Marvel-ed

For someone who is not au fait with comics and American animation, it is a surprise that I have a liking for superheroes, especially Marvel’s. That liking didn’t come around all by itself, though. When I was a kid, I often tuned in the Iron Man, Spiderman, X-Men, and Fantastic 4 cartoons. But as I grew up, those memories slipped away. It was not until the big screen debut of Spider-Man in 2002 that I became intrigued in the world of superheroes again – it brought back all the memories from my halcyon days.

For a moment, I thought Spider-Man was a one-off effort. But then, Hollywood acquired the penchant for pumping out superhero flick after superhero flick after Spider-Man swung into the cinemas in 2002. Through extraneous influences, perhaps, I began subscribing to the Hollywood superhero craze for whenever there is a new superhero film in the cinemas, be it X-Men, Fantastic 4, Spider-Man, Batman, Superman or Ghost Rider, I would instantly rush down to my nearest cinema to book my tickets for those films. Still, I didn’t bother reading up on the stories behind those superheroes. There were instances where fans had disparaged some of the films from deviating too much from the original comics, but I didn’t quite comprehend the kerfuffle.

By this time, I have already become accustomed to Hollywood pushing out at least one superhero flick per year. Already, we have Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Dark Knight, and Hellboy 2: Science of Evil in this year alone. But it was THIS one film that elevated my interest level in the world of superhero to the next level: Iron Man. The influence Iron Man had on me vis-à-vis the other superhero flicks is stronger. For one, I felt that Iron Man had more zest than its counterparts – more action-packed though much time was spent navigating the periphery of Iron Man’s origins, and a more realistic plot. That one scene after the end of the credits also jolted me into attention – the one where Nick Fury made an appearance. For someone who didn’t use to believe in the existence of inter-connection between the different Marvel superheroes, this scene, while short and perhaps vaguely insignificant to loyal readers of the comics, prompted me to finally read up on the stories of the various superheroes. This was also helped by my friends’ sporadic discussion of the Marvel superhero universe, at times peppered with esoteric terms that intrigued me even further.

Now, a few weeks after watching Iron Man, I have also watched the direct-to-DVD animations, namely The Invincible Iron Man and Ultimate Avengers. The former was a let-down. More noteworthy is Ultimate Avengers. I just watched it a few days ago and I must say that it left me impressed and more knowledgeable about the Marvel superhero universe as a whole. After experiencing The Invincible Iron Man, my expectations were lowered, but Ultimate Avengers’ clever use of humor proved me otherwise. I am currently on the qui vive for Ultimate Avengers 2, which I believe would be better than its predecessor. Meanwhile, I continue to comb Wikipedia for articles on anything superhero.

And I would like to dedicate my heightened interest in the superhero universe to Iron Man, and my friends, of course. Cheers! I have been marvel-ed.