EDITORIAL: An Open Letter To El Mayimbe Of Latino-Review

A brief discussion of the successes and failures of Umberto "El Mayimbe" Gonzalez, as it mostly pertains to comic book movie news we can't get enough of.

By Ignition - Nov 17, 2013 04:11 PM EST

Filed Under: Other

Umberto “El Mayimbe” Gonzalez (@elmayimbe):

You’re a controversial figure to some fanboys. The editors or news-compilers here take your scoops seriously and post them regularly. The trades cite your scoops when they pan out and you have the trust of most of the well-known film blogs. Let's keep score a little bit. Here’s a list of your recent scoops, starting with the big one:

1. Bradley Cooper offered the Rocket Raccoon voice role – true.

2. Detroit and Morocco being scouted for Superman/Batman film – true/tbd. Detroit was confirmed, Morocco has not been officially mentioned.

3. Grant Gustin, Matt Barr, James Mackay up for Barry Allen/Flash TV role – true, though we haven’t heard about Barr/Mackay officially, you got the big one.

4. Michael B. Jordan and David Oyelowo went in for Star Wars meetings – true, Jordan admitted this himself and Oyelowo is in talks as one of the lead voice roles in an animated series.

5. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be a villain in the Avatar movies – denied by the studio.

6. Dominic Cooper circling Freddie Mercury biopic – remains to be seen.

7. Aaron Johnson officially cast as Quicksilver – true, though many could take credit for this one, in my opinion.

8. Ben Kingsley’s secret Marvel project will be a one-shot with the real Mandarin – remains to be seen, but denied by IM3 scribe Drew Pearce.

9. Dick Grayson/”young John Hawkes type” will be in the Superman/Batman film – seemingly true, backed by The Wrap.

Not bad. Not bad at all. You’ve gotten some wrong recently. You’ve gotten some wrong in the past. Like any journalist in this business knows, deals come and go, while ideas and desires change. And as the reputable Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter says, “There have been plenty of instances where agency and studio denials have proven false as parties try to keep a lid on plot details or sensitive negotiations.” Despite backing from the trades and blogs, many vocal people here on comicbookmovie.com and superherohype.com insist on calling your work a sham, that nothing you say is true, that you’re too stupid to know when your source is feeding you bullshit or that you’re a broken clock that happens to be right twice a day. You and I both know that these some of these folks exhibit a lack of basic intelligence; this is an unfortunate shortcoming of many raised in the high-speed internet age. After your recent scoops, Heath Ledger as the Joker, Brandon Routh as Superman, you’d think these people would know by now you’re not pulling this stuff out of your ass. Your sources clearly exist. At the same time, you often don’t help your own cause. Here’s my advice to you.

Stop asking people to “retweet for yes” or to help you reach x amount of followers before dropping a scoop. I understand you want to generate some buzz before you drop the information. But it’s not a good look. No other online publication that I know of asks its readers to jump through these kinds of hoops before releasing information. If you are in the business of “hunting the big game” before your competitors, it seems to me like it is both your job and in your best interest to publish news when it’s ready to go, not after prodding from your audience.

Step outside of the fanboy news game more often. More stuff like the Dominic Cooper for Freddie Mercury, Oscar Isaac dropping the Pablo Escobar biopic (which wasn't you) and Cillian Murphy being cast in Transcendence. It will only boost your credibility.

As much as possible, avoid painting stories of “we know who ____ wants for _____” as really significant information so early. Chadwick Boseman is a popular name, so naturally Marvel would have him on a list for Black Panther. But it's a little misleading, because there are a lot of names on those lists when it’s so early in the game.

Lastly, don't let the trolls get to you. Don’t give them the attention they want. I realize that sounds hypocritical, coming from me and within this article, but I do mean it. Don’t respond to those who want to ignore the facts, randomly decide to feed you false information or don’t understand the business. Especially don’t call them out by name/e-mail on your Twitter page in an effort to “expose” them. It’s a no-win situation. I remember you said this yourself on the Schmoes Know Podcast, when Kristian Harloff asked how you deal with the bloodsuckers. It’s tempting, but don’t do it.

Some of us do appreciate getting the next nerd-worthy tidbits of news well before the trades report on them or the studios decide to disclose the information officially. I just think you can improve how you go about your business.

Thanks for reading and happy hunting.

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85 Comments

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DEVLIN712 - 11/17/2013, 4:24 PM

I got no problem with someone finding news before it breaks, I think us fans have taken things a bit too seriously. We're overreacting to <> stories because we care about them so much. Things like Wonder Woman, Nightwing and Quicksilver are characters we care about a lot.
Any sense that someone might be using our favourite characters just to troll us will get us aggravated/angry. So far he's been right in a lot of his finds, let's just all chill a bit

DEVLIN712 - 11/17/2013, 4:27 PM

But let's not worry, I don't think that EM is stupid enough to bullshit us
He knows what sort of shit storm will head his way if he lies to us

Ignition - 11/17/2013, 4:53 PM

I agree. Some of us get angry at studios, journalists, actors, bloggers, everyone. Patience, trust and/or objectivity come at a premium when dealing with these characters. Thanks for reading.

NovaCorpsFan - 11/17/2013, 5:19 PM

Weird... You only joined the site today and el mayimbe recently joined too...

Ignition - 11/17/2013, 5:28 PM

Part of the reason I wrote this here is because I noticed he joined/posted here recently.

Interestein - 11/17/2013, 5:31 PM

True or untrue, I enjoy a good scoop/rumour.
I loved the Planet Hulk and original Batman/Superman rumours because they were so much fun!
I LOVE speculation, that's a huge part of this type of community!

REALELMAYIMBE - 11/17/2013, 6:05 PM

IGNITION:

WOW! I'm deeply flattered by your article. Duly noted too! Thanks again!

darkjediknight - 11/17/2013, 6:09 PM

You forgot about Adam driver up for nightwing which was false

JoeMomma29 - 11/17/2013, 6:12 PM

Let the sarcastic comments begin!

REALELMAYIMBE - 11/17/2013, 6:13 PM

Thedarkjediknight

Adam Driver wasn't my story. All I broke was the character of Nightwing, but didn't mention a single name actor in my original piece.

Also, to The Wrap's defense, being the "frontrunner" for the role means the high up execs at the studio and the film's producers mean they like that specific actor for the role. Doesn't mean they get it though and most times they or their representation don't know either.

Hope this helps...

Fanmar16 - 11/17/2013, 6:14 PM

LR and this guy is shooting and shooting , and see if by chance something is right

JoeMomma29 - 11/17/2013, 6:15 PM

@ Cipher

Ignition - 11/17/2013, 6:16 PM

Thanks for reading Mayimbe. I think most of us do appreciate the rumors and scoops. I hope you take some of the advice seriously too.

Thedarkjediknight, the Adam Driver story is Jeff Sneider's scoop, from The Wrap.

darkjediknight - 11/17/2013, 6:21 PM

@ignition & @REALELMAYIMBE

Thanks for clarifying that, and sorry for the misunderstanding

REALELMAYIMBE - 11/17/2013, 6:22 PM

IGNITION

Trust me, I will. I joined here recently to hopefully put some of the negative stuff to rest and for the most part, the CBM community here has been receptive and positive. I believe there are more fans here on these forums than haters. I never going to make everyone happy and that is okay. With good comes bad.

:)

REALELMAYIMBE - 11/17/2013, 6:26 PM

Thedarkjediknight

All good!

SlaveMasterFlexXx

He runs a video game site now called Arcade Sushi.

Eddpool - 11/17/2013, 6:51 PM

I appreciate the scoops. The cool kids part be killing me :)

revloveR - 11/17/2013, 6:54 PM

@ mayimbe, I'm not gonna front like i don't pay attention to your shit, because you've gotten some right and gotten some wrong, and that's more then most of us can say. if you really want to be the guy, you know the proverbial " hero we deserve just not the one we need right now" you need to stop being antagonistic towards the antagonists. you need to let them be if you want to be bigger then that. that's how you'll win the war.

feedonatreefrog - 11/17/2013, 7:02 PM

I just wish he would stop talking in caps. He comes across as an overgrown child.

kalisto2010 - 11/17/2013, 7:03 PM

It's apparent that the only people who question El are the younger Film geeks who haven't followed him as long the tenured Film geeks. I've been following film news religiously for the past decade and EL has by far been the most reliable movie scooper I've come across. People who only focus on what scoops that don't pan out are being unrealistic, no one is 100% right in the days of perpetual recasting and script rewrites.

cmmprime - 11/17/2013, 7:04 PM

I have a tendency to completely ignore anyone who's avatar is a d-bag selfie w/ shades.

113 - 11/17/2013, 7:13 PM

El Mayimbe definitely has sources and is more often right than not. I trust his scoops. But like every scoop, it has to be taken with a grain of salt because anything can change in Hollywood on a dime.

MalteseFalcon - 11/17/2013, 7:26 PM

THIS SHIT IS GAY…YOU REALLY MADE A WHOLE EDITORIAL FOR ANOTHER GUY? YOU HAVE TO MUCH TIME ON YOUR HAND YOU LAZY SLOB STOP JERKING OFF TO EL [frick] IT I'M NOT GOING TO FINISH IT LOSER!

NoAssemblyReqd - 11/17/2013, 7:30 PM

From the Unnecessary Open Letters Department...

Dusk - 11/17/2013, 7:51 PM

[frick] you El Maybe. [frick] you for being a [frick]in bigot. I call you out on Twitter and you want to call me a [frick]in redneck etc. Thats a reall professional way to handle things you [frick]in prick. I may call you on your bullshit, and be pissed off doing it, but as a "professional news reporter" you should learn how to conduct your [frick]in self. Go [frick] yourself

Dusk - 11/17/2013, 7:53 PM

You wanna act like a [frick]in douche and then say BLOCKED. [frick]in tool

Dusk - 11/17/2013, 7:59 PM

I hate [frick]in dirtbags

airbeyonder18 - 11/17/2013, 8:16 PM

I honestly don't believe anything El Maybe says. I rather stick to what the official studios say than the unofficial fan boy.

BlackPhillip - 11/17/2013, 8:17 PM

"I call you out on Twitter and you want to call me a [frick]in redneck etc."

You should have called him an orange pusher.

JredTheRed - 11/17/2013, 8:18 PM

yes he does get alot of stuff right, and i think u r right with the advice to not ask for something in return for scoops. the planet hulk story was massively disappointing when i sat at my computer for hrs ignoring my family to hear the big scoop only to find out later down the road that this will not happen. plz if u have a big scoop/rumor just write an article and beat everyone else to it. it would save u alot of unnecessary hate.

airbeyonder18 - 11/17/2013, 8:20 PM

Nothing personal REALMAYBE, I just rather hear it from THEM..

1 2 3

EDITORIAL: An Open Letter To El Mayimbe Of Latino-Review

A brief discussion of the successes and failures of Umberto "El Mayimbe" Gonzalez, as it mostly pertains to comic book movie news we can't get enough of.

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