The Marvel Cinematic Universe: The Avengers, etc.

[Jazzy24]

2 hours ago, benteen said:

I've heard this story before so we'll wait and see if it's true or not.  It would be a smart move on Marvel's part.  They are never getting X-Men or Deadpool back at this point (Disney doesn't do R-rated films so DP would lose something) and it's a way to bring some big characters back into the MU fold.  Considering how poorly Marvel has done with most of their villains, bringing in Doctor Doom and Galactus would be huge.

I think Disney would do an R rated film. They signed off on the Marvel/Netflix series that are R rated so a film like Deadpool could definitely have happened by Disney. 

[NumberCruncher]

Disney has been doing R rated movies for decades.  It either is or at one time was the parent company of Hollywood Pictures, Miramax, and Touchstone Pictures.

[Demented Daisy]

Disney chairman Bob Iger says they won't make R rated Marvel movies.  At least, not right now.

http://www.slashfilm.com/marvel-r-rated/

Hardly surprising -- Disney is all about pulling in the kiddos, not pushing them away.

[JessePinkman]

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. II has a villain.

Thor: Raganrok will bring in elements of a big Hulk story.

I'm really glad Marvel has realized that Hulk (and Thor frankly) does not work well on his own.

[stealinghome]

Ugh, I'm bummed the Hulk is invading Thor's movie. I just don't find the Hulk--or Banner--compelling. Nothing against Ruffalo, who's fine in the role, but sigh.

[scriggle]

3 minutes ago, stealinghome said:

Ugh, I'm bummed the Hulk is invading Thor's movie. I just don't find the Hulk--or Banner--compelling. Nothing against Ruffalo, who's fine in the role, but sigh.

Be glad it's not RDJ & Iron Man. (I hope I didn't jinx it.)

[JessePinkman]

18 minutes ago, stealinghome said:

Ugh, I'm bummed the Hulk is invading Thor's movie. I just don't find the Hulk--or Banner--compelling. Nothing against Ruffalo, who's fine in the role, but sigh.

I agree with you, I've never once gotten the appeal of the Hulk in any incarnation but I figure if they have to use him I'd rather he star in a buddy cop movie than another stand alone.

[VCRTracking]

I like the Banner and the Hulk in the first Avengers movie, where the former is allowed to be light and the latter a hero.

I also grew up liking the Hulk TV show with Bill Bixby.

[Bruinsfan]

It'll be interesting to see how the Hulk works in a setting where he's basically a big weightlifter on a 'roid rage instead of an unstoppable force of nature. The average Asgardian is a lot stronger and tougher than, say, Captain America, and in the last Thor movie several of them dogpiled on and brought down a character with Hulk-level power in a flashback.

[VCRTracking]

I think Banner would be relieved since there is less chance to seriously hurt people.

[vb68]

Brie Larson is reportedly near a deal to play Captain Marvel.

Interesting choice.  She is indeed red hot right now.  I wonder how many films will fall under her contract.  I would also guess she doesn't come as cheap as some of the other actors due to her Oscar.  The more I think about it, the more I'm surprised she wants (or is merely willing) to sign on. 

Edited June 2, 2016 by vb68

[Kromm]

4 minutes ago, vb68 said:

Brie Larson is reportedly near a deal to play Captain Marvel.

Interesting choice.  She is indeed red hot right now.  I wonder how many films will fall under her contract.  I would also guess she doesn't come as cheap as some of the other actors due to her Oscar.  The more I think about it, the more I'm surprised she wants (or is merely willing) to sign on. 

It's an interesting choice. On one hand, always better to have someone who can actually act. 

She's a bit unexpected physically for the role. She's not tiny--being I think on the high side of medium height--but she's certainly not the buff athlete I'd have expected for the role. Remember, Carol Danvers is a military woman BEFORE she becomes Captain/Ms. Marvel. 

She's totally the right age though. She'll be almost 30 by the time this comes out, and that's about the right age. 

In terms of her joining a franchise and that not being expected from a red hot Oscar winner with an Independent film history?  Note she's already due to star in the new King Kong film coming out soon. With... wait for it... Tom Hiddleston.

[Joe]

I was hoping for Katee Sackhoff. She looks more solid than Larson, and has previous experience playing a military action character. A pilot, even.

[slf]

There has been, to my knowledge, no confirmation that Sif will be in Thor: Ragnarok and I am sad.

Tessa Thompson and Cate Blanchett are nice additions, though, especially after the loss of Rene Russo in the last film. (And, while I liked Natalie Portman in something I do not care for her in the Thor franchise (though her acting her is better than in that other franchise she did that shall not be named) so I'm actually happy they cut her character and her sidekick, too.)

[Amethyst]

32 minutes ago, Kromm said:

Note she's already due to star in the new King Kong film coming out soon. With... wait for it... Tom Hiddleston.

At this point, I'm surprised when I don't recognize a new name in the MCU, with the way it's growing.  It's like a six degrees of Kevin Bacon thing.  

Elizabeth Debicki is rumored to be playing Ayesha in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, although that part hasn't been confirmed, just that she'll be in the film.  And Debicki just co-starred with Hiddleston in The Night Manager.  

As for Brie Larson as Capt. Marvel, I'm ok with it.  Not who I envisioned (was hoping for Jessica Chastain, but I know they'd consider her too old) but Larson can act.  Wonder if that means Emily Blunt is definitely out of the running, since she was the favorite for so long.

Edited June 2, 2016 by Amethyst
The GotG bit was already posted, sorry!

[Kromm]

8 minutes ago, Amethyst said:

At this point, I'm surprised when I don't recognize a new name in the MCU, with the way it's growing.  It's like a six degrees of Kevin Bacon thing.  

Elizabeth Debicki is rumored to be playing Ayesha in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, although that part hasn't been confirmed, just that she'll be in the film.  And Debicki just co-starred with Hiddleston in The Night Manager.  

As for Brie Larson as Capt. Marvel, I'm ok with it.  Not who I envisioned (was hoping for Jessica Chastain, but I know they'd consider her too old) but Larson can act.  Wonder if that means Emily Blunt is definitely out of the running, since she was the favorite for so long.

Even Blunt would be in her mid 30s by the time they get around to this film. I can see why they wanted to cast younger. They want Captain Marvel to take the lead role in the Phase 4,I think, after being introduced near the end of Stage 3. They want her to be the Iron Man equivalent, I think, in terms of tentpoling films for a decade or so after. 

[Kromm]

22 minutes ago, slf said:

There has been, to my knowledge, no confirmation that Sif will be in Thor: Ragnarok and I am sad.

There was a lot of rumor/buzz she wasn't back in April, but on the other hand by May she herself seemed to think she was, because there was a tweet from her teasing to fans "don't worry".

http://nerdist.com/jaimie-alexander-teases-her-return-in-thor-ragnarok/

[Amethyst]

Was going to mention JA's tweet, but I refreshed the screen and Kromm beat me to it, lol.

I've noticed that we're getting news about Banner/Hulk's involvement, but very little about Thor and the situation of Ragnarok itself.  But it's still early.  They might still be working on the script, and/or if Waititi is keeping his cards close to his chest.

Hoping Rene Russo makes a cameo, maybe in a flashback or dream sequence.  One of the few bright spots in TDW was her kicking Malekith's arrogant ass.  Looks like they're cutting most of the Earth stuff out altogether if Portman and Skarsgård aren't returning.  Kat Dennings probably isn't, either.

4 minutes ago, Kromm said:

Even Blunt would be in her mid 30s by the time they get around to this film. I can see why they wanted to cast younger. They want Captain Marvel to take the lead role in the Phase 4,I think, after being introduced near the end of Stage 3. They want her to be the Iron Man equivalent, I think, in terms of tentpoling films for a decade or so after. 

Good point.  In the long term, Larson makes the most sense for phases 3 and 4.

[slf]

58 minutes ago, Kromm said:

There was a lot of rumor/buzz she wasn't back in April, but on the other hand by May she herself seemed to think she was, because there was a tweet from her teasing to fans "don't worry".

http://nerdist.com/jaimie-alexander-teases-her-return-in-thor-ragnarok/

Huzzah! Something to look forward too. Thanks!

[Kromm]

A lot of rumors have spread that Marvel and Fox were doing a deal to bring Fantastic Four back to the Marvel Universe (in exchange for some merchandising concessions). 

Sadly those rumors were wrong.

Simon Kinberg Says Fantastic Four Is Still Big Part Of Fox's Plan, Explains What Went Wrong

[benteen]

10 hours ago, Kromm said:

It's an interesting choice. On one hand, always better to have someone who can actually act. 

She's a bit unexpected physically for the role. She's not tiny--being I think on the high side of medium height--but she's certainly not the buff athlete I'd have expected for the role. Remember, Carol Danvers is a military woman BEFORE she becomes Captain/Ms. Marvel. 

She's totally the right age though. She'll be almost 30 by the time this comes out, and that's about the right age. 

In terms of her joining a franchise and that not being expected from a red hot Oscar winner with an Independent film history?  Note she's already due to star in the new King Kong film coming out soon. With... wait for it... Tom Hiddleston.

It is an unexpected move but a wise one if true.

Another King Kong film?  Ugh.  Like Fox with Fantastic 4, I think they should just give up on those.

[Bruinsfan]

On 6/1/2016 at 11:32 PM, Amethyst said:

Looks like they're cutting most of the Earth stuff out altogether if Portman and Skarsgård aren't returning.  Kat Dennings probably isn't, either.

From your keyboard to Kevin Feige's ears! I'm sorry to see Skarsgård go, but I'd be willing to trim just about anyone from the cast if it means Hipster Mary Sue also gets excised.

[Kromm]

On 6/2/2016 at 9:47 AM, benteen said:

It is an unexpected move but a wise one if true.

Another King Kong film?  Ugh.  Like Fox with Fantastic 4, I think they should just give up on those.

I admit I don't get it. Who's even asking for King Kong to be tried and retried every few years? Even dumber, Netflix is doing an animated Kong show next year too. 

[Perfect Xero]

There will probably always be a director and/or producer out there who wants to remake King Kong, it was the original spectacle/blockbuster film and had huge cultural significance and huge significance to the history of film. There's always going to be someone who thinks that they can use the latest CGI/Effects technology to recapture the original's sense of awe.

This particular effort, however, is actually part of the post-Avengers rush for everyone to have their own shared universe franchise, as it's taking place in the same universe as the recent Godzilla movie, and will lead to a Godzilla Vs King Kong film.

[Kromm]

7 hours ago, Perfect Xero said:

There will probably always be a director and/or producer out there who wants to remake King Kong, it was the original spectacle/blockbuster film and had huge cultural significance and huge significance to the history of film. There's always going to be someone who thinks that they can use the latest CGI/Effects technology to recapture the original's sense of awe.

This particular effort, however, is actually part of the post-Avengers rush for everyone to have their own shared universe franchise, as it's taking place in the same universe as the recent Godzilla movie, and will lead to a Godzilla Vs King Kong film.

It might surprise nobody, and is coincidentally intersecting with this thread, that the big producer behind the new Kong movie is a man by the name of Avi Arad. Who many credit with bailing Marvel out financially from bankruptcy... but debatably at great creative cost. He and Feige apparently hate each others guts (and that was one of the big problems between Sony and Marvel in the first place). It's ironic that the star of one of Arad's films will be coming TO Marvel, possibly, as a key actor. 

[AimingforYoko]

Joe Quesada says Marvel Studios has the right to Namor.

That's great, now get Silver Surfer.

[benteen]

Awesome about Namor.  Can we finally get a Captain America and Namor World War II story?  Of course, I'd love to see the original Human Torch thrown in there two but 2/3 ain't bad.  Cap and Namor in WW2 fighting Nazis, with Peggy.

[Danny Franks]

11 hours ago, benteen said:

Awesome about Namor.  Can we finally get a Captain America and Namor World War II story?  Of course, I'd love to see the original Human Torch thrown in there two but 2/3 ain't bad.  Cap and Namor in WW2 fighting Nazis, with Peggy.

I'd love to see that. The Winter Kills one shot that Marvel published during the first Civil War storyline really sold me on the old friendship between Cap, Bucky and Namor, during WW2. 

But Namor is a character who would be incredibly difficult to get right, in terms of look and personality. 

[Morrigan2575]

Reading the article seems like Joe Q might not be 100% up to date. Has this been confirmed by anyone else?

[VCRTracking]

The little ankle wings that allow him to fly would be a tough sell alone, visually.

[Kel Varnsen]

On ‎2016‎-‎05‎-‎27 at 0:27 PM, Jazzy24 said:

I think Disney would do an R rated film. They signed off on the Marvel/Netflix series that are R rated so a film like Deadpool could definitely have happened by Disney. 

Would those shows be R rated as movies? I'm not a 100% sure. Maybe daredevil because of the violence, but no one ever says fuck in either show plus there is no nudity.

 

Quote

I honestly don't think the story of the X-Men, the hated & feared, the racism allegory, can work in the MCU. It's something I could let slide in the comics but the idea of the X-Men going from saving the world to being discriminated against in the same universe as the cinematic Avengers just...doesn't make much sense to me. It never did in the comics but you know, boom, pow, pretty pictures, you can ignore that shit.

Yea it never made sense to me either. I mean how does the Marvel comics general public understand enough about people with powers to hate the ones born with the powers but not hate the ones who got their powers through science? As for Marvel getting the rights to the X-men back please never. Even with how powerful people in the MCU have gotten, I still think that both Magneto and Professor X would still be way too powerful for the MCU.

Edited June 6, 2016 by Kel Varnsen

[Bruinsfan]

In the comics Thor has generally been presented as more powerful than Magneto. He's called up instantaneous hurricanes powerful enough to expose the seabed over an area the size of Manhattan. (And in Age of Ultron, he charged Mjolnir up with enough lightning power to blast a mile-wide chunk of rock into pebbles... that's beyond the scale of anything Magneto's done until enhanced in the latest movie.)

[Kromm]

11 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

In the comics Thor has generally been presented as more powerful than Magneto. He's called up instantaneous hurricanes powerful enough to expose the seabed over an area the size of Manhattan. (And in Age of Ultron, he charged Mjolnir up with enough lightning power to blast a mile-wide chunk of rock into pebbles... that's beyond the scale of anything Magneto's done until enhanced in the latest movie.)

Both Thor AND Magneto have had wildly fluctuating amounts of power in the comics. Heck, most superheroes have, but I think they're both in the top echelon of heroes where their power levels have varied the most (probably up there with The Hulk). 

[Bruinsfan]

Dr. Strange may win the blue ribbon for that. Under some writers (like Englehart & Brunner) he's powerful enough to blow up a planet; under others (like Bendis) he's barely able to do card tricks.

[Kel Varnsen]

From comics i remember Magneto could kill people by removing the iron from their blood. He also was able to remove the adamantium from Wolverine's bones. In the movies he was able to relocate the golden gate bridge. Xavier can basically stop time by freezing people in place.

The other issue is of course if they did a modern (ie old) professor and magneto as part of the MCU would they possibly be able to do better casting than Stewart and McKellen?

[FurryFury]

As a non-comic book fan, resounding NO to the idea of crossing over the existing MCU with the existing X-Men. It just wouldn't work, even if they had an agreement similar to Sony/Marvel Spider-man one. And it doesn't seem like they're ever going to reboot the X-Men anyway.

Not keen on seeing Hulk in Thor. Don't really care about him, TBH, other than in Avengers.

Edited June 7, 2016 by FurryFury

[Raja]

5 hours ago, FurryFury said:

As a non-comic book fan, resounding NO to the idea of crossing over the existing MCU with the existing X-Men. It just wouldn't work, even if they had an agreement similar to Sony/Marvel Spider-man one. And it doesn't seem like they're ever going to reboot the X-Men anyway.

Not keen on seeing Hulk in Thor. Don't really care about him, TBH, other than in Avengers.

It will destroy the "its all connected" ethos the MCU claims to push to use the existing X-verse with its shifting timelines to use the superstar mutants in different eras. Now they can reboot X yet again and start from scratch as with Spider-Man. I am interested to see if they think Iron Man is the star or is it Robert Downey Jr when he finally ages out and the MCU has to decide to move on to other characters or recast

[FurryFury]

I think it's pretty clear by now that MCU is easily able to stand on its own without Iron Man. I liked him being in Civil War because it really made sense for the story and continued the Tony/Steve rivalry that was hinted in The Avengers, so I don't think they added him just to increase the viewership. As for him being in Spider-man, it's a bit more puzzling to me, but then, I've never seen a Spider-man movie in my life, and it having characters I know and the world I know may actually force me to, so I guess it's working.

[Wynterwolf]

8 minutes ago, FurryFury said:

having characters I know and the world I know may actually force me to, so I guess it's working.

I'm hoping it will also increase the likelihood that there will at least be a few snippets of dialog about the others offscreen, which will also make me more inclined to see it (even though I still feel pretty burned out on Spider-man movies in general).  I admit I'm more interested in the relationship dynamic between the two, rather than another standalone effort.  

[Jazzy24]

6 minutes ago, FurryFury said:

I think it's pretty clear by now that MCU is easily able to stand on its own without Iron Man. I liked him being in Civil War because it really made sense for the story and continued the Tony/Steve rivalry that was hinted in The Avengers, so I don't think they added him just to increase the viewership. As for him being in Spider-man, it's a bit more puzzling to me, but then, I've never seen a Spider-man movie in my life, and it having characters I know and the world I know may actually force me to, so I guess it's working.

The MCU will be more then fine without Iron Man/RDJ. I think they're phasing him out and that's good there is lots of characters and stories to tell besides Iron Man's. 

I'm more than excited for the new Spiderman movie. RDJ is suppose to be a type of mentor to Peter so I hope they keep it like that. Keep it a Spiderman movie with Tony Stark playing a minor role where his presence won't overshadow Spiderman. Marvel needs to be very careful with how they handle Spiderman, so far with their casting it's been more than fine. 

[Jazzy24]

And Fury better be in both Avengers movies, his presence has been truly felt. 

[JessePinkman]

We've still got at least 4 more years of Iron Man being around...I mean, he's certain to be in Infinity War 1 and 2. I do think we're done with solo Iron Man movies which is fine with me, his relationships with other heroes is far more interesting than his solo adventures.

[KatWay]

I think as long as RDJ wants to be in these movies, he will be. He is a box office draw, is very good at promo and he was a major part of making the MCU what it is today.

I can't imagine he'll want to do them forever. Right now he's earning a LOT of money though so I totally see why he's still there. And to be fair, at least in Civil War, his performance really stood out for me. He's not phoning it in.

[OakGoblinFly]

15 hours ago, JessePinkman said:

We've still got at least 4 more years of Iron Man being around...I mean, he's certain to be in Infinity War 1 and 2. I do think we're done with solo Iron Man movies which is fine with me, his relationships with other heroes is far more interesting than his solo adventures.

 

I thought that this was part of Robert Downey Jr's  new contract with Marvel - no more solo films, but Ironman will appear in other MCU films.  I hear/read rumors that Marvel is trying to work on a similar deal with both Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth.

[Danny Franks]

After Cap 3, I don't want to see RDJ's mug in a Marvel movie again. 'Oh, it's totally a Captain America movie, even with Iron Man in it. We're not making it all about Tony and his manpain again, honest!'

The only safe place might be Guardians of the Galaxy 2, but I suspect they'll figure out a way to shoehorn him into that as well. Perhaps so he can angst over the memories of his last trip to space.

[scriggle]

17 minutes ago, OakGoblinFly said:

 

I thought that this was part of Robert Downey Jr's  new contract with Marvel - no more solo films, but Ironman will appear in other MCU films.  I hear/read rumors that Marvel is trying to work on a similar deal with both Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth.

CEvans said in an interview (Rolling Stone iirc) that he extended from 6 to 7 movies, thru Infinity War2. He's also said he's willing to do more for as long as they want him. I hope they keep him because Chris is Captain America.  RDJ seems to be contracting on a film by film basis now.

[JessePinkman]

As long as their non-MCU movies keep flopping I think we're in for the long haul. 

[VCRTracking]

Quote

After Cap 3, I don't want to see RDJ's mug in a Marvel movie again. 'Oh, it's totally a Captain America movie, even with Iron Man in it. We're not making it all about Tony and his manpain again, honest!'

I love both characters but Tony's "manpain" can drive a story, whereas Steve tends to react to things.

[ChelseaNH]

1 hour ago, VCRTracking said:

whereas Steve tends to react to things

Frequently, the things that Tony's manpain drives him to do.  For such a smart guy, Stark doesn't learn...

[Bruinsfan]

Intelligent and wise are two different things. Stark may be a brilliant inventor, but he has terrible judgment and pretty poor understanding of the people around him.