Isaiah Mustafa Confirms Meeting With Marvel About Luke Cage

Originally a Luke Cage film was setup at Sony/Columbia with director John Singleton and screenwriter Ben Ramsey (The Big Hit) attached. Since then it's been stuck in development limbo.  
Isaiah Mustafa better known as the Old Spice Guy has been campaigning for a couple of years now for the chance to play Luke Cage aka Power Man. Isaiah was asked by SuperheroHype about the character and how his campaign was going. He revealed his reasons for the passion of playing Cage and actually talking to Marvel about it. 

"I've already had a meeting with Marvel. I talked to them and I told them that I was a gracious reader of their comics and that I wanted to be Luke Cage. So we'll see where they take it."

There is a Jessica Drew show being developed and he could end up in that. On the other hand I wouldn't be shocked if Marvel decides to include the hero in the Iron Fist film as the two are best known as partners in the comics. They could test the character in Fist and then move on from there into his solo adventure. Isaiah has a lot of passion and personality given that along with a great sense of humor I'd think he'd make an excellent Power Man. I figure if an Australian soap star like Hemsworth can get a big break like Thor, this isn't out of the question. Marvel Studios has mentioned before about trying to discover and develop their own stars.

Kevin Feige Talks Post-Avengers Plans, Confirms Thor & Cap Sequels

It won't be until Comic-Con that we'll actually get the actually next line up of films but Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige is talking post-Avengers plans with IGN. It sounds like Kevin and Marvel have enough films in the works to keep fans happy for the next ten years.


CAPTAIN AMERICA 2: The film will be set in modern times but very well could have WWII flashback scenes. As writers Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus have talked about including a few more WWII scenes in the sequel. Hydra is likely to be back with possible villains Baron von Strucker, Madame Hydra and Zemo. With Sebastian Stans' contract to be in bunch of Marvel films I expect we will see a transformation from Bucky to Winter Soldier. Zemo being a mantle villain it would be nice to see a mantle hero like Union Jack also involved with the sequel.


THOR 2: Not much known here as it was just confirmed the sequel is happening. Hopefully it will be more realm focused as there a bunch of villains and mythology to explore off-Midgard (Earth). Fellow Asgardians Balder and Valkyrie have yet to be introduced along with Dark Elves, Rock Trolls and other villainous creatures. The world of Thor is rich and might be the first step for Marvel to expand our concepts of the superhero genre.

BLACK WIDOW: David Hayter (X-Men, X2) wrote a Black Widow script and was aiming to direct when it was setup at Lionsgate but was eventually scrapped. It's unknown where the project is at the moment but there is more talk of this spin-off than the others. Johansson is game as mentioned at last year's Comic-Con.

HAWKEYE: There have been plans for a Hawkeye film for years and now that Jeremy Renner is in place for the role they can finally move forward with it. I'm not sure if there was ever a script developed but I wouldn't be shocked. Personally I'd rather see a Widow/Hawkeye team-up film as they'd work better as team than in solo projects.

S.H.I.E.L.D: This one has been teased since we first got a glimpse of Nick Fury in Iron Man. It seemed that with a script by Andrew W. Marlowe (Air Force One) kicking around for years it would go soon. While it's expected Samuel L. Jackson, Clark Gregg and Cobie Smulders will be in this it's unknown if other currently cast Marvel heroes will also appear.


IRON FIST: Unlike Strange and Panther which have been in development for almost the same amount of time they actually have someone in mind for the lead. Ray Park had been attached and is still interested in the role. He's currently getting ready to return as Snake Eyes in G.I. Joe 2. Marvel recently set Rich Wilkes (xXx) to work on the film's script and is likely to be based on The Immortal run of the character being more of a martial arts film.

DOCTOR STRANGE: The only real news on this front is that Marvel has hired Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer to start writing the script. The two are responsible for the Conan reboot and likely involved with it's sequel. While Patrick Dempsey (Scream 3, Transformers 3) has been campaigning to play mystical hero.


BLACK PANTHER: Wesley Snipes had been in talks with Marvel for the role but with his troubles it's unlikely that will happen. Actors like Michael Jai White (Spawn, Dark Knight), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (G.I. Joe, The Thing) and Idris Elba (Thor, Ghost Rider 2) have been in the mix for T'Challa. Mark Bailey is currently writing the script. 


ANT-MAN: This one wasn't called out by Kevin but it's assumed with a script and director in place it will be down the production line sooner than later. There was also zero talk of Luke Cage, War Machine or Sub-Mariner.

UKNOWN-COSMIC FILM: There hasn't been a full on confirmation of which one of the cosmic epics Marvel could be working on. I would love to think this is a Silver Surfer movie but it's more than likely Killraven or World War Hulk.

Kevin Feige Gives Insight To Upcoming Marvel Projects

In the Thor set visit interview from Collider which was held during before the production of Captain America. Kevin Feige gives the impression that The Howling Commandos will be the only Marvel hero group used in the film. Previously there had been rumors that we'd see a mix of Commandos and Invaders in the movie.

Director Joe Johnston has denied on many occasions that Namor (a member of the Invaders) would be included in the film. Saying the film would focus on only one Marvel hero. This could mean that others such as Union Jack and Spitfire would also not be featured. It makes sense that Namor and Union Jack could be better suited in their own films or contemporary Marvel sequels. So this would mean that J.J. Feild is playing Percy Pinkerton not Union Jack.

Also yesterday Feige was involved with a live chat on HeroComplex (LATimes) which was to promote the release of the new Thor trailer. Where the producer dished on tidbits of future projects and answered fans questions. Even Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier dropped by to say hi. I was luckily enough to join this chat yet it was beyond crowded and laggy.

Kevin gave confirmation that The Avengers' Iron Man armor will see an evolution similar to the different suits in Iron Man 2. Giving me the impression the Hulk Buster suit is an option.

 "Joss would kill me if I gave anything away, but I will say that the evolution you saw his armor take in IM2 will continue in The Avengers."

One of the biggest admissions of Kevin is confirmation that Marvel Studios has indeed got the rights back for The Punisher. A Frank Castle show is being rumored to be setup at HBO for a hardcore violent series. He doesn't comment on where we'll see Frank next. Kevin does mention how the Blade franchise had been a successful group of R-themed films.

"Punisher's back in house, and various plans are in the works."

He even spoke on the possibilities of bringing Moon Knight to life. Knight had been set to become a TV series but it ultimately didn't happen. The vigilante hero is one of the most complex in the Marvel roster living the life of cab driver, playboy, mercenary and mystical vigilante.

"Moonknight's a challenging, but extremely interesting character. We've been discussing various versions of it for years."
 

Kevin briefly confirmed projects in the works like Black Panther, Iron Fist and his love/hope for a Dr. Strange movie. He also talked Luke Cage and his love interest Jessica Jones, it's one of few times he's brought up the Luke Cage project. Liking everyone's support for Isaiah Mustafa (Old Spice Guy) to play Cage. He also gave an update on the progress of Edgar Wright's Ant-Man.

"Edgar was here a few days ago. He's already working on the next draft."

How Marvel Should Approach The SHIELD Film: PART III [The Agents]

 I've covered both Hawkeye and Black Widow now I'll go over the supporting characters. We already know that  Coulson (Clark Gregg) will be involved with the film so I won't go over him. SHIELD has a long standing history of bringing back characters from the past. If Marvel was going to do that I'd expect they'd do it with Dum Dum Dugan (Neal McDonough) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Sebastian has already stated he's signed on for two films beside Captain America and it doesn't look like Avengers will be one of them. I'm sure if the Infinity Formula is involved they could bring back many of the characters from the film. The most well known SHIELD Agents include Sharon Carter, Gabriel Jones and Maria Hill. Yet knowing Marvel they'll be bringing out bigger heroes into the spotlight.

NEW AGENTS:  Kevin Feige has been vocal about bringing both T'Challa (Black Panther) and Daniel Rand (Iron Fist) into the Marvel film universe. So I would expect that these two could play a bigger role in the SHIELD film. This would of course give audiences a chance to take in the characters before their own films are released.

CASTING: Wesley Snipes has been in talks with Marvel to play Black Panther since 1992 and was still involved up until 2006. It's unknown if Snipes will end up in the role since they've tested other actors such as Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Bourne Identity). Adewale spoke recently to MTV giving the impression he's being strongly considered.

“We’re talking to Marvel about ‘Black Panther… This is the first round, so you know, hopefully they’ll look at ‘G.I. Joe’ and see the potential. But it’s about time we have a black superhero, isn’t it?”

“He’s from a fictional village in Africa and the timing is so right for that kind of character to come through… And while I’m in my prime, this is the time. We’ve got [U.S. President Barack] Obama, now we need something on screen to represent, so… ‘Panther,’ man.”

Adewale's G.I. Joe co-star Ray Park (X-Men) has also been in talks with Marvel for years to play Iron Fist. Back in 2009 Park told MTV he still wants the role.

"I actually want to be Danny Rand -- I want to be Iron Fist, I want to do it," Park said. "I've been blond before. I'll work on the American accent as well."

Marvel Studios Hires Writer For Iron Fist

Deadline reports that Marvel Studios has hired Rich Wilkes (xXx, Airheads) to write treatment for the Iron Fist film. While this is exciting news this doesn't men we will be seeing it anytime soon.

Kevin Feige Talks Post-Avengers Films

Kevin Feige talked to IGN confirming yet again that we'll be seeing Doctor Strange, Black Panther and Iron Fist films.

"What happens after Avengers is what's being discussed now. Obviously, you've heard about Doctor Strange. I've been a vocal fan of Strange for a long time. Black Panther, I think, I mentioned recently. Fraction and Brubaker's reinvention of Iron Fist has gotten me excited to do some version of that in our world."