Watcher Wednesday: Movie News August 2012
The last week or so, the film and comics world has been abuzz over some rumors and announcements that circulated the news threads. The two pieces of information were Joss Whedon being secured for three years with Marvel Studios, and that Marvel Studios was trying to gain rights to Silver Surfer and Galactus to use in movies, and were willing to extend rights to do a Daredevil film for them.
I’m not going to comment and spread more rumors to these, but would rather talk about why they are such a big deal to fans.
Marvel and Joss Whedon
Whedon was the main man for the recent Avengers film. He did a superb job at crafting the story and characters for the big screen. Marvel did well at nabbing him to helm the next one. But, more than that, he will also develop a show for television. Where I won’t speculate on what it could be, I will speculate on what this means for both media outlets. In comics, Whedon helped update the X-Men into what they are now. It’s one of the hottest groups of series in all of comics. Joss Whedon was the writer for some of the first Astonishing X-Men books. His stories helped define the new team.
All of that means he understands comics, and especially the Marvel universe. This is good news for the film fans because he also understands TV shows and movies. He’s had some cult classic hits in the past, and the Avengers became an instant classic. He could do wrong, but I have a hard time believing this would happen.
Now with a TV show in the works, Whedon can do the same as his other successes in the past. It seems like Marvel is letting him run amuck, but with some accountability. Having written for both comics and shows, it means that he can get the best tone and translation from a series to the small screen.
Surfers and Devils
The other big news in the whole industry was that Marvel/Disney was supposedly trying to get the rights of Silver Surfer and Galactus back in order to use them for movies. The trade would be that Fox, who has the rights to them and other characters, could do another Daredevil movie because the rights are expiring soon. I read recently that the deal didn’t go through. Whether this is unfortunate or fortunate, I won’t comment on. Instead, I’d like to speculate on why the studios would want to get the characters back.
Silver Surfer and Galactus have been featured in Silver Surfer series, and many other comic series. It’s hard to figure out where these characters would land in a feature film for Marvel Studios. They first appeared in Fantastic Four, but Fox still has the rights to do another film with that team. So, if it’s not Fantastic Four, what movie would they be in? Well, another team that Marvel Studios has is the Avengers, of course. It was hinted at the end of the first film that there would be a more galactic storyline coming to the next one. Silver Surfer and a villain named Thanos have been at odds over a long period of time. It was implied that the mysterious villain at the end of Avengers was Thanos. And Galactus is around because Surfer is the herald of the powerful being. He is also a bit of a rival of Thanos, too.
Another speculation I have is that Guardians of the Galaxy will be a bigger movie than we can expect. Surfer and Galactus are galaxy trotters. They interact with a lot of the Guardians characters, and in recent comics, they were all in a galactic war together. Could it be that Marvel was trying to replicate this huge serial for the big screen? I think it is possible. But, because the deal is off, there may be no revelation as to what was happening behind closed doors.
And, until next time, have a Marvel-ous day!
Murray the Bellhop has been with DAPs Magic Geeks Corner for several years now. He is a geek's geek. Knowledgeable about many things, he frequently shares his love of movies, comic books, and the comic book world with Geeks Corner.
