Very Unoriginal Blog Name

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Say whatever you will about Joss Whedon’s Batgirl movie

But it can’t be nearly as bad as her portrayal in the Killing Joke movie or the Batgirl of Burnside series (AKA the “Hello fellow kids” run of the character)

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Tumblr in a Nutshell

Tumblr: Please don't bully people. No one deserves to be bullied.

Tumblr: *sends Joss Whedon hateful messages, death threats, and suggests that stop doing what he loves and kill himself over a sequel they were disappointed in and his decision of headwear in a Twitter profile pic*

Joss Whedon: *deletes Twitter page*

Tumblr: *laughs and makes fun of Joss Whedon for deleting his Twitter page, patting each other on the back for making it happen*

Tumblr: Remember, bullying is wrong!

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(possibly) unpopular opinion: I think Black Widow should get her own Netflix series rather than a movie.

Honestly, I think a Netflix series about Black Widow would be a better idea for a reason. Here’s why:

-More time to explore her character in what’s essentially a 13 hour-long movie.

-Could introduce new characters into the universe that might not be a fit for the street-level heroes in the current Netflix series.

-After Daredevil, it’s pretty clear that  the Netflix & Marvel formula is dripping with potential and quality.

-Scarlett Johannson might actually agree to do it (she actually sought out the role of Black Widow herself. Hell, she even dyed her hair red for the audition. Besides, she wouldn’t be the first Marvel movie actor to do TV. Sam Jackson’s been on AoS a few times, and I think RDJ, Jeremy Renner, and Chris Pratt said they’d do it if the story calls for it, so maybe others such as ScarJo might be willing as well. Again, Daredevil’s popularity helps this a lot).

These are just a few reasons. Again, personal opinion. Who knows what they do with the character? This is just something, for me at least, seems like the best fit.

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Things you should know about Joss Whedon:

-He wasn’t fired from Marvel; he chose not to renew his contract with them because Avengers 2 drained his energy. He’s leaving on his own terms.

-He has created diverse female characters (Buffy, Willow, River, and Zoe to name a few).

-His male characters aren’t too bad either (Mal Reynolds, Spike, Giles, and Wash to name a few).

-He fought tooth and nail to have a lesbian kiss featured on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (this was during a time when this was a big no-no on TV, but he still fought for it to happen).

-He made sure to film Scarlett Johannson’s scenes in Avengers 2 first because she got pregnant a month before filming, and he didn’t want to reduce her role in the film.

-When James Gunn was about reading to start filming Guardians of the Galaxy, and Marvel gave him the OK to go, Joss looked over the script himself and gave it back to Gunn, telling him he should make it more his style rather than just go along with what Marvel said (giving us the final product that went into the movie).

-Keeps a philosophy that in order to make a good female character, imagine a fully fleshed-out male character and then make that character female.

EDIT: Apologies if this came off as offensive. Looking back, I can see how my wording didn’t sound right (I was pretty much paraphrasing the quote). Whedon’s philosophy was more like George RR Martin’s policy about writing female characters: “Treat them like people”. That was what I intended to say. Once again, sorry if it didn’t seem that way.

-Did cast 2 white actors to play the Maximoff twins, but for the majority of Marvel’s run, they’re portrayed as two white Americans (seriously, yes there’s a story where they learn their mother’s Roma, but their origins have had more retcons than the Star Wars continuity, so I don’t think it means much [hell, these days I think they’re Inhumans in the comics. Also, even then, their father is German and their mother is Polish, so their skin will most likely come out as light-colored anyway]. As for their Jewish heritage, not only is Magneto not able to be their father due to X-Men rights, but as far as their religion goes, I don’t think it was a big part of their characters. Characters like Daredevil & Kitty Pryde have religion as a small part of their characters, but it’s never something that is too big with a character. And as for joining HYDRA, HYDRA was never really all about Nazism/The Third Reich. The vibe I sorta get from them is they worked for Hitler because he gave them access to resources that would be otherwise out of reach, which is why they separated from them pretty easily in CA:TFA. At the end of the day, in the comics, they joined the Brotherhood of Mutants before joining the Avengers, which is a mutant extremist group, so yeah).

-He has spent the last two weeks doing a tired/stressful press tour, which is why he’s more likely to say things that might not be the best things to say in certain situations.

-Finally, he’s human. He makes mistakes, and he’s not perfect. I doubt any of you are (I’m certainly not). Holding him up to a ridiculously high standard just because he makes movies you enjoy isn’t fair to him. Why don’t we take it easy on him. Dude needs a break.

[veryunoriginalblogname]

I would like to clear up some misconceptions about Ant-Man

So, in July, Marvel Studios will be releasing Ant-Man, it’s latest superhero movie after the Avengers. However, I've noticed many people on this site have been posting some inaccuracies over the development of Ant-Man, as well as some very negative thoughts. Now, if you have no desire to see Ant-Man, that’s perfectly fine. You don’t have to like everything Marvel puts out. However, I feel like not only should people refrain from bashing a movie that hasn't even been released (as well as people who actually wish to see this movie), but also be sure to at least not be ill-informed regarding the source material. Without further ado, let’s get started (Warning: this is long).

-Why would Marvel Studios choose Ant-Man of all things to make into a movie?

It wasn't originally Marvel’s idea. Well, not fully anyway. Artisan Entertainment originally announced plans to make an an Ant-Man film in 2000. In 2003, up-and-coming screenwriters Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish wrote a treatment for an Ant-Man film revolving around character Scott Lang for Artisan. They later pitched the film to Kevin Feige in 2004. They were officially signed on to write/direct the film in 2006 (keep in mind, Iron Man also started production this year). Since there wasn't a huge hurry to make the script, Wright kept working on it and put in on hold several times so he could work on other projects (such as Scott Pilgrim vs The World). Finally, in 2013, final modifications were made to the script, and things looked pretty good. Filming was scheduled for 2014, with a 2015 release.

-Why are we getting an Ant-Man movie instead of a Black Widow movie?

As stated above, Ant-Man’s been in development since they began making the first Iron Man. Talks of a Black Widow film weren't even announced until 2010, with the idea not reaching its current popularity until 2014. In any event, Ant-Man was scheduled to start filming after Age of Ultron’s was finished if not during the shooting for AoU. Not only that, Scarlett Johansson became pregnant a month before AoU’s filming even started. Joss Whedon stated that he had to film all of Black Widow’s scenes in AoU first so that he didn't have to reduce her role in the movie. So yeah, filming would have been impossible for Johansson immediately after the new Avengers movie.

-We don’t want to see Hank Pym. He abused his wife in the comics and did all sorts of bad things.

This is true. However, the movies alter character histories all of the time. Characters like Bucky, Starlord, and Drax have different origins in the movies than they do in the comics. In addition, The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes cartoon (which I highly recommend) didn't even feature the relationship abuse. Hank Pym in the show was emotionally detached from his teammates, but he never beat them (well, he did develop a personality disorder later in the series which mirrors a struggle he had in the comics, but that’s another story). Finally, I guarantee you that if Wright wasn't signed on that early as Ant-Man director and held onto the character in a sense, Hank Pym and/or Janet van Dyne would’ve appeared in the Avengers. Probably even sooner.

EDIT: Upon doing further research, I also figured out that Hank never actually abused his wife. He was in the midst of a mental breakdown after getting kicked out of the Avengers and trying desperately to salvage his reputation. Jan went to see him to try and help, and he accidentally hit her. That doesn’t make it okay, but he wasn’t abusive. After the hit and the subsequent divorce, he felt horrible about it, and worked to make it right. He was even forgiven for it later on, although his relationship with Jan never really recovered.

-Why are they excluding Janet from this movie.

I’m gonna be honest, I’d rather have Jan in the movie as well. She’s such a cool character, and she could’ve been put to good use. That said, a mentality I've seen on this site is “If they don’t have Jan, then there won’t be any good female characters in the movie.” That isn't necessarily true. Evangeline Lily is playing the character of Hope van Dyne, who in the comics is the daughter of Hank and Jan. Now, I bet you dollars to donuts that she’ll be taking up the mantle of the Wasp by the end of the movie, or at least have a great deal of importance in some form. Besides, a theme I’m noticing from the ads is father/daughter relationships with the characters, something that hasn’t really been explored much in the MCU. Since it’s been said that Hope’s not on the best terms with her father, we’ll probably see that theme explored between her and Hank.

-Why did Edgar Wright quit the movie? Was it because he didn’t think it would be any good?

No. That’s not it at all. Edgar Wright left over creative differences. From what I gathered, his vision of the movies was as more of a standalone. This being the MCU, Marvel most likely wanted it to fit more into the continuity. Edgar Wright left soon after that, taking cinematographer Bill Pope and composer Steven Price with him. However, that doesn’t exactly make that movie a complete write-off. You see, the new director, Peyton Reed, made modifications to the script with star Paul Rudd and fellow writer Adam McKay. Evangeline Lily was herself considering leaving the production following the loss of Wright, but according to her, she said she decided to stay after talking with Reed and reading the new script (you might think that she was forced to stay due to contractual obligations, but if the director can walk out, an actress most likely can as well).

-Ant-Man is such a stupid idea for a movie. Who would watch that?

You know what, you’re right. It is a stupid idea for a movie. You know what else is a stupid movie idea? A group of idiots fight crime in space, with a talking raccoon and a walking tree that can only say 3 words being two of the members. Who would watch that? In all seriousness, Ant-Man has been compared to Guardians of the Galaxy in terms of its humor according to inside sources. The marketing could probably do a better job of getting that across (the recent trailer did show off some more comedy, though). So yeah, I don’t think Marvel wants you to take the movie too seriously when compared to movies like Winter Soldier and AoU.

So, there’s my lengthy information dump on the history of Ant-Man’s production. Now you know why it’s being made, why it’s coming out now, and why it isn't such a stupid idea. Again, if you have zero interest in seeing Ant-Man, that’s perfectly okay. We all don’t have to be excited for the same things. Just remember that some people (myself included) are excited for the movie, which is also perfectly okay, and things are rarely ever as they seem when it comes to making movies, especially when it comes to Marvel.