Guardians of the Galaxy will tie into The Avengers 3

Curiosity is rising regarding Marvel's next release, Guardians of the Galaxy, in terms of how it will tie into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Director James Gunn recently spoke on the subject and said it will tie into the third Avengers installment.

Captain America once again served as a prequel to The Avengers with The Winter Soldier going right into The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Speculation about how Guardians of the Galaxy will tie into everything has been elaborated on a bit by director James Gunn.
Gunn made perhaps the biggest statement by confirming that Thanos will be appearing in GOTG via motion capture. Thanos is described to be the "head of the snake." Many assume the villain would appear in the second Avengers film, but he was passed over for Ultron and now it seems that reason was so he could appear in Guardians of the Galaxy.
In addition to this, the Infinity Stones have been teased in the existing Marvel films. In the comics, Thanos collects the stones to power The Infinity Gauntlet which gives him ultimate and unlimited power. So far the "stones" we have seen are the Tesseract and the Aether. From what we have seen from Guardians of the Galaxy so far, the orb sought after by Star-Lord might be serving as another piece of the Gauntlet. I also wouldn't count another piece appearing in Ant-Man.

The one thing we need to remember regarding this movie is it is a precursor and introduction to Marvel Phase Three which is moving away from the main heroes we have been dealing with since Iron Man's debut back in 2008. We are dealing with different villains, different heroes, and different stories. I am sure there will be some things from Phase Two that will carry into Phase Three, but for now this is what we have and it is mighty exciting.

Guardians of the Galaxy - 15 Second Teaser

I'm not a fan of the teasers for teasers, but I decided to watch this one to try and get a feel for Guardians of the Galaxy. Judging from this it looks like a typical Marvel movie. Lots of action, maybe some humor (knowing Chris Pratt), and spot on costumes. I'm eager to hear Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel voice Groot and Rocket Raccoon. Just putting that out there. 

The full trailer premieres tonight on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Guardians of the Galaxy main villain announced

Kevin Feige has confirmed that Ronan the Accuser (played by Lee Pace) is the main villain in Guardians of the Galaxy. However, Thanos will have a part in the movie. Feige describes the scene as Ronan being the big villain with Thanos sort of overseeing it all and that we will see more than just a couple seconds of him like we did after The Avengers. 
There is still no word on casting for Thanos. Some are suggesting that James Gunn and Marvel could pull another trick on the audience like Shane Black did with Iron Man 3. If you didn't know, the reveal of The Mandarin wasn't really what people expected. Could other characters like The Collector (Benicio del Toro) and Yondu (Michael Rooker) potentially be Thanos in disguise? Nothing is impossible as far as Marvel goes. I think they have proved that by now.
Seeing that Ultron has been revealed as the main villain for The Avengers 2 (aka, The Avengers: Age of Ultron) it is possible that they will tease us with Thanos for years to come. Some are speculating Thanos might not meet his final battle until The Avengers 3. Seeing that this movie leads directly into The Avengers: Age of Ultron, I wouldn't be surprised to see Ultron in one way or another. Even if it's just a post-credits scene.

Aside from villain news, Feige also confirmed that Guardians of the Galaxy takes place in the same timeframe as the other Phase Two films. I suppose that means there could potentially be subtle tie-ins or references to Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Guardians of the Galaxy hits theaters on August 1, 2014 and is the last part of Phase Two before The Avengers: Age of Ultron hits in 2015.

D23 Recap: Marvel presents Phase Two

Disney rounded off a solid second day at D23 in Anaheim, CA with the presentations from Marvel Studios. The films focused on were Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Thor: The Dark World is the next release coming this November and some new footage was presented. On site was Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, and Anthony Hopkins.

"Thor: The Dark World continues the big-screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself.  In the aftermath of Thor and The Avengers, Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos, but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness.  Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.
It is based on Marvel’s classic Super Hero Thor, who first appeared in the comic book “Journey into Mystery “ #83 in August, 1962. The film releases November 8, 2013."

Captain America: The Winter Soldier doesn't hit theaters until next April, but we are getting some more tips to the plot. It does indeed follow Captain America with his struggles of coping with the current immorality of the world. On site was Chris Evans and Anthony Mackie.

"After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier finds Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk. Joining forces with the Black Widow, Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off professional assassins sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon. However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy—the Winter Soldier.
Based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1941. In theaters April 4, 2014."

Guardians of the Galaxy is still fairly new to everything as it began filming less than a month ago, but it came into D23 in style.  A new clip featured Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) attempting to steal an artifact but is disrupted by a trio of guards. The clip also introduced Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Groot, and Rocket Raccoon. There are still no voices for Groot and Rocket Raccoon. In theaters on August 1, 2014.


Aside from those presentations, there was a brief teaser for The Avengers: Age of Ultron. All there was to it was a shot of Ultron's head coming from a reformed, dented Iron Man helmet. Apart from that, Chris Evans confirmed that filming for The Avengers: Age of Ultron will begin in the first week of March 2014.

SDCC: Captain America fights the post-Avengers world

Captain America: The Winter Soldier seems to be the first Phase Two movie that will actually acknowledge the post-Avengers world. Comic-Con revealed that Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) fights alongside Captain America (Chris Evans) while he struggles with adjusting to the modern world.

The panel consisted of Chris Evans, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Mackie, and Colbie Smulders along with directors Joe and Anthony Russo.

What we learned from the panel:

1. Steve is struggling with the modern world not in terms of technology, but in societal and moral changes. It's tougher to tell right from wrong than it was in the 1940's.
2. Black Widow is an integral part in The Winter Soldier and fights alongside Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D.
3. The Winter Soldier (aka, Bucky Barnes) is close to the comic arc set by Ed Brubaker.

And, of course, there was a trailer. Here is the description:

It begins with a fantastic scene of Cap riding in an elevator.  He’s alone, wearing his costume (no helmet) with the shield on his back.  He’s lonely.  The elevator stops and two men board led by Grillo’s character.  Grillo’s character and Cap tersely acknowledge each other, and the elevator continue to go up.  The process repeats with more men getting on at multiple stops—some are dressed as agents, others are soldiers.  It’s a great visual metaphor for the sinister forces working alongside and closing in around Rogers.  Captain Amerian can sense their malovelent intentions towards him and he says, “Anyone who wants can still get off.”  No one moves, Cap hits the emergency stop, and the fight begins.  Despite the cramped quarters and handheld cameras, it’s a thrilling fight with Cap taking on eight or nine guys.  The Russos capture the action perfectly, and it’s cut together in a way that we move with the momentum of the fight rather than just trying to keep up with it.
After Captain beats up his attackers, we move on to the rest of the trailer which is a big montage.  One key moment is Fury telling Rogers, “We have to deal with the world as it is; not how we’d like it to be,” and Rogers responding, “That’s not freedom.  That’s fear”.  We also see the return as well as the destruction of the helicarrier.  We see Falcon fly and firing guns at a helicopter that’s chasing him and trying to shoot him down.  There are also a lot of fisticuffs on display from Natasha, and although the action has its own flavor, we don’t see much of the gritty spy stuff. Admittedly, it’s difficult to translate that an assault of images.  The closing shot is Cap’s shield embedded in the ground, and we see a bionic arm grab the top of it.  We pan up to reveal our first official look at the unmasked Winter Soldier.

[UPDATE] Here is a picture of the panel

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is aiming to give audiences a better glimpse into Steve Rogers as a character and also to further develop his individual storyline. It also gives the biggest reveal of the post-Avengers world in terms of how the public is dealing with the "outing" of the superheroes and aliens.

#TheWinterSoldier #Marvel #SDCC #CaptainAmerica

SDCC: Thor: The Dark World brings Loki back once more

We managed to get a new trailer for Thor: The Dark World at Comic-Con but that was about it. And that should be taken literally.

No panel. No Q&A session. Nothing except a trailer. Oh, and this but it kind of already came out.

However, the trailer did come in style. Kevin Feige brought in Tom Hiddleston as Loki for the last time to present the trailer. I found the Loki introduction on YouTube and it is real fun. Here is a description from Collider:

"It begins with a battle in a burning village with Sif and Warriors Three fighting masked warriors.  Thor beams in, makes some quips with Sif, and slays a rock monster.  We then see London attacked, Thor beams in, nd beams Jane Foster out to Asgard.  We see him recruiting Loki, and the Warriors Three and Sif threaten to kill Loki if he betrays them.  This is interspersed with loads of action.  It’s tough to go beat by beat, but it looks exciting and finally lets Thor be Thor in a world that fits him.  It’s the grand tone we only briefly saw in the beginning of the first movie.  While I can’t go through every moment, I will say that the trailer ends with Loki slicing off Thor’s hand, a moment that was greeted with a collective gasp from the audience."

[UPDATE] Here is video of the Loki introduction along with a picture.

I'm pretty shocked that Thor: The Dark World didn't get a panel. They must be pretty confident that people are excited enough which is a mistake, imo. Most people think Thor was the weakest movie in Phase One.

#SDCC #Marvel #ThorTheDarkWorld #Loki

Guardians of the Galaxy villains revealed

So the internet says.

According to the rumors flying around the roles for Benicio del Toro, Lee Pace, and Karen Gillan in Guardians of the Galaxy. Apparently del Toro will be playing The Collector, Pace will play Ronan the Accuser, and Gillan is responsible for Nebula.

Here are some basics for each character:

The Collector is one of the elders of the universe. Otherwise known as Taneleer Tivan, he is extremely powerful with the true form of a powerful alien. After his wife relinquished her immortality he began collecting various items, most very valuable and rare, to maintain his sanity. Eventually, he obtained the power of prophecy and became a threat to Thanos. He created a museum of artifacts to protect them from Thanos including holding one of six gems from The Infinity Gauntlet. The Collector later came to Earth and enslaved Thor, captured Wasp and members of The Avengers, and eventually compelled Iron Man to serve him as a pawn. He possesses the power to manipulate cosmic energy and has a vast knowledge of the galaxy and alien worlds and species.

Ronan the Accuser made his first appearance alongside Fantastic Four. He originated on the Kree Empire and quickly rose to a high ranking military member in the Accuser Corps. Ronan was then sent to Earth to investigate the defeat of a robotic Sentry by Fantastic Four and is defeated by the team as well. He then tries to overthrow the powers than be in the Kree Empire and is mentally defeated and goes on to destroy a duplicate of the Silver Surfer. He possesses superhuman strength, endurance, speed, and reflexes. All powers are enhanced by an exoskeleton armor. 

Nebula is an alien supervillain and probably the baddest of the three announced for Guardians of the Galaxy. She is often described as a brutal mercenary Nebula seized control of the spaceship Sanctuary II which was under the command of Thanos. She believed Thanos to be dead and also claimed he was her kin, so she created a team of pirates which consisted of Skunge, Kehl, Gunthar, and Levan. She approached Captain Marvel to join her mercenary gang and later attacked The Avengers. She ran into trouble after Thanos was resurrected and he reclaimed the Sanctuary II and nearly killed Nebula. Using the Infinity Gems he transformed her into a mindless zombie and physically turned her grotesque. Thanos then claimed the Infinity Gauntlet and boasted Nebula claiming she was his greatest creation. Nebula later was able to claim the Gauntlet from Thanos and used its power to restore herself and banish Thanos and attempt to conquer the universe for herself. Thanos struck a deal with a group of heroes to defeat Nebula. The group consisted of Doctor Strange, Adam Warlock, The Silver Surfer, Thor, Hulk, Firelord, Doctor Doom, and Drax the Destroyer. Nebula was captured by Starfox and returned to Titan for trial where she was later imprisoned. Her powers include gifts in intellect and strategy and is a very skilled combatant in both armed and unarmed situations.


Now with all that said, it's pretty safe to assume these villains won't stop at Guardians of the Galaxy. At least not all of them. I would love to bet that Nebula will extend past The Avengers 2 and will go well into Phase Three. I wouldn't put much stock into The Collector and Ronan the Accuser as of right now because when you look at who these characters are, Nebula is by far the baddest and most dangerous. She is also the most intertwined with Thanos who has already been announced. This Cinematic Universe is getting pretty big.
I also think, despite them being made by different studios, this would be the opportunity to reference the new Fantastic Four. Seeing that Ronan the Accuser mainly dealt with them and Thanos uses both Doctor Doom and The Silver Surfer to defeat Nebula it's kind of a no brainer. 

Guardians of the Galaxy is set to premiere on August 1, 2014 and is being directed by James Gunn. Cast members already secured are Chris Pratt (Star-Lord), Dave Bautista (Drax the Destroyer), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), John C. Reilly (Rhomann Dey), and Michael Rooker (Yondu).

Robert Downey Jr. will return for The Avengers 2 & 3

There has been much rumor and speculation around Robert Downey Jr.'s future as Iron Man. People were saying Iron Man 3 was the last time we would see Downey as Tony Stark, others said he had already signed on for more movies, few said that Iron Man was gone for good, etc..

We now have confirmation that Downey will indeed reprise the role of Tony Stark for The Avengers 2 and The Avengers 3. Now keep in mind that this is a 2-picture deal and it does not include a commitment to a fourth Iron Man movie. This also pretty much guarantees that Tony Stark will not make an appearance in any other Phase Two or Phase Three movies no matter how small the part. Not unless separate contracts are signed.
Seeing that Robert Downey Jr. has made it public that he doesn't want his career to be centered around Iron Man and that he thinks he would like to retire from the character at 50, I think it's safe to say The Avengers 3 will be the last time we have Downey as Tony Stark. If Marvel continues with these characters past Phase Three he will no doubt be absent.

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch confirmed for Avengers 2

Joss Whedon (The Avengers) has confirmed that the brother-sister team that will be included in The Avengers 2 will indeed be Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

There was a potential legal issue with these characters as they are intertwined with X-Men seeing as they are both mutants and their father is Magneto. The concern was since Fox owns X-Men they could potentially own these characters as well. However, Whedon assured everyone that the characters are available for them to use and they intend to do so.

If you know nothing about Quicksilver or Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver has a power of super speed. Scarlet Witch can cast hexes which can alter probability, alter reality, and chaos magic. The siblings also have several years worth of story arcs so it isn't possible to really predict exactly which arc Whedon is targeting for The Avengers 2. There is also a rumor that Saoirse Ronan is in the running (aka, the prototype) for Scarlet Witch, but that is pretty preliminary.

Iron Man 3 - Review

Iron Man 3 follows Tony Stark after the events in New York City as he tries to rebuild his life. While trying to improve his Iron Man technology, a new business competitor and villain comes in his way and it is up to Tony to either cause trouble and protect himself or those he can't live without.


If you read my blog at all you know that I love the superhero movies in general and was excited for Iron Man 3. I stayed away from a majority of the previews and clips and promo pictures because I wanted to go in as fresh as I could. I am glad I did because this is one that really relies on the element of surprise. It also relied on action and lots of it.
Now... I enjoyed Iron Man 3. Does that mean I absolutely loved it and overlooked the flaws? No. I would say the keyword for me is "enjoyed." It was very funny, silly, and action packed. That is really about it. I expected it to be more in depth character-wise with Tony Stark and with his struggle since the events in The Avengers. It was very odd that those events were not really discussed. Whenever someone mentioned The Avengers or New York City he would have a massive anxiety attack and then it would go to another scene. Any potential seriousness was placed on the back burner so we could have action scenes, explosions, and several prototype Iron Man suits that Tony had been building in his spare time. That was pretty much what Iron Man 3 was.

In terms of the plot, I feel like it could have been better. When the villain was announced to be Mandarin I got excited and was expecting so much, especially after Ben Kingsley was cast. Mandarin kind of faded a bit once you got the big reveal of exactly who he was (which I will mention below in spoilers). You have this badass villain and you get excited until you have that one moment where you laugh and go, oh really? It was funny but not really taken seriously.
As far as the script goes I think it had similar problems like the plot did. They sacrificed good plot points for humor and just moved on. Naturally you have to include Tony Stark's smartass demeanor but they took it a little too far.
The cast had the potential to be great and came off as just alright. For me personally the best ones, aside from Robert Downey Jr. (duh), were Guy Pearce and Ben Kingsley. They played the characters great and delivered the dialogue they were given very well. I appreciated the hell out of those two. I thought Jon Favreau was a bit ridiculous and I don't know what happened with Gwyneth Paltrow in this, but Pepper Potts came across very barky and bland to me. It was like they were aiming for her to be concerned about Tony but she didn't quite make it seem that way. She came across angry and bitchy. [random: I also realized where I had seen the kid (Ty Simpkins) before. He was Dalton in Insidious!]
The main character in this movie is truly the action. People are not kidding when they said this movie is action-packed. Practically from start to finish something is getting blown up or tweaked with or crashed or melted or whatever. In my opinion they sacrificed what could have been a great, character driven movie about post-NYC Tony Stark for an action flick. It is enjoyable and funny, but I expected more.

I won't say Iron Man 3 was terrible because it wasn't. It just could have been so much better. Easily a 7/10. But hey, at least is was better than Iron Man 2. 


Now for some spoilers! If you haven't seen Iron Man 3 yet I would skip reading this portion. Trust me, you don't want the spoilers.

New images from Thor: The Dark World

We have yet another image of the Asgard version of Jane Foster along with a couple more of Thor. I am still very excited for this.

First poster for Thor: The Dark World

It was also announced that the first trailer for Thor: The Dark World is supposed to surface sometime next week just in time for CinemaCon.

Pretty generic poster but still exciting enough.

Zoe Saldana joins Guardians of the Galaxy

Looks like Zoe is returning for some more Disney magic.

It was announced today that Zoe Saldana is in talks to join the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy as Gamora. This adds to Saldana's fairly busy schedule which includes the release of Star Trek Into Darkness along with filming two Avatar sequels.

Here is some background on Gamora if you are unaware:

The last of the species Zen Whoberi, Gamora was found and trained by Thanos as a young child. She became a skilled martial arts assassin (nicknamed the deadliest woman in the galaxy) loyal to Thanos as be promised her the chance to avenge her parents' death. As a teenager she was raped and nearly killed by thugs that Thanos later killed. He restored her health and gave her superhuman qualities.
Gamora later joins Drax the Destroyer and The Avengers in a battle against Thanos after seeing what a threat he truly is. She even attempted to slay Thanos herself.

Now... with that all said, I can see why they cast Saldana. She is fairly tough and has done a lot of green screen/motion capture work with Avatar. I accept.
Previously cast was Chris Pratt as Star-Lord and Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer. James Gunn (Slither, PG Porn) is directing and moving quickly to make the August 1, 2014 release date.

First images from Thor: The Dark World

Kind of.

More screencaps from the Marvel Cinematic Universe box-set are surfacing and it includes some concept art for Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy along with some first images from Thor: The Dark World.

It looks like Thor is busy battling even more bad guys and also shows Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) looking pretty Asgardian.

The Avengers 2 to begin filming in 2014

The Avengers 2 will be filmed in the UK at Pinewood-Shepperton Studios in early 2014 putting pre-production at the end of this year. Thor: The Dark World previously filmed at the same location late last year and are prepping to film Guardians of the Galaxy as well.

We also have a sneak peek at Phase Two which was included in the Marvel Cinematic Universe box set which finally got released.