HERO OF THE WEEK: EGO THE LIVING PLANET (Marvel)Real Name: Ego
First Appearance: Thor #133 (October, 1966)
Fight Club Ranking: #DNR
Featured Fights:
- Yet To Be Featured on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths.
It's been a bit of a quiet week, but Hollywood continues to throw a blanket of inescapable promotion for the year's blockbuster theatrical releases. One of the most prevalently anticipated of the past few months: May's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 -- which also happens to be the inspiration for this month's featured fights here in the Secret Wars on Infinite Earths!
Bad guy Ego is simultaneously the most intriguing, and most fraught hook for the colourful sequel, which follows-up a 2014 franchise-starter I can't say I was all that enthused by.
In light of other recent, sour Hero of the Week entries; I'm sure my reservations run the risk of confirming a bona fide hater of fun. However! I would argue Guardians' reputation for laughs and good times is actually sorely exaggerated! A notion awaiting the typical reevaluation that comes with every new recipient of 'best movie evarrr'. Before you reach for the pitchfork, let me explain...
Characters like Rocket, Groot and Drax are well justified as fan-favourites, but their theatrical debuts struggled to expand upon the showcase of trailer highlights in any satisfying way. Fans were better served by peripheral toys, cartoons, games, and a decade of comic books that informed the movie.
Laughs are actually few and far between throughout the finished 2 hours, and if you don't walk in already on the side of heroes, the film will give you few reasons to genuinely care.
Motivations are wafer thin throughout, especially for Ronan The Accuser, whose film version just barely resembles the comics, and is sorely lacking any definition as a driving factor to the film's climax. He amounts to one of the most shallow villains in Marvel's formulaic pantheon, adding nothing to a movie advanced by rote. Even as a new coat of paint, Ronan comic book charm.
Strong aesthetics should've picked up the slack for the films other failings, but wide shots only seem to linger when there's nothing much to look at! Blade Runner, this didn't need to be, but its obvious adoration for movies of the same era really should've informed a stronger consideration for the environment of the galaxy itself. Star Wars may be part of an elevator pitch for Guardians, but the movie learns none of its marketable lessons. Good design is implied, but rarely delivered. Repeatedly abandoned for character close-ups, and other less interesting subjects. Lost in an unfocused haze.
"Unfocused" is the prevailing criticism of the 2014 movie. Where some films reward repeat viewings, Guardians can only hope to reinforce its sparsely laid legacy of comedy & characters through expectant repetition.
It's disappointing that it shows the most disregard for comics of any Marvel-made movie, but its biggest failings aren't as an adaptation. It disappoints as a movie.
Fortunately, all this criticism means there's little confusion about what made Guardians of the Galaxy a breakout success. Hollywood traditionally demands a sequel repeat its forebear on a larger scale, and Volume 2 has the opportunity to confidently hone in on the best aspects of the first.
The comedy should play stronger throughout, the characters should get better defined, and the galaxy should visually benefit from the monetary investment that comes with success. Even if Marvel are said to be a tad on the stingy side.
Yes. Some may profess sequels can never truly surpass the original, but these lean times of superhero blockbusters have been particularly good for disputing that: X-Men 2 was a better version of X-Men at a time when conventional cinematic rules still counted for something. Avengers: Age of Ultron was an imperfect improvement upon the lackluster Avengers. Even Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a more satisfying movie than The First Avenger, despite having its own problems, too.
Guardians Vol. 2 can follow in the footsteps of improving Marvel sequels, and when it comes to leading with a satisfying villain, it may have already addressed that particular problem...
We've known for quite some time that classic Marvel villain Ego would play a major role in Vol. 2.
Kurt Russell seems a slightly unlikely choice to play The Living Planet, but we're yet to see anything resembling a planet mass. Indeed, the genre star of 80s classics like Big Trouble in Little China is instead a perfectly cast, referential choice for Star-Lord's much discussed mystery father.
Sadly, these details bear no resemblance to their comic book counterparts. On the page, you wouldn't really care who fathered Peter Quill - its just some guy. You'd also have to do some serious digging to find classic Ego sauntering about as a man. I'm not aware of any human/planet cross-breeding, either, but I wouldn't want to judge anyone's life choices too harshly.
I'm certainly not entirely opposed to the concept of Ego nurturing a humanoid avatar. It doesn't do much to maintain what makes the character unique, but it also isn't completely unheard of. We'll talk more about precedent later this week in our featured fight. For now, I'm going to assume at least somewhere in the movie, Kurt Russell is a CG face on a planet. If Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer taught us nothing else, it's that you've gotta deliver on the cosmic Kirby weirdness!
Either way, Kurt Russell is an instant plus for Volume 2 and a good reason to give it a shot!
His screen presence has always been rock solid, with definitive results found in his collaborations with John Carpenter. Movies like The Thing and Escape From New York have always owned pride of place in genre cinema, but hold special relevance within toady's nostalgic pop culture. From these sources alone, Russell commands charisma, comedy, and credibility as an character-driven action hero, who should be fresh in the audience's collective mind. That can only help Guardians.
As father to Star-Lord; Russell feels like a genuine casting choice more than a cheap stunt.
Had Disney called up Harrison Ford from the set of Episode VII, the callbacks to Indiana Jones and Han Solo would've made sense, but also been a little too on-the-nose. Russell scratches that itch well, without reducing it to a nothing more than a reference. This should be a good character performance -- something Ronan sadly never was.
It could still be another disappointment, but hey. It's Hero of the Week, and I'm just happy to be talking about an interesting character we haven't spent much time on!
If you're interested in Ego The Living Planet as he exists on the page, I strongly urge you to be here Friday for our featured fight! If you're reading this entry some time after the fact, just hit this link to go to Ego's greatest hits on The Comic Book Fight Club! You can also dive into the Secret Archive to check out featured fights catalogued by publisher, series, and issue number!
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