We return to the POW stalags of World War 2, where Allied prisoners were broken by the Nazis and forced to witness the war from a prison. Hollywood has ventured back to this part of the war many times. Why would they want us to journey back again?

Fresh upstart and fast rising star Colin Farrell stars as Lt. Thomas Hart, a newly arrived prisoner to the POW camp dubbed Stalag 6A.

Hart has just gone through a rigorous journey that has brought him to the Stalag but the journey may have been easy compared to politics evolving at the camp.

The camp is ruled by Col. William McNamara (Bruce Willis), who is a 4th generation American warrior who refuses to give up fighting a war which has forgotten him. McNamara sends Hart to bunk with the unlisted men so that an officer can watch the men and report back to him. Hart is reluctant but follows orders.

The very next day, before Hart can properly get settled with his bunkmates, the Colonel requests that two black airmen bunk in Hart’s building. This causes racial tensions and the men begin to lash out at each other. Two murders follow and the world within Stalag 6A begins to explode. It is up to Hart to uncover the basis behind the murders.

“Hart’s War” begins as a “classic” stalag war film with a dashing young lead that is thrown against the horrors of the Nazis.

The film has a very impressive beginning as we follow Hart’s journey to Stalag 6A. Director Gregory Hoblit (Frequency, Primal Fear) shows Hart’s internal destruction and desperation. The director also uses flashbacks to cleverly uncover what was missed during Hart’s journey.

The film continues along and it is very interesting until it comes to one crucial scene in the “stalag’s morgue”. At the moment when the Nazi commander played by Marcel Iures reveals that he is a Yale graduate. I lost it. The credibility of the film, the setting and where the film was going made me cringe.

Especially when the Nazi goes on to tell Hart that they are collegiate brothers and he will help him solve the case. A Nazi who enjoys the American legal system? Give me a break. Who thinks up this stuff?

The film focuses on the trial, the mystery and the camp’s politics. First of all, I have seen a more clever murder mysteries and trials on TV’s “Law & Order”. Second, all of this is set in a German POW camp. We journeyed all the way back to World War 2 for a dull murder and trial? Third, by making the Nazis likeable there really is no threat.

The film tries to make the Nazi Commander and Col. McNamara equals and we aren’t sure who Hart should trust. This never came to fruition for me. I had a hard time accepting the elements the film was trying to put together in its final act. This being one of them.

I enjoyed watching Colin Farrell. He is quickly becoming a great leading man. Bruce Willis is continuing his evolution into the “Clint Eastwood-Harrison Ford” form. He says very little and relies a lot on grunts and looks. I really miss the passionate performance Willis did in “Mortal Thoughts”.

This film’s POW camp wasn’t very realistic for my tastes. See the film “Gulag” starring David Keith and know what it is really like to be in a “concentration camp”. That film doesn’t have Nazis but it does have Cold War Soviets. That is a excellent film.

I would have liked to have seen Hart’s War turn into a “Great Escape” kind of film and have menacing Nazis again. Giving the Nazis feelings and passions is like what Anne Rice did when she neutered vampires.

I don’t mean any disrespect but we really needed menacing Nazis in this film so that the film could maintain its tension; even if you do believe the hokey idea of an American court-martial trial within a concentration camp.

3 out of 5

So Says the Soothsayer.

Written: February 27, 2002

If you’re in the 90210, you should check out this exhibit of sweet old-school movie posters by Paul Crifo at the AMPAS…

The Great Escape is Europe’s Leading Festival for new music. I found it as a good opportunity for young artists to promote their music and themselves.

If you are interesting, just register on the website: http://www.escapegreat.com/artistRegistration/

Also on the same page they offer to sign up for a free account at www.zimbalam.com/live and make some money from your music. Maybe it is great opportunity for you:).

Enjoy:)

Il film La grande fuga, diretto da  John Sturges è basato sul libro-racconto del pilota australiano  Paul Brickhill, il cui aereo venne abbatuto in Tunisia nel marzo del 1943. Il racconto di Brickhill si incentra sulla detenzione nel campo di concentramento e sul seguente  tentativo di fuga tramite un tunnel scavato sotto il campo.

Il film mette in scena un interessante ritratto degli alleati nel dopoguerra, uniti insieme per battere il nemico comune ma allo stesso tempo profondamente diversi. Inglesi, scozzesi, australiani, americani. Tutti profondamente diversi, ma uniti per una battaglia comune, che in questo caso non è l’esercito nazista ma l’idea di libertà.

Struges è molto abile nel mettere in scena la fuga come aspirazione, un desiderio di libertà più che voglia di scappare.  E la libertà va coltivata, va scavata nel fondo della terra, come i tunnel che i detenuti trivellano nel sottosuolo per scappare dalla deportazione nazista. Il piano va organizzato perfettamente, prevedendo i pericoli, calcolando i rischi, chiedendo qualche sacrificio. E tutti i dettagli devono essere curati, dai documenti, ai vestiti, alla dizione. Struges costruisce il piano di fuga come un piano di lavorazione e le 250 persone che evadono sembrano il cast di un colossal americano. Si crea così un effetto di colossal nel colossal, un gioco di rimando, una reazione a catena.

E il flop o la riuscita del progetto sembrano essere secondari, rimane il gusto di averci provato.

Generale tedesco rivolto al capitano Hilts (Steve McQueen): Alla fine sembra che lei veda Berlino prima di me…

Roger Bartlett “X Uno”, leader dello squadrone ( Richard Attenborough): Si devono chiedere un sacco di cose strane nel mio lavoro…

As the plodding but inevitable terror of finals dawns on us, people stop doing healthy and meaningful activities like spending time with their loved ones and eating nutritious food to hide out behind walls of textbooks and discarded Strada cups to surf Facebook much, much more than usual.

I know you’re doing it, and I am too, so don’t feel too bad.  Instead, use some of your precious time to look at some interesting rocks I took pictures of at the Grand Canyon. Or maybe go back to studying, slacker:

(click the thumbnails for larger shots)

Episode 5 of the Great Escape will (hopefully) be released over Thanksgiving!

Yep it was time again. As the weather is bad and my weekend in Liverpool has been postponed (the Christmas market down there must be fantastic!) I decided to walk into Greenock and get the latest news from the major network providers here.

Three UK offer the HTC Hero with Spotify Premium which is nice, Orange have an ok-deal for the hero as well and Vodafone are still waiting on the HTC HD2. Thought I could have a play with it. Well will have to wait then I guess.

When to http://bit.ly/7h0sN1 and bought some timers for the house as the old ones are broken. Got some food fro M&S (I should spend less money there) and then took a taxi home as it was coming down in buckets!

Now watching The Great Escape with a nice hot pot of Chicken casserole with dumplings. Hmm yummy.

Oups… Deux jours que je dois produire un papier, mais enfin que se passe t il ? Pour faire court, plusieurs facteurs : Concert de Watson (ok déja abordé précédemment), match de foot hier soir à la télé où la France s’est salement qualifié et puis sortie ce soir. Non et non je n’ai pas envie d’écrire, ni de passer l’aspiro, j’ai plus envie de batifoler, parce que ça fait du bien ça batifoler…

Le concert de mardi de Mr Watson était magnifique et j’ai pensé à Randy Newman et “It’s lonely at the top”. Le Patrick a fait un super concert de bout en bout, mais par contre il a peut être déçu les fans plus généralistes notamment par sa grande capacité à se dispercer… Exemple flagrant, il entame les accords au piano de “the great escape”. Les amoureux se serrent dans les bras, les coeurs se serrent un peu, on pense tous à quelqu’un ou à quelque chose sur ce morceau. Et donc il commence, puis s’arrête et commence à raconter une histoire, en quebecois dans le texte svp, hilare, qui parle de la compagnie de telecom de Montreal et qu’il leur devait pas mal d’argent et que lui ne voulait pas payer et qu’il a bien eu en appelant la terre entière pendant le festival de jazz à Montreal un peu plus tard. Et il raconte son histoire, tout fier et reprends ” The great escape”. La salle est médusé. Il a coupé le morceau !!! Et j’ai pensé à Randy Newman et son “It’s lonely at the top. Car ça doit être dur d’avoir un si bon morceau et d’être obligé de le jouer tous les soirs et de sentir la foule faire silence et se suspendre à ses lèvres et sentir tous ces petits coeurs se serrer avant de plaquer les fameux accords. il pourrait se prendre pour un Chris Martin en rute et profiter de cette aura pour enlever toutes les midinettes qu’il lui siéra. Mais il est humble et se refuse à cette facilitée. Et c’est là où je le trouve touchant.  En fait ce mec n’a pas l’Ego d’une grosse rock-star, je m’explique, là où un Martin en fera des caisses pour se taper la première de couv de Voici et sortir avec une star de cinéma, le cheum Watson ben il se trimballe avec sa gueule de troubadour, sa casquette pourrie et ses blagues de bout de comptoir et joue des trucs assez relevés pour de la pop, son but à lui c’est partager de la musique. Faut avoir un sacré égo quand même pour assumer jouer un truc qui fait mouche tous les soirs. Faudrait leur demander ça, c’est une question intéressante. Est-ce être humble artistiquement que de se refuser à la facilité ? Est-ce manquer d’ambition ? tA mon sens, tout dépend sur quelle échelle on juge cela. Si le but c’est de faire du fric, effectivement Chris MArtin gagne haut la main, alors que d’un point de vue qualitatif artistiquement, en tous les cas à mes yeux, Watson démate grave 12000. En plus il est entouré de musiciens très talentueux, à commencer par son batteur-mélodiste et son guitariste plus qu’inventif. En tous les cas, je ne me suis pas ennuyé une seule seconde. Du très bon. Par contre, la première partie, j’ai cru que c’était une blague tellement c’était chiant. Ah oui, certes ils sont bien fringués, mais dieu, que c’est chiant. Certes, ils ont l’excuse de la jeunesse, mais on repassera pour le talent. En tous cas,avec un nom comme Revolver, aucun morceau n’a fait mouche. Il y avait bien une ambiance un peu retro-western, mais god, si je repense aux concerts de 16 Horsepower il y a une dizaine d’années qui me glacaient le sang, je me dis juste “quelle bande d’amateurs ces Revolver”.

Sinon, j’ai lu l’itw de David Sitek in les Inrocks et je me dit juste que je dois me faire un road trip chez David Friedmann et passer ensuite chez lui à LA. Bref, je les kiffe ces gars. I mean like really.

10年ぶり位に大脱走を再見。

改めて言うまでもないけど素晴らしい映画です。

あのテーマ曲「大脱走のマーチ」のなんと牧歌的なことよ。

内容はシリアスなのに、あのテーマ曲のおかげもあってコメディ要素と絶妙なバランス。

とにかくスティーブ・マックィーン演じるヒルツ a.k.a.独房王がかっこいい。

このプリズン・ブレイクが史実にもとづいているんだから面白い。

★★★★★

Næste band er også amerikansk. Det er New York baserede We are Scientists, som oprindeligt var en trio men nu kun en duo. Jeg vil sige, at jeg synes ikke helt, at musikken er så fed på det seneste album, hvor de kun er to, som det de lavede tidligere.

Derfor er der her link til et par gamle videoer.

http://wearescientists.com/sci-cave/

Photographed by sandcastlematt

Since Vieques is still pretty undeveloped, you can get a nice view of the stars almost every night.

– License

I call myself a pacifist.  I’m pretty sure that there isn’t a time when killing swaths of your fellow humans could be justified.  I can’t think of a war that 1) couldn’t have been avoided if the right people were in charge, 2) didn’t go terribly wrong in terms of casualties, civilian and military and 3) bring out the worst in human behaviour.  But I have a dark, dirty secret (that isn’t so secret to those who know me well)…I LOVE war movies.  I don’t just mean the anti-war classics like All Quiet On the Western Front and Paths Of Glory.  I mean good old-fashioned jingoistic flag-wavers with John Wayne and Van Johnson.  I mean modern classics like Saving Private Ryan and Platoon.  I know this seems like a disparity and I suppose it is, in a way.  But in war movies, I often see men (and women) rising to humanitarian heights, overcoming physical limitations and demonstrating partisanship and cooperation, bringing out the man’s best in the worst of circumstances.  This week is Remembrance Day here in Canada and in Britain and Veteran’s Day in the United States and at this time, I always feel led to watch a few of my favourites as well finding one or two I may have overlooked.  As I grow older however, I become more aware of my mortality and more appreciative of the sacrifices made  by others who chose to go into harm’s way for the ideal of freedom and this year in particular, I have been thinking of people I have known who were connected to war in some way and of course, the movies their situation brings to mind.

Although my dad was a couple of months shy of active service in World War 2 (he joined up on his 18th birthday but all he saw was basic training outside Toronto and weekend furloughs in Toronto), I have several uncles who saw a great deal of action.  My uncle Mike was shot down behind German lines early in the war and sat through the war in a POW camp.  As a child, when he and my aunt Kaye would come over for a swim and he would take off his shirt, I would marvel at the foot long scar rippling across his left shoulder from stray bullets during his capture.  The Canadian military was ultimately very generous, providing him with a pension and a cushy job chauffeuring military types around Southern Ontario until his retirement but that would be a small price for the indignities he must have suffered and horrific sights he must have been privy to in those years in the German camp, as in the quintessential POW movie, The Great Escape.  Although this rollicking and exciting adventure strays sometimes from the source material, the book by Paul Brickhill that outlines his own experiences as a prisoner at the infamous Stalag Luft II, the truly amazing thing is that the most unbelievable parts in the film are those that actually happened with Steve McQueen’s unpredictable behaviour and demands accounting for the bulk of the changes from the book.  Another great movie (and book) from this same event is the British classic, The Wooden Horse, the true-life story of how an escape tunnel was dug essentially using only a wooden gymnastic horse and the ingenuity of dozens of prisoners.

My uncle Harry was one of the 76,000 Canadian troops that participated in the invasion of Sicily and ultimately Italy and spent many long months working his way north to free Italy from the fascist grip of Mussolini.  On a recent trip to Italy, we were in Salerno, where the disembarkation of the Allied invasion of Italy took place and and as I walked on the boardwalk next to the Mediterranean, I couldn’t help but think of the thousands of young men who lost their lives where I was walking.  The invasion of Sicily brings to mind the Oscar-winning film about the man who led the great invasion, Patton.  General George Patton was an imposing, brash, egotistical man but a brilliant tactician and the ideal fodder for a movie biography.  Francis Coppola and former military man Edmund North wrote a terrific script that perfectly captured the enigma that was Patton.  George C. Scott would not give a better performance, even if he felt it necessary to turn down the Oscar that came with it and the movie would famously become Richard Nixon’s favourite.

Many years ago, I watched what was essentially another rip-off of The Dirty Dozen, The Devil’s Brigade.  An entertaining romp, this one held a place of importance  and pride to me though because it concerned a ragtag U.S. commando unit drummed into shape by Canadian Special Forces officers, led by Cliff Robertson.  For once, the Canadians were the real heroes.  It was many years later that my dad informed that not only was the Devil’s Brigade a real World War 2 unit, but the best man at my parent’s wedding, George Stocking, was a former member of the Devil’s Brigade.  I promptly rushed home and watched it again and got a copy for my dad, who had never seen the movie.

My favourite war sub-genre is the submarine movie.  The idea that a small group of men from every background works together for the greater good (and their own safety) inside a giant tube, constantly facing stress and danger is a formula that never gets old for me.  Purists will list Das Boot and Run Silent Run Deep as the classics of the genre but my favourite is a propaganda piece that may lack in realism, but more than makes up for it in heart, Destination Tokyo.  Released at the start of the Second World War to give audiences a glimpse into the heretofore unknown world of the silent service, it stars Cary Grant as the skipper of a sub that has the unenviable task of sneaking into Tokyo Bay on an espionage mission, providing us with humour, pathos, excitement, and sheer bravado in spades.  Yeah, it’s old-fashioned but it’s old-fashioned fun.

Many may feel, even with the advent of ultra-realistic movies like Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line, that war movies diminish the great sacrifices the men and women who have served have made but I know that during virtually every war movie I watch, I have at least a moment of reflection when I’m thankful uncles Mike and Harry and all the other uncles, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives and aunts were willing to make the decision to serve their country so that pacifists like myself can enjoy the freedom they fought for.

I got something in the mail today,

a gift from an old friend.

The best part was the beautiful, hand-cut ornamentation on the dedication page.  Notice the instantly recognizable silhouette.

It’s a red leather bound travel diary with such sections as “Itinerary” “Hotels Where I’ve Stayed” “Restaurants I Enjoyed” “Notes & Incidents” and a section for me to paste “Ephemera (Ticket stubs, restaurant receipts).”

It will travel many miles with me in the years to come.

Thank you.

Don’t be afraid

just eat up all the grey and it will fade all away

- Patrick Watson

Here is a google map of the Winter Escape I have planned for the first week of 2010:



View Larger Map


Looks like I’ll be making more than one long road trip next year though. WATCH OUT EAST COAST.

When I left off last time I’d just revealed that I was going to have to change my act for Mr. Warrior in just one day (unless you haven’t read Part 1 yet, in which case you should go read that first). Before I go any further, however, allow me to explain what Mr. Warrior is. Mr. Warrior is a competition at Carpinteria High School in which nominees (nominated by clubs and fall sports) compete to be crowned Mr. Warrior (homecoming king). The competition has three parts to it.

It starts with the each contestant strutting onto the stage with a prospective homecoming queen on his arm and then striking three poses while the MC reads off some facts about that person. Then there is a talent section, and then each contestant has to answer two interview questions while dressed to represent the club that elected him. Part one, and part three are pretty straight forward, so it really comes down to the talent section to decide the winner (as judged by a panel of teachers).

As I stated before, I was having to change my act completely due to the last-minute cancellation of my piano player. My new act was going to be singing the song “The Great Escape” by Boys Like Girls, (if you don’t know it check it out) accompanied by my friends Jay Bushey (Guitar), Noe Gomez (Bass), and Justin Sinclair (Drums). It was Sunday Morning. Mr. Warrior was set to start at 7pm Monday. Needless to say, I was feeling a bit squished for time.

I was able to practice with Jay and Noe on Sunday morning for only about half an hour before we set off to the dress rehearsal, wherein we did very little rehearsing. So now it was the end of Sunday, and I’d practiced for about an hour total (without drums). School on Monday passed in a blur for me. I just held on and soon enough school ended. David, Scott, and I drove to my house where I collected my things and nipped over to Maggie’s house to borrow her fake severed hand (more on that later). When we all had our stuff, we drove over to the middle school, where the event was being held.

Soon enough Justin showed up with a drum set, followed by Noe and Jay. Even then, we were only able to play through the song a few times. Then it was crunch time. Here’s how the situations stood:

I know all the words, but not well enough to recall them 100% of the time. Instruments are good, but with so little practice together, we still don’t mesh perfectly, and with the drums mostly improvising, it’s hard for me to get my cues. Lets do this shit!!

As the curtain opened on my act I was nervous as hell. The music stated to play. I tried to look… well, I didn’t even know what look I was going for, but I tried not to look stupid, and then there was cue and I started to sing. Low and behold I was doing it! I was sing  the song, I had the right words, and the right tune. Jay, Noe, and Justin were playing perfectly (at least as far as I could tell). The crowd was going wild and I could hear people singing along with me. I felt like a rock star. And then it was time for me to sing the second verse.

I couldn’t remember the words. “Fuck!” I thought. I scrambled desperately for the words that I knew were somewhere in my brain. My cue to start singing inched towards me as if in slow motion. But then there it was, the first line of the verse. I sang. As I made my way through the line I thought about the next line. I couldn’t remember. The time for me to sing the next line came and went. I remained silent. Shit, shit, shit! But I could only wait.

When the chorus began I started in again, hoping the audience would simply think that was an instrumental bit ( I later learned that some did). I sang the rest of the song fairly well, but the lack of polish was obvious and my heart wasn’t quite in it anymore. At the end of the song I knew I would lose. I’d never expected to win of course, I’m just not the kind of kid that becomes homecoming king, but I had wanted to put on a good show and I’d blown it.

While I felt like I’d already lost, the competition wasn’t over yet, and as they say: the show must go on. So, I set to putting on my costume for representing the club that had elected me (drama). If the story is bumming you out at this point, take heart, this is where it gets funny again! (Although I can’t promise it’s all rainbows an butterflies from here on.)

Because of the nature of the theater, the requirement for me to wear a costume representing it, was no requirement at all. So, both for amusement and convenience, I decided to just wear my Halloween costume. I tried to duct tape the hand to my shoulder my self, but that didn’t work, so I got Justin to do it for me. A few minutes later it fell off. I tried taping it again, this time with the help of someone else. It fell off again. After another attempt I asked David Chamlee for help. He put tons and tons of take on me, wrapping it around my torso, so that there was no way that hand was going anywhere.

As I sat in the room below the stage with my shirt off (to keep sweat from loosening the tape) a woman with a camera began snapping pictures of my shirtless, taped up form. She also took a couple of shots of other guys bending over (as well as some regular shots). When I asked her why she was taking pictures, she explained that she worked for the newspaper. I then asked if she though that her editors would even use pictures of people who weren’t wearing all of their clothes. She conceded that her editors were fairly conservative, but said that they were always encouraging her to take pictures of people in their dressing rooms.

People’s dressing rooms, not people dressing, I thought to myself, but kept my mouth shut.

After that, there is not much for me to tell you which is actually funny, so I’ll leave the tail there, and just in case there was any doubt in your mind, no, I didn’t win.

I still have to go to the store, do homework, take a nap…

I went to bed early last night, thinking I was going to get all this good sleep…but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I wake up to go pee and discover to my horror that it’s not something like 5am, but not even 1am!

After that, I tossed and turned all night long. Not even hot milk helped (plain ole hot milk is kinda boring, IMHO).

I rewrote my Radio and TV Writing assignment in my head all night long.

=====

You know when your kids are growing up when Halloween doesn’t interest them like it once did. My almost 16 year old went to a party instead of taking his cousins around my mother’s neighborhood trick or treating.

And: most people watch horror flicks on TV or DVD on Halloween. I watched game 3 of the World Series… a horrorfest in and of itself!

Is it just me, or the officiating by the umpires just bad? It’s almost like they want the Yankees to win.

BTW… I hate the Yankees. They have two of the most overrated players ever: ARod and Derek Jeter. I don’t think either of them are anything to write home about, IMPO…

I was really hoping for a freeway World Series between the Angels and the Dodgers. Now THAT would have been worth missing Steve McQueen in “The Great Escape” for!!

That’s all from where I sit.

–MorelaterZ–

Handsome, self-assured, and cool, that's James Garner. Uploaded by images.digitalmedianet.com.

This is one cool dude. From his earliest days as Maverick, through the halcyon era of The Rockford Files, into mature roles in movies such as Space Cowboys, James Garner is quintessentially cool.

The words used to describe Garner pretty much tell the tale. “Charming.” “Amiable.” “Self-possessed.” “Likable.” He tended to be featured as a rogue on the verge of trouble who had to find his way out by using wit and charm.

While his television roles will probably be what people remember most, Garner also made a number of significant and success films. He co-starred with Steve McQueen in The Great Escape, with Julie Andrews in The Americanization of Emily and Victor/Victoria, and with Walter Brennan in Support Your Local Sheriff!

Uploaded by moviegnome.com.

But my favorite James Garner movie was the sweet Murphy’s Romance. He owned a pharmacy in a small town, and along came Sally Field, trying desperately to make it as a single mother. The development of their relationship is a lovely bit of storytelling, and no one could have made it as real as did James Garner. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the role, and he won an Emmy for Rockford.

Here’s how James Garner described his acting style: “I’m a Spencer Tracy-type actor. His idea was to be on time, know your words, hit your marks and tell the truth. I don’t think acting is that difficult if you can put yourself aside and do what the writer wrote.”

This is my favorite scene from Murphy’s Romance, in which Garner offers a toast at his birthday party:

Brian Michael Bendis is the writer behind the current Avengers comic book so it is only natural that he has a few thoughts as to how to get the high tech Iron Man, the mythical Thor and the rest to mix together in the Avengers movie in 2012.

“My advice is, has been, and will be, that much like the comics, you look at movies like the ‘Oceans’ movies that have all these different flavors, you put the flavors together and you cook ‘em,” Bendis told MTV News. “It absolutely can be done.”

“Look at ‘The Great Escape’ or other movies that have all these big elements to them, and even elements that don’t seem that they would fit can rub up against each other in a very excellent way,” he explained. “They really can create something you wouldn’t even imagine you had before.”

Bendis went on to reiterate his certainty that the culmination of the Marvel movie lineup will not only meet the lofty expectations of fans, but surprise them, too.

“Having read the ‘Captain America’ movie script and the ‘Thor’ movie scripts and ‘Iron Man 2′ and everything, and seeing them all develop, nothing is more exciting to me than the ‘Avengers’ movie,” said Bendis. “It’s absolutely going to be something better than— different than—anything we’ve seen before.”

“I think the challenge is absolutely there,” he said. “It’s an immense amount of work, but the payoff will be gigantic.”