As we all know, all of Marvel Studio’s current franchises will collide in 2012’s Avengers film. The question is: where to from there? Sure, Iron Man 3 is already in the works, but I’m sure I speak for all of us comic fans when I say that we would like to see more than just an endless array of sequels. What Marvel properties should be turned into films next? For me, the answer is obvious: the always-awesome duo of Power Man and Iron Fist, Heroes for Hire! Follow the cut for my opinion on how to make such a film work.
In advance, I have to tell you that this Fund It! was inspired by me re-watching two (well, three) of my favorite films: the classic Bruce Lee martial arts film Enter the Dragon and Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s double-feature collaboration Grindhouse (smart readers can probably already see where this is going). Power Man and Iron Fist were products of the 70s: Luke Cage was a direct – and timely – attempt to cash in on the growing appeal of the blaxploitation genre, whereas Danny Rand spun out of the the 70s kung fu craze. I propose bringing them back to these roots, with two short films, presented as a double-feature, that embrace the genres that gave birth to these two characters.
Directors such as Tarantino and movies such as Black Dynamite have brought back the exploitation genre and its various subgenres in a (comparatively) big way – minus slasher flicks, which never quite died off. Sure, Marvel Studios could make a more modern version of the character were they ever to make a Luke Cage/Power Man movie, but I feel like doing so would be a major disservice to the character, whose original ongoing series is – in my opinion – one of the most overlooked greats of the 70s comic industry (honestly, go out and buy the Essential Luke Cage, Power Man trades). A Power Man movie would have to embrace the bizarreness of the blaxploitation genre alongside that of the superhero genre. Sure, it might be difficult to pull off well, but the comics serve as evidence that it can be done, and it can be good.
Iron Fist is another matter. Despite the oversea popularity of films such as Ip Man, kung fu flicks haven’t had the same sort of resurgence here in the U.S. (asides among us college kids who have Netflix at our fingertips and nothing better to do during the day). Because of this, it’s safe to say Power Man’s movie would have to be the main attraction – which I’ll cement later – and perhaps the longer film. Conceptually, I see a grindhouse-themed Iron Fist film as low budget, with almost no sort of CGI. Sure, Danny Rand’s fist glows when he wants to take care of business, but I feel that supernatural imagery in martial arts films appear truly supernatural when they don’t appear obviously supernatural, if you get what I mean. A slight revamp of Fraction’s Immortal Iron Fist, featuring a tournament between the Seven Cities, would be an ideal plot for such a movie.
So, how do we get non-comic fans to give the slightest damn about Heroes For Hire: a Power Man & Iron Fist Double Feature (title still in development)? Well, I don’t want to devote too much time to casting – that’s the Multiversity Casting Couch’s job – but the casting of Luke Cage is both easy to make and essential to this hypothetical, low-budget film: Isaiah Mustafa. Mustafa is 1) perfect for the role, 2) a comic fan who has expressed his desire to play the role of Cage (and even voiced him in a digital short), and 3) would ensure a significant audience pull. Can you imagine the amount of people who would want to see a film just because it’s starring “the Old Spice Guy”? Sure, this is a bit of a ripoff, presentation-wise, of Grindhouse, but in a genre that is partially built off of copying other films, you can’t fault me for borrowing a great idea.
