We had the great pleasure recently of seeing the movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It was an excellent addition to the Marvel canon of movies. It had the best car chase sequences I had seen since Terminator 2 (and I am not a natural fan of car chases, so it takes a lot to impress me). It had James Bond level spy action and intrigue. There were political and social overtones to the movie, but not in a heavy-handed propagandist way (Michael Moore or God Is Not Dead, it ain't). The supporting cast of characters around Captain America were superb. Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury had their best showings to date, really fleshing out and inhabiting their characters. Robert Redford was a great get in a pivotal role, and I just absolutely loved The Falcon - well acted, and soaring flight sequences.
The very best thing about a Marvel movie (the ones coming from the Disney Studios - unfortunately the rights to some other major characters are owned by other studios - Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and the X-Men) is how well tied in to the other movies they are, telling a grander, encompassing story, that helps clarify a whole universe of storytelling. Even their amazing TV show, Agents of SHIELD (hint, fellow Rippers - you can always DVR it and still watch NCIS) is weaved in to the movies.
Thus, they could have movies about individual heroes and slowly entice us to The Avengers, helping to make it one of the biggest box office successes of all time, with excellent audience AND critical reviews (but still virtually completely ignored by the Oscars).
An example of a well-planted seed is this actress (Emily Van Camp, current star of the TV show Revenge), with a small part identified as "Agent 13". For a minute, I though I had stumbled onto Get Smart and CONTROL. Why was she the only one in the movie with a number and not a name? Simple. What should be revealed in the next movie is that she is Sharon Carter, granddaughter of Peggy Carter, Captain America's love interest from World War II. For us older comic fans, it's a moment of shivering satisfaction.
Yes, one of the great joys of the Marvel movies is how well-coordinated and flowing their Marvel-ous universe is.
Nor so much their comics anymore.
This book, published just eight years ago, is already outdated and misleading. Everything you know is wrong.
The comics are changing and constantly evolving. They no longer flow into each other or tell the story of one coordinated universe. They renumber and restart on a dime, constantly, even using odd numbers, like issue #27.1, or #NOW1.3. They change origins and story-lines with each new writer and artist that work on them, gleefully altering or ignoring past story-lines. Wolverine in one comic book may have nothing to do with Wolverine in another comic book. For this older reader with limited dollars, they have become impossible to track and follow.
Comic fans complain a lot when super-hero movies deviate from the comic books. Really? How do they even know? When the comic book versions change more often than Miley Cyrus or Cher at a concert?
The result is that for the first time in over fifty years, I am no longer longer following new issues of a Marvel comic.
But at least I still have those Marvel-ous movies.
Thank goodness for that.
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