MARVEL WHAT-IF: REIMAGINING SEQUELS & FILMS THAT NEVER WERE

[BobJM]

I recently started a thread in the DC Comics Films boards: DC ELSEWORLDS: Reimagining Keaton Sequels & DC Films that Never Were
The conceit here is the same;

Over the years, there have been a number of films, real or rumored, that Marvel never acted on. Pitches of films that never were. I thought it'd be fun here to share your favorite, and hear SHH posters' thoughts on what they would have liked to see / how they would have shaped the franchises of yesteryear with the benefit of hindsight.

What would a Singer X-Men 3 have looked like, or Raimi's Spider-Man 4? Sequels to Tim Story's Fantastic Four films, or a follow-up to Daredevil and/or Elektra.

And what about the non-sequels--just the scrapped story pitches that never were. Gambit. Kitty Pryde. Multiple Man. Beast. X-Men Origins: Magneto. Matthew Vaugn's First Class trilogy. John Cameron's Spider-Man from the 90s. Maybe Leonadro DiCaprio would have played Peter instead of Tobey Maguire--or maybe Michael Jackson was able to convince Stan Lee to get involved.

And there's so many more! Joss Whedon's X-Men pitch. Joe Carnahan's gritty Daredevil.

This is simply a creative & fun thread--add your casting choices or story pitches, your fan art, edits, or your wishlists!

 

[BobJM]

To get things started;

X4: CIVIL WAR
directed by Paul Greengrass
produced by Matthew Vaughn
written by Zack Stentz & Ashley Edward Miller

(“X-Men” and “Fantastic 4” collide to create X4 logo art)

May 2012

production / background

In light of the genre-defining The Dark Knight, Fox begins to piece together it’s own gritty, real-word CBM epic for a 2012 release using Mark Millar’s recent Civil War comics event. Paul Greengrass (Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum) signs on director with writing duo Zack Stentz & Ashley Edward Miller drafting the script. Matthew Vaughn, currently directing the prequel X-Men: First Class, is set to executive produce.

Fox Studios higher-ups decide that the X-Men cast is still viable, but the Fantastic Four and Daredevil are in need of recast (internet rumors persist that Affleck turned down the option to return in favor of directing/starring in Argo). Fox sees this film as not only a mega-crossover for its Marvel characters, but also as a launchpad (or relaunch, as it were) for new FF and DD films.

synopsis

The X-Men fight for peace and equality between normal humans and mutants in a world where anti-mutant bigotry is fierce and widespread.

The Fantastic Four, a family forever bonded & transformed by cosmic rays, traverse the new frontiers of scientific exploration.

In a clash against the villainous Mole Man, the Fantastic Four’s Human Torch causes collateral damage, sparking a national debate and the government’s passing of the Superhuman Registration Act. The new legislation draws out the X-Men in fear of what this will mean for mutants, young men and women born with extraordinary abilities. As the debate escalates into an all-out feud, alliances are forged and lines are drawn in the sand—pitting family against family and friend against friend.

And with Daredevil, the costumed vigilante without fear, and Deadpool, beloved ‘merc with a mouth’ from the Marvel comic books, both entering the battle with their own agendas, the world will forever be changed by this superhuman civil war.

starring

X-MEN
LOGAN / WOLVERINE: Hugh Jackman

ORORO MONROE / STORM: Halle Berry

DR. HANK MCCOY / BEAST: Kelsey Grammer

KITTY PRYDE / SHADOWCAT: Ellen Page

BOBBY DRAKE / ICEMAN: Shawn Ashmore

PETER RASPUTIN / COLOSSUS: Daniel Cudmore

FANTASTIC FOUR
DR. REED RICHARDS / MR. FANTASRIC: Billy Crudup

SUE RICHARDS / INVISIBLE WOMAN: Rachel McAdams

BEN GRIMM / THE THING: John C. Reilly

JOHNNY STORM / HUMAN TORCH: Aaron Taylor-Johnson

SUPPORTING
MATT MURDOCK / DAREDEVIL: Charlie Cox

WADE WILSON / DEADPOOL: Ryan Reynolds

VILLAINS
MOLE MAN: Paul Giammati

JOHN SUBLIME: Patrick Wilson

DR. VICTOR von DOOM: Mads Mikkelsen

ADDITIONAL
PRESIDENT MILLAR: Cherry Jones

DIRECTOR HODGE: Michael Keaton

AGENT VALERIE COOPER: Paula Patton

DR. MOIRA MACTAGGART: Olivia Williams

FOGGY NELSON: Rich Sommer

KAREN PAGE: Olivia Thirlby

teams

pro-registration
Mr. Fantastic (with The Thing, initially, until he breaks from his friend and helps the other side)
Beast (who, like Natasha in the MCU’s Civil War, thinks it’s better to have one hand on the wheel than none at all—“staying together is more important than how we stay together”)
Deadpool (hired by Director Hodge as part of US/Canadian joint operation, Weapon X)

anti-registration
The X-Men (sans Beast)
Human Torch & Invisible Woman
Daredevil (initially hired by Sue to represent Johnny in court; later involved as Daredevil in the physical fight)

True to the director’s strengths as highlighted in the Bourne films —Director Hodge is the ‘man in the monitor room,’ tracking the whole Civil War and aiming to capture/defeat the anti-registration movement. Agent Valerie Cooper is featured primarily in these 'monitor' scenes, ultimately using her role/status to help the mutants and superheroes. Dr. Moira MacTaggart is brought in as a genetic specialist in superhuman communities, especially mutants.

John Sublime is a private businessmen/government contractor who wants to use registration/detention centers as mutant gene farms to further his own nefarious scheme to create a new species in the evolutionary chain.

• He frames Johnny Storm using a brainwashed Nitro to cause a massive explosion in downtown NYC while the Fantastic Four battle the Mole-Man.
• We later learn that pulling Sublime’s strings is Dr. Victor von Doom, dictator of Latveria and rival of Mr. Fantastic. Though it appears that his plans are to discredit Richards and his family, in the final moment of the film we see Dr. Doom’s true reason: the corpse of Hank McCoy (who died earlier in the course of the film) transforms into a Skrull on the morgue table.

 

[Airwings]

Didn't Cameron try to get his Spider-Man made around the time of T2, and even earlier than that?
Was Michael Biehn as the lead ever considered by the blockbuster director?

 

[BobJM]

Didn't Cameron try to get his Spider-Man made around the time of T2, and even earlier than that?
Was Michael Biehn as the lead ever considered by the blockbuster director?

Maybe as the burglar? I don't see Biehn fitting as Peter Parker. He might do okay as Eddie Brock in a sequel.

 

[MilkmanDan]

I can't imagine Biehn ever being someone's idea for Spider-Man. Unless I'm mistaken he was once a popular choice for Cyclops, though.

 

[Eddie Dean]

Wasn't Biehn rumored for Electro in Cameron's movie?

 

[Airwings]

Ok. Maybe I got the things wrong about Biehn. We don't know if Cameron wanted him in another role, either.

But didn't he try to adapt Spider-Man again in 94/95, with Edward Furlong?
Wasn't DiCaprio first mentioned later on, around 97/98 (after Titanic) as a possible actor?

 

[BobJM]

Not sure I agree with all the casting, but I like the Leo pick and art here:

 

[Frodo]

SPIDERMAN THE MOTION PICTURE (1985)
Director : John Hughes

Spiderman/ Peter Parker : Michael J Fox (Family Ties, Teen wolf, Back to the Future)
Doctor Octopus/ Dr Otto Octavius : Chaim Topol ( Fiddler on the Roof, For Your Eyes Only)
Norman Osborn : Martin Cove ( The Karate Kid)
Harry Osborn : Judd Nelson( The Breakfast Club, St Elmos Fire)
Gwen Stacy : Rebecca De Mornay ( Risky Business)
Mary Jane Watson: Kerri Green (Goonies)
Captain Stacy : Roy Scheider (Jaws)
Uncle Ben : Hoyt Axton (Gremlins)
Aunt May : Katherine Helmond ( Who's The Boss)
J Johan Jameson : R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket)
Robbie Robertson : Bernie Casey (Revenge of the Nerds)

 

[BobJM]

X-MEN
directed by Kathryn Bigelow
story by Chris Claremont & Jim Lee
written by Andrew Kevin Walker

The Ten Best Unproduced Comic Book Movie Scripts #5: Andrew Kevin Walker's 'X-Men' - Geeks of Doom

Summer 1996

SCOTT SUMMERS / CYCLOPS: Matt Damon

LOGAN / WOLVERINE: Mark Wahlberg

DR. JEAN GREY: Gwyneth Paltrow

DR. HANK McCOY / BEAST: Kelsey Grammer

BOBBY DRAKE / ICEMAN: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

JUBILEE: Unknown actress, early teens

PROF. CHARLES XAVIER: Patrick Stewart

MAGNETO: Anthony Hopkins

 

[Frodo]

SPIDERMAN PART TWO : THE REVENGE OF THE SINISTER SIX (1986)

Director : James Cameron

Spiderman/ Peter Parker : Michael J Fox (Family Ties, Teen wolf, Back to the Future)
Doctor Octopus/ Dr Otto Octavius : Chaim Topol ( Fiddler on the Roof, For Your Eyes Only)
Vulture : Ben Kingsley (Ghandi)
Sandman : Hans Dolph Lundgren (Rocky 4)
Electro : Michael Biehn ( Terminator, The Abyss)
Mysterio : Lance Henriksen (Terminator)
Norman Osborn : Martin Cove ( The Karate Kid)
Harry Osborn : Judd Nelson( The Breakfast Club, St Elmos Fire)
Gwen Stacy : Rebecca De Mornay ( Risky Business)
Mary Jane Watson: Kerri Green (Goonies)
Aunt May : Katherine Helmond ( Who's The Boss)
J Johan Jameson : R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket)
Robbie Robertson : Bernie Casey (Revenge of the Nerds)

 

[Airwings]

Not sure I agree with all the casting, but I like the Leo pick and art here:

It's awesome!!!

Impressive cast list has Kevin Spacey (likely Green Goblin), Bill Paxton (unknown character), Michael Douglas (J. Jonah Jameson) and Katherine Hepburn (Aunt May).

Paxton as Dr Connors maybe?

 

[Eddie Dean]

Quentin Tarantino's HEROES FOR HIRE (1994)

Laurence Fishburne - Luke Cage

Tim Roth - Iron Fist

N'Bushe Wright - Misty Knight

Ming-Na Wen - Colleen Wing

Eric Stoltz - Matt Murdoch

Michael Madsen - Frank Castle

Dan Hedaya - Hammerhead

James Remar - Jigsaw

and Sam Jackson as Cottonmouth

 

[BobJM]

This is also fun

 

[BobJM]

SPIDER-MAN: THE MOVIE
directed by James Cameron
Summer 1995

Peter Parker / Spider-Man: Leonardo DiCaprio

Mary Jane Watson: Milla Jovovich

VILLAINS
Dr. Otto Octavius: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Flint Marko / Sandman: Peter Greene

The Burglar: Michael Biehn

SUPPORTING
May Parker: Joan Plowright

Ben Parker: James Garner

Norman Osborn: Jonathan Hyde

Harry Osborn: Neil Patrick Harris

DAILY BUGLE
J. Jonah Jameson: R. Lee Ermey

Robbie Robertson: Joe Morton

Eddie Brock: Mark Wahlberg

 

[Eddie Dean]

Gotta get Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton in there. I'd go Henriksen as Norman Osborn and Bill Paxton as... I'll get back to you!

 

[BobJM]

THE AVENGERS: EARTH’S MIGHTIEST HEROES
directed by Roland Emmerich

Summer 1998

Tony Stark / Iron Man: Tom Cruise

Steve Rogers / Captain America: Brad Pitt

Thor: Brendan Fraser

Dr. Hank Pym / Ant-Man: David Duchovny

Janet van Dyne / Wasp: Tea Leoni

Dr. Bruce Banner: Matthew Broderick
Hulk: CGI (voice by Lou Ferrigno)

Loki: Jim Carrey

 

[Airwings]

THE AVENGERS: EARTH’S MIGHTIEST HEROES
directed by Roland Emmerich

Summer 1998

Tony Stark / Iron Man: Tom Cruise

Steve Rogers / Captain America: Brad Pitt

Thor: Brendan Fraser

Dr. Hank Pym / Ant-Man: David Duchovny

Janet van Dyne / Wasp: Tea Leoni

Dr. Bruce Banner: Matthew Broderick
Hulk: CGI (voice by Lou Ferrigno)

Loki: Jim Carrey

I'm stunned by your cast. It's freaking awesome!!! Almost every one of them make much sense for the characters
(but you should have had Johnny Depp somewhere there too )

Pitt as Cap is sooo right. With today's eyes, that is. Back in the 90s, he might have been considered too edgy for the straight Steve.

Did you manage to come up with the cast right away?

 

[Eddie Dean]

Pitt as Cap falls into the boring, leading men roles he always struggled with. I'd much rather have him as Thor, where he looks the part and can be funny.

 

[BobJM]

Pitt as Cap falls into the boring, leading men roles he always struggled with. I'd much rather have him as Thor, where he looks the part and can be funny.

He could bring shades to Cap though. Maybe not in the first Avengers outing (like Evans w/ Whedon), but Pitt would get there; certainly a good enough actor.

My ‘98 Black Widow is currently Uma Thurman—maybe Goldeneye’s Izabella Scorupco??—but not settled on Fury yet.

 

[Frodo]

SPIDERMAN 3 THE NIGHT GWEN STACY DIED (1987)

Director: John Hughes

Spiderman/ Peter Parker : Michael J Fox (Family Ties, Teen wolf, Back to the Future)
Green Goblin/Norman Osborn : Martin Cove ( The Karate Kid)
Harry Osborn : Judd Nelson( The Breakfast Club, St Elmos Fire)
Gwen Stacy : Rebecca De Mornay ( Risky Business)
Mary Jane Watson: Kerri Green (Goonies)
Aunt May : Katherine Helmond ( Who's The Boss)
J Johan Jameson : R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket)
Robbie Robertson : Bernie Casey (Revenge of the Nerds)

 

[Eddie Dean]

He could bring shades to Cap though. Maybe not in the first Avengers outing (like Evans w/ Whedon), but Pitt would get there; certainly a good enough actor.

My ‘98 Black Widow is currently Uma Thurman—maybe Goldeneye’s Izabella Scorupco??—but not settled on Fury yet.

I was going to have Uma as Black Widow and Harvey Keitel as Fury for my Tarantino cast, but I forgot lol.

but Kurt Russell is 90s Nick Fury 100%.

 

[BobJM]

I was between Russell or Bruce Willis for Fury

 

[BobJM]

I'm stunned by your cast. It's freaking awesome!!! Almost every one of them make much sense for the characters
(but you should have had Johnny Depp somewhere there too )

Pitt as Cap is sooo right. With today's eyes, that is. Back in the 90s, he might have been considered too edgy for the straight Steve.

Did you manage to come up with the cast right away?

Depp is Strange in the sequels, obviously:

 

[Airwings]

Depp is Strange in the sequels, obviously:

I applaud you for that