u/Luthor331

🚨 "Don't call it a Comeback!" 🚨

Welcome back to Fred Fridays, Aftershocks! Yes, we took a month long hiatus. No, Fred Myers (aka Boomerang) did not take the hint. Despite our best efforts to change the locks at The Bar With No Name, our "special guest" has officially refused to vacate the hosting duties.

Despite Spider-Man: Brand New Day absolutely crushing the global box office and breaking records, Fred is currently having a meltdown over the one demographic he missed:

>"Oh, look who decided to show up. A month late. Typical. Do you know what happens when you put my global press tour for my movie Spider-Man Boomerang: Brand New Day (in theatres now!) on pause for four weeks? Box office sabotage, that's what! A billion dollars worldwide. Ninety-nine percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The world finally gets it: I am a god. But do you know what hurts? Failure. And who failed me? Herman Schultz. My opening weekend trackings were short by exactly one ticket in the tri-state area because Herman had to go and get himself killed. Unacceptable. I'm considering finding a mystic artifact to drag his quilted ass back from the dead just so he can sit in a theater and buy a large popcorn. Until then, you slackers are going to do his share of the work!"

________________________________

🏆 THE JULY WALL OF FAME 🏆

>"Since I am trapped in this digital wasteland, I've been disgusted! Not one post or comment excited about my movie debut? UNACCEPTABLE! I should have scrapped this whole Wall of Fame... BUT... I checked the recent feed, and we actually have two winners who show the vision and intellectual capacity r/TheShocker desperately needs."

* u/toraregisfurry | The Ultimate Boomerang Visionary

>"Calling yourself my future husband? Bold. Presumptuous. Visionary. Delusional? Maybe a little, but I respect the hustle! You are officially my PR Manager for this month's Comeback campaign. Keep preaching the good word of your idol, Fred. Don't let me down, kid."

* u/4THEB3TTERG00D | The Terrifyingly Gifted Cultist

>"As for this... look, that 'Spider-Man Horror AU' art of Herman turning himself into a giant, flesh-fused copper drum monster? Brilliant work. Genuinely high quality. But also? Keep that terrifying voodoo magic away from me! I am a clean, handsome Hollywood star with perfect teeth! If you start sketching a 'Horror AU Boomerang' where my face melts into an exploding razor-rang, I'm having my lawyers sue you into oblivion!!! Take your trophy and promise you won't write a story about me! PLEASE!!"

___________________________

🎁 THE WEEKEND BONUS: The second spot on the Wall of Fame remains empty. Fred has decreed that anyone who leaves a 5-star review for his movie in the comments will automatically win the slot. Fake reviews are highly encouraged.

_________________________________________________

🧊 THE ICEBREAKER: WRITE THE FAKE REVIEWS

Fred is obsessed with getting a perfect 100% score. He hasn't seen the final cut of the movie but he assures us that he filmed "Over 4 hours of amazing footage." He is demanding we write reviews of your favorite scene of his in the movie and how you were "totally blown away" by his performance.

• The Prompt: Drop a movie review for Brand New Day that Boomerang would approve of. What does Rhino think of the cinematography? Did Doctor Octopus cry during Fred's emotional monologue? Let Fred know!
• The Casual Chat: Alternatively, ignore Fred’s Hollywood meltdown entirely. How have you been the past month? Have you missed these Fred Fridays? What are you playing, watching, or drinking this weekend? It's good to be back! 🍻

I got to watch an early pre screening of the film yesterday and wanted to share some thoughts on it for anyone who's interested before or after they watch it.

Even though I've marked this with spoilers I'm not going to go into full detail on the plot. If you're curious feel free to ask in the comments.

• Tom Holland stands out by far as both the best actor in the film and his best showing as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man. I'm glad some of those pre leaks were false about how Spidey would turn out.
• Sadie Sink's was my 2nd favorite performance of the film. It makes sense now her being confirmed for Secret Wars and likely how she'll be one of the faces of the next phase. I'm just puzzled WHY they kept her character a mystery when promoting the film. It's barely a mystery and almost immediately resolved when she's seen. An odd choice but I actually think it's more enjoyable knowing who's shes playing.
• Frank Castle is back! As someone who hasn't been much of a fan of Bernthal's take, this is easily his best performance since his intro in the OG Daredevil series, you can tell him and Tom are friends and it's nice to see a softer side of Frank that has nothing to do with romance. BND leaves me wanting Frank to become a regular supporting character in the next few Holland films. His final scene is hilarious.
• Best live action Spider-Man intro by far. The first third of this film was perfect.
• Jean DeWolfe was great for what little time she was in the film. I REALLY hope long term we'll be getting a Sin-Eater adaptation with Charlie Cox Daredevil.
• Now onto some not some glowing praise: Enjoy the montage of villains from the trailer? Well, what you see is what you get. I wish they kept some back but alas.
• By the mid way point, the film starts becoming less of a Spider-Man story about his villains and supporting cast and moreso feels like long setup for future films. It's not a bad thing and it was all well done but if you came in excited for Scorpion or Tombstone and expecting them to become big players in these films, you might be disappointed.
• I don't know how I feel yet about what the final Hulk scene and the final Ned & MJ scenes mean for the spell from No Way Home.
• Speaking of Hulk, it was nice to see a serious Banner and Hulk. It didn't revert his characterisation in an unnatural way though he kinda just... Disappears from the film with no resolution. That was disappointing.
• I know why he was in it but I realised with Bruce and Sadie Sinks characters in this film, I'm almost certain we won't see Curt Connors or Black Cat in the Holland films which is disappointing.
• Unless I missed something, the resolution to his amplified powers is: What if it's meant to be? I figured there would be a downside to them.
• No mid credit scene, Post credit scene I assume is for Secret Wars?
• Overall, I'd rank this 2nd in the Holland Quadrilogy. Behind No Way Home. It was a phenomenal film but I feel like they achieved two different things. NWH had a weaker start but a greater end while BND had a pitch perfect start but I had small grievances at the end. Not enough to ruin the film but objectively I enjoyed NWH more.

And last but certainly not least, Shocker. In the teasers released before the film they showed Spidey using Shocker's gauntlet on the Hulk. It worked about as well as you'd expect. As a Shocker fan, it was at least nice to hear him mentioned and that he was a regular "nuisance" for Spidey (And the implications for why his Gauntlets were at Damage Control after what we learnt by the film's end is interesting). If you're going to watch this film solely hoping to see Shocker, don't get your hopes up, but I'd still suggest checking it out.

Those are just some of my random thoughts on it. I'll leave it there for now. If anyone's seen it, wants to ask questions or share their own thoughts or reviews, feel free to in the comments!