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'Ant-Man' Cometh, and More Fallout From 'Iron Man''s Golden Weekend
Posted by Defamer Hollywood at 2:25 AM on May 7, 2008
Gosh, Marvel Studios, just take a minute to chew your food, would you? Less than 24 hours after its debut picture Iron Man finished a $100 million opening weekend, studio boss David Maisel was all over town announcing Marvel's forthcoming slate — through 2011. As we noted yesterday, an Iron Man sequel is naturally to follow on April 30, 2010, while an adaptation of Thor will drop that same summer on June 10. It gets fairly outrageous from there: The First Avenger: Captain America appears May 11, 2011, followed by The Avengers — combining Iron Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk and Thor a mere two months later. (The studio says its sitting out 2009 as a result of a development lag left over from the writers strike.)
And there's more: "Ant-Man also is in development," notes Variety, "with Edgar Wright attached to write and direct, but that project has yet to be dated." And some fucking crackhead fanboy just started a rumor that Matthew McConaughey leads the candidates to portray Captain America. And then, after the jump, there's the Iron Man Oscar hype. Jesus Christ — stop the Marvel gossip mill already, we want off.
We somehow (perhaps willfully?) overlooked Ken Tucker's blog post yesterday at Entertainment Weekly, where the critic is assembling his own rusty scrap bandwagon on behalf of Robert Downey Jr.'s chances come awards season:
Hey, remember the whining about the last Oscar telecast, with its low-wattage star vehicles and lower ratings, and all the hand-wringing the media, including EW, did over how to improve the Oscars? Here's a thought. Hey, Hollywood and the Motion Picture Academy: Take a closer squint at the big summer movies. Take them, ahem, seriously. As far as I'm concerned, Downey's performance should go on any short list that anyone draws up of potential Oscar nominees.
We don't object to his consideration; we do object, however, to the conjuring of Oscar "short lists" in the first week of May. Unacceptable, Tucker! You can't suck if you shut your mouth; give it a try.
Finally, and on a little more upbeat note, another tip of our cap to the Golden Schlub: Jon Favreau, who's also in EW today noting that he wants to do the sequel, confirming Robert Downey Jr. is under contract for it and contextualizing the star's massive comeback:
[W]hen you go into the Cinerama Dome ... I went up there and intro'd the movie, and as a surprise brought Robert Downey Jr. up, and then everybody jumped to their feet. It just hit him. ... It's exciting for everybody, because he's a guy that I think a lot of people wrote off. It's inspiring when somebody who sort of has his work cut out for him actually accomplishes that and comes back bigger and better than he was before. I mean, that's the American dream — and it oddly somehow relates to Tony Stark. And when art imitates life, you're onto something. I learned that off Swingers.
Congrats again to all involved, and we'll see you in June after The Incredible Hulk's disappointing $55 million opening has Marvel execs bitterly curtailing Ant-Man until at least 2015.
- Marvel unveils super schedule [Variety]
Tags: ant man | comic book movies | comic books | hero overdose | iron man | jon favreau | marvel studios | matthew mcconaughey | robert downey jr | the incredible hulk
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
secretagentman
Posted 2:57 AM 7/5/08
What it all comes down to with Hulk is that it's CGI. No matter how good it is, you know it's CGI and when you see it, it immediately takes your head out of the movie. Does for me anyway. It will suck and they will lose huge bucks.
secretagentman
Fama Est
Posted 2:49 AM 7/5/08
So when will Downey face his most feared nemesis, Relapse? Also, I have an idea for a superhero: Gossip Girl! She waits til your back is turned, then attacks with her tongue! Her secret underground base can be called the G Spot.
Fama Est
hummingpenguin
Posted 2:48 AM 7/5/08
Tucker, the Oscars are for the best acting, not the most popular. That's why we have the Blockbuster Awards. And Downey is great for the kind of movie he's in - he absolutely elevates the material - but it doesn't compare to Chaplin or Zodiac or his other really high-caliber performances.
Hulk is totally the red-headed stepchild now, isn't it? Can't do anything right, no matter what. Oh well. I'll be there and I'll enjoy it and I could give a shit about Ant-Man.
hummingpenguin
CourageousCoward
Posted 2:43 AM 7/5/08
Ant-man?! I hate that fucking "comedian!" So not funny. And hosting a TV show?! C'mon now.
CourageousCoward
bowleen
Posted 3:34 AM 7/5/08
"You can't suck if you shut your mouth; give it a try." Classic.
bowleen
bittergreen
Posted 3:31 AM 7/5/08
Hopefully an Ant-Man movie is just impetus DC needs to greenlight the rumored Dogwelder movie.
bittergreen
Benovite
Posted 3:27 AM 7/5/08
At this point Marvel should team up with other studios and include Iron Man in practically every movie from now until the sequel.
Benovite
hummingpenguin
Posted 3:15 AM 7/5/08
@Dr. Spaceman: lol, exactly.
hummingpenguin
nick_r
Posted 3:10 AM 7/5/08
Soooo... when does Defamer start whining about how Iron Man is two measures too precious and everyone who likes it is a stupid pretentious hipster?
nick_r
Dr. Spaceman
Posted 3:10 AM 7/5/08
@secretagentman: Exhibit A: the six Lord of the Rings and Star Wars prequels. Money losers all.
Dr. Spaceman
WatTooSoon
Posted 3:08 AM 7/5/08
Matthew McConaughey as Captain America? I'm pretty sure Captain America wore a shirt.
Sgt. Rock though was always shirtless.
WatTooSoon
TheStarterWife
Posted 3:07 AM 7/5/08
Look, I love RDJ as much as the next guy, but didn't we hear the exact same spin about "an actor Hollywood wrote off after the release of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang?
The man didn't go anywhere.
TheStarterWife
mitchel_stevens
Posted 3:43 AM 7/5/08
@nick_r:
the second a stupid pretentious hipster tries to make up dumb reasoning, sir. so...congrats!
mitchel_stevens
STV
Posted 3:36 AM 7/5/08
@nick_r: Um, never?
STV
secretagentman
Posted 4:13 AM 7/5/08
@Dr. Spaceman: @denominator
:Yes, thank you all for pointing those out, I am aware. I'm not new. I didn't like fake spidey and didn't enjoy Gollum so I guess it really is just me who finds the CGI annoying.
If Hulk makes more than it cost then I will eat my words and buy y'all Hulk shakes from Burger King.
secretagentman
nick_r
Posted 4:10 AM 7/5/08
@STV: You mean you're okay with the rest of the public liking the same thing you like?
God bless you, sir.
nick_r
denominator
Posted 3:59 AM 7/5/08
@secretagentman: ummm... you're aware that the iron man suit was CGI, right? (not to mention spiderman)
denominator
KateNonymous
Posted 4:37 AM 7/5/08
Ant-Man? Really? Then I guess my predicted "Dazzler" movie can't be too far behind, can it. Because you just know it'll star Jessica Simpson. In mirrored roller skates.
KateNonymous
denominator
Posted 4:33 AM 7/5/08
@secretagentman: Oh, no, don't get me wrong, the Hulk is going to be terrible. I'm not sticking up for Ed Norton's The Incredible Hulk, just against the premise that CGI = suck.
denominator
ChristopherCampbell
Posted 4:09 AM 7/5/08
I don't get why Marvel couldn't do Ant-Man for 2009. Edgar Wright claimed to have finished his script and was in meeting with the studio. Perhaps it wasn't ready yet, but now Marvel has no movie for next summer and Wright is off doing other projects.
ChristopherCampbell
Juancho
Posted 5:21 AM 7/5/08
@WatTooSoon: I would love to see someone like Matthew Fox in the role, but watch them skew even younger, and go for a relative unknown.
@denominator: minor quibble, but there were also full-size models.
@Pop Socket: are we talking original universe or Ultimates? Because if you stayed past the end credits of Iron Man, you know they're setting this up for Ultimates.
/outgeek'd
Juancho
Pop Socket
Posted 4:52 AM 7/5/08
Does Ant-Man still beat his wife? Because that is the sort of emotional depth that actors love.
God, I am such a comic geek.
Pop Socket
hummingpenguin
Posted 5:29 AM 7/5/08
@denominator: can i ask why fanboys are hating on Hulk so much? because the first one sucked? don't like the property? i seemed to have missed a memo.
hummingpenguin
ReverseCarpetbagging
Posted 6:25 AM 7/5/08
I feel like someone should post the old SNL skit of the Superhero cocktail party. Belushi and company are hilarious and Ant Man makes an appearance.
ReverseCarpetbagging
Sasquatch
Posted 6:18 AM 7/5/08
Kirkman did such a kick-ass job with his short-lived Ant-Man run. It's too bad they won't tap him to write the screenplay.
Seriously, the well is starting to run dry. When I see a "Jubilee" movie, I'll know the shark has been jumped.
Sasquatch
Benovite
Posted 7:09 AM 7/5/08
@ReverseCarpetbagging: This one? [www.tv.com]
@hummingpenguin: I'm not a Hulk fan because I think it's a very shallow concept. Some guy gets angry, turns big and green and goes on a rampage.
If he were part of a team(like Fantastic Four's Thing) I think I'd enjoy it more but as a stand-alone superhero(is that what Hulk is?), it's snoozeville.
Even in the unlimited possibilities of cinema today, it's incredibly hard to do a good Hulk movie.
The link below is by far the best version I've ever seen of the Hulk...because he's part of a team with Spidey and Iron Man(and it's all action)-
[link.brightcove.com]
Benovite
raincoaster
Posted 7:52 AM 7/5/08
Didn't they mean ANTM Man?
raincoaster
Juancho
Posted 7:51 AM 7/5/08
@Benovite: I think that's why Peter David's original run on the book was so good. He took a savage character, made him intelligent, and gave him a good marriage/friends. And it was damned funny.
Juancho
Sleepyhead
Posted 7:58 AM 7/5/08
@Pop Socket: I think it was only that one time, and she was for sure asking for it. You know, telling all the other wives "Oh, that's not why they call him Ant-Man...."
Are they going to address the fact that he also became Giant-Man and then became Yellowjacket before going back to being Ant-Man?
Sleepyhead
Benovite
Posted 8:55 AM 7/5/08
@Juancho: Hmmm, I haven't read it. Sounds interesting though, especially if it's supposed to be funny.
Btw I think I linked it wrong the first time. This link should be the episode that includes the [cool]Hulk:
[brightcove.vo.llnwd.net]
Benovite
Omelas
Posted 11:59 AM 7/5/08
Huh, I thought conventional wisdom already held that "The Dark Knight" would be the awards-winning superhero movie of the summer ...
Omelas
hummingpenguin
Posted 10:42 AM 7/5/08
@Benovite: fair enough, thanks. i was curious.
hummingpenguin
hitchenaride
Posted 6:09 AM 12/5/08
I'm with you...some CGI works, but both the Hulks look FAKE!!@secretagentman:
hitchenaride