The Avengers!

[NEOWatcher]

...and chunks of this one were filmed in Cleveland.

That's the reason I'm looking forward to it.

It might not be of interest to most of you, but I just wanted to throw this link out that shows all the local work done. Even with all the hype during filming, I was still surprised at all the local shooting that was done.

It is space related since there was some shooting at NASA Plum Brook.

[Gillianren]

As far as the individual stories go leading to The Avengers movie, The Hulk with Edward Norton did have a scene where someone from SHIELD was looking into him. I can't recall the specifics, but it was a character seen in the other films.

Tony Stark and Nick Fury. Marvel now all but has Samuel L. Jackson on retainer--even after Thor, Captain America, and this, they've still got him on contract for something over half a dozen movies. Apparently, the character in the comic book was made black in the most recent update so that he could be played by Samuel L. Jackson.

I never saw Captain America, but Thor was stinky bad. Unless I missed a whole bunch of stuff, I didn't see Loki as that big of a manipulator. I know he's supposed to be, but I just didn't see it.

I didn't think it was that bad, but it was definitely the weakest of the pre-Avengers build-up. Captain America, I thought, was just about the perfect summer blockbuster. You could think, but you didn't have to. The action sequences were well-filmed and didn't go on too long. The villain was fun (and Hugo Weaving doing an accent in part based on Werner Herzog!). There was great attention to detail. And the love interest didn't weigh everything down.

[R.A.F.]

Apparently, the character in the comic book was made black in the most recent update so that he could be played by Samuel L. Jackson.

Although I'm not "up" on the recent comics, I do believe you are incorrect.

If I'm not mistaken, Fury has been black for quite a while in the comics...certainly before any movie casting was proposed.

If I'm not mistaken.

[Gillianren]

He was based on Samuel L. Jackson before Samuel L. Jackson was cast, true, but I have no doubt that possible future casting was one of the reasons. Probably the main reason.

[Bean Counter]

Hawkeye's new to the movies

Hawkeye had a "cameo" in Thor. He was the guy who was going to shoot Thor with a bow and arrow when Thor was trying to reclaim his hammer from the S.H.I.E.L.D. compound.

[HenrikOlsen]

I haven't seen all of Thor yet, thanks for the correction.

[R.A.F.]

He was based on Samuel L. Jackson before Samuel L. Jackson was cast, true, but I have no doubt that possible future casting was one of the reasons. Probably the main reason.

After a bit of "investigation", it turns out Jackson was unaware of the use of his likeness when the first issue of The Ultimates came out. He then contacted Marvel and secured the (I guess) promise of being cast as Fury in any future movies that featured the character.

So it looks like we're both right....more or less.

[HenrikOlsen]

After a bit of "investigation", it turns out Jackson was unaware of the use of his likeness when the first issue of The Ultimates came out. He then contacted Marvel and secured the (I guess) promise of being cast as Fury in any future movies that featured the character.

So it looks like we're both right....more or less.

Someone with a sense for the Machiavellian would see that as an interesting plan from Marvel to have a strong position when arguing salary, in a "If you don't like this offer, remember: You came to us." way.

[Gillianren]

I don't think Samuel L. Jackson is in movies for the money. Just for the sheer fun.

[Parrothead]

I was going to say the same thing. And of course, it has to be Diana Rigg's Emma Peel.

For me, the ones I saw first run were "The New Avengers/New Avengers in Canada", late 70's with Steed, Mike Gambit and Purdey. The rest of the earlier series, I saw in syndication.

[R.A.F.]

I don't think Samuel L. Jackson is in movies for the money. Just for the sheer fun.

As evidenced by his participation in the movie Snakes on a plane.

It's actually one of my favorites...the title tells you exactly what to expect.


...and of course there is Jackson's "famous" line from that movie that I can not repeat here.

[Gillianren]

As evidenced by his participation in the movie Snakes on a plane.

Exactly the movie I had in mind. He can't have made very much on it; they didn't have very much to pay him. But in the bits I've seen, it's obvious that he's having a good ol' time.

It's actually one of my favorites...the title tells you exactly what to expect.

It was originally just the working title. They were hoping to come up with something better. Now, I have no interest in the movie, but I can't see that there is anything better.

...and of course there is Jackson's "famous" line from that movie that I can not repeat here.

But you believe it when he says it!

[DonM435]

I remember that "The Avengers," in the comic books and other fiction, was a cliche name for a superhero group years before Stan Lee actually used it as such. I remember being amazed that they'd haul out such a chestnut and put it on a professional publication. However, it worked, and they made it their own.

[HenrikOlsen]

I don't think Samuel L. Jackson is in movies for the money. Just for the sheer fun.

I think you're right, I have the same impression of Udo Kier, though their ideas of fun doesn't quite coincide.

[Noclevername]

I remember that "The Avengers," in the comic books and other fiction, was a cliche name for a superhero group years before Stan Lee actually used it as such. I remember being amazed that they'd haul out such a chestnut and put it on a professional publication. However, it worked, and they made it their own.

Stan had a knack for doing that with a wide variety of ideas. IIRC he started the original Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos on a dare that a WWII military comic couldn't possibly succeed in the war-protesting Summer of Love. He won the bet. Sadly, The Man has now been reduced to doing (shudder) reality TV.

[Noclevername]

Although I'm not "up" on the recent comics, I do believe you are incorrect.

If I'm not mistaken, Fury has been black for quite a while in the comics...certainly before any movie casting was proposed.

If I'm not mistaken.

Only slightly, only slightly. The original (white) Fury is still around in the mainstream comics. Only in the Ultimate "universe" and in the movies does he resemble Mr. Jackson. And yes, according to the writers it was deliberately done to lure SLJ into the film roles. (The Ultimate Fury is also signifigantly more of a "I'm the good guy therefore nothing I do is bad no matter how nasty it is" character than the first version. It remains to be seen if that aspect carries over into the movies)

[Gillianren]

I think you're right, I have the same impression of Udo Kier, though their ideas of fun doesn't quite coincide.

There are several actors of whom I have that impression. Christopher Walken, for example. And how did Chuck Norris become a thing when the way-cooler Christopher Walken is standing right there?

[DonM435]

...and of course there is Jackson's "famous" line from that movie that I can not repeat here.

You could change his adjectival phrase to "Monday-to-Friday," which I'm told the television censors did, choosing that ridiculous substitution to at least match the lip movements somewhat.

[ToSeek]

For me, the ones I saw first run were "The New Avengers/New Avengers in Canada", late 70's with Steed, Mike Gambit and Purdey. The rest of the earlier series, I saw in syndication.

Same here. When I was in college, CBS showed it at something like 11:30 pm - I forget which night. Other than Masterpiece Theater (I, Claudius also premiered back in those days), that was about the only must-see TV for me at the time.

[stutefish]

Our women.

Your initial point was a valid one, not just for water, but for other resources too. What do we have materially that can't be found elsewhere, no conquest necessary?

Short of being in a habitable zone (for our type of life), there's nothing entirely special here.

Of the Inscrutable Being that inhabits the galactic core, there is nothing to say. Of the Great Powers that orbit the core, trading and warring amongst themselves, there is almost as little to say (as there is little to say about the Powers that set out from our galaxy into the abyss). Of the Lesser Powers that hang about the fringes of the Greater, feeding off their detritus and making of it what they can, not much is understood though much is said. Of the Servitors, spawned or crafted or excreted by the Lessers, to serve them and attend upon them, more is understood, but still not as much as is said.

But the Servitors, then, might seek a certain thing, a certain chemical extract. And they might craft a suitable vivarium, in which the chemical might be produced in sufficient quantities. So much gravity. Such-and-such an atmosphere. This biomass. That radiation load. And the Servitors might engineer a race of Gardeners, to live in the vivarium and tend to its complex ecosystem, ensuring the outcome envisioned by the Servitors.

Things might go wrong. The Servitors, perhaps plagued by the Lesser Power known only as The Signal, might be forced to abandon their garden. Left to its own devices, who knows how far off track it might drift? Who knows how perverted and lost the Gardeners might become, without the guidance of their maker? When the Servitors finally return, they might see fit to harvest what little they can, and purge the vivarium of all its broken creatures, making way for something new, something good and true in place of the failed garden.

We are the Gardeners.

[AKONI]

Tog, what you wrote goes well with Loki's line from the first Avengers trailer... "You were made to be ruled."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOrNdBpGMv8

[Delvo]

what do you think would be a legitimate reason for an alien race to attack us?

Real estate. Stars die, leaving the planets orbiting them dead too. In other words, the reason to come here is for our resources: all of them.

"The Avengers," in the comic books and other fiction, was a cliche name for a superhero group years before Stan Lee actually used it as such.

And it's a very weird name, because it means that first the bad guys do stuff, and then they avenge it by going and doing bad stuff to the bad guys in revenge, which I don't gather is how it usually really works out in the stories.

[AKONI]

Wow...



http://www.superherohype.com/news/ar...s-the-avengers

[HenrikOlsen]

Wow...
http://www.superherohype.com/news/ar...s-the-avengers

Looking good.
And looking even more like Black Widow and Hawkeye are in the wrong place.

Here's an nice comment on the posters http://www.comicsbeat.com/2011/11/28...-lots-of-butt/.

[Van Rijn]

Wow...



http://www.superherohype.com/news/ar...s-the-avengers

So I clicked the play button on what was supposed to be a trailer, and there was an advertisement, not the trailer. They will only allow you to watch an advertisement after you've watched ANOTHER advertisement? Not today, thanks.

[eburacum45]

... it's a very weird name, because it means that first the bad guys do stuff, and then they avenge it by going and doing bad stuff to the bad guys in revenge, which I don't gather is how it usually really works out in the stories.

I didn't notice the Marvel Avengers ever do much actual 'avenging', to be honest.

The British TV series, which started in 1961 and may be one of the sources of the 'cliche' mentioned by DonM435, actually started as a tale of vengance, since the original hero, Dr David Keel, set out to avenge the murder of his fiancee, aided by the mysterious John Steed. It wasn't till they dumped Keel's character as 'not wanted on voyage' that the series became popular, but by then they had done all the avenging.

[DonM435]

My very hazy memories of reading comic books in the later 1950s suggest that whenever Dennis the Menace or Little Archie or one of those types pretended to be a superhero, he was always The Red Avenger or The Green Avenger or some such. So, upon hearing of a super team of Avengers, I thought it trite and hopeless.

[AKONI]

So I clicked the play button on what was supposed to be a trailer, and there was an advertisement, not the trailer. They will only allow you to watch an advertisement after you've watched ANOTHER advertisement? Not today, thanks.

It's on youtube now. Here yah go...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPoHPNeU9fc

[AKONI]

My very hazy memories of reading comic books in the later 1950s suggest that whenever Dennis the Menace or Little Archie or one of those types pretended to be a superhero, he was always The Red Avenger or The Green Avenger or some such. So, upon hearing of a super team of Avengers, I thought it trite and hopeless.

You also might have been too old by then. After congress got involved and the dreaded Comics Code was enforced, comics were strictly for kids. It wasn't until the mid 1980's when the four part mini-series THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, came out and sold very well that comics were once again directed towards adults.

I recently turned my friend's 5 year old son onto superheros. When I decided to get him some comics I realized I didn't know what was appropriate anymore so I ordered collections from the early 1970's that Jack Kirby and Stan Lee worked on. I figured those were safe.

I have been told there are some that are still directed at kid's, but I don't know what they are. I mean, if you showed a little kid the series, Old Man Logan, about Wolverine he would have friggin' nightmares for weeks.

[AKONI]

One more thing... I think they're calling it Avengers-Assemble in England...


Hmmm... I wonder why..?