Namaste and welcome once again to another posting for the Quiet Mouse Strikes Back. If you are a familiar reader of my blog or a first timer, I would highly recommend going back and reading some of my past blogs, and for the sake of this posting I recommend reading the previous Marvel vs DC: Battle For the Comics Movie Universe.
I didn't quite get to cover everything I intended in the previous Marvel vs DC blog, or was unable to get all the material into it, for sake of length and time.
Today I want to start by saying congrats to Deadpool for becoming the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time. With a budget of 58 million, I'd say they scored. Big time. I'm looking forward to seeing what Ryan Reynolds will bring us next time in his reprisal of the role.
I also want to say a few words about Batman v Superman to get it out of the way. 500 million dollars seems like a lot over a few weekends. I've seen many movies do MUCH worse. This movie was originally scheduled to come out the same weekend as Captain America Civil War, but opted out in favor of an earlier release with zero competition, yet has still had a 68% drop off from opening to second weekend and receiving a horrible score on Rotten Tomatoes of, I believe, 29%. I think the DC executives KNEW they couldn't beat Marvel in a head to head fight. The waning of BvS will surely be evident in April as we head into summer movie season. As I said before, besides the hype for Wonder Woman going solo, I believe DCEU is ONE AND DONE... no hype for future movies of the Green Lantern, Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman, or Martian Manhunter. This is more disturbing than Ben Affleck's face at hearing critics pan BvS for script, direction, and poor character portrayal by Afleck (Batman), Cavill (Superman), and Eisenberg (Lex Luther who was played WAY BETTER by Gene Hackman).
Now I want to actually go into detail about the upcoming super hero comic book movies coming to a cinema near you in 2016 and into 2017.
1) Captain America Civil War
I went a lot into detail about this movie in the last blog, so I won't rehash it a lot but to say it looks exciting and will likely be one of the biggest films of the summer. Chris Evans stars in his third Captain America franchise film alongside a slew of Marvel comic heroes. Two of the big names in Thor and Hulk will not be appearing in this film. Even though Thadeus "Thunderbolt" Ross is making a cinematic return, from his previous appearance in the Edward Norton version of the Hulk, he will NOT be appearing as his alter ego Red Hulk. This movie will be the debut of Tom Holland as Peter Parker a.k.a Spider-Man. We will also be seeing the likes of Crossbones and Baron Zemo, on the villain side.
2) X-men Apocalypse
I'm a big fan of the X-men, but without Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, I'm not sure how this one is going to play out. This movie is the final in a new trilogy with big names like Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, and Jennifer Lawrence that started with "First Class", followed by the epic "Days of Future Past", and now ending with "Apocalypse" who is arguably one of, if not the toughest villain for the X-men yet and should pose as a formidable foe for the super-hero group.
3) Suicide Squad
DCEU is trying to dig deep for this one. Fan boys have been dreaming of the day when Harley Quinn and Joker would be side by side on the big screen cinema. Due to the dark nature and negative reviews of Batman v Superman, the DC team has set out to re shoot some of the end scenes of the new Suicide Squad hoping to capitalize on the comic movie boom, making the movie more family friendly and less dark. There are a couple of problems I have with this movie from the start.
a) Besides Harley Quinn and Joker... who the fuck are these other jabronies? Will Smith? I don't think so, unless they have an EPIC bad guy lined up for these jack asses to fight against.
b) The Joker. I'm sorry for saying this but Jared Leto is NO Jack Nicholson. Hell, he isn't even in the league with Jack OR Heath Ledger OR even Caesar Romero; that should tell you something.
c) Like the other DCEU movies, this one is receiving little hype and even Will Smith's acting presence cannot save what looks like a flop from the beginning.
d) Harley Quinn looks NOTHING like what the fan boys grew up to know and love, or rather lust over, her as. Larger than life weapons, cheesy one liners, and a love affair with Mr. J. is what we were expecting, but Margot Robbie, despite her best efforts, may just end up disappointing the hard core fans like BvS.
4) Doctor Strange
If the live action version of this movie is as good as the Marvel animated movie then we are certainly in for a treat. Benedict Cumberbatch is a phenomenal actor, especially in his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes on the BBC, in the epic and immortal Hobbit films as the voice of Smaug, the fire-breathing dragon, and as the savy, dangerous Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek: Into Darkness (original role made famous by Ricardo Montalban, alongside William Shatner, Leonard Nemoy, Deforest Kelly, etc.). Anyway Benedict Cumberbatch will bring charisma, style, and mysticism to the role of Dr. Strange, a brilliant surgeon who hurts his hands in an accident. During his search for a cure to his damaged hands, he seeks out the wisdom of the Ancient One, played by Tilda Swinton. Not much is known about plot synopsis, but many figure it will follow suit with the animated movie (same title) as an origins story. The likeliest foe for this epic film will be Dormammu, god-tyrant of the "dark dimension", originating in the Strange Tales #126 comic book. I highly anticipate, much like Ant Man and Guardians of the Galaxy, that Doctor Strange will change up the game and bring some new vigor to the Marvel Comic Universe. It is highly likely that Dr. Strange, in lieu of the eventual departure of Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., among others, will take on a more noticeable role in the MCU, likely in the Avengers. I believe that he will play a vital role in the Infinity War vs Thanos alongside Earth's mightiest heroes that once shattered by the Captain America: Civil War will combine forces once again for the sake of saving Earth and the rest of the Galaxy from impending doom at the hands of the Mad Titan.
5) Gambit
Not much is known surrounding this movie, despite the fact that it is scheduled to release this year. Fox did a less-than-stellar job in hyping up the Fantastic 4 reboot either, focusing their effort more on the X-men universe than anything else. This really surprises me about Gambit because he is part of the same universe with the likes of Wolverine and Professor Charles Xavier. Last time we saw Gambit was in the Wolverine Origins prequel movie where his portrayal was shitty at best, only out shined in crappiness by an over-shadowed, highly PG-13, limited in capacity Deadpool with a sewn shut mouth, that was blatantly overshadowed by Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. Hopefully Channing Tatum will be able to bring some style and character to Remy Lebeau, an under-utilized character in the X-men. With better acting, directing, and technology, I believe this could be a sleeper hit for FOX and their portrayal of the Marvel character.
6) Wolverine 3
Hugh Jackman has been playing Logan for a while now, over 10 years. This is to be his last film as the charismatic bad ass with triple claws springing from each hand. It will be interesting to see this finale with Jackman as the lead. From what I've read it's going to be the old man Logan story line, for those who have read the comics. I'm looking forward to seeing who might be playing Wolverine after Jackman hangs up his saddle, names have been talked about, but the most notable name is Tom Hardy, the man who played Bane in the Dark Knight Rises. But as of now that is just an Internet rumor.
7) Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2
The first film was amazing, colorful, and told on an epic stage with the threat of galactic annihilation at the hands of Ronin. Thanos is allegedly supposed to take a backseat in this sequel as it spends more time delving into the back story of the hero Peter Quill a.k.a. Star Lord, and his father, whose identity has been yet to be revealed. Sylvester Stalone has joined the cast to be one of the ravagers, it has been said, as well as Kurt Russel in an unknown role. Perhaps Star Lord's dad?
Groot, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Star Lord will be back again to save the galaxy from a mysterious threat. This is sure to be great as there is not enough good things to say about the first one. I, for one, am glad to see the Marvel Comic Universe expand to new territories and keep pushing the envelope further toward the stars. Despite no direct connection with the Thanos Infinity Stone arc, I think we are likely to see some new characters, at the minimum, like Adam Warlock, Star Lord's Father, and the likes of Nebula, not new, but fixed from the last time we saw her missing her hand and commandeering .
8) Wonder Woman
Gal Gadot stole the thunder from Batman v Superman in her small role as Diana Prince that will lead into her own solo movie in 2017. Besides Batman and Superman, Wonder Woman rounds out the top 3 characters for DC. I'm sure that this movie will be decent as she is probably the #1 female super hero in all of comics, DC or Marvel. I'm sure that there will be cameos from other Justice League characters as well, as this will be leading up to the combined JLA movie.
9) Spider-Man (reboot)
Tom Holland is the newest actor to play the webbed super hero following in the footsteps of Tobey Macguire and Andrew Garfield. His first role reprisal will show up in the Captain America: Civil War. From what it looks like and the rumors ahead of the film release, it looks like Spidey will be teaming up with Team Iron Man. Rumor has it, the young Peter Parker will receive knowledge and tech upgrades from Tony Stark. Marvel boss Kevin Feige stated recently that the Spidey reboot will indeed have other MCU characters and join into the current arc of the 6 Infinity Stones. The other MCU characters making an appearance are not currently known, but we will see some alliances being made in the Civil War, which comic geeks will know Peter Parker's role is HUGE as he unmasks in front of the world. I don't want to spoil it because the MCU doesn't like to follow the comic universe to the letter, as there have been many changes already for the sake of the cinema.
10) Thor Ragnarok
Chris Hemsworth is reprising his current solo film project as Thor for the third time, plus his two appearances in the Avengers and A:AOU. What we know so far about this film is from Age of Ultron when Wanda Maximoff a.k.a. Scarlet Witch enchanted Thor with her powers causing him to have visions of Asgard destroyed at possibly his own hands. Readers of the comics and a foreshadowing from the new Lego Marvel Avengers shows a Ragnarok character that is a cyborg capable of great damage, in the likeness of Odinson himself. Ragnarok is lead by Hela, ruler of Hel. She is likely to take the role of the female lead in the MCU side by side with Thanos, replacing the comic version of "death incarnate". Both are fueled by the power of destruction. Alone they are worthy adversaries, but together they could rule the galaxy. Since the disappearance of Hulk at the end of Age of Ultron, rumors have been flying around about a possible crossover from Hulk into the realm of Asgard tying in parts of other stories like Planet Hulk and Wold War Hulk, meaning Thor and Hulk would have to team up not only to survive, but to overcome these villains Ragnarok and Hela. Thor Dark World is close to the bottom of the new Marvel Cinematic Universe in profits and fan reaction. Hopefully the guys down at Marvel can re-breathe some life back into the hero. I'm feeling like they are kinda going to take it a different direction, though and have Odinson lose grace and favor in Asgard, as he relinquishes Mjolnir to a new hero and he goes back to Midgard (Earth) with his love Jane Foster. Also this is the final film in which Tom Hiddleston will be reprising his role as the dashing, conniving villain Loki, thus far the BEST bad guy in the current MCU arc.
11) Justice Leage
The DCEU is going to load this movie up and swing for the fences. Let's just be honest and say that there are a LOT of fans out there for comic movies in general. All the fans like the DC big 3 of Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman. Throwing in the likes of Cyborg, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter and you have quite the team who will no doubt be facing a COLOSSAL villain of epic proportions. If DC is to be successful with this film and gain traction for their other solo movies, they need to focus on depth of character, story lines, and fan acceptability. BvS got a lot of heat from the critics for being too dark, bad characters, namely Jesse Eisenberg who is no Gene Hackman in the role of Lex Luthor. Also the critics said that the plot was full of holes and endless details that never got explained along with a half-hearted motive for the super battle between the two best DC has to offer. Like I said, DC will pull out all stops and make the best film they can. If Afleck has his way, we will also be seeing another solo Batman film in the near future.
So I just wrote quite a bit about upcoming movies for the rest of this year and into next year. There's a LOT on the board. I'm really looking forward to seeing what these two rival studios can produce. Either way, the FANS are going to win. I can easily see, similar to the success of Star Wars, Marvel is going to have some billion dollar international paydays from their upcoming films as well. DC is well onto that total with BvS.
I want to take a moment to the side and briefly talk about some of the history of Marvel movies, BEFORE the current arc that started with Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man. Mind you that FOX has the movie rights to the X-men and Fantastic 4 characters and Universe. Marvel is NOT ALLOWED to use the word in any form "Mutant". Sony has the movie rights to Spider-Man, and it's characters. Currently Disney's Marvel and Sony are playing nice allowing the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man back into the Marvel fray for the Captain America: Civil War and his own solo movie rumored to be called "Spider-Man: the New Avenger". Peter Parker and his alter-ego Spider-Man are the BEST SELLING Marvel comic character of all time.
Moving on, here are a list of good Marvel movies prior to Iron Man.
Blade trilogy with Wesley Snipes.
Spider-Man x3 with Toby Macguire (x2 with Andrew Garfield during current MCU arc).
Fantastic 4 x2 with Chris Evans as Johnny Storm a.k.a. Human Torch (now Captain America), Michael Chiklis as Thing, Jessica Alba as Sue Storm a.k.a. Invisible Woman, and Julian McMahon as Victor Von Doom or Dr. Doom.
Howard the Duck. Marvel has officially disowned the original movie even though it was an icon of the 80's. They did, however reprise the role with Seth Green doing the voice of Howard in the Guardians of the Galaxy end credits scene. Fan boys are hoping that Howard will get an even bigger role in GOTG Vol 2, along with Cosmo, the space dog that Rocket was growling at and later was seen licking the face of the Collector, played by Benicio Del Toro (who on a side note has signed on to be in Star Wars Episode VIII, role not known).
Daredevil with Ben Afleck, Jennifer Garner, and the late Michael Clarke Duncan.
Shout out to the original 80's version of Hulk played by Lou Ferrigno and his continued work with the MCU doing the voice of the current Hulk, played as Bruce Banner by Mark Ruffalo.
I spend a lot of time talking about Marvel movies and heroes, so I wanted to be a little more fair and balanced, so I'm taking some time now to write about PAST DC movies, primarily with the top two characters, Batman and Superman.
First I wanted to honorably mention the DC comic movie Flashpoint Paradox. I saw this recently on Netflix and I thought it was very original and creative. Props.
Now, starting with Batman we can see how the character has developed on screen.
Adam West had one feature film and a television show as the caped crusader.
Michael Keaton portrayed Tim Burton's vision of the Dark Knight twice and many hard core fans consider him to be THE Batman.
Val Kilmer played the role in one film.
George Clooney played the role once as well, in what many consider to be the outright WORST of all cinematic Batman films. The bad acting from Alecia Silverstone, Chris O'Donnell, and Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn't save the over-budgeted film from sinking and thus it is the WORST.
Christian Bale played the Dark Knight thrice under direction of Christopher Nolan. Many argue that Heath Ledger stole the show in the Dark Knight and would arguably be the BEST Joker of all time. I think these three movies, personally, are the most accurate portrayal of what Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego would be like in real life, relateable to the audience in the cinema.
Ben Affleck joins the ranks as the latest version of the character Batman in his film Batman v Superman. Seems like he did a better job than he did in Marvel's Daredevil
Now on to Superman.
Christopher Reeve WAS Superman to a whole generation in the 80's and 90's. He had 4 feature films alongside Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor as the primary villain.
Dean Cain played a televised version of Superman in the 90's.
Brandon Routh reprised the role against Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor.
Henry Cavill, made famous in his film the Immortals with Lee Evans, Mickey Rourke, and John Hurt, now portrays Superman in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman. He is a conflicted character that we will hopefully see played out into the Justice League.
So that's about a wrap for this blog. There's been a lot of info covered. I'm a geek and a fan boy as you can see, so if you, as my reader would ever like to talk more about this blog or others, please feel free to message me through my Facebook link or just leave a message under the comments section of this blog and I will respond a.s.a.p.
It's going to be an amazing couple of years for the comic book movie universe to play out on the cinema near you. As always this has been fun and I'll see YOU at the movies. This has been the one and only Quiet Mouse.
I didn't quite get to cover everything I intended in the previous Marvel vs DC blog, or was unable to get all the material into it, for sake of length and time.
Today I want to start by saying congrats to Deadpool for becoming the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time. With a budget of 58 million, I'd say they scored. Big time. I'm looking forward to seeing what Ryan Reynolds will bring us next time in his reprisal of the role.
I also want to say a few words about Batman v Superman to get it out of the way. 500 million dollars seems like a lot over a few weekends. I've seen many movies do MUCH worse. This movie was originally scheduled to come out the same weekend as Captain America Civil War, but opted out in favor of an earlier release with zero competition, yet has still had a 68% drop off from opening to second weekend and receiving a horrible score on Rotten Tomatoes of, I believe, 29%. I think the DC executives KNEW they couldn't beat Marvel in a head to head fight. The waning of BvS will surely be evident in April as we head into summer movie season. As I said before, besides the hype for Wonder Woman going solo, I believe DCEU is ONE AND DONE... no hype for future movies of the Green Lantern, Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman, or Martian Manhunter. This is more disturbing than Ben Affleck's face at hearing critics pan BvS for script, direction, and poor character portrayal by Afleck (Batman), Cavill (Superman), and Eisenberg (Lex Luther who was played WAY BETTER by Gene Hackman).
Now I want to actually go into detail about the upcoming super hero comic book movies coming to a cinema near you in 2016 and into 2017.
1) Captain America Civil War
I went a lot into detail about this movie in the last blog, so I won't rehash it a lot but to say it looks exciting and will likely be one of the biggest films of the summer. Chris Evans stars in his third Captain America franchise film alongside a slew of Marvel comic heroes. Two of the big names in Thor and Hulk will not be appearing in this film. Even though Thadeus "Thunderbolt" Ross is making a cinematic return, from his previous appearance in the Edward Norton version of the Hulk, he will NOT be appearing as his alter ego Red Hulk. This movie will be the debut of Tom Holland as Peter Parker a.k.a Spider-Man. We will also be seeing the likes of Crossbones and Baron Zemo, on the villain side.
2) X-men Apocalypse
I'm a big fan of the X-men, but without Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, I'm not sure how this one is going to play out. This movie is the final in a new trilogy with big names like Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, and Jennifer Lawrence that started with "First Class", followed by the epic "Days of Future Past", and now ending with "Apocalypse" who is arguably one of, if not the toughest villain for the X-men yet and should pose as a formidable foe for the super-hero group.
3) Suicide Squad
DCEU is trying to dig deep for this one. Fan boys have been dreaming of the day when Harley Quinn and Joker would be side by side on the big screen cinema. Due to the dark nature and negative reviews of Batman v Superman, the DC team has set out to re shoot some of the end scenes of the new Suicide Squad hoping to capitalize on the comic movie boom, making the movie more family friendly and less dark. There are a couple of problems I have with this movie from the start.
a) Besides Harley Quinn and Joker... who the fuck are these other jabronies? Will Smith? I don't think so, unless they have an EPIC bad guy lined up for these jack asses to fight against.
b) The Joker. I'm sorry for saying this but Jared Leto is NO Jack Nicholson. Hell, he isn't even in the league with Jack OR Heath Ledger OR even Caesar Romero; that should tell you something.
c) Like the other DCEU movies, this one is receiving little hype and even Will Smith's acting presence cannot save what looks like a flop from the beginning.
d) Harley Quinn looks NOTHING like what the fan boys grew up to know and love, or rather lust over, her as. Larger than life weapons, cheesy one liners, and a love affair with Mr. J. is what we were expecting, but Margot Robbie, despite her best efforts, may just end up disappointing the hard core fans like BvS.
4) Doctor Strange
If the live action version of this movie is as good as the Marvel animated movie then we are certainly in for a treat. Benedict Cumberbatch is a phenomenal actor, especially in his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes on the BBC, in the epic and immortal Hobbit films as the voice of Smaug, the fire-breathing dragon, and as the savy, dangerous Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek: Into Darkness (original role made famous by Ricardo Montalban, alongside William Shatner, Leonard Nemoy, Deforest Kelly, etc.). Anyway Benedict Cumberbatch will bring charisma, style, and mysticism to the role of Dr. Strange, a brilliant surgeon who hurts his hands in an accident. During his search for a cure to his damaged hands, he seeks out the wisdom of the Ancient One, played by Tilda Swinton. Not much is known about plot synopsis, but many figure it will follow suit with the animated movie (same title) as an origins story. The likeliest foe for this epic film will be Dormammu, god-tyrant of the "dark dimension", originating in the Strange Tales #126 comic book. I highly anticipate, much like Ant Man and Guardians of the Galaxy, that Doctor Strange will change up the game and bring some new vigor to the Marvel Comic Universe. It is highly likely that Dr. Strange, in lieu of the eventual departure of Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., among others, will take on a more noticeable role in the MCU, likely in the Avengers. I believe that he will play a vital role in the Infinity War vs Thanos alongside Earth's mightiest heroes that once shattered by the Captain America: Civil War will combine forces once again for the sake of saving Earth and the rest of the Galaxy from impending doom at the hands of the Mad Titan.
5) Gambit
Not much is known surrounding this movie, despite the fact that it is scheduled to release this year. Fox did a less-than-stellar job in hyping up the Fantastic 4 reboot either, focusing their effort more on the X-men universe than anything else. This really surprises me about Gambit because he is part of the same universe with the likes of Wolverine and Professor Charles Xavier. Last time we saw Gambit was in the Wolverine Origins prequel movie where his portrayal was shitty at best, only out shined in crappiness by an over-shadowed, highly PG-13, limited in capacity Deadpool with a sewn shut mouth, that was blatantly overshadowed by Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. Hopefully Channing Tatum will be able to bring some style and character to Remy Lebeau, an under-utilized character in the X-men. With better acting, directing, and technology, I believe this could be a sleeper hit for FOX and their portrayal of the Marvel character.
6) Wolverine 3
Hugh Jackman has been playing Logan for a while now, over 10 years. This is to be his last film as the charismatic bad ass with triple claws springing from each hand. It will be interesting to see this finale with Jackman as the lead. From what I've read it's going to be the old man Logan story line, for those who have read the comics. I'm looking forward to seeing who might be playing Wolverine after Jackman hangs up his saddle, names have been talked about, but the most notable name is Tom Hardy, the man who played Bane in the Dark Knight Rises. But as of now that is just an Internet rumor.
7) Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2
The first film was amazing, colorful, and told on an epic stage with the threat of galactic annihilation at the hands of Ronin. Thanos is allegedly supposed to take a backseat in this sequel as it spends more time delving into the back story of the hero Peter Quill a.k.a. Star Lord, and his father, whose identity has been yet to be revealed. Sylvester Stalone has joined the cast to be one of the ravagers, it has been said, as well as Kurt Russel in an unknown role. Perhaps Star Lord's dad?
Groot, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Star Lord will be back again to save the galaxy from a mysterious threat. This is sure to be great as there is not enough good things to say about the first one. I, for one, am glad to see the Marvel Comic Universe expand to new territories and keep pushing the envelope further toward the stars. Despite no direct connection with the Thanos Infinity Stone arc, I think we are likely to see some new characters, at the minimum, like Adam Warlock, Star Lord's Father, and the likes of Nebula, not new, but fixed from the last time we saw her missing her hand and commandeering .
8) Wonder Woman
Gal Gadot stole the thunder from Batman v Superman in her small role as Diana Prince that will lead into her own solo movie in 2017. Besides Batman and Superman, Wonder Woman rounds out the top 3 characters for DC. I'm sure that this movie will be decent as she is probably the #1 female super hero in all of comics, DC or Marvel. I'm sure that there will be cameos from other Justice League characters as well, as this will be leading up to the combined JLA movie.
9) Spider-Man (reboot)
Tom Holland is the newest actor to play the webbed super hero following in the footsteps of Tobey Macguire and Andrew Garfield. His first role reprisal will show up in the Captain America: Civil War. From what it looks like and the rumors ahead of the film release, it looks like Spidey will be teaming up with Team Iron Man. Rumor has it, the young Peter Parker will receive knowledge and tech upgrades from Tony Stark. Marvel boss Kevin Feige stated recently that the Spidey reboot will indeed have other MCU characters and join into the current arc of the 6 Infinity Stones. The other MCU characters making an appearance are not currently known, but we will see some alliances being made in the Civil War, which comic geeks will know Peter Parker's role is HUGE as he unmasks in front of the world. I don't want to spoil it because the MCU doesn't like to follow the comic universe to the letter, as there have been many changes already for the sake of the cinema.
10) Thor Ragnarok
Chris Hemsworth is reprising his current solo film project as Thor for the third time, plus his two appearances in the Avengers and A:AOU. What we know so far about this film is from Age of Ultron when Wanda Maximoff a.k.a. Scarlet Witch enchanted Thor with her powers causing him to have visions of Asgard destroyed at possibly his own hands. Readers of the comics and a foreshadowing from the new Lego Marvel Avengers shows a Ragnarok character that is a cyborg capable of great damage, in the likeness of Odinson himself. Ragnarok is lead by Hela, ruler of Hel. She is likely to take the role of the female lead in the MCU side by side with Thanos, replacing the comic version of "death incarnate". Both are fueled by the power of destruction. Alone they are worthy adversaries, but together they could rule the galaxy. Since the disappearance of Hulk at the end of Age of Ultron, rumors have been flying around about a possible crossover from Hulk into the realm of Asgard tying in parts of other stories like Planet Hulk and Wold War Hulk, meaning Thor and Hulk would have to team up not only to survive, but to overcome these villains Ragnarok and Hela. Thor Dark World is close to the bottom of the new Marvel Cinematic Universe in profits and fan reaction. Hopefully the guys down at Marvel can re-breathe some life back into the hero. I'm feeling like they are kinda going to take it a different direction, though and have Odinson lose grace and favor in Asgard, as he relinquishes Mjolnir to a new hero and he goes back to Midgard (Earth) with his love Jane Foster. Also this is the final film in which Tom Hiddleston will be reprising his role as the dashing, conniving villain Loki, thus far the BEST bad guy in the current MCU arc.
11) Justice Leage
The DCEU is going to load this movie up and swing for the fences. Let's just be honest and say that there are a LOT of fans out there for comic movies in general. All the fans like the DC big 3 of Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman. Throwing in the likes of Cyborg, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter and you have quite the team who will no doubt be facing a COLOSSAL villain of epic proportions. If DC is to be successful with this film and gain traction for their other solo movies, they need to focus on depth of character, story lines, and fan acceptability. BvS got a lot of heat from the critics for being too dark, bad characters, namely Jesse Eisenberg who is no Gene Hackman in the role of Lex Luthor. Also the critics said that the plot was full of holes and endless details that never got explained along with a half-hearted motive for the super battle between the two best DC has to offer. Like I said, DC will pull out all stops and make the best film they can. If Afleck has his way, we will also be seeing another solo Batman film in the near future.
So I just wrote quite a bit about upcoming movies for the rest of this year and into next year. There's a LOT on the board. I'm really looking forward to seeing what these two rival studios can produce. Either way, the FANS are going to win. I can easily see, similar to the success of Star Wars, Marvel is going to have some billion dollar international paydays from their upcoming films as well. DC is well onto that total with BvS.
I want to take a moment to the side and briefly talk about some of the history of Marvel movies, BEFORE the current arc that started with Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man. Mind you that FOX has the movie rights to the X-men and Fantastic 4 characters and Universe. Marvel is NOT ALLOWED to use the word in any form "Mutant". Sony has the movie rights to Spider-Man, and it's characters. Currently Disney's Marvel and Sony are playing nice allowing the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man back into the Marvel fray for the Captain America: Civil War and his own solo movie rumored to be called "Spider-Man: the New Avenger". Peter Parker and his alter-ego Spider-Man are the BEST SELLING Marvel comic character of all time.
Moving on, here are a list of good Marvel movies prior to Iron Man.
Blade trilogy with Wesley Snipes.
Spider-Man x3 with Toby Macguire (x2 with Andrew Garfield during current MCU arc).
Fantastic 4 x2 with Chris Evans as Johnny Storm a.k.a. Human Torch (now Captain America), Michael Chiklis as Thing, Jessica Alba as Sue Storm a.k.a. Invisible Woman, and Julian McMahon as Victor Von Doom or Dr. Doom.
Howard the Duck. Marvel has officially disowned the original movie even though it was an icon of the 80's. They did, however reprise the role with Seth Green doing the voice of Howard in the Guardians of the Galaxy end credits scene. Fan boys are hoping that Howard will get an even bigger role in GOTG Vol 2, along with Cosmo, the space dog that Rocket was growling at and later was seen licking the face of the Collector, played by Benicio Del Toro (who on a side note has signed on to be in Star Wars Episode VIII, role not known).
Daredevil with Ben Afleck, Jennifer Garner, and the late Michael Clarke Duncan.
Shout out to the original 80's version of Hulk played by Lou Ferrigno and his continued work with the MCU doing the voice of the current Hulk, played as Bruce Banner by Mark Ruffalo.
I spend a lot of time talking about Marvel movies and heroes, so I wanted to be a little more fair and balanced, so I'm taking some time now to write about PAST DC movies, primarily with the top two characters, Batman and Superman.
First I wanted to honorably mention the DC comic movie Flashpoint Paradox. I saw this recently on Netflix and I thought it was very original and creative. Props.
Now, starting with Batman we can see how the character has developed on screen.
Adam West had one feature film and a television show as the caped crusader.
Michael Keaton portrayed Tim Burton's vision of the Dark Knight twice and many hard core fans consider him to be THE Batman.
Val Kilmer played the role in one film.
George Clooney played the role once as well, in what many consider to be the outright WORST of all cinematic Batman films. The bad acting from Alecia Silverstone, Chris O'Donnell, and Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn't save the over-budgeted film from sinking and thus it is the WORST.
Christian Bale played the Dark Knight thrice under direction of Christopher Nolan. Many argue that Heath Ledger stole the show in the Dark Knight and would arguably be the BEST Joker of all time. I think these three movies, personally, are the most accurate portrayal of what Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego would be like in real life, relateable to the audience in the cinema.
Ben Affleck joins the ranks as the latest version of the character Batman in his film Batman v Superman. Seems like he did a better job than he did in Marvel's Daredevil
Now on to Superman.
Christopher Reeve WAS Superman to a whole generation in the 80's and 90's. He had 4 feature films alongside Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor as the primary villain.
Dean Cain played a televised version of Superman in the 90's.
Brandon Routh reprised the role against Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor.
Henry Cavill, made famous in his film the Immortals with Lee Evans, Mickey Rourke, and John Hurt, now portrays Superman in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman. He is a conflicted character that we will hopefully see played out into the Justice League.
So that's about a wrap for this blog. There's been a lot of info covered. I'm a geek and a fan boy as you can see, so if you, as my reader would ever like to talk more about this blog or others, please feel free to message me through my Facebook link or just leave a message under the comments section of this blog and I will respond a.s.a.p.
It's going to be an amazing couple of years for the comic book movie universe to play out on the cinema near you. As always this has been fun and I'll see YOU at the movies. This has been the one and only Quiet Mouse.
I discovered after writing this blog that Gambit has been delayed and currently has no release date attached to it.
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