Just yesterday we heard news that Mark Millar's
The Ultimates comics are being used as the basis for Marvel's future film projects. In an interview with
Den of Geek Millar said,
"[Marvel's] already admitted they're doing it that way. Joe Johnston has said publicly, the Captain America movie is going to be the first issue of Ultimates, plus the origin story, and then the Avengers movie will be material from Ultimates #2-#13, and maybe Ultimates Volume 2. I'm not speaking out of school, they've publicly said this."
That comment was definitely a shock to fans. Especially since it contradicts Marvel President of Production Kevin Feige's statement regarding the basis for
Thor:
"We're doing the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby/Walt Simonson/J Michael Straczynski Thor. "
The only other information we've heard from either Jon Favreau, a confirmed Executive Producer for the film, or Feige makes it pretty clear that Marvel Studios is focused on releasing
Iron Man 2, Thor & Captain America before putting any effort into outlining the Avengers movie.
Joe Johnston's news regarding
The First Avenger: Captain America film doesn't seem to have an Ultimate influence either. He has even said one of Cap's costumes will be a direct translation of Jack Kirby's original representation of the character (buccaneer boots and all).
Now,
IGN has released a brief statement regarding the project from
Iron Man 2 War Machine actor Don Cheadle, who is also optioned on to appear in the Avengers .
When asked about the film's status he said,
"There isn't even a script yet."
It seems like there is either something going on with this project that isn't being disclosed to the public, or some of the people involved are speaking out of turn. On one side we have fan favorite writer Mark Millar who makes it very clear that a script has at least been outlined for the film. On the other we have Kevin Feige, who it seems wishes to keep the movies based on mainstream Marvel characters, and Cheadle who says there is no script for the film (or may not have access to it).
Who should we believe?