It’s an interesting week for cast members of The Grey. Liam Neeson appears in the soggy blockbuster Battleship, Frank Grillo locked down a role in Kathryn Bigelow’s bin Laden movie, and now James Badge Dale has signed on to play another villain in Marvel’s upcoming Iron Man 3. According to Variety, Badge Dale will play Eric Savin, who an army colonel who becomes the character Coldblood in the comics. Read on for a description of the character, which could potentially contain spoilers for Iron Man 3.

From Wikipedia:

While still a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army at Camp Killian, Eric Savin was put in charge of Project: Ultra-Tech. There he met the love of his life, Lieutenant Gina Dyson. While on patrol, Savin stepped onto a freshly planted mine which blew him into pieces. He was dead for 2.3 minutes. Gina immediately performed cybernetic surgery on him. The surgery was successful — Savin was alive, but resurrected as a cyborg by Mako‘s Project: Ultra-Tech.

The cyborg angle makes sense, considering writer/director Shane Black is borrowing elements from Warren Ellis’ Extremis comic book run, which involve a virus being spread through nanotechnology. I’m also guessing that the newly-announced Rebecca Hall is playing Gina Dyson, a role once set aside for Jessica Chastain.

With Guy Pearce and Ben Kingsley already on board in potentially villainous roles, I’m hoping Black knows what he’s doing and can avoid another “overcrowding” situation like we had in Iron Man 2. We’ll have to wait until next year to find out, as Marvel has set a May 3, 2013 released date for the film. “Badge,” as his friends call him, is a solid actor who did good work in The Grey, so I’m glad that he’s finding higher profile roles these days.

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Last summer Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 set a new opening record in the US with $169.2 million. Well early figures suggest Marvel’s The Avengers has done the seemingly impossible by shattering that record with an estimated $200.3 million at the US box office this weekend from 4,349 locations.

The Avengers has been open overseas for the past week and has now accumulated $441.5 million which, adding the US opening, brings the worldwide total to $641.8 million. That’s just in 12 days of release. Iron Man 2 had the highest global box office of the Marvel films with $624 million, but The Avengers has already eclipsed that figure.

As well as the US the movie had the biggest opening weekend of all time in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Central America, Peru, Bolivia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Philippines.

Next stop, $1 billion!

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Samuel L. Jackson’s brief cameo at the end of Iron Man in 2008 forever changed the possibilities for superhero films. No longer did every franchise have to be a distinct entity – multiple movies could now take place in the same fictional universe, and the collective imagination of fans everywhere exploded at the potential for a massive crossover event bringing everyone together in one film.

With The Avengers, Marvel has achieved a seemingly impossible task: not only did they spend years building the foundation that supports this film by bringing together A-list stars from different franchises, but they managed to turn a project that could have collapsed under the pressure of its own ambition into one of the most crowd-pleasing superhero movies ever created.

Look no further than the 2002 series “Firefly” and its spinoff film Serenity for proof that Joss Whedon was the perfect choice to corral all of these monumental heroes into one storyline. Whedon is one of the best writers in the business, and he really excels at crafting meaningful relationships among ensemble casts and writing strong female characters, two things that were a requirement for a successful film adaptation of The Avengers. He was helped here by a terrific stable of actors, veterans of the industry who understand one of Marvel’s greatest strengths in these properties: the ability to keep the story critical to the film but allow enough humor that it won’t suffocate under its own seriousness.

The character work in The Avengers is fantastic, especially considering this particular team-up is jam-packed with characters that have already had entire films devoted to their singular adventures. Whedon gives each of them multiple moments to shine, and everything that we loved about them in previous films is on display here (and oftentimes it’s even improved). Even in scenes near the beginning of the film that contain massive amounts of setup and exposition, he manages to insert little “Whedonisms” to lighten the mood; there’s a gag with a $10 bet between Captain America and Nick Fury that’s a really small moment overall, but it brings a lot of humor to a sequence where people are just sitting around spouting information. Tony Stark has never been wittier, and Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner actually has a personality outside of sulking in corners and fighting the beast inside him. (The Hulk is funny this time, too!) Natasha Romanoff is far better drawn than she was in the disastrous Iron Man 2, so ScarJo fans can rest easy.

The action sequences are spectacular and choreographed so that we know where our heroes are at all times. (That in itself is a pretty incredible feat because the sheer scope of this movie is so huge.) The climax is breathtakingly constructed, mixing spectacle and destruction with legitimate character moments and not letting the (admittedly awesome) visual effects take over the movie. There are memorable setpieces spaced throughout the movie, resulting in easily the most entertaining Marvel film so far.

Because there is so much ground to cover, I did feel a little like Loki’s villainous intentions were a bit unclear. He’s working with some sort of alien race, but we don’t ever find out why the destruction of Earth is so paramount to their greater mission. Also, how did Thor even arrive on Earth for this movie? At the end of Thor, they establish that the bifrost has been destroyed. I understand how things wrap up at the end of The Avengers, with the Tesseract from Captain America playing a key role in the travel element, but there was so much happening that they didn’t have time to get into the hows and whys of things like that. Granted, I’m not sure that I would have wanted them to if it meant cutting out anything from what we see in the final film; it’s easy to see how Whedon’s first cut was over three hours long, and I’d love to see that movie in its entirety at some point if it ever gets released.

But ultimately, the few tiny gripes I have are cancelled out by the sheer geeky thrills in this movie. Marvel is the new Babe Ruth: they called their shot, and freaking blasted it out of the park. At long last, The Avengers finally came together on screen and, thanks to the only man who could have made it succeed, it surpassed all the hype. I probably don’t need to tell you that this film deserves to be seen on the big screen to get the full impact, but I guess I just did (and you can skip the 3D – it’s passable, but not great). The Avengers is everything I wanted it to be and more, and I sincerely hope that a few years from now I’ll be writing about The Avengers 2 written and directed by Joss Whedon. But until then, we can thank him for giving audiences the most fun movie of 2012. Until next time…

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Continuing Marvel’s incredible casting choices, the studio is in talks with Jessica Chastain (Take Shelter, The Help) to star opposite Robert Downey, Jr. in Iron Man 3. The actress would be the latest A-list talent attracted to the project, following Sir Ben Kingsley’s rumored appearance as the villain and last week’s announcement that Guy Pearce is eyeing a role as a geneticist in the film. More after the jump.

Chastain, a fantastic actress who burst onto the scene by showing incredible range in seven films in the year 2011, will play “a sexy scientist every bit as smart as Tony Stark.” Deadline has the story, and gives us a rundown of the casting process that once included Chastain, but because of scheduling conflicts, she had to leave the project. Now those conflicts have been resolved, and though other high-profile actresses were sought for the role during this interim period, now that Chastain’s schedule is open again it’s expected that the actress will sign on the dotted line soon.

Shane Black wrote and will direct Iron Man 3, with Downey, Gwenyth Paltrow, and Don Cheadle confirmed to reprise their roles from Iron Man 2.

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Joss Whedon’s The Avengers is unquestionably one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2012, and it might even have a legitimate shot at being one of the most anticipated films of all time. The way this movie came together is unprecedented, and now Marvel has teamed with Norton (not Edward, the antivirus company) to trace the origins of this superhero team-up film, featuring quick interviews with all of the major stars and even Whedon himself.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”–the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble in summer 2012. In “Marvel’s The Avengers,” superheroes team up to pull the world back from the brink of disaster when an unexpected enemy threatens global security.

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Disney today announced that The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, will also be available in 3D when it opens May 4, 2012. The movie wasn’t shot in 3D, so it’ll be going through a 3D conversion between now and May.

In related Marvel news, Disney has moved an untitled Marvel movie from June 27, 2014 to April 4, 2014. Marvel already has a movie set for May 16, 2014 so it’ll be a busy period for superheroes. With both Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 set for 2013 one of these could potentially be the Captain America sequel, or they could be something new such as Ant-Man, Runaways, or Doctor Strange which are all in development.

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Mickey Rourke isn’t known for keeping his opinions and criticisms to himself, and while promoting Immortals the actor spoke about his disappointment of Whiplash becoming “a one-dimensional bad guy” in Iron Man 2, and said most of his performance ended up on the cutting room floor.

From Crave Online:

It’s like when I did Ivan Vanko in Iron Man, I fought… You know, I explained to Justin Theroux, to the writer, and to [Jon] Favreau that I wanted to bring some other layers and colors, not just make this Russian a complete murderous revenging bad guy. And they allowed me to do that. Unfortunately, the [people] at Marvel just wanted a one-dimensional bad guy, so most of the performance ended up the floor.

Well, you know, it is f**king too bad, but it’s their loss. If they want to make mindless comic book movies, then I don’t want to be a part of that. I don’t want to have to care so much and work so hard, and then fight them for intelligent reasoning, and just because they’re calling the shots they… You know, I didn’t work for three months on the accent and all the adjustments and go to Russia just so I could end up on the floor. Because that can make somebody say at the end of the day, oh f**k ‘em, I’m just going to mail it in. But I’m not that kind of guy. I’m never going to mail it in.

Rourke may have a point as Red Skull was a bit one-dimensional in Captain America: The First Avenger, although saying that Loki was a great villain in Thor, so Marvel seems to be hit and miss in the villain dimension department.

Rourke appears to be in a critical mood as of late. He was set to shoot Seven Psychopaths with Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken for Oscar-winning writer and director Martin McDonagh (In Bruges), but in an interview with Movieline Rourke called the director a “jerkoff” and, when asked if he was still in the movie, said “he can go play with himself.” I take it that’s a no, then.

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Following a successful summer Marvel are now in a comfortable position with their properties. The Avengers hits next year and sequels to Iron Man, Thor and Captain America are in various stages of development.

Marvel have also been looking to develop characters outside of The Avengers, and last year they were working on a Runaways movie with director Peter Sollett (Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist), however it was put on hold because they felt they had too much going on. Well in a recent interview screenwriter Drew Pearce (Iron Man 3) gave an update on Runaways, and said he hope it moves forward sometime next year.

From The Playlist:

“Basically, ‘The Avengers’ came along and everything else at Marvel got put on hold for a year. But the script is there, we’re good to go,” Pearce said. “It’s kind of like [being] at the airport when you’re waiting for your slot to take off with Marvel, and we’re hoping we get a slot next year. Fingers crossed. They’re very happy with it, so hopefully it happens.”

The comic follows a group of six kids whose parents are a criminal group of mob bosses, time-travelers, dark wizards, mad scientists, alien invaders and telepathic mutants. The kids steal weapons and resources from their parents, and learn they themselves inherited their parents’ powers. With a mix between Twilight and X-Men Marvel could have had a hit with Runaways, but I guess it will have to wait.

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Heading into Captain America, one question was at the forefront of my mind: could director Joe Johnston recapture the tone of his 1991 cult classic The Rocketeer and translate that into a superhero movie for today’s audience? Thankfully, the answer is yes. This movie probably isn’t going to be any Marvel fanboy’s favorite, but it has enough action and humor to make it one of the fledgling studio’s better efforts of the past couple years.

The newest in Marvel’s ambitious multi-film build-up to The Avengers, Captain America shows yet another side to the studio’s versatile approach to creating one consistent universe; while Thor delved into an entirely different world, Captain America takes place in a different time, making it Marvel’s first true period piece. Johnston, a protégé of Steven Spielberg and a former Acadby Award-winning effects artist (responsible for designing Boba Fett’s armor and the AT-AT units in Star Wars, among many other things), really starts to relish the look and feel of the 1940s in this movie. In a recent interview, Johnston revealed that he had two offices during the making of the film and one of thb was in the art department so he could supervise the design and creation of the world; clearly, that aspect of production remains close to his heart. His team pulled off a really cool look here, a stylized vibe that reminds me more of a propaganda poster than what that actual time truly looked like.

After an interesting casting battle that featured “The Office” star John Krasinski and TRON: Legacy‘s Garret Hedlund, actor Chris Evans – who notably already played a superhero in Marvel’s Fantastic Four series – accepted the role and did an admirable job with a pretty decent script. Once the scrawny Steve Rogers (a great bit of CGI trickery) becomes the jacked Captain America, the audience’s ability to relate to the character dissolves a bit. It’s tough to pull for a guy who’s seemingly invincible; even Superman has Kryptonite, but there’s never any real danger for Cap. He and his boys go around the world kicking ass, and it’s cool and everything, but I wish there would have been a little more importance attached to his missions.

Hugo Weaving as the villainous Red Skull was inspired casting, but he’s essentially wasted on a character that never shows the true evil of which he’s surely capable. He’s gotta have that Darth Vader moment where he completely destroys something on a massive scale for the audience to really fear him, but unfortunately the character is never allowed that moment. The makeup is great, and Weaving was solid, but the character himself didn’t really do much.

One of the reasons I liked Thor was because of how well the writers integrated the S.H.I.E.L.D./Avengers setup stuff, making it organic to the story instead of forcing it in (like Iron Man 2). Since Captain America is a period piece, it’s a little easier for them to deal with; the story revolves around the cosmic cube (referenced in Thor and surely an important part of the upcoming Avengers), and they incorporate Howard Stark’s involvement into the story, filling out that character and allowing for some fun moments for Dominic Cooper to chew some scenery as, essentially, an older version of Robert Downey, Jr.’s Tony. The rest of the supporting cast is serviceable, too. Names like Tommy Lee Jones and Stanley Tucci rarely disappoint, and more minor players like Neal McDonough (fantastic in “Band of Brothers”) and Sebastian Stan (entertaining in Hot Tub Time Machine, totally forgettable in the otherwise-brilliant Black Swan) also did some good work. (Though their parts are woefully underwritten.) Hayley Atwell (Cassandra’s Dream) takes center stage as Cap’s love interest, Agent Peggy Carter. Her character isn’t given much to do, but Atwell brings enough moxie to the part that I’m interested in seeing her again soon.

Like most of the other Marvel films, this one begins in media res and returns to the present time by the end. Aside from not detailing how exactly Cap is able to “sleep for almost 70 years” – and honestly, it doesn’t matter – I thought all of the storylines were nicely wrapped up and, without trying too hard, Captain America ended up being a pretty fun stepping stone towards next summer’s ultimate team-up flick. Until next time…

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In Part 4 we lost Batman but got Blade, a second-rate superhero that showed Hollywood how a seriously taken source material and genuinely good movie can turn into a successful property, regardless of how famous it was to begin with. For the first time, you didn’t need Superman or Batman to make a hit.

So Blade turned a lot of heads in 1998 and gave 20th Century Fox the courage to finally shell out $75 million so that X-Men could start filming after years of delays (Bryan Singer signed on to direct the picture way back in 1996). Initially set to open in December 2000, X-Men was moved to July and considering filming just started in September, this was definitely on a very tight schedule. But before we go forward with X-Men, we still got 1999 and 2 superhero movies to talk about.

Black Mask was a movie made way back in 1996 that opened in North America on May 14th 1999 starring Jet Li. The only reason this finally got released is because Jet Li was starting to become popular thanks to his role in Lethal Weapon 4 just a year before. Black Mask only made $12.5 million. A few months later it was time for superhero comedy Mystery Men to bomb at the box office with $29.7 million in North America. Yep, 1999 was not a good year for heroes of the super kind.

X-Men opened on July 14th 2000 with the 5th highest opening weekend at the time, $54.4 million and outstanding reviews and praise from fans alike. This was everything Fox wanted it to be and the franchise potential was enormous. X-Men went on to gross $157.3 million in North America and $296.3 million worldwide. The Marvel revolution was here.

In November 2000 an original superhero created by the mind of M. Night Shyamalan was unleashed in Unbreakable. This was a very different take on the genre but it still received good reviews and great fan appreciation. $95 million in North America and $248.1 million worldwide made Unbreakable one of the bigger hits of that year.

2001 was almost empty with only 1993 Hong Kong movie, Iron Monkey, out in North America grossing just $14.7 million.

2002 was a landmark moment for the superhero genre with Blade returning and Spider-Man finally getting his big screen debut after years of going nowhere. Directed by the now famous Guillermo del Toro, Blade II opened March 22nd with $32.5 million and went on to make $82.3 million in North America and 155 million worldwide. At this point Wesley Snipes and Blade were here to stay, at least until New Line would pull a Superman 3 on it, but more about that at a later time.

Stuck in development hell for over two decades, Sony Pictures finally bought the Spider-Men movie license in 1999 along with a James Cameron original scriptment (he tried to get the project up way back in 1990). After considering directors like Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, 2012), Tim Burton (Batman, Batman Returns), Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) or David Fincher (Alien 3, Fight Club), they finally went with must less famous Sam Raimi (Evil Dead) in 2000, a long time fan of the comics. Filming took place from January to June 2001 and Spider-Men was set to open in February 2002. After previewing an unfinished version of the movie and realizing the huge potential they had with a summer release, Sony moved the date to May 3rd 2002.

May 3rd 2002, the date Spider-Man, arguably one of the big three most popular superheroes in the world (Batman and Superman being the others), finally opened and what an opening that was. $114.8 million, the biggest weekend ever at the time and it would not stop there. Spider-Man became the best reviewed superhero movie ever, considered by both fans and critics the finest flick to ever feature a superhero. Spidey went on to gross 403.7 million in North America (5th highest back then) and $821.7 million worldwide. Sony now had the biggest hero in town and they wanted to milk it to the last drop. A sequel was obviously on the way, but not for another 2 years, in the meantime other studios tried their luck at this hero thing, now more interesting then ever before.

Warner Bros, the studio that managed to ruin both Superman and Batman in little over a decades, released The Powerpuff Girls Movie in 2002. Based on the popular Cartoon Network series, it made $11.4 million. Hard at work on rebooting their then tarnished superheroes, Warner were not out of the game yet.

On February 14th 2003 Fox unleashed another Marvel superhero on the big screen, Daredevil starring Ben Affleck. It turned out a mediocre flick but it did gross 102.5 million in North America and $179.1 million worldwide. Instead of following it with a sequel, Fox were planning to release a spin-off 2 years later, a disaster we’ll talk about in Part 6.

- Superheroes at the box office (Part 1)
- Superheroes at the box office (Part 2)
- Superheroes at the box office (Part 3)
- Superheroes at the box office (Part 4)

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