What does the
Marvel Universe have in common with hip-hop? Well, currently, nothing. And for
that matter, probably not much in the future. But if it were up to me, there
would be an entire inner weaving series of movies made about hip-hop, much like
the Marvel Universe. It’s a thought I’ve played with in my minds’ eye for a few
years, and after seeing how well the NWA story was told in Straight Outta Compton I’m pretty confident that it’s a solid idea.
Straight Outta
Compton introduced the guys who made up, for my money, the second most
influential group in the history of modern music. Along with brief
introductions to some significant characters who remained on the peripheral of
the story. There was Tupac, Snoop, Warren G, Suge, and if you paid close enough
attention, you even saw Chuck D. Now, they don’t all deserve to have movies
made about their lives and careers, but they could all have recurring roles
throughout this universe of movies. And Suge would be a cross between Loki and
Ultron. Or if you take the DC approach, he’s the “League of Shadows” all on his
own.
The next movie would be a Dr. Dre biopic, with more time
spent on the Death Row years. Where we would get more familiar with Snoop as
well as Tupac, we’d see the introduction to the East Coast-West Coast war,
where we would also see Diddy for the first time. The Dre movie takes us
through his launching the careers of Eminem and 50 after he formed Aftermath.
And next we could enter the world of Bad Boy, who crossed paths with Jay Z
early on. So from the Bad Boy movie, the next movie could be about Jay Z, which
would be an interesting story alone, and would introduce icons Russell Simmons,
Kanye, Beyonce and Nas. A Diddy movie would also include Simmons, and hip-hop
isn’t middle age right now, without Russell. His label, Def Jam, launched the
careers of Run DMC, LL Cool J, and The Beastie Boys. And a Def Jam story can’t
be told without Rick Rubin, who might be the most interesting character in this
entire universe. Or any other universe.
I was never a comic book fan, so I’m not familiar with
the Marvel Universe beyond the movies I’ve seen or heard are coming down the
pipeline. But I know hip-hop well enough to know whose story necessitates its
own movie and who would be better off as a Hawkeye or Nick Fury.
I have another idea for a universe of movies, but we’ll
save La Cosa Nostra for another time. Oh and by the way, much like Iron Man I have to say that Straight Outta Compton was a lot better
than I expected.
