Culture Feature

Because Dean Cain Sucks: MAGA Superman Is Dead

Dean Cain is no longer allowed to have anything to do with Superman. We're retconning him out.

Dean Cain appearing at the "Hollywood Show"

By Kathy Hutchins (Shutterstock)

Update:This week Dean Cain was on Fox News, complaining about "wokeness and anti-Americanism" in the recent Ta-Nehisi Coates-led Captain America comics, which featured Captain America decrying the way marginalized Americans are often sold a dream before they're "handed a raw deal."

Never mind the fact that Captain America has a long history of this kind of criticism, or the fact that Dean Cain praises America for "constantly striving for a more perfect union" — an effort that is literally impossible without vocal criticism of the nation's flaws. The more important point is that Cain has no authority to speak on superheroes, because we already erased him from Superman history.

Keep ReadingShow less
FILM

"Spider-Man: Far From Home" Screenwriters Talk About Mysterio as a Trumpian Villain

Warning: we talk about spoilers with the writers of the latest Spider-Man movie, Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers.

Courtesy of Sony Pictures

Spider-Man went "far from home" this Fourth of July weekend.

Fans got to see what he was up to after Avengers: Endgame and returning from The Snap. Peter Parker (Tom Holland) takes a high school trip around Europe but ends up enlisted by S.H.I.E.L.D. to help Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) fight Elementals.

Screenwriters Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna spoke with Popdust about the many twists and turns in Spider-Man: Far From Home. So a spoiler warning to anyone who hasn't seen Far From Home yet. We do talk specifics with the writers.

This is the second Spider-Man movie for the writing team, and their fourth superhero movie after The Lego Batman Movie and Ant-Man and The Wasp. They've also written Community, The Mindy Project and American Dad! Spider-Man: Far From Home is in theaters now, as we discuss everything from The Blip to the very last credits scene.

Tom HollandHow Peter Parker (Tom Holland) spent his summer vacationCourtesy of Sony Pictures

When you got started on Far From Home, did you get to be privy to Avengers: Endgame early?

Erik Sommers: Yes, Marvel was well aware that we had some bills to pay in terms of the fallout from Endgame. So they were very good about keeping us in the loop as to what we would need to deal with and what we wouldn't so that we could move forward with our story.

Was there anything you were still surprised by in Endgame?

Chris McKenna: We didn't know about the Pegasus. If we'd known about Valkyrie and the Pegasus we would've used that. We knew the plot points but we did not know the detail, so then we actually didn't see the movie. We were supposed to see it like two weeks before the premiere and then we were still doing reshoots. It kind of worked out where we didn't even see it until the actual premiere. She comes out in the Pegasus, Erik and I were like, "Oh, we could've referenced that. That would've been a fun thing to reference." They wanted us to know what we needed to know and for good reason they keep things pretty close to the vest so that loudmouth fans like us don't ruin things. We had what we needed for the movie, obviously. We had The Snap, because we started working on the movie even before Infinity War came out. So we knew what happened at the end of Infinity War and we knew what happened in Endgame, the time transition and obviously the very end. Those were what we had to work with as we moved forward, but their main mandate was: Yes, we have to pay these bills but also to make a really fun Spider-Man movie because we're coming off a very dark, emotionally draining two movies.

How many different names did you brainstorm for The Snap?

CM: It's funny, I seem to recall someone I thought from Marvel calling it The Blip and we just sort of adopted that. I don't know if The Snap was something that happened, [if] that would be what it was referred to, while they were making Endgame. I do think it's kind of nice that we didn't have to follow, that the world almost came up with its own name for it, their own ground level name for this crazy thing that happened so it doesn't have to necessarily line up. It feels more organically real that the world would have this crazy thing that they call The Blip that happened.

Spidey Sense has been well established in the comics, so how many alternatives did you think of before you landed on Peter Tingle?

ES: We knew that Spidey Sense was going to be a factor and something that we would be using, but it was definitely a question of what are we going to call it? Should we call it anything at all? We did many, many iterations of giving it different names, giving it no name, the different ways people talk about it. And then it was relatively late in the game that I think [director] Jon Watts pitched Peter Tingle and it immediately made everyone laugh, so that's what we went through.

CM: We just wanted to make it awkward. We wanted to make it funny and we also wanted to make it this thing that is kind of nebulous but it takes like your aunt or your mom to come up with a name and sometimes it's the most embarrassing name ever.

Spider-Man: Far From HomeSpidey hanging around London in his new suit. Courtesy of Sony Pictures

Tony Stark was such a big part of part of Spider-Man: Homecoming. Even with Tony gone, was it important to still find a post-Tony way to deal with Iron Man, with his legacy lingering over Peter?

CM: It's so hard to not. He's so infused in Peter's life in terms of discovering him in Civil War and obviously being such a part of Homecoming in terms of becoming a surrogate father, [so] we knew Peter would be dealing with that. It would hang over the movie and it gave us the opportunity to do the inverse of Homecoming. Homecoming is about him trying to prove to his surrogate father that he's worthy and is able to step up. The trauma of Endgame sends Peter into a spiral and makes him question his own abilities and what his place in the world is. And he therefore is running away from it. That's why it's Far From Home. He is running away from the safe home that he thought he had after the first movie.

Was it fun finding some callbacks to early Iron Man movies, like the guy who worked for Obadiah Stane?

ES: Yes, it's always fun to be able to draw upon previous movies in the MCU and it helps weave them together. It makes them more rich. The audiences love it and we, the people making the movies as fans, love it too. An opportunity like that comes up and someone on the creative team says, "Oh, you should use that flashback of Obadiah shouting at William." Everyone in the room gets really excited immediately because we know it's going to be fun and we hope the audience will think that's really fun too.

When Mysterio reveals his plan, is he sort of a Super Trump, because he's talking about how people care more about showmanship than qualifications?

CM: He's definitely a narcissist and a con artist. He has a very high self-regard, but I think he's also the kind of guy who believes that whatever he says can go and he can spin the truth. So make those parallels if you will. We're definitely taking advantage of a chaotic world, a world where half of the universe can get swept away and then heroes can disappear. He seeks to take advantage of that. I think he thinks that the world deserves him, but he also knows that in order to get what he wants, in order to get the power and the authority, he's going to have to convince the world in his own way.

Jake Gyllenhaal Jake Gyllenhaal finally got to be in a Spider-Man movieJay Maidment

ES: Mysterio's really preying on insecurity and confusion and doubt and fear. The world is feeling those things in the aftermath of Endgame and Peter is feeling those things in the aftermath of losing his mentor. So Mysterio is preying on that to get what he wants.

When he reveals his holographic powers, was it fun to create effects that play on Peter's insecurities?

CM: Absolutely, I think the whole fun with Mysterio is when we can look down a lot of different paths with Mysterio. Ultimately, there's so much in the early comic books of Mysterio that really are fun, that we can draw upon. This person really does think of himself as someone who should be a hero and who does like, I think, manipulating people. As much as on one hand he has a certain fondness for Peter, he can understand on a certain level that someone like Peter is unworthy and undeserving of the affection and the technological prowess that Tony has bestowed upon him. In his eyes he's unworthy and the only worthy one is himself.

ES: When the truth about Mysterio is revealed and we know what he really wants and we get to that illusion sequence where he really attacks Peter with the illusions, doing that sequence was just such a pleasure. Jon and the visual effects team had come up with so many amazing, cool illusions that he was using against Peter. It was really just a challenge for all of us on the creative team to try to refine them and think of which [ones] are the best that, as you said, would speak right to Peter's insecurities and what Mysterio is feeling about everything so as visually amazing as it is, it could really serve the story and Peter's arc.

Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) isn't himself in Spider-Man: Far From Home. Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) is though.Jay Maidment

Did you get to write the codas as part of your script?

CM: Yeah, the first coda - the mid-credit ending - was the original ending. It wasn't a coda yet. It always switched around, like oh, is this going to actually be a tag? We were just going to play it as the very, very end of the movie, pre-credits. Then that turned into the mid-credit tag. Then the post-credit tag came up very late in the game. I actually think that was a Watts idea. There were certain ideas like being a con artist [or] there's going to be one last twist and oh, will this also help with shedding some light on why Nick Fury was acting the way Nick Fury was in the movie? If anyone had any issues with Nick after all these movies, would he fall for a con artist like Mysterio? We thought it was a really fun way to call back Captain Marvel, call back that great Ben Mendelsohn character and also explain why Nick would actually fall for a guy like Mysterio.

Was it always your idea to reinvent the Daily Bugle as a sort of Alex Jones/Infowars?

ES: I honestly don't remember whose pitch that was but it was early on that the creative team decided that if we were gonna go back to the Daily Bugle [and] using J. Jonah, it should be in a different form. That seems like a perfect way to do it so as soon as someone floated that idea, we all latched onto it and that's what we did.

Did you know who was going to play him?

CM: No, I think Watts was even talking a bit in the last movie about some clues to J. Jonah in Homecoming. This time around, again I don't know who pitched it but it was one of those ideas that oh my God, it would be incredible to bring back J.K. but with this whole new post-Whiplash spin on the character.

Spder-Man: Far From HomeThis spider flies now.Courtesy of Sony Pictures

You've done a few funny comic book movies. Is there a different sense of humor you use in the Spider-Mans than on Ant-Man or Lego Batman?

ES: I don't think so. I think any project where we're writing jokes, you have to try to adjust to the tone a little bit so that's going to depend on the characters and the actors and the director and just what everyone feels like the vibe of that movie is going to be. So it always changes a little but I don't think there are any huge conscious shifts that we decide on ahead of time or anything like that.

CM: We've been writing comedy now for a long time on different shows. We always are able to adjust for each character's voice and situation. I think you have a character like Lego Batman who is full of himself and yet also has crippling insecurities but surrounds it with bluster which is a totally different character from Peter Parker or Scott Lang. Even though Scott and Peter have similarities, they're different enough and also the actors are different. We try to channel their voices and their personas and have fun with them. It's always different.

FILM

Now in Theaters: 5 New Movies for the Weekend of June 14

Who asked for a Men in Black reboot? Why would anybody want that?

Welcome back to "Now in Theaters: 5 New Movies for the Weekend."

This week, someone rebooted Men in Black for some reason.

WIDE RELEASE:

Men in Black: International

The first Men in Black was just okay. It benefits from nostalgia goggles, but so do the Burger King tie-in toys it spawned, and nobody's going to argue that those were high-quality. There wasn't really any fan demand for a reboot of this franchise (are there even Men in Black fans?), and there probably wasn't any reason behind the decision besides "reboot everything." The point is, Men in Black: International doesn't seem like a story anyone genuinely wanted to tell, and the trailer reflects that. It looks painfully generic.

Shaft

SHAFT – Official Trailer [HD]www.youtube.com

Like everything else in 2019, the new Shaft arrives with a wink and a nod. Five films deep, the Shaft franchise has shifted from blaxploitation crime action to action comedy. The premise is really cool, centering around a new Shaft (Jessie Usher) teaming him up with the original two (Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree). The trailer seems fun, so hopefully the Shaft franchise can adapt to this new tone while still maintaining the serious themes that made it so culturally prescient in the first place.

LIMITED RELEASE:

Plus One

PLUS ONE Official Trailerwww.youtube.com

Plus One is a rom-com about two friends who make a pact to be each other's plus ones at the many, many weddings they need to attend. It stars the incredibly talented Maya Erskine (PEN15) and was written and directed by Jeff Chan and Andrew Rhymer, both writers for PEN15. The plot may sound a bit contrived, but that's part of the fun of rom-coms. The trailer looks funny and, again, Maya Erskine is fantastic. As such, Plus One is my PICK OF THE WEEK.

The Dead Don't Die

THE DEAD DON'T DIE - Official Trailer [HD] - In Theaters June 14www.youtube.com

The Dead Don't Die is a horror movie with a cast. We know this because "CHECK OUT THIS CAST" has been their primary marketing point. I tend to distrust movies that market like this. If a movie needs to rely on the size and renown of its cast, it usually doesn't have a narrative that holds up on its own. Granted, the cast here really is great. Bill Murray, Adam Driver, and Tilda Swinton are phenomenal. But chances are that the movie itself is just okay, at best.

Hampstead

HAMPSTEAD Official Trailer (2019) Diane Keaton Romantic Movie HDwww.youtube.com

Brendan Gleeson absolutely kills every role he's ever been given. I love, love, love him. Old people movies though? Eh. Queen of old people movies, Diane Keaton (Book Club, Poms, etc.) plays a widow who falls in love with a kooky squatter and, as a result, discovers the spice of life or something. Brendan Gleeson is, of course, the squatter who just wants to be left alone in a shack that the government is trying to take away. But he's about to find out that sometimes, the only thing better than a shack is shacking up with an old person. Nice.

Ringo Chiu//Shutterstock

The 2019 Academy Awards felt like a tense, forced dinner party that never felt comfortable no matter how many rounds of charades and glasses of wine forced on the guests. A dinner party without a clear host is always going to struggle, and if you throw in some racial tension and sexual assault allegations, you've got yourself a real cringe-worthy way to pass a Sunday night. To the credit of the Hollywood elite, everyone tried hard to make the best of the evening, and there were some high points worth noting, with plenty of low points worth noting with even more emphasis.

Keep ReadingShow less
Film Reviews

"Glass" Is Enjoyable If You Don’t Get Your Hopes Up

"Glass" is not a comic book movie. It's not a bleak DC slog, and it's not a Marvel action clusterfuck. It's a suspensful character-led drama with supernatural themes, and in that sense it's unique... if not a little disappointing.

M. Night Shyamalan was maligned for ten years between 2004 and 2014 for serving up box office catastrophes, but since 2015 he seems to be back to form.

Both The Visit and Split were critically successful despite their modest budgets, and fans have been happy to invite Shyamalan back into their good graces in recent years. Then comes Glass, the sequel no fan knew they wanted until it was teased at the end of Split. Not just one of Shyamalan's most beloved films was getting a sequel—but now he'd put together a trilogy starring David Dunn, Mr. Glass, and The Beast. The stage was set for a full-on fan service delight, and it delivered—on the surface.

Certain fans will notice that Mr. Glass isn't in the movie much. The movie is called Glass, but he doesn't say a word until well past the first hour mark. We don't get to see him working behind the scenes or plotting a scheme before then either. He's just sitting in a wheelchair. That's not to say that Samuel L. Jackson doesn't bring his all to this character. He embodies Elijah Price just as thoroughly as he did in Unbreakable, but he can only do so much with what he's given, which ultimately, wasn't much.

So what is this movie about? Well, Dr. Ellie Staple (played by Sarah Paulson) apprehends David Dunn and The Beast (played by Bruce Willis and James McAvoy, respectively) and is charged with convincing them that they are not superhuman; they are, in fact, delusional. Meanwhile, Mr. Glass has a plan he's been waiting to hatch—and The Beast might have a part to play, too.

The stand-out performance comes from James McAvoy, who plays The Beast, as well as Kevin Crumb and multiple other personalities we are introduced to throughout the movie. This is really The Beast's movie, and McAvoy is a spectacle to behold. In Split, we experienced a handful of Crumb's personalities, but this time we get to see 13 identities all brimming with charisma and perplexity. McAvoy skillfully transitions from one persona to the next in a masterclass of acting. The movie is worth watching just for these scenes alone.

Bruce Willis is in this movie, too, and darn it if he isn't acting his heart out—at least as much as he's capable of doing these days. He's stiff, awkward, and unconvincing, but there's a sincerity in his performance that softens the heart a little. It really seems like he gives a shit. He's just not very good.

The cinematography was flawless. At his best, Shyamalan has always utilized creative camera movements and angles that accentuate a scene, and Glass is no exception. Director of Photography Mike Gioulakis (It Follows, Split, Us) brings smooth, beautiful compositions to even the smallest moments. The slow-ish pacing of the script is completely masked by the fluid, sweeping camera movements that take us from scene to scene.

Still, we have to discuss the script, as it's easily the weakest element of the film. Shyamalan seems to have a very academic perspective on how people talk to each other (I call it "Sham-speak"), wherein one uses the utmost correct words rather than the most natural. As an example, there's a scene where Shyamalan has a cameo, and he's talking to Willis's character, David Dunn. It goes something like this:

SHYAMALAN

Hey, you look familiar—did you used to work at the old stadium a few years back?

DAVID DUNN

Yup, 30 years.

SHYAMALAN

Yeah, I recognize you. I used to hang around there in my youth. Ran with a tough crowd. But I turned it all around—positive thinking.

DAVID DUNN

*silence*

SHYAMALAN

*silence*

Reading that in your head, did it sound like a normal, organic conversation? Probably not. It's even worse on screen. You can look past the clunky dialog and awkward-as-hell pop-culture references, but it does take you out of the movie from time to time.

If you loved Split, odds are you're going to like this movie. McAvoy's performance alone makes this film worth a casual view, but Unbreakable fans will be pleased to see Spencer Treat Clark and Charlayne Woodard reprising their roles as supporting characters. The dialogue is awkward, the cinematography is beautiful, and the twist ending might leave a bit to be desired. But if you go into the theater with an open mind and temper your expectations, you'll more than likely enjoy it.

Rating: ⚡⚡⚡


Ahmed Ashour is a media writer, tech enthusiast, and college student. He has a Twitter: @aahsure


POP⚡DUST | Read More...

INTERVIEW | Indie-Pop Singer Navakaine Talks Coming-of-Age

Water and Man Release 'Phantasie'

RISING STAR | Alberta Drops Buff New Single, 'Jay Walk'n'