Marvel vets directors for CAPTAIN AMERICA sequel

Vulture reports that Marvel is closing in on a director for the CAPTAIN AMERICA sequel … and that there might be two of them.

F. Gary Gray (IMDb), George Nolfi (IMDb), and the sibling team of Anthony (IMDb) and Joe Russo (IMDb) are in the running for the gig, with an announcement arriving as early as mid-April.

Between Gray and Nolfi, I prefer Nolfi, whose TWILIGHT ZONE-esque romantic thriller THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU was one of my favorite films from last year. He also did script work on THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM, which could inform his work on Captain America quite nicely.

The wild cards here are the Russo brothers. Anthony has directed 24 episodes of NBC’s COMMUNITY, including “Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism” in the third and current season. The Annie/Troy/Abed story heavily involved THE DARK KNIGHT and featured the return of Abed as Batman, while the Jeff/Shirley foosball plot shifted into outrageous anime segments that were wildly imaginative and hilarious. “Basic Rocket Science” found the study group trapped in a mock spaceship; “Remedial Chaos Theory” explored six alternate realities. Joe’s 19 COMMUNITY episodes include the pilot, “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons,” and the instantly classic two-parter “A Fistful of Paintballs” and “For a Few Paintballs More.”

These are some pretty crazy half hours of television with lots of humor and tons of heart, making me very interested in what these guys could do if turned loose on a big-budget superhero film.

The Russo brothers also directed multiple episodes of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (including its pilot), which never ceased to astound me with its visual and comedic creativity. Their feature films (WELCOME TO COLLINWOOD and YOU, ME AND DUPREE) may not have any action or adventure, but their body of work is brimming with wit, energy, innovation, and variety.

Of course, this means that Joe Johnston is out of a job, following in the footsteps of Jon Favreau and Kenneth Branagh (not to mention the shady dismissal of Branagh’s temporary THOR 2 replacement Patty Jenkins) as Marvel directors not returning for the next installments of the franchises they started.

If chosen, the Russo brothers would join new THOR 2 helmer Alan Taylor (IMDb) as primarily television directors given the keys to the further cinematic adventures of Marvel heroes.

More news as it happens! Captain America will be seen in THE AVENGERS on May 4, with his next solo film arriving in 2014.

It’s a banner day for fans of MAN OF STEEL

Not to be confused with the several existing pages created by fans, Warner Bros. launched the one, true, official Facebook profile for MAN OF STEEL yesterday — and unveiled the glorious banner you see above.

Sean and Josh and I discussed it last night on the new Modern Myth Media podcast, and you can also read about it on the MMM site here.

I love it. Remember when costume designer Michael Wilkinson discussed the “neo-medieval” aesthetic of Krypton and the costume worn by our new Superman, Henry Cavill? The new banner is right in line with that and, like Cavill himself, is equally regal and rugged. Everything we’ve seen from this film so far hits a handsome balance between classic and space-age, and hopefully we’ll see more soon.

As Sean and Josh and I discussed last night, we’d love to see a teaser soon, a trailer before THE DARK KNIGHT RISES on July 20, and an IMAX prologue before WB’s THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY in December.

After all, our friends at Think McFly Think reported in December that special effects work was already underway, which means there’s bound to be some finished footage for the studio to show off when it’s ready.

Please be sure to “Like” the official Facebook page. I hope Warner Bros. uses it to its full potential and gives us some news soon. Perhaps we’ll even get some new photos. Russell Crowe, who’s playing Kal-El’s father, Jor-El, posted on his Twitter that he participated in a MAN OF STEEL photo shoot on March 25 involving a fog machine that set off the fire alarm. (Is he sure it wasn’t the presence of Amy Adams that did that?) With any luck, we’ll see some of those photos soon.

If I were Warner Bros., I’d also get an official site up soon. ManOfSteel.com already points back to WB’s main hub. Just put up the new banner, the shot of Cavill in costume, and a link to the official Facebook, and you’re good to go. That would also cut down on the chances of people accidentally hitting “Like” on one of the fan sites rather than on the official one.

MAN OF STEEL takes us up, up, and away on June 14, 2013! And that’s way, way, way too far away.