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Hey Everyone:

Long time lurker on this excellent site (years, in fact), and finally made the leap to get a log-in and join the community.

Interesting topic. My hope is that the Avengers movie is not too heavy with the Ultimates influence. In fact, I hope that it's only recognizable via certain scenes from the story (i.e. Banner getting air-dropped out of a helicopter in the upcoming Hulk movie). The Ultimates was/is a cool "alternate version" of the Avengers, with some interesting angles and the edgy or dark material that (these days) seems to be required subject matter for modern comics. However, to me, that version is not what I think of when I hear/read, "Avengers Assemble". The classic 616 team has far too much great history and stories to be displaced by the edgy/modern/somewhat disfunctional/not always heroic team that is the Ultimates. Movies tend to add more realism and human failings to comic material, but if it dominates or changes the tone of the source material too much, (for me) it goes too far and flops.

Outside of the very brief homage paid to the Sam Jackson Nick Fury after the credits rolled, I don't think that the Iron Man movie had any other Ultimates look/feel/vibe to it. To me, it was a good updating of the origin, with a lot of visual references and scenes directly taken from the Ellis/Granov Extremis series. It wasn't overly dark and didn't have any reference to Orson Scott Card's Ultimate Iron Man that I could detect. To me, Favreau did the perfect balancing act in modernizing the comic story, but I don't think the Ultimate universe version was considered outside of the Nick Fury cameo.

For the Avengers movie, my hope is that the screenwriters avoid going down the path of having Hank Pym be the Ultimates version; that Hank never even had a chance to be a hero before being a loser. Ant-Man/Giant-Man has always been a favorite character for me. The mental problems Roy Thomas introduced for the character in the late 60's were understandable and added complexity to the character, but frankly, I had a real hard time with what Jim Shooter did with the character in the 80's (trial/traitor/wife-beater/loser). If the screenwriters want to write him as a scientist with a power-inferiority complex, that's fine; just don't cross the line by making him a jerk or a person of questionable character/heroics from the start. Millar did that in the Ultimates for expediency's sake, and I absolutely hated it. Aaron Eckhardt would be a good choice for Hank either way, but I think the role could be played by any number of lesser known actors as well.

All that being said, Marvel may anchor the Avengers movie with Robert Downey Jr and Ed Norton, a solid female lead for the Wasp role (not concerned about race/ethnicity in the slightest, just stay true to the character), and then choose lesser known actors for the balance of the cast. They may have to do this out of budgetary concerns more than anything else. Besides, I really can't think of a modern, popular actor who can play Thor; I don't really think that you need to have a star in that role - just a large, credible actor who looks the part. Cap's also a tough call. I really can't see Brad Pitt in the role; he's too pretty and just exudes cockiness in every role he plays (don't think that he can help it) - to me that's the anti-Cap. Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon are about 5'8"; a bit stubby for Steve Rogers. Of all the actors originally pointed out in previous posts, Mark Valley really looks the part. Even though he looks a bit older than the ideal, I think that you can get away with that on Cap because he's always played the most mature character of the bunch.

If Josh Holloway were cast in an Avengers role, I could easily see him as Hawkeye rather than Cap or Thor. I'm not sure that we've ever seen this guy without a dark tan, stringy hair and a 3-day old 5 o'clock shadow; prior to Lost, I'm not aware of his other roles. Give the guy a haircut and a shave, and he could be Clint in a minute. I'd say that the "Sawyer" role on Lost looks good on a resume for a Hawkeye audition. . .

Anyway, that's my two cents via a 1st post.

- Sackman11