Thanks to Iron Man's Success, the Avengers Will Be Assembling in Theaters
Posted at 12:12 PM May 05, 2008
As we've noted, Marvel's feeling pretty good today. And amidst doing rails of cocaine down rows of dozens of prostitutes (all lined up), Marvel took a moment to discuss their future plans. You can read the full press release here, but it's pretty boring and I've got the important news below:
• There will not only be an Iron Man sequel in 2010, but a Thor movie as well
• In 2011, there will be an "Avengers-themed two-picture project," including Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers
If this news has made you shit your ants, rest assured you're in good company (mine). The only sad part of the Iron Man movie for me was seeing the Sam Jackson/Nick Fury cameo and knowing it was just a huge tease, since there was no Avengers film in sight. Admittedly, there's no way to know what the movie will be, if Jackson or Downey or anyone will star in it, or it'll actually get made, but it's nice to think it might.
But I wouldn't be a nerd if I didn't find something to criticize, so here goes: I think Thor is going to flop. I don't think there's possibly a way to make a Thor movie accessible to modern movie-goers without taking away everything the comic fans love, just because of his weird mythological origins and all that. Thor has no alter-ego to speak of (don't talk to me about Donald Blake), and thus there's nothing for mainstream audiences to wrap their heads around. And I'm worried that if a Thor movie tanks, it could fuck up an Avengers movie, which strikes fear even into my cold, shriveled, black heart.
Likewise, I think it'd be a mistake to make a Captain America solo movie before an Avengers movie. Partially because Captain America's origin is 100% tied up in the Avengers, and I'm a bitter nerd who would cry if they changed it. But mostly I think given the heat of Iron Man (and potentially the Incredible Hulk), the Avengers is a sure bet right now, and a solo Cap movie would have more to gain after an Avengers movie introduced him, and not have to deal with the origin stuff. Additionally, I think you could introduce Thor in an Avengers movie, see how audiences dig Thor, and then judge if a solo movie could work.
Last but not least, I also feel that The Ultimates is pretty much the best Avengers story ever, and Marvel would be fools not to use it as a template for an Avengers movie. I'm sure they want to take out some of the dark stuff like the Wasp/Giant-Man domestic dispute, but the evil Nazi aliens storyline is gold. And it would be easy to sub in the movie Iron Man and Hulk into it. And it would serve as the perfect intro for mass audiences to Cap, which would lead naturally to a solo Cap movie.
Stay tuned for more "Enormous Nerd Rants I Come Up with When I Can't Go to Sleep" on Topless Robot. (Via Newsarama)
Comments
I'd have to say I agree fully with you about the way an Avengers movie SHOULD go down: In a more "Ultimates" way. Problem with that is, there have already been two Ultimate Avengers direct-to-DVD animated features, both pretty awesome, and readapting that for the big screen might be ... iffy.
I think, however, that Thor COULD work, but only if it was done in a "300" sort of way, more mighty viking battles and stuff. Maybe Thor could get banished from Asgard at the end for doing some jacked-up stuff and that would lead to him being available on Earth for the Avengers film ... hmmm ...
Posted 05/05/2008 at 11:34:20 AMit would also rock if maybe they played up the thor mythology because of moviegoers gettin the love out for lord of the rings(even though the books have been around longer so more people are familiar with the material and they're considered literature and not just kiddie comic books by snootie douchebags). Just thinking of some of the over the top visuals is kinda gettin me hard. Also, tying the universe together a bit with a brief silver surfer appearance.
Posted 05/05/2008 at 03:15:33 PMon second thought, they could just wrap thor up in a bunch of non-sensical, overly-stylized putty armor and give him a sweet chromed-out salad shooter. yeah, i smell a sweet 100 grand opening for that celluloid masterpiece.
Posted 05/05/2008 at 03:19:38 PMThis has made me happier than every christmas combined.
Posted 05/05/2008 at 03:30:21 PMGot to agree with everything you've said. I'd want to see an Ultimate Cap movie, but it'd no doubt be best after an Avengers movie . . . though that's sort of a catch-22. You do an Avengers movie, and if it's all "new" characters you sort of face the problem of "who are these guys?!" that you'd have for characters who didn't have a movie to cover their introduction. You could do a montage to recap it, and then exapnd it later . . . but eh.
I agree that Thor could work in a "300" kind of way, but I also kind of think that it's cheating to do that. It doesn't make the problem of Thor being silly in a modern context go away.
Posted 05/05/2008 at 04:11:43 PMI could see the Ultimate Thor story being fairly adaptable for the big screen. Sort of a "Is he or isn't he?" flick. I know they bandied about the idea of making it an epic LotR-esque film about 5 years ago during the height of Lord of the Ring mania, but I don't know anymore. I'm a huge Thor fan, but I agree, it will be hard to make a marketable movie around him.
I'm thinking that the Avengers film will probably be based on the Ultimates storyline. If that's the case, then I could see the Cap movie being the Pt. 1 of the larger story. It would encompass the WWII aspect, set up the Alien-Nazis, his freezing and eventual thawing. At the end of the film he could recruit the remaining Avengers or prepare to assemble them and leave it at a sort of cliffhanger.
I'm sure they would use the same actors. They've been planning this thing for so long, they surely have some sort of verbiage in the contracts about sticking around for an Avengers flick. Also, RDJ loves playing Iron Man, so he's definitely on board. (He was quoted as saying he would do 15 Iron Man films if he could). I'm sure Samuel Jackson would be in too, as he was hoping for such an occasion when he agreed to provide his likeness for the Ultimates.
I was sad that they didn't announce a Deadpool or Runaways film today, but I'm sad about that everyday.
I remember reading somewhere that they wanted to release two major pictures each year. If you look at 2009, they have Wolverine and nothing else. I'm not sure if the strike through things out of whack or what, but I'd be interested to see what they fill in that spot with. (The announce Nick Fury film? Or perhaps Edgar Wright's Ant-Man? He is an Avenger too... sort of.)
Posted 05/05/2008 at 08:10:42 PMI see one big problem if they do an Avengers movie there a ton of heroes to cover that you can't shove down peoples throats and get a good response with out a crap load of movie about all the heroes and at that point no one will want to see maybe they should use brief intros at the beginning
Posted 06/20/2008 at 07:19:23 PMThere will be a IRon man 2 in 2010 directed by John Faverau and in 2011 there will be captain america directed by joe johnston.
Posted 11/11/2008 at 06:27:13 PMThere will be a IRon man 2 in 2010 directed by John Faverau and in 2011 there will be captain america directed by joe johnston.
Posted 11/11/2008 at 06:27:26 PM