I am – Hercules!!
So many great quotes from SFX hinting at what Joss Whedon (“Toy Story,” “Speed,” “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” “Angel,” “Firefly”) has in store for Marvel’s “The Avengers,” which will put Hulk and Iron Man and Nick Fury and Black Widow on screen together with Thor and Hawkeye and Captain America.
What I kind of think ultimately defines Marvel Studios was the first thing they did and that was cast Robert Downey Jr. They said, ‘What if we got great actors and let them have some time to be the people they’re supposed to be instead of going through the paces of hitting this mark and that mark?’ They don’t always get it right, but nobody does. But if you look at who they already had, and who they allowed me to add to the cast, they are thinking about the integrity of the characters. Obviously we have to get from point A to point B, and fans really want to see this – and ideas for set-pieces which I said are great. Now I’m going to make them matter and they are completely on board with the idea.
What I will struggle with, in the outline and throughout, is that I would like to put these actors in a room and just make Glengarry Glen Ross. We’re talking about really exciting people and at the same time I have to keep the momentum of the thing going. I can’t let it turn into a lull fest. Knowing that I have enough time to do both of those things – that by the end of the movie you will feel ‘in’ with these guys – is the trick. It’s not an easy one but one that Marvel absolutely honours. They don’t hire Mark Ruffalo [the new Hulk] to say one iconic line and strike a pose. They hire him because he has so much humanity in him. He’s the antithesis of the iconic actor. He’s so human. He was my first choice to play the part, and the fact he is playing the part is nuts! They went to great lengths to make that happen and they understood exactly why he was right for the part.
I hear that the great Mark Ruffalo is using Serkisy motion capture to do Hulk as well as Banner. Does this mean nobody bothered to offer Bana or Norton the opportunity to play Hulk?
Oh! If you’ve been asleep for the last six month and are wondering which actors Whedon is talking about, here’s the rundown:
Nick Fury: Samuel L. Jackson ("Pulp Fiction")
Captain America: Chris Evans ("Fantastic Four")
Thor: Chris Hemsworth ("Star Trek")
Hulk: Mark Ruffalo ("Zodiac")
Black Widow: Scarlett Johansson ("Ghost World")
Hawkeye: Jeremy Renner ("Hurt Locker")
Phil Coulson: Clark Gregg ("Iron Man")
Iron Man: Robert Downey Jr. ("Sherlock Holmes")
And this is really happening? They’re putting the creator of my favorite TV show in charge of the biggest superhero movie ever? Oh my fucking Zeus!
P.S. I’d love to see Alyson Hannigan cameo as sexy superscientist Janet Van Dyne.
This thing’s supposed to hit cinemas May 4, 2012.
Find all of SFX’s story on the matter here.
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