Saturday, July 20, 2019

BLADE: The Daywalker Is Officially Headed to the Marvel Cinematic Universe...

Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali will replace Wesley Snipes, who was a bad-ass as the original daywalker, in the Marvel Studios version of BLADE.

At Marvel Studios' Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con about two hours ago, it was revealed that Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali will succeed Wesley Snipes as the newest daywalker...a.k.a. Blade. A release date for this future vampire-hunting installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe hasn't been revealed yet—but all I can say is: I CALLED IT!

Thursday, July 18, 2019

The TOP GUN: MAVERICK Trailer Is Here!

An F/A-18 Hornet piloted by Maverick (Tom Cruise) catapults off an aircraft carrier in TOP GUN: MAVERICK.

Earlier today, Tom Cruise made a surprise appearance at San Diego Comic-Con to present the teaser trailer for next year's Top Gun: Maverick. All I can say is...I am absolutely stoked for this film! I've been a huge fighter jet buff since grade school, and to watch a feature-length movie that will put a spotlight on F/A-18 Hornets in combat (Yes, I know— We saw the Hornets in glorious action during such flicks as Independence Day and 2001's Behind Enemy Lines) will get my adrenaline running and put me back in the danger zone again. This is just the teaser trailer, so it'll be a while before we find out if the F-35C Lightning II (the U.S. Navy's variant of the Joint Strike Fighter)—which was declared operational for combat in real life back in February—plays a role in this movie. Anyways, welcome back, Maverick!

Top Gun: Maverick arrives in theaters nationwide on June 26, 2020.

The F/A-18 Hornet piloted by Maverick flies across a dry lake bed in the desert in TOP GUN: MAVERICK.

Two F/A-18 Hornets are brought up to an aircraft carrier's flight deck in TOP GUN: MAVERICK.

Maverick is ready to launch from an aircraft carrier in TOP GUN: MAVERICK.

Maverick races his motorcycle against an F/A-18 Hornet as it takes off from a runway in TOP GUN: MAVERICK.

Aviators stand at attention at a U.S. naval base in TOP GUN: MAVERICK.

Maverick leads a squadron of F/A-18 Hornets across the ocean in TOP GUN: MAVERICK.

Three F/A-18 Hornets are about to break the sound barrier above a lake in TOP GUN: MAVERICK.

Maverick flies above a snow-covered mountain range in TOP GUN: MAVERICK.

An F-14 Tomcat (which, in real life, was retired back in 2006) flies above a snow-covered mountain range in TOP GUN: MAVERICK.


Thursday, July 4, 2019

Happy Fourth of July, Everyone (in the U.S. of A.)!

A Photoshopped image of F-22 Raptors taking part in the climactic air battle at the end of the film INDEPENDENCE DAY.

In honor of Independence Day, here's an amusing image that I found online showing a shot from the final air battle in Independence Day if the hit film was released in 2019, instead of 1996. While I can definitely picture President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) piloting an F-22 Raptor in combat, Russell Casse (Randy Quaid) should've flown the F-35B Lightning II, which he would've hovered up into that alien destroyer's laser cannon to take it out! Like the venerable Harrier jump jet, the F-35B also has vertical takeoff ability...as shown in the photo at the very bottom of this entry. Anyways, have fun cooking barbecue and illegally lighting fireworks in your backyards tonight, fellow Yanks!

Russell Casse should've piloted an F-35B Lightning II at the end of INDEPENDENCE DAY if it was released in 2019.

Russell Casse would've used the F-35B's hovering capabilities, as shown in this pic that I took at the Miramar Air Show last year, to ram into that alien destroyer's laser cannon and destroy it in INDEPENDENCE DAY.