We spend a lot of time here at the Griz reviewing movies, and giving our thoughts so that you (the reader) will have an informed opinion before you chose to watch said movie. Don’t believe me? Check out the reviews section and tell me we don’t bring you a ton of them. Usually they feature an outline of whatever is being reviewed, and the potential for enjoyment you could have with it. It’s a nice safe place where you can share ideas and have informed conversations about your viewing habits.
I say screw that. This is going to be us (the staff of GB) telling you (the reader) exactly what to watch and when to do it. Not whether you should, or if you’ll like it. I’m flat out telling you, watch this immediately. This is Grizzly Bomb’s Must See TV.
And to start it off, we are going to feature a cartoon, because who doesn’t love cartoons?
The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes premiered on Disney XD last year, and while I covered some news on it before it was released, I wasn’t too sure if it was something I was going to enjoy. I was afraid it would be another show primed for yung’ins, much like The Super Hero Squad Show, which I detest. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I remember a little over a year ago talking to my comic guy about the then upcoming Marvel event, the Heroic Age which was about to start up. It was supposed to return the heroes to a more peaceful and manageable existence. He was ready for the heroes to get back to basics and just be superheroes without all the complexities of real life added in. His main reasoning was that there had been too many ‘dark times’ for the Marvel superheroes, and it was time for a mood change.
I couldn’t have disagreed more. I love nothing more than seeing the Marvel heroes collectively fight for their lives and deal with loss as normal people do. I love seeing that heroes from Hawkeye to Captain America are not only vulnerable, but killable. And heroes like Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are mentally vulnerable. The last several years at Marvel had been all about this, dark and depressing. And the story that started it all was of course Avengers Disassembled, where the Avengers were literally – disassembled.
And done so, from the inside by one of their own. We have an unknown force messing with the Avengers, which results in multiple casualties, seeing Ant-Man and Hawkeye both killed in the first wave. Tony Stark is then ousted as the U.S. ‘Secretary of Defense’ and Avengers Mansion is all but destroyed. Numerous Avengers are put out of commission including She-Hulk, Vision, and the Wasp. The big reveal is that it was the Scarlet Witch committing all of these attacks, and it was actually quite heartbreaking to see why she did what she did.
Years earlier the Witch used her magic to become pregnant with twins, using Mephisto‘s essence, but they were suddenly taken from her when that essence returned to Mephisto. Imagine trying to cope with your kids just ceasing to exist, I’m not a mother but that has to be a cause for severe depression. Combined with constant abductions by jobbers such as Chthon and Immortus and manipulations by her loving dad Magneto, and even Agatha Harkness routinely wiping the memory of her children away it’s no wonder she suffered a nervous breakdown. Maybe this all could have been avoided with a nice psychiatrist seeing Wanda a couple times a week. After the heroes confront Wanda and a super throw down ensues…in House of M.
In House of M, the Marvel Universe is transformed by the Scarlet Witch’s reality altering powers into a mutant utopia where humans are the minority, and Magneto is the ruler of the United States. Once the heroes determine what has happened they realize that Magneto didn’t manipulate Wanda into doing this, but that it was her brother, Quicksilver. I mean seriously, who needs villains at this point?
By the end of House of M we are left with the majority of the mutant population de-powered due once again, to the Scarlet Witch .
Civil War begins with the heroes slowly recovering, and the mutants effectively sitting it out due to their kick in the oblongs from the events of House of M/Decimation. A shenanigan involving the New Warriors and an obliterated elementary school eventually culminates in the passing of the superhuman registration act, where all heroes will work under the U.S. government, sans secret identities to keep the public safe. The inevitable then happens, with heroes taking sides on the issue and all hell breaking loose between them. Like I said, who the hell needs villains at this point? The series ends with many heroes going underground and Captain America death.
The next event kind of comes out of left field, but The Secret Invasion storyline was still pretty decent, and was a stepping stone to the next event.
Basically there is a Skrull invasion of Earth. All the heroes unite to defeat the aliens, but in the end it is too late to stop our old, psychotic friend Norman ‘Goblin’ Osborn from stepping up and taking control of SHIELD. Under Osborn’s leadership SHIELD is renamed HAMMER. [Ed. – Reminisant of DC electing Lex Luther President]
This leads us into Dark Reign, where the world is slowly placed in the grip of the world’s villains. Norman Osborn replaces the Avengers with his own team of “superheroes” consisting of :
Iron Patriot – Norman Osborn wearing a suit of Iron Man armor emblazoned with the star of Captain America.
Hawkeye – Bullseye, Killer extraordinaire.
Wolverine – Daken, the son of Wolverine.
Spiderman – Mac Gargan, the Scorpion, wearing the Venom symbiote.
Dark Reign the leads into Siege where Osborn tries to conquer Asgard, but is finally defeated by the Avengers and promptly arrested (His inner goblin finally reared it’s ugly head for all to see).
With the heroes finally united again, and the Heroic Age stuff about to wrap up it’s finally time for a new storyline for our superheroes.
Not much is known about the seven part series except that the superheroes will be facing off against a God of Fear, perhaps from Asgard? The heroes will face their greatest fears, which should be interesting in itself. Just to see what currently haunts big hitters like the Thor, Captain America and the Hulk, sounds good. There is going to be a prologue where a supposed “concealed act” in Marvel history occurs that has ramifications for the story. This prologue involves the Red Skull during World War 2 and it reeks of some sort of change in continuity.
That part may be good or bad. From all of the recent promos for the storyline Asgard must figure in somehow with different trios of characters reaching for what look like different variations of Thor’s hammer Mjolnir.
I don’t need multiple doom and gloom storylines for the next five years, but I hope starting with Fear Itself Marvel gets back into the swing of making the stakes for our heroes high, and the ramifications of said event significant leading into the next one. So far Fear Itself is shaping up to be very interesting.
On the other hand I’m not excited about what Juggernaut appears to be doing in his promo picture. Is that Hercules in the peculiar position in front?
With the impending release of Thor, Captain America, and the newest X-Men movie, Marvel is in the spotlight right now. Then there is also the future projects The Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man 3, Wolverine 2, and The Avengers. Needless to say, its gonna be a busy couple of summers over at Marvel. Well, I thought we’d get a little caught up on some of it.
Relative new comer Chris Hemsworth will play the title role, while Geek-Goddess Natalie Portman will appear as Jane Foster, Thor’s longtime romantic interest in the comics.
Marvel just released a new extended trailer for the film that will introduce many non-geeks to the God of Thunder for the first time.
This is one, that despite having a director I like, I’m just not pumped for. X3 and Wolverine were so terrible I can’t allow myself to get excited for this yet, but SupaScoot did a pretty detailed writeup on it.
While Chris Evans isn’t who I had in mind when this movie was announced, I am hopeful that he’ll exceed my expectations. Director Joe Johnston however, does not excite me, so I have to remain skeptical…
The Amazing Spider-Man – Opens July 3rd, 2012
The reboot cast is highlighted with Emma Stone, Dennis Leary and Martin Sheen. The new Spidey though, Andrew Garfield is a mystery to me. Maybe that’s cause the only thing I’ve seen him in is Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974, and I don’t even remember him. But this picture looks awesome…
The Avengers – 2012
Joss Whedon is directing what will be the most ambitious Comic Movie project ever undertaken. This is what Marvel is banking it all on, set for sometime in 2012.
Below is a fan-made poster based on the upcoming project.
Iron Man 3 – In Pre-Production
The Iron Man franchise is in flux, and I couldn’t be happier about it. The first Iron Man was great, but the 2nd one was a bit of a letdown. Iron Man 3 will be a direct sequel to The Avengers. The first 2 movies were directed by Jon Favreau, who is now leaving the franchise. And while I like Jon Favreau, I love his apparent replacement – Shane Black.
If you’re not a movie dork you may not know Shane Black, but I’m sure you’ll recognize his work as a writer. He, in my opinion is batting a thousand. He wrote the first 2 Leathal Weapon movies, The Last Boyscout, The Monster Squad, Last Action Hero, The Long Kiss Goodnight, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. He also directed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Black and Downey Jr on the set of KISS KISS BANG BANG
The Wolverine – Pre-Production
This video has nothing to do officially with the Darren Aronofsky helmed follow-up to the piece of crap Wolverine movie, but it is pretty damn cool.
This is pretty surreal, to think that piece of crap Wolverine movie is gonna spawn a sequel directed by one of the most respected Directors working now. The Wrestler, Black Swan, The Woverine?
Now, if you’ll be so go as to vote on this poll you won’t have to suffer the same fate as our mascot did at the hands of the Hulk…
Grizzly Bomb 