Infinity War: A Review in Part (The Mind Stone)

Hello and welcome all,

It's been longer than I had initially intended between posts for this review.  I'm hoping to have one per day until we are finished to make up for the delay.  In this review I will start discussing some more of the spoiler topics so please if you haven't seen the movie don't let me ruin it for you.


THE MIND STONE

This one is pretty easy in my mind as to me the Russo Brothers, Christopher Markus, & Stephen McFeely best represent the elements of the Mind Stone.


I have often used the anecdote of a juggler to illustrate the hazards of telling a story each element is represented as a ball.  A novice juggler can pick up 2-3 balls and keep them flowing and make a somewhat entertaining show of it.  An extremely skilled juggler can do a litany of things add balls to their act and still put on a flawless performance. 

This film has so many moving pieces that only the very best jugglers could handle it.  That credit goes to the screenwriting team of Markus & McFeely, and to the directors who determine which pieces to give emphasis to and which to dial back on.

As I said previously the main characters in this film are so segmented & in disarray based on interpersonal relationships, ideology, and geography that it had to have been incredibly difficult to make decisions on what to emphasize, and how to make sure each moment landed.

Infinity War accomplishes many things, but the best in my mind is the very subtle ploys to keep the audience uneasy.  The things we've become accustomed to to comfort we had been provided by previous Marvel movies were slowly stripped away.  In many ways Infinity War is a deconstruction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  It has been said in interviews that if it were up to the Russo's Infinity War wouldn't have even had a post credit stinger, because they wanted to audience to feel uneasy and unsure going forward.  The tropes we have gotten used to were inverted. 

Just look at Thor's journey for a crystalline example of this.  We have the opening being the remainder of Asgard decimated & Thor vowing revenge.  We go through his entire journey and harrowing sacrifices to bring about Stormbreaker, and when the moment comes to end it he does not make the killing blow instead wounding our Thanos in order to smugly tell him "I told you I'd kill you for that" (or something to that effect) buying the Titan enough time to snap his fingers.  We are not accustomed to the good guy going through a perilous journey to no reward & ultimate failure. 

Another example that comes to mind is when Spider-man is wiped from existence.  The prior characters that faded away into nothingness barely received any screen time, or dialogue.  It appeared for a moment that the web slinger was spared until he started talking.

The team that created this film through their writing & directing exemplify the Mind Stone in this reviewers eyes.  They took a movie in this genre that could've been just another "big, dumb, loud" blockbuster & used it to add stakes to not only the next installment of the Avengers franchise, but for untold Marvel Movies to come.

That's all for today see you next time at The Comic Shop!       

"Avengers: Infinity War" A Partial review: Thanos (The Power Stone)

Hello and welcome to The Comic Shop Blog!

So many things going on right now with me that I really don't want to go into detail in, but the gist that mainly applies to you dear reader is that I am rediscovering my love for a great many things.  For the past couple years sitting down to have time to write and create was a luxury that I could not afford.  There is nothing more important to me as a person than to be a husband and father first and unfortunately a lot of the things that were extra became burdens impossible to bear. As I said though things are changing and it looks like I will have a lot more time on my hands to do some things that I truly enjoy and that includes write this blog, create content for the FB page, and launch a podcast.  Enough of this lets get on to a partial review....

I aspire for The Comic Book Shop to be unique and not like all those other "comic book sites" that use current events as a reason to produce tons of clickbait articles with banner headlines like "DID <SPOILER> REALLY <SPOILER> in the <SPOILER> with <SPOILER> in Infinity War?".  I also aspire to give things due time before discussing in full.  A person should not be punished for having to wait a couple days/weeks to see a movie.

That is why over the next few weeks we will collect pieces of a review like Infinity Stones little thoughts & anecdotes about individuals and events that when placed together on a web browser will become the most powerful force in the universe (unless you are running Internet Explorer).....


A decade of time & 18 movies to build up one Mad Titan.  Did he live up to near impossible expectations?

Absolutely.

The Russos created a film that was bold, brave, independent, and didn't need no man (okay maybe not that last one).  In doing so they put Thanos at the heart and center of it to great effect.

The way that superhero movies are now we've almost become accustomed to either 1. a listless, boring villain with no real story 2. a CGI monstrosity that could easily be replaced by a wacky-waving-arm-flailing-inflatable-tube-man or a combination of the 2. 

Thanos (portrayed by Josh Brolin) breaks the mold.  His motivations are easy to comprehend, he isn't a mustache twirling cornball, and ultimately he portrays a total bad ass without feeling the need to talk tough or yell.  He conveys a quiet strength & calculation that inspires fear in his delivery.

Brolin's mo-cap/voice over work helps to anthropomorphize what had the potential to be another poorly conceptualized CGI blob.  That's not to say that the CGI was bad though because I thought they did a wonderful job rendering the Mad Titan.

It's not an original thought to say that this was Thanos' story and that description is apt.  He begins his machinations and the Avengers we've met over the past 10 years scramble like cockroaches when the lights get switched on to catch up.

It can be argued that this will be a 2 part story I have to say in my mind that this was a Thanos movie with a complete beginning, middle, and end.

Thanos best exemplifies the Power Stone because he is the force driving the story told in this film. Lets' add him to our gauntlet and get ready for the next entry. 



That's all I really have for today.  I apologize for the jumbled nature of my thoughts.  I will be back in a few days with the Mind Stone so look out for that.

See you soon at The Comic Shop!

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

“Let the past die, kill it if you have to”

I am going to try to write this review as Spoiler Free as possible, but there are things I will mention that may spoil parts of the movie so read at your own risk if you have still not seen “The Last Jedi”.

While everyone has their rose colored memories of their favorite “Star Wars” movie, nostalgia was never going to be the mode that Disney would take for the good of the future of the franchise.  Clinging desperately to the Skywalker lineage, the shadowy Emperor figure, Jedi dogma, Etc. and so forth was never a long term strategy for success.  

The narrative structure, storytelling, and hell, even life itself are built upon change.  How do we react when something changes our perception?  How do we react when our own preconceived notions and everything we know are challenged in a meaningful way?  What is “Lord of the Rings” if Frodo never leaves the shire?  What is “Star Wars” if red droid doesn’t randomly explode leading to Luke buying R2D2?  My point is that storytelling is always about moving forward, and while I enjoyed the fun nostalgia trip of “The Force Awakens” it wasn’t satisfying in any meaningful lasting way. 

The way of life, the natural order is to progress and I feel “The Last Jedi” accomplishes that goal more than any other “Star Wars” movie to date.  In 152 minutes Director Rian Johnson did more to open up the world of “Star Wars” than has any director to precede him.  Not only has he cast off the narrative shackles of the trite stories told in past films, he introduced new and interesting uses of the force (ForceTime Chat, force projection), and did a lot to subvert tropes that have been essential to “Star Wars” for a long time.  He also used the last actual trained Jedi in Luke Skywalker to deconstruct the dogma of the Jedi, and to set the table for what the next generation of “good” force wielders will look like.  He took the opportunity to put an end to the self-righteous Jedi Order and all that they hold dear with the assistance of a gleeful force ghost.  In doing so he also found a way to show that there was hope for a brighter tomorrow.   With the death of one symbol of hope another was almost instantly born to exemplify how the force brings balance to the “Star Wars” universe.

“The Last Jedi” is far from a perfect movie.  I think it ran a little long.  It had far too many needless subplots.  The worst offense to me though was the cheesy Disney style humor that just seemed so out of place.  The choice to use characters like Poe Dameron & General Hux to do an unfunny telephone bit just felt so forced (no pun intended) and so out of place in a “Star Wars” film.

The other thing I did not enjoy might be a tad dark, but I thought the whole “granny floating through space” bit was really dumb.  While I have no issue with them showing different uses of the force I just don’t see the point of that particular scene.  While it might have been disrespectful to the memory of the actress involved it may have been better to have had that character peacefully pass away in that moment, because she doesn’t really do anything of note afterwards.  Like I said just my opinion and I understand why they did things the way they did. 

Another thing that I found quite striking was the lack of space battles, lightsaber duels, and pretty much any other real action.  This yfilm was much more about the philosophy of the “Star Wars” universe, and why we must move on from things that we knew were certainties.  I really enjoyed the idea that Rey is not a chosen one, and that as the hero of our story/symbol of hope she has come from humble beginnings.     

As I said the movie was far from perfect, but I think the good accomplished by moving the story forward and making meaningful changes to the “Star Wars” universe far outweighs the shortcomings I have highlighted.  Ironically this Star Wars film “boldy went where no Star Wars film has gone before” and I’m thankful for that.   There are a lot of things I haven’t really gone into great detail on, but I feel like this is one of the stronger “Star Wars” movies of the entire series.  

So my rankings are as follows:

1. Empire

2. A New Hope

3. Rogue One

4. The Last Jedi

5. Revenge of the Sith

6. Return of the Jedi

7. The Force Awakens
8. Attack of the Clones

9. Star Wars Holiday Special
10. Ewoks HBO television show

11. Phantom Menace

Thanks for reading and I look forward to some fun discussion.  See you next time at The Comic Shop!

Spider-man: Homecoming a belated review

Hi Marvel fanboi here to give you 100000000 reasons why Tom Holland is teh greatest while all you bitchez luv Tobey McCryer pussy ass.

Hey fanboi thanks for joining the humble blogger to break down the new Spidey film.

Fanboi: respec


Oh-Kay let's start off with the GOOD:

To your point fanboi I thought Holland was delightfully charming as both Peter & Spidey, but to say best ever is a bit premature. Tobey was great at finding the dramatic nuances, but I'm not sure if it was by design or not his Spider-banter was relatively limited. Garfield was kind of a happy median between the 2 extremes, & Holland played a kid like you'd want to see it played. He is unsure of himself, his place in the world & his mission. If we don't see him struggle & don't see him fail & don't see him get back up again there's no emotional/human connection on his journey.

Fanboi: Das true Fam. I thought Keaton was good too.

I agree it was almost like his part was a movie all of its own very dark & seedy and it clashed with the mostly bright Breakfast Club movie with Peter Parker in it. When the 2 inevitably combined with the late stage reveal it was really great.

Fanboi: it was wicked funny too

Yeah I think it's kind of the expectation you kind of have to set for yourself going in. The writers and directors have the unenviable task of appealing to a mass market & to make movies "for the fans" it's a tightrope they have to walk, but I think as long as the humor is appropriately timed it can cut tension & bring some much needed levity. Sometimes they go too much into the comedy territory, but as I said it's a fine line to walk and sometimes they will go over.

Fanboi: Hey don't you usually do bad & ugly on these? Too bad you won't have much to say this time.

Actually...I covered what I really liked on the FB page this is where I'm looking at things a bit more critically.

Fanboi: ....

BAD:

I'll be honest I understand why it's there but the Stark suit thing kind of pissed me off as a fan. This is Spider-man not Iron Man Jr.  The ingenuity of Parker is one of his defining traits & if this eventually leads to him doing his own thing then that's fine, but I preferred him learning to be himself in his homemade suit.

Fanboi: hater

Oh I'm not done

Fanboi: ...

The entire plot was convenient. He happened to find the weapons that started the whole thing. It's a cliche & a trope that is lazy storytelling & while there were a lot of great things that I enjoyed about the overall story this was something I hung up on.

Fanboi: I can't even...

Well we might as well do Ugly.

The box office drop is concerning. There are a lot of factors sure & it's not the biggest by a wide margin but bottom line is a factor in any business. It's still on par to do pretty much the Marvel average at the box office, but it's slightly disappointing to have a revered character like Spidey carry that albatross especially when he is the face of the MCU going forward. Like I said there are a lot of factors not including that this is the 3rd full reboot in less than 15 years, but it doesn't make the bottom line any easier to swallow.

Fanboi: So you hated it?

No not at all. I don't go to movies to care about box office numbers or anything else I go to be entertained and on that merit I thought it was tremendous. If I cared about box office I wouldn't have enjoyed Dredd that made like $7 & a half eaten bag of cheetos worldwide.

 They made a fun Spidey movie that I could go to with my family and that my 3-year-old not only enjoyed but he sat still for the entire thing.  I'm thankful for that. I think it was great but maybe not top of the line as it would be hard for anything to top Spider-man 2 that is one of my favorite movies of all time.  On a scale of 5 I'd give it about a 4 maybe 3.5 for quality & a 4.5 for entertainment. Anything else Fanboi?

Fanboi: nah man I'm good

Okay great. See you next time folks at The Comic Shop!

A list...comic fan bros you shouldn't be

Hello & Welcome to a special edition of The Comic Shop Blog! 

I haven't had a fun post in awhile, so here we go.  If any of this bothers you remember it's all in good fun so lighten up.  I can admit that I've fallen in to some of these categories from time to time.  If you think of any more please comment on the FB post, and be sure to share if you like what you see here.


Comic fan bros you shouldn't be 


1.  "Salty because they didn't do the movie EXACTLY like the comic book" - this was a chief complaint by some about "Age of Ultron" & "Civil War".  Naming something after a famous story line can lead to that expectation, but take my word for it shot-for-shot remakes are F&CKING BORING.  Go rent the Watchmen motion comic movie and you will see what I mean.  Also in the examples I gave those story lines would have made zero sense.  Civil War in example was about secret identities which have not been a focal point in the MCU. 

2.  Contrarian - "a contrarian is a person that takes up a contrary position especially a position that is opposed to that of the majority"... also a Hipster.  If something is good & you like it just man up and admit it.  Being a hipster is lame.

3.  DC vs. Marvel guy - it's not sports bro calm down.  There are good to great things coming from everywhere and we should enjoy the ride because at some point this bubble will burst.  I'm old enough to remember the early 2000's comic book movie boom where "X2" & "Spider-man 2" were the cream of the crop and we could only hope to have the quality movies we have now.

4.  Everything is a metaphor for the political world guy - this is more for the self important journalists out there.  Sure there are parallels out there but we don't need to be beaten over the damn head with it.  Let people draw their own conclusions and review the damn movie.

5. Male-ists or whatever the hell they are called - I've outlined before the sheer overwhelming number of movies featuring a white-male-superhero lead.  Some diversity is good.  Shut up.  Marvel has a trio of white dudes named Chris leading their stable with Hemsworth, Pratt, & Evans.  Mixing it up is great.  Furiosa, Rey, Wonder Woman, and others have proven that female led films are just as riveting.  I say bring on Captain Marvel, Kamala Khan, Black Canary, Harley Quinn, Black Widow, Gotham City Sirens, Batgirl, bring on all the women!

6. Creepy con guy - yes there are gorgeous cosplayers out there.  There are women like Jessica Nigiri and others that seem just unreal.  Here's a tip to not be a creep, be polite, ask for a picture, compliment the cosplay, keep your hands to yourself, and move on.

7. Know-it-all guy - just don't be that in regular life.

8. Debbie Downer guy - the saying different strokes for different folks I think was created by someone associated with the arts.  People enjoy different movies, music, books, comics, and other media in different ways.  If someone likes something you don't share your opinion, but don't rain on their parade.

9. Old is always better guy - It is impossible for anything new to compete with your rose colored memories of how things used to be.  This is true in all things, but for this entry I point to comics and associated media.  The thing I like best about DC's rebirth is that it embraces the past, but uses it to tell a compelling story for the future.  For instance our old Superman is back but in a new and different way.

10.  Publish your own comics blog guy - LOL JK that's totes awesome just don't take yourself too seriously.

Wonder Woman: A Belated Review

Oftentimes here at The Comic Shop Blog I take time before I publish a full-out review of something.  Now part of this is laziness, and part of it is a lack of free time; however, the bulk of it (I like to believe) is to take time to consider a film so I can present you my thoughts without them being reactionary.  It's been out awhile now so consider spoilers fair game... On to the review of "Wonder Woman"...

Good:  Credit belongs to the cast and crew on this film.  Director Patty Jenkins got her first big break and absolutely impressed.  Her work with screenwriter Allan Heinberg successfully told a compelling origin story and in this day in age that is an astounding feat. 

One thing that stood out to me especially was that this was the first major DC film in some time that did not feel like it had to apologize for being a comic book film.  The cast & crew here really dug in to the source material, and did their best to understand the unique motives of each character without assigning them a cliched stereotype. 

I felt that most of the cast was great.  Gal Gadot and Chris Pine really understood their characters and their motivations.  I think Gadot's previous military training was likely a great inspiration for her to tap on to bring Diana's quiet strength to life.  Chris Pine did what he does and that is provide some much needed comic relief.  While some of the humor in these films can be as dated as your uncle telling you the same joke a thousand times the humor in this movie was understated and more conversational in nature. 

NO MAN'S LAND...  In the history of cinema there are iconic scenes that give you an insight into the character with very little to no spoken dialogue. One need only think of the iconic scene of a fully corrupt Michael Corleone having one of his henchmen close the door in his wife's face ever so slowly, or any number of other accounts of visual storytelling.  This scene was one such instance with dialogue only used to set up that the situation was grim & hopeless. With that out of the way it became a character study of Diana of Themysceria. It showed both her naivety & her compassion, and in a grand way explained EXACTLY who this character is and what she stands for.  I loved the simplicity of it and how it did so much character work while at the same time using the visual medium to tell a complete story.  I could go on and on about it, but then I'd run the risk of repeating myself. 

I want to keep this review relatively short, but to add one more good I thought the mix of the Donner style camp with the more modern DC/WB motif was a really great touch.  As a kid that grew up on Adam West & Christopher Reeve I appreciate a certain amount of camp to my superhero stories as it's important to me at least to keep things in perspective.  

BAD:

To me there was only really one thing I would classify as bad and that was the big CGI battle at the end.  I did not feel that it fit the motif of the rest of the movie as it was mostly an understated affair so a giant set piece done in a video game style. I understand why it was there in a big summer blockbuster, but I think the ending would've been a lot more complex with some questions left unanswered and some things left unseen.  I think the ghost of "Superman Returns" will keep us from getting an understated & complex film for some time as one of the chief complaints for that film was that it didn't have a big fight.

UGLY:

Not much about this movie would be easy to call ugly; however, the one thing that absolutely floors me is that the NO MAN'S LAND scene I described earlier was one of the things WB wanted left on the cutting room floor.  That to me explains pretty succinctly the main issue with the DCEU at this point.  WB needs to stay out of the way of the creative team and filmmakers.  I give Patty Jenkins full credit for sticking to her guns to keep this pivotal scene in the movie.


So there you have it.  Overall I think it was a great flick and probably the second best comic movie of the year so far (to me at least) & the best DC in my mind since The Dark Knight Trilogy.  If you haven't seen it at this point I highly recommend you go check it out. 

That's all for this week!  Happy reading and I will catch you next time at The Comic Shop!

Rewriting the flick: BvS

Hello and Welcome to a special edition of The Comic Shop Blog!

I’ve kind of been away from anything current comic wise.  I’m on volume 2 of Knightfall and I am currently reading IT so between everyday life and that reading I haven’t had much time for anything else.  While summer is usually my favorite time of year for movies I haven’t been as motivated to go this year.  I have yet to see “GOTG vol. 2” or “Fate of the Furious” or “King Kong” for a date night I saw “King Arthur” and found it to be pretty enjoyable. 

I just haven’t been high on anything lately we’ve been swimming in a sea of super hero properties and even things that I initially enjoyed (MCU Netflix and the CW DC-verse) have lost my interest completely.  I’m not even going to say it’s the shows because I’m midway through Luke Cage and it’s great, but it is so much of the same types of stories being told over and over that I’m getting burned out.  I don’t know how many more times I can see a big beam of light in the sky with shit hovering around it threatening to end the world and be entertained.  I don’t mean that as a slight to anyone and certainly not to the filmmakers and the people that work so hard to put these movies in the cinema.  All that said I’m very excited for Wonder Woman (writer’s note: loved it and the review is coming) & the new Spidey, but time will tell if they hold my interest or change how I feel about the current state of comic movies.

Anyway on to the meat and potatoes of this entry into the monument of my own self-satisfaction.  I rebook the ever controversial “Batman vs. Superman”.  I’m not going to go through the story beat by beat or have large swaths of dialogue, but you will get the gist of how I would’ve liked to see the story play out.  

Please note the following my story does not contain:  Jars of urine, jolly rancher feedings, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg, Doomsday, Lex, flashbacks, flash forwards, nightmares, desert subplots, or WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?!?!?!?!?!?  I’m keeping the sister city thing because I like the proximity. I’m also keeping the portugese/kryptonite subplot and hell it’s even LexCorp behind it just no Luthor.  Also my Batman doesn’t kill.  That point is up to anyone how they feel about it, and if you don’t like it write your own version.

- (This is with the opening credits) We open with an internet broadcast of a sit down interview in which Lois (the Daily Planet is moving into multimedia journalism) asks Superman hard hitting questions about the Battle of Metropolis.  Superman is contrite, apologetic, and takes full responsibility for not being ready for a threat like the Kryptonians. He says something like this can never happen again, and that he will work with the governments of the world to make sure justice reigns over all.

- Then comes a montage of Superman working with everyday people to repair the damage from the battle of Metropolis (helping first responders search for victims, etc).  The broadcast follows with a statement regarding billionaire Bruce Wayne pledging millions of dollars in disaster relief for the victims and their families.  

- Cut to at night a couple of hooded thugs running out of a gas station with fists full of money they tell the driver to “punch it”, but the car won’t budge.  They look in the mirror to see the iconic Superman logo.  Superman smiles and says “I believe you have something that doesn’t belong to you” as he holds the back of the car in place with little effort.  He drops them off at the Metropolis police station to a bewildered desk clerk flashes a smile and then walks out of the door to glide back into the skies.

- Superman flies up into the atmosphere and meditates and as he does we hear all the things that he hears and while it’s faint at first we hear a man scream, followed by something inaudible yet very guttural, followed by another scream, and the sounds of flesh being beat upon coming from Gotham.  Superman flies to the scene to investigate and only finds a man beaten viciously.  Superman asks with genuine concern “who did this to you?” The man replies “The Bat”.  “I thought he was a myth” Superman says to no one in particular.

- We are now in a birds eye view above the Batmobile as it winds through the catacombs under the Bat cave.  Bruce exits and discusses the white Portuguese with Alfred who has a dinner prepared for him.  Bruce reveals to Alfred that the man we just saw him beating gave up when the white Portuguese will be coming into the dock at Gotham Harbor. Alfred asks what’s so important that’s on this ship “drugs? Money? Trafficked people?” Bruce doesn’t meet his eyes but just says “A deterrent”. 

- It is daytime now and Clark and Lois are pounding pavement to see what information they can find about The Batman.  Clark even interviews Commissioner James Gordon about it and he says he has no information.  Clark makes note of the floodlight on the roof of GCPD which Gordon plays off.  We then transition into our other sub plot as Alfred under the guise of Matches Malone does recon at a warehouse near Gotham Harbor that he and Bruce suspect is where they will house the contents of the white Portuguese.  We can see from Alfred’s POV that the place is crawling with not so subtly armed henchmen. 

- At night we insert the warehouse fight scene minus Martha.  Batman smuggles the kryptonite in the Batmobile and leaves a pile of battered thugs in the warehouse.  As he drives away he sees the bat signal light up the sky in the distance.

- To the roof of GCPD… Batman arrives and is caught off guard to see not his trusted ally Gordon but Superman standing on the roof.  Superman: “I’ve been admiring your handiwork” Batman: “From here? Must have pretty good eyesight where you come from” Superman: “I’m from Kansas” Batman: “Sure you are”.  Superman: “I’m glad you’re real and I’d like for us to work together, but I can’t have you out here doing what you are doing”.  Batman: “What I’m doing…” Superman “Is vengeance not justice”  Batman: “your idea of justice is knocking over buildings, destroying small towns, and endangering innocents so I really have no intention of listening to lectures from you son”.   Batman: “I will tell you once…stay out of my way”. Superman goes to speak and realizes that Batman is gone.

- This is where I’d put in the montage of Bruce and Alfred training and doing science stuff to put together his armor, and weaponize the kryptonite. 

- Interior the Daily Planet war room.  Perry White is talking to his staff about different story leads Clark appears distracted.  Perry: “Kent, I don’t want you to drop the Batman thing, but I need you to look into this new gang roving around Gotham.  They’ve got a theme and other outlets are referring to them as the Royal Flush Gang”

- This is the last big build of the movie as we see Clark use his investigative skills and Bruce using his to determine that the Royal Flush Gang is planning an attack on the King of Hearts celebrity bachelor auction or something corny like that.

- The two arrive at the event (with Batman sporting his new armor) and they actually work together to quickly dispatch the Royal Flush Gang.  With Batman using blunt force and breaking bones and Superman more passively dispatching his foes.

- The two go to the warehouse on the harbor to discuss things privately.  They begin to argue and Batman reiterates “I told you…to stay out of my way” and he lands the first blow that bounces off Superman’s face. Superman pushes him across the warehouse and says that he doesn’t want to do this.  That’s when Bruce takes lead covers off of these attachments on his utility belt that reveal kryptonite is attached to his belt. Superman is instantly weakened.  *at this point I would have the fight play out much like in the movie, but probably a little bit longer with a bit more back and forth*

- At the end of the fight Superman is beaten and bloodied his suit is in tatters and he’s bleeding.  Batman’s Armor is destroyed much like in the movie.  Then I borrow from the great Frank Miller for the last line in the movie “I told you to stay out of my way…I want you to remember, Clark…in all the years to come…in all your most private moments…I want you to remember my hand at your throat…I want you to remember the one man who beat you.”

- After that I think there would be a subtle montage that plays to the things to come.  

I hope you like what you’ve read and if you don’t that’s cool. There are a lot of holes.  I would’ve liked to do more with Lois, and as I said this isn’t beat-by-beat.  I like the end kind of ambiguous like that I mean I contrived a moment to show the two of them working together, but I wanted it to end on a note that left people wondering what would come next.  Like “Man, I’ve got to see Justice League to see how these people come together”.  

Please note that this doesn’t come out of a place of “hate” for BvS because I don’t hate it I’m just trying to show how simple this concept is without betraying the core values of the main characters.  I tried to my best to play off of the Hope/Fear concept and the ideas of justice/vengeance.  I also tried to show how streamlined it could be without all the other things that were jammed in to try to start a DCEU.

Thanks for reading and I will see you next time at The Comic Shop!