As much fun as Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America should be as individual films, comic book fans have been waiting years for the granddaddy of them all: The Avengers. Many have expressed qualms about the film's prospects, fearing the possibility that such a crowded field will take away from the story, and have labeled it unfilmable. If done right, however, it has the potential to blow us all away, giving us the some of the greatest superhero characters of all time on the same screen. We are still two years away from the project, good or bad, but this latest development makes it feel so much closer.
Taking to his Twitter account, Joe Quesada, editor in chief of Marvel comics, tweeted:
"Definition of 'goose bumps.' Pressing enter and watching a screenplay entitled "AVENGERS" come out of my printer."
Less than a minute later, he said, "It's official, I have the greatest job in the world." Zak Penn, whose previous comic book movie experience ranges from X2 and The Incredible Hulk to Elektra and The Fantastic Four, has been attached to write the project for some time now, but this is the first announcement that has suggested that the script has been completed.
Unless we are reading this entirely wrong, this is huge news for the future of the Marvel film franchise, which now has solid footing past next summer's releases. Sure, it is probably only a draft and will undoubtedly go through some, if not many, rewrites, but physical form now exists for a screen version of one of the greatest team-ups in comics history. Up until now, the only insight to the writing process has been Penn saying, "It's hard to make a good movie. We all have the best intentions, and it still might suck," but that was almost nine months ago. We can hope that he has gotten something resembling courage and confidence since then and will bring us the Avengers film we all want.
