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Last year's mega-hit The Avengers was, in some ways, the catalyst behind the spate of comic book movies created by Marvel Studios, who struck gold with 2008's Iron Man, which teased at a superhero team-up movie to come. After finding that success, Marvel followed by introducing more individual superheroes in 2008's The Incredible Hulk, 2010's Iron Man 2, and last year's Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, embarking on an unusual strategy of creating individual movies that also worked a little bit like sequels that fed into the story of The Avengers.
The Avengers 2 will arrive in 2015 and cap off a second phase of Marvel's "cinematic universe," and will face competition from what Warner Bros.and DC Entertainment hopes will be the start of their "cinematic universe," starting with 2015's Justice League. Gangster Squad screenwriter Will Beall has already been hired to write the screenplay for the movie which will follow (if recent rumors are true) an unsurprising lineup that includes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. With the release dates being so close together, we wondered which team could take down the other, and, since there will never be a movie where the two teams face off, there's only one way to solve this hypothetical dilemma: the cybernetic walls of our Character Cage Match!
check out the teams' strengths and weaknesses before weighing in on our poll >> Posted 01.10.13 by Ryan -
Comic book legend Stan Lee first started working for Marvel Comics in 1939, back when it was still known Timely Comics, eventually co-creating Marvel's most enduring characters, including the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and the Avengers, to name a few. Still going strong at 90 years old, many might be surprised to know that Lee hasn't worked at Marvel Comics for years, as he is still seen as a figurehead for the comic book company. Lee continues to field questions and comments on Twitter, where he has a huge following, and continues his association with Marvel through his many cameos in Marvel movies.
Lee made his first onscreen cameo in the 1989 TV movie The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, and would go on to appear in 2000's X-Men, all four Spider-Man, 2003's Daredevil and Hulk, both Fantastic Four movies, 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand, both Iron Man movies as well as 2011's Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger and last year's The Avengers (but not, inexplicably, 2003's X2: X-Men United or X-Men: First Class). Lee's entire, chronological cameo history has been compiled into a single video (via Mary Sue), including most of our ten favorites (sorry, Mallrats doesn't count) and excluding Lee's voice over work from Marvel's animated series.
watch the video >> Posted 01.09.13 by Ryan -
Back in 2008, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) declared he was Iron Man after defeating Obadiah Stane, aka Iron Monger (Jeff Bridges), who was working with foreign terrorist groups. In Stark's own words, the billionaire industrialist had essentially privatized world peace.
A few years later, Iron Man was instrumental in stopping Ivan Vanko, aka Whiplash (Mickey Rourke), earning a medal for bravery and being declared a national treasure. A few years after that, and Iron Man joined the Avengers Initiative, protecting the planet from invaders from another world taking over the city of New York.
Clearly, Iron Man is a hero, but perhaps not to everyone. Sure, he stopped Whiplash, but wasn't he also somewhat responsible for creating him too? It's not easy being a superhero, and when you also live your life as Tony Stark, there's plenty of crimes committed along the way, which is why a rap sheet exists for Marvel's metal superhero.
check out Iron Man's rap sheet >> Posted 11.24.12 by Ryan -
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Remember that rumor about Marvel bringing its entire cinematic universal in one deluxe package? Well, those rumors turned out to be true.
Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase One: Avengers Assembled is every comic book-fan boys’ dream. Beginning with 2008’s Iron Man, Marvel has carefully merged its characters from comic books to the big screen and all that hard work pays off with this ultimate movie collection, which features not only the Blu-ray 3-D version of The Avengers but also Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, and a bonus disc, The Phase One Archives. The blu-ray set also includes collectible packaging with exclusive memorabilia from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While the rest of the Marvel collection is already available on Blu-ray, Avengers won't hit home theater until Sept. 25 (Amazon actually doesn't list a release date for Phase One but it's safe to assume it will be released around the same time).
With dubbing this collection Phase One, Marvel is telling us there’s a lot more in store for comic book and movie fans alike.
You can preorder the collection on Amazon for $153.30. So are you ordering Phase One?
Posted 06.03.12 by Chris -
When Sin City creator Frank Miller revealed last week that the long-awaited sequel would include elements of his story "Just Another Saturday Night," it was the first time that there was any indication that the character of Marv would be appearing in Sin City 2 (working title). Though Marv makes brief appearances in the 6-issue "A Dame to Kill For" comic book that will serve as the basis for the bulk of the sequel, it was believed that Marv might be cut from the movie because of Mickey Rourke's reluctance to get back into the makeup chair to play the scarred anti-hero.
In a recent interview with ComingSoon, Rourke sounded as if he might be mulling over a return to the role that helped launch his comeback, saying that appearing as Marv "depends" on a couple of factors, implying that money and creative expression could entice him back into the makeup chair.
what did Rourke say about returning as Marv? >> Posted 10.31.11 by BrentJS -
Though the character of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson did not originally appear in Marvel's comic books prior to making his debut in 2008's Iron Man, the character has been making stronger footholds in Marvel's Cinematic Universe. Played by actor Clark Gregg, Agent Coulson got his biggest role yet in the May release of Thor, and was even included in the "assembled" line-up of the upcoming adaptation of The Avengers that debuted at the 2010 Comic-Con.
In a recent interview with Crave Online, Gregg revealed that the character's increasing presence will continue in The Avengers, with writer-director Joss Whedon giving Coulson "definitely new stuff" to handle in his latest mission.
Much different, new stuff for Agent Coulson to do in this one. You know, it’s kind of "all hands on deck" in terms of combating the threat that has shown up. And Joss… Joss is a master at taking what we know about each one of these characters, the superheroes and Agent Coulson, and building on what’s already there.
spoilers ahead on coulson's future >> Posted 09.06.11 by Ryan -
The rumors that Marvel Studios was planning on releasing short movies that take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe were proven to be true at the recent San Diego Comic-Con. A preview of Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant was shown during Marvel's Cup O' Joe panel. Now, Marvel has released a preview of the full short, which will be included as one of the special features on the home video releases of Thor.
According to co-producer Brad Winderbaum, The Consultant, which stars Clark Gregg as S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson, bridges the gap between Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk and takes place before Thor and The Avengers. Based upon the short's place in the chronology, it appears as if the eponymous subject of the short is actually a Marvel Cinematic Universe character who already goes by another alias, Tony Stark, aka Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), though it has not been revealed whether Stark will appear in the short.
watch the preview clip of The Consultant >> Posted 08.03.11 by BrentJS -
Today's Challenge: The two highest grossing movies last May were Iron Man 2 and Shrek Forever After. Can you find a link between these 2010 blockbusters?
Our first Facebook movie game, ClusterFlick, plays off that old "six degrees of separation" theory — you know, the one that has a certain Kevin at the center of the Hollywood universe. It's easy to play, but not so easy to win. The goal is to use the major cast of movies to get from Point A to Point B in the smallest number of moves.
Play ClusterFlick >>
Posted 05.22.11 by reelz -
Today's Challenge: This weekend last year, Iron Man 2 ruled the box office. Eight years ago this weekend, X2: X-Men United was the number one movie. Can you find a link between these two blockbuster sequels?
Our first Facebook movie game, ClusterFlick, plays off that old "six degrees of separation" theory — you know, the one that has a certain Kevin at the center of the Hollywood universe. It's easy to play, but not so easy to win. The goal is to use the major cast of movies to get from Point A to Point B in the smallest number of moves.
Play ClusterFlick >>
Posted 05.09.11 by reelz -
Last month, writer/director Shane Black was handed the director's chair for Iron Man 3, now that Jon Favreau has moved on to directing Magic Kingdom for Disney. What wasn't clear was whether Black, known first as a screenwriter of action movies like Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout, was going to write the script as well. Black recently confirmed that he will.
What will Iron man 3 be about? >> Posted 03.07.11 by Ryan