Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr want to play COWBOYS & ALIENS instead of THE AVENGERS?!?!?
Jon Favreau's circling of the Dreamworks/Universal joint sci-fi/western pulp project Cowboys & Aliens announced in Variety tonight is that it will put him out of the race for The Avengers and possibly the same can be said for Robert Downey Jr too, the latter being an absentee that would delay or kill off the superhero ensemble and that's a damned shame. Favreau has spoken a few times this year about his interest in getting The Avengers directing gig, and Marvel's version of John Lasseter has mentioned he would have to move directly from finishing Iron Man 2 (which he will complete early 2010, for a release in May next year) to The Avengers if he was to win the job. But whether that impossibly tight time restriction, or Marvel's sale to Disney yesterday, or just simply a desire to move away from the character of Tony Stark to jump on board an original concept with his man Downey Jr.(attached since last summer), the result remains the same. He won't now be directing The Avengers because if a deal is made, this is what he will be filming next summer instead. And so will Robert Downey Jr... so a delay would be required for The Avengers as he is their main man. Their leader. Their top dog. Their George Clooney for their Ocean's Eleven, if you will. Cowboys & Aliens at this point looks to have taken The Avengers 2012 slot if Favreau comes on board. 
Cowboys & Aliens is a mega property at Dreamworks/Universal, and you can sure tell by the illustrious name of producers working on this thing. They've got Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg, Brian Grazer, Platinum Studios CEO Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, and Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci. Pretty much a who's who of Hollywood power right now behind this thing. Damon Lindelof (Lost), Kurtzman and Orci (Star Trek, Transformers 2) are currently re-writing a previous draft from Children of Men scribes Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus. Still this project sounds cool...
Cowboys & Aliens derives from a graphic novel written by Fred Van Lente and Andrew Foley from an original idea by Rosenberg. The story centers on an Old West battle between the Apache and Western settlers, including a former Union Army gunslinger named Zeke Jackson (Downey), that is interrupted by a spaceship crashing into the prairie near Silver City, Ariz. The story draws a parallel between the American imperialist drive to conquer the savage Indians with its advanced technology and the aliens assault on Earthlings, who must join together to survive the invaders attack.But just not quite as cool as this... So with Marvel going to Disney (biggest story of the year for me), a Fantastic Four reboot in the works at Fox and with The Avengers property now possibly in turmoil with the potential loss of Jon Favreau and especially lead Robert Downey Jr... just what Marvel centric story can we expect to hit tomorrow? Something about Spider-Man 4 perhaps? What a crazy week!