Armando Iannucci to make a comedy about superhero movies

[Pink Gregory]

Irmando Anannuci

*dusts hands and leaves thread*

[oggyraiding]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superhero_Movie

I imagine it'll be just this but with a little bit more of a cynical British vibe.

So shit.

[idunnosomename]

'I've seen SuperTed are they like that?'

umm, well, it's a start. have you seen Bananaman?

[Ferris]

umm, well, it's a start. have you seen Bananaman?

He's on substack nowadays isn't he?

[wrec]

Saw this the other day

Honestly can't blame anyone for wanting to be portrayed with a flattering photo but she looks like she's in her 20s there, to the point that I took to Google in confusion. Funnily enough the first image that comes up is this one, though any links containing it appear to be broken. Am I correct in thinking this is her gazing fondly at dear friend, stabbing threatener and daughter admirer Giles Coren?

[idunnosomename]

Thats Michael Deacon from the Telegraph isnt it? Similarly shit whimsy but packaged for old tories

[Crenners]

I've never been fond of Piers Morgan but now I know he shagged Marina Hyde, he's well and truly finished in my eyes.

[wrec]

Thats Michael Deacon from the Telegraph isnt it? Similarly shit whimsy but packaged for old tories

For convenience I'm just going to mentally file this guy away as Giles Coren 2, to be deleted in 60 days if not accessed before then.

[Ferris]

There was a football journo in the grauniad who was using a headshot of himself aged ~25 for fucking ages. He updated it one day circa 2017 and it looked like the portrait he kept in the attic.

[idunnosomename]

John Harris is just like Dougal with a Paul Weller haircut. his face is incidental to his shitty dad mop

[somersetchris]

Much like sport, it's always handy to give someone's recent performance more weight when analysing them - it's not terribly helpful to know that X had a great season in 2001 when predicting what their 2023 performance is going to be like.

It's not at all like sport, given that a lot of players in 2023 weren't even born in 2001. In sport, most people will have a definite physical peak, and will only decline from then on because the body ages. Writing is not at all comparable because careers are much longer and writers can get better and have both hits and misses in their career. Plus, in any TV or film, there's a whole team of people and a million reasons why it can go wrong. Maybe I've missed a load of stuff because for me Armando Iannucci has a pretty spotless record. People are looking at the guy who brought you Alan Partridge, The Day Today, The Thick of It and Veep and saying 'oh I bet his next thing will be shit. As usual, it seems like a lot of people on here don't like him because he isn't left wing enough for them.

[Bernice]

There was a football journo in the grauniad who was using a headshot of himself aged ~25 for fucking ages. He updated it one day circa 2017 and it looked like the portrait he kept in the attic.

Barney Ronay. Still can't help but see something haunted behind the eyes of that new pic.

No real opinions on this project. Doesn't sound like it will be very good.

[Ferris]

@Bernice that's the fucker!





Haunting.

John Harris (is that his name?) did the same thing. It's terrible really.

[Ferris]

Harris, for comparison:





Obviously while I am similarly haggard, I do at least allow my colleagues and anyone who reads my published works (such as they are) to witness my aged fallibility.

[Brundle-Fly]

To Harris's slight defence here, that first picture is a publicity shot taken by a professional portrait photographer rather than the other one that looks like a screen grab.

[Famous Mortimer]

It's not at all like sport, given that a lot of players in 2023 weren't even born in 2001. In sport, most people will have a definite physical peak, and will only decline from then on because the body ages. Writing is not at all comparable because careers are much longer and writers can get better and have both hits and misses in their career. Plus, in any TV or film, there's a whole team of people and a million reasons why it can go wrong.

By that line of reasoning, why are you crediting him for any past successes? Why isn't it "one of the whole team of people" who's responsible for something being good?

Do you expect, as an example, John Cleese to produce any more great comedy in his life? Again, by your line of reasoning, he could easily be getting better, right?

Maybe I've missed a load of stuff because for me Armando Iannucci has a pretty spotless record. People are looking at the guy who brought you Alan Partridge, The Day Today, The Thick of It and Veep and saying 'oh I bet his next thing will be shit. As usual, it seems like a lot of people on here don't like him because he isn't left wing enough for them.

If you think Iannucci has a spotless record, good for you. It's certainly a minority opinion, though. "People are looking at the guy who brought us" that godawful poem and Avenue 5, and became friends with a war criminal.

[Mister Six]

Oof. One for the desolation thread.

You can really feel the emotional wear and tear of the years in that, can't you? Used to look like a cheeky chappy giving the photographer a sardonic glance before heading out to get wasted on lager and eccies. Now looks like he's about to stab you for nabbing the last special offer bottle at OddBins.

[Ferris]

To Harris's slight defence here, that first picture is a publicity shot taken by a professional portrait photographer rather than the other one that looks like a screen grab.

Yeah in fairness I've stitched him up a bit there because his face angle is the same so it's a more direct (and funnier) comparison, but then, to be fair to myself I don't think his latest promo has him as a fountain of youth either.

[idunnosomename]

Harris is weird though because he's had that beard for years but also still uses photos of him clean shaven

Weller Weller Weller MOP still present though

[cacciaguida]

Check out Bandini from the Guardian if you really want a surprise!

[Ferris]

Yeah he's tried to maintain the same barnet which can't be a good idea. I still have a full head of hair and even I've moved on to more conventional styles.

[ajsmith2]

I actually think the later 'bucolic Medieval peasant' Harris looks better than the younger Weller one.

[greencalx]

Pretty much all the staff photos on our website are 10-15 years out of date. It was quite funny when I used them in a presentation once, and all the people concerned were in the room. It was very obvious we'd all had kids in the meantime.

[thenoise]

@Bernice

Impressive lack of hairline movement though. Recede like a motherfucker early on in life and then stubbornly keep that same hairline forever, even as it turns grey. And find yourself a barber who knows how to give a flattering haircut for the receding man while you are at it.

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

Pretty much all the staff photos on our website are 10-15 years out of date. It was quite funny when I used them in a presentation once, and all the people concerned were in the room. It was very obvious we'd all had kids in the meantime.

Yeah, there's a bloke at my work who is full on Willie Thorne slaphead level bald, and his profile picture for a long time was a version of him with a full head of hair. Made things a tad awkward when we'd been working on something over Teams, and when he came in to ask me something in person I had no idea who he was.

[dissolute ocelot]

Sure you have The Boys with its fancy ultraviolence and dark satire, but the real one to beat is My Hero and the classic comedy character Thermoman

Indeed, there's hardly a shortage of superhero parody/subversions. Amazon are working on a whole The Boys extended universe, as well as having Invincible, which is a mildly subversive animated teen superhero thing. Plus in cinemas there was Kickass, Deadpool, 80s classic The Return of Captain Invincible, etc. Kids have had My Hero, Supergran, Bananaman, etc. Every MCU film makes jokes about superheroes and their silly hammers. Indeed most legit superhero movies, even Superman, do mild subversions with the superhero actually being a bit crap and bumbling in everyday life, so basically every superhero story is already a parody.

Armando's role is as a centrist who satirises centrists. When the world was run by centrists that was quite effective, but we've gone off a cliff.

[idunnosomename]

Well... THAT just happened!

[beanheadmcginty]

Armando Ianucci is an anagram of "u cicada iron man", so I'm expecting some sort of armoured insect version of Tony Stark to be in this.

[notjosh]

Indeed, there's hardly a shortage of superhero parody/subversions. Amazon are working on a whole The Boys extended universe, as well as having Invincible, which is a mildly subversive animated teen superhero thing. Plus in cinemas there was Kickass, Deadpool, 80s classic The Return of Captain Invincible, etc

Hancock... Super... Mystery Men...

Agree that it does feel like crowded territory and a waste of time for someone whose comedy once felt cutting-edge. But his track record still earns him enough benefit of the doubt for me to watch one episode.

In fact... looking back over his record, there are some honourable near-misses, but the only outright stinker I can see is Lab Rats.

[McDead]

Armando Ianucci is an anagram of "u cicada iron man", so I'm expecting some sort of armoured insect version of Tony Stark to be in this.

I have no doubt this will be the name of the show.