Marvel Studios is juggling a lot of balls in the air, and, to Playlist, we happen to think they’re about to drop them all. Their ambitious plan involves two big ticket releases next year: “Iron Man 2” and “Thor.” This would be followed in 2011, with “The First Avenger: Captain America” filmed back to back with “The Avengers,” which would mean locking down an actor to film two giant tentpoles in a row, in addition to the other actors appearing in more than two of the above mentioned films (right now, potentially Samuel L. Jackson, possibly Tim Robbins as WWII scientist Howard Stark, perhaps William Hurt as Thunderbolt Ross and, of course, gloryhound Robert Downey Jr.).
We’ve gone over the various troubles of “Iron Man 2,” rush-developed and salary-challenged, but at least there’s some movement on that affair. “Thor,” which is another big ticket summer ’10 release, remains without a cast or start date, and no major news has been announced since the fall disclosure of writer-director Kenneth Branagh working off a Mark Protosevich (“I Am Legend”) script. Today, Marvel Comics Editor-In-Chief Joe Queseda and writer Brian Michael Bendis reported, surprise! Branagh is a total “Thor” nerd.
“Okay, three words describe my day today ‘Branagh gets it!’” Queseda Twittered, commenting on a meeting between he, Bendis and Branagh. He continued, “Sweet is when [Branagh] starts quoting continuity and past storylines. The man has immersed himself in Marvel.” Other than Queseda’s surprising Twitter dedication to proper grammar and spelling, there’s really no news here to report. Now, if he had said, “I know nothing of Thor but I hung out with Ang Lee and here are my ideas about Thor’s possible father issues we can explore,” that would be news.
What is known is that Branagh is not like Matthew Vaughn or DJ Caruso, who both flirted briefly with the project. Playlist sources say that Branagh’s dedication to the characters and the universe have led to the delay, as he and Protosevich sat down and hammered out a massive 300 page tome of a script with allusions to past storylines and the entire Norse lineage of the characters. The Marvel money men, looking to continue the gravy train, are unhappy with a mythology-dense script that one needs an encyclopedia to parse. Chances are, things will be hammered (heh) out and Marvel will have a shooting script ready soon, but at least they can’t question the dedication of those involved with the movie. A summer 2010 release, though? Great Odin’s raven, that’s pushing it.
