So....Peter Capaldi hey?!

I haven't got round to this yet but couldn't help noticing the similarities. If Capaldi's Doctor wears green and white stripes I'm suing your arse Moffat...

What I would do with...Star Wars Episode VII (Part 2)

In the first part of this series I outlined my ideas for the characters could inhabit the star wars universe in a post ROTJ film trilogy (as announced by Dinsey last year). The idea of this post, and the subsequent ones, is to break the film down into is respective three "acts" and to hopefully develop a tangible idea for a plot. So, without any further ado, here goes...







Star Wars episode 7, Act 1.

The traditional opening crawl details that the galaxy is still in a state of conflict. The Imperial remnant are caught in a power struggle and the new republic, led by Mon Mothma, still struggles to rally allies to its cause. We then get told that Luke Skywalker has slowly been re-establishing the jedi order at his praxeum on Yavin 4 and that Han and Leia, now married, are on their way there today to witness a very important event; their children (Jacen and Jaina) are to be crowned Jedi apprentices.

Han and Leia, in the millenium falcon (for fan service) arrive at Yavin and meet their children who are nervous younglings, no older at this point, than 14 years old. Han and his wife council the two and go off to take their seats in the viewing gallery remarking how proud they are of their jedi children; Han even remarks that of all the people he never expected to have jedi children.

Cut away to the distant outer rim worlds. A handful of star destroyers orbit a distant dark planet and in the center of the fleet is a larger super star destroyer. On the bridge of this ship, as seen in the previous episodes, stand a number of Imperial Admirals and other officer etc running about. A nervous lieutenant approaches and informs the admiral that "he" is ready.  The admiral turns nervously and straightens his uniform. For all intents and purposes it could be Vader approaching. The camera follows this mysterious white uniformed figure up to the view screen. His skin is blue and he is seen from the rear. The Admiral informs this character that they are making good progress on the planets surface and that they should be "through" in no time. The character retorts that they still have much to do and that the designs for the weapon are finally within his grasp. He then finishes mysteriously by saying that his "Master" would have been proud. He tells the Admiral to not waste anymore time and turns to reveal the face of Grand Admiral Thrawn.



Back at the Jedi Praxeum a number of jedi enter the arena below and sit paitently waiting. Luke Skywalker then has a grand entrance and leads the ceremony. At the end he gives each of the new apprentices a master to follow. He teams Jaina and Jacen together, because of thier age, and gives them Katarn as their master. Much will be made of the twins descdendancy from Vader and their immense talent in the force...hence the reason that they are the youngest in the ceremony.

Katarn approaches the two and tells them to dispense with the formalities of calling him "master" and that they should instead call him Kyle. This scene outlines his laid back and apprentice led style to being a jedi. He teaches well but is keen to let his students have first hand experience as well. He tells his students that Luke already has a mission for the three and that they are to leave immediately; a trade ship distress signal from the outer rim. Jacen quips that this should be nothing too difficult, Katarn warns him against jumping to conclusions. 

Luke has a brief scene now with Han and Leia. Han is slightly unhappy that Luke has paired the two with Katarn but Luke informs him that Kyle has the best style for the two headstrong twins and that he will be good with them. We get a hint also at Leia's force sensitivity as she tells Han that she can sense Luke's sincerity. Leia also share's her concerns about the Imperial Remnant and that they have been too quiet recently to which Han remarks that he has a bad feeling.

 
Be sure to tune in again soon for Act 2...

What I would do with...Star Wars Episode 7 (Part 1)

Running along side my "What I would do with" series of posts will be this series that looks at my ideas for projects that are yet to be released. With that in mind I have decided to start with a film that ignited a lot of geek smiles and nerd explosions when Disney announced the purchased of Lucasfilm last year; Star Wars Episode 7.


 I'll cover the main characters now and then discuss others when required in the treatment...









Characters
As the first film in a sequel trilogy I am very interested to see how episode 7 will blend old and new characters together. With that in mind here is my potential cast list for episode 7, with a brief description of each characters role in the film.

Luke Skywalker
Now 30 years on from the events of Return of the Jedi Luke is a Jedi master and head of the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. For me, the character of Luke in these films should be siilar to Ben Kenobi in the original trilogy. It might be nice to have him show his awesome Jedi skills at some point, but Luke is definitely not a main character anymore.

Leia Solo
New Republic Senator and wife of Han Solo, but most importantly a mum to Jaina and Jacen Solo, the new figureheads of the Star Wars universe.

Han Solo
Hardened Bounty Hunter, father to Jaina and Jacen and still with a support role. Again, like Luke, give the loyal fans the service of seeing him kick ass again but not to the point of overuse of ridiculousness. Throw Chewie in here as well.

Jaina Solo
One of the new focal characters for the trilogy, and more importantly for the Star Wars franchise; a female protagonist. Both Jaina and Jacen will be trained by Luke as Jedi when the trilogy starts.

Jacen Solo
Like his sister, Jacen will be one of the main characters and the primary focus of the new trilogy as he battles with and ultimately falls to the dark side to become Darth Cadues.

Darth Sidious (Force Ghost)
A divisive choice I know, but considering he was easily the most powerful force user in the star wars universe it is not concievable to think that he wouldn't have found out how to become a force ghost. Plus he could prove a very useful plot tool to turn Jacen slowly to the dark side. Just imagine him seeding doubts and questions into Jacens head throughout the films.

Mara-Jade
One of my favourite characters from the expanded universe and a potentail love interest for Luke Skywalker himself. Her presence in my version of the film is two-fold; firstly, she is a force user and so could battle Luke (which would pleased fans). Secondly, she would be needed for future films to provide the child that she and Luke eventually have.

Kyle Katarn
Again a possibly divisive choice but think about it for a minute. Star Wars fans know who Katarn is, so a back story isn't needed. Plus, if he is introduced as an "already trained" jedi he could act as go between between Luke and the kids. He would also be an instant referrence point for the fans to show how Luke has set up his new generation of Jedi Kights. He could even be used as a trainer for the solo twins, making him a focus of the trilogy, and developing a very personal story for him as a failed master when Jacen turns to the dark side. 

So those are my ideas for the main main characters. In the next post I will go into the different acts of an episode 7 film and try to flesh out how the new trilogy would start. Let me know what you think about these choices in the comments below, and of course feel free to suggest your own additions as well.

What I would have done with...Iron Man 3

 
To kick off this new series of posts entitled "What I would have done with..." I have decided to talk about Iron Man 3. 

BEWARE! IRON MAN 3 SPOILERS FOLLOW! 

For those of you still here you will know that there have been a number of considerable  criticisms leveled at the third installment in the iron man franchise(See here), none more vocal than the films treatment of its antagonist as played by Ben Kingsley, the Mandarin. I for one actually found the twist quite interesting and definitely didn't see it coming, but I still wouldn't have done it...

I should point out that in these series of posts I do intend to convey my own ideas for "what I would have done with" these films but after finding this alternate version of the Iron Man 3 plot online I couldn't find a way to top it. 

Lifted from GeeksofDoom this alternate version of the plot not only gives the Mandarin a proper, meatier role, but includes the Hulk (yeah!). The basic points are as follows...

Act 1

- Stark tower would have been the main setting for the film instead of Malibu

- Banner and Stark would be hard at work throughout the film to try and discover the secrets of the Chitauri from the Avengers.

 - Rhodey is fighting against the ten rings abroad, in his own little personal war. The Ten rings are of course led by the mysterious Mandarin who captures Rhodey. The Mandarin releases a video showing James Rhodes held hostage, the Iron Patriot suit dismantled like a cheap plastic plaything. The Mandarin reveals himself, stepping out of the shadows, with a gun pointed to Rhodey’s head. This catches Tony’s attention, who has been consumed with his work at Avengers Tower. 

- The Mandarin issues a threat, If Stark doesn’t show up in 24 hours, the Mandarin is going to execute Iron Patriot on national television. Banner offers to help but this is "Tony's war" and he goes it alone in a new armour (if we really need to)

Act 2

 -Tony flies across the world and blows up some tin rings installations, beliving that he is making a big difference and kicking some ass. He makes his way to the Mandarin's palace and the two face-off.

- Long story short, Tony’s first fight with the Mandarin doesn’t go as planned. This is the first time we really get to see the extent of the Mandarin’s mystical powers, derived from the ten magic rings he wears on his fingers. In the battle, Tony fails to save Rhodey, who is murdered at the hands of the Mandarin. Tony’s suit is blasted beyond repair and Iron Man barely makes it out of there alive. 

- Tony makes it back to Mailbu to be nursed to health by Pepper and Happy (Who have considerably diluted roles in this version of the film) whilst the Mandarin taunts the world and threatens a last attack on New York to finish what the aliens started.

Act 3 

- Final showdown in New York. Stark and the Mandarin fight at Stark Tower. As Stark is about to defeat the Mandarin he uses his mystical rings to take control of Banner, who attacks Iron Man...lets be honest, we all want to see it. Tony escapes and of course dons the Hulkbuster! 

- There is then a massive Stark and Hulk fight. Hulk tries to squeeze the life out of Tony and crush the suit, but Tony delivers a crushing blow to the Hulk’s head and gets free, just long enough to get his hands on the Mandarin. In the Hulkbuster armor, Tony grabs Mandarin and crushes his hands, preventing him from using the magic rings. Hulk shakes off the spell and slowly regains self-control, transforming back into Banner.

- The Mandarin is taken into custody. Stark and Banner wax-lyrical about the research they were doing and Tony flies off into space in his space armour.

Final thoughts...

Personally I love this story line and think it would have made a lot better film than the one that we ended up with. You will notice a distinct lack of Pepper and Happy in this version and I agree with that. I could not abide the "super-girl" Pepper that we got at the end of Shane Black's film and this alternate version would have been a much better use for her character.

Extremis is also not a major plot point in this version. Personally I wouldn't have used it at all. Knowing now that Ultron is going to be in the Avengers sequel as the villian I suppose Extremis could have been a background element for Banner and Stark to be discussing, but it just didn't need to be central to the plot. 

As I sad previously, in future posts of this series I will attempt to convey my own ideas for alternate plots to movies, but as I am sure you will agree this idea was so good that I could not see any real way of improving it. Do feel free to head over to Geeks of Doom to read the unabridged version here.

The New League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Part 2) Plot Outline.

In the previous post of this series I outlined how I went about forming a new League of Extraordinary gentlemen for a concept project and idea that I had had. What follows below is the treatment for how I imagine the film would play out.

I will warn that this is a very rough draft, and the closest I got to the idea being finished. If anything this is more of test-bed to show you, the reader, how I intend to describe my ideas and musings. Enjoy...

Act 1

The opening scene would be set under tower bridge in London. A man emerges from one of the portals to Wonderland that, as part of League Lore, Alice found long ago. This man will be found by an un-named agent, sent by M, who has been tracking him. The Man pays the agent the mysterious compliment of being the only man, "apart from the other, who is a little more than a man" who has been able to track him. He shoots the agent and leaves.

After the title sequence will be the reveal that the agent that was shot was James Bond. After Bond is murdered M tasks Rob Richards, who is seemingly another MI5 agent, to recruit The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. She divulges to Richards that this must be done quietly as she suspects a conspiracy and that Prime Minister Gilles Estram, who came to power fro obscurity in no less than 18 months, is behind the murder of James Bond.

Richards travels to recruit V, who is revealed to be Evey Hammond. He plays on her hatred for corrupt governments and seeds the plot point of Estram being the antagonist. They then journey to attempt to recruit Sherlock Holmes, but, as he is unwilling to join, they leave. They are attacked by mercenaries and after a battle in which V is injured  Holmes agrees to join the league. They take V to MI5 headquarters where M reveals Hagrid, who cures V through the use of magic.

Act 2

Holmes declares that he needs to investigate Elstram’s meteoric rise to power and the league agree to split up. Holmes finds a link between Estrams falsified past and his apparent appearance eighteen months ago. He goes abroad to Meet with TinTin and Haddock, who are, independently of the league, investigating the seemingly random political trips that Estram has been taking since being elected.

V, Hagrid and Richards go to the sight of Bond’s murder and, at the same time as the other team, uncover and activate a portal to Wonder Land. The portals spew a number of horrific monsters that the members of the league defeat. They agree to regroup and TinTin and Haddock join the League. On the way back to London Holmes contacts his brother Mycroft and gets him to investigate the “political trips” that Estram has been taking, therefore revealing portals all over the world that he could use to bring forth these monsters. 

As the League gather at MI5 headquarters it is assaulted by Estrams flunkies and M is badly injured. After fighting off the bad guys and interrogating their leader the team use their skills to deduce where Estram is and go to find him. They find him in his Government office alone and confront him. It is here that he reveals himself to be "The Master" from Doctor Who.

When asked what he is waiting for he answers “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” as he believes that they are the only power in the world that could stop him. V retorts that this is not likely and shoots the Master dead. To the shock of the League he regenerates and uses his regeneration energy to attack them. He then turns his regeneration energy into a transmitter that activates the portals around the world, spewing forth the monsters from Wonder Land. He taunts the League that they could kill him here and now or loose the world, stating that each time he dies the portals get stronger.

Act 3

Holmes tells the League that he has a plan and the Master runs off. He sends TinTin and V to London Bridge to work on an explosion to bring down on top of the portal. He tasks Hagrid, Richards and Haddock with the hand to hand combat, therefore keeping the monsters busy. 

Holmes vows to uncover the secret of the Masters regeneration and breaks into the MI5 archives to look for clues. The Battle rages on and the characters show their full skills. V and TinTin manage to bring down London Bridge but the portal simply absorbs the blast and spews forth more monsters, which engage V and TinTin in a seemingly unwinnable battle. Soon, Hagrid, Richards and Haddock are overpowered and seem withdrawn to the fact that this is their last stand. They manage to regroup in the center of a now battered London and fight the monsters. Richards agrees to leave the battle and help Holmes if he can.

  Holmes deduces that the Master is linked to the portals somehow and as Richards greets him so does the Master. Standoff. Holmes and the Master share a brainy encounter and as the master goes to attack Holmes Richards intervenes and shoots the Master hitting him perfectly in one of his hearts. Shocked by this the Master, who is unable to regenerate, then engages in hand-to-hand combat with Roberts and they fight. Holmes leaves the battle and contacts the other league members.

At the exact moment, V throws a grenade into the portal and Hagrid uses a spell on it. The portal spasms and begins shrinking in on itself. It is at this point that Roberts delivers the knockout blow to the Master and he begins to regenerate. However, because as Holmes figured out, his regeneration energy is linked to the portals, that are now dying, he cannot complete the regeneration and is left in a constant state.

The League regroup at the Master who is beginning to tear a whole in the fabric of the world. Holmes quips that the League should phone the emergency services...and The Doctor arrives. He brings out a device that scoops the Master into a recipticle and stores him as pure regeneration energy, never to be a bother again.

Holmes offers the Doctor to join the League and he says that the world is well enough protected, leaving with a promise of help should something else much bigger ever arise.

The film draws to a close with the League going their separate ways as Holmes, M and Roberts stand watching the world being rebuilt. Holmes reveals to Roberts that he figured out the secret. Holmes refers to Roberts as 008, Bond was 007, he regenerated, therefore revealing that Roberts is a regenerated 007. The film closes!

Post Credits Scene revealing the potential for access to Cthulhu. 

So yes there are a lot of plot holes, but I hope the general idea has come across quite well. The treatment never really got that fine tuned after this initial draft, but I did enjoy planning the story out and the twist at the end about not only the Doctor, but Bond regenerating too. I hope you enjoyed it, as ever, let me know what you think below...