The Avengers has come and gone, and now we get to see Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) dealing with the trauma he apparently experienced in New York. He has insomnia, and it strains both his work on the latest Iron Man suit as well as his relationship with Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow). His bodyguard Happy (Jon Favreau) is now head of security for Stark Industries. And, all around the world, there’s broadcasts from a strange terrorist figure named “The Mandarin” (Ben Kingsley).

The movie opens with Stark recounting a New Year’s Eve party way back in 1999. He’s at a conference in Bern, trying to bed a buxom botantist, Maya (Rebecca Hall) before the year’s turnover. He’s interrupted by pimply geek Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who’s trying to start a think tank and wants Stark’s help. Stark blows him off, and if the use of Guy Pearce didn’t already suggest it, Stark states outright that it was the beginning of trouble.

Thirteen years later, Aldrich shows up at Stark Industries, again seeking support, though he does seem more interested in rubbing everyone’s nose in his success. He has created a new whatsit kind of technology called “Extremis” that allows the brain to regenerate tissue…and, somehow, make the patients melt things with their hands. (Dr. Curt Conners from the latest Spiderman films is going to be smacking his head with his tail when the inevitable crossover comes.)

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Back in January we reported on the breaking news that LEGO Marvel Super Heroes was coming. Yes, we know it was kind of a no brainer but it was great to see it was actually happening! Now we are proud to bring the first official trailer to the Flickcast faithful.

In the trailer below, check out the first official look at LEGO Spider-Man, Thor, Wolverine, Hulk, Iron Man, Deadpool and Black Widow who will be amongst the “more than 100 memorable characters to choose from, each with their own unique powers and abilities, players are in for a brick-smashing adventure”. Those actual gameplay isn’t shown, one can assume it will probably be similar in style to that of LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes. The trailer also gives a pretty good indicator who one of the game’s big bads is going to be.

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One thing you can be sure of, Iron Man 3 is gonna be at least pretty good and, more to the point, make a lot of money. In fact, our prediction is it will make a killing, mostly due to pent up demand for another tase of The Avengers.

That’s not to say Iron Man 3 won’t be able to stand on its own, it’s just that The Avengers was so awesome, fans are hungry for more and will take a bit of Iron Man 3 and, when it hits, the Captain America sequel, until Avengers 2 arrives.

Turing our full attention to Iron Man 3, though, we’ve got another trailer for it to share with you today. It actually came out a couple day sago and yes, we missed it. Sorry about that. We have no excuse.

In this one you get a bit more info on just who The Mandarin really is and what he has in store for our iron-clad hero. Check out the trailer after the break and look for Iron Man 3 in theaters on May 3rd.

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As most of you already know, Iron Man 3 will be the first Marvel Studios movie to come out after the mega-hit The Avengers. Of course, that means expectations will be extremely high for this third installment of the franchise. Early word on Iron Man 3 is that director Shane Black is focusing primarily on Iron Man and less on The Avengers and the bigger picture.

With that, and building the buzz, in mind, there’s a new trailer for the movie that’s dropped today. In it we see a bit of that focus as well as a whole bunch of ass-kicking action.

Gotta say it, we’re hooked. Can’t wait to see more. Look for Iron Man 3 in theaters on May 3rd.

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The Marvel Cinematic Universe is entering into untested grounds. While the first phase of films was groundbreaking in its structure, it still had the familiar grasp of forward momentum. Like a wave crashing onto the beach, the momentum is beginning to recede as Marvel gears up for their next big push.

So it falls on the capable shoulders of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man to embrace the narrowing focus of the universe, while still setting in motion the momentum for the next phase of Marvel films. So considering the pressure this film is under, it makes sense that we are seeing an expanded presence from this film’s marketing as the Super Bowl approaches.

We do not have the new TV spot, or a full trailer just yet, but Marvel Studios has just released a beautiful new poster to stroke everyone’s  anticipation glands.

The poster itself is a simple image of Iron Man, or as simple of an image of Iron Man you can get when he is plummeting to his certain doom. A cheery one-sheet that sets the tone for the ringer Tony Stark is set to be sent through.

You can check out the full new poster after the jump.

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Like much of the news in the gaming world, this bit was broken to everyone through Game Informer. Despite the fact that a print magazine is getting exclusives still amazes us, it is still exciting news none the less. It looks like Traveller’s Tales is already well underway to make the LEGO Marvel franchise a reality with the official announcement of a LEGO Marvel Super Heroes game.

Spider-Man. Hawkeye. Wolverine. Hulk. Magneto. Iron Man. Thor. Loki. Deadpool. Magneto. Captain America. From the looks of the early footage from Game Informer behind the scenes at Traveller’s Tales, it looks like this full list will be getting the LEGO treatment. It is worth noting that all these guys have already had LEGO figures made and there is potential for hundreds more Marvel characters to be brought into this brick world.

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If you love Iron Man (and really, who doesn’t?) this post is for you. Here’s the deal, directly from Marvel:

The lethal techno virus Extremis is out in the wild and for grabs to the highest bidder! It’s up to Tony Stark to contain it and that means creating a new suit of armor! When his greatest invention becomes his greatest mistake, Iron Man must act fast . . . and build faster!

Each issue of Iron Man includes a code for a free digital copy on the Marvel Comics app for iOS and Android devices. Additionally, each issue of Iron Man features special augmented reality content available exclusive through the Marvel AR app – including cover recaps, behind the scenes features and more that add value to your reading experience at no additional cost.

Check out some preview pages for the comic after the break. Look for Iron Man #1 to hit stores (and your digital devices) in November.

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Ten years ago if you told me the Avengers would be one of the highest grossing films of all time, I don’t think I would have believed you. Even when Marvel Studios started pushing out the solo films that would introduce the cast of the Avengers, most people would ask me (being their “comic book” friend) who Captain America, Thor and Iron Man were. For the most part, people knew who the Hulk was because of the cheesy television series and on occasion had at least heard of one of the other members of the team, but if you had asked them if it was a film they were going to be excited to see, most would probably have passed at the opportunity.

Conversely, a decade ago if you had talked to people about a Justice League movie, you probably would have gotten a much higher positive response rate. Just from DC’s Big 3 of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman (even before the Christopher Nolan series of films), people would have cared about the series. Fond memories of Christopher Reeves as the Man of Steel and any of the previous Batman movies were still acceptable enough to get people behind the idea of seeing them all together in one movie. But now, it’s a very different story if someone was going to try to put together a Justice League team movie.

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One of the coolest things about Comic-Con is the booths. For one, they are increasingly elaborate displays dedicated to the biggest in pop culture franchises. They often display life-size or actual props from these films, and they have babes, really what’s not to love?

The year Marvel is pulling no punches at their booth, with this epic display showcasing Iron Man’s hall of armor. We caught a glimpse of this in the first released image of Iron Man 3 a few weeks ago. Now all you lucky folks heading to San Diego this weekend have the opportunity to see this monument to awesome first hand.

Marvel is riding a huge wave of success with their cinematic adventures these days, and before the high of The Avengers has had a chance to ware off they roll out more things to wow us. This reminds me of the five or six-year run PIXAR had last decade where they had three films in production at any given time and they were all legit classics.

You can check out a larger image of the display after the jump, and keep your eyes peeled on The Flickcast for any and all cool news bits to come out of the Con.

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When it was rereleased on XBox Live Arcade three years ago, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was the hottest title for fighting game fans, even nine years after its release. What came next was the most hyped fighting game in recent memory with Marvel vs. Capcom 3. It’s no surprise that Capcom would take the popularity of the franchise as well as the recent publicity of Marvel because of the success of the Avengers and release two of the games that started it all.

Coming in September of this year to both the PlayStation Network and XBox Live Arcade is Marvel vs. Capcom Origins, a two for one deal with both Marvel Super Heroes and the first Marvel vs. Capcom. Before the X-Men crossed paths against Street Fighter, Marvel pitted its own heroes and villains against each other in Marvel Super Heroes. After the crossover success of X-Men vs. Street Fighter though, Marvel picked its heaviest hitters and brought them against Capcom’s all-star lineup in Marvel vs. Capcom.

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At the end of The Avengers we got a tease about the direction the next ‘phase’ of  the Marvel movie-verse would be heading. Seeing as how that film has currently made over $600 Million at the box office in the states alone, it is safe to openly discuss that Thanos was pulling the master strings in The Avengers.

That could have several different influences on the next phase of Marvel movies. We wont know for sure exactly what will happen in the next set of films, and the inevitable Avengers 2, but the new franchises Marvel sets in motion in this phase should give us some hints.

The guys over at Latino Review have allegedly figured out what one of those new franchise is going to be:

Marvel’s plan has been 2 superhero movies in their Unified Film Universe each year. Next year will bring us the new entries into the ‘Thor’ and ‘Iron Man’ and 2014 will bring us ‘Captain America 2′ and… GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY.

You can expect official confirmation in a few weeks at Geek Mecca. In the mean time we can start to piece together what these clues mean for the next three years of the Marvel Movie-verse. For one, the subtle hints at the Infinity Gauntlet story line in the post credit sequence gets a little stronger.

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Marvel is going to war. Well, more to the point, many of the Marvel characters are going to war in what promises to be a new comic event from the company that brought you Civil War and Secret Invasion.

So far we don’t know a whole lot about what’s coming except that Marvel has released a couple of comic covers to help build awareness of the event, and according to said covers, it all starts in October and might have something to do with water. We’ve got both of the full covers to share with you today so you can see for yourself.

Whatever it is Marvel promises to reveal all during Comic-Con in San Diego’ s Amazing Spider-Man panel on July 15th at at 12:30PM. If you can’t make it to San Diego, you can get all the deets at the company’s website.

Click through to check out the two full covers. More on this as it comes to us.

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Iron Man 3 will be the first Marvel Studios movie post-The Avengers, so expectations will be higher than ever for a Marvel movie. People have never been more excited about the Marvel Brand and with Marvel Studios blazing a new trail in franchise film-making, every new film is an exciting prospect.

Early word on Iron Man 3 is that Shane Black is pulling back on the shared universe concept and making sure his movie focuses primarily on Iron Man, and not a bigger picture. A dangerous, but ultimately smart choice intended on strengthening the character and his own franchise, much like solo series do in the comic world.

With that internal focus it is appropriate that the first official image from the film is very specific and very iconic to the Iron man franchise, the suits. Tony Stark looking over his seven previous suits, showing just how far he has come since that clunky Mark 1.

We might be reading too much into this, but with the film leaning heavy on the Exremis story line, there is a nice symmetry to this being the first official Iron Man image. Depending on how closely they follow Warren Ellis’ story the 8th suit will be an interesting conceptual departure from what we have seen thus far.

Take a look at the at the full size image after the jump.

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If there’s one thing Marvel has proven over the last several years it’s that Iron Man is as popular as ever. With the character’s succes in movies come a renewed level of interest in his comic book exploits as well.

Fortunately, Marvel isn’t resting on its laurels and keeps turing out great stories for its major characters, Iron Man included. Now, with things heating up in the Marvel U and Tony Stark having problems, a new Iron Man is coming to take matters into his (or her) own hands.

That’s the story in Marvel’s upcoming Invincible Iron Man #518. The story, from writer Matt Fraction and artist Salvador Larroca, concerns “the Spymaster’s rampage within Stark Resilient and that incident’s bloody end. The Mandarin is throwing everything he’s got at Tony Stark including amped up super villains. With a big target painted on his back, can Tony Stark make it out alive? Can the new Iron Man save him in time?”

I guess we’ll see when Invincible Iron Man #518 hits comic shops, the Marvel Comics app, and Marvel Digital Comic Shop on June 6. In the meantime, check out some previews for the comic after the break.

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I feel bad being so late to this movie—granted this is the opening day, but it seems that for the past two weeks, everyone in the world has seen it already. And so, for the past two weeks, everyone’s been raving about it and saying that it’s the greatest superhero movie ever made; it’s the best movie of the summer; it’s better than a big sex sandwich, and so on.

The premise, if it weren’t already evident from the stingers Marvel’s added to the very end of every one of their movies for the past five years, is that a group of superheroes—Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner)–need to recover the Tesseract, a glowing blue cube that generates unlimited energy and also, somehow, opens the portal to the realm of Asgard.

No sooner does S.H.I.E.L.D., a shadowy government agency overseen by a committee whose purpose in the film is somewhat tenuous, discover this than the Tesseract’s stolen by Thor’s adoptive brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who also hypnotizes Hawkeye and one of the scientists from Thor, Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) into doing his nefarious shenanigans, namely, opening a bigger portal to Asgard and invading earth.

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