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.

For his third feature as a director, Ben Affleck is getting away from Boston, the vividly-realized setting of his Gone Baby Gone and The Town.  Based on the first trailer for Argo, though, leaving Beantown isn't hurting Affleck one bit.  Warner Bros released the theatrical trailer and a teaser poster today, and while the latter is pretty standard, the former is outstanding, promising an intelligent, grown-up thriller with a sly, adroit sense of humor.

Maverick and Iceman – those two hotheaded pilots whose airborne rivalry was resolved through a mutual love of volleyball and strategically dubious aerial combat in 1986's Top Gun – might just fly again.  Paramount continues its attempts to revive the enduring property, as the studio has hired screenwriter Peter Craig to write a new story for Top Gun 2, despite the transformation of the American military into one far more dependent on drone aircraft than on fighter jets and the inexplicably homoerotic pilots on board.

I recently had the immense pleasure of speaking with one of my all time favorite actors, Titus Welliver, about his prolific and impressive television work. But as accomplished as his TV resume is, the actor has just as distinguished of a film and stage career. Welliver first gained attention in the groundbreaking off-Broadway play “Riff Raff,” which was written, directed and co-starred actor Laurence Fishburne. He would eventually reprise the critically acclaimed role that he originated on stage as the sympathetic drug addict and part-time thief Billy “The Torch’ Murphy in the film adaptation of the play entitled Once in the Life, which also starred Fishburne and marked his feature film directorial debut. In fact, while the actor and I were chatting about the making of Once in the Life and his work in "Riff Raff," which also happens to be my all time favorite stage play, the actor happened to mention that he and Fishburne are discussing doing a revival of the show. “I have to say Laurence and I have been sort of toying with the idea of doing the play again even though it's been about twelve years since we made the film,” Welliver admitted.

While the actor is probably best known for his extensive television work that includes playing Silas Adams on HBO’s Western-based series Deadwood, the pivotal role of Kyle Hollis on the brilliant but short-lived NBC series Life, season three villain Jimmy O’Phelan on FX’s motorcycle gang series Sons of Anarchy, a recurring role on the current Fox series Touch with Kiefer Sutherland, and of course, as the Man in Black (A.K.A. the Smoke Monster) on ABC’s cultural phenomenon Lost. But he’s also appeared in many popular feature films including The Doors, Mobsters, Twisted, Assault on Precinct 13, and most recently Man on a Ledge, which opened on January 27^th and is in theaters now. But his most famous film roles have come from his collaborations with fellow actor and now critically acclaimed writer/director Ben Affleck. Welliver first appeared in Affleck’s Boston-based directorial debut Gone Baby Gone as Lionel McCready, and also appeared as FBI agent Dino Ciampa in The Town (also set in the Boston area) opposite Jon Hamm (TV’s Mad Men). Now, Welliver will achieve the hat trick by also appearing in Affleck’s upcoming third directorial effort Argo, which will be the first of his films, as a director, not set in Massachusetts.

If I had told you, in the summer of 2004, that within eight years, Ben Affleck would be a successful director with two formidable feature films under his belt, you'd probably punch me right in the solar plexus then laugh your ass off.  But here we are, and based on his directorial track record, Affleck's third effort as director seems likely to be a highlight of 2012.  As part of a preview for the year ahead, Warner Bros has released the first official image from Argo, which Affleck both directs and stars in as part of a pretty ridiculous ensemble.  We've previously seen some unofficial photos from the Los Angeles set, but read on for your first bona-fide look Argo, with Affleck very seriously perusing some documents.

If a time traveler from 2003 or 2004 were to suddenly appear in the year 2011, they would no doubt be aghast at any number of developments over the last seven years, including the continued morass in Iraq, the price of gasoline, and the killing of Osama bin Laden.  Probably the most shocking surprise, however, would be the current status of Ben Affleck as not simply a viable leading man, but also a hugely respected writer and director.  Anyone from the overexposed age of Bennifer, Jersey Girl, and Gigli might very well suffer from a physical shock upon learning that Affleck is currently in negotiations with Warner Bros to star and direct the international actioner Line of Sight.

When it comes to movies, television shows, miniseries, and general pop culture, WWII tends to get a whole lot more attention that World War I.  The Great War is about to get repped something fierce, though.  Steven Spielberg's War Horse is due at the end of this year, and today there's news that HBO has given the green light to Parade's End, a five-part miniseries based on a series of four novels by Ford Maddox Ford.  The ambitious project will star Benedict Cumbatch and Rebecca Hall, but that's not all.

A few years back, Jeremy Renner was best known as the bad guy in the forgettable summer actioner S.W.A.T., with maybe three people worldwide who recognized him as Dags from 1995's abysmal Senior Trip.  Now, he's a two-time Oscar nominee being sought for seemingly every major franchise out there, particularly the ones involving spies.  Deadline confirms that Universal has offered Renner the lead role in their Matt Damon-less The Bourne Legacy. 

You see, old sport, you win some, you lose some.  Though overexposed-actor-turned-talented-director Ben Affleck was attempting to make room in his busy schedule to appear in The Great Gatsby, it looks like his commitment to direct Argo will keep him from joining the project, a Baz Luhrmann-directed adaptation of the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  While Affleck may be out, THR has the exclusive that Isla Fisher is in talks to join Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, and Carey Mulligan in the potentially-3D The Great Gatsby.

Ben Affleck has certainly managed to bounce back from the overexposure that temporarily turned him into a national punchline a few years back.  Having just won accolades as the director and star of last year's The Town, he's currently prepping his next directorial feature, Argo, an unconventional drama about the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.  According to Deadline, though, Affleck is making some room in his schedule to appear opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, and Tobey Maguire in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby adaptation.