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Wednesday, October 21
Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada teased the crowd at New York's Big Apple Comic-Con with a few details about the upcoming The First Avenger: Captain America.
I've seen a couple of outlines and an initial screenplay, and it's going to rock everyone's socks off. It's very unexpected, the kind of movie it is.
Quesada also said that Captain America sets up The Avengers in "a fantastic way," and that Marvel has a wish list of actors to play the role, but Quesada would not disclose any names.
Posted 10/21/2009 by Ryan
Related: First Avenger: Captain America
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Wednesday, October 14
Jon Favreau has left hints that he'd be directing the upcoming Avengers movie for some time now, saying his involvement was "yet to be determined." It looks like fanboys let their hopes get away from them, though, as Favreau has now told MTV that his status is 100% determined ... and the decision is "no."
They'll have to [find a different director], because I'm not going to be available. It's something I'm being the executive producer on, so I'll definitely have input and a say.
It's going to be hard, because I was so involved in creating the world of Iron Man and Iron Man is very much a tech-based hero, and then with Avengers you're going to be introducing some supernatural aspects because of Thor. How you mix the two of those works very well in the comic books, but it's going to take a lot of thoughtfulness to make that all work and not blow the reality that we've created.
Favreau also confirmed that Edward Norton will not be appearing as The Hulk in Iron Man 2, though Favreau says there will still be connections between Iron Man 2 and the other Avengers movies.
We want to reinforce a lot of the stuff we started to tip off ... The Avengers is a much larger concern for Marvel and Kevin Feige, who runs Marvel. They're going to be doing Thor and Captain America, and the way we might start to tease those things in this movie, some of it is stuff that we've discussed [and] some of the stuff you do last-minute as you figure out how that stuff is coming together. It's an evolving, amorphous thing. If we decide and commit too early, the secret always gets out. As soon as we shot the Nick Fury thing [in Iron Man] — we had a closed set and nobody was supposed to know about it — a week later somehow it was all over the internet.
While fans have to be disappointed with the news that Favreau's not directing The Avengers, Favreau certainly isn't. He thinks Avengers is in good hands with Feige.
That's why it's good that you have the guys from Marvel like Kevin Feige, who knows the books well and has been involved with the making of all the movies, and he'll be very involved with Thor and Cap. You need somebody who has the perspective of all the different franchises to bring them together. I have the myopic vision of just knowing and loving Iron Man.
Posted 10/14/2009 by Ryan
Related: Edward Norton | Jon Favreau | Kevin Feige | Thor | Iron Man 2 | First Avenger: Captain America | The Avengers
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In the past, comic book writers were the last people Hollywood would go to for advice about their adaptations. That's changing, though. With many of the top-grossing films of the past decade based on comic book characters, the writers are gaining a little more cred.
At the recent Baltimore Comic-Con, prolific comic book scribe Brian Michael Bendis revealed that he is one of those rare comic creators afforded access in Hollywood, at least on the Kenneth Branagh-directed Thor movie currently in development at Marvel Studios. Bendis, one of the designers of the "Ultimate" universe, a modern retelling of classic Marvel characters designed to appeal to new readers, confirmed that Thor would precede the release of Captain America: The First Avenger, and that he had read the script. Bendis joked:
I'm Thor. A Jewy Thor. I was reading the new script just last night. Very, very good.
Thor is currently in pre-production, with an expected January 2010 start, and will feature Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Natalie Portman as Thor's human love interest, Jane Foster.
Next Showing: Thor is scheduled for a May 20, 2011 release
Posted 10/14/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Natalie Portman | Kenneth Branagh | Thor | First Avenger: Captain America | Chris Hemsworth
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Monday, September 14
The proposed acquisition of Marvel Entertainment by Disney last month shocked comic book fans who became immediately fearful that the family-oriented Disney might water down Marvel's characters, particularly with the upcoming output of movies like Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America, and The Avengers. At Disney's D23 Expo, President and CEO Bob Iger tried to calm those fears by explaining that Disney's relationship with Pixar will be "analogous in terms of how we plan to manage Marvel" :
As you'd expect, due to the nature of Marvel, it's a business we're very familiar with. Well known characters and weird stories and a product that transcends gender and age and geographic territories.
When you look at it as part of the Walt Disney Company and the application, the presence of Marvel is virtually in everything that we're in. You can expect that over time, that's what you will see. We became impressed with the talent of Marvel as we got to know them better. Once the the deal closes their is expected integration, but we plan to keep Marvel as an entity and and to respect both the talent that is there, working as one and also respect what Marvel is and what the essence of Marvel is. There will be no Disneyfication of Marvel.
While Iger's comment may ease some tension of Marvel fans, the merger is still incomplete and now has found itself under fire from New York law firm Levi & Korsinsky, who have filed a lawsuit against Marvel Entertainment. Presented on behalf of Marvel shareholders, the lawsuit maintains that Marvel's stock is being undervalued in the proposed merger between the two companies. The law firm explained the lawsuit on their website:
The investigation concerns whether the Marvel Board of Directors breached their fiduciary duties to Marvel shareholders by failing conduct a fair and open sales process in order to maximize shareholder value.
How the lawsuit will impact the merger is unknown at this time, as neither Disney nor Marvel has commented on the matter.
Posted 9/14/2009 by Ryan
Related: Thor | First Avenger: Captain America | The Avengers
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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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Wednesday, July 29
No, not Captain Jack Sparrow, aka Johnny Depp, but Captain Jack Harkness, aka John Barrowman.
"John who?" you ask. No stranger to fans of the British sci-fi series Doctor Who and Torchwood, where he plays Captain Jack Harkness, actor and singer John Barrowman announced during the Torchwood panel at Comic-Con that he wishes to play Captain America in the planned movie adaptation of the comic book. "Imagine me in spandex and lycra!" he exclaimed. He then all but demanded that all fans in attendance help him lobby for the part.
What do you think? Does he have the looks and swagger for the part?
Posted 7/29/2009 by reelz
Related: John Barrowman | First Avenger: Captain America
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The Avengers isn't the only movie Marvel's President of Production Kevin Feige was talking about at the San Diego Comic-Con, he also spoke about the upcoming First Avenger: Captain America, the last Avengers movie to arrive in theaters, trailing both Iron Man 2 and Thor, before The Avengers debut in 2012. With screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely only "about halfway through" the script and no casting decisions to be made until director Joe Johnston joins the production in October, Feige was still able to shed some light on the movie, describing it as an "origin story" with international flavor:
Setting it in World War II — the Marvel version of World War II — I think is gonna open it up in another big way ... What's funny is it will actually end up being, I think, our most diverse and our most international film, in terms of the content of the movies itself. It takes place overseas much more than any of our other films do. In terms of the cast, there's a group that Steve [Rogers] works with that will have an opportunity for many more international actors than any of our other films.
Feige also opened up about what villains might appear in the movie:
We are gonna explore those aspects of World War II that made Cap special: the Super Soldier program, Red Skull, Hydra, all of those things that exist in the Marvel version of it. As you know if you read the comic books, the origin of Captain America is really the origin of the Marvel universe ... it's about that time in history when the idea of the superhero began to emerge.
Posted 7/29/2009 by Ryan
Related: Kevin Feige | First Avenger: Captain America | The Avengers
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Monday, July 27
The San Diego Comic-Con was a boon for upcoming Marvel movie information, not only for next year's Iron Man 2 but for The Avengers as well. Jon Favreau has been mentioned as a possible director for the superhero mash-up, but Favreau explained that nothing has been determined yet:
My involvement has yet to be determined on that project. Remember, you have to take into account what Thor is and you don't know that until the film's locked. You're not going to know about Thor for two years, what that really means. And Captain America, they haven't even started prepping yet. So there's a lot of discovery that has to take place before you can understand what Avengers really is.
Also in the Avengers mix would be Iron Man, and while Favreau sounds on the fence about the Avengers, he would have a hard time not directing an Iron Man-related movie:
It's strange when you have to switch those hats, because I'm not used to that, and just going from directing and creating this world to just being Happy Hogan in The Avengers would be — I'm not going to lie — it would be strange. I'll be involved as an executive producer, but it's a lot different being a consultant on something [compared to] being the guy calling the shots.
As for future Iron Man movies, Favreau feels that "if there was a third episode it should be The Avengers," though he also confirmed that Iron Man 3 is already in Marvel's plans:
Here's how I know. When they make the option deals, they include Iron Man 3. So I know they're planning on three. Whether that would be before or after Avengers, they've announced that Avengers is next but they pushed back The Avengers once which I thought was encouraging.
With Favreau busy, Marvel's President of Production Kevin Feige was telling Collider the Avengers line-up:
It's going to be Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Nick Fury. I think it's safe to assume that there will be some members of the Hulk universe in the film as well. In terms of the additional, I think Black Widow for sure. SHIELD's organization form sure. And, again, what's exciting to me about the Avengers movie are seeing those four characters together and interact with each other. Anywhere from the first issue of the Avengers to [Marvel's comic series] Civil War, the dynamic between Steve Rogers [Captain America] and Tony Stark [Iron Man] is awesome and fascinating. It brings out sides of the others that won't be brought out in their own franchises. Throwing Thor into the mix is a whole other thing and I think that will be cool. So to pile in another ten or fifteen...or frankly even four...I think will be too many.
The Avengers opens May 4, 2012, with Iron Man 2 (May 7, 2010), Thor (May 20, 2011) and First Avenger: Captain America (July 22, 2011) preceding it.
Posted 7/27/2009 by Ryan
Related: Jon Favreau | Kevin Feige | Iron Man | Iron Man | Thor | Iron Man 2 | First Avenger: Captain America | The Avengers | The Avengers | Iron Man 3
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Wednesday, July 1
Sure, Thor has been cast, but what about Captain America or the rest of the Avengers team? CraveOnline spoke to Doug Finberg, Head of Marketing for Marvel Studios, who explained the casting hold-up:
It's ultimately about we want to get Thor right and then move on and actually just really give that the time that it needs to develop it, get it on screen, bring it to the audience. Then we're going to move on to Captain America, so we're a little far out for The Avengers, so we'll get there. Let's get through Thor before we actually get that far.
With Samuel L. Jackson signed for nine movies as Nick Fury, SciFiWire asked Finburg about a solo Fury movie:
Well, we have a multi-picture deal with him, so obviously we're in business with him for a while to come, and we really enjoy working with Sam.
Does it seem like that quote was followed by a huge, knowing wink to anyone else?
Finally, the way Finburg feels about the Avengers movies is the way only a Head of Marketing could:
Ultimately, the final expectation, the final verdict, is with the fans, and that's something that the team of Marvel does a phenomenal job at, actually making the best movie from the material they can.
Next Showing: The Avengers opens May 4, 2012
Posted 7/1/2009 by Ryan
Related: Samuel L. Jackson | Thor | First Avenger: Captain America | The Avengers
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Friday, June 26
Marvel Entertainment seems to be on a good run after the success of Iron Man, with production moving along on the sequel Iron Man 2, as well as Thor and The First Avenger: Captain America. All those movies will tie together in 2012's The Avengers, in what is projected to be the start of a huge blockbuster franchise. No one is more aware of the expectations on The Avengers than its screenwriter, Zak Penn, who warned the crowd attending a Los Angeles Film Festival panel:
It's hard to make a good movie. We all have the best intentions, and it still might suck.
Penn is no stranger to writing ensemble superhero movies, having penned X2: X-Men united and X-Men: The Last Stand, but making several movies fit together into one is a challenge:
I'm taking a meeting next week with the Thor and Captain America people, and we are all going to get together, and I will see what is going to happen. I'll see where they are leaving the characters; it's pretty complicated.... There's a board that is tracking what is happening. [We'll see] how this movie overlaps in that movie...
What gives Penn confidence, however, is working for Marvel, who is making the Avengers movies with its own production studio:
Marvel is autonomous now. It is night and day: Everyone has read every comic. They know how to make a cool movie.
Next Showing: The Avengers opens May 4, 2012
Posted 6/26/2009 by Ryan
Related: X-Men: The Last Stand | X2: X-Men United | Iron Man | Thor | Iron Man 2 | First Avenger: Captain America | The Avengers