UPDATED:
Considering what we’re discussing below, this latest news makes a perfect addition to this piece. Marvel Studios have just announced TWO new release dates for their 2014 feature film schedule. So get your diaries out and get your boss on the phone, you’re going to need to book May 16th and June 27th off. As for the films themselves, Marvel has decided to keep schtum, for now at least. Could the property be mentioned in the roundup below? What do you guys think?
Read on for our previous story…
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02/08/11
Cast your mind back to the 2008. Marvel
Studios had just gambled $140 million on their first movie. Would audiences
respond to a feature based on a character few had heard of? Oh yes. IRON MAN
hit hard, garnering a $585 million worldwide take. The gamble paid off.
And so it began. After a similar success
with that year’s Hulk reboot, the fledgling studio quickly unveiled their game plan, they
signed Samuel L. Jackson for a nine picture deal to reprise Nick Fury, IRON MAN
2 would hit in 2010, THOR and CAPTAIN AMERICA will bow in 2011, and all the
characters would unite in the summer of 2012 for THE AVENGERS.
With all but one of the movies now
released, it’s interesting to note that Marvel have chosen not to lay out any
concrete plans for the future. Don’t get us wrong, there’s plenty of buzz
regarding what might come post-AVENGERS, and that’s what we’re going to explore
here.
* The only movies that do have a release date are THOR 2, which will arrive 26th July 2013, and IRON MAN 3 on May
3rd. All the principal cast return, but neither of their respective directors,
Kenneth Branagh and Jon Favreau both opting to take producing roles only. Where
the characters will find themselves after THE AVENGERS is anybody’s guess.
* The script for the long-mooted ANT MAN
movie is now done and dusted, with writers Edgar Wright (SHAUN OF THE DEAD) and
Joe Cornish (ATTACK THE BLOCK) handing in their finished screenplay and concept
art last week. No word on whether
either of the pair would be willing to direct, but seeing as how long they’ve
been working on the project it’s highly likely one of them will step up to bat.
* As we reported recently, actor Clark Gregg
(Agent Phil Coulson in the Marvel movieverse) let slip that there’s been
whispers that Marvel are planning a S.H.I.E.L.D. TV spin off show. We’ve since learnt
that this isn’t the only Marvel property being groomed for serialization, with
Brian Michael Bendis’s ALIAS (now re-titled JESSICA JONES to avoid confusion
with J.J. Abram’s show), and CLOAK AND DAGGER also in the works. It’s unsure
whether or not Guillermo Del Toro’s proposed HULK show (read more here) will
follow the Marvel Studios character, or relaunch yet another interpretation
(which would be a shame given the character’s record number of reboots already).
* The studio are also expanding
their universe with short films, the first two of which will feature the aforementioned Agent Phil Coulson and will debut on the THOR and CAPTAIN AMERICA home video releases. Future shorts will likely play before the next wave of feature films.
* There’s been talk of DR STRANGE being
developed for quite some time now, with Pixar having once been involved at some
stage – perhaps with the intension of releasing their first animated Marvel
movie. With their own potential superhero franchise THE INCREDIBLES to play
with, Pixar ultimately parted ways with the company however, leaving STRANGE to
languish in Development Hell. Until yesterday, when it was reported that Josh
Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly (they of the imminent CONAN reboot) handed
in their completed screenplay for the cosmic sorcerer’s big screen debut.
Previous reservations from Marvel regarding audience acceptance of the more
out-there, supernatural elements of their universe have been proven to be
of little concern due to THOR’s box-office, and they’re rumoured to be
fast-tracking this title for a 2013 release also.
* Anything else? Sure, there’s a few more
projects being whispered about – but they all require a Pinch of Salt at this
stage. They include a possible WAR MACHINE spin-off (Don Cheadle thinks it’s a good idea, but then again he
would), a solo outing for BLACK WIDOW (cool), and a HAWKEYE feature (hope he’s a little more exciting in THE AVENGERS than he was in his THOR cameo). The most likely
established candidate for their own movie is, of course, Samuel L Jackson’s
Nick Fury, with several actors already circling the role of his younger self.
So in summary, lots of cool stuff to look
forward to – just be nice if Marvel Studios would come out and officially
confirm or deny some of this stuff!
What would you guys like to see from Marvel
next? Any of the proposed ideas above interest you? Let us know with your Comments below!
