LINK: What’s Next for Marvel Movies?

Avi Arad, Marvel’s chairman and CEO, spoke with MTV.com about where several of the companies nearly 5,000 characters stand with regards to movie prospects, ranging from X-men 3 to Captain America to Cloak & Dagger.

• X-Men 3: Regarding Jean Grey’s possible evolution at the end of the last movie, however, Arad says, “Dark Phoenix should not be the centerpiece of the movie.”
• Wolverine: “2007/2008” film with Wolverine (“Totally different, just Wolverine’s journey”).
• Ghost Rider: Scheduled for August 2006, Arad refers to it as a “morality tale,” and that it will have a PG-13 rating and a “Southern rock” soundtrack and ethos.
• Spider-Man 3: Due in theaters in May 2007, Arad confirmed that Dylan Baker will return as Dr. Curt Connors.
• The Punisher: Jigsaw will be the villain and it will be rated R. “[In the first movie,] blood and intestines should have been blown out on the wall, because that’s the Punisher.”
• The Hulk: “It’s no secret, we took a lot of sh– for Ang Lee’s ‘Hulk,’ for all the wrong reasons… We couldn’t get into the curiosity thing. Hulk having a butterfly land on his hand? He would never [smash it]. The Hulk would be curious. He is like a baby, in a way.”
• Elektra: “I think Elektra is on ice now… If we could do her à la the ‘Sin City’ idea — whoa.”
• Captain America: “Captain America is the most famous character out there, by name. The biggest opportunity with him is as a man ‘out of time,’ coming back today — looking at our world through the eyes of someone who thought the perfect world was small-town America. Sixty years go by, and who are we today? Are we better? I have a writer, and I have someone in mind to be the star, and I definitely have someone in mind to be the director.”
• Iron Man: “It’s been a war with [co-producers] New Line Cinema. I had a four-hour meeting with Nick Cassavetes in my house. If everything is cool, in the next few weeks there’ll be an announcement about Nick writing it.”
• Black Widow: “It’s going to be [‘X-Men’ writer] David Hayter’s directorial debut. David is very imaginative. Actually, his firstborn is named Natasha, so we think he is committed to the project.”
• Silver Surfer: “Silver Surfer, from a spectacle standpoint, is second to none. It’s ‘Independence Day’ meets Marvel, times 10… Galactus is a force of nature, not a being. That’s all I’m saying.”
• Ant-Man: “The Ant-Man is…a ‘Honey I Shrunk the Superhero’ kind of story.”

Arad also discusses Daredevil, Black Panther, Cage, Cloak & Dagger, Nick Fury, Thor, Deathlok, and Namor. Check out the complete article at MTV.com.

Written by Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez is the Chief Content Officer for LibraryPass, and former publisher & marketing director for Writer’s Digest. Previously, he was also project lead for the Panorama Project; director, content strategy & audience development for Library Journal & School Library Journal; and founding director of programming & business development for the original Digital Book World.