Avengers...will it? (1 Viewer)

[todd s]

I am a DC fan. But, enjoy a good comic movie. And since it looks like Warner can't get it together with a Justice League movie. I was looking forward to an Avengers movie. Now that we have seen signs of it at the end of Iron Man and Hulk.
My question is this. Are they really planning on doing it? With the leads of each of these movies being big stars. The budget will be enourmous and that is before f/x. So what is the rumor and what is fact?

Also, who is part of the Avengers?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yes, who are the Avengers and what part does Nick Fury have with them.

 

[DavidPla]

What's known is that Marvel has set a release date of July 2011. They have also set release dates of April 30 2010 for Iron Man 2, June 4 2010 for Thor and May 6 2011 for Captain America. Judging by that pattern, I expect they want Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America as part of the team.

 

[Zack Gibbs]

If you're interested at all in The Avenger's movie I'd recommend you check out the first "The Ultimates" trade paperback. Though some of the individual characters are depicted differently, Marvel is already mining a lot of great material here and it's a very good indication of what the movie could be like.

Sam Jackson's Fury, The Avenger's as a government initiative (SHIELD), Hulk's relation to Captain America and the super soldier serum. All of this comes from The Ultimates and was never a part of original Marvel continuity. It's also fun to see some of the other movie "predictions" they made that haven't come to pass; similar to the modeling of Fury on Sam Jackson, Bruce Banner was modeled on Steve Buscemi.

Unfortunately the comic has a far richer and darker tone than the film will ever be allowed.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

The Avengers have had an incredible number of line ups in their over 40 years of existance, including complete East and West Coast teams, so it is hard to say who exactly "is" the Avengers. This ain't the Justice League by a long shot.

The original line-up was Iron Man, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Giant Man (AKA Ant Man) and the Wasp. The Hulk quit a few issues in, and was replaced by Captain America, who had been frozen solid in a block of ice since the end of WWII and somehow survived in a state of suspended animation. Thor and Iron Man then quit, and they were replaced by ex-Evil Mutants Quicksilver and the Scarlett Witch, and Hawkeye, a kind of poor-man's Green Arrow.

After that, the changes came fast and furious. Something like 60 different characters have been "permanent", "temporary", "probationary" or "honorary" members since the team was founded, so Marvel pretty much has their choice of folks to use in the film. The only near-constant in the group has been Captain America.

Nick Fury and SHIELD are connected to the Avengers the same way they're connected to a lot of Marvel characters - they both fight evil and sometimes need to work together. I haven't followed the comic books in ages, and have only a vague sense of the recent superhero civil war and the whole super powers registration thing, but various characters and groups in the Marvel universe have had quasi-official law enforcement and national security roles for a long time. Captain America, of course, was the product of a secret pre-WWII military experiment and resumed his contacts with the Army (and his security clearance) after he was defrosted by the Avengers. He would have worked with the OSS (precursor of the CIA) behind and lines during WWII, and also personally knew then-sergeant Nick Fury, who later became head of S.H.I.E.L.D. It is only natural the Fury would turn to an old friend when he needed help with a super-powered meance.

Then there's Tony Stark (Iron Man), whose Stark Industries is the largest military contractor in the Marvel universe. He also has a top security clearance, and his companies produce a lot of the high-tech weapons that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents use. (Some of them designed by Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four, who not only shares his knowledge with the government, but with other superheroes. Ever wonder how all these guys have costumes that can bend and stretch, turn invisible and burst into flame without being consumed? Richards invented a fabric that can adapt to the wearer's powers.)

I'm a little less skeptical than some about Marvel handling the casting issue. I guess it will depend on who is cast as Thor and Capt. America.

Robert Downey, Jr. is a fine actor, but he isn't exactly box office gold and Iron Man is, in many ways, his comeback film. (The latest of many.) He still has to be considered a casting risk, so I suspect Marvel got him relatively cheap for an Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner, and that his contract included not only his Hulk cameo and Iron Man 2 but an option for The Avengers at a price that won't bust the budget.

Edward Norton is another good actor, but not a movie star. Besides, the Hulk is such a one-trick pony of a character, I'm not sure they'd use him for much more than a cameo. (The Hulk in the original Avengers was a much more articulate guy, surly, but not mindless.)

But we'll have to see how they decide to play it and what "period" in Avengers history they choose to base the story on.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

We've already had the best possible on-screen depiction of Nick Fury as the aging head of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Arnold's boss in True Lies, played by the inimitable Chuck Heston.

Regards,

Joe

 

[JonZ]

Id recommend the Avengers Essentials.

Id say read the original books then move to the Ultimates. The Avengers were up and down. There were periods of blahness, but also periods of real greatness for the book. I think the last issues I ever read were around 230 or so of the original book (prob around 1985). My favorite period was prob in the 150 - 200 era.

Avengers Annual 10 is a must read (Its actually the first appearance of Rogue).

I loved the book when it had the team of Thor,Iron Man, Beast, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Wonderman, Wasp, Capt A and the like. Some great classic artists worked on The Avengers like Buscema, Perez and Bryne.

 

[troy evans]

What? You mean you didn't like David Hasselhoff's performance as Nick Fury?

 

[Andy Sheets]

If so, I think you missed the siege of the mansion story, which is a real classic.

Regarding The Ultimates, IMO it's not a very good comic, but as a blueprint for a potential Michael Bay film, it's very meticulous

 

[Lew Crippen]

Strange! I always thought that The Avengers were John Steed and Catherine Gale or Emma Peel.

 

[Patrick Sun]

How soon we forget about Uma Thurman and Ralph Fiennes's film version...

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Not soon enough, thank you.

Actually when The Avengers came to American television and I saw the listing in TV Guide, I assumed it was a live action version of the comic book. I tuned in solely for that reason. I was extremely puzzled to find a droll British spy show, part drama, part spoof. As an eight-year old comicbook geek I was very disappointed, but something about Diana Rigg in a black leather catsuit must have penetrated even my pre-pubescent brain, because I kept watching and as the years went on I increasingly came to appreciate the series. (And Diana's catsuit. )

And for me, those Avengers will always be John Steed and Mrs. Emma Peel. (And her catsuit.)

In my estimation, no one else comes close.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Jose Martinez]

You could rent the Ultimate Avengers animated movies just to see what Marvel has in its plans.

 

[todd s]

I am a much better actor than Samuel L. Jackson! I can out act him....Check it out...."Get these motherf##kin snakes out of my motherf##kin lifeguard station!"...Well? What did you think?...Acting gold.

 

[Brian Borst]

I really hope it will. Iron Man (along with the S.H.I.E.L.D references and Nick Fury at the end) was really great, and I'm looking forward to The Incredible Hulk. I definitely want to see all those characters in one big movie, and hopefully make it work.
The only thing I'm worried about are the movies about Thor and Ant-Man. To non-comic fans they sound a bit ridiculous, and I don't know if they could generate as much money as Iron Man has. Granted, Iron Man was virtually unknown too and it was a big hit. I dunno, maybe it will work out in the end.

And hopefully Warner/DC will answer with their Justice League movie and additional spin-off's. That would really be great .

 

[Chip_HT]

Not the JLA they were working on.

Half of the thrill of seeing Avengers or Justice League, is not seeing the characters come together, but the actors playing those characters come together, because it means those other movies tie together.

 

[Brian Borst]

No, but if the Avengers works out, I'll bet DC will answer with a same type of movie (hopefully).

 

[Chip_HT]

We're still waiting for DC to answer with anything outside of Batman and Superman.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Did'nt I see rumor of Rome's Kevin McKidd as Thor, that would be good casting. Plus they have somewhat paved the road for the Hulk being a bit less mindless in this last movie, and since the Hulk is technically CGI so no need for Norton to even be in it. Was'nt Sub Mariner also in the Avengers and I remember the Vision as well. I'd love to see a Sub mariner Movie.

Are'nt we also retricted from seeing any other Groups like the X -men, Spiderman and FF because they are coming from different studios...

 

[Jerome Grate]

I agree with that comment. The Ultimate Avengers animated movies were well done I thought, and probably would be a good base for the live action to follow as to characters. When it happens it will certainly be introductory as to who will be in it.