Category Everything Else

Jun 25 2019

How Marvel Studios Can Fix The X-Men Films

fox x-men poster

Now that Dark Phoenix is over and done with when it comes to the Fox X-Men films, it is time to turn to Marvel Studios. As the inheritors of the X-Men film franchise, the studio has some work cut out for them. The X-Men films do need some retooling after all, and there are a few fixes that Marvel Studios can implement as they integrate the mutants into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Let the Mutants Rest

Fortunately, Marvel Studios is doing the right thing here, which is hard for some to accept considering the demand for the MCU to feature the X-Men. Marvel Studios head, Kevin Feige, repeatedly stated that there aren’t any plans to introduce the X-Men right away into the MCU and one of the main reasons is that the film studio already has plans for the MCU for the next few years. Trying to force the X-Men into the crowded, but beloved, cinematic universe would be too much.

x-men-dark-phoenix-funeral-scene

Then, after the bad taste that the last two X-Men films left fans with (sans the solo releases of Deadpool 2 and Logan), it is best for now to let the mutants rest. This will enable Feige and others the time to properly retool the franchise and cast its characters. Plus, imagine the built up anticipation for the X-Men. By the time they return, they will have a genuine comeback.

Be Faithful to the Comics and Characters

The X-Men comics from Marvel Comics were at one time among the most popular and revered comic books and for good reason. This was not because of their flashy costumes, and unlike Fox, Marvel Studios should not be afraid to use the comics costumes. Rather, the popularity was due to the wonderfully developed characters and situations. The Fox X-Men films have had a mixed record with the characters. At times they were fairly faithfully represented, other times not so much. Plus, some characters like Wolverine were allowed to hog the highlight and as a result many popular characters like Cyclops or Storm were given scant screen time.

Wolverine-Movie-Alternate-Ending-Costume

It is too easy to allow uber favorites like Wolverine dominate a film, but this is a mistake. The comics were successful because they were about a team with diverse characters. In other words, an ensemble. Ample time and issues were devoted to each of the X-Men members, which is why there are so many popular characters. Perhaps, Marvel Studios should do what Fox did with their prequel films and not feature Wolverine (which happened for the most part) and probably Magneto, as well, at least for the beginning. This leads to another fix.

Explore Other Villains

Magneto has played a prominent role in the Fox X-Men films, usually as an adversary, and for good reason. He is one of the greatest and most developed villains in Marvel Comics. To not use him in a major film is unheard of, but necessary at this point. He needs some rest at the moment, and a well thought-out reimagining. For instance, even though his Holocaust/World War II backstory is very powerful, it makes the Master of Magnetism very old today. Just look at the criticism in Dark Phoenix where Magneto still looked youthful in the film’s 1990s setting compared to his first introduction in the 1960s-set X-Men: First Class.  Another more recent real-world conflict or tragedy will have to be used such as the Yugoslav Wars or the Chechen War.

There are so many other worthy foes that the X-Men can face aside from Magneto. Take for example Mr. Sinister, Nimrod, Onslaught, the Marauders or the Freedom Force. Each of them are powerful, menacing foes with fascinating back stories and motives. Marvel Studios could also lean into its successful cosmic side and introduce the Brood or the Shi’Ar Empire. The latter force could then be used to properly adapt the “Dark Phoenix” storyline.

Go Epic and Personal

 

The X-Men are renowned for their epic story arcs like “Dark Phoenix”, “Days of Future Past”, “Age of Apocalypse” and “House of M”. These stories spanned several comics including other non-mutant titles and weren’t afraid to go big and tragic. The Fox X-Men films often felt like they were holding back when they tried to go epic. One exception was X-Men: Days of Future Past. But they dropped the ball on “Dark Phoenix” twice already and truncated the story. When adapting these stories Marvel Studios should not hesitate in going big. Of course, you can adapt them to fit the film and budget like Captain America: Civil War, but the film studio should not hold back.Age of Apocalypse

On the other side of this equation, the X-Men films in the MCU should not forget to make the films personal. Fox did fine with this aspect for many of their films like the first X-Men, where we saw what it felt like for a young person to experience being a mutant for the first time such as with Rogue. Other films that grounded the mutants included Logan, which explored Wolverine facing old age as he was slowly dying, and X-Men: First Class, which showcased several young adults grappling with their newfound powers. However, many of their other films glossed over personal journeys. A good example is X-Men: The Last Stand, which barely examined the ramifications of a mutant cure. But that was just one of that film’s flaws. Many of the comics had outstanding small, personal stories that explored what it was like to be a mutant in today’s world. This is the core concept of the X-Men comics: how to fit into a world where you are feared and hated. As long the future X-men films stick to this, then they will be beloved.

So, anyone reading this have their own ideas of how to fix the X-Men films? Drop a comment and share your thoughts.

 

 

Mar 22 2019

5 MCU Films To See Before Avengers: Endgame

Settle down folks, that means all of you celebrating or lamenting the X-Men and the Fantastic Four going to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). We still have Avengers: Endgame to deal with and that monumental conclusion to the MCU Infinity Saga is just over a month away. It’s a given, Marvel Studios and Disney will have our hard-earned cash for the opening weekend and we’re all caught up with the 20+ MCU films. But what about our hapless dates and companions who we bring along to see Avengers: Endgame? What if they have no idea who Rocket Raccoon is or where Wakanda is located? The intricacies of the cinematic universe could be explained, but wouldn’t it be better if they see for themselves? Easier said than done, there are over 20 films to slog through, and not all of them are great. You’d be doing them a favor by suggesting just a few MCU films to watch before Avengers: Endgame, so at least they won’t be distracting you with annoying questions as the Avengers prepare for that final battle against Thanos.

Like last year when we presented 10 films to see before Avengers: Infinity War, here is another list and this time, let’s cut it down to the bone: five MCU films to see before Avengers: Endgame in alphabetical order. Some spoilers will follow.

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018):

The concept of quantum realms was first introduced in this film’s predecessor, Ant-Man. But this sequel explores the mysterious realm much more. We learn that there are time vortexes within the miniscule dimension that Hank Pym explores in order to rescue his lost wife. Also, Ant-Man and the Wasp is directly linked to the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War as seen in the mid-credits sequence as the Wasp, Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne are victims of the Decimation or Thanos’ snap.

Meanwhile, unaware of how directly involved he is now with the universe-spanning event, Ant-Man is trapped in the quantum realm and his time spent there will most likely hold the key to victory for the Avengers as teased in the trailers for Avengers: Endgame. Needless to mention, that the plucky Ant-Man will be a critical player in the coming film.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015):

It’s not the best MCU film, but it’s proving to be a vital nexus for what happens in the Marvel Cinematic Universe afterwards. There are some plot points that are relevant to the other Avengers and MCU films, which include heroes become obsessed with upcoming threats. Iron Man has visions of Earth doomed by cosmic forces, which leads to his ill-advised creation of Ultron and fractures his relationship with Captain America. Meanwhile, Thor learns about the Infinity Stones and leaves the team to search for them, to no avail.

Meanwhile, Captain America’s visions of his lost love, Peggy Carter, imply his soul is still haunted by their separation by time and as hinted at in Avengers: Endgame, perhaps this will be addressed. We also discover that Hawkeye has a loving family and the latest trailer implies that they are victims of the Decimation. This explains why he takes on the persona of Ronin in the film. It should be noted that there are rumors that the villainous android, Ultron, will return in Avengers: Endgame.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018):

Well, duh! It’s the Avengers film right before Endgame! The fourth Avengers film is a direct follow-up to Avengers: Infinity War and explores the aftermath of the devastating events shown in the third Avengers film. Viewers learn about Thanos, his twisted motivation and fiendish plan to snuff out half of all life in the universe.

What’s fun to watch are the interactions, appearances of and team ups with the MCU’s finest, from Spider-Man to Doctor Strange to the Guardians of the Galaxy. This was a true epic crossover film that ends with Thanos triumphant and half of the MCU heroes turned to dust. It only makes sense to see this film before Avengers: Endgame to at least see the set up before the fourth Avengers film and understand the high stakes for the surviving heroes.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011):

The first Captain America film has one of the earliest appearance of one of the Infinity Stones, the Space Stone and of course, features the star-spangled debut of Captain America, aka Steve Rogers. As shown in the Avengers: Endgame trailer, unlike the last Avengers film, he will be more vital to the film’s main plot.

Just as important, Captain America: The First Avenger explores the relationship between Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter. The tragedy of their budding romance is that it was never fulfilled, something that haunts Rogers (see Avengers: Age of Ultron and the other Cap films). As hinted in some Avengers: Endgame trailers, this lost relationship could be a major plot for Captain America in the film. Perhaps, a clue to his final destiny?

MFing Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014):

As stated in last year’s post, this film not only boasts the fabulous debut of everyone’s favorite cosmic misfits, but clearly explains the Infinity Stones and the background to the Infinity Saga. Rocket Raccoon, the anthropomorphic and snarky raccoon, debuts here and is one of the main heroes in Endgame as the sole surviving member of the Guardians. In addition to introducing viewers to the Guardians of the Galaxy, this film has the first full appearance of Thanos, who appears as a background boss, but already exuded a malevolent presence.

Guardians of the Galaxy also debuts Nebula, who is Thanos’ daughter. We learn of her complicated relationship with her adopted father and sister, Gamora, and why she wants to kill her father. This obviously will be her main driving force in Endgame, which is only natural after she saw firsthand the effects of the Decimation.

avengers first team up

Miscellaneous:

See these films if time permits. They are not crucial to watch and didn’t make the list of five essential films to see before Avengers: Endgame, but do add information and context about the beloved characters and situations of the MCU.

Ant-Man (2015) is the first MCU film to feature quantum realms and other dimensions and of course, debuts Ant-Man, a major character in Avengers: Endgame.

The Avengers (2012) introduces the superhero team and how they get along with each other, while featuring two of the Infinity Stones. Bonus point: Thanos makes his first appearance in the MCU in a cameo.

Captain America: Civil War (2016) is more of a prerequisite for Avengers: Infinity War. In this film, we see how the fragile relationships between the members of the Avengers, especially Iron Man and Captain America, come apart. The dissolution of the team is why the heroes lose in Avengers: Infinity War.

Captain Marvel (2019) of course, features Captain Marvel, who will be one of the major characters in Endgame as seen in the film’s mid-credits scene.

Doctor Strange (2016) has the Time Stone, possibly important to the fourth Avengers film since the film’s plot is rumored to involve time travel.

Iron Man 3 (2013) explores Tony Stark’s fragile psyche in the aftermath of the cosmic events of The Avengers. It helps us understand his state of mind in future films, culminating in Endgame.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 (2017) heavily features the cosmic side of the MCU and Nebula, a key player in Avengers: Endgame, as she transitions from a villain to an anti-hero.

Thor (2011) marks the first MCU appearance of aliens, the cosmic portion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the God of Thunder himself.

Thor: The Dark World (2013) is one of the weaker MCU films, but has one of the Infinity Stones, the Reality Stone, a major macguffin in the second Thor film.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017) sets up Avengers: Infinity War towards its end and provides context for Thor’s state of mind in the final Avengers films.

José Soto

 

Mar 3 2019

Prejudging Dark Phoenix Before Its Release

20th Century Fox has released a new trailer for the last, proper X-Men film, Dark Phoenix. What is most interesting and disturbing, depending on one’s point of view, about the trailer’s release is the reaction from fans. While some enjoy it, and look forward to the X-Men film, others are reacting with indifference or downright negativity. This is somewhat baffling to witness and is evidence of how divided fans and our culture at large has become. We’re seeing this everywhere with vitriol hurled at Star Wars, Doctor Who, Star Trek, DC, the MCU and other franchises for many reasons. But the negativity towards Dark Phoenix before the film has come out is just going overboard.

There are many reasons to be skeptical for the upcoming superhero film and it’s not just because the director is a newbie. The film essentially retells a major subplot from X-Men: The Last Stand, which adapted parts of the famous and beloved Dark Phoenix story from the comics. However, the film was subpar and the trailer to Dark Phoenix uncomfortably reminds some of that film. While this is unavoidable, the new film will focus on the Dark Phoenix story and Jean Grey’s struggle. True, it won’t be a beat-by-beat adaptation of the comic book story, but what live-action adaptation of a comic book story is completely faithful? A couple of them are considered among the best superhero films of all time.

Then there is the anger that some have towards Fox for being neglectful towards the X-Men franchise. Fox’s track record with the X-Men films is admittedly mixed. For every Logan there is an X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The last X-Men film, X-Men: Apocalypse was not received well, though personally, I thought it was enjoyable and had an epic tone in its last act. The poor reaction to X-Men: Apocalypse has fed the negativity toward X-Men films going forward.

But we have to give the studio some credit. If not for them, the superhero films as we know it would not exist. Kevin Feige, the Marvel Studios guru, got his start in superhero films with the Fox X-Men films. He gained valuable insight and experience that helped him launch the successful MCU. Also, Fox released high-quality productions like Logan, Deadpool and X-Men: Days of Future Past. Still, many feel that the Fox X-Men films have run their course and a much-needed break is due. Or rather a radical reboot that is faithful to the comic books, which Marvel Studios can only produce.

As we all know, Marvel Studios will reboot the X-Men films since Disney has acquired the film rights to the X-Men. At this point, many are more than ready to move on from the Fox version of the X-Men and are eager to see how Marvel Studios reimagines and recasts the X-Men films. For them, Dark Phoenix feels redundant and think “what’s the point?” of this film since the Fox X-Men franchise is coming to an end. Some are angered that based on what is known about Dark Phoenix and some negative early screening reactions that the film is destined to be a stinker and don’t feel the need to see it.

This is unfair towards the film and the efforts of the cast and crew. In the end, it may wind up being as bad as many believe and a terrible way to end the Fox X-Men films. However, it’s best to keep an open mind and being objective towards this film. Hopefully, it can be a decent wrap up of the X-Men saga. After all, it will be the last X-Men film for a while given Marvel Studios’ crowded plate.

Feb 25 2019

Superheroes Represent At The Oscars

Last night, the Academy Awards were surprisingly kind to superhero films. Sure, there were some disappointments, big and small; seriously, First Man had better special effects than Avengers: Infinity War? Please. But on the whole the superhero film genre was well represented in the Academy Awards for films that came out in 2018.

Recognizing the MCU

Comic book fans had reasons to celebrate last month when Black Panther was nominated for best film. As we all know, this is the first time a superhero film earned that prestigious nomination. Whether or not the film deserved it is open for debate. But nevertheless it was a great and historic moment for fans as at last the superhero film was recognized as a genuine piece of cinematic art. OK, this is a bit hyperbolic, but the fact is that for too long superhero films were considered juvenile fare though that has been far from the truth.

black panther at wakanda

In the past, these films were often nominated for best visual effects or some other technical category and sometimes won. That has changed slowly over recent years. The Dark Knight picked up an award for Best Supporting Actor in addition to getting numerous technical nominations. However, many rightly felt that The Dark Knight should have been nominated for Best Picture, and this snub caused a changed in the amount of films that can get the Best Picture nomination. Others also believed that Logan should have received a Best Picture nomination, but it did get one for Best Adapted Screenplay. This was the first time a superhero film got such a distinguished nomination. With this, it was only a matter of time before a superhero film was nominated for Best Picture and that happened only a year later.

Of course, cynics will credit Black Panther’s numerous nominations to a strong marketing campaign from Disney, and they would not be wrong. But in the end the film studio was largely successful with Black Panther nabbing the coveted Best Picture nomination. Honestly, it winning was always a long shot, especially since it didn’t garner nominations for directing, writing or acting. Traditionally, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has a huge bias against genre films. No science fiction film has ever won, and only a couple of fantasy films have won including The Shape of Water. Also, that film just won for Best Picture the year before. There wasn’t any way the Academy would allow a genre film to win for Best Picture two years in a row. In fact, this doesn’t happen with other genres. Besides, the Academy likes to pick “important” biographies or historical dramas with timely messages.

Put all that aside for now. It was great that not only was Black Panther nominated, but that it actually won three well-deserved awards. The most for any superhero film. Frankly, it would have been a shock if the film didn’t win for Best Costume Design or Best Production Design. In these categories, Black Panther excelled with its unique and eye-popping visual look and costumes. The award for Best Original Music Score was a pleasant surprise since the score was so enchanting. These wins signal the Academy’s recognition of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) quality and caliber. This will be the first of many awards that the MCU will win. It may be a long time before an MCU film or any superhero film will win for Best Picture, but it will happen.

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Feb 10 2019

Star Trek: Discovery’s Canon Problem

A major complaint about Star Trek: Discovery is that for a prequel set before the original Star Trek it violates so much of what was established in the original series that it should be thought of as a straight up remake. Everyone always brings up the fact the for a prequel the world shown in Star Trek: Discovery is too advanced when compared to Star Trek or that it violates the established canon of this franchise.

There is legitimate cause to feel this way and the coy remarks by the show’s powers that be do not help matters, they promise us that the show is set in the Prime Universe of Star Trek.  But this has not satisfied many who then online negative posts and videos and proclaim the show is not true Star Trek.

Of course, a lot of the criticisms about Star Trek: Discovery are valid, but we should be careful about using the show’s look and canon problems as a reason to dismiss it as something that doesn’t belong with Star Trek.

One thing to consider is that throughout its 50-plus years Star Trek and its films and spinoffs have many continuity problems. For instance, in the early episodes of Star Trek there wasn’t a United Federation of Planets. Instead there was a United Earth Space Probe Agency, then it was never clear as to when it took place. Remember the infamous misspelling of James Kirk’s name in the second pilot “Where No Man Has Gone Before”? The good captain’s middle initial was shown to be R. instead of T.

Then there are the Klingons. In the original show they were basically swarthy humans with actors in brownface portraying them. In the first film and onwards, the aliens were revamped and looked more alien thanks to ridges now showing on their foreheads. This perplexed fans until Star Trek: Enterprise offered an onscreen explanation as to why the Klingons looked so different.

And while people love to complain about Michael Burnham being Spock’s unspoken of foster sister, what about his renegade half-brother Sybok? Until the film where Sybok first appeared (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier), Spock’s best friend Kirk didn’t know Sybok existed. It stands to reason Spock never bothered mentioning Burnham. He is a rather private person.

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