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!