Joker – 5 Batman Villains That Deserve A Solo Movie

Originally published on Set The Tape

Joker sees the iconic Batman villain take centre stage as the lead in his own movie. Whilst this isn’t the first time that a comic book villain has had their own film it’s the first time a major Batman villain has. With such a big history and really great villains, surely there are more that can headline their own movie!

Poison Ivy

Botanist Pamela Isely was experimented upon by Dr Woodrue, an insane scientist who transforms himself into a plant monster called the Floronic Man. Woodrue transformed Isely into a metahuman with plantlike abilities, and an immunity to various toxins. Now acting as Poison Ivy, she skirts the line between hero and villain as she tries to protect plants and the environment from humans.

A Poison Ivy film could show this origin, and she could be painted as something of a villain for the majority of the film, as she attacks big companies that are polluting the environment. However, it would be nice to have her end as a more traditional ‘hero’, by her having to save people from Woodrue, getting her revenge against him at the same time.

Whilst DC cancelled the Swamp Thing series early into its run, a Poison Ivy film could definitely have a similar look and feel to this. It could even attract some of the same fans, as Woodrue was actually in the show, played by Kevin Durand. Hell, go so far as to have him play the character again!

Bane

The son of a revolutionary in the South American nation of Santa Prisca, Bane was placed in prison to serve out his father’s sentence following his escape. Bane spent his childhood and adolescence in one of the most brutal prisons on earth, building his incredible physique and keen intellect in order to survive.

Following Bane during his prison years would be so much more interesting than seeing him go up against Batman, as he does in almost every other version of the character. Make a Bane movie as a prison drama. Have him brought in as a young boy, made to serve out his father’s sentence alongside hardened adult criminals. Show an innocent young boy turn into a cold blooded killer as he learns how to survive in hell on earth.

A film about Bane told in this way would be able to highlight not just how brutal and strong the man is, but how he was a victim of his life. He was made into a savage by his environment. Show how this happened to him, and don’t shy away from the brutality of the situation. Let’s see an innocent boy enter prison, and follow his life there until he gets out and begins his journey to Gotham. There wouldn’t be any need to show him go to Gotham and face Batman: end the film with him getting out of prison and setting off there. Not only would this act as a great stand alone film that tells his origins, but he could then be used in a Batman film with a fully fleshed out backstory, as a character that audiences will care about.

The Court of Owls

A relatively new addition to the DC Universe, The Court of Owls are a secret society that has been running Gotham from the shadows for generations. What makes them stand out is their main enforcers, the Talons. The Talons are a group of lethal assassins, and the society has had many over the years. What makes them different, however, is that the Talons have been made close to immortal thanks to strange science.

A Court of Owls movie could focus on a new Talon, a person recruited to fight and kill for the court. This Talon could then try to turn against the Court, and have other, older Talons sent against them to kill them. Whether or not they manage to survive, it’d make for an interesting film to see one of the world’s best assassins fighting undead killers.

Penguin

Whilst a lot of audiences will be familiar with the character thanks to Danny DeVito’s brilliant performance in Batman Returns, this version of the character is actually quite different from the comics. Batman Returns showed him as an outcast mutant living beneath Gotham. Instead of this, make him like his comic counterpart, where he’s just a regular guy.

What’s interesting about a regular guy? Well, not a huge amount, but once you have him being part of a crime empire it starts to get a little more interesting. Introduce him as a low level operator in one of the crime organisations in Gotham, then let him work his way to the top. He can’t be a physically imposing character, so let him plot and scheme his way to the top. Make him Little Finger, but he doesn’t fuck up at the end. Mob movies are always popular, so make a mob movie about the Penguin.

Owlman

Owlman comes from another world, a parallel earth where villains rule instead of heroes. Following the murder of his family, Thomas Wayne Jr. becomes the super-villain Owlman.

Much the same way that Brightburn told a story of an evil Superman, an Owlman movie could do the same thing. Have it follow an almost traditional Batman movie formula, but instead of a hero he’s a villain. He kills to expand his empire, he uses gadgets to commit crimes, and he was behind his parents’ death. Why focus on a hero’s villains when you can make your hero the villain instead?

This is probably one of the hardest sells on this list, but imagine being able to take the DC Universe and flip it on its head. You could show alternate versions of characters that audiences know and love, and add in little hints to other villains such as Ultra-Man. Plus, if ever Warner Bros. wanted the Justice League to fight the Crime Syndicate this could be the perfect set-up movie.


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X-Men: Dark Phoenix – 5 Times Superheroes Have Gone Bad

Originally published on Set The Tape

Superheroes are often portrayed as larger than life icons of everything good that regular people should look up to and aspire to be. However, writers have made often made a point of showing that these heroes are real people underneath their costumes, and that they can make mistakes. Sometimes this leads to heroes becoming villains themselves. To celebrate the home release of X-Men: Dark Phoenix and Jean Grey’s journey to the dark side, here are five other heroes who went bad.

Warren Worthington III/Angel

Another of the X-Men who became a villain, Angel was one of the original five members of the team, and was a hero for decades. During a crossover event called Mutant Massacre, Warren was tortured and his wings mutilated, leaving him unable to fly. Following this he was captured by the mutant Apocalypse, who offered to restore his wings if he served him. Warren was experimented upon, and given organic metal wings. The experiments also turned his skin blue, and resulted in an extremely aggressive personality. He became the villain Archangel.

Over the years Warren has been able to regain his normal personality and appearance, but Archangel lurks beneath the surface, occasionally breaking free and turning him into a cold blooded killer, and villain, more than once.

Clark Kent/Superboy Prime

The DC Comics multiverse was very complicated, and was streamlined a lot during the event Crisis On Infinite Earths, where a number of other universes were destroyed. One of these worlds was Earth Prime, where superheroes only existed in comics. In this universe a young boy named Clark Kent discovered that he was just like the Superman of comics, and had amazing powers. Unfortunately, during the events of the crisis he lost his world, and ended up trapped in a pocket dimension.

In this dimension he could see into the main DC Universe, and he didn’t like what was happening there. He felt that his sacrifice during the Crisis has been for nothing, and literally punched his way through the dimensional barriers into Earth-One. He helped to instigate the Infinite Crisis and murdered several heroes in the process, including members of the Teen Titans, Justice Society of America, and the Doom Patrol.

Eventually imprisoned by the Guardians of the Universe inside a red sun, and watched over by dozens of Green Lanterns at all times, he broke free and took part in the Sinestro Corps War, where he continued his bloody rampage. Superboy Prime made the ultimate sacrifice to save all of creation, and it ended up twisting him into the very thing he hated the most. He remains one of the deadliest threats within the DC Universe.

Steve Rogers/Captain America

Captain America is one of those heroes who comes to mind as being truly noble. He was made to fight Nazis, has stood up for the downtrodden, and is generally seen as one of the all time good guys. So it’s understandable that fans lost their shit when it was revealed that he was actually working for the Nazi organisation Hydra the whole time when he declared ‘Hail Hydra’.

The comic event Secret Empire revealed that Steve Rogers, who had recently been made young again following his rapid ageing, had been altered in more than one way. It turned out that his arch villain Red Skull had made it so that Cap’s memories were altered, making him believe that he was a Hydra agent.

Whilst this was only a temporary change to the character, and he was soon returned to normal, it was a big moment for comic readers. The incorruptible Steve Rogers had been corrupted, and for some fans this was a storyline too far, and a lot of people took to social media to condemn making the character a Nazi, even temporarily, especially as his creators were Jewish. This storyline was given a slight nod in Avengers: Endgame when Cap uses the phrase ‘Hail Hydra’.

Jean Paul Valley/Batman

During the 1990s Batman was put through one of his toughest storylines in Knightfall, where his back was broken by the villain Bane. Unable to carry on as Batman, Bruce requested that another vigilante, Jean Paul Valley, take on the mantle for him. Jean Paul was the hero Azrael, a former assassin for The Order of Saint Dumas.

When he became Batman, Jean Paul was a lot more aggressive than Bruce, and used a new set of weapons in his mission. He eventually goes on to create a whole suit of armour that’s reminiscent of his Azrael persona, and tells Robin to get lost. This is all thanks to the brainwashing that he was put through by The Order. When he eventually starts letting people die Bruce thinks enough is enough and becomes Batman once again, battling Jean Paul for the mantle. Jean Paul is broken free of his brainwashing and becomes a hero once again, but will always be remembered for that time Batman went bad.

Hal Jordan/Green Lantern

Often referred to as ‘The Greatest Green Lantern’, Hal Jordan was one of the best heroes Earth had to offer until his hometown was destroyed by the villain Mongul, killing millions. Blaming himself for not being strong enough to stop it, or to bring everyone back, Hal gave into his fear and became possessed by the entity Parallax, the embodiment of fear. Parallax travels to Oa, the home of the Green Lanterns, and kills several key members of the organisation, before killing the Guardians of the Universe.

He would reappear a number of times over the years, once trying to wipe out all of time, but eventually Hal was able to break through the evil personality and save Earth by giving his life to reignite the sun. Thanks to it being comics, Hal didn’t stay dead, and is now back being a hero. What makes his story stand out, however, is that it wasn’t revealed that he was possessed for more than a decade and fans were left to believe that everything he did as Parallax was by his own choice.


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The Troop by Nick Cutter - Book Review

'For the scouts of Troop 52, three days of camping, hiking and survival lessons on Falstaff Island is as close as they'll get to a proper holiday. But when an emaciated figure stumbles into their camp asking for food, the trip takes a horrifying turn. The man is not just hungry, he's sick. Sick in a way they have never seen before.

'Cut off from the mainland, the troop face a terror far worse than anything they could have made up around a campfire. To survive they will have to fight their fears, the elements ... and eventually each other.'

The Troop by Nick Cutter follows a group of teenage scouts that have travelled out to the remote Falstaff Island in northern Canada. The five teens and their scoutmaster are expecting a weekend of trekking and exploring when their outing is interrupted by a mysterious man with an insatiable hunger.

The initial setup for the story sounded pretty creepy when I came across it, and the back of the book was filled with quotes about how scary it was. Whilst I do enjoy a good bit of horror every now and then I often find that horror books can be pretty hit or miss, so while having good hopes for The Troop was wasn't expecting anything spectacular. Boy, was I so wrong.

I read the entire book in about two days, I couldn't put it down. Nick Cutter manages to craft a narrative that completely hooks you and draws you in, despite it being so disturbing that you kind of want to put it away too.

The basic premise of the book is that Tom Padgett, dubbed 'Typhoid Tom' by the media, is carrying a deadly, man-made contagion to the island. This infection is fast acting and devastating to the body, resulting in a horrific death; it's also highly contagious. What is supposed to be a fun weekend away for the scouts turns into a mix of The Thing and Lord of the Flies as mob mentality and paranoia turns people against each other as they try desperately to survive and make their way off the island.

At first I thought that there was no way the narrative could be held as long as it is, the book is close to 400 pages long and Tom has already reached the island and the group by page 20. The beginning moved so fast that I thought the book would struggle to keep me entertained, that it would either lose momentum or the story would end up stretched too thin. However, Cutter crafts a story that has enough twists and turns in it that the pace manages to feel brisk, even spread over a number of days. He also includes a lot of backstory as the narrative unfolds, revealing more about each of the kids during relevant, related points in the story.

The slow revealing of the kids back stories works really well. At first they're all fairly blank slates without much to distinguish them, but as the story progresses we learn a lot about them not just from their actions on the island, but the small glimpses into their past. Each of the children end up being a lot more complex than initially expected, and the small cast of characters definitely helps with this. Keeping the group small means that every boy has a chance to shine, and you come to learn about and care for each of them, well, maybe not one of them.

Cutter also knows that setting the whole narrative on a small island with a group of kids that doesn't know where this contagion came from or what it is wouldn't work as well on its own, so spaced throughout the books are glimpses at the wider story in the form of news articles, interviews, and congressional hearings. These moments not only give the reader a better background to the infection, but some of the additional content is really disturbing for a number of reasons. Cutter admits in the Afterward that this was inspired by Stephen King, and thanks him for the inspiration.

The infection itself is one of the most disturbing parts of the book, not least of all because it seems so very real. Yes, it's something that exists in the real world that has been manipulated and made into something more than it is, so it's not completely realistic, but the fact that it's even loosely based on reality is frightening. It's disturbing in a visceral way, one that makes your skin crawl and the hairs on your neck stand on end. Body horror where it's otherworldly like The Thing or Alien are horrible yes, but one where its something that can work its way into your body for real, though to a less damaging extent than here, is truly horrifying.

Nick Cutter has managed to craft a story that's not just a intense and engaging character led narrative, but a horror that freaks you out and stays with you long after you've finished the book. Don't read this when you're feeling hungry either as I made that mistake and it made the whole experience a lot worse.

I saw a 5 star review for the book on Good Reads that simply said 'Fuck this book', and I would have to agree with that. In a good way. The Troop is a brilliant example of horror, and I'm damn sure I'm going to be recommending this to any horror fans I know.

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Joker – 5 Great Joker Stories

Originally published on Set The Tape

Joker sees the classic Batman villain take centre stage in his own solo movie. The Joker is one of those characters that’s been around for decades, and has a whole host of stories that focus on him. But with so many comics focusing on him, where’s the best place to start? Well, here are five of the best to check out.

A Death In The Family

One of the most iconic Joker stories, A Death In The Family showcases how brutally ruthless the character can be. Despite being one of the most iconic Joker stories ever it actually focuses on Jason Todd, the second Robin. Having grown-up alone on the streets of Gotham, Todd is on a quest to find his mother. However, during this journey he’s kidnapped by the Joker, and eventually killed.

One of the things that made this story stand out was that there were two possible endings: one in which Jason died, and the other where he lived. Readers were able to phone into DC and vote on which ending they wanted, and ultimately chose for Jason to die.

This was one of the first times a major Batman character was killed off (even though it didn’t stick and Jason is now alive again), and the writers didn’t pull any punches as they had the Joker brutally beat Jason with a crowbar before collapsing a building on him. It really went to show how much of a threat the character can actually be.

Joker

Set in a much darker, more realistic version of Gotham, the book follows the Joker after he’s newly released from Arkham Asylum. Told from the point of view of a low level thug who the Joker takes a liking to, the story shows the crazed villain starting a war with the other gang leaders in the city. Joker hardly features Batman at all, with the story caring more about watching the path of destruction the Joker makes and how he ruins one man’s life.

The book also stands out thanks to the amazing art by Lee Bemejo. Grim and dirty, yet incredibly elegant, it showed the city and the characters in ways that we’d never seen before. Joker was also noted as the likely inspiration for Heath Ledger’s look in The Dark Knight, as the designs are almost identical.

The Killing Joke

Possibly the most iconic Joker story ever told, The Killing Joke has been released multiple times and adapted into an animated movie. The cover is also one of the best known Joker images.

The Killing Joke tells an origin for the character that depicts him as a failing stand-up comedian who is trying to support his pregnant wife. Turning to crime to try and raise money he becomes part of the Red Hood gang. As part of this gang he falls afoul of the caped crusader, and falls into a vat of chemicals that transforms him into the Joker. In the present day the Joker hatches a plan to send Commissioner Gordon crazy. To this end he kidnaps and tortures Gordon, showing him the photographs of his daughter Barbara, who the Joker has shot in the stomach.

The Killing Joke had a lasting affect on Barbara Gordon, who was crippled by the wound. Unable to carry on as Batgirl, she would go on to be the hero Oracle. Whilst this was eventually changed during the New 52 relaunch, this change lasted for decades, and made the book an important part of the Batman mythos.

The Man Who Laughs

Set after Batman: Year One, this story aims to tell the first confrontation between Batman and the Joker. Still new into his career as a crime fighter, Batman is drawn into a mystery involving mutilated corpses, and a clown that’s threatening to murder several key figures in Gotham City. The Man Who Laughs showcases how cunning and intelligent the Joker is, as he utilises his knowledge of chemistry to poison people across the city.

The Man Who Laughs is a great book for showing both the Joker and Batman in a less physical confrontation. The book isn’t about the Joker being a physical foe for Batman to fight, but a looming threat that’s lurking in the background for most of the book. It’s a good revamping of the character’s first appearance, and whilst it offers hints as to his origin it doesn’t focus on this, something that many fans prefer for the character.

Death of the Family

The biggest story on this list, Death of the Family spanned more than 20 issues across several different titles as the Joker aims to destroy all of Batman’s extended family in order to leave the Dark Knight standing alone against him. In this story the Joker believes that Batman has come to rely on his group of sidekicks, multiple Robins, Nightwing, Batgirl, Alfred Pennyworth, and Commissioner Gordon to name just a few, and wants them gone.

This story was the first time that the character had really appeared in the DC Universe since their relaunch, having made a brief appearance in issue 1. This story showcased what is likely to be the most shocking version of the character, where he’s had his face cut off and is now wearing it as a mask.

During the course of the story the Joker put the various members of the Bat Family through psychological and mental torture that almost broke them. One of the most shocking things about the title was how he broke Alfred, brainwashing him into siding with the Joker, and even cutting his hand off. One of the most shocking Joker titles by far, it stands out as one of the all time great Joker stories.


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Alan Sugar Speaks Out Against Non-Binary Community

Alan Sugar, businessman and presenter of the British Apprentice television series has made statements that complain about non-binary people, and saying that people who use gender free language should be deported.

During an interview with tabloid rag The Sun, in which they praise Sugar for telling 'it like it is' in a 'sensitive world', the businessman took aim at 'snowflakes'. He stated that 'The world has gone mad, it's ridiculous, they're looking for new things to be offended by'.

'It's absolutely crazy,' he continued, 'you can;t say anything nowadays without offending somebody with how they look, dress, the colour of their skin or whatever. It's sickening quite frankly.'

The fact that he's complaining that you cannot say anything about the colour of people's skin without them being offended does seem a lot like he's complaining about not being able to say racist things, something that he has received criticism for in the past. In 2018 he received criticism for tweeting racist comments about the all black Senegal World Cup football team. He was also previously accused of racism for making jokes about a crying Chinese baby.

When journalists asked him what he thought about non-binary pronouns from the 'woke generation' he became quickly angered.

'They need to pack it in, it's nonsense.' He replied. 'The people promoting it need to be shipped off to Mongolia. Send them away, get them out of the country. Go away. It boils down to a small bunch of people that promote it.'

This isn't the first time that he has insulted members of the LGBTQ+ public, as last December he made comments on social media about having 'had enough' gay people in his board room.

It's clear from his comments both now and in the past that Alan Sugar is a man who does not like the fact that he can't be openly racist, homophobic, and transphobic. He has repeatedly made negative comments about minorities and continues to do so, probably assuming that because he's a rich old white man he won't face any kind of consequences for his actions.


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