So, the new year is well underway. Figured I might as well write something.
For those I haven't seen since 2015 landed, happy new year. That means, strictly speaking, just about everyone.
Still unemployed, ranting internally about companies not even doing you the courtesy of telling me to fuck off.
Lots of time for movies though. Even though I'm not a movie buff, and hopefully gainfully employed by the time any of my desired movies hit theaters.
You wanted me to talk about the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe for the willfully uninitiated) and its offshoots. Here goes. Backstory-ish first though.
I've been somewhat of a Marvel fanboy since a young age. Despite none of the comics being available locally, the cartoons were. Spider-Man and X-Men mostly. I watched the shit out of them, not really thinking about the deeper messages they entailed. Fucking lasers, man. OUT OF HIS FUCKING EYES, YUSSSS.
cue growing up and those cartoons inevitably ending. Not very sad at the time. Out comes Fox with the first X-Men movie. I had to check it out. If not for nostalgic reasons (though I was barely 12 years old). Loved the shit out of it, and wore out the VHS. Yes, VHS.
Didn't spark anything though. No internet connection at the time (probably for the best too. The amount of porn I would've consumed couldn't have been healthy). Internet connection came about some 5 years later and was too busy with wrestling to look up Marvel comics.
Iron Man comes out in 2008. Didn't care, other than a cameo in the Spider-Man series, I knew next to nothing about Iron Man. Didn't help he was kind of a dick during that cameo.
2011. Not so very long ago. Interest in wrestling waned momentarily. I don't think I need to rehash why. Read just about any wrestling related entry I've posted here. Not much to do except college assignments but since I was flunking out of that anyway, I didn't care.
Decided to watch Iron Man just for the hell of it. And of course, I loved the shit out of it. Watched Iron Man 2 immediately after. Less good, still awesome. Wait, Marvel has more films out? They have Joss Whedon attached to a product? YUSSSS! (I had watched Firefly not too long before and had a massive Whedonboner, fyi)
WATCH ALL THE MARVEL FILMS. Captain America, Thor and even that remotely ok Hulk film.
Loved all of it. Well, shit.
It's now something of a religion. Even after reading up about the characters and possible story arcs for the films to tackle, I can rant like comics expert. I don't, because it's silly. Who gives a shit if it's true to the comics. They are entertaining films.
Much like myself, every competitor in the superhero genre realised far too late that Marvel was pretty much rendering their franchises (a lot of them Marvel based) completely fucking useless.
Sony was resting happily producing another Spidey film, because they knew audiences would be drawn to it. "Why expand? Spidey works!"
Fox produces a couple of X-Men films (the ensemble films being really good, the standalone Wolverine movies not so much.)
DC running behind hopelessly, coming out of a successful run with the Batman trilogy and doing absolutely fuck all to capitalise on it while the franchise was shit hot. Now Marvel has the top spot, and with their quality control and using key people who actually know their comics are light years ahead of any competitors.
This allows them to take chances on new characters. They are now in the position that Sony was in, being an almost guaranteed success. It shouldn't be a wonder that Sony has now struck a deal with Marvel.
Spidey gets to appear in Marvel produced films, with Sony making use of Marvel's expertise on the character as well as piggy-backing off the success that Marvel still has to this day.
Superhero films always work. That's why the comics endure. New generations stand up and read them, and relate in some way. Wanting to be those heroes even. No matter how sick of those films you might become, there's always someone else looking forward to that next installment. For the time being, that'll be me for sure. Even if Marvel drops the ball at some point ... I'll still forgive them, because they've brought me so much entertainment during my lifetime, it would be wrong not to.
Now that they've announced the release dates for several films up until 2020 (and pushed back some, because of the Spidey involvement) it looks like any competitor is fighting a losing battle. Marvel gambled and won. An Affleck Batman rehash isn't going to change that. Buona Fortuna, amici.
Ah well, DC still has tv huh. I can't say I've watched Flash, Arrow or Gotham, but they're getting good reviews. Agents of SHIELD is pretty fucking awesome though. Slow start for season 1 but so far, things are absolutely looking mighty amazing.
All in all, it looks like Marvel will be dominating the box office for quite some time. I'm not unhappy about it either. At this point, I can only hope the Assassin's Creed film will turn out to be a critical and commercial success. Fuck, I love that series.
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| copyright to the respective owners, probably Victoria's Secret. |
I should add a babe right? Which one should I highlight ...
Let's go for Sara Sampaio, my favourite Portuguese person. Because she's cool as well as pretty.
Replying to random tweets of mine a couple of times. Not that I'm bragging or anything ... why would I? It would make appear even more of a sad, lonely fucker. Ah shit, I'll carry that badge proudly! As per usual, boobs are google-able.
Anything else you want me to talk about, or something wrestling related? Let me know. Until then.
Peace be upon thee, young Padawan.
~D.
** Addendum:
I feel Marvel will continue to keep traction going for the planned schedule up to 2020. However, this market will likely be satiated by the time Marvel reaches the end of their current schedule. Take a break guys, before you plunge into the depth that an inevitable push back will create. Your actors won't be around for the next 20 years sticking to the suit they made inarguably famous.
I don't expect them to do it, with so many hot commodities attached to the projects, but still...
For the time being, Marvel won't have anything to worry about. Diverse characters (Carol Danvers; smart choice), enough source material to create genre-films, possibly avoiding the pitfall detailed in the comments below about superhero films dying a slow and painful death because it was no longer the story that prevailed.
That's Marvel's strength. Striking the balance between characters and their development as well as providing a story that isn't a strictly by the book "good vs evil" popcorn flick.
I thought it took balls to turn Winter Soldier into a political thriller. And it likely saved that film from turning into a cartoonesque mess (i.e. Batman & Robin, Every Superman film since 1978*)
So, what am I looking forward to? Age of Ultron, Fantastic Four reboot (I really want to see if they can do it better; sheesh those first two were really not good); Terminator Genisys (shoot me, I love the franchise, including the much maligned T3); the Hitman film (I liked the first one too, partly because Tim Olyphant is fucking awesome in everything he does). And not to forget: X-Men: Apocalypse. The current X-Men cast is fucking stellar (MacAvoy is probably even my favorite) and Apocalypse is pretty much the top villain within the X-Men franchise. Lastly, Deadpool. Have you seen the test footage? Totally convinced this will be awesome.
*Yes, every single one. While I enjoyed I and II, it was never what it was supposed to be. Superman I was recut from what director Richard Donner envisioned, turning it into a parody of itself with the most ass backwards Deux Ex Machina ending imaginable.
While I liked Man of Steel, it wasn't nearly good enough to wash away the vile taste of Superman returns. Good heavens, that was a terrible movie.
