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Wednesday, October 21
Marvel Entertainment President Kevin Feige has said that a Doctor Strange movie would "kick ass," while Stan Lee, who co-created the character in 1963, made a "promise" to MTV during San Diego Comic-Con that Doctor Strange would be one of Marvel's future projects. But how realistic is a Doctor Strange movie? So far, the character hasn't found much success in Hollywood adaptations. A TV pilot made in the 1970s failed to launch a regular series, while a 2007 animated movie debuted on DVD to mixed reviews.
Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada explained the character's limited appeal to a crowd at the Big Apple Comic-Con. Quesada said that, while Doctor Strange often appears in Marvel comics titles, Strange is "one of a small handful of characters that whenever you see them guest star, you go, Oh! Doctor Strange! I wish he had his own series.' Then we launch a series, and nobody buys it." The Doctor hasn't had his own monthly Marvel comic since 1996, and is constantly being reinvented by Marvel in hopes that fans will eventually support the character on a monthly basis.
With Marvel working on a full slate of movies, including Iron Man 2, Thor, and The First Avenger: Captain America, that are leading to an Avengers movie in 2012, projects like Doctor Strange and Ant-Man aren't a high priority for Marvel. But Lee believes they "just have to get to [Doctor Strange]," continuing that, "Every one of the characters — they're [Marvel] not going to let one go. Why should they?"
With Marvel finding huge success with the lesser-known character Iron Man, Doctor Strange definitely has a chance. But without enough of a fan base to support a comic book, there's a good reason why Ant-Man already has a script from Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright while Doctor Strange still has nothing.
Posted 10/21/2009 by Ryan
Related: Stan Lee | Dr. Strange | Doctor Strange | Ant-Man
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Thursday, September 10
According to director Edgar Wright, the recent news that Pixar would have a hand in the Ant-Man feature is false. Entertainment Weekly reported last week that "Pixar already has their eye on Ant-Man," which started a firestorm of activity on the internet and prompted Wright, who has been developing Ant-Man for the past five years, to contact his boss.
I just spoke to [Marvel President of Production] Kevin Feige for the first time since I wrapped and we are meeting this week to discuss the next phase. The news that Pixar is involved is not wholly accurate and a little premature to comment on. I love Pixar's work more than anyone and indeed would love to collaborate with them.
Even so, we can't help but be curious about the wiggle-room offered by the phrase "not wholly accurate" could mean. The rumor seemed plausible, considering Pixar has prior experience with miniature heroes — A Bug's Life, Toy Story — but Wright said that his movie will be a live-action adaptation of the comic book character, not a CGI film.
My spin on Ant-Man is very different than a straight superhero origin and very much live action. At some point in this century, I intend to stop talking about it and make the damn thing.
Wright went on to say that his movie would not be a typical superhero movie like Spider-Man or Iron Man.
I want to make a film inside the Marvel Universe that is something a little different; a genre film within the superhero genre, so to speak.
Posted 9/10/2009 by BrentJS
Related: Kevin Feige | Kevin Feige | Kevin Feige | Edgar Wright | Ant-Man
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Tuesday, September 8
Entertainment Weekly had some interesting news to add over the weekend about the Disney/Marvel merger. In a one-line afterthought, they fanned the rumor flames about another potential comic book movie. Which of Marvel's 5000 characters has Pixar got its CG "eyes" upon? None other than Marvel's most miniscule super hero, Ant-Man!
Marvel has thousands of characters to feed Disney's film, TV, and animation business (Pixar is said to already be eyeballing an Ant-Man movie). As Iron Man proved, they don't need to be iconic to become blockbusters.
Ant-Man does seem right down Pixar's alley, although audiences might be a little tired of all the tiny characters they've already done (Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Finding Nemo). Let's just hope that they don't rehash another Disney movie and call it Honey, I Shrunk Myself.
Posted 9/8/2009 by Jim
Related: Ant-Man
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Wednesday, July 8
Kenneth Branagh and Jon Favreau are among the directors working on Marvel's Avengers movies, and Edgar Wright, the director of Shaun of the Dead and the upcoming Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, is ready to join them. Ant-Man, one of the founding members of The Avengers, will be the hero in Wright's movie, for which he has already written a script. Trouble is, Wright's still working on Pilgrim, which means that Ant-Man will have to wait.
Ant-Man is something I need to return to. I wrote a draft before Scott Pilgrim started and it's kind [of] on back burner slightly just because I've been busy with this. But it's something that I have got to return to. I have to do another draft after Scott Pilgrim is done. When you come away from something it's good and fun to rework what you've already done. But I'm very happy with the first draft and we need to get back into business.
Pilgrim, the story of a man (Michael Cera) who must fight his girlfriend's evil ex-boyfriends, won't open until 2010, meaning Ant-Man likely won't see the big screen until after The Avengers hits on May 4, 2012.
Posted 7/8/2009 by Ryan
Related: The Avengers | Edgar Wright | Ant-Man
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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