James Spader to Play Ultron in ‘Avengers’ Sequel.

[arnisador]

[h=1]James Spader to Play Ultron in ‘Avengers’ Sequel[/h]

Not ready to cede the spotlight to DC Comics and Warner Bros., Marvel Studios made a casting splash of its own Friday when it announced that James Spader will play the villain in the sequel to 2012′s $1.5 billion-grossing blockbuster “The Avengers.”


Mr. Spader, an Emmy winner who will star in NBC’s “The Blacklist” this fall, will play Ultron, an evil and insane sentient robot who first appeared in the pages of Marvel Comics in the 1960s.

The first Avengers film has grossed $1.5 billion! I'm looking forward to Thor 2 and Avengers 2. I'm not as optimistic about Capt. America 2 and am definitely worried about Guardians of the Galaxy--though I do like Drax.

 

[CNida]

I could have swore Thanos was going to be the next bad guy. That was him at the end of the last Avengers, wasn't it?

Am I missing something important? I am a fan of the genre, not so much of comic books, so I don't know whats in the canon. Though, that rarely matters when it comes to movies.


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"A man who has attained mastery of an art reveals it in his every action." - Anonymous

 

[arnisador]

I could have swore Thanos was going to be the next bad guy. That was him at the end of the last Avengers, wasn't it?

Yes, that was him. My understanding is that he'll be behind the scenes again in #2 but will be the big villain in #3.

 

[CNida]

Wonder if any more heroes are going to be introduced this time around


____________________________

"A man who has attained mastery of an art reveals it in his every action." - Anonymous

 

[arnisador]

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch have been cast.

 

[CNida]

Good. Would love to see Spiderman or Wolverine too but... Yeah. Interested to see Quicksilver.


____________________________

"A man who has attained mastery of an art reveals it in his every action." - Anonymous

 

[arnisador]

I think the rights for Spiderman, for example, are currently owned by another company, so Marvel can't use their own character. Ditto for the X-Men--in fact, if Quicksilver is indeed still a mutant it isn't clear how they can use him. Marvel made several licensing deals before doing its own movies.

 

[CNida]

It's tricky. I think they just can't use anyone who was in the movies. Still kinda crappy though. They need to overcome those silly disputes. I'd love to see the modern Wolverine or Spiderman in the Avengers.


____________________________

"A man who has attained mastery of an art reveals it in his every action." - Anonymous

 

[arnisador]

A Fantastic Four movie was actually made just to retain the rights to the characters:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantastic_Four_(film)#Production

with the option scheduled to expire on December 31, 1992, Neue Constantin asked Marvel for an extension. With none forthcoming, Eichinger planned to retain his option by producing a low-budget Fantastic Four film, reasoning, he said in 2005, "They didn't say I had to make a big movie." In September 1992, he teamed with B-movie specialist Roger Corman, who agreed to produce the film on a $1 million budget.[SUP][2][/SUP] Production began that December 28 under music-video director Oley Sassone. Storyboards were drawn by artist Pete Von Sholly.The 21-day or 25-day production was filmed on the Concorde Pictures soundstage in Venice, California

It wasn't released. (The latest season of Arrested Development parodied it.) Daredevil is in a similar position--Marvel leased the rights but is about to, or just did, get them back.

 

[Blindside]

I think the rights for Spiderman, for example, are currently owned by another company, so Marvel can't use their own character. Ditto for the X-Men--in fact, if Quicksilver is indeed still a mutant it isn't clear how they can use him. Marvel made several licensing deals before doing its own movies.

I don't think them being a mutant really is a deal breaker, they just have to be careful to not emphasize the whole Magneto connection that those two have.

 

[arnisador]

They sold the rights to mutants of all sorts with the X-Men, I understood--but yeah, unless a side-deal was struck they'll have to play that down.