The moviegoers of planet Earth are currently in the midst of a very enthusiastic makeout session with The Avengers, one that includes heavy petting, blockbusting, and some unnecessary 3D.  As you're doubtless aware, the world has Avengers-fever, as reflected by the movie's global gross of $1.18 billion in under a month and the fact that Joss Whedon's superhero team-up is basically on track to be the third-biggest movie ever (not adjusted for inflation). 

But let's think about the future, a future filled with The Avengers DVDs and Blu-rays packed with special features, all of them arriving on September 25th.

Now that Tony Stark has saved Manhattan and made probably the biggest superhero endorsement in shawarma's history as part of The Avengers, he's going back to the solo adventures that so suit his outsized personality.  Iron Man 3 is starting principal photography any minute now, so Marvel Studios and Disney are locking down the supporting cast, including the latest addition, James Badge Dale.

The world has caught The Avengers fever, but Marvel Studios and Disney are busy prepping the next superhero adventure.  Iron Man 3 is going into production this month, and the film needs an appropriately beautiful and intelligent actress to portray a "sexy scientist" who is on Tony Stark's level.  After a recent false start, it looks like Rebecca Hall might just be that actress.

Okay, The Avengers is out now and broke the all-time opening weekend record, earning over $200 million in its domestic debut.  So now let's look to Iron Man 3, Marvel and Disney's first post-The Avengers release, which will find Tony Stark once again sliding on his supersuit and pew-pew-pewing with aplomb.  The film is currently casting up, and despite earlier reports to the contrary, Jessica Chastain won't be playing a role in the sequel.

Over the last decade and change, the superheroic exploits of neon gods in spandex and armor have become one of our most reliable sources of blockbuster entertainment.  Ever since Bryan Singer's X-Men and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man ushered in the modern age of the comic book movie, the Marvel Comics stable of iconic heroes have dominated the popular culture and multiplexes across the country.  Now, even with comic book adaptations having saturated our sensibilities, The Avengers is something truly unprecedented.

It's the event movie towards which Marvel Studios and its head honcho Kevin Feige have been building since the studio's first feature, 2008's Iron Man.  It's culmination of years of planning and ambitious, never-before-attempted franchise cross-pollination between The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and both Iron Man films.  It's also an outstanding standalone piece of pop entertainment, with Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon ably providing thrills and juggling characters as writer-director.

Those characters Whedon so impressively juggles are played by an all-star cast, each of them capable of carrying their own franchise and many of them having done just that.  IAR Managing Editor Jami Philbrick was amongst the global entertainment journalists present at the Los Angeles press day for The Avengers.  Held in LA the day after the film's premiere, the press conference included Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Clark Gregg, and Cobie Smulders, all of whom were happy to discuss making the film together.

Since Nick Fury first showed up in Tony Stark's living room after the credits of 2008's Iron Man, the post-credits scene has been a ubiquitous presence in the Marvel Studios films, to the point that there have been seemingly endless jokes about Nick Fury recruitment scenes following any and every movie.  Well, The Avengers is the ultimate Marvel movie, so it's only appropriate that it should have not one, but two additional scenes during and after the end credits.

At times, The Avengers feels like a twelve year-old's fever dream of a comic book movie, pitting heroes against one another in slugfests that give life to years of "Who would win in a fight" discussions.  One such knock-down, drag-out action scene was glimpsed two weeks ago in a clip showing Iron Man and Thor slapping each other silly.  Just hours away from The Avengers arriving in domestic theaters, director Joss Whedon has provided a bit of running commentary on that clip.

Just days out from the film's domestic release, The Avengers is pretty much everywhere right now, permeating the popular culture in that particular manner of a massively hyped blockbuster.  It's only fitting, since this first-of-its-kind comic book movie is the culmination of years of ambitious universe building at Marvel Studios, assembling the heroes of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger in one mega-movie.

When Marvel first announced the writer-director of the event movie towards which the studio has been striving, those unfamiliar with Joss Whedon may have scratched their heads.  After all, the man Marvel chose to be at the helm of its crossover had but one directorial feature to his credit, 2005's sci-fi adventure Serenity.  Whedon's fans, however, knew well that the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Dollhouse was just the man for job.

His work on those television series demonstrated Whedon's unparalleled skill with witty dialogue and nimble character development, especially when juggling ensembles of characters, each with their own unique voice.  Who better suited, then, to oversee the gathering of Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, and Mark Ruffalo as their respective superheroes?  Apparently no one, since word on The Avengers is uniformly enthusiastic, and it looks as though the film actually lives up to the hype. 

At the Los Angeles press day for The Avengers, Joss Whedon talked to journalists, including IAR Managing Editor Jami Philbrick.  The writer-director discussed translating a comic book to the screen,the challenges of constructing the story, handling the characters, delivering the proper spectacle, and the importance of Steve Rogers.

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.

Synopsis: Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”–the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble in summer 2012. In “Marvel’s The Avengers,” superheroes team up to pull the world back from the brink of disaster when an unexpected enemy threatens global security.