superheroes

The current run of big screen adaptations of comic book characters can be traced directly back to Richard Donner’s 1978 film Superman. Since then, we’ve had five more Superman movies, seven Batman movies, a Green Lantern movie, four Spider-Man movies, two Fantastic Four movies, five X-Men movies, three Iron Man movies, a Thor movie, a Captain America movie, and a movie with Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America. This week, Thor: The Dark World, the sequel to 2011’s Thor, hits theaters, and next summer we’re getting X-Men Days of Future Past, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

What do all of these movies have in common, besides being big budget superhero movies? The titular characters are all white men. In the case of Superman, Thor, and Captain America, they’re the whitest and manliest of white men. Continue reading →

Thor

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, and Anthony Hopkins
Directed by: Kenneth Branagh
Written by: Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, and Don Payne. From a story by J. Michael Straczynski and Mark Protosevich.
Based on the comic book Thor created by: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby

Of all the comics that Marvel has brought to the screen over the last few years there is perhaps none that represented as bold a risk as that of Thor. It’s one thing to sell the public on a character with strong name recognition or that has a well known actor cast in the lead. Thor however was a different sort of gamble entirely. If people have heard of Thor at all it is more than likely to be in the context of Norse mythology. That he also has a long history as a character in the Marvel universe is something I feel most people are unfamiliar with. Continue reading →

It’s Time For Minority Superhero Movies

Thor Movie Review: Vermithrax Pejorative’s Version