Nerd Tutorial Podcast

Ep 93: WandaVision Review

Wanda Vision review

 

So, there’s this show about a magical woman and he robot husband… and it take place in 1950s… no wait 1960s…. or was it the 90s?  This was a very strange series to watch, but one that was very much a desired fleshing out for the Scarlet Witch, and also for Vision.  And we both has a blast watching it.

 

 

 

Spoilers – This show will spoil elements and Episodes of Wanda Vision, so you have been warned.

 

 

Wanda Maximoff – Elizabeth Olsen

An avenger who was previously altered by the Mind Stone, increasing her latent magical powers.  Officially now known as the Scarlet Witch, a moniker for the type of witch that can use chaos magic.  Wanda is initially not entirely aware that she created this reality, but has slowly figured out that she has.  She depart at the end of the series, but it rumored to return during Dr. Strange’s next movie, possibly as a villain.  It is revealed that the reason her altered reality mimics sitcoms is because she loved them as a child, watching them with her family.  The character’s growth however has been mostly resolved around her repeated losses of a family, either her parents, Pietro, Vision, and now her altered reality family.

 

Vision – Paul Bettany

An android and former Avenger.  He is fact not the actual Vision, but a creation of Wanda’s magic within her reality.  A later nod to the white Vision, or ‘The Vision’, later appears and they duke it out, but in the aftermath, the second vision disappears and is unknown where he is.  Paul Bettany sited his performance was based off Dick Van Dyke and Hugh Laurie.

 

Billy and Tommy Maximoff – Julian hilliard & Jett Klyne

Manifestations of Wanda’s imagination and powers within the ‘Hex’.  They twins are similar representations as first seen in the comic when they were made up of both Wanda’s magic and the Marvel Satan/Devil: Mephisto.  Similar to their comic origins, both boys have the powers of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, mimicking their comic book origins.  In the comics, both boys come back at Wiccan and Speed, whose souls are the same Billy and Tommy, and though not brothers, share a familiar bond.  Both children’s soul may continue to exist in some form, something which may motivate Wanda in the future.

 

Monica Rambeau – Teyonah Parris

Character was last seen in Captain Marvel, as the daughter of Captain Marvel’s best friend.  As a cause of going through the ‘Hex’ barrier, she has absorbed some level of powers, which gives her super powers.  Which ones are unknown, though in the comics, she has the ability to change in to energy of any kind, which grants her some abilities, but which is unknown and haven’t been properly explored.  The character will return in Captain Marvel 2.

 

Jimmy Woo - Randall Park

An FBI agent who happens to be the first to report to the ‘Hex’.  He was last seen in Ant Man and the Wasp (Ant Man 2), previously as Scott Lang’s parole officer.  One joke returning his time during Ant Man is the card trick he first displays for Monica Rambeau when they first meet.

 

Darcy Lewis – Kat Dennings

An astrophysicist previously seen in both Thor and Thor 2, originally an intern following around Jane Foster for student credits.  She has since upgraded to a full on Astrophysicist in the many years and is now a full time scientist with her own qualifications.  She is the first to discover the TV show hidden in the background radiation. 

 

Ralph Bohner/Pietro Maximoff – Evan Peters

Initially appearing as the twin brother to Wanda, Evan Peters was the X-men version of Quicksilver, who was cast and portrayed as Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver in X-men: Days of Future Past.  It’s interesting for him to be cast as this version’s Pietro, as a wink-and-nod to how sitcoms would recast character without any storyline reason for them changing all the sudden.  It is eventually revealed that he was given his powers by Agatha Harkness and mind controlled in believing he was Wanda’s brother.

 

Agnes/Agatha Harkness – Kathryn Hahn

Originally portraying captured resident Agnes, the nosy neighbor, she is eventually revealed ot be Agatha Harkness, another witch with similar powers to Wanda, but with the ability to absorb magical powers from other witches.  Though different from the comics, as Agatha Harkness is a much older witch in the series, she retains some of the mentor like qualities from her original comic version.  She is the one who informs Wanda of who she is and what kind of powers she really has, as well as giving her early lessons on magic of Witches.

 

 

Illusions to TV Sitcoms

Episode 1 – Dick Van Dyke Show and other ‘American Dream’ style Sitcoms of the 1950s

Episode 2 – Bewitched and other fantasy-sitcoms of the 1960s

Episode 4 – The Brady Bunch and other American Family Sitcoms of the 1970s

Episode 5 – Family Ties & Growing Pains, and other American Family sitcoms of the 1980s.

Episode 6 – Malcom in the Middle and other sitcoms of the later 90s and early 2000s.

Episode 7 – Modern Family & the Office, and other sitcoms of the 2000s and 2010s.

 

 

S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient Weapon Observation and Response Division)

A new organization that has replaced S.H.I.E.L.D. as an American peace keeping force meant to deal with superheroes and such.  While S.H.I.E.L.D. does continue to exist, it is considered under the radar and not officially funded by the United States.  S.W.O.R.D. was originally build with the intent of combating and researching extraterrestrial operations and activity, mainly anything happening outside of the Earth Sphere.  In the comics, the organization is an Arm of S.H.I.E.L.D, with its purpose being very similar.

 

 

Infinity Stones continuing role

While they may have been destroyed, the Infinity Stones continue to play a role the story, speaking to the various strangeness of character.  It’s theorized that the individual stones don’t actually give the powers their most known for to people in which it imbues powers to.  IE:

• Wanda’s powers mimic/mirror the Reality Stone more so than Mind Stone, even in the visual language as her powers are red, not yellow.
• QuickSilver’s power mimic the Space Stone more than the Mind Stone, even in the visual language as being Blue in color.
• Weapons created by Hydra using the Space Stone mimic the Power Stone at the end of the day.
• Same for Captain Marvel, whose powers seem to mimic the Power Stone more so than the Space Stone.

Theory holds that more powered Super Heroes, rather than through technology or science, will be powered due to radiation given off by those who were previously enhanced by the Infinity Stones.  This includes potentially the Fantastic Four.

 

 

Trivia

• Each Episode reportedly cost around $25 Million dollars, making it the most expensive tv series per episode.
• Wanda’s voice saying “Previously on WandaVision” get progressively less cheerful as episodes progress.
• Each of the first 7 episodes are roughly 20-30 minutes long, mirroring classic sitcom episode lengths, with the 8^th and 9^th episodes being around 40 minutes long.

 

 

Ep 92: WandaVision Tutorial

Topic: WandaVision Tutorial

 

With the much anticipated return of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the next major collection of material for the universe is scheduled to be TV shows, primarily featuring the other Avengers, and not the main set.  And having missed out on Black Widow, which has been very patiently waiting since the summer of 2020, the first new installment in the Phase 4 is a TV series about Wanda and Vision.  So lets get mom up to speed.

 

 

Where did we leave off?

Last major production was Spiderman Far From Home, set a few weeks in theory after the end of Avengers: Endgame. At the end of Endgame, everyone originally blinked out of existence by Thanos, known as the ‘Blip’ or the ‘Snap’, returns and the world is going through the process of healing and getting back to normal as nearly half the population returns from a five year absence. 

 

In the case of Wanda, she had only recently returned from being blinked out of existence, fighting with Thanos and memorializing Tony Stark after his death.  Her exact whereabouts after the events of End Game are a mystery.

 

In the case of Vision, Vision is considered dead at the end of Avengers: Infinity Wars, having first been up in the devastation left behind when Wanda Destroyed the Mind Stone, only for Thanos to reverse time, bring vision back, and kill him a second time in front of Wanda when he ripping the Mind Stone out of his head.  Its presumed that his pieces were picked up in Wakanda and transported to the Avenger’s facilities for safe keeping.

 

 

Mutants in MCU

To really walk about Wanda is also to talk about Mutants and the X-men in the MCU.  During the late 90s, Marvel was actually in a fairly bad position, having filed for Bankruptcy protection in 1997.  It was during this time, that marvel began selling the rights for their character to other movie studios, in an effort to infuse cash in to their holdings.  This led to movies such as Blade (1998), X-men (2000), Spiderman (2002), and The Hulk (2003).  As a part of the deal, X-men franchise’s TV and Film rights were sold to FOX, but not just the X-men, but the concept of Mutants as well.  This meant that any character that was a Mutant was considered fair game for FOX to make movies out of.

 

Enter 2006, and Marvel Studios begins preproduction on Ironman (2008), their first solo Superhero flim, and the kick off what we know today as the MCU.  During the this time, X-men movies were still coming out, but the juggernaut of what Ironman started in 2008 couldn’t be fully realized.  Numerous film rights began returning to Marvel, however, mutants were not among them.  By 2015, Avengers Age of Ultron (2015), there was an agreement that both Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were shared characters with Fox and could be in the MCU, denoting that they weren’t mutants, but were instead, individuals whose powers were given by the Mind Stone.

 

By 2009, Disney had purchased Marvel outright, the Film/Television side was put under different management from the Comic Book/Print side. For the next few years, the Comic Book side began to deemphasize the X-men and Mutants, focusing more on characters they owned out right.  There was a push for ‘Inhumans’, a variation on mutants, for a while, along with most major stories only including a few major Mutant characters that were main stream.  This culminated it a number of major storylines, including House of M, and even with the death of several major X-men, including Wolverine, Cyclops, and Professor X. 

 

By 2015, the leadership of the Comic Book/Print side of the business was ousted and all major developments from all of Marvel were in the hands of Kevin Feige, who has been leading the Film/Television side of the business.  And now as of 2019, with Disney now owning FOX media, the rights to the X-men and Mutants are owned once again by Marvel.  Fan expectation is that either Marvel will make their own outright X-men movies, or potentially add them in to the MCU in some way. 

 

 

Wanda Maximoff (The Scarlet Witch)

Born of Max Eisenhardt, better known as Magneto, alongside her twin brother Petro(Peter) Maximoff, the two are mutants who have been seen throughout the Marvel Universe.  She and her brother were raised as Ophans and Gypsies, famously by a Cow-woman named Bolva.  A young age, her magical powers began to blossom, and she was trained by one of the most powerful magic users in the world, Agatha Harkness. 

 

Wanda and her brother joined their Father, Magneto, for a period of time with the brotherhood of mutants, before eventually joining the Avengers, and being long standing members of it.  At some point, she met and fell in love with Vision, with the two being married for a period of time.  Though initially unable to have children, through the use of Magic, Wanda gave birth to two sons, Tommy and Billy, but due to shenanigans from the Marvel Devil, Mephisto, the two taken away and their existence nullified. 

 

Wanda’s big story primarily revolves around ‘House of M’.  At one point, Wanda’s powers became too powerful for her to control, which caused her to lash out uncontrollably in a fit of rage over the mention of her former children.  This uncontrolled power eventually warped Vision, who later attacked the Avengers, before being killed by She-Hulk.  In the aftermath, Wanda was taken by her Father Magneto to Professor X to get help.  The concern however was whether to Kill Wanda or not, as her powers were out of control, which eventually led to the reality bending ‘House of M’, where mutants replaced humans as the dominate species on earth.

 

‘House of M’ saw many mutants and humans leading happy and ideal lives for themselves, with Magneto ruling over the world, but some individuals still remembered.  Eventually, it was discovered that Quicksilver had convinced Wanda to warp reality, and upon Magneto and other heroes regaining their memory, they confronted Quicksilver over what happened, culminated in Quicksilver’s death.  Wanda would bring him back to life, but shocked that her Father and Professor X would be willing to kill her, she changed reality back, but said three words, “No More Mutants.”

 

As a result of ‘House of M’, reality was changed back to normal, but 90% of the mutants were depowered and the mutant gene was now dormant and was not suppose to exist in any new children being born.  This made mutants more an endangered species on the planet, and moved hundreds of mutant heroes from activity.  Eventually, the mutant x gene began reappearing in children, and with some mutants getting their powers back.

 

In later rewrites to the character, Wanda is revealed to just be an Orphan, not a mutant and not the daughter of Magneto, but having lived near a mountain that radiates energy and improved her already dormant magical abilities.  This is the version of Wanda we know from the MCU.

 

Powers

Wanda’s powers were originally thought to be telekinesis as a mutant, but have since been reconned as being magic.  Her original stem from her ability to warp reality, originally it was at the disfavor of those she attacked, causing them to have bad results for actions they took.  Later this was evolved in to full reality manipulation, allowing her to warp the very nature and reality around her, not unlike the Reality Stone.  She is capable of various other magical schools associates with Magical Crafts performed by Dr Strange and the like.  Her main claim to fame relates her ‘Chaos Magic’, which allows her to shape reality as a whole.

 

In the MCU, her powers stem from the Mind Stone, imbuing her with telekinesis and telepathy abilities.  For all extensive purposes, they have not been fully explored in the MCU.

 

 

Vision

A ‘Synthezoid’, a special type of Android that contains all living tissues and body parts of a human, plus the ‘Horton Cells’, which provides strength, durability, and resistance.  He was built by Ultron, using parts from another state of the art android call the ‘Human Torch’(Not the same character), and with a special gem called the ‘Solar Gem’, which operates much like a human, but hundreds of times faster.  This gem is similar placed as the Mind Stone for the MCU version of Vision.

 

Originally, Vision was created by Ultron with the intent of being a double agent.  But realizing that he didn’t want to fight human, he changed sides and has been a leading member of the Avengers since.  Vision would take part in multiple stories, even having a relationship with Wanda for a while.  At one point, Vision was kidnapped and dismantled by a bad guy.  He was eventually rebuilt by Tony Stark, but minus the synthetic red skin he previously had, revealing a white, neutral exterior, and also minus his emotions. This second Vision continued his relationship with Wanda, but after due the events prior to ‘House of M’ he was ripped apart by the She-Hulk after Vision spawned a bunch of mini-Ultrons from him.  A third Vision was built some time later, using the parts from the last, and it was this version that eventually built his own family of Visions, attempting to learn more about the human condition and emotions, he started his own family as a result.

 

Powers:

As a Synthezoid made from the android Human Torch and using the Solar Gem, Vision’s body allows him to project solar rays as beams of energy at his targets.  As well, due to the ‘Horton Cells’ in his body, he can modulate his density, allowing him to pass through walls and people, but also to strength himself and make him super strong and super durable. 

 

 

What to Expect?

Speculation about the series presumes that the series will likely have something to do with reality manipulation.  The series may also launch new super heroes and provide knowledge on what happened to vision. 

 

There is a concern that the events will be a mixture of House of M and Visions, the former as far an ideal life for Wanda and the later in the sense that Vision started a family in the suburbs. 

EP 91: Godzilla Movies Review

Topic: Godzilla Movies Review

 

This week, we watched a giant Lizard smash a building… lots of buildings in fact.  And lots of Lizards too.  I think a few had wings even… so many monsters, so little time.  But a fun time at that, lots of it!  And both mom and me would agree that they’re a lot of fun.  So we’re back with two American Godzilla, and the most recent live action Godzilla from Japan.

 

Godzilla (2014)

• Directed by: Gareth Edwards
• Starring:
  • Aaron Taylor-Johnson as U.S. Navy EOD LT Ford Brody
  • Ken Watanabe as Dr. Ishirō Serizawa
  • Elizabeth Olsen as Elle Brody
  • Juliette Binoche as Sandra Brody
  • Sally Hawkins as Dr. Vivienne Graham
  • David Strathairn as Admiral William Stenz
  • Bryan Cranston as Joe Brody
• Monsters:
  • Godzilla
  • Muto (Male)
  • Muto (Female)
• This movie felt like a proper disaster movie, but at times, it doesn’t feel like a movie, more like we were following a narrative and series of unfortunate events. Almost like a found footage piece.
• Depictions of Japan, of the fictional city Janjira, were very comical. Rather than looking like a suburb of Japan, it looks like an American suburb with Japanese aesthetics. They even driver cars on the left side of the car, which is typical of America. 
• While Aaron Taylor-Johnson may be a decent actor, he felt very disposable in the film.
• At the time of Casting, Elizabeth Olsen hadn’t been cast as the Scarlet Witch in the MCU yet, but her role felt fairly disposable as well. Looking at the role now, she’s only memorable because this was what she was in prior to the Marvel movies.
• Ken Watanabe always adds gravitas to a film he’s in, especially in this case of Godzilla.
• Godzilla is talked about and seen sporadically in the film, but major brunt of destruction is from the Muto monsters. Godzilla has a proper fight at the end of the movie.
• While critics praised the tone and direction, many criticized the under developed characters, lack of thematic depth, turning Godzilla into a secondary character, and insufficient screen time for the title character.
• Japanese critics liked the film, but felt the same way. Toho  liked the film so much, they decided to reboot the series with Shin Godzilla.

 

 

Godzilla: King of Monsters (2019)

• Directed by: Michael Dougherty
• Starring:
  • Kyle Chandler as Dr. Mark Russell
  • Vera Farmiga as Dr. Emma Russell
  • Millie Bobby Brown as Madison Russell
  • Bradley Whitford as Dr. Rick Stanton
  • Sally Hawkins as Dr. Vivienne Graham
  • Charles Dance as Alan Jonah
  • Thomas Middleditch as Sam Coleman
  • Aisha Hinds as Colonel Diane Foster
  • O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Jackson Barnes
  • David Strathairn as Admiral William Stenz
  • Ken Watanabe as Dr. Ishirō Serizawa
  • Zhang Ziyi as Dr. Ilene Chen
• Monsters:
  • Godzilla
  • Mothra
  • Rodan
  • King Ghidorah
  • And many more, including King Kong
• Unlike the 2014 Film, this one felt more like a Movie than the last. Perhaps it’s the bigger sets and more sightings of Godzilla.
• It was nice to see some of the cast from the 2014 Godzilla return.
• It’s a shame Ken Watanabe’s character was killed as the film leave the possibility of a third Godzilla movie in the near future.
• Nice to see Bradley Whitford in work.
• American Critics were not impressed by the film, remarking that the script was ‘laughable’, the monster battles were either too numerous or boring, and that the film was paper thin with no real drama.

 

 

Shin Godzilla

• Directed by: Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi
• Starring:
  • Hiroki Hasegawa as Rando Yaguchi, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary.
  • Yutaka Takenouchi as Hideki Akasaka, Aide to Prime Minister.
  • Satomi Ishihara as Kayoco Anne Patterson, Special Envoy for the President of the United States.
• Film used the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake/Tsunami & Fukushima Daiichi nuclear Disaster as inspiration.
• Film is considered political, mostly in the sense that it’s a scathing depiction of Japanese bureaucracy and its politicians. Often seen as trying to manage the in pending fall out, rather than trying to manage the actual situation, and tied up in various meetings.
• Did very well in Japan, winning 7 Japanese Academy Prize, including Picture of the Year and Director of the Year.
• Laughed at multiple points from hearing the ‘Decisive Battle’ illusions being made during the planning phases. The song is from Evangelion (1995) anime, directed and created by Hideki Anno, is used at multiple points throughout the film.
• Can see lots of allusions to Evangelion, though as a Evangelion fan, I might be more hyper aware than most.

 

 

Ep 90: Godzilla Tutorial

Godzilla

 

A giant sea creature, that walks on its back legs, shoot radioactive breath/laser from its mouth, and vaguely looks like a dinosaur, and no I’m not talking about mom.  We begin our talk on Godzilla, and learning about the nearly 50 year old King of the Monsters.  Another series mom may have a greater affinity for than even me.

 

 

Kaiju – Literally meaning “Strange Beast”, the term originated for just about any mythological creature or monster from Japanese legends, but after opening up its boarders to the west, the term has also meant any legendary creatures that exist outside of Japan as well. 

 

In Modern terms, we use the term Kaiju to reflect creatures of science fiction or fantasy that are relatively the size of Godzilla, multiple stories tall creatures.  Western example can include King Kong, Monsters from Power Ranges, namely and inspirationally, from Pacific Rim.  Even Steven Spielberg got inspiration for Jurassic Park from Godzilla and other Kaiju movies.

 

Godzilla is considered the first Kaiju movie.

 

 

History

 

Debuting in 1954, and created by Toho, in his own self title film, Godzilla has been a fixture of Japanese and American media for nearly 70s years.  Though no official individual is the one that birthed the creation of the creature, he was initially intended to be an allegory for Nuclear Weapons as seen by the Japanese.  Others have likened Godzilla to the United States, as a terrible beast awakes from its slumber to take vengeance on Japan.

 

Despite his first film of being the villain, later films would actually see him being an Anti-hero and possibly a protector of humanity, along with being a less serious and more campy.  As time has gone on, Godzilla has faces other kaiju and had a rotation collection of villains and enemies in which were trying to destroy humanity. 

 

Toho Co, the company that created Godzilla, is previously well known for Kaiju and Tokusatsu(Japanese special effect films) films, but also release many directed by Akira Kurosawa, along with the anime films of Studio Ghibli.  They also work with other anime companies to get their movies released in to theaters.

 

Eiji Tsuburaya, the individual in charge of special effects for the first Godzilla film, developed the technique that would be called ‘Suitmation’.  This was the act of creating latex/rubber suits for actors to wear and become the monsters.  This was further developed by shrinking the sets down to miniatures, to give the scale to the actors in the suits.  The camera was then placed low to the ground and filmed at double speed, to get the aspect of the Monsters as being huge, but also create smooth movement as the actors moved slowly in their costumes.  Special Effects were then substituted with Puppetry or other models to give the effect of swinging tails or mouth movements.  Even as CGI has become more prevalent in the Japan, Suitmation is continuing to be used on certain levels, with the suit actors doing motion capture to film the actions and translate them to CGI.

 

 

Characteristics

Original Japanese name was Gojira, from combining the two words Gorira (Gorilla) and Kujira (Whale) in Japanese. It later Romanized into Godzilla upon appearing in the west. 

 

Inspired by Ray Harryhausen’s film ‘The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms’, Godzilla was conceived as a reptilian, sea creature, loosely based on the concept of dinosaur.  He has various spiked plates along his back, which is the source of his power in some films. His body’s texture is said to be based off Keloid scars that were often seen on survivors form Hiroshima.  While initial seen as green in comics, cartoons, and on movie posters, Godzilla is actually charcoal grey.

 

Godzilla’s signature weapon is his Atomic Breath, a beam of nuclear energy shot out like a laser from Godzilla’s mouth.  Godzilla is also known for his physical strength and muscularity, along with being amphibious.  He is shown to shrug off conventional weaponry thanks to his rugged hide and his regenerative abilities that allow him to heal from injuries quickly.  As a result of his strength, the only things that can otherwise hurt Godzilla are creatures of similar stats/quality to Godzilla.

 

Originally, Godzilla was portrayed as being 165ft tall in the original Japanese version, which would have made it so it could peer over the tallest building in Japan.  It was later rescaled higher in American dub of the film, up to 400ft tall, to give it proper size according to the American Producers.  It was later scaled up to 330ft in Japan, which was to continue the intention of making it so he wouldn’t be dwarfed by Japanese high rise buildings of the time.  His size would continue to grow as later movies in the 2010 started to come out, with the creature eventually becoming 985ft tall in ‘Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters’(2017).

 

 

Films

Godzilla has appeared in 32 Japanese films, dating back to 1954. 

 

Showa Era (1954 – 1975)

His initial 1954 appearance portrayed Godzilla as an invading force of nature.  However, later films in the era would portray him in a more comical and slapstick light, as the films were largely aimed at families and children.  Still, this period ended up spawning additional movies for some of Godzilla’s featured rivals and allies, leading to more movies that weren’t necessarily staring Godzilla.  This is where we see Godzilla fight:

• Rodan
• Varan
• Mothra
• King Ghidorah
• Mecha-Godzilla

 

Heisei Era (1984 – 1995)

The series took a break from 1975 until 1984, but returned with ‘The Return of Godzilla’.  The reboot tended away from the Showa Era, and instead made Godzilla a force of destructive nature once again. The new series kept a singular timeline of events between its movies, acting as a direct sequel to each other.  Many of the earlier villains were brought back once again.  In 1995, the character was killed, seemingly ending the Godzilla Franchise.

 

American Godzilla (1998)

In 1992, TriStar Pictures acquired the rights to Godzilla, with the intent on creating a trilogy of films based off the Japanese creature.  The original script would have stayed true to the Japanese origin of the creature, as a monster mutated by atomic bombs.  However, disagreements over the budget of the film caused the original director to leave, with Roland Emmerich coming in to direct.  Fresh off of Independence Day (1994), Emmerich wanted total creative freedom, as he wanted to ditch a lot of the origins of the Japanese Godzilla.  Oddly, the budget for the film would be about the same as the original pitch’s budget.  Emmerich moved away from a Dinosaur being bombard with nuclear energy and instead turned it into an iguana instead.  The film was widely panned by critics and fans, who has come to see the original version and not the Emmerich version of the character.  The following two planed films were canceled, and instead developed in to an animated series, which held up much better with fans than the film.

 

Millennium Era (1999 – 2004)

Largely seen as the backlash against the American Godzilla(1998), the Millennium Era of Godzilla sought to bring back the character to glory and show the Americans how it’s done.  Unlike the Heisei series, each film is considered stand alone film, with no direct relation to one another, outside of the original 1954 film.  Sadly, outside of the first film in the Era, most of the films were not well received, as the Godzilla formula was becoming stale and old to Japanese and American markets.  After the 2004 film, Godzilla: Final Wars, which saw the return of various monsters from the Showa Era, which capped off 50 years of Godzilla, the character was quietly put on hibernation.

 

Godzilla (2014)

Initially set to be a short 40 minute film, Legendary Pictures decided to create a full film instead, barrowing much more of original Godzilla canon, and differentiating it from the 1998 film.  Much of the original 2014 American film deals with two other Kaiju, and purposefully leaves Godzilla out of much of film until the very end, in order to build up hype.  The film was very well received, which prompted a sequel ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ (2019) and Godzilla vs. Kong set to come out in March 2021.

 

Reiwa Era (2016 to present)

After an early screening of Godzilla(2014) to its Japanese creators, Toho praised the American Godzilla, and sited it as the reason to bring Godzilla back to Japanese media.  To bring back Godzilla, they brought in Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuichi, the creators and mastermind of Neon Genesis Evangelion(1995) anime, to create the film.  With Anno creating the screen play and script, and Higuichi coming on as special effects director. 

 

The new series entitled Shin Godzilla, would focus more on the recent natural disasters of Japan, rather than the atomic bombing of its earlier films, and also focused on the failure of the Japanese government, which was a concern amongst Japanese after the 2011 Tsunami.    The film was a success and later films are slated for release, but due to the shared nature of the series with Legendary Pictures, plans have been put on hold for any new film.  Three additional CGI films were later produced between 2017 and 2018 feature Godzilla, and were exclusive to Netflix.

 

 

Major Antagonists

 

King Ghidorah – Considered Godzilla’s archrival.

Rodan – not too dissimilar from a pterodactyls, he serves as one of Godzilla enemies, and in comes cases, ally.

Mothra – Basically a giant Butterfly

King Kong – the third movie was based off their fight.

Mecha-Godzilla – A mechanical version of Godzilla, in one case, made from the Skeleton of Godzilla.

 

Ep 89: Star Wars - The Mandalorian Season 2 Review

Topic: Mandalorian Season 2 Review

 

We’re back at it for the second season of the Mandalorian, as things get crazy.  Mom enjoyed this, and we had quite a bit to talk about regardless, what with Breaking News from the Week!  But Yeah, the Space Western Rides again!

 

Updated News:

On February 10^th, LucasFilm announced that Gina Carano, former MMA fighter who played Cara Dune, was no longer employed by the company and would no longer appear in any future Star Wars projects.  LucasFlim decided not to work with Carano on any further projects after posts on social media that related American Conservatives with Jews in Nazi Germany.  This comes on the tails of earlier posts, where the actress ridiculed COVID-19 Mask mandates, falsely suggested that the 2020 US Presidential Elections had widespread Voter Fraud, disparaged the Black Lives Matter movement, and was accused of transphobia for her mocking of the preferred gender pronouns by transgender individuals and their allies.  At the time of writing, conflicting information suggest that Cara Dune was not intended to appear in the 3^rd Season of The Mandalorian, but was instead to star in Rangers of the New Republic. 

 

In the wake of Lucasfilm deciding to remove Carano from future productions, many of the conservative voices in America have demanded that Pedro Pascal also be removed the show, due to him having written disparaging things about conservatives and right wing media figures/events.  The #canceldisneyplus has also begun trending on twitter, with those upset about the removal of Carano from future Star Wars projects asking people to cancel their subscriptions to Disney+. 

 

As of writing, Season 3 of The Mandalorian is in pre-production, with no release date confirmed.

 

 

New Characters

Giancarlo Esposito - Moff Gideon

One the remaining high ranking Imperial officers left after the fall of the Empire, he leads his own squad of Imperial Remnants.  He participated in the Great Purge that wiped out the Mandalorians from the planet of Mandalore and scattered the remaining survivors to the stars.  He is also the wielder of the Dark Saber, a weapon he presumably claimed during the Purge through unknown means. 

 

Temuera Morrison - Boba Fett

The original Actor for Jango Fett returns to play Boba Fett, his cloned son.  It’s fitting as the actor was an unaltered clone, and by the time of the Mandalorian, Boba Fett would be in his early 40s, though the actor is in his 60s.  Presumed the Cloning process isn’t perfect.  Boba Fett in the series does not consider himself a Mandalorian, and never has, with the name of his armor being ‘Mandalorian Armor’, thus where the title and name presumably comes from. 

 

Mercedes Varnado - Koska Reeves

Also known as Sasha Banks in the WWE.  The character is a member of Bo-Katan’s Nite Owls, a primarily Female group of Mandalorians, former members of Death Watch, who are seeking to reclaim Mandalore.  The wrestler purposefully chose a hair style that could be mimicked in Cosplay, and preformed most of her own stunts, including some Wrestling moves.

 

Katee Sackhoff - Bo-Katan Kryze

Last known wielder of the Dark Saber prior to the events of the Great Purge of Mandalore, she leads her Nite Owls in dismantling Imperial targets and collecting weapons/resources for her team, in the efforts to reclaim Mandalore.  Her former sister, Sabine Kryze, was the ruler of Mandalore prior to Death Watch’s interference and political coup of the government.   Katee Sackhoff is no stranger to Sci-fi series, having previously played Kara "Starbuck" Thrace in the series Battlestar Galactica.  She has also previously voiced the character of Bo-Katan in the Clone Wars tv series.

 

Rosario Dawson - Ahsoka Tano

Original debuting in the CG animated Clone Wars, she is the former padawan to Anakin Skywalker, who left the Jedi Order after she was framed for a crime she didn’t commit.  Though it was later discovered that she was framed, she left the Jedi Order, feeling that it had lost its purpose and sought to find her own way through the force. 

 

She would next be seen in Rebels, roughly 5 years before the events of Episode 4, as an aid to the crew of the Ghost who act as a terrorist cell for the Rebellion.  Ahsoka Tano aids the former padawan, turned full Jedi, Kanan Jarrus and his new student, Ezra Bridger, in the ways of the Force, along with aiding their missions.  Ahsoka is presumed dead upon a fight with Darth Vader during the attempt to find a Sith Holocron, but is eventually saved from death by Ezra in the ‘World between Worlds’.  Ahsoka, though saved, did not continue with the Rebellion, instead choosing to follow a spiritual path, as she had been saved from death. 

 

By end of the events of Rebels, she and Sabine Wren(Former wielder of the Dark Saber), set out to find Ezra Bridger, who save the Ghost crew at the end of Rebels, but has been mysteriously lost in Space via Hyperspace whales.  In the episode, she is hunting Grand Admiral Thrawn, who presumably knows the last known whereabouts of Ezra Bridger.

 

Ming-Na Wen - Fennec Shand

Originally thought to be killed in the version season, episode five.  She was approached by an unknown individual, later revealed to be Boba Fett, who patches her up with some cybernetics.  She is then a body guard and associates of Boba Fett going forward.

 

 

“This is the Way…”

There is no hard and fast rule about Mandalorians not taking off their helmets and not being seen by others.  A key fact is that prior to The Mandalorian, previous Mandalorians took their helmets off and showed their faces all the time.  The particular Sect of Mandalorians that Din Djarin follows is known as ‘Children of the Watch’, a faith/religion that was previously followed on Mandalore known as the ‘Way’, but fell out of favor over the centuries in Mandalorian culture.  Din Djarin is initially unaware of any other way for Mandalorians to operate, due to having grown up in the ‘Children of the Watch’ and believing that this was the way Mandalorians operated.  Also, due to Mandalorians not being a common fixture of the galaxy for some time, very little is properly known about the individuals known as Mandalorians, so there were few who could correct or enlighten Din Djarin. 

 

 

Announced Spinoffs

Three Spinoffs were announced in December 2020 at the end of the 2^nd season.  All three series are intended to follow up on The Mandalorian timeline, continuing in the same settings and potentially interweaving and participating in each other’s properties.  The move would be similar to Marvel and Netflix’s arrangement for The Defenders, a series of 4 individual Netflix TV shows set in the MCU and following the events of The Avengers(2012), where all 4 series eventually’s main star would team up in a TV series.  Disney, having owned Marvel at the time prior to Disney+, is looking to do the same for its Star Wars TV series.

 

The Book of Boba Fett

Set for December 2021, the series follow Boba Fett, presumably after event Season 2 of the Mandalorian.

 

Rangers of the New Republic

Announced in December 2020, the series is set to follow some of the individuals of the New Republic as they keep the Outer Rim safe.  Originally set for Gina Carano to reprise her role as Cara Dune and her own vehicle, it was later announced that she would no longer have any more roles in Star Wars properties.  The series presumably is still production, though little is known of its plot or cast.

 

Ahsoka

Announced in December 2020, this would continue to see Rosario Dawson reprise her Role as Ahsoka Tano, presumably as an adult version, and continue to have her traveling the Galaxy doing Jedi things, without being a Jedi.

 

Ep 88: Star Wars – The Mandalorian Season 1 Review

Topic: Star Wars – The Mandalorian Season 1 Review

 

Is it really a Western form the 1950s and 60s?  Yes, Yes it is. Mom explains in details why that’s the case.

 

Setting

9 ABY(After Battle of Yavin)(Episode 4).  For context, Luke Skywalker was born on 19 BBY(Before Battle of Yavin), and the Battle of Endor on 4 ABY(Episode 6).  5 years after the death of The Emperor, the Galaxy is slowly returning to order with the New Republic, however, the outer rim is like the wild west.  Republic Officals/Law exists, but isn’t common and vastly under manned, and those seeking to hide from the New Republic.  Many Imperial officers and outposts exists in the Outer Rim as the Empire was seeking to control the entire Galaxy.  As a result, most Imperial Officals are attempting to gain power and influence, in order to say they are the next leader of the Empire after Darth Sidious.  The Outer Rim is also home to a number of other races and factions biding for control over their own territories, including bounty hunters.  Famously, the original Trilogy of Star Wars (Episode 4-6) take places within the Outer Rim, including Tatooine(4 & 6), Endor(6), Hoth(5), and Dagobah(5).

 

Creator:

Jon Favreau

A mainstay of the film industry, he stared and featured in various movies including Rudy (1993) & Chef (2014).  He’s arguably one of the major players in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), having directed Ironman(2008) and Ironman 2 (2010), and Executive Producer for nearly all movies dealing with Ironman and Spiderman, and acted alongside as Happy Hogan.  He’s directed a number of movies, including Elf(2003), Chef(2014), The Jungle Book(2016), and The Lion King(2019).  He serves at the creator, one of the executive producers, and director of The Mandalorian. 

 

Cast:

Pedro Pascal      The Mandalorian / Mando / Din Djarin

Famously in a number of roles, including Kingsman The Golden Circle (Agent Whiskey), Wonder Woman 1984 (Maxwell Lord), Game of Thrones (Oberyn Martell), & Narcos (Javier Pena).  While Pedro Pascal primarily voices the character and does a fair amount of scenes as him, a bulk of the stunt work is done by stunt actors. He prepared for the role by watching Akira Kurosawa's samurai films and Eastwood's Spaghetti Westerns.

 

The Child / The Kid / Baby Yoda

The character is fan named ‘Baby Yoda’ to better describe the character, as he has no known name.  Yoda Species is never specifically called any such name, and only the fan derived name for the species of Yoda and other characters that appear like Yoda.  The character is largely created using puppetry, with some CGI used to accent.  Famously, in order to preserve the character’s appearance and not give away their existence, Disney did not prepare toys or other merchandise for the character.  The lack of Toys and other merchandise for the 2019 Christmas season was a potential loss of 2.7 million dollars for Disney, but the decision was supported by Bob Iger, Disney CEO, who believed the company was a story making company first and foremost, and supported John Favreau’s decision.

 

Carl Weathers   Greef Karga

Apollo Creed

 

Werner Herzog The Client

Famous Director, known for his movies featuring ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unique talents in obscure fields, or individuals who are in conflict with nature.

 

Omid Abtahi      Dr. Pershing

The Doctor is an interesting character for a number of reasons.  Firstly is that his outfit and actions in the series depict that may be from the planet of Kamino, where clones are created, seemingly setting up the notion that he is out to clone The Child.  Secondly that he is wearing glasses.

 

Nick Nolte          Kuiil

An Ugnaught male, seen previously in Cloud City, as the little guys that were trying scavenging C3PO and seen during the freezing of Han Solo.

 

Taika Waititi      IG-11

These are a series of Droids that were initially developed during the Clone Wars, but later rebelled against their creators and disappeared in to the Galaxy.  They operate similar to a hive mind and work as bounty hunters across the galaxy. Taika Waititi is famous for being the director of the 3^rd Thor Movie, and bring more comedy to the character.  He would also direct some of the episodes of The Mandalorian, and voice IG-11.  He’s been announced to be the director and co-writer for an upcoming Live-Action Star Wars film.

 

Gina Carano      Cara Dune

Gina Carano is a former MMA fighter, and gained muscle for the show.

 

Emily Swallow   The Armorer

Emily is known for her television roles, including Kim Fischer on The Mentalist.

 

Amy Sedaris      Peli Motto

Amy is a Pixie of a woman, but basically unrecognizable in this role.  Famously in West Wing.

 

Bill Burr                             Migs Mayfeld

Famously, the actor was not a fan of Star Wars and would mock the series.  He suggested the role by Favreau as his casting would be amusing.  Burr would later state he was impressed with filming, along with praising the writing for the show. 

 

501^st Legion

Played the Storm Troopers in the series, famously bringing their own costumes and gear with them for the final episode that demanded lots of Storm Troopers.  Previously, the movie Gettysburg brought on civil war re-in-actors for the hundreds of extras necessary for the filming of that movie, as they brought period piece costumes, props, and experience to the roles.  This is similar how the 501^st Legion brought their experience in to their roles as Storm Troopers.

 

501^st Legion is a group of Cosplayers that primarily portray the bad guys from Star Wars.  Started in South Carolina, it’s a purely volunteer group that focuses the construction and screen accurate bad guy gear in Star Wars.  They are unaffiliated with Lucasfilms LLC or Walt Disney Company, but are the preferred Imperial Costuming Organization, and are mostly seen at Casual, Promoation and Charitable events, often at the request of Lucasfilm.  Joining requires being atleast 18 years old and a high quality costume from a Star Wars Villain.  Their sister group, the Rebel Legion, primarily consists of Good Guys from Star Wars, and The Galactic Academy, is for children under 18 years old, with no strict costuming rules, and meant for children and teenagers to share their love of Star Wars and costuming.

 

Mandalorian Filming Set

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufp8weYYDE8

 

 

George Lucas Rule on Glasses

George Lucas wanted his world to seem like something fantastical and unique, so his live action films never had anyone wearing glasses.  Characters could wear goggles, Shades or other items, but could not wear typical Eye Wear.  George Lucas rationalized that with how futuristic the world was, they would have eliminated the need for glasses by correcting your vision, and as a result, the art of making glasses would have disappeared.  George Lucas also made a point of saying there were no Buttons or Zippers on costumes, and that there is no underwear in the Star Wars either, famously trying to convince Carrie Fisher to go braless while in costumes.

 

 

Ep 87: Star Wars: The Mandalorian Tutorial

Topic: Star Wars: The Mandalorian Tutorial

 

This week, Per Mom’s request, we begin the topic of The Mandalorian .  It’s a series that has been touted some years ago, but has morphed over time in to something completely different, and we’re going to do something different as well.  Instead of start from the past and going forward, we need to instead, start from the end and get to the beginning of Mandalorian  lore and culture.  To better understand our topic.

 

 

Boba Fett

To truly understand why the Mandalorian even exists, is really to begin back at the beginning with the original Bounty Hunter and what spawned the Series, Boba Fett.

 

Boba Fett first seen in ‘The Star Wars Holiday Special’, a two hour special that came out during Christmas, and seen as an animated character during one of the segments.  His next appearance was in Star Wars V, Empire Strikes Back, as among various other Bounty Hunters sent to hunt down the Millennium Falcon.  He appears in only a hand full of scenes, less than 10, and spoke only 4 times in total:

 

“As you Wish.”

“He’s no good to me Dead.”

“What if he doesn’t survive?  He’s worth to me.”

“Put Captain Solo in the Cargo Hold.”

 

By the time of Star Wars VI, Return of the Jedi, where is first actually named by another character, he was even fewer scene and never said anything, outside of a scream upon his famous death of falling into the Sarlacc Pit.

 

Despite the character’s apparent death, he seemingly survived and made his way to various ‘Legend’ media, including books, comics, and video game series, where he continued to be an anti-hero and occasional villain depending on the story.  The character’s cult like following, despite the limited time on film, that lasts less than 5 minutes in total, has him a fan favorite, and is what spawned the Mandalorian  name and concept. 

 

Originally, Mandalorian  was just the name of his armor, which was set to be a Commando style all white trooper, known as a Super Trooper, alongside Storm Troopers.  The idea eventually became a bounty hunter and a single individual, named Boba Fett.  Additional Lore Element began being developed in media, which included the world of Manadolore, the world of the Mandalorian s, which were now a race of people. 

 

 

Jango Fett

The next seen Mandalorian  is Jango Fett, Boba’s father.  Boba himself is an unmodified clone of Jango Fett, with Jango Fett being the genetic template for what would be the Clone Trooper, and be the name for the eponymous Clone Wars.  Despite being in only one film, he has far more scene than his son Boba, and is considered a major antagonist during Star Wars Clone War.

 

Behind the scenes, the fan favorite nature of the character led to his inclusion in the second Prequel movie.  Boba Fett’s armor comes from his father, who after dying, is taken up by Boba in memory of his father, albeit, recolored in to the green and red armor instead of the steel and blue accent look. 

 

 

Extended Media, Legends

With Disney purchasing Lucas Films, they rebranded all created material in the Star Wars extended media as being non-canonical, eliminating hundreds of authors work that has shaped the Star Wars universe and the stories in this world.  All new material was dubbed ‘Legends’.  While most of this became non-canonical, some of the history and world building has bled in to the new canon of the Star Wars franchise.

 

From this Legends content, it included that

 

 

 

Clone Wars

A good portion of lore and world building outside of the Legends series was developed during the Clone War Tv Show.  Clone Wars, not be confused with the movie, was a CG Tv Show that took place between the when Episode 2 and 3, which followed Obi-wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano, the padawan(Apprentice) to Anakin Skywalker, during the intervening years of the war.  The TV show spent a good bit of time, following the Republic and developing the world. 

 

Because the TV Show came out between 2008 and 2014, much of the lore regarding Mandalore and the Mandalorian s were pieced together from the now Legends material, and fleshed out by the show’s creators.  Upon purchase, Disney moved anything that wasn’t directly produced by Lucas Arts as Legends material, with Clone Wars being considered Canon, including all the content regarding the Mandalorian.   A follow up TV Show called Rebels, continued the stories from Clone Wars, with a young Mandalorian warrior name Sabine Wren being a part of the main cast.

 

 

 

Mandalorian Lore:

Mandalorians are a group of warriors, namely hailing from the Planet of Mandalore.  Their people were feared as some of the most skilled and powerful warriors in the galaxy, outside of Jedi.  Starting from their homework, they eventually took over other neighboring planets and their prowess and renown spread from the Outer Rim of planet and eventually to the Inner Rim of Planet, with many Mandalorians becoming mercenaries and bounty hunters.

 

Upon reaching the Inner Rim of planets, the Mandalorians found the Jedi, who gave them their first major challenge in centuries.  In order best the Jedi, they developed new weapons and created their now famous armor that they are known for.  Now with the ability to fight the Jedi, Madalorians became even more feared through the galaxy, including by Jedi, and the two participated in various wars in the galaxy over the next few millennia.  

 

However, the Jedi and Mandalorians were not always enemies.  One example is Tarre Vizsla, a child of Mandalore that was taken as a child to become a Jedi.  As a Jedi Tarre Vizsla was taught the ways of the Force, but continued to distinguish himself by creating his own variant of the Lightsaber, the ‘Darksaber’. At some point, Tarre Vizsla was given the title of “Mand’alor”, the sole ruler of Mandalore and a renowned figured in their society.  After his death, family members would eventually take up the Darksaber and unite the various clans of Mandalore into one proper state, led by House Vizsla. 

 

Despite unifying the various clans of Mandalore, various Mandalorian Warlords appears and continued fighting their own enemies, along with themselves in a bid for supremacy.  Eventually, the long wars with the Jedi ended when fighting on Mandalore triggered a cataclysmic event that transformed much of the planet’s lush forests and oceans in to a sea of white deserts, forcing Mandalorians to constructed domed cities to live in.  Devastated by their loss, the Mandalorians retreated to their home sector, and ended much of their conquests, as they sought to rebuild their homeworld. 

 

Just prior to the events of Episode 1, a Civil War would break out on Mandalore, with one group of Mandalorians seeking unity and pacifism, led by Duchess Satine Kryze, while another wanted to return to their old ways of conquest, dubbing themselves Old Mandalorians.  Eventually those seeking pacifism won out, exiling the Old Mandalorians to a local moon.  Mandalore would develop in to a peaceful society, and eventually even joined the Galactic Republic in between then and the events of Clone Wars.  By the time of the Clone Wars, Mandalore, along with 1500 other systems banded together, with Satine, to create the Council of Neutral Systems, a coalition that sought to stay out of the conflict and take a neutral stance on the fighting between the Republic and the Separatists.

 

Unknown to Satine and Mandalore, the Old Mandalorians was revised in to Death Watch by their leader Pre Vizsla.  He wanted to bring Mandalorians back to their original glory and worked together with the Separatists and Count Dooku to do so.  Death Watch launched various attacks on Galactic Republic strong holds, and event attack Mandalore itself, believing that their actions would spark a resurgence in Mandalorian ways.  Following attacks by Count Dooku’s forces, Death Watch appeared and offered the Mandalorian people new leadership and protection from the invading Separatists, which led to Satine Kryze being imprisoned and Pre Vizsla taking over Mandalore.  What followed was a series of stories in Clone Wars that saw Darth Maul return and take control over Death Watch, which led to Maul killing Satine, and eventually leading to Darth Sidious to visiting Mandalore to collect his former apprentice. 

 

With Darth Maul taking control over Death Watch, a separatist movement, led by the sister of Satine Kryze, Bo-Katan Kryze, sought to remove Death Watch from leadership of Mandalore, calling the Galactic Republic for aid.  This eventually led to the Siege of Mandalore, capturing Darth Maul and ending the rule by Death Watch.  While Bo-Katan was named Regent for the planet, under the new rule of the Galactic Empire, she refused to do the Empire’s bidding and was exiled from Mandalore.  Following this, the planet became a training ground for new military cadets.

 

By the time of Rebels, Mandalore is fully controlled by the Empire, with Mandalore developing troops and weapons to be used against those opposing the Republic.  Rebels would follow the exploits of a Resistance cell, aided by one Ahsoka Tano, as the liberated Mandalore and returned leadership to Bo-Katan.  However, by the end of the series, the Empire began a Purge of Mandalore, killing most of the Mandalorian populous and melting their famed Beskar armor into ingots.  Few clans escaped the plans and spread themselves amongst the galaxy, hiding and trying to just survive.

 

 

 

 

 

Mandalorian Armor

All Mandalorians are best known by the armor they wear, which strikes fear amongst the galaxy.  Known for their T-shaped visors on their helmets that obscure their face, the armor itself was outfitted with various built in features, including darts, flame throwers, and even Jet Packs.  Most Mandalorians further armed themselves with additional blasters, such as rifles, heavy repeater blasters, and simple pistols.

 

The armor itself was made from a material known as Beskar, a nearly indestructible metal that could deflect blaster bolts and even stop a light saber from cutting through it.  While Beskar was available for Mandalorians prior to the Purge of Mandalore, it’s since become a rare and valuable commodity in the galaxy.

 

 

Darksaber

The lightsaber created by Tarre Vizsla, it’s unusual in the sense that the blade itself is black and glassy in color, and is projected as a straight blade, similar to a Katana, unlike the rounded blade of a lightsaber.  The saber is considered a prized possession of the Mandalorians, and its owner is considered the rightful ruler of Mandalore, bestowing the title of Mand’alor on to the anyone who holds it.  Mandalorian custom says that you must defeat the current owner in combat in order for ownership to pass to you.  Any other form of acquiring the saber would be considered illegitimate, and unrecognized by the Mandalorian people.

 

After Tarre Vizsla’s death, the saber was returned to the Jedi Archives, before being stolen by house Vizsla and returned to Mandalore.  The saber would continue to be held by the leader of House Vizsla until Pre Vizsla was defeated by Darth Maul, who then became its owner.  After Darth Maul fled Mandalore in order to help his mother, the Dark Saber was hidden on Dathomir, before being found by Sabine Wren and used during by herself during the events of Rebels.  The saber would eventually given by Bo-Katan, in memory of her sister.  Bo-Katan would lose the saber during the events of the Mandalore Purge, where its fate remains unknown.

 

 

 

 

Time Setting for The Mandalorian

When watching The Mandalorian, the point in Star Wars time is roughly 5 years after the events of Episode 6.  Remnants of Empire still exist, as former leaders, programmed Storm Troopers, and various hardware still exist in the universe, with each Leader trying to carve out their leadership over the remains of the Empire.  They are in hiding for the most, but are being snuffed out by the New Republic, as they attempt to secure the galaxy following the Empire’s and Emperor’s defeat.

 

Ep 86: Making Cosplay Discussion

Topic: Cosplay Making

 

This week, I wanted to talk to Mom about some of the Ideas I’ve had for cosplay, and such.  Any good nerd has wanted to dress up as their favorite characters.  And a lot like any good addition, it just takes the one time to get hooked.  But at a certain point, you might have to just make it yourself because it doesn’t exist anywhere out there.

 

 

 

Personal projects

 

Work Wizard Hat

This is a hat for work.  Intend to be kind of like Gandalf’s wizard hat.  The major difference being that the front and back will have stitched Lettering appropriate for work.  I also intend to hide a pocket into the top of the hat in order to hide stuff for fun.

 

Magic Book

The idea here is to make a sort of magical tome, that when you open it up, it lights up and shoots out light from it, giving the impression that fantastical magic would come out.  Ideally, you’d hollow out large book, something maybe the size of 2 phonebooks stacked on top, and then, have the middle pages with a sort of sheet paper with cut outs for the various glyphs and such.  Underneath, in the hollowed out section, you’d have a series of lights that shined in an order to give it that impression. 

 

Piranha Plant Puppet (Super Mario Bros)

This originally started as a Chain Chomp from Mario Bros, but I’ve since re-imagined it as a Piranha Plant.  The idea is a roughly 2 foot in diameter Ball, constructed like a beach ball, but with one of the 6 sizes missing. The missing space is the mouth, which will open and close with teeth and a tongue.  The intent here is for myself to be Mario, but my right hand is the Piranha plant.  I’m going to gimic my right arm and have my actual right arm in all black.  My arm is in the Piranha Plant head, and the fake arm is holding a potted plant with the Piranha plant stem coming out.  The real hard part for this is coming up with the pattern so I’m consistent with the shape of the ball shape, then from there, creating the fake arm.  I imagine the sewing of the white spots on the plan will add some challenge too.

 

Lakatu Puppet

This is the one for shooting the moon.  The idea is a puppet that looks like Lakatu, the Turtle in the cloud that follows you.  The idea was to have a full puppet, and have it riding on an actual cloud, filled by a beach ball for simplicity and weight concerns.  From there, Lakatu would also have a fishing pole, and it would suspend stuff from it.  One object being a small camera that I could actually take pictures with.  This one is more logistics and putting it together, but it will take time.

 

 

Skills for making Cosplay

Sewing

Foam Work

Gluing

Wood working

Repurposing Junk

Browsing Goodwill/Second Hand shops

Painting

Understanding materials

Lots of Creativity

 

 

 

 

Cosplays I want to do:

 

Doctor (Arknights)

Arknights the game is fairly big still, and while it is still big, I figured a costume of the Doctor would be good.  The character itself doesn’t talk, and their face is obstructed, so I would do the same, and carry around a bunch of gimic stuff as well, just to have fun with it.  Never talking ever!

 

Warlock Tier 2 (World of Warcraft)

Making the costume will be a bitch, especially because it’s a flowing robes, and the shoulders and helm are so big.  I’d want the helm and shoulders to either light up and create a smoke effect, but my skills are well out of that range.  I need to get MUCH better and working with rigid foam for that.  Plus, I kind of want to have smaller Imps hanging off me, as though I’ve summoned too many.  These would be MUCH harder to make, considering I wouldn’t have the faintest idea how. There’s a person who HAS made them previously, but is charging a lot for them.  There’s that and the staff…

 

Draenei Paladin Tier 6 (World of Warcraft)

This is one of those costumes that if I figure out Foam, I’ll be in business.  Just lots of foam… It’s the notion of making armor, a weapon, and figuring out a latex sort of prosthetic for my face.  These are blue people with tendrils.  The fun part might also be figuring out the hoofed feet too, but there are furries that do horses I can mimic.  It would be a fun thing to do, especially the spectacle, but gotta figure out foam first.

 

Gilgamesh/Archer (Fate/Stay Night)

Another one that’s mostly revolving around foam.  The bigger concern is his sword, Ea, which has three segmented blade bits that turn count to one another.  I can imagine a gear and spindle in my head moving, but I’d need to make a good template to see if it’s do able.  I really do think it can be done, but this is also something I’d love to get a 3d Printer to actually make it too. 

 

Boo Ghost (Mario Brothers)

This one is very technical.  The idea is not too dissimilar to the Parana Plant Puppet, but instead of actually being a moving puppet, it’s a projected Puppet.  What I’d do is buy a small little hand held projector, and then suspend it inside a clear ball with theatre fabric, for the light to bleed through.  The intention is to have the projector display an animated Face for the puppet.  The fun part will be switching between the ghost looking normal, and then animating to hiding.  The sequence would go like this:

 

1. Normal Idle animation
2. Transition to Hiding Animation
3. Hiding Idle Animation
4. Transition to Normal animation
5. Maybe something silly? Like a tongue lick or such? Animation.

 

It would work the best if run off a smart phone, WHICH I have a spare one.  The only trick is programming a custom app to run the animations from, and if you could get a simple clicker or something to transition, even better.  There might be other ideas here that would best with it, but this is a matter of researching technology and working through it.

 

Bowsette Kimono (Mario Brothers)

I had an Idea, after the initial Bowsette Cosplay, was to come back in a Japanese Kimono.  The intention was an all Black Kimono, with a green Obi-sash(For the turtle shell), with a yellow Haneri (inner cloth).  What would make it unique is that there would be stitched in Mario Style flowers, but drawn/done in the style of an ukiyo-e painting (Traditional Japanese Art).  The flowers would start at the hem and kind of crawl up the kimono till just above the knee and on to the sleeves.  I wanted to do the longer sleeve, the kind that draped down to like the knee or such.  And then, the real kicker was that the sleeve on the inside, showed a Mario 1 style castle and flag pole on the left sleeve, and a set of stairs with Mario on the right sleeve.  This way when you fanned them out, you’d get the image.  My only real concern with this cosplay is partly the Japanese style Mario flowers, I don’t know how to ART that, but I know a person with a stitching machine, but it would be LOTS of colors.  And then there’s also the concern over taking a Kimono and making a joke out of it with Mario stuff.  I’ve seen people make Yukatas, a simple summer style Kimono which are very laid back, and made with various printed cloths, but I would feel strange about mimicking and making a Kimono, especially as I’d do it in drag too. 

 

Japanese style Bowser / Dr Robotnic

Unlike Bowsette, a Japanese inspired Bowser or Dr Robotnic would probably be cool.  I’d probably go with Dr Robotnic, and get a navy blue Yukata, pair it with a yellow sash, and then a Red Hori coat, and switch in the Eggman symbol on to the back.  If I could as well, I’d love to make FAKE tattoos, along my arm and chest, give the impression of a Yakuza.

 

Ursula (Little Mermaid)

Okay, this one would be a Drag performance, but I figured that if I have the Big Black Dress from Bowsette two years ago, and I could make the tail, I could probably make octopus legs as well.  My thought here would be to get a bunch of strings and connect them to my wrists, so when I moved my arms, the legs would move as well.  I figured this for making the eels hangs on my in a similar fashion maybe.  The only issue with the octopus legs would be their weight and having them come out of the body evenly.  Plus this has already been done before, so I wouldn’t be new to the party.

 

Doctor Strange (Marvel)

Okay hear me out, this was a really COOL costume from the Marvel Movies.  What to add to it, there’s a spinning LED light board, and from there, you can program it to do the Doctor Strange magic circles.  It would look really cool , especially if I could get a light up necklace as well, even better. 

 

Foam Sword

This would be the first project I’d do with Foam really.  Making a sword, because I’ve had a few different designs that I’d love to actually just create.

 

Peace Bond Armor + Sword

Okay, this one takes some explaining. 

 

Peace Bond itself is when you wrap a strap around your sword to keep it secure in its scabbard.  The intention was that if you were there for peace, you’d never need to draw your sword.  Whether this is a real element or just a story, this is the idea atleast behind our Modern con verion.

 

Peace Bonds for Conventions are these colorful Zip ties that you put on Prop Weapons so that Con Staff know it’s an approved item to bring in to Cons.  This way no one gets hurt from a sword, an actual gun, or such.  I want to make an entire sword and armor out of these colorful Zip Ties.  And especially as it’s a joke, you need to have the armor/clothing made out of very commonly found items at a Con.  I figure FF7’s buster sword, maybe a One Piece Hat, and then some other commonly seen stuff at cons.  It’s that or just make a really big Buster Sword(Comically Large swords), and some armor/cape, maybe a gauntlet and gladiator skirt.  Something silly and stupid, which would be a Joke for the Con itself regardless.  This one would take LOTS of Zip Ties and figuring out how to layer them in such a way that makes it look like stuff.  Another example of foam coming into help on this one. 

Ep 85: Wonder Woman 1984 Review

Topic: Wonder Woman 1984 Review

 

Mom and me both had concerns over the movie, but not that we couldn’t agree that some stuff in it was great, and other stuff wasn’t.  It’s an interesting movie none the less, especially when you look at some of the aspects that we thought were lacking.

 

Patty Jenkins - Director

Gal Gadot – Diana Prince / Wonder Woman

Chris Pine – Steve Trevor

Kristen Wiig – Barbara Minerva / Cheetah

Barbara Minerva is the 3^rd known Cheetah in the Comics.  Movie Presents the powers as being the Apex Preditor, which happens to be a Cheetah, vs in the Comics, was due to an Ancient Plant God Urzkartaga. 

Pedro Pascal – Maxwell Lord

As depicted in the Comics, Maxwell Lord IV is a powerful business magnate and eventual manager of the Justice League International.  In the comics, he eventually gains mind control powers due to a gene bomb granted non-powered humans super powers.  He’s been a major bad guy in DC Comics as the guy who kicked off the events of Infinite Crisis by killing the Blue Beatle, infecting people with a cyborg virus, and eventually mind controlling Superman to beat up Wonder Woman and Batman.  Maxwell was eventually killed by Wonder Woman in order to save Superman from mind control, but not before a satellite called ‘Big Brother’ showed Wonder Woman killing him, a move that ostracized Wonder Woman for a time.  He was eventually resurrected during the Blackest Night event, and permanently resurrected during the events of Brightest Day.

 

Pascal claimed he was going for a Gordon Geko by ways of Gene Hackman’s portrayal of Lex Luthor.  Comes off more like Donald Trump.

 

 

Tangent

Blackest Night (2009)

This was an event in DC Comics which was meant to explain why Super Heroes and Villains kept coming back from the dead.  In DC Lore, Green Lanterns are merely one of 7 various Lantern Corps that operate around the universe, with each having various focuses and based off feels, IE Love, Willpower, Fear, so forth.  DC Rationalized that there was an 8^th Lantern Corps, a Black Lantern Corps which controlled death, led by a bad guy named Nekron, who secretly allowed Super Heroes and Villains to keep coming back from the dead.  The intention was to seed the world with sleeper agents and activate them, turning anyone who HAD previously died in to a bad guys, including individuals like Superman, Green Lantern, and other Heroes and Villains.  This led to various non-previously-diseased super heroes taking up various other Lantern Corps in order to defeat them.

 

Brightest Day (2010)

After all Super Heroes dawn White Lantern Rings and join the White Lantern Corps, the following events post Brightest Day deal with the fallout from Blackest Night, partly dealing with resurrected individuals who had been dead for some time.  This also included Maxwell Lord, who goes about wiping his existence from everyone in the world, only to settle back in to his life of monitoring Super Humans and trying to keep them in check.

 

 

Release

Wonder Woman was originally slated for November/December of 2019, but was moved in order to avoid competing with Star Wars Episode 9, before being moved to June 2020 after seeing how well the first film did in the summer.  This also had an added effect of giving the studio more time to tweek and edit the film, but also to see it going head to head against Black Widow, another super hero movie.  The film would later be delayed multiple times due COVID 19 shutting down movie theaters: first moved to August 2020, then to October 2020, and then finally released in Theaters and Home Media via HBO Max in late December. 

 

Concern over Re-writes/edits

There’s been plenty of Rumors regarding the editing, re-writing, and changes made by the Film Studio producing the film.  The Film itself was shot back in 2018, and spent time between then and release, making various edits to the film.  The true scope isn’t fully known at this time, but it’s presumed that heavy editing changed the nature of the film.

 

Another concern for the Film comes in the fact that Warner Bros doesn’t seem to have any concrete or established plans for its DC Extended Universe, so the movie can’t necessarily do all the things the Marvel movies do, like setting up world building and dropping hints about comic references, nor can it develop the characters or point them in a direction for growth. 

 

Trivia

• Dream Stone was made from Citrine, a gem long representing wealth and prosperity, also known as a ‘Merchant Stone’ or ‘Money Stone’.
• The Dream Stone was to originally belong to a character name Sandman, the God of Dreams, another super hero. So when Maxwell Lord uses it to become the Dreamstone, it bursts into sand, which is meant to be a homage to the character.  At the time, a Sandman film was being floated and early production had started, and this might have been a tie in to it. 
• When Barbara appears later in the movie wearing furs and clothing made from the skin of animals or animal print, this is a homage to the First Cheetah in the comics, Priscilla Rich, who enjoyed wearing animal furs, and wore a magical cheetah costume.
• Diana’s wardrobe through out the film is based off Brooke Shield’s attire from the 1980s, since both were all and had similar physiques.
• This was Padro Pascal’s second Wonder Woman project, after having previously appeared on the Wonder Woman Tv Pilot in 2011.
• Patty Jenkins has gone on to describe the film as a standalone film, similar in the lines to James Bond or Indiana Jones.

 

Ep 84: Wonder Woman Tutorial

Topic: Wonder Woman Tutorial

 

In route to discussing Wonder Woman 1984, we need to do a Tutorial on Wonder Woman herself.  And her creation is amazing!  I was surprised by it and so was Mom.  You have to listen just to find that part out.

 

Creator:

 

Created in 1941 by William Moulton Marston, pen name: Charles Moulton.

Marston was a unique individual, a Harvard PhD psychologist who also helped created the lie detector.  He believed that Comics had ‘great educational potential’, and was hired by All-American Publications as an educational consultant.  The Publication would late merge with another company creating DC Comics. 

 

He lived with his wife Elizabeth Marston and also Ms. Olive Byrne, of which they had a consenting polyamorous life together.  Marston’s research and stuff focused heavily on gender, with him at one point studying all Female communities, ie observing the rituals and behaviors of Sororities.  It led him to believe that women were the superior gender, but was only being held back from power due to the difficulties of giving birth and raising children, but also housework.  He eventually theorized that eventually both child rearing and housework would get easier, allowing women to get educated, gain power, and take their rightful spots as leaders of the world.

 

When he set out to make Wonder Woman, he did so consciously, deciding to create a female super hero in a male dominated landscape.  Marston would later write:

 

"Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power. Not wanting to be girls, they don't want to be tender, submissive, peace-loving as good women are. Women's strong qualities have become despised because of their weakness. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman.

 

Wonder Woman is also loosely based off Elizabeth and Olive, with Elizabeth inspiring her attitude, and Olive inspiring her appearance.  Apparently Wonder Woman’s bracelets was inspired because Olive liked to wear big bracelets.

 

 

Comic History:

Since staring All Star Comic #8 in 1941, Wonder Woman has had her own on going Comic Book ever since then.  Marston would initially write for the series, with H.G. Peter doing the artwork until his death in 1947 at the age of 54.  Later writers would pick up the character and run with it.  Early stories focused on feminist agenda, and for the times, push a radical, progressive women’s agenda.

 

After Marston’s Death, new writers toned down some of the Wonder Woman elements from earlier comics.  This included the remove of more bondage related elements, toned down some of the radical feminist agenda, and eventually adding Hellenic and mythological elements and roots to the character. 

 

By the late 1960s, Wonder Woman lost her powers, owning to stay in the world of man, and for a time, picked up martial arts and weapons combat, and gave up being a super hero for owning a boutique.  She participated in various story lines that focused more on espionage and mythology.  Eventually, due to the 1970s TV show, Wonder Woman was repowered into a super hero.  However, by 1985, Wonder Woman’s comic was losing popularity and the character was written out. 

 

During the Crisis of infinite Earth, Wonder Woman was depicted as originating on Earth Two, a second Earth to the main DC Continuity.  As a result of the event that wiped out the Multiverse and all other Earths, Wonder Woman was to be written out.  However, at the end of the series, Wonder Woman was given a new origin story, as an ambassador from her home land of Themyscira.  This is how she would be portrayed in the modern age.

 

By the end of Flash Point event, the New 52 reimagines Wonder Woman again, this time also carrying her now iconic sword and shield in to battle.  The character was redesigned again in 2016, bring her more in line with her original creation.

 

 

Crisis Events

DC has major cross over events subjected in to Crisis Events, typically with the intent of retconing, shaking up, or revamping the entire comic landscape.  This is often done to streamline continuities or characters, change up dynamics of the world and/or characters, or re-introduce new elements back in to the series.  The events offer huge crossovers events for various books, characters, and stories, with the finality of the decisions that get made due to it.  These Stories include:

 

Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985)

This event resulted in the collapse of the Multiverse, the notion that there are various worlds with similar or mirror characters that live similar or mirror lives due to the nature of possibility.  As a result of losing the multiversity, several characters migrated to the main continuity, while other characters were killed off, like Super Girl. 

 

Zero Hour, Crisis in Time! (1994)

This event saw the original Green Lantern become a bad guy and attempt to recreate the universe in his own image.  The true purpose was to streamline the dates of events that happened, making it so that most character had been around for only 10 or so years, along with fixing the continuity issues plaguing various characters and their introduction from the previous Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline.

 

Infinite Crisis (2005)

This Crossover saw the reintroduction of the Multiverse, and redid the timeline and events once more.  As a result of some character leaving to a pocket dimension in the First Crisis event, they see how dark the universe has gotten and decided they need to recreate Earth Two and Destroy Earth One.  Eventually though, the Multiverse gets recreated as a result.

 

Final Crisis (2008)

The event sees a Super Man Villain, Dark Sied, taking over Earth using a formula designed to ensnare people to his will.  Because Earth is the cornerstone of the Multiverse, and controlling it give the power to control over Multiverses, Dark Sied was capable of controlling the entire Multiverse.  The comic in theory kills both Dark Sied and Batman, though both would return through weirdness.

 

Flash Point (2011)

Flash Point sees the Flash use his super speed ability to go back in time and save his mother.  As a result of saving his mother, but at the cost of changing the entire universe, including depowering the Flash.  In the end, Flash is able to get his powers back, and restore the events that led to the correct universe.  However, while initially intended as a contained story, the events led to the ‘New 52’ Timeline.  New 52 was a company-wide relaunch of all their series, simplifying and revamping many characters and time lines.

 

Convergence (2015)

Considered one of the worse Crisis Events, it saw a bad guy trying to battle the various DC cities against one another.  And this meant from any continuity, any property, and almost any franchise was on the table.  While everything eventually returned back to normal, and set in motion a removing continuity from DC Comics.  The DC You initiative wanted to focus more on stories than continuity, however, this was widely hated by fans, and quietly swept under the rug.

 

Dark Nights Metal (2017)

The most recent Crisis Event depicts a bad guy, named Barbados, who seeks to leave a dark Multiverse dimension via Batman.  Upon escaping, he brings with him various other murderous and evil Batmans, led by the Batman who laughs and kicks the butts out of the regular Multiverse characters. Eventually the Multiverse heroes beat the Dark Multiverse.  This series is the first to not have any major shake-ups in the universe necessarily.

 

 

Character History:

Depending on which timeline, revamp, or relaunch, the character’s history has been changed countless times to suit the needs of the writers and runners of the comic books.

 

The most common origin stories for Diana include:

• She was born of clay and brought to life as a golem by the gods
• She was a blessing from the gods
• She is the daughter of Zeus, and thus a demi-god.

 

All stories start with Diana being raised on Paradise Island, later renamed Themyscira, and being trained by the Amazons of the island.  She meets with Captain Steve Trevor and is brought to the world of man, either to protect it, or to act as an Emissary for Themyscira.

 

Diana Prince is her alias, otherwise she is Diana of Themyscira, when not known as Wonder Woman.  She is depicted as being among the best woman in the world.  Strong and powerful, but delicate and kind, smart and heroic, embodying all the greatest qualities of womanhood. 

 

Beyond that, she is considered a part of the Holy Trinity of DC Comics, which include Superman, Batman, and herself.  She is also the first of the Three to join the Justice League, later retconed as her, Superman, and Batman creating the league together.

 

Her Powers include:

Super Strength

Super Durability

Super Speed

Super Agility

Healing Factor

Flight (Post Crisis on infinite Earths)

 

Beyond her Super powers she is a:

Master Tactician

Master Combatant

Multi-Lingual

Expert Pilot

Possessing Great Wisdom

 

Equipment:

Bracelets of Submission – Crafted from Zeus’s legendary Aegis Shield, Wonder Woman’s iconic bracelets act as Bracers on her arms, allowing her to deflect bullets and projectiles,including energy blasts.

Lasso of Truth – a powerful rope that is capable of retraining the universes strongest beings, including Superman.  The lasso also compels people to be truthful.  The lasso has also shown healing and anti-magic properties.

Golden Tiara – Wonder Woman’s headband has doubled as a boomerang on occasions, depicted as being super strong and sharp.

Invisible Jet – Wonder Woman’s original mode of transportation prior to her ability to fly.  It is meant to be based on a Pegasus, but has changed from a propeller plane to a jet plane over time and publications.

Sword and Shield – Since the New 52 continuity, Wonder Woman has also carried a Sword and Shield, reminiscent of gladiators in Roman times.  They’re depicted as being of similar metal to her Tiara and costume, having been crafted by the Amazonians.

 

Costume:

Depending on the depiction, Wonder Woman’s costume has been relatively consistent over time, mirroring similar elements over the time.  Most notable changes over time have included the bottom portion going from a skirt with stars to high-cut briefs with stars, her red, strapless top depicting an eagle, later her Wonder Woman logo over the cups of the breasts.  In 2010, they decided to change her look up and gave her pants and a leather jacket.  The original look would alter return a year later in 2011, and by 2016, her look was resigned to look more gladiatorial, with an over the shoulder strap for her sword and shield, along with her a gladiatorial skirt in the form of leather strips, not unlike Xena, Warrior Princess.  This was also the version used for the Live Action movies.

 

 

Villains:

Wonder Woman’s Rogue Gallery consists of a lot of Greek Gods and Mythology creatures, though has some unique villains too.  Though they all share a common element that they are all intelligent and/or doctors in some field.

 

Giganta – a woman who is capable of changing her shape and size, while still retaining her intelligence.

 

Cheetah – a woman, occasionally a man, who dresses like a Cheetah to fight Wonder Woman.  Modern takes on Cheetah have her Cheetah like characteristics and powers gifted by the plant god Urzkartaga.

 

Doctor Psycho – can control minds.  He’s notable for being created partly based off Marston’s college professors who opposed women’s suffrage and feminism.

 

Doctor Poison – a woman who uses poison to control minds, along with other effects.

 

Ares – The God of War, who is in direct opposition to Wonder Woman, who strives for peace around the world.

 

The First Born – Daughter of Hera and Zeus, he is destined to sit on Zeus’s throne.  He fights with Wonder Woman who aims to stop him.

 

Circe – A Sorceress with various god like powers, including mind control, creating energy blasts, teleportation, and transforming objects. She’s all known for her siren’s call that lures men to their death.

 

Medusa – the Gorgon with snake like hair and can turn people in to stone.

 

In Media:

Beyond the original Comic Books, Wonder Woman has been a pop Icon for the last 80 years.  As a result, she’s been depicted in various media outside of her comic origin.

 

It was the famous 1975 Wonder Woman Tv Show which reintroduced Wonder Woman’s powers in the comics.  Protrayed by Lynda Carter.

 

Wonder Woman has been a mainstay of various animated DC properties.  Most Notably in the Super Friends Cartoons from the 70s and 80s and the DC Animated Universe cartoons that aired throughout the late 90s and early 2000s.  She’s also been a part of major Justice League Direct to Video features. 

 

In Film, She is portrayed by Gal Gadot in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Wonder Woman, and Wonder Woman 1984.