for Titans, and it’s expected to premiere in 2018.

Now, with the Starfire and Raven roles filled they can fill the male roles. Except for Dick Greyson, a/k/a Robin, a/k/a Nightwing, who has to be a white guy with a perfect ass, there’s plenty of room to move for the rest of the cast.

This is exciting for fans. while Cyborg won’t be in this version, at least not yet, due to the fact they are focusing on his character in Justice League and a stand alone film, there is still a lot here for fans, and newbies, to enjoy.

But what about Nightwing’s mentor? Mr. Bat? Well, this week a rumor hit the interweb stating that “sources” had “confirmed” that Ben Affleck was out, that the new Batman movie would be separate from Justice League, et al, and that kittens were being sacrificed Balam to ensure a good shoot.

In order; “sources” may or may not be some dude who once delivered donuts to the set, “confirmed” doesn’t seem to mean what they think it means, and the kittens are fine.

Brandon Davis, also over at ComicBook.com, fixes the internet.

First he deals with the director, Matt Reeves.

“When they approached me, what they said was, ‘Look, it’s a standalone. This isn’t part of the Extended Universe,'” Reeves said on The Business podcast back in July.

The quote resurfaced following the news of a standalone Joker film which would exist in an isolated universe, independent of the DC Extended Universe, with a new actor playing Batman’s greatest nemesis. The Batman movie, however, will not follow such a lead.

In my comments from a while back about not being part of the DCEU, I was talking about The Batman being a story specifically about Batman…

“In my comments from a while back about not being part of the DCEU, I was talking about The Batman being a story specifically about Batman,” Reeves wrote. “Not about the others in the Universe. That it wouldn’t be filled with cameos servicing other stories — that it would be a BATMAN story.”

The Batman connection to the greater DC Extended Universe is officially confirmed.

Basically, when all is said and done, he wants to do a movie based on the character of Batman. He doesn’t want a a bunch of super powered beings crashing his set every half hour. In other words, he doesn’t think he needs them. For the record, neither do I. Batman, and his regular rouges, are more than enough to make a great film.

As to the Ben Affleck rumors, he got the best quote you could get.

“Batman is the coolest f*cking part in any universe – DC, Marvel – it’s incredible, and I’m so thrilled to do it,” Affleck said. “I know there’s this misconception that because I didn’t direct it I wasn’t enthusiastic about it; it’s fucking amazing… and with Matt Reeves doing it, it’s like I’d be a fucking ape on the ground for Matt Reeves – never mind being Batman! It’s incredible! So I’m really blown away and excited and it’s a great time in the DC Universe. You’re going to see some stuff from Justice League that we’re really really proud of, and I’ll think you’ll see why I’m really excited to be Batman.”

That’s clear enough.

Now, in conclusion, when Wonder Woman came out the Alamo Drafthouse Theater chain in San Antonio held screenings just for women who gender identified as female. They were a huge success, and caused the internet to break with ALL CAPS screeds posted by angry man-children, and life went on.

Well, to quote a famous movie, THEEEEEEY’RE BAAAAAACK!

They will be doing a screening of the Steven King film, IT, for clowns only. Delaney Strunk, over at Buzzfeed, has the 411.

According to the theater’s site, participants should come “dressed as a clown in order to attend. Please arrive in your own Pennywise best and be ready to float with us.” It’s literally going to be a bunch of people dressed as scary clowns watching a movie about a very scary clown, and I swear I’ve had a nightmare just like this.

If you’ve yet to see the trailer, you are very lucky because this movie looks legitimately terrifying, but here it is if you’re curious or if you’re just a masochist who’s into this type of thing.

Oh and want to know the worst part about this ridiculous ordeal? The clown-only showing is already sold out. A full theater’s worth of people have already said, “You know what, I’m okay with dressing like a creepy-ass clown and watching a scary movie.”

While I have no problem with clowns, in the main, I still think this is something I would avoid. But boycotting it? Nope. Let folks have their fun I say.