Marvel unviels their next four projects

[Tribal Warfare]

Marvel Unveils CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, THOR: THE DARK WORLD, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and ANT-MAN

Saturday’s Hall H panel for Marvel at Comic-Con was billed as Iron Man 3, but from previous experience we all knew to expect more goodies from Marvel Studios than just IM3. We were right, as the studio announced full, intriguing titles for Thor 2 and Captain America 2, confirmed Guardians of the Galaxy (including which characters will appear), and revealed test footage for Ant-Man with a surprise appearance by Edgar Wright.

Hit the jump for my full recap of this “update” portion of the Marvel panel. [Update: We've updated the article with concept art for the Guardians of the Galaxy movie as well as logos for all the upcoming Marvel films]

Chris-Hemsworth-Thor 2 the dark worldFeige opened the panel by saying that they’re working on four movies in active development. The first is Iron Man 3, hitting theaters on May 3rd, 2013. He then went on to reveal titles for two previously known sequels, and confirmed another property that we’d heard rumblings of in the past few weeks.

Iron Man 3 (May 3, 2013)
Thor: The Dark World (November 8, 2013)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April 4, 2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy (August 1, 2014)

For fans of the comics, the subtitle “The Winter Soldier” should provide a hint as to where the Captain America sequel will go. The title is a reference to a comics storyline that will find Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) taking an integral role.

guardians-of-the-galaxy-movieFeige added that Zachary Levi has been confirmed as the character of Fandrel in the Thor sequel, and revealed the team that will be unleashed for Guardians of the Galaxy:

StarLord
Drax the Destroyer
Rocket Raccoon
Groot
Gamora

In a fantastic surprise, Feige then introduced Edgar Wright to talk about Ant-Man. Wright had been tweeting about being in London for the past few days in an effort to throw fans off, but he came out to a very warm reception.

“I’m taking the Terrence Malick approach to superheroes,” said Wright referring to the long road of development on Ant-Man.
Wright and Joe Cornish wrote two more drafts of the script last year, but they’ve been done for quite a while.

ant-man-movie-logoThey then revealed test footage that Wright shot for Ant-Man, after Wright toyed for a bit with the audience saying they wouldn’t really want to see a clip of stuff with wires and blue screens in it. It’s completely unfinished since they shot it two weeks ago, but they showed the footage anyway because Marvel absolutely owns Comic-Con.

The footage opened with Ant-Man sitting on a ledge in an air conditioning vent that lead to a hallway guarded by two agents. The costume was pretty metallic looking, and he snuck through the vent hole and started running down the hallway. He morphed to normal size, shocking the guards, then morphed back down to ant size and kept running. Still in “ant size” he leapt up and punched one of the guys in the face, knocking the spit out of him, then he ran and attacked the other guard.

The footage was obviously rough, but I thought the big/small effects worked great. Wright found a way to make Ant-Man’s power work in a cool and useful way on screen, while still allowing room for the playful tone that he does so well. While I was hoping we’d see someone like Simon Pegg play the role just for fun in the test footage, the actor was wearing the Ant-Man helmet the entire time so we never saw his face. The lights then came back up.

“I’ve been doing one second of that for the last six years,” quipped Wright
Wright confirmed that the costume seen in the test footage will most likely be what makes the final film. He described it as a mix between the Silver Age and contemporary Ant-Man, adding “Ant-Man will kick your ass one inch at a time.”
Wright said there’s no casting to announce, but “revealed” that Ant-Man has been here in Hall H all day, pulling out an Ant-Man title card and putting it on the table next to him.

Wright then left the stage to make way for the Iron Man 3 panel, but these bits of news from Marvel were met with wild applause from the audience. Hit the comments to discuss the goings-on from today’s Marvel panel, and read Matt’s recap of Iron Man 3 right here. [Update: Simon Pegg tweeted that he, Nick Frost, and Wright start filming The World's End in 10 weeks, then Wright will film Ant-Man sometime next year.]

[Jamie]

Sounds like a half-reboot that will make continuity even more cluster****y, but I've really enjoyed Hickman's Avengers run so I'll give it a shot.

[GloucesterChief]

Originally Posted by Bowser

The Marvel Universe, as we have known it since 1961, is ending.


Yes, you read that right.

During a live "Secret Wars Kick-Off" press event at New York City's Midtown Comics, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso and Senior Vice President of Publishing and Executive Editor Tom Brevoort confirmed that the eight-issue series Secret Wars will represent the end of both the Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Universe.

Saying that the mainstream Marvel Universe and Ultimate Universe would "smash together" during the upcoming Secret Wars crossover event, Alonso and Brevoort went on to elaborate that, by the time Secret Wars #1 hits the stands, every world in Marvel's multiverse will be destroyed, with pieces of each forming Battleworld, the staging ground for the Secret Wars storyline

"Once we hit Secret Wars #1, there is no Marvel Universe, Ultimate Universe, or any other. It's all Battleworld," Brevoort said.

Speculation regarding the end of the Ultimate Universe has been rampant, as fans have known for some time that, as of February, Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man will be the sole remaining title in the Ultimate line. What has been less clear is the future of the mainstream Marvel Universe moving out of Secret Wars.

We now know that the Marvel Universe, post-Secret Wars, will be an all new world combining elements not just of the Ultimate Universe and the mainstream Marvel Universe, but possibly bits and pieces of other worlds as well.

"The Marvel Iniverse will be Battleworld, and every single piece of those worlds will be building blocks for the universe," said Alonso, adding that all the universes represented in "Battleworld" will have "legs" moving forward.

Driving home the point that anything will be possible, Alonso also teased the possibility of bring back old characters during Secret Wars. "If we wanted to resurrect Gwen Stacy," he said with a smile, "this would be the place to do it."

While Marvel already teased earlier this month that the company would launch The All-New, All-Different Avengers , after having confirmed Avengers and New Avengers would end in April, Alonso confirmed that Marvel would be launching a "wealth" of new series, both ongoing and minis, during Secret Wars.

The events of Secret Wars represent what Brevoort described as "the culmination of Jonathan Hickman's plans from when he first came onto Avengers and New Avengers."

Brevoort added that Marvel's Free Comic Book Day issue, Secret Wars #0 written by Hickman, will bring readers "up to speed" for the event before it begins in may with Secret Wars #1 and an oversized issue #2.

http://www.newsarama.com/23276-the-m...is-ending.html

A whole continuity reboot never helped DC much. Not sure why Marvel thinks it will work for them.

[AustinChief]

Originally Posted by GloucesterChief

A whole continuity reboot never helped DC much. Not sure why Marvel thinks it will work for them.

I can see where it makes sense. They have an entire new generation of fans thanks to the movies. This allows them to rewrite the whole multiverse in a way that works with the limits you have with movies. As the current actors get older and retire they can transition to new actors based on the new continuity. No clue if that is what they are planning, but it would make a ton of sense.

[DaveNull]

Yeah, but tailoring it around people who see the movies is pretty narrow minded. The people that have pull lists and keep the print end of things going just see the MCU as another part of the multiverse.

I hope they pull it off without screwing up some of the really good story lines going on right now like Punisher, Black Widow and Silver Surfer.

[AustinChief]

Originally Posted by DaveNull

Yeah, but tailoring it around people who see the movies is pretty narrow minded. The people that have pull lists and keep the print end of things going just see the MCU as another part of the multiverse.

I hope they pull it off without screwing up some of the really good story lines going on right now like Punisher, Black Widow and Silver Surfer.

I'm not saying tailor it around those people but a reboot gives them more flexibility in that regard and allows for a "tighter" Marvel experience moving forward. I'm an old school marvel guy so in a way it sucks to see that go away, but I haven't read comics since I was a kid so I am so far out of the loop I guess it doesn't matter too much to me.

[Ragged Robin]

Originally Posted by GloucesterChief

A whole continuity reboot never helped DC much. Not sure why Marvel thinks it will work for them.

yep, DC is even admitting their mistake with the upcoming event (Convergence) where they're opening up the gates again and saying that a lot of the old continuity still exists in other alternate universes

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Bowser

The Marvel Universe, as we have known it since 1961, is ending.


Yes, you read that right.

During a live "Secret Wars Kick-Off" press event at New York City's Midtown Comics, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso and Senior Vice President of Publishing and Executive Editor Tom Brevoort confirmed that the eight-issue series Secret Wars will represent the end of both the Marvel Universe and the Ultimate Universe.

Saying that the mainstream Marvel Universe and Ultimate Universe would "smash together" during the upcoming Secret Wars crossover event, Alonso and Brevoort went on to elaborate that, by the time Secret Wars #1 hits the stands, every world in Marvel's multiverse will be destroyed, with pieces of each forming Battleworld, the staging ground for the Secret Wars storyline

"Once we hit Secret Wars #1, there is no Marvel Universe, Ultimate Universe, or any other. It's all Battleworld," Brevoort said.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

I'm not saying tailor it around those people but a reboot gives them more flexibility in that regard and allows for a "tighter" Marvel experience moving forward. I'm an old school marvel guy so in a way it sucks to see that go away, but I haven't read comics since I was a kid so I am so far out of the loop I guess it doesn't matter too much to me.

That's the thing, it's going to piss off the few comix fans left out there.

Kids that enjoy the movies aren't going to decide to spend $3 an issue for a short comic. It's old nerds willing to dump $50 (or more) a month into physical issues.

The success of the Ultimates line shows you don't have to **** with the main continuity to tell new stories with a different take on old characters.

Marvel needs better writers - not more extreme changes...

[The Iron Chief]

Well thats the cover supposedly for the Avengers after the soft Reboot.
Though I've also not read a comic in many yrs the Avengers was one of my favorites.
That cover Screams the movie version of the team.
And though the movie was good its such a let down to hear the comic is going to be dummed down.

To me this is the Avengers..

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by The Iron Chief

Well thats the cover supposedly for the Avengers after the soft Reboot.
Though I've also not read a comic in many yrs the Avengers was one of my favorites.
That cover Screams the movie version of the team.
And though the movie was good its such a let down to hear the comic is going to be dummed down.

To me this is the Avengers..

The Marvel Movies have stayed very close to the Ultimates version of the characters.

Hell, the Hulk has been an Avenger in name only the last 20 years.

I'd prefer they stuck the Hulk with the Defenders but they've gone a with a new line up there as well...

Original.



New Defenders

[keg in kc]

The Defenders match what they're doing with Netflix.

As far as the Avengers go, it looks like they may be tearing the onscreen team up in May, so that soft reboot cover might not be relevant for very long.

[Jamie]

That's actually a cover for a tie-in comic set in the cinematic universe, it doesn't have anything to do with the reboot.

The talk is that the post-reboot team will be an international group, but that seems to be based mostly on this logo:



People are taking the "All New All Different" part as a reference to the All New All Different X-Men (the Giant Size #1 team), which was an international team.

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

The Defenders match what they're doing with Netflix.

As far as the Avengers go, it looks like they may be tearing the onscreen team up in May, so that soft reboot cover might not be relevant for very long.

Saw a video where the narrator talked about things that he noticed in the trailer. He thinks that Thor will be stripped of his powers and stuck in HEL.....and won't be back until Ragnarok.

[The Franchise]

Here it is.

[DaveNull]

Originally Posted by The Iron Chief

Well thats the cover supposedly for the Avengers after the soft Reboot.
Though I've also not read a comic in many yrs the Avengers was one of my favorites.

Cap is black, Steve is old, Thor doesn't carry Monjir at this point.