I remember back before Iron Man came out a couple of years ago, a lot of people had serious doubts about how well a movie based on a “second string” superhero might do. Iron Man didn’t have quite the same name recognition as Spider-Man or Batman, and there were predictions that such a movie might not appeal to anyone outside of the hardcore comic book fans. Well, clearly they were dead wrong, as the movie was a massive hit and encouraged Marvel to pursue their ultimate goal of putting together The Avengers on screen. But after The Avengers… what comes next?

CHUD has an interesting report this week that would seem to indicate that Marvel is aware that they probably can’t hope to top The Avengers. Instead, they are looking to start downsizing their future films, by giving lesser known characters a chance to star in their own smaller films. They have been holding meetings with writers and directors about such properties as Dr. Strange, Ka-Zar, Luke Cage, Dazzler and Power Pack, with proposed budgets of $20 to $40 million. It seems like a pretty smart move, although once again it raises the question of how much interest there is in some of these characters, even with a smaller budget. Will we eventually get to the point where they’re doing direct-to-DVD films about the worst characters in the Marvel universe? Would anyone pay to see that? I’m sure at least a few people out there would. What do you think, is this a good idea? What smaller Marvel characters do you think could support their own film?