Tag Archives: marvel

Captain America: The Noblest Avenger

“Avengers, Assemble!” With these words, Captain America calls together the many scattered members of Marvel Comics’ crime-fighting squad. It’s appropriate, then, that Captain America is the subject of Marvel Studios’ last superhero flick before next summer’s “Avengers” ensemble piece. When first perusing the list of this summer’s comic book films I figured I’d give “Captain America” a pass. The straight-laced always-been-a-do-gooder Steve Rogers (the Captain’s alter ego) has less character development than some of his more conflicted counterparts, and thanks to an overabundance of History Channel specials on the topic I’m currently experiencing a little of World War II-era ennui. … Continue reading →

“Thor” A Mighty Addition to the Marvel Lineup

“Thor” officially kicked off the blockbuster season this past weekend. Its status as a comic book film qualifies it as the first of the summer’s big-budget, big-hype movies, and its place in the series of Marvel flicks leading up to the superpower-packed, Joss Whedon (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”)-helmed “Avengers” movie only heightened the anticipation. Here’s the rub: as my husband said to me as we exited the theater, “Thor” didn’t feel like a typical comic book movie. Unlike infamous flops “Jonah Hex” and the Ang Lee “Hulk,” however, with “Thor,” this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. There are two reasons … Continue reading →

Disney Dithering on Next Marvel Movie Hero

Way back when Disney bought Marvel, a move first announced almost a year ago, a few questions immediately popped to fans’ minds. One of the most prominent: what will the movies look like? Will they take on a classy but maybe too squeaky-clean Disney shine? Will Disney keep their hands off entirely, or will the combination of Disney’s resources with the Marvel movie studio make for even bigger and better superhero films? We haven’t seen the answers to any of those questions yet. While Disney did profit from “Iron Man 2,” due to its release by Marvel Studios, now a … Continue reading →

Disney’s Plans to Broaden its Appeal

I’ve written a lot about the Disney Princess culture, and how it’s experienced some backlash lately. Though Disney makes truckloads of money off its Princess brand, it also takes a hit from the brand due to how alienating it supposedly is for boys. While Disney is in the midst of expanding its Princess line, adding a larger fairy tale section and brand new Pixie Hollow to the Magic Kingdom, it’s also got some elaborate plans to draw young male interest. Some of these plans are already in place. For a few years now the Hollywood Studios at Disney World has … Continue reading →

The Disney Toy Company

The LA Times has recently run a number of articles on the new philosophies of the Walt Disney Corporation, as determined by CEO Bob Iger. One of the latest summarizes Iger’s position the best: he’s all about the merchandising. Case in point: “The Proposal.” The Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds romantic comedy from last year grossed millions, making back the cost of its production in spades. So, inevitably, the suits behind the film suggested a sequel. But because the film comes from Touchstone Pictures, which is a subsidiary of Disney, Iger ultimately calls the shots (should he so choose) on this sort … Continue reading →

Disney-Marvel Takeover Official

On December 30, 2009 Marvel shareholders voted to OK the Walt Disney Corporation’s purchase of Marvel Entertainment. For those who don’t know, Marvel Entertainment is one of the major comic book companies and owns franchises like X-Men and Spiderman. Despite the enormity of the deal, we will see few immediate changes in the output of either company, particularly in film. Most of Marvel’s main franchises, such as Spiderman, The Fantastic Four, and X-Men are already tied up in deals with other movie studios. The situation is similar for television series. Also, Marvel characters may not immediately, if at all, appear … Continue reading →