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Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios are scheduled to release the live-action film The Avengers. (May 4, 2012) Confirmed team members are Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and Thor. The film's writer, Zak Penn (co-writer of The Incredible Hulk film), cited Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's Ultimates version of the team as inspiration for the story. Iron Man director Jon Favreau is the executive producer, with Robert Downey, Jr. and Don Cheadle playing Iron Man and War Machine respectively. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston will be reprising their roles as Thor and Loki as well. Samuel L. Jackson signed on to play Nick Fury as part of an unprecedented deal with Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures for nine pictures, including The Avengers and its respective sequels. Scarlett Johansson playing the Iron Man 2 role of Black Widow in the film. Edward Norton, who played the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk, is contracted to return as the Hulk. Lou Ferrigno, who voiced Hulk in 2008's The Incredible Hulk stated that he would be involved in the film.
Might Jon Favreau Actually Get to Direct The Avengers?
This could actually be a dream come true. It all began back in January of 2008, when we ran a story about Jon Favreau saying he'd love to direct an Avengers movie. Since that story first hit, Favreau has mentioned his interest numerous times, and not only did Marvel actually announce The Avengers, but Iron Man went on to become a huge box office hit and success for everyone involved. We learned earlier this week that Marvel decided to push back The Avengers release date an entire year to May 4th, 2012. We obviously don't know the real reason, but Ain't It Cool News has a spy who claims to have the answers.
In addition to saying that The Avengers was delayed due to "financing issues," the spy claims that Marvel really wants Jon Favreau to eventually direct it. "Everybody here loves the guy and he wants to do it, but it would have been impossible for him to do before the date change given his Iron Man 2 commitments." Obviously we can't trust this report, but given Favreau has shown an interest in directing The Avengers plenty of times before, and also given that Marvel just pushed its release back to give enough time for Favreau to finish Iron Man 2 and move on to The Avengers, it all could work out perfectly in the end.
We know that Marvel announced Kenneth Branagh as the director of Thor and Joe Johnston as the director of The First Avenger: Captain America. But besides directors like Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder (who are both involved with Warner Brothers / DC Comics), I can't think of any other directors that I'd actually trust with complete control over a movie as epic as The Avengers. Funny enough, I actually said in that very first article about Favreau, before I had even seen Iron Man at all, that, "if Iron Man turns out as good as I'm expecting, then having Favreau direct the Avengers movie couldn't be a better decision."
In essence, what I'm saying is that out of all the possible directors, Jon Favreau is certainly my top choice for The Avengers. The way he handled Iron Man was enough proof for me that he can handle a film as big as it will be. I just hope Marvel is smart enough to recognize that as well, because they do not want to screw this up.
http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/03/13/might-jon-favreau-actually-get-to-direct-the-avengers/ (http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/03/13/might-jon-favreau-actually-get-to-direct-the-avengers/)
Comic-Con: Marvel's Kevin Feige Reveals Avengers Line-Up
As almost everyone knows, Marvel stopped by Comic-Con yesterday to premiere the first footage from Iron Man 2 (which we didn't get to see). Marvel's Kevin Feige talked with press afterwards (via Collider) and one of the questions he was asked was whether or not they had worked out the line-up for The Avengers movie yet. Apparently they have, even though "Zack Penn is outlining it as we speak." So who's in it? I think we already know exactly who to expect. "It's going to be Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Nick Fury." But that's not all - there's a few more other members who might show up in the movie as well.
"I think it's safe to assume that there will be some members of the Hulk universe in the film as well. In terms of the additional, I think Black Widow for sure. SHIELD's organization for sure. And, again, what's exciting to me about the Avengers movie are seeing those four characters together and interacting with each other. Anywhere from the first issue of the Avengers to Civil War, the dynamic between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark is awesome and fascinating. It brings out sides of the others that won't be brought out in their own franchises. Throwing Thor into the mix is a whole other thing and I think that will be cool. So to pile in another ten or fifteen… or frankly even four… I think will be too many."
This isn't very surprising to hear, as he pretty much just named off all the superheroes who have their own solo movies coming up in the next few years. What is a bit interesting is that we're not going to see other heroes like Ant-Man or The Wasp involved. It sounds like they're going to stick with the big four that by then the entire world will be familiar with: Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and Nick Fury. And you know what, I'm perfectly fine with that. I think Feige is dead on with this one - too many superheroes might be problematic. And at least for this one, they should just stick with those four guys for now.
http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/07/26/comic-con-marvels-kevin-feige-reveals-avengers-line-up/ (http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/07/26/comic-con-marvels-kevin-feige-reveals-avengers-line-up/)
So Ed Norton Might Appear as Hulk in Avengers After All?
We've been running a lot of speculative articles recently, and we have yet another for you today. In this one, though, I think I'm reading between the lines a little too much. IGN caught up with Edward Norton at the Television Critics Association press event and asked him the inevitable question about the Hulk appearing in Marvel's Avengers movie. This time, though, his answer was a bit different than anything we've heard before. "I probably won't comment on that, just because they [Marvel] keep a pretty tight reign on what they are letting out. I'll let them say," he replied. Is there hope that he's in it and wants to let them announce it?
Or is he just saying that he wants to let Marvel announce themselves that there's no Hulk in Avengers? I'm personally hoping it's the former. In Kevin Feige's most recent interview from from Comic-Con, he talks about the line-up for The Avengers, and mentions "there will be some members of the Hulk universe in the film as well." Of course, we can turn to any number of past articles where Hulk is brought up, like this one where Mark Fergus talks about having Hulk, or this one where Favreau lets slip that Hulk is in the line-up, or this one where Louis Leterrier talks about the end of Hulk being open for continuations of the character.
Of course, I could just be reading between the lines too much, and I'm probably doing that just because I really want to see Edward Norton back as Hulk in The Avengers. The reason why this is such big news and always a shock to hear is because, I believe, Norton kept saying he wasn't sure if he'd return (after doing The Incredible Hulk) and that there were other issues with bringing Hulk into the Marvel Studio's Universe. But who knows what's really going on behind closed doors? We'll find out the truth soon enough. But in the meantime, should we start getting excited about seeing Hulk in Avengers after all?
http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/08/03/so-ed-norton-might-appear-as-hulk-in-avengers-after-all/ (http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/08/03/so-ed-norton-might-appear-as-hulk-in-avengers-after-all/)