The Avengers (may contain spoilers!)

[draklin]

Everything in the Marvel Film Universe is leading to the eventual superhero tag team-up, ?The Avengers,? with Iron Man, Ant-Man, Thor, and Captain America all fighting side-by-side. What possible villain could compete with that?

?The Incredible Hulk? director Louis Leterrier told MTV News this past June that he didn?t think any villain could, and suggested that they use a hero instead: his.

?Iron Man? writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, who themselves may be writing another Marvel movie in the near future, couldn?t agree more, they told MTV News, insisting that everything is building towards making The Hulk the villain in the eagerly anticipated 2011 movie.

?I hope ?The Avengers? embraces that,? Fergus said of having the Hulk as misunderstood baddie. ?You don?t want like 10 super-badass good guys fighting together. Where?s the fun in that? Let?s break it off a little. Friends or colleagues who become enemies is always an interesting thing because you know it?s based on love and friendship and that?s always the worst thing to have turn bad ? is someone you actually care about and someone you actually believe in.?

Hulk, of course, has fought nearly every Marvel hero at some point in the comics, and because he already had his own movie, wouldn?t need to be set-up in the new one. In fact, all the hard work is already done.

?I left the door open for whoever?s going to direct ?The Avengers? with our last shot. Edward [Norton] and I, we consciously decided to make the last shot of the movie when he opens his eyes and he smirks at the camera,? Leterrier told us. ?Is he enjoying it? Is he malicious? That?s what?s great about Edward. You don?t know if he?s a good guy or bad guy. He?s always on this edge and we?ve been sort of surfing that edge, that very thin edge during the entire movie.?

Recall, also that Downey Jr. as Tony Stark appears to General Ross at the very end of ?Hulk,? a scene Leterrier called the first scene of ?The Avengers.?

Sign Stark and them up for more, Fergus said.

?I personally like when good-guy characters have to fight each other,? he said. ?Good guys going against good guys who both believe in an issue is way more interesting than a villain clearly into evil and I like when former friends become committed enemies.?

Sounds like a win to me.

[Rappy Veteran]

I will love it if they get the original cast in which I can see RDJ doing but not Edward Norton.

[Jamushroom Veteran]

^Yeah, that would be awesome. It'll be weird IMO if they're not going to use the original cast.

[Xero]

It HAS to be original cast. Hulk might get a pass if he doesn't transform back into Banner which they might be able to get by with. I'd love Norton to return as the official Banner, I thought he was great. I wish Connelly was Betty though.

If they don't screw this up, this movie should be reallly sweet when it does happen.

[Rappy Veteran]

It HAS to be original cast. Hulk might get a pass if he doesn't transform back into Banner which they might be able to get by with. I'd love Norton to return as the official Banner, I thought he was great. I wish Connelly was Betty though.

If they don't screw this up, this movie should be reallly sweet when it does happen.

Yeah I agree with Connelly as Betty, I just couldn't feel Liv Tyler as Betty :no:

[Rappy Veteran]

Marvel officially announces a few things and reveals some cool little tidd bits of information such as Robert Downey Jr. has signed on to play Tony Stark in ?The Avengers? and so has Don Cheadle. Jon Favreau will play the executive producer. Here is what the press release marvel sent out says:

As part of his four picture deal with Marvel Studios, Robert Downey Jr. is appearing as Tony Stark in THE AVENGERS motion picture, as well as reprising his starring role as the larger-than-life leading character in IRON MAN 2. Jon Favreau will return to direct the sequel to the blockbuster IRON MAN, which to date has grossed over $578 million worldwide, as well as executive produce THE AVENGERS.

Now here is a small plot summary for ?The Avengers? film.

In a movie event, The Avengers will bring together the super hero team of Marvel Comics characters for the first time ever, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk and more, as they are forced to band together to battle the biggest foe they?ve ever faced.

[Source]

[DrunkenMaster]

I don't know that he's even green to begin with or will turn green - but how about GWBJR? The character is NOT in the Marvel Universe which will make it all the more difficult for the Superheroes to fight.

IMHO, all the latest SuperHero movies are all trying to out-do each other at the expense of the story. When I read comics as a kid, the 'look and feel' fell way behind the appeal of the characters and the story line. They're trying to introduce 'comic characters' to the general public that don't even know the basic story lines. Why not introduce some better characters. IMO the Avengers stuff is pretty crappy.

[Rappy Veteran]

MTV has an interesting interview with Robert Downey Jr. in which he talks about the fact that Marvel Studios will have to work hard on getting The Avengers movie right with so many characters involved. But this quote is the one that got us...

"The danger you run with colliding all these worlds is [director] Jon [Favreau] was very certain that 'Iron Man' should be set in a very realistic world. Nothing that happened in 'Iron Man' is really outside the realm of possibility. Once you start talking about Valhalla and supersized super soldiers and jolly green giants it warrants much further discussion."

Interesting, very interesting! The movie doesn't hit theaters until July 15, 2011.

[Rappy Veteran]

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.

[Xero]

Read this the other day, hope it's true. Favreau would be the perfect choice. He'd make sure they didn't butcher what he's already created with the Iron Man world. Even the latest Hulk plays nicely with that universe.

[Rappy Veteran]

Yeah he would be awesome for Avengers I feel.

[Jamushroom Veteran]

I agree. He's done a great job with Iron Man.

Another factor that would make this movie awesome is the casts from the other movies.

Edited March 14, 2009 by Capric0rn

[fix-this!]

antman won't be in the avengers, i think the movie got shelved.

[Jamushroom Veteran]

What makes you think it got shelved?

[fix-this!]

What makes you think it got shelved?

i read it at the superherohype forums. i also know the movie is not set for release or filming before the avengers come out, unless something changes. maybe he will make it into an avengers sequel?

[Rappy Veteran]

Antman probably won't make it in time for the Avengers thats the true side of it, Edgar Wright is busy with Scott Pilgrim but according to IMDB the Antman movie is meant to be out in 2010 so there's still time.

[fix-this!]

Antman probably won't make it in time for the Avengers thats the true side of it, Edgar Wright is busy with Scott Pilgrim but according to IMDB the Antman movie is meant to be out in 2010 so there's still time.

i still have my doubts as to if the avengers will even happen at all. im not happy with all of those films being pushed back and no hulk sequel either.

antman im sure would be in a sequel if so needed.

[Rigby]

To me The Avengers only bring one thing to mind.

[TheFlusher]

Not sure where I heard this from, but Samuel Jackson signed on for 9 movies as Nick Fury.

I would assume it's Iron Man 2, Thor, Capt America and Avengers..That's four, so no idea what other 5 movies are unless it's sequels.

[Julius Caro]

Hulk as the villain feels underwhelming. If the heroes team up, make the villains team up too!

[Xero]

^ The Hulk is quite powerful compared to everyone else. He could easily go head to head against many of them.

[Rappy Veteran]

^ The Hulk is quite powerful compared to everyone else. He could easily go head to head against many of them.

Yeah the Hulk could just be a team by himself but I would like to see some bad heroes join him tho.

[Xero]

The probably will, look at all the cameos in the other movies. Good guys and bad guys. I don't think they will play a serious role, but I think there will be some who want to see them all go too. The Hulk isn't a bad guy by nature. I'd assume a few baddies would help direct him against the rest of the team.

[Rappy Veteran]

[DrunkenMaster]

You'd also have to consider the salaries for the actors into the equation. Norton and Downey alone aren't cheap. Get all the other actors involved McGuire (if they cast Spidey), Jackman (Wolverine) and god knows who for Cap and Thor etc etc and you got a small fortune. And they can't go just after one bad guy (so a cast of baddies) would be a small fortune too.

IMO, I mentionned this in the Spidey thread, the only way to pull this off right is to do a CGI movie. If they want Norton and Downey etc to do the voice-overs then its doable.