Tag Archives: marvel

Ant

Marvel’s Ant-Man is both a prequel to their own and recently released masterpiece, Avengers: Age of Ultron and the set before the spike with Captain America: Civil War.  And in case you aren’t aware, Ant-Man is due to release on July 17 of this year, starring Michael Douglas and Paul Rudd as Hank Pym/Ant-Man and Scott Lang/Ant-Man redux, respectively.

Rarely do I dive into a fight with a haymaker like that, but my mind is currently a packed New York subway train, and each passenger is a detail that needs to get off so I can sift through my head with a bit more clarity.

Now, this is just my own theory.  As much of an honor it would be, I don’t work for Marvel.  And if I did, I’d probably get all sorts of crud for posting such details of their unreleased cinematic endeavors.

It’s a fairly heavy idea, and I do have all the why’s and how’s to back this up.  So before I continue on, I have an obligation to warn you that, if you haven’t seen AofU yet (have you been living under a rock for the last week?!) and you want the thrill of surprise, you probably shouldn’t delve in any further as I will go into depths that would ruin the film for you.

For all of you that fit the aforementioned – this is your stop.  Get off the train.  Thanks for the visit.  Come back in 67 days to see if I was right.  Seriously just stop reading.

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And for those of you who wish to continue on to the next several stops – hold onto something.

Several months ago, Marvel openly announced their cinematic schematics, listing every film and its release date for the next 10-15 years.  Although an enormous mountain to climb, the folks at Marvel are master storytellers, and if anyone can map their way to the top, it’s them.  To explain this theory, however, I’m going to hone in on just two other films – Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War, the latter releasing in May of 2016.  So, in chronological order, we have:

Avengers: Age of Ultron
Ant-Man
Captain America: Civil War

Think about that for a second: the sequel to the most ambitious film project in history on the left, and a film adaptation of a Marvel event that changed the foundation of Marvel on the right.  And smack in the middle of these two… is an ant?  Really?

To steal a line from Loki from the first Avengers flick, “An ant has no quarrel with a boot.”  Well, this one is dealing with two boots, and has no reason being in the same vicinity.

Don’t get me wrong, while I enjoy the Ant-Man character in the books, he’s not a starting pitcher like Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, or Hulk on the big screen.  They could have done a sequel for any of these characters post-AofU, but instead took a very unconventional route.  Marvel Studios has yet to fail in the cinemas since Robert Downey Jr. put on the iron suit in 2008, so I’m compelled to trust their judgement.  An Ant-Man film is not a sign that they’re running out of ideas, instead it’s an intricate and designed placement of a character that has every necessary component to bridge the two huge events in AofU and Civil War.

So how, then?  First we’ll have to look at AofU and Civil War each separately.  AofU birthed one of the team’s primary villains in their history; if you cause enough ruckus to get the band of all bands back together to stop you, then you’re probably doing something wrong, really right (see what I did there?).  So Ultron attempts to end the world by shooting a city-sized vibranium bullet through its chest, and the Avengers find a way to work out their differences and overcome enormous odds to save the world once again.  Fan-friggin’-tastic.

So if Ultron is an exterior threat, what happens when there’s deep conflict within?  That’s essentially the chorus to Civil War.  Marvel Studios is proving over and over again that they don’t have any interest in following their books line for line when making their films.  Civil War, however, will be very close to the source material, and this is what we know:

Tony Stark and Steve Rogers have conflicting stances over the Hero Registration Act, which requires all masked and/or costumed heroes to be registered with S.H.I.E.L.D.  This means full disclosure – name, date of birth, address, shirt size, favorite baseball team, and how you like your coffee.  You can imagine that this doesn’t sit well with the vigilantes of the Marvel universe such as Spider-Man (a character that they recently re-acquired from Sony Pictures and is confirmed to be in the Civil War film), and Daredevil (if you haven’t caught the Netflix Original Series, it’s a must).  Vigilantes protect their identities by design.  They have a 9-5, they have friends and family to protect, and they choose to fight crime outside the confines of the law.  The second their name is out, everyone they care about is now tied to the train tracks.

Stark is pro-registration, and feels that this is necessary information for everyone to know.  Rogers is anti-registration and sees it as an outright violation of civil rights.  Marvel ran this storyline in 2006-2007, and whether you picked up the books or not, many were forced to answer one of Marvel’s most important questions in their history –

“Whose side are you on?”

Registration Act – why did it come up in the first place?  In a nutshell, a group of B-list heroes that had their own reality TV series tried to save the day by stopping an equally B-list villain.  The results were not so ideal – the bad guy blew himself up… along with an elementary school of 60+ innocent children.  Public anger and outcry ensues.  Demands for action from the government becomes required.  S.H.I.E.L.D. comes up with the Registration Act to keep a lid on everyone.  It’s a perfect formula for conflict between Stark and Rogers, hence, civil war.

You can imagine and anticipate the difficulty of having to choose a side.  In every way, you don’t want to choose.  You want both, especially with the way they adored each other at the end of AofU.  This wasn’t and will not be the case, and the brutality of their fight will come with miles and miles of emotion.

Short recap: you have Avengers vs. Ultron, then Avengers vs. Avengers.  HUGE, right?  So why and how does Ant-Man fit in the middle of these two?

Just like this –

Here’s what we know about Ant-Man as a film from the trailers:

  1. Hank Pym, who is in every way a genius in the realm of Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, is a seasoned old man. He is the original Ant-Man of yesteryears.
  2. Scott Lang is a younger man than Pym. He’s a thief that has ran from the law for much of his life, but wants to make things right.
  3. Pym has chosen Lang to bring the ant back.
  4. Pym has asked Lang to break in somewhere and steal something for him.
  5. San Francisco is an important setting in Ant-Man.

As a stand alone film, you can kind of see where it’s heading – master finds a student, master teaches and molds the student, student is successful in the third act and makes master proud, right?  Well, good thing Marvel Studios isn’t filming The Karate Kid.  There has to be more to Ant-Man.

Now, here are the essentials that you should know about Ant-Man in the comics:

  1. Hank Pym is the discoverer of a rare group of subatomic particles, aptly named Pym Particles, which makes shrinking down to the size of an ant and back to normal possible.
  2. Hank Pym is the original father of Ultron.

Of course, in AofU, Tony Stark pushed for and fathered artificial intelligence, which then led to Ultron.  After attaining Loki’s scepter from Hydra in the opening scene, Tony discovers that there are components worth studying within the scepter, components that he believes are the missing keys to creating A.I.  This is with the help and assistance of Banner, and they spend days attempting to find success, yet to no avail.

Until, so suddenly out of left field, an automatic reattempt of their last formula triggers a successful test.  So sudden and so unlikely, that even J.A.R.V.I.S. was surprised, easily expressed and detected during his initial conversation with Ultron in super-computer talk.

Here comes my first KO punch.  Wait for it.  Not yet, not just yet.  Almost there… and…. Right, here:

What if Hank Pym asked Scott Lang to don the Ant-Man suit to steal something from Tony Stark in Avengers Tower in New York?
Then, what if Ant-Man was in the same room as Stark and Banner during their last Ultron test, right before the party scene, right before Ultron was born?
So finally, what if the successful trigger for the creation of Ultron actually had everything to do with the presence and actions of Ant-Man in that same exact room?

Remember, he gets down to the size of a freakin’ ant.  The human eye, and not even J.A.R.V.I.S., would have detected him.  To reiterate, it’s not a necessity for Marvel to hold the books high as their bible to follow in their films.  This would, however, be a nice nod to Hank Pym, in a way saying to the character, “We didn’t forget about you in all this.”

Why would Hank Pym ask Scott Lang to steal something from Stark?  That could be all kinds of things, my first initial idea being that Pym worked with Howard Stark, who is Tony’s father, decades ago and wants something back that either he and/or Tony kept and/or stole from him.  That would definitely create even more of an intricate weave of Ant-Man into the Marvel cinematic universe.

Mind blown!  At least, I’m speaking for myself.  If you share the same feeling, congratulations – you’re as much of a geek as I am.

This is still half of the theory, though right?  Where’s the Civil War tie-in?  I threw the left hook, so here comes the right cross – are you ready?  Wait for it, wait… for it.  Aaand –

Previously I mentioned the reason for the Registration Act in the comic books, with an elementary school being blown half to hell, at the fault of inexperienced heroes.  Key words there – inexperienced heroes.

With that in mind, what Hank Pym, in his quest to find a successor for the Ant-Man suit, chose poorly in Scott Lang?
Then, what if Scott Lang was at fault for something that went completely awry, ie. the deaths of many innocent people?
So finally, what if Ant-Man’s third act ends where the hero ends in utter failure, forcing the issue for the Hero Registration Act to be put on the table for the Captain America 3 film?


This is the final stop, folks.  This is where I drop the mic.  Watch your step as you exit the train.  Thank you, and I’ll see you in 67 days.

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Worth

Marvel has made the headlines lately with their recent announcements that will and already have shaken up their print universe.  Tony Stark/Iron Man is moving to San Francisco and has a brand new suit.  Steve Rogers is replaced by Sam Wilson, who is black, as the next Captain America.  And the one that hits home for me – Mjolnir, the Asgardian hammer forged from the heart of a dying star and enchanted by the words spoken over Odin’s beard, is now held by a female.

Most of you are aware of the Thor-inspired theme of my Instagram photos.  If not, well, I have an Thor-inspired theme for my Instagram photos:

http://instagram.com/mjolnir_mcfly

See.  I told you.  I wasn’t lying (also see my post called #100).

I’ve always applied the idea of driving my Instagram account to roll with the times, both world/nationwide and personal moments.  Prior to the 2014 baseball season, I set up a spring training series where Thor (played by yours truly, again if you were unaware) works on his timing at the plate and his curveball on the mound.  With the return of my brother from boot camp in April, he accepted the role of Captain America, and us brothers were reassembled via a six-photo series glorious with hammer and shield action – which are my favorite of the bunch to date. And that’s always been my style and preferred method to my madness.  Somewhere there’s always a story to be told, and I want to be the one to tell it to you with multiple layers.

So, the last five photos that I posted on my ‘Gram are direct nods to Marvel’s move to pull the hammer away from the guy that’s been Marvel’s Thor for the last fifty-two years and pass it onto someone else.  There is a new Thor in town, and you can imagine the shock.  After all, many people tend to not accept change very well.

One can assume that it would not be easy to let go of that power after possessing it for that long, right?  We can all relate to – at the very least imagine – the anguish of losing what made you feel extraordinary, and having to witness it move on and accept another (strike a chord? See: break ups).

I have not read the Marvel books, so I am not aware of why or how he lost worthy for Mjolnir in the first place.  But for my photographic and ‘Gram purposes, those details were not required.  What I sought to visually hammer home (pun intended), was the unadulterated distress of loss, and the only thing left that mattered was how to find a way to get it all back.

What resulted was a five-photo series that I am actually very proud of.  It achieved everything I wanted – acting, dramatic lighting, plot progression from one photo to the next, and visual cameos of space and wormhole travel and Asgard itself (at least, the notion of it and how it would look).  More than anything else, people got the idea and I was floored by the overwhelmingly positive responses. It ends with a bit of an apology to Marvel, as I am not ready to give up the hammer.  In the end you have to believe in what you are worth.  And when you do that, ideals become very difficult to let go.  Or maybe that’s too deep of an ending, and I simply could not find a female replacement.  Hmm. Who knows.

What also spawned from the success of this story arc are… more story arcs!  I’ll still have one-shots of beautiful sunsets and sunrises and landmarks (who on the ‘Gram doesn’t love those?) but the future direction of my account will now continue toward a collection of storytelling series.  You know, panels of a comic book, if you will.

See what I did there?

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100

“Oh, I still don’t think you’re the god of thunder. But you ought to be!” || Issue #100

Today is a landmark photo – post number 100. When I started this feed last year in November, I honestly did not think it would get this far. At first it seemed silly, especially having to “play” this character myself, but the concept was definitely there. And as far as @Instagram goes, I have searched high and low to find a similar account. And so far, at least as far as public accounts go, one seems to be the loneliest number here. So at very least I win points in originality; all there was left was miles and miles of execution.

I’ve had a blast so far, and it’s a vision and project I have believed in since its inception. Do I have another 100 photos in me with the hammer? Maybe, maybe not. I still have a lot of ideas on the queue, and at this point I’m just going to shoot first and ask questions later.

Speaking of questions, I asked several folks to round up a series of questions that would tell my story a little bit. The camera behind the camera type of thing. So, without further ado –

1. What the hell is Mjolnir and how do you pronounce it?
– Mjolnir (mee-yole-near) is the name of the hammer. Not my choice, this is based out of the Norse Mythology that Marvel Comics also follow. If it was my choice to name the hammer, it would be Sex Panther.

2. Where does McFly come from?
– I am a big Back to the Future fan, and it is a simple nod to the McFly family. My previous Instagram account was mikey_mcfly, so I just dumped Mikey for Mjolnir for this IG reboot.

3. Your history with cameras?
– Started with handheld camcorders filming for projects in high school. More film projects came out of college when I was a film major before I switched to product design and industry. Several months after graduating college, I picked up the camera again in March of 2008 and filmed a weekend road trip I went on alone. That ended up birthing two things – an early idea for a company called Spiral Notebook Films and a 45-minute film titled “Understanding Michael.” Other short films came out of it such as “The Orientation Segment” and a large filming gig for Hula, Polynesian, and Tahitian dancing for the Hula Halau ‘O Makalapua school in San Bruno, California.

Several months prior, one of my closest friends Mark Penacerrada (IG @mark_onetimeinc) and I started ‘Mike and Mark – The Photo Guys!’ We had one gig for a graduation shoot at a community college before we started One Time with other friends and crime-fighting partners (IG @mattmaniego and @instafred_) From there, as an integrated marketing company, we’ve worked and partnered up with many clients and companies and put together an impactful portfolio.

4. What do you shoot with?
– Canons, all but one project where we used a Nikon. 7D, 60D, 5D Mark II, several Rebels and the Ti series. My Instagram photos are all shot with an iPhone camera.

5. Do you do this full time?
– I live in San Francisco, land of bat-shit high rent. So I do have a job in Palo Alto as an Administrator and Reports Analyst. Basically PC by day, and Mac the rest of the way.

6. You seem to be all over the place in what you do and can do. What do you consider yourself as?
– The God of Thunder you dumb motherf — no I’m kidding. If I ever push forth a title over anything else, it would be a writer. Second would be coffee junkie. The very last would be ice skater. Zero emphasis on skater.

7. Is Thor your favorite comic character?
– One of, but not my favorite. Daredevil is actually my favorite Marvel character, second only to Batman who tops the overall list.

8. How much does the hammer really weigh?
– For those of you who have ran into me during my shoots and were able to lift Mjolnir, well hot damn – you must be worthy!

9. Creative inspirations?
– Marty Linder, a brilliant designer and my college mentor. In film – Chris Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, Orson Welles, Robert Zemeckis, Jackie Chan, Charlie Chaplin, Mike Nichols, Chan-wook Park, Kevin Smith and Joss Whedon. I always wanted to be “Michael J. Fox” cool because I think no one tops him in that department. Writers like Jonathan Nolan, Brian Bendis, Ed Brubaker, and Stan Lee. I hope one day, Stan Lee gets full recognition as one of the greatest American writers in history, regardless of his genre. This man is responsible for some of the most amazing stories.

10. What takes up your spare time?
– I have a love/hate relationship with working out and training. I love it when I do it, I hate it when I don’t. During baseball season I’m following my Giants, and if your at the ballpark for a day game and you see someone running the upper reserve stairs from beginning to end, that would be me. Catch me after that pre-game workout, say hello, and let’s go have some beers and baseball.

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