To go with Felix’s list of the beauties of the MCU, here comes my Five Favorite Hunks of the MCU list. A completely arbitrary list of the guys who caught my attention in the Marvel movie adaptations, this is how it stands as of this week. By the time I see Captain America: Civil War, this all may change.
Did I miss any of your favorites?
I for one loved the introduction of “Daredevil” to the small screen universe. Much like Spider-Man, his is a character that works much better in episodic form rather than feature film format where every narrative has to be compressed. I loved what Marvl brought to the table with the first season, so it’s surprising to say that season two is not only better, but a huge improvement every way shape and form. Season two is, dare I say, amazing. The suit is better, the choreography is better, the performances are better, the writing is killer, and the characters have evolved from the last time we saw them. The entire battle with Wilson Fisk in season one felt a tad stretched out for the sake of a season. This time around the show provides Matt Murdock with two central plots and three sub-plots. At thirteen episodes, the show never feels padded, nor does a single episode feel like filler.
After decades of trying to redo his image and pretending he didn’t exist, Marvel, under the help of Disney, is finally embracing the Punisher and drawing the line with him as an adult character. Now that the mainstream has accepted that being a comic book character doesn’t mean you’re a child mascot, “The Punisher” is back at Marvel Entertainment and being given the adult treatment he deserved for such a long time. With popular character actor Jon Bernthal now taking on the mantle of Frank Castle for the acclaimed Netflix series “Daredevil” on season two.
Eventually being handed his own series, fans are hoping this is a new era for the Punisher, allowing him his own universe, his own mission, and a new iteration that will do justice to the resourceful Punisher of vigilantes and criminals. I’m excited to see what Jon Bernthal is going to do with the character come March 18th, so in celebration of the upcoming season of “Daredevil”, I’m going over the three past cinematic interpretations of Frank Castle and his moniker of “The Punisher” and see how they stack up. And if they stack up.
In the late eighties, all of the nineties, and some of the early aughts, comic books were our number one hobby. We collected literally every comic that drew our interest. Over the years, especially in the nineties, many of the major comic book companies attempted to draw in new readers by changing the costumes of some of their major superheroes and super villains. If that wasn’t bad enough, for a very long time, many of the live action efforts for superhero movies often got the superhero costumes so painfully wrong, that it was almost tough to admit to anyone that you were a fan of comic books. Over the years, superheroes have undergone a lot of major changes to their costumes in many platforms, and these are five of the worst that we just can’t get over.
Marvel and MadHouse team together to offer fans of Iron Man a really fun and unique animated adventure with Tony Stark and Iron Man. And while it’s short on plot, it more than compensates for that short coming with some dazzling animation, and an excellent sense of pacing that keeps “Rise of Technovore” absolutely engrossing. Though most of the anime efforts from Marvel with Madhouse have the capability of slowing down, “Rise of Technovore” is always moving and always fun.
We’ve reached that time again where we, the Punisher fans of old and new begin wondering what is happening with Frank Castle also known as The Punisher. Last year Marvel Studios bought back their properties including Daredevil and The Punisher and are now basically just sitting on them. And we’re wondering when we’re going to see another bonafide Punisher movie in theaters. Surely making revenge films isn’t that hard an endeavor since every studio has released their own revenge film over the years. But for some reason you’d think making a revenge film about a stone cold avenger with a skull on his black shirt is something that requires rocket science.
I love 2004’s iteration of “The Punisher” starring Thomas Jane as Frank Castle also known as The Punisher. It’s a slow boiled crime thriller that eventually transforms in to a chaotic bloodbath with seemingly no limits on its cruelty. And it also has an admirable demented sense of humor. After 2004’s film, Thomas Jane dropped out of the role after a brouhaha with the studios and their direction toward the sequel that was apparently so bad and or radical that Jane just couldn’t abide by it. But since then many fans have argued that Thomas Jane’s performance of Frank Castle is the definitive cinematic performance of the character and his turn as Castle was admirable. It was layered, tragic, searing, bold, and genuine.