‘Avengers’ Writer Zak Penn Working on New Marvel Movie

With the Marvel Cinematic Universe heading into an entirely new chapter after the Avengers saga concludes next year, it looks like one of its original writers is coming back around for one last adventure.

Zak Penn was at the forefront of the modern era of superhero movies, having penned the stories, screenplays, and/or treatments for films like X-Men 2, Elektra, The Incredible Hulk, and Marvel’s The Avengers. While he hasn’t written a feature film for Marvel since the celebrated team-up in 2012, he has finally revealed that he’s ready to give it another go.

During an interview with ScreenRant, Penn said that he’s lining up to work on one final Marvel project before hanging up his super suit.

“I think I’m probably gonna come back. I think I’m gonna do one more Marvel, one more project in the Marvel Universe,” Penn said. “I’m about to start doing, but…I have to check and see if I’m allowed to say what it is. For the most part I had a long run on comic book movies and I was kind of eager to, you know, just cause it can be really crushing, you know, at times…”

As Penn continued, he made it sound as though superhero fatigue had hit him pretty hard. However, new movies that have bent the genre in different directions have given him a second wind.

“Here’s the thing. Give them credit; I remember Kevin Feige saying like 13 years ago that he wanted to do Guardians of the Galaxy so he could do something with a totally different tone and he hopefully would get there,” the writer said. “When I was at Marvel, we were just trying to get..I mean they asked, ‘What movie do you want to write?’ and I said the Avengers and it was always just about getting to the Avengers, you know? So I agree that now…like I was getting sick of comic book movies, honestly, I was getting really sick of them, until this past year. I mean I thought Logan is the best X-Men movie that’s been made and I thought Deadpool was one of the better superhero adaptations ever and so I applaud them for spreading their wings.”

With Marvel entering into a post-Infinity War world, and the landscape of the universe changing, it’s hard to guess what Penn could be working on. The only MCU movies that have been green-lit following Avengers 4 are sequels to Spider-Man: Homecoming and Black Panther, as well as the third installment in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. James Gunn is writing Guardians 3, Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna have been hired to pen the new Spider-Man script, and it would be safe to assume that Ryan Coogler would write the Black Panther sequel, provided he returns as director.

There’s always a chance that Penn could be talking about the grander Marvel Universe, not just the MCU. He was certainly praiseworthy of the latest X-Men films, so perhaps another run with Fox is in the works.

Penn wrote the screenplay for the upcoming Spielberg film Ready Player One, which hits theaters on March 29.