The Week In Geek: Marvel Movies, Non Disney Pirates, & Uncharted Stalled
Non-Disney Pirates Coming Soon To Your Television
Considering that the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie hit almost 8 years ago, it is shocking that Hollywood has taken so long to try to mine the pirate genre for anything else. Well, it seems that is all about to change finally, as two distinct Pirates related projects were announced this week, and frankly both sound more interesting than the last three Disney Pirates movies put together. First, FX Productions announced a collaboration with The Walking Dead producer Gale Anne Hurd for a new one-hour drama series called Port Royal. Set in the late 17th century on the island of Jamaica, the series will chronicle the infamous port’s rise as the “richest and wickedest city in the new world, and as a self-governing safe haven for cutthroat pirates, corrupt politicians, and ruthless merchants.” And if that wasn’t enough, Ridley and Tony Scott also announced this week Pyrates, which is being pitched as an event-type mini- series with 10-13 episodes planned for summer 2012. 24 director and producer Stephen Hopkins created the series which will feature a gritty, fact-based story about the men and women who pulled off the largest heist on pirate history — the capture of the Spanish silver fleet in 1628 — sparking the golden age of piracy, a time when there was greater honor amongst thieves than those who hunted them. Can television support two different Pirate series at the same time? Considering that there are how many lawyer shows and doctor shows on tv right now, I say why the Hell not?
Hawkman Movie More Than Just An Internet Joke?
Earlier this week, a pretty damn funny skit made its way onto the internet and went viral, poking fun at the idea of classic DC comics hero Hawkman ever joining the A List super hero club and getting his own big budget Hollywood movie. Even as a die hard DC Comics fanboy, I couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment here. DC Comics have never been able to figure out how to make Hawkman really work as a solo property, and Lord knows they’ve been trying for almost 70 years. He had a short lived series in the 1960’s, then another one in the early 90’s and finally Geoff Johns tried to work his magic on him just a few years back. None of these series ever lasted more than a handful of years. Like the Martian Manhunter and The Atom, Hawkman seems to be one of those characters that works best as a supporting hero on a team, in this case the Justice League. And you know what? There ain’t nuthin’ wrong with being a solid supporting character or team member. Not every character is meant to carry their own mythology.
Nevertheless, no sooner did this skit hit the internet than did Devin Faraci of Bad Ass Digest find out that Warner Brothers was indeed developing a Hawkman movie. Now mind you, “development” doesn’t mean much, but it is still interesting to note they are actually thinking about doing this in any capacity. I mean, he is a guy wearing giant wings and a goofy helmet. And we all saw how good that looked on Smallville last year.
Villains for Thor 2 Already Set?
While Thor hasn’t been making Iron Man level money, it has so far been the surprise hit of the early summer season, especially internationally. All of this guarantees a sequel, and word is that the folks at Marvel already have villains in mind for this one, namely Amora the Enchantress and her sometime lover, Skurge the Executioner. After Loki, these two are next on the list in terms of importance in Thor’s rogue’s gallery, so it stands to reason that they would at least make an appearance. Hopefully also making an appearance is Balder the Brave, a character curiously absent from the first Thor movie. And speaking of Marvel villains…
Another Avengers Villain Revealed? Major SPOILERS Here, Read Further At Your Own Risk…
We all know now that Loki is going to be one of the main bad guys in the Avengers movie, and rumor has it that the shape shifting Skrull race is set to make an appearance as well…now there is word (thanks to Latino Review) that yet another huge Marvel villain is set to debut in Avengers, none other than Marvel’s #1 cosmic baddie, the Death worshiping Thanos. Now, none of this should come as too much of a surprise if it turns out to be true, as last year at San Diego Comic Con, Marvel Studios had Thanos’ instrument of destruction the Infinity Gauntlet on display (which also made a blink and you miss it appearance in Odin’s vault in Thor’s movie) So all of this makes sense. Still, I didn’t think we’d see a character like Thanos till Avengers 2 at the very least. Because how do you top Thanos in terms of threat level, unless they somehow beg Fox to let them use Galactus and do him right? Yeah, I know…fat chance. But we can dream.
Wait! Even MORE Marvel Movie News…Short List For New Wolverine Director Leaks
After Darren Aronofsky left the Wolverine sequel earlier this year, many fanboys and fangirls wondered if this instantly spelled doom for a movie that few believed would work in any way otherwise. Then the early word on X-Men First Class came out, with almost everyone saying it is not only the best X-Men movie ever made, but some even comparing it to The Dark Knight. Does this mean Fox has turned a new leaf, and might be treating their Marvel properties with respect? Maybe there is some hope for Wolverine not sucking after all. In any event, Fox is still pushing forward for their Wolverine sequel, and has made a short list of directors to take over for Aronofsky. The eight names being bandied about are Jose Padilha (Elite Squad, the upcoming RoboCop remake)Doug Liman (Mr. and Mrs. Smith, The Bourne Identity)Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo, Never Let Me Go) Justin Lin (Fast Five, Better Luck Tomorrow) Gavin O’Connor (Miracle, Pride and Glory) James Mangold (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma) and some guy named Gary Shore, known primarily for making television commercials. Interestingly, Shore made a mini pitch to the studio in the form of a trailer for Wolverine on his Vimeo site, which you can see here. I can’t lie…it looks kinda cool. And at least Fox knows he’d come cheap.
Nathan Fillion’s Chances At Starring In Uncharted Just Went Way Up
Two major movies based on beloved geek properties both hit huge snags. First Uncharted lost its director, The Fighter’s David O. Russell. Many fans of the property were disappointed with the fact that Russell was planning to change a lot of things from the game, turning it into a “family adventure” and shooting down the notion of casting fanboy favorite Nathan Fillion as the lead Nathan Drake. Maybe the director they choose to replace Russell with will go the Fillion route and make the fans happy this time. Without David O. Russell directing though, it is almost certain that Mark Whalberg is out of the picture too. Also this week, the Hughes brothers ditched the ill conceived live action Akira movie, and hopefully this movie dies a quiet death with their departure.
