The first Thor film was pretty well received. As an introduction to magical and mystical elements into a universe defined by more down to earth realism, Thor was a great success. So the sequel is going to be very anticipated, especially after The Avengers hits cinemas this summer.

The film has already played the director carousel, and is just now landing on a new writer to get things in order on the script. Deadline is reporting that Robert Rodat, whose credits include The Patriot and Saving Private Ryan,  has been brought on to do a re-write of the script currently in hand.

Rodat is reworking a draft by Don Payne. Disney will put the film into production later this year for release in 2013 with Chris Hemsworth returning as the title character.

With much of the principle cast returning, and a director with ability firmly in place, Thor 2 is fast becoming one of the most anticipate projects of the year. Normally in instances like this we would have some sort of idea what the sequel could be about, but with Thor and Loki playing primary roles in the upcoming Avengers film, we really don’t know what state our hero will be in come late 2013.

Everyone is awaiting the upcoming May 4th release of Marvel’s The Avengers. With Joss Whedon at the helm and years of building a fan base through the individual movies, hype about the upcoming culmination is pretty strong.

This trailer comes in time to grab the attention of action flick enthusiasts looking forward to a summer of great cinematic experiences, Amazing Spider-man andThe Dark Night Rises also being unleashed this summer.

The culmination of the incredible heroes working together to save the planet from the forces of evil is just as exciting in German as I’m sure the English language trailer release will be very soon. Though the German trailer is not as cohesive as I expect the English one will be, a few blips of the action scenes are shown as well as one or three great shots of Scarlett Johansson to get everyone’s interest piqued.

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Fans of the Marvel franchise had a pretty big feast this year with Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger hitting theaters back to back this year. Now that those stories have been established, it’s time to look forward and see what the sequels have in store for us.

The first getting ready for production is Thor 2, which has already lost original director Kenneth Branagh before the film even went into pre-production. Now we’re getting word from THR that the film is losing its second director in Patty Jenkins (The Killing).

The filmmaker was to have been the first female director of a Marvel Studios movie.

Alas, “creative differences” are being blamed.

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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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We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: It’s no secret that one of the most highly anticipated comic book movies of all time is Marvel’s upcoming The Avengers. Directed by Joss Whedon and featuring an all-star cast, the movie’s geek pedigree could not be better.

It has all your favorite characters including Iron Man, Captain America, Nick Fury, Thor and Scarlett Johansson in skintight leather. Come one, what more could you want from a comic book movie?

Recently, we shared some cool pics from the upcoming film. Today, we’ve got something even better: the first trailer.

In it we get our first real look at the film, the characters and what’s going to be the biggest movie of 2012. And man, does it look good.

Check it out after the break. The Avengers, which stars Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson, arrives in theaters on May 4, 2012.

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When was the last time you were excited about a move-game tie in? Was it Days of Thunder 2011? Tron? It was Tron…wasn’t it?

Games based on movies are notorious for their lack of ingenuity, polish, and often times, any respect for the source material whatsoever. This, of course, means that any tie-in games that do show potential can never see the light of day, as it would upset the balance universal karma… or something.

THQ studios in Brisbane were working on a promising Avengers game to release alongside the 2012 summer blockbuster movie. Keyword being “were”. Due to a “strategic realignment” of its development studios, THQ elected to close the studio down, halting production of any current projects. Normally, I’d say bully for THQ – with their recent releases falling into the “decently subpar” category ( Homefront and 40K: Space Marine among them) I would be alright with them taking a step back from their full-speed-ahead mentality.

But not this time. The Avengers was going to be a first person shooter / beat ‘ em up combo focusing on four-player co-op. Showcased in the pre-alpha footage below are Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, and Thor – all as playable characters. While some aspects (such as Cap throwing his shield) didn’t look brilliant, it still looked like a lot of fun; especially for any True Believers out there.

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Those who are glued to what Marvel Studios is doing with their story leading up to next year’s Avengers film know that Agent Coulson (played by Clark Gregg) is the glue that ties all of the films together.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent is the man that find’s Thor’s hammer, babysits Tony Stark, and helps wake up Captain America is the one who is able to hold our hands as we get ready for things to get heavy in Avengers next year.

Attached the the Blu-Ray and DVD release of Thor next week, Marvel is taking Coulson’s “glue” to another level with a series of shorts titled Marvel One-Shots in which Coulson literally ties the films together in short and comical scenes.

In the most recent short, titled A Funny Thing Happened on the way to Thor’s Hammer, things get a bit violent for Coulson as he treks through the desert of New Mexico.

Take a look at the teaser for the short after the jump, and catch the full thing on the Thor Blu-Ray and DVD, out next Tuesday.

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I know it might seem a bit confusing sometimes what with many comics having unusual or long names these days. Ultimate Comics New Ultimates anyone? Fortunately, this one isn’t that long or confusing. Or is it? Anyway,what am I talking about?

I’m talking about Marvel’s upcoming Ultimate Comics Ultimates #2, which we have a preview of for you today. Here’s some scoop on the book directly from our pals at Marvel.

Marvel is pleased to present your first look at Ultimate Comics Ultimates #2 from the rockstar creative team of Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic. Ultimate Comics Reborn continues as the entire world begins to crumble around S.H.I.E.L.D., and the Ultimates are powerless against it! With their leader nowhere to be found, can Thor, Iron Man & Nick Fury pull together and stop the Tomorrow People before it’s too late?

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say they probably will. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to read it and find out for sure. Fortunately, I’m going to get my chance pretty soon.

Look for Ultimate Comics Ultimates #2 to hit store shelves on September 28. Click through to check out the preview pages.

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Now that this year’s superhero season is safely in our rear view mirrors, it’s time to look forward…to next year’s superhero flicks! One of the big ones is obviously going to be The Avengers which hits mid year.

With that, Marvel is getting us ready for the epic flick with an awesome series of shorts to connect films like Iron Man 2, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, and Captain America: The First Avenger to the upcoming film about the superteam. We heard a while back about these shorts, titled Marvel One-Shots, in which S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Coulson (played by Clark Gregg) helps tie all of the films in together.

Now that Marvel’s first of two films from this year, Thor, is hitting DVD and Blu-Ray on September 13th, we’re getting a first taste of the release’s One-Shot in which Coulson has to enlist “The Consultant” in order to get Gener “Thunderbolt” Ross to help out the Avengers.

Now we’re getting the tie-ins that we’ve been making up in our heads since Marvel’s strategy to tie all of their films together began, and you get a first glimpse right now!

Check out the clip from the short after the jump, and catch the full mini-movie on the DVD and Blu-Ray release of Thor, in stores on September 13th.

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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. 

Right after the presentation late yesterday at Comic-Con in San Diego, Universal Pictures released the first promo images for their upcoming re-imagining of the Snow White story called The Huntsman. And to be honest, they look pretty cool.

In this images we get our first look at Kristen Stewart as Snow White, Charlize Theron as the Queen, Chris Hemsworth as the Huntsman and Sam Claflin as the Prince. The film also features Ian McShane, Eddie Izzard, Bob Hoskins, Toby Jones, Eddie Marsan, Steven Graham and Nick Frost.

Sadly, no pics of any of them just yet. Got to get the big characters and big actor names out in front first, apparently. According to reports from the panel, the proof of concept footage from the film looked pretty good too so if these images and that fact give us a bit of hope that the tend will continue and this movie will end up finishing the sam way.

The Hunstman opens on June 1, 2012. Click through to see all the rest of the images.

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