So now that I’ve wrapped up Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, I’ve turned my attention to Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, slowly working my way through episodes in between writing, going to the job that actually pays my rent, and very strongly considering working out to my Jillian Michaels kickboxing DVD . . . before reading my book-of-the-week instead. (In this week’s case, that would be The Name of the Rose. Although, honestly, it will probably take me longer than a week to finish it because while the murder mystery stuff is interesting — and the philosophical arguments too — my eyes glaze somewhat after four pages of contemplation about a door.)
Now. I’m far more familiar with the JL than I am with the Avengers, so I just got my first real introduction to Ant Man last night in the episode “The Man in Ant Hill.”
And apparently today we’ve cast the live-action star for the upcoming (like, 2015 upcoming) Ant Man movie: Paul Rudd.
Look, this is totally where you first saw him too. (Actually, it might not have been. I can’t remember if I watched this before or after I saw Romeo & Juliet. Man, I wish I could have found a good clip of him dancing badly in his astronaut’s costume. I really need to watch that movie again.)
Anyway, I like the guy. He’s funny, and he seems to swing back and forth between being the straight man and the wacky sidekick with relative ease. And from the, oh, twenty minutes or so I’ve spent with the character, Paul Rudd seems like a good choice for Hank Pym. (I guess Joseph Gordon-Levitt was the other actor in the running, but he’s going to star and maybe direct Neil Gaiman’s Sandman instead? Jesus God, I need to get back to that series immediately.)
So, look: Ant Man is a dude who can radically alter his size and, also, speak to insects. In the episode I watched, he rode around on an ant like it was a horse. And I liked Pym and all, but really, this doesn’t strike me as the kind of thing that mass movie audiences will be able to take even remotely seriously. (I certainly doubt that any shot of Tiny Ant Man taking down a regular sized dude with his mini-fists will work particularly well, considering I laughed my ass off just during the cartoon.) But hey, if Marvel is willing to take a chance on the character? Cool. Like I said, I found Hank Pym funny, and I enjoy Paul Rudd a bit. Sign me up for some itty bitty shenanigans!
It’s just . . . why in the hell is a movie about a dude who rides an ANT to the rescue somehow considered a less risky proposition than, say, a superhero film starring a woman. I just don’t get it. In the last ten years, I think Marvel has released one superhero movie with a female lead protagonist, and that movie was Elektra, which I think we can all say was basically doomed to failure, right? Were there people who were actually expecting that film to be any good? Because I want to meet those people and ask them what kind of drugs they use, and also if they’re very expensive drugs and how bad the side effects might be because, all in all, drugs just really aren’t my thing, but I might make an exception for these particular drugs, depending on how likely they are to fry my brain forever.
Anyway, drugs or no drugs, Elektra was made way back in 2005. Come on, Marvel. I think it’s time to try again. Are you really going to let DC beat you with their supposed eventual Wonder Woman film? Cause, come on. That movie probably won’t come out until, what? 2017? At the earliest? If it even happens at all?
I’m mildly interested in Paul Rudd as Ant Man, but I’d be way more excited if Marvel was saving some awesome female superhero news for Christmas.
My Geek Blasphemy 
There’s a Black Widow movie on the docket now, I believe. And Jessica Jones is one of the four Netflix Marvel series. There’s rumors about a Captain Marvel solo film, if the rumors about Katee Sackhoff being cast for Avengers: Age of Ultron are true.
Huh. I haven’t heard a single thing about a Black Widow movie, not a credible ‘we’re actually going to make this’ kind of thing. I did hear about the Netflix series, though. That’s cool. Not big screen, but still cool.
The funny thing about Captain Marvel is that I have to keep reminding myself that no one’s talking about Shazam. When those become more than rumors, I will get excited. Cause Katee Sackhoff in a superhero film? Sign me up.
Having just spent a recent day off watching and thoroughly enjoying Hanna, I couldn’t agree more. It’s just too bad that Wonder Woman is making her debut in the increasingly ill-advised Batman vs Superman movie instead of her own film. At least we’ll have a solid female cast to look forward to in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
I’m still trying to be hopeful for Batman vs Superman, but I’ll admit, I wish Wonder Woman was just starring in her own movie from the get-go.
Joss Whedon had written a great, WWII-era period script for a Wonder Woman movie about 10 years ago that Warner Bros. passed on. I lose sleep at night dreaming of an alternate timeline where DC’s Justice League universe is a well-established franchise while Marvel’s Avengers struggle to get out of development hell.
I lose sleep at night dreaming of an alternate timeline where DC’s Justice League universe is a well-established franchise while Marvel’s Avengers struggle to get out of development hell.
Now that’s what I’d call “the darkest timeline.” No, not really, but I’m not sure why anyone would want to wish away the awesomeness of the Avengers movie just to have the Justice League as well.
Oh, I get the idea — in an alternate world, if things had gone this way instead of that — but I agree, in my ideal timeline, both franchises would be doing amazing stuff.
This just reminded me of this: http://www.cracked.com/blog/why-it-sucks-to-be-ant-man-forgotten-avenger/
Ha. I like it.
The Name of the Rose
You know there’s a movie of that, right? 😉
I do. I haven’t looked up much about it yet because I’m still finishing up the book, and I don’t want to accidentally spoil myself. All I really know is that Sean Connery and a young Christian Slater star as detective monks, and frankly, that’s really all I need to know. I will definitely be watching it sometime after I finish the book.