For the final part of the Fanatical Film focus on the world of Marvel movies it is only fair to look to the bright future and ponder the possibilities of sequels and new heroes to be brought to the fray.
Firstly let us begin with those Marvel heroes who are guaranteed future outings.
One hugely anticipated reboot is The Amazing Spider-Man. Suiting Andrew Garfield as the new webslinger is a real catch; a young actor who is set for big things and who I personally believe will usurp Maguire and unleash a new lease of life for the franchise. Add in the star quality of the irresistible Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy and Rhys Ifans finally bringing inevitable villain Lizard to battle our hero and you have the ingredients for a winning formula.
Also confirmed for further outings in the near future are 2011's go-to heroes in the form of the X Men, Thor and Captain America. With their respective films gaining recognition it is no surprise audiences are demanding more.
Talking of demand, after years of comic book fans screaming for an ensemble movie we finally get The Avengers this year, and what an event it will be. The mouth-watering prospect of a team-up including Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Hawkeye and Black Widow will no doubt draw in the masses. Possibly more intriguing will be the evolution as Loki as a villain, joined by another nemesis likely to be between either Red Skull or the Skrulls. It's safe to say this WILL be the most popular Marvel film of our generation and could raise the expectation bar even higher for future outings.
Swaying away from confirmed future releases there are a number of characters we could (and should) see on the big screen.
A Deadpool movie is a certainty at some point. With Ryan Reynolds stealing the show in Wolverine it's clear he can take on the role of everyone's favourite anti-hero. As one of the very sought after Marvel creations this has the potential to result in one of the best origin films to reach us film fans.
In addition, a huge amount of speculation regarding an Edgar Wright-directed Ant-Man film have circulated for so long now that it is hard to believe this cannot be anything but true. Bringing the likes of the lesser known heroes will be intriguing and the names of Iron Fist, Black Panther and Dr Strange are all possible heroes we could be seeing in years to come.
One thing you can guarantee is that the machine that is Marvel will continue its current reign as comic book movie powerhouse and we have many more years of heroes on the big screen to come.
What Marvel characters do you want to see on the big screen? Let us know!
With the Marvel machine seemingly in overdrive with the anticipation of next year's Avengers I thought it was the best time to look back at the evolution of the Marvel universe on the big screen and cast my views. Please bare in mind I am not a big comic book reader so if some of my views do not couple with those regarding the comics I apologise in advance! Please note: SPOILER ALERTS!!!
Best Marvel films so far - This is a tricky subject, with plenty of stand-out movies spawning from the Marvel world onto the big screen. Since Marvel Studios came into existence, a rise in the superhero genre emerged, with Marvel characters to date appearing in over 20 movies since 1998's Blade. With the majority of the films aiming at a family-friendly market, one could argue that amongst these Blade may be a standout from the crowd simply down to its more grown up attitude and an impressive depiction of the vampire sub-genre.
My personal opinion is that Marvel's finest have come in the form of Iron Man and X2. Iron Man's success is purely down to the duo of Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jnr. Favreau's fantastic direction and clear love for the character helped to bring to screen a thoroughly entertaining and noteworthy superhero to the foray. With regards to X2, the exploration of X Men's finest Wolverine's past was the perfect driving force for the second instalment to couple with the addition of further characters from the comics. Brian Cox as Stryker was a revalation and Jackman's performance clearly shows he was born to play the rabid Wolverine.
Worst Marvel films - Despite a large majority of the Marvel films proving successful there are some that have fallen rightly to the wayside. Most notably Elektra, Punisher: Warzone and X Men: The Last Stand. Admittedly Daredevil wasn't the greatest film but the spin-off Elektra just showed Marvel how blind they could be, with a lacklustre plot, a flat performance from Jennifer Garner and a character nobody was even interested in. Punisher: Warzone suffers an ill fate for many different reasons, most notably the loss of its original figure Thomas Jane, who, despite a less than satisfactory script in the first film, fit the boots of Frank Castle reasonably well. In an attempt to appeal to an older audience the film amped up on the violence and bloodshed but rather than impress through this it actually resulted in a lot of unintentional humour.
Possibly most disappointing of all would have to be X Men: The Last Stand. Building from the finale of X2, Last Stand featured the famous Phoenix story arc, with Jean Grey turning to evil and representing herself alongside Magneto and the Brotherhood. With such a well-known story to fans, expectations were high and, with Brett Ratner behind the camera, all expectations were shattered. Killing off Professor X early in the proceedings provided the first major flaw and this only furthered with some truly awful film-making. Phoenix, a supposedly unstoppable force appears very feeble and is a far cry from what was expected. Couple that with the mutant cure coming into play and some poorly executed action scenes, and you have X Men's worst outing (yes even worse than Wolverine in my opinion!)
2011, an impressive year for Marvel - I think you would have to be a fool to say that Marvel have not excelled with their films this year. With Thor, Captain America and X Men: First Class all presenting themselves in this successful movie year we were witness to the final jigsaw pieces for the Avengers ensemble and a well-timed rebirth of the X Men Franchise.
Thor's success came through a slight doubt cast over Kenneth Branagh's part as director. Judgemental eyes were cast upon this man who had only previously covered historical and Shakespearian pieces but it turned out to be a very bold move from Marvel and paid off kindly. Thor succeeded in bringing the viewer a great insight into the alternate realities of the Thor mythology coupled with some breathtaking scenery. We became immediately accustomed with the main characters and Branagh brought to screen a great relationship struggle between Thor and brother Loki.
Captain America took a slightly different route, with our hero appearing only for the last half of the movie allowing us to get to know Steve Rogers well and like him before he 'suited up' This technique worked well for the Cap and with a villain in Red Skull played by the ever fabulous Hugo Weaving you had a winning combination. With huge emphasis put on the upcoming Avengers movie, Captain America was the final film to bridge the gap to the anticipated ensemble movie of 2012 and did so in a natural and exciting fashion.
It wouldn't be the same for 2011 if X Men: First Class wasn't mentioned. With the X Men franchise flailing after the failures of both the third instalment and the Wolverine movie, a big shift had to be made and thankfully a reboot paid off hugely. Tasking James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender with bringing a young Xavier and Lensherr to screen was a big ask but they passed with flying colours. With all the charisma and acting ability required, the pairing created a truly memorable Marvel movie with a strong supporting cast bringing extra zest to the proceedings. This was the X Men film the fans were waiting for and without doubt it has revitalised the franchise and ensured the X Men won't be leaving the big screen any time soon.
So there you have it, part one of the Marvel film focus. Be sure to check back very soon for part two where I will be talking best and worst characters and future Marvel films.
Special thanks to @Zinematic, @LastFilmSeen, @CharlieDerry and @FilmSamurai for their suggestions on Twitter.
In the lead up to next year's massively anticipated superhero mash-up The Avengers, Marvel have steam-rolled into releasing two further superhero introductions in 2011 in preparation for the big event. captain America is set to be released in the very near future and recently hitting cinemas came the God of Thunder himself, Thor.
We are taken to the realm of Asgard, a wondrous place with magnificent structures, a place ruled by Odin (Anthony Hopkins), an ageing king who is looking to pass over the throne to one of his two sons, over-confident warrior Thor or his older brother Loki. The decision looks to be clear as Thor is dominant on the battlefield along with his trusty followers until his arrogance and recklessness leads to Asgard coming under threat again from previous troublers The Frost Giants. For his actions in releasing more trouble from the enemy, Odin casts Thor out and he is sent to Earth for punishment and is banished from ever returning to his home realm.
On his arrival to Earth, Thor crosses paths with scientist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and her close partners Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis. Together they each share knowledge of each other's worlds but it soon becomes apparent that there is a secret organisation looking to keep the secrets of Thor and his world under wraps, S.H.I.E.L.D.
After establishing that S.H.I.E.L.D are looking out for the good of mankind Thor soon faces a terrifying force that has been unleashed from the realm of Asgard by an evil force and is then challenged to save the people of Earth before all is obliterated. Ultimately this battle to save mankind will be the test for Thor to show he is worthy of being leader of a kingdom.
Kenneth Branagh was an odd choice when a director was first confirmed to produce a feature on Thor, having experienced work in more Shakespearian projects than any action genre films. In essence, though, what seemed like a complete mismatch to the genre has actually been a bit of a blessing. Branagh has shown he can work with the action superhero genre and Thor succeeds in providing an entertaining and ocassionaly humorous Marvel installment.
The realm of Asgard is beautifully presented in all its colourful glory and the storyline, although simple, rolls along at a nice pace, even adding the nice effect of an Avengers tie-in half way through. Chris Hemsworth provides both a great warrior and a convincing first visitor to Earth in the form of Thor and support from Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins and a star turn from Tom Hiddleston as evil brother Loki help to achieve a good thrill ride from start to beginning.
In conclusion Thor is a very good introduction to one of the main Avengers players and without a doubt Marvel has not lost its touch in another fine movie to add to the collection, next up Captain America!
Film rating: 3 stars out of 5
The Lowdown: Another good installment into the Marvel film catalogue, and nicely sets up the Avengers. Two words of advice: Avoid 3D!
