Marvel negotiations in full force - they better get their act together - Downey Jr. to return in Avengers 2 & 3?

I kind of hate the fact that this blog is only updated with mostly comic book movie information. I really have a wider perspective than this, but for some reason, these are the posts that inspire me to write. Anyway, two articles came out tonight that had some very interesting perspectives.

The first is from Deadline and the always insufferable Nikki Finke who is reporting that the major players in The Avengers are getting very frustrated with the lowball offers that keep coming in for future movies. Despite the $1.5 billion return on a few hundred million dollar movie (there's no way that movie didn't just straight up profit a billion dollars), they appear to being pretty stingy with the on camera talent. Of course, they seem to be unhappy with this. And rightfully so. Evans, Hemsworth, Downey, Ruffalo, Jackson, Johannson, and Renner all deserve varying degrees of credit for the massive success. But they DO deserve credit. And frankly, the reason that fans like me are so invested is because of what these actors bring to their roles. Nobody wants to see them recast, and hopefully Marvel doesn't think that just because they got away with it on Iron Man 2 by replacing Terrance Howard with Don Cheadle, that they'll be able to do it with the headliners. It's just not going to happen. And I'm sure some will make the argument that it wasn't a problem replacing Ed Norton with Mark Ruffalo, but again, The Incredible Hulk was a bit of a disappointment overall and the commitment to that version of Bruce Banner was a lot lower than what the general public is now familiar with. A very small percentage of those who saw the Avengers actually saw the Incredible Hulk. But if the tens of millions of Avengers fans have to go into Avengers 2 with a unnecessarily shaken up cast, I can't see it playing well. Even if Joss Whedon knocks it out of the park again.

While Marvel is notoriously stingy, they had better not look that gift horse in the mouth because it honestly could turn south at any moment. Look at literally any other comic book franchise in history. But while I don't doubt that these are valid issues, I could see Deadline reporting this stuff as a favor to agents to hopefully stir up the fanbase in an effort to strong arm Marvel into caving. Honestly, I say give them the big paydays they're looking for because I want to keep the continuity going.

Now, on the other side of the coin, according to Heat Vision, it turns out that Robert Downey, Jr. has entered into negotiations for Avengers 2 and 3. I do believe if they get Downey on board for those, the rest of the cast will be far easier to deal with. Especially if Downey makes his appearance contingent on everyone else returning (pure speculation on my part). So he hasn't decided to hang up the helmet forever and is definitely open to at least a couple more installments. Frankly, I'm perfectly all right with this. The man is nearing 50 years old and has not been shy about how he feels his age is affecting him. I'd be perfectly happy to see Iron Man pop up in a couple of new Avengers movies and keep the Iron Man trilogy where it stands. In fact, I totally expected him to do Avengers 2 and then call it a franchise, so anything more than that will be a welcome surprise.

The only thing that I don't understand, and anyone with an understanding of contract law is more than happy to chime in about, is how there's any sort of argument at all. From my understanding, all the major players get locked in for multiple movies. How does there get to be any sort of forced negotiation after the fact? Granted, I'm sure there could be an argument in regards to raises, but couldn't Marvel just say "No, that's not going to happen"? Obviously, this isn't my area of expertise.

Here's to hoping this all gets figured out sooner rather than later so we can all look forward to the inevitably awesome Avengers 2 instead of fretting over what the cast is going to look like in two years. When all is said and done, I do believe we'll have everyone coming back and Phase Two is going to be as epic as it possibly can be. It seems that they're all under contract whether they like it or not (I think) and Downey seems to be enough of a team player that he appears willing to hop back into it all, especially if he's not the one doing all the heavy lifting in such a large ensemble. It's Phase Three that I'm beginning to worry about. Let's cross our fingers and hope that everyone does what's in the best interest of the fans.

Joss Whedon talks Avengers 2 challenges

Joss Whedon recently gave an interview to Total Film magazine and only reaffirmed the fact that Marvel could not have made a better decision keeping him on board. (As if the billion dollars he generated last outing wasn't enough.) Comicbookmovie.com transcribed part of the article where he talks about the pressure of making an Avengers 2.

Via CBM: “The only pressure is the pressure that is there every time I do a new project,” the filmmaker recently admitted to Total Film magazine. “Is it going to be good? It is going to be different? Is there even a reason to make another one? Is there a reason for this to be my next thing? Can I pull it off? I am not going to try and match the box office of the first one because that would be bonkers. Yes, there is a certain level of safety [knowing there's a huge audience] - because now people know about The Avengers and they like the characters so it probably won't completely crash and burn. But you don't want to just get by and do something that is merely OK. If I am going to dedicate three years of my short life to this then I want to do something that I have never done before. So I think of The Avengers 2 as a glorious challenge - it is a sequel, yes, but how can it be different? Of course, the pressure that I don't feel, my body internalises. It happens all the time. I was comfortable making the first Avengers, but I didn't sleep during it.” 


What continues to impress me about Whedon, which you don't always see in tentpole directors, is the fact that he wants to legitimately make the very best movie he can. There's a commitment to quality that's supported by his deep appreciation for the genre as well as understanding of the subject matter. Not to mention the fact that in previous interviews, when people have asked him "How do you make a bigger movie than the Avengers?" And his response was simply, "You don't. You go smaller." I'm paraphrasing of course, since I can't find the actual quote, but he's said a variation of this a number of times. So many directors talk about their sequels being "bigger" and having "more action" and being "more exciting" than the last movie, which to me is a ridiculous endeavor. The number one goal for any movie is to make the best movie you possibly can. Never should the goal be "We have to top the last one!" because that's only going to end up in disappointment. 2015 cannot come fast enough.

All Whedon, All the Time! - Joss to write and possibly direct "S.H.I.E.L.D." pilot

The big news this morning is that Joss Whedon is going to write, and possibly direct (just like the headline!) the ABC pilot of "S.H.I.E.L.D." And...well, that's pretty much it. His frequent collaborators Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen will assist him in these development duties.

I know I'm simply jumping on the bandwagon of all the other reports that are going crazy over this news, but there really isn't much to speculate about at this point. The likelihood that there will be any characters from the movies (outside of maybe a couple of S.H.I.E.L.D. lackeys that will show up in the "Item 47" short that's on the Blu-Ray coming out next month) seems to be pretty slim. People seem to be jumping to the conclusion that Nick Fury won't be involved and that Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) may or may not following the conclusion of her show "How I Met Your Mother". Which is pretty much an irrelevant argument at this point since we know so little.

Personally, I'm happy to see Whedon return to television, but I'm not really sure about the subject matter. As huge of a Marvel fan I am, I just don't see how you can set a series in that universe and not be able to use your heroes. I suppose they could use it to introduce smaller deal third string characters to the universe, but will the actors be talented enough to potentially show up in an "Avengers 2"? At any rate we're getting ahead of ourselves here because the pilot hasn't even been written yet. And ABC could choose not to pick it up. (Doubtful, but possible.)

It's just too bad we won't be seeing any Agent Coulson. You were taken from us too soon, Phil.

Joss Whedon to return for "Avengers 2"; Oversee "Avengers" TV show

"I want you to grab her chest like this and then pull the back of her hair. Yes, this is absolutely something that Nick Fury would do."

In news that has the entire superhero-loving world aflutter, Bob Iger has revealed on one of them fancy conference calls to investors that Joss Whedon will be returning to write and direct "Avengers 2", help shape the direction of Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which kicks off with "Iron Man 3" next May), and also oversee (which probably just means come up with a few ideas for millions of dollars) the creation of an Avengers-universe based TV show for ABC.

Realistically, this show will not feature any of the actual Avengers, but be more of an "Item 47"-based show where people living in the Avengers world dealing with the day-to-day dealings of a world with superheroes. I'd venture to guess it would be centered around S.H.I.E.L.D., since there are several human characters that could be done on a TV budget. Plus, Samuel L. Jackson would probably show up with the promise of six Snickers bars and a $25 gift card to Applebees. Seriously, that guy will be in anything.

But with Marvel's historic ability to low ball their talent, the fact that they're stepping up to the plate and securing a man as talented as Joss Whedon for the foreseeable future honestly shows how committed to quality they are.

Whedon undecided on "Avengers 2"

Clearly not content to let Marvel back the Brinks truck up to his house while he comes up with awesome ideas for Avengers 2, Joss Whedon continues to express reservations about taking the helm for "Avengers 2". This really isn't news, given that he's said this in the past and nothing's changed, but I want to bring this to the world's attention in order to make sure that he does it. Because frankly, I don't think anyone else is up to the task. If he must be kidnapped Kim Jong Il style in order to get it done, then Disney needs to do that. I have no moral qualms about such a choice.


(via)