Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America will be Californicatin’

Posted by Mister Hand (misterhand@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 7, 2008

Marvel's Avengers

Over on IGN, you can read the news that Marvel has signed an agreement to shoot its next immediate series of superhero flicks at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach, CA. But the big news is not where they’re shooting, but what they’re shooting.

Scheduled for May 7, 2010 is Iron Man 2, which should be awesome, unless everyone associated with the original Iron Man has decided to take up heavy drug use. That same year, in July, Marvel plans to release a Thor movie. As a Marvel fan from way back when, someone who once owned the original Wolverine Limited Edition comics, as well as The Uncanny X-Men nos. 160-256, and still owns the Spider-Man comic that first introduced the Hobgoblin, I can say that every Thor comic I ever bought ultimately wound up in the trash. This is a really stupid hero, in my humble opinion. Okay, maybe he’s not stupid, but I certainly didn’t connect with the guy at all.

The same goes for Captain America. A film called The First Avenger: Captain America is set for release in 2011. Anyone who knows anything about Captain America has heard the arguments pro and con regarding his worth as a comic book hero. I won’t recount them here. I’ve always regarded him as a jingoistic throwback to the Cold War. I was surprised and intrigued, however, when he took the right side of the argument in the recent Marvel Civil War series–a stance that ultimately cost him his life.

This is all set to culminate with an Avengers movie set for July 2011. And that’s what really has me jazzed. As much as I don’t give a damn about Thor and Captain America individually, I always really dug the Avengers comics. I remember reading those books and thinking that Hollywood could never make a movie out of that series–that it was just too cool to ever be captured properly on the big screen. That was during the days of TV’s Incredible Hulk series, which started out strong in its first season as a serious take on a super hero, but eventually devolved into this.

After the Spider-Man and Iron Man movies, however, that’s all changed, and I’m thoroughly optimistic that The Avengers can happen and that it can be stellar. So I’m a happy man today. What we have to watch out for, however, is that Thor movie. If it’s terrible, and there’s a very good chance it could be, The Avengers movie may never see the light of day. Thor played a major role in the comic, and I doubt Marvel will be much interested in pursuing the film without him. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.


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  • Man I knew everything posted here already.
  • Gregg
    I agree Thor is a dumb comic, but he is a major player in the marvel universe and one of the greatest avengers ever. Even if the old comics sucked, they've redone him after his disappearance in the avengers disassembled series and maybe the new story line will give some creative material for the movie. Also, don't forget where he's from and who he's related to. Asgard, Odin and Loki, all good plot devices. disobeying his father to help humanity, being banished from his home on Asgard, and his brother Loki, the trickster god stirring up trouble both on Asgard as well as Earth. Throw in some frost giants and Asgardian warriors, maybe a love interest, and your good. The only thing I could think of that the movie would still need is a villian from Earth for Loki to work in conjunction with. Someone badass.

    Now, you traitorous antipatriot, Captain America not having any value as a comic book character, where do you get off. He's "the" marvel superhero. He embodies the very nature of what a superhero should be. Just because he doesn't have a brooding darkside or socially debilitating behavior doesnt mean he's not a deep and complex enough character, it means he's the only one in the marvel U to do it right.
    To keep his head on strait and do whats right all the time. Thats why everyone in the marvel U, all the other superheroes, all look up to him. Try to aspire to be like him. He set the bar, and if you read marvel more, you might know, he's "the" legend amongst the legendary.
  • Odin's beard! That Hulk vs Thor video is terrible. Though it does remind me of the glory that was Six Million Dollar Man vs Bigfoot.
  • Meepo
    Are people allowed to like stalk the celebrities while they film or something?

    ....Hmm.
  • Keith
    You might read the new and current Thor series. It makes Thor a much more interesting character. But I guess I've liked him every since I was a kid. Nordic blood.
  • Dan
    Wake me up when a trailer of "The Infinity Gauntlet" hits the big screen... There are two things I enjoy about comics: 1. Plots that engage other galaxies (with Earth characters playing a very minor supporting role) and 2. when major players die/cease to exist. TIG was epic beyond any other storyline I've ever read in comics OR graphic novels.
  • Jeremy
    Is it me, or was that Dennis Franz as a random uncredited doctor at 3:49 in the hulk clip?
  • John
    Wow, you know nothing about comics. You hate captain america and thor, yet you call yourself a Marvel fan? I don't see how you can hate these characters and like the Avengers, makes no sense.
  • In answer to John:

    I got into The Avengers for quite a while right before and during my obsession with X-Men. I then picked up some of the Thor and Captain America comics and... I don't know. Always just found them rather dull. It could very well be that they were just going through a bad period. This would have been the early eighties.
  • Actually, that was me as the random uncredited doctor at 3:49 in the clip.
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