First Impressions - Marvel: 75 Years, From Pulp to Pop

I settled down to watch this week's episode of AoS when I learned there wasn't one.
That's okay, I told myself. It was only a matter of time before they took a break.
What they aired instead was this - a show about Marvel's history as a company.
So I settled down...and got a headache.
Spoilers after the jump.

You've been warned...

WTF? Fridays...5/17/2013

After closing Wed night, and opening Thurs morning...I have to go in today for 6 AM...?
WTF? man...W...T...F...?





Then there's this...

Good ol' RDJ.

It seems one of the reasons he's been dodging the Iron Man 4 questions lately is that he's holding out for more money...

...for his costars.

That's right.

We know that he made roughly $50 million for The Avengers but did you know Chris, Chris, Scarlett, Mark and Jeremy made considerably less? Well RDJ does, and he's trying to work a better deal for them through negotiations for continuing the role.

That's a pair of brass ones right there...

I hope both sides can come to an agreement, because I like to think of everyone at Marvel as one big happy family.

Yeah, it's delusional, but Disney's had more than their fair share of problems with their public lately...

...so a win here wouldn't hurt.

WTF? Friday...11/2/2012

I was going to spend the day ranting about all things merger...but so many bloggers beat me to the punch.

But I will say this -
* One reason Lucas went with the deal was to prove once and for all he is actually retiring. He's said it before, and many didn't believe him this time...until now.

*Another is that he's going to focuse his attention...and at least 90% of the money he's getting from the deal...to improve education.

I still need time to process this, but at least now it doesn't hurt so much.





AND THE WINNER(S) OF THE WTFN? AWARD GO TO...

...everyone who got dressed up for Halloween. This includes:

Adorkette, who went as the "Ledger Joker"...

...Dwayne Johnson, who went as the Hulk...

...Katy Perry and Shannon Woodward, who went as Jane and Daria...

...and Nathan Fillion, who went as...



                            ...as...




       

OH, JUST GIVE HIM THE F**KING ROLE ALREADY WHEDON!!!!!!

Wow...just...wow...

Yeah...so this happened...but did it really need to?

Okay...so Marvel's hit a snag...

Long story short, the suitcase used by Fury in the movie to hold the Tesseraqct was created by a German luggage company. They gave permission to have said case appear in the film.

However...

What the Germans didn't do was give permission to have said case used as packaging for the Blu-rays, so they're now suing Marvel/Disney.

So Marvel/Disney has a choice - pay them, or don't pay them and change the packaging...which will no doubt delay the release of the box set.

Why the Germans didn't decide to sue once the packaging was revealed over a month ago I have no idea.

Either way, I hope this doesn't affect the release of the regular Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, which is what I was gonna buy anyway.

Yet another Avengers clip makes it online...

...but I haven't watched it yet.

Here's why:

I'm worried about too much being shown before May 4.

Does it seem weird to anyone else that Disney announced it was distributing this movie after their John Carter tanked?

My hope is that Disney learned their lesson and are sloooooly putting small bits out there.

But I still won't watch it.

My growing concerns about Marvel Studios...

While I'm on the subject of The Avengers, I looked into the many, MANY events that took place (needed to take place?) for Marvel Studios to exist and create the awesomeness that is the Marvel Movie Universe.

The shifts in power, the deals, the bankruptcy, the Merrill Lynch loan, the Disney buy-out...

I realize that all good things must come to an end (and according to cinematic history the successful Superman: The Movie does not guarantee a successful franchise). 

So I know that eventually, something will go wrong...

Feige will either retire or be forced out. There will be a significant profit loss. Audience interest will wane. More business-minded people will replace more content-minded people. More fingers get in the pie. More chefs in the kitchen. Disney takes over distribution rights from Paramount...

...Oh, wait, that's already happened.

I'm not sure how to feel about that. My first reaction was panic. Knowing Disney owns Marvel is a lot different from seeing Disney owning Marvel. But I realize that since Disney does own Marvel, they'd want the Marvel Movie Universe to thrive, and make more money - which it did by the way, earning back twice the amount spent on production so far at over $2 billion (that's right, billion...with a "b") - so there's a general sense of encouragement to "not fix what isn't broken".

But my point is that changes take place "behind the movie" all the time - changes that can affect the movie...movie franchise...or movie universe.

So what if they do? What would that mean?

Would that affect the awesomeness of the current Marvel Movie Universe?
No. No more that Superman III affects the awesomeness of Superman: The Movie.

But it would affect all future endeavours. All further developments within the Marvel Movie Universe would be on hold until further notice.

What I'm trying to say is that I need to stop looking at what could happen, and focus on what is happening now. Enjoy the moment.

In other words...sit back and enjoy the show. Which I will...repeatedly...even if it sucks.

Because as long as Hollywood looks to Comic-Con for inspiration (and actually listens to audience feedback), they'll keep working on giving us what we want to see.

And remember, if Hollywood gives us crap we'll make our feelings known through our collective wallets. And silence speaks louder than words.