Close to two months of inactivity was enough for Marvel Studios; the company has signed an interim agreement with the Writers Guild of America that will allow the resumption of writin’ on projects like Captain America, Thor, The Avengers, Ant-Man and Larry Clark’s Power Pack.  The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but anything that brings Clark closer to working with children is a win-win in my book.

Also inking an agreement with the WGA today is Lionsgate, which is a huge get for the Guild (and very good news for Weeds and Mad Men fans, as those Lionsgate-produced shows were prepping new seasons).  Deals such as these provide the WGA with a bit of leverage as they head into their third day of informal talks with studio heads.  Though there’s a general sense of optimism in that the two sides are actually talking again, the jointly imposed media blackout means we have no idea if any real progress is being made.  Still, as long as they’re negotiating, it’s got to be considered a good thing.  Hell, even if they’re in the midst of an epic, triple-elimination “Duck, Duck, Goose” competition, that’s better than slinging insults through the media.

As for whether the interim deal brings us any closer to a Captain America or Thor movie… I thought the latter was extremely imminent once Mark Protosevich delivered his last draft (for Matthew Vaughn to direct), but no big-budget superhero movie goes into production without six or seven rewrites from six or seven different writers.  Power Pack being the exception because no one nails kids like Larry Clark.