.... as this guy in Iron Man 2.
(He's actually saying "Clint", rather than the other word that it looks like ... Clint being the name of Hawkeye from the Avengers. But boy howdy, did the other reading amuse me to no end when I first read it!!).
Of course, I'm a big Don Cheadle fan, so it's quite a boon for the film. That said, as weirdly high-pitched as his voice is, I quite liked Terrence Howard as Rhodey and was looking forward to him eventually donning the War Machine armour.
In other Marvel movie news, this guy....
... has been unofficially confirmed as the director of The Mighty Thor movie.
This feels like a really good fit to me. With Kenneth Brannagh directing, this is sure to be a film to attract some decent talent. I just hope they base it more on Thor's appearances in the comics rather than as a straight adaptation of the classic Norse myths, otherwise what's the point of it being a Marvel comics movie? You might as well just make a Norse gods movie (which would actually be pretty cool itself if done right).
I think the real appeal of seeing a Thor film would be the blending of the mythological aspects of the character in the "real world" setting (in the comics, regular guy Dr Donald Blake finds himself the avatar of the thunder god Thor when he picks up the fabled hammer Mjolonir and is found "worthy", meaning that whenever danger rears its ugly head, Dr Blake taps his walking cane (he has a limp, like Hugh Laurie's House) and is transformed into the super powerful Thor Odinson.
A straightforward adaptation, set entirely in Asgard and covering the ground of the classic Norse myths - while interesting - would make Thor's inclusion in the much-discussed forthcoming Avengers film that much more difficult. I understand balancing the real world aspects alongside the mythological would be very tough, but why tackle a Mighty Thor film if you're not going to try to do the character the way he's done in the comics?
Jon Favreu, the director of Iron Man, has said in regards to the Avengers film that he has trouble envisioning Thor existing in Iron Man's world. Certainly, it's not a scenario that springs immediately and strongly into the mind's eye, but I definitely think it's possible, especially if Favreu himself finds ways to work in Iron Man's own cinematically unwieldly concepts, such as the Mandarin and Fin Fang Foom.
Finally, in regards to the film adaptation of The Avengers ...
... there's talk of of utilizing the Hulk as the villain. This would actually be true to the comics, as the Avengers first formed to oppose the Hulk, and only after fighting him did they realise that they were all actually being manipulated by Thor's half-brother Loki. They then joined forces with the Hulk to take Loki down.
Edward Norton doesn't seem all that keen in appearing in any future Marvel films after the troubles he had behind the scenes of The Incredible Hulk. Having the Hulk show up in the Avengers film as a villain (albeit a misunderstood one) could allow for the character to appear without the jarring aspect of once again re-casting Bruce Banner, as I imagine they could quite easily get around having any transformation sequences and just have the Hulk be the Hulk throughout the whole film.
It would also be a way of incoporating Thor a little more easily, should Loki be revealed as the mastermind behind the situation (and, extrapolating from that, perhaps working in league with Iron Man's own nemesis, the Mandarin).
Mostly, I think it's cool because it allows for the possibility of seeing sequences such as this one in full, cinematic glory;
The knock-down, drag-out superpowered fistfight is the one major thing that superhero movies have going for them that isn't really possible to see happen in any other kind of action movie, and for the most part we haven't had the chance to see them. Sure, there was the Hulk vs. the Abomination and Iron Man vs. the Iron Monger, and there are other various examples, but until one of them matches and surpasses the grandeur of the final battle between Neo and Agent Smith in The Matrix Revolutions, I'm going to feel that the cinematic superhero fight is still yet to live up to its true potential.
Phew! So much geekery in such a small amount of space! I think I'll end it there. I'm sure I've lost enough of your respect for one post.
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