New Avengers movie - anyone else confused by the title?

[aceplace57]

I'd heard about a new Avengers movie and immediately thought of Emma Peel and John Steed.

Now I'm hearing the Avengers is some sort of comic book hero movie?

That's confusing. Heck, the Avengers still pops up on cable channels in reruns. That's how I became a fan 20 years ago.

Trying to keep up with pop culture isn't easy.

[Eve]

Yep, me too, I thought Scarlett Johanssen was playing Emma Peel and Robert Downey, Jr., was Steed.

[aceplace57]

Robert Downey, Jr., would be great as John Steed too. I was so excited about an Avengers remake movie.

The Avengers was such a great series. I wish the name wasn't used for a comic book movie. We'll have this confusion for a long time.

Eventually a Avengers movie will be made based on the old series.

[ZipperJJ]

I'll cop to it. Even tho I'm in my early 30s and they filmed part of the movie in my town (Cleveland). I didn't know until it came out that it was the superhero Avengers and not the bowler hat Avengers.

[Le Ministre de l'au-delà]

Yeah, me too. I was never that much of a Marvel comic guy, and I grew up watching John Steed and Emma Peel.

[simster]

Originally Posted by Eve

Yep, me too, I thought Scarlett Johanssen was playing Emma Peel and Robert Downey, Jr., was Steed.

I was a fan of those Avengers as well - I would pay good money to see that movie.

[thelurkinghorror]

Back in my day, we watched the Avengers (1961). We didn't have that new-fangled, damn whippersnapper fruity super-mans Avengers (1963)!

[Gagundathar]

The only thing I was disappointed about when I watched 'The Avengers' was that we never got to see Emma um.... peel.

[Wolverine]

I have the opposite problem. I knew about the superhero team from when I was 7 years old picking up a stray comic book, but I've still never watched any of the shows or movie. Anytime I hear The Avengers, I immediately think about the comic book. I originally was confused when the 1998 movie came out (it looked bad so I skipped it).

[Cumbrian]

This is why, in the UK, the film is called Avengers Assemble.

[RealityChuck]

Originally Posted by aceplace57

Eventually a Avengers movie will be made based on the old series.

Unfortunately, there was. But I understand why you blotted it out of your memory.

[The Other Waldo Pepper]

Originally Posted by Wolverine

I have the opposite problem. I knew about the superhero team from when I was 7 years old picking up a stray comic book, but I've still never watched any of the shows or movie. Anytime I hear The Avengers, I immediately think about the comic book.

Maybe someday you'll get to see a play called MAN AND SUPERMAN.

[RandMcnally]

Bowler hat Avengers? Never heard of anyone other than the superhero Avengers.

[drastic_quench]

No, of course not. The marketing for this movie has been everywhere. Disney has absolutely saturated all media with ads. With the exception of simply looking at the showtimes, I don't know how anyone with a tv or computer could be aware of the name but not the brand. Even walking through a retail store, the Avengers merch is everywhere.

The Marvel movies leading up to this made a billion at the box office, were huge hits, and actively built towards The Avengers. Captain America's movie even had "The First Avenger" in the title. And The Avengers have been a continuous brand in comics since 1963.

The other, by comparison, couldn't be further out of the public's consciousness. A second rate, foreign, tv show that could be kindly called a cult success in the sixties which was later remade in the 90s into one of the worst and most disposable movies Sean Connery ever made.

[aceplace57]

For many of us the Avengers was right up their with James Bond and The Saint.

It was a huge success in reruns for decades. I wasn't even born when the Avengers first aired. But I saw all the episodes in reruns in high school.

I had forgotten about the Avengers remake movie over ten years ago. It was terrible.

[GIGObuster]

Originally Posted by RandMcnally

Bowler hat Avengers? Never heard of anyone other than the superhero Avengers.

They seem to be more known overseas, in the old country in Latin America, they were big in the 70's, there was a lag on the releases in Latin America due to the dubbing of the show to Spanish.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...es/TheAvengers

A TV strike delayed the start of the second season so Hendry left to pursue a film career. Steed became the show's central character and the production team started to explore other partnerships. The first, lasting just a few episodes, was Dr King, a blatant Suspiciously Similar Substitute. He was followed up by stories that alternately paired Steed up with nightclub singer Venus Smith (The Chick) and female spy Cathy Gale (arguably TV's first true Action Girl). Cathy, who was mostly written identically to Dr Keel, proved to be the most popular and Venus was quietly dropped.

This retooling of the show became a massive smash. With a consistent Spy Couple format, the show began to move away from more mundane villains and towards science fictional supervillains and diabolical masterminds.

Blackman left to pursue a film career (playing Pussy Galore in Goldfinger*) and was replaced by Diana Rigg as Emma Peel, described as a "talented amateur". Simultaneously, production switched from videotape to 35mm film. The show became much more stylish and faster-paced and even gained a new theme tune, although it wasn't until the next season that it was produced in colour. Mrs Peel - whose husband didn't make an appearance until her final episode - set the trend of the Spy Catsuit and continued the gentleman spy/Action Girl setup. Steed and Mrs Peel became the show's iconic pairing, helped by the introduction of filmed and colour episodes raising the show in the public's consciousness.

One funny bit established that they inhabit the same universe as James Bond:

Steed and Emma got a greeting card from Cathy Gale:

Emma Peel: [Mrs. Peel is helping Steed open his Christmas cards] "Best wishes for the future - Cathy"
John Steed: Mrs. Gale! And how nice of her to remember me.... What can she be doing in Fort Knox?

[Kimstu]

Originally Posted by RandMcnally

Bowler hat Avengers? Never heard of anyone other than the superhero Avengers.

British "spy-fi" TV series.

[Rhiannon8404]

While I know the new movie is about some comic book characters, every time I hear "The Avengers" I still think of the British TV series. I don't care much about comic books and I love British TV.

[MegaBee]

When I was a kid, I saw that The Avengers was coming on TV. Then it was that British TV show, not the superheroes, and I was sad.

[gytalf2000]

Originally Posted by simster

I was a fan of those Avengers as well - I would pay good money to see that movie.

Me, too!

[Exapno Mapcase]

When they did them as comic books, the title had to be changed to Steed and Mrs. Peel. That caused endless confusion in comic books stores when people flocked in for the new Avengers book.

They were pretty good. I got the first two, but I wasn't a regular comic reader in those days so with a year's wait I never realized that a third one was produced.

I couldn't watch the film Avengers long enough even to get to Sean Connery. It's on the list for Worst Film Ever. My dream would have been for Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson to play them while they were still young and married.

[shy guy]

I think that's why they call it "Marvel's Avengers."

I also agree with drastic_quench.

[SpoilerVirgin]

The first time I heard the title, I definitely thought it referred to the British T.V. series. Over time and exposure to the massive media campaign, I grasped the difference. I think it was the Farmer's Insurance commercial that finally planted the Marvel superheroes firmly in my brain in association with the movie.

[magnusblitz]

I had the reverse problem in 1998. "Oh, sweet, they're making an Avengers movie!...wait, where the heck are my superheroes?"

Looks like the British TV show beat out the comics team's use of the name by 2 years, so at least it has that in it's favor.

[ZipperJJ]

Originally Posted by drastic_quench

No, of course not. The marketing for this movie has been everywhere. Disney has absolutely saturated all media with ads. With the exception of simply looking at the showtimes, I don't know how anyone with a tv or computer could be aware of the name but not the brand. Even walking through a retail store, the Avengers merch is everywhere.

Honest to Og, I have not seen any advertising for this movie. I'm not trying to paint myself as some sort of proud luddite, either.

Could be that I haven't done much retail shopping in the past 6 months (if I do it's like, in the housewares section at Target or just the grocery store.) Could be that I don't have cable and have not seen any target-audience movies in that time (I've seen movies just not ones with the right previews). I don't get the paper or cruise entertainment sites - even though I have been to entertainment sites in that time. I go to fast food places, only just in the drive through. I also use AdBlock so I don't see internet ads.

I suspect if I watched tv with commercials, went into toy or clothing sections in department stores, flipped through current entertainment magazines or sites or stood in line at a fast food joint I'd have seen it. But I totally missed it.

I even saw photos from a film shoot in my friend's neighborhood last summer. No characters in costume so I still didn't know.

Trust me, I don't think I'm normal in these regards and am plenty embarrassed that I have been clueless when it comes to this movie.

I did play against a friend in Draw Something about a month ago and he started drawing some characters from The Avengers and once he finished Captain America and The Hulk I got the clue. Still didn't make me sure that the new movie was the same characters

[kittenblue]

Originally Posted by drastic_quench

No, of course not. The marketing for this movie has been everywhere. Disney has absolutely saturated all media with ads. With the exception of simply looking at the showtimes, I don't know how anyone with a tv or computer could be aware of the name but not the brand. Even walking through a retail store, the Avengers merch is everywhere.

The Marvel movies leading up to this made a billion at the box office, were huge hits, and actively built towards The Avengers. Captain America's movie even had "The First Avenger" in the title. And The Avengers have been a continuous brand in comics since 1963.

The other, by comparison, couldn't be further out of the public's consciousness. A second rate, foreign, tv show that could be kindly called a cult success in the sixties which was later remade in the 90s into one of the worst and most disposable movies Sean Connery ever made.

Marketing, shmarketing. I don't look at that stuff. I haven't read a comic book since the 70's and even though I had a job up till last year building movie theater displays, I don't follow those types of shows. AND part of the movie was filmed right outside my building, we had extras sitting in front of my store every night, and still, every single time I hear "The Avengers" my first thought is John Steed and Emma Peel. Don't care how much money Marvel makes...my Avengers wear bowler hats and black catsuits and have better dialogue! Heck, I even campaigned to procure the logo for our company to use for crew members, and still....my first thought, each and every time..... once you are hooked, you are hooked!

[drastic_quench]

Better dialogue than a Joss Whedon film? I didn't know Mamet wrote for The Avengers in the 60s.

[Exapno Mapcase]

Originally Posted by drastic_quench

Better dialogue than a Joss Whedon film? I didn't know Mamet wrote for The Avengers in the 60s.

Brian Clemons did. End of contest.

[Chronos]

Sounds sort of how I felt in the lead-up to Avatar. I saw some of the concept art for the human war machines and thought "Man, I knew the Fire Nation was starting on industrial tech, but that's a huge stretch".

[thelurkinghorror]

I thought: the character isn't supposed to be blue. The Avatar has long blond hair, armor, and a red cape. The space stuff isn't so weird; apparently Ultima I had a space combat part.

[Elendil's Heir]

Originally Posted by Gagundathar

The only thing I was disappointed about when I watched 'The Avengers' was that we never got to see Emma um.... peel.

Scott Simon of NPR had been a huge fan of Mrs. Peel in his teens and later recalled that, when he finally had the chance, as a cub reporter, to interview Diana Rigg, his first hard-hitting question was something along the lines of, "What is it, ma'am, that makes you so wonderful?"

[Ethilrist]

Originally Posted by Gagundathar

The only thing I was disappointed about when I watched 'The Avengers' was that we never got to see Emma um.... peel.

With the leather cat suit, we didn't need to.

I enjoyed the bits in Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, when Kwai Chang Kang got together with all his buddies from days gone by, but not under these names: John Steed, Napoleon Solo, The Saint, and Elliot Ness (since they already had Robert Stack on the payroll).

And, for me, the Steed/Peel Avengers movie is working the other way around... I keep seeing it in used DVD stores and think "wtf, it isn't even OUT yet...?"

[N9IWP]

Originally Posted by thelurkinghorror

I thought: the character isn't supposed to be blue. The Avatar has long blond hair, armor, and a red cape. The space stuff isn't so weird; apparently Ultima I had a space combat part.

Ultima II had space travel as well - you go to different planets (though IIRC you only need to go Planet X)

Brian

[vislor]

Originally Posted by Exapno Mapcase

Brian Clemons did. End of contest.

The guy who wrote Highlander II? That's your comparison to Joss?

[Labdad]

Originally Posted by MegaBee

When I was a kid, I saw that The Avengers was coming on TV. Then it was that British TV show, not the superheroes, and I was sad.

"The Avengers" Marvel comic made its debut in September, 1963. "The Avengers" television show made its debut in the US in October 1965. I also thought the new TV show might be about the superheroes.

Initially, I was disappointed as well. But I was 14 in October '65. One look at Mrs. Peel and I was hooked!

[Peter Morris]

Originally Posted by Eve

Yep, me too, I thought Scarlett Johanssen was playing Emma Peel and Robert Downey, Jr., was Steed.

But if it's a New Avengers movie, they'd be playing Purdey and Mike Gambit.

[thelurkinghorror]

Originally Posted by vislor

The guy who wrote Highlander II? That's your comparison to Joss?

I've never heard of the guy and can't defend him, but there are many, many steps between screenwriting and filming and final editing with things can go wrong. TVTropes on Executive Meddling says:

Russell Mulcahy, the director of Highlander II: The Quickening, has blamed the incredible crappiness that is the film on the fact that the film's insurance company took over production after he repeatedly came in late and over-budget. They made numerous changes to the movie, including changing the Immortals' Back Story, and merging together the two fight scenes between MacLeod and the villainous Katana. Mulcahy tried to salvage the movie later by re-cutting it to match his original vision as best he could and releasing it as Highlander II: The Renegade Version.

Doesn't mention the writer, but mind this is after the director probably still made his own changes.

See also, YMMV: I Am Legend, Blade Runner.

[Ellen Cherry]

I thought the same thing and felt like such a dumbass I had to trumpet the fact to the world in a blog post. I art an idiot, here me drool!

Of course I love me some comic book characters too ... as long as we have Robert Downey Jr. on the payroll.

[foolsguinea]

My mom liked The Avengers, and the revival, The New Avengers. By the time I found out about them as a kid, I already knew the Avengers as the superheroes from the comics, and finding out there was a totally different Avengers threw me at first--for what, a few minutes? Seconds?

I like them both.

Originally Posted by Exapno Mapcase

When they did them as comic books, the title had to be changed to Steed and Mrs. Peel. That caused endless confusion in comic books stores when people flocked in for the new Avengers book.

They were pretty good. I got the first two, but I wasn't a regular comic reader in those days so with a year's wait I never realized that a third one was produced.

I have those. They came out about 7 months apart, as I recall, so each has a different copyright year. Ian Gibson art, which is highly stylized but pretty nice. Rather goofy stories.

[vislor]

Originally Posted by thelurkinghorror

I've never heard of the guy and can't defend him, but there are many, many steps between screenwriting and filming and final editing with things can go wrong. TVTropes on Executive Meddling says:



Doesn't mention the writer, but mind this is after the director probably still made his own changes.

See also, YMMV: I Am Legend, Blade Runner.

This was mostly tongue in cheek from me, because of Alien IV and Joss. So I get that. Just trying to be snarky and it didn't work.

Carry on.

[SecretaryofEvil]

Originally Posted by drastic_quench

No, of course not. The marketing for this movie has been everywhere. Disney has absolutely saturated all media with ads. With the exception of simply looking at the showtimes, I don't know how anyone with a tv or computer could be aware of the name but not the brand. Even walking through a retail store, the Avengers merch is everywhere.

The Marvel movies leading up to this made a billion at the box office, were huge hits, and actively built towards The Avengers. Captain America's movie even had "The First Avenger" in the title. And The Avengers have been a continuous brand in comics since 1963.

The other, by comparison, couldn't be further out of the public's consciousness. A second rate, foreign, tv show that could be kindly called a cult success in the sixties which was later remade in the 90s into one of the worst and most disposable movies Sean Connery ever made.

Pretty much what I was thinking. I think it's kind of funny that all these The Avengers (tv show not comic book) fans are either unaware or intentionally ignoring the fact that there already was a The Avengers movie made based on the series, and it was one of the worst movies ever fucking made.

[Exapno Mapcase]

Originally Posted by SecretaryofEvil

Pretty much what I was thinking. I think it's kind of funny that all these The Avengers (tv show not comic book) fans are either unaware or intentionally ignoring the fact that there already was a The Avengers movie made based on the series, and it was one of the worst movies ever fucking made.

The new movie's official title is Marvel's The Avengers, so they're making a deliberate distinction.

[Le Ministre de l'au-delà]

The only Marvel comics I read at all were 'Silver Surfer' and 'Doctor Strange'. I found the X-Men embarrassingly bad and the comic version of The Avengers just never landed on my desk.

On the other hand, CBC carried The Avengers when it was first in production. Then it was in re-runs on CBC during the 70s, and I think the PBS station from the states carried it as well. Moses Znaimer loved it, and I remember it being run as a filler/nostalgia show on City-TV as well as Bravo.

And I never considered it remotely second rate - it was right up there with 'The Prisoner', 'The Saint', 'Secret Agent Man', etc. The best part about the TV series (and the part the film version completely failed to capture) was the tension between their propriety and their overwhelming sexual attraction. I just don't think it would work in a modern day setting - the turn of the 60s was the perfect time for this series.

[Johnny L.A.]

I've been too busy to pay much attention to movies. I'd seen the Avengers threads here, but never opened them. I just assumed that it was about John Steed and Emma Peel.

Then last week I was listening to a review on NPR and they mentioned aliens. And then the guy mentioned Bruce Banner and the penny dropped.

[Lamia]

Originally Posted by ZipperJJ

Honest to Og, I have not seen any advertising for this movie.

I haven't seen any ads for it either, and I do watch broadcast TV. I feel like I've seen hundreds of TV ads for the Dark Shadows movie -- including one just seconds ago -- but nothing for the Avengers movie.

I do pass a movie theater almost every day, and when they put AVENGERS COMING 5/4 up on their marquee I did actually think "Oh, they're doing another movie based on that old TV show that had Diana Rigg in a catsuit." I didn't realize my mistake until I was at the theater to see another movie and noticed the poster for The Avengers, which was obviously a superhero movie. The TV series was well before my time, but I had heard of it. I honestly had no idea there was a superhero team by that name, although I had heard of several of the individual characters and even saw the first Iron Man movie.

[GuanoLad]

You know, I'm not much of a fan of Joss Whedon, and haven't seen Avengers yet, but I reckon Joss would make a great Man From UNCLE movie.

[foolsguinea]

Amusingly, neither team really does much avenging, as a rule.

[SecretaryofEvil]

Originally Posted by foolsguinea

Amusingly, neither team really does much avenging, as a rule.

It's pedantic, but that always kind of bugged me too.

[Ethilrist]

Originally Posted by foolsguinea

Amusingly, neither team really does much avenging, as a rule.

Fortunately, they did seem to fix that for this movie.

[dropzone]

Originally Posted by Labdad

One look at Mrs. Peel and I was hooked!

Yeah, my heterosexuality was confirmed at age ten. I recall reading the introduction to one of his books in which Asimov told of seeing Diana Rigg on Broadway specifically because she "peeled." Full frontal, IIRC.