Franchises Collide, And We Get To Watch!

I just finished watching The Incredible Hulk. And I have to say, despite my expectations, it was actually pretty okay. Not that that's a bad thing - on the contrary, what I was expecting was a steaming pile of manure. I saw the first Hulk film, the Ang Lee one, the one we don't talk about in theatres, and I not like that at all. This one actually has a lot of clever moments, most of them homaging the TV series. I never saw it, but from what I hear, it was pretty popular: the eyes glowing green before he transforms, Lou Ferrigno appearing as a security guard, the hilarious appearance of the purple pants. There's also a lot more humorous banter between Banner and Betty, though I wish they'd gone with ANYONE besides Liv Tyler. The Nostalgia Chick is right - all she can do is look sad in slo-mo.

It was no Captain America or Iron Man, but it was okay. And it really makes me a little bit more excited to see what Marvel can do with the Avengers movie. Hulk, the Cap, Stark, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye, headed by Nick "sick and tired of these motherfucking snakes" Fury himself. From what I've gathered, the enemies will be Loki wielding the tesseract, and the Skrulls, though not necessarily a united enemy. There's also rumours of a "Leviathan", whatever that is - it's either a really cool production codename for Jormungandr, the World Serpent of Norse myth meant to face Thor at Ragnarok, or it's going to be the name of the SHIELD Helicarrier. And, you know, I'd be okay with the latter - it's a badass name, and it should belong to a badass flying battleship. There's a lot to look forward to - Rogers and Stark facing off, Hulk and a Norse god reacting to the existence of the other, the sheer badass-ness of Black Widow, and Samuel Jackson. But it also makes me wonder what else Marvel will be bringing to screens in the future - they've already started on another Iron Man movie, there are plans for Thor 2 and Captain America 2/Winter Soldier, a SHIELD movie, and either a successor to X-Men First Class or an X-Men 4. Hopefully they keep Brett Ratner away from either/both of them with a repulsor field. That seems to exhaust all the series I know Marvel for, besides the Fantastic Four, but really, I'm not holding any torch for them. Two was enough. But do you want to know who I really want to see a movie about?

 

Agent Phil Coulson.

Yes, Nick Fury's probably getting a movie, and yes it will probably be the closest America has ever come to having a 007 of their own (ignore Vinh Diesel or Ice-T, they really don't count), but making a Coulsen movie would be awesome in entirely different ways. Rather than a straight super-spy movie, you could do a parody/homage movie to the genre. Like Johnny English, if he wasn't incompetent. Like Iron Man, create a badass movie, but inject it with a lot of humour, clever references and twists, and give Coulson a personality that is simultaneously badass and hilarious. He's experienced, a little jaded by now with what he's had to deal with - an egocentric billionaire playboy, a Norse god, an angsty scientist with anger-management issues, and a blond-haired blue-eyed poster child for the American Dream who's confused and bewildered by the world around him. You could play with his jadedness, make it funny. You could also emphasise the fact that he's a grunt, a guy who gets sent to places his bosses consider "beneath" them, that he has to deal with the worst assignments while his coworkers get plump pickings - add a bit of resentment. And, of course, give him a pair of desert eagles, a black suit, and a pair of shades - because he can still be a badass. Surround him with a team that complements but doesn't upstage him, sick him on a modern equivalent of HYDRA, and watch him work. Hell, if there's a bigger movie happening around the same time, have some clever nods! Cap and Iron Man beating Skrull butt? We cut to Coulson and co. slinking through the sewers after their prey, complaining about the noise above. Hulk smashing up downtown Manhattan? Coulson complains about New York traffic. Nick Fury at a United Nations summit that gets attacked by HYDRA? Coulson mutters something under his breath about REMFs.

PHIL COULSON - AGENT OF SHIELD!

It will win all of the awards! All of them!!!!!!!!

I also have to wonder, just why have Marvel had so much theatrical success? Let's count off all the well known Marvel/DC superhero movies, shall we?

Marvel:

X-Men
X-2
X-3: The Last Stand
X-Men: First Class
Hulk
The Incredible Hulk
Spider Man
Spider Man 2
Spider Man 3
Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Iron Man
Iron Man 2
Thor
Captain America

DC:
Superman
Superman II
Superman III
Superman IV
Superman Returns
Batman
Batman Returns
Batman Forever
Batman and Robin
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
Green Lantern
Watchmen (I guess???)

I'm not going to count things like Ghost Rider or Catwoman, because when you think of Marvel or DC, you don't think of them. Yeah, the companies own them, but they aren't symbolic. They were also really bad. I'm sure there are some excellent movies out there that Marvel and DC have brought us that I don't list, but the fact that I don't even remember them is telling enough. We see that the Marvel list runs the gammut of quality, from the awful X-3: The Last Stand, to the excellent First Class, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, etc. Likewise, there are the first two Superman movies, the Tim Burton Batman movies, Singer's Superman Returns, Watchmen, and Nolan's Batman movies, all excellent, alongside films like Superman IV and Green Lantern. Both companies have had hits and misses, and yet it seems like Marvel are winning the film war - after all, they're getting an Avengers out, and looking to be awesome, while DC's plans for a Justice League movie have repeatedly fallen flat. there's also an apparent lack of diversity - let's face it, at the moment all DC have are Batman and Superman, the World's Finest, and though they've produced some excellent and iconic movies, all anyone pays attention to these days is Batman. Or at least, that's all I care about on their side of the aisle. Marvel has so many quality franchises it literally doesn't know what to do with them, and I am excited for a lot of them. I know that DC have The Dark Knight Rises in post-production, and are starting work on Man of Steel. But really, that's all I've heard of coming down DC's pipeline.

I'm not a film critic. I really don't know why DC doesn't seem to be having quite the same success as Marvel with as many franchises. Is it a question of quality over quantity? It is a matter of luck? Is it the notion that Marvel heroes, by appealing to a sense of pathos and marginalisation in society, manages to strike a chord that DC's iconic but uncomplicated (except for Batman) do not? I don't know.

I've talked about what I'd like and am excited about from Marvel, but for DC, the major franchises have all had attempts to produce movies that fell through. Wonder Woman. Flash. Fucking Aquaman! If Aquaman isn't a character demanding an intense and intelligent film treatment, I don't know who is. Pretty much the whole Justice League roster. I guess they could do another Green Lantern movie, and I think they are planning one, and all I can say is I hope it's better than the first.

Funny story. I went and rented a DVD yesterday. In fact, that DVD was Incredible Hulk. And in the shop, I saw that they had placed Green Lantern next to Captain America. Yeah, guess which one was doing better?

I know one thing for sure. I have two movie ticket vouchers. The first will earn me the viewing of the Avengers. The second will take by to The Dark Knight Rises. Totally no conflict of interest. :P

She is Vengeance. She is the Night.

"Barbara Gordon leads a completely normal life, except for one factor. She's teen crimefighting sensation Batgirl! She lives with her fun dad Commisioner Gordon and dorky brother James and has fun with her two best friends Robin and The Goddamn Batman. She goes through average teen problems including rapists, bank robbers, and the occasional wicked supervillain trying to reveal your secret."

I just read this rumour that Miley Cyrus auditioned for the part of Batgirl in The Dark Knight Rises.

There is a very good reason why The Dark Knight is my favourite movie. Every single character is perfect - Alfred is fantastic, Gordon is fantastic, Bruce/Batman is great (though he could do with a  strepsil) and the Joker is obviously the second most brilliant portrayal after Mark Hammill. Part of that is due to the actors - Michael Cane? Gary Oldman? Christian Bale? Heath "Why So Serious" Ledger? EVERYONE pulls it off spectacularly. And another part of that is due to the characters themselves - the conception and, in some specific cases, reinvention of them, makes them all fantastic. The Dark Knight Rises is the movie I most look forward to, with the Avengers taking second place - so DC and Marvel have both topped my must-see lists.

And the reason for my rage is not the idea of including Batgirl. Far from it, in fact - I think it makes more sense to start the Bat Family with Batgirl than it does to bring Robin into the frame. Let me explain.

I have some major problems with the idea of Robin. As Frank Miller has demonstrated all too clearly, adopting a kid whose parents were murdered in front of him and then dressing him up in bright colours and teaching him to fight crime is child abuse. There's no metaphor or simile or analogue or comparison there - it is child abuse! I can therefore more than understand why Dick Grayson left Batman to make a life of his own elsewhere. I also can't understand why Batman, rebounding from dumping/being dumped by Robin, picks a kid trying to jack the fucking batmobile as his replacement. Why? I mean, okay, the kid has issues and could use a father figure in his life, but The Goddamn Batman is not that figure! His eventual death at the hands of the Joker is almost a given! It does lead to Batman's reevaluation of the entire concept of a Robin (no duh!), but he lets Tim Drake take up the mantle. Yes, Drake is a far better Robin - he's a lot smarter, and doesn't come with the whole "MY PARENTS ARE DEEEAAAAAAD!" schtick. Until suddenly he does. He's more interesting - he doesn't start out with special abilities, and he doesn't do it because his parents were killed, like Grayson. And he certainly doesn't do it just because Batman decided to get over his last ex-Robin. He decides himself he wants to do it. His parents die when he's already Robin. When he leaves, he creates his own identity, Red Robin, like Nightwing did. And then we get the most recent Robin, Damian Wayne, son of The Goddamn Batman and the daughter of a centuries-old terrorist/cult leader with an apocalyptic goal for the world, who beats Tim Drake and becomes Robin because he's jealous that the adopted son gets more attention than the "real" son. If that doesn't come loaded with family issues, then my name is Rainbow Dash and I hate flying. When Batman lets Grayson assume the mantle of Batman, Dick chooses Damian to be Robin - and in a twist, it's not because Drake wasn't good enough, it was because he was too good, and Damian needed a mentor figure so he didn't go out and murder the population of Blackgate. Damian is a trained assassin, and he's killed - he's also a resentful brat. When Bruce returned, Damian stayed - and now the circle is complete, and Father and Son patrol Gotham as Batman and Robin. There have only been two female Robins - the non-canon Carrie Kelly, and Stephanie Brown who promptly got killed off.

This is a psychologists field day, and it should make Gordon put his hands in his face and cry. As any cop will tell you, involving kids and violence in any way is never a good idea. You can argue to me that he trusted them to do the job, that they were mature for their age, or super-smart, or skilled enough, but Jason Todd is the number one example of why Robin is a terrible idea - he's tortured and murdered by the Joker to get to Batman.

On the other hand, Batgirl is the antithesis of this idea. And not just because she is a woman.

Bruce Wayne doesn't adopt her, or become a mentor at all, at least initially. He tries to discourage her, because he doubts she's up to it. It doesn't stop him kitting out ten year olds in hot pants and a domino mask, but hey, no gender double standard here or anything. She does what she does on her own, with only indirect help from Batman and Robin. And she does it well. She's old enough that she can make the choice herself - and she does make the choice. It's not forced on her. She's the daughter of the Police Commissioner for Gotham, James Gordon. Obviously she must have some desire to see justice done to the people who elude the law. And she's good at it - despite all expectations, I've realised that I really like the idea of Batgirl.

Even when she's shot by the Joker and becomes Oracle, she still escapes the distaste I hold for the idea of Robin. She's in a wheelchair. Okay. So she gives up fighting crime with her fists. What does she do instead? The creates entire teams of superheroes to do the job, creates a vast intelligence network that would give the NSA a collective heart attack, and becomes an information broker. When Gotham's destroyed by an earthquake, her building is left standing - not to mention packed with enough food to feed a battalion, which she barters for information and goods. And she still keeps up a relationship with Dick, now Nightwing.

Wheelchair or not, this is a badass character!

Helena Bertinelli briefly takes over, but find's she just doesn't fit the role. Because, of course, Batman tells her she isn't good enough. And he kind of has a point - she fails to stop HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE attacking and taking over MANY CITY BLOCKS. Obviously one person should be able to take this in their stride. Poor Huntress. She's succeeded by the equally badass Cassandra Cain. I've only read her No Man's Land appearances, but I really liked her. She's a precursor of a sort to Damian Wayne - raised as a weapon, and now operating as a superhero. Except she's less of a brat. Also, she doesn't speak. She already seems like a better character already! But despite her handicap, she still gets plenty of characterisation - the fact that she really does love the man who trained her to kill, and he loves her, the horror she feels at what she was raised to do, and her rejection of it. Damian still doesn't see why he can't just outright murder the motherfuckers. Cassandra knows that killing is the easy option, and makes you no better than the criminals you fight.

I haven't read any of Stephanie Brown's tenure as Batgirl, but I'm disappointed they made Cassandra hand in her cowl. A mute Batgirl who rises above her disability and is probably one of the best fighters in the world? How is that not awesome? But I guess she's up to it - she's the daughter of villain Cluemaster who took him down as Spoiler to protect her mum, and she was Robin for a while. Until she died. Don't worry, she got better. And it's an even worse copout when the writers decide to simply retcon Oracle's disability as a temporary thing - NO! No, no, no! This is a character who's agonised over the fact that she can never walk or run again, never swing from rooftop to gargoyle, who has some pathos! WEAK!

The fact that I care enough about the concept of Batgirl to feel angry at this surprised me. I am a heterosexual male, and proud of the fact. Shouldn't I sympathise with one of the Robins? Or Batman? Hell, even Alfred? Aren't characters like Batgirl just there to show comic book fans that there isn't just one gender? Yes, I love the character of Batman - a man who embraces to the darkness in men's hearts to fight it. He's aided by his faithful butler/adoptive father Alfred, who stoically watches his foster son descend into this dark place, but tries to support him. But then he basically fields child soldiers - kind of a dick move, Batman. But the concept of Batgirl arises by itself, and, yes, it started as the need to introduce a token female equivalent - but it's developed a life of it's own.

And now my feeling on introducing Batgirl into the Nolanverse - I would be okay with it!

There's this image that adds fuel to the fire of speculation. There's already plenty of rumours out there - that the Riddler will still appear. That Talia al Ghul will team up with Bane. That Dick Grayson will appear. That Bane kills Batman, who passes the torch to Batgirl. Of all the rumours that could turn out to be true at this point, I would pick the appearance of Batgirl as the one I want - Talia is pretty much a given at this point. I think they'd probably save someone like the Riddler for the next movie, since a character with some public presence would better counter the absence of Nolan. I'd love to see someone like Freeze done well, to reverse the damage Joel Schumacher's film did to him, but it's probably not going to happen any time soon, or in a better way than Batman: The Animated Series did the idea. And Robin...see above. But Batgirl, I can see happening, and in a way similar to her comics history - that she starts out on her own, Batman tries to get her out of his niche, and earns his reluctant acceptance. It could be done truly great. Robin is a more troublesome character to introduce, but Batgirl can work!

And here is why I raged when I read the rumour of Cyrus' audition: I really don't like her.

I don't mean that I hate Miley Cyrus with a rage that burns with the heat of a thousand suns. I'm sure she's an okay person. What I hate is her public persona as a celebrity - I do not like modern pop, and she symbolises it for me. She even has her own show - Hannah Montana, where she basically plays herself as a celebrity. Again, I don't like pop music in general, and I'm sure she's got fans who feel she deserves the attention. But the very idea of casting a pop star Disney actress as BATGIRL just galls me. Forget pulling Oracle back into action, this would just be a cop-out of unimaginable proportions! Treat the character with dignity, please! What we don't need:

It's been done before - casting a celebrity with a big name to draw attention. When was the last time it produced a good film? And, for that matter, The Dark Knight Rises doesn't need the attention - before it was announced it's prologue would be attacked to the new Mission Impossible, the latter film's ticket sales were 4% of the total. Afterward? 15%.

Also: Party in the USA. Need I say more?

A Moment of Clarity

I've been keeping a secret from my friends and family. A deep, dark secret. It involves rainbows and tea parties and fabulous dresses. I've been worried about how anyone might react, so I've stayed silent, not raising anything related to the subject. Until today.

Today, my brother comes out, a confused look on his face, and says, "I cannot believe how good My Little Pony is."

I'm not a HUGE fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - I don't know every background pony, I don't know the terms and phrases bronies use, and I am sometimes creeped out by the new meaning of the word "clop". I know and like the Mane-Six, and I love a couple of the background ponies - especially the fan creation of Doctor Whooves, a time-travelling pony incarnation of the Doctor, who seems to have taken Derpy Hooves as his companion. Really, it was Doctor Whooves that got me into ponies in the first place. I don't know that much about ponies, but I know what I like. I like it's sense of humour, I like that it manages to get a moral across without preaching down to its audience, and I like the characterisation of the characters on it.

This is a show for little girls. I am a grown man. And there are much older, much nerdier fans out there. What is wrong with the world?

In fact, this was my initial reaction to hearing about the "brony" phenomenon. Grown men fawning over a kids show? The last example I heard of was Lazy Town, for reasons that would make Chris Hansen sit up and pay attention. So, understandably, I was more than hesitant in reading up on them. It was only when I heard about just what a meme generator they were becoming that I became curious, but even then I still dismissed it as a fad - understandably so, given past history with the internet and its obsessions. But eventually, I discovered a character called Doctor Whooves - appalled, I clicked the fanfiction, fully expecting to be reduced to an indecipherable rage by poor writing, mixing my favourite series with a kids show, and the juxtaposition of the Last of the Time Lords with ponies. Friggin' ponies!

Needless to say, I was surprised. The writer did a great job - I won't say it was the best fanfiction I've ever read, because it wasn't. But it was good, very good, and it got across a sense of both of the shows in the most surprising way possible - it felt simultaneously like an episode of Who, and one of the better ones, while also feeling like My Little Pony. The interactions of the Mane-Six were surprisingly intricate, and everyone felt unique and complex enough.

Fascinated, I looked up some more Whooves stories. I liked what I saw. And, finally, innoculated against it, I delved into the world of ponies.

I won't admit to understanding the community, because any community will be varied, with both its shining upper crust and the black depths. We have that in Halo, and Who, and every other community worth its salt - people there to discuss the show, suggest improvements and ideas, and realise that there are people out there who share the same interests; and the people who just want to rip it to shreds in an angry hate-fuelled flow. And then there are the people between those two spectrums - the people who like the show but don't know much and want to find out more; the trolls who find it funny; the fans who also find it funny; the people just there to talk; the dictators who try to control the conversation, and the people who erode that authority, for good or ill. This is as any community should be - variety is the spice of life. The spice IS life. And it must flow. The fact that one has cropped up around what started out as a childrens cartoon is what has surprised me the most, but after watching some episodes, I can see why.

Firstly, there's the sense of humour that the developers inject into it. In my first episode (don't know title or number), the first visual was of Pinky Pie leaping across the screen in an obvious and hilarious homage to Peppy le Pew, the classic Looney Tunes character, as she chased Rainbow Dash. The fact that someone had the idea of homaging Looney Tunes was a stroke of brilliance, and it was what finally convinced me that this was no mere fad. I watched a couple more episodes, and really liked the characters - I dare you to watch this without laughing. The quality of the writing is far and above what I've seen of modern kids TV - maybe being a child of the 90s, the most awesome time to be a kid, has coloured that vision, but it seems like it's all been downhill - I was a fan of the original Thomas the Tank Engine, and the modern incarnation just feels alien and wrong in all kinds of ways. What happened to Ringo? Who are all these new characters? Why do they have actual voices? And what, oh why, did they abandon models for 3d animation? And there are other shows that have gone the same way - dumbing themselves down because uninformed parents complained it was violent or not educational enough or encouraged blah blah blah. Transformers went from an epic tale of good vs evil, of the heroic Autobots vs the evil Decepticons, with the Earth as their battleground. Briefly, it GOT BETTER with Beast Wars, but then the Japanese got their hands on it, and then MICHAEL BAY got his hands on it. Explosions: The Movie. Bluh.

But FIM manages to be educational, hilarious, and complex, all at the same time. And I like that.

There's also the main cast - the aforementioned pun of the Mane Six. Apple Jack, a "southern" apple farmer; Pinky Pie, a manic force of chaos whose exultations of "Okey Dokie Loki" make me wonder if she's related to the Norse trickster god; Rainbow Dash, the tomboy obsessed with speed; Fluttershy, the shy animal lover; Rarity, the fashionista; and Twilight Sparkle, the nerd who serves as the series' protagonist. Every character is developed and differentiated enough from each other that the cast never feels too big, or wasted. Fans have their favourites - I don't understand the love for Rarity myself, but eh, whatever floats your boat (Oh god that sounds like a euphemism). As for me, well...

 Heh, I guess I just have a thing for nerdy girls...

And there has been a reason why I kept this, if not a secret, then not exactly at the forefront. Because there is a stigma attached to being a fan of a "girls show". And I have to wonder why that is? Plenty of women can be fans of "male" shows, yet we're not allowed to return the favour? I have a horrible feeling that it is a knee-jerk reaction to anything feminine, the automatic assumption that anything designed for girls must automatically be inferior to products meant for males. In modern society, girls seem to have a fascination with childhood, and bear it proudly, wearing bright colours, kids-show characters on their clothing, etc. But boys are supposed to "rise above" this. With the acceptance of gender equality, I also have to wonder if this is just one of many signs that the boundaries between accepted male and female  gender roles is blurring. We've been seeing the signs of a one-way transfer for years, with the empowerment of women in a world formerly dominated by men. Is the transfer starting to reverse? We already have the popular androgynous look, and males have suddenly started taking a keener interest in maintaining their bodies and getting rid of all that lovely facial hair that we spent millions of years perfecting. Now ponies?

I prefer to see this as a sign that people, no matter what gender, know what they like when they see it.