Mighty Marvel Movies that should be.

This weekend I was watching the Fountain - I absolutely loved it, the wife detested it - and it got me thinking about how cool it would be if Marvel took a page from Warner Brothers and enlisted real directing talent (a la Cristopher Nolan with Batman Begins) when making their films. Too often Marvel movies come off as shoddy and lifeless (Daredevil, Elektra, The Punisher, X-Men 3) and aside from X-Men 2 and the Spiderman films I am always left feeling let down.

So, after much deliberation here goes the Ryanetics Marvel movie mega wishlist:

Quentin Tarantino's Power Man and Iron Fist - I can't imagine a better way for Tarantino to make up for the disservice he did Blaxploitation cinema with Jackie Brown than to bring Luke Cage and Danny Rand to the big screen in true 70s style. By going with a throwback 70s film instead of attempting to update the characters, Tarantino could lean on his strengths - pop culture laden dialogue, uber violence and music - to weave a bad ass tale of innercity gang violence and martial arts. I can't imagine many things cooler.


Darren Aronofsky's Dr. Strange - The Fountain proves that Aronofsky can handle the trippy visuals needed to do the Marvel's Master of the Mystical Arts justice. Pair Aronofsky with writer Neil Gaiman (American Gods) or current Dr Strange writer Brian K. Vaughan to tell the asshole doctor's origin story (he is essentially House but with magic instead of pain killers) then move on to a decidedly adult, psychedelic freak out and you can't go wrong.


Steven Spielberg's Captain America - The man who brought us Saving Private Ryan (the best war movie this side of Apocalypse Now) is a no-brainer for this one. Lay out a 3 hour epic starting with Cap's origin and battles in WWII, moving on to his supposed death at sea. Then in the second half he is discovered frozen in a block of ice, revived and recommitted to fighting for American ideals and idealism. The secret to keeping this one from getting too jingoistic lies in the second half - take a page from the current Civil War story arc and have the unfrozen Cap discover that the true threat to the "American Way" is our own government. Handle this one right and you have an instant classic.


Peter Jackson's Thor - Now that the Lord of the Rings director is in legal limbo over directing The Hobbit he could take some time out to bring the God of Thunder to theaters with the same epic feel he gave the Tolkien stories. I can't think of another director who could handle a film about Norse gods better. Pair Jackson with a writer like Neil Gaiman who can make the mythology thing happen for modern audiences and I think you have a winner.


Robert Rodriguez's Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. - The Sin City director could employ the same green screen virtual set technique that worked so well last time to create a wild OpArt 60s spy story that brings in elements of Jim Sterenko's tripped out run on the comic. Make Fury the American answer to 007 that he was meant to be, complete with wild villains from Hydra to Scorpio and pack the film with plenty of babes.


Martin Scorsese's The Black Panther - Having proven that he can handle epic film's with a cast of native non-actors in the overlooked but awesome Kundun, the king of gangster films could nail this one. Cast African actor Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond, Gladiator) as the Wakandan king T'Challa, set the whole film in Africa as an epic adventure dealing with T'Challa taking up the mantle of the Black Panther in order to save his people from European invaders in search of their ultra rare Vibranium mines.



I have some more ideas but I think this is enough for now. Thoughts?

More to come.