Could a BIG crossover movie work? (NO STUDIO/RIGHTS DISCUSSION)

[CyclopsWasRight]

The four biggest Marvel Franchise. X-Men, Spider-Man, Avengers & Fantastic Four all in one movie.

Would it work, could it work as a movie?

This thread is just to discuss and speculate in theory of it working, not if it could happen.

The cast would be something like:

Spider-Man
Wolverine
Cyclops
Storm
Marvel Girl
Colossus
Professor Xavier
Angel
Beast
Gambit
Thor
Hawkeye
Captain America
Hulk
Wasp
Ant-Man
Iron Man
Ms Marvel
Mr Fantastic
Invisible Woman
The Thing
Human Torch

Could a quality movie with a good story & plot with each character getting enough attention come from such a big event movie?

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The highest Character count so far was Days of Future Past with Sixteen heroes. That movie was very, very well received amongst fans and general audiences but as good as it was it didn't manage to fully deliver enough of every character to satisfy fans of each of those characters.

With this proposed crossover there would be Twenty-Two fan-favourite characters all from four separate franchise all vying for attention.

____

I'm not talking The XCU and MCU and Sony Spider-Man just this level of movie as a concept with this amount of characters, no particular studio and no particular cast

Please keep such discussion out of the thread as it's strictly about if such a big crossover could work as a quality movie not who would be in it or who would make it or the prospects of it actually happening.

 

[Raiden]

I think it could work, but first it must pass the hurdle of the movie rights being kept by different movie studios, all with their own personal interest in mind and are not interested in sharing those characters in order to create a massive universe which all the studios can profit from. It's a very short-sighted vision, but unfortunately one that they all have in common.

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

I think it could work, but first it must pass the hurdle of the movie rights being kept by different movie studios, all with their own personal interest in mind and are not interested in sharing those characters in order to create a massive universe which all the studios can profit from. It's a very short-sighted vision, but unfortunately one that they all have in common.

This is just speculation on if it could work as a movie in theory. No matter the cast, no matter the studio, none of that, just the four franchises in one movie working or not.

_____

Myself I'm thinking it could work given the right story for bringing them together but not as an ensemble that gives everyone enough attention.

The best way I think would be to have the leaders as the main characters with a few of the secondaries butting heads and the rest mostly for action.

So Mr Fantastic, Cyclops & Captain America would be the main characters with Wolverine butting heads with Hulk, Spidey messing around jokliy with Johnny Storm ect..

I think the X2 approach would also be best with the teams splitting up into squads each taking on different tasks with them combining at the end that way we get to focus on each for a period of tine to develop them.

It would be really difficult to pull off and the chance of it imploding I think would be 65-75%

The prospect of juggling 22 A-List characters with all being utilised enough for fans is low I think. I don't see that many in one movie while getting their dues

 

[lee1983dixon]

Easiest way to pull this off is warring factions amongst themselves. Avengers Vs X Men. Would take some development separately, and is a fairly recent run in the comics, but a lot could be done with it, especially Wolverine as he has the conflict of being essentially part of both teams!

I'm sure it could be done, people would largely need to accept a character hierarchy (oh, but I like Beast, he should be on screen more... Etc).

I think you simply have to go with Spidey, Cap, Iron Man, Wolverine, Thing (FF and Avengers...), Cyclops and I reckon chuck Magneto in there for good measure as your main cast. Everyone else is either backup or filler for the main event. Sounds good to me!

 

[lee1983dixon]

Incidentally, and this is going to cause conflict I know... The video game Lego Marvel Superheroes has recently given a platform to an A-list of superheroes with supporting cast members to work through a series of storylines using character team ups appropriate for the setting.

Now, I'm not saying the stories are amazing, it's primarily a child's video game, but the premise is something that is workable.

Also, anyone who watches and enjoys Avengers: EMH on Disney XD... I think a mutant or two could be worked into one of those storylines, add a space element and who else to call on but Mr Richards for advice... These are a bit way out, but still, ideas all the same.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

With movies like X-Men and Avengers, maybe, depends how many characters they use
There should be a limit, cause comic events mostly tend to turn to a mess

 

[Visualiza]

A Movie? Nope. Mini-series (with an impossibly large and impractical budget)? You bet. Episodic trilogy? Maybe.

Personally, I think all of these properties would be a much better fit for television (especially X-Men), but the production quality just isn't up to snuff in most cases. Things are getting a little too inter-connected for such a massively sprawling universe. Most of these movies clock in at a minimum of 2 hours these days, and run times don't seem to be getting any shorter. If you're talking a cast of 20+ Marvel A-listers...you may as well be talking a hugely ambitious story treatment that spans three movies at a minimum, in the same vein as LotR. Very direct, episodic sequels that pick up right where the previous entries left off. Even then, I still don't think that movies as a medium would be able to do all of the characters justice. Several of them are bound to be sidelined at some point, whereas a mini-series could potentially give everyone their just dues. I'm thinking Game of Thrones in that respect.

 

[Zarex]

I don't see such a large crossover working. Though the X-Men franchise has succeeded by focusing on a few key characters with many other fan favorites relegated to smaller or cameo appearances, a cast numbering into the twenties would likely be more frustrating than satisfying.

One way it could potentially work is by using the "hand-off" approach over multiple movies. It may be difficult to do with the contracts, but you could conceivably have one scene used both as a post-credit scene AND an intro scene for the next film. The characters in one film would "hand-off" the problem to the stars of the following film with one extended scene used as the collective tissue between the two films. This may be how Marvel links GOTG 2 with Avengers 2.

 

[Duran Man]

Nope.

 

[Hypestyle]

To me, you'd almost have to make this a "movie mini-series"- Like the first chapter comes out in May, the second in August, the last in November.

 

[Visualiza]

To me, you'd almost have to make this a "movie mini-series"- Like the first chapter comes out in May, the second in August, the last in November.

Still movies, though. They've only got so much time to explore such a huge roster of heroes and villains before the end. With a series, at least you can rotate the roster per episode (ala GoT) to focus on certain characters and settings as they relate to the overarching plot. I can't imagine a trilogy balancing that particularly well, but maybe that's why I'm not a writer.

 

[DrCosmic]

I think you're on the right track Cyke, it would definitely have 3-8 main characters with the rest playing a supporting role.

The movie that would be my guiding star would be Crash. There'd be an overall event everything built to, but the majority of the movie would be about them separated dealing with different *types* of story that optimize their characteristics. The story would be Galactus is on the way, and everyone would find out, and react differently.

Even though I realize it's not needed for the discussion, I choose to look at this excercise under the idea that Marvel/Fox/Sony/Universal have magically reached

The way I'd split it:

New Avengers/"The Illuminati": Namor, Black Panther, Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Professor X, Bruce Banner (& Spider-Man)

These characters are trying to stop Galactus, and they are pulling all of their considerable resources and skills and knowledge. Much of their story is an argument that contains exposition, but there are softer character moments as they figure out how their universes have collided and how to deal with Galactus. (About 40 minutes of screen time shared between them)

Uncanny Avengers/"Fire Team Alpha": Captain America, Wolverine, Invisible Woman, Storm, Thor, Thing, (& Spider-Man)

These characters are battling to save the planet, dealing with Galactus' probes and the Silver Surfer. This largely a war fighting issue, a lot like the future mutants in DOFP, except we see relationships form and break down in the midst of combat, like a Saving Private Ryan. Team members get taken out/down too as the story goes forward. (About 40 minutes of screen time shard between them)

Subplots:
Spider-Man, Quicksilver, and Human Torch: One last night on the town. They are celebrating, but Spidey is looking for Mary Jane in all the chaos. (About 20 minutes screentime shared)
Mystique, Scarlet Witch & Mary Jane: Mystique and Mary Jane try to find/chase Scarlet Witch who may be the key to saving the world. (About 15 minutes screenime shared)
Gambit, Hawkeye & Venom: Job gone wrong, these three are in a vicious cat and mouse game against each other, as Gambit tries to heist and Hawkeye tries to catch him while Venom tries to protect the innocent from Gambit, but Hawkeye is supposed to bring him in too. Gambit's macguffin ends up helping save the world. (About 10 minutes screentime shared)
Cyclops & Black Widow: Interrogating an alien, a Skrull whose been hiding on earth for years, these two discover more about Galatus and the fate of the Skrull homeworld. (About 10 minutes screentime shared)
Jean Grey & Captain Marvel: Elevated to Phoenix and Binary, these phenomnal cosmic beings find and parlay with Uatu about the fate and end of the world and their role in it. (About 5 mintues screentime shared)

Resolution:

Galactus arrives and the New Avengers go into action alongside the Uncanny, activating their plan, which involves Scarlet Witch, knowledge of Galactus from the skrull, Gambit's MacGuffin and Phoenix/Binary, inventing the Ultimate Nullfier and recruiting the Silver Surfer, all of which comes to light when the entire world defense community is assembled to combat the threat. This brings us to a grand total of 25 heroes, all who get about 5 minutes screen time and get to do something cool. It's basically two concurrent TV episodes (each Avengers team) and then a half dozen "One Shots" that all tie into the main plot. The core story as far as growth and arc belong to Tony and Mr. Fantastic in the New Avengers, Cap and Wolverine in the Uncanny Avengers and Spider-Man and Mary Jane interacting with so many others.

 

[Raiden]

I think a huge crossover can happen, and they need a common enemy that is a threat to everyone to justify such a crossover. For example, I think the coming of Galactus, with his Heralds arriving early to wreck havoc, could definitely be an event that can weave through several movies to build up to the eventual climatic finish, with Avengers, F4, Spidey, and X-Men all contribute in dwarfing Galactus' attempt to devour Earth.

Other events can be High Evolutionary, The Dark Phoenix Saga, Secret Invasion, Civil War, and AvX.

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

I like the idea of a mini-series.

Thinking of Game of Throne. That manages to tell a large collection of separate stories and they all seem to get their time to shine.

That's not so much a crossover but doing something like that would probably work much better than a movie as all of the characters could feature but for the majority they'd be seperate in the same world and would cross paths.

 

[Eddie]

I know this isn't about the rights, but I thought it was worth pointing out that the parent companies of two of the studios involved actually have some sort of partnership going on. At Sony's E3 panel, they mentioned that they (as in Sony's game division) have a partnership with Disney. Sony's even getting Hulk a month before everyone else in the next Disney Infinity title. It's hard to say if the partnership will extend to anything beyond games, but Sony and Disney are working together on some level.

Anyway, I think a crossover could work if you're just talking about character balance. If you look at the game Marvel Ultimate Alliance, the plot worked pretty well and featured a huge cast of characters. Obviously the game is longer than a film would be, but the basic story of Fury bringing the heroes together to fight a Doom led Masters of Evil worked well. A few core Avengers, Spidey, and Wolverine dominated the main scenes with the other characters contributing to the effort. Select characters also featured in appropriate segments, such as Dr. Strange and Nightcrawler. A team-up film with a similar structure could work.

 

[SuperT]

I honestly don't think it could happen - it would be a logistical nightmare. Trying to fit all those characters into one movie and what actor, especially ones like Jackman, Lawrence, Downey etc. would want to be relegated to smaller roles?

It would be kind of a waste of time for them and extremely expensive for the studios.

 

[Eddie]

I honestly don't think it could happen - it would be a logistical nightmare. Trying to fit all those characters into one movie and what actor, especially ones like Jackman, Lawrence, Downey etc. would want to be relegated to smaller roles?

It would be kind of a waste of time for them and extremely expensive for the studios.

Both Jackman and Downey were willing to do small cameos in character in past films. Jackman didn't even receive his usual money for the First Class cameo (he did it in exchange for a donation to his kids school). Ignoring the studio split, the amount of characters really isn't a problem. Look at The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. A core group moves the main plot forward, but tons of characters show up in the big battle scenes. Looking at the cost, there's no reason the movie should cost more than any other blockbuster film. The effects scenes are where a huge chunk of that money would go, and it's not like a crossover would magically have more effects scenes than any other two and a half hour film can fit in.

 

[lee1983dixon]

I think in Jackman and RDJ you have actors there that have pretty much admitted in recent times that they 'can't do that role forever', so that opens the door to reduced roles in the franchise, which I think both would take given another Avengers/Iron Man and X Men/Wolverine film each to be fair.

My concern grows when comparing a potential Marvel TV event/show with GOT. Sure, if any programme has managed to hold the attention of its viewers whilst exploring a plethora of characters each episode it's those dudes, but one thing they have not managed to pull off (or needed to particularly) just yet is the truly large set peice. Budget restrictions don't even come in at this stage, but there has been no great war, no time where these characters share a battlefield or even all exist at the same time - they all have their separate side-quests and that keeps us all intrigued. There's cross over, sure, but what happens when Marvel inevitably need to get to the set peice - the fight with and destruction of Galactus if you please. How do you then get 25 characters (or however many are involved at this point...) co-existing at the same point in time in that 45/60 minute episode? Sure, in terms of getting to that point, you're onto a winner having 9 previous 45/60 minute episodes, but the set peice in TV shows has always been their downfall.

Who thought the end of the Heroes TV show was truly great? It felt rushed to me. all turn up blah blah Heroes win - done in an hour.

Lost. All that build up, all that character development, all the buy in... I know it's been criticised for being aimless or whatever - fact is the end point, the set peice, was weak regardless of the storyline.

Off the top of my head I can't even think of any more shows where the cast is large, there is so much buy-in and interest, and would be similar to a Marvel peice - but I can't envisage any of them truly pulling off 'the big event' that any Marvel peice would require at the end. GOT might just buck that trend, but in my eyes would be the first that I can think of.

Just look at LOTR. Loads of characters in there, focus on the main ones, big set peices that looked good and left people satisfied with them, all the large events handled over the course of three movies. This can be replicated, given the correct storyline.

I still think AvX is the most logical and straight-forward way to go. Simple to understand, yet complex with some members (such as Wolverine/Magneto and maybe Beast or Storm dependent on how this is treated). Full of action, but still the ability to tell a good underlying story. Secondary characters can be used to full effect, but do not need a full origin tale or people to understand their individual motives - although even this could be displayed in a well written and choreographed battle scene.

I know it's a fairly recent event, and might take separate movies (X Men and Avengers say) to tie in with a common theme before you get to the big ensemble event, but definitely doable for me.

Other than that, Civil War. Problem with that... explaining motives. Why would one of the X Men be 'Pro' and the other 'Anti'. Would take a lot of explaining, AvX much more simplistic.

I still think the key is in the people/fans. My favourites are Spider-Man, Thor and Silver Surfer. I would happily accept diminished roles for the latter two in knowing that Spider-Man is Marvel, pre-RDJ's Iron Man. Sometimes, a charater being your favourite or the one you find most interesting doesn't necessarily warrant them being the star of the show. If fans can be acceptant that characters like Thor will be involved, might even be key to a scene due a power that he has that nobody else does, but may not be the driver, the character with all of the dialogue or making all of the difference, but he's just there taking part, then that will contribute to this being pulled off greatly. It's not the only factor, but it is a big factor in it IMO.

 

[SuperT]

Honestly, at the end of the day - are people really clamoring to see stuff like Secret War/Civil War, Avengers vs. X-Men or Decimation/House of M?

Those cross-overs are terrible and nonsensical, especially Civil War.

 

[DACrowe]

Civil War would be interesting.

But Marvel Studios wouldn't go there. Bryan Singer would, but he doesn't have enough "A-listers" for it to matter. If they did it, just do not make Spidey a putz like he was in the actual comic book story on this theme.

 

[TalismanRing]

[YT]LcZ9Bxc6nRk[/YT]

It could be an incredible mess or just incredible. I think a cast that large, even with a larger emphasis on half a dozen, would be too unwieldy as one film and would require a LOTR treatment of one film cut into three (like the novel) .

 

[lee1983dixon]

I think the MCU is potentially gearing towards a civil war like event anyway, that's how I view their treatment of Cap in the very least following CATWS.

IM3 as well, Stark really isn't enjoying the whole wearing the suit thing just now, and following AoU, if they play it all out as many think they will regarding the creation of Ultron, can't see it getting much better for him.

Cue a difference in opinion, perhaps...? The motivations are certainly there, the scene was set early on in Avengers, you never know.

 

[lee1983dixon]

[YT]LcZ9Bxc6nRk[/YT]

It could be an incredible mess or just incredible. I think a cast that large, even with a larger emphasis on half a dozen, would be too unwieldy as one film and would require a LOTR treatment of one film cut into three (like the novel) .

Ok, I enjoyed that a lot. If only...

 

[SuperT]

Civil War would be interesting.

But Marvel Studios wouldn't go there. Bryan Singer would, but he doesn't have enough "A-listers" for it to matter. If they did it, just do not make Spidey a putz like he was in the actual comic book story on this theme.

I think it could certainly be rejiggered as an X-Men standalone story arc, but adding everyone else into it just makes it lose it's punch and subtext.

That's the main problem I had with the original comic arc - it just never made any sense outside of the X-Men universe.

 

[TalismanRing]

I think it could certainly be rejiggered as an X-Men standalone story arc, but adding everyone else into it just makes it lose it's punch and subtext.

That's the main problem I had with the original comic arc - it just never made any sense outside of the X-Men universe.

It wouldn't make any sense within since how powerful or effective would the pro Registration side be within the mutant community? You think Xavier would do what Stark did and to that extent? And could Magento possibly become a beacon for the other side like Captain America?

Besides at it's heart it's a very ugly divorce between Iron Man & Captain America fighting for custody of Spider-man. t: Seriously, it was a mess of a story and almost ruined Iron Man as a character - the film version saved him so I can't ever see them repeating it on film.