Marvel‘s Cinematic Universe is a big hit, yes? Judging by all the box office records broken by The Avengers, now only to be re-broken by Iron Man 3 with its $700 million+ earned so far, it’s safe to say there’s no franchise bigger or more profitable than Marvel’s. And at this point, you have to wonder how much of this franchise’s success is from love of these characters, or was it the performances of Roberty Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Chris Hemsworth that made Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor mega-stars?

By now, Marvel’s got themselves a reputation of tying actors into long contracts for little pay – obviously, we’re talking comparatively, whatever an actor makes can never really be called “little pay” – which works out great for Disney and Marvel when they’re looking to make at least two or three sequels. Evans’ is current signed into a six-picture deal, after renegotiating down from nine, and Mark Ruffalo is signed on for six, Avengers being his first. And what their paid is a pitiful fraction of their film’s earnings.

Not so for RDJ. He, smartly, had his agents renegotiate his contract after the first Iron Man which is what allowed him to take home over $50 million from The Avengers‘ haul. And he’s doing so again, because officially RDJ doesn’t have to put on the metal suit even if Tony Stark/Iron Man are an integral part of The Avengers 2. So the question is, how much will Marvel have to pony up to re-sign RDJ? And is that an option? I know, I know, it’s unimaginable to think they’d ever recast Tony Stark but if a company believes they can make a good enough product for cheaper, they will. Let us not forget, as Screen Rant rightly reminds us, Terrance Howard was the highest paid actor in Iron Man and look how quickly they recast him once he asked for more money.

Now, yes, Howard is no RDJ, but what of his Avengers‘ co-stars? How will they fare in their contract negotiations? Deadline is reporting they are rallying behind RDJ, who with his success both at the box office and in negotiations, has become something of a leader.

He’s the only guy with real power in this situation. and balls of steel, too. He’s already sent a message that he’s not going to work for a place where they treat his colleagues like shit.

What if RDJ holds off on resigning in order for his fellow Avengers to get better deals? Will Marvel play that game, or will they simply recast and possibly downsize his role? Honestly, I think it’s tough to tell what they’ll do, but I, like many of you, can’t see anyone besides RDJ in the role. And I’d figure Marvel and Disney will be checking these box office figures, collected again by Screen Rant, showing the gross of the Marvel films with and without RDJ,

With.
$585 million - Iron Man
$624 million – Iron Man 2
$1,512 million – The Avengers
$711 million – Iron Man 3 (in less than two weeks)
Without.
$263 million – The Incredible Hulk
$369 million – Captain America: The First Avengers
$449 million – Thor

Soo, where do you think this leaves us? Can Marvel re-assemble The Avengers?

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There’s lots of news in the wake of Marvel‘s release of Iron Man 3. Will Robert Downey Jr. be back for more, will there be an Iron Man 4, what other Marvel Superheroes will get a big screen treatment? Marvel’s President of Production, Kevin Feige, recently put a couple of those rumored about which heroes might get a stand alone movie to rest.

When asked by Collider if anyone at Marvel is currently developing or writing a Falcon of War Machine spinoff, Feige simply said:

“No.”

Now that just means that currently there are no plans for those two heroes, but perhaps as Marvel proceeds through Phase Two and into Phase Three some decisions could be made to bring those two characters to the big screen in their own rights.

Recently, Ms. Marvel, Blade, Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Black Panther, and The Runaways have script development projects in the works at Marvel Studios. There’s no production dates for these yet, but scripts are being written (Runaways was already scripted by Iron Man 3‘s Drew Pearce), and concept art is in the works.

These would most likely come after the third Avengers movie, and until there is a release date or green-light announcement, keep your expectations grounded. These things have a way of getting side tracked until the real money starts getting pumped into the project.

Which of these would you like to see the most?

Via: Comicbookmovie

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Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige can’t stop talking, and that’s a good thing because we’ve got a lot of mega-pixels of space to fill. But joking aside, Feige’s just doing his job and chatting up the press on the occasion of the release of Iron Man 3 today.

There are some pretty big questions out there, and first and foremost is whether or not there will be a future for Tony Stark post-IM3, and whether or not Robert Downy, Jr will be involved. In a new interview with Superhero Hype, that’s the first thing that Feige addressed:

Currently, as you may imagine, Iron Man is a big part of “Avengers 2” and that’s what we’re focusing on and what Joss (Whedon) is focusing on. So where we go after that remains to be seen, but certainly, “Avengers 2” being the next appearance, the next storyline for Iron Man. Do I think there will be another Iron Man movie? Of course I do. Who will be in that movie and who will be a part of that movie? Who knows? And how far down the line will it be? Will it be right after “Avengers 2,” will it be a few years after “Avengers 2”? Who knows? For as advanced as we are in terms of the advanced planning that we do, we’re already looking out to 2015, 2016 and that’s further than most people look out. Beyond that, we’re still not sure.”

Next, Feige talked about why he’s so driven to give Ant Man his big screen debut:

“Well, it’s for a couple of reasons. The primary reason is because I met a very talented filmmaker who was about my age almost ten years ago, we got along very well. He had a movie called “Shaun of the Dead” which hadn’t come out yet and he said he really wanted to meet to talk about “Ant-Man”… and this was even before we were on the studio. This was just at the dawn of us even discussing becoming our own studio. But we met with him, he had a cool idea and when we became our own studio, we hired him and Joe Cornish, who as you know, went on to do “Attack the Block” and become a very talented filmmaker in his own right. At the time he hadn’t done much at all but we really believed in him and we believed in Edgar [Wright] and they delivered a draft that was sort of unlike anything we’d done before that was sort of wholly Edgar and wholly Marvel and a very fun spin on the Ant-Man mythology. And if you’ve seen the in-progress test we showed at Comic-Con last year and there’s been some clips of it we’ve released. People go like, “Ant-Man, is that a joke? What happens? He talks to ants?” And Edgar and his team put together this test of basically just Ant-Man going down the hallway and it is so kick-ass and so bad-ass, people instantly go, “Oh, I get it! Now we see what it can be.” And that of course is only 1% of what the movie is, but it’s certainly enough to get people to realize, ‘Oh, that’s why you’ve been thinking about this for so long.’”

And finally, somewhat off topic, Feige responded to a question about whether or not the development of new Star Wars at Disney is going to impact Marvel’s production slate:

“Well, we’ll see. We’re definitely doing our own thing and that’s what’s been so great about the relationship with Disney. As they said, ‘We’re purchasing Marvel because we like what you’re doing.’ Keep doing it. And that’s been three years now and that’s certainly what they’ve allowed us to do, so I hope that means I can get into an advanced screening of a new ‘Star Wars‘ movie, that’d be fun (laughs) but I don’t know how much more it will effect us than that.”

Well I hope if there’s one perk being one of Disney’s top producers, it’s free Star Wars tickets…

Source: Comic Book Movie

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This is it, this is the week that begins the summer blockbuster season. On May 3rd, Iron Man 3 releases nationwide, and with it the beginning of Marvel‘s Phase 2. Naturally, this week is inundated with news of the film’s stars giving interviews, making public appearances, and bizarre fake trailers.

To start off, here’s The Mandarin, Sir Ben Kingsley, talking with Collider‘s Steve “Frosty” Weintraub about how Kevin Feige made him interested in the villainous role, plus a little chat about work in Ender’s Game,

Hit the jump for more!

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Yo, Joss Whedon! You’re out in public, so give us some damn Avengers 2 scoopage!

I sometimes wonder if that’s what reporters yell to Joss whenever he appears on the red carpet for anything. Fortunately for us he always seems ready to oblige, as was the case on the recent Iron Man 3 premiere red carpet in Los Angeles. Desde Hollywood asked the filmmaker about some details about the upcoming superhero sequel. Naturally, one of the questions concerned Iron Man star Robert Downey, Jr. and his future in the franchise, but the topic of the villain in The Avengers 2 also came up, and that answer offered some interesting new insight.

What, pray tell, could that be? How about the revelation that Thanos may not be the villain in The Avengers 2 after all, and Whedon and Co. are, in fact, setting him up for “the grand finale?” Here’s what Whedon had to say:

“Thanos is more powerful. He’s not someone you just trot out and punch him. Like you did in the comics, you want him to be threading through the universe and to save the big finale for the big finale. He’s definitely a part of what I’ve got going on. The thing about The Avengers is, that they are very powerful, but they aren’t very stable. There’ll definitely be some people who are gonna shake them up in the next installment!”

To hear that from Whedon’s own mouth, as well as other nuggets from the interview, press play on the embedded video below:

Source: Comic Book Movie

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You like that? It could be yours if you go to the midnight IMAX screening of Iron Man 3 at your local IMAX theater, according to Screen Rant. The poster was designed by comic book artist Jock (The Losers, Hellblazer), and is the latest in 12:01 poster series, which previous has included unique works honoring the release Real Steel, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Frankenweenie.

In other Iron Man 3 new, Marvel Studios head honcho and Iron Man 3 producer Kevin Feige recently talked to the LA Times about Tony Stark’s mind set going into the movie, and where the character’s head is at this point in his story arc. Here’s what Feige had to say:

“He’s experienced things now that frankly was a wake-up call. You don’t have gamma-powered strength that anger can bring about. You don’t have super-soldier serum flowing through your veins. You’re not a thunder god from Asgard. You’re just a guy. And Tony doesn’t necessarily like to be reminded of those kinds of things because he likes to be at the top of the food chain.

“Where we meet Tony, he wants to be in that suit all the time, and he wants a lot of suits around him. And just as we sort of learn that’s his issue, we blow them all up and take him out of that comfort zone.

“We wanted to take Tony to a place that he hadn’t been since the first half of the first ‘Iron Man’ film, which is, essentially, by himself without his money, without his toys, without his gadgets, with just his mind, his intellect. We wanted to do that in a big climactic fashion by literally taking away everything that is near and dear to him, as symbolized in that mansion crumbling down into the Pacific.”

In other Iron Man 3 developments, a new featurette has been released, and it outlines just how Extremis comes into play in the film and how it factors into The Mandarin’s (Ben Kingsley) master plan. Included is commentary by director Shane Black, star Robert Downey Jr., and new head henchman James Badge Dale. Press play below (courtesy of Collider):

Finally, from the people who have more time on their hands than I do (and Geeks Are Sexy), a break down of just how much it costs to be Tony Stark. Enjoy!

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Although much of Marvel‘s success at the box office can be credited with their attention to detail concerning translating their characters and stories from comic book pages to the big screen, there’s an integral and much acclaimed Iron Man storyline that Marvel won’t be taking to the movies.

“Demon in a Bottle,” a storyline from the late 70s, focused on Tony Stark’s struggle with alcoholism and the personal destruction it causes. Tony faces his own demons and drags himself back to health and sanity in a long hard road. Word is that this iconic Iron man story is off limits when it comes to the big screen.

Disney and Marvel think it’s a little too dark and in an interview with Comic Book Movie, Iron Man 3 director Shane Black, when asked if there was any Iron Man storyline Marvel drew the line at, said:

“The drinking. Even if you look at the websites of the mommy bloggers they say, you know, ‘Watch out, mom’s! Tony drinks in this movie!’ It’s amazing. There’s one or two scenes in this movie where he picks up a drink and it’ll be in those blogs…

I think we were just told by the studio that we should probably paint Tony Stark as being kind of an industrialist and a crazy guy, or even a bad guy at some points, but the Demon in a Bottle stuff of him being an alcoholic wouldn’t really fly. I don’t blame that.”

It’s understandable, Disney and Marvel want these movies to appeal to as wide an audience as possible and alcoholism is a dark and troubling subject to tackle in a superhero movie that tends toward light-hearted comedy and plenty of super hero action.

I’d love to see the Demon in a Bottle storyline done. Robert Downey Jr‘s own trouble’s with addiction and his success in containing those personal demons would be gripping to see on the big screen, but would any parent want younger children to see it? What do you think?

Via: Blastr

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Director James Gunn has been on a roll with the pre-production of Guardians of the Galaxy in recent weeks, most recently casting former Walking Dead star Michael Rooker. There are still some more shoes to be filled, but there isn’t too much time left to round out the cast seeing as how shooting starts in June. In a way he’s literally under the “Gunn” on this one.

All bad puns aside, the director of Marvel‘s “standalone film” took a breather and attended the UK premier of another Marvel franchise, Iron Man 3, in London, England, which is, coincidentally, the same location of Shepperton Studios where James is currently preparing to film. While there between the red carpet and the theater, Gunn took time to have a chat with HeyUGuys. He addressed comparisons to Star Wars, casting choices and how Guardians is different than the other Marvel films. As usual, James answers everything in his own special little way.

Read on after the jump for more.

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The Marvel movies have made it more rewarding to sit through their lengthy credits with the post-credits scene. First seen at the very end of Iron Man, the short sequence between Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) was the beginning of what would become known as Phase 1, the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first step towards The Avengers. In that film they changed things up even a little more by including a mid-credits scene in addition to the now infamous, post-credit Shawarma scene.

Iron Man 3 continues this tradition and since the film has already held a premiere in Paris there are those – like the attendee who gave this description to Latino-Review - who are willing to share just what the new post-credits sequence is. Want to know? Hit the jump for their description. Obvious SPOILER warning, is obvious.

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The MTV Movie Awards featured a new clip from Shane Black‘s Iron Man 3 last night and I can confirm that host Rebel Wilson‘s Iron Man-gina armor will not be making an appearance in the actual film. Thank the Lords of Kobal for small favors.

The clip takes a closer look at the helicopter battle at Stark’s ocean side manor, or what’s left of it. This movie is looking even better than the first Iron Man movie. What do you think so far?

Iron Man 3 stars Robert Downey Jr., Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce, Jon Favreau, Rebecca Hall, William Sadler, James Badge Dale and the voice of Paul Bettany.

Marvel Studios’ “Iron Man 3″ pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

Iron Man 3 hist theater screens on May 3rd. The rest of Marvel schedule includes: Thor: The Dark World on November 8, 2013, Captain America: The Winter Soldier on April 4, 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy on August 1, 2014, The Avengers 2 on May 1, 2015 and Ant-Man on November 6, 2015.

Via: Bleedingcool

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