Shang-Chi and Plastic Man

 

I enjoyed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, so when I saw that director  Destin Daniel Cretton was involved with American Born Chinese, another comic-based property on Disney+, I decided to check it out.  I'm halfway through the series and I am really enjoying it.  It has an interesting story, engaging characters, and fun supporting roles by recent Oscar winners Michelle Yeoh and Key Huy Quan. 

This is another cover in which I had a bit of de-cluttering to do before I added in any new elements.  Here a look at the behind the scenes process: 

I... Vampire Vs. Morbius

I have to admit that I had very little interest in the Morbius movie until i saw the teaser trailer for it a while back.  The brief glimpse of Jared Leto in full Morbius make up looked great, far more faithful to the comics than I was expecting.  Then, Michael Keaton shows up as Adrian Toomes (The Vulture) at the end!   Now I am curious to see how much it will tie into the MCU/Sony Spider-Man movies, and who else might show up in the film.

7 Soldiers of Victory and The X-Men (& 3 More Tales!)

DC's 100-Page Giants always felt like a "full meal" of a comic to me.  You had the big main course, then a couple of sides featuring lesser used fan favorites and finish up with a tasty golden age reprint.  I would complete my reading fully satisfied every time.

Superman and Man-Thing

Superman's team ups with Swamp Thing in DC Comics Presents were cool issues (one co-starring Solomong Grundy and the other written by Alan Moore), so I think it might make for a fun tale to see him paired up with Marvel's resident muck-monster. For some reason I like the idea of them fighting side by side over some kind of battle between the two.

Catwoman and The Black Widow

I'm looking forward to Black Widow's role in next summers' Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  Even though this will be Scarlett Johansson's third film outing as the super spy, I have a feeling it will be the first time the character will really have a chance to shine.  I liked her in Iron Man 2, but she didn't have much screen time.  She was utilized much better in The Avengers, but was still overshadowed by so many heavy hitters.  The next Captain America film promises to follow the excellent Ed Brubaker comics, with a more down to Earth feel than The Avengers had.  I liked how the Black Widow was handled in those stories, so I am optimistic about the film adaptation.

Green Lantern (Alan Scott) and Spider-Man

DC received some publicity a few months back with the newly rebooted Alan Scott Green Lantern in the pages of Earth 2 by making this version a gay man.  I am all for diversity in comics, but this struck me as an odd move.  In order to make it work, Alan Scott had to be de-aged and as a result his two children have been written out of continuity - his daughter Jade, and his son Obsidian... who just happened to already be a quite popular gay character!  So diversity wasn't really served here because they just swapped one a gay hero for another... and also lost a perfectly good female hero in the transition as well.  It was a strange decision in my eyes, all for the sake of a few headlines on a slow news day.  Hopefully Jade and Obsidian will find their way back to the DCU one of these days.

Man-Bat Vs. Morbius

I wouldn't be surprised to see Morbius appear in the sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man.  The first film seemed to be trying to capture some of the Twilight crowd, so why not go all the way and include Spidey's vampire rogue?  Still, I would prefer to see Man-Bat in a future Batman flick.  Using Batman's more outlandish and powerful foes would set the movie apart from both previous franchises and Man-Bat has the coolest visual of the bunch.  He might not be able to hold a whole film, but teaming him with Hugo Strange and Killer Croc for a "Monster Men" type plot (where Batman convinces Langstrom to switch sides at the end) could be very cool.

Batman and The Black Cat

At first glance, The Black Cat comes off as a Catwoman clone, but Marvel has done a good job of giving her enough of her own spin to keep the character unique.  I like that she is infatuated with Spider-Man and has little use or interest in his alter-ego, Peter Parker.  It's a nice twist on the traditional comic book relationship where the hero is usually trying to maintain a romance without letting his superheroic side intrude.  I prefer the stories where Felicia is written a bit off-balance -  not really a villain, but unhinged just enough that she makes Spidey's life a nightmare as she seeks to satisfy her adrenaline junkie driven desires.  The more complicated Spider-Man's life becomes, the more compelling his adventures are, and The Black Cat is one of the more entertaining love interests that has been introduced in the Spider-Man mythos..

Batman and Iron Fist

For a character that was created to cash in on the Kung-Fu craze of the 1970's, Iron Fist certainly has had a lot of staying power.  It's been interesting to watch his various incarnations through his partnership with Luke Cage and his solo series, especially the way his back story was fleshed out by Matt Fraction in The Immortal Iron Fist.  I've read that Iron Fist is among the second-tier Marvel characters being considered for a feature film.  His origin is filled with action, redemption and exotic locales so I think it could make for a fun movie.  Heck, since Marvel is so into franchise building these days, they should release a Like Cage fill the same year and then follow it up the next summer with a big-scree Power Man and Iron Fist flick!