There’s this app on my phone that I check semi-religiously, despite the fact that it only changes once a day. Called “Days Until,” the app is (as you can probably noodle out for yourself based on its name) a multi-event countdown clock that helps me keep track of how much longer I have to wait for things. On good days, it’s a kind of Anticipation Index. On bad days, it’s more of a “Just hold on for six more weeks without snapping and you get to see a Joss Whedon movie” Index.
It's all happening!
Since I downloaded it (which seems like forever ago; I’ll bet Wolverine: Jacket Origins or whatever it was called was in there at one point) the “Days Until” app has seen its share of ebbs and flows. There have been times when I entered my birthday and Christmas into it just so I wouldn’t have to be faced with a yawning gulf of nothingness where my excitement was supposed to be. There’s nothing like technology to put the starkest face on things. “Things you have to look forward to: nothing. Have a great life!”
Right now, though, I’m looking at this thing and seeing the pop culture floodwater about to burst through the dam. Dates I entered into my phone so long ago that I was basically doing it as a private joke are actually right around the corner.
Ultimate Spider-Man, which I believe we first heard about almost exactly two years ago, will be on the air in six days. So will another season of The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!.
C2E2 is in seventeen days. See you there.
Marvel’s The Avengers by Marvel is somehow only 39 days away, if you can believe that. I still can’t quite convince myself this movie really exists. Every time I try to wrap my skull around it, I start to lose my words. You understand… they decided, “let’s make… let’s make a movie that’s a sequel to four completely different movies at the same time. Tone? Oh, all of them have completely different tones. And all the stars, who have easily headlined the previous movies all by themselves, will agree to do this. Tell Gwyneth Paltrow she’ll have about three lines. Then find out who every superfan’s dream writer/director for this project would be, and just get him to do it.” And they did it? If I sit down in the theater that night, and they roll footage of Joss Whedon sitting sheepishly in a chair with a legal pad, mumbling, “Sorry. I really did try. I can read you the script, if you want,” I won’t even be mad. “Yep. That makes sense.”
Anyway, 39 days.
Then, in a mere 99 days, we have The Amazing Spider-Man, a reboot of a series that still has that new series smell on it. It’s one thing to reboot the Hulk; not many people got excited about the Hulk. Spidey was a moneymaker. I was talking to a twelve year old I know recently– talking to me is as close as he comes to getting around his parents’ Net Nanny– and I mentioned that this movie was coming out.
“They’re making a fourth Spider-Man?” he said.
“Actually,” I said, “they’re sort of making a new first Spider-Man.”
The boy rolled his eyes at me. “Oh, brother,” he literally said. As market research goes, it’s not the largest sample size, but Sony may be up against something on this one.
Personally, I don’t care. I’m delighted they rebooted it, and I love the look of this new one. They may make exactly $7.50 on opening weekend, but it will be mine.
MRRGH AERGLE MMMPH GNNG
Of course, in 116 days– just under 17 weeks– you’ve got your Dark Knight Rises, coming with expectations slightly north of the ionosphere. You still have plenty of time to practice leaning forward with your listening ears every time Bane speaks.
Thor 2 is in 599 days, but it’s probably a little early in the day to count those particular chickens. Apparently, it looks like there’s also some kind of election in 225 days, but let’s stick to the stuff that matters for now. You will be able to buy a ticket to The Hobbit this Christmas.
No matter what excites you, the big board at the multiplex is going to look like the new release rack at your comic shop for most of this summer. As people who are very protective of these characters and their creators, people who always seem to be waiting for the popular kids to turn on us, we often get confused and fretful about this much good news. The world gives us a legitimately great Iron Man movie, and we immediately jump to, “Oh, no. Every studio is going to jump on the bandwagon now, and they’re gonna start churning out crap, and everyone is going to get sick of these movies and summer will be canceled.” People didn’t even wait for the first shoe to drop.
Well, 2008 is long over, and this genre is entrenched now, o’ faithful ones. There was a little churning– Jacket Origins, Ghost Rider 2, probably some Punisher in there somewhere– but the backlash is nowhere in evidence. When Green Lantern was released to a collective “????” nobody seemed to say, “The comic book movie is dead.” Even if they did, six weeks later Captain America was out and everyone was back on board the train. It’s gotten to the point where saying, “Did you see how many comic book adaptations are out this summer?” is like saying, “Did you see how many leaves are falling off trees this fall?” It’s just a thing that happens at this time of year now. It’s not remarkable.
What’s on your countdown this summer? Maybe the movies do nothing for you. Maybe you can’t wait for that Batman owl crossover, or you’re hopping from foot to foot waiting for Game of Thrones. Whatever it is, you won’t have much longer now. It’s all happening.
Jim Mroczkowski can’t wait to find out how they end up titling Star Trek 2 part II next summer.
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Some rights reserved.
A: EMH Season 2 and the Avengers movie.
I’ve been waiting forty years for this.
You and me both.
Amen.
Great post Jimski!
I am literally angry at every day that is not May 4th. It’s like pushing through a crowded mall to get to the Cold Stone, but the hideous consumers are temporal increments. “Just get out of my way, March 26th! You’re blocking my RDJ!”
Jim, I’m pretty sure they’ll title the next Star Trek film either “Star Trek (X)II” or “Star Trek II²”
Just downloaded Days Until, thank you sir. So far it’s full of comic book movies and movies i can’t wait to see ironically. Battleship is going to be a great laugh.
I’m anticipating the release of Prometheus and Iron Sky.
Ya Prometheus .. ditto.
I’ve never been one to “countdown” or see things at midnight….never my style. I plan on seeing some of the bigger movies like Avengers, Spiderman and Batman even though they look a bit cookie cutter (based on trailers and advertising). I’m sure they will be fun, but i’m not really excited for them either.
I was pretty bummed that the Walking Dead was over for a long time, so i’ll look forward to that coming back.
I think as of today i’m most excited to read the next two Hunger Games books after tearing through the first one and seeing the movie.
I’m not counting down to Dark Knight Rises as I did with Dark Knight. Not sure why cause I’m really excited for this finale of Nolan’s run. Maybe I just need to see countless ads on TV and the like to get really pumped for it.
But that image of Bane you have along with the captions….that got me. I guess Tom Hardy has a career in rapping if this movie doesn’t pan out.
The thing is… people thought Heath Ledger as the Joker was silly. Turns out it wasnt. People thought Michael Keaton as Batman was silly… turns out he’s the BEST Batman of those four 90’s flicks. These things ended up being SO true, that no one ever goes back and says, “Oh yeah, Michael Keaton, remember? How weird was that?”.
Tom Hardy’s Bane appears and might sound silly before the movie comes out… but you can’t really gauge anything until you see it.
I was on pins and needles waiting for Dark Knight and i wasn’t disappointed in the slightest (i saw it 5 times in theatres and i NEVER do that kind of thing), but I’m with you. for some reason i have absolutely no excitement for this movie. Im certain i’ll see it on opening day and that it will be another fantastic movie, but maybe in my mind, the Dark Knight was such a perfect movie that there’s no way it’s sequel will compare (hell, maybe it will be better, who knows). I may have just gotten my fill with the first Dark Knight. I dunno, i really can’t put my finger on it because ideally this should be my most anticipated movie of the summer, but in reality it’s well behind The Avengers and the new Spidey movie…
I saw the opening sequence (twice, in fact, once at a sneak preview and once in front of “Ghost Protocol”) and…Nolan made a pretty ballsy move going with a nigh-incomprehensible villain. That said, I think it oddly works, especially since he’s a much more action oriented bad guy. I think of the two movies, I know what to expect from “The Avengers,” whereas I don’t know what “Dark Knight Rises” is going to be and to me, that uncertainty just nudges it over the edge in terms of my anticipation.
God I wish movie tickets costed $7.50 in New York City. I would see a lot more movies.
Hell, I wish they only cost $7.50 in this lowly suburb of Atlanta. I’m in nowheresville, and they’re still $10.00
150 days until Toronto Fan Expo!
For me the first thing I can’t wait for is C2E2!! I will be headed there on Saturday afternoon and probably stay the night there at a hotel on Michigan Ave and party it up. If anyone is going and wants to have an IFanBoy Party let me know I am in for sure!!
The next would have been Batman however; Bane looks really shitty and Ann H. does not make a good Catwoman in my opinion so, I will probably see it on video or something. The Avengers looks awesome, so I guess that will be #2 thing I am counting down. Only bad thing here is the CGI Hulk and Cap’s mask, it does not look right for this movie; just makes him look a littl silly. Spiderman looks kick ass so maybe this will move up from the #3 spot to the #2 spot?! Finally AVX looks very promising and I for one am counting down for issue #1 so this will round off the list but maybe they are not all in order except for #1; C2E2!!!!!!!!!!! Either way thats what I am counting down and not counting down.
K
When it comes to things that i am a downright Fanboy of, I won’t wait for anyone else.
When the last gen Star Trek movie, Nemesis, came out, I ditched all my friends, left work early on a Friday and saw like a 3PM showing. No distractions, no crowds, I just wanted to see the movie.
I haven’t done anything like that in a long time… but i will be doing it for the Dark Knight Rises and Star Trek II.
Im excited to take May 3rd and May 4th off of work, plant myself down on my couch, watch Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America, in that order, and then line up for a midnight showing of The Avengers. This is the Superhero movie to end all superhero movie and I cannot wait. This is 4 years of excitement building up from that moment where i saw that mindblowing Coda at the end of the first Iron Man. im sooooooo excited
I am inviting my geekiest friends over on May 4th for this very reason. All day Marvel Marathon (plus beer), then Avengers in the evening. Yes.
If the AMC theater chain is in your neck of the woods, they’re doing a marathon in selected theaters that week.
If you want to pay to go see movies that are likely already in your house.
Thought about that, but I really don’t wanna see the flicks in 3D. After seeing Thor that way I actively avoid it.
Only one Comic Book movie has got me counting down this year.
DREDD.
September 21st. Mark it!
I AM THE LAW!
Agreed! Well it’s not the only one I’m pumped for all of them, but I’m especially pumped for DREDD.
I’m going to write a fanfic that is a crossover between Dark Knight Rises and Team Fortress 2. It’s going to be Bane and Pyro having a conversation over lunch.
10 – – 10 – – 10 – – 10 – – for everything everything everything everything
You can all just kiss off into the air
Behind my back I can see them stare
They’ll hurt me bad but I won’t mind
They’ll hurt me bad they do it all the time
Only one film no it isn’t Batman or Avengers, or anything this year for that matter.
It is Superman Man of Steel in June 14, 2013.
Something more important is the right of vote & letting your voice be heard at the ballot box on November 6, 2012.
Matthew
add Prometheus and The Hobbit in addition to the comic book movies.
I’ll see you all May 4th, 12:00.
I’ll be the one dressed as Cap.
Awesome! I’ll be the one dressed as D-Man.
Do not dated things count? If so I’m waiting for the Deadpool movie.
I’m without a doubt most excited for DK Rises.
I wasn’t really excited for Avengers until recently, but I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what Whedon does with it now. It’s in very capable hands.
I’ll see ASM but I don’t really have much invested in it. If it’s good, great. If it’s bad, whatever.
My misc. file would include Star Trek 2, Man of Steel, Iron Man 3 (whenever that is), and Skyfall. I need some Craig Bond back in my life ASAP.
But Mad Men is back on, so all is right in my world for the moment.
Bane’s voice is a cause of concern, if he sounds muffled maybe they should add subtitles when he speaks because I couldn’t make out some/most of what he was saying.
Apart from the actual comics one of the things I missed most during my comic (I can’t really call it a sabbatical as I wasn’t paid) absence was your iFanboy columns. I have somehow managed to miss the several things you’ve written in the past month or so and was worried you weren’t writing them anymore. Glad to see I was mistaken.