Tag: marvel movies

Avengers: Age of Ultron – Battling Your Negative Notions NOW

Jul. 21 News, TV & Movies no comments

Just hours after DC Comics officially announced the Batman-Superman movie, Marvel fired back with Avengers: Age of Ultron. I have already heard some of the criticism, and am preparing myself to hear even more. Before we go jumping down Marvel’s throat about Avengers: Age of Ultron, there are some issues we need to consider. Lets take a look at some of the potential arguments.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Age of Utron is Too New

Where is there a rule written which states that Marvel has to incorporate older stories into the movies? Yes, Loki was the first villain in the Avengers comics, and the first villain in the movies, but that does not mean that Marvel has to follow suit with the next storyline in the comics. While the Space Phantom story from Avengers #2 would be an interesting story to tell, Age of Ultron is a much stronger story.

But, We Don’t Have a Full Enough Cast for Avengers: Age of Ultron

How long should Marvel wait to make Avengers: Age of Ultron? The X-Men, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four are all movie properties owned by other companies. If Marvel were to wait to make this movie to ensure all of the players from the comic are involved, Avengers: Age of Ultron might not be made for a decade, if at all.

Also, as Marvel has proven with the Phase 1 movies, they do not have to follow the comics exactly (or barely even loosely) to make blockbusters. The Avengers was one of the top grossing movies of all time. They can pull this movie off without Wolverine, Spider-Man, or Reed.

But, What About Hank Pym?

Here is a bit of an odd one. If Hank Pym is going to be the creator of Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron, it means he will be launched in the Marvel cinematic universe before his own movie. Avengers: Age of Ultron is slated for May of 2015, and Ant-Man is slated for November 2015. There is nothing wrong with introducing him in an Avengers movie before his own. In fact, this will help to introduce him to a wider audience before he has his own movie. Please have Wasp, Marvel. Please have Wasp.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Alienates Older Fans

How can anyone say Avengers: Age of Ultron alienates older fans? None of the Marvel movies have followed the original comics exactly. If anything, they have followed the Ultimate Universe closer. Each movie has had enough shout outs to the way “things used to be” to keep older fans and collectors happy. None of the Marvel movies in Phase 1 were flops, and Avengers: Age of Ultron is sure to follow the same formulas used thus far.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is Only to Sell the Newer Comics

The hell it is. The main goals of Avengers: Age of Ultron would be to continue the Marvel/Disney dominance of the comic-book based media market, continue the superhero movie legacy Marvel has created, and to make the other comic book publishing companies stand further back in line. Selling comics is an impact, but not necessarily a goal of the movie franchises Marvel is running with right now in much the same way that selling toys and other merchandise is an impact. Yes, this announcement will get more people in the stores picking up Age of Ultron – but that is not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is to keep Marvel on top of the comic book industry for many years to come.

What Impact Will This Have on the Marvel Cinematic Universe Timeline?

Who says that there has to be enough time travel in Avengers: Age of Ultron to disrupt the space-time continuum? Marvel might even know a way to pull off the story without having time travel at all. The movie title might simply be a way to indicate that the Avengers will be battling Ultron. We will not have any clue as to how this will all play out until closer to the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron, or we might have to wait until the first movie or two passes after the next Avengers movie. Only time, and Marvel, will tell.

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Potential Issues with a Black Panther Movie

May. 06 TV & Movies Comments Off on Potential Issues with a Black Panther Movie

Rumors have circulated about a Black Panther movie for years. In fact, I remember sitting in sophomore literature class in 1990 and hearing friends talk about how a magazine had hinted Marvel looking at options for a Black Panther movie. Here we are 23 years later still talking about the opportunity the House of Ideas has with the character. There are, though, distinct disadvantages to creating the movie.

I am hoping for a Black Panther movie

I am hoping for a Black Panther movie

Wakanda

Being that T’Challa comes from a mythological land on “our” planet, people might have an issue relating. People can understand how they might not be able to relate to Asgard or Krypton because they are off in “yonder” and not of our world. People would have a more difficult time relating to a land which has religion and traditions which we would relate to a third world country but the technology or a country advanced ahead of the United States. This relation gap would have to be dealt with in a Black Panther movie.

Dryness

One of the issues with a potential Black Panther movie is the same type of issue Marvel will face with a potential Doctor Strange movie. Both characters are dry when compared with the witty superheroes we are used to in the movies. If Marvel makes T’Challa as witty as say, Iron Man, old fans will become upset with the commercialization of the character. If Marvel does not make the character witty enough, fans who do not know the character from comics will be disappointed.

Hate to Say It

I hate to say it, but one of the issues with a Black Panther movie will be that people who are alien to comics will believe the character has a movie because he is Black. The trendy people who go to the latest superhero movie and have never stepped into a comic book store will discount the history (which they don’t know) of the character and gain a preconception that the Black Panther has a movie because of the color of his skin and not the content of his character. This would be the greatest disconnect fans could have with a Black Panther movie, but you know it will happen.

Personally, I hope to see a Black Panther movie in the future. He is one of the most underrated superheroes in the Marvel roster and he needs to be more at the front than he is. Hopefully, Marvel can overcome these obstacles and give us the movie we deserve.

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Hulk Rumors: I Don’t Want Another Hulk Movie…Ever

Mar. 07 TV & Movies no comments

If you are hoping for another Hulk movie, today is a bad day for you. Bleeding Cool is reporting that Mark Ruffalo has tweeted that fans should not expect to see him as the Hulk again until “Avengers 2.” Rumors have floated around for weeks about a potential Planet Hulk or World War Hulk movie.  I am happy those Hulk rumors are being put to rest because I don’t want another Hulk movie.

The Hulk

The Hulk

Finding the Balance

Quite frankly, I don’t think there should ever be another Hulk movie because it is almost impossible to make a strong movie around the character. To do so, the creators of a Hulk movie have to find a perfect balance between showing the Hulk and Dr. Banner. The original TV show found a successful timing formula in only showing Ol’ Greenie for about ten minutes an episode. With the Marvel movie market, that would equate to about 25 minutes of the Hulk in a two hour movie. Fans would not go for it.

The Boredom Factor of a Hulk Movie

In “The Avengers,” Whedon found a great 50/50 balance for the Hulk and Banner, but that might be too much smashing over two hours of his own movie. Even though I am a fan of the Hulk, I found myself bored during the first two modern-day attempts at a Hulk movie because you can only watch a creature smash stuff for so long before you want to walk away. That is probably why the levels were so short in the Rampage arcade game. I paid money to be bored by too much smashing and I am not about to do it again.

Supporting Characters

The Hulk is better as a supporting character in “The Avengers 2” or in another Marvel movie. Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man can all headline their own movies but would you really want to see a Black Widow movie? Ok, I would as long as Marvel broke their own rules and gave us a Scarlett Johansson nude scene – but that ain’t gonna happen. Hawkeye could have a decent movie but Marvel movie creators don’t apparently care about the character since they have refused to develop him so far. I digress.

The Hulk is a strong secondary character to bring out when major muscle is needed. Remember, the original show “The Incredible Hulk” was more of an exploration into the Banner character than the Hulk. Leave it that way. Let Ruffalo continue to be play the supporting character everyone is going to talk about. Too bad, though, that we won’t see him until “The Avengers 2.” He would have had great cameo potential. Just please, Marvel, don’t make any of us ever sit through another Hulk movie again.

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When Should Marvel Phase 4 Movies Be Announced?

Mar. 05 TV & Movies no comments

 

Marvel Phase 2 movies will kick-off with “Iron Man 3” and we already know Phase 3 will at least be populated with movies about Doctor Strange and Ant-Man. With the success of the Marvel Phase 1 movies, it makes sense to plan as far ahead as possible. When, though, should be begin talking about Phase 4?

 

Phase 3 Timing

 

Note, the first official announcement about the Phase 3 movies began in the months leading up to the beginning of Phase 2. Within the last handful of weeks, we finally received the confirmation about “Ant-Man” and “Doctor Strange.” While rumors have circulated about these projects for years, the official word was held closer to the beginning of Phase 2.

 

Phase 4 Announcement

 

I do not believe we should hear anything official about Phase 4 until we are about to begin Phase 3. Marvel should hold with the tradition and keep people guessing for as long as possible. The timing was perfect with the Marvel Phase 3 announcements, and should carry over.

 

The One Kicker

 

If Marvel makes an official announcement on any movie, and cannot deliver on time, they are going to have to rethink their announcement schedule. So far they are spot-on, but they have to make sure all of their ducks are in a row. Fans (especially comic book fans) rarely forget mistakes and can hold them against a company for a very long time.

 

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Concerns About the Ant-Man Movie

Feb. 19 TV & Movies Comments Off on Concerns About the Ant-Man Movie

There are certain issues I find myself having about the upcoming Ant-Man movie which I hope Marvel addresses at some point. While I am not expecting the movie to do as well as the Marvel Phase 1 movies, I hope Marvel is able to address these particular concerns to ensure the movie’s success.

Are you awaiting the Ant-Man movie?

Are you awaiting the Ant-Man movie?

Popularity

Marvel did a good job in including Hank Pym as Ant-Man in “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes,” but they have not done a bang-up job of keeping him as important in the Marvel Universe as possible. As of this writing, we are a few months into Marvel NOW, and Ant-Man has yet to make an impact. If Marvel wants current readers to get excited about “Ant-Man” the movie, the company needs to give at least morsels to get the reader’s mouths to water.

The Average Person

While comic book reader would love to admit that “we” did it, the Marvel movies did not become the blockbusters they are without the help of the people who would not be caught dead in a comic book store. Those people want movies created about characters they have at least heard of. We will have to wait for the premiere of “Guardians of the Galaxy” to know how much of an impact a non-headlining character can make at the box office. Of course, you might make the argument that the Green Lantern was not a top headliner, but at least he was a known name.

Wasp

Whatever Marvel decides to do with Janet van Dyne, there will be fans which will be angry. Some Ant-Man fans will argue that they would want to see the version of Hank who is in love with Wasp and argue that the two deserve to be together onscreen. Other fans are going to hope Janet’s death will be in the past in the movie and Hank has to struggle with getting by without her. Janet will be a touchy issue with many fans, and we will have to wait until Marvel makes an official announcement about the character.

Various Names

What is going to happen if Hank grows to a larger size in the movie? Is he going to change his name to Goliath or Giant-Man? Pym has had more character names over the years than Lady Gaga has oddly-shaped bras. Will this be addressed in the movie? Couldn’t changing names confuse viewers who were not familiar with the character before entering the theater? This is an important aspect in Pym’s overall personality and Marvel needs to figure out what to do soon.

“Ant-Man” is a long way off and Marvel has time to make adjustments here and there to the movie and the comic book market. As a Pyn fan, I hope the movie does him justice.

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