Marvel's Cinematic Universe...it just keeps getting better!

It began with Tony Stark in a cave....then to bring us to 5 misfits being loosed to run around space, to the soon forthcoming Avengers 2 that a Robot will wreck havoc on the world.
Iron Man...the movie that everyone was scared to make, but ended up being a huge success and the start of Marvel's road to win box offices all over the globe. The Incredible Hulk...Iron Man 2...Thor...Captain America: The First Avenger...The Avengers...Iron Man 3...Thor 2: The Dark World...Captain America: The Winter Soldier...Guardians of The Galaxy...and now we anxiously await Avengers 2: Age Of Ultron.
I have to say Phase 2 for me, was on the shaky side. Didn't quite feel as moving as Phase 1. I absolutely loved that the Phase1 movies flowed well into each other. Iron Man introduced us to Agent Phil Coulson and Pepper Potts and S.H.I.E.L.D...the end of Iron Man we saw Nick Fury, at the end of The Incredible Hulk we saw Tony Stark....as well got to see Fury's name at the intro and that scene that was cut with Cap in the ice. Thor's hammer falling down. Then in Iron Man 2 we were introduced to Black Widow and Nick Fury joined the roster as well as Coulson being there, seeing easter eggs from the MCU intertwined. The end of Iron Man 2 we see Thor's hammer. In Thor we meet the Asgardians...Loki...etc etc etc...the end of Thor Dr. Selvig meets the Tesseracta along with Loki. Captain America; The First Avenger, we meet Peggy Carter, we get to see how Stark's father helped in making Captain America. Now there are a few questions I have with the timeline here after The First Avenger. Stark finds the Tesseract when he is looking for Cap. We don't see the tesseract again until present day The Avengers. Did SHIELD have the Tesseract locked up all this time? What did Howard Stark do with it, until we see it at the end of Thor? A bit shaky there but...it still flowed. Every movie in Phase 1 connected the next movie to the next...which left the fandoms in utter excitement and pure anticipation.
The Avengers introduced us to the fact that a movie COULD be done with all the heroes in it. The genuis work of Joss Whedon and Marvel set the stage pretty high in The Avengers. Now here is where it starts to go off a bit. The beginning of the Avengers, Loki is given the scepter by Thanos.He is told if the Tesseract is kept from Thanos...he will pay. Well we all know the Tesseract goes back to Asgard, and Thanos does not get it. Loki's scepter is kept and tested on. END of that storyline or so it seems. NEXT MOVIE Iron Man 3: Extremis. Now I am an avid Marvel fan. I loved the Phase 2 movies. Awesome as always. HOWEVER...there was not that flowing and continuity like Phase 1. Iron Man 3...solo movie. Yeah it had some connection to The Avengers, but why did Tony not wonder about Coulson...WHY was he not able to call on fellow heroes. It was like they never existed. I know Kevin Feige talked about how they wanted to get the heroes on their own, and it was supposed to be a give in...they could not summon their fellow Avengers. I get that...but the connections of the first movie made that so intriguing and helped the whole universe. Thor 2: Really the only connecting factor was Loki did a bad thing and he was in trouble for New York. Yes we saw a cameo of sorts from Cap...but I don't count that. Take it back to Thanos...Loki is in more trouble than just from Odin...why did we not see something from Thanos angry about Loki not getting the Tesseract to him...?? The end of Thor 2, Loki "dies" or so we thought....it is believed that he has killed Odin and now sits on the Throne of Asgard. Leaves it WAY up in the air. Captain America 2 really starts to bring it all back sort of. It did connect better with the TV Show Agents Of SHIELD, which was cool, but had no connection really to the rest of Phase 2. THEN we shift gears and jump into space for Guardians Of The Galaxy. I guess this was an attempt just to bring them into the MCU. It was a great movie yes! But why now? If you will remember there was a scene supposedly with Tony Stark at the end of Iron Man 3...where he went into space....to meet up with Guardians of the Galaxy. Well that never panned out and came true, thus not really connecting Guardians to the MCU yet. Time will tell. It was good to see Thanos, but no mention of Loki and the Tesseract. Hmmm. Well now we stand at the door of the much very anticipated Avengers 2: Age Of Ultron. This movie is going to be so intense...we get a slew of new characters as well as the ones we have come to love. Too many to list and go through, but there is one thing I am curious about. OK several things....Loki is in this movie. We will see him have to face Thanos? When will the Avengers find out Coulson is alive. Fury knows...Hill knows....Many questions will arise I'm sure...guess we will just have to wait and see when Avengers 2: Age Of Ultron opens in theaters on May 1, 2015.

Marvel vs DC...the war continues

OK, so the good thing about a blog is that you can give your opinion and not be ridiculed for it. And being a geek in this century certainly has changed quite a bit and there are new rules when it comes to speaking geek...talking nerdy and just having a good time talking about the one that that we are all passionate about....comics and comic book movies and superheroes.

The long question remains who is better. Marvel or DC. Well really for any comic book fan, that's an unfair question. UNLESS you are a Marvel or DC fan. Being both makes it even more difficult. I grew up on DC characters. Superman, Batman, Robin, etc. etc....The only Marvel characters I knew of were Spiderman and the Hulk. But to tell me whether one was DC or Marvel, I had no clue. I just knew they were superheroes and that's all that mattered to me. Now with that said, I was never into the comics growing up. Yeah I read a few had a few in my possession at one time or another, but never really got into the collecting and being the "geek" I am today about it. I am kicking myself in the butt for NOT being into it very much, but I can't go back. All I can do is enjoy what is there today and savor every moment, gain all the knowledge I can, get every toy I can and just have fun with it. And that I am. VERY much so. Now as I said I am a late bloomer to the whole comicbook world and era. YES we are living in a comicbook era. Being a geek and a comicbook fan is probably the more popular thing to be today, cause its EVERYWHERE! We have toys, lego, movies, games, shops, online stores, clubs, groups, you name it, if it has anything to do with comics, they probably make it. BUT with all of that we still have our two giants Marvel Comics and DC Comics. Which is better? Well I am here with my simple opinion on which one I think reigns supreme and is the better of the two.

As I said I said I grew up liking DC characters. BUT today, I have to say that Marvel Comics is by far the better universe of the two. Now all of the DC fans seeing this just threw their hands up or slammed their computer closed and said NO WAY!
Fine you are entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to mine.

First let's take it from the movie aspect of it shall we. Now as I said I am a late bloomer and I came into the MCU lineup at the Avengers. I had to go back and do my homework. I watched Iron Man, The Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and then I was ready for The Avengers. I even went to the all day marathon where they showed every movie in Phase 1 before the events of The Avengers. Never before was I so hooked and addicted to the films, I still today watch them over and over and over again. They are great movies.
I look back to the Christopher Reeve Superman movies. No disrespect to Reeve and his efforts, but the movies were just OK. I saw em once, and that was enough. Superman 3 NEVER should have happened. NOR should have Superman 4. They were good movies, but not great. There was several years in there where DC had no major thing going, until the Michael Keaton Batman movies. Now keep in mind there is NOTHING from Marvel going on here, yeah there were some attempts at movies, TV shows, but nothing really took off. The Tim Burton Batman movies were OK..but not great. Yes Jack NIcholson I thought was the best Joker ever, but again my opinion. They tried to keep the Batman franchise alive year after year, never heard anything from Superman after Reeve injuring himself. The Superman franchise pretty much dies until Superman Returns. Which I will admit I thought it was a really good movie. Let's jump to 2008. MARVEL on the scene with Iron Man. Breaks records at the box office and is a HUGE hit. DC still trying to find there way...rumors of a universe coming...Wonder Woman....Justice League...but nothing. The Incredible Hulk...Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America...AWESOME MOVIES. The Batman franchise kind of going along The Dark Knight did strike a good point for DC. But, they are just now getting their bearings. Marvel has been killing the box office and DC is fighting to catch up. We have Batman Vs Superman coming out. Frankly, if it is as long and as dark as Man Of Steel was...I think it will bomb. Marvel has setup an entire universe and it works. The movies flow. They are entertaining. They make excellent casting choices. There are still folks up in arms, myself included about Ben Affleck as Batman. Really?

I leave it at that. No need to go on. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is by far the better of the two. yes there are LOTS of points not brought out, it would take me a week to type EVERY detail and every account and every point, but just keep in mind...no matter who you are. Its a great time to be a geek. Just enjoy it, savor it while you can. Who knows when the whole train will come to a ceasing halt. I hope not in my lifetime. Geek on!

Marvel's Star Wars #1

It's been 30 years since the release of "Star Wars" # 107 in 1986. Now THE GREATEST SPACE ADVENTURE OF ALL TIME RETURNS TO MARVEL! Luke Skywalker and the ragtag band of rebels fighting against the Galactic Empire are fresh off their biggest victory yet—the destruction of the massive battle station known as the Death Star. But the Empire’s not toppled yet! Join Luke along with Princess Leia, smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca, droids C-3PO and R2-D2 and the rest of the Rebel Alliance as they strike out for freedom against the evil forces of Darth Vader and his master, the Emperor. Written by Jason Aaron (Original Sin, Thor: God of Thunder) and with art by John Cassaday (Astonishing X-Men, Uncanny Avengers), this is the Star Wars saga as only Marvel Comics could make it!

The comic is set between Episode IV: A New Hope and Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. As with any Star Wars movie, well comic in this case, it starts with...A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....cue the music, but in this case, you have to supply the music. The next pages are the iconic Star Wars logo spread out on both pages. Then you turn the page, and it's "the crawl." This fanboy appreciated that and actually loved they did that. I had not seen  any of the previous Star Wars comics, so if they did it in those...awesome! But bringing it back, what a way to grab any Star Wars fans attention. 

Next page, top....space...then pan to a spaceship, classic beginning. The comic does a good job of holding your attention all the way through. You see some stormtroopers and some commanders talking and watching as this ship lands...next thing you know...it's Han Solo! He along with Luke, Chewy, Princess Lea, R2-D2, and 3-PO have come to talk with "the negotiator." Of course there is a scuffle...it's Han Solo. 

After a few pages, you find out that the "negotiator" is none other than Darth Vader. Without giving too much away from anyone who hasn't read it yet (and if you haven't...where have you been?) You do get to see the Millenium Falcon, the portion of the comic ends with Luke standing face to face with Vader...and Like hears a voice which is Obi-Won that says...run. That's it. Then the remainder of the comic is previews of more Star Wars themed comics from Marvel, which include Darth Vader and Princess Lea. Overall the comic was outstanding and I cannot wait for the next issue which is set to arrive February 4th. The pricepoint on this was a little steep. At $4.99 that's a bit much,, when we are used to at least $3.99 for comics. But again well worth it and looking forward to what Marvel does with this series. Not sure how long they will carry on this storyline, before they would have to make the jump to lightspeed to AFTER Empire Striks Back and before Return Of The Jedi. Guess we will find out. Ok that's my side of it. Enjoy Star Wars #1 from Marvel. I give it definitely 5 stars.

May 1, 2015 brings us the long awaited and very highly anticipated sequel to Marvel's 2012 huge big screen success of Joss Whedon's "The Avengers." Avengers: Age Of Ultron hits movies theaters May 1st and the hype and the excitement could not be higher and stronger. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown and introduced us to characters we love and characters that we have longed to see join the MCU. We have had Marvel TV that has brought us Agents of SHIELD and the recently huge success of Agent Carter, of whom we met in Captain America:The First Avenger. I remember seeing Iron Man for the very first time, and from that I was hooked. I have to admit I was a late bloomer to the MCU. I jumped in at The Avengers. But, I did my homework. I went back and watched every movie. Iron Man, The Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, and then Captain America:The First Avenger. Marvel and Disney proved to the world that you could take a group of superheroes, put them in one movie and it would work. The Avengers scored the top spot, and the top grossing movie of 2012. The Avengers brought in a total of $1,518,594,910 at the worldwide box office totals. Marvel had done it. After the Avengers Marvel and Disney continued to break records with it's movies from the MCU. We now stand on the threshold of what could be the biggest movie of the year. Avengers:Age Of Ultron is going to be one for the record books. Not only is it highly anticipated, we get to see some new characters that we have longed to see. We have Falcon, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Black Panther, Dr. Strange (rumored to have been added). We get to see the return of Loki in this film. This flm will begin to take the MCU in a direction we have never seen, but only in the comics.

This fanboy predicts that Avengers:Age Of Ultron will be the biggest movie of 2015. Marvel and Disney once again taking the top spots at the box office. Then we have Ant Man to look forward to.....it's gonna be a good year!