#August2015

Art: Hulk clappin’ the futzin’ symbiote off of Venom

New ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ images feature Hawkguy, Banner, The Twins

Avengers - Age of Ultron.

Want several new images from Avengers: Age of Ultron? Of course you do. Or maybe you don’t. I don’t know you very well. But you have a nice smile, and I think your day is going to be a-okay.

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Joaquin Phoenix in talks for ‘Doctor Strange’

Joaquin Phoenix

Remember back in the day during SDCC when it sounded like Joaquin Phoenix was in talks to play Bruce Banner in Avengers? Let me remind you. Okay, now that you’re caught up, it’s SDCC four years later, and apparently The Phoenix may be playing Doctor Strange.

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SPOILER: ‘IRON MAN 3’ POST-CREDITS scene revealed.

Iron Man puts on some weight, still rules.

Pretty clear here folks. If you’re a spoiler-whore like me, hit the jump. If you have self-discipline then stay the fuck away. Also, please teach me your skills.

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Video: This ‘AVENGERS’ deleted scene has Bruce Banner getting all existential.

Bruce Banner is totally wondering if he is a human dreaming he is a giant green killing machine, or a giant green killing machine dreaming he is a human in this ponderous deleted scene from Avengers.

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Face of a Franchise: The Hulk!

[face of a franchise presents two individuals that’ve fulfilled the same role. your task — choose the better of the two and defend your choice in the rancor pit that is the comments section]

The Hulk is a pretty easy character to support. I mean, seriously, what’s not to love? Is it the fact that the dude is a research scientist hoping to improve the state of the world? Could it be the tremendous lengths he goes to while trying to win over the love of his life? Maybe it’s his incredible aversion to violence, the reticent willingness to engage in fisticuffs only as an absolute last resort?

Or perhaps it’s the fact that when the Hulk gets pissed off and push comes to shove, he fucking smashes.

Despite the general consensus about big green bastard’s appeal, a debate arises when discussing those depictions outside of the paneled page. Old school Banner-believers may cite the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno tagteam from The Incredible Hulk series as being the definitive portrayal. On the other hand, the more rabid fanboy-augurs amongst us are already claiming that the best Hulk-performance will be found in Mark Ruffalo. There’s no denyin’ that all three of these actors deserve recognition for their contributions to the superheroic Jekyll & Hyde mythos.

But when it comes to live-action dramatizations of the triple threat match between Banner’s id, ego, and super-ego, two actors stand above the rest.

In 2003’s Hulk,   Eric Bana used his supreme thespian skills to conjure up an image of a brutish, mentally-deficient being with enormous muscles. And that was just his take on Banner! Zing! Seriously though, the Aussie-actor guides the audience through a vision of the Hulk that must navigate his way through a whole mess of psychological pitfalls, including inferiority issues, Oedipal complexes, and the volatility of suppressed rage. Bana paints a portrait of the green goliath that uses both the broad strokes of intense violence as well as the subtle strokes of a shattered psyche.

Five years later, Edward Norton got the chance to bring the breaker of worlds to life in The Incredible Hulk. Somewhere in between a sequel and a reboot, this film tries to give fans exactly what they love about the character. Banner’s on the run, Betty Ross is lookin’ dope as hell, Thunderbolt Ross is bein’ a pain in the proverbial emerald ass, and there’s another monster for the Hulk to fight. Eddie Norton fit particularly well, as he looked the part of the scrawny science nerd but carried himself with the intensity of a man trying to iron out emotional wrinkles of the most brutal sort. Additionally, most fans agree that this second feature-length attempted was more successful than the first…but how much of that can be attributed to Norton?

This is a tricky one. Australia vs. America. Nero vs. The Narrator.

So who’s the best Hulk? Eric Bana or Edward Norton?

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Monday Morning Commute: Peepuhlz of Erph

Hey there!

How’s it going? If you’re a citizen of the Empire like I am, then chances’re that you might have the day off of work for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. I’d like to think that I’m going to spend the day contemplating the racial disparity that’s marred the history of the United States. Perhaps I could even set aside some time to figure out a way to try to oppose the inequality that lingers to this day.

But the fact is that I’m more apt to sleep in late, eat pizza, and straight-chill.

Hey! Don’t judge me! I’m just bein’ honest! If you know something I can do to help the world, let me know and I’ll see what I can do. But if nothing else, I’ll probably figure out some nerdy way to empathize with racial tensions.

Okay, okay – thissere’s the MONDAY MORNING COMMUTE! I’m going to show you the different bits of entertainment I’ll be using to assemble my own anti-stress mech. After you check out the ways I’m going to entertain myself through the workweek, your task is to hit up the comments section and show off your own wares. Yes, this is essentially show-and-tell, minus the rules and kindergarten teacher who was probably hot back in the 1970s but is now a crabby old bitch.

Let’s rock.

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