u/Troyabedinthemornin

I recently got put onto this movie by the YouTuber “NightmareMovies”, and was pretty blown away. This is a shot-on-video horror/thriller film that was made as a proof of concept for a bigger production that never came to be, and was mysteriously uploaded in full on YouTube many years later (you can watch it for free right now). The story follows a bored librarian named Jane, who discovers an envelope addressed to her with 50 dollars, and an invitation to play a game, signed by “The Master of Games”. She solves the riddle, leading her to another envelope, with more money, and another riddle to solve. This begins a journey of obsession, sadism, and paranoia as Jane gets pulled deeper and deeper into the world of her new master.

Out the gate, one of the most intriguing aspects is how the film was made. Because it was never intended for public consumption, the overall quality of the film is rough, but it only contributes to the cursed, sinister atmosphere. The film is shot in grainy black and white, on video which gives it a voyeuristic feeling. Sometimes it’s hard to even make out what you are seeing on screen, keeping you on edge. There is also next to no music, and there is minimal foley work. The dialogue and acting can be hit or miss, but lead actress Kim Garrett really carries the show with a mesmerizing performance. I think this overall lack of polish really creates a unique viewing experience, and captures a gritty bleakness at the start of the new century in America.

Why it’s relevant here is because the film seems to be dealing with themes of commodification and fetishization. Jane receives money in exchange for her autonomy. As her will is molded, it becomes less about the financial gains, and more a form of complacency, like a rat trapped in a wheel, desperate to find meaning in the endless pursuit. I’d love to hear if anyone else who’s seen the film were picking up on any of these themes!

If you haven’t seen the movie, but are interested in obscure media, or psychological horrors, I’d highly recommend it! I think if you can appreciate the film’s rough edges, and the uncanny vibe that they create, there’s a lot to be enjoyed.

TRIGGER WARNING: the movie isn’t too explicitly violent but themes about violating consent, sexual exploitation and assault are pervasive

• Peter Griffen: Stavros Halkias or Paul Walter Hauser

• Lois Griffen: Aya Cash

• Meg Griffen: Ivy Wolk

• Chris Griffen: Jake Connelly

• Stewie and Brian Griffen: Seth Macfarlane (voice only) call me lazy but he’s iconic as this duo

So obviously there has been a lot of speculation about the villain of Spider-man 4 and what Sadie Sink’s role is. Having gone over both the teaser and the trailer that was released today, here are my theories, but first, let’s lay out what we know:

•The villain is a body hopper. We see people get possessed one by one, with some force jumping between hosts, suggesting a need for proximity to possess someone. There also appears to be an additional power that allows it to freeze large groups of people if not the whole of manhattan, but this may not be a consistent ability.

•It may not be human, or at least incorporeal. The synopsis refers to it as something that can’t be seen, Trammel Tillman’s character also refers to that while using “it” pronouns.

•It has beef with Peter. The entity seems to be directly targeting Peter Parker, and knows his relationship to MJ enough to threaten her.

•Peter is immune to the entity’s control. Frank also appears to be unaffected by the mass freeze but I don’t think he has the same kind of immunity as Peter (maybe because of his brain injury?)

•It is connected to Sadie’s character. Sadie’s still unnamed role is repeatedly framed pretty ominously, suggesting her role as a villain. In the trailer, her hooded figure is overlayed with a possessed Banner threatening Peter, somewhat mirroring his movements, implying a connection, though this could just be deceptive editing. My theory is that Sadie could be a primary host for this entity (more on that later).

Ok so now that we’ve got that down, let’s break down which characters best fit these details.

•Spider Queen - in the comics, she is a human woman named Ana, who is experimented on and given powers. Much like the entity, she is able to mind control people, but only those with certain genetics, in addition to other telekinetic abilities . She also was able to augment Peter’s powers which feels very important considering that Peter’s powers becoming even more spidery is a key plot point. If she is the main villain, then Sadie would be Ana; perhaps the lady in the tank we see breaking into the prison and possessing guard is her possessing people to free her true body that’s being held by the government (though that does potentially contradict the “we don’t know what IT is” line).

•Shathra - in the comics she is an inter-dimensional being that hunts Spider-people across the multiverse (fitting for the current saga). As a god-like being she has a whole host of powers, but she has often used her shapeshifting abilities to stalk her prey. As a denizen of the astral plane, that does sort of fit with the incorporeal nature of the entity in BND and Shathra has used her powers in the past to possess or corrupt others. Sadie could be the disguised physical form of Shathra, or perhaps the main body she is possessing, which leads us to…

The Jean Grey of it all. Obviously her involvement has not been confirmed, but if you see a redhead wearing green and yellow, it’s a reasonable conclusion to make, though I have my doubts. The reason for that being that I don’t think any version of the X-men or its roster exists in the MCU’s universe, and I don’t think they will until after some multiversal mergers post Secret Wars. I also just find it odd to start introducing new versions of the characters before bringing in the old FOX versions for Doomsday. Lastly, I don’t think even a younger, brasher Jean would do something like threaten MJ, almost kill multiple people by paralyzing them, or sending the Hulk on a rampage (if the possessing entity and Jean are one in the same of course). The only way this makes sense is if Jean is being controlled by something like Shathra, using her powers to spread chaos and go after Peter.

Alternatively, instead of Jean, she could be Rachel Summers, the daughter of James Marsden’s Cyclops and Famke Jansen’s Jean, who crossed over from the FOX verse to the 616 seeking help from their heroes but gets the attention of Shathra who lives between dimensions. This could be a good way to tether Peter to the crossover and would support the rumor that Sadie has future roles in the series.

So those are my thoughts, congratulations if you made it this far, but I wanted to be thorough. Am I on to something here? Am I crazy? What do you think of these theories?

• Shadow of the Bat - the Last Arkham

•Batman: prey

•Batman: the Imposter

So to be clear, I’m basically 70/30 that these rumors are not true, but it did get me wondering what it could mean for the plot of “The Batman part 2”, so here are my speculations, broken down by character.

•Sebastian Stan as Victor Zsasz - so in “the last Arkham” Victor Zsasz is a lot more than the deranged killer from the Arkham games. He is a cunning manipulator and once one of Gotham’s elite caste. In the film, we could see him as a patient in Arkham, sneaking out through hidden passages to continue his killing spree. It could also be that he is still free (though still getting out-patient therapy at Arkham) using his wealth and name to hide his dark pastime. The guy would basically be if Roman Roy from Succession was a serial killer.

•Bryan Tyree Henry as Harvey Dent - in this idea of the story, Harvey would still be an intrepid prosecutor determined to prove Zsasz’s guilt. Perhaps he’s gone after him in the past but was unsuccessful due to Victor’s privilege.

•Charles Dance as Victor Zsasz Sr. - in “The Imposter” we have Arnold Wesker sr. a wealthy and prominent elite in Gotham, whose mentally ill son he hides away out of contempt and shame. I could see this characterization being transferred to Victor Zsasz’s father; a man using his influence to cover for the monster he created to avoid scandal. We could still see those Court of Owls connections people have been theorizing.

•Scarlet Johansson as Leslie Thompkins - much like her role in “imposter” she would be Bruce’s therapist, perhaps she is aware of his identity as Batman. She could also been a useful inroad to the world of Arkham.

•Sebastian Koch as Hugo Strange - an unscrupulous Psychiatrist obsessed with Batman. He’d be treating Zsasz, likely enabling him to engage in killings so he can draw out Batman, not unlike his manipulating a man into being a killer vigilante in “Prey”.

Again, this is all just speculation based on some dubious rumors, but it felt like it was making a lot of sense as I was putting the pieces together. So let me know, did I cook here? Should I hang up the apron? What do you think is going to happen? (PLEASE don’t say it’s an adaptation of Long Halloween).

There’s a joke in the fandom that the Wario brothers are Greek, as opposed to their Italian counterparts, so I thought it’d be fun to have two prominent Greek comedians, Jason Mantzoukas and Stavros Halkias to play Wario and Waluigi respectively.

Mantzoukas is a skilled voice actor who could definitely recreate the gravely timbre of Wario’s voice and capture his crude, scheming (but lovable!) personality.

Halkias may look more like Wario but I think his higher pitched voice lends itself more to Waluigi, and he’d make a great comedic duo with Mantzoukas