Marvel Vs DC - Team Ups, Teasers and Ant-Man reviewed

July 2015
By Ken Parker

Marvel hass struck another blow in the Marvel vs. DC battle with Ant-Man.  Could Fox be thinking about amping up their own Marvel universe? Besides a couple of TV promotions, DC is sitting this period out I guess. And what's up with X-Men -Apocalypse?











X-Men and Fantastic Four team Up? -  A rumor is going around that some parties at Fox would love for The X-Men and Fantastic Four to team up in a movie.  I have said from day one that the only way for Fox and Sony to compete with Marvel and their superb movies was to combine forces.  Sony has already jumped back to Marvel by lending out Spider-Man for future movies and appearances but since Fox owns both The X-Men and Fantastic Four, there may be no reason not to crossover.

Pants?

Now The X-Men is an established franchise that continues to do well and Fantastic Four, the reboot has yet to premiere but doesn't really look that hot.  I guess a team up would amp up interest and I think people on the edge of watching Fantastic Four may give it a shot if there is a connection.  If there would be a connection they would want to make it with this first FF movie.  X-Men director Bryan Singer stated that he would want Fantastic Four to show it could do well before they talk crossover, something that we will know in a couple of weeks.


Of course The X-Men franchise is mutating as we speak.  We have had 2 'early years' movies with a new cast and the next film introduces even more younger versions of that team including Storm, Jean Grey and so on.  Since these movies have taken place in the 60's 70' and 80's and Fantastic Four takes place in present day, connecting them may not be that easy unless they ignore the hurdle or use time travel.

Even if the Fantastic Four movie sucks, I would pay to see this crossover but with a new cast taking the reigns, one has to wonder what will happen with Wolverine.  Since Hugh Jackman is winding down his involvement, they will have to re-cast the part which might be like re-casting the Joker after The Dark Knight.

Looks like an 80's X-Men TV series

X-Men - Apocalypse - Speaking of X-Men, a few promotional shots include an Apocalypse that has gotten some bad press due to it looking so....well... bad.  I couldn't find an art depiction that was as bad as this. Apocalypse is really bulky and mean looking.  This guy looks gentle and small.

I don't think the X-Men franchise has really screwed up since it returned after X-Men - The Last Stand but none of these photos really look that great and again, they are just promotional behind the scenes almost.



The rest of the photos look like the X-Men team are about ready to do battle at the local mall.

I have high hopes for this and the bootleg trailer from Comic Con was pretty good so we shall see.

http://www.superherohype.com/news/348255-high-res-x-men-apocalypse-photos-officially-released#/slide/1

Gotham Season 2 Previews -

Supergirl, Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow - In other DC News, we have a new Flash costume, a cool Supergirl poster and news that some of the characters that will star in Legends of Tomorrow will first appear in Flash and/or Arrow including Hawkgirl and White Canary.

The Animated Guardians of the Galaxy Teaser - 

Jessica Jones Creator Loves New Show - Brian Michael Bendis, who create the Jessica Jones character for the comic Alias and he has seen the first couple of episodes of Marvel's new Netflix series, Aka Jessica Jones and loves it.

"...it is faithful and lively and everything that I could personally have wanted from the show"

The series will be released on Netflix late 2015, early 2016.

The Avengers Age of Ultron Blu-Ray - Some details are available for this October 2 release.

3-D Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD Combo pack
Never before seen deleted scenes
Making of Featurettes
Gag Reel
Audio Commentary

It will be interesting to see what the deleted scenes are since my biggest criticism of this film was too much in too little time.  If only they had divided the film in two or cut out several plot developments, the film would have been so much better.  Director Joss Whedon had issues with the cuts but has also stated that a director's or extended cut was unlikely which is a shame because I feel this film would have benefited from this.  Of course we will have the deleted scenes to see and make that call.



There will be two variations of steelbooks available as well. Se below - NICE!

The Ant-Man Review – My interest in Super-hero films always starts to dwindle months after seeing a good movie and it is always great to then see another that re-peaks my interest. Ant-Man has certainly done that. The movie is as good if not better than most of the Marvel Cinematic movie series and I would put it right up with Iron Man. The film is a great fresh breath of air while staying true to that universe. It is basically a heist film wrapped in a father trying to redeem himself to his daughter tale. The entire story is concise and well thought out. It is on a smaller scale.......yeah... and this is a good thing. I think Marvel needs to keep the universe together but a different flavor film is always welcome. Captain America – The First Avenger took place back in time, for example. Ant-Man doesn't really have a wide spread battle – the main conflict takes place in a girl's bedroom. Genius!  

The film has some great connections and I love seeing one of my favorite characters, Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) at the start. There are some lead ins to Doctor Strange and of course, Civil War but the film is a great stand alone and like Guardians of the Galaxy before it, I am dying to see more of Ant-Man. The reveal of the Wasp is also exciting as Hope van Dyne says “Finally” - voicing what many have wanted to see for a while, a female super-hero. We have the Carters and Black Widow but this is really the next step. I would hope...... to see more of Wasp in Civil War or any upcoming film.

The baddie, Darren Cross wearing the Yellow Jacket suit, is excellent and his badness is explained by chemicals messing with his head. Other highlights include Scott Lang's attack on the Avengers Complex and The Falcon as well as the humorous sidekicks. My only quibble is that the devices that make things small or large seem too powerful and I would expect these to play an important part in the future since they are such a powerful weapon.

The cast is great including Michael Douglas, Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly.  I love the chemistry that this entire cast had and would be more interested in a sequel to this film than the Hulk or even Thor.

One other quibble. Are you telling me that after 12 Marvel films that the word has still not gotten out that there are post credit scenes? Come on! Now sure, perhaps people don't want to wait 5 minutes for the Avengers eating food or Bucky looking at a Captain America exhibit. Perhaps they read about the scene online but you know, you are there, you might as well watch the thing. Are you walking out of the theater thinking “Great movie but why are those idiots sitting there starring at the credits.” Well, the thoughts are mutual – why are you leaving the film when it is not over!!???

I look forward to Captain America – Civil War more so now and hope Ant-Man has a large part to play. This film did not make as much as many other MCU films but that is okay. Marvel does not have to make an epic adventure each time. Give us some good old entertainment on a smaller......scale and we will be fine.