Written by Jon Williams
The entertainment world was stunned last weekend by the
passing of actor Chadwick Boseman after a long private battle with colon cancer.
He was 43.
Boseman got an early start on a career in film and
television. He got a degree in directing from Howard University, where Phylicia
Rashad was one of his teachers and Denzel Washington was a benefactor. He began
on the small screen with bit parts in shows like Law & Order, CSI:NY, and ER. In 2008 he appeared in his first big-screen role in The Express. However, he stayed mostly on television for the
next few years, landing recurring and regular roles on the shows Lincoln Heights and Persons Unknown (both currently unavailable), one more one-shots on
shows like Castle and Justified (Season 2 unavailable).
His star rocketed to the top for good with his first
starring role. In 2013, he played Jackie Robinson, the first African-American
player in Major League Baseball, in 42. (Coincidentally, the day he passed, August 28, was the date
MLB celebrated Jackie Robinson Day this year.) He then went on to play other
Black icons: James Brown in 2014’s Get on Up, and Thurgood Marshall, the first Black justice on
the U.S. Supreme Court, in 2017’s Marshall.
While Boseman achieved praise for portraying each of those
larger-than-life, real figures from American history, the greatest portion of
his fame came from his role as a fictional king. T’Challa, the superhero Black
Panther, was created by Marvel Comics in 1966; Boseman brought him to the
silver screen in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. The
character got his own standalone adventure in 2018’s Black Panther, detailing T’Challa’s coronation as King of
Wakanda and the first threat to his rule. Boseman played him again in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Black
Panther (#4), Infinity War (#5),
and Endgame (#2) are currently three
of the top five grossing films of all time at the domestic box office.
Chadwick Boseman’s final film role was in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, based on a
play detailing a recording session for blues musician Ma Rainey; release plans
for the movie are still up in the air. In the meantime, make sure to have his
work available for patrons who want to celebrate this phenomenally talented
actor. Click on the links above, or SmartBrowse his name on our website to find
more.
Written by Jon Williams
There are
certain media franchises that become so popular that they transcend just the
world of entertainment and become cultural touchstones. For three such
franchises, 2019 is they year in which they will come to an end—or at least
wind down their current iterations. Let’s take a look at them.
On April 26,
Avengers:
Endgame was released into theatres in North America. It debuted with a
bang, taking in the largest opening-weekend box office gross of all time with
more than $350 million. It has steadily added to that total and now stands as
the second on the list of highest-grossing films of all time. While it seems
unlikely to take over the top spot, it’s still in theatres and will definitely
add to its total, currently over $825 million. Endgame is the culmination of 22 films in the Marvel Cinematic
Universe that started with Iron
Man in 2008. While this movie may have brought the story of the
Avengers to a close, the same certainly can’t be said for the MCU as a whole.
On the immediate horizon is Spider-Man:
Far from Home, the sequel to 2017’s Homecoming,
with Tom Holland starring as the titular webslinger. This will mark the formal
end to “Phase Three” of the MCU, but future plans include a Black Widow movie
featuring Scarlett Johansson’s character, a Black
Panther sequel, a third Guardians
of the Galaxy installment, and plenty more on screens both big and
small. There is definitely plenty to look forward to from Marvel in the future,
although whether it continues to work together toward one cohesive story
remains to be seen.
The eighth
and final season of Game
of Thrones premiered before that, on April 14, and came to its
conclusion on May 19. Before the season began, we
examined the likelihood of broken ratings records, particularly for the
series finale. Those predictions came true, as the season’s sixth episode, the
show’s last, drew more than 19.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched
series finale in history for a show on cable. While the final season drew mixed
reviews from fans and critics, viewership numbers remained strong throughout,
and hunger for related content has kept author George R.R. Martin’s Fire
& Blood, a tale that begins centuries before the events of the
show, on the bestseller list since its publication last November. With the show
in the rearview mirror, fans will have to be content with Fire & Blood to hold them over for now, but there are more
stories to come. For one thing, Martin still has two books left in his Song
of Ice & Fire, the novel series that inspired the show. It has been
eight years since the last, A
Dance with Dragons, was published, and while no date has yet been
announced for the arrival of the next, The
Winds of Winter, recent updates from Martin have fans optimistic that it
will be finished in the not-too-distant future. HBO also has plans for a number
of companion shows, with at least one currently going forward with Naomi Watts
set to star.
Then, later
this year, the Star Wars sequel
trilogy will come to a close when Episode
IX: The Rise of Skywalker comes out on December 20. Of course, this echoes
1983, when Return of the Jedi
concluded the original
trilogy, and 2005, when Revenge of
the Sith did the same for the prequel
trilogy; however, it’s actually a culmination of all three, as The Rise of Skywalker will drop the
curtain on the saga of Anakin Skywalker and his offspring. The current trilogy
began in 2015 with The
Force Awakens, the one film that Avengers:
Endgame trails on the all-time box office list, and continued with The
Last Jedi in 2017. After this film there will be a short hiatus for Star Wars on the big screen, but it
definitely will be back—a new film series, set in a different era from the
Skywalker films, is set to begin in December 2022 with Game of Thrones
showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss at the helm. In the meantime, Pedro
Pascal will star in the upcoming TV show The
Mandalorian, to premiere November 12 of this year, and Diego Luna will
reprise his role from the standalone blockbuster Rogue
One in another, as-yet-unnamed TV series.
So while
these beloved franchises may be coming to a close, each in its own way, fans can
take comfort in the fact that there are still plenty of stories to come in the
respective universes. And patrons will always be eager to revisit these favourites
or immerse themselves for the first time. Use the links above to put these
great movies and TV shows on your shelves, and SmartBrowse on our website for a
plethora of related content.
Written by Jon Williams
Eleven years
and twenty-two movies in, the Marvel
Cinematic Universe is stronger than ever. In its first weekend of release,
the highly anticipated Avengers:
Endgame set a record with over $356 million made at the box office.
That’s nearly $100 million more than the previous record holder for opening
weekend box office gross—last year’s Avengers:
Infinity War, which this movie follows on from. And with the entire
weekend box office totaling $392 million, Endgame
enjoyed a staggering 90% market share. 1 (It’s also worth noting that
the weekend’s second place movie was also from Marvel— Captain
Marvel, adding $8 million to its current $414 million total in its
eighth weekend of release.)
The numbers
are even more astounding on a global scale. Endgame
brought in over $1.2 billion around the globe. Fewer than 40 movies have made
over a billion dollars in the entirety of their theatrical runs, and Endgame did it in just one weekend.2
Infinity War was the previous record
holder in this regard as well; it took 11 days to cross the billion
dollar-mark.3
Ticket sales
for Endgame are likely to remain
strong for the foreseeable future, as those who weren’t able to secure tickets
for opening weekend look to see it for the first time and as die-hard Marvel
fans return for repeat viewings. With that being the case, more box office
records are sure to fall, with all-time marks in its sights. Topping the $937
million domestic record of Star
Wars: The Force Awakens and the $2.8 billion global record of Avatar
will be a tall order, but both are certainly within the realm of possibility.
These films
are popular with library patrons as well as moviegoers. Use the links above to
pre-order Avengers: Endgame and Captain Marvel and get them on your
shelves as soon as they are available, and SmartBrowse on our website to find
other entries in the ever-popular MCU.
Written by Jon Williams
Last week, Marvel Studios’ Avengers:
Infinity War thundered into theatres across North America to the tune of
a nearly $258 million opening. That total pushed it past 2015’s Star
Wars: The Force Awakens for the highest grossing opening weekend of all
time. Going into its second weekend, it looks likely to dominate the box office
once again, and in fact may continue to do so until the next Marvel movie, the
much-anticipated Deadpool
sequel, opens on May 18.
We last checked in
on the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) nearly two years ago, with the release
of Captain
America: Civil War. That movie kicked off Phase 3 of Marvel’s ongoing interconnected
movie universe, and the post detailed the films that made up the first two
phases. Phase 3 continued in 2016 with Doctor
Strange, which brought Benedict
Cumberbatch’s reality-bending sorcerer into the mix. The following year saw
three MCU blockbusters, starting with Guardians
of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in May. The action returned to Earth with Spider-Man:
Homecoming in July, the webslinger’s first solo outing since Civil War introduced him to the Avengers
team. Then, in November, Thor:
Ragnarok showed the exploits of the two Avengers (Hulk being the
second) who weren’t around for the events of Civil War. And 2018 has really brought the power: before Infinity War’s incredible opening
weekend, Black
Panther, which opened in February, became the third highest-grossing
film of all time in North America. That movie, which is still showing in many
theatres nearly three months later, comes to video on May 15.
So where do the Avengers go from here? For those that have
seen the movie (no spoilers!), that is a very pressing questions. The immediate
answer is Ant-Man and the Wasp, which
comes to theatres on July 6. It’s a sequel to 2015’s Ant-Man
(Phase 2), which saw Paul
Rudd’s character Scott Lang get the suit that allows him to shrink or grow
at will. However, the film is set in the time period between Civil War and Infinity War, so don’t expect too many answers as to what happens
next. From there, fans will have to wait until next March, when Captain Marvel is set to be released,
with Brie
Larson in the title role. Likewise, though, there isn’t likely to be any
closure here, either, as it’s set in the 1990s. No, for that, everyone is just
going to have to wait for the as-yet-untitled fourth Avengers movie, currently slated for release on May 3, 2019. That
will bring the curtain down on Phase 3 and lead into Phase 4, about which
little is known at this point.
A year is a long time to wait for the next Avengers, but on the bright side, it’s
also plenty of time for patrons to relive or get caught up on all the
incredible movies that have brought us to this point—starting, of course, with Iron
Man, which kicked off the MCU when it was released almost exactly ten
years ago, on May 2, 2008. And for those who want to dig a little deeper, we
have curated a collection of Infinity War-related comics on hoopla, as well as a
wealth of other Marvel titles.
Written by Jon Williams
Captain America: Civil
War landed in theatres last Friday and dominated the box office, and it
looks to do the same this weekend. It tells the story of an ideological rift in
the superhero team that leads to conflict between Captain America and Iron Man,
as well as their various allies. It’s the latest installment in Marvel’s
cinematic universe that dates back to 2008. In the eight years since, there
have been a number of films and TV shows that have contributed to this
universe, with plenty more on the horizon, and it can be difficult to keep up
with everything that’s out here. With that in mind, here’s a look at what you
need to know about this ultra-popular series.
The whole shebang began in 2008 with Iron Man, in which Robert Downey Jr.
plays billionaire playboy and technological genius Tony Stark, who fashions a
powered armor suit for himself after being abducted by terrorists. Shortly
thereafter came The Incredible Hulk, with Edward
Norton in the role of Dr. Bruce Banner and his rage-fueled alter ego. Iron Man 2 was the first sequel in
2010. Then, in 2011, two new superheroes were introduced: Thor starred Chris Hemsworth as the
god of thunder, and Captain America: The First Avenger
told the WWII-era origin story of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and brought him
into the modern day. In 2012, Marvel brought Phase One of their cinematic
universe to a close by assembling all these heroes (plus a couple of others,
and replacing Edward Norton with Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk) into an unstoppable
fighting force known as The Avengers.
Phase Two began with movies featuring three of the
individual avengers: Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World in 2013 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier
in 2014. That year also saw the introduction of a new team, more aliens and
misfits than superheroes: Guardians of the Galaxy was popular
almost as much for its classic rock soundtrack as for its fun and action-packed
plot. In 2015, the Avengers came together once again for Age of Ultron; then, for the first
time in Phase Two, another individual superhero made his entrance in the form
of Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man.
Captain America: Civil
War, which is the first film in Phase Three, actually seems much more like
an Avengers movie. While the Hulk and Thor are absent, the other members of the
team, including War Machine (Don Cheadle), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Black Widow
(Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), all play prominent roles. In
addition, it also provides an origin for a new Spider-Man (Tom Holland), who
will be rebooted into this Marvel universe with Homecoming in 2017, and introduces Black Panther (Chadwick
Boseman), who gets an individual movie in 2018. Next on Marvel’s docket is Doctor Strange, starring Benedict
Cumberbatch, which releases in November; other films to look forward to include
a second Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), and a
two-part Avengers Infinity War (2018
and 2019).
And of course, those are just the movies; the MCU has spread
to the small screen as well. It started in 2013 with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which airs
its two-hour Season 3 finale next Tuesday. Starring Clark Gregg as Agent Phil
Coulson, it deals with the government agency tasked with countering enemies
like Hydra that pose monumental threats to humanity. In early 2015, it was
joined on the airwaves by Agent Carter,
in which Hayley Atwell plays Peggy Carter, a secret agent in the 1940s who
works often with Howard Stark (Iron Man’s father) and played a large role in
Captain America’s back story. Daredevil
(starring Charlie Cox as a blind crime-fighter) and Jessica Jones (starring Krysten Ritter as a traumatized former
superhero who now runs a detective agency) both debuted in 2015 as well. All
those shows are ongoing (with the exception of Agent Carter, which will not continue past its second season), and
Marvel has plenty more in the offing. Luke
Cage (Mike Colter) will premiere at the end of September, and Iron Fist (Finn Jones) is filming now. A
bit further down the line, once those two series have begun, the TV superheroes
will get their own team-up in the form of The
Defenders, currently slated for sometime in 2017.
(Please note: Daredevil
and Jessica Jones are not yet
available in a physical format. Agents of
S.H.I.E.L.D. (beyond the first season) and Agent Carter are currently unavailable to us, but are expected to
become available at some point. We’ll keep you posted.)
The box office numbers for Captain America: Civil War show that the popularity of Marvel and
its characters and stories continues unabated. As their universe grows, make
sure you have these movies and shows on your shelves for fans who want to
relive them and for new converts who want to catch up.
Written by Kirk Baird
There’s a reason why The Avengers was the No. 1 box-office attraction this summer and one of the top films of all time.
It’s a smart and deliriously fun romp that exceeds all expectations — a spectacular achievement in itself considering all the hype surrounding Joss Whedon's superhero epic. His film is the new paradigm for a $250 million popcorn film.
Whedon has concocted a wildly entertaining story loaded with clever one-liners that should satisfy everyone, from die-hard comic geeks to casual moviegoers looking for a few hours of escapism. He also expertly paces the intense action with the occasional quiet moment of drama and introspection, revealing, if only for a moment, the humanity behind the brawn and spandex.
The plot features the return of Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor's step-brother and villain of the first Thor film, who has escaped eternal banishment and is determined to subjugate the human race. The evil Norse demigod has allied himself with a race of alien warriors known as Chitauri. Humans are no match for these beings, so Earth turns to its mightiest heroes for help: Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson)—collectively known as the Avengers.
The heroes are recruited by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson as Samuel L. Jackson), head of S.H.I.E.L.D., a secret U.S. military force.
Whedon is a lifelong comic-book fan who has an affinity for these characters and understands them. He also knows that if you put this many larger-than-life superhumans in one room there are going to be problems: ego clashes, disputes about how to mete out justice, and who's in charge. Before the Avengers smash the enemy, they must first stop battling each other.
Their verbal-turned-physical smackdowns create an underlying thread of dramatic tension throughout much of the movie, and Whedon mines these moments for a surprising amount of humour. The whip-smart banter plays to the strength of Downey, but everyone has their grand moments, with the Hulk topping them all. (Hulk’s crowd-pleasing scene, Whedon noted in his entertaining commentary, represents the crowning achievement in the film, to the point if the filmmaker did nothing else during the two years spent making The Avengers but that moment on screen with the Hulk, he would be happy.)
We've already been introduced to these super-powered, super-skilled warriors, so there isn't a lot of alter-ego backstory to get in the way of the fun. The Avengers is mostly about letting the superheroes be just that on screen, and doing whatever our imaginations, Whedon, and CGI can conjure.
The Blu-ray version of The Avengers features the usual sharp picture and audio from the high-definition transfer. More importantly, the Blu-ray version features a load of extras not on the DVD, including nearly 15 minutes of deleted scenes (mostly character development stuff along with an unfinished action sequence), a gag reel, and an amusing short film called Marvel One-Shot: Item 47 that addresses what happens when an alien weapon leftover from the climactic battle ends up in the hands of would-be bank robbers. Both the DVD and Blu-ray include a featurette on the making of the film.
The Avengers stands alone as the top film of the summer, critically and commercially, for good reason. Whedon has delivered that rare action-packed, special-effects spectacle that is relentless in its eagerness to please and successful beyond its goal.
Believe the hype...and more.
Written by Kirk Baird
In a recent interview with Stan Lee, I asked the famed comic-book writer and co-creator of so many classic Marvel superheroes — the Amazing Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, Thor, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four — if there are any titles remaining he would still like to see on the big screen.
Of course Lee, 89, had several he said would make great movies, Dr. Strange and Black Panther being two he mentioned by name. He also said if any Marvel film was competently and properly made, any of its superheroes could be a winner on screen. Perhaps that’s why he’s excited about the upcoming Ant-Man adaptation by Edgar Wright ( Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World).
But alas, not all superhero films are created equally, especially from Marvel properties. But those that have worked have been met with critical praise and huge box-office numbers, the biggest and best of these being this summer’s The Avengers. This all-star team-up of some of Marvel’s biggest names — Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow — not only was the biggest film this summer, but ranks as the third biggest moneymaker of all time. With the release of The Avengers on DVD and Blu-ray, here are some of the other best and brightest of the Marvel superhero film catalog:
The first two X-Men movies ( X-Men and X2) and the prequel reboot, X-Men: First Class. The link between these three movies is filmmaker Bryan Singer, the director and cowriter of the first two X-Men movies and a hands-on producer for the reboot. In between these high points for mutant kind was X-Men: The Last Stand, which Singer and his writing team abandoned in favor of the ill-fated reboot, Superman Returns, while director Brett Ratner was brought in at the last minute.
X-Men: First Class was a successful attempt at negotiating around the third film disaster and reigniting the X-Men franchise, this time at the beginning, with a new cast, several new heroes, and a fun 1960s James Bond vibe.
Iron Man and Iron Man 2: With the cheeky brilliant Robert Downey, Jr., in the lead of Tony Stark/Iron Man, a genius, cocky, and sardonic scientist billionaire, the first Iron Man proved to be a classic in the comic-book genre. I’m in the minority, though, in thinking that Iron Man 2 is a worthy sequel. In terms of summer popcorn entertainment, it does exactly what it needs to do: keep you entertained from start to finish. Look for Iron Man 3 next summer.
Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2: I’m not so much a fan of this summer’s Spider-Man reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man, as I feel it covered much of the same back-story territory that Sam Raimi and co. did with the first Spider-Man, which launched the franchise in splendid fashion. The second film was even better, now that the characters had been established and it could move beyond the origin story. The third film, unfortunately, tried too hard to one-up its predecessors, squeezing in three villains and a muddled plot.
Captain America: The First Avenger: With the origin of Captain America as the movie’s plot, director Joe Johnston cobbles together an engaging superhero romp that never takes itself too seriously, and even manages to pay homage to World War II propaganda films. Chris Evans makes for the ideal film representation of the perfect soldier. Evans will also don the red, white, and blue costume again in 2014 for Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Written by Kirk Baird
The Amazing Spider-Man swung into theatres on July 3. If it seems strange to have a reboot of the franchise after the original was released only a decade ago, consider 2003’s The Hulk. This critically and commercially underwhelming origin story of Marvel Comics’ Green Goliath was essentially rebooted in 2008 with a new cast, new director, and what amounts to an apology to fans with The Incredible Hulk.
The Incredible Hulk didn’t live up to expectations either, which is why there is a third actor (Mark Ruffalo) playing Hulk in this summer’s superhero team-up, The Avengers. But this Hulk was much different and, frankly, much better in movie theatres. He was limited in screen time, but he made the most of it, stealing scenes and the movie from the other heroes with a surprising amount of humour to go with the CGI “Hulk smash!” effects.
Now look for an Incredible Hulk TV series next year, executive produced by filmmaker Guillermo del Toro ( Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy) — remember the classic TV series starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno in the 1970s and ’80s? There’s also serious talk of another standalone Hulk feature film starring Ruffalo in 2015.
Written by Kirk Baird
Is there any stopping The
Avengers? Earth’s Mightiest Heroes joined forces onscreen and set
box-office records, including the honour to be first film to debut with a
$200-million-plus opening weekend. (Its $207.4 million haul bested previous
record holder Harry Potter and theDeathly Hallows: Part 2 and its $169.2 million in 2011.).
This weekend marked its third-straight at the top of the box
office, as it continues to fend off some big-budgeted competition including Dark Shadows and most recently Battleship.
The Avengers’ reign
as moviegoers’ top pick will come to an end at some point, perhaps as soon as
this weekend with the next challenger, Men
in Back III. The sci-fi comedy reunites Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as
Agent J and Agent K, respectively. The story features Agent J time traveling to
the 1960s to prevent the assassination of a younger Agent K (played by Josh
Brolin) and changing history.
And speaking of time travel … it’s been a decade since Men in Black Part II underwhelmed
critics, audiences, and the box office, though it did ultimately earn Sony
studios a profit. Part II opened in July 2002 with a $52 million haul. Not bad
until you consider the first Men in Black
opened with nearly the same amount, in 500 less theaters, and at 1997 ticket prices.
For the record: The Avengers made $55
million in its third weekend, which makes it formidable competition this
weekend as well.
If Men in Black III
fails to take down the team of Marvel superheroes, next up to dethrone the king
would be Snow White and the Huntsman,
starring Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth (who plays Thor the God of Thunder in
The Avengers), and Kristen Stewart.
The trailers look promising for this dark and CGI-intense adaptation of the
classic fairytale. It’s also the second Snow White big-screen reinvention this
year, following on the heels of Mirror
Mirror, a dark comedy starring Julia Roberts, Nathan Lane, Armie Hammer,
and Lily Collins (daughter of singer-songwriter-drummer Phil Collins). Mirror Mirror opened March 30 and grossed
only $18.13 million its first weekend, on its way to less than $70 million.
With an estimated budget of $85 million, Mirror
Mirror only made a profit through the foreign box-office and yielded nearly
$98 million.
But any victory by either of these two summer film newcomers
would be short lived, given the increasing build-up to the June 8 opening of Prometheus.
What do you think?
Written by Kirk Baird
The Hulk
along with the other Avengers smashed the movie competition last weekend with a
record-breaking $207-million opening. (To put that figure in perspective,
consider that the previous No. 1 opening belonged to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, with nearly $170
million.) The Avengers is a superhero mash-up featuring some of Marvel Comics’
top names — Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Hulk —
who join forces to save Earth from an evil god and his alien invasion force. But
The Avengers is only the latest-greatest superhero film, with dozens of titles
featuring the heroes battling villains solo and in teams.
The Hulk:
Hulk VS. … (2008 animated movie)
*The Incredible Hulk (1978, TV Premiere,
and seasons 1-5)
The
Incredible Hulk Returns/Trial of the Incredible Hulk (1989, TV movies)
*Planet Hulk (2009 animated movie)
Thor:
Iron Man:
Iron Man, the Complete 1994 Animated
Series (1994-1996,
animated series)
Iron Man: New Animated Series (2010, animated series)
Iron Man — Extremis (2010, animated series)
Captain
America:
*Captain America — The First Avenger (2011)
Captain America (1979, TV movie pilot)
Captain America II: Death Too Soon (1979, TV movie pilot)
The
Avengers:
The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (2010 –, animated series)
The Avengers: United They Stand (1999-2000, animated series)
Next Avengers — Heroes of Tomorrow (2008, animated)
Ultimate Avengers 2 (2006, animated film)
* denotes Kirk's picks
With the Canucks going out in shame during the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the city of Vancouver needed a pick me up. Well they had to look no further than hometown model and actress Cobie Smulders. Smulders never gave much thought to acting. Born on April 3, 1982, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Cobie had set her sights on becoming a doctor or a marine biologist. In fact, it wasn't until high school that Cobie started to explore acting after appearing in several school productions. Once out of high school it wasn't long before Cobie landed roles in several hit television series. Her most successful is her role as "Robin" in How I Met Your Mother.
Now the How I Met Your Mother star is taking on a legendary role in the first big popcorn flick of the summer, Joss Whedon’s highly anticipated The Avengers. Smulders plays S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill, who was described by former Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada as “a force of nature.”
Are you planning to see The Avengers? We think Cobie is going to rock the big screen! Your thoughts?
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