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Well, it happened. We have a Green Lantern movie. I honestly never thought this day would come. Of course, after actually seeing the film, most people (especially critics) kind of wish it never had. Whether you’re an avid defender of the movie or one of its harshest critics, everyone seems to agree that Green Lantern had a lot of problems. Some people criticize the script. Some people criticize the acting or CGI. Ultimately, though, I think that all of the problems with Green Lantern come down to one thing:

It should have been Kyle Rayner.

For those of you who don’t know who he is, Kyle Rayner was the Green Lantern after Hal Jordan went Parallax-crazy, single-handedly killed every member of the Green Lantern Corps, and used their rings to destroy Oa, killing all but one of the Guardians of the universe in the process. This lone surviving Guardian, Ganthet, barely escaped Par-Hal-lax with the last remaining Green Lantern ring and crash landed on Earth in an alley behind a bar. It was there that he found Kyle, who isn’t the best choice for a Green Lantern (he doesn’t exactly have “ability to overcome great fear” on his resume), but it’s between him or some homeless dude and Ganthet is pretty desperate. So Kyle becomes the Green Lantern.

What’s interesting is that with no Green Lantern Corps to speak of (everyone’s dead and there isn’t enough power left to recruit any more members), Kyle has to train himself to wield the ring, only learning about the way things were through Ganthet or other heroes telling him. He eventually fulfills a prophecy that says that he’s meant to rebuild Oa and restart the entire Green Lantern Corps, but that’s after years of stories with Kyle learning to overcome fear and become the hero he was always destined to be. In the grand scheme of the Green Lantern mythos, Kyle Rayner is Luke Skywalker.

Think about it: A New Hope works so well because we enter into the world of Star Wars after the Jedi have been destroyed and we’re only told about the old world order through Obi-Wan reminiscing with Luke as the surrogate for the audience. He doesn’t know what’s going on until someone tells him, and neither do we. The Jedi are mysterious, which makes them cool.

With a Kyle Green Lantern movie, we’re not hit with a ton of very necessary (but really unfortunate) exposition about what a Green Lantern is, why they exist, where they come from, etc. What we get is mostly in passing because it’s just not important to his story. We come in at the end and are told about how awesome the Green Lanterns were, and quickly realize that Kyle has a lot to live up to. But he’s not alone. Kyle has his Yoda in Ganthet, his Obi-Wan in John Stewart (an out of commission Green Lantern who barely survived the fight against Par-Hal-lax, but was paralyzed from the waist down in the process), and even a Han Solo of sorts in a cocky, ex-Lantern named Guy Gardner. All of these supporting characters help Kyle master his newfound power and come to terms with being the last the Green Lantern , a job he was never meant to have. Ganthet only gives him the ring after saying something along the lines of “I guess you’ll have to be good enough…”. Kyle’s no hero, at least, not at first. He was just a freelance artist who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and suddenly he’s one of the most powerful beings in the universe. How do you process your whole life being rewritten in an instant, and what do you do next? It makes for an interesting story, and a strong character arc.

Instead, we get a Hal Jordan movie where the Green Lantern Corps are at the height of their power and influence throughout the galaxy. Everything is great other than the “phantom” threat of Parallax and another character who seems to be a good guy right now but we’re all waiting for the moment when he eventually turns dark side and gets his “revenge”. There’s even hints at a war that could be coming in the not so distant future and long boring speeches about intergalactic history and politics. Sound familiar?

In 1999, it was called The Phantom Menace.

Today, it’s called Green Lantern.

Maybe space operas just shouldn’t start at the beginning of their story. It never seems to be interesting, and Hal Jordan’s story is no exception. There’s never any question if Hal will be able to overcome fear; the ring chose him because it knows he can, which means there are no stakes, a very weak character arc, and nowhere for the story to really go. In comics, that’s the kind of character you want in a long running title where the goal is to tell one adventure after another until the end of time. I believe it was Stan Lee that once said that comic books should read like a perpetual second act. But movies are different. Films have an ending. They’re not serialized beyond the occasional trilogy. Kyle Rayner was not a character that could last forever as the lead of a comic book (they did bring Hal back, after all), but for film? He comes packaged with a complete cinematic story.

That being said, I can understand why DC and Warner Bros went the Hal Jordan route with the movie series. Geoff John’s run on the title has been a huge hit for DC Comics and they obviously thought that would translate to movie sales and I can’t fault them for that logic. It is curious, though, that Warner Bros would choose Hal’s story over Kyle’s in this new post-The Dark Knight cinemascape where Warner execs were quoted to say that they wanted every superhero movie from now on to be a little dark and gritty. In Green Lantern, they do it esthetically through Oa’s seemingly perpetual dusk and the gritty realism of the production design, but it doesn’t work because ultimately this is supposed to the Golden Age of the Green Lantern Corps. During Kyle’s time as Green Lantern, the mythology is in a much darker place: The Green Lanterns are basically extinct and the flame is almost dead; Kyle is the sole torch-bearer.

It seems that’s the sort of story Warner execs should have gravitated to. In the comics, Kyle’s girlfriend is brutally murdered by his first villain shortly after he finally accepts his role as Green Lantern. After finding her body, Kyle hunts down and nearly kills her murderer. Not only is that darker storytelling than anything that’s in this recent Green Lantern movie, but it shows just how human and flawed Kyle is. He’s not in control of his emotions at all and has no business being Green Lantern, which makes a much more interesting hero because it gives his character a place to go and something to prove.

While there are certainly worse superhero movies out there (Catwoman, Punisher War Zone, and Electra just to name a few), I think we can all agree that Green Lantern is not a perfect movie by any means. It’s just unfortunate that Warner Bros. chose to center their franchise on a flat, two-dimensional character with nowhere to go, when they had a goldmine of a character with tons of cinematic potential sitting right in front of them.

- Scott Carelli

We start our discussion with non-spoiler reviews of the film before falling into a full-on dissection/discussion of the film with heavy SPOILERS. Enjoy!

I’ve been a Marvel fan for the past six and a half years, going all the way back to Bendis’s New Avengers #1. At the time, I never in a million years thought I could pick up a Marvel book, but hey. I got hooked and I’ve been reading your comics in mass opiate quantities ever since.

But I’m going to have to quit you.

I know times are tight and tensions are running high. I know the comics market is shrinking. Individual issue sales are down and decreasing across the board. Having giant movie blockbusters every summer doesn’t seem to be affecting monthly issue sales too much (especially in terms of people coming into the stores). Both you and DC are having a hard time, but that’s okay for you because you guys are the bigger, stronger company at the moment. Your books are dripping with talent and creativity and it’s showing in the numbers.

But I don’t know why you insist on continuing this petty rivalry even in the face of adversity.

I’m all for rivalries. Competition makes the world go round. But when your brand of competition comes out on Twitter and in interviews as jabs and digs, you guys come off sounding petty and immature. Take the September Previews catalog, for instance. You thought it best to take a swipe at DC by advertising your solicitations with tags like  “Uncanny X-Men: Still #543!” or “New Avengers: Still #16!” in some attempt to make yourselves look good in the wake of DC’s complete #1 relaunchment in September. Nevermind the fact that Uncanny X-Men is canceled and rebooting after issue #544 (October’s issue) or that New Avengers just relaunched 16 issues ago (I remember, I was there). Anything to show that you guys are the bigger guy.

And as if that’s not bad enough, you have someone like C.B. Cebulski, a talent scout and widely known, high profile, upper echelon, Senior Vice President at your company, coming out and SLAMMING DC over Twitter for its most recent Green Lantern film by saying:

“Man, DC just loves the number 52, huh? They even used it in their weekend GL movie grosses. Good thing we like bigger numbers at @Marvel!”

I can’t help but get a little offended at the sheer unprofessionalism of his comment. Granted, Cebulski later said it was a “nice little jab” and he was just “poking fun at the competition,” but that doesn’t really sound so much it’s “all in good fun” as much as it is pointing and laughing at someone and using that to brag about one’s own awesomeness. It’s petty, it’s cheap, and it’s kicking the competition when it’s down. Was Green Lantern perfect? Hell no. I’m the first to admit that. But does that mean one of your top guys has to backhand the competition on a bad day?

And fine, maybe that’s just Cebulski talking off the cuff (if Twitter could be considered off the record, which it isn’t), but I don’t really see him apologizing or thinking he did anything wrong. Nor do I see anyone at Marvel saying “the views of Mr. Cebulski are just Mr. Cebulski’s, not necessarily those of Marvel.” No. You must have heard it. Your company’s Twitter account follows him. He got plenty of @replies. He even spent some time firing back a few self-righteous responses. Surely it must be on your radar. Saying nothing tells me that either you’re ignorant of your employee’s actions in the public sector (which in the modern internet age is hard to believe, especially given his high profile) OR that you endorse this rhetoric and behavior (which is unprofessional and immature, to say the least). Given what I know about you as a company, I’m almost certain it’s the latter.

The worst part of all this? This is par for the course. This ritualistic DC bashing is the sort of thing we see from your people all the time at Con panels and on Twitter. When it’s mean-spirited and personal, that’s not you being the cute rival, it’s roasting the competition simply to be a giant dick about it. This isn’t a roast. It’s a place where I expect some modicum of decency in the public sector. Behind closed doors, misbehave, berate, and bash as much as you want, fine. I can’t stop you. But there’s no need to alienate potential fans who like both major comics companies in favor of making the die-hard Marvel Zombies go “Heh heh, yeah. Fuck those guys.”

And if that’s your goal, to make the Die-Hard Marvel Zombie happy, then fine. I guess that’s your prerogative. But I have to ask, do you actually care about the Die-Hard Marvel Zombie?

I ask because at the time of this writing I’m just hours away from finding out what happens at the end of Ultimate Spider-man #160, the purported (but not really because you’re re-launching in September with a new #1, but I’m not here to bitch about that) final (again!) issue of Ultimate Spider-man, despite the fact that the issue won’t be coming out for another couple of days. I know this because Bendis was talking it up on Twitter this afternoon, bragging about how he got off the phone with the AP and USA Today and who knows who else so your company could tout and spoil the ending for Ultimate Spider-man so you can get as many people as you possibly can into the stores come Wednesday.

Fine. That’s business, I suppose. I mean, it worked for Captain America a few years back. And in Bendis’s own words, this is about getting the fans you don’t have, not about keeping the ones you do.

And I get that. You want the sexy chick across the bar, not the one who’s in your lap. But isn’t that basically saying existing Marvel fans don’t matter as much as potential Marvel fans? Isn’t that just kicking your existing base because you know you’ll get away with it?

You’re damn right it is. Because you know as well as I do that your fans aren’t going anywhere. You have enough fans that will stick around regardless of your behavior, fans you guilt into buying more comics so you can keep the existing ones alive, fans who will stick around despite you increasing prices on your books to $3.99 “because you can.” I know, because I’m one of them. Or, I used to be.

So when I hear about you guys doing this, I get outraged. I get livid. I’ve been buying and reading Ultimate Spider-man nonstop for the past eighty issues (that’s double-dipping single issues and trades) despite going through three years of high school and four years of college. And now, on the eve of this long, long story getting to one of its fantastic turning points, you’re going to kick me (a loyal customer) in favor of the hundred or so (max) people who are going to pick up the FINAL issue of your not-in-real-continuity Spider-man and then never pick up a comic again?

And you’re going to get away with this, Marvel. I know because C.B. Cebulski is not going to apologize (nor are you going to pretend to attempt to make him). I know because the people his comments are going to enrage won’t stop reading comics. I know because people are still reading Fantastic Four (even if it’s not called that). I know because this “revealing the ending before it happens” bullshit has become “something we as comics fans just have to live with” because “this is our reality.”

But not for me. I refuse to continue to put up with your bullshit. I refuse to ignore or put up with your immaturity. I refuse to have you spoil the stories I’m reading. I refuse to stand silently by while you kick your base to make a quick buck.

And it’s because of this, Marvel, that I have to quit you. I’ve been a loyal reader for six and a half years. I’ve bled THOUSANDS of dollars into your books since then. I’ve gotten tons of my friends into comics (not just yours, but yours too). I love your properties, I love your stories, I love your comics. I’ve loved, cried, and laughed at your books since becoming a Marvel fan.

But no more. I can’t handle your attitude and I can’t handle the way you treat a fan like me. How dare I decide to support DC’s failed movie so we can get more non-Batman-or-Superman DC movies? How dare I support non-spoiled stories (Super 8 only made $40 million its first weekend. What must C.B. Cebulski think of that)? How dare I demand maturity from a company owned by Disney, who would NEVER allow such discourse from executives or VPs in “more respected media” like film or television?

I think of it differently. More like how dare I continually support your company in the face of all this? I can’t. Maybe if you guys acted with a bit more professionalism, you could help make this medium look a bit more grown up. I’m done fighting against being viewed as immature while your company perpetuates just that mentality.

But that’s okay, guys. I’m sure your massive-and-ever-expanding-and-growing comic fanbase will keep you guys afloat. There’s plenty of fans to keep kicking around while you try to bring in more so you can do just that.

I’m sure I won’t be missed at all.

Sincerely,

Matt Smith

We start our discussion with non-spoiler reviews of the film before falling into a full-on dissection/discussion of the film with heavy SPOILERS. Enjoy!

We start our discussion with non-spoiler reviews of the film before falling into a full-on dissection/discussion of the show with heavy SPOILERS. Enjoy!

The new game staring everyones favorite neighborhood Spider-Man has premiered at WonderCon and has been released online! From the storyline it looks like we will getting a tale centered both around the present Peter Parker Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099. The story was penned by Peter David (The Incredible Hulk comics, and Aquaman comics) and is set for a fall release.

They say this game isn’t a sequel to “Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions”, however from what I see in the gameplay it is very similar. Take into account I played very little of “Shattered Dimensions” (a little past the Kraven level), but I did not enjoy it mostly due to clunky controls. Let’s hope this will be better!

Listen to SuperGeeks and maybe Thomas and Jeff might have a take on it! What do you guys think of it?

-Reid Ackerman

So yeah…this is actually happening. Stan Lee and Arnold Schwarzenegger are working on an animated Governator television series as well as a comic book! After watching this trailer/test footage looking video I can’t help but express complete astonishment. It’s really one of those things you have to experience for yourself.

Play Along: How many summer blockbuster movie references are there? I counted Iron Man, Transformers, Terminator, The Dark Knight, and The Matrix

-Reid Ackerman

I’m not sure why I didn’t post this when it came out last week (probably laziness), but man, this thing rocked my socks off. Between this, THOR (which looks like fun), X-MEN: FIRST CLASS (which looks amazing), and GREEN LANTERN (which now looks EPIC!!), this summer is going to be an overdose of spectacular comic book films.

Behold! The trailer for CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER!!

Isn’t it a great morning to wake up and see footage from the new Green Lantern movie? I was a little disheartened when I learned that I would have to wait until Thor’s release in May to get a new trailer. Well wait no further. I’ve seen the 4 minutes and it is awesome! It really blows the old trailer out of the water for me.

What do you think? Not doing it? Does it get you more excited?

-Reid Ackerman

After much speculation the role of Superman’s love interest and co-worker Lois Lane has been cast! Amy Adams who has appeared in The Figher, Enchanted, and much more has won the role! The film will be directed by Zack Snyder and is set for a December 2012 release. Does she have what it takes to play our Lois? Could this be the best Lois yet? Discuss!

-Reid Ackerman

We’ve all been speculating for a while that Joseph Gordon-Levitt would play a role in the The Dark Knight Rises. First, he was rumored to take over as The Joker, then it seemed everybody was tapping him for The Riddler, and today it was confirmed that he will indeed be playing Alberto Falcone. This character plays an extremely crucial role in the the Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale mini series Batman: The Long Halloween. If you want to know more about the character, this is the book you should check out.

In addition to Levitt, Juno Temple (Year One) has been cast in Dark Knight Rises as a “Street smart Gotham girl”. I have no idea where to begin on speculation for this role. any ideas?

UPDATE: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY IS NOW CLAIMING THAT “A SOURCE CLOSE TO THE SITUATION” IS SAYING THE NEWS THAT “GORDON-LEVITT WILL PLAY ALBERTO FALCONE IS INCORRECT.” IF YOU WERE EXCITED FOR A MORE THE LONG HALLOWEEN TYPE STORY, IT MIGHT NOT HAPPEN.

]]> http://www.geekshow.us/content/articles/joseph-gordon-levitt-and-juno-temple-confirmed-for-dark-knight-rises/feed/ 2 http://www.geekshow.us/content/articles/first-photo-of-adrianne-palicki-in-wonder-woman-costume/ http://www.geekshow.us/content/articles/first-photo-of-adrianne-palicki-in-wonder-woman-costume/#comments Fri, 18 Mar 2011 23:35:12 +0000 ocdavenger http://www.geekshow.us/?p=7787 Our first official look at David E. Kelley’s Wonder Woman series!

So this is our first official look at the David E. Kelley’s live-action Wonder Woman television series being made for NBC. Judging by the photo I assume that the studio just wanted to get the photo out before anyone could snag a crappy quality set photo (a la The Amazing Spider-Man). There doesn’t seem to be a lot going for it and if anything I would mistake it for a Halloween costume model. Everything in the suit looks a little too plastic and fake for me. If anything my excitement (which wasn’t much) hasn’t changed. I’d like to get a look at trailer though and see the costume in action as well as the narrative.

What do you think?

A few days it was reported that Sandman, a comic book series by Neil Gaiman was being put on hold from becoming a television sereis. The series was supposedly being developed by Supernatural showrunner (Seasons 1-5) Eric Kripke. T’was a sad day or glorious day depending on your take of the adaptation. Cut to Geoff Johns, comic scribe and the Chief Creative Officer at DC Comics recently tweeting “Correction to world: The Sandman is AWAKE! :) Psyched to be working with @neilhimself on developing one of the greatest series ever!”, and “Sandman in any form – comics to live action – doesn’t work without @neilhimself #sandman“. Kripke’s involvement is still up in the air, however with Johns and Gaiman’s involvement I think we’re looking at some quality television here. While Sandman series is one of those series I’ve been really meaning to read, but just haven’t had the time yet, the promise of a television series gets me excited.

Anyone read Sandman? Is this a bad idea? Who would you cast?

-Reid Ackerman

Stumbling through the local comics news today I discovered an abundance of sketches by Skottie Young and Scott Morse. These drawings are translations of memorable Harry Potter characters and scenes from the movies and books. Skottie Young has gained recent fame from his beautifully and creatively illustrated The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Scott Morse has done many graphic novels for Oni Press. These designs seem to blend and take bits and pieces from the movies, but also have their own style. Could these open the door for a Harry Potter comic?

What writer do you think would suit this art? A different artist you’d want? What would you like out of a Harry Potter comic?

Head over to http://www.skottiescott.com for more!

Skottie Young’s Mad Eye Moodie

Scott Morse’s Remus Lupin in Werewolf form

Skottie Young’s Sirius Black

-Reid Ackerman

5. Fables

The first trade of the by Bill Willingham instantly hooks you on a common CSI seeming murder investigation of Rose Red. The series features all of our beloved storybook characters…seen in a completely different light. The Big Bad Wolf has become a chain-smoking detective, and after being exiled from their world, these fable characters must live amongst us and try to blend in. This comic at one point was in the market to become a ABC television series, however I haven’t heard anything on it being developed in the last few years. For ABC I don’t know if it could have the harsher elements that Willingham portrays in the book and is vital to the story. HBO is the place for it.

4. Irredeemable

With the exception of The Walking Dead, Irredeemable is one of the darkest comics I’ve read in while. Mark Waid, who’s spent a great deal of time in the superhero world, writing everything from The Flash to Captain America, scribes this melancholy tale. Irredeemable is the story of The Plutonian, a Superman type hero, who goes rouge and destroys the city he’s protected for so long. Why would this work as a TV series? The first trade seems to follow the supporting heroes who worked alongside The Plutonian during their crime fighting days. Each episode might be able to center around one of these characters and their relationship with the fallen hero. Another aspect that could be woven well in the television show is the questions you encounter when reading it. Why did he turn?  What is his origin? All these are potential plot points for a television series.

3. Jonah Hex

Jonah Hex really could be the next big period drama for HBO. In comics Hex generally lends itself to a one-and-done type of format. So far pretty much every issue of the new Jonah Hex run written by Jimmy Palmiotti allows the reader to easily access a story that doesn’t get bogged down by continuity. Hex as an HBO series could be spellbinding as it’s a gritty and sometimes heart wrenching tale includes very dark elements. A few subplot characters in each season and an over-arching story coupled with the accessibility could make Hex a frontrunner.

2. Gotham Central

This series could just be your typical crime drama (a la Law and Order and CSI), but ads a twist to it. What if these cops had to take down the arguably fiercest rouges in the DC Universe. Gotham Central gives readers a look on what would happen if real world police had larger than life crime. This series would allow for everything that viewers love about the crime drama harmoniously tied in with the DC Universe. Batman’s rouges cameos could be endless, not to mention a possible appearance by the Caped Crusader himself.

1. Y: The Last Man

Y: The Last Man possibly fueled my desire to read more books that didn’t involve the capes, cowls, and muscles. This series is centered around a plague that kills all the men off the earth, except for one, Yorick Brown. After the plague hits, Yorick, incognito, sets off with his partners trying to find why he’s still alive. The Brian K. Vaughn scribed series has the most character evolution of any comic I have ever read. The changes throughout the series would allow for an engaging television run. Filled with shocking season finale like moments, Y: The Last Man needs a series.

Am I wrong? What are you’re top 5? Discuss Below!!!!!

-Reid Ackerman

This. Looks. AWESOME.

Thor lands in theaters May 6, 2011.

Shane Black will be reuniting with his Kiss Kiss Bang Bang star as he takes over the Iron Man franchise from previous director Jon Favreau. Favreau left the Marvel Studios franchise to focus on new projects (namely Disney’s Magic Kingdom which he is set to direct).

Whether Black, best known as a screenwriter, will write a draft of the screenplay to Iron Man 3 is still being worked out at this point, but it should be a given that he will have something to do with the final draft.

John and I discussed this possibility on GeekiN #144 last week, and we both expressed how this may very well be the best thing to ever happen to Iron Man. It could even lead to the best entry in the franchise.

What do you guys think?

The new Wonder Woman series has cast it’s leading lady. Diana Prince will be played by Adrianne Palicki (Friday Night Lights, Supernatural, Aquaman), but Palicki didn’t win the role so much as it was her role to begin with (she was the only actress invited to test for it).

David E. Kelley’s re imagining of Wonder Woman sounds a little like this:

Wonder Woman/Diana Prince (Palicki) is a vigilante crime fighter in L.A. but also a successful corporate executive and a modern woman trying to balance all of the elements of her extraordinary life.

SO happy with the new title! Exactly what I was hoping for since the moment this reboot was announced!

This new picture of Andrew Garfield in full Spider-Man gear (costume AND mask)  isn’t half bad either (Click for HUGE version):

The Amazing Spider-Man swings into theaters July 3, 2012.

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

From director Matthew Vaughn, X-Men: First Class charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga, and reveals a secret history of famous global events. Before mutants had revealed themselves to the world, and before Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Not archenemies, they were instead at first the closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to prevent nuclear Armageddon. In the process, a grave rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men.

The story begins June 3, 2011.

Variety is reporting that actress Cobie Smulders, best known as Robin Scherbatsky on How I Met Your Mother, has been cast as Maria Hill in The Avengers. A few years back, Avengers writer/director Joss Whedon had stated that the actress was his top choice for the role of Diana Prince in his Wonder Woman film that was ultimately never produced.

In the comics, Maria Hill became the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. when Nick Fury went MIA after the events of Secret War.

In Joss Whedon’s film, Cobie Smulders’ Maria Hill will be an assistant of sorts to Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury.

The Avengers will assemble in theaters May 4, 2012.