Daredevil: Take That DC

Well...there's blood...

It looks like Marvel is doing the exact opposite of DC on the smallscreen too. Well, as long as you discount Agents of Shield and the Peggy Carter deal, anyway, which are every bit as corny as the Arrow show. And though there is minimal corny in this trailer, there is still some cheese. How overwrought is the idea of a hero being so dedicated to his city? 

This looks to be how Marvel is countering the "soft and fluffy" accusations coming from baseball-cap-wearing, five-o'clock-shadow-keeping, 140-pound-affliction-shirt-wearing Zack Snyder fans and Christopher Nolan apologists. 

It's dark. Real dark. So dark it's like they are purposely trying to get you to forget red-leather clad Ben Affleck by making you think of all-black clad Batfleck. And if you're trying to reboot a superhero, why not try to invoke thoughts of one of the most popular heroes of all time? 

More than that though, this seems to be it's own brand when compared to the rest of the Marvel stuff. And that makes me wonder if maybe they're setting up something bigger. The same way they did with Iron Man. Could this be the start of the street-level heroes?

Reports are that Marvel is the proud new owner of the Ghost Rider (another superhero in desperate need of rebranding...) and the Punisher (who has some cult success with his movies.) Could this be the beginning of The Marvel Knights? Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist have already been announced for their Netflix run.

(Post: Spider-Man to Marvel Rumors Again...

I've been clamoring for Moon Knight to be added to the MCU for the better part of five years now, but if Marvel brings him to Netflix, well, I just may have to sign up for an account. 

Daredevil and Ghost Rider have already seen big screen adaptations come and fail. Is Netflix a better home for the properties? Many fans had hoped that Luke Cage, Iron Fist and (pleasepleaseplease) Moon Knight would see the silver screen. We know that the ABC shows share full crossover with the MCU, but where do the Netflix series stand? And could we see any of these characters in the Avengers: Infinity War movies? 

This post is brought to you by Ben Affleck's Kristen Stewart face. Hopefully he closes his damn mouth once in a while while playing Batman, huh?

ADRIAN FORT is a writer, blogger, and essayist from Kansas City, Missouri. Follow him on twitter @adriananyway. His work has appeared in Existere, decomP magazinE, The Bluest Aye, Bareback Magazine, Gadfly Online, Chrome Baby, The Eunoia Review, Linguistic Erosion, and Smashed Cat Magazine. His Master's Degree is from Lindenwood University. 

Avengers Age of Ultron TV spot

The biggest thing to take from this is probably what it doesn't show. Namely, anything new. Every spot we've seen since the first trailer was leaked by Hydra has been some rehashing of footage from that trailer. 

What does that mean?

I think it's because they know they threw out the first pitch awfully early, and Marvel is saving some big guns for the final trailer, that way they get all us neckbeards worked into a froth just in time to hand our money over. And again. And again. And again...

But let's take stock of just what we haven't seen:

1. The evolution of Ultron. We've seen the Mach1 and what is most likely his final form. I'm willing to bet there are plenty of in between stages.

2. (Spoiler) Loki and Heimdall. Idris Elba let it slip (lacking foresight...see what I did there?) that he and Hiddleston had been on set. Just how big a role they will have is questionable.

3. The Vision. A big time character who will have his origin in the movie, and we've seen nothing of him. 

4. Avengers Assemble. Just how do all these guys get back together? Tony Stark is "no longer Iron Man." Thor is making kissy faces somewhere in the universe. Captain American is coughing up lungs full of water and looking for his childhood bestie. Fury got tired of his eyepatch and traded it in for some sunglasses from the 80's. Banner is getting his psych degree. 

5. The Twins. Sure, we've seen bits of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, but we still have no idea where they come from or what they're doing. 

6. The Avengers. With so many cut shots and so little actual footage, all we've seen is a little bit of Hulk vs Hulkbuster, Thor yelling and chooke-slamming Stark, Captain America jumping over a car, and Black Widow playing patty-cake with the green guy.

(Marvel Owns You)

What is Marvel saving? Will Avengers: Age of Ultron have the same consequences and devastation for the MCU that Captain America: Winter Soldier did? If so, the movie promises a lot of surprises that have yet to be revealed. 

ADRIAN FORT is a writer, blogger, and essayist from Kansas City, Missouri. Follow him on twitter @adriananyway. His work has appeared in Existere, decomP magazinE, The Bluest Aye, Bareback Magazine, Gadfly Online, Chrome Baby, The Eunoia Review, Linguistic Erosion, and Smashed Cat Magazine. His Master's Degree is from Lindenwood University.