Comic Book and Superhero movie & TV discussion.

[LaGoosh]

4 hours ago, Lorne Malvo said:

Ryan Reynolds drags the whole thing further down with a truly terrible annoying role (I think that may be a common theme across this project)

A common theme across his entire shitty career.

[davertfnewman]

Just something that interests me, perhaps, but it seems like there's a big clear out on Netflix at the moment as other streaming services probably reclaim their assets to make a challenge. However, you find some stragglers that are completely random.

 

If you search for DC Comics, you get:

- Smallville (just added, on the front page, more than twenty years old)

- Titans (awful live action adaptation of Teen Titans)

- Teen Titans Go! (spiritual sequel to the legendary Teen Titans cartoon that has gone on for way too long)

 

If you search for Marvel Comics, you get:

- Blade II and Blade Trinity (but not the excellent Blade)

- Elektra (unpopular follow-on from the dreadful Daredevil

- Punisher: War Zone (where even Thomas Jane had jumped out of the main role and was replaced by the late Ray Stevenson)

- Madame Web (another in a series of Spider-Man-related movies that don't have Spider-Man in them)

- Iron Man: Armored Adventures (boring but inoffensive animated show)

 

I saw someone once make the comment on X that Amazon Prime sometimes resembles the stuff someone found at the back of an abandoned video shop from 1989 but Netflix offering next to nothing in this genre.

[DEF]

With HBO launching in a few months in the UK I'd assume all DC will be going their and Disney+ has all the marvel so Netflix has limited options. I wish they would pull their fingers out and get some more of the Millar World they own made. Nemesis could be a riot in live action.

[davertfnewman]

Yeah, hopefully it's soon going to be a case of "this is here and that is there". I know Channel 4 lost the Adult Swim stuff too, soon to be reabsorbed.

[Carbomb]

On 1/23/2026 at 10:12 AM, Lorne Malvo said:

Spider-Man 2 - A highpoint of the entire genre. It surprised me watching it back just how little Doc Ock is actually in the film. This is much more interested in the Peter Parker/Mary Jane story and the usual superhero shenanigans are just a backdrop to that, and it's all the better for it. Man, I miss when these films had actual heart. 

Alfred Molina as Doc Ock is one of my favourite performances in superhero films ever. Plus the film re-imagining of the character is one of the best too - prior to S2, I don't think he'd ever used the tentacles for mobility, and it works really well. 

On 1/23/2026 at 10:12 AM, Lorne Malvo said:

Blade: Trinity - I think the Blade series is the biggest victim of this project so far. My memories were of it being a decent little trilogy. It's not. The first is fine and 2 and 3 are dogshit. The acting across the board is really bad here (Parker Posey, take a bow) and Ryan Reynolds drags the whole thing further down with a truly terrible annoying role (I think that may be a common theme across this project). Fair play on them for getting Triple H to lay down in 2004 mind. This also has a nasty strain of homophobia/misogynistic insults throughout which were probably par for the course at the time, but fucking hell lads it's a cape film. Tone it down will you. 

A bit difficult to do when the very first scene of the first film is a literal blood bath in a nightclub. I never really regarded it as a Marvel film, even though it was the first under the Marvel Studios umbrella. It was always too violent and too adult to be in the MCU.

Personally, I liked Blade 2, and I was thunderstruck when the name "Luke Goss" came up in the credits. I can't think of many weirder, more out-of-left-field castings than that.

[Carbomb]

Double posted by accident.

Edited January 26 by Carbomb
Packie Bonner

[ReturnOfTheMack]

I can forgive the cast of Blade Trinity considering they were acting against a very uncooperative Snipes. The stories around the making of the film are better than the film itself. 

[Lorne Malvo]

1 hour ago, Carbomb said:

A bit difficult to do when the very first scene of the first film is a literal blood bath in a nightclub. I never really regarded it as a Marvel film, even though it was the first under the Marvel Studios umbrella. It was always too violent and too adult to be in the MCU.

I've got no issue with violence / blood / etc in a Blade film, in fact it would probably be a bad idea to make a Blade film without those elements. My issue was more with the blatant homophobia and misogny that permeates pretty much every line Ryan Reynolds and Triple H gleefully spit out.

Like I say, I know those things were pretty standard at the time and maybwe I'm being a bit of a Helen Lovejoy, but I just found those aspects really jarring watching it back now.

[Carbomb]

35 minutes ago, Lorne Malvo said:

I've got no issue with violence / blood / etc in a Blade film, in fact it would probably be a bad idea to make a Blade film without those elements. My issue was more with the blatant homophobia and misogny that permeates pretty much every line Ryan Reynolds and Triple H gleefully spit out.

Like I say, I know those things were pretty standard at the time and maybwe I'm being a bit of a Helen Lovejoy, but I just found those aspects really jarring watching it back now.

Yeah, that's fair. My mind went down the "thundercunt" and swearing route, which, of course, you weren't talking about. 

Absolutely right about the homophobia and misogyny. Not justified at all, but not surprising given the proto-edgelord era the films were made in.

[ReturnOfTheMack]

Just worked through Wonder Man on Disney+. Actually fun little show with very little CGI messing about. Nice to see something a bit different from the usual Marvel formula too.

[organizedkaos]

I'm a bit confused by the reviews/trailer for that. I get it's "superhero also to do other stuff" but say with She-Hulk the premise of "lawyer has to deal with superhero related lawsuits" was immediately interesting (and then... squandered). However with this it seems to be about an actor trying to get a role then possibly a comedy about making super hero films. In the last year we had The Studio which was pretty great and The Franchise which was less great. The jokes in the trailer about Ben Kingsley being a terrorist were fairly amusing but it didn't really have anything noteable or interesting storyline-wise?

Is it just a kinda meta Marvel version of the other shows I mentioned? Straightman has to deal with a wacky european director and stuff?

[Hannibal Scorch]

39 minutes ago, organizedkaos said:

I'm a bit confused by the reviews/trailer for that. I get it's "superhero also to do other stuff" but say with She-Hulk the premise of "lawyer has to deal with superhero related lawsuits" was immediately interesting (and then... squandered). However with this it seems to be about an actor trying to get a role then possibly a comedy about making super hero films. In the last year we had The Studio which was pretty great and The Franchise which was less great. The jokes in the trailer about Ben Kingsley being a terrorist were fairly amusing but it didn't really have anything noteable or interesting storyline-wise?

Is it just a kinda meta Marvel version of the other shows I mentioned? Straightman has to deal with a wacky european director and stuff?

No

[ReturnOfTheMack]

Yeah, its a hard one without spoiling it.

The powers are a story point, but secondary to the struggling actor stuff. Ben Kingsley is playing a character he used in Iron Man 3 and Shiang Chi and they play that up a little. 

[Lorne Malvo]

Watched another bunch of the Marvels over the last few weeks;

X-Men: The Last Stand - Not as bad as I remember actually. I quite enjoyed it. It's biggest issue is that the first two X-Men films are really strong so this looks worse in comparison, plus they try to cram too much in - doing both the 'Mutant cure' and 'Phoenix' storylines together is a bit of a mess, if they'd just focused on one it would've made for a much better movie. Still, I don't think it's as bad as people say.

Ghost Rider - Okay, this is neck and neck with Blade Trinity for shittest I've watched so far - maybe even pips it. Absolutely dreadful film this. Nicholas Cage plays Johnny Blaze as some weird combination of Elvis and Gomez Addams. I think he's said this was personally the worst period of his career and it shows.

Spider-Man 3 - Very similar to X-Men 3 in that it gets a bad rep that it doesn't really deserve. Nowhere near as good as the first two and they've got three villains going on instead of focusing on one or two (I feel they could've lost the whole Sandman plot and Uncle Ben retcon really). But there's still a lot in here to have fun with.

Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer - I only watched this a few weeks back and don't remember anything about it, so I'm assuming it's shit and boring. The only bits that come to mind now is the way they bring Doom back in the laziest way possible, and the bit where Fantastic Four are put in the most minimum security locked room with one guard watching over them, because that's what you'd do with four people with those particular powers obviously. 

Iron Man - A really strong start for the MCU. I'd forgotten just how good this was. I do a bit of an eye-roll now everytime RDJs name crops up, but still can't deny he's really really good in this.

The Incredible Hulk - It's fine. Never really gets the blood pumping and Ed Norton is miscast as Bruce Banner but it's a solid enough mid-level entry in this franchise.

Punisher: War Zone - A complete tonal mess of a film. Some ridiculously violent moments then the rest of the film is played like a comedy skit - especially Dominic Wests really bad portrayal of Jigsaw that may have worked in the 60s Batman show but doesn't work at all here. One for the 'weird cast' thread this; Ray Stevenson in a leading role with his sidekicks played by Colin Salmon and Wayne Knight?!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - I've got a real soft spot for this film. I'm not saying it's good by any means, but Hugh Jackman could play this role in his sleep at this point and the pace with which the plot moves means it's never boring. This version of Deadpool is funny as fuck in retrospect.

Iron Man 2 - One of those films where it just feels like there's been loads of rewrites and reshoots which leads to a half-arsed effort. Starts off quite good but then just fizzles out, and Justin Hammer and Vanko make for a pretty bad pair of villians between them.

Getting to the point in my rewatch now where Marvel released about 30 films a year, so don't be surprised if I give up on this!

[Dai]

There's still plenty of good stuff to come in the nearby future, but then it's definitely a case of diminishing returns and the same story being retold with slight tweaks. 

 

On a different note, is anyone that excited for the new Avengers film? I think I'm like a lot of people who used to watch everything and go to the cinema for everything as well, but now don't at all. Nothing about who is in it has made me excited about it, and I think I'm more than happy to wait to see it in the house. I think it will be the clearest example yet of the ship sailing in terms of mega money Marvel films.