In the last week, Marvel Studios released trailers for next year’s slate of superhero fare, and if these teasers are any indication, Warner Bros. is going to have some catching up to do — even if they did manage to shoehorn Batman into the Man of Steel sequel. Still, the only thing interesting about the Batman/Superman movie is that they filmed a football game between Metropolis and Gotham, this time without Hines Ward. Meanwhile, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (via Disney) and the X-Universe (via Fox) are simultaneously laying down the gauntlet for dope movie trailers (we shall see if the actual movies live up to the promise of the previews).
But right now, all we have are the trailers, and they’re both pretty spectacular.
While the just-released trailer for Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past is currently blowing up the internet, I personally prefer last week’s reveal for Captain America: Winter Soldier. The main reasons? I really liked the first Cap movie, and Ed Brubaker’s Winter Soldier run was one of my favorite comic stories of the last ten years. From the looks of the trailer, it seems they’ve managed to maintain the tone of the Brubaker books while placing it squarely in the universe set by The First Avenger and the, uh, other Avengers. I’m also very interested to see Robert Redford take on a role in a comic book superhero movie. And while I kind of dig Steve Rogers’ Super Soldier costume — which looks to be Cap’s S.H.I.E.L.D.-issue gear early in the film — it looks like Cap will be returning to his WWII duds at some point. Either way, I’m just relieved they ditched the god-awful suit he wore in The Avengers.
Also, Anthony Mackie is Falcon. So there’s that.
Seriously, if you didn’t geek out during the scene where Rogers single-handedly dispatches a group of thugs in an elevator or when Bucky (oops, spoiler) catches Cap’s shield, then I’m sorry you can’t enjoy awesome things.
Not to be outdone by Disney, Fox decided to unveil the latest foray into their own cinematic Marvel property in a 15-second Instagram video on the same day Disney released their Winter Soldier trailer.
Five days later, we get a little more context to the flashes of images, and it looks to be a return to form for the X-franchise. Taking the best elements from X-Men: First Class and The Wolverine (full disclosure: I wholeheartedly enjoyed Wolvie’s romp in Japan, and I know that sets me apart from the other Nerds), it seems this second X-trilogy (First Class, Wolverine, DOFP) will do its best to erase the awful taste of the Last Stand/Wolverine Origins twofer. And while most fanboys are not exactly thrilled with the idea of Logan replacing Kitty Pryde in the Marty McFly role, you have to admit it kind of does make sense. Besides, it’s been 13 years, we just have to accept that this entire X-Men franchise has been about Wolverine. Sorry.
From the looks of things, shit gets pretty bleak. But despite the massive cast — and the potential for Real World level cast reunion shenanigans — I’m more excited for the new mutants teased in the trailer. I spotted Bishop (Omar Sy), Blink (Fan Bingbing), Warpath (Booboo Stewart), and Sunspot (Adam Canto). So in one shot, they’ve quadrupled the number of mutants of color in any previous X-movie.
And that’s the other thing Marvel has done with these two films that Warner should take note. Both films seemingly include women and characters of color in prominent roles. Cap has Nick Fury, Falcon, and Widow, while DOFP features Storm, Kitty, Rogue, and the aforementioned new mutants. It seems that Marvel has responded to the whiteness of their previous male-dominated films. Maybe it’s time WB did the same? In other words, get to work on that Wonder Woman flick, despite what some of us think.
As a lifelong DC fanboy, it really pains me to say this, but Marvel is getting it done. Is it next year yet?
You are certainly correct, DC is wildly lagging behind. Most likely it is the result of their insane focus on Batman. For that matter there seems to be an unnatural focus on the caped crusader world wide. DC has so many Superheroes that could be developed into wonderful franchises if WB just put quality creative teams behind them. But they seem to save all the quality for Batman only.
Wonderful article and happy fandom!
Reblogged this on THE EXTREMIS REVIEW and commented:
With the release of the new X-Men film, Marvel and Disney, further show their comic film dominance. This article sums up their new strides.
I for one have always wondered why DC is so outmoded when it comes to film. I think this has something to do with the unnatural focus that the world has on Batman. I wonder if also maybe the fact that DC’s focus on the legend of Superheroes vs. Marvel’s focus on the reality of Superheroes has something to do with it. Anyway, read on, Extremis Fans.
Look, I agree with you. WB needs to step their game up but after a magical batman trilogy and the new installment of superman(which I enjoyed!). Maybe they don’t know which way to go. Wonder women would be the obvious route but batman and superman trump all of them. They need to get some direction first by enlisting good directors and the right vision for these projects. Cause the wrong combination of actors, scripts and director could set them back a decade. Why don’t u give an artist suggestion to WB? Better make it great.