Spider-Man joining Marvel Movies universe

For those who read the above title a little bemusedly, yes Spider-Man is a Marvel Comics original, but the film rights have remained the property of Sony Pictures, as evidenced by the Xperia smartphones that Peter Parker routinely uses. Until now, as Spider-Man has been incorporated into the Marvel Movies universe of films, joining the likes of the The Avengers, Iron-Man and Ant-Man. 

This means that some of the movies Marvel has scheduled for release over the next two years will be pushed back, most notable of which being the Black Panther flick which was scheduled to debut around November 2017. As a result Captain Marvel and Inhumans will be forced to move in order to make room for your friendly neighbourhood superhero.

The move has also led many to believe Andrew Garfield, who featured in the two Amazing Spider-Man films will be axed, as a new lead will be found for Spider-Man's second reboot appearance in Captain America: Civil War. Although this news shakes things up quite a bit, we just hope that Marvel Movies can finally do Spidey justice.   

Better Call Saul makes strong initial showing

Looking for a new series to binge-watch seeing as how Breaking Bad is done and dusted? Then Better Call Saul, which coincidentally comes from the same creator of Breaking Bad, may be exactly what you need to suppress that binge-watching fix.

There was plenty of hype surrounding the series' debut, and as such it recorded the largest viewership for a premiere in cable history. However, it still scored less than half the numbers that The Walking Dead did for the start of its mid-season 5 premiere. The dystopian zombie series registered close to 15.6 million viewers, with Better Call Saul amassing 6.9 million.  

Numbers aside, Better Call Saul has received some strong reviews out the gate, with the lead character (Jimmy McGill) being familiar to Breaking Bad fans, as a fast talking lawyer who'll do anything for a win, but seldom seems to get them. Should you still need convincing, click on the extended trailer below to see just what Better Call Saul has to offer.

The Walking Dead’s Beth to appear in The Flash

Where does an actress go after her sweet character (namely Beth) meets her demise in one of the most popular horror drama TV series (namely The Walking Dead)? Why, she goes to the dark side of course. 

No, Emily Kinney hasn’t snapped up a role in the upcoming Star Wars movies, but she has added to her geek cred with a role in The Flash, and for a change of pace, plays a villain. Kinney will apparently play malevolent techie Brie Larvan, also known as, wait for it, The Bug-Eyed Bandit. If that name doesn’t tell you to expect to see her in a new light, nothing will.

What’s more, the episode in which Brie will wreak mayhem will apparently have some more Arrow crossover as well, as apparently Ray Palmer and Felicity will run afoul of The Bug-Eyed Bandit while visiting Central City.

Yet another Jurassic World trailer claws onto the web

It seems like almost every week there is a new trailer emerging for Jurassic World. Not since the distant and ominous thump causing ripples in a puddle of water has it been this clear that something big is on its way. Nonetheless, the new trailer is worth mentioning since it is utterly different to what has come before, highlighting InGen’s security division in a documentary style, while also introducing its seemingly no-nonsense head, Vic Hoskins, played by Vincent D’Onofrio.

Considering the ill fates of pretty much all the previous security, gung-ho mercenary types in the previous movies, we would not be at all surprised for Hoskins’ title (head of security) to become very much a literal description (sans body) somewhere during the course of the movie. Or maybe we will be surprised and the gun-toting badass will actually survive for a change. Take a look at the trailer below and place your bets for yourself.

Professor Xavier to reunite with The Wolverine

Following on from the (sad) news that Professor X (Patrick Stewart) won’t make an appearance in the next X-Men movie, Apocalypse, there is some good news – apparently Stewart and Hugh Jackman may well be reunited in The Wolverine 3.  

In an interview with OregonLive, Stewart noted that this would make for a very different sort of X-Men movie than what we have seen before. The spin-off could actually be quite good news, considering that The Wolverine movies have largely met with mixed reviews so far, in part because they have seemed so separate from the X-Men universe. However, with the pairing between the two, (and for Pete’s sake, the right director please, and not a repeat of X-Men 3!) we may be in for a treat. 

So far, X-Men: Apocalypse is slated to open on 27 May, 2016 while The Wolverine 3 is expected to slash onto big screens come the beginning of March 2017.

Japanese army are Star Wars geeks

Well we may not be fully familiar with frigid temperatures and snow days round our part of the world. To that end, we direct you to Japan and the annual Sapporo Snow Festival where a few intrepid members of the Japanese army have constructed a massive snow structure honouring Star Wars. 

What exactly did they choose to sculpt into life you may be asking? No, not Princess Leia chained to Jabba the Hutt. Instead, they've seen fit to pay homage to the dark side of The Force, most notably being a couple of stormtroopers and Darth Vader himself. Also added to this 15 metre tall sculpture are a few Tie fighters, but sadly the Death Star does not feature as prominently as we would've liked. . 

In order to celebrate the 66th year of the Sapporo Festival, the troops used an estimated 3500 tonnes of snow to build the 23 metre wide ode to The Empire. It is said that close to two million visitors will see this sculpture during the festival, which kicked off a week ago and closes today (11 February). It will take some doing to top this effort next year, but we're fully confident the Japanese army can do it.

Contributions by Ryan Noik.