More promotional artwork has been released for Marvel’s The Avengers this week, which includes a brilliant 3D poster.

The Avengers, which is set to be released on 27th April, begins when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as SHIELD, finds himself in need of a team after an unexpected enemy threatens global safety. Following on from Marvel’s big-screen adventures that began with Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers unites the superhero team starring Chris Evans as Captain America, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Mark Ruffalo as The Incredible Hulk, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye.

Here are the wall displays thanks to Comic Book Movie, which are available to buy on Trends International:

It’s been almost a year since we first saw Chris Evans wield The Shield as Captain America, and while small children have spent the interceding months running around with a dis of their own, those of us who have (in theory) grown up have had to make do with a painted bin lid and an active imagination. Fortunately, the nice chaps at eFX collectibles are about to come to our rescue.

Due to arrive in the first quarter of this year, their newly announced range of Marvel collectibles will allow even the biggest of kids to re-enact the comic publisher-cum-studio’s movies.

Full details are yet to be released, but we do know that products available at launch will include Thor’s hammer, Iron Man’s mask, and of course, Captain America’s shield and cowl. Unfortunately with prices between $49 and $1,500, most of these goodies are only going to be available to the richest of fans, but you could always sell your computer/car/flat. I certainly plan to, and I’m sure Steve Rogers would approve.

Source Licensing.biz

Hat tip: The wonderful Vicki Isitt

Becoming an increasingly well-known name both here and across the Atlantic, Tom Hiddleston will soon be returning to the big screen to reprise his role as Loki from Thor in Joss Whedon’s upcoming The Avengers.

Hiddleston has been speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, via ComicBookMovie, and has said that the sequel to last year’s Thor will be going before cameras a little earlier than expected, and will start shooting this spring rather than the summer.

Just after Christmas, we heard that Marvel had finally found its director in Alan Taylor, best known for his work handling directing duties on Game of Thrones, and it looks like they’ll be ready to press on with the film very soon.

“There is a Thor 2. It’s been green-lit, and I think it will start shooting in London in the spring. Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman are coming back. I haven’t seen the script. This is where I feel the Marvel snipers are waiting and watching across the street…”

Excellent news. Though the search for the director has been a complicated one, with Patty Jenkins exiting from the job over creative differences late last year, the project is clearly well underway with Taylor now on board, and it sounds like things should be starting up here in the UK very soon. If you’re living in London, keep your eyes peeled for catching Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, or Tom Hiddleston walking down the street. You’ll be able to spot Hemsworth especially on account of the awesome hammer he’ll be wielding.

The project is one of two that have been officially announced as in development, with the other of course being Robert Downey, Jr.’s return in Iron Man 3. The third in the Iron Man arc will be out on 3^rd May next year, with Thor 2 following a few months later on 15^th November.

And before all that, we can of course look forward to seeing the whole Marvel superhero cast together in one epic film in the form of The Avengers in just a few months’ time. In case you’ve missed any of it, you can catch up on all of our coverage for it here. The Avengers will be out here in the UK in 3D on 27^th April, which puts the countdown clock at less than three months. Anybody else just a little bit excited?

Have you ever had that burning desire to put your questions to Joss Whedon, creator of such iconic TV shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly, and of course the director and co-writer of Marvel’s upcoming The Avengers?

Of course you have! And now could be your chance. Collider report that Marvel have announced that they will be hosting a Global Twitter Chat with Joss Whedon, Tom Hiddleston (Loki), and Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson), in promotion of the upcoming film. The session will be half an hour long, kicking off on Tuesday, 31^st January, at 7pm (11am PST).

So if you’re a fan of the writer-director or the actors, then this could be your chance. Undoubtedly, that half an hour will be incredibly busy, and of course they won’t be able to answer everyone’s questions. But a) you have to play the game to win it, and b) it will be interesting to see the answers to any questions that are picked.

Fans in the US also have the chance to win The Avengers prize packs by answering trivia on The Avengers, running once a day between yesterday (Friday 27th January) and next Friday, 3rd February. The news also comes with an announcement saying that there’ll be a new 30-second TV spot for the film aired during the Superbowl next Sunday, 5^th February, and a 10-second teaser will be treated to fans who log in to the Q&A on Tuesday – yet another reason to join in.

If you’re on Twitter, your attention should be directed to @Avengers for more information. And if you’re not yet signed up, now is certainly the time to do it. You have two days to get your account up and running.

The Avengers will be with us in 3D on 27^th April, a week before the US on 4^th May, and in case you’ve missed anything, you can click here for all of our coverage of the upcoming film. For now, here’s the full press release announcing the Q&A and the TV spot for your reading pleasure:

BURBANK, CALIF. (January 27, 2012)–Marvel Studios announced today that they will be sponsoring a Global Twitter Chat on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 11 a.m. (PST) with cast members and the director of their highly anticipated action-adventure “Marvel’s The Avengers,” opening in theaters on May 4, 2012. The 30-minute live tweeting event features writer/director Joss Whedon and cast members Tom Hiddleston and Clark Gregg.

Fans around the world will be able to participate in the Q&A on Twitter by using the @Avengers handle and the #Avengers hashtag. Participating fans will have the opportunity to see a 10-second tease of the 30-second Super Bowl spot that will air during Super Bowl XLVI on February 5 on NBC. They will also have a chance to answer “Avengers” trivia for a chance to win “Avengers” prize packs.

International fans will be able to submit questions for the talent in their native language through a global translation tool provided by Ortsbo.com. The chat will be moderated by Marvel’s @Agent_M.

“Marvel’s The Avengers” is the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, NickFury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.

Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, JeremyRenner and Tom Hiddleston, with Stellan Skarsgård and Samuel L. Jackson, and written and directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since.

“Marvel’s The Avengers” is presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures. The film is being produced by Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige and executive produced by Alan Fine, Stan Lee, Jon Favreau, Louis D’Esposito, Patricia Whitcher, Victoria Alonso and Jeremy Latcham. The film is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Follow @Avengers on Twitter for more details.

The marketing campaign is well and truly underway for Joss Whedon’s upcoming The Avengers, which brings together all of the awesome characters we’ve loved watching over the past few years in their separate movies for one epic superhero blockbuster.

Just last night, we put up some great images and specs of Tony Stark’s $9m. car that’s on display at Sundance to promote the film, and today we’ve got more brilliant stills to share with you. Marvel have released five hi-res stills, with thanks to ComicBookMovie.com for the tip-off, three of which we’ve seen before just a few days ago, but only as scans from Empire Magazine.

We also heard talk yesterday about the possibility of Captain America 2 going into production this year following Iron Man 3 and Thor 2, as well as the S.H.I.E.L.D. movie potentially following those three. Marvel are certainly firing on all cylinders, and doing one hell of a job at it too.

Whedon is directing The Avengers from a script he’s co-written with Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk), and all of our favourite superhero cast from the Marvel Universe will of course be reprising their roles from recent years, including Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr., with Paul Bettany returning as JARVIS), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, taking over from Edward Norton), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlet Johannson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Coulson (Clark Cregg), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

The Avengers will be released here in the UK in 3D on 27th April, precisely three months from today. Anybody else excited? (As if I even need to ask.) You can catch up on all things The Avengers-related right here, and if you’ve not yet seen it but would like to, I’ll particularly point your attention towards the rather impressive (read: utterly incredible) first trailer that surfaced late last year. And as usual with these new images, you can click to enlarge. I especially love the second one of Samuel L. Jackson/Nick Fury at the head of the table, staring down the camera. And Jeremy Renner’s veins look a little bit like they’re about to explode in the fourth shot. Awesome stuff.

On the off chance you’ve not been following Marvel’s superhero films in recent years, here’s a quick run-down for you: They’ve been amazing. We’ve had five so far in the current Marvel Cinematic Universe: Iron Man in 2008, followed by The Incredible Hulk that year, then Iron Man 2 in 2010, followed by Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger last year.

We’re getting the highly anticipated The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, on 27^th April this year, and both Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 are set to go into production to be released on 3^rd May, 2013 and 15^th November, 2013, respectively.

Word now comes via Collider that Marvel’s Untitled 2014 release dates, scheduled for 4^th April and 16^th May, could be filled by the Captain America sequel and a S.H.I.E.L.D. movie, which would just be awesome to get in the space of a month and a half.

Speaking to IMDb Television, Neal McDonough (who played Dum Dum Dugan in the first film) had the following to say of the Captain America sequel:

“They’re planning [to go into production] for the end of this year, because Marvel does one film at a time. So they’re going to do Thor 2 and as soon as Thor has wrapped, they’ll do Cap 2. Hopefully right after that, we’ll jump into Nick Fury because that’s the one I’m looking forward to more than anything.”

That Nick Fury movie is what is expected to be the S.H.I.E.L.D. movie that Marvel have in the works. Of course, it has to be taken with a pinch of salt, both because McDonough might not be privy to all of Marvel’s information, and because he’s only hopeful rather than sure, but it would definitely be interesting to get Iron Man 3, followed by Thor 2 and Captain America 2, and then another round of everyone back together for S.H.I.E.L.D. as they will be in The Avengers.

If Captain America 2 is set to take one of the 2014 releases but the S.H.I.E.L.D. movie isn’t, there are plenty of other possibilities that it could be, with Marvel’s Kevin Feige having already spoken about doing solo films for both Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). And other films like Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man, and The Inhumans and Guardians of the Galaxy are also being developed, so there are a number of possibilities.

At the very least, I think the Captain America sequel makes a lot of sense for one of those 2014 dates. We got the first Thor and Captain America films within a few months of each other last year, and the scheduled release dates could well see the same thing happening at the end of next year and the start of the year after. What comes next, we can only hope for. Provided The Avengers does as well as we’re all expecting it to, we’ll no doubt have The Avengers 2 to look forward to somewhere down the line as well. As always, more news as we get it.

For now, you can click on over here to bask in the awesomeness that is the first trailer for The Avengers.

A quick word of warning before things get too spoilery in here: should you wish to watch The Avengers with fresh eyes, this news really isn’t for you.

Really. I’m being serious. This is (potentially) massive and (if confirmed) it can never be unseen.

We ready? Good.

In a recent interview with The Radio Times, Jenny Agutter made a throwaway remark which has hurled the internet into a frenzy of speculation (via Total Film).

Having just admitted that she was only allowed to see a copy of the script once on set, having been sworn to secrecy (better luck next time, Marvel), the actress, who plays a council woman in the upcoming movie, passingly alluded to two nearby Winnebagos, one belonging to Iron Man and the other to…Spider-man.

“But”, I hear you ask, “huh”? While in the comic books Spider-man has been known to work with The Avengers, even joining their number in The New Avengers series, it was presumed that he wouldn’t be featuring in the cinematic series any time soon, not least because the big screen rights to the character currently sit with Sony.

Should there be more to Agutter’s claims than a simple slip of the tongue or a harmless confusion of her superheroes, this revelati0n would mean some sort of agreement has been reached between Sony and Marvel allowing the crossover cameo to take place, furthering Marvel’s mission to have all of their superheroes living in the same universe (until the next reboot, anyway) and presumably providing Sony with some free publicity before their The Amazing Spider-man reaches screens in July.

What might at first glance seem like quite an exciting possibility, providing of course Joss Whedon can find room to do justice to another iconic character, however, soon raises more questions. Would Sony really want their suited and booted Spider-man revealed prior to the release of their own origin story? Who would portray the character? When exactly would the cross over take place, in either franchise’s timelines?

Marvel will no doubt be quick to either confirm or deny this sizeable leak of information, but in the meantime it’s certainly a juicy prospect, particularly if Whedon can pull it off. What do you think? Would you like to see everybody’s favourite neighbourhood Spider-man crop up in The Avengers, even if it’s just as a cameo or end of credits Easter egg? Or is this one cross over too many?

Joss Whedon’s upcoming The Avengers is by far one of the most highly anticipated films of 2012. We’ve been seeing plenty of great things from the project in recent months, with the mind-blowing first trailer arriving back in October last year. If you’ve missed that and all our coverage for the film, you can catch up on it here.

Some brilliant new promo images have now been released for the film, courtesy of The Borneo Post via ComingSoon.net. For six days starting tomorrow, these red envelopes (which Wikipedia tells me are also known as hóngbāo, Ang Pao, Lai See, Sae Bae Don, and Lì Xì in a variety of Asian languages) will be given out to cinemagoers in a handful of Asian theatres, in celebration of the Chinese New Year.

Whedon is directing from a script he’s co-written with Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk), and all of our favourite superhero cast from the Marvel Universe will be reprising their roles from recent years, including Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr., with Paul Bettany returning as JARVIS), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, taking over from Edward Norton), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlet Johannson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Agent Coulson (Clark Cregg), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

The plot is being kept fairly under wraps, as is to be expected, but it’s a safe bet that it’s going to be nothing short of immense. Whedon can do no wrong in my eyes, and I can’t wait to see his take on bringing together all the Marvel characters from their recent slate of superhero films.

You can no doubt easily understand why it featured in so many of our Most Anticipated Films of 2012 here at HeyUGuys. The Avengers will be with us in 3D on 27^th April here in the UK, which is a date that can’t come fast enough. Only three more months to go. Until then, here are the great new promo images of the red envelopes. As usual, you can click to enlarge.

With all of the summer’s big hitters gearing up for the home stretch of post-production, editing, looping, scoring and the like, we can expect a steady stream of stills, trailers, clips and so forth to issue out of the machine that is the Wood of Holly. Indeed, it is less than a month until Super Bowl Sunday in the US, when there will be a massive splurge of TV spots for every summer release you can think of, but in the meantime we have at least a new still from Marvel’s The Amazing Spider-Man, which (come July) will tell us how well audiences will respond to a reboot of what has until now been their most financially and critically successful character.

Much as I enjoyed the first two Raimi Spider-flicks (and I really, really did), I’m far from in thrall to his vision of the web-slinging one and I am keen to see what a lower budget, a more stripped back iteration of the character and Andrew Garfield’s acting chops make of Spidey.

Until we get something more meaty (and a proper trailer cannot surely be far off), we have this still from Entertainment Weekly, via ComicBookMovie.com to enjoy, with a mask-less Peter Parker readying to spin some web and leap into action. He seems to have the characterisation of Parker and Spider-Man nailed down from the little we have seen so far. Here’s hoping for a cracking film….

Marvel have just released the first teaser trailer for their movie tie-in game for The Avengers. It’s called Marvel: Avengers Alliance and it’s going to be built within Facebook. You can already sign up to the page by clicking here and ‘liking’ the page.

Here’s the blurb:

Marvel Avengers Alliance, Marvel’s first Facebook game coming soon! Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Hawkeye and Black Widow join forces with Wolverine, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and more to in this new free-to-play strategy game.

Players are recruited as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. to assemble and lead teams of superheroes with a mission to keep New York City safe from the clutches of Marvel supervillains. Train your team to unlock unique abilities and attacks, and customise each character’s stats. Face-off against friends in super-powered asynchronous player versus player battles using your Facebook stats.

The Avengers movie is set for release in the UK 27th April, is directed by Joss Whedon and stars Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Jenny Agutter, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany and Robert Downey Jr.

Click here for all our coverage of The Avengers.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark has taken the highest single-week takings of any show in Broadway history, the BBC reported last week.

The musical, written by U2′s Bono and The Edge, took $2.9m (£1.8m) over nine performances last week, beating the previous record set by Wicked, which took $2.2m (£1.4m) over an eight-show run in January last year.

The Edge said it was a “proud day” for everyone who has been involved with the show, which is the most expensive Broadway show to be produced costing $75m (£48m) to make.

According to figures collected by co-producer Jeremiah Harris and fellow producer Michael Cohl as well, it is thought that the production has been seen by more than 600,000 people during the past year, and that half of all attendees to the musical had never been to a Broadway show before.

The show was, however, initially plagued with many problems, including injuries to some of the cast members, opening night delays, poor reviews and unpaid royalty claims.

Harris admitted that he and Cohl “came into a very difficult situation” when they signed up, and went on to comment that, “We’ve changed the team. We added players when we needed to. We’ve moved some players around to different positions. And the success we’ve had here is the culmination of all those people working hard to get done what we’ve gotten done.”

But, “For all the problems, there was magic on the stage,” said Bono. “Things did get chaotic and messy after our producer Tony Adams died. But this week’s news has us all giddy again and we are raising our glasses to Tony, to our indefatigable cast, crew, creative – and production team.”

Here’s a preview of the stage production for Marvel’s superhero character:

The first of our superhero films from Marvel this year, Thor was an impressive box office and critical success when it came out in April this year, taking just shy of $450m. from its $150m. budget.

Pretty much ever since it found such success in cinemas, there’s been talk of a sequel, and it officially came out in the summer that the original’s director, Kenneth Branagh, was opting out of returning for the sequel, in what seemed to be a completely friendly parting.

Since then, there was first talk of Brian Kirk, best known for his work on Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones, coming on board the project, but then in October, Patty Jenkins officially signed on for the director’s job instead.

Earlier this month, though, word came that Jenkins and Marvel had parted ways based on creative differences, and the search has been back on since then to fill the empty chair. It looks like Marvel have now done just that, with Deadline reporting that Emmy-winning Alan Taylor will be the director for the superhero sequel.

Taylor’s name may not be a household name, but from what I’ve seen of his work, he’s a brilliant director, and after the awesome first film in which Branagh was unexpectedly cast, I can’t wait to see whatTaylorbrings to the table for the second film.

The director is largely best known for his TV credits, which include episodes on The West Wing, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, and Game of Thrones. So essentially, though you may not know his name well, you can trust that he’s an experienced director who knows exactly what he’s doing.

Thor was of course led by Chris Hemsworth, which did a great job of boosting the actor’s rising star, with support coming from the brilliant Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgård, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, and of course, Clark Cregg reprising his role as Agent Coulson.

Marvel president Kevin Feige gave a few details of what we can expect from the sequel back in September:

“[Thor 2 will] primarily be the journey of that character, of he and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and how the new dynamic with his father is working out, as well as what are the broader stakes for the Nine Worlds.”

We can look forward to seeing a lot more of Hemsworth next year, kicking off first with the Joss Whedon-scripted The Cabin in the Woods in April, followed two weeks later by the Whedon-directed and highly anticipated The Avengers (in which he will of course reprise his role as Thor), followed by Snow White and the Huntsman opposite Kristen Stewart in June, and then the Red Dawn remake towards the end of the year.

With all of them having been completed or in post-production, Hemsworth is set to next turn his attentions to Ron Howard’s Rush, which sounds like it’s going to be amazing. WithTaylornow on board, Thor 2 should be moving forward nicely with Hemsworth back in the lead, and should still be able to meet its target of a November, 2013 release date. More news as we get it.

While we were fast asleep last night, Sony was making some rather awesome changes to the official website for The Amazing Spider-Man updating it with brand new images and full character descriptions for all the main characters. We’ve seen so many Spider-Man films now that it’s becoming a little old hat but that doesn’t stop people clicking to see the new images of which there are many. Scroll down below to view and click them to enlarge.

I absolutely love the image of Garfiled (Spdier-Man) sitting down with the mask looking up at him. In fact, there isn’t an image here I don’t really like!

The Amazing Spider-Man stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, is directed by Marc Webb and hits UK cinemas 4th July.

Peter Parker – Ever since Peter’s parents disappeared 13 years ago, he has struggled to find his purpose in life. Now, on the brink of unlocking the mystery about what happened to them, he must face the ultimate challenge – one that has been created within the laboratories of Oscop.

Gwen Stacy: Smart, charismatic and rebellious, Gwen is the chief Intern at Oscorp, a position she takes very seriously. But her life takes a complicated turn as she watched both her boyfriend, Peter, and her mentor, Dr. Connors, undergo radical transformations.

Captain Stacy: An esteemed police officer for over twenty years, Captain Stacy is the public face of the NYPD who leads the department’s investigation into Spider-Man’s vigilantism. The only thing Captain Stacy vows to protect more than the city is his family – and particularly his only daughter, Gwen.

Dr. Curt Conner: One of Oscorp’s leading scientific minds, Dr. Connors attempts to engineer a revolutionary regeneration serum to help re-grow limbs and human tissue. His motivations are unclear as to why he elects to be the first human test subject – but what becomes evident is that something goes horribly wrong.

Thanks to CBM for the heads up

Not quite as good in my opinion as the new dark poster that was released on Friday night but still loving these three new banners for The Amazing Spider-Man which come from ImageShack via Comic Book Movie.

Marc Webb directed this latest installment in the Spider-Man franchise with a cast that includes Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Sally Field, Martin Sheen, Denis Leary, Chris Zylka and Irrfan Khan.

Peter Parker (Garfield) grapples with both human problems and amazing super-human abilities.

The Amazing Spider-Man, the first instalment in a possible new trilogy, is expected to be released in U.K. cinemas on July 4, 2012.

Click the images below to enlarge and let us know what you think of the images in the comments below. Prefer the darker style or this more cartoony look?

Columbia Pictures have premiered a brand spanking new poster for Marvel’s The Amazing Spider-Man, and it’s a doozy.

Directed by Marc Webb, The Amazing Spider-Man stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Sally Field, Martin Sheen, Denis Leary, Chris Zylka and Irrfan Khan.

Peter Parker (Garfield) grapples with both human problems and amazing super-human abilities.

The Amazing Spider-Man, the first instalment in a possible new trilogy, is expected to be released in U.K. cinemas on July 4, 2012.

Check out the new poster below:

Source: Super Hero Hype

Surprising news from Deadline tonight as it appears that Patty Jenkins has quit as director of Thor 2.

The Marvel Studios sequel is set to roll into cinemas in July of 2013 and is already in pre-production while the studio wait (as do we all) for the highly anticipated Avengers movie to bust blocks next Summer. Kenneth Branagh did a fine job with the first Thor movie, starring Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman, which had a wit not often seen in the Marvel and DC movie adaptations. Branagh was very complementary about the appointment of his successor who is best known for directing Monster as well as episodes of The Killing and Arrested Development, but reaffirmed his decision not to direct the sequel.

Tom Hiddleston, who plays Loki and will be returning along with Hemsworth and Portman in the second film, recently spoke to MTV about Jenkins,

[Jenkins is] amazing…I actually had dinner with her earlier this week and she’s sensational, a really amazing woman and quite clearly an amazing director. Weirdly enough, you won’t believe me, but this is God’s honest truth, before I started shooting ‘Thor,’ Ken Branagh gave me two films to watch. He said, ‘Listen, this is sort of not related, but I want a quality of vulnerability from your performance, which is similar to these two things.’ One of them was Peter O’Toole’s performance in ‘The Lion In Winter’ and the second was Charlize Theron’s performance in Monster.

She clearly has an incredible grasp of story and character and a very powerful emotional engine behind her, which I think is what we need.

The thing about Patty is she has an innate courage and complete understanding of the muscularity of a character like Thor, but also a sensitivity and a nobility and things like ‘Monster’ and ‘The Killing’ which she directed, don’t shy away from darkness, they don’t shy away from murkier aspects of human nature and I think her fearlessness about all that will make ‘Thor 2′ quite interesting.

The report cites the reason for the exit as ‘creative differences’ so where this leaves the sequel’s tone is unclear. Surely Marvel would have been on the same page as Jenkins when the script was offered, and what Hiddleston says points towards a darker, more fearless Thor movie, so perhaps there’s a change in the sequel’s direction as well as director.

Place your bets on who is to sign up to take on the next film now…

Here’s some lovely lovely new banners from The Avengers courtesy of those lovely (did I mention lovely) people from Marvel.

The Avengers is directed by Joss Whedon​ and after you see this trailer, you’re going to be very keen to see the completed movie when it’s released 27th April 2012.

The Avengers will see many of you favourite Marvel characters all come together to create a rather epic movie. The cast of the new movie includes Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth​, Scarlett Johansson​, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner​, Mark Ruffalo​, Tom Hiddleston​, Jenny Agutter​, Gwyneth Paltrow​, Paul Bettany​ and Robert Downey Jr.​ with all of them getting a brand new poster for their trouble.

Man I love these! Click to enlarge!

Source: Yahoo! Movies , Moviefone

The Avengers is the next Marvel movie that we’re all very much looking forward to after Captain America: The First Avenger. The Avengers is directed by Joss Whedon and after you see this trailer, you’re going to be very keen to see the completed movie when it’s released 27th April 2012.

The Avengers will see many of you favourite Marvel characters all come together to create a rather epic movie. The cast of the new movie includes Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Jenny Agutter, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany and Robert Downey Jr.

If you’ve missed all our coverage from The Avengers, you can keep track of it all here.

Earlier today, we had a trailer for the trailer but now, the full version is here in all it’s glory! Without further ado, he’s the trailer for the movie for your viewing pleasure!

It’s very hard to ignore the upcoming Avengers movie. There is so much excitement surrounding its release next year and there has even been some exclusive footage released on the Captain America Blu-ray/DVD.

But we mustn’t forget some of the other epic comic films coming up including Thor 2, due for release in 2013. Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman were both great in Thor but both the chemistry and story of the characters felt slightly lacking. That could be because the characters didn’t get much screen time together. That’s apparently all going to change in the sequel.

Marvel president Kevin Feige has said:

“[Thor 2 will] primarily be the journey of that character, of he and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and how the new dynamic with his father is working out, as well as what are the broader stakes for the Nine Worlds.”

Thor 2 sounds like it will have more depth than the first one and with rumours surfacing that Monster director Patty Jenkins will take over the reins, we should be in for a treat.

Source: Collider.

One of the reasons I assume most people waited hours in line at todays Walt Disney Studios panel was to see “The Avengers.” Once we sat down in the D23 Arena, they made us wait for 2 ½ hours before giving us anything. Let me tell you, it was worth the wait.

Kevin Feige came out to talk a little bit about the production and how Disney fits into the Marvel universe.  There are two weeks left of filming but the studio gave us a nice little treat to keep us occupied.

The clip opens with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in the custody of S.H.I.E.L.D. He is locked in a futuristic looking cell onboard the helicarrier. Nick Fury (Sam Jackson) enters the room and quickly sets the tone of the scene.  Fury informs Loki that if he attempted to escape or even scratch the glass in his cell, he would pay price.  Fury heads over to a computer screen hits a few buttons and the floor beneath Loki’s cell opens up revealing that they are 30,000 ft in the air and he wouldn’t hesitate to flip the switch.

Loki smirks and respinds to Fury’s power play “It’s an impressive cage but not built for me” to which Fury responds “Built for something a lot stronger than you.”

At this moment it’s reviled that members of the Avengers are watching from another location this interaction on screen.  The camera pans directly to the man the cage was made for, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo).  Loki seems to be very aware of the trouble the team has with their jolly green giant. He continues his verbal assault by asking Fury “How desperate are you to call upon such creatures to defend you?” To which Fury snaps back “How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can’t control (Cosmic Cube)…you talk about peace but you kill for fun…

Loki, who seems to know more then he lets on returns with an eerie retort. “It burns you to be so close, to have power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share.” A calm comes over the actor, “Allow me to remind you of what real power is.”

The scene ends with Sam Jackson shining through Fury as he walks out on Loki “Well, let me know if ‘Real Power’ wants a magazine or something.” As Fury leaves, Loki turns to one of the several camera’s pointed at him fully aware he’s being watched. Over the shoulder of Captain America the monitor goes dark and Bruce Banner speaks for the first time.  “He really grows on you doesn’t he?”

The footage continues with a bit of an action montage highlighting a conversation Tony Stark is having with someone off screen.  As Stark mixes a drink he states “Let’s take a head count?”

“Two world-class assassins,..” The scene cuts to Hawkeye and Black Widow doing work.

“..a demigod..” cut to Thor in what appears to be a fight against Captain America if you can believe it.

“…a living legend who actually lives up to the legend…” as Steve Rogers looking insanely cool in his updated uniform.

He wraps up his list with “And you, big fella!” Stark continues talking to his off-screen counterpart, “You’ve managed to piss off every single one of them!”

The camera cuts to reveal Tony has been talking to Loki the entire time, to which the Norseman reacts foolishly “I have an army,”

Stark fires back, in the only way Stark can, and with full confidence, “We have a Hulk” Which leads into our very first look at The Hulk in action as he roars as the screen goes black.

My Reaction:

I will say the tone of the film seems darker than I anticipated.  I have always been on the “glass half empty” side of this project.  I have, since day one, felt like this film might be too ambitious for a guy like Joss Whedon. However, I feel like this could actually be everything Avenger fans have been waiting for.  In the clip described above, it really seems like The Hulk may play a more central role than one might have thought.  He seems to be the loose canon that could affect the outcome of the film.  Both good guys and bad guys seem to be very aware of his situation.  It was nice to see, not only Mark Ruffalo, but also The Hulk in his true form as well.   It also confirmed my assumptions that Tom Hiddlestons Loki may possibly the greatest villain of the current Marvel universe.  He’s creepy and steals every scene. For the first time since the project has been announced I must say, I can’t wait to see this movie!