Now Playing Presents: The Marvel Comic Book Movie Retrospective Series

With Bryan Singer graduating from Mutant High to direct Superman, and taking most of his production crew with him, it fell to Brett Ratner to complete the X-Men trilogy. The war Magneto had foreseen in the first two films erupts when a cure for mutation is introduced. Itis the most bombastic of the X-Men trilogy and very polarizing to X-Fans, but does it Stand up for Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob? Listen to find out! {X-Men Series}  {Wolverine Series}  {Marvel Series}  {Comic Book Movie Series}

Professor X, Magneto, and most of the mutants from X-MEN return to the big screen three years after their debut - sporting higher production values, sharper social commentary, an enlarged cast, and answers for amnesiac Wolverine's backstory. Will Arnie, Jakob, and Stuart unite behind director Bryan Singer's grandiose vision, or will the many storylines send them into berserker rage? Listen and find out! {X-Men Series}  {Wolverine Series}  {Marvel Series}  {Comic Book Movie Series}

When you think of comic book superhero movies, do you think of concentration camps, human rights, and deep questions, starring both past and future Oscar winning actors? While certainly not the norm in 2000 when it was released, Bryan Singer's X-Men ushered in a new type of superhero film for a new century. With this being the first big-screen live action X-Men adaptation, bringing such comic book legends as Wolverine, Cyclops, Professor X, and Rogue to life and it's success launched not only the X-Men franchise but really set off a renaissance for Marvel Comics superhero films. With 11 years past, does this film hold up? Listen to Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob's review to find out! {X-Men Series}  {Wolverine Series}  {Marvel Series}  {Comic Book Movie Series}

Before there was X-Men...there was Generation X! For fans of the X-Men who had grown up watching the cartoon and reading the comics there would be a long wait, until 2000, for the X-Men to grace the silver screen in a big budget epic, but first in 1996 FOX aired the TV movie Generation X, a pilot for a TV series that never happened. Based on X-Men spin-off comic of the same name, Generation X sees a new group of superpowered teen mutants attending Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, here run by Emma Frost and Banshee, both featured characters in this summer's X-Men First Class! Starring Matt "Max Headroom" Frewer as the evil dream manipulating scientist Russel Tresh, is this inauspicious start for the X-Men something all fans should track down, or is it best forgotten like a bad dream? Listen to find out! {X-Men Series}  {Wolverine Series}  {Marvel Series}  {Comic Book Movie Series}

He has no powers, no girlfriend, no cool outfit, but /Dave Lizewski can still Kick-Ass in the film directed by future X-Men First Class director Matthew Vaughn. With it's balance of humor and violence, and a foul-mouthed, violent 11-year-old Hit Girl courting controversy the film failed to catch on with mainstream audiences. But is this an underrated Kick-Ass film, or are we three for three with our Marvel Misfits retrospective series? Listen to the final episode in this first part of our Marvel Comic Book Movie Retrospective to find out! {Marvel Misfits Series}  {Marvel Series}  {Comic Book Movie Series}  {Kick-Ass Series}

Rising from the swamps comes a humanoid creature made of pure plant matter - Marvel's Man-Thing! A cult comic book character, Man-Thing was promoted to Marvel Movie Star in 2005 to capitalize on the popularity of Man-Thing's superhero peers the X-Men and Spider-Man. Premiering on the Sci-Fi channel, this film remains fairly unknown. Is it a treasure found underneath the murkiness of the swamps, or a fetid swamp plant that should be left to decompose? Listen to Stuart, Arnie, and Jakob to find out! {Marvel Misfits Series} {Marvel Series}  {Comic Book Movie Series}

Fresh off the success of Return of the Jedi, blockbuster movie producer George Lucas was thought to have the golden touch and be able to do no wrong, but Lucas has always been one to do the impossible. And in the late summer of 1986, Howard the Duck was laid into by critics and fans alike. Now, for the 25th anniversary of this legendary flop, Arnie, Stuart, and Jakob watch and review the film as the start of their Marvel Comics Movie Retrospective Series! Is the movie as bad as critics said, or like Lucas said, 25 years later is this film looked back upon fondly? Listen to find out! {Marvel Misfits Series} {Marvel Series} {Comic Book Movie Series}