Does Whatever an Iron Can

WOW! Sorry for the late comic guys. This one took way longer than expected and I used last night to reset my sleep schedule. One of the caveats of working from home is you can stay up drawing until 3 am and sleep until 11 the next day. A week of that and I’m all screwed up. Looks like I’m back on track for the rest of the week.

The special preview of Iron Man during the Battlestar Galactica premier was almost as exciting as BSG. It looks amazing. Hell, they could show that 2 min trailer over and over and over in the theatre and I would pay to see it.

What do you think? Is Iron Man going to be a Spiderman 1, Spiderman 2 or Batman Begins? Or is it a Spiderman 3, Ghostrider, Elektra or Fantastic 4: ROTSS?

My vote is John Faverau is a comic geek and will do right by all of us.

What were the best and worst comic book movie adaptations since, let’s say, 2000.

UPDATE:

Check out the “Run before you can walk” clip.

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114 Comments

  1. Worst adaptations? X3, SpiderMan 3, Fantastic 4 (both), and Batman and Robin (all of which I am helpless to keep from watching every time they come on TV because I hate myself).
    Best. X2, Spiderman, Batman Begins. All made of win.

  2. My vote for best adaptation goes to "Batman Begins". I have never been a big fan of Batman, but that movie was superb. I also don't consider Spiderman 3 bad, I know, the emo thing was disgusting, but still seeing Venom is enough to make me happy.

    BSG premier so kicked ass! But I am not sure if Samuel unconsciously gave orders to the raider or if the raider "activated" him. We'll see anyways.

  3. I also don't consider Spider-Man 3 *that* bad, just in need of some judicious editing. But, I also didn't think the first one was *that* good. I'm just contrary that way.

    The worst is still both FF movies. I could rip on the bad scripts, the shite acting, the casting of the desiccated, corpselike Jessica Alba as Sue when there are dozens of much fuckabler actresses who could have actually, y'know, acted, with more than their (clearly padded) bodysuit. But instead of all that, let's talk about Victor Von Doom.

    I know Victor Von Doom. I'm a fan of Victor Von Doom. And you, guy-in-a-business-suit, you are no Victor Von Doom. The FF has been around almost fifty years now, and IIRC the only time Doom's ever been seen without his mask is one drawing by Jack Kirby that was never intended for publication. So what do they do in the movies? Bad enough they take for-fraking-EVER to get the FF into their costumes, but Doom spends the entire fraking movie looking like Ryan from The Office, not getting into his mask until the last scene. The second one, what's the first thing he does? He drops the mask and gets right back into his let's-take-a-meeting suit.

    The one thing I will give these movies: Stan's cameos, as Willie Lumpkin and as himself, were the best Stan-cameos of any Marvel movie.

  4. Iron Man's the first superhero movie I've actually wanted to see since Begins. The rest just make me roll my eyes and die a little on the inside.

    My favorite comic book movie evar will still be Hellboy. I give reasons:

    1) It was actually a required field trip for my friends in 3D modeling. Field trip+Movies=One Great Class.

    2) There were some really awesome previews.

    3) We snuck in a dozen Arby's Roast Beef sandwiches, which were completely ignored by the usher, despite the rustle of sandwich paper and the obvious smell of oily beef. They were highly enjoyable.

    4) I love Guillermo del Toro.

    5) We snuck in a dozen Arby's Roast Beef sandwiches, which were completely ignored by the usher, despite the rustle of sandwich paper and the obvious smell of oily beef. They were highly enjoyable.

  5. Why?! Why do you have to make me recall Ghostrider?
    I was almost sure I'd forgotten it completely…

    Oh well… Iron Man does look like it will rape face like the Cloverfield monster.

  6. My guess will be this. Many will go in hopes of seeing their favorite hero portrayed awesomely as some kick ass, no shit taking badass. Once they reach the theaters they will see some awesome explosions, cool in your face special effects, and an array of awesome name brand actors to "spice it up." When in the end audiences will leave the theater, get half way home only to realize. HOLY SHIT! Did I actually just pay to see this crap?!?!?! Will the movie be bad? In my prediction…. yes because every movie that stars one of our sacred childhood icons like the transformers usually does turn out shitty. (Except Spiderman) I'm really pulling for this movie to be good, I want it to be but, after I saw Robert Downey JR on screen… well.. I had my doubts.

  7. it's gonna be a huge summer for the geek in us all but if IronMan falls short….i'm moving back to Mexico.

    i have faith it will live up but this is not a movie that i will say "well i didn't expect much so the fact it was "OK" then i give it a pass. this motherfucker better be what i hope the comic has been especially during the Civil War

  8. Eli definitely is. Look at how in panel 2 his eyelids are half-closed from the top-down; that's clearly an "I'm bored with Josh's antics, please shut him the fuck up" expression. In panel 5, Eli's eyelids are half closed from the bottom-up, which is TOTALLY a, "I just nerdgasmed" expression of geek-repletion.

  9. I liked Constantine. Probably was good that I hadn't read the comic, but the movie was pretty cool.

    Fine comic, too. Panel 3 expressions are priceless. I'm a little concerned about the last panel–is Josh talking to Iron Man, Tony Stark, Robert Downey Jr, or the flat screen??

  10. I need to watch BSG… And you guys are my inspiration for it. I watched 2 episodes of the miniseries at the and it was great, then for some reason didn't finish it or watch the series. Anyways I'll be starting the miniseries again soon!

    And I wasn't originally excited about Iron Man, but have been really impressed by the previews. Anyone excited about the new Star Wars movie? Not exactly based off comics, but nerdy as can be.

  11. I'm just glad they worked on the CGI. The Super Bowl trailer had me worried. I have every bit of confidence Faverau pulled it off now. I feel Downey is hands down the best casting choice since Bale.

    As amazing I feel Downey will be in this, I think I'm just slightly more excited for Tropic Thunder. Downey as a method actor so devoted he has surgery to make him black > Downey as billionaire industrialist superhero.

  12. Iron Man will be awesome.

    That is all.

    Actually, I'll also say that Spider-Man 1 was really good but got progressively worse;, I enjoyed all of the X-Men movies; and Superman Returns was awesome, as was Batman Begins. I'm just a fan of the comic book movies in general, so I'm sure Iron Man will deliver for me.

  13. I find it interesting (oh, and preface that I'm stealing your post to soapbox) that people think of Batman Begins as an "adaptation."

    *ahem* If I may…

    Batman Begins is a re-imagining of the whole Batman mythology. It borrows lightly from a few key books (Year One, Killing Joke, various Jeph Loeb ventures, etc) but it really goes out of it's way to tell its own story and background for Bruce Wayne and the man behind the mask. He starts the movie as a prisoner in some strange Chin- erhm, Asian prison of unknown origin and we watch as an aimless Bruce Wayne is turned into Batman by RA'S FUCKING AL GHUL. He eventually goes against his master but he was clearly the person that developed this idea of fear as a weapon (conveniently teamed up with Scarecrow, the only other villain that uses fear so well.)

    Before anyone bites off my esophagus and makes a Chinese finger trap out of it– I love Batman Begins. I think it's easily the best Batman movie ever made (and yes, I'm putting Mask of the Phantasm on there _and_ BB: Return of the Joker ) but it really isn't attempting to be canonical. This is the part where I'm getting to the soapbox:

    The people responsible for making these movies in Hollywood have been taking shit for so many years when a crappy superhero movie comes out because it's not the "true origin" or its "outside of canon." But, in reality, those internet soapboxers (IRONY!) are missing the point. The movies were shitty. I think a re-imagining, a lot of times, is _exactly_ what these origin stories need. Most of these mythologies have existed over some 60-some odd years and have been twisted and ret-conned to hell and back (lookin' at you, Death of Superman : Just Kidding!) Batman Begins was awesome because they didn't dwell on the same old bullshit we'd seen a hundred times before. It was pure. It was new. We witnessed an aimless Bruce Wayne misplace his anger with such an epic fail there was no way he should have come out of it– but Ra's and Alfred saved him- hell, they created who he really was. That never existed in a single comic, or in over 80 years of continuity, or in hundreds of thousands of lines of dialog.

    How fuckin' cool is that?

    PS. Fantastic Four sucks.

  14. On a technicality, a Premier governs states in Australia, a Premiere is a first night of a play, show or movie. 😉
    (Not taking the piss, trying to help.)

  15. I for one would like to see a little on the Joker's origin in 'The Dark Knight' from the Red Hood and up. I think the x-men movies had good potential and were well made but the x-men has never been that great in my opinion (don't kill me, I could never get into the comics or anything since they had about 70 at a time which involved reading of all of them, can anyone say convoluted?). The next HULK movie looks like it's shaping up to be something decent and (I may be wrong) but I think they're making another Hell Boy, that'll be fantastic if they don't fuck it up like the last one. If I'm not mistaken a Captain America movie is in the works and that also has potential. I want to see more non-marvel comics being made into movies though I mean, aside from Batman and Superman, DC is poorly represented and then think of all the more independent comics.

    My vote for the best would be Sin City and The Crow (THE ORIGINAL) – I know it had to be over 2000's but fuck it.

    The worst are definitely Fantastic Four and Superman, I'd rather be skull fucked by a rapid baboon than watch that crap again…

  16. Yeah, that was my exact reaction as well. As soon as the trailer ended I said "I want to have sex with that movie."

    And I think it will be good. I think Robert Downy Jr. was an inspired choice. I can just see him standing in front of a mirror all unshaved and haggard.

  17. You kidding me?!?!!? I think he'll make a great Stark! When he's off the bottle and clean (and he has been for a while now) he's brilliant.

    From what I've seen, I think he'll do great. As long as the script doesn't suck balls…no guarantees there, mate.

  18. I liked Constantine-and I did read the comics.

    Iron Man better freakin' rock or I will sue Hollywood for ruining my childhood.

    They already raped Speed Racer. >.< I don't even WANT to see that, but I know I'll go just because I'm a masochist when it comes to horrible movies based on comic books or tv shows I used to have time to watch.

  19. I totally agree. I keep trying to explain to my [non-geek] wife why Downey is perfectly prepared to play Tony Stark – she usually just rolls her eyes and stares out the window. I am so excited for this movie.

    And I never even liked Iron Man until I read the Ultimates (same for Captain America and Nick Fury, actually).

  20. Sorry, close, but not quite right: Fantastic Four actually sucks Balls.

    I loved Batman Begins – I think it was the best Comic Book movie I have ever seen. I thought it was better than the original Tim Burton Batman, and for me, that's saying something. I'm slightly annoyed that they feel the need to revisit the Joker, simply because Jack Nicholson's turn as the Joker was so damn good, but I'm still hopeful.

    The fact that this turned out to be Heath Ledger's last role also makes hope that it's good, too. I'd really like for his last role to not be total bullshit (see: Raul Julia: Street Figher).

  21. I figure I have to go see Speed Racer. In my view, V for Vendetta and the first Matrix movie cancelled out the last two Matrix movies, so there is a 50/50 chance that this could totally kick ass.

    I'm not sure I actually expect it to be good, but I figured out a good way to hedge my bets: based on the visual effects, I plan to get as fucked up as possible and sit there like a vegetable for a couple hours.

    What could go wrong?

  22. TOTALLY OFF TOPIC, but is there a general consensus on whether it's worth while to create an OpenID and "claim" comments?

  23. Ok, I realize I may be in the minority around here for digging hot oily mostly naked men, but no one has mentioned 300 yet? That movie totally rocked! And was damn near a panel for panel reconstruction of the comic book, except the whole bit they threw into the movie with the queen back in Sparta (which I totally understand, otherwise the movie would have had only 2 minutes of female screentime). Still, one of the few movies I watched twice in the theaters (though my straight boss saw it at least one if not two more times than me in theaters).

    And is it too early to vote Wanted the worst adaptation? I mean, the trailer looks NOTHING like the comic which was just made of so much win! Looks like they totally dropped the premise of a world where the super villians won years ago for something about being able to "bend" bullets. LAME!

  24. I second the Batman Begins love. I love the first two Spidey movies, but BB was the only comic movie I'm 100% behind. I wouldn't change a single frame of it.

    My favorite guilty pleasure comic movie has to be Tank Girl.

    Worst? Hmm easily Batman & Robin. I count that in the worst of all time. Close second would be Catwoman. Yes, I watch every comic book movie even if it's obviously shite.

  25. I'll give you Wanted for worst "adaptation", but I'm still kind of excited about it. I know, in my logical geek mind, that bullets and cars simply don't work like that. I don't care! It's so over the top that it melts my mind into a pool of sweet, sugary satisfaction.

  26. The only way to fix Spiderman 3 with editing is if you could somehow edit out everything Harry says, remove the "new goblin" completely, recast venom and then transport him to his own sequel. Oh and also replace all the dialog between Peter and MJ.

  27. Are 3 and 5 the same because the Arby's was THAT good?
    I enjoyed Hellboy from a comic geek fun mindset. It wasnt a great "film" but it was fun to watch and certainly better than most of the comic movies to date.

  28. Just don't try to use a site that only supports Open ID 2.0 (like Yahoo) or, like mine, your comments will remain unclaimed.

  29. I had to stop Josh from throttling you for liking X-Men 3. He likened it to enjoying the tire iron rape scene in "Monster." I will admit I can enjoy that movie on a purely superficial level. Brain turned off, no prior knowledge of the franchise taken into consideration and I can enjoy it. As X-men movies go, it was certainly the worst. As movies go, it was "meh" at best.

    I liked Superman Returns a lot when I saw it in the theater. Upon later reflection I wished they had done a LOT more with the character. Why make his so emo and wimpy?

  30. This is a good point. Previous knowledge or even LOVE of a character or franchise can vastly effect your reaction to a reinterpretation on release into a new media. Im almost always in the "prior love" category which sets me up for massive disappointment.

  31. Its weird that we are overlooking 300 and Sin City in this debate. I think its because both of those movies were flawless adaptations of their source material. Almost to a creepy extent. I think they are in a category all their own. Instead of comic adapted to film, they are more comic brought to life.

    I dont know of this Wanted.

  32. I managed to steer clear of Catwoman. To do otherwise might have severely shortened my life expectancy. Begins was perfect. Period.

    I also enjoyed Tank Girl. You have to take it in context of the 90's. Tank Girl was basically the 1990's put to film + tanks + Kangaroo mutants.

  33. I thought I was the only one who liked Tank Girl. People always look at me weird when I mention it. It had what? Ice-T as a Kangeroo-man?

  34. Hmm. I for one, didn't like Batman Begins all that much. I was disappointed with how little screen time the villains got. It felt like too much of the movie was exposition based, but that seems to be why so many others enjoyed it . Oh well.

    On the other hand, I loved Spider-Man 3. I felt it was an excellent way to wrap up the series, and the casting was excellent, aside from maybe Eddie Brock/Venom. Holy crap, did that one guy ever make an awesome Sandman. You can't argue with that.

    The rest of the movies of the superhero strype were really just 'ok'. The Fantastic Four sequel sucked all kinds of ass, simply because they didn't cast Galactus. Just the way they did some things in it were wrong. I absolutely hated My Super Ex Girlfriend; that movie was flat-out offensive.

    My all-time favorites in this category would have to be Mystery Men, Hellboy, Batman Returns…maybe the Punisher. There are a lot of movies here that are goood but not spectacular.

    As for Iron Man, I think it will do well. I can't really see the franchise going anywhere, outside of just this one movie though.

  35. I'm still hoping that Bryan Singer will follow the same pattern as the X-Men movies; first one is pretty good, shows potential, then the sequel is so geekgasmly awesome that it redefines the very nature of awesomeness.

    (pardon my gushing, but I thought X2 was about as perfect as a comic book gets)

    In more specific terms, I want Superman to be less emo and more super, I want to see him use his super brain and his super fists, I want Brainiac, and I want Supes to have to 'splain to Lois how she has his child, when he erased her memory of their night of passion. The Brainiac thing is non-negotiable.

  36. I want to make sweet love to the Speed Racer movie. You know when you're into something as a wee one (let's say, Robotech), then you see it again as an adult and it sucks donkey balls? Speed Racer is clearly based on our childhood memories, and not the actual donkey-ball-sucking show

  37. Count me in for the Batman Begins lovefest. Spidey 2 was also a winner; I haven't seen 3 yet, since I'd heard so much grumbling about it.

    Is anyone up for wild speculation on the awesomeness/suckitude of the upcoming Watchmen?

  38. Batman & Robin. Worst. Movie. Ever. Poison Ivy??? Are you kidding me? The only thing that makes that movie bearable is Arnold's crazy accent, oh, and that he's the governor of Cali-forn-ya. Oh, and RiffTrax helped a lot too! That's the best way to watch shitty movies. 🙂

  39. The only person I would have been at all happier with as Stark would be Depp. in the Ultimates Nick Fury even agrees with me saying that only Depp could pull of Stark's attitude. I still think that Downey will be great. I also like the fact that he is totally behind the character and says he is willing to play IM in as many projects as people are willing to make, this gives me hope for a future Avengers movie (which apparently will only happen if the actors they set up in the individual roles are willing to collaborate).

  40. Wanted was a pretty good comic aside from the stupid ending.

    Wanted as a movie looks just plain stupid. The trailer looks like they got rid of everything good from the comic book and made a shitty Michael Bay movie.

  41. This is the first adaptation that has got me really excited this far ahead of the movie coming out. Also, am I the only one that didn't like Batman Begins? I couldn't make it 20 minutes in before I turned it off. I plan on giving it another chance on Blu-Ray once it hits.

  42. I think that Spider-Man 2 and Fantastic 4: RotSS are of equal quality and belong between the good (Spider-Man 1) and the bad (Spider-Man 3). And Iron Man is going to kick ass.

  43. Yea, its supposed to be the kick off of the new series, not including the new episodes they've made. Hey RotS wasn't THAT bad… But you are talking to a guy who has 3 star wars tattoos.

  44. Oh, don't get me wrong, I'll probably go see it, ever since Hackers Angelina has been my "If I had to play for the other team…" gal. I just wish they had used another name and just been "This is a movie that had some influence from Wanted, but we're going to make the real Wanted movie next!" Or some shit like that. But then they'd go cast Hayden Chistrian in it and I'd be all sad.

  45. Iron man looks awesome. Spiderman 3 sucked, Fantastic 4:RotSS was terrible.
    Personally I hated Superman Returns and though Batman begins lost much of its greatness as the movie went on. They went through all the trouble to make his gadgets, and costume "realistic", then came up with that stupid machine that vaporizes liquid/water in pipes, but magically doesn't affect humans. bah!
    It was better than the other crap Batman movies.
    DC comics has no idea how to make decent movies of their characters.
    I really wish Marvel would stick to the details of the comics. Those details are what made them great. They tend to change them around, like they did with Rouge in X-men, and Spidermans web slingers. It worked for Sin-City.

    Superman Returns was just plain bad. They would have been better off bringing in Krypto instead of giving him a son. (jk. but it did suck)

    When will we see "Groo the Wanderer, the movie" 🙂

  46. Hellboy = best use of cthulian imagery since Dagon. The fact that it wasn't a Lovecraft movie made it even better. It's a gateway. A gateway to madness. And I like those!

  47. I thought that the mythos feeling that hellboy was awesome…although would have been cooler if at least 1 of my friends had realized what i was talking about when i mentioned "mythos" *sigh*

  48. No one has mentioned Sin City yet, thats got to be one of the greatest. Worst ever was the Punisher movie, oh god it was so bad. Also I wasn't a big fan of Josie and the Pussy Cats.

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