Welcome to another roundup of Marvel news! There's a lot out there to cover, but rather than writing up every single piece of fresh intel in separate articles, we've collected it for you in one place.
Today,
The Incredible Hulk star Tim Blake Nelson reveals more about what Marvel Studios had planned for The Leader, while the writers of
Avengers: Endgame have talked more about the way Captain America's story came to an end. Oh, and Jack Black is setting his sights on the MCU!
We also have a closer look at Endgame's Chitauri "gorillas" and some insight into why Kevin Feige and company never ended up making a fourth
Iron Man movie after the success of the third.
There's lots of great content here for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and beyond), so all you have to do to check it out is click on the "View List" button down below...
Jack Black Sets His Sights On Some MCU Roles
Jack Black has had something of a career resurgence thanks to
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and with the sequel now on the horizon, the actor is doing the rounds to promote it.
During a conversation with
Screen Rant, Black was asked about the possibility of joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it turns out that he has a couple of big roles in mind.
"Oh, it’d be fun to play like an evil dude, like the Kingpin," he said.
"Yeah. I don’t know. Maybe the Thing? It’d be rad to be that rock dude from the Fantastic Four."
Honestly, neither of those sound like particularly suitable roles for Black, but if there's anyone who could find him a place in the MCU, it's Marvel Studios casting director Sarah Finn.
Why Did Marvel Studios Never Make Iron Man 4?
Iron Man 3 grossed over $1 billion at the worldwide box office back in 2013 and was the first Marvel Studios solo movie to achieve that feat. While we saw plenty of Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark in the years that followed, an
Iron Man 4 never became a reality, and now
Avengers: Endgame writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely have offered their thoughts on that to
Vanity Fair.
"Whether you like all of the 24 movies or not, the capital that Marvel built up allowed them to do things like make a movie starring a raccoon and a tree, right? You would’ve already had Iron Man 4 if it was any other studio," McFeely said.
"But they decided, No, we’re going to take chances on all these other things. To put a flag in the ground and say, We’re going to end something and take characters off the table, is, I think, kind of daring, but selfishly it was really great for us."
"It needs an end or it loses meaning," Markus adds. "The end is what cements the thing, to actually sew it together and bring it to a crescendo, and yeah, take people off the board, finish their arcs. If Tony made it out the other side, and Iron Man 4 was waiting there, you’d be like, [shakes head] One too many..." It's an explanation that makes sense and one that says a lot about Marvel.
Avengers: Endgame's Chitauri Gorillas
Avengers: Endgame's final battle introduced a new type of enemy for Earth's Mightiest Heroes to square off with: massive Chitauri aliens who were ape-like in appearance. Now, some concept art of the formidable looking creatures has been released which offers our best look at them to date.
The Incredible Hulk Star Tim Blake Nelson On His Marvel Contract
Tim Blake Nelson can currently be seen in HBO's Watchmen, but many comic book fans will remember him playing an early version of The Leader in 2008's
The Incredible Hulk. The character has been M.I.A. ever since, but the actor has now revealed that he was meant to appear in at least three films.
"I got called down to the lobby of the Mercer Hotel to meet Louis Leterrier and Gale Ann Hurd, who's producer," Nelson recalled to
GQ.
"They said, 'We want you to play this science character,' and I'd read the script. He was a wildly eccentric guy, mainly in the second half of the movie."
"I thought that was interesting because I haven't been in one of these movies before and they said, 'Well, you're going to become the villain in the next movie, so you'll basically be signing up for three movies and you're going to be this character called The Leader.' And I thought 'Oh my God, this is fantastic.'" Unfortunately, none of that ended up coming to pass in the MCU.
Tim Miller Talks More About His Deadpool 2 Departure
Tim Miller was all set to direct
Deadpool 2 before "creative differences" with star Ryan Reynolds led to him walking away from the project. During a recent chat with
The Hollywood Reporter to discuss what went wrong with Terminator: Dark Fate, the filmmaker reflected on his clashes with the actor.
"It became clear that Ryan wanted to be in control of the franchise. You can work that way as a director, quite successfully, but I can't," Miller admitted. He recently revealed that his plans for
Deadpool 2 included a larger role for Copycat and an appearance from The Thing. Unfortunately, that's clearly not something that Reynolds agreed with and we may never know why that was.
Captain America's MCU Ending Was Meant To Be
During that aforementioned interview with
Vanity Fair, Markus and McFeely also addressed the way things ended for Captain America in
Avengers: Endgame and as the co-writers of 2011's
The First Avenger, they knew that fans ultimately wanted to see Steve Rogers get his happy ending.
"At the very end of [2011’s] The First Avenger, when Steve misses the dance with Peggy, you start going, I wonder if there’s going to be a way to get those two together...even though 70 years has passed," they said, making it clear that the groundwork was laid early on for his reunion with Peggy.
While they obviously had no idea Avengers: Endgame was planned when they wrote the movie, it's definitely interesting to see how their creative decisions in 2011 laid the groundwork for 2019.
A Closer Look At Loki's Helmet In The Avengers
It's crazy to think that it's been seven years since
The Avengers arrived in theaters, but the folks over at Ironhead Studio have now shared some amazingly detailed images of the helmet they designed for Tom Hiddleston's God of Mischief back in 2011. It's just a shame they don't make replicas of these!
Fans Aren't Happy With The Infinity Saga Box Set
A little while ago, we told you about Best Buy's exclusive Infinity Saga Collector's Edition box set which includes a ton of never before seen deleted scenes, a signed letter from Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, and exclusive artwork. It also boasts a hefty $549.99 price tag, and fans are not happy.
That's because Best Buy has sent them out without proper protection and they're arriving damaged as a result. Due to the limited nature of the set, they can't be replaced, and the Tweet above is just one example of how unhappy people are with receiving a severely defective version of the set.
Captain Marvel Concept Art Reveals A Different Ronan
Lee Pace returned to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a younger version of Ronan in
Captain Marvel ,but this concept art reveals a slightly different take on the villain. It's a cool, more comic accurate design and one which it definitely would have been fun to see on the big screen this past March.
Black Widow's Absence From Avengers: Endgame's A-Force Moment
One of
Avengers: Endgame's most memorable moments comes when the MCU's female heroes assemble to take the fight to Thanos. However, concept artist Andy Park has now revealed his regrets that he wasn't able to find a way to get Marvel Studios to include Black Widow in the sequence.
"The theme of this moment, the idea is something that I can be very proud of—women gathering together and just showing how powerful they are in the MCU. And this is just a showcase of ten years of developing these characters from all the movies that we've had and seeing them all banded together to take on a greater threat. I was very proud to be able to portray that."
"[It] was very challenging because this is definitely one that took me a long time because I wanted to showcase each of these characters in the best light possible and come up with a cohesive image that shows off each of them and their powers," he continues.
"It's not an easy feat, but it was very fun. It was just so sad that I couldn't include Black Widow."
Smart Hulk's Avengers: Endgame Deleted Scene
When
Avengers: Endgame was re-released in theaters with additional content and a "deleted scene," it's fair to say most fans were disappointed with the unfinished sequence featuring The Hulk leaping into action to save people from a burning building. Now, some newly revealed concept art provides a better look at that moment and, well, with finished effects, it could have been great!