Techwright

I don't know the comics. I know the Jaime Reyes version from animated works. It sound like this Conrad Carapax (got to have the alliteration) might be a fake name for Black Beetle? In the animation, at least, the beetles were supposed to dominate the host, but the Blue Beetle was damaged, and as a result became somewhat subservient to the host. Is that how it plays out in the comics? "Conrad Carapax" sounds like a name quickly whipped up through the translator when the villain Beetle has to hide and use the face of the host. Also, I've never encountered the character of Victoria Kord. Is she a villain in the comics, or just a hard-nosed person to get along with as she tries to run her late brother's company (I presume)?

Responses in orange.

Side note: just learned that Tawni Ames (season 2, ep. 3) is voiced by Tasia Valenza, who also voiced Jedi Master Shaak Ti in several episodes of the animated Clone Wars. She's done several other Star Wars related voices across various media, I knew her voice sounded familiar. Also just learned (and why didn't I know this sooner?) that Admiral Rampart, the overarching villain of this series, is voiced by Noshir Dalal, who gave, IMHO, an excellent nuanced performance as Kotallo in the game Horizon: Forbidden West.

So the first 3 episodes of Season 2 have now dropped, and The Bad Batch writing has really stepped up. Episodes 1 and 2 were noticeably better than much of 1st season, and then 3 which dropped today, is just dark, really dark for this series and masterfully created. It has a minimum of dialog, telling the tale mostly through visuals and action, one of the best ways to tell a tale on film, IMHO. It brings back a fan favorite from The Clone Wars and Episode 2, and has a passing but important reference to an important Separatist character from The Clone Wars. The overall result was like savoring a bit of fine, dark chocolate. Spoiler-y talk

First I've heard of this. I'm assuming the Jaime Reyes version and not the Ted Kord version? Kord is an interesting character, but audiences these days are all about the pew, pew, boom, boom, and the Jaime Reyes version has that in spades.

Regarding those "boring" first few episodes: There's a long-standing understanding of American television that says the first 6 episodes are working out the details. The actors are new to the roles, the scripts might be a bit rough, and it at least used to be that a network ordered just the first 6 episodes to see if anyone would stick around. If, after a forced break, you came back to episode 7, you'd find a slightly different show: the cast were now familiar with the character and had hopes of a longer paycheck. The writers were beginning to smooth things out and take the story in interesting directions, some of which might have been considered dangerously controversial for an introductory episode of their little universe. By 7 you were beginning to see the real show. Take the original Star Trek for example. The first broadcast episode was "The Man Trap". Then inexplicably in the third broadcast episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before" things are different. Dr. McCoy, who starred in The Man Trap is conspicuously missing. The crew is in different uniforms, ones that were not used in any other episode. We were eventually to find out those uniforms were from the first pilot which was shot down (but later revived as "The Cage"), revealing this third episode to be the actual second pilot. Everyone, most notably CBS schedulers, were still working things out. The schedulers had broadcast the second pilot, featuring Shatner, as the second episode, not the first. Messy details like that in the earliest episodes might have sunk the series and a multi-billion dollar industry as a result. It's why I'll give most any new episodic show 7 episodes to get their stuff in order. If they can't do it by then, well, I feel I've given a fair chance.

Actually, there's another plot thread this might tie up...

Yet another new trailer dropped, and man, it has me more excited than anything since Endgame, with the possible exception of Spider-man: No Way Home! The villain is clearly the big man himself, and not one of his variants. I've no idea now if all the Ant-Man family survives. And is that...is that...

Yes, but then I'd want a flotilla of flatboats full of victi....er, people floating by, gawking and taking pictures. Actually, that makes a good point. The funding, not the tech, though, yes, that is important, too, and you make good suggestions. We've not really seen cyber-crime in the game at these levels, but one would think there'd be a legion of hackers working for Arachnos to capture funding for it, and/or divert resources and materials to the islands to be used. That could lead to several new stories, both blue and red of breaking the back of Arachnos' funding and logistics: blue to shut down chunks of it, red to capture and exploit back to Arachnos those captured chunks (at high interest or increased prominence/power).

Two great tastes that ...sound disgusting together. I'll report, and have reported anything that shows clear violation. As others have said, it's about preservation. That said, back in the OG, very, very early on, I had a character which was blatantly Green Hornet. I loved the character, what can I say? But I was also new to MMOs and legal wrangling was far from my puny mind. A firm but kind player stopped me and stated that I was violating the game laws. Was I embarrassed? Absolutely. Was I frustrated that I couldn't play as a favorite character. Yes indeed. But I deleted that character, and instead played a new character with many of the same moves. He became Ace Barnstormer, one of my favorites. I say all this to say that I actually thank the person that stopped me. So far as I know, I was never reported, and being forced to change brought my creative side forward resulting in a better character. Who knows? It might do the same for current players.

Is that just due to distractions, or are they actually set lower in the gang fight?

Waiting for the other shoe to drop... For me, the Christmas Iceskating Pond: quiet, pretty, no violence, lots of free hot cocoa and coffee. Okay, yeah, a little more realistic: Probably Talos Island, the actual island not the warehouse district to the west, nor that peninsula over by Dark Astoria. I've had a hard day. I don't need zombies keeping me up all night. TI has a nice beach, and is relatively compact, shopping and supplies fairly easy to manage as a result. Transportation, vault storage, and the police are all easily accessible off the center square, and the Warriors strike me as one of the more likely-to-listen gangs when I lean out the window and ask them to keep it down, as I'm listening to Mel Torme.

I'm sure "I don't want to go!" has something to do with it as well. We saw several of the other psyches of the Doctor manifest, but none of the new series. I suspect Fourteen may prove to be Ten's psyche pushing to the front, tying up loose ends that he didn't want to leave behind to another version of himself. Then again,..

The Rocketeer was amazing. It went way over budget and they had a terrible time with effects for the rocket, I'm told, but the results were spectacular for its time and they still hold up. It really should have a sequel, despite having to recast everyone. I'm just sad that no matter what, Timothy Dalton cannot return. He was phenomenal as #3 Box Office Star/Jerk. I share a passion for Baldwin's The Shadow. Some parts got a bit campy, but overall, it really tapped into the 1940s feel, and as the Shadow, he was perfect. John Lone was amazing, and has been greatly under-used by Hollywood. Such a pity. Sky Captain was a bit soft on the story, or I should say on making a 1938-style pulp story into something folks would appreciate in the 2000's, but for style and acting, it was deep and on target mimicking the look and feel of the pre-War years. Likewise The Phantom was hampered by an at-times corny script, but it really felt like something Dad would have plunked down 10 cents to see at Saturday matinee. It helped that Billy Zane was a huge fan of the comics and really put himself into the role. I'm still waiting for a Green Hornet & Kato movie. (psst...mumble, mumble, Seth Rogan, mumble) I said, I'M STILL WAITING ON A GREEN HORNET & KATO MOVIE! Also still waiting on a proper Doc Savage movie. The Ron Ely movie of the early 1970's was a riot, but so, so campy. It at least introduced the characters to a new generation, but I feel a more grounded movie is in order. There was talk about having The Rock play him at some point in the past (what has Dwayne NOT been connected to) but I think they missed the point: Doc Savage of the 1930s is the anti-Nazi. He's physically and mentally the embodiment of Aryan ideals, yet he rejects all of that for a life of humility serving the needs of others. In the 1930s it would have been a huge slap "right in der Fuhrer's face", as band leader Spike Jones put it. Dwayne has got it going on in so many positive ways, but it would take a miracle makeup team to make him Aryan in appearance (and about 20 years younger). Man of Bronze, yes, absolutely. Aryan ideal, no. Now, if they were to not do a period piece, and update Doc Savage to modern times, say having his war days in the Persian Gulf War instead of WWI, then yes, with modern sensibilities towards ethnicity, Dwayne might make an excellent adventurer/explorer/brain surgeon/polymath extraordinaire, and with a good script I'd have a ball watching it. I'm actually not familiar with The Lone Wolf nor Gentleman Ghost. The former IMDB has informed me of several movies. I shall try to find them. Thanks! The latter, well I know about the DC comics villain Gentleman Ghost, but I'm getting a blank from IMDB. Care to elucidate? My best friend has informed me there's a character called "The Spider", whom he described as "The Shadow, but more violent". I shall have to look into that one as well.

I don't suppose they'd bring Peter back as well? (Well yes, there were multiple Peters. I'd take any.) Tennant is going to be Fourteen? At least, that's the rumor I read. I've not followed the show for a while now. I'm guessing this confirms the Curator's comment about revisiting the old faces? If so, may I just say, I would return in a heartbeat if they brought Paul McGann back as a reincarnation of the 8th Doctor. His 14 minutes as a lead-in to the 50th Anniversary were some of the best Doctor Who I ever saw, and I genuinely would be interested in 3 proper series being extended to him. I know nothing of Gatwa, and I'm interested to see what he brings to the role. I knew nothing of David Tennant or Matt Smith but I was blown away by their performances.

While I could watch another Superman, it's not the character I really gravitate to. Supes is a Swiss Army Knife of abilities, and in the comics it was even worse (he was given "super ventriloquism once, and there were others). An insane number of abilities combined with invulnerability on a near-planetary scale makes for a dull character, I think. I much prefer characters that have a single, or perhaps two abilities, and who learn to maximize them in creative ways. Likewise I appreciate mortal heroes who become practically renaissance men of martial and detective skills. This is probably why I enjoy the characters from the 1930s and 40s so much, names like Doc Savage, The Phantom, Green Hornet & Kato, The Shadow, etc., and why I immediately cottoned to the original The Question when introduced to the character. Batman fits this, but I find him a tad dull these days as he's been overdone and the Joker, too. I might be interested if his deep rogues gallery were to bring some fresh blood to the screen. Likewise Logan is an interesting character, but vastly overused. X-men have a huge roster and I'd love to see some of them get the spotlight. I've not seen the latest Bond, though I will, eventually. If they've indeed written an ending to the arc, perhaps they'd consider doing a stint with another 00, or even a team of them, maybe introducing the new Bond at the end of that. I'd find it interesting because 007 has long had plot armor. What happens when the story focuses on one or more of the double-Os who don't have the advantage of being the most indestructible of their number? It would keep us guessing.

Galactic continuity is changed? Emperors truly die and granddaughters are not born, or are born to the correct family? One could hope. I do like the idea of Hayden as live action equivalent to animated Clone Wars Anakin. Matt Lantern brought such a confidence to Anakin that Hayden was not allowed to bring to him until he fell to the dark side. As a result, Hayden's Anakin comes across as a whiny emo-boy, while Lantern's take showed Anakin as clearly a man. A troubled man, but still a man, not a young whiner. I don't blame Hayden, and I'd very much like to see him replicate Lantern's version. It would be impressive. Most impressive.

There's always room for a "Man From U.N.C.L.E. 2". 😁 I'd watch it. I might be alone in the theater, but I'd watch it. I still think Henry could be the next Bond. But on a Marvel note: yes, jump ship Henry! There's so many characters he'd make interesting. He could even take a shot at his previous role and play Hyperion, the anti-Superman. As regards DC, yes, I have to agree with @Krimson, DC's lack of direction has me floundering in attention and attendance. That said, if they do reorganize and come out fighting, I do hope they'll build to the big guns. Don't release a new Superman or Batman or Wonder Woman immediately. Build the Justice league as the Avengers were built, but in the early years, insert some characters who deserve screentime. Again referencing a comment by @Krimson, the Question (Vic Sage variety) is an awesome character and would make for an interesting mortal (a la Batman) hero movie. (I'd be open to a storyline involving a relationship with the Huntress as well, based on the very popular dynamic in Justice League Unlimited.) Booster Gold could be a hilarious movie, along the lines of an Ant-Man film. Moving to bigger guns, I'd be down for a solid Green Arrow/Black Canary movie, and it's long overdue for a proper Green Lantern Corp film. (Maybe they could have an older Hal Jordan already active and serving as mentor to new Lanterns, which role I would immediately hand over to Nathan Fillion, and send him into Hollywood body building training.) Tease the rise of the Big Trinity throughout the films, build suspense and interest.

While I like the idea, would it be that obvious? I'd think the morally upright heroes might have a problem with any assistance to any criminal organization, regardless of the impact it might have on other criminal groups. Vigilantes might go for it, though. What I could see is a criminal group manipulating the heroes into cooperation (without realization of it), possibly by sending one of their number to the heroes as a "change-of-heart" contact that's "having trouble leaving the gang, but can give you streetwise info on other groups nearby".

I'll throw a concept out: underwater grotto/cave zone under the sea bed between islands. First off, I hate caves, like so many, so it would have to be voluminous in its chambers. As essentially a raised air pocket, it potentially could have small outcroppings overhead in the water: fine for seabird nesting, terrible for humans to build upon, but with vents in the volcanic rock, running down to the chambers below. Perhaps even better would be to have an island that has such a cave underneath, but portions of it are below high-tide sea level and are flooded at high tide, giving a changing dynamic to when players can access those portions, or perhaps how they will move through them.

A long-overdue promise to follow-up my other thread on Paragon City. If you were to add a zone to the Rogue Islands, where would you think would be the most interesting location, and why? What would you like to see in that spot? Please consider how bordering areas might overlap or affect a new zone, giving a more cohesive feel to the city. I'm including a map with a few predefined areas for ease of reference, but please feel free to select anything not in those predefined spots, or perhaps overlapping those spots. Keep in mind that it was stated by the original development team that the Rogue Islands were not entirely pictured on maps and that additional islands might have been added in the future, so feel free to draw outside of the box. PLEASE ...Keep in mind that this is hypothetical discussion and is in NO WAY an effort to supplant any desires to improve or complete anything already in game. There's no need to make comments like "Why are we discussing this? We need to fix "X" first." This is just pie-in-the-sky, wish-fulfillment fun.

What is the origin of this labeled map? I've not seen it before, at least that I can recall? Was it perhaps early concept art? The location of the airport on the map does make sense: centrally located and long, to allow for one lengthy runway and one shorter one, not unlike Newark Airport in New Jersey, which incidentally, is also adjacent to water. The south with the Argo river does lend itself well to a New England-styled swamp/wetlands/salt marsh zone. An airport up north near Croatoa can still make sense though, as suggested by @Nemeroff. Many major cities have a second airport to handle the volume of travel and air commerce, and even medium-sized cities often have a small-aircraft airport where private planes, small commercial ventures, and "hopper" commuter flights originate. I say "small commercial ventures" to include things like news and surveying helicopters as well as planes daily shipping fresh-off-the-boat seafood to restaurants deep inland. A smaller airport could tell nuanced stories.

I'll probably rewatch it the month before season 2 drops. It might be much more eye-opening to the overall MCU direction by then as the whole "infinite number of Kangs" storyline develops.

I'd say so, yes. I point back to my comment of the hard-boiled gumshoe elf drowning his pain in a pint of maple syrup as an example. There's many others I could mention, but I'd spoil it. There's some returning characters dropping in for hefty cameos, and several new characters, among them an elf couple who are the polar opposites (pun intended) of each other personality-wise. I found it a wee bit unsettling to have actor children playing an old married couple (since the elves have long lifespans), but it is handled well, so no worries. While it's pretty obvious by episode 4 how the story will turn out, that wasn't quite so clear up front. It's probably closer in style to movie #2. I've found it better so far than movie #3 which I never finished. I like Martin Short but for some reason, that movie turned me off pretty early in the story. I should probably give it another chance. The miniseries updates a little, showing the advance (some would say encroachment) of technology into the world of children, and attempts to close some of the plot holes from the movies. Go into the miniseries with a nice box of popcorn and a realization that nothing deep and profound will happen (though there will be some interesting twists and turns) and you'll likely enjoy yourself.

Anyone watching the miniseries The Santa Clauses? The latest episode just changed everything fundamental to the franchise's concept, but did so organically to the story. While I don't think it is as good as the original movie (it suffers from moments of cheap writing), I do find it overall entertaining, this episode particularly. (The unexpected image of a harden gumshoe elf hitting a bottle of maple syrup hard trying to get drunk had me in stitches.) Matilda Lawler, playing the current head elf, shows some real promise as a budding actor. Laura San Giacomo (Just Shoot Me, Quigley Down Under)appears in the miniseries in a surprising role.