Spider-Man Lament '77

Turning back the clock almost 40 years takes us to the short-lived but never forgotten Spider-Man television series starring Nicholas Hammond. I remember watching the pilot episode when it originally aired on television and sat enthralled watching the wall-crawler come to life on TV. And then the show disappeared. For years, I thought it was because the rating were poor. Shockingly, the ratings did quite well but CBS cancelled the show anyway. CBS was already airing the successful Incredible Hulk television show and didn't want to become known as "the superhero network" and lose advertiser dollars.

The quick abandonment of Spider-Man really was one of those unfair incidents in television history. Plans were made to bring Spider-Man to The Incredible Hulk TV, but the crossover never happened.

Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice Final Official Trailer Arrives

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is only around 40 days away from hitting thousands of screens, and the final official trailer for the film has been released. (Many thanks to the good people at Batman On Film for helping to draw attention to the trailer)

We don't get much insight into the villains. Lex Luthor is prominent, but there is no Doomsday. The trailer doesn't confirm rumors about the KGBEast and Bizarro. No matter. We'll all find out who the bad guys are when the film opens.

The trailer does focus on the main theme of the movie - Batman and Superman's tension, distrust, and opposition. D.C. Entertainment is noted for taking a risk with the all-villain ensemble Suicide Squad. Batman v. Superman reflects a similar risk - basing a film on the hero vs. hero dynamic popular in comic books. Maybe the plot isn't really all that much of a risk. It's something new. New sells. D.C. also gets to beat Marvel to the proverbial (and literal) punch as Captain America: Civil War won't feature the hero vs. hero theme until after Batman v. Superman hits the silver screen.













 

The Deadpool Movie Reveals An Appropriately Crackpot TV Marketing Campaign

Look for Deadpool movie commercials on Golden Girls reruns and episodes of Teen Mom.

Yeah, the marketing department handling the Ryan Reynolds Deadpool movie have gone as nuts as the "Merc With A Mouth".

All of Viacom is going Deadpool-crazy, too. On Monday February 8th, three solid hours of Deadpool commercials are going to run on Viacom channels such as MTV, VH1, and Spike.

Insanity, they name is Deadpool marketing. Ingenious is another "I word" worthy of being used. Gizmodo has the whole advertising-sordid story.

Deadpool is not going to pull in $200 million. Deadpool the movie is going to be a lot like Deadpool the comic book. The film is sure to have a small, dedicated group of fans. These fans are sure to show up during the debut weekend. Look for them to pay some bucks for DVD/Blu-ray special edition releases. The soundtrack to the movie is probably going to do better than anticipated. Mainstream movie-going audiences might not be so inclined to see a rude, R-rated superhero romp. The crazy advertising blitz may end up generating enough buzz that a few of those mainstream audience members buy tickets.

The over-the-top nature of the ads further the notion Deadpool is crazy with a capital C. C is also the letter "comedy" starts with. Maybe some folks looking for a comedy can end up being lulled into theaters thanks to the wackiness of the Deadpool movie advertising campaign.

20th Century Fox's old-time huckster approach to advertising just might make this film a cult hit.

Deadpool opens on February 12, 2016.