Posted on: December 28th, 2009 Big Marvel/DC Film Updates for 2010
Marvel updates first…
Captain America
The next few years will be busy for Marvel Films and rewarding (hopefully) for us comic-film fanboys. The biggest untouched property Marvel has yet to exploit on celluloid is Captain America – assuming you don’t consider the wretched films from the 80’s. We know the film, titled The First Avenger: Captain America, has director Joe Johnston attached and a tentative release date for July 22, 2011. While there’s still no casting announcements or further details on the flick, Fangoria reports that the film will begin production in June next year. With this in mind, we should be gearing up for some big announcements on casting pretty early in the new year. Though a trailer would be out of the question, it would be great to do some big reveals at SDCC next year. Keep your fingers crossed.
Iron Man 2
/Film ran an article today reporting some very light spoilers regarding Black Widow’s character in Iron Man 2. Some crafty kids over at jinxworld forums found a little clue in the recent trailer that could explain how the Russian assassin fits into the film (and ultimately, The Avengers film).
Thor
Actress Jamie Alexander, who plays Sif in the upcoming Thor movie, has been tweeting from the set of the film. While this isn’t really news, apparently Chris Hemsworth, who will play the titular God of thunder, has been hitting the gym in order to embody the Asgardian warrior.
“can’t stop staring at Thor’s arms…..Chris is HUGE!”
But more importantly, according to Alexander actor Stuart Townsend is a nice chap:
“feels bad for accidentally punching Fandral in the stomach… good thing he’s a sweet guy!”
Now that’s a scoop. Regardless, we’re all chomping at the bit for our first look at Thor (and his apparently large arms) and with production starting in mere weeks, hopefully we’ll see something soon; this film will no doubt have a presence at SDCC.
Now a couple of DC updates…
Green Lantern
Things have been pretty quiet on the Green Lantern front. As of right now only Ryan Reynolds has been cast (or at least announced) for the lead role of Hal Jordan. Rumors hit the web last week that five actresses were being eyeballed for the role of Carol Ferris, Hal Jordan’s love interest. Those actresses include Eva Green (Casino Royale), Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds), Kerri Russell (M:I:III), Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) and Jennifer Garner (Elektra, Daredevil). I, for one, am cool with any of those actresses landing the gig with exception to Garner. Elektra left the most foul aftertaste, and to be frank she’s just not that great of an actress. Kerri Russell would look great in the film, and she really hasn’t had the chance to show what she can do in a big action film, other than briefly appearing in M:I:III before her head exploded from the inside. With a release date of July 2011 pending, director Martin Campbell better get on this soon.
Although things have slowed down on the front end of the film, the crew for Green Lantern just got some talent. This week SuperheroHype reported some big Oscar-winning names joining the production: cinematographer Dion Beebe (Memoirs of a Geisha), production designer Grant Major (Lord of the Rings, King Kong), costume designer Ngila Dickson (Lord of the Rings) and art director Francois Audouy (Avatar, Watchmen). This is great news, and as SuperheroHype points out, another big question is just who will be handling the visual effects of the film. Green Lantern will need a heap of challenging visuals. Hopefully we can confirm this, and some major casting news, soon in the new year.
Justice League / DC Films Strategy
This has been one of those on-again, off-again projects that just can’t seem to find it’s footing. We last left the Justice League film when production fell through on George Miller’s version of the ultimate superhero team. And thank god for that, it sounded like an absolute mess with Adam Brody (cast as the Flash) leading a bunch of too-young television actors against villain Maxwell Lord. Not to mention the film would have re-cast actors Brandon Routh and Christian Bale as Superman and Batman, respectively. The nail in that coffin put many a fanboys mind at ease and echoing the sentiment of better to have no movie than a bad movie.
Collider caught up with producer Dan Lin who sounded off on the status of a JLA movie as of now. He confirms that a team-up film has been put on hold and instead DC is focusing on building up to a Justice League film by introducing audiences to each character through their own film, much like Marvel is doing with The Avengers.
According to Lin, Warner Bros. is planning on revealing their revised strategy for all planned DC films this January. That is incredibly exciting, as we may finally hear word on what they’re planning to do with ripe-for-film properties such as The Flash, Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Superman, Batman and even some lesser-knowns like Suicide Squad. No word or mention on David Goyer’s high-concept Green Arrow film Supermax.
DC Animated
February will see the arrival of DC’s next full-length animated feature, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths and have set Batman: Under the Hood to follow. Mania.com has confirmed that the feature will be written by Judd Winick who also wrote the comic arc the film will be based on.
Batman: Under the Hood will feature the villain (or is it anti-villain?) Red Hood, a character whose mantle has been adopted by many Gothamites in the past. This time around, Red Hood inflicts a more violent brand of justice to Batman’s foes, while the caped crusader must solve the mystery of the man himself. No official synopsis, release date or voice cast has been announced yet.
2 Responses to “Big Marvel/DC Film Updates for 2010”
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Ben Rankel Says:
December 29th, 2009 at 7:02 pmIn regards to Dan Lin’s comments; it sounds like DC is trying to involve itself in a superhero-movie-arms-race. Problem is, they missed the starting pistol by a few years. I can’t see DC’s JLA catching up to The Avengers as far as production schedule goes.
Maybe that is a good thing though. With so many A-list heroes sharing one screen, there are bound to be some problems when the first film of this type is released. The second comer may be able to identify and rectify said mistakes in their own flick.
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Ryan Ferrier Says:
December 29th, 2009 at 9:13 pmNah, there’s no way DC can catch to Marvel, who has 3 “universe” films in the bank. Two more, Thor and CapAm before Avengers in 2012. DC has Green Lantern in 2011 which will START their inter-weaving film universe. I’d say a JLA film is still 4-5 years away at least. You gotta build up Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash and maybe Aquaman and Hawkman, if speculation serves correct.
Where DC has the advantage though, is having all of their properties in one spot, WB, and always have, whereas Marvel’s properties are still all over the place. That being said, Spider-Man and X-Men aren’t needed in the Marvel Films world or an Avengers film with Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Hulk (and Black Widow, Nick Fury and Hawkeye).
My mind reels just thinking of seeing a f**king Avengers film! The ONLY thing I’m worried about right now is the casting of Captain America himself.