So, why bother doing an entire post about speculation? The stakes are high, if you've been hoping for more Marvel heroines on the big screen, especially one with superpowers who could also be in The Avengers 2. It's also just so irresistibly old-school Marvel. Let's look at some of the evidence that might just point to the Wasp.

As I said, these are all theories and rumors, based on tidbits of information that may or may not be related. Not to mention that all we really have to go on is that Stephanie Szostak is a female actor in a Marvel movie. There are tons of characters she could be playing -- but the Wasp is looking pretty good.

Rumor Patrol: Iron Man 3 To Introduce The Wasp? [Screen Rant]

Photo credit: Marvel

(Video link) Above is the official trailer for Iron Man 3, in which we will catch up with Tony Stark after the events of this year's The Avengers. And it looks like he's, well, going through some stuff and having to deal with things related to Tony Stark and not just Iron Man. And then also the Iron Man stuff, like his new foe the Mandarin (played by Sir Ben Kingsley). This is what I like the most about superhero movies -- when they remember they're people, too. (via MarvelUK on YouTube)

I love raccoons. Raccoons are my friends!

But really:

I would be very honored and pleased to work with James Gunn again... Whether it will happen or not, I don’t know... Write this up. Tweet the fuck out of it. If the fans want me as Rocket Raccoon, Marvel will listen to you guys, I think, sometimes... Perhaps I will be lucky and blessed enough to go in there, and go at it with Mr. Gunn again, who knows?

Okay! So, he's more eager to work with Gunn than he is to be Rocket Raccoon (he says he hasn't "done much research on it at all yet"). But he's totally committed to taking the Betty White-social media route, and that makes him one thing for sure: an efficient campaigner.

Photo credit: AMC

Which Legendary Character Actor Has the Crazy Eyes and Wants To Be This Pint-Sized Bad@ss, Rocket Raccoon? [Pajiba]

Yesterday brought the exciting, but not at all unexpected news that Joss Whedon will return to write and direct the sequel to this year's superhero success The Avengers. While that's basically the gist of it, there is a little bit more information coming out about his involvement in not just Avengers 2, but also a live-action Marvel TV series for ABC and further contributions to other Marvel movies. I think this is what happens when you make a bunch of cult shows that get canceled before they should, and then karma repays you generously. Or shawarma. One of those things.

Here is the official statement from Marvel Studios:

“Joss Whedon has signed an exclusive deal with Marvel Studios for film and television through the end of June 2015. As part of that deal, Whedon will write and direct Marvel’s The Avengers 2 as well as help develop a new live action series for Marvel Television at ABC. He will also contribute creatively to the next phase of Marvel’s cinematic universe.”

It's probably safe to say that the Avengers thing was a given. But now Whedon will be involved with the other Marvel movies? Like Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, the sequels to Thor and Captain America? Maybe his contributions will only serve to tie everything together, like the post-credits scenes that led up to The Avengers. Or maybe he'll be in charge of a series of "one shot" short films, like Item 47, which will be on the Blu-ray for The Avengers. Whatever he's doing, it's reassuring news that Whedon is officially on board.

Now, about this live-action TV series. It just so happens that there is already a Marvel TV series in the very early stages of development -- Guillermo del Toro's Hulk series. It also just so happens that del Toro was hinting at a very big name writer for this show following a meeting with Marvel:

I had one meeting with Marvel after Avengers and we had a very, very good chat. We have a writer that we want to bring on board, a very, very concrete name. I can't reveal it, but we want to wait for that writer. It's a writer who is otherwise engaged. So right now we are in a holding pattern until that writer becomes free. Then we're going to do a new draft of the script.

Well, that's curious, isn't it? It's pure speculation, so don't take it as any species of fact or truth, but it's certainly interesting. It's also probably more likely that Whedon has been marinating his own ideas for a while now (::coughcough::Black Widow series::coughcough::), and now he has all this Marvel clout (and money) to make it happen.

As of right now, all we know for sure is that Joss Whedon is Marvel's right-hand man until June 2015. And I doubt anyone will be complaining about that.

Joss Whedon on board for 'Avengers' sequel, working on Marvel-based TV show [EW]

This casting news comes a couple of weeks after Mads Mikkelson backed out of the then-unnamed villain role, citing scheduling conflicts with his work on NBC's Hannibal series. When he was cast, and even when he'd left, we still didn't know which Thor foe he was supposed to be playing. But now, with news of Eccleston's casting, we finally have a name: Malekith! Malekith the Accursed! Malekith, ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim! And according to io9, "he dresses like a Mardi Gras float crashing into a Scandinavian black metal music video." And that? That is fantastic.

Eccleston, a seasoned British actor whose career includes a twisted role in Danny Boyle's Shallow Grave, has played his fair share of villains, such as Major Henry West in 28 Days Later and Destro in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. And when he played the Doctor in the first series of the new Doctor Who, he was happy-go-lucky while also war-torn and scarred. So my prediction is that his Malekith will be an evil combination of badass and impish. Oh, the slumber parties he and Loki will have!

Christopher Eccleston will play Thor 2's villain, Malekith the Accursed! [io9]

The news comes from Latino Review, which has been so accurate about its Marvel news that Marvel actually threatens them. According to the site, Wright is apparently rushing to get the third movie of his "Blood and Ice Cream" trilogy, The World's End, into production in London so he can transition right into Ant-Man as soon as Thor 2 is finished shooting next spring or summer. This means that 2014 will be what the kids call a "bigass year" for Marvel, giving us Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy in addition to Ant-Man, all in the same year.

All that awesome news, and still nothing about who will be playing Ant-Man himself, Dr. Henry Pym, or if Janet van Dyne (aka the Wasp) will be part of this story. But more importantly: How will Ant-Man, a founding member of the Avengers along with the Wasp, figure into the sequel to The Avengers? So much Marvel goodness, so many questions!

Marvel expected to release Edgar Wright's 'Ant-Man' in 2014 [Geeks of Doom]

The plot begins when Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor, and the Hulk drop by the hometown of Phineas and Ferb to track down the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz, who took away all their superpowers. While they're trying to regain all their lost powers, they'll have some familiar bad guys to worry about -- Venom, the Red Skull, M.O.D.O.K., and Whiplash, all of whom are working with Doofenshmirtz.

And if you're wondering if any of this crossovery goodness has anything to do with all the live-action Marvel sequels coming out with all those superheroes, then give yourself a pat on the back for keeping up with current events! This is a very fun and not-at-all-secret way to remind everyone that 1. Disney owns Marvel, and 2. all those young Phineas and Ferb fans might also like to see the sequels to Iron Man and Thor (both 2013), and Captain America and The Amazing Spider-Man (2014) with all those cool Marvel characters in them. Because when you've got a humble little creative upstart like Disney, you need to do something to create awareness.

Marvel heroes get a new-era mission -- dropping in on a Disney cartoon [Hero Complex]

On July 14, during the Marvel panel at Comic Con, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige revealed that the studio's second big movie for 2014 (following Iron Man 3) was going to be Guardians of the Galaxy, and that one of the characters would be Rocket Raccoon. A couple of weeks before that, in late June, Latino Review caught wind of this information and started reporting on it.

Now, Marvel is purportedly saying that this leak was unauthorized and they want to know who did it and no one gets hurt. Latino Review reports receiving a very passive-aggressive email on the matter, and replying with a challenge: "Maybe send us a more realistically written form letter and we'll start to care."

Send from an "independent security consultant" who claims to have worked for Marvel since 1982, it accuses the editors of Latino Review of disseminating "confidential, non-public information concerning Iron Man 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy." Judge for yourself.

The executives at Marvel are extremely upset regarding the release of this information and they have instructed me to find you and ascertain how you received it. My goal is to accomplish this in a quiet manner. I do not want to see you or anyone else get into trouble nor do I want to see anyone’s career be tarnished because of this. However I am very confident that through your efforts and mine, we will be able to work through this together. I personally feel that you did not have any malicious intent when you posted your spoilers on the fanboy website [Ed. note: emphasis mine]. Like many fans out there, you just wanted to be the first one to post something on the internet. I get it, however the Iron Man 3 and Guardians of the Galaxyinformation was confidential and you did not have Marvel’s consent to post it. That was illegal!

If you provide me with your source, I will make it worth your effort. I want to work with you. As I stated above, I do not want to see you or anyone else get into trouble. That would be a lose-lose for everyone. I would hope that you are now realizing that this is a very serious matter and the consequences will be quite severe if I do not find out how you obtained the Iron Man 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy information.

My goal is to ascertain how you got the Iron Man 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy informationand make this go away. All information you provide will remain confidential, even your identity. Your source will never know. Let’s work together and make this happen before it is too late. To date, everyone I have worked with has not suffered any consequences. I do not want to see this situation get blown out of proportion. However if we do not work together, I will have no choice but to take this investigation to the next level and I will not stop until this investigation is completed.

...

I’m not stealing anything. I hear things and people I know hear things, then you talk to all the people who are in a position to know things and see if Person A can confirm Person B (and, ideally, Person C).

That's how reporting works, and that's what the head of Marvel's security department doesn't seem to understand. And no, Latino Review does not have to reveal their sources because 1. Journalism 101 and 2. a disclaimer appearing at the bottom of this email said that "Nothing contained in this e-mail shall (a) be considered a legally binding agreement, amendment or modification of any agreement with Marvel." So, good then! Latino Review can go ahead and ignore it. So can any other site that may have received it.

The Hollywood Reporter -- which identifies the security consultant as Rob Grosser -- says that insiders believe that the consultant may not realize that Latino Review is a journalistic web site, as opposed to a competing studio, or a company trying to use their content for advertising, etc. But they also include the legal precedent set by web sites being allowed to protect sources who leaked designs for new Apple products. (They can.) And trying to beat a precedent set by a case involving Apple is going to be a tough one, to say the least.

Marvel might not know what reporting is [Latino Review]

While there was no Diamond Jubilee for Marvel like there was two years ago when the cast of The Avengers was first revealed (remember that, you guys?), it was still "exciting business as usual" with the panel for Iron Man 3, which featured Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle (making penis jokes, according to the AV Club, and that's just delightful, because what better people to watch make penis jokes, really?), and Feige, the head of Marvel Studios. That's where Phase Two was mentioned, and it's pretty straightforward what it's all about: all the sequels to all the Marvel movies that have been made in the last few years. There's Iron Man 3 hitting theaters May 3, 2013, plus Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier (coming April 4, 2012) and Thor 2: The Dark World (November 15, 2013). No real plot details about either of the latter two movies were revealed, but readers of the comics are speculating that the Cap sequel will include the return of Bucky Barnes, who we all saw fall to his death in the first movie. But since Bucky was resurrected as the Winter Soldier in 2005, then it kind of makes sense for people to speculate about something so blatantly obvious.

What did get some special attention was the non-sequel news, specifically new information about Guardians of the Galaxy -- expected to fill the August 1, 2014 slot -- for which Feige provided some concept art (a tease of which appears above; see AV Club for the full picture) as well as one of the characters, the Guardian of the Keystone Quadrant himself, Rocket Raccoon.

Don't be fooled -- just because you have seen a similar creature dead on the side of the road does not mean you should underestimate Rocket's superb marksmanship.

Edgar Wright, who was lying about being in London and not Comic Con while he was totally at Comic Con, also showed his test footage for Ant-Man also showed off his test footage for Ant-Man, which has also been officially confirmed. That video has not hit the web yet (because Wright must be holding a gun to someone's head), but Empire has a blow-by-blow:

It begins with two agents - ominous, shades-wearing - at the end of a long, white corridor. We pull back behind an air vent to reveal... Ant-Man, tiny as they come, sporting a red-and-black suit, with a mask that's a nod to the original Kirby design. ... He then jumps through the vent, runs along the corridor and zaps to normal size. The agents draw their guns. Ant-Man changes back and leaps INTO the mouth of one of the agents, knocking him out. He then grabs the tie of the other and flips him through the window. Agents dealt with, he changes back to normal size, enters an elevator and then zaps back down again.

All we know is that Ant-Man is really, truly happening -- no casting, no release date, basically nothing except precious hope.

Marvel unveils surprise plan to keep making Marvel movies [AV Club]

According to The New York Post, Scarlett Johansson will become Hollywood's highest-paid woman, snagging a cool $20 million paycheck for assembling for the sequel to this spring's humble, low-budget sleeper hit The Avengers. This will mean that for her supporting role -- because there was no official lead in the ensemble superhero flick -- she will receive one million more dollars than Angelina Jolie made for her lead role in The Tourist, which was a colossal flop and a running joke at the Golden Globes in 2011. Does this mean more screen time for the Black Widow? Does it mean shawarma every night of the week? Is she making anywhere near what Robert Downey Jr. will make? (Answer to that: No, but no one is, really.)

E! is saying this might just be a rumor, that such a paycheck has not been confirmed by Johansson's reps. But that doesn't necessarily mean that $20 million is that unreasonable, at least by Hollywood standards. For one thing, Scarlett Johansson is what the kids call "like, super famous." And people who are super famous make super amounts of money. Think back to the mid-1990s when Jim Carrey was super famous, at the apex of his career, and became the highest paid comedy actor in Hollywood by getting $20 million (in 1995 dollars!) for The Cable Guy. (A movie that is excellent, by the way.) People thought that was insane! But $20 million now is practically pocket change for The Famous, except when it isn't. Sometimes it's a big deal, like when it's breaking records. Julia Roberts broke that record-slash-glass ceiling after she kicked all that ass in Erin Brokovich back in 2000.

Mostly, if this $20 million paycheck is true, it's a generous raise from the $400,000 Johansson received for her first appearance as Black Widow in Iron Man 2. "We liked you that much, and we also made that much, so let's go ahead and make sure you come back so we can recreate all the good times we had." [Not an actual quote, just an imagined scenario.]

For a comparison, Robert Downey Jr. will probably end up with over $50 million for the first movie (that's including box office bonuses, backend compensation, etc. not just the initial paycheck). The rest of the cast -- Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, and Chris Hemsworth -- all agreed to relatively small salaries plus bonuses and will make $2-3 million each. Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson actually got about twice that much, plus bonuses. However, in addition to Johansson, everyone will likely get themselves a hefty, hefty raise for the sequel.

But if you really want to stick someone with the bar tab, make it Johnny Depp, who made an estimated $250 million on all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

(New York Post via Blastr)

[Video Link]

Above, "Disassembled," a wonderful, not-authorized-by-Marvel animated take on Avengers characters and other figures of the Marvel universe by Junaid Chundrigar.

"I decided to make this short animation after drawing some Marvel characters in a cartoony style," he explains. If you like this, you'll love his previous short, "Sheeped Away." More of his animated work here.]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/05/15/disassembled.html/feed 4 http://boingboing.net/2012/02/11/marveldisney-wages-petty-vic.html http://boingboing.net/2012/02/11/marveldisney-wages-petty-vic.html#comments Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:17:23 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=143465 This much is certain: Gary Friedrich created the Marvel comics character Ghost Rider. Freidrich sued Marvel (and its new owners, Disney) because he claims that he never signed away the rights to his character, and thus the feature film based on the comic was illegal.