Marvel Comics in Film: What Might the Future Hold?

[Mathim]

For anyone who's into the whole superhero film scene (particularly the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that encompasses the Avengers continuity), I wanted some opinions on what you guys liked about the films, what you absolutely hated, what you'd have done differently, what your favorite parts were, etc.

But more importantly, I want your opinions (whether you guys swing one way or the other, or both) on who should portray certain heroes and heroines in future films, such as the X-Men movies, Spider-Man, anything from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) or reboots of other films that crapped out the first time (Ghost Rider, Fantastic Four). I'll get the ball rolling with a few names I'd like some opinions on in particular. On this list, who, in your opinion (and don't be afraid to give multiple answers) should play the following:

Henry 'Hank' Pym (Ant-Man)?

Janet Van Dyne (Wasp)?

Scott Lang (the second Ant-Man)?

Doctor Stephen Strange?

Wong, assistant to Doctor Strange?

Baron Mordo, enemy of Doctor Strange?

Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk)?

Carol Danvers (Miss Marvel)?

Feel free to throw out any other characters and who you think should play them. Looks are important, but don't forget to take acting ability (and accents where applicable) into account! I'm especially interested in who people believe should play Doctor Strange.

[WildCat]

I want a Squirrel Girl movie! Doom will quake in terror!

[Inkidu]

Well, you can count out any Spider-Man or Fantastic Four properties because those are still held by Sony and Fox respectively.

So:

I'd really go in for another Captain America movie. I love the Cap. :)

I'd like to see Dr. Strange or a Miss Marvel as new properties.

[Oniya]

Unfortunately, my choice for Dr. Strange has left us.  :'(  I can't think of anyone who would fit the bill better than the late Vincent Price.

[Inkidu]

Unfortunately, my choice for Dr. Strange has left us.  :'(  I can't think of anyone who would fit the bill better than the late Vincent Price.

Yeah... :(

I'd recommend Paul Blackthorn though (he played Harry Dresden in the short-lived TV adaptation).

[Moraline]

I'd like to see some of the smaller properties get made into movies. (or better yet a full season on like HBO)

Runaways - Nico Minoru, Karoline Dean, Molly Hayes, Chase Stein, Alex Wilder, Gertrude Yorkes, Old Lace, Victor Mancha, Xavin, and Klara Prase
Heroes for Hire (2006 edition) -  (I like this team because it's almost all female) - Colleen Wing, Misty Knight, the new Tarantula, Shang-Chi, Humbug, Orka, Black Cat and Paladin

[Mathim]

It just actually popped into my mind that possibly Mark Strong could play Dr. Strange if he got the right person to dye his hair just the right mix of grey and black. But from what I've heard, right after Avengers 2, the Phase 2 stage of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is over and Phase 3 begins with Ant-Man (directed by Edgar Wright, the man who brought us Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, and the upcoming The World's End which looks freaking awesome) and, according to the producers, Doctor Strange's own movie will follow that one. Rumor has it Doc Strange will make a cameo in Thor: The Dark World this November.

Captain America the Winter Soldier is in theaters next spring, so look forward to that, Cap fans. Hopefully the uniform looks a little less hokey next time. Don't know why they changed it so radically from CA:tFA to the Avengers.

I'll have to look up Paul Blackthorn, I've never heard of him but I'm curious to see if he's got the right look to play Doctor Strange. It should ideally be someone with a British style accent.

Heroes for Hire was something I definitely envisioned as a TV series on HBO, with the primary focus being on Iron Fist, Power Man (Luke Cage) and Shang-Chi, with cameos or recurring roles for the mentioned females and some of the other allies. Too bad it wouldn't work as feasibly in the same universe as the Marvel Cinematic continuity for it to be any good. I don't know much about the Runaways but with the number of people in the cast, it would probably also work much better as a series or miniseries on one of the networks that can swing a nice budget and give it the quality it deserves.

I'm a little concerned about the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy film. Not many comic book/Marvel fans really know anything about them and lots of popular actors have parts in it, and they've inflated it with tons of other characters as well like Nova; I just feel like it's a bad move to introduce something so radical with seemingly insufficient backstory, and gamble their growing budget on a property that doesn't have the same popularity or clout that other Marvel characters have.

Iron Man 3, I felt was pretty terribly disappointing and even Joss Whedon expressed concern about where to go from there (specifically getting Iron Man back into the Avengers for the sequel) so I'm kind of worried about future films as well. Not sure if the blame can be put down to the company now being owned by Disney or just the awful scripts that got greenlighted but whoever worked on that one should be blacklisted permanently. Let's cross our fingers that Thor 2, Cap 2 and Avengers 2 can raise the bar up from where IM3 lowered it.

[Inkidu]

I think he is from somewhere in the United Kingdom.

[Mathim]

Huh, that's a different picture than I saw on IMDB. But he doesn't look grizzled enough. Mark Strong (at least in the role of Sinestro in Green Lantern) looked like he had a gruff sort of vibe to him, but I haven't seen your guy in action so maybe if I looked up some youtube footage.

[ShadowFox89]

Unfortunately, my choice for Dr. Strange has left us.  :'(  I can't think of anyone who would fit the bill better than the late Vincent Price.

Liam Neeson.

[Moraline]

How about a remake of "Howard the Duck" but it would have to be just as cheesy and bad as the last one. I can't see it going any other way. If it did, it just wouldn't be Howard.

[Oniya]

How about a remake of "Howard the Duck" but it would have to be just as cheesy and bad as the last one. I can't see it going any other way. If it did, it just wouldn't be Howard.

It would have to be in 2015, so we could resurrect the All-Night Party in time for the elections.

[Mathim]

Interesting idea. If they made it purposefully a comedy that just happens to have some action in it, a remake of Howard the Duck might work. If they did it all in CGI instead of using a puppet/costume and had more interaction with the Duck planet instead of just trapping him on Earth that might be kind of interesting. What company owns the rights to him, anyway?

Liam Neeson for Doctor Strange...damn, that's an interesting idea. He could certainly handle the part, though he might be burnt out on superhero stuff after Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises.

[Moraline]

Interesting idea. If they made it purposefully a comedy that just happens to have some action in it, a remake of Howard the Duck might work. If they did it all in CGI instead of using a puppet/costume and had more interaction with the Duck planet instead of just trapping him on Earth that might be kind of interesting. What company owns the rights to him, anyway?

Liam Neeson for Doctor Strange...damn, that's an interesting idea. He could certainly handle the part, though he might be burnt out on superhero stuff after Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises.

He's a Marvel property. At least I think he is.

He made an appearance in the Marvel Civil War series. He showed up to be registered as a superhero because he wanted to collect a government paycheck but the guy at the office had a hate on for him.

[Oniya]

Yup, he was made while Steve Gerber was still at Marvel, and showed up in a couple of different series as well as his own.

[undisclosedtoyou]

I don't know about who I'd like to play who, but I have opinions!  Woot.

Okay, so I'm super excited about the upcoming Ant-Man movie.  Butttt, I sorta really wanted him to be included in the whole, forming Avengers thing, since he was, technically, a founding member.  Even though, okay, he's probably low on most people's, fav comic hero list, he's still sort of awesome, well, all incarnations of him are sorta awesome.  That being said, I do have to say that my liking this character is mainly because I'm a fan of Cassandra Lang as Stature, in the Young Avengers.

Now, my take on the Thor movies are that I liked them.  Butttt I would have liked a little more details on Thor's and Loki's history.  It sort of glossed over things, and for people who haven't read the comics, they wouldn't necessarily understand why Thor and Loki's relationship is so crap-tastic.  Not saying that they didn't address it, but it could have be expounded a bit more.  But hey, the upside is that it looks like they might be doing this in the upcoming Thor movie, which has plenty of potential, since Loki is a villain people sort of love to root for while being against him, at the same time.

I'd like to see some of the smaller properties get made into movies. (or better yet a full season on like HBO)

Runaways - Nico Minoru, Karoline Dean, Molly Hayes, Chase Stein, Alex Wilder, Gertrude Yorkes, Old Lace, Victor Mancha, Xavin, and Klara Prase
Heroes for Hire (2006 edition) -  (I like this team because it's almost all female) - Colleen Wing, Misty Knight, the new Tarantula, Shang-Chi, Humbug, Orka, Black Cat and Paladin

Yes!  Basically I agree with this.  An HBO show centered around a Marvel Super, while it may end up being more than slightly pornographic, would be awesome. 

I only really got the chance to read the Runaways, while reading the Young Avengers/Runaways, Civil War issues.  But I really liked what I read, especially since it came so highly recommended by my local comic book shop owner.  TBH, if they keep cranking out these Avengers films, I hope they come out with the Young Avengers to.  Than the time frame would be perfect for a Runaways film.

[Chris Brady]

There was/is an Ant-Man film in the works.  ETA 2014 at last count.

As is a Dr. Strange movie.  This one's slated for 2015, I'd heard.

[undisclosedtoyou]

There was/is an Ant-Man film in the works.  ETA 2014 at last count.

As is a Dr. Strange movie.  This one's slated for 2015, I'd heard.

I've been super excited about this Ant Man film for what feels like forever >>  lol.

[Chris Brady]

I hope it does well, if it ever comes out.  And that it dispels the whole 'wife beater' BS, that he's been damaged by as a character.

[undisclosedtoyou]

I'd be super angry if they just crap out on this film and it's not made well. 

[Chris Brady]

Not sure the details of if/when it's coming out.  Truth be told, it's more Wasp's story than it was Ant-Man's.  Their first appearance had her get him to give her the 'Pym Particles' treatment so that she could rescue...  Her father?  I think.  Been a damn long time since I read that comic.   And it was old when I started reading.

Clarification:  In case no one knows, the whole 'wife beating' thing happened in Avenger's 213 and was apparently an overenthusiastic interpretation of an artist:

http://www.comicvine.com/articles/off-my-mind-is-hank-pym-a-wife-beater-or-did-he-ge/1100-143296/  There's a link to Jim Shooter (who wrote the issue) that claims it was not his intent.

[Mathim]

The Ant-Man film is going to be post-Avengers 2 so that makes it 2015 at the earliest, by one of our favorite British directors, Edgar Wright. I really want it to include both Ant-Man and Wasp together, so they can phase out Hawkeye and Black Widow as Avengers, making the whole team super instead of mixing in some normal folks, since they are a male and female pair who can replace a male and female pair. I'd heard that the original, Hank Pym, is going to take something of a backseat to Scott Lang, the second, which makes me feel conflicted since that could affect Wasp's involvement. I like the idea of Bradley Cooper for Hank Pym but who would be a good Janet Van Dyne/Wasp to pair with him? Preferably someone who hasn't already done any kind of superhero movie already.

After that, Dr. Strange so probably 2016 at the soonest. The order seems to be:
Thor The Dark World (late 2013)
Captain America The Winter Soldier (early 2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy (late 2014)
Avengers 2 (early 2015)
Ant-Man (late 2015)
Dr. Strange (presumably early 2016)

So yeah, some of those are a little ways off.

As for Howard the Duck, I meant which movie company owns the rights to him? Like how Fox owns the X-Men's film rights and such while Marvel Studios gets to do their own thing with Iron Man and the other Avengers characters. I know he's a Marvel character or he wouldn't have been mentioned. He was pretty funny in Marvel Zombies, incidentally.

[Oniya]

Universal Studios did the movie, but George Lucas directed and ILM was involved in the effects - Disney might have an angle on that.

[Orval Wintermute]

The problem with Paul Blackthorne is that he's still in Arrow, not sure what his contract is like but I can't see DC Entertainment being happy about him working for their rivals

[Mathim]

He is? Well, so much the better. It kind of annoys me when actors play multiple superhero movie roles (Ryan Reynolds, I'm looking at you!) I didn't like Chris Evans as the Human Torch but I am enjoying him as Cap, though.

[Oniya]

>_>  I will admit a certain wish for A&E to get off their butts and let Ioan Gruffudd do some more Horatio Hornblower...

[Moraline]

He is? Well, so much the better. It kind of annoys me when actors play multiple superhero movie roles (Ryan Reynolds, I'm looking at you!) I didn't like Chris Evans as the Human Torch but I am enjoying him as Cap, though.

I actually thought that Chris was perfect for both roles, although I'd rather them find a new Human Torch if they made more Fantastic Four movies. Since that role just seems easier to forget then the more centre piece Captain America is.



That reminds me, I really want to see a big special effects driven, Silver Surfer / Galactus movie with the Surfer's origin in it.

Here's another less mainstream one that would be fun to watch...
ROM: Spaceknight

[Mathim]

I actually thought that Chris was perfect for both roles, although I'd rather them find a new Human Torch if they made more Fantastic Four movies. Since that role just seems easier to forget then the more centre piece Captain America is.



That reminds me, I really want to see a big special effects driven, Silver Surfer / Galactus movie with the Surfer's origin in it.

Here's another less mainstream one that would be fun to watch...
ROM: Spaceknight

Well I just hated the FF movies period, so his performance didn't really help much. He's much better at Cap because of the wider emotional range anyway.

A stand-alone Surfer movie would be neat, and actually seeing Galactus outside of the comic pages would be interesting. I'd imagine him having a lot less pink and purple color in his outfit...

[Oniya]

Pink and purple would probably go out the window, but some metals exhibit interesting and unearthly colors when they oxidize.  (Look up pictures of bismuth for example.)

[Mathim]

I'm just saying, planet-eating titans would do well to avoid pink and purple if they want to appear masculine. ;D

I just couldn't believe how bad the FF films were. Totally different from the comics and just entirely uninspired. At least they got accordingly bland reviews. I still have no idea where Iron Man 3 is getting such good reviews from.

[Moraline]

I've pretty much liked every super hero or comic book made into movie that I've seen.  I've enjoyed them as simple fun entertainment. I don't really take comics as a whole all that seriously so I usually fail to see how the movies are that bad.

Take FF, I felt that Johnny was suitably arrogant and brash. It seemed to fit the comic book character pretty well to me. Overall, I enjoyed the shows.



On the note of Galactus.. I picture it looking like this:

[Oniya]

I'm just saying, planet-eating titans would do well to avoid pink and purple if they want to appear masculine. ;D

On the note of Galactus.. I picture it looking like this:

Yeah... Still purple-ish, but no one is calling that 'feminine'.  CGI coloration is a long way from CYMK comic book half-toning.  Supes doesn't get blue highlights in the films either.

[Mathim]

I never really read the FF comics; I only saw Torch interacting with Spider-Man and they were on sarcastic but friendly terms. I didn't consider him that arrogant or antagonistic when it came to his relationship with Ben Grimm, but I know I didn't like that about him.

[Oniya]

He and Ben would get into it in the old cartoon version.  Kind of like Ben was the big brother Johnny never had - if anyone else messed with either of them, there would be hell to pay.

[Mathim]

Ah, I must have missed that. I only ever saw the old Spider-Man (1994) and X-Men (1993) cartoons.

Speaking of Spider-Man, the sequel to the not-so-Amazing Spider-Man is supposed to have the dual villains Electro and Rhino. Hopefully this will be more impressive than the first outing but I doubt it. None of the Spidey movies have done justice to him, I felt. Certainly not as cohesive or entertaining as the old cartoon show of my youth.

[Oniya]

Yeah, FF kinda predated that.  One of the basic cable channels was showing them a couple years back, along with 'Spiderman and his Amazing Friends (1981)'. 

[Mathim]

I meant the ones where the animation was actually passable, the one from the '90's like the other ones I mentioned. I think there was a similarly-animated and kid-friendly show for Iron Man too, and also one for the Hulk. Too bad they didn't cross over as often as they could have...the films have already proven how well that works!

[Oniya]

*nods*  I remember the Iron Man and the Hulk shows too.  Apparently there's a newer Fantastic Four on NickToons these days as well.  While I was looking for the one I was catching late-night I stumbled on it.  Looks to use the same animation style as 'Batman: The Animated Series' and 'Superman: The Animated Series'.

[Mathim]

I'd say a touch different style, but I get what you mean. Sometimes taking a leaf out of the old cartoons' books is a big problem, like the whole symbiote/Venom thing in Spiderman 3. Big freakin' mess.

[Oniya]

I only got a glimpse of it - enough to recognize that it wasn't what I was looking for.  ;D  We used to joke about Batman having a square chin in the comic books, but the new animation style gives him corners that could put your eye out.

[ShadowFox89]

I only got a glimpse of it - enough to recognize that it wasn't what I was looking for.  ;D  We used to joke about Batman having a square chin in the comic books, but the new animation style gives him corners that could put your eye out.

GREAT JAWS OF JUSTICE BATMAN!

Aquaman was awesome in The Brave and the Bold though. BRIAN BLESSED as Aquaman, anyone?

[Oniya]

GREAT JAWS OF JUSTICE BATMAN!

Aquaman was awesome in The Brave and the Bold though. BRIAN BLESSED as Aquaman, anyone?

He'll always be a Hawkman to me.

Flash Gordon's Day.m4v

[Mathim]

Actually there's an Aquaman trailer for a movie that never got made, starring someone much younger and less hairy than Mr. Blessed.

Aquaman Trailer

Still, I'd much rather see a movie about Prince Namor the Submariner than Aqua Doofus...

[Vorian]

Never liked Namor in any role, personally. I'd rather see a good adaptation of Aquaman.

[Mathim]

Eh. I'd settle for both. Rather have Namor in the MCU continuity so he can join the Avengers. I don't think him or Aquaman might have that great of a stand-alone film potential.

[VoluptuousVixen]

A Solo Black Widow Film. Looking at her origin teased in Avengers. She bloody needs one.

Heroes for Hire Film. With Luke Cage and Iron Fist. With a Jessica Jones Cameo.

A Captain Marvel movie with Carol Danvers as the lead hero. About time we see more female driven films.

Clock and Dagger film. And I would want a romance plot between them, they love each other but their fate prevents them from it.

A well deserved Black Panther movie. Just don`t marry him to Storm (Get him a new love interest)

TO sum up, I want to see more racial and gender diversity in superhero films.
I couldn't care less about seeing another white male based superhero film.
So Doctor Strange, Fantastic Four reboot, Sub-Mariner, another Hulk movie can all take a backseat in my eyes.

[Mathim]

A Solo Black Widow Film. Looking at her origin teased in Avengers. She bloody needs one.

Heroes for Hire Film. With Luke Cage and Iron Fist. With a Jessica Jones Cameo.

A Captain Marvel movie with Carol Danvers as the lead hero. About time we see more female driven films.

Clock and Dagger film. And I would want a romance plot between them, they love each other but their fate prevents them from it.

A well deserved Black Panther movie. Just don`t marry him to Storm (Get him a new love interest)

TO sum up, I want to see more racial and gender diversity in superhero films.
I couldn't care less about seeing another white male based superhero film.
So Doctor Strange, Fantastic Four reboot, Sub-Mariner, another Hulk movie can all take a backseat in my eyes.

I disagree, both Black Widow and Hawkeye aren't worth their own films. Even Nick Fury wouldn't merit his own unless they were willing to have the original Nick Fury (the white one) and how his illegitimate son, Marcus Johnson, becomes the Nick Fury we know today. Imagine how cool it would be for a future MCU movie where Nick Jr. needs to call in a favor from his estranged father and get his badass pops to roll in with his troops. Freakin' awesome. They really need to stop lifting so much out of the Ultimate Marvel universe and pay more homage to the classics.

Anything revolving around the HFH should get its own TV series, there's no way single films will be able to appropriately cover their adventures. Plus it wouldn't do for them to fit in the MCU continuity, there isn't quite enough worldwide weirdness going on for them to be continuously employed.

I'd love to see a Captain/Ms. Marvel movie, but not til after they introduce the bulk of the alien races they're going to be featuring since she's a hybrid. She'd be an amazing female lead. I also like that Wasp and Ant-Man are partners (in more ways than one) so she'd be a great female Avenger too.

I don't know if Cloak and Dagger are popular enough so I can't really comment.

But yeah, Black Panther totally needs a movie of his own. I see him and maybe Falcon (once he's introduced in Captain America The Winter Soldier) having some connection, maybe bringing in SHIELD and Cap to help out.

I agree racial diversity and gender diversity would be fun but you have to admit, people want to stick with what they know and the majority of these popular characters are white males (or females). Luckily they're at least starting to do that with Rhodey being a badass inside and outside of his armor and with Anthony Mackie as Falcon, a new superhero to partner up with Cap. They're making progress, it's just a bit slow. Plus Doctor Strange has Wong and the Ancient One as cohorts, and they're awesome too.

[undisclosedtoyou]

Actually there's an Aquaman trailer for a movie that never got made, starring someone much younger and less hairy than Mr. Blessed.

Aquaman Trailer

Still, I'd much rather see a movie about Prince Namor the Submariner than Aqua Doofus...

He made a pretty good green arrow in Smallville, and he is definitely yummy.

A Solo Black Widow Film. Looking at her origin teased in Avengers. She bloody needs one.

Heroes for Hire Film. With Luke Cage and Iron Fist. With a Jessica Jones Cameo.

A Captain Marvel movie with Carol Danvers as the lead hero. About time we see more female driven films.

Clock and Dagger film. And I would want a romance plot between them, they love each other but their fate prevents them from it.

A well deserved Black Panther movie. Just don`t marry him to Storm (Get him a new love interest)

TO sum up, I want to see more racial and gender diversity in superhero films.
I couldn't care less about seeing another white male based superhero film.
So Doctor Strange, Fantastic Four reboot, Sub-Mariner, another Hulk movie can all take a backseat in my eyes.

As for more racially diverse characters, I think it's cool, but tbh any comic movie they come out with, as long as it's made well, would make me happy. 

And to add more racially diverse characters is another reason a Young Avengers film or show would be cool.  Elijah Bradley, who is Patriot, the teams own version of Capt' is black.  Eli, being the grandson of Isaiah Bradley, who, like Captain America, was also given the super soldier serum, or rather, the attempt at recreating the super soldier serum.  I always thought Eli was really interesting, andddd he was even at Storm's and the Black Panthers wedding, as a special guest.  I doubt they'd make a film about Elijah, but it would be cool if they did.

I also would love a young avengers film cause Wiccan and Hulking are gay, but you know, I'm not a fan girl, oh no.

[Mathim]

There's a fine line between diversity and pandering, so they need to be careful too...

[Oniya]

I know this is DC and not Marvel, (and I know they've already done the one with Hal Jordan), but what if they were to do a Green Lantern movie with the JLU incarnation?  Perfectly in-canon, and a well known hero (so it's not just 'Hey, let's find a black superhero to film').

[Moraline]

I know this is DC and not Marvel, (and I know they've already done the one with Hal Jordan), but what if they were to do a Green Lantern movie with the JLU incarnation?  Perfectly in-canon, and a well known hero (so it's not just 'Hey, let's find a black superhero to film').

Interesting you mention that.  I was actually really hoping, when I heard about the Green Lantern movie, that they were going to choose a black man for the role. I think it was a real opportunity for them and they let it slip by.



Not to harp on the Runaways again but it's an excellent choice for a movie that includes diversity. There is a lesbian relationship in the group, there are people from Mexican, Japanese, and African American backgrounds. The story line focuses on a more realistic approach to super heroism - people die, people struggle with the emotional toll in a realistic fashion. Plus it's a movie about teenagers struggling with authority figures, being misunderstood, and trying to grow up. I really feel like the story would speak to a large audience from the teens to early 20's of both genders and many ethnicities.

[WildCat]

Never liked Namor in any role, personally. I'd rather see a good adaptation of Aquaman.

I tend to agree. Namor just... bleh.

Now Aquaman--the mental image a lot of us have is awfully lame. But (for me at least) that's primarily born of my knowing him best from the superfriends' painful presentation of him. The actual character has a lot of potential for redeeming the image. (Of course, I never really watched Smallvile, perhaps that process is all ready underway?)

I wouldn't push Runaways simply because of the diversity. I'd push it because Runaways was a fabulous story.

[undisclosedtoyou]

I wouldn't push Runaways simply because of the diversity. I'd push it because Runaways was a fabulous story.

+1

[Vorian]

I tend to agree. Namor just... bleh.

Now Aquaman--the mental image a lot of us have is awfully lame. But (for me at least) that's primarily born of my knowing him best from the superfriends' painful presentation of him. The actual character has a lot of potential for redeeming the image. (Of course, I never really watched Smallvile, perhaps that process is all ready underway?)

Smallville Aquaman came across as a more mentally stable Namor to me, and only got a couple episodes in the spotlight and no origin story. Worked in terms of being a viable ally or opponent for Clark, but still not really a great example.

[Chris Brady]

The issue with Aquaman is that every one is fixated on someone joke of his ability to 'talk' to fish.  But that's not what he does.  He CONTROLS any fish-like creature, including SHARKS, among other nasties, and he doesn't talk to them, he tells them what to do.

Out of the water, he's superstrong, fast and tough, maybe no where near Superman's level, but he's got combat training to back it up.

But everyone likes a funny, and relegate him to a joke character.  The King of DC's Atlantis a joke.  :P  How the mighty have fallen.

[Inkidu]

The issue with Aquaman is that every one is fixated on someone joke of his ability to 'talk' to fish.  But that's not what he does.  He CONTROLS any fish-like creature, including SHARKS, among other nasties, and he doesn't talk to them, he tells them what to do.

Out of the water, he's superstrong, fast and tough, maybe no where near Superman's level, but he's got combat training to back it up.

But everyone likes a funny, and relegate him to a joke character.  The King of DC's Atlantis a joke.  :P  How the mighty have fallen.

Batman the Brave and the Bold made me love Aquaman again. I kind of like the bombastic nature. It was certainly better for me when they tried to make him all grimdark and serious. Long flowing power mullet or something. :\

On a Marvel Note though, what about a Black Panther movie? Seeing as his nation is kind of important the Marvel universe as a whole. It's too bad Denzel  is kind of getting up there, I think he'd bee good, and honestly before he picked up Rhody I would have said Don Cheadle (I know I'm probably not spelling that right, but it's early in the morning for me).

[Mathim]

Personally, I feel that when superhero titles have multiple bearers (Green Lantern being the perfect example) I feel the films ought to pass the torch from film to film. So if Hal Jordan was in the first, I wouldn't mind Kyle Rayner being in GL2 and then, in the movie closest to Justice League (fat chance, frankly, despite all their big talk), John Stewart could pick up the ring. That way it happens organically. Anyway, enough about DC.

I'd like to know if Black Panther could adequately fall into the MCU continuity or if he'd have to be a stand-alone character. How does he match up with, say, Captain America in terms of superhuman ability? Anyone short of that probably ought to steer clear of the likes of Thanos, is what I'm getting at. The Avengers will have to keep upping the ante and they need heroes who can keep up with that pace.

[Vorian]

My understanding is he's on around the same level as Captain America, but I haven't seen much of him. Going up against Thanos, though? I don't know, they really need people more in line with Thor and the Hulk ...

[Chris Brady]

The Black Panther is very similar to Captain America, in that he's peak or near peak human physical, using some sort of special chemical concoction.  I agree that he would be a good character to have a movie about, his entire nation has been the plot of several comic arcs.  His original reason of joining the Avengers was to make sure if he could handle them as enemies.

[Inkidu]

My understanding is he's on around the same level as Captain America, but I haven't seen much of him. Going up against Thanos, though? I don't know, they really need people more in line with Thor and the Hulk ...

It doesn't actually matter who goes up against Thanos... he's kind of going to lose... and that's not invoking any tropes or anything... that's his weakness. :\

[Chris Brady]

Thanos' weakness is that he wants to die, but can't.  He's in love with Marvel's incarnation of Death, and she doesn't want him.

[Inkidu]

Thanos' weakness is that he wants to die, but can't.  He's in love with Marvel's incarnation of Death, and she doesn't want him.

I thought it was that he subconsciously sets himself up to lose.

http://www.cracked.com/article_19434_the-6-most-ridiculous-superhero-weaknesses_p2.html

Second one down right past Power Girl's weakness to all-natural materials. It should link to the second page, but if it's not then page two.

Regardless of the later comics where he wants to to die, date death however you want to phrase it, he still wants to fail so someone will put him down, so if there ever appears a worthy threat he'll make sure he'll lose just so they get the chance to kill him. Ultimately he's going to lose every time. :\

He's weird. I think they picked him because he's a big threat, I mean he's willing to kill half of existence in the meantime, but he's ultimately going to set up his own downfall, the tricky part is getting him all nice and defeated before he can kill a bunch of people. :\

[Mathim]

Wow. I wonder how that's going to play out in the Avengers 2 then.

[Spell]

I want....a movie...with taskmaster in it.... *Sighs and dreams* ._.

[Chris Brady]

I want....a movie...with taskmaster in it.... *Sighs and dreams* ._.

Me too...

[Moraline]

Moon Knight. That would rock! Although it would not be a children's movie at all. It would be a cross between a horror movie about a person who's going completely insane and violent, as well as an action revenge flick.   ... And I know it would totally go against the true Marvel story line to do it but I'd love to see it done with a female lead, portraying the role of Moon Knight.

[Oniya]

And then there's always Magik (Illyana Rasputina, Colossus's little sister). 

[Moraline]

And then there's always Magik (Illyana Rasputina, Colossus's little sister).

I used to luv her! Totally forgot about her. I didn't know she had her own comic though? I just remember reading about her in old X-Men comics. Isn't she dead?

[Oniya]

Dead?  You're never dead in comics until they try to bring you back and fail.  And even then, there are exceptions.  ::)

There's at least one storyline where she's still around - and even if she isn't, you can have the 'tragic ending'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magik_%28comics%29

[Moraline]

You're right and a tragic ending would be very cool. A Magik movie would be a good X-Men crossover movie and a great way to introduce Colossus as a more prominent figure in a new X-Men movie.

Plus I'd love to see some X-23, another great X-Men tie in movie.

[Chris Brady]

Moon Knight. That would rock! Although it would not be a children's movie at all. It would be a cross between a horror movie about a person who's going completely insane and violent, as well as an action revenge flick.   ... And I know it would totally go against the true Marvel story line to do it but I'd love to see it done with a female lead, portraying the role of Moon Knight.

Two things, first purists would flip like ninja at the idea of a 'Female' Moon Knight, and two, a revenge driven female lead never sells.  They haven't sold well enough yet.  The only things holding that idea back.

[Inkidu]

And then there's always Magik (Illyana Rasputina, Colossus's little sister).

Is she more commonly associated with the X-Men or the Avengers?

That's how the film-rights debate is going to swing. See Fox can make all the X-Men movies they want with just Wolverine because Wolverine is most commonly associated with the X-Men.

What about Silver Sable or Spider-Woman?

[ShadowFox89]

 Giving the rights to your characters to another company is probably the stupidest thing you can do....

[Inkidu]

Giving the rights to your characters to another company is probably the stupidest thing you can do....

Yeah, but until Marvel had its own studio what can you do? They're just film right and you have to prove that you're doing something with them these days. Companies just can't sit on them. That's how Marvel got the Hulk back after the Ang Lee movie. :\

[Mathim]

You're right and a tragic ending would be very cool. A Magik movie would be a good X-Men crossover movie and a great way to introduce Colossus as a more prominent figure in a new X-Men movie.

Plus I'd love to see some X-23, another great X-Men tie in movie.

I think the perfect opportunity for that would have been in the upcoming The Wolverine movie, and also Daken, Wolverine's bastard son. Imagine the three of them taking on the bad guys together. The perfect ending to satisfy us that there is absolutely no way Wolverine will ever lead another X-Men themed film.

[Oniya]

Is she more commonly associated with the X-Men or the Avengers?

Sooort of with the X-Men, although she's currently with Colossus' break-away group.

[Inkidu]

Sooort of with the X-Men, although she's currently with Colossus' break-away group.

Well if Fox really pushes it they're going to win. :\

[Oniya]

Who's to say that Fox couldn't release the movie?  Mathim's original post didn't specify one studio, just the Marvel 'cinematic universe' - unless that requires the movies to be done by Disney.

[Inkidu]

Who's to say that Fox couldn't release the movie?  Mathim's original post didn't specify one studio, just the Marvel 'cinematic universe' - unless that requires the movies to be done by Disney.

Well, if it's going to be part of the Marvel C.U. then Disney's probably going to raise a stink on their end. :\

Ah, the wonderful world of legality! :D

[Mathim]

Nope, I didn't specify any particular continuity, the discussion encompasses all the different 'brands' producing characters featuring Marvel Films, whether Sony, Fox, Marvel Studios, etc. Although I wish those others would stop making crap movies that make the whole name look bad. Not that the MCU is spotless anymore, not after Iron Man 3.

[Inkidu]

I enjoyed Iron Man 3, I thought it was better than the second one by far. :\ Ah, opinions.

Still, now I want a Silver Sable movie. :3

[Mathim]

Doesn't she not have any superpowers? I don't think that would play too well. Probably why there wasn't a Black Widow/Hawkeye movie.

[Inkidu]

Yes because Batman movies are terrible because he doesn't have any superpowers. :\

Depends on how it's done. They kept Black Widow and Hawkeye out of their own movies because they're so attached to SHIELD, they'd get filled in between the movies proper.

[Oniya]

Nick Fury doesn't have any 'super powers' either, except for incredibly slow aging from the Infinity Serum.

[Inkidu]

Nick Fury doesn't have any 'super powers' either, except for incredibly slow aging from the Infinity Serum.

And that came later. Initially he was just, as Tony Stark put it, "A spy--he's the spy."

[Oniya]

And everyone's got to admit that Silver Sable looks a lot better in Kevlar-enhanced Spandex than Fury.  :D

[Mathim]

Yes because Batman movies are terrible because he doesn't have any superpowers. :\

Depends on how it's done. They kept Black Widow and Hawkeye out of their own movies because they're so attached to SHIELD, they'd get filled in between the movies proper.

If you believe that...tch. And Batman's arsenal of gadgets (and being able to 'fly') are too over-the-top even for the Marvelverse, but he uses them and that's what makes his movies rock despite a lack of powers. Besides, he's not from a continuity where he'll constantly be compared to others (god forbid Superman) so he's not insecure about what he can do despite not having super-strength or anything like that.

[Oniya]

Besides, he's not from a continuity where he'll constantly be compared to others (god forbid Superman) so he's not insecure about what he can do despite not having super-strength or anything like that.

That's because he also keeps a lump of Kryptonite on hand - just in case.  ;D  (Damn, that planet must have been huge!)

[Inkidu]

That's because he also keeps a lump of Kryptonite on hand - just in case.  ;D  (Damn, that planet must have been huge!)

It was supposed to be a large planet. Originally it had a higher gravity than Earth and that's why he was so tough and strong. The yellow sun stuff came later.

And Batman knows how to take down every other superhero in the DC universe, because he's the Goddamn Batman.

Remember Silver Sable has taken down mutants and a couple of Spider-Man characters, among other things.

[Mathim]

I think most non-super-powered humans who do that sort of thing can take out weaker superpeoples. It's nothing new. Even some of the lamer superheroes sometimes get one over on the big wig bad guys. Doesn't mean they deserve their own movies.

[Inkidu]

I think most non-super-powered humans who do that sort of thing can take out weaker superpeoples. It's nothing new. Even some of the lamer superheroes sometimes get one over on the big wig bad guys. Doesn't mean they deserve their own movies.

Well, really there are a couple of factors:

How well is the character known outside of the comic book crowd. A movie has to be palatable to the larger movie-going crowds.
If you want them in the Avengers 2 they're going to have to belong to Disney.

I'd like to see a Sergent Rock movie, but I don't think that's going to happen. :P
I don't think Silver Sable is too far out of the realm of possibility. It might be a good tie-in for the Deadpool movie in the works.

Maybe Blade is back up for grabs.

[ShadowFox89]

 From what I can gather, Blade is in Marvel's hands again. As is the Punisher film rights.

Moral of the story: Make an ironclad agreement so that you can get the rights back to your characters before a studio can turn them into a Franchise Zombie.

[Inkidu]

From what I can gather, Blade is in Marvel's hands again. As is the Punisher film rights.

Moral of the story: Make an ironclad agreement so that you can get the rights back to your characters before a studio can turn them into a Franchise Zombie.

Actually, new fim-rights laws reflect this. Used to film companies would buy up movie rights and sit on them for years (that's why MGM had Oz for so long).

Now, companies have to prove that they're doing something. That's why you got the Spider-Man reboot, a new Wolverine Movie, and X-Men First Class.

There's also scuttlebutt about a new Fantastic Four movie.

[ShadowFox89]

 Movie companies should prove that they're doing something good for the franchise....

[Mathim]

Actually, new fim-rights laws reflect this. Used to film companies would buy up movie rights and sit on them for years (that's why MGM had Oz for so long).

Now, companies have to prove that they're doing something. That's why you got the Spider-Man reboot, a new Wolverine Movie, and X-Men First Class.

There's also scuttlebutt about a new Fantastic Four movie.

That and Daredevil. Although I thought it was good...for a guy with a limited superpower he had the right kind of villains and was really Marvel's ultimate tragic hero. I hated that the Spidey movies keep trying to make him that.

[Inkidu]

That and Daredevil. Although I thought it was good...for a guy with a limited superpower he had the right kind of villains and was really Marvel's ultimate tragic hero. I hated that the Spidey movies keep trying to make him that.

Mmm... Spidey probably is a better example of a classically tragic hero. Daredevil is more tragic-by-circumstance.

Peter Parker is a kid blessed with extraordinary ability, but his own selfishness causes those around him to pay. That's a lot more in line with the Greek sense.

That's neither here nor there really. I don't know if I want to see another Daredevil movie. Without Michael Clark Duncan to play the Kingpin, what's the point? :'(

[Chris Brady]

Mmm... Spidey probably is a better example of a classically tragic hero. Daredevil is more tragic-by-circumstance.

Peter Parker is a kid blessed with extraordinary ability, but his own selfishness causes those around him to pay. That's a lot more in line with the Greek sense.

That's slightly incorrect.  Spider-Man is driven by just one tragic incident.  The death of his uncle. This one moment drives his entire life.  Everything he's done as a hero is based around that one 'bad call'.  Does he make bad choices, yes, but most of Marvel's heroes have at some point in their lives.  Tony Stark's has done worse in the comics.

[Inkidu]

That's slightly incorrect.  Spider-Man is driven by just one tragic incident.  The death of his uncle. This one moment drives his entire life.  Everything he's done as a hero is based around that one 'bad call'.  Does he make bad choices, yes, but most of Marvel's heroes have at some point in their lives.  Tony Stark's has done worse in the comics.

Not my point.

The Grecian Concept (Classical Tragedy) is a person otherwise a good person of some renown or special ability, causes all of their own suffering through one fatal flaw in their character.

Daredevil was blinded by an accident and has great powers, but his tragedy is not born of his own flaws.

Peter Parker caused his own tragedy, and in his penance is that he has to live with the burden. It's not a perfect Greek example but it kind of works.

EDIT: Actually, that kind of is my point. Greek Tragedy is defined by one fatal flaw, so yeah... Spidey's a better fit than most.

[Chris Brady]

OK, I get what you mean, now but this:

"but his own selfishness causes those around him to pay."

gives the sense that it's ongoing, but my point was that it's not.  It's the background incident that drives him and his decisions.  I get what you mean, but Grecian Tragedy often has characters who are doing 'great things' but are constantly doing those very things 'wrong' or end up harmful due to hubris and ego.  Peter Parker doesn't, he downplays it all, because of what happened to his uncle.  Which actually isn't his fault.  It was just ONE decision, in a lifetime of many others, which he had no idea would happen.  Unfortunately, unlike Grecian Heroes, he took the blame and built his entire superhero career around preventing and atoning for it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that unlike Grecian Tragedies, Spiderman's tragedy is his starting point.  And not the ending point of a long list, which is often what happens to Greek Heroes, often because they don't see what it is they've caused.

[Inkidu]

OK, I get what you mean, now but this:

"but his own selfishness causes those around him to pay."

gives the sense that it's ongoing, but my point was that it's not.  It's the background incident that drives him and his decisions.  I get what you mean, but Grecian Tragedy often has characters who are doing 'great things' but are constantly doing those very things 'wrong' or end up harmful due to hubris and ego.  Peter Parker doesn't, he downplays it all, because of what happened to his uncle.  Which actually isn't his fault.  It was just ONE decision, in a lifetime of many others, which he had no idea would happen.  Unfortunately, unlike Grecian Heroes, he took the blame and built his entire superhero career around preventing and atoning for it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that unlike Grecian Tragedies, Spiderman's tragedy is his starting point.  And not the ending point of a long list, which is often what happens to Greek Heroes, often because they don't see what it is they've caused.

Ah, I get it.

[Mathim]

What I had meant by tragic hero is, it seems like more bad shit happens to Daredevil than Spidey (at least from what the movies showed). Daredevil seems more unlucky and to go through lots more losses of friends and stuff, plus unlike Spidey he's got a defined weakness to be exploited (sound).

[Moraline]

A TV series based on the Inhumans might be fun.



Also, I'd like to see Planet Hulk made into a feature film.

[Oniya]

Hm... the guy in front of the fish-man looks mighty tasty.

[Mathim]

Teams definitely reek of being better as TV series...X-Men usually manages to do a decent job, though. And the Avengers. But they're all already popular enough that people know a lot about them. Lesser-knowns might not fare so well which is why I'm really worried about Guardians of the Galaxy.

Is anyone else wishing they'd let comic fans write the scripts instead of comic writers? Let the writers do the comics and the fans do the movies, and see if what steaming piles of crap the 'professionals' have produced (Elektra, both Ghost Rider films, and the F4 catastrophes, among others) can compare.

[Inkidu]

Teams definitely reek of being better as TV series...X-Men usually manages to do a decent job, though. And the Avengers. But they're all already popular enough that people know a lot about them. Lesser-knowns might not fare so well which is why I'm really worried about Guardians of the Galaxy.

Is anyone else wishing they'd let comic fans write the scripts instead of comic writers? Let the writers do the comics and the fans do the movies, and see if what steaming piles of crap the 'professionals' have produced (Elektra, both Ghost Rider films, and the F4 catastrophes, among others) can compare.

No, not really, because you're not actually alleviating any of the problems regarding comic-book movies.

I'd have to think one would be really naive to think that comic-book fans aren't just going to jump on the fan or group of fans who write the script and call them things like "no true fan" or whatnot if the movie bombs, which at least if it bombs with a professional writer it will look like they at least tried. :\

[Oniya]

Were all of those written by the comic writers, though?  Or just Hollywood writers?  I'll admit I don't know enough of the industry names to check this one myself.

[Chris Brady]

Actually, given that Joss Whedon (no matter what I think of him as TV show writer director) did write for Marvel at one point, I'm inclined to think that the issue is more Hollywood as opposed to actual Comic Writers...

[Mathim]

Were all of those written by the comic writers, though?  Or just Hollywood writers?  I'll admit I don't know enough of the industry names to check this one myself.

I'm not actually sure what proportion were...but I guess it's fair to say just 'pro' writers in general, who can't identify with the source material enough to make a cohesive final product. That sure as hell seems to be what happened when they allowed Shane Black to co-write and direct Iron Man 3. Rarely do we get a Joss Whedon-level product from someone who is supposedly talented enough to be a big name in the industry. I'd just like to see the flip side of that coin for once. If a film is going to bomb, it's going to bomb. I just wonder if as Stan Lee puts it, True Believers can really bring the spirit of the comics to the screen in a more meaningful way.

[Chris Brady]

What I had meant by tragic hero is, it seems like more bad shit happens to Daredevil than Spidey (at least from what the movies showed). Daredevil seems more unlucky and to go through lots more losses of friends and stuff, plus unlike Spidey he's got a defined weakness to be exploited (sound).

given the crap that's happened to both of them, Horn Head might seem worse off cuz most of the ones he loved seem to be getting killed.  Spidey seems to mainly have women troubles in comparison.

[Mathim]

That's what I was getting at. Plus it seems like DD has a worse reputation than Spidey anyway, so he's got that going against him too.

[Oniya]

Spidey's reputation sort of varies, depending on how JJJ is feeling in any given timeline.  ;D

[Mathim]

Besides Jameson, though, I don't know a lot of people (outside of supervillains) who think too badly of him.

[Oniya]

I seem to recall that there were timelines where J. Jonah had more influence than other timelines.  It's been a while, though.

[Mathim]

And also timelines where he happily supported Spider-Man. Like the Ultimate Comics version.

[RedPhoenix]

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh. I mean. I liked this book but...I don't think it translates well into film unless you want to try to dust off M. Night Shyamalan.

Hm... the guy in front of the fish-man looks mighty tasty.

Gorgon? I'd rather play with Black Bolt. If you make him produce a single noise the universe blows up. Sort of like the ultimate "don't push this button" gag.

On an unrelated note, still waiting on my Storm movie. It'll happen if I live long enough for everyone to forget her portrayal in the Brian Singer films. Sigh.

[Mathim]

Is she fascinating enough for her own movie? I mean, she might be, I don't know a whole lot about her except that she married Black Panther at one point. Still, that would muddle things if they were to cross universes since the company that controls the Avengers characters (who I'd heard were the ones holding Black Panther's rights) isn't the same as the one controlling X-Men's rights.

[RedPhoenix]

Storm as T'Chala's wife is not that interesting, I really wish they'd never gone that way and nobody will ever convince me it wasn't just "hey shouldn't our two black heroes hook up or something?" and I've never seen a single thing that would tell me it was ever anything more than that.

Storm as an earth mother goddess infested with an alien queen being tossed around by solar winds she can barely control in the far reaches of space and soul binding with giant space whales to overthrow alien tyranny, or Storm traveling to an alternate dimension of vikings whose planet is kept safe by a shield powered by lightning that is failing in the face of reptilian alien invasions and falling in love with the viking king while there and saving multiple worlds, or Storm flying into Dr. Doom's murder castle and demanding that he release the villains he's captured to extract revenge on, getting paralyzed by one of Doom's toys, and then having to control the massive disastrous hurricane she's summoned before she goes all dark phoenix on everything...those Storms were awesome.

I haven't actually read any comic books in awhile, but Storm used to be amazing. I'm sure she's terrible now like everything in comics these days seems to be terrible.

[Vorian]

I read it as 'African' rather than 'black', but yeah, that does seem to be the extent of it.

Last I heard Cyclops talked her into staying with his band of villains, but she still has her moments.

[RedPhoenix]

Cyclops ... band of villains

... what.

No don't tell me it will just make me angry.

[Vorian]

... what.

No don't tell me it will just make me angry.

To be fair, they were supposed to be redeemed villains, but yeah. Seems to be headed downhill fast.

[Chris Brady]

... what.

No don't tell me it will just make me angry.

It's a common misconception, because Cyclops had become something of a hardass.  But every action he's taken (outside of the corrupted Phoenix bit) has been pretty much justified because the rest of the world forces him to be.

First, the remaining mutants are gathered up at the old home.  Then anti-mutant bigots show up.  So instead of attacking, they leave.  San Fransisco's Mayor invites them, saying, "hey yeah, you're welcome here." (and actually meant it), then the bigots come back.  And so the Mutants leave.  This time, the Sub-Mariner says, "Hey, guys?  I have this island in my waters that, honestly, we're never going to do anything with, so come on over, and stay there.  You've been cool with me, just turning back the favour."

And what happens next?  A U.S. Government sanction Sentinel SHOWS UP!  In, by the way, sovereign and INTERNATIONAL waters.  Where they do not have any authority.  At which point Cyclops says "No.  We're staying here."

Even later, the AVENGERS show up when the heard that the Phoenix force is coming back for a mutant.  And Cap says they want to shoot said mutant into space to 'save earth'.  And we all know how well THAT worked out when they sent the Hulk skyward.  Scott said, "Uh, no."  Mainly because if the Phoenix Force gets it's host, and it STILL wants to destroy the Earth?  Guess what?  Earth goes boom!

And when the Avengers (Tony Stark) manage to split the Phoenix into 5 separate entities and Cyclops becomes one of the hosts, does he go after the bigots?  Nope, he goes around helping the world.  On a geological level, letting people live their lives.  He just tried to make it better.

So in all, I'm quite willing to wear a shirt in big bold letters claiming:  Scott was right

[Vorian]

I was actually referring primarily to the fact that most of the notable people still with him are traditionally, and best know as, villains, or powered by villains. I'm not up to date enough to judge whether he's crossed the line yet or not. I do feel like he's been acting more and more like Magneto lately, though. Enough to worry me a bit, anyway.

Even later, the AVENGERS show up when the heard that the Phoenix force is coming back for a mutant.  And Cap says they want to shoot said mutant into space to 'save earth'.  And we all know how well THAT worked out when they sent the Hulk skyward.  Scott said, "Uh, no."  Mainly because if the Phoenix Force gets it's host, and it STILL wants to destroy the Earth?  Guess what?  Earth goes boom!

They just don't learn, do they?

[ShadowFox89]

 Marvel Answer to everything #44: SHOOT IT INTO SPACE!

[Moraline]

Marvel Answer to everything #44: SHOOT IT INTO SPACE!

Marvel Rule #44

[RedPhoenix]

So in all, I'm quite willing to wear a shirt in big bold letters claiming:  Scott was right

Hmmm. Okay I agree with you and I'm not angry, thanks Chris! :)

And uh, yeah, shooting the Phoenix force into space to keep yourself safe from her? Um.... ???

[Inkidu]

Is waiting for the day the Phoenix power takes over Galactus or Thanos. Probably spells the end of the Marvel Universe... and has probably already happened. :\

Never mind.

[Chris Brady]

Won't happen, unless forced, the Phoenix Force prefers to bond with it's own gender:  Female.

[Inkidu]

Won't happen, unless forced, the Phoenix Force prefers to bond with it's own gender:  Female.

Yeah, I forgot, nigh-immortal, super-powerful entities that have basically ascended to a higher plane of existence beyond the physical care about gender only in comic books. :P

(Still, it's probably happened ;D)

[Chris Brady]

Yeah, I forgot, nigh-immortal, super-powerful entities that have basically ascended to a higher plane of existence beyond the physical care about gender only in comic books. :P

(Still, it's probably happened ;D)

PERSONALLY, I don't take issue because I understand it as a story device.  It works.  On the other hand, just because you're nigh-immortal, super-powerful doesn't mean you aren't or cannot be vain.  And a gender identity can help with that, after all.

What's the phrase?  "I am Woman, hear me roar!"?  (May have gotten that one wrong, been years since I've heard it.)  :-)

[RedPhoenix]

I think the gripe is less a massively powerful entity being vain and choosy and more that a cosmic entity has a gender in the first place.

[Inkidu]

Twas just a joke. :P

[Sasquatch421]

I don't know about everyone else but I wouldn't mind having films for The Starjammers or Silver Sable... I would also love to see a Generation X movie or series done right this time... Then again I'm an old fan of Gen X and seeing how they snubbed Jubilee in the movies...

[Mathim]

Yeah, I liked X-Men and X2 but X3 was just...barf. I can't believe Bryan Singer left the production to go do that steaming pile of DC dung Superman Returns. Not only did X-Men lose its winning director but somehow he humiliated himself by failing to salvage DC's most iconic hero.

[Moraline]

Off topic, but has anyone seen the new Superman - Man of Steel movie? Is it any good?

[Chris Brady]

I liked it.  But then I'm not a purist, nor do I form attachments to actors or directors.  So I try to look at it from a relatively objective point.  But I thought it was a good film.

[Moraline]

I liked it.  But then I'm not a purist, nor do I form attachments to actors or directors.  So I try to look at it from a relatively objective point.  But I thought it was a good film.

Good enough for me! Thanks for the feedback on it.



Does anyone think that the future will see a lot more Marvel super hero TV series if the new SHIELD one does well?

[Chris Brady]

Hope so.

[ShadowFox89]

Off topic, but has anyone seen the new Superman - Man of Steel movie? Is it any good?

I thought it was awesome. But there are a lot of people who want to nitpick at every little detail.

[Chris Brady]

I have ONE tiny nitpick, but I understand why they did it, in context of story and movie.  Other than that, and that's easy to ignore, it's a good film!

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

The issue I have is that Zod and buddies were all as strong as Superman from the word go, which even by the films narrative would have been a 'no'.  That's not to say they wouldn't be superstrong or tough, Krypton was a high G world after all, but Superman would have been superiour, without the need to combat train.  They'd be moving like snails compared to his power, given the amount of time he's had under Earth's sun.  HOWEVER, it would have made for a lousy film, so I forgive that lapse in plot.

[Callie Del Noire]

If you believe that...tch. And Batman's arsenal of gadgets (and being able to 'fly') are too over-the-top even for the Marvelverse, but he uses them and that's what makes his movies rock despite a lack of powers. Besides, he's not from a continuity where he'll constantly be compared to others (god forbid Superman) so he's not insecure about what he can do despite not having super-strength or anything like that.

I remember one JLA where the rest of the team was captured and helpless and the bad guy goes 'He's only human..' and in the next ten pages the bad guys learn that 'only human' isn't a limit when it's Batman.

[Oniya]

I remember one JLA where the rest of the team was captured and helpless and the bad guy goes 'He's only human..' and in the next ten pages the bad guys learn that 'only human' isn't a limit when it's Batman.

I always liked the line - 'I'm not trying to beat you.  I only need to distract you.'

[Inkidu]

I thought it was awesome. But there are a lot of people who want to nitpick at every little detail.

Where the hell are his God-damned red underpants! D:< ;D

To quote Stephen Colbert, "...Also, the guy the cast to play him [Superman] looks suspiciously like the guy they cast to play Clark Kent. That's going to confuse the audience." :D

I want to see it, but I just haven't wanted to go to a theater lately.

[Mathim]

I was so let down by Superman Returns I'm not giving Man of Steel the chance (not with a score of less than 60% on most critic sites; that's an F in academic terms).

As for TV shows, I would have hoped they'd try something else besides Agents of SHIELD. I mean, how exciting can it possibly be if they aren't superheroes? Maybe if they covered some loose ends that I've been wanting to see (like how did they deal with Blonsky/The Abomination after the end of Hulk? Did he change back to human form or did he stay stuck like that the way he did in the comics? And if so how did they imprison him effectively enough not to have heard a peep out of him since?)

[Inkidu]

I was so let down by Superman Returns I'm not giving Man of Steel the chance (not with a score of less than 60% on most critic sites; that's an F in academic terms).

As for TV shows, I would have hoped they'd try something else besides Agents of SHIELD. I mean, how exciting can it possibly be if they aren't superheroes? Maybe if they covered some loose ends that I've been wanting to see (like how did they deal with Blonsky/The Abomination after the end of Hulk? Did he change back to human form or did he stay stuck like that the way he did in the comics? And if so how did they imprison him effectively enough not to have heard a peep out of him since?)

I've found that, ironically, the target audience of comic book readers are the most difficult (sometimes unrealistically so) to please. They want it to be so awesome so bad that if it's really just good or middle-of-the-road it might as well be failing. When you point out this subconscious skewing that happens they tend to get incredibly defensive. 

Just a personal, general observation.

[apygoos]

Where the hell are his God-damned red underpants! D:< ;D

To quote Stephen Colbert, "...Also, the guy the cast to play him [Superman] looks suspiciously like the guy they cast to play Clark Kent. That's going to confuse the audience." :D

I want to see it, but I just haven't wanted to go to a theater lately.

I enjoyed it
I also had an issue with what was said in the spoiler, but for cinematic sakes, its ignorable

[ShadowFox89]

I was so let down by Superman Returns I'm not giving Man of Steel the chance (not with a score of less than 60% on most critic sites; that's an F in academic terms).

If it isn't the most amazing ever, then it's going to get a low score. Dark Knight is the standard now for all superhero movies, and they are expected to surpass that to be good.

Was Man of Steel better than Dark Knight? No, it wasn't. Was it a good movie in it's own regard? In my humble opinion, it was.

[Chris Brady]

If it isn't the most amazing ever, then it's going to get a low score. Dark Knight is the standard now for all superhero movies, and they are expected to surpass that to be good.

Was Man of Steel better than Dark Knight? No, it wasn't. Was it a good movie in it's own regard? In my humble opinion, it was.

I'm actually shocked that people liked Nolan's Bat-Thug, to be honest.  Not to mention the bad pacing and story telling of the last film, but meh.

[Inkidu]

I think he got a lot of mileage out of the absolute perfect storm that was The Dark Knight.

Rises is probably as good as Begins. Nolan had neat idea and ran with it. I'd say they're the best Batman movies to ever bless the big screen. :|

EDIT: I also think Nolan's Batman was better than anything Frank Miller ever did with the character.

[Chris Brady]

I think he got a lot of mileage out of the absolute perfect storm that was The Dark Knight.

Rises is probably as good as Begins. Nolan had neat idea and ran with it. I'd say they're the best Batman movies to ever bless the big screen. :|

EDIT: I also think Nolan's Batman was better than anything Frank Miller ever did with the character.

Miller was...  OK.  But the main reason he's gotten so much 'praise' is because it was around the time of the Watchmen and that period of the 80s, it was the start of 'The Iron Age' of comics, not to mention that 'deconstruction' was the order of the day.

However, one of the key elements that most of the Batman movies always miss out to date, is the detective part of Batman.

And before you say that wouldn't work, I'd like to point out that the first (recent) Sherlock Holmes film captured that perfectly.

So I stand by my statement.  Nolan's Batman isn't all that good because he still missed the integral part of the Bat.  His mind.  And in the later films he even took away his body.

[Inkidu]

He did some fairly detective-ish things in all the movies, and I'm with you on that, but I've noticed that this does not exactly translate well into the movies or the games (the Animated Series did it well). I've been thoroughly disappointed by the detective elements of both Arkham Games so far. :\

Yeah Sherlock Holmes did it well, I wonder if they just decided to play up the actiony parts of Batman's Character. Of course it could be what T.V. tropes calls Adaptation Distillation. You're not going to get all the elements of a character with a what nearly 100 year history who's been through several different iterations. So I don't really have a good answer for that.

I think Miller has a closet fascism fetish, but that's what I get from the man. He's almost got a Rand-esque zeal for it though. :\

[Mathim]

Batman Begins and Dark Knight were damn fine works but they really dropped the ball with Rises. I don't know what the hell they were thinking. But when you say it 'set the standard', that's flagrantly untrue. Every superhero movie is going to be of a different sort and to say that Batman's villain (as hypnotic and sadistic as Hannibal Lecter) is going to have to be emulated for any of the otherupcoming films to be any good is utterly false. The Dark Knight had its flaws (what was the deal with the whole 'taking fingerprints off a bullet' sequence? Complete waste of time and confuse the shit out of the audience) but it was still a damn good overall film that ultimately forced Batman to compromise his 'no killing' rule despite allowing the Joker to live. The point is the writing and artistry were top-notch and no other films really devote that much focus to writing a cohesive and logical script because unlike Batman, these folks who actually have superpowers seem to be giving their writers the idea that they can sacrifice story quality for special effects and that is simply not true. Every hero needs a good villain for their foil and it's difficult to find good ones. Iron Man 3 fucking blew it explosively by

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

having the Mandarin be a fucking fake-out

and Hulk's was...well, for a simpleton like him I wasn't expecting much anyway (although I did enjoy the climactic finale).

Thor 2 has the potential to really shine if Disney doesn't royally screw them up like with IM3. Malekith the Accursed is a really interesting villain so hopefully the people who worked on the script weren't smoking what Shane Black was smoking to think what they turned in was anything like an acceptable product.

[Chris Brady]

Iron Man 3 spoiler/gripe:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Whatever happened to the 'Ten Rings' reference in the first film anyway?

And only ONE film has 'set the standard' and it's The Avengers.

[Inkidu]

Iron Man 3 spoiler/gripe:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Whatever happened to the 'Ten Rings' reference in the first film anyway?

And only ONE film has 'set the standard' and it's The Avengers.

It's implied that it was wiped out by the villain of Iron Man 1.

On Iron Man 3

I kind of figured something tricky from Iron Man 3 when the director admitted he thought the Mandarin was stereotypical and cliche, if not racist. I kind of like what he did, but I hardcore comic fans didn't like it because it messed with status quo.

It was certainly better than the second one. As much as I like Micky R. I don't think the villain for that movie was really effectual. Honestly the whole series has had weak villains. :\

I don't know if I could in good conscious call the Avengers the standard because it's the product of so many more movies it's the sum total is greater than that of its parts, but it's crippled with each Marvel movie you don't see.

In fact, I was a little perplexed why Nazis were looking for Norse artifacts in Captain America, because I saw it before being able to see Thor.

Oh, and if Kenneth Branaugh doesn't direct Thor 2 I'm not watching it.

I'd say as a stand alone film the best standard there is would be Captain America.

[Oniya]

The Nazis were historically into 'reclaiming' (or reinterpreting) Nordic stuff.  There's a reason that they used the jagged S for the SS, and among other interpretations, one used for the swastika was that it represented Thor swinging his hammer.

And besides, Nazis hunting religious artifacts worked so well for the Indiana Jones movies.

[Inkidu]

The Nazis were historically into 'reclaiming' (or reinterpreting) Nordic stuff.  There's a reason that they used the jagged S for the SS, and among other interpretations, one used for the swastika was that it represented Thor swinging his hammer.

And besides, Nazis hunting religious artifacts worked so well for the Indiana Jones movies.

Mmm... that's really a half myth. Himmler was into the occult he had a whole order within the SS (a group he built) so a lot of SS iconography is Nordic in tradition. It's heavily implied that Hitler himself used the myths for propaganda, but when it came to actually believing it he... indulged Himmler. I agree though it made Raiders epic.

Gee, Mr. Nazi sir, what did you think was going to happen when a Nazi opened the most sacred relic in all of Judaism. 

That aside, I should have said I had no idea where the Comic Cube (because I can't spell tesserwhatsit) came from, but it was revealed at the end of Thor.

[Oniya]

when it came to actually believing it he... indulged Himmler.

That's where the 'reinterpreting' thing comes in.  ;D  'Look!  We have all these myths saying how awesome we are!  We deserve to rule the world!'

[Inkidu]

That's where the 'reinterpreting' thing comes in.  ;D  'Look!  We have all these myths saying how awesome we are!  We deserve to rule the world!'

True.

What he failed to realize is that all the cultures of the world have those kinds of stories.

(America wins because we can actually prove how bad-ass our origin was. ;D kidding, kidding!)

Without watching Thor though the Cosmic Cube kind of comes from nowhere, though.

[ShadowFox89]

Batman Begins and Dark Knight were damn fine works but they really dropped the ball with Rises. I don't know what the hell they were thinking. But when you say it 'set the standard', that's flagrantly untrue.

Let me rephrase then. Batman Begins sets the standard as far as rating go for superhero movies. Before Batman Begins? Most superhero movies were met with "meh" and "eh", ie overall lackluster. Batman Begins and Dark Knight? Made jaws drop and critics go "hey, superhero movies can be good!". Thusly, the bar gets raised up.

[RedPhoenix]

It was one of the things JRR Tolkien hated, was how the Nazis had co opted Nordic mythology. He wrote angrily about it to lots of people. :/

[Inkidu]

It was one of the things JRR Tolkien hated, was how the Nazis had co opted Nordic mythology. He wrote angrily about it to lots of people. :/

It's why the Jews and others played Wagner and Beethoven. They didn't want the Nazis to claim it. 

[Chris Brady]

Let me rephrase then. Batman Begins sets the standard as far as rating go for superhero movies. Before Batman Begins? Most superhero movies were met with "meh" and "eh", ie overall lackluster. Batman Begins and Dark Knight? Made jaws drop and critics go "hey, superhero movies can be good!". Thusly, the bar gets raised up.

I disagree.  Blade was the first film that started it all.  People stood up and said, "Hey, that's pretty good!" and a whole deluge of Marvel properties that suddenly started to get better and better (with a few missteps here and there, Ang Lee's Hulk, I'm lookin' at you.)  Warner Bros. wanted to capitalize on it, and have been struggling for a long time to do so.  Nolan's Bat-thug was a start, but then they released Green Lantern, Superman Returns...

[Inkidu]

Returns wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. I think it was a bad move to try and connect it to the Reeves films.
I think Green Lantern was fairly terrible.

Blade was really good. I'm not as infatuated with Blade II as a lot of people, I found it a bit wonky.

[Mathim]

Blade, the first X-Men, even Daredevil for what it was all came before Batman Begins and really impressed me. That's why I gave Marvel so many chances despite being let down about 51% of the time. As for DC...not another penny. They blew it with Green Lantern and Dark Knight Rises. Sorry, Supes, it's too little too late.