Inside Marvel's Failed Halloween Movie "Jack-O-Lant-Man"

#21Audiostandard

Oct 27, 2021·38m

Stage Premise:

This week, we sit down with the creators of Marvel's first-and last- Halloween movie about to find out what went wrong, and why we won't ever get to see the film in theaters.

Cast & Characters (4)

Angela GiarratanaasAmanda Yachts

Kylie BrakemanasBev Ryan

Jeremy CulhaneasChris Donnall

Patrick McDonaldasConnor Ryan

Bits & Timeline (7)

2:00 (2m 58s)

CHARACTER_INTRO

The Devastated Creators of Jack-O-Lant-Man

The creative team behind Marvel's first (and now cancelled) Halloween movie, Jack-O-Lant-Man, gathers to process their grief and introduce their roles in the failed production.

"I guess what I would have done differently is write a different movie entirely."

"I'm just mad for my wife. I'm mostly mad for my wife."

"My wife did not work on this project with me."

Bev Ryan (Kylie Brakeman)Connor Ryan (Patrick McDonald)Chris Donnall (Jeremy Culhane)Amanda Yachts (Angela Giarratana)

#Marvel Studios#Film Production#Screenwriting#Hollywood

8:07 (1m 35s)

BACKSTORY_REVEAL

The Deep Lore of Jack-O-Lant-Man

Connor Ryan explains the character's origin as Stan Lee's response to the Watergate scandal and his history of being killed by the Hulk and thrown out of parties by Batman.

"He was Stan Lee's response to the Watergate scandal."

"Hulk actually smashes his head and that's the last time we saw him."

"It was an absolute crossover of DC and Marvel just this one time."

Connor Ryan (Patrick McDonald)Bev Ryan (Kylie Brakeman)

#Comic Book Lore#Stan Lee#Crossover Events#Marvel History

14:10 (27s)

ESCALATION

The Mouse in the Room

Connor Ryan has a breakdown over the presence of Amanda Yachts, whom he views as a representative of 'The Mouse' (Disney) who 'eats his cheese'.

"The call's coming from inside the house, baby, don't you see? Like it's the mouse."

"Baby, the mouse eats my cheese, baby."

"We can't talk about the mouse when the mouse is in the room."

Connor Ryan (Patrick McDonald)Amanda Yachts (Angela Giarratana)Bev Ryan (Kylie Brakeman)

#Disney#Corporate Overlords#Studio Politics

19:30 (1m 36s)

ESCALATION

The Mouse in the Room

Connor Ryan has a breakdown over the presence of Amanda Yachts, a Marvel executive he refers to only as 'The Mouse' who eats his cheese, while Bev tries to keep the peace.

"Baby, the mouse eats my cheese, baby. Baby, the mouse eats my cheese."

"We can't talk about the mouse when the mouse is in the room, okay, Connor?"

Connor Ryan (Patrick McDonald)Bev Ryan (Kylie Brakeman)Amanda Yachts (Angela Giarratana)

#Studio Politics#Marvel#Executive Producers

21:06 (47s)

BACKSTORY_REVEAL

Marvel's Passive-Aggressive Greenlight Process

Amanda Yachts explains that she never actually said 'let's do it,' only that she'd like to see what they came up with, despite greenlighting four months of production and reshoots.

"Does my assistant watch the dailies? No. Does my assistant's assistant watch the dailies? Yes."

Amanda Yachts (Angela Giarratana)Connor Ryan (Patrick McDonald)Bev Ryan (Kylie Brakeman)

#Development Hell#Hollywood Satire#Production

24:50 (2m 2s)

BACKSTORY_REVEAL

Jack-O-Lant-Man Lore and Crossovers

The creators discuss the obscure comic origins of Jack-O-Lant-Man, including his response to Watergate and a rare Marvel/DC crossover where Batman kicks him out of a party.

"He was Stan Lee's response to the Watergate scandal, which was about to happen in about four years."

"Batman threw out Jack-O-Lant-Man, not knowing that he was a superhero."

Connor Ryan (Patrick McDonald)Bev Ryan (Kylie Brakeman)Chris Donnall (Jeremy Culhane)

#Comic Books#Stan Lee#Lore

32:00 (2m 5s)

ESCALATION

The Pumpkin POV Controversy

Cinematographer Chris Donnall complains about the impossible request to shoot the entire movie through the 'POV of a pumpkin,' resulting in frames obscured by triangle eye-holes.

"You wanted to shoot through a pumpkin multiple times. Through a pumpkin."

"I don't think that any of the scenes make sense if you view them through a standard camera and not two little triangles and a big mouth."

Chris Donnall (Jeremy Culhane)Bev Ryan (Kylie Brakeman)Connor Ryan (Patrick McDonald)

#Cinematography#Visual Effects#Creative Differences