Joss Whedon's at SXSW to do some press for Cabin In The Woods, the upcoming horror film that he wrote and produced alongside Drew Goddard. That film has been on the shelf for over two years now, but now that Chris Hemsworth is starring in Thor and another summer movie this year, it makes sense for it to finally see a release. So, of course, whenever he sits down with journalists, all they want to do is talk about The Avengers instead of the movies he's there to talk about. Surprisingly, in what was perhaps an unguarded moment, Whedon confirmed that the alien invaders in the film won't be either the Skrull or the Kree, the two races that had been considered the most likely candidates to invade Earth.
Those two aliens are Marvel mainstays and have enormous backstories. They have a big life of their own that just could not be contained in a film where I already had seven movie stars.
That's not necessarily a huge revelation, since Kevin Feige had, I believe, long-ago hinted that the Skrull weren't in the film, but it still leaves open the door for interpretation as to who, precisely, are going to be the bad guys in the Avengers movie. Since Loki re-appears, it'd make sense for the villains to be some kind of mythological race, one could suppose, but then his powers of manipulation are such that it could be basically anyone.
The Avengers doesn't really look like it's going to be focusing on the external threat, though; it would appear more likely that it'll be the team-building episode of what I'm sure Marvel wants to be a trilogy. Still, it'll be interesting to find out precisely what the Avengers are actually fighting in the film. We'll know in May, at the latest.
I bet it's The Brood. That way they can link this movie to a new X-Men film. Synergy!
@gangly said:
Well probably...but I do like it whenever a movie can hold in at least an iota of it's plot before reaching theaters...
@TheFaithfullyDeparted said:
I know I did! Chris Evans did a (surprisingly?) great job as Cap, but it was knowing Hugo Weaving was bringing Schmidt to life which made me interested in the first place.
@vinsanityv22 said:
Granted, a lot of my apprehension about this flick is that I'm just not that into Marvel in general, but I think that's really the point too. I'm not sold because I don't love the "family" which as you said is what this movie is really about.
I completely understand that folks are thrilled to see these heroes that they love together, but I think that just having them together is where the excitement also ends. Sure, these characters aren't completely one dimensional, but comparing them to the depth of Trek characters is a stretch. Not even because of the characters themselves, but you know in Trek that they will have to come together to solve problems in interesting ways, where as super people just have to figure out how to "collectively punch" the baddie. So if that baddie is uninteresting, the story becomes pointless.
Syndrome was a compelling villain which supported the entire third act of that film, Dr. Doom (at least in that flick) was not, and I had to watch the movie 3 times because I couldn't stay awake for the damn thing.
Dial it back gangly, damn. Jk jk. But seriously, maintaining a little mystery isn't a bad thing. I don't think it adds or detracts from how awesome the movie looks. I think this WILL be important for these movies even if the villains aren't because of the reasons you just said. They have to come together after all flying solo (or with people other than the new team) and learn to work together as a unit. That's going to be important if this is going to be a trilogy and will help us as an audience connect with the characters and realize why they like/dislike one another. I think the villains will be a bigger deal than just interchangeable whatevers because they seem to be kicking ass in the trailers and Loki isn't a wimp (in Thor he may have seemed like it, but he was holding back because he had hope that he could still feel like part of the family). Anyway, the movie will likely be good (it's Joss Gorram Whedon) and I think the few naysayers will see it and like it.
Loki's not going to continue being the main villain. I think Thanos will eventually be the threat mostly by merit of other supervillains being too closely tied to failed franchises (Fantastic Four, Ghostrider, etc.) or the Xmen. I think the army's progenitor will be a secret most of the film but we'll find on Loki's deathbed that a more powerful being is in the loop here. The machines are probably some new, unaffiliated thing because the story is going to be busy enough just setting up the relationships with the heroes. And I think its cute that you think they've limited themselves to a trilogy, considering how much money they spent just setting the film up.
My feeling is they probably want to cover a really big villain, Hulk going chaotic, and the civil war at which point some old Xmen will probably show up (or maybe just Hugh Jackman) along with the new Spiderman.
Mandarin, I'm calling it now.