The rumors, it seems, are true.  At this point, Marvel Studios plans to include Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver – mutants both – in The Avengers 2.

Says who?  No less a source than writer-director Joss Whedon, who offered up a bit of insight on the pair of characters and their role in the sequel's story.  Oh, and Whedon, for one, is a whole lot less concerned about the cinematic future of Tony Stark than many, many fans.

Let's get this out of the way:  This constitutes SPOILERS for anyone who has yet to see Iron Man 3.  So if you're still holding off on seeing the latest Marvel Studios release – all of the latest Marvel Studios release – then bookmark this and return once you've thrilled to the third Iron Man solo adventure.

Of all the headlining superheroes in last summer's The Avengers, the one who made the biggest impression was smashing, brawling Hulk and his human alter ego, the always-angry Dr. Bruce Banner, played by Oscar-nominated actor Mark Ruffalo.  While Phase Two in the Marvel Studios master plan includes sequels for Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America, everyone's favorite green rage monster has a less obvious onscreen future.

In an exclusive discussion with IAR, Mark Ruffalo himself has offered some insight on what's in store for Bruce Banner and his other, more destructive half.

What 11-year old kid wouldn’t want to be Iron Man’s best friend? For actor Ty Simpkins, that dream has come true.

Simpkins (Insidious) is currently starring opposite Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man 3, which is the third installment of the popular Marvel Studios franchise. In its opening weekend the film earned over $175 million in the US alone, and has grossed $700 million worldwide so far! In the movie, Simpkins plays Harley Keener, a troubled young boy living with his mother, who must work all hours since his father left them. After a beaten Tony Stark (Downey) crash lands in his town, Harley becomes his sidekick and helps him repair the Iron Man suit and track down the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley). 

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of speaking with 11-year old actor Ty Simpkins about his role in Iron Man 3 on the Disney lot in Burbank, California. The young actor discussed appearing in the movie, how he got the role, his character, working with Robert Downey Jr., director Shane Black, being an Iron Man fan, if Harley could become the new Iron Man in The Avengers 2 or Iron Man 4, and if there are any Harley toys or merchandise available. 

Guardians of the Galaxy is getting Rookered.

Michael Rooker is joining the cast of Marvel Studios' Phase 2 non-sequel, which will be the most distinctly sci-fi of all its films so far.

Phase 2 continues unabated.

Just weeks before Iron Man 3 hits theaters, principal photography on another Marvel Studios sequel, Captain America: The Winter Soldier has commenced in Los Angeles, California.

The first clip from Iron Man 3 presumably comes from a point in the sequel before Tony Stark's giant mansion gets rocket-blasted into the Pacific Ocean.

With the probable addition of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy to her resume, it might just be safe to say that Zoe Saldana is partial to sci-fi adventures set in the far reaches of space.

The entirety of the Marvel Cinematic Phase 2 sneak peek featurette is pretty much pornographic in its hype-building, its explicit laying out of first look goodies from the next two years of Marvel Studios.

We're talking about reams of revealing behind the scenes footage from Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World, along with concept art and animatics from Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy.  And the video even provides our first look at Edgar Wright's proof-of-concept test reel for Ant-Man.

Also, Joss Whedon reports promising things about The Avengers 2, even though it's early in the process of building the sequel.

Hey everybody, we've got a bumper crop of goodies from Marvel Studios' Phase 2.

These run from a featurette snippet focused on the first post-The Avengers effort, Iron Man 3, to a quartet of revealing pieces of concept art, and news on where The Avengers will actually shoot.

It's a safe bet that the Bard never anticipated a world in which the writer-director behind the biggest superhero movie of all time would be promoting an adaptation of one of his plays at an annual comic book convention in Anaheim.

But here we are, on the final day of WonderCon 2013.  And here's Joss Whedon applying his famous loquaciousness to a packed Much Ado About Nothing panel in the Arena at the Anaheim Convention Center.