Avengers Gets Official Title

While there was no line-up of all the Avengers as there was in 2011, director Joss Whedon made waves as he took the stage and announced the official title, and with it, the villain of the upcoming film. Ultron is a new name to many mainstream Marvel fans so the recent ten issue run also titled "Age of Ultron" is more than likely serve as an introduction to the baddie. If that run of comics is any indicator, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and co. will have much more to worry about than a partially destroyed New York City, especially with Whedon's penchant for killing off characters.

Avengers: Age of Ultron is scheduled to hit theatres in May 1, 2015.

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Marvel: Phase Two

Superhero Hype released a veritable grab bag of goodness today. The video includes unseen footage from Iron Man 3, a peek at Thor: The Dark World, concept art from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, discussions with the directors of their new films, Joss Whedon teasing the Avengers sequel and the test footage from Edgar Wright's Ant-man. Awesome, right?

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Joss Whedon's 'Much Ado About Nothing' Trailer

A geek dream, a genre skewer and a Shakespeare adaptation all within a year? Joss Whedon must be going for the cinematic Triple Crown.

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Marvel Announces New Slate of Films

IRON MAN 3 – now available in 3D – 5/3/13

THOR: THE DARK WORLD – now available in 3D – 11/8/13

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER due on 4/4/14

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY date is unchanged 8/1/14

ANT-MAN is scheduled for 11/6/15

With The Avengers 2 release date listed in summer of 2015 it shall be seen whether or not Ant-man makes an appearance in the film prior to his solo-shot. Given that audiences are unfamiliar with the character, he may join the team in their adventures (battling Thanos?) similarly to how Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johansson were introduced in Thor and Iron Man 2. Still no standalone Hulk feature though. Either way, I'll be there with bells on for Whedon's second effort.

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Review: The Dysfunctional Four (The Avengers)

The concept of teaming up Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and Thor was a dream years in the making for most film fans. Then, finally, in 2010 proto-geek Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly, Cabin in the Woods) was named director of The Avengers.

For comic book enthusiasts The Avengers proves to be everything wanted from a team-up. For those who are less familiar with these heroes and their storylines, the film is a proverbial menu to choose from. Enjoy history and the limits that one man will go for his country? Captain America, at your service. How about Norse mythology? Thor, at the waiting. Eccentric billionaires with an addiction to thrill-seeking? Iron Man is around here somewhere. Rage problems? Hulk, please don't make him angry.

Really the only major roadblock for The Avengers is one Whedon similarly handled for Serenity: these are characters who already know everyone in their own universe, but now find themselves introduced into new ones. A fine line has to be drawn between making the introduction scenes informational enough for those unaware of the Avengers and witty enough for devoted fans.

These four heroes are members of a team, but instilled is a tension that can only come up with grave consequences. They are all successful in their own right and see no reason to coalesce with others. Tony Stark is a star in his own right and takes being given orders in a poor light. Captain America, however, recognizes this behavior from several decades ago. And they do not get along.

To make matters worse, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is a master manipulator of the mind. These heroes are already fractured, but Loki wants to break them; prove that mere mortals are not fit to face him down. Loki has made a transition from Thor and it is indeed a nasty one. What was once a man conflicted by his loyalty to family and his true nature gives way to a Machiavellian villain. Loki is feral now. The Avengers needed a villain large enough to deserve the team up of these heroes and Tom Hiddleston performs admirably.

It is an oddly precarious situation for these heroes to be in. They found themselves pushed into making frighteningly real decisions and the choices they make won't necessarily be likable. However, decisions that gave Bruce Wayne pause about making in The Dark Knight are made without hesitation by Nick Fury when dealing with Loki. The Avengers are well-meaning, but they are still tools for S.H.I.E.L.D. The Avengers is not a deconstruction of the comic book genre that The Dark Knight was, however it was never meant to be. And scenes in which Thor and Iron Man bicker, "do not touch me" and "then don't take my stuff" remind the audience that this is nothing more than fun. Despite the fact that these men are nearly God-like in their power, they are still boys with (extremely dangerous) toys.

Speaking of dangerous, the Hulk finally gets his chance to shine in his third effort on the big screen. While Eric Bana and Edward Norton were limited in what they could do with the character Mark Ruffalo inhabits the character as something more than a villain lurking in a hero's body. A potential stumbling block, Ruffalo's Hulk manages to supersede everything before it. Several scenes are made by a line delivered by, or a look that encapsulates the scene. Ruffalo is the embodiment of the Hulk that was made for the silver-screen.

Verbal barbs exchanged just as often and as intently as uppercuts, the dialogue that Whedon is known and loved for is on full display. More importantly, the action in the film is truly spectacular. The dramatic conclusion to the film can only be described as awesome. Every conceivable scenario discussed in school yards during playtime is on display: Hulk tangles with Thor, Iron Man takes on an army, and finally, Thor's hammer (mjölnir) meets Cap's shield (vibranium).

The Avengers proves that superhero team-ups are possible, but only if they are as well developed as the characters and universes crafted by Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and the always cool, Samuel L. Jackson. This is for every comic book-loving-ten-year-old that grew up and still kept those geek tendencies. This is for us.

***1/2 out of ****

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Review: 'Cabin' Only Seems Like All the Familiar Places

You think you know the story, you think you know the players, you think you know the outcome. What makes Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard's Cabin in the Woods unique is that we don't know anything.

Dana, Curt, Marty, Jules and Holden are all heading to Curt's cabin for the weekend. All the players are to be expected: the good girl, the jock, the pothead, the popular girl, and the bookworm. On the way there they run into a creepy gas station owner, get spooked, and continue on anyway until they eventually reach their destination. Once there, the cabin in question seems like it was last inhabited during the Roosevelt administration and the paintings that adorn the rustic lodge are something that Charles Manson would find cozy. Wait, that is a little odd isn't it? Nearly all of these stories are identical in nature. That can't be coincidence can it?

And the audience finds out it isn't from the onset of the film. Sitterson (Richard Jenkins) and Hadley (Bradley Whitford) appear to be mundane public sector workers, but once they settle into their office the actual nature of their work is revealed. It is never coincidence that these college students/teenagers/whatever always fit the same five roles, it is manipulated into a certainty. The popular girl isn't really a slut, but her hair dye ensures that will be changed. The jock is not a meat-head, but rather, a sociology major. These twenty-somethings are melded into the characters that we want to see. Not enough lust present? Pump in some pheromones. Are the characters out-witting the villains? Alter their mindsets with some neurological toxin. Sitterson and Hadley are efficient at what they do and they do it well.

The inherent meta-comedy of Cabin in the Woods takes a oft-used storyline and infuses it with gumption. These stories are tried, but true and the audience knows them beat-by-beat. By shifting the overall narrative of why these teens die, this becomes much more than another slasher flick. What further impresses about this film is that in all of the laughter that comes with tearing down genre tropes is that the characters aren't lost. More importantly, they aren't just the cardboard cutouts the film is making fun of, they are fully realized and fighting their outcome. They want to live, badly.

In taking down the horror genre, Whedon and Goddard get a lot of credit and just enough actual scares to make Cabin one of the better satires in recent history. Well done, sirs, well done.

***/****

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