What would you like to see in a Superhero Movie? [Archive]

Traab

2012-11-26, 10:18 AM

I like to see more dealing with the ethical grey areas. Its easy for young superman to say to himself, "Oh, it isnt right to use my powers to beat up jocks just because I can." Its harder when he has to decide how to deal with lex luthor when he has enough evidence to know he did something horrible, like say he intentionally "lost" a super weapon that was used to kill hundreds to make some off the books profit, but not enough to bring him to a court of law. Does he really let this lunatic billionaire get off scott free? Can he take the law into his own hands?

Thats just one example out of many possible ones. Most often the superhero movies are straightforward, bad guy doing something huge that everyone sees, good guy stops him, everyone has cake and pie. I want to see the hero wrestling with his ethics. He already is a step down that slippery slope, acting as a vigilante, albeit one who is mainly targeting bad guys the cops are incapable of stopping, so where does the line get drawn?

Raimun

2012-11-26, 03:30 PM

R or NC-17 Deadpool-movie. He's a horrible, horrible man who does horrible, horrible things to people.

Mordar

2012-11-26, 06:16 PM

R or NC-17 Deadpool-movie. He's a horrible, horrible man who does horrible, horrible things to people.

Just to quibble, he wouldn't qualify as he's not a superhero. Super-powered guy who is sometimes an anti-hero? Okay, but not a superhero.

I'd like to see more movies that balance the vision of the creator (you know, that thing that made the particular hero long-lasting, popular and worth a movie, vs. the vision of the director/producer/focus group aiming to leverage underreached demographics and increase the synergy of accompanying tickets by foisting incongruous love stories, back stories or political statements into the film) while still reaching a sufficiently broad audience to justify the money spent on creation. I think this has really been a credit for the Marvel Studios movies and a "miss" for the DC movies like Green Lantern/Superman Returns and most of the Sony X-Men movies.

While I understand why it can't happen (at least I think I do - hard to recoup the $10M minimum investment with characters unknown to 85% of America...Jonah Hex, two Ghostriders and thirty-some Punisher movies suggest otherwise), I'd like to see some more street-level or B-grade heroes get some films. Doctor Strange, Iron Fist (old feel IF, not the recent Spiderman + Tony Stark lovechild), Huntress, or Legion of Superheroes.

- M

Aotrs Commander

2012-11-26, 06:48 PM

Jubilee.

Headlining in her own movie, with Wolverine as her sidekick (as rightly it should be), with Pixie, X-23, and ooh, Beast and Emma Frost as supporting characters.

And it would be about, y'know, fighting supervillains.

(Though anything along the lines of Avengers in tone would suit me fine.)

It would emphatically not be dark, gritty, angsty or morally grey, because I am bored sick and tired of that dreck in pretty much all my media.

It would also do the following things (and bear in mind this is what I want to see):

a) An upbeat happy ending (because downer/"clever" endings have long since past the point of being clever, and are now tired and uninspired, nor are artisially having more merit than a good ending).

b) The villain's plans not, y'know, automatically suceeding until right at the end, with especial reference to ambushes and pre-emptive strikes NOT succeeding flawlessly (e.g. if they attack the X-Mansion or whatever, they discover that, hey, guess what, all those defences out up actually, y'know WORK for once), forcing the villains to have to up their game and get a bit worried.

c) The hero base/lair/whatever is NOT, in fact, destroyed at any point in the story (because, seriously, that cliche is done to the death and it's gotten so tiresome, too), nor is the villain's base going to explode unless there is a very particularly good reason for it at the end, and one that is not releated to the villain's demise.

d) The villain's army cannot be defeated by deus ex machina so they all fall over dead or something, nor are they allowed to rout automatically on the villains fall. If the villain has a big army, it has to be dealt with the hard way.

e) No karmic/environmental deaths for the villains. If they are going to be killed, someone (probably Wolverine in my ideal case...) is actually going to take responsibility for it, thank you very much; if the villain is really not going to be taken alive, the heroes are going to have to deal with it the same way as soliders and police officers have to do; they don't get the cheap cop-out way out to absolve them of responsibility.

f) No one-sided curb stomps at any point (between heroes and villains and their allies "random encounters" are exempt, but large-scale battles are emphatically not). I.e no villains kicking sand in the heroes' faces in the first act ("to show how hard they are") and then being beaten in the third; for once, everyone actually has a hard and difficult fight each time and they ALL have to sweat for once; losses (injury, KO or possibly death (of villains, see g) below) should be relatively even until at the last minute.

g) No character deaths, heroic sacrifices or other overused cliches for the sake of drama and going "look, characters are dying we're being realistic/deep!1!11!" or because "someone has to die." No. No, they really don't. Sorry, metaphorical writer chaps, you've collectively burned through any sympathy I have with that one in recent years, be glad I didn't say "no character deaths period." (Note that villains are exempt for this, they can be killed as much as they like.) I watch these things because I like to see the characters kicking arse, not to see them get knobbled because the metaphorical Hollywood you is too lazy to be more creative. If you can't write a good, compelling story imperilling the characters without including character deaths, you ain't trying hard enough, and I will cheerfully "motivate" the inside of your skull to do better with my rocket launcher, because seriously, I am WELL PAST TIRED of that particular little stunt; character death is not now, never has been and never will be a short-cut to quality story telling, and the sooner this fact is impressed into your skulls, Hollywood, the better, even if I have to forcibly imprint there with extreme velocity and violence! Graaaaagh!

Ahem.

That last one may be something of a slightly touchy pet peeve...

Scowling Dragon

2012-11-26, 06:56 PM

It would emphatically not be dark, gritty, angsty or morally grey, because I am bored sick and tired of that dreck in pretty much all my media.

It would also do the following things (and bear in mind this is what I want to see):

a) An upbeat happy ending (because downer/"clever" endings have long since past the point of being clever, and are now tired and uninspired, nor are artisially having more merit than a good ending).

b) The villain's plans not, y'know, automatically suceeding until right at the end, with especial reference to ambushes and pre-emptive strikes NOT succeeding flawlessly (e.g. if they attack the X-Mansion or whatever, they discover that, hey, guess what, all those defences out up actually, y'know WORK for once), forcing the villains to have to up their game and get a bit worried.

c) The hero base/lair/whatever is NOT, in fact, destroyed at any point in the story (because, seriously, that cliche is done to the death and it's gotten so tiresome, too), nor is the villain's base going to explode unless there is a very particularly good reason for it at the end, and one that is not releated to the villain's demise.

d) The villain's army cannot be defeated by deus ex machina so they all fall over dead or something, nor are they allowed to rout automatically on the villains fall. If the villain has a big army, it has to be dealt with the hard way.

e) No karmic/environmental deaths for the villains. If they are going to be killed, someone (probably Wolverine in my ideal case...) is actually going to take responsibility for it, thank you very much; if the villain is really not going to be taken alive, the heroes are going to have to deal with it the same way as soliders and police officers have to do; they don't get the cheap cop-out way out to absolve them of responsibility.

f) No one-sided curb stomps at any point (between heroes and villains and their allies "random encounters" are exempt, but large-scale battles are emphatically not). I.e no villains kicking sand in the heroes' faces in the first act ("to show how hard they are") and then being beaten in the third; for once, everyone actually has a hard and difficult fight each time and they ALL have to sweat for once; losses (injury, KO or possibly death (of villains, see g) below) should be relatively even until at the last minute.

g) No character deaths, heroic sacrifices or other overused cliches for the sake of drama and going "look, characters are dying we're being realistic/deep!1!11!" Sorry, chaps, you've collectively burned through any sympathy I have with that one in recent years, be glad I didn't say "no character deaths period." (Note that villains are exempt for this, they can be killed as much as they like.) I watch these things because I like to see the characters kicking arse, not to see them get knobbled because the metaphorical Hollywood you is too lazy to be more creative. If you can't write a good, compelling story imperilling the characters without including character deaths, you ain't trying hard enough, and I will cheerfully "motivate" the inside of your skull to do better with my rocket launcher, because seriously, I am WELL PAST TIRED of that particular little stunt; character death is not now, never has been and never will be a short-cut to quality story telling, and the sooner this fact is impressed into your skulls, Hollywood, the better, even if I have to forcibly imprint there with extreme velocity and violence! Graaaaagh!

Ahem.

That last one may be something of a slightly touchy pet peeve...

Amen. But a touche of some character based conflict would be nice.

Like the stuff from JLAS. Otherwise yeah. Stop it with the Goddam gritty.

Drakeburn

2012-11-26, 07:16 PM

JoshL

2012-11-26, 07:32 PM

The Anti-Life, The Destroyer of All That Breathes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel_Girl)

Traab

2012-11-26, 08:02 PM

To be honest, I want a superhero film that isn't about superheroes we know too well.

I mean, we keep recycling the same thing over and over and over and over and over again.

Is it too much to ask for a brand new superhero we never seen or heard of before? Shouldn't it be time to see something brand new? Something completely alien (metaphorically speaking) to the movie screen, as well as the comic book lore?

I can agree with this, lets leave the batman/superman reboots at lucky number 20 each and start picking up other comic characters. Yeah those are the big names, because you people keep plastering new series about them on every available media type!

Drakeburn

2012-11-26, 08:19 PM

I can agree with this, lets leave the batman/superman reboots at lucky number 20 each and start picking up other comic characters. Yeah those are the big names, because you people keep plastering new series about them on every available media type!

I know! We know well about Superman and Batman already. Why make another few movies?

Although, picking up other comic book characters, maybe. I was thinking of having HOLLYWOOD COME UP WITH IT'S OWN SUPERHEROES.

Seriously, there are legions of people out there with ideas for newer superheroes. Why not give them a chance for a chance?

Traab

2012-11-26, 08:22 PM

I know! We know well about Superman and Batman already. Why make another few movies?

Although, picking up other comic book characters, maybe. I was thinking of having HOLLYWOOD COME UP WITH IT'S OWN SUPERHEROES.

Seriously, there are legions of people out there with ideas for newer superheroes. Why not give them a chance for a chance?

Ah, see, im ok with that too. Every big name had to start somewhere. I just figured even the less monstrously huge names in marvel or dc still have fanbases, or at least people who know the name and are curious, and if done well, could be a good way to start up a new franchise. Take Iron Man for example. Yeah he is an A ranker in the super hero lineup, but until this latest set, he really wasnt a big movie character. The REAL problem is translating them to the big screen in a cool way, so we dont get stuck with Ghost "NOT THE BEES" Rider.

Eldan

2012-11-26, 08:54 PM

Traab

2012-11-26, 09:49 PM

Well, the thing is, I don't know any American superheroes that haven't been in movies yet. American comics are a pain to get, over here, and mostly, I have to specifically order single issues and then pay tons of taxes on them.

ANyway, since I saw the Green Lantern trailer I was thinking that some of hte basic ideas in there would be really cool. Forget single superheroes on Earth fighting single villains. Go full on cosmic. Build a world for the superheroes, instead of having them stuck in a sort of vaguely middle-of-the-century New York clone.

Avengers might be getting there. We'll see.

So you want a world wide version of City of Heroes/Villains? As for comic characters without movies, im sure there are tons, but atm I cant think of many. The few I can think of, like say, Luke Cage, would be way inappropriate for this day and age. A movie based off THAT guy would fit in well in the heyday of blacksploitation films. A lot of the rest are really just supporting characters in established groups, like random xmen from over the decades. Or one of the billion avenger lineup changes.

Eldan

2012-11-26, 10:06 PM

Not necessarily that, no. I'd be fine if it was a single hero, really. But I don't think I've ever seen a superhero movie that had any kind of grand scale. Again, the Avengers were going a bit in that direction.

Too many of those movies feel like it is one guy fighting one other guy. Now, sure, captain america fought Nazi skeletons and Iron Man fought generic terrorists, but it still all felt so small. I want something properly big.

See, the Green Lantern trailer (again, horrible movie, but interesting) was a kind of revelation to me. I had never heard of the character before that. But here was a superhero. And he was in space. And I was sitting there thinking "What. Superheroes can do that? Why aren't more of them doing that?"

Edit: X-Men 3. X-Men 3 was big too. At least they did that right.

Tyndmyr

2012-11-26, 10:56 PM

Irredeemable.

And no, this isn't just because we get to avoid so many classic tropes, but that doesn't hurt at all....

Jallorn

2012-11-26, 11:09 PM

Nathan Fillion. That is all.

Hopeless

2012-11-27, 03:53 AM

After reading this thread why is my memories suddenly flicking back to a tv series regarding a luchadore superhero?

No not Jackie Chan Adventures but that was good, it predated that... well if they're going to use the wrestling style of public relations might as well go the full hog!:smallsmile:

Raimun

2012-11-29, 11:25 PM

Just to quibble, he wouldn't qualify as he's not a superhero. Super-powered guy who is sometimes an anti-hero? Okay, but not a superhero.

True, he's just a superguy. Could still be a fun movie if done right and gory.

Also, slightly off-topic but I would really like to see some more obscure superheroes given their own live-action tv-series... and not canceled just when things are getting interesting. I think some street level heroes with more limited powers would be really interesting. Yes, there's that series "Arrow". No, having a bow is not a superpower.

For example, there should totally be a tv-series about Resurrection Man. His power is that if he dies, he is resurrected automatically after a bit of time and he gains a power that reflects his death. The power is usable until he's killed again and gets to "draw" again."

Imagine all the possibilities. He could have different powers. He could be defeated by normal gunfire but not permanently killed (villains who will "just shoot 'em"). He could be written to have powerful (but temporal) power-ups for season finales. Plus I think constant deaths and random superpowers would lend itself to comedy.

DraPrime

2012-11-30, 05:15 PM

I'd like to see Spiderman actually making jokes as he fights.

Mx.Silver

2012-11-30, 05:56 PM

How about one that isn't completely glued to the USA as the main setting and/or the origin country of all/nearly all the protagonists? You know, just for a change? Maybe one with a less wonky gender ratio while we're at it?

Das Platyvark

2012-11-30, 06:03 PM

A superhero story about genuinely bad people. I don't want an idol.
Watchmen did, but I've never seen it repeated.
The Dark Knight looked like it was going to do it, but at a basic level it's still a story about a man on the side of good saving the world. I like the premise of superheroics, but it never seems to work out that the awful people fall into the nuclear waste.

Drakeburn

2012-11-30, 06:09 PM

I know what you mean.

The movies are about heroes kicking the villain's butt, the girl is saved, the end.

Wouldn't it be more interesting to see a movie about a super villain's path to redemption, and becoming a superhero?

Dienekes

2012-11-30, 06:11 PM

Drakeburn

2012-11-30, 06:19 PM

Wasn't that Megamind? Or did you want it to be serious?

........... Yes, a serious one. Not a cartoonish one.

Dienekes

2012-11-30, 07:37 PM

Heh, honestly I would just like a super movie where the villain actually wins. No redemption, no dancing around a moral victory or some such nonsense, I want to see the villain crush the heroes, see them driven before him, and hear the lamentation of their women.

Then next movie if you must the heroes can come back and triumph, I suppose, but at least let me have my Empire Strikes Back in superhero form. The closest I've ever gotten was The Dark Knight where the Joker almost had everything he wanted to accomplished and forced Bats into a massive lie and cover-up, but that's a far bit away from an actual victory.

I have my hopes for the next Spiderman movie though, at the very least I'm hoping to get the death of Gwen Stacy, that could be fun to watch.

willpell

2012-11-30, 07:55 PM

I would want to see a Green Lantern movie done right, where he's a lantern-jawed unshakeable paragon of willpower instead of a playboyish jerk of a Ryan Reynolds, and where the story is based on Alan Moore's GLC tales and the recent epic arcs in a less bloated form - basically superheroic sci-fi rather than a sci-fi'ish superhero.

I would also like to see some obscure heroes get love. Plastic Man? The Metal Men? Ant-man? (I'm not intentionally only picking ones with Man, I swear.)

I would like to have them finally do the Wonder Woman movie and do it right. Wondy should be the purest example of objective good we've ever seen, pure compassion and the unwavering strength to suffer so others needn't. With a touch of mythology about the design aesthetic, but still firmly modernistic, with a supervillain who's a supervillain instead of a Greek myth character dropped into Manhattan. Silver Swan is my favorite villain for the purpose, though my knowledge of Wondy's rogues gallery is pretty limited.

Having slogged through the Asylum's knockoff of John Carter recently - it actually wasn't completely atrocious, though its ultralow budget is obvious and the writing is crude in every sense - I still believe that my favorite superhero of all, the Manhunter from Mars, is not completely impossible to film. I would love to see a story that revolves around the fall of his civilization, where just as he's closing in on the butcher of his entire civilization, a time portal snatches him away to Earth and now he has to bide his time until the first spaceships are built so he can go back and unearth the villain from inside a pyramid to make him pay. Or use the White Martians, they're always awesome.

The Sandman, the noir detective with a gas mask and sleep sand, would make an awesome period piece.

I don't expect another Fantastic Four movie at all, but if one were to occur, I really hope it would feature Black Bolt. He's always been one of my favorite characters in comics land, his ridiculous name and costume notwithstanding. Just something about the strong silent leader really fascinates me, especially when he's drawn looking kind of emaciated next to a lantern-jawed Thing and a comparatively normal Reed.

I'm not tired of the X-Men yet, but for Goddess' sake, Storm is not Halle Berry. I don't care if you turn her back into a biker-leathers-clad Morlock with a mohawk, as long as you find an actress for her who doesn't seem to have just come out of the suburbs. And please, put her back in the real costume. You can afford silver spandex and silk "wings", and you can find a woman with the figure to wear this (finding a woman who has that figure plus the ability to act is admittedly tougher).

There's more, I'm sure, but it really just boils down to this: Tell good stories, have eye-popping visual effects and a kick-butt score (Iron Man's music still haunts me daily), and quit pretending your audience is so dumb that they need to be reminded that Spider-Man is Peter Parker every five minutes. Learn from your mistakes and don't waste your billions on cheap spectacles that are easily forgotten.

Dr.Epic

2012-11-30, 08:06 PM

How about for once a GOOD live action superhero movie based about a female superhero?

Zevox

2012-11-30, 08:09 PM

The Sinestro Corps War.

Green Lanterns being my favorite superheroes, and that being the best Green Lantern story I've read, kinda only natural. Probably have to cut out some characters and events, which is a pity, but hey, giant war in space and on Earth between two Lantern Corps, involving all four human GLs, Sinestro, and even the freakin' Anti-Monitor. It's pretty much perfect for a big action movie.

How about one that isn't completely glued to the USA as the main setting and/or the origin country of all/nearly all the protagonists? You know, just for a change? Maybe one with a less wonky gender ratio while we're at it?
That's kind of a by-product of the source material, seeing how most superheroes of any noteworthy popularity were created by American comics.

Though, an amusing observation a friend of mine has made on that one: for the Green Lanterns, not only are all of the recently-expanded-to-five Human ones from the US, but three of them are from the same state. Guy Gardener, John Stewart, and the new Simon Baz are all from Michigan, and lived within driving distance of each other. That's got to be some kind of record as far as this kind of thing goes.

Zevox

willpell

2012-11-30, 08:11 PM

Oh, and if we have to have a Batman movie, please get the most intelligent person you can find to write it, and have The Riddler as the villain - the real Riddler, not Jim Carrey. His intro in the animated show ("If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?"), while contrived, set the tone perfectly - a smug megalomaniac taunting the police with their helplessness to thwart his diabolical plans, and Batman not as a kung fu maniac in black armor, but as the Great Detective unraveling Riddler's web of misdirection and plot-counterplot-countercounterplot.

Edit: X-Men 3. X-Men 3 was big too. At least they did that right.

I wouldn't characterize it as "big" so much as "widely spread". It needed to be about three hours longer to actually address everything it brought up. As it stands, I consider it probably the worst bungle-job short of "Batman and Robin" (and I don't know if that one even counts since I think they made it that way on purpose). I mean, we have Angel front and center in the beginning, and then he has like five seconds on screen after that; you coulda replaced him with Bette Middler in a hang glider and nobody would have noticed. I would definitely like the chance to redo that one from the ground up.

And call me a sucker, but I love the modern Emma Frost. Would be very happy to see her in a movie; Wolverine Origins gave us the diamond-skin thing in a reasonably decent form, but it's just not the same without the personality, telepathy, and Victoria's Secret battlesuit.

For example, there should totally be a tv-series about Resurrection Man.

You are absolutely 100% right about all of this. It would be magnificent.

Drakeburn

2012-11-30, 08:15 PM

How about for once a GOOD live action superhero movie based about a female superhero?

I know! Above all the Batman and Superman movies out there, why isn't there a movie about Wonder Woman? Or Ms. Marvel? Black Canary? Zatanna?

Seriously, if people can think of better ideas than the guys at Hollywood, would that be a code red to them?

willpell

2012-11-30, 08:26 PM

Seriously, if people can think of better ideas than the guys at Hollywood, would that be a code red to them?

Alas, no, not even close. Ideas are cheap, if not worthless, as far as Hollywood is concerned. All they care about is marketing buzz and pandering to the LCD in order to recoup their investment. A well-written movie might be too good for America to accept, and that goes triple when they're paying for ILM-level SFX. They don't care whether the movie is completely stupid, because a completely stupid movie can break box office records and turn millions in profit just based on the hype around opening weekend, before anyone confirms that it's crap.

I could write better movies in my sleep than most of Hollywood does for a paycheck, and I'm not unusual in that regard. But Hollywood is an institution like any other, and following procedure is what's important to them; if you don't start at the bottom of the totem pole and brown-nose your way up according to the unwritten rules, they don't care if you're William Shakespeare reborn to revolutionize English literature all over again, you'll be lucky if they let you fetch their lattes while they have a meeting about how which of the latest Twilight rip-off novels is the most marketable and least likely to get them sued.

Hopeless

2012-12-01, 08:48 AM

So let's say you've the once in a lifetime opportunity to discuss your idea for a new superhero movie to Stephen Speilberg what would you suggest?

Would it be a movie about a nocturnal vigilante who has everyone thinking he's the atypical batman knock off except she's having to work during the day in a fast food franchise to pay her bills and simply has the power to create her gear that lasts for short periods allowing her to fight crime and the machinations of those she knows about because her father is a retired super villain who still makes time for his former colleagues and cronies which is how she knows what they're up to but has to be careful to prevent it being traced back to her father?

Make it a mite more interesting by throwing in other teams of superheroes except they're low powered since most superhero movies tend to highlight those of the god-like powerset but never deal with the fact not everyone is of that power level.

So we have a group of 6 heroines, two of whom are actually villains working to steal the powers of the others but they don't know the lead is the one who gave them the four core members their powers and believe she's nonpowered but in turn will begin to suspect she's the vigilante forcing her to come to terms with her true abilities if she's going to save the life of her goddaughter whose the daughter of one of the core four.

By the end of the movie the god daughter knows her godmother's true identity and we learn there's a big bad behind the villainous duo's actions let alone the revelation that the father of her goddaughter is a lead investigator on her rescuer's case...

Going too far I know but what would you suggest if you had the chance?

Yora

2012-12-01, 08:55 AM

Could you make a superhero movie without those 1930s costumes? If so, I might want to watch it for being something new.

Buffy is pretty much a superhero without costume.

I know! Above all the Batman and Superman movies out there, why isn't there a movie about Wonder Woman? Or Ms. Marvel? Black Canary? Zatanna?
The reasons these movies are not made is because I have never heard of any of them except Wonder Woman.
Now I am not a superhero comic fan and I've never read anything with Captain America, Iron Man, or Thor, but I've heard of these characters. And the movies are not so much for the comic fans, but I think much more for people who never read them at all. And for that you need characters that are known by the greater public.
Except for X-Men, the only female superhero I've heard of is Wonder Woman. And how do you make a movie about her in the 21st century? Different costume of course, but what do people know about her except the costume? With Superman, Batman, and Spiderman, people have at least some expectation what the characters are.

Metahuman1

2012-12-01, 09:04 AM

Powergirl for a Movie anyone? Teen Titans Perhaps?

Maybe a Batman Reboot with Nightwing, Oracle, Black Bat, (Stephanie Brown) Batgirl and Tim Drakes Robin running around helping him?

A justice Society Movie with the biggest movers and shakers in the background handleing things but about a half dozen or so heavy hitters ring leading a team of mostly new to there powers supers who are still learning the ropes and a bit too old to be Teen Titans?

Yora

2012-12-01, 09:16 AM

Sandman with a script by Neil Gaiman and directed by Guillermo del Toro.

Drakeburn

2012-12-01, 10:15 AM

How about a movie where the hero, instead of facing one villain, has to battle a team of super villains (by team I mean a team like the Avengers, not an alliance)

Kjata

2012-12-01, 10:36 AM

I'd like something where the main cast are a super hero group of entirely new heroes. They would begin as public defenders, protecting people from crime. They would come to the conclusion that they would be better off using their powers to help soldiers fight, because if they use their abilities to win a battle on their own, they could save thousands of lives of soldiers.

Eventually, a few of their number would break off, coming to the conclusion that their country isn't the only absolute right, and that by fighting wars, they aren't only saving lives but taking them. They would be seeking to rid the taint that militarized supers have brought upon the world, and the only way to do so is to join the war on the other side.

This would have two groups of supers fighting alongside soldiers with each other. The two groups would fight to mutual destruction, leaving only a handful of survivors. These survivors would learn that being gods among men can only lead to corruption in some way, and would seek out to destroy the source of the powers.

This would be a movie trilogy, in which in part 1 they would fight the enemy army, which would have extremely deadly weaponry. Think X2, where the villain was an ordinary human with a plan on defeating the xmen. Part 2 would be the super war. Part 3 would be your standard superhero movie, with the source of the powers being controlled by the most powerful super and his minions.

In the end, the super team would all be killed in the confrotation destroying the power source along with the villain, leaving behind a ravaged world with the supers extinct.

Traab

2012-12-01, 10:54 AM

How about a movie where the hero, instead of facing one villain, has to battle a team of super villains (by team I mean a team like the Avengers, not an alliance)

The problem with that is, the idea of the super villains being megalomaniacal egomaniacs with a superiority complex is so ingrained on our minds, that a true bad guy team doesnt last long. There is a REASON the sinister 6 would only stay together for a single arc, then come back later with an altered lineup. All of them were &^%$*&^% who were looking out for number 1 and would gladly have stabbed the other 5 in the back for an advantage down the road. Bad guys, especially those who count as alpha bad guys, dont play nice with each other. Its like a wolf pack, only one can be in charge, and the rest are underlings. Equal partners are as rare as hens teeth.

The closest you can get are to have the big bad boss guy, and several superpowered thugs like Rhino or maybe Scorpion. Guys used to taking orders and being hired guns. And even then the boss has to keep his eyes open for a coup attempt.

Eldan

2012-12-01, 11:24 AM

I wouldn't characterize it as "big" so much as "widely spread". It needed to be about three hours longer to actually address everything it brought up. As it stands, I consider it probably the worst bungle-job short of "Batman and Robin" (and I don't know if that one even counts since I think they made it that way on purpose). I mean, we have Angel front and center in the beginning, and then he has like five seconds on screen after that; you coulda replaced him with Bette Middler in a hang glider and nobody would have noticed. I would definitely like the chance to redo that one from the ground up.

Not what I mean,t really. What I mean is this. It was finally a movie, where I thought something was actually happening in a superhero movie. All Batman movies are on a city scale, at best. Some are back alley brawls between a crazy millionaire and a gang. I hvae't seen all superman movies, but even he seems to be mostly saving Metropolis.
X3 had Magneto ripping up the golden gate bridge and threatening to start a war with the US government. IT finally felt like the superheroes were actually having an impact on the world.

Yora

2012-12-01, 12:13 PM

The problem with that is, the idea of the super villains being megalomaniacal egomaniacs with a superiority complex is so ingrained on our minds, that a true bad guy team doesnt last long. There is a REASON the sinister 6 would only stay together for a single arc, then come back later with an altered lineup. All of them were &^%$*&^% who were looking out for number 1 and would gladly have stabbed the other 5 in the back for an advantage down the road. Bad guys, especially those who count as alpha bad guys, dont play nice with each other. Its like a wolf pack, only one can be in charge, and the rest are underlings. Equal partners are as rare as hens teeth.
The Metal Gear Solid games all have great teams of super-villains that work very well together.

In the first game there's Liquid Snake (generic super-soldier), Revolver Ocelot (master manipulator), Psycho Mantis (telepath), Vulcan Raven (Inuit Shaman with a Vulcan cannon), Sniper Wolf (sniper with animal spirits), and Decoy Octopus (shapeshifter). Pycho Mantis is just going along because he's always in when he can cause lots of destruction, but the rest of the team is pretty much fully in on the plan and behind Liquid.*
The second game has Vamp (knife-fighter with insane regeneration), Fortune (can not be hit by weapons and has a giant railgun), Solidus (super-soldier with Doctor Octopus armor), Fatman (a fat demolitions expert on rolerskates), Olga (a russian special forces commander), and again Ocelot. Again, Fatman is only in on the thing because he likes to blow stuff up and with Olga its complicated, but the rest of the team stays with the boss because they believe in him.*
The third game has a team of psychic special forces: The Boss (super-soldier), the Pain (controlls a swarm of bees), the Fear (invisibility and super-climbing), the Fury (astronaut with flamethrower), the End (sniper with cameleon power and photosynthesis), and the Sorrow (psychic ghost). And they are all completely loyal to the Boss.

But those games are Japanese, they don't fall automatically into the same old american cliches.
*Except ocelot, who is screwing everyone over.

Urpriest

2012-12-01, 12:31 PM

A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie that actually sticks to the source material.

tbok1992

2012-12-01, 01:37 PM

Personally, I'd love to see Nextwave adapted to film with Jim Carrey as DIRK ANGER! Of course, this is coming from somebody who also thinks that Patton Oswalt would make the perfect Ignatius P. Reily in a Confederacy of Dunces movie, so take that as you will.

And I also had this big concept for a Plastic Man film that I might elaborate on later. It includes a coffee-based Expy of Snowflame and Flex Mentallo as a major motivational motif for Plas.

Raimun

2012-12-01, 02:29 PM

A team of super villains?

The best I've seen is Thunderbolts or Dark Avengers led by Norman Osborn.

Both teams had a collection of psychopats, sociopaths, etc. with varying levels of power.

Some felt it advantageous to follow Norman of their own free will (at least for a time being) but most of them were blackmailed, coerced and forced into servitude. Thunderbolts even had nano-chains that could be used to zap them harmless if they ever disobeyed... in addition to each time ruining their nerve systems a bit more.
Dark Avengers followed Osborn for a pretty long time and held established positions protecting USA. It helped that they were paid really well and couldn't be arrested and imprisoned (Norman would just set them free) but they still bickered and plotted behind his back.

As said above, see also Metal Gear Solid-bosses.

Mordar

2012-12-01, 11:50 PM

I would also like to see some obscure heroes get love. Plastic Man? The Metal Men? Ant-man? (I'm not intentionally only picking ones with Man, I swear.)

Just for you, I have bent my efforts to working the improbability machine...and thus I grant your wish (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478970/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1).

Cash and other gifts can be forwarded.

A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie that actually sticks to the source material.

I finally "got" to read both of the LXG series, and frankly, I thought they were disturbing at best. The plot line was interesting, but the execution was purposefully skin-crawly...and I'm not referring (just) to Hyde. Mina and Quartermain were absolutely useless and served no purpose but the ick-pics, or as the excuse for Hyde's dinner date.

All in all, I thought the movie played nicely, making a pulp-style movie that brought together literary characters in a classic what-if style. The comics were, to me, more about pretense and shock-art than story.

- M

Hopeless

2012-12-02, 06:07 AM

I'd find it amusing if they do a movie where we realise halfway through that the supervillains are actually the good guys trying to save the world from a so-called heroic team who are being used to bring about a horrifying cataclysm that the villains are being blamed for.

So for the villain group we have an aging former CIA gunfu master, a Russian mecha/vehicle genius, a mad Swiss scientist, a South African energykinetic supervillain and say a few more multi-national villains using steroetypes but with a few kinks to make them interesting.

Many years ago their mad scientist invented a portable fusion bomb the size of a thermos flask that was safely stored in a secret location but their CIA ally made the mistake of letting one of his american colleagues know about them and they're stolen which is only found out when one is used in an American city to create a climate of fear for their plans.

The villain group is of course blamed and are being hunted resulting in a couple being killed but the remaining villains are now hunting for their betrayers leading to an interesting situation where the villains openly strike out at their foes in a large scale battle but the public are unaware the villains are trying to save their lives and the "heroes" are there to insure another of the bombs can be detonated...

The movie ends with the fact there are 49 of the bombs still out there and the surviving villains are intent on locating and defusing them before they cause an armageddon...

soir8

2012-12-02, 07:04 AM

I think Invincible would make a great movie. That, and Garth Ennis's The Boys. We've had enough superhero movies by now, the familiarity's there with the general public, the ammunition's all loaded to blow superhero tropes & cliches to pieces, so let's have something a bit subversive (and gory and sick and dark and hilarious).

Eldan

2012-12-02, 07:38 AM

Swiss mad scientist is a national cliché now?

I have no idea how that could have happend! (*Hides mutant animals under the table*)

Zevox

2012-12-02, 11:30 AM

willpell

2013-01-13, 03:03 AM

Just for you, I have bent my efforts to working the improbability machine...and thus I grant your wish (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478970/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1).

Meh...2015 is a long way off. I'll believe it when it actually appears in theaters.

Ichneumon

2013-01-14, 05:03 AM

What would I like in a superhero movie? First of all, I want more superhero movies. I think we're living in a good age with tons of superhero movies coming out, not all good, but with 3-4 comic-inspired movies coming out each year, I think we're doing good, it could be more though.

Now, I first of all want them to stay true to the characters and source material. The Marvel movies (Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Avengers) have done this and it works. You can take your own liberty, but if you do so, why make an adaptation in the first place? Why not tell an entirely new story?

I don't need all my superheroes to be 'realistic' like the Nolan Batman movies were, although the movies were awesome, again the Marvel movies show they don't have to be.

Honestly, I just want them to pick specific storylines and adapt them. For Batman it would be great books like Batman: Year One (which had an animated movie, which I consider one of the best batman movies ever made), Batman: the killing joke, Batman: The Long Halloween, The Dark Knight Returns. Obviously Noland used many elements of these books in his films, so we're unlikely to see adaptation of these, which is a real shame.

It really is such a shame they don't stick closer to the source material, for example with an excellent book as V for Vendetta. I like the movie, but it really doesn't compare to the story of the book.

I also want to see more superhero tv-series. Arrow is a good example of what I want to see more of. They could do Daredevil series like that, a Batman series etc.

Ravens_cry

2013-01-14, 06:46 AM

DigoDragon

2013-01-14, 07:15 AM

I wouldn't mind another tongue-in-cheek super hero movie like Mystery Men. That was a fun little film I still occasionally catch on TV...

Dienekes

2013-01-14, 07:18 AM

I'd like to see a superhero movie with a female solo hero who wasn't primarily fan service. I know there isn't many well known female superheroes in popular culture, least of all on the level of Superman or Spiderman, but has there ever been a movie like this?

Depends on how much fanservice you claim makes a character primarily fanservice. I'd think the Supergirl movie should count, it was just hilariously bad though.

There was the very good DC Animated movie Wonder Woman, though her costume even I would consider fanservice, and always has been. Still it was a good movie.

Ravens_cry

2013-01-14, 07:32 AM

Well, superhero costumes in general are fan service, so my tolerance for it goes up a bit with the medium.
It can be taken too far, however, but it's workable as long as it's comparable to male costumes and her move set isn't basically weaponized burlesque.

Hopeless

2013-01-14, 07:36 AM

I wouldn't mind another tongue-in-cheek super hero movie like Mystery Men. That was a fun little film I still occasionally catch on TV...

Yes I've still got that...
Always felt that deserved a sequel and I'm not talking about the Specials even if it had some good bits!:smallwink:

Makes me wonder how they'd handled a script with a new group of Mystery Men except the Captain Amazing is the bad guy and the one filling his role is a woman posing as a male superhero whose reputation has been sent down the plughole and she ends up befriending the Mystery Men and tries to help them only they're unaware of who she is until she's almost killed by the villains and thats what makes the new group step up.

willpell

2013-01-14, 08:05 AM

I'd like to see a superhero movie with a female solo hero who wasn't primarily fan service. I know there isn't many well known female superheroes in popular culture, least of all on the level of Superman or Spiderman, but has there ever been a movie like this?

Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That's about as close as you're likely to get. Although I for one wouln't mind a movie based on the recent Crimson Avenger.

Personally, I'll happily take all the fanservice Hollywood will give me and more. I completely believe that Wonder Woman stops crime more effectively because her Great Cleavage is in full view. Would more people mess with Electra if she weren't capable of doing backflips in high heels? I think they would. And Power Girl certainly isn't shy about exploiting the effect her skintight costume has on at least the bottom 20% or so of the criminal element; think of all this effort it saves her when they're too busy staring and drooling to shoot the hostages or destroy the evidence. I see no problem whatsoever with any of this.

Avilan the Grey

2013-01-14, 08:10 AM

Avengers #2.

Aside from that... someone said "a good movie about a female superhero". Definitely so.

Preferably She-Hulk, WW or Power Girl. A proper Amazon that kicks butts.

Aotrs Commander

2013-01-14, 08:19 AM

I think I can now point to Naruto Shippuden 3: Will of Fire and say "do something like that."

Because it was pretty much bang-on. Albiet being about Magic Ninjas instead of super heroes.

Mx.Silver

2013-01-14, 08:51 AM

Personally, I'll happily take all the fanservice Hollywood will give me and more. I completely believe that Wonder Woman stops crime more effectively because her Great Cleavage is in full view. Would more people mess with Electra if she weren't capable of doing backflips in high heels? I think they would. And Power Girl certainly isn't shy about exploiting the effect her skintight costume has on at least the bottom 20% or so of the criminal element; think of all this effort it saves her when they're too busy staring and drooling to shoot the hostages or destroy the evidence. I see no problem whatsoever with any of this.

Which I would buy*, were most of the male superheroes dressed similarly. Because if distraction was that big of a deal superhero fights, you would expect to see rather more of the men rocking the man-kinis or dressing like Maidman. But they aren't, which just further emphasises that all these are just ad-hoc rationalisations for a double-standard that only exists to give male readers something to ogle. Not that that point really needs emphasis, because it should be bloody obvious to everyone.

* Except the heels thing. That's just silly. A superhero martial artist could probably defeat some random street thug with one arm tied behind their back, but none of them actually go around with one arm tied behind their back. Handicapping yourself doesn't make you look like a threat, it makes you look like an idiot.

Ravens_cry

2013-01-14, 09:00 AM

Avengers #2.
Preferably She-Hulk, WW or Power Girl. A proper Amazon that kicks butts.
Yeah, Shulkie or Power Girl, definitely! I also liked Wonder Woman in JLU; she felt competent and warrior like.

willpell

2013-01-14, 09:07 AM

Which I would buy*, were most of the male superheroes dressed similarly.

This might have some effect of making the crooks avert their eyes, but it wouldn't be worth the nosedive the hero's PR would take. Women may not like seeing other women strut around in public with inadequate clothing, but my lifetime of circumstantial evidence has suggested that they're much less likely to have an immediate and overwhelming reaction of "put that thing away you jerk," compared to how men will react to a man walking around in a Speedo in broad daylight. Time Magazine wouldn't be putting Superman on their cover if his chest hair were hanging out; it would produce far too much of a public outcry. Though I do think it would be amusing to see this actually happen once or twice. (I'm randomly reading an old Teen Titans at the moment, and Cyborg does give Robin a bit of grief for walking around with his legs bared. It comes across as sort of dickish of him to do this to a teammate, but I would certainly expect him to get similar jeers from strangers, whereas I can't really picture women shouting similar outrage at Wonder Woman. Even if they don't like it, they'll put up with it.)

Das Platyvark

2013-01-14, 09:17 AM

Sandman with a script by Neil Gaiman and directed by Guillermo del Toro.

And we have a winner.

Ravens_cry

2013-01-14, 09:44 AM

And we have a winner.
Sandman *barely* qualifies as a superhero to me, if that much. Sure, it ostensibly takes place in the same universe as some superheroes, but just because it is a comic book does not mean it is a superhero story.
Not saying there isn't a butt load of good stories to tell, but approaching them as superhero stories would be a sure way to have them fail.

Eldan

2013-01-14, 09:57 AM

I wouldn't call it a superhero at all. Sure, he's powerful. But Morpheus isn't a hero of any kind, and the story is far from any kind of genre convention.

Ravens_cry

2013-01-14, 10:27 AM

I wouldn't call it a superhero at all. Sure, he's powerful. But Morpheus isn't a hero of any kind, and the story is far from any kind of genre convention.
I would call them Urban Fantasy and I would choose traditional animation to capture their often ornate unreality.
Better than some actors gawking at greenscreen, though I can think of the perfect actor to play Morpheus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Cumberbatch) if someone was decided to insist on it.

Hopeless

2013-01-14, 10:37 AM

I would call them Urban Fantasy and I would choose traditional animation to capture their often ornate unreality.
Better than some actors gawking at greenscreen, though I can think of the perfect actor to play Morpheus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Cumberbatch) if someone was decided to insist on it.

Yes I see what you mean!:smallbiggrin:

Mx.Silver

2013-01-14, 10:46 AM

This might have some effect of making the crooks avert their eyes, but it wouldn't be worth the nosedive the hero's PR would take.
Yes, because obviously if there's one principle superheroes adhere too, it's that presenting a good public image is more important than effectively fighting crime.
Besides, if the women have to put up with trying to pull off acrobatics in stiletto heels while trying to avoid the wardrobe malfunctions their utterly impractical costumes, I'm pretty sure the dudes can put up with wearing hot pants. Hell, Namor seems to be doing fine for himself. As does The Thing.

Women may not like seeing other women strut around in public with inadequate clothing, but my lifetime of circumstantial evidence has suggested that they're much less likely to have an immediate and overwhelming reaction of "put that thing away you jerk," compared to how men will react to a man walking around in a Speedo in broad daylight.
So if anything a man in skimpy clothing would be more effective for distraction purposes than a woman.

Time Magazine wouldn't be putting Superman on their cover if his chest hair were hanging out; it would produce far too much of a public outcry.
Well obviously he'd wax :smalltongue:
(don't try to tell me this wouldn't work, not in a world where Supergirl can keep her legs that smooth).

Still, I hope no one tells the pro-wrestling business all these problems. I mean, I guess it's a miracle they haven't been completely abandoned by their (mostly male) audience already what with all those semi-naked men they have running around.

Seriously man, come off it. If the publishers wanted to put the men in skimpy costumes they'd do it and have the writers come-up with some excuse to try and justify it afterwards. Just like they did with the females, with the whole 'distraction' nonsense (which it basically is, in a serious fight it doesn't really matter what the other person is wearing because you're too focussed on staying alive; the fight or flight response trumps ogling every time). Or they'd just ignore any downsides, like they do when it comes to explaining why most female superheroes aren't having to constantly deal with their boobs popping out, despite that being a very real risk of their costumes if they were in the real world (note that quite a few countries have laws against women being topless in public, so 'bad PR' ain't just a male concern).

We both know why the double-standard exists: it's because the publishers think having the female superheroes be fanservice appeals to their predominantly heterosexual male audience. When it comes the small amount straight women who read superhero comics the attitude is, as you put it:

Even if they don't like it, they'll put up with it.

In any event, this argument is largely irrelevant since the fanservice costumes aren't likely to survive the adaptation anyway. Women make-up a higher percentage of the superhero films audience than they do the comics audience, and big-budget films need that audience if they want to stay in business (the fact that these films are live action also makes the wardrobe malfunction question harder to ignore).

Ravens_cry

2013-01-14, 10:47 AM

Yes I see what you mean!:smallbiggrin:
On the plus side, he could also work as the Voice Actor.:smallsmile:

willpell

2013-01-14, 10:52 AM

Still, I hope no one tells the pro-wrestling business all these problems. I mean, I guess it's a miracle they haven't been completely abandoned by their (mostly male) audience already what with all those semi-naked men they have running around.

It certainly baffles me....

(the fact that these films are live action also makes the wardrobe malfunction question harder to ignore).

That is a good point. It makes me speculate how large of a role the threat of papparazi waiting to capture such moments played in the fact that we still don't have that Wonder Woman movie they've been talking about since Batman Begins and Spiderman 1....

MikelaC1

2013-01-14, 01:53 PM

I would like to see one superhero movie where the secret identity actually remains SECRET. Hollywood seems to have a real problem with this.

Ravens_cry

2013-01-14, 02:28 PM

I would like to see one superhero movie where the secret identity actually remains SECRET. Hollywood seems to have a real problem with this.
It's a cheap source of Drama™. Comics abuse it enough as it is, and films can get away with it better since they are more self contained.

SoC175

2013-01-14, 02:48 PM

Well, the thing is, I don't know any American superheroes that haven't been in movies yet. American comics are a pain to get, over here, and mostly, I have to specifically order single issues and then pay tons of taxes on them.Actually I find it hard to believe. Switzerland is not some third world country and a short google search reveals several comic stores in Switzerland. And if all fails big old Germany is right next and has all major comic series in a German translation and on the other side you have France which I am pretty sure has all major series translated into French

I'd like to see Spiderman actually making jokes as he fights.Well, the last one is a lot better in that aspect than the last three before

The Glyphstone

2013-01-14, 03:09 PM

I would pay all my money for a Dr. McNinja movie.

Ravens_cry

2013-01-14, 03:35 PM

I would pay all my money for a Dr. McNinja movie.
Doctor McNinja never really caught me. *shrug*

MikelaC1

2013-01-14, 03:44 PM

Ravens_cry

2013-01-14, 03:46 PM

Friv

2013-01-14, 04:06 PM

Is there REALLY a superhero called Dr. McNinja? The name alone makes me think fraud...and if its true, the concept has to be one of the more ridiculous things out there. An irish ninja doctor? :smallconfused:

http://drmcninja.com/ - He is a ninja. And a doctor. And also irish, yes.

And his receptionist is a gorilla, and his sidekick is a boy with a giant mustache who rides a velociraptor named Yoshi.

So ridiculous is probably an accurate term for it.

(The author of Dr. McNinja wrote an extremely good Deadpool story during the Fear Itself arc, if you want a style comparison.)

Hopeless

2013-01-14, 05:38 PM

I would like to see one superhero movie where the secret identity actually remains SECRET. Hollywood seems to have a real problem with this.

Yes I never did understand why they thought that was such a good idea I mean back with Christopher Reeves Superman it was actually ironic that they were the same person and still rivals for the same girl!:smallbiggrin:

I feel bad for Brandon Routh, I don't see his role in the Superman Returns movie as bad, but if you're going to let Kevin Spacey play Lex Luthor seriously wouldn't it make sense to have Superman be fully aware that his nemesis is seriously sociopathic and not behave as if its set just after the movie involving Zod and co and he has to behave the same as he did then?:smallfrown:

I'd like to see a superhero group movie but done properly to save money it can't involve the big three or any of the licenced comics ideally they should be original something they're admittedly not even going to consider but if they did they need someone able to rival Joss Whedon's ability for characterisation and be able to have the team work together for a legitimate reason.

Mystery Men was a good movie so was Sky High and Zoom though I can't help feeling they missed out on a tv series with those two even if they made it low powered as long as they can get the viewers interested the cgi can be kept to a minimum after all they kept the flight with costume in Smallville until the very end and that was just cg'd!

Never mind I can't see anyway that will reverse the current trend maybe I should just be happy that Joss Whedon is still making movies!

soir8

2013-01-16, 05:49 AM

Grant Morrison's Animal Man.

That iconic "Oh my god... I can see you!" scene would work so well on screen.

Drakeburn

2013-01-17, 10:47 AM

Hopeless

2013-01-17, 05:33 PM

I would like to see The Flash up and running again, either as a brand new television series or a movie.

Seriously, Green Arrow has his own show "Arrow", and the tv series in the 1990's was actually done quite well. If you don't believe that the television series was great, take a look here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QszlMVDrFjchttp://) and see for yourself what I'm talking about.

I remember Mark Hamill as the Trickster and a 50's villain who cryogenically froze himself and slept his way to the future (he was very disappointed by the way!) and was a nemesis of a Sandman style vigilante predecessor to the Flash, very good from what I recall.

Kitten Champion

2013-01-17, 07:43 PM

I, honestly don't want to see another year of ubiquitous superhero movies. The whole genera has reached a point of overload in my view. I'd wish they'd just cool off, give it time, and look around to see what else is available.

I've learnt, after some harsh lessons, that whatever IP the film studios choose to adapt -- be it television show, novel, musical, toy, comic book, or board game -- it doesn't matter. The quality of the movie has nothing to do with my capacity to identify its title or recognize its themes. For every superhero movie which I can tolerate there are two or three that just waste my time. Most of these I wasn't even attached enough to to actually dislike them, I just feel utter indifference. This ratio is fairly consistent with movies in general, but seeing so many of these superhero films specifically in the last decade has left me numb to their appeal.

Drakeburn

2013-01-17, 09:21 PM

I remember Mark Hamill as the Trickster and a 50's villain who cryogenically froze himself and slept his way to the future (he was very disappointed by the way!) and was a nemesis of a Sandman style vigilante predecessor to the Flash, very good from what I recall.

I know. I actually watched the entire television series. This show is my reason why the Flash is my favorite DC superhero. Although I wish they chose a better last episode (or had a second season).

I, honestly don't want to see another year of ubiquitous superhero movies. The whole genera has reached a point of overload in my view. I'd wish they'd just cool off, give it time, and look around to see what else is available.

I've learnt, after some harsh lessons, that whatever IP the film studios choose to adapt -- be it television show, novel, musical, toy, comic book, or board game -- it doesn't matter. The quality of the movie has nothing to do with my capacity to identify its title or recognize its themes. For every superhero movie which I can tolerate there are two or three that just waste my time. Most of these I wasn't even attached enough to to actually dislike them, I just feel utter indifference. This ratio is fairly consistent with movies in general, but seeing so many of these superhero films specifically in the last decade has left me numb to their appeal.

No kidding. It was bad enough that the movie industry screwed up on the Lightning Thief, Eragon, Inkheart, etc, but it aggravates me that the movie industry did a terrible Dungeons and Dragons movie. And it is ridiculous that they made a Battleship movie. If Hollywood makes a terrible movie with Magic the Gathering, I definitely don't want to live on this planet anymore (or go to a movie theater for as long as I live)

Why is the quality of movies dropping all of the sudden?

Dienekes

2013-01-17, 09:38 PM

No kidding. It was bad enough that the movie industry screwed up on the Lightning Thief, Eragon, Inkheart, etc, but it aggravates me that the movie industry did a terrible Dungeons and Dragons movie. And it is ridiculous that they made a Battleship movie. If Hollywood makes a terrible movie with Magic the Gathering, I definitely don't want to live on this planet anymore (or go to a movie theater for as long as I live)

Why is the quality of movies dropping all of the sudden?

Sturgeon's law my good man. 90% of everything is crap, the difference is now they seem to be taking stuff that we actually like. The difference is really if folks are making a movie for a cash grab on a popular series, or if it's made by someone who truly cares, or at least cares enough to try and get it right. And even then folks may disagree with the interpretation of a movie.

Though I am vaguely curious how you can make Eragon worse than the book.

In any case it's not all bad, last year on the comic run we had Avengers, TDKR, and Dredd. All of which I loved, though again some folks will disagree with me on TDKR, but we're all allowed our own opinions. I am generally excited for the next batch of Marvel movies, and am tentatively interested in Man of Steel. Also, though the Hobbit had a bit of a slow start I still want to see the next one, 'cause Smaug man.

Tvtyrant

2013-01-17, 10:04 PM

Kitten Champion

2013-01-17, 10:54 PM

The issue with the Eragon movie was that the similarities to Star Wars were... too overt. I knew nothing of the book or the movie when I rented it, and I spotted the parallels with A New Hope while half asleep after having just completed 6 hours of exams and a pound of gummy worms. I haven't touched the book series, the lifting from Star Wars just gets worse according to my friends who've read them. I don't know why it bugs me, since much of Star Wars was lifted from various sources... the brazenness of it I suppose.

My policy for these big named SF/fantasy movie adaptations has been to ask those who are completely disinterested in the related fandom their honest opinions. Namely my mother. It's a fickle minefield dealing with people who have expectations beyond simple excellence in the cinematic medium... relative to the $13.50 you've got to pay now with 3D.

SaintRidley

2013-01-18, 03:00 AM

Well, Avengers2 is going to happen, so that's a plus for me.

Never could get into Dr. McNinja, but perhaps Axecop would be fun to see as a movie.

The Glyphstone

2013-01-18, 11:46 AM

Yes, and he is radical.

Slander, good sir. Radical is all that Dr. McNinja stands against!

Axecop might work as an animated feature. Definitely not a live-action production though.

Jallorn

2013-01-20, 02:17 PM

You know what could be good if writen by the right people? Shadowrun. It'd be more a kind of grittier science fiction than superhero, but I think it could be close enough to be worth mentioning.

Fragenstein

2013-01-21, 07:20 AM

You know what could be good if writen by the right people? Shadowrun. It'd be more a kind of grittier science fiction than superhero, but I think it could be close enough to be worth mentioning.

If CBS Films does a good enough job with Deus Ex, you may just get to see that.

Hopeless

2013-01-21, 09:20 AM

Okay I'd like a bit more detail when it comes to a superhero movie done wrong.

As for the d&d movie the first one would have been fine if they'd had it run as a game first and then looked at the script!

It should have had them hired to investigate the sewers after that fire, the female wizard heading the team having the dwarf as a bodyguard and the two rogues to deal with any traps in the way.
Still say they should have had that elf ranger be assigned as a cleric since the wizardress's master is an advisor to the new empress... anyway they find the lab with the dead dragon within and stumble on the clean up crew and escape with that now dead rod in their possession clear evidence of foul magic being performed Damodar a mercenary captain sends his guards after them.

They escape the sewers and meet the wizardress's master who confronts Profion about it, Profion kills him making it look like his apprentice did it and Damodar arranges the scene to get reliable witnesses to support Profion's claim.

Only the rod hasn't failed, its slowly rebuilding its charge which the former Rogue, Ridley whose a nascient sorceror not a wizard finds he is able to use it to cast magic...

Sorceror's are rarer than cleric's in Izmer so much so they head to the main thieves guild to seek help from Snails former mentor except he's been deposed and slain and his replacement doesn't care for former apprentices of his predecessor hanging around so he has them cast into his maze.

With the wizardress watching from the wings the trio manage to reach the heart of the maze where Ridley calls upon his fledgling sorcery to vanquish the minotaur champion that stands between them and freedom.

Damodar turns up and takes the wizardress prisoner, the elf frees the others and they escape to her people whom track Damodar to a fort where he rests for the rest of the trip back to Izmer with the scapegoat (Wizardress).

No illithid silliness just have Ridley speaking to the elven elder who reveals Ridley has elven blood in his lineage since elves are naturally inclined to sorcery and not wizardry he assists by casting a spell allowing Ridley to talk to Marina (I believe thats her name!)

They head to the fort and Ridley and Snails climb the walls taking the ropes with them and evades the guards attention long enough to find and free Marina.
Of course Damodar discovers Marina has been freed and they have a madcap chase and fight through the fort before Ridley lowers Marina to the outside of the fort with their combined rope.
Snails hides before Damodar reaches the parapet and wounds Ridley forcing Snails to intervene backstabbing the fighter as Ridley falls off the parapet as Marina below uses one of her few remaining spells (no spellbook available as they didn't find her equipment) to cast feather fall on him but he's still badly hurt as Snails is beaten and dropped off the parapet after Damodar sneers down at the heroes.
Having used her only healing spells to save Ridley's life there's none left to save Snails who dies from the fall.
His body is left with the elves as the others head back to Izmer to face Profion and Damodar.
Profion is trying to assume the role Marina's master once filled intending to use it to topple the empress but to reach her court they have to sneak inside the city and then try to find an underground route that leads inside the palace.
Its now the elf cleric is revealed as the empress's agent trapping the others and forcibly escorting them to the empress overriding Damodar's presumed authority as Profion swears his oath to the Queen becoming her new wizard advisor.
Confronting each other Profion is eager to have the captive adventurers' imprisoned and executed as a soon as possible its now the elf casts a zone of truth spell enforced by the seal of the Imperial family the adventurers' are forced to tell the truth and because of his recent oath so does Profion whose unable to prevent himself revealing the truth of the situation resulting in a fight as Profion flees the palace as Damodar covers his escape!
To directly combat Profion the Empress grants Ridley the use of a special sword noting its reaction to him with great interest, it turns out the blade can turn a certain amount of magic which is how Ridely is able to survive fighting Profion long enough to wound him but the necromancer flees the city leaving Damodar behind and he's slain trying to escape.
The movie ends with the Empress declaring Ridley her champion and unseen we learn the Empress is also a sorceress and the Imperial line is sustained by interbreeding with suitable sorceror's of which Ridley is unaware he's being groomed to become the Empress's consort...

Well that would at least allow for a trilogy!

DiscipleofBob

2013-01-21, 09:56 AM

Deadpool: the Movie.

The plot would be your basic action/superhero movie. No half-assed origin story to take up half the movie. Instead it's just Deadpool, a villain of some sort (Taskmaster maybe?), a random damsel in distress to save, along with some dastardly plan and maybe a few moral themes somehow shoehorned in.

The entire time Deadpool is breaking the fourth wall, talking to himself, calling out other action movie cliches, abusing the hell out of being genre-savvy. Lots of witty one-liners and ridiculous Jackie Chan/Jason Statham style action sequences.

The movie then comes to a screeching halt when the love interest is suddenly killed.

Deadpool loses it. He literally walks off set as the camera pans out from the scene to reveal the entire movie studio. He goes to his trailer and the director, let's say Whedon, chases after him. Whedon finds Deadpool huddled in the fetal position crying, and the two have a heartfelt discussion about movie tropes and why the love interest has to die or else the audience won't accept the movie, how Deadpool's fanbase won't accept him suddenly having a one true love, how test audiences and the studio will reject the work. Just when it seems like Deadpool's going to accept the reality of the situation and finish the movie, he holds the director at gunpoint and forces him to change the script so the girl lives.

Deadpool finishes the movie his style, and just when things are looking up for the merc with a mouth, they get to the (newly inserted) sex scene, Deadpool takes off his mask, and the girl freaks out and runs off. Deadpool goes back to the movie set understandably frustrated. The director says that he warned Deadpool and that he shouldn't mess with the production staff, revealing that the true villain of the movie isn't Taskmaster or whomever was setup originally. The true villain is the director and the entire movie industry, and the two fight on the movie set, deconstructing the entire genre with their banter. Deadpool is eventually victorious, but the director gives a blood-gasping final speech: "I can't kill you because you're the protagonist of the story and this isn't some gritty self-sacrifice bulls***. You can't kill me because I control the entire narrative here. We both have the ultimate plot armor." DP: "I can just a bullet through your head right here." "You won't, and even if you could, I could just write that I survived. Maybe add a scene after the credits where I pop out of my own grave to set up for a crap direct-to-DVD sequel, and then, that's when all bets are off. I don't have to worry about selling the movie or setting up for a possible sequel, so I can kill you off any time I want." Deadpool reluctantly walks away, and the movie ends.

Scowling Dragon

2013-01-21, 10:50 AM

That would be great. It could be fine tuned or such, but a movie where deadpool just walks off the set would be totally rad.

dehro

2013-01-22, 11:09 AM

Lobo,
played by Machete, or Mickey Rourke

Hopeless

2013-01-22, 12:32 PM

So how about a generic superhero movie with otherwise unremarkable heroes?

Ideally if we go by the JLA we're looking at;

Superman: alien whose power comes from absorbed solar energy,
Batman: High tech crimefighter and most experienced of the group,
Flash: Speedster at least able to run faster than the sound barrier,
Wonder Woman: Member of a long forgotten mythical island of warriors hidden from mortal eyes by mystical means,
Green Lantern: wielder of an artefact that allows his thoughts to take physical shape,
Hawk Girl: winged alien warrior maiden,
Aquaman: Aquatic human hybrid the result of human evolution far beneath the ocean waves aided by occult magic to adapt to their new environment but able to survive on land but prone to dehydration if far from water, it should be noted he can communicate telepathically with all sea-life a trait he appears to possess alone.

The Avengers;

Iron Man: Industrialist and inventor who makes use of a series of powered suits of armour to help counter espionage against his firm and the misuse of his inventions,
Thor: Alien warrior and demi-god wielder of an ancient artefact that grants him power over the weather,
Wasp: Either a mutant or the result of illegal genetic engineering granting a upper class socilaite adventuress with the ability to shrink to miniscule size and unfurl wings on her back allowing her to fly let alone project bolts of energy from her hands or arms that are powerful enough to striek like a shotgun,
Giant Man/Antman: Inventor of the particle that allows his wife to shrink and he can use to shrink himself or enlarge himself to the size of a skyscraper, as a side note he found a way to communicate with ants (and people take the mickey about Aquaman because he can communicate with sea-life...)
Hawkeye: An archer and a former assassin who prefers the bow over conventional weapons, as if he wasn't deadly enough...
Black Widow: Former assassin and Russian born operative who chose to change sides because of her early life being brainwashed into whatever role her superiors needed her to fulfil. Extremely capable and highly intelligent with rumours of being the result of a multi-generation attempt to duplicate the Captain America formulae of the second world war.
Captain America: Enhanced by a long lost formulae restoring the otherwise inept Steve Roger to the pinnacle of physical excellence it also allowed himt os urvive underwater frozen inside an iceberg for over forty+ years and awaken without any side effects other than being stuck with nobody left he can relate to. Has a preference for using a shield and is an outstanding soldier and unarmed combatant as well as tactician.

So a superhero team would need;

Powerhouse,
Crimefighter,
Speedster,
Female Paragon,
Magician,
Power armoured or artefact wielding hero/ine
and a Mentalist to round out the team,

So we have a solar powered powerhouse whose abilities don't work at night,

A masked crimefighter whose identity is heavily protected so a stage magician background would be a must the wealthy background is only necessary if they're heavily gadget reliant,

The female paragon should be corporate sponsored like an olympian athlete representing their nation as a figurehead of sorts,

The Magician could easily be merged with the mentalist to avoid the paranoia of wondering if they can really read everyone else's minds..

The artefact/armour wearing or cybernetic last member can easily fold in the speedster bit especially if you throw in a false identity where everyone believes they're stuck in that armoured shell when they're not.

Have them be organised as a team by accident and PR keeps throwing them together as events lead them to work alongside one another eventually leading to team ups when necessary such as when the crimefighter needs a little backup or the artefact wielder loses their artefact and needs help recovering it before someone else figures out how it works...

Still not a movie but if you're going to do a superhero movie you need alot more than the big three you need a story and something to establish behind it and the more i think about it the more i think they need to create entirely new heroes if they want something better than the constant rehashing of previous named superhero movies!

Fragenstein

2013-01-22, 12:59 PM

Lobo,
played by Machete, or Mickey Rourke

I was asking for a good Lobo movie on a previous page. I'm not sure Danny Trejo is a good choice, though. He's proven throughout his career that he's simply not a strong lead. He's a character actor and his movies suffer when he tries to reach beyond that role.

But Mickey Rourke? That might work. Though now I keep hearing Lobo saying "I want my dolpheens..."

What possible plot could we give him, though? It'd have to outline his true nature without alienating a general audience. No Grant/Bisley random violence here. Maybe take him all the way back to the Omega Men? Run a story from his days under Vril Dox's thumb so that L.E.G.I.O.N. can be presented at the same time?

Or just run him as a hard-core bounty hunter with a limited backstory and no emotional ties. Lorenzo Lamas got away with it. For a little while.

Ravens_cry

2013-01-22, 02:22 PM

There is a fine line with Lobo. If you make things too serious, something that seems quite common in live action (*snerk*) superhero films these days, it will be jerks being jerks to jerks and create nigh inevitable I-Don't-Care-What-Happens-To -These-People Syndrome.

TheThan

2013-01-22, 04:56 PM

Three words for you:
The Incredibles 2

The Glyphstone

2013-01-22, 05:08 PM

I was asking for a good Lobo movie on a previous page. I'm not sure Danny Trejo is a good choice, though. He's proven throughout his career that he's simply not a strong lead. He's a character actor and his movies suffer when he tries to reach beyond that role.
.

I like this better if you read his comment not as suggesting Danny Trejo (the actor who played Machete) as Lobo, but as Machete (the character) playing Lobo.:smallbiggrin:

Drakeburn

2013-01-22, 05:09 PM

Three words for you:
The Incredibles 2

Agreed.

If there is going to be an Incredibles 2, I would expect a superhuman boom (kind of like a baby boom), which might be appropriate after having Syndrome kill of almost all the old heroes.

dehro

2013-01-22, 05:39 PM

Agreed.

If there is going to be an Incredibles 2, I would expect a superhuman boom (kind of like a baby boom), which might be appropriate after having Syndrome kill of almost all the old heroes.

I'm a bit apprehensive about there being a Incredibles 2.. I liked the first one so much that a sequel seems.. dangerously poised to not compare.
also.. Jack-Jack and his half a dozen powers might be difficult to place in the plot.

Kitten Champion

2013-01-22, 07:02 PM

I'm a bit apprehensive about there being a Incredibles 2.. I liked the first one so much that a sequel seems.. dangerously poised to not compare.
also.. Jack-Jack and his half a dozen powers might be difficult to place in the plot.

I agree, Pixar has produced weak sequels, and even if they didn't I'd still prefer they not do it.

In a period of constant sequels, reboots, and adaptations -- Pixar was refreshing in its drive to be both creative and unique both from itself and the rest of cinema. Modern fables for kids and adults which draw the eye and the imagination. It was the closest Western equivalent to Ghibli, and that's the highest compliment I can give. However, with Cars 2 and Toy Story 3.. I felt the magic dwindle, and Brave failed to recapture it.

I wouldn't mind more animated superheroes though, I think the emphasis on live-action is obtuse.

TheThan

2013-01-22, 07:31 PM

I agree, Pixar has produced weak sequels, and even if they didn't I'd still prefer they not do it.

In a period of constant sequels, reboots, and adaptations -- Pixar was refreshing in its drive to be both creative and unique both from itself and the rest of cinema. Modern fables for kids and adults which draw the eye and the imagination. It was the closest Western equivalent to Ghibli, and that's the highest compliment I can give. However, with Cars 2 and Toy Story 3.. I felt the magic dwindle, and Brave failed to recapture it.

I wouldn't mind more animated superheroes though, I think the emphasis on live-action is obtuse.

that's the thing, Disney bought them out. which means they're only going to do what's safe, and guaranteed to sell. that's what Disney is best at.

Kitten Champion

2013-01-22, 07:45 PM

I thought Disney always owned them.

*sigh* I honestly don't pay attention to such things.

I is disappoint.

Dienekes

2013-01-22, 08:39 PM

Ehh, I really like Toy Story 3 and thought for a sequel it actually made sense as a continuation of the story with plot points that were inevitably going to occur
(basically Andy outgrowing them). It wrapped it up rather well. Of course, now if they make a Toy Story 4, that'd be bad.

Drakeburn

2013-01-22, 08:56 PM

TheThan

2013-01-22, 10:44 PM

I thought Disney always owned them.

*sigh* I honestly don't pay attention to such things.

I is disappoint.

naw, they started out as an independent animation studio. But Disney snatched them up when they started putting out animation that could beat Disney. That was 2006.

McBish

2013-01-23, 02:07 PM

I think they should take this current reboot with spiderman and ditch the triology set up for these movies. Instead start setting up the Sinster Six for him. You could introduce 1 or 2 villians for a few movies then bring it all toghther. Also I agree with Spiderman needing to talk and joke more during his fights. I get that epic music makes it seem cooler, but come on that is what spiderman does.

TheThan

2013-01-23, 02:40 PM

I agree, no set in stone trilogies.
Instead they should take the route they took with Indiana Jones. Just make movies about spider man. They don't all need to be huge "epic" three part story arches, just self contained movies about Spider man doing what a spider can.

Hawriel

2013-01-28, 01:10 AM

I would like to see more super hero movies like Chronicle and Unbreakable.

These had elements of the fantastic rooted in the real world. The characters were all human. People reacted to them in a believable human way. None of the characters suddenly became more experienced and authority than police, doctors, soldiers, fire fighters or other trained professionals because they could shoot fire out of a random body part.

Even though Astro City has elements of camp, and partial silliness of both DC and Marvel, the stories at their core are more human. I would like to see those kind of books made into movies.

Hopeless

2013-01-28, 07:29 AM

Okay how about a movie about how we define a villain?

Have a variant of the Mystery Men except the "hero" or the "Captain Amazing" in this version is trying to create a new roster of villains to fight against to regain his sponsorships as well as his flagging fame.

However one of the people he selects to become his new adversaries turns out to actually have powers and when his actions harm some of his recruits the most unexpected pseudo villain kills him becoming a true supervillain as far as the world is concerned.

By the end of the movie we learn the new villain is being chased by the remaining superheroes which results in his reputation blooming with every victory since thanks to his "creator" the heroes have no idea how to beat him...

But done in the way where we know he isn't interested in killing or robberies but thanks to the "hero" he's forced to do these things but refrains from outright cruelty or sadism and only uses his abilities to protect himself and accomplish the tasks that allow him to live his life even as he contemplates establishing a secret identity to try and lead a normal life as possible...

Yes but I did say how do you define a villain, if you want a Wolverine or Sabertooth character then it really isn't worth a movie, but what about someone whose character makes you actually wonder whose the actual hero and what exactly are the true villains?