Sci-Fi Marvel's The Avengers

Tom

An Old Friend
With Iron Man making a cool half-billion dollars at the global box office, it is only natural that Marvel would want to dig up some more superhero characters to turn into mega-blockbusters . . .

This week already sees the release of Incredible Hulk, another stab at milking money from this particular comic book character. Will it do as well as Iron Man? It seems unlikely. The movie may be a fast-paced, crowd-pleaser, but audiences remembering the disastrous 2003 Hulk movie probably won't bother.

Lined up for Marvel (which now produces its own movies instead of relying on Hollywood to do so): an Iron Man sequel, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers. Like in the comic books themselves, “cross-pollination” seems to be the name of the game.

Samuel L. Jackson shows up as Col. Nick Fury of the top secret SHIELD U.S. government organisation after the end titles have rolled on Iron Man to pitch the idea of a superhero team to Robert Downey, Jr.’s Tony Stark. Downey’s character himself makes a small cameo appearance at the end of Incredible Hulk to . . . you guess it, pitch the idea of a superhero team to William Hurt’s General Ross.

And that team? That would of course be The Avengers, a superhero team created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby as long ago as September 1963. Not to be confused with the ‘Sixties British TV series and rotten 1998 movie of the same name, The Avengers have always been a loose collection of existing superhero characters.

Like most superhero teams it has always had an ever-changing roster of members with characters coming and going. (In fact, the only “superhero team” with a more or less consistent team line-up has ironically been the always bickering Fantastic Four – probably because they had been created as a superhero team to begin with and weren’t just a bunch of existing characters thrown together to form a team.)

The Avengers have always been a mixture of A-list characters (such as Captain America) and B-listers such as Giant-Man, the Wasp and so on. About the only constant members of the Avengers had been Captain America, Iron Man and (sometimes) Thor. It is no coincidence that one of these characters already have their own movie and that the other two are also slated to get their own movies as well (Thor in 2010 and The First Avenger: Captain America in 2011). The Avengers movie has been confirmed for a 2011 release date and is to be written by Zak Penn, who wrote Incredible Hulk. No announcements on casting yet, but it is practically a given that Robert Downey, Jr. will return as Iron Man.

Putting all these instantly recognizable superhero characters together in one movie is a wet dream come true for any marketer (which is probably why we are going to see a Justice League movie even though fan response has been decidedly negative thus far). Think of how many lunchboxes they will sell!

Without any casting news as yet speculation as to whom the line-up will consist off right now will be quite futile. However the smart money will be on Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and perhaps the Hulk. Yes, the Hulk was a "member" of the Avengers once. In fact he featured in the very first Avengers comic! Also a clever bet would be B-list superhero Ant-Man, who (you guessed it) can shrink to the size of an insect and telepathically control ants, a superpower that no doubt makes him quite popular at family picnics but which sort of seems somewhat useless otherwise. And if Ant-Man is included, so will the Wasp, who is Ant-man’s miniature wife in the comics.
 
Joss Whedon Directing Avengers

So, it looks like Joss Whedon will be directing the much-anticipated Avengers movie, bringing together Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America. He is going to have his hands full, because this movie has to be epic. Anything less will be considered a disaster.

I have to be honest and say that I am excited about this choice. I never did watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but I LOVE how he created the world of Firefly.

What do you think? Is he the right man for the job or is this a horrible choice? Who else would you have wanted to see take the helm?
 
Re: Joss Whedon Directing Avengers

Based upon Firefly, Serenity, and Fringe (I love Fringe) I'd be looking to it. But... based upon Lost (I know, I know... heresy!), Cloverfield, and Alias I'm a bit concerned. While he has been hugely successful with most of his recent projects I simply don't care for some of them. Cloverfield was supposed to be the launch of an American Godzilla franchise but we ended up with a very slow moving "The Blair Witch Godzilla" monster movie. Alias was just too soap-opera like for me, and Lost, I know, millions love it, I just could not get into it. Yet I love Fringe and was a fan of the old Firefly series which spawned the Serenity movie.

Most of his works are character story driven but at a slow pace. I am not sure how that is going to equate to an Avengers movie that will need to cram in a lot of background & action into the span of a few hours. Now before anybody says it.... yes, I know he also directed the Star Trek franchise reboot and it looks great but when compared against some of the prior ST movies, I personally think it is lacking.
 
The Avengers on the big screen

I've enjoyed the Marvel comicbook heros The Avengers since I was a child watching them on tv (classic 1966 series) with other greats who were on the team like Captain America, The Hulk, Thor and Ironman. To other Marvel comicbook fans out there see the animated two volume adventure: The Ultimate Avengers (2008)
 
Re: Joss Whedon Directing Avengers

At least you know that the dialogue will be humorous and fun. I think he's got the chops to do a solid comic book movie.
 
Re: Joss Whedon Directing Avengers

I'd highly recommend getting Buffy and watching in sequence (the original movie wi Kristy Swanson is optional). greatest tv show ever. Whedon is a master at character development and at turning cliches on their heads.
(vampire, seeing Buffy) "Slayer!"
(Buffy, seeing vampire) "Slayee!"

a lot will depend on the choice of villain(s). would be fun to see Michael Rosenbaum reprise his Lex Luthor role.
 
I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm a comic book junkie along with movies and videogames. So, my question is this: With the Avengers movie coming out in 2012, what are your picks for the villain of the movie? What evil being could possibly all for the formation of the team - the first ever live action appearance of Captain America, Iron Man, and etc. together? My pick is, of course, Galactus, but it seems Fox holds the rights to that character due to his brief, suggested appearance in the latest Fantastic 4 film *pukes in garbage can* So, destroyer movies, who do you want to see in the Avengers?
 
Avengers Trailer (Apple official)


Looks like they spent a fair amount of money on it. Actors and SFX.
 
Re: Avengers Trailer (Apple official)

That so called rock song is the worst rattle of noise that I've heard in a movie trailer to date. I know they chosen a better musical piece than that!

Both the movies Thor and Captain America were totally epic but that new trailer for The Avengers makes it appear as if this movie will be no better than a miserable Michael Bay production ala Transformers/ Battleship. I'm so disappointed.

It looks as if Marvel is going to continue their trend of awesome/lame as they did with The X-Men Trilogy followed by the lame Elektra followed by the awesome Spider Man Trilogy followed by the lame Daredevil movie followed bv the awesome Fantastic Four movies then on to the great Iron Man followed by the BAD Iron Man 2.

The animated TV show Marvel The Avengers: Earth's Mightest Heroes is much better than that movie trailer which was nothing more than a terrible musical piece with some explosions, and people acting like they're so cool they cant be bothered to turn and look at them?

I hope DC Comics learns a lesson from this and doesn't make their Justice League movie a disaster. I mean, I don't have very high expectations for DC Comics anymore because DC Comics made such a trainwreck of the Superman mythos in the teenie Smallville and than they went on to upset the dignity of womankind last month as they outraged female comic readers with the awful male-order depiction of Catwoman and Starfire being sexually wild and unrestrained which was totally unnecessary in every sense of the word. I also thought Hallie Berry's Catwoman movie was a joke. They should have let Christopher Nolan or Bryan Singer direct Catwoman.

The only other good and descent comic book movies left are Superman: The Man of Steel, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Adventures of Tin Tin.

BTW what happened to the proposed Fantastic Four Silver Surfer spin-off movie?
 
Re: Avengers Trailer (Apple official)

I did think with the street battle scenes with US soldiers that they'd "borrowed" the Transformers 3 set time!

I am hoping that the sarcastic wit of the playboy philanthropist Iron Man gets enough air time.
 
When will you be watching "The Avengers" (2012)?

So, the Avenges movie comes out this week. The question isn't will you see it, but when? I'm going tomorrow afternoon. When will you be seeing it? Or have you seen it already?
 
Re: When will you be watching "The Avengers" (2012)?

So, the Avenges movie comes out this week. The question isn't will you see it, but when? I'm going tomorrow afternoon. When will you be seeing it? Or have you seen it already?
Unfortunately I've got so much going on lately on the weekends that it has been ages since I've seen a movie at the theater. :(
 
Avengers, is it worth going to see? Anyone seen it yet?

Hello fellow sci-fi enthusiasts,

So opening day is finally here, where every sci-fi geek and geekette and kids of all ages will be flocking to the theaters to see the new "Avengers" movie. I am a comic book action figure collector and I have to say growing up, I was never really interested in the Avengers. They seemed like a copy of the X-Men, but with a twist since they all had individual characteristics and back stories.

Is it worth going to see though? Is it worth the 10 bucks I would have to pay? (I live in NYC and the IMAX and all that hype felgercarb it comes out to $10-$15 per ticket, blah). My mom is turning 52, so I don't want to blow out her ear drums and give her a heart attack with a lot of loud explosions on screen, so dish, my comrades, how was it?

And is it worth going to see?
 
Re: Avengers, is it worth going to see? Anyone seen it yet?

Hello fellow sci-fi enthusiasts,

So opening day is finally here, where every sci-fi geek and geekette and kids of all ages will be flocking to the theaters to see the new "Avengers" movie. I am a comic book action figure collector and I have to say growing up, I was never really interested in the Avengers. They seemed like a copy of the X-Men, but with a twist since they all had individual characteristics and back stories.

Is it worth going to see though? Is it worth the 10 bucks I would have to pay? (I live in NYC and the IMAX and all that hype felgercarb it comes out to $10-$15 per ticket, blah). My mom is turning 52, so I don't want to blow out her ear drums and give her a heart attack with a lot of loud explosions on screen, so dish, my comrades, how was it?

And is it worth going to see?

My wife and I just came from The Avengers, and yes, it is worth going to see. I enjoyed the X-Men movies as well, but in my opinion, The Avengers is a better film than any of the X-Men movies. It may be too loud for your mom. (Happy Birthday to your mom, by the way.) We loved the mixture of great action, good comic relief and a tight story. It's too bad for DC Comics, because I don't think a Justice League live action movie could top The Avengers.
 
Re: The Avengers

I enjoyed it just this past weekend, but then I'm a fan of action movies...had a decent story as well. Hopefully Joss Whedon takes the "blank check for his next project" he gets for this movie's success and brings back Firefly.

:smiley:
 

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