Earlier last week, Marvel Studios’ President of Production Kevin Feige spoke to reporters regarding the future of the studio. The Playlist was not there because we are too awesome, but others were present, and after a brief embargo, it looks like they’ve opened up about their upcoming projects [ed. actually this was from a different event with Kevin Feige than the one last week].
“Iron Man 2”- Feige confirms what many might consider a SPOILER but is well known to comic fans, that Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanova character has “two sides” and after becoming Tony Stark’s assistant, she later evolves into the Black Widow SPOILER OVER. He also says some typical bullshit about having to up the ante in the action department.
“Thor”- The setting for the film is primarily Earth, with a little bit of mystical plane Asgard being thrown in there, with runs contrary to previous scripts for the project. Also, Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki) are signed on for multiple movies. Loki was an antagonist in the first “Avengers” story, so they might follow that path again in the films.
“The First Avenger: Captain America”- Feige confirmed that Cap’s boy sidekick Bucky Barnes will appear. “It’s the movie his entire career has been leading towards,” Feige says in regards to director Joe Johnston, which suggests he knows the movie will be shit, since Johnston has recently directed “Jurassic Park III” and “Hidalgo.”
“The Avengers” – The original idea was to make it animated. Marvel preferred the “surprise” of seeing all the characters together instead, despite the fact that it will cost eleventy billion dollars and have enough CGI to probably qualify as an animated film.
Ant-Man- Marvel Studios’ bullies are apparently pushing Edgar Wright to finish another draft (totally new?) of the script as he continues work on “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,” despite promises he would spend fall writing “The World’s End” with Simon Pegg to conclude their Cornetto Trilogy that began with “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz.”
Mystery Film- Feige made the pretty ballsy claim that another Marvel film will soon be announced for 2012, but he wouldn’t say what it was. In theory, it’s not “Ant-Man,” which he already name-dropped during the conference, so what could it be? If they’re going to follow through on their promise to the rapidly-aging Samuel L. Jackson about a “S.H.I.E.L.D.” film, that’s probably a sure bet to be the 2012 project, especially considering it probably won’t involve such a lengthy pre-production process as the other films. Unless Feige is really bad at being coy- he’s talked extensively about his desire for a “Dr. Strange” movie for the last year, so that’s certainly a candidate. What say you, true believers- what is the secret Marvel film for 2012?