Monday Morning Quarterback Part I

By BOP Staff

May 9, 2011

This is perfect because he's not worthy of wearing the Lakers jersey.

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The real prize here, however, is The Avengers. That's been the long term goal for Marvel for a while now and Thor's opening weekend popularity goes a long way in securing it as one of the major tentpole titles of 2012. With Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow and Nick Fury already introduced plus a third actor taking a turn at The Hulk (and one other Avenger debuting in Thor that I don't want to spoil), this is a potent combination of comic book licenses being thrown together. It's a shame that DC couldn't get their act together in time to do a Justice League movie first, but since they could not, The Avengers will be the first film of its kind in what I expect will be the future of comic book movies. Joint projects such as this one have a lot of upside in terms of marketability. As of this moment, I believe that there are three films on the schedule that can break the opening weekend box office record. The final Harry Potter film is one, the sequel to the current record holder, The Dark Knight, is another. I honestly believe The Avengers also has a chance at that type of historic debut if it's marketed well. Thus far, Marvel's slow build has been masterfully done.

Josh Spiegel: I agree that this kind of box office performance should bode well for future superhero adaptations, though I'm even more put off by the Green Lantern trailers than David is. I keep hearing other people rave about the trailers, and I must be missing all of the cool action behind the cartoon characters interacting with Ryan Reynolds. I think that Captain America has a better shot at big numbers later on in the summer, but I'm also curious to see if the reviews for that film continue the complaint that began with the reception for Iron Man 2: too much about creating The Avengers, too little about the actual superhero whose name is the movie's title. I still think that it's going to be a challenge for any film that isn't The Dark Knight Returns to top that opening weekend number, but if all goes well, I could see The Avengers getting there.

Joshua Pasch: I feel like a broken record here for Josh and David, but Thor's solid opening definitely gives a nice bolster to Avengers. It's like adding another A-lister to your cast. I feel like the excitement for its release is already amped up. By the time next summer roles around (and after Captain America opens - if it is a success), then Avengers buzz could reach a serious fever pitch.

Also, I couldn't agree more that the Green Lantern trailers are atrocious. I am a big Reynolds fan, and yet I am not buying him one bit. The special effects look hokey at best, and the comedy/epic scale balance seems more off kilter than in most Michael Bay films.




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Bruce Hall: I think David crystallized the reality of the situation right off the top. I think that if lesser known characters like Iron Man, Hulk and Thor can be made into crowd pleasing - and successful - films, Marvel ends up with a window of opportunity where they have a built in friendly audience for for their brand, and across a wider demographic than many would have thought possible. If they can pull off their obvious strategy behind The Avengers, I'll bet Marvel easily extends the shelf life of the comic book film for another decade.

Reagen Sulewski: I think it's less about the opening weekend and more about the reception of the film. Thor could have opened to $90 million, but if it was as good as Spider-Man 3, that would be disastrous for The Avengers. That it opened to $66 million, but apparently was well liked, is a lot better overall for the followup. There is some added buzz in the sense that people can now plausibly say "oh yea, Thor, I've heard of that character," but it's much better that they like him.

Edwin Davies: I think it's better news for Captain America and The Avengers because there's a familial connection there; each runs into the other, so the success of Thor could feed into the success of Captain America through brand association. (Obviously, that's not 100% certain, since the success of Iron Man didn't really help Hulk 2.0, but that film had a lot of negative associations to shake off from Ang Lee's version so it's not quite analogous.)

I have a harder time believing that Thor's success will aid The Green Lantern, which just looks like such a bizarre and crazy mess from the trailers that I can't see it breaking out. The only thing I think it has going for it is that the acceptance of Thor means that people might be more willing to take a chance on Green Lantern, but even then that's a stretch.


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