It's Just Movies

— by BEN FOWLER —

When it comes to the dream directing gig of the decade, it doesn’t come much better than helming the planned Avengers film. But who of the top Hollywood filmmakers should be getting a call from Marvel sometime soon?

I’ll start off by saying who I feel is the most capable and perfect choice for the role, and yet we all know it’s not going to be him. My choice would be Jon Favreau. He just seems to get the Marvel universe. He seems to get how to make a fun yet completely cool and kick ass superhero flick. As we know, it won’t happen — but at least Favreau is on executive producer duties for “The Avengers.”

Another name bandied around and confirmed to be under consideration (by the man himself) is Louis Letterier. The man who brought us the mildly-entertaining “The Incredible Hulk” semi-sequel certainly knows the genre and comic book medium. Yet I feel his previous work is too mediocre to prove he can handle such a project. His latest film, “Clash Of The Titans,” certainly shows he’s noticed by the Hollywood bigwigs, but the critics and movie-going public have responded to his gods and monsters epic with a great big “meh…”

Another name thrown into the hat is Joss Whedon. The guy can’t seem to get a break with his own TV output, no matter how hard the fans protest (Browncoat til I die!). So maybe it’s time to turn to the big screen and someone else’s material? He is a rather unknown quantity when it comes to dealing with blockbuster material. But his ill-fated “Firefly” series showed in its brief tenure that he could handle an ensemble cast and storyline with each character refreshingly fleshed out to feel like a real person.

And that really is the key to making “The Avengers” a successful film. You need to be able to handle each of the heroes and flesh them out and give them all enough to work with. Nobody wants an “Iron Man and Company” or a “Captain America and the gang” film. Each member is equal.

You can throw the usual group of names into the ring (Ridley Scott, Sam Raimi, Bryan Singer, James Cameron, etc.) and even add some more: Edgar Wright is a out-of-the-box choice who I would love to see tackle something like this. “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” looks to prove his high quality credentials later in the year. Some may also suggest Kathryn Bigelow for the gig. As much as I think she is a talented director (and her recent Academy Award suggests the same) just because someone wins an Oscar does not automatically mean they can handle any film or any genre thrown their way. However, with that said, I would be more than mildly intrigued to see what her version of “The Avengers” would look like.

It’s such a massive project to undertake, you can appreciate why Marvel Studios is taking its time picking the person with the right vision, angle and take on their most famous Superhero Team. You can be sure that whoever they choose to direct will make sure that when they shout “Avengers Assemble!” on the first day of shooting, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and co. will be front and center!

. . .

Follow Ben Fowler on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Localboy99

.