A lot is happening in movies right now, but superheroes seem to be taking the forefront. It all started with Bryan Singer’s X Men, and recently resulted in a little competition between Marvel’s The Avengers and DC’s The Dark Knight Rises. Now both sides are gearing up for a second rumble as Marvel introduces Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Thor: The Dark World, and DC readies to release Man of Steel in theaters.
These films are paving the way for Marvel’s The Avengers 2 and DC’s The Justice League. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is about Cap’s old buddy, Bucky Barnes, who was thought to have died in WWII, but was actually captured by the enemy and brainwashed into becoming an assassin.
The film introduces a few new comicbook heroes, most notable being The Falcon, one of too few black heroes. The Falcon will also be in Avengers 2 and will be the character audiences relate to. Many fans aren’t happy about this, as Falcon is known as a “crappy” hero, and the point of a relatable character is to more easily introduce the other characters. The other characters have been introduced, and Falcon will be seen as the new guy who audiences need time with. The Falcon’s back story is as follows according to marvel.com:
Sam grew up in a tough Harlem neighborhood. His father, a minister, had been killed trying to stop a fight. Sam did his best to try and do the right thing, but when his mother was killed by a mugger two years later, Sam’s grief and anger consumed him. His grief and anger consumed his personality, eventually [leading] him down a criminal path. The once-respected community volunteer took on the name of “Snap” Wilson, becoming a racketeer while working for the mob.
After an assignment in Rio de Janeiro, Sam’s plane crashed in a remote Caribbean island where the Red Skull and his henchmen, the Exiles, were hiding out. The Red Skull sought to use Wilson as a pawn against Captain America, who was currently on the island searching for the villain. The Skull reasoned that Wilson’s idealism would appeal to the Captain enough to become his crime-fighting partner. Then, at some later date, the Skull could use Wilson against his enemy. He used a Cosmic Cube to revert “Snap” into Sam and give Sam the ability to telepathically communicate with birds, especially a bird that Wilson had bought named Redwing. Sam helped Captain America defeat the Skull and did indeed become his partner as the Falcon.
Returning to New York, Wilson became one of Harlem’s staunchest crime-fighters and a regular ally to Captain America. He became a social worker in his regular identity, defending the streets of his hometown both in costume and out of it. Wilson even adopted Captain America’s identity for a brief time when Captain America appeared to have been killed. As the Falcon, Wilson had been solely a rooftop-swinging athlete until the Black Panther provided him with Wakandan technology that enabled him to truly fly.
So Falcon is a guy who fights but isn’t as good at it as Cap, Hulk, Thor, or Iron Man. He’s also a guy who can fly but isn’t as good at it as Iron Man. He is still a fun hero with a good story, so all should be well. The questions fans pose are “Will Antman, a founding Avenger, be made in time to be in Avengers 2?” and “Will Black Panther, who is another black hero, still be considered for Avengers 2?”
Who are Antman and Black Panther, I hear you ask? Antman is a scientist who can shrink and keep his human strength, grow and become stronger accordingly, and communicate with ants. Black Panther is the warrior identity of the king, T’challa, of the fictional land “Wakanda.” Either way, both films are likely to be made.
Along with the Avengers franchise, Marvel is also continuing its popular X Men franchise with a movie based on the X Men: Days of Future Past storyline. The idea is to have the casts of X Men and X Men: First Class meet in a time travel themed film.
DC’s Man of Steel only introduces Superman and is planned to lead to The Justice League. The problem is that Marvel has amassed the biggest possible fan-base. Not only do the heroes have their own films, but Avengers has already hit theaters and was the third highest grossing film of all time. DC is trying to come out with one Justice League lone-member film, and then take on Avengers 2 in 2015. The only advantages DC has are older heroes and a more novel film.
Christian Bale will not be returning as Batman for Justice League. Though he and Nolan updated the character and also amassed a great fan-base, the result was a story and hero that is miles away from the comicbooks. For example, Ra’s Al Ghul’s name is mispronounced, Bane goes through so many changes that he shares only a name with the original character, and the movies hardly touch on major aspects of Batman/Bruce Wayne (a huge fatherly detective and scientific intellectual).
The Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern film is rumored to be rebooted after doing horribly with fans and mainstream movie-goers alike. Other Justice League members are scheduled for their own films, such as Flash and Wonder Woman, but won’t be made and released before Justice League is set to release.
Reynolds also has a Marvel’s Deadpool film scheduled, since he portrayed him in X Men Origins: Wolverine, a film that massacred the fan favorite Wade Wilson. Reynolds, himself, is a fan and is also obviously disappointed with the way the film treated his anti-hero, as he said that the stand alone film would have to have nothing to do with the events of Origins.
Whose side are you on? What is your ideal Justice League cast? Is there a casting decision that has been made that you disagree with?