Spirited News & Observations II -- NGE/Baxter

[cbconglom]

@WDW1974, are we ever getting that Universal news?

Not sure what you're referring to but count me in on wanting to know

 

[Darth Sidious]

Speaking of Spidey, unless the Avengers has drastic changes occur in the standalone films between now and Avengers 2, he should come in at Avengers 3. They need a story that leads into needing help from him, like a films worth build up to his intro.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

I meant that it's worldwide total was close to Spiderman 2's.

Yeah, but that was a movie released eight years before and not in 3D. I'm not a movie expert, but I also think that the studios end up with a bigger cut of domestic money versus foreign, which is where Amazing Spider-Man made up some ground. The fact that it was behind the older movie at all probably makes it a disappointment in the studio's eyes.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

Speaking of Spidey, unless the Avengers has drastic changes occur in the standalone films between now and Avengers 2, he should come in at Avengers 3. They need a story that leads into needing help from him, like a films worth build up to his intro.

Nah. Amazing Spider-Man 2 is supposed to come out in 2014; you could put a SHIELD stinger at the end of that, easy. I think they could even introduce him cold during Avengers 2. It's not like he really needs an introduction. As long as they're in NYC at some point, it's no problem.

Plus the last 3 Spider Man movies were somewhere between bad and ghawdawful.

Spider-Man 2 is 93% fresh on RT, so it's not just me that's saying... what?

Putting aside the legal issues, why are people so keen to see Spidey in an Avengers flick? It would be a 180 for the character. He's essentially a teen loner plagued by self-doubt obssessed with maintaining his anonymity. I don't see him giving up his identity to SHIELD and hanging out with the "grown-ups." Up until the blatent cash-in a couple years ago, a big part of Spidey's character in the comics was that he wouldn't join the Avengers, despite numerous offers over the years.

And Iron Man is just a billionaire playboy philanthropist with a drinking problem. And Hulk is just a guy with anger problems. Spider-Man is a superhero. If there's another alien horde invading NYC next movie, he's going to do what he can to stop them. I totally think he can just show up and fight alongside the Avengers without joining the team or SHIELD. If Cap sees Spider-Man throw some web into a Chitauri's face and make him crash, is he gonna tell Spidey to go home and let him do his work? Plus, you're assuming that SHIELD in the Marvel cinematic universe doesn't already know who Spidey is.

Why do people want Spider-Man in the movie? Spider-Man is to Marvel what Mickey Mouse is to Disney.

 

[NoChesterHester]

Spider-Man 2 was critically successful and financially successful. I think most fans like it. I'm not going to bludgeon you until you agree with me. You can have your opinion, it's just that it does not seem like it's widely-held.

Ever since Hollywood got the idea to reboot origin stories the cycle has consistently shortened. What used to be a two decade plus cycle, where new technology and a new generation would get to embrace the character, we are now down to a ten year cycle.

I agree with Dave, it diminishes the character. Each reselling doesn't have to stand the test of time because... well it won't. We will get another retelling within a decade.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

Ever since Hollywood got the idea to reboot origin stories the cycle has consistently shortened. What used to be a two decade plus cycle, where new technology and a new generation would get to embrace the character, we are now down to a ten year cycle.

I agree with Dave, it diminishes the character. Each reselling doesn't have to stand the test of time because... well it won't. We will get another retelling within a decade.

I'm not disagreeing with that, just that the last three Spider-Man movies were all bad.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Ever since Hollywood got the idea to reboot origin stories the cycle has consistently shortened. What used to be a two decade plus cycle, where new technology and a new generation would get to embrace the character, we are now down to a ten year cycle.

I agree with Dave, it diminishes the character. Each reselling doesn't have to stand the test of time because... well it won't. We will get another retelling within a decade.

Part of this was the deal between Marvel and Sony that basically required films to just be made. I think Batman is also likely to blame. Batman Forever and Batman & Robin probably helped turn studios off on the James Bond approach of just replacing actors. Batman Begins showed the possibilities of a reboot. It's also not unusual for comic books to have multiple and concurrent universes. With Marvel's active involvement in the Marvel films it seems they may well just figure it best to start again, just

 

[PhotoDave219]

Ever since Hollywood got the idea to reboot origin stories the cycle has consistently shortened. What used to be a two decade plus cycle, where new technology and a new generation would get to embrace the character, we are now down to a ten year cycle.

I agree with Dave, it diminishes the character. Each reselling doesn't have to stand the test of time because... well it won't. We will get another retelling within a decade.

Im fine with waiting 15 years. And frankly, after what Joel Schumaker did to Batman, I'm glad Christopher Nolan relaunched the character for two fantastic movies.... and whatever that last one was. 13 years between Batman Returns and Batman Begins.

As for Spidey, waiting from 2007 to 2012 to relaunch a character really isnt a relaunch. Too soon.

 

[71jason]

There is some debate as to when was the first time Spider-Man officially met the Avengers (since he had met many members of the team as individuals previously), but the first Avengers issue Spidey appears in is issue #11 back in 1964. In this self-proclaimed "first meeting," Spider-Man helps the Avengers fight…wait for it… a Spider-Man robot sent by Kang the Conqueror from the future. After this, Spider-Man tried to join the team, but was denied membership (burn). However, he has still hooked up with the group of superheroes many times when they needed a little extra help.

Also, Spiderman became a reserve member of the Avengers back in 1991.

Didn't they make Wolverine and Daredevil Avengers too around that time? I think those are 180 turns on the characters as well.

I'm not denying there have been dozens, probably hundreds of cross-overs/tie-ins. It's the nature of Marvel when you have a couple dozen comic books to get out each month. But in terms of the movies, I'm much rather see AntMan, Wasp, Black Panther, Falcon, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision, WonderMan, Tigra, Mockingbird ... you know, characters who actually spent a good amount of time in the classic Avengers line-up and are most associated with the team. The webhead works best as a stand-alone, both because of his personality and because he tends to overshadow any other characters.

 

[Figments Friend]

The layoffs in Animation were more brutal than anyone expected. I don't think Lasseter knew beforehand. Sad, considering hand-drawn is fast becoming extinct. This was pure numbers with no regard to talent, tenure or art.

All i can say is...wow...just wow.
And not all that long ago Animation was seemingly so important to the Company.
Alas....it has not been for some time.
Traditional deserves more respect then this...

 

[Rodan75]

All i can say is...wow...just wow.
And not all that long ago Animation was seemingly so important to the Company.
Alas....it has not been for some time.
Traditional deserves more respect then this...

This isn't TWDC's fault. Kids aren't lining up to see hand drawn animation movies anymore. I love drawn animation, but Disney can't subsidize the team forever. It is sad, but in the end it is just the march of time. If TWDC stopped producing awesome animated features that would be different, but Tangled and Wreck It were both better than the non-Disney competition.

 

[Calvin Coolidge]

This isn't TWDC's fault. Kids aren't lining up to see hand drawn animation movies anymore. I love drawn animation, but Disney can't subsidize the team forever. It is sad, but in the end it is just the march of time. If TWDC stopped producing awesome animated features that would be different, but Tangled and Wreck It were both better than the non-Disney competition.

I'd be more sympathetic to this argument if WDAS made a good faith effort at bringing back traditional animation. They did not.

 

[Rodan75]

Th

I'd be more sympathetic to this argument if WDAS made a good faith effort at bringing back traditional animation. They did not.

At some point it is like putting the toothpaste back in the tube, doing miniatures vs. CGI, bringing back Black and White to TV or silent movies times have changed.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

I'd be more sympathetic to this argument if WDAS made a good faith effort at bringing back traditional animation. They did not.

Two films were recently made, both were released at the worst possible times to ensure mediocre B.O. performance/outright failure. For some reason, in 2009 Disney chose to focus on Zemeckis' motion capture Christmas Carol and put all its marketing might (and the prime November release date) behind it, slotting Tiana into a mid-December slump, just days before Avatar took over the world. Tiana truly got the Emperor's New Groove treatment.

Winnie the Pooh was released into theaters just a few days before Harry Potter 8 with virtually no marketing at all. (They attempted to bury Tangled against Harry Potter 7, but Rapunzel just couldn't be kept down despite a moronic title change and awful marketing).

 

[BrianLo]

At least there is always Studio Ghibli!

While POTF and Pooh weren't the best timing, I'm not buying any conspiracy theories that they were plotting for them to fail. Hell Princesses and Pooh are two sizeable merchandise machines for Disney proper. Had they relegated a turd of a concept instead of pooh... then maybe I'd buy into it.

PS: Where is the Spirit?!

 

[Clever Name]

PS: Where is the Spirit?!

He got out maneuvered a few pages back and I think he needs some time to heal and strategize a proper recovery.

 

[Rodan75]

He got out maneuvered a few pages back and I think he needs some time to heal and strategize a proper recovery.

Ouch.

 

[MarkTwain]

Two films were recently made, both were released at the worst possible times to ensure mediocre B.O. performance/outright failure. For some reason, in 2009 Disney chose to focus on Zemeckis' motion capture Christmas Carol and put all its marketing might (and the prime November release date) behind it, slotting Tiana into a mid-December slump, just days before Avatar took over the world. Tiana truly got the Emperor's New Groove treatment.

Winnie the Pooh was released into theaters just a few days before Harry Potter 8 with virtually no marketing at all. (They attempted to bury Tangled against Harry Potter 7, but Rapunzel just couldn't be kept down despite a moronic title change and awful marketing).

This. Disney keeps doing this over and over and it's almost sickening, the degree to which they downplay the Animation Studios' efforts to release a huge animated film, and instead relocate all the marketing push to the newest Pirates/Pixar/Zemeckis movie. P&tF, Pooh, and Tangled were all shafted to absolutely terrible opening weekends, up against or or nearby much larger box office films, while Disney's live-action (or motion-capture) movies were given prime spots and much larger marketing attempts. It's like Disney has no faith in their own animated films.

 

[luv]

Serpents and spiders, tail of a rat...
Call to The Spirit, wherever he's at...

 

[jt04]

He got out maneuvered a few pages back and I think he needs some time to heal and strategize a proper recovery.

Including behind the scenes coordination with his team. They always appear first to begin the prep work as a prelude to a spirited materialization.