JaDarrel Belser, Author at GeeksHaveGame

November 27, 2020

I SUPPORT BLACK SUPERHEROES [Belser-Verse, Part 15.2]: Vic-Tory!

Teen Titans Go! (2013-present)

Cyborg returns in the spin-off series Teen Titans Go! with Khary Payton reprising his role. Like the previous series, he is Beast Boy’s best friend and his favorite food is burgers. In this show, Cyborg is half and half on the fact that he’s part robot as while he misses some things he had as a human (the sweet feeling of knee skin), he also enjoys the cool things half robots do. When not fighting crime, he is depicted as being a lazy slob, which has made him very knowledgeable of 80s culture.

He also has a relationship with Jinx, which the Titans disapprove of due to Jinx being a member of the H.I.V.E. Five.

Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy and Robin appeared in the 2018 feature length animated film **Teen Titans Go! To The Movies**. The plot has the team declare that they will go to Hollywood to have a film made about them. The film was a box office success, grossing over $52 million worldwide against a $10 million budget, and received positive reviews from critics for its animation quality, cast and storyline.

Too many Titans! The Teen Titans Go! and original Teen Titans animated series versions of Cyborg appear in the 2019 animated film **Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans**, with Khary Payton reprising the role for both. In addition, several alternate versions of Cyborg appear throughout the film, which include his counterparts from Tiny Titans, the New Teen Titans comic, and the DC Animated Movie Universe.

Doom Patrol (2018-present)

“You don’t get it! You think forcing me to relive this is torture? I relive this every time I go to sleep! I relive this when I close my eyes! You may know who I am but you don’t know shit about me! If you did, you would know that every criminal I bust, and every person I save, is me fulfilling a pledge to my mom that she’ll never get to hear! Trying to make her proud! Knowing I’m the reason she’s not around to see it! That’s my burden! That’s what it means to be Cyborg!”
— Vic Stone

In 2018, it was announced that Cyborg would be one of the main characters in Doom Patrol, one of the inaugural television web series on the streaming service DC Universe (the show has since moved to HBO Max). Portrayed by actor Joivan Wade, this version of Victor was born in 1996 as the son of Silas and Elinore Stone in Detroit. It is revealed that Vic’s father Silas is a colleague of Doom Patrol’s leader Niles Caulder and Vic has known Niles since the age of six. On June 13, 2014, while arguing with his mother in her lab, Vic angrily threw some chemicals across the room, which caused an explosion that killed Elinore, and left Vic severely injured. Silas then took Vic to S.T.A.R. Labs in the hopes of saving his life, which he managed to do by infusing Vic with cybernetic enhancements.

Shortly after the accident, Niles visited to check up on Vic and offered him the chance to come to his mansion estate Doom Manor with him. However, Vic declined the offer telling Niles that he had other plans. Around the same time, Vic becomes a vigilante crime-fighter and Detroit’s resident superhero. While searching for a missing Niles Caulder, Cyborg visits Niles’ mansion and meet his group of misfit heroes. His guilt over his mother’s death and his issues with his father causes Vic to bond with the flawed group and, using his established experience as a superhero, he becomes their defacto field leader. It is stated several times that Vic has aspirations of joining The Justice League.

Young Justice: Outsiders (2019)

Cyborg appears in the DC Universe cartoon Young Justice: Outsiders, voiced by Zeno Robinson. Like the comics, Victor Stone was caught in an explosion at his father’s lab at a S.T.A.R. Labs building he caused accidentally that destroyed a portion of his body. Determined to save him, his father used a Father Box to try and heal the damage. This caused the Father Box to fuse technology and itself to Victor’s body, transforming him into Cyborg.

While this did save Victor’s life, he is now susceptible to being controlled by the Box’s programming, which immediately makes him violent. Teen hero Halo uses her powers to temporarily restore his mind after a particular rampage. As Vic is angry at his father for turning him into a freak, he decides the best possible option for everyone is for him to leave with Halo, joining her and her team Young Justice.

DC Extended Universe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFYe0VSusdQ&ab_channel=ThrowbackStudioz

“I was in an accident. I should’ve died. My father thought that he could use the Mother Box to rebuild the broken parts of me with a few cybernetic enhancements. Instead, he built a living machine that may be stronger than its host.”
―Cyborg

Cyborg gets the big screen treatment played by actor Ray Fisher. Before Ray Fisher was cast as Cyborg, Michael B. Jordan was in early talks for the role of Cyborg. Fisher only wore a motion capture suit and a modified headlamp for his portrayal of Cyborg, with his body being constructed entirely with CGI. Cyborg’s body was still largely in development during the release of the trailers for Justice League, being more slim and jagged than the final product shown in the film.

This version of Victor Stone was born on June 29, 1994, in Gotham City. Victor Stone was an athlete and attended Gotham City University. However, his career was cut short when he was involved in a nearly fatal accident, that killed his mother and mutilated most of his body. He is reduced to nothing more than a torso, head, and half of his arms.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice( 2016)

Cyborg is first seen in a brief sequence of footage that is viewed by Wonder Woman. The footage was obtained by Lex Luthor who monitoring metahumans and it depicts Cyborg’s origin story.

His father Silas was desperate enough to try using a Mother Box in a final attempt to save his son’s life. The Mother Box self-activated and levitated over Victor, where it began crafting cybernetic body parts to replace his lost body parts (while simultaneously granting him knowledge it held). Although this saved Victor’s life, it was undoubtedly very painful, as Victor was seen screaming out in pain.

Justice League (2017)

Cyborg, again played by Fisher, makes his first full appearance as one of the main characters in Justice League, released on November 17, 2017.

Since his transformation, Victor has been hiding in his father’s home, using his new abilities to interact with data streams and surveillance cameras, Victor became aware of Bruce’s interest in him. Tracking him down to his home, Victor was in the woods and he witnessed Bruce and Diana Prince talk about Steppenwolf and his first invasion of Earth.

Meeting in person, Victor told Diana that he had been doing some tracking, and the invaders they were after were sticking to the dead spots where they could not be detected. Diana tried to reach out to Victor and convinces him to join the fight against Steppenwolf.

The end of Justice League shows Cyborg working with his father to improve his cybernetics and appearance.

Fisher is scheduled to reprise the role in upcoming DCEU films including a stand-alone Flashpoint film and a sequel to Justice League. A stand-alone Cyborg film was initially scheduled for a release date of April 3, 2020, but it has since been delayed. Cyborg will appear in Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) when it debuts on HBO Max.

DC Animated Universe

Cyborg has been used as a prominent member of The Justice League in a number of films in the DC Animated Universe series of straight-to video movies.

Cyborg appears in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, voiced by Michael B. Jordan. In the distorted Flashpoint timeline, Cyborg is America’s greatest superhero. He puts together a group to stop the war between Aquaman’s and Wonder Woman’s forces. When the heroes arrive to stop the Atlantean/Amazon war, Cyborg confronts Aquaman and Cyborg ends up from dying from his wounds. His fate was, however, undone after The Flash restores the world’s timeline.

Cyborg appears in Justice League: War, voiced by actor Shemar Moore. This version follows the New 52 origin. The movie starts with Victor Stone as a a skilled football player (nicknamed “Victory”). However, Victor’s father deliberately misses his games, believing that his physical prowess of an ordinary human will be meaningless in the future world of superhumans. Victor’s mother already dead by the time the movie starts. At the beginning of the Apokolips invasion, Victor is hit by an energy blast and left without a right arm or left leg.

Barely alive, he is brought by his father to an advanced machine assembled by him from technology across the world. The process ends up with the machine fusing to his body. He was shown to be capable of interfacing with Apokoliptean technology, to the extent of halting the invasion by inverting all the Boom Tubes used for the invasion. In the final scene, when the heroes are being honored, Victor’s father is shown in the crowd, finally proud of his son as Vic becomes a member of The Justice League.

NOTE: This movie begins one direct storyline spread over several movies.

Cyborg appears in the animated film Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, with Shemar Moore reprising his role. After the events of the Apokolips invasion, Cyborg is still adapting to not having a normal life. He resides at the Hall of Justice, which was built for the Justice League. He also has had some of his remaining internal organs replaced with machinery, allowing him to spend extended periods underwater or in space. A former assistant of his father’s, Dr. Sarah Charles, has a crush on him, tries numerous times throughout the film to ask him on date, but her indirect methods fail (although until the end of the movie he finally asks her out).

Cyborg appears in Justice League vs. Teen Titans, with Shemar Moore reprising his role. In the film, it is shown that he relates to the Titans more closely than the other members of the League, as he is closer in age to the Titans. While he remains with the Justice League, he visits the Titans on occasion.

Cyborg appears in the animated film The Death of Superman and its sequel Reign of the Supermen, with Shemar Moore reprising his role.

-JaDarrel Belser

November 14, 2020November 15, 2020

I SUPPORT BLACK SUPERHEROES [Belser-Verse, Part 15.1]: Boo-Yah!!

Part Man! Part Machine! All Hero! No, I’m not talking about Robocop (but it’s damn close). Today’s article is about a young wonder of science who has forged his own path to become one of the most prominent black superheroes out there right now: CYBORG!

Creation and First Appearance

The character was created by writer Mark Wolfman and artist George Pérez and first appears in a special insert in DC Comics Presents #26 (October 1980).

Origin

Victor Stone is the son of scientists Silas Stone and Elinore Stone. As a young boy, his parents use Victor as a test subject for various intelligence enhancement projects. While these treatments were successful and Victor’s IQ subsequently grows to genius levels, Victor grows to resent his parents for using him as a guinea pig.

Victor strives for independence, engaging in pursuits of which his parents disapprove, such as athletics. Victor’s life is forever changed when he visits his parents’ lab while they try to access another dimensional. At that moment of his entry, a hostile gelatinous creature was accidentally pulled through and attacks them. Victor’s mother is killed by the creature and Victor himself severely injured before his father was able to send it back to its native dimension.

With his son mutilated, unconscious and near death, Silas Stone uses prototype medical prosthetic equipment to treat Victor. Victor regains consciousness after the extensive artificial limbs and implants were installed onto his body without his consent.

Victor was horrified at the discovery of the metallic components, which involve most of the left side of his head and face. He screams that he would rather have died than be such a victim of his father’s experimentation.

He found himself rejected by the public because of his appearance. His most painful revelation came from his own girlfriend, who thoughtlessly blurted out that she would prefer he had died instead of being in his current state.

Although his bitterness remained for some time, Victor eventually calmed down enough to successfully adjust to his implants physically.

However, Victor’s heroic side came into prominence when an old friend of his, Robert Evers, tried to manipulate him into participating in a terrorist attack on the United Nations. Victor decided to equip himself with his weaponized attachments and stop Evers on the top of United Nations Headquarters.

The New Teen Titans

Victor finds a new home and a new calling with a group of young superheroes called The Teen Titans. This run of Teen Titans became DC’s best selling title of the early 80’s.

When Raven assembles the Teen Titans, Victor joins initially for the benefit of a support group of kindred spirits and freaks, and has remained with that group ever since.

In addition to the Titans, Victor eventually find acceptance and new civilian friends. In particular, he hangs with a group of kids who are adjusting to their own prosthetics. They idolize him because of his exciting adventures while being like them. It also turns out that their beautiful teacher Sarah Simms, who has often assisted Cyborg and the Titans, admires him as well.

Another person who sees past the cybernetic shell is a S.T.A.R. Labs scientist named Dr. Sarah Charles, who often helps him with his cybernetic parts. Cyborg and Dr. Charles date for some time.

Vic has gone on to mentor the new incarnation of the Teen Titans, consisting mainly of sidekicks, most of whom have taken over the identities of former members ( like Tim Drake, the third Robin, and Bart Allen, the second Kid Flash),

The New 52

In August 2011, Cyborg is chosen as one of the main characters in a new Justice League ongoing series written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jim Lee as part of DC’s The New 52 relaunch. Johns has said of Cyborg, “He represents all of us in a lot of ways. If we have a cellphone and we’re texting on it, we are a cyborg—that’s what a cyborg is, using technology as an extension of ourselves”.

The new storyline takes place five years in the past and features Victor ” Vic” Stone appears as a high school football star who is heavily sought after by a number of college scouts, but has a distant relationship with his father, Silas. After winning a big game, Victor calls his father and angrily telling him that he broke his promise and missed yet another one of his games.

Later, Victor appears at S.T.A.R. Labs where his father and other scientists appear to be working on a Mother Box from Apokolips that Superman came in contact with. Victor has another argument with his father and tells him that many college scouts were at the game to give him full scholarships . When asking if his father will ever appear at any of his games, his father coldly replies “No.”

After the father and son finish their argument, the Mother Box explodes and kills the other scientists. Victor’s father looks on in horror as the Mother Box destroys most of Victor’s body.

Silas, along with Dr. Sarah Charles, and T. O. Morrow go in “The Red Room“, a special room in S.T.A.R. labs which contains every piece of exotic technology from around the world. Silas attempts to treat Victor with something that has never been attempted before. Silas injects Victor with experimental nanites and has Dr. Morrow put various robotic pieces on Victor including:

A skin graft made of the invincible metal Promethium
Doctor William Magnus’ responsometer
Anthony Ivo’s A-maze operating system
Ryan Choi’s White Dwarf Stabilizer

He sees himself for the first time with his robotic parts and is panicked by his new body. Suddenly, Parademons burst into the red room and leap toward Sarah Charles.

The Parademon attack causes Victor’s defense systems to react, automatically weaponizing his arm into a sound cannon from which he fires his powerful white noise cannon, disintegrating the Parademons.

Soon, Vic sees a woman being set upon by a group of Parademons. He leaps to the woman’s aid and Vic inadvertently absorbs some of the Parademon’s components giving him access to Boom Tube technology.

This new ability automatically teleports Victor to where Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman are fighting the Parademons, moments before Darkseid arrives. Cyborg fights alongside the other heroes against Darkseid and his Parademons

It is soon discovered that the energies from the Mother Box are incorporated into his new form. This allows Victor to access the vast New Gods data library and discover Darkseid’s true invasion plans. Vic is able to reverse engineer the alien boom tube technology and teleports all the invading aliens including Darkseid off the planet, saving the Earth. With this act, Vic helps to found the Justice League, adopting the code name Cyborg.

Multimedia Appearances

The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985)

Cyborg’s very first multimedia appearance was on the ABC cartoon The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (the final incarnation of Hanna-Barbera’s long-running Super Friends franchise).

This version of Cyborg was voiced by actor Ernie Hudson ( Winston Zeddemore from ” Ghostbusters”). Hudson has made other appearances in DC properties like ‘ Superman: The Animated Series” and the CW series ” Arrow” as John Diggle’s stepfather Roy Stewart

Cyborg’s origin on the series was told via a medical journal read by Dr. Martin Stein saying Cyborg was a promising decathlon athlete until an accident destroyed most of his body and his father replaced part of his body with machine parts. Cyborg mentors handicapped children with prosthetic limbs like in the comics and has been using his abilities in secret due to his low self image. He becomes fast friends with teammate Firestorm due to their similar age.

Cyborg as a member of The Super Powers Team on ABC

Cyborg debuts in the episode, “The Seeds of Doom“, when he stops a plot by Lex Luthor using a giant mechanical spider. Luthor is embarrassed by his defeat at the hands of ‘a teenage Tin Man‘. The victory impresses the Super Powers Team (in particular, Wonder Woman and Firestorm). Cyborg abruptly leaves and Superman explains that Cyborg has been offered membership a number of times only for him to refuse.

Cyborg’s abilities help save Earth from the monster seeds of the villain Darkseid. Superman warns that Cyborg has made a dangerous enemy in Darkseid. With encouragement from Firestorm, Cyborg finally accepts the offer and becomes a valued member of The Super Powers Team.

Smallville (2006)

Cyborg’s first live action appearance was in the WB/CW series Smallville, which followed the life of young Clark Kent on his journey to becoming Superman. Vic debuts in the 15th episode of the fifth season, entitled “Cyborg”.

Played by the late Lee Thompson Young, this version of Victor is a former wide receiver for the Metropolis High School football team who played against Clark Kent (who was the quarterback for Smallville High at one point). He is involved in a car accident that kills him and the rest of his family. However, scientists at a tech company called Cyntechnics began to do cybernetic experiments on humans. Vic’s body was found and is secretly rebuilt by Dr. Alistair Krieg.

Of a group of test subjects, Victor was the only one to survive the experiments. Locked up in a secret facility, Victor escapes captivity and has a full-on vehicle collision with Clark’s girlfriend Lana Lang (he is unharmed; she is injured). Soon, Cyntechnics was bought up by Lex Luthor who wants to turn Victor into a mindless drone.

Victor’s cybernetic enhancements are entirely endoskeletal instead of exoskeletal as they are in the comics. One shot of Clark Kent’s X-ray vision reveals that Victor’s cranial armor covers the same-shaped area as it does in the comics.

Victor never referred to by the name “Cyborg” in his first appearance. Instead, Victor refers to his enhancements as “bionic” as the episode explicitly references the 1970s television series The Six Million Dollar Man. The final shot of the show has Victor reuniting with his girlfriend Katherine.

Victor is shown to be a founding member of Smallville’s teenage version of The Justice League

Victor returns in the Season 6 episode “Justice”, which features Green Arrow gathering together a group of past allies who have encountered Clark Kent to combat Lex Luthor.

In this episode, Victor finally takes the name “Cyborg”, as Green Arrow’s team uses code names. Victor also explains that his mechanical parts put a strain on his relationship with Katherine. After their break up, Victor states that it was Green Arrow who kept him from committing suicide.

The episode also shows Cyborg wearing something of a costume (a stylized silver vest), and utilizing further enhancements Green Arrow gave him. One of his new functions allows him to hack into and disable security systems.

One of his new functions allows him to hack into and disable security systems. While connecting to machines, Cyborg’s left eye glows red, another nod to his comic book incarnation.

Cyborg gets mentioned by codename in the season 9 episode “Checkmate” by Amanda Waller and is last seen in the season 9 finale titled “Salvation”, reporting in to Watchtower of the battle against the Kandorians.

Teen Titans (2003- 2006)

Cyborg was one of the main characters on the Cartoon Network animated series, Teen Titans. Voiced by actor Khary Payton, this version of Cyborg is very similar to his comic book counterpart. His nickname is ‘Cy’ and, like most of his teammates, he is never referred to by his given name. However, he does take the alias ‘Stone’ (based on his real last name) in the Season 3 episode “Deception”.

The two main differences are his design and that he is more easygoing than his comics counterpart. His head is considerably more rounded and bald (based on his Titans Hunt counterpart), and his mechanical parts are bulkier. His primary weapon is a sonic cannon housed in his forearm; initially he uses only his right arm to fire, but later episodes reveal that his left arm has an identical cannon built into it as well.

Cyborg is the Titans’ chief technician and gadgeteer. He is responsible for the construction of Titans Tower’s electronic and security systems and the team’s main vehicles. His most dominant personality faults featured in the series are his enormous appetite and a tendency to be overly vain about his work.

On occasion, Cyborg acts as the team’s second-in-command, but he tends to butt heads with Robin on rather trivial matters. He also is best friends with Beast Boy.

In “Deception” it is revealed that he never had a chance to finish high school due to the circumstances that made him what he is. The only time Cyborg’s personal history has been discussed is in “Deception” in which he discusses his involuntary cyborg status with Starfire.

NOTE: This series establishes Cyborg’s catchphrase ‘ Boo-Yah’, a phrase made popular by the late Stuart Scott on ESPN SportsCenter. Every subsequent multimedia version of Cyborg has used the catchphrase including Ray Fisher in Justice League.

-JaDarrel Belser

Stay tuned for the second half of Cyborg’s legacy next week!

November 5, 2020

I SUPPORT BLACK SUPERHEROES [Belser-Verse, Part 14]: Hammer-Time!!

In 1992, DC Comics made the decision to kill their flagship character Superman in a then-new storyline called The Death of Superman. Though a fictional story, the death of such a beloved icon got unprecedented mainstream media coverage from CNN, NBC and the like. The comic which features Superman’s death (Superman #75) sold over six million copies and was easily 1992’s top-selling comic.

“The Death of Superman” was divided into three story arcs:

“Doomsday!” which featured Superman’s fight with the alien monster Doomsday and concluded with his epic death.
“Funeral for a Friend” which showed Superman’s fellow superheroes and the rest of the DC Universe mourning his death in different ways.

The last arc “Reign of the Supermen!” saw the emergence of four Supermen trying to take place of the original. One such ‘Superman’ is the subject of today’s article: an African-American male who was inspired by Superman to create his own superhero identity called STEEL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyE0CWfuWiY&ab_channel=IceCubeOSheaJackson

FIRST APPEARANCE / CREATION

Steel first appeared in **The Adventures of Superman #500 (June 1993)** and was created by Louise Simonson and artist Jon Bogdanove.

Other than Superman, the character was clearly inspired by the African American folk hero John Henry, ‘the steel driving man’. According to legend, John Henry tested his ability as a steel-driver in a race against a steam-powered rock drilling machine. John won the race only to die with a hammer in his hand as his heart gave out from stress.

ORIGIN

Doctor John Henry Irons was born in Metropolis. Irons’ parents were murdered when he was young and he promised to protect the rest of his family by becoming rich and powerful. He goes on to attend Yale on a sports scholarship and becomes a brilliant weapons engineer for AmerTek Industries. Despite the wealth and fame he receives, Irons became disgusted when he discovers the BG-60, a powerful energy cannon he designed, fell into the wrong hands and was used to kill innocent people. As the company would have coerced him to retain his services, John faked his own death and came back to Metropolis under the alias of Henry Johnson.

As ‘Henry Johnson’, Irons’ own life was saved by none other than Superman. When John asked how he could show his gratitude, Superman told him to “live a life worth saving”.

During Superman’s fatal battle against Doomsday, Irons, who was still working in construction, attempted to help Superman fight the deadly menace by picking up a sledge hammer, but Irons ended up buried in rubble amidst the devastation.

Shortly after Superman’s death, he finally awoke and crawled from the wreckage, confused and saying that he “must stop Doomsday”.

He recovers from being buried but it is too late as Superman dies in his battle against Doomsday. He also finds out that the gangs in inner-city Metropolis (now without Superman to fear) are waging an intense gang war using BG-80 Toastmasters (an upgraded version of his earlier AmerTek design).

Upon this discovery, Irons made a vow to stop the abuse of his weapons:

“John Henry fought the machine and won. What I’m fightin’ is a deadlier kind of machine — one I helped put in motion. One I’m gonna stop — even if it kills me”.

Irons created and donned a suit of powered armor designed in Superman’s memory in order to stop the gang war, as well as destroy the weapons.

The Reign of The Supermen

The “Reign of the Supermen” story arc saw the rise of four “Supermen” ( Most of whom claimed to be Superman reborn). Each one of them represented the embodiment of a different nickname associated with the original Superman.

With his full body suit of armor, Steel represents Superman’s nickname “The Man of Steel “.
The Cyborg Superman represents Superman’s nickname “The Man of Tomorrow” and had a half-robotic body.
Superboy is a teenage clone of Superman created by the genetic engineering corporation Project Cadmus. He adopts Superman’s nickname ‘The Metropolis Marvel ‘.
The Eradicator represents Superman’s nickname “The Last Son of Krypton” and was a emotionless alien wearing a visor.

After the return of the real Superman, Irons was urged to continue fighting crime as The Man of Steel, which was later shortened to “Steel” by Superman himself.

MULTIMEDIA APPEARANCES

Superman: The Animated Series (1997)

John Henry Irons’ first multimedia appearance was on Superman: The Animated Series on Kids WB!. Voiced by actor Michael Dorn ( ‘Worf ‘ from ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation‘), John Henry Irons is introduced as a designer for LexCorp who creates a Robocop-like prototype suit of armor for the Metropolis SCU (‘Special Crimes Unit‘). However, the suit’s neural interface system has adverse psychological effects on its user Sgt. Corey Mills.

After warning Lex Luthor this would happen, Luthor’s callousness on the matter caused Irons quit LexCorp. Encouraged by Superman, Irons worked on perfecting the suit in his private lab with the help of his niece Natasha. Superman is weakened by Kryptonite poisoning in a battle against the cyborg villain Metallo and Irons becomes the superhero Steel just in time to save Superman. This animated version of Steel is missing the cape he adapted from Superman, he lacks his ‘S’ chest shield and his rivet guns were replaced with forearm-mounted lasers. Irons appears as himself in the episode “Prototype” and as Steel in the episode “Heavy Metal“.

NOTE: Both episodes were released the same year as the live action feature film Steel.

After the Metallo adventure, Superman gave his official blessing by saying ” Steel, huh? Well, Steel, you’re going to hear THIS a lot so you might as well hear it from me first”. After Steel asks “What?”, Superman extends his hand and says “Thanks”.

Justice League Unlimited (2004)

Steel returns in Justice League Unlimited, this time voiced by actor Phil LaMarr (MAD TV, Pulp Fiction). He is seen as a member of the expanded Justice League. Steel has appeared regularly in the company of Superman and Supergirl. His major appearance is when he attempts to hold off Galatea from destroying the Watchtower. He was later seen with Supergirl in the episode “The Return” where he tries to prevent Amazo from reaching Lex Luthor.

Steel (1997)

Steel makes the jump to the big screen. This will be a sure fire hit, right? Right?

The production company behind Steel. The company was also behind ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’, ‘ The Jenny Jones Show’, and ‘ MAD TV’.

The production of a live action depiction of the comic book Steel started with legendary music producer Quincy Jones and his partner David Salzman. As it turns out, both Jones and Salzman were fans of the Steel character. Jones, in particular, found personal reasons to support the project.

Jones stated that he found children’s “perspective on the future has changed for the worse, and I hate seeing young people who don’t believe in the future. Steel—and I don’t want to use that word ‘superhero,’ because he doesn’t fly or anything like that—represents a role model. Let’s just call him a ‘super human being.'”( 2020, Steel (1997 film), Wikipedia).

Shaq in full costume with the film’s writer/director Kenneth Johnson

The screenwriter and director of Steel was Kenneth Johnson. Johnson had previous success in sci-fi television, creating shows like The Bionic Woman, Alien Nation, and The Incredible Hulk. Johnson was originally uninterested in doing a superhero film but film producer Joel Simon described Steel as being different, stating that he was “a knight in shining armor in a contemporary setting” ( 2020, Steel (1997 film), Wikipedia).

With that in mind, Johnson intended to separate the film itself from the comic book series in a number of ways:

John Henry Irons is not presented as a supporting character of Superman. Johnson removed Steel’s cape and the ‘S’ on his chest from his costume to reflect this. However, Superman is briefly mentioned in two scenes:
- There is one brief shot of Shaq‘s ‘Man Of Steel‘ arm tattoo with the Superman ‘S‘ symbol.
- During the climax, Uncle Joe tells John to be careful by telling him ‘ You ain’t Superman…’.
Steel does not fly like in the comics. He instead uses gadgets like a grappling hook and a specialized motorcycle.
The Steel suit in the movie was created by Greg Cannom. Cannom has won Oscars in make-up for his work in films like Mrs. Doubtfire, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
The Steel suit does not grant Irons super strength. It is established that he generally has above average strength due to his large size (he is seen lifting a slab of concrete, ripping off a locked gate door and lifting grown people several times).
The locale is changed from fictional Metropolis to real world Los Angeles.
None of Steel’s supporting characters from the comics are used. Other than Steel, all the protagonists and antagonists in the movie are of Johnson’s own invention. Only the storyline of a street gang using illegal versions of his weapons is from the comics.

The filming schedule consisted of fifty-one days with thirty-two full nights of shooting in downtown Los Angeles. The shooting schedule presented difficulties for the director due to the schedule of then-superstar basketball player Shaquille O’Neal.

O’Neal is a huge Superman fanboy and often referred to himself as ‘ Superman’ on the basketball court. Here he is at the world premiere of ‘ Superman Returns’ in 2006.

In addition to his arm tattoo, Shaq, at one point, owned a mansion in South Florida with the Superman logo adorned throughout his home. His personal movie theater is covered with Superman films like ‘ Superman and The Mole Men’ and ‘Man Of Steel’.

Shaq put the Superman logo on virtually everything in his house, including his bed comforter, basketball court, swimming pool and bathroom fixtures.

Shaq even has a life-size Superman replica to guard over his boating dock.

In addition to his arm tattoo, Shaq at point owned a mansion in South Florida with the Superman logo adorned through out his home

Prior to filming, O’Neal was already committed for playing in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and training at the Los Angeles Lakers’ camp in Hawaii. O’Neal had one read-through of the script before the Olympics and then worked with acting coach Ben Martin in between games to work on his character. When O’Neal returned to act with the rest of the cast, he had all his lines memorized.

THE STORY

This film stars Shaquille O’Neal as Lt. John Henry Irons, a 7 foot tall weapons designer for the United States Army whose inventions include high-tech laser guns, protective armor, and sonic cannons. During a demonstration, an accident caused by rogue designer Nathaniel Burke (Judd Nelson) results in the death of a Senator and leaves Iron’s partner Sparky (Annabeth Gish) paralyzed. Irons reveals Burke’s role in the incident in court and Burke is dismissed from the military.

Because his weapons resulted in Sparky becoming a paraplegic, Irons resigns his commission in disgust and returns home to Los Angeles. Very soon, Burke heads to L.A. as well and begins mass-producing Irons’ weapons using an arcade game company called Dantastic as a cover. Burke is intent on selling them to street criminals and , eventually, world-wide militias and criminal organizations via the Internet.

One night, Irons witnesses a bank robbery organized by a group of gang members called ‘The Marks‘ using modified versions of his weapons. Getting Sparky out of a veteran’s hospital, Irons takes her to his own assembled laboratory in his Uncle Joe’s junkyard, where he reveals his plan: Irons and Sparky will create weapons to combat the ones being used by the criminals. Together, they forge a suit of armor and a hammer that contains their combined weaponry. Upon completion of the armor, Uncle Joe proclaims: “Well, I’ll be damned. John Henry Irons has turned himself into The Man of Steel”. With Sparky and Uncle Joe as tech support, John carries out his war on crime and become the armored vigilante dubbed ‘Steel’ by the media.

Steel was released in the United States on August 15, 1997. Steel was considered a large box office bomb on its release with an estimated budget of $16 million, the film grossed just over $1.7 million at the box office. The film grossed less in its entire run than Batman & Robin (1997) made in its first weekend.

Movie Facts

“It’s Hammer Time”. That’s an actual quote from the movie.

Certain scenes like his first night of super saves and a scene he stands still as bullets deflect off his armor are eerily similar to Superman: The Movie (1978).
Batman gets a shout out in two scenes:
- Steel disappears during a police chase and one cop insinuates that he has gone to ‘The Bat Cave‘.
- When John’s little brother Martin (played by singer Ray J) finds out his secret identity, Martin enthusiastically says he wants to help and be John’s sidekick in the future with his own cape( ‘ Man! I could be Robin! ‘).
Producers couldn’t find a 7 foot tall stunt double for Shaquille O’Neal. As such, Shaq performed all of his own stunts.
The scenes in which Irons forges his armor and reveals the helmet as the last completed piece are reminiscent of Iron Man (2008) in which Tony Stark does the same thing 10 years later.
To get a feel for the urban aspects of the script’s dialogue, Ken Johnson took a copy of the script to South Central Los Angeles and spent a day with a group of kids to make sure that the language and slang of some of the characters sounded more authentic and believable.
Kenneth Johnson originally wanted Wesley Snipes to play Steel. However, Warner Bros. felt that casting a popular athlete like Shaquille O’Neal would help sell more toys and merchandise.
One of the main henchmen ( Singer) was played by actor/writer Kevin Grevioux. Grevioux would go on to co-create the Underworld film franchise starring Kate Beckingsale.
As well as acting in the film, Shaquille O’Neal also contributed to the soundtrack for the film as a rapper. The single “Men of Steel” has him featured alongside other rappers KRS-One, Ice Cube, B-Real, and Peter Gunz.
John Henry’s seeming inability to “make free throws” refers to Shaquille O’Neal’s poor free throw shooting in the NBA.

DC ANIMATED MOVIE UNIVERSE

The Death and Return of Superman comic storyline had been adapted into a number of animated films ( most of which feature Steel) . The most recent animated adaptation was released as a two-part film, The Death of Superman and Reign of the Supermen, in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015)

John Henry Irons appears in Justice League: Throne of Atlantis. Voiced by Khary Payton ( ” Teen Titans“, “Teen Titans GO” ), John is seen as a construction worker wielding a hammer. While defending a co-worker from an Atlantean, he ends up being saved by Superman at the construction site. Superman flies away to deal with the pending threat, not knowing he had just changed Irons’ life.

The Death of Superman (2018)

John Henry Irons next appears in The Death of Superman, voiced by Cress Williams ( “Black Lightning“). After his life changing experience in Thorne of Atlantis, Irons is now a S.T.A.R. Labs scientist. He is also a hardcore Superman fanboy (He constantly wears a Superman t-shirt under his lab coat). After Superman’s death in the film, Irons is seen preparing his Steel armor during the mid-credits scene.

Reign of the Supermen (2019)

John Henry Irons appears again in the sequel Reign of the Supermen, with Cress Williams reprising his role. Six months following the death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday, four new Supermen have emerged and become controversial to the world. Lois Lane begins investigating the new Supermen by gathering information from different sources. Lane befriends Irons after she easily discovered his secret identity. Irons has officially adopted the name Steel and comes into contact with the other Supermen.

Steel makes a non-speaking appearance in Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. He is among the heroes fighting against Darkseid’s Parademons. His current fate is unknown as he was either killed or erased from existence when the Flash had to create another Flashpoint.

References

(2020, Steel (1997 film), Wikipedia.

-JaDarrel Belser

October 31, 2020October 31, 2020

THE BIBLE OF ‘BOND, JAMES BOND’ [Career Reflection]: R.I.P. Sean Connery (1930-2020).

Contrary to popular belief, Sean Connery is not the first actor to play James Bond. From October 1954 and June 1958, CBS aired a dramatic anthology series called Climax! The show featured one-hour adaptation of classic stories like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye. Many of the episodes were performed like stage plays and broadcast live on television. CBS paid Ian Fleming just $1,000 to adapt his first novel, Casino Royale, into a one-hour television adventure in 1954.

NOTE: This was the first-ever live action portrayal of a James Bond novel and made years before Eon Productions was founded.

Barry Nelson, the first actor to play James Bond

The Casino Royale episode aired on October 21, 1954 and starred American actor Barry Nelson as secret agent James Bond. That’s right. An American actor was the first to play British agent James Bond. In fact, Bond in this version was retooled as an American agent named ‘Card Sense’ Jimmy Bond, working for “Combined Intelligence”. This change was made to have the character be more acceptable for the consumption of American audiences.

SEAN CONNERY

Tenure – 1962–1967, 1971, 1983

Sean Connery became the first actor to portray Bond on the big screen in Dr. No (1962). Connery had come to the attention of the Bond film producers after several appearances in British films from the late 1950s.

The movie that caught the attention of the Bond producers: A Disney movie about leprechauns?

He won the role of James Bond after producer Albert R. Broccoli attended a screening of Sean in Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959). He was particularly impressed with the fistfight Sean has with a village bully at the climax of the film. Cubby later had his wife, Dana Broccoli, see the film and she found him to be quite sexy.

Since he was a rough muscular 6’2″ Scotsman, Connery was initially met with disapproval from Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming. Fleming saw Sean as basically an overgrown stuntman who didn’t have the finesse and elegance to play James Bond. However, after seeing him in action in Dr. No, Ian Fleming was completely won over by Connery. As a matter of fact, Fleming gave Bond’s character a Scottish ancestry in later novels as a tribute to Connery.

A Scottish piece of coal turned into a diamond. The Coolest of The Cool.

Albert Broccoli himself stated “I wanted a ballsy guy … put a bit of veneer over that tough Scottish hide and you’ve got Fleming’s Bond instead of all the mincing poofs we had applying for the job“. After Connery was chosen, director Terence Young took the actor to his tailor and hairdresser, and introduced him to the high life, restaurants, casinos and women of London. Young educated Sean “in the ways of being dapper, witty, and above all, cool”.

Honor Blackman, Connery’s co-star in Goldfinger said this of Sean: “He was exceedingly handsome, virile and sexy and that really was the tenor of what the script was always trying to display”. Connery’s interpretation of the character differed considerably from Fleming’s, being more promiscuous and cold-blooded than the literary version. Connery described Bond as “a complete sensualist—senses highly tuned, awake to everything, quite amoral. I particularly like him because he thrives on conflict”.

Fellow Bond Roger Moore commented that “Sean was Bond. He created Bond. He embodied Bond and because of Sean, Bond became an instantly recognizable character the world over—he was rough, tough, mean and witty … he was a bloody good 007”.

The Bond films turned Sean into an instant mega star. However, the pressures of making five films in six years eventually got to Sean. He was being mobbed in the streets and his privacy invaded by the press. Connery officially left the role after the 1967 film You Only Live Twice saying, “It became a terrible pressure, like living in a goldfish bowl … that was part of the reason I wanted to be finished with Bond. Also I had become completely identified with it, and it became very wearing and very boring”.

After a hiatus of one film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Connery returned to the role for Diamonds Are Forever. David Picker, the then-head of United Artists, made it clear that Connery was to come back to the role and money was no object. When approached about resuming the role of Bond, Connery demanded—and received—a fee of £1.25 million (£27 million in 2019 pounds), 12.5% of the gross profits and, as a further enticement, United Artists offered to back two films of his choice.

Battle of The Bonds

In 1983. Sean returned to the role of Bond one last time in the Warner Brothers movie Never Say Never Again. This movie was intended to go head-to-head with the official Eon Productions Bond franchise movie that year, Octopussy at the box office. This movie was released four months after Octopussy.

Since both movies starred two actors who were equally recognized as James Bond, the press was dubbed this box office showdown “The Battle of the Bonds” . A majority of movie industry analysts predicted that Never Say Never Again would win out at the box office because it had the return of Connery and a much bigger production budget than Octopussy .

According to a press release from Variety in 1985, Variety quoted the following figures from MGM and Warner Brothers:

Octopussy‘s U.S. gross: $67.9 million; Never Say Never Again’s U.S. gross: $55.4 million.
Octopussy‘s worldwide gross : $187.5 million, Never Say Never Again’s worldwide gross: $160 million.
Octopussy had $34 million in U.S. rentals, Never Say Never Again had $28.2 million in U.S. rentals.

The final results were in: Sean Connery and Never Say Never Again ended up losing the “Bond vs. Bond” showdown to Roger Moore and Octopusssy.

BOND FACTS

In 2003, Connery’s version of James Bond was selected as the third-greatest hero in cinema history by the American Film Institute, losing to Indiana Jones and Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird.
The very first scene Sir Sean Connery as James Bond is the sequence in the Kingston Airport in Dr. No where he passes a female photographer and holds his hat up in front of his face. The filming date was January 16, 1962.
Contrary to rumors, Connery was not wearing a hairpiece in his first two outings as James Bond. However, the time of Goldfinger (1964), Connery’s hair was too thin and he used toupees for his last Bond outings.
His favorite Bond film is From Russia with Love (1963).
He was voted People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” in 1989 and, in 1999, he was voted ‘Sexiest Man of the Century’ .
Connery is tied with Roger Moore for the most portrayals of James Bond with 7 appearances each.
Of the six actors who have played Naval Commander James Bond, he is the only one who actually served in the Royal Navy.
He is the only Bond actor to have actually had sex with the Bond girls in his films: He was involved with his co-stars Jill St. John and Lana Wood at the same time while filming Diamonds Are Forever(1971).
He is the only Bond actor to appear in both EON and non EON productions of Bond.

Best Bond Film: From Russia, With Love

Synopsis: James Bond is sent to assist in the defection of Soviet clerk Tatiana Romanova in Turkey where the evil organization SPECTRE plans to avenge Bond’s killing of Dr. No.

It took in more than $78 million in worldwide box-office receipts, far more than its $2 million budget and more than its predecessor Dr. No, thereby becoming a blockbuster in 1960s cinema.
Final James Bond movie viewed by Ian Fleming before his death.
Then-President John F. Kennedy listed From Russia With Love as among his top ten favorite novels of all time. That list was published in Life Magazine on March 17, 1961. Possibly as a result, the producers decided to make this the second James Bond movie. According to the book “Death of a President“, From Russia With Love was the last movie J.F.K. ever saw in a private screening in the White House on November 20, 1963.
The scene in which James Bond and Tatiana Romanova first meet in the hotel suite has since been used as an audition scene for potential Bond actors and Bond girls. This can be seen in the “making of” documentaries for other Bond movies
The film introduced several conventions which would become essential elements of the series: a pre-title sequence, the Blofeld character (referred to in the film only as “Number 1”) , a secret-weapon gadget for Bond, a post action scene after the main climax, a theme song with the name of the movie in the lyrics, and the line “James Bond will return/be back” in the credits.

-JaDarrel Belser

October 24, 2020

I SUPPORT BLACK SUPERHEROES [Belser-Verse, Part 13]: Built For War!

Everybody needs that one “ride or die” friend. That one person that stands by your side through thick and thin, for better or for worse. That friend for a multi-faceted superhero such as Tony Stark is James “Rhodey” Rhodes. That friend label has caused Rhodes to be relegated to background at times. However, Rhodey took his skills and strong will to establish his own identity and became a force to be reckoned with in his own right. On that day, Jim Rhodes became WAR MACHINE!

FIRST APPEARANCE / CREATION

Jim Rhodes was created by David Michelinie and John Byrne and first appeared in Iron Man #118 (January 1979)

ORIGIN

James Rupert “Rhodey” Rhodes was born in the South Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rhodey leaves home to join the United States Marine Corps. He rises to the rank of lieutenant and served a number of tours in Southeast Asia. While in Vietnam as a combat pilot, his helicopter was shot down by rocket fire from the Viet Cong and he is left stranded in the jungle behind enemy lines.

It was in Vietnam that Rhodey first encounters Tony Stark, who had just made his prototype suit of powered armor and escaped the prison camp of the warlord Wong-Chu.

After destroying an enemy base using a stolen Viet Cong helicopter, Iron Man and Rhodey fly out of enemy territory and back to the American defense perimeter. After this adventure, Iron Man disappears and promises that his ‘benefactor’ Tony Stark will repay Rhodes for his help.

True to his word, Tony Stark arrives at a base hospital in Saigon to thank Rhodes for his help with Iron Man’s escape and offers Rhodes a job as his personal pilot.

After the end of the Vietnam War, Rhodey takes on some mercenary work abroad. After a few years, Rhodes finally took Stark’s offer and became the newest employee of Stark Industries.

Rhodey soon becomes Stark’s personal pilot and the chief aviation engineer for Stark International. More importantly, he becomes Stark’s best friend and closest confidant.

THE NEW IRON MAN

After the machinations of Stark’s rival Obadiah Stane, Stark International began a rapid decline. Among the many discretions, Stark International loses their most lucrative foreign contracts and the company starts to go into heavy debt. Coupled with Stark’s personal life going into disarray, Tony Stark loses his resolve and relapses into alcoholism.

After an intoxicated Stark loses in a very public battle, Rhodey dons the Iron Man armor for the first time in Iron Man #170 (1983). As Stark recovers, He asks Rhodey to take his place as Iron Man for the foreseeable future.

Becoming Iron Man takes an immense physical ( and mental ) toll on Rhodey

Rhodey serves as Iron Man for a number of years. As Iron Man, Rhodes fought villains such as the Mandarin, the Zodiac, and the Radioactive Man. Rhodey also fought with a collection of Earth’s greatest superheroes in the Beyonder’s “Secret Wars” and became a member of the West Coast Avengers. However, Rhodey starts to develop migraine headaches and displaying very aggressive behavior. The cause of this is discovered to be the Iron Man armor itself. The armor’s helmet was tailored to Stark’s brainwaves, not Rhodey’s. This eventually began causing a synaptic disfunction in Rhodey.

Rhodes develops intense paranoia and thinks that his friends want to take the armor away from him. Rhodes goes on a rampage to capture the villain Vibro and Stark was forced to take back the armor.

After this ordeal, Rhodey steps down and Stark takes on the role of Iron Man again, donning his newly completed “Silver Centurion” armor. Stark regains his personal fortune and builds a new corporation called Stark Enterprises with Rhodes remaining at Stark’s side.

THE BIRTH OF WAR MACHINE

The War Machine Armor ( also known as The Variable Threat Response Suit )debuts in **Iron Man #282 (1992)** and was created by Len Kaminski and Kevin Hopgood.

Rhodes first wears the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit to team with Iron Man against battle droids programmed to kill Rhodes, After the adventure, Stark wants Rhodes to keep the suit, stating that the armor always belonged to Rhodes.

Rhodes eventually kept the armor and later adopted the name of War Machine, establishing his own identity as a superhero.

In the years since becoming War Machine, Rhodes has undergone a number of physical changes including being mortally wounded and becoming a cyborg.

His physical form was restored into a clone of his original body. Rhodes is presently in a relationship with the current Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers.

Multimedia Appearances:

Iron Man (1994) / Incredible Hulk (1994)

Rhodey was voiced by James Avery ( ‘Uncle Phil’ from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air) for most of season one. Actor Dorian Harewood ( ‘Full Metal Jacket’) took over for the remainder of the series. Both actors took turns as the primary voice of War Machine in most of the character’s animated appearances in the 90’s.

War Machine’s first multimedia appearance was in the 1994 Iron Man animated series on UPN. During the first season, Jim Rhodes shown to be a member of Iron Man’s “Force Works” team including Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Woman and Century. After the team disbands in the season two’s opener “The Beast Within“, Rhodes remains with Iron Man as mostly tech support and as an occasional backup. This version of Rhodes develops claustrophobia after an incident that had him almost drowning in the War Machine armor.

The character even had a four episode story arc in which he avoids the armor altogether. War Machine was featured in a crossover with one of UPN’s other Marvel animated series, The Incredible Hulk. Voiced again by Dorian Harewood, Rhodey appeared in the Hulk episode “Helping Hand, Iron Fist“.

X-Men (1992)

War Machine made a couple of cameo appearances in the X-Men animated series on Fox Kids. He was seen during season two’s “Time Fugitives Saga” and in season three’s “Phoenix Saga”. The character had no lines in either appearance.

Spider-Man (1994)

War Machine appeared in the Spider-Man animated series on Fox Kids. Voiced by James Avery, Rhodey is seen in the episodes “Venom Returns” and “Carnage”. The dark lord Dormammu orders Venom to steal the Time Dilation Accelerator from Stark Enterprises, which is capable of releasing Dormammu from his own far-off dimension. Venom is quickly defeated by the duo of Spider-Man and War Machine. However, Venom gets help from Carnage and they steal the machine, Rhodey is wounded in the battle and too hurt to continue fighting. Iron Man steps in to team up with Spider-Man and stop the Symbiotes and prevent Dormammu from leaving his dimension.

Iron Man: Armored Adventures (2009)

A teenage incarnation of Rhodey was one of the main characters in the animated series Iron Man: Armored Adventures on Disney XD. Voiced by actor Daniel Bacon, Rhodey and his family act as a foster family for Tony Stark after Howard Stark’s supposed death. He is also Tony’s classmate and best friend at the Tomorrow Academy, a science-intensive high school.

After Iron Man’s first appearance, Rhodey acts as Iron Man’s tactical aide and Tony’s voice of reason. Rhodey finally gets his War Machine armor in the season one finale “Tales of Suspense”.

The Super Hero Squad Show (2009)

War Machine appears in The Super Hero Squad Show on Cartoon Network. Voiced by actor LeVar Burton (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Rhodey appeared in the episode “Tales of Suspense”. Not much is known of the character other than Rhodey is secretly dating Squirrel Girl.

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (2010)

Rhodey appears in The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes on Disney XD. Voiced by actor Bumper Robinson (The Jacksons: An American Dream, A Different World), Rhodey is shown to be a current member of the United States Military and constantly wears his uniform. He is best friends with Tony Stark and, along with Pepper Potts, he is very worried about Tony’s maverick heroics as Iron Man. Rhodey thinks Tony can’t shoulder all the burden alone and wants to help him but Tony plays it off.

Rhodey first appears in the first-season episode “Iron Man is Born!“ and finally dons the War Machine armor in the second-season episodes “Alone Against AIM”, “New Avengers” and “Avengers Assemble”.

MCU

James “Rhodey” Rhodes was first played in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by Oscar nominated actor **Terrence Howard** (‘ Hustle And Flow’, ‘Empire’). However, a contract dispute between Howard and Marvel Studios led to Howard being replaced by another Oscar nominated actor **Don Cheadle** (Hotel Rwanda, Black Monday). Cheadle has portrayed the character for all of his MCU appearances since ‘Iron Man 2’.

Iron Man (2008)

Rhodey first appears in the film Iron Man. This version of Rhodey holds the rank of lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force and acts as the military’s chief liaison to Stark Industries’ weapons division. Prior to the film’s climax, a scene shows Rhodey eyeing the Iron Man Mark 2 armor and saying to himself ‘Next time, baby’.

Iron Man 2 (2010)

In Iron Man 2, Rhodes is under pressure to convince Tony Stark to relinquish control of the Iron Man armor over to the U.S. government (It was really Hydra but that’s another story). At a party, an erratic Tony Stark drunkenly endangers civilian lives while wearing the Iron Man armor. Rhodes is forced to don Iron Man’s Mark 2 suit to stop him. During the confrontation, Tony says the line “You wanna be the War Machine, take your shot” to Rhodes. After a stalemate, Rhodes takes the Mark 2 armor to the US government and it is subsequently retrofitted with various weapons by Stark’s rival, Justin Hammer.

During a presentation of the finished product at the Stark Expo, the War Machine armor itself is taken over by the villain Ivan Vanko and used to attack Iron Man and destroy the Stark Expo. Pepper Potts and Black Widow break the control and Rhodes fights alongside Iron Man to defeat Vanko. In the end, Rhodes leaves with the new armor and flies off into the night sky. Stark jokingly protests but allows him to keep it as he trusts Rhodey with it. The movie ends with Rhodes receiving a Distinguished Service award along with Tony Stark.

Iron Man 3 (2013)

In Iron Man 3, Rhodes is promoted to full colonel and made the designated guardian of the President. Rhodes states that the U.S. government deemed “War Machine” to be too militaristic and has been rebranded as “Iron Patriot“. The suit’s new red, white and blue color scheme tested well with focus groups and was seen as more patriotic. However, his armor is stolen and used by mercenary Eric Savin to abduct President Matthew Ellis on behalf of the villainous Aldrich Killian. Rhodes uses his military skills to help Tony stop Killian and save the President.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Rhodes is first shown at the Avengers party, regaling party guests with stories of his exploits as a superhero. The Avengers themselves were not so impressed with his stories as they do similar feats on a regular basis. Rhodey returns to operating the black and silver War Machine armor and is officially referred to as “War Machine” for the first time.

The movie ends with War Machine joining the Avengers led by Captain America and Black Widow along with the other new recruits Vision, Falcon and Scarlet Witch.

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

In Captain America: Civil War, The Avengers are presented with the Sokovia Accords by U.S. Secretary of State ‘Thunderbolt‘ Ross for the government to regulate their actions. The Accords divides the team into two camps (one camp for regulation led by Tony Stark, the other against it led by Steve Rogers). Rhodes sides with Stark and is one of the heroes that sign the accords. Rhodes even helps apprehend Steve Rogers, the Winter Soldier, Falcon and Black Panther.

When Captain America’s faction attempt to leave for Siberia to pursue Helmut Zemo, War Machine is among Iron Man’s team that confronts and fights them. Captain America and Winter Soldier escape on a Quinjet with Iron Man, War Machine and Falcon who tries to protect Rogers from the former two trailing. In the escape, Falcon evades a blast from Vision, which hits War Machine and incapacitates his suit, causing him to fall mid-flight. Iron Man and Falcon are unable to catch him and he lands hard on the ground. He survives the fall but his spinal column is fractured and he is left paralyzed. He is given bionic support by special leg braces created by Stark as he undergoes physical therapy. Stark expresses guilt over the whole situation but Rhodey lets Stark know that he does not regret his decision on siding with his friend.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Sometime between Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Rhodey has a change of heart and now stands against the Sokovia Accords and allies with Captain America’s fugitive group. He leaves with the team to help defend Vision in Wakanda and battles the Outriders. After ‘The Snap‘, Rhodey is one of the few heroes left alive after Thanos wipes out half of the universe.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

In Avengers: Endgame, Rhodes is with the surviving Avengers as they travel through time on a mission to obtain the Infinity Stones to undo Thanos’s actions. Rhodey and Nebula travel to Morag in 2014 to obtain the Power Stone before Star-Lord’s theft in Guardians of the Galaxy. Rhodey later assists the Avengers in the final battle against Thanos.

Rhodey is the first one to respond to the mortally injured Tony Stark after he uses the Infinity Stones to stop Thanos and his army. He tearfully stands next to Stark as he dies along with Pepper Potts, Spider-Man, Thor and Captain America . He is last seen watching Stark’s goodbye video message and attends Stark’s funeral along with all the other Avengers.

LEGACY

In 2012, War Machine was ranked 31st in IGN’s list of “The Top 50 Avengers“.

-JaDarrel Belser

October 11, 2020

I SUPPORT BLACK SUPERHEROES [Belser-Verse, Part 12]: Born To Raise Hell!

The forces of darkness! The depths of Hell! Exacting vengeance upon the wicked of the Earth!! Those phrases go hand and hand with the hero in today’s article: the dark avenger known as.. Spawn.

CREATION

Spawn is the brainchild of legendary comic creator Todd McFarlane. McFarlane became a superstar among comic fans as both a writer and artist with his work on Spider-Man. His biggest contribution to comics prior to Spawn was as the co-creator of the popular Spider-Man villain turned anti-hero, Venom.

An early prototype of what would became Spawn. McFarlane created the character when he was 16 and spent “countless hours” perfecting the character’s visual design.

In 1992, McFarlane left Marvel and joined a collection of other acclaimed artists including Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld in the formation of Image Comics. This new imprint was created so comics creators could publish material of their own creation without giving up the copyrights to those properties like they had to do at DC or Marvel. The founding of Image Comics was seen as an event that changed the way in which current comics are produced.

Spawn created by Todd McFarlane and first appeared in Spawn #1 (May 1992).

Among the first imprints released by Image Comics was the debut of Spawn. The first issue of Spawn was a massive hit with sales of 1.7 million copies. The popularity of the book’s release made national news as printings were selling out all over America. Wizard Magazine noted that “The top dog at Image is undoubtedly Todd McFarlane’s Spawn, which, without the added marketing push of fancy covers, polybagged issues, or card inserts has become the best-selling comic on a consistent basis that is currently being published.” (Spawn (comics), Wikipedia, 2020).

To this day, Spawn and its various offshoots are consistently strong sellers in the comics market.

ORIGIN

Al Simmons: master assassin and future Hellspawn

Al Simmons was an African-American Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps from Detroit, Michigan .

FACT: “Al Simmons” was the name of a roommate of McFarlane.

Simmons also works for the U.S. Secret Service and the Central Intelligence Agency. From the CIA, Simmons becomes a high ranking assassin for the U.S. Security Group — an umbrella agency encompassing the CIA, the NSA, and the NSC under Director Jason Wynn.

Simmons in Hell making a deal with the Devil ( sort of).

Eventually, Wynn hires Simmons’ partner Chapel to kill him during a mission in Botswana. After being murdered and set on fire, Simmons’ spirit is sent to the depths of Hell due to his sins as a killer for hire. Simmons then makes a deal with ‘The Devil’ (really, it is a demon known as Malebolgia).

The Deal: If Simmons is allowed to see his beloved wife, Wanda, one last time, Simmons agrees to serve Malebolgia and become a Hellspawn— a specially powered soldier to lead the armies of Hell against Heaven with Earth as the battlefield.

Malebolgia agrees the deal and returns Simmons to the living realm. Malebolgia also sent along a grotesque handler called ‘Clown’. To ensure obedience, Clown would transform into a demonic creature named ‘The Violator’ to whip Spawn into submission.

Reborn with a badly burned body and nearly all his memories gone (Spawn only knows his name, ‘Al Simmons,’ and the fact that he died), Simmons arrives on Earth and makes his home in a Skid-Row-like series of alleys known as ‘Rat City’. His pain and lack of memory has him in a constant state of uncontrolled rage.

Simmons accepts his role as a vengeful crusader and takes the name Spawn ( short for ‘Hellspawn’)

Refusing to return to Hell, Spawn finds a new purpose in life by using his Satanic powers for justice. Spawn becomes a violent antihero, going against the scum of New York City like street gangs, Italian mobsters, serial killers and pedophiles — in all such brutal fashion.

MULTIMEDIA

Spawn’s first multimedia appearance was in an adult-oriented animated television series called Todd McFarlane’s Spawn. The animated series aired late nights on HBO from 1997 through 1999.

Spawn was voiced by veteran actor Keith David, known for his work in many mainstream blockbusters like Platoon, The Thing, Crash, There’s Something About Mary, Barbershop, They Live and Armageddon. His deep baritone voice has given him an extensive voice-over career with roles like Goliath on Disney’s Gargoyles, The Black Panther on UPN’s Fantastic Four cartoon and as the narrator for The Monday Night Wars series on the WWE Network.

David has recently been doing a lot of work in television like the NBC series Community and the Oprah Winfrey Network drama Greenleaf. He also returned to the role of Spawn when the character was featured in the video game Mortal Kombat 11.

Spawn in his usual ‘brooding’ stance overlooking the city

The series faithfully showcased the saga of Spawn. The origin is faithful to the comic book version: Al Simmons is shown as a commando and black ops assassin who is betrayed and murdered by a man he believed to be his close friend Chapel. Upon his death, Simmons’ soul goes to Hell and makes the pact with Malebolgia to become “Spawn“.

The series has gained a loyal cult following who praise its animation, mature subject matter and its graphic depictions of violence, sex and nudity.

Variety stated in 1997 that “It’s as dark and complex as anything HBO has attempted in the live-action arena. And visually, it’s quite the stunner. HBO wanted different, and it surely got it.”

Despite some criticism for its violent and graphic nature, Todd McFarlane’s Spawn won an Emmy in 1999 for Outstanding Animation Program (longer than one hour). It also ranked 5th on IGN’s list of “The Greatest Comic Book Cartoons of All Time” and 23rd on IGN’s list of “Top 25 Primetime Animated Series of All Time“.

MOVIES

Spawn made his feature film debut in 1997. Negotiations for a Spawn movie started when Columbia Pictures showed interest in making a film adaptation of Spawn after the comic book’s phenomenal launch in 1992. They fell through when the studio refused to allow Todd McFarlane enough creative input on the project. Eventually, New Line Cinema made a good enough deal that McFarlane sold the film rights to Spawn for $1 in exchange for creative control and rights to the merchandise.

FACT: George Lucas made a similar deal with 20th Century Fox for Star Wars (1977).

Spawn was originally green-lit with a budget of $20 million but it grew to $45 million due to the visual effects needed (approximately a third of the project’s budget was spent on the effects). The shooting schedule was only 63 days.

SPAWN IN THE FLESH

Michael Jai White was chosen to don the cape of Spawn. Michael Jai White found Al Simmons’ character appealing; he described Spawn as “the most tragic character I’ve encountered in any cinematic production.”

Wesley Snipes, Cuba Gooding Jr., Snoop Dogg, Tony Todd, Allen Payne, Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Ving Rhames, Tupac Shakur, and LL Cool J were all at one point originally considered for the role of Spawn.

FACT: Will Smith was also considered for the role of Spawn but he declined as he felt Spawn’s dark nature would tarnish his squeaky clean “Fresh Prince” image. He chose to play Agent J in Men in Black (1997) instead.

Michael underwent quite a transformation to play Spawn

Michael Jai White had endure “two to four hours of make-up work, including a full glued-on bodysuit, yellow contact lenses that irritated his eyes, and a mask that restricted his breathing”. He said that his long-time experience with martial arts helped him to endure the uncomfortable prosthetics, giving him “strong will and unbreakable concentration.” (Spawn (1997 film), Wikipedia, 2020).

The Story

Directed and co-written by Mark A.Z. Dippé, the film shows the origin story of Spawn beginning with the murder of Al Simmons (played by Michael Jai White). He is then resurrected as Spawn with the intention of him being the demonic leader of Hell’s army. Spawn refuses to lead the army in the war against Heaven and sets out on the path of revenge against those who killed him and prevent the release of a biological weapon world-wide. The film co-stars John Leguizamo (as Clown, Al’s demonic guide), Nicol Williamson (as Al’s mentor, Cogliostro), Martin Sheen (as Jason Wynn) and Theresa Randle (as Al’s widow Wanda).

Spawn was released in the United States on August 1, 1997. It grossed $87 million worldwide against its production budget of $45 million, but received generally negative reviews from critics and fans. It grossed $19,738,749 that opening weekend, ranking second behind the Harrison Ford movie Air Force One.

MOVIE FACTS

Todd McFarlane made a cameo in the movie as a homeless man. Here he is pictured with the man playing his comic book creation

Spawn is one of the first films to feature an African-American actor portraying a major comic book superhero. Although Robert Townsend’s The Meteor Man (1993) was the first major black superhero film, Spawn was the first to be based on a major comic book.
The 2nd ever black comic book movie, Shaquille O’Neal’s Steel (1997) was also released later in the same month as Spawn.
Michael Jai White is not a fan of the film: “There is no footage of me ever saying that I liked Spawn. I have never said that I thought that was a good movie.”
White was actually set on fire for one scene.
During the scene when Clown eats a piece of pizza covered in maggots from the trash, there were actual maggots on the pizza and actor John Leguizamo ate them.
This film is the first time that White had starred in a comic book movie. The second comic book movie that White had starred in was as a crime boss killed by The Joker in The Dark Knight (2008).
The film was released five years after Spawn debuted in the comics.
In January 2018, Complex magazine listed Spawn at number 2 out of 22, on its list of “The Best Black Superheroes In Movies”.

MOVIE REBOOT

In early 2015, Todd McFarlane announced a new Spawn adaptation for the big screen. In February 2016, McFarlane confirmed he had completed the script for the film with a larger-than-normal page count because he’s “putting in details for myself” in conjunction with his hopes to direct.

In July 2017, it was officially confirmed that McFarlane would direct the film himself, which is being produced under Jason Blum’s production company Blumhouse.

In May 2018, it was reported that Oscar winner Jamie Foxx would portray the title character. This would be the 2nd comic book character played by Foxx after his portrayal of Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man. After the financial success of the R-rated comic book film Joker, the film restarted development In November 2019. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, no additional news has been made of this project.

LEGACY

Spawn is considered one of the most popular superheroes of all time and has been ranked on several ‘Best of’ lists since his debut:

He was ranked 60th on Wizard magazine’s list of the Top 200 Comic Book Characters of All Time.
He was ranked 50th on Empire magazine’s list of The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters.
He was ranked 36th on IGN’s 2011 Top 100 Comic Book Heroes.

-JaDarrel Belser