Last month, when Iron Man 3 hit cinemas, Joss Whedon walked the red carpet to support his Marvel colleagues and got talking about his work writing Avengers 2. He dropped a hint that a brother-sister team could feature in the sequel, with internet speculation jumping immediately to Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. Now, Whedon’s been chatting with IGN and confirmed that the duo at least appears in the current script draft.
“You know, they had a rough beginning. They’re interesting to me because they sort of represent the part of the world that wouldn’t necessarily agree with the Avengers,” he says. “So they’re not there to make things easier. I’m not putting any characters in the movie that will make things easier.” Joss Whedon making life easy for his characters? Perish the thought!
That’s not all the Marvel news to leak onto the web this weekend, as Entertainment Weekly sat down with Kevin Feige and others to talk about the company’s filmic plans for Phase Three, which kicks off in 2015 with Edgar Wright's Ant-Man.
The company president didn’t have a lot to say about the likelihood of Doctor Strange, Black Panther or other characters being part of Phase Three, since they’re still in development. He did, however, confront all the recent Hulk standalone rumours. “What we’re excited about exploring and expanding is Mark – and Banner’s not in Planet Hulk at all,” Feige says. “The fun of the Hulk is his interaction with humans. Mark could stand in his own movie. We’re talking about it. We’re excited to sit down and go, ‘What is a stand-alone Hulk movie?’”
As for the ironclad elephant in the room, i.e. the likely return of Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man? Since negotiations are presently still ongoing (Downey Jr completed his original contract with Iron Man 3), both sides are pushing their agendas. “My intent is to launch another franchise, independent of any that I can even imagine right now,” says Downey, planting the possible seed for him to leave. “My intent is to dominate the playing field for as long as I can, with my own challenges, with myself.” He’s definitely in talks for Avengers 2 and conceivably a third, but more stand-alone Stark? We’ll have to wait and see.
Feige, on the other hand, countered with his thoughts on the future. “I believe there will be a fourth** Iron Man** film and a fifth and a sixth and a 10th and a 20th,” the producer says. “I see no reason why Tony Stark can’t be as evergreen as James Bond. Or Batman for that matter. Or Spider-Man. I think Iron Man is a character just like that.”
For more from Feige and co on Phase Three, head to EW.