Captain America casting news and rumors (and/or, one die-hard fan’s view the Cap movie!)

So, according to Latino Review, Marvel is looking for an uber-large star to fill the shoes of Steve Rogers for the upcoming film based on founding Avenger Captain America. The frontrunner, according to the rumor/article, is Leonardo DiCaprio with Brad Pitt a close runner-up for Steve Rogers’ boots—or apparently as Thor.

Now before I get a bit ranty and give you all my casting and plot ideas for a Captain America flick, let me just preface this whole thing by saying that Steve Rogers’ Captain America is my superhero. I’m of the opinion that every comic book fan has that one hero that they have a link to that’s so strong it’s inherently part of who they are and the whole reason they read comics: to me, that’s Captain America. As big a Spider-Man, X-Men and Hulk fan that I am, I could stomach some less-than-good parts in all these franchises by telling myself that Hollywood has to change certain things in translation for a mass audience. For a Cap movie, I can’t—cannot—have that be the case. I need a Cap movie to be an amazingly well done superhero epic or I will freak out. Seriously.

So, as far as Leo goes, I have to agree with the duderino over at Latino Review…

I personally believe DiCaprio is an odd choice. To me, Leo’s tall and lanky figure is perfect for Steve Rogers pre-super soldier serum but I wonder how they are going to make Leo look like a bulked up super soldier.

…I also agree that Leo’s got the acting chops to really pull off this role, but he’s just too darn thin!

This dude is thick! Beefy even!

As for Brad Pitt, I think he’s a great actor and proved he can be a bad ass with a shield in “Troy,” but I think he’s a bit too old and not quite “super” enough looking to portray a super soldier. However, I can see either of these two in the role (despite my feelings that they aren’t the best choice) and neither of these two choices make me have to vomit—hard, for nine days—like the Cap-casting rumors about Matthew McConaughey did. So, that’s a plus!

Still, I’m not sure a BIG BIG name portraying Steve Rogers would really work best for a Captain America film. I think a Captain America film’s greatest asset has to be it’s story. A great story that makes sense of a man misplaced in time who is a paragon of American idealism and moral virtue is the essential ingredient for a Cap film. “Iron Man” had a great story, but even if it hadn’t been so perfect, the big acting talent—well-suited to the film and character and feel of the comic they were portraying—could’ve pulled it off. Tony Stark/Iron Man feels like a character and property best handled by big Hollywood names. He’s the shiny Avenger so give him the big shiny Hollywood movie! Cap is a classic. He’s a hero that I think could easily be misused in the hands of a super-Hollywoody film. Don’t get me wrong, i want a big budget for my favorite hero’s flick, I just don’t want the mentality of big-budget Hollywood behind it.

So, my Cap-casting advice would be to get someone who fits into the Steve Rogers camp. You do a “Superman Returns”/Chris Reeve thing and get a no-name actor that can become Captain America just like the U.S. Government got Steve Rogers and made him into that symbol—like they made him Captain America.

Now, if you’ve been paying attention to what Wizard TV‘s been up to, then you likely saw “Friday Night Lights” and “Speed Racer” star Scott Porter doing some interviews over at Wizard World Philly. Now, Scott doesn’t fit my no-name actor criteria for the role, but he was lobbying hard in some of those interviews to get himself cast as Captain America (can’t blame a guy for trying!). I think Scott could be a good choice to play a young, World War II era Cap, though I think a modern Cap needs to look like he’s got a bit more mileage on him (being frozen for 40 or more years’ll do that to ya!). Scott’s got the uber-American, wholesome look to pull off the look of one young man symbolizing the good ol’ U.S. of A., and really impressed me by calling out Joe Q on the reveal of Kitty’s Astonishing “conclusion” three weeks earlier in Uncanny. He reads comics. He gets it. And, he’ll know how much a proper portrayal of Cap means to die-hard fans like myself. In that respect, I think he’d be a great frontrunner for a younger, pre-being-frozen Cap.

As far as timeline, in my opinion a Cap movie has to take place in both the WWII era and modern times. I think people need to see the gritty, war epic aspect of this character to understand him in a modern context. I’m not saying you need a Millar-style Ultimate Captain America, I just think understanding this man—who’s a war hero living in the future seeing what he fought to win for America and deciding why to fight for it again—is crucial to the character.

If you don’t understand WWII Cap then modern Cap can come across as kind of goofy. I mean, the guy punched out Hitler—a scene which has to be in the movie!—you cannot skip that aspect of him and what that means to every single character around him! He is the definition of superhero—the first superhero!

Based on some of that rambling, I think you need two or three people playing Steve Rogers in this film: You need the scrawny pre-serum Steve, the WWII era super-wholesome Steve and the modern war-torn (and slightly older and looking a bit world-weary) Steve. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I think the WWE’s John Cena is the perfect physical specimen for Cap…

…but he could never pull off the acting tour-de-force needed for Steve Rogers. Do I have a set cast in mind? No, because I’m not sure the ranks of Hollywood hold it. I do think a lot of the actors being talked about for the role online and around this office (DiCaprio, Pitt, Damon) are a bit too small, but in the end, I think the key is capturing the eyes of Cap. You need to see the soul of America when you see the eyes of whoever portrays Cap, that’s the key!

In the end, Marvel’s definitely proved that they are on the right track with “Iron Man” and “Incredible Hulk” this summer, so I have faith. But, as a huge Cap fan, I am extremely nervous that the film could be easily ruined. With every other superhero movie that I’ve seen and liked, I think I’ve always been more open to whatever creative vision was put up there because I didn’t have my own, super-specific thoughts on exactly what the movie should be like. With Cap, I do and I’m worried that whatever’s delivered won’t capture the essence of Cap, and that’ll be a crime against my childhood I may not ever get over.

[Review] ‘The Incredible Hulk’

By now you’ve probably seen staff writer Kevin Mahadeo’s review of “The Incredible Hulk” over on Wizard Universe proper, but what you may not know is that I too—yes, the loudest of monkeys himself—was also in attendance for the screener that Monsieur Mahadeo viewed. However, our plan to run dueling reviews (cue banjos) was foiled by the massive amount of work needed on the War Heroes Cover Competition voting and I was prevented from writing a timely review.

So, because being a “monkey” of a certain vocal distinction means I must voice opinions on certain things, I’ll opt for a later—and more casual—review of Green Genes return to the big screen…in the blogosphere!

And away we go…
And of course, heads up, ’cause there be spoilers ahead!

Straight to the point, “The Incredible Hulk” is a darn good flick that doesn’t just dig the Jade Giant out of the hole Marvel’s first gamma-charged flick dug for it (spoken from a guy who enjoyed Ang Lee’s take), but rockets it a Hulk hamstring-powered leap into the territory successful film franchise. The film kicks off with loads of nerd-nods to S.H.I.E.L.D. and Stark Industries, followed throughout the film by the original Hulk theme song, cameos from Lou Ferrigno, Stan Lee and RDJ as Tony Stark, not to mention teases about Captain America, The Leader and the Avengers. If the movie was simply a preview of the greater Marvel Universe being setup with this summer’s Marvel movie fare, it’d be worth the price of admission, but luckily, the flick delivers some heart and a classic Hulk story as well!

All in all, there really isn’t much to pick at in “The Incredible Hulk.” It’s maybe got a few more gags than harsh critics can go for, but it’s a comic book movie summer blockbuster—some comic book cheese isn’t just nice, it’s necessary! You throw a gag about giant purple pants into a Hulk film and, as a big Hulk fan, I’m going to love it.

And hey—much as I liked it—it wasn’t a perfect film, but if my two main critiques are any indication, this film is going to be a crowd-pleaser.

My critiques?

First: not enough punching. Oh, there’s Hulking out aplenty and, yeah, the Hulk turns a police car into a pair of boxing gloves, but I could have gone for a bit more fist fighting.

Second: Hulk and the Abomination weren’t strong enough. I’m a fan of the Hulk being more like a natural disaster then a wrecking crew, and I wanted to see him and the Abomination tossing around taxis like dodgeballs and toppling towns like they were tidal waves! They’re strong and they do some damage, but I want a Hulk-level event, not just a jumbo-sized streetfight. Ok, I’m splitting hairs, because the final battle is a f—king awesome fight scene, I’m just greedy and wanted more!

Lastly: I got a “Hulk Smash!” but I really wanted this scene…

Abomination: [Hulk in headlock] “You think you’re strong?! You’re nothing!”
Hulk: “No! Hulk is the strongest one there is!” [Three punch combo puts the Abomination down before Hulk grabs him by the legs and slams him repeatedly into the pavement]

…oh, or a “Puny Human…”

In the end, I’d give “Incredible Hulk” a B+ to “Iron Man’s” A. Marvel’s two for two this summer and I can’t wait to see what they roll out next year!

Coloring contest entries from the Homefront and/or Denver!

Two more entries just rolled in, and I was super pleased to see that they’re from my brother Dan Gibbons and Lake Forest, IL hometown hero Will Dugan, who goes to college in Denver with my broseph.

Here’s Will’s wonderful entry…

Sidenote: If you ever meet Will, make sure to ask him about any number of stories he has involving strippers. The one he’d told me from Vegas is particularly good…maybe not entirely true—who knows?—but a good story is a good story, dammit!

Here’s my broheim Dan’s hilarious entry (which I should mention, for the record, won’t be up for winning as it’s more of a photoshop job than a coloring)…

I recently got Dan and hooked on BSG via what we’re calling “Jim-Flix,” which is much like Netflix but features me doing the DVD sending. Dan sends me text messages and IMs here and there when stuff pops up on BSG that is crazy and/or mysterious, my favorite one so far referred to Starbuck and went something like, “Crazy and angry blonde pilot chick…are you hot or aren’t you?! I can’t tell?!” Good chuckles all around…but for the record, despite Dan’s questioning, Starbuck is officially extremely hot according to Loudest Monkey mandate.

Ok, asides aside, let’s keep those coloring contest entries rolling in!

Contest Entries Galore!

And the coloring train keeps on rolling down the tracks!

Two new entries came in, both from the good people over at the WUMB, this first one’s from WUMBer Tomer Soiker a.k.a. Spidey_82, the first (ever!) international entry in the Loudest Monkey Semi-Annual Coloring Contest (all the way from Israel!)…

I love that Scalped cover!

And, from Clay Stooshnoff, better known to WUMBers as (._Y_.), another rad entry…

Keep’em comin’, folks!

It’s time for…THE FIRST SEMI-ANNUAL LOUDEST MONKEY COLORING CONTEST!

Alright folks, get your crayons out!

‘Cause I just love coloring, I’m officially announcing the first ever—and semi-annual—Loudest Monkey coloring contest!

My good buddy Seaby Bess worked up my rad logo and the I love it in classic black and white, but I’d love to see some color on this baby!

Here’s the skinny…
• Take the above Loudest Monkey image (or click HERE or HERE (to DL the image if on Firefox or IE) for it) and color it in any way that strikes you as fun and original (I’m partial to crayon, but any form of coloring is not only more than fine, it’s encouraged! Go nuts on photoshop or MS Paint…whatever!). Clicking the picture to enlarge the image and then printing it should work pretty well. It’s a pretty decent file size, so it should work out alright in electronic formats too!

•Send your image to TheLoudestMonkey[AT]gmail[DOT]com. All entries must be electronic, preferred as a JPEG no more the 250KB (get your crayon versions and painted versions scanned folks, or just take photos!)

• I’ll run each and every entry on the blog (barring it’s covered in profanity), so check back to see the entires!

• All entries must be received by June 10, and make sure to give me your mailing address in the email with your entry, because….

After the entry cutoff date, I’ll pick out a few of my favorites and send out some prizes to the lucky winners!

So, keep checking back in to see some rad coloring, and I hope to be able to decorate my desk area with numerous awesome entries just as I did to cover up the ugly pink walls of my room back in college!

This…this is one of those walls!

‘Iron Man’ is solid!

Hey Folks, the review went up last night when I got home…

Check it out here.

It’s got some spoilers, so be warned! Here’s a tiny spoiler-free taste:

All the hype surrounding the Iron Avenger’s big screen premiere was well founded, because Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man” is one helluva ride that sets the bar high for competitor’s box office success—jetboots into the outer atmosphere high.

I’ll let the review do most of the talking, but I’ll say this: I went in with high expectations and left satisfied.