The Adventures of Captain Otter

Oh, we have fun news today.  First of all, guess who almost directed Green Lantern?  Quentin Tarantino.  Sure, the guy seems like someone who would love reading comics.  But directing it?  I don’t want to imagine what that would have turned out like.  Is Tarrantino even capable of making a movie that isn’t rated R?  Warners had offfered him the job before the script was done, and he turned them down.  Thank god.  He’s a great director, and movies like Pulp Fiction are classics.  That being said, I just can’t see him making a superhero franchise.  These movie have to be aimed for kids as well as adults.  I don’t think the man could have done that.  Here is a pic of the director in a somewhat Green Lantern-esque attire.

We also have Ryan Reynolds taking about how pumped he is for the movie.  After seeing the finished costume, he realized that this movie is really happening.  After seeing a finished Green Lantern uniform, I would probably demand to try it on right away, but that’s just me.  It is strange though.  They have to start filming soon, and it looks they have alot of the preproduction finished.  And yet we havn’t heard any extra casting info.  They have their star, but they still need the entire supporting cast.  Decisions are going to have to be made soon.  Reynolds also talked about the script, saying that it wasn’t a full origin story.  The movie won’t “begin in the third act”.  In some ways, this sounds great.  Iron Man didn’t see Tony Stark in the Mark 3 until far too late in the movie, and I was wishing for more of those gorgeous action scenes.  If Hal Jordan starts busting up aliens half an hour in, I’m all for it.  I am worried that they don’t properly deal with Hal adjusting to his job.  Origins stories arn’t always great, but they have to be told.  Hal isn’t going to get his ring and then go off to business.  He’s going to be freaked out by the existence of aliens and all these cosmic powers.  And you can’t give him the ring in the first five minutes of the movie.  You do have to show a bit of his life before he gets the ring, or else the transformation he undergoes is pointless.  So, as much as I enjoy the willingness to ignore the get past the origin story, that is a big challenge with a character like Green Lantern.  I’m confident they can do it, but I’m a tiny bit skeptical.

And we also have another Hawkeye update.  Jeremy Renner commented on the direction they’re taking the character, and remarked that they’re not going to with the classic costume.  A good choice.  Like Wolverine, Hawkeye’s costume looks great in comics but would struggle to work on film.  Instead, they’re going to give him some kind of cool vest and sunglasses.  Sounds alot like…..Ultimate Hawkeye?  Yes, yes it does.  I completely called this from day one.  Score one for Captain Otter.  Renner hasn’t been cast yet, since they don’t have a director either, and don’t want to pick the entire cast before they get the guy in charge.  I do think that Renner is a perfect choice, and he does seem interested.  I say Marvel should try and grab him.

Seeing as it’s Thanksgiving, I’m treating you guys to a double serving of posts.  The first is a recent bit of news that should get you excited.  Jeremy Renner, star of the recent war drama The Hurt Locker, told Empire Magezine that he had been talking to Marvel about playing Hawkeye on the big screen.  Renner has been in a handful of movies and played a wide variety of roles, but it’s his performance in The Hurt Locker that’s earned him mass critical acclaim.  The guy is a definite candidate in the upcoming Oscar season, and it looks like Marvel has decided to take notice.  Renner said that Marvel will be sending him some stuff, and that he is definitely interested in the direction they’re going.  He commented that they’re trying to make things realistic, and not some childish fantasies.  Maybe the guy doesn’t know about Thor then.

Well, first of all, the very fact that they’re talking about Hawkeye is fantastic news.  Hawkeye is my favorite member of the Avengers other than the big three, and is almost as important as they are.  Even though he doesn’t have any powers, his personality and simple awesomeness let him stand alongside Earth’s mightiest heroes.  Sort of like Batman.  Although I think Marvel should keep the membership of the team limited, Hawkeye needs to be there.  I still like the idea of making him a SHIELD agent of some kind, which is an easy way of putting him in the movie and makes alot of sense.  I don’t think Marvel would talk to Renner about the part unless they were sure they wanted to use the character, so this is a good sign.

And I do think Renner is a solid choice.  The Hurt Locker showed that he can play the military type, and the other roles I’ve seen him in show that he can play someone with a bit of a cocky attitude.  I think he can bring a sense of realism to the part, which they need.  If they decide to take parts of the Ultimate version (which I hope they do), then they’ll need someone with a bit of edge.  He is a bit old at 38, but I think the guy is a great choice for the part.  We’ll have to see if he actually gets it or not.

Another question is about when we’ll see Hawkeye show up.  He won’t be a main character in any of the next three movies, but he might get a cameo in.  Maybe they can throw something in at the last second for Iron Man 2, which would be pretty cool.  They could potentially give him a cameo in Thor or the very end of Captain America.  Still, I expect the earliest we’ll see him is in the Avengers, as part of the full team.

Recently, Edward Norton has given us a bit of info on the Avengers.  Or, to be more accurate, a lack of info.  He still has no idea what the status of the Hulk is, and how that will fit into the bigger franchise.  They still havn’t talked to him yet, and the actor even speculated that Marvel doesn’t even know what’s going on with the Avengers.

I half agree with Norton.  I think that the movie isn’t 100% set in stone yet, which is why I believe they havn’t signed on all the cast yet.  That, and Marvel is still busy getting Captain America and Thor done.  They probably won’t put the last pieces together until those two movies are established.  Also, I think they have made progress on the movie, as we’ve heard from the comic book writers who have gotten together with the studio.  The movie still needs a ton of work, but it’s not coming out till 2012.  Marvel has at least a year before they have to get things moving, so this isn’t a problem.  Some fans on forums are taking this as a sign that the movie isn’t going forward as planned, or that something is wrong.  I think it’s just a sign that they arn’t a year ahead of schedule.

 We also have news of videogames for Thor and Captain America.  This is no surprise.  Any big action block buster is going to get a video game, and marvel has a contract with SEGA to make these games.  This is just a bit more extra confirmation that Marvel has things on track, and that the pieces are coming together.  I’m not overly excited for these two, since video games based on movies tend to suck.  The other fun news is that Marvel also secured rights for an Iron Fist game.  This is interesting.  Could Marvel be looking to make an Iron Fist movie?  He’s one of the first characters they should turn to after the Avengers, and I’ve always said would make a good movie.  Or, are they just trying to make a one-off video game?  I think some kind of Kung-Fu game would rock beyond belief.  What do you guys think?

If you like comic book movies, Jon Favreau should be your hero.  He directed Iron Man, and alongside Christopher Nolan, elevated the idea of a comic book movie to new levels.  Favreau is a bit of a fanboy himself, and has a massive understanding of the background and source material.  He was the guy who started bringing comic book writers in to help work on the script, a trend that just about everyone is now trying to emulate.

Fareau is busy working on Iron Man 2, which is setting up to be bigger and better than the first.  Seeing as the guy is spearheading the new Marvel franchise, many people are expecting him to direct the Avengers.  I would have fully supported this.  The guy clearly knows his stuff, and is a smart director.  But, it is not meant to be.  Favreau recently mentioned in an interview that he’s unavailable to direct the movie, and won’t be behind the camera.  Don’t worry too much though.  The actor/director is now adding executive producer to his resume, and will still be playing a big part in the movie.

 So, if not Favreau, then who?  Will Marvel pick someone who has directed another one of their movies, or will they bring in some fresh blood?  If Captain America and Thor prove to be successful, Joe Johnston or Kenneth Branagh could be selected.  I wouldn’t count on Branagh though, since it doesn’t seem to be the director’s style.  Thor is going to be a very personal story, and he might not be the best choice for the epic Avengers movie.  Johnston could come in, but he hasn’t talked too much about Captain America yet so it’s hard to say what’s going on.  And then there is Louis Leterrier, who directed the Incredible Hulk.  He really wants to direct the movie, and seems to have a good relationship with Marvel.  My guess is that they bring in someone new, although I really don’t know who this could be.  Matthew Vaughn, the director of Kick-Ass, has expressed interest in the gig, so he just might get his shot. 

Just as long as it isn’t Michael Bay.

Also, Favreau had a few words to say about potential cameos.  When asked if there would be a Samuel L. Jackson-level appearance, he skirted around the question.  He did note that a cameo like that could be added almost at the last minute, and filmed towards the end of the editing process.  So, if Thor starts filming in January, and things work out well, they might add in a little sneak peak.

More fun movie news.  After the Incredible Hulk, everyone just automatically assumed that the hero would be part of the Avengers somehow.  Then we started hearing things about Edward Norton not being confirmed, even after Robert Downey Jr. was signed on.  Even now, we don’t know for sure what’s going on.  Well, here are two recent updates about the status of the green goliath.

 1.  No Hulk cameo in Iron Man 2.  Norton denied the rumor pretty unequivocally.  Unless they add it later, no Banner/Stark meet ups till 2011.

2. Norton is game for the movie, and would even like to see the Hulk as a villain.  He loves the idea of the Hulk being kind of an outsider, and thinks that is a great angle to play up.

The lack of a Hulk cameo is pretty understandable.  I don’t think they have the story for the Avengers down yet, so this gives them time to work all that out.  And it’s good to know that Norton wants to do the Avengers.  At this point, I expect him to join once the script is done.  They havn’t confirmed the Hulk’s involvement, and once they get that settled down I think they’ll recruit Dr. Banner.  They don’t want to sign him up when he only has a brief role, so this helps the writing process.

I’m also going to use this as a chance to comment on the “Hulk as a villain” rumor.  Do I want to see Hulk fight his allies, and seen as untrustworthy because he’s the damn Hulk?  Absolutely.  In fact, if I don’t see Iron Man smack Hulk in the face the movie will be a dissappointment.  Of course, Hulk will then throw Tony through a building,  Thor and Stark might try and calm him down, but Captain America then finally gets him to stop.  This has to happen.

But do we want the Hulk to be the villain?  No.  The Hulk isn’t smart enough to act as a recurring threat throughout the movie.  Once he starts fighting, he is going to stop too much.  And do we want our the team of the greatest heroes in the world to hunt down poor Bruce Banner?  That’s not too heroic.  The Hulk needs to be an unreliable ally, and he’s got to be there at the final battle to help the team.  Because when the s*%@ hits the fan, you don’t want some Norse God or a supersoldier from the 40’s.  No, you want a 10 ton green monster.  Problem solved.

Back when Scarlett Johansson was announced to play the Black Widow, I was kind of upset.  Their original choice had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts, so Scarlett was kind of the “runner up”.  I was happy to have Emily Blunt in the role.  It was a clever casting choice and I still think she could have nailed it.  But every time I look at this photo, I know that all is well.

If you’re anything like me, then you’ll want to see this character in action as soon as possible.  We know she’s set to appear in Iron Man 2, and we know she has at least some role in the Avengers.  Even if she is in the movie, I’m pretty confident that the story will try to focus on Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man as much as possible.  That being said, it looks like she might get a fairly strong role.  The big guy at Marvel, Kevin Feige, talked about how she’ll be key character in the movie and will be in more than just a few scenes.  I don’t know if she’ll be a full blown member or if she’ll just be a SHIELD agent that gives info, but she’s a welcome addition to the team.  We also learned that the Johannson is signed on for another movie.  It’s some kind of a solo movie, or at the very least one that’s not related to the Avengers.  A Black Widow movie might be alright, and would be very espionage heavy.  I would rather see a movie devoted to SHIELD, with the Johansson as one of the big stars.  The three characters that come to mind are her, Nick Fury, and Hawkeye.  I know Hawkeye isn’t an agent of SHIELD, but this is the best way to give him a movie.  His comic book origins as an ex-criminal arn’t the best, and seeing him as a highly trained special ops agent is pretty cool.  All of his skills and his personality will be intact, and this isn’t the first time he’s been imagined this way.  In the Ultimates (which is a big piece of inspiration), Hawkeye was a special agent who’s partner was the Black Widow.  And if you’ve read this story, you would know that Ultimate Hawkeye is one of the coolest characters in comics.  When the bad guys took away his weapons, he started using his own fingernails as projectiles.  Pretty gruesome, I know, but hardcore nonetheless.

Of course, there is a slight possibilt we might see Hawkeye in Iron Man 2.  There had been a much older rumor that we would see both him and the Black Widow get cameos, which would build in to the Avengers.  I’m skeptical about this one.  The Black Widow’s role is much more than a cameo, and I can’t imagine us not hearing about the casting of such an important character.  Other cameos we might see are Bruce Banner and Thor.  This has been thrown out there from time to time, and could happen I guess.  The Bruce Banner one was brought up last year when Robert Downey Jr. appeared in the Incredible Hulk and is entirely believable.  The Thor rumor is also a possibility, and would be a perfect way to get people excited to see the character in his own movie.  Imagine the movie ending with everyone seeing this huge armored warrior-god.  The shock factor alone would get people excited.  I’m not sure if this will happen though, since they havn’t even started filming Thor’s movie yet.  I don’t know if Chris Hemsworth has gotten ready for the part yet, or if the costume is fully designed.  I think they would have to shoot this scene pretty soon, but I’m not exactly an expert on movie making.  For all I know, they could shoot this thing in December and it would be fine.

In case you havn’t noticed, I’m obsessed with all things related to the Avengers.  Comics, movies, shows, everything.  While looking at all these rumors, I’ve been putting some thought into who the team should fight in 2012 movie.  I’ve had some ideas, so I just thought about throwing them out in a quick list.  Here goes.

Ultron

-He’s an evil robot with a nasty case of the Oedipus Complex.  Built by Hank Pym, Ultron has a personal connection to the team.  He has a long list of dastardly deeds, including his decision to conquer space for no better reason than “he felt like it”.  He came pretty close to winning too.  You have to love him, and he’s one of the best Avengers villains of all time.  He was my original choice for villain, but is starting to fall off the list.  To do Ultron right, you have to include Hank Pym.  Pym would also need a good reason for building the robot, and I think they would waste too much time setting this up.  Pym could build him as a way of stopping the Hulk, but that would still waste too much time.  The Avengers need a foe they can fight throughout the movie, not some final boss type showdown.  When a villain is introduced half way through the movie, it doesn’t feel as epic.  Ultron might make a great choice if there will be an Avengers 2, but that’s so far down the road it doesn’t matter.

The Skrulls

-After Secret Invasion, some comic book readers will cringe when they hear this one.  Still, if you read the Ultimates you would know that they were the first big enemy they faced (or an alien similar to them).  Since most of the script is based off Millar’s big run, they could stick with the same villain.  An army of skrulls would make for a great couple of fight scenes, and there are enough of them so we can see more than one fight.  Then again, an alien invasion might be a bit too much.  Once aliens get involved like this, the conflict doesn’t feel real anymore.  That’s as real as a movie starring a super soldier, green monster and god of thunder can be in the first place.  Hey, at least those three don’t have pointy ears.

Loki

-In one way or another, Loki will be in this movie.  He was the first foe the Avengers had to face, and even a big enemy in the Ultimates.  He just can’t let his brother have any fun.  Loki won’t be the only enemy, since he just doesn’t work like that.  He lets other people do the work for him.  Also, did we forget that Loki is the God of Awesome?  No, we didn’t, and that’s why he has to be in this movie.  

HYDRA

-My best guess for the enemy.  They work on so many levels.  First off, they have a big organization, so you can fit in alot of fights.  Also, HYDRA will be a part of Captain America’s movie.  Having Cap face off against the same forces he did from WWII?  That just works for me.  Cap would get a refound sense of purpose after being out of action and stuck in a big block of ice.  It also makes the franchise feel more cohesive, like there is some overarching plot.  You can even fit in the Masters of Evil.  Having an actual team called the “Masters of Evil” is way over the top.  The name lacks imagination, and is too cheesy to be menacing (like the Ultimates).  Having them as part of HYDRA makes sense.  HYDRA needs some heavy hitters to stand up against the heroes, so the Masters could be somewhere between an elite strike force and a ruling cabal.  The relationship is going to be the same as the Avengers/SHIELD relationship i the movie.  This way, you can fit in some stronger villains.  And since we might see more of the Abomination, he could be one of their recruits.  I’m not sure where they should go from there, but I see them as the best enemy.

The Ultimate Universe has always been an interesting place.  Some have been not-so-great.  I read a bit of Ultimate Spidey, and thoroughly enjoyed seeing Peter in high school again.  The idea of having more realistic takes on costumes and personalities is pretty neat too.  I also read the Ultimates 3, which made me die a little inside.  Any sense of realism was murdered when the Scarlett Witch started dressing up like a fantasy princess.  I actually need to go back and read Mark Millar’s original run on the series, since it will be a big influence on the movies and such.  I think the idea of having the Avengers as a national defense force is a realistic concept, rather than six guys who beat up anyone they want with the government not caring too much.  Even though I hear they changed some of the fundamental concepts of the characters, seeing a fresh take is worth noticing. 

Ultimatum was Jeph Loeb’s way of shaking things up by killing off alot of characters in particularly gruesome ways.  I was never able to read more than a few pages of an issue and it felt, for lack of a better term, weird.  So, Ultimate Marvel is dead.  We now have Ultimate Comics Marvel.  A slight change on words, which I think is a purely symbolic way of saying that they’re starting again.  I mean, when you have the same characters in the same world, it’s the same universe.  The two titles we have are Ultimate Comics Spiderman and Ultimate Avengers.  Wait, Ultimate Avengers?  What were the Ultimates then?  Here’s my guess.  The Ultimates were the national, official team.  They also had a somewhat pompous name.  The Avengers is such a great name for a team, and even something like the Justice League is incredibly classy.  A team called “the Ultimates” must be so full of themselves.  Anyway, the Avengers, like in the comics, are going to be their own organization that does their own thang.  I read a caption that said “there are no rules” describing them.  This actually a very clever move.  A team with that much freedom would seem like renegades to a certain degree, and that is a great angle to play up.  The plot will involve Captain America finding out about the Red Skull, and Nick Fury building a team to bring him back in.  I’m not sure what the Red Skull will look like, or who he’ll be.  Considering I love the Avengers just so very much, I’ll probably pick this title up.

Even though Robert Downey Jr. is confirmed for the Avengers, not all of his potential cast mates are.  Edward Norton, who played Bruce Banner in the Incredible Hulk, has yet to be added to the movie.  However, he did talk about that today.  Sort of.  When asked about the movie, Norton had no comment, claiming that Marvel is very tight-lipped about that stuff and said he would let them release any information.  He also said that he loved the Hulk, and felt a special connection to the movie.

So why wouldn’t they announce anything with the Hulk?  I mean they have the actor, so why don’t they just tell us?  The easy answer is that they don’t know exactly what to do with him.  Even though the Hulk is a classic Marvel character, he’s not always a team player.  He has a tendency to smash everything in sight, which is just flat out problematic when you’re the guy standing next to him.  The script isn’t done yet, and at this stage I don’t think they know for sure what the Hulk’s role is going to be.  Until they are certain, they don’t need to cast the character. 

Still, this news is a change of pace from Norton’s previous comments.  Earlier in the year, Norton had stated he just didn’t know what was going on, claiming that Marvel was hard to read on this issue.  There were rumors that there had been fights regarding certain scenes, but both parties seemed to feel like it was blown way out of proportion by the media.  So, if Norton still doesn’t know what is going on, I think he would just say so.  You only say “no comment” when something isn’t certain or if it’s kept secret, so something must be going on.  And what information is he talking about them releasing?  If he didn’t know anything, there wouldn’t be any information.  So it does sound like they’re getting closer to making these decisions, and if I had to guess, I would say they are bringing Norton back.  If they wanted to replace or ignore him, they wouldn’t talk to him at all.  They could ignore Banner altogether, and include only his bigger, greener, and all around cooler alter ego, but this just seems boring.  If I had to guess, I would say he’s coming back to wreak some more havoc.

There is also a question of whether or not Banner will make a cameo in Iron Man 2.  There had been a rumor a very long time ago that Norton would basically repay the favor for RDJ popping up in the Hulk, but we’ve heard nothing more on this.  That could be old news, but it’s worth mentioning it.  If we do see Banner in Iron Man 2, this would all but confirm his role in the Avengers.  I don’t know what the cameo would be involve, but it would be a fun way to end the movie.  If we’ve learned one thing so far, it’s that you always have to stay after the credits.

This update will be a quick one.  It’s been said for a while that Iron Man will get a trilogy, but there had been some concerns that the third installment would be the Avengers rather than a solo adventure.  Jon Favreau cleared this up, and said that there would in fact be Iron Man 3.  There better be.  They havn’t had the Mandarin yet, and it would unacceptable not to include Iron Man’s archnemesis. 

Favreau also thought that this movie could come out before the Avengers if the team-up gets delayed again.  I’m hoping that this doesn’t happen.  Not only do I not want to wait for the Avengers, but I think that Iron Man 3 will be better for it.  The second is looking to explore Tony’s being by himself, and I want to see a movie where his work on the Avengers has been established. 

Favreau also gave a bit more info on the Avengers.  Kind of.  Since Thor and Captain America havn’t been made or even started production, they can’t really say what the Avengers is going to be like.  Favreau may or may not direct the movie, and they don’t know what kind of role he’ll play.  There had been a rumor that one of the reasons the Avengers was pushed back was because they wanted to give Favreau the chance to work on it after Iron Man 2, although this is all far from confirmed.  I think Favreau would be a great choice, and he certainly cares about the movies enough.

Okay, so this was a pretty bad update.  All I said was that there would be an Iron Man 3 and that they have no idea what to do for the Avengers.  But I just couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t write this.