Marvel Pushes Ahead with second Hulk, Avengers
The website of Marvel Comics has released several details on their in-house movie projects. While movies franchises like "Spider-Man" and "X-Men" have brought the comic company much praise from film critics and the box office alike, the franchises have also brought their fair share of headaches to the publisher. In Februrary of 2003, Marvel sued Sony over the rights to Spider-Man. Marvel's new strategy of in-house production is geared to prevent such legal difficulties. Marvel Studio's previous credits include the "Mutant X" TV series, the "Man-Thing" Straight-To-Video as well as the animated "Ultimate Avengers". Let the eye-rolling begin.
Marvel announced Louis Leterrier will direct "The Incredible Hulk", presumably a sequel to the 2003 Ang Lee film. Leterrier's previous credits include the Jet Li flick "Unleashed" and both installments of "The Transporter". It seems this direction of the film is gearing up an action primary, drama secondary - the complete opposite of Ang Lee's approach to the film.
Zak Penn has been attached as a screenwriter. Unlike Leterrier, his credits are more of a mixed bag. On the good side, he's credited with the quintessential frat house comedy "PCU", the cheesy Arnold Schwarzenegger flick "Last Action Hero", and was among the team who wrote the penultimate (and perhaps just ultimate) "X2". On the other hand, he's also credited with the Ben Kingsley downer "Suspect Zero", the Jennifer Gardner flop "Elecktra" and the fan-infuriating "X-Men: The Last Stand". He's also been attached to another literal A-lister: "The Avengers".
Is "The Incredible Hulk" on a better track than its predecessor?
On the good side, Marvel seems determined to go ahead with plans to make individual projects involving Avengers character leading up to or following the big team debut. In addition to "Hulk", there's also Jon Favreau's "Iron Man" continuing towards production. "Shaun of the Dead" director Edgar Wright is involved with an "Ant-Man" project, and scripts being written for "Captain America", "Thor" and "Nick Fury".
And if that weren't enough, there's still "X-Men" spin-offs like "Wolverine" and "Magneto", as well as a gaggle of nearly obscure characters for the comic book savvy, including "Namor", "Deathlok" and even "Gargoyle".
So the real question: is Marvel spreadig itself thin or just getting warmed up?