A look back at 2013
It’s that time again, where a year has ended, and another is beginning. Here’s a look back at some of my favorite comic book and horror moments from 2013, and what’s coming in 2014. I’ll also mention what I accomplished in the past year, as well as what is in store for next. What are your resolutions? What are your favorite moments? Comment below. What are you looking forward to?
Comic book and horror adaptations that hit high on my list this year: The Wolverine, Man Of Steel, Kick Ass 2, Arrow, Thor The Dark World, Ironman 3, Finneas and Ferb Mission Marvel, Teen Titans Go, Ultimate Spiderman, RED 2, Superman Unbound, Justice League The Flashpoint Paradox, Lego Marvel Superheroes the game, Deadpool the Game, Arkham Origins the game, Lego Batman the movie, Hannibal (TV show), Warm Bodies, This is The End, World War Z
Comic book and horror adaptations that fell short on my list this year: Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, Ironman Rise of the Technovore, Ironman and Hulk Heroes United, Beware the Batman, Avengers Assemble, Hulk and the agents of SMASH, Evil Dead (remake)
Coming in 2014: Ironman and Captain America Heroes United, Big Hero 6, Captain America The Winter Soldier, The Amazing Spiderman 2, X-Men Days of Future Past, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Justice League War, Son of Batman, Batman Assault on Arkham, The Lego Movie, Godzilla, The Flash (TV series)
Of course, this doesn’t cover it all, but those are what stood out at the top of my mind. I also recently got into listening to books on tape, and found that graphic audio is a wonderful experience. For myself, this year I published my novel about angels and demons and their war brought to earth in “Devil’s Dessert.” sCrypt Comics also published “Souls 4 Supper: Ghostly Hauntings”, as well as the start of “Munchies and Deedoos” free online comic strip. If you haven’t had a chance yet, check out my podcast as well: www.thinkaboutthis.podbean.com
In 2014, I will release my novel about technological takeover. “Techno Feast” will be released in March. By the end of the year, I will have the second trilogy released in a collective just like the first. It will be called “The Pandora’s Chaos Trilogy”. Munchies and Deedoos will pick up with some more stories, and gearing up for the next comic with sCrypt “Devil’s Dessert: Demonic Entities.”
Editorial: Overwhelming Comic Movie News
This has been a week of news that may even surpass that of comiccons. Fox, Sony, Marvel, and Warner Brothers continue to compete with each other to see who can get the most news to us, and most memorable. Here is a quick summary of what we know about the upcoming films/shows, and my own speculation/suggestions as to how it should happen or may happen.
X-Men Days Of Future Past: The Wolverine leads directly into this (you’ll know what I mean if you saw the end credits scene). The cast of the original cast (well most of them) and the First class cast (most of them as well) will be taking on the classic story from my child hood. We know that Bolivar Trask and the Sentinels are the main villains. We also know that newcomers Bishop, Sunspot, Warpath, Quicksilver, Ink and Blink will be in it. Wolverine will be sent back in time to “possess” his younger self, and try to prevent the events that lead to mutant prejudice. This event is probably the assassination of JFK, which Magneto is assumed to have been responsible for, and mystique having some sort of role in it. —— This will be a reboot, sure, but what will it mean for the past cast? Will they kill off Logan? He’s not getting any younger.
X-Men Apocalypse: All we know now is that Apocalypse will be the villain. —— They should bring back Angel for this story. It’s only logical. I believe that the events in DOFP will change the future in a way where Age of Apocalypse will begin. A darker present will emerge, with the first class characters and possibly a recasting of some of the veterans. Cyclops should be brought back. We never saw a dead body in X-3. He could have been taken by Mr. Sinister and made into one of the horsemen along with Archangel, and two others.
X-Force: All we know at this point is that the writers like the current run in the comics, and are working on it. —– Who should be involved? I personally want to see Domino, Psylocke, Cable, Deadpool, and Archangel. Maybe even fantomex or a cameo by logan, but I really think this should be fresh and not use Wolverine.
Wolverine 3: Hugh Jackman is back with the same director who did an outstanding job on The Wolverine. He’s now got bone claws, which may be corrected by magneto being an ally in DOFP. Either way, it’ll be fun. I want to see Alpha Flight and Logan going up against Omega Red and Department H. I can’t think of a more fitting storyline for them to tackle, and they can end his run here respectfully. Unless they want to do an old man logan storyline, which would be awesome.
Fantastic 4: It will be a reboot, and exist within the same universe as the other Fox owned Marvel properties.
The Amazing Spider-man 2: Electro is the main villain. Gwenn Stacey dies. Rhino and Hobgoblin (Ultimate versions) are in it. Doctor Octopus, Vulture, Venom and Morbius were all hinted at in the trailer. —- This needs to be done VERY carefully. As much as I want to see Sinister Six on screen, and Venom done right, I can’t see how they can cram it all. If (Mecha)Rhino and Hobgoblin are in it as small roles, then it’ll work. Having it set up for the third film, which is planned already with Rhino at least returning, and introduce Black Cat would make the most sense. Then they can taper off into 4, which is also confirmed as in the works and bring in Mysterio as a singular menacing villain. There are various spinoffs in the works too… I can only assume (and hope) that one of these is Venom, and will feature Carnage as the villain. Make it dark and gritty.
Thor 3: It is all but confirmed. The Dark World has grossed over 600 million worldwide, so it’s inevitable. —– thoughts? I believe Loki died in 2, and made a deal with Hela for Odin’s soul, so that he could come back and assume the throne. Loki teaming with Enchantress and Executioner and a reference to Surtur and Hela would be a great way to keep it going.
Guardians of The Galaxy: What we know is that it might take place slightly in the future, that the Collector is the villain, that Adam Warlock’s cocoon was in Thor 2. We also know that The Mind, Space and Soul gems have all been used in the movies, and that there is a good possibility we will see the Time gem, and maybe another gem make their debut, setting it up for Avengers 3 with Thanos.
Avengers Age Of Ultron: Quicksilver and Scarlet witch are new additions with Ultron as the villain, and the original cast returning. —- This will probably be an epic movie, though I’m a little leary about not being about to call Pietro and Wanda mutants. I have faith though, and am interested in seeing Ultron on screen and how they will transition from phase 2 to 3.
Captain America The Winter Soldier: Bucky survived the fall, and we all knew it was going to happen. Crossbones and Falcon also will make their debut on the big screen. I’m excited to say the least —– I believe that Robert Redford’s character is actually the Red Skull in disguise (or perhaps Baron Zem0), and other than the SHIELD characters involved, I dont think it will really tie into the other movies, and will seem more stand alone.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ——- all I can say is this…. I enjoy it, but have many issues with it. In order to survive as a series, they really need to start adding people from the comics. This half assed SHIELD team just isn’t going to cut it for long. The ONLY reason I’m hanging on at this point is because I want to know what Coulson’s deal is… is he an LMD? Did Magic ressurect him? They are hinting at both robot and magic, so I’m interested. I want to see it survive, but even I am having a hard time staying.
Marvel Miniseries’: Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, and Daredevil are all getting their own thirteen episode series’ where they will then tie in to forming a Defenders type group. —- I’m all for this, but wish they’d do heroes for hire instead of Cage and Rand separately. Jessica Jones holding her own will be tricky; however I do think that by using the Kingpin as the main antagonist for ALL of these, it would be fun and exciting.
Phase 3: Dr. Strange and Antman are the only two confirmed to lead into Avengers 3. Rumors of Black Panther and Inhumans still circulate. — Make it happen and add a new Hulk movie in there. We never got to see the Leader, despite the setup.
Batman vs Superman: Batman’s costume will be more like the traditional black and grey and less armored. Lex Luthor is one of possibly 2 villains (the other being Metallo). Wonder Woman has been cast. There will be cameos by other JLA members. ——- I’m dying to see Affleck in his role, and I think Gal Gadot is beautiful, but she really needs to gain a few pounds. I don’t want Wonder Woman as a main character. Instead, I’d love to see Diana Prince as a potential love interest for Bruce Wayne. Her role could be as simple as observing the other two Trinity heroes and deciding whether to trust man or not. In the end, revealing her true identity would be a great way to kick off JLA. The cameos by other heroes is nice, but I’m hoping it is a quick reference to other people with abilities, and that is all. maybe a flash (pun intended) shown on a monitor or something quick in a news feed.
Justice League: —– not much is known. Please, for the love of God, have Stephen Amell’s Green Arrow and Gary Gustin’s Flash in it. learn A lesson, DC. Superman Returns would have been better with Tom Welling in a Smallville spinoff. Not that Smallville was perfect (it was far from it) but it was established. No one wanted to see someone else in the role. Arrow is doing EVERYTHING right. Tie it all together; otherwise you will have some seriously confused audiences, and countless irritated fans.
Arrow: What’s to come? Clock King, Ra’s Al Ghul, Solomon Grundy, Flash, possibly the real Black Canary, references to AMAZO, Red Arrow donning the hood, Oliver finally using an eye mask, Deathstroke, Suicide Squad…. the list continues to grow. It’s established. It’s having a Flash spinoff…. Make it part of the movie universe. I can’t stress this enough. Oh, and one other thing. Get rid of Laurel (Dinah) Lance’s sister. Laurel needs to be likeable again, get her crap together, and become the real Black Canary.
There you have it. My two-cents, and hopefully someone will listen out there. Bring me in as a writer or consultant. What do you think? Which movies are you looking forward to? What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with my comments? Chime in. The bottom line? I’m a comic book fan. I want to see both DC and Marvel succeed. I want the best of both worlds.
Think about this Episodes 8 and 9
Hey folks, our two newest episodes of the Think About This podcast are available for free listening. Episode 8 has our hosts looking at the legends associated with vampires and werewolves, and a few mentions here and there of the novels by Rick Pipito that tackle those myths.
In Episode 9 (just released) sCrypt Comics cofounder and lead artist, Dan Pipito joins in on the fun as we talk about Comic book movies and castings. Check it out and spread the word.
Thoughts on Comic Book movies
As I was sipping on a cup of coffee, my mind was astray. I began thinking about the comic book movies coming out in the next few years and realized one thing. This is only the beginning. Some people have predicted that comic book movies will die out and become old, but I think otherwise, and this is why… The phrase “Comic Book Movie” will become a genre of its own. (my prediction of course)
The Avengers has set a standard, but what can it be categorized as? Thor was a fantasy movie, Ironman was Science Fiction, Captain America was an action film, The Incredible Hulk was horror in a sense, and all of the post credits scenes were drama build ups. So if The Avengers is all of these in one, then what is it? That’s right, it is a Comic Book Movie, and there is no other way to say it.
So what do future CBMs have to do? They don’t need to follow what the Avengers did. That is when it will become old. We don’t need a Justice League movie that is built up in the same manner (which it won’t be, because the JL movie in the works will have solo films from it as planned, but it is an example). What we need is something fresh. With the CW network using its Television angle, they are producing live action events with Green Arrow and Wonder Woman. Those should cross over into the planned movie.
Whether it is on the big screen or small screen, it doesn’t matter. The universes established by the comic book companies are huge. They should utilize that to their advantages, instead of relying on 1 or 2 mainstream characters.
Since Spiderman 2 people have been saying comic book movies will die out. Prove it. The list of characters out there says that we have only scraped the surface, and we can appease to all genres of film lovers. So bring on more CBM’s and lets learn from our past mistakes.
And just to show that I’m not a biased comic book movie person, I’ll say this. I know plenty of people (my wife included) who wouldn’t have given comic movies the time of day with a few minor exceptions on who the character was. Now those same people are eager to see these characters and more in major motion pictures. Marvel, DC, Image, Darkhorse, IDW… all of these companies and more have lots of room to work… Now if only sCrypt would get picked up, so we could get that going as well.
What are your thoughts? Which characters or stories would you like to see? Personally I’d love to see an amalgamation (the pic attached to this article should tell you what I mean)
sCrypt Publishing 