And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth’s mightiest heroes and heroines found themselves united against a common threat. On that day, the Avengers were born—to fight the foes no single super hero could withstand! 

Yesterday in select cities nationwide, thousands of people were treated to a back-to-back marathon screening of all six Marvel Studios films. From Iron Man all the way to the midnight premiere of The Avengers, this epic, butt-busting extravaganza was sold as THE best way to celebrate the arrival of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

The roster of films was impressive, but the time commitment was daunting. For true Marvel movie fans was this celebration a good thing? Is the act of subjecting yourself to hours upon hours watching these films worthwhile? Does it diminish the quality or enhance the context when you watch them all back-to-back?

These were all questions I had to ask myself before settling in on my seventeen hour quest through the Marvel Movie-verse, and they were all questions that were answered quite emphatically by about the fifth hour.

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While there are some haters out there who think a superhero mega movie isn’t worth the time spent on popcorn, the majority of the country, and now, the world, seem to disagree. Disney and Marvel’s The Avengers opened up in specific worldwide screens this weekend, a week ahead of the domestic release on May 4th, and have already superseded expectations in their market, breaking records in Australia by having the second biggest opening weekend of all time behind the final Harry Potter film.

THR breaks down the rest.

The Marvel Studios and Disney tentpole grossed $6 million, compared to $7 million for Deathly Hallows Part 2. And Avengers opened 214 percent ahead of Iron Man 2 ($1.8 million).

Avengers, which is beginning its foreign rollout a week ahead of its domestic launch on May 4, also did record business in Taiwan, scoring the best Wednesday opening gross of all time in earning $1.2 million.

The tentpole is setting down in a total of 42 foreign markets this weekend. Avengers is expected to be a box office monster, both domestically and overseas. In North America, it could debut north of $150 million, based on the sizable strength of pre-release tracking.

Not too shabby for a film about a group of dysfunctional teammates who take down an alien race, right? Catch Avengers in theaters next Friday.

OK, so we know it is coming, we know The Avengers looms just a little more than a week away. The early critical reception is very high, the buzz couldn’t be better and many of you already have your tickets in hand for the midnight shows.

That is a lot of anticipation, and we are certainly feeling it here at The Flickcast. One of the biggest things I am looking forward to the most is the score by Alan Silvestri, as the resident film music nerd here, his take on an Avengers theme tickles my fancy way more than most.

When a film of this magnitude is on the horizon, it is hard to keep things like it’s soundtrack under-wraps, and as such the entire score has already leaked online. I am happy to say it is quite great in what little I have allowed myself to listen to, but it only makes my jonesing for the movie that much more intense.

So to alleviate a little of that pressure, here is a video of the main theme by Mr. Silvestri, cut together as a music video featuring all of the as yet released Avengers footage. This video lets you experience the kick assery of the main theme in the context of actual Avengers footage.

Check it out after the jump.

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One of the greatest perks of Disney buying Marvel Comics a few years back was that we would start to see some Marvel flourishes in the Disney parks. It is going to be a long process before we see Iron Man and Cap walking around the parks, due to deals Marvel previously had in place with Universal Studios for theme park based attractions.

Those deals don’t, however, hinder Disney from promoting their new features starring the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Soon to be zooming overhead at the Walt Disney World Resort is the Avengers themed monorail!

Wrapping the monorails is not a new tactic for Disney, who previously converted Disneyland monorails into light cycles prior to Tron: Legacy’s release. However, these are much cooler, and will serve as a great looking speeding billboard for Disney World park goers this summer.

Hopefully this small entry into the parks is just the first step that will lead to a full fledged Marvel Comics land in one of the Disney Parks. Heck why not an entire separate Marvel Park, complete with Hulk Smash Bumper cars, Iron Man flight simulators, Thor Thunder Chrurros and Black Widow ladies rooms!

The Avengers hits theaters everywhere May 4th.

The Hulk is one of those characters you might think writers would have a hard time creating stories for. After all, his power is pretty much only “hulking out” when he gets angry and smashing things. Cool, but not very deep and seemingly not very conducive to great storytelling.

Fortunately, the folks at Marvel don’t seem to have that problem and manage to spin complex tales involving this character and its alter ego, Bruce Banner, pretty much all the time. In fact, with the upcoming release of Hulk #50, you can clearly see just how far these stories have come.

Check out all the info below from the official Marvel press release as well as preview pages from the comic after the break. Look for Hulk #50 to hit stores on April 4.

Red Hulk’s hostile encounter in Las Vegas during Circle of Four is coming back to haunt him! The end of the world may be upon us, but that’s not all that’s headed for Red Hulk;

“The Red Hulk didn’t get out of that Venom story unscathed,” explains Jeff Parker. “Something followed him out of hell and it’s going to make the supernatural territory of Marvel break open and swallow our anti-hero whole!”

The stakes grow even higher, as a mysterious figure lurks in the shadows waiting to destroy Red Hulk and his fellow comrades! Will Red Hulk’s might be enough to match ghoulish malevolent magic? Can the help of Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Daredevil and more aid Thunderbolt Ross?

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Just when you thought things couldn’t get much better than the awesome trailer fans got during this year’s SuperBowl for The Avengers, things just got a little bit better.

The newest trailer just hit the intertubes, and boy is it sexy. You’ve got everything you wanted before the May release: more Hawkeye, Hulk, Stark, and even a better glimpse at the threat that could be Kree, Skrull, or whoever. This may also be the first time we’re getting to see more of Robert Downey Jr. being the lovable jerk that he was in the first two Iron Man flicks.

The trailer just hit the interwebs now, so be sure to check out the full thing after the jump, alongside the brand new payoff poster with the whole gang looking epic and awesome in the streets of NYC.

So what are you waiting for? Behold the wonder after the jump, and catch Avengers in theaters on May 4th.

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Any serious toy collector knows that it’s not Toys R Us that has the top quality new toys you need to display on your shelf. It’s the low production run collectibles that are sold at the comic book retailers that come from Diamond Select that you need to watch out for and snatch up the section they hit the rack. This past week at Toy Fair, Diamond revealed their upcoming slate of Marvel licensed products. This year’s line focuses on the Avengers movie, the Amazing Spider-Man film and a new lineup of Minimates.

Both the Avengers movie versions of the Hulk and Hawkeye are getting their first Marvel Direct treatment since the Hulk model will be updated from previous films and Hawkeye never his from his brief cameo in Thor.

In addition, the Amazing Spider-Man will be getting figures and busts made in the likeness of bother Spider-Man and the Lizard. These are the first images allowing people a true full unshadowed view of the Lizard who was disguised by shadow and fleeting high speed motion in the recent trailer.

Though Spider-Man purists may be able to get past the redesign of the Spider-Man costume, it is going to be a challenge for some to get over the look of the Lizard who somewhat resembles the look of the Goombas from the early 90s Super Mario Bros feature film. The duo will also be getting a Minimate treatment as well.

The Minimate line will also be giving other characters the treatment for the first time with new Minimates such as the new Ultimate Spider-Man and Dazzler. Take a look at the full gallery below and make sure to let us know what you think about all the upcoming Marvel characters from Diamond Select.

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For most young boys growing up in the 90s, there were two very prominent things in the pop culture world. One of them was the overabundance of sexualized female superheroes in comics thanks to some beautiful art by the likes of Rob Liefeld, Jimmy Palmiotti, and others. The other thing was more and more big-breasted women popping up in the WWF, which gave the young boys losing interest in the dragging story lines something more interesting to focus on.

Little did we know that only a few decades later, we’d be seeing the two pubescent fantasies combine into one massive phenomenon, as Vivid has announced Joanie “Chyna” Laurer has been cast as the lead in Axel Braun’s upcoming superhero porn parody, She-Hulk XXX. Here’s the blurb from the press release.

Chyna plays She-Hulk aka Jennifer Walters, cousin of Bruce Banner, best known to most of the world at The Hulk.  When her emotional state is sufficiently high, she is the strongest woman in the world. She has been a member of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Heroes for hire, the Defenders, Fantastic Force and S.H.I.E.L.D.  She-Hulk is also a highly skilled lawyer who has served as legal counsel to several of the superheroes when needed.

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That is right folks, earth’s mightiest heroes are finally hitting it big time. Going where only such luminaries as Snooki and Khloe Kardasian have tread before, the land of scented liquids. Jads International, a company known for their geeky scents, is rolling out a new series of colognes based on The Avengers.

A quick glance at the Jads website showcases some of the awesome scents they have rolled out in the past, including a Slave Liea perfume and a great series of Star Trek fragrances that include Red Shit and Pon Farr for Her.

The upcoming Avengers colognes are based on Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and the Hulk:

PATRIOT Cologne (Captain America)

A cologne that pays homage to the confident, stand-up-to-bullies, hard working average Joe in every man. PATRIOT Cologne is both reserved and sexy; like a symbol on a shield or a moniker on a motorcycle helmet. Fresh notes of green lime and white pepper are the first to hit with dry oak wood, sandalwood and tequila accords finishing the adventure. Perfect for any time or place, PATRIOT Cologne puts the Novus Mundus in your strong, sensuous hands for you to embrace and discover.

Check out descriptions of the rest of the series after the jump.

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It is quite possible The Avengers is the most important superhero film of all time. It could singlehandedly set a bar for audience acceptance in multi-film, continuity heavy, comic book franchise.

Not to mention the fact that this is essentially the sequel to four different individual franchises. So yeah, people pay attention when things like two new banners are unveiled.

Yahoo! Movies and Moviefone both debuted one of the two new character banners for The Avengers. The first depicting the main four heroes from previous franchises, and the other showcasing supporting characters and the villain of the movie.

These are very standard looking character posters, but there are a few interesting things we are seeing here. For one, this is the first time I have seen Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner and I see the character more so than the actor. Also, Captain America is the only one in mask and not showcasing a star of the film.

This might be some extreme over analyzation, but I think it really fits the character of Cap to stay in his mask, as opposed to the nigh celebrity in Tony Stark, who is on the poster sans helmet.

Compared to the Comic-Con connected character posters, these banners seem almost lazy. It is almost like they had a series of cool character posters and chained them together for the sake of creating something banner sized. It would have been much more exciting to see the comic style painted posters as a banner and these cut up into individual pieces.

Take a look at the full spread of posters after the jump.

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Marvel and Disney have been on a roll this year with their films Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger. Both films have pulled in three quarters of a billion dollars in the worldwide box office, and that number is still growing. So what’s the plan now?

Joss Whedon’s Avengers is already half in the can, and films like Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 are already in the works for a 2012/2013 release, but Disney has just inked a deal for two Marvel films to get 2014 releases on May 16 and June 27. What could those films be?

Popular opinion states that the June 27th release will likely be a sequel to Captain America, which makes the most amount of sense, as it’s a good amount of time after the first round of sequels hits. Another thought is a possible Hulk sequel/reboot as Mark Ruffalo is progressing the character’s story in next year’s Avengers.

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Marvel characters are popular these days, from multi-million dollar theatrical blockbusters to massively successful video games and cartoons. Now the iconic comic book heroes are invading another time honored medium that geeks the everywhere will drool over, cookie molds!

That’s right, Marvel has teamed up with Williams-Sonoma to produce a line of kitchen and bakeware exclusively for their stores.

Designed exclusively for the retailer, the products include renowned Super Heroes from the Marvel Universe including Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America and Iron Man.  Featuring retro character art and graphics, the Williams-Sonoma collection captures the charm and artistry of the original Marvel Comics. The program launches with an array of bakeware and kitchen essentials including Cookie Cutters, Pancake Molds, Adult and Child Aprons, Spatulas and Iced Cookies.

I, for one, am hoping this is a successful line so more obscure characters can get their time to shine in the kitchen. It is awesome to have Captain America pancake molds or Invisible Woman non-stick pans, but the world will truly be a better place when we have Ravage 2099 child aprons and Deathlok corn holders. Hopefully the people behind this epic cross over are thinking along the same lines.