Rumor is beginning to circulate about which of its top-shelf heroes Marvel plans to recruit for the upcoming, and much-hyped, Avengers movie. Some choices are obvious, due to not-so-subtle foreshadows dropped in both Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. And with the internet recently abuzz with news that Marvel studios was pushing to snag A-list stars for its Captain America movie, that character’s inclusion in the Avengers project is certain. So that’s three Avengers we can expect to see, but who else will make the roster?
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According to Iron Man director Jon Favreau:
“the ones Marvel is talking about now are Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man and Iron Man. I would love to see that.”
Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige has also alluded to the fact that Marvel hopes to establish a cinematic continuity in which its characters would be able to “cross into each other’s adventures and occasionally team up if there’s a foe too great for any one of them to handle.” Just what Avengers hopes to accomplish.
But it’ll be a hard feat to pull off, in my opinion. I mean sure, what fanboy hasn’t gotten giddy at the notion of seeing all his favorite heroes battling it out on screen all at once (does that qualify as an orgy?) And reading the quote above, it seems as though Kevin Feige is already drinking the super-group-movie Kool-Aid. However, let’s try an remember that this is the MOVIE industry we are talking about, not the COMIC BOOK industry. Only counting the two movies from Marvel Studios already in theaters, to do The Avengers, you’re talking about getting Robert Downey Jr. to share screen time with Ed Norton, not to mention CGI effect$ out the yin-yang for Shellhead and the Hulk. Factor in Cap, Ant-man, Thor, a CGI boomerang shield, shrinking/growing F/X and CGI lightning, and THEN tell me what the price tag for an Avengers flick will likely be. (And if it will be worth its box office returns.)
Currently, Marvel’s game plan seems to revolve around establishing successful film franchises for each of the individual Avengers heroes, then taking those dividends and investing them in the Avengers project. Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk have both had their turns in theaters, to great or middling success; Thor is tenatively scheduled for a 2010 release; The First Avenger: Captain America is set for 2011; and Ant-Man is still working on nailing down a release date, (though it’s rumored that it will be helmed by Edgar Wright, director of Shaun Of The Dead. A great choice.)
Can the house that Stan Lee built crank out three more box office hits to keep an Avengers film afloat? Can so many big-name, bigger-ego, actors really play nice and make an ensemble blockbuster? Has the term “ensemble blockbuster” ever been used before??? (If not, I claim coining rights.) And will the budget for an Avengers movie really end up being higher than the budget of NASA’s last mission? Only time will tell for sure, but in the meantime, let us know your opinion anyway.
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123 Comments
Finally an SR writer not afraid to use the words Kool-Aid™, yin-yang, and orgy in the same paragraph.
I used to shoot down the starry eyed comic fans here with logic like yours. Too many celebrities, egos, scheduling nightmares, and prohibitive cost.
Then Nick Fury and Tony Stark appeared and put the brakes on those comments. So to hell with logic,
A A
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G M
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I meant to shout,
A ~ ~ ~ ~ A
V ~ ~ ~ ~ S
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N ~ ~ ~ ~ E
G ~ ~ ~ ~ M
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I thought about this aswell … If Edward Norton was going to be in the Avengers film how much of it would he want to change (like, eg TIH)? And how would the other actors react to it? Would they go for it or would they just end up fighting over what they think there characters should do … etc
And also the SFX of Ironman and Hulk were 2 diff company’s im not sure how the Mov business works but can 2 or even 3 diff SFX company’s work on the same movie?
It is an Awesome idea but just like you said … It works with Comic books but comming onto the big screen is a bit different.
All praise for Marvel if they do pull this off, and if they didnt then at least they tried and took the risk of doing it.
I thought about this aswell … If Edward Norton was going to be in the Avengers film how much of it would he want to change (like, eg TIH)? And how would the other actors react to it? Would they go for it or would they just end up fighting over what they think there characters should do … etc
And also the SFX of Ironman and Hulk were 2 diff company’s im not sure how the Mov business works but can 2 or even 3 diff SFX company’s work on the same movie?
It is an Awesome idea but just like you said … It works with Comic books but comming onto the big screen is a bit different.
All praise for Marvel if they do pull this off, and if they didnt then at least they tried and took the risk of doing it
sorry for the double message i hit it the submit button to fast my boss was comming in the room and had to hit it quickly hahaha
what,No Wasp?
Gary,
Marvel has decided that it will have used all its political capital with the Captain America movie, even though the jingoistic character name will be buffered with “The First Avenger” title. So there will be no more WASPs until the Nick Fury, Luke Cage, Sunfire, Banshee and She-Hulk movies come out.
I’m pretty sure Marvel is having these movies written into all the actors’ contracts. hopefully it works out…
P.S. Kofi, you seem like a solid addition to screenrant. this is a pretty sweet article.
Though it wouldn’t reflect the original Avengers roster, I can’t imagine them making a movie like this without putting a woman on the team. Or some minority. It would make sense to put Luke Cage on the team as I believe he’s on it now, but not many people know him. Sure, Sam Jackson’s black but it’s not the same as having some actual Avenger member diversity.
I think we’ll see some people not normally associated with our classic Avengers (which don’t bother me, long as Iron Man’s on the team).
I thought the official term was ‘Nerdgasm’.
It does,nt seem as though Marvel plans to make any films with female leads,so the only way the super ladies are going to get on film is in a movie like this or at least guest in one of the solo films. Really like to see Wasp, BLACK WIDOW,MS. MARVEL etc. included somewhere.
Black widow, I believe, would be an easy addition to the movie. It would be cool to introduce her, as a cameo, at the end of the Cap movie.
As for having a lot of big-ego actors on the same screen, it worked out pretty well for Oceans 11. Probably not “blockbuster” level, but they have turned that into a decent franchise.
Sean,
Great point! Perhaps that’s a tribute to the director’s skills?
Vic
Great article. IMHO, Marvel could EASILY make a great Avengers movie for less than or equal to “Superman Returns” (budget:$250-300 mil) or Xmen:Last Stand(budget:approx.$210mil)or (”Spiderman3″ budget:$258 mil).
My argument is that the big chunks of the budget will consist from the CGI and the actors. The following mega block-buster movies used EPIC amounts of excellent CGI under a budget less than $175 mil:
1. “Lord of the Rings:Return of the King”(budget:$94 mil)
2. “300″(budget:$60 mil)
3. “Clone Wars”(budget:$120 mil)
4. “Tranformers”(budget:$151 mil)
5. “Day After Tomorrow”(budget:$125 mil)
The multiple actors’ cost and ego would still be lease than any of the “Ocean’s” films (budget:$85-110 mil).
The military vehicles and equipment could be donated similar to the fashion of Mike Bay’s deal in “Transformers”. Also film alot of the scenes in less expensive locations. Recycle alot of the props and effects from “Incredible Hulk” and “Iron Man”.
*I’m betting the budget will be around $200-270 mil.*
I’d like to see the Avengers roster stay fairly small, if not for budget reasons than for screentime. Iron Man, Thor, and Cap maybe rounding up the Hulk as their first group endeavor, with Nick Fury calling the shots a la The Ultimates? Hopefully an appearance or four by Pepper. And there’ll have to be Cap’s coping with the man-out-of-time thing for at least a good chunk of the first half.
I wonder–will Marvel want the Punisher to ever cross paths with his (presumably) PG-13 brethren?
Kris –
I was just wondering that the other day. Wouldn’t it be cool in the Punisher movie just see in the background some news footage of the Hulk vs Abomination fight as Frank passes by an electronics store?
Maybe, maybe not.
Kris and INK: Unforuately Punisher lincensed to Liongate for the time being. Maybe MoonKnight or Luke Cage could fill that spot?
Adrian –
Crap, forgot about that. I’ll go sit in the corner with my giant cone cap for 20 minutes.
The one thing I’m worried about is when you have a massive action scene involving a large portion (if not all) of the Avengers team that it doesn’t get too confusing and caotic for the viewer. We don’t need the Bourne / Batman Begins style for this.
I gotchyo Avengers right here:
Captain America
Iron Man
Thor (regular Marvel U, NOT Ultimate)
Ant Man aka Giant Man
Wasp
Hulk
Who in the hell is gonna make this tho?
I bet with a true Avengers movie they’ll throw in some new characters as well. Wasp, Black Widow (although she deserves her own movie), or Black Panther.
They don’t ALL need origin films before Avengers. As for Ed and Hulk, a good script could still be written with Bruce Hulked out 90% of the time.
Who’s to say an X-Man or Fantastic can’t show up?
I think the task of doing an Avengers movie is no more daunting a task than the X-Men movies were especially X3. I think the budget can be kept under 200 million especially with the new reality in Hollywood of stars not making a dime (on new contracts being negotiated) until studios recoup the production costs first. I mean look at at the heroes and villians that were in X3. I thought the actual budget for Superman Returns was 200 million and that WB tacked on the 75-100 million extra because the project had been in developmental hell for 10 years. The budget for 300 was low because it was all filmed on a soundstage in a Montreal warehouse in front of green screens, they used largely unknown actors therefore they never got a huge chunk of the studios revenue from the money it made. No large sets to build also saved the studio a lot of cash. The Return of the King was filmed with the other movies in that trilogy and they locked everyone into contracts long term to keep the talent together thereby significantly reducing production costs and they recycled a lot of the sets and different pieces throughout the three films and Jacksons good friend Richard Taylor owns the WETA Workshop along with Jackson owning a share in WETA as well. I’m sure this REALLY helped reduce costs for those movies as well and the New Zealand location lowered production costs as well.Clone wars was all ILM and Skywalker Studio all owned by LUcas so I’m sure that played a large part in keeping it’s production costs under control.I have no idea why The Day After Tomorrow cost so much I thought it was bad with average B-movie effects. If MArvel can follow some of the leads of these previous efforts I’m sure they can keep production costs under 200 million..Geez that still is a freakin lot of money for a movie..a movie…People starvin everywhere in the world and I mean everywhere and they spend this kind of money on something that is in no way guarenteed to show a decent return. Sorry to rain on things at the end there but it should be said..
Cheers
Having more than one FX house on a movie isn’t the impossible dream. One acts as a general contractor and subs jobs out to different houses. Even if you have two or more large houses on a movie like “Avengers” joint ventures in the business world are common. The key is writing the contract and then making sure all parties do their job. I will admit that a blockbuster “Avengers” would be historic. You could get a text book for film school out of it easy. I bet somebody has a breakdown, with the expectations, the pressure has got to be enormous.
I think to help make this a little more feasable, they could film 2 films at once, heck even three.
With massive-name actorsto play Thor and Cap. America, and I’m sure someone cool to play Ant-man as well, this movie is insta-half-billion for each title.Could you imagine how easy this is to market. All they need to do is show a pick of the 5 characters for 30 seconds and id wet myself.
I still hold that eventually this could continue and evolve into “the new avengers” including black panther, luke Cage, Wolverine, Spidey, etc. (Djimon Honsou as Black panther, and rumoured Tyrese Gibson for Luke Cage)
NO! That isn’t in response to the Avengers movie, its to having ANT-MAN in the film or an ant-man film period. I mean what villians does he have that are actually considered a threat or what type of adventure would he have? I’m just saying this because I don’t know much about the character and all of I’ve seen so far is a wife-abuseing, weak-power using (at least Atom can adjust his weight), Reed blasting Skrull LOSER!!! (if I am wrong in any of this please let me know)
You know who I would rather have than Pym? ANYONE, listen Marvel I’ll trade you a Namor for Ant-man, a Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, anybody? Okay final offer, the one guy who would round out the team better than anyone, even though he is owned by another company…SPIDER-Man, I know he was not an orginal member but I have always put him in there ever since I played as a superhero as a little boy.
If Marvel could assemble a movie with Spider Man, Iron Man, Hulk, Ghost Rider, Ant Man, Nick Fury, Captain America, and Thor I’m good!
Greenknight333: Nice read and I agree with your ending comments as well…
Rob: It would be ‘cool’ to eventually see ” New Avengers” 20 years from now. Maybe by then the lincense of Wolverine and the X-Men and Spidey will be purchased back to Marvel.
Also, IMHO, Terry Crews is a 10 times over better pick for Luck Cage then Tyrese Gibson!
“Geez that still is a freakin lot of money for a movie..a movie…People starvin everywhere in the world and I mean everywhere and they spend this kind of money on something that is in no way guarenteed to show a decent return. Sorry to rain on things at the end there but it should be said.”
Yes … BOO capitalism. . Most people who cry about the starving people in the world only do so to make themselves FEEL better (Not pointing at you Green in particular, just in general) without actually doing anything about it.
INK: Fair point made.
Adrian thanks for the kudos!!
INK Just love stirrin the pot huh? My wife and I help support a kids school in Nepal that we helped raised the money to build and we also with 11 other couples provide the funding for 1 month each throughout the year..We send the cash to a friend of ours and it buys food for them while at school, pays the heat bill, buys books and supplies and gives the kids something to look forward to in a country where poor really means something..I was there and it is POOR!! People are starving there and they are still humble and would give you the shirt off their backs. So maybe you should take a look at yourself and see why it bothers you when someone has the social conscience to speak up about how much is wasted in the west by Capatalism and its “fair” idealism…The rest of the world is picking up on the fact of how wasteful we are here in North America and when the shoe is on the other foot they will help us a lot more than we help them..We should be ashamed to even say things like BOO capitalism becuase it speaks to the greed and screw the other guy to make a buck attitude of a lot of people..Sorry guys but a button was pushed by that comment…
I did not mean for my rant to come off as an attack against you Green, but …
“o maybe you should take a look at yourself and see why it bothers you when someone has the social conscience to speak up about how much is wasted in the west by Capatalism and its “fair” idealism…”
I may not be able to circumvent the globe helping people but I am comfortable in the charities I give to and volunteer with.
“The rest of the world is picking up on the fact of how wasteful we are here in North America and when the shoe is on the other foot they will help us a lot more than we help them..”
You’ve got to be kidding. No other country in the world gives more aid, both in dollars and in volunteers than America. If it wasn’t for us, our charity, our economy and our inventiveness (due to capitalism I might add), other countries would be even worse off than they are.
“We should be ashamed to even say things like BOO capitalism becuase it speaks to the greed and screw the other guy to make a buck attitude of a lot of people..”
If you think capitalism relates to greed and “screwing” people then you need a lesson in economics. Capitalism is what makes this country go. Without it WE would be the ones needing aid from other countries. We wouldn’t have the technologies, both in the medical and private sectors THE WORLD enjoys today.
“Sorry guys but a button was pushed by that comment…”
Ditto.
By the way, Green, I am not saying we aren’t a wasteful society. I just don’t think we should feel ashamed that we live in the greatest country on the planet. Nor should we feel guilty for living in a free country and having the opportunities that are present and readily available for those with the passion, and will, to reach out and take it.
No hard feelings, I hope, just a friendly debate.
Oh, and Avengers assemble!
INK I think you are severely misinformed if you think the US is one of the forerunners in aid and that capitalism is the be all and end all of global financial security. I have a friend in INdia who I correspond with regularly..He stated that Coca-Cola had sent up shop in the south of his country and proceeded to pillage the local drinking water to make Coca-Cola..when the locals complained they were offered coke to drink instead of water…..that’s all COKE…There are hundreds of other expamples like this all over the world but you don’t want to see what’s going on in the world because it’s easier to admit that we and the globilization monster that is capitalism is doing more good than bad when in actuality that is the reverse of what is happening..Everything is out-sourced to poorer countries because they are the lowest bidder to make the goods we consume..and it is easier for corporations to exploit resources and individuals so that a privileged few in those countries become wealthier..It’s not because corporations want to protect the middle class and poor…It’s about maximizing profit and to hell with the little guys…Factories are closing all over America and Canada and these jobs are lost forever to places like Mexico, China, India ,etc. Capatilism is all about greed and making as much as you can whenever and wherever you can. I don’t need a lesson in economics…If Capatlism drives the US economy it drives it for the 1% of it’s citizens who control 99.9% of the wealth. You need to do some research dude because you are wrong about US aid. We may be close in terms of raw dollars of aid provided but on a per capita or in terms of GDP we are nowhere near the top of the heap in terms of its charity…Look at the WHite House and how for the last eight years it has destroyed AMerica’s economy and sent the deficit spiraling out of control and it hasn’t been this bad since the Depression…They have done nothing to help the poor get better access to health care, nothing to prevent massive job losses as companies relocate to other poor countries, and nothing about 9/11 except create a lot of death and war in other parts of the world all-the-while stripping us of our God given rights to freedom of speech and freedom of press and throwing the Declaration of Independence out the window while pissing all over individual freedoms and the right to due process with the Patriot Act…Our citizens have allowed this to happen and done nothing to prevent it because we have the illusion from our government that we are safe…IN the words of Austiin Powers “Yeah Capitalism!!” You may think we live in the greatest country on the planet but we are seen abroad as wasteful, ignorant to the rest of the world and stingy to say the least….
I am enjoying the debate and I am not trying to offend anyone but this is not new and has all been said before…We have the potential to be the greatest but we fall short in areas where it really counts in charity, in hope and in inspiration and this is especially because of the Bush Administration…
Cheers
Wow this actually has nothing to do with an Avengers movie…I apoligize for my political ravings but it is a debate…
And INK we should feel guilty because we don’t do more and that is hypocrisy of the soul to say we are the greatest country in the world when our track record clearly does not reflect it.
Cheers
You know… why don’t people lay blame at the feet of the governments of the impoverished countries? Why should I feel guilty if I work hard and apply myself enough to have a nice house and a big screen TV, and the guy across the street lays on his couch all day drinking beer complaining his house isn’t as nice as mine?
Many of the governments of impoverished countries are dispicable, taking advantage of their people, building palaces while they starve, etc.
I believe in helping those who CAN’T help themselves, not in helping those who WON’T.
Vic
EAsy to blame the people when many of them don’t want to die to overthrow a dictatorship..why should they have to die to have the basics. I thought that the basic necessities for human existence should be freely available to everyone. We have lost so much here with the Patriot Act and other bills that are being rushed through for government approval that it may soon be illegal for us to do what we are doing now…having this debate on government. If it became illegal to say anyhting against our government and you knkew you could lose your life and everything you hold dear because of that would you be brave enough to stand up against them…Look at V for Vendetta…could any of us be that brave to stand up against tyranny if it happens here…Let’s not blame those who won’t help themselves when we don’t know if we would do the same…Karen Silkwood anyone?
We should also have a feeling of extreme gratitude that we are blessed to be born into these wonderful opportunities and not feel we are entitled to these things…read the Wealth and Poverty of Nations to get an idea of how lucky we actually are here in the West and Europe..We are lucky and blessed to be able to educate ourselves and our children and work for a better life for our society in general…I think of A CHristmas Carol and the scene where Scrooge asks the ghost of Christmas Present what is moving under his robe and he throws the robe back to reveal two impoverished and malnourished children and Scrooge asks him are they yours Spirit? and the spirit responds “They are Mans.” “And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. The boy is Ignorance. The girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it, slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And bide the end!”
I guess those of us in the know and with the means and ability…it is everyones duty to help those less fortunate…
The guy that is across the street and taking advantage of the system will get what he deserves…there are many phrases like You reap what you sow. you get what you deserve, etc, etc. That does not mean that those of us who are better off and have worked hard to get where we are should become apathetic either and forget that it is our responsibility to do more becuase we know better…
CHeers
You miss the point of my statement. I don’t expect starving people to overthrow a dictator, but I also will not take on guilt for what that dictator is doing.
And talking about the government, if the Supreme Court was populated with one more liberal, our right to bear arms would have gone down the toilet today.
I don’t want to get any deeper off topic here, but I have to say that I have very little respect for the politics of the Left - those on the bench voted against our right to defend ourselves today, and on the flip side only a couple of days ago made it illegal to execute men who rape young children. AND those same people who vote against our right to bear arms and think that child rape is not a heinous enough crime to warrant execution, uphold the rights of pornographers under the guise of “free speech.”
I find that dichotomy repugnant.
Vic
Vic I didn’t miss your point at all but you missed mine totally or perhaps ignored would be a better term. I do not own a gun, will never own a gun. If you think it is your God given right to own one then that is your choice. Why people are so hot on the gun issue I’ll never understand when the “right to bear arms” was written four hundred years ago, we were being invaded by England and they were taking everything away from us in the name of colonialism. DO we think that because we are a gun obsessed society that we are better off. I don’t think the English are coming back to take over nor the Pakistanis nor the chinese. If we need guns to feel safe then that is a sad inditement of how we live.You don’t need a gun to defend yourself. The pen is mightier than the sword and those that live by the sword, die by it..I also don’t agree with Capital punishment as it has been shown many times that the wrong person has been murdered after they have been exonerated for the crime in the first place…Nothing is a heinous enough crime to justify the taking of any human’s life even those monsters. It’s a fine line we walk as a society when you pick who should die, the line gets skewed and next thing you know people are dying for lesser crimes (Again V for Vendetta)Who are we to take life when we are so inept at giving something that is so precious back.
ANd since my views would be considered left I guess you find them repugnant as well and I am a God fearing God loving Christian family man..But wait I thought those guys were on the Right…ANd what does the right to bear arms and kill have to do with helping those less fortunate..I really do think you missed my point…
Cheers
The founding fathers view on the right to bear arms was so the citizens could protect themselves from and abusive government. Your “England invasion” example is specious. I find it incredibly ironic that you keep bringing up “V for Vendetta” when that is EXACTLY the reason the founding fathers were so strong about our right to own guns. To protect ourselves from an abusive government, should that ever come to pass. Nevermind the concept of personal protection, as in Australia where all law-abiding gun owners were required to give up their guns and the violent crime rate and burglaries then skyrocketed.
I also find it ironic to hear you say that something “written 400 years ago” has no bearing today, especially in view of the fact that you are a Christian. I’m pretty sure the Bible was written over 400 years ago.
And I’ll tell you what: If someone raped my daughter you’d be hard pressed to keep me from killing him with my bare hands.
There’s no point in any further debate when our viewpoints are so diametrically opposed and I’ve helped hijack this thread enough.
Respectfully,
Vic
Hey…i thought this was about the avengers not open discussion. That was yesterday…right? Smile…. just kidding…
Greenknight333, you bring up good points!!!
Understand that this is NOT by accident, it’s a global adgenda at work.
The greatest form of dictatorship is the “hidden hand”, witch gives you the illusion of freedom while fundamentally controlling your lives, because people do not rebel against not being free when they believe they are…
^
Cheers to Vic for putting up with this debate. If we were having this discussion on say Movieblog we would all be censored off by now for sure.
Don’t forget guys, Truth is the Enemy of the state, (not Will Smith)….
SOOOOOO….AVENGERS? yep…Avengers.
So about my Ant-man comments? anybody have any thing to say that’ll make him seem like a better hero?
Can’t Stark Industries donate some equipment for the film?
GK, I have little on Ant Man, this is a question for KEL, I suggest you seek him out……..
Speaking of PG-13, one thing that continued to impress me and confuse at the same time was the death toll in Hulk. My favorite scene was when
Spoilers,,,,,,,,,
Hulk took that piece of metal and dropped that attack copter like it was a rock. That scene looked soooooooooooooooooo real. I was glad they didn’t slow it down til the explosion. I love seeing that kinda of on screen action in realtime!!
But oh yeah back to my point.
He was killing folks in all his brutal glory. They just cut away and didn’t show any blood. Still the same effect if you ask me.
Looked for Cap America didn’t see him at the appointed rumored scene. Wtf?
Ok, green, if you want to chime in again that’s fine but I’m done.
G.K., I think that for the film they’ll reach back to an earlier version of the character, before all this “wife-beater” stuff was introduced to the story. I believe that if they managed to make him heroic and part of the team in the comics they certainly ought to be able to in an Avengers movie. And don’t forget they’ll be doing a standalone Ant-Man movie before the Avengers.
Vic
Before the Avengers?…really? Ant-man? so is this one they are going to surprise us with?..call me MR. OBVIOUS, but I did not see that on the schedule that marvel came out with…and where was the scene that Cap was in? or was said to be in?
Well, that IS my problem with Ant-man, other than a wife-beater. I have never saw him as much as a hero, but that probably comes from the fact I have never read an Ant-man comic in my life or any story with him in it. I’m sure that Stan did a great job with him as a hero butttt can you name any adventure where he did anything at all?
I will say again that none of your argument has anything to do with helping those less fortunate..That is all I will say any further on the matter and let me say I respect your right to have what you want and do as you please…:)
Cheers Vic
No harm no foul, bro.
Vic
I say leave the Ant Dude out of it and bring in the Vision & the Scarlet Witch although since SW is a mutant maybe Fox has rights on that…Vision would be cool with an indestructible Ultron as a possible villian..
Finally… someone mentions “Vision”.
I always thought the Vision was very cool and loved how he wanted to be more human but in actuality he was very human in everyway…His character I mean…maybe just a little too logical…Like Data from STNG.
What no love for Hawkeye?
Green Arrow in purple
I thought when Hawkeye headed the West Coast Avengers in the 80’s book he did a great jod of keeping the team together as I collected the first 25 issues of that series and then I lost interest…I liked the character but always thought it was just the Green Arrow in purple as I said earlier.
CHeers
Well, he is but then we might as weel say that Aquaman is Namor with more clothes on! My point is that I find him such a cool character that it would be awesome to have him in it, and we could even have an Iron man connection with it!
what everyone seemed to look past just for a second is that Xmen did not have the original 5 staring in their films. their continuity is no where CLOSE to the comics, but still the movies were decent and for everyday people not following the comic they were entertaining. marvel marketed the mutants who would help sell the film, mainly wolverine, and tried to satisfy the fan boys at the same time. don’t forget wolverine was a HULK character first!
an avengers movie could be pulled off without using the original crew, cause lets face it, no one see’s ANT-MAN or Thor pulling in $100 million at the box office and rather than force the issue trying to satisfy the fan boys, marvel could use other characters to fill the spots. i don’t really care to see a stand alone thor movie.
Avengers could easily be Iron man, hulk, Cap, Punisher and Ghost rider and it would still rock…is it completely out of the continuity of the comics, hell yes it is… but a those characters are already established with followings and positive reviews. we’ve already know there’s no love love lost between cap and punisher, ghost rider and punisher have also had it out already. a lil hulk bashing on iron man would be fun…
CAGE, NORTON, DOWNEY sharing some screen time could pretty bad ass…
my point is this…it doesn’t HAVE to be all the original avengers. xmen wasn’t and it was still pretty good. we got over it pretty fast. i’m sure if the avengers, for marketability reasons, used a different cast we’d still be happy…
for me, the real problem i see is who should be the villian? is a large cast of villians appropiate? perhaps a familiar one? dr doom? the mandarin? even magneto? with such a large team of good guys, i think it would hardest to assemble a team of worthy bad guys? how confusing for regular movie goers if we suddenly had 5 super villians to throw in the mix? there’s a part of all of us that thinks iron man or hulk could beat 5 baddies by themselves, why assemble the avengers?
unless they went and fought OPEC to lower gas prices, i don’t see a worthy villian? THOR as the bad guy?
i could totally see Thor and his pal Loki as disgruntled Gods who have lost faith in humanity and decide to start just obliterating human kind. they just kinda of hate us for being disrespectful of planet earth and for being so superficial.
then the avengers step in to show them we are worthy to live here. in the ensuing battle thor comes to respect human sacrifice and will and changes sides…
who’s got an opinion now? cause 5 on 5 battle royal isn’t doing it for me…
Yeah Comic Geek, I would really love to see Ghost Rider in the Avengers but not The Punisher.
Punisher is a one trick pony that represents as a Vigilante. He wouldn’t fit in, Ant-Man would be a better fit (IMO).
But I agree that GR would be awesome in the Avengers,!!!!!
Great Idea !!
Cage would really add draw power to the film, even if he has a brief part.
Worthy villain? It’s not that hard. If there’s a “Hero with a Thousand Faces” There’s villains with millions…
The challenge is to make it new!
Comic Geek I love the OPEC comment LMAO dude!!!
I think the Thor & Loki angle could really work and Loki is a huge manipulator of people on Earth and Asgard. He could convince Thor that People on Earth need to be destroyed because of our poor enviromental record and how we are killing the planet. This is why this angle would work though and it is because Gaea in the MArvel Universe is Thor’s Mother and is also thought to be the embodiment of Mother Nature or as the Greeks called her Gaia. Gaea in the MArvel universe is a part of every living thing and associated with renewal and the harvest…sounds like MOther Nature to me…Anyhoo THor could be manipulated into thinking that puny humans are killing his mother or her Spirit and the Avengers could be called in to stop them..Thor vs Hulk..man that would be freakin awesome…In the end the only way to truly stop Thor and Loki would be for Gaea herself to intervene on our behalf before the AVengers battle with Thor and Loki threatened to destroy the Earth faster than we are..
ANy thoughts on this one….
CHeers
Avengers Assemble!
1) Captain America
2) Iron Man
Avengers Assemble!
1) Steve Rogers
2) Anthony Stark
3) Dr. Donald Blake
4) Dr. Bruce Banner
5) Dr. Henry Pym
6) Janet Van Dyne
7) SHIELD Agent Carol Danvers*
*Hopefully. Maybe Natasha Romanov, but I think the Avengers need at least one psychic. Ms Marvel can also fly, but CGI for Black Widow prob cheaper.
Oh. Plot. Though I like the Gaea angle (I’m a believer in the Gaea theory), I think a more sensible plot would be the effects of nanotech and AI on society. SO I nominate Ultron for the villain the Avengers will need to face. I imagine the plot to revolve around SHIELD contracting Henry Pym and Stark to cook up an AI combat drone and voila! Ultron the AI is born. Some “trigger” convinces the AI that it needs to destroy all human life, and the Avengers are given the go to sanction the rogue experiment. If I recall, Ultron was also the leader of the third Masters of Evil.
Well how about this angle. First Loki is a good choice, but why not have him trick Sin into stealing Pym tech. She uses that to get her hands on a stone from the infinity gauntlent from The Collector. Loki uses that as an enticement to get Thanos to attack earth, the Avengers in particular. I leave it to you GreenKnight to finish.
i think ultron angle for this movie is played out…we alrady have terminators and i robot. mass viewers will simply see it as a rip off, even though these stories have been arond longer…
i still push for the Thor/Loki with Thor turning sides…
and yes. i can totally see a lil Hulk and Thor goin at it.
the key is the movie still has to marketable. the angle of angry gods kinda addresses modern problems with our environment…
any thoughts on the G.R. addition?
Since Ghost Rider is licensed to SONY Studios I have my doubts GR can appear in a Marvel film(Geez I hate how some of the great Marvel properties belong to other studios but if they didn’t Marvel would never have gotten it’s own shot to make these films in the first place)….He would definitely add a different spin on the Avengers.I think Ultron could work but in a sequel because he’s made of adamantium and pretty much indestructible and could take over our satellites, multi-media and technology just by interfacing with it..Still the Thor angle would be the best way to start..
Cheers
we could bring real meaning to cross over…2 studios working together, to battle the villainy of contracts…willing to settle thier differences to enjoy peace love and profits…
its almost a story itself…
I would assume that Marvel has some “amount” of Control on all charaters.
Working out a deal with the other production companies wouldn’t be all that difficult.
Everyone wants a piece of the Marvel pie, I don’t see a prob. with that.
The problem I do see is the script.
Its gonna to have to be awesome, and also allow somewhat equal screentime for all the A-listers.
Sure would be cool to have Ghost Rider in the Avenger movie somehow. His powers could alter some of the Stark weaponry. (Cromed out looking hellish rocket launcher!!).
They could really do some fun stuff using all the different powers and weaknesses of all the Superheros.
If they did it right the Avengers could be the next comic book movie Star Wars,
Comic geek I’m crying man my Bic is in the air and I’m humming All You Need Is Love…LMAO Dude!!!
anyone else with an idea for a team? a villain?
Graviton I remember in a few books in the late seventies he dropped a building on the Avengers and Wonderman caught it and gave the team enough time to get away…I loved the Wonderman angle in that he was every bit as strong and indestuctible as the Hulk or Superman and he was os afraid to die…He was more human in the fact that he always doubted the fact his powers would and could save him from anything…I remember one issue where the Quinjet was crashing and was headed inot the side of a mountain and he was trying to fly it but all the while it was going down he was thinking this was it ..he was going to die…Great human aspect to the indestructible man…
Controlling gravity could make you a very dangeous foe if it is done properly
what if hulk got captured by someone else’s weapons program, where Ross failed (say a mastermind like mandarin)? and it was up to stark with some help to go get him back? in the end, hulk is freed and goes beserk on everyone…
haha…i just thought of a fun scene where hulk would hit thor so hard he’d drop his hammer…then he would try to pick it up but cant. but he’s so strong he ends up ripping say 10 feet deep of rock attached to the hammer. and throws it a measly 5 ft…
or even a scene where hulk don’s an iron monger suit? or ghost rider putting on the iron suit and turning it all supernatural…
seriously, i like the idea of avengers against thor and loki…and the turning point could be when captain america picks up thor’s hammer after hulk and him are just goin toe to toe (something no one should be able to do, unless they are of pure soul), thor manages to drop a building on hulk and he starts calling for his hammer when he realizes that a beaten and crippled steve rogers is holding it and that moment shows thor that not all humans are bad and that there are those of us still rightous and good. Loki beats off iron man and GR finally and Thor tells loki he thinks they’ve been wrong as suddenly the bad guys appear to win…thor switches sides but isn’t himself strong enough to beat Loki without his hammer. Captain america in a show of trust gives thor back his hammer and then they regroup as 1 unit…
thats totally marketable…
Nice Comic Geek.
I would expect Banner would be stalked by many that want to exploit his powers.
I would love to see the unexpected and have Banner turn into the Hulk at will, have total mental control and surprise everyone.
Since the Avengers will be an origin film, were going to have to see how Fury brings together his team. Hulks going to have to have conrol at that point….
for the record. i hate sam jackson as nick fury…nothing to do with being an african american, but he’s never really played a bad ass…not like clint eastwood or something of that caliber.
Yeah I’m not a Sam Jackson fan ether but he does look like the comic character…
Marvel only wants A-Listers in their films.
nick fury wasn’t bald or black?
i never really thought snakes on a plane or black snake moan were exactly a list movies…
clint eastwood? man’s got oscar’s to back it up…
comic geek - I think we’re talking about the Ultimate Avengers look of Nick Fury.
“Most likely the haroes I wuold pick would be Hulk, Iron Man,Giant man,Doctor Strange,Captain America, Ant Man, Thor, and the Wasp.”
I don’t know what all this picking is about, but characters like ghost rider sure as heck won’t be in this movie. There’s not picking to made. The first avengers movie will feature the first avengers…
It’s pretty simple, really, It’s going to feature the original avengers (with Cap American and no Wasp)
-Cap. America
-Thor
-Iron Man
-Hulk
-Ant man
and oh look we have movies for each one of these characters out this year or in the next 3.
yes, that would be awesome….i think any true fan would love to see that…
antman will be modest at best…i mean if adam sandler can’t blow up the box office with his latest, and comedies in general are declining, what is ant man going to bring in?
but i pose this question, when, not if, when Thor BOMBS at the box office…and it will regardless of who’s starring. Hulk was a GREAT movie and it still fell waayy below expectations…and when captain america does just eh-ok, what are the chances of an avengers movies going forward???????? (world wide it will not be well recieved)
the original xmen were cyclops, jean grey, ice man, angel, and beast and those characters were not the main focus of the movies…selling the xmen franchise is nothing more than selling the most popular characters. if marvel wants to sell avengers i’m simply stating they need to think outside the box on this one…
My ghost rider comment is simply an allusion to the fact that GR is profitable franchise with star power and an established character. no risk is involved in a movie bombing out like thor or antman…
otherwise avengers will simply be iron man 2.5 if other character can’t stand on their own…
look at hellboy…the supporting characters are cool, but its still hellboy’s movie. the avengers movie will not be made if the supporting characters are not successful on their own…
“and when captain america does just eh-ok, what are the chances of an avengers movies going forward???????? ”
If Marvel’s schedule goes according to plan, Avengers and Cap will be made at essentially the same time. The question is will they be confident enought to commit to both movies at one time.
The strength of IM (and likely IM2) won’t be enough to bolster confidence, although Huk should be helping (but isn’t based on BO receipts). This may be the reason for the high budget talk on Thor - making it an epic that will draw an audience. Risky
from a pure business perspective, avengers is risky. so is thor, cap, antman…i mean when SUPERMAN failed to deliver the box office ass whooping they expected, what chances does avengers have.
as a whole, america isn’t nearly as patriotic as it once was. i believe in my heart that we NEED captain america now more than ever, more so as a symbol of what we need to do in society. in that respect i wish it the best success possible…a billion $$ box office take would be great…
but thats not going to happen. Ant-man could be an MTV movie or sci-fi channel release or something like that which isn’t so risky. i have 400 plus issues of Thor laying around and while i enjoy the mythology i just don’t see it standing on its own. thor isn’t epic anymore, and our society has moved past mythology as a money generating machine.
…when TROY, which is one of the most fascinating stories in the history of mankind, fails to do the numbers they want THOR to do, how is THOR going to do it? everyday people aren’t in touch with norse mythology and will see it as jsut another comic movie. it won’t be cutting edge like sin city or 300. it won’t be humorous. and the story itself isn’t epic…
if anything my money is captain american, in the vein of something like saving private ryan. gritty. raw. heartbreaking. but we should walk out proud to be an american. i think that could be the sleeper…(as long as its NOT like pearl harbor), but the risk is a horrible reception worldwide…
most of all i think its important that the avengers movie NOT be “Iron Man and Friends vs. the forces of Evil”
Well said comic geek
i know i’ve been kinda going off on this subject, but here’s one for you guys…
considering the kind of buzz surround all the cameo’s, is there a chance DC will cameo another DC universe star in the dark knight movie?
“G.I. Joe” might be a good gauge for world consumption of “Avengers.”
Perhaps what’s needed is a foreign friendly script. The goal could be to make who ever walks out at the end of an “Avenger’s” movie to be thinking sustainability or we all need to have endurance. Something everyone can relate to. Comic Geek perhaps who should be holding that hammer back, should be a child, not Captain America.
i could buy that… innocence sells. look at Wall-E…
assuming we have the Thor as a bad guy…in fact, that would be the test on whether or not they should do a thor movie, see how he’s received in avengers…it would be the follow up of an angry god coming to terms with society and humans…
isn’t that how comics works? we introduce new characters in already popular series and then give them thier own…not usually the other way around…
and yeah, GI Joe will be a good test…
Keep going and will spoil the studios strategy with a better one.
:))
if Norton play up, they will just do a avengers battle the hulk and in the end bruce banner lies face down in the dirt … finito no norton, move on with the story, they fight aliens as in the animated avengers, or ultron or something… No?
ghost-rider doesn’t have star power
it is the worst film ever made, there’s not even the slightest chance of him being in avengers.
Yeah I knew Ghost Rider wouldn’t make it into Avengers but it was still a great film.
I’m really surprised there is more support for Ant-Man than for Vision! Maybe it’s because I didn’t start reading Avengers from the start … but when I think of the Avengers - I always see Vision on the Team. I also like the idea of maybe having a X-Man on the team. Or maybe even The Thing from Fantastic 4.
I don’t really like the Thor/Loki as villians angle. I would prefer someone like Ultron. Maybe they can even use somebody like Baron Zemo or a small villian team like the Wrecking Crew ???
Reading the rest of the posts … my votes [if I cant have Vision] would probably be Hawkeye or Black Widow. No expensive CGI .. they are pretty basic. Also - Namor could be a villian. He seems to go thru all those “crazy phases” where he forgets who he is and plans war on the surfice world …
I imagine the plot will come pretty close to The Ultimates stuff. Banner is hired to do the scientific work on the super soldier serum (partly why it was mentioned in the Hulk movie) and along the way he hulks out. The Avengers Assemble to drop the nerd turned dangerous monster.
The obvious ones in the line-up… Cap, Iron Man, The Hulk, are all great ideas, not so keen on the ones that will probably be there too… Thor and Ant-man are kinda crappy characters in terms of movie marketability. I’m really hoping their solo movies get lost in the same drawer as the once rumored young magneto and Professor X project.
I can imagine an addition of Black Panther to the line-up, there’s good potential for a solo… or Storm, Panther movie there. And Wasp sure is a better option than Ant-man.
I’ll just keep my fingers crossed for a West Coast Avengers, just so I can see USAgent beat the crap out of Hawkeye on the big screen
I think the Hulk set up for Banner to have more control, so when it comes to Avengers he will be an active member of the team.
Avengers villains… Zemo is a likely choice. Probably be a setup from the Cap movie.
I can see Pym in Avengers, but Black Widow deserves her own flick more than he does. It could be a great espionage/spy movie. Widow makes more sense in Avengers to add a female to the mix.
Hawkeye and Cap are a little to similar (I always thought of Hawkeye as the West Coast Cap).
WITH SO MANY SUPERHEROS IN ONE MOVIE,WILL IT BE LIKE X.MEN AND HAVE LEAD CHARACTERS THEN INTRODUCE MORE THAT ARE MORE IN THE BACKGROUND AND JUST GET A GLIMPS OF THEM!?!
I’VE ALWAYS SAID THAT AN AVENGERS MOVIE IF HANDLED RIGHT COULD BE AS BIG AS STAR WARS…AND I STILL BELIEVE THAT BUT HAS TO HAVE A CAST AND CREW THAT WILL PUT 1OO% INTO THE PRODUCTION AND MARKETING OF THE FILM…IF THEY GET MORE MAJOR STARS FOR ROLES,MABEY THEY COULD WAIT TILL AFTER THE MOVIE’S BEEN A MONSTER AT THE BOX OFFICE BEFORE COLLECTING THIER CASH,AND RELEASE MORE CASH FOR THE ACTUAL FILMING OF THE MOVIE….
ALSO IF MARVEL GOT THE RIGHTS BACK SO THEY COULD ADD A CERTAIN WEB-HEAD TO HAVE A CAMEO IN IT THEN BOY CAN YOU IMAGINE THE POTETIAL IT WOULD HAVE….
BUT STAY CLEAR OF A FANTASTIC FOUR PRODUCTION AND DIRECTOR.
I would be a happy, happy man if Marvel got back the movie rights to Spidey … but, ain’t never gonna happen. He makes to much moola for Sony.
Does anyone know how long Sony and Fox have movie rights on Spidey, X-Men and FF? I’d be curious to know…Vic?
Sorry, I have no idea.
Vic
IF THERE ARE NO-MORE FF MOVIES COMING OUT FROM FOX AS WE’VE HEARD…THEN SURELY MARVEL CAN GET HOLD OF THEM AND RE-DEVELOPE THEM AND ALSO MABEY SILVER SURFER AND GALACTUS WOULD MAKE A WELCOME APPEARANCE IN AN AVENGERS MOVIE TOO..
EVEN IF IT TAKES A FEW YEARS,WE NOW HAVE THE GREAT DREAM OF “ALL” MARVEL CHARACTERS BEING MADE BY MARVEL STUDIOS!!!
ISN’T IT GREAT BEING A MARVEL FAN RIGHT NOW!?
It certainly is…
Here it is: the ultimate suggestion for Marvel and Avi Arad for casting Captain America!!! (and I have thought about it):
Chuck Norris.
He would be absolutely perfect in every way, including the way that his age could factor into this and subsequent movies.
Any better suggestions are welcome and encouraged, as I think the casting on Cap should in this case be done by the loving public fans.
@JY Um, Chuck Norris may be in decent shape, but the man’s 68 years old. I’m sorry but that’s too old IMHO.
Vic
“And will the budget for an Avengers movie really end up being higher than the budget of NASA’s last mission?”
That was PRICELESS.
In terms of The Avengers movie, I have mixed feelings. I can’t proclaim that I’m super knowledgeable of the Marvel universe. So unless it had an animated TV show, I probably never heard of them. I saw Iron Man because I had SOME inkling about the universe, and enjoyed the trailers but I am not sure about making individual movies for heroes that basically unknown to people outside the comic book reading universe?
In that context, I think it’s a pretty risky gamble. For X-Men it was easier to have a larger cast because a majority of people at least know the big faces (Prof. X, Storm, etc) but to make a movie for Thor or Ant-Man might be pushing it I feel. And then to attempt a cross-over of all these characters in hopes of sustaining a viable plot, where everyone gets enough screen time and a movie that isn’t longer then all three Lord of the Rings movies together will be one hell of an attempt.
But I suppose people will still see them if the trailers are good enough. They’re making all sorts of (somewhat) unknown comics into movies but it’s just a question of whether it’s going to be a good movie.
They’re probably better off turning the Justice League into a movie - I think I’d rather see that.
1. Marvel’s Thor has very very little to do with Norse Mythology. Also people need to get tid of the idea of the Norse Thor being compassionate in any sense. He was the ultimate ideal for the Vikings. A warrior that strikes fear upon his enemies and soforth. Okay, the vikings robbed and plundered almost all of England, raping an obscene amount of women and girls in any country with a seaborder, drank and did shroom like drugs when they went on a killing spree. What does that tell us about the Norse Thor? Marvel Thor has very little to do with norse mythology, thus peoples connection with Norse Mythology should have nothing to do with the marketabillity of Marvel Thor.
2. Not all Europeans(such as my self) will dislike Captain America. I remember him as being a very decent superhero. As ive gotten older i tend to like him more and more. (especially when i read 1602 and the likes) It is true there is an very large amount of Europeans that quite frankly hate America, but is far from all of us and many of those who hate the U.S. will se Captain America as an symbol of Americas current state, but i believe if they just angle Captain America as a superhero who arose from beating up nazis, they could pull him off. Also if he was mildly disgruntled with the state of mind in The U.S. whilst having trouble adapting to the modern society. (would love to see him mourn Bucky.)
3. Antman should be a character who seems to be somewhat a comical sidekick, but also the mcguffin of the movie. Like R2D2. He must have something the enemy wants.
4. The villain imo should be someone we havent seen on the big screen who poses an ideologic threat to every member of the Avengers. Im thinking an Economic threat to Stark, an antipatriotic force opposite Steve Rogers. A religious fanatic contrast to Bruce Banner and a very human evil against Marvel Thor.
5. As for the global politics discussion in this fora i only have this comment. If compassion and fairness fails in an capitalist and democratic world, why would it succeed in an socialist world?
6. U are all NERDS!!!
Holy crap, if only Chuck Norris was 20 or so years younger, him as Captain America would cause the biggest media frenzy the world has ever seen…ever!
I think I would die of a heart attack if that occurred
and yo Nerdling, isn’t a nerd a dude involved with tech and stuff, lol. I think ‘geek’ is the word you want, but I don’t like that word, despite being a huge movie buff myself
I dont think Nerd knows more about tech stuff than any other person in the same category. A geek was once person who bid the head of chickens. Commonly used derogatory towards outsiders with odd Facial features/body features. Nerd is also derogatory towards outsiders, with the only difference that they may not be distinct in a physical manner from the rest of the group. Mostly i believe a Nerd to be a person without any life. Although it seems more and more people are taking pride in being a nerd (which is not unexpected due to the standard of living nowadays.) the term applies both to people who know how to disassemble a computer and put it back together blindfolded and for people who know what properties there is in any Magic Card:the gathering card by name. The words are meant to demean persons and dequalify them as sexual objects. That was the original purpose of the word. When Nerds around the world are embracing the word, it is a phenomena much like black men taking the N-word and turning it to a somewhat positive. But Nerd is not quite there yet. It is still an demeaning word towards many people in this fora, with the exception of those who embrace it. anywho… Now imagine a world where Nerd is as much censored as the N-word. There would arise quite a bit of confusion. Nerd!!
Screen Rant is cool.
Robert Downey Jr. as Ironman
Cillian Murphy as Giant Man
Lou Ferrigno as voice of hulk/ Edward Norton as Hulk
Aaron Eckhart as Captain America
Brad Pitt as Thor
Al Pacino as Nick Fury
Matt Damon as Ant-Man
Katie Holmes as Wasp
Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man
Tyrese Gibson as Luke Cage
Maggie Gyllenhaal as Spider-Woman
A—A
V—S
E—S
N—E
G—M
E—B
R—L
S—E!
Wait…. what studio is in charge of this project? I say give it to Paramount! Who did the Incredible Hulk –wasn’t it Marvel Studios? Let Marvel do their own movie, Universal to distribute.
The Avengers can be a historical film, P-L-E-A-S-E do it right!
What's your opinion? Leave a comment!