HOT CBM TOPICS TODAY –
1. The Avengers Cast and Film –
This was probably the biggest hit at Comic-Con and rightfully so, as fans have literally waited decades for this to happen. The cast looks damn fine if you ask me. There is still an uproar over Ruffalo replacing Norton but as good as Norton is, I’m sad to see him to but while I wanted Jim Caviezel to take over as Banner, Ruffalo is a great actor and will deliver the goods I think. As for the Pyms…while he did state that Giant-Man would not be in the film, many think the Pyms would still be in the movie…perhaps as SHIELD agents…a la the Ultimates Universe…but I don’t think that’ll happen…cuz they are a huge part of the Avengers mythos, and I think Marvel would have casted them if they were gonna be in the first one. I hope I’m wrong as I’ve written how I’d like them to play out with Jan’s death leading to the Ultron appearance at the end of the first film…shooting for the sequel.
THE MIGHTY AVENGERS
Of course, they could simply include them as scientists in the sequel, whose Ultron robot, has gone rogue…or even made Ultron a robotic virus in a plot similar to DJ Caruso’s ‘Eagle Eye’.
I rather Guy Pearce and Carrie Ann Moss
But I think Marvel has good plans for them as maybe they didn’t wanna crowd the Avengers table too much. It’s also bodes well that with Ruffalo in it, I don’t see him surviving for a Hulk sequel as I think Tom Hiddlestone is gonna be the secret reveal as Loki in the movie, controlling Hulk…and I think the death of the Hulk would be an epic way to end this film! This also shows the severity and gravity of the Loki machinations against the heroes. Whedon isn’t the man for this I think as he’s better fitted to cosmic MARVEL, or Runaways, as I found his Serenity and Firefly to be decent, with his other works such as Angel, Buffy, Dollhouse all petering out very rapidly. He doesn’t have staying power imo. His comics work are shoddy…his Runaways, Bufyy, Angel are all better comics when written by other writers, and while his X-run is acclaimed, resurrecting Colussus and lampooning Kitty in space, is the shittiest x-plot in years…he sucks at comics…so I’m cautious about his Avengers outlook, especially as I know he’ll tinker that script.
BTW Renner as Barton = Win!!!
2. Thor and Cap footage–
The Thor trailer looked awesome I must say. I was a bit put off hearing we had so much on Midgard, as I wanted a full out Asgardian tale with Thor’s origins, leading to him being banished at the end. Enter Donald Blake and Jane Foster at the end, but when Portman got Jane’s role, I knew we’d have a lot of Midgard…similar to Ultimate Thor. And while the stills and pics and helmets looked corny, on-screen they looked sick and wicked cool. This film seems a lot of action, and maybe Ken rightfully decided to make Midgard a key prominence in the film, to help usher Thor in to the Avengers theme. Not a bad change if you ask me. While I miss seeing Balder, Heimdall, Sif, the Warriors, Destroyer, Frost Giants and the Odinfamily all look way cool. And is that the Infinity Gauntlet?
Rumors are abound that Marvel will have Odin lose his closet of power-goodies…leading to the Avengers having to hunt then down? Well, the Gauntlet is Thanos’ toy…so the Avengers vs Thanos may be amazing, but only if Thanos is watered down by Marvel, cuz he is frickin powerful, especially with that Guantlet. But maybe this is where Thor’s powers come in fully? Or could this pave the way for Marvel Cosmic Films…Adam Warlock, Mar-vell, Nova, the Guardians of the Galaxy etc…maybe a Cosmic Avengers team? It’s time MU opens films to Dr. Strange and the Inhumans or other cosmic elements, especially while FF4 and the SURFER/Galactus are rotting in hell…but as for Odin’s closet, well while Avengers on bounty hunting seems fun, I hope it doesn’t suffer the Ultron, Namor and maybe a Secret War plot that can beckon. And while I aint a Skrull fan I guess we may see Skrulls sooner than expected…Seems the Thor universe, and not the Iron man one as we all thought, may be the pivot and linchpin of the AVENGERS FILMVERSE...
I didn’t see the CAP TRAILER…but I heard decent stuff about the tease they showed…and while the cast looks awesome, I hope JJ does well with his script as that is the key I think. The Invaders? How are they gonna be portrayed? Are we having mutant Namor or a real-world underwater scuba diver with bombs a la Nolan-vision? Chris Pine reeked of Rogers when he played Kirk, and looks like him so when he wasn’t cast, I was gutted…but Evans does have the ability to turn himself serious…and this is the biggest CBM of his life…so yes…he can deliver. And how are they gonna depict the Cosmic Cube that the Skull finds?
3. Green Lantern – the pics look amazing…the teases at the con I saw on pics and jizzed. I cant wait for the trailer but from Lively’s cleavage to all the internet stuff…I expect only good things. Ryan looks awesome in the suit, and Blake’s boobs along with Sinestro look oh so fine! Hammond looks scary also, and I think him getting infected with some Parallax would make an epic film. I cannot wait to see Sinestro at the end realise that the yellow impurity can be harnessed and head to Qward to end the first film. Ryan looks amazing as GL, and will do well. I hope Rob Rod gets Deadpool and Ryan kicks even more rated-R ass in that
4. Superman Reboot –
Ang Lee did a dramatic storytelling Hulk, not a bad film, but it wasn’t the hard hitting CBM we needed…enter LL, Norton and the INCREDIBLE HULK…and we got a frickin winner…action, plot and supersweet ending. This is what we need now after Singer’s film. It didn’t suck, I loved it…but now we deserve harder hits, faster plots, and action…seeing Superman kick ass. With Nolans helming, I am wary as they may not want to mesh Superman into the JLA world, as I’m sure DC is gearing Green Lantern to that as well as with potential Flash/Wonder Woman films. So once Nolan does his Batman 3, I think a Batman reboot and this new Superman will usher in the JLA era. John is rumoured to be a director, but as long as Goyer helps script and not direct, I’m cool. Snyder, Vaughn and Abrams are the guys for this I think…and who is gonna wear the cape? I await such news…and please give us harder hitting villains a la the Comic-verse and leave Lex as secondary as I am fed up of him.
5. Spidey Reboot – thus far, the names rumoured were utter crap, and while I’ve seen little of Andy Garfield, BAFTA and many others have given him a lot of praise, so I think he is a good bet. Joe Levitt or Jim Sturgess would be epic also, but while Webb seems a good man for the chair, is the rest of the cast gonna be announced? I want Gwen and no MJ…but I ask…how is the script doing as we’ve heard little to no news…we didn’t even get anything at comic-con…so is this reboot in limbo I ask? Fassbender turning it down to go Magneto plus the fact that Sony and Webb, along with Garfield, not saying shit could hint perhaps it may be a cancelled project? Hell we may go back to Raimi’s SPIDEY 4? I ponder…
6. Batman 3 (Legacy) – Nolan rocked my socks off in Inception, and now his final film dawns. I know he will have a kickass plot, so all that remains…is which villains await? Riddler’s aspects were put into Heath’s Joker so I wont mind missing Riddler on-screen…as I also find him a shit character, but done a la Nolan…he could be epic…my choice is Memento’s Guy Pearce. And maybe Catwoman in Nolanvision can work (Marion Cottilard?) but she also is a shitty character in comics, and I think is a huge stretch on-screen again, but again, Nolan can take shitty characters and give them his spin to rock our socks off! I personally would opt to go for Tom Hardy (the next James Bond imo) as Deadshot, with the likes of Bane (Kevin Durand), Black Mask (Joe Pantoliano), and Firefly (Eion Bailey) all tearing into Gotham City. I’ve heard ridiculous notions that Nolan may kill Batman, and I laugh my ass off as DC/Nolan wont do that to this iconic character they’ve built for so long. Maybe it ends with a tease of new heroes looming, and while I’m sad he isn’t returning Joker (Mike Pitt imo), maybe Hugo Strange (Ben Kingsley) may well get a hand in Arkham? I cant wait for this film, and then the reboot for the JLA. I love me all sorts of Batman!!!