"mark garvey", mark garvey, film, movie, filmmaker, director, writer, union jack, marvel, twas the devil, horror,

Union Jack (2019-20)

 

Union Jack is a series of 10 web-based fan films adapted from the Marvel Comics. Union Jack follows the mishaps and misadventures of Joseph Chapman: MI5 agent-by day, vampire hunter-by night! With absurd allies and bonkers baddies, Union Jack mixes up a crazy cocktail of comedy, super-hero, action, horror and espionage.

 

You can watch many BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEOS here and the first episode can be watched here (all subsequent episodes will auto play).

 

 

If you'd like to support my work, you can buy me a coffee here.

 

Union Jack Credits:

 

A series of films by Mark Garvey

 

Inspired by the Marvel Comics and Characters

 

Music by Tasha Fights Tigers

 

Starring:

 

Sam O'Hara-Childs: Joseph Chapman/Union Jack

Jasmine Knight: Romany Wisdom

Simon Cleary: MI5 Deputy Director Philip Gavin

Rachel Cuthill: Lily Cromwell/Baroness Blood

Tom Gillson: Grausum

Alice Phillipson: Edith Harker

Maureen Roche: Lady Jacqueline Falsworth

Callum Oakaby-Wright: Kenneth Crichton/Baron Blood

Chris Punter: Percy Hotchkins

Scott Robinson: Maximillian Zaran

Akar Faraj: Slaymaster

Mark Garvey: Agent James Larner

Lizzie Byers: MI5 Director Annabel Warner

Ben Drake: Lancaster Sneed/Shockwave

Philip K. Meadows: Jessie Drake

Rob Ellingham: Sidney Crumb

Paul Woodcock: Mastermind

Nathan Loughran: Kevin Mulhearn/Doctor Destiny

Emma Tozer: Alison Double

Victoria Markham: Vixen

Camille Krieg: Ruth Bat-Seraph/Sabra

Suridner Juneja: Navid Hashim/Arabian Knight

Chris Nicholls: Professor Jonas Eckhardt/Necromancer

Keir Husband: Vilet Villager

Paul Ludlow: Sully

 

And the Vamps:

 

Reuben Block, Chris Brown, Greg Campbell, Stephen Catling, Ben Challen, Michael Cladder, Ana Coker, Malachi Collins, Phil Dickson-Earle, Francesco Di Ilio, Bill Dowd, Steve Finan, Alex Foy, Emma Garvey, Tom Gibbs, Edward Gillson, Luke Gray, John Harper, Shane Harrison, Ross Herbert, Bill H0oper, Tom Hurst, Leonie Issacs, Ewan Jones, Adam Joyce, Usman Kadiri, Aaron Karuthasami, Hana Keen, Daniel King, Alex Kosky, Lucy Luton, Michael Manning, Harry May, Lillith May, Andromada Mystic, Heather Neely, Jan Nicpon, Cameron Oakaby-Wright, Dion Oakes, Stuart O'Connor, Joe O'Hara-Childs, Jermaine Samuel, Anna-Lena Schwaer, Mark Smith, Teri Stanford-Fox, Mark Tarrington-Hodgson, Kelli Watson, Luke Wheeler, Dan Yellop

 

With:

 

Bertie Grundy, Al Jones, Aiden Ludlow, James Ludlow, P.J. Ludlow, Turlough Maguire, Chimé Spooner, Jheryl Stewart

 

Union Jack Crew:

 

Directed, Written, Produced, Cinematography and Editing by Mark Garvey

 

Production Managers: Simon Cleary, Michael Manning

 

Aerial Cinematography: Callum Oakaby-Wright, Blake Max

 

 

Production Assistants:

 

Rachel Bolch, Greg Campbell, Rory Campbell, Abbie Clarke, Malachi Collins, Francesco Di Ilio, Rob Ellingham, Evie Gallagher, Tom Gibbs, Jim Hampson, Shannon Harley, John Harper, Shane Harrison, Ross Herbert, Rebecca Hinrichs, Leonie Issacs, Al Jones, Ewan Jones, Alex Foy, Daniel King, Jim Hampson, Hana Keen, Alex Kosky, Paul Ludlow, Blake Max, Brendan O’Malley, Jan Nicpon, Callum Oakaby-Wright, Charlie Portal, Chloe Reed, Oliver Samuel, Faye Sarron, Anna-Lena Schwaer, Benjamin Morgan Smith, Jheryl Stewart, Tamryn Swart, Alex Thomas, Caleb Thompson, Kelli Watson, Luke Wheeler

 

 

Special Thanks:

 

John Ballantyne, Juliet Bernard, Lewis Blackman, Rob Ellingham, Zoe Hancock, Steffan Honour, The Maguire Family, Orla Moore, Madonna Norgrove, Oaklands College, Michelle Punter, Neil Robertson, Oliver Samuel, Kerry Stringer-Kane, Jake Williams, Fran Wimpress, Dan Yellop

 

 

Union Jack Trivia:

 

As well as original stories based on the Marvel characters, the series features episodes inspired by/based on specific Marvel comics, including:  Union Jack Volume 1 by Ben Raab and John Cassaday; Union Jack Volume 2 by Christos N. Gage and Mike Perkins; Invaders Now! #1-5 by Christos N. Gage, Alex Ross and Caio Reiss; The New Invaders Volume 1 #4-5 by Allan Jacobsen, C.P. Smith and Chris Walker, and "The Daredevils" Volume 1 #3 by Alan Moore and Alan Davis.

 

All characters call the eponymous hero something different: Romany Wisdom calls him "Joey", Kenneth Crichton calls him "Joe", Lady J calls him "Joseph", MI5 Deputy Director Philip Gavin calls him "Agent Chapman", Grausum calls him "the man in the mask", Slaymaster calls him "Jackie Boy", Lancaster Sneed/Shockwave calls him "Jacko", Maximillian Zaran calls him "UJ", Vixen calls him "Jackson", Percy Hotchkins calls him "Junior Jack", and MI5 Director Annabel Warner calls him "the asset". Only Union Jack calls himself "Union Jack".

 

About

 

Marvel’s first British superhero, “Union Jack”, comes crash-bang-wallop-ing onto your screens in a fan series of web-based films adapted from the comics. This not-so-super superhero, is a loveable rogue that divides his time between his day job on messy missions as an MI5 agent, and fulfilling his true passion of hunting down - and putting an end to - “stinky” vampires. Agent Joseph Chapman, codename: Union Jack, is ably aided by his ever-suffering partner, Romany Wisdom: the brains of the duo, while their forever furious boss, MI5 Deputy Director Philip Gavin, barks endless orders at them. How can Union Jack put a stop to the evil schemes of the big bad vamp, Baroness Blood, when naughty terrorists Axis Mundi are also up to no good? Throw in psychotic master assassin, Slaymaster; sneaky double-triple-quadruple agent, Zaran; elusive puppet-master, Vixen; as well as an array of nasty vamps ... and poor old Jack really has his work cut out for him.

 

An ambitious and unique Marvel fan series, “Union Jack” shines a light on an as yet unseen shadowy little corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: the United Kingdom ... and illuminates its many colourful characters. Created by Roy Thomas and Frank Robbins, the first Union Jack, James Montgomery Falsworth, appeared in “Invaders” in July 1976 ... months before Marvel’s better-known British hero, Captain Britain, made his debut. Roger Stern and John Byrne then introduced the third Union Jack, Joseph Chapman, in “Captain America”, in January 1981. Our hero, Joey, has been proudly flying the flag in the comics ever since. We follow hapless MI5 agent Joseph Chapman - as Union Jack - as he romps his way through ten half hour episodes. Set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a whacky assortment of friends and foes are also along for the ride, in this very British adventure.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

What exactly is a “Marvel Fan Series”?

 

Simply put: it is a series made by Marvel fans. Obviously, as it is fan-made, the series is not official nor canonical, but it is set in the existing Marvel Cinematic Universe. It goes without saying that we do not have permission, the rights, or clearances, which is the very definition of a fan series or a fan film; however, Marvel and Disney are very supportive of their dedicated, die-hard fans and the creative work they produce.

 

Why make a “Marvel Fan Series”?

 

For passion. For fun. For an almighty challenge. To tell stories and to explore characters that Marvel are yet to tackle on their epic canvas. The creative team wanted to work on something big and bold, and so the scale and scope of a lengthy series was appealing. The idea of producing work set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was very exciting and had lots of potential, especially as the British side of Marvel remains unexplored on screen.

 

How does Union Jack fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

 

It exists in the continuity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and makes references to it. Our timeline starts in 2017 with the later episodes taking place in 2018, around the time of the events in Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), and we wrap up our story just before Thanos’s snap in Avengers: Infinity War (2018). We have tried to produce a show that is in keeping with the tone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially their more absurd and humourous outings, such as Thor: Ragnarok (2017).

 

Why Union Jack?

 

Initially, when the project was first coming together, we were  working towards producing a Captain Britain series, but it quickly became apparent that Union Jack was much more appropriate to what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go. There’s quite a wide range of interesting lesser-known British characters in Marvel Comics, but Joey’s adventures hunting vampires and being an agent in MI5 were well-suited to us, our style, and our creative intentions.

 

Do you stay “true” to the comics?

 

Yes and no. Some stories are adapted from the comics, others are entirely original stories featuring the characters from the comics. We wanted our hero to be different and not the type of character you would typically expect as a lead in superhero media, and as he doesn’t have superpowers, or any particularly special qualities, it made sense for him to be very different. He’s not special, he’s just an ordinary guy in extraordinary situations. He’s often incapable and out-of-his-depth, and we really pushed the boat out on this at times. In addition, his Britishness also helps set him apart from other familiar characters.

 

Why now?

 

For the creative team, the time was right to take on an ambitious large-scale project like this. The team’s project prior to Union Jack was also an adaptation, and a wave of fan films we encountered led us towards the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which we felt lacked British characters, particularly as the lead. With the Brexit fiasco and other awkward embarrassments, Britain is undeniably in a bit of a mess, so the project was a timely, unifying, and positive “antidote” that gave us a voice to protest against the things going on around us that we weren’t happy about.