Monday Morning Quarterback Part II

By BOP Staff

July 26, 2011

Centers are sweet.

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The best part of the Avengers build up? Calvin Trager, of course.

Kim Hollis: How well do you think that Marvel has done in building to The Avengers movie? What has gone right? What do you believe they could have done better?

Edwin Davies: In terms of what has gone right, the obvious answer is "casting Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark". That was a masterstroke of casting that made the entire Avengers project a possibility, and as much as I like Thor, it is clear that the success of The Avengers rests on Iron Man's shoulders at this point. Outside of Iron Man, Marvel has done a pretty good job getting the right people in for the roles both in front of and behind the camera. It's all too easy to envision a world in which Jon Favreau didn't get Iron Man, or Chris Hemsworth wasn't cast as Thor, but Marvel seems to have gone with their gut and it has really paid off. They have taken some pretty ballsy risks considering the money and prestige involved, and that should be applauded.

What they could have done better; Hulk. They tried to make movies about him twice and both times they came up short. I don't know how they could have treated the character better, but that seems to be the one real weakness in their strategy so far.




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Bruce Hall: I am generally agreement with Edwin, although I would cast a wider net and insist that casting overall has been overall very strong for recent Marvel adaptations. Chris Hemsworth was as ideal a choice as Robert Downey but let's not forget, the supporting cast around both men was quite good as well. Iron Man was a good film that loses some of its luster upon successive viewings, and the sequel was atrocious. Thor was absolutely pedestrian, and while the Hulk reboot was an improvement over the original, I can't say I remember much about it. But the one thing all these flicks have in common are very strong leads and a solid supporting cast, and that works wonders. Great casting can save cheesy movies just as great quarterbacks can breathe life into a shabby team. Captain America didn't feel nearly as stupid as it really was, in part because Chris Evans was just so damn likeable. I've said what they did right. What could they have done better? I'd say make a movie that I actually want to see more than once, like Spider-Man 2 or The Dark Knight. I don't know how likely that is to happen, though, because Thor and Captain America were less enduring stories than two hour trailers for The Avengers. They only have to get you in the theater once, and it's beginning to feel as though that's all these movies aspire to any more.

Jim Van Nest - Again, to throw the non-comic guy opinion in here...I think they've done fantastic getting ready for Avengers. Average folks knew very little about Iron Man, Thor or Captain America. These three properties have been huge hits. Without them, no one but comic geeks cares about The Avengers. With them...Avengers becomes a legit tentpole release that could be in the discussion for taking down Deathly Hallows Part 2.


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