Now that Marvel has its own movie studio, it’s time for the House of Ideas to try out some fresh ones on the big screen. Sure, we all know the Iron Man and Thor sequels will make a billion dollars, but Marvel needs to think long term and use this opportunity to branch out.

Black Panther has never ranked in readership with Marvel’s flagship titles, but the movie-going audience is more diverse. A superhero film featuring a strong black cast could bring in a whole new audience to comic book movies. And the hardcore fans will always be along for the ride so long as the movie stays true to the source material.

Of course, in order to do that, the studio has to nail the casting.

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Since Bruce Timm’s Justice League Unlimited went off the air, there has been a void in animated programming based on comics. The closest we’ve come is Batman: Brave and Bold, which was good, but never as deep as JLU. All that has gone out the window with Disney XD’s newest show, Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

The show does an amazing job of mixing elements from all over the comic world, from classic Avenger stories, to Ultimates, and even New Avengers. With some great story and character elements thrown into each episode, it’s no doubt that we’ve found a new replacement for Justice League. Here’s a taste with the plot of tonight’s episode, titled “Welcome To Wakanda”.

The Black Panther strikes in a new episode of “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” on Wednesday, November 17 at 8:30 p.m., ET/PT on Disney XD. Seeking to reclaim his rightful place as King of Wakanda, the Black Panther seeks out the Avengers. It’ll take their combined might to defeat Man-Ape, Klaw and the forces of Hydra!

Check out the preview of the episode after the jump, and check out the full episode tomorrow night at 8:30 on Disney XD.

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Now that we are aware that Carnage, Cable, and Psylocke are all apart of the downloadable character pack for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 and we know the cost and release date, here’s a brand new character to add to that list. Welcome Black Panther, King of the Wakanda Jungle, to the game as a playable character.

Panther is 4 of the 5 alleged add-ons proposed for the game (not including Juggernaut), and will be an interesting addition to the game’s dynamic, especially fighting alongside his in-comic wife, Storm. Magneto is rumored to be the final member to be added to the game, but we’re still waiting for confirmation on that.

Along with the launch video for Black Panther, you can also check out the first images of the alternate costumes for Psylocke, Carnage, and Cable. They are all pretty straightforward, with Cable’s “modern-day” look being the coolest.

Check out all of the images and the launch video after the jump.

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After a few weeks of drooling, the developers of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 have finally given us a release date and price of their newest dowloadable character pack, including Psylocke, Carnage, Cable, Black Panther, and Magneto. The good news is that Xbox Live owners will get the pack this Thursday (November 5th), and the bad news is that gamers on the PlayStation Network have to wait until next week.

Though they haven’t announced yet that Magneto has been added to the pack, it was leaked a few weeks back when Psylocke and Carnage were first announced. The announcement for Black Panther came on Tuesday, and the alternate costumes for Cable, Psylocke and Carnage were released earlier this week as well.

Fans who worried about the price have nothing to stress about anymore, as the price has been announced as 800 Microsoft Points ($9.99 normally). This was the same price as the Hero and Villain Pack for the first Marvel Ultimate Alliance game back in 2007.

That price includes all five characters, new boosts, and brand-new simulator missions. Also available on that date, for the first time, is the Juggernaut downloadable character, which has only been available to fans who pre-ordered the game until now. You can also purchase Juggernaut for 160 Microsoft Points, or $1.99.

With the Marvel/Disney deal looming, the race is on for studios to secure properties. Variety is reporting that Columbia Pictures is working on a sequel to Ghost Rider, with David Goyer reportedly in talks to create the story, as well as supervise additional writers for the film. Nicolas Cage is expected to reprise his starring role as Johnny Blaze.

The resurrection of Ghost Rider as a franchise comes in the middle of negotiations with other Marvel characters at Sony, Fox, Universal and Paramount. Studios must move on these properties now if they want to retain the rights to their Marvel superheroes.  If the properties languish, Marvel Entertainment can reclaim the rights to those characters. This is exactly what happened with the Dr. Strange, Black Panther and Iron Man properties. Iron Man languished in development hell at New Line before Marvel turned the property into a self-financed blockbuster last year. And we all know how well that went.

Although Goyer stated through a spokesman, that he has not officially signed on to a second Ghost Rider, plans are already under way to base the sequel on a script Goyer penned years ago. Goyer’s, superhero work includes successful screen transfers of DC’s Batman Begins and Marvel’s Blade franchise.

Columbia isn’t the only one getting in on the properties action. Fox plans to reboot Fantastic Four with Green Lantern scribe Michael Green; develop a Wolverine sequel and other X-Men spinoffs; a Silver Surfer film; and a revamped version of Daredevil.

Sony recently tapped James Vanderbilt to pen the fifth and sixth installments of the Spider-Man series, and Universal is continuing work on Sub-Mariner. Paramount will continue to be the distributor for Iron Man 2 and are also expected to distribute the upcoming Thor and Captain America flicks.