It appears that Universal Pictures and Marvel Studios are fast tracking a Namor, The Sub-Mariner picture.
The plot sounds eerily familiar:
Universal Pictures’ take will see a young man discovering he actually is a prince from Atlantis, with him turning out to be the key man in a brewing war between the underwater world and the modern surface world.
I feel like I just downloaded a pilot about another young man who discovers that he’s actually oceanic royalty.
Sounds like he’s not going to have the pointy ears (if he did, he wouldn’t be surprised to find out he’s Atlantian), and I bet that he won’t have deliciously pompous dialogue. Although that would be really funny — just some kid in high school spouting off pompous third person dialogue and everyone in school thinking he’s an asshole.
I’d see that movie.
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Damn the first Blade movie for being so good! Ever since that film came out any and every super hero story has been looked as a potential blockbuster. Does anyone really want to see a heroic Namor feature or would you rather watch him as an a$$hole hero in an Avengers movie?
Although, I do like Conor’s pitch. Why hasn’t there been any super hero comedies? After what has happened over the past year, Marvel owes Speedball a movie.
“fast tracking a Namor, The Sub-Mariner picture.”
This line made me laugh out loud and then people around me looked at me like I was nuts.
What is it with people trying to move around elements of a story in order to make it more acceptable that someone has super powers?
I mean they try to portray the story as “just a common kid” who one day discovers something extraordinary about themselves. Are they trying to make it that way so when certain people watch the movie they can somehow relate? Because most people enjoy stories in the fantasy realm because they are an escape from reality.
In addition, part of the whole Sub-Mariner character is the fact that he does come across as an anti-hero sometimes because of his violent protection for his homeworld under the sea. He is a fierce protector of the sea and all that is within it. To make the story some common young kid who one discovers where he is from is actually less believeable to me. Why would he go from thinking he is common to being the strongest defender of a world he knows nothing about? Selling that angle will be what they will have to prove to me.
I think that Namor makes sense to you because you read comics, but I am 99% sure that a straight-up, faithful adaptation of Namor would be a disaster at the box office.
Now, the question that is now raised is: if you are going to change the character so much as to make it unrecognizable from the original form, then why even bother calling it Namor? Why not call it something else? Of course the answer to that probably has to do with marketing and creating buzz.
Well I can relate to what you are saying about adaptations that are 100% faithful and how they have a tendacy to not go well. But for the first time, ever really, we are at a point in the media industry that comics/graphic novel adaptations are being respected and there has been an impressive surge of attention being given to them. So the whole gimmick of using a name only to garner attention for a story that is completely different then the original inspiration is not necessary in my opinion. The movie going audience of the last few years understands the world of comics and has been embracing them more now then ever. So I just don’t see the need to change it so drastically.
If they are copying a comic directly into a film then I don’t see the point of making the film. The audience could just go into their local comic book store and read the comic.
The reality is the studios making these films want to generate the largest profit they can. Some go about that by taking a brilliant comic book and making it into a brilliant movie. Some do that by taking a popular comic book and turning it into a film that will appeal to the most viewers.
Now, do you believe Namor is a brilliant comic book character? Not really. He is an archetype for one of the two popular comic book publishers.
Funny, I didn’t know Leonard Nimoy was still doing films.
And, you know, when they do a Marvel Family movie, they’ll already have someone to play Black Adam.
That’s all I got for today.
Why bother ripping off a franchise that ripped off of Namor in the first place? Too “watered-down” if you ask me. See what I did there?
You’re a genius!
If any of you are familier with the show “House” I think the idea of a jerk off super hero may turn out all right.
Exactly, we need some new characterizations for these super hero movies. The underdog/loner thing is getting played out. If we are going to have a Namor solo movie, lets get the a$$hole who is crashing a tsunami on Manhattan. Sure seeing that is going to make it difficult for the audience to empathize with Namor, but at least we would be seeing a new kind of hero. Throw in the robotic Human Torch and make it and set it in the 1930’s and then we have something really different. Yeah that is basically the first issue of Marvels, but that is one heck of a comic to put on the big screen. If you want to spin it differently, set in the 2030’s. I don’t care. As long as Namor is the arrogant defender of his undersea race I would be pleased.
Ultimately, I am most interested in seeing Namor as apart of an Avengers movie. Actually, why isn’t he ever in the Avengers comics anymore? He was great in Illuminati.