Howard The Duck (1986)

Howard the Duck paved the way on how late 20th century Hollywood gaged comic book adapted movies. Its not the first adapted film to hit the big screen, but from a creative stance it makes all the difference in the world.

 During the early 1990's when Marvel Comics was in financial turmoil, they were willing to sell all there  film distribution rights of all there characters to Sony Pictures for 25 Million dollars. At that time Sony believed the only character worth any film value to be shown theatrically was Spiderman and purchased the film rights for only 10 Million Dollars.  In hindsight that deal was horrible for both sides, overtime to inject a cash flow, Marvel granted distribution rights to varied characters to different companies, like Fox owning the X-men and The Fantastic-4, Paramount owning the Hulk,  Sony Pictures having Spiderman and all the Spider-verse characters. For it's deal Sony Pictures made back 10 times the purchase cost of the first Spiderman movie, which still saw a massive profit after the film's budget of $7 million dollars , and the cost for marketing and payment to the National Assoc. of Theatre Owners (NATO), Sony made $114 Million on its opening day weekend which at that time was the highest box office gross for any film in history. and gave an instant profit of $50+ million after expenses were paid out. Spiderman (2002) made just over $403 Million Domestically and more than double that worldwide. So of course the sequel would be in the works and possible a trilogy, if lightning in the bottle would catch twice the company would jump on that without a second thought.

Go back 16 years before the release of Spiderman, which was 3 years after the release of Return of the Jedi. George Lucas and his company Lucas films purchased the film rights to Howard the Duck, a Marvel Comic intellectual property and made it into a feature length theatrical motion picture .  And Marvel's first film ever to hit the big screen.  In short, the film was a commercial failure for a film with a budget of $30 Million ($76 million today with inflation) only made back $38 Million Worldwide, meaning after all expenses, the film never made a profit, it was in the red, George Lucas was was still the process of building Skywalker ranch and had to sell off parts of his company to payback the banks. The most notable sale was a small animation company he sold to Steve Jobs the CEO of Apple. that company would go on to becoming the multiple award winning animation company Pixar films. 

For nearly 30 years Howard the Duck was remembered as disaster of a movie Critics and audiences did not connect with this film , on a revisit - Rotten tomatoes scored this film 15%.  This in turn made investor uneasy to invest large sums of money into a comic book genre film,  A decade later Blade received mixed critical reviews but connected with the audience and in the 2000's  investors saw value in telling these character stories with the debut of X-men,  Batman, Spiderman these films had a more modest/ limited budget in the beginning and saw great commercial success, Daredevil, Elektra, Ghost Rider, Sin City saw a split of public and critical opinion but proved this was a fertile ground to harvest.

Howard the Duck ridiculed notoriety did not taint it's cast.  Tim Robbins, is all but forgotten that this was his breakthrough role, Jeffrey Jones later that year was distinctly remembered for his role playing principal Ed Rooney in Ferris Buller and would go onto be a character actor in about 70 film.  The leading star Lea Thompson, was a household name with the release of Back to the Future, and continues with developing a list of films under her belt,  as both an Actor and Television Director, but never reached that  commanding leading lady role in Hollywood.  As for the actor Ed Gale the man in the Howard the Duck suit, he continued to work as a stunt man for another decade, and would appear in over over 100 Television shows and commercials. 

Howard the Duck would make his return to the big screen 28 years later in a small cameo appearance in the post credit scene of Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) movie. The character and his movie has slowly built a cult following and Disney's Marvel Studios of  today has future plans for this character who in his 1986 theatrical release gave us the first notion of a multi-verse.  

What If (2021) series

The Incredibles (2004)

 

The Incredibles' are Pixar's sixth animated feature length movie and the 3rd film to garner the company an Oscar win. In total the animated studio has collected 10 academy awards for feature length movies, Finding Nemo was their first. This film received 4 nominations and took home 2, best animated feature film, and best sound editing.   Pixar was originally owned by Lucas Films but sold off to Steve Jobs (Apple CEO) to cover the massive loss Lucas films endured with Howard the Duck (1986), while investing heavily and amassing debt to create his Skywalker ranch. Ironically enough 20 years later Pixar  would slowly return home in 2006, for a deal believed to be a 7.4 billion dollar purchase.  As Disney purchased the company and shortly thereafter its founder Lucas films in 2012 for an estimated 4 billion dollars.  

The Incredibles was the first superhero themed animated movie to win an Oscar, the genre would not be recognized for a full decade until Big Hero 6, and again  4 years later with Spiderman: into the spider-verse winning the Oscar gold in 2019.  These films captures the imagination with visual effects and and unprecedented imagination  and it  took almost as long to make as to win.  Jason Lee who was the voice the for Buddy/Syndrome spent only 4 days in a sound booth .  While Craig T. Nelson who was the voice of Bob/ Mr. Incredible took nearly 2 years to complete.  It seems that the approach with Pixar  is that the story is more important than the animation, but being an multiple academy award wining and leading animation studio in the entire world, animation is what they are the very best at. 

The film's story is the bedlam of the animation. Usually delving deep, telling an emotional story of the family dynamic with the dilemma of a family coping in suburban life. Running the risk of being uprooted from witness relocation as their past lives calls back hauntingly. Inside Out  and UP  also gave a real life emotional story to connect with its audience, as the Incredibles gave you the everyday husband and wife / nuclear family going through  past regret and family struggles as their kids go through their own coming of age moments.

The Incredibles is many regards is an awakening for each character beyond it being a superhero film, but when it becomes just a superhero film the movie goes full out to tell an amazing story with an orchestrated explosive score to accompany the action.  An example to best illustrate this remark was when the son Dash discovers he can run on water and with unbridled passion. Its race through a wild jungle and a discovery of levels of excitement.

Venom

Venom on a beach with Spiderman's masked skull in hand uttering "Spiderman alas I killed him well".

From Amazing Spiderman 347, re-iterating an infamous misquoted Hamlet line. The issue takes place after the full completed story arc of the first time Spiderman and Venom had ever fought where the only way to get rid of Eddie Brock and the Symbiote from Peter Parker's life was to make them think they had won.  With Spiderman dead leaving the lethal protector contented with life left on a tropical beach away from New York and the rest of the civilized world. That was until the first emergence of Carnage and Spiderman's desperate need of this lethal enemy who would know how to stop him. Using the logic of my enemy's enemy is my friend. 

That issue was released way back in 1991.  Fast forward to 2021 a deleted scene of Venom Let there be carnage has Eddie and Venom happy on a beach, with the defeat of their latest enemy Carnage.  The difference now being the enemy to bring them back into civilization is the emergence of Spiderman.

As much as the MCU, and their Marvel adapted properties forge ahead with great success; Their designed remains cyclical, Marvel comics has a treasure trove of stories and crossovers spanning well over 50 years that can provide a blueprint to keep historic readers happy and engage the newest fan onto the big screen. The post credit scene of this recent  Venom  movie offers an example of that cross-section.  While setting up what will be Spiderman's No way home, a continuing expanding endeavor of Marvel Studios, in partnership with Sony pictures.  The recent No Way Home trailer can also show how the chaos can possible lead into the multiverse of madness.

Venom,  the Sony pictures' theatrical release, had its debut on the big screen in the fall of 2018, offering  the world the emergence of  Eddie Brock a failed reported and an Alien Symbiote known as Venom, in a world without Spiderman.  Venom Let there Be Carnage offers us the same world without a Spiderman, as Venom's greatest adversary Carnage emerges, An offspring who's host was as deadly and unpredictable as it's alien counterpart. Like any good story, the villain, be it Eddie Brock or Cletus Kasady (aka Carnage), the villain rarely sees themselves as a villain, they are in fact the hero of their own story.  Cletus was denied the love of his life, a Romeo and Juliet story with both characters  sentenced to death to be forever apart.  

Let there be Carnage keeps some of it's comic book origin. Cletus was in prison and bonded with Venom's offspring.  The screenwriters just shuffled the how and why Brock/Venom would be in prison next to Cletus in order for this to happen. Characters like Anne Weying, Riot, Shriek, Carlton Drake, She-Venom were all characters that existed in the comic book lore.  As Sony picture's sandbox of legally owned  characters are tied only to the spider-verse.  In truth they possess only a finite set of characters in which to tell these stories without Spiderman. , As Sony's number one Marvel export  is given a opportunity to be shared within the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe. while quietly offering  a world where his friendly neighborhood league of characters like Morbius and Vulture can exist, but told in pocket corners of the world.

A question remains. What is Venom now with the emergence of Spiderman? We were given an anti-hero without a Spiderman,  As we have no origin or connection to the webslinger, what does the future hold? Can Venom play nice and work with Spiderman,  as Eddie continues to try to control the ethical dilemma of eating brains of alleged bad guys.

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

With a tie in to the Endgame finale, Ant-man and the Wasp saw over a 100 million dollar increase in their world wide box office revenue,  when comparing to it's original film. Director Peyton Reed who helmed both films, maintained that the formula of each film's success is good storytelling and compelling characters, the special effects and smash 'em up troupes come a distant third.

In story, there was a 2 year span between the conclusion of the original Ant-man film  and when Ant-man and the Wasp begins.  During that time Scott Lang joined Captain America in Civil War, was re-incarcerated, did a year in house arrest; meanwhile the government learned of Hank Pym's technology and activites of the Ant-man suit. That admission of knowledge has now brought fourth  criminal charges for both he and his daughter, As they find themselves on the run for unlawful acts in the midst of the superhero registration act, and Sokovia Accords. 

For the most part, the Ant-man stories is not widely regarded as top tier MCU viewing, but in Marvel Studio's defense  the first film out-performed with world wide box office records when compared to either the first Captain America movie or first Thor Movie.  The film also puts in the forefront the family dynamic, something no other film of the first 3 phases has made a point to do.  Ant-man and the Wasp displays elaborate set pieces, 2 great chase sequences and an extremely imaginative special effects to view the everyday world, but the sum of it parts is the family dynamic, with having the audience invested by showing us a relationship between fathers and daughters. Its what connects the audience on a personal level, while injecting humor into their story. 

Hope's mother Janet was never seen in the first film, but was prominent in it's storytelling, acting  more of a specter, that drives Hank Pym and his daughter apart.  Unable to reveal her superhero deeds that cost Janet her life in the 80's. Hank inadvertently pushes his daughter away while burying himself in his work to rescue Janet from the quantum realm.  Fast forward 20+ years, the relationship between Hope and Hank becomes increasingly fractured, until Scott manages to come back from the Quantum realm and sparks a renewed optimism of Janet's survival and rescue. With a fresh pair of eyes to see what Hank might have missed; Hope, Hank and their legion of controlled ants work endlessly to rescue Janet, and in doing so renew the bonds of father and daughter.

Scott and Cassie approaches' the father and daughter connection from a different angle. they have a strong loving bond to start with. It was Scott's incarceration in the first film, that made him work at Baskin Robins and try anything and everything to be there for his daughter. Desperately wanting to make up for loss time while in prison Scott's life is devoted to being there for Cassie.  In the opening of this movie we have Scott maintaining house arrest for the past year,  while in captivity he has created an elaborate
Michel Gondry playground for him and his daughter to connect in.  His involvement with Hank and Hope in the first film stemmed from his need to be with his daughter Cassie. Here we open up wanting to put that chapter in his life behind and as he is just a  week away from getting out of house arrest.

There is a point in the story that Hank turns to fellow scientist Dr. Bill Foster played by Laurence Fishburne for aid; Conversely Fishbourne's character has a sense of moral obligation as he secretly  fosters a young woman named Ava. Determine to cure her condition  Bill's commitment to surrogacy, showcases the idea of parental sacrifices, as is this case of adoptive father to a daughter.  Similar in set up to MCU villain   Killmonger there is  pathos and legitimacy behind  their motivations, however their methods are what is misguided.  From flag-smashers terrorists in Falcon & Winter Soldier  to  Thanos wanting save the universe from a over-population ,depleted resources, and inevitable extinction.  The implications are good, but methods are radically unacceptable. Humanizing the character, understanding their position, and watching the acts through their eyes is something DC has not yet mastered.

Black Widow (2021)

 

In the comics, when Black Widow made her first appearance two Bond films had already been out in theatres - Dr. No and From Russia with Love. The release of Goldfinger was set to hit on September 1964, just a few months after Widow's comic book debut . Tales of Suspense issue #52 (April 1964), and it is obvious that many characteristics were shared with Ian Fleming's Tatiana Romanaova, the Soviet Army corporal officer instructed to send Bond to his doom.

In the beginning the Romanoff character was an alluring agent, shifting evening wear and alliances with the avengers, it was the better part of this century that she has been evolved into a symbol for feministic ideals, thanks in large part to the portrayal of the MCU's writing and character development,  and largely by her inhabiting star Scarlett Johansson.

Secure in weaponizing her femininity, fighting skill, counter interrogation of psychological profiling & manipulation, Black Widow is a formidable assassin, removed of compromise thanks to the Red Room. An institution who creates élite Assassins or Black Widows and graduates them with sterilization to remove the maternal instinct, for a  pure unrelenting  killer instinct. Her character defected to become a shield agent then promoted to becoming an Avenger thanks to Nick Fury's hiring, but positioned secondary to its Trinity of leading heroes, Her Budapest counter assassin Hawkeye were regulated as supporting characters for the majority of phase 1 & 2 within the MCU.  These assassins were given more fleshed out backstory in The Age of Ultron, with Clint Barton being a family man, and Natasha a lonely, but beautiful monster on par with Banner's disposition of without having ties or relationships.

This film maps out when she was taken to the Red Room, the same time Carol Danvers became Captain Marvel and met Nick Fury in 1995. Natasha was a sleeper agent in Ohio, USA, discovered by S.H.I.E.L.D. and fled back to Russia, to be enrolled into the Red Room/Black Widow program at the age of  9. The film quietly supports the concept of a time variant. Captain America went back  in time to return all infinity stones, before anyone realizes they were gone.  In those time jumps he himself was respectively frozen under water, Red Guardian in the movie claims to have fought Captain America in the 1980's which would make Alexi amongst his fellow prison inmates a liar, but of his conviction in his story holds some truth as Steve never returned to his present and decided to live throughout time hidden with Peggy Carter.  Quietly being once again a man out of time, but by choice, not to disrupt the timeline.

The Black Widow movie fits between a period of time, after the events of Civil War, but before Infinity War, and concludes with the moments leading to the team breaking out from the raft.  Like Tatiana Romanaova, she finds herself attracted to her British spy and lethally was willing to save his life at the cost of ending hers. Although Taitana died at the hands of her Boss, Natasha is wanted fugitive, but sacrifices herself in Infintiy War so that Clint Barton and his family could live.

Runaways SEASON Three

 The Hulu original programming series comes to an end at Season 3, with the introduction of a new villain Morgan le Fay, and finding closure from story arcs that expanded the entire length of the series. The show says goodbye to a talented cast who has made these wayward teens so enduring to us a viewing audience.

Morgan le Fay is a character that Marvel has acquired the rights since the late seventies/early eighties, A magical nemesis of Arthurian legend.  In the comics, Morgan has battled the Avengers and Spiderwoman on both the astral plane and on a grounded reality.  Here she is played by an enchanting Elizabeth Hurley, a model turned actress who for over the past three decades have racked up an impressive acting resume, from Austin Powers to the Raquel Welch remake Bedazzled, in which she played the devil incarnate. To encapsulating the British monarchy and high society in both The Royals and Gossip Girl. It's to Elizabeth Hurley's credit that gives this version of Morgan  le Fay the right balance of being both an enigma and a presence of dark corruptible magic.

The alien race taking human host to live among us comes to surprising end, this season poses the question of  how beings of light who are superior to humans handle a new force comprised of a dark dimension, Light and absolute Darkness cannot co-exist, The show talks about a prophecy, and introduces the teens to a shape-shifting alien. In the mix, there are characters like Nico and Gertz who are dealing with internal struggles of darkness, from mental health and darkness as a pure literally sense from within

The show, manages to use the above mentioned elements and cannibalize its own story arcs into one final battle arc that sees many characters giving subtle closure, by which end,  should the series decide to go into a spin off.  There would be a landscape of characters and ideas that could be revisited and mined if the show were to carry on.  However, after battling the big bad, and unleashing a hidden darkness  from within the group.  The final episode takes place in the year 2022, sharing a fate similar to that of Marvel's Endgame or more closely to Back to the future. The teens revisit themselves at the beginning of the series, and gives us one last exciting adventure a la
days of future's past while give our heroes an anecdotal swan song, that leaves room for possible outcomes and very expected turns.  

Thor: Ragnorak (2017)

 In a interview, Hemsworth indicated that his professional acting job has taken a toll on his personal life, his daughter walked away from him at a parent and child function at school, while he was only there for her in a capacity of a cameo appearance due to commitments to go back to Hollywood for a few more months to be Thor after being gone for nearly half that year already.  

Thor Ragnarok was shot almost entirely in Australia giving the Aussie the opportunity to spend his nights at home with his family and make up for time lost, and repair the strenuous relationship he had put on his family.  Director Taika Waititi also a fellow Aussie pitched a compelling story for this third installment to the producers at Marvel, and with his gift for writing and understanding the balance of comedy he played to Hemsworth comedic strength as seen on the remakes of Ghostbusters and National Lampoons vacation. 

 About month into production Taika and Hemsworth shot series of short films or more commonly known as one-shots; being self aware of the questions being generated amongst fans of why Thor wasn't in Civil War,  Thor 3 had gone into production as Civil War was released in theatres, the shorts were titled Team Thor, near the conclusion of production Taika shot the post credit scene for Doctor Strange , with Stephen Strange and Thor seated having a discussion, it is also of note this was the only time in MCU history that Strange has worn his comic book trade mark yellow gloves.  The Director of Doctor Strange Scott Derrickson thought the scene was perfect as it shows the progression of the character leaping from origins into the more wilder world of the MCU.

Critics and fans praise the film for being a refreshing boost to the character and arguably the crown jewel to the then trilogy of films. Thor Ragnarok did not however crack into the billion dollar mark at the box office, it was just shy of under 200 million dollars.    

To put into some perspective it took just over 10 days of release for the movie's worldwide box office total to surpass Justice League's complete box office total. Considering the movie was released one month before the Justice League debut.

Jessica Jones SEASON Three

 

Its a thrilling and bitter sweet conclusion to a well written and directed series, that saw it's star Krysten Ritter direct her very first episode and technically it was one of the more creative, having a nice training montage that incorporating the most cameras used for a scene than any other show of Marvel Netflix series ,and having a technique in storytelling stemming from Kurosawa's  "Rashomon" where its a  retelling of the same story from a completely different point of view, before getting introduced into the main villain of the season.

With hints of Fincher's Seven; Jessica Jones has met her Moriarty in Gregory Salinger a Dexter Morgan type serial killer, who has mastered every conceivable angle for a crime and manipulation to attack back without getting legally caught. Known to the comic book world as Fool Killer, Jessica also finds herself getting into a real relationship with Eric, a Daredevil villain in the comic books known as Mindwave.  Eric in this season has a superpower of sensing evil in others and uses that to swindle money from others.  The season, brings back Trish and Jessica  from an unforgiveable act from season two, only to be tested again on an almost reciprocal way.  The darkness and misdeeds of Malcolm, Jeri and Trish will be atoned for in their own special way as the series progresses, and Trish's mother Dorothy Walker has the most surprising reveal of all, not just borrowing from a chilling cliffhanger episode  from Dexter; but a revealing hidden truth of her daughter is brought into light that makes you question how much sympathy and blame can be given to this overbearing Hollywood mother.

Showrunner Melissa Rosenberg was planning to exit the series after the third season before getting the news of the series cancellation. Rosenberg has always wrote the first and final episode of every season of Jessica Jones seasons;  and now learning of the show's demise Rosenberg had enough time to craft the final episode to give the show its tonal send off  in the right way and end it just as it began.  Similarly to that of Dexter's season 1 finale vs its series finale, Dexter was given a choice to save his sister or choose a life with his brother. In the finale Dexter chooses the path not initially taken.  With Jessica Jones, she was given the choice of fight of flight, and a ticket to go, but does Jessica choose the path not initially taken?

Infinite (2021)

 

Presented on Paramount +, the streaming service first legitimate motion picture exclusively on their platform. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sophie Cookson, and Jason Mantzoukas.  The film has gotten polarizing reviews from critics.  The showing of emotional turmoil on Mark Wahlberg's face was not achieved in this movie of when high stakes or story dictates a situation of crisis.  The counter argument is that maybe he is on his medication and it has taken the edge off his anxiety.  

Few films have their star narrate at the start of the movie, it helps sets up this world, the players, the motivations, and the overall tone of this movie.  We begin the movie in 1985, and move forward to present year 2020 or 2021.   The McGuffin is a device to destroy the world, and its a race to recover  it first, Wahlberg's last appearance was in 1985, and both sides need him alive to recover the missing device.

The movie is based on a novel the 'The Reincarnationist Papers', from author D. Eric Maikranz.  This was his first novel he wrote and self published in 2009.  The author's story is remarkable that he publicized to anyone out there including his readers that as you'll find on the front page of his book he was offering 10% of any advance if his novel can be introduced to a Hollywood producer who would adapt his book into a movie.  As bizarre as it might seem a Junior executive in Hollywood found his book while travelling in a hostel in Nepal  and pushed it forward to the right people to get it made, and according to reports on December 2019 the Junior Executive received his 10% cut.    

Director Fuqua & Wahlberg

Directed by Antoine Fuqua,  who directed Training Day, Southpaw, King Arthur, and the Magnificent Seven. The Screenplay was adapted by Ian Shorr who has written lesser known episodes for television smaller independent films, and shorts.  The reception of Infinite has not been good and success of Ian Shorr's climb into bigger Hollywood productions maybe on shakey ground because of it.                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Old Guard (2020)

Based on the comic book mini series of the same name from Image comics, the collected issues can now be acquired to read as a graphic novels. Its the story of immortals, from whichever century they were born from; they were soldiers who found purpose in their existence by serving a greater good in humanity from the gift of their immortality.  The reciprocal is that the world is filled of hypocrisy and the evils of men and women, The film kind of narrates that over time that this cynical threat is why they remain hidden from the world, and help from the shadows.

The film visualizes they have no super powers or strength, only they just can't die. So its an examination of historic conditions to contain and manage them as they are seen as a threat that can't be understand or controlled.  The film is very grounded in real world applications so the special effects is centered on human repair from incident rather than big gun explosions or elaborate car chases.  The psychological and emotional scars of memory when you out live family and friends. The horrors of confinement and experimentation are touched upon in this film and the era in which extreme measures are practiced are viewed.

That being said, the comic book story was written by Greg Rucka who adapted the screenplay.  Something rarely done in films; Rucka who was in close contact with the director Gina Prince-Bythewood explained changes in script to suit a better interpretation on the screen, as this was the first comic adapted movie she was involved in and had read the original source material.  The comic book artist  was Leandro Fernandez and his work also served as a contributing storyboard when preparing the visual elements of the motion picture.  A fun fact - the budget of this movie was $70 Million dollars, Netflix revealed in its first week of release Old Guard was viewed in 70 Million homes.

Runaway SEASON Two

 

Besides a slower paced opening episode that had a fun opening chase / running sequence, the second season has a much more elaborate story, being both fast paced in character development and advancing the many sub-plots while flushing out a more realized world  that was only established on the first season. 

On the run, avoiding surveillance cameras and digital fingerprints, the group wisely stays off the grid and finds food and shelter at a pride food bank and charity center for the homeless.  The audience is set up to the situation of where we are with every character from last season and where the show will play on from there.  As Nico opens the show opener saying "we really suck at being runaways". 

 The second season is  now 13 episodes as opposed to the initial 10.  This season is broken in half. With the  first seven episodes concluding the story set up from season one. It ends the Jonah storyline and threats posed by Jonah, and the cabal known as pride by reaching and epic conclusion.  The final six episodes keeps the gang as runaways, and slowly deciphers the final words spoken by Jonah right up to the thrilling final moments. The show continues to tackle the concept of mental illness, teenage relationships, and family(s) trying to make amends the only way they know how, but Evil deeds are inherent and family reunions are nigh.   Team leadership weighs heavy on Nico as she battles a darkness from within; juxtaposed to Karolina mastering her light. Chase and Gertrude  deepen their relationship, but Gertrude being off her anxiety medication really displays the complexities of mental illness and stigmas associated with it.  Alex' obsession to bring his family to justice keeps him away from the group, his solo choices could jeopardize the team.  Molly is embracing her heroic powers, but being the youngest member she feels the most alone as she continues to lose people she has comes close too.  This Season establishes the Runaways' Lair, it clearly defines the positions and roles each parent has in pride, and why they and Jonah decided to keep their pack.

Avengers Confidential - Black Widow & Punisher (2014)

Avengers Confidential marks as Marvel's second feature length animated movie to be crafted in a Manga art form, But the first time the character Black Widow headlines a movie title. As for the Punisher, its a first time he is being put in a position worthy of being punished himself, which allows for some interesting character development to be explored. 

Famed Japanese animation studio 'Madhouse',  who brought us classics like Ninja Scroll, One-Punch Man, and the first Beyblade anime series, curated Avengers Confidential- Punisher & Black Widow.  Directed by Kenchi Shimizu (Parasyte: The Maxim). The film follows vigilante Punisher dispatching his brand of justice, however his latest action disrupts a S.H.I.E,L.D. operation, getting him apprehended by Black Widow.  The film rides the line of will they or won't they fight each other until the true threat reveals itself.  Madhouse had released a Marvel animated movie a year prior with Iron Man: Rise of Technovore.  Similar in style to animated movie ghost in the shell, with a  cellular vibrancy of  the classic Akira movie. Confidentials' violent action ramps up with bloodshed only in the third act.

We fast forward to the summer of 2021, several years later Black Widow now headlines a motion picture, a first for the character since making her first appearance back in 2010's  Iron Man 2. Both the  live action and animation similarly treads the fact that Natasha Rominoff  revisits her past, and that of loved ones. Punisher who has been played by 4 leading men over 3 live action theatrical movies and streamed for two season on Netflix.  Have  both been considered ancillary characters in the landscape of marvel comics, they are given their chance to prove they can tell and lead with their own interesting stories.

Avengers Confidential is more about character than action, Punisher's motivation is about putting criminals down permanently so they never have a chance to harm an innocent. This film deposits what if Punisher uncontrollably kills innocents;  A complete violation of his prime directive, or a personal code of ethics. He monstrously kills, and awakens with the blood fresh on his hands. How can Frank Castle punish the Punisher; is one of the main threads linked to this espionage movie.

On paper the movie seems like an interesting read, it's concept art, and color palette is very different from other Marvel animated movies or series,  The ending feels rushed and packed to give the finale a surprise and elevated finish  The journey to unravel who has the stolen technology and what does that mean looses interest  by the fourth city the duo visits by its slow pacing. Its an adult rated story, and its' Manga form of animation offers a hyper self awareness with all the dangers. The final fight though carefully choreographed and plotted , is just noise, easily forgettable and predictable. 

Punisher War Zone (2008)

 

A film - self aware that it is a comic book with larger than life personalities, and action set pieces  that could only be derived from a comic book panel. 

War Zone is a product of the Joe Quesada Marvel Knights comic book line. A comic book run that in the 1990's had a very strong run in its infancy, but fizzled out either by an over saturation of content with 2 other Punisher titles being released monthly, or by the sudden decline in overall comic book sales. These poor sales declared Marvel to file for bankruptcy and sell off its movie rights to film distributors like Sony to make the company solvent again.    This put the future in the hands of  Marvel's movie producer Avi Arad ; Arad wanted a Marvel movie to really incorporate the history of its characters and tell a story faithful to its comic book adaption;  usually at a cost within a tightly budgeted restraint, which was the case in the Thomas Jane Punisher movie,  the Ben Affleck's Dare-Devil movie, and Jennifer Garner's Elektra Movie; all directors' commentary eluded to strong budgetary constraints placed on them. Lexi Alexander, who had constrictions, but came from a low budgeted Screen Gem  of Green Street Hooligans, took on the job in the hopes to lead to bigger budget projects down the road.

This movie to date is the third and final motion picture adaptation of a live action Punisher film to be released theatrically. Featuring Ray Stevenson in the starring role. This film shared an over the top punch that shattered a man's face into their brains, a heat seeking rocket launcher taking out a parkour villain in mid jump,  a mob boss so obsessed with his looks to only become a facially destroyed main antagonist, and a mentally unbalanced brother who calmly embraces his Hannible Lector side from time to time.  The action set pieces are all taken directly from the various panels from the wealth of Punisher comic pages. And endorsed whole heartedly by the production company of Lionsgate who was supportive of a R rated hero film; As marketing pushed the film  to a Christmas release without cutting the trailer in a way to show how much of a hard R rating this film was.  The result - it opened on December 5th 2008, in 6th place and was pulled from theatres on December 24th in 25th place, making only $1.6 Million opening day weekend and tabulating just over $10.1 Million world wide theatrically.  It was a commercial disaster with a budget of $35 Million and nearly half of that 10.1 million was to return payment for the marketing and its film exhibitors which is automatic off the top, not to mention payment for the interest in loans to the bank for financing the film. In the end the hope for DVD/Blue Ray sales  to help clear the books was expected. That in the end was $14 million dollars, putting the movie at deficit of a near 1 million dollars that it never was able to clear.  The result was Director Lexi Alexander filmography never bouncing back after the release of Punisher War Zone and some executives  not keeping their day jobs after the Christmas of 2008.

Lego: Black Panther

Similar to the Marvel Knights Black Panther's premise - Ulysses Klau (Klaw); The Black Panther's most personal enemy attacks King T'Challa and Wakanda at once from multiple sides and with multiple powerful allies to help in his conquest over the nation of Wakanda.

With the show title "Trouble in Wakanda"; The Lego episode is a surprising 22 minute short, but is packed with exposition and action, with a few site gags along the way. Lego manages to capture the relationship between T'Challa and his sister Shiri, and how the siblings co-exist in running Wakanda as well as handling a crisis; This episode has Klaw teaming up with Killmonger and Thanos; as Thanos begins his take over for Earth. Using the value of Vibranium as a bargaining chip to persuade his allies of Eric Killmonger to join his fight and restore a weaken Thanos to full strength. The short preface the notion of  Black Panther fighting all his foes alone with only his High Guard Okoye by his side.

With established veteran voice actors  and starring television and film actress Yvette Nicole Brown to provide the voice for Shuri . Trouble in Wakanda features the original voice cast from the previous Lego Avengers episodes as an all out assault culminates in the Vibranium mines of Wakanda.  Using the story's personal motivations  and speaking mannerisms from Ryan Cooglier's Black Panther, we have  a plausible elseworlds story of the re-telling of the Black Panther; sometime after civil war and just around infinity war, as Thor's Axe is introduced.  With a detailed and enriched palette for 3D rendered motion lego animation that's both fluid and seamless.  Its a pardon the pun, a marvel to see how block like characters can come alive on the small screen.  There are however some small logical gaps as to "why" is Thanos attacking Earth alone on a hoverboard craft.  Why would would Thanos honour is deal with earthlings when he commands absolute conquest in his endeavour of a planet. While usually having his children of Thanos to take over the judicial task of running a conquered world as he moves on to the next.  There is also the sharing of the Vibranium mine between Killmonger and Klau, they have opposing economic interests over the long term resources of Wakanda. Those view points would ultimately strain as they strip the mines of its resources and fight for their entitlement.

The theme of teamwork is explored as each avenger fails on their own to subdue Thanos, and King T'Challa is out numbered at every turn to control the invasion into Wakanda and simultaneously save his sister Shuri .   The invasion onto Wakanda is similar to Ultimates 2:  Avengers movie; that animated film has a War of the Worlds super structure, but gave the technology of Wakanda an unsophisticated limited scope; this Lego animation gave an idea of rigged traps to a mine - a-la high tech Indiana Jones, but never explored the technological potential look of a city.  Okay, I may be asking for a high concept, but its repeatedly known to be advanced beyond all other nations on the planet. Though Lego animation has the most appeasing aesthetic, it does fall very short on showcasing a Na'vi type of world like the detailed Pandora that would now be retrofitted with afro-centric symbolisms and cultures.

Tony Stark and the Avengers offer light touches of humour in dialogue, but the episode plays the invasion as dramatic high stakes, and in doing so, puts fourth all the acrobatic skills and powers of the Black Panther in the forefront.  The show is about Black Panther and it never veers off its focus, we get his decision making process and his leadership skills, as the King. Each of T'Challa decisions puts out a small fire, but more fires pick up all over as he puts out one two more pop up else where, and it is in that shared feeling of drowning from his choices and being overwhelmed. That the urgency becomes what propels us the viewer to sympathize with his never-ending obstacles.

Black Panther (2018)

Directed by Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station),  finds himself working along with Michael B. Jordan for the third time. His immediate last two projects before landing the job of directing the 18th MCU movie  was tied with Michael B Jordan.   Creed (2015) and Fruitvale Station (2013). In his own words Black Panther is to him a postcard tribute to Oakland.

Coogler was born in Oakland, the film begins in Oakland with a confrontation between the King T'Chakka and his brother.  Coogler was able to shoot in his home town, and like many cities and townships in which an adult has grown up from, we are faced with modernizing and the changing of landscape  that slowly removes our once beloved history.  From childhood Coogler had fond memories of where he came from,   memories of a grand place, was the brainchild of what he wanted to revisit. Wakanda is the visual ideal of a perfect place of a happier time something that was lost in the passing years.   Coogler pitched the idea to Kevin Feige and executives from Marvel Studios; and he was hired. With a clear vision mixed with deep enriched research into varied African cultures, Coogler  and his heads of his departments came up with never before seen world of Wakanda.  The result was that his endeavors did not go unnoticed, as Black Panther went home with 3 Academy awards.  Best Costumes, Best Production Design, and Best Score.

Michael B Jordan & Ryan Coogler

Giving the highest compliment from his piers that the look and feel of the movie was outstanding.  It was also the first Marvel movie nominated for the prestigious  position of being selected for best picture.  Many of the previous marvel films like iron man (s) and guardians films got an oscar nod for visual effects and even less being recognized for sound. Black Panther broke the mold, and became the 5th film of 8 to enter the Billion Dollar box office club.

In the history of motion pictures there are only 48 movies to reach a Billion Dollars at the Box Office. Disney has the remarkable accomplishment to garnering  25 of those 48 titles. 17 are non Marvel, while the remaining 8 are Marvel intellectual properties. Disney also has the unprecedented claim to have 5 films in one year to reach Billion dollars; largely due to most of those properties being Marvel. 

Working in the industry for many years  from the critically beloved series  'The Wire' to Black Panther, Michael B. Jordan began to work behind the scenes forming a production company  'Outlier Society' to work on potential scripts. That same release year of Black Panther, He produced and did a cameo appearance in the film Kin, a science fiction movie taking place in our present from a continuing war in the future. Jordan has been paying it forward, giving an opportunity to commercial directors Josh & Jonathan Baker.  Expanding on a short film they directed called Bag Man and mining its possibilities as a feature film.

Ryan Coogler looked at bringing opportunities of jobs, helping the local economy and boldly stating in story that they are in the city of Oakland, the film concludes by a revisit to Oakland from a now wiser King T'Challa as he gives back to the people and shares Wakanda's knowledge and technology to make urban troubled areas of Oakland to achieve prosperity.

Marvel Knight's Black Panther

 

A six episode animated mini-series, showcasing the rise of Prince T'Challa to the throne,  A gallery of villains spearheaded by Klaw, Black Panther's well noted villain from comic book history, and the geo-political interests that the nation of Wakanda presents to a contemporary world.

In many respects there are similarities to the Ryan Cooglier movie, but this mini-series approaches its main character as a decisive protagonist right out of the gate.  To begin with the animation predates the MCU movie by eight years, released on DVD in January 2010.  This Black Panther is assertive and definitive in his decisions; in the MCU movie the entire supporting cast drives the movie forward as its star the late Chadwick Boseman sits back and lets each of his co-stars shine by bouncing of his performance. Marvel Knight's Black Panther offers an equally impressive cast of actors providing their voices Kerry Washington, Djimon Hounsou, Stan Lee, Jill Scott, Alfre Woodard, and Carl Lumbly to name a few.  Prince T'Challa in disguise, is similarly to Wonder Woman's Diana Prince disguise to win a tournament and enter a mission into the world of Man, T'Challa enters a tournament to become the new king of Wakanda. Whereupon immediately assuming command his decisions are steadfast and revolves around the safety of his people.

In the comics, T'Challa and X-men's Ororo  (Storm) have a budding relationship, their history is touched upon here and opens a door to a cast of villain's including X-men nemesis Juggernaut, the Radioactive man, Batroc the Leaper, Black Knight and Klaw.  The coming of these enemies is a well constructed all out assault from many fronts; the feeling is Black Panther and the Wakandans are out matched and outsmarted, which brings high stakes and tensions to a really invested  viewer. It's within these positioned conflicts where we meet the royal family of Shuri, the younger sister, his mother and his uncle as the deadly onslaught escalates. .

A surprise guest reveal is Deathlok, or the origins of the Deathlok program, and how the US government uses their technology and military expertise to try and win over Wakanda.  With a prevailing sense  and clearer understanding of their position to the rest of the world, like the United Nations, Wakanda refrains from joining and sharing their knowledge and resources to the world and has been unconquerable for centuries; as noted throughout recorded history.  The world runs on a capitalist's model, so there are those who do benefit but many are misfortunate as they suffer, either by poverty, famine, sickness, war, or the experience of an injustice  prejudice. Wakanda is not a democracy, but remains in a dictatorship, however they have an annual tribal election to see who will be the successor as its new king, and for decades the title has remain in T'Challa's family lineage. The secrets and knowledge that the El Dorado known as Wakanda is said to potentially reshaping to the modern world.. The internal dialogue to in fact share does weigh in storied comics, and largely in the establishing MCU movie.

Spiderman HomeComing (2017)

 True to form, a friendly neighborhood Spiderman;  fresh off his travels from Germany to stop team Captain America in Civil war;  Finds our hero brought back home to Queens, New York to stop local and petty crimes.  A conundrum of youth wanting to take part in grown up roles  when sampling the highlights and benefits, Ultimately what is learned is that they sometimes miss out on the offerings and  short lived experiences of  what youth has to offer.  The expression to stop and smell the roses comes to mind in this case.

Thankfully this film decides to look past his origin story and his departed uncle Ben; We are given Year-two of Spiderman as he now meets up with untapped villains from his usual rogue gallery.  Making their first appearance on the big screen are Vulture, a member of the would be sinister six, and Shocker another colorful villain in Spiderman's past.  Here they are everyday blue collar workers picking up the scraps to get by. The time frame provided is 8 years after the battle of New York  (2012), making it 2020 or late 2019; which is technically already in the period of the blip since five years after infinity war the heroes come back to fight again in 2023.  The exact time in relation to the MCU is not entirely accurate; nor should every detail and continuity completely hold up as the intellectual film distribution rights is owned by Sony Pictures not Disney. However, from the audience perspective we should give thanks in  part to the Sony hack scandal, the removal of Andrew Garfield, and the negative publicity of  revealing emails that put Sony Pictures and Amy Pascal a very high ranking and  influential executive producer to be more receptive to co-work with Marvel Studios and Disney on this historical joint venture and have the beloved character work among the sandbox of other major marvel characters.

The introduction in civil war which acted as teaser and promotional appetizer,  enticed viewers to see Tom Holland and his role as Spiderman  to really take off,  Being 19 years of age when he shot the movie; making him to be the first ever real teenager or age accurate performer to play the coveted role.  Tom Holland embraces the perfect balance of youthful innocence. likeability and demeanor that a character of Peter Parker would portray.  Being a trained dancer and gymnast allowed Tom the skill set to pull off the necessary requirements to become Spiderman.  This is a hero of expected awkwardness and most importantly a youth on a journey of being a grown up, his destiny is to overcome the odds,  yet not to be on top to bask in success nor always get the girl, as what Stan Lee had devised.  Future films will see Peter Parker struggle and rise above it all only to stumble a bit, and not always have the perfect balance in his life.  It has been the successful recipe and trade mark of Spiderman that fans have come accustom to expect , wanting to root for this hero as he is destined to be larger than life, but always struggling behind the 8 ball of personal failures as his sacrifices as a  hero has left him wanting.

 The relationship Peter has with his Aunt May, his friendship with Ned Leeds and his potential love interest with MJ. Is a more modernized tale from when Stan Lee wrote the hero back in the August 1962 for Amazing Fantasy.  This Peter Parker is taken similar to that of the Avengers' storyline, which is of the Ultimates comic-book line;  This is a Peter Parker/Spiderman of the 21st century. The high school bully is no longer a football jock, and the girl does not need to be saved, she can mine her own path.  The love interest in this movie is a mcguffin, but it services the point of the plot and ultimately the balanced accord between the Vulture and Spiderman when watching the post credit scene. It;  like moving past an origin retelling is a welcome swerve for the audience, giving us something new, and potentially setting up something exciting for the future.
 

Amazing Spiderman (1977 Pilot)

Spiderman made his first ever live action televised appearance  as shorts  between 1974 -1975 on the children series Electric Company with the moniker  ' Spidey Super Stories'.  The character took a more adult and family friendly position debuting in a primetime slot on CBS.  The Amazing Spiderman began airing in September 1977 and shared superhero billing along with the Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno's Incredible Hulk also on CBS.

Stan Lee who was the publisher for Marvel sold the rights to CBS and was acting producer, but felt the character was portrayed too juvenile on the series and was not as happy with the final product.  Juxtaposition to the backdoor pilot movie for Doctor Strange  which Lee was a strong supporter of. Strange did not get picked up as series and Spiderman gained decent ratings  but slowly declined as air dates was sparse out,  the series aired 2 episodes in its second season as it got cancelled notably by creative differences in direction, and production costs.

The pilot and the series was based in New York as far as story, but was filmed mainly in Los Angeles, this was painfully obvious with the repeat stock footage of the Rosslyn Hotel, where Spiderman would repeatedly swing from; production did not hide the large landmark marquee.  Running in syndication at the time was the morning 60's cartoon which help gain the younger demographic audience, CBS did not get the 18-49 yrs of age demographic as it was hoping. Though the ratings made the series the 19th highest series in all of primetime that season. 

J. Jonah (David White)

The pilot touched on quickly of Spiderman's origins as he slowly comes to grip with his new abilities, and struggles to find a job within the Daily Bugle.  Featuring veteran actor David White as J Jonah Jameson who would only appear in the pilot before being replaced.  The first episode has Spiderman trying to foil a man with a device to control the minds of people, the villain has ransomed the city of New York in exchange to save 10 random upstanding citizens from suddenly taking their own lives. Peter  Parker the alter ego is a university science student who comes across displaying naïve looking mannerisms but is  very self aware and intelligent. Parker coincidently shows up taking photos at crime scenes bringing attention to him as the only common element to a string of mind controlled heists.  For its time; the television production was considered high budget and perceived high quality in effects and stunts, utilizing various camera cranes and helicopter shots as the series would progress with a couple of elaborate aerial shots (not used in the pilot).