Avengers: Age of Ultron Review

I've done reviews of several of the other Marvel movies, and while I don't plan on making a habit out of it, I do like to share some very short thoughts on the new Avengers movie.

And rest assured, absolutely no significant spoilers below.

Yes, I've talked before about how incredible it is to see all my favorite superheroes band together in one single film. In some ways it's almost become such a familiar occurrence, that I barely think of how awesome it is. For instance when Captain America shows up in Thor 2 - yes, it was cool - but considering how Marvel Studios has run things, it was almost expected. 

And that's really where we are, it's cool to see all of them. Literally all of them, in one movie. But do we really appreciate how amazing it is? And do we really appreciate how impressive it is to do that, and not have a movie that sucks? Because Avengers 2 definitely didn't suck. 

Yes, it was not as surprisingly good as Captain America: The Winter Soldier. And it wasn't as fun as Guardians of the Galaxy. But I feel that that isn't the idea of the Avengers movies either.  

The idea of the Avengers movies is to gather all of them, and have cool fight scenes and explosions and stuff. Have buildings collapse, have skyscrapers collapse, have entire cities collapse. Stuff like that. And all the while ALL OF THEM are looking cool, while doing cool stuff. And it's just so damn awesome to see the Marvel cinematic universe in this place, where it's familiar, expected and natural. And that's the strength of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

It's like reading a Marvel comic book, but in cinema.

Yes, I could talk about details, and there were tons of them in this movie. Interaction between Ultron and Vision, interaction between Hulk and Black Widow. Interaction between Tony and almost everyone else. Most of the stuff involving Hawkeye. It seems they wanted to round out a few characters a bit more than they have done in previous movies, and it works fairly well. But this movie is about seeing all of them together, and explosions. 

Ok, some details. Holy shit, Vision! I like. Hulk riding a Quinjet alone made an impact for some reason. Ending shows promises, but also challenges for Marvel Studios. Post credits scene somewhat boring, but not necessarily bad. Also, regarding Hawkeye, thank god they didn't follow Ultimates storyline, or I would never be able to drag my girlfriend to another Marvel movie. Ok, that last one may have been a spoiler. 

Marvel is at an impressive - and some what dominating position these days, and I just fear they won't be able to keep up the pace, and that they won't put as much effort into the "individual" movies as they have done so far. If they do continue to make an effort, I'll gladly accept the occasionally mindless, but still glorious action from future Avengers movies. 

Marvel Phase 3

These are great times.

Nearly three decades ago, I picked up an issue of Secret Wars, and I was instantly a fan. Many kids of my generation grew up reading the comics with the Marvel superheroes. And sure, we dreamed of watching movies with our heroes, but as we aged, we realized that they very well could be similar to Street Fighter the Movie, or the TMNT movies. With this kind of quality as an alternative, I'd say it was a better option to not have superhero movies at all

Back in the late 90s, we actually started getting the superhero movies. Blade, Spider-Man, X-Men, followed by Hulk, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider and sequels to the first wave. Some of these were good, a few of them were great, most of them were just awful.

Hindered by technology, but even more so a lack of scope and ambition.
You see, one of the reasons I fell in love with the Marvel universe was that any and all hero and villain could have some sort of link to the others. After all, the first comic I consciously read was a massive team-up between the heroes and villains.

And up until Marvel Studios, we just haven't seen this. They managed to team up four superheroes that easily could be the sole superhero franchise at any other movie studio. And they're building the story lines towards a goal.

Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, X-Men - maybe the most popular Marvel characters at one point - are locked at other studios. But that kind of doesn't matter.

You see, another impressive feat with Marvel is that they're not afraid to take chances with lesser known characters. Iron Man? Sure, every comic book reader knows Iron Man, but at the time the first movie came out, he wasn't the most popular Marvel character, probably not even top ten. Guardians of the Galaxy? Popular in the comics the last few years, but in the mainstream? Not even remotely.

Now, look at that line-up of movies. Captain Marvel. Black Panther. Doctor Strange. Inhumans. This is sick. This is insane. These are ridiculously awesome times to be a fan. I'm so glad I grew up with these comics to build the enthusiasm, and I'm so glad I'm around now to see them come alive like never before.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Review

I have this feeling that Marvel is continuously trying to better themselves, and are learning from their mistakes. Now, I don't really mind any of the movies from Marvel Studios, but there are obvious quality differences, with Iron Man, Thor, The Avengers and Iron Man 3 in one end, and The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2 and Captain America: The First Avengers in the other end.

The first Captain America movie wasn't bad, rather than flawed. The movie didn't feel like a fluid piece. It's difficult to make the origin story look good in the movies. Now, we're past this. The movie universe knows Captain America. The movie audience knows Captain America. We can be treated to a story that stands on its own. Expectations were surprisingly high, after seeing the various trailers, and trying to figure out the plot line without getting too much of the movie spoiled, I found myself unusually excited.

Expectations were met, it was a complete blast. Now, the part I was looking forward to the most, didn't exactly pan out how I had hoped, but it didn't really matter, as I was fully enthralled to the very end.
A thoroughly fun movie: Interesting characters and character interaction, impressive battles, well-paced story, and lots of goodies for the Marvel enthusiast.

Read on for a complete review of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. And beware, there could be some spoilers.

Vintage style Captain America Poster by Paolo Rivera

Yes, I'm strangely enough excited for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Me and girlfriend saw The First Avenger again the other day, and are now ready for this next Cap movie. I liked Thor 2, but it would be seriously impressive had it surpassed the first Thor movie. But with Captain America, it's a bit different. The first one is good, but certainly not great, while the trailers for the new one are promising, to say the least. I expect it to be significantly better than The First Avenger (and I also expect teasers for the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie).

Now, by now you have probably seen the various promo pictures for The Winter Soldier, the actual movie posters, trailers, toys (see the last update), stills, and so on. But this one is something different. A poster made in the vintage style that you would see in the 70s spy movies. Roger Moore's James Bond movies comes to mind.
Done by skilled artist Paolo Rivera, you can also check out his blog here: http://paolorivera.blogspot.com/

Marvel has said that it will indeed be a spy movie, with conspiracy and treachery being parts of the plot. But we have also seen the trailers, where stuff is being blown up. Passionately. I like both, and I think Paolo's poster resonate with this.

I love it, and it makes me even more ready for the movie the upcoming weekend.

Guardians of the Galaxy Promo Poster remade with Marvel Legends

Yes, this is exactly what the title says. We've known about the upcoming Marvel Legends versions of the Guardians of the Galaxy for a while. These characters have already been done by Hasbro in their comic book versions, but that was in the 4 inch line. This time it's for the 6 inch Marvel Legends, and in the style of the upcoming movie. And they look awesome!

The pose we see here is meant to resemble the promo poster we saw a little while ago. And they have nailed it. A little more detail on Peter Quill's costume, but other than that I think they are amazing representations of the movie designs.

As a long time reader of Guardians - and almost anything in Marvel's "cosmic" catalog, I'm excited. Obviously for the movie, but I have to be honest, I'm also tempted by these action figures. Marvel Legends is an awesome toy line these days.

Marvel Legends Dr. Strange

Another video. This is Dr. Strange from Toy Biz' Marvel Legends line. This particular wave of figures came packed with parts you could use to build a giant sized Galactus. I showed Galactus here a while back. He's still my favorite Marvel Legend figure, but when I started playing a bit with my old collection, I notice that I actually like these toys. Yesterday I opened Dr. Strange, and he's an excellent figure in some ways, and not so excellent in other ways.

Thor 2: A review, of some sort...

If you read this, chances are you plan on seeing Thor regardless of your connection to the Marvel universe or superheroes in general. That's a good thing, because with superheroes being mainstream, it's generally easier to be an enthusiast. And the latest movie from Marvel Studios, Thor: The Dark World, is as mainstream as movies get.

It wasn't always like this. There was a time, not long ago, when we were losing our shit just to get any sort of superheroes beyond Batman and Superman in theaters. Remember when X-Men came out? If you were into comics back in the late 90s, it was huge. It was monumental. It was something new. There was a time, not long ago, when the idea of several Marvel movies all being connected was just that: Ideas and fantasies among fans.

Now, we have one well made superhero movie after the other, the last one leading up to the next one. And it's so much fun. These are good times to be comic book enthusiasts.

Marvel has it figured out. They know what the fans want, and they know how to deal with the general audience. It's a perfect mix between action, romance, easily comprehensible stories and humor. Mix this with sweet special effects, solid soundtrack and generally great choices of actors, and it's not difficult to understand why these movies are a delight.

These movies stick true to the source material most of the time, and when they deviate, it's usually purposeful. But Marvel Studios has gone beyond just being true to the comics. They are loving it, they are passionate about it. Just think about this: We have seen Robert Downey Jr. dressed up in an Iron Man suit made by Stan Winston studios. We have seen Nick Fury - as played by Samuel L. Jackson, shoot a bazooka at Loki. We have seen Hulk and Thor do battle on the Helicarrier. Thanos, the Mad Titan is in a mainstream movie!

Thor: The Dark World isn't a masterpiece. But no one was expecting it to be. What it is, is extremely fun and entertaining, both for me, and for people who haven't read a single issue of Thor.

Review? Well... You can read reviews elsewhere. I'll share various thoughts though.

For the first time in 5000 years, the nine realms are aligning, being closer to each other than normal. This causes rifts in the worlds, where it's possible to portal from one realm to another.

The Dark Elves, once defeated, are back to seek vengeance over the nine realms, and plan on using the alignment to their advantage. Their leader, Malekith, seeks the essence of evil: The Aether. With it, he plans on sending the universe back into darkness. He doesn't succeed, but there's a lot of collateral damage going on before he's stopped. Both in Asgard and in London.

This time around, we get to see a lot of Asgard, which is really cool. We see tons of cool tech and magic, and it's just amazing. Their boats are shaped like viking ships, and their buildings have laser turrets. It's all very true to the idea of a mix between sci-fi and magic. We also see a lot more to Heimdall, played by Idris Elba. He's become a staple in these kinds of movies now, and I think he likes it.

Loki is locked up in the Asgardian prison early in the movie, but still plays a major role throughout. I like that, I really like Tom Hiddelston playing Loki - and I know I'm not the only one. He looks so fresh in his prison cell, all clean and in his usual outfit, but when Thor tells him to drop the spells, we see him as a wounded and broken man. Of course, Loki never ceases his tricks. I suspect he will play an important role in future Marvel movies as well.

The villains were ok, Malekith is played by Christopher Eccleston, but I'd liked to see a bit more passion from him. His lackey is almost more interesting, a regular Dark Elf that sacrifices himself to become basically the Dark Elf variant of The Hulk.

An important part of the movie is its humor, and it's at times seriously funny. The entire audience is laughing-funny. The funniest moments revolve around the misadventures of Dr. Erik Selvig, the scientist played by Stellan Skarsgård, but several back and forth comments between Thor and his various allies are also great fun.

I'd actually liked a bit more romance, or rather that the romance of Thor and Jane Foster were put on serious trials. But I guess they're saving that for another time. And for those in the audience who are into that kind of stuff: sadly, that first scene of shirtless Thor is the only one in the entire movie.

When all is said and done, I got what I expected. A great superhero movie, excellent entertainment, and I got my daily dose of Marvel. How much Marvel, you say?

Well, skip the break to find out (spoilers)...


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"Toys shouldn't be sexy"

New York Comic Con this weekend, Hasbro showed off some toys on the preview night. One of their 6" Marvel lines featured a Black Cat figure. Complete, with whip, skin tight body suit and exposed cleavage.

I see many are complaining. They may articulate themselves in different ways, but their opinions can usually be summed up like this:

Toys should't be sexy.

And I find that to be a weird opinion. Why should toys not be allowed to be sexy? Sex isn't dangerous. I guess part of the problem is combining sexuality and toys intended for kids. But sexuality is a vital part of being human. No kid has ever been hurt by exposion to breasts. In fact, you could argue that boobs have saved significantly more lives that guns. Yet military toys are less controversial than "sexy" toys.

If anything, a toy like this will simply cause a kid to grow up faster, and he or she will quite possibly develop certain kinks a few years later. But we all know it's not just kids that will buy the 6" Black Cat. I suspect this will be popular among collectors.

Arguments against this toy, and similar figures revolve around the fact that the sculpt is too detailed, that she has an unnatural body.
But.. Doesn't that go for any heroic toy figure? Tell me, do the Masters of the Universe Classics figures look like regular humans? Isn't Marvel Legends Nick Fury simlpy the male version of Black Cat, when it comes to costume, and visible muscles? Of course, Black Cat also has that ass and boobs thing going on. That's her thing.

Whether or not you find this toy sexy, that's a different matter. When it comes to sexuality, people are truly unique. What works for me, might not work at all for you. There are people out there being turned on by the weirdest things, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that people are turned on by a beautiful, fit woman in a costume that shows almost everything - even if she's a comic book character. Black Cat is a character that's been deliberately drawn sexy, and seing it in 3D absolutely doesn't change that.

I think this toy looks fantastic, and perfectly captures how I remember the character. Teasing, mischievous, incredibly sexy. Yes, I have fond memories of reading Spider-Man as a kid, exclusively for Black Cat. And you know I love the female action figures. I have cut seriously back on collecting 6" superheroes, but for obvious reasons, I may pick up this toy.

The Top 10 Greatest Toy Lines Ever!

This is a list I've been thinking of for a good while, and now is as good a time as ever. If you read my stuff, you would think this list could be named "Top ten action figure lines", but that would actually not work. Sure, it's mostly dominated by action figures, but there may be a few entries that just happens to fall in a different category.

I have collected, played with - and ultimately considered a huge selection of toys for this list. Some of the toy lines were rather difficult to leave out, and I feel like mentioning a few of them (but not all, because that would ruin eventual surprises).

 I did consider the original, 1/6 scaled G.I. Joe, for historical reasons, and the great variety of accessories. They were before my time, but I enjoy them whenever I see them today. In the opposite category, when talking about toys that predate the 80s, are the Mego dolls. I just can't see understand attraction. 

A powerful contender was the Real Ghostbusters line. Creative monsters, solid build quality, all over fun toys. There have also been many great superhero lines, like Toy Biz' X-Men, and the various DC Direct lines. I'm also impressed with many of the contemporary toys, whether they're based on movies, like the Avengers figures, or the toys from the smaller, more independent toy companies, like Four Horsemen.

Japanese toys I considered included the various Valkyries based off the Macross shows (like the Bandai VF-25 in my banner), and the range of anime robots in the mighty Soul of Chogokin line.

While the top ten may be familiar to most of you, and in many ways be "obvious" choices, they were the toys that has impressed me the most and given me the most joy.  Essentially, these are my top ten toy lines. 

Agree, disagree, want to share your own list? Leave a comment below!

Marvel Legends Nick Fury

I'm almost to the point where I think that the coolest Marvel characters are those that lack super powers. I've written about Hawkeye in the past,and this time, it's the spy above all spies, Nick Fury's turn.

Read on!

Lego Avengers

At Lego's 55 year anniversary, I'm delivering a big one. An article on the Lego Avengers sets. Not all of them, but a solid majority of them. And this was a big deal to me. I grew up reading Marvel comics, I grew up absolutely loving The Avengers. Simultaneously, I built Lego (and I continue to do both these activities). Never did I consider a future where I would get to build official Marvel Lego sets. But there is a another aspect of this that makes the whole experience so much better: The fact that Marvel succeeded in making solid, entertaining movies out of their Avengers heroes. Scratch that. They're not just entertaining. For their genre, they're at the very pinnacle. I've written about Avengers before, I've had a Figure Friday on Hawkeye, and I've teased the Lego sets. So here's the big one, and it's basically just tons of pictures of three of the four sets, with added commentary. I'm still missing the Quinjet, with Black Widow. The Quinjet is cool, but I may just pick up a single Natasha on ebay. But so far, the Avengers line up is looking good.

Anyway, hop on in for the Earth's Mightiest Brick-heroes.

Figure Friday: Expensive announcements

I'm on the road, and unable to write something major. But take comfort in Wednesday's article on Top 10 Minifigures.

Yes, Takara announced Masterpiece Soundwave. The upcoming MP versions of Sideswipe, Red Alert (and hopefully Sunstreaker) already has Transformers fans - me included - drooling. Admittedly, I have passed on several of the Masterpiece robots, for various reasons. I do have the MP04, which is Optimus Prime with trailer, and I have a couple of the Seekers - Thundercracker and Skywarp. Why I never got Starscream, I couldn't tell you. Maybe I'm just not into repaints costing $100-200. MP Megatron has a rumor for being extremely difficult to transform, and very fragile, so I have passed. MP Rodimus/Hot Rod looks amazing, but it never was a favorite character of mine.

Soundwave on the other hand. I'm sold. The prototype pictures show us an extremely detailed sculpt, yet it's remarkably close to the G1 design. Obviously he's bigger, has more articulation, and looks a lot closer to his cartoon/comic version in robot mode. There are already pictures floating around the internet of a painted version shown in a Japanese toy show. But the high resolution pictures of the prototype can be seen on Seibertron.

He looks to be coming with Lazerbeak. Expect more cassettes in the future. We can also assume there will be a Soundblaster repaint.

In other news, we also saw Hot Toys release an images of their stunning Black Widow. We have already seen Loki, Thor, Iron Man, Nick Fury and Hawkeye. For those of you who don't know, these are extremely detailed 12" action figures. Hot Toys is famous for getting the face sculpts right, and for being expensive. But most fanboys out there would say they are more than worth their price at around $200.
What do you think?

Masterpiece Sideswipe/Red Alert/Sunstreaker, Masterpiece Soundwave.
Hot Toys Avengers.

It will be an expensive fall for a toy collector.

"OMG I'M SUCH A GEEK!"

Geek culture, nerdery, geekdom, fanboyism. Call it what ever you want, we all know what you're talking about. It's sci-fi, fantasy, superheroes, video games, movies, books, tv-shows, comics, toys, gadgets, technology, collectible everything, enthusiastic about anything.

I collect comics, among other things. What does that make me, but a comic book collector?

I like that last word: Enthusiastic. A person needs a passion or two. Not excessive passion, which can be unhealthy. But I prefer to be around people who are passionate and enthusiastic, almost regardless of what the subject is. A person who collects vintage tea spoons? I love it! A person who's heavily into paranormal activity? Awesome! A person who watches obscure Italian sci-fi movies? Tell me more!

The last years, Nerd Chic has become a thing, a fashion, being a nerd has become cool - to a certain point.
Not too much, just enough to be in the loop with the most mundane terms and the absolute basics of the culture.

You totally recognized Thanos. Show some enthusiasm!

And I'm not sure why, but it rubs me the wrong way. It's popular to ironically associate with enthusiasts such as myself, but these "hipster geeks" only scrape the surface of what they consider to be the fanboy/girl culture.

In essence, the term "geek" has become cool, but only for extremely popular aspects of the culture (reading Lord of the Rings = cool. Reading amazing comics like Smith's run on Green Arrow = Lame), and threading past those limits (like LOTR cosplay) are still considered "lame". Maybe I'm a bit indignant over the fact that the hipster geeks doesn't dare to show their true colors.

So you went and saw The Avengers, and laughed ironically afterwards over what you described as a "kid's movie"? No. You loved it. Now go home and dig up your old comics.

Don't get me wrong, my best friends are all collectors, gamers or true enthusiasts of some sort, and the girls who are legitimately into "geekdom" can be cool. 

But every once in a while, I run into people like the "Idiot Nerd Girl".

I get the idea of labeling yourself, it's an important part of identifying with specific groups of people.

But more often than not, it's painfully obvious that the self-diagnosis is a way to ironically distance themselves from being who they truly are, and being legitimately proud - and most importantly - relaxed about their interests.

So, I'm sorry, but if you read Harry Potter you're not a nerd. You just happen to read an extremely popular fantasy book. If you like Star Wars, you're not a geek, you just happen to like the most popular movie franchise ever. You played a video game? Good for you, but does it really make you a geek? Are you sure now? 
You think toys are only for kids?

Anyone who are even remotely into Lego - or superheroes - should have these sets and be proud. You won't get a label from me, apart from "awesome!"

I must admit, I don't like labels, because we all have such a specific set of interests. But for all I know, "geek" may have a completely different meaning than the connotations that seem to be the consensus.
I guess people can call themselves what ever they want. But I'm not impressed by the guys and girls out there who are simply following the latest trend, instead of being honest about their interests and what they actually like.

A good example of that honesty is my sister. She's heavily into novels (books without pictures!) and movies, she likes the occasional superhero and watches an imperial ton of British TV-shows. She doesn't make a fuzz about her enthusiasms, nor does she brag about being a geek, even though I assume she would be considered one. Why would she? She's just a girl who loves cool stuff. I categorize her as enthusiastic, with a healthy amount of awesome interests. Does she engulf herself in very particular subjects from time to time? Oh yeah, but it's usually a phase.
She's proud of her passions and regularly share her enthusiasm for her - as well as others' hobbies.

For my birthday, recently, my sister finished some needlepoints for me. I had drawn the pattern, and she uhm.. stitched them. I'm really pleased with how they turned out, and I'm going to frame them individually. I'm sure she would argue that this is something out of the ordinary, that anyone making – or owning such needlepoints has to be enormous geeks, but it really isn't so. There are few guys my age in the western world who doesn't recognize these symbols.

Finally, do I consider myself a nerd or a geek? Well, let me put it this way, I barely even know what the words mean, what the difference is, of if there is a difference. Read through my blog and you'll probably have a better idea of who I am than I do myself.
I'm consider myself an enthusiast. I have many interests, all which are awesome. (And my sister is kind of awesome too for making me Transformers needlepoints)

Figure Friday: Avengers will be Assembled

The first two sets arrived today by mail. It's the smallest of the Marvel Superheroes sets, featuring Captain America on a bike, and Iron Man chasing Loki and Hawkeye. And I'm very excited. In fact, I'm saving these for a special occasion: my summer holiday which starts in two weeks.

If you saw the latest Avengers movie, you obviously see that these sets are based (if somewhat loosely) on the movie. I'm ok with this. When I first heard about Lego doing Marvel, I was a bit annoyed that they would be based on the movie - because what if the movie sucked? It would have been a minor problem, because it's still Lego after all. But there's a reason I prefer Original Trilogy Lego over Prequel Lego.

You know how it is though, the movie was amazing, definitely better than most Avengers comics ever made (which I talk a bit about here), and almost to the point where I consider the movie to be canon for anything Avengers. And the result today, this last Friday in May, is that I have to restrain myself from opening these boxes. And it's really no point in doing so. I can probably build Lego and do my real work at the same time. But I like to save them for that moment when I have no other distractions.

And distractions I have, which is why this Figure Friday article will be slightly shorter than what you are used to. I will leave you with a few impressions based on the unopened boxes of these Lego Superheroes sets:

• Iron Man wasn't chasing Loki, it was Maria Hill and Nick Fury. Would you be excited for minifigures of the SHIELD directors? I would.

• Loki is featured in three of the five Avengers sets. I don't mind, he looks to be a fantastic figure. Cape, helmet, staff, great detailed print.

• There are two versions of Iron Man, this is the Mk.6 he had in the first half of the movie.

• The Cosmic Cube is a standard, translucent 1x1. I like that. Iron man's repulsors are round, flat 1x1 in translucent blue.

• TLG (The Lego Group) have gone with stickers for the vehicles. AFOLs (Adult fans of Lego) seems to be torn on this matter. I'm in the camp that would prefer printed bricks instead of stickers, but I can see how it's convenient if you plan on using the bricks for something else.

• "Comic Adventure Included". Interesting. Makes me wonder if we'll also see a Marvel Lego videogame.

• The two aliens chasing Captain America have different faces, and are actually kinda creepy for minifigures. Well creepy in a cute way of course. They are still minifigures after all.

• Captain America has maroon colors, just like in the movie. But here, with his maroon bike, maroon shield, maroon gloves. It's all very obvious how red it should have been, and how very maroon it actually is.

• And regarding the motorcycle... Doesn't it vaguely look like a scooter? Something that teenagers or old men would drive? Technically, Capt. Steve Rogers could fall into both those categories, so I guess it makes sense. But I'd liked to have seen him on something like this instead:

Enjoy your weekend people.

Lego Hawkeye

I had initially planned for an exciting recipe today, but since we're actually celebrating the 80th anniversary of Lego (the 22nd), I felt it was more appropriate to do an article on Lego.

Most of my readers know I really like the superheroes. Even if I don't collect that many superhero action figures, they're my main interest. It also goes without saying that I like the bricks. So when Lego decided to start the Superheroes theme, you can imagine how excited I was.
I have a few of the bigger sets on their way from Lego's online shop, so I can't show those yet. But I managed to get hold of a promotional sample of Hawkeye. I felt this was very adequate, as Hawkeye has been featured a few times before here in this blog, and he's probably my favorite Avengers character.

Read on for a few more pictures.

The Avengers - A review, among other things

I have returned from the premiere of The Avengers (in 2D yay), and I would like to share my thoughts. While I know there already are several reviews out, this will perhaps be slightly different. Because this is a big deal. Marvel has stepped outside the comfort zone, and courted their loyal fans, yet done it with the elegance, action and humor that will please the casual movie goer.

I have tried to keep the review spoiler-free, but obviously you should be careful if you want to go into The Avengers without any prior knowledge.

Either way, read on for my thoughts on The Avengers!