If it was good enough for The Avengers...

I'm a fan of Marvel, and have a great deal of love for what Disney, Marvel Studios and everyone involved has done in creating MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe).  I'm also a fan of Joss Whedon.  I'd be lying if I said Buffy the Vampire Slayer wasn't a part of my teenage years, and I love Firefly.  So imagine my excitement at the knowledge that these 2 loves were being brought together for Avengers Assemble.  Picture a kid at Christmas, then times it by a very large number.  As well as being an annoyance for Family, Friends and Colleagues, I kept a close eye on how much longer I would have to wait to see Avengers Assemble by using a countdown app on my phone.

So after watching the latest Iron Man 3 trailer (below, for any who haven't seen it yet),

I decided to fire up the old countdown app:

Because where would we be without Iron Man?  Undoubtedly the catalyst for the MCU as we know it today.  Marvel had had big screen outings in the past, as far back as Howard the Duck in 1986.  But even the more notable and recent entries, Spiderman, X-Men, and the Fantastic Four, were insular at best, and only just palatable at worst.  The arrival of Iron Man in 2008 changed the landscape for Marvel completely.  Understandably there were things going on behind the scenes to help things along.  The creation of Marvel Studios new base of operations, the appointment of Kevin Feige, and the systematic recuperation of the rights to all it's now stable characters, among others.

For me, the fan, Iron Man was the signal of a new beginning.  A beginning that has now lead us to this, Iron Man 3 and the start of MCU Phase 2.  Let the count down begin.

p.s. since starting to write this post, the countdown is down to:

6 weeks, 5 days, 22 hours, 38 minutes, 15 seconds

Marvel unveils upcoming line up....

Now that Comic Con has now finished, and I'm able to pull myself away from my Twitter feed for longer than 30 minutes, it's time to see what SDCC has served up for us.

All of my attention was, without doubt, focused on what Marvel brought to the table.  To be expected, Robert Downey Jr. made waves during the Iron Man 3 panel.  From what I have read and seen, there was a beautifully orchestrated piece of theatre.  With Downey Jr. making a typically Stark-esque entrance, before making the introduction to the show reel.  Complete with Iron Man hand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra_jGGe9BHg

So as well as looking forward to the show reel footage making it's way into the public domain over the coming months, Marvel has unveiled a power house line up for the next 2 years.  With some titles we knew about, and some rumoured titles being confirmed:

Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor we knew were on the way, with shooting having started on the later 2 already.  Whilst Ant Man has very much been unveiled, with Edgar Wright showing his test reel, Marvel studios have only said it will happen, rather than when.  Guardians of the Galaxy is the much rumoured title that has been confirmed and given a release date.  Whilst Marvel is no stranger to the more mystical side of it's comic book universe on the big screen with the outing of Thor (I also can't wait to see how they tackle The Mandarin), I think The Guardians of the Galaxy presents an altogether different challenge.  I don't think the subject matter will lend itself to the more classical feel of Branagh's Thor.  So far, no details about who is involved have surfaced.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I remain most excited about Iron Man 3, and only hope that they go all out with the Extremis story arc.  Although I'm not ready to see the back of Downey Jr. and Tony Stark, so let's hope they don't leave it too long before announcing a sequel to Avengers Assemble.