‘The Baddest Man Alive’ definitely lives up to its name … fans can catch an exclusive sneak peek at ‘The Man With the Iron Fists’ this Saturday on MTV. By James Montgomery Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach Photo: Marco Prosch/ Getty Images
‘The Baddest Man Alive’ definitely lives up to its name … fans can catch an exclusive sneak peek at ‘The Man With the Iron Fists’ this Saturday on MTV. By James Montgomery Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach Photo: Marco Prosch/ Getty Images
Marvel’s heroes may have rocked the Super Bowl, but we pit them against Batman in The Weekly Rising . By Kevin P. Sullivan “The Dark Knight Rises” movie poster Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures The Super Bowl didn’t just mean victory for Giants fans. It represented a victory for comic book fans everywhere, because after years of waiting, we got to see the Avengers assembled. We can finally grasp what the event we’ve been waiting for will look like, and it rocked. What does this have to do with Batman and the upcoming “Dark Knight Rises,” you may ask? Well, a few weeks ago, we held a little tournament call MTV Movie Brawl , and the two biggest superhero movies of the summer faced off in the first round. Batman won by a narrow but significant margin, leaving little doubt about which movie fans want more. The win for “The Dark Knight Rises” could have been predicted, considering that Warner Bros. had already released two trailers and a prologue and that the previous film in the series was literally the biggest superhero movie of all time. But now that “The Avengers” has the benefit of a second and arguably better trailer, how do the two previews stack up? The Atmosphere The Marvel Universe movies have never been deathly serious. Sarcasm and humor underline most of the action. The trailer for “The Avengers” takes the same approach, avoiding the grave tone of Christopher Nolan ‘s Gotham and the “Dark Knight Rises” trailer. Nolan established a concrete look and feel for his Batman movies, and the trailer does its job to get that across. Both feel true to what fans expect from the respective franchises, so neither can really get the edge here. The Voice-Over Both short but equally sweet, the trailers start off with voice-over narrations from supporting characters in the series, Michael Caine ‘s Alfred and Samuel L. Jackson ‘s Nick Fury. They set the stage for the rest of the action in the trailer and solidly ground the new footage in the tradition of the previous films. Our vote goes to Michael Caine for a few reasons. He gets the benefit of a young boy creepily singing the national anthem, yes, but it’s more than that. Alfred has done so much more to be a beloved character. Fury just shows up at the end to tease awesome stuff you’ll have to wait years for. Alfred wins. The Villain “The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises” take two very different approaches to handling their villains. Bane stands front and center, blowing up a stadium without any notion of subtlety. The alien invaders from “The Avengers” remain hidden, their true identities one of the film’s greatest mysteries. The benefit of not hiding who you are is that you get to do a lot more intimidating stuff in the trailer. Bane throws down while the aliens can’t stay onscreen long enough to get any action in. Victory goes to Bane. The Action We’ve dissected each aspect of the “Dark Knight Rises” trailer more times than we care to recalled, but a lot of it depends on how you feel about stadium demolition. “The Avengers” combines the best action bits from the previous movies and says, “Here, remember all this cool stuff? Now you get it in one movie.” But who will ever admit to not thinking that Iron Man always looks so freaking cool when he’s flying? It’s awesome every time. The Big Shot As much as we love Batman, you cannot compete with that circle shot of the entire “Avengers” assembling. You cannot. Yes, the Bat looks great and will make for great eye candy when “The Dark Knight Rises” hits, but that single shot from the “Avengers” trailer justified that movie’s existence in a matter of seconds. It was fanboy fantasies projected directly onto a screen. By our scientific calculations, that puts “The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises” in a dead heat. You know why? Because they both look incredible, and everyone in the world will see both. Check out everything we’ve got on “Marvel’s The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos Marvel’s The Avengers Super Bowl 46: Movie Spots Related Photos ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Trailer: 5 Key Scenes Analyzing Catwoman’s Costume In ‘Dark Knight Rises’
The duo sat down with MTV News in Berlin to discuss a pair of unlikely collaborations. By James Montgomery Black Keys Photo: MTV News Theirs is a relationship that has spanned time and Twitter, seafood and shaving , but over the years, the unlikely bond between the Black Keys and Ke$ha has grown to become something more : a genuine friendship, marked with the occasional trespassing charge. “We’re friends with her, we’ve known her since way before she was famous, before she was even a singer, I guess,” Keys drummer Patrick Carney told MTV News. “When she was 16 years old, she used to sneak into our shows. We kind of became friends with her by kicking her out of our backstage room, over and over again. She actually has snuck into shows in L.A., San Diego, Coachella …” “She snuck in and [got] kicked out of one show, like, five times,” frontman Dan Auerbach added. “[She] snuck in through the kitchen. I don’t know if she’s such a big fan; she just likes breaking the rules.” So, when MTV News sat down with the ‘Keys in Berlin during the premiere of their “Gold on the Ceiling” video, we had to ask if their friendship with Ke$ha would take the next step: an actual musical collaboration. It’s not all that far-fetched, considering both Ke$h and Auerbach live in Nashville (“I see her every once in a while flying by in her T-Top [convertible],” Auerbach laughed), and recently, the glittery one has logged studio time with the Flaming Lips . So, could we see a team-up on the next Black Keys album? “I guess, I don’t know,” Carney said. “We don’t really do that many collaborations, really.” OK, so if a Ke$ha collabo isn’t in the cards, just who would the ‘Keys like to work with next? Well, as it turns out, they’ve got their eyes set on landing a very big star for the next record … even if they mistakenly believe he’s deceased. “We both want to work with Jim Nabors very badly, but apparently he’s not with us anymore,” Carney said. Oh, but he is. Which means that, much like Nabors, the dream is alive. The Ke$ha collabo? Eh, probably not so much. Should the Black Keys hit the studio with Ke$ha? Leave your comment below! Related Videos MTV First: The Black Keys’ ‘Gold On The Ceiling’ Related Artists The Black Keys Ke$ha