Long story short? There are a lot of comic book movie adaptations coming out in the next six years…
Graphic is below, and I’m wondering right now: how many is too many? Do you think we’ll be sick of these films by 2020? Or craving for more…
The info graphic comes to us courtesy of comicsalliance.com. And as you can see, they’ve pretty much covered every base you can cover, down to the Lego Batman movie.
I’m also entertained by the fact that dates for “Unknown Movie (Marvel)” have been announced before the actual concept. Only in Hollywood.
This of course means they have several untitled projects (maybe a Hulk movie?) that they could slip into those release dates, and the powers that be are simply waiting on the call from preproduction. Won’t be long before they actually make the announcement.
Anyway, is the comic book movie market getting over saturated? It’s pretty easy to think so after looking at a list like this, and I’m tempted to roll my eyes. But the key thing to remember is that thanks to Marvel and D.C., “superhero” movies have been broadened to include more genres than just the men in tights gimmick.
These studios have proven that you can make movies that encompass genres that are faithful to their stories. Thor is a fantasy movie above all else. Captain America is a political thriller. And Iron Man is action comedy. With all of these movies telling different types of stories on different scales, I’m worrying less and less about over saturation. For now.
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This week on Agents of FILM, Maria and I debate over the best “Pre-Iron Man” superhero movie of the 2000s. We also review BoxTrolls and Gotham, discuss the new Big Hero 6 trailer, and let you know which new movies you can check out this weekend.
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The new trailer for Thor: The Dark World has just come out and unsurprisingly confused moviegoers everywhere. Luckily, screenshots and sarcasm exist, so I broke down what I got out of the whole thing.
Here’s the trailer first, and then we’ll have an honest discussion:
The trailer kicks off where the last one left off, Thor approaching his evil brother, Loki, for help.
After all this time…now you come to visit me brother. Why? To mock?
For some reason, Lowkey doesn’t seem very keen on this battle-plan and takes it out on the appliances. Harsh.
So the starcrossed brothers agree that they hate/don’t trust each other and officially join up. I like the idea, especially since Lowkey and his hair have been well-loved by Avengers fans.
Odin/Anthony Hopkins begins narrating, because thank Asgard, and tells us that things actually existed before things.
Some believe that before the universe, there was nothing. Well, they’re wrong.
Apparently, this darkness hates London, because that’s where all this vague, evil stuff is happening.
We see the only comic relief from these movies looking pretty serious (unfortunately) as darkness ship approaches. Also, we get a look at Darcy’s boyfriend, Ian Boothby. I don’t really know who this guy is from the comics or if he’s significant. Let’s just hope he doesn’t die that quickly.
Apparently Ian is British.
Thoar shows up and makes eyes with Jane, presumably telling her what the trailer makers refuse to tell us (what’s going on). Then he whisks her away on a rainbow and stuff.
She probably said something like, “Hey this seems pretty dangerous,” but that’s definitely not enough to dissuade Thoar from hanging out with Natalie Portman, so.
We then see a steel pod. No idea. Even Idris Elba comes on the scene and points out how unnecessarily mysterious this movie is.
But Thoar claims that there is someone who knows who the villain is, and that’s Lowkey. Because apparently villains friend each other online.
We then see the ThunderGodFriends each displaying how much they don’t like their former comrade, which is the highlight of the trailer. Even Sif-ylous gets a jab.
When is she getting her own movie again? Oh and Jane Hostage gets a slap in.
Aside from Sif-ylous looking overly worried in the background and Lowkey apparently being turned on by pain, the trailer transitions to the soundtrack-fueled action scenes.
There’s a waterfall which is pretty cool. Everyone is on a boat. Oh, and the Drell make an appearance as the villains!
The villain starts talking (probably the guy who played the cop in Bridesmaids) and tells Thoar that his awesomeness isn’t that awesome because they’re going to do bad things.
Then something surprising happens after a slew of confusing action scenes. Jane Hostage is back with her friends (stockholm syndrome?) and reveals what the villain’s actual goal is. This is huge people.
Because whatever.
Then Thoar fights the Drell from the London part of the movie that they skipped earlier, thank Asgard, and we’re treated to an extended scene of Thoar going Indiana Jones on this dude.
Thoar turns him into a bunch of rocks thanks to his hammer being magic and then he says something that isn’t actually cheesy.
Overall, I liked this trailer a lot. We got to see more of the London setting and interactions between the main heroes and Loki (okay I’ll say it right).
What’s looking good is the movie’s willingness to thrust the side heroes into bigger roles. Sif gets more screen time, and we even see Thor’s mom fighting. Also, using Asgard as the backdrop for most of this movie lends to the strengths of this adaptation.
After all, the stakes have to be high for the God of Thunder, and we need a reasonable explanation for why none of the other Avengers will show up, which Iron Man 3 managed to pull off pretty well.
I do have several questions however…
1. Will Jane slap Sif as hard as she did Loki when they fight over Thor?
2. Will EA sue Marvel for ripping off Mass Effect?
3. How will this movie affect Tom Hiddleston’s dubstep career?
Thor: The Dark World will be hitting theaters November 8.
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As much as we love The Avengers and the idea of The Justice League hitting the big screen, Columbia Pictures should roll out an original stream of movies with Will Smith leading the way.
I HATE the CW. It doesn’t even try to make shows for my demographic, and hey that is alright. But with Arrow, the superhero biopic based on the quasi-well-known D.C. superhero Green Arrow, could just might show a more balanced network on channel 5.
Having premiered back in September, I’ve given the show 6 episodes to prove itself, so this review is based on my impression of those 6 episodes alone.
The first thing you need to know about this new show is that it has absolutely no connection with the Green Arrow of Smallville fame, which is great news for probably most people. That version of Green Arrow differs tremendously from this new envisioned hero. It’s like comparing pop music to rock n roll, or at least that’s how I make sense of it.
Arrow relies on the kind of gritty storytelling that borrows somewhat from Chris Nolan’s Batman and, surprisingly, Lost. I never really got into Lost having only watched 10 or so episodes, but if there’s one thing I took away from their storytelling, it’s the use of ongoing flashbacks to bolster the story. So, imagine a superhero television show that paces itself like Lost.
In a nutshell, Arrow is about a 20 something billionaire named Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) who was shipwrecked at sea for 5 years. He returns from his isolation with an agenda: to use his superhuman skills acquired mysteriously from his time on the island to the right the wrongs of his father, who acquired his wealth by taking advantage of the poor.
Yes it’s Robin Hood mixed with Batman with the show Revenge for good measure. One of the show’s strong points is that we are introduced slowly to the character of Oliver Queen. We begin with his return to his home of Starling City, as he juggles reconnecting with his estranged family/friends and taking down the crony capitalists that are choking the city to death.
That’s Arrow’s biggest strength: character development. Oliver is interesting and constantly changing. One minute he is a brooding anti-hero unafraid to kill someone who stands in his way. The next minute he is a detective, figuring out the best way to subdue his well-protected enemies. Then we have the minutes where Oliver is an actual person, struggling to fit back into the lives of his beloved family who thought he was dead for years. Oh, and let’s not forget that we are treated to excellent flashbacks to his 5 years of desperate survival that turned him into the character we already know. The show goes out of its way to make Oliver Queen a great character.
I wish I could say the same for some of the other characters. With the exception of Oliver’s mother Moira (Susanna Thompson) and Oliver’s bodyguard Dig (David Ramsey), the rest of Arrow’s cast are either one-note or should be one-note. This is more apparent early-on with Laurel (Katie Cassidy), Oliver’s girlfriend before the shipwreck, of which he cheated on her with her sister, who did not survive the shipwreck. Yikes. Although this character is ripe with great plot opportunities for drama, I did not find Cassidy’s portrayal of the character very compelling or fun to watch. Watching her be a lawyer is especially frustrating and full of one-liners like, “I’m the only one who cares about this city!” and “I will always fight for the little guy!” Sorry Laurel, Rachel Dawes did it better.
I could go on and on about the lackluster characters, but instead I’ll focus on how the show ultimately redeems itself via the excellent pacing, memorable villains, above-average action scenes, and the show’s fantastic commitment to comic-book tie-ins. Even the people who don’t recognize the nuance references to the D.C. comic universe benefit from the rich universe this show borrows from. It works.
The show is on a good path, and it’s only main flaw (again the characters) is improving weekly. If there is one thing that can really make this show a must-watch, it would be the implementation of more moral “real world” dilemmas that we all know and love from D.C. stories such as Batman (at what point do you become the villain you’re fighting against?) and Superman (security versus freedom). Arrow has teased us with these deep questions, such as how Oliver Queen has readily murdered dozens of bodyguards and security personnel to accomplish his missions. At first we rolled our eyes at the inconsistency of this, but then a major villain early on actually points this out to Green Arrow and it sunk in. Oliver then begins to show how his torture on the island made him callous and depraved. These are great themes more than suitable for a D.C. character.
So yes, Arrow is definitely worth watching for most people. It has the beautiful actors and supernatural-ish world and characters CW watchers crave and it has the fantastic storytelling and action that is usually witnessed on ABC and Fox. It’s a fun show that can sometimes throw drama-infused curveballs, and I can’t wait to see how the first season turns out.
-On a side note, I am very much against D.C. copying Marvel for a superhero team up movie in the form of The Justice League to rival The Avengers. Shows like this prove that D.C. belongs on the small screen, and a team up using this version of Green Arrow would be 10 times better than using, say Ryan Reynold’s Green Lantern. We’ll see if I eat my words once Man of Steel comes out.
