Thoughts on Ben...

I've mentioned my thoughts about the FF in the MCU (along with Sue specifically) before. This time, it's Ben's turn. I'm presenting this a little differently than with Sue: Character Points define Ben and are to be scattered throughout all four films. Character Arcs describe Ben's development within each film. (Parentheses describe main plots I mentioned with Sue.)

Character Points…

• Ben drops everything for Reed, even when he doesn’t understand what’s going on.
• Ben helps Reed out with something at college.
• Ben has a problem, and Reed helps him.
• Starts out as member of Yancy Street Gang, hates what they do and leader’s motivations. 
• Becomes leader of Yancy Street Gang, through winning a fight, and changes gang’s activities.
• Aunt Petunia raises him after parents die.
• Ben is loyal.
• Ben is driven.
• Ben is determined.
• Ben is tough.
• Ben has a good heart.

Character Arcs…

Movie #1

• Ben is introduced through a phone call from Reed. He needs Ben’s pilot skills on a moment’s notice, and Ben drops what he’s doing to go without even needing an explanation regarding why. 
• Ben meets Sue and Johnny. He can tell that Reed loves her, and that’s all he needs to know. Johnny’s a pain in the ass that he tolerates for Reed and Sue’s sake.
• Ben’s skills save their lives as they crash land. Their powers manifest for the first time, and Ben turns to stone. He leaves the others and goes off alone.
• Reed, blaming himself for Ben, reminisces about their relationship from how they met to their Ben’s comment at graduation: “Reed, if you ever build that starship of yours, I’ll fly it for ya.”
• Ben, unsure about his life, reminisces about the same time period from his perspective. He meets Reed as a freshman on a football scholarship. They’re roommates. Reed’s work keeps him up one night and Ben asks why Reed’s so focused on “all this science stuff”. Reed replies that science, like guns, can be used for good or evil, and at times has done terrible things (Nuclear War, Privacy Invasion, Sokovia and the like). Reed’s passion for science is based on his desire to use it “to make things better. For everyone.” This statement resonates in Ben, and he gains respect for Reed’s determination. Kinda reminds him of himself.
• They remain roommates in Ben’s Sophomore year, and he gets injured on the field. He’s in the campus hospital when Reed comes in. Ben has just talked with his Aunt Petunia and without the scholarship he’d have to leave school. Reed ponders for a moment and asks if Ben’s considered joining the ROTC. That would allow him to stay in school as well as give him a job after graduation. Ben, who’s been a fighter all his life, agrees and winds up joining the USAF. 
• Flash forward to graduation, and Ben’s comment.
• Ben realizes that Reed was there for him when he needed help. As a test pilot for the Air Force, Ben’s used to putting his life on the line...for science. Reed’s been part of his life without Ben even knowing it. He doesn’t blame Reed for what’s happened, but he knows that with everything that’s happening he needs Reed - and Reed (along with Sue and Johnny) will need him.
• Ben returns to the others and tells them he’s going by the name Thing now - a nod to what Reed said in college.

Movie #2 (Sue’s pregnant, Namor Doom and Franklin are introduced)

• In this one, we learn about Ben’s youth. He starts out idolizing his older brother. When their parents die, the two are raised by their Aunt (Petunia) and Uncle on Yancy Street. Ben’s brother joins, and is leader of the Yancy Street Gang when Ben joins. There’s a massive street fight, and Ben’s brother is killed. It’s at this point (with Aunt Petunia’s guidance) that he decides to become the next leader and change their purpose from intimidation to protection. Ben has to fight the current leader for the job - a kid much bigger and stronger than him. (again, Ben’s around 12 at this point). Ben’s beaten pretty bad, but his love for his brother, his support from his Aunt, and his conviction that what he wants for the gang is right gives him the strength to win. Ben beats his opponent, but doesn’t kill him. His performance is enough to convince the rest of the gang to follow Ben in this new direction. This establishes the foundation his character and why Ben is the person he is (and why the cosmic rays made him a rock-solid Thing). 
• We also learn that, in a way, Johnny reminds him of his brother - explaining their love/put-up-with-ness of their relationship.

Movie #3 (Malice is the enemy)

• Enter Alicia Masters This film introduces and explores Ben’s relationship with Alicia. Maybe Puppet Master shows up? But, with Sue as the main protagonist, Ben’s affection for her is clearly different from his feelings towards Alicia.

Movie #4 (Galactus)

• Other than fighting Galactus and Silver Surfer, for the survival of Earth, Ben’s big arc in this one is that his rocky form mutates (thanks to either Galactus, or Surfer’s “power cosmic”).

You'll note that I haven't mentioned CGI vs Live-Action SFX for his look. It should be a suit.

1. There's already 2 fully CGI characters in the MCU (Hulk and Rocket) so adding a third would be a little much.
2. It would be cheaper in the long run.
3. If prosthetics could make Tim Curry seven feet tall with super-hero arms in Legend, they can make Ben look as tall, or as big, as they wanted - regardless of who they cast in the "suit".

Thoughts on the FF (and Sue) in the MCU...

I came up with a whole bunch of thoughts about the FF and the MCU that I waned to post somewhere to get them out of my head and documented in the off chance I get things right. I mean, it's worked before...

First of all, I've been a big believer that the entire Marvel Universe (in comics) stands on four pillars:
* The Avengers
* Spider-Man
* The Fantastic Four
* The X-Men

Every single person, place and thing Marvel ever published can be brought back to one of these in less than six degrees of separation. To me, the same can be said about the MCU. Once Marvel Studios/Disney has the rights to all four, they're golden.

Two down, two to go...

Second, I know that I'm assuming the FF will replace Avengers as the "anchor" of the next several phases of the MCU, but I think it's a safe bet. 

I started thinking about how the FF would be portrayed within the established MCU. (Note that I said portrayed, not introduced.) And Sue was the first person that came to mind. 

Okay. I'm done with the setup. Here's how I think her powers, and character arc would go...

MOVIE #1:

* The first manifestation of her powers would be an invisible bubble.

One of the cheesiest things about Sue from the Tim Story FF films was that her powers defaulted to making her invisible (so she'd have to get naked to sneak past people). 

Here, the 'default' would be making everything around her invisible - herself, her clothes, whatever she's holding, the chair she's sitting in...maybe even the entire room she's in. This would also fit in with her personality/character at this time. She's smart, but unsure of herself and how the world would "see" her. Plus, while expensive, the special effect of a bubble of invisibility moving around would be AWESOME.

* The bubble would shrink as her control grew.

Her focus would be on pulling that bubble in; from the room, to the immediate vicinity, to just herself...clothes and all...until we see her make her hand turn visible one layer at a time: bone, blood, muscle and finally skin. She'd be able to make the cup she's holding invisible so you could see the liquid inside it, and make things on the other side of the room invisible without touching them.

* Her ability to generate force fields would come from battle.

Regardless of the villain, (Impossible Man perhaps?) the final battle would cause her to protect her teammates (and herself) from attack. Her instinctive reaction would be to defend, and she'd generate her first shield. That, along with her developed ability to make Reed, Ben and Johnny invisible at will, would be her contributions to their victory.

* She becomes the 'mother' of the family.
As in the books, the FF are a family. As such, Sue takes on the "motherly" role. She's the keeper of the peace and the glue that keeps the family together.

* She and Reed would marry by movie's end.

Even if it meant flashing forward six to ten months. They're an established couple at the beginning of the movie, and there's so much going on that there wouldn't be much drama between them. He's a busy scientist and she gets it. 

MOVIE #2:
* Sue's pregnant.
The second movie starts with Sue expecting their first child. She's about 8 months along.

* Franklin is born.
This of course brings the family even closer together.

* Enter Namor.
Aquaman proved this could be done. While the antagonist of MOVIE #1 doesn't matter in this discussion, Namor must appear here. It could be his first appearance, or he could have his own film first. Either way, he comes to the surface, is immediately smitten by Sue and attempts to kidnaps her. 

* Sue fights back. Hard.
Namor surprises her, but as a new mother her instincts move beyond protecting. She's a momma bear and will fight hard to defend her child. Instead of invisible shields and containers, Sue creates weapons: balls, spikes, daggers, knives, darts. Her creativity moves her to attack more and defend less. She becomes stronger, meaner and more dangerous but all in the name of love for her child. This brings back the 'mother' role from MOVIE #1 but she's become much more of a badass.

* Namor takes Franklin.
This pushes Sue over the edge. She wants her son back and will do what is needed to do so.

*Enter Doom.
Dr. Doom is revealed to be working with/controlling Namor (supporting the thought that he gets his own film first). It turns out he needed Franklin to rescue Doom's mother from wherever.

* Sue saves the team.
While attempting to rescue Franklin, the team is separated and trapped. Sue becomes stronger than anticipated and frees herself. Then finds her way to the others and unites them in the final fight. Sue would end the fight...by making Doom's mask invisible and showing him his reflection.

* Enter Malice.
The post-credit scene shows Sue possessed by the entity known as Malice. While this may be what made Sue so tough, it would be better if her strength is what drew Malice to her.

MOVIE #3:

* Tension grows between Reed and Sue.
Reed's spending way too much time in his labs, and Sue's getting pissed.

*Sue/Malice becomes the antagonist.
This movie deals with Sue's possession and how the guys figure out a way to stop her without killing her. With Franklin's help, they succeed.

* Enter the Negative Zone.
This could be where Malice came from, thanks to Reek f**king about in his labs.

* Enter Silver Surfer
The post-credit scene is most definitely Norrin Radd's first appearance. He arrives on Earth. That's it.

MOVIE #4:
* Enter Galactus.
This is what everything's been building up to. 

Now, with the FF films serving the same purpose as the Avengers films, there would be other films throughout these phases. Maybe Ben helps out Project Pegasus and we get Marvel Boy/Quasar. Maybe we meet the Inhuman Royal Family (for real this time) and they move to the Moon. Maybe Uatu teaches us about the Watchers. Maybe Black Panther shows up in Black Panther 3. Maybe we get the Savage Land, Ka-Zar, Zabu and Shanna the She-Devil. Maybe we get the Microverse. Maybe Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny each get their own film?

Silver Surfer, however, would definitely get his own film after MOVIE #3 to set up his backstory, and it would end exactly the same way MOVIE #3 ends - with his arrival on Earth.

So those are my thoughts. What are yours?

In Marvel Studios I Trust...

My Infinity War Prediction...

Here's the deal:

In the comics, Infinity Gauntlet began when Thanos used said device to kill half of the Earth's population (in an effort to "court Death". Get it?)

So it makes sense to me that this will take place in the final minutes of the film.

So who gets the cut? Here's my list:

• Pepper 
• Rhodey
• Bruce Banner
• Jane Foster
• Dr. Selvig
• Sif 
• Wanda 
• Hawkeye
• Coulson
• Mack
• Fitz
• Cap
• Sharon Carter
• Aunt May
• Scorpion
• Gamora
• Rocket, and
• Cassie Lang

Now, I don't think these are the only people to disappear. I'm sure a list will appear with names of characters"yet to be seen" - like Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm - but all the characters on my list have a legitimate reason to vanish from the MCU. Here are my reasons:

Pepper and Rhodey have to go so Tony has a personal reason to go toe-to-toe with Thanos. Tony's seen the future, and it rattled him immensely. But something has to make him take control of that fear as that future comes into existence. Pepper and Rhodey's absences would do it. It would also allow for another person to don some Iron Man Armor. No, not Happy, I'm talking about the kid from Iron Man 3...

Bruce Banner will go for no other reason than to reduce SFX costs. Plus, it would allow another character to be brought into the MCU - Bruce's cousin. Jennifer Walters.

Jane Foster, Dr. Selvig and Sif will go in order to give Thor a personal interest in the war. Plus, it keeps Sif in the story without actually needing to bring Jaimie Alexander back. This could lead to the introduction of the Olympians. And their champion. What was his name? Oh yeah. Hercules.

Wanda and Hawkeye's disappearances would mean personal interests for both Vision and Black Widow, respectively. Also, with Wanda "dead" there's the possibility she could bring her brother back. As for Hawkeye, we'd get to see his family again and the price the families of these heroes pay (more on that in a bit).

Wouldn't it be cool to have Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. tie-in with the movies more directly again? It would be SO cool to see Yo-yo save Mack, Simmons save Fitz, and EVERYONE save Coulson. It would also allow Coulson's "return to life" explain his continued existence to the rest of the Avengers.

Why Steve Rogers? How else could Bucky Barnes become the new Captain America? 

Why Sharon Carter? So she can bring Peggy back with her.

Peter would freak the s#!t out if he lost Aunt May on top of Uncle Ben. (I just hope Ben stays dead!)

As for Scorpion, when he returns, he'd come back a free man. Making him the villain in Spider-Man: Homecoming 2.

Gamora has to go because Nebula was a major factor in Thanos' defeat in the comics. For the film, that would mean she'd have to betray her father (whom she supposedly supports) to save her adopted sister (whom she supposedly hates). Talk about a cool dynamic.

Rocket's absence would force the remaining Guardians to make sure everyone carries tape. Even Groot Jr.

And finally, Cassie Lang. She was one of, if not the only, driving forces that helped Scott become Ant-Man in the first place in the comics and the biggest reasons he wants to stay out of trouble in the MCU. But, since the events of Captain America: Civil War made him a prisoner at The Raft, his chances of ever seeing Cassie again are pretty damn slim. Maggie would keep Scott away from her if he ever got out...unless she was one of the vanished. If she lost Cassie, and found out that Scott was fighting to bring her back, that would open up their whole relationship. (And I've heard about what eventually happens to Cassie in the comics. I don't care. That was a dick move Marvel.)

So there you have it. Quite a rant after such an absence I know.

In Marvel Studios I Trust

Monday Movie Roundup...11/6/2017

Uhh...mornin'?

Okay, okay. Let's get to it:

 How'd it do?

Thor:Ragnarok made just over $427 million worldwide opening weekend, with $121 million of it from the States.

You said it Snowball.

 

Within the MCU, that puts it solidly at #15.

(Can you believe there's been 17 MCU films since 2008? That's less than 10 years ago!) 

Anyways...

...at fifteenth place (so far)Thor:Ragnarok has already made more than Captain America:The First Avenger but is about $22 million behind Thor.

Meanwhile...at the Halls of Justice...

T:R is roughly $241 million behind the DCEU's least profitable film: Man of Steel.

(for now, heh...heh...heh...)

Have a good week Pepe!

Monday Movie Roundup...5/15/2017

Is it Monday again? Already?

Okay...

GotGv2 made an additional $63 million in the U.S. over the weekend, bringing its total domestic gross to over $246.1 million. Everywhere else, it's brought in more than $384.4 million. This brings the worldwide total past the $ 630.5 million mark.

That puts it ninth within the MCU franchise - more than Iron Man 2, but less than Thor: The Dark World. It has about another $144 million to go to beat the original Guardians.

As for the other franchise...

GotGv2 is a mere $39 million away from their third place finisher - Man of Steel.

Have a good week Pepe!

MCU Character Review: Red Skull - Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

My knowledge of the Johann Schmidt Red Skull (created by Joe Simon, France Herron and Jack Kirby) is disgustingly limited. 

I know, I know, but you gotta understand - 

I didn't truly start collecting comics until the eighties. By the time my collecting got into full swing, Red Skull kept showing up as either a copycat, clone or "intelligence-transferred" android. As a result, I knew of the character, but I hadn't read many of his early appearances. But I was lucky...

...#296 was my first Captain America comic.

Schmidt (or is it 'Shmidt' now?) was there, albeit in shadow, and went on about his lifelong hatred and admiration of a man who - despite being aged through potions and poisons - "refuses to acknowledge defeat, even when it is tattooed upon his own flesh". Speaking of flesh,

it wasn't until #297 that I got to see Schmidt's face.

His real face, when he was close to the end of his days...the first time around.

Then came #298.

It was an (arguably the) origin story. It may have been a re-telling of an earlier one, but it was his story, told to Cap, by Schmidt himself. It referenced previous events mentioned in Tales of Suspense, included his meeting Hitler while a hotel bellhop and glossed over his earlier encounters with Captain America. 

Which matches up with his OHOTMU entry.

The issue ended with Schmidt gearing up for a final battle with his long-time nemesis...

...two issues later.

Meanwhile,

#299 had Schmidt reveal to Steve that the poisons that had aged him were also killing him. Schmidt even blew up his own mansion (with Steve's friends - and Schmidt's daughter - inside) just to egg Steve into one last fight. Which they did.

To. The. Death. Steve survived (natch) but Schmidt actually died. 

No. Really. Wanna know how I know?

Because OHOTMUDE said so.

To this day I have yet to read any of the "Cosmic Cube" stuff,

 but I got his first appearance (and not that Maxon phony's),

for twenty bucks.

Summing up my knowledge of Johann Schmidt, he...

• was born to a peasant couple in Germany. His mother died in childbirth, and his father was abusive and would have killed his infant son if the visiting doctor hadn't saved him.
• grew up an orphan...until he ran away, and learned everything about life while sneaking, stealing and hiding.
• discovered he loved killing people after his first murder - a young, kind woman Schmidt forced himself on.
• became a bellhop...somehow...and met Hitler - who took Schmidt under his personal tutelage to become "the perfect soldier".
• stormed Europe, killed lots of people and decided he should rule instead of Hitler.
• was eventually stopped by Cap.
• went into suspended animation.
• got better.
• became a HYDRA leader.
• caused more death and destruction.
• got a Cosmic Cube.
• lost it.
• had a daughter in there somewhere.
• set up this "death-match" with Captain America.
• died.

So, how'd Marvel Studios do?

1) Casting

HUGO! F**KING! WEAVING!

Who else could have played Red Skull? I admit that my knowledge of talented actors capable of portraying such an iconic character is as limited as my knowledge of the character himself, but if you told me back in 1994 that the guy from The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert would one day play Johann Schmidt, I'd have smacked you. Hard. 

But he knocked it out of the park.

(sorry...)

I haven't been able to find out, but I'd love to know how they got him to do it, especially with his apprehension of returning to the role. I guess in a way I can understand it: he's been Agent Smith, Elrond and Megatron by this point. Having to commit to yet another returning character may have simply been too much. (But he did return for Happy Feet 2. Huh.) 

His work on this film earned him nominations for "Best Villain" at the 2011 Scream Awards, and "Choice Movie: Fight" along with Chris Evans at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards.

2) Wardrobe

While Ryan Meinerding did preliminary concept art, the final design was created by Charlie Wen, who was the Visual Development Supervisor for this film.

Tell me that's not badass.

Wen also referenced authentic Nazi uniforms to give the outfit enough gravitas while having it's own HYDRA look.

Anna B. Sheppard was the costume designer for the entire cast, and used Schmidt's original Nazi uniform (from the beginning of the film) as the basis for Red Skull's final look.

Again - tell me that's not badass.

Not surprisingly, Sheppard earned a 2012 Saturn Award nomination for "Best Costumes".

3) Script

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely co-wrote the screenplay. You may have heard of these guys - they wrote both Captain America sequels AND are writing both parts of Infinity War - so they know their stuff, and they knew Red Skull...to a point.

• Schmidt worked for, and eventually separated from, Hitler's Third Reich. He became disillusioned of Hitler's leadership and saw himself as the rightful ruler of the world after winning the war, to the point of adding Berlin to his map.
• He also used HYDRA as a mean to this end...but they never stated in the film that he actually created HYDRA, which was clever.
• The Cosmic Cube (despite being replaced by the Tesseract and containing the Space Gem Stone) was used by Schmidt to aid in his plan to take over the world. 

But this Red Skull was also significantly different from my Red Skull.

• Schmidt never struck me as a religious person in the books. To my knowledge, he never believed in gods - Asgardian or otherwise. 
• We're never told of Schmidt's life prior to joining HYDRA, but I guess that's a good thing? Since we haven't been told what Movie Schmidt's childhood was like, we can't compare/contrast it to Comic Schmidt's childhood. And since we don't know that...
• ...we have no idea how he was recruited in the first place. But seeing a young Schmidt as a hotel bellhop on screen would have been cool.
• As for the 'suspended animation and got better' part of it, my belief is that all of the Tesseract's destructive power (derived from the Space Gem Stone remember) is based on some form of transportation/teleportation. Every thing and every one hit by that stuff just went somewhere else in an explosive manner. Therefore, Schmidt (along with all the soldiers and buildings and equipment and stuff) are stuck elsewhere until they're most likely found by the Guardians of the Galaxy in GotG Vol. 2...or 3.
• I also liked the idea of Comic Schmidt having a child, and a daughter to boot. One thing DC does way better than Marvel is the continuation of a character's legacy through the use of a different character (such as Starman, Green Lantern and even Batman). I get why Markus and McFeely (man what an unfortunate name...) didn't bring that up in this film, but it would have been nice to see Schmidt's offspring further down the line (*cough* Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. *cough*).

In any event, Markus and McFeely (along with director Joe Johnston) rightfully earned a 2012 Hugo Award nomination for "Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form", as well as a 2012 Bradbury Award nomination.

4) Special Effects

There are rumors around the interwebs saying that the makeup is the main reason behind Weaving's decision not to reprise the role. I don't buy it. 

Granted, aside from the bottom row of fake teeth, it took about 3 and-a-half to 4 hours to put on. But that's nowhere near the amount of time it took (takes) Rebecca Romijn and Jennifer Lawrence. Plus he got to sit in a chair while they worked on his face (as opposed to his entire body). My point is that while uncomfortable, the process wasn't unbelievably so. Moving on...

The prosthetics were designed by David White and sculpted by Shaune Harrison. 

It consisted of 7 interlocking pieces made of silicon (as opposed to the more often used foam-latex) which made a huge difference. It gave the face a luminosity that foam-latex lacks, which added to the "supernaturally scientific" look. Also, the silicon was able to be wafer-thin in places (which Weaving really liked), allowing him to emote more that he otherwise could in foam-latex.

Which is another reason why I call bulls#!t on the rumors.

As for the look, it does seem like a cross between...

...and...

 ...but - you gotta understand:

This is Red Skull. 

He has a red skull.

Well okay, it was a mask in the beginning,

 

but it was an iconic mask. 

And there's no way Weaving (or anyone else for that matter) could have acted nearly as well under an actual mask. So I didn't mind. But Marvel Studios didn't stop at the makeup.

They used CGI to enhance it.

Christopher Townsend was the Visual Effects Supervisor and oversaw the effects of removing Weaving's actual nose, smoothing out his neck and thinning his face. 

Giving us the "final" look.

Townsend's efforts here (along with the work on "Skinny Steve") resulted in a nomination for "Best Special Effects" at the 2012 Saturn Awards, which he shared with Visual Effects Producer Mark G. Soper and Special Effects Supervisor Paul Corbould.

Nothing makes me happier than seeing a comic book character respectfully brought to the screen. It takes a lot of hard work from a lot of people, but when done well,

it's done really, really, really well.