Plastic Man: The Movie

[Evil Twin]

Well a lot of comic books work as movies in theory, but not in practice. There have many heroes where there is a good concept , but not enough meat on the bones for something epic enough to be a movie, unless its going to be a complete comedy. Notice how the movies about Steel and Elektra completely failed.

Steel and Elektra failed because of bad writing. And cheapness. Nothing was wrong with the basic concept for either of those properties.

There's absolutely no reason that Plastic Man couldn't be the same kind of hit that The Mask was. Heck, Jack Cole's Plastic Man stories are a lot better than anything that was ever in The Mask comic book. You have the basic redemption story, Eel O'Brien as a crook the reforms after a traumatic incident. And some basic fun ideas, Plastic Man being charged to bring in Eel O'Brien being one classic story idea.

 

[cerealkiller182]

The basic concept of Plastic Man would work great under the helm of Edgar Wright or someone who can do what Edgar Wright does. Wright is able to effectively balance comedy with a dual genre, horror and action, both of which without the comedy still have very effective genre characterizations.

 

[The Overlord]

Steel and Elektra failed because of bad writing. And cheapness. Nothing was wrong with the basic concept for either of those properties.

There's absolutely no reason that Plastic Man couldn't be the same kind of hit that The Mask was. Heck, Jack Cole's Plastic Man stories are a lot better than anything that was ever in The Mask comic book. You have the basic redemption story, Eel O'Brien as a crook the reforms after a traumatic incident. And some basic fun ideas, Plastic Man being charged to bring in Eel O'Brien being one classic story idea.

That's an interesting concept, but you still need an interesting cast, villeins and 3 act story to make things work. Who is the love interest? Who are his friends? Who would be the villain? These are things you need to deal with to have a workable movie, otherwise you have another Elektra on your hand.

 

[Doctor13]

I'd love to see a Pastic Man film, but not from that horrid script the Wachowskis did. It completely missed the mark on Plas for me.

And as for friends, Plas' best friend and sidekick is Woozy Winks. He also, in some versions, works for the FBI after his accident that gives him his powers, so there's a pace ripe for supporting characters. It's all there if anyone would care to just look at the character's history.

 

[NEXUS 6]

Adrien Brody looks exactly like Plastic Man. He's not my numer one choice, but the likeness is undeniable.

And Paul Giammati should be... oh what's his name... somebody help.

 

[The Overlord]

I'd love to see a Pastic Man film, but not from that horrid script the Wachowskis did. It completely missed the mark on Plas for me.

And as for friends, Plas' best friend and sidekick is Woozy Winks. He also, in some versions, works for the FBI after his accident that gives him his powers, so there's a pace ripe for supporting characters. It's all there if anyone would care to just look at the character's history.

Who are his villains? Would there be a fist fight in the movie?

 

[Superman]

Who are his villains? Would there be a fist fight in the movie?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_Man

Have fun...

 

[The Guard]

It doesn't matter who the main villain is. Any decent villain could work, as long as Plas turns against them and joins the good fight. Government villains, mobsters, supervillains, it can all work, and maybe should all be involved.

But I'm just going to point out the obvious:

Eel O'Brian is his own villain. That's where most of the great conflict with this character will come from, his criminal past and struggles with morality.

 

[The Overlord]

It doesn't matter who the main villain is. Any decent villain could work, as long as Plas turns against them and joins the good fight. Government villains, mobsters, supervillains, it can all work, and maybe should all be involved.

But I'm just going to point out the obvious:

Eel O'Brian is his own villain. That's where most of the great conflict with this character will come from, his criminal past and struggles with morality.

Yeah we see that a lot: Hulk is own villain and Tony stark is his own villain, wolverine was his own villain, you still had external villains for them to deal with in their movies.

For a super hero movie to work, you need a climax and some action scenes, its boring if the hero is no physical danger for most of the film, so Plastic Man fighting his old gang and them not posing a real threat is a good first action scene, but it doesn't work as the climax.

There was a climax in the Mask, where that gangster stole the Mask and had its powers, so Stanley was in physical danger at the climax and had to find a way to get the Mask back, so the hero fighting with himself is all and well good, but you need powerful external threat to have a climax, unless the whole thing is a complete comedy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_Man

Have fun...

I already glanced through that before even posting here and I didn't see any info on his villains. So who are they?

 

[Webhead2006]

well they could always just make up some new characters/villains for a movie if they cant find or make any of plas villains into something decent.

 

[The Overlord]

well they could always just make up some new characters/villains for a movie if they cant find or make any of plas villains into something decent.

Well most made for movie villains suck: Nuclear Man, Ross Weber, Sharon Stone from Catwoman, etc, so that's not the best track record there. At this point what super villain could you create that wouldn't be derivative some more well known super villain?

Ok, you don't even need a super villain, as long Plastic Man has a weakness of some sort. Is he weak to lasers or chemical agents?

The gang Eel used to work for seems like it could have connection to the hero to keep the story going, do they have any names or personalities?

Here's an idea, Eel gets betrayed by the gang he is working for, falls into the chemicals and decides to change his ways and goes to the FBI. Eel finds out he has super powers and fights crime as Plastic Man. The gang he worked for is connected to a powerful crime boss in the city, Plastic Man is putting a dent in his business by foiling the gang as Plastic Man and providing info to the FBI as Eel. You can have a fight scene where Plastic Man defeats most of his old gang and they can't hurt him.

Anyway somehow the gang discover his weakness, they kidnap his love interest and best friend and Plastic man has to go through a warehouse full of goons who have weapons who can hurt him in order to save his friends. There you go 3 acts and a climax. You don't need a super villain (but you may need one in a sequel) but you would need something that can hurt him the climax.

 

[Webhead2006]

Yea i know that i was just saying it is something they could do if they didnt find a plasticman villain they liked or thought wouldnt translate well on screen. I am more for using actually comic characters in comic films instead of making up new characters.

 

[The Overlord]

Yea i know that i was just saying it is something they could do if they didnt find a plasticman villain they liked or thought wouldnt translate well on screen. I am more for using actually comic characters in comic films instead of making up new characters.

He's been around since 40s, doesn't he have one interesting villain? Most heroes have one or two interesting villains, like Hawkman having Gentleman Ghost and Shadow Thief.

 

[Webhead2006]

oh he probably does i dont know plasticman that well myself lol. Only thing i know of him is a few animated appearances and his powers/look. But i am more a marvel guy myself, so i dont know everything of dc guys.

 

[Evil Twin]

He's been around since 40s, doesn't he have one interesting villain? Most heroes have one or two interesting villains, like Hawkman having Gentleman Ghost and Shadow Thief.

Your mistake is that you're thinking of Plastic Man as a serious character. What matters is the situations he gets himself into and out of.

FWIW, Woozie Winks was a "villain" in their first encounter. There you go. Plastic Man vs. Eel O'Brien and Woozie Winks.

 

[Webhead2006]

plastic man is eel o'brien.

 

[The Overlord]

Your mistake is that you're thinking of Plastic Man as a serious character. What matters is the situations he gets himself into and out of.

Well he kinda does have to be somewhat of serious character if the movie is supposed be serious on any level. Is it supposed to be a complete comedy?

FWIW, Woozie Winks was a "villain" in their first encounter. There you go. Plastic Man vs. Eel O'Brien and Woozie Winks.

Is the movie a complete that you aren't supposed to take serious on any level, because that's the only way is going to work, which means you can't any sort of serious themes of redemption in something that is just played for laughs.

The Mask wasn't completely serious, but it did have serious moments and that was reflected in a threatening villain.

If you want to make it an adventure with lots of comedic elements you need some serious elements, otherwise you have to do a straight comedy.

 

[Superman]

Well he kinda does have to be somewhat of serious character if the movie is supposed be serious on any level. Is it supposed to be a complete comedy?


Is the movie a complete that you aren't supposed to take serious on any level, because that's the only way is going to work, which means you can't any sort of serious themes of redemption in something that is just played for laughs.

The Mask wasn't completely serious, but it did have serious moments and that was reflected in a threatening villain.

If you want to make it an adventure with lots of comedic elements you need some serious elements, otherwise you have to do a straight comedy.

With Plastic Man, Yes. That's why people wanted Jim Carrey to play him. Plas has never been a serious character and it's never been about the villain he fights.

Plastic Man has always been a comedic character who gets himself into comedic adventures. The fun is in how he gets himself into, and then out of, trouble.

Think of him like "The Mask" with Jim Carrey. That movie had a generic "Mob" villain because it wasn't about who The Mask was fighting, It was about the trouble Jim's character had being The Mask.

It would be kinda the same with Plastic Man.

 

[Evil Twin]

plastic man is eel o'brien.

Yes. And Eel O'Brien is a wanted criminal. And Plastic Man is an FBI agent. So the classic bit is that Plastic Man is tasked with bringing in himself. And the wacky hijinks that come from that.

For that matter, you can go straight into parody. Perhaps have Plastic Man take on "Rex Ruthor" and his latest real estate scheme.

 

[The Guard]

Yeah we see that a lot: Hulk is own villain and Tony stark is his own villain, wolverine was his own villain, you still had external villains for them to deal with in their movies.

For a super hero movie to work, you need a climax and some action scenes, its boring if the hero is no physical danger for most of the film, so Plastic Man fighting his old gang and them not posing a real threat is a good first action scene, but it doesn't work as the climax.

Yes...that seems rather obvious. So give him a villain and some danger, like every other action/hero movie. What, do you think they'll make a big budget PLASTIC MAN movie and not have a threat? My point is...it really doesn't matter who is used as the villain. At all. Plastic Man will create his own conflict, and the nature of the character allows damn near anyone to be a decent villain. And if he used to be one of them...so much the better.

I'd save FBI/law enforcement stuff for a potential sequel, allow the character to evolve a bit, and not go straight into law enforcement and justice.

He should basically be a humorous, less violent, and funnier version of Batman, Daredevil and The Punisher types in my mind. A former criminal who is struggling to be a good person, who battles the organized crime element. Lots of them. He could take down an entire organization, footsoldiers, hired assassins, you name it. There doesn't even need to be a supervillain, but if there does, simply give him an anti Plastic Man of sorts. Problem solved. Is it reminscient of THE MASK? Sort of. And who cares. Plas was around long before The Mask was. And it would still be fantastic.

 

[The Overlord]

With Plastic Man, Yes. That's why people wanted Jim Carrey to play him. Plas has never been a serious character and it's never been about the villain he fights.

Plastic Man has always been a comedic character who gets himself into comedic adventures. The fun is in how he gets himself into, and then out of, trouble.

Think of him like "The Mask" with Jim Carrey. That movie had a generic "Mob" villain because it wasn't about who The Mask was fighting, It was about the trouble Jim's character had being The Mask.

It would be kinda the same with Plastic Man.

The Mask was not a complete comedy though, the villain was serious and some of the situations at the end were serious and the generic mob villain was serious.

You can't have any serious discussion about themes of redemption if the whole thing is a complete comedy. So if you have a complete comedy you can't do any sort of serious theme

Plus the Mask was 15 years ago, tastes can change in 15 years and Jim Carey is likely to old to play Plastic Man at this point, when's the last time you saw a comedy that was successful just with slap stick?

 

[DannyDreg]

Speaking of Plas...

Does anybody have any info on these pics? Or maybe you have better pics like these?

The first one came from a Wizard mag, The other two I found online. I think they are from the old Pasticman cartoon. I've read that the cartoon had an actor, As Plas, Interoduce each show.

I've looked all over the web and can't find anything more about the pics.

If you have any info on, or if you have pics of, this guy as Plas, Could you please share?

Thanks

I used to love The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, hosted by this live action Plastic Man (circa 1984)... You can watch clips of the host at www.plazcomedy.com

 

[Superman]

I used to love The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, hosted by this live action Plastic Man (circa 1984)... You can watch clips of the host at www.plazcomedy.com

OMG Thank you so much!! I've been looking for something like that for years. I was starting to think the pics were fake.

Thank you again.

 

[Superman]

Well I feel like a dumbass. For years I've been thinking the guy who played Plas in that show was named Taylor Marks, I had it backwards, The actors name is Mark Taylor.

No wonder I could never find anything about it.

 

[The Guard]

There's no reason Plastic Man has to be a complete comedy. It can be a funny, fun movie and still have serious themes and moments in it.