The Patent Dragon's Zone of Soul Retraction

Marvel Studios Announces "Captain Marvel," "Black Panther," "Avengers: Infinity War"

- or more correctly, the announcements are:-

28 July 2015 - Ant-Man
- which we already knew about, but it's still on schedule...

6 May 2016 - Captain America: Civil War
- which we also knew about apart from the full title. What we DIDN'T know is that it will FULLY feature a character getting his own movie the following year...

4 November 2016 - Dr Strange
- Also expected, but still not official word on a star. And then, onward into less explored territory:-

5 May 2017 - Guardians Of The Galaxy 2
- Anticipated, but moved up the schedule a bit, to allow for...


28 July 2017 - Thor: Ragnarok
- Apparently as momentous as Winter Soldier, but in a different part of the universe...


3 November 2017 - Black Panther
- That solo hero movie previously mentioned! Yes, that's THREE movies in 2017!


6 July 2018 - Captain Marvel
- Carol Danvers lives! In which costume, remains to be seen.


2 November 2018 - Inhumans
- Easter Eggs soon, we're told. Agents Of SHIELD Season 2 soon, perhaps...?


May 2018 - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1
May 2019 - Avengers: Infinity War Part 2
- A two-part epic, as The Big Purple Guy gets his... hand on The Prize!

I am SO HAPPY I caught word of the event containing these announcements, just before the news started to filter through from Hollywood, at a special event for press and select fans. THIS IS IT - the road-map we've been waiting for, the gauntlet before The Gauntlet.

And now, I have five years worth of stuff to talk about. Blog paradise...!

It is a VERY GOOD TIME TO BE ALIVE.

Yup. Late. So let's not delay...

ITEM! With some more behind-the-scenes material emerging for THOR - The Dark World - and here's even more - next pre-Christmas is going to be pretty awesome!

ITEM! Talking about Christmas - and this Christmas this time - I think I can confidently say that this year's Doctor Who Special will kick the ass of last year's not entirely stellar offering. It actually looks like FUN.

ITEM! This time next week, CSI Miami will be history. Unfortunately, this final season really hasn't shone as you might have thought it would.

ITEM! And Star Trek Online still has me as an active player, thanks to a great fleet. I will not be such an asshole again.

It really wasn't that much of a surprise that there wasn't much work to do, so I had an early finish. Not that I had much chance to capitalise on that, courtesy of the end-of-week shopping...

However, there was a bit of a surprise waiting for me at home this afternoon; a package from Amazon - but I wasn't expecting anything - until I remembered that I pre-ordered the triple-pack BluRay of THOR.

And that was the whole evening dealt with in one padded bag. except for putting a bit more work into my Mission 101 bookbinding Task (85). I could have the Task down for a *SCORE* by the end of the month...!

"My, President Obama, what an unexpected present..."

US forces kill Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan

I'm sure people will be outraged about his burial at sea, but it'll be really hard for wannabe terrorists to make a pilgrimage to the bottom of the sea, and what would people rather see? His body turned into a public pinata in Times Square...?

The conspiracy freaks are causing the internet to explode right now, with their wacky ideas. Yes, we do need to see evidence that they got him, and I'm sure that'll be forthcoming, if Obama has any sense, and so far, he's certainly shown he has plenty of that. Oh, and he made good on an election pledge - any chance I can vote for him on Thursday?

Meanwhile, on birthday... day... Not "pushing the boat out", but I am getting a VIP seat for THOR tonight. Yup, I'm going to see a movie on the big screen twice for the first time since X-Men, and I only did that 'cause I missed the very start on the first viewing.

Development News... I'm not currently doing any serious work on anything, but I am doing some pre-writing development, sketching out some of the faces and events that will shape things to come - and I may just have the perfect "new recruit". It's time for Dominion to stand on her own two feet...

In Today's Episode... The Pandemonicum Symphony: Final Movement continues, as Darkhawk blazes a trail of fury across Mystalornan space - and maybe cracks are at last showing in The Pandemonicum...

Release Notes... TWO chapters to go...

Move Review: THOR...

( Watch out - this could get spoiler-y... )

The Final Verdict... Some day, all super-hero movies will be made this way. Awesome, in almost every way. Majestic. Oh, and give The Warriors Three their own movie! 9.5/10

98 - See each of the "Avengers" cycle of movies on opening day! (Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Captain America - The First Avenger (2011), Avengers (2012) (2/4))

My only complaint? Some people will insist on fannying about with their sodding phones during the movie, and those little brightly lit screens take me out of my illusion; an illusion I have paid good money for. Next time I see it happen, I will expedite with prejudice...

Some Interesting, Amusing, or Otherwise Noteworthy Stuff... Firstly, the most poignant Elisabeth Sladen tribute of them all...

On a lighter note, even dyed-in-the-wool THOR fans have got to love this...

And then there are some thoughts on the true identity of River Song...

1) She's the daughter of Susan (Foreman), The Doctor's grand-daughter from the Hartnell era...
2) she's the daughter of renegade Time Lord Omega, who's been heavily tipped by fans as the being most likely to be responsible for the TARDIS going *FOOM*...
3) she's the daughter of Jenny, from Season Four episode "The Doctor's Daughter"...
4) she's a regeneration-of-sorts of Jenny...
5)... and finally, one old nugget from the Donna Noble stint - she's The Rani...

And finally, one last REIGNFALL teaser - before it becomes obsolete:

Development News... I've incorporated an existing half-finished interlude into TDD-701: After The Fall, which is pretty much where it ought to be. Chapter 1 is just about a "done deal", and I have a big chunk of Chapter 6 as well, in the form of the incorporated interlude material. The forecast is promising!

Weekend of Madness News... Looks like Monday might be on again - there is another cinema to go to within a reasonable distance that should have a THOR preview on a decent screen. Seems like I'll be having a day off, then - wonder how much I can cram into the day?

At the very least, I'll have another part of a Mission 101 task to cross off my list - wonder how many more I can polish off soon? I am rather falling behind... :(

Development News... I have broken ground on the first story of Season Seven - TDD-701: After The Fall! I pretty much had to, given that it's an "as the dust settles" wind-down with some genuine consequences for the future.

"Weekend Of Madness" News... Ah. So the Royal Wedding isn't 'til next week. So that means it's not quite as much of a WOM as I'd anticipated. No biggie, though - actually, it makes life a little easier.

Watching the local cinema listings for signs of a preview showing of THOR - that would comfortably count towards Mission Task 98, which is

98 - See each of the "Avengers" cycle of movies on opening day! (Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), Captain America - The First Avenger (2011), Avengers (2012) (1/4))

although the official opening day of Wednesday 27th would still suit me fine.

Talking about the Mission, I'm rather needing to score some more success now that I'm closing in on, at or just past the halfway point. My "complete some craft projects" task (52) would fit, and I could probably fit in a couple of episodes of The Prisoner some time (Task 96) every now and then...

Summer is approaching, and I must make some progress!

This Just In... That's work pretty much guaranteed for another year, at least!

Development News... Whilst TDD-612 REIGNFALL Chapter 9 is continuing, there does seem to be something of an intangible barrier in the way of completion - another case of that "half the distance with every step" phenomenon, which means you will never actually reach your destination...

I will just have to fire up the "Push" thrusters, and force my way through to the conclusion. I want to be breaking ground on the final chapter on Monday.

Meanwhile... Easter looks like being fun this year, even if it doesn't include the conclusion of The Move. Easter plus a highly-anticipated Doctor Who season-opener PLUS a possible Easter Monday THOR opening! Should be fun.

In the meantime, Saturday looks more and more like it will feature an out-of-town cinema trip to see Sucker Punch. I've hit a rather tricky point in the release of this movie - do I keep waiting for it to appear here, or go and see it while I still have an open slot? I don't want another Star Trek - Nemesis...

Thoughts On The Big Game...

( Look away if you don't want to know the score... )

Now comes the wait - today marks the longest time before next season. If we actually get a season this year. C'mon, guys, let's sort out this new d upcoming financial settlement, and get back to the game.

Sadly, the majority of the British media seems to think that "Xtina" screwing up the anthem was the biggest story of the night. Yeah - riiiiiight.

And finally, on this subject... Oooooh looook, new blockbuster trailers/teasers, hot from the Super Bowl - a not exactly fresh THOR offering (which is still not a bad thing); some more action for Transformers - Dark Of The Moon - looks like we've got some large scale invasion-type business going on; interesting glimpses of Cowboys And Aliens (wacky comic-based antics, possible double-header material), Battle: LA (king-size Skyline, coming NEXT MONTH), and the mysterious Super 8 (Cloverfield prequel...?)... but the big one has to be the very first glimpse of Captain America - The First Avenger! I think I'll be watching all of these again tonight.

How about this...? Link between THOR and Captain America - the Asgardians hand over to humanity a token of peace and friendship - Cap's shield! Nick Fury asks "Where did you find this?" and Thor answers "To the north..." Fade to the Arctic wastes, and an icy monolith with a human figure inside, his shirt open to reveal a white star on a blue background and red and white stripes...

Development News... Got a chunk of on-paper TDD-609 ...Second Movement typed up, and expanded. The "lead-in" to the conclusion of this Episode is stretching a bit, and I'm going to need to clamp down on it a bit. Just the facts, man...