The Disney/Marvel marriage is still a strange and unknowable creation. There’s been a lot of talk of what might come of it, and what it means for both brands, but we haven’t seen anything yet. Many are dubious it could ever be good.
But one thing that seemed destined to born from this union was a Marvel/Pixar movie. The world of Marvel is pretty vast, and it feels like there are properties just waiting to be adapted by Pixar. Ant-Man. Doctor Strange. I could even see the Pet Avengers or the Power Pack turning to magic in their hands. (But I am a sucker for Lockjaw.)
But IGN talked to John Lasseter yesterday, and the Pixar chief squashed any hope of a collaboration: “No, not at Pixar. We have The Incredibles, so we’ve done superheroes here ourselves and so we have that kind of history with Brad Bird doing The Incredibles.”
Bummer. I can see their point. They managed to create an original superhero team and succeed. No one has done that in film or television. (Yes, Kick-Ass did all right, but not on a level of The Incredibles.) Adapting a Marvel story might feel like backtracking. But since Marvel Studios has shown themselves willing to expand and bend that cinematic universe, it seems like Pixar could take a character or two and really, really run with them. Given their troubling turn towards sequels of late, how can working with Marvel be any more of a creative retread?
But this is the answer now. Who knows what could happen in a few years? I know the Disney and Pixar forecast looms far, but decisions shift, and people trade jobs. I could see this changing. But for now, expect Ant-Man and Doctor Strange to be made the old-fashioned way.
11 comments
You realize Kick-Ass was based on an existing comic book, right?
But an original one, from 2008. Not another retread of a character invented in the 30s.
Yes, but it’s always good to be assumed to be a moron.
But Kick-Ass was an original, creator owned property though, and the movie was created right alongside the first issues of the comic. It wasn’t an *established* property like Marvel and DC’s characters are.
I mentioned it because I honestly thought someone would say “But Kick-Ass was original and it was a hit!
Either way, someone is going to point out the obvious, so I shouldn’t have bothered.
Maybe Pixar could be used for spectacular effects, like The Hulk, so we don’t get things like tank barrels that can go through him 🙂
I suppose they’d rather make sequels to Cars than something interesting.
It’s a little outside the box, but a Pixar “Deadpool” movie would have the potential to be AMAZING. Marvel’s done such a good job in handling the character in the last few years (in the comics anyway), mostly by taking the early 90’s “Let’s boost sales by putting Punisher or Wolverine in every fucking book, whether they belong or not” formula, cranking it up to 11, and then being completely self-aware about it while embracing the stupidity of it all. It’s like a seriously disturbed Silver Age Batman. It’s not for everybody, but if you don’t like one Deadpool title, it’s OK, because you might like one of the other 7 that came out in the last 2 weeks. But really, Pixar is the last company you’d think of to handle a Deadpool project, which is why it would be a perfect fit. Get a good writer that gets the character, and we’re talking Academy Award Winner for Best Animated Film in Whatever Universe That This is Allowed to Happen In.
A Pixar style version of Power Pack could be fantastic. PP is a very under-rated property with legs.
I followed Power Pack in my youth and have to agree. The various aliens and Friday the smartship could be done very well.
Isn’t Pixar making John Carter of Mars? Established property and live action animation mix. Dr. Strange done the same way would be amazing.
would have been nice if they could atleast throw us a bone about a sequel to the Incredibles…… everyone wants it… most then Monster University or Cars 2…. come on Pixar…. PLEASE…
Real, real late to this party but I’m kinda okay with Pixar not slumming in the Marvel Universe. Just me, I’m sure, but Pixar movies have been… itchy. Like a joke I just didn’t get.
Even the two I liked, (Incredibles and Cars)seemed weird on later contempation and I never wanted to revisit them. The Incredibles, (especially in reference to Marvel) bugs me. The movie strikes me as some nastalgic mash letter to the clean, (pre-antiwar/pre-civil rights) 60s.
Marvel’s always been a little better than the rest about addressing things as they are, not as we’d like them to be. Whether it’s Iron Man’s alcoholism, Ant Man’s mental illness, or Spiderman singing Joe Cocker songs, Marvel’s rooted in our common experience.
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