Marvel's Kevin Feige Reveals Who the Villain Won't Be in Thor 2 and Talks "Spectacle" of Iron Man 3; Iron Patriot Armor Confirmed
Posted 05.30.12 by Ryan
With The Avengers currently breaking box office records, Marvel Studios is moving forward with its 2013 follow-ups: Iron Man 3 and Thor 2. While the former is currently in production, Thor 2 won't start shooting until later this summer under the direction of Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones). Unlike the first installment, Marvel president Kevin Feige told Empire (via Collider) that the sequel will further explore the Norse gods' world of Asgard.
We’re going to see the other side of Asgard. It’s not all polished and golden in this film. And the events of Avengers will have affected Thor for sure. His relationship with Loki will continue to evolve, and the biggest part is Natalie [Portman] and Thor returning with Jane Foster.
Unlike the troubles Loki (Tom Hiddleston) created in Thor and The Avengers, Feige has already stated that the evil trickster won't be the primary villain in the sequel, leaving Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to tussle with "another big villain" instead. That baddie would likely be played by Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale, The Three Musketeers), who was recently cast as the sequel's undisclosed villain. Feige would not reveal who the villain is, but did say who the villain would not be, though his answer will be a spoiler to the few left on Earth who haven't seen The Avengers, so...[WARNING: SPOILERS]
No [it won't be Thanos in Thor 2, but likely will return in the], future, future. But there will be a major new villain. A major, major new antagonist...[END SPOILERS]
Conventional wisdom would put Mikkelsen in the role of Skurge the Executioner, with villainous partner the Enchantress along for the ride. The characters are two of Thor's most recognizable nemeses outside of, well, Loki, and basically every website on the planet has the pair pegged as the baddies of Thor 2, despite Feige only mentioning a singular "antagonist."
While we await the announcement of Thor's sparring partner, Iron Man 3 seems to have several villains lining up for the third installment. Ben Kingsley was the first to be cast as a secondary villain interested in spreading a virus through nanotechnology (which online rumors have pegged as either the Mandarin or the leader of a conglomerate known as Mandarin), while James Badge Dale followed as (possible) villain Eric Savin, aka the cyborg Coldblood, and Ashley Hamilton as the villainous, government cyborg Firepower. They all fit into as story that Feige says will be as personal a story as the first installment, but also include the "largest spectacle" yet.
We don't equate bigger with better. It's Tony's most personal journey since he was trapped in a cave in the first half of the first movie, but it'll also have the largest spectacle of any of the Iron Man movies.
Whether that "spectacle" will be the Iron Patriot is unknown, but the armor will be included in the sequel. Super Hero Hype has just released set photos of the armor, originally worn by Norman Osborn in the Avengers comic books. As Osborn is a character mostly associated with Spider-Man, and those rights are tied up by Sony Pictures, it is unknown how the armor is going to be used in the sequel. However, the blurry set photos confirm its existence.
[POSSIBLE SPOILERS]The Iron Patriot armor is quite possibly the U.S. government's attempt at re-creating the Iron Man armor after Lt. James "Rhodey" Rhodes, aka War Machine (Don Cheadle) delivered Stark's Mark II armor to the military in Iron Man 2. According to the report, it looks like Dale is wearing the armor, but whether that means his character goes from being a soldier to Iron Patriot to Coldblood, or a soldier to Coldblood to Iron Patriot is a big, unanswered question. [END: SPOILERS]
Expect more set photos and spoilers to arrive in the coming weeks as production moves forward. Iron Man 3 will continue the adventures of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in a story that borrows from the Extremis storyline from the comic books. Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) will direct a cast that includes Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts and Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan. Newcomers include Rebecca Hall as a "sexy scientist every bit as smart" as Tony Stark and Guy Pearce as geneticist Aldrich Killian.
Next Showing: Iron Man 3 opens May 3, 2013 and
Thor 2 opens on November 15, 2013