io9
Now that Iron Man is officially the most successful movie with a character called "Tony" in it in the history of cinema or something like that, the movie industry's collective eyes have moved to what's next for Marvel Comics' production house. And not The Incredible Hulk, either - The Hollywood Reporter is already asking what they've got up their sleeves for 2010 and beyond. While rumors are suggesting that Ant-Man, Thor and Avengers are likely candidates for celluloid treatment, we've got five lesser-known candidates that are ready to make the jump to a theater near you.
Says Hollywood Reporter:
Some question whether the Marvel characters waiting in the wings have the appeal of previously licensed characters like "Spider-Man" and "The X-Men." But Marvel president David Maisel said that the key ingredient to make a film successful isn't "more well-known or less well-known characters but tender-loving care."What do you suppose he'd think of giving these options a little TLC?
Doctor Strange: Created by Spider-Man's combination of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Marvel's "Master of The Mystic Arts" has all the potential to crossover to mainstream success - The story of an arrogant famous surgeon who survives a terrible accident but without the finger dexterity to keep slicing and sewing, only to become the world's most powerful magician after a Tibetan retreat, it's Nip/Tuck meets Iron Man meets Harry Potter. Get someone like Guillermo Del Toro to direct and George Clooney to star, and your summer blockbuster is all taken care of.
Devil Dinosaur: I know, I know; the idea of taking Jack Kirby's admittedly-hokey "first boy on Earth and his pet killer dinosaur that's bright red after getting roasted like a lobster but surviving" late-70s series and making it into a movie sounds dumb, but the whole thing has multimedia written all over it. Literally; the series was initially conceived with an eye towards possible Saturday morning cartoon adaptation. We're saying that it's better than that: Ditch Moon Boy and focus on his unkillable T-Rex eponymous co-star, marauding around prehistory and killing everything he comes into contact with - It's 10,000 BC but with more death and even less need to make sense.
Captain Universe: What do audiences want to see more each summer than a wish-fulfilment fantasy that lets them put themselves in the place of the more-powerful character in the screen in front of them? That's why Captain Universe ("The hero that could be you," as the ads for the comic said) works so well - the concept that Captain Universe is the identity anyone can adopt when randomly gifted with temporary godlike cosmic powers is tailor-made not only for a public that know that it'll never be a genius arms dealer or bombarded with gamma rays, but also for Hollywood executives that don't have to worry about paying more money to stars for each successive sequel: Just replace your lead actors! That's the whole point of the idea!
Nova, The Human Rocket / Star Brand: Let's face it; DC and Warner Bros are going to want to make a Green Lantern movie someday, so why not beat them to the punch with Marvel's two rip-offs of the concept? Nova has teenager Rich Ryder given cosmic powers by a dying alien and inducted into space police force The Nova Centurion Corps, while Star Brand has asshole Ken Connell given cosmic powers by a dying alien and... well, just being more of an asshole, really. Oh, and he blew up Pittsburgh in a nuclear explosion by accident, as well. See what happens when you don't join a space police force?
US 1: Somewhat out of left field, admittedly, but the story of Ulysses Solomon Archer (U.S.A. - get it?), a trucker whose metal skull plate allows him to not only mentally control his truck but also pick up CB transmissions - I swear to you that I am not making this up - who ends up traveling the highways in the sky after aliens introduce him to the concept of space trucking is tailor made for a high concept middle-American comedy movie. Probably starring Larry The Cable Guy and someone who'd previously been on the cover of Maxim or something. Sure, it may not open as big as Iron Man, but imagine the DVD sales after it becomes a cult hit.
There you go - Just five more potential movie franchises that can keep audiences amused and amazed after even Robert Downey Jr. has grown weary of his trademark smirk. With characters like these - and I didn't even get to Alison Blaire, the Disco Dazzler - you can tell that Marvel's movies are, worryingly enough, here to stay.
Marvel looks ahead [Hollywood Reporter]
Comments
Doctor Strange by a mile.. I rented the animation one, and it was better than i thought it was going to be, but still we need to give those CGI guys a workout, multi dimensionally speaking.
The Power Pack.
2010 now becomes the over-under for when Marvel starts its precipitous slide back into Lauder-era laughability.
A Doctor Strange movie, done well, could be quite a treat.
Three words...wait for it...
Paste. Pot. Pete!
Well...since I'll never get my Grimjack movie, How about The Elementals? Ooo! Or even better...Grendel! (good 'ole fashioned Hunter Rose version)
You know what I would totally go see? A She-Hulk movie. A Black Panther movie could be pretty great, too.
But not the West Coast Avengers. Never the West Coast Avengers.
Or Team America...
Star Jammers?
Dazzler?
I guess I'm dating myself
@moff: I'd take West Coast Avengers over Alpha Flight though. Lousy Canucks. Maybe John Barrowman could play Northstar though.
I'm just not feeling the love on Doc Strange. However, I could see Nova working, especially if they did the relaunch story that starts with him having lost his powers and working fast food.
Bonus points if they have Night Thrasher drop him off a building.
I'd like to see a "Team America" movie, except those were licensed characters and apparently there's already a movie called "Team America".
Captain America. Just think of the possibilities, half the movie during WW2 then freezing and moving it to 2008 modern day America. Id pay to see that, and im not even american!
@moff:
Dude, who wouldn't go see a She-Hulk movie?
@caltrop2004: I owe you a coke.
It would make far more sense to start with the more well-known characters (like more Avengers so that the eventual Avengers movie is even more awesome) that to drag these obscure characters out and make Marvel the laughingstock of the film industry.
Okay, so Doctor Strange isn't that obscure, but he's a little too outlandish to be popular as a film, in my opinion.
How about Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss?
Meets the Phantom 2: Electric Boogaloo
I think Ant Man could be good, provided Robert Kirkman wrote the script.
Also, Thor would be good, but he may be included if/when there's an Avengers movie.
And boy... Bringing in Star Brand up there.. Wow bringing in the New Universe. I dug that comic. How about Kickers Inc. while you're at it?!
@Garrison Dean, King Awesome: LOL at Power Pack. I loved that comic when I was a kid.
What about Runaways? Get Joss to write the script and you could have some pure gold.
[www.comicbookdb.com]
If you're going to put US 1 on the list then how can your leave out Brute Force: Protectors of the Environment. It's the animals of the earth vs. global warming. How is that description not enough to get this made? Still not enough? Well take a good look at the cover. Do you see what's there front and center? It's a dolphin with a gun...nuff said.
@Garrison Dean, King Awesome: It's tough: Canadians vs. Californians -- who's more annoying? You know what would be so bad it was good, though? A Batroc the Leaper movie.
@caltrop2004: Yeah, a lot of comic book fans date themselves. But there's hope: Just wear a clean shirt and pants, comb your hair, and actually talk to some girls, and things'll get better. Trust me.
This list seems pretty stacked to favor Dr. Strange... I wouldn't even watch the rest of these as a twenty minute cartoon, let alone a movie.
Not a character, but Annihilation! Or Marvel Zombies... No, Alias! (which would of course include Luke Cage)
Marvel announced their upcoming movies in the Q1 EPS Reports.
[biz.yahoo.com]
Dr. Strange also works cuz the potential for villains-- other-worldly demons and sorcerers play great in Poughkeepsie. Dormamu could be made to look awesome-- and can you say "shuma-gorath"?
[upload.wikimedia.org]
The key to a successful Dr. Strange movie would be making it not a super-hero movie. if it was more fantastic & weird, it could be good-- Harry Potter is actually a good model, though it would have to be less saccarine than the early movies and more like the goblet of fire. but if they go for high-octane, colorful, superhero-y it's not gonna work.
Doctor Strange, definitely. It's Harry Potter for adults. In fact, that's how they should do it: Steven Strange damages his hands and is all mopey because he can't be a surgeon, then Wong shows up, tells him the Ancient One needs him and whisks him off to a world of magic and dark arts to fight Baron Mordo and save the universe.
@Sasquatch: Thor would be awesome if they set the thing in Asgard and had the gods fighting giants the whole time. make it a fantasy film w/ all viking-esque dudes running around on six-legged horses and crap like that. If you take Thor and drop him into modern-day Manhattan, you'll basically get Crocodile Dundee with a hammer. play it like a Narnia or rings film and you got it made.
I'm going with the Great Lakes Avengers. That'd be box office gold.
Doctor Strange has been done wrong twice, it's time someone did it right for a change. (The animated version wasn't bad, but it wasn't very close to the comic. Closer than the 1970s live action TV movie, but that's not saying much.)
Besides, Salon listed Doctor Strange as one of Guillermo del Toro's in-development projects likely to be delayed indefinitely thanks to the Hobbit movies. Give the Hobbits to Alfonso Cuaron, who made the best Harry Potter movie so far, and let Guillermo do Doctor Strange and At the Mountains of Madness.
@kakos: I could see a Runaways movie, but I do think it, and any teen-focused series really, would work better as a TV show than as a film. A lot of the appeal of teen series is the soapy element, which lends itself so well to long-form.
Dr. Strange would be my pick as well, as I used to read and collect the comics.
"Guillermo Del Toro to direct"
Hell Yes!
"George Clooney to star"
Hell No!
Nova would be 2nd choice there.
And don't forget in your ripped-off-ness statements that DC did a reverse ripoff from Nova by creating Firestorm.
How bout Cable & Deadpool? That'd be awesome!
oh yea...
Baron Mordo and Dormamu are great and all...
But his 1st fight should be with Nightmare.
@Ed Grabianowski: I would absolutely watch that. Olivia Thirlby is Squirrel Girl!
@kakos: Do you actually like Joss Whedon's take on the Runaways? Personally, I'd be way more comfortable with Brian K. Vaughan writing it. At least then the characters wouldn't sound like escapees from a mental asylum.
I think Marvel should just bite the bullet and make the Infinity Gauntlet series.
Tony Danza was in Crash, so I dispute your opening thesis.
Is Iron Man going to win an Oscar? I don't think so.
@Lieutenant 030: Alfonso Cuaraon is far too talented to be wasted on stupid movies based on stupid books.
He and del Toro have the move vivid visual imagination in Hollywood which, come to think of it, is probably because neither one of them are particularly involved in Hollywood.
@darcymcgee: Agreed. It's an injustice.
@Shiryu: Captain America was announced today for 2011, and there was a direct-to-video one in 1990 which is most likely awful.
@Log1c: While I enjoy Deadpool when written well (Joe Kelly years ago), I would be afraid the humour would not come off well in a film.
If you need an obscure refrence to a potential movie, DP7 would be good, people not too overpowered, weird agencies, etc.
@ Miranda Kali:
I would LOVE to see a Grendel movie made!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'd like to see a much, much, much better Daredevil movie. Failing that, Elektra: Assassin, as directed by Wong Kar-wai.
@DSTRYA: I remember reading that the idea for Thor was "Lord of the Rings in Manhattan."
I actually believe that a movie about armies of orcs invading Manhattan island and getting smashed up by Thor and his hammer would be incredibly rad.
@moff: How can you hate on West Coast Avengers, especially since they found a way to work Machine Man and Monica Rambeau (cap. marvel/ phton/ pulsar) have a good Iron Man and all you'd need is Wonder Man and Mockingbird.
My shortlist
Next Wave: Agents of H.A.T.E
Immortal Ironfist (the Brubaker/ Fraction run)
Luke Cage: Hero for Hire
Dr. Strange
Powers (since it's a Marvel property now)
I'd third a Runaways movie, or maybe even a good mini-series on HBO (?). I liked Vaughn's recent take on Strange, but other than that, have never really thought he'd translate well to big-budget action movie (maybe a mid-level horror movie, and grab the director from The Orphanage). I'd really love to see a Planetary movie (realize it's not marvel though)...
@braak & DSTRYA: I would watch either of those.
[IRON MAN SPOILER]
I seem to recall hearing rumors about the Nick Fury thing in Iron Man a few months ago; has anyone heard if there'll be something similar in The Incredible Hulk ? He was one of the original Avengers too, after all.
I know Powers was optioned a while ago - would also make a great tv series (a la The Wire)...
Although not a "starring name", too bad they already used Jamie Madrox - The Multiple Man. I love that guy, he definitely didn't get the treatment he deserves in X-Men 3... (But would he work in a movie anyway? Probably not...)
Maybe it's time for a follow-up to Howard the Duck?
@moff: SPOILER
99% sure Iron Man shows up in Hulk. So they're getting that Universe going well in my mind.
though it was re-published under marvel's epic line (so i doubt they'd have the rights) is "Cadillacs and Dinosaurs", aka "Xenozoic Tales" by Mark Shultz.
kick ass comic would make an ultra kick ass movie.
Neat as Devil Dinosaur would be, you know this would be better. If this were an animated show on Teevee, we'd all flip the fuck out:
[img247.imageshack.us]
And they could definitely cross it over with DD.
@moff: I think it's already confirmed that Rob Downey, jr. aka Tony Stark, at least, has a cameo with General Ross in The Incredible Hulk (correct me if I'm wrong). Certainly they're tying everything together with the 2011 Avengers announced earlier today (announced as well were Iron Man 2 and Matthew Vaughn's Thor for 2010, and also The First Avenger: Captain America for 2011. ( [www.slashfilm.com] )
Also, there is Edgar Wright's Ant-Man in planning stages, so assuming all these films actually get made (which certainly isn't certain, but depends largely on the continued success of Iron Man and that of the Hulk, so go see them!), and considering Marvel is doing these films themselves, prepare to have your wildest comic book nerd dreams come true (taking into consideration there is only a limited amount of wild to go around when it comes to comic book adaptations).
@moff:
There was actually talks about Wesley Snipes starring in a Black Panther movie during the height of the Blade trilogy, but it never got anywhere, perhaps because Snipes is such a pain in the butt
From the list: Dr. Strange
From my heart: Sunfire
one word: SuperPro
Doctor Strange FTW!!