Avengers 2 -- My Thoughts

So a little while ago as I'm sure you already know, it was announced that Avengers 2 will be called Age of Ultron, the same name as a comicbook series happening right now. However, that doesn't mean it will follow that story, and I seriously doubt it will for two reasons. Number one is that movies never follow just one comicbook story arc. They usually combine a couple like how Iron Man 2 combined Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle with War Machine's origin story, then added some original story. The other reason is that in the Age of Ultron comicbooks, Ultron basically wins and kills a ton of people, including some superheroes. Marvel wouldn't introduce a new hero into their cinematic universe just to kill off since that would just be a waste. Even more importantly is that the second movie is too soon to do the story where the hero gets broken and has to rise back up. Look at the Iron Man and Dark Knight trilogies. Both of them waited until the third movie. So based on that, I'd say the Avengers will follow the same formula of origin story, hero(es) kicking some butt, then hero(es) almost losing but then making a comeback. We were all expecting Thanos because of his after credits scene, but Ultron is a great villain and I was expecting him to be in some Avengers movie or another. I'm down with Ultron, even though he was created by Ant-Man, and Ant-Man doesn't come out until after Avengers 2, which means they either introduce him early or change Ultron's origin, possibly to being created by Tony Stark, which I would not be down with. Something else I'm not down with is the fact that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch will be in it. I appreciate that they're trying to incorporate some of the less known characters, but I've never liked Quicksilver or Scarlet Witch. There. I said it. I assume you'll want to know what I have against them, so I'll tell you. And if you don't want to know, then I'd appreciate it if you take your negativity elsewhere. This is a positive environment... except for Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Scarlet Witch seems to have mental breakdowns on a weekly basis, plus she eliminated most of the mutants in the world, betrayed the Avengers on several occasions, and also created an alternate universe where the world is ruled by the House of Magnus (aka her family). On top of that, no one really knows what she does. It seems like her power is essentially a deus ex machina that does whatever's convenient at the time. And Quicksilver. Oh, Quicksilver. He was tolerable as a villain, but once he turned good, he just became a less cool version of the Flash and with old guy hair. I know it's supposed to be silver since his name's Quicksilver, but it just looks like white old guy hair. Besides being a watered down Flash with old person hair, he's also extremely overprotective of his sister. Normally, I can understand a guy wanting to protect his sister, but when the sister is the Scarlet Witch, who I just said is a deus ex machina character, it's unnecessary and just gets annoying. The one thing I do like about these two is that they're the son and daughter of Magneto, but oh what's that? Oh, that's right. Since there are two separate studios making Marvel movies, they can't use Magneto! And isn't that just fantastic. Something I can speak positively about without being highly sarcastic is the fact that the Vision will be in it. I like the Vision, and since Ultron is in it, I'm basically sure they'll follow the original story of scientist creates robot, robot evolves and turns evil, robot creates android, android evolves and turns good. It gives the story a nice sense of family, since Ultron is like a son to Dr. Pym, and a father to the Vision, therefore the Vision is Pym's grandson. Kinda. By the way, I know Hank Pym had a pretty bad mental breakdown, but that was only once, and it was because he created a genocidal robot using his own brain patterns, and thus feels responsible for thousands of deaths. What's Scarlet Witch's excuse?

Comicbooks You Need to Read

Ok, so if you're really into comicbooks, you've probably read most of these already, but just for the purpose of sharing, I'll list a few comicbooks I think people should read and why I think so for each one. It would take too long for me to list all the comicbooks I like, so I'll just name the important ones in the order that I think of them. Ready? Let's begin.
Secret Wars:
This is a classic Marvel story where a wide range of heroes and villains are brought to an alien planet to battle. Besides being a classic and the first appearance of the Beyonder, it tells the origin of Spider-Man's black suit, and indirectly causes Venom and Carnage to be created. I think that's important. Another little detail is that this was the first Marvel series on which action figures were based, and I like action figures, so yeah.
Watchmen:
You have no excuse not to read Watchmen. It's a self contained story, meaning that when you pick up the book, you don't need any background knowledge of the Watchmen universe. It's pretty famous and got fantastic reviews, and rightly so. This more realistic take on superheroes (with the exception of one blue guy who controls atom:s) is brilliantly written and really makes you think.
Hellboy:
If your only experience with Hellboy is the movies, you might not expect the comicbooks to be very deep or philosophical. However, if you pick one up, you'll find that that couldn't be further from the truth. I'm all for occult steampunk Nazis summoning demons, and these stories are written so intelligently that sometimes I even think to myself "Look at me readin' smart stuff!"
the Walking Dead:
This has to be one of the most disturbing comicbooks I've ever read, and if that doesn't hook you, I don't know what will. It really does mess with your emotions, but in a good way. The black and white art style adds interest, along with the emphasis on the character development of the human characters instead of the mindless action you find in some other zombie stories.
Judge Dredd:
You're missing out if you've never read Judge Dredd. Even in its earliest days, this is a dark series with lots of murder and death, but good storytelling with a great protagonist and a dark sense of humor. People who liked the movie will like the comicbooks, and while we're on the topic of the movie, you should sign the petition to make another over here: http://2000adonline.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=a6e40236aa24d482cfff600d2&id=62906ebdcc. Also, I think the idea of the world getting blown up by war and civilization only existing in large dystopian cities surrounded by radiation desert is completely possible, so we might as well read up and get ready.
Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt:
Many argue that this is the best Spider-Man story ever told, and I think I agree. Just like Hellboy, it's written all smart and quotes poetry and stuff, so it has that going for it. It also made me respect Kraven the Hunter more than I thought I ever would, which sounds cheesy but it's true. Anyway, really good story, pick it up, etc.
Iron Man: Demon in a Bottle:
At first glance, this may look a bit like anti-alcohol propaganda, but I pinky promise it's better than that, and you can't break a pinky promise, so believe me on this. It depicts Iron Man at his absolute worst, having lost nearly everything, and makes him a much more interesting character since we see that the one thing armor can't protect him from is himself. Besides his internal struggle, the story also has a nice lineup of villains, a retelling of his origin, and is the first appearance of Justin Hammer.
Batman: Knightfall:
For me, this is the classic Batman story. It has tons of villains, and is the first appearance of Bane, who's one of my absolute favorites. You may know Bane as the man who broke the bat, and this is when he does it. It also tells the story of Batman's comeback and how the cowl was almost usurped and corrupted by Azrael. This is the same kind of deal as Demon in a Bottle where the hero becomes a deeper character by falling and then rising.

And that's it. Those are the ones I think everyone who likes comicbooks should read. Regardless of what publisher or what style you usually read, all of these are worth your while.

A Justice League Movie

Considering how successful the Avengers movie was, it's perfectly understandable that DC wants to make a Justice League movie. However, I don't think that's a good idea. The reason Avengers worked was all because of the way they set it up with the other movies. Marvel chose Iron Man to be the movie when the Avengers Initiative was announced, and then some characters like Nick Fury or Agent Coulson were in most of the other movies to tie them all together. So far, all of DC's movies seem to take place in separate universes, so to suddenly say that they don't would just be weird, not to mention raising all kinds of questions like why Superman or Green Lantern didn't help save Gotham from Bane when Batman was gone. Also, the Dark Knight movies are over, and Batman basically retired. You can't have a Justice League without Batman, so they would have to get a new Batman, which would diminish the goodness of the Dark Knight trilogy. If they want to make a Justice League movie, they made their other movies in the wrong order. They should've started with the Flash, since he's probably the most relatable member of the team. Superman is an alien, Wonder Woman is the queen of the Amazons, Green Lantern was recruited by aliens to patrol space, and Batman's dark and brooding nature makes him hard to relate to. That leaves the Flash. He should've been like Iron Man where his story is pretty easy to understand and just serves to begin the process of superhero movies coming out. Maybe at some point it could briefly show someone visiting Metropolis. From that you can probably tell that I think after Flash should've been Superman. That's based mostly on Earth, but it has aliens in it, so they could use it to introduce the planet Oa and/or the Guardians of the Universe. That way you already know a little bit before the Green Lantern movie comes out and they don't have to throw it at you all at once. For people who don't read comicbooks, that was probably a lot of information to digest. The Superman should also just casually mention the fact that Bruce Wayne owns the Daily Planet, thus establishing that Superman and Batman both exist in this universe, but maybe Bruce doesn't don the costume until after the events of Man of Steel. So so far, we start with the Flash, which leads into Superman, which introduces Batman and Green Lantern, but Wonder Woman is still missing. I'm not really sure how to bring her in if I'm going to be honest, which apparently I am since I just said that, but hey, do I have to do everything around here? I suppose DC could have some characters that do what SHIELD does to tie characters together, but that's risky business since the last thing they want to do is look like they're copying Marvel. I've been doing my best to plan it out so they don't need to lean on that crutch, and if someone figures out how to insert Wonder Woman into this mixture, I think it could work, and I'm not just saying that because I wrote it. I am partially saying that because I wrote it, but not completely. But whatever, it's too late for that now unless they want to reboot their whole universe. They could probably keep Man of Steel in the new continuity, but Green Lantern and the Dark Knight movies? Forget about it. Many of you would probably be glad to forget about the Green Lantern movie, but I think it's too soon for a reboot. I can see them getting some negative press if they did that. I really liked the Dark Knight trilogy though, and those only work if they're in their own universe, and it's definitely too soon to reboot Batman. So really, what I'm saying, if I'm saying anything at all, is that I want a Flash movie. That and that DC should really talk to me before making their movie decisions.

Still don't buy an Xbox One

This is old news, but in case you haven't heard, Microsoft did an Xbox One Eighty with their DRM policies, meaning that used games will be fully supported, sharing games will be possible, and disks will work like they do now. All because when they announced their plans, we said no. There was so much protesting, and we did it. If you posted anything saying what madness their proposed policies were, you did it too. Be proud, because the voice of the people made a difference. That may sound a little cheesy, but it's true. I don't know if you like Doctor Who or not, but if you do, you may remember a scene where the Daleks are threatening to exterminate people if the ninth Doctor doesn't comply, and he just keeps saying no to them. Basically, Microsoft is the Daleks and get excited, since that makes us the Doctor. Anyway, I'm happy about this victory, but Microsoft has shown that they are clearly unhappy about this and only doing it so people will at least consider buying their console and stop hating on it. So because of this, they've decided to be petty about it and take away family sharing, which was one of the few kinda decent things they had announced before. It's petty and contemptible, but I have to admit that it's smart. Now all the people who were looking forward to having family sharing are turning against us, the people who fought for their freedom from oppressive DRM. I'm not sure if they planned that to happen or were just trying to punish us for wanting to own the games that we pay them money for (since last time I checked, that's how a transaction works. If they want us to have no choice but to basically rent games, they had better be a lot cheaper than the price to buy them). If they did plan to turn gamers against each other though, I'll admit that's pretty good as far as corporate evil schemes go. I don't like it, but I do respect it. That's allowed, right? Doctor Doom sincerely respects both Mister Fantastic and Iron Man. Now that I think about it, I think villains are usually the ones who both hate and respect their enemies. Especially Kraven the Hunter with his philosophy about every man having his "spider." But this isn't really a you're-my-spider kind of thing as much as an I-don't-like-what-you-did-but-I'll-admit-it-was-smart kind of thing. Besides lacking my and many other people's respect and not deserving our money, there are still other reasons not to buy an Xbox One. It costs One hundred dollars more, and relies a lot on voice commands, which you can't expect to always work. You just can't. And the most important reason is still the fact that it's not truly about games anymore. Honestly, if you want a new console, buy a PS4, if you have some money you want to blow after buying one and like Nintendo, buy a Wii U, and if you still have $500 you want to spend on something, buy those gold pills I mentioned in my last post , and I honestly could not care less what you do with the remaining $75. I'll take it if you don't want it.

Marvel Movie News

Ok, so after a few minutes of research and thinking, I have a lot of news and speculations on upcoming Marvel movies. First of all, Thor 2 will be subtitled The Dark World and Captain America 2 will be subtitled Winter Soldier (which I totally called the first time I saw it). Also, it was rumored that Thor 2 may feature Dr. Stephen Strange, and considering the title, the villain may be Dormammu, which I'm pretty sure I spelled right. But I also heard that Hopkins won't return as Odin, and while it seems a little early to me, Odin might die, and the subtitle might refer to a death related realm. Personally though, I would much rather prefer to see Dormammu, the Lord of the Dark Dimension, on the screen. The same goes for the Radioactive Man, who is rumored to appear in Iron Man 3, along with Mandarin as the confirmed villain. It was also said that they will use elements from the Extremis storyline, such as Tony being able to armor up at will, thanks to microtechnology. But now, Mandarin apparently has an army of enhanced soldiers. At comic con this year, they showed an Iron Man suit that looked a little like the Iron Patriot armor, but the biggest surprise is that it was called the Mark 47. That's right. 47. They also said that to counter Mandarin's Extremis army, Iron Man commands an army of remote controlled armors. If you're as big of an Iron Man fan as I am, and you just heard all of this for the first time, you should be freaking out right now. I'll give you a moment to take in all that awesome. ..............(continue reading when ready) ........... Ok, ready? They apparently plan on bringing in some new Avengers in either Avengers 2, or maybe sometime sooner. On their list are Black Panther, possibly Falcon, and also the Vision, who I was surprised to hear may be played by Vin Diesel, if his posting of a picture of the Vision on Facebook, with some caption that I can't remember wasn't misinterpreted, or just a lie. As for the other two, I'm not sure who's playing them, but hopefully someone cool, since more than one awesome black Avenger would be pretty cool. That actually might be why they chose those two characters, in order to make the superhuman population a little less white. Some people think that neither of those two aren't the best choices, but I think they're both pretty cool, since if they bring Falcon in, he'll probably also be in Captain America 2. Moving on, the Guardians of the Galaxy lineup was confirmed to be the newer version, consisting of Starlord, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and Gamora, if my memory is right, which is most of the time. I don't know about you, but besides Gamora, who I'm neutral on, these are some of my favorite Marvel characters. Especially the newer versions of them like smart, knife-wielding Drax, and Starlord-with-cool-helmet-and-many-guns. I've talked in other posts about how much I like his helmet. Someone else with a cool helmet is Ant-Man, whose movie I heard is confirmed to have Wasp in it. In my opinion, the Wasp has always been kind of a fail character, but she needs to be in Ant-Man, and at least one Avengers movie. That's all for now.

I Want My Own Realm

Like the title says, one of the things I want most is to be the lord of an alternate dimension. Preferably all of it, but I would be more than happy with just that dimension's earth. That earth should be almost identical to this one, but with a few differences. For example, I would be the emperor of all of it, and as emperor, I would have a mile wide spike field built for reasons I'll reveal later. I would have Dr. Doom's castle built (the time machine isn't necessary, but if they figure out how to make one I'll take it), and underneath it something that's basically the Batcave, but also with Iron Man suit(s) and one of those exosuits that the Autobots made in G1 that allows the wearer to be a human Transformer. Although, I don't want to be strictly Batman or Iron Man, and I DEFINITELY don't want to be Spike, so I guess I'd have to put some of my own modifications on their gear so as to be more individual. Also, I'd like to have the ability to make portals that go between this world and that one that I can open anywhere in this world and anywhere in my own world. By the way, that's why I want a spike field. For that same reason, I'd also like there to be an area full of fire, lava and intimidating rock formations so I could send people there and tell them it's Hell. But making those portals would probably be one of the best powers to have. If I needed anything, I could just create a portal under one that leads to a portal either in my hand or next to me, depending on the size of the object. Plus, it could be used to travel anywhere in the world almost instantly by either going there on whatever earth I'm not currently on, or by doing that, then switching back so as not to have to change universes whenever I travel.

Amazing Spider -Man

Last night I went and saw the Amazing Spider-Man. It was actually better than I was expecting. Not that I thought it would be bad or anything, but I'm always a little skeptical of series reboots. The movie was fairly accurate to the comic books, but they tie everything to Oscorp. For example: Curt Connors, Richard Parker, Gwen Stacy, Peter's synthetic web, the radioactive spider that bit him, the list goes on. In the game they do that even more: Vermin, Alistair Smythe, the Rhino, the Scorpion, the Iguana, possibly the Vulture, once again, the list goes on. But that doesn't bug me that much. My only other complaints are that they spent a little too much time with the high school romance stuff, and also (this is a small one) he unmasks too much and too willingly. He took his mask off so a kid he was saving wouldn't be scared, which I understand but wouldn't do in his place, and he also told Gwen who he was, even though he hadn't known her for that long. Captain Stacy and the Lizard knowing who he was doesn't bother me though. What I think they did well though is that they did a good job with the personality of Parker as both Peter and as Spider-Man. Making fun of a thug for trying to threaten him with a knife is totally something the real Spider-Man would do. Notice my use of the word real. I'm referring to the one that inhabits the mainstream Marvel comic book universe, with the numerical designation 616 if I'm not mistaken. Also, before he becomes Spider-Man, he's noble even though he's weak, but he's a little bit awkward and not very confident. That seemed about right to me. And I don't mean to just suddenly change the subject, but I will anyway. After the credits, there was a mysterious scene. Not exactly as tantalizing as the ones from Iron Man 1 through Avengers, but it still made it look like they plan on making a sequel. It showed Connors in jail talking to someone (you can't see who, but I think it's Norman Osborne) who asks him if he told Parker the truth about his father. I was actually expecting there to be more about Richard and Mary Parker in this movie, but there wasn't. I can feel that a second one is on the way, but we won't get it for a long time to come. At least we can still look forward to the Dark Knight Rises. Maybe I shouldn't talk about a DC hero in a Marvel post, but we're allowed to like both, right?

Minions

I feel the need for an army of some kind of nonhuman minions, besides the various armies I've mentioned in other posts. Please note, this post is different from my armies post because now I'm talking about relatively small squads of specialized operatives instead of huge armies. Plus, I forgot all about one of the minion types I want most! I just read Iron Man: Legacy of Doom, and in Mephisto's realm, there were tons of semisolid slime beings, aka protoplasmic imps. They just jump on people and use their super-corrosive bodies as weapons. But as deadly as they can be, they really don't look that menacing, which is why I want those guys as another division of the extremely diverse army that I may or may not ever command. There's just something funny about them, so I like them. I'd also like an army of tiny robots, but for safety, I couldn't let them be too powerful or too plentiful, since as you may already know, I don't trust robots. Though I do like the ones from Transformers that come out of Soundwave as cassettes, then fold/unfold into 3D robots, like Ravage and Laserbeak. Mine would probably deploy out of a nonrobotic tank though, since I would have a hard time trusting a giant Decepticon, and also so I would be protected in case they rebel. Like I said, I don't trust robots. Well, there are a few that I trust, like C3PO, R2D2, the Metal Men, Machine Man, and a few others. (And I'm not counting androids here; I'm wary of them, but they're innocent until proven guilty.) Or some kind of flying sea creatures would also be good, kinda like Lobo's companion Fishy, or also, I saw a Doctor Who episode a while ago which may or may not have been a Christmas special, and there were all kinds of fish, but they swam through the air instead of water, so some more appropriately named flying fish and sharks and stuff would be awesome. Also, of course there are elementals, like fire, water, etc. creatures. Though now that I think about it, this is more than a minion, but I would positively love a Balrog. If I were to gain electrical powers, I'd probably create electrical beings to do my bidding. Diablo once tried to make what he called an Electroll until Spider-Man stopped him, but it's a good idea, since they can get into computers and other electronics. I'd probably go with a different name though. Or maybe it could be like Zzzzzax (I have no idea how many z's are supposed to be there, so I just guessed and put five).  And here is another time that on the page where I write my posts, the parentheses align perfectly, but when you read it, they probably will not. For a longer and more pointless discussion of that, see last month's Sherlock Holmes post.

Robots

I want a robot servant and bodyguard, but just one, since if there were too many, there could be an uprising. I'd be cool if it had that old style computery Cylon voice, and maybe the little eye that goes back and forth. I would also need some kind of safety mechanism so that even the one robot doesn't turn on me, like something that reads its thoughts and alerts me if they include betrayal. It should have a version of the Three Laws, but more specific to me. Something like: A robot cannot harm me, or through inaction allow me to come to harm. A robot must obey every order I give it. A robot may defend itself unless such action conflicts with the first or second law. And if it didn't have the Cylon voice, another option would be to have the voice and personality of Jarvis from the Iron Man movies (not Edwin Jarvis, even though he's cool too). Or maybe it could be like Tekik of the Sinestro Corps; he's pretty awesome!
 

"By your command"