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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135 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,
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I meant to shout,
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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’.
Why Thank You Spark, I aim to rant. I truly do aim to rant.
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?
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