Top 5 Anticipated Movies of 2025

5. Ballerina

I still need to watch John Wick 4. It’s a shame that I didn’t catch that one in the theaters when it came out, it just didn’t work out. So this is the first of the spin off movies, though not the first spin off project. I think The Continental is already out (and is) but wasn’t well received. This time we’re diving into another part of the world with Ana De Armas in the lead role, so someone who is definitely having a moment in Hollywood. I’m excited to see what they can do with a spin off film in the world and how they can continue to flesh out the story of the world.

4. Superman

It won’t be the only superhero stuff you see on the list. But this one is a bit further down. I like what James Gunn does with superheroes a lot. For me, I am just not blown away by the first trailer. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Snyderverse at all, so it’s not like I’m missing that. But the trailer for Superman just looked fine to me. And I am used to Marvel’s trailers where they can make it look great, even when it isn’t. But it is James Gunn and it’s a relaunch of that universe with new characters, so I’m definitely excited and intrigued.

3. Sinners

This is the movie that potentially caused a lot of the issues for Blade. But I like the sounds of that from Sinners a lot. This is a Michael B Jordan and Ryan Coogler vampire film. It is a period piece set in the 1930’s when something unnatural and unholy comes to a small town, how will the characters deal with it and survive. i like what both the forces behind it have done, and even if this was a bit too close to what Marvel was doing with Blade, I am excited to see what the two of them can turn out.

2. How to Train Your Dragon

I really have enjoyed the animated movies. And that is a good thing because my kid really liked them for a long time. Now we’re getting it as a live action film and the first trailer definitely looks fun. I hope that it’s not 100% a shot for shot remake as live action, but if it is, I’m sure it’ll still be good. I don’t expect it to be much different than that, though, because they know that their target audience is kids. And they’ll want the parents bringing them to something that the kids already know and love.

1. Captain America: Brave New World
Thunderbolts*
Fantastic Four: First Steps

Yes, this is that group where I said it was five* movies on the list. It’s more than that because of course my #1 is going to be the Marvel movies coming out this year. And we’re very close to the first one now, just over a month away, before Captain America: Brave New World comes out. But I really am looking forward to all of these movies. I think that they all offer something interesting from The Red Hulk, to a new, and hopefully best take, on the Fantastic Four.

And with my podcast, 10 Minute Marvel, that is another reason I hope as well. I want to talk about some great Marvel movies and shows this year. You can find the podcast here on the website and hear our conversations as to what our most anticipated of the movies are. Or you can go to the YouTube channel, 10 Minute Marvel, to check it out as well.

Thoughts on the List And Going to the Theater

It’s tough for me every year to do the list. I find that it’s tricky, with a kid, to make time for the movies. For going to the movies especially, but even in the evenings, how often do I find the time for a 2 hour long movie to watch. Not that often when the kid is going to be later and I don’t want to stay up too late. So instead I find myself watching more shows.

For me to go to a theater, it must be an event for me. So things like the Marvel movies at #1 are that sort of event for me. I love going there and being a part of the crowd and seeing what happens and how people react in the moment and getting swept up in that. But unless a movie is like that, so generally Marvel or Star Wars, I kind of just want to sit back, wait, hear how a movie is for people I trust who see more movies, and then watch it on a big screen at home.

Do you find yourself still going to theaters or is it only for those big event movies?

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Thanks for Listening to 10 Minute Marvel

I hope that you are enjoying the podcast. If you are, there are a few ways that I always talk about that you can support 10 Minute Marvel. Firstly, please consider sharing it with your friends. Word of mouth really is a great way to help more people find the podcast and personal recommendations are always great. As well as then subscribing or leaving a rating and review. Both of those make the podcast easier to find on the podcast services. You can find the podcast on iTunes, Google Podcast, Stitcher, and Spotify.

We also run a Patreon and that is another way you can help support. The Patreon, found here, goes to help improve the quality of the 10 Minute Marvel Podcast, pay for advertising and more. It also helps improve the Malts and Meeples YouTube Channel and Nerdologists.com website. Thank you for considering supporting us financially.

Comments or Questions – Marvel Villains

With all the projects coming up, who do you want to see show up as a villain and in what movie or show? And what did you think of the Across the Spiderverse trailer. Or maybe the biggest question, if Marvel and DC did a crossover, who would you want to face off or work together?

You can let us know all of those things down in the comment section below. Or tweet them to me @TheScando or by using #10MinMarvel.

Thank you again for listening, and I’ll see you next time.

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The Game – Batman: Everybody Lies

Like I said, I’m not going to get into too many details on the game because, it’s a system that’s been done before. It does tweak what was done in the base Detective game, though, a little bit. So let’s focus on the differences here so you know what has changed.

Firstly, each character that you can play as has some backstory that you, as the player gets to find out about. Basically an introductory letter to the case and a specific mission that you want to find the answer for. And you can push further at some locations and some leads to find your answer. You are tested on them, so you want to do that as that’ll help your overall score.

Next, time is fixed in this. I don’t mean that it wasn’t working before, but it was variable, it might take you two hours it might take you three. Now everything takes one time unit and it isn’t done in days, you just has certain check points where you can stop.

Finally, there are also scenes. Now this is something that they kind of did for the original. But the basic idea is that there are comic panels that you can look at and try and figure out clues from it. It adds to the immersion of the game play.

What Doesn’t Work?

The group as a whole thought it was a bit odd how little Batman was in a game about Batman. No one plays as Batman, he is just a side character whom you can interact with. That makes sense in some ways because Batman would just always be the answer to doing anything. But it struggles a little bit because there isn’t enough Batman, not enough interactions with Batman or Bruce Wayne or Alfred.

The story is tied together, each part loosely connects in, though it feels like more so through the cast of characters versus a deeply intertwining story that the original game has. And some of it might be that we didn’t play it as consecutively, but the story is just not as strong, which makes sense in some ways because they needed to work with DC to get everything approved for a story.

What Works?

I do think that Batman in general for a setting works well, or Gotham I should say. And while I have some issues with how it was pulled off, it is still a solid experience playing it. Mainly because a lot of Batman’s rogues gallery is fun. And they use parts of it throughout, I won’t say who all shows up but they do a solid job of mixing in characters.

And I think some of the new things work well. The time is fine either way, but it makes it easier for new players. But the other things, the comic panels, I like those. And I like that each character has their own thing, sometimes which you run out of time to figure out. But because we know the characters you play as, or at least they are in the comics, they can create that extra bit of connection with them.

Who Is It For?

I think this is for someone who wants a deduction game or wants to get people to play a deduction game. The Batman theme is going to be more appealing than what feels like NCIS or CSI. At least for some people it will be. And because of certain things being easier, I think that it’s simpler to get to the table.

On the flip side, it’s just a little bit less interesting in a lot of ways than the other one. My complaint about how the story ties together won’t be noticed, though, if you haven’t played the other. But I do think for some people it might feel like it’s lacking a little bit.

Final Thoughts on Batman: Everybody Lies

I was going to talk about which one I preferred but it’s clear that I like Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game better. Now that doesn’t mean that Batman: Everybody Lies is a bad game, it just isn’t as good. I had a lot of fun with it and I know that they are working on more. And I hope that it builds up in the future to more in depth or connected stories.

I definitely think that there are elements that work well. And it’s fun to have it in a fictional setting like this one. And I do think that it’s easier to get into and that’s a good thing. So I more see it as that I’m not the target audience completely for this one. Because I know the other game and was up for that challenge, but if it was my first one, I think I’d have loved it more than I do.

My Grade: B-
Casual Grade: A-
Gamer Grade: B-

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Black Widow Spoilers Ahead

As that says, there are going to be spoilers ahead of this film. If you are interested in seeing, I suggest going to a theater to see it, if you can, or checking it out over on Disney+ with their premiere access. That should give you some idea if I like it, but you can make that determination yourself.

The Plot

The Black Widow, it has a pretty straight forward plot. In the movie, we start immediately after the events of Civil War and the battle at the German airport. Black Widow is on the run and using some of her contacts to find a place to lay low. She finds a spot, but a delivery of mail from her old safe house in Budapest brings unwanted attention from the Taskmaster and the Red Room. This is because Yelena, who was under a drug induced mind control by the Red Room was given a drug that caused her to break free.

Black Widow goes to Budapest where she teams up with Yelena. Natasha finds out that when she was there last time and she thought she took down the red room, she hadn’t. The man she’d been trying to kill, to prove her loyalty to SHIELD, Dreykov had survived. And he was still running the Red Room and the widow program.

Yelena and Natasha go to Siberia to break their “father”, who had played their father when they were undercover in the US, out of prison. Alexei, the Red Guardian, was the Soviet’s answer to Captain America. Their own super soldier. He, unfortunately doesn’t have any connection to the Red Room anymore. But he knows that their mother from their time undercover, Melina, likely does.

They go to her, she does indeed and that gets them into the Red Room. Though, not the way that they had planned, being captured, instead, by the agents of Dreykov. However, it turns out that Natasha and Melina had hatched out a plan. They swapped faces, and Natasha was able to get her revenge and take down the Red Room. Along the way finding out that Taskmaster was Dreykov’s daughter, whom she had used to find Dreykov and thought she’d killed originally in Budapest.

What I Didn’t Like

Now, that was a pretty long winded recap. Normally I sum this up better, especially for something that has a straight forward plot, but I wanted to explain things up there for the plot, versus down in what I did and didn’t like.

The main thing that I didn’t like was the use of Taskmaster. There is little to no reason that Taskmaster needed to be turned into a cyborg, basically, or that they even needed Taskmaster for the plot. Natasha has enough past trauma to go through with taking down the Red Room to get closure that you don’t need a notable villain besides Dreykov. And then Taskmaster ends up getting deprogrammed and set free. But what does that even look like? She isn’t going to behave like a normal person in the real world.

But, honestly, that’s about it that I didn’t like. Now, keep in mind, I am talking about likes and didn’t like, not good, bad and average. Average is going to be everything else.

What I Liked

I thought that Florence Pugh was amazing in this. Her portrayal of Yelena really worked and she was the main reason to watch this movie. And with the end credit scene, is the main reason to have watched this movie. She just worked really well as a jaded figure who was out of the Red Rooms control, but doesn’t know how to live. Yelena is a good counter point to Black Widow. She is fairly jaded with everything, and harbors resentment but now has new freedom.

And then that End Credits scene. Florence Pugh is going to be showing up in the Hawkeye TV show. So it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out. Clearly going to be a continuation of that end credit scene. Also, this was supposed to be the first time we met Val. I actually think it works much better that we met Val in Falcon and the Winter Soldier before we met her here. It gives us more context for her and makes this scene play better.

I also like David Harbour as the Red Guardian. He was mainly there for comic relief and to do a bit of fighting. But that worked for the film. It needed someone who could help balance out what would have been a very serious and dark movie. Marvel does a good job of adding characters who help keep their films from diving too dark, which I like. A good superhero movie should have that balance, because the comics have that balance, at least from Marvel and DC.

Finally, I liked the balance that it got. This is the type of spy action film that I want. Now, I know I’m in the minority, but I felt like the previous Marvel attempt, Captain America: Winter Soldier, got caught being half a spy movie and half a superhero movie and not doing either amazingly well. This is more of the spy action movie that I like. Now, I know that people will disagree, but for me, that’s how I feel about it.

Black Widow Final Thoughts

Like I said before the spoilers started, this is a movie that is very much worth checking out. The action is really good throughout. I feel like it has some Bond elements to it. It actually has some direct parallels to Moonraker. A Bond Film that I haven’t seen in a long time, if ever. But now I want to watch it. The action is really good and it balances that level of humor and seriousness really well. I am excited to see more Yelena in the MCU.

This, isn’t a Top 10 Marvel movie for me, but probably Top 15. And I really only have a three or four that I don’t think are good movies. So Top 15 is a really enjoyable movie still. Where does it rank in the Marvel movies for you?

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But like any person, I enjoy certain themes more than others. You can probably guess some of them based off of the games that I talk about the most, but let’s run down my Top 10 favorite themes in board games.

The List

On this list, going back to yesterday’s post, you are going to see some things where you’ll think, that’s theme is a subset of another theme on the list. Some themes, Sci-Fi and Fantasy, for example, are really broad.

10. Fairy Tales

This is a theme that I don’t see enough in games that target adults. Fairy Tales are often used for kids games, and while that’s a great spot for them, let’s not lie, the original fairy tales were messed up stories that didn’t end well. The versions that we know, those aren’t w hat they first at the start. So I love to see that twisted, but maybe closer to the actual theme fairy tale games.

The Grimm Masquerade

So, my example is going to be The Grimm Masquerade. This creates a hidden role game that is actually pretty interesting for me. I don’t love games like Mafia, Werewolf, or the Resistance because they are generally too simple. The Grimm Masquerade is all about figuring out who is what character, but how it is done is really interesting. Mainly because you have a draw a card and either keep it or give it away, and then the other action with your second card. Simple mechanics and fun game play.

9. Exploration

Honestly, I think if I do this again in two years, explorations will be higher on my list. I have mainly played a couple games that use this theme. And you could argue that it’s more of a mechanic, but I am thinking of that Indiana Jones type feel, where you have fantastic things going on, and you are discovering it with the other people at the tables. There are a few other games that dabble in this in another category that comes up. But I like the feeling of going into that new area and not knowing what I might find.

Tainted Grail

Now, Tainted Grail falls into a few other themes coming up here as well, but it works well here. The biggest element of Tainted Grail is diving in and exploring the massive, well written world that Awaken Realms has created. They even have an exploration journal which has so many things that you can do in it, and some many different paths you can go. It is probably impossible to actually find all the different options which is amazing.

8. Zombies

Yes, Zombies get their own theme. There are so many zombie games out there, and I tend to like them. Zombie games fall mainly into two categories. You either are mowing down zombies to get away from them, or you are trying to survive and it’s about the people versus killing zombies. Both are a lot of fun, and I have games with both types. I even have one where you are the zombies, but that one is a bit themeless really with Zombie Dice.

Dead of Winter

No shock which one I picked here, there are a lot of zombie games, but this one I have played the most. This is one where it is about the survivors and trying to make it through the cold of winter and complete your objectives. It’s interesting because it is cooperative with the possibility of a traitor, but it’s not as well. Because each player has a secret objective they need to complete to be part of the winning group. It is an interesting dynamic that works pretty well but won’t be for everyone. It does help simulate what your survivor(s) might care about most.

7. Lovecraftian

So another one that has a darker theme, we’re talking about Lovecraft. Now, this is not like Lovecraft’s books, but more the investigative, pulp, noir, theme that has been put on it by Fantasy Flight Games, mainly, and other companies as well. The main thing that ties it back to Lovecraft is that it uses his monsters to create a more fleshed out world of intrigue, investigation and tentacles.

Mansions of Madness

A few options I could have gone with, there are a ton of games with a Lovecraftian theme because, well, it is a public domain. Don’t have a theme, slap Lovecraft on it. But Mansions of Madness is my favorite. It is taking this city view or world view that some of the other games have and focusing it down to a neighborhood or a mansion. Add in the app which changes things up so you can play the same scenario multiple times and things will vary slightly. Just a nice, deeply thematic game.

6. Detective

Building off of what Lovecraftian themes do with their horror added, I like games where you are the person trying to figure out who done it. I would still even play something like Clue which is one of the first games that did that. But the genre has improved so much over time and you can have Sherlock Holmes, though I haven’t played any of the Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective games.

Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game

It has Detective in it’s name, it has to be good, right? Well, not really, but it was very good. This takes all of the best parts of those procedural cop shows and drops you into it. You are the one making the decisions, picking up on clues, and trying to solve the case. The base box is amazing, and I have a bunch more stuff to play for it. They are now even doing a spy theme using the same system that I am really excited about.

5. Mythology

Welcome to the second category that Tainted Grail falls into it. But I really like games that can pull from different mythologies, Norse, Greek, Roman, Mayan, and more to create interesting board games. And the idea of playing as the gods or adjacent to the gods is always interesting. Especially because of the different powers the gods have and how that can translate into what you are doing. I also get to learn stuff about mythologies that I might not know much about.

Lords of Hellas

This takes a few things and puts them together. It is a bit like the world of Horizon Zero Dawn where the monsters look like creatures but are machines, and it has a cyber punk element. This game definitely leans more into the mythological side of things as you play different heroes and build towers to the gods. I love the different win conditions and the theme just makes the game that much more compelling.

4. Sci-Fi

Broad category #1, science fiction. There are a few different types, and I tend to prefer space exploration type of Sci-Fi versus weird future worlds. Though, things like Shadowrun are technically Sci-Fi and I like that Cyberpunk theme. However, I really like the grander feel that space exploration has in general. And there are a ton of great board games that fall into the realm of space.

Star Wars: Rebellion

Now this could be consider cheating a little bit because Star Wars could be it’s own theme. But it is also a space game. While you aren’t exploring as much, the empire is exploring planets trying to narrow down where the rebels can be. This feels like the original trilogy as it is cat and mouse. The empire trying to squash the rebel fleets and find their base, and the rebels trying to subvert the empires plan. It is also a big game, probably playing in about three hours or a bit less, if you know what you are doing. Ton of fun, Star Wars in a box.

3. Fantasy

Now, the second to last category that Tainted Grail could fit into, I love fantasy games. Unlike Sci-Fi where I prefer space sci-fi, I like almost any type of fantasy. Whether it’s a grim dark world like Tainted Grail, urban fantasy like The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game, or silly fantasy like Smallworld, I like games that have fantasy in them. There’s just something about slinging spells and fighting dragons or other crazy monsters that is a lot of fun.

Gloomhaven

No surprise what game I am going with here, Gloomhaven is my favorite game of all time. It has you on this massive epic adventure as you try and figure out all that is happening in the lands. But beyond that, the game has amazing card play and really unique fantasy creatures to fight and play as. The amount of world building that went into Gloomhaven is amazing.

2. Superhero

I flipped the last two at the last second, but Superheroes, they are just below my #1, because, well, there are a lot of poor superhero games out there. So this theme will always get me interested whether I’m playing as a superhero or fighting against them. But because DC and Marvel are both very popular in general, that means that there are some poorer games out there. But tell me that a board game has a Marvel theme, I am always going to check it out.

Marvel Champions

A Marvel game, no surprise there. I really like Marvel Champions a lot. It is a great game that they keep on adding more great content for. This is the one that has me playing a hero that I know and love from Marvel and I feel like that hero. If I am playing Spider-Man, I can go in there with a swinging web kick, or I can flip over to Peter Parker, the bad guy won’t fight me, and I can recover. Of course, then the bad guy is scheming until I can get in there again to stop their plans and take them down.

1. Horror

Finally, my number 1, Horror. I love horror in board games. From games where it is a one off scenario to games where it is a full campaign. The grim dark fantasy nature of Tainted Grail makes it also dabble into horror. But Zombie and Lovecraftian games also fall into that category as well. Zombies can be more survival and Lovecraftian can be more investigative, so horror get’s it’s own. I love not knowing what’s around the corner, what horror might be popping up and the feeling of the impending doom if things don’t go well.

Betrayal at House on the Hill

Now, I know this one will be controversial. There are people who do not like this game, I love it. I think that it is really well done and it gives you that feeling of horror movies. You don’t know what is around the next corner, if a good twist happens, you don’t know who is going to be betray you, and you don’t know if you will survive. Is it well balanced, probably not, but I really like the thematic and cinematic feeling it gives me.

What Is Your Favorite Theme?

Let me know in the comments below or over on Twitter what themes in board games you like best. There are a lot of them out there. I could have broken down Fantasy and Sci-Fi more as well. Are there any that you feel are used too much?

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Legos

Now, Legos might seem like a kids thing, but speaking as an adult who has several Lego sets, though not currently out, Legos are awesome. And Lego is no longer just a bunch of random bricks to build houses with, or some castle sets, both Marvel and DC have Lego sets. I have the Milano from Guardians of the Galaxy, for example, that I need to get on display. But you can get Dr. Strange’s Sanctum, Avengers Mansion, Green Lantern vs Sinestro, or a very detailed Batwing. These can make awesome display pieces for a nerdy room. I have a gaming room, but I have action figures and trade paperbacks in this room as well. So Legos are always fun display pieces.

Trade Paperbacks

Speaking of trade paperbacks, for someone who loves the movies, a good move would be to get them some trade paperbacks of the comic runs of their favorite characters, or upcoming films. If someone is interested in the Eternals, grab Neil Gaiman’s run of that, or if someone loved the Infinity saga, you could get them The Infinity Gauntlet. There are a ton of stories out there like that, but you can also just get a comic run for a character like Batman, Spider-Man, or Thor, really tailoring it to the character that they like. Or a more general team-up one like Avengers, Justice League, or Teen Titans. What’s so nice about this is that you will be able to find arcs within those as well. The past couple of weeks I’d talked about Planet Hulk and World War Hulk, those both can be found in trade paperbacks.

Board Games

Yes, there are board games, but I’m keeping this a bit more generalized. I’m going to rattle off a number of them here, and you can fit what might be right for you. Marvel Battleworld, this is a super simple game that has a very high toy factor to it. You collect little Marvel figures and take them to battle locations. There are Thanos Stones (not a thing that I know of in the comics) which are basically just the packs you get the characters in, so you can open up more blind packs in hopes you’ll get who you want. Then Marvel Legendary an the DC Deck Building Game, more complicated games, but still pretty straight forward. In these are you start out with some generic cards, but you add in superheroes to your deck of cards as you go to do cool combos. There is a ton out for both of these games, but they are a bit random. Marvel Champions is another option, this one has you taking a team of heroes up against a villain in a very complex strategy game where you are balancing out use of cards to stop the villains scheming and beat them up. Two more to go, first is Sentinels of the Multiverse. This one is not based off of any IP, intellectual property, but is it’s own super hero world. The cool thing about that is that they do a great job of world building themselves. There is a ton for this game, but just the base game will have a lot to play, another card based super hero game. Finally, Marvel United, this one is new this year, and one that I’d highly recommend. It is a fairly simple game, so good for a non gamer of all ages. The minis in this game are amazing, and the game play is fun, definitely worth checking out and probably the best option for the largest crowd.

Action Figures

I’ve touched on them briefly when I talked about Legos, but action figures are another great option. And you can find them in a wide range of detail and prices. I personally have enjoyed the Marvel Diamond Select ones, a bit more expensive, but come with great backdrops. But I have simpler Marvel ones and DC ones as well. Plus you can get the person their favorite character again. Almost every character has had an action figure come out of it. And if an action figure isn’t quite right, you can always look for something like Funko Pops as well. A bit more limited, kind of, in characters that they have, they make a good thing for someone to show off their nerdiness just a little bit as something to display in a cubicle at work, or maybe where you are working from home from.

Now, normally I do five different things, but I’ve covered more than that already with the different games, types of action figures, and more. Obviously, there are going to be things like the movies that you could get someone as well, or with Wandavision coming out January 15th, you could gift someone a subscription for the year to Disney+. So there are a lot of things that you can consider for gifts when it comes to super heroes, it’ll be down to what you think is best for the person you are giving the gift to.

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I think that for a lot of people, they watch something like Iron Man or The Dark Knight, and they get curious about comics. However, even now with superheroes being part of the zeitgeist of our times, comics for a lot of people are a daunting step further into the superhero genre that people are less willing to take. Some of that is because the amount of content for comics is daunting. That’s what I’m hear for, to give you a jumping off point into comics, not just superheroes but any type.

I would say that there are two types of comics. The first being the shared universe comics, by that, I’m talking about your Marvel, DC, or Valiant Comics to name a few. The shared universe is going to have characters crossing over from one book to another and shared world events at times. Think about how there’s an Iron Man comic, and he’s part of the Avengers, plus, he might show up in another characters book as well. Or there will be events like Age of Ultron in Marvel or Flashpoint for DC to name a couple.

The other type is going to be your comics that are stand alone. Something like Saga, Umbrella Academy, Powers, or Locke & Key. They aren’t part of something larger and while their publisher might do a crossover event at some point in time, they are really meant for stand alone stories. Because of that, you don’t end up with sometimes as generic stories because they don’t have to play nice with what’s going on in the other comics. Or, I should say, it allows them to be more consistent, because you can have a mapped out story from the start and not need to worry about how you might affect another story if you have a world altering event or even world destroying event.

So that’s a little bit about how comic book companies work, but when getting into comics, that’s generally not the issue. And even stand alone style comics can be hard to get into if they’ve been going for a long time, like The Walking Dead. There’s just so many issues or trade paperbacks (TPB) or compendiums to pick up and for those you need to pick them all up, so how do you decide where to start?

For the stand alone, you almost need to start at the beginning, some of them, American Vampire, for example, do have arcs so you’re able to jump into them in the middle because the cast of characters will primarily be different and they’ll explain what you need to know for that arc of the story. But for some of them, Saga being a prime example of this, you need to start at the beginning because otherwise you won’t understand what is going on as issues and TPB’s build upon each other.

For the shared universe, you generally have more jumping off points. Firstly because they do resets on the universes every 5-10 years. Because you’re in a single massive universe, things grow and get crazier and crazier and eventually you’re dealing with Dark Phoenix almost destroying the universe, of Flash running through time. These massive events allow the comic book companies to create a launching off point for new characters getting comics, and now stories in the universe and undoing some of the old stories in the universe. The reason that they do this because both Marvel and DC have been doing this for over 80 years. That’s way to long to sustain characters having a single story arc throughout the whole thing. So instead, they restart with Peter Parker being a highschooler again, and while Uncle Ben won’t die yet again to do an origin story, they’ll tell stories in the comics that make more sense for a younger Peter Parker. And finding those things, the New 52 or Rebirth for DC as two examples, it gives you a spot to start from the stories in a fresh easy to jump in place.

Now, with some idea of where you want to start, you can head into a comic book store and pick up the stories that you’re interested in. However, right now, that’s not a possibility in a lot of places, or maybe you don’t have one around. There are some options for you still.

Firstly, if there is one around that you can get to, I recommend using a comic book store. It’s a small local operation, and supporting them is great, plus you get face to face interaction and they can set-up what’s known as a pull list for you. That’s going to be books that when they order, they get extras and set them aside for you so that you know you’ll get a copy of the stories that you’ve been following. Plus, they are also able to give you recommendations for other series that you won’t as easily be able to get form other sources.

You can also subscribe to services or sites that will pull and send comics directly to your place. Places like Things From Another World (TFAW) will allow you to pre-order comics that are coming out in the upcoming weeks. I’m not sure that they do the pull list, didn’t spot it easily on their site, but there are places out there that will allow you to set-up what comics you need. This is great if you want the physical copies, don’t mind getting them a couple of days later than their release, and don’t live near a comic book store.

The final option I want to talk about is digital comics. Again, you can set-up a pull list and get what you want or order a-la-carte from somewhere like Comixology. That’s going to allow you to get digital versions of new comics as they come out. Or, if you don’t mind not having the newest comic in your hand right away from Marvel, you can get them on Marvel Unlimited. That’s what I’m using now, mainly because I’m fine reading through older stories, like Age of Apocalypse from the 90’s and because it gives you all the books at a flat fee versus having to purchase each issue individually.

There’s a lot to digest in here, as I go from the different comic book story types down to where you can pick them up and where you might want to jump in. I wish that I’d had some of this information when I started as I accidentally doubled up on things between TPB and comic book issues themselves.

What was your introduction to comic books? Are you more of a superhero fan or more interested in some of the stand alone stories?

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I’m trying something a little bit different with the news, go through a rundown of the latest and backlog of news that I have, so we might get more news faster at the start of each episode if they keep giving me a lot.

• No More Tigra and Dazzler or Howard The Duck shows
• Falcon and the Winter Soldier moves up
• CMON creating a Marvel board game, coming to kickstarter
• Scott Derrickson out of Doctor Strange 2
• Captain Marvel 2 in preproduction

Plus, I still tackle a main topic where I look at the origins of Mandarin and see how he compares as a character to what we’ve already had hinted at in the MCU in Iron Man.

If you are enjoying the podcast, please consider leaving a rating and review, those help more people find the podcast and grow the listening audience. Thank you to the people who have already done that, I greatly appreciate it. I am on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play Music.

If you want to get a hold of me, you can leave a comment below, or tweet to me @TheScando or by using #10MinMarvel on Twitter. If you have suggestions for the show such as topics you want me to cover or comics you want me to read, let me know.

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Trade Paperbacks/Graphic Novels – Like I just got done saying above, this is probably not for the comic book fan, they are going to have a number of these, but there are plenty of options for people who like the shows or the movies to get them a trade paperback or two. I’d recommend sticking to some big storylines that the person might be a bit more familiar with, or the start of an authors run with a character. If you want to get a Thor trade paperback, don’t grab Thor volume 12, that might be confusing. But there are a lot of great options, volume ones for characters, or compendiums, as often those cherry pick out a few of the bigger story arcs for a character. But then there are bigger stories that you can look at as well. Infinity Gauntlet, Civil War, or Secret Invasion would all be good Marvel comics to get a fan of the movies. The DC shows are currently doing or starting soon Crisis on Infinite Earths, that’s a TPB you could grab, or an iconic Batman story, like The Killing Joke.

Funko Figures – You’re familiar with them, the big headed toys that are for a million different types of characters. I currently have two Stranger Things and Alice Cooper with me at work. But there are a ton of Marvel and DC ones for this. And you can even get it in game form if you want with the DC Funkoverse game. But you can also find unique ones to give as well, there was a whole run for Marvel Funko figures where they were all gold, so if someone already has some, it’s a unique different one. There is also Deadpool dressed up as Bob Ross. There are so many unique ones that it would take a while to list them all, and there can be rarer ones that, if you want, you can track down on eBay. I personally like them as something to put up in my cube at work, because they are pretty small.

Action Figures – Slightly different from Funko figures. Those are more of a caricature of the characters they are. Action figures are going to be closer to the comics and often tied directly into a storyline from the comics. I had a Magneto standing over a destroyed Xavier’s School for Gifted Children. Or Cat Woman stealing a gem from a safe in a Spiderman scene. These figures are also articulated so that you can pose them. Depending on what you get, they can run a little bit more than a Funko figure would. I personally really like the Diamond Select Marvel figures, which may or may not be made anymore, but I have been able to find on Amazon. DC has some nice ones as well. With these, since they can tie into a story as well, you can sometimes tailor it to a big event in the comics that is the person’s favorite.

Disney+/HBOMax – Give the joy of streaming this Christmas and give someone a few months of Disney+ or HBOMax, I could say, give the person a movie or a season of a TV show, but that is something they might already have. With Disney+ or when it comes out the new HBO streaming service (I believe it’s HBOMax) will have Marvel and DC respectively. If someone has been curious about the DC shows like Titans or Doom Patrol, that’s going to be a spot for them to check it out. Or if someone has been a Marvel fan for a long time, they can go back and watch classic episodes of the 1990’s animated Spider-Man or X-Men on Disney+. Plus, Disney+ has more streaming, like the majority of the MCU movies.

Marvel Legendary/Champions – I found a way to fit board games onto this list, and this is for someone who already likes board games. If they are a Marvel fan, both Marvel Legendary and Marvel Champions would be enjoyable for them. The games are two different types of deck builders where the players are trying to take out a villain and stop their evil schemes before it’s too late. Marvel Legendary is later in it’s life cycle where it has a million expansions, which aren’t needed. But if someone already has the game, you can probably find an expansion that they don’t have. Marvel Champions will be getting more expansions over time. The other good thing about Marvel Legendary is that you can tailor it, with the expansions, to make sure the person is getting their favorite character in the game.

Five Minute Marvel/DC Spyfall – Now, if you want lighter games, these are a couple of other options for board games. DC Spyfall is a social deduction game with the DC characters. You are trying to figure out who the bad guy is, but each character has their own unique powers as well that you can use. In Five Minute Marvel, it’s a very fast card driven game that plays, as the name says, in five minutes. It’s also where I got the name for my podcast #10MinMarvel. Especially Five Minute Marvel is going to be good to play with kids as well, because it is a fast paced game and the theme works while being a simple game. Both of these will work well with adults also, so it’s not just for kids, in fact, DC Spyfall, while being fairly simple, might be a concept that is a bit trickier for younger kids.

Artwork – I don’t think that you need to do commissioned superhero pieces, but there are plenty of cool art pieces out there. You can find unique ones on Etsy, or official ones, such as movie posters or even frame some comic books. In our house, we have a couple of pictures that are framed comic books. I have generally used a slightly larger frame with double glass, so no back cardboard on it, and then you just center up a comic in it. I also like using older comics as it gives the look a coop retro vibe. And while there are certainly very expensive older comics out there for beloved stories, you can find a lot of cheap ones that also have cool covers. This is a good option for someone who likes the comics and the movies, and has a lot of those things, but maybe is moving out on their own or needs someone to hang up.

There are going to be more options to give to that superhero fan in your life. Lego, for example, does awesome superhero sets, or there are video games, other board games, RPG’s (though not specific to Marvel or DC currently) and more. I think what I’ve listed out is going to do well for a good age range of superhero fans and you’ll be able to tailor it to them a little bit more. They are also not extremely expensive whereas some things, like Lego, can be quite expensive for larger sets. Hopefully there is some idea for that superhero fan in your life.

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So besides the cute title, what am I getting at in an article about spoilers?

Part of me wants to try and define a set of rules for when something is still a spoiler or not. When has it been around long enough that it’s fair game and when should you talk in hushed tones about something.

This comes up with Avengers: Endgame coming out in a week basically and people, for good reason, not wanting to be spoiled on what happens. It also comes up right now because there have been massive spoilers posted on Twitter, including leaked footage at this point time, and it’s still just over a week away.

I’ve defined a little bit of what a spoiler is, but let’s nail down a definition.

A spoiler is an element of a disseminated summary or description of any piece of fiction that reveals any plot elements which threaten to give away important details. Typically, the details of the conclusion of the plot, including the climax and ending, are especially regarded as spoiler material. It can also be used to refer to any piece of information regarding any part of a given media that a potential consumer was not intended to know beforehand. Because enjoyment of fiction depends a great deal upon the suspense of revealing plot details through standard narrative progression, the prior revelation of how things will turn out can “spoil” the enjoyment that some consumers of the narrative would otherwise have experienced.

Wikipedia

That’s a pretty long definition from Wikipedia there, but I think it covers it really well. To cut that down, it is spoiling anything related to the plot that is shared with the consumer of the plot by an outside point prior to the consumer getting to that point of the plot. Generally, I think that does spoil the anticipation for something knowing information about it head of time.

By that definition, technically any time someone is consuming that plot for the first time, no matter when the plot was created, you can spoil it for the person. However, in order for people to be able to converse and discuss the book, movie, show, audio drama, whatever it might be, you can’t worry indefinitely about spoiling the plot for people. I think that is where the tricky point in setting up rules around spoilers is, because, the joke of Bruce Willis seeing dead people in The Sixth Sense is actually a spoiler for me, but I don’t care, and probably a spoiler for some others, but because of how long ago that movie came out, that has to be fair game at some point in time to discuss.

Let’s talk about two upcoming/ongoing things and what sort of time frame they have on spoilers. The two things are Avengers: Endgame and then Game of Thrones. Both of these have a massive focus in the public eye, and because of that there will be spoilers but more so, there will be a ton of people wanting to talk about them. So how do you handle talking about things like that?

Firstly, I would always ask if everyone is caught up on Game of Thrones (or any sort of show) or has seen the movie before diving into the discussion. And this is talking about the immediate time frame. Especially close to when the episode or movie has come out, because some people aren’t able to see it immediately, even if they do really care about the story. And then respect that if people haven’t seen it or read it yet.

Next, I would set aside space and time when you can talk about it. You won’t be able to talk about it with everyone, but create a time, with people who have seen it at a mainly private location to talk about it. There’s always the temptation to go out after watching a movie and grab drinks and talk about it, you will spoil something for someone one. It is important to discuss and talk about pieces of media, but be considerate of where you do that, even if everyone in your group is up for talking about it, those around you might not be, and in that short time frame, it’s very possible that you will spoil something for someone else.

This one is especially true in movie theaters. I haven’t had it happen, but I have heard of it happening. Someone coming in for the next showing has the end of the movie spoiled by someone leaving. Wait until you are in your car before talking about it. If you can’t contain your excitement with the movie, talk about it generally. “That was amazing.” or “That was underwhelming” are fine, but saying that Captain America kissed Wonder Woman as they flew the Millennium Falcon into at the Reaver ship and just escaped the explosion by hopping into the TARDIS and going to Vulcan, just a bit too detailed. However, if I heard someone saying that when leaving Avengers: Endgame, that would be hilarious.

Finally, do give it some time before talking about it freely. Something like Game of Thrones and Avengers: Endgame, I would say when the DVD/Blu-Ray’s come out for each of them respectively, then they are fair game to talk about. At that point in time, someone who couldn’t make it to the theater, for whatever reason, is going to have more options to watch it and less excuses for having not watched it. Even then, I would still be respectful and keep an eye out for people who might not have seen it yet, because there are plenty of reasons why someone might not have seen a movie yet.

What I didn’t talk about in here was social media and online. How do you deal with spoilers then? For social media, I’d say it’s simple, don’t post spoilers publicly for the movie/show until it’s after the DVD/Blu-Ray is out. There isn’t a good way to really tag them as spoilers so that people can avoid them. On forums, I know one that I’m on will have two threads. One for general thoughts on the movie, and another for spoiler filled thoughts. I even, in my review of Avengers: Infinity War, did a non-spoiler and spoiler review, and I’ll be doing the same for Avengers: Endgame. And one important thing will be for me to remember to put enough header section at the top so that in article blurbs, spoilers aren’t shown.

So how do you deal with spoilers? Do you have any additional rules that I haven’t talked about? Do you think you should always ask before spoiling something no matter how long ago it was?

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