Darren Mooney
@darrenmooney.bsky.social
As seen/read/heard at: Second Wind | The 250 | Irish Independent | NewsTalk | Q102 | Polygon | The Escapist. He/Him.
There needs to be real accountability in Hollywood.
Studios can’t keep writing blank cheques for these arthouse auteurs like Shawn Levy to make their personal passion projects that audiences don’t want to see.
We need to be more careful about the movies we greenlight.
Studios can’t keep writing blank cheques for these arthouse auteurs like Shawn Levy to make their personal passion projects that audiences don’t want to see.
We need to be more careful about the movies we greenlight.
November 30, 2025 at 8:46 PM
There needs to be real accountability in Hollywood.
Studios can’t keep writing blank cheques for these arthouse auteurs like Shawn Levy to make their personal passion projects that audiences don’t want to see.
We need to be more careful about the movies we greenlight.
Studios can’t keep writing blank cheques for these arthouse auteurs like Shawn Levy to make their personal passion projects that audiences don’t want to see.
We need to be more careful about the movies we greenlight.
I like that one of the big thesis statements of Ewing’s “X-Men” work is about conflict and reconciliation.
A comic largely set in a martial combat-driven society, Ewing’s “X-Men” is in large part about accepting one's self.
Neatly mirroring his “Immortal Hulk.”
(Resurrection of Magneto #3.)
A comic largely set in a martial combat-driven society, Ewing’s “X-Men” is in large part about accepting one's self.
Neatly mirroring his “Immortal Hulk.”
(Resurrection of Magneto #3.)
November 30, 2025 at 12:27 PM
I like that one of the big thesis statements of Ewing’s “X-Men” work is about conflict and reconciliation.
A comic largely set in a martial combat-driven society, Ewing’s “X-Men” is in large part about accepting one's self.
Neatly mirroring his “Immortal Hulk.”
(Resurrection of Magneto #3.)
A comic largely set in a martial combat-driven society, Ewing’s “X-Men” is in large part about accepting one's self.
Neatly mirroring his “Immortal Hulk.”
(Resurrection of Magneto #3.)
Magneto, a Holocaust survivor, taking a monument of the immeasurable dead and fashioning it into a weapon.
I do wonder if maybe (just maybe) there is some subtle (very subtle) subtext here.
(Resurrection of Magneto #2.)
I do wonder if maybe (just maybe) there is some subtle (very subtle) subtext here.
(Resurrection of Magneto #2.)
November 30, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Magneto, a Holocaust survivor, taking a monument of the immeasurable dead and fashioning it into a weapon.
I do wonder if maybe (just maybe) there is some subtle (very subtle) subtext here.
(Resurrection of Magneto #2.)
I do wonder if maybe (just maybe) there is some subtle (very subtle) subtext here.
(Resurrection of Magneto #2.)
And, at the end of the Krakoan era, Ewing returns to one of the central anxieties of the period, the fear that the consolidating that sort of power is inherently corrupting - that one cannot wield such power without being in some way compromised by it.
(X-Men Red #13.)
(X-Men Red #13.)
November 30, 2025 at 12:25 PM
And, at the end of the Krakoan era, Ewing returns to one of the central anxieties of the period, the fear that the consolidating that sort of power is inherently corrupting - that one cannot wield such power without being in some way compromised by it.
(X-Men Red #13.)
(X-Men Red #13.)
At the end of Krakoa, Ewing returns to one of Hickman’s big thematic ideas of the era.
Separation.
Krakoa and Arrako. Apocalyptic and Genesis. Erik and Charles. Mars and Earth. Mutants and humans.
Broken, fragmented worlds.
(Heralds of Apocalypse #1.)
Separation.
Krakoa and Arrako. Apocalyptic and Genesis. Erik and Charles. Mars and Earth. Mutants and humans.
Broken, fragmented worlds.
(Heralds of Apocalypse #1.)
November 30, 2025 at 12:24 PM
At the end of Krakoa, Ewing returns to one of Hickman’s big thematic ideas of the era.
Separation.
Krakoa and Arrako. Apocalyptic and Genesis. Erik and Charles. Mars and Earth. Mutants and humans.
Broken, fragmented worlds.
(Heralds of Apocalypse #1.)
Separation.
Krakoa and Arrako. Apocalyptic and Genesis. Erik and Charles. Mars and Earth. Mutants and humans.
Broken, fragmented worlds.
(Heralds of Apocalypse #1.)
I like the thematic bookend of Ewing’s “X-Men” saga by returning to the destruction of Arrako by Amenth, obviously paralleling the fate of Krakoa.
The idea that paradise exists only to be torn asunder, that it is the nature of utopia to collapse.
(Heralds of Apocalypse #1.)
The idea that paradise exists only to be torn asunder, that it is the nature of utopia to collapse.
(Heralds of Apocalypse #1.)
November 30, 2025 at 12:24 PM
I like the thematic bookend of Ewing’s “X-Men” saga by returning to the destruction of Arrako by Amenth, obviously paralleling the fate of Krakoa.
The idea that paradise exists only to be torn asunder, that it is the nature of utopia to collapse.
(Heralds of Apocalypse #1.)
The idea that paradise exists only to be torn asunder, that it is the nature of utopia to collapse.
(Heralds of Apocalypse #1.)
It’s just really good, unshowy structural stuff from Gillen, Ewing and Spurrier, which feels like it is a logical extension of what Hickman was doing with “House of x” and “Powers of X.”
Narratives that can fit together in different ways to create new context.
(StaB #1.)
Narratives that can fit together in different ways to create new context.
(StaB #1.)
November 30, 2025 at 12:24 PM
It’s just really good, unshowy structural stuff from Gillen, Ewing and Spurrier, which feels like it is a logical extension of what Hickman was doing with “House of x” and “Powers of X.”
Narratives that can fit together in different ways to create new context.
(StaB #1.)
Narratives that can fit together in different ways to create new context.
(StaB #1.)
You can read Ewing’s tie-in issues to “Judgment Day” in the context of the event, and they work in the themes and narrative of the big event.
But you can read them in the omnibus and they’re just part of the ongoing narrative of “X-Men: Red.”
That’s very deft.
(X-Men: Red #7.)
But you can read them in the omnibus and they’re just part of the ongoing narrative of “X-Men: Red.”
That’s very deft.
(X-Men: Red #7.)
November 30, 2025 at 12:23 PM
You can read Ewing’s tie-in issues to “Judgment Day” in the context of the event, and they work in the themes and narrative of the big event.
But you can read them in the omnibus and they’re just part of the ongoing narrative of “X-Men: Red.”
That’s very deft.
(X-Men: Red #7.)
But you can read them in the omnibus and they’re just part of the ongoing narrative of “X-Men: Red.”
That’s very deft.
(X-Men: Red #7.)
On a technical level, it is remarkable writing of these monthly comics, where each issue is not only its own thing, but also has to fit both the narrative of the crossover and the narrative of the series.
So it can be read in either context and make sense.
(X-Men: Red #6.)
So it can be read in either context and make sense.
(X-Men: Red #6.)
November 30, 2025 at 12:23 PM
On a technical level, it is remarkable writing of these monthly comics, where each issue is not only its own thing, but also has to fit both the narrative of the crossover and the narrative of the series.
So it can be read in either context and make sense.
(X-Men: Red #6.)
So it can be read in either context and make sense.
(X-Men: Red #6.)
The "X-Men by Al Ewing" Omnibus bounces from "King in Black" to "The Last Annihilation" to "the Hellfire Gala" to "Judgment Day" to "Sins of Sinister" to "Fall of X."
That should just continually kill the book's momentum. But, somehow it does not.
(S.W.O.R.D. #3.)
That should just continually kill the book's momentum. But, somehow it does not.
(S.W.O.R.D. #3.)
November 30, 2025 at 12:22 PM
The "X-Men by Al Ewing" Omnibus bounces from "King in Black" to "The Last Annihilation" to "the Hellfire Gala" to "Judgment Day" to "Sins of Sinister" to "Fall of X."
That should just continually kill the book's momentum. But, somehow it does not.
(S.W.O.R.D. #3.)
That should just continually kill the book's momentum. But, somehow it does not.
(S.W.O.R.D. #3.)
On paper, it is everything that is wrong with modern comics, and in the hands of a lesser writer would turn the book into a collection of strange narrative zigs and zags.
“This happened” and then “this happened”, bouncing from one massive crossover event to the next.
(X-Men: Red #5.)
“This happened” and then “this happened”, bouncing from one massive crossover event to the next.
(X-Men: Red #5.)
November 30, 2025 at 12:20 PM
On paper, it is everything that is wrong with modern comics, and in the hands of a lesser writer would turn the book into a collection of strange narrative zigs and zags.
“This happened” and then “this happened”, bouncing from one massive crossover event to the next.
(X-Men: Red #5.)
“This happened” and then “this happened”, bouncing from one massive crossover event to the next.
(X-Men: Red #5.)
Reading the “X-Men by Al Ewing” Omnibus and I’m pleasantly surprised how well it flows.
So much of the book is crossovers - “The King in Black” to “The Last Annihilation” to “The Hellfire Gala” to “Judgment Day” to “Sins of Sinister.”
(Storm and the Brotherhood #1.)
So much of the book is crossovers - “The King in Black” to “The Last Annihilation” to “The Hellfire Gala” to “Judgment Day” to “Sins of Sinister.”
(Storm and the Brotherhood #1.)
November 30, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Reading the “X-Men by Al Ewing” Omnibus and I’m pleasantly surprised how well it flows.
So much of the book is crossovers - “The King in Black” to “The Last Annihilation” to “The Hellfire Gala” to “Judgment Day” to “Sins of Sinister.”
(Storm and the Brotherhood #1.)
So much of the book is crossovers - “The King in Black” to “The Last Annihilation” to “The Hellfire Gala” to “Judgment Day” to “Sins of Sinister.”
(Storm and the Brotherhood #1.)
Having just finished the “X-Men by Al Ewing” Omnibus, picked up Gillen’s “Immortal X-Men” again.
I love that from the very first cover, the post-Hickman era of Krakoa is, textually, about a vacant leadership - actors clumsily scrambling to control an unravelling narrative.
(Immortal X-Men #1.)
I love that from the very first cover, the post-Hickman era of Krakoa is, textually, about a vacant leadership - actors clumsily scrambling to control an unravelling narrative.
(Immortal X-Men #1.)
November 30, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Having just finished the “X-Men by Al Ewing” Omnibus, picked up Gillen’s “Immortal X-Men” again.
I love that from the very first cover, the post-Hickman era of Krakoa is, textually, about a vacant leadership - actors clumsily scrambling to control an unravelling narrative.
(Immortal X-Men #1.)
I love that from the very first cover, the post-Hickman era of Krakoa is, textually, about a vacant leadership - actors clumsily scrambling to control an unravelling narrative.
(Immortal X-Men #1.)
And, finally, "Christy" is... fine.
It a solid execution of a really compelling true story that demonstrates Sidney Sweeney has good creative impulses but also maybe the limits of her abilities.
Chad L. Coleman's Don King steals the show.
It a solid execution of a really compelling true story that demonstrates Sidney Sweeney has good creative impulses but also maybe the limits of her abilities.
Chad L. Coleman's Don King steals the show.
November 28, 2025 at 12:35 PM
And, finally, "Christy" is... fine.
It a solid execution of a really compelling true story that demonstrates Sidney Sweeney has good creative impulses but also maybe the limits of her abilities.
Chad L. Coleman's Don King steals the show.
It a solid execution of a really compelling true story that demonstrates Sidney Sweeney has good creative impulses but also maybe the limits of her abilities.
Chad L. Coleman's Don King steals the show.
I also was really charmed by "Pillion", which does a wonderful job of being both graphic and sweet in its depiction of a submissive relationship between a shy boy and a biker.
Two great lead performances from Melling and Skarsgård, with surprising gentleness and tenderness.
Two great lead performances from Melling and Skarsgård, with surprising gentleness and tenderness.
November 28, 2025 at 12:34 PM
I also was really charmed by "Pillion", which does a wonderful job of being both graphic and sweet in its depiction of a submissive relationship between a shy boy and a biker.
Two great lead performances from Melling and Skarsgård, with surprising gentleness and tenderness.
Two great lead performances from Melling and Skarsgård, with surprising gentleness and tenderness.
I also had a lovely time with David Freyne's "Eternity", a romantic comedy about a woman who is reunited with both of her husbands in the afterlife and has to decide how to spend eternity.
Very sweet, sincere and earnest with a wonderful central trio of Olsen, Teller and Turner.
Very sweet, sincere and earnest with a wonderful central trio of Olsen, Teller and Turner.
November 28, 2025 at 12:33 PM
I also had a lovely time with David Freyne's "Eternity", a romantic comedy about a woman who is reunited with both of her husbands in the afterlife and has to decide how to spend eternity.
Very sweet, sincere and earnest with a wonderful central trio of Olsen, Teller and Turner.
Very sweet, sincere and earnest with a wonderful central trio of Olsen, Teller and Turner.
If you raise a generation in a culture where a lot of contemporary politics is signalling that there's is no sense of obligation to others and where individuals rarely face accountability for their narcissism, what did you *think* was going to happen?
www.vox.com/life/470517/...
www.vox.com/life/470517/...
November 28, 2025 at 10:20 AM
If you raise a generation in a culture where a lot of contemporary politics is signalling that there's is no sense of obligation to others and where individuals rarely face accountability for their narcissism, what did you *think* was going to happen?
www.vox.com/life/470517/...
www.vox.com/life/470517/...
Thinking about how, between "One Battle After Another", "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" and "Die My Love", it's been a really interesting year for sensitive portrayals of complicated motherhood, and the often challenging emotions that a mother can feel towards her child.
November 27, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Thinking about how, between "One Battle After Another", "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" and "Die My Love", it's been a really interesting year for sensitive portrayals of complicated motherhood, and the often challenging emotions that a mother can feel towards her child.
Browsing iTunes and, well, you love to see it.
November 27, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Browsing iTunes and, well, you love to see it.
Had a very good time with David Freyne’s “Eternity.”
A charming, funny, sentimental, sincere good old-fashioned classical romantic melodrama, about how love is perhaps found in the kindness of attention and care as much as in epic sweeping narratives.
It is extremely “Darren” coded.
A charming, funny, sentimental, sincere good old-fashioned classical romantic melodrama, about how love is perhaps found in the kindness of attention and care as much as in epic sweeping narratives.
It is extremely “Darren” coded.
November 26, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Had a very good time with David Freyne’s “Eternity.”
A charming, funny, sentimental, sincere good old-fashioned classical romantic melodrama, about how love is perhaps found in the kindness of attention and care as much as in epic sweeping narratives.
It is extremely “Darren” coded.
A charming, funny, sentimental, sincere good old-fashioned classical romantic melodrama, about how love is perhaps found in the kindness of attention and care as much as in epic sweeping narratives.
It is extremely “Darren” coded.
November 26, 2025 at 10:26 PM
November 26, 2025 at 7:43 PM
This bad boy arrived today. Looking forward to Krakoa-ing into Al Ewing’s “X-Men.”
A reminder of one of the golden ages of the “X-Men” line, and that period as a place that gave room to individual creators to carve out their own little sagas.
A reminder of one of the golden ages of the “X-Men” line, and that period as a place that gave room to individual creators to carve out their own little sagas.
November 18, 2025 at 3:53 PM
This bad boy arrived today. Looking forward to Krakoa-ing into Al Ewing’s “X-Men.”
A reminder of one of the golden ages of the “X-Men” line, and that period as a place that gave room to individual creators to carve out their own little sagas.
A reminder of one of the golden ages of the “X-Men” line, and that period as a place that gave room to individual creators to carve out their own little sagas.
November 17, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Still marvelling at how Steven Moffat’s “Doctor Who” pulled the single best twist on the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in “A Christmas Carol.”
November 13, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Still marvelling at how Steven Moffat’s “Doctor Who” pulled the single best twist on the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in “A Christmas Carol.”