My Top 5 Worst Comic Book Movie Performances

Last week I asked my friend to use their brains, dig deep within their souls, and give me their choices for their top 5, and bottom 5, comic book movie actors/actresses.  Some surprising conclusions came to surface, especially when I started making my own bottom 5. Most of the top actors were men, while most of the bottom 5 were women.  I don’t think this is sexist.  I enjoyed both Michelle Pfeiffer's and Anne Hathaway’s portrayals of Selina Kyle, but they just aren’t in my top 10, but I would say top 20 perhaps. I think this has more to say about Hollywood than the actors and actresses.  How most directors and producers look for the prettiest face, rather than acting ability, to bring out the best in the characters.  I would also blame the writers and studios who allow such great characters to be belittled in these roles that are strong female fictional role models, but still are seen mostly as a love interest for the male hero.  I only blame the thespians themselves last.

Anyway, I started whittling down my list there was one male that came to mind; Nicolas Cage in Ghost Rider was pretty bad.  However, I watched the first film while doing stuff around the house and never even bothered seeing the sequel.  So while I don’t like most Nicolas Cage films I thought it was unfair to judge him on something I didn’t bother to really concentrate on.  I’m also giving the cast of Batman and Robin a break.  I’ve seen the five leads of that film in other things and I know they all had the acting chops to play what their characters should have been, but again it just came down to bad directing, writing, producing, etc.  Finally, a fan favorite in this category is Jessica Alba as the Invisible Woman.  While I agree she wasn’t my 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd choice as Sue Storm I think she did a better job than the following actresses. 

5) January Jones as Emma Frost/The White Queen

Anyone read Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men?  How about Grant Morrison’s New X-Men?  Emma Frost is more than just arm candy for Sebastian Shaw.  In X-Men: First Class she had hardly any emotion or sass.  Emma Frost is a down right bitch, and a great character to read.  She’s not just a Barbie doll who turns into a chandelier.  I know Miss Jones is on a hit TV show, Mad Men, but this is major motion pictures.  You either bring it, or you get left out of the sequel.  I rest my case.

4) Famke Janssen as Jean Grey

Imagine you’re a 16-year-old girl who is dating a shy, and timid, field leader of the X-Men.  Now imagine you get the powers of a god, use that power to kill billions, kill yourself because of what you did, and then realize it wasn’t you at all, it was copy of you, and while you were asleep in the water some "thing" was living your life and getting freaky with your boyfriend!  That’s just half of Jean Grey’s story.

Before all that happened Jean was the girl-next-door that all the boys as Xavier’s school wanted to hook-up with.  She was sweet as Sue Storm and as powerful as Charles Xavier.  So why did they get the villain from Goldeneye to play this innocent young woman?  I never liked her, I never got what Scott and Logan saw in her, and I never saw Jean Grey in her.  I cheered when Wolverine killed her in X3.  That, and Iceman going full-ice, were the only good parts in that film.  I’m too mad about this. I’m moving on.

3) Jennifer Garner as Elektra Natchios

The Man Without Fear always seemed to have a blind-spot when it came to Elektra, and so did 20^th Century Fox when they cast Jennifer Garner.  I mean, I thought Garner looked really hot in Daredevil. I’m also glad this allowed her and Ben Affleck to work together more because then they ended up getting married, and they are one of my favorite Hollywood couples.  But Garner should not have been Elektra.

Elektra is a killer.  She’s not nice, she likes to play with Matt’s emotions, and get him into trouble. But Mr. Murdock didn’t need any more help in that category.  Garner is too non-threatening and I just didn’t buy it.  Personally I think her and Famke Janssen should have switched roles.  Then neither of them would have been on this list.

2) Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson

I’ve never been a big Spider-Man fan.  While I enjoy the finer parts of the character and mythology I’ve left the web-head obsession to my brother.  And because of his passion I know more than I need to know, and one thing I know is that Kirsten Dunst couldn’t play the real Mary Jane Watson if you stretchered her six inches, gave her a boob job, and every other word out of her mouth was ‘tiger.’ 

MJ is a supermodel for Christ sakes!  I liked Maguire as Peter Parker a hell of a lot more than I like Andrew Garfield, but Dunst is not Mary Jane.  Mary Jane is confident and sassy.  She’s so hot that no one can understand why she is dating, and married, Peter Parker.  Dunst is the girl-next-door who would have made a good Gwen Stacy, but as MJ I’d have rather have seen someone who actually makes me say, “ wait a sec.....he’s with her?”

1) Halle Berry as Ororo Monroe/Storm

Of course this had to be my #1! I’m a big X-Men fan and this is one of the biggest tragedies in movie/comic book history!  I prayed Bryan Singer would not bring her back for X-Men: Days of Future Past, but since he has I pray she doesn’t have more than just a few lines.  Just because she’s the #1 black actress doesn’t mean she has to play the #1 black, female, superhero.  I think Halle Berry totally deserved her Oscar for Monster’s Ball, even though, like Swordfish, all anyone cared about was her breasts.  When you start off the first film with a bad African accent, a half-assed accent in the sequel, and by the third film you are speaking totally American; well I have no respect for you in that role.

I heard that Berry didn’t even want to do X3 unless her part was expanded.  I get that.  Storm is a great character, but when you focus on Wolverine for five, soon to be six films, it’s hard to add any other good character arcs into the mix.  Storm is claustrophobic and used to be worshipped as a god in Africa.  Yet Berry’s portrayal made her seem so normal it was lame.  I never thought I wanted to see more of her in the films.  Oh, and that spinning, tornado, move in X3, I died a little inside when I saw that.  

MY TOP 5 COMIC BOOK MOVIE PERFORMANCES

This week I’ve encountered a topic on several occasions.  I think the topic was sparked by the opening of Thor: The Dark World, but it seems the discussion of BEST COMIC BOOK MOVIE ACTOR just seems to keep being in my face.  This is a very loaded and interesting topic that I could personally go on talking about for quite some time because their have been some great performances. 

Yesterday on Facebook I asked my friends who their TOP 5 COMIC BOOK MOVIE ACTORS were.  Again, it’s a great topic and I got some great responses.  I then thought about every ones suggestions and had to took my own personal preference into account and have mark my own TOP 5 list.  I had to take out TV series and animated movies because then it would just be ungodly to make a TOP 10 list even.  I thought about Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach, Alan Cummings as Nightcrawler, J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, and both Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger in their interpretations as The Joker. There have been some great performances!

So, like I said, I had to take my own taste into mind.  Some may argue with me about my TOP 5, just like I may with theirs, but these are 5 actors who I feel just nailed their roles and brought these characters to life where I felt that they were being ripped right off the comic page.

5) Wesley Snipes as Eric Brook/Blade

Say what you will about  Blade: Trinity I found it to be entertaining when I first saw it, mainly because Ryan Reynolds was hilarious in it.  For three films Wesley Snipes perfected the scowl of The Daywalker.  He was hard-edged and could kick some serious ass.  You saw the conflict in him and saw that he lived his part from the first reading of the script to the very last re-shoot.  To me, this all comes through on screen and just makes me smile every time Blade starts kicking ass from in the first scene of every movie. 

MY FAVORITE LINE:

Blade: Some mother-fuckers are always trying to ice-skate up hill.

4) Chris Evans as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch

Growing up, I loved The Human Torch.  He was silly, funny, and always cool.  As a young boy who couldn’t be entranced by the characters charisma.  As a kid, I always thought of my family as the Fantastic Four.  My father was Mr. Fantastic as the nerdy science guy none of us really connected with.  My mother was The Invisible Woman who tried to keep us together and functional.  My brother was The Thing, a little brooding, a little misunderstood, and we always seem to get on each others nerves.  Which of course left me as The Human Torch, a kid who was a little to arrogant, a little to energetic, and always wanted to look good in front of a crowd.

Regardless of how you may feel about the FF films Chris Evan encompassed everything I thought The Human Torch was or could be.  Evans was the comedy relief in the first Fantastic Four film and was so well liked he had the main character arch in the second film.  When Evans was cast as Captain America I thought it was a horrible choice.  I loved Evan as Johnny Storm, a character who could not be further from Steve Rogers.  But Evan surprised me and did a great job as Cap and I can’t wait for Winter Soldier to come out.  But to me, Evans will always be The Human Torch with the delivery of one line.

SUE: You don’t really want to walk around on-fire for the rest of your life, do you?

JOHNNY: Is that a trick question?

3) Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine

In my life I would consider myself an uber-geek about 3 things; Star Wars, Superman, and X-Men.  Because of this I am very critical about any movie about these topics.  I would say that four out of the six X-Men films are watchable and three I actually enjoy watching.  Hugh Jackman is over 6 ft tall.  In the comic books Logan is supposed to be no bigger than 5’7.  This is really my only beef with Jackman as playing the man who is best there is at what he does, and what he does isn’t very nice.

For six X-Men movies Jackman has played this character, and regardless of how I felt about each one, I was always impressed with Jackman as Wolverine.  He brings the rage, the depth, the vulnerability, the loneliness, and heroism, to this character like I always dreamed he would be in real life.  I can read a comic with Wolverine in it and picture Jackman delivering those lines and making it seem real. Although I can only hope that X-Men: Days of Future Past will be as good as the trailer makes it seems I have no doubt Jackman as Wolverine will be great no matter what.  I’m also hearing rumors of a 3^rd Wolverine solo film.  Give me a Fastball Special on that one!

MY FAVORITE LINE:

Wolverine: You picked the wrong house bub.

2) Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man

RDJ is quoted in saying that Iron Man saved his life.  Downey has had a roller-coaster-career. He's had  problems with drugs and alcohol that landed him in rehab and jail several times.  When I heard RDJ was cast as Tony Stark I thought, “a recovering, alcoholic, actor playing an alcoholic, narcissistic, superhero.  Perfect!” 

I’m not a big Iron Man fan but even I knew Donwey was made for this role.  After everything he went through in his life it helped him understand this character and bring him to life with such fullness no one could have matched.  RDJ has made this character more likable and bankable than any of the other Marvel Studio characters, and jump-started the whole Marvel cinematic universe.  Can you believe at one point Tom Cruise was considered to play Tony Stark?  Man, that would have been horrible!
MY FAVORITE LINE:
Tony Stark: They say the best weapon is the one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That's how Dad did it, that's who America does it, and it's worked out pretty well so far.
Iron Man: 

1)Christopher Reeves as Clark Kent/Superman

Like you didn’t see this coming!  Most people who have an actual valued opinion on this subject matter grew up with Christopher Reeves as their Superman.  I wasn’t even born yet when Superman: The Movie was released but even I know the importance of the film and, Reeves iconic role, in the history of film and superhero/comic book genre.  He made us believe a man could fly.  He made us all believe that some one could be that good, and genuine, and honorable. Which is kind of the who point of Superman.

I have enjoyed other portrayals of the Man of Steel since Reeve hung up his cape.  Dean Cain turned him into the “every man” while I think Henry Cavill brought this character into a new age, even thought I have serious issues with Man of Steel, like so many issues that as a long-time Superman fan I can not bring myself to buy the blu-ray. 

Anyway, Reeves distinctly made sure that Clark Kent and Superman were two completely different people.  Every time I watch Superman: The Movie I still finish with thinking how awesome Reeves performance was.  He was the first actor to take a superhero seriously.  Without Reeves or this film the comic book and superhero genre in film would not have advanced so far to gives us Batman a decade later with Michael Keaton (who almost made my list) as a Dark Knight who was way more different than the last person to don the cowl; Adam West.  This is the movie I think all superhero films should aspire to be, and all who play comic book characters should aspire to this level of acting.

MY FAVORITE LINE:

Superman: General, would you care to step outside?

My Dream Marvel Film Franchise: Animated

Last month DC released the animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, based on Flashpoint, a mini-series by Geoff Johns.  In this story Barry Allen, the Flash, woke up in an alternate reality.  CAUTION SPOILERS AHEAD, FOR THIS ENTIRE ENTRY.  In this reality Bruce Wayne was shot and his parents lived.  Thomas Wayne became the Batman and his psychopathic wife became the Joker.  Superman never landed in Smallville, KS but the middle of Metropolis where he was taken by the government and treated like a lab rat his whole life.  Meanwhile, Aquaman and Wonder Woman are fighting a war that would destroy the entire world!  Barry must either find a way to change reality back or find a way to stop his former friends from killing billions of people.

This was a great film.  It didn’t stray too far from the source material, and was the right mixture of drama and action to make the story pop.  DC has done a tremendous job with their animated films in recent years with Batman: Year One to Superman: Doomsday.  To dare say I’ve enjoyed their animated films more than their live action.  With a direct-to-dvd animated film you aren't constraint to theater prices, weekend numbers, and big special effects that hike the cost of the film millions of dollars.  Animation is a great alterative to telling comic book stories so long as you have the right story, directing, and animation.  A little well-known voice-acting doesn’t help either.

Last week I read a Robot 6 article describing 5 DC storylines that would make great animated films.  While I agree with them all this inspired me to make my own list of Marvel storylines that would make great animated films.  So, I thought of several separate storylines, but when I started jotting down my favorite Marvel stories they all kind of flowed into each other, minus Civil War.  Then it occurred to me, why not just make them all sequels to one another, leading to one big event, just like the Avengers did!

Part 1) Avengers: Disassembled

This film would see the destruction of the Avengers by one of their own.  Having gone insane over the loss of her children the Scarlet Witch kills several member of her teammates, including her own husband, Vision.  But not before she brings down every hideous villain the Avengers have fought onto the Avengers mansion.

With Marvel Studios hitting it big with Joss Whedon’s Avengers and a sequel on the way with Scarlet Witch and her brother Quicksilver set to appear, this film would be perfect to roll out right after Avengers: Age of Ultron.  Anyone who would watch this film would know most of the characters so you can skip the back story and go straight to the destruction of the Avengers.  You could play the franchise hype like a fiddle.  I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it!

Part 2) House of M

Following Avengers: Disassembled came this doozy of a storyline.  Professor X has been tapped to help put Wanda, a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch, back together again.  When he can’t the Avengers the X-Men come together to decide her fate.  Suddenly reality has changed and the only person who knows it is Wolverine, head of S.H.I.E.L.D.  Logan finds himself in a world where Magneto and his family rule, Peter Parker is a celebrity, and every hero is living their dream life.  With the help of mysterious girl Logan must rally his friends to give up their happiness and change reality back to how it was. 

The twist at the end of this story is 2-fold.  First, Magneto didn’t tell his daughter to change reality, his son Quicksilver did. Second, when the Wanda changes reality back she makes one diversion, “No More Mutants.” 90% of the mutant population has lost their powers, including Magneto.  This forces the few hundred mutants left on the planet to take refuge with the X-Men and sets up everything to come.  Did I mention Peter Parker is pissed as hell that his perfect happiness got taken away from him?

Part 3) The New Avengers: Breakout

With most of the worlds mutants de-powered and the Avengers shut down of course it’s the perfect time for a super-villain prison break!  Captain America and Iron Man must get the band back together, along with a few new members like Spider-Man and Wolverine, to catch all the bad guys who broke out of the Raft, the maximum security prison.

This would be a first look at Spider-Man and Wolverine brought into the Avengers mix, a formula viewers would already know from Marvel’s big screen adaptations.  It also would re-establish the Avengers and Wolverine for their role in Part 6 of this animated film anthology.

Part 4) X-Men: Messiah Complex

With less than 200 mutants left in the world they are no longer the next step in human evolution, but a species on the brink of extinction. It’s been over a year since a new mutant has been born, until one pops up in Alaska.  The X-Men arrive only too late to see the destruction Mr. Sinister’s Maruders and human Purifiers have caused on the Alaskian town.  The baby is safe, in the hands of Cyclops’ son from the future, Cable.  It’s a race to get to Cable and the baby first and it all ends with an epic battle that leaves Cyclops with the decision to send Cable and the baby girl away, into the time stream, so she can grow-up and decide her own fate.

This story has all the X-Men into the mix and re-introduces X-Force, led by Wolverine.  Again, thanks to all the live-action X-Men films most of the characters have been established to the general audience, just not well in my opinion.  Anyway, I would love to see the 90’s X-Men voice-cast come back to do this film and all the others.  For a generation of kids like myself those voices are what we hear when we read Cyclops and Wolverine's words on the page.

Part 5) X-Men: Second Coming

Cyclops sends Cable and the baby, Hope, into the time stream so of course they’re going to come back just as Cyclops believes they would, and just in time to save them all.  The villain Bastion is making his final move to end mutant-kind and when he hears that the so-called “mutant messiah” is back he’ll stop at nothing to destroy this now teenage girl.  Some notable deaths along the way include Nightcrawler and Cable.  The ending leaves some X-Men wondering if Hope was worth the price they paid, and if that was the Phoenix that twinkled in her eyes at the end.  You ready for the big pay-off?

Part 6) Avengers vs. X-Men

The Phoenix is coming for Hope and the Avengers believe that, like Jean Grey, the Phoenix will corrupt her and surely destroy the world.  Cyclops however believes that the Phoenix has always signaled rebirth and that this could be the salvation the mutant race has been waiting for.  Of course then we get Captain America vs. Cyclops, Hulk vs. Colossus, Magneto vs. Iron Man, etc.  Wolverine falls down with the Avengers, people switch sides, and when it’s towards the end Cyclops is the sole possessor of the Phoenix power.  He then is corrupted so much by that power that he kills his teacher, and surrogant father, Professor Charles Xavier. 

With the help of Hope, the Avengers, and now the X-Men, are able to take down the new Dark Phoenix and re-spark the mutant race.  So this sparks the debate, was Cyclops right?  I’m sure he’ll have time to think about in a prison cell as a now known super-villain.  Remember when everyone thought Cyclops was just an up-tight boy scout?  Suck it!

So there you have it people, six great stand-alone animated features that would kill as one giant animated franchise.  You wouldn’t have to worry about aging actors, make special effects look real, and who owns what because Marvel has the right to make all their characters animated.  I would much rather enjoy this in the privacy of my own home then go back $12 to sit in a noisy theater just see the current A-List celebrity try to act like he has integrity before he goes back to his trailer and does another line.  Was that a little too much?  Oh well.  I know I’m not the only fanboy who would kill to see this happen.  So, to the House of Ideas, here is mine, let’s make it happen!

The Brightest Days of Johns 'Green Lantern'

It was announced yesterday that Green Lantern writer, and now DC Comics Chief Creative Officer, Geoff Johns, will be stepping off from writing Green Lantern after a 9 year run.  This new made me a little sad since Johns writing is the whole reason I, and I’m sure quite a few others, read GL for the last decade.  Green Lantern was Johns first break out hit.  He is now known for taking characters that were perceived as old or lame and bringing new life back into them.  He rejuvenated the JSA, brought the original Flash, Barry Allen, back from a 20 years run in the Speed Force, and he’s taken the most made-fun-of-character in comic books, Aquaman, and made him the most bad ass hero in 2012. 

Geoff Johns is one of my favorite writers in the business so I’m disappointed he’ll be ending his Green Lantern run in May.  When he first started writing Green Lantern it was a sinking ship.  Johns brought a whole new mythology of characters and spectrum's to not only the Green Lantern Corps, but the entire DC Universe, making it one of the best comics to read in the last 9 years.  A lot of plot lines have been told in that amount of time, but I thought it’d be nice to look back at my Top 5 Favorite Green Lantern story lines by Geoff Johns.

Green Lantern: Secret Origin

After Johns brought Hal Jordan back from the dead and turned the villain Sinestro into the leader of his own yellow Corps he decided to take a break and flashback to his take on Hal Jordan’s induction into the Green Lantern Corps.  This story also set-up what Johns had in store for his next chapter in the Green Lantern saga, Blackest Night.

We see a young Hal Jordan devastated by the death of his father.  This one event affects him throughout his entire life until he is chosen to wear the most powerful weapon in the galaxy and must face his lifelong fear if he has any hope of keeping peace in sector 2814.  We’re also re-introduced to classic GL characters such as Sinestro, Carol Ferris, and Hector Hammond.

To me this was a great jumping off point for anyone who wanted to get into Green Lantern but didn’t want to have to catch-up on the last 40 years of story.  It was said that Ryan Reynolds kept this book on him throughout the entire production of the Green Lantern movie.  Unfortunately, I think the film strayed a little too far from the original source material and ended up not doing so well in the box office.

Green Lantern: Rebirth

I think Harvey Dent said it best in 2008’s The Dark Knight, “you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”  The phrase sums up Hal Jordan pretty well I think.  In 2004, Green Lantern sales were in a slump.  Years earlier Jordan had destroyed the Corps as the villain Parallax and then died himself, leaving one Green Lantern in the whole galaxy.  Johns came on and changed all of that.  In Rebirth he rebuilt the Corps and brought Hal Jordan back from the dead.  Everyone still perceived him as a villain, but Johns fixed that by saying Parallax was actually a yellow entity that took over Jordan, forcing him to do all those horrible things.

With that idea, and many other, Johns was able to construct a story that was in-depth and entertaining.  It helped if you knew the history of the characters, but it wasn’t a necessity.  This story had classic moments like Green Arrow trying to wield a power ring, Hal Jordan punching Batman, and Kyle Rayner, the current Green Lantern, finally meeting Hal Jordan, the greatest Green Lantern.  It was from this book that Johns launched his GL Universe and we’ve all been in awe ever since.

Green Lantern Corps: Recharge

After Rebirth jump started the Corps again Johns had idea for every Lantern, all 3600 of them.  For years there was just the Green Lantern title, but with four earth Lanterns now Johns had to give each of them their due.  Hal Jordan and John Stewart stayed on GL while Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner started Green Lantern Corps along with Kilowog and all the other Lanterns. 

The more I delved into the GL universe the more Kyle Rayner became my favorite Lantern, aside from Hal Jordan of course.  He was the sole torchbearer who gave up being a god to help restart the Corps.  To me that seems like a pretty selfless and noble hero.  This book paired him with the rebel Lantern, Guy Gardner.  Their yin and yang personalities worked well together, fastly becoming best friends.  They were like the Starsky and Hutch of the Green Lantern Corps.

A new Corps also meant new members, the most interesting new member to me being Soranik Natu.  She didn’t want to be chosen but quickly found the good in being a Lantern.  She would go on to become Kyle’s girlfriend and find out Sinestro is her father.  Move over Luke Skywalker, we got another kid whose daddy is the most evil man in the galaxy.

Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War

Rebirth and Recharge established the GL Universe and characters so soon it was time for Johns to unleash the hounds of hell upon the Corps, which just happened to be yellow.  For years Sinestro had wielded his own power ring, the yellow ring of fear.  In this story Sinestro finally gets around to creating his own Yellow Lanterns to challenge the Green Lanterns. His rings scoured the universe to find beings who had the ability to instill great fear.  Among the Yellow Lanterns were Cyborg Superman, Superboy-Prime, and Abin-Sur’s son.  One of the yellow rings was even offered to Batman.

Johns put Jordan and Rayner in the center of this story, both having to deal with their fears and overcoming them if they had any chance of defeating the mascot of the Yellow Lanterns; Parallax.  Some of the highlights of this story were Rayner being infected by Parallax, the residents of Coast City deciding to fight back, and Hal Jordan trying to gain back the trust of his fellow Lanterns who he had once tried to kill and left for dead.

This all was of course just an appetizer to Blackest Night, which introduced the Black and White Lanterns, who followed the introduction of the Blue, Red, Violet, Indigo, and Orange Lanterns.  By this point you start to see the grand scale that Johns had mapped out his Green Lantern plans, and Blackest Night wasn’t even the end of it.

Green Lantern: Sinestro

After the War of the Green Lanterns the Lanterns greatest adversary, Sinestro, was picked to be a Green Lantern again and Hal Jordan was cast out of the Corps for disobeying the Guardians, even though he just saved the entire galaxy.  This story line was the beginning of DC’s New 52 reboot they were doing, but since the Batman and Green Lantern titles were DC’s best-selling books they decided to leave them relatively untouched.  It’s not really known if part of the GL history was thrown out, but in this title Johns proved he only needed two things to make it work; Hal Jordan and Sinestro.

Sinestro goes against the Guardians wishes and enlist the help of Jordan, using his green power ring to make Hal his own green power ring, but since Sinestro made Hal’s ring using his own it could not be used against him.  Throughout his Green Lantern run Johns has showcased the relationship between Hal and Sinestro and it has helped this book continue to be interesting.  Hal took the spot of Sinestro’s mentor.  Sinestro became Hal’s mentor.  Hal had to stop Sinestro when he went rogue.  Sinestro helped plot the downfall of Hal through Parallax. 

These two have been through a lot together, but there is also the sense that, like Professor X and Magneto, they both want the same thing, but are just on opposite sides of the line on how to obtain it.  The way Johns writes these two characters, their re pore alone is enough to keep this book going indefinitely.

The Man of Steel's Pal Will Be.......A Girl?

This week's blog was already written in my head.  I was going to share my thoughts and feelings on the great gun debate that everyone seems to be engulfed in, but then I found something way more pressing to talk about; Jimmy Olsen is a girl!  In the upcoming film by director Zack Snyder, Man of Steel, it seems they are planning on replacing Superman's best friend, Jimmy Olsen, with a female counter part, Jenny Olsen, played by Rebecca Buller.

My brother alerted me to this grave crime, and I, being a bigger Superman fan than he, become enraged with fury.  Jimmy Olsen is a character that goes to the very core of the Superman mythology.  In the center of the story you have Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Perry White, and Jimmy Olsen.  These are just five characters you can just alter and not expect to get hell from the fan boy community. As of right now Lex Luthor is not listed on the IMDB website as a character in Man of Steel, and Laurence Fishburne will be playing Perry White.  Now changing Perry from an old white guy to an old black guy isn't too much of a difference, however, I will remind you his last name it WHITE.  I know that in this P.C. world where you can't step on a bug without pissing somebody off the way to help a movie make money is to diversify your film as much as possible, but it shouldn't be at the expense of the story.  Changing Jimmy from a young male to a young female completely changes the dynamic of the Superman mythology that the film will be based on.

Now odds are this Jenny could not be Jimmy changing his sexual identity, but perhaps his sister and Jimmy will be in the sequel, but let's stick to the point.  This female character who is replace a male character could ruin this movie!  If you know anything about the character of Jimmy Olsen you know that he is a young photographer for The Daily Planet who works with Clark and Lois, gets Perry's coffee, and is everything Superman fights for.  Jimmy is idealistic.  He likes to give people the benefit of the doubt and thinks people are mainly good.  He even starred in his own comic book at one point.  Now when Clark has a rough week of fighting super villains Jimmy reminds Clark that there are good people in the world besides him, and these people are who he continues to fights for.  Clark and Jimmy hang out, Jimmy has his own watch to call on Superman when he's in trouble, and I think at one point Clark lived with Jimmy as his roommate.  How is that relationship going to be the same when Jimmy is Jenny? 

To answer my own question  believe I have the answer; love triangle, or some form of puppy love.  You see kids, love triangles are all the film franchise rage lately from Twilight to The Hunger Games.  Clark developing a relationship with Lois would be just too simple for the film making hot shots of Hollywood.  My guess is that when Lois and Jenny go out to cover Superman's adventures like Lois and Jimmy did that they'll both be smitten by the Last Son of Krypton and two tongues will fall the floor.  

Of course this is all just hypothetical from what I know and what I hear about Man of Steel, and I had nothing to do with the making of this film, so don't quote me only any of this.  But this little idea of Jimmy's possible gender switch does not help the fear I've had about this movie from the beginning. David Goyer, the man who wrote all 3 Blade and Dark Knight films wrote the story and screenplay for Man of Steel, and I know Goyer as a big comic book fan so I trusted him.  Christopher Nolan, who is producing, is also a great film maker, who makes great films, as is Snyder.  But to put all three of these people on a Superman film seemed like a mistake to me being that most of these gentleman make darker and more gritty films.  Now that kind of tone is great for Batman, Blade, and Watchmen, but dark and gritty is the exact opposite of what Superman is.  And seriously guys, a British actor to play the ultimate American hero?

I'm told Man of Steel will make Superman more relatable to modern film audiences, but both DC and Marvel have ruined film versions of their characters by straying from the formula that has made their characters work for decades!  If Snyder ruins this chance for Superman's silver screen comeback he may just beat out Brett Ratner on my list of people I need to kick in the nuts. "What was I supposed to do? Just let 'em die?"  "Maybe"  

MAYBE, MAYBE!  Do you even know who Jonathan Kent is!  Come on guys!  Pull you're heads out of those studio executive's asses and make the film worthy to be called MAN OF STEEL!  Do it for comic book truth, film justice, and god damn it, The American Way!  Here's the trailer, judge for yourselves: