Comic Feature - Why the new Thor will give the comics industry that much needed electric shock

On July 15th, Marvel revealed to the world a project featuring an all-new female recasting of one of their most bankable characters. The popularity of Thor may well have been elevated in recent years by the current trend of Superhero cinema, but in the Marvel Universe, the Asgardian prince has been deemed no longer fit to fulfill his duties as the God of Thunder. 

“No longer is the classic male hero able to hold the mighty hammer, Mjölnir, a brand new female hero will emerge who will be worthy of the name Thor,” Marvel Comics said, making the announcement on American chat show The View. 

“The inscription on Thor’s hammer reads ‘Whosoever holds this hammer, if HE be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.’ Well it’s time to update that inscription,” said Marvel editor Wil Moss. “The new Thor continues Marvel’s proud tradition of strong female characters like Captain Marvel, Storm, Black Widow and more. And this new Thor isn’t a temporary female substitute – she’s now the one and only Thor, and she is worthy.”

This all-new era for the God of Thunder will be written by Jason Aaron, who emphasizes that "This is not She-Thor. This is not Lady Thor. This is not Thorita. This is THOR. This is the THOR of the Marvel Universe. But it’s unlike any Thor we've ever seen before."

There's no denying that this is one of Marvel's biggest ever shake-ups and for the most part, it's been welcomed by the fans. However, as usual, there's a minority of keyboard wizards and over-protective, self-appointed snobby know-it-alls who consider such a move to be a blasphemous one. But why? After all, Marvel's Thor was adaptation of an already existing myth, free from license for the comic giant to do with it whatever they wished. 

Perhaps the reason behind such vile reaction can be traced back to Thor's origins, as Marvel's interpretation of the ancient hammer-wielding deity from Norse mythology. Unlike the genetic mutations, super soldier serum or incredible wealth that can be attributed to other Marvel superheroes, Thor is in fact a god, and thus possesses a certain amount of infallibility. However, it's important to remember that Marvel have always played fast and loose with the Norse legacy from which Thor was plucked during the early 1960's.

Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Larry Lieber, Marvel's Thor became canon in 1962, making his first appearance in Journey into Mystery #83, giving the tired short story series a much needed jolt in the arm. Ever since he's been considered one of Marvel's biggest players, using his mythological status as a protector of humankind, to eventually become one of the founders of the Avengers. His home realm of Asgard lies somewhere between mysticism and science-fiction, and over the years has succumb to attack by various mythical beings and alien races. Couple all of that with the fact that Asgardians live with a sense of honour and the concept of the original Thor stepping down doesn't seem so far fetched. 

People seem to forget that Thor once had an alter-ego - a partially disabled medical student by the name of Donald Blake. Given the memories of a mortal man by his father Odin, Blake soon discovers that the walking stick in his possession is actually the enchanted hammer Mjölnir in disguise and that beneath his frail exterior, lies the bulking physique of a god. So even Thor's comic book origins lie in the idea of transformation. The idea of a disabled man becoming one of Earth's mightiest heroes was believable back in the sixties, yet in the twenty-first century, the idea of a female Thor is, to a small closed-minded minority, totally preposterous.

Since then, the mantle of Thor has on occasion varied over the years. Beta Ray Bill was an alien who was found worthy to wield Mjölnir and almost defeated the god of thunder for rightful ownership. Similarly bizarre, after Thor was transformed into a frog by his brother Loki (more on him later), another misfortunate human who had also been frog-ified was able to acquire a proportionate amount of Thor's power thanks to finding a broken sliver of Mjölnir. Thus Throg was born, a character who resembles Thor in every way, aside from the fact he is indeed a spunky green frog. And people have the cheek to call out a female Thor as ridiculous? 

It's not the first time Marvel have dramatically altered a character. The David Hasselhoff-inspired Nick Fury appearance was killed off in 2012, only to be replaced by his African-American son in a move that coincided with Marvels' dominance on the big screen and the appeal of Samuel L. Jackson in the role. The Ultimate universe's Peter Parker died back in 2011, but Spider-Man continued on with the African-American Miles Morales stepping up as your friendly neighborhood wall-crawler. Meanwhile, the regular Spider-Man canon in recent years has seen Peter Parker's mind been replaced with that of Doctor Octopus, giving way to a more hard-edged superhero story on the path to redemption. Even Thor's brother Loki has died several times, only to be resurrected in a number of varying guises. Granted as a trickster he has the ability to shape-shift, but for a time quite recently, the Marvel universe was plagued by a female version of Loki. Nobody seemed to bat an eyelid then, why should it matter now?

Perhaps what makes the news of a female Thor so surprising is that the character is more popular than he's even been. Chris Hemsworth's bulky physique, booming voice and rugged good looks have certainly brought Thor's stock up a peg or two so for Marvel to change the character's gender is understandably confusing, but not without merit. Just because a character is considered infallible, doesn't mean from a sales perspective, they are future proof. Having starred in three films (soon to be four with the upcoming Age of Ultron), Hemsworth won't be around forever. Marvel comics are cleverly pre-empting this current cycle of undeniably successful films coming to an end and whose to say in a few years time we won't see a female Thor on the silver screen. Avengers director Joss Whedon seems to think it's possible....

The stats say it all and it seems that at last count, comic readership was split almost right down the middle. Around 47% of comic readers in America are female so it's understandable that Marvel would want to appeal to this particular market. Black Widow, Storm, and She Hulk are just some of characters who have had their status elevated in recent years but perhaps none have been quite so successful as the most recent incarnation of popular super-heroine Ms. Marvel. While the character has always been female, Kamala Khan is the first Muslim hero to be granted her own series. So far the character and the book have been received well, and the first issue sold over 50,000 copies when launched back in February. It's worth noting that the title outsold the likes of Wolverine, Captain America and even the all-mighty Thor that month so obviously Marvel know exactly what they're doing. 

It's no secret that women are grossly misrepresented in comics but over the past few years there has been a notorious shift in the roles female characters play in their respective comic canons. No longer content with keeping them in the sidelines as supporting characters, female incarnations of dominant male rosters, or worse still simply as objectified eye-candy, Marvel have taken a brave step forward by passing the powers of one of their biggest male characters onto a new female heroine and I can guarantee that when she comes crashing down like a bolt of lightening from the heavens in September, she will give the comic industry a much needed jolt, just like her predecessor did back in the sixties. 

Banterflix Cinecast - Transformers Special

I give a beginners guide to Michael Bay on this special Transformers edition of the BanterFlix CineCast. From Autobot to Decepticon, we’ve also got music from the original 1986 animated movie, performed by local musician Gareth Brown, a look back at the history of the Transformers franchise from Richard and a review of the latest installment, Transformers: Age of Extinction from Jim.

Don’t forget to follow Banterflix on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with what we’re getting up to, or simply check out our website for the latest movie reviews and event info.

Listen below, head to the Banterflix site, or subscribe on iTunes to make sure you never miss a show.

Film Review: Tammy

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride - Melissa McCarthy moves beyond her normally golden supporting roles and takes centre stage as the writer, producer and lead star of Tammy, a somewhat self-serving comedy directed by husband and fellow actor Ben Falcone. 

Following her break-out role in Paul Feig's hilarious Bridesmaids, McCarthy earned popularity as the stand out in underwhelming films such as The Heat, Identity Thief, and was arguably the only good thing to come out of The Hangover III. 

Her physical, obnoxious, brash comedy routine as the outspoken all-American has no doubt been her most appealing quality in certain parts of the world. 

Tammy is keen to show there's more to the actor than this, as the film begins as an over-the-top, beer and cheeseburger fuelled, slapstick road trip movie, only to turn into an unconvincing parable about dealing with low self-esteem and trying to sort your life out for the better. 

McCarthy plays Tammy, a thirty-something disheveled slob of a woman who only realizes her life is going nowhere when, in the space of one fateful day, she crashes her car into a deer, loses her job at the local fast-food joint and walks in on her husband having a romantic dinner with the next door neighbor. 

Determined to escape all of her problems, she decides to leave town and go cross-country with Pearl, her care-free, alcoholic grandmother who, in a rather bizarre casting choice, is portrayed by Susan Sarandon in a silver wig.

Casting Sarandon in the role of Grandma Pearl is confusing, given that there's only twenty-four year age gap between her and McCarthy. Stranger things have happened in real life, but even on those rare occasions when it becomes part of the gag, like when the pair meet a randy barfly (Gary Cole) and his more romantic son (Mark Duplass) in a bar, it just isn't funny. 

Perhaps her casting is deliberate, as some sort of throwback to Ridley Scott's 1991 classic road movie Thelma and Louise. Sarandon channels a care-free spirit that predictably rubs McCarthy's aggressive, pent-up Tammy the wrong way. It makes for the odd laugh, but generally many of the jokes seem all too familiar.

Sarandon isn't the only famous face McCarthy has managed to recruit. Kathy Bates, Sandra Oh, Toni Colette, Dan Ackroyd and Allison Janney all appear in minor roles throughout the film. 

However, they all manage about twelve lines between them, with Toni Colette in particular being criminally underused. Even Cole and Duplass, the only supporting characters to make it beyond more than one scene, stick to their underwritten, one-dimensional roles so as not to intrude the patented odd-couple shtick between McCarthy and Sarandon. 

As the pair get drunk, crash a jet-ski, get drunk again, wind-up in jail, attend a Fourth of July party for lesbians, and get drunk one final time, Tammy does stir-up a few laughs, but nowhere near as many as it would like to, drunkenly staggering across the not-so-fine line between farce and sentimentally. 

A scene involving the robbery of a Mc-Restaurant seems to be the one scene where we finally understand what the film is trying to do. Her face hidden under a greasy paper bag, McCarthy dishes out her trademark obnoxious ad-libbed humour, while at the same time showing she can manage a little sweetness. It makes for one of the film's funnier highlights.

At this point, it's worth noting that the film also has Will Ferrell and Adam McKay on board as producers. No wonder then that Tammy leans towards the (Ron) Burgundy end of the spectrum, although as far as quotes go, it ends up falling flat on its face. 

Desperately trying to appeal to two very different audiences, the film ultimately satisfies neither, trumping moments of schmaltzy self-discovery with cheap jokes about drinking beer and raunchy old people. 

McCarthy does show she has other talents outside of her comfort zone, but it's just a shame that no matter what the situation, her character defaults back to the whingy loudmouth. As far as developing a redeeming character arc goes, it's an unforgivable error, especially when you consider that her husband is the director.

Ultimately, if the moral of the road movie is that changing the direction of your life will always work out for the better, then Tammy does just that, only to realize that it's actually ended up on a busy roundabout with absolutely no idea which way to turn next.

Originally published on http://banterflix.com/

Itchy Fingers #19: Non-Cooperative

If this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo is anything to go by then it seems that co-operative gameplay is about to become the next big thing in next-gen gaming. The biggest surprise however came from Ubisoft, who revealed that the biggest jewel in their gem-stuffed crown is set to include a four-player co-op campaign. But not everyone was wowed by Assassin’s Creed new multiplayer innovation however when it was revealed the game would not include playable female avatars.

Assassin’s Creed Unity moves the historical stealth series to revolutionary eighteenth century France and introduces its newest protagonist, Arno Dorian to the franchise. The entire campaign can be played with up to four players, with each player controlling Dorian on their screen, but appearing as a customized male assassin avatar on their friend’s. 

Understandably, female fans of the series are feeling rather let down. When the news broke, creative director Alex Amancio defended the decision, suggesting that such a feat would require “double the animations,” and “double the voices,” culminating in “a lot of extra production work.” 

Since these revelations, fellow developers questioned Ubisoft’s choice. Even Assassin’s Creed 3 animation director Jonathan Cooper has hit out stating that incorporating female character models would only be “a day or two’s work.” The question is why weren’t female avatars included right from the get-go? 

In what was once considered a male dominated medium, female characters have featured in some of gaming’s most treasured memories. Classic side-scrolling beat ‘em ups such as Golden Axe or Streets of Rage always featured a lady in their rosters while modern role-playing games such as Borderlands, Mass Effect or Skyrim enjoyed success amongst both sexes because they featured stories that weren’t gender specific.

Last year, the critically acclaimed Tomb Raider reboot was well received by both sexes, particularly for giving pixelated pin-up Lara Croft a proper motive and a much more mature redesign. Similarly, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us split playable duties between the male Joel and the female Ellie, both of which helped it earn “game of the year” status from most video game publications. Yet, it still sounds quite shocking that only 4% of games in 2013 included playable female characters. 

One entry in the Assassin’s Creed series, sub-titled Liberation, actually put a female heroine in the leading role. Creole assassin Aveline de Grandpre seemed to demonstrate a step forward in gaming, by one of the industry’s leading publishers as it brought the first female playable character to a series that had since only featured men. 

What’s even more surprising is that many of Aveline’s animations were copied directly from Assassin’s Creed 3 protagonist Connor Kenway, somewhat adding further invalidity to Ubisoft’s statement that including female avatars would be too much work. 

As the spiritual successor to zombie shooter Left 4 Dead, Turtle Head Studios’ Evolve puts you in the role of one of four monster hunters as you take on a fifth player who controls an ever-evolving monster. Similarly, Lionhead Studios seek to transform the normally single player fantasy Fable into a quest fit for a fellowship in Fable Legends. Both games include female characters right from the offset. So what’s Ubisoft’s problem?

It can’t be about the sales. 48% of video game players are female. Of course, there’s more to fair representation than simply adding a few women characters. But now that I think about it, I’ve never heard a publisher actively declare they were omitting an entire gender from their game, even if it is a far too regular occurrence these days. But even if this is another shameful marketing tactic, it may just the scandal needed to put a pin in the all too obvious sexist attitudes that the gaming industry’s boys club are guilty of far too often.

Originally published in The Big List NI Issue 249 

Banterflix CineCast - Edinburgh Film Festival 2014 Special

On this episode of the BanterFlix CineCast, I take on hosting duties while Richard and Jim share their experiences as attendees at the 68th Edinburgh Film Festival.

Running from 18-29 June, the EIFF is the longest continually running film festival in the world and has developed into a key attraction for Edinburgh, and one of the world’s best -loved audience festivals. With an emphasis upon new talent, discovery and innovation, this year’s festival saw the screening of 122 new features from 47 different countries with at least 10 premieres every day. Cold in July, Coherence, Anatomy of a Paper Clip are just a few examples of the films on offer this year. 

Podcast features reviews from quite a few films, including the one film from the programme that I had seen - Bong Joon-Ho's post-apocolyptic science fiction thriller Snowpiercer, starring Chris Evans, John Hurt and Tilda Swinton.

The podcast also features interviews with Jim Mickle, Elijah Wood, Andy Goddard and Steven Mackintosh who all attended this year’s festival. We also had a chance to sit down with Empire Magazine’s Chris Hewitt and chatted about the film magazine’s 25th anniversary celebrations.

Maybe next year I'll get to go, but until then I'll just have to take the rest of the Banterflix team at their word and apply to attend next year!

Don’t forget to follow Banterflix on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date with what we’re getting up to, or simply check out our website for the latest movie reviews and event info.

Listen below, head to the Banterflix site, or subscribe on iTunes to make sure you never miss a show.

Film Review: Oculus

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the scariest of them all? If the box-office is to be believed, it’s Blumhouse Productions. In recent years, the company has been behind the wave of micro-budgeted popcorn horror flicks such as Paranormal Activity,Sinister, and The Purge – all of which went on to be great financial successes at the box office. Directed by Mike Flanagan, Oculus seems to be next in line to join the ranks of the franchised fright fest.

Based on a short film, also written and directed by Flanagan, the film stars Karen Gillan as Kaylie, a young woman who has spent the past eleven years convinced that her parents’ death was caused by an antique mirror and the evil spirits that dwell within. 

While she has spent the last decade trying to build a case to support her theory, her brother Tim, played by Brenton Thwaites, has been trying to convince himself otherwise. Spending his teenage years in a psychiatric hospital, he’s finally released at the age of twenty-one, coming to terms with the fact that his family was extremely dysfunctional, rather than pinning the blame on a supernatural entity. 

When the two are reunited, they return to their parents old house in order put their demons to rest – whether they are of psychological or supernatural origins. 

Pitting skeptic against believer, Oculus actually has some rather interesting psychological ideas, particularly in the first half of the film. The cynic brother puts his sister’s delusions down to ‘fuzzy-trace theory’ – an idea that human memory creates false memories out of inaccurate associations. In this film, it’s used as a defense mechanism against dealing with the truth.

For a horror film, it’s not a new concept but one that’s quite unique to this current trend of casual big-screen summer horrors. As an audience of course, we want to believe, so the film uses a dual time frame to simultaneously explain what happened eleven years ago alongside what is happening in the present. 

Katee Sackhoff and Rory Cochrane play the parents who, depending on who you believe, are either on the verge of a rather bitter break-up or are being tormented by the demonic powers that lurk in the mirror. Initially, we’re given two sides of the same coin, as both the rational and the supernatural side of things are alluded to. 

Some interesting cinematography sees both past and present played out in real time, keeping the pace going at a heart-pumping speed, even if it is rattling towards an rather unsurprising conclusion. It’s at that point you realize that, for all of its good ideas, Oculus can’t help but succumb to the usual whizz bang funhouse horror rather than create something rather more unsettling. 

While there are reflections of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, the film probably owes more to the 2003 Korean film Into The Mirror, directed by Kim Sung-Ho (or its iffy American remake Mirrors, starring Kiefer Sutherland).

But the spooky mirror plot device is underused, instead stepping to one side in favour of the usual horror tropes and unnecessary lore. It’s as if Blumhouse Productions have a certain quota of loud noises and satanic references to fulfill. 

That’s not to say there aren’t some genuine shocks. One scene in particular involving a light bulb leaves a rather bad taste in your mouth. Of course, these would be all the more shocking if we hadn’t seen them already in the trailer. 

The best horrors are the ones that leave you feeling creeped out afterwards, checking all the doors are locked before you go to bed with the lights on. Instead, Oculus undoes all of its own hard work and descends into a predictable horror that goes straight for the cheap thrills. And for that sin, it needs to take a good long hard look in the mirror.

Originally published on The Big List NI