Inhumans Movie Coming 2018

Marvel has announced an Inhumans movie to be released November 2, 2018.  Speculation is already rampant over who will play Black Bolt, silent leader of the Inhumans.  Some already suspect Vin Diesel to be a frontrunner for the role, reversing his acting from the voice-only Groot to the mostly voice-less Black Bolt.

Which isn't to say that Black Bolt can't talk, but when he does he releases enough destructive energy to level cities and even stop Thanos in his tracks, if only temporarily.

First Look at Benicio Del Toro as The Collector from 'Thor: The Dark World'

Benicio Del Toro as an immortal space Elvis

You know the drill by this point.  New Marvel movie, new teaser post-credits scene.  

This one features Benicio Del Toro as The Collector.  Teasing his role in next summer's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and perhaps foreshadowing a storyline for Avengers 3 (Infinity Gauntlet anyone?).  

The Collector is an Elder of the Universe in Marvel comics lore.  He is about as old as the universe itself and virtually immortal.  He has set up a collection of beings and artifacts as a failsafe against a vision of the future in which all life is destroyed.  One of these items is the aether from 'Thor: The Dark World', revealed here to be an infinity gem.

So, that's one infinity gem.  Another is revealed to be in Asgard's treasure room (either the tesseract or the gem placed into Loki's scepter in 'The Avengers').  That's two.  There are 6 gems total, which when put together create the infinity gauntlet.  This item has the power to unmake all life in the universe  and has long been the ultimate goal sought by Thanos.  

Who is Thanos, you may ask?  

Universal terror, Thanos

Thanos is the purple gentleman from the post-credits scene in 'The Avengers'.  Thanos is an Eternal in the comics (not as old as The Collector) who is constantly trying to court and impress Mistress Death.  And what better way is there to impress Death?  Destroy all life in the universe.  Thanos is powerful, but not powerful enough to accomplish this feat on his own.

So it would seem Marvel has set the table for an ultimate showdown with the Earth heroes and Thanos over the infinity gauntlet and the fate of the universe.  This is probably a few years down the line, maybe a potential storyline for 'Avengers 3', but it's awesome Marvel is thinking so far ahead to tie in all of their movies.  And I'm sure 'Guardians of the Galaxy' and phase 2 will expand this even further.

So these post-credits scenes might not make a whole lot of sense yet, but one day they will.  And on that day you'll have to tip your hat to the planning ability of Kevin Feige and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Comic Book TV Shows

There's no doubt one of the hottest trends in Hollywood over the past 5-10 years has been the Superhero blockbuster.  They seem to be unflappable; from the lower budget, but still profit-turning fare like Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengenace (seemed like a flop, but it grossed $132 million with a budget of $57 mil) all the way up to the mega-success The Avengers.  It doesn't take a genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist to see their almost unlimited potential.

That said, it baffles me as to why Marvel won't go the route of a superhero tv show.  I know they have  S.H.I.E.L.D. show in the works, but why not go further.  The groundwork is all there.  Disney owns Marvel.  Disney owns ABC.  ABC is constantly searching for hour-long dramas that will draw an audience.  The already used Disney properties for the fairy-tale hit Once Upon a Time.  Why not option a superhero show?  CGI effects have gotten better looking and cheaper to do.  There's no shortage of superheroes in the Marvel stable that aren't quite big enough for movies, but could easily carry a tv audience.  Seems like a perfect opportunity to make it happen.

It's worked in the past

Heck, DC already had successes in the recent past with Smallville and now Arrow (which both air(ed) on the CW network, owned by Warner Bros., which conveniently also owns DC Comics).  For God's sake, Smallville ran for 10 seasons.  10!  Even further back, Marvel found success with The Incredible Hulk.  Sci-Fi's Alphas has a nice audience with original un-licensed heroes.  It can and does work.

Batma...err... Green Arrow

Let's look at Arrow.  The Green Arrow isn't a marquee superhero.  He's a guy with no powers.  He's just an excellent archer. He doesn't fight planet-level threats, he's more of a street-level hero.  He's pretty much a low-rent Batman with a bow.  All aspects that lend themselves better to a tv show rather than a big-screen movie.

So, here's my pitch for a Marvel superhero tv show:

Luke Cage and Iron Fist: Heroes for Hire

Try and guess which one is the Iron Fist

Two street-level superheroes.  One a martial arts expert with a Batman-esque personal history (rich, dead parents).  The other a reformed drug dealer with super strength and impenetrable skin. They formed an unlikely partnership and decide to put their skills to use helping those who's problems aren't big enough for the likes of The Avengers, but are too much for the cops to handle.  New cases each week with some overarching plots.  Think of each episode like it's own comic issue.  

The effects aren't hard to do on tv... martial arts with the occasional flaming fist or foot.  And super strength is easy to accomplish with light cgi or wires.  (Heck Sci-Fi's Alphas does super strength on a shoe-string budget just fine)  Let's face it, Power Man and Iron fist are likely never getting a big movie.  They'd be side characters in a Daredevil film at best.  But on tv they can shine.  The show sets up like a cop drama serial, but with more interesting villains (Kingpin as a Mastermind?).  And again, there's no shortage of B-C-list villains to use.  Plus you have the added personal drama of Luke Cage being a married Superhero with an infant child.   

If this had been titled 'The Incredibles', would it have tanked?

Now I know ABC already tried their hand with No Ordinary Family, which flopped.  But that series was too light-hearted, and it had no name recognition.  This would be grittier, and have known heroes.  NBC's Heroes was great for a season.  The problem there was they didn't stick with the plan of following totally new heroes for the second season, which hurt the planned storyline.  Then the writer's strike finally killed any interesting plot lines.  

Good show gone wrong

Now, I'm clearly biased being a comic book fan.  And I know a lot of people are getting plain sick of the superhero movie trend.  But come on, why not take a chance on a new medium.  Successful tv shows don't have to be Shakespeare.  Do you know what the top-rated dramas on tv are? ...

...

NCIS and CSI: Los Angeles

Put it on at 8:00 and you'll draw viewers who are kids, kids at heart, and a lot of the people who'll watch cop shows in general.  I don't think any kids watch NCIS.  Marc Harmon isn't that popular. 

So come on Disney/ABC execs, let's actually use some of those assets.  

First Look at Silver Samurai on the set of 'The Wolverine'

A while back, Fox released this promo shot for 'The Wolverine', a sequel to the 2009 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine':

Just Hugh Jackman looking 80's-Stallone-level ripped for a reprisal of the title role.  Whether you liked 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' or not (count me in the latter), it's hard not to get excited when you see a photo like this.

The plot for the new Wolverine movie is based on the 1982 mini-series 'Wolverine' by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller which has Logan battling ninjas and the Tokyo criminal underworld for the heart of his ex-lover, the daughter of a Japanese crime lord.  It leads Logan to a clash with the Silver Samurai.  Created by Steve Gerber and Bob Brown, the Silver Samurai is the son of Yakuza Shingen Yashida, and possesses the mutant the ability to charge most anything, usually his katana, with an energy described as a tachyon field. 

Just recently a pic of the villain Silver Samurai has leaked from the set, check it out:

I know, it's not much, but it gives you an idea of how the character is going to be portrayed on the big screen.  And not too bad all things considered.  I've seen worse stabs at comic villains.  For comparison:

I'm a little skeptical of the Fox Marvel movies.  X3 was terrible and the first solo Wolverine movie was kind of a mess, but an 'R' rating and some scenes taken from Frank Miller art combined with distancing the Wolverine character from the X-Men has me cautiously optimistic for this one.  

I'm curious to see how the movie continues to develop as it nears its July 23, 2013 release date. 

Guardians of the Galaxy Movie Formally Announced: A look at Marvel vs DC Film strategy

This announcement really shouldn't surprise anyone who saw 'The Avengers'.  The snippet of Thanos at the end of that film signaled Marvel's intent to push into the "Cosmic Marvel" universe.

The choice of this team may be a little surprising however.  The Guardians have been in existence since 1969, but didn't get its own comic title until 1990.  And there have been many different members of the team since its inception.  The most recent of which (seen below) seems to be the lineup set to appear in the film.  I think it's funny Marvel didn't choose a more recognizable name by going with Captain Marvel, or Adam Warlock, or Nova, or Quasar.    

Official concept art for the film revealed at Comic Con

Those with keen eyes may notice a tree and a raccoon in that picture.  They would be correct.  Two members of the Guardians are Groot, a living tree, and Rocket Raccoon, a raccoon.  

To me, this illustrates the wide gap between the Marvel/Disney partnership and the DC/Warner Brothers partnership.  We will see a movie featuring tree and raccoon superheroes no one has ever heard of before we see a big-sceen Flash or Wonder Woman.  I could go up to nearly anyone on the street and they would be able to recognize Flash and Wonder Woman, and probably be able to give me a basic idea of their powers.  Yet the only characters DC seems willing to adapt for the big screen are Batman and Superman (currently filming another reboot).  And so far their other attempt at a major hero (Green Lantern) was a failure as a comic adaptation and movie both.  I can't stand the amorphous space blob villain idea.  It never works story-wise and looks lame on film.  (I'm looking at you Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - Note: not a Marvel Studios film)

And Marvel to this point has had several successful character franchises (Iron Man, Thor, Captain America) where DC/Warner Bros has only had one (The Goddam Batman).  

It's disappointing.  It seems like Warner Bros. is afraid that any characters outside of Batman and Superman won't have a market.  Meanwhile, Marvel/Disney is willing to roll the dice with a C-list team and will probably find success.  Doubly disappointing since 7 times out of 10 when I go to read a superhero comic (trade paperbacks because I'm cheap and impatient), it's DC.

Marvel also announced dates and titles for Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Ant-Man.  All but Iron Man 3 are years away, but Marvel clearly has a plan.  It is rumored that DC will be making a Lobo adaptation with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.  But, the project has been stuck in development hell since 2009... Lobo.  Now I like Lobo just fine, I just cant figure out why they would go with Lobo over a more well known character.

 But hey, I still have high hopes for Superman: Man of Steel.

Thomas Jane Reprises his Role as The Punisher in Fan Film

Whose fan film?  Why, Tom Jane's own, of course.

Tom Jane played The Punisher in the eponymous 2004 film.  The film was not well received, but mostly for the writing, not Tom Jane's performance.  That and it's hard to take John Travolta seriously as a villain.  But there were some good scenes.

Jane was not asked back to the role in the follow-up film 'Punisher: War Zone'.  It should be noted that the first film was not a Marvel Studios film, while the second was.  That probably payed a role in the casting choices.

Regardless, Tom Jane seemed to genuinely like the character.  He showed this recently by releasing a short 'fan-made' film called 'Dirty Laundry'.  I put that in quotes simply because the short is very high quality (except for the special effects) and stars both Tom Jane and Ron MFing Perlman!

Jane on the film:

"I wanted to make a fan film for a character I've always loved and believed in - a love letter to Frank Castle & his fans. It was an incredible experience with everyone on the project throwing in their time just for the fun of it. It's been a blast to be a part of from start to finish -- we hope the friends of Frank enjoy watching it as much as we did making it."

Check it out:

Maybe he can convince Marvel Studios to give him another crack at the role.  

I'm on board.


After all, he just wants his kids back

LEGO Captain America Movie

You know, sometimes it really seems like a movie can fail because it gets stretched in too many different directions... Especially with superhero movies.  Studios want them to be at the same time gritty and family-friendly; realistic, yet true to the comics.  You can't always have it both ways.

 Captain America sort of felt this way to me.  I saw it in theaters this past summer with my 9-year-old cousin.  He liked it just fine, but his taste in movies isn't all that discerning.  In fact, he stopped mentioning the movie the next day and was back to his previous obsession (not a good sign).  It left a similar impact on me.  The movie was entertaining in parts, but felt very bland and generic.  A fine summer movie, but nothing I'd recommend to anyone or feel the need to watch a second time.  In all honesty, the beginning of the movie wasn't bad, but the second half just didn't have the same flow.  It's an origin story set in WWII.  Did we really need the alien cube thing?  Were they really that desperate to tie this movie into the Avengers setup?  Seemed a bit forced to me.  

In general, I'm a little worried with the direction Marvel in particular is taking with their movies.  Captain America was ok, Thor was ok.  Iron Man I was good, II was admittedly bad.  They all just seemed like setups for 'The Avengers', which for Marvel's sake, better be good.  They have a lot riding on it, since almost all of their other movies are tied into it.

The one departure seems to be the next Ghost Rider movie, which actually looks pretty decent in the sense it isn't trying to capture the young kid audience.  That's a good thing since Ghost Rider really isn't a character for kids, and never was.  It should be noted that the first Ghost Rider movie was very tongue-in-cheek and seemed to want to capture the kid audience, again an example of being stretched too many different ways.  Didn't work.  It should also be noted that the first Ghost Rider movie was not a Marvel Studios film.  Check out the trailer here

Who knows... I'll likely keep watching them.  It's just one of those things where since I have a familiarity with the characters, I'll always have a sense that some things could have been done better.  That some parts of those movies should have better met my personal expectations for how that character would be portrayed.  It's a double-edged sword: a built-in fan base, but one that is overly critical.

Anyway, the reason for my ramble was a cool little Captain America LEGO short that got me thinking about super hero movies.  It's one of the more over-the-top LEGO films I've seen, and I've seen quite a few.  It almost makes me wish the actual Captain America movie wasn't so kid-friendly so we could have had some scenes approaching this.

Super over the top, right down to the Wilhelm scream and the screaming eagle sound effect.
 Kudos to ForrestFireFIlms, this was really well done.