The New York Times has an article charting Marvel‘s course from humble comic-book company to Hollywood heavyweight. If you don’t have a login (the site requires free registration), use “clubjade” as the username and “clubjade” as the password.
Spider-Man the Musical?
Variety is reporting (and E! Online, too, for free) that Marvel Comics has teamed up with producer Tony Adams to turn the Spider-Man franchise into a musical. Sources told Variety that the planned project would bring Julie Taymor, of Broadway’s “The Lion King,” on board to direct; Neil Jordan would write the script; and U2’s The Edge and Bono would create the music. (Be still, my heart!)
Will it happen? No comment from any of the rumored players (of course). If the project did get off the ground, though, there’s no guarantee it would be successful; E! wonders whether such a musical would be an enduring hit of Annie proportions — or a Saturday Night Fever-scale flop. Hmmm. I wonder if Tobey Maguire can dance.
Repaying a debt to the master
As the deadline to vote for your favorite Star Wars Fan Film approaches, Wired magazine sits down with Trey Stokes, director of fan film Pink Five Strikes Back, who credits Star Wars with inspiring him to go to film school and become a visual effects supervisor. The article takes a look at how fan films have proliferated over the past few years, and it notes that Lucasfilm’s response to the growing “art form” — giving fan films a distribution outlet and a stamp of approval — is unusual for a production company.
Buffy, Feminism and… the Pope?
No, I’m not kidding. This article from Commonweal magazine, which appeared in November 2003, examines the “new feminism” championed by Pope John Paul II and the ways in which the author believes it falls short. In what I think is a terrific example of the theory that a fan can make anything relate to the fandom, Notre Dame professor Cathleen Kaveny argues that the pope’s conception of the role of women could benefit from a few Buffy viewings:
Why is Buffy an important interlocutor for the “new feminism” inspired by John Paul II? Because the two have enough in common for the discussion to be fruitful. The pope rejects sexism, as well as both “sameness” and “separatist” feminism, for the same basic reason: they undermine the dignity of women because they are untrue to the complex reality of the nature and situation of women. So does Buffy, but with snappier dialogue and better clothes.
Agree or disagree, it’s food for thought.