Avenge is sweet

After the astounding success of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk (the first two films from newly created Marvel Studios) it’s no wonder there are already two more films in production for the Iron Man franchise. Robert Downey Jnr has signed on for three more films as billionaire Tony Stark aka Iron Man and Terrence Howard’s character of Colonel James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes is now being played by the talented Don Cheadle for the next three films. But wait, “three films?” I hear you say. Yes, that’s right THREE FILMS. Two more in the Iron Man franchise then Downey Jnr and Cheadle will reprise their roles in (drum roll please)
THE AVENGERS MOVIE!!!
There have been rumours circulating since Marvel created their own studio to independently produce their creations and those rumours appeared to have some substance when Downey Jnr had a cameo in The Incredible Hulk. Marvel Studios today confirmed The Avengers movie is in pre-production and Jon Favreau is on board to direct. Favreau did a stellar job of directing the first Iron Man film and is also set to direct the rest of the franchise. Sounds like a hefty work load for the writer/director/actor but he’ll be backed up by an awesome support team in the form of Louis D'Esposito, Stan Lee, David Maisel and Denis Stewart. Phew. Admittedly I’m getting really sick of comic book to film adaptations and it seriously feels like every second movie was originally a comic or graphic novel. Be original folks and create some new shit! But (and there is a but) I’m looking forward to The Avengers mainly because it’s a classic and one of the most recognised comics of all time. Those of you unfamiliar with The Avengers, here’s a quick run down. First created in 1963 by the legendary Stan Lee, The Avengers features some of Marvels key characters who unite to create a unique crime fighting unit. Originally founded and majorly funded by Tony Stark other characters in the unit include The Hulk, Captain America, Thor, The Black Widow, Spider Man, The Fanatstic Four and more. Whether some of these characters will appear in the film adaption is yet to be known but other team members in The Avengers have included Wolverine, Storm, Daredevil, Electra, The Punisher and tonnes of other lesser known characters. Only Edward Norton’s version of the Hulk, Captain America and Thor have been confirmed to be in the film version which is scheduled for release on July 15, 2011. The Iron Man sequel will be in theatres on May 7, 2010. Both will be distributed by Paramount Pictures.
On a related topic, I’m extremely pleased at the produce coming out of Marvel Studios and am glad they were able to make enough money off the rights to the characters they sold (i.e. Spiderman, The Punisher, Daredevil, X-Men) to start their own studio. After all, who can handle the Marvel subject material better than the people who created it? No one, that’s who. And with the animators, writers and creators at the forefront of the company (i.e Stan Lee, Don heck) it truly sounds like they have the characters best interests at heart when creating the films. Unfortunately Marvel Studios don’t have anything new coming out in 2009 as the highly anticipated X-Men Origins: Wolverine is from 20th Century Fox as they own the rights to the X-Men franchise. Hugh Jackman will be back to reprise his role as Wolverine and
Liev Schreiber (aka Naomi Watts’ hubby) will play the famous Sabertooth, the `always hot right now’ Ryan Reynolds will play Deadpool, former hobbit Dominic Monaghan as Beak and up and comer Lynn Collins will play Silver Fox, Wolve’s old flame. X-Men Origins: Wolverine was shot entirely in Sydney and will be released in Oz on April 30, 2009.