With the hundreds of characters in the Marvel Universe, we don’t see comic-book-based movies slowing down any time soon. But before Marvel settle for minor characters, they’re picking off their major ones first.

In the works is The Black Panther. Finally, we’d have a film version featuring the king of Wakanda (fictional African nation). Marvel has yet to name who’ll be crowned as T’Challa but word has it that Lost actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is already in discussions with Marvel.

But these are all just rumors for now. Other actors hinted to play the role are Chiwetel Ejiofor, Djimon Honsou, and even Wesley Snipes.

Adewale will also be seen later this month in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Here’s an interview from MTV.

Superhero Hype just came out with a couple of pictures from the Iron Man 2 set.

This first one shows Robert Downey Jr. (who play Tony Stark/Iron Man) looking over a mock-up model of some place. Can’t quite make out the details but it’s supposed to be the plans for the Stark Expo complex.

This second one shows him working on his computer. Visible behind him are his armor suits! These include the original Mark I armor, the tattered Mark III armor from the last movie, a new one which looks like a pretty streamlined and stripped-down armor. We’re expecting War Machine in this movie so feel free to speculate what’s with silver Mark II costume.

Accompanying the pictures are some juicy tidbits from the set that hints on what can be in store for us in the movie like the blueprint for Captain America’s shield and a map of Antarctica. Iron Man is considered as a buildup for the other Avengers movies set to be released in 2011 and 2012.

During the Comic Con, Marvel Entertainment in partnership with Madhouse released teasers for anime series for the Japanese market. One of which is for Iron Man and it looks like it came out of the comic panels. There will also be one for Wolverine. The Anime Iron Man DVD will be released on 2010.
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I’m all for more superhero movies and I just can’t wait for Iron Man 2. By far, I’ve considered the first movie as the best superhero movie ever and I’ve defended that position by classifying The Dark Knight as a crime drama. Anyway, so Iron Man 2 has got the green light and Entertainment Weekly featured three of the cast on the cover.

Anyway, the second movie is undoubtedly a star-studded cast with Robert Downey Jr. reprising his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man. Gwyneth Paltrow will also be back as Pepper Potts. And yes, Samuel L. Jackson will return as Nick Fury.

New additions to the sequel are Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard as Rhodey. Mickey Rourke plays Whiplash and Scarlett Johansson provides the much needed TnA as she Black Widow. I think the picture says for itself on what she brings into the party.

To me, Iron Man is the best superhero movie ever. Well, that is because I consider The Dark Knight as a crime drama who happened to feature a guy in a cape. Anyway, Iron Man. It was pretty obvious that it will have a sequel with hints of War Machine and Mandarin shown in the first movie. And yes, fans, we have confirmation that these two will be in the next movie.

In a press fest for the upcoming Iron Man DVD, director Jon Favreau revealed a few details regarding the sequel. First, he’s intent on finally unleashing the War Machine character (Jim “Rhodey” Rhodes played by Terrence Howard). Second, he’s still struggling to envision the Mandarin character but he will undoubtedly use the Mandarin as the sequel’s villain. Third, the storyline might get influenced by the Invincible Iron Man arc penned by Matt Fraction.

And if you are fearing that Robert Downey Jr. won’t have any leeway to add some of his creative pizazz to the mix, he is currently working with Favreau and Justin Theroux (the script writer) on the early scripts.

The follow-up is set to be shown in April 2010.

Source: Sci-Fi

Quite honestly, I don’t quite like Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker. Sure he was able to pull off that dork-turned-hero role nicely but for the last movie, I was disappointed when he agreed to reprise his role. I think Jake Gyllenhaal would’ve made a better Pete. And oh, Kirsten Dunst. Yelch.

But I guess Maguire would be the real-world visage of Spider-Man as he is nearing locking an agreement to reprise the role for the next movie installment. Rumors had it that he might not be but Sony’s Columbia Pictures said that he would definitely be back. It’s a wonder why he wouldn’t want to. Save for the hectic shoot schedules and the fear of being stereotyped, who wouldn’t want a piece of the $2.5 B gross of the first three movies.

Possibly joining him for the Spider-Man 4 is director Sam Raimi. I can’t say that I liked his take for first three but for consistency’s sake, why not? Who knows? Maybe fourth time’s a charm. Raimi, in case he helms the film again, is also considering shooting the fourth and fifth installment continuously a la Lord of the Rings.

No word yet on whether Kirsten Dunst will be reprising her role as Mary Jane. But I do hope that they replace her once and for all. Once and for all!

Source: BBC

Okay, so we’re all done raving about how Iron Man kicked (and is till kicking) ass and how Robert Downey Jr. justified sporting those Iron Man buns of steel. The character really worked and I love RDJ’s humor all throughout.

Latest casting report for our much awaited Marvel movies – wrestler Triple H is in the running for the role of Norse god of thunder, Thor. I’d have to say that it’s probably because he loves to wield that sledgehammer in the WWE.

Though reports also have it that Kevin McKidd (for those of you who watched the Rome miniseries on HBO, he’s Lucius Vorenus) is also in the running. While I like British actors performance-wise, Triple H does have the bulk and a bit of Nordic features about him to possibly pull the role through. As long as he doesn’t talk like, “I’m Thor-uh. The God of Thunder-uh,” emphasizing each sentence with a grunt-like release of breath.

Marvel will probably continue to kick some Hollywood butt over the next few years as they bring their classics to the big screen and with much justified renderings. If you haven’t seen the end credits of Iron Man…

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This news isn’t so new, but I believe it’s worth posting anyway.

In 2004, Electronic Arts had a partnership deal with Marvel Comics, which gave rise to the “cross-over” beat-’em-up/fighting game Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects. To me, at least, the game didn’t sell that good, and it has a share of fairly bad reviews.

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