Charles Pulliam-Moore

io9Books & Comics

If You Haven’t Read the Excellent Valiant High Series, Here’s Your Chance to Check It Out

Finding a way into an entirely new universe of superheroes can be the type of herculean effort that keeps people from checking out comics from publishers they aren’t familiar with. But with Valiant High, Valiant Comics has found the perfect way to introduce you to its sprawling cast of characters. The Valiant Universe is an … Continued

io9Movies

Marvel Misses Another Easy Opportunity for LGBTQ Representation With Black Panther

In Ta-Nehisi Coates, Roxane Gay, and Yona Harvey’s most recent runs on Black Panther and World of Wakanda, Ayo and Aneka—two of the Dora Milaje—are lovers who play a pivotal role in the civil uprising that occurs at a time when Wakanda’s society is on the brink of collapse. Given the amount of screen time … Continued

io9Books & Comics

Incognegro: Renaissance Author Mat Johnson Talks About Living a Black Life With Skin That Can Look White

In Dark Horse’s Incognegro: Renaissance, Zane Pinchback—a young black journalist and New York transplant by way of Tupelo, Mississippi—finds himself smack dab in the middle of Harlem at the height of its Renaissance during the 1920s. Zane, like Incognegro: Renaissance creator Mat Johnson, is a black man with a light enough complexion that people are … Continued

io9Movies

Wakanda’s Indomitable Culture Is Why the Women of Black Panther Are so Dynamic

Though Marvel’s Black Panther is about the ascension of a new Wakandan king, the film is also largely about the powerful women around T’Challa who are running the show. According to a number of the film’s female stars, their characters’ strength is a direct reflection of Wakanda’s cultural history. Because of the fictional country’s historical … Continued

io9Books & Comics

This Week’s Best Comics Are as Sexy as They Are Mysterious

A potent blend of love, lust, deception, and betrayal can turn almost any story into a sublime reading experience. This week’s best comics have them all in spades. The ability to navigate the treacherous waters of human desire is perhaps the one realizable superpower that would most likely change people’s lives, were they to suddenly … Continued

io9Movies

Black Panther Is Marvel’s First Shakespearean Epic

There are a great many things that make Black Panther a Marvel film like no other, but one of the most striking things about it is how thoroughly familiar the world of Wakanda feels. Not in the sense that you’ve seen anything like it before (trust me, you haven’t), but rather that seeing it feels … Continued

io9Movies

Epic Cast Class Photo Shows Just How Huge Marvel’s Cinematic Universe Has Become

Over the past 10 years, Marvel’s Cinematic Universe has become an awfully big place—so big that all of its heroes and villains probably won’t fit on the screen all at once during Avengers: Infinity War. To demonstrate its own vastness, the stars and directors of the studio’s movies gathered to take an epic class photo. … Continued

io9Movies

At One Point, Marvel Was Seriously Considering Making a War Machine Movie

Though Black Panther will be Marvel’s first film with a black lead and a predominantly black cast, the Wakandan king isn’t the first black hero to take center stage in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That distinction belongs to James Rhodes—War Machine—a character who almost got his own solo movie. During a recent interview with Complex, … Continued

io9Movies

Report: Joaquin Phoenix Is in Talks to Play the Joker for Some Reason

It’s only fitting that at a time when we’re not sure just who’ll portray Batman in Warner Bros.’ future DC movies news would break that the studio was looking for another actor to play the Joker. This time around though, the buzz is about who WB wants to star in the non-DCEU, standalone Joker film. … Continued

io9Television

Amazon’s Perplexing Hanna Reboot Has Found Its Trio of Stars

It’s entirely understandable if you don’t remember too many details about Joe Wright’s 2011 thriller Hanna. As fascinating as it was, it’s the kind of movie that somehow manages to slip back into the recesses of your memory very easily. That might be why Amazon has decided to reboot it as a streaming series. Today, … Continued

io9Books & Comics

Nightwing‘s Still Using His Sexuality to Make Comics More Progressive

We’re getting to a point in Dick Grayson’s career where he’s spent more time galavanting around the world as a world-renowned spy than he has as Bruce Wayne’s successor to the cowl. But one of the things writers like Gail Simone and Grayson’s Tim Seeley (who also writes the current Nightwing Rebirth series) made a very … Continued

io9Movies

In Venom‘s First Trailer, Venom Is Nowhere to Be Found

After months of secrecy and uncertainty about just what Sony’s Venom might look and feel like on the big screen, the first trailer has finally dropped. Unsurprisingly, the trailer’s light on plot details, but what it’s chock full of is a brooding, moody Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) reflecting on his life and the briefest of … Continued

io9Movies

People Still Think Laurence Fishburne Is Really Morpheus From The Matrix

One of the great things about actors like Laurence Fishburne is that they’re able to bring characters to life so well they damn near make you believe in their fictional stories. One of the worst things about being an actor like Laurence Fishburne is that sometimes fans can’t separate fact from fiction. Fishburne recently stopped … Continued

io9Television

No One Is Ready for the Deadly Storm Coming Black Lightning‘s Way

Though death and loss have been big parts of Black Lightning since the beginning of the series, the past few episodes were full of enough hope and optimism to almost convince you that maybe, just maybe, Jefferson Pierce might be able to get a handle on the crime wave sweeping Freeland. But the reality of … Continued

io9Books & Comics

A Brief History of Black Panther‘s Wakanda Under T’Challa’s Reign

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s depiction of Wakanda is undoubtedly going to become the definitive take on the secretive nation for many people once Black Panther hits theaters, and that’s understandable. But there is so much more to Wakanda’s rich history in the comics that just won’t fit into the film. Marvel’s become very good at … Continued

io9Books & Comics

Put Down the Cape Comics and Read These Stories About Elderly Bounty Hunters and Hungry Ghosts

It’s been yet another great week for comics about superheroes coming back from the dead and averting the apocalypse, but in the off-chance that you’ve been in a mood for some new series that are a little less “KRAK! POW!” and more “What’s really important in life?” then these are the new books you should … Continued

io9Books & Comics

I Wish More Comic Book Events Were as Fantastically Weird as Milk Wars

Comic book events have the unenviable task of proving to readers that their story is fresh (but familiar), big (but intimate), and important (but not taking itself too seriously) all at once. “Milk Wars,” the bizarre battle at the heart of the Justice League of America and Doom Patrol’s new crossover, does all that and … Continued

io9Movies

Fate of the Furious‘ F. Gary Gray Is the Frontrunner to Direct the Men in Black Spinoff

Men in Black is one of those rare film franchises where the idea of a full-on reboot doesn’t sound like an entirely bad idea when you really think about it. Though Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones won’t be back, the return to MiB headquarters is sure to be a thrilling one, thanks to the … Continued

io9Television

Black Lightning May Have an Incredibly Odd Connection to the CW’s Arrowverse

Even though CW president Mark Pedowitz has already stated flatly that Black Lightning isn’t technically connected to the rest of the Arrowverse, an exchange between two characters on this week’s Black Lightning episode suggests a rather interesting way that all might—might—change in the future. Anissa Pierce and Grace Choi’s meet-cute in “LaWanda: The Book of … Continued

io9Books & Comics

Brian Michael Bendis Is Ushering in a New Era of Superman Comics for DC

After months of speculation about what Brian Michael Bendis was up to at DC now that he’s left Marvel, the publisher announced today that Bendis is taking over writing duties for three Superman titles, resurrecting Jinxworld, and launching an all-new imprint. According to Forbes, the era of Bendis’ take on the Last Son of Krypton … Continued