Vin Diesel knew exactly what he was doing when he began teasing the Web about his meetings with Marvel Comics: Demonstrating to the company just how much star power he possesses.
Of course, Diesel’s hints sparked a great deal of speculation about whether the Riddick star would lead his own superhero franchise, perhaps “Ant-Man” or one of Marvel’s other titles. The actor also posted an image of Groot, the extraterrestrial plant monster who will appear in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” to his Facebook page.
But after weeks of building up the buzz about his involvement with Marvel, Diesel has finally cleared up what those meetings and Facebook posts were all about. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, the actor says he originally began talking to the studios about kicking off a new superhero franchise.
“That was the focus of our conversation — a fresh IP (intellectual property) that would come out in 2016 or 2017, and potentially launch the third phase,” he told the Reporter.
But while promoting Riddick at this year’s Comic-Con, he realized that fans wouldn’t be satisfied waiting that long to see Diesel as part of the Marvel universe.
“With my schedule, it was almost impossible to imagine I could do anything immediate,” says Diesel who has several films in the pipeline including Fast & Furious 7.
“I guess after they watched Iron Giant, or whatever, they came up with this idea of taking the strangest Marvel character — or the strangest Marvel character that’s ever hit film — and thought what I could do with that with motion capture and with my voice,” he said.
So Vin Diesel’s involvement in the Marvel universe is all but official since it’s now left up to the suits to “allow that to happen.”
“Guardians of the Galaxy,” starring Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana, is scheduled to hit theaters Aug. 1, 2014.
