Movie News
Marvel Sets Release Dates for Thor, Captain America, The Avengers and Iron Man 2
Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on May 5, 2008
As expected, Marvel came flying out of Iron Man’s $100 million dollar weekend with a high energy, optimistic outlook on their upcoming film slate. With the success of Iron Man and the release of The Incredible Hulk only months away, Marvel is looking to the future where they will continue to build on brands that have been successful in the past as well as kick-start a few new heroes into cinematic action.
While Marvel Studios will not release a self produced feature film in 2009, it will have a busy run from 2010 to 2011. They plan to launch their 2010 film slate with the release of the sequel, Iron Man 2, on April 30, 2010, followed by the launch of Thor on June 4, 2010. Additionally, Marvel is planting its feature film stakes for summer 2011 with an Avengers-themed summer – a two-picture project which will debut on May 6, 2011 with The First Avenger: Captain America (working title), followed by The Avengers in July 2011.
Three of the four projects listed already have directors attached. Jon Favreau will take the director’s chair once again for Iron Man 2, Nick Cassevetes has been attached to the Captain America project and Matthew Vaughn has already been attached to Thor for some time now. As for The Avengers, no director has been named as of yet, but Jon Favreau has publicly expressed interest in the project — he seems a likely candidate, considering the fact that he has a 3 picture deal with Marvel and it was his film that is almost single-handedly responsible for launching Marvel Studios’ agenda. Had Iron Man not done so well out of the gate, we could safely assume that this morning’s earnings call would have gone down differently.
Of course, this announcement does give us the opportunity to begin some early casting speculation — and we plan to do plenty of that in between now and the time these films get made.
Sound Off: What do you think of Marvel’s upcoming slate? Is there another hero you wish they would have brought to the screen first?
Read more articles by Neil Miller
48 Comments
May 5th, 2008 at 9:45 am
As long as great care is taken with the properties to make them the best movies they can be, rather than just cash cows? I’m definitely interested in these. Good on Marvel for jumping out of the gate with fists swinging.
Now if they announce a Marvel Zombies R rated movie (animated or otherwise, I don’t care), I’d be in heaven.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:59 am
If they are done as well as Iron Man was then it’s all good.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:38 am
I’ve heard that the guy who played Vorenus in Rome is signed on to play Thor, but I can’t see this movie beig good, Thor seems a little too cheesy to be a feature film, I see another Ghost Rider or DareDevil with this one. But an Avengers movie with Thor as just one of a few characters could be good.
May 5th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I wouldn’t mind seeing Edgar Wright’s Ant Man thrown in the mix. But that character might not fit in the universe. I’m not sure about how they would fit Thor and Captain America in the same universe as Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk, as they seem to be at least somewhat realistically grounded. But I don’t really know much about either character. Whatever, I’m on board for all of them!
May 5th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Great ideas for Marvel!
May 5th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I think Marvel needs to slow down.. its like there trying to cash in as soon as possible.. they need to save some for later. And if the avengers movies, doesn’t have robert downey jr, and ed nortan, and whoever plays the cap , then its a failure.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
They will never ever be able to make a movie out of DBZ … if they did… i doubt there would be a single comic movie to match the revenue
May 5th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
@ cease
Dude, seriously, they’ve got 60 years of stories to tell, there is no “slowing down” needed.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
@db9
have you seen the production stills from the dbz movie…
they look like utter s.h.!.+ - that movie’s going to bomb bomb bomb
May 5th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
It is stated that the producers will not allow an avengers movie unless the original actors will play them. Downey Jr. will also be in Hulk as Tony Shark
May 5th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
@db9
It’s incoming, 2009:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1098327/
’spike’ of buffyverse fame plays piccolo…
May 5th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
While I’ve been happy with most of marvels movies in these recent years, some have truly sucked. All that aside, I’m just glad that comic book fans can now expect quality comic movies and that the genre has gained more respect in the mainstream.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I’d love to see an Iron Fist movie sometime in the future!
May 5th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Deathlok may be cool.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
I looked forward to these future projects; I’ve been waiting for an Avengers film for some time. I wish they could include Hawkeye but I guess he’s too small of a character to merit much development.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
@ osu.x - Surely you mean Tony Stark?
May 5th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
I wasn’t impressed with the Iron Man movie…at least not as much as I hoped to be. It was “adequate” but it didn’t blow my socks off like the first Xmen movie or Spiderman I or II. Instead, I rank it along the lines of Fantastic Four and Daredevil…good movies…just not the best they could be. I hope John Favreau has gotten his lust for screen time out of his system. His character in Iron Man was completely unecessary and should have been deleted. However, I do admire Favreau for sticking closely to the Iron Man mythology set down in comic book lore. I think this summer’s Incredible Hulk movie will be just about as big a stinker as the Ang Lee excrement from a couple of years back. The previews look silly and it may have a good opening weekend, but I seriously doubt it’ll go much further than one week of good earnings.
So far as Marvel’s line up of upcoming movies, I hate that they haven’t got anything for 2009. 2010 and 2011 look to be exciting years. I agree with the other poster that said Marvel has 60 years of material and they’re really not rushing. Especially when you consider that DC has projects in the works like Wonder Woman, JLA, and The Flash along with future Batman and Superman movies, Marvel needs to be agressive in their production schedule.
Casting-wise, for Thor, I hope they go with someone who is built like Triple H from WWE for the thunderer. Ryan Phillipe could be a good Dr. Don Blake. The castng of a good Captain America will be challenging since you need an actor who can pull off “scrawny” (pre-super soldier serum) as well as “buff” (post sss). How about Gary Oldman or Chris Walken as the Red Skull? You may think I’m crazy…but for Ant Man, I’d play that off as a comedy…sort of like the campy 60s Batman series. Let Marvel show it has a lighter side. And how about a movie for Groo the Wanderer? Who would have ever believed a Howard the Duck movie? Groo lovers unite!
May 5th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
I honestly think Marvel should tread lightly on the idea of an Avengers movie. Yes it sounds like a comic book geeks wet dream, but lets be honest….how feasible is it to create a movie with so many characters and ensure its a box office hit not only with the geeks, but with general moviegoers as well.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
I would SO love a Thor movie… However, if they do it, they need to do it right and base it
off the REAL stories of Thor. There are so many, and so many that still worship him, it
would not only be “mythologically” awesome, it would make a lot of heathen folk very, very,
and very happy.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:10 am
I would prefer Marvel to move forward with the Nick Fury project. Sure it has been done as a TV movie with David Hasselhoff, but with the release of the Ultimate universe and most recently with Samuel L Jackson playing a cameo as Nick Fury in Iron Man, I think this would be the ideal time for Marvel to capitalize on Samuel L Jackson while he can still play an action hero. We’re talking about a 60 year old man and he isn’t getting any younger. I think the second best franchise would be to look at Dr. Strange, whose story line would easily cross over into future movies like a Silver Surfer title, the Avengers, and even Spider-Man.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:31 am
i’d really like to see a cable and deadpool movie, or just a cable or deadpool movie, but using cable is pretty much impossible in any way being that those retards killed cyclops and jean grey (although madelyn pryor could be used because she was a clone of jean grey) i dont know, the x-men series just made me angry with all the doors the writers closed for spin-offs, the assholes
May 6th, 2008 at 12:37 am
Iron Man, X-Men, Spiderman… in all of these liberties were taken with the character design to make the transition to the big screen. All of these, I thought, were of minor impact or justified going with what the new (slightly altered) character design looked like.
It’s going to be very, very difficult to make a believable Captain America without setting the movie in the 1940s. Cap’s origin story belongs in WWII, and I don’t see how you can make it contemporary without making some really significant changes in the flavor.
Since the Indy movie switched to the cold war, there’s stacks and stacks of unused Nazi set gear lying around. Use it. End the movie with Cap falling off the drone plane. Anything else is likely to fail.
May 6th, 2008 at 1:21 am
Groo FTW, Do I err?
Also, I would like to see a Prince Valiant modern hero movie. I know he’s not super, but there are great opportunities for mass battle scenes.
So, since Colbert is running for President in the Marvel Universe, will he start showing up in the movie crossovers?
-Pat They could start with the first Cap and play through two replacements in the origin story, moving to modern day. Might make the honored position look like a death sentence though.
May 6th, 2008 at 2:11 am
Lobo ^^
May 6th, 2008 at 2:27 am
Yes Tony Stark
@ will
Deadpool will be in Wolverine and played by Ryan Reynolds.
May 6th, 2008 at 3:00 am
I’m a fan of Neil Gaiman’s Marvel:1602. Could work as a flick, transcending multiple genres. But unfortunately it may be too niche to work.
May 6th, 2008 at 4:01 am
I think Marvel needs to slow down.. its like there trying to cash in as soon as possible.. they need to save some for later. And if the avengers movies, doesn’t have robert downey jr, and ed nortan, and whoever plays the cap , then its a failure.
May 6th, 2008 at 4:40 am
Xclusive clip of deleted scenes from the movie Iron man.A must watch.
just visit this site and click on the sqaure box(hyperlink) at the bottom right cornor of the
page.
njoy
http://www.ironman.we.bs
May 6th, 2008 at 7:21 am
Marvel Zombies FTW! They should attach T.J. Mulligan to direct. Choice move for both camps for sure.
May 6th, 2008 at 7:52 am
needs some deadpool for great lulz
May 6th, 2008 at 8:58 am
It’s been done in the past but not very well so when is Wonder Woman going to get her turn to shine?
May 6th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Great idea!!
Regards http://ooyes.net
May 6th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
What about MoonKnight?
May 6th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
it’s awesome that the movie technology has caught up to what should be shown when it comes to super heroes,
unlike the embarrassing 80s and the early 90s
May 6th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
No more Ghost Rider or Daredevil!!
May 6th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
I really would love to see The Vision, Black Panther, and Hawkeye in this… especially Hawkeye! He has to be my favorite superhero of all time.
May 6th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
we need She-Hulk & Black Cat, nuff said
May 6th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I second MoonKnight.
I do think Marvel should slow down. I think that there’s a limited appetite for superhero movies. Sure, the hardcore fans will show up, but that’s not enough to make a franchise work. The general public will tire of what will seem like the same old thing. For example, how would the typical moviegoer distinguish between X-Men and the Avengers? Too many characters and not enough time in a film to develop them. I was a big fan of the Avengers, but I have doubts about it succeeding on film. If the general public gets turned off, we end up losing all the superhero movies–or at least the quality will be diminished.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
I have to agree 100% with Pat’s message above. Set the Cap movie to begin in World War II then end it with him going into suspended animation in the ice flow. Then begin the Avengers movie later that summer with him being found and putting the team together. Anything else, such as Cap fighting the Taliban or dodging insurgent bullets in Sadr City will just come across as cheesy.
May 6th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
For Thor, they should get Vincent D’Onofrio. He already played the role once in “Adventures in Babysitting.” When are we going to see “Power Man and Iron Fist”? A film could do a lot with these characters. They could make some effort to show the chi of Iron Fist.
May 7th, 2008 at 11:56 am
I fell in love with Marvel comics and characters more than 40 years ago. I still count actually meeting and talking to Stan Lee as one of the thrills of my life. But I think Captain America and Thor will fail as films. Just as good books and stories don’t necessarily make good films, good comics and good comic characters don’t necessarily make good films, which is why I’m convinced this latest Hulk film will be another dud. Spider-Man was a huge success because so many people, especially teens, can identify or connect with him. It’s hard to feel a sense of connection with a green monster. I’m sure there could be some spectacular battles involving the Hulk, I’m convinced they’ll be like traffic accidents: They make for some interesting viewing, but traffic wreck don’t make for great stories,
I just don’t think characters like Thor or Cap can translate to film. Cartoons perhaps, but not films. I saw part of some bad, forgettable movie years ago on TV in which some version of Thor appeared. Talk about looking flat-out silly. It just didn’t work. I think Marvel would be better served making films about other characters, such as Ant-Man or Dr. Strange or the Inhumans or Deathlok or Luke Cage or any number of heroes.
May 7th, 2008 at 11:58 am
I’m sorry, but Captain America, Thor…come on….so dusty and cheesy. That’s like making a Puck or Dazzler movie.
How about a decent Elecktra movie? I couldn’t believe how much they f’ed up that movie. It could have been amazing, and wouldn’t have needed tons of special effects. Think, Elecktra:Assassin (Bill Sienkiewicz mini-series).
I hope to god they do justice to Silver Surfer. That FF crap was painful to watch. Think of how cool it would have been to see Galactus(with a modified costume of course) standing 100 ft. high. (even though his original height was 28 ft.)
May 7th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
…oh and I think Dr. Strange would be great also, and as much as I would love to see a Sandman movie, it probably wouldn’t work as a film.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:58 am
They need to make an Avengers movies that would be SWEET!!
May 10th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
I love the comic book flicks. I grew up reading every type of comic book when I was a kid. The only real problem I have with these movies are the story plots.Not one movie Ive seen in the last 7 years has yet to stick to the story line based from the comic book. From the size of the characters to the personalities and events. For instance, spiderman 3 the introduction of the sandman and venom are way off. Spidermans personalality is wise cracking and witty. Spidermans webs are syntheitic made by peter parker,he carries refills under his costume etc. I truly love these type of movies I would just like to see one that stays true to the story. The THING SIX FEET TALL COME ON
May 11th, 2008 at 5:41 am
I think whoever should play Captain America should be atleast 6′1″ and not shorter than that and must not wear elevated boots and skimpy suits (Brandon Routh already ruined Superman). It shouldn’t be someone who’s over exposed like Matthew McConaughey or Brad Pitt. A must, the actor should be American, not Canadian or from other country.
May I suggest one of these guys:
Josh Hartnett–> 6′ 3″ (21 July 1978, San Francisco, California),
Charlie O’Connell–> 6′ 3″ (21 April 1975, New York, New York),
Ryan McPartlin–> 6′ 3″ (3 July 1975, Chicago, Illinois, USA)
Joe Michael Burke –> 6′ 2″ (7 September 1973, Illinois, USA),
Josh Duhamel–>6′ 3½” (14 November 1972, Minot, North Dakota),
Eric William Dane–> 6′ 1″ (9 November 1972, San Francisco, California, USA), Noah Wyle–> 6′ 2″ (4 June 1971, Hollywood, California),
Tom Everett Scott–> 6′ 2″ (7 September 1970, Massachusetts, USA), and
Matthew Lillard–> 6′ 3″ (24 January 1970, Lansing, Michigan).
May 12th, 2008 at 9:55 am
Riordan, why does he need to be American? While I completely agree that the actor should have some decent size–I dread the thought of someone the size of Tom Cruise or Kevin Costner or Jason Statham pretending to be heroic or imposing–his place of birth or citizenship is as irrelevant as the brand of beer he most prefers. That’s like saying a beautiful, nude woman MUST use a particular brand of nail polish to be beautiful, when we all know that beautiful women come in all races and nationalities, and when they’re nude and beautiful the last thing on the mind of an admiring male is the brand of nail polish she uses.
Your list of Captain America candidates shows you’ve given this some thought. Impressive. But I confess I don’t know most of the candidates you enumerate.
While Iron Man and Spider-Man came to the screen in essentially the same costumes they wore in the comics, I think a Captain America costume really, really looks silly. If they make the mistake of producing a Captain America film, I sure hope they at least have the good judgement to place him in the World War II era, as they did with the Indiana Jones character.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
I heard that WWE wrestler Triple H is a candidate to play Thor. That actually wouldnt be too bad, if he can act. I mean, hes got the look because hes like 6′4 270 and has the long blonde hair.