Opening in theaters on May 4th is the highly anticipated and soon-to-be summer blockbuster The Avengers, which was produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film marks the culmination of a promise that began in 2008 with Iron Man and continued in the years to follow with Iron Man 2, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger, introducing new Marvel characters that all exist in one unifying cinematic Marvel universe. Marvel Studios has succeeded in the impossible, bridging together several different film franchises to create one world where all of Marvel Studio's on-screen characters can coexist and form the popular superhero-team The Avengers, based on the classic comic book co-created by the legendary Stan "The Man" Lee.

The Avengers was written and directed by fanboy favorite Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Cabin in the Woods) and truly stars an all-star cast that includes Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2) as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Evans (Captain America: The First Avenger) as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Mark Ruffalo (Shutter Island) as Dr. Bruce Banner/Hulk, Chris Hemsworth (Thor) as Thor, Scarlett Johansson (Iron Man 2) as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, Jeremy Renner (Thor) as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Samuel L. Jackson (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger) as Nick Fury, Tom Hiddleston (Thor) as Loki, Cobie Smulders (TV's How I Met Your Mother) as Maria Hill, Clark Gregg (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor) as Phil Coulson, Stellan Skarsgard (Thor) as Erik Slevig, and Gwyneth Paltrow (Iron Man, Iron Man 2) as Pepper Potts. 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with actor Clark Gregg to discuss his work on The Avengers. The actor talked about the new film, being a central part of the Marvel on-screen universe, having doubts early on that The Avengers would even get made, the emotional depth of the film, watching the original character her created become part of the Marvel comic book world and the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, his character's fear, working with writer/director Joss Whedon; his terrific script, and whether or not we will see Agent Phil Coulson in future Marvel Studio films. 

In the impending The Avengers, the sole lady on that superteam should get ample opportunity to kick all manner of alien ass, but it might be a while before we get to see Natasha Romanoff throwing down in her leather Black Widow gear.  Last month, we had a headline reading, "Will the Black Widow Return in Iron Man 3?"  At the time, it seemed likely, but according to Scarlett Johansson, the answer is an unequivocal nope.

The childhood dreams of millions of fanboys will finally come true on May 4^th when Disney and Marvel Studios releases the highly anticipated soon-to-be summer blockbuster The Avengers. The film marks the culmination of a promise that began when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) first appeared in Iron Man, thus creating the cinematic Marvel universe, bridging together several different film franchises to create one world where all of Marvel’s on-screen characters would exist. This trend continued with Iron Man 2, which introduced Black Widow (Scralett Johansson), followed by Thor, which introduced the God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and inevitably Captain America: The Fist Avenger, introducing Steve Rogers (Chris Evans).

In honor of The Avengers finally assembling on the big screen, Epix is sponsoring an event called Marvel Heroes Weekend April 27^th – 29^th, which will be hosted by none other than comic book legend and Marvel Comics godfather Stan “The Man” Lee. The three day marathon will feature Iron Man 2, Thor, the television premiere of Captain America: The First Avenger, as well as the world premiere of With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story, a documentary about the man behind the “House of Ideas.” As all “true believers” know, Lee is responsible for creating some of the most beloved comic book characters of all time including Spider-Man, The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Silver Surfer, Daredevil, and The Avengers, as well as changing the comic book landscape and impacting the industry he practically invented.

I must be on a roll because I recently spoke to the great Adam West (Batman), and to follow that up just a few weeks later by meeting the legendary Stan Lee … well, I think I’ve died and gone to geek heaven! I caught up with the iconic Lee earlier this week in Los Angeles at a luncheon thrown by the Epix Network to promote their upcoming Marvel Heroes Weekend. I had the rare pleasure and complete honor of sitting down with Stan Lee and chatting with him for a few minutes about comic books, movies, his new documentary, Marvel Heroes Weekend, Epix, The Avengers, what heroes he’d like to see appear in the sequel, what Marvel characters he thinks should have their own film, what Marvel characters should get film reboots, The Amazing Spider-Man, his famous movie cameos, the success of the Marvel films, and his all-time favorite character that he created.

A week ago, we heard the news that Ben Kinglsey is currently in talks to play a villain in Iron Man 3, the sequel that's set to begin production next month, shortly after The Avengers hits theaters Stateside.  While the reports of Kingsley's involvement specified that his character would not be Tony Stark's biggest comic book villain The Mandarin, a new announcement from Marvel Studios, Disney, and DMG Entertainment indicate that we might just see Iron Man's arch-nemesis in Iron Man 3.

Fittingly, since he was the first hero that Marvel Studios introduced in its overlapping-mega-franchise-machine, Iron Man will be the first hero returning to independent adventures after this summer's The Avengers.  That film, towards which Marvel has been building since 2008's Iron Man, hits theaters this May, and Iron Man 3 will arrive almost exactly one year later, in the summer of 2013.  While we're all abuzz about The Avengers, though, a rumor has arisen online that may reveal the central story point in Iron Man 3.  Obviously, the whole post from here on out is basically a spoiler, so proceed with caution.

Apparently, when filming last summer's Thor, star Chris Hemsworth kept putting on so much muscle that his costumes had to be modified to accommodate his rippedness.  In this summer's The Avengers, one of the thunder god's new outfits features no sleeves, allowing us all to bask more fully in the sight of Hemsworth's physicality. 

A new image from Marvel's big team-up shows Thor and Agent Coulson, once again played by Clark Gregg, chilling at SHIELD headquarters, with two elements most prominent: Thor's right arm and Thor's left arm.

If Marvel Studios were a person, and you ran into that person on the street today, you'd probably be like, "Oh hey, Marvel.  Haven't seen you too much since Captain America: The First Avenger.  Nice work on that Avengers trailer though.  So what's up with you these days?"  The gender-nonspecific person named Marvel would reply, "Ugh, Thor 2 is busting my entirely-figurative balls all the time, but you know I can't really say much," because he/she generally plays some stuff pretty close to the vest.  In an awkward pause during the ensuing conversation, though, Marvel would casually mention changing the release date of a mysterious project, then jump right to The Avengers being a 3D release, which you've long suspected to be the case.

Joel Silver is without a doubt one of the most successful Hollywood producers of all-time. His career goes back over thirty-years and he is responsible for some of the most popular movies ever including 48 Hrs., Predator, Die Hard, the Lethal Weapon series, and The Matrix franchise.

Producer Susan Downey first worked with Silver on the 2002 film Ghost Ship, and their collaboration continued on such films as Cradle 2 the Grave, and House of Wax. But it was the movie Gothika that probably had the biggest impact on Susan Downey personally, as that is where she met her now husband, two-time Oscar-nominated actor Robert Downey Jr.

Silver had first worked with Downey Jr. in the early ‘80s on Weird Science, and was no stranger to the actor’s brilliant, yet unusual body of work. Silver and the Downeys would eventually go on to make the 2005 cult classic comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang together, but after the actor’s inexplicable success in a series of films based on a certain Marvel Comics superhero (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and next summer’s The Avengers), Silver and the married couple wanted to create their own movie franchise at Warner Bros. They began with ‘2009s smash hit action-mystery Sherlock Holmes, and now hope to continue that success with Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which opens in theaters on December 16^th.

So The Avengers is in the middle of post-production, meaning you can no longer rely on set photos and the like to provide your fix of Marvel crossover smack.  Today, though, we have an info nugget that will not only give a little dose of The Avengers news, but will also delight fans of Iron Man and Iron Man 2.  Specifically, fans of Tony Stark's snarky artificial intelligence program J.A.R.V.I.S.  Apparently the auditory sidekick and convenient deliverer of exposition will not only have a part in Marvel's big ensemble, but Paul Bettany confirms that he will again be voicing the character.

2005's Sin City set a new precedent for faithful comic book adaptations, with co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller essentially using Miller's hyper-noir black and white books as storyboards for the outrageously violent interconnecting tales from Basin City.  Of the many strange characters populating Miller's world, perhaps the most over-the-top and popular is Marv, an unstoppable simpleton played by Mickey Rourke in the segment titled "The Hard Goodbye."  Though Marv met his end in that story, the fractured chronology of the first film would allow Marv to have another adventure in Sin City 2, the sequel that Rodriguez and Miller have been promising for the last six years.  Rourke, a notoriously eccentric and forthright actor, isn't so sure he'll back, however.