Giant Sized Editorial: A Summer Series On All Things CBM: June Edition

Table Of Contents 
Daredevil Netflix vs. Daredevil Movie
Could Batman v. Superman Be 4 Hours Long?
That Soul Gem Theory With Heimdall
4 Things That Should Be Eliminated From CBMs From Now ON
Age Of Ultron Review
Robin In The DC Cinematic Universe
Battles I Want In Future CBMs

Daredevil Netflix vs. Daredevil Movie

I may be starting off on a terrible foot with you guys with what I am about to say.... but the 2003 Daredevil Director's cut is my favorite CBM of all time. (If you are still here God bless you). This is an opinion I don't think many have, especially these days with all that is coming out, but there are things in this movie that are just really well done. People generally seem to prefer the Director's cut of this movie over the theatrical version that got has gotten a lot of hate over the years. I actually still think the theatrical version is great, but I should make it perfectly clear that the Director's cut is the version I really love. There are things in this film that are terrible, (park fight scene) but the things that the film does right really make me love it. There is a strange phenomenon with this film for me in that I can ignore the painstaking scenes and parts of this film. I really can't do that with any other film without those terrible moments affecting my perception of the movie as a whole. 

Something about this movie just works for me, (I'll get into details in the comparison) so naturally when the Netflix series was announced I was excited. This was an opportunity for that same gritty tone to be done correctly without the cheesy scenes that threw the movie off. After watching the series I thought it was good, but it is definitely being over-hyped. There are elements I really enjoyed with the series, and others that I thought could have been done better. I wouldn't say that I prefer the Netflix series's depiction of the characters over what the movie did, but lets get into the specifics of why I think that, in true comparison form.

The portrayal of the main character Matt Murdock is probably the most important to any Daredevil story.  Just like the understanding of Bruce Wayne is important to a Batman adaptation, Matt Murdock is to Daredevil, and maybe even more so.  Now the portrayal of Murdock is not only dependent on the actor but also the direction, so I will be taking a look at both the actors and the direction.
So here is a comparison of both Ben Affleck and Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock. 

Ben Affleck seems to get a lot of the criticism for the movie and I think it is undeserved. I thought Affleck did great job as Murdock. He shows his brokenness and struggle, but also shows the confidence that Matt has because of his powers. In the movie we see much more struggle from Matt than we do in the Netflix show. We see Matt sleeping in a chamber of water to drown out the noise, we see his scars, and we see how his life as Daredevil affects his outside life. His portrayal does a good job of showing how Matt lives his life as a blind person. Shots showing how he counts his money, or how he picks out clothes, are essential for the viewer to believe a blind man could do what he does. We also see that Matt as a lawyer tries to use the justice system first before taking it into his own hands as Daredevil. We see this when he is in the courtroom with Quesada (a rapist), questioning him before he murders him on the train tracks. As Daredevil we see his struggles with sound, and how his heightened hearing can hurt him when exposed to loud sounds. This gives a vulnerability that we needed to see, that the Netflix series really does not show. The movie explains Daredevil's powers quite thoroughly by showing his “radar” sense and his seeing ability with rain. Unfortunately, his Daredevil was portrayed as a blatant murderer. This threw many comic readers off, as killing is not something Daredevil did in the comics. However, I am not strongly opposed to this choice for the movie. It allows for the movie to show a real struggle for Matt in deciding what real justice is. Plus we don't see Daredevil murder often in the movie and it is more of a special occasion thing. The real problem I have with Affleck's Matt Murdock are his scenes with Jennifer Garner. In these scenes Murdock does not act himself and Affleck's acting becomes corny. Obviously, there was the factor of the real life relationship between the two actors that that may have thrown Affleck off, but these scenes really messed with the tone of the movie.

For the recent Netflix series Charlie Cox was outstanding. On pure believable acting alone, he surpasses Affleck. You really felt like he was a blind man. It felt natural and he had the persona of Matt Murdock down. He also did a good job of showing a switch between what he was like as Matt and what he is like as Daredevil. The movie did this slightly but Matt in the movie has much more confidence, where as Charlie Cox's version has much less swagger and seems like he needs others to help him. His scenes as a lawyer are great because he shows he really cares, and they are very believable. There are some aspects that I do not like with Cox's version however. He never seem to struggle mentally with what he is doing. The Netflix series portrays him as a person who knows for a fact that what he is doing is correct. He never really questions his vigilantism, he has fully made up his mind that Hell's Kitchen needs a protector. However, I really liked how Charlie Cox delivered his character overall.

So, I would say that the direction of the character is better in the movie but the acting is better in the show. I really like both portrayals, however good acting and great direction takes it over stellar acting and iffy direction. So I have to say the movie does Matt Murdock a little better overall. 

I'll come out right now and say that I believe that Vincent D'Onofrio is being hugely overpraised for his Kingpin. I really did like it, but I had some problems with him. Firstly, I had some trouble with warming up to the character. It seems like it took a couple episodes of him appearing for his character to really get going. He felt like a timid psycho ready to explode in those first couple episodes, which was of course intentional, but left me feeling really un-enthused about him as a character. D'Onofrio speaks so slowly in these episodes that it is like pulling teeth watching some of the early scenes with him. However, once he gets going I really started to buy the character. Another thing I didn't like was that Kingpin never really felt like a boss. Now I know that this is coming up in future seasons, but they actually did try to make him seem like a mastermind boss in this one, when he is giving orders to the guards on the highway after they bust him out. At that point I really wasn't buying him doing that. If the first season is about him rising to power, leave it to the next seasons to show his comfort with that power, don't try to manufacture a strong villain when he hasn't developed into it yet. One more criticism I had was his fighting. In the final battle scene with Daredevil we see that D'Onofrio is just not going to be the type of actor that can pull of looking good in a fight scene. I thought after the brutal car head decapitation scene we might see some real power from Kingpin. But what we got in that fight scene is Kingpin charging like a maniac and throwing the slowest punches ever. I never really felt like Daredevil was in any danger in his fight with him. D'Onofrio does really have presence on screen. The scene where he first meets Matt Murdock is my favorite of the series because of the presence that Kingpin has. He also does a great job of having that big kid mentality. He shows his immaturity because of his past, very well. I really am much more excited for the future of D'Onofrio's Kinpin then I am about his performance he has already showed. I thought he was good maybe even great but I think his resemblance to the comic appearance of the character combined with the fact that he is an esteemed actor, made people expect an awesome Kingpin. I think these expectations combined with fact that he was a creepy character have slightly blinded people to his flaws. People want to praise the performances of the creepy villain all the time, and I think this is just another example of overpraise because of that. 

Michael Clarke Duncan is a bit surprising in his portrayal as Kingpin. Based on his performance in Green Mile you you think he might show that immature childish side of Kingpin that we know from the comics. Instead we get a really believable boss figure. You really get the sense that he is a guy you don't mess with or you will be dead quick. His presence is unbelievable, and we see this in the ballroom scene when talking to Nelson and Murdock. He towers over both of them and has such an intimidating attitude. His fighting and action is also superb. The way he throws around his loose tongued body guards show Clarke Duncan's pure power. Also the end fight scene with Daredevil is superb. Clarke Duncan can actually throw a believable punch and make the fight interesting. The deviousness of throwing roses on the bodies of those he kills, is just another touch that makes him a great villain. On the negative side we really don't see the background of how he came to be the Kingpin. We also never really see his childhood or what made him so violent. Also the argument can be made that he is one dimensional.  

I hold both iterations in a similar respect. Both are very good at providing a solid villain for the hero. If I knew that we would never see D'onofrio's Kingpin again, and the first season was his definitive take on the character, then I might give the edge to Clarke Duncan. I don't think D'onofrio's Kingpin is threatening enough of a villain so far for him to surpass what the movie did. However, I will give D'onofrio the edge because we do know that there will be more, and the show-runners as well as D'onofrio have done a great job allowing for big potential when he comes back. I am more excited for a D'onofrio come back than I would be if there for Clarke Duncan if there was a sequel for Daredevil.

I hated Foggy Nelson in the Netflix series! I have seen many reviews online about how his comedic relief is needed for such a dark show. People seem to really like Elden Henson is that role. I find almost every scene with him cringe worthy. I didn't find any of his humor actually humorous. The delivery of which he speaks has a huge resemblance of a “skater dude” “stoner” “college bro”. It feels Henson has just taken his character in the kids movie Mighty Ducks, and has read the Daredevil script with that character in mind. He is extremely unbelievable as a lawyer, which makes that whole Murdock and Nelson arc less impactful. Also, his scenes with Karen are so long, boring, and frequent. That love interest arc were they are always getting drunk, and looking for Matt felt like such filler and is so unnecessary. The only thing I thought made sense was the scene with Foggy and Matt at college. Foggy is actually funny here, because his manner of speaking makes sense for that scene and part of the time-line. But other than that, Elden Henson really falls flat for me.  I feel like Marvel is trying so hard to have every property have comedy and that "Marvel humor" stamp. Even in their darkest property they will ever produce they still felt the need to force a comedic character, and it feels totally out of place. 

That being said, I don't think Jon Favreau was all that amazing either. I think his character is good and necessary but nothing special. He delivers his lines well and with good comedic timing, and I like how he fades away in the 3rd act of the movie. Nothing special. But much better than the Netflix series.

I am not familiar with the DNA of the Nelson character from the comics. I don't know how much of a comedic character he is. But quite frankly every show or movie needs some comedic relief, so it is not the presence of comedy that hurts the Netflix character. I truly feel this was 95% the actors fault on this portrayal. I really hope he dies early in season 2.

The love story in the movie feels slightly awkward. You would think there would be chemistry between Affleck and Garner knowing their outside life, but I just don't feel it. I don't think the love story is bad or annoying but just really clunky. It is necessary however to setup Bulleseye.
I do think the Daredevil movie's portrayal of Elektra was quite good, but her solo movie is a much different and much uglier story.

Rosario Dawson is the epitome of a solid actor. She is unbelievable as her character in this series. She can exude emotion with her face and her actions. I love that this love story only takes place in a couple of episodes and is not in your face every episode. Plus I love that this arc is subtle and builds slowly. Overall, exceptional acting and great direction for this portion of the Netflix series. 

The Ben Urich in the Netflix series naturally gets much more screen time than the Urich in the movie. This helps the character a lot because it makes us care for the him. Vondie Curtis-Hall did a great job and is a great actor. He is really exceptional in showing his struggle with his profession. The movie version is quite ok as well, but not as fleshed out as the series version. The movie direction with the character is necessary and his ark is as well but you don't care about him. He is seen as more of a villain character than the hero we see in the show. The acting is very good in the movie but just not great like the show. Big thumbs up to Vondie Curtis-Hall and Drew Goddard for what we got with Ben Urich.

If you have not noticed already I tend to have strong opinions on the subject matter I am covering. The origin of Daredevil is no different. My favorite part of Daredevil as a character, is his back-story, especially when done right.  I feel the  movie does this right where as the show is lacking some. The movie does a great job of showing how Matt went from relatively normal to an almost superhuman. He scenes in the alley where Matt is getting bullied are the only scenes where I cringe a bit because of acting. Other than those two scenes, the entire origin story is great and well fleshed out.  Jack Murdock played by David Keith, feels like that old washed up boxer. You can really buy him being a boxer from that era. Also he is the type of father that needs the responsibility of Matt to help him, but really wants to help Matt at the same time. I also really like the way they handled Matt getting his powers by running away after he finds his dad works for the mob. The scene were Jack is boxing and beats a younger competitor just to please his son is awesome. Then the way they handle Matt learning his dad is dead is very emotional. 

In the Netflix show, even though they had much more time I do not feel like they touched upon the key points that the movie did. This was a real missed opportunity because Marvel had a luxury of  being able to fully tell a back story without worrying about spending too much time on it. The actor who played Jack Murdock in the show was not very believable as a boxer in 70s. He felt more like a normal dad, than a troubled guy. I just didn't like the way Marvel handled this aspect.

Both of the child actors that portray a young Matt Murdock in the movie and the show are awesome. Matt Terra for the movie and Skylar Gaertner for the show. I just like the direction that the movie takes when it show Matt honing in his skills. In the show we don't really see this as much. We see Matt's training with Stick, but I would rather have seen a something similar to what we see in the movie. 

The aspect of religion is the character of Daredevil is something that really engages me. It adds an extra layer of realism that we don't get from other heroes. In the director's cut of the movie we see a lot less of the priest scenes than we do in the theatrical version. Even with the theatrical version the scenes involving Matt's Catholicism are pretty lackluster. The only ongoing thing throughout the movie involving religion is about whether Matt is going to show up for church on Sunday. The show does a much better job of handling Matt's religion. They actually go into deep discussion into what real Catholic's believe. I love that they are doing it well because of that extra dimension. Plus they are scenes of pure dialogue that don't involve Foggy, and that is a plus.

The presence of Matt as a lawyer is stronger in the director's cut of the movie than in the theatrical version. We see Matt investigating a case in the movie, and using his sense of hearing to tell if people are lying at the stand. I think it is a solid portrayal of the lawyer side of Matt. The show portrays a little more of building Nelson and Murdock, and less of court room drama. We see more of Matt's heart as a lawyer than we do his skill as a lawyer. I am optimistic about the future for what we will see as far as fleshing out the lawyer side of Matt.

For some reason people seem to not like the way the suit looks in the movie. They either complain about it being leather, or how Affleck looks in it. I don't subscribe to either of those complaints. I think the suit along with the fighting sticks and accessories look awesome. On the other hand the show's suit look terrible. It has so many edges the forehead looks so square. They also need to fix the neck because it just does not looks coherent with the rest of the suit. When you spend almost the entire season building up the suit and it is your big final reveal, it better look spectacular, like Vision in Age of Ultron spectacular. Marvel really dropped the ball on this one. Fortunately they have the mechanism of the Gladiator who makes the suit in place. This way they can find a way to explain the improvements they might make to the suit in season 2. Hopefully it will look much more like it did in the movie with it being more sleek and less like battle armor.

The section is a not as much of a landslide as you may think. Yes of course the Netflix series takes the cake, however there are some underrated scenes in the movie. First, let me point out the negatives of what the movie did. It overused the elements that were popular in Hollywood action at the time this movie was released. The “crouching tiger” style action where people are flying on strings is used in this movie at times. Also there are some corny things in the action (the park scene). It I so unfortunate that this scene is in even the director's cut. So many people turned a blind eye to this movie just because of that scene. In my opinion this scene is single handedly the reason that people consider this movie “bad” instead of “ok” or “good”.  However, if you are reading this and you have not watched the director's version of Daredevil, do me a favor and watch just the bar fight scene at the beginning of the movie. If you don't like that scene go ahead and stop watching, if you do, give the movie a re-watch. That scene is epic and rivals the hallway scene in the show we all love so much. The only criticism I would have for the Netflix series's action is that there is too much and the stunts become repetitive after a while.
That being said, the series is much better overall with limited flaws in it's action.

Is this a contest? One of my biggest complaints about the Netflix series is that there are so many scenes that are just dialogue with no music or ambiance at all. There are stretches of the show that have like 5 min scenes of dialogue with absolutely nothing behind them. It becomes very awkward when you think that a scene is extremely important because there is no music behind the dialogue and then you realize it is not. There is really no “theme” other than the music in the opening credits, and even that is nothing special. Graeme Revell's score for the movie is something special. There is a great theme, and his use of piano really evokes emotion. The movie score is just all around solid.

Miscellaneous

Bullseye was portrayed with some flaws in the movie but I still think Colin Farrell did a great job. I really like this character and his aura, but unfortunately he was exposed to some scenes like the “grandma on the plane”.

The most damaging scene in the movie. Most people lost all interest in this movie at this scene. I am shocked that this scene was left in the director's cut. However, I can look past this scene and take the rest of the movie for what it is. 

Stick was a nice change of pace for the series. I'm not sure I like the scenes with him training young Matt, but he is a nice addition.

Summary:

I really like both the series and the movie, however I still like the movie much more. My main gripe with series is capturing the essence of the character. I feel like if I took two people with no knowledge of the character at all, and had one watch the series and one watch the movie, I honestly feel like the one who watched the movie would have a better idea about the main points of the character. The movie does a great job of showing and summarizing all the main concepts of the character without feeling rushed, and the movie does not even cross 2 hours long. The series is around 13 hours long and I feel like they still did not flesh out everything. Also the series tried to mimic a lot that happened in the movie yet we still see people praising the series and hating on the movie. Regardless, I hope for great things regarding the shows future and really enjoyed more Daredevil.

Could Batman V Superman be 4 hours long?

Now the title of this section may feel like an outrageous question to ask, but if you really think about it it starts to become more plausible. This movie will be a spectacle. It has to be, because with all the movies that have come out from Marvel, DC needs to start off with a bang. This expectation, combined with other factors, make me think that the run time for this film will be huge.

The subtitle Dawn of Justice is a slightly scary thing to think about being integrated in this movie. We have only one movie so far in this cinematic universe, and immediately after we are jumping into forming the Justice League. This formation may take a big chunk out of the movie or only a small chunk depending how it is done, but it is just another thing they have to cover. Based on rumors and reports I have compiled a list of thing Zach Snyder may cover in this movie.

• Superman adapting into the Daily Planet as Clark.

• Superman's development with Louis Lane.

• Intro to Bruce Wayne and Batman.

• Intro of Lex Luthor and Lexcorp, and possible transition into war suit.

• Intro of Wonder Woman.

• Possible Robin back-story.

• Possible Doomsday appearance.

• Intro of Ray Fisher's Cyborg.

• Intro of Jason Mamoa's Aquaman.

• Possible Carrie Kelly arc.

The realization of this by fans, have caused many to say this movie is overcrowded. Now, my position has always been that good direction can make any movie have the exact tone it needs. However, I do think that this is a bit of a concern with this specific movie. We undoubtedly will see over half of this movie cover the battle between Batman and Superman, but with all the above bulleted points that are both certain and possible, I am wondering how these events will get enough screen time. An event that is certain is the portrayal of Clark Kent adapting to the Daily Planet. The end of Man of Steel left us with Clark taking a place at the Daily Planet after the events in Metropolis. We will most definitely have to spend some time showing how he successfully pulls this off. We will also have to see more development in the relationship with Louis Lane. This was too big of a story line in Man of Steel for it to just be put aside for a whole movie. Bruce Wayne and Wayne enterprises along with Alfred and everything that goes along with him, let alone Batman, will be seen. Lex Luthor and his company will be seen. We will most likely see tension between Wayne enterprises and Lex corp. in this movie, which will take screen time. There have also been rumors of Lex evolving into his battle armor for this movie and having Doomsday as his muscle. If true, there would be a massive amount of moving pieces for fight scenes. 

There have also been rumors that Robin will have a back-story in BVS. They say that the Joker has killed him and Batman is affected by this deeply. This will have to take some time to develop. There has also been rumors that Carrie Kelly may show up in this movie. With this movie having huge Dark Knight Returns ties, and with Red haired actress Jenna Malone cast in an unknown role many are speculating that she will play Carrie Kelly. Three other Justice League members will be seen in this movie, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Cyborg. We are led to believe that both Aquaman and Cyborg's parts are minor, but all the press seems to indicate that Wonder Woman will have a big role.

All of this combined with the extremely long shooting time, the year delay, the introduction to the DCU, and the rumors of a 2 part split make me think the only way will get all of this into one film is if it is very long movie. Lord of the Ring: ROTK was 3.5 hours long and is the most celebrated movie of all time from an awards standpoint. So, having a movie of this length may not be out of the realm of possibility, and may make sense. I don't think it will be 4 hours long per se, but I do think it will at least push 3 hours long. It needs to be a huge body of setup, for this cinematic universe to work. Despite what some fans may say, I think Zach Snyder can pull it off. I am extremely excited for this movie.

The T-H-A-N-O-S theory and Heimdall

This theory has been thrown around lot in the internet lately, and I don't know exactly how I feel about it. It is definitely fun to thrown around these types of connections, but I don't know how much I believe that this is what is actually being done. It would be interesting for Marvel to give a slight nod to all the fans trying to figure out what is going on with the Infinity stones. 
 

I was also thinking that H could stand for Hammer as in Thor's Hammer Mjolnir. But I do not know how that would work out. Maybe inside the Hammer?....... I don't know I just thought I might share another CBMers theory that I found interesting.

4 Things That Should Be Eliminated From CBMs From Now ON

CBMs are awesome nowadays, and there are many aspects they all share. Most of them involve things that make each movie better, but I have noticed some cliches that are becoming increasingly annoying in CBMS. 

The first and most obvious is the destruction of cities that continue to occur. People seem to hate on Man of Steel and forgive the original Avengers for this but they are both equally guilty. These scenes eliminate all belief in a “world”. When there is destruction and death totals on a level of what we see in these movies. The rest of the normal humans on this earth would go insane. Suicide rates and mental institution totals would be astronomical. We have seen what something like 9/11 has done to our society, and anything remotely close to the level we see in these CBMs would cause mass chaos.
 

You would think that in a cinematic universe one big city destruction would be enough. But in AOU we see 2 more instances of city destruction, with Hulkbuster and with the Ulltron battle. At this point we need to be done, because any more “terrorist attack” like events will make me check out completely. The big battle with Thanos better be in some barren dessert or on another planet because Thanos level destruction is to much for any city.

Meanwhile I am done with all acts of Military or police interference. In almost every movie we see the military come in and be absolutely ineffective against super villains or aliens. It comes where we have to question even having the military or police show up at all. In Avengers the police where there for Captain America to boss around, and for a big laugh about their lack or importance to the situation. I may be sounding hypocritical because on the one hand I am saying that scenes of city destruction are unbelievable, but then I am saying that I don't want the police or military to show up during a huge crisis.

The thing is that I would be open to a proper use of military and police. If the police and military are actually shown helping in some small way or if they actually have a purpose for being shown, then I'm all for it. It seems interesting that we might end up seeing something on this caliber in BVS. In the trailer we see what seems to be a police force for Superman. If they do this correctly this seems like an interesting and unique way to integrate purpose into the police.

Also is it too much to ask for “comedy punches” to be eliminated? By that I mean acts of violence that are intended to get a big laugh out of a packed theaters audience. These are just annoying to me. They ruin the purpose in the use of violence and they are just there to give the movie that “Marvel fun”. 

The last and most annoying thing to me in these movies is the promotion of sex appeal for the male actors in hero roles. It seems like we cannot have a CBM today without the studio that produces it making sure that the sex appeal of their male actors is shown. Obviously, this is to make the female audience more likely to see these films. This bothers me because it shows that the studios are not trying hard enough to appeal to the female audience by just making good movies. 

I was listening to a review of AOU and someone mentioned the weird scene with Thor and the magical pool. They mentioned that the scene did not make sense, and they joked that it was probably there just to get Hemsworth shirtless. I seriously think that is true. Almost every Marvel and DC movie has always shown these actors shirtless and it bothers me that they go out of their way to do it. Even Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, who out of any character has an excuse to be shirtless, still gets the sex appeal treatment from time to time. If I had to pick one of these cliches to be eliminated this would be the one by a mile.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

Reviewing Avengers: Age of Ultron is very difficult because I really love the movie. This movie is highly entertaining, but not perfect. I'll say right now that I give the movie a solid 8/10 and therefore it places about 3rd or 4th in my rank of MCU movies so far. However, this movie has it's flaws, and mixed reviews seem to indicate that (not that reviews affect my views i.e. Daredevil). In my personal review, I will look at what I feel are the flaws are what this movie did well to contribute to the MCU. Let's analyze. 

I will come out and say, I am not a Joss Whedon fan. I have never liked the idea that he is popular because he appeals to the nerd culture exclusively. I sensed such a tone of appealing to that audience with the first Avengers, that it really turned me off. Not to say that I am not a nerd, I love all types of nerd culture franchises, but I love those because they are good not because they directly try to appeal to me. The first 2 hours of the original is just so full of ways to appeal to that nerd audience, that it feels like we are in Whedon's Avengers instead of just the Avengers. Only until the last 30 min battle scene did I really start to enjoy the movie. I ultimately give the original a 6/10 based on it's missed potential.

My opinions on Joss Whedon did not change when AOU came around. The film is undoubtedly better than the first in many respects, but some of his actual movie making, and a lot of his non-production behavior really makes me glad he won't be back in the near future. I will touch on his direction mistakes a little later, but firstly his comments and behavior outside of the movie need to be discussed. 

I don’t think there has ever been a more documented and reported part about a director than what happened with Whedon with AOU. If you follow any CBM covering media outlets, you know that leading up to the movies release, it was reported almost daily that Joss Whedon is extremely exhausted with the process of making this film. There were many comments from Whedon himself, and hundreds of reports of how Whedon was weary, tired, and wiped by completing this movie. Never before have I seen this being so widely reported about a director that has taken on a big project. James Cameron with Avatar and Titanic, Peter Jackson with Lord of the Rings, George Lucas with Star Wars, and countless others have tackled huge projects before, and never has any exhaustion been so widely reported. The only thing I can guess about why, is that his exhaustion must have been extremely severe. This must have been because of the stress of handling a big project and how he felt overwhelmed by it. This makes sense to me because it really shows in the movie. Again I really like AOU but many parts felt like the director did not have a handle on how to juggle all the moving pieces (more specifics below).

If Whedon can't handle consecutive movies like he does for TV than I think it is good that him and Marvel are parting ways and handing the franchise over to the Russos who can better handle the big pressure. He also showed he does not handle pressure well with the alleged “twitter quit” because of feminist criticism. He may have been the right guy for a single blockbuster, however he has repeatedly shown that pressure becomes too much for him when under the spotlight for too long, and that is a flaw that a big time director just cannot have.

Another reason they might be parting ways, is because of the comments that Whedon made during the press for the second installment. Joss clearly expressed displeasure with the limitations Marvel put on his creative control with the movie. He felt that Feige and other executives, forced things on the film that didn't allow him to tell the story he wanted. These comments are one of the biggest reasons that I am happy both him and Marvel are moving on. When you are a part of a cinematic universe that needs cohesion to work well, you must be able to recognize the necessity of a studio or single mind like Feige, to make calls based on the integrity of the universe. Of all people you would think Whedon would understand this better than anyone, just based on him being the first to bring the universe together. Unfortunately, he does not seem to either understand or want to accept this. So ultimately, I agree with Marvel's decision to cut the tension at the source.

The most prevalent evidence of Whedon being overwhelmed by the process is seen with the bad CGI we see if a lot of the film. I completely understand that this movie needed an abundance of CGI for it to be made, however it is the quality and not the quantity that bugs me. In the opening snow scene of the film, the sweeping camera shows the Avengers batting and some of the CGI looks unbelievably cartoony. Many scenes in the film have spots of fast moving action where the character movements are just not refined to look great. I think this has to do with some of the CGI being rushed, and although I was not able to find an example of the snow scene, I did find a spot where I thought the CGI looked just as bad.

Notice these two images are identical except for the CGI inserts of Iron man and Hulk. Notice how sloppy and bad Iron man's suit looks compared to the image below. In the one below we see an Iron man suit that is sleek and looks like it fits in with the rest of the environment.

Of course many things get changed from the time a trailer is released to when the movie actually gets released, however what seems to have happened is that Joss Whedon changed his mind at the last minute and decided Iron man needed to be in this shot. The consequence of that decision is that the CGI did not have enough time for refinement and looks as bad as it does. At that point you must find a way to cover up something that could take a viewer out of the experience. It definitely did for me, and that type of call is on the director. Whedon has to realize that the longevity of this film is a huge part of film making, and that mistakes like this will cause a movie not to age well for future viewings. This can be clearly seen by re-watching X-men Origins Wolverine in the present day. Origins was filled will sloppy CGI when released, and viewers probably thought it was the least of the movie's problems when it came out. Now if watched that move is completely unwatchable because of the eye sores that are the CGI. If you look at the implementation of CGI in Captain America:Winter Solider you will see how to do it correctly. The Russo brothers know how to sparingly and correctly place elements of CGI so the movie will sustain a long life. I am scared than in 10 to 15 years if I watch this film it will feel and look messy because of the use of CGI. This is something I am not scared about with movies like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Cap:Winter Solider where CGI is refined and used correctly.

Going into the movie the Hulkbuster scene was something I was very excited for. From the trailers it looked so awesome brutal and exciting. Now you readers may think I am crazy but I thought the scene was a bit underwhelming. I feel like the scene is a bit dark, in a visual sense. Now, I thought this may be because of the theater I was watching he movie in the first time around. So when I saw the movie again in a much improved theater I was kind of surprise that I noticed the scene was still oddly dark compared to the rest of the movie. This combined with the constant jump cuts in this scene, make the scene not very visually appealing. Yes, of course there is a lot of chaos, crashing, and brutality, but it is not very clearly seen. You would think that of all times to make sure there is a spotlight on a battle, this one that they promoted so much would be it. Of course this was a flaw in the direction, and the decisions made in both shooting and editing. 

Something I also thought was a bit weird was how Rhodey has gone back to his “War Machine” suit instead of sticking with his “Iron Patriot” suit. I find it quite odd that you will introduce a certain change in a character like taking up the mantle of “Iron Patriot” and then change it back without much explanation. It may be possible I am forgetting something that happened in Iron Man 3 or somewhere else in the MCU that explains this. Otherwise I am puzzled by this. I wonder if this suit will come into play in Civil War when the Stark side is trying to sway people to their side by using patriotism. I hope it does because that suit looks amazing.

Ultron was very disappointing. Ever since I heard James Spader was voicing him I was pumped for this villain. Unfortunately, like a lot of the movie he is rushed, and he is probably the most rushed of all. Ultron goes from being born to immediately wanting to destroy the Avengers for reasons that are very vague. More than anything we needed more time spent on him for his reign as villain of this movie to be meaningful. Instead he was just an evil metal robot without much back-story. Also, I thought it was weird that Whedon further diminished his presence as a meaningful villain by having him joke around. I just did not buy the fact that a robot figure who is so intelligent, as to look upon humans as lower beings than him, is using human humor. At that point, I gave up all hope for a good villain, and just looked at Ultron as a cool robot for the Avengers to fight.

On a more positive note I really like the story of the movie. This movie actually has a plot other than save the world, which the first movie really didn't. The idea that Stark has gone behind the backs of the Avengers to build a way to protect the earth is fascinating. This type of thing setup Civil War well because it slightly villainizes Tony and makes it possible for Cap to fight him. I also liked the way they introduced more things involving the Infinity stones. This is one of my favorite introductions of a stone the MCU has done so far. My biggest fear when I realized they were doing Infinity stones was that each stone would not get its due. I thought they might not show the power of each stone individually. The introduction of Vision seems like a great outlet for the mind gem to show its power.

Speaking of Vision, his creation and reveal is my favorite part of the movie. He looks simply stunning, there are no words to explain how good he looks on screen. This is an area that you can not fault Whedon on. I am also glad they did not over use him in the fight scene, because it should be a good idea to save him for bigger battles and show what he can do there. 

I also thought the dialogue of the movie was greatly improved from the first movie. Instead of banter for comedy this time around the Avengers actually had meaningful conversations with each other. The first movie did such a poor job of engaging me with the scenes of dialogue, and I could not wait for the action. In AOU I actually found myself enjoying the dialogue more than the action. I hope these movies continue to have more meaningful dialogue moving forward, and leave the blockbuster-event- film crowd-laughter-lines in the past.

Summary:

I really do appreciate this movie, I thought it was fun, and for now, it definitely benefits from multiple viewings. I do realize the necessity of this film but I also question it. If the first Avengers is the formation movie and Infinity War is the climax movie, there must be a “day in the life” of the Avengers movie to show a true 3 part arc. However, as of now, this movie really does not hold any huge affect on the MCU as a whole. Yes, we were introduced to the Vision and another Infinity stone, and yes rumors indicate that Civil War will deal with the destruction in this movie. Also Hulk's fate is put into question by this movie. The argument can be made that these are important events and they are, but if you ask someone to summarize the movie in a sentence, the only choice would probably be “the Avengers saved the world again from a villain; Ultron”. I just wish this movie was less of a standard “event film”and more of an integral part of the MCU. 

Robin in the DC Cinematic Universe

I recently saw an editorial by John Campea of AMC Movie Talk (although it looks like he is leaving) about his long standing opinion that Robin can not work in the current, gritty, DCU. The idea he has, is that when you make CBMs darker and more realistic, certain comic book elements will not work. He believes that Batman in this cinematic universe would never bring a child into crime fighting or battle. Here is the video for his full thoughts. 

I actually agree that if they do decide that a version of Robin will be introduced in some form or fashion, that there is a lot of explaining they must do in order for this to work. I do like the idea John presents in this video, where Snyder could ignore the idea of Robin and just having the Joker kill what was Batman's protégé. Batman could have had the idea of training a young boy to be his sidekick or successor. Joker could find out about this and kill him. I find this idea interesting. Another idea I personally thought of, has to do with Batman realizing he needs a partner on equal footing, This partner would be another Batman type crime fighter and not a kid or sidekick. He would be on par with Batman to a certain extent (like Falcon is to Cap). So Batman needs to recruit this new partner. He is looking for highly skilled people, that can handle stress and physical feats. He ends up discovering the highly talented Richard Grayson of the Flying Graysons circus act.

He is impressed with his physicality and he is seriously considering approaching him. He does extensive research on Richard and the Grayson past and discovers their long history of donations and support to people affected by Gotham crime. He notices his heart and physical attributes makes him a perfect candidate for this job, but Bruce needs to see him up close before he makes the call. He takes a date to the circus with full intention of scouting Richard Grayson, when the terrible tragedy we all know happens and all the Graysons die however they want to handle it in this new DCU. The only one left is Dick Grayson and Bruce decides to adopt him to pay honor to the years of work the Grayson's did for crime. Bruce has no intention of training Dick, and just plans to have him live at the Wayne Manor. However, day by day Bruce starts to notice Dick has many of the same traits and skills as his father. Until one day, Dick discovers Bruce is Batman by wandering into the Batcave, Bruce has no other choice but to try to make the best out of the skills Dick has (though he is not at the level of his father).

I think the above theories are plausible ways in which to introduce Robin into the DCU. However, I think Robin's introduction is the least of the problems he my have in fitting into the DCU. We have to remember that Batman is going to be a part of the Justice League, and he will probably need to play the slight outcast role in that team. Meaning, that Batman will be a part of the team but be somewhat of a soloist. Having Robin be a sidekick of Batman, while he is having the soloist mindset may make Robins existence seem hypocritical. Also I don't know if they will even have time to touch on Robin with all the things going on in the build up of the team. So I feel like a plot device might be in order.

The Justice League needs to have an insurance program for the future and I believe a Young Justice program is the way. Teen Titans is not a reasonable team for this cinematic universe because they actually are independent and fight crime separate from the Justice League. This universe needs a training program similar to the young-lings in Star Wars. I do not want to see a Young Justice movie but rather a program put in place for characters like Robin, Kid flash, etc. to have screen time. They could be shown in action when the “full arsenal” is needed to take down someone like Darkseid.

Battles I Want In Future CBMs

There is nothing cooler than the one on one duel. The major reason Star Wars is so cool is because you can see 2 or 3 people go at it in a lightsaber battle. It is a real test of who is better. The “Breaking the Bat” scene in The Dark Knight Rises where Bane goes toe to toe with Batman, has to be one of my favorite scenes in any CBM ever. It just epitomizes what I love about tests of battle. With the huge slate of 30+ CBMs coming in the next few year I am anticipating many battles. Here are the ones I would love to see.

A battle between Drax the Destroyer and Thanos is one that I would like to see attempted. From my understanding in the comics Thanos not Ronan was the one to kill Drax's family. If they ended up doing this in the movie it would be interesting. Obviously, Drax would get crushed in this duel because he got crushed by Ronan who would have been stepped on by Thanos. But we have seen that Drax is a character that does not back away from a fight, and I am sure that he would attack Thanos if this news were revealed. If there was some way that Drax could be enhanced, by an Infinity stone or something, it could make this battle fun. I would like to see them go this direction with the character of Drax.

Iron Patriot/ War Machine is most likely going to be siding with Iron man during Civil War. Based on his relationship with him and his willingness to work for the government as Iron Patriot I would strongly assume he will be with Stark. Falcon is almost positively going to be with Cap for the same reasons as Rhodey. This will make for an interesting clash in Civil War. Both similarly powered (or gadget-ed) characters who are the right hand man of the two who will go head to head in Civil War. This makes for the perfect duel, and I hope since both characters have flying ability, that it takes place in the sky. This way while Iron man and Cap are fighting below these two will be fighting in the sky.

With Dr. Strange coming up and introducing more mystical powers into the MCU I feel it would be entirely necessary for him to question the mystical powers that are already in existence. Scarlet Witch has such power and this could be an awesome duel. The effects in this duel could be really great if done right. I would love to see this.

The whole reasoning behind why the Rock wanted to play a character like Black Adam was that he would be able to go toe to toe with Superman. I think we should be able to see this. I would love for Dc to get creative with this battle because one could make the argument that it would be too similar to Superman vs. Zod. I think if done uniquely this could be my favorite battle.

If the rumors are true that Lex Luthor will be seen in his battle armor in BVS I would love to see him go up against Batman. This could be a battle of technology with Wanye enterprises and Lex corp going at it. Their unlimited resources could make for a spectacle of a battle, not to mention Batman's “superbuster” armor vs Lex's battle suit would be amazing.

I think Crossbones will be a big part of Civil War. His arc will be in the background while Cap and Iron man duke it out. He will then emerge big and I would love to see the whole Cap entourage take him on.
 

I strongly believe we will see a version of Planet Hulk in Guardians 2.  If so I would love to see him fight Beta Ray Bill in a coliseum just like that story shows. This could be brutal and epic.

By far, the fight I would love to see most would be between Odin and Thanos. Odin has been a character that has been under used in action scenes in the MCU. We haven’t seen his pure power. We have to remember HE IS ODIN one of the most powerful beings in all of comics. Plus with Kevin Feige telling us that there are two gauntlets in the universe, we will probably have to see Thanos go and get the one in Asgard. To see Thanos try to steal the Gauntlet from Asgard and have Odin battle him in defense of the glove, could be the most epic battle on screen ever. It would actually show that Odin is Odin and obviously he would lose (and Thanos would get the Gauntlet) but would put up a fight and this could be awesome. 

So that is it guys, my Summer Series Editorial for June. I am not the most knowledgeable dude but I hope you have enjoyed my thoughts, and I hope you appreciate the work I've put into this. I really enjoy writing about CBMs, because it is a good outlet to get my opinion out to people who might care. I know my opinions are extremely against the grain of what the normal consensus is among the internet. I thought it would be good to allow this site to hear another perspective. If you have read everything here, let me know what you think in the comments I would love to hear from you. If you appreciate this kind of long form article hit the thumbs up so more people can see it. Stay tuned for my next Giant Sized article on July 1st.