Hello, everyone! It’s One Of Us’ weekly article series, “The Weekly Wrap-Up.” Covering everything from film announcements to comic books, “The Weekly Wrap-Up” ensures that the biggest stories of the week are analyzed and discussed by our team of writers. This week, we take a look at the recently released Cyborg comic, discuss the tragic announcement of another show soon to pass and wonder just how the King of Pop could have reinterpreted one of Star Wars‘ biggest blunders.
Cyborg Comic Released
Although originally announced in February, the first issue of Cyborg is finally available for purchase. Written by David L. Walker (Shaft), the book not only deals with Cyborg’s daily life as a superhero and family issues (specifically his relationship with his father), but it also covers the changes he’s going through in terms of being a bio-mechanical person. For those unfamiliar with DC and its heroes, Cyborg has actually been around for 35 years. Though his origin has been rebooted and changed several times since his introduction to the DCU, it’s commonly accepted among readers that Cyborg was originally a teenager named Vic Stone. After suffering from a horrific accident, much of Stone’s body was replaced with advanced technology that not only gave him unique powers, but also increased his intelligence. Since his first appearance in Marv Wolfman and George Perez’s The New Teen Titans, Cyborg has often appeared as a supporting player in most DC stories.
Honestly, a solo series starring Cyborg is not only a great way to showcase one of DC’s African-American characters to comic book readers, but it also prepares potential audiences for Warner Bros’ Justice League, in which Cyborg will be making his first cinematic debut.
Key & Peele to End After Fifth Season
Clutch your action figures close, Wendell. They won’t be there forever. Yes folks, the incredibly hilarious Comedy Central sketch comedy show Key & Peele will come to a close following the ending of its currently running fifth season. Series co-creator and co-star Keegan Michael Key broke the news in an interview with The Wrap, stating the following;
“This is our final season – and it’s not because of Comedy Central, it’s us… It was just time for us to explore other things, together and apart. I compare it to Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. We might make a movie and then do our own thing for three years and then come back and do another movie.”
This is certainly a sudden and unfortunate turn of events. In the wake of Chappelle Show, Comedy Central struggled to find a comedic sketch show voice it could market, resulting in horribly unfunny shows like Mind of Mencia or Nick Swardson’s Pretend Time populating the airwaves with grating voices in comedy attempting to imitate what Dave Chappelle did rather than bring anything new to the table. Key & Peele was the first true heir to the throne, mixing biting satire with absurdist humor and memorable characters that they managed to use just enough without any of them ever getting too old. Key and Jordan Peele not only mastered the double act, but were consistently smart enough to switch up the straight man/funny character dynamic for any individual sketch, which showcased their range as writers and performers.
Of course, Keegan also stated that they’d still be working together on other project following the end of Key & Peele, such as their first starring roles together in the crime caper comedy Keanu, which will be helmed by Key & Peele director Peter Atencio in April 2016 as well as a reboot of Police Academy. Plus, the two have plenty of individual projects on their plate, including Peele’s desire to direct a straight horror film and Keegan appearing in every other major comedy release of this year. Still, it’ll be a shame to lose this show. No longer will we hear Luther angrily translate Obama’s words. No longer will we see Meegan keep her distance from her boyfriend Andre. No longer shall we laugh at the mispronounciation of ridiculous football player names. Damn you, Comedy Gods! Was the release of Pixels not enough comedy blasphemy for this week?!
Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 Trailer
When we last saw Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and the rebellious districts of Panem, the entire county was in full-scale war. Hoping to finally end the tyrannical reign of President Cornelius Snow (Donald Sutherland), Katniss and her allies are marching towards the Capitol, only to find themselves in yet another twisted Hunger Games scenario. Snow has turned the entire city into a living nightmare, filled with various obstacles, traps and monstrous creatures. Though the rebels control much of Panem and its resources, only with the upheaval of Snow’s regime will they finally succeed.
It’s nice to see that Mockingjay Part 2 is actually promising a number of suitably epic looking action scenes, something that the Part 1 sorely lacked and was criticized heavily for. Additionally, instead of concentrating on the eye-rolling love triangle between Katniss, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and Gale (The Wooden Hemsworth), Katniss appears to be firmly committed to the rebellion that she helped create. Plus, I’m sure it warms everyone’s hearts to see that zombie-merpeople are going to be appearing in the film as well.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 will make its way to theatres November 20, 2015.
Michael Jackson Originally Wanted to Play Jar Jar Binks?
As the prospect of a revamped Star Wars comes ever closer to fruition, its hard to go back to what many fans perceive as the dark ages of the intergalactic saga. Jar Jar Binks is one of the more reviled characters in recent cinematic history and for good reason. However, what if he was portrayed by one of the more fascinating pop culture icons of all time… and in prosthetics? In a recent interview with actual Jar Jar actor Ahmed Best for Vice, a small tidbit about the preproduction process for Episode I was revealed when Best recounted a story of being with George Lucas backstage at a Jackson concert;
“We were taken backstage and we met Michael. There was Michael and Lisa Marie . George introduced me as ‘Jar Jar’… After Michael had driven off, we all go back up to a big afterparty. I’m having a drink with George and I said, ‘Why did you introduce me as Jar Jar?’ He said, ‘Well, Michael wanted to do the part but he wanted to do it in prosthetics and makeup like ‘Thriller.’’ George wanted to do it in CGI.”
Given Lucas’ work on the sci-fi theme park show Captain EO that starred Jackson, this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. Both were major pop culture influences throughout the 70s & 80s and it would seem natural that these two reclusive billionaires would have some kind of conversation like this going, even in the wake of Jackson’s infamous 1993 trial. Plus, I’d honestly wonder how different the character would have been if Jackson had reinterpreted him in his own way and with heavy prosthetics. Probably wouldn’t have saved Jar Jar or Phantom Menace in general, but at the very least it would have been different from what we eventually got. Then again, Jackson already had and would continue to have incriminating acts against his name. Jar Jar could have just been another blemish.
