Soooo... sequel happening? Should we go, or...?
The big news floating around and being dissected from all angles today concerns the Marvel Cinematic Universe that isn’t actually a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That is to say, prognoses are flying fast and loose about all the properties still overseen by Fox such as Wolverine, the X mutants, and Deadpool. The bulk of the info is coming from Drew McWeeney’s interview with producer Lauren Schuler Donner, though some other outlets like Total Film had words as well. Basically it boils down to this:
The Wolverine: Definitely won’t be shooting until summer of next year, and even that will be dependent on Hugh Jackman’s schedule with Les Miserables. James Mangold is still directing from a newly written script, with continued emphasis on how different this well be from the first film.
X-Men: It seems a sequel to First Class is the most likely continuation of the current series, but any suggestion of when and if it will actually happen is vague to the point of useless. Donner isn’t shy about confirming Matthew Vaughn’s involvement in whatever hypothetical sequel could happen, specifically citing his inclusion of the James Bond energy as a reason he was so great for the franchise.
Deadpool: Apparently the producer is still involved in putting together another pitch for the studio, but they still see Ryan Reynolds playing the role. Obviously the plan is still to ignore the Wolverine interpretation of the character and strike out on a more violent, funny path. Absolutely nothing in the way of a start time or prognosis of how likely it is that the project will take off.
That’s a whole lot of vagueness, no?
Looking more and more like a Marvel character isn’t going to be able to catch a break at Fox. Who knows what Hugh Jackman could get involved with between now and the end of Les Mis or if the Fox execs will ever see the rosy sides of greenlighting a sequel to a relatively underperforming ensemble blockbuster, or giving the go ahead to another obscure superhero film starring Ryan Reynolds.
What future do you see for these projects? I feel like most of them will get off the ground in the next year or two, though I can’t imagine Deadpool will have an intense budget. I don’t see another answer for the X-Franchise at Fox then to bank on the goodwill from First Class and follow that up, rather than yet another reboot. Feel free to dump your thoughts in the comments…
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As far as I’m concerned, these are all mostly positive quotes. They’re not rushing through Wolverine 2 (that’s good), they’re building off the very good First Class instead of ditching a potentially interesting franchise, and they’re acknowledging what a disaster Wolverine 1 was.
Do one of two things with the X-Men Franchise. Keep the first class steam engine rolling and kill Wolverine. I’m sorry I know people will think I’m crazy but Hugh Jackman is a star now has been for awhile he doesn’t need to keep going back to the well with Wolverine. We know his Origin we know where he ends up, as much as the japanese story would be interesting to see, I’m tired of hearing when everything is supposed to get going and who’s doing what, which scripts need to be re-written..etc.etc. I know the same could be said about First Class but that was such a good movie and everyone was wonderful it would be nice to see those characters return. At least with that you can keep bringing in fan favorites and move up a decade or so just so it keeps everything fresh. Plus here’s a smart move: Bring in the Sentinels! We’ve been waiting since the first one and since someone else said we still have a thirst for huge robots that cause mayhem this would be the perfect time to capitalize on it. Here’s the plot, it’s been about 10 years or so since First Class, the government fully aware of the “mutant threat” and Charles and Erik face a common enemy when a scientist decideds to build these things that can wipe mutants out. So much to work from.
Or do a “Days of Future Past” storyline since Hugh Jackman is getting older it can work for old Wolverine. Just an idea..
Renn Brown, Les Miserables is arriving in theaters next December, so why not count Wolverine as a likely…2013 film! Fox will also likely want…One superhero film for next year. Maybe Deadpool gets fast tracked. If X-Men First Class gets a sequel then at the least…Cyclops and Jean Grey should join the team.
They really need to get rid of Ryan Reynolds for Deadpool. The perfect choice for that role in my opinion would be Sean William Scott.
@Splitfocus- Pass me some of what you are smoking, bro.
I get that Deadpool isn’t a household name, but it still kills me that a guy with 4 or 5 series and taking up half the covers on any shelf at a comic shop can be called “obscure.”
Deadpool needs to talk to the audience. Other characters need to see him talking to the audience and just think he is crazy. Otherwise, it’s not Deadpool. It’s just “funny guy with powers and guns #541b”.
There are probably 200,000 people in the entire world who know who Deadpool is.
Yeah, let’s spend 200 million dollars on a movie about him.
Well, I think the timeframe of when the next X-Men film hits soley depends on the DVD/Blu Ray sales of First Class at this point. When I picked up my copy at Best Buy, they were running low on Blu Ray copies, which is a great sign. Even the clerk mentioned how she already scanned atleast 30 copies in the last hour.
just because it’s “cute” on page form, doesn’t mean it will translate well in movie form.
What about DareDevil? No news on that front, huh?
@Bozemaster-What exactly is wrong with Seann William Scott for Deadpool?
Dude has a ton of charisma, great comedic timing and has a perfect physicality that the character would call for.
@Splitfocus- Sean William Scott is not capable of handling this without adding his little “Stiffler” humor. He does it in every movie he is in. Deadpool shouldn’t be Stiffler. Deadpool is more rapid-fire snarky humor. That’s what big screen Spiderman was missing…Spidey’s quips.
Maybe that’s because it’s what has been asked out of him in the majority of the roles he’s gotten? I didn’t get “Stiffler” in Role Models or Bulletproof Monk or Stark Raving Mad. As far as I’ve seen, he does indeed have range. It’s really just dependent upon who’s writing and directing-as with a lot of actors.
There must be some sliding scale of expectations between the 2 studios. Captain America and Thor both did only marginally better than X-Men: First Class, but they’re considered successes and X-Men a disappointment. That’s just stupid.
Because comic shops are about as obscure as you can get in mainstream life without being illegal.
It’s been done in movies and it’s worked.
A shame as First Class is a much better superhero film than both Thor and Captain America. From the looks of things, it seems that Marvel is in danger of being in the same position as Fox if they keep focusing on quantity rather than quality.
@Splitfocus- In Role Models and Bulletproof Monk (haven’t seen Stark Raving Mad), Scott played a variation of Stiffler. If he were to take over Deadpool duty, the world will say “Hey, Stiffler is playing Deadpool” and you will either fall into the side of “This should be cool” or “This is a tragedy”. I fall in the latter.
I gotta say, I’m not as enamored with First Class as you all are. I liked the 60s Bond vibe and the cast that was assembled (mostly) but I wasn’t that thrilled with the story and the dialogue was pretty bad. Like groan-inducing bad in places. It felt it was pretty mediocre. I didn’t see the film until it was well into it’s second week so I thought the hype might have poisoned me. But when my comic-book-loving-son and my comic-book-not-so-loving-son both felt the same way I figured it was the movie and not the over-hype. Same cast, better script and lose the tin ear and I’ll be there in a heart beat.
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