News

Jon Favreau Interested in Directing an Avengers Movie

Marvel has plans to bring The Avengers together, and Jon Favreau says “Bring it on!”
By  · Published on January 3rd, 2008

Back in July of last year, while covering the San Diego Comic-Con, I overheard comic legend Stan Lee say something very interesting about Iron Man director Jon Favreau. He said, “If we’d had writers like Jon Favreau at Marvel in the beginning, we would have taken out DC a lot earlier.” For all we know, Stan Lee is probably right. And on May 2 when Iron Man finally hits theaters, we will all know whether or not Favreau can hang with directors like Tim Burton, Christopher Nolan and Richard Donner, those who have successfully brought our favorite comic book characters to life on the big screen.

I tell you that story to tell you this — Favreau let slip to MTV this week that he would be more than happy to take on an Avengers flick if they would let him. He added that he thought it would be a great idea, but that Marvel has some very meticulous plans for how it might go down.

“In the case of Marvel they’re pretty clear on wanting to do it with the actors who’ve established the roles or to not do it at all. That’s what they’ve said to me,” he told MTV. “I think it’s a good idea if you use the characters established in the other franchises that then come together for an event. I don’t think they would do it like they’re doing ‘Justice League’ where it’s a whole different set of actors and a whole different take on the world.”

He is referring to the way Warner Bros. and DC are taking the upcoming Justice League film on as its own entity, creating a separate universe from the one in which Christian Bale’s Batman and Brandon Routh’s Superman reside. Marvel’s plan would create a more consistent experience for the fans, but would also be a much more arduous process. As Favreau pointed out, while Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk will hit theaters this year, other characters’ stories are still only in development. This would include Thor, which has Matthew Vaughn attached to direct, Ant Man, which is currently in the hands of Edgar Wright and Captain America, which has Nick Cassavetes attached to direct for 2009. So if my math is correct, we could see an Avengers film sometime in 2010 or later. And while that seems like a long time to wait, I think I would prefer that over what DC has done to the Justice League. But then again, that’s one man’s opinion.

Talking Point: Do you think Marvel has the right idea for an Avengers movie? Or is DC doing the right thing with Justice League?

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Neil Miller is the persistently-bearded Publisher of Film School Rejects, Nonfics, and One Perfect Shot. He's also the Executive Producer of the One Perfect Shot TV show (currently streaming on HBO Max) and the co-host of Trial By Content on The Ringer Podcast Network. He can be found on Twitter here: @rejects (He/Him)