Trailers in Short - Superheroes Are the New Black Edition

Here come the heroes! ...Well, it's a summer time thing now, isn't it? But as a fan of myth and comic books, it's a good thing. ...Well, it can be a good thing, when you get decent movies.

So let's see where Hercules, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Turtles, Spider-Man, and Batman take us.


Sadly, it took so long to get to this that I missed the opening of the new Captain America movie. So I offer this in recompense.

Source

Hercules, with the Rock.

How many months has it been the last Hercules movie? At least in this trailer it looks like they aren't afraid to have their actor speak. Granted, it's just one line. Three words. And he's screaming. But it's the Rock.

Plenty of mythological creatures. Armies to fight. And yet another use of Samson imagery.

This could be some cheesy fun. I'm not sure if there has ever been anything more one could expect from Hercules movies.


Guardians of the Galaxy

And for some more shots from the movie.

And the Annihilation at Marvel, I jumped right into the new iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy. It was a fun read. I liked the core team a lot.

And when this movie was announced, I was worried. What would Starlord be like? Would he be the standard guy just off the bus from Earth type? Would he be the outsider confused by everything most of the movie?

No. They actually, bless them, are using most of his actual origin. He left Earth as a kid, along with his walkman. He's grown up in space, and gotten cynical about a lot of it.

Awesome. It makes me feel like this movie has a better chance to avoid a paint by numbers type story.

The rest of the team looks promising and mostly well translated from the comics. Though the voice choice for Rocket Raccoon throws me. I never imagined him sounding like that.

Though one thing that worries me slightly is the fact that, during that rapid set of clips from the movie, they have a partly undressed Gamora looking over her shoulder (Saldana really does get asked a lot to do that shot in her movies.). And it just strikes me, they aren't going to try and turn her into the love interest character, right? But they seem to be avoiding a lot of bad tropes, so they will probably dodge that one to. I mostly want to see her kicking Karen Gillians backside, and Ronan's.

And in summation, "Groot groot groot groot groot groot groot."


Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

We were warned. And now it's coming. I will wait to see more. But so much seems wrong in this.


Amazing Spider-Man 2

Hey! A new Amazing Spider-Man movie...yah... Okay. I was not a fan of the 1st movie. It wasn't bad. It just felt meh to me in too many places. And I wasn't crazy with how they had Garfield play Peter Parker. But now we are out of the origin and into the superhero game.

And for that we get an array of villains to fight...like in Spider-Man 3. Really?

And Electro in a movie! And he's an awkward nerd who turns to hate and want to destroy the hero...Like in The Incredibles...and Iron Man 3...and Batman Forever...

And Peter Parker's parents were doing secret spy science work... That was a dreadful storyline in the comics. When do we get to the Clone Saga then?

And OsCorp invented all of Spider-Man's villains... And they seem to have been developed well beforehand.

Okay, I think it's clear that Amazing Spider-Man 2 has a lot of work to do to win me over. The Raimi series is just too recent, and preferable. And having an amazing and riveting Captain America movie come out weeks before isn't helping it.


Batman movies and games!!! Yeah, lots of that...

Son of Batman

Ah. The Damian Wayne origin story. That could be nice. I did actually grow to like this character, after he got foisted on us. The character stayed around long enough for me to care about him, and that made Grant Morrison grin all the more when he pulled out the knives to use.

From the look of an early scene in the movie they are sticking with the Grant Morrison origin for Damian. Which means instead of Batman and Talia al Ghul having a relationship that resulted in Damian (and hidden from Batman), she drugged and raped him. And as bad as that is, you should see how common this is as a plot point in comics.

But the story could still...work. My only other qualm at this point is what I noticed in some clips I've seen from the movie. The voice acting on many of the characters just seems off. Talia seems American. Ras and Deathstroke have these voices that just don't meet the needs. I mean, really? Batman: The Animated Series gave us the wonderful voice and inflections of David Warner as Ras. Teen Titans gave us Ron freaking Perlman rumbling as Deathstroke. The choices here are feeling very pedestrian. Maybe watching the whole movie will change my mind.

Still, at least it's not another Nu52 movie. But when will we get a nice 6 hour long "No Man's Land" DVD movie? Or even "Court of the Owls". That could be amazing to.


The next of the long line of Arkham video games, Arkham Knight.

As Elon James White aptly points out, this is not game footage. This says nothing about what the game will look like to play.

But it is pretty. It is interesting. And all of Batman's foes are united, again, to take him down. And it won't revolve around the Joker, for once...I hope (Unless we get some shocking twist.).


Speaking of Arkham, a new movie with Arkham in it's name!

Batman: Assault on Arkham, and the Suicide Squad.

So what is this? I thought I heard someone say that this took place in the universe of the Arkham video games. Or, it might not. I do hope it isn't in that universe. Because that means there's a chance Harley will actually be allowed to break from Joker.

Also, is this a Batman movie? Or is it a Suicide Squad movie hidden behind a Batman special appearances? I wouldn't mind. The Suicide Squad is one of many areas of the DC Universe that deserves a chance to shine. Plus, normal Amanda Waller, scaring me with just a look.

I hope this is good. And I hope this bodes well for more releases, beyond Batman (Hey, I love Batman. But not every Direct to DVD or motion picture needs to star him.). And I hope the voice choices in this movie are stronger than in Son of Batman.


And for the 75th Anniversary, we've got some short films released. Enjoy!

From Bruce Timm, Batman: Strange Days

This is a nice old school Batman story. So much of it is lifted right out of those  earliest Batman comic adventures. But it's a Bruce Timm short, and you can see it in the character designs. And it's nice to see Doctor Strange put in the role of Doctor Death.


From Darwyn Cooke, a Batman Beyond short film.

We finally get to return for a few minutes to that dystopic Batman future. It wasn't my favorite take on the Batman mythos (it's the everyone had a bad ending universe), but it had great moments. And this is a nice look back with a mysterious enemy that takes me back to a certain recurring foe from Batman: The Animated Series. And the fun choice of enemy Batmen from across 75 years was a nice wink.

It is full of that Darwyn Cooke magic.