X-Men #103 (February 1977)

Since last week was St. Patrick's Day, I wanted to write about a comic focused on an Irish/Irish-American character. And I figured why not an X-Men comic? After all, it had been a while since Marvel's Merry Mutants had graced this here blog, and well, the X-Men have been known to be a rather..."international" team since Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975). One of these "new" X-Men was an Irish hero: Sean Cassidy, the first Banshee.

Much like his brief compatriot Sunfire, Banshee actually was a pre-established character, having first appeared in X-Men #28 (January 1967). In that comic, he was an antagonist to the original X-Men team, but that was because the villainous organization known as Factor Three forced him to fight the X-Men by putting an explosive headband on him. He would become an ally to the team afterwards, fully joining in the GS X-Men era. He would leave the team for a while due to injury but rejoin the late 80s. The 90s would see him as one of the mentors of the group of young mutants known as Generation X, whom you may have met if you read this blog entry. He would end up killed during the events of X-Men: Deadly Genesis. However, the Grim Reaper was never very good at holding on to X-Men members. He would be briefly resurrected in the X-Force series and the Chaos War event. He would be reborn a third time in the Uncanny Avengers series by a pair of villains known as the Apocalypse Twins (they were not related to En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse, their story is a whole other can of worms) to be one of their Four Horsemen. Death, in particular. And his fourth return would be during the Krakoa Era. And fans make jokes about Jean Grey not staying dead. Sean has her beat! 😖

Yeah, old Sean has been a big part of the X-Men mythos for years, even though many adaptations tend to exclude or relegate him to more minor roles. And one of the things he's known for in the comics is that he has a castle. Yeah. Cassidy Keep. Located in County Mayo, Ireland, the Keep has been the ancestral home of the Cassidy family for many generations. First constructed in 1185 AD, the Keep first appeared in X-Men #101 (July 1976). While the Keep is known for being the home of the Cassidys, it also has some...other residents. Let's meet them as we look at X-Men #103!

The cover is a Dave Cockrum and Irving Watanabe piece. It's pretty cool, depicting Black Tom and Juggernaut trying to fight off the X-Men from the top of a castle. I do wish that Storm and Banshee were switched, as this story takes place at Sean and Tom's ancestral home, and their family feud is the focus of the story. But that's my only complaint, really.

"The Fall of the Tower"
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: Dave Cockrum
Inker: Sam Grainger
Colorist: Janice Cohen
Letterer: John Costanza
Editor: Archie Goodwin
Editor-in-Chief: Archie Goodwin

The story begins in Cassidy Keep. As I said earlier, it is the ancestral home of the Cassidy family, which included the heroic Sean "Banshee" Cassidy, his villainous brother "Black Tom" Cassidy, and Sean's future daughter Theresa "Siryn" Rourke. It's here that we find one of the new X-Men at this time, Kurt "Nightcrawler" Wagner, being carried away by...tiny elf-like men. 

You see, last issue, Black Tom fought the X-Men, and he had a new ally with him: Cain Marko, the unstoppable, invincible Juggernaut. The two managed to mop the floor with our heroes, naturally. Nightcrawler wakes up, and the German teleporter is none too happy with, as I said, being carried around by little elf-like men.

"Stranger danger!"

Naturally, he's a bit confused by the whole thing, but then he realizes he's in the company...of leprechauns, arguably one of the most famous parts of Irish folklore. 

He finds this impossible...even though he himself is a demonic-looking man that can teleport.

I mean, you'd think Kurt would be a little more...open-minded to the weird considering his mutation and powers. Oh, well. He is understandably confused as to what is going on. Thankfully, there's another man there that'll catch him (and us) up: Eamon O'Donnell, the seneschal of Cassidy Keep. "What is a senechal", you may ask? Well, from what I gather, he's some kind of official that was appointed by a royal to be the administrator of the Keep. He explains why Black Tom and Juggernaut are here. 

They came by a month ago, being able to easily take over the Keep thanks to the Juggernaut being for all intents and purposes, invincible. They also took Eamon's family and the leprechauns living in the Keep prisoner. And all of this at the orders of a mysterious man wearing red armor and a matching horned helmet.

"For the last friggin' time, I am not Satan!"

They're going to need a plan if they want to rescue the X-Men and the other hostages. One remarks that when they found Nightcrawler, part of his body seemed to have melted into the shadows. Kurt is puzzled by this, until he discovered that yeah, he can melt into shadows. That's handy. The group are alerted that Black Tom has the X-Men in his lab.

Black Tom's parties are WEEEEEEEIRD.

Tom is torturing the X-Men to lure in Professor Xavier. After all, he'll do anything to save his students, even let the two villains kill him. This gives Kurt an idea.

All he needs is his image inducer, the device he uses to hide his natural appearance.

"Did you guys get that thing I sent you?"

...How did Kurt fake the wheelchair? Anyway, he uses his agility to annoy Juggernaut and use him to wreck the place. Black Tom is all like "Hey, wait! Doesn't Xavier need a wheelchair? How on Earth is he walking and leaping around?" He eats a Mighty Dropkick from Kurt, then sticks to a wall, making Cain be like "Hey, that's NIGHTCRAWLER!" He tries to flatten the blue-furred mutant swashbuckler with a Mighty Punch, but all he ends up doing is giving Cassidy Keep a massive new window.

Cain and Tom's remodeling business didn't start well.

The sight of the sky is able to distract Storm from her claustrophobia, and she creates a hurricane that ends up helping free the other X-Men. Well, except for Banshee. The lab is wrecked, and Kurt ends up under rubble.

Black Tom and Cain bring Sean to the top of the keep. And not because they want to sightsee. They taunt our heroes by threatening to toss him down to them a piece at a time...if they can get up and try 2and save him in five minutes.

Storm easily gets up there thanks to her powers. Colossus tosses Wolverine to the top.

"I knew I could throw him over the castle! Sean owes me $100!"

I believe this the second time we saw the Fastball Special, it first being used in X-Men #100 (August 1976). However, it's not going to be that easy. Storm finds herself besieged by laser turrets built into the Keep's turrets. And Colossus (who still has to climb the castle's wall) is getting pieces of the castle's stone wall thrown at him by Juggernaut. As for Wolverine? Well, Piotr accidentally tossed him across the castle to the other side.

He ends up meeting one of the leprechauns, Padraic by name. He asks the Canadian feral mutant to come with him. Hopefully, it won't end up for Logan like it did John McClane when he was invited to come out to the coast.

While Black Tom and Juggernaut are trying to bring down Storm and Colossus, Nightcrawler is able to secretly free Banshee from his bonds. He uses his sonic scream to wreck the floor under Juggernaut, making him fall down into the castle.

He finds himself at the feet of a flight of stairs...and Colossus, Storm, and Wolverine are waiting for him at the top. Meanwhile, Banshee takes on his malevolent brother. Sean and Tom respectively fight with a sword and axe as their powers have no effect on each other. Their fight gets interrupted by Juggernaut brawling with Sean's comrades.

Tom sees a chance to relieve his heroic brother of his head. However, Banshee kicks him over the edge of the castle, while he himself hangs on. A horrified Juggernaut jumps into the drink after him, vowing to make the X-Men pay if they killed the only man he ever could call a friend. Ororo then dissipates the weather that had been kicked up. The X-Men search for the bodies of Tom and Juggernaut, but they're never found. We'll see them again in the future. 

The story ends with the man who hired Tom and Cain reporting to an alien being. He warns her a 'Princess Neramani' is due to reach Earth in weeks, and that must not happen. The armored man isn't worried, as he managed to ally with the X-Men's oldest foe...Magneto. 

I enjoyed this issue. It had lots of action, and some fun moments. I got a good chuckle out of Piotr accidentally tossing Logan over the castle. It makes a bizarre bit of sense. This new X-Men team hasn't been together for very long. They've had some adventures, but that doesn't mean that there aren't kinks in their dynamic that still need to be ironed out. I thought Kurt using his image inducer to pose as Xavier was a clever way of faking out the villains. I like it when superheroes use their brains as something besides punching bags. 

I do wish we got a bit more exploration of Sean and Tom's dynamic and reasons for their enmity. I think that would have helped give this issue a bit more emotional resonance, for lack of a better term. I did like seeing the beginnings of Black Tom and Juggernaut's friendship. That was neat. I admit, I also wondered how Tom had an advanced lab and laser turrets put in Cassidy Keep so quickly. Yes, the story did establish that he and Juggernaut were there for a month, but you'd think that kind of stuff would take a bit longer to build and install. Although, considering that Cain and Tom were working for, maybe it was alien technology. 

One cool thing we see here is the beginnings of the friendship between Black Tom and Juggernaut. Yeah, the two would actually end up becoming friends over the years and would work together a few times. 

I have heard Cockrum's art be described as being very different from many other comics at the time, and I can certainly see why. It reminds me of Neal Adams's in a way. I'm not sure how to explain it. It does have a bit of 1970s "grit" to it. 

If you want to read this story for yourself, I have read it thanks to the 2004 trade paperback The Uncanny X-Men Masterworks Vol. 2, which was published exclusively for Barnes and Noble. However, it has also been collected in the 2017 trade paperback Uncanny X-Men Epic Collection Vol. 5: Second Genesis. This trade was also reprinted in 2023. You'll likely have an easier time getting those. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! And if you want to give this blog a little additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-Fi. See you next time!

National Puppy Day

Today is National Puppy Day!

This day is about celebrating puppies. Puppies are adorable. They run around, they play, they lick faces. We love looking at videos and pictures of them online. Puppies may grow up, but to the millions of dog owners around the world, they're still babies.

This day was created by animal activist and author Colleen Paige in 2006. She wanted to use this day to not only celebrate the puppy but also call attention to the many dogs and puppies in animal shelters still in need of loving homes. National Puppy Day is also meant to raise awareness of the cruelty of puppy mills. Puppy mills first started appearing in the 1950s because of farmers looking to make some extra money, and noticing a rising demand for pets after World War II. Hey, people pay good money to get a puppy, why not provide puppies? Thing is, these mills often cruelly treated puppies and their mothers. Mother dogs would literally get bred to death in these facilities. Also, puppy mills can contribute to the population of unspayed/unneutered feral dogs. This led to the signing of the Animal Welfare Act in 1966. Despite this, puppy mills still operate, most notably in Pennsylvania and Missouri.

What can you do? Well, you can call your local reprentatives and Senators to put in stronger rules to protect puppies/dogs, and if you want to adopt, do so from a shelter. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!

World Water Day

Today is World Water Day!

This day is an annual United Nations observance (first proposed in 1992 and observed in 1993) that is meant to highlight the necessity and the importance of the conservation of fresh water. After all, fresh water is something that is critical to human survival. Fresh water helps keep people hydrated and clean. It's something that is taken for granted by many people.

Sadly, according to this, there are still nearly 785 million people that lack access to clean fresh water. Most water is used for agriculture, to feed crops. Climate change is also affecting water access, with worsening rainfall as well as droughts. If you want to learn more about how you can help with this, even in a small way, you can look here. There are also small other ways you can help conserve water, like taking quick showers nor not using the tap while brushing your teeth. We can all help conserve water. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!

The Punisher: Shadowmasters #2 (November 1989)

Last year, on this exact same month, I took a look at the first issue of a spin-off miniseries from Frank Castle, the original Punisher's comic book: Shadowmasters. This miniseries told the tale of a group of ninjas that had an adventure with Frank in the comics at the time. In the first issue, we got to see the birth and growing pains of a friendship between two men that crossed cultures and nationalities in the shadow of World War II and the American occupation of Japan. And we also got to see the beginnings of an obsession with revenge that would have an effect on both men that would last a couple generations. Where did it go from here? Let's find out in Shadowmasters #2!

The cover is a Mark Texiera piece. It's a wraparound cover that looks utterly gorgeous. It depicts a swordsman ready to strike, a ghostly geisha behind him, as well as a big ol' Buddha. The other side also had a Japanese-style pagoda castle. It is a cool cover (I would love to hang it as a poster), but I do wish the cover was more of a preview of the story. Still, I like it.

"The Invisible Enemy"
Writer: Carl Potts
Penciler: Dan Lawlis
Inker: Tod Smith
Colorist: Steve Oliff
Letterer: Jim Novak
Editors: Al Milgrom, Marc McLaurin
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

The story begins a recap of the previous issue. While Japan was occupied by the USA after the events of World War II, Shigeru Ezaki (secretly a ninja protector of his home village) had met and befriended an American Army man named Captain James Richards. The two end up joining forces to take on Kantaro (I mistakenly spelled his name Kentaro in the last issue 😖) Umezu, the commander of a group of Imperial Japanese Army holdouts, wanting to continue the war. Kantaro had a new plan: instead of outright fighting, the holdout soldiers would take a tactic from their ninja foe: blend in. Work their way up to influential positions in the society of post-war Japan and then use said influence to subtly take over the country and push it back to war. 

Years had passed since then. It's now 1962. Richards returned to America for a while and had married. Thing was, his time in Japan made him fall in love with the country. He would return to the country to help coach in Japan's growing pro baseball league. Yeah, baseball is huge in Japan. James is likely a coach for a team in the Nippon Professional Baseball league. It was around back then, and it's the biggest baseball league in the country. 

This time of peace also meant the growth of families. In 1957, the Richards family welcomed their first child and future Shadowmaster Phillip. Ezaki was a widower, but even he found his own family growing. He would remarry and welcome another child in 1960: his daughter Yuriko. His elder son Sojin is also growing up. The two families were close friends, the children growing up together. It seems almost idyllic. But a dark shadow lulls over this group.

Kantaro's group has worked hard over the past decade and a half. They have achieved their goals of infiltrating Japanese post-war society. They've become powerful men...and some of them have started questioning Kantaro's goal. After all, time and their new positions have gotten some of them thinking that perhaps they are better off letting it go and continuing to prosper. Kantaro...disagrees with them.

"And you all will like the pineapple on pizza, too!"

Years pass. It is now 1972. Ezaki has been training his children and James's son Phillip in ninjitsu, wanting to pass the secrets of the Shadowmasters to a new generation. James is aware of the training, but he doesn't participate. He and Ezaki may see each other as brothers, but their experiences and cultures still show a wide gap they can never truly reconcile. The kids, though? They grew up in a blend of their parents' worlds. They'll be the ones to be the bridge. They're the future.

Ezaki continues his training. The kids are progressing, but they still have a ways to go. After all, one does not become awesome ninjas overnight, ha ha. We get a nice little laugh from Yuriko as she fell asleep while practicing keeping herself concealed. 

The next morning, Phillip is talking about what he learned from Ezaki to his parents. His mother is understandably concerned about her son being taught to be a ninja. James isn't too worried about it. Ezaki's a friend, and at least Phillip isn't spending his nights running around and causing trouble. Not to mention he sees it as good character building. 

That night, a ninja sneaks their way towards Ezaki's home...then leaves. Maybe he thought they got the wrong place. This is a really bad start to a ninja pizza delivery service.

The next day, the two families head out to watch a baseball game. Ezaki's eldest son Sojin isn't with them as he's on a field trip as part of his marine biology studies in college. The team James is coaching is playing for the league championship. Ezaki was able to notice the ninja visiting his house last night...was Phillip.

Ezaki noticed that the crickets that were chirping this time of year were silent, indicating they were disturbed. Also, Ezaki saw him. His face may have been concealed, but his body and moves gave him away like an ID card. Phillip only did it to prove how good he was getting at stealth. And he noticed Ezaki had spotted him because he heard mosquitoes buzzing. Mosquitoes tend to settle on bed netting around midnight, and their buzzing indicated something disturbed them. Phillip's mother grounds him for a month.

The game goes well for James's team, winning the championship. James and Ezaki get a picture. Sojin also returns home, with a couple new pets.

"I also found a Kraken, but I couldn't fit it here."

Not exactly a new kitten, but hey, at least they'll be good ice-breakers and conversation-starters. Ezaki's little photo ends up causing a big problem, as Kantaro has seen it in the sports section of a newspaper. That night, as the man sleeps, he is haunted by memories of his childhood. One, in particular. His father was an alcoholic and like to play a trust exercise with him. The old man put the young Kantaro on a wall, and told him to jump, saying he'll catch him. But when he does, the father moves away, causing Kantaro to fall on his face.

It's meant to teach the boy to not trust anyone outside of his own instincts. Kantaro's mother objects to this, but his dad smacks her around. The enraged boy picks up a sword and stabs his father with it, killing the old drunk. It was the first time he killed a man, and for Kantaro, it was an eye-opening experience. He felt a thrill and great satisfaction from it, implying that he enjoys killing. 

In a secure office in Tokyo, Kantaro meets with his fellow renegades. Now they know the identity of the ninja and his American ally, they can finally strike and get both their heads. However, the other ex-soldiers are...not fond of the idea. And it's not because they've grown to enjoy their new positions in life. It's more that they fear Kantaro's grudge will jeopardize the plan to take over Japan, the plan Kantaro himself conceived. After all, they have been building up the tech and soldiers they need. They're about ready to go. 

Kantaro doesn't care about any of it right now, as his thirst for Richards and Ezaki's blood is too great. That night, Ezaki discusses being Shadowmasters with Phillip and Yuriko. He taught them everything he knows, and he hopes they use this knowledge well, and grow as best as they can. Afterwards, he meditates, visualizing a small waterfall. Normally, this visual is of the waterfall endlessly flowing, but now...it's dried up. Foreshadowing...

A week has passed, and Mrs. Ezaki notices her hubby moves like he's in a fog. The vision has shaken him, like he fears something bad will happen. However, he still has to go to a mayoral conference in Iga. Everything should be fine. Totally fine.

Over the next few days, Richards and Ezaki live their lives. Richard's baseball team gets ready to tour the USA, and Ezaki works at the conference. The mayor returns home and finds his place unusually quiet. There should be noise from his family at this time. He heads into his home via a secret passageway from a fake well. The other opening is at the garden. It should allow him to see the stars at night...but it's completely dark. Something is blocking it. And the blockage was something that he hoped he'd never have to see.

"We also ate all your ham. Sorry about that."

His dear friend Richards, now a corpse. The killers left a note. They have his and Richards's families. Ezaki quickly gets to work, doffing his mayoral suit. It's time for the Shadowmaster. But even his knowledge and skills can't compete with some aspects of modern technology. Thanks to heat sensors surrounding his home, Kantaro and his subordinates can track the ninja. 

Kantaro is enjoying himself right now, as he gets to be the hunter. He sends some men in to get Ezaki, then reveals that the hostages are tied to a pillar in Ezaki's home. But getting them out will not be easy. There is an explosive at the base of the pillar. The hostages are also standing on dead man's switches. If they are moved, it goes off. The bomb also has a timer on it, so they'll get blown up anyway. It's overkill, but it fits Kantaro's madness and obsession with revenge.

Ezaki makes his way inside his home. He fights off Kantaro's men. Even their using infra-red goggles to negate the darkness doesn't help them. 

"AW GOD, IT TASTES SPIKY!"

Remember those sea urchins that Sojin brought home? They turn out to be very handy weapons, especially when tossed into a man's face.

The broken fish tank leaks water into the motor of its filter, causing a short...which leads to a fire.

The fire makes it impossible to track Ezaki with the heat sensors, much to Kantaro's fury. But Ezaki is still on the clock. He finds his and Richards's families.

"Uh...okay?"

He has 90 seconds to free them. And the clock is ticking.

Ezaki tries to use a corpse of one of Kentaro's men to keep the dead man's switches from triggering the bomb early. 40 seconds left. The corpse can't cover all four switches, though. Ezaki tells the others to get out. 20 seconds left. He sticks a piece of glass into the pillar. And the house goes up with a BANG.

The story ends with the families being alright...but Ezaki himself is seemingly dead, much to the sadness of little Yuriko.  

I enjoyed this comic. Yes, it's not as action-packed as the first issue, but it was nice to see the family lives of Richards and Ezaki. I enjoyed seeing the I also give kudos to the creative team for not killing off Philip, Sojin, and Yuriko's mothers. I do wish we got names for them, though. I doubt it would have been that hard to do. I also liked seeing the family life of Richards and Ezaki. It helps show that the two, despite their disparate cultures, do have a lot in common, mainly being loving family men. It was also neat seeing Ezaki train Yuriko and Phillip in the art of ninjitsu, passing his knowledge to the next generation. It also helped the theme of bridging the East and West. Seeing so much of the two families' idyllic lives also made Kantaro and his men's attack hit much harder. Not to mention I got a good chuckle out of Yuriko's falling asleep during training and Ezaki giving one of Kantaro's men a sea urchin to the face. 

I know that some will criticize the brief scene in which we saw a bit of Kantaro's childhood. And I can see why. After all, he's not a good dude. And then there's the cliche of "abused children becoming villainous". But I look at it like this. You see, there is a difference between having a sympathetic backstory, and being a sympathetic character. Yes, Kantaro didn't have a good childhood, if that flashback was any indication. But that does not mean he's a good person. He's a monster. All we saw is just how he became one. 

I've said it before, and I will say it again about the art. It's very well done. Dan Lawlis is an artist I never hear talked about much, and that's a shame. I think he's very good. His art is detailed, expressive, and has a good bit of storytelling ability. The inking also helps the pencils instead of hurting them, like say Rey Garcia with Tom Tenney. 

I believe I've said this in my review of the first issue, and I will say it again here. I think Shadowmasters is a hidden gem in Marvel publishing history, and I highly recommend seeking it out. In fact, I recommend tracking down the 2018 trade paperback The Punisher: Shadowmasters. You won't regret it. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!

International Day of Forests

 Happy International Day of Forests!

This day was established by a United Nations resolution in 2013, for the purpose of raising awareness of the importance of forests. Healthy forests are a major carbon sink. That basically means they absorb greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and help mitigate the effects of climate change. 

Forests don't really have a hard definition, although they are defined by the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization as "land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with threes higher than 5 meters and a canopy of more than 10%, or trees able to reach those conditions on site". Forests are found all over the world, encompassing a variety of flora and fauna. Forests first came about during the Middle Devonian period thanks to the first appearances of trees like Calamophyton. These early trees spread throughout the world. And another early plant, Archaeopteris, would drop its dead leaves on the ground, helping make it fertile for more plants to grow. Much of the earth's biomass (the amount of species in one place at one time) is found in forests. 

Forests have a magical quality to them. They can be seen as both places of peace and comfort, as well as places of fear and danger. The forest can be the home of heroes and monsters. They can be portals to magical worlds or barriers.

Sadly, around 32 million acres of forests are lost every year. Healthy forests also help promote biodiversity and provide food, shelter and medicines for various indigenous people all over the world. They also help induce rainfall and reduce the impacts of climate change, as well as purify water and mitigate hazards like floods. It's why we should call and work to help protect these wonders of nature. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!

Spring Equinox

 Today is the March Equinox, aka the Spring Equinox! 

Right now, you may be asking yourself, "Spring equinox? So? Why should I care?" Well, the spring equinox has often been traditionally considered the first day of spring. It's also considered the start of the new year in the Persian (Iranian) and Indian calendars, so happy new year to you all there!

Where did the term "equinox" come from, you may ask? Well, the word "equinox" is descended from Latin words meaning "equal nights". That's because for most latitudes, as shown in the diagram, the duration of the day and the night is about equal. This is because of the Earth's rotation axis becoming perpendicular to the Sun's light. It's not tilting towards or away from the sun at all. The equinoxes are the only time the sun appears to rise in the East and set in the West. 

As it has been considered the first day of spring, the March equinox has been referred to as the spring equinox or the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, the March equinox has been referred to as the autumnal/fall equinox because for those people down there, this equinox is the start of autumn. This equinox will lead the Earth's rotational axis tilting towards the sun, leading to warmer weather in the Northern Hemisphere, and colder weather in the Southern one.

If you want to read some more interesting facts about the spring equinox, you can do so here. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other! See you next time!

Spider-Man: Brand New Day Trailer, My Thoughts

The Mighty Marvel Cinematic Universe marches on! Tom Holland returns to the webbed costume of Marvel's mightiest mascot: Spider-Man in the upcoming film Spider-Man: Brand New Day! Directed by Daniel Destin Cretton (who also had directed Shang-Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings), and written by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, this film will the MCU's 38th movie (part of Phase Six), and this'll be the first time a live-action Spider-Man got a fourth film. This film will also see the return of Zendaya as Michelle "MJ" Jones, Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds, and it will also see Jon Bernthal and Mark Ruffalo appear as Frank Castle/Punisher and Bruce Banner/Hulk. Let's look at the trailer! 

Sounds like our Mr. Parker is feeling a bit of regrets about his actions in No Way Home. Yes, he made that sacrifice to save his world, but maybe he felt the price was far too high.

I think Peter needs a hand. And a vacation.

Hey, it's that lady from Daredevil: Born Again! 

I think she was working for Fisk. My guess is at the point of this film, he may still be the mayor of NYC.

Frank running into Peter made me chuckle. I like to think that's happened quite a few times between them.

Frank: Aw God, not you again! How does this keep happening?!
Peter: ...we live in the same city, you gun-crazed goof!

RIDER KICK THROUGH THE WINDOW!

Woof, Peter at the party...and MJ got a new beau. 

I hope to God, it's Paul Rabin. Because the meltdowns from Spider-Man fans will be hilarious.

But seriously, Pete shouldn't worry. There's plenty of fish in the sea. I mean, Peter has hooked up with other women in the comics. I wonder if he'll meet Gwen or Felicia in this movie...

Pete! Go to bed!

Yeah, I think they're drawing from The Other for this film. Peter's powers are going bonkers here like that story. I wonder if they'll also draw from the Six Arms Saga. 

It's Keith David! That voice is very distinct. Based on his dialogue here, I think he's playing Ezekiel Sims.

The Scorpion! 

That girl on the bus kind of resembles Rogue. I think it's a red herring. Something slipped in to get people talking. 

Amazing Fantasy #15 cover reference!

The Tarantula! Also, that moment was a reference to the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #134 (July 1974), drawn by the late Ross Andru. That comic introduced the first Tarantula: Antonio Rodriguez. I think he's the Tarantula Peter is fighting here.

Spider-Man vs. the Hand. Hey, why not? In the comics, he's fought lots of villains outside his own rogues gallery.

Casual reminder that Spider-Man goes hard, as they say. Remember, he's a lot more powerful than he seems. He just holds back a lot to avoid hurting others.

Yeah, I think that last shot was altered to hide something important, like No Way Home's trailer was altered to hide the Garfield and Maguire Spider-Men. 

I just had a crazy thought. Daniel Deston Cretton directed Shang-Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings. He's directing this film. And Peter seems to be battling the Hand here. Maybe this'll set up Shang-Chi and Peter meeting down the line? 🤔

I'm personally hyped! I can't wait to see this movie! I know it'll be a blast! I've been enjoying the MCU Spider-Man films, and I think this'll be another hit for them! Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!