Continuing promotional rounds for Marvel's The Avengers flick, now one-on-one with Comic Book Resources, Marvel Studios president of production Kevin Feige discusses the superhero assembly in more detail than ever. Weighing in on comparisons to Warner Bros and DC Entertainment's Batman finale, The Dark Knight Rises, Feige also discusses Loki's army, the anticipated end-credits teaser and the "key" to the studios' success.
"I haven't seen 'Dark Knight Rises.' [Christopher] Nolan's tone is very specific and is pretty awesome, and we're very different. I think that while we have, particularly in 'Avengers,' very serious moments and [it] is as dark and serious as the moments in any of our films, there's a sense of humor that goes along with it that Joss is an expert at and that we believe very strongly that Jon Favreau really helped define in the 'Iron Man' films, that allows, we believe, the audience to get in even deeper into the story," Feige said.
"There's a lot of crazy stuff going on in our movies, and we want people to believe in them and we want people to relate to them. When they're laughing, when they're cheering, you can suddenly hit them with something else -- you open up through humor and that tone, that fine line between the epic, the bombastic, the moving and the humor is to me that favorite part of stringing all these movies together," Feige said.
"One of my favorite compliments coming out of many of our films is, 'I didn't think it would be so funny!'"
"Truthfully [the aliens] are Loki's army and what is most important about them is that they are Loki's army. The notion of Skrulls and Kree and the amount of speculation -- the great thing about the fans just want to know everything they don't know. They wanted to fill in the blank, and that blank wasn't particularly important of who the aliens were; we revealed Loki a long time ago, he was the main bad guy."
"There's a reveal at the end -- the notion that Loki has made an arrangement with somebody, that somebody has provided these extremely deadly and creepy and cool aliens to fight alongside him and then to reveal who that somebody was, that's all Joss and that was sort of the big payoff," Feige said.
Regarding future big-screen adaptations, when CBR asked the producer about the potential
Antman, Runaways, Inhumans or
Guardians films, he smilingly responded,
"Two of those four are much closer than people realize, and we'll be talking about them in the coming months!"
For the full interview, where Kevin Feige discusses Joss Whedon's writing tactics, Agent Coulson's inclusion and much much more, head on over to
Comic Book Resources!
Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”--the super hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel super heroes Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.
Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, & directed by Joss Whedon from a screenplay by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble on May 4, 2012. The film is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. In addition to "Marvel's The Avengers," Marvel Studios will release a slate of films based on the Marvel characters including "Iron Man 3" on May 3, 2013!; and “Thor 2” on November 15, 2013.