Cranes, Planes, and Automobiles

Assuming that most readers haven't read my disclaimer, I'll reiterate that this site is not meant to be news, or new information, so if you're reading this thinking "I already knew that!" don't yell at me for giving you old info. The idea here isn't to get new info, its to talk about the info we have.

So there's obviously a lot of talk about the possibilities of Spider-Man (the character and The Amazing Spider-Man as a film) joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The big missing link is that the Oscorp tower from TASM was intended to be included in the skyline in The Avengers, but wasn't finished digitally in time. There are arguments for both sides of the debate, but I want to talk a little about the evidence we have. The biggest question is "if Spider-Man was around for the Avengers, why didn't he help out in the Manhattan battle?" Which, let's face it, is a stupid question. People seem to forget that the time span of when the heroes discovered where the tesseract was, to the portal opening, to the whole fight ending with the aliens shorting out, didn't really take that much time. So by the time Parker would have heard the news, changed into his suit, and gotten there, it might have been over. The same concept applies to War Machine's absence, which Marvel actually explained in their tie-in comics.

However, a much more interesting theory has come up, and it warrants me re-watching both The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man. The idea is that TASM actually takes place AFTER the events of The Avengers. Which means a couple of things. Firstly, the reason Spider-Man didn't help out the Avengers could be simply that he didn't have powers yet. Another common question is if they co-exist, why didn't the Avengers help out with the Lizard? Again, consider the actual time span, the Lizard was never out in public for a super long time. But if TASM takes place after The Avengers, after Thor has returned to Asgard, Banner is probably hiding out again, and Stark is in some place that I won't tell because I know I have readers that don't want to know that spoiler yet (hi Derek!), basically the Avengers have gone Cosmic and Global (Cap joining SHIELD), so local, relatively minor threats in NYC don't really concern the "big guns" of the MCU anymore. Which leaves a niche that needs to be filled, as you can read about in an earlier blog post. And Spider-Man can help fill that void, and Marc Webb is setting up a huge Spider-Man universe that you can read about on other blogs and news sites, with multiple heroes, Oscorp and Osborn, possibly leading to a sinister six storyline. Which could be its own mini-verse inside the larger scale MCU.

Among other things, this could lead to Norman Osborn stealing the Iron Patrior armor (because in the comics Iron Patriot was worn by Osborn, and in Iron Man 3 it's worn by Rhodes/War Machine.

But there's another fun possible fact linking this concept to reality.

Anyone find it odd how many cranes there were in TASM near the end? I loved that scene, absolutely loved it, it was such a powerful and uplifting scene, but in the back of my mind, behind all the awe, I thought, is it normal to have that many cranes on one road?

So the point has been brought forward. What if TASM takes place after The Avengers? And what if all those cranes are there because they're rebuilding major parts of the city that were destroyed by the aliens? A fun idea, and it makes me want to rewatch both movies to see if there are any more possible hints of breadcrumbs for me to follow. If you can think of any, please comment on this post.

An extra fun thing here. In the old Spider-Man comics, he tried early on to join the Fantastic Four, but he had a bad public image, and a mask, and the FF couldn't trust him since they didn't have secret identities. This could translate well into the MCU. Originally in the comics, all of the Avengers had secret identities (except Cap) -- Iron Man, Giant Man and Wasp, Thor, later on Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch. These heroes all had secret identities from each other. But in the MCU, every identity is public. Stark announced himself to the world, Banner didn't really have much control over the government finding out who he is, Hawkeye and Black Widow are just agents whose identities are known to everyone who matters, everybody knows who Cap is, and Thor has no "secret" human identity, he's just the prince of Asgard (although photos of the new Thor movie suggest he'll become King). So without any secret identities, the same issue could arise for Spider-Man as the FF in the comics.

So many thoughts! So many ideas! I hope to get so many comments! Get started!

Female Captain America Costume Contest...REVOTE

So, we previously had a vote to pick the best female Captain America costume. However, since the results of that vote, I've found another costume that I really really like, so much so that I felt that it deserved the chance to have a revote against the original champion.

Below on the left we have the reigning champion, "Blue Star," and on the right we have the new challenger "Red Star." I'll add my disclaimer that the left is a photoshop while the right is an actual Cosplay, they both have shields and similarly practical outfits, and the one of the left has a helmet as well.

Vote in the comments using the label "Blue Star" or "Red Star" for your favorite!

On mystical artifacts in the MCU

So, so far in the MCU we have the Tesseract/cosmic cube, and a bunch of things shown really quickly in Thor, including the Infinity Gauntlet which is likely to become a huge deal in future movies. The staff Loki used in the Avengers movie looks like it may have been powered by the Tesseract, but it also looks like it could have been the mind stone/gem (one of the infinity gems that go with the infinity gauntlet). The mind stone angle would explain why Loki was able to brainwash the good guys into becoming his "personal flying monkeys."

In Iron Man 3, there's a lot of talk of what the Mandarin's rings are going to be like. Will they be magical? Alien? Will they have powers? Will they just be normal rings?

So my thought is...what if the Mandarin's rings are somehow connected to the Infinity Gems? Obviously, the big "what?" in there is that there are 10 rings and only 6 gems (or 7, depending on what you're reading). I feel like this could be worked around if they put some effort into it. Like, maybe some rings are multiple, like one on each hand and he's missing one, or maybe some are just rings to fill out the look or something lol. I think the whole one on each hand with one missing works better. But wouldn't that be neat and some nice continuity? Space, Time, Reality, Mind, Soul, and Power, maybe he's missing the Power Stone so he can't get up to his full potential or something.

Just a thought I was having about how to do the rings.

Vote for your favorite female Thor costume

Somehow my original blog post of this got deleted, so I'm posting it again.

Vote for your favorite female version of the THOR costume below! Use the color of the lightning bolt to cast

your vote! Blue, Red, Grey, or Yellow!

Disclaimer, the blue lightning bolt is photoshopped, the rest are real cosplays.

(Original Post Date: Saturday, Feb 2)

Thoughts on Luke Cage and Heroes for Hire

So one of the ideas on the back burner for the MCU right now is using Luke Cage and the Heroes for Hire. People have made the point that with Marvel going more and more cosmic, they need to pay attention to the "petty crime" world going on. With properties like Luke Cage/Heroes for Hire, Punisher, and Daredevil heading back into the arms of Marvel Studios, they've got plenty to work with. Luke Cage would also help fill out the demographic roster, as would Iron Fist, but would also fit in with the Harlem angle mentioned in my last post on the Falcon. He could also be used to fit the more normal-human/relatable hero role, somewhere between the powerless Black Widow and Hawkeye and the god of Thunder and the Hulk.

What kind of medium would be best though? If Luke Cage is your focus, films would work fine. If you want to add in Iron Fist, it could still probably translate well into a movie/franchise. But if you want to go bigger, and get the whole idea of the Heroes for Hire in there, films might not be the best way to go. Normally I'd say television would be a better fit for the rotating roster of the HFH, but with the SHIELD show debuting in the Fall, two TV shows might be a bit much. Maybe the show could evolve to show both sides of the hero work -- high tech SHIELD and HFH on the street.

Another option, one probably not akin to much thought, would be a series of short films. These could be released before the major pictures of Phase 2 and 3 (think Pixar animated shorts before their movies) and could be available on home media either as part of the blu rays of the bigger films, a collection of the shorts released when enough are made to be substantial (every 5 or so), or both.

So picture this. IM3 comes out in May, so that's too soon. Thor: The Dark World in Novemeber, also probably too soon.

But if you release a 15-20 minute short introducing Luke Cage (or have him introduced somewhere else and expand on him in the short) and release that with Cap 2 next April, then do the same with Iron Fist and throw it in on GotG in August, and expand upon the Heroes for Hire in Avengers 2, you've got an hour long Heroes for Hire story by the end of Phase 2, which could continue in Phase 3 with Ant-Man. Heck, you could even throw in info or plotlines into the show, to really tie the show together in with the movies, make it really comprehensive. Then, once a certain arc is complete, if could be released as like "Heroes for Hire: Part 1" or something on DVD.

While I'm on the topic, there were some rumors that the huge guard that Thor fought in his movie when he was trying to get his hammer back was unofficially Luke Cage (possibly before he got his powers). I would love if that were retconned to be true. In case you can't place the face, here's a photo.

A nifty idea for Falcon in the MCU

So the Falcon is finally joining the MCU next April as part of Cap's franchise, and he's known as the hero from Harlem. I just think it would be nifty if they threw in a reference to the Hulk v. Abomination fight that destroyed Harlem as part of motivation for Falcon to join the team. It wouldn't have to be a big deal, really, just something I think would be another neat little connection.

That's all for today, I promise the rest of my posts this week will be more substantial, but I gave a double-header yesterday.

My Epic Plan to Save DC Movies

I have to start out with a disclaimer. I formulated this idea months ago, before I knew anything about the upcoming SHIELD TV show or anything that would be involved with it (save Coulson), so don't think that I learned something about that somewhere and just said something similar but about DC. This is my own idea! Whether you like the idea or not, it's mine!

Now for an introduction. The basis of my plan has to do not with characters. Not with actors. Not with writers, producers, directors, or Hans Zimmer. It has to do with an under-rated and overlooked medium. Or, to be more specific, a genre within the medium. So now, to build anticipation, I'm going to talk to a little bit about mediums.

I'm not talking about comic books, or any literature-based medium. So the big two here would be movies and TV. It all started with serials. Marvel and DC both had movie serials back in the day. Then, full-length movies used became the big thing. Sure, nobody now thinks much of Howard the Duck, or the original Punisher film, but movies became a big deal. But it got to be that a movie wasn't enough. You had to start a film franchise. DC made that big with superheroes back in the 70s and 80s with Superman and Batman. But that was kind of all they could do with it. Then Marvel took the reigns and brought us franchises of Blade, X-Men, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four (OK...maybe not a full franchise). But Marvel was going places, and DC was stuck. They started spinning off their own franchises over the years (Supergirl, Steel, and Catwoman) without success. Marvel had their fair share of spin-off failures too (Elektra). But Marvel was taking over. So DC revisited their old success stories, with Batman Begins and Superman Returns.

Obviously we know how that panned out, Superman didn't impress and has another reboot coming out this summer, and Batman changed the way people perceive superhero films, and gave us arguably the best movie villain of all time in The Dark Knight, even if that trilogy ended disappointingly (IMO).

Then came the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel started making successful films based on lesser-known characters like Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor, that linked together with each other. DC took notice. They attempted to give the world Green Lantern, but it didn't work.

But what about it didn't work? Did it make a lot of money? Yes. Was it considered a success? No. Why? Because they SPENT too much money on it. Was it well-liked? No. Keep this in mind, I'm going to come back to this later.

Marvel, on the other hand, kept it coming. And then came the Avengers. After Green Lantern, DC said it would not go the route of Marvel and make a shared universe between their movies (due in some part to Chris Nolan and their dependence on him), but after the huge success of The Avengers, all bets were off. Suddenly DC announced they would release a Justice League film in 2015, the same year that Avengers 2 comes out. How do they hope to make this a success? Are they going to make a bunch of solo movies to lead up to JL like Marvel did? Flash? Green Lantern reboot? Wonder Woman? Will Christian Bale be in this universe? No, no, no, no, no. Well, what are they doing again? Creating a JL movie out of nothing, with no character introductions, and hoping to compete with Avengers 2 which will have been building for 7 years by that point? Are they serious?

So then I started asking why? Why isn't DC making solo movies to build up the necessary amount before unleashing a whole JL movie? And then it hit me: the movies would be no good. How great could a Flash movie possibly be? Or a Hawkman movie? Plastic Man? I don't think so. Green Lantern scared DC, and now they're afraid to go out on a limb. Unlike Marvel, who's now working on Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and Dr. Strange just because they know they can.

We're going to pause now, and pick up later. But first, the other major medium.

TV.

DC had some good success with Smallville over the last 11 or 12 years, but the show ended after its 10th season. True, it had its weak points, but they were able to bring along supporting characters like Supergirl, Green Arrow, Flash, Cyborg, Aquaman, Dr. Fate, Hawkman, Black Canary, and Zatanna. Not to mention villains like Brainiac, Doomsday, Darkseid, and of course Lex Luthor. It teased Lois Lane for years and gradually brought the Daily Planet and Jimmy Olsen to life. It worked well because it had time to develop, get reaction, and evolve. Green Arrow's role got expanded because the audiences loved it. He now has his own show (which it bothers me that it's a reboot, different story, different actor, different everything, but that's another topic).

So what's the problem with TV shows? They're long. They're hard to pick up if you're behind. And they don't bring the big bucks like movies. But the positives? It's cheaper. It's faster to get ideas across, and you can evolve based on audience reaction.

Which brings me to my magic medium....

The anthology TV show.

Creating solo movies for each character DC decides to use in their JL movie would take too long, they'd be too far behind Marvel, and it would take a ton of money. But by using an anthology TV series, DC could use 1-3 episodes developing a character, gaining reactions of it, what works, what doesn't, take notes, and move on to another character for the next few episodes. This would allow DC to introduce about 10 characters in a single year, and know what characters would get the strongest following in a movie series. That way there would be no surprise when people don't like Green Lantern or Superman Returns, after spending years and millions putting them together. They would spend less time and money, and be able to tell if a character would pay off or not. They could even bring old characters back teamed up with newer ones, to see how they'd work together. That's the beauty of the anthology format: you can spend more or less time on stories as you need. If they want to test out a smaller character, they could just devote 1 episode (45 minutes) to them. Or, if they wanted to really introduce and elaborate on a bigger name, say Wonder Woman, they could use three episodes (2 hours and 15 minutes) to explain her origin, and her powers, and get her out to audiences as a modern heroine. Then they could take the best received characters, and pair them up here and there throughout the show. Then, after a year or two of a show, they could go big with a movie, and it wouldn't be such a huge gamble. Even if they can't get the show going ASAP, let's say they start in 2014. They could still get a huge following and a movie put out just one year after Avengers 2, right as Marvel starts going out on farther limbs with their Phase 3 introducing newer characters. Keep in mind too that Fantastic Four will be rebooting then too, and X-Men will be combining their franchises. So DC needs more than a lot of wishful thinking if they're going to continue to make an impact in the movie market.

I love marvel. I love the MCU. So I'm not saying by any means I'm upset by what they've done. But even though I'm not nearly as much of a fan as DC, there needs to be appropriate competition in order for bigger and badder ideas to happen, and if DC fails, what will Marvel have to keep it from becoming just a cash cow? Their success right now is that they appeal to fans, they're doing it right. But if they have no competition, who knows how long that will last.

DC needs to tread carefully. But they can stay in this. They can come back. And hopefully they can get some decent movies out there about characters other than the Dark Knight and the Boy Scout.

Man of Steel comes out this summer, and it's said to spearhead their DCCU. If its part of their JL plan, that will help, but it won't be enough.

Now, after all that, here's some photos of female Justice League cosplayers! Get motivated, DC!

Batman has become a huge success at the box office, but the "Bat Family" hasn't


been seen since the 90s. Maybe a Batgirl revival is due to help kick-start the


DCCU?





Robin is one of those members of Batman's extended family that has been all but

ignored since "Batman & Robin" in the 90s. While he was hinted at (in a poorly

executed way, if you ask me) in TDKR, it's really not Robin. Maybe the DCCU

could use a bigger Bat-Family. There have been multiple Robin's in the comics, both

male and female. Or, to go a different route, maybe, to connect the Dark Knight

trilogy to the DCCU, Batman's "death" could have helped spark others into action,

giving rise to the Justice League.




Green Lantern didn't do as well at the box office as DC hoped, but there are still

possibilities there. Expand upon that universe, introduce more Green Lanterns, and

use that to introduce threats that the Justice League needs to step in to take care of.

Come on, DC, don't give in to the yellow power of fear.



Superman Returns changed way too much to be a good adaptation, but it wasn't a

terrible movie. The Supergirl spin-off from the 80s was. She was brought in as a

supporting character on Smallville and was made sexy, strong, and independent.

This character can work on the big screen, and should be a part of JL if it's going to

happen. If you're struggling with making Superman vulnerable, as sexist as this

sounds, putting the female version in there will help with that, because people are

more empathetic to females.



How has Wonder Woman not gotten her own movie yet? DC had a chance to get

this out there and let it go? Why? She's the icon of female superheroes, she's got

very unique aspects to her powers and her characters, and even if people don't

know much about her, they know the name. Get this character on the big screen,

and prove female superheroes can hold their own against the men.




Black Canary was brought in on Smallville, but wasn't developed a whole lot. Still,

that exposure is something, and as an actual female character from the comics, and

not just a female version of an originally male character, she, like Wonder Woman,

could be used to counter the idea that women can't make great superheroes.




Aquaman had an unreleased pilot on the CW that never made it to air because of

the WB merging with the UPN and cutting programs. It was available on iTunes,

however, and I enjoyed it. Later, Aquaman was brought on as a supporting

character for Smallville. I realize he's made fun of more than any other superhero,

but throw in Aquagirl and he'll have the bragging rights. Simply writing an ocean-

based threat would give him/her plenty to keep busy with, and could really

highlight the potential.


Green Arrow became a major supporting character on Smallville and has gone

on to get his own show, so he's got a following. He actually briefly had a female

archer sidekick on his own show, but that's not the point. The point is, archery

has a lot of interest nowadays -- Lord of the Rings, Immortals, the Avengers, the

Hunger Games, Brave, and Robin Hood -- there's interest there, and there's a

following for Green Arrow.





Another well-known hero with no big screen exposure. Flash (or,

technically, "Impulse") was used as a supporting character on Smallville,

and DC could beat Marvel to the punch, putting Flash out on screen

before Marvel uses Quicksilver. It's a simple power, but has effective

uses, and there's really no reason not to throw him on board.




Hawkman was brought onto Smallville briefly, and personally, I loved him. In the

show, however, his wife was already dead. Bring him and Hawkgirl in to expand

the mythology of the universe, and have some great warriors on your team.







OK, I'll admit it, Martian Manhunter doesn't look great as a female. But what we

got on Smallville wasn't any closer to the comic appearance. He never reached his

potential on the show, but he could be really interesting if used correctly. I doubt he

has a huge fan base, but get him known, especially with Marvel going cosmic in their

next Phases.



OK, I know she's not on the Justice League, or even a hero, but I can't express

how much I would love for Harley Quinn to be involved in a DC film. With the

Joker MIA and never going to be seen again (at least anytime soon) due to Heath-

sensitivities, she's the perfect way to continue that villainy and terror without having

to side-step the joker, or try and put him into a different character like the Riddler.

Use some creative flashbacks and narration to explain her backstory, and her

motives for wanting to take down Batman. Then pair her up with some heavy hitting villains (not lame

henchmen like Bane) and give the JL a reason to get together.

Why the MCU needs Black Panther

At this point, its only a matter of time before we finally get a Black Panther movie in the MCU. The question is when. During Phase 3 with Ant-Man and Dr. Strange? Or will they be too worried about bringing in too many new heroes at once? How will it fit in with Vision, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Namor, and the other heroes coming up on the horizon? Below I'll explain why I think Black Panther needs to be a higher priority than most in the next few years.

1) Politics. Its a controversial reason, but let's face it, the only significant black members of the MCU are Nick Fury, who was white in the original comics and was changed, and War Machine, who's basically a sidekick to Iron Man. A large portion of this blog is about equalizing the gender demographic, but this is something that needs to be discussed as well. Luke Cage is another great hero to use, and Falcon is coming up, but those are still American blacks, and Black Panther is a true African. This would help with my next point as well...

2) Expanding the Marvel Universe - geographically and otherwise. In a word: Wakanda. The fictional African country home to Black Panther and a little fictional element called Vibranium. Excluding the Savage Land, which is unlikely to show up in the MCU anytime soon, Wakanda is the only source of Vibranium for all concerned. It's already been mentioned in CA:TFA, and Wakanda has been referenced in IM2, its time to dive into this plot point head on. Is there a relationship between Vibranium and the mysterious element Tony created in IM2? Is there any Adamantium involved in this story? Vibranium could potentially be vital to the fight against Thanos that is inevitable after his appearance in The Avengers. So let's get there.

3) More characters is always a good thing. I've mentioned this before with other heroes on this blog, but it's simple. The MCU is unique. It's not like a normal superhero film/franchise that can get easily bloated with too many characters -- it's built on characters. And rather than stuffing in more and more characters to one plotline, they can use new characters to introduce new plot lines to continue the story in other ways (Vibranium). More members also means multiple teams, another thing I've mentioned before. But another side affect would be actually helping to solve the dilemma that The Avengers created

The Avengers created a group of heroes that came together, starting as reluctant allies and ending up as friends. The problem with that is that now every MCU movie will have to explain why another hero isn't in it, why they can't just call up another Avenger. But if you think about it, if you add enough heroes to the roster, that safety net isn't the same. Because right now its thought of as "The Avengers" and you can just send out a distress signal and get help. But if you add more, it breaks down to a more individual level rather than a team effort, and you have to bring in the task of trying to keep tabs on all of them, each hero having their own problems, mini-team ups (Guardians of the Galaxy), and geographical issues (Wakanda, Asgard). It's a lot easier to say "why didn't they call the Avengers" than "why didn't he know exactly how to contact Hulk, Thor, Falcon, Cap, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Nick Fury, Black Panther, Vision, Namor, Dr. Strange, Iron Man, War Machine, Drax the Destroyer, or Henry Pym at any time he needed to and have them conveniently available and free of their own messes to come help him."

It makes sense in kind of a weird way. But the less personal the team is, the less likely it is that one would simply call another for help. Also, if there's only three people to call, that person might be like "oh, well if I'm your only hope..." whereas if there are 20, they would likely be like "I'm busy call someone else!"

4) More crossover potential with FOX. Black Panther and Storm meet as children, fall in love over the years, and eventually get married. That could lead to more semi-partnerships between studios which would overall be a good thing. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out this post on Scarlet Witch or this post on Ms. Marvel to get some background info.

5) He's unique. One thing that keeps the MCU working well is that each character is unique. With the exception of War Machine, who's just an extension of Iron Man (though the two are unique in their personalities), everybody is unique. The Knight, the Monster, the Archer, the Spy, the Thunder god, and the Soldier. The Panther would be another unique set of powers to throw in there....night vision, enhanced senses, vibranium-ness, and being a King.

6) There's material for it. He's not some random character that would have to be stuffed and fluffed to seem interesting. He's got a whole country of stories to go off of! And having the split between protecting Wakanda and protecting the Earth (echoing Thor's situation) gives plenty of material. Just like the Thor films focus mostly on Asgard (the sequel will be exploring more realms) the Black Panther film(s) could focus primarily on Wakanda, with enough connective tissue to the rest of the universe to maintain continuity.

7) He's going to come around eventually anyway. Why not make it sooner rather than later?