Big news in the Marvel Universe has been released recently that sheds more light leading towards The Avengers in 2012. New directors, new castings, new cameos and more heroes? The Marvel Universe is putting the final touches to their epic superhero franchises that spark excitement in many fanboy’s pants.
Just rumors and theories right now, but could Olivia Munn, the co-host of Attack of the Show, be cast as The Wasp in Iron Man 2. Munn shot a role in the beginning as a more comedic role, but was brought back on for reshoots when director Jon Favreau believed the film was getting darker. Olivia Munn was the cover girl for 8th anniversary for Complex Magazine and spoke in regards of her reshoots:
“Yeah, but as they started to edit they realized it was becoming darker than what they’d expected and what my scenes had allowed for. My parts were lighthearted and comedic. Jon Favreau called and was like, “I’ve got good news and bad news: This is what’s happening in editing but we all really like you.” Marvel and Jon had to add another character from the Marvel universe to keep me included. I can’t talk specifics because it’s Iron Man 2! But when they call, you say, “OK, I’m there. What do you need?” You don’t say, “Who is this Marvel? Did you call my agent? Is FIJI Water on set?” Everyone knows who the stars are in this movie. I’m not one of them and I understand the editing process. Some things don’t work out.”
She also goes on to reveal she is more of an established character:
“My first role had more improv and was a lot of fun, but for my second one I got to pick a Marvel Comics character. It’s pretty dope that from here on out, I’m that Marvel character.”
So can we assume that Olivia Munn will be playing a new superhero or just a supporting character that is not a superhero? Let’s just hope her role is wasted.
It has been confirmed by Samuel L. Jackson at IESB that S.H.I.E.L.D. leader Nick Fury will not have an appearance in the Thor movie, but will be in The First Avenger: Captain America. Jackson has no idea why he will not be in Thor, but my speculation would be pointed to the Marvel time line of events. A while back it was said that Iron Man 2 would be before The Incredible Hulk in terms of chronological order of events, so my guess is that Thor could be during the time before the first Iron Man. Jackson was asked if he would have his own Nick Fury movie, but he claims that The Avengers would basically be it.
Jackson also reveals that shooting for The Avengers would take place in February 2011, which is some pretty exciting news. I could honestly care less about Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury because he just ruins movies to me. Hopefully he can get his acting game on par and step it up and not have another Star Wars Prequel incident.
Stan Lee’s cameo was revealed over at FanBoyWeb who got a scoop from someone on set:
Thor’s hammer ( Mjolnir ) is found lying inside a crater in the middle of the road by the U.S. Army. The army tries to move it but can’t because it’s too heavy. They decide to bring in a truck for assistance. The soldiers tie Thor’s hammer to the back of the truck with chains. The truck driver accelerates to pull Mjohnir. The back half of the truck falls apart as the front keeps moving. Finally, the camera cuts to the driver who happens to be comic legend Stan Lee.
British actress, Hayley Atwell has been casted as the love interest Peggy Carter in The First Avenger: Captain America. She will be put in the World War II era as the story is told. Previously rumored to be put into the role were other Brit actresses Kiera Knightly, Emily Blunt and Alice Eve. Marvel stated this officially with a press release that can be read at /Film. As revealed previously, Chris Evans will be playing the role of Captain America aka Steve Rogers, Sebastian Stan will be playing the sidekick Bucky, and Hugo Weaving is still rumored to be in talks to play villain Red Skull.
Peggy was a girlfriend of Captain America during World War II. She was also an American agent serving with the French Resistance. She has standard military training and is handy with a gun. She is also a competent spy and detective. Recently she is residing at the LarkMoore Clinic. (Nursing home) Due to old age and possibly with Alzheimer because of her forgetful nature.
I think that casting Emily Blunt would have been a good choice, but she turned it down. I like her acting and she is pretty nice to see on screen. Alice Eve would have been an interesting choice, after She’s Out of My League she left me curious to see where she would go and I think she would have played the character well too.
SuperHeroHype caught up with Stan Lee after a panel at Wizard World Anaheim. Director Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim, Shaun of the Dead) tweeted, “I just met Joss Whedon for the first time. Speculation commence!” With the Stan Lee interview at SHH, Lee said he had lunch with Wright recently and states that he will be doing Ant-Man soon. Back in June 2009, FirstShowing.net caught a panel at the Producer’s Guild of America about the future of Marvel movies and they claimed there would be another Marvel movie in 2012 aside from The Avengers. All things point to yes on Ant-Man and perhaps we will get just one more hero before the big superhero culmination. Stan Lee also goes on to talk about Iron Fist and Doctor Strange movies in the future.
Ant-Man was one of the original Avengers so we’ll see if this actually happens. It puts curiosity on edge to see how they will do an Ant-Man movie and how he will be incorporated with The Avengers and just on the big screen in general.
To bring everything together, Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse creator) has been lined up to direct The Avengers movie. I don’t know how I feel about this news because those shows can be pretty iffy in terms of viewership and those shows can be quite corny, but so can Marvel movies. Deadline and Variety have the final word to confirming the Whedon news, but someone over at Pajiba claims that Whedon will dip his hands on the scripts of The First Avenger: Captain America and The Avengers. If Whedon is planning on doing rewrites for these scripts he will have to start very soon since Captain America will probably be shooting fairly soon along with The Avengers in February 2011.
Can the fanboys appreciate the nerd vision of Joss Whedon or will this be a horrible choice that will cost Marvel their precious franchises? Time will only tell and my final thought is that I can just hope for the best. Whedon can produce some entertaining material and knows what the fanboys want, I am just a little worried at what he might do to tweak the stories to his vision.