Since the new Star Trek feature film that comes out this week is arguably a mega-budget fan film, Fan Cinema Today turned to longtime Trek author Glenn Greenberg (at right) to review it.

This marks the first time FCT has had a guest blogger, and boy, we couldn’t ask for someone more qualified when it comes to all matters Trek-related. Greenberg wrote Marvel Comics’ celebrated, five-issue Star Trek: Untold Voyages limited series, which covered the second five-year mission of the USS Enterprise, and also scribed a pair of e-books—The Art of the Deal and its sequel, The Art of the Comeback—for Simon and Schuster’s Star Trek: Starfleet Corps of Engineers series. Take it away, Glenn:

SEE THE REVIEW AFTER THE JUMP

This may well be the most challenging movie review I’ve ever written, because I have so much to say about this movie, but I can’t go into details because I don’t want to spoil it for people who haven’t seen it yet (which, as of this writing, means just about everybody).

I’ll say right off the bat: I give Star Trek a thumbs-up, but with a few reservations.

I totally get what J.J. Abrams and screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are trying to do here, and I support it. Without giving too much away, they’re trying to restart the Star Trek franchise by going back and focusing on the iconic, beloved, original characters who put Star Trek on the cultural map in the first place. And they want to do it without being locked in to what was established so definitively in the 79 episodes of The Original Series (TOS), six movies, and even in the spin-off TV shows The Next Generation (TNG), Deep Space Nine (DS9), Voyager (VOY), and Enterprise (ENT).

It makes sense to go back to the original crew. With the TNG crew played out after 2002′s execrable Star Trek: Nemesis and none of the other spin-off shows warranting a promotion to the big screen, Abrams and company really had only two choices: create an entirely new crew and concept and risk audience apathy, or go back to the familiar but put a whole new coat of paint on it. Let’s face it: it was not that difficult a choice to make. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov are still the best-known characters of the franchise. It’s been many years since anything significant has been done with them on screen. And it would be very difficult to pass up the chance to tackle these classic characters and put a fresh new spin on them and the universe they inhabit.

In taking this approach, Abrams and company did neither a total reboot, a la the Sci-Fi Channel’s recently completed Battlestar Galactica TV series, nor a proper prequel that ties in directly and adheres faithfully to the established continuity. It’s a little of both—the filmmakers try to have it both ways. And for the most part, they succeed.

They manage to show respect and to incorporate everything that came before, but they also manage to make a break from the past and take things in a new direction-one in which the futures of these characters are not set in stone. Yes, we saw Kirk promoted to Admiral and reunited with his entire crew aboard the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Yes, we saw Spock die in Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan and be resurrected in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock. And we saw Kirk die in Star Trek Generations.

But none of that applies anymore. The fates of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the rest are now unwritten. Anything can happen to them. Some can die, or leave Starfleet in a huff, or lose a limb. This adds a tremendous amount of suspense and drama to the proceedings, because you can’t rely on prior knowledge-what you know from the TV series and the movies is no longer applicable.

So this movie is not really a prequel in that it doesn’t set the stage for TOS. It simply can’t. You won’t be able to walk out of this movie and then sit down and start watching the original TV series and the original-cast movies and have it feel like a seamless fit.

And that doesn’t bother me, really. Why bother going back to Kirk and his crew and making new movies about them if we already know exactly how their lives are going to play out over time?

What I DO have a quibble about—and this is the kind of thing that could only come from a longtime Star Trek fan who’s very familiar with the material—is the way in which Abrams and his team get to where they want to go.

Again, without giving too much away, this movie treads on some of the same ground that we saw in TOS episodes like “City on the Edge of Forever” and “Tomorrow Is Yesterday,” as well as the classic TNG episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise” and even the movie First Contact, which featured the TNG crew. Yet in those previous stories, the challenge for the Enterprise crew was to try to undo the damage and set things right again. In this film, however, it’s accepted that what’s done is done, and that a new reality now exists as a result—a new reality in which we will now move forward. Instead of trying to undo the damage inflicted by the villain, Captain Nero (played by Eric Bana), the challenge for our heroes is to stop Nero from causing any further damage.

That’s fine—but why wasn’t that the case in any of the previous stories? What makes this new history-changing incident different from, say, when Dr. McCoy changed the past in “City on the Edge of Forever,” or when the Enterprise-C was thrust forward in time and suddenly appeared in the era of the Enterprise-D in “Yesterday’s Enterprise”? Why in those cases was it imperative to restore things to the way they were, but here, an alternate timeline is created to exist alongside the original one?

Like I said—I get what Abrams and Co. are trying to do, and I endorse it. I’m just pointing out a discrepancy between how this subject matter was handled consistently in Star Trek in the past, and how it’s handled now in the new film.

But I’m confident that unless you’re a longtime Star Trek fan, you won’t think twice about this. You’ll just accept what the film tells you and move on—and that’s probably for the best.

The good news for longtime fans is that this movie doesn’t negate or wipe out what has come before. Abrams and Co. make it fairly clear that the original timeline is still in place, still intact, and if you want to revisit it, just pop in your DVDs of TOS, TNG, DS9, etc. It’s all still there. We even get a new detail about Kirk’s personal backstory as it exists in the original timeline.

But if you want to follow the new adventures, you’d better go in with an open mind. Because Abrams and Co. don’t pull their punches. They are not afraid to upset the apple cart and depict sweeping, drastic, and, quite frankly, shocking events that bring significant changes to the Star Trek universe as a whole. That alone sets this movie apart from just about anything that’s been done with Star Trek since writer/director Nicholas Meyer last worked on the franchise in 1991. Let me put it this way: even this longtime viewer—who has written Star Trek professionally on numerous occasions—found his jaw hanging open at one point while watching the movie.

I must admit to a lack of enthusiasm about the look of the new Starship Enterprise. It lacks the grace and beauty of the TOS version—and especially the revamped version of the ship as seen in the first six movies, which remains my all-time favorite spaceship design. And the interiors of the new Enterprise did not particularly impress me either. The bridge is too busy. There are too many people working on it, and too many duty stations and consoles. The previous versions of the bridge were much simpler, much easier to comprehend, and it was easier to figure out where everything was and where everyone was stationed. With the new bridge, aside from the captain’s chair and the helm/navigation console, I get no real sense of where the science and communications stations are.

Also, the new engine room is, shall we say, quite a departure from what we’ve seen in the past. Not a deal-breaker for me, but I certainly didn’t love it.

The musical score is effective enough, but not particularly memorable. It’s tough to follow in the footsteps of composers such as Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner, whose remarkable work on the original series of films (especially the first two) remain with me to this day.

With all that out of the way, I’ll get to the fun stuff.

First of all, the first third of the movie is damn near perfect. I leaned over to my friend several times during this section and we whispered to each other, “So far, so good!” The opening scene, which essentially acts as a teaser, is one of the most gripping and powerful sequences in Star Trek history—no exaggeration.

Screenwriters Orci and Kurtzman definitely did their homework and what was a very pleasant surprise to me was how much stuff they actually kept, in terms of the details about the characters’ lives. For example, McCoy’s personal backstory, developed for TOS back in the 1960s but never dealt with onscreen, is finally addressed—and very effectively, I might add. We also learn a couple of new things about Uhura—one that won’t be too shocking to anyone who’s read the novels published by Simon and Schuster over the last 25 years-and one that’s going to blow a lot of people’s minds.

As for the cast, by and large, they’re terrific.

Chris Pine shows us a somewhat different James Kirk from what we’re used to, which is only natural given the nature of the film, but by the end, you can see him settling in to being the Kirk we know and love. Pine also carries himself well during the action and fight scenes, and he’s good at portraying a rough-around-the-edges Kirk who’s developing his notorious magic with the ladies. He is also good during the more comedic moments. And during his scenes with Leonard Nimoy as the elderly Spock, he more than holds his own. What I would like to see in future films is Kirk portrayed as a bit more intelligent, more thoughtful, more cultured, and more strategic than he’s shown here. We get to see plenty of Kirk as a rough-and-tumble man of action in this movie, but there’s a lot more to him than that.

As the young Spock, Zachary Quinto doesn’t quite capture the essence of Nimoy—I found his delivery to be a bit on the robotic side on occasion, and even arrogant at times. It’s not a bad performance by any means, just a different interpretation of the character. In the future, though, I would like to see Quinto try to incorporate more of the wisdom, the dignified demeanor, and the gentle wit that Nimoy brought to Spock.

Karl Urban is wonderful as Leonard McCoy, from start to finish. He captures the spirit of the late great DeForest Kelly marvelously. The irascible nature, the sarcasm, the irreverence, the nervous raise of his eyebrow-it’s all there. One thing is certain: Urban must have a bigger, more central role in future films.

My prediction is that the breakout character in this movie will be Zoe Saldana’s Uhura. She’s absolutely gorgeous—you can’t take your eyes off of her. She carries herself extremely well, projects an air of confidence and ability, has a lovely speaking voice, and has good chemistry with both Pine and Quinto. It’s a really strong performance, and I think she’s given more to do and more of a characterization than Nichelle Nichols was given in all six original movies combined—and maybe even the TV series, as well.

Anton Yelchin is very endearing as Chekov and has a great scene where he really shines. He’s a bit more childlike and eager than Walter Koenig was in the role—but it works, because this is a younger Chekov.

As Sulu, John Cho gets less of a chance to make a strong impression but has a few very nice moments and gets to take part in one of the film’s most thrilling sequences.

Simon Pegg’s Scotty is more playful, manic, and mischievous than James Doohan’s. He’s played mostly for comic relief here. My main criticism with regard to Scotty is that he falls into his familiar place just a little too quickly and easily, given the circumstances surrounding his arrival aboard the Enterprise. The establishment of his relationship with Kirk-right down to Kirk calling him “Scotty”-came off, at least to me, as just a wee bit rushed.

Bruce Greenwood is very effective and likable as Captain Christopher Pike. His performance is more or less consistent with Jeffrey Hunter’s, and I wouldn’t mind at all if he returned in a future film. His relationship with Kirk, as portrayed in this film, shows lots of potential for further exploration.

Eric Bana’s obsessed Captain Nero does not rank among the best-developed or most compelling antagonists we’ve ever seen in Star Trek. He’s certainly no Khan, who without a doubt remains the most memorable and dramatic villain ever faced by an Enterprise crew. But I wouldn’t place Nero among the utterly forgettable and inadequate bad guys from the last couple of Next Generation movies, either. He’s okay. Nothing more, nothing less.

As for Leonard Nimoy… it almost would have been enough just to see him back on the screen as Spock after 18 years. But to see him play such an important role—one that doesn’t give him a lot of screen time but is nonetheless absolutely essential to the story (unlike Shatner’s return as Kirk in the ill-conceived mess Star Trek Generations)—makes it all the more special and essential. It’s clear that Nimoy had a good time playing Spock again. There’s a warmth, a sense of comfort, and a level of gravitas in his performance that I don’t think we’ve really seen since Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn. Nimoy’s Spock (referred to in the end credits as “Spock Prime”) is shown the utmost respect and treated with dignity—again, unlike Kirk in Generations. And there are two moments—one between Nimoy and Pine and one between Nimoy and another cast member—that are really quite touching.

Overall, I found Star Trek to be a high-octane, fast-paced, exciting, funny, and even poignant adventure. It does what it set out to do, which is make Star Trek accessible to a new audience and forge a new direction without being constrained by the franchise’s history—while respecting and acknowledging everything that came before

As the movie ended, I commented to my friend, “It’s Star Trek filtered through a Star Wars mentality.” A movie reviewer sitting in front of me overheard that and got all excited and turned to me and said, “Exactly! That’s exactly what it is!” So if you see that line in a movie review, you’ll know where it came from!

I’ll be interested in seeing where Abrams and his team take the series from here, assuming they get the chance to move forward. It’s clear that they understand Star Trek well enough. They just mustn’t lose sight of the fact that at its best, Star Trek has something to say. Action, spectacle, and special effects are all well and good, but for it to be good Star Trek, there must always be a human factor, a moral, and people of diverse backgrounds working together to solve the seemingly unsolvable.

There are some rough spots here, to be sure, but I think Star Trek has gotten the shot in the arm that it’s needed for quite some time.

I say, bring on the sequel—and don’t stop taking chances!

Thanks again to Glenn Greenberg for his guest review; sounds like this is gonna be a fun flick!

Spider-Man may live in New York City, but he’s popular everywhere. Case in point? Check out Stefano Morandini’s upcoming Spider-Man: Beyond The Dark fan film, produced in Italy.

Currently in the editing phase, Morandini’s flick examines what keeps a superhero fighting when he just doesn’t care anymore. Heroes can take a punch and give one back, but can they fight the grim specter of depression? What happens when they just don’t want to fight anymore—and their moral enemies still do?

Morandini detailed the plot, explaining:

Peter Parker has lost everything: his girlfriend, Mary Jane, and himself. He has no more reason to fight in this life, and in this case, he wears the black suit as symbol of mourning and despair. The Hero is dead…but The Man? During a fight versus his nemesis, Goblin, Peter Parker rises again….

Know what my favorite part of that photo above is? The presence of a professional microphone! How many fan films have you seen where the visuals were amazing but the audio sounded like it was done with two tin cans and some string?

SEE THE TRAILER AND EXCLUSIVE SET PHOTOS AFTER THE JUMP!

Although Spider-Man has always been a Marvel Comics character, Morandini’s vision of the Green Goblin takes more than a few visual cues from DC Comics’ recent cinematic excursions—specifically Batman’s rival, the Joker. That teaser poster was clearly influenced by the “Why So Serious” poster for The Dark Knight .

People have been making amateur Spider-Man movies for 40 years; I wrote about three of ‘em in Homemade Hollywood, from one that Tommy Ramone of the Ramones helped produce in the early 1970s, to Dan Poole’s The Green Goblin’s Last Stand in 1991, which found him swinging off a six-story building in downtown Baltimore without a net! This is the only one I’ve come across with the black Venom costume, though.

Think the Green Goblin is going to take a tumble? This Goblin Glider sure looks like it suffered a very sudden introduction to the floor.

Dig that crazy flip on to the table! Makes sense, though; Spidey was always insanely gymnastic in the comics, so why not in the movies too?

Here’s the trailer. What do you think of all this? Share your thoughts below in the comments!

My day job is directly across the street from DC Comics’ office in New York City. Whenever I go to lunch, I always wind up looking up at their building, because there’s Batman insignias, Superman neon signs, and other memorabilia proudly displayed by editors, accountants and whomever else is lucky enough (or left) to have an office with a window. There is a noticeable lack of Watchmen stuff though, which is odd; you’d figure that as the movie finally rolls out today, it would be DC’s moment of triumph, with the staffers proudly showing off Rorschach toilet paper or other junk created for the movie in their windows. Nope. Here’s my theory why:

Damn, we’re all sick of Watchmen already ’cause of all the hype.

If fans are sick of it, imagine the nausea it must induce in the hallowed DC halls. The only hype tidal wave I’m even more exhausted by is the one created for U2′s new album. The band camped out all week across the street at the Ed Sullivan Theatre where they shoot David Letterman, renamed the block between DC and my job “U2 Way” and held a press conference at the French bistro at the bottom of DC’s building Tuesday. The place was surrounded by a million cops, paparazzi, aging groupies who really oughta put that stuff away, and SWAT teams with assault rifles ready to blow you away—just the thing to whet one’s appetite while heading out for the slightly less haute cuisine of a Veggie Delight at Subway.

That they’d all wind up in the same building is only appropriate, though, because both U2 and Watchmen shook the world 20 years ago. Sure, I’ll see the Watchmen movie this weekend, and I’ll check out the U2 CD—I’m hoping I’ll love both of them. U2′s in an experimental phase again, which may or may not be a good thing, while Watchmen the comic was supposed to be unfilmable, and that may or may not be true. Both entertainment experiences will be different from the norm, but I suspect that most folks are already pre-sold on them anyway; the endless, choking river of hype just isn’t necessary.

Nonetheless, with so much emphasis this week on known quantities we’ve enjoyed for decades, it does make one wonder: What comes next? Who will the next entities be that shake the world? Maybe there is no “next.” Maybe it’s all just the same thing regurgitated over and over by other people; instead of U2, it’s Coldplay pretending to be U2, or instead of Watchmen, it’s…um, something.

Coming back from lunch the other day, I noticed something in the windows of my building. Up on the fourth floor, some wiseguy printed out a big Marvel Comics logo and hung it up just to give DC a friendly poke in the ribs. It’s a reminder for them that competition is never far away; for myself, however, it reminded me that I hadn’t checked out the ongoing—and extremely funny—fan film series, I’m A Marvel & I’m A DC, in a while. Wouldn’t you know it? Regurgitation of the same ol’, same ol’ is the topic of the latest edition, which features Rorschach versus Wolverine.

What are your thoughts on all this—U2, Watchmen, the fan film? Share ‘em in the comments below.

[via LFF, Slashfilm, io9, etc.]

Even though Marvel Comics is the biggest comic book company around, the DC Comics characters get all the fan film attention. Last week, FCT took a look at some of the Marvel-based fan flicks that have been flying under the radar. This one…well, it sort of isn’t a Marvel character…buuuut it kind of is, but…aw, forget it; I give up.

Captain Marvel (AKA Shazam!) is actually a character owned by DC Comics, although his name would definitely lead you to think it’s a Marvel Comics character. And of course, you’d be right, ‘cause Marvel, too, has had a batch of different characters that each used the name “Captain Marvel” as well. We’re not going to deal with either Marvel or DC’s comics today, though, focusing instead on a fan film based on a comic book by Ebal Publishing. Confused yet?

The traditional version of Captain Marvel—the one that yells out “Shazam” to change from Billy Batson into a hero—was published around the world, and in Brazil, it was issued by the Ebal Publishing Company. A while back, two pals in Fawcett City, Brazil read an old Ebal comic and were inspired to make their own ultra cheesy adaptation—and they succeeded. The flick is in Portuguese and there’s a variety of subtitles (including a few in Japanese for some reason), but it’s pretty easy to figure out what’s going on. Between the goofball special effects, the footage of everyday life in Fawcett City and the cheerfully dingy acting—and don’t forget Captain Marvel’s giant ‘fro—this fan film will crack you up.

Even though Marvel Comics is the biggest comic book company around, the DC Comics characters get all the fan film attention. This week, FCT takes a look at some of the Marvel-based fan flicks that have been flying under the radar.

I believe it was the noted comic book enthusiast Shakespeare who once said “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Damn straight (although for the record, I’m entirely wrong). We guys are endlessly capable of forgetting something or other, thereby ticking off the women who love us (and even more so the ones that don’t). There isn’t a guy alive who doesn’t know what it’s like to have all that fury aimed right at him. And yet, even as we annoy the hell out of them, women love us, and now, thanks to fan productions, I have the proof.

Let me make a blanket statement here: Nowhere in the realm of fan films is the heady, bizarre mix of love and fury more readily apparent than in homemade She-Hulk movies.

Think about it. These flicks are all about She-Hulk beating up the bad guys—or in my favorite, getting her husband to do the chores—so, sure, if you want to turn a blind eye to the self-aware cheesiness on display, you could argue that these flicks display female empowerment, each a modern-day envisionment of a Helen Reddy song proclaiming “I am Woman; hear me roar and punch you in the face with my big, green fist.” That’s the “fury” part.

“Where is the love?” you ask (oh man, am I dredging up bad Seventies music today or what?). It’s here: You just know that behind the scenes, each one of these movies started with a guy saying, “Hey honey, you know what would be a really great idea? What if we made a movie where we painted you green and you yelled “Arrrrgh” a lot? And then we put it on YouTube so the entire world would see it? Wouldn’t that be awesome?”

And, amazingly, these women agreed. Now that is love.

I’ve been doing a lot of roadtrips recently to promote my new book, Homemade Hollywood, and this weekend ain’t no exception. I’ll be hosting not one but two programs about fan films at the New England Fan Experience, a pretty wild convention in Cambridge, MA that starts today and runs through Sunday.

I’ll also finally have brand-spankin’-new copies of Homemade Hollywood with me, hot off the presses and ready for me to deface sign for people (my publisher promises I’ll have books, even if they have to ship ‘em direct to the hotel; they swear. And if I don’t have books in tow, I’ll swear, so virulently it’d make Kevin Smith blush).

For both programs, I’ll be showing some of the greatest fan films ever on the big screen, while regaling you with stories about why the filmmakers set themselves on fire, or swung off buildings, or spent their life savings on their flicks. We’ll talk about the legality of fan films, why the earliest fan films were made by con men, and maybe even a bit about the future of the medium.

Saturday, Nov. 22, I’ll host an overview of fan films through history with the imaginatively titled program, Homemade Hollywood. It’s being held in the Thomas Payne A room from 5-7PM, so feel free to bring in dinner and stuff your face while you watch movies; hell, I might do that myself (“…and this..chomp, chomp, chomp…ish cold Bamin D’in–gulp–I mean, called Batman: Dead End“).

Sunday, Nov. 23, I’ll be doing an entirely different fan film program—May The Fan Film Be With You—and it’s wall-to-wall Star Wars fan productions. It’s being held in the Thomas Payne A room from 10AM-12PM, so feel free to bring in breakfast and stuff your face while you watch movies; hell, I might do that myself (Are you getting deja vu? I am…)

For the record, my NEFE appearances are supported in part with funds from the Strategic Opportunity Stipend (SOS) Program through the New York Foundation for the Arts, administered on Long Island by the East End Arts Council. (All of these entities are awesome).

Even though Marvel Comics is the biggest comic book company around, the DC Comics characters get all the fan film attention. This week, FCT takes a look at some of the Marvel-based fan flicks that have been flying under the radar.

Elektra is something of an oddity in the comic book world, in that she’s not really a high-profile character, but everyone still knows about her. A few years ago, she made a brief foray into feature films, portrayed by Jennifer Garner in the box-office dud, Daredevil, and then her own headlining, even-duddier flick, Elektra. Then there was a co-starring role in Dan Galiardi’s Iron Fist fan flick, but otherwise, I can’t recall any other fan productions featuring her. So leave it for Chris Notarile to fill in the gap.

If you’ve never come across a Blinky Productions fan film, you must be new to these kinds of flicks. The guy is a one-man fan film factory, with dozens—dozens—of them to his name, all featuring the forgotten heroes of the comic book world, like Power Girl (featuring internet cult star Tawnya Manion) and Blue Beetle (starring Notarile himself in the wetsuit). Heck, Notarile is so prolific that he even managed to land on the cover of my fan film book, Homemade Hollywood (and inside it, too, for that matter). Now he’s turned his gaze to Marvel Comics for the first time, and the result is his brand-new effort, Elektra (The Hand and the Devil).

See what you think and leave your comments below.

I know, I know—I said it was gonna be “all Marvel, all the time” this week, but that was before io9, the biggest Sci-Fi blog on the planet, dropped a bombshell on fan film lovers: the first major interview with Sandy Collora about his upcoming feature film debut, Hunter Prey.

Collora, you may recall, was the director of the classic DC Comics fan flicks Batman: Dead End and World’s Finest, and now he’s hard at work on this otherworldly adventure. It looks cool, it looks mean, it looks…well, really freaking hot on the set.

I’ve written about Hunter Prey before, but the new interview is your plentiful opportunity to learn more—a lot more—about it: The interview runs nearly 3,400 words (plus a few gorgeous pics that qualify for that old cliche that a picture is worth a thousand…ah, you get the idea). Early on, Collora is upfront about what fan films did for his career, and why he chose to make them, explaining:

I’ve written several scripts based on original ideas over the years… However for my last two short films to work the way I wanted them to, and generate the amount of buzz and publicity that they did, they needed to involve known characters that already had a huge fanbase. In my opinion, I feel that if instead of doing Batman Dead End and World’s Finest, I did more short films that were original, that no matter how good or well done they were, they simply would not have gained as much attention or praise from the fans. Case in point; Solomon Bernstein’s Bathroom and Archangel. Two short films I wrote and directed before I did my superhero fan films, and although both were professionally produced and shot on 35mm, even with Archangel winning some awards at festivals, not too many people are even aware they exist. Sometimes you need to look very pragmatically at the results of what you’re doing and what your work and career is yielding or not yielding, and make decisions based on those assessments.

I’ll unabashedly say that I’ve always dug io9.com. The first week it was up and running on the net, I emailed the editors a ‘hello’ and tipped them off to David Guivant’s unusual Iron Man fan film—and they ran it. More recently, they gave a rave review to my book, Homemade Hollywood (in which Collora’s flicks are featured, incidentally), and now there’s this. Give the interview a read for more insights into Collora’s step up to the big time.

Even though Marvel Comics is the biggest comic book company around, the DC Comics characters get all the fan film attention. This week, FCT takes a look at some of the Marvel-based fan flicks that have been flying under the radar.

Captain America has always gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to movies. I recall watching his direct-to-VHS feature film debut in the late ’80s, with that terrible flick that starred J.D. Salinger’s son as Cap. More recently, his shield—not even the hero himself!—got a cameo in Iron Man, and last week, it was announced that Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, Jurassic Park III) will direct something called First Avenger: Captain America. Well OK. In the fan film world, it’s not much better—Cap has a surprise cameo in the Bloodrayne fan film (oops, guess it’s not a surprise anymore), and that’s it. Until now.

There’s not much to know so far about this fan film so far, but if that trailer can make good on its promises, it could be an online hit. Filmmaker Pujo noted on the Captain America messageboard:

if we could pull off the classic look, I would’ve definitely gone for it. In fact during pre-productions, we bought a blue wetsuit from a local Goodwill store to see if that would work. Unfortunately, it made our Steve Rogers look more Spiderman in terms of muscle. The best we could do is go with a vintage WWII look on steroids. At first we tried sewing red and white strips on the torso of the jacket but it just didn’t look right. We tried to make up for it by strapping red and white banana clip bags to the front of his belt. We diverged from the comic book version a lot, but all of us felt like we made a very excellent costume that fits perfectly within a WWII timeframe.

The trailer says 2010; let’s hope we get to see some more of it before then.

Even though Marvel Comics is the biggest comic book company around, the DC Comics characters get all the fan film attention. This week, FCT takes a look at some of the Marvel-based fan flicks that have been flying under the radar.

Spider-Man is Marvel Comics’ most beloved superhero, but there aren’t a heck of a lot of fan films starring the Webbed Wonder, and with good reason: Who the heck wants to swing off a building without a net? (Well, besides Dan Poole?) It’s been a while since there was a full-on Spidey fan film that really went for it, and while I don’t know if this one will make a webshoot for the brass ring, the upcoming fan production, Peter’s Web, sure looks like it’s gonna try.

Filmmaker Roger King’s tribute to Stan Lee’s most famous creation is expected to be a seven-part series that will debut a new episode every month until it’s completed. King has been filming for 18 months and is about to start editing; it sounds like a lot of comic book favorites will be featured throughout, including Hobgoblin, Chameleon, Eddie Brock, Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy, Norman Osborn, Mysterio, Kraven, The Lizard, Curt Conners, Vermin, and even some cameos from Reed Richards (Fantastic Four) and Bruce Banner (the Hulk, duh).

Visit SpiderManCrawlSpace for a batch of screen shots from the film—and I do mean “screen shots;” if you look close, you can see a reflection of a digital camera photographing the picture itself off a computer monitor!