Category Archives: The Avengers

An ‘Avengers’ TV series? It could work

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News rolled out this weekend that Marvel and parent company Disney are exploring the possibility of a TV series set in the Marvel movie universe that “The Avengers,” “Iron Man” and all the rest live in.

This is something of a change considering that Disney and Marvel have mulled a couple of TV series since their big-screen ventures began in 2008.

Apparently a “Hulk” series is still being developed, but it seems like maybe the people in charge aren’t quite sure of what to do with it. They’ve said it would not take place in the Marvel movie universe, thus eliminating the possibility of a Tony Stark cameo.

Marvel was considering a series featuring second-tier heroes like Jessica Jones and Luke Cage (Hero for Hire, Power Man, of course). But they back-burnered it, maybe so they could concentrate on this series.

So where should Marvel go on the TV screen?

Consider an animated series. Seriously. Everybody wants to see live-action, of course, and there’s already an “Avengers” animated series being developed for Disney XD. But you know what? “Jonny Quest” was a primetime series. Who wouldn’t watch a weekly primetime version of “The Incredibles?” If you decide to do the ultimate (no pun intended) “Avengers” TV series and it just happens to be animated, emulate “Justice League Unlimited” and the fans will watch.

Forget the stars. Really. Fans won’t tune in every week hoping to seem Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury. They’ll turn in to see concepts from their favorite comics explored on the small screen. Don’t worry about getting Jackson or Chris Evans or Mark Ruffalo. Work around the established characters or even re-cast them. Think about it: In the past 50 years, a lot of different artists have drawn Spider-Man, Captain America and the rest. They’ve looked pretty familiar but not exactly the same. Fans can accept variations.

Figure out how to budget it. The average episode of a TV series costs a couple million bucks. That’s about a tenth of what a big-screen movie can cost. If the producers try to be realistic in how they budget and make the show, fans will understand. Doing a cheap version that feels like a cheap version won’t satisfy anybody.

Some possible series:

“SHIELD” is a natural. It’s a spy organization. TV can do spies. Feature the Maria Hill character with a couple of cameos from Sam Jackson. Maybe Iron Man would fly over in the season finale.

“Damage Control” is little known among the public at large but often suggested by fans. Created in 1989, the Damage Control comic is about a New York-based company that comes in in the aftermath of a knock-down-drag-out between the Fantastic Four and Dr. Doom, for example. Damage Control would clean up the mess, stabilize buildings and deal with any otherworldly toxic waste. The show would be a natural to have heroes show up occasionally, make a mess and leave. Humor would be an important element here.

With its DVD short films featuring SHIELD agents and the upcoming “Item 47” – a 12-minute movie on the Avengers DVDs this September featuring a story about two grifters, including Lizzy Caplan, who find one of the Chitauri blasters and decide to put it to bad use – Marvel is showing an inclination to try comic book stories on a smaller scale. It’s no surprise they would eventually focus that effort on a TV series.

 

New ‘Fantastic Four’ on the way; what we want to see

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Timed in part to generate buzz on the floor of San Diego Comic Con, 20th Century Fox has announced that Josh Trank, who brought a new approach to the superhero origin movie with “Chronicle,” will direct the studio’s reboot of the “Fantastic Four” movie series.

Well, everyone is guessing it’s a reboot. But it’s unlikely that Jessica Alba and Chris Evans will be taking a third turn as the Storm siblings.

I wasn’t bitterly, bitterly disappointed with the 2005 “Fantastic Four” movie and its 2007 sequel, “Rise of the Silver Surfer.” I was just bitterly disappointed. Only one bitterly there.

That’s because the FF are second only to – and maybe equal to – The Avengers as the favorite Marvel Comics of my childhood.

Getting everything about the FF right for a “Fantastic Four” movie won’t be an easy task, especially with so many fans suspecting that the new flick is just Fox’s way of keeping a handle on the characters so the title won’t revert to Marvel and the characters and their storylines won’t become part of Marvel’s born-and-bred movie universe.

But Trank generated some good will with “Chronicle,” and he might be up to this task.

Here’s what he needs to do:

Get the tone of the Fantastic Four right: That just about says it all. The book has always been one of Marvel’s offbeat properties. Most of the characters are related to each other or lifelong friends with all the frictions that entails. That means very different relationships than those among “The Avengers” in Joss Whedon’s blockbuster.

Reed Richards is a genius but not an ass. Not most of the time. The brains of the group is a difficult character, probably the most difficult of the foursome. He’s incredibly smart but remote. Imagine Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark without the quips.

Sue Storm has to have something to do. She’s the Invisible Woman! She can … become invisible! (Okay, and also throw force fields and stuff). Sue’s powers must have seemed a lot more special in the early 1960s. Since she’s married to Reed and the sister of Human Torch Johnny Storm, she’s the glue that holds the family together. But she has to do more than look blonde and say, “Johnny! Reed!”

Look at the recent movies for an example of how to handle the Human Torch. Seriously? Yes. One of the few things that the “Fantastic Four” movies got right was Johnny Storm’s irreverent hot shot. He’s a prankster and full of himself. There’s a reason one of his best friends in the comics is that wiseacre Spider-Man.

Ben Grimm. Ben Grimm. Ben Grimm. The Thing is the heart and soul of the Fantastic Four. He’s a rollicking character, a guy who will “clobber” any creature and hurtle toward a threat as huge as Galactus. But Ben is also the most tender-hearted. He’s been dealt a terrible hand in life. Yet he gets right in there and jokes and brawls and fights the bad guys. And a note to Trank: Ben Grimm needs to be taller than the other members of the team. Maybe he doesn’t have to be as big as the Hulk was in “The Avengers,” but he needs to be bigger than he was in the recent movies.

Big scope. BIIIIIIG scope. The Fantastic Four comic was huge in scope, with Earth-threatening menaces like Galactus, fantastic Reed Richards inventions the size of a house and adventures that spanned space and time. I hope they don’t try to do the movie on the cheap.

While I’d like to see the FF in the Marvel movie universe, Trank and Fox might be able to do a lot with the beloved characters in a self-contained movie. If they respect the characters, the concept and the classic storylines, that is.

‘The Avengers’ hits $600 million … and 27th place????

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Although I only contributed the cost of a couple of tickets – so far – I was pleased to hear that Joss Whedon’s “The Avengers” passed the $600 million box office milestone this week.

That puts “The Avengers” in third place, behind James Cameron’s “Titanic” and “Avatar,” in terms of total box office haul.

“Titanic” has topped a cool billion, so I’m not sure “Avengers” will be able to reach that peak.

Each time a new box office threshold is crossed, of course, some history-minded person considers the increase, over the decades, of ticket prices.

Boxofficemojo.com’s list of movie box office – as adjusted for inflation – is pretty illuminating and also a little disheartening for movie lovers.

Considering that ticket prices were less than a quarter in 1939, how amazing is it that “Gone With the Wind” sold enough tickets (in its original release and subsequent re-releases) to still top the charts, with a an-adjusted-for-inflation take of $1.6 billion? That’s a paltry $198 million in unadjusted numbers.

On the Boxofficemojo list, “The Avengers” and its $600 million haul come in at 27th place.

Here are the top ticket sellers of all time via Boxofficemojo:

1 Gone with the Wind MGM $1,600,193,400 $198,676,459 1939^
2 Star Wars Fox $1,410,707,200 $460,998,007 1977^
3 The Sound of Music Fox $1,127,929,800 $158,671,368 1965
4 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Uni. $1,123,486,300 $435,110,554 1982^
5 Titanic Par. $1,074,383,500 $658,672,302 1997^
6 The Ten Commandments Par. $1,037,520,000 $65,500,000 1956
7 Jaws Uni. $1,014,384,200 $260,000,000 1975
8 Doctor Zhivago MGM $983,152,800 $111,721,910 1965
9 The Exorcist WB $875,945,400 $232,906,145 1973^
10 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Dis. $863,280,000 $184,925,486 1937^
11 101 Dalmatians Dis. $791,344,600 $144,880,014 1961^
12 The Empire Strikes Back Fox $777,590,600 $290,475,067 1980^
13 Ben-Hur MGM $776,160,000 $74,000,000 1959
14 Avatar Fox $770,261,700 $760,507,625 2009^
15 Return of the Jedi Fox $744,950,500 $309,306,177 1983^
16 Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace Fox $715,276,800 $474,544,677 1999^
17 The Sting Uni. $706,011,400 $156,000,000 1973
18 The Lion King BV $705,680,400 $422,783,777 1994^
19 Raiders of the Lost Ark Par. $698,083,500 $242,374,454 1981^
20 Jurassic Park Uni. $682,750,300 $357,067,947 1993^
21 The Graduate AVCO $677,755,200 $104,931,637 1967^
22 Fantasia Dis. $657,704,300 $76,408,097 1941^
23 The Godfather Par. $625,066,700 $134,966,411 1972^
24 Forrest Gump Par. $622,081,300 $329,694,499 1994
25 Mary Poppins Dis. $619,200,000 $102,272,727 1964^
26 Grease Par. $609,596,100 $188,755,690 1978^
27 Marvel’s The Avengers BV $600,377,080 2012 1978^
28 Thunderball UA $592,416,000 $63,595,658 1965
29 The Dark Knight WB $588,314,100 $533,345,358 2008
30 The Jungle Book Dis. $583,544,900 $141,843,612 1967^

Superhero animation gets no respect on TV

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If you’re a fan of “Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” on Disney XD … well, let’s hope you didn’t get too invested in the show.

News began leaking out in recent days that Disney/Marvel has canceled the series – only part-way through its second season — and will replace it with a new series, “Marvel’s Avengers Assemble” in 2013.

It’s not surprising, of course, that Disney/Marvel would like to have an animated series on the air that capitalize on the success of the big-screen “Avengers” movie. What’s confusing is that they already have that, with “A:EMH,” yet they’re flushing the show.

If you haven’t seen it — and I haven’t seen any of season two, not having Disney XD on my cable dial, but I’ve seen all the first-season episodes on DVD — “A:EMH” is a densely-plotted and populated take on the classic “Avengers” comics. Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Black Panther and others take on bad guys ranging from Asgardians to home-grown baddies to invading aliens.

It’s a show that has been quite deliberate in its setting-up of its story arcs, taking several episodes to get all the characters together in NYC. It hasn’t been afraid to take its time with stories, devoting two or more episodes sometimes to a plot.

Which might be part of the problem.

Various websites have noted that Disney/Marvel want more accessible series with more jumping-in points. That might mean more standalone stories.

It definitely means a cast that is pattered after the one in Joss Whedon’s movie. So in the switch to a new series, Black Panther, Ant-Man and Wasp are gone, Black Widow is in and Hawkeye loses his classic purple mask.

This whole thing would be less frustrating to fans if it didn’t seem so familiar: After long runs on Warner Bros.-related TV networks, classic 1990s animated series like “Batman,” “Superman” and “Batman Beyond” were continued in the 2000s in “Justice League” and “Justice League Unlimited” on Cartoon Network.

Yet the WB-owned Cartoon Network repeatedly started and stopped airing the two series. Months would go by without a new episode. “Justice League” ended abruptly, only to be replaced by the better, in my opinion, “Unlimited” series, but that one bounced around the Cartoon Network schedule, disappearing for weeks or months, before finally falling by the wayside.

There are a number of reasons for this, including regime changes at studios and the apparent belief on the part of executives that viewers (many of them young, but many of them older geeks thrilled to see faithful treatment of classic characters like Batman and Captain America as well as animated versions of obscure characters like Blue Beetle) are restless and crave change. That’s why “Justice League” was retooled and it’s probably why “Young Justice,” currently airing on Cartoon Network, looks so different (new cast members and an apparent time shift) in its second season. Heck, the show even has something of a new name, “Young Justice: Invasion.”

I’m convinced there’s an audience out there for a weekly animated series based on classic comic book characters and stories.

I’m equally convinced that once a show has hit its stride, viewers will embrace it rather than push it away.

If given the chance, that is.

First ‘Iron Man 3’ photo plus ‘The Black Panther’ movie

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In the wake of “The Avengers” — and until “Iron Man 3” comes out in May 2013 — all of us comic book movie fans are going to be bouncing off the walls with every little bit of news that comes out.

So how about the bits that have come out in the past 24 hours?

Above is the first official photo from “Iron Man 3,” released by Disney and Marvel a few days after those leaked set photos of the Iron Patriot a few days ago.

Looks like RDJ as Tony Stark, surveying his ever-growing line-up of suits.

I have to say, though, I’m more excited about today’s news that it’s likely that one of the so-far-unnamed Marvel movies coming out in the next couple of years could be … “The Black Panther!”

As more than a few websites have pointed out, the Black Panther — secret identity of T’Challa, king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda — fits very easily into the Marvel movie universe that has built, over the past four years, into “The Avengers.”

There have been little Easter eggs, or at least references, to the Panther (co-created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for a 1966 issue of “The Fantastic Four”) in previous Marvel films. A SHIELD map of the world in “Iron Man 2” had an indicator over the approximate location in Africa of Wakanda. And the shield (of another kind) slung by “Captain America” was made of vibranium, the ultra-rare metal found only in Wakanda. The sale of vibranium is the source of Wakanda’s riches and its high-tech society.

And T’Challa has been an Avenger — including a stint during the classic Kree-Skrull War series — and would fit right into an “Avengers” sequel.

The Panther — named before the founding of the 1960s political party, he was the first black comics superhero — has had a long history in the comics and is currently appearing as a member of the group in the Disney XD “Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” animated series.

Here’s hoping the rumors are true and a “Black Panther” movie gets announced, maybe even at this summer’s San Diego Comic-Con.

By the way … there are some other really cool characters out there that would also fit right into an “Avengers” sequel or their own Marvel movies.

Sweet Christmas! That’s right! I’m talking about Luke Cage, none other than Power Man (AKA the Hero for Hire).

Here’s hoping.

Iron Patriot another villain for ‘Iron Man 3?’

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Here’s another one of those “how many months until this movie comes out?” posts.

The Internet was all abuzz in the past couple of days with news and speculation about “Iron Man 3,” the first post-“Avengers” Marvel movie, coming out in May 2013.

First there were reports that Ben Kingsley was indeed playing Iron Man’s best-known villain, the Mandarin, who was referenced in the earlier “Iron Man” movies.

Then today spy photos from the set made their way online and seem to show a familiar, Iron Man-style figure … wearing a very familiar red-white-and-blue color scheme.

First thought, of course, was that Tony Stark had built a suit of armor for his newfound pal Captain America.

But since the actor in the suit was revealed to be James Badge Dale, who had already been announced as a bad guy for “Iron Man 3,” speculation soon centered on the comic book character Iron Patriot.

There’s a big catch, however: In the comics, Iron Patriot was the name assumed by Norman Osborn after he absconded with some of Tony Stark’s tech. And Norman Osborn, of course, is the Green Goblin from the Spider-Man comics.

Beginning in 2009, Osborn wore the Iron Patriot suit occasionally in the comics, especially when he formed his own “Dark Avengers” boy band to battle the real Avengers.

Since Osborn is part of the “Spider-Man” movie universe and not available for use in Marvel-produced movies, we can assume that Norman Osborn is not making an appearance. That must mean that Marvel is using some Spider-Man-adjacent characters and elements — the suit, but not the guy inside it — just as they stretched the boundaries of the strict movie universe division of Marvel properties by making the alien army in “The Avengers” the Chitauri rather than the Skrulls. The Skrulls are part of the “Fantastic Four” movie universe and not open to use by Marvel in its “Avengers” universe. But the Chitauri, the modern-day version of the Skrulls, were okay for use in Joss Whedon’s movie.

Director Shane Black was expected to do some very interesting things with “Iron Man 3” even before we heard this news. That he’s continuing the expansion of the Marvel movie universe makes me look forward to the movie even more.

Just one proviso: With Mandarin and Iron Patriot and who knows who else, please, Marvel, don’t make the same mistake as the 1990s “Batman” movies and give us a ridiculous super-villain team-up with too many bad guys. Please.

Marvel movie timeline: What happened when?

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You might have to turn the Internet on its side to fully appreciate this one, but a new book, “Avengers: The Art of Marvel’s ‘The Avengers,'” is coming out and it includes this timeline to the happenings of the Marvel cinematic universe.

I’ve always been a sucker for timelines, whether they’re demarcations of real events or, one of my favorite timelines from a couple of decades ago, a linear recounting of when events in the “Star Trek” universe took place.

Admittedly, the timeline of the Marvel movie universe is kinda thin so far. After all, we’re talking about only a handful of movies leading up to “The Avengers.”

But it’s fun to see how the chronology of the movies’ releases doesn’t always follow the chronology of how events played out in Marvel’s internal storyline.

I mean, it’s pretty cool to find out that when Bruce Banner was hulking out at Culver University in “The Incredible Hulk” in 2008, Thor was defeating the Destroyer in New Mexico on virtually the same day — and that movie came out three years later.

Cosmic, I know.

 

Pixar’s ‘Avengers’ and more

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This is just too much fun to pass up.

Above, behold: The members of “The Avengers” as Pixar characters.

Artist J.M. Walter posted this re-imagining of the Avengers on the Cartoonbrew.com Facebook page the other day and the image has been bouncing around the Interwebs ever since.

Some of the characters are easier to figure out than others. The Hulk, of course, is based on Sully from “Monsters Inc.” And since Samuel L. Jackson contributed the voice of Frozone from “The Incredibles,” why not re-imagine Jackson’s Nick Fury as Frozone?

The only one I haven’t figured out is Hawkeye. Which Pixar character is he taken from?

As an added bonus: The Avengers, known for their late-night meals, inside Edward Hopper’s famous “Nighthawks” painting. This version is by John P. Glynn.

Beautiful!

Big easter egg in ‘The Avengers?’

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Did writer/director Joss Whedon include a huge easter egg/teaser for future storylines in “The Avengers?”

That’s the theory circulating online since earlier this week, when Quint wrote a geeky, fun piece on aintitcool.com about one of the most dramatic plot points in “The Avengers” and what it might mean for the future of the movie series.

If you haven’t seen the movie yet, read no further.

Okay?

The dramatic turning point in the movie comes when likable SHEILD agent Phil Coulson is killed by Loki. Coulson (Clark Gregg) is impaled on Loki’s scepter. His death gives the Avengers a rallying point — something to avenge.

SHIELD’s Nick Fury heightens the sense of loss by showing Iron Man and Captain America Coulson’s bloody Captain America trading cards. SHIELD agent Maria Hill later notes privately to Fury that Coulson’s cards couldn’t have been bloody because they were in his locker at the time of his death. Fury is a master manipulator, no doubt.

But is Whedon?

After word got out that Whedon assembled his cast following the Hollywood premiere to shoot another scene, some Internet message boards indicated it was a scene in which the Avengers would gather in Tony Stark’s lab to turn Coulson into the Vision, the classic Avengers android character created by Ultron, longtime Avengers enemy. (Of course, it was the enjoyable “Avengers assemble … to eat” scene.)

Quint expands on the “Coulson as Vision” theory by noting that the movie makes passing reference to Life Model Decoys, the robot duplicates SHIELD created in the comics, as well as noting that not once but twice in the movie reference is made to Coulson dating a cellist.

Who’s a cellist in Marvel Comics, according to Quint? Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, sometime Avenger and ultimate wife of … the Vision.

Like the earlier rumors that Spider-Man would be in “The Avengers,” this line of reasoning is just too geeky, too fun, to possibly be true.

Right?

 

After ‘Avengers’ — What we want from Marvel movies

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We’ve all seen “The Avengers” by now. Some of us have seen it twice. “Iron Man 3” comes out next year, followed by “Thor 2” and, inevitably, another “Captain America” movie and an “Avengers” sequel.

So what else do we want to see from Marvel Comics-based movies?

Carried to extremes, the fan wish list could include a Marvel Team-Up movie featuring Aunt Petunia and Aunt May. (Surely Marvel has published that comic book?)

So here are some reasonable requests:

Iron Man and the Hulk: Apparently, until just before “The Avengers” opened and moviegoers saw how much fun the Green Goliath could be in the right (Joss Whedon’s) hands, Marvel didn’t plan on making another “Hulk” movie. After two misfires (although I liked the Edward Norton movie just fine), the studio couldn’t get the Hulk right.

Well, Whedon realized that the Hulk is best when used judiciously. Mark Ruffalo was great as Bruce Banner and his mo-cap performance as the Hulk was terrific. But Hulk was a supporting character in “The Avengers.” So why not make him a supporting character in someone else’s movie? And although “Iron Man 3” is probably pretty well defined by now, surely there’s room for a couple of scenes of Banner and a couple of Hulk-outs? After all, didn’t “The Avengers” show Banner and Tony Stark leaving together, presumably so Stark could show the sympatico scientist his R&D facility?

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Leading up to “The Avengers,” there was a lot of speculation about who would play Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, the loving, bickering adventurers who, as Ant-Man and the Wasp, were founding members of the Avengers in the comics. Heck, socialite Van Dyne even gave the team its name.

So the characters didn’t appear in “The Avengers.” An Ant-Man movie might be in the works, but the characters don’t appear headed for the big screen anytime soon. Which is too bad. Wasp could be a very fun female role that’s very different from Black Widow. And Pym is a natural, especially considering his multitude of sizes and identities: Giant Man,  Goliath, Yellow Jacket. This must happen!

The Vision: If you have Henry Pym, why not the Vision? Pym’s murderous robot creation, Ultron, created the Vision as a means of killing the Avengers. Turns out the Vision preferred to side with the good guys, however. Over the years, Vision, in his distinctive red-and-green-and-yellow outfit, became one of the key members of the group and fell in love with, and married, the Scarlet Witch. The Vision is like Spock and Data from “Star Trek” — only cooler, if that’s possible.

Dr. Strange: There’s been rumblings of a movie featuring Marvel’s sorcerer supreme for a while now. Since magic — or at least otherworldly science that can pass for magic — has been established in the on-screen Marvel universe, there’s no reason this mystical adventurer wouldn’t fit.

Superhero cameos, AKA rooftop encounters with Spidey: Marvel’s animated version of its super team, “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes,” has introduced an expanded Marvel universe that live-action movie fans can only dream of: On the Disney XD series, the Avengers regularly run into other New York-based heroes like the Fantastic Four. One episode from the first season showed the Avengers rumbling on the NYC streets with some bad guys when, out of the blue, the Human Torch and the Thing show up to help.

It’s the casual world-building that I loved about Marvel when I was a kid, the idea that all these Marvel characters shared the same universe. With the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man owed by other studios, it’ll be tough to pull off crossovers.

But we can dream, can’t we?