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Marvel studios is making the rounds talking with several potential directors a name that keeps popping up is Adam McKay, director of Step-Brothers, Anchorman, and Talladega Nights.
Rawson Thurber and Ruben Fleischer round out the three most mentioned replacements for Edgar Wright, but rumor has it it's Adam McKay's position if he wants it.
What do you think?
X-Men: Days of Future Past - Box Office Report
Posted by Labels: Box Office, Days of Future Past, X-MenAs of Friday May 30th X-Men: Days of Future Past has surpassed $300 M in international Box Office receipts, with a $130 M Domestic Box Office (included an estimated $6M for Thursday) the movie now ranks second in Worldwide Box Office for the X-Men franchise. By the end of the day on Friday it should pass X-Men: The Last Stand as the most successful movie in franchise history, after 8 days of release.
There has been lots of predictions of the movie earning approximately $500 M in foreign box office receipts, however the movie is currently tracking for $620 to $640 M.
With the movie projected to earn $40 M for the weekend domestically the movie should move up the list and be the 4th largest domestic box office in the franchise by Monday Morning, and is still tracking for $250 M total box office take domestically.
If the movie continues as it is tracking it should end up in the $890 to $930 M range and the third largest worldwide box office in the Marvel brand and in the top 30 of all time.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Blu Ray and DVD
Posted by Labels: Blu-Ray/DVD, Captain America, The Winter SoldierAnnounced today that the Blu-Ray and DVD of Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be available September 9th, 2014.
EDIT - This may not be the correct date, trying to confirm.
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| Rogue portrayed by Anna Paquin |
Things that make you go Hmmm was a early 90's pop music (dance) hit be C+C Music Factory but the title seems appropriate here.
For the film X-Men: Days of Future Past the creative team of Bryan Singer and Simon Kinberg amongst others created a subplot for the popular character Rogue / Marie. They went so far to bring back Anna Paquin (Star of HBO's True Blood) and film at least ten minutes of additional footage including what has been described as a great fight scene for it.
However Bryan Singer announced a few months ago the sequence(s) were cut from the film because it was considered an appendage to the film rather than a part of the films body. Okay I can buy that.
In talking to the Daily Beast Simon Kinberg adds some more detail.
The Rogue/Anna Paquin scene was by far the biggest cut we made, and that was more my fault than anything. When I was crafting the script, I wanted to create a subplot for old Charles and old Eric—Patrick and Ian—to have a mini-mission together, one final adventure. And that’s what the Rogue sequence was—that they went to retrieve Rogue. But it felt like it didn’t come from the spine of the film, it was an appendage where I just wanted to see the old guys get in the X-Jet for one last ride. It was a narrative detour, and in a film with this much momentum and narrative flow, you can’t afford any detours.
Hmmm?
Okay the weakest points of the film are .... ummmm ... mostly addressed by this subplot and you cut it from the film?
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| Kitty Pryde portrayed by Ellen Page |
This sub plot also addresses the weird Kitty Pryde sequence where she is losing strength that meant nothing to the final cut of the film.
It addresses how the Sentinels are morphing their power to match the mutants they are fighting.
It gives Ian McKellan something to do... it ...
Really you cut it?
And word from someone who has seen the fight scene "Awesome"... and you Cut it?
There has to be a better explanation:
- It added another Mutant to the Story and it was too difficult for the non-comic book readers to keep them all straight.
- The film reached a time length we were told to not exceed.
- We had budget/time constraints that kept us from completing the CGI...
I feel kind of cheated at the moment.
As I look back at the box office of the past two months with three Marvel Movies released over an 8 week period I wondered how much cannibalization occurred?
April 4 - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
May 3 - The Amazing Spider Man 2
May 23 - X-Men: Days of Future Past
Part of the problem when talking about cannibalization of the box office people have to make assumptions on what the audience would have done if that movie wasn't there. The flip side of the coin in the discussion is whether or not a movie audience reviews/critical reviews is also involved in the discussion.
In the three movies that was just released we have two problems. The first is with little question from both critics and the audience in general The Amazing Spider-Man 2 [TASM2] was not a very good movie. Earning an unhealthy 54 on Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic score of 49 and CinemaScore of a B did the movie no favors. The movie did earn $91 Million in the opening weekend, but by the third weekend it had dropped to $16 Million in the same number of theaters. These reasons for me determine that TASM2 is the cannibal film.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier [CA:TWS] on the other hand earned $95 Million on Opening Weekend and in the fourth weekend in competition with TASM2 still earned $16 Million.
So how much did The Amazing Spider-Man cannibalize CA:TWS? By my math it appears to cost CA:TWS about $15 to $20 Million domestically and internationally another $50 Million (at least).
How much did TASM2 cannibalize X-Men: Days of Future Past [DOFP]? Only one week in $5 at least and maybe as much as $20 Million for the opening weekend and a residual effect of another $5 to $10 Million. Even though TASM2 was released two earlier internationally than its domestic release, it cost DOFP about $30 million and the residual effect maybe another $10 to $15.
From my vantage point the release of TASM2 cost Marvel Studios and 20th Century Fox at least $140 million in sales. That amount would put a movie in roughly the top 550 movies of all time in terms of Box Office.
The next question is when does this cycle happen again, 2016, except it's not three movies in eight weeks, its four movies in 9 weeks.
- May 6 - Captain America 3
- May 27 - X-Men: Age of Apocalypse
- June 10 - The Amazing Spider-Man 3
- July 8 - Untitled Marvel Studios
Add in Dawn of Justice on May 6 and you have 5 movies!
IF I were Kevin Feige, Amy Pascal/Kazuo Harai, and/or Jim Gianopulos it would be time to have some serious considerations on Movie dates.
For Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige I totally understand you have worked hard to brand the first weekend in May as your weekend with 5 movies released on that weekend, and I totally get you not want to move because Dawn of Justice (Warner Brothers DC Comics) is also on that weekend, but for Marvel Studios it is finically for the best to move your release date up to April 8th, 2016.
Additionally that July 8th Date, is already looking a little crowded moving that to August 5th again a weekend you have planned for the 2014 Guardians of the Galaxy release looks like a better option.
I would hate to be Kazuo Harai and Amy Pascal at Sony Pictures and dealing with the fallout of TASM2 for the release of TASM3. The Spider-Man movies have been all over the map when it comes to release date and lately it hasn't look good for the brand, its time to seriously consider moving out of the crowded summer into a far less competitive time zone, how about October 2016. For many movies it would kill your Box Office, but considering the state of things.
That leaves 20th Century Fox's release of X-Men: Apocalypse on Memorial Day Weekend in 2016 with movies spread out at least a minimum 8 weeks apart. It would compete against Alice in Wonderland 2 but clear different audiences and that good for the movie going public.
My preferred schedule:
- April 8 - Captain America 3
- May 6 - Dawn of Justice
- May 27 - X-Men: Apocalypse
- August 8 - Untitled Marvel Film
- October 21 - The Amazing Spider-Man 3
Of course no one is asking me and everyone's egos are going to get in the way.
Last week when I wrote about the issues surround X-Men: The Last Stand I didn't realize I was going to be writing a two part story; however I saw some new (or at least new to me) information. I was channel surfing when I came across a documentary concerning X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: Origins: Wolverine, I think it was on Fox Movie Channel but it couldn't find it in the channel listing.
The documentary was interesting because it appeared to be made up of two panels, the first with Brett Ratner, Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg, and the second panel had Gavin Hood and someone who didn't say boo so I couldn't identify, since I didn't catch the beginning I was trying to get the drift of what is going on. I never did figure out if it was two panels edited together or if Gavin was teleconferenced in or what the deal was. If someone knows what documentary I am talking about please email me.
The documentary was interesting because the four primary participants were basically slamming 20th Century for who poor a job was done behind the scenes on these two movies. I would say no punches were held, but as brutal as it was its not the case.
When talking about the script for X-Men: The Last Stand [TLS] I learned several things. I knew the movie was originally intended to be two movies under Bryan Singer, what I didn't know was that even when Brett Ratner was brought in there still was possibility that it was going to be two movies, the final decision occurred while filming. The fourth movie was going to feature Bolivar Trask and the first encounter with the Sentinels as the bad guys. There are a number of scenes even in the final cut of TLS that make reference to the next movie but a hand full of scenes were filmed and cut completely or a few more edit heavily to drop the references to the next movie.
Once the decision to go to a single movie was made TLS had a major rewrite. The final sequence of the second act of TLS was supposed to be Magento breaking his fellow mutants out of Alcatraz via moving the Golden Gate Bridge. The CGI work for moving the Bridge was already complete and since there wasn't going to be X4, Worthington Labs were relocated from Washington DC to Alcatraz and a large number of plot holes opened up. Ratner owns up to this decision as his decision. However in my review I am not sure he had much choice.
The decision to have the final battle to Alcatraz required a new prison break, hence the mobile prison. It was a scene original written for X-Men (2000) and now incorporated into TLS, the original mutants were supposed to be Mystique, Juggernaut, Gambit and Multiple-Man. Gambit (Keanu Reeves) was cut at the last moment, too many one off Mutants. It was unclear whether or not it was filmed.
Nightcrawler was cut on Fox's orders, I had long been under the impression that it was Alan Cummings decision to not do the film, but it was the other way around.
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Wondering why Angel was in the film, how about the Morlocks, how about the precursor view of Angel trying to cut off his wings. The story line for those that need to connect the dots in the Comic books have the Morlocks torturing Warren Worthington III and tearing his wings offs, he gets artificial wings and becomes the ArchAngel. That storyline was supposed to be in the film and the end scene with Angel flying above San Francisco was supposed to show off his new artificial wings.
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| Concept Art for Cyclops costume in X3 |
James Marsden filmed his scenes in two weeks while on break from filming Superman Returns, Anna Paquin was on set for under two weeks because she was filming two other films. Olivia Williams (Dr. Moria MacTaggert) had to be flown in from England for her two weeks. The scheduling issues were driving the crew nuts. Whole sequences for those three actors were never filmed.
One of the challenges that Brett Ratner identified was getting the script in the morning for what they were supposed to be shooting that day. He had little or no time to block out the action and many scenes were shot with one camera and only a couple of takes because that is all the time they had.
Many of the CGI shots were ordered before Brett Ratner was hired as director, I have already talked about the Golden Gate Bridge, but other like atomization of Charles Xavier in the Grey house. He had to block his take around someone else work.
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| Wolverine looking at Cyclops glasses at Alkali Lake |
So even though the film had a $210 Million dollar budget in 2005, many effects had to be practical and done on the cheap. The floating rocks at Alkali Lake, the objects in Jean Grey's house all we floated using string at best. The follow up question, where was the money spent? Remember my comment about pulling punches, here is a case where they really held back.
Previously John Bruno, Visual Effects supervisor, estimated that 1/6th of the entire films budget was spent on the Golden Gate Bridge sequence ($35M) all before Matthew Vaughn was even hired, let alone Brett Ratner. He continued that the next most expensive sequence, tens of millions, were spent on the film grafting of Patrick Stewart and Ian MacKellan for the prologue scene. That's $50 to $60 million on TWO scenes.
Finally there were a several scenes that were filmed but never used, there is no real explanation on why these scenes were cut, Pyro running through the woods to bring the news of the Cure to Magento in his hidden fortress. Jean Grey becoming the Dark Phoenix in the Mutant Camp. I have seen those but there is a scene with Jean Grey on the Bridge, refusing Magento's orders.
One must wonder what might have been....
Finally as I wrote last week there is a lot of the story being told as "Easter Eggs" behind the actors. It's estimated that there are between 75 and 100 such things in the back ground, guess I am going to have to pull out my copy and review.
A few quick Tid-Bits
Bryan Singer has been confirmed as Director and Simon Kinberg as Screen Writer, we can assume that most if not all the rest of the major talent behind the camera will be back in place.
Confirmed Cast:
- James McAvoy - Younger Charles Xavier
- Micahel Fassbender - Younger Erik Lehnsherr
- Hugh Jackman - James "Logan" Hewitt
- Jennifer Lawerence - Raven
- Nichoas Hoult - Hank McCoy
- Channing Tatum - Gambit
- Evan Peters - Pietro Maximoff
- Patrick Stewart - Older Charles Xavier
- Ellen Page - Kitty Pride
- Nightcrawler - played by Alan Cumming in X2
- Wanda Maximoff - AKA the Scarlet Witch
Rumor has been making the rounds that Wolverine will be one of the four horsemen and will be joined by Cyclops, Angel and another Original Trilogy X-Men.
It appears the creative differences between Marvel and Edgar Wright involve the screen play.
As they move towards principal filming Marvel and Edgar Wright couldn't agree on the screen play. A couple of months ago after reviewing the script Marvel sent a long series of notes back to Edgar Wright and screen writer Joe Cornish. Changes according to rumor involved removing some of Edgar Wright visual comedy sequences, dialog changes in the case of working towards Avengers 3, and out right saying a couple of scenes were non starters.
As the film inched closer to shooting Marvel assigned to screen writers to rework sections of the script and after some final discussions Edgar decided he wanted total control of the product that was going to have his name attached to or he was going to walk.
Here is my take, I know this probably will upset some Edgar Wright fans, but Marvel is investing $200 Million into this project, Marvel has a road map of what needs to be accomplished to get from Avengers: Age of Ultron to Avengers 3. Edgar Wright knew those requirements when he signed on all those years ago. Marvel isn't going to delay the film's release for you, if you don't have a script by now something is way wrong. Marvel's two in house script writers are Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost, they do have some experience in writing films and comics.
I am reminded of something that Alan Rickman once said when discussing big budget films, to paraphrase his sentiment. "You don't make them to make money, you make them so you can afford to do the edgy independent films."
X-Men: Days of Future Past
One of the challenges in review X-Men: Days of Future Past is a knowledge of both the storyline from the comic book and animated features using the story arc previously as well as the knowledge that Bryan Singer has assembled at least another 30 minutes of completed film that lies on the cutting room floor waiting for a Director's Extended Edition. I kept wondering whether scenes that seemed a little stuttery or not quite right were the result of either preconceived notions.
Simon Kinberg's daunting task of assembling storylines from multiple eras with such a large ensemble cast is achieved within the film fairly well. We are introduced to the team of surviving mutants, a team lead by Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) in the ruins of Moscow. The mutants are being hunted by a computer/robotic/cyborg program gone horribly wrong called the Sentinels. Kitty's team of mutant survives because she has the power to send the consciousness of another back in time to warn the group of what's coming. A short term Ground Hog's Day affect. The process is extremely difficult and beyond painful to the individual whose consciousness is sent back, sending an individual too far back could kill the individual.
The team moves from Moscow to China where it is determined that an attempt must be made to send someone back to the beginning. Only one mutant has the ability to withstand that much pain, James "Logan" Hewett, aka Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and he must go back to 1973 and stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from killing Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklidge), creator of the Sentinels, at the Paris Peace Accords.
In 1973 Wolverine must assemble a team of mutants, the younger versions of many of those surviving the dystopian nightmare of the future, however they are very, very different people. Charles Xavier, Professor X, (James McAvoy) is battling alcoholism and depression and is actively taking a serum developed by Hank McCoy, the Beast, (Nicholas Hoult) that allows him to walk while suppressing his mental powers. Erik Lansherr, Magento, (Michael Fassbender) has been imprisoned for life for the assassination of John F. Kennedy (Hey it's more plausible than many other theories). To get Magento out of prison the trio recruits Peter Maximoff, aka Quicksilver (Evan Peters) whose power is lightning speed.
At the Paris Peace Accords the group of Professor X, Wolverine, the Beast and Magento stop the assassination but its effects the timeline very little. Separated the team returns to the United States and contemplates the next move while Trask works with President Nixon (people are still blaming Nixon) to get the Sentinel program restarted.
The final climatic battle is interwoven between the two time sequences to great effect of blending the story together.
Veteran cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel has carefully selected color palettes to allow viewers to better keep track of where they are in the time streams, the muted colors of the dystopian future or the bright color of a hopeful past. The cinematography of this film is good but not great, it lacked the range of camera motion that is becoming more common in highly successful dramas. A number of critics have commented that the dull future palette only served to "cheapen" the visuals. You cannot help but wonder if some of the choices for Framing and Lens Selection was overly cautious because Sigel and Singer weren't 100% positive of what would work with modern/current CGI techniques.
John Ottman performs double duty here as both the composer of the score and the editor. The score lacked the same emotional pull that appeared in X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: First Class. It's a clear attempt by the film makers to create the tension and emotion the old fashion way by the actors and the script, but in those moments of spectacle it was missing. This in my eyes is the reverse problem from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 where the score was at many points the only emotion the audience was feeling.
In terms of the editing of the film for the most part had a much cleaner flow than many super-hero/sci-fi/fantasy movies of late, but that doesn't mean the film doesn't become stuttery or lack fluid motion on occasion.
X-Men: Days of Future Past suffers from a similar issue that has plagued the X-Men franchise since almost its inception; the audience clearly focuses on a different story arc of the film than the film makers had originally intended. In X-Men: First Class the movie is supposed to the origin story of Magento using the friendship of Xavier and Erik as the back drop. X-Men: Days of Future Past is supposed to be the redemption of Professor X as told through the eyes of Logan/Wolverine. The audience never fully feels the need for Professor X has to be saved, thus the story theme is pushed from their mind. That central theme is lost in the film and the tension and drama that supposed to come from that concept is never captured.
X-Men: Days of Future Past is a good movie that borders on exceptional. It is hard to put your finger on what Bryan Singer and others could have done better but it lacks that something that puts it over the top. In the pantheon of Marvel films this is clearly one of the better installments, it has the most challenging and intriguing storyline, the visual effects are stunning, the acting is very good, and sets stunning.
Personal Note: I am going to acknowledge right off the bat that I am pretty big fan (cough fanboi cough) when it comes the X-Men. I have been reading the comic since the early 80's, and the TV shows, and saw first showing locally of the X-Men when it was released back in 2000. To help prepare for this movie I watched the X-Men franchise, including the two we should forget about, twice, the entirety of the X-Men Evolution, Wolverine and the X-Men, the X-Men the 1992 TV Series, and than watched the first Trilogy of X-Men movies followed by multiple viewing of The Wolverine. So I am going to admit right from the get go I am biased.
With all that said, this was the most difficult review I have ever written. For every other film I have ever reviewed words easily appeared on the screen, I knew what I wanted to talk about, what I liked and disliked. And for those that don't know me, I am a verbose windbag to the Nth degree. So this was indeed a struggle for me.
Rating the Marvel Universe on Film - Number 20
Posted by Labels: 2014 Marvel Film Ratings, Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2
Released: 2014
Final Score: 13/32
Jeff's Score: 10/32
With the world now aware of his identity as Iron Man, Tony Stark must contend with both his declining health and a vengeful mad man with ties to his father's legacy.
What the Critics Said: It isn't quite the breath of fresh air that Iron Man was, but this sequel comes close with solid performances and an action-packed plot.
What I Said: Welcome to the larger Marvel Universe
The original Iron Man movie was a origin story, the second is a creation story of an entire universe.
Rating the Marvel Universe on Film - Number 21
Posted by Labels: 2014 Marvel Film Ratings, Amazing Spider-Man 2
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Released: 2014
Final Score: 12/32
Jeff's Score: 17/32
Peter Parker runs the gauntlet as the mysterious company Oscorp sends up a slew of supervillains against him, impacting on his life.
What the Critics Said: While the cast is outstanding and the special effects are top-notch, the latest installment of the Spidey saga suffers from an unfocused narrative and an overabundance of characters.
What I Said: Did I pay money to go see this?
I am going to be honest and say this movie just came out and I have to depend on what I saw in the theater for this ranking. The music and background noise were too loud, the movie plodded along and never built any momentum.
In a joint statement Marvel Studios and Edgar Wright annouced his departure from the film.
“Marvel and Edgar Wright jointly announced today that the studio and director have parted ways on Ant-Man due to differences in their vision of the film. The decision to move on is amicable and does not impact the release date on July 17, 2015. A new director will be announced shortly.”
More to come.
Blade II
Released: 2002
Final Score: 12/32
Jeff's Score: 14/32
Blade forms an uneasy alliance with the vampire council in order to combat the Reaper vampires who feed on vampires.
What the Critics Said: Blade 2 takes what works in the original and gives us more. Unfortunately, plot and character development appear to have been left on the cutting room floor.
What I Said: This movie cries out for a director's extended cut, too much detail is left out pertaining to character motivation and choppy editing.
Blade II is a movie whose placement was consistent across critics (14/32), Audience (14/32) and myself (14/32) however the move falls a couple of spots due to the financials (6/32) as the movie cost almost double the first installment and sold a million fewer tickets.
Buena Vista (Disney's Distribution Arm) announced the date for the first Star Wars spin off movie as December 16th, 2016.
The film will be directed by Gareth Edwards whose last film Godzilla has been a break out hit.
The interweb rumor mill has been running ramped with speculation that the first film will focus on notorious Bounty Hunter Boba Fett.
Rating the Marvel Universe on Film - Number 23
Posted by Labels: 2014 Marvel Film Ratings, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four (2005)
Fantastic Four
Released: 2005
Final Score: 11/32
Jeff's Score: 17/32
A group of astronauts gain superpowers after a cosmic radiation exposure and must use them to oppose the plans of their enemy, Doctor Victor Von Doom
What Critics Said: Fantastic Four is a goofy, mediocre entry in the superhero genre.
What I Said: The Movie is entertaining and the opposite of the X-Men are doing in terms of style and voice.
This is a movie that I liked more the typical or average movie goer. Why the difference? A month before this movie was released Christopher Nolan's first movie in his Dark Knight was released, a darker and more realistic (yeah I just said realistic in a review of a super hero movie) Super Hero Movie. The Fantastic Four was meant, at least I think it was, meant to be more of a family friendly movie than 20th Century Fox's other Super Hero Universe the X-Men.
The one change I think could have really improved this movie, CGI - Motion Capture for The Thing (Michael Chiklis).
The X-Men was originally conceived as a Trilogy of Films way back in 1990 and the head of 20th Century Fox Studios, Thomas Rothman, was extremely and actively involved in these movies. It is Rothman's decision to ditch Sentinels, X-Men Uniforms, X-Copter, .... The idea was that if the first movie was successful than there would be three movies.
The year was 2006, the top movie in the box office was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest by almost 2 to 1 over second place Night at the Museum, followed closely by Cars and X-Men: The Last Stand. How did a movie with such success financially become so notoriously bad that people utter the director's name as a verb to describe bad movies?
Even before a director was named Simon Kinberg was hired by 20th Century Fox to pen the third installment of the X-Men universe. A this point it is time to put in some issues that were going on concerning the script. While it was about to change but at the time Dark Movies were failing, the paying audience wanted light and happy films.
X-Men: The Last Stand was originally set to be directed Bryan Singer. Director of the first two installments, he suggested filming two movies in essence back to back to have a bigger story arc an a conclusion to the story that were being told in the X-Men movies. 20th Century Fox was watching a budget that was too big at $110 Million for X2 double for X3 an many elements were being red flagged for cost reasons. However in December 2004 he backed out to take on the Superman sequel Superman Returns for Warner Bros. 20th Century Fox quickly lined up Matthew Vaughn who was signed on in January and out by June due to "personal" issues. Brett Ratner was a last moment replacement.
Avi Arad, President of Marvel Studios at the time, was immediately put on the defensive by the decision to bring in Ratner. He defended the Ratner Choice by pointing out Ratner was the other finalist when Bryan Singer was hired for the original X-Men, he made Red Dragon, Rush Hour, the Family Man. It was inferred that at this late date he really wasn't going to have much power anyways. I never understood the hiring of Brett Ratner, hew was doing well in his Action Comedies but that wasn't what X-Men as about, it was almost a desperation hire, anyone with a pulse who may have considered film an action movie.
Principal filming of X-Men: The Last Stand in August of 2005 for a May 2006 release dates, a mere 9 months. Contrast that to X-Men filming started in December 1997 and X2 November 2000 both of which had about 2 years to complete yet X3 had 9 months.
X-Men: The Last Stand had another problem, who's in who's out of filming. Halle Berry was the first of the principal characters to sign in March 2005. Ian McKellen (Magento) didn't sign until April 2005, and he was a primary villain, because he wasn't asked. Allen Cumming passed on returning as Night Crawler, Patrick Stewart and Famke Janssen in Mid May. Hugh Jackman signed somewhere June/July. Can you imagine the difficulties assembling a script without knowing who was going to be in it?
The script however had other problems. When people look at X3 today we automatically assume the "Dark Phoenix Saga" is the central story being told. The original story laid out all the years ago was the conclusion of the Xavier vs. Magento with the Civil Rights duel in mold of Martin Luther King Jr. vs. Malcom X mold set around "the cure". The studio had to finish that story, but Bryan Singer had presented the Dark Phoenix saga and the Studio wanted that too. Hey its going to be the conclusion... The Dark Phoenix storyline is the bolt on not "the cure".
As have always wondered if the Danger Room scene with Sentinel head at the beginning of X-Men The Last Stand is "F U" statement to Thomas Rothman.
The other problem with the script is 20th Century insistence not to waste time telling the viewers what was happening, the audience had just watch X2 of DVD for crying out loud.
So you have 9 months to create a movie with a director who holds little actual power, an incomplete script that supposed to be two movies at least, telling a dark story in a nice happy way, with no idea who is acting to be in the movie, and while we are giving you $210 Million budget it had better come in well under budget. And just in case you forgot; no Costumes. See the problem? Did I forget to mention that Rothman wanted no pop culture references in the movie?
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| X-Men: Evolution - Closing Credits Cast |
The other problem that is often forgotten is X-Men: Evolution, the TV series which by the time of filming had concluded its TV run of Four Seasons. The show created as a "Teen Drama" had introduced the next generation of fans to the X-Men. The show spent multiple years setting up and telling The Age of Apocalypse story line, and when the show ended the fourth season there was a strong indication that the next season was meant to be the Dark Phoenix Saga. 20th Century Fox clearly took notice and whether or not they forced the issue many of the characters from the show, Spyke, the Morlocks, were added to the X3 movie.
So with all those limitations, requirements, and other activities we got a movie; X-Men: The Last Stand. Many people blame Brett Ratner for the failings of the movie, I look at Thomas Rothman and Avi Arad as the principal players in this fiasco. I could post a review of the movie and tear it to shreds for all its problems but there is more to the story.
I personally rated X-Men: The Last Stand as the 18th best out of the 32 Marvel movies released (19th of 33 as of today) and will honestly say that if the final climatic fight scene, which is what the three movies had been building towards, had been better it would have moved up this list immensely regardless of the rest of the films fault. I know many people think I am crazy rating the movie this high, but I am not alone, Audience and Critics place this movie at 13th to 15th of 32 as it clearly has the top score of the bottom group of films when you look at the composite scores from multiple sources. It was the 5th most seen movie in the Marvel Universe in terms of domestic tickets sold, and when you factor in finances it was just above the middle of the road.
That's not saying the film couldn't have been better or that it shouldn't have been better. I have jokingly suggested I would love to see the B-Roll film for this movie, would love to have access to the CGI to improve the climatic fight scene and this movie has the potential to be top 10 in the Marvel Universe. I have always wondered why there isn't a extended version of this film out there.
Rating the Marvel Universe on Film - Number 24
Posted by Labels: 2014 Marvel Film Ratings, The Punisher
The Punisher
Released: 2004Final Score: 10/32
Jeff's Score 13/32
An undercover FBI agent becomes a vigilante assassin and sets out to unleash vengeance upon the corrupt businessman who slew his family.
What the Critics Said: A good cast fails to elevate this overly violent and by-the-numbers revenge flick.
What I said: How is this not a rated R film for the violence and other stupidity?
I chided Daredevil because it didn't know whether it was a campy or serious comic book movie, here I am chiding The Punisher because it pretends to not be a comic book movie at all. I should point out The Punisher is middle slotted group of nine films within tenths of a point of one another. This film has its supporters as it is the third most ranked film is correlation of ticket sales to scoring in places like rottentomtatoes and imdb.com.
Rating the Marvel Universe on Film - Number 25
Posted by Labels: 2014 Marvel Film Ratings, Origins: Wolverine
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Released: 2009Final Score: 9/32
Jeff's Score: 7/32
A look at Wolverine's early life, in particular his time with the government squad Weapon and the impact it will have on his later years
What the Critics Said: Though Hugh Jackman gives his all, he can't help X-Men Origins: Wolverine overcome a cliche-ridden script and familiar narrative.
What I said: It had an awesome trailer.
One of two movies fans claim they hate until they realize there are worse films in the Marvel Universe than they hate it worse. The story isn't bad the script is, the cinematography isn't bad and the sound track isn't bad, however the execution on the film itself is god awful, cliché, and redundant. And let us not mention this rendition of Deadpool again.
Andrew Garfield - Signs on for four more Spider-Man movies
Posted by Labels: Andrew Garfield, Spider-Man
An unnamed source is quoted as saying "Andrew is already contracted to make two more films for release in 2015 and 2016. But we are looking to tie him to the role for as many as a further four pictures given the huge success the franchise is enjoying. The part is pretty much his for as long as he chooses." according to the Daily Star.
What interesting is the 2015 Release that is mentioned, with no announced movie and no casting announced hard to imagine a 2015 movie, but....
X-Men: Apocalypse - Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch
Posted by Labels: Apocalypse (Film), Quicksilver, Scarlett Witch, X-MenIt sounds like both Quicksilver and the Scarlett Witch are planned for X-Men: Apocalypse.
When asked about Quicksilver Simon Kinberg said "It wasn't something we anticipated, because we
didn't know they were using him in The Avengers movie. It got publicized weeks
after we made the decision that we had done it, and then after that even, I
think it was a little while before the controversy started in terms of them
using him too."
Simon Kinberg followed up with "We talked about bringing Scarlet With into the mix
for this film, and there was actually a little scene we shot that we ended up
cutting from the movie that eluded to her. But it was a sort of interstitial
scene that didn't push the movie forward, and so it ended up being cut, like
lots of bits and pieces in a movie that's this complicated and with this many
characters to follow. But she would absolutely be back for the next X-Men
movie."
Comic Book Movie presents Movie Sins - The Wolverine I 11 minutes or less.
Just to be clear, 8 of these sins are not actually sins, but what ever.
X-Men: Days of Future Past - Final Box Office Prediction
Posted by Labels: Box Office, Days of Future Past, Prediction, X-MenLately my Box Office predicting mojo has left me high and dry. I have completely underestimated both The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Godzilla and now it's time to look at X-Men: Days of Future Past.
My early estimate put the film at $89 M for three days give or take a couple of million.
How do I feel about that number? Not as good as I did back in April.
We are looking at a four day weekend and have had two extremely successful box office opening films this month.
The question that follows is which track will the audience take? Will the movie follow the more localized X-Men track ($89) or follow the express route shown by the Avengers?
Breaking down the days
Thursday $7.5M to 10M
Friday $23M to $38M
Saturday $32M to $41M
Sunday $20M to $30M
Monday $15M to $30M
Three Day - $82 to $119
Four Day - $97 to $149
So I am going to stick with my estimates ($89 three day and $107 four day), but a lot of other observers have this film tracking a lot higher, in the $125M to $150M for the four day. I hope I am wrong for a third movie in a row.
Mini - Review - As few spoilers as possible
The original Days of Future Past comic book story arc lasted two issues (Uncanny X-Men Volume 1 - Issue 141 and 142) although if you were to purchase the bound edition today it includes issues 138 through 143. The story has been officially adopted three times for the various animated television shows and now Bryan Singer has brought the story to the Big Screen.
As a fan you will walk into the theater with big expectations and I fell that when you walk out you will fell very satisfied. X-Men: Days of Future Past is a very good, solid, well crafted movie. Bryan Singer and his ensemble cast behind the cameras have done a phenomenal job of creating one of the best Super-Hero movies of all time. This crew behind the camera has tackled many of the challenges presented with the various X-Men Cinematic Universe stories thus far.
The Audience is immersed into a saga on the grand stage. A dystopian future and gleaming past on the brink of failure. You will feel attachment to the characters that are wonderfully brought to life by a collection of actors who were meant to play them.
I don't envy the task that Simon Kinberg had in adapting Chris Clairmont's story to the screen, not only is there the usual challenges of dealing with Mutant "super-powers" but the repercussions of time travel, or at least the ability to send a consciousness back in time in a way that the not regular readers of the comics would understand and follow. In a recent interview Simon Kinberg described the process of using eight multi-colored index cards to keep track of what's going on where in the script.
One of the challenges with such a large ensemble cast is giving everyone a purpose and ample screen time. There are a number of characters you want more from, some because they are cool, other because they awesome, and others because they are Sir Ian McKellan. The film was edited down to 2 hours and 11 minutes, Kinberg has suggested that as much as 30 minutes of additional footage was filmed and left for extended director's cut, hopefully that addresses this problem.
Veteran cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel has carefully selected color palettes to allow viewers to better keep track of where they are in the story line. The cinematography of this film is good but not great. You cannot help but wonder if some of the choices for Framing and Lens Selection was overly cautious because Sigel and Singer weren't 100% positive of what would work with modern/current CGI techniques.
As has been the case with most of Bryan Singer's works John Ottman composed the sound track for
the film. He also performs double duty as the films editor. After seeing the movie once I don't feel as emotional attached to the music as I did to John Powell's music in X-Men: Last Stand. That may not be a bad thing.
In X-Men: Last Stand Brett Ratner went for Epic and failed in his fight sequences, Okay Kitty Pryde and the Juggernaut was pretty good, but it wasn't good for the most part. Bryan Singer is the mastermind of using Mutants power to their best effects in fight sequences, he may not have an equal amongst modern directors. The only question a long time viewer may have, are they epic enough? It's not a question if they are good, but of Epicness.
My usual gripe with most Fantasty/Sci-Fi movies is there run time, generally there is more story that could be added and more story that could be removed. Peter Jackson does a superb job of trimming down the Lord of the Rings Trilogy to tell a focused story. Bryan Singer and company here aren't as clear cut on the focus, again its not bad that he wants to tell, demonstrate, or just plain show off, his love of the X-Men but a more focused movie could have been 10 minutes shorter and more detailed movie 10 minutes longer, its this idea of the middle ground that bothers me.
As of May 20th on rottentomatoes.com the Movie scores a 93 which is about where I am rating this movie. Bryan Singer had the challenge of creating a prequel, a sequel and a bridge between 6 movies as a stand alone movie and they succeeded on the grand scale. There are some nitpicky things that could have been better but those are more a question of my taste vs. your taste kind of thing.
Yesterday I mentioned that Hugh Jackman is changing his stance on hanging up his claws.
I wondered if there was more to the story, or more accurately I wondered what 20th Century Fox / Donner and company were offering Hugh Jackman to continue in the role?
Cats out of the Bag, at least sort of if you care to read between the lines.
Patrick Stewart (Professor Xavier) and Ellen Page (Shadow Cat) acknowledged that the original trilogy cast is getting another movie. It has been rumored for a while and even suggested but their interview with hitflix is pretty confirming that its in the works. 20th Century Fox had already announced a date of July 13, 2008 with no additional details, and I wondered what was the plan for that date here. While I like the idea of a X-Factor film, you have to guess the original cast film is probably the most likely scenario right now.
With casting for movies like X-Men: Days of Future Past there is usually one studio option on the cast and sometimes two, so even less surprising that the original cast came back.
James Marsden is on keen in returning to the X-Men universe. So it appears you have the old gang back together again, except Wolverine was hanging up his claws, you kind of need him back.
So what gives, yesterday I read an article who cited a unnamed source suggesting Hugh Jackman has been working on getting Wolverine into a Marvel Cinematic Universe film, aka the Avengers. I kind of blew the article off, unnamed source and all.
Today Hugh Jackman again vocalized his opinion again that he would like to see Wolverine in the Avengers, check out the breaking story in Variety.
I can give you ten good reasons that this most likely won't answer, but I will stop at one.
What's in it for Marvel Studios/Disney?
I mean the Avengers made $1.5 Billion dollars, its not like adding Hugh Jackman (or any other character they don't control the rights to) is going to make that number go up too much. Even 1 point would require the movie to make $160 Million more to cover the increased costs.
But what if 20th Century Fox allows Hugh Jackman to appear in multiple MCU films for darn near free, because it wants to keep Jackman in the fold? I mean if 20th Century Fox is considering it free advertising to build their brand what's the limit.
Here is what I think is in the works.
We know that a Hulk movie has been in the works, if you read between the lines if may be jumping up ahead of a couple of other movies.
Hulk and Wolverine go way back and both have crossed paths several times in the comics and other animated medium. Could a Hulk and Wolverine crossover movie be in the works, it would address a number of problems with a stand alone Hulk film, introduce the most iconic raging hatred this side of Canadian Rockies.
Followed by Wolverine appearing in Avengers 3 the Infinity War/Gauntlet.
The problem with this is we a short a movie slot between now and when Avengers 3 is most likely going to come out (May 2018).
More to come on this story I am sure.
We have reached the quarter pole of my ratings of the Marvel Universe on film. From 33 to 26 my list is:
33 - Elektra
32 - Punisher: War Zone
31 - Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
30 - Daredevil
29 - Blade Trinity
28 - Ghost Rider
27 - Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
26 - Hulk
There are a couple of disagreements between my ratings and the fans, usually slight in nature however Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk is one the fans and I disagree on most from this list. There may be some small arguments about a movie or two not in this group or not in this group, but we are talking semantics and tenths of points on the list.
When I did my first review of the data I was surprised at how neatly all of the movies fell into a bell curve, the bottom four on my list were clearly the bottom four and virtually everyone agreed, except for the fans ratings of the Hulk. The next group of 9 films are also clustered together and a change of a point or two in any category would totally rearrange the slotting of the films in the ratings.
The other differences are: I have the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer at 27, the average audience placement is the Fantastic Four at 27. The average audience and I also swap places for Ghost Rider and Daredevil in slots 28 and 30.
Each of these movies is clearly on the list because it didn't work for the audiences and or the critics, usually and. A common thread amongst six of the films is that "they were just going through the motions" and "how could they not have known these films were not good".
On to the next group starting tomorrow.
 |
| Courtesy of impawards.com |
Hulk
Released: 2003
Final Score: 8/32
Jeff's Score: 5/32
Bruce Banner, a genetics researcher with a tragic past, suffers an accident that causes him to transform into a raging green monster when he gets angry.
What the Critics Said: While Ang Lee's ambitious film earns marks for style and an attempt at dramatic depth, there's ultimately too much talking and not enough smashing.
What I Said: I totally appreciate the effort that Ang Lee put into creating a "Comic Book" movie, including the transition sequences; however it was all for not with the terrible decision to recreate the backstory.
The hulk is one of those movies that just doesn't work for the Audience and is rated last in terms of audience ratings (1/32), however the Critics liked the movie (17/32), the movie was not a huge financial success (6/32) but it didn't lose money either.
To me the big problem was the change in the backstory of Bruce Banner, dare I say Mutant DNA, which really brings nothing to the story but length. Had Ang Lee simply gone with the standarad backstory and added one more Hulk smash scene this movie would have scored a lot higher.
First "Good" look at Ronan the Accuser
Posted by Labels: Guardians of the Galaxy, MCU, Ronan the Accuser
According to Marvel Wiki: Upon the completion of his formal education, Ronan was enrolled in the Kree Public Accuser Corps, the main law enforcement body for the empire. Ronan did well and was steadily promoted. In a border incident, he stopped a fleet of Skrull ships from entering Kree space. As a result, he was made Supreme Accuser of the Kree Empire, making him responsible for enforcing the laws and decrees of the Kree, and second only to the Supreme Intelligence, and the Imperial Minister. As a proud member of the Kree aristocracy (blue-skinned Kree), he was not happy taking orders from the Supreme Intelligence. His attempt to cause a civil war was quickly halted, and he quickly returned to service.
It appears that Hugh Jackman is having second thoughts about retiring from his role a James "Logan" Hewett, aka Wolverine.
At a red carpet interview in Sydney Australia his is quoted as saying:
“At one point, you’re right, I said I was pretty sure [that 'Wolverine 3' would be my last outing in the role]. But I’m less sure as it goes along. Because after seeing this movie, the whole thing feels fresher to me than ever. And during this movie…I don’t want to spoil anything, but it’s kind of like a clean slate, so who knows where it’s going to go. As long as I have the passion for it and the fans will have me.”Is there more to this story?
When X-Men: Days of Future Past is released for home Video there will be two versions of the movie available, the Theatrical Release and a longer extended version. How much longer, well that's to be determined but at least 20 minutes...
Simon Kinberg, Producer and Writer of the Film, spoke about this on the Red Carpet at multiple premieres of the film.
There are multiple scenes and secondary storylines that were cut from the film to create a more defined film according to Kinberg. What makes this unusual is that a number of scenes are special effect laden and Fox is working to finish those scenes for the Extended edition in the same manner and quality as the those in the theatrical release. Including a major fight scene involving Anna Paquin's character Rogue which was cut from the movie.
Rumor suggest Director Bryan Singer, who due to his current legal issues is not on the road promoting the movie, is back in Hollywood screening the unused scenes and b-roll material in to determine what's in and what's out.
SPOILERS
All right you have been warned that this article includes potential spoilers for Avengers: Age of Ultron. The information presented here is all second hand at best and I have no way of validating it at the moment, so it could be true or completely false or some where in the middle.There is strong rumors that Avengers: Age of Ultron will be closer tied to Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D than even Captain America: The Winter Soldier was. Actually it was the other way around with the later. Anyways there is indications that back story which includes the time from the end of Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be told in more detail on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and just kind of skimmed over in the prologue of AOU.
Rumors indicate that Tony Stark has decided that since he is hanging up his Iron Man Suit that he has taken a leadership, financing role, of the Avengers, including transforming Stark Tower in the Avengers Tower.The film starts in deep Africa in the fictional country of Wakenda, where Baron von Strucker and his Miracle Twins are involved in some sort of plot to over throw the Government. The Government of Wakenda is a monarchy lead by T'Challa, AKA the Black Panther. Could we get our first look at the Blank Panther?
Wakenda is also the only know source of Vibranium, a rare and hard material used in Captain America's Shield.
Ultron's THIRD body will be constructed of Vibranium, so I guess that means there will be at least three bodies for the dude.
There will be a solid connection between AOU and Guardians of the Galaxy thus making a potential link to the Next Hulk Movie.
Silver Surfer
Posted by Labels: Fantastic Four, Rise of the Silver Surfer, Silver Surfer, Simon Kinberg |
| The Silver Surfer |
On the red carpet for the London premiere of X-Men: Days of Future Past Simon Kinberg, writer for both X-Men: Days of Future Past and the forthcoming Fantastic Four reboot, was asked about the Silver Surfer and Fox's plans for a movie. "We've definitely talked about him, I'm a big fan of him. It'd be cool to do something with him"
Stan Lee has stated numerous times in the past that a Silver Surfer movie has been talked about at the highest level.
The Silver Surfer did appear in the 2007 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer voiced by Lawrence Fishburne
We may have gotten our first outline of X-Men: Apocalypse from Simon Kinberg, writer and producer of X-Men: Days of Future Past when interviewed by Digital Spy, UK.
The storyline features psionic mutant Legion, the son of Charles Xavier, going back in time and killing his father after missing his initial target Magneto.
Kinberg promised that the film version would be "radical", saying: "It's equal parts anxiety and excitement when it comes to making these movies. It's a big opportunity because it's a bigger scale story than we've seen before and there's some really radical things in the comic that we want to do in the film as well."
Kinberg promised that the film version would be "radical", saying: "It's equal parts anxiety and excitement when it comes to making these movies. It's a big opportunity because it's a bigger scale story than we've seen before and there's some really radical things in the comic that we want to do in the film as well."
Rating the Marvel Universe on Film - Number 27
Posted by Labels: 2014 Marvel Film Ratings, Fantastic Four, Rise of the Silver Surfer |
| Courtesy: impawards.com |
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Released: 2007
Final Score: 7/32
Jeff's Score: 5/32
The Fantastic Four learn that they aren't the only super-powered beings in the universe when they square off against the powerful Silver Surfer and the planet-eating Galactus.
What the Critics Said: While an improvement on its predecessor, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is nevertheless a juvenile, simplistic picture that has little benefit beyond its special effects.
What I Said: Never realized Galactus was blob in space, I always thought he was a 40 foot tall giant with a purple outfit. And the movie goes down hill from there.
It is tough to say whether or not this movie is rated too high or too low, in general the audience, critics and I had the movie rated roughly the same, however it sold more tickets than over half the movies on the list and had a decent run in the theater, wasn't just the opening weekend. I honestly think had Galactus appeared as a Giant we would have gotten the third movie in the Trilogy rather than ending at the sequel.While much of the special effects were eye popping at the time they were quickly surpassed in later movies.
Rating the Marvel Universe on Film - Number 28
Posted by Labels: 2014 Marvel Film Ratings, Ghost Rider (film) |
| Image courtesy impawards.com |
Released: 2007
Final Rating - 6/32
Jeff Rating - 12/32
Stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze gives up his soul to become a hellblazing vigilante, to fight against power hungry Blackheart, the son of the devil himself.
What the Critic said: Ghost Rider is a sour mix of morose, glum histrionics amidst jokey puns and hammy dialogue.
What I said: The over the top acting and special effects are more in line with expectations for a film aimed at 9 year olds rather than an adult audience.
Another movie where the three reviewing parties disagree on the placement. The Audience factors placed this movie at 7/32, the critics and box office results a little lower, yet I had it six places higher. In my mind this movie was better than the next few on the list, but it ends up right where the critics and audience have it placed.
Rating the Marvel Universe on Film - Number 29
Posted by Labels: 2014 Marvel Film Ratings, Blade, Blade Trinity |
| Image Courtesy of IMP Awards |
Released: 2004
Final Score: 5/32
Jeff Score 9/32
Blade, now a wanted man by the FBI, must join forces with the Nightstalkers to face his most challenging enemy yet: Dracula
What the Critics said: The latest Blade flick is getting a little long in the tooth; critics call it bloodless, dull, rusty, and an assortment of other puns.
What I said: Blade Trinity felt rushed to the screen while the audience still had decent feelings for the first two films. There was no character development and many characters failed to have personality to begin with.
Blade Trinity is the first of a small hand full of movies that while given a higher audience and Jeff approval rating sank due to low numbers from the critics (1/32) and low Box Office result (5/32).
Like The Punisher: War Zone this movie does have it supporters and they are a very vocal minority. The movie was released just as the Vampire crazy was starting on TV.
Not much news about Marvel Studios August 1st release of Guardians of the Galaxy as of late; however two small tidbits from the last 24 hours.
Stitch Kingdom has gotten hold of the character descriptions and James Gunn, Director, was interviewed by Digital Spy.
From Stitch Kingdom
PETER QUILL (Chris Pratt) is an interstellar adventurer who was abducted from Earth at a young age. After recovering an ancient artifact, Quill must rally an unlikely team of cosmic misfits to prevent a powerful villain from destroying the galaxy.
GAMORA (Zoe Saldana) is an orphan from an alien world who was raised by the mysterious Thanos to become the perfect weapon. As Thanos’ personal assassin, Gamora has earned a reputation as a formidable warrior. Gamora now seeks redemption for her past crimes.
DRAX (Dave Bautista) a physical brute, Drax has a personal vendetta against Ronan, who killed his family. Now fueled by pure rage, Drax will stop at nothing to take his revenge on the most dangerous being in the galaxy.
GROOT (Vin Diesel) descends from a race of walking flora and resembles a sentient tree. Despite his strange appearance and limited communication skills, Groot proves to be a valuable ally and a loyal friend—not only to his fellow bounty hunter Rocket but to the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy as well.
ROCKET (Bradley Cooper) is a bounty hunter and mercenary whose mastery of weapons and battle tactics make him a formidable warrior, despite being a genetically altered, cybernetically enhanced, talking raccoon. The result of traumatic biological experimentation, Rocket is a genuine gun-toting badass and mechanical genius who has a huge chip on his shoulder.
RONAN (Lee Pace) A Kree radical, Ronan continues to fight an ancient war between his people and the Xandarians. Ronan has struck a bargain with the Machiavellian Thanos — retrieve a mysterious artifact, and in exchange Xandar will finally be eradicated. Ronan leads his army to hunt down Peter Quill and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy when they come between him and his genocidal goal.
YONDU (Michael Rooker) Blue-skinned Yondu is an interstellar bandit who has a less-than-perfect paternal relationship with Peter Quill. As leader of the outlaws known as Ravagers, Yondu and his cohorts pillage their way through the galaxy, taking whatever they want for solely their own benefit.
NEBULA (Karen Gillan) A blue-skinned deadly assassin, Nebula is a loyal lieutenant in Ronan and Thanos’ employ. Her advanced skill set and cybernetic enhancements make her a valuable asset but her resentment of Thanos’ adoptive daughter Gamora may prove to be her Achilles heel.
KORATH (Djimon Hounsou) Korath, a powerful ally of the villainous Ronan, is a feared intergalactic hunter. Korath is a pursuer who is dedicated to the kill and focuses only on one thing—his target.
RHOMANN DEY (John C. Reilly) Rhomann Dey is a Corpsman in the Nova Corps, the planet Xandar’s military force. Dey is a loyal and trusted officer but his by-the-book attitude takes a detour when he develops an unlikely rapport with Peter Quill.
NOVA PRIME (Glenn Close) Nova Prime Irani Rael is in charge of Nova Corps operations throughout the galaxy. From her base of operations on Xandar, the principled and efficient Nova Prime leads her forces with confidence. She defines her mission above all to protect the citizens of Xandar and keep peace.
THE COLLECTOR (Benicio Del Toro) Taneleer Tivan, aka The Collector, is the obsessive keeper of the largest collection of interstellar fauna, relics and species in the galaxy. An enigmatic figure, The Collector operates out of a place in space aptly named Knowhere. When he encounters Peter Quill and his band, The Collector attempts to strike a dubious bargain.
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