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PODCAST | We came to rank! Who are the best Jokers of all time? What are the worst Kevin Smith movies? And Vault E-I-C Adrian Wassel ranks the Vault comics YOU need to be reading right now before they hit the big screen!
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Segment 1: #Sire Bytes
Zoe Kravitz to Play Catwoman in ‘The Batman’
https://variety.com/2019/film/news/the-batman-zoe-kravitz-catwoman-1203302757/
“Big Little Lies” star Zoe Kravitz has been tapped to play Catwoman, the antiheroine and sometime love interest of the Caped Crusader, in Matt Reeves’ upcoming “The Batman.”
Kravitz will star opposite Robert Pattinson as Batman.
In recent weeks, the role came down to Kravitz, Zazie Beetz of “Atlanta,” “Deadpool 2” and “Joker,” “Baby Driver’s” Eiza Gonzalez and Oscar winner Alicia Vikander. Ultimately, Kravitz won out, despite some worry about scheduling issues with “Fantastic Beasts.”
Pre-production on the Warner Bros.-DC Comics pic is expected to start this summer. No official start date has been set, although insiders tell Variety that filming could start in late 2019 or early 2020. “The Batman” is scheduled to hit theaters June 25, 2021.
Reeves, the filmmaker behind the last two “Planet of the Apes” sequels, took over “Batman” directing duties from Ben Affleck in January 2017. Affleck departed his role as Batman following “Justice League,” allowing Reeves to pick his own Bruce Wayne. Reeves’ “Planet of the Apes” collaborator Dylan Clark will produce.
Box Office: ‘Joker’ Goes Crazy With $55M; ‘Addams Family’ Buries ‘Gemini Man
Globally, ‘Joker’ has collected a staggering $544 million. Meanwhile at the specialty box office, ‘Parasite’ scored the biggest location average in three years with $125,421.
Todd Phillips’ Joker is laughing all the way to the bank, earning an outstanding $55 million in its sophomore weekend for a 10-day domestic total of $192.7 million and a massive global haul of $543.9 million.
Joker easily remained at No. 1, although MGM and United Artists Releasing’s early Halloween family pic The Addams Family came in a strong No. 2 with $30.3 million, ahead of expectations and more than enough to bury Ang Lee’s big-budget Gemini Man, starring Will Smith, which followed at No. 3 with an estimated $20.5 million.
Overseas, Joker remained a powerhouse for Warner Bros., grossing $125.7 million from 79 markets for a foreign cume of $351.2 million.
Gemini Man, conversely, took in a soft $31.1 million from 58 markets for an early $39 million offshore total and $59.5 million globally. Mexico and Russia led the weekend with $2.7 million each, followed by $2.2 million both in the U.K. and South Korea. The movie was beaten by Joker in many places; at the same time, in 25 territories, the pic marks Lee’s biggest opening. Gemini Man has big aims for China, where it launches Friday.
Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the twisted supervillain, fell only 43 percent in North America, one of the lowest drops ever for a superhero or superhero-related pic behind Aquaman. The latter debuted over the year-end holidays, when films generally have huge second weekends.
The CG-animated Addams Family, co-financed by Bron, features a star- studded voice cast led by Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron, along with Chloë Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll and Bette Midler. The film’s opening is a big win for MGM and UAR — the joint distribution company owned by MGM and Annapurna Pictures — and there almost certainly will be a sequel.
“We always knew this piece of great IP was worthy of bringing back to the big screen,” says Jonathan Glickman, president of MGM’s Motion Picture Group. He added that launching the film close to Halloween was key. “Timing has as much to do with making a theatrical experience an event as the movie itself.”
The Addams Family cost around $50 million to produce before marketing.
Gemini Man, from Skydance and Paramount, reportedly cost $140 million to make after rebates and will need to do big business overseas if it isn’t to lose money. The two companies each have a 35 percent equity stake in the pic, while China’s Fosun has a 25 percent stake, followed by Alibaba with 5 percent.
Outside of the groundbreaking technology used to create a younger version of Smith, critics have ravaged Lee’s film. The story follows an elite assassin who faces off with a younger version of himself.
Joker no doubt is impacting Gemini Man, since both skew male. In North America, the latter pic played to an ethnically diverse audience: Caucasians made up 39 percent of ticket buyers, followed by African-Americans (26 percent), Hispanics (22) and Asians/Other (13 percent), according to PostTrak.
The VFX-heavy Gemini Man opens three years after Lee’s last movie, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, all-out bombed at the box office. Lee used cutting-edge technology to shoot both films in high frame rates for 3D screens, a format that has been on the decline.
Gemini Man, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and Addams Family received B+ CinemaScores.
Segment 2: Kevin Smith’s Movies, Ranked By Rotten Tomatoes
https://screenrant.com/kevin-smiths-movies-ranked-rotten-tomatoes/
12 Cop Out (18%)
This is the first and last time that Kevin Smith has directed a movie that he didn’t write. It’s a buddy cop action comedy (scarce on both action and comedy) starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as a couple of detectives on the trail of a rare baseball card.
RELATED: The 10 Best Characters Kevin Smith Created, Ranked
Smith and Willis famously clashed on the set, which resulted in a movie that felt very disjointed. On top of that, the script wasn’t very inspired. The characters didn’t feel like real people, the plot plodded along, and it didn’t end with a satisfying conclusion. The movie was a disaster from start to finish, on-screen and off.
11 Yoga Hosers (22%)
The second installment in what Kevin Smith is calling his “True North trilogy” (three vaguely connected horror-comedies set in Canada) is even zanier than the first – and the first involved a guy getting turned into a walrus!
Yoga Hosers stars Smith’s daughter Harley Quinn Smith and Johnny Depp’s daughter Lily-Rose Depp as a pair of convenience store clerks (both named Colleen) who have to fend off a horde of Nazi sausages. The movie was panned by critics, who felt that Smith’s downfall was self-indulgence and laziness, but let’s face it: a movie about Nazi sausages is never going to be boring.
10 Jersey Girl (42%)
This was Kevin Smith’s attempt to pivot his career towards more audience-friendly material. He’d built up a niche fan base with comedies that were crass, crude, and filled with expletives. Jersey Girl was an attempt at a heartwarming Hollywood romcom.
It stars Ben Affleck as a widowed single father who reluctantly dips his toe back in the dating pool when he meets an “it” girl played by Liv Tyler. The movie has its heart in the right place, but unfortunately, the most notable thing about Jersey Girl is that it was the first major motion picture to contain a joke about 9/11.
9 Tusk (45%)
One of the only movies to be adapted from a podcast episode, Tusk stars Justin Long as a podcaster who goes out to interview a crazy old man, played by Michael Parks, who wants to turn him into a walrus.
This was based on an episode of Kevin Smith’s podcast SModcast, in which he and co-host Scott Mosier discussed a Gumtree ad where a man had offered a room at his place rent-free to anyone who’d be willing to dress up in a walrus costume. The movie is as weird as it sounds, but unfortunately, that weirdness becomes excessive at a certain point.
8 Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (52%)
Jay and Silent Bob are sort of the R2-D2 and C-3PO of the View Askewniverse. They appear in every movie to provide lovable support. But there’s a reason why R2-D2 and C-3PO have never been given their own movie (well, not yet – give Disney some time and they’ll get there).
RELATED: Every Single Kevin Smith/View Askewniverse Movie (In Chronological Order)
They’re better party guests than they are hosts. The same goes for Jay and Silent Bob. They’re fun in small doses, but a little tiresome when they take center stage. Having said that, the upcoming Jay and Silent Bob Reboot does look like it’s going to be a lot of fun.
7 Mallrats (55%)
Kevin Smith’s sophomore effort failed to drum up the same critical acclaim as his directorial debut. Where Clerks was about a bunch of people talking in a convenience store, Mallrats was about a bunch of people talking in a mall. In theory, anyone who liked Clerks should like Mallrats.
It doesn’t have the rawness of Clerks as there’s a lot more wackiness, while the larger studio budget allowed by Clerks’ success actually became its successor’s downfall. However, it has the same zany New Jerseyan characters with New Jerseyan dialogue, as well as a hilarious Stan Lee cameo, so it’s not all bad.
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6 Red State (60%)
The first non-comedy directed by Kevin Smith, Red State is a thriller with horror elements about a trio of high school students who are lured into a house with the promise of sex and end up getting captured to be sacrificed by a sadistic religious cult. As a firefight breaks out between the cult and the police, these kids struggle to escape.
It’s an exciting movie with a strong hook and plenty of action. It’s not perfect by any means – its climax is resolved disappointingly quickly and the stakes escalate rapidly at the start and stay at the same place for the rest of the movie – but it is an enjoyable thriller.
5 Clerks II (63%)
The sequel to Kevin Smith’s directorial debut swapped the black-and-white film for color and swapped the convenience store setting for a fast-food restaurant. It begins with the store from the first one burning down and Dante and Randall taking jobs at a fast food place called Mooby’s.
RELATED: 10 Funniest Quotes From Clerks
This time around, even worse things happen to the poor guys, but it leads them to even greater emotional resolutions than the first one, too. Sadly, it looks as though Clerks III has been called off for good and we’ll never get to see the Clerks trilogy concluded, but at least this one left the characters in a good place.
4 Zack and Miri Make a Porno (65%)
Kevin Smith hoped that Zack and Miri Make a Porno would be his first big box office hit because it had a high-concept premise and two members of the Apatow company of actors – Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks – in the lead roles.
Alas, thanks to a reserved marketing campaign and the fact that most theaters couldn’t even name the movie, it performed as well as Smith’s other movies (a middling response; not a bomb, but not a smash hit by any means). It’s a shame because the movie found the perfect balance between mainstream Hollywood comedy and idiosyncratic Kevin Smith romp for the first time in the director’s career.
3 Dogma (67%)
A passion project of sorts for Kevin Smith, who was raised a devout Catholic, Dogma tells the tale of two fallen angels who try to get back into Heaven based on a loophole in God’s rules, but since such a loophole would prove that God is fallible, their success could undo the history of all creation.
RELATED: The 6 Best And 5 Worst Kevin Smith/View Askewniverse Movies (According To IMDb)
The film inspired protests from Christian groups (some of which Smith attended in disguise as a joke). It takes on the subject of religion in a comical, but ultimately respectful way. Everyone in the ensemble cast – from George Carlin to Alan Rickman to Alanis Morrisette as God – is fantastic.
2 Chasing Amy (87%)
The premise of Chasing Amy makes it sound like a crass, juvenile, high-concept romantic comedy. It’s about a comic book artist who falls in love with a girl, only to be devastated when he finds out she’s a lesbian. However, in the hands of Kevin Smith, this is actually a poignant reflection on sexual identity and human relationships.
Holden and Alyssa are a proxy for any pair where one person wants to be with the other, but due to uncontrollable circumstances, they just can’t be. Chasing Amy introduced audiences to some key players in the View Askewniverse, not to mention some cult icons of the ‘90s.
1 Clerks (88%)
The movie that made Kevin Smith’s career remains his best-reviewed work. It’s a comedy set over the course of one really bad day in a convenience store clerk’s life, and the story behind the film’s production is almost as interesting as the film itself.
Smith maxed out ten credit cards to shoot it; he shot it on black-and-white film because it was cheaper than color; he used the convenience store he was working in as a location, and since he was working there all day, he could only shoot at night (hence a running gag about the shutter being stuck all day)
It premiered at Sundance to instant acclaim and made Smith a household name.
The Jokers, Ranked
How does Joaquin Phoenix measure up to the actors who have played the Joker before?
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/04/movies/the-jokers- ranked.html
7. Jared Leto, ‘Suicide Squad’ (2016)
Leto with Common, left, and Margot Robbie.CreditClay Enos/Warner Bros., DC Comics
Phoenix certainly can’t do much worse than Leto. The Oscar-winning “Dallas Buyers Club” co-star’s run at the role was preceded by breathless reports of his Method-style madness throughout production — gifts of dead animals and used condoms, intimidation of crew members, only communicating in character, etc. — so the result was the wrong kind of shocking: Leto is barely present in the final cut, with only a handful of mercifully short scenes in which the actor cackles desperately, menaces frantically, preens embarrassingly and is generally about as scary as your average trick-or-treater. It’s a frustratingly shallow performance, in which the actor and his director focus on flashy surfaces (his comically on-the-nose tattoos include the words “Damaged” and “HAHAHAHA”) rather than plumbing the depths and darkness that made the Joker so memorable in the first place.
6. Cesar Romero, ‘Batman’ (TV, 1966-1968), ‘Batman’ (Film, 1966)
Then again, perhaps Leto was paying homage not to the recent Jokers of note, but the original onscreen portrayal: the film and television star Romero, who played the role throughout the three-season run of the comic book’s initial television adaptation, as well as its 1966 feature film expansion. The half-hour series was basically a live-action cartoon, with bright colors, lively music and snazzy graphics reflecting the Pop Art aesthetics of the era. Thus, the broad portrayals of Gotham’s supervillains were appropriate to the material, and Romero’s interpretation of the Joker as a merry prankster is one of the show’s highlights. But he doesn’t make much of an impression to modern eyes — and the series’ recent high-definition upgrade draws even more attention to his regrettable decision not to shave his mustache for the role.
5. Zach Galifianakis, ‘The LEGO Batman Movie’ (2017)
This mutation of two Warner Brothers tent poles (the DC Universe and the “LEGO Movie” franchise) is less a “real” Batman movie than a spoof of the property, with gags explicitly sending up earlier onscreen incarnations of the Caped Crusader. So Galifianakis isn’t reaching for the usual effects in his voice performance; most Jokers aim to disturb and terrify, while the primary goal here is laughs. But remarkably, the comic actor delivers not only on the character’s humor, but his pathos — the picture’s smart screenplay casts the relationship between the Dark Knight and his most frequent antagonist as one of mutual reliance and even codependence, with the Joker uproariously staging acts of villainy primarily for Batman’s attention. In a strange way, this interpretation gets at an essential truth of the character that eludes its darker variations.
4. Jack Nicholson, ‘Batman’ (1989)
Nicholson’s payday for his top-billed turn in Tim Burton’s blockbuster — which included not only a handsome cut of the profits, but a robust piece of the merchandising bearing his likeness — was a record-breaker. And one gets the sense, when watching the final product, that the picture’s producers wanted to get their money’s worth; Burton seems to use every second of footage he shot, even when it amounts to little more than his expensive actor dancing at length to Prince songs. (That happens twice.) This appears a mostly undirected performance, but Nicholson invests the role with the kind of assumed danger and to-the-balcony theatricality that producers surely had in mind when they signed his checks.
3. Cameron Monaghan, ‘Gotham’ (2015-2019)
The minds behind the Fox series, which explores the pre-Batman history of Bruce Wayne and Commissioner James Gordon, have taken great pains to insist that the twin brothers Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska (both played by Monaghan) are not the Joker — and technically, that’s true. But the show’s presentation of those characters is clearly meant to loudly echo the “Dark Knight”-era reading of the Joker, and Monaghan’s interpretation of them is undoubtedly influenced by Heath Ledger’s work. Yet the younger actor isn’t just cosplaying; the definition of the distinct characters, and the breadth of their multi-episode arcs, allow him to explore the nooks and crannies of the Joker’s psyche in ways both familiar and fresh.
2. Mark Hamill, ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ (1992-1995), ‘Batman: Mask of the Phantasm’ (1993), ‘The New Batman Adventures’ (1997- 1999), ‘Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker’ (2000), ‘Batman: The Killing Joke’ (2016)
No actor has spent more time living inside the twisted mind of the Joker than the “Star Wars” headliner Hamill, who first took on the role for the four- season “Animated Series” and revisited it for several subsequent series and feature-length spinoffs. Over the course of his nearly two-decade run, Hamill mastered the character’s giggling menace and loaded, purring contempt (“Beneath this Puckish exterior lies the mind of a genius years before my time!” he gloats, in “Return of the Joker”), constructing an interpretation both entertaining and unnerving. The Joker is, above all else, a performer, and Hamill is clearly having a great time chewing the scenery (or, more accurately, chewing his microphone).
1. Heath Ledger, ‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
Ledger won a much-deserved posthumous Oscar for his chilling, haunted turn as the Joker, the clearest indication that he was up to much more than “comic book movie” slumming. Under the sure hand of the director Christopher Nolan, Ledger creates one of the scariest villains in all of cinema — and one that’s frighteningly real, an honest-to-goodness sociopath whose nihilistic philosophy (as Michael Caine’s Alfred memorably puts it, “some men just want to watch the world burn”) invests the character, and the film, with a terrifying feeling that all bets are off, and that good may not prevail. Though widely acclaimed at the time, Ledger’s performance seems to only expand in our popular imagination with the passing years — and the growth of our increasingly shared sense of hopelessness and dismay. This was, truly, a Joker for our time.
Segment 3: Adrian Vault Comics
- Heathen has a big name to it.
- You guys seem to, from my vantage point, tell confined trades. Are you interested in ongoing or very finite. What is the businessmodel?
- Also, you guys are interested in publishing. I don’t see your names in the credits elsewhere. Didn’t anyone tell you there’s no money in comics?
- Friendo is by far the best title I read because it’s scary.
- Tim Seely’s new book.
- NYCC plans?
- Wasted Space audio book
- What have you learned between 2018 to 2019?
|
Name |
| Adrian Wassel |
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WHAT DO YOU DO? |
|
Editor-in-Chief of Vault Comics. I select all the comics we publish — plus a lot of other stuff. |
|
WHAT DO YOU GOT GOING ON THESE DAYS? |
|
Vagrant Queen just wrapped filming its first season (10 one-hour episodes) for SYFY. The film adaptation of Heathen is moving along brilliantly. Catherine Hardwicke is directing and Kerry Williamson has finished an incredible screenplay. Wasted Space is now available in audio adaptation. And our seasonal horror imprint debuted with The Plot which crushed in sales and critical reception. |
|
GOT A HOT TAKE? |
|
I don’t love the way binge-watching has begun to reshape narrative structures in serials. One of the things I love about serialized fiction is the form and the anticipation of the next issue/episode. I don’t want all of our narratives flattened out to the same shape. |
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WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU ONLINE? |
|
Twitter: @afwassel |
5 90’s Marvel Characters That Are Still Awesome (& 5 That Haven’t Aged Well)
by Julian Beauvais – on Oct 13, 2019 in Lists
In the ’90s comic world, ‘grim-and-gritty’ anti-heroes dominated the market: spandex- clad, gun-toting men and women whose steroid-enhanced, body-builder physiques and ridiculously buxom and scantily clad bodies were out-shadowed only by the large number of pouches they wore (so, so many pouches).
10 STILL AWESOME: Sleepwalker
Introduced as an alien police officer whose beat is the human dreamscape, Sleepwalker is a prime example of creativity that bucked the trend. Bonded to Rick Sheridan’s subconscious, Sleepwalker both protected Rick’s mind and fought crime in the waking world. At a time when comic characters were all muscle-bound and armed to the teeth, part of Sleepwalker’s appeal was his unique and somewhat spooky appearance: thin and frail, inhuman, and carrying no weapons. Although the character would struggle to find popularity with readers, (perhaps as a result of being too original for the time), a modern reboot with the right creative team might gain ground with fans looking for something a little off the beaten path.
9 HASN’T AGED WELL: Rage
In the ’90s, street gangs were the subjects of constant media (over) coverage, stimulating public anxiety regarding urban violence. As an inner-city youth, Elvin Haliday experienced this reality first hand, until a dip in some chemicals granted him super strength, invulnerability and aged him to an adult. With his grandmother’s encouragement, Elvin donned a costume and joined the ranks of the super-folk, spending time with both the Avengers and the New Warriors.
Going by the alias Rage, Elvin’s costume represented all the cliches the public had about a gang member’s appearance, from the all-leather attire to the fingerless gloves. His
characterization never really venturing beyond the one-dimensional, Elvin’s recent death put his readers out of their misery.
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8 STILL AWESOME: Gambit
With his good looks, mysterious backstory, exotic accent, cool powers, and impeccable fighting skills, Gambit was immensely popular when he made his debut. Typifying the ‘brooding-loner-with-a-heart-of-gold-and-crazy-ninja-skills’ trope that was popular in ’90s action films, Gambit’s mystique was further enhanced by his apparent familiarity with the other side of the law, and his relationship with fellow X-Man Rogue.
Despite several revelations regarding his dubious past and the less-than-scrupulous reasons he may have joined the X-Men perhaps taking the shine off his apple a touch, the Ragin’ Cajun has evolved over time while retaining his popularity with the fans, so much so that Hollywood is still considering him for a solo film.
7 HASN’T AGED WELL: Bishop
Dystopian alternate futures were always a popular feature in comics and science fiction, but even more so in the ’90s, perhaps through the massive success and influence of Terminator 2 and The X-Files. The X-Men have particular experience dealing with alternate futures, as they’ve worked to ensure so many of them don’t come into existence. The X-Man known as Bishop was a refuge from one of those futures and made his gun- toting, pouch-wearing debut in 1991. Having grown up in a future where the X-Men were betrayed and killed by one of their own made the character interesting, as he tried to discern which member the traitor could be. However, as the storyline drew out so did his appeal, and when it reached its inevitable conclusion, interest in the character had faded considerably.
6 STILL AWESOME: Squirrel Girl
At a young age, Doreen Green found she could communicate with squirrels and later, developed ‘powers’ associated with her totem animal: strength and agility, large front teeth, and a prehensile tail. Making her first few appearances in the mid-’90s and conceived as comic relief, Squirrel Girl was definitely atypical for a superhero of her time: she was not brooding or dark, and she stayed clothed throughout her appearances. In recent years, Squirrel Girl has strung up an impressive series of victories against Marvel’s most dastardly villains, including Doctor Doom, Galactus, and even Thanos! (Yes, that Thanos). Moreover, her recent ongoing series has proven popular with younger audiences, providing them a positive role model and out-showing her 90s contemporaries in relevance and longevity.
5 HASN’T AGED WELL: Darkhawk
When Darkhawk first appeared in his self-titled series, he had all the trappings of a perfect ’90s hero: mysterious origin, dark costume, and an angsty alter-ego in teenager Chris Powell. With his ability to create force blasts, enhanced strength, regenerative powers, and claw-cable, Darkhawk kept the streets of New York City safe. The amulet at the source of his powers remained shrouded in mystery until issue 21 of his series, where it was revealed that the suit was an alien cyborg body that switched places with Powell when he activated the crystal. Expecting a more mystical or supernatural origin for the character, many readers winced at the hokey B-movie science fiction elements woven into his origin. Interest in the character waned and has never really gained traction since. 4 STILL AWESOME: Carnage
A funny thing happened to Venom, the wildly popular Spider-Man villain, in the ’90s: he joined the likes of the Punisher and Wolverine and became an anti-hero, his twisted sense of justice allowing him to kill criminals with ease. With Venom on the heroes’ side, Marvel needed another symbiote to pit against Spider-Man. Enter Carnage, the maniacal spawn of Venom.
More violent, more psychotic and dangerously more powerful than Venom, Carnage allowed Marvel to have their cake and eat it too: simultaneously, readers could get their fill of the fan-favorite symbiote villain and the fan-favorite symbiote anti-hero at the same time. Well-received since his debut and right into the pages of the currently-running Absolute Carnage, the character has kept evolving over the years and because of it, has never lost his edge or appeal.
3 HASN’T AGED WELL: The Scarlet Spider
Replacing a classic character with clones or stand-ins was all the rage in the ’90s, as companies tried to emulate the financial success of The Death of Superman. DC tried the successful formula again with Batman and Green Lantern, while Marvel tried it with Spider-Man in the now infamous Clone Saga. A clone of Peter Parker from a 1973 story arc, Ben Reilly first reappeared as the Scarlet Spider and was thought to be the real Web- Slinger for a time, until his death revealed he was actually the clone. To this day, the mere mention of The Clone Saga makes Spider-fans wince in disgust, and despite the character’s recent return, his grunge-style costume and convoluted backstory are best left consigned to the decade in which they (re)appeared.
2 STILL AWESOME: Deadpool
When Deadpool made his first appearance, he was an unremarkable assassin who bore more than a passing resemblance to DC’s Deathstroke, albeit wearing a knock-off Spider- Man costume. As was obligatory for comic book assassins in the ’90s, he was ninja- trained, carried guns (and pouches) and had a shadowy past.
Over the years, writers have parlayed Deadpool’s ability to run his mouth during a fight into a defining character trait, endearing him to fans who appreciate a sprinkle of comedy in their heroes. Now an unofficial ambassador for pop-culture referencing, 4th-wall-
breaking comedic superheroes (and cool Canadian actors), Deadpool’s popularity has transcended the decade he originated from, making him the biggest Marvel success story of the ’90s.
1 HASN’T AGED WELL: Cable
The pouch-wearing patriarch of ’90s superhero chic, Cable epitomized every trait the decade’s characters were to have: he was tough, grim, deadly, calculating, had a mysterious backstory and was armed to the teeth. As the leader of X-Force, Cable advocated a more confrontationally proactive approach to human/mutant relations than Professor X, but was not a militant in his ways as Magneto, which appealed to the sensibilities of the day. Revealed to be Cyclops’ son from the future, the appearance of multiple versions of the character (and their convoluted histories), as well as the counter- logic of having an Alpha-level mutant rely on such a ridiculous amount of firearms (and pouches), diminished his popularity, ironically leaving him a relic of the past.
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