Thor

Avengers: Age of Ultron

  • Title: Avengers: Age of Ultron
  • IMDb: link

Avengers: Age of UltronDespite the build-up to an Infinity War Avengers film, Marvel Studio threw everyone for a loop when they announced fascist robot Ultron (James Spader) would be the villain of The Avengers sequel. Unlike 2012’s The Avengers which was the culmination and payoff for the entirety of Marvel’s Phase One films (everything from Iron Man to Captain America: The First Avenger), Avengers: Age of Ultron suffers from some of the same problems that weighed down Iron Man 2.

Not only does the film have to introduce a brand-new villain (something The Avengers didn’t have to spend time on) and three new supporting characters (with vastly different origins than their comic counterparts), and weave in ongoing events from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. while providing separate in-depth character moments for every single Avenger, Age of Ultron also has to lay the groundwork for the next two Avengers films, Captain America: Civil War, and Thor: Ragnarok. While also throwing in supporting characters from pretty much every Marvel film so far it’s something of a marvel, if you’ll forgive the pun, that Avengers: Age of Ultron doesn’t buckle under its own considerable weight.

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Thor: The Dark World

  • Title: Thor: The Dark World
  • IMDb: link

Thor: The Dark World

Trading in directors and screenwriters (only one of the six credited here for story and screenplay were involved in the first film), Thor: The Dark World proves to be a solid follow-up to director Kenneth Branagh‘s 2001 origin story for Marvel Studios’ version of Thor. With nearly the entire cast of characters already introduced in the first film director Alan Taylor and his half-dozen writers can take the time to delve a little deeper in the supporting cast and give several characters from the previous film stand-out moments in the sequel.

I keep mention the number of writers on Thor: The Dark World because the script itself does feel like an odd mix of concepts and mashed-up designs that don’t always quite work. There is plenty to question in both film’s villain (Christopher Eccleston), an odd amalgam of Star Trek and Lord of the Rings, which to be fair so is much of Thor’s lore which jumbles sci-fi and fantasy with relish, and His quest to destroy all of creation with magic floaty water (that is shown mostly as smoke because apparently the CGI folks couldn’t decides what the “Aether” should actually be).

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Coming Soon

  • Title: Thor: The Dark World
  • IMDB: link

Here’s the first teaser trailer (and a couple of teasing images which you can find inside) for Thor: The Dark World which returns the stars of the first film as Thor (Chris Hemsworth) takes Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) on a tour of Asgard, which doesn’t seem to sit all that well with Sif (Jaimie Alexander), and is forced to ask for the help of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in fighting off an ancient enemy older than the universe itself. Kat DenningsRay StevensonZachary LeviAnthony HopkinsStellan SkarsgårdChristopher EcclestonIdris ElbaAdewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Rene Russo also star. Thor: The Dark World opens in theaters on November 8th.

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News and Notes

Deadline is reporting that Christopher Eccleston has signed-on to play Malekith The Accursed is the upcoming Thor sequel, Thor: The Dark World

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting Fanboys director Kyle Newman is preparing to go forward with Chewie, a film based on actor Peter Mayhew‘s life while making Star Wars

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that the sequel to X-Men: First Class will indeed be based on the Days of Future Past storyline set in a dystopian future and centered around Kitty Pryde

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