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!
So in the previous article we touched upon the best and worst Marvel movies and looked back at a fabulous 2011 the company is experiencing. Now, stepping into new territory we look at the best and worst villains that have graced our screens, do you agree? Don't forget to leave your comments, I would love to get all your thoughts!
Once again *POSSIBLE SPOILERS*!!
Best Villains
Superhero nemesis' are just important to the films as the heroes themselves and despite a majority of villains portrayed on screen not quite living up to their comic book reputation there have been a few to stand above the rest.
Despite a third film littered with terrible villains, Spider-Man 1 & 2 brought to us two of Marvel's best on-screen villains in the form of Green Goblin and Dr Octopus. Willem Dafoe's Goblin was a fitting character to introduce for the first Spider-Man movie, with Gobby being the one Spidey villain that the majority of viewers had heard of. Admittedly the costume could have been rendered slightly but that aside Dafoe filled the role with poise and utter evil. Grasping the character's evil streak and madness was essential and he personified the fall of Norman Osborn's sanity with ultimate ease.
Following Dafoe's villain would be a tough task but Alfred Molina brought to screen yet another superb Spidey villain in the form of Dr Otto Octavius, a multi-mechanical limbed scientist who fell victim to his own experimental madness. Once again a mad scientist brought to life came to haunt Peter Parker and yet again delivered. Alfred Molina brought not just evil to the role but also a sense of vulnerability with Octavius mourning the death of his wife. And also who can forget that exceptional train fight scene!
Finally a villain who may top them all. A man who truly cannot be forgotten in Marvel's villain list; Magneto. There can be no doubt that a performer such as Sir Ian McKellen is tough to topple as the best on-screen Marvel villain so far. McKellen's Magneto is evil without overstating it, cunning and a great word-smith. It's rare to find such a villain so high up not being played as too evil or sadistic but Magneto on-screen is the perfect nemesis in the X Men saga. His relationship with Professor Xavier is a war of words as opposed to direct action against each other and McKellen's personification of the character gives you a sense of a brilliant minded character whose path has been directed toward the darker side.
With the rebirth of the X Men franchise seemingly in full flow its hard not to mention Michael Fassbender's Magneto. Following McKellen is one of the toughest roles for an actor but Fassbender brings his own unique twist on Magneto without veering to far from the original concept. Showcasing Eric Lensherr's fall from good to evil was a task that Fassbender took to like a duck to water and with the conclusion of First Class resulting in Magneto turning against the X Men we can only hugely anticipate his role as a fully fledged villain in the next film.
Ones to watch - Loki and Red Skull - We all know Loki will return in The Avengers so expect a bigger part from Asgard's most evil and no doubt Tom Hiddlestone will bring the pain with another fantastic performance. Also we can't forget to give a mention to Hugo Weaving's Red Skull who showed us Nazi's are still out there in film land and no doubt we will see him return in a further Captain America adventure in the future.
Worst Villains
Trudging through all the villains that underwhelmed in the Marvel films and picking out a few is difficult as there have been some real clangers. Through the litter here's my picks for the worst.
Now we all know that X Men 3 was utterly dreadful, with a terrible plot, a mixed bag of characters and way too much going on but there was one thing that ruined it the most: Juggernaut. Played by Vinny Jones in possibly the worst role of his life the unstoppable force looked puny and as if he had a boulder moulded onto his head. Look-wise he was shocking and with dialogue such as "I'm the Juggernaut bitch!" he was never going to get a good reception.
Carrying on the lacklustre trend come not one but two villains from the poor Fantastic Four flicks, Dr Doom and Galactus. Doom was present in both the films and failed to make a big impression in either despite being such a huge enemy for the foursome. Julian McMahon attempted to get that evil streak to the character but it never felt genuine and with little in actions from Doom we were left wanting so much more.
Lucky for Doom he wasn't the only poor showing and was clearly usurped for the crown for worst villain in the Fantastic Four films by the planet eater Galactus. Supposedly one of the most evil and relentless forces in the galaxy for the superheroes ended up being a CLOUD..... Enough said!
For my final terrible villain I have what for me was the biggest Marvel big bad flop they could have ever brought to screen, Venom. More iconic than any Spidey villain Venom was reduced to little more than the final third of Spidey's third film and was utterly mis-used. Playing second fiddle to Sandman and Goblin 2 was a mistake for a start and Venom's demise came just as quick as his introduction. If Marvel want to do Venom he must be in a full film as the main threat, not as just a ploy to get the audience to see the film. Biggest waste of a Marvel villain ever.
Special thanks to Twitter folk @LastFilmSeen, @sonicsentry, @FistyFisterson, @Zinematic
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.
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.
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.
After the critics reception to the third X Men instalment and Wolverine, the Marvel franchise needed somewhat of a refresh and this came in the form of an origins story revolving around the main two characters in the X Men Universe, Magneto and Professor X. If ever there were two characters in X Men that needed their pasts delved into it was these two and Matthew Vaughn has made this possible; but is it a story that is worth paying attention to?
Enter the 1960s, John F Kennedy is President, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is on the brink of becoming a professor and Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) is on a path of destruction in order to get to his mother's killer, Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon). When it soon becomes apparent that Shaw and his associates are looking to start World War Three the government reaches out to Xavier to put together a team of mutants to stop humankind's biggest threat.
In pursuit of Shaw, Xavier and the government, including best friend Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), the future Mystique, soon cross paths with Lensherr and, despite his willingness to release his anger at every possible moment, agrees to band together with them to stop Shaw before war is unleashed. A sparkling friendship soon develops between Xavier and Lensherr and a mutant team is banded together in an effort to restore peace.
With Shaw also having his own team of mutants to hand he pushes the boundaries to get what he wants, humankind once again suffering, but not if Xavier and Lensherr have anything to do with it. Once Shaw's plans are unveiled it is full hands to the pump and other mutant heroes, the apprentices of Xavier's school of mutants come to the forefront and the foundations are laid down for the new future of the X Men.
Without a shadow of a doubt the X Men franchise has been re-ignited and is stronger than ever. In a bold move to invigorate new life into the saga, Vaughn has unleashed a fantastically mesmerising film that gives a great insight of two of the great comic book characters.
It is simple to say that he also hit the nail on the head with casting, a charismatic Michael Fassbender leading the way with his superb showing as Erik Lensherr and an equally impressive turn out from James McAvoy as Charles Xavier. Both are convincing in their roles and support from the likes of the excellent Kevin Bacon and rising stars Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult (as Raven and Hank McCoy, respectively) just enhance the viewing pleasure.
The two hours runtime flows seamlessly, with Fassbender commanding each scene with such personality and a great turn from tamed lion to unleashed evil. McAvoy mirrors Patrick Stewart's wise and calculating Professor X down to a t and Kevin Bacon's Sebastian Shaw is a suitably evil nemesis.
As the second Marvel release of the year, First Class easily surpasses the earlier success of Thor and is a clear front runner early in the field for the best superhero movie of the year, better yet Fanatical Film would regard it as the best in the X Men saga, including X2 which was a pure gem. So we know just ask for one more thing, continue the saga with yet again another massively gripping and genre defining sequel.
Film rating: 4 out of 5 stars
The lowdown: Matthew Vaughn has brought to screen a perfect origins story and the great combination of powerful story, superb characters and flowing action make this the superhero movie to beat this year.
