woensdag 5 juni 2013

Today's News: Del Toro becomes a Guardian of the Galaxy



A little bit of news I posted two days ago on MS found its way onto this blog of mine somewhat later than it should have:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/147636/benicio_del_toro_gecast_in_guardians_of_the_galaxy

Is this good news? Of course, to my mind Del Toro is never bad news at least. However, I much confess that, though I pride myself as a bit of a comic book nerd, I know next to nothing about these Guardians of the Galaxy... I'm sticking to the comics released in the Netherlands since they're both easier (and thus cheaper) to find, and there's much less of them due to the way they were published  - collecting various issues in one big package, with a minimum of pages wasted on advertising; unlike the American releases which are drenched in the latter - and the fact the company that released Marvel comics in Holland until only a few years ago, good ol' Juniorpress, didn't publish all American series, but only the good ones. GotG wasn't among those, so I have to make due with the few guest appearences of some of these Guardians in other Marvel series. And I was never really blown away by any of those (though I liked Gamora, but she's a babe in skimpy garments so what's not to like for a nerd like me?). For me, GotG is definitely the odd-one-out in Marvel's Phase 2. Marvel seems to acknowledge the fact this line of thinking applies to most people by making this movie much more of a stand-alone release, with only a few tie-ins to other Phase 2 films. Don't expect these Guardians to appear in The Avengers 2 in a few years. This is a wise decision, considering the Guardians of the Galaxy now have to prove themselves without relying on the strength of their more Earthly (or Asgardian) counterparts. Plus, it doesn't make the ever expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe too vast and muddled by all of a sudden throwing in a lot more characters from a lot more corners of the Galaxy that aren't so relevant for the rest of Phase 2 anyway.

If GotG turns out a dud, it will hardly affect the Marvel movies to follow (unlike Iron Man 3, which did indeed not boast well for what's yet to come). And it very much has the potential to end up an oddball film, considering director James Gunn seems to specialize in weirdness and gore as he illustrated with the likes of Slither and Super. Plus, there's a talking raccoon involved here. Maybe Del Toro will play him, since it has not yet been revealed what his role in all of this will be. I'm guessing he'll play a more regal, heavier character instead, as befits his stature as a solid actor. Unless he feels like doing something totally different from anything he's ever done before. You know how actors are sometimes.




I'm keeping an open mind until we get a trailer or something (or until I happen upon some GotG comics, which isn't likely around here), but for now I remain skeptical about this film - despite the involvement of a few good actors - and will focus my enthusiasm on other Phase 2 projects, specifically Thor: The Dark World and Ant-Man. I know what to expect from them, since Juniorpress gave me the opportunity to get to know and appreciate them in the Eighties and Nineties, albeit only in their capacity as Avengers instead of on their own. But that proved enough for me. Hopefully Gunn and Del Toro will prove these Guardians of the Galaxy are also worth our while as the more interplanetary version of the Avengers they appear to be. Just as long as they downplay the talking raccoon for their own good. We've had enough annoying digital characters already over the last decades.

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