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James Gunn answer to Derrickson’s tweet:

“Really? You’ll be so close. I might have to come see you.”

You can go to cash your wager, my friend…

That trip to San Diego is expensive, I’ll need the extra dough!

YES. Though Larson is also my dream pick for Doreen, I would gladly support her as Captain Marvel as well. <3 I loved her in Short Term 12.

I saw it too, and I gotta say I was really surprised at how great Ant-Man’s showing was. I’m telling people who skipped Ant-Man to watch it before Civil War.

Why are reviews already running for a movie that won’t be released until May 6? By the time I can finally see it, I’ll feel like I’ve already seen it!

Well, George…you could NOT read them..

I only checked this one out, because it said there were not spoilers.

@George: It releases here in Europe next week (27th), so it’s not really very far away.

Superhero movies always open overseas before they open in the U.S. That’s because the “global market” is what really counts today, especially with this kind of movie. The overseas audience can’t get enough of CGI spectacle, and the plot barely matters.

Let’s face it — pleasing the Chinese has become MUCH more important than pleasing Americans (or Canadians, either). The North American market has become a barely noticeable afterthought.

I think George’s definitely right about plot — I find the idea of Thunberbolt Ross lecturing Cap about responsibility laughable. This is the guy who attacked Banner on a university campus, prompting him to turn into the Hulk.. A UNIVERSITY CAMPUS.

That’s not including the recycling of the Avengers plot apparently (villain manipulates heroes into fighting) and the …. third? …. fourth? …. car chase/fight scene we’ve now had (2 in Winter Soldier, 1 in AofU).

Not impressed by the trailers so far, and will be less impressed if critics simply lap these things up without seeing how unimaginative these stories are becoming for the House of Ideas.

trippy, man. real trippy.

Nobody likes the Inhumans. Give up, Marvel.

My big concern is that they are going to swap bullseye and punisher in regards to Elektra.

I’m afraid I’ve had my fill of Bullseye, Kingpin, Elektra, Punisher and Ninjas. I read that stuff in the Frank Miller days (early ’80s) and I still have those issues and cherish them. But I don’t want to read or watch rehashes in 2016.

Mark Waid had the right idea — clearing away some of the darkness and angst, and getting back to the fun of the Stan Lee-Gene Colan days. Ant-Man and Guardians showed there’s an audience for lighter takes on superhero tales. Why can’t it work on TV?

“the television rendering of this character, while very well-acted by Jon Bernthal, fails to match the ferocity and depth of his comic book incarnation.”

Who the hell cares? Since when has the comic character been interesting? Why does the show have to be like the comic?

Is the show, and the character on the show, in and of themselves, worth a damn?

I’d say the Ennis and Aaron versions of the Punisher are very compelling. Even his appearance in Brubaker’s Daredevil was a highlight.

elektra looks like the old bazooka joe bubble gum character, mort, that would pull his red turtleneck over the lower part of his face.

It looks to me like they borrowed Elektra’s costume from Silk. I’m okay with that.

Does that mean they’re changing the movie’s title to Dr. Cumberbatch?

Not since Burt Ward was cast as Bruce Wayne’s ward has a sidekick had a more spot on name.

‘Creature performer’ Brian Steele could play Rintrah: just get his minotaur costume from ‘Your Highness’ and spray-paint it green…

So now the Punisher is a hottie? Why not? :p

I live in a time where all my heroes, from both DC and Marvel are on big screens. This! Is! Paradise!

Well, since the one is streaming and the other will be in theaters, I didn’t see it as much of a showdown in the first place.

Andrew, you’re right. And factor in that many, many more folks will watch the DCU film than will actually watch the second season of Daredevil.

wasn’t sure if they would punk out in making doc strange look the way he looks in the comics, maybe go for a whole new look instead. glad to see they went classic with some added touches to the overall look. coolest accessory? the cloak of levitation.

It’s a little thing but the fact that they tried to get something like the high collar right fills me with confidence about the whole film. There’s no way you can make the comic version work in the real world but that they wanted to try shows me something.

Mike

As someone with little to no interest in the comics character, this is a promising first look.

Reflect on how far we’ve come since those awful first look images of the original X-Men film’s costumes.

CREED is indeed a very good movie. Stallone, who emerges as a nuanced character actor with this film, deserves a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

This actually kinda bums me out.
He’s obviously a talented storyteller who’s been able to carve his own path so far.
It’s a shame to see him sucked up by such a heavy handed studio.

I don’t doubt for a second that a Coogler Black Panther would be a far better movie if it had zero input from Marvel Studios.

That’s not to say Marvel hasn’t churned out some damn entertaining movies, just none that showcase the directors.

Marvel tightened its grip on directors in the 3 years between THE AVENGERS and AGE OF ULTRON — as Joss Whedon learned the hard way. Not even Scorsese or the Coen Brothers would have any power on a Marvel set today.

This Wired article explains that auteurs have no place in today’s franchise-crazy Hollywood. Paramount has patterned its Transformers team explicitly on the writers’ room of a TV series, with a showrunner and a “bible” explaining the characters and even the plot twists. Disney and Warner may not be that extreme, but they’re getting there.

http://www.wired.com/2015/11/building-the-star-wars-universe/

That’s a good piece George, thanks for cluing me into that.

I’ll say this much about Marvel, they don’t make artful films and they certainly haven’t done anything with the same verve and vision as The Dark Knight trilogy. On the other hand, they also haven’t produced outright bombs like Green Lantern. I really dislike Iron Man 2, Thor: The Dark World, and Avengers: Age of Ultron, but those aren’t movies that I’d be actively embarrassed to watch either.

On the other hand, that lack of narrative and visual ambition also just becomes deadly stale after awhile. I guess it just depends on if you prefer the risk or not, I certainly do. Marvel doesn’t seem to. With the former mindset sometimes you’ll get Skyfall and then other times you’ll get Spectre. Of course, I still think it’s only a matter of time before we see the first actively “rotten” Marvel studios production. All good things…

It looks like they’re bringing lots of aspects of the character from the phenomenal run by Priest.

The only part I can’t wrap my head around is why Feige and crew were reluctant to use Panther at first and wanted someone “like” Panther.

Very good post. I absolutely love this website. Stick with it!

I don’t think there’s a multiplex big enough to beat 32 simultaneous screenings. For some time, the largest number of screens under one roof was 20, at Grand Rapids Michigan’s Studio 28 (so-named because of it’s location on 28th Street). This was at the height of the multiplex craze in the 1990s, when more was always better, before cinema attendance started to drop off. (There was talk of expanding to 28 screens – because obvious – but it never happened… and Studio 28 is now just a really big parking lot.) There’s probably a few bigger plexes out there somewhere, but I doubt anyone’s built one that much larger.

Yes… I did some basic research, and there doesn’t seem to be a 32-plex.

AMC does have the Empire 25 in Times Square. Many of the theaters on the top floor are smaller theaters, usually used for screenings and foreign films.

With regard to the 7/8/2016 date, noted as “??? (Was Doctor Strange)”: I believe that’s now held for the Ant-Man sequel, “ANT-MAN AND THE WASP,” the addition of which pushed the BLACK PANTHER and CAPTAIN MARVEL movies to these later-than-originally-announced dates.

Oops, got that wrong!

The Ant-Man sequel is for July 2018, not 2016! To the extent that the 7/8/2016 date may be a hole to be filled in the schedule, I’m not sure if any “nerd-friendly” flick will move to fill the space vacated by DOCTOR STRANGE, or if folks will cede July to things like GHOSTBUSTERS and STAR TREK that have staked out spaces later in that month.

If you look at the present calendar:
Assuming a three year gap in production of sequels…
2019 is full. However, if Captain Marvel or Inhumans is delayed, then a Dr. Strange sequel (2016>>>2019) could be scheduled.
2020 has two possible sequels from 2017 which probably will be scheduled: Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy 3.

What does Marvel have to lose from X-TV?
Ratings. Especially as Marvel grooms the Inhumans to fill that gap in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Although, it does allow Marvel to get more shows on TV, to compete with DC which will have EIGHT series on four different networks during the 2015-16 season. (And another 8-9 in development.)

I liked the Legend series, partly for the great covers, partly because it was self-contained yet told an interesting story.

It was already debunked that Marvel got FF rights back.

I feel that the Frank Miller-inspired Elektra/Bullseye/Kingpin stuff has been done to death, in comics and in a 2003 movie. I’d be more excited if they went back to the lighthearted Stan Lee/Gene Colan comics of the late ’60s. Bring back Mike Murdock, Stilt-Man and Leap-Frog, and I’d be happy.

If Marvel is going to continue with the strategy of putting out as many movies as the market will bear, they’re going to have to release them at times of the year that are traditionally “dead”, and count on audiences to show up anyway.

Yeah, at this point, I’m thinking the old early part of the year vs the summer paradigm is probably out the window. Deadpool might be the start of that.

Kyle, it’s already been happening. The start was probably back in 2007 with 300 opening in March making over $200 million. However, then in 2012 The Hunger Games blew away all records making over $400 million while opening up in March. So yeah, it’s now a thing to open up in the spring knowing there will be less competition.

I guess Ant Man & Wasp have actors & directors all set up, just looking for a script but it still sucks that Captain Marvel was delayed a second time!

Completely agree on Marvel coasting on the Thor franchise, but Hiddleston and Hemsworth do have good chemistry (for whatever thats worth.)

I honestly would call the Hulk the Achilles heel with Thor being a close second.