Marvel Superheroes
Welcome to the Marvel Cinematic and Comic Universe, exploring all things superhero and villain. Excelsior!
The Marvel Cinematic Universe 80s Style...Part One!
It's January 2nd, 1984 and Terms of Endearment is the number one movie at the US Box Office. Return of the Jedi was the biggest movie of the last year and the rest of the year will see movies like Ghostbusters, The Terminator,Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom & Beverly Hills Cop hit theaters.
Rob TaylorPublished 6 years ago in Geeks- Top Story - July 2018
Another 10 Properties Marvel Can Turn into Great Franchises
Back on July 4, I submitted a list of what I believed to be the top ten Marvel properties that Marvel Studios could turn into successful franchises. Since that was my most successful article, I decided to make a sequel to it. Now, like most sequels, this article was not asked for, nor was it necessarily wanted, and it probably won’t be as good as the original article, but I’m making it anyway. This time, I’ve included some characters associated with the Fantastic Four and X-Men, but like last time, I didn’t add them specifically to the list, given the inevitability that we’ll see them enter the MCU as new franchises. And with that, I present you with number 10:
Zack KrafsigPublished 6 years ago in Geeks Steve Ditko's Vision of Eternity in Dr. Strange
Steve Ditko will be remembered most for co-creating Spider-Man and Dr. Strange with Stan Lee (and may deserve more of the credit than Lee, depending on who you ask). He drew some of the most loved Spider-Man stories but some of the absolute best Dr. Strange stories. That's rare for creators—most later artists try to one-up the creator and many succeed, but only with Dr. Strange do all later creators merely present inferior imitations of Ditko. This is perhaps the biggest difference between Ditko's legacy on Spider-Man and Dr. Strange. Spider-Man became the face of Marvel, but Dr. Strange has remained a relatively obscure specialty title about which you might say, "Spider-Man is great standard superhero stuff, but if you want a real advanced, mind-blowing experience, you have to check out Ditko's Dr. Strange." Since Ditko perfected it right out of the gate, I'm tempted to say Ditko ruined Dr. Strange by being so good, but I don't want to belittle the other great artists who worked on the title. Gene Colan and Frank Bruner are iconic; Paul Smith, Michael Golden, Kevin Nowlan, P. Craig Russell, and Chris Warner are all magnificent; Chris Bachalo and Peter Gross are two of my personal favorites—the list goes on and on. I love most of the artists who have worked on the title, but I think even they would admit they're merely shadows of Ditko.
F. Simon GrantPublished 6 years ago in GeeksThe Wasp Who Never Laughs
The most unbelievable and dream-disrupting moment in Ant-Man and the Wasp is when Hope Van Dyne, in her first costumed appearance as the Wasp, delivers a hurrincanrana to some nameless villain minion. Far more than all the growing and shrinking gimmicks, far more than the moment when characters breath heavily in sub-atomic space through their lungs which are smaller than oxygen molecules, this hurricanrana moment made me want to say, "Are you kidding me?" My response to this small moment mirrors my response to a lot of moments in the MCU: I forgive it because it's a cool moment and looks awesome while at the same time the hardcore comic book nerd in me has to say, "Are you kidding me?" Black Widow performed the exact same move in her first appearance in Iron Man 2. Again, it didn't bother me too much when Black Widow did it because it is a cool-looking move, but imagine Evangeline Lilly didn't have a mask and had long red hair, how would you distinguish her from Black Widow (other than a few wacky shrinking tricks here and there)? Honestly, as a wrestling fan, I always mark out a little when I see a hurricanrana in a movie, but it's a silly move for a trained combatant to employ: to throw oneself crotch-first at an opponent just to flip him upside down. It seems slightly less efficient than using one's arms (or any part of the body other than the crotch) to accomplish the same thing. Surely, the silly choice in attack maneuvers is rooted in remnants of a sexist Hollywood where it made sense, for example, for Xenia Onatopp to kill people with her thighs in Goldeneye, but it may never be a problem if Black Widow was the only one who did it for that one second in that one movie. Maybe she was a big fan of Lucha Libre, and she's so cocky she thinks she can get away with luchador moves in the middle of a mortal battle with gun-toting enemies. This might be a compelling and unique part of her character except we barely know anything about her other than some "red in [her] ledger" which nobody has bothered to explain or develop. Making Black Widow the most badass character in most movies seems to be a bulwark against feminist criticism, but giving her a few unique likes and dislikes would have been just as effective. We know she has an eye-rolling intolerance of Tony Stark's man-child silliness, but so does Pepper Potts. In Iron Man 2, what makes her anything more than the Pepper Potts who fights? I know she occupied some of the most hated parts of Age of Ultron, Natasha's romance with Bruce or the revelation of her infertility, but these came off more like wrongheaded, awkward attempts to make her a unique, fleshed-out character, and they rolled her back to blandness in subsequent incarnations as, perhaps, a response to the feminist backlash. Sure, there were so many other things that could've made her unique other than infertility and romance, maybe the whole red ledger business could have finally been a thing, but their response was to make her less of a character instead of risking more awkwardness. What is her journey in Infinity War other than punching a hundred more monsters? The Wasp's indistinctiveness seems to be a manifestation of the mistaken belief that this one early version of Black Widow is the only female character who won't garner feminist backlash.
F. Simon GrantPublished 6 years ago in Geeks'Captain America #1' Review and Analysis
I will be the first to admit, when it was announced that Ta-Nehisi Coates would relaunch the Star-Spangled Avenger with Captain America #1, I was really surprised. I had long admired Coates’ work on Black Panther, and I’m very much enjoying the current “Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda” storyline he’s writing, I just hadn’t thought he’d want to write any title other than Black Panther. I’m very glad he ended up branching out, however, because I absolutely loved the first issue of this new story. This is a story about the international and domestic ramifications of Hydra’s US takeover. On the domestic front, the audience sees that Captain America’s legacy has been tarnished, perhaps beyond repair. And not only has America lost faith in Cap, but Cap’s lost faith in America. America has forgot the values she was built on and allowed Hydra (led by a Hydra manipulated cosmic cube clone of Cap) to so easily take control. This first issue, beautifully drawn by Leinil Francis Yu (like everything he draws), sees Cap fighting members of the Nuke Army, enhanced soldiers with the American flag tattooed on their faces and twisted views on America, before being told to stand down by the U.S. government. Soon after, Cap has decided, even though he’s not officially sanctioned anymore, to find out who has poisoned his country, which will have him face his toughest enemy yet. The international consequences show us a potentially deadlier threat, with anti-American sentiments being spread throughout Russia under the guise of these sentiments being anti-Hydra.
Zack KrafsigPublished 6 years ago in GeeksReview: 'Cosmic Ghost Rider #1'
Donny Cates has been on a roll recently. Since he started writing for Marvel Comics he’s worked on and finished Thanos, Doctor Strange, and Doctor Strange: Damnation, and currently writing Venom, Death of the Inhumans, and the subject of this review, Cosmic Ghost Rider, all of which have proven massively popular with fans so far. His short but sweet run on Thanos gave us the instantly classic Thanos Wins story, in which the titular character is whisked eons into the future by his older self in order to kill the last remaining opposition to his rule and finally allow him to be with Lady Death, his one true love. One of the most intriguing additions to the Marvel Universe that Cates gave us was the Cosmic Ghost Rider, a former servant of Mephisto, herald of Galactus, and now Black Right Hand of Thanos. Fans found the Cosmic Ghost Rider endearing due to his insane personality and the fact that he’s not Johnny Blaze, Danny Ketch, or Robbie Reyes, but Frank Castle, the vigilante formerly known as The Punisher.
Zack KrafsigPublished 6 years ago in Geeks- Top Story - July 2018
'Avengers: Infinity War' Things Missed (Spoilers!)
Avengers: Infinity War is the 19th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the third installment of the Avengers saga. Classically, the films in this universe have been filled with Easter eggs that link to the comics, the other films in the franchise, and life outside of the films. For example, at the start of Infinity War, the “IO” in the Marvel Studios logo has been changed to a ten to mark the tenth year of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the first Iron Man being released on the 2nd of May, 2008.
Greg FalconerPublished 6 years ago in Geeks Avengers Re-Assemble!
The first issue of Avengers (2018), gives us some pretty important information when it comes to Tony Stark (Iron Man), Thor (Odinson), and Steve Rogers (Captain America), and their current positions and roles in the Marvel Universe.
Just a guyPublished 6 years ago in GeeksTop 10 Properties That Marvel Can Turn into Great Franchises
Marvel is nearing the end of their current era of films, with many of their current stars nearing the end of their contracts and other franchises, such as the Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers, ending. Because of that, I’ve put together a list of the ten properties that Marvel could certainly turn into bankable franchises. I’ve excluded characters and teams associated with the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, since we’re pretty much guaranteed to get those movies now that the Fox/Disney merger has been approved by the US Department of Justice.
Zack KrafsigPublished 6 years ago in GeeksWhich MCU Ships Should Sink and Which Should Float
Here are a few popular ships, ranking on a scale of 1-10, based on the Marvel cinematic franchise. Peter Quill and Gamora 10/10
Kat L'EsperancePublished 6 years ago in GeeksHow a Single X-Man Could Have Saved Everyone In 'IW'
One name. Rogue. For those who don't know who she is, Anna Marie, otherwise known as Rogue, is a fucking badass. In the comics, Rogue has the ability or curse that whenever she touches a person with her bare skin, she steals their life and whatever gifts they may have for a short time, alongside memories, abilities, and physical characteristics. So, in the case of superbeings, if she touches their skin, she has their gifts.
Kat L'EsperancePublished 6 years ago in GeeksWhere Marvel Went Wrong with Their Small-Screen Universe
As many (or all) of us know, Marvel kickstarted its Cinematic Universe in 2008 with Iron Man. Since then, Marvel Studios has produced hit after hit, with a handful of films in the $1 billion earnings platform, and with Avengers: Infinity War hitting over $2 billion recently. In 2012, after the success of their first Avengers movie, they announced they would be creating a small-screen universe that would be connected to the films. Fans were very excited, and rightly so. A successful film studio combined with successful television shows could spell out complete dominance by Marvel.
Colin OgilviePublished 6 years ago in Geeks