The Greek Gods: Zeus

I kind of just realized that in all the crazy that’s been going on I never wrote up the promised post on Zeus. That would be my bad. But today I am going to rectify the oversight. In case you missed the previous posts (which, considering how sporadic they have been, wouldn’t be that surprising) I have already talked about the Titans, Hades, and Poseidon. Now, without further delay, on to Zeus!

Zeus

After the overthrow of the Titans, Zeus and his brothers drew lots to determine what realms they would each have dominion over and Zeus was given the sky. He ruled with his lightening bolt and came to be the “Father of Gods and man.” Just like his brothers, Zeus was a bit temperamental, so naturally, most of the more fun and interesting stories are not exactly the most flattering.

Zeus was kind of full of himself. He was powerful and he knew it, so anytime someone attempted to defy him he went a little berserk. One of the most famous examples is with Prometheus. Prometheus was a Titan god and was given the task of forming man from clay. As their creator, he wanted to make things better for mankind and this desire often brought him in conflict with Zeus. On one occasion, Prometheus had the audacity to sneak away the best portion of food from a feast the gods were having and give to mankind – gods gotta eat too, you know.

But the act that sent Zeus over the edge occurred when Zeus decided to withhold fire from mankind. Prometheus went and stole that fire and sneaked it down to man within a fennel stalk. Zeus *punished* mankind by creating Pandora, the first woman, who was supposed to bring all kinds of misfortune upon man. He then punished Prometheus by tying him to a stake for an eternity of torture at the beak of an eagle. I don’t know about you, but the idea of eternity with an eagle eating my regenerating organs does not sound like much fun.

Zeus’ behavior did not always go over well, even with the gods. Perhaps the reason he thought Pandora was such a great punishment was because of all the trouble a certain female caused him. I’m talking, of course, about his wife, Hera. She caused no end of trouble for Zeus in her jealous efforts to end his affairs or harm the children they created, and at one point she grew so frustrated with Zeus and his rule that she organized the gods against him. They managed to drug Zeus and tie him up with rope, but while they argued about what to do next Zeus was released by a god still sympathetic to his side. As you can imagine, Zeus was kind of pissed off and ended up hanging Hera up in the sky.

But let’s be honest here, it’s not exactly like Zeus showed an overwhelming respect towards women. Like his brother Poseidon, Zeus had quite the lusty appetite. He coupled with pretty much whomever he wanted to – god and mortal alike – whether or not they consented. In several instances he even changed his form. He took women at various times as a swan, a bull, and a shower of gold (yes, you read that correctly). As would be expected, these many unions of the flesh (or whatever it is you call a shower of gold) produced many, many children. Zeus fathered gods, demi-gods, and mortals. He is the father of the fates, the muses, and the graces. It’s no wonder he is known as the “Father of Gods and man.”

In spite of all his crazy, Zeus was a god that the people worshiped and looked to for guidance. He was the god above all the other gods. There are countless stories that could be told about Zeus and the antics he got up to – it would be impossible to cover them all in this little blog. I hope you enjoyed reading about those stories that I was able to share. I have had a lot of fun writing about these moody and volatile Greek gods, and I am sure that one day I will revisit the topic.

What do you think about Zeus? What are your favorite stories involving him? Let me know in the comments.

The Greek Gods: Poseidon

Today it is time to continue the series I started looking at some of the Greek gods. We have already explored the Titans and Hades, and today we are going to look at one of the other sons of Cronus and Rhea.

Poseidon

As I mentioned last time, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus decided who got to rule which realm by drawing lots. Hades was given the underworld and Poseidon was given the sea. As the god of the sea Poseidon was a very integral part of the lives of the Greek people. He was responsible for protecting people at sea and for keeping the earth watered and fertile so that crops were plentiful, but on the flip side he also caused earthquakes and storms in the seas when he was pissed off, which was a frequent occurrence.

Poseidon was moodier than a hormonal woman. He did not like for people to cross him and took harsh vengeance on those who tried. When he was forced to build a wall around Troy as punishment for something he did against Zeus, the King of Troy decided to renege on the payment he was supposed to give. As you can imagine, Poseidon was not cool with this. So what did he do? He sent a sea monster to attack the city. Fortunately for Troy Heracles came along and killed the monster, but that also left Poseidon with a grudge not fully satisfied, so he aided the Greeks during the Trojan War which didn’t end so well for the Trojans.

Then there was the time that Poseidon and Athena went up against each other to see who would be patron god or goddess over Athens. It was decided that each of them would offer a gift to the people and whoever gave the best gift would be chosen. The people decided that the olive tree given by Athena was better than the spring brought forth by Poseidon, so they chose her. And Poseidon flooded their plains.

He was also responsible for pretty much all of the trouble that befell Odysseus in the Odyssey as well as the creation of the Minotaur.

Poseidon was often seen as a god of fertility and boy did he live up to that calling. He had quite the sexual appetite and didn’t really care all that much whether the object of his fancy returned his interest. He had no problem raping women whatsoever. When the goddess Demeter was grieving over the disappearance of her daughter to the underworld, Poseidon decided he wanted her. Demeter spurned his advances and eventually turned herself into a mare so that she could hide among a herd of horses. When Poseidon realized what she had done he decided he would just turn himself into a horse and mount her that way.

And poor Medusa. Medusa was a beautiful priestess in the temple of Athena where she had taken a vow of chastity. Poseidon lusted after her and took her within the walls of Athena’s temple. Enraged by the desecration of her temple, Athena punished Medusa by turning her into the snake-haired gorgon we know her as.

So yeah, not exactly a ton of flattering stories about this god to share, but in spite of his volatile mood swings Poseidon was a very powerful and important god to the Greek people. I hope you enjoyed reading about him and will join me next time when I conclude this series with a look at the most powerful of Cronus’s sons.

What do you think about Poseidon? Are there any stories I did not mention that you are fond of? Let me know in the comments.

The Greek Gods: Hades

It has been ages since I started my series looking at some of the Greek gods, but the second installment is finally here (for all three of you who have been awaiting it ). Since you probably don’t remember, last time we looked at the Titans and all the craziness surrounding their mythology. Today I am going to begin exploring the the three sons of Cronus and Rhea.

Hades

Following the war where the Olympian gods overthrew the Titans, the three brothers – Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus – drew lots to determine which realms they each got to rule. It was through this process that Hades was given dominion of the underworld, which included the land of the dead as well as all that was beneath the earth.

Since Hades was the ruler of the underworld and the dead it is unsurprising that most people feared him. In fact, many were afraid to utter his name and came up with euphemisms to represent him (no, He Who Must Not Be Named and You Know Who were not among them). A big part of Hades job was to maintain balance. This meant that, although he was just, he was unyielding and often cruel. This is probably a big part of why he is frequently cast as the villain in modern tales of the Greek gods, such as Clash of the Titans and even the animated Disney film Hercules.

 Even though Hades lived down among the dead he was still a male and he still wanted to get some. Well, there was this beautiful female god that he fell in love with (I use the word love here loosely). Persephone was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and Demeter was pretty protective of her and kept her away from the other gods. Zeus decided he was going to help a brother out, and he told Hades that if he wanted Persephone he would have to capture her and carry her off to the underworld. So that is exactly what Hades did.

When Demeter discovered what had happened she was not a happy camper and in her grief she caused the earth to stop producing. Eventually enough people complain – both humans and gods – that Zeus is forced to interfere again and tells Hades that he must return Persephone to the lands above. Hades agrees to his brothers request, but not without a little intrigue first. Before she leaves, Hades offers Persephone a pomegranate and she consumes some of its seeds. You see, there was a rule set up by the Fates that anyone who eats or drinks the food of the underworld must spend eternity there. Oops. Persephone was still allowed to leave, but because of those seeds she was forced to spend one month per seed in the underworld every year. Every year during those months the earth would grow dry in mourning and cease producing sustenance for people (in other words, the winter/dry season).

It is pretty clear that Hades kept his duty of guarding the dead very seriously. Once someone entered his domain he did not like for that person to leave again. Of course that didn’t stop people from trying. One of the more well known tales is that of Orpheus. The woman he was to marry was killed from the bite of a snake and he decided to travel down to the underworld and plead for her return. He was able to make it past Cheron the ferryman and Cerberus the three-headed guard dog thanks to his talented musical skills. He made his plea to Hades and Persephone, and Persephone took pity on him, so Hades agreed that he could have his betrothed back as long as he made it out of the underworld without looking back. When Orpheus was almost free he grew nervous that Hades had been lying and looked over his shoulder. He had one last glimpse of his beloved before she was pulled back into the underworld.

There are many, many more stories surrounding Hades and the realm that he guarded – much too many to include in this blog – but  I hope that this was able to give you a decent introduction to the god of the underworld.

Are there any stories about Hades that you are particularly fond of? Do you think that he is a villain or just a god doing the job he was given? Any other thoughts on Hades or the underworld? Let me know in the comments.

The Greek Gods: The Titans

Phew. After several unexpected delays, I am finally ready to begin a new series of blog posts. I don’t know about you, but I have always been fascinated by Greek mythology. I devour documentaries on Ancient Greece and the gods, I love movies that deal with this material, I read historical fiction novels that take place in this era, and in college I took a class on the subject. With things such the Percy Jackson book series and the movies Immortals and Wrath of the Titans, Greek mythology has once again become a topic of interest within the world of pop culture, so it seemed like a good subject to cover here.

There are way too many interesting gods to include them all this go around – the series would go on for the rest of the year. Instead, I am only going to cover the biggies right now and I will revisit the topic later on to touch on some of the others. Without further ado, let’s dig in!

The Titans

When asked to think about the Greek gods most people will immediately jump to names like Zeus or Hades or Athena. These are all names of gods who are a part of what is known as the Olympian gods. For people who have never really looked into or studied the subject, these are the only group of gods they know. But the Olympian gods were not the first gods of Greek mythology.

Just as with the religions of today, the Ancient Greeks had their own creation story which can be found in Hesiod’s Theogony. According to the story, there was a period of nothingness known as Chaos. From Chaos came the first of the divine beings, including Gaia, who was the Earth. Without a mate Gaia was still able to give birth to Uranus (the Sky), Ourea (the Mountains), and Pontus (the Sea).

After this, Gaia started to mate with Uranus. Uranus must have known how to please her because the two of them got busy. Together they created three cyclopes, three Hecatonchires (this means “hundred hands”), and the twelve Titans.

Uranus was not very fond of the Hecatonchires, so he decided to hide them away inside Gaia (remember, she is the Earth). Gaia was not happy about this. At all. So she went to her other children, the Titans, and asked if any of them would be willing to exact punishment upon their father. Cronus (you may know him better as Kronos) volunteered for the task.

Armed with a sickle, Cronus succeeded in castrating his father. ***As an aside, the results of this castration were so disturbing that they have stuck with me during the seven years that have passed since I took the college course where I studied the Theogony. Uranus’ blood fell on the earth creating the Furies, giants, and nymphs (Meliai) and – the part that REALLY stuck with me – his testicles fell into the sea where the… *stuff* mixed with the sea foam and created the goddess of love, Aphrodite. Yep. That is really what it says. I remember reading that part over several times before I believed it.

Anyway, Cronus married his sister Rhea and the two gave birth to the first six of the Olympian gods: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. Cronus had received a prophecy that said one of his children would end up overthrowing him. Naturally, he didn’t want this to happen. So what did he do? Well, duh! He swallowed his children.

Rhea was not too happy with this arrangement, so she went to mom and dad for help. When it was time for her to give birth to Zeus, Gaia sent her to Crete and gave Cronus a large stone to swallow instead of the child. Zeus was able to grow up in secret. When Zeus was grown, Gaia somehow tricked Cronus into regurgitating his other five children who then joined Zeus in war against the Titans.

The war went on for ten years. It was not until Zeus released the Hecatonchires that his side was able to win the upper hand (I’m sure there is a pun in there somewhere involving the hundred hands) and send Cronus and the other Titans into Tartarus, thus entering in the age of the Olympian gods.

I hope that you enjoyed learning the tale of the Titans and will check back for the stories of the three brothers, and I don’t mean the ones from Harry Potter.

What did you think? How does this story of the Titans measure up with what you know from things in pop culture? Let me know in the comments.

The Call to Assemble is Finally Out

If you have been following my blog, then you know how I have been looking forward to release of The Avengers. It finally opened this weekend to record breaking numbers and I got to see it on Saturday. My response? GAHHH…OH MY GOD….SOOOO AMAZING!!!!!! I had very high expectations for this film and it surpassed them all.

One of the biggest surprises for me was how funny this movie was. It was freaking hilarious. I was expecting snarky one-liners from Tony Stark/Iron Man based on his earlier movies, but he was not the only one delivering the humor, not by a long shot. All of them were funny. They had my entire theater cracking up throughout. Well, except for one time. I don’t know if the rest of the theater didn’t hear the joke, didn’t think it was funny, or are unfamiliar with The Lord of the Rings and didn’t get it, but Stark makes a joke where he refers to Hawkeye as Legolas. I was the only one in the theater to laugh. Loudly. My husband just looked at me and shook his head.

As I anticipated, getting to see the various heroes interact with each other was fascinating. I have to say, each and every one of the actors did an incredible job. They bickered and bantered with each other, but when the  time came to act they were able to pull it together and do what needed to be done. I loved the dynamic between Captain America and Tony Stark. They did a really good job showing the friction between the two characters when they first came together and their gradual shift to respect for each other. I was also pleasantly surprised by the depth of development that was given to Hawkeye and Black Widow. I did not think that there would be time to develop much of a connection with these two, but I ended up caring about them and their relationship with each other.

I think the stand out performance, for me at least, came from Bruce Banner/Hulk. Mark Ruffalo was perfect as this character. He was able to infuse him with humanity and strength while still keeping the reserved scientist in tact. Whether he was in the scene as Banner or Hulk, this character demanded your attention. I am very curious to see if the magic Ruffalo brought to this character would transfer over to a Hulk film or if the reason the character worked so much better here was because the weight of the film did not rest solely on his very large shoulders.

Speaking of Ruffalo, this seems like a good time to talk to the ladies. Any men reading this feel free to jump to the next paragraph if you do not want to read a bunch of gushing. Oh my yum! The amount of gorgeous male in this movie was astounding. No matter what your personal type is there was a guy in this film to match it. I have never seen so many beautiful, muscular arms in one place. Whenever Thor, Captain America, and Hawkeye were together I had to wipe the drool from my face due to those arms. Then of course, there were all the tight pants and, well, tights. For me though, nothing beats the dreaminess of Robert Downey, Jr. and Mark Ruffalo. They are the two least buff of the group, but holy cow are they still nice to look at (and I prefer the less buff type anyway). I have never been so angry at strategically placed rubble as I was in that one scene with Ruffalo. If you have seen the movie, you know exactly what I am talking about.

Alright, the gush fest is over. Don’t worry men, there were plenty of exciting action sequences to make up for all the female drool. The special effects and CGI in this movie were incredible. I saw it in 3D on the giant XD screen and it looked out of this world. Everything looked real. The fights were all choreographed really well with none of them feeling the same. There were tons of explosions and all kinds of other cool effects. It was definitely quite the rush.

So what’s the bottom line? Go see this movie! I fully intend on seeing it at least one more time in the theater and I will most certainly be purchasing it when it goes on sale. The rest of the comic book movies coming out this summer have some very large shoes to fill.

Have you been able to see The Avengers yet? What did you think about it? Did you want that rubble to move, too? If you haven’t seen it, do you plan to? Let me know in the comments.

Avengers Assemble: Iron Man

For the past several weeks I have been looking at the characters that make up the Avengers. So far I have looked at Thor, the Hulk, and Captain America. Today brings me to the final post of my series and the most well known character of the bunch (at least for people who only know these guys from the movies).

Iron Man

Tony Stark is an insanely wealthy genius who has a very high opinion of himself. When he was captured and injured by terrorists he came up with the first prototype of the Iron Man suit in order to escape. He returned home greatly shaken and changed from the months he spent in captivity. He decided that he wanted to erect change in the world around him, so he took the time to perfect his idea and came up with the suit that would dub him Iron Man.

Before I get into the psyche of Tony Stark and how he will interact with the others, there are several other important components to the Avengers that were introduced in his movies, especially Iron Man 2. Between the two movies we are introduced to S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury, and Black Widow. I gotta be honest, I am not a Scarlett Johansson fan. I don’t know what it is about her, but I just don’t care for her. It’s not like a film is ruined for me just because she is in it, but I will certainly never go see anything just because of her name. Having said that, Black Widow is pretty kick ass. She did not have a very big role in Iron Man 2 (which suited me just fine), but whenever we got to see her in action my jaw dropped. My hope is that her character will have a similar supporting role in The Avengers.

Okay, back to Tony Stark. I think it is pretty clear that Tony is going to be the biggest wild card of the group (Thor comes in at a close second). He is extremely narcissistic and does not like to be told what to do by others at all. I do believe that the events of the two previous films have taught him a lot and stretched him, but they have not changed the fundamental core of who he is. There is really no predicting what he will do. He acts on whim and emotion.

We have already seen from trailers that there will be friction between Tony and the other members of the Avengers team, particularly Captain America. I imagine that he is going to arrive at S.H.I.E.L.D. and instantly try to take over the planning of everything. He will think that his ideas and plans are better than everyone else’s. I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point in time he tries to go off and execute something on his own only to have it blow up in his face and force him to acknowledge his need to work with the others.

The only thing I can think of that might cause Tony to be somewhat calmer this time around is that his health issues are now resolved. A large majority of his erratic and immature behavior in Iron Man 2 was due to his belief that he would soon be dead. That belief was a huge driving force behind his behavior. With the discovery and synthesization of the new element that would solve the blood poisoning issues caused by the element previously keeping him alive, he was able to stop moping and focus on what needed to be done. With that motivator gone he should, hopefully, be better able to focus from the get go.

With Tony Stark’s character in The Avengers only one thing is certain – he will be an agent of conflict as well as a vital component in the fight. I am interested to see how he even manages to manipulate Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. into letting him be a part of the team. Where things stand at the end of Iron Man 2, he was told that he was not considered a suitable candidate for the Avengers initiative due to all of the very things that I have discussed. He was instead asked to only join the team as a consultant, which he agreed to do. It appears he is going to figure out a way to assert his ability to get what he wants from early on.

I hope that you have enjoyed this series looking into the characters of The Avengers. I have certainly enjoyed writing it while I eagerly await the call that will go out on May 4: Avengers assemble.

Have you seen either of the Iron Man films? What did you think about them and the character of Tony Stark? How do you think his character will interact with the other members of the Avengers team? Let me know in the comments.

Avengers Assemble: Captain America

Like many others, I can not wait for the upcoming The Avengers film. In my exuberance, I have begun a series looking at the individual character films for those who will make up the Avengers team. So far I have looked at Thor and the Hulk, which leaves only two more characters to explore.

Captain America

Last year the film Captain America: The First Avenger was released as the final set-up story before The Avengers. The movie introduces us to Steve Rogers in the year 1942. Steve is a small man with a host of health issues who desires nothing more than to enlist in the army and serve his country in the war. He is continually turned down until he meets Dr. Abraham Erskine. Dr. Erskine recruits Steve to be a trial subject for a special serum he has created in the hopes of being able to make a “super-soldier.” Against all odds, the serum works. Steve suddenly finds himself a large, strong, fit man, capable of performing at the highest level of human extremes.

Through a series of events that aren’t important for the purposes of this post (you can always rent the movie if you are curious ), Steve wakes up from a cryogenic sleep in present day New York. He is approached by Nick Fury who explains to him where and when he is and asks him to be a part of a mission.

Steve Rogers is a very interesting character to me. It is not an uncommon convention for a super hero to be given the abilities that make him super through some circumstance later in life, but it is uncommon (at least in my limited super hero exposure) for that person to want to be a hero before he is super. Even when Steve was a scrawny guy that would get his @$$ kicked, he wanted to be able to help, to serve his country. This also gave him a compulsive need to prove himself.

I imagine that when Steve is forced to work with the other members of the Avengers team several different things will happen. Steve is the epitome of the “all American good boy,” which I am guessing will grow tiresome to some who have more, shall we say…boisterous, personalities (cough Thor and Stark cough). He is coming from the army where he was trained to be a part of a team and follow orders, whereas most of the others are used to being the leader and acting on their own. It seems very plausible to me that Steve will be overlooked, maybe even discredited, by the others; he is, after all, still the most vulnerable super of the lot. If this happens, Steve will eventually get fed up with it and his hot-tempered side, fueled by his old compulsions, will come out. We already know from the trailers that there will be tension and even some fighting amongst the Avengers themselves, and this could account for some of that.

I am also very interested to see how Steve is adjusting to the new time period in which he has been thrust. When we last saw him he had just learned that everyone he knew and loved is dead (if they aren’t dead, then they are really, really old). I am not sure how much time will have passed between the end of Captain America and the start of The Avengers, but that is quite a lot to get ones head around. There is no way that he will be unaffected by his loss, not to mention the culture shock of how different the world today is from that of 70 years ago.

I am really excited to get to see Steve Rogers again. I loved meeting him and finding out his story in Captain America: The First Avenger and can’t wait to see how he manages as one of the Avengers.

Did you see the Captain America film? What do you think about his character and how he will interact with the other Avengers? Do you agree with my speculation or do you have other theories? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

 

Avengers Assemble: The Hulk

A couple of weeks ago I began a new series of posts, this time looking at the different characters who will be in the movie The Avengers. I opened the series by looking at Thor and guessing how the events of his own movie would affect him when he has to act as part of a team. It is now time to look at another one of the superheroes who makes up the Avengers team.

The Hulk

After the dismal reception of the film Hulk, which starred Eric Bana, the franchise attempted a reboot. The Incredible Hulk starred Edward Norton and, interestingly, was not an origin story. The film opened with a montage of footage that established the new back-story for the gigantic, green superhero. In this canon, Bruce Banner is an ingenious scientist who believes he has found a technology that will create some kind of “super soldier” through the use of Gamma radiation.

With the help of his girlfriend Betty and her father, General Ross, he experiments with the technology on himself. Something goes wrong with the experiment and the Hulk is created. He completely rips apart the lab and ends up injuring Betty and the General. Horrified by what has happened and not wanting the General to be able to use him in his dream of creating a super soldier, Bruce runs. (As a fun side note, during this montage there are several shots of official documents and the words Stark Enterprises as well as Nick Fury are sprinkled throughout.)

Once the origin of the Hulk is established, the film then follows Bruce, who has been hiding in Brazil, as he attempts to learn how to suppress the Hulk and searches for a cure. He is soon discovered by the General and forced to flee, eventually returning home.

Bruce Banner is a fascinating character. He is very mild mannered (not to be confused with Clark Kent) and, in many ways, a broken man. He hates what has happened to him and what it turns him into. We get to see him become the Hulk on several occasions in the film and it is fairly clear from the beginning that Bruce has very little control over what he does when he is in that state. He is ruled by the anger that elicited the Hulk in the first place and his behavior is very impulsive. With his huge size and skin so tough it is pretty much bullet-proof, he is a near indestructible force that can cause irreparable damage to the environment and people around him.

That is, until he comes in contact with Betty.

Even in the deepest throws of one of his Hulk rages, the Bruce underneath is able to recognize Betty and control his actions so that he protects her. Bruce is slow to accept the knowledge that he can learn to control the Hulk because he is still holding out for a cure, but eventually he does recognize that it is possible. The film ends with him fleeing once more to escape being used by the General. He takes up residence in British Columbia and, in one of the final shots of the film (the final shot is Stark showing up to tell the General of a team he is assembling), we see that he is working on developing control over the Hulk.

The Hulk is the one instance in The Avengers where they were forced to get a different actor. Bruce Banner will be played by Mark Ruffalo instead of Norton and, I have to say, I am excited to see what Ruffalo does with the character. I think that will be able to do a great job capturing the reserved manner that Bruce has. I am curious to learn how much control Bruce has developed during whatever period of time has elapsed. Before the end of his own film he had only been able to control the Hulk with the influence of Betty, has he learned control it without her? It should be really interesting to see.

I am also excited to see how this character, who has been forced to learn how to live in a state of constant control, will interact and survive in the midst of a group of egotistical hotheads. We haven’t seen a whole lot of Bruce in the trailers, but the little we have seen leads me to believe that there will be some fairly humorous interactions between him and the others, especially Stark.

For whatever reason, people have not responded to films about the Hulk in the same way as they have other superhero movies and it makes me a little sad. I really like the tortured character of Bruce. Everything about him and his green companion comes from a deep place of emotion and humanity. I am very much looking forward to seeing him on the big screen in May.

Are you excited to see the Hulk in The Avengers? How do you think the reserved Bruce Banner will interact with the other members of the Avengers team? Are you happy with the casting change from Norton to Ruffalo? Let me know in the comments.

Avengers Assemble: Thor

A few weeks ago I ended my series looking at the legend of Robin Hood, which means it is time to start a new series. It is no secret that I am a huge fantasy nerd, but what you may not have known is that I am also a comic book movie nerd. Ever since I was a little girl I have loved super heroes. At five years old my favorite cartoon wasn’t one about princesses or puppies, but ninjas who happened to be mutated turtles. I am pretty sure if I had been born a boy I would have been an avid comic book reader, but alas, I was not. I didn’t really even know what comic books were until I got older and by that point in time all I cared about was that reading them would get me mocked. So I never did. But I did watch the movies and the television shows (mostly about Superman).

This year is going to be a big year for the super hero movie. We have The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man, and The Avengers all coming out in one year. While I am excited about all three (especially the end of The Dark Knight trilogy), I absolutely can not wait for The Avengers. This movie has a lead in that is unprecedented, in that it is building off of four other movie franchises (granted not all four were huge successes). It even managed to keep all but one of the original actors from those separate franchises. That is insane!

So for this series, I plan on looking at the individual character movies and how they have set things up for when the call goes out: Avengers Assemble.

Thor

Last year the movie Thor, starring Chris Hemsworth, was released. One of the really cool things about this movie was that it was created with the knowledge that The Avengers was going to be happening and was a set up for what is going to happen in that movie as well as its own stand alone film. This allowed there to be little easter eggs sprinkled throughout the film that cheered my nerdy little heart upon my second viewing when I actually knew about The Avengers (my favorite being the cameo of one of Thor’s future Avenger mates. Anyone know who I’m referring to?).

Thor is the elder son of Odin, ruler of the realm Asgard. At the beginning of the movie he is a very powerful warrior, but he is also very arrogant and that arrogance lands him in some serious trouble. His father realizes that he is not ready to be given the responsibility that comes along with being King, so he strips him of his power and banishes him to Earth. During his time on Earth, Thor finally learns humility as well as the importance of thinking before acting, especially if your actions will affect others. It is when he demonstrates his newfound wisdom through sacrifice that his power is restored to him.

It is going to be very interesting to see how the lessons Thor learned will carry over when he is asked to work as an Avenger. Even with his lessons in humility, he still has a very big personality that is sure to clash with some of the others from time to time (we have already seen allusions to this in some of the trailers). He is the heir to his kingdom’s throne as well as the fiercest warrior in Asgard, so he is used to being a leader. I think that he will do reasonably well taking orders from Nick Fury, the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the man who brings them all together, since he is accustomed to having to defer to his father (and learned the hard lesson of defiance in Thor), but I imagine it will be very difficult for him to take orders from other members of the Avengers team.

The thing that I am most interested in seeing, however, is how the actions of Loki will affect Thor.

Loki is Thor’s brother and is set to be the main adversary that the Avengers must fight against. He is not strong like Thor, but he is very intelligent. In the film Thor, Loki betrayed his brother and tried to kill him. In the end, Thor was able to defeat Loki who fell into a wormhole and disappeared. Thor loved his brother and was deeply hurt by his betrayal. That is sure to carry over and cause him some amount of internal conflict. I would also imagine that some of the others will have a hard time trusting Thor completely, which will probably lead to even more conflict within the group of Avengers themselves.

Between Thor’s confident personality and personal conflict over the actions of his brother, there is sure to be lots of drama and conflict surrounding his character in The Avengers. But no matter what issues arise, I am sure that they will be able to work through them and come together as a team to defeat the threat Loki brings to Earth.

Are you looking forward to the upcoming Avengers movie? Have you seen Thor? What do you think about his character and the way he will interact with the other members of the Avengers team? Do you think he will be able to hold on to the lessons he learned in Thor? How do you think his personal connections with Loki will affect him? Let me know in the comments.

Be sure to look for The Avengers when it hits theaters on May 4 and check out Hypable.com for all the latest news on the movie.

Robin Hood: Journey to the Screen

Over the past several weeks I have been taking a look at one of my favorite legends – Robin Hood – and today I will be bringing this series to a close. So far we have looked at the possibility that he was a real man, how his legend has changed over time, and the place he has found in contemporary literature. Today we are going to travel with him to the screen.

Journey to the Screen

The story and legend of Robin Hood is full of action, love, heroism, morality, and, in some instances, tragedy. It is no wonder then that he is a frequent figure of the silver screen. For many people, all they know of this legendary outlaw comes from what they have learned from these films. For others, like me, one of the many films served as merely an introduction to what would turn into a wonderful love affair. Whatever category you may fall into, I doubt there is anyone who hasn’t seen at least one incarnation of the legend brought to film.

My introduction to Robin Hood came at an early age through the Disney animated classic. I absolutely loved this movie as a child. Who am I kidding – I still love this movie. It is full of fun songs (sing-a-long in the comments?), tons of laughs, some rather tense moments, and some iconic moments from the legend. When I was a little girl I would put a blanket over my head and pretend I was Maid Marian, usually acting out her scenes along with the movie. While not the most authentic telling of the story, this movie was a perfect introduction and will always hold a special place in my heart.

Two of the most well known Robin Hood films are the 1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn and the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves starring Kevin Costner. I love both of these movies. Neither one of them is a perfect representation of the legend, but they are both great films that tell a moving and entertaining story that captures the heart of what Robin Hood is about. One of my favorite Robin Hood films is actually a parody of these two more serious films. I am of course talking about the 1993 Mel Brooks film Robin Hood: Men in Tights starring Cary Elwes. This movie never fails to make me laugh no matter what age I am when viewing it.

My absolute, hands down favorite film version of Robin Hood, however, is not a big screen movie, but a television series. I am referring to the BBC series that ran from 2006-2009 and starred Jonas Armstrong as Robin. I had always loved the story of Robin Hood, but it was not until I experienced this series that that love turned to a passion that rivaled my passion for the Arthurian legend. The show pulled from the more modern take on the legend that places Robin as the Earl of Huntingdon who is outlawed when he takes a stand against the corruption that has overtaken England upon his return from the crusades.

Accompanied by his ever faithful sidekick Much, Robin takes to the forest of Sherwood where he eventually joins with Little John, Will Scarlett, and Allan a Dale among others. One of my favorite things about this show are the relationships between the characters, good and bad. From the friendships between Robin and his men, to the interactions between Robin and the Sheriff or Robin and Guy of Gisborne, to the incredible chemistry between Robin and Marian, this show is firmly based in its characters and their stories. The show is full of lighthearted humor as well as very powerful dramatic moments (The season 2 finale and season 3 series finale left me sobbing for hours after they had finished. I am not exaggerating.) This is one of those series that I want to watch over and over, and thanks to a certain Christmas gift I can.

There are many, many more Robin Hood films than the ones that I have mentioned, including the more recent version starring Russell Crowe, but these are the ones that had the biggest impact on me and my love for the legend. I look forward to whatever incarnations come out in the future and hope that some of them wow me as much as these have. The story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men is one that will always hold sway over my heart and call to me when I need an escape.

What are your favorite Robin Hood films? Do any of the ones I listed make your list? Are there any you love that I failed to mention? Let me know in the comments.