According to the Hollywood Reporter Marvel Enterprises and Lion's Gate Family Home Entertainment will initiate their string of 8-10 direct-to-DVD animated features with a 66-minute film featuring The Avengers.  Based on the The Ultimates comic book series, the new Avengers film, which features Captain America, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Giant Man, and Wasp, has not yet started actual production, though Lion's Gate does expect the film to be available on DVD by early 2006.

Marvel will have unprecedented creative control over the Lion's Gate animated projects.  Marvel is doing all the developmental work on the Lion's Gate OVAs, and stands to reap the majority of the profits on the films, in spite of the fact that Lion's Gate is putting up all of the actual production cost of the animated features.