MCU, I'm In!

I know this is a Star Wars blog but since Lucasfilm is now owned by Disney, as is Marvel, I figured it wouldn't be too far afield to venture into the Marvel Universe every so often.

I saw Thor 2 this past weekend and really enjoyed it. I've seen all the recent movies in the series which is dubbed the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) - except for the Incredible Hulk remake. I think it is an ingenious idea to carry story line threads through several different movies. It provides an extra incentive to see the latest installment even if the particular movie is not one of your favorite characters. 

That is how I felt about Thor 2. I am not a big fan of the first film. It had just a little too much fantasy for me. But having loved all the Iron Man movies and at least enjoyed the other MCU films I wanted to see how things continued with Thor 2. The box office numbers show I wasn't alone!

This inter-connectedness of stories reminds me very much of the marvel comic books I read as a kid in the 1980s. I would discover new characters and new  books as the stories would intersect with my favorite titles. It's pretty incredible to think that this same concept that involved a handful of writers, artists, and editors is now being used by hundreds if people across a wide spectrum of disciplines to achieve the same result. 

This is also a brilliant move in what it leaves out. There is no mention of Spider-Man, the X-Men, or the Fantastic Four. This is intentional as Disney does not have exclusive or perhaps even direct rights to those properties. As the MCU continues to build on itself, now including the Agents of SHIELD television series, these other characters will seem increasingly isolated and thus less attractive. This could ultimately play out that the other studios that own the rights might end up cashing them in rather than compete with the coming juggernaut. Disney has the inside track and I am on board with it!

A New Dawn

Well it has been nearly three and a half years since I last updated this blog. A lot has happened since then! Most importantly, I began a daddy for the second time. This time a beautiful little girl. I have also had to accept that my son is *not* a Star Wars fan. Perhaps he is just not old enough to appreciate it, or maybe I have failed to transfer my passion for the GFFA on to him, but regardless, I have come to accept it.

But there is new hope, thanks to the jaw dropping news last November that Disney was buying Lucasfilm and that the sequel triliogy has been green-lit! I hope this might create another opportunity with my son. My first introduction to the Star Wars universe was with Empire Strikes Back. I was seven years old when I saw that movie and have been a fan ever since. Episode VII is slated for 2015 (though I suspect it will be pushed back), so my son will be ten years old. I think that is the perfect age for a young Star Wars fan. The news has certainly rekinidled my own fandom!

Obi-Wan: "That boy is our last hope"
Yoda: "No. There is another."

Even if my son manages to resist the siren call of Jedi Knights and distant planets with a single ecology (e.g., Hoth, Endor, Tatooine) there is still hope that my daughter will get into Star Wars when she is older. One can hope!

Retro Halloween

I just had a major flashback when I found this on the official Star Wars site. It has pictures of the original Star Wars Halloween costumers from the 1970s and 1980s. I remember having the Darth Vader and Threepio ones as a kid.