Unabashed

Marvel has better super heroes than DC: Fact. And, even though DC has reigned in the movie adaptation biz up until recently, the shift over to Marvel has begun, and get ready, because it looks like Marvel’s in it for the long haul and are ready to expound upon the statement made initially by Spider Man and now by Iron Man.

Between mecha-fighter Iron Man’s second movie, coming in April 30, 2010, and military-sponsored super-soldier Captain America, coming May 6, 2011, Marvel Comics’ upcoming movie slate has a very militaristic feel. But where’s the peaceful shrinking scientist Ant-Man, who communicates with ants? Apprently his movie’s on hold, so we can get Norse god Thor’s movie, directed by Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Layer Cake), on June 4, 2010. Captain America’s full title will be The First Avenger: Captain America, and his film will be followed by The Avengers in July 2011.

I’m glad they’re redoing the Hulk, but if they really want to fix past failures they need to look seriously at Daredevil. Or Ghost Rider. In fact, let’s just go ahead and ban Nick Cage and Ben Affleck from any and all future super hero movies. For the genre, I think Robert Downey, Jr. and Ed Norton are exactly the kinds of actors needed to fill the roles. Though I thought Eric Bana did an okay job as Bruce Banner, he just wasn’t right for the role. Ed Norton looks like I might imagine Banner looking like, so, casting is at least better in this adaptation than in the first Hulk. And casting is monumentally important in super hero movies. Just plugging in any-ol’ star won’t work with us fanboys. The actor must fit the role. Like Robert Downey, Jr. in Iron Man. If they’d given that role, as was originally planned, to Nick Cage, or even worse, Ben Affleck, even if nothing else in the movie had changed it wouldn’t have been as good.

For Thor and Captain America, casting is going to be equally important. We–I’m speaking for Fanboy Nation here–don’t care so much about the big names, we just want to see the character fulfilled. We want the actor to fit the role.

The forming of Marvel Studios should help make comic movies a lot better. They should be more focused on presenting the characters faithfully to the storylines already established. Or at least I hope they will. And they’ve got to, because they’ve all but ruined comic books with crossovers multiple titles for the same characters.

written by Matt Mitchell \\ tags: Avengers, Bruce Banner, Captain America, Ed Norton, Edward, Ghost Rider, Hulk, Iron Man, marvel, Robert Downey, Spider Man, Studios, Thor

I am engulfed with fanboy frenzy. Next up on the calendar of movies I’m dying to see but will probably be disappointed with (see: Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Punisher, Hulk, etc.) is Iron Man. I’m a comic reader from way back, and Iron Man was always one of my favorites (along with Daredevil, Ghost Rider…). Iron Man was one of those B heroes: he never sold a lot of books like Fantastic Four or Spider Man, but he was always imminently cool, like Daredevil and Moon Knight. Basically the story line should look like this: Billionaire alcoholic playboy who builds advanced weaponry has a side gig as the iron-clad super hero protector of Earth. Nobody had gadgets like Iron Man, nobody had cool like Iron Man, either. It almost makes me want to start reading comics again. Here’s the teaser trailer, when it’s over you can exhale:

The only problem is that it can’t be as cool as it looks, can it? Robert Downey Jr. has, like Tony Stark (Iron Man’s alter ego), had his share of ups and downs. And though I’ve known for a while that he was cast in the lead role I haven’t been very excited about it. His acting technique has never seemed quite to fit with what I had envisioned for Stark. But this teaser makes him seem like a really good fit. I’ve got to hand it to director Jon Favreau, it looks like he’s done a great job of directing… a trailer. Jury’s still out on the movie. But hey, lately there have been some movies that I’ve been excited about and have actually been good: 300, Transformers, Casino Royal, and Sin City to name a few. (You might note that all the movies referred to in this post are movies that were based on some other medium and were not original ideas. The movies I seem to get the most excited about are the ones based on things that I liked when I was a kid or have always wanted to see modernized and put up on the silver screen.)

Fanboy Moment: Iron Man in the comics was one of the five or six most powerful beings on the planet. In sheer strength, only the Hulk and Thor could really overpower him. I seem to remember one situation where Iron Man was sent to corral the Hulk during one of his “Hulk smash!” rampages, and Iron Man powered up his armor and laid the green giant out flat. Knocked the Hulk unconscious. For the fanboy in me, this is a monumental statement. Of course, the power required of that knockout punch drained Iron Man’s suit of energy and he collapsed in a heap almost simultaneously. Sure, there are a lot of other super-strong heroes: Colossus, The Thing, Rogue… but they’re all second or third tier when it comes to brute strength. If I had to send one Marvel hero over to DC to duke it out with Superman, it would have to be either Thor or Iron Man. Hands down. /Fanboy Moment.

One thing I really would like to know: Why don’t we all have gadgety suits of flight-capable armor by now? I mean, this is the 21st century, right? Aren’t we all supposed to be able to fly to work by now? Where’s my Iron Man suit?

It gives me chills. It really does. (In a good way.)

written by Matt Mitchell \\ tags: Comics, Daredevil, hero, Hulk, Invincible, Iron Man, marvel, moon knight, Spider Man, super