Star Wars in the MC2

 

This might be a little late (it’s already the 5^th of May here) but I did want to put out something to celebrate Star Wars Day while, as always, trying to tie it back to the MC2. So here is a smattering of references to Star Wars in the MC2.

 

First for today, and probably the most well-known and oft-cited reference to Star Wars in the MC2 comes in the pages of J2 #12 where Doc Magus mentions he has tickets to ‘the new Star Wars movie.’ Given the issue was released in July 1999, it’s presumed this is a reference to Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace which was released mere months before. However, if we apply the Marvel sliding timescale rule, this could refer to a more recent film, perhaps even an upcoming future film.

 

Next up, on the cover for Spider-Girl #33 which features our heroine May  ‘Mayday’ Parker in a battle with the mysterious new Spider-Man accompanied by hyperbolic cover copy ‘Spider-Girl VS. Spider-Man!?! (That’s not true, that’s impossible!)’ This is an obvious reference to the iconic scene in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back where Darth Vader reveals himself as Luke Skywalker’s father, with Luke responding ‘No. No. That’s not true. That’s impossible!’

 

The last few for today are sneaky ones slipped into the background of Spider-Girl #92 while the Avengers are being briefed about the apparent return of Magneto. I’ll present the original pages first and you can try and spot the references.

 

Here, I’ve adjusted the colour saturation to help. While I was not able to identify all of the shots hidden in on the viewscreens, the image seen center-left is taken from Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones depicting the Mandalorian bounty hunter Jango Fett’s patrol and attack craft called the ‘Slave I’ on the planet Kamino.

 

Next to it we have another image lifted directly from Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones this time depicting a shot of the Senate Apartment Complex on the planet Coruscant.

 

If anyone wants to try and work out where the rest of the images are lifted from, please let me know!  Other than those mentioned above, it should go without saying that the brilliant Ron Frenz worked on the Marvel Star Wars comics during their original run. I’m sure there are more references to Star Wars in the MC2, but I’ll save them for a future date.

 

Until I work out the how in ‘somehow Palpatine returned’, I remain

 

frogoat

Degrees of Doctor Who

Ever sat down to watch a movie or perhaps your favorite new show only to do a comical spit take when you realize you know that characters face?

Just the other day, for instance, I happened to catch a few minutes of  a 1959 film; The Mouse That Roared in time to catch a glimpse of the legendary William Hartnell as Will Buckley. It's such good fun, but let's not make it so hard to play the game. Let's start with the big targets of genre film, shall we?

I've mentioned Tolkien's world previous in The Hobbit review. Sylvester McCoy- best known for playing The Seventh Doctor- here plays Radagast the Brown to kooky perfection. I truly hope we see more of his performance, either in the remaining films or on the home releases special features. Fingers crossed, aye? Check off Middle-Earth, then.

I've only touched upon the Alien universe very briefly when discussing artificial life. This next person is all too human. Alien 3 gives us Golic- a convict turned convert- who is very much out of touch with reality, played by the inimitable Paul McGann, aka The Eighth Doctor. His role is unfortunately cut rather short in the theatrical release, but an entire sub-plot revolving around his character unfolds in the so-called 'Assembly Cut' of the film available in the box sets. Aliens, check.

Christopher Eccelston aka The Ninth Doctor has had a commendable career on the big screen as well as the small. Some people may remember him as the baddie from Gone in Sixty Seconds, or as that guy from 28 Days Later, or even McCullen from the GI Joe flick. Heck, if you watched Heroes, you will remember him. Adding yet another notch in his genre belt, however is the up-coming Marvel film follow up, Thor: The Dark World. Marvel? Big ol' check.


I'm a big Harry Potter fan. I'm a big Doctor Who fan. So, it was both surprising and with much glee that I watched David Tennant-who played the creepy and loyal Death Eater Barty Crouch Jr- cast as none other than The Tenth Doctor. Stange then, isnt it, that in his run on Doctor Who he mentions reading the Potter series and crying through 'book 7'. How does that work, then? The Wizarding World of Harry Potter? Yes, ma'am.
 

Any more? Give it a go, you might find more than you bargained for.

Until Matt Smith is cast in the new Star Wars films, I remain

frogoat