ChrisArrant
07-28-2007, 01:31 PM
By Steve Ekstrom
With the successful boom of comic book properties like Spiderman and Batman making their mark in the film industry and projects like Marvel’s Iron Man and DC’s direct to DVD project ‘The Judas Contract’ featuring the Teen Titans looming large for 2008, San Diego Comic-Con featured a panel on Friday morning, moderated by Jeff Goldsmith, senior editor of Creative Screenwriting Magazine which delved into the daunting process of bringing comic book properties to the silver screen. The panel featured Mark Verheiden for <b>Teen Titans</b>; Kevin Feige, president of production, <b>Marvel Studios</b>; Mark Fergus, co-writer, 2008’s <b>Iron Man</b>; Don Payne, co-writer, <b>Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer</b>, and the legendary <b>Stan Lee</b>.
Goldsmith opened the panel by addressing Marvel’s <b>Iron Man</b> project and directing questions at Stan Lee concerning the genesis of the character. Lee described the time period that <b>Iron Man</b> was invented as a time period where people employed at Marvel where opposition to the war was prevalent. He added, “I was drunk with power when I invented Tony Stark.” He contended that he wanted to make a character that was likeable but you hated everything he stood for. Mark Fergus added that the movie “takes war time sensibility and conflicts that Stan created and modernizes them.” He connected Halliburton to the image of what Stark Industries could be compared to. Goldsmith discussed Tony Stark’s alcoholism with the panel, drawing the comparison to Robert Downey Jr., playing as Stark in the film, and his own dealings with addiction.
Kevin Feige tied several of the points of discussion about <b>Iron Man</b> together by saying, “The challenge here is writing someone so unlikable and making him likable regardless of his past—Robert’s real treatment of Stark comes out of his understanding of the character.” Fergus went on to add that, “[Stark] has to shape himself in the midst of villains who have a better sense of self than he has.”
Goldsmith asked Feige about the villains appearing in <b>Iron Man</b>. Feige was reluctant to answer with anything pertinent but assured the audience that there weren’t too many villains—quickly making a joke about the nature of films like the failed <b>Batman and Robin</b>, and how the overbearing nature of an overpopulated cast can convolute the plot of a film.
The panel coverage continued and discussion ranged from the writers discussing “writer’s block” to how they broke into the business. All of the writers seemed to agree that having a deadline for a project was a surefire cure for any kind of blockage. There was a great deal of discussion about Stan Lee’s role in creating a number of the characters being discussed on the panel. Stan was quick to be humble; addressing the panel and suggesting that he was honored to be allowed to sit amongst so many creative guests.
Goldsmith then focused on Don Payne and the <b>Rise of the Silver Surfer</b>; taking particular aim at the movie’s less than traditional appearance of Galactus to the delight of the audience. Payne accepted the ribbing with a smile and alluded that there may be more to the cloud that was featured in RotSS than meets the eye. He said, “You haven’t seen Galactus yet—if you do it will probably be in a solo Surfer film.”
Stan Lee interrupted at this point talking about Dr. Doom and how much he loved Latveria which garnered a lot of laughter from the audience.
Goldsmith then turned to Mark Verheiden and his <b>Teen Titans</b> project. Verheiden was able to confirm that both Nightwing and Robin would be featured in the project loosely based on the Wolfman/ Perez era of the team. When asked about the turncoat character Terra, Verheiden neither confirmed nor denied her presence in the project but stated, “Her character was so great; conflicted villains are the best because of their complexity.”
<center><a href=http://funimation.com/witchblade/ target=new><img src=http://ads.newsarama.com/con/funimation_b.gif border=0></a>
<blockquote><blockquote>Newsarama's <i>Comic-Con International '07</i> coverage is brought to you by <b>Witchblade – The Anime Series</b>. Available on DVD September 25th. <a href=http://www.funimation.com/witchblade target=new>Click here to view trailer</a>. </blockquote></blockquote></center>
With the successful boom of comic book properties like Spiderman and Batman making their mark in the film industry and projects like Marvel’s Iron Man and DC’s direct to DVD project ‘The Judas Contract’ featuring the Teen Titans looming large for 2008, San Diego Comic-Con featured a panel on Friday morning, moderated by Jeff Goldsmith, senior editor of Creative Screenwriting Magazine which delved into the daunting process of bringing comic book properties to the silver screen. The panel featured Mark Verheiden for <b>Teen Titans</b>; Kevin Feige, president of production, <b>Marvel Studios</b>; Mark Fergus, co-writer, 2008’s <b>Iron Man</b>; Don Payne, co-writer, <b>Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer</b>, and the legendary <b>Stan Lee</b>.
Goldsmith opened the panel by addressing Marvel’s <b>Iron Man</b> project and directing questions at Stan Lee concerning the genesis of the character. Lee described the time period that <b>Iron Man</b> was invented as a time period where people employed at Marvel where opposition to the war was prevalent. He added, “I was drunk with power when I invented Tony Stark.” He contended that he wanted to make a character that was likeable but you hated everything he stood for. Mark Fergus added that the movie “takes war time sensibility and conflicts that Stan created and modernizes them.” He connected Halliburton to the image of what Stark Industries could be compared to. Goldsmith discussed Tony Stark’s alcoholism with the panel, drawing the comparison to Robert Downey Jr., playing as Stark in the film, and his own dealings with addiction.
Kevin Feige tied several of the points of discussion about <b>Iron Man</b> together by saying, “The challenge here is writing someone so unlikable and making him likable regardless of his past—Robert’s real treatment of Stark comes out of his understanding of the character.” Fergus went on to add that, “[Stark] has to shape himself in the midst of villains who have a better sense of self than he has.”
Goldsmith asked Feige about the villains appearing in <b>Iron Man</b>. Feige was reluctant to answer with anything pertinent but assured the audience that there weren’t too many villains—quickly making a joke about the nature of films like the failed <b>Batman and Robin</b>, and how the overbearing nature of an overpopulated cast can convolute the plot of a film.
The panel coverage continued and discussion ranged from the writers discussing “writer’s block” to how they broke into the business. All of the writers seemed to agree that having a deadline for a project was a surefire cure for any kind of blockage. There was a great deal of discussion about Stan Lee’s role in creating a number of the characters being discussed on the panel. Stan was quick to be humble; addressing the panel and suggesting that he was honored to be allowed to sit amongst so many creative guests.
Goldsmith then focused on Don Payne and the <b>Rise of the Silver Surfer</b>; taking particular aim at the movie’s less than traditional appearance of Galactus to the delight of the audience. Payne accepted the ribbing with a smile and alluded that there may be more to the cloud that was featured in RotSS than meets the eye. He said, “You haven’t seen Galactus yet—if you do it will probably be in a solo Surfer film.”
Stan Lee interrupted at this point talking about Dr. Doom and how much he loved Latveria which garnered a lot of laughter from the audience.
Goldsmith then turned to Mark Verheiden and his <b>Teen Titans</b> project. Verheiden was able to confirm that both Nightwing and Robin would be featured in the project loosely based on the Wolfman/ Perez era of the team. When asked about the turncoat character Terra, Verheiden neither confirmed nor denied her presence in the project but stated, “Her character was so great; conflicted villains are the best because of their complexity.”
<center><a href=http://funimation.com/witchblade/ target=new><img src=http://ads.newsarama.com/con/funimation_b.gif border=0></a>
<blockquote><blockquote>Newsarama's <i>Comic-Con International '07</i> coverage is brought to you by <b>Witchblade – The Anime Series</b>. Available on DVD September 25th. <a href=http://www.funimation.com/witchblade target=new>Click here to view trailer</a>. </blockquote></blockquote></center>