The Winning Vote said:
[X] [Pitch] Don't use Stahelski and Leitch's Pitch; you have other ideas that can be used.
- [X] [Pitch] Clint Barton is an agent of SHIELD sent on a mission to retrieve SHIELD information stolen by a mysterious figure. This quest sends near around the world to the city of Madripoor where he will face the Black Widow herself, as well as his former mentor: Jacques Duquesne. (King crimson's Pitch)
Despite the promise that their idea may have held you had to face facts. You were on a time table, and the time spent on fleshing out the skeleton of a story could be better used by developing another pitch for the still in development MCU.
You explained it as such to the pair of young Directors, even going so far as to explain the premise of the new pitch that had been given to you a while ago. Using Jacques Duquesne and Black Widow as antagonists with Clint Barton being forced to face them in Madripoor, showing his battle prowess as well as his analytical and spying skills against true masters of the craft (You didn't tell them how the parts where the characters say their motivations out loud would be removed because it was freaking obvious).
And the result
Compromise Roll: Autopass
"It was right in front of us!" "Why didn't we think of that?!"
…Yeah.
To be fair, their idea was close to the Pitch, just much less developed than expected. That and their understanding that they were still newbies when it came to directing made it all the easier to get their approval and cooperation for the new story and its refinement.
So, one problem down at least.
The rest of the meeting went smoothly, with Stahelski and Leitch eager to use the scrip, and even contribute some of their ideas to it. They have the enthusiasm, and you can see the potential in them (that's why you hired them after all), so you don't think it would hurt to hear them out.
Beginning with their ideas, they throw the heaviest one first: The Maggia. In their pitch they had put it as a big reveal that would stun all in the audience, but now they can see how viewers who don't know what it is would not even understand the importance. Even so, they feel that the Maggia could play a role in the movie, even if only a reduced one.
[] [Maggia] Accept and make the Maggia the main antagonist pulling the strings from the beginning.
[] [Maggia] Accept but reduce the impact. The Maggia is considered a small threat, which is why no one suspects it till the end.
[] [Maggia] Accept but reduce the impact. The Maggia is considered a small threat and is used as a red herring.
[] [Maggia] Accept but reduce the impact. The Maggia will only be briefly mentioned as a possible enemy before the idea is discarded.
[] [Maggia] Reject. The Maggia will have no appearance nor mention in the film.
Jacques Duquesne. Swordsman. Man in the comics this guy was such a pathetic and tragic figure. Born in Vietnam to the Duquesne family, who were basically the administrators of what was a French colony at the time, he was moved by the plight of its people and aided them in their revolution, only to be betrayed by them when they killed his father and tried to do the same to him. From there it was a shit show after another, fighting as hired muscle for villain after villain, each one lower than the last (The Mandarin, Batroc, Egghead, the Lethal Legion under Eric Williams).
At least he was able to get a hero's death by saving Mantis' life after redeeming himself helping fight Kang the Conqueror. Though something tells you he won't be getting the chance here.
In the comics he became Clint Barton's mentor, and tried to have him killed when Clint found him stealing money. This could work as a basis for the character, perhaps being Clint's mentor to create a connection like the Pitch (Though there it's not clearly said if he was his mentor before or after he joined SHIELD).
Leitch thinks it would resonate more if Jacques had become his mentor after he joined SHIELD, as one Senior Agent who partnered with another; perhaps have them be friends with each other. This would work if his identity was known from the beginning instead of leaving it as a surprise for later.
Then again, who knows enough about the Swordsman to be surprised?
[] [Duquesne] Jacques Duquesne is an active SHIELD agent who mentored Barton in the past. He uses his clearance to get the Index and escape before anyone notices something wrong. (
Leitch's Choice)
[] [Duquesne] Jacques Duquesne is an active SHIELD agent who mentored Barton in the past. He uses his clearance to get the Index but is caught at the end; a fight ensues as he escapes with it.
[] [Duquesne] Jacques Duquesne is a former SHIELD agent who mentored Barton in the past. He uses his former clearance to get the Index and it works for long enough for him to escape.
[] [Duquesne] Jacques Duquesne is a former SHIELD agent who mentored Barton in the past. He uses his former clearance to get the Index but it fails, leading him to fighting his way out with it.
As for the reveal of his identity, how should it go?
[] [Identity] He will be known as "Swordsman" until the identity reveal later in the movie.
[] [Identity] No need for a reveal; just have him go as Jacques Duquesne from the beginning.
From there you moved to Black Widow; Natalia Alianovna Romanoff, more commonly known as Natasha Romanoff. Introduced in
Tales of Suspense #52 back in 1964 as an enemy of Iron Man sent by the Soviet Union. Later issues had her betray her soviet handlers and join the Avengers and SHIELD as a full agent.
It has only been a decade since new lore was introduced in the form of the "Red Room" or the "Soviet Super Soldier Program" of which she was a part of. From there you could draw for the background of this new Black Widow. Though you will need to introduce her first.
The Pitch has her be an enemy of Clint, someone he knows only as a duplicitous agent who is later on revealed to be working for SHIELD…and then another agent altogether. Yeesh, dark much?
Stahelski thinks they can work with this, though his preference since he read the comics has mostly been for a more heroic and loyal Black Widow. Though there would not be that many changes, it would be in the small details themselves.
[] [Black Widow] Black Widow is a SHIELD Agent who Clint knows and trusts. She will seemingly betray him, but then release him to fight Duquesne as she retrieves the Index. (
Stahelski's Choice)
[] [Black Widow] Black Widow is a SHIELD Agent who Clint knows and distrusts. She will seemingly betray him, but then release him to fight Duquesne as she retrieves the Index.
[] [Black Widow] Black Widow is secretly a SHIELD Agent who Clint knows and trusts. She will seemingly betray him, but then release him to fight Duquesne as she retrieves the Index.
[] [Black Widow] Black Widow is secretly a SHIELD Agent who Clint knows and distrusts. She will seemingly betray him, but then release him to fight Duquesne as she retrieves the Index.
[] [Black Widow] Black Widow is a free agent acting on her own behalf. Unknown to Clint she has been hired by SHIELD to aid him, no matter what she has to do in order to recover the Index.
One question remained: Did Jacques act alone? Did he have a team with him? The movie would have Hawkeye confront Jacques at the end, but perhaps there is room to add some additional antagonists under his command? Leitch and Stahelski seem to think so. They have read Hawkeye's list of enemies (which admittedly is not very large) and have suggested a fair number.
[] [Number]
No more antagonists are needed.
[] [Number]
One more aside from Jacques should be enough.
[] [Number] There is always room for
two more antagonists.
[] [Number] They say
three is a crowd, but you could make it work.
[] [Number] Perhaps
four is pushing it a bit, but you won't know until you try.
Only vote here if you selected one or more in the last option.
[] [Antagonists] Though originally an enemy of Captain America,
Batroc the Leaper could still be a good addition.
[] [Antagonists] William Cross, known better as
Crossfire, was the closest to an archenemy in the comics, he could be introduced here.
[] [Antagonists] Hawkeye had a second mentor in the comics, Buck Chrisholm, the original
Trick Shot.
[] [Antagonists] You could always add Clint's brother, Charles "Barney" Barton, as the next
Trickshot.
[] [Antagonists] Though only having few appearances,
Bobcat can be considered one of Hawkeye's enemies.
[] [Antagonists] Grigori Andreivitch,
Firefox, is a Soviet Cybernetic Agent. You're sure you can find some use for him.
[] [Antagonists] The
Silencer, or Dean Helm as you'd have to call it, is a mercenary who was killed in its first appearance. He could show more of him this time around.
