As quickly as Samuel L. Jackson’s nine picture deal with Marvel Studios had been signed, fans began to speculate over what these nine potential films are.
It’s likely Jackson’s Nick Fury wouldn’t even appear in nine films, and Marvel is probably just covering their bases. However, if all goes according to plan, Marvel Studios has their eyes on a double digit number of releases down the pike by at least 2014. We decided to weed out all the films being gossiped about (“Dr. Strange” being particularly high on Marvel Studios’ wish list) to concentrate on the nine we think Jackson would be in, provided Marvel fully exploits his nine-film involvement. Keep in mind their schedule has proven to be over-ambitious and much of their future film line-up has been bumped around and pushed back.
Iron Man 2
Who’s In It: Robert Downey Jr., Gwenyth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Sam Rockwell , Paul Bettany (voice), Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Robbins, Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson
Story: No details yet, though it will probably magnify the fallout from the public announcement of Tony Stark’s alter ego, with leaked information suggesting at least one scene dealing with Stark’s infamous alcoholism.
How It Fits With Marvel’s Plans: Without plot details, people have been forced to check back issues regarding Sam Rockwell signing on as Justin Hammer, a weapons designer/supplier for numerous nefarious Marvel universe villains. Mickey Rourke will appear as the C-list villain Whiplash, and it seems that they have collated him with the character of Crimson Dynamo (which is maybe why Robert Downey Jr. was so coy). While Whiplash would likely be a one-movie bruiser, Hammer’s been featured in storylines for a number of Marvel heroes, and could likely resurface, suggesting Rockwell may have signed a multi-film deal. Roxxon, an evil energy corporation in the Marvel Universe whose logo appeared in “Iron Man” could conceivably tie in here somewhere.
Also, there’s the ramifications of Nick Fury’s words at the close of the original film, detailing the “Avengers Initiative.” It’s likely that “IM2” is the movie most dedicated to exploring this idea, that of Iron Man heading a modern day superteam under Fury’s watch. However, this might not be too much of a collaboration between the two – in the comics, Stark develops his alcoholism after he loses a significant portion of his publicly traded company to Fury, who needs Stark Industries to continue manufacturing weapons in order to better supply Fury’s S.H.I.E.L.D. operations.
Scarlett Johansson will play a pretty Russian assistant to Tony named Natasha – fans have speculated this is Natasha Romanova, alias the Black Widow), a character who could eventually headline her own movie. This would not be the first time this was considered a possibility – “Watchmen” writer David Hayter was developing a “Black Widow” movie for Rebecca Romijn to star in 2004, when the character’s rights belonged to Lionsgate. Story leaks have suggested “IM2” will also introduce hero archer Hawkeye as well. Finally, there’s a portion of the film, perhaps an epilogue, that will feature Howard Stark (Tim Robbins), Tony’s father. In the movie universe, he created the revolutionary Super Soldier Serum, which Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky ingests in “The Incredible Hulk” and is said to have helped create Captain America. You can imply he’ll also be featured in “The First Avenger: Captain America.”
Random Casting Suggestion: Michael Pena for Hawkeye. Pena’s affordable, tough, and, amongst the pretty whitebread Avengers, ethnic! He’s about to break out of his serious film streak with a comic turn in “Observe and Report” so Marvel might want to lock him up quick.
Creative Team: Jon Favreau, who EW claims is a better director than half the modern greats of cinema, returns for another go behind the camera. Writing the new film is Justin Theroux (“Tropic Thunder,” “Dedication”), replacing the first film’s writing team of Art Marcum, Shawn Holloway, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby.
Thor
Who’s In It: Kenneth Branagh, though you can speculate that Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson could also be involved.
Story: The Norse warrior Thor battles his evil step-brother Loki amidst the mystical realm of Asgard.
How It Fits With Marvel’s Plans: Earlier “Thor” scripts often centered Thor’s adventures in the realm of Asgard, a straight-faced epic “Lord Of The Rings” fantasy, but the new script is said to use Thor’s alter ego Donald Blake as a conduit to the real world. Depending on what version of Thor you subscribe to, he often took the form of Blake, a disabled medical student unaware of Thor’s existence. While they haven’t ditched the Asgard angle, there is also said to be an ending that finds Thor arriving in modern day, possibly meeting the other Avengers after his father Odin has banished him to ‘Midgard’ for his too-prideful ways.
But can the film hit it’s target date? No, “Thor”’s July 16th, 2010 release date was pushed back a year to June 17, 2011. Clearly, they weren’t ready and will now fail to capitalize off promotional blitz from the May 7, 2010 showing of “Iron Man 2” and also build buzz for the summer 2011 and 2012 releases of “The First Avenger: Captain America” and “The Avengers.” With no cast set (Alex Skarsgard and Josh Hartnett are two recent names being floated) and no start date for a film that’s sixteen months over two years away from release, Marvel should have plenty of pre-production time to hack through the incomprehensibly long new Branagh script (which is probably part of the reason an additional year was needed).
Random Casting Suggestion: One name popping up constantly: Kevin McKidd. Muscular, and with an excellent accent, he seems a no-brainer of a choice. However, McKidd claims he was approached but noted Marvel wanted to go younger, emphasizing the father-son relationship of Thor and Odin, and that McKidd was being looked at to play another older character. Marvel needs to fix that – an age discrepancy can be defeated with an actor as solid as McKidd.
Creative Team: Kenneth Branagh came on as director and immediately started tinkering with Mark Protosevich’s script, resulting in a massive tome that execs and producers are currently trimming.
The First Avenger: Captain America
Who’s In It: No one, though again, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, and Tim Robbins seem possible.
Story: In World War II, Operation: Rebirth produces one positive result – Captain America, a Super Soldier who helps turn the tide against the Axis Forces.
How It Fits With Marvel’s Plans: There is something new and fresh about having a superhero movie set during World War II, something Marvel will no doubt exploit. It’s assumed that the film would close with Cap frozen in ice and thawed out in modern day by S.H.I.E.L.D. There was a bit of chatter about a deleted “Incredible Hulk” scene where the beast dislodges Cap from the ice, so perhaps the climax of “Captain America” will feature the emerald bruiser.
The question of casting remains. Early rumors pegged Leonardo DiCaprio and Matthew McConaughey, and DiCaprio might be pretty good, but it’s a difficult character and likely too goofy for his career trajectory. They need an actor who starts out young and small, but then becomes a modern day legend that a guy like Robert Downey Jr. feels comfortable taking orders from eventually. Prosthetics are always a bad idea. The idea of Will Smith persists among those who think you can’t sell a massively budgeted WWII action picture without a huge name attached, though that would mean the Allied Forces used a black man as their figurehead, making the onscreen Marvel Universe a definite alternate reality and something fans would likely balk at, Obama acceptance notwithstanding.
Random Casting Suggestion: If they don’t pick a name for the role, there are few better candidates than Lee Pace. The star of the canceled “Pushing Daisies,” he showed off his action skills with the little-seen fantasy “The Fall.” He’s a handsome talent, one that could conceivably play young and old and can tackle the character with a bit of wit and humor.
Creative Team: Marvel has shied away from hiring strong creative types for these films, which is kind of a bummer, but it’s hard to complain about Joe Johnston. Sure, he directed the abominable “Jurassic Park III” but in “The Rocketeer” he nailed the aura that “Captain America” should have. The writers are Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who previously wrote the “Chronicles Of Narnia” movies (and, oddly, Ben Kingsley hitman drama “You Kill Me”), but its not known whether they’re working on a previous draft which was turned in by David Self, writer of “The Sub-Mariner” and “Deathlok” for Marvel.
The Avengers
Who’s In It: Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Paul Bettany (voice)
Story: Covert operation S.H.I.E.L.D. forms a massive government-sanctioned strike team comprised of superhumans to take down a massive threat.
How Does It Fit Into Marvel’s Plans: Originally, this was the endgame, but Marvel is getting punchy enough to speculate a superhero future beyond the film’s now-updated May 4, 2012 release date. Which means, to the cynic, that there’s not a whole lot at stake between these characters. Still, there will be a great deal of anticipation, considering the lineup- Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, Nick Fury, Black Widow, Hawkeye, War Machine and possibly Ant-Man.
Since the movies are taking cues from the Ultimate line of comics, we can surmise that things don’t go well for the group, as there is anxiety and infighting. Still, there’s bound to be some spectacular action, even if we’re talking a budget of over $200 million. With this sort of preposterous firepower, the villain would have to be a heavy duty level of competition, and perhaps they will opt for “The Ultimates” alien invasion storyline that was overshadowed by the foregrounding of issues such as Captain America’s detachment from the modern world, the team’s skepticism towards Thor’s mental health, Ant-Man’s sexual insecurities and the Hulk’s reckless collateral damage. Good times.
Creative Team: Initially Zak Penn (“Elektra”) was announced as a writer for “The Avengers,” but as Marvel gets a closer idea of what “Iron Man 2” and “Thor” become, expect a more reliable name to do a polish. Plus who knows where the story-threads of the previous films would end? Any screenplay written today would need a rewrite in at least a year. Jon Favreau will be on as an executive producer, but no director has been hired as of yet- we hear Edward Norton is available.
Wait, that’s only four five, what about the other five? That happen next week.
