This is potentially exciting: as first reported on Latino Review, rumor has it that Marvel Studios is considering producing 10-minute short films featuring lesser-known Marvel Comics characters that would play in front of their feature-length productions.

Details are pretty scarce other than that, and blogger George Roush stresses “file this scoop under ‘rumor’ for now until we can try and get more information on it.” The post specifically mentions Black Panther, Luke Cage and Dr. Strange (pictured), but it’s not quite clear if that means Marvel/Disney has plans for them specifically at this point or if they were just listed as examples of “secondary characters.”

The next logical question would be if these shorts were effectively trailers for upcoming films already in development, or a way to test the waters to see if mainstream audiences take to these characters. Either way, it’s an enticing prospect, especially for hardcore Marvelites looking forward to perhaps seeing some cult favorites — who are constantly reportedly having movies in the works anyway — getting the live-action treatment (in projects that would probably have an easier time getting made than a full-length). Blade was a pretty obscure property back in 1998, and that character ended up with a trilogy.

Let us know what you think of the rumor — and what characters you’d like to see on the big screen. (Who hasn’t daydreamed about hearing “When Solo lives, terror dies!” in a movie theater?)

This entry was posted on Monday, June 21st, 2010 at 6:25 pm and is filed under Marvel, Movies, News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.