Some future Marvel movie odds and ends

It has recently come to my attention that there are a number of Marvel movie-related odds and ends floating around out there on the interweb, most of which have developed (if not been put to rest) within the last few weeks.

One thing is the whole 'Will Smith as Captain America' rumour doing the rounds recently; apparently an actor named Derek Luke, involved in the latest Spike Lee movie, Miracle at St. Anna, was quoted as saying that he understood that Will Smith, who will next be starring in the Seven Pounds movie , had been offered the role of Cap by Marvel studios. This got more than a few Marvel fanboys underwear in a twist for whatever reason: I suppose for the same reason that some hated the idea of Nick Fury being a black man when that happened in the Marvel Ultimate comics universe (and look how well that eventuallyturned out, getting Samuel Jackson to appear in the Iron Man movie, eh?).

Anyway, this rumour was dispelled rather quickly from different sources, including by representatives of Marvel comics as well as by Will Smith himself in a brief interview outside a recent movie premiere. Apparently he laughed off the suggestion claiming that that was the first he had heard of this rumour. For the full details and video on this, check out splashpage.mtv.com .

Another thing that I found interesting was the fact that the two screenwriters behind the very successful Iron Man movie, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, confirmed that they are definitely not back for the sequel (that will be penned by Justin Theroux). That in itself is not news, however it is news to me that they are in negotiations to be handed the writing reigns to another upcoming Marvel project, and that projects like the way off in the distance - yet still upcoming Avengers movie are on the table. I have to think at this point that having those two on board for such a flagship movie as Avengers could only be a good thing. This too can be followed in more detail at splashpage.mtv.com.

The last thing - and more of a trivial thing than newsworthy, is the tidbit that I read that claims that Best Buy will be releasing the DVD reissue of the 1998 Nick Fury / SHIELD tv movie that starred David Hasselhoff on the same day as the DVD/Bluray release of the Iron Man movie. That is funny, but smart marketing for selling something that would probably otherwise have next to no market value. Smart move.