Fanboys Anonymous

Want to know what happened the past few days in nerd culture? WEEK IN GEEK is your quick fix to catch up with the rest of the Fanboys out there.



MOVIES

Sony announces "Spider-Man movies every year" post The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

My take: Wow. I think they are sugar coating the reception The Amazing Spider-Man got. The film was thrown together with a completely unlikable Peter Parker and a Saturday morning cartoon-worthy plot. This idea will backfire big time, and Sony will have to beg Marvel to buy back the rights or agree to a partnership of some kind.

The Fantastic Four has been recast; Michael B. Jordan is The Human Torch??

My take: Sure, sounds great! The movies are a version of these stories and characters. Many fans consider them adaptations or introductions that will get people to read or not read the books. Not the case. Enjoy them for what they are, people. Yes, it's certainly going to feel different at first to have a black Johnny Storm, but that's also how it was with Nick Fury, Perry White, and many other characters. Let's just see how it plays out, all they have to do is outperform the original two films. How hard could that be?

VIDEO GAMES

Xbox One cuts price to compete with PS4 sales.

My take: This speaks volumes; on a global scale, the PS4 is (and will continue) outselling the Xbox One. Fans feel they know exactly what to expect out of the PS4, whereas the Xbox One was shrouded in mystery and confusion leading up to its release.

PS4 will announce its first VR headset in March.

My take: If you don't think this will lead to a huge explosion in the pornography video game market, you're insane.

TELEVISION

Heroes Reborn, announced.

My take: In a very surprising move, the Heroes series will return with a 13-episode series next year. Considering how the series faltered so quickly, I'm willing to let it redeem itself after enjoying season 1 so much. Will this relaunch a new ongoing series?…Nope.

The Spectacular Spider-Man Blu-Ray set to release before The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

My take: As far as I'm concerned, this series had a much better tone to it than its replacement, Ultimate Spider-Man (and Friends?). The only fault I give this show was its awful handing of The Green Goblin story. However, the personality of Peter, the villains, the action, and the comedy all worked really well. The writers had a long-term plan and were as disappointed as I was when this series was cancelled!

Star Wars REBELS character reveals.

My take: I like that the people behind this project are controlling how information is coming out. They understand fans need little tidbits, and they are giving them. It's consistent, and it's enough to keep fans sedated while the team continues its work. I hate everything to do with The Clone Wars era, but I'll be checking this series out to see if they distance themselves from enough of that to start a new, heated interest in Star Wars on TV.

COMIC BOOKS

Daredevil leaves Hell's Kitchen.

My take: A small change on the surface—the world is a big place—but this is really huge. The character identifies with his surroundings, and Waid taking him to San Francisco has me excited for the happy-go-lucky DD that he introduced in the original issue #1. Although I hate new #1s all the time, I'm excited to see where this goes.

Superior Foes of Spider-Man!

My take: Sorry I'm a little behind in my comic books recently. However, I just discovered this series and found it to be a breath of fresh air. What I enjoyed about DC's Secret Six was the character interaction while they continued doing what they had to do (sometimes dark stuff, too). This book looks to be a fun series that doesn't take away from the threat these villains pose as much as it shows us some of the behind the scenes antics.

CELEBRITIES

Harold Ramis passed away.

My take: Mostly known to the general public as Egon from Ghostbusters, we in the know realize we lost a comedy icon. The fact that this has sparked Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd to move forward with Ghostbusters 3 is a silver lining.


TECHNOLOGY

I discovered Spritz on reddit.

My take: This is a developing technology that helps you read up to 500 words per minute. I thought it was pretty impressive. Very hard to imagine getting used to, but the sample on their site made perfect sense to me and I still remember what I read 12 hours later.