We want to see more of these characters on the big screen!
PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR – a spin off from the hugely successful MADAGASCAR franchise – is released in Irish cinemas this week. This hilarious film, which focuses on the military-esque penguins, got us thinking about which of 2014’s supporting characters we’d like to see more of in their own spin off flick.
Benny the Spaceman – THE LEGO MOVIE
SPACESHIP! SPACESHIP! SPACESHIP! We fell in love with Benny the Spaceman in THE LEGO MOVIE, voiced by Charlie Day. Not only is his enthusiasm for all things space-related completely infectious, but his slightly bedraggled – or well-loved – appearance made him even more adorable, since he reminded us of the toys of TOY STORY, who are heartbroken once they are cast aside.
We’d love to see Benny get into his own space adventures, and perhaps team with THE LEGO MOVIE’s other breakout star, Rainbow UniKitty, voiced by Alison Brie. They’d be the most adorable, and manic, on-screen pairing ever!
Falcon – CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
Falcon/Samuel Wilson, played by Anthony Mackie, truly was the breakout star of CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER. Not only was Falcon one of the first characters to actually appear on screen in the movie, but his impressive wings, quick wits and ability to kick serious bad guy ass won us over.
Marvel has a lot of films going on at the moment, but it seems that a Falcon spin-off is not one of them. When asked, in 2013, whether there would be a Falcon spin off, producer Kevin Feige simply replied ‘No’. We are holding onto hope, however, that we will get to see Falcon’s origins story – and his life as the professional criminal ‘Snap’ Wilson – on the big screen at some stage.
Ulysses the cat – INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, directed by the Coen Brothers, is a great tale of a singer trying to carve out a life for himself in the American Folk scene and, while Oscar Isaac truly captivated us in the title role, we really want to know what happened to Ulysses the cat after Llewyn abandoned him in the car with Roland Turner (John Goodman)
Perhaps he went on to live a long and happy life in the wilds of the Northern US, or maybe he became the cat version of THE LITTLEST HOBO, wandering from town to town, helping those in need. Either way, we need to know!
Hammer Girl and Baseball Bat Man – THE RAID 2
Although – spoiler! – they don’t actually make it out of THE RAID 2 alive, we’d love to see the back story of Hammer Girl (Julie Estelle) and Baseball Bat Man (Very Tri Yulisman), two of the film’s most vicious and violent characters. Like Rama (Iko Uwais), these two hit-men obviously have a fascinating back story – which was hinted at throughout The Raid 2 – and we’d love to know more about how they became involved with the thugs of Jakarta.
Make it happen please, Gareth Evans!
Groot and Rocket – GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
We loved Chris Pratt as Star-Lord in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and Dave Bautista as Drax made us laugh out loud, but the characters that made us laugh, cry and warmed our hearts were Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel).
Rocket and Groot worked so well on screen in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and obviously have a lot of love and respect for one another, so we can’t help wondering how the last of the walking, talking tree people and a genetically modified, angry raccoon became friends. We’re sure that this spin-off would be full of fights, laughs and tears, and we are all for it.
Honourable Mentions to: Roland Turner – INSIDE LLWEYN DAVIS and Mark Hanna – THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
Let us know your choices for spin-off characters from 2014’s movies in the comments below.
PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR is released in Irish cinemas on December 5th 2014
Words: Brogen Hayes