With Batman Begins’ well-thought out supervillain plan eating up all the thoughtspace in the fanboy mind, Marvel Films Dude Avi Arad is making a bid for a little attention by dishing on all the plans the comic book company and fledgling production house have for the future. And amazingly, some of the plans don’t suck.
Here’s a rundown of some of the stuff that Avi told MTV:
Spider-Man 3: Look for Curt Connors to return, with the seeds being planted for him to become the Lizard. The MTV piece says that Topher Grace is playing a villain, by the way, but it’s not a quote from Avi himself. Personally I think that if they ever do bring Venom into the films, it should be played by someone like Grace – Eddie Brock shouldn’t be bigger and tougher than Peter Parker, the two should be equals. It makes Venom more interesting as Spider-Man’s complete opposite.
Ghost Rider: It’s surf city for Johnny Blaze. "I remember seeing ‘The Perfect Storm,’ how the whole wave was CGI," says Avi. "You’re going to see something [similar] in ‘Ghost Rider.’ " Oh no! Will the flaming skull go out? "Nothing can extinguish it," he smiles. "It’s hellfire." Look for a Southern rock soundtrack on this one. Which is actually super-fitting.
X-Men spin-offs: Wolverine in 2007/8: "Totally different, just Wolverine’s journey" Avi says. But to where? Possibly the Circle K, I heard strange things are afoot there.
Magneto will feature a younger version of the character, but fret not – Avi says Ian McKellan must be in it as well. "I will always want Ian McKellen," Arad says, possibly without understanding how that sounds. "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."
Captain America: Avi, being Avi, says "It’s ‘Back to the Future’ kind of stuff." By which he means the film will focus on Cap as a man out of time, thawed out 60 years after being thought killed in action in WWII. Avi’s got this whole picture worked out in his head, including a screenwriter, a director and an actor.
Silver Surfer: "Independence Day meets Marvel, times 10!" Avi says. "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." Expect an announcement soon. Also look for other Marvel films to have their directors picked by religion. I hope that The Inhumans is helmed by a Zoroastrian.
For the rest of the goods, including a sneak peek at the awesome concept behind a possible Ant-Man movie, which shitty Marvel movies will get sequels, and which shitty Marvel characters will be getting R-ratings (not Luke Cage, somehow, even with his penchant for buttfucking white chicks), head over to MTV for the rest of the interview.