Showing posts with label Comic Book Movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comic Book Movies. Show all posts

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Of Black Widow and "Boy's Toys" #WheresNatasha

It has recently been reported by Jenna Busch at Legion of Leia that Hasbro opted to solicit a toy based on one of the more exciting scenes in the recent Avengers: Age of Ultron movie. In this particular scene, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and Avengers member Black Widow springs into action by dropping out of the Avenger's Quinjet on a suped up motorcycle.

It's a pretty amazing sequence and a scene I look forward to watching repeatedly in the future. It's one of those ideal moments when film manages to capture the magic of the comic book page and translate it into real life. Throughout a progression of Marvel inspired films, Scarlett Johansson has managed to bring the Black Widow character alive on the screen with a nice balance between snark and charm. This moment was created to give her character a well-deserved action spotlight. This makes the scene an ideal choice for a toy play set based on the film.

There's only one problem.

Hasbro's play set based on the scene doesn't include Black Widow. It doesn't include her in the box as an action figure, and it doesn't feature her as a member of the Avengers on the cover of the box. This is a huge problem that has been discussed at length on a number of Feminist and Geek sites. If you are interested in their discussion, and you should be, I'd direct you to start with the Legion of Leia  and The Mary Sue and move on from there. Even though I'm the father of seven year old twin daughters who adore Black Widow as on of the - too few - female super heroes featured on a regular basis, I don't have anything to say from that perspective that hasn't already been said better.

Instead, I thought I'd take a moment to address what I believe is an underlying assumption that informed Hasbro's decision to exclude Black Widow from their offerings. Surprisingly, this isn't the assumption that these toys are "for boys." That may be one of the assumptions over at Hasbro HQ, but I think this falls into the "boys wouldn't want to play with girls as toys" sub-category of that assumption. I think that Hasbro not only assumes that these toys are for boys, but that boys would have no interest in pretending to be Black Widow battling the minions of Hydra and Ultron.

They are wrong on so many levels. Way back in the before times, in the not now, when the consensus view of the 21st century was Zardoz... Okay, that time never existed, but let's stick to the before times, in the not now. A time we will call "The Eighties." During this dark and mysterious age, action figures were a relatively new phenomenon. Sure, full sized GI Joe's had been around for a while, but the smaller action figures that would come to dominate the action figure market were relatively new. I don't know if Star Wars action figures were the first of this new line of toy, but they were an early one and they inspired toy makers to create new action figures for kids to play with. 

Those toys included a new and exciting line of GI Joe action figures that tied in with an animated TV show of the same name. The first "series" of Joe figures included three characters who were then, and are now, my favorite characters in that line. I played with those toys for hours on end. I pretended to be these characters as they battled COBRA and its nefarious plots. To me, these three characters are my "core Joes." They define who I most liked imagining myself to be. They were Snake Eyes, Stalker, and...in a turn that makes Hasbro's decision to cut a character played by Scarlett Johansson all the more ironic.



What was the name of the company that made this mysterious female toy that both boys and girls (ages 5 and up) could play with? 

Hasbro.

As I mentioned earlier, Scarlett was one of the characters I most liked to role play when I was fighting against Cobra. She had an awesome skill set, just look up and check it out, and she had a hand crossbow. A freakin' hand crossbow! 

So I'd just like to add to the chorus of voices that are pointing out that young girls just as valuable as consumers, fans, and players. That it is also true that there are probably young boys out there who would be eager to pretend to be Black Widow as she defends the world against the forces of Hydra. Heck, I even know a father of seven year old twin girls who would jump at that opportunity.

 

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Intrigued by 20th Century Fox's FANTASTIC FOUR

I've fluctuated in and out of being a fan of Marvel's iconic family superhero team The Fantastic Four. I love reading some of the original stories due to their raw Kirby-ism. Similarly, I enjoy much of the John Byrne era for the way it incorporated X-men style soap opera drama to the book. And the Waid/Wieringo era is wildly entertaining. As a whole though, the Richards family has always seemed a little out of place in the Marvel Universe. Sure Reed stopped Galactus, but that victory merely highlights the separation. The Richards family are first and foremost explorers who encounter cosmic entities of vast power and keep them destroying mankind through a combination of scientific know-how and a never-say-die spirit.

The key point here is that the Richards (and Grimm) are explorers. They are Marvel's version of the Challengers of the Unknown, another Kirby creation, with the addition of superpowers and foes the like that only Superman would encounter in DC. As great as the powers of the Fantastic Four are, they pale before Galactus, Annihilus, Ronan, and Kang. When the FF books are at their best, they focus on the super-science, exploration, and family elements. When they are at their worst, the writers portray the team as a superteam more like the Avengers than the explorers they are.

Neither the Roger Corman, nor the more recent Chris Evans vehicle, captured the team in all of its glory. The Corman movie gets some things right, but it also gets so much wrong. Similarly, Chris Evans and Ioan Gruffud are perfect casting for their characters, but the interaction with Doom was off and don't get me started on the Silver Surfer film. I really wanted to like that movie, and I own it, but it just falls flat. With these failures, I wasn't surprised the 20th Century Fox would attempt something completely new with an "update" to the franchise. Like most fans, I was baffled by the choices they were making. The actors cast in the film have talent as performers, but they somehow didn't match what my concept of this team should be.

Then I saw today's teaser trailer. Now I'm intrigued. It looks like the movie will be focusing on a Challengers of the Unknown style narrative, and that is where the FF really shine. I know it's just a teaser, and that teaser's always look good, but I'm willing to give the film a chance. It may not be THE Fantastic Four, but it might just be A Partially-Exciting Four. Besides, the final shot of the trailer is just so STAR TREK V that if the film is terrible, it may just be terrible in the best ways.




Now to decide what game system to use when I convert the film into a campaign.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Guardians of the Galaxy in D&D Gamma World: Rocket Raccoon



Like most geeks, I am extremely excited about Guardians of the Galaxy. The latest Marvel Studios film is a brave leap into the lesser known characters of the Marvel-verse. Until Dan Abnett, Keith Giffen, and Andy Lanning's run on Annihilation the Guardians -like Alpha Flight - had been an acquired taste of a small niche of comic book fans. Abnett and Lanning populated the new Guardians with a strange group of characters - otherwise comical characters - and put them in extreme circumstances. Following after Tolkien's model, the Guardians' narrative within Annihilation is that of the "common man." Sure Rocket and Groot are a competent pair, and Drax has been a Marvel heavy hitter in the past, but none of them match the cosmic might of Firelord, Silver Surfer, or Nova.

It made for compelling stuff and now that same band of misfits - and not those who bear the power cosmic - are going to be featured in the upcoming film.

I asked my friends in the Social Network-verse what game system they would use to run a Guardians of the Galaxy campaign and received some very good answers. Some would run it in Hero System, others in Savage Worlds, and still others in Bulldogs!. I am intimately familiar with two of those systems, and almost chose to create statistics in Savage Worlds, but in the end I chose Wizards of the Coasts' excellent D&D Gamma World as my game of choice. As I was thinking how to stat the characters in as simple a fashion as possible, the ideas just leaped out at me. Groot was a "Giant Plant" and that's all I needed to know to stat him. I'll likely attempt a Savage Worlds conversion in the future...and a Marvel Saga and Marvel Heroic as well as purchase a copy of Bulldogs!...but for now, I'm using D&D Gamma World. It should be noted that all characters will be 10th level as most Gamma Supers should be.

My first entry is none other than my twin daughters' - History and Mystery - favorite Guardian...

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Batman Doesn't Kill...Or Does He? Patton Oswalt's Penguin Addresses the Issue

I don't think they had to make Batman so dense to make their point, but this is a pretty amusing video regardless. I also think they should have added a moment where Batman feels betrayed by Alfred when he figures out what's going on.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Man of Steel: Still Looking Good

While there are still to many shots "taken" from Richard Donner's two excellent Superman movies in this trailer, there is enough here for me to think that MAN OF STEEL looks promising. Any Superman film has the difficult task of choosing which version of Superman to use -- Gold/Silver/Bronze/Tin/Byrne -- and Snyder seems to have leaned a little in the Byrne direction.  This can be a good thing, but it can also backfire. Too many directors -- I'm looking at you Andrew Stanton -- think that "modern audiences" can't handle white knight characters unless they have a shade of grey. Thing is, authors have been making that mistake for generations. It isn't having "troubled" or "grey" heroes that audiences find compelling. It's having heroes who experience conflict and for whom there are stakes. Donner got that with his Superman, and Burroughs understood that with his John Carter. I hope that Snyder gets it.



Tuesday, December 11, 2012

MAN OF STEEL -- Does Zack Snyder Get It?

If the most recent trailer for the new Superman film MAN OF STEEL is any indication, the answer is a resounding YES!

I have long argued that Superman is my favorite character because he is the most complex of all superheroes.  He isn't merely the first, he is the most interesting.  He has layers and layers.

To often authors and illustrators focus on what Superman can "do" and not "why" he does it or "what" he needs.  Superman is the living embodiment of the question Aristotle poses his Politics.  In Book One of THE POLITICS, Aristotle writes about man and society: "But he who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god: he is no part of a state. A social instinct is implanted in all men by nature, and yet he who first founded the state was the greatest of benefactors. For man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all; since armed injustice is the more dangerous, and he is equipped at birth with arms, meant to be used by intelligence and virtue, which he may use for the worst ends."

Like all men, Kal-El has the instinct to live within society.  He desires to be a part of humanity.  It is why he has a secret identity at all.  Superman has no need for a secret identity except as a way to connect himself with "The City."  Unlike Spider-Man and Batman, Superman wears no mask in his heroic identity.  He lets the world see him as he is.  But he knows that his superheroic identity can not be a part of society.  Superman is godlike and disconnected.  He would be naturally rejected by the society.  Not out of spite or fear, though some would feel that way, but out of awe.  Yet Kal-El isn't sufficient in himself.  Yes, he can survive the vacuum of space without protection.  He can survive a nuclear explosion and lift mountains, yet he is alone.  He is the "Last Son of Krypton."  He needs society and the only way he can have that is through the creation of the adult Clark Kent.

Without Clark Kent and the merging with society that persona gives Kal-El, he might well become a beast.  The tragedy is that through the creation and maintaining of Clark Kent as a persona, Superman puts those he loves at greater risk.  Spider-Man's adoption of a secret identity is done to protect Aunt May, and with some exception it does exactly that.  Superman's secret identity puts Lois, Lana, Jimmy, and Ma and Pa Kent at greater risk than otherwise.  Since Superman is a public figure, he could spend all his time in the Fortress of Solitude with no private life.  Villains would attack the Fortress and only attack civilians in typically villainous ways.  By having roots in society Kal-El puts those people at risk of being targeted as individuals due to their connection with him.  Yet he needs them to become fulfilled...to be a part of law and justice...to work with intelligence and virtue.

He is a truly tragic figure, and I have always been moved when writers are able to capture that small part of him.  Sadly, too few capture that conflict.  They are too often trapped by looking only at Superman as mythic figure and not as someone with the social instinct.

The new preview shows a Clark that yearns for that connection, but whose powers not only separate him from society but cause him pain.  Imagine Clark -- the child -- who can hear all the sounds of the world at once pounding into his eardrums.  Every conversation, every tear, every rain drop.  How alone he must feel.  The voice over with Ma Kent reflecting this in the trailer is magnificent.



Wednesday, August 29, 2012

THE AVENGERS (1952) -- Pre-Make Trailer

I've been a fan of the "Premake" series of You Tube videos for some time.  They display a nice combination of deep knowledge of older pop culture with a genuine desire to show that awesomeness to a younger generation of viewers.

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of watching old Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials at my Oma and Opa's house on the weekends.  My Opa loved these old serials and he instilled in me nostalgia for stories that had been filmed before my parents had been born.  I still love these tales, and they have shaped the types of genre fiction I still enjoy today.  I blame these old serials for my seeking out of Edgar Rice Burroughs and that led to a discovery of Leigh Brackett, and the rest is as they say "history."

I cannot wait to share the old serials with my lovely twin daughters History and Mystery.  They already love super heroes and Star Wars -- even if they think that Yoda is Darth Vader's personal Goblin.  It won't be long before they are watching Buck, Flash, and Emma Peel.  Speaking of Emma, I hope that I can give my daughters enough knowledge of the show THE AVENGERS that they will appreciate how awesome a Diana Rigg version of Black Widow would have been.

For your viewing pleasure...THE AVENGERS 1952.



Thursday, October 20, 2011

[Film Trailer] Justice League: Doom -- Looks Interesting

DC's theatrical releases have been hit or miss -- I'll be posting my Green Lantern film review soon -- but their animated projects have tended to be excellent.  Everything from Batman: The Brave and the Bold to All-Star Superman has been entertaining.  By the looks of this official preview, that trend is continuing.




Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Captain America: First Avenger...In Context

There are going to be those in the interwebs who watch the preview below with something less than excitement. They will bemoan how cheezy the special effects and the lighting look, or complain that Chris Evans isn't right for the part. They are wrong on all counts, and they likely need to be reminded of the history of the Captain America franchise when it comes to visual entertainment.

Take a few seconds to watch the most recent preview.



Now...compare this to moments from the 1990 Columbia Tri-Star production.



And...the 1979 television movie.


Captain America (1979) - Opening by Internapse

Given the history of the franchise, the new version looks like it was crafted by the hand of God. My inner child, my nostalgic gen-Xer subconscious, and my hyper critical comic geek super-ego are all in agreement. We will love the new movie, because it will be the best Captain America film produced to date.

Friday, February 11, 2011

"X-Men: First Class" Trailer Has Been Released


With the exception of some missteps in the third film, the X-men movie franchise is one of the premier superhero film series. The acting has been consistently good, the stories compelling, and the effects impressive.

If the trailer is any hint, it looks like the upcoming "X-Men: First Class" is a return to the quality of the earlier entries. I'm looking forward to seeing what Matthew Vaughn ("Layer Cake," "Stardust") does with Marvel's Mutant Miracle.



Of the stills released for the film, I really like this one. It has a slight "Tomorrow People" quality, and that's a good thing.


Thursday, November 18, 2010

Ryan Reynold's Green Lantern Preview...Two Words -- "Kilowog Woot!"

Some of my fondest memories are night time readings of the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League back when I was proving to her how wonderful comic books could be. The wonder of the Giffen/DeMatteis issues is that they presented the lives of super heroes in a way that comics had never done before, and hasn't really done since. We got to see the day to day dynamics of a super hero team. The Giffen/DeMatteis work was a combination comic book, sit com, action movie, and drama.

Wonderful stuff.



Among the joys of those books was a Green Lantern named Kilowog. Someone had the good sense to put him into the upcoming Green Lantern movie.



Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Suckerpunch -- Zack Snyder's New Film Trailer is a Nerdgasm

What if Kenneth Hite re-imagined Pan's Labyrinth and included Tri-Planes, Dragons, Mecha, Machine Guns, Samurai, Kung Fu? OH MY!

Did I mention the Nazis and the exploding Zeppelin?!

Zack Snyder's next film is an original work written by the director. It tells the story of a young girl who is institutionalized by her cruel stepfather and who retreats into a fantasy land in order to cope with the situation and gain her revenge. The film is so high concept that it makes my brain want to explode. From what is in the video, there is almost no conceivable way that this film can have a coherent narrative.

And you know what?

I cannot wait.

Then again, I am a sucker for exploding Zeppelins.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Let Isaiah Mustafa Be Luke Cage

Luke Cage and Black Panther are two of the coolest superheroes ever created. For years I have created mental "casting calls" for the two characters. Typically, Wesley Snipes gets cast as Black Panther -- my favorite Avenger -- but my ideal Luke Cage has been more fluid.

Recently, I have tended toward Brian J. White. I really like Brian J. White as an actor, but even when he's an antagonist (like in Fighting) he's too likable to be the hard nosed Cage. That doesn't stop me from having him return to the top of my casting list.



Hollywood has been considering Tyrese Gibson for the role. Tyrese can certainly bring the edge the character requires, but he looked a lot more than 1" shorter than Paul Walker in 2 Fast, 2 Furious. Luke Cage should be intimidatingly tall and Tyrese, has never seemed tall in the films he has starred in.


I am a big fan of Taye Diggs, and his performance in Equalibrium cemented him in my mind as someone who can portray an intense action star. His work in projects like Private Practice prove that he can bring a nice softness to a role as well. My ideal Luke Cage needs both. He needs the anger and the empathy.

What none of these actors share, to the best of my knowledge, is a deep and abiding love for the character and for comics in general.

Isaiah Mustafa does. Not only has he been awesomely entertaining in the Old Spice Commercials, but he is a comic book fan who has publicly expressed his affection for the character.

I know, I know...you're going to say that Nicolas Cage is proof that fandom and genuine love for a medium doesn't necessitate quality films, we can argue that another time. I for one have enjoyed Nicolas Cage's films, even some that were universally panned. There's a kind of sincerity to them that is often lacking in productions. That sincerity matters.

Watching the G4TV interview below with Isaiah Mustafa convinced me that he has the sincerity. His willingness to fully commit to the Old Spice commercials, not matter how ridiculous they get, puts him at the top of my list of Luke Cage candidates.




Let's get Isaiah Mustafa to star as Luke Cage.