Comic-Con
2012:
Marvel Movies!
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Which of the Nine Realms is that?
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Marvel held its Hall H panel Saturday night, ostensibly inviting everyone to come revel in preparation for Iron Man 3.
Sure, that was there, as was Robert Downey, Jr., who had earlier joined Marvel booth employees to help judge an Iron Man costume contest. But if you know anything about past history, it was what Marvel would confirm or reveal that had many eager to attend the panel. (This time, violence-free!)
So Marvel did, giving us titles for sequels and confirming some rumored projects for the future. Let's parse those, shall we?
First, those films in the already established Avengers canon.
After Iron Man 3 hits in May of 2013, we can look forward to Thor: The Dark World on November 8, 2013. Directed by Alan Taylor from Game of Thrones, Thor: The Dark World remains a journey into mystery, but rumors include the Enchantress as a villain and with that title, let's also go ahead and say maybe, just maybe, we'll see Hela.
After all, a visit to Valhalla might bridge a couple of gaps: how Loki escaped death and ended up serving Thanos, and how a certain James Buchanan Barnes survived (or did he?) a fall into the ice and snow from a moving Hydra train.
Why would we consider that a gap?
Because, as suspected, especially because of the way Marvel has successfully pushed the concept of "Bucky Cap" to kids through their video games, the second Captain America solo film will lean on the work of Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark to inspire its plot.
Set for release on April 4, 2014 (a bit early, but that just means April will not be a fallow month), the sequel is titled Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
For those not familiar with Brubaker and Lark's run, it explains how Bucky did not actually die during World War II, but was instead found by the Soviets, maimed but not dead. He was then brainwashed and retrained, as well as given a cybernetic arm. The Soviets put him into suspended animation, only activating him when they needed a warrior of his special skills. Over the decades the legend of the Winter Soldier grew, until finally Captain America found his former partner and redeemed him.
Maybe it's rushing things a bit, but then so far that's Marvel's history with the second film in each franchise: lining up the substitute version of the hero. We got War Machine in Iron Man 2 and now the Winter Soldier. Let's go back to Thor: The Dark World. Anybody want to put money down on Thunderstrike or Beta Ray Bill?
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You know, if he were a fire ant, that would be scary.
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Director Edgar Wright joined the panel to show his test footage for Ant-Man. That had been rumored to have been shot, but no word yet confirming if the rumor is true that Wright has also shot the post-credit sting for Iron Man 3 which could introduce Dr. Hank Pym to the movie-going public. Or Scott Lang. Or... well, no one really honestly knows which Ant-Man will be used. As soon as the test footage shows up on line, we'll add it here.
Before he can shoot Ant-Man, however, Wright will be directing The World's End, finishing up his "Blood and Cornetto" trilogy with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Notice that while the logo Marvel released matches the style of the others, it's missing something crucial: a release date.
At least we know everybody seems happy with the screenplay Wright co-wrote with Joe Cornish (Attack the Block). Judging from Wright's track record, we should be content that even if we're not fans of Ant-Man per se, Wright will turn the material into something special.
The last revelation -- though again, rumored for a while -- is that Marvel's "mystery movie slot" for August 1, 2014 will be filled by Guardians of the Galaxy. This would be the superteam created in recent years as part of Marvel's more cosmic storylines, beginning with Annihilation.
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You know, if he were a fire ant, that would be scary.
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We are only assuming that it will fit in with the rest of the Marvel Movie Universe, but it's a risky if cool choice. That may also be reflected in its August release date, when riskier fare tends to show up.
Maybe it's not a risk. This could be Marvel's Star Wars, featuring nominally human characters trapped in a world of aliens.
And really, only one is truly human anymore: Peter Jason Quill, once known as the Star-Lord. Thus it will feature some quirky character design. Check out the concept art revealed by Marvel at the panel:
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Scary, yet a little whimsical..
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From left to right:
Drax the Destroyer: A human killed in a car accident, his body was resurrected to fight Thanos. Some incarnations of him have been smarter than others.
Groot: A wood giant claiming to be a monarch but also the last of his people, Groot is a character that predates the Fantastic Four. He first appeared in one of Marvel's monster books in 1960.
Star-Lord: Son of a free-spirited human mother and an alien tyrant, Peter Jayson Quill traveled the galaxies solving problems, such as how to keep alien races from noticing the Earth.
Rocket Raccoon: an anthropomorphic raccoon and fierce warrior, Rocket first appeared in Marvel Preview #7. Protector of a planet of mentally disturbed humanoids, Rocket (aka, of course, "Rocky") even had a four-issue solo mini-series.
Gamora: Adopted daughter of Thanos, the green-skinned Gamora is a lethal assassin. The Thanos connection does tie the film to The Avengers.
Missing from the picture: Bug, my favorite member. To be fair, in personality he's a lot like Nightcrawler from X2. And when introducing a team from scratch, what's one less member?
We shall see. Of all these films, this one might be the most intriguing. It's another team film, with some really way out concepts behind it. And it may succeed with the basic concept that DC should have tried with Green Lantern: just keep it in space and worry about the Earth later.
Fingers crossed for 2014...
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