There isn’t a day that goes by when there is some sort of news regarding the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Ain’t it Cool News have reported on a big rumor that Guy Ritchie is attached to direct Captain Britain and the Black Knight.
The news comes from a source that AICN has called Super Grip and he/she was quoted saying “Space at Pinewood has been booked for November & December 2018 to hold auditions for a Marvel project called Captain Britain & The Black Knight. The name of the director booked in for all these dates is Guy Ritchie” Super Grip added that Marvel has moved in to fill an empty sort left due to the delays to Bond 25.
If the news is true it would be shocking because they haven’t been any hints that Marvel Studios were planning on making a Captain Britain or Black Knight film regarding hiring writers or scheduling a release date. Captain Britain and The Black Knight are obscure characters from Marvel Comics but Marvel was able to make Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man into big hits so it would be foolish to dismiss a film based on lesser-known British characters.
Captain Britain first appeared in Marvel’s UK imprint in 1976 and writers like Chris Claremont and Alan Moore work on the comics. Brain Braddock is the titular character, an aristocrat who is resurrected by Merlin and his daughter so that he can become Britain’s champion.
The Black Knight first appearance was in The Avengers comics in 1967. Dane Whitman, an American man inherited the title from his villain, the villainous Nathan Garrett and tasked Whitman to resort the family’s honor. Both characters have joined organizations like The Avengers and MI:13.
Ritchie has been rumored to direct comic adaptations for Warner Brothers, news reports years ago suggested he would direct films based on Lobo and Sgt. Rock. Ritchie even created his own comic book series, Gamekeeper for Virgin Comics (now Liquid Comics). Ritchie does make visually dazzling films and he could easily handle the action sequences – the forest chase in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows was amazing. However, due to Captain Britain and Black Knight’s origins the film would tie into Arthurian legends and it would be strange to hire Ritchie considering how his King Arthur film flopped last year.
This rumor does come off as farfetched due to the source of the news, the lack of information from Marvel or Disney and Warner Bros. is currently developing a third Sherlock Holmes film for a 2020 release and Ritchie is likely to direct.
As an Englishman it would be exciting to see a Marvel film based around British characters and expand the MCU to include European characters. But we have to see it to believe it. If the rumor is true Ritchie should not direct, someone else should write the screenplay.
