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Joss Whedon Vaguely Recalls THE AVENGERS Early Drafts Including The Wasp

While Marvel's The Avengers director Joss Whedon has previously said he wanted to include Janet van Dyne aka The Wasp on the live-action roster, he now says early scripts did in fact include her.

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By DCMarvelFreshman - 4/30/2012
Five days remain until the United States release of Marvel's The Avengers assembly and, based on critics reviews and record-breaking box office results overseas, the superhero spectacle lives up to its five-year anticipation. It was during the third year, 2010, that Joss Whedon came on board as writer and director. And briefly looking back at that period with NY Daily News, he informed them of an original Avenger from the comics that was included in early drafts, but evidently didn't make the cut: Janet van Dyne aka The Wasp.

Whedon will be the first to admit it almost didn’t work. There was a version of the script, back when Johansson wasn’t involved, that featured a female superhero named the Wasp. Whedon had to scrap that script, and was making changes to his final version even as the effects people were starting work on the 40-minute battle that closes the movie. “Trying to figure out the way you want to introduce all those characters, that was stuff we were still tweaking in the edit,” says Whedon.


You may recall last year a doubtful report quoting Joss Whedon on his initial "plan" to include Janet van Dyne, stating “I tried to write her in, but I could not make it work.” And with what he told NY, this seems to verify it.

Marvel Studios have yet to name the undisclosed 2014 film with Captain America 2, so the possibility remains for The Wasp to be introduced to the cinematic universe, along with Ant-Man in the Edgar Wright-written/directed solo movie, before The Avengers assemble again. Because The Wasp was initially included, do you think that adds validity to the countless reports that actresses Eva Longoria & Morena Baccarin were being considered?

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, & directed by Joss Whedon from a screenplay 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 on May 4, 2012. The film is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. In addition to "Marvel's The Avengers," Marvel Studios will release a slate of films based on the Marvel characters including "Iron Man 3" on May 3, 2013!; and “Thor 2” on November 15, 2013.

Source: NY Daily News
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comicmoviesdcmarvel - 4/30/2012, 12:55 AM
5 days??? it came out 5 days ago -.-
ojkush - 4/30/2012, 1:00 AM
@comicmoviesdcmarvel he means in america -giggle-
TokenNerd - 4/30/2012, 1:01 AM
Avengers was such a great movie, even better the second and third time, sorta glad Wasp wasn't in it, but hoping she's in the next one!
DEATHbyEXILE - 4/30/2012, 1:07 AM
Coloso - 4/30/2012, 1:22 AM
^^^ Well said TheRedHood.
VictorHugo - 4/30/2012, 1:29 AM
The Wasp, Giant Man and the Vision could both appear in a introduction movie first.
thecomicdude23 - 4/30/2012, 1:46 AM
@VictorHugo

I think it's better if the Vision was introduced in the Avengers sequel. It would probably be the best.
BlackFlash - 4/30/2012, 1:56 AM
As much as I like Ant-Man and Wasp there not known like Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Hulk outside the comic book fan world, they should have them in Avengers 2 and then do a stand alone film.

Have Hank be the one to find out that Thanos is heading towards earth.
Lockjaw - 4/30/2012, 1:58 AM

Ant-man & the Wasp would have been too much for the first movie. Hopefully they will be introduced as well as the Vision for the sequel.

Also...OMG AVENGERS ASSEMBLE WAS FREAKING AWESOME!!!
Lockjaw - 4/30/2012, 2:09 AM

I'm not so sure Thanos will be used for Avengers 2. I wouldn't be surprised if it was more 'earth' based with Hydra/AIM and Ultron must appear surely!?!

Avengers 3 will probably do the infinity gauntlet.
Lockjaw - 4/30/2012, 2:24 AM

2012 - Avengers Assemble

2013 - Iron man 3
Thor 2
2014 - Captain America: Winter Soldier
Ant-man

2015 - Black Panther
Mighty Avengers
Dr.Strange

2016 - Planet HULK
Thor 3
2017 - Inhumans
Guardians of the Galaxy

2018 - Earths Mightiest Heroes - Infinity Gauntlet

2019 - Ms.Marvel


TheBaroness89 - 4/30/2012, 2:28 AM
Awesome film and thoroughly not disappointed about Ant Man and Wasp. Would loooooovvvvveee Vision in a sequel.
mstaley3000 - 4/30/2012, 2:39 AM
The Wasp is pointless. She should not even exist. Although, I may not be up on current mythology. As far as I recall, Wasp is Hank Pym's wealthy, frivolous wife who is more concerned with how her outfit looks than in fighting villains. Her powers were apparently given to her by her husband who must have engaged in unethical bioengineering on her but hey who cares about that? I suppose her origin has been rewritten so it isn't as stupid?
RadicalDuck - 4/30/2012, 3:09 AM
I second what TheRedHood said.
GrimFeature - 4/30/2012, 3:19 AM
Saw Avengers last night. It was amazing. So much goodness. Have to see it a few more times just to take it all in.
Smokey - 4/30/2012, 3:24 AM
I hope Dr. Strange and Black Panther are made, they could be really interesting and plain awesome.
jimoakley666 - 4/30/2012, 3:37 AM
According to Empire Magazine, Morena Baccarin was considered for Maria Hill, not Wasp. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was another contender for the role. If they DO introduce Wasp, Winstead would be my choice. And she's already done a film with Edgar Wright in Scott Pilgrim.
GUNSMITH - 4/30/2012, 3:58 AM
NOW THAT THE CORE CHARACTERS ARE INTRODUCED TOGETHER THERES A GOOD JUMPING PLATFORM YOU CAN SLOWLY INTRODUCE NEW MEMBERS, MAKING IT A BIGGER MOVIE...THE FIRST ONE ALWAYS HAS TO BE EPIC AND AWESOME TO MERIT A SEQUEL..AVENGERS WILL BE JUST THE FIRST OF MANY...AND THERES TIME TO INTRODUCE ALOT OF OTHER CHARACTERS. IT'S MARVEL'S OWN XMEN(NOT OF FOX) WHERE THEY DO THE CHARACTERS MARVEL'S WAY.
marvel72 - 4/30/2012, 4:05 AM
i would of preffered ant-man & wasp being in the movie over black widow & hawkeye,i would of saved hawkeye for the sequel,but saying that black widow & hawkeye were very well portrayed in the movie.

wouldn't mind seeing any of the following appearing in the sequel.

-vision
-scarlett witch
-quicksilver
-wonderman
-black panther
marknjoanna - 4/30/2012, 4:10 AM
nice list lockjaw.bring on the inhumans. heres dc s list 2012 8th batman,2013 6th superman movie.then notta or maybe a batman reboot.you guessed it the one horse show called dc is about to be forced to do batman 9/10 and 11 lol.talking about wearing it out and breaking it off in the ground hahahahaha
Odin - 4/30/2012, 4:28 AM
I have seen it already :P
elessarundomiel2382 - 4/30/2012, 4:31 AM
The Wasp will only work if she's introduced in Edgar Wright's Ant-man movie as the fun outgoing character similar to Avengers EMH. The only way they should introduce Vision is if they Have Ultron as the villain. The Vision is actually made from the body of the original Human Torch who appeared as a cameo in First Avenger Captain America.

Explain it in a way that the reasoning for The Vision is that he is the only artificial intelligence that Ultron cant control.

Unless they go the Thanos and Infinity Gauntlet route in that Loki steals the gauntlet as well as the Eternal Flame. He hands the gauntlet over to Thanos' emissary and the Eternal Flame over to Hela or Surtur.

I think it makes sense if Asgard uses the Cosmic Cube as the new Bifrost. Or if Thor leaves Mjolnir behind on Earth as a way of travelling back and forth (but that wont make sense as he wouldnt have Mjolnir with him)
elessarundomiel2382 - 4/30/2012, 4:51 AM
As far as where all the infinity gems are there has to be a mystery behind it. There is Six in total and we already know where one is - The Blue Gem of the Mind.
EarOne - 4/30/2012, 5:15 AM
as i recall the only reason that ant-man and wasp were even in the avengers' initial lineup is cuz marvel didn't have enough strong, well-known solo characters to round up the team. cap'n america was an afterthought, i guess, since he came on board, later.

sides..a giant and a pixie will add too much to the already big budget for The Avengers, hence, they went with black widow and hawkeye.

but, i dunno...up to now, i still can't picture those two characters alongside the others already in the movie, without making the sequel feel a bit 'silly'. but, i TRUST in Joss Whedon.
RunDTC - 4/30/2012, 5:16 AM
if she was going to be anything like the character on A:EMH, then we dodged a serious bullet.
Ceejay - 4/30/2012, 5:25 AM
Wasp may be a fan favorite but visually she would have hindered the Avengers movie. She's like another Tinkerbell form Peter Pan, a tiny woman taking down huge creatures with a sting simply doesn't cut it for visuals. I hope they never put her in any of the movies because that's when they'll start to get cheesy like Green Lantern.

Same thing for Giant Man and the whole Ant Control thing, that's cheesy to write into any film a tiny guy making masses of ants to fight an alien army. Worse when you make him grow and he literally has to watch his step around the city without breaking stuff and ruining the streets with every step he takes!

Fine for comics but visually they both don't work on screen without being cheesy.
KeithM - 4/30/2012, 5:41 AM
@Ceejay: Can I borrow your time machine? How do you know they 'don't work on screen'? You don't say you don't THINK they will work, you state it as fact. Did you travel into the future to see it being done and it was/will be done badly? No. It ain't a fact bub, it's yer opinion. Of course it can work on screen. Just depends how you go about it.
Ace101 - 4/30/2012, 5:50 AM
SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO HAVNT SEEN THE MOVIE:







I dont think Thanos will be working with loki, now that loki has failed him. Instead he may very well be seeking retribution for not failing their mission in retrieving the cube. I love how in the scene where loki astral projects himself (first time that happened in any marvel movie XD) and he is talking with the 'other'. The 'Other' states something something like this : "your wil get your world to rule and my master will use the tesserect to conquer the universe". "And if you fail us there is no world, or crevasse where you will be able to hide from him, he will find you now matter where you are" something along those lines. Imagine Thanos bringing the pain to asgard :o
Ive seen the movie twice but im still trying to figure out if the blue orb in lokis staff was an infinity gem, only further analysis and joss whedons confirmation will ease my swirling mind. It doesnt help that the blue infinity gem controls the mind. I suppose some questions will be answered in Thor 2.
CapsUnknownSidekick - 4/30/2012, 5:54 AM
I'm like KeithM, have to call BS on your statement Ceejay. Giant and shrinking characters have been a staple of the special effects industry for a very long time. Sure there are some potholes when you travel down that road, but it's not a path that should be shied away from just because of the challenge.

Look at Mysterious Island, never saw the film myself but on the commercials Dwayne Johnson was riding around on a giant bee and that looked pretty cool! There's no reason why the Wasp cannot work, and to be honest I wouldn't have minded at all having another woman in the movie.

Anywho, I guess it's all speculation and debate until Edgar "I'll get to it whenever I feel like it," Wright moves things forward. I just hope that Ant-Man and Wasp get their due. Both are great characters, and I would love to see their solo film and assembly in an Avengers sequel.

Also have to point out that a huge marketing opportunity is being missed by not having these two show up... I mean how often does a company get a chance to sell life-sized action figures?
mrHJK - 4/30/2012, 6:08 AM
The Avengers 2: Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Ant/Giant-Man, Wasp, Vision, Black Panther?, Falcon?, Hawkeye~
MoE: Baron Zemo, Enchantress & Executioner, Abomination, Ultron, new Crimson Dynamo, Radioactive Man, Black Widow
Rodimus9 - 4/30/2012, 6:25 AM
They wouldn't have enough time to establish her character in Avengers 2. Plus you would need Ant Man to give her a reason to even be there. I say an Ant Man movie with a Banner cameo, or Hawkeye.
comicb00kguy - 4/30/2012, 6:33 AM
I still believe that we should have had Hank Pym (as Ant-Man or Giant-Man, much as he appears in Avengers: EMH) and the Wasp over Hawkeye and the Black Widow. Since it didn't happen this time, perhaps there will be room for them in the sequel.

As for anyone who doesn't believe Pym or the Wasp is necessary in the Avengers, all they're doing is displaying a colossal lack of knowledge and understanding of the importance of those two characters to the team. No, they're not the "A-list" guys like Cap and Iron Man are. They are characters that work as part of an ensemble cast. I'll grant that. They're both still very important characters, and both have played vital roles over the years in many of the Avengers' biggest battles. I would advise reading Avengers stories from back in the day, more the '60s to '80s and the Busiek/Perez run for starters to gain a better understanding of the characters and their role on the team.

Ceejay: To address your specific concerns, the two characters work just fine in Avengers:EMH, and they can work just fine if they're written with a similar approach in a live-action movie. It all depends on how they're written.
ComicReader - 4/30/2012, 6:48 AM
havent seen it yet, it comes out in 4 more days here, im kinda glad that wasp isn't in it, due to the fact that i think the black widow is sexy baby!!
DanteSparda - 4/30/2012, 7:03 AM
2014 - Captain America 2, Doctor Strange

2015 - Antman, Guardians of the Galaxy

2016 - The Avengers 2: The Infinity Gauntlet
leethario - 4/30/2012, 7:03 AM
I feel really bad for you Americans, the wait must be killing you. i saw it on Friday night and the last 30minutes are mind-bogglingly awesome, and i'm going to see it again on Wednesday. Trust me, the wait is worth it!
BigEars - 4/30/2012, 7:07 AM
I would've preferred Wasp n Ant-Man instead of Hawkeye n Widow, but no biggie! As soon as my exams r done I'm hitting this bad boy!
leethario - 4/30/2012, 7:18 AM
@BigEars. Once you see the movie you'll realise that Hawkeye & BlackWidow fit much better than Wasp & Ant-Man would.
ComicReader - 4/30/2012, 7:36 AM
well, at least we get TDKR trailer with the release, i cant wait, even though i dont care for batman haha
DukeAcureds - 4/30/2012, 7:41 AM
Out of the Pyms, I would rather have Janet over Hank, but by the sounds of it, Edgar Wrights Ant-Man film will cover their entire career and introduce Scott Lang as their replacement. So we might get the Scott Lang version of Ant-Man in the Avengers sequel and maybe Jocasta, instead of the Pyms.
GUNSMITH - 4/30/2012, 7:41 AM
DOUG JONES FOR VISION
ACira - 4/30/2012, 7:46 AM
@comicb00kguy you have a fair point about Ant-Man and Wasp being important to the comics. But in the current Avengers movie, they wouldn't have worked. This movieverse used SHIELD as a means to set up the Avengers, meaning it made sense to utilise Black Widow and Hawkeye in the team as SHIELD agents. Of course Hank and Jan could also have been written as SHIELD scientists or something, but it would have completely changed the dynamic of the movie, especially as the Avengers would've contained more superpowered characters.
The way this movie was set up, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and Cap were the main focus, while Hawkeye and Widow were also very large roles. Using Wasp and Ant-Man at that stage (even as replacements for Hawk and Widow) would've been overkill. Not everything that works in a comic works in a movie, and I think Marvel Studios was (thankfully) extremely lucky that Avengers turned out the way it did, because it could have easily been a disaster.

Sometimes aspects of comic book history have to be lost in translation when making films, in order to create the best possible movie which makes the most sense to the overall concept of the project, especially with what Marvel are doing right now. They're pioneering a new way of storytelling in film.

Think of it this way (if you've seen the film already): Was there ever actually a point where including Wasp or Ant-Man would've been beneficial to the story? Was there ever a need for heroes in this film who could shrink to microscopic sizes? The answer is, for this movie, no. Imagine if (spoiler) the scene where Hulk chased Widow was replaced by Hulk chasing Wasp? She could just fly away, and all the drama and the things set up by that situation would have been lost. If Hawkeye wasn't on the team, imagine if Loki had corrupted Ant-Man. How would that have benefited the story?
If they were to put in scenes that called for that, then we would've ended up with a very different movie. The only thing I think they could've done (which would have worked well and benefited slightly) is given the characters cameos as pre-superpowered SHIELD scientists, perhaps helping Bruce and Tony track down the gamma radiation left by the cube.

Besides, it also means Hank and Jan could appear in Avengers 2. It'd make sense really.
Bigger threat - more firepower needed.
I bet if you picked up Avengers issue 1, or even the current issue, and tried to envisage it as a full blown movie, you'd realise a lot of changes need to be made, because the way comics tell stories is different to the way movies do.
DukeAcureds - 4/30/2012, 7:52 AM
I think Clark Gregg is going to be Vision. That's the after-credits scene, right? I mean, I don't know for sure, because the UK version of the film, Avengers Assemble, only had the mid-credits scene. I waited until the very end, but alas, no end-of-credits scene. However - SPOILER!SPOILER!SPOILER! - When Agent Coulson dies, he says to Nick Fury that it's okay, because they needed one for it to work. Now, you could conote that this means they needed a death to inspire the Avengers to assemble, but I think it really means that they needed a fresh body for Project: Vision to work.
JatevinM - 4/30/2012, 8:08 AM
I'm seriously hoping that Ant-man and Wasp both are not included in any Avengers movie outside of being mentioned as scientists. Power wise they are both both boring and lack the interest and recognition of the others. I believe Black Panther and Iron Fist or Luke Cage should be added instead.
HelaGood - 4/30/2012, 8:23 AM

Ha1frican - 4/30/2012, 8:25 AM
Ant Man and wasp film then Ultron for Avengers sequel
superotherside - 4/30/2012, 9:00 AM
I just hope that they explain her powers the ultimate way making her a mutant but have her character 616 version. :D
Rodimus9 - 4/30/2012, 9:01 AM
My choice for Wasp:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3197574/?from_app=ios&mode=desktop
Fogs - 4/30/2012, 9:07 AM
@DukeAcureds

SPOILERS

He just said the team needed something to avenge. But he died before the last word. Nothing enigmatic here.
SpiderFan35 - 4/30/2012, 9:51 AM
Baccarin is 32 but I could see it, she looks the part. But Eva Longoria at 37? Nay nay. We already have a cougar over on Man of Steel, let's not start that CBM trend ;)

I would have considered Natalie Portman but I guess she is Jane now so too late for her.
tomwin2 - 4/30/2012, 9:59 AM
I find it lame when people take a cosplayers photo and crappy photoshop over it! Here is the original photos. She did an amazing job on the cosplay, I only hope Marvel comes up with somthing this cool.

Photobucket

Photobucket
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