There Was A Different Idea: An MCU Producer Quest

[overmind]

[X] [Plan] No Big Apple
-[X] [Climax] Write In: Go with a compromise with Louis, the Leader can invade any major American city (Houston, Washington DC, Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles etc.) that is not New York City with His Gamma Mutants, but have the final showdown be as he is setting a Gamma Bomb.
-[X] [Leader] The Leader is taken into custody at the end.
-[X] [Ending] Keep it as it is; Bruce will travel alone.

Click to shrink...

July 2007

Script Quality #1 = 13

...You want to scream, you want to rage, you want to actually curse and punch at whoever decided that it was a good idea to introduce a love triangle between Hulk, Betty and the Leader! Not only that, but making Bruce Bipolar? Having Betty Ross be sure he could be cured by "the Power of Love"? Rick Jones as a Motorcycle Gang Rebel?!

The worst though was the Leader, how does someone hear "Hyper-Intelligent Mutant" and come with the idea of making him a Saturday Cartoon Villain! Seriously, he only needs a long moustache so that he can twirl it as he monologues!!! (Yes, he monologues, he actually fucking monologues!!)

And how the heck is it a good idea to turn this into an indictment of the American Military?!!?!

Script Quality #2 = 104

It had been only after you'd calmed down (after firing whoever came up with that...Abomination...that you heard back from Louis. Apparently his lead writer, Zak Penn, had gone on vacation and had trusted the rest to have something ready. Turns out that was not his brightest idea. Once back in charge Zak went back to task with a passion, wanting to prove that the faults of his team were not his own.

The results speak for themselves you think. The story is a true drama without devolving into "Melo-Drama". Both Ross and the Leader have a chance to shine through, with the first coming to Hulk's aid at the final battle showing him to have more to his personality than just his desire to kill him, and the second displaying his inner cunning instead of bragging about it.

Betty Ross now has a more competent and strong personality, with much more to do than just standing around; and Bruce...oh you just love how he was able to develop the character into a man who has so much rage and guilt, yet also a desire to do good inside. His conversation with Rick has evolved more into a way to show this, slowly turning into a more familial relationship.

Yes...you are satisfied with this script.

More than satisfied.

Appeal = 63
Finance = 40

And the higher ups agree with you! There had been some grumblings from the most conservative elements (*Cough*Ike*Cough*) when you chose to change Abomination for a more thinking type of villain, but the promise of a final fight against the Gamma Mutants was more than enough to win them over.

Not so much with the budget though. One you mentioned the filming site to be Atlanta they decided that it would surely not be as expensive as New York. Assholes, you'll have to be careful when it comes to expending.

Casting Quality = 46

Unfortunately, the news from the latest shake up, and the rewrites, undermined what already was a shaky trust in the character's chances of making it in the Big Screen. Most of the previous actors who'd shown interest had flown to better pastures.

It's not all bad, some of the ones remaining clearly showed promise, just not the one that you'd been hoping for.

Do not vote until this post is one hour old. This will give time for additional casting suggestions. Casting suggestions are appreciated.

Casting Bruce Banner: The Main Lead. Bruce Banner is one of the smartest men on the planet, transformed by an experiment gone wrong into a rampaging brute called the Hulk (who this actor will also be portraying via mocap). You're looking for someone who is believable as a genius but also capable of showing the immense repressed anger Bruce is holding back at all times.

Spoiler: Bruce Banner

[] [Banner] Glenn Howerton - Actor, Director, Writer, Producer. Mostly involved in comedy, what with his work in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, he has also participated in other works such as Two Weeks (not a praise) and a small role in the movie Serenity. He looks young enough to play Banner, and is convinced that there won't be any scheduling issues.

[] [Banner] Hugh Dancy - Rising to prominence with his performance in David Cooperfield, as well as Prince Charmont in Ella Enchanted, this talented British actor is one of its youngest talents. He is no stranger to playing dramatic roles, as his performance in the mini-series Elizabeth has shown, and was even considered once for the role of Batman before it went to Christian Bale.

[] [Banner] David Duchovny - The last guy you're considering is best known as Agent Mulder from The X-Files. He's got something of a cult following for that but this wouldn't be his first foray onto the big screen. He's a smart guy used to the rigors of portraying a smart guy on screen and he's still young enough that he could portray the character for as long as you plan on using Bruce Banner.

[] [Bruce] I'm thinking of someone else (write-in).

Casting Betty Ross: Bruce Banner's true love and the daughter of General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, Betty has an important role as a scientist looking for a cure alongside Samuel Sterns, while also distrusting both him and her father. We want someone who can still play the part in a hypothetical sequel as well as show a believable and emotional relationship.

Spoiler: Betty Ross

[] [Betty] Alexandra Daddario - Just began acting around six years ago, and most of her performances have been small roles. This has not deterred her however, and still has that enthusiasm that made her enter into the business. She is a young actress, which may cause some issues, but she could play the role well into the future.

[] [Betty] Lena Headey - Just fresh from her latest role as Queen Gorgo in Zach Snyder's 300, this versatile actress has demonstrated her range as she's gone from sweet and romantic, to hard and gritty in many productions. She's in the middle of talks for the role of Sarah Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but she could fit this role just as well.

[] [Betty] Jennifer Gardner - No one has forgotten her performance as Elektra Natchios, though she may wish to do so. Following the flop that was the 2005 movie she pretty much has sworn off any Comic Book movies, even if she has not forsworn acting altogether. She would be great for this role thought if you can convince her (Negotiation Roll Required)

[] [Betty] I'm thinking of someone else (write-in).

Casting Rick Jones: A young man who becomes a friend and confidant to both Bruce and the Hulk throughout the course of the movie. In casting Rick you're looking for someone capable of showing genuine emotion as well as being comic relief in a movie which otherwise has a somewhat subtle humor playing second fiddle to the drama and action.

Spoiler: Rick Jones

[] [Rick] Garrett Hedlund - Though only in the business since 2003 he's built an impressive resume; Troy, Friday Night Lights, Four Brothers. He's been moving from picture to picture and you can see the potential in the kid.

[] [Rick] Lucas Till - An up and coming actor, he's made appearances in commercials and movies since he was a child, and landed his first co-starring role in Lightning Bug just 3 years ago. He's been focusing on High School at the moment, but as luck would have it he is a resident of Atlanta.

[] [Rick] I'm thinking of someone else (write-in)

Casting Samuel Sterns/The Leader: A Slacking Private under Ross' command. He will be transformed in the same accident that creates the Hulk, growing into a Hyper-Intelligent Gamma Mutant. You need someone who can display both the cunning and ego of a mastermind along with the anger and humiliation of serving those beneath him. Someone who has some serious range.

Spoiler: Samuel Sterns/The Leader

[] [Sterns] Cillian Murphy - Everyone knows of him by now, what with his terrifying appearance as Scarecrow in Batman Begins, but his resume goes way beyond that. The man just has this presence and intensity to him that chills the room when he enters; partnered with a soft way of speaking and it all seems to blend together.

[] [Sterns] Michael Fassbender - Though he's just recently moved into mainstream acting (as his performance in 300 will attest) Hollywood insiders all agree that this actor has a bright future in front of him. He's not at all opposed to appearing within a comic book movie and seems like he could pull off that anger and intensity the Leader requires.

[] [Sterns] I'm thinking of someone else (write-in)

Casting Thaddeus Ross: The archenemy of the Hulk is a United States military officer as well as the father of Bruce Banner's fiancée Betty Ross. Formerly the head of the experiment which transformed Banner into the Hulk, Thunderbolt Ross has been obsessively pursuing Banner ever since. Ross is an older guy who should be able to pull off military intensity.

Spoiler: General Ross

[] [Ross] Tom Skerritt - While long in age this actor has not allowed it to get in the way of his work. With appearances in many movies (From Westerns, Sci Fi, Horror, etc.) he sees this as a chance to expand his repertoire a bit more.

[] [Ross] Dennis Hopper - One of Hollywood's "Enfants Terribles", despite his advance age you can see why he's still so well regarded by many actors, directors and producers. His experience in playing evil and sadistic villains meld well with his looks.

[] [Ross] I'm thinking of someone else (write-in)

 

[overmind]

[X] [Banner] Hugh Dancy
[X] [Betty] Lena Headey
[X] [Rick] Garrett Hedlund
[X] [Sterns] Chris Eccleston
[X] [Ross] Tom Skerritt

Click to shrink...

Technical Aspect

Production Quality: 29
VFX: 67
Choreography: 74
Sound Design: 53
Editing: 90

Production was a mess from day one. You're thankful that Iron Man didn't have this kind of problem since all your time was nearly consumed with making sure that the entire thing just didn't collapse on itself, and even then it was a near thing. At least the VFX team had wizened up and made sure not to screw up the effects this time around; the results were...A bit above average. It was not going to be award worthy, but at least it was not that bright green monstrosity they showed 5 years ago.

You're pleasantly surprised that the action scenes went so smoothly what with all the chaos around. The sound effects...Yeah, you understood very well. So much of their equipment had to be brought, and then ordered back when it got damaged, then misplaced...Ugh, it only added more and more to the time spent. Though it did give more than enough time for the Editing to make sure all scenes filmed fit right where they belonged, so that's something at least.

Protagonist

Hugh Dancy Screen Presence: 96
Lena Headey Screen Presence: 85
Romance Chemistry: 57

Hugh Dancy surprised you the most. Of them all you feared he would be the one who'll need the longest to acclimate, yet he took to the role with aplomb. You don't know from where he managed to get that frustration and anger, and to emote them such a subtle way truly fits in with Bruce's inner struggle.

Lena Headey was not far behind. Though the script had her mostly in scenes with the Leader, she still managed to shine through. Her calm demeanor and experience in playing action-minded women helped her holding her own and making those scenes with the Leader feel all the more tense.

Unfortunately, it's very difficult to find any romantic chemistry. You know the comics tend to portray Bruce and Betty's love as a tragic affair, but their scenes together just don't have the spark that Robert and Jessica had. There is not any ill will, but it doesn't seem to be the Spark-Flying romance that all hoped for either.

Garrett Hedlund Screen Presence: 58

Garrett had to deal with presenting a troubled youth who now found someone who he could relate to and respect, and he mainly achieved it. However, it's his lack of experience that has hampered him in what he can achieve with that role. His performance is nothing to sneeze at though; he managed to bring some true sentiment in his interaction scenes with Hugh, but struggles a bit outside of them.

Protagonist Chemistry: 107

However that is mainly left behind when it comes to the interactions between the cast. The relationship between Rick and Bruce seems so natural that they very well may be adopted family at this point. This has translated to the real world with Garrett and Hugh becoming fast friends, same as Hugh and Lena who can be seen laughing and talking together while sharing tips with each other.

Antagonist

Christopher Eccleston Negotiations: 22
Christopher Eccleston Screen Presence: 98

One of the reasons the filming took so long was the sudden decision to have Christopher Eccleston take the role of the Leader. Aside from the time it took for his changes to make the Leader a more tragic kind of villain, while still remaining a suitable antagonist, there was also his previous filming responsibilities which he refused to dismiss or cancel, meaning he arrived when filming had been in progress for a while now.

Not that it mattered as he proved the reason why he was so in demand! He knocked it out of the park in single scenes, demonstrating a range and depth of emotion to the character not thought of before. His scene when he asks Bruce to join him has now a sub-test of loneliness and yearning for a friend that for a moment you wanted him to say yes. Even his final words to Bruce made him so more sympathetic.

Tom Skerritt Screen Presence: 74

You've known Tom Skerrit was talented, and he didn't disappoint here. he's suitably hardass, while also displaying a "Tough but fair" approach to his men, clearly showing the charisma that would make them follow him in what many would see as a mad quest, but also determined, focused, and obsessed to make him seem dangerous to cross.

Antagonist Chemistry: 59

It's just a shame both actors just can't seem to bring the cooperation needed to make their scenes together work. Here is conflict, but not the kind you'd hoped for between them. The scenes where the Leader and Hulk confront each other are acceptable, so at least there won't be that much problem making the audience satisfied.

It was...something alright. It had taken you longer than usual to have the movie ready and even then you were cutting it close. You don't think you'll be able to change or remake anything with so little time left to you.

This, of course, is when you get the notice from Ike.

PRODUCTION PROBLEM TRIGGERED

Having tested the footage they have found that audiences have responded positively to the character of Rick Jones and his interaction with Bruce. As such they want you to reshoot their goodbye scene and make it so that he travels with him so that he may appear in the next movie. For this they want to cut the final goodbye scene between Bruce and Betty so that there is more time.

[] [Rick Scene] Agree to reshoot the scene; you will make the necessary changes.
[] [Rick Scene] Don't change anything; Bring your discussion to the Creative Committee (Hard Negotiation Roll)

There is also the problem with the Final cut-scene. While not something that the Committee is completely against, Ike personally does not think that foreshadowing She-Hulk is going to aid in any way the future movies of the Hulk. He wants you to redo the Post-Credit Scene with something else that may promote a future movie.

[] [Post-Credit Scene] Disagree and do it anyway (Ike will remember this)
[] [Post-Credit Scene] Agree to changing the Post-Credit Scene.
-[] [Post-Credit Scene] Write In:

You also a Mid-Credit Scene yet to do. What do you want to Foreshadow/Try to influence for the future?

[] [Mid-Credit Scene] Write In:

(You have 3 rerolls)
[ ] [Reshoot] Reshoot to improve a roll.
-[ ] Reroll what result? (Write-in)
[ ] [Reshoot] Intense Focus on a single roll (+10).
-[ ] Where should you focus? (Write-in)

[ ] [Scene] Add or change a story element in the movie.
-[ ] Add or change what?

[ ] [Reshoot] Delay the movie 1 Month to reshoot (Hard Negotiation Roll) (Gain 3 Re-Rolls on Success)
-[ ] Reroll what result and how many? (Write-in)
-[ ] Intense Focus on a single roll (+10).
-[ ] Add or change what? (Write-in)

[ ] [Reshoot] No reshoot. Greenlight to release.

 

[King crimson]

So here's an omake. In case you couldn't tell I was trying really hard to get the creative committee to stop trying to push for altering the ending and letting the dynamics flow through naturally and as was intended in the movie. Hopefully this works. Thank you Guiding Bolt for providing some of the ideas I did end up using in this omake. I really want this to succeed and I don't think this is too much. Please let me know if you catch any spelling errors or grammar mistakes I wrote this all very stream of consciousness and did little to no proof-reading.

An End to Jonesing for Rick Jones
Matthias "Matt" Miller was once more thrust into an argument with people. He'd managed to get Louis Letterier, even managed to excite him with the potential of coming back and maybe getting involved with a sequel starring the Abomination. It had been rough and even the arguments about the city climax were draining at times but you'd come through and managed to make a brilliant movie. Setting the climax in Atlanta was a nice bit of uniqueness and plenty of locals involved with the production were excited to see their city used as the basis for the climax of this film and had nothing but good words to say about this film.

The actors had each delivered in spades what you needed them to do. Hugh Dancy and Lena Heady had been absolutely incredible. They were fun and they filled the role excellently. The chemistry wasn't quite there but they weren't bad either. That being said Matt would love to bring either of them back for a role in a future film. Having Lena's Betty Ross become the Harpy was an appealing option because he could see her pulling it off and making is interesting and exciting. Hell just having Lena Heady potentially show up and act in another movie was exciting in and of itself. The dynamic might've been a bit lackluster compared to everything else but the characters didn't need to be bound to the hip and so the creative team could split them up and have them shine elsewhere separately. There was so much people could do with these characters because of how open-ended their separation was and because of how compelling the actors were.

Eccleston was a fantastic villain in the leader and Skerritt showed his chops as a compelling General Ross whom Matt could see still being followed despite his obvious flaws. Their dynamic together was also slightly lackluster but they were still fantastic actors who elevated the characters and who he'd love to have back.

Hedlund was the most disappoint when viewed on his own merits but he was the youngest actor involved and his dynamic with Hugh was exceptional and a ton of fun to watch on screen. Of course the dynamic between the two was as strong as it was partially because they did have to say goodbye and go their separate ways. Because people liked seeing them together so much, seeing Bruce still choose to go it alone so as to not bring his friend into further danger made their final confrontation feel bittersweet and it served as a setting stone to make an eventual reunion even more anticipated and enjoyable. People cared about the relationship and so having them separate added emotional weight to Bruce's decisions at the end.

All the actors involved in this project enjoyed their time on set and were a blast to work with and unlike in Iron Man the editing, choreography and special effects were good enough to make the Hulk film incredibly memorable and utterly fun to watch. A film with intense and interesting action, a great story and script, fun character who develop but still have room to be further explored, a setting that set it apart from every other monster movie and dynamics that were a joy to watch. Production was a nightmare to deal with but the team had managed to work around it and deal with that issue. The movie was good, excellent even. Of course because everything was going so well people decided they knew better and had to "fix" problems with the movie that didn't exist.

Ike's issue with female characters was... frustrating. Utterly infuriating, disgusting, parochial and pigheaded would be a more accurate way to describe it but he was Matt's boss and you had to work with him, at least for now. Matt would rock the boat later when he had enough clout to his name that he could shrug off Perlmutter's shackles and freely make good movies without bending to ridiculous outdated notions of who might like a superhero movie or what sold in a movie. And so Matthias had complied with the old fossil's demands and changed the post-credits scene to something else.

Of course then there was the creative committee who had the brilliant idea to further weaken the dynamic between Betty and Bruce and alter the ending from the poignant decision Bruce made to saddling him with Rick Jones for any and all future movies and actually weakening their relationship by neutering the more tragic elements of the dynamic, all because a focus group said so. Matt had severe issues with this. A focus group would have told the creative committee not to make a Hulk movie if they'd polled at a specific time. There was a famous quote by Steve Jobs that claimed that people didn't know what they wanted and that's why he never listened to market research based on focus groups and such because it inherently wouldn't lead to a good or popular product. While you weren't sure if you fully agreed with the statement here it rang true. The audience wanted more of Rick and Bruce because the dynamic had a break in it and they liked it in this one. Mindlessly following a bit of advice that would weaken a lot of the movie, from the thematic elements relating to isolation, Betty and Bruce's relationship, potential future story beats and Rick and Bruce's relationship just because a focus group said so seemed like the height of stupidity. Matt would not make this change. He'd made so many sacrifices and compromises leading up to this point that he refused to take this step too far. This was not a change that was acceptable for the movie or for the Marvel cinematic universe at large.

And so he fought and argued before the creative committee and finally, finally got them to agree to let the movie lie as is. He'd had to point out that they could still bring back Rick in the sequel without having him and Bruce travel together in order to do it, he had no doubt that they'd push for Rick to be included in the franchise in everything going forward but he finally, finally managed to get them to concede and let through his vision for this movie. Hopefully enough time would pass that the creative committee would stop jonesing for Rick Jones by the time the sequel came about but Matthias wasn't that confident it would be the case. Still that was a problem for future Matt to deal with. For now he could remain satisfied with the fact that the movie had remained intact and as intend and as how the actors directors and he himself truly wanted it.

 

[overmind]

Iron Man
"I am Iron Man."
Directed by: Jon Favreau
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jessica Chastain, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Omar Epps
Critic Score: 83
Audience Score: 98

Critic Buzz: 83
Fandom Buzz: 102
​

You will say many things about those executives who usually care more about the dollar line as well as how to squeeze every last cent from every production no matter how it may stifle creativity. In a way, you even consider Ike to be one of them, but you will never cease to respect their ability to use that money to better maximize their profits, especially when it's used for your benefit.

The month leading to the Premiere of Iron Man was used on a massive advertising campaign not seen since the first Spider-Man movie. Everything from trailers, commercials, previews was used. Then they went even further by adding hints in the comics as well as promotions with free tickets, interviews with the cast before the premiere, prizes, merchandising, etc. It seemed for a moment you could not move two steps without seeing anything Iron Man related.

And the results spoke for themselves...

It began with the fans, those who had always knew when a movie about their favorite characters would premiere and joining them were those who wanted to see what the buzz what's all about. From there word of mouth did the rest, especially when those who'd seen it first bought new tickets to see the Mid and Post-Credit scenes. The furor grew even more as news came that it was good. No, more than good, it was fantastic!

Critics could not stop praising the cast! Robert went from Pariah and cautionary tale to one of the best actors in Hollywood. Jessica has made her big breakthrough in movies, and is already being scouted for several roles in future blockbusters. Jeffrey has already signed for the newest Zack Snyder project, but has promised to come back for his role in the future. Even Omar has gained some popularity, as the fact that he could keep up with the titans in the group speaks well of him.

But if the critics love it, then the fans are worshipping it. To finally see one of their long loved heroes be done right by their company has renewed their faith. Comic Book sales are already going up, and they increased once those more diligent remained long enough to see the Bonus scenes at the end. The furor only grew after that, bumping ticket sales as fans went to see it personally, hoping that it might mean what they hope, to the point that articles began arguing who was the most popular billionaire Super Hero: Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne.

Thus it was that in the end...

Spoiler: Final Production

Production Quality: 64
VFX: 92
Choreography: 103
Sound Design: 97
Editing: 98

Robert Downey Jr Screen Presence: 109
Jessica Chastain Screen Presence: 86
Omar Epps Screen Presence: 50
Protagonist Chemistry: 82
Romance Chemistry: 96

Jeffrey Dean Morgan Screen Presence: 102
Antagonist Chemistry: 88

Spoiler: Box Office Results

Domestic Box Office: $625,832,165
International Box Office: $269,612,398
---------------------------------------------
Total Box Office: $895,444,563
Production Budget: $139,257,653
----------------------------------------------
Final Box Office: $756,186,910

​

....Iron Man was here to stay.

Mid-Credits Scene: Tony Stark goes into his house meeting Nick Fury, who tells him about the Avengers Initiative-

Post-Credits Scene: Agent Phil Coulson enters a hastily made facility as scientists study a metal hammer.

​

Cameo: Stan Lee cameos as a man surrounded by attractive woman who Stark mistakes for Hugh Hefner.

 

[overmind]

[X] Plan Future-Proofing
-[X] [Rick Scene] Don't change anything; Bring your discussion to the Creative Committee (Hard Negotiation Roll)
-[X] [Mid-Credit Scene] Write In: Phil Coulson appears in the aftermath of the Hulk's rampage carting away the gamma animals to be placed under SHIELD's care. Coulson receives a call and he says everything is fine on his end but mentions that with all the crazy new things they need to keep track of nowadays, SHIELD's busier than ever and their old enemies might be coming out of the woodwork to try and take advantage of a changing world. Director Fury needs to keep a hawk's eye on the state of what's to come if they want to be ready for threats in the future
-[X] [Post-Credit Scene] Agree to changing the Post-Credit Scene.
--[X] [Post-Credit Scene] Write In: Show General Ross recovering from the injuries he sustained looking through files of various figures. He mutters it was a mistake to trust a gamma freak like Sterns to bring in the Hulk. From now on he'll be working with humans and not another abomination. General Ross finds a file he likes and puts it aside. Pan the camera to show the file is labelled "Blonsky" and cut to black.

Click to shrink...

The Box Officer results for Iron Man were still coming in, and even then it was staggering in more ways that you could have imagined,

You were not dumb, despite what many would have called you, you understood very well that this was the result of nothing but the pure luck of the draw, combined with a well-made and aggressive marketing and advertising campaign that may have very well gotten out of hand. To replicate this kind of success is going to be harder than one would think, but that is not something that others would see. They will see that an obscure Comic Book hero managed to bring nearly as much as Titanic did and think to themselves "Hey now, why can't I do the same?"

That may very well be the situation for the future, but at the moment you can only feel nothing but glee and satisfaction as you went for your meeting with the Committee's representative.

In a way you could understand their decision, after all the Hulk comics from what was known as the Silver Age were some of your favorites growing up, and the relationship between Bruce and Rick was one of the bases, in your opinion, of that success. That kid had just been a powerless teen, someone who'd had neither reason nor need to even be there, yet he played a key role; that of the audience surrogate, the one that people could relate at some point.

However, to keep him now would do wrong for Lena and her own performance. Even Garrett had agreed and was as supportive as he could be, and this would cut on his future prospects. But then again, even with the success of iron Man, there was still a cloud of doubt over the Production. Hulk hadn't had a successful movie adaptation since...well, ever. And to think that this might be it filled many with hope and doubt alike.

Shaking those thoughts from your mind you stood and went to the office.

It was time

Hard Negotiation Roll: 7

It was not going good. It was not going good at all.

For all that you had delivered them a masterpiece of a movie he still had remained obstinate. As far as they were concerned the relationship between Hugh and Garrett as friends had shown itself to be stronger and more appealing to test audiences than the middling one between Hugh and Lena.

You hated it that it made so much sense. For all that you'd prefer if the issue was simply injustice, on many occasions, it was simply business. The company needed to maximize its profits, especially now, and if it could do so by hinting at more of what the audience wanted then they would do so in a heartbeat.

As the meeting was drawing to a close you felt that you had to choose. You could accept the decision now, take the hit you'd taken to your current goodwill with your superiors; or you could try and go for broke, use all remaining goodwill left, all the trust you've managed to accumulate, and make the change to the movie that you wanted.

What would it be?

[] [Support] Go for broke; keep on fighting (Use all remaining goodwill left)
[] [Support] Take the hit; accept the changes (Save goodwill for another occasion)

 

[King crimson]

Updated Thor Pitch
So here's the updated version of the pitch. This is the version that probably ought to be threadmarked unless someone discovers a glaring issue with this version.

The Plot
The movie opens with a description of Asgard and of the gods and magic that inhabits the world. The movie then shifts to a spar between Loki and Thor. Thor effortlessly trounces Loki in the fight due to simply being a better warrior. The people watching proudly cheer on Thor and this gets to Loki. He decides to start cheating, using his magic to weave his illusions suddenly putting Thor on the backfoot.

There is a bit of a public outcry at Loki's blatant breaking/bending of the rules of the spar but Thor still manages to come out on top due to being able to use the powers of Mjolnir to basically lay Loki flat on his back. Loki yields and tries to play the whole thing off as a joke which Thor accepts. People though still think poorly of Loki for his "mischief" and praise Thor even more for being able to deal with it.

Odin comes and takes his two sons aside to talk to them. He tells Thor how proud he is of him and that while he needs to work on his temper he's sure that one day Thor will be capable of becoming a fine king of Asgard. Thor basks in the praise and Odin then turns to Loki and more lightly praises him for his skill in magic but at the same time scolds him for not being more like a proper Asgardian warrior like his brother and resorting to using his magical gifts to cheat and lie during a training exercise. Loki noticeably sulks at being snubbed compared to Thor. Odin talks to Thor about what being the king of Asgard means while Loki slinks off on his own. Thor mostly doesn't listen to Odin's advice and ideas completely convinced of his own success.

Some time passes and Loki and Thor bicker with one another. It's clear that Thor and Loki still do care for one another but that Loki is intensely annoyed at always being second best and Thor doesn't quite pick up on it.

Suddenly there's an alarm that goes off and it's revealed that Frost Giants, old enemies of Asgard have broken into one of the vaults containing numerous magical devices and artifacts. The Frost Giants talk amongst themselves and reveal that they're doing this on the orders of King Laufey using a secret passageway they'd discovered to slip between the realms and that they can't linger for long. Furthermore they have to be deniable assets so as to not break the peace of Asgard. They search for artifacts when suddenly they are beset by Thor.

A fight scene ensues in the vault and the Frost Giants are all eventually destroyed. Thor wants to retaliate against them further, seeking to go to Jotunheim, but Odin denies him this, telling him to be patient and that they ought not to squander peace for the sake of war. Thor says he's not afraid and Odin says that he ought to be as a good king doesn't make his people needlessly suffer for the sake of his own pride. Thor is not fully assuaged but he eventually backs down.

Thor meets up with Loki about all of this and complains about the unfairness of Odin's edicts. Loki does point out that Odin is trying to prevent the peace from being broken, but seeing a chance to needle Thor, points out that in his youth Odin would have fought for Asgard heedless of the risks of war. Besides if Thor can be deniably said to be doing this on his own then there will likely be no consequences for Asgard officially. Thor buys into what Loki is selling and Loki smirks at this.

Thor arranges an attack on Jotunheim with a group of warriors who go along with Thor due to his charisma and bravado. When they arrive at Jotunheim Thor and those following him are greeted by an armed contingent of Frost Giants. The Frost Giants demand that Thor leave and Thor demands restitution for the attack on Asgard. The Frost Giants deny any involvement with the incident and claim that Thor has no proof. Thor grows angry especially when it's mentioned that because the invaders all perished there's nothing to link them to Laufey's command and eventually due to the Frost Giant's hostility Thor snaps and throws Mjolnir starting the fight. Numerous Frost Giants are killed in the ensuing bravado and Thor is about to confront king Laufey himself when suddenly Odin arrives and stops the fight, Loki appearing behind him. He apologizes to King Laufey and there's a bit of negotiations where Odin agrees to banish one of his sons in exchange for keeping the peace and Laufey agrees.

The Asgardians all return to Asgard and Odin chews out Thor saying that this was an incredibly stupid thing he did and that now he has to banish Thor because Loki couldn't tell him early enough to prevent what was happening. Thor says that Loki was the one who told him that if the retaliation was deniably tied to Odin's orders they could get away with it. Loki points out that it was a hypothetical and that Thor is the prince of Asgard he can't exactly be disconnected from Asgard's leadership. Thor then says that this is what Odin would have done when he was younger and stronger and Odin responds that this is the very lesson he was trying to teach Thor since he didn't want him repeating his mistakes. He then states that perhaps banishment would do some good and teach Thor humility. He makes mention since Thor cannot understand how to use all of his powers properly Odin will be removing them with his magic. He strips Thor of all of his powers and casts him out to Midgar.

Thor wakes up and tries to find his hammer, which is being kept by SHIELD. He attempts to reclaim it but cannot pick it up and eventually gets disabled by SHIELD agents. Thor is interrogated as he comes to and eventually Philip Coulson leaves him in the hands of Dr. Jane Foster, their chief scientist researching the hammer and just the phenomena that they could discover of the Bifrost.

Thor forms a connection with her and shares some of his knowledge of magic with her though he admits his brother Loki would be much more knowledgeable, stating that while Loki might not be a great warrior himself, he's nearly peerless in magical skill in Asgard and he could easily enchant a wide bevy of powers onto an individual that would defy the normal rules of reality. Thor slowly struggles with being a normal more or less human and takes on the cover identity of Donald Blake. Eventually Thor and Jane become romantically entangled.

The two of them encounter Carl Creel, an ex-boyfriend of Jane's and a former SHIELD agent who lost his job due to harassing Jane, in a dive bar. Carl rudely and lewdly makes comments about Jane that make her uncomfortable but she doesn't respond. As Carl approaches Thor stands up to defend her. Carl approaches Thor and insults him before "accidentally" spilling his drink on Thor. Carl insincerely apologizes and turns to leave when Thor snaps and decks him in the face. A fight ensues that utterly trashes the bar as Jane flees outside. The entire place gets trashed but Thor comes out victorious despite having escalated things massively. He eventually leaves the bar once he realizes that Jane has left.

He then leaves to go talk to Jane and they have a conversation about how Thor was just trying to defend her but Jane points out that though it was sweet and noble of him to want to defend her, but he really ought not to do it in such a way that gave Creel the fight he wanted and that on Midgar people don't often solve their problems with their fists and expect it to work long term. Thor doesn't quite get this since from what he understands defeating an enemy in battle means you've won but he agrees to try and think more about when to fight to hopefully make things up to Jane. Thor continues to struggle with being a seemingly normal midgardian.

Meanwhile back on Asgard Loki is luxuriating in being the crown prince. Now people have to respect him. He lets his new authority go to his head and starts rubbing it in the faces of the people who'd always looked down on him as less than Thor.

Odin eventually warns Loki not to go too far as he merely promised Laufey a temporary banishment, Thor will still return eventually and that he only promised the banishment of a son, not Thor specifically. Loki tries to wheedle out of consequences saying that Odin wouldn't really banish him after all the issues Thor's caused and Odin responds by saying that Loki's been so eager to prove he would be a better crown prince than Thor, now is his chance to prove himself. If he doesn't shape up the roles will be switched.

Loki leaves at this and becomes panicked. Loki doesn't believe that the people of Asgard would ever accept him as better than Loki and so if Thor comes back or he doesn't permanently keep Thor out of the way he'll have issues. He uses his magic to scry for someway to keep Thor out of commission when he finds Carl Creel cursing out Donald Blake/Thor. Loki sees the opportunity and sends a magical projection to Carl. He offers Carl a deal where he'll use his magic to grant Carl power to absorb and overcome anything that hurt him so long as Carl takes Thor out of commission for a bit. Carl believes this is a dream and accepts. Loki is convinced that he's done well enough as Carl won't kill Thor but having Thor cause another rampage will surely make him look worse in Odin's eyes. The next day Carl walks up and he manages to turn his arm into concrete after touching concrete and he realizes that it's not a dream.

Carl goes on a rampage and confronts Thor, defeating him now that he has power. He tries to convince Jane to get back together with him once more but she refuses saying that Carl never cared about anything but himself to the point he lost his job over it. Carl gets angry at this and decides that he's going to wreck the the things Jane cares about so that she'll come to understand that he is more important than all of them now that he has the power to make it that way. He breaks into the SHIELD compound and eventually manages to touch Mjolnir. Even with greatly diminished powers of Mjolnir, Creel can now blast lightning and he proceeds to go on a rampage wrecking SHIELD's stuff and starts approaching a nearby town, high on his own destructive capabilities.

Seeing all the destruction Carl is wreaking, Thor finally understands the lesson his father had tried to impart on him that starting fights is awful even if you win because it means innocents can get hurt in the process and it can do damage in the long term down the road. Thor becomes worthy once more and he's able to call Mjolnir to him. More than that with Creel taking on the powers of Mjolnir, Thor can move Creel towards himself and effortlessly manages to demolish him in a fight. Thor pointedly makes sure not to demolish the environment or drag in uninvolved people like he did way back when neither he nor Creel had powers. He still manages to defeat Creel handily despite this more careful approach. Creel lets slip something about the man with the horned helmet promising him that this power would be sufficient to defeat Thor and Thor realizes that Loki was behind everything.

He drops Creel off into SHIELD custody, unconscious and without the properties of Mjolnir. He then apologizes to Jane and to SHIELD but that he needs to sort out what's going on back home. He then takes the bifrost back to Asgard where he encounters Loki who is trying to suppress his mounting panic and dread and has moved to stop Thor from returning. Loki shapeshifts into various forms to try and guilt Thor into not returning to Asgard, the midgardians whose homes he destroyed and needs to repair, a disapproving Odin who considers him a foolish and unworthy prince who'll just bring harm to Asgard and even a despondent Jane Foster asking why Thor doesn't love her enough to stay with her.

Thor sees through these tricks and questions why Loki is doing all of this. Loki bitterly lets out that he was tired of living in Thor's shadow and always being second best to Thor. He angrily admits that with Thor the golden child standing next to him Loki would always look lesser. So he got rid of Thor and managed to be the best for once and never really hurt anybody seriously. The world is so much better now so he'd really rather Thor didn't come back to Asgard and ruin everything for him.

Thor realizes that the root of all of Loki's issues is that he feels unworthy compared to Thor even though he was well aware of all of his faults. Thor voices some variation of these thoughts to Loki and Loki loses it, attacking outright. A recreation of the sparring fight from earlier occurs only this time grander and yet more vicious as Loki goes for killing blows, lightning strikes and illusions that are incredible cheap shots (like turning into people Thor became close to on earth) while Thor uses bigger blasts of lightning and fights with more control than before.

Eventually the outcome of the fight echoes the one at the start of the movie and Thor defeats Loki, sending him tumbling back to the edge of the bifrost. Thor cries out in horror and tries to save his brother who is desperately clinging on to the edge for dear life.

Thor says that he'd rather they both return to Asgard together and tries to pull up Loki.. In that self same moment Loki makes his choice. Loki's panic which had been mounting up until this point reaches a climax and it seems to fade into a sort of serenity. He dryly and sarcastically states that he's never been much of a traditional Asgardian warrior but that just this once he'll fight like one of them and die before he surrenders and stabs Thor causing Thor to drop him. As Loki falls, he declares that he'd rather die than be doomed to live eternally in Thor's shadow. Loki plummets into the endless abyss below the bifrost with a smile on his face and with Thor aghast due to seeing the choices his brother made.

There is then a time jump to Thor returning to earth to speak with Jane Foster. He informs her that with the disappearance of his brother and his own proof of worthiness of his powers, he was able to return home. Odin managed to renegotiate with Laufey that so long as Thor remained solely in Asgard for a set amount of time, and Loki remained banished instead, then Thor could return home. Thor apologizes for not being able to stay with Jane but says he has a duty to his people. That being said he promises to return as soon as he can.

The post-credits scene showed Loki survived and is now planning something on his own.

Some thoughts
So there are a few improvements in this version.

First of all I made exactly what happened in Jotunheim a lot clearer to make the frost giants less sympathetic (Thor was fighting armed warriors who were denying the truth, even if Thor didn't have proof that they were associated with the frost giants who attacked the vault) and made it more clear why Thor would attack them (he's still reckless and angry but he was more clearly baited into it.

Second of all I elaborated on the situation with Creel. I showed both what he did to push Thor into a fight and how the fight escalated beyond control. I did have to add in an additional scene with Jane and Thor discussing the fight which hopefully reads alright despite Jane not really condemning him (due in part because she's not aware of the full extent of what Thor did did) and despite Thor not really learning his lesson at this point in time even if it helps build towards it.

Thirdly I tried to show some echoed parallelism between the first fight with Creel and the second though I'm not quite sure how well it worked out.

Fourthly I tried to highlight that Loki is panicking in the final climax of the movie even if he's doing his best to hide that so people don't see his "weakness". Loki is trying to seem as though he's in control and hopefully the decision to stab Thor now makes more sense as a move he made out of desperation and panic. I do actually like the stabbing scene more as it shows Loki basically committing an act of violence for short-term gratification without thinking of the long consequences which is what Thor was struggling with and enhances their status as foils without explicitly calling it out.

I did consider including a mention that Carl has a broken nose when he meets Loki that gets healed when he gains powers but it felt unnecessary to me and I couldn't figure out how to integrate it smoothly into the overall structure of the story.

Hopefully people like this version of the Thor pitch more. Unless people have strong suggestions for improvements or objections to specific elements I think this is good to be threadmarked.

Edit: I edited some stuff to hopefully make a few things a bit clearer and to attempt to address the criticisms of Orion Ultor that I thought were actually fair and relevant. I'm still not totally happy with the talk after the bar fight so I'd appreciate being given some idea of how to further improve that.

 

[overmind]

The Incredible Hulk
"Hulk can't...Banner can!"
Directed by: Louis Leterrier
Starring: Hugh Dancey., Lena Headey, Christopher Eccleston, Tom Skerritt and Garrett Hedlund.
Critic Score: 92
Audience Score: 80

Critic Buzz: 92
Fandom Buzz: 83
​

The results for the Hulk movie were not what you had expected, and in the end you can't even blame the higher ups for it. Though the fans had remained as excited as before, in the end, the Hulk was something that had been done before, and only five years prior. How much change could be done in such a small amount of time? And with all the news about delays, re-casts, and reshoots to boot?

Then the actual results started coming in, and you have to say...it's not all bad.

Sure, it's not the explosive rise and enthusiasm from before, but all fans and regulars had good reason to enjoy the movie. It was not the clash between Hulk and Abomination that many had hoped for, but it was more than Ang Lee had delivered. The clash between the Hulk and the military, with the final battle having them join to stop the Leader kept everyone on the tip of their seats. The friendship born between Bruce banner and Rick Jones as each saved each other in turn served as a great contrast with the always alone Leader. The romance may not be as some expected, but it was not a flop either.

Thus, it started slow but it grew as word of mouth spread. The Incredible Hulk was actually good! Fans were accompanied by more regulars who once more took a chance on Marvel's Jolly Green Giant and found it to their liking. International viewers seemed to love it as well, though you can guess Europe and Great Britain's numbers were mainly thanks to Chris in that regard. He has managed to create a career there after all

Besides that, critics were effusive in their praise in his favor. They just can't seem to get enough of "The Leader" as well as his depth of personality, his deviousness and moments were he just seems more vulnerable than one would think. They haven't shied away from praising Hugh and Lena either, the first's take on Banner showing such a flawed yet well-meaning individual trying to overcome the mistakes of his past, with the second taking what could have turned into just a romantic interest and making it into a multifaceted person in their own rights.

Hulk had managed to surprise all around, and with a Post-Credit scene teasing a possible fight with Abomination, it was not a surprise then...

Spoiler: Final Production

Production Quality: 29
VFX: 67
Choreography: 74
Sound Design: 53
Editing: 90

Hugh Dancy Screen Presence: 96
Lena Headey Screen Presence: 85
Garrett Hedlund Screen Presence: 58
Protagonist Chemistry: 107
Romance Chemistry: 57

Christopher Eccleston Negotiations: 22
Christopher Eccleston Screen Presence: 98
Tom Skerritt Screen Presence: 74
Antagonist Chemistry: 59

Spoiler: Box Office Results

Domestic Box Office: $312,502,472
International Box Office: $283,793,148
---------------------------------------------
Total Box Office: $596,295,620
Production Budget: $142,721,083
----------------------------------------------
Final Box Office: $435,574,537

...you'd gained Marvel's approval to continue.

Mid-Credits Scene: Agent Phil Coulson is seen cleaning up the disaster area, when he makes a call asking to keep a "Hawk's Eye" on further problems.

Post-Credits Scene: General Ross is seen looking for anyone that can hunt the Hulk, finally settling on a single name: Blonsky.

Cameo: Stan Lee cameos as a man throwing some medication in the garbage after seeing Gamma Mutants rampage through town.

 

[King crimson]

Well I figured now's as good a time as any to drop this since we got to see how the Hulk movie (where the post-credits cameo for this dropped) turned out and it was a success. I wrote this pitch with Duke William Of supervising and adding in ideas and just general quality control stuff and contributing to it. Let me know what you all think.

Hawkeye Pitch
The movie opens with Hawkeye giving a narration of what SHIELD is, the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division, the American government institution that deals with everything extranormal, supernormal and paranormal. If there's a word with normal in it that doesn't mean normal SHIELD deals with it. They're the people who keep the rest of the world safe from things lurking in the dark. Of course sometimes the unknown doesn't like to stay quiet and pacified.

The scene then transitions to a SHIELD facility somewhere in the middle of nowhere. The peace of the base is interrupted when a wall is blown up and a lone swordsman breaks in. The agents rush to confront him but are all defeated and cast aside. However as the various agents are all subdued, the swordsman accesses a computer to try and pull information off from them. He succeeds in getting a little bit and remarks that after months of searching and multiple attacked bases he finally found what he was looking for here to a downed agent who wasn't instantly killed. The agent asks why the swordsman is telling him this stuff and the swordsman remarks that he finds honesty is in such short supply with spy games so he'd rather give the people he kills honesty instead of lies, especially since it'll comfort them and no one else will know.

The agent accidentally looks at a camera. which draws the swordsman's attention. The swordsman briefly remarks that "that's new" and promptly destroys the camera cutting the screen to black temporarily.

The scene shifts to Hawkeye landing arrow after arrow in a target in SHIELD headquarters. Hawkeye gets called in by his superior (probably Phil Coulson) and asked to debrief. Philip tries to ask Hawkeye about his wife and kids. Hawkeye dryly mentions that his wife also works under Phil so he knows better in the immediate sense. Phil apologizes and he states that agent Morse is doing wonderfully but that he does care about his agents as more than just agents. Hawkeye then states that he likes to keep his home life and work life utterly separate and that if Phil called him in he's got a job he needs to do. Philip sighs and tells Hawkeye that they got footage from multiple attacked bases and that Nick Fury wants Hawkeye on the case. Hawkeye notes that the swordsman's moves are familiar but that he can't quite place where he's seen him before.

The conversation shifts to Hawkeye accepting the mission and heading out to try and find this mysterious swordsman. Hawkeye through clever detective work ends up figuring out that the swordsman is someone who knows about the location of SHIELD bases and has been deliberately picking to attack targets that are both remote, and that have information about where various information and objects are kept. As such he deduces the base that the swordsman is most likely to attack next as well as about when it'll get hit.

He arrives at that base and informs the people of what might be happening and that they need to be on guard. He talks with someone about what the swordsman might be looking for but is utterly unable to narrow it down.

Some time passes and Hawkeye sees a group of figures who aren't SHIELD agents within the base. Hawkeye effortlessly takes them down with a series of sniped trick arrows and martial arts, mowing through a practical squad of unknown mercenaries. As Hawkeye drops the last of the goons a sultry and seductive voice dryly and sarcastically comments that truly these mercenaries were worth every cent spent on them.

Hawkeye immediately whirls around and knocks an arrow as he comes face to face with the infamous Black Widow. Black Widow responds to him pointing a weapon in her face by saying "Hello Clint, we haven't seen each other in quite some time"

Clint snarls that this was by design as Black Widow is a manipulative liar who poisons everything she touches. Widow responds by saying that he's being rather rude, after all she's the one who found a little circus brat and saw his potential and now little Clint Barton is one SHIELD's star agents as Hawkeye.

Clint angrily responds by demanding that she tell him why she's here and the Black Widow responds by asking if he would believe that she came here as a friend. Hawkeye answers that no he would not believe her especially when she had her hired goons attack him.

Black Widow playfully responds that she knew that Clint would be unhappy to see her so she got Clint some human stress bags to relieve some tension on. She then jokes that you really can buy everything but decency in Madripoor.

Hawkeye sighs and is unamused and Black Widow stops playing games and tells him that she came to inform Clint that the swordsman he is looking for is after an index SHIELD keeps of individuals of interest. He was searching for it and now he finally has its location and he's going to attack it instead of this base.

Hawkeye asks how she knows this and Widow says that she still has to keep some secrets even if Clint is her favorite SHIELD agent. She then slips away and leaves Clint to figure out her words as other SHIELD agents come in to deal with the commotion.

They ask Hawkeye if he's alright and if they need to go into even higher alert due to the swordsman making a second pass at this place. Hawkeye curses as he realizes how Black Widow just played him. By attacking the place with some throwaway goons she set the place on alert and now the defenses were up and everyone outside would likely know it so the swordsman likely wouldn't attack the place due to his preference for lightly guarded areas. Hawkeye explains to the agent what's going on and that he now has to pursue a different lead he has but that they should still secure this base just in case because the Widow might be playing some long con he can't see quite yet.

Hawkeye leaves and goes to the SHIELD base where the index is kept. He gets a tour of the facilities and informs Phil of what he's learned. However before Hawkeye can start doing too much to arrange the defenses of the place the entire facility is attacked by the swordsman, this time with a ton of goons and helicopters backing him up. The base is under siege and Hawkeye sarcastically remarks about how people apparently have such great timing.

Hawkeye once more wades his way through various goons until he realizes that they're just a distraction to pull as many people as possible away from the index, they're not trying to break in. He races to where the index is headed and he spots the swordsman using SHIELD codes to move past security and completely avoiding conflict.

Hawkeye confronts the swordsman right as they enter the vault where the index is kept. The swordsman dryly states that he'd rather not fight but if he had to be confronted by anyone he's glad that it's Barton. Clint asks who the hell the swordsman is. The swordsman chuckles and remarks that Clint's a smart man he's sure he could figure it out.

The swordsman picks up the index and stows it away in a pocket before turning to face Clint. Clint asks where the swordsman got all of his men and resources and the swordsman dryly responds that "you can buy everything but decency in Madripoor". The two face off against one another and there's a moment of tension before the fight begins.

Clint unleashes a volley of arrows but the swordsman almost lazily cuts them out of the air with seemingly no effort, seeming to know where Clint is going to aim for before he even fires his shots. The swordsman then remarks that Clint will have to do better than that and that he knows he can be more creative than that.

Hawkeye grits that he'll give the swordsman creative and fires a trick arrow at the floor that promptly explodes. The swordsman vaults off of a nearby wall/structure to avoid the explosion and continues charging at Clint, even managing to slice out of the air the follow up shot Clint sent. The swordsman remarks that this is better but not good enough.

Hawkeye strafes backwards, using a variety of trick arrows but the Swordsman just keeps on advancing. Eventually he gets within range to swing his sword at Hawkeye. Hawkeye ducks under the motion and pulls out an arrow from his quiver to make use of as a makeshift dagger.

The swordsman takes a half-step back to avoid Hawkeye's counter thrust but then presses back in making use of the fact that his weapon has the superior range and that Hawkeye can't meet his blows and can only dodge them. He charges in and eventually manages to kick the arrow out of Hawkeye's hand.

Hawkeye desperately draws out another arrow desperately avoiding the swordsman's ceaseless advance and whirls around in such away so that he isn't looking at where the arrow head is as he makes a seemingly desperate swipe.

The swordsman grins as he thinks he's won but then the arrow goes off as a trick flashbang arrow that blinds the swordsman. In the instant the swordsman is blind Hawkeye rushes in, his vision utterly unimpaired. He causes the swordsman to drop his sword with a well timed strike and then promptly decks him in the face, sending the Swordsman staggering backwards. Seeing that the sword is on the floor, Hawkeye promptly kicks it far out of reach of any of the two of them. He then cockily asks if that's good enough.

The swordsman replies that it was utterly fantastic and that as a teacher it fills him with pride to see one of his students excel like this. The swordsman takes of his mask and Clint can see that staring him in the face is his former mentor Jacques Dusquene.

Clint asks why agent Dusquene is attacking SHIELD. Jacques gently chides Clint not to call him that as he's not exactly here as Clint's mentor or an agent of SHIELD. Besides as one of his best students who genuinely caught him off guard, Clint has earned the right to call him Jacques.

Clint angrily reiterates that he doesn't care about all of that stuff he wants to know why Dusquene is fighting against shield. Jacques once more brings up one of the first things he ever taught Clint. In the world of espionage, you can't ever fully trust anyone and nobody is ever just going to tell you why they are doing things. You have to be smart enough to figure it out on your own.

Jacques then charges at Clint. The two engage in a martial arts fight but with Clint still unbalanced emotionally he's unable to fight Jacques properly and eventually loses.

Jacques knocks Clint to the ground and remarks that this always was Clint's greatest weakness as an agent of SHIELD. He gets too sentimental. Jacques then strolls over to pick up his sword and leaves.

Clint eventually recovers from the beating he got at Jacques' hands and he goes over what was lost in the fight. He informs his superior of the swordsman's true identity as Jacques and that he got away with the index. His superior tells him that this is awful and they need to find Jacques and stop whatever he's planning now.

Clint says he's on it but he needs to figure out everything he can about what happened with Jacques. His superior agrees and sends Clint the files. Clint looks through them and discovers that Jacques had apparently been dishonorably discharged from SHIELD due to embezzling money. This makes no sense to Clint but it's the only lead he has. It means that Jacques' motive is likely tied to money. However Clint has to figure out where someone would be able to buy and sell an index of individuals SHIELD thought were important.

He goes over the conversations he had with Jacques when he realizes that "you can buy everything but decency in Madripoor" and that Black Widow, the person who tipped him off seemingly for no reason as to what Jacques was up to and where he'd really attack had said the same thing. That could have been just a coincidence but in spy stuff coincidences were uncommon at best and this was not just the only lead he had but something that answered a few of his questions about how Black Widow knew things, she and Jacques were working together because she had manipulated him somehow. Clint gets a plane and races off to head to Madripoor.

Meanwhile back with Jacques he arrives at a base in Madripoor that's been made out of an old abandoned ship. There he is greeted by the Black Widow and more Madripoor based goons. Black Widow compliments his work and says that the two of them are going to be rich off of this and that she is glad he was able to do his part. She calmly hands Jacques some money and says that this is only going to be the first of their dividends. Jacques replies that he's just happy he got to get payback on SHIELD for screwing him over. Black Widow flirtatiously remarks that being able to mix business and pleasure is a special kind of fun but Jacques doesn't bite, stating that he's a married man and thus uninterested in Black Widow. Black Widow states that it's never stopped people throughout history. Jacques amends this by saying that he also doesn't trust her as far as he could throw her.

Black Widow playfully says in a bit of false hurt that she's been nothing but forthright and honest with him and done nothing to deserve this kind of suspicion from him. Jacques counters that he's too much of an old hat to be taken in by the ingenue act especially when Black Widow isn't really trying. Black Widow drops the act and happily admits that she's a liar and a killer but really they all are and that life's generally more pleasant when you don't dwell on the terrible things you do to get ahead.

Jacques storms off saying he's not like her or the two-faced liars at SHIELD and if he didn't need the money he wouldn't be working with her. Black Widow sarcastically remarks that he sure is feeling touchy today.

We now cut back to Hawkeye who has arrived in Madripoor alongside a squad of SHIELD agents including Jimmy Woo who is the squad leader nominally actign under Hawkeye's command. They spot the ship where the auction is being held and it's packed to the brim with criminals of all sorts. Black Widow and Jacques are there and they begin to attempt auctioning off the index. The bidding rises but the SHIELD agents manage to surround the place. Seeing that this is their chance to prevent irreparable damage from taking place. Hawkeye shoots out a series of flashbang arrows which blinds the criminals and causes a panic.

The fight scene commences and Hawkeye wades through a massive amount of struggling chaotic criminals, handily taking down every one that got in his way. He eventually gets a reprieve and he spots Jacques and Black Widow fleeing from the fight.

Hawkeye goes and chases after them. Jacques shoves a SHIELD agent out of the way and both he and the Black Widow manage to make it back to the docks. However Hawkeye continues after them, firing arrows all the while.

Eventually in a moment of panic and not thinking clearly Jacques hands the index to Black Widow and tells her to run he'll hold off Hawkeye. Black Widow noticeably doesn't say anything and slips away from the fight.

Hawkeye and Jaques engage each other in a fight for a little bit but neither one of them gets much ground and they remain at a stalemate on the dock. Hawkeye asks why Jacques embezzled money from SHIELD not believing that it's as cut and dry as the reports made it sound.

Jacques replies that he didn't embezzle the money, he was framed. However because the evidence was there he had to take the blame for the SHIELD higher ups. All his years of service meant nothing to SHIELD and he was cast out and dishonorably discharged with barely any real investigation into the evidence that implicated him.

Clint sarcastically states that this totally justifies selling classified documents to terrorists. Jacques asks Clint if he's got a family. The question catches Clint off guard and he replies that he does.

Jacques then elaborates that he knows that you ought to do everything for your family. He then continues on stating that without his income from his work at SHIELD his family couldn't afford to live the way they did. Uncaring callous cruel SHIELD administrators destroyed his life and the life of his family with nary a second thought only unlike the field agents they made it excruciatingly slow and painful. When the Black Widow approached him with the money to save his family and a scheme that would let him get filthy rich while hurting SHIELD well then he leaped at the chance to do so.

Clint fires back that Jacques is better than this and he knows better than to let Black Widow lie and manipulate him. Jacques responds by stating that regardless of what happens tonight his family has already received enough money to live well. The Black Widow might be the least trustworthy person alive but she treated Jacques with more respect and honor than SHIELD ever did. He urges Clint to walk away but Clint refuses saying he still has to do what's right.

The two of them proceed to fight and like before it's a constant spectacle of the two improvising and adjusting and working around each other's skillset. This time though when they both lose their main weapons and it becomes a hand to hand fight, Clint doesn't hesitate and he manages to take down Jacques, pinning him to the ground. Jacques congratulates Clint for finally having fully surpassing him and Clint responds with a dry "Thanks Jacques"

Jacques asks how Hawkeye managed to track him to Madripoor and Hawkeye reveals that both he and the Black Widow talked about Madripoor and Black Widow's unexplained information on Jacques schemes lead Hawkeye to conclude they were likely working together on something in Madripoor.

Jacques lets out a wild bitter laugh as he realizes just how he's been played, stunning Clint. He then goes on to call Black Widow a magnificent bitch who was playing him the whole time.

A bit of semi-sarcastic clapping alerts the two men to the Black Widow's presence nearby. She honestly remarks to the two of them that they both played their parts wonderfully in this little production.

Hawkeye doesn't have his bow but he still pulls out an arrow and he angrily demands that Black Widow explain to him why she manipulated Jacques and for how long.

Black Widow admits that she was manipulating Jacques from the very beginning all on the orders of SHIELD. SHIELD offered her a whole lot of money in order to effectively let them set up a sting operation to catch a whole lot of their enemies all at once and so she arranged the whole show.

Hawkeye realizes that she manipulated someone into acting as SHIELD's enemy about to sell valuable information on them, and manipulated an agent into finding him in time and stopping the scheme while arresting everyone else and kept both parties she manipulated totally unaware of her real goals and plans so they couldn't break character and everyone observing them would believe that the situation was as it appeared on the surface. Hawkeye points this all out and Black Widow simply smiles and doesn't say anything as good as admitting to it being the case.

Hawkeye angrily demands that she has to explain why him, as that still doesn't make sense and Black Widow replies that he's the SHIELD agent she knows best. After all she's known exactly what makes Clint tick ever since he was a lost little circus boy. It's not exactly like this was a new experience for either of them.

Clint loses his temper and tries to strike Black Widow but due to being tired out he is easily floored by Black Widow and dropped to the ground. Black Widow once more remarks that the violence was really unnecessary considering they were technically on the same side now. She then goes on to state that she already got what she wanted out of the index and so Hawkeye ought to take it so he could really be the hero of the hour. He deserves it after all. She gives him the index and then walks away content in how everything has played out.

Some time passes and now Clint is getting briefed by his superior on the mission. His superior apologizes for the deceptions required but remarks that the sting was a massive success. Clint remarks bitterly that all the paranoia and distrust and the lack of faith in the agents is what made Jacques so willing to become their enemy. When the superior remarks that Jacques family is now being well taken care of, Clint remarks that this isn't really the point. All the lying and manipulation left them open to be exploited and people died because of this scheme. He's not going to quit SHIELD but he wanted to deal in lies and betrayal without any heroism he would have stuck with the Black Widow through and through.

His superior promises that they'll do better going forward and that he's glad that Clint's with them because they need moral people in SHIELD to keep it grounded. Clint accepts it for now and he tells his superior that for now he wants to go home and be with his family and get his head on straight. The movie ends about here.

The post credits scene shows Black Widow offering a shadowy figure an incomplete copy of the index as proof of her loyalty so she can work with them. The shadowy figure accepts saying she's "earned a spot at the table".

 

[overmind]

You've had an excellent run so far, but it wouldn't do to get complacent and forget that there are other cinematic endeavors who are trying to bring Superheros to the Big Screen. As a comic book fan you are happy to see more people understand the value of bringing your heros to the mainstream, as a Producer for Marvel however...

XXXXXX


The Dark Knight
Released on: August 8, 2008

Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Written by: David S. Goyer
Starring: Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger

Domestic Box Office: $577,925,862
International Box Office: $500,894,361
Production Budget: $185,000,000
Net Worldwide Gross: $893,820,223

When the announcement was made that the Batman sequel would be delayed by a month after seeing the explosive success of Iron Man you'd felt satisfaction. When you went to see the movie you could not help but feel dread.

The reason was everything that about it; the great direction, the overall story, even the most amazing Joker's performance done in years. The movie is swimming in positive reviews, to the point you're sure that if it had come at its original time then it would have cut Hulk's earnings in half. DC fans flocked to the theaters to support it after the smashing success of Marvel just a few months ago (You can always depend on fans after all).

It is dark, it is gritty, and is realistic, yet not so much as to make it impossible. It has drama, it has action, and it has thrills. And for the life of it, you can't understand why they rescheduled it.

XXXXXX
​

You watched at the article again. It was a regular occurrence ever since you'd first seen it just half an hour ago. Every time you looked away you'd convince yourself that it was a mistake that you had misread, that there had to be something that you had clearly misunderstood.

Then you'd read the title once more and you'd be forced to accept reality...

Producer Kevin Feige to join Warner Studios: Promises new ideas and direction for future films.
​

...Shit just hit the fan.

Select up to 3:
[] Network in Hollywood for Directors (Roll)
[] Network in Hollywood for a specific Director (Roll)
-[] Write In:
[] Network in Hollywood for Actors (Roll)
[] Network in Hollywood for a specific Actor (Roll)
-[] Write In:
[] Network in Hollywood for Writers (Roll)
[] Network in Hollywood for a specific Writer (Roll)
-[] Write In:
[] Network with Ike Perlmutter (Roll)
[] Network with Marvel Executives (Roll)
[] Network with your current Directors (Roll)
[] Participate in interviews and events in order to hype future movies. (Roll)
[] Universal is willing to make the deal, now you need to convince the Marvel Execs (Negotiation Roll with Marvel)
[] Promote a character for one of the upcoming movies.
[] Write In:
[] Convince Marvel to regain the rights for a character (Roll)
-[] Which one: Write In
[] Investigate a bit, see what your competition is up to (Roll)
-[] Sony
-[] Fox
-[] Lionsgate
-[] Warner Studios
[] Marvel may choose the movies you make but you can try and fight for greater control (Hard Negotiation Roll)

 

[DaOneInDaCorner]

All Washed Up



Hayden took in a deep breath, standing up straight and allowing himself a moment of rest as he dusted his hands and after doing so, placing the backside of his hand against his forehead to wipe the sweat away. The sun was nice and bright, even in this early October weather, the young actor smiling at the work he'd accomplished. The twenty-seven year old man had bought the farm last year, almost on a whim - to sate a long made desire to own his own piece of the land away from everyone else. It was nice, peaceful, and most importantly it was away from any hecklers. All he'd done was work on the vegetation around his property, and though he'd hired people to handle the tasks for him, it still wasn't the same as doing so himself.


His work was interrupted however, by the sound of a door opening faraway, and the following voice of his girlfriend calling for his name, "Hayden! Work call - Josh says he has something you might like!" Rachel's voice was teasing, and even from the distance, Hayden could see the little smirk on her face. With a roll of the eyes and a quick jog up to the woman, he snatched the phone from her hand, internally bracing himself as Rachel gave a silent 'good luck', before turning and heading back inside.


Following her to avoid the heat, he pressed the phone to his ear, "Josh?" He said into the device, heading into his dining room and plopping onto his couch.


"Hayden, glad I got ahold of you. I think I have something you might like," the man said with excitement in his voice, something that had Hayden immediately on guard. The last time he'd been this excited, it had gotten Hayden a spot as the lead in "Jumper", and that had gone oh so well. Briefly, the man considered that he'd met his now girlfriend through the film, but otherwise the venture had been a total bomb.


"Yeah?" Was his voiced response, rather than speaking his mind - for now - and instead focusing on the potential prospect. "Small time gig or is this a bigger investment?"


"Big, buddy. Real big." The actor took in a deep breath, already feeling the headache. Anakin had been 'big' too. Real big in fact, and it had been the biggest hit to his reputation he'd felt. "Ever seen Iron Man, Hulk? Well… how do you feel about Marvel?"


A beat of silence as Hayden let that process. "Josh," he responded with a hint of exhaustion. "I'm… Marvel is big lately. I don't know how I'd feel about being back in the public eye, we've talked about this." From the other line, he could hear Josh sighing, the mood turning more somber.


"Look, Hayden, I know that things have been rough," at that, the actor couldn't help but let out a bitter chuckle.


"'Rough'? Josh, I don't know if I've made it clear to you, but I can't get groceries without someone mentioning either, A, their thoughts on how much they hate sand, or B, how I ruined their childhood by destroying a franchise they grew up with. It's every day, Josh." The exhaustion had seeped into his voice clearly now, and he sunk into his couch, pressing one hand to his temple as he fought the oncoming headache.


Silence from the other end, before an eventual response. "Hayden, I know it's not easy. But you can't give up that easy - we know you have the talent, and if you don't then know that I do, and as your agent it's up to me to let you know when you're giving up on yourself. This defeatism… I know for a fact you can kill this role."


Hayden took a moment longer before answering back. "What's the role?"


"Wonder Man," he said back, Hayden frowning as he tried to dredge up any recollection.


"That's… isn't that DC? I know Wonder Woman, she's pretty popular, so is he her male counterpart?" That one got a choked laugh from his agent, before he managed to chuckle out an answer.


"No, Wonder Man is Marvel. Not a very well known character from what I've heard, and the casting has been real hush, hush. As far as I know, they haven't even made it known they're looking - I got a buddy in Marvel Studios though, so I pulled a favor."


Feeling a bit offended by the admission, his answer was almost biting, "So where's the incentive in playing someone that nobody even knows about?"


"I mean… Did you know who Iron Man was before this year?" Was the cheeky response, one that had the actor silent, before he gave out a grumbled 'fair point'. "So, why not give it a shot? Consider it your second chance - I know you can do it."


What followed was a much longer silence, as Hayden fought with himself, before he sighed. "Give me a week. I'll have your answer by then." His agent gave back a quick, 'sure, whatever works!' and the call ended.


Tapping his foot, in deep thought now, the young man eventually groaned, before standing and making for his car. A quick drive to the comic store saw him grabbing a single issue from the place. As soon as he got back home, he opened the comic and began to read.

----------------------------

One Week Later

---------------------------

"Hayden, what's up?" Said Josh over the phone, sounding tired, "It's 2 AM, so this better be impor-"


"I'm in," said the young man quietly, his girlfriend deep asleep beside him on their bed. At his bedside table, was a stack of comics, and in his hands, lit by the dim lamp atop his bedside table, was a comic book. "I want to play Wonder Man."

A/N

Normally I run every Omake I make by the QM just to make sure I get canon status, but I really enjoyed writing this so here ya guys go. Hope you like it - I made sure it didn't state that Hayden HAD the role, just that he was interested in it.