Comic-Con 2006: Avengers Movie Gains Momentum

At the first ever Marvel Studios panel at this weekend's Comic-Con, President of Production Kevin Feige made statements that indicate Marvel is headed in a direction that will lead to a full-scale, live action Avengers movie.

The studio announced it's starting production on three new projects: Captain America, Nick Fury and Thor. All three figure heavily into the Avengers mythos, as do The Hulk and Iron Man, both of which already have movies in production.

In the past, an Avengers movie would have been unlikely, not only because movie technology was not advanced enough to handle some of the complicated characters, but because rights to various Marvel entities were scattered among several studios.

"Now that it's all under one roof, it could be done," said Feige. Jon Favreau, in a separate interview, stated that he always thought of Iron Man 3 as Iron Man: The Avengers. Stay tuned to IGN FilmForce for news on all of the Marvel movie projects.

For more film news from the event, be sure to visit IGN's massive Comic-Con Index.