Although it was Marvel's Ultimate Avengers that kicked off the modern wave of animated direct to video movies, it has been DC that has dominated the market with three regular releases each year. Marvel seemingly left the game in 2011 with the lackluster Thor: Tales of Asgard, but they are back in action this month with Iron Man: Rise of Technovore. The anime features a rogue Iron Man being hunted by Black Widow, War Machine, Hawkeye and the Punisher. A new trailer was released today with the movie coming out in just two weeks.
Whats that, a decent looking animated movie from Marvel? Its been a while but come April 16, I just may have to check out this Iron Manime, Iron Man: Rise of Technovore.
2012 was perhaps the greatest year yet for superheroes. Marvel's the Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises were the two biggest movies of the year, each surpassing a billion dollars in worldwide box office receipts. Spider-Man was successfully relaunched and even C-listers Judge Dredd and Ghost Rider were given the chance (though they were not successful) to relaunch potential film franchises. The found footage film Chronicle was another bright spot in the genre paving the way for the success of lower budget films. DC churned out three more animated films with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 proving that the film line hasn't yet run out of tricks. So can 2013 top this past year? Perhaps not financially, but there are a ton of projects worth getting excited about. Let's countdown the most anticipated new superhero shows of 2013...
While we wait for the trailer to Iron Man 3, we have been treated to the first peeks at the CG tie in Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United (which coincidentally shares a similarity to today's just announced Lego Batman: DC Heroes Unite) and the anime Iron Man: Rise of Technovore. Lets tackle Heroes United first.
Iron Man: Rise of Technovore, and feature length anime has joined Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United, the just announced CG / traditional animation hybrid, and of course, Iron Man 3 for the 2013 release slate. Marvel describes the direct to video film as follows:
After three failed attempts at the film box office, the Punisher has decided to target the small screen for his potential franchise.According to Deadline, a pilot for Marvel's Punisher is in development at Fox. Marvel is quite busy in both the movie and TV world with other live action TV projects in development including Hulk, Jessica Jones, Cloak and Dagger, and Mockingbird. The Punisher series will take the form of a gritty police procedural. This comes as a bit of a surprise because critics of the films seemed to always want the envelop to be pushed beyond what would be TV allowable. But even on Fox, there are limits to what is considered decent viewing, you know, for kids.
In my book, or at least on my blog, 1989 was one of the most important years for superhero shows. Looking over the year's entries, it also seemed that green monsters were quite popular that year. After all, who doesn't love green monsters?
The Toxic Avenger Part II
A few years after the cult hit Toxic Avenger, Toxie returned and traveled to Japan (karate kid style). The movie did horribly and even the trailer is so bad / offensive that I won't embed it here, but if you must see it: here ya go.
The Trial of the Incredible Hulk
After Hulk and Thor's successful team up the year before in the Incredible Hulk Returns, Daredevil was ready to do some legal representin'.
The Return of Swamp Thing
"He's got a grudge cuz they turned him to sludge." But "He is turning over a new leaf."
Yeah, pretty much nobody wanted to see this, and so no one did.
Batman
Obviously, Batman was the year's standout. Not only was the movie one of the most successful superhero movies ever made reinvigorating the genre and spawning a slew of Batfilms. Batman also spawned Batman: The Animated Series, itself a highly influential series, as well as other dark takes on heroes such as the short lived Flash series.
Punisher
Marvel's big summer attempt at The Punisher starring Dolph Lundgren fell flat never even making it to theaters.
This fine tradition of Marvel disasters would continue with Captain America and The Fantastic Four before the company finally went on a winning streak some 10 years later with Blade.
The Toxic Avenger III: The Last Temptation of Toxie
As if Toxic Avenger II wasn't enough, 1989 actually delivered two Toxie sequels. Unsurprisingly, this one didn't do to well. Trailer.
X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men
X-Men fans would have to wait a few more years for the acclaimed animated series, but in 1989 they nearly got a series. Pryde of the X-Men was created as a pilot for an animated series which never got picked up. The team consisted of some interesting choices including Kitty Pryde AKA Shadowcat, Cyclops, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Dazzler, Storm, and of course Wolverine.
