Marvel movies: Opinion, Editorial, Rant and/or Rambling

Well Guardians of the Galaxy was a success for the studio. It was also a success with moviegoers. It was a success with nerds. You know what that means right?

“MARVEL CAN OPTION ALL SORTS OF CHARACTERS SINCE GUARDIANS o’ GALAXY WAS A BUNCH OF UNPOPULAR GUYS THAT MADE A SUCCESSFUL MOVIE!!!” screams a bunch of the interweb.

Now I am paraphrasing a bit, but seeing and listening to a bunch of people that just know all sorts of other Marvel heroes need a movie. Guardians justifies it.

Well no it doesn’t!

Being quasi-rant in 3…2….1…..

Guardians of the galaxy was a good bit of alright. It balanced story, characters and action all quite well. However, it was this balance along with the director, script and actors that made this movie work. That doesn’t mean that any and all Marvel characters should have and deserve a feature film.

Does anyone really need to see or want to see Adam Warlock, Alpha Flight, ROM, Silver Surfer, Submariner, the New Warriors, Ka-Zar, Longshot (sorry buddy), Jubilee, Captain Britain, the Inhumans, the Defenders, Cloak and Dagger, Scarlet Spider, She-Hulk, Man-thing, Dazzler, Nomad, Spider Girl,  and the list can continue for a long time here folks. The answer is no. No we do not need options for every person in the Marvel-verse.

“But Ian! What about the other Avengers and those guys?”

Do we need a movie for every Avenger? No! Sure Black Widow is cool on screen but what does she do in a standalone? Falcon was awesome in the Winter Soldier, but does he need a feature. Not really. Hawkeye is fun, but what would he do and who would he fight all by himself? We have tried Hulk twice by himself  and they have both have lukewarm to terrible fan reactions. Hell, even Wolverine who is crazy popular seems to fall flat on his Canucklehead when he has his own movie. What do I know though right? I’m just a goon. Well, let us look a t some of the other Marvel films that do not star a mutant, spider, or Avenger.

Blade, the grandfather of the Marvel character films. He had three movies. The first two were descent fun and the third was a colossal turd. The we have three different Punisher films with three different actors as Frank Castle. They are all pretty terrible. Plus it how do you make a Punisher movie that doesn’t have Robocop (the 1987 version) level blood and violence? We have two Ghost Rider films. A great looking character with some cool demon potential. Well that was squandered with Nicolas Cage acting, bad plot and poor effects. I am only speaking of the first film as I never saw the second, but I bet it blows too. Then there was Elektra. The first five minutes had potential. She was on a kill crazy assignation run. Then it turned into a giant steaming pile after that. There have been two poorly executed Fantastic Four movies. I spent those films rooting for the end credits. How do can you botch a great villain like Dr. Doom?  They found a way. Then there is Daredevil. Wow that is an awful piece of cinema. How hard is it to screw up blind batman lawyer? Well pretty easy actually. See, not every character needs a film.

Now do some characters need a mention, some screen time or their own movie? Well I think no. Sure there are big name Avengers that have yet to surface. However, maybe they shouldn’t. I mean why Ant-Man? I know the whole Hank Pym/ Ultron bit, but does he need a film? Black Panther is another possibility. I never really cared what he did, but he was around a lot and could tie in well with the current Avengers. Vibranium could be the next big thing! Yet, does he need his own film? Wait! There is also Wasp! She could….they could have….yeah pass there too. Vision! There could be a Vision movie. NO! We don’t need a laser shooting and flying Lt. Commander Data movie. We are getting Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch maybe they should have buddy cop movie? Then there is Dr. Strange. The upcoming end of Gandalf in films and the lack of British private school wizard movies does leave an opening for another magic user. He could get a film, or we could all just go watch the Tolkien based films, Harry Potter movies and Dr. Orpheus filled Venture Brothers episodes instead. Finally the Fantastic Four is getting a reboot. I know they are a flagship title, but maybe they don’t need a second (or third) chance at a movie. Outside of Dr. Doom their rouges gallery is vomit! They should just let them stay home and work out all those family problems they always seem to have.

Guardians of the Galaxy has a cast of barley known comic book heroes. It did work on film. It was fun and I would go see them have another space adventure. However, that doesn’t open the door to make every unknown hero into a movie. Hell, it doesn’t mean that every known/established film hero needs a movie. You made something great from a nothing comic Marvel. There is a delicate balance here. Tread lightly and don’t push it.

Rant over.