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Falcon to Appear in Captain America Sequel
Casting news for Captain America 2 has revealed that the superhero Falcon will be making an appearance. Much like Iron Man got to team up with War Machine in Iron Man 2, it looks like Cap’s also going to get a sidekick!
Complete with wise-cracking bird sidekick of his own
This is pretty cool news. War Machine was a great addition to Iron Man 2, handled with class and style that made sense for the story. So I’m confident that Marvel Studios will find a good way to introduce the Falcon. It shouldn’t be too hard. Just make him a SHIELD agent assigned to help Steve Rogers adjust to life in the 21st century. We already know that’s going to be a major focus of the movie anyway.
And much like Black Widow appearing in Iron Man 2, the fanboy in me just loves a good superhero guest appearance in the movies.
Actor Anthony has been linked to the Falcon role. I’ve apparently seen a few movies with him in it, but he didn’t leave any kind of impression. Still, more power to him.
The ‘Mack’ Daddy himself
For those who do not know, the Falcon has been a friend and partner to Captain America since 1969. Honestly, it’s one of the weirdest partnerships in comics. What the heck does a guy who dresses like that and calls himself the Falcon have to do with Captain America? His only super-power is the ability to communicate with birds. The wings that make him fly are part of the costume. Falcon can’t fly on his own. He’s like Aquaman of the air. In any other context, he’d be a D-list nobody.
But Falcon was created in the context of the Civil Rights movement and Vietnam, when Stan Lee and company wanted an African-American hero who could be a social figure as well as give Captain America some street cred. It worked, and Falcon has been around ever since. So I think he’d be a great addition to the Captain America sequel.
Though I’d recommend a few changes. First of all, lose the ability to communicate with birds. It adds nothing to the character and could come off as really silly. He can keep his pet falcon Redwing, and maybe be intuitive about Redwing’s calls, but nix the actual power to talk with birds.
And the costume has to change. That bright white and red number has got to go. Having a wing suit isn’t a problem at all. SHIELD in the Marvel Movieverse is already full of codenamed agents with unique abilities, like Black Widow and Hawkeye. So it works out fine if they have a guy named Falcon who has a wing suit. That part is easy. It’s the color scheme that wouldn’t work in the movies. So like they did with Hawkeye, I recommend just going with Falcon’s Ultimate costume for inspiration. Then maybe give it white and red trim.
And guns, lots of guns
Now there’s a movie-ready character!
Marvel Movie News from Comic-Con
The biggest news to come out of this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, in my opinion, were the announcements of Marvel’s next batch of superhero movies. There was a lot of stuff going down at Comic-Con, but I think this was the biggest. WB made some mention of their next Superman movie, but I’m not too impressed. It’s the Marvel stuff that has me excited!
So even though it’s old news at this point, I still want to give my two cents.
First up, the announcement I’ve been waiting for: Ant-Man!
I’ve been following Ant-Man coverage for as long as I’ve had this blog, and to finally get the official announcement that Edgar Wright is going to start directing is exciting! Not to mention finally getting that logo. Plus the minute-long test reel that he filmed last month was shown in its entirety to the crowd. I, of course, haven’t seen it, and it hasn’t made it to Youtube yet. But You can check out some Twitter reactions here.
From what I’ve managed to gather, the Ant-Man suit is black with red fringe, and it looks more like Eric O’Grady’s more modern costume. It’s steampunkish, I guess. Filming is expected to begin next year, and I am very excited.
Ant-Man is quite possibly the movie I am most looking forward to out of all movies in the next 5 or so years. And that includes Avengers 2.
Iron Man 3 actually had a mini-trailer shown at Comic-Con, which is kind of exciting. Who knows when we’ll get to see the first real trailer, but I’m excited that the film is coming along so well. Apparently in the footage people saw the Iron Man armor simply flying across the room to Stark, rather than having him standing in a giant machine that puts the armor on him manually. Now he controls it with his mind – which is the point of the Extremis storyline in the comics, of which the new movie will be based. Although considering that the armor looks like…
I can’t say I’m too pleased. That’s supposed to be his new Iron Man 3 armor, and it looks silly. Who though it would be a good idea to inverse the gold and the red? It looks hideous.
Though we do have confirmation that Ben Kingsley is playing a variation of the Mandarin, which is awesome! Ben Kingsley seems perfect for the role, and I definitely wanted Mandarin in this film. That he won’t be the a negative stereotype Chinese man is fine. PC him up a little. Works for me.
Not much news came in about Thor 2, other than the fact that they’re not going to call it ‘Thor 2’. I find that fascinating, considering that all of the Iron Man sequels have been numbered. Calling it ‘Thor 2’ just seems obvious. But ‘The Dark World’? Sounds foreboding. I’m hoping he goes to visit the Underworld, otherwise known as ‘Hel’ in the Norse mythos.
It makes a little more sense that the Captain America sequel has a subtitle, since his first film was Captain America: The First Avenger. So at least Captain America: The Winter Soldier is keeping that bit. Again, not much news came out other than the title – but what an exciting title. That is the exact #6 suggestion on my list of 6 Things I Want in the Captain America, Iron Man and Thor sequels. So I’m glad to see that Marvel Studios are reading my blog lists. The Winter Soldier is a badass character with potential for a badass storyline. So I’m excited.
We all knew it was coming, and Marvel has finally confirmed that Guardians of the Galaxy will be coming out in 2014. I still think this is a risk on their part. Obviously movies about space heroes have had some success in the past. But I think it’s going to be jarring for the public to be thrown into this space-themed world when they’re expecting the more grounded, realistic Avengers sort of superhero action. And say what you will about The Avengers film, it was definitely grounded in realism. They may have been larger than life heroes fighting an endless army of aliens, but compared to what they could have done, that film was riding on its sense of realism.
I don’t know if Guardians of the Galaxy can do the same thing. Especially not with this cast.
The Avengers in Space!
That’s real, actual concept art from the upcoming film. We’ve got, from left, Drax the Destroyer, Groot, Starlord, Rocket Raccoon and Gamora. Anyone not familiar with this group click here for an earlier write up I wrote on the comic and team. It looks like a fantastic team, and one that sticks very close to the series that came out a few years ago. But again, I just think the non-comics-loving movie audience isn’t going to grasp the Guardians of the Galaxy the same way they did The Avengers.
Though I will always be behind a movie that brings Rocket Raccoon to the masses.
Review: The Avengers
The Avengers was phenomenal. It was amazing. It was deliriously wicked. It was the perfect blend of mind-blowing action and heart-tugging giddiness. I could wear out the Thesaurus with the ways in which The Avengers movie lived up to everything I had hoped, and shined in ways I could not have imagined. We comic book geeks have been waiting for this movie our entire lives (and more specifically, since 2008), and Marvel Comics and director Joss Whedon have delivered a superhero extravaganza!
The new kings and queen of Hollywood
The Avengers is not only now the definitive superhero movie, it has raised the bar for all Hollywood blockbusters that will ever be made from this day forth.
Rating: 5/5: Great!
With The Avengers, this grand, long-gestating experiment by the Marvel movie people has come to glorious fruition. I always had faith that they could pull it off. Iron Man in 2008 was a brilliant film, and when Samuel L. Jackson appeared at the very end and teased ‘The Avengers Initiative’, I knew there was hope. Then The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, all came along over the past few years, each one exciting and highly entertaining. I’m a fan of all of these films. But could Marvel really pull off The Avengers? Could they not only bring all of these major characters together into one film, but have it make sense and live up to the overwhelming hype?
I should be ashamed for even including those questions in my review. The answer is so incredibly ‘HELLS YES!!’ that I’m almost afraid of having my Internet License revoked.
Every Avenger gets a moment (or more) to shine. The humor is legitimately funny and delightful. The fights and action scenes are clear and exciting, with no blurring or over-editing. The Avengers are people first, action stars second; with a lot of character-based drama. Loki as the villain is far better here than he was in Thor, and easily carries the antagonist role. The climax was sufficiently chilling and climactic.
And the Hulk absolutely steals the show, smashing his way into our hearts. I could not be more pleased with this movie.
Some **SPOILERS** to follow.
Review: Avengers vs. X-Men #2
And lo, it was on like Donkey Kong! The epic battle of the Avengers vs. the X-Men has begun! Friend against friend! Husband against wife! Hero against hero! And with that, I’ve pretty much summed up the entire comic. The two teams come to blows very quickly in this issue, and it’s a little bit disappointing. I realize all of these characters are superheroes, and so fighting just comes natural to them. But holy cow does every single character just jump straight into a big brawl without a moment’s hesitation. All of the motivation behind the fighting seems to have dried up.
Avengers vs. X-Men #2
This is just a big, dumb fight issue with far too many characters to keep track of any of them. Though this comic tries its hardest. No wonder Marvel is also publishing a spin-off title that is nothing but fights – because none of them actually happen in this issue.
Comic rating: 4/5: Good.
But none of that is to say this was a bad issue. It’s still a very entertaining comic, and the end reveals that maybe we won’t just have 12 issues of boring fisticuffs. Because quite honestly, if this is all we can expect from the fights for this series, then count me out. This’ll be the most boring Big Event comic ever. Very little of the characters’ histories with one another are touched upon when they come to blows, and most of the fights happen off panel – or in that other comic book. And I’m not even sure if that spin-off comic is even out yet.
So basically what we get here are a few very short vignettes about fights that don’t happen in this comic, and then a medium-sized twist for the ending to catapult us into next issue. Cyclops and Captain America have another discussion during the fighting, but it’s not as good as the one last issue that kicked off the fight. But then this comic has a new scripter, so that could explain it.
That would also explain the silly purple prose found throughout the issue…Join me after the jump for a full synopsis, spoilers and more hot Avenger on X -Men action!
6 Silly Armored Superhero Costumes
The one constant in the world of superheroes is the colorful costume. Tights, spandex, latex, long johns, leather, pajamas; all superheroes play dress up when it comes to fighting crime. It’s just more fun that way. But in the real world, everybody knows that a big, muscular guy in spandex just looks silly. If a real world Batman was just wearing a pair of gray tights, he’d be no more threatening than a ballerina. Why do you think the movies put Batman in a specialized suit of black armor, or the X-Men wear black leather?
Tights and spandex costumes just aren’t cool, no matter how good they might look when drawn.
Paper, though, always looks good
Which is why, throughout the history of comics, creators have often tried to upgrade a superhero’s costume to make it look more badass. For some reason, this meant changing from spandex to armor, with heavy layers of complicated plating and protection. Yet no matter how good the creators’ intentions, somehow these upgrades looked even worse! These armor costumes were running rampant in the 90s, and in hindsight, everybody agrees that they looked ridiculous. Superheroes have gone back to tight spandex ever since.
I thought I’d share with everybody some of the more ridiculous armored costume changes in comic book history.
Henchman-4-Hire 