Which quite frankly makes me question if WBexecutives even took the time to SEE the film they made with Snyderless than two years ago, entitled: you guessed it, Sucker Punch (23%). Trololol.
Thor 2 has finally found a new director after firing Patty Jenkins (Monster) over ‘creative differences’. Director Alan Taylor, best known for his work on HBO’s Game of Thrones, will reportedly step in and take Jenkins’ place. Jenkins got canned in early December reportedly because of a “lack of clarity in her [creative] choices”. Marvel Studios of course has an infamous reputation for doing whatever they want after getting into rough financial negotiations with Mickey Rourke, Samuel L. Jackson, Terrence Howard, and Scarlett Johansson while having both Kenneth Branagh and Jon Favreauopt out of directing sequels. Jenkins would have been the first female to direct a major superhero tentpole film and Natalie Portman, who is a close friend of Jenkins’, is reportedly very upset at the way things panned out. It seems Marvel Studios even though they’ve only put out five independent films so far is already getting big-headed when it comes to managing talent. Welcome to Hollywood. Given Marvel’s fine display of hubris let’s take a look at the excessive arrogance of one of their most beloved characters Thor the God of Thunder and his mischievous half-brother Loki.
Thor Odinson is the Crown Prince of the mystical realm of Asgard. Thor is based off of the Norse God of Thunder, and acts accordingly. A brave and mighty warrior Thor won many battles as a child, growing headstrong and proud. In his arrogance, Thor put his realm and people on the brink of war after breaking a truce with Asgard‘s enemies the Frost Giants. Teaching his son a lesson in humility, Thor’s father Odinbanished him to earth, and stripped him of his powers. Thor came back humble, gentle, empathetic, and sympathetic to his fellow man. Altruistic, enthusiastic, inspirational, and yet fiercely independent, Thor is undoubtedly a Champion Idealist. Indeed Thor’s high-spirited attitude and warm enthusiasm for defending his realm is often mistaken for arrogance, a typical problem with most Champions. Thor was only able to wield his hammer Mjolnir ‘the day that great deeds of selfless valor had proved him worthy of it’. Indeed only those ‘pure of heart‘ are able to wield Thor’s mystical hammer. A hopeless romantic, Thor fell deeply in love with the Goddess Sif before the age of 20. Thor has undoubtedly proven himself as self-sacrificing over the years, most notably in the subject of his mischievous kid-brother Loki. Indeed Loki has made countless attempts at Thor’s life, but Thor however always spares Loki, hoping (to no avail) that Loki has learned his lesson. Indeed Thor has tireless faith in his fellow man, and time and time again Thor is sacrificing himself to save innocent people from Loki or any other dangers for that matter, as he will no doubt do in The Avengers.
Thor’s villainous step-brotherLoki aptly named after the Norse God of Mischief starts off as a resentful and jealousAsgardian Prince but evolves into a truly loathsome and malevolent evil genius. Growing up step-brother to the Mighty Thor indeed left Loki with a tragic sense of inferiority and not belonging. What he lacked in physical strength and bravery however, he eventually made up for in cunning and malice. Always strategizing and conceiving ingenious schemes and plots, The Asgardian God of Mischief is undoubtedly a Mastermind Rational. Diabolically ingenious, highly pragmatic, outstandingly intelligent, and a powerful sorcerer, Loki finds ‘difficulties highly stimulating’, as do other Masterminds, as he loves responding to a problem that requires a ‘creative solution’. Being the God of Mischief, Loki indeed seems to thoroughly enjoy creating problems for himself, and is well-equipped to solve them. Finding out that he was actually an adopted Frost Giant, Loki became wrought with feelings of abandonment. Indeed Loki’s malicious and malevolent behavior are quite reminiscent of David Keirsey‘s ‘distracting rituals’ that serve as defense mechanisms for hiding one’s shame. Loki’s arch-villainy and ascension into madness can be seen in Marvel’s upcoming The Avengers.
These Idealist-Rational relationships do not always remain harmonious, of course. Conflicts of NF emotional expressiveness against NT self-control, of NF intuition against NT logic, and of NF ethical or humanitarian concerns against NT technical pragmatics can prove challenging. — Please Understand Me II, p. 238
Thor 2 is set to hit theaters on November 15, 2013 with a script from Don Payne. Chris Hemsworth will return as the title star in The Avengers, which will arrive on May 4, 2012.
Fiege hinted at the fact that ‘phase two of the Marvel Movie Universe‘ will include another round of solo films, and then culminate in a second Avengers film. That however, is not all. Marvel reportedly has five projects currently in development. Iron Man 3 is in pre-production for a 2013 release attached to director Shane Black. Thor 2 will begin pre-production soon and just picked up director Patty Jenkins (Monster). An Ant-man film is ‘still nebulous but definitely in the works’. Guardians of the Galaxy and Inhumans films are also reportedly in the works. With so much success in their mainstream characters it seems a bit risky to put out obscure characters like some mentioned above. Lucky enough for Marvel it has an insurance policy: The Walt Disney Company.
Disney bought Marvel about two years ago for over $4 billion. While things indeed seem to be going well for both companies since the acquisition, Marvel has made deals with other studios to distribute some of their movies (spider-man, x-men, daredevil, etc.) making the Avengers and its four superheroes a coveted ‘in-house’ Marvel enterprise. Without kissing too much Walt-Disney/Marvel ass, let’s take a look at the first avenger to make it to the big screen, and also by far the most box office successful avenger: Iron Man.
Anthony Edward Stark is the son of industrialist and inventor Howard Stark, and demonstrated his mechanical aptitude and extraordinary inventive genius at an early age. Inheriting his father’s company Stark Industries, Tony blossomed into a billionaire industrialist, and an ingenious engineer. With a highly ‘innovative attitude‘, an ‘entrepreneurial spirit‘, and a ‘charming capacity‘ to ignore the standard, the traditional, and the authoritative: Tony Stark is undoubtedly an Inventor Rational. Indeed the Inventor‘s tendency to depend on their capability and inventiveness can get them in trouble at times. Tony took this concept a bit too far when he ignored security concerns and ended up with shrapnel lodged in his chest. In classic Inventor Rational fashion, Tony used his creative and inventive genius to devise a mechanical suit that saved his life. And thus, Iron Man was born. Indeed Tony is constantly searching for new projects, as we will no doubt see in the Avengers, and always tinkering with and improving his mechanical suit. Indeed given their exceptional propensity to innovate, Inventors have a tendency to live their lives somewhat on the brink of disaster: as evidenced by Tony Stark’s perpetuated struggles with alcoholism. Tony Stark having a somewhat reckless and at-times irresponsible persona in the comics goes hand-in-hand of course with casting the likes of Robert Downey Jr.The Armored Avenger can be seen amongst his super squad May 2012, and again by himself May 2013.
While Marvel/Disney seems to have it’s sh*t together, DC/Warner Bros. is still searching for solid cash cows to replace the likes of Harry Potter and The Dark Knight. While they do have The Hobbit films coming up, they simply cannot afford setbacks like Green Lantern if they actually want to directly compete with The Avengers and it’s four characters with already well-developed fan-bases.
