Marvel Studios chairman and CEO Avi Arad talked to MTV during a new interview. In the interview Arad revealed the status on nearly all new Marvel films currently in the works.
X-Men 3:
"I've never seen a reaction like that," Arad says of the Internet buzz that erupted after the casting of Kelsey Grammer as Beast was announced. He also confirms that Vinnie Jones (Bullet Tooth Tony from "Snatch") will play Juggernaut and that the cast from the first two movies are "all coming back." Regarding Jean Grey's possible evolution at the end of the last movie, however, Arad says, "Dark Phoenix should not be the centerpiece of the movie."
Magneto spin-off:
"I will always want Ian McKellen," Arad says. "There's no way for me to think of not walking into the story through him — through something happening now, and then going back there. Ian is an ambassador for this, and he needs to be there."
Ghost Rider:
"I remember seeing 'The Perfect Storm,' how the whole wave was CGI. You're going to see something [similar] in 'Ghost Rider.' " While he reveals that Ghost Rider will, at some point, be entirely submerged, Arad vows that the infamous grinning skull will continue to flame on. "Nothing can extinguish it," he smiles. "It's hellfire."
Spider-Man 3 and 4:
While insisting that rumors of a simultaneous third and fourth "Spider-Man" movie shoot are simply "not true," Arad did confirm that Dylan Baker will return for the third film. Although Thomas Haden Church and Topher Grace are set to play the main, as-yet-unnamed villains of the third film, the seeds are apparently being planted for Spidey to also someday take on a superhumanly strong, green-scaled monster.
Ant-Man, Dr. Strange, and Black Panther:
"The Ant-Man is also in there, a 'Honey I Shrunk the Superhero' kind of story," Arad says. Dr. Strange is also in the works, as well as a movie version of Black Panther, "which is a big, big, big deal. When you say '10,' some of them may be sequels."
Captain America:
"I have a writer," he says. "And I have someone in mind to be the star, and I definitely have someone in mind to be the director. This script is going to take a little bit of time, because it has to be a masterpiece. It's 'Back to the Future' kind of stuff."
Silver Surfer:
"There is a director who should make 'Silver Surfer' — he is mentally committed to it. He's doing another movie now. What's most important to me about this guy, first, is that he's incredible with visuals. But he's also a spiritual guy, a Zen Buddhist." Arad also confirms that the enormous planet devourer Galactus will be in the movie, but chances are he'll be all-CGI. "Galactus is a force of nature, not a being. That's all I'm saying."
Iron Man:
"It's been a war with [co-producers] New Line Cinema. I had a four-hour meeting with ['The Notebook' director] Nick Cassavetes in my house. If everything is cool, in the next few weeks there'll be an announcement about Nick writing it. Nick has a unique emotional attachment to Iron Man's alter ego, Tony Stark. Think about John [Cassavetes] and Nick, father and son — the father was a great visionary director, and here's the son, an actor and a writer and turned out to be a very gifted artist himself."
Punisher 2, Shang Chi, and Luke Cage:
The Punisher; Arad confirms that Jigsaw will be the villain and that, with the first movie, "blood and intestines should have been blown out on the wall, because that's the Punisher." He added that the sequel will be among a handful of Marvel films with an R rating.
" 'Punisher,' of course. Maybe 'Cloak and Dagger.' I think 'Shang Chi' we can do PG-13, and 'Iron Fist' maybe an R. 'Luke Cage,' I don't know. Big studio movie. We'll try and do PG-13."
Namor, Thor, Luke Cage, Nick Fury, and Deathlok:
Arad then speaks like a proud papa of films about Cage (John Singleton's directing; Jamie Foxx had been considered for Diamondback, who will definitely be the villain); Nick Fury ("I'm going back in time. I'm going back to the classic on this. It's about him; it's about SHIELD"); Thor ("We are feverishly working on Thor. It's a vast 'Lord of the Rings' sort of universe"); Deathlok ("There is an actor, a very big star, that we want to do it, and we'll talk to him within a month"); and Namor. Comparing the last film to "Jurassic Park," Arad says, "a lot of design work has been done on it. The script is gigantic."
Hulk 2:
Arad says, insisting that "I had a meeting with Universal [a few] weeks ago. We are going to make a Diet Hulk." He says the sequel will arrive in theaters "no later than 2007."
Daredevil 2 and Elektra 2:
"I would make it in a second, as soon as could I get the rights back. We licensed it. If they'll give us the rights back, we'll make the movie."
"I think Elektra is on ice now," he admits somberly, before suggesting one way a sequel might return the character to her comic book roots: "If we could do her à la the 'Sin City' idea — whoa."
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