THE INCREDIBLE HULK - CAPTAIN AMERICA CAMEO, PART DEAUX

ITEM! Some confused cameo-seeking critics have been pelting the ol’ Sock It To Stan email box with requests for further instructions on how to find the don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it Captain America cameo in the alternate opening to The Incredible Hulk movie (now out on DVD and Blu-Rays). Did Hulk director Louis Leterrier lie to us about this earnest easter egg in earlier interviews? Is Cap really in there? Don’t fret, Frantic One. For those without a 102” plasma TV (like we have at Stately Lee Manor) or an able AV assistant like Irving Forbush III, your Uncle Stanley is here to help yah. Good thing for you Tigers and Tigrettes I am as magnanimous as I am munificent!

First, play the alternate opening (only included on the special 3-DVD set or the Blu-Rays) and watch it all the way to the very end. At about 2:23 or so in, as the ice shelf collapses into the frozen seabed, watch the lower left-hand of frame and get ready to hit the pause button. There’s Cap lying prone with his shield flying past camera embedded in a giant chunk of ice (see pic), all ready and set to float oceanward so he can be be found later by the military, SHIELD, and your local cineplex in 2011! Honest Irv has even concocted a video tutorial for you to help yah out (see below)! 

And before someone asks the quizzical question “how did Cap’s shield get on Tony Stark’s lab bench in the Iron Man movie, if Cap’s got it with him frozen in the arctic ice shelf?"... Cap has his original shield from his WWII days. As dedicated Marvelites everywhere already know, Tony Stark made Cap a new shield stuffed with gizmos and electronics along about Avengers #6 (June 1964, or as we call ‘em, ye olden days). Now go out and get this DVD and see what all the fuss is about for yourself, oh Cameotic One!

Excelsior!

Smiley

I'M A MARVEL... AND I'M A DC

ITEM! Who says that Barack Obama and John McCain get to have all the fun? Not infamous YouToober ItsJustSomeRandomGuy! We’ve featured his “I’m a Marvel... I’m a DC” take-offs on the famous Apple commercials here in Soapboxland before, but in this campaign season and what with all of the summer superhero movies coming out on DVD, it seemed like a good time to show yah some more! Lest anyone accuse Yours Truly of negative Not-Brand-Ecch advertising, let me remind you that these days there’s nothing more American than accusing your opponent of vague, unprovable and ill-defined character defects! So, until Sarah Palin explains to the American public exactly why she shot Bullwinkle J. Moose... enjoy!

Excelsior!

Smiley

HOW TO FIND THE CAPTAIN AMERICA EASTER EGG IN THE INCREDIBLE HULK DVD

ITEM! Yours Truly here with the goods, as per usual, oh Frantic Ones. No need to resort to hair-pulling, purple pants-ripping, or belting yourself with gamma rays to see the excised Captain America cameo in The Incredible Hulk movie (out Oct. 21 on both DVD and Blu-Rays at a retailer near you). Just follow these simple instructions: play the alternate arctic opening to the flick and get ready to hit your pause button at about 2:25 in... and voila! There’s the First Avenger buried in the frozen firma along with his swinging shield, just like your Uncle Stanley told yah he’d be, lo these many moons ago! No fuss, no muss... just some daft decision-making by Marvel Studio Head Isaac Perlmutter when he more-or-less forced director Louis Leterrier to cut this original opening for being too dark for a Merry Marvel Movie. Hey, how can our heroes shine in the light without leaping through a little darkness first, right Faithful Ones? That’s the way Jack and I used to do it, that’s the way Marvel did it, and it’s worked out pretty well so far. Enjoy!

Excelsior!

Smiley

THE LOST CAPTAIN AMERICA CAMEO

ITEM! And speaking of “lost cameos,” guess who’s finally getting ready to make his first earnest easter-egg appearance in the DVD version of The Incredible Hulk movie? That’s right... the often-mentioned but scoffed and contentioned Captain America cameo will be appearing in the restored original opening to the movie. See your Uncle Stan’s original blog on the subject for where and when to look. Need more? Go here and read what Hulk VF/X supervisor Kurt Williams has to say about the arctic prologue scene being restored to the very beginning of the flick! Sure, ol’ Kurt plays it pretty coy with the Sci-Fi Channel, but read between the dialogue balloons, Frantic Ones. Remember, it all goes down on October 21! Reserve your copy today!

Excelsior!

Smiley

CAP MOVIE TO BE SET IN WORLD WAR II

ITEM! Good news, everyone! Oh my, yes. Actually, the general idea of The First Avenger: Captain America movie (May, 2011) being mostly set in WWII has been public news for some time... but it’s sure nice to see some confirmation. According to Production Weekly magazine, here is the official plot synopsis:

"Born during the Great Depression, Steve Rogers grew up a frail youth in a poor family. Horrified by the newsreel footage of the Nazis in Europe, Rogers was inspired to enlist in the army. However, because of his frailty and sickness, he was rejected. Overhearing the boy's earnest plea, General Chester Phillips offered Rogers the opportunity to take part in a special experiment… Operation: Rebirth. After weeks of tests, Rogers was at last administered the 'Super-Soldier Serum' and bombarded by 'vita-rays.' Steve Rogers emerged from the treatment with a body as perfect as a body can be and still be human. Rogers was then put through an intensive physical and tactical training program. Three months later, he was given his first assignment as Captain America. Armed with his indestructible shield and and battle savvy, Captain America has continued his war against evil both as a sentinel of liberty and leader of the Avengers."

Nice, right? Mom, apple pie, and the Red Skull are also believed to be included in the script. Hopefully this is legit, though some blogsters have their doubts. Still, it always bodes well when the studio (even Marvel Studios in this particular case) expresses a genuine desire to stick closely to the comic’s creative concepts. Believe me when I tell yah no one wants another frantic franchise-killer like Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer on their hands again! According to my sources (feeble though they may be) no director or lead actor have been attached as yet. About the only thing your Uncle Stanley can say with certainty is that Cap won’t be played by Will Smith or Nicholas Cage. And Nicky, you can quit calling my offices. You already had your shot at Merry Marvel Franchise-Building in Ghost Rider, oh Elvis-like One!

Excelsior!

Smiley

MISQUOTE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD ESTATE

ITEM! You ever notice how the media can take almost any quote out of context and turn it into an inveracious Internet rumor disguised as actual journalism? Sometimes it even tickles me right down to my size ten tootsies. Take this for example: Moviefone does an interview with Yours Truly in which I’m asked about the rumored casting of Will Smith as Captain America. My response, as accurately reported was:

“I would love us to do something with Will Smith, but I don't know that he's Captain America. That would be a long shot. It would be a real leap to make Captain America black ... then again, I don't know. It might be a really smart thing. If Barack Obama becomes President who knows... suddenly a lot of our characters will be black!”

Simple enough, right? Just your ol’ Uncle Stanley glibly answering away in as non-commital a fashion as humanly possible. But then someone at ContactMusic.com gets ahold of this quote and pulls a portion of it way-the-heck outta proportion and we end up with this headline:

“Stan Lee — Stan Lee Wants to Make Will Smith a Black Captain America”

It’s actually pretty humorous when you think about it. The next headline will probably be “Stan Lee Says He’d Cast Barack Obama As Cap!” But seriously... as regular readers of this boisterous blog already know, Marvel Studios is in full charge of casting for our Merry Marvel Movies and half the time they won’t even take my calls, my-as-less solicit my advice on casting decisions. That’s not my job anyway. My job is to smile and say great things about whatever they’ve already decided to do in exchange for my cameo role and an executive producer credit! Heck, if they let me cast the Captain America movie, I can’t think of a better guy than the Smilin’ One to play Cap! Those CGI effects guys can give me muscles and blonde hair in post-production, right? I can see it all now... the excitement! The drama! The empty seats in theaters across the country...

Excelsior!

Smiley

SAMMY — HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GET WELL SOON.

CAPTAIN AMERICA WE LOVE YOU

ITEM! Still no sign of the missing Captain America cameo popping up online, so I asked my World Wide Webs technical assistant Irving Forbush to provide us with a little something to assuage our angst-ridden appetites, soothe our sorrowed senses, and hinder our hidden hungers for a just little while longer. Or until Marvel Studios gets its act together — whichever comes first! This is what he came up with, which features a song by some guy named Jimmy Buffet. Enjoy! 

Excelsior!

Smiley

CAPTAIN AMERICA CAMEO AND THE MISSING HULK FOOTAGE

ITEM! Hey there, heroes! It’s your investigative reporter on all thing Marvelous, Stan the Man comin’ at you today, and I’m here to help. Lord knows why, but director King Louis Leterrier XVIII is really playing coy with you Marvelites about whether or not the Captain America cameo is an easter egg in The Incredible Hulk movie or not, and if so, where. I guess it’s because he’s French. The French make an art form out of being coy. And even though your Uncle Stanley only knows a few basic French phrases, like “Bonjour,” “Comment allez-vous,” and “Je me rends,” I’m going to translate Louis’ coyness into some good ol’ American stress-relieving facts for yah. Here’s the complete skinny on the Cap cameos in the Hulk movie!

First, there was a scene scripted and filmed in which Bruce Banner treks northward to the arctic circle and tries to off himself by putting a gun in his mouth (see prior peerless post on this). The suicide attempt fails because he Hulks out anyway after pulling the trigger. (Note that this actually explains why later in the movie Bruce doesn’t die when falling from the helicopter — he Hulks out after landing!) The arctic scene is the scene that was cut by the studio (against Eddy Norton’s wishes) for being too dark... though ironically it is still present in the Hulk video game. In the cut footage, the Hulk goes on a rampage and dislodges a chunk of arctic ice containing — you guessed it — a frozen Steve Rogers! There’s yer M.I.A. Cap cameo in a nifty nugget-sized nutshell.

*UPDATED* See the actual footage with instructions on how to spot Cap right here.

The good news is that so much fuss has been raised about this scene that Louis and the studio are gonna be releasing it on the Intrawebs any day now. No need to wait for the DVD extras for this one!

But what about Monsieur Leterrier’s insistence that the person of Captain America still makes a cameo appearance in the Hulk movie as released? That’s an easy one, pilgrims! If you carefully watch the scene in which General Ross enters the cryogenic chamber to fetch up a dose of Professor Rienstien’s Super Soldier serum, you’ll note that to the right is a mortuary cold chamber door. Guess who’s on the slab in there? Well it’s not Aunt May, Tiger. So there you go, True Believers! Another mystery solved, another magnificent Marvel milestone un-maligned! No need to thank me. Keeping the Faith is what I do! 

Excelsior!

Smiley

THE INCREDIBLE HULK - THE LOST EASTER EGG

ITEM! Actually director “King Louis” Leterrier’s bestest easter egg in The Incredible Hulk movie isn’t technically lost... it just wasn’t included in the final release cut of the movie. Originally Mighty Marvel snuck in another reference to the upcoming Captain America movie, which Louis talks about in this interview. In a scene the studio deemed too intense for younger viewers, Bruce Banner tries to shoot himself in the arctic, only to trigger a transformation into the Hulk. Oddly enough, this same basic scene is still included in the video game. 

*UPDATED* See the actual footage with instructions on how to spot Cap right here.

In the excised footage, the Hulk rages, then knocks loose a chunk of glacier in a bit very similar to the one shown below from Avengers #4 (March 1964, natch). Just substitute ol' Greenskin for Subby and - bingo! Hopefully we'll see this scene included in the eventual DVD extras later this year.

You know, I have to give it up to directors and screenwriters smart enough to crib from the best - namely Yours Truly! Enjoy the show!

Excelsior!

Smiley

BARON BRUBAKER AND HIS MASTERS OF UPHEAVAL

ITEM! Welp, True Believers, it’s time for your Uncle Stanley to retract, retreat and recoup. It’s true. Even your Fearless Leader is capable of admitting when he’s made a mistake, and Odin knows I’ve had lots of practice at it in the last 67 years in the biz! This time Yours Truly has to apologize to Ed “Baron” Brubaker for ever doubting his storytelling sensibilities. After giving the post-”Death of Captain America” story arc a good solid read-through while lounging by the pool the other day, I’ve changed my mind about it. Upon reflection, I think ze Baron Brubaker has really caught the iconic Lee-Kirby-Steranko era flavor of the old Cap books quite nicely... with the obvious exception that Cap isn’t actually in any of the stories!

But given that everyone from Yours Truly to Aunt Petunia knows that Steve Rogers is going to be brought back from the dearly departed drop-zone sometime between now and the 2011 premiere of The First Avenger: Captain America movie... I’m willing to keep reading and see where Ever-ready Eddy is heading with his sizzling story arc. In the current ish (Cap #38, natch) Ed’s ratcheting up the totalitarian tension nicely as the Red Skull tries to topple our trembling government. My sole concern at this point is that some damn silly Skrull is going to randomly pop up in the middle of the next issue or two. That would spoil the mood of Brubakers’ story faster than Galactus showing up at the Big Boy all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet! Hopefully Herr Quesada can restrain himself just this once... but I’m too old to start holding my breath at this point. Anyways, keep up the good work Ed!

Excelsior!

Smiley

WHEN CAPTAIN AMERICA THROWS HIS MIGHTY SHIELD...

ITEM! Yes, it’s true, Tiger. That is Captain America’s shield sitting on Tony Stark’s lab bench in that boffo box-office bonanza, Iron Man. Frantic Ones everywhere have discovered one of Jonny Favreau’s earnest easter eggs serendipitously slipped into the scenery (see pic above). An easter egg that was digitally painted out of the trailers and previews, I might add. Read the whole story here and here.

Fan speculation and Intraweb chatter is running at fever pitch. What does it mean? It’s not really that hard to figure out, pilgrims. Card-carrying Marvelites will remember that Tony Stark actually did make a high-tech shield for Cap all the way back in Avengers #6 (June 1964 — Studious Stan). If you haven’t read these or other Avenging classics, then shame on you, sunshine! You can either turn in your MMMS membership card or go straight to your local comic book shop and get your copious copy of Essential Avengers Vol. 1, Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 1, or even the out-of-print but still-to-be-had GIT Corp 40 Years of the Avengers DVD-ROM collection! These titanic tomes may not be as intellectually stimulating as the Complete Works of Shakespeare, but they're a heckuva lot easier to tote around!

Even though your Uncle Stanley hasn’t seen a Captain America movie script yet, it’s pretty obvious where this is going. The Cap movie will no doubt cover his WWII days to introduce both Cap and the Red Skull’s origins, then zip forward to the present day with Cap being thawed-out and outfitted with a Stark-tech shield so he can go he can kick Nazi sleeper agent gluteus maximus and even go Avenging — just like in the comics! Say it with me, Merry Marvel Marchers... “just like in the comics!” Ah, that magic phrase that guarantees both high-fidelity sound and concept, and as often as not, high box office returns. Now that Mighty Marvel is running these mega movie franchises, expect that to be the rule rather than the exception! You read it here first, pussycat. ‘Nuff Said!

Excelsior!

Smiley

THE RED AND THE WHITE AND THE BLUE WILL COME THROUGH...

ITEM! So Mercantile Marvel Management did what the Third Reich, the Red Skull, and even Batroc the Leaper couldn’t do — they killed Captain America. Maybe you heard. And then, after the massive media-flurry died down, after the sensational story slowly sank in the sales-boost sea... they brought him back! What’s that you say, Frantic One? Not Yet? They will soon enough. Trust your Uncle Stanley on this one.

Manic Merry Marvelites everywhere might well ask what was the whole point then? Why kill off a major character in an media blitz that sucked in the likes of Newsweek and CNN, who all gave it huge front page coverage? You just answered your own question, sunshine. The so-called “Death of Captain America” story-arc did exactly what it was supposed to do — sell more books. Even celebrated Cap co-creator Jazzy Joe Simon fell for the whole thing hook, line and stinker. He was quoted as saying, “It's a hell of a time for him to go. We really need him now.”

I’d say it’s the oldest salacious sales-boosting trick in comics, but that honor would belong to Yours Truly and the ever-reliable, ever-trusty “Let’s have the heroes meet, have a massive misunderstanding, and then slug it out for 22 pages” trick. Back in the day, that little gem used to be pure sales gold. 

But this is the post-modern 21st Century Mighty Marvel we’re talking about. It’s not like back when I was running the show while standing on my desk shouting "Excelsior" to inspire the troops. Although God rest his soul, if Martin “Good Ship Trend-Follower” Goodman could have run his entire comics line on the principles of just selling more movie tickets, trade-paperbacks, and action figures, he would have.

It would be easy to toss another log on the Joltin’ Joe Quesada let’s-end-his-evil-reign-of-terror-now bonfire, but that would be letting Edacious Ed Brubaker off the hook. Not to back-seat plot, but that guy rolls out a story-arc slightly slower than Aunt May’s shuffle board team. My bet is we see Steve Rogers back in uniform as Cap again sometime around issue #50 — over a year from now and two years after he “died.” But he's definitely coming back. It doesn’t take a disenfranchised Chairman Emeritus to figure that out.

The only real question is how? Well your Uncle Stanley is taking all bets, with vivacious Vegas odds to-boot! Baron Brubaker has said in interviews that the Steve Rogers seen in the latest issue of Cap is a.) not a clone (Marvel learned their lesson with that one apparently), and he’s b.) not a skrull (Thank God for that). My bet? Well it takes a sense-shattering Shakespearean storyteller like your Uncle Stan a little bit of effort to put himself in the place of a writer who’s plots are being dictated by what will sell the Most Marvelous Merchandise — about half a step as a matter of fact — so I would have to go with this: the Steve Rogers that appeared in Cap #36 was brought from moments after he was frozen solid in 1945 with time travel technology stolen from Doctor Doom. Then you know what yah got, pilgrim? A "Brand New Day" for Captain America! If it worked for Spidey, then why not Cap? You heard it here first True Believer. And just in time for the 2009 Captain America movie! You have been warned, Marvelites! ‘Nuff Said!

Excelsior!

Smiley