Should Marvel Films bother with Reboots?

Should Marvel Films bother with Reboots?

While we'd all like for Marvel to regain the rights to each of their franchises, it's not happening for a while...

Editorial Opinion
By HowardDuck1138 - Sep 11, 2011 01:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Marvel Comics

If Disney's lawyers can't win this one, I'd say nobody can. But even IF Marvel could regain the rights, should they bother? Don't misunderstand me. I want all of these properties back at Marvel. I'd kill to see a fully staffed Cinematic Universe. But some of these films have been done to death. I have to wonder if Marvel could do them without treading too much old ground.


X-Men

Nobody here can deny that Fox molested this franchise. X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men the Last Stand were truly awful films. First Class is a step in the right direction, but even it had it's fair share of issues. Assuming Marvel could get the rights back, I'd say it's not worth rebooting. The general public is already familiar with the current film incarnation. Reboots seem to cause confusion, even amongst some of the fans. I can't see a total reboot going over too well.

The general public doesn't seem to understand or care about licensing rights. They see a trailer, they go to a movie. Legal issues and rights debates are the concern of studios, fans, and no one else. Explaining why Hugh Jackman was replaced will be a chore, and most audiences won't care about unified continuity. It will create confusion. And an origin flick, even if handled properly, is going to be "more of the same" at this point.


Spider-Man

With the reboot coming in less than a year, I think it's safe to say Marvel has zero chance of getting the rights back anytime soon. But just for the heck of it, assume they can. Retelling the origin, again, is not a very exciting flick. It's time for these stories to move forward. A third origin flick will only prolong the cool stuff we could see in a sequel. It starts to get old. I would hope they go the Incredible Hulk route, and assume the viewer is familiar with the origin story. Compress it into the opening credits and get on with the good stuff.


Fantastic Four

This one might have a shot. The first two were botched badly, and Fox may not want to keep the rights. The rights won't be up for grabs for another couple of years though, so we'll have to see. If Marvel gets the rights and tells the origin properly, this could be cool. And the Four need a redemption after Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Daredevil

I really hate Fox for this one. Marvel was THIS close to getting the rights and Fox curb stomps any chance of a proper Daredevil flick. The DD director's cut was a much better film than the theatrical release, but still not amazing. Out of all the heroes Fox has, Daredevil is the one with the least public exposure. A proper MCU reboot shouldn't feel too stale and could be exciting. I'd say this is my top choice for an MCU re-do.


Ghost Rider

Nicolas Cage is not Blaze. Period. I am not a Cage hater, I actually like Con Air, Nation Treasure, and a lot of his older stuff. But he is not Johnny Blaze. And Ghost Rider was just awful. I have low expectations for Spirit of Vengeance, so maybe I will be surprised. A proper re-do is needed here.



Blade

Yes I know Marvel regained the rights. I'm wondering how they will handle this one. Snipes' Blade will not work in the MCU. The vampire conspiracy stuff will not fly either. In a universe with S.H.I.E.L.D., vampires are not going to be able take over, at least not to the extent shown in Snipes' films. Blade will need a serious overhaul to fit into the MCU, and they would need to stick closer to the comics. Most people I know are unaware that Blade is a Marvel character. Snipes' version is all most people know. Marvel will have an interesting battle ahead of them here.


Punisher

Again, I know they have the rights back. Punisher ranks with Ghost Rider and Daredevil as someone who shouldn't be too stale to reboot. We really haven't gotten a proper Punisher origin, even after 3 films. Start with Frank as Frank, and show the war. Show him as a soldier. Explore the 'Nam stuff, though they might want to update it with Desert Storm or Iraq. But this has a lot of potential if they really give the story some breathing room, instead of jumping straight into the Punisher bits.


Man-Thing

No one is going to see a movie called Man-Thing. This would flop. Hard. Pun intended. Instead, do a Dead of Night flick. Handle it like The Twilight Zone Movie. A film made up of short movies. Do Man-Thing, Werewolf By Night, Shanna the She Devil, Jennifer Kale, Zombie, or any of the more adult and horror oriented stuff. Could have a lot of potential. I would also take a cue from the Man-Thing run of Dead of Night, and have Digger narrate Crypt Keeper style. I always loved that bit. Man-Thing's DoN run would actually work as a film, as they streamlined his origin. Of course any Man-Thing flick would need a post-credits scene setting up:

Howard the Duck

Shut up. All of you. Howard has a chance at success that he did not have in the '80s. If handled properly, and faithfully, this could be the comic book movie that has even non comic fans rolling in their seats. Howard was destined to fail in the '80s. Even if Lucas hadn't botched it, Howard couldn't have worked. Why? Howard has always been a very funny, witty send up of comic book culture (and pop culture in general). Most of the humor in a proper Howard movie won't work without comic movies being established as a genre, which they weren't in the '80s. Now that the market is almost over saturated with comic movies, Howard could be a breath of fresh air. Make it "R". A hard "R". Yes, this cuts down on your potential audience, but Howard is a raunchy book. Gerber was ahead of his time in terms of writing, and I think any Howard movie would have been as well in the '80s. Come on Marvel, I know you can do it...

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SKOne
SKOne - 9/11/2011, 1:59 AM
I have no problems with reboots in general, and Jackman will probably still look young enough to play Wolverine into his early 50's. I just get tired of seeing the same villains over and over. I mean, how many times do we need to see Lex Luthor, Zod, Joker, Two-Face, Magneto, Sabretooth, Green Goblin, etc. I know that different interpretations can be good, but how about using some other villains we haven't seen before first.

Also, I don't think we really need to see the origin story again after the first set of movies.
marvelstudios
marvelstudios - 9/11/2011, 2:18 AM
lets be realistic, spiderman, xmen and ghostrider rights wont come back to marvel for a looong time so theres no point speculating. but the others would be nice additions to the mcu.
Paulley
Paulley - 9/11/2011, 3:33 AM
I would very much hope that one day Daredevil and Spider-Man could come back to marvel.. but that wont be anytime soon.

But what i really hope comes back under Marvels banner is Fantastic Four

In any case if Marvel does get to do these movies i think they should forget doing origin movies and get straight into the meat of the stories.

Just think if they did and FF movie, that the team should be older and more experienced with fully equipped Baxter Building and just have some call back to the fact that they have been doing it a long time (seeing a farmed news paper report about the team defeating a Mole Man and his monster with a photo that resembles the first cover)


Checkmate
Checkmate - 9/11/2011, 3:41 AM
If Marvel gets these characters back under their wing, yes they should be rebooted. Unless these characters actually had a good movie that was released fairly recently prior to the rights reverting.
95
95 - 9/11/2011, 4:25 AM
AS LONG AS THE VILLAINS ARE NEW!!!

Man-Thing and Howard the Duck: YAWN.

We need to see Marvel Studios' FANTASTIC FOUR (explorers of the unknown, not superheroes).

Let Fox do their period piece X-Men, then reboot using Cable traveling from another timeline to convince Xavier to suit up his First Class (oldest students) to fight Apocalypse. Pull a J.J. Abrams' Star Trek on us.

marvel72
marvel72 - 9/11/2011, 6:03 AM
the x-men movies need a reboot big time,have some other villain than magneto all the time. i.e mr.sinister & the marauders,apocalyspe & his horsemen,bastion & the sentinels & so on.marvel studios made x-men movie is the only way we're gonna see different villains.

daredevil needs a reboot back with marvel

fantastic needs a reboot back at marvel

spider-man should of gone with spidey 4 just reboot the cast.
PaulRom
PaulRom - 9/11/2011, 6:06 AM
Out of the ones on your list, the ones I want to see revert to Marvel the most in the near future are F4 and Ghost Rider. Everyone hated the first GR, and if the sequel bombs (which will be likely), I can see the rights revert to Marvel not too long afterwards. As for F4, Fox should just concentrate on X-Men and Daredevil (though DD should've reverted earlier this year) and give up F4.

As awesome as it would be to see X-Men revert, it just isn't happening anytime soon. Besides, I wouldn't mind if they stayed at Fox if they kept churning out good films after First Class.

For Spider-Man, the character's absolutely vital to a Marvel universe. And I agree, they should go the TIH route and redo the origins in the credits.

Blade and Punisher will be hard to do under the Disney banner, since the two characters are so dark/violent it's crazy. Send Punisher to HBO, and see if they can tone Blade down to fit under Disney.

For Man-Thing and Howard the Duck...I don't give a shit about the characters.

Nice writeup mate.
HowardDuck1138
HowardDuck1138 - 9/11/2011, 6:18 AM
@Paul Rom. Thanks man. For everyone not interested in Howard and Man-Thing, are you jumping on the hate bandwagon or have you actually read the comics? Don't base judgement on the characters on their previous films.
HowardDuck1138
HowardDuck1138 - 9/11/2011, 8:03 AM
I didn't say I love Cage. I do like some of his older flicks, but I do not hate him as much as other people seem to.
Supes17
Supes17 - 9/11/2011, 8:33 AM
Howard the Duck?!
PaulRom
PaulRom - 9/11/2011, 9:24 AM
@HowardDuck1138 I've never really read comics for either, let alone watch the films, but from what I've heard they're not really film-worthy. May give them a chance in the future, though.
gamecreatorjj
gamecreatorjj - 9/11/2011, 9:28 AM
i would hate it if marvel got the rights back to anything, except for FF, mainly because that one is destroyed beyond repair, and i want to see the avengers fight dr doom

besides that there is no need fox has gotten 3/5 x men films right, it appears, they know what their doing with the daredevil requel, fox is getting back on their feet, and if they do "The Wolverine" right as well as "X Men First Class 2" they will have proven that not every film property needs to go back to Marvel.

about ghost rider, we cannot tell yet, this film could kick ass, and start a franchise, like or it could flop, and sony would do their best to preform damage control on the ghost rider name

in conclusion, if marvel gained all the rights back, alot of the better CBM's would be swept under the rug, for mediocre reboots
HowardDuck1138
HowardDuck1138 - 9/11/2011, 9:33 AM
PaulRom, I highly recommend the Max Comics run of Howard, as well as the recent Civil War era run. For Man-Thing, read the Max Comics Dead of Night mini-series and check out the original run. Truly bizarre stuff in the latter.
95
95 - 9/11/2011, 9:43 AM
@gamecreatorjj

I agree and disagree. Marvel is not perfect. But the mere fact that Disney is behind them and that continuity is important to them is a plus (+1).

With other studios, we can enjoy stories set in their own little worlds which idolizes the individuality that we all know and love. However, I'm not a fan of rebooting or creating solo spin-offs after a trilogy.

ROMACK
ROMACK - 9/11/2011, 10:09 AM
I honestly think they should approach these properties like the 007 franchise. We have had over half a dozen actors in the role of James Bond and we just accept it. It should be the same way with CBMs, because we accept it in the comics themselves. You may have read Uncanny X-Men drawn by Byrne, Lee, Kirby and many others and we accept it as the way it is. Actors come and go. Some get too old for a role. Some get too expensive for a certain project and get let go. As long as you keep the core of a character the audience will accept that change. We have been doing so for several decades now. I don't think we need to retell the origin story of Spiderman every time the actor playing him is replaced. Just pick up were you left off and the audience will roll with it. We have been doing it with James Bond for nearly four decades because they kept the core traits of the character intact with each actor.
MovieMaster
MovieMaster - 9/11/2011, 10:26 AM
@HowardDuck1138- good read dude. i was thinking about what you said about x men last night, if they rebooted it we would see the same old thing. but i think they could semi-reboot it, seperate it from the singer films and wolverine movies and keep the first class continuity and then make more movies out of that in the present day. i really dont give a shit about man-thing or howard the duck because nobody will go see movies like that and marvel wouldn't waste their time doing them.
MaddMonkk
MaddMonkk - 9/11/2011, 2:29 PM
I say leave the reboots alone and concentrate on new characters.
An action/comedy like Rush Hour would be perfect for a 1970's-ish flick for THE HEROES FOR HIRE.
Introduce She-Hulk from the AVENGERS and let her have a spin-off.
A Nova movie.
That movie I AM NUMBER 4 was basically a comic book movie. If it was Nova instead of Beastly it would have been cool.
MaddMonkk
MaddMonkk - 9/11/2011, 2:31 PM
SKYLINE was a CBM type movie too. If the main character was a young MarVell it would have been great also.
joeblank
joeblank - 9/11/2011, 4:19 PM
i liked origins, but not in sense of how it fit in with the others, more of in its own light (like the comic)
but, waht i truly want to see (besides the follow up on first class, wolverine, and deadpool) cable. and a whole trilogy in the future, with sentinels, and apocoplypse, and bishop, and any with jean and cyclops dead, time travel can easily bring them back into plots, just sayin
jjmeylar
jjmeylar - 9/12/2011, 4:21 PM
X-Men: A reboot would be nice in about twenty or so years. No sooner than that.

Spider-Man: I hate that Sony has rebooted it, so soon. I know that it's because of licensing issues, but even so. I think that general audiences will be clueless as to what's going on.

Fantastic Four: If Marvel got the rights back, then I wouldn't mind seeing a reboot of the franchise after they've made films of characters who have yet to see the big screen.

Daredevil: I really enjoyed the film, but even so. I think that it DOES need to be redone under the Marvel Knights label. If we had a proper, R rated film: I'd dig it a LOT more.

Ghost Rider: I think that the new one should set up for Danny Ketch and then they should go on with him and maybe stay kinda true to HIS stuff. So.....reboot-ISH.

Blade: I think that it needs to be left alone for a while. I adore the Snipes films and think that they set a good bar for R rated CBMs.

Punisher: I think that "War Zone" was the perfect Punisher film. I don't think that they do even TOUCH it with a reboot. I wish that it had earned a lot more money and was getting a sequel......but oh well.

Man-Thing: The only reason that I own a copy of the film is just for the sake of owning it. I have never watched it and I don't intend on it. I think that your idea for a film comprised of short Marvel horror flicks would be great, though.

Howard the Duck: First, I want to say that I really enjoyed the first half of the movie. I stopped the film when that guy got possessed or whatever, though. I agree that the film would be interesting and it has to be a hard R. His personality would need to be the exact OPPOSITE of what it was in his current film, though. Smart-beaked, cigar-smoking, perverted, hardcore, duck!
canadianturd
canadianturd - 9/13/2011, 3:22 PM
Totally disagree with the X-Men!

If they made Howard the Duck like Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy, it would work!
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