marvel | the m0vie blog

Should Marvel Look at Merging Some of Its Smaller Projects?

Posted on October 30, 2009 by Darren

There’s been a lot of buzz generated about the new “shared universe” that Marvel is generating on-screen in the run up to The Avengers, being released in 2012. It has generated fantastic buzz and discussion given there are only really two scenes that have been screened suggesting how the the format might work: the presence of Samuel L. Jackson at the end of Iron Man, welcoming Tony Stark into a wider “universe” and the one-scene appearance of Robert Downey Jnr. at the end of The Incredible Hulk. Undoubtedly next year’s Iron Man 2 will feature even more treats (as will Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger), but it’s interesting to see the fuss that two tiny scenes have generated. I really do think that Marvel are on to box office gold here, and I also think it’s an interesting (and honest) attempt to transfer the medium of comics to film. However, these are all playing into one giant box office buster. Might it be worth taking the same concept and applying it to some of Marvel’s smaller screen franchises?

Fighting over top billing...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: captain america, crossover, crossovers, daredevil, film, films, iron man, marvel, marvel comics, Movies, punisher, the avengers, the punisher, thor | 2 Comments »

Thor And Internal Consistency…

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Darren

I am growing more and more excited about Thor as every little snippet of rumour leaks out about casting. Which is odd, because Thor is one of the movies coming out on the road to The Avengers which I really don’t care that much about. It’s a superhero movie about a guy with a really big hammer – I don’t want to see that version of Thor. On the other hand, my interest was piqued from the moment that Kenneth Branagh was announced as director. Kenneth Branagh’s Thor I am interested in seeing. Particularly if it stars Robert deNiro and Jude Law. Still, my inner nerd remains skeptical about positioning a film based on myths and magic so firmly as a cornerstone of the on-screen Marvel universe.

What's the point of being the God of Thunder if you can't use it to dramatic effect every now and again?

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: brian blessed, chris hemsworth, comic books, Comics, consistency, films, internal consistency, iron man, jude law, kenneth branagh, marvel, odin, robert deniro, the incredible hulk, thor, ultimate thor | Leave a comment »

Ultimate Spider-Man – Vol. 7-9 (Hardcover)

Posted on October 16, 2009 by Darren

Five years in and the Ultimate Universe is starting to look a little cluttered. In fairness, it was a little bit inevitable, with so many classic storylines to play out and so many classic characters to reimagine in a relatively short space of time. Bendis tries to keep the toys from cluttering up the pram through various means, and none of these new characters seem forced (though some do feel gratuitous). I suppose that if the Ultimate line is supposed to offer a mirror to the mainstream history of Marvel, it’s only natural it should become cluttered. Still, like playing with your favourite toys, it’s only natural to make a bit of a mess…

No claws for alarm...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: brian michael bendis, clone saga, Comics, Deadpool, graphic novels, hobgoblin, Knights, mark bagley, marvel, marvel comics, Morbius, review, Silver Sable, spider man, spiderman, The Talk, ultimate clone saga, ultimate comics, Ultimate Deadpool, ultimate hobgoblin, ultimate marvel, Ultimate Morbius, Ultimate Silver Sable, ultimate spider man, ultimate spiderman, ultimate universe | 1 Comment »

Still Dead Set on Deadpool…

Posted on September 24, 2009 by Darren

Looks like Robert Downey Jnr. isn’t Hollywood’s only two-franchise man at the moment – apparently Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool is still on the cards, at least according to the character’s creator. This is interesting not just because Reynolds will be the leading man in two major superhero productions (and possibly franchises) in the coming years, but also because he will be the first leading man to work with both DC Comics and Marvel Entertainment at the same time. Sure, he was in Blade III, but we don’t count that. It never happened. And I doubt he’d disagree with us on that.

Apparently Green Lantern's secret identity is Deadpool...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: comic book movies, Deadpool, film, green lantern, marvel, Movies, ryan reynolds, x-men, x-men origins: deadpool | Leave a comment »

Pixar’s Ant-Man!

Posted on September 8, 2009 by Darren

Yes, I can’t resist the urge to post every bit of awesome Pixar-related news that comes to my attention. This week it’s the potential payoff on the humongous (yes, I’ve been waiting to use that word a while now) Marvel-Disney deal that broke last week and sent ripples through the geeksphere. I was less-than-interested because I knew it would be years before we say any payoff (given the long Hollywood development cycle) and even more years before Disney got its hands on the movie rights to any ‘big hitters’ (as all the big franchises are tied up with other studios at the moment). There was the thought at the back of my mind that I dared not articulate, but it has happened: Pixar are apparently doing a comic book movie. An Ant-Man movie!

Wait, who?

Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na, Antman!

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: animated movies, animation, ant-man, antman, cgi, comic books, Comics, disney, disney-marvel deal, edgar wright, hank pym, marvel, marvel-disney deal, pixar, superhero, the avengers, the ultimates | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: X-Men II

Posted on September 1, 2009 by Darren

I wrote in my review of the original X-Men that the first film in the saga still holds up quite well, even after a decade of superhero movies built off the back of it. It is by no means as spectacular as some of those that followed, nor is it as bad as some of those that followed. X-Men II is something similar. It wasn’t quite as revolutionary, but it did jumpstart another style of summer blockbuster, arguably a subgenre of the type sparked by the original film: the bigger and better superhero sequel.

No need to get your claws out...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: brian cox, comic books, films, god loves man kills, ian mckellen, kurt wagner, magneto, marvel, Movies, nightcrawler, non-review review, review, william stryker, wolverine, x-men, x-men 2, x-men united, x2: x-men united | Leave a comment »

Magneto’s Magnetism…

Posted on August 26, 2009 by Darren

Another day, another superhero movie. Still, the long-rumoured X-Men Origins: Magneto is a project which has aroused quite a bit of my interest, if only because it has the potential to be unlike any other film in that genre. And if – as it appears – the superhero film is here to stay, we should at least welcome those that are willing to deviate from the norm, even a little bit and even if they don’t work out. Still, I wholeheartedly accept that it could end up being as pointless and soulless as Wolverine was, so I won’t be priming my hopes too much.

"YOU SHALL NOT RECAST!"

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: Anti-hero, Anti-Villain, David Goyer, Deadpool, films, Fox, franchises, ian mckellen, magneto, marvel, Movies, Mutants, nazis, Sir Ian McKellen, wolverine, x-men, X-Men Origins, X-Men Origins: Gambit, X-Men Origins: Magneto, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, x-men spin-off, x-men spin-offs, X-Men: First Class | Leave a comment »

Ultimate Spider-Man Collection (Hardcover Volumes #1-3) (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Darren

In 2000, Marvel did something genuinely bold with one of its pop culture icons. Of course, the early part of the last decade saw a breath of fresh air at the House of Ideas, with iconic and influential (and occasionally iconoclastic) runs on books like New X-Men, Fantastic Four, Amazing Spider-Man, X-Statix, Punisher and other titles like Daredevil or Alias. However, the formation of the Ultimate line of comics was perhaps the most significant creative gamble taken at the time. The idea was simple, and the timing perfect. With Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man around the corner, and Bryan Singer’s X-Men proving that superheroes were the stuff of summer blockbusters, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to launch a line of books that would be easily accessible to new readers, free from decades of tangled continuity and plot developments.

And, appropriately enough, the character chosen to spearhead this new line was arguably Marvel’s most iconic character, Spider-Man.

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: bendis, brian michael bendis, Comics, Eddie Brock, green goblin, marvel, marvel comics, michael bendis, new avengers, peter parker, review, sam raimi, spider man, spider-man 3, spiderman, the amazing spider-man, ultimate, ultimate comics spider-man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, ultimate marvel, ultimate spider man, ultimate spiderman, ultimate venom, ultimate x-men, venom | 6 Comments »

The Ultimates by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch Omnibus (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Darren

The Ultimates got me into comics. I’d read a couple beforehand, of course, and picked up a stray issue in the nineties, but it was The Ultimates that convinced me that superhero comic books could be something bold and innovative and clever, rather than generic and plain. Looking back, I think that The Ultimates stands as one of Marvel’s crowning accomplishments of the last decade, with only New X-Men and Daredevil ever really coming close. A lot of people argue that it’s the cynical world view that sets Mark Millar’s origin story apart, and gives it a broad appeal, but I’d disagree.

I think that Millar’s story doesn’t work because it dismantles the conventional superhero narrative through glib nihilism and cool apathy, but rather because it vindicates that ideal by passing it through a crucible. In many ways, The Ultimates is perhaps the most optimistic superhero story I’ve ever read, if only because the idealism is truly earned.

Holding out for some heroes…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: Avenger, brian hitch, brian michael bendis, captain america, comic books, graphic novels, iron man, mark millar, marvel, Marvel Comic, marvel comics, marvel omnibus, Millar, review, stan lee, the avengers, the ultimates, the ultimates omnibus, thor, ultimate marvel, ultimate universe, Ultimates | 5 Comments »

Mon Capitan – Captain America and International Audiences

Posted on July 31, 2009 by Darren

With The Avengers universe building up – Marvel’s plan to introduce a bunch of comic book characters through solo films and tie them together into one big team-up movie -, there is one of the prequels (if we can call them that – they aren’t really prequels or sequels and some aren’t even origins) that I am really interested in. It isn’t Favreau and Downey’s Iron Man 2, nor is it Branagh’s Thor. I am most interested in how the Captain America movie comes about – particularly at the moment. This has nothing to do with the charmingly awful version we saw about twenty years ago. This is more to do with how the most blatantly American superhero will do overseas.