Avengers Assemble – Speculating on Marvel Studios Phase Two
This week in Marvel movie news and rumours, we have had some excellent news indeed! While he may not be directing Iron Man 3, Jon Favreau, the man who helmed the first two films, played Happy Hogan in said films, and co-produced the Avengers, will still be aboard. He’s not only producing Iron Man 3, but will continue playing Tony Stark’s chauffeur under the direction of Shane Black. This counts as a very good thing. We’ve also had confirmation that another villain has been cast, with Ashley Hamilton signing on to play Firepower alongside Ben Kingsley as whoever Ben Kingsley is playing. No, they still haven’t confirmed that. Sure, everyone’s crying Mandarin, but that keeps getting shot down by Marvel. Personally, I still reckon the Controller’s a pretty good bet. And finally, Mads Mikkelsen, he of sneering Casino Royale Bond villain fame, has signed on the dotted line to portray a bad guy in Thor 2. Which bad guy has yet to be revealed, but the casting indicates they’re keeping it Norse. Malekith, perhaps? Or Skurge? Surely he’s not playing Amora, the Enchantress?!?!?!? And will he be working with Loki, or against him? Ooh, it’s exciting! In the mean time, lets crack on with listing Avengers, shall we?
Yellowjacket (Rita DeMara)
First Appearance: Avengers #264 (1986)
Created by: Roger Stern and John Buscema
Joined the Avengers: Avengers Annual #17 (1988)
Marvel Studios Film Appearances: None
The second Yellowjacket was originally a villain, who stole one of Hank Pym’s costumes (making her one of three Marvel heroes who have gained their powers by stealing a suit off Pym. He should be more careful) and joined the Masters of Evil. Eventually reforming and joining the Avengers, she was killed by Iron Man when he was being controlled by the time travelling Immortus in one of the worst Avengers storylines ever, The Crossing. Chances of her showing up in the next lot of Marvel movies? Don’t be too surprised if she appears in Ant-Man, actually. She won’t be there as Yellowjacket, but Rita DeMara could have a cameo as a lab assistant to Hank Pym.
Demolition Man / D-Man (Dennis Dunphy)
First Appearance: The Thing #28 (1985)
Created by: Mike Carlin and Ron Wilson
Joined the Avengers: Captain America #349 (1989)
Marvel Studios Film Appearances: None
A homeless superhero? Yep, that’s Demolition Man, also known as D-Man. He was invited into the Avengers after working with Captain America, but didn’t stick around for long, preferring to use his powers to help the homeless and the destitute of New York. He still aided the Avengers on occasion when asked, but was later seen in the pages of Daredevil, where he’d gone a bit crazy and was stealing cash and jewellery while talking to voices in his head. He never quite seemed to recover from this, later on being seen when Luke Cage and Jessica Jones were interviewing prospective nannies for their baby, and finally joining Wonder Man’s Revengers team to fight against the Avengers because the voices told him to. He’s quite an interesting character, but not one we’ll be seeing in the movies any time soon.
Gilgamesh, the Forgotten One
First Appearance: Eternals #13 (1977)
Created by: Jack Kirby
Joined the Avengers: Avengers #300 (1989)
Marvel Studios Film Appearances: None
An Eternal who joined the Avengers for a very brief period, Gilgamesh was another character who was killed during the events of the Crossing, although he has since reappeared in the pages of the Eternals. He won’t be in any of the upcoming Marvel movies, but it isn’t too much of a stretch to say that, at some point, Marvel may well want to put an Eternals movie into production. Neil Gaiman’s take on the characters is ripe for adaptation, though Gilgamesh didn’t feature in it. Still, if he’s going to appear anywhere, it’s alongside his fellow Eternals.
Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman (Reed Richards and Susan Richards)
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #1 (1961)
Created by: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Joined the Avengers: Avengers #300 (1989)
Marvel Studios Film Appearances: None
There was a time when Marvel’s power couple had retired from the life of superheroes, leaving the Thing to lead a Fantastic Four line-up which didn’t include them. Of course, they didn’t stay retired for long, as Captain America soon recruited them into an emergency team of Avengers during the Inferno crisis. They stayed on for a short period, before returning to their true home with the other members of the FF. They won’t appear in any Marvel Studios films for a long while, for the exact same reasons we went over last time around in the Thing entry.
U.S. Agent (John Walker)
First Appearance: Captain America #323 (1986)
Created by: Mark Gruenwald and Paul Neary
Joined the Avengers: West Coast Avengers #44 (1989)
Marvel Studios Film Appearances: None
When the US government grew unhappy with Steve Rogers and forced him to quit being Captain America, they gave the costume and the shield to John Walker, who became the new Cap for a short time. Of course, it wasn’t long before Steve Rogers reclaimed the mantle, but Walker got a new costume, shield and name, and became the U.S. Agent. A much gruffer character than Steve Rogers, U.S. Agent isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty when he has to, and is more than willing to go against his fellow Avengers if he feels the situation warrants it. He won’t be in the next round of Marvel movies, but an appearance in a potential third Captain America film would make sense. This is more likely to be as an adversary for Cap than an ally though, so a subsequent move to the Avengers is unlikely.
Firebird (Bonita Juarez)
First Appearance: The Incredible Hulk #265 (1981)
Created by: Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema
Joined the Avengers: Avengers #305 (1989)
Marvel Studios Film Appearances: None
While not the most well known Avenger, Firebird is an interesting character. Her powers may or not have granted her immortality, but she doesn’t know for sure. All she knows is that, on two separate occasions now, she has ingested poisonous materials which had no effect on her. Exploring a character trying to come to terms with the possibility that they may never die, but can’t be certain, sounds like a good prospect for a movie, but Firebird’s unlikely to be the character this happens with. She’s just too obscure.
Quasar (Wendell Vaughan)
First Appearance: Captain America #217 (1978)
Created by: Don Glut, Roy Thomas and John Buscema
Joined the Avengers: Avengers Annual #18 (1989)
Marvel Studios Film Appearances: None
The man who took up the mantle of Protector of the Universe after Captain Marvel died, Quasar served as an Avenger for quite a long period of time in the nineties. He was one of the more powerful Avengers of the era, and subsequent adventures took him into the far reaches of space on a number of occasions. An amusing side note, Quasar was at one point one of those heroes who don’t wear a mask, but try to maintain a secret identity. How did he do this? He slicked back his hair and donned a pair of glasses. Sound familiar? Unfortunately, what works for Clark Kent just fell flat for Wendell Vaughan, as everyone who had met both Wendell and Quasar instantly twigged that they were one and the same. Quasar was more recently seen with Marvel’s other cosmic heroes as part of the Annihilation storyline. As such, there’s a chance he might show up in that rumoured Guardians of the Galaxy film in some form.
Human Torch (Jim Hammond)
First Appearance: Marvel Comics #1 (1939)
Created by: Carl Burgos
Joined the Avengers: Avengers West Coast #50 (1989)
Marvel Studios Film Appearances: Cameo in Captain America
No, not the more well known member of the Fantastic Four, but Marvel’s very first superhero character, dating back to the late thirties and forties when the company was known as Timely Comics. Jim Hammond was an android whose body would burst into flame on contact with the air. Eventually learning to control this ability, Hammond became the Human Torch, and teamed up with Captain America and the Sub-Mariner to fight the Nazis in World War II. His tenure as an Avenger was brief, and we haven’t really seen him on screen, except for a brief appearance in a big glass tank, in a nice nod to Marvel Comics #1, at the Stark Expo in Captain America. Hope he gets something more to do, possibly in war time flashbacks in a Cap sequel. After all, he was there before any other Marvel superhero. For Marvel to ignore this would be a crime.
Sersi (Circe)
First Appearance: Eternals #3 (1976)
Created by: Jack Kirby
Joined the Avengers: Avengers #314 (1990)
Marvel Studios Film Appearances: None
The second Eternal to join the Avengers, Sersi had a tempestuous relationship with the Black Knight, who also had a thing for Crystal (more on her later), who was married to Quicksilver. Who says superhero comics can’t do soap opera? Anyway, Sersi eventually left the Avengers with the Black Knight, though their relationship didn’t last. She has returned to help the Avengers on a few occasions since, but won’t be showing up in the movies unless that Eternals movie I hope for up there in the Gilgamesh entry happens. If it does, Sersi is certain to be there. Fingers crossed.
To be continued…
About the Author
PJ Montgomery Writer of various things, lover of comics, films, books and computer games, loveable rogue and proud Sidekick.
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