Giving the limitations of a 2 1/2 hour movie, I think Snyder pretty slavishly recreated Watchmen, but there was still something vital missing. A soul maybe?

But I can’t come up with any good examples to bolster that argument, where as I completely agree with Christian that Daredevil, Fantastic Four and (I’d add) X-men 3 were catastrophes.

Can non-fan Kenneth Brannagh pull it off like big fan Favreau?

The spam filter still gets twitchy sometimes when hyperlinks are in comments. Stupid and annoying, I know, but i guess it’s better than being up to my ass in Viagra ads.

also in the reboots not many wanted dept.. fox is gonna reboot the fantastic four…

ha ha ha. this summer has seemed hotter than the last few tht’s for sure.

joel: your zac as cap am thing. well….

miley cyrus has already auditioned for batman. so…

http://www.celebuzz.com/miley-cyrus-play-batgirl-dark-s121831/

As much as I liked the idea behind Marvel sort of integrating their characters, prospects of a Thor movie, a Captain America movie and an Avengers movie didn’t really grab me that much.

Also: it’s funny that FOX is digging up the corpse of Fantastic Four now and basically letting Akiva Goldsman skull fuck it.

Glad I wasn’t a fan of that comic growing up. I’d be pissed.

I picture Disney as eyeing Marvel as merely raw brand material.

Your last point though that Marvel has done plenty to ruin their own product is absolutely true. Really Iron Man and the 2nd Hulk are the only two films they’ve produced as a stand alone company and as I said before their best stuff (X-Men, Spider-Man) is controlled by other studios.

I don’t know, time will tell how this plays out.

I still think a Thor movie was kind of a lame idea. I wonder if Disney will agree with me.

Think about this: Disney bought Miramax. Miramax didn’t change much. In fact, they kept funding all of Tarantino’s crazy-ass movies, including the very bloody/violent Kill Bill 1 and 2 and the Coens’ No Country for Old Men. Did Disney Disney-fy these? No, because they weren’t labeled Disney. They were Miramax. Will there ever be a Wolverine Snikety Snik Beserker ride at Epcot? Probably not. Will the Punisher ever get a late night series on The Disney Channel? No.

But I think Disney will let Marvel be Marvel, as long as Marvel keeps making money and doesn’t start losing money big time, which they might, or if Marvel were to release a comic book call X-mutie Baby Eating Post-Op Trannies…that might cause a problem.

Will Disney water down the Marvel brand world-wide with a whole bunch of annoying new products and tie-ins? Sure. Will they do things with Marvel characters we love that are annoying and despicable? Probably. Will they eventually cast Miley Cyrus in Dazzler: The Movie? Possibly.

All in all, Marvel was already doing enough to stink up their own poo and Marvel, being Marvel, will continue to stink up their own poo. I don’t know if Disney owning them is good or bad but I can see as many possibilities for good as bad. The possibility of Jerry Bruckheimer producing a comic book movie just shot through the roof. That is certainly bad but it’s not the end of the world. Now if Michael Bay directs the next X-men movie…

As I said on my blog, I probably shouldn’t be. But I don’t care. I was like a 5 year old on Christmas last night when I found out.

Am I just blinded by my distaste?

My knee jerk instinct is to assume corporate mergers are bad for creativity, but as you said so far it seems to be working well for Pixar.

The cynic in me who is cranky from lack of sleep refuses to believe that, but it could easily be the case.

The deal hasn’t been finalized yet but it’s entirely possible they’ll let Marvel continue to exist as a separate entity and just leverage their marketing and selling power. We don’t know how sweet the deal was, but Disney isn’t run by completely soulless morons, like say FOX Pictures are. I don’t like Disney, but I respect their wisdom and business acumen.

Joel. “Marvel was already circling the drain of a creative dead zone” I should point out that I largely agree and that in the end is why this move doesn’t mean a whole lot to me, but being in a bad moon I can’t help but see doom and gloom. Excellent points about Pixar and Miyazaki…though they’re really just distributors for the latter and by giving John Lasseter some power, the former may actually make the other Disney product better.

As for Disney buying Marvel, well to my (snarky, cynical, dubious) tastes Marvel was already circling the drain of a creative dead zone so I doubt Disney can screw it up too much. If they do, it will lead to the studio’s demise as they will have sunk enormous resources into the deal. But I think they’ll make money off of it and do fairly well, even if the reality is that the movies, TV shows, cartoons, merchandise, Disney rides, music CDs, variety programs, mall tours, books, web sites, etc are all kinda crapticular.

Seriously, I had no real expectations for any of the upcoming Marvel movies. To me, comic book movies are on the down swing anyway. Disney’s financial resources might make these movies better. Who knows? They haven’t managed to screw up Pixar yet and they’re still releasing Miyazaki movies.

I say we wait and see. The minute Zac Effron is cast as Captain America, I’ll be the first to chime in. Until then…