As if they hadn’t already…
They’re doing the Civil War storyline for Captain America 3. Consider my mind blown. Whether or not you like the story, you have to admit it is an awesome/ bold idea.
It’s also a huge boon to the actors as it gives them another chance to change the characters we’ve come to watch on screen and keep them fresh and out of the oh “another sequel” syndrome. Downey can freaking nail it as a villain. Cannot wait.
I’ll believe it when I see a casting call for Black Goliath.
I’m not sure Civil War is right for the films, actually. They haven’t made identity secrecy an important part of the cinematic universe at all, and some of the most prominent characters to whom it matters (all the mutants and Spiderman, for example) aren’t usable for rights reasons. I’m sure the acting, effects, and script will be up to Marvel’s usual standards, but I worry about the main plot line not having enough resonance.
Based on what I’ve been reading They just got Spidey back for just this reason.
…they got the rights to Spiderman back? Link, please!
No way in hell would Sony sell off the rights to Spider-man. I wish Marvel could get them back, but there’s just no way. That said, I’d love to see Civil War. It’d also provide a segue for the future of Captain America casting if Cap’s denouement in the cinematic Civil War stays true to the comic version.
They didn’t get the rights back, but apparently they’re working out some deal to allow them to use the character. Nothing official, but this news now gives that story much more credence. Sony is set on Sinister 6 and possibly re-casting spidey. Now it makes sense if they actually work out the deal with Sony he would not necessarily be in this movie but make his appearance in the next wave of marvel films dealing with the fallout of the civil war. All I know for sure is they have my money.
Yeah, Sony has been having trouble getting traction on the Amazing Spiderman stuff. With how enormous the Marvel Cinematic Universe is doing they have a lot of leverage to negotiate a deal that would allow them to share in those successes while also creating more interest in their own Spidey films. They were obviously reluctant in the era of the Sam Raimi blockbusters but Amazing Spiderman 2 disappointed so here we are.
With reason. The first was so bad that I skipped the second entirely. I’m sure I’ll watch it on cable one of these days, but if not, oh well.
I actually liked the first one, but AS2 was not nearly as good.
I wonder if getting Civil War on screen means we’ll see the New Warriors? That was my favorite comic as a kid.
The rumors in the last few weeks as I understood them:
[ul]
[li]Downey was contracted for Avengers 3. [/li][li]The other main cast were more loosely contracted for “another Avengers movie” (beyond Avengers 2). [/li][li]Marvel and Sony were working on some kind of deal to get Spider-Man in the Marvel Studios universe (with Sony wanting him to be the center of the movie, allegedly)[/li][li]Fox is still dead-set on doing their own thing, which is why Marvel isn’t allowing any X-books to create any new characters (because Fox would have the movie rights), and Marvel’s basically dropping Fantastic Four books entirely.[/li][/ul]
And for each of these rumors of course I’d read denials or skepticism. This could be nothing more than a whole lot of wishful thinking. But the picture people were suggesting was
spoilery speculation
Avengers 2 ends with something setting up a very different group for Avengers 3. Possibly still nothing to do with Thanos. I’d also heard that rumored separately, that the final scene, maybe even the credits stinger, was somehow mostly new characters being introduced (or introduced to the Avengers at least). So RDJ would be in Avengers 3, but Thor, Cap, and presumably the rest would sit out while a new group does something in Avengers 3, and that sets up Avengers 4, which is the mother of all crossovers, probably with Thanos, with basically everyone who has been or will at that point have been in a movie showing up (except maybe w/o RDJ, because that would need a new contract). So the Avengers, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, probably even Daredevil and the cast of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. if you’re feeling crazy, and Spider-Man.
So I could sort of imagine these rumors fitting in with parts of those at least. It all sounds pretty crazy.
The dark undercurrent of all these rumors though is that they all come with whispers of how Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter is a penny-pinching asshole who will burn bridges and torpedo any or all of these plans if he thinks it’ll save a buck. The stinginess is in mentioned a lot, and there are stories of him screaming at people to take down Fantastic Four posters around the Marvel offices or something.
This Variety story breaking the Cap 3 news mentions it as well. It sounds like there either is or could be tension between him and Kevin Feige (Marvel Studios president) if Feige has to keep fighting with him just to keep things on track, and I think that relationship is where the success or failure of the MCU will lie, not any specific actor contracts at this point.
The incredible, unprecedented run of awesome we’ve been blessed with has to end eventually. I’ve been dreading the day it arrives, and “suits ruining everything” seems like one of the likeliest doom scenarios.
The runaway success is Marvel Studios’ own worst enemy when it comes to actor compensation. It’s hard to keep making these movies when your principles are all commanding 20-40M each for every appearance.
That’s really interesting. I presume that Fox’s rights to the characters expires at some point, right?
From the things I’ve read RDJ is the only one who makes the really big dollars now. I’d guess that could be changing in future movies although I don’t see how even an Avengers movie could support a whole ensemble cast with those kind of paychecks. Maybe why they are looking at new characters which means new lower paid actors.
As far as I know, no. Both Sony’s rights to Spider-Man and Fox’s rights to X-Men and Fantastic Four apparently continue for as long as they keep making movies with them. I don’t know the specifics, and I’m not sure if they’ve ever been public.
This is correct. The deal for both licenses was that as long as movie production continued, the rights will never revert. This is was why it was such a gigantic deal way back when Marvel signed them over to the studios. There were a lot of pundits that opined that Marvel would shortly regret the terms, but Marvel was in bad financial trouble. It was either sign over their (at the time) two most valuable properties or liquidate. Additionally, in the case of Spider-Man, there was a licensing dust-up between Marvel, MGM, Columbia, and Sony.
In all fairness though, the deal is what kept Marvel afloat leading to the media juggernaut they’ve become. They’ve done a terrific job turning everything other than Spidey and mutants into guaranteed blockbusters.
And who the hell would have seen that coming? Before RDJ’s fantastic Iron Man, Marvel didn’t seem to have any characters worth portraying in a movie setting. Thor? Iron Man? Captain America? All second tier characters, really, in the comicverse. Marvel deserves a hell of a lot of credit for turning these characters into headliners, especially when you compare them to DC and how DC has failed to do the same.
Oh for cryin’ out loud, really?
I will say that it’s going to be really weird to see Spider-Man up in the same movie with Iron Man and Captain America if they get this deal worked out. I’m used to Spidey inhabiting an entirely different universe thanks to the movies.