REVIEW: The Marvels

Getting to the cinema is a challenge these days, but I finally got the chance to see The Marvels, a movie I had really been looking forward to. I was aware, of course, of the poor reception of the film, but based on the trailer I was honestly expecting a good time.

I wasn't wrong. The Marvels is, quite simply, great fun. It's not a groundbreaking or genre-defining instalment, and it's certainly not going to reinvent the Marvel Cinematic Universe, something which, if we're honest, is probably needed at this point. Moviegoers who are tired of the MCU or comicbook movies in general are not going to won round by this, but those who are simply looking for an entertaining adventure are in for a treat.

This movie was always going to have a hard time of it, purely because of the depressingly inevitable backlash from the more misogynistic side of fandom. Much like the She-Hulk series or 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, the actual quality of the film is completely irrelevant to such people. They were downvoting it on ratings sites as soon as it was announced, insisting that their problem wasn't the gender balance, but the writing and acting - before anyone had even seen it. For all the damage these quarters do to a movie's reputation before it even arrives, there's little point engaging with them.

However, women have to work twice as hard to get half as far in this world, and unless a film of this type is a phenomenal work of art, it will be largely written off if the cast if more female than male (or contains multiple people of colour, varied sexualities or gender expression - anything to which the label "woke" can be attached derisively). The Marvels is a perfectly serviceable and enjoyable superhero romp, easily as good as the majority of the MCU. 

The story is fairly by-the-numbers, with a maniacal villain perpetrating terrible cosmic crimes, who must be stopped at all costs. Some handy technobabble causes the three characters with light-based powers to become entangled, shifting places with each other when they use their abilities. The plot is primarily there to generate some exciting visuals and provide a reason for the three leads to be brought together so that they can bounce off each other, and this is where the film triumphs.

The stand-out star here is Iman Vellani, returning as Kamala Khan after her breakout series Ms. Marvel. It must be mind-boggling for Vellani, to have been propelled from fan to superstar in such a short time, but she undoubtedly deserves it. Her performance as Kamala is heartfelt, adorable, relatable and resolute. Seeing Kamala encounter her hero Captain Marvel is a blockbuster-scale version of one of us meeting the our favourite movie star, and Kamala's joy, mixed with fear of disappointing her hero, is brilliantly portrayed by Vellani. As the story progresses, she matures, stepping up as a hero while never losing her idealism.

She provides a great contrast to Brie Larson's Carol Danvers, who has been operating as Captain Marvel for thirty years at this point, in-universe. Thankfully, the film doesn't go down a "never meet your heroes" route of dragging Danvers down, but she is weighed down by responsibility and the mistakes she's made. The script is brave enough to show us that the first thing Danvers did was foul up massively, causing a chain reaction of events that devastated the Kree homeworld, while still maintaining her as a hero it's right to look up to. Larson's performance as Danvers has received some flack since her first appearance in Captain Marvel, but I don't get it. She's a powerful leading lady, and dominates events even as she is generous to her co-stars. 

This gives Teyonah Parris the tough job of being the third member of the team, neither the main lead nor the up-and-coming youngster. She does an amazing job in a tricky position, making Monica Rambeau the most down-to-earth and pragmatic member of the trio, but also the one we might look up to the most. With even less experience in using her powers than Kamala, Monica has the steepest learning curve of all, while grappling with far more complicated feelings for her Aunt Carol than Kamala's fannish worship. Having given a strong performance in WandaVision, Parris really steps up here and makes Monica a central figure of the film.

The supporting cast are all very good as well, with Samuel L. Jackson putting in a reliably entertaining and worldweary performance as Nick Fury (rather more engaging than the theoretically richer material in Secret Invasion). The script is wise enough to remember that Kamala's family are central to her story, and while it takes a bit of contrivance to keep the Khans in the middle of the action, it keeps things on a human level even when the weirder space stuff starts happening.

The weakest member of the cast is, surprisingly, Zawe Ashton as villainous Dar-Benn. She's not bad, by any means, but puts in an arch and hammy performance that, while fun, seems ill-judged for a character who has a genuine and understandable grievance with Danvers. It's one occasion when making the villain cartoonish was the wrong move for the story. It makes her treatment of the Skrulls too simplistically evil, when something cleverer could have been done. Still, it's good to see the Skrulls being used in a positive way in the story again, unlike the mixed messages of Secret Invasion which too heavily linked refugees with terrorists. A dignified performance by Gary Lewis, under a mountain of make-up, as the Skrull leader helps.

In spite of there being some serious themes here, the film is joyfully silly and over-the-top. Some critics have had problems with the film's tonal shifts, and it's a fair point, but I feel that these jumps are all part of the frenetic journey of the story. Suddenly stepping across genres into an impromptu Bollywood-esque musical number, or hingeing the climactic act on alien cats is a delirious way of keeping the story fresh and surprising. It does, however, need a stronger villain to ground the threat that drives the plot.

There are other elements that I loved. The effects are spectacular, combined with some absolutely stunning fight choreography (the best since Daredevil, I'd say), making the film into a visual feast. It's also consistently funny in a low-key, unforced way, more Spider-Man than Guardians of the Galaxy. In the comics, Monica was Captain Marvel before Carol got a chance, and has had various names including Photon, Spectrum and Pulsar, making Kamala's continual workshopping of her superhero identity a fun running gag. There are some fun cameos by other MCU stars, some expected, some not. Park Seo-Joon, who I understand is a big deal in Korea, stood out as the charismatic Prince of Aladna, and deserved more screentime.

While it's never going to top the polls of MCU movies, The Marvels is simply tremendously entertaining, and I can see it becoming a film that I will rewatch often simply because of how much fun it is. And, you know, it's a comicbook movie - isn't that really the point?

Extra spoiler-y bits after the cut

REVIEW: SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS

 

I don't get the ill will towards this. Much like the bad rep that Ant-Man: Quantumania has been getting, it confuses me. Sure, neither film is perfect, neither is a work of art and neither is even the best of the kind of superhero film their studios offer. But so what? Not every film is going to be the greatest ever. Both these films are good, silly fun - brightly coloured entertainment. When did that stop being enough? When did we become so joyless about these films?

Shazam! was a surprise hit for DC, Warner Bros. and New Line, bringing the original Captain Marvel - sorry, he's Shazam nowadays - to the big screen for the first time since 1941. Doing the film as essentially a superhero version of BIG was an ingenious move, and most importantly, writer Henry Grayden and director David F. Sandberg remembered that this is basically a kids' movie. 

Fury of the Gods has the difficult job of following this success, and was hit hard by the Covid lockdowns, delaying production by almost four years. The main kid actors are already in danger of ageing out of their parts, something that's referenced in the story, but it's not as if we're not used to young actors playing even younger characters. Fear of growing up is a major theme of the film, albeit not one that's entirely resolved.

The film makes a few odd choices. Asher Angel is unfairly sidelined as the "proper" Billy Batson, with very little screentime in which to make an impression. When he does appear, he gives a more mature performance than Zachary Levi, who's clearly having an absolute blast but sometimes goes a little too broad. Fortunately, the creators realised that Jack Dylan Grazer's performance as Freddie Freeman was the best thing about the first film, and make him a major focus of the film (his alter ego, Adam Brody, is hardly in it, and while he's also entertaining in his role, he's not really missed).

Grace Caroline Currey gets some good material as Mary, but again, she really deserves some more of the screentime. In an interesting choice, she doesn't have to hand over to another actor for her Mary Marvel phase - reflecting that her character is now an adult. Jovan Armand is just a treasure as Pedro; D.J. Cotrono is fun as his alter ego, but doesn't really come across as a version of the same character (to be honest, also a problem with Billy sometimes). Ian Chen and Ross Butler are both somewhat overlooked as Eugene, but fortunately Faithe Herman and Meagan Good are absolutely perfect and adorable as the younger and older versions of Darla.

There's some lovely material with the kids going on adventures as chaotic, semi-competent superheroes, while trying to keep it from their foster parents. Not making this into a farcical TV series is a missed opportunity. (Although, vaguely finding the superheroes familiar doesn't really work for Mary, now she looks identical in both guises.) Djimon Hounsou is brought back as the suspiciously not dead wizard Shazam, getting some much better material this time round and showing some real charm and comedy instincts, especially when paired up with Freddie. 

While it's still focused on comedy, there's some pretty intense and occasionally gruesome material here too, although the tone isn't as balanced as in the first film. I thoroughly enjoyed the reliance on Greek mythology in this story - one of my first obsessions. Yes, it plays a little fast and loose with the mythical genealogy when it comes to the Daughters of Atlas, but then, it's not as if the Greeks kept their mythical canon consistent over the centuries. Helen Mirren makes a convincing action film villain in spite of being in her eighth decade, and as always brings a touch of class to the whole affair. Lucy Liu brings an icy cruelty to the role of Kalypso, the younger sister to Mirren's Hespera. As Anthea, the youngest of the three (but still six thousand odd), Rachel Zegler gives a mixed performance. As everyday Anne, seemingly human teen, she's excellent, tremendously likeable and sharing great chemistry with Grazer. She's not so good when openly playing the goddess; she lacks the presence required, and struggles with the cod-Shakespearean dialogue that Mirren and Liu can roll off effortlessly.

The over-the-top climactic act is tremendous, with, I was overjoyed to see, monsters a-plenty. I actually cheered when the manticore appeared, and then we got harpies, minotaurs and a very Harryhausen-inspired Cyclops. Already we had the dragon Ladon, an archaic bit of mythology reworked with a fabulous and unsettling design. The Shazam! series has the best monster designs in superhero cinema. There are real punch-the-air moments (that cameo was lovely, really) but there are, admittedly, shockingly poor moments as well (the Skittles product placement is painful). Overall, though, the good stuff wins out.

Ultimately, while it doesn't balance heart, humour and horror as well as the first Shazam! the sequel is a brisk, entertaining and heartwarming action flick that makes for a cracking family film. The series deserves a third instalment, to allow Billy and Freddie the chance to truly grow up into their roles as heroes. And, just as importantly, I want the Monster Society of Evil team-up the post-credits scenes keep promising us (minus Black Adam, of course, as Dwayne Johnson will doubtless veto that).

REVIEW: SHAZAM!

So, I'm finally getting round to writing up my review of Shazam! which I saw pretty much as soon as it was released, but just haven't found the time to sit down and write about yet. Which is odd, since, while we're going through another comicbook movie busy patch, Shazam! is a very strong contender for my comicbook movie of the year.

I find it very amusing that there are two Captain Marvel movies out within a couple of weeks of each other, so that they were both showing alongside each other for a while. While I know that the lead character of Shazam! is officially known as Shazam, I still think of him as Captain Marvel, even while I think of Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel as well. (There's a long and complicated history to the name, which I covered in an article a while back - I've put it as the featured post which you'll see to the right). Shazam! plays this quite well, never quite getting Billy Batson's superhero-persona to go by any name - the closest he gets is, in the climactic showdown, asking his new siblings to "say my name!" To which they all, naturally, shout, "Billy!" "No, say the word I say to change!" One of the better jokes of the film is the running gag where he and his new bestie Freddie come up with increasingly ridiculous names for him.

It's kind of surprising that it's taken this long for a Shazam!/Captain Marvel feature film to happen. The character was the subject of what was probably the first ever example of superhero cinema, certainly the first direct adaptation from a superhero comic, The Adventures of Captain Marvel, a Republic serial originally released way back in 1941. (Wonderfully, you can stream or download this, legally and for free. I'd recommend you do so, it's a lot of fun: it's available here.) Although this was eventually re-released in an omnibus format, this was over four hours long and poorly joined together, and not really a feature in the true sense.

DC/WB began working on a modern feature treatment about ten years ago, which would have starred Dwayne Johnson, initially down to play the lead, before opting to play the villainous Black Adam. Somewhere along the line this fell through, and Black Adam is not a part of the film (although DC apparently have plans for a standalone Black Adam movie starring Johnson, something I'm less than convinced will work). Now that it's finally arrived, it is officially part of DC's expanded cinematic universe, but the links to the other movies are minor. It's certainly no trouble imagining that this takes place in the same universe as Justice League or Wonder Woman, but if there's certainly no need to have seen anything else in DC's recent output. Indeed, the one cameo the studio clearly wanted to happen couldn't, seemingly due to scheduling conflicts, so a certain fan-pleasing moment is a little hamstringed.


It's was always a question how they were going to make this work for the big screen, but in hindsight, the answer is obvious. Of course you make it as the superhero version of BIG. While previous updates of the character have previously explored the divide between Billy and his superhero alter ego, but the movie goes in the opposite direction. It's not as if Billy disappears while Shazam takes his place; Asher Angel and Zachary Levi play the same character, just with a different appearance and abilities. There were a few moments where I struggled to buy this; Angel's troubled teen is a more cynical character than the joyful and excitable superhero played by Levi, but as Billy learns to accept his new family and his place in the world, the two versions of the character become more alike. I can accept Shazam as the boy that Billy would be without the guilt and crappy breaks weighing him down.

While Angel gives a good performance, this is Levi's movie. His kid-in-a-superman's body performance is an absolute joy, and the whole film hinges on how much fun it is to see him discovering his powers. Equally excellent is Jack Dylan Grazer, who plays the young Freddy Freeman, Billy's new adoptive brother and best friend. He gets to interact with both versions of Billy and manages to steal a few scenes from Levi, which is no mean feat. I'm glad the script doesn't shy away from Freddie's disability, and how much being able to magically transform into a superpowered body would mean to him. Of the rest of Billy's adoptive family, everyone performs well, but Grace Fulton as Mary Bromfield (here his older sister, rather than the same age) stands out. Faithe Herman plays Darla Dudley, the youngest of the family, who might be the most adorable person I've ever seen on screen.

The script understandably follows the updated version of what we once called the Marvel Family, but doesn't lose any of the uncomplicated fun of the central concept. The appeal of Shazam/Captain Marvel is simple: what kid wouldn't want to be able to become a superhero? It works on more levels, though, and the use of the modern version of Dr. Sivana, rather than the straightforward mad scientist original ties in nicely to that. Mark Strong is basically perfect in the role – he's pretty much a shoe-in for comicbook villain roles, to be fair, but he really excels here. An effective story choice is to have the young Sivana almost chosen by the wizard Shazam, only to be spend his life bitterly trying to get his chance to claim that power.

Billy, himself, is only chosen because he's the last possible candidate and time is running out, and he's really no better than the young Sivana was. There's a nice symmetry between the characters, since both are the product of broken families and retaliate against their backgrounds. Sivana's father is a bully who openly treats his brother as the favourite, while Billy's mother wins the award for worst cinematic parent of the year and simply walks away from her son. While Billy turns from his delinquency due to finally finding a loving family and learning responsibility from his power, Sivana grows up with his uncaring father and brother and obsesses over the power he missed out on. Strong's Sivana is monstrous and terrifying, but still sympathetic. The real villain here is bad parenting.

Not everything works quite so well. The Seven Deadly Sins, being the opposite source of power to Billy's, work double time as monsters and Sivana's magical battery, and in themselves are very generic demon-beasts which mostly don't seem to reflect the sins they're supposed to represent. (I'm very tempted to have a crack designing my own, which would at least get me drawing again.) I'm not convinced by Djimon Hounsou as the wizard Shazam (the naming really does become confusing in the comics), but the sheer straightness of his performance works well with the comedy that revolves around him.

The balance of comedy and action-drama works is pretty perfectly balanced. The funniest moment of the film comes in the middle of the climactic one-on-one showdown between Billy and Sivana, and there's a gentle mockery of superhero tropes throughout, but in a refreshingly non-cynical way. There are some elements that just play weirdly to a British audience, though. Billy's first day at school, complete with bullies who like to pick on disabled kids, continue the impression I've always gotten from American films that arsehole kids can basically get away with what they want there. More worrying, though, is the weary “you get used to it” vibe of a bunch of children handing over their backpacks to be scanned for weapons, which admittedly has started to happen in some of the worst areas of Britain but is still rare and controversial enough to be noteworthy. Here it's just part of adjusting to a normal schoolboy life, which makes us all glad we live in a culture that isn't quite that messed up.

Fortunately, the overall feel of the film is overwhelmingly positive, and it never forgets that at its heart it's a story about family, something which carries forward right to the bombastic action climax. And while Black Adam might be missing from the Shazam story for now, at least it looks like we've got Mister Mind for the sequel, which is something I never thought we'd get to see on the big screen.

REVIEW: Captain Marvel (2019)

After ten years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe should be showing signs of slowing down. We'd expect a few clunkers to have cropped up by now. Yet even the weakest films are enjoyable adventures, and the best are among the best action-adventure films of the modern age. Still, it's a black mark against Marvel that it's taken this long to produce a movie that features a woman as its lead hero. It's not as though there haven't been plenty of potential characters in Marvel's vast library who could have headlined a film (indeed, there's been a Black Widow script sitting on the Marvel movie desk for years). Nonetheless, now that it's finally happened, it seems right that it's Captain Marvel – the Carol Danvers version – who finally gets that honour.

Danvers is actually the sixth character to hold the title of Captain Marvel in the canon (not including various other Captains Marvel from other publishers – I wrote a whole piece on this some time ago, and the original Captain Marvel is getting his own big budget picture next month). Having first appeared in the sixties, when Danvers first got her powers she took on the name Ms. Marvel, and went by various other names until she took on the mantle of Captain in 2012. Yet the success of her run of comics has made her the best known and most celebrated version of the character, and entirely deserving of a tentpole film. Danvers is one of the most powerful heroes in Marvel comics, and easily the most powerful in the MCU at present (although Scarlet Witch has the potential to become almost godlike if/when she returns).

Invariably, the fact that there's a woman headlining a movie twenty-one films into the franchise has set internet dickheads into apoplexy. Even the less vehemently misogynistic ones have been creepy as hell. Early publicity for the film was overtaken by star Brie Larson's response to some idiot's proclamation that he had “fixed” a promotional image by photoshopping a smile onto her face, which Larson responded to by shonkily photoshopping smiles onto every male hero's face on a range of Marvel posters. It was masterfully done, and given that some dudebro character in the film has a go at Danvers for not smiling, it's the sort of attitude that's been in the firing line since the film's beginnings.

After three paragraphs just scratching the surface of the politics of film's genesis, it's clear that the need for a film like this and the ludicrous controversy around it threatens to overshadow the film itself. Which is a tragedy, since Captain Marvel is an absolute belter of a superhero movie. Marvel have made an intriguing decision to set this in the past – 1995, to be precise – to work as not only a way to introduce Danvers into the MCU but also act as an origin story for Nick Fury (and in a much smaller way, Clark Gregg's popular Agent Coulson). Now that I'm old enough to see retro productions from eras I remember from the first time round, seeing a 90s-set movie is a joy. There's no end of 60s, 70s and 80s-set films, but it's rare the 90s get the same treatment. From Danvers crashing through the roof of a Blockbuster store, to the inspired choices of 90s hits on the soundtrack, this is a nostalgia-fest for those of us in our thirties.

There was a lot of speculation about the film from the moment it was announced, not least around who was to play the starring role. Brie Larson is absolutely perfect in the part, nailing the toughness and the humour that Danvers has always displayed. She has a powerful screen presence, which, along with some canny direction, makes her the centre of attention even when she's part of an large ensemble of characters at various points in the film. Danvers's origin story has been tweaked with considerably in the comics lately, and the film presents a backstory that combines published elements and new ideas to make for an intriguing background. By presenting this as a mystery, not only to the audience but to Danvers herself, the film is elevated above a standard origin story to become a discussion on identity and the importance our pasts play in defining who we are. I'm glad I managed to avoid the majority of spoilers for this film – but note, that there will be spoilers after the page break.

***

Much of the fan speculation focused on who Jude Law and Annette Bening were going to play. Early on, the smart money was on Law playing Mar-Vell, the first Captain Marvel and the one who inadvertently gave Danvers her powers. Mar-Vell of the Kree took on the Earthly persona of Dr. Walter Lawson in the comics, a disguise for his activities on Earth. Later reports suggested Bening would be playing the Supreme Intelligence, the Kree's overseeing power, and while this is true, it's only a tiny fraction of her role. Instead, she's revealed to be Dr. Wendy Lawson, Danvers's mentor. Gender-swapping Mar-Vell is a brilliant move, completely altering the dynamic of the two characters into something more constructive than the romantic overtones of the original. Law, meanwhile, portrays the villainous Yon-Rogg, interpreted here as an overbearing commander who claims to be training Danvers to be “the best version of herself,” but all the while does his best to crush her spirit and keep her beneath him. He consistently refuses to allow her to fully use her powers, insisting that it only means something if she can beat him without them – because the only way he can maintain his superiority is by denying her her full potential.

There's a pretty clear undertone to all this, one that no doubt flew over the head of the film's masculinist naysayers. Danvers talks about fighting with her hand tied behind her back, a common metaphor for how women have to function in the workplace particularly, and in life in general, either because there is so much put in their way to prevent them from reaching their potential, or because they are expected to hold back in a world that revolves around men. It's no accident that the most important relationships for Danvers in the film are with women (with the notable exception of Fury) and that it's these relationships that lead her to reaching her potential.

Throughout the film, Danvers is treated by Yon-Rogg and the Kree as one of their own, named Vers and essentially brainwashed into serving them. Her regaining of her identity coincides with her changing sides (notably Yon-Rogg continues to call her Vers even when she insists it's not her name). Her reconnection with her past hinges on her finding her best friend from her life on Earth, Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch), while her changing sides requires another prompt. Throughout the MCU, the alien Kree, in both their blue and white-skinned variants, have been predominantly portrayed as villains (in Guardians of the Galaxy and the TV series Agents of SHIELD). Captain Marvel makes it clear that the situation is more complicated than that, but while it at first makes it appear that the Kree are fighting a just war, it soons becomes clear that they are the aggressors. What's more surprising is that their traditional enemies, the green-skinned shapeshifters the Skrulls, undergo the opposite shift.

In the comics, the Skrulls, aside from the occasional rebellious outlier, have been out-and-out villains, using their shapeshifting abilities to infiltrate other worlds. This is how they are portrayed to begin with in Captain Marvel, before, when Danvers finally has the opportunity to talk to their leader Talos, it becomes clear that they are refugees. This is a massively important and timely inclusion in the film, in a time when refugees and immigrants are continually demonised by the media. What's most interesting is that Talos never denies that they are at war with the Kree or that he has engaged in terrorist activities. Instead, he accepts what he has done was terrible but explains his battle to find his people a home comes at a cost. This is an astonishingly nuanced look at a situation for a comicbook movie to take.

It helps,as well, that Ben Mendelsohn's performance as Talos is so charismatic and sympathetic. He sort-of plays two roles here – Talos and Talos-pretending-to-be-Fury's-boss – using his natural Australian accent in the former and his more often-heard American voice for the latter. Having this green-skinned alien speaking like an Aussie somehow makes him seem the most down-to-earth character of them all. (It also makes his scenes feel like FarScape, while the rest of the film, with its shapeshifters, tentacled monsters and 90s setting feels quite a bit like Men in Black.)

Samuel L. Jackson is just perfect as a younger, less cynical but less open-minded Nick Fury. Still sporting two working eyes and a full head of hair, Jackson was de-aged in post-production, the first time this has been done for a whole film but perhaps not necessary since, haircuts aside, he's always looked pretty much the same. Watching Fury go from a fairly ordinary but impressive agent to the man who will form and lead the Avengers in defence of the Earth is a significant contribution to the MCU's backstory. Fury and Danvers is an unexpected team-up but it works, thanks to some truly excellent chemistry between Jackson and Larson. This is basically a buddy-cop movie, crossed with Top Gun and MiB.

That said, Fury's best moments are with Goose the cat. Sorry, Goose the Flerken. Taking a ridiculous one-off joke from Danvers's guest appearance in the Guardians of the Galaxy comic and turning it into a high point of the movie means that Goose (and the four cats who play him) are as much the stars as Larson and Jackson. However, Larson leads a brilliant cast here, all of whom she displays great chemistry with, and they completely sell why these characters would fall in with each other. The only one of the main cast who doesn't really impress is Law, but Yon-Rogg is a shallow character and perhaps demands a shallow performance.

Ending with a decisive victory for Danvers and the Skrulls, Captain Marvel manages to convincingly incorporate her character into the MCU while explaining why she's never been called upon to save the Earth before. That it not only works as a fan-pleasing missing chapter in the Marvel universe, but also as an allegory for sexism, racism and the refugee crisis is remarkable. This is exactly what science fiction is for.

Stray thoughts:

• Maria's daughter Monica (Akira Akbar) is destined to become a major part of the MCU. While she has a completely different background in the comics, Monica Rambeau was the second Captain Marvel, a character almost as powerful as Danvers. Given that the film is set twenty-four years ago, I will eat my hat if an adult Monica doesn't appear in a future film. Incidentally, Maria's Air Force call sign is “Photon,” one of the names that Monica uses in her superhero persona.
• In the comics, Goose is Carol's cat and called Chewie. While I get the Top Gun reference, it's not like the Star Wars name would have caused problems now that Disney owns both franchises.
• One little thing I dislike is the reluctance of superhero films to use superhero names in dialogue. Both Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel have the same problem: neither character is ever called by their superhero name outside of the film's title.
• While I enjoyed the story of how Fury lost his eye, it would have been funnier to have him repeatedly almost lose his eye throughout the film, and to never find out how he really lost it.
• In Agents of SHIELD, the existence and appearance of the Kree seems to come as news to Coulson. Was he never briefed on this mission?
• While they're a sympathetic people here, the introduction of the Skrulls, in the past, must surely lead to the Secret Invasion storyline in future MCU films.
• While the “give us a smile” dudebros are idiots in the extreme, Brie Larson really does have an incredible smile.
• The Kree designation for the Earth is planet C-53.

Marvel properties I'd like to see on the screen

Runaways

Gertrude and Old Lace

Undoubtedly the series I'd most like to see adapted for the screen, Runaways ran from 2003-09 and concerned a group of young superhumans who, as the title suggests, run away from their parents and live a precarious life without adult supervision. Oh, and they run away because it turns out their parents make up a cabal of supervillains called the Pride, bent on total domination. Written first by Brian K. Vaughan and then continued by Joss Whedon, Runaways is fun and irreverant, but plays with high personal stakes for the characters. As well as dealing with the usual superhero cliches - but looked at through the eyes of contemporary kids, which would suit the MCU down to a tee - the Runaways have to deal with the very real consequences of their actions, from heartbreak to tragic death. The six initial characters in the team are Nico Minoru, a powerful witch; Karolina Dean, a solar-powered alien; Molly Hayes, a twelve-year-old mutant with super-strength; Chase Stein, who steals his fathers fire-commanding "fistigons;" Alex Wilder, a strategic prodigy; and Gertrude Yorkes, whose parents are from the future, and who has a flippin' pet Deinonychus. Tell me you wouldn't love to see that onscreen.

Later characters to join the team include Victor, a creation of Ultron (clear links to the franchise there); Xavin, a shape-shifting alien Skrull; and Klara Plast, who can control plants. As well as having a team with a far higher than usual proportion of female members, Runaways embraces sexual and gender diversity, dealing with issues such as homosexuality, gender fluidity and learning to deal with sexual abuse. It's one of the best things Marvel has ever produced, and what's frustrating is that there plans to produce a film version as early as 2008, with Vaughan scripting. These have apparently been shelved indefinitely, although there is some hope they'll be picked up in the future. The concept would probably work better as a TV series or mini-series than a feature, and, although there'd have to be a couple of story tweaks for rights reasons, it has all the makings of a perfect property to bring in the vital teen audience who don't necessarily appreciate all the older heroes being used as the basis for movies and mini-series. Frankly, it's baffling that Marvel haven't found a place for this.

Young Avengers

Perhaps Runaways won't happen, but a few years from now, Marvel may want to create a series or film featuring teenaged characters with stronger links to the established heroes. Young Avengers is, exactly as it sounds, about a semi-official team of youngsters who support the Avengers, several haing links to the main team. The series was originally developed by Allan Hinberg, springing out of the "Avengers Dissassembled" event in 2004, with the kids acting as a potential replacement team for the disbanded Avengers. Marvel doesn't go in for sidekicks in the same way as DC - which has a number of adolescent teams such as the Teen Titans and Young Justice - and this could fill that gap, either as a live action production, or as an animated series tying into the MCU, something that's been suggested before. This initial team was recruited by the Vision, and included characters such as Iron Lad, Hulkling and Patriot , characters who, although they have caried backgrounds, act as the young team's equivalents of Iron Man, the Hulk and Captain America. There's also Wicca and Speed, the twin sons of Scarlet Witch and Vision, and Kate Bishop, who takes the mantle of Hawkeye after Barton dies (he got better). Even Cassie Lang, daughter of Scott "Ant-Man" Lang and already part of the MCU, takes her place as Stature.

Kid Loki

Better, for me, is the relaunch series by Kieron Gillen that started in 2013. This includes some of the original characters, and new additions too. This series is more like Runaways in tone, dealing with the difficulties of young adulthood, responsibility and sexuality. (Wiccan and Hulkling are a couple, among several non-hetero characters, something which Marvel have consistently failed to bring to the screen. I'm fairly certain there hasn't been a single homosexual character in the MCU, while DC's Gotham, Flash and Arrow have featured several characters who happen to be gay.)  Loki is involved as a semi-good guy, killed, reincarnated and now in a younger form (Loki's totes bi and genderfluid too, as it goes). Other new characters include the modern holders of the names Marvel Boy and Miss America. Some years down the line, this could be a great way to reinvigorate the MCU with new, younger characters that retain links to the heroes of The Avengers and Age of Ultron.

Ms. Marvel

Ms. Marvel really, really needs to make it onto the screen somehow. To clarify, I'm not talking about the original Ms. Marvel - Carol Danvers - but the current holder of the title, Kamala Khan. Long story short, Danvers has promoted herself to Captain Marvel and is set to headline her own movie in 2019, and presumably will enter the Avengers movies after that. Ms. Marvel currently has her own title, which is set to continue (with a new issue one) after the big Marvel relaunch this September. A Pakistani-American teen, Kamala is Captain Marvel's number one fan (and Wolverine's, and Spider-Man's, etc) and when her Inhuman birthright was activated, she took on her hero's former name as her own crime-fighting persona. She's teamed-up with all three of the aforementioned supers over the last few months, in a series that is doing what The Amazing Spider-Man used to do: show an ordinary teenager trying to do good while juggling the struggles of school, love and life, and learning that with great power comes great responsibility, dontchano.

Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan

Kamala is adorable, brave and resourceful, and come September, is going to be part of the All New, All Different Avengers. Her adventures have been almost universally well-received, except by angry right wing racist types, and there have been numerous instances of young girls dressing as her for conventions and play. She's fantastic. Unfortunately, the very things that make her work so well in the comics might make her a hard sell for the movie and TV execs. Her close conceptual links to Captain Marvel will make it difficult to incorporate her into the MCU until after the Captain Marvel movie premieres, and would depend on that character's reception. Her powers, not unlike Mr. Fantastic's, involve much stretching and "embiggening," which is still tricky to pull off in live action without it looking horrendusly cartoonish or utterly unpleasant (at least the recent Fantastic Four movie was deliberately going for the latter). And there's the whole Muslim angle. It would be wonderful for the many, many Islamic kids living in both East and West to have a high profile superhero to identify with, but it's very hard to imagine the bigwigs at Disney signing off on that one.

I really hope they take that chance though. To see Kamala fighting bad guys on the streets of New Jersey while stopping to get Spidey's autograph would be wonderful. If she's not well known or popular enough to headline her own movie or series, then she could easily be incorporated into either the main Avengers franchise or the aforementioned Young Avengers. She could cross over with Runaways or Agents of SHIELD (the latter has already occurred in comics). If the powers are tricky to pull off, or the character is too much of a risk for a live action production's budget, then maybe an animated series/movie? I would truly love to see Kamala kicking ass onscreen.

Spider-Man - but on TV 

We've another Spider-Man reboot heading to the big screen soon, plus plans for one or more animated features. This could very well be more Spidey than anyone actually wants for a while, but I feel the best avenue for the character is as an ongoing television series. Spidey works best given time to explore his character and his relationships, and a serialised format would actually allow time for his many trials and tribulations to play out. He's a character who needs breathing space. It would also allow time to feature his huge rogue's gallery, without having to shoehorn them all into a couple of films.

There's a supporting cast already available - Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio could easily make appearances as Daredevil and the Kingpin, respectively, and with characters like Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and the Punisher joining the franchise, Spidey could be the front of a broad ensemble of characters. It's unlikely to happen; Spider-Man is the most lucrative comicbook characterin the world, and that means studios are going to want to pile money into movies in the expectation they'll make shedloads back. The best we can hope for on TV is yet another animated series. In any case, I hope this is the last reboot for a long while. Recast if necessary, but just keep the story going. Ten years down the line, we could have Peter Parker acting as sensei to Miles Morales. Twenty-five years down the line, his daughter could be headlining her own films as Spider-Girl. Let it run.

Spectrum and The Blue Marvel

As mentioned above, there is a huge skew towards white male characters leading all Western cinema, particularly comicbook and superhero films. The genre was a little better at this a few years ago, but not great. Considering the Blade trilogy starring Wesley Snipes helped bring superhero movies back on the map, black heroes have been relegated to supporting roles (Anthony Mackie as Falcon in The Winter Soldier and Ant-Man, Terrence Howard as War Machine in the Iron Man trilogy and Age of Ultron, Halle Berry as Storm in the X-Men franchise) or headlined pretty terrible films (Will Smith as Hancock, Halle Berry again in Catwoman). Only the Black Panther, to be played by Chadwick Boseman in Civil War and then his own movie, looks set to buck the trend. There's also a deficit of female heroes; Scarlett Johansson has played the Black Widow as a supporting character in four films, going on five, but has yet to headline one, in spite of fan demand and a script already existing. She's had a lot more focus than Scarlet Witch, the Wasp, the aforementioned Storm or any version of the Invisible Woman. The poor quality and reception of the Elektra and Catwoman films seems to have put studios off female-led comicbook movies for some time (because having a major actress in the lead was so clearly what was wrong with those flicks), but finally, things are slowly picking up with both Wonder Woman and the Carol Danvers version of Captain Marvel planned for the next few years.

Out of the many, many characters that could be focussed on to help redress this balance, two appeal to me particularly. Spectrum is the current alias of Monica Rambeau, who has also been known as Photon, Pulsar, Daystar and more, and was the first woman to take the title of Captain Marvel, years before Danvers. She was created by Roger Stern and John Romita Jr. in 1982, first appearing in The Amazing Spider-Man, and was totally based on Pam Grier. She's an incredibly powerful character with the ability to manipulate and transform into any wavelength of electromagnetic radiation. A confident, sassy black woman with the ability to literally turn into light and throw lasers at her enemies - who wouldn't want to see that on the big screen? (Apart from racists with weak masculinity issues, I mean.) Rambeau has been ignored by the MCU for way too long - she once led the Avengers, for pity's sake.

The Blue Marvel assists Spectrum with her powers.

The other character I would love to see is Dr. Adam Brashear, the Blue Marvel. Even more powerful than Spectrum, the Blue Marvel is essentially Superman without any of the girl weaknesses. In fact, he'd have to be pretty seriously depowered just to make a film featuring him feasible at all. As well as being a scientific genius, his exposure to extradimensional radiation has gifted him superhuman strength and speed, virtual invulnerability, the power of flight, and the ability to generate and manipulate energy and antimatter. He's Dr. Manhattan, but without the personality problems. Created by Kevin Grevioux as recently as 2008, the Blue Marvel was a continuity implant, operating in the 1960s in-universe. He was a powerful and popular superhero with links to the Kennedy administration, but wore an all-encompassing headmask to hide his face. When his colour was revealed in a major battle, he was forced to retire from crime-fighting, since the American public wouldn't accept a black superhero. This would make for an incredible period piece along the lines of The First Avenger or X-Men: First Class. A modern day sequel for the ageless could follow, perhaps involving both Spectrum and Luke Cage, who work with him in the comic series Mighty Avengers (as a street level team, both Spectrum and Blue Marvel are far overpowered for the Mighty Avengers, but still).

Oh, and the Blue Marvel has his own Fortress of Solitude. On the bottom of the frickin' sea. That only Namor the Sub-Mariner is allowed to visit. That is cinema.

The Twelve

The Twelve was a limited series released a few years ago and written by J. Michael Straczynski, who has tons of TV and movie experience, including scripting work on the Thor movie. It's the story of twelve obscure-as-hell superheroes from Marvel's predecessor company, Timely, who get frozen at the end of WWII and revived in the present day. Folllowing their attempts to adjust to modern life, while solving a series of unexplained murders, the series dealth with contemporary politics and values. It's rather like a less cynical Watchmen.

The team includes costumed crime fighters (the Phantom Reporter, the Blue Blade, Mister E, and the Laughing Mask); superhuman heroes (Captain Wonder, the Dynamic Man, Rockman, the Fiery Mask); and individuals with supernatural powers (the Witness, Master Mind Excello, and the original Black Widow, one of the earliest female superheroes in comics). The twelfth member is a colossal mind-controlled robot called Electro. That's a lot of characters to cover, although given the line-up for Captain America: Civil War, Marvel isn't afraid of helming a busy movie. A couple of the character names might need to be changed for clarity - Black Widow's real name is Clair Voyant (!) so that works. The comic could adapt extremely well to cinema or, perhaps even better, given that most of the characters aren't superpowered, the lower budget option of a Netflix series. Chris Evans or Samuel L. Jackson could even cameo.

L to R: Master Mind Excello, Mister E, Electro, Blue Blade, Phantom Reporter, Rockman, Dynamic Man, Captain Wonder, Black Widow, Fiery Mask, Witness, Laughing Mask

Comicbook Movie Release Calendar

It seems I am only permitted to watch movies based on comics these days. Really, I watched Blue is the Warmest Colour the other day (I have lesbian movie nights with lesbian friends. Don't you?) and it turns out that's based on a graphic novel. Anyway, this is the latest, most up-to-date list of the upcoming comic-based films, double-checked with Den of Geek, io9 and the like.

2015

Avengers: Age of Ultron
Marvel/Disney
Release: April 2015 for UK, May for US
All the Avengers plus Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and the Vision join forces to defeat the android Ultron.

Ant-Man
Marvel/Disney
Release: July 17th on both sides of the Pond.
The last installment of Phase Two of the MCU. Edgar Wright is out, who knows what this is going to be like.

The Fantastic Four
Fox
Release: 6th/7th August 2015
Reboot of the Fantastic Four franchise which is planned to revamp the other half of Fox's comicbook properties.

Bananaman
DC Thomson/Elstree Studios
Release: uncertain
The first part of the Beano Cinematic Universe (oh yes), Bananaman is clearly the most exciting movie project in development for years. Might be subtitled Man of Peel, which is brilliant. Absolutely no idea who is starring.

2016

Deadpool
Fox
Release: set for Feb 2016
Ryan Reynolds finally gets to do the Merc with a Mouth justice in what we expect to be a fourth-wall breaking slice of madness. Part of Fox's X-Men universe which may also cross over with the Fantastic Four films as they try to build up a cinematic universe akin to Marvel's.

Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice
DC/Warner
Release: 25th March in both UK and US
DC are going head first into a huge superhero team-up movie to try to do what Marvel have done, but in reverse. Henry Cavill is back as Supes following on from Man of Steel. Ben Affleck makes his debut as Batman, with Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and sundry other DC superheroes.

Captain America: Civil War
Marvel/Disney
Release: April 2016 in the UK, May in the US
Marvel's Phase Three kicks off one year after Age of Ultron with another barnstormer that might as well be called Captain America vs Iron Man. Chadwick Boseman is set to debut as the Black Panther and Spider-Man is expected to make his MCU debut following Marvel's deal with Sony.

X-Men: Apocalypse
Fox
Release: May 2016
The X-Men franchise completes the trilogy started with First Class and continued in Days of Future Past, coming full circle with recast Cyclops, Storm and Jean Grey. Channing Tatum debuts as Gambit, and expect Huge Ackman to return as Wolverine to face down the mighty mutant Apocalypse.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2
Paramount
Release: 3rd June on both continents, supposedly.
Hell, I haven't even seen the first one yet. More Michael Bay stuff with Megan Fox and some unsettling repto-humanoids. Apparently Krang might be in this one.

Suicide Squad
DC/Warner
Release: August 2016
Beating the ever-delayed Sinister Six movie from Sony, DC manage to make the first villain team-up movie to expand their cinematic universe. Genuinely quite interested in this one. One hell of a cast lined up, with Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jared Leto as the Joker, Will Smith (!) as Deadshot and more. Could be something quite amazing.

Gambit
Fox
Release: October 2016
Channing Tatum returns as Gambit for his own solo adventure. Not much information to go on so far.

Doctor Strange
Marvel/Disney
Release: November, most likely.
Everyone's favourite Benedict Cumberbatch joins the MCU as the Sorceror Supreme. Rumours that Chiwetel Ejiofor is also involved. This should mark an interesting development point for the MCU as magic and parallel dimensions are introduced.

2017

"Wolverine 3"
Fox
Release: Early March, 2017, but expect things to move around a bit this far ahead.
No actual title for this, but it's the third Wolverine film from Fox after the dreadful X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the rather better The Wolverine. Patrick Stewart is also expected to appear in some capacity. No real information on the storyline, although Huge Ackman has been angling for the "Old Man Logan" arc from the comics as a source.

Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Marvel/Disney
Release: the now-traditional April/May slot.
Guardians of the Galaxy was the film of the year for 2014, so we're all stoked to see the sequel. Not much info yet, but we can expect it to follow up on the mystery of Quill's parentage.

Wonder Woman
DC/Warner
Release: Set for 23rd June in the USA.
DC are one step ahead of Marvel with this one, creating a female-led superhero movie before their rivals. Wonder Woman is one DC's Big Three, along with Batman and Superman, so it's pretty bizarre that she's not headlined a movie before. Gal Gadot returns to the role after her debut in Dawn of Justice.

Fantastic Four 2
Fox
Release: 14th July on both sides.
If the FF reboot does well, a sequel is guaranteed. All the main cast have signed up for the sequel, which is expected to feature Mole Man as a villain, probably with a returning Doom. On the other hand, if the first film tanks, this will probably be quietly shelved.

Untitled Spider-Man movie
Sony, with Marvel/Disney
Release: July 28th 2017 is the currently scheduled date, which has bumped back some of Marvel's other films.
The first proper Spidey film to come out following the deal between Sony and Marvel, this is as yet uncast and we have little information on it beyond the fact that they're looking to cast younger and send Peter Parker back to high school again. Don't expect yet another retelling of his origin story, though. We all know he was bitten by a radioactive/genetically engineered spider.

Thor: Ragnarok
Marvel/Disney
Release: Originally slated for July 28th, this will now be released on November 3rd in the States.
Apocalyptic events could mark Chris Hemsworth's final appearance as the God of Thunder. The Fire Giant Surtr will most likely be the villain this time round, but pound to a penny Loki will be back too.

The Justice League: Part One
DC/Warner
Release: 17th November in the States.
The Justice League is DC's premier superhero team, and they want a slice of the Avengers' money pie. This huge two-part blowout should reunite most of the Dawn of Justice crowd, potentially with yet more heroes added in for good measure. Darkseid is heavily rumoured as the villain, but he's essentially identical to Marvel's Big Bad, Thanos.

The Lego Batman Movie
Warner Bros.
Release: Uncertain, some time in 2017 most likely.
Will Arnett's hilarious take on Batman was the best thing about 2014's magnificent Lego Movie, and now he gets his own spin-off. Lego seem to have free reign to use DC characters so expect cameos and villains galore. The Lego Movie 2 is currently slated for 2018.

2018

The Flash
DC/Warner
Release: Currently set for 23rd March, Stateside.
I still haven't managed to catch any of the acclaimed Flash TV series, but since this is a complete reboot and recast that's pretty irrelevant. Hopefully this Billy Whizzard will be as fun as the concept should be. Ezra Miller is playing Barry Allen, the Flash.

Avengers: Infinity War: Part One
Marvel/Disney
Release: That April/May slot.
Marvel's answer to the big double-blockbuster, wisely not going directly up against Justice League but inevitably set to be compared. This is the beginning of the climax to Phase Three, the event that all the movies of the MCU have building to. Josh Brolin is back as Thanos, battling pretty much every character thus far introduced in the MCU, potentially including the upcoming TV characters too. No Joss Whedon though.

Black Panther
Marvel/Disney
Release: 6th July 2018
Finally, a black superhero headlines a movie for the first time since Blade and that dreadful Catwoman thing. Boseman will already have appeared as the Black Panther in Civil War and probably Infinity War, and we can probably expect Andy Serkis to appear as Klaw.

Untitled X-Men movie
Fox
Release: July 2018
Another X-Men flick is scheduled for 2018, but so far we have zip on the details. Very probably keeping on the young mutants from Apocalypse along with some new faces, but no news as yet.

Aquaman
DC/Warner
Release: 27th July 2018
The King of Atlantis gets his own movie, played by Jason Momoa. Some have written this off as too silly - Aquaman has been a bit of a joke character in DC animations recently - but it looks like they'll be playing this one straight. Momoa will have already played the character in Dawn of Justice and Justice League, of course.

Captain Marvel
Marvel/Disney
Release: Currently slated for November 2018.
Marvel's premier female superhero gets a chance to shine on the big screen. No news as to who's playing Carol Danvers yet, although it's entirely possible that, like Black Panther, she'll first appear in another movie (Guardians of the Galaxy 2 seems a reasonable bet). That said, we do know this movie is currently intended to be set mostly on the Earth, rather than the good Captain's frequent forays into space.

2019(ish)

Shazam!
DC/Waner
Release: 5th April 2019
Genuinely can't wait for this one. The other Captain Marvel, as yet uncast, pits his mighty fists against the nerfarious Black Adam, played by Duane 'The Rock' Johnson, taking five minutes out from filming Fast and Furious 26 or something. Mixed messages concerning whether this will be part of the elaborate movie universe DC is constructing or completely separate, but expect something quite standalone either way.

Avengers: Infinity War: Part Two
Marvel/Disney
Release: One year after Part One
The second part of the big shebang. With Captain Marvel showing in between the two halves, expect even more characters to be included, but Inhumans being delayed until afterwards might change plans a tad. Hopefully not just wall-to-wall scraps, but expect lots of spectacle.

Justice League: Part Two
DC/Warner
Release: June 14th, 2019.
DC are leaving a longer gap between installments in their gigantic blockbuster. Again, the two comics giants aren't going directly head-to-head with this one, but there's only a month or so between the US release dates. The new Green Lantern might be appearing in preparation for his upcoming solo film.

Inhumans
Marvel/Disney
Release: 12th July 2019, at the moment.
Marvel, not having the movie rights to their own X-Men characters, are bringing this lesser known crop of superhuman beings to the big screen. The Inhumans are already being seeded in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD on TV, so this is a slow burn set-up. Rumours are already flying, with Vin Diesel cheekily putting himself forward as Black Bolt. As he's already voiced Groot, amusingly this would make him two Marvel movie characters who can barely speak. Nice easy gig for him.

Untitled Batman movie
DC/Warner
Release: sometime before 2020.
A solo Batman outing starring Ben Affleck following his Dawn of Justice and (probably) Justice League appearances. No info so far.

"Man of Steel 2"
DC/Warner
Release: again, some point between 2016 and 2020.
As with Batman, Superman will also be enjoying a further solo appearance, again, probably, post Justice League. It's hard to see how they can fit both Batman and Superman movies in the schedule though. Henry Cavill is on board, natch.

The Sinister Six
Sony
Release: unknown, but it's still on the books.
With the Sony-Marvel alliance, this has been confirmed as still in the pipeline. Undoubtedly coming after Suicide Squad, this is going for the similar villains-as-protagonists route. No cast confirmed at the moment, and with Spider-Man being recast, everything's in the air. We also don't know for certain whether Spidey himself is going to taking part, or if Marvel will have some involvement.

Other Spidey-related projects that haven't officially been cancelled yet, but which are looking less likely to see the light of day, are the long-awaited Venom movie (last heard to be titled Venom-Carnage) and a team-up movie of unspecified female superheroes from the Spider-Man franchise.

X-Force
Fox
Release: unconfirmed
The final movie currently planned for the X-Men franchise, X-Force will involve a darker, less heroic team of mutant superheroes. Jeff Wadlow, from the fairly dreadful KickAss 2, is writing the script. Ryan Reynolds is expected back as Deadpool, along with an uncast Cable. I wouldn't be surprised to see Channing Tatum back as Gambit in this, and probably Colossus, who is usually part of the comics and is also appearing in Deadpool, but is currently uncast. Wolverine is also a likely candidate, but Huge Ackman can't play him forever. Given the bigger antihero role Mystique has in the newer X-films, I wouldn't be shocked to see Jennifer Lawrence involved.

2020

Cyborg
DC/Warner
Release: April 2020
One of DC's less well known and popular characters, Victor Stone, aka Cyborg, is still a pretty major Justice League hero. Ray Fisher is signed up to play Stone in Dawn of Justice, both Justice League films and finally his own movie. Good to have another black headline star.

Green Lantern
DC/Warner
Release: June 2020
The 2011 Green Lantern film tanked, and so DC are clearly not very confident on this property, running pretty much everything on their books before trying again. Ryan Reynolds is now Deadpool, and it's unlikely DC would want him back anyway, so there'll be a new man in green.

Justice League Dark
DC/Warner
Release: unknown
Not given a definite slot on DC's release calendar, but apparently coming sometime between now and 2020. Guillermo del Toro is currently set to direct, which would be pretty much perfect (I'd still like to see a third Hellboy movie). Justice League Dark is set to feature DC's biggest horror-themed characters, including Constantine, Swamp Thing, Deadman, Zatanna and Etrigan the Demon. Whether this ties into DC's main cinematic universe is unknown.

Sandman
DC/Warner
Release: not a clue
Can they really do Sandman justice on the big screen? It remains to be seen. Author Neil Gaiman is directly involved and wanted Benedict Cumberbatch for the role of Morpheus, but he's busy being Dr. Strange. The great Joseph Gordon Levitt is involved, probably to direct and possibly to star as well.

Comics Desperate Catch-Up (January '15)

Scrabbling to catch up on some series, while trying out some new ones. Will I take any further? We'll see.

TMNT/Ghostbusters #2 (IDW)

The second part is still stuck on introducing the characters to each other, but makes such chores more fun than they have any right to be. Donatello's bromance with Ray is just a joy to behold, while Raphael matches up nicely as a foil for Venkman. Egon becomes more of a challenge for Donnie - one refusing to believe in aliens and the other in ghosts - while April and Janine bond. Most insightful is pairing up Leonardo with Zeddmore, the latter's position as the heart of the team interpreted as a leadership of sorts. That leads Michaelangelo with only Slimer to interact with, though. (Thank you Michele for getting this in for me x)

ODY-C #1 (Image)

Pretty incredible visually, this is Matt Fraction's new vast space opera, a hyper-modernist take on The Odyssey layered with psychedelia and science myth. I'll be honest, there were pages where I had little idea what was going on, but there's some very interesting stuff in this, with almost all the characters juxtaposed to female or gender-fluid forms and a vast galactic history sketched in through the use of fold-out chronologies and star charts. Probably something to admire more than enjoy.

Crossed + One Hundred (Utopia Press)

Ugh. I hadn't bothered with Crossed before because it just sounded like one of those titles trying to be as shockingly nasty as possible. But I thought I'd give this a go on the basis that anything new by Alan Moore is worth at least a look. So, a hundred years after a plague turned 90% of the human race into murderous rapists, we have an ongoing struggle for survival with some admittedly interesting language play. Really though, this isn't just unpleasant, it's really very dull.

Avengers Universe #7 (Marvel/Panini)

This has become my reprint series of choice, the one I'm going to keep buying after dropping Wolverine & Deadpool, Mighty World of Marvel and Batman Arkham. Enjoying the contrast between the relatively small-scale threats faced by the Young Avengers, and the vast cosmic, trans-temporal armageddon that threatens the Uncanny Avengers. Nicely in the middle is Mighty Avengers, and although this issue is mostly ground-based middle-of-the-story stuff, I'm loving Superior Spider-Man basically being a cunt to everyone.

Doctor Who: Eleventh Doctor #6 (Titan)

This is undoubtedly the best of Titan's DW series, although I am looking forward to their limited ninth Doctor run. "Space in Dimension Relative and Time" is a truly clever story, running time backwards with only the Doctor aware of the discrepancies and playing with the paradoxes to great effect. I like this short, one-strip stories for the eleventh Doctor; they suit his fast-paced style well. Rob Williams is probably the strongest writer in Doctor Who comics right now, and Simon Fraser's art is just perfect for Eleven. Plus, this brings back the Nimon while ripping the piss out of them.

Ms. Marvel #10 (Marvel)

After a short break, this is back with a finely told, important chapter that sees Kamala rally up some disillusioned youths who have been under the thumb of the evil cockateel-faced villain the Professor. God, this pulls of some weird shit, this comic. It's the young together, very much not a call to arms but a call to live, fighting for tomorrow by dint of living today. This really is an excellent comic for teens, but not to the exclusion of old bastards like me. G. Willow Wilson's writing pitches it perfectly. Adrian Alphona's art is grand, too.

The Multiversity: Thunderworld (DC)

I do enjoy me some Captain Marvel (Shazam! style) and this latest from The Mulitversity, dated February for some reason, takes us to Earth-5 where Fawcett Comics is the still the dominant continuity and it's all about Billy Batson and his Marvel family. The nefarious Dr. Sivana strikes a plan to conquer the Rock of Eternity, breaching the walls of reality and importing time from across the Multiverse to create his own eighth day. Wonderfully high concept while remaining a good, old-fashioned sort of adventure, this is lovely stuff. More please.

Guardians of the Galaxy #22 (Marvel)

I'm enjoying the B-plot in this storyline, with political shenanigans on Spartax and the powers of the galaxy debating what to do with Earth. But really, this is just a series of over-the-top reveals with each character becoming Venom for a few pages. Venom-Rocket, Venom-Groot, Venom-Drax... it's thin, but it's bloody good fun.

Edward Scissorhands #2 (IDW)

I'm going to drop this. I like the idea, with Edward's unstable brother trying to fix himself while Kim's granddaughter searches for the truth about what happened all those years ago, but the telling's bland and the artwork isn't growing on me.

Thor #3 (Marvel)

Really enjoying this one. We still don't know who the new Thor is, but that's working for it, a little mystery alongside the action. Elves and Jotnar all coming for Midgard, and now the Odinson is coming back for his hammer.

Spider-Verse Team-Up #2 (Marvel)

I think these team-ups are the most enjoyable part of the Spider-Verse event. Two stories here, the first of which is just fabulously fun, bringing together Peter Parker from the '67 animated series, Parker from the Ultimate Spider-Man TV series and Miles Morales from the Ultimate Comics universe. It gently mocks each version of the series but ultimately celebrates all of them, and it's very funny. It's followed by Spider-Gwen encountering a version of Parker who took up the mantle of the Green Goblin after his Gwen's death. A clever pairing.

Those Marvellous Captains

Two of the upcoming comic-inspired movies I'm most looking forward to are Captain Marvel from Disney/Marvel, and Shazam from WB/DC. Both star a superpowered character who goes by the name Captain Marvel, although the hero of Shazam might end up being called Shazam. Understandably, there's a little confusion regarding the name "Captain Marvel" and how it relates to various characters. Not only have there been various characters in both the DC and Marvel universes named Captain Marvel, they have generally also gone by various other names. There are also various Marvelmen, Marvel Boys, Marvel Girls and Ms. Marvels, not all of which are related to the Marvel comic publishers. How to make sense of all this? Well, here goes:

Fawcett, National and DC

The original Captain Marvel was the star of a strip published by Fawcett Comics, his initial apperance being in issue two of Whiz Comics in 1940. At first glance, Captain Marvel was a Superman rip-off, and it was certainly the success of National Comics' Batman and Superman comics that led to the creation of Whiz Comics and its characters. The origin of Captain Marvel was entirely different, however. He was teenager Billy Batson, who encountered the wizard Shazam, who granted him the power to transform into Captain Marvel by uttering the word "shazam!". The magical incantation granted Billy the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury. He had very Superman-like powers and appearance, and yes, this did eventually get Fawcett comics into trouble. However, during the 1940s Captain Marvel's adventures were the best-selling American superhero comics of all, outselling his inspiration. During that golden era, a whole Marvel Family was created, including Captain Marvel Jr (really the young boy Freddy Freeman) and Mary Marvel (Billy's twin sister Mary). While Mary got her powers from saying "Shazam!" like her brother, Freddy had to say "Captain Marvel," so was always a second-tier sidekick to the true Captain Marvel. There was also a short-lived spin-off title called The Marvel Family, which featured other, non-powered members of the Marvel family, plus Marvel Lieutenants and even a Marvel Bunny. 

By 1953, however, the tide was turning. National Comics was now Detective Comics Publishing (later DC Comics), and a lawsuit between DC and Fawcett over Captain Marvel's similarities to Superman resulted in the cancellation of the line. DC eventually required the rights and finally complete ownership of Fawcett's stable of characters, and made plans to bring back Captain Marvel as one of their own heroes - one of the few who could go toe-to-toe with Superman. Various attempts to revive the character in the 70s and 80s, including an alternative version named Captain Thunder, had not been very successful, but in 1991 the graphic novel The Power of Shazam! reintroduced the character for good. Captain Marvel has survived the many reboots of the DC line, and still exists, with a revamped backstory, in the New 52. 

The problem, of course, is that during Billy Batson's period off the stands, Timely Comics, publishers of such characters as Captain America and the Human Torch, has changed their name to Marvel. To protect their copyright, Marvel created their own superhero named Captain Marvel, who premiered in Marvel Superheroes in 1967. After this, all the new DC Captain Marvel products were sold under the name Shazam! By 2011, the character had stopped being referred to as Captain Marvel even within the comics' story material, and was now known as Shazam (formerly the name of the wizard). While many fans still refer to him as Captain Marvel, this does fit with a proposed future mythology for the character, in which he will one day become the new wizard Shazam and choose a new Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel Jr, for his part, split from the Marvel family for a time and changed his name to CM3, while the New 52 version wishes to be known as King Shazam. There are other Captains Marvel in the DC multiverse, as well. One of Batson's most nefarious enemies is Black Adam, an evildoer who also wields the power of Shazam (and who will be played by Dwayne Johnson in the upcoming movie). There's also a version of the character on the parallel Earth-3, only in this version of events, it is Lex Luthor who is granted the power, whenever he says "Mazahs!" Really.

M. F. Enterprises

Between the Fawcett and Marvel iterations of Captain Marvel, a minor publisher named M. F. Enterprises created their own short-lived character by the same name. He appeared in four issues of his own self-titled comic in 1966-7, and two issues of the even briefer Captain Marvel Presents The Terrible Five. This character was a "Human Robot" (read android) whose background was otherwise pretty identical to Superman's, while his powers were odd to say the least: he could detach his body parts by shouting "Split!" He also had more regular abilities like laser eyes and a hyper-intelligent computerised brain. This Captain Marvel took on the secret identity of Roger Winkle, a mild-mannered reporter, no less, while his sidekick was the young Billy Baxton.

Given that his name clashed with both Marvel and DC properties and that his background, alter ego and villains were direct rip-offs of DC characters, it wasn't long before this Captain Marvel was put out of business. He did, however, make a brief cameo in a 1997 issue of The Power of Shazam!

Marvel Comics

When Marvel pinched the rights to the character name, they began a series of characters called Captain Marvel, a legacy title that has been handed down and that, unlike Captain America, say, has no one character who dominates its history. The first Captain Marvel is actually called Marr-Vell, and is a member of the alien race the Kree, sent to Earth to monitor them only to eventually break away and ally with the human race. In a grim turn of events, Marr-Vell died of cancer in the graphic novel The Death of Captain Marvel. The second Captain Marvel was Monica Rambeau, a character created in 1982 and, unusually, a black female superhero. Rambeau was bombarded by cosmic energies, granting her the ability to convert to electromagnetic energy, and allowing her extreme speed, intangibility, energy blasts and so on. As Captain Marvel, she led the Avengers for some time.

Marr-Vell's son, Genis-Vell, became the third Captain Marvel, and after some initial friction, Rambeau conceded the name. She has since been known as Pulsar and Photon (neither of which is a name unique to her, because that would be too simple) but now goes by the name of Spectrum, and is part of the Mighty Avengers team, acting as their field commander. For some, Rambeau is the definitive Captain Marvel, and while she is both a major female member of the Avengers and a real heavy hitter, she is not the Captain Marvel who will be headlining her own Marvel movie.

Now, Genis-Vell, Marr-Vell's genetically engineered son, had a hard time as the Captain, going mad and destroying the universe (he did fix it up again though). Genis took the name Photon (requiring Rambeau to change her name again, and yes, this is confusing) leaving the captaincy open. It was taken next by his sister, Phyla-Vell, who came to exist as part of the strange effects of Genis's recreation of the universe. Phyla's name is a terrible pun of the part of writer Peter David. She has since become known as Quasar and then Martyr, became one of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and died in battle. The fifth Captain Marvel was a Skrull sleeper agent known as Khn'nr, a shape-shfiting alien who took on the identity of Marr-Vell. The Marr-Vell identity became dominant, so for a short time it was as if the original Captain Marvel was back. He died too.

Marvel Boys and Marvel Girls

While Captain Marvel didn't come to Marvel until relatively late on, Marvel-monikered heroes graced its pages even before it was called Marvel Comics, back when it was called Timely Comics, and then Atlas Comics. The first such character was Marvel Boy, aka Martin Burns, a young man who wielded the power of Hercules in the Forties. In fact, there were two Martin Burnses, according to the official Marvel history, an attempt to make sense of two wildly contradictory origin stories. Supposedly they were both active under the name Marvel Boy at the same time, because this isn't confusing enough. In the 50s, Robert Grayson received cosmic bracelets from the Eternals to become Marvel Boy in his own title from Atlas Comics. And he grew up on Uranus. This Marvel Boy was revived in the 70s and revamped as the Crusader, and become part of the superhero team the Agents of Atlas in 2001. His bracelets were later donned by Wendell Vaughn, who became the next Marvel Boy, later Marvel Man, and finally Quasar. Yes, this is also the name later taken by fourth Captain Marvel, Phyla-Vell, after she acquired the cosmic armbands.

The fifth Marvel Boy was Vance Astrovik, a mutant who later took on the hero name Justice. To be extra confusing, another version of Vance Astrovik better known as Vance Astro became a member of the original Guardians of the Galaxy in an alternative timeline in the 31st century. The two Vances have even met up and worked together. The original Vance was followed by another mutant, the even more powerful David Bank. The best known Marvel Boy, however, was Noh-Varr, another member of the Kree race. He sided with the Earth during the Skrull invasion and took on Norman "Green Goblin" Osborn's offer of joining his "Dark Avengers," becoming the sixth carrier of the title of Captain Marvel.

There have been four Marvel Girls. The first was the mutant girl Jean Grey, founding member of the X-Men and also known by the name Phoenix, although generally referred to, unusually, by her given name in most things these days (particularly on TV and film). She was, of course, played by Famke Jansen in the Fox X-Men movies although will presumably be recast for X-Men Apocalypse. Jean Grey has died numerous times, and it never sticks. She and her husband, Scott Summers aka Cyclops, share some of the most convoluted storylines and family tree in the Marvel universe, covering multiple alternative timelines and potential futures. Their daughter Rachel, from one such future, is the third Marvel Girl. The second was Valeria Richards, the daughter of Reed Richards (Mr Fantastic) and Sue Storm (Invisible Girl/Woman) in yet another alternative timeline. There was also a fourth Marvel Girl in yet another alternative future, Dream Richards, the daughter of Rachel Grey and Franklin Richards, Valeria's brother. A proper Marvel family.

Ms. Marvel

Carol Danvers, a USAF officer, debuted in the 60s in Marvel Super Heroes, where she was caught in an explosion alongside Marr-Vell. Although injured, she absorbed some of his Kree DNA, since this is what happens in explosions in comics. Now equipped with flight, super strength and other abilities, she took on the name Ms. Marvel, and received her own title. Danvers has gone through some pretty horrendous stuff in her long comics career, including an ill-judged rape storyline and a twisted encounter with the X-Man Rogue, which ended up granting Rogue enhanced powers but also carrying round a copy of Danvers in her head. Danvers later received enhanced powers at the hands of another alien species, and took on the name Binary. She's also been known as Warbird, but eventually settled back into being Ms. Marvel. Danvers first got the title of Captain Marvel in another alternative reality, in the House of M event, before finally taking on the position in the mainstream comics run in 2012. Since then, the Danvers-headed run of Captain Marvel  has become enormously popular. As well as being a member of both SHIELD and the Guardians of the Galaxy, Danvers has been the subject of continual fan requests for the cinematic treatment. And so it is this Captain Marvel who will be getting her own major movie release in 2018, as part of the third phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

This has of course left a vacancy for the position of Ms. Marvel. Although there have been two other shortlived Ms. Marvel's in the past - Sharon Ventura, who later mutated into the She-Thing, and Karla Sofen, better known as Moonstone, who became the evil Ms. Marvel as part of the Dark Avengers. The current Ms. Marvel is Kamala Khan, a young Pakistani American girl who sees Danvers as her idol, and takes on the name after her Inhuman powers are triggered. Given that both Captain Marvel and the Inhumans have movies coming up (and the Inhumans are also involved in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD on the TV), it's not impossible that we'll see Kamala on screen sometime.

It's also worth briefly mentioning that Danvers appears in other Marvel lines, set in yet more alternative timelines. The Ultimates line features a non-superpowered Captain Danvers who is at one time involved with Mahr-Vehl, the Captain Marvel of that reality. She also features prominently in the Marvel Mangaverse, in which she actually becomes Captain America. As Captain Marvel, though, Danvers is probably the premier female superhero of the mainstream Marvel line. I mean, she represents the Earth to the universe at large, that's pretty impressive.

The Marvelman Debacle

Although most committed comics fans get their comics from specialist shops that import them from the States, there's a tradition of British publishers selling reprinted American comics in newsagents on the high street. Fawcett's Captain Marvel and its spin-offs were published here by L. Miller and Sons. Ltd, who found themselves in a pickle when Fawcett cancelled their entire line following the dispute with DC. So Miller's simply produced their own knock-off version of the good Captain, under the name Marvelman. This was young Mickey Moran, who received his powers from an interstellar wizard-scientist and became Marvelman when he uttered the word "Kimota!" (atomic backwards, sort of). He got his own version of the Marvel family, with Dicky Dauntless as Young Marvelman and Johnny Bates as Kid Marvelman, each swapping their child bodies with superpowered adult forms when they exclaimed "Marvelman!"

The original Marvelman run carried on till 1963, when it was canned. It was revived in 1982 by Dez Skinn and Alan Moore for the first issue of Warrior, an anthology comic in the vein of 2000 AD. Having already revamped the poorly conceived Marvel character Captain Britain (which included another version of the Marvelman character, briefly glimpsed as Miracleman in another timeline), Moore began his career defining deconstruction of the superhero genre by crashing wholesome hero Marvelman into the real world. The adult Mike Moran, plagued by nightmares from his forgotten time as Marvelman, rediscovers his powers. His journey of discovery leads him to Johnny Bates, who has remained in his Kid Marvelman guise through the years and matured to become supremely powerful. Forced back to be thirteen-year-old Johnny, he suffered horrific bullying and sexual abuse in the children's home he as dumped in, leading to another devastating resurgance of Kid Marvelman's powers. 

The new Marvelman strips were sold to American publishers Eclipse, whereupon they gained the attention of Marvel Comics, who, as with DC, took exception at their use of the Marvel name. Eclipse changed Marvelman to Miracleman, with the rest of the new Marvel family changing in kind. There was also a version of Mary Marvel, named Miraclewoman, created when young girl Avril Lear was experimented upon to create a superpowered being in the nature of Marvelman/Miracleman. Moore left the comic and it was continued for some time by Neil Gaiman. After an unpleasant dispute over creators rights between various parties including Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, the collapse of Eclipse comics and his purchasing of their properties, and legal ramifications regarding the purchase of the original Marvelman material, Miracleman was scrapped. Just recently, however, Marvel have purchased the Marvelman back catalogue, although the reprinted Miracleman retains the Marvel-less name. A weird upshot of this is that Gaiman is now writing for Marvel and has sold them the rights to his Spawn character Angela, who is now part of the Guardians of the Galaxy and set to join the Avengers. Gaiman will be continuing the Miracleman story in new issues. 

Confused?

So, there are, currently, two characters called Captain Marvel. Carol Danvers is the Captain Marvel who belongs to Marvel Comics, used to be Ms. Marvel, and will star in the movie Captain Marvel. Billy Batson is the Captain Marvel who belongs to DC Comics, whose comic and upcoming movie are called Shazam! and who is officially called Shazam himself. Marvel comics still have a Ms. Marvel and sometimes a Marvel Girl, and while they now own and publish Marvelman, they're still marketing him as Miracleman. It's quite straightforward really.