Chatting away exclusively with Comicus, Marvel Studios president of production Kevin Feige dropped a few interesting tidbits regarding The Avengers highly-anticipated superhero assembly. He discusses the inclusion of humor in the film, whether any villains were considered before Loki, the roster for potential future installments and how much The Ultimates series had an influence. Excerpted below, hit the source for the full interview.
Were any other villains considered before Loki?
No, Loki was always the one we knew would do a big villain portrayal in The Avengers, particularly because it was the character in the very first Avengers comic-book in 1963, who caused trouble and made the Avengers sort of join up against him. So we loved that. Just we had written a few other characters in early drafts, not very famous Marvel characters but few others working on the side of Loki, but it just became too much. There are a lot of people in this movie already. But we have started to think about who the villain could be in the next, future movie.
How much of the Ultimate Universe was an influence on the movie's story?
The Ultimates was an amazing reinvention of The Avengers. Mark Millar and Joe Quesada sat down more than ten years ago and said, ‘If we had to reinvent The Avengers universe today what would we do? How would we change it?’ so they were asking and answering the same questions we always do when we have to start to make a movie. And they changed Nick Fury from an old World War II man to Samuel L. Jackson basically. We really liked that version. I must say also some interactions between Black Widow and Hawkeye was directly inspired by The Ultimate, & maybe some other characters, but the spirit and the heart of it is in the very original portrayal.
What do think about the Good reviews, some declaring the movie "too" comedic?
I think it’s very important. We want to see the audience wrapped up in laughter, cheers. That’s why we made the movie. I haven’t read those complaints yet but we have always wanted this movie to have a particular sense of humor. We think it allows a broader audience to enjoy it. It’s like it works in real life: you have to get to the audience’s heart through humor, laughter.
What about the Avengers from the comic books that didn't make it to the movie?
There were few scenes that included them in the early drafts of the script, but there just wasn’t room for too many characters. However there is a big number of characters among the Avengers, so if we were to make another one, we have sort of chosen our two-three favorite that we’d like to include into the next one. I think that part of the fun of future Avengers movies would be introducing one or two new characters in each. You don’t want too many characters; you want each of them to have their moments inside the movie, so I don’t envision a day where we will have 25 Avengers in the same movie.
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.