io9
If you liked the Iron Man movie and thought that some of it seemed remarkably true to the comic books, there's a good reason for that... Marvel Comics' writers were secretly involved with the writing of the movie and had to hold their silence until the movie's release. Now that it's a smash hit, beans are being spilled about the movie's "secret brain trust" and phrases like "Braggy McBraggy" are being used.
New Avengers and Secret Invasion writer Brian Michael Bendis was the first to reveal his involvement in the movie:
I totally wrote some of it!!!!fuck! i've been holding that in for a year!!
last philly show, i get a mysterious late night call from marvel's kevin feige. he drops the scoop on me that sam jackson is coming in to do a cameo the next day but they have no dialogue.
kevin told me a couple of scenarios, something they were thinking of teasing and asked if i could do a solid and shoot some lines at him.
i sent about three pages of stuff. and they picked what worked for them and... ta daa!!
god damn!! that was so cool!
now, for the record, i'm not taking credit for the scene, i didn't think of the scene or get sam jackson to do that. but it was very cool to have a bit in the movie. it just was!!
and now i'm officially allowed to brag!
He went into more detail a couple of days later:
before the iron man movie was set to film but way into active pre production, i, and others, got a super secret call asking if we'd read the iron man script as it existed and come to the set for what is now referred to as the iron man brain trust. we were hand picked by jon f. and kevin f. for our unique takes on the character.i was there, mark millar, axel, joe, tom and a few others who may or may not want me airing thier biz. we were flown out and brought to the stages which were the howard hughes spruce goose warehouses. (which in itself was awesome)
we were brought through the sets and the armor as they were being built and met the entire staff. all of which was filmed for the dvd. i have no idea if it will make it in. i half hope it doesn't. i wasn't my usual glam self.
we then sat in a big room with the marvel guys and jon f. all day and went through everything. we talked about everything. every inch of it. we looked at the spx houses demo reels audtioning for the job. and yes the best reel got the gig, obviously.
truth told. the script was in pretty damn good shape at this stage. but that wasn't the point. the point to me is a good idea is a good idea and a bad one is a bad one, doesn't matter where it came from. there is a lesson here.
irregardless of my participation... the fact that this brain trust was even created showed such intense respect for the character and it's legacy. a half hour into the meeting i was so happy to be in the room i was going to burst. comic creators not being treated like the second class porn peddlars we used to treated like but actual writers. it was very cool.
Ultimates and Civil War writer Mark Millar had similar memories, plus a quick peek at what we didn't see:
Just got word this is no longer a secret so prepare for some Braggy McBraggy. But as Bendy has written on his board this morning, we can finally talk about one of the coolest things to happen in our careers. Completely out of the blue, when the script was still in the early stages, we got a call from Jon Faverau to fly out to the beginnings of what would be the Iron Man set and do a little script consultancy work...The brian-trust was all people involved in Iron Man to some extent at the time and hand-picked by Fav. This was me (because ULTIMATE Tony was a big influence on the film), BB, Joe Q, Tom Brevoort, Axel Alonso and Ultimates editor Ralph Macchio. We signed an official secrets thing after reading the script (which I swear I somehow managed not to ever tell anyone about) and got to work on this little baby over a couple of days. It was genuinely thrilling and we not only got a look around the caves which we were being built out there in the California desert, but also got to see some of the early ILM test stuff (a lot of which never made it to the finished movie).
That said, the most exciting part of the trip was rolling up our sleeves and getting into the plot. As Bendy said, Faverau didn't get us out there to just high-five the guy. He wanted us to be brutal and honest and I have to say I almost crossed the line when I talked 'em out of The Mandarin, who was in the original draft, and there was a terrible silence in the room for about ten seconds until Fav agreed and we all got talking about beefing up the Obadiah Stane/ Iron Monger thing (originally planned for the sequel). The whole crew were gracious, very respectful of Marvel East's input and— best part— paid us for our troubles. I've known for about sixteen months how great this movie was going to be and it was so thrilling to see the whole thing come to life up there at the London Premiere last week.
Between this, Millar's Wanted coming out as a movie this June and Bendis' secretive screenwriting gigs, it looks like Hollywood's love affair with comics is only getting started...
I Can't Hold It In Anymore... The Iron Man Epilogue, Part Two... The Iron Man Brain Trust [Jinxworld]
The Secret Iron Man Movie Brain Trust [Millarworld]
(Both via Lying In The Gutters [Comic Book Resources])
Comments
honestly, you couldn't have mentioned that there's a potential spoiler in like the first line of quoted text? Some of us haven't had a chance to see it yet.
@jeffrey115: Really? "Secret brain trust" didn't clue you in that maybe there would be secrets revealed?
Still, cool stuff! Who'd a thunk, getting experts in their field would add weight and texture to the project? A trend I hope to see more of in the future.
I would have been stunned if they didn't consult those two.
Millar and Bendis may be the best one-two punch since Byrne and Claremont
@jeffrey115: Well, what the hell are you waiting for? Go, now! Go! Go!
Dear Brian: Please proofread before posting: "irregardless of my participation...". Oy, you cause me pain! (Though I did love the movie... ducked out of work early on Friday to see it in glorious digital.)
Wait, hold on...consulting with comic book writers on the script of a comic book movie?! Get out! What's really sad is that this is a genuinely revolutionary idea in Hollywood.
And Robert Downey claims he threw out the script everyday and rewrote it himself because it sucked.
@jeffrey115: "I totally wrote some of it!!!!"
What, exactly, does that spoil?
It's nice to see how much care went into this movie, and I think it really shows in the finished product. I'm also very glad Millar talked them into focusing more on using Iron Monger in this movie - Going the other way, I think, would have been too much for an introductory movie.
@Tim Faulkner:
Wrong movie. That was the Hulk.
Firstly, why doesn't Bendis use his shift key?
Also, this only proves how awesome Favreau is - other directors should follow his example when making a comic book film. Because then their movies might rock as hard as Iron Man did.
Wait, these guys names were in the credits, I guess it's their level of involvement that was secret?
@jeffrey115: Sorry, but you're on IO9 where they had a clip of it up the very next day.
@Aethyr: Given the crap work Millar did to Captain American in Civil War I sincerely hope they leave his name off that list. Bendis too.
@Plague: I think that actually it was US Marshals. Oh wait, that didn't have a script...
I also think spoilers about post-credit scenes are helpful because some of us, especially with kids, are eager to get out of that theater as quickly as possible and would otherwise miss many over-hyped useless scenes. That said, the credits for Iron Man dragged on longer than any movie I can ever remember. There had to have been a thousand people who worked on it.
So... I guess Iron Man's Daytona Spring Break Adventures is not the sequel? You know the one... I think Motley Crew was in it...
@Macloserboy: Not to mention the piece of shit that was Ultimate Spider-Man. The pain!!
@jeffrey115: so you visit this site but had NO idea about Sam in the movie? Wait are you even a fan? What i am thinking is that all the fans already heard rumors about the cameo so most werent surprised when we saw it. So if you arent a fan then a "spoiler" about something that has no bearing on the rest of the movie really shouldnt upset you. I dont know i just dont understand. Besides what the hell are you waiting for? Also this movie made a lot of cash so you should remain under your rock until you see it for fear of getting another "spoiler" from one of the many people who have seen it.
@Tim Faulkner:
I'm fairly certain he does that on all of his gigs.
Though if that's true, he's a seriously witty dude.
@Plague: Um, no, wrong actor. That's Ed Norton.
@Smeagol92055: I think he was trying to be witty/be a dick to Favreau/take the credit, more than telling the truth. [defamer.com] Oh wait, I'm sorry, it's still safe and popular to have a crush on Downey, Jr; only Ed Norton can be a dick.
(Methinks io9 needs to keep up with its sister sites more.)
I can totally see how Millar may have influenced the film, but I shy away from BMB almost by reflex now, given the stupid, stupid crap he has done with over 2 years of helming the avengers.
Still, Iron Man was good, I just fear that BMB's ego was already gargantuan and approaching critical mass, I'd hate to read one day that Marvel Comics' offices were obliterated when Bendis' ego collapsed in upon itself and formed a small singularity :P
@syndprod: What you quoted was not bad. The rest of his post needed spell check. Your quoted bit was void of errors, except that he could have capitalized the first letter...
Oh, who f*cking cares, the movie kicked ass.
@EDread83: I didn't see Sam. Can somebody "spoil" for me where he even was in the movie?
Also, yes, the movie was great! And between Downey and Favreau, I thought the dialogue was money! Except for Pepper Potts... Women, do you agree with me that the female characters in this movie were cardboard or what?
@monkity: His scene was after the credits.
I read the Marvel Brain Trust in the credits, and I immediately thought: Quality Control... about time.
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