Does Marvel Studios Have Big Plans For Paul Bettany's VISION?

We haven't see Paul Bettany's Vision show-up in recent Avengers: Age of Ultron trailers but the actor seemingly already has an idea when we'll be seeing his character next.

Paul Bettany spoke to an Australian news outlet (via ComicBookMovie) giving the impression the studio has given him a better idea of what his future projects could be.

“That’s the really great thing about the Marvel gig for me. I have never known if I have had a job six months out ever in my life. And now I know that they have plans and I can be even more judicious about the stuff that I do outside of that work. I can wait for the right thing and feel really attached to it.”

There is a bit of chatter of where The Vision could be seen next, mainly he could be appearing in both Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. It hasn't been confirmed but sources are clearly hearing that Marvel wants more of the character.

During the early days of Marvel Studios they did commission a Vision feature film script when they first put together the Marvel screenwriters program, that program also gave Marvel drafts for Guardians of The Galaxy, Black Widow, Inhumans and possibly Captain Marvel.

Back in 2009, Variety reported on Marvel hiring a group of writers to develop film scripts for characters such as Nighthawk, Iron Fist, Doctor Strange, Black Panther and of course Vision. It's possible since Vision is getting an introduction in Age of Ultron that he could be a viable candidate for a spin-off.

In the future we could see Vision getting his own film or at the very least branching-out towards a bigger role which the latter is already expected via rumors. We really don't have a clue what Marvel wants to do in Phase Four, a lot of things could happen.

I'm sure Marvel wants to test the waters with how audiences react to him in Age of Ultron before moving forward with bigger plans.


SOURCE: CBM

Joss Whedon Fuelling Talk Russo Bros. Will Direct 'AVENGERS INFINITY WAR'

We've been hearing for months that The Russo Brothers will be taking huge steps to be the masterminds behind Phase Three movies starting with Captain America: Civil War. There's been chatter that they'll even be taking over directing duties on the Avengers franchise from Joss Whedon on Avengers Infinity War.

In a new interview with Empire Magazine (via Comic Book Movie), Joss Whedon is seemingly hinting to his exit of the Avengers franchise. Leading us to assume that the Russos will indeed be replacing him. Here's what Joss had to say when asked if he'd be returning to make more films.

"I couldn't imagine doing this again," he reveals, referring to the time and effort which has gone into the sequel. "It's enormously hard, and it be, by then, a good five years since I created anything that was completely my own. So it's very doubtful that I would take on the two-part Infinity War movie that would eat up the next four years of my life. I obviously still want to be a part of the Marvel Universe - I love these guys - but it ain't easy. This year has been more like running three shows than any year of my life. It is bonkers."

We haven't seen Marvel allow a director to make more then two installments within these franchises and it's looking like they won't be making the exception for Whedon.

This doesn't mean he's completely done with the Marvel universe, we know he's been trying to develop a new Hulk film and he could even be involved with Captain Marvel.

It should also be noted that there is a lot of material in Age of Ultron which is setting-up Black Panther, so that's a third project he could end-up working on.

Also, check out the first non-cartoon group photo of the Avengers on the cover of Empire.

SOURCE: EMPIRE 

Sony Rumored To Have Allowed SPIDER-MAN To Be Apart Of AVENGERS INFINITY WAR

He's just your friendly intergalactic Spider-Man.

There's been some clear signs post-Amazing Spider-Man 2 that the franchise is in real creative trouble and Sony Japan the people who pay the bills at Sony Pictures want things fixed soon. The company has been losing billions in most divisions and the studio isn't making huge strides compared to competitors like 20th Century Fox, Paramount or Disney.

Before the Sony email hacking leaks there had been chatter of Marvel and Sony getting together for a Spidey summit in January. The studio division was being pressured by Sony Japan to work something out with Marvel to obviously help the dwindling franchise which is seeing it's box office decrease with each installment.

We since had been trying to figure-out what was legit and what was bullshit from the Sony email leaks as many stories/rumors started flooding the film news cycle.

Goodbye Andrew.

Stories started coming out like Sony wanting to reboot Spider-Man a second time without actor Andrew Garfield who would be seemingly recast. Talk of his firing become a heated topic but a likelihood considering of the piss-poor job the films had been doing.

This had been a story over at Badass Digest even before the leak, suggesting that Sinister Six would be the film Sony would reboot the franchise. I have to assume this is a serious possibility and might be the end of Garfield as Peter Parker.

There was even talk that the studio would want to bring Parker back to high school and would mean a much younger actor would be replacing Garfield in the role.

22 Jump Street directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were linked to three different Spider-Man film projects including an animated film, replacing Marc Webb for Amazing Spider-Man 3 and being on Sony producer's wish-list to direct the reboot. It looked very likely the pair could be taking over the franchise soon.

The Russo Brothers pitched producing this new film to Sony and was chatter of Marvel Studios stepping-in to handle it's production. The Russos just released Captain America: The Winter Soldier last year, are about to being production on Captain America: Civil War and are apparently set to direct Avengers Infinity War. If Spider-Man is apart of the latter film, it could make sense to see them produce solo films in the future.

All things I'm sure fans would love to see happen but most of these ideas haven't been exactly confirmed by any recent reports.

Game on!

According to Latin Review, Sony has reached some sort agreement with Marvel and Spidey could indeed be apart of the lineup in Avengers Infinity War Part 1.  It had been said earlier that Sony missed it's window to have Parker a major player in Captain America: Civil War.

I won't to go into detail about their reasoning why Spider-Man is in the film but there are some extensive spoilers for Phase Three films within that write-up. Be warned, most of the films will be spoiled if you click-on and read Latino Review's story.

However, I can add which characters Latino Review believe are possibilities to appear in the film. They include Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Black Panther, Doc Strange, Ant-Man, Wasp, Captain Marvel, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Old/New Inhumans, Guardians of The Galaxy and any other cosmic characters. Oh, and Spider-Man.

I assume in the films leading-up to Infinity War we'll see the rise of Thanos with him getting his hands on all the infinity stones along with the gauntlet. As seen in the teaser footage for the film at the Marvel event back in October he will end-up getting these cosmic weapons.

This is a good move on the part of Sony as it raises the profile of the character and makes him cohesive to the wildly successful Marvel cinematic universe. Having Marvel getting involved is a huge bonus since they've been able to figure-out how best to use their characters cinematically.

Marvel has already shown how they could incorporate this character into their universe via The Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon series. Establishing the young hero as apart of the ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D. with Director Nick Fury as his mentor.

I'm curious if the cartoon will influence any of the direction Marvel will go with their take on Spider-Man.

The only draw-back I could see is that Sony asking Marvel to make their Spider-Man films in the future could slow-down the Marvel movie slate which we just saw bumped-up to three a year starting in 2017.

Then again, this is a rumor and could very well turn out not to be the case, so keep that in mind.

SOURCE: LATINOREVIEW

Kevin Feige Rumored To Attend SPIDER-MAN Summit And Why I Don't Buy Russos Directing Reboot

Unproven site ScreenGonzo is claiming to have a "scoop" concerning Sony's Spider-Man reboot and the summit taking place in January. They go on to say that Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige will be there and will want to see Avi Arad removed from the franchise. Feige being there to workout a deal with Sony for shared rights to the character, and their help producing a new trilogy. Avi has been seen as the real problem creatively with the franchise, and his unwillingness to take suggestions from filmmakers. We've heard that Webb kept hitting walls with the producer, when his input was unwanted during production. Marvel coming into the picture would mean they get creative control and that would mean goodbye to Avi, this I believe is just a fact of doing business if Marvel is involved.

They also mention that the Russo Brothers are going to be writing and directing this new trilogy. A few things seem fishy about this one and we'll come back to that later.

It's sort of a case of an educated guessing here via the leaked emails. We know that Kevin Feige would be involved in any meeting between Sony and Marvel Studios, that's sort of a no-brainer. We actually haven't heard from other sources that Marvel will be in attendance. The thing we do know is that Sony is now open to the idea of working with Marvel, thanks to a nudge by Sony Corp. An invite to have Marvel attend is very likely.

They go on to mention that Kevin Feige wants Avi Arad out of the producing role. Again, another educated guess and something we've already seen hinted to in an email between Amy Pascal and The Russos. Where the brothers pitch to Pascal about producing the new trilogy (not directing or writing) and having "tough" talks with Arad. If this was their grand pitch to Sony, why not include the bit about the desire to direct the films?

The biggest problem I have with this "scoop" is the part about the Russo Brothers directing a new trilogy. First, Sony seems hellbent on pitching Phil Lord and Chris Miller for the directing dig. They've been connected to Amazing Spider-Man 3, this reboot and an animated film, Sony is going to pitch hard for them to make the trilogy.

Second, they are directing The Gray Man and then two intallments of Avengers: Infinity War , which will take-up their time until 2019. I highly doubt that Sony is willing going to wait until 2020 to release another solo Spider-Man film. That's going to be five years without the studio raking-in profits from an installment, something that sets-off alarm bells for me. Sony is having serious problems with losses and they aren't going to sit on their biggest property for five years. Only releasing Sinister Six in five years makes zero sense to me.

Another problem I have is why would Marvel allow the creatives who are spearheading Phase Three just leave for a shared venture like Spider-Man? I'm sure the Russos will have a huge role in Phase Four, factor in the possibility that Joss Whedon and James Gunn might be done after their two films. They won't have the people to head-up Phase Four is they are busy directing a new Spidey trilogy.

I'd also like to point-out that Sony's wish-list for reboot directors is from November, which is around the time of this exchange between Sony and the Russos. You'd think their names would be on the list, but they are not. I believe that they will only be providing services as producers, as I've already pointed-out that Kevin Feige is already too busy with his duties with in-house Marvel Studio projects. It's extremely unlikely he'll take a hands-on producing role here, beyond casting and shaping the vision for it. The Russo Brothers seem like in better shape to help godfather the interests of Marvel as producers of the new trilogy.

Again, we'll see what happens because I do believe a lot of ideas will be on the table at this summit.

SOURCE: SCREENGONZO

Sony Wants Ryan Gosling For SINISTER SIX And Is The Role VENOM?

We've been hearing for weeks that studios have been talking with Ryan Gosling about comic book film roles. They included leads in Marvel's Doctor Strange and WB's Suicide Squad. Sony also wants Ryan Gosling for a superhero project, as Amy Pascal wanted to offer him an unknown role in Drew Goddard's Sinister Six. More fuel that Drew's film is still moving forward, but might need some Marvel re-tooling. Again, Drew is part of the Marvel Studios family via Daredevil and could easily work with Marvel and possible producers The Russo Brothers.

It was revealed yesterday that directors of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War have offered their producing services for future Spider-Man films. Something that Sony should pounce-on before they change their minds.

This is actually the first casting tidbit we've had concerning Sinister Six. We've been hearing for a while that Six could include a "soft-reboot" of the franchise via BadassDigest. Marvel stating they want a complete reboot and recasting Peter Parker, this sort of makes a lot of sense. I highly doubt Sony wanted him as a new Spider-Man, since the actor is even older than Andrew Garfield. It's been said that Garfield could have already been fired from the franchise.

There are plenty of other roles in Six that could have in mind for movie including the six characters and the rumored villain/hero of the film Venom. I'm going to speculate that Venom might have be the kind of role that would be worth offering to Gosling. I don't see him agreeing to play one of the regular villains. Venom is a role that lends itself to major crossovers with the existing Marvel cinematic universe, since it's very possible that Marvel could get involved with future projects. Six hasn't started shooting it's probable this could be the first film in the collaboration.

Venom has huge connections to the rest of the Marvel universe in the comics. If Marvel is indeed focused on ignoring both Marc Webb and Sam Raimi's films, they could go with the current version of Venom. Who has veteran Flash Thompson (maybe SHIELD agent?) as the current host and eventually becomes a member of The Avengers and Thunderbolts. You might remember that James Gunn (Guardians of The Galaxy) has mentioned a desire to give Thunderbolts their own film. Funny enough, Flash's Venom has also joined the ranks of The Guardians of The Galaxy as well. I still think Avengers: Infinity War could be the best place to give us the origin of the symbiote and Spider-Man.

However, Sony's original plan was to have Venom being created in the Oscorp labs, I assume in Sinister Six which had Amazing Spider-Man 2 spending all of it's time setting-up that movie. It's unlikely that will be Marvel's approach if they get involved.

Producer Avi Arad is still pushing the Venom solo film to Sony in emails, trying to convince them of the popularity and awareness of the character. Other Sony producers want to re-introduce him in Sinister Six before getting his own spin-off. Setting-up him and/or Carnage as the villains of the film, with Spidey having to team-up with the six villains. It's possible Venom could also take the place of Spider-Man in that film. (via NerdReactor)

Carnage is combination of a second symbiote spawned by Venom and his host Cletus Kasady who is a serial killer. One of the more dark characters in the Marvel cinematic universe, known for massacres.

The spin-off has had three directors involved over the years. Including Gary Ross who exited to direct Hunger Games, Josh Trank who exited to reboot Fantastic Four and Alex Kurtzman who exited to make the new Mummy movie. BadassDigest reported that the spin-off had been essentially axed by the studio. These email exchanges confirm the studio's cold-feet about the project. However, attaching someone like Gosling could be enough to bring it back to life.



If Sony is having a problem finding a director, they might as well consider Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 3, Knights of Badassdom, Everly) who directed the bootleg Marvel universe short film Venom: Truth In Journalism. He's the type of director that could catch the attention of Marvel Studios, and seems to "get" the dark side to the anti-hero. I'm still unsure if we'll ever see the Eddie Brock version again.

SOURCE: DAILYBEAST

Russo Brothers Offering To Produce New SPIDER-MAN Films And Confirm INFINITY WAR Directing Duties

The Sony leaks keep on rolling, as we actually have some Marvel talk now the focus. A Brazilian website Overtice (via CBM) is claiming they've found emails detailing exchanges between The Russo Brothers and Sony's Amy Pascal. The emails have the directors confirm they will indeed direct Avengers: Infinity War. They are also offering to produce new Spider-Man films, and mentioning a tough conversation with current producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach being "worth having". This makes sense since it's was their film Civil War that Marvel was trying get Spider-Man included.

A reply was never given by Pascal, but this is the first piece of development ideas that have been released concerning new movies. We know that Marvel has invested a lot into the Russos, having them mastermind the vision of the future of Phase Three. Winter Soldier proved they can handle huge sprawling superhero filmmaking, which has led to their hiring for major Marvel events like Civil War and Infinity War. Having them involved as producers with this new Spider-Man universe could work, as Kevin Feige's participation won't like have enough time to help.

This might also help support the idea that Spider-Man could have a real role in Avengers: Infinity War. Keep in mind we might need a second source to have dug up these emails, since this site isn't really known to us. A cool option that both Marvel and Sony should consider at that summit in January.

SOURCE: OVERTICE

Why Paul Rudd And Evangeline Lilly Are Likely Joining The Cast Of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

It was revealed this week, it's possible the real reason between the split of Marvel and Edgar Wright on the Ant-Man production. The likelihood was due the connectivity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Edgar's existing script. It's believed that Wright was keen on keeping his characters within his film, along keeping out references and characters from other films. Basically, he wanted to make a Marvel film set-apart from every single Marvel movie since Iron Man. I could see how that would cause massive tension between Edgar and the studio.

I'm unsure if the huge connection between Hank Pym and S.H.I.E.L.D., which is now a key plot point of the film was the main problem or only part of it. It's been confirmed that Agent Carter and Howard Stark will be appearing in the film, to connect Pym to the early days of S.H.I.E.L.D. It's possible he didn't want his film to be a cog in the Avengers machine, which is why they've been kept out of the Avengers films. There's only so long that Marvel could have played that game with Edgar.

We know that this could have been the main reason why both Ant-Man and Wasp were held-back in both Avengers (early storyboards confirm Widow replaced Wasp) and Age of Ultron. The tiny heroes being founding members of the team, along with Pym creating Ultron it all seemed fishy to exclude them from both films. I have a feeling the reason was Edgar wanted to tell the origins within his film, which kept getting delayed due to Wright's other projects and constant script revisions. Now, with Wright out of the picture it looks like at least one of the Ant-Man stories connected to the Avengers can be explored in Captain America: Civil War.

In the comics Hank Pym had a huge role within the Civil War storyline, training meta-human recruits at Camp Hammond. Something I believe was already teased with set photos from Age of Ultron. I wouldn't be overly shocked to see Scott Lang played by Paul Rudd, actually take over this persona along with Pym's daughter Hope played by Evangeline Lilly. Pym used both the personas of Yellow Jacket (will be seen in Ant-Man) and Giant-Man in the Ultimates, so it's possible these could show-up in the films too. We might finally have some heroic characters joining Team Stark.

It should be considered that we've come to expect crossovers with these films, and this Captain America sequel is our last chance for an Avengers-type story until the cosmic epic Infinity War. It's also odd that while we'll be seeing a Guardians sequel, Marvel didn't even mention an Ant-Man sequel as a possibility. Since the cast signed multiple-film contracts it's expected they will appear in a bunch of different movies, without a sequel announced we have to assume they'll show-up in other Marvel movies.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!! 

You might be saying to yourselves, hey we've already have plenty of people returning for this Captain America sequel. To tell you the truth, Civil War's story lends itself to a massive cast and we could end-up seeing something even bigger than we've seen previously with Avengers installments. It's also possible Black Panther might be the only new character getting his origin told in the film, leaving enough room for established characters to mingle.

That's unless Marvel does indeed feel the need to include Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel into the lineup. We've heard that Danvers could be a member of Team Cap at the end of Age of Ultron. Again, this film can handle a huge sprawling cast.

The only two that make sense at the moment are Maria Hill who is revealed to be working for Stark Industries at the end of Winter Soldier. Along with Stark's super-science buddy Bruce Banner, who will likely take the side of his best friend. If rumors are to believed via BadassDigest Cap's side will include pretty much everyone else from Age of Ultron. Such as Hawkeye, War Machine, The Vision, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and even possibly Captain Marvel.

I'm leaving-out both Thor and Black Widow, because we haven't heard how these two could be factoring into the film, it's possible the ending to Age of Ultron will actually explain their fates. I'm actually unsure if Widow survives this installment, due to exclusion in Civil War casting talk.

Not to mention possibly lining-up a starring role in Ghost In The Shell, which will likely keep her out of the production. Her death in Age of Ultron, might also explain why talk of a Black Widow film has been essentially erased lately from the spin-off table. Even when Feige talked about the Widow film recently, he referred to it as a prequel, a clue to Natasha's fate?

I'm sort of thinking Hulk or Ultron ends-up killing Black Widow in Age of Ultron, this shocking event might be enough to spark Civil War. Banner lost control on the helicarrier in Avengers and almost killed Widow once before. Let's not forget Natasha was killed by a team member in the Ultimates comics, and those comics have been influencing these films a lot. She's been revealed to the world and her death could see the government react with the Superhero Registration Act, headed-up by Tony Stark.

If by the hands of Hulk it could also lead to his Planet Hulk banishment that's been rumored for ages now. Pym (or Scott/Hope) might take the place of Dr. Reed Richards in the Illuminati lineup. Since, we'll likely have Doctor Strange, Black Panther and Black Bolt established around Infinity War's release.

In the case of Thor, Age of Ultron reshoots are said to include Idris Elba's Heimdall and Tom Hiddleston's Loki, will likely see Thor too busy with Asgardian affairs to worry about the conflict back on Midgard. I assume these scenes are being shot to setup the events of Thor: Ragnarok, which could be happening during Civil War. The assumption is that Guardians of The Galaxy 2 and Ragnarok, will be planting seeds if not entire plot points for Infinity War Part 1.

Basically, Scott and Hope could fill the void if both Natasha and Thor are being left on the sidelines for this movie. Leading up to the massive all-out galactic threat in Infinity War. It could also be revealed that either Pym, Scott or Hope are secretly Skrulls taking the form of the heroes to spy for Thanos. We've talked about his connection to the Skulls previously, and how Secret Invasion could have Thanos behind it.

The Russo Brothers Indeed In The Running To Direct AVENGERS INFINITY WAR

BadassDigest posted a juicy rumor that the Russo Brothers (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War) were being looked-at to takeover the Avengers franchise from Joss Whedon. Deadline is hearing the same thing and both parts of Infinity War could shoot back to back.

Marvel is investing a huge amount on the directing siblings. The more we hear about the plans for Captain America: Civil War the bigger it sounds like the film will be. Something we didn't really get with Iron Man 3, but will likely be our last quasi Earthbound Avengers installment. I'm also curious what this means for the future relationship between Whedon and Marvel. Will he move on, or will he try to tackle other Marvel properties like Captain Marvel and Hulk?

SOURCE: DEADLINE

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Split Into Two Movies And Thanos Confirmed As Villain

Plans for Avengers 3 were also revealed, confirming reports that indeed the movie was being split into two parts. Titled Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 coming May 2018 and Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 May 2019, the installments will be shown in theatres a year apart. A short teaser clip was shown, as seen above with Thanos holding the infinity gauntlet. The ultimate cosmic weapon in the universe. This confirms that Josh Brolin's Thanos will indeed be the villain of the film. It looks the footage is test-shots from Guardians of The Galaxy, which isn't surprising since he'll show-up again in the sequel.

The movie is said to be set mostly in space, which could mean that the Guardians will be crossing-over to fight a common enemy. It's unknown if we'll see characters like Captain Marvel or The Inhumans in the first installment, since their solo films will come after Part 1. There is already rumblings via BadassDigest that Thor will be sitting this one out, make of that as you will.

They didn't name writers, but it's been reported that when the Russo Brothers wrap-up Captain America: Civil War they could direct these two Avengers films. I'm not sure what this means for Joss Whedon, as the director might look at one of these other Marvel properties to direct. I wouldn't rule-out a new Hulk movie in Phase Four, or even taking a crack Captain Marvel.


SOURCE: MARVEL