MORTAL KOMBAT: Who’s who? (Round 1)

Posted by ErikSlader on April 12, 2021

This article first appeared on GeekToGeekMedia.com

With the upcoming release of “MORTAL KOMBAT” (2021) – in theaters and on HBO Max on Friday, April 23rd, we figured what better way to prep than to do a deep dive into the rich mythology and ever-evolving backstories of this epic video game franchise?

In the original, somewhat ~~controversial~~ kontroversial 1992 arcade classic (created by Ed Boon and John Tobias), the evil sorcerer, Shang Tsung, hosts a tournament on a mystical island to determine the fate of Earthrealm. The game was revolutionary at the time, featuring 7 playable fighters who were all brought to life with digitized frames of live action actors. The game has since spawned 10 sequels, spin-offs, komics, action figures, kartoons, and three live action films.

As one of the longest-lived fighting game franchises ever, Mortal Kombat has always had a large, diverse, colorful cast of characters- sorry, kast of kharacters (this is exhausting). But after nearly a dozen games the sheer number of characters has exploded, and unless you’re a die hard MK fan it kan be a bit konfusing (UGH) trying to keep track of who is who and how they all relate to each other.

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“INVINCIBLE” – Episode 5 Recap (Spoilers!)

Posted by ErikSlader on April 12, 2021

Check out my previous recap here!

Episode 5: “That Actually Hurt”

WOW! Ok, just… wow, that was unexpected.

So far every single episode of this season has had a gigantic wtf moment, but that last one was truly insane! I swear, I was yelling at the TV for the entire last half of this episode. When it was all over I just looked over at my fiance and said “I seriously can’t believe they did that, that episode was so crazy!” – to which she responded, “You say that every episode.”

Ok, yeah, fair point.

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“INVINCIBLE” – Episode 4 Recap (Spoilers)

Posted by ErikSlader on April 3, 2021

(Recap by Erik Slader)

Check out my review of INVINCIBLE Episode 1: “It’s About Time” and Episodes 2 and 3 recaps here!

Episode 4: “Neil Armstrong, Eat Your Heart Out”

Episode 4 gives us in an interesting one, it contrasts Nolan and Debbie’s marital troubles with Mark and Amber’s first date jitters. One thing I really appreciate from the show so far is that we get a lot more of Debbie’s perspective than we did in the comics. We see her trying to sell Olga’s house, and she starts to become more suspicious of her husband’s unusual behavior. Nolan’s putting on a good show, but it’s pretty clear that he’s cracking under the pressure. We get a really disturbing moment while they’re on a date in Rome, when a dragon randomly attacks the city and he refuses to stop it!

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“INVINCIBLE” – Episodes 2 & 3 (Spoiler Alert)

Posted by ErikSlader on March 29, 2021

(Review by Erik Slader)

If you haven’t already, go check out my review of INVINCIBLE Episode 1: “It’s About Time”!

Warning: This recap/review will inevitably contain spoilers (especially for Episode 1), so proceed with caution…

Episode 2: “Here Goes Nothing”

Right off the bat, this show continues to impress me – the visuals are stunning, the music is really unique, the sound design is mind-blowing, the story is fast-paced, and the characters are all cast perfectly and fully realized! The animation is so glossy and smooth throughout, all the cityscapes are breathtaking, there are entire sequences that feel like they were ripped directly from the comic with just how well the art-style was emulated, and… seriously, I just can’t get over how good this show looks and sounds! (Have I mentioned how awesome and different the music is?)

Ok, so this episode immediately starts with two extremely clever call backs to the first one – we see the guard from the opening of the first episode with his stepson in London where we see the result of Mark accidentally launching a trash bag into orbit as it explodes around them!

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“INVINCIBLE” – Episode One Review

Posted by ErikSlader on March 26, 2021

(Review by Erik Slader)

“Invincible” is… hard to describe to the uninitiated. First starting in 2003, this Image comic series by Robert Kirkman (of ‘Walking Dead’ fame) follows a young man, Mark Grayson, who just so happens to be the son of the world’s greatest superhero, but when his own powers kick in, everything changes forever. And that summary doesn’t do it justice, but honestly it’s really hard to go into further detail without spoiling the $#!÷ out of it!

Long story short, I’ve read the *entire* run of this comic (all 144 issues!), I have the first printings of the first few issues sealed and graded on my shelf, I have several of the graphic novels, and I even have an Invincible t-shirt that I used to wear to comic cons that doesn’t quite fit the way it used to. Suffice it to say, I’m a fan.

It’s an incredible comic that feels like reading an entire universe of stories told through one title. It’s got everything I’ve ever wanted from a comic book: cool visual storytelling, crazy sci-fi shenanigans, insane superhero brawls, great characters, drama, humor, and gorgeous color-popping panels by artist Ryan Ottley and Kirman’s co-creator, Cory Walker (issues #1-7, 127-132). It’s also has some of the most disturbing moments in comic book history – you guys, it gets dark fast! I mean, Nerdist even called this series “The Game of Thrones of Comics” and I can’t say I disagree.

However, I think one of the most endearing things about this title is that it genuinely feels like an epic saga.

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Podcasters Assemble: KONG-ZILLA-THON!

Posted by ErikSlader on February 2, 2021

“KONG-ZILLA-THON!”

**ProbablyWork.com/Podcasters-Assemble**

This is it, the battle of the century: It’s King vs God, Zilla vs Kong – as a Fire-Breathing Lizard takes on one Giant Angry Ape – in this no-holds barred clash between the King of the Monsters and the Titan of Skull Island! Who will come out on top? Why are they fighting? How that monkey get so big? Will we survive to find out? Find out on the latest season of Podcasters Assemble (probably)…

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Podcasters Assemble! (Star Wars / 007)

Posted by ErikSlader on December 17, 2020

While Chris and Erik are hard at work on an all new season of the Comic Zombie podcast (now on Anchor.Fm!), be sure to check out their work on the last couple seasons of Podcasters Assemble!

Although they initially missed out on the first season (covering the Marvel Cinematic Universe films), they both eagerly jumped on board with the Star Wars saga for Season 2 (after skipping the prequels) and have since been working on Season 3 where they’ve been covering *ALL 25 Bond movies* in a countdown to the latest film in the franchise, “No Time to Die”! (See below for links to episodes.)

Season 2 – Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

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The X-MEN movies (Part 3: First Class – Apocalypse)

Posted by ErikSlader on July 7, 2018

Last time in Part 2 we tackled all three Wolverine movies and Deadpool, this time we’re taking a look at the new (and far better) X-Men trilogy – First Class, Days of Future Past and Apocalypse!

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

Directed by: Matthew Vaughn

Starring: Michael Fassbender (Magneto / Erik Lensherr), James McAvoy (Charles Xavier / Prof X), Jennifer Lawrence (Raven / Mystique), Kevin Bacon (Sebastian Shaw), Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne), Nicholas Hoult (Hank McCoy / Beast), January Jones (Emma Frost), Lucas Till (Alex Summers / Havok), Oliver Platt (CIA agent), Zoë Kravitz (Angel Salvadore), Caleb Landry Jones (Banshee), Jason Flemyng (Azazel), Edi Gathegi (‘Darwin’), Rade Serbedzija (Soviet General), Michael Ironside (US Navy Captain), Don Creech (Stryker Sr.), and Hugh Jackman (Wolverine cameo).

Plot: Realizing that they should have hired Matthew Vaughn for X-Men 3 like he wanted, and that there was nowhere to go with the franchise after Brett “that smell on my thumbs is my ass!” Ratner ‘Batman-and-Robin’d-it’, Fox reboots the franchise with re-casted characters. Magneto hunts for Sebastian Shaw, a mutant that was in charge of the concentration camp he grew up in, while Charles Xavier works with agent Moira Mactaggert and the CIA to gather a team of young mutants. They must team up to stop Shaw from starting World War 3 while learning how to use their powers and accept themselves.

Erik Smash: Following the unbelievably terrible X-Men: The Last Stand and even worse X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Fox finally gets it right with director Matthew Vaughn! “X-Men: First Class” is a back-to-basics prequel / reboot that tells the story of how the X-Men were first formed by a young Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr aka Magneto!

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The X-MEN movies (Part 2: Wolverine and Deadpool)

Posted by ErikSlader on May 19, 2018

Oh boy… well we survived the nightmare that was X3, but we’re not quite out of the woods just yet. After the initial X-Men trilogy (see Part One) started strong before crashing and burning, the studio decided to make a solo Wolverine spin-off, which sounded better on paper than in execution. This time, Erik Smash and I are going to rip into the X-Men spin-offs, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel, because against all odds Fox somehow managed to really turn things around with the release of “Deadpool” and “Logan” – proving to Hollywood that some characters work better with an R rating.

But first up…

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Directed by: Gavin Hood

Starring: Hugh Jackman (Logan / The Wolverine / James Howlett), Liev Schreiber (Victor Creed / Sabretooth), Danny Huston (William Stryker), Lynn Collins (Silverfox), Ryan Reynolds (Wade Wilson / “Deadpool”), Kevin Durand (Fred Dukes / The Blob), Will.I.Am (Wraith), Daniel Henney (Agent Zero), Taylor Kitsch (Remy LeBeau / Gambit), Tim Pocock (young Scott Summers / Cyclops), and Sir Patrick Stewart (Prof X cameo).

Plot: We finally get to see Wolverine’s history played out on the big screen, and it’s… it’s just awful. When the stars of the film don’t hide their disdain for it (both Jackman and Reynolds) and it is immediately ignored and forgotten by the rest of the franchise, you know you can sleep well as a director. And by sleep well I mean you should be horribly, horribly ashamed. Sigh…

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The X-MEN movies

Posted by ErikSlader on June 23, 2016

Check out our Podcast Episode where we rank the X-Men movies here!

The X-Men movies timeline

There was a long period of time where the only super hero movies we had were the Christopher Reeve Superman films, which (as we discussed HERE), had their considerable ups and downs (mostly downs), and the Batman franchise (which we discussed HERE, HERE, and HERE), but this was before the excellent Christopher Nolan reboot, so it was also mostly bad.

Then the late 90’s hit and Marvel (with New Line Cinema) had a surprise hit on their hands with Blade, and all of a sudden it felt like there might be a chance we’d get some more. That’s when Fox dropped a bombshell and announced they were going to finally, FINALLY, release a live action X-Men film!

Say what you want about the first movie, and we will, but it really opened the floodgates for the huge wave of superhero films (that mostly sucked) for the early 21st century. For better or worse we probably wouldn’t have the Spider-man movies without this one!

Fifteen years later, and the franchise has had its ups and downs (notice a trend?), but found its footing again with X-Men: First Class and Days of Future Past. Now, with X-Men: Apocalypse, Deadpool, and a third Wolverine film looming, the franchise appears to be in as good a shape as it has ever been.

But how did they get here?

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