You've got a team of characters whose movies bolstered over a billion dollars two years ago and has thrown every nerd and kid (so...every kid) into a frenzy. Names such as Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, and "that guy Samuel L. Jackson plays...not the one from Star Wars" have become household names for people who just go to movies to watch a good movie. And you know, what, that's great! More people are into it than ever! That means more money and more chances to make things right, right?
Hehe...sadly, no.
Using my 20-20 vision of hindsight, I've come to realize the catastrophe that this has wrought upon Phase 2 movies (with the exception of the untouchable Captain America: The Winter Soldier). Iron Man 3 was Marvel's return, it was the beginning of a new era. To be the movie that would shape the rest of the movies. And what happened?
A classic Iron Man villain was DESTROYED by the movie! What the heck, man? It's THE MANDARIN. He is one of Iron Man's top 2 greatest foes! And you made him some phony and made some other guy, part of an organization that the MCU has not even touched since then but could have had Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episodes for days about. Oh, but you brought up Extremis. Great, but you know whose doing that better?!
^That guy. Extremis <<<<<<< Mirakuru by a long shot.
Phew...what a rant.
Oh wait IT'S NOT OVER.
Thor: The Dark World came around and we finally got the hammer-swinging action we deserved out of a solo Thor film. We got a glimpse at Ragnarock, which I'm sure we'll be seeing again in three or four years, and were set up for Guardians of the Galaxy, coming this August.
But before we got a solid Phase 2 movie, we got the announcement for the next Avengers film: Avengers: Age of Ultron. And I was hyped. Freaking hyped! Ultron is my second favorite recurring Avengers villain (dude, Thanos man...so cool) and definitely one of my favorite Marvel villains!
For those of you who don't know, Ultron is an AI created by Hank Pym, a scientists as well as an Avenger, the Ant-Man/ Giant-Man. Ultron, however, has both a God complex as well as an Oedipal complex that drives him insane and forces him to hate the imperfect humanity. Thus, he dons a robot body, I believe of antimantium (the metal of Wolverine's claws), and begins to destroy humanity on several occassions--no, seriously, you probably can't count the amount on your hands. Ultron is such a popular villain that he is often seen as a master of evil, often appearing in the video-games as one of the final bosses.
And, I mean, Avengers 2 has so much promise. AIM was introduced (though, now that I know HYDRA is behind everything the likelihood of seeing them and my body M.O.D.O.K. has seriously dwindled) so they could be a thing. Coulson was announced to be alive, so, yay Clark Gregg! Plus, we would get to see all of our Avengers back in action ready to kick some butt!
But not before the next big announcement. Marvel's film months after Age of Ultron: Ant-Man.
...say what?
That's right! Hank Pym has been announced to have absolutely NOTHING to do with Age of Ultron :)
More than likely, that means that Ultron is going to be created by Tony Stark AKA Iron Man and that Ultron will use J.A.R.V.I.S. to create his "son" the Vision. While the latter half of that doesn't bother me, what does bother me is that ANT-MAN IS NOT IN THE MOVIE.
Ultron isn't Ultron without Hank Pym. Heck, the Avengers aren't the true Avengers with Hank Pym! He was an original Avenger! And you're telling me he won't even be in the movie? Well why not? So we can give more time to Iron Man to sell more toys?! No!
Look, the Avengers was a gamble. A huge gamble. Why not do the same for this one? Are we trying to stay safe with this movie? I like that it's dark and what not, as Cap 2 really set that kind of tone, but, you can't have a solid story without the right characters in it. It'd be like if they made a Venom origin story movie where Spider-Man wasn't in it. It doesn't make sense.
And I get that changes have to be made. Maybe Joss Whedon has a grand scheme and Hank Pym will figure prominently into Ant-Man (he's a secondary character in that, by the way). Maybe Iron Man will, you know, make an evil Ultron.
Not likely. Apparently Ultron is "menacing, endearing, and funny."
Endearing.
Funny.
Yup. Because when I think about a psychotic killer robot, the things I think about are funny and endearing.
"Oh, I'm going to take over the world today. I love you, Avengers. Want to hear a joke? I'll tell it when I kill you all. But don't forget to have fun!"
I mean, it plays on the psychotic but...for Pete's sake Ultron takes over the world more than Frieza blows up a planet...
But for some reason, nobody seems worried about this movie. Which is where I think the problem lies. Everyone was worried about Cap 2 despite the hype. Why? Well...the first one was apparently not up to snuff with the rest of the MCU movies excluding Iron Man 2. So when the Cap sequel came out, everyone was blown away by it's story, it's characters...Falcon!
Going back to Iron Man, it seems as if people were still in a trance by The Avengers success, including filmmakers. They figured they could do whatever to make money, and they did, and they made money. At the cost of The Mandarin! You know what sealed it, that proved to Marvel they messed up?
The fact that they had to dedicate a short to claiming how there really was a Madarin. Really? So, Ben Kingsley's character was that interesting that he got a short? Are we saying he's on the same level as Peggy Carter or Agent Coulson now? Not so much, pal. You messed up, and you had to go back and literally heal your wounds because you were on an Avengers hangover.
The same worries me for Ultron. You're saying he's not made by Hank Pym and that he is going to be funny? Sassy, maybe. Funny? No.
"But Loki was funny."
Okay, look person: Loki is the God of Mischief. Mischief is funny. Plus, with Loki, we could see his face, he was a human. Ultron is a robot. He is an AI. He is supposed to be "perfect." Perfect means no emotion. Ultron is heartless and cold and a killer. The only way he can be funny is if he is the kind of funny that is someone else trying to be funny and then we throw in some dark humor. But Ultron is definitely not endearing. If they're trying to build some tragedy about him, then, I hate to say it but...
It won't be that good of a movie.
Another fear I have is focusing on the human characters, overcrowding if you will. We're getting a look at three new Avengers as well as a new villain. I don't believe Baron von Strucker will have much of anything to do with the plot outside of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. There's a chance we might have an imbalance, a two-sided story, which is what made the Avengers so good. It wasn't like that, it was the team trying to focus and fight an enemy they'd never seen before. UIltron is a villain on the level of Loki, so if we want a solid movie, we can't have von Strucker sidetracks. Maybe you could have saved that for later, or maybe made that into Iron Man 3 instead of ruining Mandarin, but now, it seems like they have too much on their plate.
And they think they can do whatever they want because people will pay money to see it. And I will pay money because darn it I'm seeing this movie.
The company that is taking a lot of flack for their big sequel is DC. At first, people raved about the soon-to-be Batman versus Superman movie! Granted, the first movie was controversial as heck, but yeah, Batman and stuff!
Ben Affleck as Batman! Okay, cool, we can deal.
Wonder Woman is in the movie! Is it a bit much?
Gal Gadot is Wonder Woman! Is this an early April Fools joke?
Jessie Eisenberg is Lex Luthor! THIS MOVIE SUCKS EVEN THOUGH I HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET GRR I AM AN ANGRY FAN SNARF SNARF
Yes, Man of Steel: World's Finest (ha I got it right this time!) is really taking some fire. But, let's kind of cool down angry nerds. Let's look at what we have.
Nothing.
Great!
What?
No, seriously, that's great!
We have nothing to really work off of, sort of. That leaves little room to mess up. It isn't like we were "promised" Batman, Lex Luthor, and Wonder Woman. Heck, Lex Luthor was actually revealed way after Batman was! In a way, it's been said they're basing this story off of the comic book story "The Dark Knight Returns" which is often regarded as the best Batman comic story to date. It's the tale of an old Batman getting back into the fold and going up against Superman, the first time someone that is not a villain has defeated Superman.
And guess what? Ben Affleck is reportedly portraying an older, more experienced Bruce Wayne.
But in Man of Steel, we saw less of an origin story and more of a "first-year" story, something DC Comics has been messing with a lot lately. We saw Superman sort of get his groove as well as discover that he can cause a whole lot damage, undoubtedly something he will have to pay for in his sequel film. I've already touched on the potential a sequel can bring and will definitely do it again because I am beyond pumped for this movie, and to be honest, it might be equal to or greater than the potential for Avengers 2.
While the casting decisions for MoS 2 might not have been the brightest, they seem kind of smart in retrospect. If we want to tell the origins of characters such as Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor, why not have a young, witty Lex Luthor and a young-ish looking Amazon, Wonder Woman? If they want Batman to be older and wiser, why not have Ben Affleck, who has played many smart people in his days? I didn't think Henry Cavill was a bad Superman at all, in fact, I quite liked him. He knew he was stronger than everybody and he knew what was at stake, and when the time came where he realized he couldn't hold back anymore, he let go. We really got to see a very strong Superman out of him. He wasn't a bad Clark Kent, either, as he stuck to the morals Jonathan Kent strove for him to live for.
We're seeing incarnations of characters in a new way, which can be very exciting, though daunting. I won't say that there isn't more pressure on DC (though, my Marvel VS DC post is coming...I promise) because there totally is, but, why should we just overlook Marvel?
I'll put in terms of sports:
Here's how it is. Let's say that a team has had a tremendous season. Another team had a pretty good run in the beginning of the season but kind of sputtered out. Both teams make the playoffs, though. One team is highest ranked, the other, lowest (disregard the in-between). After a not-so-surprising-yet-surprising victory in the first round, the first team advances to the second round. The lowest ranked team has a very good showing and advances. Then the second round starts. The first seed falters. They misplayed their hand, but, at the end of the day, they advance. The second team wins controversially but had a success nonetheless.
Now's where we can insert Marvel and DC. Marvel is the first team, dominating until very recently. The second team is DC. Marvel is up to play first, though, in the form of Avengers: Age of Ultron. But we have to look back. Sure, their first round was good, but the second...it could use a little work. And that was recent. That's the skid they are on. They are on a bad skid.
DC on the other hand has remained consistent, and they don't seemed worried about their sequel game, Man of Steel: World's Finest.
Marvel has been spending so much and dedicating so much to their flashiness and how they look to their fans and trying to prove "they are the best" that they left behind one thing:
A successful sequel.
That is why we should be more worried about Avengers 2. Because Marvel has made a big mistake. They've messed with stories in the past, but, this time, they may have overextended. A menacing, endearing, funny Ultron. No Hank Pym. And three new Avengers (making the total count 9 excluding Nick Fury).
Meanwhile at DC, they have kept everything secret. This is where Marvel also went awry.
They've told us too much.
And sometimes, silence is golden.
And the noise is exactly what worries me most.
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