Jon Favreau sees Iron Man 3 and The Avengers in 3D

"I really love the 3-D," director Jon Favreau told MTV at the San Diego Comic-Con. "I think 'Up' was probably my favorite movie I've seen this year."

Marvel has plans to make at least one more "Iron Man" film, as well as an "Avengers" film in 2012 that will feature Tony Stark. If Favreau has his way, he'd like at least one of those films to be three-dimensional.

"I like all the new technologies, 3-D being one of them. James Cameron had brought me around a few months back to see what he was doing with 'Avatar'; that's what's been seen now by many of the fans," he said of the 3-D footage shown last week. "It was exciting to go in there and see what he's doing with cutting-edge technology. He's just a great storyteller as well, and to see a great filmmaker working with the cutting-edge of this technology is amazing."

"I talked to Marvel after I'd seen [Cameron's footage] about doing 'Iron Man 2' in 3-D," he said. "I was hoping to get a shot at doing it this time around, but it didn't work out that way. ... There are a few drawbacks to it at this point — there's more cost involved, and it also forces you to shoot digitally. My cinematographer [Matthew Libatique] really likes film, and 'Iron Man' had a certain look because it was film."

As of right now, Favreau isn't certain he'll direct "Iron Man 3" or "The Avengers." But Feige is on record as saying that he'd like to see Marvel films jumping off the screen soon, and Favreau is convinced that the technology will be there for whichever film he makes next.

"We haven't had any talks about [me directing 'Avengers'], although we do have talks about what the content of 'Avengers' will be," Favreau said of the film expected to feature Iron Man, Nick Fury, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow and others. "I'm going to be involved in some capacity with it, but as far as directing goes, we're still working on this one. ... I'm happy they brought me back to do 'Iron Man 2.'

"But I think that, as the digital technology gets better, 3-D is going to be a lot easier," the filmmaker continued. "Certainly for 'Iron Man,' I think it would work out well."

Would you like to see the Marvel superheroes go 3D?

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Captain Jack as Captain America

The Avengers film draws ever closer and we have our Iron Man, Thor, Nick Fury, and a few others. However, there is still no news on who will play Captain America.

Worryingly Will Smith's name keeps getting bandied about. Don't get me wrong, I like a bit of Big Willy stylee (hmm a dodgy sentence if ever there was one!) but they should stick with the Steve Rogers set out in the comic. However, another actor, who would agree with the sentiments of my previous sentence but in a whole different way, has said they'd like to give it a go.

During the BBC "Torchwood: Children of Earth" mini-series panel at Comic-Con last weekend, actor John Barrowman revealed that he would like the chance play Captain America in The First Avenger: Captain America and The Avengers films.

"You know what I want to play? Captain America," he said to the wildly receptive crowd, before adding that it "so won't happen."

Barrowman plays the fixed point in time, Captain Jack Harkness and is pretty good at it.

The question is would he make a good Cap? To be honest I think he would. He's got the looks (my wife and mother love him as do many other men and women), he's a bit of an unknown for the mainstream audience (only fans of TV sci-fi, musical theatre and 1980's Saturday Morning Kids TV would know him) which would make them buy into him as the character rather than as a big name playing a part. Although Kevin Feige has said they are looking for a star with international appeal.

Of course, there would be none of the shenanigans that Captain Jack gets up to if he took on the role of Steve Rogers.

I seriously doubt that this will come to pass or that he will even make it to an audition, just one of those things that the Comic Con throws up once in a while. I wouldn't be at all surprised if there are people working away on making vids and pics of Barrowman as Captain America right now.

Would Barrowman be a good Captain America?

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The Avengers and Captain America - Could the Skrulls and The Invaders feature in them?

Some interesting facts have been hinted at by Kevin Feige, over on CHUD, regarding various things that may feature in their forthcoming Marvel films.

'Will the Skrulls be the villain in The Avengers?' I asked.

Feige gave me one of those looks he's good at giving and just said, 'We do own them.'

More digging turned up the fact that Marvel Studios owns the Skrull race, while Fox own the Super Skrull.

The Skrull are a shape changing alien race who have had a hard-on for Earth for quite some time. They would make a pretty great big bad for the film for a number of reasons: first of all, there's a bunch of them, so the film wouldn't have to contain just one or two fight scenes with the main threat, and each of the team members could have their own battles at their own power level. For another, they allow Marvel Studios to do something really cool - what if it's revealed that certain characters from the previous Marvel movies have been Skrulls all along? And Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch proved in the first Ultimates series that the Skrull (called the Chitauri there) make a convincingly cinematic threat.

Of course the other possibility is that The Avengers will battle Hydra. As I mentioned in this story about The Invaders possibly appearing in The First Avenger: Captain America, Feige name-dropped Hydra as being something with which Steve Rogers had to contend. Might the truth be that Steve Rogers would just meet some of the Nazi supervillains who go on to head Hydra? And with The Avengers being a SHIELD group in the movies, it might make sense to make the villain a SHIELD villain. On top of that, like the Skrull, the sheer number of Hydra agents mean the film could contain lots of battles and that each of the Avengers could get something to do during the course of the film.

Having the Skrulls in the Avengers films throws up some interesting possibilities - the Hulk may feature but turn out to be a Skrull, other characters in Iron Man, Thor etc may turn out to have been replaced by Skrulls at some point.

What do you think of the news?
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Iron Man 2 won't end on a cliffhanger for the Avengers to resolve

At the moment we know that War Machine (check out the screenshot from the Iron Man 2 footage) will make a significant appearance, Black Widow could be good or evil, and Sam Rockwell will be reinventing the character of Justin Hammer. Director Jon Favreau weighed in as well at Comic-Con with his own details on the film, stating that the sequel won't leave an open-ended cliffhanger for Marvel's 2012 "Avengers" movie. We also know what heroes to expect in the Avengers film.

"We're working towards 'Avengers,' but by the same token we want to resolve this film and make ['Iron Man 2'] play on its own," Favreau told MTV News. "It's not a serial. It's a self-contained film."

Since Marvel Studios began planted movie crossover appearances in "The Incredible Hulk" and the first "Iron Man," continuity buffs have had a great deal to speculate about, given Marvel's ambitious calendar of releases, including "Thor" and "Captain America: The First Avenger." Favreau stressed that while the movies would all be working off of each other, his focus remains on making his film work on its own.

"It's not building towards a cliffhanger that's the next movie," he explained. "It's about wrapping up our story and making it a complete tale."

What about Iron Man 3? "There’s an Iron Man 3. Here’s how I know. When they make the option deals, they include Iron Man 3. So I know they’re planning on 3. Whether that would be before or after Avengers, they’ve announced that Avengers is next but they pushed back The Avengers once which I thought was encouraging."

As for whether, like many sequels, there will be too many villains in Iron Man 2 Favreau had this to say, "Well, we had to walk a fine line. I think you’re good for number two. Two seems to be the charm because you got your origin story out of the way. You can add some complexity to it and you have room, because you don’t have to tell the origin story, to introduce the characters. When you get to number three, you can get hidebound. You’re like a beached whale sometimes because you have so much, you collapse under the weight of the complexity that you’ve created. We looked at the successful sequels that we liked. I’m not talking about Two Towers or films that are chapters based on novels or Harry Potter. I’m talking about true sequels. The two that we liked the most, this was me and Kevin Feige talking, were Wrath of Kahn and Empire Strikes Back. Those were the two that we said, “They did it right. Now let’s look at what they did right.” There were so many others that didn’t feel as good as the first but for those two, what we found was that it really gave room to explore the characters and the villain plotlines were very simple but the stakes were very high. The less you get bogged down in complexity, the more you could really let the audience enjoy what they really like which are the relationships. Two years later, I know I’m a pretty savvy audience member, I don’t remember the dynamics and the subtleties of it. It’s not as precious to me as it is to the filmmakers. So it’s putting yourself in the seat of the audience and saying, “What do they want to see more but you want to go bigger.” You go from Alien to Aliens and then you want to show them the characters that they’ve invested in and how they’ve changed and change those dynamics by introducing new characters. Don’t just add to the action but throw the relationship into a little bit of a curve ball."

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The Avengers - Which heroes will make the cut?

Kevin Feige,the President of Production of Marvel Studios, spoke to Collider at the San Diego Comic Con and gave a run down as to who we will be seeing in The Avengers movie.

Kevin: I think we know. It’s going to be Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Nick Fury. I think it’s safe to assume that there will be some members of the Hulk universe in the film as well. In terms of the additional, I think Black Widow for sure. SHIELD’s organization for sure. And, again, what’s exciting to me about the Avengers movie are seeing those four characters together and interact with each other. Anywhere from the first issue of the Avengers to Civil War, the dynamic between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark is awesome and fascinating. It brings out sides of the others that won’t be brought out in their own franchises. Throwing Thor into the mix is a whole other thing and I think that will be cool. So to pile in another ten or fifteen…or frankly even four…I think will be too many.

Is the Hulk in it?

Kevin: You know Zack Penn is outlining it as we speak so we’ll see.

Looks like no Wasp or Hawkeye then. What do you think of the line up?

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Kenneth Branagh acted out the whole Thor film

In his latest Cup O’ Joe column, Joe Quesada spoke about his time with Thor director Kenneth Branagh and head of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige. He mentioned one specific meeting as “one of the highlights of my time here at Marvel”.

“It was performance art,” Quesada recalled. “Kevin would give us the establishment of the shot and the situation: ‘Here we are. We’re in (take your pick of location). And here’s Odin and he’s coming up to (pick a character.)’ And then Kenneth would come in and give you the color commentary. ‘Odin has an air of majesty to him’ and he’d act out the Odin part or the Thor part. So we sat there and literally got a three-hour one-man show from Kenneth Branagh. It was fantastic.”

Quesada said that the “very Shakespearean” Kenneth Branagh had a phenomenal grasp on the characters of Thor, Loki, Odin and the rest of the film’s cast.

“He’s definitely about character, which is the quintessential trait you have to have to understand the Marvel characters,” he said. “It’s not just big hammers and capes and things like that. It’s about what makes the character tick. There’s definitely a reason for Thor, a reason for him being and a very deep family relationship and story in the movie that I think is going to be very cool.”

“I think it’s going to be [a tougher sell] on the surface,” he said when asked if it was going to be harder to market the film compared to Iron Man. “[But we've] got plans already to get Thor’s name out within a younger group of kids. I think the upcoming ‘Super Hero Squad’ and ‘Avengers Animated’ shows are going to do wonders to get that across, and then we’re working on a couple of ancillary things here and there to boost the desire for kids in particular to know more about Thor and the general public as well.”

I would love to see some video of Branagh acting out the Thor film. It would be amazing to watch. I wonder if he will have a cameo in the film as Jon Favreau did (although it was a bit more than a cameo) in Iron Man.

The more I hear about the Thor film the more excited I get.

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Lots of Marvel movie news -Iron Man 2, Bucky in Captain America, Loki in many films and more

Iron Man 2 director Jon Farveau recently tweeted some interesting news: “Mickey Rourke just did a marketing photo shoot. It’s the first time I saw him in full costume. I can’t wait for the images to be released.”

He later added “Scarlett, Rockwell and Paltrow all did their marketing shots. Downey is under the lights looking dapper as I tweet.”

FirstShowing where at theProducer Guild of America’s panel on Producing Marvel Movies. Marvel Entertainment producer Kevin Feige mentioned a few things about their upcoming films.

- Steve Roger’s sidekick Bucky is going to show up in The First Avenger: Captain Ame. As the majority of the film is set in World War 2 then this is to be expected. Who could play Bucky? It's "primarily" a period piece that takes place during WWII. He said they went and looked at Raiders of the Lost Ark, which he says he "didn't know" was a period piece when he was watching it. They want to make Captain America with the "same level of fun" as that. And in regards to director Joe Johnston, he said that this would be a little bit of The Rocketeer, lots of October Sky, and a little bit of the ship designs that Johnston did for Star Wars, alluding to how this is the perfect movie for him to direct. "It's the movie his entire career has been leading towards."

- Scarlett Johansson character in Iron Man 2 has “two sides,” entering the picture as an assistant to Tony Stark, but later revealed as Black Widow. Johnansson is signed up for multiple films.

- Iron Man 2 is up next, then Thor, then Captain America, then The Avengers in the summer of 2012. Feige said that they're "ordered this way for a reason." And confirmed that Samuel Jackson (Nick Fury) and Scarlett Johansson as well as Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki) are signed on for multiple movies or "multiple franchises," further extending that hint that Loki will be a villain who shows up quite often. Feige kept saying often that he'd love for audiences to have the same experience that comic book readers have - where characters make surprise appearances in issues they pick up almost out of nowhere. More an more I feel that they are going to be riffing on The Ultimates storylines from the first two volumes with Loki manipulating everyone from behind the scenes. I wonder if Hiddleston will have blink and you miss them cameos in Iron Man 2?

- Marvel is planning on announcing another new movie for 2012 within the next few months. What could it be? Doubtful that it will be Ant-Man as Edgar Wright is bust on Scot Pilgrim. Maybe it will be a Nick Fury film or maybe a SubMariner one. Possibly a sequel to the Incredible Hulk film.

All in all it is all very exciting news for all comic book fans.

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Kevin Feige talks Avengers, Captain America and Thor

There is a great interview ove on Ugo with Marvel Films President Kevin Feige about the new films coming out over the next few years. He talks about the Hulk with the Avengers, Will Smith as a possible Captain America (which I think is a big mistake although he could fit into that universe as Isaiah Bradley that I've previously mentioned), Thor on Earth, the return of Blade and more. Here are some of the highlights.

Are you planning on putting The Hulk in The Avengers?

Feige: I think it'd be cool. I'd like to see The Hulk again. It will have been a number of years, four years since he was in a movie by that point, by 2012. So I'd like to see him in it. I'm not being coy. We're just starting the story. I was on the phone with Zak Penn this morning. He's coming in next week and he's going to work on the outline this summer, but because it's so intertwined with what we're doing before - I almost wanted to get done with production on Iron Man 2 [and] the scripts to Thor and Captain America well underway before we even started Avengers.

Is there any possibility of having SHIELD show up in a Spider-Man movie? Is that something you guys would like to do and is there a possibility of bringing these disparate properties back into the fold?

Feige: If we were talking about this four years ago and you asked if there was a chance to do an Avengers movie and a Marvel Cinematic Universe under one roof, I would've said that anything was possible, but that it's a long shot and I'm not sure. Now we're doing it. I'll kind of give you the same answer to that now. Anything is possible. Right now they're certainly different. What's at Fox is at Fox. What's at Sony is what's at Sony and what's at Marvel is what's at Marvel. When I say the MCU that's a goofy internal thing, but that's [how] we're referring to it.

You've got a lot now, but what other characters would you like to see make it onscreen?

Feige: Ant-Man. I want to make Ant-Man one of these days. I think that'll be surprising and a funny thing. I love that what Edgar [Wright] likes about it is that when he says he's doing Ant-Man people go, “Ant-Man? What the hell is that?” I think that's fun. I think Dr. Strange would kick ass. I think we've done very well at the superhero genre, if you will, this street level superhero aspect of the Marvel Universe. I think with Thor you'll see us cracking into the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe in a very good way that's never been done before in our movies and I'd love to get into that supernatural element. I think that Dr. Strange could be a good way of being the lynchpin to that universe with Werewolf By Night, with Blade again someday – that side of the Marvel Universe.

Recently it's been announced that more of the Thor story will take place on Earth. Is it a contemporary earth or Viking times?

Feige: It'll be contemporary.

How are you going to deal with the fish out of water aspect of it? Are you concerned at all about Thor dealing with the wacky modern day aspects of his life, being on a cell phone or something like that?

I am concerned about that and that's why we're not going to do that. We always think about, not in terms of “Thor,” but if you talk about fish out of water; if a character is goofy at any time he'll be goofy. If you bring in an idiot from the past he's going to come into the future and go [holding a recorder up to his face] “What is this? Hello?” That stuff is not funny and it's overdone. If Indiana Jones came to the future he's going to be cool. He's not going to be an idiot bumbling with things. There might be some fun humor out of him just getting something wrong for a minute, but he's going to play it cool and just not come off like an idiot. I think that Thor…if you look at [Jack] Kirby's Asgard, if you look at Walt Simonson's Asgard; they are technologically superior to us by far. They're not going to come and be flummoxed by much on Earth. There might be cultural differences that could be amusing or endearing, but he's not going to be talking to a lamppost for five minutes.

Is Donald Blake going to be in Thor and is he still going to be handicapped?

Feige: No.

Will Thor still be recognizable as a what we understand to be a superhero movie or is it going to be closer to fantasy?

I think it's going to be very much a Marvel superhero movie, but I think to the movie audience it's going to expand that definition more and more. Again, we've got a forty four year old guy who's going to be a superhero in a movie and he puts on an armored suit. That didn't necessarily mean superhero to people. In that same way, I think, someone who's got superpowers coming to Earth and dealing with other character from his realm will come off very much as a big ass superhero movie. But it's going to expand that definition, I hope, in a way.

QCan you talk about the casting of Chris Hemsworth and what it was ultimately about this guy after looking at all these other actors?

Feige: You couldn't take your eyes off of him. When he did his auditioned he worked for it. He put himself on tape. He put himself on tape again and then did it again and then came in and sat with Branagh and then worked again with Branagh and then ultimately did a very late in the process screen test and there was no question. It was very much like going back to 1999 when Dougray Scott got injured on Mission Impossible 2 and we had to go back to the videotapes and suddenly we saw Hugh Jackman who came in and did a screen test and it was like, “There's no question that this is our guy.” In this case it was actually even cleaner with Chris because with Hugh he was like two feet taller than the character was supposed to be which was nerve racking, but Chris is six four and looks exactly Thor.

Are you going to get a big name for “Captain” or are you looking to get another unknown?

Feige: We'll see. I do think that's something that we'll take into account, international appeal. There are only a handful of stars that mean anything here much less overseas. But I do think that will be a factor in it. As long as we have the freedom to do so at Marvel….to just cast the best actor for the part whether it's an actor who's been a great actor, but hasn't starred in marquee action movies before like Downey or somebody that came out of Australia that they've never heard of.

There's been some talk of going with a Will Smith and using the “Truth” storyline of Captain America.

Feige: I love the “Truth” storyline. I think that's very cool. I wouldn't do that as a first Captain America movie though. I think Will Smith is probably one of those handful of international stars. But I think that [arc] came about four or five hundred issues in to the “Cap” run. I don't see launching with that comic.

If one of the movies doesn't do well in this run, how will that effect The Avengers? It’s the riskiest one of the bunch because you're relying on people wanting to come and see Thor again and Cap again.

Feige: I think Avengers is going to have it's own vibe. I think Avengers will feel very much like…it'll have a different tone than the other Marvel movies. I'm not talking budget level here, but it'll have a much more massive global feel to it. Our movies aren't about saving the world. Iron Man doesn't save the world. Hulk doesn't save the world. Captain America, a little bit. But it's not about these comic bookey “I will save the world” things. The Avengers is about saving the world because there's no other reason for characters that powerful to band together. So I think the scope and the scale will feel like a much bigger thing. So whatever you had seen - whether Starscream was your favorite character or Megatron is your favorite character or Soundwave is your favorite character - you're going to see the experience of that epic thing together. I think it'll be the same thing. Clearly I hope it'll all work. I hope that people will, like they've done with the comics for years and years, argue about who their favorite is and who would win in a fight and all of that fun stuff.

For Avengers,will the threat to them come from outside the Earth?

Feige: It'll be big. It'll be something that no single hero can handle.

Discuss in the forum or leave a comment below.

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Posters for Scott Pilgrim, Avengers, Rango, Despicable Me & How to Train Your Dragon

AICN had these cool photos of various posters from the recent Licensing Show in New York. I think the Scott Pilgrim and Rango ones are my favourites.




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UPDATED: Deadpool to kick Captain America in the nuts according to Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds has been chatting about the Deadpool film that is spinning off from X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

They are still looking for a finished script, but Reynolds says he is involved. However, it looks as if the tone for the film could be just right going by what Reynolds had to say.

Look, I'm into any role in which I get to kick Captain America in the nuts,...Yeah, it's in the works. That's about all I can really say. They're actively hashing [it] out. I'm meeting with them all the time. We're in constant contact, and it's just a matter of breaking the spine of the story and figuring out what it is and who's the villain.

UPDATE: Here's a little more from the interview:

REYNOLDS: We're just trying to get it right. There's so many variables to play. It's tough because when you have a character like Deadpool, to the greatest extent of your power, you want to bring as much authenticity to that character as possible. And by "authenticity," I don't mean that you'd want to make him somebody that you'd have a Starbucks coffee with, I mean that you want to make him as close to the comics as possible. And there's nothing that I wouldn't do to make sure that ends up on film, but sometimes things are out of your control, things that you can't change. But I'm really happy, in these early talks, that the studio is as obsessed with making it as close to the comic book source material as possible. And that's all I really needed to hear. Cuz I will husk-f*@k a herd of cattle to bring Wade Wilson to life as the real deal.

Will there be any real effort to make it fit within the continuity of Wolverine? Or will you just allow it to be its own thing? (This clip shows how Deadpool ended up in the alternate ending of X-Men Origins: Wolverine).

REYNOLDS: Without saying too much, I can't imagine that there's gonna be any tie-in to the Wolverine movie at all.

You've said previously, the Deadpool we glimpse in Wolverine isn't necessarily the character you'd want to play. You've spoken about doing the more self-aware –

REYNOLDS: Absolutely! That's the reason to do it…There's nothing else like that in movies, or comic books, for that matter. I would like to make him self-aware; I'd like to have a bit of a pop-culture air going on throughout the film. I mean, the greatest villain in a Deadpool comic is Deadpool. There's a lot you can do there, but you've gotta ask, "Who's the boss? Who's the guy he's going up against?" But it's breaking the fourth wall; it's including all those things in a way that works, but it's not nearly as hard as it sounds. It can really be done. And people tend to overlook the greatest resource we have, which is the comic book. If it can be done in the comic, it can be done on film in a way that's just as much fun to watch for people who know nothing about the character than for people who are obsessed with the character.

Not to belabor the point, but Deadpool is really the character where, if you're casting Deadpool, you're a smart choice for that. It works with much of what you've done already – the comedy, the drama.

REYNOLDS: Yeah, all those things. And I have ideas for it that I think are right in tune with the tone of that character. I'm dying to see them on film. Literally, dying. So many of the outlets that follow this character are curious what the elements will be, afraid that you won't be disfigured, that you won't wear the mask, and I laugh because there's no way to do this without having the scarring, having the mask, having it all. And it can be done. It's a no-brainer in that sense. You gotta have the character of Deadpool. You don't want to just invent something new and call it Deadpool.

Wouldn't it be great if they could tie Deadpool into the intermingling world of Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and the Avengers over at Marvel Studios. Unfortunately as it is being made by Fox this may not happen. What characters to do you want to see in the Deadpool film?

Source: Filmstalker

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Tom Hiddleston cast as Loki in Branagh's Thor

I almost had this right. On the 4th May I mentioned how Tom Hiddleston, the co-star in Kenneth Branagh's Wallander series, could possibly be Thor.

This turned out to be incorrect when it was announced yesterday that Chris Hemsworth (George Kirk in Star Trek) had been cast as Thor in Kenneth Branagh’s big screen adaptation of Marvel’s Thor and the Summer 2012 superhero team-up film The Avengers.

However, Nikki Finke are now saying that Tom will be playing the evil Loki, the God of Mischief.

I was half right. Hiddleston is in the film, but playing the big bad. As I mentioned when Hemsworth was announced, I like the fact they are not using big names for this film. To the mainstream audience, Marvel's Thor is a bit of an unknown quanitity and you want the characters to prove their worth rather than be overshadowed by the actor playing them.

Also Hiddleston does have a look of Loki about him in some photos.

Robert Downey Jr worked so well as Tony Stark in Iron Man because Stark is a huge larger than life playboy kind of character.

It does make me wonder whether Josh Hartnett will still be in the film as he had previously been rumoured to play Loki, as had Natalie Portman. Maybe Hartnett will be playing another Asgardian - one of the Warriors Three?

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Captain Kirk's Dad is Thor

Chris Hemsworth, who played George Kirk in the opening of J J Abrams Star Trek has been cast as Thor in Kenneth Branagh’s big screen adaptation of Marvel’s comic. That means he will also be playing the Thunder God in the Summer 2012 film The Avengers.

Nikki Finke reports that Marvel and Branagh made the final decision earlier today after reviewing Hemsworth’s test footage. Chris is currently in production on the Joss Whedon-written Drew Goddard-directed horror film The Cabin in the Woods. The Australian actor (who used to star in Home and Away) was also just cast as the lead role in MGM’s Red Dawn remake last week.

Written by Mark Protosevich, Thor has been described as being “like a superhero origin story, but not one about a human gaining super powers, but of a god realizing his true potential. It’s the story of an Old Testament god who becomes a New Testament god”.

Marvel has announced a release date of 17th June 2011 for the film.

I thought Hemsworth was great in the Trek movie, so I'm happy with the casting. The other plus is that he is not a huge name or familiar face yet so it will be easier to buy into him as Thor.

How do you feel about the casting?

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John Cena talks about the Captain America rumour

There have been many rumours as to who will be playing Steve Rogers, The First Avenger - Captain America. Names such as Matthew McConaughey, Matt Damon, Will Smith, Aaron Eckhart and one that I posted a while back, Neal McDonough. However, one name that has cropped up recently is WWE Superstar, John Cena.

MTV caught up with the big guy to ask him. “Strictly a rumor,” said Cena but added with a smile, “If you guys are listening over at Marvel, that is a pretty cool rumor. I’m extremely patriotic, I was a captain of the football team once, so I think it works out. I think I’m your man.”

“To kill the rumor, I was never contacted by anyone,” admitted Cena. “Usually when those rumors start it’s because someone in that community thinks that I would be okay for a role. I’m flattered that they think I could play Captain America and I would be up for it.”

Yet, for an athlete known to give 250 pound bruisers the occasional “Attitude Adjustment” when necessary, could “The Champ” take himself seriously clad in a spandex jumpsuit?

“Hmm…could I take myself seriously in spandex…have you seen my other job?” joked Cena. “I think I could be alright. I think it’s a great fit.”

I personally hope that they don't go with Cena for Captain America. I'd rather they went for a big name actor or a total unknown first (although Cena has done a bit of action before).

Who do you want to see throw Captain America's mighty shield? Would Cena be a good choice?

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Favreau to direct The Avengers, Alexander and Stellan Skarsgard as Thor and Odin and news on Daredevil and The Fantastic Four

AICN have a source on the inside who has the following news about various Marvel films. I really like the fact that a father and son may be playing a father and son in Thor and Favreau directing The Avengers is great news. It will bring a lot of consistency into the big screen Marvel Universe. That also explains the recent shuffling around of the various release dates for the films. Fingers crossed that most of these things actually happen. Still not sure about Hartnett as Loki though.

-Avengers is delayed a year because of financing issues but also because the plan is for Favreau to helm it. Everybody here loves the guy and he wants to do it, but it would have been impossible for him to do before the date change given his Iron Man 2 commitments. Also partly the reason why he agreed to do the Stark sequel on such an accelerated schedule was so he could get given first dibs on this. It would still be a punishing schedule for him, so hes not firmly confirmed yet, but he is certainly the presumptive director at this point.

- Iron Man starts rehearsals in a few days, which is why the casting is finally coming together so quickly.

-Alexander Skargard is indeed Branagh’s favorite to play Thor as some sites are reporting. If all goes well and it happens then we hope to get Stellan Skarsgard for Odin (though at present Odin is only a very small cameo part in this movie).

-Loki will probably be played by Hartnett, if his pay negotiations work out. All the commentary about him wanting to do a Ledger and play a villain is B.S. though – WE APPROACHED HARTNETT because Branagh’s a big fan of the Othello adaptation O where Hartnett played Iago who is very similar character wise to how he sees Loki.

- Fox is serious about doing remakes of Daredevil and FF. They have to make new movies with these characters every few years because otherwise the options will revert to us. This point is kinda obvious but Im not sure people realise it –I haven't seen anybody pointing it out anywhere. The mood around here is pretty negative about Rothman’s potential to execute these properties properly, (Im sure you know why it might be particularly negative at the moment) but we are all hoping his recent promotion will mean hes kept away from direct control of these movies.

What are your thoughts on all that? Happy to hear Favreau could be directing The Avengers? Who would want to play Daredevil?

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Spider-Man 4 due out in 2011

Marvel Entertainment, Inc. has announced a new set of release dates for its film slate. Included on the new schedule is a 2011 bow for 'Spider-Man 4', with 'The Avengers' getting pushed back nearly a full year to 2012.

Fans can look forward to the webslinger's return on May 6, 2011, as Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire continue the franchise that made Marvel a star player in Hollywood. As with previous 'Spider-Man' films, that one is a Sony Pictures Entertainment production.

Marvel had previously staked out that date for the release of the new 'First Avenger: Captain America' movie, with the mega-crossover pic 'The Avengers' slated to come out few months after. '

Now Marvel has shuffled its film schedule to make room for Spidey. 'Iron Man 2' remains locked into to its previously announced May 7, 2010 release. However 'Thor', which was also slated for 2010, is now on tap for June 17, 2011. 'Captain America' will arrive later that same summer with a July 22, 2011 date.

Source: Mania

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Fantastic Four to be rebooted....possibly

IESB have some news on a rumour that may interest those who are fans of the ever lovin' blue eyed Thing. That's right true believers, The Fantastic Four may be getting the reboot.

With Daredevil already getting the once over and Planet of the Apes also in the running for a new start with a prequel in the works Fantastic Four is joining the reboot gang.

The two films previously released never really caught on with the fans and the studio is reportedly looking to completely retool, recast and recrew the franchise.

The first Fantastic Four in 2005 pulled in over $330 million worldwide and the second film, Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer, opened in 2007 with a total box office take of $290 million. Both made money and were commercial successes but the reviews were lackluster and the fan reaction was mediocre.

The franchise is looking to be "less bubble gum" this time round following the Iron Man template, which was a complete success in reviews and box office take but a bit darker when it came to its superhero. Iron Man was in no way as dark as The Dark Knight but was funny, action-y as well as a bit on the serious side.

If this is true it will be great news as I don't think the recent Fantastic Four films did the First Family of Marvel much justice. Plus it means that they can also crossover with Captain America, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and the Avengers. Now if only Marvel Studios could get the X-Men and Spider-Man back in the fold.

Who would you want to see playing Mr Fantastic, the Invisible Woman (hope they have her become Malice), the Human Torch, the Thing and Dr Doom? Who could direct it and how could they integrate into the current crop of Marvel movies? What storylines could they use?

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Warner Bros release dates - Green Lantern, Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes, Clash of the Titans, Inception, Jonah Hex and Sucker Punch

ERC Box Office is reporting that Warner has announced a slew of release dates, most notably a December 17, 2010 release date for Green Lantern. The site is also reporting that, while the title character hasn't been cast, the studio is eyeing up Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) to direct the superhero film.

The studio also announced a July 15, 2011 release date for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II, which is the same date already chosen by Marvel for The Avengers. Warner Bros. also moved Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes to Christmas Day 2009, from an originally-planned November 13 release.

Other release dates set were Louis Leterrier's Clash of the Titans on March 26, 2010, Christopher Nolan's Inception on July 16, 2010, Jonah Hex on August 6, 2010 and Zack Snyder's recently-announced Sucker Punch on October 8, 2010.

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Has Captain America been cast?

First Showing recently interviewed Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers, Tin Man) about his new film Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. However, at the end of the interview it got really interesting.

I asked him about what he's doing next, as part of a question about what he looks for in scripts. And at the last second, he said that, "I think it's time for me to go back to playing some of the really good guys who can get the job done, like Captain America, maybe." I immediately asked him if that was a hint, and his response was even more confusing.

What do you make of that? Still very much a rumour but do you think McDonough is right for Captain America? Could he lead the Avengers?

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Samuel L Jackson may not be Nick Fury

In an interview today over at the LA Times blog Hero Complex, Samuel L Jackson has some disturbing news that all is not well at Marvel HQ, and that his role as Nick Fury may not be a sure thing.
In response to the character’s appearance in Iron Man 2, Captain America, and The Avengers, he says that the role may be recast (with a cheaper actor of course), or Fury may not appear at all. Jackson elaborates further:

I saw ['Iron Man' and 'Iron Man 2' director] Jon Favreau at the Scream Awards and we had a conversation. He said, ‘I hope things are working out for you because we’re writing stuff for you.’ Then all of a sudden last week I talked to my agents and manager and things aren’t really working that well.

There was a huge kind of negotiation that broke down. I don’t know. Maybe I won’t be Nick Fury. Maybe somebody else will be Nick Fury or maybe Nick Fury won’t be in it. There seems to be an economic crisis in the Marvel Comics world so [they're saying to me], ‘We’re not making that deal.’

I think this will be a huge mistake on Marvel's part if they let Jackson go. He's a big name, his appearance as Fury at the end of Iron Man took the comic geek world by storm. Marvel have got something special going with their recent run of superhero movie world building. I really hope they don't throw it all away.

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The Random Rumour Round-Up - Two-Face, Linda Hamilton returns to Terminator, Eva Longoria not the Wasp?

WARNING: As per the heading these are all rumours running around the internet.

Two-Face could be in the next Batman Film

When MTV News caught up with “The Dark Knight” star on the Golden Globes red carpet, he was notably less fatalistic about the possibility of reprising his role as Harvey Dent/Two-Face in a sequel to the record-breaking film.

“I think Harvey — if he’s not dead — is in a serious coma,” stated Eckhart, “and I’m not sure he’s coming out. They might pull the plug on him.” Seemingly firm words, right? Except even the notion that his alter-ego is still alive is a clear departure from previous statements where the actor was perfectly fine confirming Harvey’s death at the business end of a freefalling drop.

We know from our recent interview with producer Charles Roven that screenwriters Christopher Nolan and David Goyer have begun brainstorming ideas for a third “Batman” film…could something out of that have led to Eckhart’s about-face on Two-Face? His wink-wink-nod-nod answer seems to suggest that something else may be at play. Source - MTV

Linda Hamilton could be returning to the Terminator universe?

This rumor comes from ComingSoon, who also attended the special presentation held yesterday in New York City for Terminator Salvation.

In their chat with McG afterward, the director said that one option they came up with for the opening of the movie would be to have Sarah Connor do a voiceover. From there, ComingSoon spins it into a rumor with no real facts.

We know Linda Hamilton played Sarah Connor in the first two Terminator movies, but that doesn't mean they actually need her to do the voiceover, although I admit it would be cool to hear. Maybe they can convince her to record just a quick voiceover? Source - First Showing

Eva Longoria says she won't be in the Avengers?

E! Online’s Ryan Seacrest earned some geek cred when he cornered actress Eva Longoria on the Golden Globe's red carpet to ask about the rumor that she’s in the running for a role in Marvel’s much-anticipated superhero team-up film, “The Avengers.”

While photos of Longoria leaving Marvel Studios HQ with a stack of “Avengers” stories last year sparked speculation that she was researching a role in the film — with most guesses casting her as original Avengers team member Wasp — Longoria told Seacrest that the rumor was “not true.”

However, Longoria said she’d love to play a role in “The Avengers” if the opportunity presented itself. Source - MTV

What do you make of those rumours? Which ones do you want to be true? Which would work the best?

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