Here’s a fairly clever idea if it turns out to be true. A few weeks ago it was rumored that Marvel Films were looking beyond “The Avengers” — their top-tiered characters — and their 2012 slate and planning for a future where Robert Downey Jr. doesn’t want to star in “Iron Man VI.”
Their reported idea? To go down the list to the next level of characters, which includes heroes like invulnerable African-American character Luke Cage, aka Powerman, martial arts expert Iron Fist, magician Dr. Strange and the pre-teen mutants in Power Pack, to name a few, and make those films for the price of a low-budget song.
Latino Review is reporting that Marvel has an adjunct plan and the concept is to make live-action short films as a way to introduce the characters to audiences who may not be familiar with them — pretty much everyone who’s not an avid comic book reader. Now owned by Disney, Marvel wants to be as cost-effective as they have been so far, so the idea is to roll out these shorts in front of upcoming Marvel tentpoles which won’t be financially risky and will hopefully act as a gateway drug of sorts, building anticipation and familiarizing characters.
It’s a strong idea, but will they have to cast the final actors for these roles? If so, they’re going to have to get cracking. Two Marvel tentpoles are set for release next year (“Thor” on May 6, 2011, “Captain America” hits July 22, 2010) so presumably, these shorts could role out with “The Avengers” in 2012? (though who’s to say they can’t crank them out faster; characters in masks can easily be (re)cast later, and since these shorts will probably just act as sizzle reels, A-list actors might want to jump in simply because these low-risk roles could be fun and low-maintenance).
Latino Review has no deeper info, and safely presumes the C-list characters will be the same ones mentioned before, but does add African character Black Panther to the mix, though that just seems more like an educated guess on their part rather than concrete info. Maybe “Powerman” could come first as, last we heard, Marvel were in early discussions to bring the character to the screen.
Frankly, this is the way to go — testing out the waters before jumping in — because as “Jonah Hex” proved this weekend (bombing spectacularly and debuting at #8 on the box-office top 10 with a pitiful $5.1 million total), audiences don’t really give a shit about C-list comic book characters even if they have stars like Josh Brolin, John Malkovich and Megan Fox in them.
Now the question remains, if this turns out to be the Marvel strategy, how will they deduce which characters are testing best and worth their own films? Filling out questionnaires like at test screenings? Seems gauche, but better than falling flat on your face like ‘Hex’ did, we suppose.