LOGAN/KAL EL/PREACHER/BATMAN 3D.
Darren Aronofsky, director of Requiem For a Dream/Pi/The Wrestler and former member of the Edward R. Murrow Debate Team (along with yours truly!) is the rumored director of both/either Wolverine 2 and/or the Superman reboot to be produced by Christopher Nolan. I think if it goes the way of the Wolverine, it’s good—but Superman needs to be big. BIG. The last Superman reboot was terrible. Even Nolan as producer seems like an odd choice, since his best films are all noir-ish. If I could pick anyone for Superman, it would have been Joss Whedon. But I’m happier he’s on Avengers. I’m a Marvel guy at heart. Meanwhile, Nolan has announced that the next Batman will be in 3-D. Ugh ugh ugh. When will this obnoxious, headache-inducing film process end?! I hope he at least has the decency to release in non-3D as well—they didn’t do that with Resident Evil, and boy was I annoyed. (Although it probably saved me a few hours of my life, since the last few R.E. flicks were godawful.) Of course, all of this could be moot: Aronofsky is also supposed to be the director of Garth Ennis’ Preacher. Now that’s a good fit!
CAPTAIN AMERICA: FIRST AVENGER.
Lots and lots (and lots) of still shots are being leaked from the WWII-style set of Marvel’s (chronologically) first movie.
I’m not real into period pieces as a rule—they tend to look contrived—and the shots of Steve Rogers aren’t thrilling me either. Cap is a difficult character to pull off—the reason Ed Brubaker was able to do such a good job was that he focused on the characters alongside the idealistic hero rather than on the man himself (and then proved that the character is, in fact, entirely dispensable). John Byrne kind of did the same thing in his classic run on the character, emphasizing the conflicts in Rogers’ personal life over the Captain America hero. I’m very nervous that this movie will end up being another Daredevil.
SMALLVILLE
Well, on the first ep of the final season, they introduced the costume. Only to encase it in Kryptonian crystal. Guess he still won’t be wearing it. And now they’re saying that mad housewife and former Lois Lane will join the show as mommy Lane. That’s right, say hello to Teri Hatcher, the girl of my teenage dreams. The episode itself wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great, either.
BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD.
The Cartoon Network show continues to be a standard-bearing kids show—it’s terrific. They’re promising to bring us, as guests, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, and Martian Manhunter this season. Which leads to a great idea: How about a Justice League International cartoon?
The JLA comic book has rarely risen above the mediocre level, but JLI (and “I Can’t Believe It’s Not The Justice League”) has consistently been one of the greatest funny superhero books in the D.C. lineup. I’d love to see my favorite punch—Batman decking Guy Gardner—on my big screen TV! And speaking of The Goddamn Batman: Nolan has confirmed he’ll direct the third (3D) installment. No big surprise there.
NO ORDINARY FAMILY.
This year’s superhero prime time soap launched last week starring My Favorite T.V. Cop (Michael Chiklis), and the wife from Dexter (so that’s why they killed her!). The show was pretty good, but shame on reviewers for comparing it to The Incredibles. It’s much more like The Fantastic Four. Which The Incredibles, of course, spoofed. My biggest problem with it was the daughter: She gets the most awesome power of all, the ability to read minds, and she’s whining about it?!? What kind of teenager would complain about getting super powers, particularly that one? It was nice to see that the parents were thrilled. The story itself wasn’t much, and the relationships in the family seem kind of clunky, but I’m certainly willing to give this show a chance. If nothing else, it’s truly a family show—we can all watch it together.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: THE RETURN OF TRANSMETROPOLITAN.
It’s been 8 years and I still haven’t read the Warren Ellis/Darick Robertsonseries, despite urges from many of my fanboy friends to do so. The book’s going to make a return, so I guess I need to catch up. You still got the entire run for me to borrow, Chris?
