It looks like Marvel and Kevin Feige are going to have a lot of questions to answer in a few weeks at Comic-Con. Fresh off news circulating that "Guardians Of The Galaxy" is being geared up for a 2014 release, another "Ant-Man" update has arrived, and, more exciting for fans, news that Walt Disney Animation is set to tackle its first animated movie.
So let's start with that shall we? A couple of reports (via /Film) have hit the web this afternoon revealing that "Big Hero 6" is beginning the development process over at the mouse house. IOTG says that Kristin Reed ("Kung Fu Panda," "Paperman") will be producing the project that is currently going out to writers, while the insider sources at Blue Sky Disney add that Don Hall ("Winnie The Pooh") will be directing, with a release tentatively slated for 2014. However, they stress that while the movie is storyboarded, there has been no greenlight (we presume because it might need a new script?) but heading into the production isn't too far away. But remember, animated movies can sometimes take years to get completed, so this is still a long way off.
The inevitable Disney/Marvel pairing has been awaited by fans ever since the studio bought the comic company for $4 billion dollars three years ago, giving them access to something like 5,000 characters. But it's intriguing they're kicking it off with something way off the beaten path. "Big Hero 6" appeared in a couple of series and that's about it, but perhaps not having an established canon gives the studio a bit more room to play creatively. The original story follows a superhero team formed by the Japanese government who wanted some crime fighters available to them whenever they wanted. As with any team, there are a variety of powers, and larger than life villains, and you can read all about it right here, but basically it's The Avengers/X-Men template more or less. But like we said, given that no one has heard of these guys except the most nerdy of nerds, we'd wager they may not be exactly like they are in the comics by time they hit the big screen. Nonetheless, it's a pretty intriguing development.
Speaking of intriguing, THR reports that Edgar Wright has wrapped a test reel for "Ant-Man." That he's been working on something is no big surprise, as it was just a few weeks ago that he said on the Empire podcast, "So as not to jinx things, I am going to remain spectacularly vague on this. Let’s just say I hope to shoot some 'Ant-Man' & 'World’s End' this year." Well, it looks like he did on the former. It was a one week shoot to show the tone he was going for as well as what the effects/powers might look like in his incarnation. No word on who played the hero, but with a script co-written by Wright and Joe Cornish handed in a while ago, and Feige saying it's the "closest it's ever been" we'd reckon a decision one way or the other is coming soon.
But even if the studio likes what they see, Wright's next film will be "The World's End," the final installment of The Cornetto Trilogy with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. But "Guardians Of The Galaxy," "Big Hero 6" and "Ant-Man"… it's been a good day to be a Marvel fan.