Ant-Man Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Sometimes movie stories are just too good to be true. A few days ago, Scott Weinberg brought us the delicious rumor that Edgar Wright's Ant-Man could be the first product to come of Pixar and Marvel having sweet access to each other.

Unfortunately, it is not to be. Wright set the record straight on CHUD, squashing the rumors, but giving fans hope that he might team up with Pixar for something, someday: "The news that Pixar is involved is not wholly accurate and a little premature to comment on. I love Pixar's work more than anyone and indeed would love to collaborate with them. I'm not sure though that they would want to do a 'shrinking' film as a Pixar animation -- since Toy Story and A Bug's Life already cover this territory to some extent. Am guessing that someone just speculated on the 'bug' angle and tried to put two and two together. My spin on Ant Man is very different than a straight superhero origin -- and very much live action."

But lest you think this means Ant-Man languishes in scriptwriting or pre-production, not so. "I am still attached to Ant Man and indeed am still working on a second draft with Joe Cornish. That had to take a back seat while I worked on Scott Pilgrim, but am keen to get back into it once I get into post. I just spoke to Kevin Feige for the first time since I wrapped and we are meeting this week to discuss the next phase." Hopefully, the next phase involves our antennaed friend accompanying Thor and Captain America to the big screen very, very soon.

Movies based on characters from comics published by DC and Marvel took a summer sabbatical this year -- I'm trying really hard to pretend X-Men Origins: Wolverine was only a bad dream -- but the next couple of summers promise a healthy dash of costumed superheroes to liven up movie theaters. As noted in a post earlier today, next summer will see the return of Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark in Jon Favreau's Iron Man 2. Two summers hence will feature the big-screen debut of Kenneth Branagh's vision of Thor, with Chris Hemsworth playing the hammer-wielding Norse god and Tom Hiddleston as his adopted brother / arch-nemesis Loki, followed by Joe Johnston's adventure The First Avenger: Captain America, set primarily during World War II. And 2012 will finally bring superhero team-up The Avengers, plus another unspecified movie. Could it be Edgar Wright's Ant-Man? Or something else?

Without being an expert on any of these characters -- for that I bow gratefully to our own Elisabeth Rappe -- from strictly a movie fan's perspective, I'm most anticipating The First Avenger: Captain America. That's because director Joe Johnston hasn't let me down yet, and the film's World War II setting and sense of wholesome, patriotic adventure play to his strengths. But the more I think about these projects, the more I like the variety of settings and styles. Sure, they're all superheroes, but there's plenty of room for the films to establish their own identities.

What do you think? What's your most anticipated Marvel movie? Feel free to suggest other characters that should have their own movie in the comments.

Above: Check out new logos for the upcoming Marvel films from E3, via AICN

The Marvel movie slate for the next couple of years has been firmly established: Iron Man 2 in May 2010, Thor in May 2011, and The First Avenger: Captain America in July 2011, with The Avengers to follow in Summer 2012. Kevin Feige, the company's president of production, revealed at an industry conference this weekend that another new Marvel movie will be released in 2012, according to First Showing, and also provided tidbits of information about their other projects.

• Iron Man 2: The goal is to carry over the humor and tone of the first film, while adding more characters and upping the action. Scarlett Johannson's character has "two sides," and the actress is signed for multiple movies.
• Thor: No Shakespearean dialogue (per Kenneth Branagh's wishes)! No Don Blake! Primarily set on Earth (though also on Asgard and "other worlds")! How exactly is that going to work? No idea!
• The First Avenger: Captain America: Will be "primarily" set during World War II. With Joe Johnston at the helm, Feige described the picture in terms of the director / visual effects designer's past work (The Rocketeer, October Sky, Star Wars). Sidekick Bucky will appear "in some capacity."
• The Avengers: Captain America will be involved in the plot "from the get go."
• Ant-Man: Edgar Wright will be submitting another draft after he completes Scott Pilgrim.

Feige "Feige kept saying often that he'd love for audiences to have the same experience that comic book readers have - where characters make surprise appearances almost out of nowhere in issues they pick up." To be continued...

He's portrayed a few iconic characters, including Shakespeare's Romeo and Howard Hughes, but could Leonardo DiCaprio be taken seriously as an iconic superhero? Specifically the Sentinel of Liberty -- Captain America? According to Latino Review (a site well-known and typically respected for its accuracy with rumors of this sort), Marvel Studios has placed Leo on the top of their list of candidates for the role. Of course, there's been no offer made yet, and this is simply the same sort of wish list we heard about for Thor (Brad Pitt is the top of that list), so there's no need to get crazy over the possibility ... yet.

Speaking of Pitt, Marvel apparently has placed him as second on their list for Cap. They either want him for The First Avenger: Captain America or Thor. Maybe they'll even offer him the roles of Ant-Man and everyone else in The Avengers (it would be like this, but with Pitt playing all the roles instead of Johnny Depp). There's no mention of who is #3. It could be Matthew McConaughey, who was rumored to be considered before. Or, it could be George Washington. Yes, the real G.W., first President of the United States. Not only is he perfectly relevant for the part, but I think Marvel has as good a chance of casting him as they do of casting Leo.

Folks expected a huge opening take for Iron Man, but $201 million worldwide? Damn. And doesn't it feel a whole lot better when a film that makes that kinda money actually deserves to make that kind of money? Anyway, as expected, Marvel went absolutely nutty over this news and, while announcing quarter one profits, took some time to give us tentative release dates for Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers. Marvel Entertainment will not release a film in 2009, but first up in 2010 will be Iron Man 2 on April 30. Two months later, on July 4, 2010, Thor will debut in theaters. So, like this summer, we'll be getting two Marvel flicks in 2010 -- and if Thor wants to claim fourth of July weekend, that film better know how to kick some serious ass. You don't jump on July 4th without knowing you have a set -- know what I mean?

Similarly, in 2011, Marvel Entertainment will debut another two films. First, on May 6, 2011, we have The First Avenger: Captain America (new title I believe). Then, in July, the biggie -- The Avengers! There was no word of an Ant-Man film in there, though last we heard it was in development with Edgar Wright attached. Honestly, unless they push The Avengers to 2012, I don't see where Ant-Man could fit in. Additionally, I imagine we'll have to wait to see how well The Incredible Hulk does, seeing as they may want to sequel-ize that one too. Otherwise, Iron Man will be the only franchise to debut a sequel prior to an full-on Avengers flick.

Phew. Chime in, folks. What do you think about it all?

Whether you're a fan of comics, or just happen to watch superheroes on the big screen now and then, you've probably heard of Marvel. They've got almost all the biggies: Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Daredevil and Iron Man. And if you regularly read Cinematical, you know that at least a few movies are in production with these characters. Marvel Entertainment has now released their second quarter earnings for 2007, and have included the company's list of projects, which you can find over at SuperHeroHype.

We know all about some of them. Of course, under their character feature line-up, they've got my much-anticipated Wolverine, which we last blogged about a few days ago, and Punisher 2, which is going to be a do-over. Under the flicks in development, we've got Iron Man (which was very present in our ComicCon coverage) and The Incredible Hulk. But there's also a whole bunch of writers gearing up other super projects like Ant-Man by Edward Wright and Joe Cornish, Captain America by David Self, Nick Fury by Andrew Marlowe, Thor by Mark Protosevich and The Avengers by Zak Penn. There are also a few animated TV projects in the works -- Spider-Man, Wolverine and the X-Men and Iron Man, some direct-to-DVD projects -- Doctor Strange, Teen Avengers and Hulk Smash and video game projects for Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk.

And here's the kicker: Spider-Man the Musical. Yes, our webbed friend is going to hit the stage, and somehow I've missed the buzz that has been lurking around. Woops. It's not a terrible surprise that Spidey is jumping out of the screen, especially after all the success of Sam Raimi's last flick to get theatrical: Evil Dead: The Musical. Julie Taymor (Titus and Across the Universe) is going to direct the production, and the music will come from U2's Bono and The Edge -- that pretty much guarantees us some funky music and stunning sights. Unfortunately, there's no word on when we can expect to see the web stick to the stage.

Top Thought of the Week -- The Ghost Rider team amuses me. I'm probably one of the five or so people on earth who really, really want to like this movie, and even I can't help but chuckle at them. Here's the deal. You're talking about a guy who admits to loving the Punisher flick. I'm willing to accept some high levels of cheese in my Marvel movies because -- let's all be honest here -- Marvel comic books are full of cheese. A level of goofiness is to be expected in nearly every Marvel story, and that's just how it is. The trick for movie directors is exactly the same as it is for comic book writers: Find a happy balance between action, drama, and yes, humor, and you'll be a success with the fans. The Spider-Man franchise is probably the best example of this balance ... possibly in both the books and the movies. If you want to be optimistic about the Ghost Rider flick, hold out hope for a strong script (yeah, I'm having trouble holding down the laughter, too) and solid acting performances.

The other rule you generally need to follow in creating Marvel comics is don't be Rob Liefeld. In other words -- make it pretty. You don't have to be the champion of all digital effects, but for goodness sake, don't look like an early 2000s video game. This has been a strong negative for the Ghost Rider camp lately, and their attempts to fight back against internet geeks vocally roasting their look is what has given me such amusement this past week. Nonetheless, hope springs eternal in this geek heart of mine.

Other stray thoughts, in no particular order: