Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Wednesday Comics: Movie Talk - Civil War, Justice League, and Dr. Strange



There has been a lot of comic book movie news that's dropped recently.  Here are the biggest ones:

1.  Captain America: Civil War.

The big news earlier this week was that Robert Downey Jr. confirmed that he would be returning as Iron Man outside of the Avengers movies.  And the movie he will appear in is the 3rd Captain America.  Apparently this will not be a cameo like Cap in Thor: The Dark World.  This will be a full blown leading part.  This has led many to believe that Captain America 3 will be based on Marvel's Civil War storyline.

I think that this is a terrible idea.

Civil War is a story that centers around a conflict between Iron Man and Captain America over the Superhero Registration Act.  It is a dark and tense and emotional story.  And I hated it.

Hated.  It.

This story was one of the reasons that I decided to land firmly into the DC camp.

And I think that this would be a terrible idea for the Marvel movie franchise.

SPOILERS FOR THE NEXT PARAGRAPH

Civil War, at its heart, is a story about how there are no heroes.  There are only destructive people with super powers.  The story is wasteful and pointless.  They could tweak the story, but if they follow the through line, audiences will either hate Captain America or Iron Man.  And essentially this story would make Iron Man just like Hydra.  This story would clearly make him the villain of the movie.  That is a horrible thing to do to your audience and your brand.

END SPOILERS

Marvel has taken some big risks, and they've all paid off.  But this just might be a bridge too far.

2.  Justice League Part I and II

Aintitcool.com posted today the planned schedule for DC movies.

Here are a few highlights

-The big news is that the Justice League movie is going to be divided into 2 parts.
   -Part 1 comes out in November of 2017
   -Part 2 comes out in June of 2019
   -the first part will be preceded by a Wonder Woman movie (June 2017) instead of following it.
   -in between the two parts we are going to have a Flash movie (March 2018), an Aquaman movie (July 2018), and a SHAZAM! movie (April 2019).

-Apparently they've already cast The Flash.  His name is Ezra Miller and I have not seen any movies he's been in.  My first impression is that I don't like it.  But I wasn't keen on Grant Gustin as the TV Flash, but I like him now.
 
-in 2016, the same year as Batman v. Superman, they are going to be doing a Suicide Squad movie.  This is a bold choice and difficult to pull off.  For those who don't know, the Suicide Squad is made of imprisoned super villains who go on highly dangerous missions for the US Government in exchange for reduced sentences.  If you don't hit the right tone, this could be a mess.  But if done well ala Gail Simone, it could work.

-Cyborg is set for a solo movie in 2020.

-Green Lantern is going to get a full reboot in 2020 as well.  I understand, but it really hasn't been that long since the under appreciated Ryan Reynolds film.

-They are also developing solo Batman and Superman films.

Overall, I am super excited, especially by the idea of dividing the Justice League into 2 parts.  I hope that means that they won't try to cram too much exposition into one movie.

3.  Dr. Strange Casting

Marvel's first choice for Stephen Strange, Joaquim Phoenix, passed on the role.  Rumors were flying that Keanu Reeves was considered, which I actually think would have been a good choice.
photo by Nicolas Genin

But inside word is that they are serious about landing Ewan McGregor.  I can completely see him as the Sorcerer Supreme.  I thought he was one of the best things about the Prequel Trilogy (which I love) and he would bring a great acting presence to the role.

Thoughts?



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