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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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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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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, September 7
Scarlett Johansson enjoyed Iron Man 2 enough to want her own Black Widow movie, so it's fortunate Johansson won the role since Marvel was considering her for another superhero role originally. Coventry Telegraph reports that Marvel discussed a number of roles with Johansson, namely Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. The Scarlet Witch, longtime member of the Avengers and daughter of Magneto, though it's not clear if the character will appear in either X-Men Origins: Magneto or The Avengers.
Instead, Johansson is playing Black Widow, a Russian spy that Johansson says will not have a Russian accent.
No, I think that would be a little bit of a dead giveaway, I don't know how covert you would be [if you had a Russian accent] but I would have [had one] if I had to.
Johansson revealed there's much more at stake in Iron Man 2 than a Russian accent, specifically that the movie comes down to choices.
I try to compare it with something like Hamlet, and it's that kind of dramatic second act where there is a huge climax and everything culminates in a character. You take a character that can go in two different paths. I think a lot of the characters in this film have to make a choice and I think there is that iconic good vs. evil that comes into play, it's not all gray area.
There's choices that have to be made and I think that a lot of characters in this are certainly forced to step up to the plate and realise how important they are, how invaluable they are to humankind, and decide: "I have this all in the palm of my hand, which way can I go?"
That to me is sort of epic, that kind of story, certainly [director] Jon [Favreau] has had that in his mind, this is like the arc of the character, and the third instalment will be the culmination of that, whether it be good or evil — of course we hope that good always prevails, but there will be a different kind of fight fought, I suppose.
Posted 9/7/2009 by Ryan
Related: Scarlett Johansson | Iron Man 2 | The Avengers | Iron Man 3 | X-Men Origins: Magneto
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Wednesday, September 2
Iron Man 2 was not shot in 3-D, even though director Jon Favreau tried to convince Marvel to let him. Oddly enough, though, that may not stop the movie from entering theaters in the 3-D format.
AICN reports that a one-minute 3-D conversion of Iron Man 2 has made Marvel/Paramount/Disney consider a 3-D conversion of the entire movie. Currently, the studios are listening to bids from 3-D companies to weigh the costs. There's even a chance that Iron Man will be converted to 3-D and re-released in advance of Iron Man 2.
Considering Favreau's love for IMAX and 3-D formats and his directing ties to The Avengers and Iron Man 3, if Iron Man 2 makes the conversion we can probably expect more Marvel movies to happen in 3-D.
Posted 9/2/2009 by Ryan
Related: Jon Favreau | Iron Man 2 | The Avengers | Iron Man 3
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Monday we heard big news about Disney buying Marvel Entertainment for a cool 4 billion. Today, we have word of what may be potential fallout from the massive merger — Marvel movie schedules being shuffled around and/or maybe even being cancelled altogether....
Collider is reporting that Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau would rather play Cowboys & Aliens than get back into the Iron Man armor, inferring that at least Avengers may get pushed back, if not dumped, from the schedule.
We're learning that Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau will delay The Avengers and a potential Iron Man 3 to do Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Damon Lindelof's adaptation of Fred Van Lente and Andrew Foley's graphic novel, Cowboys & Aliens. ... That completely botches a 2012 Avengers because that year is now for Cowboys & Aliens. And since Downey is officially signed on for The Avengers, it means we're seeing that in 2014 at the earliest. And if Iron Man 3 comes into the picture (and I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't) then we're talking a project slate that hurts my brain to even think about it.
Furthering the thought of Marvel movies being jettisoned by Disney is this critique from G4 pundit David Poland:
There will surely be more news and fallout about the fate of Marvel movies under the Walt Disney Corporation, so stay tuned to ReelzChannel.
Posted 9/2/2009 by Jim
Related: The Avengers | Iron Man 3 | Cowboys and Aliens
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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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Director Matthew Vaughn is a huge comic book fan, as his upcoming Kick-Ass adaptation hopes to prove. However, Vaughn has left more superhero movies than he's made, having abandoned both Thor and X-Men: The Last Stand.
But that doesn't mean that Vaughn isn't ready for more. Vaughn told MTV about two projects he's hoping to direct:
I grew up watching superhero films, so I want to make superhero films. I was desperate to do Iron Man about 8 years ago, and everyone was like, "Iron Man, no one will go watch that." Cut to now, and it's a huge hit. [I'd] love to do The Avengers. And Superman ... I think it would be great to reinvent Superman.
Of course, Jon Favreau directed Iron Man, and he's also been discussed as the potential director for The Avengers. In fact, Favreau feels that The Avengers might keep the Iron Man series from falling into predictability:
...The Avengers might be the thing that helps rescue us from the inevitable sequel slump that you get into, because you're throwing everything on its ear. It might be a failed experiment or it might be something wonderful, but it allows you to add complexity in an organic way where you're culminating with something bigger, as opposed to trying to play out and not repeat the same story over and over again.
Vaughn might have a better chance at the next Superman, though James McTeigue has been strongly rumored to be directing the project.
Posted 8/31/2009 by Ryan
Related: Jon Favreau | X-Men: The Last Stand | Superman Returns | Iron Man | Superman: The Man of Steel | Thor | Iron Man 2 | The Avengers | Matthew Vaughn | Kick-Ass
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Monday, August 24
Scarlett Johansson has said she's "hoping" for her own Black Widow spin-off from Iron Man 2, and Marvel's President of Production Kevin Feige agrees. Feige told ComicBookResources that Johansson is not only "signed on" to appear in The Avengers, but also her own Black Widow movie "should we be lucky enough to have an audience that wants to see" it.
Marvel likely won't have to worry about finding an audience to appreciate Johansson in a skin-tight, black leather outfit (there might be one, Marvel, fingers crossed!), but whether Johansson can make it through another movie unscathed. While Johansson enjoyed playing a "badass" character, she told IrelandOnline that the physicality of the role came at a price:
I had such a great stunt team who were unbelievably supportive. I have to say though, I'll probably never be able to turn my neck to the left again.
Luckily for her, in a comic book movie not being able to turn one's head isn't necessarily detrimental. It worked great for Christian Bale in The Dark Knight.
Posted 8/24/2009 by Ryan
Related: Kevin Feige | Scarlett Johansson | Iron Man 2 | The Avengers
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Thursday, August 20
Scarlett Johansson apparently enjoyed her time playing Black Widow in Iron Man 2, even if her skin-tight, black leather costume initially made her nervous. Johansson told Ireland Online that she's ready to play the the Russian spy again:
I hope I get to come back and do it again. The character certainly comes back. We see that she does in the comics and certainly she is a big part of The Avengers. I don't know if that is where it's going to go but she is definitely a big part of The Avengers.
Marvel's President of Production Kevin Feige has already said that Black Widow was "for sure" going to appear in The Avengers, but perhaps a solo Black Widow as well:
She has many different incarnations and different storylines so I'm hoping she will be able to continue in that way. I'm hoping that if the fans like the character and support the character, we'll see her again.
Next Showing: Iron Man 2 opens May 7, 2010
Posted 8/20/2009 by Ryan
Related: Kevin Feige | Scarlett Johansson | Iron Man 2 | The Avengers