Writing, editing, storytelling, and more from Jim Gibbons
Frequenters of the internets will have seen that casting for “Captain America: The First Avenger” has been a big news item over the past week or two. The short version is that “The Office’s” John Krasinski (aka Jim Halpert) was initially in the running and an early front-runner for the role. He was then voted the fan-favorite choice by MTV readers, and now it looks like he’s no longer in the game.
Continue Reading “The Great Potential of John Krasinski as Captain America”
If you’ve heard the rumors about “Iron Man 2,” then I’m sure you’re coming up with theories or rants depending on how you feel about Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell being brought onto the movie.
Personally, I think going with another armor-clad villain in the second flick—it’s speculated Rourke will be Crimson Dynamo—is a mistake and I’d much rather see the Mandarin or Fin Fang Foom—or some other crazy, non-technology based villain—face off against ol’ Shellhead. Either way, Sam Rockwell’s role is supposedly that of rival industrialist Justin Hammer, which I hope is a front for a much cooler role. “What role?” you ask. Well, I’ll tell you!
I think Sam Rockwell is perfect for the role of Hank Pym. Just look at him!
He’s a legit leading man with the charisma and look to pull off one of Marvel’s oldest heroes, plus he’s got the chops to make Pym into a pretty dynamic character by capturing his heroism and charm alongside his faults: the jealously at being the world’s third smartest hero (behind Reed Richards and Tony Stark), the arrogance of a young inventor who dared to create a being like Ultron and the checkered past of an abusive husband.
Seventies Pym with his first version of Ultron?! Possibly!
Plus, if an Ant Man solo flick is in the works, you need a big name to put on that. Sam Rockwell is a little too big for a bit part in “Iron Man 2,” but if it’s a setup role for a solo flick that introduces people to the character before he spins off, well that’d be great! And I mean, who else are you really going to cast as Ant Man? He’s a little too goofy to do a film about him without a heaping helping of humor and putting some beefcake in the role is just not going to fly.
Rockwell in “Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy” and the helmeted Ant Man…pretty much the same thing!
Couldn’t you see Rockwell easily pulling off these two polarizing moments from the founding Avenger’s past?
I’m not really sure what Marvel would want in an Ant Man film, but I think casting an actor who can bring real humor and real depth to the role of Hank Pym—like Rockwell could—would allow them to present Pym as a fun-loving and suave character or, if they were looking fro another route from his comics history, they could play him as a dark and troubled hero. With Rockwell they really could do either. It’s win-win!
So, you heard it here first: Sam Rockwell is going to be Hank Pym (or at least he should be!).
Marvel Studios second big DVD of the year—”The Incredible Hulk”—is definitely a big piece of multimedia worthy of Green Genes legacy, but much like it’s theater outing, it doesn’t quite match up to “Iron Man.”
Where “Iron Man” boasted special features that looked as though they’d received as much love and consideration as the feature presentation, “Hulk’s” special fair feels tagged on and falls short in comparison. Be it the half-length “Making of…” feature (30 minutes as compared to “Iron Man’s” hour) or the lack of an extensive character history in the comics feature with numerous creator interviews (Instead of “Iron Man’s” compelling hour-long look at the history of Iron Man comics, it only features an animatic of a scene from eph Loeb and Tim Sale’s Hulk: Gray), “Hulk” isn’t bad, but just isn’t as good.
What “Hulk’s” DVD does deliver is a plethora of deleted scenes that give fans insight into the Edward Norton/Marvel Studios feud and rumors that surrounded the film’s release. With a brief alternate opening and about 40 minutes of footage that wasn’t seen on the big screen, fans can get a look at Edward Norton’s vision of “Hulk.” Disappointingly, every deleted scene is used for character exploration and none feature any Hulking out (which does make sense, considering effects budgets…but still!). While a few offer fun backstory (Banner’s time spent in Tibet and subtle references to Captain America), the main insight taken away from viewing these scenes is that Marvel Studios made an extremely smart move by removing 40 minutes of non-Hulk footage from the feature. These additional scenes definitely display Ed Norton’s complete understanding of the character and comic, but would have made for a very long and boring film even with all the theatrical release’s amazing Hulk-outs!
The featurettes in this special edition are great, especially seeing how Edward Norton and Tim Roth brought their CG counterparts to life, but the lackluster “Making of…” featurette really made me wish director Louis Letterier or Norton had taken a more vested interest in it like Jon Favreau did on “Iron Man.” Favreau’s cooperation and great enthusiasm for capturing the production and process of the film on tape made for an amazing, hour-long documentary. “Hulk’s” main documentation of this is standard, 30 minute fair and an enjoyable watch, but after seeing what it could have been in “Iron Man,” it left me wanting.
Lastly, the billing of this special edition DVD as a three-disc set is a bit misleading. Sure, it technically has three discs, but one of them is just a digital copy of the film. So, for all intensive purposes it is a two-disc special edition featuring a digital copy. That, and the overly complex DVD menus that focus on looks instead of user-friendliness, are my only real gripes on the technical issues of the package.
Overall, “Incredible Hulk” was a great movie well worth owning on DVD, but it’s special features don’t make much more of a compelling argument to pick it up. There’s definitely plenty worth watching on this three-disc set’s second disc, but DVD enthusiasts will likely be let down by how much more could have been added to sweeten the pot on this special edition.
So, according to Latino Review, Marvel is looking for an uber-large star to fill the shoes of Steve Rogers for the upcoming film based on founding Avenger Captain America. The frontrunner, according to the rumor/article, is Leonardo DiCaprio with Brad Pitt a close runner-up for Steve Rogers’ boots—or apparently as Thor.
Now before I get a bit ranty and give you all my casting and plot ideas for a Captain America flick, let me just preface this whole thing by saying that Steve Rogers’ Captain America is my superhero. I’m of the opinion that every comic book fan has that one hero that they have a link to that’s so strong it’s inherently part of who they are and the whole reason they read comics: to me, that’s Captain America. As big a Spider-Man, X-Men and Hulk fan that I am, I could stomach some less-than-good parts in all these franchises by telling myself that Hollywood has to change certain things in translation for a mass audience. For a Cap movie, I can’t—cannot—have that be the case. I need a Cap movie to be an amazingly well done superhero epic or I will freak out. Seriously.
So, as far as Leo goes, I have to agree with the duderino over at Latino Review…
I personally believe DiCaprio is an odd choice. To me, Leo’s tall and lanky figure is perfect for Steve Rogers pre-super soldier serum but I wonder how they are going to make Leo look like a bulked up super soldier.
…I also agree that Leo’s got the acting chops to really pull off this role, but he’s just too darn thin!
This dude is thick! Beefy even!
As for Brad Pitt, I think he’s a great actor and proved he can be a bad ass with a shield in “Troy,” but I think he’s a bit too old and not quite “super” enough looking to portray a super soldier. However, I can see either of these two in the role (despite my feelings that they aren’t the best choice) and neither of these two choices make me have to vomit—hard, for nine days—like the Cap-casting rumors about Matthew McConaughey did. So, that’s a plus!
Still, I’m not sure a BIG BIG name portraying Steve Rogers would really work best for a Captain America film. I think a Captain America film’s greatest asset has to be it’s story. A great story that makes sense of a man misplaced in time who is a paragon of American idealism and moral virtue is the essential ingredient for a Cap film. “Iron Man” had a great story, but even if it hadn’t been so perfect, the big acting talent—well-suited to the film and character and feel of the comic they were portraying—could’ve pulled it off. Tony Stark/Iron Man feels like a character and property best handled by big Hollywood names. He’s the shiny Avenger so give him the big shiny Hollywood movie! Cap is a classic. He’s a hero that I think could easily be misused in the hands of a super-Hollywoody film. Don’t get me wrong, i want a big budget for my favorite hero’s flick, I just don’t want the mentality of big-budget Hollywood behind it.
So, my Cap-casting advice would be to get someone who fits into the Steve Rogers camp. You do a “Superman Returns”/Chris Reeve thing and get a no-name actor that can become Captain America just like the U.S. Government got Steve Rogers and made him into that symbol—like they made him Captain America.
Now, if you’ve been paying attention to what Wizard TV‘s been up to, then you likely saw “Friday Night Lights” and “Speed Racer” star Scott Porter doing some interviews over at Wizard World Philly. Now, Scott doesn’t fit my no-name actor criteria for the role, but he was lobbying hard in some of those interviews to get himself cast as Captain America (can’t blame a guy for trying!). I think Scott could be a good choice to play a young, World War II era Cap, though I think a modern Cap needs to look like he’s got a bit more mileage on him (being frozen for 40 or more years’ll do that to ya!). Scott’s got the uber-American, wholesome look to pull off the look of one young man symbolizing the good ol’ U.S. of A., and really impressed me by calling out Joe Q on the reveal of Kitty’s Astonishing “conclusion” three weeks earlier in Uncanny. He reads comics. He gets it. And, he’ll know how much a proper portrayal of Cap means to die-hard fans like myself. In that respect, I think he’d be a great frontrunner for a younger, pre-being-frozen Cap.
As far as timeline, in my opinion a Cap movie has to take place in both the WWII era and modern times. I think people need to see the gritty, war epic aspect of this character to understand him in a modern context. I’m not saying you need a Millar-style Ultimate Captain America, I just think understanding this man—who’s a war hero living in the future seeing what he fought to win for America and deciding why to fight for it again—is crucial to the character.
If you don’t understand WWII Cap then modern Cap can come across as kind of goofy. I mean, the guy punched out Hitler—a scene which has to be in the movie!—you cannot skip that aspect of him and what that means to every single character around him! He is the definition of superhero—the first superhero!
Based on some of that rambling, I think you need two or three people playing Steve Rogers in this film: You need the scrawny pre-serum Steve, the WWII era super-wholesome Steve and the modern war-torn (and slightly older and looking a bit world-weary) Steve. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I think the WWE’s John Cena is the perfect physical specimen for Cap…
…but he could never pull off the acting tour-de-force needed for Steve Rogers. Do I have a set cast in mind? No, because I’m not sure the ranks of Hollywood hold it. I do think a lot of the actors being talked about for the role online and around this office (DiCaprio, Pitt, Damon) are a bit too small, but in the end, I think the key is capturing the eyes of Cap. You need to see the soul of America when you see the eyes of whoever portrays Cap, that’s the key!
In the end, Marvel’s definitely proved that they are on the right track with “Iron Man” and “Incredible Hulk” this summer, so I have faith. But, as a huge Cap fan, I am extremely nervous that the film could be easily ruined. With every other superhero movie that I’ve seen and liked, I think I’ve always been more open to whatever creative vision was put up there because I didn’t have my own, super-specific thoughts on exactly what the movie should be like. With Cap, I do and I’m worried that whatever’s delivered won’t capture the essence of Cap, and that’ll be a crime against my childhood I may not ever get over.
