Left to my own devices

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU, for short), which used to primarily consist of motion pictures, but now includes television shows (most of them on the Disney+ streaming platform), has announced that it is pushing back the release dates for several of its upcoming projects. Rescheduling for a film or TV show isn't anything new in the entertainment world. Marvel has done it before. But this recent move seems to stem from the decision to put their Blade reboot on hold . They announced the project (starring two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali) years ago and, by all reports, the script still isn't good enough, and the director has left the project. These bumps in the road for Marvel are becoming more common, and are perhaps a sign of the studio trying to do too much, too quickly. For example: Phase 1 of the MCU lasted four years(!), and consisted of six films. Now we're nearing the end of Phase 4, which will close out with the release next month of Black Panther: Wakan...

Did I tell you about the time I called and spoke with the editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics? Years ago, back in the mists of time (the late-eighties/early-nineties), I voraciously read comic books. Marvel Comics, specifically. DC was good for movies, but when it came to reading, I preferred the stories that Marvel put out. Among my favorite series were Thor, The Amazing Spider-Man, Captain America, The Avengers, Fantastic Four, Transformers, Marvel's Secret Wars, X-Men, The Punisher, Marvel's New Universe and, occasionally, Daredevil . I would go to various locations around town -- Fantasy Realm, and Book Nook, among others -- every month to purchase new issues. I shared my love of comic books with my friend, Derrick. We would discuss the content of new issues over the phone, and in-person. In fact, our love of comics led us to draw our own. The one I was proudest of was Foxbolt , which, if I'm being perfectly honest, was a rip-off of Batman and the TV cartoon character, B...

It is my contention that the lackluster box office performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story , and the boffo reception for Avengers: Infinity War are potentially harbingers of the same future for what is now termed the 'cinematic universe' existence for both the Marvel and Star Wars franchises. That may sound odd, so of course some explanation is in order. Part of what follows necessitate going back a few years. As is well-publicized, Marvel has different "phases" of its cinematic universe. Everything is planned-out (something which Star Wars could benefit from greatly). It could be (and has been) argued that Marvel's template is very much rote by this point, even with the inclusion of fresh directorial blood with recent films. Nevertheless, the process seems to have done well for them. The movies have almost always done well at the box office, and the average moviegoer seems genuinely invested in what happens with the characters.

T he latest installment of the MARVEL superhero movie universe opened last week, and I saw it on opening night. Avengers: Age of Ultron hit all the perfunctory notes that a modern comics-to-screen film should, though I left the theater without feeling thrilled. That's ok. I'm not really the target audience for the genre anymore. As a teenager, I collected comic books for a few years, almost exclusively Marvel.   Among my favorite were: The Avengers, Captain America, Spider-Man and Thor . After awhile, I stopped collecting, mostly because it became obvious the story lines would never end. It's one reason why I'm not a fan of soap operas. In spite of having abandoned serious comic collecting in the early '90s, I still enjoy a good superhero film. There have been many and, at last count, I'd seen 29 movies of the genre (though how to categorize them is up for debate. I do not, for example, consider V for Vendetta to be a superhero movie. Great film? ...