Ok.  By now, you all know of my obsession with Marvel Comics, their characters, and their movies.  With all the movies out now (The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Daredevil, Fantastic Four movies, Blade Trilogy, Spider-Man Trilogy, X-Men Trilogy, Elektra, Ghost Rider, Hellboy, and the Punisher movies) and movies to come (Thor, Captain America, Iron Man 2, Nick Fury, Luke Cage, Dr. Strange, and Ant-Man), I have decided to give you all a list of Marvel characters and the actor or actress I would like to see play him/her. This will include actors and actresses that have already played the part along with people already signed on for their particular part that I could not find anyone else to portray the character.

Recent news I have received has said that Jon Favreau, director of the Iron Man series, would like to ressurect the Fantastic Four and Daredevil franchises.  Of course, this would mean that 20th Century Fox would either have to sell back or simply give the rights of the characters back to Marvel Studios (which I would love nothing more).

With that said, here is my list:

Already Cast
Nick Fury - Samuel L. Jackson
Iron Man - Robert Downey Jr.
Black Widow - Scarlett Johansson
James Rhodes/War Machine - Don Cheadle
Bruce Banner - Edward Norton
Emil Blonsky - Tim Roth
Betty Ross - Liv Tyler
"Thunderbolt" Ross - William Hurt
Samuel Sterns/The Leader - Tim Blake Nelson
Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider - Nicolas Cage
Roxanne Simpson - Eva Mendes
Daredevil - Ben Affleck
The Kingpin - Michael Clarke Duncan
Bullseye - Colin Farrell
Hellboy - Ron Pearlman
Blade - Wesley Snipes
Punisher - Ray Stevenson
Spider-Man - Tobey Macguire
Hobgoblin - James Franco
Green Goblin - Willem Dafoe
Doctor Octopus - Alfred Molina
Sandman - Thomas Haden Church
Wolverine - Hugh Jackman
Professor X - Patrick Stewart
Magneto - Ian McKellen
Nightcrawler - Alan Cumming
Storm - Halle Berry
Beast - Kelsey Grammer
Angel - Ben Foster
Mystique - Rebecca Romijn
Cyclops - James Marsden
Jean Grey/Phoenix - Famke Janssen
Rogue - Anna Paquin
Iceman - Shawn Ashmore
Pyro - Aaron Stanford
Sabretooth - Liev Schreiber
Toad - Ray Park
Lady Deathstrike - Kelly Hu
Deadpool - Ryan Reynolds
Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic - Ioan Gruffudd
Sue Storm/Invisible Woman - Jessica Alba
Johnny Strom/Human Torch - Chris Evans
Ben Grimm/The Thing - Michael Chiklis
Victor von Doom - Julian McMahon
Thor - Chris Hemsworth
Loki - Tom Hiddleston
Bethany Cabe - Kate Mara
Odin - Brian Blessed

My Choices
Dr. Strange - Jim Caviezel
Black Panther - Djimon Hounsou
Moon Knight - Vin Diesel
Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk - Rachel Bilson
The Vision - Doug Jones
Emma Frost - Yvonne Strahovski
Elektra - Rosario Dawson
Ant-Man - Greg Kinnear
Wasp - Lucy Liu
Falcon - Jamie Foxx
Hawkeye/Ronin - Channing Tatum
Spider-Woman - Jessica Biel
Iron Fist - Garrett Hedlund
Sif - Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Captain America - Matt Damon
Red Skull - Jeremy Irons
Sub-Mariner - Jonathan Rhys Meyers 
Luke Cage - Tyrese Gibson
Quicksilver - Eric Balfour
Scarlet Witch -
The Enchantress - Blake Lively



Again, these are just some ideas.  Some that have already played their character and some, I believe would do better.  If the character is not mentioned again, then I believe the person playing him/her is right for that role.
 

OK.  I am not sure on how to start this note, but I guess I will give it a shot. 

I am proclaiming my nerdiness to the world.  I love Marvel.  For those who don't know, Marvel is a comic book company that has brought to you many superheroes, villians, and just plain awesomeness.  These characters range from X-Men, The Fantastic Four, Spiderman, Punisher, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Daredevil, Thor, Captain America, Ghost Rider, Green Goblin, Venom, Blade, Luke Cage, Nick Fury, and Dr. Strange...among many, many others. 

So, Marvel now has a production company (for Movies) called Marvel Studios.  They have already released Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk (not the horrific Ang Lee Hulk from several years back).  In the coming years, they will release Iron Man 2, Thor, Ant-Man, and The First Avenger: Captain America; all of those leading up to the The Avengers in 2012. 

Most of us know that Robert Downey Jr. played the lead role in Iron Man. However, Terrance Howard's role as James "Rhodey" Rhodes has come to an end due to money issues; replacing Howard as Rhodes will be Don Cheadle (in my opinion an awesome addition).  Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson (recently signed a 9 movie deal with Marvel Studios) will both be returning as Pepper Potts and S.H.I.E.L.D. leader Nick Fury respectively.  RDJ, Cheadle, Paltrow, and Jackson will all be joined by Tim Robbins (Howard Stark), Mickey Rourke (Whiplash), Sam Rockwell (Justin Hammer), and Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow).  Now this is one hell of a cast.  I just hope Marvel and/or Jon Favreau (Director) don't screw anything up.  But I have some faith.

With that said,  I am going to focus my attention on Thor, now probably the Avenger (besides Ant-Man) people know the least about.  Basically, Thor is the Norse god of thunder and he weilds an awesome hammer.  I will not go into details about the story line; I will let you all do that yourselves.  So, the movie is probably going to be the hardest one to tye into the Avengers, and just might be my least favorite of the Marvel Studio movies (this doesn't include the two Punisher movies, The Spiderman Trilogy, X-Men Trilogy, Daredevil, Elektra, Ghost Rider, The Blade Trilogy, and the two Fantastic Four movies).  As of now, Kenneth Branagh has signed to helm the film while rumors have Alexander Skarsgard as Thor and Josh Hartnett to play the villain Loki.  Brian Blessed as confirmed that he will be playing the part od Odon, Thor's father.  Also, Natalie Portman has been rumored to play the lead lady in the film whether it be Sif or Jane Foster.  I know I am probably getting ahead of some you folks on this, and for this, I am sorry.

Now to what could be the breaking point for all things Avengers: Captain America.  Supposedly he was in an alternate opening on The Incredible Hulk Blu-Ray.  I have seen this, and honestly, you can't really tell its him.  But the director, Louis Leterrier, says it his so i have to believe him.  Anyway, this movie is a little tricky; it is set during World War II.  Steve Rogers wants to be a soldier for the United States.  They don't let him in, they give him the Super Soldier Serum, and boom he bulks up and now has super human strength and speed.  Ok so there is the story.  With that said, no one has been linked to this movie as far as acting goes.  So, my picks for The First Avenger are: Josh Duhamel, Matt Damon, Mark Valley, Jensen Ackles, and if he hadn't been Two- Face in The Dark Knight I would say Aaron Eckhardt (I have a certain rule about Actors and Superheroes/Villains  but thats another day). However, I can totally see Marvel throwing us all for a curveball by announcing Will Smith or Duane Johnson were to portray Captain America.  Overall I think that this movie has potential.  It just needs a decently known person to play Captain America.

I will update you as soon as possible when I find out more info.  And also, I will be writing another post explaining my rule mention in the previous paragraph.

All in all, I can definitely say I am totally looking forward to the next few years in movies (yes, that includes more than just these Marvel ones).   I just beg and grovel with Marvel Studios not to do anything to mess any of this up.  Please. Please. Please.

Sincerely,
Patrick Short.
 

Wednesday I went to the National Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.  I toured the museum for close to five hours.  When my dad first told me he wanted to go, I reluctantly said yes having no interest in the matter.  However, since he did tell me that no one else wanted to go with him, I decided that it would be best for me to go.  I got there having no expectations and didn't really care what I might see.  However, as soon as I walked into the first hangar with several planes that were used early in the exploration of flight, my mind changed, and all of a sudden I wanted to tour this place as long as possible.  Everything, and I mean everything, was interesting and I actually wanted to learn about some of this stuff.  We made our way through the early stages of flight development and into the World War I and II galleries.  After we left the World War II gallery we signed up to go on a tour of the Presidential gallery, in which you must register to go and show a valid government ID.  Right after that we visited the Modern Flight gallery.  It was then our turn to tour the Presidential gallery That was pretty cool.  I got to see Air Force One for Kennedy and Truman along with several one of a kind planes.  We could not take pictures on our way over there being that it is still active and many a secret stuff goes down in there, however, we could take pictures once inside, and I thought that was pretty interesting.  After the Presidential tour, my father and I went to an IMAX film about a fighter pilot and his Red Flag experience in Nevada.  Red Flag is a school type training in Nevada where Air Force pilots from across the world come to train and work together as a unit.  After the movie we then went to the Cold War gallery and the missle and space silo.  The trip was pretty interesting  and I had more fun than expected.  I should be out of service until Saturday night, where I will inform you why these past two days and the next two days are the greatest days of sports in the entire year.

Peace and Love!