[GUEST ACCESS MODE: Data is scrambled or limited to provide examples. Make requests using your API key to unlock full data. Check https://lunarcrush.ai/auth for authentication information.] [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/twitter/Darren_Mooney) "@cineviewflix I think Winter Soldier is about fine. But it is a sharp slope downhill from there"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947784021439877525) 2025-07-22 22:21:13 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements "Central to All-Star Superman is the question of Have I done enough And the answer is No. But you did the best you could. Thats all that anyone can hope to do. As Morrison put it themselves Its not Hope Comics its Action Comics"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947295219214377284) 2025-07-21 13:58:53 UTC 12.9K followers, 47.4K engagements "The Donner Cut of Superman II is a minor miracle"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947787648128716956) 2025-07-22 22:35:38 UTC 12.9K followers, 654K engagements "As somebody who lives the idea of the American superhero as a mediated figure I really loved the closing credits of Thunderbolts*. Not the post-credits scenes but the actual credits themselves about the construction of a mythology around these characters"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1945486456991908205) 2025-07-16 14:11:31 UTC 12.9K followers, 15.6K engagements "Been thinking a lot about All-Star Superman recently and how so much of what people get from it misses what it is. Essential to what it does is the idea of it being an ending. Superman is given roughly a week to live and his response is to wonder whether he has done enough"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947293254682116558) 2025-07-21 13:51:05 UTC 12.9K followers, 873.3K engagements "@rhartman @Calypso_Benthos I mean Dark Knight Returns was a hugely inventive comic in terms of style and form not just in terms of content. And it is very obviously in conversation with say the Adam West Batman television show as much - if not more - than any actual Batman comic"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1946997142192525537) 2025-07-20 18:14:26 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements "As a non-American whose mentions were flooded by Americans over the past couple of weeks lecturing me on how (a.) Superman isnt quintessentially American (false) but (b.) cynicism of American foreign policy translates to a hatred of American pop culture (false) this irks me"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947574651720187973) 2025-07-22 08:29:15 UTC 12.9K followers, 2357 engagements "Unfortunately #Superman is Gunns worst theatrically released film - and to be honest maybe his worst directorial effort at all - by a considerable margin. A mess of a movie that seems like its been taken apart and stitched back together so often its lost in its own head"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1942682208336294216) 2025-07-08 20:28:26 UTC 12.9K followers, 594.4K engagements "@Imravnos @MasterMastermnd Nah. When Pam Abdy and Mike DeLuca came in the first thing they did (wisely) was try to smooth things over with Nolan paying him what he was due for TENET and inviting him to use post-production facilities on the lot"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947945017332600997) 2025-07-23 09:00:57 UTC 12.9K followers, XX engagements "@Deppwifebeater I do love that people think David Zaslav the man who cancelled Ta-Nehisi Coates Superman because it was woke and binned a finished Batgirl movie because he feared it would damage the brand was all-in on Barbie from day one and not riding a wave of happy coincidences"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1948007818176401581) 2025-07-23 13:10:30 UTC 12.9K followers, 119.7K engagements "Goodness remember when things were allowed to end"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1946871143258038391) 2025-07-20 09:53:46 UTC 12.9K followers, 851.1K engagements "@Zelkiiro Well now just ones as that achieve a base level of popularity comparable to Roald Dahl. So the books have to be successful. But if the books are that successful in say the fifties this doesnt happen. (Just ask Disney about their Narnia franchise.)"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1946639312864632962) 2025-07-19 18:32:33 UTC 12.9K followers, 21.4K engagements "Interesting that a lot of fans of James Gunn's "Superman" don't see that he's very overtly doing "the descent of Christ into Hades" in the three days between Superman turning himself into the authorities and his triumphant return to Metropolis. There's even a Charon and a Styx"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1948302189308330382) 2025-07-24 08:40:14 UTC 12.9K followers, 21.9K engagements "I had such a great time with #TheNakedGun. It manages to be true to the spirit and tone of the originals while also in conversation with modern pop culture from End of Watch to Fallout. A delight one of the very best of the summer. I have the stupidest grin on my face"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1948490361086566844) 2025-07-24 21:07:57 UTC 12.9K followers, 24.9K engagements "It is a little funny that shared universe shenanigans mean that even on a parallel Earth #FantasticFour has to treat Mole Man as somehow an amalgam of Mole Man Namor *and* Doom. That said I loved Mole Man in Fantastic Four. Paul Walter Hauser is really great"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947631371393876252) 2025-07-22 12:14:38 UTC 12.9K followers, 8723 engagements "It is so wild to me that Hollywood hasnt looked at the success of Christopher Nolan and been like We should be trying to produce like ten of these sort of filmmaker"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1945879184821113311) 2025-07-17 16:12:05 UTC 12.9K followers, 41.2K engagements "All-Star Superman is a mirror to The Dark Knight Returns a story that was (originally) designed to function as the last Batman story. But its often reduced to shallow aesthetics. Superman and Lois has a better read on All-Star Superman than James Gunns Superman"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947294159473123736) 2025-07-21 13:54:41 UTC 12.9K followers, 50.1K engagements "@c0dy_allen Hickman is the big one. Hickman is hands-down the best Fantastic Four run. Then chase Avengers into Secret Wars. Outside of that I like Fractions FF but it becomes a bit undone in the home stretch after Fraction leaves. The Waid and Wierengo run is also a good shout"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1948611350722478592) 2025-07-25 05:08:44 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements "Yep the Vader stuff is the worst stuff about that movie and the most indicative of where the franchise and the culture was going"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1945080610411745317) 2025-07-15 11:18:50 UTC 12.9K followers, 8060 engagements "There is be a thesis to be written on the autocannibalism of pop culture. The evolution of pop culture from new things based on old things (Star Wars) to new takes on old things (Tim Burtons Batman) to new versions of old things that look just like the old things"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1945123626652414061) 2025-07-15 14:09:45 UTC 12.9K followers, 3.3M engagements "Coming to release Warners scheduled press screenings of Barbie against with press screenings of Oppenheimer trying to force critics to have to choose the more commercial picture over Nolans film. They were also at the time holding residuals they owed Nolan for TENET"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947921622599450859) 2025-07-23 07:28:00 UTC 12.9K followers, 291.3K engagements "There was legitimate cause for concern about the health of these movies in 2022 when four of these movies earned over $750m. Theres a very real chance that the new Superman movie - a film based on *the* superhero - wont catch up to Venom: The Last Dance from last year"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1946825127431168051) 2025-07-20 06:50:55 UTC 12.9K followers, 18K engagements "If this is the case the genre really is in trouble. Lets say the film hits $500m which is a very fair estimate Id suggest. Highest grossing comic book film of 2024: $1.3bn Highest grossing comic book film of 2023: $846m Highest grossing comic book film of 2022: $955m"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1946824307059155300) 2025-07-20 06:47:39 UTC 12.9K followers, 201.2K engagements "It is honestly stunning how much better Universal is at this sort of thing than Warners (NOPE Nosferatu etc.) when this used to be Warners bread and butter"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1948384434324947008) 2025-07-24 14:07:03 UTC 12.9K followers, 52.1K engagements "@steve_shives Just in terms of craft it is so far ahead of so many contemporary blockbusters"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1948121668443947341) 2025-07-23 20:42:54 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements "Very telling that these are all director-driven projects that would have likely been carefully planned and prepared in advance rather than hastily re-made in post-production days before the film opened by executives frantically reacting to test screenings and social media"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1948731656421990765) 2025-07-25 13:06:47 UTC 12.9K followers, 186K engagements "Captain America: Brave New World came out less than six months ago and we have two Russo Brothers Avengers movies coming up"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947768329738870785) 2025-07-22 21:18:52 UTC 12.9K followers, 38.4K engagements "I dont know if I expected a new take on Harry Potter. I dont know that its a text that supports a rich array of interpretations. But still. I imagine the money helps but how must it feel to know youre not being hired as an actor but a living themepark animatronic"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1945124263553323142) 2025-07-15 14:12:17 UTC 12.9K followers, 100.6K engagements "The best DC stuff - the truly iconic stuff from Watchmen to Dark Knight Returns to All-Star Superman - handily clears the best Marvel stuff because it realises that continuity is far less important than actually telling a good proper story"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1946946308801208625) 2025-07-20 14:52:27 UTC 12.9K followers, 3M engagements "@rhartman @Calypso_Benthos My line hasnt moved to be fair. In the original tweet I put Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns on a separate tier. And Ive just explained why that is. You asked me to list things not on that tier from both publishers and I did. And Ive explained why"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1946997788220498166) 2025-07-20 18:17:00 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements "#FantasticFour is fine and functional handily their best theatrical outing. It struggles with Johnny and Ben and could give its beats more room to breathe. But theres something endearingly Freudian in this superhero movie about babies docking rockets death and black holes"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947625187135950853) 2025-07-22 11:50:04 UTC 12.9K followers, 16.4K engagements "Yep. The day of the week week on the life structure is one of the most interesting things about the film and while the film itself ostensibly didnt change too much removing the title cards retreats from that to something designed to feel more conventional"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947552498795089945) 2025-07-22 07:01:14 UTC 12.9K followers, 19.3K engagements "Oh the Red Riding trilogy is on Netflix. Great stuff well worth a look if youve never seen them"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947012469919977652) 2025-07-20 19:15:21 UTC 12.9K followers, 3725 engagements "The important thing to remember is that Warners put Barbie on the same weekend as Oppenheimer in the hopes that it would crush Nolans film at the box office to punish Nolan for daring to leave them. Warners built Barbie as a spite house like a jilted lover"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947920798129311784) 2025-07-23 07:24:43 UTC 12.9K followers, 6.4M engagements "@pinkmanuzz Cool and that's okay. I didn't for example understand the trans readings of say "The Matrix" until I talked to people about it"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1948317659881181564) 2025-07-24 09:41:42 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements "During the Bush era and the Iraq War as Americans where serving freedom fries with freedom mayonnaise France was giving Clint Eastwood the Csar for Gran Torino while the Oscars refused to even nominate him. Captain America X did more than half its business overseas"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947573051580944702) 2025-07-22 08:22:54 UTC 12.9K followers, 39.9K engagements "Yep. This is wild. Ive rated every previous theatrically released James Gunn film four stars or higher. I enjoyed My Adventures with Superman and Superman and Lois. I have a shelf of Superman comics. And goodness the amount of nonsense I got for disliking Superman"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1946853855297441905) 2025-07-20 08:45:04 UTC 12.9K followers, 10.4K engagements "@rhartman Off the top of my head Miller/Bendis/Brubaker Daredevil Morrison New X-Men Milligan/Allred X-Statix Hickman Fantastic Four Avengers X-Men Claremont X-Men Gerber Defenders Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. Brubaker Captain America Moore Miracleman"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1946983069463838871) 2025-07-20 17:18:31 UTC 12.9K followers, 42.6K engagements "@pinkmanuzz Anyway I wish you the best. Have a good day"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1948321851266019400) 2025-07-24 09:58:22 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements "@rhartman @Calypso_Benthos (Plus you know more broadly Reagans America eighties science-fiction media and so on. Theres a reason that book broke out into the popular consciousness in a way that say Millers Daredevil did not to get back to this not being an argument about personal preference.)"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1946997360112144655) 2025-07-20 18:15:18 UTC 12.9K followers, XX engagements "@pinkmanuzz It honestly seems like you're just not comfortable talking about this for personal reasons and that's okay. You don't see it and that's okay. But it doesn't mean it's not there. And your discomfort with it - while valid - doesn't mean it's unreasonable to talk about it"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1948321744592187494) 2025-07-24 09:57:56 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements "@rhartman This is my point. Marvel doesnt have any comparable apples and in this case apples are just things that are better. (I say that as somebody who also loves oranges but nothing Marvel has published is comparable to Watchmen or Dark Knight Returns.)"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1946985239131443584) 2025-07-20 17:27:08 UTC 12.9K followers, 11.4K engagements "One of my favourite little details is that Star Trek includes that distinctively lighting in part because NBC was owned by RCA a company that made colour television sets and so was encouraged to add colour where it could on otherwise grey sets"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947776685224694098) 2025-07-22 21:52:04 UTC 12.9K followers, 173K engagements "I do love that he seems to be working his way through his own films. In The Nolan Variations a few years back he similarly sort-of positions Interstellar as his most underrated film and obviously that films reputation seems have undergone a substantial revision since"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947767002665251085) 2025-07-22 21:13:35 UTC 12.9K followers, 5065 engagements "@rhartman Its not likes and its not shorter runs. Im not talking about personal preference Im talking about cultural impact. There is no Marvel run on the tier of Watchmen or The Dark Knight Returns. Its a simple statement fairly indisputable"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1946993693292109986) 2025-07-20 18:00:44 UTC 12.9K followers, 1348 engagements "@pinkmanuzz Sure but it can be unconscious and overt. There is the famous clip of James Lipton explaining to Spielberg that "Close Encounters" is about his parent's divorce and Spielberg only realising in that moment how thunderingly obvious it is - despite having made the film"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1948322886374047816) 2025-07-24 10:02:28 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements "Just watched Materialists and people were angry over this It feels like what Id expect the director of Past Lives to make as a starrier follow-up. Were people expecting Wedding Crashers I liked it. Its charming and moving - but with just a little edge to it"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947772065148182786) 2025-07-22 21:33:42 UTC 12.9K followers, 8315 engagements "Rewatching The Batman for reasons and goodness the level of craft on display in this superhero blockbuster is stunning. Im always amazed by how quickly how cleanly and how confidently the movie establishes itself as a piece of top-shelf filmmaking"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1948121063646236771) 2025-07-23 20:40:30 UTC 12.9K followers, 29.5K engagements "Fandom warriors are going to wage their fan wars but its a reasonable observation that Gunns Superman didnt perform better than Man of Steel and that even Man of Steel didnt perform well enough. Neither was a cultural/commercial smash like Superman should be"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1944452336291820004) 2025-07-13 17:42:17 UTC 12.9K followers, 2344 engagements "There is a very credible argument for this as the best movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1947039372039057528) 2025-07-20 21:02:15 UTC 12.9K followers, 78.6K engagements "Honestly one of the more pleasant surprises of the film for me. Theres also a fair amount of Arrival in there too"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1948499711758872838) 2025-07-24 21:45:07 UTC 12.9K followers, 21K engagements "The Roald Dahl books while hugely culturally important did not have the single-minded and rapidly-moving machinery of several international conglomerates working behind them to craft movies theme parks and online spaces to turn them into an augmented reality - or a lifestyle"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1946625129510776892) 2025-07-19 17:36:12 UTC 12.9K followers, 1.8M engagements "@pinkmanuzz I also for example didn't realise the historical and cultural signicance of setting the opening sequence of "Oldboy" in 1988 until I started reading a little bit about South Korean history. It's good to be curious about such things"  [@Darren_Mooney](/creator/x/Darren_Mooney) on [X](/post/tweet/1948318323852066896) 2025-07-24 09:44:21 UTC 12.9K followers, XX engagements
[GUEST ACCESS MODE: Data is scrambled or limited to provide examples. Make requests using your API key to unlock full data. Check https://lunarcrush.ai/auth for authentication information.]
@Darren_Mooney
"@cineviewflix I think Winter Soldier is about fine. But it is a sharp slope downhill from there"
@Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-22 22:21:13 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements
"Central to All-Star Superman is the question of Have I done enough And the answer is No. But you did the best you could. Thats all that anyone can hope to do. As Morrison put it themselves Its not Hope Comics its Action Comics" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-21 13:58:53 UTC 12.9K followers, 47.4K engagements
"The Donner Cut of Superman II is a minor miracle" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-22 22:35:38 UTC 12.9K followers, 654K engagements
"As somebody who lives the idea of the American superhero as a mediated figure I really loved the closing credits of Thunderbolts*. Not the post-credits scenes but the actual credits themselves about the construction of a mythology around these characters" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-16 14:11:31 UTC 12.9K followers, 15.6K engagements
"Been thinking a lot about All-Star Superman recently and how so much of what people get from it misses what it is. Essential to what it does is the idea of it being an ending. Superman is given roughly a week to live and his response is to wonder whether he has done enough" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-21 13:51:05 UTC 12.9K followers, 873.3K engagements
"@rhartman @Calypso_Benthos I mean Dark Knight Returns was a hugely inventive comic in terms of style and form not just in terms of content. And it is very obviously in conversation with say the Adam West Batman television show as much - if not more - than any actual Batman comic" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-20 18:14:26 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements
"As a non-American whose mentions were flooded by Americans over the past couple of weeks lecturing me on how (a.) Superman isnt quintessentially American (false) but (b.) cynicism of American foreign policy translates to a hatred of American pop culture (false) this irks me" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-22 08:29:15 UTC 12.9K followers, 2357 engagements
"Unfortunately #Superman is Gunns worst theatrically released film - and to be honest maybe his worst directorial effort at all - by a considerable margin. A mess of a movie that seems like its been taken apart and stitched back together so often its lost in its own head" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-08 20:28:26 UTC 12.9K followers, 594.4K engagements
"@Imravnos @MasterMastermnd Nah. When Pam Abdy and Mike DeLuca came in the first thing they did (wisely) was try to smooth things over with Nolan paying him what he was due for TENET and inviting him to use post-production facilities on the lot" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-23 09:00:57 UTC 12.9K followers, XX engagements
"@Deppwifebeater I do love that people think David Zaslav the man who cancelled Ta-Nehisi Coates Superman because it was woke and binned a finished Batgirl movie because he feared it would damage the brand was all-in on Barbie from day one and not riding a wave of happy coincidences" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-23 13:10:30 UTC 12.9K followers, 119.7K engagements
"Goodness remember when things were allowed to end" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-20 09:53:46 UTC 12.9K followers, 851.1K engagements
"@Zelkiiro Well now just ones as that achieve a base level of popularity comparable to Roald Dahl. So the books have to be successful. But if the books are that successful in say the fifties this doesnt happen. (Just ask Disney about their Narnia franchise.)" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-19 18:32:33 UTC 12.9K followers, 21.4K engagements
"Interesting that a lot of fans of James Gunn's "Superman" don't see that he's very overtly doing "the descent of Christ into Hades" in the three days between Superman turning himself into the authorities and his triumphant return to Metropolis. There's even a Charon and a Styx" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-24 08:40:14 UTC 12.9K followers, 21.9K engagements
"I had such a great time with #TheNakedGun. It manages to be true to the spirit and tone of the originals while also in conversation with modern pop culture from End of Watch to Fallout. A delight one of the very best of the summer. I have the stupidest grin on my face" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-24 21:07:57 UTC 12.9K followers, 24.9K engagements
"It is a little funny that shared universe shenanigans mean that even on a parallel Earth #FantasticFour has to treat Mole Man as somehow an amalgam of Mole Man Namor and Doom. That said I loved Mole Man in Fantastic Four. Paul Walter Hauser is really great" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-22 12:14:38 UTC 12.9K followers, 8723 engagements
"It is so wild to me that Hollywood hasnt looked at the success of Christopher Nolan and been like We should be trying to produce like ten of these sort of filmmaker" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-17 16:12:05 UTC 12.9K followers, 41.2K engagements
"All-Star Superman is a mirror to The Dark Knight Returns a story that was (originally) designed to function as the last Batman story. But its often reduced to shallow aesthetics. Superman and Lois has a better read on All-Star Superman than James Gunns Superman" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-21 13:54:41 UTC 12.9K followers, 50.1K engagements
"@c0dy_allen Hickman is the big one. Hickman is hands-down the best Fantastic Four run. Then chase Avengers into Secret Wars. Outside of that I like Fractions FF but it becomes a bit undone in the home stretch after Fraction leaves. The Waid and Wierengo run is also a good shout" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-25 05:08:44 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements
"Yep the Vader stuff is the worst stuff about that movie and the most indicative of where the franchise and the culture was going" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-15 11:18:50 UTC 12.9K followers, 8060 engagements
"There is be a thesis to be written on the autocannibalism of pop culture. The evolution of pop culture from new things based on old things (Star Wars) to new takes on old things (Tim Burtons Batman) to new versions of old things that look just like the old things" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-15 14:09:45 UTC 12.9K followers, 3.3M engagements
"Coming to release Warners scheduled press screenings of Barbie against with press screenings of Oppenheimer trying to force critics to have to choose the more commercial picture over Nolans film. They were also at the time holding residuals they owed Nolan for TENET" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-23 07:28:00 UTC 12.9K followers, 291.3K engagements
"There was legitimate cause for concern about the health of these movies in 2022 when four of these movies earned over $750m. Theres a very real chance that the new Superman movie - a film based on the superhero - wont catch up to Venom: The Last Dance from last year" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-20 06:50:55 UTC 12.9K followers, 18K engagements
"If this is the case the genre really is in trouble. Lets say the film hits $500m which is a very fair estimate Id suggest. Highest grossing comic book film of 2024: $1.3bn Highest grossing comic book film of 2023: $846m Highest grossing comic book film of 2022: $955m" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-20 06:47:39 UTC 12.9K followers, 201.2K engagements
"It is honestly stunning how much better Universal is at this sort of thing than Warners (NOPE Nosferatu etc.) when this used to be Warners bread and butter" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-24 14:07:03 UTC 12.9K followers, 52.1K engagements
"@steve_shives Just in terms of craft it is so far ahead of so many contemporary blockbusters" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-23 20:42:54 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements
"Very telling that these are all director-driven projects that would have likely been carefully planned and prepared in advance rather than hastily re-made in post-production days before the film opened by executives frantically reacting to test screenings and social media" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-25 13:06:47 UTC 12.9K followers, 186K engagements
"Captain America: Brave New World came out less than six months ago and we have two Russo Brothers Avengers movies coming up" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-22 21:18:52 UTC 12.9K followers, 38.4K engagements
"I dont know if I expected a new take on Harry Potter. I dont know that its a text that supports a rich array of interpretations. But still. I imagine the money helps but how must it feel to know youre not being hired as an actor but a living themepark animatronic" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-15 14:12:17 UTC 12.9K followers, 100.6K engagements
"The best DC stuff - the truly iconic stuff from Watchmen to Dark Knight Returns to All-Star Superman - handily clears the best Marvel stuff because it realises that continuity is far less important than actually telling a good proper story" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-20 14:52:27 UTC 12.9K followers, 3M engagements
"@rhartman @Calypso_Benthos My line hasnt moved to be fair. In the original tweet I put Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns on a separate tier. And Ive just explained why that is. You asked me to list things not on that tier from both publishers and I did. And Ive explained why" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-20 18:17:00 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements
"#FantasticFour is fine and functional handily their best theatrical outing. It struggles with Johnny and Ben and could give its beats more room to breathe. But theres something endearingly Freudian in this superhero movie about babies docking rockets death and black holes" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-22 11:50:04 UTC 12.9K followers, 16.4K engagements
"Yep. The day of the week week on the life structure is one of the most interesting things about the film and while the film itself ostensibly didnt change too much removing the title cards retreats from that to something designed to feel more conventional" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-22 07:01:14 UTC 12.9K followers, 19.3K engagements
"Oh the Red Riding trilogy is on Netflix. Great stuff well worth a look if youve never seen them" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-20 19:15:21 UTC 12.9K followers, 3725 engagements
"The important thing to remember is that Warners put Barbie on the same weekend as Oppenheimer in the hopes that it would crush Nolans film at the box office to punish Nolan for daring to leave them. Warners built Barbie as a spite house like a jilted lover" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-23 07:24:43 UTC 12.9K followers, 6.4M engagements
"@pinkmanuzz Cool and that's okay. I didn't for example understand the trans readings of say "The Matrix" until I talked to people about it" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-24 09:41:42 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements
"During the Bush era and the Iraq War as Americans where serving freedom fries with freedom mayonnaise France was giving Clint Eastwood the Csar for Gran Torino while the Oscars refused to even nominate him. Captain America X did more than half its business overseas" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-22 08:22:54 UTC 12.9K followers, 39.9K engagements
"Yep. This is wild. Ive rated every previous theatrically released James Gunn film four stars or higher. I enjoyed My Adventures with Superman and Superman and Lois. I have a shelf of Superman comics. And goodness the amount of nonsense I got for disliking Superman" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-20 08:45:04 UTC 12.9K followers, 10.4K engagements
"@rhartman Off the top of my head Miller/Bendis/Brubaker Daredevil Morrison New X-Men Milligan/Allred X-Statix Hickman Fantastic Four Avengers X-Men Claremont X-Men Gerber Defenders Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. Brubaker Captain America Moore Miracleman" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-20 17:18:31 UTC 12.9K followers, 42.6K engagements
"@pinkmanuzz Anyway I wish you the best. Have a good day" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-24 09:58:22 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements
"@rhartman @Calypso_Benthos (Plus you know more broadly Reagans America eighties science-fiction media and so on. Theres a reason that book broke out into the popular consciousness in a way that say Millers Daredevil did not to get back to this not being an argument about personal preference.)" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-20 18:15:18 UTC 12.9K followers, XX engagements
"@pinkmanuzz It honestly seems like you're just not comfortable talking about this for personal reasons and that's okay. You don't see it and that's okay. But it doesn't mean it's not there. And your discomfort with it - while valid - doesn't mean it's unreasonable to talk about it" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-24 09:57:56 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements
"@rhartman This is my point. Marvel doesnt have any comparable apples and in this case apples are just things that are better. (I say that as somebody who also loves oranges but nothing Marvel has published is comparable to Watchmen or Dark Knight Returns.)" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-20 17:27:08 UTC 12.9K followers, 11.4K engagements
"One of my favourite little details is that Star Trek includes that distinctively lighting in part because NBC was owned by RCA a company that made colour television sets and so was encouraged to add colour where it could on otherwise grey sets" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-22 21:52:04 UTC 12.9K followers, 173K engagements
"I do love that he seems to be working his way through his own films. In The Nolan Variations a few years back he similarly sort-of positions Interstellar as his most underrated film and obviously that films reputation seems have undergone a substantial revision since" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-22 21:13:35 UTC 12.9K followers, 5065 engagements
"@rhartman Its not likes and its not shorter runs. Im not talking about personal preference Im talking about cultural impact. There is no Marvel run on the tier of Watchmen or The Dark Knight Returns. Its a simple statement fairly indisputable" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-20 18:00:44 UTC 12.9K followers, 1348 engagements
"@pinkmanuzz Sure but it can be unconscious and overt. There is the famous clip of James Lipton explaining to Spielberg that "Close Encounters" is about his parent's divorce and Spielberg only realising in that moment how thunderingly obvious it is - despite having made the film" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-24 10:02:28 UTC 12.9K followers, XXX engagements
"Just watched Materialists and people were angry over this It feels like what Id expect the director of Past Lives to make as a starrier follow-up. Were people expecting Wedding Crashers I liked it. Its charming and moving - but with just a little edge to it" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-22 21:33:42 UTC 12.9K followers, 8315 engagements
"Rewatching The Batman for reasons and goodness the level of craft on display in this superhero blockbuster is stunning. Im always amazed by how quickly how cleanly and how confidently the movie establishes itself as a piece of top-shelf filmmaking" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-23 20:40:30 UTC 12.9K followers, 29.5K engagements
"Fandom warriors are going to wage their fan wars but its a reasonable observation that Gunns Superman didnt perform better than Man of Steel and that even Man of Steel didnt perform well enough. Neither was a cultural/commercial smash like Superman should be" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-13 17:42:17 UTC 12.9K followers, 2344 engagements
"There is a very credible argument for this as the best movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-20 21:02:15 UTC 12.9K followers, 78.6K engagements
"Honestly one of the more pleasant surprises of the film for me. Theres also a fair amount of Arrival in there too" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-24 21:45:07 UTC 12.9K followers, 21K engagements
"The Roald Dahl books while hugely culturally important did not have the single-minded and rapidly-moving machinery of several international conglomerates working behind them to craft movies theme parks and online spaces to turn them into an augmented reality - or a lifestyle" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-19 17:36:12 UTC 12.9K followers, 1.8M engagements
"@pinkmanuzz I also for example didn't realise the historical and cultural signicance of setting the opening sequence of "Oldboy" in 1988 until I started reading a little bit about South Korean history. It's good to be curious about such things" @Darren_Mooney on X 2025-07-24 09:44:21 UTC 12.9K followers, XX engagements