The Adventures of Captain Otter

Iron Man has an awful rogues gallery.  Just awful.  In fact, it’s so bad, they had to almost make up a new villain for Iron Man 2.  Even though Whiplash is an established villain, they added elements from the Crimson Dynamo to make the character more interesting.  Enter Ivan Vanko, a Russian prisoner with a grudge against Tony Stark.  He blames Stark for a legacy of death and it looks like he’s out for justice.  This is a bit different from Mark Scarlotti, an engineer who likes money and turned to crime.  So the two have almost nothing in common except that they both like using whips.  They might add some elements from the older version, but it’s safe to say they came close to creating a brand new character altogether.  Iron Man fans aren’t exactly upset.  Seriously, who cares about Whiplash?

Here’s where it gets fun.  Marvel has tried doing things with Whiplash, but nothing ever took off.  The old costume hasn’t aged well, and doesn’t fit with the newer, more high tech imagery of Iron Man.  When they attempted to give him a more sinister black costume, he came off as some pervert who liked S+M.  Marvel then decided to do what everyone saw coming and remodel Whiplash after the movie.  Coming this November, Iron Man will fight a version of his nemesis much closer to the movie version.  First off, the name.  The new Whiplash is Anton Vanko.  They couldn’t use Ivan, because that’s the name of the original Crimson Dynamo.  Next, this Whiplash blames Stark for all the death he’s caused.  And of course, this version looks much more like the one we’ll see next summer.  His armor is a bit more high tech and has a scary mask, which is actually not as scary as Mickey Rourke’s face.  There’s going to be a 4 issue miniseries titled “Iron Man vs. Whiplash” and it hits stands this November.  We’re going to get a better look at this new character and how he fits into the movie, and it’s in continuity.  I’m not sure when this battle takes place, since right now Stark is close to death in the comics, but I am going to guess it happens sometime before Dark Reign.  The character is now fully a part of the Marvel U, and we can certainly expect to see more of him in the pages of Iron Man down the road.  At the very least I’m curious to see what the new Whiplash is like, and it makes the wait for Iron Man 2 a little more manageable.

Out of all the sidekicks in comics, War Machine is the coolest.  Sure Robin has the big history with Batman, but Iron Man has a huge ex-soldier absolutely decked out with big guns.  Unfortunately, Rhodey sometimes realizes how cool he is and decides to go off on his own.  Actually, he almost always does.  Even though Stark and Rhodes are great friends, they’ve fought it out on more than a few occasions.  I had always figured they would save any War Machine/Iron Man conflict for Iron Man 3, when Stark should be hitting the bottle.  It would be strange if Stark gave Rhodey the armor and in the same movie they fought.

Recently though, some have speculated that this might not be the case.  Don Cheadle has indicated that there is going to be some tension between the pair, and they’re going to explore the relationship between an arms manufacturer and the guy who uses the guns.  We know Rhodey isn’t thrilled with Stark holding on the Iron Man armor for himself and more than a few fans think that War Machine might somehow battle Stark over his recent actions.  The only way I can see this working is if Rhodey turns to Justin Hammer for weapons and the two find some kind of mutual relationship.  Of course, War Machine would turn on Hammer to save his old partner.  I’m not sure I buy this though.  War Machine would never fight alongside a villain, and I don’t think Rhodey will fight Stark just because he feels like it. 

What do I think will happen?  The two won’t fight.  This movie seems to suggest that Stark wants to do almost everything by himself.  He hasn’t fully joined the Avengers yet and won’t share his tech.  He also rejects Rhodey.  Stark realizes that he needs help taking down Hammer and Whiplash, so he turns to his best friend.  I think the black armor will be introduced earlier on, and Rhodey will start using it later in the movie.  The two pals then team up to save the day.  It would be like the end of Spider-man 3.  Except it would, you know, be completely awesome.  This is just my guess.  It is possible that Iron Man and War Machine will duke it out, but I’m going to make the prediction that they won’t fight.  Fun to imagine it happening though, right?

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.

I know I just posted 5 minutes ago, and I don’t care.  This is important.  Iron Man 2 just released its first trailer, which was close to 5 minutes long.  Too bad we can’t see it.  I’ll just have to read some of the reports.  So what did all those special people at comic con get to see?

One thing is Stark hanging out with Nick Fury, who still wants Stark on the Avengers.  I guess Tony refuses to join the “super powered boy band”.  Thats the most awesome quote ever.  Tony likes doing things on his own.  This tells me a few things.  I think Tony is going to reject Rhodey’s help, only to realize he can’t do all this alone.  He’ll then wind up joining the team at the end of the movie.  That sounds brilliant, and I’m loving it so far.  I also think that the Black Widow is going to be Nick Fury’s girl on the inside, and that would explain her purpose.  I didn’t know why she would spy one of her own people, but this makes sense.

We also hear of Tony verbally abusing a senate committee, and you can just imagine how this would go.  Cut to Whiplash.  His voice-over reveals that he thinks the Starks have a legacy of blood, and that he’s going to end it.  These are the best villains.  The one’s who are doing what they think is right.  I can’t wait to see him on screen and in action.  The last piece of info?  Rhodey in full War Machine armor, guns blazing.  Every site I’ve looked at talks about how amazing it was, and how this is looking to be one fantastic movie.

This just leave me to wonder, what would a super powered boy band look like?  If the Avengers were a band, Thor would be on guitar as the God of Rock, Hulk would rock the drums, Hawkeye would be on bass, Iron Man on electric keyboard/backup vocals and Cap would be lead vocals.  And they would save the world from bad music.

This is bad.  I’m gone for just a few days and we get all this good news.  So over the next few days expect extra posts about all the exciting developments from Comic-Con.

 We’re going to start out with news on all things Iron Man.  We’re seeing a few more pics here and there but nothing major yet.  Every time I see Scarlett as the Black Widow I cry tears of joy.  I wonder if we’ll see Bucky hit on her when Cap gets his movies….  We’re also hearing more news on the Iron Man 2 video game.  The first game was poorly received by critics, but I thought it was kind of fun.  The close combat system was utterly pointless, and I just blasted everything with missiles.  I wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re a massive Iron Man fan or really like missiles.  Hopefully, the second one won’t disappoint.  One of the writers is Matt Fraction, who writes the current Iron Man series.  He’s a solid writer, and this means we can probably expect a substantial plot this time.  Sega is also promising an all around better game, and the trailer looks nice and shiny.  We see Shellhead face off against armies of robots, and most interestingly a boss who looks like the Crimson Dynamo.  What does this mean?  Did the writers figure he’s a cool enough villain to include in the video game?  Or will the Whiplash/Dynamo hybrid get a big upgrade?  I’m inclined to say the former but we can’t know for sure.

What about on the DC side of things?  Warners is trying to get the big Justice League stars on the big screen and is working more with DC to make it work.  The Green Lantern movie is good to go.  Script is done, director is on board, and Hal Jordan is cast.  If only the rest of the Justice League could be so fortunate.  A Flash movie has been in the works for close to a decade, with numerous writers and directors stepping in.  The current writer is none other than Geoff Johns, the man behind Barry Allen’s return and all things Green Lantern.  If things go well, it might come out alongside Green Lantern.  If it did, it would be really funny.  The two characters who Johns has resurrected would be spearheading the DC movie universe, and they make a great pair.  I’ve never been a big advocate of a Flash movie.  I don’t know how to translate super-speed to a movie and think it would be tricky to pull off.  We could see the Flash join an already crowded summer but I doubt it.  Thor just won’t allow it.

The rest of the team is doing even worse.  No one has had any success in working out a Wonder Woman script, and it has been compared to the fact that there hasn’t she hasn’t received a quality comic either.  I’m not a big Wonder Woman fan, so I’m not exactly complaining about this.  I just can’t imagine someone wearing that costume on the big screen.  Superman is still in limbo or some kind of Mongul induced trance, and I have a feeling Brandon Routh is getting annoyed about people asking him about the movie.  Batman 3 is a ways away, but I’m willing to wait for this one.  So where does this leave the Justice League movie?  The movie is “inactive” and don’t expect it anytime soon.  Warners needs to figure out how to get Wonder Woman and Superman back in business, and Batman is still busy doing his own thing. 

Even though Iron Man isn’t coming out till next year, Entertainment Weekly has given us something to make the wait a bit more manageable.  Just look at the cover.

This cover just looks great.  And you know what looks even better?  This.

Looks like I’ve got myself a new screensaver!  This is just……wow. 

Some tidbits of info were also given, but nothing too groundbreaking.  It looks like some fans are worried that there are too many villains, which isn’t completely true.  I think Natasha isn’t going to be a true villain, and as a spy always has an agenda.  Considering she’s going to be in the Avengers, she’ll be working for the good guys sooner or later.  And then we have Justin Hammer and Whiplash.  The two somehow “team up” to take down Stark.  Hammer is a businessman who fancies himself to be the next Tony Stark (fool) while Whiplash is some Russian guy who makes a suit.  The brief description of him was awesome.  He has a cockatoo he talks to when he makes the suit or when he gets drunk.  Thats awesome!  I wonder if we’ll get to see Stark and Vanko go out drinking?  At the very least they have to run into each other at a bar.  And what does this “team up” between the two villains involve?  I don’t know why Whiplash wants to go up against Iron Man or what he could gain from it, but I would like to see Hammer try and give the villain a nastier suit.  So even though we have three “villains”, only one is going to be doing fighting.  That doesn’t seem so bad to me.

 Well, this movie is looking to be really wild.  Everything seems really out there and funky.  There are just so many charactes.  Still, its Iron Man.  How can it not be good?

Stan Lee might just be the coolest man ever.  Not only did he bring us heroes like Spiderman, Iron Man, and the Hulk, but he might just be the most eccentric person alive.  Its kind of hard not to love Stan Lee.  So when news comes of his latest cameo, you take notice.

Stan Lee’s cameo in Iron Man 2 looks like a big one.  He’ll be playing Larry King, who is interviewing Tony Stark over the development of his new black armor.  First of all, its kind of funny that they didn’t just get Larry King himself.  I think he would have been willing to do.  He played himself in Ghostbusters after all.  Then again, they have Stan the Man doing a full blown interview, so Im not complaining.  That scene is going to rock.  Also, black armor?  We knew War Machine was coming in, so this just helps confirm that.  This also hints that Tony will be wearing the War Machine armor before Rhodey does. 

Speaking of machines, Revenge of the Fallen did some serious work at the box office.  Over five days, it made over 200 million dollars.  Its the second movie to do this, with the first being The Dark Knight.  Wow.  You can say what you want about the movie or Micheal Bay, but the man does bring in the money.  After a weekend like this, I can’t imagine the studio not green lighting Transformers 3 as fast as humanly possible.  The movie hadn’t been well recieved by critics, getting a mere 22% on rotten tomatoes.  I guess people didn’t listen to the reviews and were just too enthralled with the idea of seeing more Optimus Prime.  Now the question is wheter or not the movie will keep on making money.  Some movies get poor word of mouth, and attendance dropped quickly.  That, or everyone who wanted to see the movie went already.  Both are possible options, and if people start talking about the movie it could deter potential viewers.  Transformers 2 is already success, but just how big a success it will be is up for debate.

Ive been waiting for this for a while.  Ive been dying to see Mickey Rourke finally get his supervillain on, and still believe hes a perfect choice for Iron Man’s nemesis.  You know you want to see it too.  Here we have an early preview.

Now its time to speculate.  We can clearly see that Rourke is going to be playing Whiplash, with only a few elements of the Crimson Dynamo thrown in.  His name will be Ivan Vanko, and thats pretty much all that we are told.  Theres alot more that this pic tells us.  We do see the whips, but not a clear view of what theyll be like in action.  We can take a few guesses though.  We also see the Iron Man chest piece.  This is probably going to be a big part of the film.  Stark’s tech is going to be creating a mini arms race.  Even though he wants to use his weapons for good, someone like say….a Russian prisoner is going to get access to it and use it.  So hes going to have to come to terms with his impact on the world.  It will be something similar to nuclear weapons.  They were created to help end WW2, and to end an awful war.  But, other people get their hands on them.  And now, we have all these rogue states trying to get their hands on them.  Stark will probably going through this, and will take it on himself to be the hero and save the day.

As for the rest of the tech, Im looking for something more.  This looks like the mark one of whatever Whiplash should be wearing.  His armor is described as being similar to the Iron Man armor, but with some differences.  This doesnt look like a suit at all.  It looks more like a weapon system.  It has no real defensive capabilites to be seen, so hes not going to be able to take a punch from our armored hero.  He can probably avoid ranged fire through some crazy ability with his whips, which is going to be awesome.  But when someone punchs him in the face, hell go down just like everyone else.  Then again, this is mickey rourke, and his face looks like its taken several hits from the Hulk already.   But at the end of the day, how is he going to look when facing off against stark.  The look might not be out there enough.  The Mark 3 is pretty flashy, while this is really bare bones.  Almost too much.  So, maybe a sturider chest piece, and red armor over all the places where we see metal.  Nothing too much, but something.  Maybe Justin Hammer gave him a hand building the last pieces. 

 Also, his pants look like prison pants.  Maybe he just broke out with his whips?  That would explain why his armor isnt complete.  And why hes wearing orange.

But damn, Mickery Rourke looks like something else.  The tatoos, and the overall design is pretty intense while still believable.  Something about the look screams “pirate”.  Maybe its the leather straps and pants.  Maybe its the hair and what I think might be a gold tooth (cant make it out).  Maybe its the ship tatoo on his belly.  Actually, its the fact that he pretty much makes me want to curl into a ball and adopt the fetal position  Would you even remotely consider going toe to toe with this guy?  Thats what will make him a great villain.

 But ive got to stop.  Im getting way too much info from all this.  I dont want to have any spoilers and want to try and go in without knowing too much.  Whiplash was the last thing I wanted to see, and now I have it.  From this day forth, Im going to seriously limit my intake on Iron Man news.  I dont want to, but i think i have to.

Iron Man is probably my favorite hero.  He’s got a great character design, and is probably one of the most human characters out there.  That’t not what I’m here to talk about.  I want to tell you how he has one of the worst rogue’s gallery for a character of his caliber.  His greatest nemesis is the Mandarin, and I’ve got nothing against him.  Its everyone else.  The Iron Monger is a great villain, but he been dead for a very long time.  He had a personal connection with Tony, which gave him such a huge menace.  I really need to pick up demon in a bottle so i can actually read what happened.

After that, it gets a bit rough.  After those two, theres the crimson dynamo, whiplash, blizzard, the controller, and a bunch of other ridiculous concepts for characters.  Stark actually has a villain called the Unicorn.  This was clearly not Stan Lee’s shining moment.  And wikipedia tells me that there have been 12 crimson dynamos.  Its impossible to bond with the character when his personality changes every time I see him.  But i think almost all of the villains have the potential to be stronger characters.  The Controller made a recent appearance, an although his costume wasn’t updated by too much he got some good quality time.  By making the villains look like they really could exist, the characters become more valauble.  I mean, no one is ever going to buy a guy called the Unicorn.  But by making the gallery looks and act more realistically, Iron Man might get a stronger gallery.