Marvel Bigwig Says Expect More X-Men and Spider-Man
Filed under: Action, Fandom, Scripts, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
So tell me, movie-going public, are you aching for more of Marvel's biggest titles, or starting to tire of all the spandex and special effects? As yet, Marvel's main lines show no signs of slowing, as X-Men 3 did very well and Spider-Man 3 expects to fare even better. For those of us who have spent our entire lives reading comic books, this has been a truly enjoyable time -- and it seems as if the rest of you have been quite happy with it all as well. However, with the completion of X-Men: The Last Stand, we've been told the franchise is a wrap, and rumors have been suggesting the end of Spider-Man after part three since well before part two even hit theaters. So what is the truth of the matter, then? Unsurprisingly, nobody really knows yet. However, one of the foremost sources of knowledge on the subject would likely be David Maisel, vice-president of Marvel Entertainment. On the subject, Maisel said: "obviously those films have done tremendously well and made significant amounts of profits for our partners, Sony and Fox, so I would be under the assumption that they would very much want to continue those properties in an aggressive manner." Given what's been said of various actors' contracts and desires to move on with their careers, it is distinctly possible this could mean the ever-dangerous recasting. Could Marvel films survive the replacement of key actors?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-08-2006 @ 2:51PM
b0ring said...
Recasting shouldn't even be considered. The beauty of having such an expansive and in-depth universe like Marvel is that any franchise has almost endless spin-off possibilities.
Okay, so Elektra might not be the example we want to look at but how many people think that the Wolverine movie will suck without the other X-Men?
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11-08-2006 @ 4:19PM
Jonathan Farley said...
Well, I think the question was recasting heroes like SpiderMan,Cyclops,Storm, etc in any new movies.
Just take a look at the first string of Batman movies. Say what you will, they were different interpretations of the character and did decent business. Same with the Bond flicks. And now Batman Begins.
So why should Marvel characters be any different?
They are going back to the well for The Hulk and probably won't cast Eric Bana. So what? It's still a matter of script, directing, production values in addition to the star power and/or acting abilities of who gets cast in the role. I for one hope that they do continue. I've waited 40 years for this and don't think that just because it's been done by Toby McGuire, SpiderMan can never be on the big screen again.
I'm currently reading Frank Millers Dark Knight returns with my 12 year old son right now and have been dreaming it could possibly be made - with, say, Bruce Willis as the aging Bruce Wayne/Batman and maybe Patrick Warburton as Superman.
A long post, but... whaddya think?
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11-08-2006 @ 5:11PM
Sam said...
Dear Marvel,
Please kill the X-Men franchise. I am begging you. X-Men 3 sucked. Hard. It was a staggering waste of hundreds of millions of dollars. It would have been better off written and directed by Uwe Boll.
Please leave the X-Men be. Don't sully this grand franchise any further.
Thank you.
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11-08-2006 @ 7:35PM
Schuey19 said...
Personally I don't think recasting is even really an issue when you talking about films based on comic books.
As already stated, their have already been 5 different well known versions of Batman (if you include Adam West), and I don't think anyone would say that hurt the franchise - can't blame Clooney for Batman & Robin cuz the script was bloody awful.
And as far as the X-men/Spiderman are concerned, there a wealth of characters from the comics that haven't even been seen yet.
Also the very nature of comic’s means that readers are used to seeing slightly different takes on how the characters look, be it when a new artist takes over the franchise or when one character does a crossover into another franchise as part of a story arch.
So seeing it on the big screen really wouldn't be too much of a shock to the system - hell they could always go the Ultimates route with Spidey and just recast with an actual kid rather than a 30 something with a boys face.
Either way, as long as the scripts that are chosen do justice to the actual comics themselves then I say keep the films coming for as long as possible.
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11-09-2006 @ 1:24AM
Neoxkc said...
Recasting. X-men-Yes, Spider-Man-No. X-men has a lot more characters that are part of the "x-men". There are only a couple of spider-men.
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11-09-2006 @ 4:43PM
David said...
The worst thing Marvel can do is not recast. I am a fan of Wolverine not so much Hugh Jackman, Spiderman more than Toby McGuire. My point is that Marvel needs to turn these properties into character driven profit machines and not actor driven. I could care less if Halle Berry reprises her roll, I would be sad if Patrick Stewart did not return but would be happy with Ben Kingsly. I wouldn't mind if Sabertooth was played by HHH of wrestling fame or if Ryan Phillipe was given a crack at Spiderman. I don't see a problem with a James Bond Style casting for characters, plus the Marvel universe spans different ages and times so we could even have older actors play the X-men. (In fact I am a little weary of all this teenage casting, for example iceman.
we don't need the same old tired actors. They get bored of the role and I get tired of their over exposure. I hope Maryjane is eliminated only so that I don't have to see Ms. Dunst.
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