In this edition of The Week in Spandex, we look at Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain Marvel, Thor: Ragnarok, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man, Spider-Man, The Sinister Six, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Damage Control, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Guardians of the Galaxy, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 2, Wolverine 3, Huck, New Mutants, Gambit, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Man of Steel 2, Suicide Squad, Watchmen, Gotham, The Flash, Arrow, Vixen, Supergirl, Batman: The Animated Series, Powers, Heroes Reborn and more…
To promote the home entertainment release of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Marvel debuted a second gag reel from the Joss Whedon-directed superhero sequel, while the folks at Screen Junkies also gave it the Honest Trailers treatment. Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige has been very busy this week on the press tour for the release, discussing virtually every aspect of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Oddly enough this included very little on Avengers: Age of Ultron, although he did reveal why Captain Marvel didn’t feature at the end of the movie: “The truth is, it didn’t seem appropriate to have this new person in a new costume just literally come out of nowhere at the end of the story. It would have been a disservice to what, by the time this movie was coming out, people knew was coming anyway… Part of it, too, is that Cap says, ‘They’re not the ’27 Yankees.’ If Captain Marvel is there, what are we saying about her? There’s a notion that they — Wanda and Vision and, I think to a lesser extent, Falcon and Rhodey — need to learn what it means to be a team…”
…Captain Marvel may have been absent from Age of Ultron, but Carol Danvers will make her MCU debut in 2018, and Kevin Feige was asked for his thoughts on UFC star Ronda Rousey campaigning for the role: “I love it. That happens occasionally, and I think that’s a testament more to the strength of the characters. Going back to my early days at Marvel, there were always various people campaigning to be Wolverine. I guess that was pre-Twitter and pre-Internet days, but still for some reason would pop up in Wizard Magazine. Wizard Magazine would always have ‘this person wants to play this role!’ It’s a testament to how great the characters are that it appeals to such a wide range of talented, talented people. I think right now we’re scripting the film, figuring out who we want Carol Danvers to be, and really what the structure of the movie will be and what her part will be in some of our other Phase 3 films. It would be next year that we start to really think about casting…”
…Feige also revealed that we should expect plenty of casting news on the horizon, adding that: “I think we’ll be having a whole slew of casting announcements over the next few months. I think that on both [Thor: Ragnarok] and [Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2] and some other films…”
…It looks like Thor: Ragnarok may have found its director, with news breaking last night that Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows) is in talks with Marvel Studios about taking on the director’s chair on the God of Thunder’s third solo adventure…
…Looking to Marvel’s first Phase Three offering and Chris Evans has taken a moment to explain the rift between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark [see here], while Marvel legend Stan Lee has revealed where his allegiance lies [see here] and Kevin Feige has promised that the film will be “Cap’s story” despite its ensemble nature: “It is very much Cap’s story. It’s very much a sequel to The Winter Soldier. As that conflict builds, it is represented as a conflict between Cap and Tony. There’s a lot of characters in The Winter Soldier, but it still felt like a very singular and relatively simple thrill ride. Cap, in Civil War, follows very much that same way. That something that we pride ourselves on. Our screenwriters — Chris Markus and Stephen McFeely — are excellent at giving each character just enough. It’s not full arcs for everybody. It’s just enough so that their presence is felt and is important, but that the very clear, single story that is being told is being served at all times…”
…Comic book writer Mark Millar has been speaking about the Civil War adaptation, and how the lack of superhero secret identities will have little impact on the actual story: “The important thing really is the Superhero Registration Act essentially. It has nothing to do with secret identities. What it’s about is Iron Man feels anybody who is walking around with a nuclear reactor on their back or whatever should be under government control of some kind. They should be maybe working for the government the same way cops work for local government. And it’s sensible when you think about it. It totally makes sense. You have a license, you make sure this guy is okay, you make sure he doesn’t have a criminal record and all this kind of stuff. And it’s sensible but Captain America’s against it because he comes from a simpler time and he feels superheroes should be autonomous and not be involved in politics. It’s an ideological argument between the two, and that’s all that matters. That’s what Civil War is — it’s Iron Man vs. Captain America, and they’re both right, they’re both good guys. Because the moment you demonize one of them, then the story loses its power. You’ve got to like both of these guys, they’re both correct, and that’s why guys we like go to either side with them…”
…Sebastian Stan and Anthony Mackie have both been talking about who they’d like to see taking on the mantle of Captain America if and when Steve Rogers shuffles off his mortal coil, with Stan stating: “Myself. I’ll say this: They sure like to dangle a cheese in front of my nose a lot. They’re like ‘Oh yeah, that’s where you pick up the shield,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’ve heard that one before. There it is again.’ But I don’t know. If I could say one thing, if anyone can have anything to do with it, to make it happen, is you.” Mackie had a different point of view, adding that: “I don’t think we need a new Cap. I don’t think Cap needs to change,. I think Sebastian Stan would be a great Cap, but then we’re left without Bucky. I think I’d be a great Cap, but then we’re left without a Falcon…”
…Marvel’s second film of 2016 is the Benedict Cumberbatch-headlined Doctor Strange, and Kevin Feige has dismissed the rumours that the film will overlook Stephen Strange’s origin story: “For some reason people sometimes talked about how we’re not doing an origin story, we’re bored of origin stories. I think people are bored of origin stories they’ve seen before or origin stories that are overly familiar. Doctor Strange has one of the best, most classic, most unique origin stories of any hero we have, so why wouldn’t we do that..?”
…Marvel producer Jeremy Latcham joined Kevin Feige on the press rounds, and was asked whether the two-part Avengers: Infinity War will mark the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it: “I think it definitely is an end of some version of the team that we’ve come to know as The Avengers. Who knows exactly what’s going to happen yet in that film… It’s not the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it is the end of part of it, for sure. We’re still trying to sort out which parts that means…”
Latcham also touched upon Scarlet Witch’s visions from Age of Ultron, and how they’ll play into Infinity War: “There was always a sense that, whatever this big thing is that the Avengers have to pay the price to save everything. At least that was kind of the idea in that vision. The question, going forward with Infinity War, is ‘Were those literal visions? Were those your worst fears being projected at you? Is that a prediction of the future, or is it a sense of impending doom that keeps you awake at night? That’s something that we’ll have to explore in Infinity War and kind of figure out how literal or not those are. I think it’s more — if I was to guess — that’s more just fear. The fear of other people paying the cost for what he’s done…”
…Good news for fans of Marvel One-Shots, as Kevin Feige has suggested they could be returning: “We talk about them a lot! We have characters like that that Jeremy Latcham is always talking about. ‘When are we gonna do Howard? When are we gonna do Cosmo?’ We are relatively small team, now moving into three movies a year. It’s just about finding the time and place to do that. But there’s a backlog of ideas…”
…There has been speculation that one of those One-Shots could follow Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne on their 60s adventures as Ant-Man and The Wasp, and illustrator Andy Park has released a new piece of concept art from this summer’s film showing an alternate costume design for Janet’s Wasp…
…Click below to continue on for Spider-Man, The Sinister Six, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Damage Control, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Guardians of the Galaxy, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 2, Wolverine 3, Huck, New Mutants, Gambit and more…
