If (like me) you knew well enough to stay in the cinema after the Iron Man credits finished, you will know that this is just the beginning for Marvel Studios. Now that they have wrested the keys of control from the hands of large corporations and movie studios, they are free to do as they will… and make their own mistakes? Perhaps.
But the promise of an Avengers movie lies nested in the deep planning of other films. As big wig Avi Arad has stated, Marvel Studios had no interest in simply plopping an Avengers film featuring complete strangers at the feet of a confused movie going public. Instead, the plan is to fully introduce the key characters in the super hero super group before plunging them headlong into an ensemble flick.
That said, it looks like this (thanks to Pardis Parker for the time table)
Iron Man 2 (Marvel) Scheduled for April 30, 2010 release Thor (Marvel) Scheduled for June 4, 2010 release The First Avenger: Captain Americaworking title (Marvel) Scheduled for May 6, 2011 release The Avengers (Marvel) Scheduled for July 2011 release Ant-Man (Marvel) Writer/director engaged
So we have three long years to wait for a pay off for a post end credit sequence? It’s not that I mind, but… is it going to be worth it? If the films listed above (including next month’s dark horse Incredible Hulk) are as good as Favreau’s Iron Man, I’m in.
But any comic book fan can tell you that nothing is set in stone and the fickle winds of change are only months apart sometimes. Three years could mean anything for the Avengers.
All I know is that the day after I saw the Iron Man movie I saw my cousin-in-law’s children Seth and Ilan and they were ravenous for anything Avengers-related… how weird is that!?
I admit it, my hopes were low for the Iron Man movie. I saw a star-studded cast, a non-action flick director and a barely known super hero character and thought to myself, ‘this is probably gonna suck.’
I love being wrong (sometimes).
For those not in the know, Iron Man comes from the mysterious age of rebirth in the comic book industry called the Silver Age. By 1963, the super hero comic book characters had long lost their appeal. A weary Stan Lee decided that the medium was a dead duck and despite the stellar monster comics he was producing with Steve Ditko, Dick Ayers, Jack Kirby and Don Heck, it was probably time to throw in the towel. Before he called it quits, however, he decided to try something new. This experiment gave birth to what is called the Marvel Universe today.
Spider-Man, The Hulk, Doctor Strange, The Uncanny X-Men, The Mighty Thor were all huge hits for the little publisher that could. Feeling that he had the golden touch, Lee created a comic that he was convinced had no chance (just to show that he could sell anything). The comic would follow the adventures of an arms manufacturer/playboy. At a time when the world was waking up to the horrors of war, this should have been an unreadable and unsellable comic book.
Yet it sold like hotcakes.
Today the comic book properties of the 1960’s are franchises of the modern age, something few could have envisioned so long ago. The current film depicting the armored avenger took a noble stand on two distinct fronts. Firstly, it had a message about war and corporate greed. Secondly, rather than simply using computer-generated characters throughout the film, the genius of Stan Winston was used to produce real iron armor suits. This tactile approach to the technology really helps the film come alive and the bizarre gadgets that spring from Iron Man’s suit seem all that more fantastic while retaining a certain level of believability.
After premiering his deadly Jericho weapon device to the military in war-torn Afghanistan, his military escort is attacked, leaving the posh playboy not only trapped behind enemy lines, but also near death thanks to his very own weapons used by terrorists on the convoy. His cell-mate is an equally gifted inventor who, with Tony’s help, creates an entirely new power device grafted to Stark’s chest (and consequently keeping the shrapnel embedded in Tony’s torso from tearing his heart apart). After seeing the horror that his weapons have created, Stark vows to stop the violence being done in his name. Instead of creating weapons for his captors, he turns his missiles into a crude one-man walking tank. When he returns to the US, he is a changed man, driven to perfect his armor design and use his inventive mind to do something better than blow people up. But his business partner and mentor Obediah Stane (played to perfection by Jeff Bridges) is none too keen on the idea. It turns out that the terrorists who captured Stark did not do so by mistake. Eventually, it’s a war of ideals… and armor with Stane and Stark on opposite sides.
Despite its heavy message, the tone of the film is very light yet intelligent. Tony Stark is depicted as a brilliant and gifted ‘uberkind’ who dabbles in everything robotics to weapon design. A man of many talents, he’s also somewhat of an enigma and while he seems equally at home on a posh dinner event as a Denny’s, he’s also completely out of place with the common man. This aspect of his personality is so perfectly played out that the manner of his escape makes perfect sense. It’s this kind of understanding of comic book logic that really impresses me about this flick. At its heart, it’s a summer popcorn movie, but it’s also remarkable clever and respectful of the source material.
Robert Downey Jr. really seems to have found the perfect outlet for his character-acting skills. His energy and wit shine in every scene and yet make him all the more believable as an almost alien genius. Despite his good looks and charm, you just cannot look upon Downey Jr’s Stark as a ‘normal person,’ which is a boon to a super hero film. This version of Stark is just so strange that he uses the same hi-tech skills on rebuilding vintage cars as building a brand new power source (while listening to Suicidal Tendencies, I might add). His chemistry with Gwyneth Paltrow is also a joy on the screen. The two exchange quips almost daring each other to break character and admit a genuine emotion… and when it happens neither knows quite what to do. It’s an interesting slant on the tired will they/won’t they dynamic.
The effects and story itself come together to make what is the most appealing super hero film in a very long time. Not full of angst or ironic self-referential humor, Iron Man is simply a great action flick. I’m still chuckling to myself over the use of the 1966 Iron Man cartoon melody in the film.
See if you can catch it yourself!
This is the first of the Marvel Entertainment Studios films, paving the way for many more to come (if you stay after the credits, you will be treated to a very clear idea of what is coming next from the House of Ideas). A fantastic comic book movie, this is the best effort since Spider-Man 1… and that’s really high praise.
(Above: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man and Terence Howard as Jim Rhodes)
Big old spoiler for this Friday’s premier of Marvel Comics’ Iron Man.
As fans of the comic book series can tell you, there is more than one armored Avenger in the Marvel Universe. After Tony Stark’s alcoholism took the better of him in the now classic ‘Demon in the Bottle’ making it impossible for him to wear the one-man army suit, he was forced to choose a replacement. Tony needed to look no further than his close friend from the Vietnam War, James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes. In the gun-metal gray suit bedecked with missile launchers and machine guns a-plenty, Rhodey was known as the War Machine. Eventually this storyline lead to a duel between Iron Men.
“The beautiful thing about Marvel is that they’ve always stuck with the tradition of staying truthful to the comics and loyal to the fans,” actor Terence Howard told IGN. “If you’ve read the comics you’ll know that that is the next phase, but there is another intermediate phase in there where he would have to put on his best friend’s suit for a period of time.”
The Iron Man film has premiered in Sydney Australia to…. modestly favorable reviews. Not rave reviews, mind… favorable reviews.
“Saw it at the Sydney premiere last night, and it’s truly a great comic book action film. Downey Jr is perfect, the CGI is really smooth (apart from the big fight between Iron Monger & Stark…they just can’t seem to make CGI at speed look really good yet). Hopefully the fans aren’t put out, because there’s a lot of humour there, and the fight with Iron Monger isn’t a long one. But it’s a great start to what should be a no-brainer franchise.”
To me it sounds like there will be more of the ‘oh aren’t we hilarious’ jokes ala the Saturday Night Fever dance routine in Spider-Man 3. Maybe if I were ready for that kind of silliness it would not have stung as much. Maybe not.
The film hits the screen in two weeks (on Free Comic Book Day!), so expect lots of dudes in cardboard robot costumes duking it out in the parking lot before hand. The Iron Man fight club is inevitable, isn’t it?
Honestly, I wonder what future generations will think (if anything) of this era of entertainment where cartoons, old TV shows and comic books are turned into mega-huge franchises… and promptly forgotten in only a year’s time.
Maybe there will be a landfill of big gulp glasses with a monument to Entertainment Weekly that children visit where they lament the wasted time and energy that could have gone into quality film productions and new ideas.
As the May 2nd release date looms for the Invincible Iron Man, that can only mean more trailers bombarding viewers than ever before. While the obnoxious mixture of AC/DC, heartfelt string, Chris Cornell and a remixed Black Sabbath may seem that the filmmakers are a tad desperate to get your attention, make no mistake… they really are that desperate.
An artistic disaster but commercial boon, Spider-Man 3 is one of the worst movies to ever gross so much since… the last lousy major motion picture to be released. The name of the game is not quality (something comic book movie fans saw in the second X-Men and Spider-Man films), but marketing. I know this is obvious, but if you market your film to the point that it becomes the wallpaper in your audience’s head, you’ve won them.
It’s still too early to tell if this film will be any good at all. Most trailers are absurdly bad and over the top for my taste. From what I can gather in between the slow fade edits and quick-zooms, the plot seems sound and the effects are top notch.
Iron Man is a tough sell character, to be honest. He’s a colorful armored super hero, but he’s also an inventor/business man. I quite enjoy the comic, but he’s not as much of a done-in-one property like Batman and Spider-Man. Despite that, it looks like the film makers have managed to inject some character into this movie. I just hope it’s the right one.
I’ve maintained for the past two years that one of Marvel Comics most well done (yet sadly overlooked) monthly comics has been Iron Man.
Warren Ellis and Adi Granov dragged the outmoded character into the 21st Century with the excellent ‘Extremis’ storyline that introduced the most drastic twist to the character since he was first created in the 1960’s. The nano-tech virus bonded with Stark, making him a bi-product of his own technology, a veritable 21st Century fusion between man and machine. Not only is Stark a super fast and strong super hero capable of firing blasts of energy and all that, he can now talk to and ‘hear’ machinery, making him more of an outsider than ever before.
New writer Daniel Knauf took the concept further when he took over the title with his ‘Execute Program’ storyline in which Stark was turned into a weapon against his will by a wiley hacker. Yet it was when Stark became embroiled in the Civil War that he really took center stage in a major way. After a catastrophic super hero disaster, he backed a law that made it illegal for super powered beings to operate independently. This sparked a rebellious reaction from longtime compatriot Captain America who developed a strike force to fight the government that in his view had turned against its people. The outcome we all know, the Super Hero Registration Act is now a law, Stark has become the new head of the long arm of the law SHIELD, and Captain America is dead.
While all of this has been going on, one of Iron Man’s most dangerous foes has been operating in the shadows. Using the designer of the Extremis nano-technology, the Mandarin (an evil mastermind who formerly used ten rings capable of various deadly rays until his hands were crushed… now the rings are implanted in his spinal column) has turned the virus into a weapon. In the next issue, this very long storyline will finally take things up a notch. Tony Stark himself us under suspicion of having lost his mind and has been stripped of his use of the Extremis virus by way of a anklet that prevents him from using his amazing abilities. Having to rely upon his old armor, Iron Man must clash with the fiendish Mandarin as the seconds tick by before his master plan his hatched.
Buy the new issue out this coming Wednesday Feb 20th and see why this series deserves more attention as being one of the most innovative and electrifying super hero action comics on the stands today!
Writer of the hit Marvel Comics series Immortal Iron Fist Matt Fraction will be joined by Spanish megastar artist Salvador Larroca. Larocca began working for Marvel UK back in the day and worked his way through the company’s titles, including stints on Fantastic Four with Chris Claremont and Uncanny X-Men with Peter Milligan. More recently his art graced the pages of the revived Amazing Spider-Man. His art has changed greatly, shocking many a fan of his already eye-poppingly stylish art.
From the sample below, it looks like he is still using this style in his new work.
The new series debuts this May as a tie in to the Iron Man motion picture.
As the mega motion picture juggernaut that will not be stopped known as the InvincibleIron Man nears its summer release date, so do the tie-ins.
Straight from action figure manufacturer supreme Hasbro come these images of the action figures based on Marvel Comics‘ prize industrialist and knight in shining armor, Iron Man.
So far details are slim, but in addition to the Mark I and Mark III suits I have seen the two figures below (Mark II and Snap-On Armor Prototype) as well as the villain of the picture, Iron Monger (played by ‘The Dude’ Jeff Bridges in the film).
These action figures are of the high standard I’ve come to expect of the Marvel Legends line, although they do come complete with wacky missile-firing parts which always reduces the dignity of the character for me.
Enjoy the images:
The full set of toys are expected to hit the shelves around March, but you can pre-order the whole lot at Toy Rocket.
With the upcoming motion picture, Marvel Comics is hoping kids will be Iron Man ca-razy. Putting aside the fact that every re-iteration of the character directed at a new audience depicts the hero as a mustache-wearing businessman, this cartoon is by far the best attempt at attracting a new audience.
Wielding an art style strangely reminiscent of the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance video game, this short three part animated feature gives us ‘old shell-head’ doing what he does best, fighting robots!
It’s odd to think that given the current climate of the Marvel Universe, the meeting of the three characters in this mini-feature is all but impossible… but never mind.
William Hurt (A History of Violence) was recently interviewed by MTV and spilled a can-load of beans about the upcoming Hulk/Iron Man crossover filming. Hurt will be playing the part of General ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross who in the comic book series was a continual source of disapproval for both Banner and his jade-colored alter-ego. The part was played by the human mustache Sam Eliot in the Ang Lee film.
In his interview, Hurt talked at length about the crossover scene with Robert Downey, Jr., but the piece itself goes on about how this new film be such a radical departure from the previous film.
“There’s a scene, and during that scene there are a number of things happening. [Hulk] has beaten Abomination, and then there’s a crowd that gathers around, and they realize that he’s beaten Abomination. That Abomination was the one who was killing for just the joy of killing; Hulk is not the one.
“It’s the moment of turn,” Hurt added, “when society’s relationship with Hulk stops being so stupid.”
Unlike Ang Lee, director Louis Leterrier (the “Transporter” films) is intent on laying off the “Hulk as misunderstood monster” angle, thereby making him more heroic. “I want to see the relationship between Hulk and a world that realizes he’s not the villain,” Hurt said. “Hulk and [Tyler's Betty Ross] have their moment, and the crowd realizes he’s not the bad guy.”
While Edward Norton has perfected his portrayal of such good-guy/bad-guy conflict in films from “Fight Club” to “American History X,” Hurt can’t comment on his co-star’s performance. “I don’t know. I only have two scenes with him,” he sighed, sounding a bit disappointed. “That’s not enough to get a whole taste of it.”
He is convinced, however, that the reboot flick is fully unrelated to Lee’s initial installment. “I saw that film. This is, stylistically, a completely different film. They just don’t relate,” Hurt insisted.
Hurt said Norton worked hard behind the camera to keep the new flick from either becoming too cerebral or falling back on a “Hulk! Smash!” mentality. “[Norton did] a lot of writing, and came up with a lot of ideas. I can’t relate them now, because there’s not enough time, but he had a lot of ideas.”
While the while Hulk as hero thing is a viable part of the comic book mythology, I really think that the misunderstood monster angle is where the heart of this movie franchise is at. I understand that the Ang Lee film was a disappointment to the studio, but making the Hulk movie into an action/adventure film sounds too much like a major knee-jerk reaction to me.
William Hurt (A History of Violence) was recently 