Okay, with the Marvel Studios news coming in almost by the minute, as we approach the release of “Avengers: Infinity War,” we’ve collected all the news worth mentioning in one easy location. So, sit back and let the nerdy Marvel goodness wash over you…
First off, it appears that Kevin Feige is having second thoughts about not announcing the title of ‘Avengers 4.’ And according to the Marvel Studios president, there’s no way the title announcement can possibly live up to the hype.
“I’ve said before, it’s gotten entirely out of hand. And now will have no chance to living up to any expectations of what it’s gonna be. And it sort of backfired, if I’m honest with you, because the notion was to not talk about it so the focus was to be on [Infinity War],” said Feige, in an interview with IGN.
Screen Rant got a chance to ask Kevin Feige about the possibility of adding Moon Knight to the roster of MCU heroes. When asked if there was the potential of seeing the hero, Feige said, “Yes. Does that mean five years from now, 10 years from now, 15 years from now? There are stacks of character cards that we have in our, in our development offices, which we look at. Which we pull for him, which we discussed.”
For those that don’t know, Moon Knight is one of the lesser-known heroes in the Marvel Universe. His origins are incredibly convoluted and complicated. Basically, Moon Knight is a brutal version of Batman if Bruce Wayne worshipped a moon god and had multiple personalities. It’s weird.
A lot was made of Joss Whedon’s departure from Marvel Studios. After directing the first “Avengers” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” the director was infamous for leaving social media and being vocal about how those films really took their toll on him, leading him to take an extended break before directing part of “Justice League.” Now, it seems like the same can’t be said for Joe and Anthony Russo, the directing duo behind the upcoming “Avengers: Infinity War” and untitled ‘Avengers 4.’
According to an interview with Screen Rant, the brothers loved working with Marvel and would definitely come back to the MCU. “We love Marvel, that amazing experience with them and Disney. We love comic books. We love telling these stories. Obviously, the Fox / Disney mergers is incredibly exciting to us as comic book fans. We’re just trying to get Avengers 4 done and then, you know, we’d love to work with those guys again,” said Joe Russo.
Obviously, after the next two films, the duo deserves a bit of a break, but with the Russos’ MCU films being some of the most beloved of the entire franchise, people will be excited to welcome them back, eventually.
Marvel Studios has been making a big deal about letting their filmmakers take risks, going so far as exploring various genres for individual films. When ComicBook.com sat down with Kevin Feige, they asked if the horror genre is something he’d like to explore, citing examples of Marvel heroes Blade and Man-Thing, both of which are decidedly in the horror genre.
“I like both of those characters that you named, and I think, again, horror can mean a lot of things,” Feige said. “Horror, did you mean a movie like ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ or ‘Hostel’ or a ‘Friday the 13th’ or a ‘Poltergeist?’ ‘Poltergeist’ is a little bit more my wheelhouse, that’s such a great movie and it scared the heck out of me but it’s really fun. I don’t know, I certainly would like to play with as many genres as possible.”
So, while you shouldn’t expect a slasher version of an MCU film, perhaps a paranormal thriller might be in the cards?
Our final bit of ‘Avengers’-related business is the most recent rumor about the “Black Widow” solo film. According to The Hashtag Show (always bring your grains of salt with their rumors), the film is going to be a prequel that takes place in the mid-2000s:
“The film will find Natasha living in the United States 15 years after the fall of the Soviet Union! That timeline places the film firmly in the mid-2000s, meaning we’ll meet up with Nat prior to the events of ‘Iron Man 2.’ That time frame opens up plenty of options, and while many fans seem to want a Black Widow/Hawkeye team up in Budapest, we’ve been told that early discussions about the film involved Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier.”
This definitely sounds like an easy way to avoid all the continuity issues of the MCU. We’ll see if/when the film gets announced whether we’re in for a nostalgic trip to the 2000s in our future.
And finally, here’s a brand-new clip from the upcoming “Avengers: Infinity War:”