As a follow up to last week’s Top Ten DC Stories That Would Make Great Animated Movies I must now, of course, move on to Marvel. On Tuesday Marvel will release the DVD animated version of Planet Hulk. The early reviews seem to put this animated movie ahead of the other Marvel offerings, further proof that taking already beloved material and animating it may be the way to go. In my humble opinion none of the Marvel animated stuff has been particularly good and, like DC, I think it’s the new material angle.
Marvel is a very different beast than DC in that the best stuff is not as epic nor as formulated towards huge story arcs. For the most part when Marvel attempts huge crossovers the results range from wonderful (Secret Wars) to disastrous (Dark Reign). Not having a bunch of well executed epics to choose from I found myself digging into my comic boxes and examining the issue arcs. To be honest that was a lot of fun especially being fairly unimpressed with Marvel’s work of late. Getting to refresh my memory on how good Marvel can really be was a nice change from constantly bitching about them. There may be some things here that surprise you and some character omissions you don’t agree with. Good, that leads to debate and debate brings out the best in everything.
10. Thor: The Ragnarok Series
Ok, ok, I know that people will immediately shout for the Kirby/Lee Thor stories and while I love those stories they all have parts of what makes Thor so awesome. The Ragnarok series (Thor Vol 2 #81-85) features all of Asgard, a battle with Loki, trolls and the evil forces of that world as well as the definitive moment that forces Thor to vanish from Marvel for nearly five years. The story itself is an action packed epic battle that would play well for those who don’t know Thor and for the hardcore Thor lovers. With the upcoming Thor live action movie focusing on his Asgardian adventures Thor Ragnarok the animated movie would fit right in.
09. Fantastic Four: The Coming Of Galactus
Oh hell yes would I like to see this legendary story brought into the world of animation the right way. How can you lose here? This movie would have Fantastic Four going up against Silver Surfer (plus his origin) and Galactus. If you could line up all-star talent I think George Clooney would make a kick ass Reed Richards where as the voice of Silver Surfer should be layered with effects. This would also be a prime way to get the awful taste of “Galactus The Planet Eating Cloud” out of our mouths. Animation wise this would be another golden opportunity to animate Jack Kirby’s work. Sure some have tried but it’s never been the right way, if it was it could set a whole new bar in animation.
08. Iron Fist: The Eighth City
Most people grew up with the seventies Power Man & Iron Fist comic and while yes those kicked ass there wasn’t a defining story that should be brought to the screen. When The Immortal Iron Fist launched it reinvented the character and this series (#22-27) featuring the discovery of a magical eighth city which houses thousands of demons and all the Iron Fists being forced to battle them is too good not to be animated. The back-story is easy to take care of in the first few minutes and then it’s all Iron Fist punch-kick-martial-arts action. Tell me a battle between the original Iron Fist and Danny Rand (the current one) wouldn’t be awesome, or an end battle between all the Iron Fists and martial arts demons doesn’t scream to be brought to life? Go ahead tell me that! Yeah, didn’t think so.
07. Dr. Strange Vs Dracula
Granted Dr. Strange is a little off Marvel’s beaten path but he’s a personal favorite of mine and this bizarre tale is one of his best. Dracula wants the world to be turned into Vampires but Dr. Strange is out to put the smack down on him. This would be a great idea for Marvel because it also features one of their live action success stories Blade as well as The Scarlett Witch. Combine that with the current pants wetting over all things vampire and suddenly the weird Dr. Strange is selling butt loads of copies. I know that Marvel already has an animated Dr. Strange story but lets be honest it sucked. Strange Vs Dracula would need to be animated in that eerie early eighties style of animation e.g. Heavy Metal or Rock & Rule. I’d also think the audio should be peppered with unsettling screeches and weird sounds creating a sense of dread. Imagine Bakshi’s Lord Of The Rings but with Dr. Strange in it.
06. What If?
What if would work by allowing Marvel to animate a few separate stories under one title. What If being mostly a series of one-shot books about how superhero lives unfolded in different universes, this could be a cash cow for Marvel. Start with three forty five minute mini-movies taken from What If titles such as: What If Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben Had Not Died, What If Captain America Hadn’t Vanished During World War 2 and What If Wolverine Had Killed The Hulk. Animate each one slightly different than the other and then follow every six months or so with another set of stories. The What If line of DVDs might become the biggest animated movie Marvel puts out.
