smaller films/short films

SDCC '11: Marvel Studios Have Regained Rights To Blade; Clip From Agent Coulson Short Shown!
Joe Quesada has confirmed that the studio have their hands back on Blade, as well as commenting on future Marvel Studios movies and showing off a clip from The Consultant featuring Agent Coulson and Thunderbolt Ross...
Great news! At the "Cup O' Joe" panel in San Diego, Marvel's former Editor-in-Chief revealed that the studio have regained the rights to both The Punisher (which we found out at last years Comic-Con) AND Blade. He also commented on future Marvel Studios movies, and played a brief scene from The Consultant, one of the upcoming Agent Coulson short films. Thanks to Comic Book Resources for the following.


Speaking of things that will have to wait, Quesada said now that Marvel has regained the rights on film to the Punisher and Blade, some kind of movement on bigger media projects with them can be expected but not any time soon. In a related "wait and see" moment, the CCO said that there are more plans for the heroes of Cosmic Marvel.

Asked whether Marvel will add more characters of color to its film slate. "One of the things we have to deal with first are the icons. If we don't do those first, other characters regardless of race or ethnicity, will fail," Quesada said while Alonso added, "I dream of the day that there will be a Luke Cage movie."

On the movie front, Quesada soon showed a film clip that he claimed to have stolen from Marvel Studios. The short clip of Agent Phil Coulson conspiring with a fellow SHIELD agent over how to trick General Thunderbolt Ross into denying a deal they were offering him. The clip ended in static as actor Clark Gregg rushed the stage with several folks dressed as SHIELD agents to mock-arrest Quesada. The actor spoke to his developing role as one he was given initially by his neighbor John Favreau and then with each successive Marvel film his part grew (when offered a "Thor" role, his response was "By Odin's [frick]ing hammer, yes!")

The actor then said the clip – titled "The Consultant" – is one of two short films that will be included in the "Thor" BluRay to flesh out the background of SHIELD. The second clip will be showing later this weekend at Marvel events.

A woman asked if they'd ever considered making a "Great Lakes Avengers" movie. When told no, she said, "It'd be cute!" to which Quesada responded, "It WOULD be cute...and no one would see it."

Comic Book Resources wrote:Speaking of things that will have to wait, Quesada said now that Marvel has regained the rights on film to the Punisher and Blade, some kind of movement on bigger media projects with them can be expected but not any time soon.

Comic Book Resources wrote:Asked whether Marvel will add more characters of color to its film slate. "One of the things we have to deal with first are the icons. If we don't do those first, other characters regardless of race or ethnicity, will fail," Quesada said

Comic Book Resources wrote:Alonso added, "I dream of the day that there will be a Luke Cage movie."

Comic Book Resources wrote:On the movie front, Quesada soon showed a film clip that he claimed to have stolen from Marvel Studios. The short clip of Agent Phil Coulson conspiring with a fellow SHIELD agent over how to trick General Thunderbolt Ross into denying a deal they were offering him. The clip ended in static as actor Clark Gregg rushed the stage with several folks dressed as SHIELD agents to mock-arrest Quesada. The actor spoke to his developing role as one he was given initially by his neighbor John Favreau and then with each successive Marvel film his part grew (when offered a "Thor" role, his response was "By Odin's [frick]ing hammer, yes!")

thecolorsblend wrote:But as far as the Punisher goes, I maintain that he's right in Chris Nolan's wheelhouse of comic book characters. This is esp true if they adapt the MAX series. I'd be very interested to see Nolan tackle this project, actually, since it's so reality-based already. The comparisons to Batman would be inevitable though, Nolan probably has some kind of deal in place with WB and the Punisher's big screen track record is pretty much shit. So there are a ton of reasons why Nolan won't go near this. But if it were to somehow happen, yeah, I'd actually be hip to this.

Apologist Puncher wrote:Nope, nothing in Nolan's "resume" shows he is the right man for the job.

Stallone for the win.

thecolorsblend wrote:Apart from his boner for casting non-Americans to play Americans, what specifically would discount him from this? A big chunk of his work centers on bloodthirsty loners seeking revenge, usually in a heavily realistic setting. That already fits the MAX Punisher (which takes place outside of the mainstream Marvel continuity; no other superheroes are around). Not saying as Nolan is the ideal, but there are zillions of worse choices out there.

He'd be good, no doubts there.

Apologist Puncher wrote:Because Nolan can't shoot action for shit. Plus, his films never convey the violence a character like The Punisher requires.

None at all.

thecolorsblend wrote:Mmm, I'll give you that. Good point.

Esp in relation to the action thing. Of all people, Stallone has nothing to prove there.

New Plot And Cast Details Emerge On Marvel Studios' Short Film ITEM 47

Do you remember when the leaked The Avengers Blu-Ray details revealed that Marvel Studios will release a new one-shot film called Item 47? Now EW provides us with cast information as well as what the story will feature after the jump! Alex Lynch - 7/3/2012

Ever since it was leaked that a short-film called Item 47 had been announced, Marvel Comics fans went on a speculation rampage as to what it could mean. Most believed it to be Agent Coulson's gun that he used against Loki before his tragic death, but now we have the answer.

The short-film will star Lizzy Caplan -- playing Claire -- and Jesse Bradford -- playing Benny -- as a couple who will find one of the guns from the Chitauri after the ending events of The Avengers and proceed to make some very negative decisions with it that they think could better their lives.

Lizzy Caplan holding the item

These special Marvel "one-shot" films such as The Consultant and A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor's Hammer have been attached to the Blu-Ray releases of Thor and Captain America. This film is no different as it will be featured on The Avengers Blu-Ray which will release on September 25th. However, if you are lucky enough to attend San Diego Comic-Con the short-film, in it's entirety, will be screened.

Two S.H.I.E.L.D agents played by Maximiliano Hernández (Thor and The Avengers) and Titus Welliver (Lost's Man in Black) were given the assignment of stopping the crimes committed by Benny and Claire and retrieving the Chitauri weapon which SHIELD has designated Item 47.

The Chitauri as pictured in Marvel's The Avengers.

Marvel Studios co-president and Item 47 director Louis D'Esposito talks about the state of the earth as well as what we can expect from Benny and Claire:

“The world is topsy-turvy now. There’s been an alien invasion, and things are crazy, So when this gun literally fell into their lap, this is a sign: We’re going to rob a few banks, we’re going to buy a boat, we’re going to the Caribbean, and all our problems will be solved.”

So what exactly is the mission Marvel wants to achieve with Item 47? The screenplay writer of the Marvel one-shots, Eric Pearson, had this to say about the new short film.

“Anything that expands the world and shows you the more human elements of it, that just makes the world more colorful and fun for the average viewer,”

The newest Marvel short film,Item 47, is said to be on a much bigger scale than the previous films which focused around Clark Gregg as S.H.I.E.L.D Agent Phil Coulson in a couple of action scenes. The previous films with Gregg were only about 5 minutes long. You can expect Item 47 to be almost 12 minutes long.

If Item 47 proves to be a big success, could Marvel do short films with their heroes as well? Imagine a short film to introduce lesser known heroes for audiences to get familiar with a character. Think about what DC has done with their showcase of animated short films on their DVDs and Blu-Rays. D'Esposito certainly doesn't think it's an impossible idea to introduce new heroes with the short-film format.

“There’s always a potential to introduce a character. We have 8,000 of them, and they can’t all be at the same level. So maybe there are some that are not so popular, and we introduce them [with a short] – and they take off. I could see that happening.”

“Let’s say we wanted to introduce Ant-Man [in a short], and that would mean we have to cast him prior to having a filmmaker. That’s difficult and something we wouldn’t want to do,”