The Marvel Cinematic Universe: The Avengers, etc.

[swanpride]

And here I was wondering why they did pretty much all the themes of those shows somehow (or used the more popular theme form the Hulk TV show for Hulk), but skipped the Thor one....

[Guest]

How Disney and Scarlett Johansson Reached the Point of No Return

Quote

After the simultaneous release was announced, Ms. Johansson’s team made an opening bid: Pay the actress $80 million. The calculation was based on what the star would receive in a hypothetical global box-office take of $1.2 billion, a sum in league with Marvel hits “Captain Marvel” and “Black Panther.” (Hobbled by the pandemic and at-home release, the movie has so far been one of Marvel’s worst performers, with $371 million grossed world-wide.)

The deal, as pitched, would pay Ms. Johansson a total of $100 million for the movie, including her $20 million salary. It was an eye-popping sum, but her team saw it as a starting point. 

Disney never responded with a counteroffer.

One reason was uncertainty in the company over who should be leading the negotiations, according to Disney employees and associates. Mr. Chapek, faced with the pandemic’s existential threats to live entertainment, gave underlings the power to make a deal.

His top lieutenants, including Disney Studios Content Chairman Alan Bergman, and Media and Entertainment Distribution Chairman Kareem Daniel, didn’t return calls or emails from the Johansson team or engage in serious talks, said people involved in negotiations for the actress. Disney didn’t make the executives available for comment.

I think actors should be compensated for streaming and I’m sure she went in high but basing it off of a global box office of $1.2 billion is insane. Black Widow was never going to remotely approach that number. With that as her starting point I’m not surprised Chapek didn’t negotiate. It’s also interesting that Iger and Alan Horn were not involved at all. If Chapek had utilized more experienced voices this probably would have been handled better.  

One other interesting tidbit in that story is that the lawsuit caused an impasse in negotiations with the Russo’s to direct another Marvel movie. They said in the past that Secret Wars is the movie that would bring them back to Marvel. 

[Kel Varnsen]

9 hours ago, Dani said:

think actors should be compensated for streaming and I’m sure she went in high but basing it off of a global box office of $1.2 billion is insane.

Keep in mind that pretty much only big stars typically have the power to negotiate a percentage of the box office revenue, so saying every actor should get compensated for streaming might not be realistic.

As for Scarlett's case, on demand home viewing has been a thing for many years so there was nothing stopping her from asking for a percentage of that when she originally signed her contract. Hell if she was confident that the movie would make 1.2 billion, she could have also asked for a fixed salary based on a percentage of that number. 

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Keep in mind that pretty much only big stars typically have the power to negotiate a percentage of the box office revenue, so saying every actor should get compensated for streaming might not be realistic.

I really don’t need to keep that in mind because my statement was purely my personal opinion on what is right. I also didn’t say that every actor should get compensated for streaming.

Beyond that, residuals are a normal part of the entertainment business so this idea that streaming compensation might not be realistic is ridiculous to me. That doesn’t mean that it should work exactly the same as residuals or necessarily cover every actor but it is ridiculous to me that streaming technology is used as a way to screw the creative forces behind movies out of a massive stream of revenue they would have without streaming. 

23 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

As for Scarlett's case, on demand home viewing has been a thing for many years so there was nothing stopping her from asking for a percentage of that when she originally signed her contract. Hell if she was confident that the movie would make 1.2 billion, she could have also asked for a fixed salary based on a percentage of that number. 

I’m not comfortable making assumptions on what Scarlett did or didn’t negotiate. People love to say so-and-so should have asked for all kinds of things but we don’t know if they did. She has top lawyers and agents so it seems really unrealistic to assume that the contract was part of some failure on her part to think ahead. 

There is no way in hell that she was confident the movie would make $1.2 billion. That’s not how negotiations work. They started around the solo MCU movie ceiling. I do think that was too high of a start point.

In my opinion, Chapek still has a hefty part of the blame for not even being willing to negotiate. Setting aside the actual details of the lawsuit Disney has botched this from a PR standpoint making his handling of it a failure regardless of the outcome. 

[Bruinsfan]

Yeah, while I think the Ant Man movies are probably a more realistic model for Scarlett to base her assessment on, I can't claim to know enough about how such negotiations are handled to say that the 1.2 billion number is a ridiculous figure to serve as a starting point. You don't expect your initial quote to get accepted as is without any compromise in a salary negotiation.

[tv echo]

EXCLUSIVE: How Kevin Feige Assigns Projects to the Marvel Studios Parliament
Nathan Miller    September 5, 2021
https://www.murphysmultiverse.com/marvel-studios-parliament-exclusive/ 

Quote

We’ve previously written about the Marvel Studios Parliament, the group of executive producers who marshall the shared universe of the MCU alongside Kevin Feige himself. While talking with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings producer Jonathan Schwartz, we asked him a bit more about how Parliament works. and specifically how each producer joins the film or series they work on from conception, hiring of writers and directors, to production and release. 

It’s not really a genre thing or a speciality thing. We all sort of go off together and talk about who wants to do what and what’s coming up, and we all kind of end up working on stuff we’re excited about. I just like martial arts movies and Shang-Chi felt like the right character to bring a martial arts movie to life, and so that was that I put my hand up and said I wanted to do Shang-Chi. That’s more or less the way it tends to happen, there’s a character we all want to do, or there’s a character one of us one of us wants to do, and we just talk about it and divide it up and things generally work out where people get to work on things they’re excited about.

Schwartz went into a little more detail about how some of those group talks play out, hinting at a very collaborative atmosphere under Kevin Feige‘s purview.

There definitely is a camaraderie for a lot of us who have been around for a long time just throwing ideas back and forth […] It’s great when you have people who have been through the process, and who you trust, and whose creative taste you trust, and everyone’s taste is different, and that’s part of what’s really useful about it. Not all of us see movies the same way, so we’re all able to bring something a little bit different.

 

Edited September 6, 2021 by tv echo

[Spartan Girl]

Loki was more of an actual narcissist in the movies than he was in the tv show. But I agree with Lindsay, the biggest MCU narcissist was Ego.

Dang, now I want her to dissect IW/Endgame and let loose on that crap with the soul stone.

[Dandesun]

On 9/3/2021 at 10:54 PM, Dani said:

One other interesting tidbit in that story is that the lawsuit caused an impasse in negotiations with the Russo’s to direct another Marvel movie. They said in the past that Secret Wars is the movie that would bring them back to Marvel. 

I'm okay with the Russos not running the ship anymore as far as directors go. They had their say and then some when it came to the Marvel firmament and they did good. In some instances they did great. But at this point, I think different voices are necessary.

[Spartan Girl]

IMO the Russos peaked with Winter Soldier and it all went downhill from there. I’m fine with them not making any more movies in the MCU.

[Kel Varnsen]

49 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

IMO the Russos peaked with Winter Soldier and it all went downhill from there. I’m fine with them not making any more movies in the MCU.

I thought the whole MCU peaked with Winter Soldier so that makes sense. Although Infinity War is a great movie that was a huge step up from Age of Ultron. Even so I am ok with new directors getting a chance at things.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Dandesun said:

I'm okay with the Russos not running the ship anymore as far as directors go. They had their say and then some when it came to the Marvel firmament and they did good. In some instances they did great. But at this point, I think different voices are necessary.

I completely agree. I think that 2 to 3 is the max number of movies we should get with any director using the same basic characters. Their weaknesses just become more and more glaring with each movie. 

I thing that I actually found interesting is that it may be an indicator that the Secret Wars rumor is true.

[Kel Varnsen]

The more I think about it I would actually be good if the Russo brothers directed an upcoming MCU show maybe. Like some Hawkeye episodes or some of the War Machine or Nick Fury show. Their background was TV. Plus they probably have the best overall good movie batting average of any marvel multi-movie director. Although the only one who probably comes close at the moment is James Gunn. And that could change depending on what Thor 4 is like.

[BetterButter]

 

[AimingforYoko]

2 hours ago, BetterButter said:

 

Well now, Disney seems awfully sure we're all still going to be around in 2024. What is Disney hiding?!?

[tv echo]

Edited September 11, 2021 by tv echo

[swanpride]

My guess: Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four, Yung Avengers and if Sony plays ball, another Spider-man movie. 

There are also a few properties I hope Marvel might tackle, but they are sadly on the unlikely list. 

[BaggythePanther]

Do Blade and Deadpool have release dates yet?

[Starfish35]

As the Comicbook.com article notes, we already do have four movies without announced release dates; Fantastic Four, Blade, Deadpool 3, and Captain America 4.  So…. 🤷🏻‍♀️  It’s not necessarily any new projects.  

2 minutes ago, BaggythePanther said:

Do Blade and Deadpool have release dates yet?

Not to my knowledge.

[Guest]

38 minutes ago, BaggythePanther said:

Do Blade and Deadpool have release dates yet?

No. 

36 minutes ago, Starfish35 said:

As the Comicbook.com article notes, we already do have four movies without announced release dates; Fantastic Four, Blade, Deadpool 3, and Captain America 4.  So…. 🤷🏻‍♀️  It’s not necessarily any new projects.  

There are also three open dates in 2023 so at least some of them are new projects. 

[Starfish35]

2 hours ago, Dani said:

There are also three open dates in 2023 so at least some of them are new projects. 

Ah right.  Reading fail on my part.  🤦🏻‍♀️ 

[swanpride]

Five movies in one year might a little bit much though...I expected them to do four soon, but five? 

[Raja]

8 hours ago, swanpride said:

Five movies in one year might a little bit much though...I expected them to do four soon, but five? 

Perhaps but now they have Disney + which also needs new content.  So say 3 MCU movies one to replace a X-Men and in effect a direct to video with a lower expectation release 

[Kel Varnsen]

4 minutes ago, Raja said:

So say 3 MCU movies one to replace a X-Men and in effect a direct to video with a lower expectation release 

Yea their being a lot less competition from other studios means more room for more releases. Because other than those Spider man spin off movies pretty much every Marvel character will be a marvel movie. Compared to in the past where there were things like the Affleck Daredevil movie, a Ghost Rider movie and a bunch of different (crappy) Fantastic Four movies they had to worry about.

[tv echo]

(source)

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Raja said:

Perhaps but now they have Disney + which also needs new content.  So say 3 MCU movies one to replace a X-Men and in effect a direct to video with a lower expectation release 

The five 2023 dates are all theatrical releases so that’s on top of Disney+ content. 

11 hours ago, swanpride said:

Five movies in one year might a little bit much though...I expected them to do four soon, but five? 

I think that five in one year was just a covid adjustment. 

[Raja]

40 minutes ago, Dani said:

The five 2023 dates are all theatrical releases so that’s on top of Disney+ content. 

I think that five in one year was just a covid adjustment. 

It would be like Disney forcing ABC to carry a series to have an extra theatrical movie that will eventually be an aid to win streaming supremacy 

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Raja said:

It would be like Disney forcing ABC to carry a series to have an extra theatrical movie that will eventually be an aid to win streaming supremacy 

I not following you are all. What does a theatrical release have to do with a series? Who is being forced?

Edited September 12, 2021 by Guest

[Morrigan2575]

October would be a good release date for Blade. Deadpool is strong enough to get a July release and Fantastic Four could end the year, it's a family movie after all 😂

[Starfish35]

Seven open release dates.  So….(in no particular order):

• Fantastic Four
• Blade
• Deadpool 3
• Captain America 4
• X-Men/Mutants movie?
• Shang-Chi 2? (would ‘24 be too early?)
• …? Young Avengers maybe? (ETA:  I’m guessing a team-up movie of some sort will be in here somewhere.)

Edited September 12, 2021 by Starfish35

[starri]

1 minute ago, Starfish35 said:

• …? Young Avengers maybe?

Is there a date for Secret Invasion yet?  They're still short Teddy, and that's the only thing I can think where they could introduce him.

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, starri said:

Is there a date for Secret Invasion yet?  They're still short Teddy, and that's the only thing I can think where they could introduce him.

It’s filming now. Probably anywhere from Fall 2022 or Spring 2023 depending if it’s set before or after The Marvels.

Edited September 12, 2021 by Guest

[Raja]

2 hours ago, Dani said:

I not following you are all. What does a theatrical release have to do with a series? Who is being forced?

The theory would be Disney assigns a content quota to the MCU and Star Wars to provide a constant stream of content for Disney +.  Thus an extra movie so Disney + can keep rolling out a new movie on schedule to prevent people from ending subscriptions. Like Disney forced ABC TV to take a hit to keep comic content rolling between movie releases.

The fifth movie could have a smaller theatrical release like the traditional February releases which sometimes breakout aa a hit.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Raja said:

The theory would be Disney assigns a content quota to the MCU and Star Wars to provide a constant stream of content for Disney +.  Thus an extra movie so Disney + can keep rolling out a new movie on schedule to prevent people from ending subscriptions. Like Disney forced ABC TV to take a hit to keep comic content rolling between movie releases.

The fifth movie could have a smaller theatrical release like the traditional February releases which sometimes breakout aa a hit.

I am sure that Disney wants Marvel to provide steady content for Disney+ but I really doubt that Marvel is being forced to create subpar content just to feed Disney+. 

It make a lot more sense that the fifth release is just because of the year without a Marvel movie. Disney+ probably plays a role in that but more because the nature of the MCU means they can’t delay the movies without delaying the shows. 

The crazy thing to me about the MCU right now is that they really need to keep this ridiculous pace out of necessity because of the FOX merger. I don’t know if they could drop to fewer movies and shows while maintaining what was built with the Infinity Saga and utilizing the Fox characters. 

[Morrigan2575]

Given the cut scene in Shang Chi it seems more likely they are building a new Avengers Team/Movie than a Young Avengers movie. If they do a Young Avengers I think it will be on D+

 

[tv echo]

The first official trailer for Hawkeye (Nov. 24, Disney+) was released this morning and, if you watch it, you'll see a NYC street shot of the outside of a theater advertising Rogers: The Musical ("the heart of a hero") with a silhouette of Captain America holding his shield. So apparently, in the post-Endgame era, someone produced a Broadway musical about Steve Rogers. You can go to the Hawkeye forum here.

Also, FYI (scroll down tweet thread to read other comments by JG)...

Edited September 13, 2021 by tv echo

[Spartan Girl]

35 minutes ago, tv echo said:

So apparently, in the post-Endgame era, someone produced a Broadway musical about Steve Rogers.

Yikes. Broadway does not have a good history with superhero musicals and I’m still too salty towards Endgame Steve, but hell, that just might make the Hawkeye show worth watching!

[Morrigan2575]

Just watched the Hawkeye Trailer, it looks FUNn I'm actually really excited to watch.

 

[Dandesun]

Rogers: the Musical is everything I didn’t know I wanted.

[Kel Varnsen]

1 hour ago, Spartan Girl said:

Yikes. Broadway does not have a good history with superhero musicals and I’m still too salty towards Endgame Steve, but hell, that just might make the Hawkeye show worth watching!

There actually was supposed to be a Captain America Broadway musical back in the 80's. I remember reading comics from the time, years later and in them there are ads that are basically casting calls for a young girl to play Cap's sidekick. But it was never produced 

As for the trailer, I love that it is a NYC Christmas thing. Plus the humour looks fun. If you are going to do jokes, going with what looks like Hawkeye being all "I am too old for this shit" seems like the way to go.

[Chyromaniac]

To be honest, I don’t think there’s an MCU thing that I’m not planning on watching - but I like the tone of this, and it’s making me more interested in a project that previously felt unnecessary.  I was fine with letting Clint (and Renner) fade out of the storyline, but maybe they’ve finally found a way to make him work.

 I hope that the merch booth for the Cap musical has a commemorative beer mug of Mjolnir wielding Steve - so that someone, somewhere can own an official Broadway Rogers and Hammer stein.

Edited September 13, 2021 by Chyromaniac

[swanpride]

Frankly, I always dreamt of Marvel doing a musical movie. Maybe Dazzler could be an option for one? Or they do an animated "Avengers: The Musical" Special. I would sooo watch this (especially since quite a few of those actors actually can sing). 

[starri]

[Kel Varnsen]

24 minutes ago, starri said:

That's the one. I wish I could remember what comic I saw it in, although it was likely West Coast Avengers which in a kind of funny conincidence starred Hawkeye.

 

[starri]

46 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

That's the one. I wish I could remember what comic I saw it in, although it was likely West Coast Avengers which in a kind of funny conincidence starred Hawkeye.

There's something that I find very unsettling about Cap having a "very special friend" who's a 10-14 year old girl.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Just watched the Hawkeye Trailer, it looks FUNn I'm actually really excited to watch.

 

I’m really loving the Die Hard/Lethal Weapon vibe. 

 

5 hours ago, Morrigan2575 said:

Given the cut scene in Shang Chi it seems more likely they are building a new Avengers Team/Movie than a Young Avengers movie. If they do a Young Avengers I think it will be on D+

 

Why not both? They’ve spent so much time building to the Young Avengers I can’t see them not getting a movie. I wouldn’t be surprised with a Disney+ series first but I feel confident we’ll see them on the big screen. 

[Spartan Girl]

17 minutes ago, starri said:

There's something that I find very unsettling about Cap having a "very special friend" who's a 10-14 year old girl.

I was just about to say that. Like WTF?!

[AimingforYoko]

2 hours ago, Dandesun said:

Rogers: the Musical is everything I didn’t know I wanted.

If Disney hasn't commissioned LMM to write it, there needs to be mass firings. 

[festivus]

That Hawkeye trailer looks good. I love that it's set at Christmas. Looks like he'll finally get to show some of the personality we got glimpses of in Age of Ultron. 

[Starfish35]

Not saying I’m not looking forward to this, because I am (and I hope it actually does turn out to be as fun as it looks, unlike FatWS), but am I the only one seeing Michael Jackson in this particular freeze frame? Yeah I don’t even know. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Edited September 13, 2021 by Starfish35

[Morrigan2575]

1 hour ago, Dani said:

I’m really loving the Die Hard/Lethal Weapon vibe. 

 

Why not both? They’ve spent so much time building to the Young Avengers I can’t see them not getting a movie. I wouldn’t be surprised with a Disney+ series first but I feel confident we’ll see them on the big screen. 

I guess I don't feel like they've spent any time building the Young Avengers. They've introduced (or will introduce)  Young Avengers Characters on D+ but, have made no attempt to connect them, IMO or really build a team. 

That could change, I'm sure we might see some connection at the end of Hawkeye (or kne of the 2022 movies) but, what I'm seeing right now is MCU building a new Avengers Team and a Secret Defenders team but, I've yet to see them do anything to build a Young Avengers Team.

Edited September 13, 2021 by Morrigan2575