Sunday, February 19, 2006

So Many Lovely Superheroes

Justice League Unlimited: Remember all the reasons I had for loving The Flash last week? Well, I love Lex Luthor for the exact opposite reasons. He's so badass. But more on that later. I was actually surprised by how much I liked this episode since I've never even heard of Deadman. But I think the great thing about JLU is that in a half an hour they can make a viewer really care about these low profile DC characters that he or she might not have any prior knowledge of. At the end of the episode, I really felt for him. I wanted him to be able to pass over, or whatever ghosts do when their work is done. Also, I wondered if he wore that costume when he was alive. It seemed really odd to me that he would die and get a change of clothes.

It was fun to see the big three working together. I think I would have liked to know what they would have talked about when they went out to dinner together. It was fun when Deadman was possessing them. I loved Superman finishing his sentence when Deadman left his body. "...You have to eat it with a spoon. What am I doing in Africa?" And Wonder Woman getting all pissed off at Deadman for possessing her without her permission was great. I love Wonder Woman. She even fills in with Flash's obligatory jokes. But that Batman really hates guns, huh? Dude, it wasn't your fault. Hell, it wasn't even you.

And now for the Legion stuff. I love this storyline. Villains are so much fun. Grodd's master plan was pretty hilarious. I think it would have been fun if he was successful, but only because the idea of Gorillas driving cars, grocery shopping, etc. Makes me laugh. Getting to see Supes, Bats, WW, and Lex as gorillas was awesome though. I think Gorilla Lex was hairless too. Hehe. But overall, it was a pretty lame plan. I just don't get why Grodd would want to turn everyone into gorillas. I would have understood wanting to kill all of humanity more. I just don't get what he had to gain by it. It was awesome when Lex shot Grodd, and completely understandable. Also, I loved Lex's interaction with Bizarro. I hope we get to see more of that now that Lex is in charge. Lex is even respectful of women, not wanting Tala to debase herself by groveling to Grodd. Somehow I don't think he'd see it as debasing herself if she was groveling to him. How about that Tala, huh? So opportunistic. First she's making with the interspecies love (which is pretty gross), and then she's all over Luthor. Some chicks just dig power. I do need to point out that she was voiced by the wonderful Juliet Landau, aka Druscilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any Lex and Brainiac interaction. I guess Lex is a tad more sane now. Too bad. I think Lexiac is my "one true pair," as shippers say. Well, we know that Lex's ultimate goal is to reconnect with Brainiac, so I'm looking forward to some evil, fun, and kinda gay moments in the future.

Captain America: First Avi Arad announced that they were making a movie. Then he announce that they had a screenwriter . Seems like things are moving along quickly for Cap. I think that's great. Captain America has deserved a quality film treatment for a long time. He's a great character. Here's a quote from Arad about what the movie will be like (taken from IGN Filmforce article): "One of the things our movie is going to deal with is what happened in 60 years," says Arad. "Which world was better? Sixty years ago or now? Within, obviously, a kick-ass plot and all the stuff that you've come to expect from a superhero movie." And that's awesome, because the whole being a man of the past having to live in the present is really a fascinating aspect of the character. But I'd be lying if I didn't say I never had my own ideas of what I would like to see in a Captain America movie, though they may have been overly ambitious. Personally, I envisioned it as a trilogy, or at least two movies. (Aren't all action/comic book movies trilogies now anyway?) I thought it would be so cool to have an entire Captain America movie set during World War II. It would have been the best way to use the Red Skull too. It could have been a real war movie. And then Cap would have died at the end, but obviously not really. The second movie would be all about his adjustment to the present day. Then the third would just be a kick ass superhero movie that would show the completion of his development. I dunno, mostly I just wanted to see the WWII movie. I wanted all the unabashed and unironic flag waving. I also wanted them to use Mark Millar's line from The Ultimates. The "Do you think the A stands for France?" line. Best. Line. Ever. I still hope they use that line.

In the second article, Arad indicates that they have a director and star in mind. I have no idea who these people could be, (I certainly hope that the director they get is better than Brett Rattner), but I'm going to float some ideas. For director, I actually think Michael Bay might work out well. I know his movies often suck, but if the script is good, I think he's got the right visual style to pull it off. Think of all those American Flags in Armageddon. That's what a Captain America movie should look like. I had actually thought he would make a good director for Superman for the same reasons. As for the star, what about Jensen Ackles? Maybe I'm just biased because I have a crush on him, but I think he's a pretty good actor, and he's certainly got superhero looks. At first I thought he was too short, but his bio says he's six foot. Maybe it's just that a year opposite the 6'3" Tom Welling and now the 6'4" Jared Padelecki has made him seem short. The idea first came to me when I heard that he was the runner up for the role of Clark Kent on Smallville. The WB ultimately chose Welling, and I think that was probably because Welling looks like Superman. Ackles really doesn't have that Superman look, he's much more fair, not as broad shouldered, etc. It got me thinking about what superhero I would cast Ackles as and Captain America immediately came to mind. I think it's because I see Cap as being similar to Supes in that they are both inspiration symbols that stand for ideals and values that are still important but often seem old fashioned. Anyway, this isn't one of those casting ideas that I'm so attached to that I'll get pissed off if the don't chose the actor I picked (like when I decided Selma Blair should play Lois Lane, Michael Vartan should play Angel, and Gary Oldman should play Sirius Black - I got that one right). It's not even like when I saw Pleasantville and thought Tobey McGuire might make a good Spider-Man (an idea I got before Sam Raimi who picked him after seeing the later released Cider House Rules). Ackles as Cap is more like a random thought. But you have to admit, I cast Sirius Black and Spider-Man really well.

X-Men: The Last Stand: They released some posters. I'm still not impressed.

Spider-Man's Best Villain: IGN Comics had a tournament. Inexplicably, Venom beat the Green Goblin. Really fanboys? Venom? Better than the Green Goblin? Green Goblin dropped Gwen Stacy off a bridge for Christ's sake. And he's just completely messed with almost every aspect of Spider-Man's life: he made him think Aunt May was dead; he took his daughter, who then apparently died, and let's not forget that he was behind the whole clone saga. Did you read that crap. If that wasn't an act of pure evil, I don't know what is. That wasn't just a crime against Spider-Man, but a crime against all humanity.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi,
Long time reader, first time responder. Who do you think should play the Red Skull?

Scout said...

German actor Jurgen Prochnow (Das Boot, Air Force One) would be good. He's alot older than any actor that plays Captain America would be (I'm not sure about the Red Skull's backstory, so I don't know if that would make a difference), but his face will be all red and skull-like. So who would know? But he's German, menacing, and has really pronounced cheek bones.