"My personal opinion is that Joss will do a fantastic job," said Arad regarding Joss Whedon's attachment to direct The Avengers. "He loves these characters and is a fantastic writer... It's part of his life so you know he is going to protect it... I expect someone like him is going to make the script even better."
A fan asked Stan Lee about the possibility of an Iron Fist movie, citing Ray Park's desire to play the lead, "The way I feel about our public?" said Stan, "You want an 'Iron Fist' movie? You'll get an 'Iron Fist' movie."
At the top of Stan's own list for film adaptation is one particular master of mystic arts. "Doctor Strange," he said, "...they will [get to it] pretty soon."
What does Stan think of Chris Evan's being cast as Captain America; since he's already portrayed the Fantastic Four's Human Torch twice on film? "It seems a little bit strange to me," he admitted, "but he's a terrific actor and has a great personality... [but when it comes to playing both] I'm glad I'm not the producer... The problem is that some other movie companies have the rights to some of the characters but, after a few years, Marvel will get them all back... sooner or later they will get [a single movie universe], absolutely."
Stan assured that his cameos will continue as long as the moves do and, joking that, if anything, he should be appearing in other movies, even ones with characters he didn't create. "I'm jealous of everything I'm not involved in," he said with mock indignation, "I'm jealous of 'Kick-Ass.' Where was I when I this came out?"
SuperHeroHype managed to catch up with Stan backstage after the panel for a Q&A; here are a few excerpts:
Q: Can you talk a little more on your thoughts of Disney buying Marvel?
Lee: Oh, it's gonna be so good for Disney. We're gonna put that company on the map. We really are. They made the wisest move. It wasn't easy. They had to beg us a little, but we finally agreed to team up with them. I have high hopes for Disney. I'm really going to love it.
Q: What are you looking at working on?
Lee: Everything. Movies, television, DVDs. Whatever there are. We have a number of movies in development with them now. We have something called "Time Jumper. "You may have heard of it. We're working on some television projects. We want to keep Disney busy. We don't want any idle hands on that lot.
Q: Can you talk about your "Thor" and possibly "Captain America" cameos?
Lee: I've done my Thor cameo. I haven't done the Captain America one. I don't think they've started that yet. I had lunch with a young director, [Edgar Wright]. He's real good. He's gonna do the "Ant-Man" movie. So I expect to get a cameo there, of course.
Q: How long ago did you meet with Edgar?
Lee: It must have been six months ago that we had lunch. I don't think that's already scheduled, but they had asked him to direct it and he was thrilled about it. He wanted to talk to me about it. That was the last I heard, but they can only do so many movies at a time. I imagine "Ant-Man" is on the list somewhere.
Q: He's a small guy. He's easy to fit in.
Lee: Very good. But you leave those remarks to me.
Q: Is your cameo in "Thor" as a man or as a god?
Lee: I love that question; "Stan, are you a man or are you a god." I'm a man. I was hoping that I would be Odin, but you know they're so short-sighted.
Q: Any word on a cameo in "The Avengers" yet?
Lee: No, I haven't spoken to anyone yet. They're still casting it and putting it together.
Q: What do you think of Joss Whedon coming on as director?
Lee: I think it's wonderful. The man is so talented. He's really great. He's gonna do a good job.
Q: He's said many times how inspired he was by you.
Lee: The man owes me the greatest debt. That's so obvious.
Q: How do you feel about the "Spider-Man" franchise getting the reboot?
Lee: It's interesting. We'll have to see how it turns out. But the guys in charge know so much about Spider-Man and they're so good at what they do that they're gonna make the right decision.
Q: What do you think of "Spider-Man" getting a director named Webb?
Lee: (Laughs) Maybe that's why they hired him. It'll give a lot of people things to write about. But I don't worry. Kevin Feige is the producer there and all the other people at Marvel Studios are smart. They know the characters. They're gonna do what the fans are gonna do. At the last resort, they're gonna do what you guys are gonna do, let's say. We'll see.
Q: Are there any Marvel films you'd like to see rebooted?
Lee: Maybe the Hulk a little bit. Maybe. I'd like them to bring Daredevil back and try it again. I've always liked that character.
Q: Why the Hulk?
Lee: I think the Hulk should have been even a bigger hit than he was. Maybe if they have a third go-round he will be. I mean, he did well, but he should have been a smash.
Q: He'll probably be in "The Avengers," though, right?
Lee: Oh, I'm sure.
Q: You mentioned Doctor Strange at the panel. What would you like to see there?
Lee: I'd like to see a great movie come out of it. Doctor Strange is somewhat different from all the others. With the nightmares and the other conventions, it'll give them a chance to have some great special effects and a slightly different type of hero.
Q: Do you know what you'll be doing in San Diego this year?
Lee: No, I have no idea. I never know. I didn't know what I was going to be doing here. They tell me, "you're going to this convention," and I walk in stumbling and bumbling and they push me into a room to do a panel and say, "go over here and sign something," or "alright, we've had enough of you, go home." I hope they'll be saying that soon because I've got stuff to do at home.
Q: In "Iron Man 2," you're playing Larry King. Has Larry King said anything to you about it?
Lee: He'll probably shoot me if he sees me. That wasn't my idea, you know. I was just going to be a guy in a crowd who says hello to Robert Downey Jr. as he walks by. Then, all of a sudden, the director, Jon Favreau says, "Wait! I've got an idea! Give Stan a pair of horn-rimmed glasses and suspenders.
Q: Did you shave for the part? Larry King doesn't have a mustache.
Lee: He didn't seem to care. Let Larry King grow a mustache! I'm not shaving mine off.
Q: So what are you going as Larry this time around?
Lee: I'm not supposed to tell anybody. But, if you think it's dumb, it wasn't my idea. If it's clever, I'm glad I thought of it.
Be sure to follow the link below to SuperHeroHype to view the entire Stan Lee Q&A and the rest of the panel discussion.