Comic Book Super-Hero Movies of 2011

As we begin 2011 we have a lot of Comic Book Super-Hero movies in store. There are going to be other comic book inspired and based movies, Cowboys and Aliens being one many are looking forward to, but today, I want to spend some time on the Super-Hero movies that actually come from real comic books unlike NBC’s the Cape.

Before we start our list, the Super-Hero ‘Show’ that is making headlines based both on injuries and bad reviews is Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark, the Broadway play based on Spider-Man with music from half of U2. It has gotten horrible reviews, from regular theatre critics and comic critics alike, and any and all interviews with Bono, the Edge, the producers, directors, ect... all denote that they understand next to nothing about the character of Spider-Man and about comic books. They think that comics are kinda cool but don’t understand why people love them, but what they are doing only makes it cooler. Anyways, the musical is radioactive which

will be part of my next post about the comic book super-hero movies of 2012, which is a Spider-Man reboot. At the end of the day, if Glenn Beck things it was great, it probably sucked.

So to our first movie! The Green Hornet. Actually not a comic book first, but a radio serial in the same vein as the Lone Range and the Shadow. It then became a com

ic book in the 1940’s -

about a newspaper publisher, Brit Reid, who with his chauffeur who becomes his sidekick. Most famously was the television show in the 60’s which was as the same time as the Batman TV show which they cross over with. Also a famous part of it is Bruce Lee played the part of Kato. The Green Hornet has never been a favorite of mine, basically a hold over of a classic masked pulp vigilante which has been done many times (my personal favorite variation of this is the Question)- and while I hav

e not seen the new Green Hornet movie, based on the reviews and the trailers, it seems the movie tries to blend comedy with action with super-heroics. But at the end of the day, Green Hornet was always kind of a pale Batman blended with the pulp genre -and so the movie comes off as comics trying to be cool super-heroics but be funny at the same time. But Green Hornet was never a funny character- Spider-Man was for sure, someone always cracking wise. There is one on every team - the Thing, Hawkeye, Plastic Man, ect... - but making a character that isn’t supposed to be funny and trying to make him funny is a hard thing to do and I’m not sure if they did.

2nd! The Mighty Thor- Release date late May! This. Looks. Awesome. While the actor playing Thor -Chris Hemsworth - is somewhat unknown, the rest of the cast - Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, ect... is very well established. Also, with Kenneth Branagh at the helm, and from how the trailer looks, blending the mythical world of Asgard with the established movie continuity of previous Iron Man and Incredible Hulk movies, and will play a part in the future Captain America and Avengers movies. It looks like it is striking the best of the real world with the world of myth - fully embracing the myth but also making it very realistic- Thor’s armor is not super-heroish but mostly viking with a touch of super-heroics. The movie gives the idea of the Norse Gods not as Gods, but extra-dimensional aliens that the myths of the Norse Gods are based upon and therefore linked but separate from the history of Earth. At the end of the day, it is a great director, look, and actors and part of Marvel’s connected movies that will be overlapping and lead to the Avengers movie. Iron Man was great, IM 2 and Incredible Hulk were, Cap(we’ll get to) and Avengers is been put in the hands of TV, movie and comic book genius Joss Whedon.

3rd! X-Men: First Class - release date early June! Yeah... This seems weird. It is an Origins movie much like

the very not-good Wolverine Origins. This seems to be the story of how Magneto and Professor X first came together to train young mutants and how they eventually split apart. It is set in the nebulous period of 1960’s-1970’s - making very obvious the parallel to the Civil Rights movement and the comparisons of Prof. X to MLK and Magneto to Malcolm X. Not

only does it seem to have the characters pictured here (it seems like Dr. Moira MacTaggert -human geneticist and Emma Frost- telepath) are part of the teaching staff with the rest of the st

udents (Beast and Mystique, seen in the ‘later’ X-Men movies -along with characters such Havok (who is supposed to Cyclops’ younger brother might maybe older in this movie) and Angel Salvadore and Darwin seems to be the class. However, Kevin Bacon as evil mutant mogul Sebastian Shaw, Oliver Platt as Mr. Sinister, immortal mutant geneticist, and other characters such demonic Azazel - the plot is very hard to discern. The big concern I have is that much like X3 it seems to have too many mutants for their own good. Sure- the early workings of the X-Men, the division of Prof. X and Magneto, the Hellfire Club as a powerful third option all seem very cool, but 2 more ‘bad guys’ plus mutants that seem out of place and just there to get certain actors or cause they seem cool is a bad idea. And while matt Vaugh, of Kick-Ass fame, is a good director, and actors who are good- word about being rushed and too many actors again seems to a big problem. and while X-Men is a Marvel Comics property, before Marvel Studios- which is doing the Avengers properties discussed before,

X-Men properties such as Wolverine, ect.. is owned by Fox and Spider-Man is owned by Sony, so they do not have the direct control that they would like about many of these properties or the directions of the movies.

4th! Green Lantern - release date late June! Many people have felt that the trailer was a.) underwhelming and b.) that the costume/uniform is too CGI’d - especially the mask. And Yes to all. But I still have faith. Sure, it’s probably

because I love the character and am excited to have a movie made! However, I faith that DC has righted the course after

Superman Returns (which really wasn’t that bad but also not great) and with Ryan Reynolds who is a good actor and director of Casino Royale and GoldenEye -two great Bond movies. However, Martin also directed movies like Zorro movies and Edge of Darkness which are mediocre at best. But I feel that much like Iron Man, the creators of the comic books like Geoff Johns and script with people who actually write comic books like Marc Guggenheim

are good signs. Plus I feel that the trailer was trying not to make the movie too sci-fi (let’s face it Iron Man wasn’t really sci-fi at all---it’s stuff people could see happening and Thor is mythology not sci-fi) for the casual fans. But yes, the costume/uniform is very CGI’d but the only real issue I have is with the mask and the fact they are showing his actual eyes - which i think fans have reacted poorly too. Hopefully they do the white pupils and make the mask actually a mask like in the comic

books.

5th! Captain America: The First Avenger- release in July! Yes a mouthful and yes the trailer is premiering during the Super Bowl. While I was not crazy about Chris Evans, the Human Torch of FF fame and a whole host of not other great movies. However, I faith in Marvel studios - even Iron Man 2 and the Incredible Hulk (reboot) were at the very least good and entertaining movies. And i feel that the idea of having it mainly in WWII - setting up the Bucky-Cap relationship, the villains of the Red Skull, Arnim Zola and others- and having it be the last movie before the Avengers movie..which makes sense since in reality the finding of Captain America is what cemented the Avengers as a team. I think th

is will be an easier read after the movie comes out!

So in the end, this year (and next year- which I will be writing about in the future) - should be a good year for comic book movies. Marvel Studios has a good and firm grip on the direction of their movies -Thor to Captain America to the Avengers and sequels after that as well as possible Black Panther and Ant-Man movies that would most likely tie in and DC -owned by Warner Brothers- seems to be serious about making good and more movies about their properties- with Johns in a lead role in developing these projects - and with the third Nolan Batman film, Snyder on Superman with Nolan producing and Green Lantern - with Flash in development and rumors of Wonder Woman, Shazam and Aquaman movies in development- the only real concern I have is with Marvel properties that aren’t being developed by Marvel Studios (DC properties only are developed by DC -their big problem with tv stuff) - for example X-Men: First Class - or the Spider-Man reboot or another Wolverine movie (though that one should be good) -or another Ghost Rider!

Superhero Cartoons

2010-2011 seems to be shaping up to be a good year from the Superhero cartoons. In 2009-2010 we had the end of 3 Marvel cartoons- 2 ok and one good. We had the end to Spectacular Spider-Man and Iron Man: the Armored Adventures as well as Wolverine and the X-Men. The two cartoons that have continued are Super-Hero Squad- a very kid friendly Marvel show including all types of Marvel characters- mostly the Avengers with occasional other characters, Batman: the Brave and the Bold- also somewhat kid-ish but still somewhat adult catered show. While I have not watched a lot of either, the one thing that has stood out, especially about the Brave and the Bold is the number of characters- especially current and diverse characters that they have used in show. Their Blue Beetle is the current one, the hispanic Jamie Reyes, their Atom is the Japanese Ryan Choi, their Firestorm is Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch, and they have used Guy Gardner - a very unused GL and representing the Ginger population.

Currently for 2011 there are two animated series out with two more to appear in the fall of 2011. The two airing at this point is Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and Young Justice. The two to air is Green Lantern and Ultimate Spider-Man both hoping to capitalize on the movies to debut in the near future (more on comic book movies later).

The first, the Avengers cartoon. Awe-some. I’ve been Avengers fan since I was a kid (my father gave me his other Avengers comics and frankly I’ve been following the book since I was a kid). It in a very smart fashion, had about 10-15 micro episodes leading up to the season premier which introduced most of the main characters. The team is Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Giant-Man, Wasp, Hulk, Hawkeye and Black Panther. At least one if not more of the micro episodes were

about one if not more of

these characters. Since the series started two or three episodes have been really devoted to a character- those characters were

BP, Cap and Hawkeye. What also has worked for them is the blending of classic Avenger stories (the original

team coming together, the Hulk leaving and coming back, Black Panther as the orphan prince, finding Cap) as well as the more current stories (Skrull secret invasion, the Kree-Skrull war and the Raft Prison Breakout) and all the Avengers characters that they have introduced and keep introducing - Black Widow was part of Hawkeye’s storyline and Wonder Man made sense for the Masters of Evil - but Mockingbird, Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel - with many more possibly coming. This is very similar to Wolverine and the X-Men - a great cartoon which blende

d many X-Men storylines- Magneto and Genosha, Dark Phoenix, Hellfire Club, Mr. Sinister-Apocalypse-Archangel as well as Days of the Future Past and Bishops’s future. This also went full tilt on plot and characters (but including characters for characters sake) - both of these cartoons don’t spend too much time on explaining who is who and lets the audience understand that some characters are there simply to move the plot along and those same characters which fans love to see but don’t necessarily need over explanation. So I’m very happy and very excited about one of my favorite comic books being done so well in cartoon form and really putting plot first as opposed to having 10-12 episodes about characters. I’m looking forward to the second half of the season.

Our next is Young Justice. The idea of this show is this an alternate earth which actually makes up one of the earth’s in the DC’s multiverse. This is an earth where Superman has only been around for just ten years, and the first generation of

sidekicks have come into their own. Instead of the sidekicks forming to become the Teen Titans, here the

writers have combined characters from different eras on the banner of the 3rd generation pre-Teen Titans team and given it a different spin. Here we have the 1st generation of sidekicks -the first Robin, Kid Flash and Speedy with the current Superboy

, Aqualad and Miss Martian in world where the JLA is 16 members strong ( The Big 7 of Supers, Bats, WW, Flash- Barry Allen, GL- Hal Jordan, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter, with Hawkman and woman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Captain Marvel, GL-John Stewart, Captain Atom, Red Tornado and Zatara) and Young Justice is there super hero training as well as espionage force. Batman is their general, Red Tornado is their camp counselor, Black Canary is their trainer and Captain Marvel hangs out with them. Along with possible conspiracy issues as well as different origins for Miss Martian as Martian Manhunter’s ‘niece’ and an archer character named Artemis who takes the place of Speedy when he decides not stay a ‘sidekick’ and become a hero on his own as Red Arrow. This has a lot of potential focusing on sidekicks is kid friendly but it also appeals to comic fans due to the different characters and possibilities for the show. Also promised are major shake ups and ‘deaths’ and considering in comic books we have had the deaths of Robins, Flashes, and Aqualads before it is a good possibility.

The two shows that are set to debut in the fall are, as stated before, Ultimate Spider-Man and Green Lantern. I think that excitement over another Spider-Man cartoon- even though based on the comic Ultimate Spider-Man and Brian Bendis is supposed to have a large hand in the creative process, I think with the questions over why a re-boot of the movies so soon after the last franchise and the seeming

ludicrousness of the musical

seems to have sapped out the energy

and excitement of most fans. The Green Lantern series, however, being all CGI and having the same creative minds behind the Justice League, Batman, Superman and Batman Beyond series, as well as the recent outcropping of DC original animated movies (more on those later too!) has a lot of fans excited. Also, the incorporating of the Red Lanterns from the current comics, connected to and taking advantage of the movie, but having the look of the comics and seemingly to focus on Hal Jordan and Kilowog. The questions for fans is a.) will it be connected to the animated universe of the shows I mentioned- JL, Bats, Supes and how to the GL’s of those shows - John Stewart and Kyle Rayner - may or may not play

in. And will the cartoon include earth GL’s or interact with the Young Justice series that has both John and Hal as GL’s of the JLA?

At the end of the day, it’s nice that their is a Marvel and DC show aimed more at kids and a Marvel and a DC show that are aimed at both new viewers (kids) and more ‘adult’ -and I use that term loosely - fans of the comics.

Spider-Armor?

Spider-Man has one of the best costumes ever. Ever. Over the years it has changed, most famously and in fact well done is the black and white spider costume that then became the villain/anti-hero Venom (more on him later

). Any ways over the years, Spider-Man has armored up for one reason or the other and two very recently.

The First Spider-Armor: Basically for some reason Spider-Man was hurt very badly, and off screen cobbled together some sort of armor platting. This didn’t last long for wide variety of reasons, mainly because Spider-Man (in either costume) screams

sleekness, quickness and agility, and something that looks like a spider detailed boiled plate does not.

The Electro Padding: A one time

only costume that Spidey created to face off against Electro---it actually makes sense and seems to just be a similarly colored reinforced costume against an enemy who can shoot electric bolts

at you. It

honestly makes sense, so much so it’s kinda interesting that no one has featured it since then. I guess it’s mostly cause Spider-Man usually finds villains when our

patrolling and usually just webs up his fists and hit Electro (by the way there was a great moment in the first arc of New Avengers when

Luke Cage got his fist webbed up to beat up Electro only for Electro to pass out) - but still is makes a lot of sense.

The Iron-Spider: This was part of story-line where Peter worked for Ton Stark and they designed a Iron Man

colored Spider Armor for Spidey. It borders on cool and kind weird - the colors are very not Spidey but it does say slick and

kinda pays homage to the black and white costume. However, the weird spider legs on the back are, well, weird. And all of the high tech stuff is very un-Spidey- he’s the character who has to sow is own costume back together because he’s b

arely able to make rent. It did lead up to the part of Civil War where Spidey revealed his secret i.d. to the world and then lead into ‘magically’ ret-conning his marriage to MJ. As far as powers go, it increased his strength, could go invisible, and he had m

ental control of the legs which could also fire energy bolts. (As fate would have it the armor would later used by the clone of deceased character named MVP who was given spider powers. Originally there was 3 but two have died leaving only one, calling himself the Scarlet Spider the moniker used by the original Spider-Man clone.)

The Spider-Tron: This is a recent costume change, where Peter in his new job as part of a high tech think tank,

and after receiving a beating by the new Hobgoblin, uses his resources to put together a black costume with

a lighted eyes and spider design (which can be red or green)- the only thing we know this can do is that it can go invisible. Many have suspected that it is no coincidence this is after Disney bought Tron

and did limited edition Tron covers to a bunch of Marvel books.

The New Spider-Armor: The newest to debut, no one has any idea about the armor. It seems to be some evolution of the Tron Armor, and recent Amazing Spider-Man covers seems he might join the Fantastic Four (who is due to loose

a founding member) as well go up against a new Venom who is a black-ops spy hero and a newly decked out Scorpion. It gives the allure of being sleek, but I don’t like the yellow or the metal helmet thing.

At the end of the day, I only like these armors as something that Spidey could use but shouldn’t be a permanent fixture in the book- the classic red and blue should be his main suit, with any spider armor being something he can use if needed.