A Wee Bit Obsessed With "The Avengers Initiative"

Allow me to get all Comic-Con for a moment. No, I don't read comic books anymore, but I wish I did. Back as a tweenager, I read them daily. Grapevine Comics & Cards just down Thornton Road was my haven. Also had me a subscription to G.I. Joe and Wolverine. The whole Batman "Death of Robin" episode captivated my entire attention for at least four or five issues.

As any responsible, respectful reader, I kept the best issues in plastic sleeves, the best of the best received Mylar treatment and/or a supportive board. All were kept in those long white boxes with the handle holes in each end. Trust me; those boxes treat the comics rather well over the years. And yes, I still have my collection.

Back in the day I would've loved for Marvel to be in the movie business. With the Batman movies and the success of the Superman series, DC's heroes were all we had. Every now and then some lame version of The Punisher would come out. The TV series finale of The Incredible Hulk was something to remember, especially because it featured Daredevil. I knew I was a bit too old to watch Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends, but I didn't care. I watched anything Marvel-related I could fix my eyes on. Decades later, my wish has been granted.

First, thank you Jon Favreau and Robert Downey, Jr. for keeping Iron Man cool. This whole bit with Nick Fury, the Avengers Initiative, and character crossovers has me incredibly intrigued. Only Tony Stark is charismatic and resourceful enough to pull off "putting a team together".

Sure, Captain America was the leader of the Avengers in the comics, but he's a couple of movies behind Iron Man. And Stark is already inquiring about the Hulk (Ed Norton, by the way, is an awesome Bruce Banner). I know Captain America: The First Avenger is set to come out in Summer of '11, but I don't know how the movie will transport him from WWII days to hang out with a present-day Stark. Samuel L. Jackson is in the cast as Nick Fury, and is the voice of this little teaser for 2012's The Avengers.



Checking out the IMBD's cast for The Avengers, I'm excited to see that this should rival the X-Men movies. Yes, that's saying a lot, but consider this cast of characters. You've got Downey Jr's Stark bringing with him Don Cheadle as War Machine and Scarlett Jo's Black Widow, formerly of Fury's S.H.I.E.L.D. Captain A (Chris Evans) is there as is the Hulk, except Banner will be played by Mark Ruffalo (who is just as cool as Norton) and the Hulk will be voiced by Lou Ferrigno (nice touch).

The Mighty Thor will joineth the group after releasing his own movie, directed by Shakespearean movie maker Kenneth Branaugh. It looks as if Loki (Tom Hiddleston) will follow him from script-to-script. Isn't that what any dark Norse deity would do? Oh, and lest we forget superarcher, Hawkeye, to be played by Jeremy Renner.

Here they all are at this year's Comic-Con.


It will be interesting to see how director, Joss Whedon, teams up Stan Lee's characters. I'd imagine it would look something like this...

Great to see Favreau will be involved in the production, too. I can hardly wait for May 4, 2010. Between then and now there will be plenty of teasers to digest. Surely, the crossover characters will be injected into the Captain America and Thor movies as they have succeeded to do in the Iron Man and Hulk movies.

While I could dig out my old comics, I should get a couple of new issues to see what's been going on with each of these characters. What do comics cost now? Any under a buck anymore?

A little investigation via new media will work just as well for now. I'm jumping further into YouTube on this matter of The Avengers Initiative.

'Nuff said.