Screenwriters Markus And McFeely Talk CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, There's A Rights Issue With Modok?

Screenwriters Markus And McFeely Talk CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, There's A Rights Issue With Modok?

Discussing their new movie Pain & Gain, screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely also touch on Captain America: The Winter Soldier, say there's a rights issue with Modok.

By MarkJulian - Apr 27, 2013 03:04 AM EST




Director Joe Johnston may not be handling the directorial duties for the sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger but the screenwriting pair of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are back. While promoting their new film Pain & Gain with Nerdist, the conversation inevitably turns to Captain America: The Winter Soldier where they revealed that oversight, for the most part, comes from Kevin Feige and less so from Joss Whedon. "Umm, we talk to Kevin a lot; we don’t see Joss that much, because, obviously, he’s got a movie and a TV show that he’s trying to roll out, so he can’t be popping into our room as often," said McFeely. Not totally surprising, as I imagine the solo films have to line up to a certain point with The Avengers 2 but not to such a great degree that Whedon needs to be in the room with the screenwriters and looking over the shoulder of the directors. More likely, Whedon gives an update to Feige and he is the individual with the task of sheepherding, so to speak. "Kevin’s the guiding force, at least the one we deal with. He doesn’t usually say, you know, “Don’t do this or this because we’re going to do this over here,” but he’s certainly, I’ve said it before, he’s the dungeon master. He’s the last word. One of the reasons Marvel is so good at what they’re doing is Kevin. Kevin is a film guy and kind of a geek guy in the best possible way," added Markus.

When talk progressed to the film's villains, which have been confirmed to include the likes of Crossbones (Frank Grillo), Batroc the Leaper (Georges St. Pierre) and obviously the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), the screenwriting pair insinuated that they tried to sneak in one more villain. "There are the [villain] favorites I’m always trying to wedge in, but the problem is you can’t wedge in a giant, flying head. It’s not like MODOK can pop up in one scene. But, I think you’ve seen in the casting announcements that a couple a snuck in," stated McFeely. And when the interviewer revealed his enthusiasm for Modok, Markus replied, "There’s a rights issue there, somehow."

If you recall back to the first Captain America's film release, the screenwriting pair revealed they were very keen on using Modok in the sequel and even went so far as to say they wanted Peter Dinkalage in the role but apparently there's legal issues there.

Correction: It looks as if the screenwriters are stating there might be an issue with Modok appearing in Days of Future Past, not Winter Soldier.


Captain America The Winter Soldier png


Chris Evans returns as Capt. Steve Rogers aka Captain America in an all new Marvel Studio adventure. When Rogers stumbles across an old ally long thought dead he uncovers many secrets S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) desperately sought to keep from him. Add in the nefarious Crossbones (Frank Grillo) acting on the orders of a larger threat and Captain America will need all the allies he can find to save his long lost friend. Directed by the Anthony and Joe Russo (Community) and based on a screeplay from Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor: The Dark World, Pain & Gain) Capatain America: The Winter Soldier arrives in theaters to save the day April 4, 2014.


Running Time: Filming in progress
Release Date: April 4, 2014
MPAA Rating: This Film Has Not Yet Been Rated
Starring: Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Cobie Smulders, Anthony Mackie, Frank Grillo, Toby Jones,Jeremy Renner (rumored), Emily VanCamp
Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Written by: Christopher Markus (screenplay), Stephen McFeely (screenplay), Joe Simon (comic book), Jack Kirby (comic book), Ed Brubaker (concept and story)

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luffycapri
luffycapri - 4/27/2013, 4:22 AM
DC comics , WB take notes !
MarkJulian
MarkJulian - 4/27/2013, 4:26 AM
The "somehow" added at the end of Markus' statement shows that he was surprised as well. Modok debuted in Tales of Suspense.
starkresilient
starkresilient - 4/27/2013, 4:27 AM
I didn't know they were writing CA:WS. Pain&Gain sucked and had some terrible reviews. I am concerned now
P862010
P862010 - 4/27/2013, 4:28 AM
^probably x men he has been in several x men titles
Tapion1ives
Tapion1ives - 4/27/2013, 4:44 AM
Isn't he technically a mutant. And fox own the rights to all mutants
thewonderer
thewonderer - 4/27/2013, 4:44 AM
Pain and Gain is actually a decent movie as far as Michael Bay is concerned.

Also, the bayifacation is the film is more troubleworthy than anything these writers probably did.

Cautiously optimistic.
Excel
Excel - 4/27/2013, 4:45 AM
wish there was a way to see who entitled to each character and the genius who flung out the characters like monopoly money. bet it was avid ari
loki668
loki668 - 4/27/2013, 4:45 AM
They're probably saving him for "Modok: Head Gigilo"
Excel
Excel - 4/27/2013, 4:49 AM
forget what I said bout avid, man a beast. but stil want to know who brokered the deal
HannibalKing
HannibalKing - 4/27/2013, 4:50 AM
If only there was a registry which allowed us to see who owns whom and until well.
I remember when the first Fantastic Four movie came out Kevin Smith mentioned he was able to buy the rights to Namor for a dollar.
loki668
loki668 - 4/27/2013, 4:52 AM
@CoulsonLives

They're going to change him to MODOS: Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Snuggling.
marvel72
marvel72 - 4/27/2013, 5:00 AM
can't see why there is a rights issue he first appeared in tales of suspense 93 which featured stories from iron man & captain america.

the only x-titles he has appeared in are.....

-wolverine 142 & 143
-cable & deadpool 11
-x-men 200
-uncanny x-men 488

the only problem i could possibly see is if fox brought the rights from a certain run of the x-men & modok appeared in that run.
MarkJulian
MarkJulian - 4/27/2013, 5:14 AM
I would probably say kevberg is right. Probably not a studio issue but something else.
Wingding
Wingding - 4/27/2013, 5:43 AM
Your mom is a legal issue
spidey1994
spidey1994 - 4/27/2013, 5:56 AM
Wait? What rights issue? He's a Captain America and Iron Man villain!
ParisSun
ParisSun - 4/27/2013, 6:22 AM
I watched a documentary on comic books a few years ago. I was amazed at how complex and convluted the ownerships rights are in a lot of cases. I always thought it was the creator who owned the characters but that's not always the case. You have individuals, companies and families all wrestling about character use. It's crazy, not sure why it got so confusing.

I just want a Shazam movie.
TonyChu
TonyChu - 4/27/2013, 6:29 AM
I heard Pain and Gain was decent but the writing was fantastic. Cap 2 is my most anticipated until Avengers 2, but at the same time the most I am worried about.
BackwardGalaxy
BackwardGalaxy - 4/27/2013, 6:32 AM
Could it be a rights issue with the creator? I remember WB being hesitant to make new Superman and Superboy stuff when all of that was up in the air... mainly because they didn't want to pay a whole lot of money to their creators' heirs.
JoeMomma29
JoeMomma29 - 4/27/2013, 6:39 AM
Yeah I think Cap may fall short of our expectations.
StrangerX
StrangerX - 4/27/2013, 7:03 AM
i wonder if Dinklage isnt just playing the sentinal creator and maybe turned into some sort of makeshift MODOK like villain.

Thats the only thing i can think of.
AC1
AC1 - 4/27/2013, 7:03 AM
Seems odd that there would be rights issues with MODOK of all characters, but I think he's a bit too goofy for the movies anyway, at least in terms of his looks.

I think if they ever did use MODOK in a movie, they'd need to re-imagine it as something like HAL 9000, or in the context of the MCU, an evil version of JARVIS.
JatevinM
JatevinM - 4/27/2013, 8:07 AM
Are people really advocating for Modok to be used? That would be a horrible choice of villain in any capacity and the general audience would just laugh at him rather than take him serious...ESPECIALLY IF PETER DINKLAGE PLAYED HIM
Gary8264
Gary8264 - 4/27/2013, 8:15 AM
Yeah Modok is Cap's villain. Created by A.I.M. He's so much Cap's villain that durin' Gruenwald's run on Cap he created another female version of Modok...Modam.
thoarnejones
thoarnejones - 4/27/2013, 8:20 AM
MODOK is hilarious in Avengers EMH can't help but love him now.
Pheezmatic
Pheezmatic - 4/27/2013, 8:27 AM
@Excel Believe it or not or god of the heavens himself, Stan "The Man" Lee was the one who signed off on a lot of these character rights. Not to mention in deals that could allow these studios to own them potentially forever as long as they keep the characters in production. Not one of his best moves but during the 70's, 80's and 90's the man was desperate to transfer these characters to a medium other than comics.
Vaportrail
Vaportrail - 4/27/2013, 8:49 AM
MODOK is fine for the comics and even the animated series, but I don't really care to see him in the MCU.

Some things should just stay in the books.
dracula
dracula - 4/27/2013, 9:05 AM
i would rather have baron zemo than modok
Ocelot
Ocelot - 4/27/2013, 9:17 AM
one thing's for sure, if Modok's ever used in the films he'll have to be radically changed to work on screen, no fat floating body. They'll proabably just make him a cyborg who's crazy or something like that
sameoldthing
sameoldthing - 4/27/2013, 9:19 AM
Perhaps those guys are confused..MODOK dwells in the adventures of Cap but MOJO is an enemy of the X-Men & could have something to do with that franchise.

There should be no rights issue with MODOK but MOJO could be Fox property for their films.
MODOK in a live action film would be wild..hope to see that at some point.
ATrueHero1987
ATrueHero1987 - 4/27/2013, 9:23 AM
Awwww, I see the update now. Ok.
Ocelot
Ocelot - 4/27/2013, 10:15 AM
@MARVELPSYCHO79 super smart, dangerous cyborg with no giant head is the way I see them doing modok if they ever use the character
shamo
shamo - 4/27/2013, 11:03 AM
Modok is a horrible villain.
chessteve
chessteve - 4/27/2013, 11:04 AM
I love MODOK with giant head he is so cool and different. Don't even think of messing with a Kirby designed creation. That is how we ended up with the cloud Galactus.
KeithM
KeithM - 4/27/2013, 11:44 AM
@Pheezmatic: Source? I think you're talking bollocks mate. Stan did a lot of that kind of stuff pre-90s it's true, but NONE of the deals we have today were done by Stan, because by then Stan had long stepped down as President and did not have any authority to make any such deals at all.

When Marvel made those deals with Fox, Sony and the other studios. Avi Arad and Jerry Calabrese were in charge of the company. They made and signed off on those deals.

A quick glance at Marvel's wiki page will tell you all this.

Facts eh? Most inconvenient.
capaware
capaware - 4/27/2013, 1:15 PM
"Of of those property licenses have lil loop holes and unwritten guidelines. For example the whole Scarlet Witch/Quicksilver thing. FOX owns all mutants (and basically can own those closely related to the mutants), but since the twins first appeared in the Avengers comics, Marvel can use them without mentioning they are mutants (cause then FOX can probably sue)"

Actually, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch first appeared in X-MEN with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. But they went on to become primarily known as AVENGERS characters. However, in more recent years, they've appeared in many of the X-MEN cartoons. This is probably why both Disney/Marvel and FOX share the rights.
KeithM
KeithM - 4/27/2013, 1:40 PM
^ The exact details re: Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver is, as you say, both have the rights - the difference being that if Fox use them, they can't mention anything to do with The Avengers or related characters, and if Marvel use them, they can't mention the word 'mutants', Magneto being their dad or anything to do with the mutantverse.

TelaVision: Fox can't use any character associated with mutants, just because... every character they can use is specifically named. If they're not, they can't use them - for example, Namor, who's a mutant, they can't use - Universal had the rights and when they reverted, he went back to Marvel, not Fox. Any new mutants created after the deal also won't be with Fox. However, Fox have the rights to the term 'mutant', so even if Marvel did decide to use one of them not under Fox's umbrella, they'd have to call them something besides a mutant.

Complicated? Not half.

What makes it even more so is that Marvel/Disney have ALL the rights to ALL the characters for TV... so they could, technically, make an X-Men or Spidey live action TV show - but they probably won't because it might cause more friction with Fox in particular who actually tried to take Marvel to court over the TV rights.

Marvel were going through bankruptcy at the time these deals were made and it probably saved the company. They were in no position to make these films themselves, so it seemed like a good deal at the time for all involved.
KeithM
KeithM - 4/27/2013, 1:42 PM
As for MODOK though, I don't know what that could be about.
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