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Monday, September 28
A few days ago we reported Hulk actor Edward Norton's views about returning to Marvel Movies. Now we have the video clips of the extended MTV interview.
Posted 9/28/2009 by Jim
Related: Edward Norton | The Avengers | The Hulk | The Incredible Hulk
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Thursday, September 24
Speculation that the Hulk will appear in The Avengers began with Robert Downey Jr.'s cameo appearance at the end of The Incredible Hulk and built momentum when, at the San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Entertainment President Kevin Feige said "it's safe to assume that there will be some members of the Hulk universe" in the movie.
In the comics, the Hulk was the impetus for the team to unite in the first place. While Edward Norton has remained mysterious about if he will appear as the Hulk in Iron Man 2 or The Avengers in the past, he told MTV that he's open to a return in The Avengers.
Yeah, oh yeah. The thing about [Marvel's] universe that'sfun is that it all cross-pollinates. Even when I was working on thescript [for The Incredible Hulk], I tried to plug in the wholeSuper-Soldier Serum from Captain America.
Norton also told MTV that he likes the idea of Hulk as the villain.
Well, he kinda was [a villain]. In the comics, there was always a tension between the rest of the superhero community and he was always this problem.... They treated him as this problem. I think that's a fun way to go with it.
So, if Norton is such a fan of it all, why has he been so vague about a possible return?
I just get very busy. You have to deal with the demands of the moment. I tend to keep my head in the thing I'm doing, and I don't speculate or worry too much about what two or three blocks down the thing is gonna be. I know all these things will reveal themselves and work out or not.
Next Showing: The Avengers opens May 4, 2012
Posted 9/24/2009 by Ryan
Related: Edward Norton | The Incredible Hulk | Iron Man 2 | The Avengers
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Wednesday, September 2
A few weeks ago, Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier went on record saying he didn't want to direct a Hulk sequel, but rather "another superhero [movie], something I can really put my stamp on." Looks like Leterrier has changed his mind and would like to reunite with Edward Norton for Incredible Hulk 2 after all.
Yeah, he's a great actor and a great Hulk. ... Sure. I'd return to it. I have some ideas. So many ideas for so many things.
Leterrier's response came before Disney purchased Marvel for $4 billion dollars. Wth Hulk likely appearing in The Avengers, Incredible Hulk 2 would have to wait until after Avengers is released, which could be pushed back a while. Should the studio begin working on an Incredible Hulk 2 script, producer Gale Anne Hurd has said that having Tim Blake Nelson return to play the villain The Leader "would be a blast."
Posted 9/2/2009 by Ryan
Related: Edward Norton | Louis Leterrier | The Incredible Hulk | The Incredible Hulk 2
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Monday, August 31
Early this morning Spider-Man, Wolverine, The Hulk, Iron Man, and Captain America packed their bags and moved from the "House of Marvel" to the "House of Mouse," as Disney announced its 4 billion dollar purchase of Marvel Entertainment and its many hot comic book properties.
Comic book movie fans, who have been delighted over Marvel's recent movie productions, are already wondering what Disney's acquisition will do to the superhero movie genre. While in the past Marvel granted cinematic rights to their characters all over the place, some of which are still obligated to the likes of Fox (X-Men, Wolverine, Daredevil, The Fantastic Four), and Sony (Spider-Man). they've more recently kept tight control of their characters.
After the disappointment that was Ang Lee's 2003 Hulk, Marvel took the rights to the green goliath back from Universal, vowing to do the Hulk justice with its reboot and along the way putting out its first fully-funded, Marvel-made movie: Iron Man, which ended up being a major summer blockbuster. Both fans and the industry soon saw the benefits of Marvel doing its own filmmaking — especially since rival DC Comics, wholly owned by Warner Bros since the late 80s, seemed to be having trouble getting even their major properties off the ground.
The Walt Disney corporation may look at Marvel's existing license agreements and renegotiate with each individual studio to buy back the movie rights ... or they could decide just to sit back and let the other studios do all the work. Superhero movies are currently cinematic cash cows and the Walt Disney Company could earn a substantial profit by continuing to license out the hot comic book characters.
The main fear amongst fans is that Disney's family-friendly focus will have a dumbing down effect on Marvel's more gritty characters. Hopefully they're financially smart enough not to tinker with hot movie commodities already in production, but long-term projects like The Avengers and The First Avenger: Captain America may come under scrutiny.
Posted 8/31/2009 by Jim
Related: Daredevil | Spider-Man 4 | Thor | The Incredible Hulk | Iron Man 2 | First Avenger: Captain America | The Avengers | X-Men Origins: Magneto | X-Men: First Class | X-Men Origins: Deadpool
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Tuesday, August 11
The LA Times caught up with Louis Leterrier on the set of his upcoming Clash of the Titans, where The Incredible Hulk director talked about The Avengers and the upcoming Marvel movies. The French director revealed that he wants to make another Marvel movie, but Leterrier seemed uncommitted to making The Incredible Hulk 2.
Well, so far, no. I am contracted to do one more film with Marvel so when I'm done here with [Titans] I will go back to say to them, "Guys you need me? Is there something I can do?"
Leterrier explained that making The Incredible Hulk took its toll on him.
Hulk was such a challenge. It was to reboot something and follow [the Ang Lee-directed 2003 Hulk] movie that was absolutely adored by part of the fan population and then absolutely hated by another part. It was complicated for me. I wasn't sure what to do with that history. I did my Hulk but it was not easy. If I do another Hulk film it will always be compared to the Ang Leething, and my first one … if I come back I'd love to do another superhero, something different that I can really put my touch on.
So if Leterrier isn't willing to direct the next Incredible Hulk, what movie would he want to direct?
I would love to do the Avengers film. I'd love to work with Marvel again. I loved working with them. I like [Marvel President of Production] Kevin Feige, he's a good guy and a fan. I love him. I feel really good at Marvelbecause they are people my age who are obsessed with movies and comic books. We talk about the same things. And they are not the nerd army — they like when you change something [away from Marvel canon] if there's a good reason, they're open to new things. Kevin is smart about movies and he takes risks. I would work with him tomorrow. But it has to be the right project.
But directing The Avengers isn't all Leterrier wants. He outlined a much larger dream for The Avengers that surely had Feige and his fellow Marvel executives talking.
I'll tell you my real dream: To work with [First Avenger: Captain America director] Joe Johnston and [Thor director] Kenneth Branagh and Jon Favreau and make like a triptych. We do four movies. We release them one a month for the summer. Or even every two weeks or three weeks. And the whole summer would be Avengers summer. So we do it the way they make television shows. One story arc but told in installments by different directors. So all of the directors that touch part of the Avengers world would do a part; wecould make the movies shorter, maybe less than an hour and a half, and we use the same sets and save Marvel money. I would love to sit around a table with all of them a kick around the story. That's my dream.
Posted 8/11/2009 by Ryan
Related: Joe Johnston | Jon Favreau | Kevin Feige | Ang Lee | The Hulk | Louis Leterrier | Kenneth Branagh | The Incredible Hulk | The Avengers | The Incredible Hulk 2
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Wednesday, July 1
Stan Lee has made an appearance in most of the Marvel movies based on comics he created, but typically they are blink-and-miss cameos such as "Milwaukee Man Drinking from a Bottle" in The Incredible Hulk or "Man Dodging Debris" in Spider-Man 2. Iron Man 2 will see Lee step up his game by playing CNN Host Larry King.
Sources have split on what Lee's scene entails. Lee's scene could have him, as King, interviewing Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) about his new, "black" Iron Man suit. Or, as told to Collider, Lee will be asking Downey Jr. when he will appear on the Larry King show. Perhaps they are both right, which would double the usual Lee screen time.
Iron Man 2's May 7, 2010, will reveal the truth, but until then, enjoy Lee's cameos of old in the video below:
Posted 7/1/2009 by Ryan
Related: Stan Lee | Larry King | Spider-Man 2 | Robert Downey Jr. | The Incredible Hulk | Iron Man 2
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Tuesday, June 9
Marvel President of Production Kevin Feige has been very busy lately speaking about the upcoming slate of movies Marvel has in production, from The Avengers to Thor and even Ant-Man, giving plenty of updates about each one.
While he could not confirm another Incredible Hulk movie, Feige did confirm that Hulk will appear in The Avengers:
Now at least we can talk about Hulk being onscreen and Hulk being in a movie. It will have been four years since he was in a movie by that point. By 2012, I'd like to see him in it. We're just starting the story. I was on the phone with [Avengers screenwriter] Zak Penn this morning. He's coming in next week and he's going to work on the outline this summer. It's so intertwined with what we're doing before it. I almost wanted to get done with production on Iron Man 2, and the scripts to Thor and The First Avenger: Captain America well underway, before we even started The Avengers.
With many of the movies being intertwined, this means that several characters will make appearances in different movies, in particular Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. Feige explained that he hopes to provide fans with a comic book experience, where characters from other books show up unexpectedly.
Feige gave an update on Thor confirming that Donald Blake, Thor's human alter ego, will not appear in Thor, which will take place on both Earth and Asgard. Meanwhile, The First Avenger: Captain America will "primarily" be a period piece taking place during World War II, with an appearance by Cap's sidekick Bucky "a safe bet."
As for casting Captain America, Feige clearly hasn't made a decision:
There are only a handful of stars that mean anything here, much lessoverseas. I do think that will be a factor in it. As long as we have the freedom to cast the best actor for the part. Whether it's an actorwho's been a great actor, but hasn't starred in marquee action movies before like Robert Downey, or somebody that came out of Australia that we've never heard.
As for the Ant-Man adaptation that Shaun of the Dead's Edgar Wright is working on, Feige said:
I want to make Ant-Man one of these days. I think that'll be surprising and funny. I love Edgar Wright. What he likes about it is that when he says he's doing Ant-Man, people go, 'Ant-Man? What thehell is that?' I think that's funny.
Ant-Man isn't the only movie Feige hopes to make post-Avengers, he's also excited about Doctor Strange:
I think Doctor Strange would kick ass. I think we've done very well atthis street-level superhero aspect of the Marvel Universe. I think with Thor, you'll see us cracking into the cosmic side of the MarvelUniverse in a very good way that's never been done before in our movies. I'd love to get into that supernatural element.
Marvel and Feige clearly have a lot on the horizon. However, ultimately, it's The Avengers that Feige is most excited about:
I think The Avengers is going to have it's own vibe. It'll have a different tone than the other Marvel movies. It is about saving the world, because there's no other reason for characters that powerful to band together. I think the scope and the scale will feel like a much bigger thing.
Iron Man 2 opens May 7, 2010, while Thor and The First Avenger: Captain America are due May 20 and July 22 of 2011, respectively. The Avengers should open May 4, 2012.
Posted 6/9/2009 by Ryan
Related: Kevin Feige | Scarlett Johansson | Zak Penn | Shaun of the Dead | Samuel L. Jackson | Robert Downey Jr. | Thor | The Incredible Hulk | Iron Man 2 | First Avenger: Captain America | The Avengers | Tom Hiddleston | Edgar Wright | The Incredible Hulk 2 | Ant-Man | Chris Hemsworth
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Wednesday, May 6
Kevin Feige, President of Production at Marvel Studios, told Empire some updates regarding the adaptation of Thor and Avengers. First, he talked about Thor:
We will probably be having cast announcements in the next month or so on Thor. We're looking to cast Loki and Odin soon, and the main female role. And we'll also hopefully have lockdown shortly, gearing towards the beginning of production, which will be early next year. So I think there will be a lot of announcements between now and then.
Director Kenneth Branagh has already confirmed that shooting was to begin in January of next year. As for casting rumors, Josh Hartnett has been mentioned as the front-runner for Loki, and Natalie Portman the female lead, likely Thor's wife Sif. Looks like fans will know for sure sometime next month.
Feige also updated Branagh's pre-production:
Branagh's here, we're prepping, and he's put together some spectacular animatics already for our first action scene. We're digging into the second and third now, and we are just embarking on a rewrite of the draft.
As for The Avengers:
Zak Penn [X2: X-Men United and The Incredible Hulk writer] is already on board The Avengers [as screenwriter] and he's spending a lot of his time looking into what we're doing with Iron Man [2], Thor andCaptain America, seeing how we're tying it all together. And he's beginning to outline the script now -- he'll be doing that over the summer.
Feige offered no update as to whether Jon Favreau will direct The Avengers. Thor opens June 17, 2011, while The Avengers opens May 4, 2012.
Posted 5/6/2009 by Ryan
Related: Jon Favreau | Josh Hartnett | Kevin Feige | Natalie Portman | Zak Penn | X2: X-Men United | Kenneth Branagh | Thor | The Incredible Hulk | Iron Man 2 | First Avenger: Captain America | The Avengers
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Wednesday, April 1
Louis Letterier's (The Incredible Hulk) remake of The Clash of the Titans is adding some actors to its cast that will be quite familiar to James Bond fans. Casino Royale villain Mads Mikkelson is joining the cast as Draco, a leader of the Praetorian Guard that follows Perseus (played by Terminator Salvation's Sam Worthington) during his quest.
Quantum of Solace's Gemma Atherton will play Io, a part she described as "the coolest" to Emipre. "Io’s not in the original film," Atherton continued. "Perseus falls in love with her and then [Empire censors a "tiny spoiler"]. It’s a really great part.”
While the movie is still a remake of the 1981 original, Atherton claims the script is "very different" and while the story may be similar, the remake is "more about Perseus’ mission, and how he deals with being the son of Zeus."
Posted 4/1/2009 by Ryan
Related: Mads Mikkelsen | Louis Leterrier | Casino Royale | Quantum of Solace | Sam Worthington | The Incredible Hulk | Terminator Salvation | Clash of the Titans
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Wednesday, February 25
ERCBoxOffice reports that Warner Bros. has announced official release dates for several movies, including the DC Comic adaptation of Green Lantern, which just recently nabbed director Martin Campbell, and will arrive December 17, 2010, months after First Avenger: Captain America and Thor have hit theaters. So instead of competing with Marvel's comic book movies of the summer, Green Lantern will attempt to capitalize on the success or failures of Marvel's Avengers movies.
Not that Warner Bros. isn't trying to compete with Marvel's Avengers movies, just not with Green Lantern. Instead, Christopher Nolan's Inception will go head-to-head with Thor on July 16, 2010, with Josh Brolin as DC's gun-for-hire Jonah Hex following less than a month later on August 6. The Avengers will also get some competition from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II when they both open on July 15, 2011.
With Green Lantern set as Warner's December blockbuster or 2010, Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes is set for this year, bumped to December 25 rather than the original release date of November 13.
Other notable movies include The Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier's Clash of the Titans which will fight for box office dominance on March 26, 2010, while Zack Snyder's Watchmen follow-up, Sucker Punch, an action movie with an "all-girl" cast that Snyder describes as "crazier than anything" he's ever done, opens with a "definite" R rating on October 8, 2010.
Posted 2/25/2009 by Ryan
Related: Guy Ritchie | Christopher Nolan | Josh Brolin | Louis Leterrier | Martin Campbell | Jonah Hex | Thor | Green Lantern | The Incredible Hulk | Watchmen | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 | Sherlock Holmes | First Avenger: Captain America | The Avengers | Zack Snyder | Clash of the Titans