Chatting openly with the Toronto Sun, Marvel Studios' president of production, Kevin Feige, discussed his idea of killing off a certain favored character from Marvel's The Avengers superhero assembly. Additionally, Feige also comments on the exclusion of one of the original Avengers in the 1960s comic books, Ant-Man.
"[It was my idea]. We wanted the audience to understand the stakes and not just assume because it's a franchise, no one will ever get hurt. So I was watching J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie - and I'm a big Star Trek nerd so this may have hit me more than other people - but when they killed Spock's mom, I was like, 'We have to do that!' "
"Edgar's still working on that [Ant-Man] project, and it's closer than ever," says Feige. "But it's been eight years we've been working with him, and we finally decided we couldn't keep putting more people in. If Ant Man had come out four years ago, it would certainly have been part of the puzzle."
Additionally, writer-director Joss Whedon briefly acknowledged the incident involving the theft of 'Nick Fury' Samuel L. Jackson's watermarked script.
"When I saw it, the first thing I said was, 'Could we send him the blue pages? Because it gets better.'"
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.