Without Any Delay.

If the previous installment 're-booted'/'rehashed'/'refreshed' the character bond, then what should next installment in the series should do?

It should [ 're-booted'/'rehashed'/'refreshed' ] the franchise bond. Originating and bringing back all the tropes and quirks and how Bond uses them to get by his missions.

As the previous movie, made his heart broken, and he come to conclusion that he should not get attached, but the next movie will taunt him if he can really do it.

So,

The Gunbarrel Sequence

Goldeneye like gunbarrel, maybe a few grey grasses in background, full shake transition to the unrelated pre-title sequence.

The Pre-Title Sequence

The scene begin a little before the ending of 2006 movie, showing the infliration of Mr White's villa, he is then chased by goons, and as the tunnel scene begins, it transtion to title sequence.

The Title Sequence

The same song, Another Way To Die, with same animation, but with smoking factories, leaking blue oil. Trapped fish in desert. More windy and harsh. Sexy. No Good About Goodbye is used as end title song.

Main MISSION Movie

No going rogue or retire or rookie or replaced. The scene opens with a street, people dining in moring, Then in the room above Bond is having fun with the girl of the owner. Then a call arrives. He picks it up and start dressing. The girl is sad, but gives him a summer 'Hat'. He wears and leaves.

Now in headquarter, he goes, flirt with Moneypenny, throws the hat, then in chamber of M, Naomi Harries play Moneypenny, Judi Dench play M. He gives a mouthfull of reply to questions about topics. He is then told to get the 'Tools' needed from Q-branch. John Cleese plays Q, he have similar banters.

Bond is now in foriegn lands, similar to actual movie.
Where he disguise as water based scientist and make friends and foes.

Olga plays Camile Mantis, Gemma plays Strawberry Fields, Stana Katic plays henchwoman to Dominac Greenes named Cornea Veanue. Her brother is Elvis Veanue. That military man is renamed Major Talon.

Bond, is now in the shade of local food centre, a waitress flirst and treats him special while he in sunny shadows he waits and read the secret files. Then a car make noise, there is a girl in it, its her, Camile 'Mantis' from the file. He leaves tip for the girl and start following. There is a man who is also following her, another man and another on bike. He hides from all of them and climb her hotel, then there is the knife fight, then the parkour chase and kill on rope then he lands on ground and kicks of the bike man, and slowly cleans himself to meet the girl.

She didn't expected him to be so... They go to her room upstairs to get few things. See distubance there. She realizes there was something wrong. Dominic ordered to spy on her!

They then leave to his port base. Where there is shark being transported. Bond sees it, the girl have pride smile. Then the scene cut to... Almost like a rural classroom, idiot and unhygenic kids, while Greene is their leader. On the stage. Then the scene of their 'discussion' is ended, they are served drinks, and then they leave, they take notice of Mr Bond sent through universal transport.

Then they meet Greenes, their is the forming of usual relation, a kind of triangle. Then He asks them to leave for the desert base. The take a small speed boat and move along, in distance talon's ship. Then they reach the other side where they take a jeep. Then they move to the base, where Bond notices Agent Veanue, henchwoman of Dominac Greenes, she notices him too.

I will speed up here.

There is night scene where Bond dresses to dive, camille follows him to follow to the ship of Major Talon. Then there he catches her, she undresses to bikini, as the cloth will get wet. They go to, Bond silently goes above the ship, the girl waits there. Then after some loud action, he jumps back, gunfires and leaves, the girl is fainted.

IF THERE IS ANY COMMENTS I WILL CONTINUE IN PART 2.

I think the movie is fine as it is, for what it is, even though I would want a happy ending, I have no problem with the film ending the way it did, however, there is one scene that left me really sad and after thinking about it, if only the outcome of that scene was different, the film could potentially lean into the themes of family even more, this scene is of course... the RV girl scene.

She suffers the worst fate of all characters, not only was she scared and alone after her mother bit her, but on top of that, she spent her last moments confused and unable to do anything while still being very much aware as her face split open. While this scene is very powerful and even foreshadows what later happens to Bryan, not to mention that it's her bite that causes him to mutate later, I can't help but think about... what could have been, if Bryan was able to help her.

In an alternate version, Bryan gets bitten by the dog in the leg (that already happens but in the film the dog didn't infect him because he bit him through the clothes and didn't wound him) and when he finds the little girl (who has a mutated foot, but other than that, she is not too far gone yet) he takes her with him, carries her in his arms, in hopes of getting to the hospital before it's too late, as well as wraps a piece of cloth around her foot so the infection hopefully spreads slower.

Later in the film instead of seeing a sticker on a car, he looks at the girl, sleeping in his arms with her time running out, before calling his girlfriend.

When they get to the lab, the girl starts mutating more and more (mainly her foot) and kills all the scientists who try to cure her, but Bryan takes the cure and goes to the roof, the girl follows, Bryan is able to cure her, the tentacles on the leg dry up and fall off, she is back to normal but she is unconscious, the helicopter spots Bryan with the girl in his arms and they take them in.

In the helicopter, one of the guys tells Bryan that they will be able to remake the cure from the girl's blood, which has probably already created anti-bodies. The helicopter flies off, away from the city... but then... Bryan's dog bite lets him know about it, he starts rapidly mutating. The helicopter crashed down... and then, we can see a mutated hand reaching out, the creatures rises up and we can see the merged bodies of Bryan, the girl and the dudes flying the helicopter. The grotesque creature roars and the movie ends.

"I have seen the dark universe yawning,

Where the black planets roll without aim;

Where they roll in their horror unheeded, without knowledge or lustre or name."

Welcome, friends. Happy Spooktober!

This week, we come to the final installment in my rewrite of the Alien franchise. A revision of both the David-centric prequel films and the ordeals of Ellen Ripley as a saga of survival in the face of cosmic horror, and terrors both alien and man-made.

Spin-offs like Romulus or crossovers with the Predator series have not been addressed, and not without reason.

• Romulus because it's a good standalone that doesn't need too much fixing.
• Predator crossovers because they too can stand on their own plot-wise.

In Part 1 of this final outline, I pitched the finale of this series. An apocalyptic finale in which the threat of the Alien, and David 8, come bearing down on the planet Earth as Ripley and her found family try to survive the coming disaster.

Before we dive in feel free to recap on the rest of the series.

\**\**

First the story of David, retooled as a trilogy.

• Prometheus - 2012
• Paradise Lost - 2015
• Covenant - 2017

Then the cancelled Neill Blomkamp-produced Aliens sequel which retcons Alien³ onward.

• State of the Alien Universe
• Alien: Awakening - 2019 (Part 1, the Pitch)
• Alien: Awakening - 2019 (Part 2, the Film)

Next the film which bridges the stories of the prequels and Ripley saga.

• Aliens: The Destroying Angels - 2022

Accompanying these ideas is a history, a "codex" of sorts, which drafts an in-universe mythology for this redux of the series. A codex which features ideas from canon, scrapped drafts, and ideas by both myself and collaborators.

• Franchise Codex

\**\**

With all this groundwork laid, let us take a look at the broad outline of this finale.

Will split into 3 acts, which I will post over the course of this next week.

Let us see where the story David, and of the Ripley clan, ends, in...

\**\**

ALIEN: THE SHADOW OF DEATH

Directed by-

Gareth Edwards

Produced by-

Neill Blomkamp and James Cameron

Music by-

Jed Kurzel

Starring-

Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley

Kate Winslet as Rebecca "Newt" Jorden

Michael Biehn as Dwayne Hicks

Alex Høgh Andersen as William Ripley

Jaz Sinclair as Martine Roby

Katy O’Brian as Marshal Rena Kendrick

with Michael Fassbender as David 8

and Doug Bradley as the High Priest of the Immaculate Incubation

and Noomi Rapace as "Goddess"

\**\**

Prologue

Open on a deserted colony. Off the borders of the UPP.

A distress signal has called a strike force from their rival, the United Americas, to investigate. In light of colony worlds on the frontier going dark in recent days, humans are having to put aside longstanding grudges if just to survive.

The platoon of Colonial Marines land on an industrial center. Only to find the site ruined, with signs of bloody conflict between human and alien. On-site doctors detect signs of the deadly Pathogen which has wrought such chaos across the galaxy.

And then, without warning, a cloud of black locusts suddenly swarm out from beneath the bombed-out ruins. The Marines are decimated, whether shredded by the creatures or infected with the Pathogen which either kills them on the spot or mutates them into horrific abominations on the spot.

Survivors attempt to make it back to the ship. But it's too late. Waiting for them is a rapidly-maturing Xenomorph, who quickly snuffs out the last human life on this planet.

The sun sets, darkness closing in on the once-settled world. And in orbit, the man who unleashed the coming apocalypse looks beyond. To the cradle of human civilization.

To Earth.

\**\**

Act I

On Earth, a tentative truce has the several leading human powers meeting in independent space. Meeting to discuss the growing crisis.

Representatives are present in London, to speak for their respective nations.

• The Three World Empire
• The Union of Progressive Peoples
• The United Americas

Present at the proceedings are Ellen Ripley, her adopted family, and two companions they've found along the way in recent years.

• Rena Kendrick, of the Colonial Marshals
• Martine Roby, former Weyland-Yutani synthetic

Kendrick, having once hunted Ripley's crew, has since become a trustworthy ally. While Martine remains close with William Ripley. Close enough that the rest of the crew recognize more intimate feelings brewing between them.

• Narratively, the plot point plays on the kind of taboo, psychosexual imagery or themes sometimes present in the Alien franchise.
  • The very nature of Xenomorph reproduction
  • Androids like Ash having drives they were unable to fulfill
  • David and his obsessive 'love' for Elizabeth Shaw
• Ripley is torn, having had encounters both positive and negative with the androids designed by Weyland.
  • Ash and Bishop respectively.
• Newt is more encouraging, while Hicks is on his guard but accepting of it.

Meanwhile William is still recovering from his Pathogen exposure out in Dark Space, and the 'Seed' the last Pilot offered to save his life. Newt, having been apart from her little brother for years, is not leaving his side any time soon.

While the state of the world is uncertain, and things have changed so drastically for all of them, the Ripley clan remains as close as ever.

Heralds of Doom

But, as ever, safety is a fleeting thing.

The Earth-based council receives word of the most recent expedition losing contact. Worse, a collection of broadcasts have been pieced together which herald a disturbing message to all human powers.

A message of doom spoken by a wanted criminal known only as 'High Priest'.

Around the administrative center, crowds are gathering to hear a speaker of the High Priest. A speaker who, much to Ripley's horror, reveals himself to be a cybernetically-altered cultistrevealed) who carries a Xenomorph inside of him. Kept in a cryo-stasis that slows the incubation process, the Guardian holds a dead man's switch and threatens to bomb the plaza in front of the conference unless he can broadcast his message.

Ripley and Newt watch, in revulsion, as the Guardian speaks. Revealing himself as agent of loosely-connected "churches" which revere the Xenomorph. Seeing it as divine, the 'Destroying Angel' spoken of in ancient galactic records.

• The cults present tied into such groups as
  • The Darwin Era
  • The Church of Immaculate Incubation

The High Priest stands at the head of these cults, having unified them. And in his agent's message, one broadcast across human space, he speaks of the corruption and stagnation of Man. How, as in the time of Genesis, a great deluge must wipe the world clean and make way for a new era.

A new Creator is coming. But before he can create, he must first destroy.

Beside Ripley, she notices an ambassador for the Three World Empire feeling nauseous. Like he caught a stomach-ache before returning to Earth.

Or something worse.

Dark Skies

All at once, disaster strikes. Not just on Earth, but across the galaxy.

Hicks manages to shoot down the Guardian while Ripley seizes his switch and stops the bomb. But others go off across London.

And they're not just explosives.

Swarms of black locusts are unleashed. Much of the populace are forced to run for cover, to hide from the creatures which quickly spread the Pathogen which laid low the Creators' latter-day homeworld Paradise.

Worse, a gargantuan spacecraft appears in the sky above London. An Engineer vessel, one which dispenses more bombs from which fresh Xenomorph eggs are dispensed, with scores of humans being seized by Facehuggers.

And from the British ambassador, of course, bursts a newborn Xenomorph. The man having been infected before he even came to Earth.

Ripley and the others are forced to run and seek cover with Marines and troops from the other human nations. Before they reach the bunker, Ripley takes up point in the council's chamber and sees their holographic map start to dim.

More worlds are going out, their signals dying. This attack is taking place not just on Earth, but everywhere.

David

The High Priest has arrived, flanked by other Guardians who like him have volunteered to incubate Xenomorphs.

The administrative center quickly falls under their control, and several aliens of immense size appear to flank their 'cloaked' worshippers. Xenomorphs of the 'Praetorian' strain.

Which means a Queen is not far behind. And perhaps something else.

The High Priest takes command of the chamber's communications, and the visage of his master appears.

David 8. Synthetic 'son' of Peter Weyland, who survived the Prometheus disaster and would later build his own new world from the ruins and unwilling crew of the Covenant.

• David's appearance is restored to the prim, elegant design he granted himself in the events of 2012's Prometheus.
  • The appearance modeled after T.E. Lawrence as played by Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia.
• The synthetic wears clothing that is a blend between the biomechanical flavoring of the Creators' Engineer caste, and his old science uniform from the Prometheus.

Ripley is nearly cornered when the High Priest and his creatures find her. But David commands they stay their hand. Cheerfully, he says he knows Ripley and even admires her.

The mad android and would-be god briefly recounts Ripley's life, her adventures. Having nothing but respect for her as a true survivor, not unlike his beloved Elizabeth Shaw.

• Despite having experimented on her corpse, and wrought horrific monstrosities in the aftermath, David still remembers her fondly.
  • Even speaking about her in the present tense; as if she's still alive.
• David treats Ripley with courtesy, if not slight condescension, following through on his characterization throughout this rewritten series.
  • That being a man who 'loves' humans, albeit in a possessive and controlling manner and seeing them as needing to be managed or culled when they stray too far out of line.

Ripley doesn't much care for David's ravings and tells him Elizabeth would be disgusted with what he's done. Sad, but having expected as much, David commands Ripley be brought to meet Elizabeth and join them in watching a new world be born.

But Newt intercedes, under cover fire from Marines who kill one of the Praetorians before they are overwhelmed by the others. Newt and Ripley escape, and make it to the bunker.

While outside, in London, the alien threat brings the city to utter ruin.

\**\**

And that's where we leave off with Act I.

Happy to finally be presenting this to you all.

Will see you in a couple days, with Act II!

So, if you know me, you know that I don’t particularly like Godzilla 2014 all that much. It’s boring, frustrating, and it didn’t show the fights. But I’m sick of always being negative about it. I want to actually look at what I didn’t like about this film and fix it; I want to mold this movie into a masterpiece (by my standards anyway lol)

So let’s get started with…

#1. The Human Characters

Contrary to popular belief, I actually don’t mind a human-centric Godzilla movie. The problem is that G14’s human story is just bad (and that they cut out the monster fights but we’ll get to that later…). Nobody has any personality, and the “plot” amounts to watching a bunch of exposition machines move from set to set while monotonously droning about stuff that we never actually see. At the center of all of this is Ford Brody and his family (barring Joe), so my main focus is making them better.

First off, I’m swapping Ford and Elle Brody’s roles. Why? Because I can. Anyways, into the actual meat of the story.

Elle would be the estranged daughter of Joe Brody, having distanced herself from her father after her mother Sandra’s death. This would also be the driving motivation for why she joined the army; she wanted to prevent other families from being torn apart like hers was. However, this trauma would also form the foundation of her character arc, which I’ll detail more once I get to that point.

Ford would be significantly different from how he was in the film. Gone is the flatly-acted plank of wood in canon, because now he’s going to be a more upbeat and chipper secret member of Monarch. He wants nothing more than to study Godzilla and the MUTOs to learn more about them, seeing them as a massive revolution to the world of biology.

As for their son? He gets Thanos Snapped. Screw him.

I would change the other characters a tiny bit too (mainly having Serizawa be a more serious and levelheaded foil to Ford), but these are the main things I’m doing, because doing this gives the characters something that they severely lack in the movie; chemistry. You can’t have interesting characters if all they do is spit exposition dumps at each other, they have to bounce off of each other in fun ways, have clashing ideologies to give their interactions conflict, and most importantly, make the audience care about them. G14’s characters only *barely* manage to just have clashing ideologies, and that’s why they’re so flat.

#2 The Monster Fights

Are the best part of any Godzilla movie; even if the rest of the movie utterly sucks, at least you get to watch big monsters destroy a city while beating the crap out of each other. But, G14 doesn’t do this. It’s, quote “restrained” unquote approach means that we get a boring story, *and* no monster fights to make up for it, which forms the other half of why I hate it so much. On a side note, I hate how fight scenes in movies are apparently a bad thing now. A good fight scene with creative choreography is just frickin fun! Why do they get demonized now?

But anyways, literally all I would change is that we get to actually see the fights. In addition to the final battle being more intricate and interesting, showing more of Godzilla’s intelligence by having him use the buildings to his advantage and learning how to counter the MUTO’s moves, The Honolulu fight gets shown in full. Not just because it’s important to Elle’s plot, but I bring up the Honolulu fight specifically because there’s something about it in canon that really irks me.

You see, in G14, the Honolulu battle is supposed to be the big “Oh shit” moment of the film. It’s the battle that reveals the existence of the titans, it proves to the world that Godzilla is real, it’s the first time anything puts a stop to the MUTO’s destructive rampages, and it’s the thing that’s meant to fully kick the plot into high gear…

And we don’t get to see it.

Doesn’t that take a lot of the wind out of the movie’s sails? They just cut out a gigantic plot twist for no reason other than “Gareth Edwards learned every wrong lesson from Jaws”. It doesn’t “build tension” it makes me feel like I missed out on something cool.

One final change I’m gonna make regarding the monsters, I’m taking a page out of TNE’s book and give a bit of characterization to Godzilla. One of the photographs Seriezawa shows to Elle is of Goji being sighted in the Philippines, right around where Monarch found Dagon’s skeleton. This would add a potential bit of motivation for Godzilla; Him killing the MUTOs isn’t just about the natural balance, it’s personal.

#3 The Plot

Stays mostly the same up until the HokMUTO’s awakening (aside from cutting some less important stuff to speed up the pacing a bit, because good grief this movie is a frickin’ slug.) What changes here is that Joe Brody survives the attack, which both sets up Elle’s story for a more interesting turn, and causes Monarch to turn to him for answers. Seeing as Joe and Ford know the most about the MUTO, they are sent to Honolulu, Hawaii to try and get more info on how to kill it, with Elle accompanying them. This however results in an argument as the three disagree on how to deal with the MUTO. Ford insists on wanting to study it more, while Joe and Elle want to kill it, wanting revenge for Sandra’s death.

Things of course start to go further south from there, as the MUTO lands at a Nuclear plant and destroys it to feed on the uranium, shrugging off every attempt to stop him, making his way towards a heavily populated area, all while an even bigger creature is making a B-Line straight for it. Eventually, Godzilla finally makes his full appearance, and a fight breaks out between the two Kaiju (which we actually *see*). However, during the battle, one of the MUTO’s attacks causes Godzilla to stumble into a building that Elle and Joe are inside of, crushing it to pieces. By a stroke of luck, Elle survives, but Joe is ultimately fatally injured and ends up dying in her arms. Meanwhile, the Male MUTO escapes the fight, while Godzilla gives chase.

All the while, the incident sends the world into a panic as the existence of monsters is revealed by newspapers, news vans, news helicopters, and news battleships. Something that is made significantly worse by the emergence of a second MUTO in Nevada.

Severely scarred by this tragedy, Elle sinks deeper into her cynicism and starts becoming obsessed with revenge, outright suggesting to Admiral Stenz to nuke both the MUTOs and Godzilla alike, and straight up *not caring* for the potential civilian casualties, reasoning that they can just evacuate the city.

Despite both Ford and Seriezawa’s protests, a plan is made; a timed warhead would be set in the middle of San Francisco, after which the Mutos and Godzilla would be lured towards it, where it would hopefully go off and kill all three of them.

However, the plan quickly goes pear-shaped when the Male MUTO shows up early and steals the warhead, unwittingly arming it in the process, and it gets even worse when Godzilla shows up and cleaves the Golden Gate Bridge in half during a scuffle with the military, cutting off the city’s main escape route and now meaning that there’s no way for all civilians to escape before the warhead goes off. Making things even worse, not only does the larger female show up, but Godzilla and the Male begin to fight again as the female starts turning the city into a den, wrecking the place and causing a ton of casualties.

Things going so horribly wrong causes a huge dispute between Elle and Stenz, as well as with Ford. But, this *also* causes Elle to snap out of her vengeance-fueled rage and finally recognize her enormous strategic errors. Determined to right her wrongs, she organizes a team to go into the city and disarm the warhead, banking on Godzilla fighting the MUTOs to keep both of them occupied while they do so. Once they get there, they discover that the MUTOs are nesting, and ultimately catch the female in the process of laying her eggs. Fortunately however, Godzilla shows up and begins to fight the female, giving the soldiers the opportunity they need.

Godzilla initially does well, managing to pin the MUTO to the ground and nearly finish her off, but he begins to get overwhelmed once the male shows back up and rejoins the fight, resulting in him being pinned to the ground and nearly beaten to death.

During this, the soldiers have gotten the the warhead free, but discover that it’s been too badly damaged to disarm, as a result, they decide to put it on a boat and carry it out to sea, where the detonation would hopefully not hurt anyone. As they carry the warhead away, Elle stays behind to rip open a gas line before igniting it; blowing up their nest as her own personal “fuck you” to the MUTOs.

What follows are two moments that thoroughly change her stance on Godzilla himself.

The Female MUTO is rather pissed when she figures out that Elle is the one responsible for destroying her brood, but before she can do anything, Godzilla rises from the rubble and blasts the female MUTO into unconciousness with his atomic breath, giving Elle the perfect opportunity to escape.

The second is after Godzilla kills the Male MUTO. Just like in the film, the building collapses on Godzilla and forces him down to a human level, which brings him eye to eye with Elle. Finally locking eyes with the King of the Monsters finally allows Elle to properly see Godzilla, and see that he’s ultimately as tired, hurt, and exhausted as she is, before the great lizard gets engulfed in dust. The rest of the final battle goes as normal, but this connection between the two only gets emphasized more after Godzilla finally kills the female MUTO, and both kaiju and human finally pass out from exhaustion.

Conclusion
So yeah, what do you guys think?

I was looking forward to Lanterns. I liked the writing talent involved — loved Leftovers and Watchmen, enjoyed Ozark, and I don’t mind King’s work. True Detective wasn’t really the source of inspiration I would’ve expected for a Green Lantern adaptation, but that’s fine. Any fresh take on material can be good if the vision is there. After the first two or three episodes, I thought the vision was panning out. Then the fourth episode dropped. Then the fifth. And by that point, I knew things weren’t going to end positively for Lanterns. 

Things that were forgivable in the first two episodes became major problems— primarily, way too much telling over showing. And before you start, no, I am not referring to any sort of budget issue. Whether a character just magically “knew” another character was secretly a killer or a mastermind, or someone just fully confesses events that occurred entirely off-screen, the dialogue effectively turned into a Star Wars opening crawl by the time the finale came. Three back-to-back scenes of characters we don’t know that well explaining major events that took place was way too much to ask for a show that never even defined how Manhunters differed from the second alien race that looks human and can blow themselves up on a whim. And I’m baffled the writing talent couldn’t even manage to set up compelling stakes. 

Of course, that’s a challenge when you immediately reveal Hal is dead from the word go, but even then, there’s a way to build up into the show’s second ongoing timeline to have some pay off. Have John get his revenge on whoever killed Hal. The show didn’t even seem aware the viewer would desire justice for Hal’s death, which led to a shockingly unsatisfactory conclusion. Grant Morrison summed it up perfectly.

Also, some context: I am a fan of the source material. I’ve read Geoff Johns’ run among other iterations of these characters. But this is about tweaking the show with the ideas it presented itself— not reimagining the show from the ground up.

Anyway, there are a few ways Lanterns could’ve been a home run, even with the first three episodes intact. Here are a few of those ways more fully explored with some light rewriting for the show as a whole. 

But for now, just imagine Episodes 1 to 3 happened. Maybe instead of those human-looking aliens who had their planet massacred, they’re actual alien-looking aliens. Or maybe they’re cut from the show completely. But either way, then these changes define the rest of the series…

The Mystery of Abin Sur’s Death

It was rumored for months that Hal Jordan would be killed off in the first episode. But long before that, for years, it was rumored the show would follow a mystery about someone killing Green Lanterns, starting with the death of Alan Scott. Obviously, someone heard something wrong and assumed “Earth’s first human Green Lantern” meant the comics’ Golden Age iteration of the character. And I agree, exploring Scott’s murder would’ve been really cool.

But what about Abin Sur? You know, the alien Green Lantern who crash landed on Earth decades ago and gave Hal his ring? What about him? Lanterns even makes an effort to tie his death into the premise of the show. John confronts Zoe and directly says “I know you killed Abin Sur” out of the fucking blue, as if it makes any sense the show built up to that moment and we even understand who Abin Sur is or why he would’ve died in such a way. 

What if we had a third timeline subplot that we got to watch and it was Abin Sur’s final mission? What if we got some additional backstory for Sinestro in this timeline as well, instead of relegating him to a few scenes with implied years of backstory as Hal’s enemy?

Abin Sur’s death should’ve been the main mystery of the show. It presents the perfect opportunity narratively to tie back to Hal Jordan’s origin story, echoing John Stewart’s ongoing training to be a new Green Lantern. When Hal is alerted by his ring of activity in Nebraska, where Abin crash landed many years ago, that should’ve led him down a rabbit trail bringing him to uncover hints that the Guardians had covered up the reason why Abin died.

The Guardians’ Coverup of the Manhunters and Abin Sur’s Murder

But why would the Guardians coverup the death of a Green Lantern? Great question. The show plays around with the idea the Guardians are corrupt without ever truly going into detail or confronting them. Truly a strange choice, especially when we know the series ends with John turning against the Guardians as if it’s the completion of his arc.

I think Lanterns needed to lean into the idea the Guardians are the “true villains.” There’s a way to do this that isn’t just black and white, but explores the grayness of the universe. Just like systems of law and order aren’t always clean on Earth, they aren’t going to be clean in space either. The Guardians have varying perspectives and philosophies, ultimately forming a council and making democratic decisions on how they carry out their mission of enforcing justice.

When Hal investigates and eventually uncovers the Guardians were responsible for the creation of the Manhunters, it gives new perspective to how we see the Guardian in flashbacks with John Stewart’s backstory. It amps up the stakes and creates tension as we return to the 2016 and then the 2026 timelines. The Manhunters tried to destroy every last Manhunter by whatever means necessary, pitting their new law-enforcing order the Green Lanterns on them.

And the very last Manhunter had fled to Sector 2814, which is where Abin Sur comes in. At this point, Abin doesn’t even know the Manhunters were created by the Guardians, and in his final moments, this is all brought to light. The moment occurs just as Hal puts the pieces together and realizes the truth in 2016. It re-contextualizes his origin story. Everything goes back to this. And that means….

Sinestro Was Right All Along

Abin Sur wasn’t the only Green Lantern who uncovered the truth about the Guardians. As one of the most powerful and highest ranking Lanterns, Sinestro also learned the Guardians’ sinful past, leading to massive fallout and a splintering within the Corps as he waged civil war. Ultimately, he fought back against the Guardians’ threats, killing one of them. But he was no match for the Corps, and Hal Jordan was essential in beating him, locking him up in a space jail cell.

And after Hal and John realize the truth, Sinestro doesn’t seem so bad anymore. They visit Sinestro in his jail, uncovering what really happened. Sinestro recounts that Hal never once considered visiting him in his imprisonment, but now that he has, the Guardians will know what’s going on. They’ll know they need to kill Hal and John next if they want to keep the truth of the Manhunters a secret.

So, naturally, they eventually release Sinestro. Desperate times call for desperate measures. The series amps up to an all-out war between the imprisoned Lanterns from the civil war and the Guardians, while Hal tells John that his training is on pause to keep him safe. It’s Hal’s final fight. 

A New Mystery About Hal Jordan’s Whereabouts

The last Manhunter on Earth isn’t such a big deal now, and John has time to investigate on his own. In 2020, John never heard the official fate of Hal or what happened with the Guardians. He thought the Corps might not even exist anymore until Guy Gardener got the ring. But John had moved on. He’s an architect now. Green Lantern was his parents’ dream for him, and he has his own vision for his life… 

Until he’s contacted out of the blue and learns that Hal has been murdered, in the same Nebraska small town where Abin Sur was once killed. It doesn’t make any sense— but that doesn’t stop John from trying to brush it off. Maybe the last Manhunter finally caught up to him. Maybe there was a personal vendetta, Hal could be a dick sometimes. He tries to act like this isn’t his responsibility. But then Guy Gardner contacts him out of the blue for the first time, claiming he knows all about the training he went through to be in his position. Guy questions whether John knows anything about Hal’s death, or anything that went down with the Corps and the Guardians years ago.

And that’s when this turns into a John Stewart and Guy Gardner cop duo story. As they investigate Hal’s death and where the last Manhunter has gone, it eventually leads them back to Sinestro who hasn’t been heard from in years. In the interim, he’s created a Corps of his own with the Lanterns who rebelled from the Guardians: the Yellow Lantern Corps. It’s treated as a big reveal, a sudden horrifying situation for Guy and John to be in. As Guy insists they don’t want a fight, Sinestro begins to fill in some of the missing pieces. But even he can’t make sense of why or how Hal could’ve died….

Because Hal already gave his life as a Green Lantern in the battle against the Guardians years ago. So how could Hal die twice? Now, Sinestro joins Guy and John in their investigation. Eventually, the story builds up to revealing Hal had faked his death years ago, as a way to escape the Corps altogether and “save” John from ever becoming involved with them. The conflict involving the Guardians proved this was all way too much, even for Hal Jordan.

And this second deceased Hal Jordan was simply insurance to guarantee the Guardians thought he really was dead. As we learn more about the Yellow Lantern Corps, we discover that they can also create constructs with their own likeness, updating their ring’s version of themselves over time. Of course, we know Hal didn’t update his self-construct for years, causing a version of himself from a decade ago to appear— and the deceased body of Hal also resembles Hal from a decade ago.

Unlike the Green Lanterns, Yellow Lanterns are able to manifest physical constructs of themselves, cheating the idea of life and death itself by giving themselves a second body of sorts. And only Sinestro realizes that’s what’s going on. Hal harnessed a yellow lantern to create his own corpse. And that means Hal has embraced fear.

It’s a concept that was set up from the very beginning of the show. We all know Green Lanterns can create green glowing objects from their rings, yet the series first showed that Hal can create a regular looking hologram of himself from his ring. That should’ve been integral to the mystery, but instead it served as a cheat way for Hal to appear post-death as if nothing ever happened.

After uncovering the truth of Hal’s false death, Sinestro is intrigued, and now there’s no point in playing kind. He picks a fight with Guy, who quickly loses. Sinestro tortures him, trying to uncover what he knows about what happened to Hal Jordan. It’s obvious Guy doesn’t know anything. John holds no threat to the situation, and Sinestro couldn’t care less he’s there. In a show of power, Sinestro doesn’t even care that Guy has the ring and could try to fight back whenever. It’s at low battery anyway. That’s when John convinces Guy to let him wear it, and after all those years of training, he finally puts it to use.

A New Origin for John Stewart and a New Chapter for the Green Lantern Corps

Escaping the Yellow Lanterns, the two of them are effectively rogue agents. They can’t go to the Guardians because of what they know. They can’t abide in Sinestro again because of his obsession with Hal. As they continue down the rabbit trail, they realize Hal has gone to every measure to ensure no one thinks he exists anymore. 

Along the way, it’s revealed Hal identified who the final Manhunter was— and in a twist, he’s protecting them. Because the Manhunters never killed Abin Sur. The Guardians did. Abin had learned the truth and attempted to expose it.

By using a newly forged lantern, Hal intended to stay off the grid from the Guardians, unable to be found. He wasn’t hiding in cowardice or failure, but sacrificed the world’s heroic idea of Hal Jordan to fight the good fight in private. And now the time had finally come. As Guy has located Hal, that means the Guardians have also effectively located him and identified the whereabouts of the last Manhunter. 

Guy’s ring lights up. This has never happened before. He’s suddenly given an urgent directive from the Guardians to kill the Manhunter. This time, the Guardians don’t send more Lanterns to do the job. And when Guy refuses, the Guardians themselves show up. But they didn’t expect to be met with Hal, Guy, and John… and this is what Hal was counting on.

Finally, the three of them face the Guardians. It isn’t a battle. Instead, it’s a conversation. Hal can finally leverage what he knows with multiple witnesses and ensure things go better this time. Otherwise, it leads to an all-out war, and the Guardians are smart enough to not repeat history. But there’s a condition. Hal doesn’t retire. And he thinks it’s unfair how his former chosen replacement was treated— so now, Sector 2814 has three Green Lanterns. In an ironic twist, Hal leverages fear against the Guardians. The three of them have an opportunity to seek reform from within the Corps.

The Guardians agree with Hal to cancel their execution order of the last Manhunter and publicly acknowledge they created them. Ultimately, the Corps doesn't need celebrity superheroes or all-knowing alien overlords. To enforce the law across the universe, there needs to be accountability. As John accepts the ring, and the Guardians allow three Lanterns to watch over 2814, it’s a signal that reform is coming and the ways of the Corps are changing. A sense of hope and a new chapter for Green Lantern as a concept in the DCU, making the series essential viewing.

I have a certain amount of nostalgia for The Smurfs (2011) and The Smurfs 2 (2013). I actually like the CGI designs of the Smurfs, and I think Hank Azaria is a really fun Gargamel.
My problem was never really that they were live-action/CGI movies. It’s that the Smurfs already have an entire fantasy world of their own — enchanted forests, magic, alchemy, knights, wizards, castles and creatures — and Hollywood still felt the need to send them to New York and Paris.
So I started thinking: what if Sony had kept the live-action/CGI format, the Smurf designs and Hank Azaria as Gargamel, but made a four-film series entirely set in Peyo’s medieval fantasy world?
My basic rule would be:
Peyo for the stories and the world.
Hanna-Barbera for characterization, supporting characters and expanded mythology.
Later ideas, such as Vexy, Hackus and the Lost Village, only when they actually add something.
Visually, I imagine something between The Chronicles of Narnia, Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, A NeverEnding Story, Willow, The Princess Bride and The Wizard of Oz: real actors, practical locations and sets whenever possible, with CGI for the Smurfs and to expand the fantasy world.
There would be four movies released in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017, with the fourth planned from the beginning as the ending of the series.

The Smurfs (2011)
The first movie would combine The Smurfnapper (Gargamel’s first appearence in the Smurfs’ comic books) with Smurfs and the Magic Flute.
And it would basically begin as a Johan and Peewit movie, which would make sense because the Smurfs originally debuted in one of their adventures.
I would cast Josh Hutcherson as Johan and Brad Williams as Peewit.
Johan would be a young knight who is competent, disciplined and obsessed with doing everything correctly. Peewit would be his best friend and adventure partner, but much more impulsive, loud and improvisational.
Johan genuinely loves him as a friend, but he often treats Peewit like someone who needs to be supervised.
When Matthew McCreep steals a magic six-hole flute that forces anyone who hears it to dance until they collapse from exhaustion, Johan and Peewit go after him.
That leads to a mystery:
Who made this flute?
And the answer eventually leads them to a tiny hidden community in the forest.
The Smurfs.
The three main Smurfs would be Papa Smurf, Brainy and Clumsy.
The most important secondary Smurfs would be Gutsy, Hefty, Grouchy and Jokey.
Brainy would be Papa Smurf’s apprentice and would be obsessed with proving that he is worthy of someday becoming Papa’s successor.
The moment he meets Johan, he immediately identifies with him. They are both intelligent, responsible and like being in control.
Peewit and Clumsy, on the other hand, become friends almost instantly.
So we would have two mirrored pairs:
Johan/Brainy: responsibility, intelligence and control.
Peewit/Clumsy: spontaneity, humor and the feeling of being underestimated.
Brainy really does care about Clumsy, but he constantly makes him feel like he is useless and only causes problems.
Johan, without realizing it, does something very similar to Peewit.
Meanwhile, Gargamel would have his own parallel story.
And this part would be important:
Gargamel does not know the Smurfs yet.
He is an alchemist attempting to create the Philosopher’s Stone when he finds an old formula saying that one of the ingredients he needs is…
a Smurf.
I can imagine Hank Azaria staring at the book and simply saying:
“A what?”
So the movie has two investigations running at the same time:
Johan and Peewit: “Who made the flute?”
Gargamel: “What the hell is a Smurf?”
Both investigations eventually lead to the same world.
Gargamel encounters Brainy and Clumsy in the forest. Clumsy falls into his trap and is kidnapped, while Brainy manages to escape.
Now the conflict becomes personal.
Brainy has spent most of the movie making Clumsy feel useless. Maybe the last thing he said to him before the kidnapping was that he only gets in the way.
Peewit also insists on joining the rescue because he has genuinely become Clumsy’s friend.
First we would get the climax of the flute storyline, where Johan finally has to trust Peewit’s musical ability and improvisation to defeat McCreep.
Then comes the rescue of Clumsy.
Papa Smurf and Gargamel would be established as opposites: two brilliant alchemists, but one uses his knowledge to protect his community while the other uses it for personal gain.
Brainy would also learn his first major lesson about leadership:
Being worthy of succeeding Papa does not mean being the smartest Smurf in the village. It means understanding that no Smurf is expendable.
Gargamel is defeated and humiliated.
And that is how the rivalry begins.
The movie starts almost like Johan and Peewit: The Movie and ends as The Smurfs: The Movie.

The Smurfs 2 (2013)
The second movie would be about identity and belonging.
After failing to attack the Smurfs directly, Gargamel decides to destroy them from the inside.
So he creates Smurfette.
She enters the village initially as part of his plan, but gradually begins to form real relationships with Papa, Brainy, Clumsy, Johan, Peewit and the others.
Brainy would probably be one of the most suspicious of her.
From his perspective:
“She was literally created by Gargamel to destroy us.”
Clumsy and Peewit would be almost the opposite. Both of them know what it feels like to be reduced to the role other people have assigned to you, so they would be among the first to treat her like a person rather than a walking threat.
This would also be the movie where I introduce Grandma Smurf, using the Hanna-Barbera character.
She would be much older, experienced and well-traveled, someone who has seen parts of the world that even Papa Smurf does not know very well.
And she would have a particularly important relationship with Smurfette.
While everyone else is asking:
“What is she?”
Grandma asks:
“Who do you want to be?”
She would be Smurfette’s first major older female role model without trying to define her identity for her.
When Smurfette finally rejects Gargamel, he does not interpret that as a choice.
He sees it as a manufacturing defect.
So he creates Vexy and Hackus, attempting to produce “improved” versions.
The second half of the movie would be about Smurfette realizing that they are going through exactly what she went through.
She has just learned that her origin does not determine who she has to become.
Now she has to help them understand the same thing.
And Johan and Peewit’s drama would reflect that theme.
Johan is offered a more important position as a knight, but people at court begin telling him that he needs to “grow up” and leave his old adventuring life behind.
And that includes Peewit.
Johan thinks he may be doing the right thing when he tells him:
“Maybe it’s time for you to find your own path.”
But Peewit hears:
“You don’t have a place in my life anymore.”
So almost everyone in the film is dealing with a variation of the same question:
Who gets to decide who I am and where I belong?
Gargamel tries to define Smurfette, Vexy and Hackus.
The royal court tries to define Johan.
Peewit begins to believe that he only had value while Johan needed him.
By the end, Johan realizes that growing up does not mean abandoning Peewit.
Smurfette chooses the Smurfs.
Vexy and Hackus choose to leave Gargamel.
And Grandma represents one of the main ideas of the movie: You don’t have to figure out what kind of Smurf they want you to be. You have to figure out what kind of Smurf you want to be.

The Smurfs 3 (2015)
This would be the big exploration movie of the series.
But before getting to the Lost Village, I would respect Sassette’s origin from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon.
Some of the Smurflings discover that Smurfette was originally created by Gargamel and somehow get access to the formula used to create her.
With good intentions, they decide to repeat the process so Smurfette can have someone like herself.
They use a smaller amount of blue clay and accidentally create Sassette.
But things do not go exactly as planned.
Sassette is born extremely outspoken, impulsive and difficult to control.
Papa is furious not at her, but at the Smurflings for messing with dangerous magic they did not understand.
After Papa stabilizes the magic, Sassette remains a curious, cheeky and fiercely independent child.
And she begins to see Smurfette almost like an older sister.
That creates an interesting inversion of the previous film.
In the second movie:
Gargamel creates Smurfette for a bad reason, but she chooses who she wants to become.
In the third:
The Smurflings create Sassette for a good reason, but that still does not give them the right to decide who she should be.
Smurfette now occupies for Sassette a role somewhat similar to the one Grandma played for her.
And Sassette’s existence leads to a new question.
Smurfette and Sassette were created through magic.
But Grandma knows old stories about other female Smurfs who supposedly existed long before either of them.
So…
Where are they?
Johan and Peewit know human legends about nearly inaccessible regions of the forest.
And that starts the expedition.
Johan, Peewit, Smurfette, Sassette, Brainy, Clumsy and the others travel through ruins, mountains, enormous forests, rivers and magical territories.
Gargamel obviously discovers the search as well.
And eventually they find the Lost Village, populated by an entire community of female Smurfs.
That would have a huge impact on Smurfette and Sassette.
Until that point, both of them had grown up believing that they were exceptions.
Now they meet an entire community of people like them who simply…
exist.
I can imagine Sassette innocently asking:
“So… you weren’t made out of clay?”
And nobody quite knowing how to answer.
The third movie would probably be the most expansive and visually fantastical of the series.
Its theme would be:
The world is bigger than what you knew — and maybe your own history is too.

The Smurfs 4 (2017) — the final movie
This would be deliberately the last film.
No ending designed to set up The Smurfs 5.
It would be the planned conclusion to the story that began in 2011.
The plot would adapt The Purple Smurfs.
An infection begins turning Smurfs purple, aggressive and extremely contagious.
It starts in Papa’s village and eventually threatens the community discovered in the third movie as well.
This would be the darkest chapter of the series, almost a small-scale children’s epidemic/horror movie, but still with humor, fantasy and adventure.
And this is where I would introduce Baby Smurf.
After three movies about value, identity and community, Baby would represent something different:
the future.
He arrives at exactly the moment when there is a real possibility that the Smurfs could disappear entirely.
Now Papa, Grandma, Smurfette, Sassette, Johan, Pewit and everyone else are not simply fighting to survive.
They are fighting to make sure there is still a world for the next generation of Smurfs to grow up in.
The crisis becomes so severe that Papa has to turn to the person he hates most:
Gargamel.
After three films as enemies, the two greatest alchemists in the saga have to combine their knowledge to develop a cure.
Gargamel initially agrees only because:
“Nobody destroys the Smurfs except me.”
But as the disease gets worse and the possibility of the Smurfs truly disappearing becomes real, something starts bothering him.
He has spent years saying that he wants to defeat them.
But…
What happens if he actually succeeds?

Gargamel’s arc across the four movies

I would want Gargamel to have one major character arc running through the entire quadrilogy, without ever turning him into a hero.
In the first film, the Smurfs are just an ingredient.
He does not even know they exist until he needs one for an alchemical experiment.
After Papa defeats and humiliates him, the conflict becomes personal.
In the second film, the Smurfs become an obsession.
He creates Smurfette to destroy them and becomes even more obsessed when his own creation chooses them over him. Vexy and Hackus repeat that humiliation.
Now he no longer simply wants a Smurf.
He wants to prove that he can defeat Papa and the entire community.
In the third movie, Gargamel discovers that Smurf society is much larger than he imagined.
And he realizes something strange:
He himself has become part of their history.
Smurfs tell stories about Gargamel.
Children know who he is.
Even distant communities have heard about the human wizard who spends his life chasing Papa Smurf.
He would probably hate realizing that.
And a small part of him would probably love it.
Then we get to the fourth movie.
For the first time, Gargamel faces the possibility of getting exactly what he always claimed he wanted:
a world without Smurfs.
And he discovers that he does not want it.
Without the Smurfs, Gargamel would be the Joker without Batman.
Or maybe an even more fitting comparison:
a bullfighter with no bull to fight.
His entire identity has gradually been built around this rivalry.
If the Smurfs disappear, Gargamel loses the thing that gives direction to his own life.
So he finally understands an important difference:
Wanting to defeat the Smurfs is not the same thing as wanting the Smurfs to cease to exist.
He still wants the first.
He realizes he no longer wants the second.
And I would not turn that into redemption.
Gargamel does not become a good guy.
He helps Papa develop the cure.
The Smurfs survive.
Baby Smurf survives.
Both communities remain.
And sometime later…
Gargamel is once again chasing Smurfs.
But Papa begins noticing little things.
A key left just a little too close to a cage.
A door that somehow was not completely locked.
A perfect trap with one suspiciously obvious escape route.
Gargamel still wants to win.
But maybe he no longer wants to win permanently.
In the final scene of the entire quadrilogy, he captures a few Smurfs.
And “accidentally” leaves them a way out.
They escape.
Gargamel runs after them screaming:
“I’LL GET YOU YET, SMURFS!”
Peewit looks at Johan:
“I thought they worked things out.”
Johan replies:
“They did.”
Cut to credits.
End of the quadrilogy.
The rivalry continues inside that world.
But the story we were telling is over.

Johan and Peewit would be the “Tom and Maddie” of this franchise
One comparison I would make is with Tom and Maddie in the Sonic movies.
They would be the recurring human characters who provide a constant connection between the human side of the world and the fantasy characters.
But there is one huge difference:
Johan and Peewit already belong to the source material.
They would not be human characters invented by Hollywood because the studio wanted recognizable actors in a CGI-heavy movie.
Historically, the Smurfs themselves debuted in one of their adventures.
In the first movie, Johan and Peewit would basically be co-protagonists.
As the franchise grows, characters like Smurfette, Brainy, Clumsy and Sassette can take on more and more of the spotlight, but Johan and Peewit continue to participate organically because they already live in the same fantasy world.
Tom and Maddie are Sonic’s human family.
Johan and Peewit would be the Smurfs’ closest human friends.
And their personal arcs would always reflect whatever the Smurfs are dealing with.
In the first film, Johan has to learn to value Peewit while Brainy has to learn to value Clumsy.
In the second, Johan and Peewit question the place they occupy in each other’s lives while Smurfette, Vexy and Hackus try to figure out where they belong.
By the later films, they are veteran friends of the Smurfs and simply part of that world.

So the thematic progression of the quadrilogy would be:
Movie 1 — VALUE
You do not have to be like everyone else to be useful.
Movie 2 — IDENTITY
Your origin or assigned role does not determine who you have to become.
Movie 3 — DISCOVERY
Your world and your own history may be much bigger than you imagined.
Movie 4 — LEGACY
What remains after everything we have built — and what do we choose to preserve?
And at the same time, Gargamel goes from:
“I need a Smurf.”
to:
“I hate the Smurfs.”
then:
“Defeating the Smurfs has become the obsession of my life.”
and finally:
“If the Smurfs disappear… what is left of me?”
I would still keep two things from the real movies:
Hank Azaria as Gargamel and basically the same CGI Smurf designs.
Because, to me, the problem was never that the Smurfs looked like that.
The problem was assuming that characters who already have enchanted forests, knights, alchemists, wizards, castles, monsters and an entire fantasy universe of their own somehow needed Times Square in order to carry a movie.
What would you think of this version? Which of the four movies would you most want to watch?

We're back, this time to improve upon New Moon. Now, this is a sequel to my first post, so go check that one out if you haven't already. Anyways, let's do this!

1. Flesh out Bella's depression following Edward's departure by showing her struggling to balance her newfound "action girl" skills and dark humor with her grief, making her feeling of isolation more grounded in her earlier character growth.

2. Give Alice more agency in her visions. Instead of just seeing Bella's future, she has to piece together fragmented clues about Edward, turning her into more of an active detective character during Bella's time in La Push.

3. Introduce the Wolf Pack conflict earlier as a localized mystery. Instead of just "monsters in the woods," the Cullens and the Quileutes are caught in a tense, cold war-style standoff regarding territory and secrecy that Bella accidentally stumbles into.

4. Instead of Bella's cliff diving being a reckless cry for help, frame it as a desperate attempt to trigger an adrenaline-fueled vision of Edward, showing that she hasn't entirely abandoned her investigator role even in her grief.

5. Give the Volturi a more direct presence earlier on. They are actively monitoring the Cullens' breach of the treaty, with Aro sending emissaries to keep tabs on Edward's "family problems" long before Bella enters their radar.

6. Make the reunion in Volterra a high-stakes heist. Bella and Alice don't just walk in; they have to use their unique skills to infiltrate the Volturi castle, with Bella relying on the resourcefulness she developed in the first book.

7. Enhance the conflict between Edward and the Volturi during the rescue. Edward's standoff with them is more strategic, involving his mind-reading abilities to outmaneuver their guards rather than just a physical confrontation.

8. Give Jacob's transformation a more distinct cultural weight, connecting his pack's history with the Volturi, suggesting the werewolves are the only force the Volturi legitimately fear. This change also drops hints that other supernatural beings do exist, due to both Sam and Aro mentioning ghosts, zombies, other kinds of were-animals from different world cultures, and animated skeletons in passing a few times.

9. When Bella and Edward come home, they decide to come clean to Charlie about the existence of the supernatural or, as supernatural creatures themselves call it, the “Hidden World”. This leads to an emotional scene where Edward talks to Charlie and proves his vampirism by demonstrating some of his abilities, and Charlie is surprisingly okay with it as long as Bella stays safe.

10. Epilogue teaser for Eclipse: The Cullens return home to find Victoria’s trail finally converging on Forks, with a brief scene of the newborn vampire army beginning to assemble in Seattle, raising the stakes for the next chapter.

Coming Soon-Ish: My Eclipse rewrite.

I'd like to address a core criticism of Bernthal's portrayal of the character and create a more cohesive/logical story that delves into Frank's psychology to do it with OLK, so here I go:

1. Raise the Emotional and Psychological Stakes

Issue - The presentation's plot references the Gnuccis as to have been "believed to be the last criminals involved" in the deaths of Castle's family. This has to be the third retcon of Frank's origin (first it was a random gang shootout, then it was a government conspiracy) within the MCU, please, no more!

Tweak - Lifting from the "Up is Down and Black is White" arc from Punisher MAX, I propose leaving Maria and the kids' deaths alone to limit long-time followers' confusion but instead re-open the wound for Frank: The Gnuccis dig up and desecrate his family's remains before the events of the presentation. Similar to the visceral, specific, and horrific act that Nicky Cavella does in the comics, this justifies the despair and hallucinatory psychological break we first see Frank is. This hopelessness is fresh and traumatic, making his suicidal state feel earned because, no more how many criminals Castle kills, he knows that his family won't come back and their memories aren't safe from everyone. That's his vulnerability, his weakness and what sets him off more than anything else in a war that he is always on the more proactive, advantage side of. The sanctity of Maria and the kids are to Frank what Kryptonite is to Superman, let's exploit that in OLK to make the violence MEAN SOMETHING in a fresh way rather than going down the same roads we've seen since 2016.

2. Make the Villain(s) More Proactive and Tied Together

Issue - Ma Gnucci's bounty on Frank is because he killed her family, that's it. No real history, no real nuance and no real explantion for her survival. She's supposed to be a mastermind but comes off as a convenience not worthy of her story continuing past the special on large stage.

Tweak - Ultilize Barry/Barracuda more with him being desecrating the graves on Ma's orders, knowing it would provoke Frank into wiping out her rivals within the family (her husband and sons), clearing the way for her to take sole control. Barry then saved Ma during Frank's assault to maintain the fiction that she was a victim, not the architect. It's resourceful, it's calculating and psychologically threatening to not just The Punisher but those in their crime orbit that they can manipulate and discard. A crime lord who inspires loyalty and her right-hand man who can be Frank's dark mirror simply because he gets off on it. Ma and Barry don't want to kill Frank (yet) but want to observe him—to see how he fights, how he thinks, how he breaks. They are studying their prey. The criminals who die are expendable pawns, and the real trap is something they are planning for later. For once, Frank is the one being meticulously hunted over time and his predators know that he's not invincible, they've just proved it: Barry. who has nothing to lose and no one to love, will be the Joker to Frank's Batman.

3. Space Out the Hallucinations with Purpose

Issue - Lisa, Hoyle and Karen Page all appear in Frank's head to essentially help him torture himself but don't actively move Castle to new narrative spaces. It's one thing to appear to stop Frank from committing suicide or to provide motivation in general but the presentation lacked the structure to do both. A glorified way of retracing steps from the past decade for 'member berries.

Tweak - Let's link each "face" to a plot beat: Lisa stops the suicide by appearing at the grave, she doesn't speak, she just looks at him as her presence is enough. Karen appears in the apartment, not to motivate him to leave but to confront him with the cost of his war. She tells him that he saved her once, and that saving people is still possible—but only if he chooses to do it. Then the fire starts, and the choice is forced. Curtis appears during the walk, not to give directions but to challenge Frank. He asks Frank what he's fighting for now that the people who killed his family are dead. Frank doesn't have an answer but looks at sees Dre's shop being ransacked and, thus, finds his answer. Curtis disappears. Make it a psychological journey that parallel his actually physical movements. Manifestations that push Frank toward decisions without literally telling him what to do.

4. Clarify the Renewed Purpose

Issue - We're under the impression in the presentation that Frank has retired........again........for reasons. This goes back to the retread as well as stop-starts for empty narrative reasons. It's too clean, it's too vague in spite of the symbolism of the rose place on the Castles' grave.

Tweak - The special doesn't show Frank retired, it shows up having a crisis in the midst of being active. As mentioned before, he can kill as many criminals as he wants but all it takes is the memory of his family being a sacred cow tipped over for him to fall apart. That's The Punisher obstacle for this story: finding something to fight for besides his dead wife and kids. A reason to fight a never-ending war after the original perpertrators against him are long gone. When Charli, the little girl at the donut shop, places a rose on the same grave the Gnuccis previously desecrated: it's an act of kindness that inspires Frank not just to punish those who he sees fit but also protect the innocent who can see him as human even when he won't. It's a crystal-clear logical and emotional chain that makes The Punisher more than just a PTSD-addled veteran who lashes out. It invites calm, care and precision to his crusade against pure evil. This solidifies Frank's decision at the very end to keep going because the likes of the Gnuccis will too.

5. Acknowledge the Impact

Issue - As Frank saves the Dre's family in the donut shop with brutality against the wave of looters, the moments of different reactions being spotlighted are a missed opportunity. Dre, the father, is satisfied simply because him and his loved ones are safe. Debbie, the mother, is rightly horrified because a crazed lunatic is ripping apart other crazed lunatics mere feet away from her and her daughter. Charli, the daughter, simply admires her savior. For all the commentary and controversy the Punisher has invited as an IP over the decades, let's take a moment to actually say something about how he's perceived!

Tweak - Instead of Charli simply giving a paper rose to Frank that goes on his family's grave, we see her and Dre actually at the grave to place it there. This shows that people know who Frank Castle is as he should have a recognizable face at this point, what the Punisher can represent to different people and how that can reflect upon the community. Note that Debbie isn't there, she's disgusted and afraid of The Punisher even though he saved her life......shaken and in shock, not gracious. That's a very real thing. Charli, an impressionable young girl, sees him as a savior because he's the quiet guy at her dad's shop who saved the day. That's a hero in her eyes as she maybe doesn't grasp the darkness that surrounds him and the violence he thrives in. Remember the lyrics from Danzig's Mother at the start:

Tell your children not to walk my way

Tell your children not to hear my words

Gonna take your daughter out tonight

Gonna show her my world

Tell your children not to hold my hand

Tell your children not to understand

Is Charli a foreshadowing of future citizens who follow Frank's lead? I don't know but there's your water cooler talk because that's a chilling thought. Dre's kinda dragged along by his daughter because he's conflicted: he doesn't LIKE what the Punisher does or represents but understands it can be a necessary evil for him as he and his family are still alive. Dre, to quote Danzig again, doesn't wanna bang heads with The Punisher or feel everything. The desecration was public knowledge and this family Frank saved CHOOSE to pay their respects. And Frank sees this from a distance, which gives him gasp hope that his life still has worth and his war actual means something. Give some nuance to this polarizing vigilante who gets something he rarely has: connection.

Now, the events of OLK are a bridge for Frank and the franchise to tighten up as both a force of nature and a character study. For the first time since his family's death, he knows why he's fighting: not just "punish criminals" but "protect the innocent from those who would violate what I hold sacred." That's a clear motivation and direction for whoever much longer we have this iteration.

Rewritten Plot

Frank Castle, as the brutal vigilante known as the Punisher, kills members of the Gnucci Crime Family who are believed to have desecrated the graves of his family, digging up and urinating on their skeletal remains. The Gnuccis’ former territory in New York City's Little Sicily neighborhood becomes overrun with crime. Castle, living in a Little Sicily apartment complex, is haunted by hallucinations of people from his past, a manifestation of his unresolved trauma. After locking up his Punisher gear, Castle goes to his family's graves to kill himself but is stopped by a hallucination of his daughter Lisa.

Castle walks aimlessly through the chaotic streets, haunted by an apparition of his military friend Curtis Hoyle. He is cornered by crime lord Ma Gnucci, the matriarch of the Gnucci Crime Family, who seeks revenge for Castle's murder of her husband and three sons. She is accompanied by her bodyguard, Barry, who saved her life during Castle's initial assault. Gnucci reveals she has placed a bounty on Castle's head, attracting every common criminal in the area. As a small army of criminals swarms the apartment complex, they attack residents while searching for Castle, who begins to ruthlessly dispatch them.

Returning to his apartment to retrieve his Punisher costume and arsenal, he sees a vision of his friend Karen Page, who scolds Castle for his failures but also consoles him. When his room is set on fire, Castle escapes and fights his way to the rooftop before jumping off to protect local shop owner Dre, his wife Debbie, and their daughter Charli. After the fighting subsides, Castle sees Charli place a paper rose on Lisa's grave. This act provides him with a moment of clarity, solidifying his decision to pursue Gnucci.

Castle returns to the streets, stops a group of thugs from attacking innocent people, and kills their leader. Having moved from a place of suicidal vengeance to a focused, renewed purpose to protect the innocent by waging his war, he continues to embrace his identity as the Punisher.

Ok out of all the marvel Netflix shows iron fist was the weakness one the action was bad the writing was not good and most importantly Danny did not have mask in season 1 or the defenders ok first let the actor train Finn Jones was not getting enough time to actually learn martial arts

That mixed with the no mask makes the action in season 1 horrible so in my version He would be given time to train and learn second the power of the Iron fist itself needs to be shown like in the show Danny doesn't use it really at all also it's not as strong as it should be

So to fix this I would make him use it more to show the characters and the villains who there dealing with now to the plot

Ok Danny’s backstory would be similar to comics where his dad went deep into the Himalayas searching for the Iron fist and kun lan his friend Harold killed him and Danny’s mom told him to find Harold before she was killed by wolves and Danny was then raised in kun lan

So when Danny returns to New York after defeating the dragon Shou Lao which we would actually see he would more or less be seeking revenge on Harold also his personality is similar to the comics which makes him unique to the other defenders

when Danny returns to rand enterprises ward and Joy don't believe him and kick him out Harold however isn't there Danny then leaves explores the city for the first time in years he meets

Colleen she gives him some new clothes and they talk for a bit before Danny gets attacked by hired mercenaries but Danny takes them out with ease but most importantly they tell him that they are actually

The hand After that Danny decided to investigate as the mortal enemy of kun lan is operating out of his father's company and that night he goes back to rand enterprises and finds Harold however he has no legs do to frostbite causing by the

Freezing Himalayas weather Danny doesn't see a killer but sad old man and in that moment Danny realizes he left kun lan for nothing after that however Harold is then killed by the hand like in the comics and is witnessed by ward and Joy Danny manages to escape but is

attacked by red Hand Ninjas Danny prepares himself as

Two ninjas tries to attack him but he dodges and hits one in the face and another in the chest Danny then upper cuts and kicked two more ninjas but is knocked down by one of the ninjas who picks him up and throws him toward the others

Who then beat him but as they have him on the ground Danny closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and ignites the Iron Fist. Raindrops hitting his hand instantly vaporize into steam as The veins in his arm begin to glow with a molten, golden

light, traveling down to his fist The dragon tattoo on Danny’s chest glow in unison with his fist.

Danny then he slams his fist into the concrete floor. A golden shockwave ripples outward, shattering the ground And knocked everyone back as he gets up his eyes and hand glow yellow

After that Danny creates a mask so no one knows it him

His mask is the same one from season 2 after that we see madame Gao talking to Harold about Danny as he and Colleen team up to fight the hand and hide from the police who are looking for him

while also tracking down madame Gao which leads them to bakuto who in my version is

Not Colleen's teacher or whatever he just a member of the hand who tells them where Gao is which is at rand enterprises we get a much better final battle as in the show it was horrible Danny trys to convince joy and ward of his innocents and most importantly of what their father Harold Did at the same gao and the hand attack

Danny tells the two run as he and Colleen fight when he gets to gao he can't bring himself to kill her and let's her go after that ward now believes everything and says he's sorry Joy is silent for a moment before also saying sorry

After that we get a scene setting up season 2 in which we see davos arriving in New York my version of season 2 would be that davos who angry at Danny for kun lan is ordered by kun lan to bring Danny back in order to fight in the tournament

Of the seven cities but he's also searching for Orson Randall the original Iron fist davos would take Danny’s power but not all of it as Orson arrives and saves him Orson tells Danny and Colleen that the power of the Iron fist is much stronger than they realize and the rest of the

Season is Orson training Danny he teaches Danny how to use his chi to heal himself along with other things we also see Orson use his dual pistols and him fighting in ww1 both of which surprises Danny and Colleen

the final few episodes we travel to kun lan as the tournament begins Fat Cobra The Bride of Nine Spiders along with others battle davos would kv ill Orson but before he dies Orson transfers his remaining chi to help Danny in his battle with davos ending with Danny’s victory davos would not be killed but imprisoned by kun lan as We end with Danny returning to New York along with Colleen

Now, don't get me wrong, I still thought these books and movies were okay, but I feel like they could do with some improvement, so I'm going to be doing that, and talking about it book/movie-by-book/movie. So here we go!

These are the changes I'd make to Twilight (the first one):

1. Make Bella a less flat character. To do this, I'd give her a personality of having a noticeably dark sense of humor, which I feel would suit this kind of story well.

2. Improve the romantic chemistry, primarily by giving Edward a tendency to laugh at things most wouldn't consider funny, with this version of Bella's jokes fitting that perfectly. My main reference point for this was the opening montage of Shrek 2, which I felt was the best way to go due to the couple activities we see from Shrek and Fiona there.

3. Give the vampires the full slate of Stoker vampire powers. Believe me, this one's gonna make the battles real insane, especially near the end.

4. Slowly build James' presence across the story. It starts with little hints here and there like Charlie discussing a spiking homicide rate in passing and such, until James, Laurent and Victoria are finally revealed.

5. Initially focus on more slice-of-life adventures. It starts off fairly tame like this, similar to how Predator initially began as a generic action film until the Yautja showed up.

6. Keep the Cullens' true nature ambiguous a bit longer. To coincide with the last entry, the Cullens being vampires is left a huge mystery for most of the story, which Bella slowly works out (with a little help from Jacob, obviously), and which the readers and viewers would also be invited to work out with her.

7. In keeping with rounding Bella as a character, when James finally does step in, Bella ends up becoming an action girl to defend herself, even if she doesn't yet have vampiric powers.

8. The pace of the story speeds up quite a bit once the vampires are finally revealed.

9. Hint at the Wolves in the second half, but don't show them off just yet. In order to build a slightly more consistent mythology, the wolves are teased by a passing remark from Esme near the end of the story before being seen in New Moon.

10. Include an epilogue teasing New Moon, similar to how the MCU uses post-credits scenes to tease their new movies. In this case, an ending teaser where the Cullens are having a family meeting regarding Bella, and Carlisle briefly brings up the treaty with the Wolves and how Bella being with Edward might impact that going forward, before Esme talks about the Volturi potentially stepping in if worst comes to worst.

Coming Soon-ish: My New Moon rewrite.

While exporting the conclusion from Speed Of Fate for something else, I wanted to share a look at the "Justice League United" sequence built for this cut.

The theatrical ending undercut the weight of Barry’s journey, so this sequence recontextualizes the climax into an expansive, grounded SnyderVerse continuation.

Hey all,

I have redone the sequels, trying to keep the original characters and directional portrayal while cutting out a lot of the crap from the movies, especially 8 and 9.

As a note Rey will be portrayed as a dark Jedi for the majority going through the Anakin path from the prequels. This is in line with her being the Emperors granddaughter that is explicitly stated in The Rise of Skywalker.

Palpitine will be mentioned throughout this piece as the leader of the First order with Snoke and Kylo Ren below him.

Here goes:

**7: The Rise from Ashes 2 hours 15 minutes**

The first two and a half acts stay in place, bar Palpatine looking down on Snoke rather than the actual interpretation. The final fight still happens on Starkiller Base. Finn fights Kylo, but Luke takes the blade instead of Rey, and Luke beats Ben. The movie ends on a cliffhanger with Ben snarling to Luke, "You are not my master."

**8: Duel of the Fates 2 hours 30 minutes**

Most changes happen here. It starts with Luke and Rey retreating to the Rebel base with Finn’s broken body. Upon seeing Leia, Luke gives her a disapproving shrug, implying that Han has died, while Finn is rushed into immediate medical care. Kylo boards a Star Destroyer and executes a random Imperial officer to assert his authority. Snoke then holds a discussion with Ren about the true power of the dark side, and brings him to Palpatine's base on Exegol to introduce Ren to the Emperor.

Meanwhile, Luke takes Finn and Rey to Dagobah, teaching them about the nature of the Force and how to wield their abilities responsibly. In the climax, Palpatine dispatches Snoke and the boss stormtrooper, arming her with a lightsaber to confront Finn, Luke, and Rey on the salt planet, while the Leia-led Rebellion clashes with the Hux-led First Order. Luke dies in this battle, providing a fitting send-off to the character as a testament to Mark Hamill and his service to the franchise. Leia senses Luke's passing through the Force, showing her lineage as Anakin's daughter. She finishes the battle against the First Order, barely escapes, and embraces Finn on the transport while coldly leaving Rey out of it, cementing Rey's initial slide toward the dark side.

**9: The Death of the Jedi 3 hours 15 minutes**

Finn and Rey take an X-wing to Bespin to counter an Imperial attack after Lando, coerced under heavy pressure from the Emperor, calls the Rebellion into a trap. Finn and Rey confront Kylo Ren with Snoke watching over the platform. Rey suddenly decapitates Ren—a ruthless, shocking move. Finn is deeply frustrated that Rey did this, though he understands why it had to be done. Back at the base, Leia gives Rey a freezing, disapproving look over the execution.

Snoke meets with Palpatine to review the outcome, confirming that Rey’s strike was the right move. He reveals five Star Destroyers equipped with Death Star superlasers, discussing the absolute control they could wield over the galaxy together. Rey is soon assigned a mission to an unknown Sith planet, with Leia telling her to look after herself. Upon arriving, Rey wields her lightsaber against Palpatine, who drops the grandfather revelation.

Meanwhile, the First Order pinpoints the Resistance base and launches a devastating assault. Leia sacrifices herself, demonstrating the full elegance of her Force abilities as she dies in combat, honoring Carrie Fisher's legacy. The Rebels manage to escape just in time. Snoke and Palpatine formally embrace Rey into the Sith, manipulating her with the claim that the Jedi never respected her and that her true power belongs with the dark side. The three Sith deploy the superlaser Star Destroyers into orbit, obliterating three planets in the direct vicinity of the surviving Rebels.

Fed up with the ruthless demands of Snoke, Ren, and Palpatine, Hux decides his time with the First Order is over and defects to the Rebellion seeking self-preservation and a higher purpose. Soon after, Rey strikes down Snoke as an assertion of singular dominance before Palpatine, upholding the Rule of Two. Palpatine eventually reveals his survival to the wider galaxy, leaving veteran members of the Rebellion completely stunned.

A massive final space battle erupts, with Hux and Chewbacca leading the assault aboard the *Millennium Falcon*. The Rebellion discovers that the fleet shares the classic design vulnerability of superlaser reactors—critical cooling flaws right where the weapons draw power—allowing the Rebels to obliterate the entire armada, though Palpatine slips away just before the command ships detonate.

Down on the surface, a brutal one-on-one duel breaks out between Finn and Rey, with Finn quickly realizing he is trapped in an all-out dogfight. Finn is nearly beaten and buried under rubble during the duel, but he pulls himself free to make a final stand after Luke's Force ghost appears to guide his tactics. Finn executes the maneuver with flawless precision, severing both of Rey's arms and legs to neutralize her. She remains alive, but in critical need of life support.

Weeping, Finn tells her, "You were my sister, Rey."Rey glares back in pure shock and blind rage, wanting nothing to do with his sympathy. Palpatine later recovers Rey's broken body and transports her to a medical vault to be fitted with cybernetic limbs. Roll credits.

I thought the movie was painfully flat, and the ending made the whole thing feel pointless. But Lowen being a ghostwriter was RIGHT THERE. Why not actually use that?

Here’s the twist I would’ve wanted:

Verity really is incapacitated. She isn’t secretly walking around or threatening anyone. Lowen moves in, decides she wants her life, and uses Verity’s journals and books to learn her writing style.

Then she writes the abusive manuscript herself.

Her “discovery” looks convincing because she stages it when she knows Jeremy is about to walk in. The creepy scenes of Verity moving around? We only see those as Lowen recounts them to Jeremy. They look like normal flashbacks, but we’re watching her version of events. Nothing independently confirms them.

Eventually, Lowen shows Jeremy the manuscript. Between that and everything she’s told him, he believes his wife is a monster and kills her. Verity dies completely helpless, unable to defend herself against a confession she never wrote.

And Lowen is right there to comfort him.

Months later, we get the reveal: her writing the manuscript, planting it, waiting for Jeremy’s footsteps before pretending to discover it. Every supposedly sinister thing Verity did was a story Lowen fed him.

No hallucinations. She knew exactly what she was doing.

Last shot: Jeremy smiles at Lowen from the yard. She smiles back. He turns away, and her smile disappears.

He thinks this woman saved him. She manipulated him into murdering his innocent wife, and now she has her entire life.

A ghostwriter literally writing someone out of their own life. That would’ve stuck with me.

Above is the final part of my MCU Multiverse Saga (Phase 6)

Below is Phases 5 and 4 leading up to Phase 6.

Phase 5:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uV6UopaeVx_Ikmumw5YR95BeEpU9T_fgOZp7GOcLEs0/edit?usp=drivesdk

Phase 4:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bwdsxh2KxtAowsQ8GpFCfwR1Bkjw__gaYcSICHrJ2C4/edit?usp=drivesdk

Here's how I would change the characters of the first movie for the better:

Bella Swan- Born in 1987, Bella is 17yrs old, at start of the movie. She movies to Forks, to live with her estranged father after the deaths of her mother and step-father. She and her father Charlie have a strained relationship, as neither have seen the other since Bella was three months old. Bella befriends freshman Jacob Black but besides him, has very little friends at her high school. After the events of the movie, it's revealed that Bella is the reincarnation of Edward's first wife, Carmella.

Edward Cullen- Formally Edward Anthony Mason Jr, Edward was born in 1899, in Chicago, Illinois. Edward's human life ended during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918, at the age of 19years old. He was made into a vampire, by his future 'step-father' Carlisle, as the dying request of his birth mother. Like many who have been turned, Edward developed a supernatural ability, that of telepathy. He is able to read the mind and inner most thoughts of those around him, provided he keeps his subject within his eyesight.

At the start of the movie, Edward's family had been living in Forks for several years. Initially drawn to Bella, because of the aroma of her blood, Edward tried to keep as far away as far as possible. This changed into wonderment, as he discovered he could not read her mind. Scientific intrigue transformed into friendship, which eventually blossomed into love. After the movie's events, Edward finally meets Bella's father Charlie and this confirms that both he and Bella are the reincarnations of his former wife Carmella and her father Steven.

Carlisle Cullen- Dr Carlisle Cullen was born in 1640, in Venice, Italy. Though an exceptionally gifted doctor, Carlisle's past is shrouded in mystery- to the point that not even Edward knows his full past. Carlisle is the leader of the Cullen family and is the maker and 'step-father' to Edward. Carlisle and his step-son Edward have roamed the world for decades, along the way gaining more members to their coven and their lifestyle of living off the blood of animals.

Like many other vampires, Carlisle's ability is that of superhuman willpower. This means he is able to withstand impossible levels of pain, psychological trauma, and resistance to all matters of temptation. This is what allowed him to master the vampiric thirst, need, addiction to human blood. At the end of the first movie, Carlisle and his wife share a brief conversation [in Italian] about the death of the rogue vampire James. Both recognize him as an former agent of the Volturi- namely its leader Aro.

Esme Cullen- Carlisle's wife and step-mother to Edward. Esme was born in 1892, in Columbus, Ohio. Esme's human life came to an end in 1921, due to a failed suicide attempt after her infant child died of tuberculosis. It was Carlisle, a doctor at the hospital she was brought to, that realized she was still alive upon finding her in the morgue. After briefly stabilizing her, Carlisle gave her a choice: to finish what she started or to start over, free from her past. Accepting Carlisle's gift, she joined him and her new 'step-son' Edward.

As with all vampires, Esme was blessed with a supernatural gift, hers being that of mathematical computation. Esme is able to perform rapid computations of high level equations [be it geometry, physics, calculus, etc]. There have been instances, when armed with with enough data, she has accurately predicted events like acts of nature [the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927] or social upheavals [the stock market crash of 1929]. Falling in love with geometry, Esme has used her abilities to become one of the top architects in the world.

let me know what you all think so far...

I feel the end of this movie missed a great comedic ending, and instead opted for a sappy love-in. Steve Martin’s character on realising that John Candy’s character wife was dead, should have still brought him home to the sound of the same music. Steve Martin opens the door to his house and introduces John Candy to a line of chairs with home-made stuffed toy versions of his wife and children, taped to chairs. Candy has a man-to-man talk with Martin, and gets the latter to reveal his family all died in a house fire years ago, which cost him his mind. The real end of the movie is that Martin and Candy team up selling junk products to traveling by Trains, Planes and Automobiles. Bro’s are back together as a team, but effectively this time. Then they go on to have P, T and A parts I, II and III, a spin-off TV series 20 years later, but this time they are serial killers living in a wealthy Manhattan apartment together. Silliness ensues. Someone would have to step in to replace John Candy of course, and I think the obvious replacement is Martin Short.

For starters, Spider-Man's heroism will attract the attention of Professor Xavier, who offers him a place at the X-Mansion. Spidey bunks with Firestar and Iceman, hence the creation of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. Firestar and Iceman, however, can’t quite get along because she’s fire and he’s ice and they should be enemies. Speaking of enemies, the villain will not be Jean Grey, but Henry Gyrich, who has come up with own Holocaust against mutantkind. Those assisting him are Tombstone and the Scorpion.

In addition, Jameson is realizing that his vendetta against Spider-Man is causing his health to go downhill, so he retires and Robbie takes over his job. He even gives Peter his job back as a photographer.

Peter definitely becomes Man-Spider in my version and his storyline is a bit similar to the animated series, except there’s no Kraven and Firestar and Iceman have to work together to bring Spidey back to normal.

Instead of raceswapping Jean DeWolffe into a Latina, her role is taken over by an original POC Yuri Watanabe. DeWolffe still appears though, next to Captain Stacy. And Peter is dating Gwen.

Oh and Uncle Ben’s grave is right next to Aunt May’s.

1968's Planet of the Apes begins with four astronauts on a deep space exploration mission. The film makes it abundantly clear none of them ever planned on returning home.

And yet, Beneath the Planet of the Apes begins with another crew of astronauts apparently sent to find Taylor and friends. Why? As far as we know, the Doctor Hasslein who theorized about time dilation is not Landon, Dodge or the poor woman who died in cryosleep. It was, presumably, a scientist on Earth, before Taylor and his colleagues left Earth.

So, why are humans now searching for Taylor, when they knew, just as Taylor knew, that they would not be coming back? The simple answer is Charlton Heston didn't want to do a sequel. So, we needed another protagonist to go through a condensed version of Taylor's arc in the previous movie, as we've already established the humans on the Planet of the Apes cannot speak, and choosing one of them as a new protagonist would have been difficult, to say the least.

But, I have a solution that would allow us to continue the series with minimal Hest, and not spit in the face of what was established minutes into the first movie. Simply, Brent and his crew who we meet in Beneath the Planet of the Apes left Earth before Taylor and his crew did. Maybe they accidentally discovered time dilation, and when they didn't return to Earth, Doctor Hasslein postulated they accidentally traveled centuries into the future. Or, maybe they were deliberately testing Hasslein's theories, and, likewise, when they didn't return, Hasslein postulated his theories were correct, and Taylor and his crew were greenlit for their mission.

It might be too audacious an idea for the early 70s, but maybe Brent and his crew were prisoners, and they agreed to help test Hasslein's theory in exchange for a reduced sentence, knowing they might die. Even as barbaric as Taylor proved he could be in the previous film, I still doubt they would have gone in this direction. They wanted squeaky clean, all American protagonists. So, let's just go with Brent and his crew accidentally paved the way for Doctor Hasslein's theories which then allowed for Taylor and his crew to go forward with their mission. You don't have to change any of the rest of the plot of Beneath the Planet of the Apes (though you might want to, as it's a little rough). Just say Brent accidentally arrived here, just as Taylor did.