James Gunn Promises More Ladies Will Appear In GUARDIANS 2, But Don't Expect Carol Danvers

During DragonCon2014, Collider was able to get some new information concerning the Guardians of The Galaxy sequel, which is coming July 2017. Writer-director James Gunn spoke to the crowd and answered their questions. It was put to him if Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel would be joining the team. Sadly, Gunn said that Quill would be the only Earthling that the films would focus on. Going-on to reveal that he's indeed including more cosmic ladies in the sequel, just not Danvers.

While he agreed that more than likely, Carol Danvers would appear sooner rather than later in the Marvel movies, there were plenty of other women in the comic book roster of the Guardians of the Galaxy and he was more than excited to begin introducing them into future films. The plan, according to Gunn, is to introduce new female characters into the world of Guardians as soon as he could. 

Luckily, Marvel has access to a bevy of female cosmic characters that have connections to The Guardians. Modern members include Mantis (former Avengers villain), half-Kree heroine Phylla Vell (daughter of Mar Vell/Captain Marvel, taking-up hero personas Captain Marvel, Nova and Quasar) and telepath Moondragon/Heather Douglas (daughter of Drax and lover of Phylla Vell). We could also see characters like cosmic royal Medusa (Inhuman member) and Asgardian bounty-hunter/assassin Angela (daughter of Odin and sister to Thor).

I'm still curious where the Starjammers movie rights land, considering only one of the characters (Corsair being the father of Scott Summers) is connected to the X-Men team. While the rest of the team of space-pirates are aliens not mutants, and likely aren't apart of the original Fox-deal. We've seen Marvel Studios share film rights to certain characters with Fox (such as Skrulls, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver). So, it's extremely possible that Marvel could have access to the X-Men cosmic universe, and their alien species/characters. Hepzibah, would be a favorite non-canon character to add to the films. Mainly, because she's a blue half animal/half humanoid space pirate, and fits the Guardians-mold.

Two of the original Guardians lineup were female. One named Nikki Gold, a human born on a futuristic colony on Mercury. The second being alien Aleta Ogord (Starhawk), from the planet of Arcturus. Aleta evokes the power of the Hawk-God, becoming Guardians member Starhawk.

All three of these characters would have extremely excellent visual design-work for their looks/costumes, not to mention could easily be placed within The Nova Corps, Yondu's Ravagers, Guardians or apart of the inhabitance of Knowhere (where the team sets-up their base of operations).

Let's also not forget that Thanos has other female minions, besides Nebula. If Thanos is the main villain of the sequel, including The Black Order would be a logical next-step. That would mean villains such as Proxima Midnight and Supergiant might make appearances. Nebula does mention other sisters, could these two be among them?

SOURCE: COLLIDER

New A-Holes We Want For GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2!

James Gunn is already beginning work on the script for Guardians of The Galaxy 2, as the director confirmed he's begun writing the sequel. The second installment already has a release date set for July 2017. We kind have an idea that Nova and Cosmo will likely have a part to play in the next movie. Yet, there are a few other Marvel cosmic characters we'd like to see used in the sequel as well.

ADAM WARLOCK: We had heard Warlock was going to have some sort of cameo in the film, but that likely was written-out or removed from the final cut. The assumption was that his cocoon in The Collectors' chambers would be involved in the film at some point, that didn't end-up happening. Warlock has worked alongside the Guardians for ages, and eventually becomes a member. He's crossed paths with Thanos on many occasions and is a major character connected to the Infinity stories. Having one of the infinity stones embedded in his forehead (soul gem), he's a sure-bet for the sequel. If, indeed Thanos will have most of the infinity stones by Avengers 3.

BLACKJACK O'HARE: It's likely a lock that Rocket's otter and walrus companions will have some role in the next installment, but I'd love to see the rabbit mercenary Blackjack O'Hare get his onscreen debut. He's a prime character to be a fellow bounty-hunter, antagonist to Rocket or just roaming around Knowhere as a hired-gun. Plus, a blue rabbit wise-cracking with Bradley Cooper's Rocket would be super-fun to watch. I'd honestly take him over Howard The Duck, but that's just my opinion.

THE INHUMANS: We've finally had the Kree Empire referenced in the films, and the success of Guardians could mean that Marvel will push-forward with their Inhumans movie. An ancient group of aliens experimented on by the Kree, are revealed to have superpowers when exposed to a mist. In the recent comics, Black Bolt releases this mist on the entire population of Earth. Which in-turn, creates a larger population of Inhumans on the planet. Some believe this is Marvel's way of creating another version of mutants for their film universe. Time-will-tell, but with a potential project that would end-up looking like X-Men meets Game of Thrones, it's a strong bet they'll have a film soon. Including them in small cameos, or at least introducing them in next Guardians film would make sense, if they are planning on expanding upon their existing cosmic universe.

HEPZIBAH: This skunk-humanoid would actually be a very interesting character visually, and could easily be one of Yondu's Ravagers (we've already heard James Gunn mention exploring the Ravagers a bit more). The space-pirate and member of the Starjammers, might actually be another shared X-Men character (similar to Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch). Since she's an alien (not mutant), and was included in her own series alongside the rest of the original Starjammers lineup.

I've also noticed neither Fox or Marvel have commented on the rights concerning the Starjammers. The only one of the group I believe Fox could claim is Cyclops' father Cosair. Starjammers will likely become something discussed between Lauren Shuler Donner and Fox, post-Guardians. Since, we've never had aliens referenced in the X-Men film franchise, I'm possibly leaning towards they don't have the rights to the entire lineup/name. If they do, they'll possibly combine them into the world they are creating for the new Fantastic Four. Considering, Fox has control of rest of Marvel's cosmic catalog of characters and alien races.

MAR-VELL: We've already mentioned the Kree, and our first introduction to them wasn't great with Ronan. They aren't all that bad, case-in-point Kree hero Mar-Vell, also known as Captain Marvel (which I assume the title will be given to Danvers). I'm not sure Mar-Vell would become a straight-up Guardian (like I assume Nova would just work with them for the common good), but he'll likely have conflicts with the Kree Empire. Which could lead him to leave their ranks and look elsewhere to do good. I'd also like to give a shout-out to Wraith, another Kree who is banished but becomes a hero in the Infinity saga.

CAROL DANVERS: Speaking of Captain Marvel, wouldn't it be great if we saw the origin of Carol Danvers' powers in Guardians 2? I know the rumors say that she'll appear in Age of Ultron, but we don't know if she'll even have her powers in the film. Perhaps, as a pilot she's testing-out a new spacecraft for Stark or S.W.O.R.D. and is either captured by aliens, or is brought into the cosmic world. Leading to her to be exposed to the Kree technology, with the accident that grants her superpowers.

ANGELA: One of the newest additions to the Marvel universe, and acquired from Image Comics/Todd Mcfarlane. This lady is another badass outsider, that screams Guardian. She actually worked with the team recently in the comics, and is also revealed to be the daughter of Odin (sister to Loki/Thor). She could be a bridge for the Guardians to go to Asgard, leading them to meet Thor (a solid way to lead to their team-up in Avengers 3) and The Avengers, warning them that Thanos is coming to Earth.

CORVUS GLAIVE AND THE BLACK ORDER: Ronan and Nebula were okay as the villains of the film, but they didn't have the greatest motivation. Well it just happens that they aren't the only henchmen Thanos has doing his dirty work. He has his own group of supervillains, which are named The Black Order. This group are his generals and take-out worlds for the Mad Titan. They seem like worthy adversaries for the Guardians and The Nova Corps for an upcoming sequel. A great one to focus-on would be Corvus Glaive, an antagonist of a majority of the cosmic universe (including Earth and the Inhumans).

SPECULATION: Joss Whedon Teasing Katee Sackhoff For Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Today, we saw a giant shake-up within the comic world of Marvel. We'll see an unnamed female character with connections to Thor, become the new Thor and picking-up his hammer (along with all of this powers). While some of the more moronic sides of fandom decided to spit their venom at this prospect, others rejoiced.

One of the people to send a message of support for this change-up was Avengers brain-child Joss Whedon. Who posted a message on twitter, which included an image of Battlestar Galactica's Starbuck played by Katee Sackhoff. The actress was the highlight of the series, even though the gender of her character was changed from the original. This could be just a quip on the part of Whedon to rally support for the progressive move by Marvel. Pointing-out an extremely successful gender-swap character from a beloved series.

Another idea, is that Joss could also be teasing to fans Katee's involvement in the MCU after-all. The actress confirmed months back to the SchmoesKnow podcast, she was having a meeting with Marvel Studios for future projects. A lot of people jumped on the idea (including myself), that Katee is a perfect casting candidate for Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel/Ms Marvel. A character that is heavily rumored to be apart of Whedon's Avengers: Age of Ultron.

We also know that Whedon has a thing for hiring television actresses for supporting roles in the franchise, just look at Cobie Smulders landing the Maria Hill role in the original. Placing Sackhoff in any sort of supporting role big or small, would be massive for the actress. Two of her Riddick co-stars (Vin Diesel and Dave Bautista) have already landed lead roles in next month's Guardians of The Galaxy, so piecing together these connections isn't off-base.

She could also be in the running for another role entirely. We have no idea what characters will show-up in the untitled Thor 3. There could be a direct link between this new Thor and what's to come with the next installment. I wouldn't doubt that this character makes a presence within the MCU sometime in the future. We've seen Joss get involved with the casting of Guardians, helping land Josh Brolin recently for the Thanos role.

I have my sneaking suspicions that this character could be in-fact be Angela, who has crossed-paths with The Guardians of The Galaxy and was revealed to be the sister of Loki/Thor in Original Sins. Who better to take-up the mantle of Thor, than his own sister? Marvel went out of their way to acquire this character from it's original series Spawn, which is odd as the company isn't in the business of buying other companies' characters. This character could very well help bridge the Avengers and Guardians, in a similar way Planet Hulk could. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to see more superheroines making their marks in the different franchises.


SOURCE: TWITTER

Marvel's Kevin Feige Talks DAREDEVIL, PUNISHER, ANT-MAN, AGE OF ULTRON, DOCTOR STRANGE And Hints At PHASE THREE Announcement At SDCC14

Marvel's Kevin Feige is the face of Marvel Studios. So, when he drops hints and talks about future films we should take notice. He recently made the press rounds during the London premiere of Thor: The Dark World. Kevin gives his thoughts on the recent Ant-Man casting rumors (via HuffingtonPost) and the fate of Daredevil and The Punisher (via BleedingCool). What James Spader's performance as Ultron will entail for Avengers: Age of Ultron (via HuffingtonPost). When we can expect Doctor Strange (via Movies), a female heroine getting a film and the rest of the Phase Three lineup to be announced.

"Well, sometimes it's because we are legitimately talking, and sometimes it's just because he's a prominent actor out there now. And lots of rumors surround prominent actors..."Well, nothing is true yet. I like Paul Rudd, too." 

“We’re trying to figure out what to do with Daredevil now. Punisher could show up at one point. You know, once we get characters back into the Marvel fold we don’t want to do something right away, we want to do the smart thing at the smart time.”

"Well, I think it will be more than a voice role -- we'll be capturing his face and his body to create a whole performance. He's a very unique and incredibly exciting and unpredictable actor. And Ultron in the comics is a robot, but what's cool about him in the comics -- and certainly how Joss Whedon is interpreting him for the movie -- is that he is much more than just a robot. That he's infused with much character. And I don't want to say too much, but you can imagine James Spader will be very dynamic in his portrayal of this character....[Laughs] We did not hire James Spader to do a robot voice."

“Doc Strange, as I’ve been saying for years, is a movie I believe we should make — we’re just figuring out how to make it a great movie. It is in active development right now,” Feige told us. “Whether that’s one of the movies we announce for 2016 or 2017, we have to see. I think it’ll be the middle of next year before we announce officially what the post Ant-Man films will be."

"I know we have numerous exciting female heroes, whether none of them are currently slated, some of them are in development -- frankly, you can look at what Jane Foster does in [Thor: The Dark World], look at Pepper Potts literally saving the day and defeating the bad guy in Iron Man 3, and I'd say we already have great female heroes that are showcased and play major roles in our universe now. Captain America: The Winter Soldier, as you will see, features Black Widow in her biggest role yet in any of our films. In terms of a solo standalone female hero, I'm not sure when that will be. We make two movies a year, we've planned through 2015 and we have some ideas of what we're doing in 2016 and 2017, so we'll see what happens."

At the moment Marvel hasn't made any official announcements concerning the rest of the Phase Three releases besides Ant-Man in July 2015. However, there are a few new characters they've been trying to put together for their own films such as Doctor Strange, Inhumans, Black Panther, Heroes For Hire (or solo films for Luke Cage/Iron First), Ms. Marvel, Black Widow and possibly a new Hulk installment.

Strange and Black Panther have scripts in place which led to lots of casting rumors concerning both projects. Names like Viggo Mortenson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Javier Bardem, Benedict Cumberbatch and Joel Edgerton have been linked over the last couple of years/months. I personally like the idea of having Tom Hanks (recently is campaigning for any superhero role) take the role which is expected to become the Tony Stark of Phase Three. Since Marvel has a tendency to consider Disney alumni and Oscar caliber actors, Hanks seems like a solid candidate. Plus, it wouldn't hurt to give some age to the character. Panther on the other hand has had a overwhelming amount of actors interested in the role. Two of them have been apart the MCU,  The Dark World's Idris Elba and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. Not to mention Guardians of The Galaxy's Djimon Hounsou who is among many favorites for the role. Along with others being linked or fan favorites such as Chadwick Boseman (42), Nate Parker (Non-Stop, Red Tails), Chitwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men, Serenity, 12 Years A Slave, American Gangster), David Oyelowo (The Butler, Planet of The Apes, Reacher), Aldis Hodge (Leverage) and Morris Chestnut (Kick-Ass 2, Nurse Jackie). It seems likely that both films are strong contenders for Phase Three.

The trades previously reported that Ms. Marvel has a script in development over at Marvel. Along with rumblings that Emily Blunt (Looper, Escape From Tomorrow) and Ruth Wilson (Luther, Lone Ranger) were in the running for the role. Even Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica, Riddick) tossed her hat in the ring for the part a few weeks back. We've heard Joss Whedon talk disliking the Carol Danvers incarnation of the character. So it's possible the studio could be going another route with her instead. Marvel recently bought Spawn's Angela and added her to books Age of Ultron and Guardians of The Galaxy. This combined with a new Ms. Marvel comic book on the way led BleedingCool to speculate that Angela could be the new Ms. Marvel. Allowing the character to exist without connections to The Kree and having defined/limited powers. While still having cosmic connections to The Guardians and even possibly Ultron. It's quite possible that Marvel could even move forward with Nicole Perlman's (Guardians of The Galaxy) script for the Black Widow film. Since Johansson's character will be getting a lot more screen time thanks to Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron.

Inhumans has been gathering steam for sometime and at one point was competing with Guardians of The Galaxy as the second last release in Phase Two, before Avengers: Age of Ultron. There is talk the film is going to be the MCU's version of the X-Men with Inhumans possibly replacing mutants. There is also talk of taking influence from Game of Thrones having warring factions within the world of Ihumans. Some speculation that Vin Diesel's real Marvel role could be that of Black Bolt and taking Groot in Guardians was just to get his foot in the door. Besides a script there isn't else much in place with the film but there is chatter it's further along in development than most suspect.

The Hulk was obviously the breakout character in The Avengers and around it's release there was talk that a new film could be on it's way. Joss Whedon and Mark Ruffalo talked about putting it together, with Joss considering writing it. Since then there had been rumblings that stories such as Planet Hulk (Hulk is banished to a warring planet which is populated with aliens as strong as he is) and Indestructible Hulk (Hulk is apart of S.H.I.E.L.D and is s hero rather than a fugitive) could be source material for a new string of movies. There's even a new cartoon Hulk And The Agents of S.M.A.S.H. which could be easily help influence a film. Instead of having Banner on the run making him the primary hero.