Continuing from yesterday's cover, we see that others have joined the fray.
I spoke yesterday how Marvel's Captain Marvel movie had missed opportunities,and now it's DC's turn. I'll still never understand why the Green Lantern movie did not focus on Sinestro as the villain rather than the much less interesting (and more goofy looking) Hector Hammond and the Space Fart known as Parallax (did they learn nothing from Fantastic Four: Rise of the Sillver Surfer and their approach to Galactus?) I much preferred Mark Strong in the role as Sinestro than his take on Sivana in Shazam! (frankly, that felt like a more generic villain and nothing like the short weaselly Sivana that I knew from the comics), and I wish he had gotten the chance to more thoroughly explore the character.
Cause WB likes to use formulas. 1st movie = origin tale to get audience interested.
ReplyDeleteResearchers found Sinny was a hero originally. Here he's a good guy, but very arrogant and with a dominating personality. Too good. Make him a good guy in the first movie, but changed by temptation for the second. He could get redeemed or make a major sacrifice, depending on how long they want to stretch out his tale.
WB = we be arrogant idiots that follow what others do and try to reproduce it (poorly).
Personally, I still prefer "Rise of the Silver Surfer" (interstellar smog bank and all) above the travesty remake where Johnny Storm becomes African-American and his sister is simply an adopted Russian refugee.
ReplyDeleteThat, as far as I'm permanently concerned, was a needless over-extension of political correctness! That being said? Look at it this way, Ross.
Now, that Deadpool has changed history, maybe some alternate-Earth will see a GL feature film debut along the exact same parameters you just outlined!
I just assume comics movies and shows will suck until I hear otherwise.
ReplyDeleteOn a (much-needed) lighter note...will there be a part 3 to this adventure?
ReplyDeleteThere are three non-Earth GLs who always intrigued me at some level, and Katma Tui was one. This woman who looked naturally Human, but had crimson skin, really caught my eye. The other two are Kilowog and Tomar-Re, and I hope we get to see plenty of all three in the upcoming Green Lantern series on HBO MAX (though I'll unfortunately be watching on DVD). I'd also like to see more of them all on this blog. (And for some reason I'm envisioning the three of them in something resembling a Hope & Crosby "road" movie.)
ReplyDelete(Side note: Add Kilowog to the list of potential faculty members for the New Academy I proposed a few days ago!)
The real problem that hurt the Green Lantern movie was the slow pacing of the building threat. There really isn't any sense of urgency through most of the film. I still like it more than most folks do, and place it a notch above Rise of the Silver Surfer, but of course I also see where it went wrong.
Bringing Sinestro in as a hero initially, soon to be a villain, was actually a good touch in my view. The only unfortunate thing about it is his name; we've come to think of "sinister" as "evil," whereas its meaning really is "left-handed" (the former meaning coming from the old superstition that they're the same thing).
As for Thad Sivana, I was also disturbed by his being this taller, imposing figure, though less so after researching the question and finding that this change had also been made in the comics. I still prefer the classic hunchback version, though. He's the type that, on Earth-STF, might give Tony Stark a hard time.
To be fair, the DOCTOR STRANGE movie did the exact same thing, the reluctant hero unaware of his potential, the big cosmic baddie that the audience isn't given a chance to understand, the stubborn ally being set up to become the big bad in a sequel, etc. The problem isn't the formula; the problem is the execution.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm! I'm wondering if Atrocitus and Supremor might be behind this conflict.
ReplyDeleteThe Shazam movie followed the New 52 version and they remade Silvana into another Lex Luthor. I've heard Geoff Johns is keeping a tight grip on the Marvel Family characters and I don't like what he's done with the concept or the characters.
ReplyDelete@ShadowWing Tronix: Well, look at it, this way. It's way better than the True Bronze Age (post-COIE) version of Capt. Shazam. Where Sivana was Billy's biological maternal uncle!
ReplyDeleteHere's an idea (unrelated to anything above or recent):
ReplyDeleteBatman vs. Kraven the Hunter in "The Hunt for Waldo!"
Shazam changed again post new 52 with brothers and sisters corresponding to those in movie but Freddy is less of a jerk in comics and Billy less of an asshole.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Green Lantern movie on again the movie went too far making him comic relief (almost audition tape for Deadpool) as well as an idiot (there is water in the tap). The train was absolutely idiotic - he is a plane jockey almost from birth and he creates a toy train?
I agree that making Sinestro an arrogant hero at first was a good idea for it actually gave us an example how Hal could be worse.
I was thinking about a team up with the Marvel (Batson) family, the Jetson family and the Simpson(s) family.
ReplyDeleteAlec Semicognito said...
ReplyDelete"I just assume comics movies and shows will suck until I hear otherwise."
I saw the 'Ant-Man' movie for the first time last night (on BBC1), and quite liked it.
Not having Hank & Jan be founding members of the Avengers still seems a bit "off" to me (Im not sure what the earliest Marvel comic ever that I ever bought new was, but the earliest 'Avengers' one that I got was the Wasp/Yellowjacket wedding issue...) Still, though, once they'd gone with that decision the changes made here -- with Jan MIA, a retired Hank actually setting up Scott to become his successor, and the addition of Hope -- worked well in my opinion.
Then, there's "Hope" for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, yet. ;-)
ReplyDelete@Glenn and Ross: you guys are geniuses! How about this for the first cover of the New Year? Green Lantern vs. Transformer Astro-train!
ReplyDeleteIf and when they do a "Green Lantern" movie, they really ought to consider an anthology series: there are a lot of GLs and they need not end up at the typical comfortable superhero status quo. That way you can tell very different kinds of stories.
ReplyDeleteFirst movie ought to be Hal Jordan and Sinestro. Sinestro trains Hal and encourages him that, with a world as troubled as earth, he ought not to be shy about using his power to make things better. Then Hal discovers what that strategy has done to Korugar, confronts Sinestro on Korugar, and beats him but dies in the process. Ring flies off Hal's finger, looking for another wearer.
Second movie would be Guy Gardner, who (in the current comics status quo) is an ex-cop who was falsely disgraced and thrown off the force. He's bitter and angry when the ring finds him, but he gives it his best shot even if his heart isn't quite into superheroing. Guy encounters the Red Lanterns, discovers he can sympathize with their rage, but in helping them try to move past it to something better, he realizes he needs to do better for himself too. He helps the Reds found a colony on some remote world, a haven for those who have lost and need to heal. The Guardians commission Guy to serve as the sheriff there, as he is exactly the right man for the job.
Third movie would be John Stewart, and he's the one I'd let become the status quo GL on earth. I'd play up his architect angle more than the Marine angle he's picked up since the Justice League cartoon. i don't have a great feel for what John's movie would be about, possibly because engineering a movie to make him the status quo GL is pretty limiting.
Fourth movie would be Alan Scott, a 1940s guy who finds a magical lantern that is said to contain the soul of a dragon (Yalan Gur of course). As with "The Rocketeer" the big enemies would be Nazis, and the big physical threat would come in the form of Nazi dark arts, where they've created an undead monster out of the corpse of a man named Cyrus Gold. (Not sure I'd call him "Solomon Grundy" but that of course is who it would be.) This version of Solomon Grundy would not only be strong and durable, but also fast, so he'd fight less like a shambling corpse and more like an ape. There would also be an opportunity for Alan Scott and Yalan Gur to come into conflict: Yalan Gur is still wrathful, and Alan is trying to calm Yalan Gur down or at least keep him from burning people alive. At the end of the movie, Alan goes off to China to try to help them throw off the Axis forces (Yalan Gur considers China his home on earth); Alan's eventual fate is unknown.
Is four movies enough? That's enough for a franchise, I think.
Who has a really hotter costume, Ms. Marvel as pictured on the cover, or Marvel Super hero Squad's Ms. Marvel (who has a costume like the "one-piece bathing suit" costume, but with leg tights added)?
ReplyDeleteThey're both eclipsed by the sexy one worn by Mary Marvel of Earth-3. It makes her look like the love-child of Black Adam and Lady Blackhawk!
ReplyDelete