I agree. The last movie was epic, and SO different to all the others too.

No problem! Gah, yes! I loved Wolverine ever since the old 90’s cartoon but Hugh Jackman really just made that role. And this last movie really felt like the pinnacle. Greatness 🙂

Glad you love them. They are my fave as you know and as we’ve chatted about – sorry for the epic delay in replying here. Wolverine is an absolute classic, love him.

Where do I start? Ignore Val Kilmer’s version – it was crap and didn’t capture anything of the spirit of The Saint. The first books were written in the ’30s (I think), and there were still a few published as late as the ’50s and possibly ’60s. Worth dipping into (and you can try short stories first so it’s not a big commitment) because Leslie Charteris was a brilliant wordsmith, as well as a good story teller. The most famous incarnation was Roger Moore’s version from the 1960s. Repeated recently on ITV4 and the chances are it will turn up again before long. They still stand up pretty well 50 years on. As a child of the ’60s, it was what I was brought up on and has had a lasting effect (he’s still my favourite James Bond), and undoubtedly represented the kind of hero I admired and wanted to write about before I realised flawed individuals were more interesting. There have been other film and TV versions, but none have had the same impact – and I don’t just mean on me. Everyday, somewhere in the world, an episode of The Saint is still shown. (Did that come across as too nerdy?)

I only know of val Kilmer playing the Saint in a film….um… Was there another?

Yes, the ST is a bit of a giveaway. Nevertheless, I should have taken account of the fact that not everyone out here is as old as me. Funnily enough, in the books he wasn’t the do-gooder we saw on the TV – Leslie Charteris was a brilliant writer. That’ll give you something else to put on your “To Read” list.

I know right. When I thought about it, I realised most of my fave characters are too. I mean, yeah I liked Harry Potter, but Snape…. well now he made me cross and hate him and love him at the end, you know. So although I loved the Harry books, it was Snape that stayed with me… strange huh. But it’s the same for other characters like Dexter. This is the thing – flaws make you human, so heroes with flaws are much more relatable – God, I feel like I could write a whole other post on this! Here’s a question, do you have to human to be a true anti hero? So would Loki, be one? maybe not, although he’s bad guy gone good. See – Batman is WAY cooler than superman. Superman doesn’t even have to try, I always liked batman more. Partly its the suit, but Christan Slater plays such a meaty batman, a darker batman. I think theres something more to be examined on the darker side of Anti heroes… ok maybe I just convinced myself to look at this deeper. I god damn love Tony Stark, partly cause I have a slight man crush on Rober downey Jr!! its the arrogance! I can’t help myself! lol. Well when Geoff said Neville, I automatically said no, but then talked myself into it. I mean he’s all weak and wimpy to start with and then pulls out some serious action hero shit in the final fight, but for me, I prefer the anti hero with the dark flaws rather than the wimpy ones.

Exactly (reformed villain or not?), so maybe Loki like scrooge is just a reformed villain.

Ok, now you got my mind racing.

and yeah, beetlejuice I remember as being bad, although he does kind of fall for the girl. But maybe that site has its facts wrong. I wonder if its cause he was one of the protagonists but a baddie and so they classed him as an anti hero.

I found him annoying at first, lol.

oooooh, ok cool, well i have put it on my kindle wish list, so it will get read eventually 😀