411 Movies/TV Fact or Fiction: Can a Captain Britain and Black Knight MCU Film Succeed?

Welcome back to 411 Movies Fact or Fiction! September has been an eventful month already, and we’re only twelve days in. This week, we have two of the Movie Zone’s best, as former Movies/TV editor Chad Webb returns to take on the one and only Steve Gustafson! Let’s not keep these fellows waiting, shall we?

The Predator will likely help bring the franchise back to form.

Steve Gustafson: FACT. For a franchise that has been around for 30 years and has one of the simplest plots out there (Predator vs Man), it won’t take much to get this series back to form. The first Predator was an instant action movie classic. You had mucho macho performances from a ragtag group led by Arnold Schwarzenegger with a ton of quotable lines and memorable action sequences. Since then it has been hit or miss, especially some of the crossover with Aliens, but the trailers for the latest ones look promising and engaging enough to pull in a new audience.

Chad Webb: FACT. I’ll be optimistic here. I was skeptical until I saw that Shane Black was directing. I don’t think the franchise will ever have an installment as revered as the first, but the sequels did leave plenty of room for improvement and I think that can happen here. The trailer is fun. It has a great cast, and even though Arnold is a distant memory, it’s an eclectic group that appears to be having a blast. No one mixes comedy and action like Black and with this lineup, it should work. I also like that it doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is a problem previous installments have had. Predators had its moments, but this film will hopefully be a giant step in the right direction.

Captain Britain and The Black Knight are too obscure of heroes to work in their own Marvel Cinematic Universe film.

Steve Gustafson: FACT. First, I love both the characters. I really got into Captain Britain during the original Excalibur run and feel he’s never reached his full potential in comics. Black Knight got my attention starting with the ‘Under Siege’ storyline. Again, my interest in the character depending on who was writing him. An interesting guy but never fulfilled his promise.

While I would never doubt Marvel in all their wisdom, these two weren’t in the top 10 characters I expected to get a movie. When you make it a “buddy team-up”, even less expected. Captain Britain would be a great supporting character to introduce in Avengers because his backstory is so intricate that they’ll have to dial it down, I can’t see them doing the character without comparisons to Captain America from mainstream audiences. The Black Knight feels like he belongs in his own Netflix series. A knight in modern times is a good hook.

I get the vibe that this will have the same tone as Guardians of the Galaxy and use the Ant Man and The Wasp template. I’m not sold that these two are the characters to best pull it off.

Chad Webb: FICTION. If we were talking about DC superheroes, I’d say choosing out of left field characters might not work and would be a risk in a stand alone film. But Marvel has shown nothing but growth and control with every picture they release. You might not be obsessed with every character in the MCU, but you have to admire how Marvel has found the ideal directors and cast members to make the lesser known heroes more interesting to people who might not be comic readers. I think Ant-Man and Black Panther are good examples. I don’t know a ton about the Captain Britain or The Black Knight characters, but I’m intrigued enough. Guy Ritchie seems like a solid choice, but I do wonder if he’d mesh with Marvel’s style and restraints. The point is, Marvel knows how to introduce obscure characters in short bursts so the audience then wants to see more of them. If handled correctly, they could do that with these two.

BBC America should have kept Doctor Who on Saturdays to avoid Sunday competition like Walking Dead, Supergirl and the NFL.

Steve Gustafson: FACT. I don’t know the inner workings of BBC America and I’ll have to assume they’ve done their research on the move but at first glance, this looks to be a questionable move. Fans like consistency, routine. The demographic for Doctor Who and Walking Dead and Supergirl are close enough that they’ll be having to make a decision on which one to watch live and which one to watch later. Someone is going to suffer and it might be the new Doctor on the block.

Chad Webb: FICTION. I suppose it could. Sunday is always a packed day for programming, though the conversation could be had of how much footballs fans and Walking Dead fans cross over with Doctor Who fans. You never know. These days people will find a way to watch the shows they’re interested in, regardless of how many of them air at the same time/evening. Still, while I don’t think a Sunday move is the wisest choice, how good were ratings on Saturdays? Maybe a Sunday move will bring more eyeballs to the series. This is as “up in the air” as it gets.

SWITCH!

White Boy Rick will get end up lost in the box office shuffle.

Chad Webb: FACT. The movie looks interesting, but has rental or “watch later” written all over it. The Nun and Peppermint came out last week, and White Boy Rick has The Predator and Unbroken: Path to Redemption releasing along side of it. Chances are it won’t make a big splash, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be decent. I just don’t think it has a “See me in the theater ASAP” vibe to it.

Steve Gustafson: FACT. A very cool “real life” story with an even cooler cast. We’ve seen a few quality “Based on a True Story…” ones recently (BlacKkKlansman being the best example) and usually when you have that scenario one loses out big. White Boy Rick will suffer from having pushed its release date later, average reviews, and some serious competition at the box office.

The positive early buzz on Halloween has you looking forward to seeing it.

Chad Webb: FACT. Admittedly I’m not the biggest horror fan, and for this franchise I only dig the first one, but I will say that if it is getting positive early reviews, that does have me interested. I also like that David Gordon Green is directing as I often like his efforts. I also think it’s a ballsy move to make this a direct follow-up to the 1978 original. Jamie Lee Curtis looks to have her game face on too, which is good. They’re trying something new (again) but this might be an intelligent one after all these years.

Steve Gustafson: FACT. I’m not even a horror guy but the set up interests me. I know we’ve had some hit-or-miss offerings from franchises attempting to bring back the magic but this one looks legit. Forty years after the original film, Laurie Strode comes face-to-face with Michael Myers for one final showdown on Halloween night. The reviews are saying they nailed it and it will have my money opening weekend. The only question is why not open on Halloween? I know it’s a Wednesday but c’mon.

You’re interested in American Horror Story: Apocalypse after seeing its first full trailer.

Chad Webb: FACT. I have never watched any seasons of American Horror Story and truth be told, these days I have few opportunities to watch all the shows I’m interested in. The likelihood of me watching this is not high, but I do think it looks interesting from this trailer. Still, I’m the type of person that would have to start from the first season (even if they’re not super connected) before I dove into this one. Combining an apocalypse with horror sounds cool though.

Steve Gustafson: FACT. As mentioned, I’m not a horror guy but sometimes I’ve drawn in by a interesting premise. I’ve seen a couple seasons of American Horror Story and like the shared universe vibe the anthology series has. In the teasers for Apocalypse we get a sense that they are setting up a number of season connects with scenes of the rubble of Murder House, the destroyed freak show once run by Elsa Mars, the decaying Hotel Cortez, and a burnt-up smiley face. I’m in.

And there you have it! Thanks a ton to both Steve and Chad for participating, and we’ll see you all next week!