Should the Gargoyles Return To The Night?

In today's movies we see a return of pop culture from the past, be it a TMNT reboot, a new G.I. Joe movie and even a new Jurassic Park movie. Even Transformers was successful enough to get a fourth movie. So why have we not seen a Gargoyles movie yet? Is it even still relevant?

The Gargoyles originally aired back on October 24th 1994 and ran for three years. The Gargoyles began back in medieval Scotland where a band of nocturnal creatures known as Gargoyles lived alongside the humans until they were betrayed and those remaining were magically turned to stone. Centuries later the spell would be undone and the remaining 6 gargoyles found themselves in New York, befriended by a NYPD detective by the name of Elisa Maza.


Gargoyles has since gained a cult following of fans and although the cartoon series ended in 1997 the series did not die. In fact the franchise was picked up years later to be adapted into comic books, even by the likes of Marvel Comics. The comic line ended in 2008 by Slave Labor Comics when Disney's licensing fees became too high to renew.

So why have we not seen a Disney's Gargoyles movie yet? Personally I believe that the following is there and that even years later, children and new fans will pick up on it. Disney has generally focused it's movies around princesses; however Disney did announce in 2010 that they will move away from creating princess themed movies to aim for a wider appeal. Since then we have seen Disney make such purchases as Marvel Comics and most recently Lucasfilm.

What I see is that Disney has repositioned themselves to market to young and adolescent boys. Furthermore, Gargoyles does include a strong female protagonist in the form of Elisa Maza to offer a positive female role model for young girls as well.

So while the franchise hasn't seen any new material in the last 5 years, could it still be relevant? In today's pop culture we see movies take a bit of a darker tone, featuring vampire and werewolves (Twilight and Dark Shadows) and even have zombies on tv (The Walking Dead). We are embracing the supernatural and Gargoyles would fit very well into today's standards.

Now that we know that Gargoyles could be accepted today, how would it be done? Live action would just be a dream come true, to watch these massive beasts come to life from stone and fly above New York, but I think that the younger generation would be lost or frightened. The next step would simply be an animated feature to capture the same excitement but also the wonder from the younger crowd. With Disney already owning Pixar it might as well be a green light. Pixar has done wonders with Toy Story, or more fitting for the editorial, Monster's Inc.

Let's take a side step back over into the live action genre. Again, Disney is poised to be able to handle this kind of a movie. I would take that the Gargoyles would have to be done via CGI and motion capture with obvious voice overs. . I would also cast Naya Rivera from Glee. She definitely has the look and notoriety for the role.

So what do you think? Do the Gargoyles have what it takes to make it to the big screen? Or should the forever remain in stone?


-Nurd!

Pepper Pott's to the Rescue

A new Ironman 3 international TV spot showed up online with what some may consider a spoiler. The new spot entitled "Save" doesn't appear to show any new material except for one small clip with Pepper Potts wearing the Iron Man armor. (I'm gonna let that sink in for a moment.)

Yes, Pepper Potts will be showing up in the suit and I can't say that I didn't see it coming. We actually saw this in other trailers but we actually never got to see who was in the suit. What we did see was Tony Stark on the floor as his mansion was in shambles with the suit kneeling over him and no idea of who was inside. We were led to believe that with the mansion destroyed that someone may have hijacked the armor but that is not the case at all.




Even in the posters that were released we get one of Pepper holding Tony's helmet and I got two feelings from this poster; one, as if something bad had happened to Tony and two, desperation. Desperation that would lead her down a path to put on the suit.

There's no doubt in my mind that this is just another nod to our inner fan boys and fan girls as we've already seen the Hulkbuster armor. While we do see Pepper in the Iron Man suit what does remain to be seen is if she will actually get her own and finally become Rescue?

Iron Man 3 pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

Iron Man 3 is set to release on April 26th.


-Nurd!

*Update (3/27/13) The video had to be removed as it is no longer available.

Drax the Destroyer

 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has just gotten a little bit larger.

 

Rumors have been swirling around about who will play Drax in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy and it looks like someone has finally been nailed down.

 

Drax the Destroyer will be played by former WWE wrestler Dave Bautista!

 

Bautista looks the part because he's got the build for Drax but when I first read this yesterday afternoon my worry was if he was too built for the part. Let's not make a mistake, Bautista is HUGE and the new look of Drax has a muscular yet slender build about him.

 

Other concerns that I have read online is that Bautista simply can't act.

 

In my over all opinion I do believe Bautista, while I never considered him for a role in the MCU, will make a great Drax the Destroyer. I became a fan of Bautista during his time in the WWE when he became a good guy after exiting Evolution. I also found a recent picture of Bautista where he doesn't look all juiced up and has that muscular yet slender look that Drax has.

 

Overall, Drax has now been drafted into the MCU and with Dave Bautista in the role, Thanos has a fight on his hands.

  

 

 

- "Nurd!"