"When you're editing a comic book script, you can't help but form a mind’s eye picture of events that don’t always line up with what the artist draws. Ditto when you're reading a screenplay," says Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso on being lucky enough to have read Joss Whedon's screenplay for Marvel's The Avengers. As for whether or not he noticed any major changes in the final movie, he tells Comic Book Resources, "Directors, cinematographers and actors bring stuff to scenes that you can’t predict. Take Robert Downey, Jr., for instance – from what I’ve heard he largely improvises on his script. So, yeah, there were differences between my mind’s-eye picture of the script and the movie itself. That said, I'm amazed how much of Joss' script remained intact. Like the Black Widow introduction scene – one of my favorite scenes in the script – I prayed it wouldn’t lose something in translation to the screen. Well, it didn’t. Joss deconstructs the "James Bond intro." I mean, wow."
As for the exclusion of Ant-Man and Wasp (two of the original team members in the comic books) he adds,
"First, let me say, there couldn’t be anyone more thrilled that S.H.I.E.L.D. is such a major player in all of our movies. I've loved S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury since I was a little boy that picked up dog-eared back issues of the Steranko series from a flea market in San Francisco. [Laughs] A global-spanning, quasi-military entity like S.H.I.E.L.D. is the perfect device to bring the heroes together. I mean, the Avengers are a set of mismatched parts: a man out of time, a “god” with daddy issues, a billionaire playboy in an iron suit, a 98-lbs geek who turns into an engine of destruction when he gets upset, and two humans who’s unenviable task is to measure up to them – Black Widow and Hawkeye. All these characters are forced to form a team, to form a family. Who else but S.H.I.E.L.D. could put them together?"
"That said, I'd guess that Hawkeye and the Black Widow were subbed in for Ant-Man and Wasp because they are human. They weren’t powered up by science; they aren’t from another world. They give you a ground's eye view of the action." So, exactly how much control DOES Alonso have in dictating what does make it to the big screen in these Marvel Studios adaptations?
"The extent of my input was to sit on a committee that was involved in discussions of the core truths of the characters – what's baby and what's bath water about each character?" he reveals.
"You know, the difference between Captain America’s pirate boots and his shield. We discussed what makes each character tick, and what people love about them. I’m pretty sure my take on Iron Man pretty much cemented that I'll never be allowed to edit "Iron Man”! [Laughs] Hey, no regrets. I stand by my analysis. Tony Stark is NOT Peter Parker!"
STARRING:
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye
Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Ramanoff/Black Widow
Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk
Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury
Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson
Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill
Tom Hiddleston as Loki
RELEASE DATE: Out Now!