Damon Lindelof Wants To Write ‘IRON FIST’
ComicBookMovie was able to chat with Prometheus writer Damon Lindelof (Lost, Star Trek 2, Cowboys And Aliens) about what superhero he’d love to take a shot at adapting. Damon reveals he would like to change the minds of comic fans turning a sort of an unknown lame character like Iron Fist into a badass on screen hero. He points to Matt Fraction’s recent comics as his favorite run. Did you hear that Marvel? Damon Lindelof is putting it out there he’d want to write Iron Fist which would be a giant upgrade from xXx writer Rich Wilkes (who had previously worked on a script).
“I think I would rather do a character that not many people knew, and maybe saw as lame and couldn’t carry their own movie. One character I’ve always loved is Iron Fist, and Matt Fractions incredible run with him a couple of years back. I always thought that would make a really cool movie. But I am hard pushed to think of me doing anything better than The Avengers which I just thought was phenomenal.”
“Yeah well I mean I think it’s because he’s even more fringy than Iron Man was, and also because he’s called IRON Fist they may be worried about some confusion with the Iron Man franchise, even though obviously they are very different characters. But I have to imagine that with the success of The Avengers, they are planning to give Black Widow and Hawkeye their own spin-offs, and there are many more characters on the fringe of the Marvel universe that I feel are equally worthy, like Iron Fist.”
One giant issue concerning Iron Fist is that you’re going to need an extremely good script that doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s so much genre involved martial arts, Eastern settings, immortality, mystical powers, shoot em’ ups, noir, terrorists and flashbacks to different time-periods. Damon could certainly pull these elements together. Marvel is aiming to make a film featuring a character outside of the Avengers’ world for it’s second 2014 release and Danny Rand fits that criteria. It would also be an excuse to bring in Luke Cage as a supporting character.
Idris Elba (Thor, Prometheus, Pacific Rim) and Dwayne Johnson have recently lobbied to play Cage. While fans have been championing actors like Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim, Sons of Anarchy, Children of Men) and Ryan Gosling (Gangster Squad, Drive, Only God Forgives) for Danny Rand. Personally, I’d love to see Charlie and Idris re-team for something like this. Hunnam had been a Thor candidate so he’s definitely on Marvel’s radar and co-starred with Elba in Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim.
MARVEL’S EXTENSIVE POST-AVENGERS PLANS: Release Dates And Other Films In Development
With Avengers breaking a decent amount of box office records it’s apparent that the market for well-made superhero films is stronger than ever before. Now it seems like the studio that Iron Man built can finally make the films they’ve been developing for years (some of them decades) featuring new heroes and the worldwide audiences will flock to them. Thanks in-part to the goodwill done by the Avengers and the previous movies from Marvel Studios. I’ve put together a brief rundown of upcoming projects and ones currently still in developmental stages. So fans have a solid idea of what to expect in the next couple of years.
COMING SOON
IRON MAN 3 (MAY 3RD 2013): It’s apparent that none of Stark’s friends at SHIELD or his Avengers pals will be coming to save him when things go bad. The Extremis storyline will be the main influence for the film written and directed by Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Last Boy Scout). A bulk of the production will be shot on location in China, the first Marvel film to be shot in the country. It’s possible that Stark will be teaming-up with Chinese superheroes to fight this new threat. New actors could include Guy Pearce (Lawless, Memento, Hurt Locker), Ben Kingsley (Sexy Beast) and Rebecca Hall (The Town, The Prestige). A main villain hasn’t been named but rumors have pointed to Mallen, Mandarin, Ten Rings, Ghost or Whitney Frost (Madame Masque).
THOR 2 (NOVEMBER 15th 2013): Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones) is directing the sequel which will be set in a more grounded Norse-based Asgard. While Loki is back he’ll be taking a backseat as the film’s main baddie. The rest of the original cast will be returning as well. Jane Foster and her friends will be taken to Asgard and possibly to other realms/worlds. The main villain hasn’t been announcement but there is a likelihood that Thanos will show up at one point to collect Loki’s head and maybe even the infinity gauntlet. The cast of Asgardians will be doubled which could lead to infighting among the immortals and question the leadership/reign of Odin might bring about civil war amongst the Asgardians.
CAPTAIN AMERICA 2 (APRIL 4TH 2014): The Cap sequel is currently without a director as a few candidates are being considered. What we do known about the film is that it will directly follow the events of Avengers including Steve’s role in SHIELD and integrating as a man-out-of-time. Kevin Feige confirmed that the film will be for the most part set in present day with possible flashbacks. There had been talk of the reunion of Peggy and Steve being in Avengers but Whedon wisely axed it out of the film. It’s emotional scene best saved for Captain America 2. No word on new additions but Sam Wilson aka The Falcon is a strong possibility along with Sharon Carter. As SHIELD will be in film cast members such as Sam Jackson (Fury), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), Scarlett Johansson (Widow) and Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) should be appearing in the film. A baddie or villain organization hasn’t been named but Baron Zemo and Baron Strucker were included in original drafts of the script for First Avenger. It’s possible A.I.M. or a resurrected HYDRA could be trying to take out SHIELD and the World Counsel.
ANT-MAN (2014-2015): While the film doesn’t have an official release date it has a solid script and a director confirmed. Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz) and Joe Cornish (Attack The Block) co-wrote the film with Wright set to direct. First we’ll be seeing World’s End go into production in September with a Spring 2013 released. It’s assumed production on Ant-Man will move forward seemly as soon as Cap 2 wraps.
INCREDIBLE HULK 2 (2015): Mark Ruffalo is confident that he’ll be able to convince Joss Whedon to help develop a solo adventure for Hulk. Giving the impression that Joss could end up tackling the film’s script. Kevin Feige revealed that Hulk could appear as a supporting character but won’t be showing up in Iron Man 3 or Thor 2. Another Marvel executive recently mentioned plans to bring a new Hulk film to screens in 2015 following a new television series on ABC.
AVENGERS 2 (2015-2016): Disney officially announced the sequel to Avengers but have yet to confirm that writer/director Joss Whedon will be returning. It would be odd not to bring him back as he’s now seen as the Christopher Nolan of the Avengers franchise. Even thought the film is already a massive success they won’t be rushing to make the sequel just yet. Feige wants to see Civil War used it won’t be until the third film. Thanos was teased as a possible villain for the sequel which would be a bigger and better threat than Loki and his army.
IN DEVELOPMENT
THE RUNAWAYS: Brian K. Vaughan and Drew Pearce were writing the script with with Peter Sollett (Nick And Norah’s Infinite Playlist) hired to direct. Casting was underway when it was eventually put on hold so the studio could focus on Avengers’ large production budget. Drew would keep the Marvel train running and signed on to help Shane Black write Iron Man 3. It’s unknown if the project will ever get made as it seems Marvel is focused on other team-based projects like Inhumans and Guardians of The Galaxy.
DOCTOR STRANGE: Wes Craven, David S. Goyer and Neil Gaiman were involved or asked to work on scripts. Craven (Scream 1-4, Nightmare On Elm Street), Stephen Norrington (Blade) and Guillermo del Toro (Blade 2, Pacific Rim, Hellboy) were in talks or attached to direct at some point. Johnny Depp’s name had been bounded around as a possible lead wanted by del Toro. Recently Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, War Horse, Star Trek 2, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and Javier Bardem have been linked for the project. Marvel hired Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer (Cowboys And Aliens, Conan The Barbarian) who seemly developed a screenplay the studio was happy with. The film is without a director but back in August the studio put the script out to prospective directors. It was also reported that Strange could be apart of Marvel’s small-budget experiment ($20-40 million range). There had a been a hint to Strange with an item in Odin’s Vault. It would be interesting to see Marvel move into the mystical world which somewhat similar to the cosmic world of Thor. A character like Scarlet Witch could easily slide into a movie like this.
BLACK PANTHER: Years ago John Singleton had been approached to direct. Documentarian Mark Bailey was hired by Marvel to pen a script. Wesley Snipes (pre-Blade/jail), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Idris Elba have been linked for the role of T’Challa. In Iron Man 2, a small Easter Egg pointed to Panther’s fictional African country Wakanda on a SHIELD map pointing out the locations of “Meta-Humans”. I think that along with Strange, Black Panther could be so different from the other movies they’d be worth making. Considering Panther would be set in a futuristic and technically advanced mysterious country steeped in tribal traditions on Earth. Wakanda is technologically superior to most developed nations rich in natural resources, particularly the rare metal vibranium which Cap’s shield is made up of. T’Challa is a rigorously trained gymnast and acrobat, showing mastery in various African martial arts as well as contemporary ones and fighting styles that belong to no known disciplines. Not to mention an superior intelligence equal to Reed Richards or Tony Stark.
IRON FIST: Ray Park (X-Men, G.I. Joe 1-2) had been wanted for the lead when the film was originally announced. A year or so ago Richard Wilkes (xXx) was hired to write a script. It’s possible that the film will take influence from The Immortal Iron Fist series which had two Iron Fists (Daniel Rand and Orson Randall). Plunging his fists into the molten heart of the dragon Shou-Lao the Undying infused the dragon’s superhuman energy into Rand; this along with training by Lei Kung the Thunderer gave Rand the power of the Iron Fist, allowing him to summon and focus his chi (or natural energy) and enhance his natural abilities to extraordinary levels. His strength, speed, stamina, durability, agility, and reflexes and senses can all be astronomically intensified, making his already formidable martial arts skills even more so.
LUKE CAGE: Originally the film had a script from Ben Ramsey (The Big Hit) with John Singleton set to direct. Singleton wanted Diamondback, Chemistro and The Wrecking Crew as the film’s villains. Actors Jamie Foxx, Tyrese Gibson, Dwayne Johnson, Isaiah Mustafa and Idris Elba were all linked for the lead role with Terrance Howard once wanted for the villain Diamondback. Wrongly sent to prison and in order to get early parole, Luke submitted himself to an experiment that gave him superhuman strength and impervious skin.
NAMOR THE SUB-MARINER: At one point Namor was about to get his own film with Universal Pictures hiring Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3, Surrogates, U-571) to write and direct. The studio would later hire screenwriter David Self (Road To Perdition, Wolf Man, God of War) to pen a script. Self was also involved with Captain America: The First Avenger and an adaptation of Deathlok. Prince Namor is half-human and half-Atlantiean along with being the first mutant in the Marvel universe. He’s best known for his war-time comics alongside Captain America in The Invaders and his solo adventures against the Germans/Japanese during WWII. Actors such as ex-professional diver Jason Statham (Expendables 1-2), Dwayne Johnson (G.I. Joe 2, Pain And Gain, Fast Five/Six), Daniel Dae Kim (Lost, Hulk, Angel, 24, Hawaii Five-0) and David Boreanaz (Buffy, Angel, Bones) have been linked for the role. It was rumored that he would show up in Captain America (didn’t) along with the upcoming Iron Man 3 (likely not). Kevin Feige hasn’t mentioned that Namor is back at Marvel but I assume that the rights have or will revert because the film was never made. However, Namor with Black Panther was teased in Iron Man 2 as apart of the “Meta-Human” map.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: Guardians could very well end up becoming Marvel’s first completely cosmic focused feature with the entire film set entirely in outer space and on alien planets. The lineup has been confirmed as Star-Lord, Drax, Gamora, Groot and Rocket Racoon. Nova and Adam Warlock are likely apart of the team as well or supporting heroes. While a writer hasn’t been named I wouldn’t be surprised to see J. Michael Straczynski involved in some way. Straczynski wrote the two Fantastic Four films, credited on Thor (also had a cameo), created Babylon 5 and helped adapt Word War Z.
INHUMANS: The Inhumans has been talked up as a potential new X-Men-like franchise for Marvel Studios. The lineup would likely include Black Bolt, Medusa, Karnak, Crystal, Gorgon and Triton. The comic tells the story of a group of beings who were the result of experiments by the alien species Kree to create a race of super soldiers. The aliens abandoned their test subjects, and the “inhuman” mutants formed their own society.
BLADE: Since the Blade rights (that New Line Cinema held) reverted back to Marvel there have been rumblings that the studio had been searching for a new actor to play the Day Walker. Nothing has been officially announced and since the graphic nature of the series they’d have to create an R-rated shingle for the new film to be even possible. The Marvel Studios brand is attributed to family friendly features so a new company might be needed. I would assume they would bring back the Marvel Knights company name to release adult geared films like Blade and Punisher (also back with Marvel). Idris Elba (Thor, Prometheus, Pacific Rim) has mentioned that he’d love a shot at playing the anti-hero.
BLACK WIDOW: David Hayter (Watchmen, X-Men 1-2) wrote a Black Widow film that he was expected to direct back when the rights were at Lionsgate. A bunch of female driven action films bombed which put the final nail in the project’s coffin. The rights reverted back to Marvel and they decided she would better suited as the female member of the Avengers. In the film her backstory was slightly touched upon including her relationship with Hawkeye. There seems to be enough richness to her background as an assassin giving reason a film of her origin would be worthwhile. Johansson has stated she’d want a Black Widow movie similar to the Bourne franchise.
NICK FURY/SHIELD: Andrew W. Marlowe (Air Force One) wrote a treatment for a SHIELD film a while back but nothing come of it. Captain America actor Neal McDonough (Dum Dum Dugan) stated that he would be reprising his role in a 70’s set SHIELD film alongside Samuel L. Jackson (Fury). However, without an official announcement from Marvel it’s hard to take the actor on his word. He very well could be talking about Captain America 2 which will have a large SHIELD presence and will hopefully answer some questions with flashbacks. Like what happened to the Howling Commandos, Bucky and Peggy.
WAR MACHINE: Since January 2011 there has been talk of a War Machine spin-off which actor Don Cheadle confirmed. It’s expected that after Iron Man 3 Robert will be taking a rather lengthy break from Iron Man. It would allow War Machine pick up the slack in a solo film between Iron Man 3 and Iron Man 4. War Machine did lead the Iron Legion which was a group of suited loyal Stark employees and friends.
HAWKEYE: Oddly enough a Hawkeye film has been in development before he was even added to the Avengers lineup and placed in Thor as a cameo. It’s doubtful Hawkeye will be anymore than just a supporting character in the Marvel film universe. Since he is slightly more useful as a secondary character in a SHIELD franchise or the partner of Black Widow in her film. That said, Jeremy Renner (Hurt Locker, MI4, The Town) is slowly building himself up as a franchise actor. He’ll be starring in the Bourne spin-off The Bourne Legacy, the fairy tale action comedy Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters and possibly Mission: Impossible 5.
Other possible future projects include Ka-Zar, Power Pack, Dazzler, Vision, Nighthawk and Killraven.
Marvel’s Kevin Feige Briefly Comments On Avengers 2
Even though Avengers hasn’t even been release the sequel is already being talked up. Making the sequel might be a high priority for the studio after the final box office numbers are in. Joss Whedon recently nixed the idea that we would see the Kree/Skrull war in the Avengers franchise because Marvel believes it’s big enough for it’s own film. That being said, Joss isn’t locked in for the sequel as of yet so anything is possible at this point.
Marvel’s Kevin Feige the godfather of the Marvel Studios’ films was asked by CinePremiere (via CBM) about the possibility of Civil War being used in future films. The statement is short but is enough for excitement to start developing for the eventual sequel.
“Exceptional story [it is] and at some point would be great.”
Fans like myself have been championing the Civil War storyline for the sequel. It would allow Marvel to gradually release their next phase of superhero films like Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther and Iron Fist before Avengers 2. The Civil War storyline has Iron Man and Maria Hill forcing anyone with powers to join SHIELD, give up being a hero or go to superhuman prison. That aspect would be excellent because the villains would be the heroes themselves allowing a deeper conflict. They end up choosing sides with Iron Man/SHIELD one team and Cap leading the other team of heroes against who are against whole ordeal.
He also commented on the possibility of bringing in heroes like Spider-Man and Wolverine into the franchise. Of course the two characters are setup at Fox and Sony it looks like they’re going to be staying with those studios. However, Feige says “never say never”.
“No plans for now and the advantage is that none of these characters are part of the core team. The contracts are very clear and there has been no pressure to get them back, but never say never, because four years ago this was a dream so who knows what might happen in the future. “
My understanding is that there was a lot of creative interaction between the Marvel offices and Sony on the Amazing Spider-Man than on the previous films. Giving the impression that the relationship between Marvel and Sony is stronger than with the other studios. Marvel/Disney are handling the new cartoon series Ultimate Spider-Man. We see Spider-Man interacting with other Marvel heroes including Nick Fury, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Agent Coulson. The cartoon will help get out the awareness of Spider-Man to young kids who haven’t had a contemporary Spidey cartoon to watch. I wouldn’t count out a Spider-Man cameo in future films since it would be a great way to promote future Amazing Spider-Man films if anything else.
Marvel Films The Venture Bros. Creators Should Make
At the tail end of last year there was yet another call to Marvel from Venture Bros. creators Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick to allow them to be apart of the Doctor Strange film. It sounded they were more disappointed than anything else. They weren’t even contacted considering their cartoon series is a giant homage to the characters of Marvel comics. One hero being a direct wink to Strange himself with Dr. Orpheus. While it looks like their involvement is looking unlikely I have a few other Marvel Studios films they could be perfect for as writers.
IRON FIST: Similar to Doctor Strange, the origin of Iron Fist takes place in a world of mystical mysticism and the occult. There could also be noir elements of classic heroes like the Phantom or the Shadow mixed in as well. It would do the film justice if it took cues from the Immortal Iron Fist including both Daniel Rand and Orson Randall. My take is that it could be a kung-fu version of Highlander if done properly. Spanning a bunch of different time periods would also be a great way to separate the character from Strange.
Originally Ray Park (G.I. Joe 1-2, X-Men) was set for lead with John Turman (Fantastic Four 2, Hulk) handling the script and Kirk Wong (The Big Hit) was set to direct. Wong left the project and Steve Carr (Next Friday, Daddy Daycare) was brought in, luckily the film was again put on hold and he exited. Currently, Rich Wilkes is attached as the film’s screenwriter but there is no word if the studio was happy with his script so far.
BLACK WIDOW: I assume after The Avengers hits theaters in May the studio is going to quickly gear up on the Black Widow spin-off. Marvel has Scarlett Johansson locked in the role and have previously mentioned a new film is in development back in 2010. At one point there was a Widow film setup at Lionsgate with David Hayter (Watchmen, X2) writing a script. He was expected to also direct but the film ultimately never happened. I would hope that while including some elements of the original script they’d be better off scrapping most of it.
Venture’s Molotov Cocktease seems to have a slight edge to her that Widow has always been missing. It might be interesting to see the character in more of a hard boiled Bourne styled spy setting. The Venture guys have always written episodes with lots of classic Bond moments and as long as they go more grounded and less Austin Powers I think they could a great job here.
BLADE: Just last year Marvel regained the film rights to Blade from New Line Cinema and I assume all of the characters from Tomb of Dracula. The character rights includes Blade, Whistler, Hannibal King, Morbius The Living Vampire and Dracula’s Daughter Lilith. Jefferson Twilight is obviously inspired by Blade and they seem like they could tackle the satirical nature of the world the Day Walker inhabits. In the first two films Stephen Norrington and Guillermo del Toro were able to balance the horror elements with some grounded actions scenes along with the satirical humor you would normally see in movies like Robocop and the original Total Recall. I know beyond a doubt with the reboot already in the works Hammer and Publick would be able to write the hell out of this. Not to mention that Blade has always been more geared to adults and they wouldn’t be hindered by the amount of violence and raunchy humor they could include.
LEGION OF HORROR: The Legion of Horror has never been mentioned as a future film but with the rise of horror based action films and television shows it’s likely that it will eventually come up at the studio. The lineup includes team leader Jack Russell (Werewolf By Night), Michael Morbius (The Living Vampire), Santana Hellstrom, N’Kantu (The Living Mummy), Dr. Ted Sallis (Man-Thing) and Manphibian. It could be interesting to see this group being an occult division of SHIELD becoming Marvel’s answer to Hellboy’s BPRD and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It would also leave the door open for Blade and Doctor Strange crossovers.
Thor 2 Production Moved Up To This Spring
Marvel has a slew of projects about to go into production in 2012. Reportedly Iron Man 3, Thor 2 and Captain America 2 are all shooting within the year. The production start for Thor 2 has been sort of a mystery since it’s gone from fall to early/late summer. Tom Hiddleston now tells the BelfastTelegraph that it will begin shooting in London this spring. It’s going to be an interesting experiment for both Iron Man and Thor sequels to be shooting at the same time.
Marvel Studios To Make Three Films A Year?
Marvel Studios has always stated their mantra would be one film at a time. It looks like the studio could end up making three superhero films in 2012 which includes Iron Man 3, Thor 2 and Captain America 2. Thor 2 and Iron Man 3 being the first in the studio’s history to have overlapping productions. Having a juggernaut like Disney behind them they can finance films quicker than previously.
If this process is indeed going to be Marvel’s new model. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Nicky Fury, Doctor Strange and Ant-Man end up in the 2013 shooting block for the studio. Of course nothing is set in stone here and the Captain America sequel hasn’t even been officially announced. Other Marvel movies currently in development include Black Widow, Hawkeye, Inhumans, Black Panther and Iron Fist.
Isaiah Mustafa Confirms Meeting With Marvel About Luke Cage
Originally a Luke Cage film was setup at Sony/Columbia with director John Singleton and screenwriter Ben Ramsey (The Big Hit) attached. Since then it’s been stuck in development limbo.
Isaiah Mustafa better known as the Old Spice Guy has been campaigning for a couple of years now for the chance to play Luke Cage aka Power Man. Isaiah was asked by SuperheroHype about the character and how his campaign was going. He revealed his reasons for the passion of playing Cage and actually talking to Marvel about it.
“I’ve already had a meeting with Marvel. I talked to them and I told them that I was a gracious reader of their comics and that I wanted to be Luke Cage. So we’ll see where they take it.”
There is a Jessica Drew show being developed and he could end up in that. On the other hand I wouldn’t be shocked if Marvel decides to include the hero in the Iron Fist film as the two are best known as partners in the comics. They could test the character in Fist and then move on from there into his solo adventure. Isaiah has a lot of passion and personality given that along with a great sense of humor I’d think he’d make an excellent Power Man. I figure if an Australian soap star like Hemsworth can get a big break like Thor, this isn’t out of the question. Marvel Studios has mentioned before about trying to discover and develop their own stars.
Kevin Feige Talks Post-Avengers Plans, Confirms Thor & Cap Sequels
It won’t be until Comic-Con that we’ll actually get the actually next line up of films but Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige is talking post-Avengers plans with IGN. It sounds like Kevin and Marvel have enough films in the works to keep fans happy for the next ten years.
CAPTAIN AMERICA 2: The film will be set in modern times but very well could have WWII flashback scenes. As writers Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus have talked about including a few more WWII scenes in the sequel. Hydra is likely to be back with possible villains Baron von Strucker, Madame Hydra and Zemo. With Sebastian Stans’ contract to be in bunch of Marvel films I expect we will see a transformation from Bucky to Winter Soldier. Zemo being a mantle villain it would be nice to see a mantle hero like Union Jack also involved with the sequel.
THOR 2: Not much known here as it was just confirmed the sequel is happening. Hopefully it will be more realm focused as there a bunch of villains and mythology to explore off-Midgard (Earth). Fellow Asgardians Balder and Valkyrie have yet to be introduced along with Dark Elves, Rock Trolls and other villainous creatures. The world of Thor is rich and might be the first step for Marvel to expand our concepts of the superhero genre.
BLACK WIDOW: David Hayter (X-Men, X2) wrote a Black Widow script and was aiming to direct when it was setup at Lionsgate but was eventually scrapped. It’s unknown where the project is at the moment but there is more talk of this spin-off than the others. Johansson is game as mentioned at last year’s Comic-Con.
HAWKEYE: There have been plans for a Hawkeye film for years and now that Jeremy Renner is in place for the role they can finally move forward with it. I’m not sure if there was ever a script developed but I wouldn’t be shocked. Personally I’d rather see a Widow/Hawkeye team-up film as they’d work better as team than in solo projects.
S.H.I.E.L.D: This one has been teased since we first got a glimpse of Nick Fury in Iron Man. It seemed that with a script by Andrew W. Marlowe (Air Force One) kicking around for years it would go soon. While it’s expected Samuel L. Jackson, Clark Gregg and Cobie Smulders will be in this it’s unknown if other currently cast Marvel heroes will also appear.
IRON FIST: Unlike Strange and Panther which have been in development for almost the same amount of time they actually have someone in mind for the lead. Ray Park had been attached and is still interested in the role. He’s currently getting ready to return as Snake Eyes in G.I. Joe 2. Marvel recently set Rich Wilkes (xXx) to work on the film’s script and is likely to be based on The Immortal run of the character being more of a martial arts film.
DOCTOR STRANGE: The only real news on this front is that Marvel has hired Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer to start writing the script. The two are responsible for the Conan reboot and likely involved with it’s sequel. While Patrick Dempsey (Scream 3, Transformers 3) has been campaigning to play mystical hero.
BLACK PANTHER: Wesley Snipes had been in talks with Marvel for the role but with his troubles it’s unlikely that will happen. Actors like Michael Jai White (Spawn, Dark Knight), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (G.I. Joe, The Thing) and Idris Elba (Thor, Ghost Rider 2) have been in the mix for T’Challa. Mark Bailey is currently writing the script.
ANT-MAN: This one wasn’t called out by Kevin but it’s assumed with a script and director in place it will be down the production line sooner than later. There was also zero talk of Luke Cage, War Machine or Sub-Mariner.
UKNOWN-COSMIC FILM: There hasn’t been a full on confirmation of which one of the cosmic epics Marvel could be working on. I would love to think this is a Silver Surfer movie but it’s more than likely Killraven or World War Hulk.
Kevin Feige Gives Insight To Upcoming Marvel Projects
In the Thor set visit interview from Collider which was held during before the production of Captain America. Kevin Feige gives the impression that The Howling Commandos will be the only Marvel hero group used in the film. Previously there had been rumors that we’d see a mix of Commandos and Invaders in the movie.
Director Joe Johnston has denied on many occasions that Namor (a member of the Invaders) would be included in the film. Saying the film would focus on only one Marvel hero. This could mean that others such as Union Jack and Spitfire would also not be featured. It makes sense that Namor and Union Jack could be better suited in their own films or contemporary Marvel sequels. So this would mean that J.J. Feild is playing Percy Pinkerton not Union Jack.
Also yesterday Feige was involved with a live chat on HeroComplex (LATimes) which was to promote the release of the new Thor trailer. Where the producer dished on tidbits of future projects and answered fans questions. Even Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier dropped by to say hi. I was luckily enough to join this chat yet it was beyond crowded and laggy.
Kevin gave confirmation that The Avengers’ Iron Man armor will see an evolution similar to the different suits in Iron Man 2. Giving me the impression the Hulk Buster suit is an option.
“Joss would kill me if I gave anything away, but I will say that the evolution you saw his armor take in IM2 will continue in The Avengers.”
One of the biggest admissions of Kevin is confirmation that Marvel Studios has indeed got the rights back for The Punisher. A Frank Castle show is being rumored to be setup at HBO for a hardcore violent series. He doesn’t comment on where we’ll see Frank next. Kevin does mention how the Blade franchise had been a successful group of R-themed films.
“Punisher’s back in house, and various plans are in the works.”
He even spoke on the possibilities of bringing Moon Knight to life. Knight had been set to become a TV series but it ultimately didn’t happen. The vigilante hero is one of the most complex in the Marvel roster living the life of cab driver, playboy, mercenary and mystical vigilante.
“Moonknight’s a challenging, but extremely interesting character. We’ve been discussing various versions of it for years.”
Kevin briefly confirmed projects in the works like Black Panther, Iron Fist and his love/hope for a Dr. Strange movie. He also talked Luke Cage and his love interest Jessica Jones, it’s one of few times he’s brought up the Luke Cage project. Liking everyone’s support for Isaiah Mustafa (Old Spice Guy) to play Cage. He also gave an update on the progress of Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man.
“Edgar was here a few days ago. He’s already working on the next draft.”
How Marvel Should Approach The SHIELD Film: PART III [The Agents]
I’ve covered both Hawkeye and Black Widow now I’ll go over the supporting characters. We already know that Coulson (Clark Gregg) will be involved with the film so I won’t go over him. SHIELD has a long standing history of bringing back characters from the past. If Marvel was going to do that I’d expect they’d do it with Dum Dum Dugan (Neal McDonough) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Sebastian has already stated he’s signed on for two films beside Captain America and it doesn’t look like Avengers will be one of them. I’m sure if the Infinity Formula is involved they could bring back many of the characters from the film. The most well known SHIELD Agents include Sharon Carter, Gabriel Jones and Maria Hill. Yet knowing Marvel they’ll be bringing out bigger heroes into the spotlight.
NEW AGENTS: Kevin Feige has been vocal about bringing both T’Challa (Black Panther) and Daniel Rand (Iron Fist) into the Marvel film universe. So I would expect that these two could play a bigger role in the SHIELD film. This would of course give audiences a chance to take in the characters before their own films are released.
CASTING: Wesley Snipes has been in talks with Marvel to play Black Panther since 1992 and was still involved up until 2006. It’s unknown if Snipes will end up in the role since they’ve tested other actors such as Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Bourne Identity). Adewale spoke recently to MTV giving the impression he’s being strongly considered.
“We’re talking to Marvel about ‘Black Panther… This is the first round, so you know, hopefully they’ll look at ‘G.I. Joe’ and see the potential. But it’s about time we have a black superhero, isn’t it?”
“He’s from a fictional village in Africa and the timing is so right for that kind of character to come through… And while I’m in my prime, this is the time. We’ve got [U.S. President Barack] Obama, now we need something on screen to represent, so… ‘Panther,’ man.”
Adewale’s G.I. Joe co-star Ray Park (X-Men) has also been in talks with Marvel for years to play Iron Fist. Back in 2009 Park told MTV he still wants the role.
“I actually want to be Danny Rand — I want to be Iron Fist, I want to do it,” Park said. “I’ve been blond before. I’ll work on the American accent as well.”
Marvel Studios Hires Writer For Iron Fist
Deadline reports that Marvel Studios has hired Rich Wilkes (xXx, Airheads) to write treatment for the Iron Fist film. While this is exciting news this doesn’t men we will be seeing it anytime soon.
Kevin Feige Talks Post-Avengers Films
Kevin Feige talked to IGN confirming yet again that we’ll be seeing Doctor Strange, Black Panther and Iron Fist films.
“What happens after Avengers is what’s being discussed now. Obviously, you’ve heard about Doctor Strange. I’ve been a vocal fan of Strange for a long time. Black Panther, I think, I mentioned recently. Fraction and Brubaker’s reinvention of Iron Fist has gotten me excited to do some version of that in our world.”
CINEMA INVASION 