Tagged: Thor

‘Iron Man’ Easter Eggs, ‘Captain America’ and ‘Thor’ Movie Details

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was full of details about current and future projects during a recent screening of new footage from The Incredible Hulk, according to various reports from the event.

Among the juiciest of the news was info related to two highly anticipated Marvel Studios films, The First Avenger: Captain America (When did this film get slapped with the "First Avenger" portion of the title, by the way? Did I miss something?) and the big-screen debut of Marvel’s favorite Norse god, Thor.

According to Feige, Captain America will be a period piece, with a story that occurs during World War II, while the plot of Thor will rely heavily on scenes occurring in Asgard, the mythic Norse realm where the gods go about their godly business.

From Sci Fi Wire:

"The film is not all Asgard, but it will be a big chunk in Asgard, yeah," Feige said.

Feige promised an announcement about a director for Thor "later this summer." Mark Protosevich (The Cell) is drafting a script, which should be submitted in a couple of weeks, he added.

Feige also confirmed that a familiar object in the background of a scene in Iron Man was indeed Captain America’s shield. As the sleuths over at io9 report, the object was absent in the film’s trailer, which happened to include the very same scene — making me that much more impressed with Marvel Studios’ willingness to include these types of Easter Egg elements.

Head over to SciFi Wire for more on Marvel Studios’ slate of films and information from the Hulk screening, and check out the before-and-after screenshots from Iron Man (featuring a glimpse of Cap’s shield) posted over at io9.

Brian K. Vaughan to Write ‘Runaways’ Movie

Big name superheroes like The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers aren’t the only Marvel properties hitting the big screen.

The lesser known characters are getting their crack at film stardom, including the ragtag group of young heroes known as the Runaways.

Created in 2002 by Brian K. Vaughan as part of Marvel’s Tsunami line, Runaways follows a group of kids who discover their parents are evil supervillains. Vaughn, who left the series at the conclusion of the second volume, will return to the property he co-created and write the script for the upcoming movie.

No director is currently attached to the film, but maybe they’ll hire Richard Donner and the movie will be like a super-powered version of The Goonies.

(via Hollywood Reporter)

I Got Nothing… by Michael Davis

My mind is a blank. I can’t think of anything to write about. I read a bunch of comics and I came back with zip. I watched the news and was left with nada. I’m in the middle of a few great projects but don’t want to write about them yet.

Wow…writer’s block. I have never been at a lost for something to say or better yet to rant about.

This sucks.

Come on Davis. THINK, THINK, THINK!!

Nothing. I got nothing.

I know, I’ll make a list. That always sparks my imagination. Let’s see now, I can’t do a best dressed list or most sexy list. I have to do something that’s classy. I have to do something that shows that I am above the petty stupid lists that Hollywood produces.

Got it!

10 people I would like to pimp slap.

1. Paris Hilton
2. Kim Kardashian
3. Lindsay Lohan
4. Jeremiah Wright
5. The Real World Creator
6. Amy Winehouse
7. Charles Manson
8. Rush Limbaugh
9. Dr. Laura
10. Naomi Campbell

Damn. Still nothing. I am really barren today. What else can I do to spark my imagination?

I got nothing.

I’ll try another list.

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Where Are The Superheroine Movies?

shehulk025-1292861Over at Cinematical, Elisabeth Rappe responds to all the acclaim for Iron Man by pointing out a deficiency in the booming business of comics being adapted to film.

Looking around the cinematic landscape, at the likes of Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Bruce Wayne, Hellboy and the like, Rappe notices something missing: superheroines. And, even worse, Marvel’s recent announcement of more male heroes headed to the screen and ongoing delays in a Wonder Woman project, it looks like no female heroes will be hitting the big screen anytime soon.

It has been eight years since X-Men made comic book movies big business, and we have yet to see a proper superheroine. Ant-Man is on a faster production track than Wonder Woman – and who is more recognizable to the general public? Why is Thor more palatable to the mass audience than Black Widow? I don’t buy that there isn’t a mass appeal for these stories.

It probably doesn’t help the studio perspective that the only two comic heroines allowed to fly solo were disasters. But was there ever a smidgen of care given to either Elektra or Catwoman during the writing or production process? Neither film was entered into with that Iron Man spirit; they were careless and cheap, and turned out predictably awful. It’s no surprise that a movie bombs because it sucks – but surely, the suits are ascribing that largely to heroines being lousy sells. It says volumes that neither are worth the kind of relaunch The Incredible Hulk is getting. Why not bring back Elektra to revise big screen history? I’d pay to see it in a heartbeat.

A lot of food for thought, and plenty to agree or disagree with. Interestingly, Rappe doesn’t place any of the blame on the comic book industry, which has been called out for giving women short shrift plenty of times.

Reviewing Jack Kirby and Stan Lee’s ‘Essential Thor’

I don’t normally post links to reviews on other comics news sites, since we have so many of our own hitting the site here every day, but I had to make an exception for Tom Spurgeon’s recent review of the third volume of Marvel’s Mighty Thor "Essential" collection.

Thor has never been a favorite character of mine, as his dialogue always seemed a bit hokey and he’s pretty much the definition of a deus ex machina. But Spurgeon’s review of the collection, which features Stan Lee and Jack Kirby doing exactly what made them legends in the industry, has me contemplating a change of heart.

He describes the collected stories’ overall tone as "verily, there are asses over yon we doth must beat" repeated ad infinitum — which is a big selling point for me.

Spurgeon goes on to summarize the collection as follows:

It’s quite fun. The panels where Thor is not punching people so hard their light source changes are stuffed to the brim with either a) cool-looking Kirbyana almost always in the form of monsters and machinery, b) Volstagg, a fat coward who can bench press a bus, providing J. Wellington Wimpy-style comedy relief, or c) Thor screaming at someone about how awesome he is in preparation of punching them so hard their light source changes.

I love a well-written review, and this is certainly a great example of one. Head over to The Comics Reporter to read the rest of it.

The Weekly Haul: Reviews for April 24, 2008

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  • April 24, 2008

This week in comics was all over the map, a schizophrenic jumble of thrills, idiocy, fun and pulp. The good books were great, and the bad ones were terrible. At the very least, it was entertaining from start to finish.

micetemplar-1-7644301Book of the Week: The Mice Templar #4 — After the third issue of this series came out a couple months back, I wrote that while it was a good read, I was still waiting for the story to diverge from the rote fantasy plot. Writer Bryan J.L. Glass sent me a note saying just wait for issue #4, when things take a big turn.

Sure enough, the latest issue marks the point when The Mice Templar went from good to great. This isn’t just a fantasy tale featuring mice, it’s an intricately detailed epic and one of the best stories on comics shelves today.

In issue #4, Karic and Pilot continue their journey, with Karic showing both his potential as a great Templar and his youthful uncertainty. As they go along, Glass draws readers deeper into the massive mythos he has created, a back story that is mysterious but not confused. The issue ends with a too-good-to-spoil moment of "nothing will ever be the same." My only complaint is having to wait two months for the next issue.

Lastly, Mike Oeming’s art on this series improves with every issue, and it started out strong. He manages to make scenes of fighting mice into tense, dramatic moments, and his watercolor work in the concluding pages expands on the perceptions of what comic book art can be.

The Runners Up:

The Mighty Avengers #12 — Those of us who bailed out on the end of the horrifically delayed Secret War finally have an answer to the question of "Where the hell did Nick Fury go?" In this potboiler of an issue, Brian Michael Bendis diverges from the boring Mighty team to trace Fury’s movements while in exile, starting with the one-eyed wonder finding out about the Skrull infiltration.

From there, a paranoid Fury pushes forward as covertly as possible, investigating anyone and everyone to determine who the Skrulls are. The issue ends with an exhausted and uncertain Fury standing before a wall of photos of heroes, some marked as Skrulls. The issue follows in tone the great Gene Hackman thriller The Conversation, and is perhaps the best Secret Invasion lead-in yet.

Fall of Cthulhu #11 — This Lovecraftian tale from BOOM! Studios has been up and down over the first storylines, but the latest (The Gray Man) starts off like a perfect blend of Lovecraft’s stories and an old issue from EC Comics. A mysterious girl — you know trouble’s brewing when her nickname is Lucifer — is pulled into a sheriff’s office, and the authorities struggle to figure out how she’s connected to all the recent trouble in Arkham.

Michael Alan Nelson’s script work because he perfectly sets up the sheriff and his deputies in the role of the unknowing everymen who’ve stumbled into some ugliness far beyond their comprehension. This is a genuinely creepy book.

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ComicMix Six: The Worst Superhero Names in Comics

whizzer31-9999669You know you’ve talked about it with your friends. "Mr. Fantastic? He’s got, like, 17 doctorates… Shouldn’t he be ‘Doctor Fantastic’ by now?" And let’s not forget "Captain Marvel, Junior." Captain Marvel’s not his father. What gives? And what’s the deal with that Golden Age aquatic hero who called himself "The Fin?"

No matter how much we love comics, there are some superhero aliases we just can’t get behind. So we did our best to compile some of the worst superhero names in existence.

By the way, members of the Legion of Super-Heroes have been omitted from the list, because… well, it’s just too easy to pick on Matter-Eater Lad and Bouncing Boy.

 

6. KID MIRACLEMAN: In the U.K., he was originally called "Kid Marvelman." That doesn’t change the fact that it’s a lame name. Why?

KID MiracleMAN.

You can use the word "kid" in your name or you can use the word "man," but you can’t use both! With the power of contradiction comes great responsibility!

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Interview: Zak Penn on The Grand, X-Men Fans and Co-Writing Hulk

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  • April 15, 2008

ctonymark-com[UPDATE: After posting this interview, a representative of Zak Penn contacted ComicMix to state that Penn is not attached to a Captain America film at this time, despite the timing of his response during this interview (and our accurate transcription of the interview as it occurred). -RM]

In Hollywood, where "overnight success" can often take many years, writer/director Zak Penn is one of those exceptions that proves the rule. Rocketing to A-list screenwriter status right out of college with his first script, Last Action Hero, Penn has had a varied and successful career during the intervening years.

Since his first sale, Penn has written or contributed to screenplays for films such as Inspector Gadget, X-Men 2, X-Men: Last Stand, The Mask of Zorro, Men In Black, Fantastic Four and the soon-to-be-released Incredible Hulk. In addition to writing, Penn has also taken turns behind the camera and directed two films. His latest directing effort, the improv comedy The Grand, opened last month in Los Angeles and New York — with a wider release to come later this month. 

Recently, ComicMix caught up with the talented Mr. Penn to get all the latest news on The Grand, Incredible Hulk, X-Men, as well as his thoughts on dealing with fan reaction to his work and the comic book movie he really wants to make someday.

COMICMIX: Zak, thanks for taking the time to talk. How are you doing?

ZAK PENN: Good, man. Hectic as usual.

CMix: You’ve got a movie you directed that’s just come out in L.A. and New York and opening wider this month. Tell us a little about it.

ZP: The Grand is an improvisational ensemble comedy, set against the backdrop of a World Series Of Poker-type tournament.  It’s basically Woody Harrelson, David Cross, Richard Kind, Chris Parnell, Cheryl Hines, Dennis Farina, Ray Romano, Werner Herzog, Gabe Kaplan . . .

CMix: So, a bunch of unknowns, then…

ZP: Yeah, a bunch of nobodies. [Laughs] And Gabe Kaplan and Werner together… So good. I did it like I did my last movie, using an outline and just [improvising] off of it. We shot it and it premiered at Tribeca last year and now its out and expanding to 20 cities this month.

CMix: That’s great. So as a screenwriter, obviously you’ve written a lot of movies, so why improv?  Why not write a script?

ZP: I think it kind of forces me to get away from the stuff that I do, you know? I’ve kind of gotten used to writing in a certain style and falling back on certain types of scenes and this forces me out of it. I can’t do those things.  So I think part of it is to kind of create a new discipline for myself to get something different done.

One of the things I liked about this movie is, I never would have written this script.  If I sat down, I wouldn’t have thought of going in the same directions this movie does, so it’s new to me and fresh to me. It’s almost like having an entire cast of co-writers.

CMix: Because you’re creating it as you go along, basically, with all of your actors?

ZP: Yeah.
 
CMix: Did you get into screenwriting with a plan to direct someday?

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ComicMix Six: Why Marvel’s ‘Secret Wars’ Was Better Than ‘Civil War’

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  • April 9, 2008

 

[EDITOR’S NOTE: In last week’s edition of ComicMix Six, we told you why the Skrulls’ "Secret Invasion" probably isn’t worth losing sleep over, given our list of the worst moments in Skrull invasion history. This week, we’re playing in the sandbox of big events yet again, with a list of reasons why Marvel’s recent  Civil War event doesn’t stack up against one of its popular predecessors, the 1984 series Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars. -RM]

Just over a year ago, Marvel shook up their universe with Civil War, a series-spanning event wherein the U.S. government decided, after a tragic accident involving super-powered heroes and villains, that anyone with superhuman powers would be required to register and become official federal operatives. Costumed crime-fighters picked sides, Marvel picked a slogan ("Whose Side Are You On?"), Spider-Man unmasked, and Iron Man’s pro-registration camp hunted down the anti-registration crowd led by Captain America. In the end, Cap tearfully surrendered, only to be "killed" for his troubles a few issues later.

Throughout the series’ seven issue (and countless tie-ins), the Merry Marvel Marketing team hailed Civil War as the most mind-blowing storyline since, well… ever.

Here at ComicMix, we’re not quite sure we agree. After re-reading Civil War and comparing it to one of the first epic Marvel crossover events, the ’80s action-fest Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, there’s a good argument to be made for the superiority of the earlier project.

Oh, and remember, what’s being discussed here is the 12-issue Secret Wars series, published by Marvel in 1984 (and featuring the first appearance of Spider-Man’s famous black costume), not to be confused with Secret War, the 2004-2005 five-issue series written by Brian Bendis.

Got it? Good. Now let’s begin…

6. REMEMBERING THE LESSONS ‘SESAME STREET’ TAUGHT THEM: In Civil War, heroes who fought alongside each other for years decide that the best way to debate the merits of a new law is to spy on one another and brawl at each and every opportunity. In Secret Wars, heroes who don’t necessarily trust each other decide that, despite their differences, teamwork and cooperation will improve their situation.

Sure, Spider-Man had a skirmish with the X-Men and the Hulk was shouting at everyone, but they still came together in the end. Wolverine and Captain America shared a heart-to-heart, and the heroes even accepted Magneto’s help, knowing that the greater good was more important than issues of mistrust.

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The Weekly Haul: Reviews for March 20, 2008

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  • March 20, 2008

After skipping town last week, I’m back with an all-new spate of reviews for this week’s comics issues. Lots of super hero fare this week, with a few studs and a whole lot of "meh."

Book of the Week: Captain America #36 — I know, I know. Not a very out-there choice. But, c’mon, this is simply the best superhero book coming out right now. Ed Brubaker sets it up perfectly to test Bucky, the new Cap, by pitting him against some serious supervillains. And we get to see how Bucky is different from Steve Rogers, for good and bad.

And while Bucky brawls his way through that challenge, the defining moment of the issue comes when Bucky can’t summon the Captain America aura to calm a riotous crowd. And, if that’s not enough, Butch Guice’s fill-in art is so good that I didn’t realize he’d replaced Steve Epting until I looked back at the credits.

Oh, and then – SPOILER – there’s that little cliffhanger that a certain dead person might not be so certainly dead.

Runners Up:

The Brave and the Bold #11 — Here’s another "can’t go wrong" series (at least until Mark Waid jumps ship). The Challengers see just how tough Megistus is (and just how crazy), then Superman and Ultraman have a zany little team-up only after Ultraman impersonates Clark and runs roughshod through the Daily Planet newsroom. The too-big, too-fun antics culminate in one of those straight-from-the-silver-age moments, when Megistus throws a Green Lantern (the actual lantern, not a hero) into the sun and turns it green. Bad news for Ultraman and Superman.

The Immortal Iron Fist #13 — I’d be calling this book the best of the week if it weren’t for a weaker than usual outing from artist David Aja. His work isn’t as polished as usual, which means it’s still decent but not great. That aside, this Seven Cities of Heaven storyline is finally coming together in a big way. What’s really remarkable about this issue is how Brubaker and Matt Fraction keep up the excitement with only a couple punches thrown. It’s a perfect setup to the big brouhaha coming down the pike next issue, and offers the line of the week when Danny finally reveals his plan to the villainous Xao: "So we can get out, you dumb son of a bitch."

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