Movie News: Avengers, JLA and more

The Hollywood Reporter says today that writers for both an Avengers movie and a Justice League of America movie have been set and that both movies are moving forward.

Zak Penn, who wrote the screenplay for Marvel's upcoming "The Incredible Hulk," is slated to pen the live-action adaptation that would be titled "The Avengers."

While the roster for the Avengers has changed since its inception in 1963, growing to include the likes of Spider-Man and X-Men hero Wolverine, the classic iteration of the team consisted of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and the diminutive Ant-Man and Wasp. Other members have been the Hulk, the bow-and-arrow-wielding Hawkeye and the probability-altering gypsy Scarlet Witch.

It's all speculation for now, since Penn has not even started writing the screenplay yet, but it is also confirmed by Superhero Hype in an interview they had with Kevin Feige of Marvel Studios. Feige also talked about a number of other Marvel properties including Captain America, Punisher 2, Ghost Rider 2, Wolverine and his dream of a Power Pack movie along the lines of Goonies.

For the JLA movie, writers Kieran and Michele Mulroney have submitted a draft of a script already and those who have seen it have said it looks very promising. The Mulroney's are responsible for, among other projects, the action film "Mr & Mrs. Smith" starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. While I am a big fan of Jolie's *ahem* assets, her acting never interested me until thsi movie, because the action scenes were amazing.

This is also reported at Slashfilm, where they remind people that Christian Bale and Brandon Routh have been reported to be under contract for a Superman/Batman movie, which could make it easier to get the two stars to appear in a JLA film.

With the NY Comicon starting today, we could possibly expect more movie news to be released this weekend. Stay tuned.

CG