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Yesterday, Marvel Studios released a short preview teaser of their Cinematic Universe "Phase Two" which starts next month with Iron Man 3 and will end with The Avengers 2 in 2015. The teaser included a little footage of Iron Man 3, but the full, nearly five minute "Phase Two" preview not only offers a longer look at Iron Man 3 (including interviews with Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Ben Kingsley and director Shane Black) but the rest of the "Phase Two" movies as well.
Behind-the-scenes footage is revealed from Thor: The Dark World, with director Alan Taylor (HBO's Game of Thrones) explaining that Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) will join Thor (Chris Hemsworth) in Asgard, while concept art from Captain America: The Winter Soldier is revealed and directors Anthony and Joe Russo discuss what's in store for Cap (Chris Evans) in the sequel. Even Guardians of the Galaxy gets a mention, with more concept art revealed and director James Gunn briefly talks about the "space epic" before the real treat of the "Phase Two" preview is revealed: a few seconds of director Edgar Wright's test footage for 2015's Ant-Man, all before Joss Whedon can end the preview with a brief update of what's happening with The Avengers 2.
watch the preview >> Posted 04.03.13 by Ryan -
Last year's mega-hit The Avengers was, in some ways, the catalyst behind the spate of comic book movies created by Marvel Studios, who struck gold with 2008's Iron Man, which teased at a superhero team-up movie to come. After finding that success, Marvel followed by introducing more individual superheroes in 2008's The Incredible Hulk, 2010's Iron Man 2, and last year's Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, embarking on an unusual strategy of creating individual movies that also worked a little bit like sequels that fed into the story of The Avengers.
The Avengers 2 will arrive in 2015 and cap off a second phase of Marvel's "cinematic universe," and will face competition from what Warner Bros.and DC Entertainment hopes will be the start of their "cinematic universe," starting with 2015's Justice League. Gangster Squad screenwriter Will Beall has already been hired to write the screenplay for the movie which will follow (if recent rumors are true) an unsurprising lineup that includes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter. With the release dates being so close together, we wondered which team could take down the other, and, since there will never be a movie where the two teams face off, there's only one way to solve this hypothetical dilemma: the cybernetic walls of our Character Cage Match!
check out the teams' strengths and weaknesses before weighing in on our poll >> Posted 01.10.13 by Ryan -
Marvel Studios announced the title for their Captain America sequel as Captain America: The Winter Soldier at this year's Comic-Con, much to the delight of comic book fans. But for those lacking the time to read through a stack of Captain America comics (particularly Ed Brubaker's 2005 "Winter Soldier" story arc), IGN has created a quick video introduction on the Winter Soldier and what he could be doing in the upcoming sequel.
learn about the Winter Soldier >> Posted 09.29.12 by Ryan -
Directors Anthony and Joe Russo seemed like unusual choices when Marvel hired the siblings to helm their upcoming sequel, Captain America: The Winter Solider, last month. Known mostly their more recent work in television sitcoms, directing shows like Arrested Development and NBC's Community, Anthony reminded The Huffington Post at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour this week that he and his brother actually made their start in features.
There's a little-known side to my brother and I, which is, we didn't start out as comedy directors. We started out in the mid-'90s — we made this credit card movie that made the festival circuit in '97 [Pieces], that Steven Soderbergh saw at the same time he [was showing] Schizopolis on the festival circuit. He loved our movie and offered to produce something for us, so we went into a cycle of writing — we wrote three scripts, only one of which was a comedy. That was [2002's] Welcome to Collinwood, and when he formed his company with George Clooney, he wanted to make something with us, so we showed him these three scripts and he picked Collinwood, and from that point forward, we were comedy directors. And we've loved doing it, but we've always had another side to ourselves.
People in the industry know that, because they've seen scripts that we've done, they've seen things that the public at large hasn't seen. So I think it is more surprising to people on the outside, but people on the inside get it a little more, because it is in our wheelhouse.
more about the tone and flashback nature of The Winter Soldier >> Posted 07.25.12 by Ryan -
Now that we know the Captain America sequel is called Captain America: The Winter Soldier following Marvel Studios' Comic-Con announcement, the studio has revealed its first casting, and the fans of the comic book are likely going to be very happy about it.
THR reports that Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) is in negotiations to join the sequel as Sam Wilson, aka the Falcon, though Marvel has yet to confirm if that will indeed be Mackie's role. A longtime friend of Captain America and an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Falcon was Marvel's first African-American superhero and was Captain America's partner throughout most of comic book continuity of the 1970s. While the Falcon can telepathically communicate with birds, his costume also gives him the ability to fly.
more about Winter Soldier >> Posted 07.16.12 by Ryan -
Marvel Studios started looking for a director for its upcoming sequel Captain America 2 (working title) back in April, narrowing the search to only a few candidates. However, instead of deciding on one director, Marvel has chosen two. THR reports that sibling directors Anthony and Joe Russo are now in final negotiations to direct the sequel to last year's Captain America: The First Avenger.
The hire continues Marvel's tradition of picking out-of-the-box directors for its comic book adaptations, with the Russos being known more for their comedy talents after directing 2006's You, Me and Dupree and the TV sitcoms Arrested Development and Community. Reportedly, all contenders had to study The Avengers in order to win the job, and apparently that means that the Russos are better students than George Nolfi (The Adjustment Bureau). F. Gary Gray (Italian Job) was also at one point considered for the job, until he dropped out to focus on a biopic of rap group NWA titled Straight Outta Compton.
more about captain America 2 >> Posted 06.06.12 by Ryan -
The Marvel movie rumor mill is cranking out more intriguing "news." On the heels of the rumor that the X-Men: First Class sequel will be based on the "Days of Future Past" storyline, comes the rumor that another comic book Avenger is going to get his own movie: Black Panther.
The source of the rumor is Latino Review, which claims that four different sources have revealed that T'Challa, aka the Black Panther, will be the next character to get his own movie. Marvel already has a 2014 release date scheduled but hasn't yet announced what project will fill that date. (Captain America 2 is scheduled for April 4, 2014.) Documentarian Mark Bailey was hired to write the movie's screenplay early last year and the report claims that the script is "awesome."
more about Black Panther >> Posted 06.06.12 by Ryan -
Looks like The Avengers 2 is quickly becoming a reality, even as Marvel's adaptation of The Avengers has yet to debut in America.
Early last week, box office records were shattered as The Avengers began to open overseas, and, after opening in 70% of foreign markets this past weekend, the movie has made back the better part of its $220 million budget. According to Deadline, Disney is reporting that The Avengers has already earned $178.4 million overseas in five days of release. Should The Avengers open in the U.S. as strongly as anticipated, a sequel is a foregone conclusion.
Combining the efforts of all of Marvel's previous efforts — 2008's Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk; 2010's Iron Man 2; and last year's Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger — The Avengers concludes what Marvel president of production Kevin Feige has called Marvel Cinematic Universe "phase one." Marvel is already planning more sequels for 2013, first with Iron Man 3 and followed by Thor 2, with Captain America 2 opening in 2014. The Avengers 2 should join that list soon enough, raising the question: how will Marvel handle a potential overload of comic book movie sequels? Luckily, Feige already answered how Marvel plans to "prevent sequel-itis" to io9 earlier this month.
feige's master plan actually quite simple >> Posted 04.30.12 by Ryan -
The shortlist of directors for Marvel's upcoming sequel Captain America 2 just became even shorter.
With Marvel finally announcing that the the follow-up to last year's Captain America: The First Avenger would arrive in 2014, so too came the news that Marvel had narrowed its potential directors list to F. Gary Gray (Italian Job), George Nolfi (The Adjustment Bureau), and Anthony and Joe Russo (You, Me and Dupree, TV shows Community and Arrested Development). Deadline reports that Gray has dropped out to focus on a biopic of rap group NWA titled Straight Outta Compton for New Line Cinema.
While the race would seem to be solely between Nolfi and the Russo Brothers, the report claims that Marvel is also looking at other candidates as well. Hmm, maybe the search hasn't actually narrowed that much at all. First Avenger screenwriters Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus were hired to write the sequel last February and, reportedly, the movie will take place in the present day and follow Steve Rogers as he "continues his affiliation with Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. and struggles to embrace his role in the modern world." Cap 2 will also take place after the events of the upcoming The Avengers.
Posted 04.11.12 by Ryan -
Last August, Marvel Entertainment announced the release dates for two, mysterious untitled movies, one that would open on April 4th, and the other on May 16th. It was speculated by every website on the world wide web (including us) that Captain America 2 was likely for at least one of the two dates. So, it was no surprise when Marvel officially announced today that Captain America 2 would fill the April 4th release date.
The move keeps with Marvel's release pattern, which, in its brief history so far has been: Iron Man, Thor, Captain America. 2013 will see the release of Iron Man 3 and Thor 2, with Captain America 2 following in 2014. Whatever Marvel decides to put into that May 16th slot could break the pattern, even if it ends up being The Incredible Hulk 2.
more about captain America 2 >> Posted 04.05.12 by Ryan