Marvel's Expanding Universe: Comic Con in Short

Because Otherwise We'd Be Here Forever

Finally found a cover picture for these articles!

Due to complaints that the superhero-movie posts are too many, and the "other stuff" movie posts are too few on this site, I'm going to compile the 10 posts I wanted to put up these past few days into one summarized post of all the excellence that happened at Comic Con. From an intergalactic raccoon to cream-colored armor, here's the finest bits of Marvel news for you.

Big Budgets, Even BIGGER Box Office Returns

Marvel's Ca$h Cow.

UPDATE: The official numbers are in and The Avengers's three day total is... $207,438,708. Numbers should be updated.

Apparently, it seems that everyone saw Marvel's latest smash hit, The Avengers. Well, everyone but me... Whoops. Joss Whedon's latest project was highly touted even before Marvel whispered about possibly bringing together the hodgepodge of Supers. I guess that hype helped, along with critical acclaim. Yes, The Avengers have HULK SMASHED Box Office weekend records with a, ready for it? A whopping $207,438,708.

$207.4 million. 

Not only am I cooler than you, but
I'm waaaay richer than you too.

Say it again. $207,438,708. In three days. Suddenly, that "awesome" desk job you have while making $80k a year don't sound so fun. Heck, I'm not even going to think about that money, as a college student...

Granted it's just an estimate and final figures won't come out until later today, but. Um. Wow. When The Avengers burst into theaters, it had the second best opening day ($80.5 million) only finishing behind Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows, Pt. II (which raked in $91 million). However, The Avengers surged ahead the last HP film by almost $32 million. Now, that's just silly.

Another silly thing: The Avengers has already grossed more than Thor, Captain America: First Avenger, and The Incredible Hulk. Again, did I mention The Avengers has only been out THREE DAYS? What. It will most likely pass Iron Man and Iron Man 2 in the next coming days, too, "only" needing $100 million more. 

With no real competition in the next coming weeks, The Avengers could be sitting atop the top spot of the box office for some time. Does Marvel's latest superhero romp have a chance to catch James Cameron's Avatar, as "The Richest Film Ever"? Short answer, yes.

The Avengers Spoilers

SERIOUSLY GUYS, SPOILERS AHEAD

The city did actually collapse from their combined awesomeness....

This article is purely spoilers. If you're looking for our review, look no further. If you're interested in the financial success of this movie, check it out here. We aren't going to talk about the great quality of the story, the depth of the characters, the awesomeness of the effects, or the fact that this movie just made box-office history. Oh wait... Anyways, here's a list of some major spoilers from the movie, so if you haven't seen it yet, beware. Then again if you read the title and heading thus far and haven't seen it yet, I'm sure you're going to keep reading...

If you have seen the movie, this is a great place to discuss the spoilers and what they entail. What we might see in future installments, who we'll see in them, who we won't see in them. Stuff like that. Feel free to comment after reading! The fact that we only get one or two comments a week notwithstanding, we love to hear your views and opinions!

The Avengers Review: Updated Box Office

Step aside, Christopher Nolan

Earth's Mightiest Heroes: And the theater collapsed under the weight of their awesomeness, but then they saved everyone, and were amazing whilst doing it

After getting home, taking off my Spidey costume, and relaxing, I sat down to write this, and after going through a few drafts, still am not quite sure how to put everything I just saw into words.  I've read so many of the reviews, and I agree with all the good stuff, and disagree with all the bad stuff.  Some people say it feels like a TV movie, but it doesn't at all.  People say that a certain character stands out above the rest, but no one does.  Everyone gets their time in the sun.  This review will be (mostly) spoiler-free, but if you want to save yourself a few minutes of reading, just don't even read this.  Instead go to a theater now, and watch The Avengers.

Marvel's Expanding Universe, Pt. V

Someone deserves some more screen time

"HULK WANT OWN MOVIE!"

Today, Earth's Mightiest heroes made us laugh, cry, and cheer as they defended us from an alien invasion. It's now safe to say the movie is incredible, and definitely worth a trip to the theater. We've been exploring some of the characters from the Marvel universe, and what they might be doing now that The Avengers is done. In the last article, I mentioned that we would be looking at some new characters who haven't hit the big screen yet, and sadly I have to take it back. Bear with me, because this series will now continue past the release of The Avengers. There's just one more character who deserves your attention.

He's been through three different actors now, since Eric Bana played him in 2003. The films have been passable, and the character has gone through some changes. Studios tried changing up his origin story. They tried making him look more attractive. They tried casting incredible talent to play him. He's been there and back again. Now the story of one of Marvel's greatest characters is being told the way it was meant to. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the big, green, ugly, unstoppable, Incredible Hulk.

Avengers Preview, Mk. III

Like the Mk. II, just with lots of explosions and cool colors.  Still better than any of Michael Bay's stuff.

Last night, The Avengers hit the big screen in international audiences.  So far it's done nothing short of what was expected.  It broke records all over the globe, and has earned an incredible rating on rottentomatoes.  One week from now Earth's Mightiest Heroes will come to American theaters, and I will also have just finished watching them be awesome.  Joss Whedon and the folks down at Marvel Studios have done some incredible work building hype for their baby.  Everything about this movie has been BIG.  The first time we saw actual footage in teaser-form was during Superbowl XLVI.  Both trailers since then have been epic, epic, and more epic.  There have been so many TV spots, I still am not sure if I have seen all of them.  And that's just the promotional stuff!  Don't forget about their enormous budget, their all-star cast, the 5 blockbusters leading up to this movie, and of course the legendary heroes themselves as seen in thousands of comics.  With a skilled story-teller at the helm, and 5 excellent prequels, was it ever really possible this movie couldn't be something....Epic?  Invincible?  Incredible?  Amazing?  Fantastic?  Thunderous?  Heartfelt?  We'll soon see.

Marvel's Expanding Universe, Pt. IV

You say you want some more?  I'm not surprised.

        Joe Johnston's (The Rocketeer) Captain America: The First Avenger was a critical and financial success.  Being the last of Marvel Studios' Avengers' lead-in films, it had a lot to live up to.  I think we can for the most part say it more than lived up to expectations.

        I believe the main reason for this is the reason why I actually enjoyed TFA.  As a die-hard Marvel fan, I have to say I'm not a fan of every character.  One of the characters I'm super not a fan of is Captain America.  I think he looks ridiculous, acts ridiculous, takes himself too seriously, and looks ridiculous.

Did I mention he looks ridiculous?     

        Having said that, I think Chris Evans did a fantastic job of making Captain America into everything I just described, but he did it in a way that was appealing and downright awesome.  Of the current Marvel movie heroes, Cap is one of my favorites.  I was worried when I heard The Human Torch was taking up the mantle, but then I saw how insanely buff he got.  I was feeling better.  Then I saw the preview.  I felt way better.  Then I saw the movie.  NOW I LIKE THE HERO, EVEN IN THE COMICS.  Go Chris Evans.  Oh Captain you are my captain.

        After basically winning World War II, Captain Steve Rodgers crashed a giant plane in the arctic, not to be seen for almost 70 years.  After being found and rescued by SHIELD, Rodgers woke up to the modern day.  He is a member of SHIELD, and one of the first Avengers.  So far the story of how he came to be an Avenger is congruent with the comics, with a minor change here and there.

Updates from Zack-April 26

This is me. Obviously.

This week featured a lot of comic-book movie news.  The Avengers is hitting international theaters tonight, The Amazing Spiderman is releasing their final trailer, and The Dark Knight Rises is apparently starting their uber-promoting earlier than expected.  I'll take you guys through the best parts of recent news, and give you my thoughts and feelings.  Afterwards let's hear your opinions!  Just shoot us a comment or a reaction, or help us out by posting on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter!