This Just In: Avengers Doping Scandal

Washington D.C.- According to the Associated Press, the high profile government operations team 'The Avengers', has come under extreme scrutiny for drug and doping allegations against some of its key members. Captain Steven Rogers, better known as Captain America, is under investigation for a never before seen form of HGH. If convicted, Rogers could lose his commission, and find himself in Leavenworth.

Rogers is not the only one in trouble. Dr. Bruce Banner is being investigated for incidents involving extreme "'roid rage" to the tune of millions of dollars. Furthermore, it seems that the government agency S.H.I.E.L.D. is being investigated for a cover up involving over a billion dollars in taxpayer funds.

The Avengers group is also being investigated for its participation in testing involving splicing human and arachnid DNA on minors without FDA approval. The implications for the group and its government liaison, Nick Fury, could be catastrophic. Fury is also being questioned in relation to the histories of other agents in his organization that could include espionage, theft, and murder of American citizens.

Movie News: DC and Marvel

Just FYI, I saw that their are now official dates for some of the
upcoming superhero movies for 2013:

 
 Iron Man 3 - out May 3, 2013
 

Superman: Man of Steel - out June 14, 2013



The Wolverine - out July 26, 2013


Thor: The Dark World - out November 8, 2013


FOR DC FANS:
There are rumors of a a Justice League movie using the Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern, the Henry Cavill Superman, and adding a new Batman, Wonder Woman, and possibly Aqua Man. There are multiple rumors regarding the new Batman: one is that there will be new casting altogether, the other is that actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be taking on the role himself, picking up the reins where Christian Bale left them.  All of that, of course is speculation.  Personally, I believe that DC is waiting to see how Cavill's Superman will do (at least in pre-screening) before making a decision about Batman and the Justice League overall.  If done well, it could blow Avengers out of the water (in terms of $).  If they take short cuts, it will make DC a laughing stock in the cinema-comic industry.

Cinema Marvels

While I admire your enthusiasm and time-killing efforts, I have to say one thing here: that while it may have taken the team of Avengers to beat Batman, might I remind those reading that they had seven tries to get batman right, or, if you prefer,three different director-based franchises: Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher, and Christopher Nolan (or four actor-based franchises: Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, and Christian Bale)- I'm not even going to mention the 1940s Batman attempts.  So throughout the previous tries, the directors learned what did and didn't work for Batman audiences - Nolan learning what NOT to do with the last Batman movie prior to his own franchise, the ill-received "Batman and Robin" starring George Clooney, proof that popular actors can't necessarily make up for campy dialogue, cheesy stunts, and muppet-like sets.  So with the Avengers making it with a first-round attempt at the collection of superheroes together, I don't see what the problem is.  While Hulk and Captain America do indeed have campy beginnings in the 1990s, Thor and Iron Man have made it with stellar results on their first attempts, respectively.  So.  While this is an interesting project and I appreciate Marvel's having an overall knock-out success, Batman's singular winnings could also be seen as a failure on DC's part to do much with their comics beyond books.  Wonder Woman is one of the best female comic book characters out there, and yet there are no movies.  Superman's popularity rested with the '80s and '90s in the forms of Christopher Reeves and Dean Cain (Lois and Clark series).  Hopefully the latest attempt will be more successful with Henry Cavill as the man of steel... hopefully. Green Lantern?  It could have been such an awesome movie, and yet it wasn't that great.  To be sure, DC has some great characters, but the live-action comic-based film and TV industries have been dominated by marvel in their success.

Making Movies

     While we are talking about JLAvsA, let's consider the box office bouts that these two have had. If you would examine following http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross (USA BO list) you will notice that DC's 'The Dark Knight' (2008) sits at number four. Just ahead of it, is the Marvel 'Avengers' (2012). Notice that it takes an entire team of Avengers to barely slip by one member of the JLA. Now study the rest of the list. Just two spots after the 2008 DC film, we have another DC offering: 'The Dark Knight Rises' (2012), seven spots ahead of the next Marvel movie 'Spiderman'(2002). 'Spiderman 2' (2004) shows up five spots later at eighteen. At this point Marvel has the slight edge on DC thanks to a massive team effort (and 3D filming). In terms of individuals, we have seen the obvious conclusion that Batman well outstrides the the best performing Marvel character, Spiderman. Another Marvel individual shows up at thirty and thirty-four, thanks to 'Iron Man'(2008) and 'Iron Man 2' (2010). Marvel seems to be gaining quite a lead at this point, and that is helped by 'The Amazing Spiderman'(2012) at number fifty-nine. 'Batman'(1989) comes back in at sixty-eight, but it really seems like the Caped Crusader is just not getting any help. Marvel strikes again with 'X-Men: The Last Stand'(2006) in another group effort, Batman seems to have defeated this collaboration three times over by himself.

At the end of the top 100: DC-3 Marvel- 7

Approximate BO totals for round one: DC- 1.25 Billion Marvel- 2.52 Billion

After round one, Batman is fighting valiantly but overall DC is taking a beating thanks to sheer numbers on behalf of Marvel. After all it is one vs. about two dozen at this point. (counting each Avenger and main X-men as individuals) It is certainly not Marvel's fault, but Batman just has no help.

     In the next hundred, the onslaught continues with 'X2' (2003) at 106. 'Batman Begins' (2005) takes another swing at 118 as the Dark Knight refuses to give up the fight, and that resilience is finally rewarded when 'Superman Returns' (2006) finally shows up at 124.'Batman Forever'(1995) shows up at 143, and it looks like the tide is turning for the boys in DC blue. But Marvel is by no means done, as 'Thor'(2011) shows up at 152 as the first Marvel character to go it alone in nearly  100 films. 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'(2009) continues the red resurgence at 156, and it looks like Marvel will no give up this round after all. 'Captain America: The First Avenger'(2011) delivers what seems to be the knockout blow for this round at 165.

Movie totals for round 2: DC-3 Marvel-4

Overall movie totals: DC- 6 Marvel- 11

Approximate BO totals for round 2: DC- 589 Million Marvel: 751 Million

Approximate BO totals overall: DC- 1.839 B Marvel- 3.271 B

     Entering round, DC gets an immediate and much needed boost at 201 with Batman Returns(1992). The relief is short lived, however as another 'X-Men'(2000) foray at 212 shows Marvels continued commitment to using group tactics instead of going one on one. This tactic continues with the arrival of the 'Fantastic Four'(2005) at 220. Since this strategy is going so well, it continues with 'X-Men: First Class' (2011) at 241. 'The Incredible Hulk'(2008) offers another haymaker at 293 before 'Superman'(1978) saves the round from being a total disaster at 295.

Movie totals for round 3: DC- 2 Marvel- 4

Overall movie totals: DC- 8 Marvel 15

Approx. BO totals for round 3: DC- 296 m Marvel- 491m

Approx BO totals overall: DC- 2.2 B Marvel-3.75 B

    Entering round four, DC is hammered, bloodied, and embarrassed. They have been dominated from the start, and have only brought in Batman and Superman to battle an entire army of Marvel Characters. The only victory that DC can claim is that it's two representatives (especially Batman) have been the two most remarkable individuals so far for either side. The next hundred does not offer much to change any of these conclusions. This round is mostly quiet, with 'Hulk'(2003) coming in at 304 and 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer'(2007) comes in at 306. Finally, a third Justice League member shows up with 'Green Lantern'(2007) at 397, things must have been very busy on Oa.

Round movie totals: DC-1 Marvel 2

Overal movie totals: DC-9 Marvel 17

Approx. BO totals for 4: DC- 116 m Marvel 263m
Approx BO overall: DC- 2.3 B Marvel 4 B

Round Five, final round, and this has been a massacre. The only reason why we are still going here is because superheroes definitively do not give up. This round actually contains about 30 more movies than the others. This is done to round out all the movies to ever gross 100 million dollars. 'Superman II'(1980) strikes for DC at 444, 'Batman and Robin'(1997) follows suit at 450. 'Daredevil'(2003) is quite late to the fight, but he's blind so we will forgive him, and he gets Marvel on the board for this round at 487.

Round Movie totals DC- 2 Marvel 1

Approx round BO: DC- 215m Marvel 102m

With that, our contest grinds to a halt. Things certainly slowed down at the end as these two heavy weights clearly punched themselves out. Our final totals are  DC with 11 movies, Marvel with 18. The box office totals leave DC with about 2.5 billion, Marvel with about 4.1 billion. The difference in this fight was clearly the team ventures by Marvel. Three X-Men group movies, two Fantastic Four movies, and one Avengers film account for the majority of the leads in both number of films and box office production. The other striking thing about this comparison was the dominance of one hero in particular. Marvel may have won the overall fight but the obvious individual champion was Batman. Seven films on this list, (including every live action film he has been in since 1989) well over a billion in box office revenue in the United States, Batman is in a class by himself in this clash of titans. Spiderman and Superman follow as very distance seconds, each with three films of their own but with a box office total that does not even come close to the Dark Knight. (Spiderman wins the tie based on his BO totals) Marvel clearly wins the day, but what we love most about our heroes are the impossible odds that they battle, and in this competition Batman is the epitome of that idea. He single handedly made DC relevant, and in doing so proves that he is the greatest superhero ever conceived. Congratulations to Marvel for the win, and for displaying the value of teamwork, and congratulations to Batman, for being the ultimate example of what a superhero is all about.

Where's the Kryptonite?

This match up is not about Vision, or anything that he can supposedly do. Superman wins this simply because if he did not it would be wrong. We are talking about the guy who is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, can leap tall buildings in a single bound; we are talking about the defender of Truth, Justice, and the American Way, the Man of Steel himself.Will Truth and Justice, will the American way itself, be defeated by a synthetic "super""hero"? I certainly do not think so.

Superman has flown into the Sun and survived, he has reversed the rotation of the earth to spin back time and save the woman he loves, is a little known robot with no Kryptonite really even going to be able to slow him down? Are we really even going to allow for the contention that one of the the great icons of our society can possibly lose this fight? I did not think so.

Furthermore, as the basis for this fight, Vision can only use things from the Marvel Universe. Kryptonite does not exist in the Marvel Universe. The result of this is the hope that somehow a long enough absence of the Sun is going to wear down Superman's strength, good luck with that. All Superman has to do is draw vision into outer space, and its game over. Superman has an unlimited source of his power, and he has more experience fighting under those circumstance. Superman wins.