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Post by mr. excellent on Apr 13, 2016 23:02:02 GMT -5
Funny, I never thought of it that way but you're right. I guess that's because the comment sections at popular websites have become the new forums. You have your usual suspects who just show up and comment on everything, and it's there that they get to know each other. Totally agree about Sony's boards not coming back though. At least with e-mail you can go back and visit memory lane. I must've posted close to 1000 long winded responses at Sony. My writing in high school improved dramatically in large part because I was debating and arguing on a weekly bases there. Now it's all gone.
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Post by Webber3000 on Apr 14, 2016 17:52:58 GMT -5
Oh man, my English improved a lot by just posting on there too. I used to be the absolute worse, making rookie mistakes like mixing up "which" and "witch!" I still have a long way to go before feeling perfectly confident about the quality of my writing, so I guess you could say that Times Square is phase two of my language improvement process.
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Post by mr. excellent on Apr 17, 2016 13:43:13 GMT -5
Question: Is Spiderverse worth picking up? Just saw the tpb compilation at Barnes & Noble for $50. There’s over 20 issues in it, it’s huge.
I did purchase Fraction’s Hawkeye, #’s 6-11 (the collection called Little Hits) and Don Slott’s Superior Spider-man #’s 17-21 (Necessary Evil). I’m very excited about both these series, and am slowly falling back into that rabbit hole that is comics. This Barnes & Noble was incredible, as they had a sizeable array of Legos, and die-cast figurines to boot. It was in Fresno, home of Fresno State University, so I suppose it’s fitting that a college town would have an awesome comic section in their B&N store. While there I also found “Renew Your Vows”, also by Slott, which sees Peter Parker married to MJ and with a little girl again. It’s new, and I definitely want to check it out, even if it’s a one off with 90s nostalgia. Then there’s the new Spider Gwen series, which I refuse to read until I’ve caught up with Miles first. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find a tpb collection of Ultimate Comics: Spider-man #’s 19-22, nor the 2nd collection of Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men. Those can be found online I suppose.
I honestly don’t know what to be the most excited for, and haven’t been this into so many series in years. Joss’s book is packed with excitement on literally every other page, Hawkeye is in Fraction’s pantheon of amazing works, Superior Spider-man turned out to be the most fun I’ve had with Spider-man books since the early 2000s, and Bendis can do no wrong (even when he does) with his Ultimate Spider-man stories.
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Post by BackinBlack on Apr 17, 2016 18:50:51 GMT -5
Question: Is Spiderverse worth picking up? Just saw the tpb compilation at Barnes & Noble for $50. There’s over 20 issues in it, it’s huge. Definitely. It's one of those events where I bought almost all the tie-ins and enjoyed them to some degree. It's a lot of fun to see all these different spider characters interact with each other.
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Post by mr. excellent on Apr 23, 2016 14:20:06 GMT -5
Come pay day, I think I'll pick it up... unless my wife says no. I read the first issue in "Little Hits", the second tpb collection of Matt Fraction's work on Hawkeye. I'm convinced that Marvel needs to find a way to give Jeremy Renner a little time on a Netflix show. The entire issue is about Hawkeye helping his neighbor move his dad's stuff out of his basement in preparation for a flash flood. There isn't an ounce of superheroics the entire issue, yet it's one of the best single issues I've read in a comic, ever quite frankly. Hawkeye in the movies is okay, but so far he's just not as interesting as the other supporting characters. I don't know if it's Renner, the writing, or a combination of both. The Hawkeye in Fraction's book is certainly not the same guy in the movies (save for maybe the party scene in Age of Ultron where everyone is trying to lift Thor's Hammer). Don't get me wrong, Hawkeye ain't bad, but these Fraction books sell me on him actually being "cool". Admittedly, many of my favorite Spider-man moments are the ones where he's in costume shooting the shit with a security guard, or hanging out with a guy on a balcony waiting for something to happen, eating a hot dog with Loki on a roof top talking about Brooklyn. Maybe the reason I got so attached to Marc Webb is because he was the director who wanted to that type of stuff. Hopefully Marvel wants to put Spider-man in that position. It would definitely diversify their line up of Earth bound heroes. As it seems now, that odd rift between Marvel tv and Marvel's film division seems to also apply to their Netflix material. Time will tell. BTW, anyone see that Inhumans no longer has a release date? Marvel gave an inconspicuous reason as to why, but an interview from Chloe Bennet dropped recently that was none too flattering.
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Post by BackinBlack on Apr 23, 2016 14:40:10 GMT -5
Well it seems one of the reasons why is so Disney could do their next Indiana Jones movie for that date. Still, have to wonder why they wouldn't just move Inhumans to one of their 2020 spots. Also, from what I remember (at least from the leaks), the Spider-Man deal with Sony was that a new movie has to be done every two years. So either Marvel will just do two movies in 2019 (Captain Marvel and Infinity War Part II), or they've just yet to announce a Spider-Man sequel for that year, which would be expected from Sony rather than Disney since they still technically own the rights.
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Post by mr. excellent on Apr 24, 2016 15:07:59 GMT -5
In reference to what BIB said in the Civil War thread, I think it interesting to reflect on how each of the phase 1 movies did a good job as standalone movies. BIB also said the connectivity of the universe was kind of a double edged sword. A common phase 1 complaint involved having to wait until the Avengers actually assembled. The complaint persisted in phase 2, as it seemed the other Avengers were never around to lend a helping hand. Iron Man 3, Captain America Winter Soldier, maybe even Thor 2 received these complaints. I appreciated how Ant Man sort of dealt with the criticism in its own way. Now, going into phase 3, people are starting to worry that we’ll lose focus on the character driven movies that started the MCU off to such success (not that you’re doing that BIB). Funny how the times have changed.
My hope is that Marvel starts to use Netflix to expand upon their silver screen characters a little more, so that we still do get those productions which feel like the original phase 1 standalone movies. The fact that people are lamenting about not having a film focus on just 1 character (and their supporting cast) any more, at the very least shows there's an interest in seeing that approach again. Black Widow, Hawkeye, these are characters with incredibly rich back stories that are ripe for the picking. Many of their stories will most likely never see the light of day on a theater screen. Characters whose special set of skills don't necessarily require an arm and a leg of spending to film. We’ve seen how well characters like Luke Cage and Punisher have done. If we’re worried about cost, we would do well to look to movies like District 9, Chronicle, and Ex Machina. All cost under 15 million to make. If you look to Netflix’s exclusive content, Adam Sandler's Ridiculous 6 cost $60 million. With that type of money, you could make a 3 or 4 episode special focusing on freaken War Machine, Vision (again I point to Ex Machina), or Spider-man. Speaking of 3 or 4 episodes, formatting and duration plays a big roll in costs. Characters like Spider-man are expensive to film doing what they do best, but their personal lives are fascinating to explore due to how similar they are to us. They were written that way intentionally!
Something Marvel might also be trigger shy about is using Netflix as a platform to flesh out their franchise headliners’ backstories, in fear of taking substance material away from their larger productions. “You dig too deep into the character on the small screen, what’s left to show on the big screen?” seems to be the issue. They’ve already shown similar restraint by removing Wasp from Civil War so that the Ant Man series has a chance to develop the character first (beyond her introduction as Janet van Dyne in Ant Man). However, if anything, I believe their Netflix content actually broadens their audience to people who prefer to opt out of the theater going experience. There’s no doubt there are more people who watch Daredevil and flock to theaters to see an MCU film than people who watch Daredevil and don’t. But those fans are still there. Get them hooked on a character through a tv show, they’re much more likely to show up for a silver screen party. Like I said earlier though, there are stories you can focus on in a tv format that would have never seen the light of day. Things that were maybe established on film that make the character fascinating but were never actually developed beyond lip service. If you’re not going to do it on film, then you’re not taking away from the silver screen material to mine. Further, if you’ve already touched upon a subject in a movie but aren’t going to spend more time on it, you’re not taking anything away from future productions by doing so in a Netflix show.
Marvel has shown that they’re very well versed in paying extra dividends to those who have come to every movie (in jokes, Easter eggs, and all), while still making films that appeal to new audiences. Like animated family movies that appeal to children, but contain material that adults can appreciate, Marvel does the same with their casual and super fans. People do complain that if you haven’t seen all the Marvel movies, you miss out on some of the in jokes, but somehow that hasn’t stopped their audience from growing. I contend that these movies are still enjoyable to the GA member, and that the plot to most of their films is always simple enough to get into on a film-to-film bases. In fact, it has been a criticism that may actually be the studio's strength. Plot has never mattered as much as the dialogue and character work in these movies. Who’d a thought that would help them maintain such an intricately woven thread?
About a year and a half ago I wrote about wanting something like this for Spider-man. Remember my "Day in the Life" idea? I think it was actually in the Civil War thread. At that point in time, there was no precedent and the idea seemed silly. Look where we are now. I certainly couldn't have predicted this. Crazy times we’re living in, for sure.
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Post by mr. excellent on Apr 30, 2016 20:58:05 GMT -5
Screenrant has changed. There’s no two ways about it. However, one of the things they’ve been savvy to early on in recent years has been the poor relationship between Marvel tv and the film division. Recently, they posted this article: Inhumans Movie Dead: A Bad Sign for Marvel’s Shared Universe? screenrant.com/inhumans-movie-dead/There was a very short minute where I thought it was possible that Marvel and Fox were brokering a deal to join their universes post Infinity War. I thought it was something they’d be discussing behind the scenes, but not announce for a few years. The theory made sense in my head because Marvel’s phase 3 is booked up until 2019 or 2020, and they’re going to want to let the hype on that build. Also, they just got Spidey back and there’s still a lot of hype and good will to capitalize on in the future. There’s no need to make any announcements now, but in a few years when people are wondering what comes after Infinity War, I figured this is how you follow that. This would be bigger than Spider-man coming home, by sheer volume of characters and lore. But why would they do that when they have Inhumans? Well, Inhumans just lost its release date and there’s currently no replacement date. Could this actually point to better days ahead for Marvel Studios and the X-Men property? That's right, I actually thought the reason Inhumans was shelved was because Marvel was banking on brokering a deal with Fox to follow up their phase 3 a few years from now. This line of reasoning really got me thinking. I thought, “Well, in spite of Marvel’s best efforts, it seems the Inhumans just aren’t as popular as mutants.” Under Fox, the mutants are doing very well currently with a promising future. Apocalypse looks poised to introduce the Fox-Men world to the cosmic side of things. Deadpool just blew the doors wide opened for R-rated content that will appeal to a different set of fans. Now come talks of Tim Miller wanting a Spider-man/ Deadpool Cross over, and mentioning that he and Feige have a great relationship. Miller even directed an animated short to demonstrate how cool Iron Man could be, to high light his cinematic potential (this was part of the Iron Man pitch I believe (possibly before Jon Favreau came aboard)): While he did mention that the studios aren’t ready for that yet, they may well be ready to share 4 years from now. On the other side of things you have Disney working with Fox to create an Avatar attraction at Disney World in Florida. So this hopeless line of thinking that Fox and Disney have been collaborating, has had me very intrigued. Sadly (for myself anyway), Screenrant’s latest article sort of burst my bubble. I think the real reason behind Inhumans getting shelved (potentially indefinitely) is because Feige and Perlmutter just don’t get along, and the rift between the studios is further apart now than it has been since their tv slate began. It likely has nothing to do with my imagined negotiations to bring the X-Men into the fold after Infinity War. To me, I just don’t get it. Why wouldn’t you want to bring those characters into the fold? Charlie Cox, Kristen Ritter, and Mike Colter have been excellent in their Netflix roles. Jon Bernthal and Vincent D’onofrio likewise have been among the universe’s strongest villains/anti-heroes on a character level. You’re gonna tell me they aren’t invited to play because of some stupid squabble? If money talks, why isn’t it talking? The connectivity of their universe is their bread and butter. If the tv side of things stops mattering, they’re losing a huge chunk of that hype train, and that doesn’t make sense. In the beginning it seemed the squabble was over Marvel Studios carrying the tv division (back when A.O.S. was all they had and wasn’t very good). Now that the tv division(s) with Netflix is/are arguably as successful, relations are worse than ever it seems. Seriously, Feige recently did an interview where he admitted he hadn’t even finished the first season of Daredevil. I’ve typed too much already. I need a break.
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Post by Webber3000 on May 1, 2016 8:00:05 GMT -5
I know you really dig Marvel's TV series, but might you be overstating their importance to the studio? This is a genuine questions, I can't seem to find money figures online.
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Post by mr. excellent on May 1, 2016 14:45:17 GMT -5
I probably am. Maybe the studio believes it doesn't need the tv side of things to keep fans interested. In the case of their content on ABC, that may be true. To be honest, I wouldn't mind if Agents of Shield became its own thing. Agent Carter has been something of a disappointment in spite of Haley Atwell's solid performance, and we have yet to see anything with Marvel's Most Wanted spin off. However, I think it'd be a terrible waste for their Netflix stuff to not be utilized. Perhaps Marvel wouldn't be losing anything from the steam they've already built, but I think they'd be walking away from a higher profit. Their Netflix shows broaden the brand's appeal. A solo Ant Man movie that had an opportunity to use Vincent D'onofrio's Kingpin character, or Charlie Cox's Daredevil would definitely get more attention. Putting Jon Bernthal's Punisher in anything MCU would definitely interest a different segment of the fan base.
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Post by Webber3000 on May 1, 2016 22:09:57 GMT -5
I understand what you're saying, but at the same time, the universe is becoming really difficult to get into.
One of the many flaws of Batman v Superman is that it required some prior reading or general comic book knowledge to be somewhat understood - not that it's pertinent once understood, simply confusing when not understood. That could be good if you've done your homework, but I really doubt it compelled non-comic-book readers to go out there and get themselves a bunch of graphic novels after their exit from the theatre.
Marvel's been way better about that, simply building upon characterization, and filling in the audience where need be. If some plot points make no sense (like Thor's swim in the cave pond in AoU) to the audience, at least the movie doesn't detract from the main storyline too much. But if they start including too many characters without explanation, the world might lean too much on the fantasy side of things rather than the fantastic. I think that if Marvel decides to include their Netflix characters into their films, they either have to merge the Netflix series threads into their theatrical releases - which would make the movies somewhat unaccessible to a significant chunk of their audience - or they make them appear as Easter eggs and fan service in general - which is rather pointless.
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Post by mr. excellent on May 3, 2016 0:32:34 GMT -5
Shoe horning a character into a story would be the wrong way to go. Throwing someone in for just a cameo role wouldn't be worth a whole lot either. We definitely agree on that. I’d just hate to think that there’s no chance of the characters crossing over. Especially if there’s an organic way for it to happen, which could certainly be a possibility. I like the idea that not every character needs a back story to fit into their part of a movie. There are comics that depend on its readers knowing an entire catalog worth of material to enjoy, then there's comics that take you on a self-contained journey within just 22 pages. While comics don't translate perfectly to the screen, I'd like to think that there are certain roles established characters fulfill without having to do anything especially super or outlandish to enjoy. I think what made BvS so confusing wasn't the extra characters, but rather that they had scenes involving alternate realities and time travel without explanation. Luke Cage or Jessica Jones on the other hand are interesting on a human level, and could totally fit into a story without much explanation.
For now, the movie division is making niceties, but I’d hate for it to get to the point that WB is with DC, where their tv properties are just separate. Done deal for them. At least for now, there’s some semblance of an opportunity for cross over potential.
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Post by mr. excellent on May 3, 2016 1:42:46 GMT -5
Just had an idea that was sparked by what you said about merging their Netflix series threads into their theatrical releases. What if Marvel brought their One-Shots back in the form of shorts before their movies? Similar to what Pixar does. These shorts wouldn't have to be big, elaborate, or special effects heavy. They could just be short character pieces that are fun to follow for 5ish minutes. Just a self-contained story, seemingly unrelated on the surface. Just an extra bonus that anyone could enjoy. However, it could be the perfect way to weave their Netflix characters into the fold. No alienating anyone, because if you went to see that particular movie, all you'd need to know about that character would be in a fun little short before the movie starts. If you miss the short, doesn't matter, it's not really part of the movie anyway. Just bonus content.
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Post by Webber3000 on May 3, 2016 12:01:36 GMT -5
I really like that idea! Marvel really managed to use the after-credits scene mechanic in an enticing way, so much so that people now associate after credits scenes with the MCU. If they can do something similar with pre-movie shorts, I'm sure movie-goers would like it too. Plus, it's less risky, in a sense that if it doesn't work too well, it never affects the quality of the film that follows.
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Post by brotherandbassist on May 5, 2016 23:36:45 GMT -5
Accurate. Man, I still remember the days when everybody hated on Joe Quesada. I even did this back in 07 or 08. XD I remember these! I hadn't been on the boards long when people made these things. I remember I ended up in one of them and I thought it was the coolest thing ever XD
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