Marvel may make smaller-budget films based on their lesser-known characters like Dr. Strange, Ka-Zar, Luke Cage, Dazzler and Power Pack.
According to the story:
Marvel Studios is currently taking meetings with writers and directors to work on small scale movies based on some of their third tier characters. The movies would cost in the range of 20 to 40 million dollars (very small when we're talking studio films) and would allow them to take risks with less obvious characters and with interesting talent.
Filmmakers are being offered their pick of characters whose names are only familiar to comic fans. Properties like Dr. Strange, Ka-Zar, Luke Cage, Dazzler and Power Pack are among the many that are being tossed around right now. And the attitude seems to be that Marvel is open to bringing any of their characters to the screen at the right price point.
So in other words, a lot of these films (if made) are probably going to really $uck.
I wonder if they'll be straight to DVD.
Keep in mind that there have been small-budget films that have been critically and/or financially successful at the box office. It can be done.
I think this is great news myself. Smaller budget could very well mean less ambitious storylines that don't overly rely on special effects, both of which are what kills most superhero movies.
Oh, no doubt it can be done. The question is whether it will be done. I keep thinking of 2005's Man-Thing movie and think, "Maybe not." (Went straight to video and Sci-Fi channel.) The Fantastic Four movies (though I liked them), Elektra, Daredevil, Ghost Rider and the first (maybe even the second) Punisher movies weren't that good either. The Spider-Man and X-Men have been the only two franchises Marvel has real success with. Iron Man might join their number, depends on how good the next film is. (Hulk films are kinda iffy, I think.)
Were the FF, Daredevil or Ghost Rider movies really low-budget? They stunk (at least in the case of the first two) because of bad writing. And it may not be a coincidence that the latter two were both directed by the same guy.
You need good writers and directors who understand what makes the character work, and who will be faithful to that. Budget helps, but it's not the be-all and end-all of it.
No, FF, Daredevil and Ghost Rider weren't low budget films. I failed to make known what my point was - that when it comes to movies based on its characters - particularly the lesser known ones, Marvel really has a poor track record, overall.* Let me clarify that a small budget does not automatically means the film will $uck. But given Marvel's track record, I don't think the odds are good the films will be all that great.
*And yes, I really should have made that point in my previous post. My bad.
Incidentally, Mark Steven Johnson, who directed Daredevil and Ghost Rider, also directed the abysmal Elektra. The man really should not be allowed to direct any more Marvel superhero movies. He's not very good at it.
Mark Steven Johnson did not direct the Electra movie. It was directed by X-Files vet Rob Bowman. Johnson was executive producer and received "motion picture characters" credit.
Oops. My bad. Thanks for the correction, Brian.
Kevin - Smaller budget could very well mean less ambitious storylines that don't overly rely on special effects
Problem is several of those properties have aspects that require special effects.
Dazzler - flashy effects of her power
Power Pack - powers & aliens
Ka-Zar - dinosaurs & Zabu the saber-toothed tiger
Dr. Strange - magic, otherworldly creatures & dimensions (let's face it a Dr. Strange movie without Ditkoesque visuals wouldn't feel much like Dr. Strange)
Which may mean why he used the phrase "overly". It's not that they wouldn't have any, only that they don't use them as a crutch.
Exactly. Thanks, Luigi. Dr Strange is the only one I'm really familiar with on that list, and I think a budget of $20-40,000,000 would be sufficient for a movie heavy on characters and with enough special effects thrown in for good measure. (And that's what I want in any superhero movie.)
Ka-Zar, of whom I'm have only a passing familiarity, I admit sounds pretty difficult.
Of course a bad script or an ill-chosen director can ruin it no matter what the budget.
(Not that I really know how far $20-40million can take you in Hollywood.)
Production concept art for Marvel Phase 2.
For those of you who don't know, the following films will comprise Phase 2 of the films produced by Marvel:
*Iron Man 3
*Thor: The Dark World
*Captain America: The Winter Soldier
*The Guardians of Galaxy
*Avengers 2
There is one concept artwork from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and three from Guardians of the Galaxy. I don't think any of the latter would be considered spoilers, but the first one might for those unacquainted with Cap 2's plot, so be warned.
After that, there are some cool T-shirt designs. I think the third one is cute.
The fifth one is also a bit daring, as it makes a bold lunge at the boundaries of copyright law.
More concept art here.
Man of Steel will be a stepping stone for a Justice League movie, although Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy will not tie into it.
I always wondered how someone as powerful as Kal-El grew up into such an honorable and responsible man on Earth. I mean, how do you discipline a child like that? How do you avoid his almost absolute power corrupting him and turning him into a Zod or a Darkseid? Are Kryptonians genetically more ethical than we are, or what? Kudos to the Kents for accomplishing what I would think would be the impossible task of raising a son of Krypton among humans.
Are Kryptonians genetically more ethical than we are
Considering that lot in the Phantom Zone, I'd say no.
Clearly it was all the Kent's doing that he turned out the hero he became.
No Deadpool board?
I loved the movie. They had me from the snark in the opening credits.
And yes, the R rating was very well deserved. Incredibly violent and a ton of "adult" situations, including an uncensored visit to a strip club -- Stan Lee's cameo here was great.
I loved it when Deadpool was ragging on Ryan Reynolds.
And the post-credits stinger was a wonderful tribute to Ferris Buehler.
Normally, when Stan Lee makes a cameo, at least one of the characters in the film is one of his own co-creation: Iron Man, Spider-Man, Thor, the Hulk, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four*, certain members of the X-Men, etc. However, none of the characters in Deadpool, that I know of, were a co-creation of Stan Lee's. Colossus, for instance, was co-created by, I believe, Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. He's the oldest (in terms of when he debuted [1975]) of the Deadpool characters. The rest, I believe, are from the '90s, maybe late '80s, when Stan the Man was hardly active as comics creator.
*Interstingly, Stan Lee did not make a cameo appearance in last year's Fantastic 4. My guess is it's because that film was based on the Ultimate Universe version of the characters, which Lee had no part in creating.
ScottN: I loved the movie. They had me from the snark in the opening credits.
Same. It was surprisingly well done and the jokes were mostly on point, for me anyway. I'll never look at unicorns the same way again 
For the first time in as long as I can remember, there was a theater employee standing at the door checking tickets, to prevent movie hopping, and warning parents dumb enough to bring their kids about the movie's content.
No board yet for Thor: Ragnarok? I liked this film. The humor really came through well, even with the dark subject matter.
Thor: Ragnarok
Missed musical opportunity: When Thor is doing his thing on the bridge, instead of Immigrant Song, they could have used KISS's God of Thunder
Deadpool 2
Spoilers below. As usual, highlight to read
Next day spoiler bait.
Next day spoiler bait.
Loved the cameo by Brad Pitt.
Great post-credits scene. Destroying the Origins:Wolverine version of Deadpool (also played by Reynolds), and killing Ryan Reynolds himself before he can make Green Lantern!
Main ending was a little sappy, though.
Was Yukio an X-Men trainee/mutant, or was she just (well-armed) arm candy for Negasonic?
I didn't even pick up on the Vanisher cameo when watching. It was only reading it later that I learned who that had been.
Same with the hick first encountered with Cable. Nice makeup there.
Just realized that the Deadpool threads are under the X-Men Movies category.
Saw the movie He’s Just Not That Into You (2009) which has Bradley Cooper playing a married man who has an affair with Scarlett Johansson.
The funny thing is that Cooper and Johansson are both in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Rocket Raccoon and Black Widow respectively.
So He’s Just Not That Into You has Rocket Raccoon and Black Widow together!
Saw the movie The Current War which had Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Holland working together for the first time.
They would then work together on the MCU as Doctor Strange and Spider-Man respectively in Avengers: Infinity War (a different kind of war) and Avengers: Endgame.
Wonder Woman 1984 will premiere in theaters (what few that are open due to the ongoing pandemic) and the HBO MAX streaming app on Christmas Day, 2020. More here.
A new Doctor Strange movie is out. I'm sure that Callie will be the first in line to see it 
Found out for definite that my beloved Karen is playing Nebula in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special to be released in December 2022.
And I'm sure she'll be great in it.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special:
Released on November 25 2022, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is a Christmas special for 2022 despite being released in November.
It served as a precursor to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and wrapped up Phase 4 of the MCU.
My beloved Karen Gillan as Nebula has a minimal role in this special just like she had a minimal role as Amy in the Doctor Who Christmas Specials that she was in.
Thinking of a perfect Christmas present for Peter came the idea from Drax and Mantis to go to Earth and kidnap Kevin Bacon whom Peter had mentioned to his fellow Guardians back in Vol. 1
Quite the hilarity that went on whilst Drax and Mantis were on Earth to fetch Bacon.
Quite a reaction Peter gave on seeing Bacon and let say it is not one he is thrilled by given the circumstances of how he was brought to him.
Overall a quite fun holiday special with what was involved getting Peter his said Christmas present and what Christmas truly means to Peter.
Did anyone like the 1987 Live Action Film
"Masters of the Universe" with
Dolph Lundgren, about two teenagers who meet He-Man
Go woke, go broke; strike one against the next Fantastic Four movie;
The Silver Surfer has been cast and will be female.
Why?
WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WWHHHHYYYY????!!!!!
Just to be bloody inclusive????!!!! I'm so sick of this!
Now you've lost the connection between HIM and Sue Storm.
Self-sabotage is so pathetic.
WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WWHHHHYYYY????!!!!
Lets face it, a female Silver Surfer will look •••• good in that shiny costume. I'm willing to bet it was the main, if not the only reason for the switch. 
Now you've lost the connection between HIM and Sue Storm.
What makes you think two female characters can't develop this sort of connexion?
I'm not that bothered with this sort of change happening to fictional characters. They are fictional and therefore can be anything a writer wants them to be. Female James Bond, black Perry White, gay Superman, really not a problem as long as the author does something valuable with it. I am bothered with this sort of thing being done to historical figures tough. Cleopatra was not black, there were no black soldiers in the colonial army of South Africa, Jesus was not white, etc,. Nuff said.
But if they wanted a female herald they could have used Nova instead. She was a long-lasting and interesting herald of Galactus herself.
It's all a part of the far left's culture war. Change enough of the pillars of a culture and you change the culture itself.
Admittedly Professor Geek on YouTube gets much more in-depth into this sort of thing and explains it a lot better than I can.
Female James Bond
The Baroness, Modesty Blaise, and probably a bunch more I can't remember.
gay Superman
The Authority's Apollo.
There have always been knock-offs of popular characters and some of them become popular, and culturally relevant on their own.
Without Tarzan we wouldn't have Sheena or Aquaman.
Without Indiana Jones we wouldn't have Lora Croft.
Without John Carter of Mars we might not have Superman or the Japanese Isakai genre.
You don't need to actually change the pillars themselves to do something different with the idea.
Beware the cursed Mouse, for it is the Devil's pawn. Alone among humanity's creations, it destroys for profit, lust, and greed. Yea, it will murder a franchise to possess said franchise's money and characters.
Let it not breed in great numbers, for it will make a desert of the entertainment industry. Shun it, drive it back into the Hell from whence it came, for it the harbinger of death.
Francois, so you'd be okay with Reese Witherspoon playing the Black Panther, or Jennifer Lawrence as Han Solo, or Halle Berry as Michael Corleone or Penelope Cruz as Bilbo Baggins?
After all, they're all 'fictional and therefore can be anything a writer wants them to be.'
Somehow, sci-fi and comic book characters are more susceptible to gender or race swapping, and I think it's just dumb and sucking up to woke culture.
"...they're all 'fictional and therefore can be anything a writer wants them to be.'
Yes, politically-correct 'writers' with no original ideas in their heads, even if the FANS or VIEWERS don't want changes.
Tim - it destroys for profit
Well, if it were actually making a profit.
Their movies have not been doing well. I just watched a video where it was estimated that they lost 8 billion dollars on Disney Plus. The parks which usually were their most profitable have not been doing that well. They borrowed a ton of money during the pandemic which has to be paid back sometime...
I imagine that if it wasn't for ESG money and creative bookkeeping Disney would be financially dead, Dead, DEAD!
so you'd be okay with Reese Witherspoon playing the Black Panther, or Jennifer Lawrence as Han Solo, or Halle Berry as Michael Corleone or Penelope Cruz as Bilbo Baggins?
After all, they're all 'fictional and therefore can be anything a writer wants them to be.'
I'd actually be fascinated to see any of these make it to the big screen and either be great performances or spectacular train wrecks. Either outcome would be worth the price of admission.
Yes, politically-correct 'writers' with no original ideas in their heads, even if the FANS or VIEWERS don't want changes.
The "no original idea" bit is the one aspect of this I strongly agree with. Political correctness and its darker, sillier sibling wokeness are too vaguely defined to really be useful concepts. From what I've seen, woke seems to have become "anything anyone does or says that annoys me", the rampant gender swapping being only a small part of it. But lack of creativity and of original stories is a lot more concerning. Far too many sequels, reboots, remakes and reinterpretations out there.
Definition of woke: Communism of the 21st Century.