Stan Lee Filmed FOUR Cameos in One Day

If there’s one thing geeks like, it’s an Easter Egg. A cheeky nod to say ‘we know you’re a fan; here’s something just for you.’ Every time the line “Are we having fun yet?” is uttered in iZombie (a reference to the fantastic Rob Thomas show Party Down) I squeal a bit and grab my boyfriend’s arm. Possibly the most famous of all the nerdy Easter Eggs is the Stan Lee cameo in the Marvel movies. He’s avoided falling buildings, been a skeevy guy with a hot blonde lady friend, and delivered a parcel for ‘Mr Tony Stank’ among many memorable appearances in the franchise. And even though he’s no spring chicken, he’s not slowing down any time soon!

The LA Times reported that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said that Lee had filmed four cameos in one day, when answering questions at a recent Q&A session. Feige explained that the cameos are not just shoe-horned in, but are carefully planned out parts of each movie. He said that all of the cameos were unique and awesome in their own right

“We do not shoot random ones. They’re always very specific. A couple of months ago in Atlanta, he flew down and we shot four in one day — for four various projects.”

Feige is clearly in awe of the 93-year-old legend. He went on to say, “He was unbelievable. He was on fire. He came in, he sat here, he stood there, he stood in this window, and then he went home.”

Feige didn’t elaborate on which projects Lee had filmed the cameos for, however with the studio having films scheduled until 2020, he still has plenty of work ahead of him!

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28th October to be ‘Stan Lee Day’

Excelsior, True Believers! Los Angeles has declared 28th October to be Stan Lee Day!

The legendary face of Marvel comics has been given a dedicated day in his honour as thanks for his contribution to LA’s entertainment industry. The 93-year-old comics giant originally hails from New York, but moved to the City of Angels about 30 years ago, taking it as an adoptive home.

In addition to this, Lee‘s annual convention (Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo) has been renamed Stan Lee’s Los Angeles Comic Con.This will be the sixth year for the convention, which is to be held 28th-30th October (kicking off, obviously, on Stan Lee Day) The con will celebrate all things pop culture related, including films, comics, video games, sci-fi and fantasy.

According to CBS Local, Lee said of the convention, “we want to have the most glamorous and sought-after guests possible in the entertainment field, because after all, Los Angeles to me is the home of entertainment — this is where it all starts.”

Happy Stan Lee Day, everyone!

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Image credit CBR.com

Stan Lee VS Jack (King) Kirby

Stan Lee is the most recognisable name in comic books. His name and Marvel go hand in hand in everyday conversations among comic fans and MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movie watchers. Stan is perceived as the happy old man who makes iconic cameos in movies based on “his” creation, but did Stan create the likes of the Fantastic Four, The Incredible  Hulk, Iron Man, The Avengers, The X-Men and, the most famous of all Spider-Man?

This is not the first time this question has been brought up, in fact in the past few years it has come up more frequently. While the average person or Stan Lee fanboy might think this is a ridiculous notion, there is quite a lot of evidence to support the challenge of Stan’s Legacy.

When you get into reading comic books regardless of age, you are told that back in the 1960’s Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Created what we know today as the Marvel Universe. With Stan getting the majority of the credit, and for the most part the only name mentioned regarding who created what. Stan’s story is that he would come up with an idea or plot then give it to Jack, and he would return the art to him with a few suggestions. Stan would then write in dialogue to fit the art.

The other side of the coin is that it was Jack Kirby who did the majority or the creating. It is said that Jack would not only do the art but write the majority of each issue, key concepts and plot lines. Stan would have no idea about the story or even the idea till very late in the publication process. What Stan did do was make Kirby’s writing a little more appealing to read.

According to this interview, Jack and his wife Roz Kirby did with The Comics Journal in 1990, four years before his death, Stan had virtually nothing to do with creating the Marvel Universe.

GROTH; When did you meet Stan Lee for the first time?

KIRBY: I met Stan Lee when I first went to work for Marvel. He was a little boy. When Joe and I were doing Captain America. He was about 13 years old. He’s about five years younger than me.

GROTH: Did you keep in touch with him at all?

KIRBY: No, I thought Stan Lee was a bother.

GROTH: [Laughter.]

KIRBY: I did!

GROTH: What do you mean by “bother”?

KIRBY: You know he was the kind of kid that liked to fool around — open and close doors on you. Yeah. In fact, once I told Joe to throw him out of the room.

GROTH; Because he was a pest?

KIRBY: Yes, he was a pest. Stan Lee was a pest. He liked to irk people and it was one thing I couldn’t take.

GROTH: Hasn’t changed a bit, huh?

KIRBY: He hasn’t changed a bit. I couldn’t do anything about Stan Lee because he was the publisher’s cousin. He ran back and forth around New York doing things that he was told to do. He would slam doors and come up to you and look over your shoulder and annoy you in a lot of ways. Joe would probably elaborate on it.

GROTH: When you went to Marvel in ’58 and ’59, Stan was obviously there.

KIRBY: Yes, and he was the same way.

 GROTH:And you two collaborated on all the monster stories?

KIRBY: Stan Lee and I never collaborated on anything! I’ve never seen Stan Lee write anything. I used to write the stories just like I always did.

GROTH:On all the monster stories it says “Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.” What did he do to warrant his name being on them?

KIRBY: Nothing! OK?

GROTH:Did he dialogue them?

KIRBY: No, I dialogued them. If Stan Lee ever got a thing dialogued, he would get it from someone working in the office. I would write out the whole story on the back of every page. I would write the dialogue on the back or a description of what was going on. Then Stan Lee would hand them to some guy and he would write in the dialogue. In this way Stan Lee made more pay than he did as an editor. This is the way Stan Lee became the writer. Besides collecting the editor’s pay, he collected writer’s pay. I’m not saying Stan Lee had a bad business head on. I think he took advantage of whoever was working for him.

GROTH:But he was essentially serving in a capacity as an editorial liaison between you and the publisher?

KIRBY: Yes, he wasn’t exactly an editor, or anything like that. Even as a young boy, he’d be hopping around — I think he had a flute, and he was playing on his flute.

GROTH:The Pied Piper.

KIRBY: Yeah. He’d come up and annoy me, and I told Joe to throw him out.

GROTH:Stan wrote, “Jack and I were having a ball turning out monster stories.’’ Were you having a ball. Jack?

KIRBY: Stan Lee was having the ball.

GROTH:You turned out monster stories for two or three years I think. Then the first comic that rejuvenated superheroes that you did was The Fantastic four. Can you explain how that came about?

KIRBY: I had to do something different. The monster stories have their limitations — you can just do so many of them. And then it becomes a monster book month after month, so there had to be a switch because the times weren’t exactly conducive to good sales. So I felt the idea was to come up with new stuff all the time — in other words there had to be a blitz. And I came up with this blitz. I came up withThe Fantastic Four, I came up with Thor (I knew the Thor legends very well), and the Hulk, the X-Men, and The Avengers. I revived what I could and came up with what I could. I tried to blitz the stands with new stuff. The new stuff seemed to gain momentum.

GROTH:Let me ask you something that I think is an important point: Stan wrote the way you guys worked — and I think he’s referring to the monster stories specifically here — he wrote, “I had only to give Jack an outline of the story and he would draw the entire strip breaking down the outline into exactly the right number of panels. Then it remained for me to take Jack’s artwork and add the captions and dialogue which would hopefully add a dimension of reality to sharply delineated characterization.” So he’s saying that he gave you a plot, and you would draw it, and he would add the captions and dialogue.

ROZ KIRBY: I remember Jack would call him up and say it’s going to be this kind of story or that kind of story and just send him the story. And he’d write in everything on the side.

KIRBY: Remember this: Stan Lee was an editor. He worked from nine to five doing business for Martin Goodman. In other words he didn’t do any writing in the office. He did Martin Goodman’s business. That was his function. There were people coming up to the office to talk all the time. They weren’t always artists, they were business people. Stan Lee was the first man they would see and Stan Lee would see if he could get them in to see Martin Goodman. That was Stan Lee’s function.

When asked about the creation of the Fantastic Four Jack continues with blunt honesty.

GROTH:Can you tell me give me your version of how The Fantastic Four came about? Did Stan go to you…?

KIRBY: No, Stan didn’t know what a mutation was. I was studying that kind of stuff all the time. I would spot it in the newspapers and science magazines. I still buy magazines that are fanciful. I don’t read as much science fiction as I did at that time. 1 was a student of science fiction and I began to make up my own story patterns, my own type of people. Stan Lee doesn’t think the way I do. Stan Lee doesn’t think of people when he thinks of [characters]. I think of [characters] as real people. If I drew a war story it would be two guys caught in the war. The Fantastic Four to me are people who were in a jam — suddenly you find yourself invisible, suddenly you find yourself flexible.

ROZ KIRBY: Gary wants to know how you created The Fantastic Four.

GROTH: Did you approach Marvel or —

KIRBY: It came about very simply. I came in [to the Marvel offices] and they were moving out the furniture, they were taking desks out — and I needed the work! I had a family and a house and all of a sudden Marvel is coming apart. Stan Lee is sitting on a chair crying. He didn’t know what to do, he’s sitting in a chair crying —he was just still out of his adolescence. I told him to stop crying. I says. “Go in to Martin and tell him to stop moving the furniture out, and I’ll see that the books make money.” And I came up with a raft of new books and all these books began to make money. Somehow they had faith in me. I knew 1 could do it, but I had to come up with fresh characters that nobody had seen before. I came up with The Fantastic Four. I came up with Thor. Whatever it took to sell a book I came up with. Stan Lee has never been editorial minded. It wasn’t possible for a man like Stan Lee to come up with new things — or old things for that matter. Stan Lee wasn’t a guy that read or that told stories. Stan Lee was a guy that knew where the papers were or who was coming to visit that day. Stan Lee is essentially an office worker, OK? I’m essentially something else: I’m a storyteller. My job is to sell my stories. When I saw this happening at Marvel I stopped the whole damned bunch. I stopped them from moving the furniture! Stan Lee was sitting on some kind of a stool, and he was crying.

GROTH: Stan says he conceptualized virtually everything in The Fantastic Four — that he came up with all the characters. And then he said that he wrote a detailed synopsis for Jack to follow.

ROZ KIRBY: I’ve never seen anything.

KIRBY: I’ve never seen it, and of course I would say that’s an outright lie.

GROTH:Stan pretty much takes credit in an introduction to one of his books for creating all the characters in The Fantastic Four. He also said he created the name.

KIRBY: No, he didn’t.

GROTH: The next character, if I remember correctly, was The Hulk. If I remember correctly you drew a six-issue run of that, then it was cancelled for a little while, then Steve Ditko started it in an anthology book called Tales to Astonish. Can you talk a little bit about how you were involved in creating The Hulk?

KIRBY: The Hulk I created when I saw a woman lift a car. Her baby was caught under the running board of this car. The little child was playing in the gutter and he was crawling from the gutter onto the sidewalk under the running board of this car — he was playing in the gutter. His mother was horrified. She looked from the rear window of the car, and this woman in desperation lifted the rear end of the car. It suddenly came to me that in desperation we can all do that — we can knock down walls, we can go berserk, which we do. You know what happens when we’re in a rage — you can tear a house down. I created a character who did all that and called him the Hulk. I inserted him in a lot of the stories I was doing. Whatever the Hulk was at the beginning I got from that incident. A character to me can’t be contrived. I don’t like to contrive characters. They have to have an element of truth. This woman proved to me that the ordinary person in desperate circumstances can transcend himself and do things that he wouldn’t ordinarily do. I’ve done it myself. I’ve bent steel.

GROTH:Well, this is probably going to shock you, but Stan takes full credit for creating the Hulk. He’s written, “Actually, ideas have always been the easiest part of my various chores.” And then he went on to say that in creating The Hulk, “It would be my job to take a clichéd concept and make it seem new and fresh and exciting and relevant. Once again, I decided that Jack Kirby would be the artist to breathe life into our latest creation. So the next time we met, I outlined the concept I’d been toying with for weeks.”

KIRBY: Yes, he was always toying with concepts. On the contrary, it was I who brought the ideas to Stan. I brought the ideas to DC as well, and that’s how business was done from the beginning.

GROTH:Stan also claimed he created the name. “the Hulk.”

KIRBY: No, he didn’t.

ROZ KIRBY: It’s just his word against Stan’s.

GROTH:There was a period between ’61 and ’63 when you were just drawing a tremendous number of books.

ROZ KIRBY: May I make one point? In all these years, when Jack was still creating things, Stan Lee hasn’t been creating things. When Jack left Stan, there wasn’t anything new created by Stan.

KIRBY: Yeah. Stan never created anything new after that. If he says he created things all that easily, what did he create after I left? That’s the point. Have they done anything new? He’ll probably tell you, “I didn’t have to.”

GROTH:Can I ask what your involvement in Spider-Man was?

KIRBY: I created Spider-Man. We decided to give it to Steve Ditko. I drew the first Spider-Man cover. I created the character. I created the costume. I created all those books, but I couldn’t do them all. We decided to give the book to Steve Ditko who was the right man for the job. He did a wonderful job on that.

So you have two people telling two completely different stories, surprise right? Sadly there is practically no one alive from that time that was involved with Marvel at the time except Steve Ditko who still continues to produce independent comics and has remained silent and out of the public eye for years.

Many Creators have supported the fact that Kirby did the majority if not sole creating of Marvels most famous heroes. Even controversial and designated grumpy old man of comics Alan Moore believes Jack to be workhorse behind the creations. Check out a short video of him answering a fan question about Stan Lee here

Needless to say, I’m inclined to believe the Kirby camp. I have always thought if Stan was this creative machine how come he has not created anything significant since Jack left Marvel? Jack and Roz even pointed that out in The Comics Journal interview. Let’s be honest any of Stan’s new comic properties suck or are certainly not anywhere close to the quality of his claimed previous “creations.”

Many people believe Marvel put Stan in cameos in the Marvel movies cause well he’s Stan Lee. No. He sued Marvel for not making any money from the original Spider-Man movie. Not only did he win the suit (He is also the only one to sue Marvel successfully) Stan won the right to be in every Marvel property and receives a reported million dollar a year salary from Marvel.

We are talking about a man who used to have “Stan Lee Presents” on every Marvel comic book. Not “Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Present”. He even said one time publicly that he created Captian America. He didn’t create Captian America that was Joe Simion and Jack Kirby. While Stan has talked highly of Kirby and his other “collaborators”, he will kind of backpedal on questions of contribution and creation for a legal reason as well as moral I suppose.

Stan Lee is one of the best self-promoters and even managed a couple of catchy (if not sometimes annoying) catch phrases Excelsior! And True Believer. Is he evil? No. Shaddy? I’d say yes. He is not the first person to profit off of someone else’s work, and he won’t be the last.  

The reason credit is such an important issue in the comic book industry is because of the amount of work creators put into creating fantastic entertainment. It’s a genuinely collaborative medium, and back in the early days of comics artists were fighting for recognition and fair pay. Even today pencilers, letterers, inkers and colourists are struggling for recognition, while writers are given most of the credit.

It’s important to point out (and this is of course widely debated among fans and pros alike) that you can create a comic without a writer. If the artist is a talented storyteller, you don’t need words to tell a story. A writer without an artist is essentially a short story or script writer. Without pictures with the words, there is no comic book, but so long as there are pictures you have a comic. Jack was proof of this.

At this point you might be thinking this is a pretty one-sided article favouring  Jack Kirby, well it is. If you want to hear Stan’s side, there is no shortage of him talking about how he created the Marvel Universe. Just google search and take you pick of written and video interviews. What I found hard to find when I googled Jack Kirby was his side of the story, and the fact not too many people know about it. People are going to make their own choice on who to believe (at least I hope so).

Many Stan Lee supports say that without Stan there would be no Jack Kirby. They could not be more wrong. Jack had already made a name for himself when he co-created Captain America in 1940 a good 20 years before the start of the Marvel Universe, so it’s not like Jack wasn’t known before being associated with Stan. If anything without Jack Kirby there would be no Stan Lee.

To be fair Stan has been the face of Marvel for a long time, even during bad times when Marvel was on the verge of bankruptcy, his tireless promotion kept marvel in the public eye, and it was also a great benefit for him to so. It seems Stan does nothing that will not help him personally.

Stan has said that the 2016 convention season will be his last, and at the age of 93 I don’t blame him. For anyone wanting to get there Stan Lee comic signed this will be your last chance, but before you rush to your long box or hit up your local comic shop to find some vintage comics of “his” make sure you got enough cash to get each one signed. Yes, the man who “created” much also profits much. Stan is charging  $100 Canadian per signature at Fanexpo Canada (our dollar sucks so I get why it has to be higher) so about $70-80 American. The line usually spans the majority of the convention floor, so we’re talking hours of wait time. The general notion with fans is that his signature will be worth a lot when he eventually passes away, and others just want it for sentimental value and there belief that he created whatever comic there getting signed. To contrast that most creators even legends in the industry charge nothing or a more reasonable fee like 10 or 15 dollars a signature (It’s only reasonable compared to Stan’s fee, I’m not a fan of signature fee’s, in general, i do however understand charging for retailer exclusive variant comics)

The reality is there is no shortage of his signature’s, and unless you get the comic, graded and got the signature verified by a CGC (Certified Guaranty Company) employee in person it’s worth next to nothing. Signatures do not always increase the value of the comic in fact it can hurt the value, what does make a comic valuable is the rarity, and or cultural significance of it. I think once people start to realise Stan had little to do with Jacks creations the less his signature will be worth in the collectors market.

So is Stan Lee the Creator or co- creator of the Marvel Universe? The evidence suggests that he is not either. Jack Kirby and his family never reaped the benefits of his hard work, thankfully after a lengthy battle in the courts recently the family got a settlement out of court and Jack Kirby is starting to get the recognition he deserves even if it is too late. It was Marvel and not the Kirby family who sued. Marvel was suing over the Kirbys termination of copyright assignment they had filed.

I bring this all up just a  before what would have Jack’s 99th birthday (August 28th). It is also nice to see Marvel Acknowledge Kirby by having a week long celebration of his work, although this was probably worked out over the settlement out of court with the Kirby family. Marvel would barely mention him before the lawsuit.

These days I rather hear more about Jack Kirby than Stan Lee, and while I know I didn’t cover all the different variables and topics, it is a very in-depth issue, and I can only hold people’s attention for so long. So perhaps I will do another article on the topic later on down the line.

Happy Birthday to Jack King Kirby The King of Comics.

Stan Lee’s New Creation – Nitron

The man has done it again! Stan Lee has created another super-being for the world to love, and his name is Nitron. This new character is from an intelligent alien race that secretly lives among the humans of Earth. The franchise will come complete with film, TV and digital life. Plus there will be comics, (*EEEEK* ) that will be released this January as a 6 volume series with more issues to follow monthly.

Stan Lee has partnered up with Keya Morgan and Michael Benaroya on the new life of Nitron. The comic book will be the source of the material for the movie, as it should be, and has secured a whopping $50 million in funding to finance the development and production.  (ok, is anyone else’s heart pounding right now???)

  

Stan Lee, seriously this man is a god. I mean wow. Having created all that he has, from X-Men, Avengers, all the Marvel comics, and so much more, he now decided to create a new life for us to fawn over! Wow, this man never seizes to amaze me… I mean, he still is doing so much at his age and still places his remaining time into creating a new hero. My goodness, when does he sleep? Well, that is why we respect one as amazing as Stan Lee, he not only is the creator of the heroes we all aspired to be when we were growing up, but he is one. The Man is a hero to all of us in some way, and I know I personally hope to still be taking the world by storm when I am 93 years old.  ^_^

 

San Diego Comic Con 2016 Funko Pop Exclusives! All Of Them!

Let’s face it, everyone loves Funko Pops, they are this generations version of the Beanie Babies. They are cute, collectible and there seems to be no end to them. I started collecting them forSkatronixxx Jr but stopped after realising that I’d never be able to collect them all. Would I still continue collecting them? Sure if I had the money, but alas I have temporarily put my Funko Pop collection on hold, it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy looking at them though!

There are however hardcore Funko fans out there and  the company knows this, that’s why they are aiming to bombard those lucky people who are going to San Diego Comic Con or SDCC with at least nine waves of exclusive figures.

What’s more having the ‘Funko Limited Edition 2016 Comic Con‘ sticker is a prize possesion for any serious collector and a cool trinket for the causal fan.

On Skatronixxx.com I’ll be bringing you updates about the Funko Pop, with all the exclusives released, I thought I’d treat you to a slideshow of all the Funko Pops on offer 🙂

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Tony Stark… Adopted!!? Who Is Iron Man’s Old Man?

(Disclaimer: I had to do some research on this piece from the internet and if any of this is not true, please be kind and leave nice notes, or maybe help to update the internet?) I did,  however, buy some of the comic books, but unfortunately I was unable to purchase them all due to the store not having them, so I was only able to read some of the actual story. This is very torturous, I might add. But that just means I need the rest, which means more comics, which is always a plus.)

Tony Stark is the son of Howard and Maria Stark, and has been since the creation by Stan Lee, as far as I know. But now there is a story that has erupted on the nerd scene, sourced from a comic that came out October 27^th 2013, stating that Tony Stark is …. Adopted!! WHAT!?!?! And universes are turned upside down…

     

Origins

Ok, let’s start with the new story: according to the comic, Maria and Howard were expecting a child, yet the pregnancy was not going so well for the couple. There were complications that were threatening the unborn child’s life. Howard went searching across the universe in hopes to find a cure. He then came upon Recorder 451, a member of a race of robotic life forms created by the Rigellians, (who also, just side note, play a role in the X-Men universe regarding the death of Jean Grey and also have associations with She-Hulk) to save him from the Greys ((source: comic book: Iron Man vol. 5 #10)) … the Marvel Universe is so huge and interconnected!!

Recorder 451 had seen potential in the Earth and wanted to colonize, but needed a minion to do so… Howard’s unborn son would be perfect for this. The robot agrees to help, and thus the engineering of the baby (who would later be named Arno), for the purpose of saving his life, starts. (Now mind you, Arno is engineered to be smart and such, unlike our amazing Tony who was born naturally brilliant… just saying.) Ok, jumping quickly through the story, Howard finds out that 451 set some sort of killswitch to activate when child hits puberty, then figures out a way to disarm this by implanting something into Maria. This plan which works, they save child, 451 sees all is well and leaves earth… but this happiness is short lived. Infant Arno becomes sick and a doctor tells the couple the baby will not be able to survive without machine support. Worried that 451 would find out that he tampered with the alien work, the couple decides to hide Arno in the Maria Stark Foundation, in hopes he will never be discovered. They then decide to adopt a child and present him as the genetically engineered offspring. Enter Tony Stark.

Off the Track

OK so, if you are comic book nerd or just love the Stark, you probably are aware of the other Arno storylines out there; One being he is the first cousin once removed, ((source: comic book: Machine Man #2,)) another being he is the nephew of Tony ((source: mentions from the Marvel wikia,)) or possibly Tony’s half brother ((source: Iron Man 2012 #1)) plus many others that the true comic book nerds may know about. And each one has their own convoluted story, and if I go down any of these routes, this article will become a novel instead! So the one we are focusing on is the story of the adoption, so maybe another time….

 

Who is Arno Stark?

According to this particular story, Arno is the biological son of Maria and Howard Stark. He grew up in the Maria Stark Foundation, and is being kept alive by an iron lung, with a supposed incurable disease… (yeah right… comic books are rewritten and reconnected frequently, so we know this will not last long.) According to the comic he looks nothing like Tony Stark, (which is weird, since Tony looks like Howard Stark, just saying) But anyway, Arno is as brilliant as Tony, or almost, since his was engineered by alien technology. Arno does use a suit called the MMXX, which he pilots alongside Tony in his Iron Man suit.

 

How Tony Finds Out

In the future, Tony is on a space voyage and meets Recorder 451, who tells him of his supposed origins and alien DNA, and forces him to pilot the Godkiller suit. Tony returns to Earth, confused, as he was unable to make the suit work. Then does his research to find out he was adopted, and there is a real biological son of Howard and Maria out there. He of course goes to the Foundation, meets the real son (Arno) and they figure they can put their amazing brains together and save the world. (Sure… why not? You got it, right?)

What Does This Mean for the Movies????

As we know, Robert Downy Jr., who plays the beloved Iron Man, does not plan on being in the suit forever. In fact he is contracted for maybe three more movies, but one of them is not Iron Man 4. ((source: http://www.slashfilm.com/iron-man-4/))  What of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark? Will the filmmakers try to kill him off? Will he just retire and maybe show up in future films in cameo roles? Or will there be a sort of battle of brother vs. brother later? (In the comic series when Arno is Tony’s cousin, Tony has to fight him… so, maybe a familial grudge match is possible?) Or are they even going to run with this? I mean, this didn’t come from Stan Lee himself, so will they allow the comic written by a different author to be part of the Marvel movies? Stan Lee has his cameo is every movie, so he may not want to be in one universe that he didn’t write. Does this new story line leave open the possibility for them to pass the torch to a new star to play Iron Man? Indeed it does! Especially in ways one does not expect!!

Yes, this is real!! (Google it!)

But we do know that there are so many openings for this franchise… so I guess whatever Robert Downey Jr. and Marvel want to do will work one way or another.

 

Who Could be Tony’s True Parents??? (this is the fun idea part of the story)

((Fellow nerds, don’t hate on me! This portion is entirely speculative, and mostly just for fun.))

Could Tony’s father be Warlock? Could he have a possible relationship to Star-Lord? (I think this will fit in with the story line of Avengers: Infinity Wars. Plus, cousin Arno hangs out with the Guardians of the Galaxy at one point, so makes you wonder if they will still do so with brother Arno… I mean the link could fit.)

What about Professor X?  They both have a brilliant mind, but the Professor is compassionate and caring, kind of not like our Tony Stark, who is egotistical and a play boy…. Nope.

Hank Pim? The original Ant Man? Could he be the real father?  Genius, old, no kids that we know of. He could have had a fling with some chick when he was younger before his waspy wife, and she may have had the child without him knowing. Let’s not forget his genius, this man built the Ant Suit! (Sure, he may have been blonde but his mystery lady could have had dark hair…)

Norman Osborn? He could be old enough, if this theory takes place in the same timeline. He’s a mechanical genius, he built the Goblin Suit, weapons and the Glider… Could he have been a play boy at younger age? Once again, a mystery lady may have had Tony and given him up for adoption, or maybe was paid to do so by either Norman or his family so they could cover the scandal… OOOOH, yeah that one could be fun. Could totally see this one happening. Might get more ladies to read this one if there is some scandalous material lol.

Who do YOU think Tony Stark’s biological parents could be??

 

San Diego Comic Con 2016 Funko Pop Exclusives! Wave 7

Let’s face it, everyone loves Funko Pops, they are this generations version of the Beanie Babies. They are cute, collectible and there seems to be no end to them. I started collecting them for Skatronixxx Jr but stopped after realising that I’d never be able to collect them all. Would I still continue collecting them? Sure if I had the money, but alas I have temporarily put my Funko Pop collection on hold, it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy looking at them though!

There are however hardcore Funko fans out there and  the company knows this, that’s why they are aiming to bombard those lucky people who are going to San Diego Comic Con or SDCC with at least nine waves of exclusive figures.

What’s more having the ‘Funko Limited Edition 2016 Comic Con‘ sticker is a prize possesion for any serious collector and a cool trinket for the causal fan.

On Skatronixxx.com I’ll be bringing you updates about the Funko Pop waves this time it’s time for WAVE SEVEN.

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Funko 1 – Pop! TV: Game of Thrones – 6″ Mag the Mighty

Initial Thoughts? He’s kinda cute considering he’s meant to be ugly and a giant haha.

Funko 2 – Pop! Disney: Pete’s Dragon 2-pack – 6″ Invisible Elliott with Pete

Initial Thoughts? Both me and Skatronixxx Jr would love this!

Funko 3 – Pop! Movies: Suicide Squad – Underwater Batman

Initial Thoughts? I’m Batman.

Funko 4 – Pop! TV: Peanuts – Patriotic Snoopy

Initial Thoughts? Have you been in the shed again Snoopy?

Funko 5 – Pop! TV: iZombie – Olivia Moore

Initial Thoughts? Is it wrong to think a Funko is kinda hot? Let alone one to do with zombies?

Funko 6 – Dorbz: Stan Lee

Initial Thoughts? I’m still gutted I missed the Stan Lee Funko from LFCC *sighs*

Funko 7 – Book: World of Pop! Volume 5

Initial Thoughts? I want it, I want it, I WANT IT!!!

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That was the seventh batch of Funko’s SDCC 2016 exclusives, what did you think? Let us know, sound off on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram or comment below.

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Mallrats Follow-Up Will Be a Television Series

As someone from New Jersey who just moved to California, there’s not many people I consider bigger role models than Kevin Smith. Interesting news came out about him this week involving the sequel to Mallrats.

Personally, Mallrats is my favorite Smith film. I love every Kevin Smith movie though! Smith is my favorite director around, as well as podcaster.

Hollywood Babble On (which he hosts with Ralph Garman) is one of the few podcasts I feel I must listen to on a weekly basis.

Smith doesn’t just do these things mind you. He wrote one of my favorite comics in recent memory with his Hollywood Babble-On co-host, Batman ’66 Meets The Green Hornet.

Back to the news involving Mallrats.

It was recently revealed that rather then release a sequel in theaters. The follow-up to Mallrats will now be a ten-part TV series.

I’m am very intrigued to see where the show will be airing. It’ll be great to see the band back together and I’d love another Stan Lee appearance like in the first film.

I love Smith but know many may feel differently. To those I say, give this show a shot when it is released. When he’s doing something involving Jay & Silent Bob, he is at his best. I have a feeling myself and many other Smith fans will enjoy this show and it will bring them back to 1995 when Mallrats was originally released.