Gambit
Release Date: Unknown
Development Status: Not much is known about a potential Gambit spinoff movie other than the fact that both 20th Century Fox and actor Taylor Kitsch have expressed an interest. Before his appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Gambit had been planned for small roles in both X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand.
Given that Gambit's origin story was alluded to in Wolverine, it seems likely that a spinoff film would shift focus to the character's later years. Kitsch has voiced his desire for the film to be darker in tone than its predecessor and to explore Gambit's back story.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Release Date: February 17, 2012
Development Status: Post-production.
Ghost Rider didn't necessarily have Marvel fans clamoring for a sequel when it hit theaters several years ago. That isn't stopping Sony from giving ol' Flamehead another shot at success.
Contrary to some early rumors, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance will not be a reboot, and Nicholas Cage will star as Johnny Blaze once again. Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the duo who wrote and directed the Crank movies, will write and direct this sequel. And because two dimensions weren't enough to contain Cage's hairdo last time, this sequel will filmed in 3D.
Several actors have been signed on to join Cage in Spirit of Vengeance, and HBO fans should recognize their names. Ciarin Hinds (Rome) will play the Devil. Idris Elba (The Wire) will follow up an appearance in next year's Thor with a role in Ghost Rider as "an alcoholic warrior monk tasked with finding Ghost Rider." Meanwhile, Highlander's Christopher Lambert makes his long overdue comic book debut in this project. According to Coming Soon, there is no word on which character Lambert will play, but he has been in sword training for the past several months.
Filming recently wrapped on Spirit of Vengeance and post-production has begun, giing the filmmakers plenty of time to meet that early 2012 release date.
The real question is whether Sony can turn the franchise around and make Ghost Rider stand out in an increasingly crowded comic book movie market. A little Christopher Lambert never hurt any project, so we'll see come 2012.
Hawkeye
Release Date: Unknown
Development Status: The big question regarding Marvel Studios' movie slate is which heroes will be focused upon after The Avengers. From recent comments by Kevin Feige, it sounds as though the various members of S.H.I.E.L.D. are high up on the list. That includes Hawkeye, a hero who will be introduced in Thor and take on a larger role in The Avengers.
Feige told Playlist, "There's no definitive plans, but we have started talking and talking with Scarlett about what a Widow movie could be… Internally we've also started thinking what a 'Hawkeye' movie could be, how we could continue to explore the organization [which Samuel Jackson's Nick Fury leads] S.H.I.E.L.D, which has a pretty big part in 'Thor,' smaller parts in the two 'Iron Man' films and has a giant part in 'The Avengers.' [So it's like], what would a stand-alone "S.H.I.E.L.D." be like? It all goes back to the comics. Sometimes the answer is—when looking at a certain run of issues— 'no way' and sometimes the answer is 'maybe, let's continue to explore it' and certainly with Hawkeye and Black Widow those are two that we're exploring."
Presumably, Jeremy Renner's contract allows for a spinoff or two, so we assume the actor will be ready to reprise his role. As for a director or screenwriter, those questions will have to wait until closer to the release of The Avengers.
The Incredible Hulk 2
Release Date: Unknown
Development Status: Marvel Studios' attempt at reintroducing Hulk to movie audiences proved marginally more successful with fans and critics, but in the end the box office returns were underwhelming. Incredible Hulk was certainly no Iron Man, that much was clear. The modest grosses of Incredible Hulk have cast doubt on an immediate sequel.
And should that sequel get made, it won't happen before The Avengers - so says Marvel overlord Kevin Feige.
More and more, it appears as if Hulk's next appearance will be in the Avengers ensemble movie rather than another solo venture. Director Louis Leterrier seemed to suggest as much in a recent video interview. Edward Norton also recently ruled out the possibility of either an Incredible Hulk sequel or cameos in the upcoming Thor and Captain America movies.
And with Norton out and Ruffalo in as Hulk, we're not sure where this project is other than on the distant back burner.
Iron Fist
Release Date: TBD
Development Status: Has the time finally come for some superhero-themed martial arts mayhem on the big screen?
An Iron Fist movie has been rumored in Hollywood for much of the past decade. The film rights were previously held by Artisan Entertainment, with Ray Park (Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace) expected to don the flamboyantly colorful tights of Danny Rand. Now that Iron Fist is under the control of Marvel Studios, it seems the movie is finally being pulled out of development hell. A very talented writer, according to Kevin Feige, is currently working on a script, which is based on Bendis' and Matt Fraction's run with the character.
It's believed that Iron Fist is part of a concerted effort by Marvel Studios to produce smaller, relatively low budget superhero films to accompany the likes of the Iron Man and Avengers franchises.
No director or producers have been announced for Iron Fist yet. There is also no word as to whether Park might still be in the running for the lead role. Wilkes' involvement in xXx doesn't exactly fill us with confidence, but hopefully Iron Fist's recent critical success in the comic book realm can translate to the screenplay.
Iron Man 3
Release Date: May 3, 2013
Development Status: To the surprise of absolutely no one, a second sequel to Iron Man is being put on the fast track and will be one of Marvel Studios' first films to follow The Avengers. And no, director Jon Favreau will not direct the film.
Shane Black will direct the threequel and co-write it with Runaways scribe Drew Pearce. Black, who previously worked with star Robert Downey, Jr. on Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, promises that the story will not another "Iron Man fights a guy in an Iron Suit" installment. The story will be more like a Tom Clancy-thriller, with Iron Man fighting real world villians. (Does that mean the Mandarin will finally get his due?)
Iron Man 3 will be made after The Avengers and will not feature any other heroes from the Marvel Universe. Marvel is only doing crossover characters to lead up to The Avengers, and once that film is released, the plan is to go back to self-contained, single-character stories.
So why did Favreau leave the franchise? The official reason isn't known, but it's suspected that Favreau was frustrated with the studio's mandate to include Iron Man's fellow Avengers and other outside characters in the film.
Vulture says that one of their sources familiar with "Marvel's playbook" theorizes that the company, "had been pushing a confusing and packed vision of the third film as a tactic to provoke Favreau into leaving the project." But why the sneaky tactics? It's believed that Favreau had simply grown too expensive for the notoriously frugal Disney to retain.
It's probably safe to assume the rest of the principal cast will return, including Don Cheadle as Rhodey and Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. Other than that, we know only the release date for Iron Man 3 – May 3, 2013. Disney will handle distribution of Iron Man 3 as part of their recently announced arrangement with former distributor Paramount.
Magneto
Release Date: On Hold
Development Status: Yeah, so that young Magneto movie that David Goyer was supposedly working on? It's dead.
Not that this news comes as any great surprise to anyone who has even sorta been following the development of Fox's X-Men franchise lately.
Aside from the complete and utter lack of forward momentum on the project in recent months, word came that Bryan Singer was returning to the franchise he started to direct X-Men: First Class, an origin/prequel tale about Marvel's band of merry mutants. The thing is, part of that story is to involve the young Magneto and his relationship with the young Professor Xavier. That seemed to be the nail in the Magneto solo-film coffin, and now Singer has pretty much confirmed as much.
"This story would probably utilize some of the Magneto story because it deals with a young Magneto, so it might supersede that because this would explore that relationship between a young energetic professor and a disenfranchised victim of the Holocaust," the director tells The Hollywood Reporter.
X-Men: First Class producer Laura Shulen Donner reiterated these points when she recently spoke about Magneto. She indicated many of the plans for the film have been rolled into First Class, and that despite some internal discussion the project is essentially dead.
So never say never for a solo adveture starring the Master of Magnetism, but it's not likely to happen anytime soon.
Punisher Sequel
Release Date: Unknown
Development Status: Frank Castle has suffered through a pretty lackluster Hollywood career. None of the past three Punisher movies seemed to find large audiences or capture the true essence of the comics. That isn't stopping Marvel from giving it a fourth try.
At SDCC 10, Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige confirmed that Punsiher will return to live action at some point. He didn't indicate when exactly that might be, or even whether that return would occur in the form of a movie or TV series. Feige did reiterate that the Punisher franchise is back under direct Marvel Studios control. That didn't do much to help Punisher: War Zone, but hopefully the studio has learned a few useful lessons for their next attempt.
Runaways
Release Date: 2012
Development Status: Stalled.
It looks like Marvel has pumped the brakes on the adaptation of BKV's graphic novel. Casting had already been underway, but now the film's director, Peter Sollett, has been freed to go work on another movie before returning to helm Runaways... at some vague point down the line.
"Word in agency circles is that the project was flat-lining because it's similar in age demo to Kick-Ass, but insiders tell me that isn't true. Marvel simply has too much going on at the moment and will take its time on the live action adaptation of the comic hatched by Lost writer Brian K. Vaughan," according to Deadline.
Marvel's troubled teen heroes were expected to be the next big franchise to hit the screen, after the Avengers movie in 2012. Now it looks like the dense story, turned into a script by British TV scribe Drew Pearce, will get put back on a shelf.
Release Date: Unknown
Development Status: Not much is known about a potential Gambit spinoff movie other than the fact that both 20th Century Fox and actor Taylor Kitsch have expressed an interest. Before his appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Gambit had been planned for small roles in both X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand.
Given that Gambit's origin story was alluded to in Wolverine, it seems likely that a spinoff film would shift focus to the character's later years. Kitsch has voiced his desire for the film to be darker in tone than its predecessor and to explore Gambit's back story.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Release Date: February 17, 2012
Development Status: Post-production.
Ghost Rider didn't necessarily have Marvel fans clamoring for a sequel when it hit theaters several years ago. That isn't stopping Sony from giving ol' Flamehead another shot at success.
Contrary to some early rumors, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance will not be a reboot, and Nicholas Cage will star as Johnny Blaze once again. Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the duo who wrote and directed the Crank movies, will write and direct this sequel. And because two dimensions weren't enough to contain Cage's hairdo last time, this sequel will filmed in 3D.
Several actors have been signed on to join Cage in Spirit of Vengeance, and HBO fans should recognize their names. Ciarin Hinds (Rome) will play the Devil. Idris Elba (The Wire) will follow up an appearance in next year's Thor with a role in Ghost Rider as "an alcoholic warrior monk tasked with finding Ghost Rider." Meanwhile, Highlander's Christopher Lambert makes his long overdue comic book debut in this project. According to Coming Soon, there is no word on which character Lambert will play, but he has been in sword training for the past several months.
Filming recently wrapped on Spirit of Vengeance and post-production has begun, giing the filmmakers plenty of time to meet that early 2012 release date.
The real question is whether Sony can turn the franchise around and make Ghost Rider stand out in an increasingly crowded comic book movie market. A little Christopher Lambert never hurt any project, so we'll see come 2012.
Hawkeye
Release Date: Unknown
Development Status: The big question regarding Marvel Studios' movie slate is which heroes will be focused upon after The Avengers. From recent comments by Kevin Feige, it sounds as though the various members of S.H.I.E.L.D. are high up on the list. That includes Hawkeye, a hero who will be introduced in Thor and take on a larger role in The Avengers.
Feige told Playlist, "There's no definitive plans, but we have started talking and talking with Scarlett about what a Widow movie could be… Internally we've also started thinking what a 'Hawkeye' movie could be, how we could continue to explore the organization [which Samuel Jackson's Nick Fury leads] S.H.I.E.L.D, which has a pretty big part in 'Thor,' smaller parts in the two 'Iron Man' films and has a giant part in 'The Avengers.' [So it's like], what would a stand-alone "S.H.I.E.L.D." be like? It all goes back to the comics. Sometimes the answer is—when looking at a certain run of issues— 'no way' and sometimes the answer is 'maybe, let's continue to explore it' and certainly with Hawkeye and Black Widow those are two that we're exploring."
Presumably, Jeremy Renner's contract allows for a spinoff or two, so we assume the actor will be ready to reprise his role. As for a director or screenwriter, those questions will have to wait until closer to the release of The Avengers.
The Incredible Hulk 2
Release Date: Unknown
Development Status: Marvel Studios' attempt at reintroducing Hulk to movie audiences proved marginally more successful with fans and critics, but in the end the box office returns were underwhelming. Incredible Hulk was certainly no Iron Man, that much was clear. The modest grosses of Incredible Hulk have cast doubt on an immediate sequel.
And should that sequel get made, it won't happen before The Avengers - so says Marvel overlord Kevin Feige.
More and more, it appears as if Hulk's next appearance will be in the Avengers ensemble movie rather than another solo venture. Director Louis Leterrier seemed to suggest as much in a recent video interview. Edward Norton also recently ruled out the possibility of either an Incredible Hulk sequel or cameos in the upcoming Thor and Captain America movies.
And with Norton out and Ruffalo in as Hulk, we're not sure where this project is other than on the distant back burner.
Iron Fist
Release Date: TBD
Development Status: Has the time finally come for some superhero-themed martial arts mayhem on the big screen?
An Iron Fist movie has been rumored in Hollywood for much of the past decade. The film rights were previously held by Artisan Entertainment, with Ray Park (Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace) expected to don the flamboyantly colorful tights of Danny Rand. Now that Iron Fist is under the control of Marvel Studios, it seems the movie is finally being pulled out of development hell. A very talented writer, according to Kevin Feige, is currently working on a script, which is based on Bendis' and Matt Fraction's run with the character.
It's believed that Iron Fist is part of a concerted effort by Marvel Studios to produce smaller, relatively low budget superhero films to accompany the likes of the Iron Man and Avengers franchises.
No director or producers have been announced for Iron Fist yet. There is also no word as to whether Park might still be in the running for the lead role. Wilkes' involvement in xXx doesn't exactly fill us with confidence, but hopefully Iron Fist's recent critical success in the comic book realm can translate to the screenplay.
Iron Man 3
Release Date: May 3, 2013
Development Status: To the surprise of absolutely no one, a second sequel to Iron Man is being put on the fast track and will be one of Marvel Studios' first films to follow The Avengers. And no, director Jon Favreau will not direct the film.
Shane Black will direct the threequel and co-write it with Runaways scribe Drew Pearce. Black, who previously worked with star Robert Downey, Jr. on Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, promises that the story will not another "Iron Man fights a guy in an Iron Suit" installment. The story will be more like a Tom Clancy-thriller, with Iron Man fighting real world villians. (Does that mean the Mandarin will finally get his due?)
Iron Man 3 will be made after The Avengers and will not feature any other heroes from the Marvel Universe. Marvel is only doing crossover characters to lead up to The Avengers, and once that film is released, the plan is to go back to self-contained, single-character stories.
So why did Favreau leave the franchise? The official reason isn't known, but it's suspected that Favreau was frustrated with the studio's mandate to include Iron Man's fellow Avengers and other outside characters in the film.
Vulture says that one of their sources familiar with "Marvel's playbook" theorizes that the company, "had been pushing a confusing and packed vision of the third film as a tactic to provoke Favreau into leaving the project." But why the sneaky tactics? It's believed that Favreau had simply grown too expensive for the notoriously frugal Disney to retain.
It's probably safe to assume the rest of the principal cast will return, including Don Cheadle as Rhodey and Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. Other than that, we know only the release date for Iron Man 3 – May 3, 2013. Disney will handle distribution of Iron Man 3 as part of their recently announced arrangement with former distributor Paramount.
Magneto
Release Date: On Hold
Development Status: Yeah, so that young Magneto movie that David Goyer was supposedly working on? It's dead.
Not that this news comes as any great surprise to anyone who has even sorta been following the development of Fox's X-Men franchise lately.
Aside from the complete and utter lack of forward momentum on the project in recent months, word came that Bryan Singer was returning to the franchise he started to direct X-Men: First Class, an origin/prequel tale about Marvel's band of merry mutants. The thing is, part of that story is to involve the young Magneto and his relationship with the young Professor Xavier. That seemed to be the nail in the Magneto solo-film coffin, and now Singer has pretty much confirmed as much.
"This story would probably utilize some of the Magneto story because it deals with a young Magneto, so it might supersede that because this would explore that relationship between a young energetic professor and a disenfranchised victim of the Holocaust," the director tells The Hollywood Reporter.
X-Men: First Class producer Laura Shulen Donner reiterated these points when she recently spoke about Magneto. She indicated many of the plans for the film have been rolled into First Class, and that despite some internal discussion the project is essentially dead.
So never say never for a solo adveture starring the Master of Magnetism, but it's not likely to happen anytime soon.
Punisher Sequel
Release Date: Unknown
Development Status: Frank Castle has suffered through a pretty lackluster Hollywood career. None of the past three Punisher movies seemed to find large audiences or capture the true essence of the comics. That isn't stopping Marvel from giving it a fourth try.
At SDCC 10, Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige confirmed that Punsiher will return to live action at some point. He didn't indicate when exactly that might be, or even whether that return would occur in the form of a movie or TV series. Feige did reiterate that the Punisher franchise is back under direct Marvel Studios control. That didn't do much to help Punisher: War Zone, but hopefully the studio has learned a few useful lessons for their next attempt.
Runaways
Release Date: 2012
Development Status: Stalled.
It looks like Marvel has pumped the brakes on the adaptation of BKV's graphic novel. Casting had already been underway, but now the film's director, Peter Sollett, has been freed to go work on another movie before returning to helm Runaways... at some vague point down the line.
"Word in agency circles is that the project was flat-lining because it's similar in age demo to Kick-Ass, but insiders tell me that isn't true. Marvel simply has too much going on at the moment and will take its time on the live action adaptation of the comic hatched by Lost writer Brian K. Vaughan," according to Deadline.
Marvel's troubled teen heroes were expected to be the next big franchise to hit the screen, after the Avengers movie in 2012. Now it looks like the dense story, turned into a script by British TV scribe Drew Pearce, will get put back on a shelf.
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