Welcome back, my friends
To the show that never ends
We’re so glad you could attend
Come inside, come inside!
Just had the song in my head for a second there. And if I’ve done my job, now it’s in yours. But thank you comic book heads, for joining in on this latest edition of…
This Shipment Day (yes, I capitalize it) we’ve got Part Two of the Professor X/Wolverine team-up titled ORIGINAL SIN, in the form of X-MEN: LEGACY #217 – so I guess they’re sticking with this, eh?
You know, this just goes to show just how long of a way the cache prestige reputation whatever-you-wanna-call-it of Creative Element A can influence Audience B‘s perception of Concept C. Daniel Way’s and Mike Carey’s contribution to the X-Men tapestry over the last few years have been overwhelmingly positive – better, in my opinion, than Grant Morrison’s. As a result, while I still think of this as a stupid idea, I don’t think of it as anywhere near as stupid an idea as I would have if it came from, say…Chuck Austen.
I’m not sure what my point is, although I do have to note that the mere act of typing Austen’s name just now made me throw up in my mouth a little. Now that’s what you call…ahem…uncanny.
MARVEL’s JANUARY 2009 SOLICITATIONS are up, and what has to be the most curious solicitiation for January of 2009 is the Marvel One-Shot SUPER HERO SQUAD: HERO UP!
SOLICIT TEXT: Welcome to SUPER HERO CITY, a crowded capital of classy crusaders and crafty criminals in a crammed collective, and home of the SUPER HERO SQUAD! Take a stroll down to the Xavier Institute, past the FF’s Baxter Building…but don’t stray too far, because dastardly DOCTOR DOOM’s domain is the next block over…! Collecting the super-popular comics seen EXCLUSIVELY on MARVELKIDS.COM, this issue also includes bios on all of your favorite Super Heroes and Super-Villains!
ARE YOU READY TO HERO UP?!!!
I’d never even heard of this, since I don’t go to MARVELKIDS.com for anything. But I can’t help but be curious about a coupla things. First…
…who’s the lobster boy? Second…
…do those claws squeak? They look like they would. Do they? And third…
…what exactly would the “K” in MODOK stand for here? Mental Organism Designed Only for…what? Kickball?
Anybody wanna venture a guess? Help me out here…
On the flipside, what has to be my absolute favorite bit of news of the past week…THOR GOES BACK TO ORIGINAL NUMBERING!
SOLICIT TEXT: The mighty God of Thunder hits a major milestone! THOR goes back to its classic numbering for this issue 600 mega-event, and even Stan “The Man” Lee joins the party with an all-new story! J. Michael Straczynski and Olivier Coipel bring their widely acclaimed run to a major culmination! And Chris Giarrusso lays down an epic Mini Marvels Thor adventure!
In a word…YEAAAAH, MAN!
I have never seen the point of re-numbering a comic book, so I’m glad that Thor is getting the milestone treatment. He’s been a huge part of Marvel Comics since the beginning, and his book is enjoying a renaissance of Jurgensian, dare I say Simonsonian levels right now. Now all I need is for THOR: MAN OF WAR to finally hit the shelves and my life would be complete…
And the tidbit that actually draws open the curtains of KNEE-JERK REACTION THEATRE this week, is the news that Terrence Howard will NOT be returning for IRON MAN 2. There’s this quote excerpted fromTHE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER:
In the movie, Howard played Jim Rhodes, Tony Stark/Iron Man’s best friend and future armor-clad hero War Machine. One scene featured Howard looking at a silver suit of armor and saying “Next time,” a line that caused great delight for fans.
But there will be no next time for Howard.
Marvel had no comment, but sources close to the deal said negotiations with Howard fell through over financial differences, among other reasons.
MY KNEE-JERK REACTION: Aww, crap. That don’t sound good.
As general principle, I don’t like it when someone screws with a perfectly working formula, for the well-oiled machine that was the core cast of IRON MAN, I consider this a bombshell.
I’ve seen just about every Marvel movie that’s come out, except for maybe ELEKTRA, GHOST RIDER and either HULK movie. But of those that I have seen, IRON MAN blows them all away, and is constantly locked in a back-and-forth struggle with SPIDER-MAN 2 in my head for best Marvel movie of all time. Anyway, a big part of what made this movie so good was the way this central cast worked so well together. Their chemistry seemed to be on point at all times; Tony, Obediah, Pepper, Rhodey – even the various robotic arms in Tony’s garage had their moments – but a highlight of the movie, I thought, was the chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Terrence Howard. They made you believe that Tony and Rhodey were true best friends, like JD and Turk from SCRUBS-level best friends.
I don’t want to come off like I’m not a fan of Don Cheadle – I’ve been down with the Cheadle ever since I saw him in DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS. But I really hope Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures doesn’t seriously believe that, with a movie this successful, both creatively and commercially, that they can take such a chance and pluck out one actor of such a well-gelled central cast and just put someone else in there. Not when the former so easily projected the military presence crucial to his role…
…and not when the actors in question don’t resemble each other in the slightest.
And to hear it from Howard himself, this was certainly a shock. YAHOO! MOVIES reports that, with regards to this cast change, Howard had this to say:
“It was the surprise of a lifetime. There was no explanation, [it] just up and vanished. And I read something in the trades that implicated it was about money… but apparently the contracts that we write and sign aren’t worth the paper that they’re printed on sometimes. And promises aren’t kept, and good faith negotiations aren’t always held up.”
Sounds like a guy who didn’t want to go anywhere to me. But I’m gonna leave it at this…Marvel – make this right. I don’t care what you and Paramount Pictures have to do. Just make it right. It’s not like we’re replacing a SHIELD Agent here – IRON MAN was too huge of a hit for anyone to start getting cute with major cast roles. This has all the potential of putting a stink on IRON MAN 2 that nobody wants – not Marvel, not Paramount, not the cast, not the fans.
Besides…
Everybody knows you don’t start screwing around with a successful formula until the third movie!
Just sayin’, is all…
