Category Archives: Netflix

Marvel’s The Punisher – Teaser Trailer

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There have been three movie incarnations of The Punisher since he was created by Gerry Conway and John Romita Sr. in 1974, and while a popular character in comics, his movies never quite seemed to connect with audiences.

The first movie was in 1978, with Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle/The Punisher.  It was okay, though he never displayed the the iconic skull emblem the character is known for (this lack of fidelity to the character was made up by it being somewhat gory).

The next version was in 2004 with Thomas Jane (who while physically is probably a bit short, he brought acting chops beyond Lundgren’s). It was okay, but failed in some really peculiar ways, such as as some underwhelming special effects and odd story beats (what I like to call the ‘fire hydrant scene’ is pretty bizarre).

Though at least he wore the iconic skull.

Thomas Jane also appeared in a short as The Punisher in 2012 (The Punisher: Dirty Laundry).

The Punisher next made another appearance in 2008 (This time played by Ray Stevenson) in Lexi Alexander’s Punisher: War Zone.  

Easily the best interpretation of the character in movies–though some of the violence was way over the top and more cartoonish than anything seen prior–Stevenson brought the size of Lundgren, and the acting chops of Jane to the role.

Though it still underperformed in theaters.

Enter 2017, and the Punisher is back.  Introduced in season two of Marvel’s Daredevil and graduating to his own series (a better format for the character than movies) Jon Bernthal brings us a Punisher worthy of the name.

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The Defenders – Trailer 2

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Marvel Television, as far as I can tell, is in a bind entirely of their own making.

While I enjoy the series that have done thus far–with a particular emphasis on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.–I do feel a certain reluctance on their parts to embrace the fantastic wholeheartedly (which is an interesting, though odd, problem to have).

This has a lot to do with why why the only costume we’ve seen of the four superheroes that make up The Defenders is Daredevil (which is less a costume than tactical combat armor in varying shades of red) and why the upcoming The Inhumans looks so grounded.

And so ordinary.

Comicbooks are a celebration of the fantastic, the weird, the uncanny and the strange;  a perspective that seemingly ill-fits with the Nolanesque esthetic that Marvel has created for television.

Which isn’t to say all characters should wear costumes.  I get why Jessica Jones and Luke Cage don’t–Jones tried the costumed superhero route; it didn’t take while Cage has always had less a costume than accoutrements (a tiara–there has to be another name for that–coupled wits a chain for a belt and a yellow shirt) that was more indicative of a 1970’s fashion esthetic–the character was created in 1972 by Archie Goodwin, John Romita, Sr. and George Tuska–than anything else

But Iron Fist?  He’s a character where a costume would actually make sense.  It would protect his identity–and by extension that of his family–as well as give him clothing in line with someone who engages in martial arts combat on a (more or less) regular basis.

And that’s not necessarily to say that they have to go with the spandex body suit, though something along those lines would really be appreciated.

Marvel’s Iron Fist – Teaser Trailer

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After thoroughly enjoying Marvel’s Luke Cage (review coming soon!) imagine my surprise to see a new trailer for Marvel and Netflix’s upcoming Iron Fist on Twitter.

There’s no reveal (yet) of Iron Fist–which is a good thing–but it’s very mysterious and harkens back to the character’s origins.

Pretty cool.

Marvel’s Luke Cage – Trailer Into Reaction

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Here’s my reaction trailer to Marvel’s Luke Cage.  The trailer looks pretty awesome (but it isn’t always the case?) and if Daredevil and Jessica Jones are any indication, this will be pretty impressive as well.

The unremarked upon trailer is below.

Marvel’s Iron Fist – Teaser Trailer

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Gotta admit, I like the logo though it’s especially good to see because for awhile there were members of the online community that were saying that a series based on Iron Fist wasn’t going to happen.

That being said, Finn Jones?

That’s not even that I think Jones is a bad actor–I’ve heard that he’s appeared in Game of Thrones, which I don’t particularly care for–more so than I haven’t anything to base a decision on.

Though I am not sure it would matter all that much because what puts me off is sort of silly; almost dumb, really.

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It’s the curly hair.

Danny Rand in the comics typically have very straight hair.  I know it’s a minor point, but having followed the adventures of Power Man and Iron Fist for awhile, it’s part of the image I’ve carried in my head.

 

Voltron: Legendary Defender – Trailer

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Netflix is bringing back Voltron, though it appears that he might have got a demotion from being the ‘Defender of the Universe’ to a ‘Legendary Defender.’

I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for the robot, though for some reason when growing up I thought that it was selfish that only one of the four lions could be Voltron’s head, when they were all essentially identical, except for their color.

Then there’s the practicality, or the lack thereof.  Most robots, no matter what they transform into, tended to retain important physical features, like hands.

But not Voltron, which were replaced by the heads of lions.  I guess I shouldn’t be very critical, after all it is a children’s cartoon, and besides, he always managed to hold a sword pretty well.

Which is all a giant robot assembled from four lion robots needs.

Marvel’s Luke Cage – Trailer #1

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To be honest, I’m not entirely sure why the Marvel series being produced for Netflix are so successful.  After all, they’re working with characters that I wouldn’t exactly call ‘first-stringers.’

Though that’s not by any means to imply that they aren’t beloved to many people, only that they’re plenty of more popular superheroes that have yet to appear in either the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), or what I like to call the MTU–or Marvel Televised Universe (too late to copyright ‘MTU,’ I’m guessing)–or who’s rights aren’t tied up with other entities, like Sony, Twentieth-Century Fox or Universal Pictures.

And speaking of Netflix, I should mention that I take umbrage to attempts by other entities, such as NBC, to determine how it is their ratings–which they apparently keep track of, though they don’t release–work.

I suspect that the numbers for their series are in toto significantly larger than any estimates that have yet been reported because, unlike domestic networks, Netflix has a huge international scope, which means that when a series like Daredevil premieres domestically–I believe that it is doing exactly the same, at the same time, all over the world.

So it stands to reason that premieres on Netflix would–when total audience numbers are taken into account–decimate the numbers for a network that relies entirely on domestic consumption.

Which begats another question, which is how to separate domestic viewership of Netflix programming from international numbers.

Whomever can figure that out in a fashion that is close to accurate will probably make a lot of money, be it in Dollars, Euros, Pounds or whatever.