Indonesian director Gareth Evans is clearly making a name for himself in the action world. His debut feature The Raid captured everyone in love with both action and martial arts films. He's currently filming it's sequel and was recently asked by FlicksAndTheCity if he'd consider making a superhero film. More specifically a Marvel one and his answer is interesting.
"It's tough. The thing is right now, where I am, the kind of things that I'm doing, I don't know if I fit the superhero mold yet. It's something I need to learn at some point but I don't know if I can deliver a PG-13 movie. I don't know how to do that yet. I should learn but yeah, I'm not sure. Maybe a darker, superhero [film] from Marvel."
The one Marvel project that comes to mind that would be perfect for Evans would be Heroes For Hire. A while back Marvel's Joseph Loeb let slip they were developing a Heroes For Hire film. Likely, setting up a ground level Marvel team that would include Luke Cage and Iron Fist. Two characters that have had their own solo films in development for ages. Combining them into one movie would solve issues of their crowded release rollout.
"Just like we just announced Guardians of the Galaxy, we are certainly looking at the Heroes for Hire franchise which is Luke Cage and Iron Fist."
The film should also include characters such as Moon Knight and The Punisher. Which could finally solve the problem of how to make a movie with Frank Castle that people will actually pay to see. Along with the possibility of throwing rebooted versions of Blade and Daredevil into the mix as well. All of them street level heroes based in New York City and since the rights are back at Marvel they might as well use them.
While they could be decent solo features a bigger team-up adventure would be a great way to introduce a great deal of Marvel heroes leading up the rumored Civil War/Thanos battle in Avengers 3. We have some idea of what the Phase Three lineup will look like. Ant-Man, Doctor Strange and possibly features such as Black Panther, Inhumans and a new Hulk film. A Heroes For Hire film would seemingly grab the attention of the action driven audiences who fork all of their money to see films like Fast And The Furious. Imagine setting a Marvel team film in the world crime and throwing in actual superheroes and super villains in there, it could be something very unique. Gareth brings a lot of style and validity to the table. Similar to when Marvel hired Game of Thrones' Alan Taylor to make Thor: The Dark World. So having him involved could also help gain a little more attention to the project.
Irdis Elba has been meeting with Marvel for a while now about playing a second role in the MCU. His wish-list of roles includes Black Panther, Blade and Luke Cage. Considering Marvel's interest in Legendary Pictures' Godzilla main cast Aaron Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen for Avengers: Age of Ultron. It wouldn't be a stretch to see them also looking at cast members in Legendary international smash Pacific Rim as well. Elba as Luke Cage makes a whole lot of sense with his gritty roles on shows such as The Wire and Luther. Charlie Hunnam has equally as much background in street level themes with his series Sons of Anarchy. Plus, he showed off some impressive fighting abilities in Pacific Rim. Which could be amped up ten-fold by Gareth's stunt team and fight trainers. Hunnam was actually in the mix for Thor and Captain America at one point. So having him play Danny Rand could be just as exciting.
