Is it a musical Spider-Man video game?
"Swing-Star" mayhaps?
Arachnid-Hero?

If they don't cast someone with a beard in that Thor movie, I am going to go around to everyone at Marvel Enterprises that has any kind of decision-making power, and personally kick each of them in the balls.

Spider-Man: The Musical, featuring music by Bono and the Edge, at last report.

Which, even speaking as an avid U2 fan, sounds, um, interesting to me at best. Trying to stay positive. That Batman cartoon theme wasn't bad.

@braak: You're really fixated on the beard.

Kevin McKidd please.

@moff: And "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me," obviously was genius.

I'm saying Thor should be updated, more covert. The beard is fine, as long as there's no food in it. I wonder if the Christian Right will protest Thor?

Spider-Man the musical can only be better than the Spider-man movies.

Unless they cast Tobey maguire again.

I've been so comic happy since Iron Man. What I loved most was that it wasn't just an Iron Man origin film, it was a Marvel Universe origin film. Don't blow it Marvel, you're doing great so far. I don't even want to hear the name Mark Steven Johnson.

And DC... since clearly people "get it" now... Can we get rolling on a Bale Routh Justice League film?

@PVIII: I like that. With Ray Stevenson as the Punisher and him as Thor they could have a little Rome Reunion.

@Jeff-Minor: Why?! Thor is basically Power Jesus what with being the son of God on earth and all that. Although I could see Jesus being a little nervous around big old-timey hammers.

How do you make Thor an interesting and relatable character?

@The Blow Leprechaun:
We are just going to ignore you.

The musical? It better be like Evil Dead: the Musical, if not, that's pretty dumb...

I don't know how it is for other non-USAns, but over here Captain America has never really been particularly popular AFAIK (certainly not to me). I fear he might not be that interesting because of the very strong cultural/patriotic connection, that might be seen as alienating to foreigners, and thus it might not be too successful abroad. Not that that matters much today, where the American movie market is still the most important, and anyway, I'm just thinking out loud. Then again, flicks with American heroes kicking ass and saving democracy are always popular across the board, so I might be completely wrong. I still speculate that this particular character might be too much, though.

Also, Thor is not that popular in Norway, for obvious reasons (again to do with cultural bias, of course: to see the archetypal hero of our proud, albeit not so cuddly, heritage fighting for The American Way tend to put people off). Now, that will NOT affect sales much, as there are less than five million people here (and about 9 in Sweden, and 6 in Denmark, IIRC), but I, for one, would rather go see Ant-Man, especially if the film really delved into sinister character exploration.

But still, I want to see Avengers (virtual non-interest in Cap notwithstanding), and if the price I have to pay is that Cap and Thor make it, well, I'll suck it up and pay my 85 kroner...

Just as long as Captain America doesn't have fake ears glued onto the side of his mask again...

Thor has the potential to be an excellent film, especially if they go with Kevin McKidd like PVIII said.

Thor will not be an origin story, it is the story of parapalegic who realizes his true identity as a Norse God. I can see some excellent human drama as a result of this unique situation.

@BloggyMcBlogBlog:
The same way they did in the comics - Dr. Stephen Donaldson.

I'm sorry, I must have missed the part when Thor became awesome. When was that exactly?

Correction - Dr. Donald Blake.

@jbq: My suspicion is that while there would be a fair amount of America-fuck-yeahin' in a Cap movie, it would emphasize the ideals he's always represented ("the Dream," if you will) more than straight-up location-specific jingoism. That's my hope, anyway. I think it'd be really, really cool if the story pitted him against the U.S. government in some way, forcing him to defend liberty and justice for all, regardless of where they live.

Of course, that version of the movie may not be quite as pertinent in two years, God willing.

@DarkPlaces: When he added a fifth Chest Dot and crushed your mortal head with Mjolnir.

@moff: Yeah, no worries, I'm just thinking aloud, as I said. I can really see the movie working if it's a period piece (i.e. WWII), and certainly if contrasting it with Cap in modern-day Avengers. Let's just say that I'm one of those guys they'll have to try selling it to, as opposed to how Iron Man, Spider-Man and Batman just roped me in (although Spidey lost me along the way).

The title sort of implies WWII-ness, what with it's "The First Avenger"-add-on, don't you think? And despite what I've said, I enjoyed the Dolph Lundgren-version, for it's cheesiness and 80's action awesomeness. But it didn't make me want to pick up the comic book.

@DarkPlaces: Big hammers, lightning, beards and winged helms. What's not to like?

Varlets! Thou wouldst argue upon the merits of the son of Odin? Verily thy foolish prattle is worthy of only Loki's cur like followers.

Go to My film, lest Mighty Mjolnir turn you into chunky salsa.

As for a cap film, only if it's a 1940s epic which ends with him 'dying' in the high arctic and the Avengers film begins with discovering him in the ice.

@jbq: SPOILER SPOILER

Based on the Nick Fury scene post credits, they're assembling the Avengers in modern day so I think it'll be a Modern Captain America, though it could be a longer history. They will have to have some WWII in it and then just thaw him out now. I think it'd be brilliant having a patriotic Nazi Fightin guy thaw out post 9-11 and saying WTF?! Basically all the stuff Marvel has been doing in the comics.

Oh and Dolph was the Punisher, I don't know who the hell was Cap in that flick.

Did the io9 staff just experience a temporal phenomena?

As in a shift to April 1st?

@Garrison Dean, King Awesome: Captain America of the Rubber Ears was Matt Salinger, son of reclusive author J.D. Salinger.

..and now you know!

@bigswingdaddy: You're shitting me. I saw on IMDB that it was a guy named Matt Salinger, but didn't put two and two together.. interesting. And then the new Captain America is being directed by the son of John Cassavetes.. the code is real.

Thanks for that nugget.

@Garrison Dean, King Awesome: No worries. I am a river of useless trivia.

seriously though... he had *rubber ears*

Okay, am I the only one who's really freaking excited about the Avengers movie? I have a soft spot for team-up films.

If they could rope Tobey Maguire into reprising Spider-Man, that would be awesome too.

@Aethyr:

I'm excited about the Avenger movie as well, but I would be so much happier if they could replace that bucket of actors from the Spiderman moives. It's just not working for me. Especially Tobey Maguire and Kristen Dunst. Worst chemistry ever

@MickyK: I dunno, I think it would be far cooler and appealing to use the actors that established the roles - it makes the idea of a team-up more exciting.

Much like the JLA movie. It's just not the same unless they get Christian Bale and Brandon Routh in it.

@Aethyr: dear god i hope they can the cast of the spider man films. casting was a chief reason i didn't much care for them, besides the story being mangled. tobey didn't have the sarcastic quip powers spidey needs IMO. and i'd prefer not to see kirsten dunst in anything.... ever.

I have long had an inexplicable love of Captain America, or possibly just his neat blue costume, so I'm glad to see him finally getting a (presumably) decent movie. I usually end up being skeptical about every single superhero movie right after it's announced, but... I'm skeptical about this one. How can they make Cap work?

I guess they managed to make the X-Men and Spiderman work, so I shouldn't doubt too much, but still... WHAT ABOUT DAREDEVIL?!

I'm sure there has to be a Nick Fury movie in the pipeline somewhere. After all, they did introduce SHIELD in the Iron Man movie.

I sometimes think that today's comics are tomorrow's soap operas. I can just imagine in 20 years all the folks at the Senior Center watching Iron Man and all the kids are wondering what the hell they see in that stuff.

Re: Thor- They could give him some really human trait to round him out- maybe flatulance?

@hellers1155: And, uh, they did introduce Nick Fury in the Iron Man movie. I doubt he'll get his own movie for a while, if ever, though. I imagine he and SHIELD will just be a common thread throughout all the Avengers-related movies.

@moff: I have very specific demands when it comes to Thor.

@Garrison Dean, King Awesome: Alternately, what if Captain America was all WWII, and the Avengers movie began with the part where they thaw out Captain America?

Oh, goody. Lots of films to match the zeitgeist.

*sigh*

More X-Men, please. Now with no Ratner.

@hellers1155: Re: Thor- They could give him some really human trait to round him out- maybe flatulance?

Thor, god of thunder...ous farts!

@braak: Oh, I was wondering what had happened to you since 1987. But I think it's cool that you haven't changed.

This is why I am not excited about the Thor movie. I saw this on the Thor wiki and followed up.

[www.dailyherald.com]

@hellers1155: The norse gods eat a LOT of sausage. Flatulence is pretty much a given.

Probably those thunderbolts will take care of it though.

@Priam: WTF was that???

Ah. Ok. google answered it.
[www.imdb.com]

Lisa Rinna's pretty hot. I'm not sure that makes up for the movie, but she is.

"Relax kid, I'm just blowing smoke up your hoo ha"????

I never really dug the Nick Fury / SHIELD storylines. Kind of stereotypical. Maybe I missed some good stuff.

@It'stheRooo: Ellen Page won an Oscar. Any bets on a Kitty Pride movie?

DeadPool. Nuff said

@Garrison Dean, King Awesome: Yeah, my bad. I actually woke up this morning and thought about it, then went on IMDB before I came back here :-P And who'da thunk it was JD Salinger's kid? I wonder if ol' JD would have liked it more than he did Indiana Jones?

@braak: That's what I was thinking

@Priam

you know whats really scary about Hasselhoff as Nick Fury?

He actually looked like him!?!??! lol

add that to your strange but true file...

@darcymcgee

Thats because you probably never read the original Jim Steranko versions.

lol, People forgot about that one? It's a stinker.

No one is commenting on the Thor movie being written as Thor: Violent blond haired Jesus. C'est la vie.

Thor is not Jesus. Thor is part of a pagan system that Christianity says is bad. Very bad. I happen to like Thor: love the hammer, love the hair, love the shoes. It's all there.

Wow...only thing that could top this is a McGyver movie, or maybe if some shirtless pot-head was going to star as Captain America? Looks like Hollywood is going to play out the new found comics credibility very quickly, with every piece of crap license they can buy up for cheaps. Only way Thor MIGHT be intriguing is if it was a Mike Mignola vision, but the franchises are all going to get locked down now (in case something might make money) and that kind of outside the lines will never happen.

It all makes sense now. That out of character emo dance scene in Spider-Man III? It was a sign pointing the direction of things to come.

@jbq: It just might be like Evil Dead: the Musical, actually... Sam Raimi is tied to both Evil Dead and Spider-Man.

@braak: As well you should, braak -- Thor rocks. Beard or not, you should go around and kick some of those decision-makers at Marvel, anyway... the movies have been pretty decent, but their comics have been teh suck the last few years.

@darcymcgee: Ellen Page was nominated for an Oscar. She did not win.

@beelzebuddha: Sure, but he's got nothing to do with the ED-musical. Here's hoping he's not involved in this one either! :-D

@BadThingUS: Thank god for that. I can play myself in every movie I'm in too...which is none right now.

@DarkPlaces: That would be in the new series, issue 3. I was never a Thor fan as a kid but Straczynski changed that.

@BloggyMcBlogBlog: Thor doesn't have to be interesting and relatable. He just has to kick ass. Honestly Loki is far more interesting of a character. If you throw in Ragnarok and the inevitability of fate Thor doesn't have to be more then a pawn until he realizes he's been had like Shadow in American Gods.

Ok, people, mark your calendars.

May 5, 2011

The date Marvel will resurrect Steve Rogers...

They should just turn the first issue of the Ultimates into a Cap movie. Cap is so fucking badass in that series. Millar's really, v3 is up in the air for now....