As quickly as Samuel L. Jackson’s nine picture deal with Marvel Studios had been signed, fans began to feverishly speculate over what these nine potential films would be.
We decided to weed out all the films being gossiped about to concentrate on the nine we think Jackson would be in. Last week we wrote up Part 1 of Iron Man 2 And Beyond: A Look Into Marvel Studios And The Fabled ‘Nine Film Plan,’ (which covered “Iron Man 2” “The Avengers,” “Captain America” and more) and now we’ve finally delivered Part II.
Iron Man 3
Who’s In It: Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Paul Bettany (voice)
Story: ??
How Does It Fit Into Marvel’s Plans: Marvel Studios made their big four film announcement at the close of the summer, but Paramount made a separate hubbub about acquiring the distribution rights to all of them, with this sequel being a new addition. In the wake of “The Avengers,” more than likely the team’s dysfunction would cause them to disband, making solo sequels for these characters plausible. Marvel is also lucky that the characters they have selected have become replaced in more than one or two high profile storylines, so there’s some wiggle room for other characters to grow. In all likelihood, considering the rumors of James Rhodes’ diminished character in “Iron Man 2,” which Terrence Howard found issue with before being dismissed, there’s a chance a lot of “Iron Man 3” could be devoted to Don Cheadle’s part as War Machine. Cheadle’s already signed for “The Avengers,” so you’d think his Rhodes will be itching for more than a little action at this point. As for villains, director Jon Favreau has hinted that he’s placed hints towards the evil Mandarin in the films, so it’s likely the second film will be a large-scale build up towards a clash between Stark and the mystical Chinese wizard/businessman/stoner.
Creative Team: No one signed yet, though if “Iron Man 2” is a hit, Jon Favreau will probably return.
Ant-Man
Who’s In It: Samuel L. Jackson (in theory)
Story: Hank Pym must defeat upstart Scott Lang and the latter steals the patent for the mystical Pym particles, which grant their host the ability to alter their size.
How Does It Fit Into Marvel’s Plans: Despite announcing director Edgar Wright’s involvement in this gestating project, there has been no start date, while director Wright has gotten involved in a three film deal with Working Title Films while also directing the big budget martial arts comedy “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.” Supposedly the film features two of the classic Ant-Men, troubled screwup Hank Pym and ex-criminal Scott Lang, but beyond that, Marvel Studios didn’t even announce “Ant-Man” on their upcoming roster, despite the character of Ant-Man being rumored as an ideal inclusion to the Avengers roster. Wright has gone on record saying it wouldn’t be a comedy film, but it would have strong comedic elements, which would separate it nicely from the somber stories of “Captain America” and the like.
Creative Team: Wright is currently still writing the script with popular comedian Joe Cornish with an eye to direct, but again, Marvel’s not in a rush to feature one of the earliest Avengers in his own solo movie.
The next films are all theoretical, and would mean Samuel L. Jackson was utilized fulled in regards to his nine film deal.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
The question is, does Marvel stick to the comics, where S.H.I.E.L.D., A multinational strike force, is often in conflict with other superheroes in regards to diplomacy and bureaucracy? Or does it load it’s lineup with secondary superpowered characters in order to provide the sort of high flying action previously seen in “The Avengers”? While it’s hard to see Marvel sign off on a whole movie featuring stuff like Agent Phil Coulson’s (Clark Gregg) exploits in the first “Iron Man,” there’s merit in the idea of an international strike force becoming flummoxed with their covert plans being constantly dashed by an overzealous, flashy group of grandstanding superheroes. Perhaps even an “Office” type sitcom, but more likely a mixture of the superheroics of the “Mission: Impossible” movies and the inter-office chaos of “24” (guaranteed the movie’s subplot will feature a mole). There’s hope Marvel can keep this from anything other than a B-story to their big guns, though it really does look like a nonexistent carrot being dangled by Marvel Studios to get Jackson, and eventually other actors, into a big time nine film deal.
Captain America 2
As much as these guys are trying to tell a story, they are also trying to move merchandise, and with these characters being replaced by alternate versions, you have a chance to do just that. Which is why one can surmise that this franchise will follow the typical sequel rule of being darker than it’s predecessor, and that Cap will follow through with the character’s historically skeptical views on the modern government and perhaps resign. This would lead the way for the U.S. Agent to enter the picture, the government’s replacement super soldier, who, in a bit of continuity melding, could turn out to be Cap’s former boyhood partner, Bucky, which would patch up several narrative holes in the source material and probably anger fans less than the (otherwise well-carried out) Winter Soldier subplot of the comics, where Bucky ended up a Russian secret agent.
The Avengers 2
What do we make of this? Is there an endgame to Marvel Studios’ schedule? At this point, several of the participants will be in an advanced age- do they wrap up the story and postpone further relaunches in the future? Or do they milk it for all its worth? Will we see heroes like Wonder Man, The Scarlett Witch, Vision, Quicksilver, Ms. Marvel, The Beast (probably not Fox owns him)? It can be assumed with the potential solo movies after the first one that the group has split up- what would cause them to come back together again? And will this be a ripe opportunity to entertain the notion of a totally separate team of crimefighters, possibly to serve on the team’s West Coast branch? Is there a Marvel Studios beyond this point? Time will tell. – Gabe Toro