Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

The Avengers

7/29/10 - Mark Ruffalo will play Bruce Banner/Hulk in Joss Whedon's Avengers movie.  In an interview with popwatch, Ruffalo compared his stepping into Norton's shoes to another famous role played by multiple actors over the years—only one that sprang from the mind of Shakespeare.  "I'm a friend of Ed's," he said, "And yeah, that wasn't a great way for all that to go down. But the way I see it is that Ed has bequeathed this part to me. I look at it as my generation's Hamlet."  But when looking for a role model, Ruffalo goes neither to Norton nor Shakespeare—he instead heads to the first live-action Hulk, Bill Bixby.  "He's a guy struggling with two sides of himself—the dark and the light—and everything he does in his life is filtered through issues of control," the actor said of the character. "I grew up on the Bill Bixby TV series, which I thought was a really nuanced and real human way to look at the Hulk. I like that the part has those qualities."

7/26/10 - Fans got the chance at Comic-Con, when the cast of the forthcoming "Avengers" film took the stage. Samuel L. Jackson surprised some 6,000 fans gathered for a Marvel Studios presentation when he stepped out just as it was ending and started introducing the cast of "The Avengers."  Jackson brought out stars Clark Gregg, Scarlett Johannson, Chris Hemsworth of "Thor" and Chris Evans of "Captain America."  He then introduced another surprise guest, Robert Downey Jr. , who brought out the rest of the all-star cast, including Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye and Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner.

7/23/10 - Joss Whedon confirmed at Comic-Con on Thursday that he is, indeed, directing The Avengers.  "It's not an official thing, I think because Marvel couldn't afford a press release," Whedon said. "So can we make that an official thing? I'm directing 'The Avengers.'"  The project is based on a Marvel comic all-star series that brought together Captain America, the Hulk and Iron Man, among others.  "I am still writing an outline. I'm still in that stage," Whedon said. "I will say the thing I love about it, the thing that made me excited to do it, is how counterintuitive it is. These people shouldn't be in the same room -- and that is the very definition of family."

7/19/10 - Marvel Studios reported that Edward Norton would not be reprising his role as The Incredible Hulk's alter ego Bruce Banner in 2012's The Avengers. Heated words were exchanged rather publicly between Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige and Norton's agent Brian Swardstrom, blaming the parting of ways on either creative tensions or financial disagreements.

6/4/10 - Jeremy Renner is in final negotiations to join The Avengers, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Renner will play the bow-and-arrow-carrying hero Hawkeye, who wasn't a member of the team when it was created in the 1960s but became an integral member soon after, when the misguided villain switched sides.  Renner will join Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man/Tony Stark, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Don Cheadle as War Machine.  The Hulk also might be a character in the movie, but at this stage, there is no deal that would bring back Ed Norton.

4/14/10 – Variety reported that Marvel Studios is wrapping up a deal for Joss Whedon to helm The Avengers, which assembles the superheroes in one film that Paramount Pictures will release on May 4, 2012.  The Avengers extends Whedon's long relationship with Marvel. He wrote for the comicbook company's "Astonishing X-Men" series.  The Avengers would star Robert Downey Jr. (as Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury). Edward Norton may also return as the Hulk.

10/15/09 - Jon Favreau confirmed to MTV News that he won't be directing the Avengers movie. Favreau will still be involved with Avengers, though, so all is not lost.  "They'll have to find a different director, because I'm not going to be available," he explained. "It's something I'm being the executive producer on, so I'll definitely have input and a say.  It's going to be hard, because I was so involved in creating the world of Iron Man and is very much a tech-based hero, and then with 'Avengers' you're going to be introducing some supernatural aspects because of Thor," he continued. "How you mix the two of those works very well in the comic books, but it's going to take a lot of thoughtfulness to make that all work and not blow the reality that we've created."

8/7/09 – SCI FI Wire reported that Tim Roth, who played Emil Blonsky/The Abomination in last year's The Incredible Hulk, confirmed that Marvel has made overtures to him about reprising the role in future movies, possibly including the upcoming Avengers film.  "They have, but in a very different way," Roth said. "I don't want to get into it, but they signed me up for three films."  Could that include two more Hulks, one Avengers and one Hulk or just two Avengers?  "It could be anything," Roth said in response.  Marvel has said that its upcoming Avengers film will feature Iron Man, Thor and Captain America once they are established in their own film franchises. Other Marvel characters who have films under different production deals are less certain.  The Incredible Hulk did end with a scene of Iron Man's Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) approaching Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt) about the team he's putting together.  For his part, Hulk's Bruce Banner, Edward Norton, has remained tight-lipped about his own involvement in the Avengers mashup.  The Avengers is in preproduction with an eye to a planned May 4, 2012, release.

7/31/09 – SCI FI Wire reported that Marvel Studios president of production Kevin Feige didn't even know if the Incredible Hulk would be part of the ultimate team-up.  Edward Norton played Bruce Banner in the reboot, The Incredible Hulk, and the actor gave a careful "no comment" when asked if he would reprise the role in The Avengers.  "I probably won't comment on that just because they keep a pretty tight rein on what they are letting out," Norton said.  "I'll let them address it," Norton said.  For fans of Norton's film, the good news is that he did not say no to participation in The Avengers, nor he did he seem unhappy about the question. After all, if he'd had his fill, he would have just dismissed it and moved on. Respecting Marvel's secrecy might mean that he's hoping they give him a call. Of course, maybe they'll just use the CGI Hulk and not include pesky human Banner in The Avengers at all?

6/26/09 – SCI FI Wire reported that head of marketing Doug Finberg confirmed that the working title of the Captain America film is The First Avenger: Captain America. That would both introduce Cap and lead into the concept of The Avengers, which would follow. "It's something we're considering, and really at the end of the day, everyone is going to know that he is Captain America," Finberg said.  Avengers screenwriter Zak Penn said he is running around between Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America production offices to make sure his script coordinates with the introduction of key superheroes, and, of course, his script has to be done before the other films are. Finberg was confident that all teams could unite for a solid Avengers film. "Having everybody on board and really being able to actually work as a team together and develop the Marvel cinematic universe is what's most important to us," Finberg said.  The long-term plan is to introduce Thor and Captain America, then combine them with Iron Man to form the Avengers. But that still only accounts for three members of the famed superhero team, four if they throw in the Hulk. Could Penn introduce any new supporting superheroes in the Avengers film itself? That's not off the table, according to Finberg. "I think that really remains to be seen," he said.  Iron Man 2 is due out May 7, 2010. Thor is next, on May 20, 2011. Then Captain America on July 22, 2011, and The Avengers on May 4, 2012.

6/25/09 – SCI FI Wire reported that Zak Penn will have to piece together and overlap stories from three, maybe four or more movies as he sits down to write The Avengers this summer, based on the Marvel Comics superheroes.  Marvel movies coming up—with Iron Man, Thor and Captain America—will precede his Avengers film, so he has to figure out how all the movies fit together. Now that Marvel is itself producing movies as a company, Penn said, "It is a world of difference; it is a lot easier to do things like that, and they encourage it."  Penn said he is meeting this coming week with the team writing the other movies so they can piece together storylines and overlap some of the film plots.  "They're doing Captain American and Thor first, and then Avengers is coming out," Penn said. "They want to see that they're all connected, not like the Fantastic Four can't come into the X-Men world, like I was told. I'm taking a meeting next week with the Thor and Captain America people, and we are all going to get together, and I will see what is going to happen. I'll see where they are leaving the characters; it's pretty complicated. ... There's a board that is tracking what is happening. We'll see how this movie overlaps in that movie. ... Marvel is autonomous now. It is night and day: Everyone has read every comic. They know how to make a cool movie."

5/6/09 - Kevin Feige, the president of production at Marvel Studios, spelled out when we can expect to hear further details about upcoming Marvel films such as Thor and The Avengers.  "We will probably be having cast announcements in the next month or so on Thor," Feige said. "We're looking to cast Loki and Odin soon, and the main female role. And we'll also hopefully have lockdown shortly, gearing towards the beginning of production, which will be early next year. So I think there will be a lot of announcements between now and then.  But Branagh's here, we're prepping, and he's put together some spectacular animatics already for our first action scene. We're digging into the second and third now, and we are just embarking on a rewrite of the draft."  As for The Avengers, Feige added that "Zak Penn is already on board The Avengers, and he's spending a lot of his time looking into what we're doing with Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, seeing how we're tying it all together. And he's beginning to outline the script now—he'll be doing that over the summer."

3/12/09 - Marvel Entertainment Inc. said Thursday it will debut The Avengers on May 4, 2012, nearly a year after its previous launch date of July 15, 2011.  The Avengers, which features a team of comic book characters, will be the culmination of a series of movies based on individual Marvel characters that will be released leading up to it.  Iron Man 2 will launch on May 7, 2010, as scheduled. It will be followed by Thor on June 17, 2011, instead of its previously planned release date of July 16, 2010. The First Avenger: Captain America is now coming out on July 22, 2011 instead of May 6, 2011.  Separately, Marvel confirmed that Spider-Man 4 from Sony Pictures Entertainment, is slated to hit theaters on May 6, 2011.  The new schedule "maximizes the visibility of our single character-focused films, leading to the highly anticipated release of the multi-character The Avengers, " said David Maisel, chairman of Marvel Studios, in a statement.

1/28/09 - Samuel L. Jackson, who was quoted recently saying he might not reprise the role of Nick Fury in upcoming Marvel Movies, remained tight-lipped about ongoing negotiations.  Asked about the status of the talks, he said: "Contract negotiation. ... It's like life. Nick Fury's negotiating."  The Los Angeles Times first reported that Jackson was not happy about the progress of talks between his representatives and Marvel Studios about bringing Jackson back as the iconic character in upcoming films, including a proposed Avengers movie.  But, Jackson gave no indication of ill feelings.

1/14/09 - Samuel L. Jackson told the Los Angeles Times that he may not play Nick Fury in Marvel's anticipated Avengers movie and other films, even after doing a cameo at the end of Iron Man due to money.  Jackson told the newspaper that negotiations to put him in the role of Nick Fury have broken down because "there seems to be an economic crisis in the Marvel Comics world."  It now appears that "somebody else will be Nick Fury, or maybe Nick Fury won't be in it" when it comes to Iron Man 2, The First Avenger: Captain America and The Avengers, the announced slate of Marvel Studios projects through 2011 that might have a natural spot for the character.  Marvel told the paper that they still want to see Jackson wearing Fury's eyepatch. "Marvel does not comment on active negotiations," was the boilerplate response, but there was an emphasis on the word "active" in the voice of the spokesman.

6/24/08 - Iron Man director Jon Favreau said that Marvel Studios has its proposed lineup of superheroes for a proposed Avengers movie.  Favreau told the newspaper that the team's lineup has changed throughout the years, "but the ones Marvel is talking about now are Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man and Iron Man. I would love to see that."  Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios' president of production, confirmed to the paper that he's working toward the day when "heroes can cross into each other's adventures and occasionally team up if there's a foe too great for any one of them to handle." Feiger and screenwriter Zak Penn are uniting to get Avengers in theaters by summer 2011.

05/23/08 – Kein Feige confirmed the release date for The Avengers as July 1, 2011

05/06/08 – Marvel announced on May 5th that it will release a sequel, Iron Man 2, and a film version of Thor in the summer of 2010, followed by what it's calling an Avengers-themed summer in 2011, with the release of The First Avenger: Captain America (working title) and The Avengers.  The company, which is producing its own slate of movies based on Marvel Comics characters, added that it does not plan to release a film in 2009.  Iron Man 2 will open on April 30, 2010, followed by Thor on June 4, 2010.  The two Avengers projects will follow: The First Avenger: Captain America on May 6, 2011, and The Avengers in July 2011.

12/31/06 - Marvel Studios has begun the process of bringing the elite superhero team the Avengers to the big screen.  Zak Penn, who wrote the screenplay for Marvel's upcoming The Incredible Hulk, is slated to pen the live-action adaptation that would be titled The Avengers.  It is unclear which heroes will be brought together for this film.  This one will be a while.

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