Category Archives: Avengers
Cannonball Steps Up Big Time!
This is kind of a minor thing, but apparently the superhero Cannonball is going to join the Avengers in the new Marvel NOW! relaunch!
That’s him in the upper left hand corner
That’s a set of three covers from the new series, by writer Jonathan Hickman. There are a few new characters – as well as every single Avenger from this summer’s big movie – but the important one, to me, is Cannonball. Not that I’m a huge Cannonball fan or anything, I just generally like the idea of minor characters like that stepping up to do something new and bigger than their usual fare.
Plus, I remember back in the 90s when Cannonball ‘graduated’ from X-Force onto the X-Men. That was treated like a really big deal at the time, and I enjoyed him on the team. I miss the days when being on a certain team meant something, as did shifting from one team to the other. Still, perhaps you’ll enjoy the look at the new Avengers lineup. I’m sure it’s going to last…4 months.
Correct Me If I’m Wrong, But Joss Whedon Has Made Some Awesome TV Shows, Right?
So the news is all over the Internet that The Avengers director Joss Whedon is going to helm a TV show based around SHIELD, the super spy organization under the command of Samuel L. Jackson. I think this is awesome news. We all know Whedon as a geek god, and I’ve fairly consistently loved everything he’s ever done; from his Astonishing X-Men comic book series to Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog to pretty much all of his TV shows.
Just because Fox completely botched Firefly and audience didn’t pick up on Dollhouse does not lessen their awesomeness. I haven’t had any faith in American TV audiences since Dancing with the Stars became a hit. But that’s being generous – I lost my faith in American TV audiences long before that.
Fortunately, my faith in worldwide movie audiences returned tenfold this summer!
To the the tune of $1.5 billion
Alright, so I don’t have any new details of the show, but in case you get your nerd news from me, here’s a run down: Joss and his frequent collaborator/brother Jed Whedon are going to do the writing, alongside friend Maurissa Tanchareon. Joss may even direct the pilot, though I think he’s going to be more of an overseer than an actual in-charge guy. There’s also the usual smattering of producers and executive producers. But typically I only care about the creative types, and this SHIELD show has some of the best creative types in the business!
And there are so many different ways they could make a SHIELD show.
Including a crossover with ‘How I Met Your Mother’
First off, just make one in the vein of the other Whedon shows – action comedy with some really great drama and ongoing storylines. Or maybe they’ll go total drama…or total comedy. I don’t know, because those fools have yet to call me to consult. I would recommend following their action comedy/great drama route. It’s worked perfectly in the past, and Whedon’s work simply has that voice. Heck, The Avengers itself is a perfect example of his style. Perhaps that’s why I liked the movie so much.
But personally, I think we’ve already seen more than a taste of what a SHIELD TV show will be like. And there’s even more coming on The Avengers DVD when it comes out at the end of September. You all may have missed this over the course of the various Marvel heroes movies…but they’ve kind of been making a ton of mini-SHIELD episodes for fun.
For example, here is A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer starring Agent Phil Coulson:
That was particularly awesome.
Or what about The Consultant, set near the end of The Incredible Hulk. Coulson and Agent Jasper Sitwell having a chat in a diner.
Now we all know that Coulson probably won’t be available for a SHIELD TV show. But that Jasper Sitwell guy is popping up more and more. He’s also a main character in the new SHIELD mini-sode set to debut on The Avengers DVD. It’s called ‘Item 47’ and is about a young couple who recover one of the alien ray-guns from the end of the film. Sitwell is sent in to deal with them. The full clip isn’t online yet – it was, but they took it down – but here’s a quick clip.
I’ve seen Item 47 in its fullest, and let me tell you, it is awesome! It’s funny, it’s action-packed and Sitwell is amazing. And there’s more than just him on SHIELD. We get a little look at the inner workings of the agency.
So my theory is that Marvel has been preparing their SHIELD television show all along. And now they’re ready to make it a full-time thing.
Avengers Gag Reel is Quite Funny
Watch this quick, friends, because it seems that Marvel and Disney are working to shut down all copies of The Avengers gag reel that have hit the Internet. It’s already been taken off Youtube. Fortunately, I found it on Vimeo, so enjoy it while you can! Seriously, it’s quite funny.
The Avengers Item 47 Now Online
Along with all the spectacular deleted scenes from The Avengers (which you can see by scrolling down my homepage), the Item 47 short film has also hit the Internets in glorious fashion. This is just a silly, in-canon tale about a young couple who discover one of the Chitauri weapons that was leftover after the Avengers defeated the alien invasion. And like any young couple struggling in today’s economy, they put the alien ray gun to good use.
Even the short films from the Marvel Movieverse are delightful! Someone out there in movie land should just be making this stuff all the time. I wanted to post all of these videos up as early as possible in case some suit at Marvel/Disney comes through and shuts them all down. Here’s hoping they stay up. But you can check out the deleted scenes here as well as the Hulk deleted scene here.
New Avengers Deleted Scenes Goodies!
UPDATE: Unfortunately, all these videos have since been taken down off the Internet. I guess Marvel actually wants people to buy The Avengers DVD for the extras. Who knew?
After that Hulk deleted scene yesterday, more deleted scenes from The Avengers have hit the web. They’re all pretty sweet, but you can kind of tell why they were deleted. Some are a little long in the tooth, and give away some of the awesomeness that would come later in the film. These are still some fantastic deleted scenes. New Avengers content is like early Christmas!
First we have an alternate opening/closing sequence using Maria Hill to bring us into and out of the movie.
The opening:
The closing:
And then there is this awesome new Captain America intro that showcases his ‘man out of time’ aspect. It even gives us a look at Peggy Carter and that waitress who becomes so important at the of the film.
There is even more Avengers goodness to reveal today! I’ll post some more later.
