Pop Culture for Fun

  There’s been a lot of buzz about The Avengers movie ever since Marvel announced it and it’s understandable. As it stands, it would be the biggest, boldest superhero movie ever made and as the studio sees it, a huge payday. The idea is to gather most of Marvel’s superheroes under one roof. By “roof” I mean movies, and by “most” I mean the profitable ones: Iron Man, The Hulk, and the probably bankable Thor and Captain America. I’m betting on the latter as a bigger hit, Kenneth Branagh directing Thor seems a lot like Ang Lee directing The Hulk, and while I didn’t find it terrible, something was off.
  The problems are many and are just starting to surface. So far, Marvel’s had a modest hit with The Incredible Hulk, and two big hits with the Iron Man movies. Nothing so far suggests they might have any problem with the Avengers, but then again, Captain America and Thor have yet to be released. If any of the two flop at the box office, that’s a big question mark on The Avengers – as I see it, it will have a huge budget to recover. And a movie doesn’t have to be a flop to fail. It’s enough to not be released.
  The ensemble cast sounds amazing: Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, not to mention whoever manages to spill from any of the standalone movies to this superhero fiesta. The only problem is, it’s an ensemble cast and people might not get along. Think of it: they’re coming from their solo projects, more or less successful, to this behemoth, and they’re expected to share the spotlight. While some may not mind, others will. Look at the recent falling out between Marvel and Edward Norton, whatever the reason was. The studio implied Norton is not a team player, he denied it – fact is he won’t be returning to the role of Bruce Banner. And by 2012 who knows who else might pull out. And continuity is something people want from this movie. Sure, some people might not mind a different actor for any of these superheroes (the comic book fans should not, they face a different looking character every time they switch artists on a comic), but for some, knowing someone who did a decent job won’t be returning, would be a reason to forget the movie altogether.
  Last, but not least, Joss Whedon as director? I have respect for the man who brought us Buffy, Firefly, Dr. Horrible and so on, but let’s face it, besides several TV episodes, he’s only directed one movie, Serenity, where he had a very good relationship with the cast and crew, developed while doing the series. As good a writer he is, directing a movie of this scale might prove tricky for him. But, I get ahead of myself, considering situations like The Hobbit, you might even wonder if Whedon will end up directing the thing.
  As far as I see it, The Avengers is but a dream for now, but it does have a chance of happening, and that’s enough for me.