Prepare for four more years of the most disruptive president ever – MSN Money

Getty Images Prepare for four more years of the most disruptive president ever

You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn't harbor incredibly strong feelings about President Trump. Millions of Americans hate him. Millions still support him. "I don't have an opinion about Trump" is not something you'd expect to hear in a casual or political discussion - which is precisely the point.

For decades, Trump has been a lightning rod attracting the electrical discharges of hate and admiration with little neutral voltage in between. After he beat Hillary Clinton in 2016, he began to get zapped by hundreds of thousands of opinionated charges, and then literally millions, emanating from around the globe.

Today we could say these charges have become "matter versus antimatter," creating a dangerous energy field that may not be able to be shut down regardless of the outcome of November's presidential election.

In a speech at the American Enterprise Institute's annual dinner last year, Nikki Haley, a former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina governor who is still a powerful voice in the GOP, cut to the chase regarding Trump: "President Trump is a disruptor. That makes some people very happy, and it makes some people very mad." She is correct - the president is a disruptor, and the need to disrupt likely is in his DNA. Our nation and the world haven't experienced another president like him.

Forget "The Art of the Deal," the book that introduced many Americans to Trump. For the past five decades, he has used "the art of disruption" to break down seemingly insurmountable walls to achieve his goals. Many times, he succeeded. Sometimes, the bricks and mortar collapsed upon him.

But even when they caved, he crawled out, dusted himself off and went about disrupting the next obstacle in his path. Those who have come to hate Trump must think they are watching a never-ending, real-life version of the "The Terminator," with Trump playing the role of the unstoppable cyborg.

Since Haley made her remarks last November, the world has been turned on its head by a deadly pandemic and our nation has been disrupted by legitimate protests and civil unrest tinged with troubling violence.

But through it all, Trump remains virtually the same. What you see is what you get. He's still that one-man disruptive force of often epic proportions. He goes full speed ahead - damn the (rhetorical) torpedoes!

Most media appear to be left of center in the U.S. and many other countries. They've come to truly loathe Trump and made their low opinions of him abundantly clear. Some world leaders and their staff have scoffed at the president too. Trump the disruptor, marching to his own beat, truly rubs them the wrong way. They want him gone.

On the other hand, the millions of voters in the U.S. who strongly support Trump need him to remain that disruptive force against both major political parties and the entrenched elite establishment. Power centers, they believe, never have had their best interests at heart.

As the election approaches, our nation is in a precarious and volatile position. Millions of Americans seem to be on the edge of despair - whether from the destructive fallout from the pandemic, its politicization, the ugly polarization of our politics or the pockets of anarchy.

The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis was barbaric, and those who rose up in protest were right to do so; their voices need to be heard. But violence in the streets, destruction of property and calls to "defund the police" are deeply worrisome to many Americans. Such anarchy goes too far even for some Democrats, liberals and minority communities. No one wants violence in their neighborhood, town or city, especially Americans who may be struggling to survive.

Against this backdrop, voters will be asked to choose between our disruptive president or tentative former Vice President Joe Biden. I wonder if Democrats privately have confidence in the polls showing Biden leading Trump - or confidence in Biden himself.

But if the storms continue to rage, I suspect enough voters - frightened by the anarchy and nervous about the reversal of course sought by some on the left - will choose to ride it out with Trump until 2024. Then, they'll take a deep breath, collect their thoughts and elect America's first female president.

Douglas MacKinnon was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, and former special assistant for policy and communication at the Pentagon during the last three years of the Bush administration. He is the author of: "The Dawn of a Nazi Moon: Book One."

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Prepare for four more years of the most disruptive president ever - MSN Money

The X-Men’s Most Unstable Team Is Killing Each Other – Screen Rant

The X-Men started the Hellions hoping it would be a superhero therapy group... but therapy doesn't usually involve mutant guns and chest blasts.

Spoilers for Hellions #2!

The X-Men have been feeling experimental since the start of the Dawn of X relaunch, and their latest attempt at making the lives of mutants better is not going well. The ruling body of the mutant nation Krakoa, the Quiet Council, put together a team of unpredictable, antisocial, even villainous mutants, then tasked them with performing missions that the Council felt would be cathartic and productive. They called that team the Hellions. InHellions #2, the therapeutic superhero squad takes on their first mission... to zero success and lots of violence between teammates.

Hellionsis written by Zeb Wells, illustrated by Stephen Segovia, and colored by David Curiel. The team roster mixes popular X-Men heroes with classic and obscure villains, all under the banner of the new mutant cause of Krakoa and its belief that even the team's worst villainscan find clemency there. The current roster includes Cyclops' brother Havok, psychic ninja Psylocke, feral fighter Wild Child, indoctrinated soldier Orphan-Maker and his protectivecyborg Nanny, emotional manipulator Empath, and techno-shapeshifter Greycrow, with the supervision of mad geneticist Mister Sinister.

Related: X-MEN Theory: Mystique Is X of Swords' Secret Villain

In Hellions #2, the teamsets out to destroy an old lab of Sinisters located beneath a now-abandoned orphanage that Sinister once used as a cover to obtain experimental subjects. Much of the team has ties to Sinister and his baby-snatching operation, and tensions are immediately high. Wild Child attacks a police officer with a K-9 companion in an instinctive effort to become the pack leader.Havok, who grew up there, insists he doesn't belong with the traumatized crew, but Psylocke senses his anxiety is loudest of all since he grew up there under Sinisters' testing schedule.

When Empath decides to blow off steam by nudging Nanny into a frenzy of protective worry, she latches onto Greycrow as if he's a waywardchild. Greycrow doesn't find it funny; he shoots Empath in the head. Since the X-Men have effectively conquered death, this is a matter of paperwork rather than a permanent loss. But stakes get higher the further they delve into the lab, and the team doesn't get any more cohesive.

The real violence begins when the team discovers that diabolical witch Madelyne Pryor has taken up residence in the lab and has been growing half-mindless mutant soldiers from Sinister's leftover, half-fried genetic samples. The enemy mutants may not be highly skilledcombatants, but Madelyne sends each one to fight a Hellion they're perfectly suited to disable. While the others fall, Pryor approaches Havok personally and reminds him of their past romantic history, which leaves him mesmerized enough to leave with her. As her zombifiedclones drag the dead and incapacitatedHellions away, the only two who remain are Psylocke and Wild Child... who sees that the ninja pack leader is wounded and weak, and goes in for the kill.

Hellions is only two issues in and the kinks have clearly yet to be worked out of this roster. Still, since most of the roster is dead, MIA, or trying to kill each other, it might be time to have a long talk between Xavier, Sinister, and--if he ever returns--Havok about the viabilityof this shooting-and-stabbing-based therapy program. Have theQuiet Council given any thought to art therapy? Role-playing? A villains-only dance studio?

Hellions #2is available now from Marvel Comics.

More:The X-Men Typo That Turned Cyclops Into A 'Furry'

Batman Will Finally Face His FIRST Rival, Ghost-Maker

Sean Finley is a comics news writer for ScreenRant. Mutated as a child by a radioactive copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, he now contributes articles, reviews, and short fiction to local and online outlets using a variety of thematic personas. When he isn't writing, he's the forever DM for his local D&D group, where everything is made up and the points don't matter. You can reach him at wseanfinley (at) gmail.com.

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The X-Men's Most Unstable Team Is Killing Each Other - Screen Rant

Details Revealed on The Two "Trippier" Unproduced TERMINATOR: GENISYS Sequels – GeekTyrant

If Terminator: Genisys had been good and a big hit for the studio, we would have seen two sequels that would have closed out the story. Its a shame to see what happened with the Terminator franchise. The past few attempts just could reach the bar that was set with Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Maybe things would have been different if James Cameron was the guy actually directing and spearheading the films. But, he was busy with Avatar.

For those of you curious to know what we would have seen happen in the sequels had Terminator: Geniysis been a hit, co-writer Patrick Lussier recently explained the direction that the sequels would have gone. It would have focused on the time loop angle, and we would have seen more of Matt Smiths version of Skynet.

On a recent episode ofThe Production Meeting Podcast, Lussier said:

We wrote like two drafts of the next one, the direct sequel, and had an outline for the third one, what that would be, that answered all the questions that were presented inGenisysand brought it back around and closed it all off.

During the interview, he was asked if the sequel would have attempted to build their own identities instead of paying homage to the first two original movies in the franchise. In his response, Lussier said talked about Smiths character and said the films would have been trippier.

Yes. They were introducing new characters. They dealt more with how the future and where Skynet comes from and what that sort of time loop is. That Matt Smith character. It became much more of a focus, so they were probably a little trippier and stood away fromT2a little more. Started having their own identity. Theres sort of an interesting escaping the fatalistic part of itwho knows? Maybe one day theyll release it as a comic or something.

Theres no mention of John Connors role in the story, but actor Jason Clarkepreviously said the story would have focused on John Connor and what happened to him after he was taken by Skynet. It would have focused on a cyborg version of Connor:

What I remember was that second one was going to be about Johns journey after he was taken by Skynetlike going down to what he became; half machine, half man. Thats where the second one was going to start, and thats about all I knew.

It would have been interesting to see how this story would have played out fully. Who knows, though. Maybe one day we will get to see that story in comic book form. One thing is for sure, though I dont think well be seeing any more Terminator films in the foreseeable future.

Via: /Film

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Visit to the film set – Explica

Were going to make a Justice League movie, whether its now or in ten years, Gregory Noveck then senior vice president of creative affairs at DC Entertainment would tell Variety in 2008. But neither we nor Warner We are going to do it until we can do it well. It failed him for a year, but yes: Almost a decade after that first attempt (frustrated by the 2007 writers strike), we found ourselves in a van heading to Leavesden Studios to visit the set of League of Justice (like this, like Wonder Woman, officially without the article la). They are the first to see this, Patrick Tatopoulos, production designer for the fifth DC Extended Universe film, told us.. In fact, we have to ask them a lot of discretion because what is in this room would constitute a massive spoiler. In that room was all the aesthetics: drawings and conceptual art of different moments of the first joint adventure of Batman, Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg. Suspiciously missing from the Justice League set: Superman.

Concept art of the Flying Fox aircraft.

Superman is dead, what did you not see the last movie? Jason Momoa replied jokingly to a little boy who asked about the absence of the Man of Steel at Comic Con. And whoever is not aware, at the end of Batman vs. Superman, after he and the Batman were reconciled thanks to the now infamous name Martha, the Kryptonian lost his life defeating Doomsday.

The burden of keeping the world safe is on Bruce and Diana. They will have to gather the team and fight a great threat, Gal Gadot told us, in full Wonder Woman outfit, over tea at the catering table on the set of Justice League. Moments before we had followed the Amazon from her camper through a small piece of Themyscira, recreated for this installment. Although it is not known if it will be a flashback, the home of Wonder Woman as well as some of her compatriots will appear in the Justice League.

Zack Snyder and Gal Gadot, behind the scenes.

At the time they couldnt tell us who or what that threat was about, big enough to make Batman and Wonder Woman look for reinforcements, but today we know that the Big Bad (to use a favorite term from Joss Whedon, who was recruited to supplement the script and eventually direct) is Steppenwolf, a new god who survived a Doomsday attack in the comics and who will be here after the three Mother Boxes. These, which are artifacts with almost unlimited powers, are protected one in Themyscira, another in Atlantis and the third on Earth. Each one has the look of the place where it is, Tatopoulos told us.

The malevolent presence is the perfect pretext to call new heroes. In the last tape we had small glimpses of some members of the team, Zack Snyder told us. But now well see them all in action together and how they interact with us.

It is this part, the interaction of the five characters, which turned out to be one of the greatest challenges, since not only are they heroes with very different characteristics, but nobody knows anything about this version of several of them. Taking care of each one in detail was of crucial importance, since they should not only create the dynamics between them, but also introduce ourselves to more than 50% of the team. One of the things I focused the most on, in character terms, was showing that Aquaman can do more than talk to the fish, Jason Momoa told us on the set of Justice League.

This differentiation of each was very important for the production design, because, according to Tatopoulos, we have never had so much variety: there are things underwater, on horses, in Barrys Speed Force . In addition, each of the suits has technical specifications that tie them to the plot. The Flash costume has about 120 pieces that we 3D printed. It looks like a prototype, because it does not take long to use itMichael Wilkinson (costume designer nominated for an Oscar in 2013 for American Scandal) told us, who revealed that the Superman suit will have a more metallic look, more like the Man of Steel, he said.

The scene we witnessed gave us a glimpse of the different personalities. The heroes go down an elevator to the batcave for the first time: Batman, the leader, shows them the way; Wonder Woman follows, self-assured; Cyborg descends silently, inspecting; Aquaman has a slight air of arrogance, and Flash is amazed, like a kid in a toy store. Its exciting! We are creating a visual vocabulary of how Flash moves and what it can do. He has no experience like the others, so we can invent more, confessed on the set of Justice League Ezra Miller, smiling and charismatic: just as we can see his character on screen. This is an important separation from the grim tone of both The Man of Steel and Batman vs. Superman. We had already seen a small attempt to lighten the tone of the DCEU in the highly criticized Suicide Squad, but it was not until Wonder Woman by far the entry with better acceptance among the public and critics in this new stage of DC that the universe really woke up.

Suicide Squad did very well commercially, executive producer Jon Berg told us. But narratively it didnt work. We had a great cast and characterizations, but the story fell out of the storyline. We could do better. Batman vs. Superman has a very dark tone. People did not respond to that. The success of the much more optimistic Wonder Woman, together with the reshoots that Joss Whedon made Zack Snyder left the post-production in the hands of Whedon after the death of his daughter could signal a change in plans for Justice League.

However, the success of Diana Prince did not alter the plot of the Justice League, as confirmed by Geoff Johns, a producer whose name is synonymous with comics. He wrote, among others, the classic Flashpoint the name of the Flash film directed by Andy Muschietti -, a story in which the hero travels to an alternate universe where there is no Justice League and where Batman is Thomas Wayne , Bruces dad, avenging the death of his son. You have to remember that this movie [Liga de la Justicia] We did it long before Wonder Woman was released. She is like that, optimistic and hopeful. There is nothing to do differently, the characters are who they are. The reshoots on the set of Justice League lasted only a couple of weeks Henry Cavill was in the middle of filming Mission Impossible 6, so he arrived on set with a mustache that was removed with digital effects and, according to the reports were used just to inject him with a little humor, not to change the plot. Even so, it is clear that already from the trailers there is a lighter tone in terms of the script, and a brighter image in marketing than in previous films. In general, the DC universe is a hopeful and optimistic place. He is known for characters who are inspirational and aspirational, says Johns.

And yes, the future of the DCEU itself looks hopeful and optimistic. With a long way to go and stories to tell, its fair to say that DC has the two things that are most needed to deliver products that satisfy fans: patience and a willingness to learn from their mistakes. Even if it takes ten years.

A version of this article was first published in the print edition of Cinema PREMIERE in November 2019.

J. Ivan Morales Writer, film director and editorial director at this, his friendly neighboring cinema publication, Cine PREMIERE. You will never lose hope for a second season of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Firefly.

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Visit to the film set - Explica

Elon Musk Is Working On A Chip That Will Let You Stream Music Directly Into Your Brain – BroBible

The last time we checked in on Elon Musks Neuralink company, the wealthy entrepreneur was talking about having cyborgs living side-by-side with humans in the near future.

Back then, Musk was of the belief that by the year 2035 we will probably start seeing more truly cyborg activity.

This despite the fact that Musk is also the same person once called the commercialization of artificial intelligence our biggest existential threat.

He wasnt joking about cyborgs either as Neuralink has already created technology that allows monkeys to control computers with their minds. (And, in turn, assisting yet another threat to life as we know it.)

Fast forward to this week and Musk is back at it again, only this time he was telling computer scientist Austin Howard that his Neuralink company is developing on a chip that can be implanted into humans which will allow people to stream music directly to their brains.

Hopefully, that doesnt mean wed all be forced to listen to Dont Doubt Ur Vibe on a loop once our chips are implanted.

According to people who know way more about this kind of stuff than me, like Victor Tangermann at Futurism.com

We still know very little about what Neuralink has been working on. Our best look so far came during a 2019 presentation in which the company showed off a device that hooks up to the brain via holes in the skull cut by lasers.

Early iterations of such a device are largely aimed at repairing broken neural connections in those who suffer brain disorders including Parkinsons, Musk said during a recent podcast appearance.

Its still entirely unclear if Neuralinks brain-computer interfaces will ever be able to bypass the ear, the cochlear nerves, and beam music magically to the auditory brain.

Perhaps (definitely) more importantly than being able to stream music directly to ones brain, Musk, in related Twitter conversations, said Neuralinks chip could also help stimulate the release of oxytocin, serotonin, and other chemicals when needed as well as assist in other important medical issues related to the brain.

Now those are things to actually get excited about.

Heres how it could all work

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Elon Musk Is Working On A Chip That Will Let You Stream Music Directly Into Your Brain - BroBible

Ray Fisher Reveals His One Request For Zack Snyders Justice League – Heroic Hollywood

The DCEU Cyborg actor revealed the one request he had for the Snyder Cut.

Cyborg actor Ray Fisher recently revealed what his one request for Zack Snyders Justice League was.

Ray Fisher has been pretty outspoken on Twitter regarding behind-the-scenes issues that occurred on the set of Justice League. The Cyborg actor recently slammed Joss Whedon for his treatment of the crew by calling him abusive. Joss Whedon notably took over the directorial duties of Justice League when Zack Snyder left the project.

Zack Snyders Justice League is expected to arrive on HBO Max sometime early next year and Ray Fisher has now opened up another issue he had with the films theatrical cut. On Twitter, Fisher revealed he asked Snyder for his barber, Wayne Nembhard, to be credited on the Snyder Cut after he wasnt recognized in the theatrical cut. You can read Fishers entire thread that goes into more detail about the whole situation below.

If you had one request for Zack Snyders Justice League, what would it be? Feel free to share in the comments section below!

Here is the official synopsis for Zack Snyders Justice League:

Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Supermans selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroesBatman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flashit may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Directed by Zack Snyder,Justice Leaguestars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller, Jason Momoa, Ray Fisher, Jeremy Irons, Diane Lane, Connie Nielsen, J. K. Simmons, and Ciarn Hinds.

Justice League is now available on Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital HD. Stay tuned for the latest news surrounding the Zack Snyder Cut and make sure to subscribeto Heroic Hollywoods YouTube channel for more content.

Source: Ray Fisher

Ryden Scarnato

Ryden's affection for all things DC, Marvel, and Star Wars has led him to entertainment journalism at Heroic Hollywood as a News Editor.

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DCeased: Dead Planet #1 is Heading Back To The Printers – Screen Rant

Sold-out DCeased: Dead Planet #1 will receive a second printing with a black and white version of New Justice League cover art.

DCeased: Dead Planet #1hasn't even caught its own cover date yet, butfans are already demandingseconds. This sequel to 2019's DCeased series quickly sold out, prompting DC to authorize a second printing.

Created by Tom Taylor, the original DCeasedseries sees Darkseid using Cyborg as a Trojan Horse to infect Earth with a corrupted version of the Anti-Life equation. This new version of the Anti-Life equation causes despair and homicidal impulses in everyone infected,which includes most of Earth's population and many of Earth's heroes. One by one, themany old heroes fall to the Equation,and new ones take up their mantle. Eventually, a fewsurvivors escape the planet, and the Green Lantern Corp quarantines the solar system.

Related: "Batman's Son Replaces Him as a DARKER Knight in DCeased"

DCeased: Dead Planet #1 picks up five years later, with the new Justice League detecting a distress call from none other than Cyborg. Beheaded by an infected Wonder Woman at the end of DCeased to prevent him from revealing that a cure to the Anti-Life Equation is possible, the fallen patient-zeromanagedto keep his systems marginally functionalin the hopes of makingamends. Sitting pretty on Earth-2 (no, not Earth Two, or Earth 2 or that Earth-2, but the other Earth-2), the remaining heroes decide to risk everything to rescue their fallen comrade on the dead Earth.

DCeased: Dead Planet #1 had a cover date of September, but was released July 7th. Like the original DCeased, it was written by Tom Taylor. The artistic team included David Finch, Gigi Baldissini, Rain Beredo, Stefano Guadiano, Trevor Hairsine, and Saida Temofonte. The new printing will include a black and white version of Finch's original cover.

The DCeased story line and its spin-offs and sequels were a creative way for DC to do Marvel: Zombies without actually copying Marvel - thoughDC and Marvel copy each otherwith little hesitation. Those infected with this corrupted version of the Anti-Life equation are not truly dead; they just want to spread death as much as possible. They are single-minded, but not truly mindless. Also, the fact that it is caused by atechno-organic virus transmitted throughboth the internet and blood--rather than a purely biological virus--might make the concept more palatable escapism in a post COVID-19 world. This might account for the series' popularity.

Of course, the series is plenty appealing regardless of the mechanics of the Anti-Life plague. From Black Canary taking on the Green Lantern ring, to Superman and Batman sacrificing themselves while saving others, the series keeps DC at its usual high stakes.DCeased: Dead Planet #1 doesn't let up on these heights ascended to by its forbears;with a potential cure in balance, the potential for loss and for gain remains high.

The new printing will appear in stores August 4th,the same time asDCeased: Dead Planet #2.DCeased: Dead Planet #3 will be released September 1st.

Next: Deceased: Dead Planet Sets the Stage for DC's EARTH WAR

Which Version of Norman Osborn Could Enter the MCU?

Joseph Salvatore Knipper is the alter-ego of a member of the Blue Lantern Corps stationed to guard this particularly chaotic parsec of the galaxy. When not battling inter-dimensional threats, he works as a writer, actor, and singer in New York City. He is proud to help Screen Rant keep the people of Earth informed of the comings and goings of heroes.

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5 Ways Teen Titans Go! To The Movies Proved To Be The Best Teen Titans Movie (& 5 Times It Fell Short) – Screen Rant

Back when it was released,Teen Titans Go! To The Movieswas an unexpected treat on a year dominated with superhero behemoths, both in live-action and animation.That's saying a lot for a show that's known for having one of the most polarizing receptions possible (and a notoriously bad teaser trailer) among animation and DC fans.

RELATED:10 Teen Titans Plotlines We Want To See In Titans

The feature-length motion picture of the 2013 reincarnation of the Titans sees Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy motivated to get their own studio movie through wacky hijinks. And for better or worse, it proved to the best Teen Titans movies. Here are five reasons why (and other reason why it fell short).

The cast of the show (comprising of Greg Cipes, Scott Menville, Khary Payton, Tara Strong and Hynden Walch) reprised their voice roles from the animated series. And they retained that same energy from the show. Yet, they are joined by other figures doing splendid voice roles.

The main supporting players are Will Arnett as Slade and Kristen Bell as Jade Wilson. And several figures made cameos like Michael Bolton as the singing tiger, Nicolas Cage finally fulfilling a lifetime role as Superman and Stan Lee appearing in a DC movie.

Robin in Teen Titans Go! is meant to poke fun of his reputation as the worlds famous superhero sidekick.As a result,he is usually portrayed as a spoiled try-hard lead hero wannabe, which diminishes him from any leadership merit. This is meant to draw a difference between his more serious self in the 2003 show.

Even if that is reasonable, Robins petulance being the movies driving point is kind of intolerable.This unintentionally makes him even more unlikable than usual, since his shtick in the series is wanting to be the center of attention at all costs. Take it, as one will.

For better or worse, Teen Titans Go! is aimed for a younger demographic, unlike the more acclaimed 2003 showwhich targeted teenagers and young adults. As much as fans would like to note for the show on simply stretching Teen Titans chibi-inspired humor to 11-minutes segments, the 2013 show embraces the cynicism and finds its humor on their charming self-deprecation.

Teen Titans Go! To The Movies recaptured the shows lively charm. Every second is brimming with colorful gags from each of the Titans, which shows they are a superhero team that never takes them seriously.

Believe it or not, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies is a musical... sort of. The songs in the movie are meant to convey the situation that the Titans are in now. However, they came off randomly, which either lands its joke or becomes a head-scratcher. The Crystals beat during Supermans birth is an example of the latter.

RELATED:Where To Watch All The DC Animated Universe Movies Online

However, the only song to hold in is Upbeat Inspirational Song About Life," where Michael Bolton lends his vocals on an anthropomorphic tiger, who eventually got hit and run by the Titans. That happened.

One of the aspects that made Teen Titans Go! succeed, despite the negative reception, is its self-aware humor. The creators are fully conscious that this reincarnation of the Titans is something audiences would not take seriously and is even hated in a certain sector. Thus, they incorporated that fact to the self-deprecating humor and to the plot of the Titans proving themselves to other DC heroes.

However, it is not only the Titans having this self-awareness; the film also takes swipes on the DCEU and other DC failures, like the Green Lantern bit and mistaking Slade for Deadpool.

The film uses Teen Titans Go!s traditional animation that has been outsourced from Copernicus Studios and Bardel Entertainment, the animation house behind Rick and Morty. Despite staying consistent and faithful to the show's presentation, it felt cheaper to use the same animation method for its big screen debut.

RELATED:DC Titans: The 10 Best Characters, Ranked

As a result, most of the scenes never felt cinematic, as much as they try. The sequences that got close to a cinematic experience are the Upbeat Inspirational Song About Life segment and the climax. So, expect less on its animation upgrade.

With its penchant for self-referential humor, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies boasts on poking fun of established superhero tropes. And it is both clichd and subversive. An example of this is Slade (Will Arnett). While the show features an array of supervillains, the team (or specifically Robin) has yet to find its definitive villain. And the movie makes most fun on this trope.

One thing that Teen Titans Go! also made fun are the origin stories of its DC heroes during its second-act time-travelling bit. Guess they predicted Endgame.

One of the most groaning criticism about Teen Titans Go! and its film is the overabundance of juvenile humor, mainly toilet humor. The most infamous instance of the latter wasfeatured prominently in the trailers, with Balloon Man and the hole on his rear. Seeing it in the movie feels longer and needless. There are even shots ofBaby Supermans butt shot and an entire running gag about fart noises.

To be fair, itis not surprising to see such humor in a kids-oriented movie, butrelying on it alone at the expense of cleverly written jokes will alienate newer audiences and irritate older Titans fans even more.

Fans and audiences admire the Teen Titans for their charm, quirks, likability and overall superhero fun. This is incorporated in the 2003 series, the 2013 series and eventually the latters feature-length release. Like it or not, this movie rightfully captures the irreverent spirit and the indulgent self-awareness of their reincarnation.

Each Titan has his or her signature quirk retained; Robin is an arrogant leader, Starfire is still preppy, Cyborg is louder than ever, Beast Boy is more laidback and Raven is her sarcastic, deadpan self. Yet, their dysfunctional selves save the day, like every time.

Before the movies release, the first teaser for Teen Titans Go! To The Movies was panned online. The negative reception is severely linked to the existence of the show, rather than being a continuation of the acclaimed 2003 series. As much as the older fans disagreed with it, the debate on which Teen Titans is worthyof a continuationwas decided by the studio whenTeen Titans Go!got a cinematic release.

But for those still lookingforward to the original Teen Titansgetting their own feature besides the made-for-TV movie and glorified episode that isTrouble in Tokyo, at least there is the mid-credits to spare that teased the eventual Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans crossover.

NEXT:6 Things Doom Patrol Does Better Than Titans (And 4 Things Titans Does Better)

Next Audrey Hepburn's 10 Best Movies, According To Rotten Tomatoes

Paolo Alfar is a freelance writer, based in Manila, Philippines. His passion for films is accidental when he designed a movie theater during his childhood. From there, his fondness for movies grew. And the Leo DiCaprio epic "Blood Diamond" somehow kicked off that passion.Follow him on Letterboxd at Paolo_the_TPS.

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5 Ways Teen Titans Go! To The Movies Proved To Be The Best Teen Titans Movie (& 5 Times It Fell Short) - Screen Rant

DCeased: Does DC’s Zombie Epic Belong in the Dark Multiverse? – CBR – Comic Book Resources

Is DCeased a dark enough reality to belong in the Dark Multiverse -- or does the heroism of the world give it a place in the core Multiverse?

DCeased has quickly become one of the most brutal incarnations of the DC Universe ever conceived. The world has been besieged by monstrous versions of classic heroes, corrupted by the Anti-Life Virus into mindless killers. However, despite just how dire things are, some heroes have worked to keep humanity alive.

This then raises the question, though, whether DCeasedshould belong to the core DC Multiverse of the much, much grimmer Dark Multiverse. However, there are some good reasonsDCeasedisn't part of the Dark Multiverse, which was established to be a place where key eventsturn out badly and thus result in the end of their respective universes.

RELATED: DCeased: Dead Planet Delivers The Most Heartwarming Reunion EVER

Darkness has defined the world of DCeasedsince the first moments of the series.While experimenting with the Anti-Life Equation hidden inside Cyborg, Darkseid accidentally created a new version of it. This virus was able to consume the minds of those it infected. Darkseid himself was the first person to be affected by this, with the Anti-Life Virus being more than powerful enough to corrupt even the dark lord of Apokolips, causing the destruction of that world. It only got worse when Cyborg was sent back to Earth, spreading the disease and setting up the end of the world. The heroes ofDCeased'sworld aren't immune from these horrors either, as many of them were attacked and infected themselves.

Two human settlementsareeventually established: One in the Gotham Jungles, the other in space on Earth-2. However, almost every major DC hero had been turned into a Blighted One by then, with some remaining threats to the entire universe (Superman and Wonder Woman)while others weredispatched by their former allies (Martian Manhunter, Flash and Aquaman). It's a brutal world where classic heroes and villains suffer genuinely unsettling demises.

RELATED: DCeased Reveals How One Of DC's Most Powerful Beings Was Turned

Despite the end of the world,DCeaseddoesn't take place in a particularlyeviluniverse.Whatever heroes were able to avoid the initial outbreak of the infection quickly united with other allies to try and do what they could to save as many lives as possible. This is a zombie apocalypse where the heroes actually take proactive steps to ensure humanity survives. Even the DC Universe's villains -- as revealed inDCeased: The Unkillables -- were dedicated to saving lives instead of using the chaos to their advantage. This is a world where redemption and saving others wasn't a long-fought mission for the villains but rather an obvious choice.

All of this speaks to theDCeased Universe being firmly within the core DC Multiverse. The ideals of legacy are at the core of the story, with many of the sidekicks and partners of fallen heroes stepping up to take their place and protect the world. Even if the world around them has fallen into chaos, they wouldn't be the only world in the core DC Multiverse that's gone through terrors, including the Nazi-dominated Earth-10 and the vampiric Earth-43. Within theDCeased world, heroes are still dedicated to saving lives above allelse -- even in the middle of a mind-destroying outbreak. While it's often a tragic world, it's not a necessary evil one. The worst events that have happened have only forced out the best in all the heroes, and even the villains. It's a world of heroism in an impossible situation.

There's a solid argument to be made thatDCeased belongs in the Dark Multiverse. It's a world where one major shift in the timeline -- Cyborg's capture by Darkseid -- led to a completely ruined Earth. There have been plenty of brutal demises, and nightmarish figures like a Blighted Golden Superman exist as a reality-breaking possibility. But the world is still defined by heroism, even in the face of unending nightmares. A long-running undercurrent of even the worst worlds in the core DC Multiverse is that heroes still exist even in terrible realities: the Freedom Force still stands against the Nazi-alignedNew Reichsmen, and some heroes stillfight against the vampiric forces of Earth-43. There are still heroes in these worlds, even if they've otherwise endangered or corrupted.

If anything,DCeased has turned numerous conflicted or villainous charactersinto heroes. Because of their circumstances, even someone like Solomon Grundy can become surprisingly noble and well-meaning. It's a world where hope is never destroyed, even as heroes fall to the virus. While it might be one of the most brutal universes, the heart ofDCeased suggests that it should exist in the core DC Multiverse, where heroism is the standard, not the exception.

KEEP READING: DCeased: Tom Taylor Teases Sequel Showing A Post-Undead Heroes World

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DCeased: Does DC's Zombie Epic Belong in the Dark Multiverse? - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Alita: Battle Angel 2: Will it meet up to the expectations? Click to know about the Release … – Daily Research Plot

We have seen so many science-action films release in the last year. Similarly, almost a million Japanese manga series has released as of late. However, we havent had movies that bring together the best of both worlds. Alita: Battle Angel is perhaps the first action movie based on Japanese Manga. The motion picture released on January 31, 2019, and was an instant hit. Liked by fans and critics alike, viewers have been craving for more since its release.

The creators had created the first movie, keeping in mind that they would release a series of them. The script for many movies was planned even before the first film hit the screens. Alita Battle Angel was a super-hit blockbuster that gave the creators a much-needed push. However, this was before Disney swallowed 20th-century fox. Also, the film didnt do as well as expected. As of yet, there is no update regarding Alita Battle Angel 2.

Moreover, due to the coronavirus pandemic, production has taken a hit worldwide. It is highly unlikely that we will receive news any time soon. Even if the creators make the second installment, it will not release worldwide before 2022.

The cast will be most likely to remain the same as the previous season. Along with the original cast, sources say that we may see new characters. Rosa Salazar will return as our protagonist, Alita. Meanwhile, Christoph Waltz will act as Dr. Ido while Jennifer Connelly will do the theatrics for Dr. Chiren. Meanwhile, Mahershala Ali and Ed Skrein will also return to make an appearance. Edward Norton will also return as the perplexing Nova.

Alita Battle Angel is a very futuristic movie. The story revolves around Alita, who is a cyborg. Moreover, Alita has no recollection of her past. She is taken in by Dr. Ido, who acts like her foster parent. However, she recalls that martial arts are one of her strengths. Finding herself in an unknown city, she decides to explore. Soon, she decides to put her powers to good use. She becomes a hunter who hunts down cyborg criminals. Later on, Alita meets Zalem, another bounty hunter. Together, they try to rid the city of Scrapyard from criminals.

The first movie ended with the death of Hago. Hago is none other than Alitas lover. However, this unexplained ending has left fans wanting a sequel. Considering that this is a futuristic movie, the creators may find a way to make Hago return. Also, we must not forget that the creators thought of sequels before releasing the first movie. Without a doubt, Alita Battle Angel is connected to the newest installment. Not much is knows about what the latest film has in store for us. We simply have to wait to know more about what the franchise has in store for us!

With no plans for production resuming anytime soon, the trailer hasnt released yet. However, you can always watch the trailer for the first season if you havent already.

Thats it for today! We will keep you posted with updates until then, continue reading with us!

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Alita: Battle Angel 2: Will it meet up to the expectations? Click to know about the Release ... - Daily Research Plot

DCeased: Dead Planet is Heading To The NEW Gods’ Home – Screen Rant

With time running out for a cure, the surviving heroes of the Justice League head to New Genesis, home of the New Gods, to pull off a heist of the ages

The Justice League from Earth-2 had no idea what they were returning to when they returned to their previous planet after the events of DCeased five years ago. Now their search for a cure for the Anti-Life equation is taking them to all sorts of unlikely places, such as the planet New Genesis, home of The New Gods.

Created by writer/artist Jack Kirby in his 1970sFourth World comic series, New Genesis is a benevolent planet ruled by the all-powerful Highfather whosepeople are locked in constant conflict with its evil counterpart, the planet Apokolips and their ruler Darkseid. Built on the foundations of the 'Old Gods', the people of New Genesis maintain a spiritual connection to the primordial metaphysical force called The Source which they believe enables all their divine abilities. Although they would constantly be at war, Highfather and Darkseid once attempted a truce by exchanging their sons with Darkseid's son Orion raised on New Genesis and Highfather's son Scott Free raised on Apokolips which was maintained until Scott escaped Apokolips. Many of these entities from both planets have made themselves known to Earth and its heroes with many of them playing crucial roles as protagonists or antagonists in many of Earth's conflicts. In DCeased, it was Darkseid who created the corrupted the Anti-Life equation for Cyborg to carry back to Earth as retribution for his latest defeat at the hands of the Justice League. However, this activity backfired as the genocidal dictator was infected and upon throwing himself to the planet's core, Apokolips and all its denizens were destroyed as the planet exploded.

RELATED:Everything You Need To Know About DC's NEW GODS

The New Godshave been noticeably absent during the events in this alternate DC reality with the exception ofScott Free aka Mister Miracleand his Apokoliptan wifeBig Bardawho perished during the events ofDCeased: A Good Day to Die. It appears that New Genesis will make its DCeased debut in DCeased: Dead Planet #4 as the cover art shows Highfather and Orion, now the last son of Apokolips, alongside Superman, Ms. Marvel and Green Lantern Dinah Lance in this cover by artist David Finch seen below:

With the returning heroes recently learning that there is indeed a cure for the Anti-Life infection, the surviving Justice League's search will take them off-planet, via a Boom Tube, to New Genesis for what is described as the greatest heist in the history of that planet! How does one steal from the New Gods and live to tell the tale? Considering that the first issue of DCeased: Dead Planet is currently awaiting a second printing, one could say fans are dying to find out and hopefully, our heroes heist isn't too late to save the homeworld and billions of undead people they left behind.

DCeased Dead Planet #4 written by Tom Taylor with art by Trevor Hairsine and Gigi Baldassini will be released on October 6th, 2020. Along with the main cover by David Finch, a card stock variant by artist Francesco Mattina and a movie homage variant cover by artist Inhyuk Lee will also be released.

NEXT:DCeased: Dead Planet Sets The Stage For DC's EARTH WAR

For Green Lantern, Beating Superman Is Hilariously Easy

Drew is a reader, writer, artist, and creative professional based in Westchester, New York. He dabbles into cosplay, movie references, comics, and some anime while also being a Ghostbuster. He has a Bachelors in History, a Masters in Publishing and is excited to be working with Screen Rant. Previously his articles have been featured on Comic Book Resources and Iron Age Comics and he's excited to see what happens next!

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DCeased: Dead Planet is Heading To The NEW Gods' Home - Screen Rant

Star Wars: The Clone Wars gets awesome trio of Vintage Collection Arc Troopers figures – CNET

Arc Trooper buds Fives, Echo and Jesse are together again in Hasbro's Vintage Collection three-pack.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars came to its spectacular conclusion on Disney Plus back in May, but Hasbro wants to memorialize some of its heroes on your shelf, CNET can exclusively reveal. The gorgeous Vintage Collection 501st Legion Arc Troopers three-pack includes Echo, Fives and Jesse, clones who appeared in the beloved CGI animated series' most beloved episodes.

These 3.75 inch figures come with removable helmets and four blasters each, so they're absolutely set to take on some clankers (or at least look awesome in your collection). The three-pack will be available on Hasbro Pulse in September, and will set you back $50.

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Hasbro has done an excellent job of sculpting and painting each of the trio's armor and hair styling (or tattoo in Jesse's case), ensuring they'll still pop if you display them among a bunch of other figures.

These guys show up regularly in The Clone Wars' seven seasons -- the 501st Legion was under Anakin Skywalker's command -- with Fives and Jesse both suffering dark fates. However, we'll see Echo's post-Clone Wars adventures next year -- he gets some cyborg enhancements and ends upjoining the Bad Batch, a squad of genetically enhanced clones that'll appear in a new Disney Plus show.

If you want to check out some of these lads' greatest moments in The Clone Wars, check out the Citadel trilogy (season 3, episodes 18 to 20), the Umbara arc (season 4, episodes 7 to 10), the Orders storyline (season 6, episodes 1 to 4) the Bad Batch's adventure (season 7, episodes 1 to 4) and glorious, series-ending Siege of Mandalore (season 7, episodes 9 to 12).

All seven seasons of the show are available on Disney Plus.

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Star Wars: The Clone Wars gets awesome trio of Vintage Collection Arc Troopers figures - CNET

Justice League: Ray Fisher could get Sued for Trash-Talking Joss Whedon – Geek Feed

With Zack Snyders Justice League already set to come out next year, Cyborg actor Ray Fisher had recently opened up about the abusive behavior of Joss Whedon on set. While some are hoping that he could get into more detail, it looks like an NDA is stopping him from going further.

This was pointed out by insider Daniel Richtman:

Fisher can't talk more cuz he broke NDA and could get sued if he'll say anything else but still good for him to speaking up.

Daniel Richtman #BlackLivesMatter (@DanielRPK) July 16, 2020

For context, here was Fishers original tweet about what happened behind-the-scenes of Justice League:

Joss Wheadons on-set treatment of the cast and crew of Justice League was gross, abusive, unprofessional, and completely unacceptable.

He was enabled, in many ways, by Geoff Johns and Jon Berg.

Accountability>Entertainment

Ray Fisher (@ray8fisher) July 1, 2020

We dont know exactly whats going down now, but everyone is still waiting for WB or Joss Whedon to make an official statement. Producer Jon Berg had tried to defend himself after Fishers post, but he didnt really address the issue and kind of just pointed out that Fisher didnt want to say Cyborgs Boo Yah! catchphrase from Teen Titans.

While this isnt official, word has been going around that when Whedon took over, he was said to be constantly putting down Zack Snyders original plans, much to the dismay of everyone who had been working on the project this whole time. Its worth noting that Snyder had just lost his daughter when he left the film, so it could come out as insensitive on the studios part to just push forward without him.

Again, this is just hearsay online, so take it with a grain of salt. We dont know what it would take for Fisher to really open up about his experience, but if its going to make WB look bad, you can bet they will try their best to keep him quiet.

For now, fans await the release of Zack Snyders Justice League on HBO Max sometime in 2021.

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Justice League: Ray Fisher could get Sued for Trash-Talking Joss Whedon - Geek Feed

Death Metal Introduces a New Dark Knight (and Then Kills Him) – CBR – Comic Book Resources

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Dark Nights: Death Metal #2 introduces a new Justice League-inspired Batman before brutally killing him.

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal #2 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO Plascencia and Tom Napolitano, available now.

Among other things, Dark Nights: Metal brought the Dark Knights who hail from the Dark Multiverse into the DC Universe for the first time. These characters are alternate versions of Bruce Wayne, and they were each of them a Batman who had the powers of another member of the Justice League. For instance, the Red Death had the Flash's super-speed; the Merciless had the powers of Ares, the God of War; the Murder Machine was a Bruce Wayne with Victor Stone's cyborg-enhancements; the Drowned was an Aquaman-like Batman; the Devastator was infected with the Doomsday Virus; and the Dawnbreaker, was a Green Lantern Bruce Wayne who corrupted his power ring with darkness.

These six evil Dark Knights were led by the Batman Who Laughs, and they operated as his generals in Metal. And now, in the event's sequel, Dark Nights: Death Metal, the Batman Who Laughs is back, and he's brought more evil Batmen with him than ever before. We met most of those Dark Knights in Death Metal #1, but the latest issue of the series introduces another Justice League-inspired Dark Knight. However, he doesn't last very long.

RELATED: Death Metal: DC Teases The TRAGIC Reason Behind A Hero's New Look

Dark Nights: Death Metal #1 introduced plenty of new versions of Bruce Wayne from the Dark Multiverse. We met Dark Knights such as the robotic dinosaur Batman B-Rex, the magic-powered Batmage, the Batman Beyond-inspired Beyonder, the Darkside-like Darkfather, and the final Bruce Wayne, who possessed the abilities of Watchmen's Dr. Manhattan, among many others.

The second chapter ofDeath Metal keeps that going by opening with the introduction of another new Batman who was inspired by a member of the Justice League. In this case, this Dark Knight is a twist on Ray Palmer, the Atom. Appropriately named Batom, this new Batman appears on the page in a microscopic size. Using the skin of a lizard to hide, the Dark Knight eventually drops this costume to reveal himself.

Instantly, the character looks like a cross between the Atom and Batman: he wears an Atom armor that is similar to what Ray Palmer wore in the Arrowverse, and it's got the appropriate blue and red colors of the size-altering hero. However, the suit also features a Bat-logo on its chest, and the helmet comes with the obligatory bat ears and the Atom's atomic symbol.

RELATED: DC Explains How Death Metal Brought Darkseid's World To Earth

The origin story of the Batom isn't revealed, but it seems likely that he hails from a Dark Multiverse world where Batman developed (or stole?) Ray Palmer's shrinking technology and used it in his own personal quest to destroy his enemies. While he appears to be an effective covert operative here, it doesn't look like we'll see him join the rest of the Batman Who Laughs' League, since he is killed in the very page that introduces him.

Before he can even make a move, the Batom is run over by the Batmobeast, Bruce Wayne's new, monster truck-like vehicle, which is also another Dark Multiverse Batman. Since he's no bigger than an insect, the vehicle's massive tire squishes him like a bug, and he's left as nothing but a small splatter of blood.

KEEP READING: Dark Nights: Death Metal Set Up A Green Lantern Mystery

Hellions #2

Ian Cardona has written for CBR since 2017. He is a Feature, Comic Breakouts and News writer. He's been in love with comics for a very long time, and believes there is some good to be found even in the industry's more difficult times. His favorite Avenger is Captain America, and that was long before the character starred in a very successful film franchise. He is an avid statue and Funko Pop! figures collector, and he's rapidly running out of shelf space. With CBR, he has been able to write about his favorite subjects, from the MCU to Doctor Who. You can follow him on Twitter at @ian_c1701 (yes, that is a Star Trek reference) for discussions, debates or pictures of really cool collectibles he probably doesn't have room for.

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Death Metal Introduces a New Dark Knight (and Then Kills Him) - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Batgirl, Batman and the Outsiders, and Justice League Odyssey set to end in October, DC confirms – GamesRadar+

Ongoing titles Batgirl, Batman and the Outsiders, and Justice League Odyssey are set to end in October, DC has confirmed.

The three titles were confirmed as ending in DC's just-released October 2020 solicitations, with two of the series - Batgirl #50 and Justice Odyssey #25 - ending on 'milestone' issue numbers in comics parlance.

"All good things must come to an end, as we wrap up this run of Batgirl with one final oversized celebratory issue!," reads DC's solicitation for October 27's Batgirl #50. "In the aftermath of 'The Joker War,' Gotham is left in pieces that need to be picked up by Barbara and Alejos teambut is Gotham a city worth saving anymore, and how much longer does our girl have it in her to keeping fighting for it as Batgirl? Then, if Barbara is to ever give her relationship with Jason a chance, she knows she has to face him and finally make amends with the act that crippled him."

Series writer Cecil Castellucci will close out this volume of Batgirl with a 48-page story, joined by artists Emanuela Lupacchino, Marguerite Sauvage, and Aneke. Joshua Middleton has drawn a stunning cover for the finale, with a variant drawn by Terry and Rachel Dodson.

Meanwhile, Bryan Hill and Dexter Soy's Batman and the Outsiders run - which sprung out of Hill's brief Detective Comics arc - will end October 13 with issue #17.

"The war with Ra's al Ghul reaches its end, and none of the Outsiders will ever be the same," that issue's solicitation reads. "And none of them might ever be a team again! Did Batman choose the wrong allies to assemble to fight Ra's? Or did those allies make a mistake in believing in Batman?"

Tyler Kirkham has drawn the primary cover, with a variant by Sanford Greene.

And lastly, the space-faring Justice League Odyssey comes in to dock after 25 issues on October 13.

"The Justice League's intergalactic team of Green Lantern Jessica Cruz, Orion of the New Gods, Red Lantern Dex-Starr, and New Teen Titans Starfire and Cyborg make a final stand against Darkseid in a battle that reshapes the cosmic landscape across every sector of space!"

Series write Dan Abnett and artist Will Conrad close out the first volume in this team's era, with a cover by Ladronn and a variant by Skan.

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Batgirl, Batman and the Outsiders, and Justice League Odyssey set to end in October, DC confirms - GamesRadar+

TDF Top 10- Star Wars: The Clone Wars – The Digital Fix

We continue our regularTDF Top 10, with a look at the best episodes of animatedStar Wars TV seriesThe Clone Wars.

One of the biggest surprises of the recentStar Wars revival under theDisney banner was the announcement that animated seriesStar Wars: The Clone Wars was getting a surprise seventh season to the story up. Set between prequel moviesStar Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones andStar Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,The Clone Warsmassively expanded the conflict and the widerStar Warsuniverse. With epic battles and the introduction of iconic characters like Ashoka,The Clone Wars has some of the best content in the entireStar Wars universe.

It needs to be said that choosing ten of the best episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars is not an easy task, given that so many of them are really good. As I sifted through 133 episodes, I did my best to think about the ones that stood out from the crowd and resonated the most with their message and visuals. The resulting list, culled from all seven seasons, contains what I believe to be the ten best episodes the series has to offer.

Allow us to presentThe TDF Top 10: Star Wars - The Clone Wars...

Coming in at number ten on this list is Lair of Grievous, an underrated episode from the first season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars that deserves to be remembered because it gives a rare look at what General Grievous looked like before he became a cyborg. Were it not for this episode, you might be inclined to believe that Grievous was always a cybernetic organism, but here we see otherwise.

As the Jedi unwittingly explore the lair of General Grievous, they see a series of statues showing how Grievous evolved from a cunning alien warrior to the formidable cyborg we first met in Revenge of the Sith in 2005. For giving a glimpse of the evolution of General Grievous, this episode just made it into the top 10.

Hunt for Ziro is another underrated episode, this time from season three. It is most notable because it features the onscreen debut of Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, one of the most popular characters to ever appear in the old Expanded Universe, the larger Star Wars universe that existed before Disney bought Star Wars and renamed it to Legends.

The debut of Vox comes as Obi-wan is working to track down bounty hunter Cad Bane and Ziro the Hutt, Jabbas uncle. Vos unorthodox style steals about every scene hes in, and it really makes you wish Vos had appeared in more episodes throughout the series run. To be fair, Quinlan Vos was going to get his own story arc, but the series was cancelled before it was finished.

Sacrifice is notable, not just for being an ending to the series (years before season seven was announced), but for what it contains as well. This episode contains the first canon screen appearance of the Sith homeworld, which was originally introduced as Korriban in the 1994 comic book Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith 2: The Quest for the Sith. Also, and perhaps more importantly, the episode also contains the first ever screen appearance of Darth Bane in canon. Bane was a legendary Sith Lord who initially established the Rule of Two over a thousand years before the time of the prequel trilogy. Not only is Darth Bane present, he's also voiced by Mark Hamill (aka Luke Skywalker himself).

Another notable thing about Sacrifice is that it resolves an issue that has run throughout the arc; the problem of Yoda learning all about the danger the Jedi are in before the events of Revenge of the Sith. The episode resolves this by having Yoda openly speculate (correctly) that the Clone Wars have in all likelihood already doomed the Jedi. However, even knowing that, Yoda retains hope because he will now be trained to be a Force ghost, leaving a shred of hope that the Jedi will ultimately survive in the end.

It was never a question of if Carnage of Krell would sit on this list, but where it would fall. Carnage of Krell is the concluding episode in the Umbara arc and is well-known for providing a nasty shock for anyone who may have thought the Jedi were all good and noble beings (with the exceptions of Dooku and Vader). In Carnage of Krell, the tensions between the clone troopers and Jedi Master Pong Krell come to a head when it's revealed that Krell has been actively sabotaging the campaign on Umbara in the hopes of attracting the attention of the mysterious Dark Lord of the Sith so he can become his apprentice.

It's a shocking revelation, that a Jedi could fall so low (and quite some time before Anakin suffers his own fall), and it reveals that the Jedi Order isn't as healthy as they would like people to believe. Krell, already revealed to be an imposing warrior, becomes downright terrifying once his true colors are revealed.

Another season three episode, The Citadel introduces an original trilogy character that might surprise you: the future-Grand Moff Tarkin, introduced here as a captain in the Grand Army of the Republic. Tarkin's introduction is only a small part of this story, which sees the Jedi and clone troopers infiltrating a near-impenetrable fortress to rescue a captured Jedi Master.

Nevertheless, while his part is relatively small, the idea that Tarkin was present during the Clone Wars and knew Anakin Skywalker is a huge revelation, and it cements the idea that Tarkin and Vader have in fact known each other for many years, as is hinted in A New Hope. Canonically, this is the earliest we see Tarkin on screen, and it's interesting to see how similar the captain already is to the brutal Grand Moff he will become.

I would have included the entire Mortis arc in this list; but the best episode has to be Ghosts of Mortis, the concluding episode in the arc. This episode concluded a somewhat convoluted story where Anakin, Obi-wan and Ahsoka find themselves stranded on Mortis, a place that appears to exist outside of time, with the Son, Daughter, and the Father, embodying the Dark Side, Light Side, and Balance of the Force respectively.

While a number of important things happen on Mortis, the biggest is when Anakin is briefly shown his future as Darth Vader. While this revelation his wiped from his mind soon after, Anakins reaction to his fate speaks volumes about his true character. He is horrified at the idea that he will become this monstrous killer and proves, deep down, that Anakin was, and remained, a good person, even after everything that happened to him post-Revenge of the Sith.

Brothersis an episode that deserves to be recognized in any top 10 list for Star Wars: The Clone Wars because it achieved what many (myself included) believed to be impossible: it reintroduced Darth Maul to the Star Wars canon after his 'death' on Naboo at the end of The Phantom Menace. It seemed hard to believe that Maul could be brought back into the story in any believable way, but Dave Filoni and the rest of the crew involved pulled it off.

What makes all of this work, when Savage Opress finds Maul, is that its clear that the former Sith apprentice is not the same person we saw in Episode I. Maul has suffered both mentally and physically, which really makes him all the more dangerous once his sanity is restored and he receives a new pair of legs. This is the episode that introduces Mauls obsession with killing Obi-wan for what he did to him, an obsession hell maintain for the rest of his life.

Some of the best work in Star Wars: The Clone Wars was done with Darth Maul, and that is in large part why I rank The Lawless as the third best episode in the series. There is so much going on in this episode. Maul attempts to keep control of Mandalore, Obi-wan admits his feelings for Duchess Satine in a heart-breaking moment, and an epic lightsaber duel between Maul, Savage Opress, and Darth Sidious that was not surpassed until season seven.

This is also a significant episode because it's a rare example of Darth Sidious engaging in a lightsaber duel, as this is something the character prefers to avoid whenever possible. The ferocity of this fight makes it perfectly clear that Sidious is the ultimate villain of the Star Wars universe (in that no one can ever surpass his prowess in the Dark Side of the Force).

While the entire Siege of Mandalore arc deserves recognition as an amazing accomplishment, Shattered, the penultimate episode of season seven (and the series overall), stands out. This episode serves as an amazing companion piece to Revenge of the Sith, tying into the film at a pivotal moment before letting Order 66 play out from Ahsokas point of view.

Its absolutely heart wrenching to watch Ahsoka try to work out whats going on while trying to stay alive. Equally hard to watch is Captain Rex as Order 66 takes hold of his actions. This was absolutely the best way to have the events of Revenge of the Sith play out, and it ensures Shattered is one of the greatest The Clone Wars episodes ever made.

I spent a long time thinking about which episode deserved to be called the best in the entire series but in hindsight it wasnt that hard of a decision. From the moment I saw The Phantom Apprentice, I knew that this was by far the greatest episode ever made for the series. Set entirely on Mandalore, with the execution of Order 66 imminent, the episode climaxes with a battle between Maul and Ahsoka, two former apprentices to the Sith and Jedi respectively.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars has its fair share of awesome lightsaber duels, but the one between Maul and Ahsoka is next-level, not least because they brought in Ray Park (the original Darth Maul) to perform the entire duel in motion-capture, lending a vivacity to the entire fight that just didnt exist before. Of the entire Siege of Mandalore arc, this is the episode that feels the most "cinematic", like something that came straight out of the saga films, and for that reason, among many others, I choose The Phantom Apprentice as the best episode in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

And that's my Top 10 for Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It was hard to choose at times, but I have no doubt that all ten of these episodes deserve to be remembered. Let us know your favourites in the comments below...

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TDF Top 10- Star Wars: The Clone Wars - The Digital Fix

INTERVIEW: Cleopatra in Space EP Doug Langdale On Adapting the Graphic Novels for TV – CBR – Comic Book Resources

The new animated series Cleopatra in Space is one of the flagship shows of the newly launched streaming service, Peacock. The show, which is adapted from Mike Maihack's graphic novels, centers on a confident, resourceful teenage Cleopatra (Lilimar Hernandez) who is transported through a magic portal from her home in ancient Egypt 2,000 years in the past to a planet ruled by talking cats 30,000 years in the future. There she learns she's prophesied to be the savior of the world, but since she has no combat skills, she's sent to PYRAMID Academy where she bonds with new besties, an alien who evolved from fish named Akila (Katie Crown) and a cyborg named Brian (Jorge Diaz), and encounters the typical high school mean girls. Meanwhile, her training is supervised by the prophesy's one true believer, the talking cat Khensu (Sendhil Ramamurthy). It's a brightly animated blend of science fiction, action and adventure that's sure to hook kids -- and their parents too.

In an exclusive interview, CBR spoke to Cleopatra in Space executive producer Doug Langdale who discussed the process of adapting the show from the graphic novels, how the show's team incorporated more sci-fi elements into the story and how they extrapolated from what's known about the real-life Cleopatra to create the show's main character.

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CBR: What excited you about being involved in Cleopatra in Space?

Doug Langdale: Well, I just really liked the books. When DreamWorks first talked to me about this, I went and read, I think there were like, maybe three books out at that time -- three or four. I went and read those, and I was like, "Yeah, obviously this should be a series." The books are just great.

And then, of course, we didnt exactly do the books because at some point I was like, "The books are so good, its just like they're their own thing. Why do that exact thing again when it's already been done?" Especially since it felt like graphic novel and animation are already fairly close as media go.

So, we wound up using Mike Maihacks starting point for those characters, and the characters themselves and then many elements of the story, but we went off in some different directions. Hopefully the fans will be okay with that. They'll get some different stories with the same characters that they can enjoy.

So what was the adaptation process like when you decided you were going to go off in your own direction?

Right at the beginning, in the books I think the second chapter starts maybe six months after the first chapter. And we were like, "We really want to track these characters on a day to day basis. We want the second episode to be the next day and then the third one to be within a couple of days of that. We want to be with them through this whole process of Cleopatra adapting to this future world and growing and learning as a character."

So it became clear pretty early on that if we were going to do that, we were going to diverge from the stories in the books. And then also there's a certain amount of stuff in the books that we just couldn't do in a TV show. The books get more serious than we were going to be able to go, so that had some impact on it.

The animation style is really bright and lively and fun. Sometimes the screen is divided up to make things more dynamic. How was that style developed for the show?

Well, we started from the books and the characters [in the books] are great, [but] they're not really designed for the kind of animation we were doing. So we were like, we know we have to tweak them a little bit. And then, once you start tweaking it's easy to get carried away, so I think we started off tweaking and then we got further away from the characters in the books and then we sort of brought it back.

So we wound up, it's different than the books because, like in the series, Brian is a cyborg and Akila is an alien, and in the books theyre all human. We just felt like were doing a science-fiction show it feels like we need a robot and alien in here, and Mike was super supportive of doing that. So, some of the characters are a bit different but Id say it looks pretty similar to the books really but it's a little bit more animatable in the kind of digital 3D animation we were doing.

Each of the characters has a really distinct voice and characterization. How did you develop each of those onscreen personas?

Its usually you kind of start off with an idea of what a characters going to be and then they have a tendency to take on a life of their own. I know we're making all this stuff up, but it's true that sometimes you just don't entirely get to decide what a character is going to be like. They sort of decide for you sometimes.

And part of that is, like with the Khensu character, the main cat character in a show, we originally had been planning on him being more of a gruff sort of rough around the edges character. And then when Sendhil came in and auditioned -- [cast member] Sendhil Ramamurthy -- he did a little more sophisticated British thing for it, and from that point forward I couldn't hear the character any differently. It completely changed how I saw that character. So he became that guy and we changed the direction he went on the show based on what Sendhil was doing.

So a lot of it is just that. I mean the characters kind of evolve, or they sort of accrete. They build up over the course of time and you don't always get to decide how thats going to happen.

So then why a fish person and a cyborg for Akila and Brian? Were there other things considered?

We designed a bunch of different aliens for Akila, and at some point, I think it was Bertrand Todesco -- whos the guy who eventually was our main character designer -- I think he was the one who came up with the fish-based character. And we just really liked it. It was cute and it worked with how we were picturing the character. But we didn't go into it, saying, "Yeah, she's definitely going to be an alien whose ancestors were aquatic." It just sort of worked out that way.

And with Brian we went back and forth quite a bit on how human versus robotic he was going to look. So there were points [where] some of the designs were more mechanical and some of them you couldn't tell at all that he was a cyborg, so there was some back and forth on that. Different people start drawing things and you're like, "Yeah, I like this, I dont like that as much." And eventually you evolve in a direction.

With Brian, a lot of his character is built around his anxiety about the fact hes a cyborg. Did that decision help you build that character?

Yeah, I mean, it always seemed like he needed to be this slightly more nervous character. Just in filling out that group, it always felt like he was going to be that guy. And it felt like he was going to be a character who, because he has presumably had this cyborg body for a while -- we never really get into the details in the show -- but it always feels like hes still, a little bit, getting used to it. And its basically dealing with teen body integration issues in a very literal way, and so that was going to be a big part of the character.

And then once you start writing that, it's like, well, you can't just ignore that you set that up. So as the show went on, we got more and more into that and just finding different ways of him setting into the world, because he is so just self-conscious about his mechanical nature.

Cleopatra really comes across as a sort of modern headstrong teen who doesn't look before she leaps. Why did you decide to go with that kind of characterization for her?

Part of it was, we're not trying to literally do the historical Cleopatra, but it did feel like Cleopatra was someone who was extremely capable in a lot of different ways. I mean she spoke like 15 languages or something and she was confident in all the arts. And [she was a] very highly intelligent and capable person. And it felt like she was someone who grew up with a lot of abilities and capable of a lot of things, and also with a lot of privilege. It seemed to make sense that she would be a character who was not riddled with self-doubt, she was going to go for it.

And also, then throwing her into this incredibly bizarre situation, I mean for someone from 2,000 years ago to be flung 30,000 years into the future and have her not immediately have a nervous breakdown, she had to be pretty confident. So it was clear from early on that she was not going to be at all like a meek character, she was definitely going to have to be pretty fearless to deal with this just from day one. So I think a lot of that informed how we were going to treat that character.

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So was that part of how you balanced the sci-fi of the story while acknowledging that Cleopatra was a real person?

I think we tried to do what someone with a passing familiarity with Cleopatra might think Cleopatra was. So we didn't get [into] like, Cleopatra was probably Greek not Egyptian, although we don't know. So we didn't get into details of that. It's likely that she wasn't really liked that much by the Egyptian people. I mean her family had been ruling the country for a long time but most of the people probably still saw them as foreign invaders, although thats highly debatable. We didn't want to get into those kind of details.

We did some research, and it was like, in the end, the first episodes you're going to see Cleopatra and theyre going to have ideas about what that means, and that's what we're going to have to work with. We can't get into these like fine historical details that any of which are up for debate anyway.

It's just like, what do you think when you think Cleopatra? And I think people imagine someone who was pretty capable, so that made sense. She was a woman who had a tremendous influence on the world at a time when there weren't that many women who did, so she's going to wind up being a character I think people are going to want to look up to. So, you had to work with what peoples perceptions were going to be coming into the show.

The show is aimed at kids but it also includes some really fun touches that adults will like. Was that part of the mandate of the show?

I don't know, I tend to just make the show that I want to see and then just try to make sure that it's accessible to a younger audience. But I don't give that much thought to what age it's aimed at except in that I know our audience is not interested in a lot of details about the tax code, so Im not going to do that. So for me it's just about keeping it accessible, and then I just try to make a show that Ill like.

Developed for television by Doug Langdale and Julia Fitzy Fitzmaurice, Cleopatra in Space stars Lilimar Hernandez, Katie Crown, Jorge Diaz and Sendhil Ramamurthy. The animated series is currently streaming on NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock.

NEXT: Cleopatra in Space Trailer Brings Scholastic Graphic Novel to Life

Stargirl: Project New America, Revealed

Freelance writer and pop culture enthusiast living in Los Angeles. Co-author of the books Mad Men Unzipped and the recently released Finding Truth in Fiction, about audience's positive responses to fictional stories.

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INTERVIEW: Cleopatra in Space EP Doug Langdale On Adapting the Graphic Novels for TV - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Angel: The 10 Saddest Episodes, Ranked | ScreenRant – Screen Rant

As a spin-offofBuffy the Vampire Slayer, every episode of Angel was packed with the same sense of adventure and fun that fans have become accustomed to. However, much like its predecessor, Angelalso featured more than its fair share of heartbreak and saw its characters suffer tragedy and loss frequently.

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This kept the stakes of the show high, with Angel Investigations going up against greater threats every season. The loss he and his friends suffered reminded everyone why they were fighting the good fight and pushed them to do better. With this in mind, here are the 10 saddest episodes of Angel.

Wesley changed a lot during his time on the spin-off series, and season 5's "Lineage" saw Wesley's father, Roger Wyndam-Pryce, visit his son for the first time. As one of the most senior members of the Watcher's Council, Wesley had spent his entire life trying to live up to hisexpectations and make him proud.

This resulted in a complex relationship, in which Wesley both respected and feared his father. However, Roger led an assault with other members of the council on Angel and his friends, which resulted in Wesley killing him. While it turned to simply be a cyborg, Wesley was left devastated and changed forever upon realizing how far he was willing to go to protect his friends, specifically Fred, and that his relationship with his father was far more complex than he had originally believed.

Angel becomes human again in season 1's "I Will Remember You," which sees the vampire transformed due to the influence of demonic blood. This allows him to gain a glimpse into the life he has been dreaming about, and he can finally be together with Buffy.

However, Angel quickly realizes that his new human form makes him utterly useless in the fight against evil. This results in Angel choosing to abandon his human form and his happy life to fight the forces of darkness.

As Angel needs all the help he can get, season 1's "War Zone" introduced Charles Gunn, who would go on to become one of the titular hero's greatest allies. Gunn began from humble beginnings, fighting vampires as best he could with his sister and their underequipped gang.

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However, Gunn's sister was tragically turned into a Vampire, forcing him to make the heartbreaking decision to kill her. This proved to be one of the most difficult things would ever have to do, and continued to affect him in the proceeding seasons.

Every character deserves a fitting ending and for a while, it didn't look like Cordelia was going to receive one. The character fell into a coma and her fate was left in the balance. However, Angel's 100th episode, "You're Welcome," proved to be one of the best the series produced.

It saw Cordelia finally wake from her coma to helpAngel who believed he wasn't doing enough good anymore. She successfully set Angel back on the right path before dying in her coma. The death of the long-running and fan-favorite character offered a satisfying conclusion to her character arc, who had been through more tragedy than most.

Doyle was one of the first friends Angel made when he moved to L.A, and the two quickly formed Angel Investigations and sought to help the helpless. Doyle's psychic visions proved to be immensely helpful in the fight against evil and he became Angel's closest allies.

However, Doyle became the first casualty of the good fight and sacrificed himself to save his friends. Much like Angel, Doyle was a demon trying to do some good and his heroic act was never forgotten.

The loss of Fred proved to be one of the most heartbreaking moments of the series and changed the group forever. However, this was not the last they saw of her. With her body now hosting the ancient demon Illyria, a being of immense power, they were reminded every day of their former friend.

RELATED: Angel: 10 Most Hated Supporting Characters

Illyria possessed the ability to take on whatever form she wantedand decided to become Fred, after seeing how devastated Wesley was. Although she had the best intentions, Illyria only increased Wesley's suffering when she transformed herself into Fred and caused him yet more pain.

Buffy made the ultimate sacrifice at the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer'sseason 5 and lost her life saving the world. In her own series, fans saw her friends grieve for her, and the news reached Angel in the spin-off's season 2 episode, "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb."

The episode featured Angel and the rest of the gang returning from another dimension in high spirits after saving the day. Only to be met by Willow, who delivers the devastating news. The news shocked Angel, who went on to spend the entire summer at a monastery in Sri Lanka to help him grieve.

Season 3's "Sleep Tight" proved to be one of the most shocking episodes of the series and saw the dynamic of the group change forever. Although he acted with the best of intentions, Wesley made a colossal mistake that resulted in Angel's son being taken to a hell dimension.

Wesley kidnapped Angel's son after reading an ancient prophecy that foretoldof the father killing his son; in reality, this prophecy had been manipulated by a time-shifting demon. Wesley was double-crossed, had his throat slip, andwas left for dead, which remains one of the saddest moments in the series.

"Not Fade Away" marked the epic conclusion of the series and saw Angel and the rest of the gang go up against the biggest challenge of their demon-slaying careers. As the heroes were now working for the evil law firm Wolfram & Hart to try and bring it down from the inside, they stepped things up a notch and took down the members of The Black Thorn.

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This resulted in retaliation that saw L.A transformed into a hellscape as an array of demonic creatures descended upon the city. The episode concludes with Angel and the team prepared to give their lives to defend the city, which served as both a satisfying and tragic ending.

The group suffered many losses over the show's five seasons, but none proved to be more devastating than the loss of Fred. With her body now host to an ancient demonic spirit, Angel and the rest of the gang worked tirelessly to find a solution.

Upon discovering that releasing the spirit would kill thousands, they had no choice than to allow Fred to die. Her heroic sacrifice remains the show's most heartbreak moment and one of its saddest episodes. Fred's death hit Wesley the hardest, as they had just become a couple. He never recovered from losing her.

NEXT: The D&D Classes Of Angel Characters

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Daniel is a writer based in the UK. He studied at the University of Sunderland and is a big fan of movies and tv.

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Angel: The 10 Saddest Episodes, Ranked | ScreenRant - Screen Rant

3rd Coast Grappling Kumite IV FULL RESULTS Cyborg Defeats Fellipe Andrew To Win $10,000 – Jiu-Jitsu Times

3rd Coast Grappling: Kumite IV has concluded, capping off its fourth impressive event with a pair of matches worthy of the finals.

In the main superfight of the evening, Gordon Ryan took on Brian Marvin in a ten-minute exhibition match to raise money for the We Defy Foundation.

Ryan immediately pulled guard at the start of the ten-minute match, soon coming up to pass Marvins guard instead. Marvin came up and got his leg caught in Ryans quarter-guard before both competitors disengaged, with Ryan resuming playing open guard. Marvin worked on collecting Ryans back, going for an armbar that Ryan quickly escaped. Ryan then took the top position, and both athletes fell back and teased leg locks before Ryan once again came back on top. Ryan then worked Marvin into a body triangle before letting Marvin out. Marvin worked past Ryans guard, but Ryan was able to come on top and work for an armbar from the back. Marvin came up on top and briefly sat back for a leg lock, but Ryan once again took the top position, with Marvin fighting from the bottom in half-guard. Ryan shimmied to mount and isolated Marvins head and arm, rolling up to his back before transitioning to the top position. With fifteen seconds left, Ryan took Marvins back, sunk in the rear naked choke, and finished the match with three seconds left to go.

In the final match of the absolute Kumite bracket, Roberto Cyborg Abreu took on Fellipe Andrew.

Andrew started the match by pulling guard, but Cyborg quickly got past his legs. As Cyborg moved around, he was nearly able to take Andrews back, but Andrew managed to roll out and avoid it. As Andrew resumed playing open guard, Cyborg came down from on top and secured a guillotine choke. Although Andrew stood and attempted to defend, it wasnt enough, and Cyborg was able to get the tap just a couple minutes into the match.

Cyborg was declared the winner and will go home with the $10,000 prize and the title of Kumite IV champion.

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3rd Coast Grappling Kumite IV FULL RESULTS Cyborg Defeats Fellipe Andrew To Win $10,000 - Jiu-Jitsu Times

Review: ‘Teen Titans Go! The Night Begins to Shine 2 – TV Source Magazine

Cartoon Networks Teen Titans GO! aired the follow up to The Night Begins to Shine mini-series with The Night Begins to Shine 2: Youre The One. Instead of airing as a mini-series this time around, the network compiled all 5 episodes into an hour, commercial free, movie event.

The first mini-series, titled The Day the Night Stopped Beginning to Shine and Became Dark Even Though It Was the Day saw the Teen Titans, Cyborg, Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy and Raven travel to an 80s inspired alternate dimension after an evil dragon tries to steal the song The Night Begins to Shine. The team has to assemble the original creators of the song, B.E.R., in the real world in an attempt to have a chance to defeat the dragon. Cameos in the first mini-series included CeeLo Green and Fall Out Boy who are drawn into the alternate reality by the power of the song.

The song The Night Begins to Shine first appeared in the series as a song Cyborg sings briefly in an episode. It returns again later in the series as a major plot to an entire episode where Cyborg uses the song as a way to get himself pumped up, eventually annoying the rest of the team. The team bans Cyborg from listening to the song and he becomes powerless. The song is so catchy that it eventually brings the entire team together to save the day. The first time I heard the song, it was stuck in my head for days.

Now you might be thinking, this sounds nothing like the DC Comic characters known as the Teen Titans. You are correct. Teen Titans GO! is a less serious take on the famous characters, intended for a younger audience. Its existence enrages many fans of the original Teen Titans animated series, yet continues to be one of Cartoon Networks most watched series, with repeats of the series taking up a large portion of the networks schedule. A straight to DVD crossover series featuring the two series crossing over titled Teen Titans GO! Vs Teen Titans was released in 2019. Teen Titans GO! features the same voice actors as the original series and often pokes fun at itself, with many references to the previous series and the original animation style. It even got its own feature length film Teen Titans GO! To the Movies which was an extremely enjoyable fun movie.

In the premiere of The Night Begins to Shine 2: Youre The One, we once again see the Teen Titans transported to the realm after a long absence only to find the land in ruins with a new evil threat, Ultralak, behind the destruction. Ultralak suddenly appears and proclaims his intentions to destroy all music. Cyborg leads an attack on him and his forces. Ultralak deals a strong blow to Cyborg, taking him out. Robin, Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy retreat to a base held by resistance fighters. Ultralak quickly finds them and right before attacking, Cyborg, now having transferred his essence into the motorcycle which he rides in this realm, rescues the Titans.

The titans must now find the three musical stems of B.E.R.s lost song which they learn has been buried in the ground to hide them from Ultralak. B.E.R. are the craters of the song The Night Begins to Shine. A miner finds the first stem to the song and hands them over to the Sheriff right before the Titans arrive. The Titans arrive in town and during their attempt to rescue the stem, are captured by the Sheriff. Motorcycle Cyborg escapes and goes back to the miner, who he convinces to join and help rescue the stem and rest of the Titans. The team then has to get on board a train which is transporting the stem to Ultralak. With the help of the Titans, the miner manages to rescue the stem and capture the evil Sheriff. The miner then hands the Titans the stem and takes over as the new Sheriff.

The Titans now in possession of the first stem are pursued by Ultralak and his evil beasts. The team shakes them off their tail and attempts to find a signal on their tracker to find the rest of the song stems. They climb a hill and soon realize they are on top of a giant turtle who shares that he has been stuck there in toxic sludge which was dumped there by a factory. Motorcycle Cyborg tells the turtle he will rescue the creature. After an initial failed attempt, they decide to go shut down the factory which has been pumping the toxic sludge. To their dismay, they witness that the pollution is in fact destroyed songs. Ultralak arrives and tells the lead factory worker that the Titans must be stopped before they find the next song stem.The Titans take on the workers, who are all skeletons, win and release the songs which were intended to be destroyed, into the lake, reviving them and cleansing the entire lake. The turtle then gifts the Titans the second stem, leaving one final stem for the Titans to find.

The final signal on the tracker brings them to a wall with no apparent way in. They then realize the radio they have been using to find the signals is in fact the key to open the door. Once open, a portal is revealed and the Titans risk it all and enter it. They find themselves in a mostly empty void and see the stem hovering in the distance. In an homage to the classic film, Tron, light beams appear alongside the Titans. They soon realize they are in a game and must figure out the pattern and path to complete it, losing a life every time they fail. They make progress yet fail again. The team, after continuing to fail, feels defeated. With Motorcycle Cyborgs guidance, he realizes the key is in the rhythm of music and motivates the team to successfully complete the game with one life left and reach the final stem. The radio tracker then shows them that they must get to the summit of a mountain

Once they reach the summit of the mountain, they see the ancient ruins of a temple dedicated to each member of B.E.R. They summon the band by presenting the three stems to the statues. Ultralak then appears and the Titans each charge at him landing powerful blows to Ultralak. He fights them off and begins to pull the stems out of the statues which were summoning B.E.R. Ultralak forcefully merges the stems and reveals himself to be the previously unknown fourth member of B.E.R. who quit the band. On his own he channeled evil and betrayed everything the band stood for. Ultralak then destroys the merged stems robbing the vibrant colors of the entire word. Ultralak becomes even stronger and more powerful. Suddenly, a beam of light appears through the dark and B.E.R. appears telling Ultralak that music can never be destroyed. They absorb the destroyed stem orb and begin performing their lost song, pulling Cyborgs essence out of the motorcycle into a new form of himself, making him stronger and powerful enough to take on the supercharged Ultralak. As B.E.R. performs the song Youre The One, Cyborg carries Ultralak into outer space and they fight it out. Ultralak pins Cyborg against a meteor and begins to pull his essence out of his body. B.E.R. join and supercharge Cyborg. He transforms into a new fourth member and their music together generates a powerful blow to counter Ultralak, eventually overcoming him, destroying Ultralak. B.E.R. proclaims victory with Robin saying they can now go back home. Cyborg pronounces that they are in fact home already.

The Night Begins to Shine 2 was a fun and visually stunning Teen Titans Go! event. While a compelling reason to send the Titans back to the land of The Night Begins to Shine, it fails to reach the heights of its predecessor. I missed the elements of the Titans being outside of the dimension like they were in the first event, which helped break up the seriousness which was on full display in the sequel. The Tron themed part of the movie event was the most exciting and my favorite segment. While thrilling, vibrant and beautifully animated, the final battle feels rushed, and leaves little resolution to the ending, leaving me wanting more. I wouldnt be surprised to see a third take on The Night Begins to Shine and if they make one, I will certainly tune in to watch it!

Immediately following the end of the special, Cartoon Network announced a new Teen Titans GO! mini-series event would have its premiere in August. It will be called Where Exactly on the Globe is Carl Sanpedro, clearly a fun play on the classic Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?!

You can stream Teen Titans GO!, your new favorite show!, on Hulu https://www.hulu.com/series/teen-titans-go-4677c039-314f-4dfc-8dc1-c533a76e8a07

Cartoon Network: https://www.cartoonnetwork.com/video/teen-titans-go/index.html?atclk_gn=un_video_teen-titans-go

Cartoon Network App: https://www.cartoonnetwork.com/apps/cartoon-network/cartoon-network/index.html

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Review: 'Teen Titans Go! The Night Begins to Shine 2 - TV Source Magazine