Tag Archives: Captain America: the Winter Soldier

Movie News & Opinions

Avengers 2: Possibly Featuring Vision and Ant-Man?

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We all know what’s slated for Phase 2 of the Marvel movie plan. The ambitious three year plan will culminate in The Avengers 2, which is due to melt your eyeballs on May 1st, 2015. One of the big questions though is what characters will be introduced in the sequels (Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Captain America 2) and the new flicks in the fold (Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man) that might be involved in the Avengers sequel. Right now we’re going to concentrate on two of the heroes that could make their way into the lineup: The Vision and Ant-Man.

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First, the Vision stuff. There’s been a lot of chatter about the Vision and who should be cast. Vin Diesel has been the one major actor that wants to throw his hat in the ring. According to GammaSquad, the Diesel himself posted a profile pic on his Facebook of the Vision before taking it down.

Obviously if we got our news from Facebook pages, all I would gather is people like to shove political views down my throat, claiming their intelligent views are supreme despite the fact they can’t tell the difference between the words “your” and “you’re”. Basically we’re going to take this with a grain of salt. While I have no doubt that Vin is lobbying heavily for this role, we are going to take the ‘wait and see’ approach. After all, he’s not even the popular choice to take on the role. That would be…

Agent Coulson himself, Clark Gregg. Despite the creepiness of seeing someone take the initiative to plant the seed in our heads with the image above (courtesy of Comics Alliance), you have to admit it would be cool despite the fact that it would go against the extremely convoluted comic canon, which frankly there is no way they’ll adhere to anyhow.

Of course, we all know what happened to Agent Coulson in The Avengers, and if you don’t, stop reading right now and go watch the damn movie. Regardless, Nerd Reactor asked Clark Gregg about the upcoming S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show. For spoiler reasons, I’ll let you know that the link throws out Agent Coulson’s status in the Avengers movie in the first sentence so *SPOILER ALERT* I guess.

Now let’s  explore what Gregg had to say about the Vision:

“You know the Vision is synthetic with a soul, sort of, and he’s an amazing character who I loved when I used to read those comics. I love the idea of Coulson as that guy, but I don’t know if that’s in the cards.”

I love Agent Coulson. He felt like part of the team, having brought them together for the finale, and being in all the films because Samuel L. Jackson can’t be the only one building his IMDB resume by the minute. Again, this would defy the comic continuity, but who knows, I think we can trust Joss Whedon to make the right decision on this one, right?

As for that next character, Ant-Man. We know that Edgar Wright is doing At World’s End with his boys, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost right now. Where does that land the Ant-Man movie? SlashFilm is saying that we could see it in two different scenarios: After The Avengers 2 movie, or perhaps even in the middle of Phase 2. The biggest indicator is that they are citing sources stating that after Thor 2 is done filming, that Ant-Man will occupy the same lot immediately afterwards. Of course, he’d also be into post-production on At World’s End so this could prove to just be wishful thinking. Marvel also seems to want to keep to the schedule of two Marvel movies each year, and with Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 occupying 2013, and Captain America 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy taking on 2014, there might not be enough room for Ant-Man.

However, if we stick to the Vision showing up in the Avengers sequel, we NEED Hank Pym to show up and set the stage – so stay tuned. I’m sure we will have more news as it comes because it seems to be coming out at a good pace now with the hype slowing building.

Movie News & Opinions

Anna Kendrick for Capt. America 2! Or Not…

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You may have seen her when she first appeared in Up in the Air, or maybe when she was in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.  Oh, please tell me you didn’t see her in any of the Twilight films.  If you did, that’s unfortunate, but at least you know about her then. Anna Kendrick is one of those actresses you definitely want to remember so fifty years from now you can say to your grandkids, “I remember some of her first performances.” Recently, Kendrick’s name has buzzed about the geek world not just because of her voice talents lent to ParaNorman, but also because she is up for the lead female role in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  Both Imogen Poots and Felicity Jones are also being considered for this position; one of them will most likely be playing Peggy Carter’s niece, Sharon Carter, though this character has only been rumored and not confirmed. [Ed. Note – both of whom have starred opposite of Anton Yelchin; Poots in Fright Night and Jones in Like Crazy] Now that all the female lead choices have been revealed, the blood bath has already begun.  Heated arguments about which actress should get the lead have already popped up all over the internet, with most being in Kendrick’s favor.  Brendon Connelly of Bleeding Cool says, “If we’re thinking of the casting in a ‘credible’ way, with both creative and commercial integrity, I think Kendrick probably has the edge on most counts: she’s cut-yourself sharp, well-known and well liked, and has great acting chops” [BleedingCool].

Cinemablend agrees with Connelly’s analysis of the female lead.  Though both Poots and Jones are British and have the upper-hand in the accent realm, Cinemblend believes we should “never rule out Kendrick, who snagged an Oscar nomination for her first major role in Up in the Air, and seems tenacious enough to tackle a natural British accent in no time” [Cinemablend].

Yet don’t be too sure, state many film, comic book, and geek fans.  Many believe Kendrick is not right for the role, right down to her looks.  One person commented on Cinemblend’s report that “Imogen Poots looks and sounds like a great actress to play Peggy Carter’s niece in Cap 2. She looks more like Hayley Atwell than either Anna Kendrick or Felicity Jones, and she’s much better looking than Kendrick or Jones.”  Some argue that looks are not everything, but others have pointed out that Kendrick is plainly too young for the niece of a woman from the 1940s.

My thoughts?  I have never seen Jones or Poots act before, but I have watched Kendrick, and I think she’s wonderful.  Based solely on my previous impressions of her, I think she could pull off a British niece of Peggy Carter, but I do agree with those who have said she looks too young for the role.  I would prefer to see a natural-born British woman who is slightly older steal the screen in The Winter Soldier, but I don’t want to make any judgement calls until I see Jones and Poots act, either in The Winter Soldier or otherwise.

Movie News & Opinions

Your Writer/Director for The Avengers 2 is…

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Joss Whedon, come on down! You’ve just been chosen to continue on the path of greatness and while adding to your god-like status amongst the human population! According to several news sources, ranging from the Hollywood Reporter, EW.com, Newsrama etc., Joss Whedon is back in the saddle as your writer and director for Marvel’s The Avengers 2.

In the deal, Mr. Joss “I Own The World, Bow Before My Awesomeness” Whedon, signs a deal with Marvel Studios that keeps in the fold through the end of June 2015. In that, he will cover his duties as director and writer for The Avengers 2, as well as helping develop a live action series for ABC and, according to the Marvel Studios’ press release, “will also contribute creatively to the next phase of Marvel’s cinematic universe.” Basically, as I have read it, he will take the Jon Favreau role in making sure that the universe that Marvel Studios has cultivated will be ushered into the next set of movies, culminating in The Avengers 2 movie. You can bet that the TV show will deal in the Avengers universe and it is safe to say that it is NOT the Guillermo del Toro Hulk series being developed for ABC apparently. Excited much? Yessir. Let us face it, Joss Whedon knows his characters and his television. While not successful all the time in terms of nielsen ratings, his television shows always are great and at least will cater to the cult crowds and die hard geeks his drops his wisdom on. Plus if it’s set in the Marvel Universe, umm, insta-hit?

A live feed from the Whedon household after the deal

From a Hollywood perspective, this should be zero surprise of course. The Avengers has made 1.5 BILLION worldwide. A large part is because not only the commercial acclaim of putting together the most brilliant way to market your movie (uhh, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger? Yeah, those were basically marketing teasers for that movie, profitable ones too at the very least), but the critical acclaim that got people coming back for more. The onus on Whedon and Marvel was making sure the characters were enjoyable to watch and developed to where they both electrified the screen individually AND as a team. Whedon solidified the Marvel Studio’s universe in this movie because he made sure this ambitious project did not implode like a dying star. With egos and sheer enormous size of this project, this could have been an unmitigated disaster with everything that was going on but instead, Mr. Firefly himself controlled the movie and its stars (and the future of this universe) and made sure the next several movies are events flicks that people of all walks and sizes will need to see.

So let’s recap, this will be Joss Whedon’s universe for the next three years and with Iron Man 3 for May 3rd, 2013; Thor: The Dark World in November 8th, 2013; Captain America: The Winter Soldier for April 4th, 2013; Guardians of the Galaxy launching on August 1st, 2014; with possibly Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man figuring into the equation too, this will probably confirm Avengers 2 hitting theaters in 2015, right when the contract ends. Not too mention the TV show that, crossing my fingers and just a hypothetical guess, will probably be S.H.I.E.L.D. related? Excited? You know it baby. So much that this ScarJo pic will be used to match the badassness of this news.

Movie News & Opinions

CCI 2012: Marvel Studios Panel! Winter Soldier, Ant-Man, & The Guardians of the Galaxy!

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It’s here. It finally happened. My most anticipated panel of this year’s CCI has arrived and started with a bang. I’ve got a few great news stories to discuss with you today, not the least of which is Iron Man’s new armor, Cap and Thor sequels officially titled, and the announcement of Marvel Studios’ 2014 movie! Let’s get to it.

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