Review by C.J. Bunce
As with the first three books in Abrams’ Cinemagic book series, The Moviemaking Magic of Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man blends filmmaking techniques with its key franchise star. Author Eleni Roussos combines a quickstart education in filmmaking, applied to Spider-Man’s MCU movies as the latest Spidey sequel, Spider-Man: No Way Home, is released internationally. If you love concept art, props and costumes, and all things Spider-Man, you won’t want to miss this.
It’s time for borg′s annual look at the Best Kick-Ass Genre Heroines in film and television. This year we selected 26 characters that rose to the top. Again the studios gave us more to cheer about than ever. We’re highlighting the very best from a slate of fantastic heroines, with characteristics to learn from and root for. Determined, decisive, loyal, brave, smart, fierce, strong, you’ll find no one here timid or weepy, but all rely on their individual skills to beat the odds and overcome any obstacle that comes their way. Over the years we have expanded the list to include any tough, savvy, gritty character played by a woman, so villains are welcome here, too. Some may be frazzled, put-upon, war-weary, or human, but all have fought, some against difficult circumstances, others against personal demons (literally, figuratively, or both), and some against gun and laser fire. And they all showed what a tough, kick-ass character is about.
Several characters who made previous years’ kick-ass heroine lists returned to TV and film and could very well make the list again, but we’re looking for new recruits. So we’re not forgetting Lagertha in Vikings, Liv Moore from iZombie, Trish Walker in Jessica Jones, and Juliana Crain from The Man in the High Castle, all in their final seasons of their series, plus Eleven in Stranger Things, Juliet Higgins in Magnum PI, Liz Dudley in Lodge 49, the 13th Doctor in Doctor Who, Betty Cooper from Riverdale, and Sabrina Spellman and Ms. Wardwell from The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. At the movies Valkyrie, The Wasp, and Okoye were back, this time in Avengers: Endgame, Martha/Ruby Roundhouse returned in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and Rey was back one more time in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. This year we add a mystic, a former Russian operative, a DHS agent, an adventurer, an undercover cop, a bounty hunter, a general, a gang leader, superheroes, martial arts masters, special agents, survivors, former soldiers, resistance fighters, gelflings, warriors, witches, a bride, an emperor (not empress!), and even a cyborg–with a roster evenly split between television and movie characters.
Credit goes to both the writers and other creators of the characters and the actors and performers that brought them all to life.
These are the Best Kick-Ass Genre Heroines of 2019:
Aughra (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance). If there was a greater woman character in the history of fantasy film, we don’t know who that would be. We first met her 37 years ago thanks to Jim Henson in the original movie, and she hardly changed at all for the prequel series that arrived at last this year. Voice actor Donna Kimball and Muppeteer extraordinaire Kevin Clash perfectly replicated the witchy sorceress whose wisdom, savvy, and mystic powers were stealthily used this season. She went to death and back again, and was key to defeat the Skekses once again. (Henson/Netflix)
Black Widow (Avengers: Endgame). After a decade of being the only superheroine in the Avengers, Scarlet Johannson’s Natasha Romanoff finally took center stage this year as the bravest of the entire bunch, giving her life to save not only everyone on Earth, but everyone across the universe destroyed by Thanos. And yet she still didn’t get the fanfare that Tony Stark did. We’re hoping she gets the solo film she deserves when she’s back one more time next year in her own movie. (Disney/Marvel)
Hattie Shaw (Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw). As part of a big bad assassin family, whose mother was played by Helen Mirren and brother by Jason Statham, Vanessa Kirby’s Hattie might be the toughest of them all. If you need to track down a missing deadly virus in the hands of a cybernetically enhanced superhuman, who else are you going to call to team up with Statham and The Rock? (Universal)
Agent M (Men in Black: International). Valkyrie Tessa Thompson is back on the list again, this time as the first movie lead Woman in Black, earning her nebulizer with the help of her Thor-world partner Chris Hemsworth. As a little girl, Molly witnessed an alien as her parents were zapped by Men in Black, and she worked her entire life to be able to get into the CIA or FBI, hoping one would be the entry point into the secret organization. Agents O and High T would recognize her value to the team, as she saved the planet from the latest menace. (Columbia/Sony)
Cyclone Mei (The Legend of the Condor Heroes). Even as an evil witch, Viola Mi’s master of the Nine Yin White Bone Claw and Heart Destroying Palm techniques became a sympathetic villain after her husband died at the hands of young Guo Jing and she became blind. Even blind she used internal techniques to defeat anyone she perceived as a threat. Master of the whip with fearsome claws, beautiful and fierce Mei Chaofeng once joined her husband as the “Twin Masters of the Dark Winds” to possess a forbidden manual of martial arts, and would leave mountains of bodies in their wake as they sank deeper into the dark teachings. (iQIYI)
Sarah Connor (Terminator: Dark Fate). We were excited when we heard Linda Hamilton would return to the franchise 27 years after she had a major transformation from waitress into the woman who would save 3 billion lives. One of Sci-Fi’s two best-known kick-ass heroines (along with Ellen Ripley), original terminator target Sarah Connor lost none of that drive and determination to continue to kill Terminators into the 21st century. As a grandma surrogate and mentor to the next generation of leadership, we’ve no doubt the future is safe again. (Paramount/20th Century Fox)
Special Agent Dinah Madani (Marvel’s The Punisher). For the entire second season, Amber Rose Revah’s DHS agent was hot on the trail of taking down Billy Russo’s villain Jigsaw. Who knew she’d need to get through his psychiatrist first. She was always tough and good at her job, but proved herself in the final two episodes of the series. (Netflix)
Leia Organa (Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker). Princess or General, Carrie Fisher’s Leia Organa was one of the 1970s brand of kick-ass heroines, although we still wish she’d had the opportunity to show her stuff just as Rey was able to in the third trilogy movies. We prefer seeing her as she continued after the original trilogy in Timothy Zahn’s novels, the Dark Empire comics, and the 20 years of the Expanded Universe stories, where we saw her realize power as great as Luke and the rest of the Jedi Order. (Disney/Lucasfilm)
Captain Marvel (Captain Marvel/Avengers: Endgame). Brie Larson’s take on Captain Marvel was an end-to-end story about being tough and taking charge. An entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that didn’t fit the mold of past films, it allowed audiences to meet her for the first time and ramp up our appreciation for all she could do in short order. Soon enough she’d be integral to relocating Thanos after The Snap, and she’d return one more time in the final battle to try to turn the universe back to the way it was. (Disney/Marvel)
Cara Dune (The Mandalorian). A master of hand-to-hand combat as well as crack sharp-shooter, the latest Star Wars heroine (played by Gina Carano) helped the Mandalorian take down an AT-ST in their first go. Once a shock trooper with the Rebel Alliance and a fighter after the Battle of Endor, Cara is just the help the Mandalorian and The Child need going forward in the series. (Disney/Lucasfilm)
Sue Lynn Blackbird (Stumptown). Always the smartest person in the room, and ten steps ahead of everyone else, Tantoo Cardinal’s Sue Lynn runs the local Tribal Casino, but she does much more. She’s a businesswoman who always negotiates from the power position. Her leadership role means she has the power to excommunicate anyone who isn’t acting in the best interests of the tribe–or give them another chance. She’s also tough enough to forgive and mentor younger walking disasters she encounters from time to time. (ABC)
Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Star Trek: Discovery). We’ve always loved Michelle Yeoh, but the series writers for her latest character held back in the first season of the series. At last viewers got the full monte when the mirror version of the series lead character’s captain returned not only to help her, but to eliminate any who got in her way, and proceed to take over the secret spy agency of the prime world timeline. Up there with Jaylah from Star Trek Beyond, “Mirror Georgiou” is one of the new breed of badass Star Trek character.
Christine Gavin (Wu Assassins). Vikings star Katheryn Winnick makes her second showing on the list, this time as San Francisco undercover police officer Christine Gavin. Expecting to find the ringleader of a major crime syndicate, she began her work gaining the trust of a man in a local chop shop, only to discover a larger world existed beyond the world we see every day. Possessing some major martial arts skills and a street fighting manner, she didn’t lose a fight all season long, and helped battle evil in both dimensions. (Netflix)
Grace (Terminator: Dark Fate). Sent from the future to save a young woman who has the potential to go forward and lead a rebellion against a new technological apocalypse, Mackenzie Davis’s Grace stepped up to fight a new brand of Terminator. A human that volunteered to undergo enhancements to make herself into a full-fledged cyborg, she would fulfill her mission, giving the ultimate sacrifice for the future of humanity. (Paramount/20th Century Fox)
Huang Rong (The Legend of the Condor Heroes). Quick thinking with a photographic memory, Yitong Ling’s Rong’er met her future husband on one of her outings in beggar garb disguised as a man, practicing her skills as a thief and 13th century grifter. Young and easy to underestimate, with the witty banter of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and an almost supernatural ability to coerce anyone to do her bidding, her charismatic traits were only matched by her mastery of enough schools of martial arts to prevent anyone from learning who taught her. Raised on Peach Blossom Island by her father, she learned how to confuse an enemy, and is able to convince Hong Qigong to teach her even more, all in exchange for her cooking–hey, you can be a badass and also a master chef. (iQIYI)
Maudra Fara (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance). Refusing to recognize Seladon’s claim to the position of All-Maudra, she’d challenge her for the Living Crown. Fara assumed the title of Maudra after Vala, her mother, had been killed during the First Battle of Stone-in-the-Wood, and she would prove to be the fiercest of all the Gelflings, male or female. Who wouldn’t follow her into harm’s way? Alice Dinnean was the puppeteer behind the scenes, with Lena Headey supplying her voice. (Henson/Netflix)
Grace (Ready Or Not). Samara Weaving’s character Grace made for the perfect bride on her wedding day… who married into a family of psychopaths that required she first beat them in a wedding night game of hide and seek–to the death. A horror movie that was also a suspense thriller, Ready Or Not ran circles around the similar Knives Out from an entertainment and excitement standpoint. Grace had to shoot though her in-laws and extended family to survive the night, somehow finding the mettle to defend herself when the unthinkable became the thinkable–and for audiences it was so much fun! (Mythology/Vinson)
Vedek Kira Nerys (Deep Space Nine: What We Left Behind). In this year’s Deep Space Nine documentary, the creators of the series returned to give viewers a glimpse at what Season 8 would have looked like had they been able to continue, complete with Kira as Vedek, in charge of the space station and taking her seven year character arc into new places. It’s the same grit Nana Visitor gave to her performance, and the spirit of the original shown through as she joins with her former Starfleet colleagues at the show’s cliffhanger.
Agent Francesca “Frankie” Trowbridge (Whiskey Cavalier). Lauren Cohan’s Frankie had it all, and unfortunately for fans the show was canceled after only one season. But what a season! This agent was every bit 100% James Bond but she also used her looks and smarts to double as “Bond girl” when the mission called for it. In hand-to-hand combat or with a weapon, whatever bad guys the writers threw at her, nobody could get past her for long. (ABC)
Zan Hui (Wu Assassins). Cold and near emotionless, Hong Kong movie star JuJu Chan’s Zan was ruthless as henchwoman to the leader of the Triads. But she was also ambitious, and at her first opportunity she didn’t hesitate to act. Incredibly skilled in kung fu and street fighting as well as weaponry, she didn’t need the supernatural skills of the other characters to make an impact. (Netflix)
Two (6 Underground). Melanie Laurent’s Camille was ready to join One and his secret force of ghosts, undoing some of the damage she’d done while CIA operative. Quiet and saying little most of the time, she reveals to the squad’s hitman she knows all she needs to navigate international politics. Take down a government led by a murderous villain and replace him with someone better? Count her in. (Netflix)
Gunnhild (Vikings). An entire series could be written around Ragga Ragnars’ strong and proud warrior. As shield-maiden, she doesn’t hesitate to lead the fight with her sword onto the battlefield. Also kind and humble, she also doesn’t hesitate to make sure her niece and nephew are protected when she has a dream that they are in danger. As Queen of Kattigat she proves she’s the right person at the right time in history. (History)
Dex Parios (Stumptown). Taking a character from the comic books to the screen, Cobie Smulders made ex-Marine Dex her own. Her P.I. is a walking disaster, always “this close” to succeeding, and always trying to claw her way back from the last worst decision she could have made. Somehow she is able to look after her brother. She makes Jessica Jones look like a lightweight, always her own worst enemy. But if she keeps fighting back in this city, she may just make it after all. (ABC)
Amelia Wren (The Aeronauts). Nobody else on the list had to climb to the top of a balloon in freezing cold temperatures with frostbitten, unusable fingers at a height of more than 30,000 feet. And Felicity Jones’s Amelia Wren was based on a real person. Does it get more badass than that? That she was a composite character doesn’t matter–she’ll make audiences breathless as she performs one death-defying feat after another in her two-hour flight. (Netflix)
Bell Mallory (The Man in the High Castle). In the series’ alternate histore, while the Eastern United States was still being fought over by the Nazis and a small band of resistance fighters, Frances Turner’s Bell Mallory rescued San Francisco and led a revolt that removed Japanese occupation from the entire west coast. Undercover op? Whatever it takes. A strategist and brains behind taking out a slew of leaders, she knew who to trust and who not to, and her decisions helped put the U.S. back into American control. (Amazon Studios)
Deet (The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance). The nicest gelfling of the Grottan clan you could ever meet, she befriends plant and animal alike. Once she experiences a vision by touching Vliste-Staba, the Sanctuary Tree located in the Mountains of Grot, the nature loving soul joins the resistance. And when the Skekses are ready to destroy Thra, she is the only one who can muster the power to stop them. An unlikely hero, we don’t yet know the extent of the price she paid for restoring the balance of Thra. Performers Beccy Henderson and Nathalie Emmanuel couldn’t have created a better heroine. (Netflix)
And that’s this year’s list. Keep coming back the remainder of this month as we reveal the rest of our Best in Film, Best in TV, and Best in Print, and our borg Hall of Fame inductees for 2019.
Want to see previous years’ kickass genre heroines? Here are 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015.
C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg
Review by C.J. Bunce
With Avengers: Endgame still in theaters, another adaptation of the same source material that inspired that movie and Avengers: Infinity War is now available. It’s James A. Moore′s Infinity, a novelized adaptation of the Infinity comic book event from 2013. Moore adapts the key story details from Jonathan Hickman and Nick Spencer’s story across an array of comic book titles, drawn by several artists. In most ways Infinity will seem completely foreign to fans who are only aware of the movies. When people speak of the cosmic side of the Marvel universe they’re referring to the kinds of elements that form the backbone of this story. The Inhumans, known many by the short-lived television series, are a major component of the story. Like the graphic novel, the novel follows the Avengers and other superheroes of Earth trying to fight off ancient creators called the Builders, who believe that Earth would be better terraformed–leveled, destroyed, and rebuilt–than left as it is. At the same time Thanos is looking for his son. One of his loyal Children of Thanos (the Black Order in the novel), which consists of the same henchmen in the films plus a few others, ultimately finds him–his son, Thane–on Earth.
Fans of 1980s brief New Universe will recognize Star Brand and Nighthawk as major characters in this story. Missing characters seen in the graphic novel that don’t end up here are Luke Cage, Power Man, She-Hulk, Silver Surfer, Wasp, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Hank Pym, S.H.I.E.L.D., and Falcon. New characters for movie audiences include Manifold, Captain Universe, and the Atlantean Namor, the Sub-Mariner. Black Panther and Doctor Strange are still key to the story, but in different ways. Alien races include the Kree and the Skrulls, with Ronan the Accuser as a major player. The novel adaptation is spread thinly across universes as was the comics version. Keeping track of the characters without the benefit of seeing their unique costumes may be difficult for anyone not familiar with all the comics.
If you’re bothered by corporate guru Tony Stark as always the smartest guy in the room, which seems to be the thing in more recent years, especially with the popularity of the character from the movies, you’ll find some relief here. Fortunately Moore also uses Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards, Hulk Bruce Banner, and X-Men’s Hank McCoy aka The Beast–the three actual smartest legacy superhero characters–to work the moving parts of the problem. Ultimately what the reader brings to the book will determine the level of enjoyment. For anyone new to hundreds of tangent characters of the Marvel Comics, keeping track of Who’s Who is nearly impossible. Moore takes strides to bring background characters to the fore, including a romantic sub-plot, but who they are and why they should be important isn’t tapped into enough.
Review by C.J. Bunce
After 21 movies and a decade of superheroics, the end arrived this weekend with Marvel Studios′ Avengers: Endgame, already setting new box office records. Nearly every seat at multiple screenings at my local theater was sold out this weekend, as was the case across the country. Which means many have seen it, but even more haven’t. You can’t review a film without some details, so if you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor: bookmark this and come back later. The short version: If you’re a superhero fan and you’ve followed the previous entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you won’t want to miss it. But re-watch both Avengers: Infinity War and Captain Marvel first. I’ve no idea how anyone will follow the events in the film without first seeing at least these two films. Endgame is a good wrap-up to the first major story arc in the franchise and a fine segue into the future of the films. But it’s not perfect (what ever is?) and I’m going to walk through some goods and bads from the film.
That means “there be spoilers ahead” so consider yourself forewarned if you continue.
Note to email subscribers: Clicking on the link will take you into the full review.
If you agree 2017’s Marvel movie Thor: Ragnarok was the best of the bunch, and you don’t get enough of Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson this month in Avengers: Endgame, just wait a little longer. In June, Men in Black International arrives, and the next trailer for that fourth film in the Men in Black franchise is here. Check it out below. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones first created the fun alien invasion series with their Agents J and K in the three films, only to be eclipsed by the man who would be Thanos–Josh Brolin–as a young Agent K in Men in Black III. Also in that movie Emma Thompson joined the agency as Agent O, taking over the role Rip Torn played as the character Zed in the earlier films.
Although we rarely hear about the other 00 agents in the James Bond movies, the Men in Black are branching out. Chris Hemsworth arrives as Agent H–“one of the best ever” to wear the suit, joined by Tessa Thompson as new recruit Agent M. They both join Emma Thompson who is back again as Agent O. And if that wasn’t perfect casting enough, Liam Neeson joins the series as the London-based leader of the UK branch of MIB.
And of course, there are aliens, because that’s what the MIB is all about. Sony released two great first trailers back in December for Men in Black International (check ’em out here). Here’s the next:
Review by C.J. Bunce
Writer Stuart Moore returns this month with a solid follow-up to his multiple superhero-spanning novel Civil War, reviewed here at borg. Titan Books has released the tenth book in its Marvel Comics-based series of prose paperback novels, Moore’s Thanos: Death Sentence. Originally published in 2017, this is its first paperback release. If you’re after a story about Thanos, if you love the character and want to know what makes him tick, and the circumstances around wielding that kind of power during the events of Avengers: Infinity War, then Thanos: Death Sentence is for you. Those familiar with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Avengers: Infinity War will find no spoilers for the film in this story, and it may just get you excited for the release of Avengers: Endgame in theaters next week.
It’s probably better knowing something about this story before jumping into the dense 336-page novel. Exciting, brilliant detailed superhero crossover events highlight the novel’s first 100 pages. In a parallel but different take on Infinity War, readers see Thanos kill off nearly every major superhero in the Marvel universe. It’s quite fun to read how Moore has Thanos do it, not with a single snap and turn to dust for everyone, but a specific, tailored death sentence for each hero. Wielding the Soul Stone Spider-Man gets relegated to re-live the death of his uncle through his own inaction, for infinity. Ben Grimm gets separated into his component stones and dispersed throughout the cosmos. With the Space Stone Thanos strands Captain Marvel beyond the solar system. The Silver Surfer, Doctor Strange, Vision, Prince Namor, Black Panther, all snuffed out. And then it’s all undone. And that’s only where this story begins. The method of the undoing is not something that seems remotely possible for the movies–with far more characters introduced than we’re met on the big screen (since the entirety of the films were made before the merger with Fox to wrap in the rest of the Marvel characters).
Once the deaths are undone, Thanos the Mad Titan is forced to fight his way back to power by Mistress Death using the Infinity Wardrobe, pressed into the bodies of tangent characters in the lives of the famed Children of Thanos–his minions seen in Avengers: Infinity War: Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, plus his adopted daughter Gamora.
Remember how epic the “ultimate” eleven-movie Marvel marathon sounded back in 2015, or the 20-movie Marvel film festival last year where participating theaters screened only four movies per day? Yeah, not so much after this next marathon arrives.
At only three theaters (so far?) AMC Lincoln Square 13 (New York), AMC River East 21 (Illinois) and AMC Metreon 16 (California), fans will have the opportunity to experience a movie marathon like no other–AMC and Marvel Studios’ 22 Movie Marathon. Beginning Tuesday, April 23, this marathon has it all: Watch all 21 films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe all leading up to and including the latest, film #22, Avengers: Endgame.
We have no doubt that this will quickly sell out in any theater they decide to hold it. This is how good the franchise is, how much the best Marvel Cinematic Universe movies outweigh the worst, how crazy and devoted Marvel fans are, and how epic this could be.
The event will include marathon-only collectibles, and some sort of to-be-determined concessions offer. Plus Avengers: Endgame will be screened at 5 p.m. local time April 25, about 55 hours after Iron Man begins on April 23, and one hour earlier than regular public show times. Do you have what it takes to survive 58 hours in a theater?
If you don’t want to see anything about Avengers: Endgame you might want to skip the latest trailer, which reveals some trickery by Marvel Studios in its earlier trailers–although with time travel bringing anyone back into the fold it’s not just possible but a likely scheme to mess with Thanos, and anything can happen. Take a look at the new trailer below, along with a new poster including the key cast at least one version of what we’ll see in the film.
If you don’t see Captain Marvel first (reviewed here at borg), one thing is clear: you’re not going understand what’s going on in Avengers: Endgame. As Marvel fans will see in one of the codas for the current film in theaters, everything is coming together, and in today’s trailer the Avengers Assemble–that also means new uniforms.
It’s good seeing most of the Avengers back again, even if there’s still no sign of the last recruit, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. The only quirk: Danai Gurira’s Okoye is in the poster, but her name was the only actor not included in the first poster released today in the above-the-title list of actors (she is listed below the title, along with those not pictured: Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau, and Gwyneth Paltrow)–contractual deals tend to be specific about what actors get the top of the marquee listing and who doesn’t, but this decision tends to stand out. But Marvel updated that a few hours later (shown updated to the right above). And in the realm of trickiness, note that the original poster included 19 names, many of which were omitted this time–reflecting the characters who vanished in Avengers: Infinity War, like Benedict Cumberbatch.
Take a look at the next trailer–if you dare–for Avengers: Endgame:
