Iron Man 2, Thor announced for 2010

[Tonguez]

(Assuming they're keeping Wasp around, of course.)

Wasp is a much cooler character than Ant Man and the movie does need to have at least one female superhero in it.

I can see Hank Pym working in an Avenger movie with a bit part as the Avenger 'tech' expert working on a nanotech level but really don't see a whole movie about a guy who shrinks and talks to ants as being all that interesting.

As to the Thor villain I can see a souped up version of the Wrecking Crew as working...

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

What we know about the Ant-Man movie, at the moment, is pretty limited like most of them. But we do know its going to be about both Hank Pym and Scott Lang, and that Simon Pegg is supposedly attached to it in some way. It seems like they're going to go with a lighter tone for it, which would really work for Ant-Man over many other heroes.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

As to the Thor villain I can see a souped up version of the Wrecking Crew as working...

Loves me the Wrecking Crew, but for them to be the main "villain" of the piece, I think you'd have to have really play up Thunderball as the driving force- possibly a variation of their origin story, where they're looking for the Gamma Bomb TBall built so that they can hold cities for ransom.

Which would be fine as far as I'm concerned, since TBall is my favorite member of the Crew. They could even tie it in with the Hulk movie in that regard if they wanted, by playing up the ties between Doc Franklin and Doc Banner and their work on Gamma radiation. (And hopefully we could finally get some Wrecking Crew action figures!!!)

Otherwise, the Wrecking Crew's a bit too dull to be the main opposition of Thor.

 

[Tonguez]

Loves me the Wrecking Crew, but for them to be the main "villain" of the piece, I think you'd have to have really play up Thunderball as the driving force- possibly a variation of their origin story, where they're looking for the Gamma Bomb TBall built so that they can hold cities for ransom.

I think you've given a great plot outline for the Thor vs Wrecking Crew movie right there and wrecking crew action figures would be funky.

I know Loki is the iconic nemesis to Thor but I'm not sure that I'm personally too interested in a movie about two norse gods battling out in New York. I'd also like to keep the overtly mystical aspects out of the Superhero movies.

On the last point of course we have a way to make TBall the driving force behind the Wrecking Crew by linking their powers to Gamma Radiation and Lightning rather than asgardian magic. I think the Wrecking Crew is obscure (and as you said dull) enough to modify their origins without offending too many and by supng them up you might just get a story.

A genius wronged by his employers and jailed without justice manipulates and binds three thugs into a team. They break in and steal one of his his invention a gamma powered earthquake generator which they will use to access the big prize (ie the gamma bomb) but they are hit by lightening which interacts with the gamma to give them enhanced strength and endurance. the earthquake enerator becomes the wrecking ball, whereas Wrecker gets his crowbow etc

 

[Tonguez]

You know who else would be a seriously cool opponent to Thor - the Sub Mariner. It could involve the Submarriner attacking the city for some threat to the oceans and Thor trying to stop him and it also gives us a lead in to the Sub Mariner movie

but now I'm dreaming

 

[Felon]

Otherwise, what do you have? Faustus, but he doesn't provide much in terms of a physical challenge to Cap. Arnim Zola, whose backstory is far more complicated than it's probably worth. Baron Zemo (either one), but if you use Heinrich, you might as well use the Red Skull. Helmut could be interesting, though, if you use Heinrich in the WWII part of the story and Helmut in the present.

Flag-Smasher, possibly, as Cap vs. the terrorist Ultimatum organization. Or Viper, possibly.

Can't really think of anyone else offhand that could really do the movie justice though.

M.O.D.O.K, baby!

 

[Felon]

Ummm....no.

It was his breakout blockbuster role, but not his "breaking out of being an unknown" role. He had done that years ago.

Ummm....no. (a little annoying, ain't it?)

He might have been building up a decent career before that. His name might have been on the short list of up-and-coming actors of self-designated Hollywood insiders. He might not have had trouble getting a table at the Four Seasons. His name might have been on the lips of the kind of the hardcore buffs who seek out a movie like Equilibrium or American Psycho. But when the general public heard that Christian Bale was Batman, the general reaction was "umm...who?" And that's what I'm referring to. Much like Daniel Craig becoming the new James Bond.

 

[Felon]

Heh. I'm only a fan of the Ultimates, and then only the first two series. (The third took a nosedive like you wouldn't believe.) And that's partly because they lacked a lot--not all, but a lot--of the goofiness that pervades comic books in general.

For instance, the Ultimates version of Captain America is an actual soldier, not a boy scout. He's still a good guy overall, he's still got the whole "All America" thing going, and he's still got the old-fashioned sense of right and wrong. But he's a much more ruthless combatant, and a lot quicker to solve problems with fists than words--basically, exactly what you'd expect from a so-called Super Soldier.

My favorite Ultimates version is Thor, though. As described above, most people assume he's just a crazy guy with super powers and his heart in the right place, who thinks he's the god of thunder. He's also a rabid environmentalist to the point of almost being hippy-esque, and politically active. Which doesn't mean he won't cave in your skull and call down the lightning on your twitching corpse if need be. I actually hope they not only take that approach in the Thor movie, but leave the question at least vaguely hazy.

I dunno. Overall, I just thought the Ultimates really presented the characters in a more real-world paradigm than their original versions. (Note I said "more real world," not just "real world." There's still plenty of comic bookiness.)

I thought Ultimates was kind of a gyp. The first year or so, they don't fight any villains, just each other. It might be cute on paper to organize this multi-billion-taxpayer-dollar dream team, and then just have them sit around idly like nukes in a silo, but in practice, I'm mystified as to how folks found that entertaining month after month. In fact, I don't recall them fighting anyone until Magneto the Ultimates/X-Men crossover.

Millar's thing is going for the shock value--that step or two across the line that separates "edgy" from "tasteless". I like the idea of an ultimate Captain America that's got John Wayne's sense of morality and directness. I don't like a guy who's eager to smash a jack boot into people's faces. I like the idea of an ultimate Hulk that actually causes fatalities during the course of his rampage, but then Millar turns him into a cannibal that takes people apart like a rotisserie chicken. And then there's his ultimate Wasp, a disgusting bug-woman who lays eggs and sheds chitin and spits up goop like Jeff Goldbloom in The Fly.

Have to say though, his ultimate Thor was actually the coolest of the bunch. He was the closest to having a regard for human life (an "unrealistic" trait of superheroes that I think is pretty vital to being worthy of the term) that Millar gave us.

 

[Mistwell]

Ummm....no. (a little annoying, ain't it?)

He might have been building up a decent career before that. His name might have been on the short list of up-and-coming actors of self-designated Hollywood insiders. He might not have had trouble getting a table at the Four Seasons. His name might have been on the lips of the kind of the hardcore buffs who seek out a movie like Equilibrium or American Psycho. But when the general public heard that Christian Bale was Batman, the general reaction was "umm...who?" And that's what I'm referring to. Much like Daniel Craig becoming the new James Bond.

The industry measures this sort of stuff. There are star meters, and measurement of number of mentions in entertainment news, and test marketing, and that sort of stuff, to make it an objective rather than subjective measure. Studies use this to aid with potential casting. Across the board, he was already in the semi-star category before Batman Begins. You may not have heard of him, but a sufficient number of people had heard of him (whether it was from when he was a kid, or more modern films) to rank him well above the "unknown" category for America, before Batman Begins.

And, for what it is worth, with the exception of my wife, Christian is the only actor whose popularity meter is actually something I know about, and knew about before Batman Begins. I don't claim to be an expert on the general topic, just Christian's popularity (and my wife's). I'm not going to go into why I know it (some folks here already do), but I hope you'll just take my word for it on this one.

 

[Felon]

Well, I know that you feel strongly that it's boiled down to an objective science which trumps the empirical evidence that water-cooler surveys provide, but I personally do know how the Hollywood machine is often terrible at gauging where the average joe stands on things. There's a lot of self-perpetuated assumptions in the industry, the most basic being that you can take an accurate sample of urban Americans by sampling L.A. and, at a broader level, California, because they represent the axis of modern civilization (q.v. the narcissism of "Crash" sweeping the Oscars in 2004) and everyone between there and Manhattan is living in the boondocks with no electricity so they should be disregarded.

Hollywood execs still trust the Nielson Company as providing objective, scientifically-precise data, despite the obvious holes in their rating system. Thing is, most people who go to movies don't read trades in the entertainment industry. They just see something that looks good, and they go. Even if they rent a movie like Equilibrium, they usually don't try remember the actors' names. But the companies that provide Q ratings can hardly stay in business saying "mmm I dunno", so they call it a fine science.

Anyway, it's not much worth arguing about. I think our positions are just not going to sync up.