It started last year when Sony announced plans for a spin-off movie about Spider-Man’s adversary, Venom. The new project, titled of all things, Venom, is scheduled for a 2011 release. The move was peculiar in that Venom had made a brief appearance in 2007’s Spider-Man 3 and, during that brief appearance, he had been killed. And Venom hadn’t just been killed, he had been killed in a manner that left no doubt that he had been killed. He’d been incinerated. It continued this year when Fox announced plans for a spin-off movie about Wolverine’s adversary, Deadpool. The new project, titled of all things, Deadpool, is also scheduled for a 2011 release. This move was peculiar too in that Deadpool had made a brief appearance in Wolverine and, during that brief appearance, he had been killed. And Deadpool hadn’t just been killed, he had been killed in a manner that left no doubt that he had been killed. He’d been sliced into multiple parts.
I understand the appeal of making films that have a built in audience. Built in audiences mean bigger box office takes and more money for the studios. It’s very simple. However, what I don’t understand is how audiences are supposed to be interested in watching the exploits of a heretofore minor character who has already been killed on-screen. We’ll leave my confusion about watching a movie featuring a bad guy as the lead alone for another paragraph.
It’d be one thing if the characters were extremely interesting and their stories were compelling—if someone wanted to make a film about The Usual Suspects’ Dean Keaton or The Lord of the Rings’ Gandalf, I’d ask where I’d have to line up to see it and for how long I’d have to camp out in order to get a ticket—but Deadpool and Venom aren’t exactly knocking on the door of AFI’s Best Characters list. In Deadpool’s case, his lips have actually been sewn shut so that he can’t talk. In Venom’s case, I’m not sure whether the villain is the man inside the suit or the suit itself. Either way, it’s hard to understand this logic.
Oh yeah, and both of them have already been killed! It was Spider-Man vs. Venom and Wolverine vs. Deadpool. We cheered on the forces of good and waited with bated breath to see if Spider-Man and Wolverine was come out victorious. When they did, we sighed in relief and were happy to know that the good guys came out on top. Deadpool and Venom got what was coming to them. Three years from now, studio executives are banking that America’s collective memory is as short as Michael J. Fox and that no one will have a problem A) rooting for the bad guys to win or B) siding with characters who don’t just turn to evil in the future, but are killed for doing so.
Would it have been too much to ask to just not kill Venom or Deadpool in the movies in which they made their first appearances? I mean, really?
The story I am about to tell is not unique to publicists—really, it could happen to anyone who has an e-mail account, I suppose—but since it happened to me while dealing with a publicist, it falls under this heading. All the same, I’m not sure I ever foresee this happening to Meg Whitman.
At 7:18PM on October 1st, I received an e-mail from a publicist asking if I’d be interested in interviewing a well known up-and-coming actor on October 6th. I replied, stating that I would like to speak to the star in question. At 7:21PM, I received a second e-mail from the publicist. An “Out of Office AutoReply”.
I found this amusing, given that literally three minutes had elapsed since the publicist had sent the initial e-mail out. But that’s not the part that caused me to write this up. Nope. The part that put this situation over the top was the rest of the e-mail. Wrote the publicist: “I will be out of the office on Thursday, 10/1 and Friday, 10/2 and returning on Monday morning 10/5. [During this time] I will have limited access to email and cell… In case of emergency, you may reach me on my cell.”
Recapping: I was extended an invitation to speak to an actor five days in the future. Less than three minutes after the original invitation was sent out, the publicist turned on her ‘auto reply’ function and announced that she was going to be MIA until the day before the interview may (or may not) have been taking place. If there was an emergency, I could contact her on her cell phone… a cell phone that she wouldn’t be accessing.
Ah, publicists…
