Casting The Avengers

With San Diego (aka Comic-Con International) only a week and a half away, the rumour mills are churning out comic and movie announcement predictions at triple speed right now. One of the more interesting theories concerns the possibility that the cast of The Avengers movie (to be released in 2012) will be brought on stage in San Diego and finally revealed/confirmed. There's still lots of uncertainty surrounding what should be Disney Comics' big theatrical event of the decade: collecting Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, among others, into one huge, balls-to-the-wall superhero extravaganza. So what do we and don't we know?

1) Iron Man - This year's big sequel opened the door for the possibility that Shellhead would be in The Avengers but that it wouldn't necessarily be Robert "Tony Stark" Downey, Jr in the suit. That's easily accomplished within the framework of any story, of course, since Iron Man 2 showed a second tin man in the form of James Rhodes in the War Machine armour. However, I can't imagine that Downey, Jr would want to miss out on something as potentially lucrative as this big slug-fest, especially since he'd clearly be the biggest name in it. I'm guessing Iron Man and Stark are both in.

2) Thor - Despite the Thunder God's film not coming out until next year, I fully expect him to be featured front and centre in The Avengers. In the comics, he, Iron Man and Cap make up "the big three" (currently being showcased in a miniseries entitled Avengers Prime, by the way) and most fans see them as the backbone of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Chris Hemsworth stars alongside Natalie Portman (playing love interest Jane Foster) and Anthony Hopkins (Thor's father, Odin) so it shouldn't be any big jump for him to share the virtual stage with someone like Downey, Jr. Pretty much a lock to be in.

3) Captain America - While I'm a little lukewarm on Hemsworth's debut as Thor, I have much higher hopes for next year's Captain America: The First Avenger feature. I'm not sure they'll really be able to pull off what I see as one of the great origin stories (puny Steve Rogers wants to sign up to fight in WWII, but is 4F and therefore rejected; he's then offered the opportunity to be part of experimental "Super Soldier" process that will transform him into the ultimate fighting machine, during which the mastermind behind it is killed before Rogers' eyes leaving him as America's only Super Soldier in the battle against Hitler) but if they can... it's like a cross between Saving Private Ryan and the original Karate Kid (or something like that). Anyway, Chris Evans (Johnny Storm in both Fantastic Four flicks) dons the red, white and blue chainmail and cowl in a picture that has the word "Avenger" in its title, so I think this one's a lead-pipe cinch. Fans expect that Cap's initial solo adventure will be restricted to the Second World War and possibly end with him being thrown into suspended animation... such that he can be revived in 2012 at the start of The Avengers. That would mimic how the character came back in the Silver Age after a long Golden Age run in the 1940s. Definitely in.

4) Nick Fury - Samuel L. Jackson has simply owned the Fury character since his cameo after the closing credits of Iron Man. It probably didn't hurt that the character was drawn to look exactly like Jackson in The Ultimates comic series (the introduction of a black Fury) nor that Sam's such a comic geek to begin with. I don't know if Fury will be an actual member of the team or not, as it's more likely that he'll orchestrate its creation and bring its players together. Jackson's mentioned as appearing in Captain America: The First Avenger, which suggests that he's going to be shown in WWII alongside Cap, necessitating some explanation (other than suspended animation) for why he's still spry 65 years later. (In the comics, he's given some sort of serum that keeps him from aging as quickly as he should.) Regardless, as far as The Avengers are concerned, he's in, in one capacity or another.

5) The Hulk - This week's big news has been that Ed Norton is not going to be a part of The Avengers, although Bruce Banner and the Hulk almost certainly will be. We can probably expect to find out who's replacing Norton in San Diego, which will also officially confirm Greenskin's involvement in the team film. Whether he's a member, the villain that they all band together to fight, or something else... remains to be seen. I'm calling him in, though possibly not in-in.

6) Black Widow - I loved Scarlett Johansson's all-too-limited appearance as the Black Widow in Iron Man 2. I kept thinking how perfectly she'd fit into The Avengers, since you can't just populate the team with powerhouses like Iron Man, Thor, and the Hulk. You need a leader (which presumably Cap would be) and you need some lighter touches for those situations where knocking down walls or destroying giant robots just won't get you what you need. The way the Widow was used in IM2 showed exactly the sort of thing I'm talking about. I predict BW will be in.

7) Hawkeye - One of the more popular Avengers in the comics, going all the way back to issue # 16 of the original series, Hawkeye may be a challenge to translate to the big screen. He's essentially Robin Hood (bow and arrow guy), but in a modern, technological setting. Yeah, OK, so he can have explosive arrows in his quiver, or arrows that emit gas or banshee-like screams, but is any of that really going to work? I'd love to see them try, but I'm not convinced they will. I'm saying Hawkeye's a maybe at this point.

8) The Scarlet Witch - Another villain-turned-hero(ine) like Hawkeye, Wanda Maximoff became an Avenger in the 16th issue back in the mid 1960s and has been with the team for most of the time since. Her power is to generate "chaos magic" that causes improbable things to happen around her, which is admittedly one of the weirder abilities out there. I personally think the big screen version of the team needs at least one more female (besides the Black Widow) but I'm not so sure it'll be the Witch. I'm predicting she's out.

9) Ant Man - Little known fact outside comic geekdom, but Ant Man is actually one of the founding Avengers (along with Thor, Hulk, Iron Man and the Wasp). He's supposed to be appearing in his own movie sometime, but that thing's been in the offing for years with no real movement so I doubt it's going to come out before The Avengers. What they might do, though, is use the team picture to launch a few spinoff franchises, and Ant Man would be a possibility for that. Rumours have included Firefly's Nathan Fillon for this role, which would be just fine by me. Something tells me that he might be in, but don't quote me.

10) The Wasp - Here's the team's 2nd female member, I think. She fits right in if you include Ant Man, and I think we'll see both of them. In the comics, Janet Van Dyne was the love interest of Hank "Ant Man" Pym back when the Avengers formed, and so the two were pretty inseparable. They were given a much rockier relationship in 21st century Ultimates series so I don't know which version we'll get if they're brought into The Avengers film. I'm marking Wasp as in alongside Ant Man.

So there you have it: the main candidates for the team and what I think the chances are for each to be included in the first film. And I say "first" because I hope it's a blast and that they make sequels galore as a result. Now's the time to dream about such things, before The Avengers comes out and shatters all such delusions.