Having kicked off Phase Two with Iron Man 3, Marvel Studios continues the superheroics this November 8th with Thor: The Dark World.

The one and only Ray Stevenson, who reprises his role as Volstagg, is talking up the latest Marvel sequel, promising that The Dark World finds Asgard going to full-blown cosmic war, raising the stakes for the eponymous deity and his fellow superbeings.

Phase 2 properly kicks off Stateside tomorrow with the release of Iron Man 3, so that means it's time to start getting all lathered up about Thor: The Dark World, this year's other Marvel Studios sequel following an Avenger on his next solo adventure.

In order to ensure we remember what Chris Hemsworth looks like as Thor, Marvel has released a new image of the star in his redesigned Asgardian costume.

The very first trailer for this fall's Thor: The Dark World has galloped across the Rainbow Bridge to Migdard.

Listen, we here at IAR are suckers for any trailer where an Anthony Hopkins makes profound voiceover declarations, so we're biased, but we think the second of three Phase 2 solo sequels looks damn promising.

Remember how the God of Thunder vowed to return to Midgard in order to reunite with his human lover in Thor, then didn't even throw a "Yo, girl" her way in The Avengers.  True, there were extenuating circumstances, but Thor didn't even text Jane Foster.

Well, Marvel Studios has released a pair of new official images from this year's Thor: The Dark World, and two of the big creative figures on the movie have discussed some story elements, confirming that Thor's going to be in the doghouse for avoiding Jane whilst saving the world.

With just two weeks until Iron Man 3 kicks off Phase 2 Stateside, Marvel Studios is hitting the promotional gas on its other 2013 sequel featuring a member of The Avengers.

The first teaser poster for Thor: The Dark World, due in theaters on November 8th, is currently making the rounds online.

In addition to Dark Elves running amok, Asgardians being all noble, and no small amount of Mjolnir-swining action, this year's Thor sequel will apparently include a very small appearance by Chris O'Dowd.

In the most offhand way possible, O'Dowd himself reveals that he filmed what sounds like a cameo in Thor: The Dark World, which arrives in theaters on November 8th.

Marvel’s The Avengers is truly an amazing cinematic accomplishment on so many different levels. 

Not only is it a groundbreaking project in the sense that it took launching five separate successful films first (Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America: The First Avenger) in order to set it up and make it work, but it has also gone on to gross over $1.5 billion worldwide and become the third highest-grossing film of all time. As if that wasn’t enough, the film’s visual effects team has now been recognized for its outstanding work by being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. The VFX artists who are up for the award include Janek Sirrs (Batman Begins), Jeff White (Transformers: Dark on the Moon), Guy Williams (X-Men: First Class), and Dan Sudick (Cowboys & Aliens).

I recently had a chance to sit down with longtime Marvel Studios film producer Victoria Alonso, as well as VFX Supervisor and Oscar-nominee Jeff Smith to talk about their contributions to Marvel’s The Avengers and the nomination. Alonso discussed the film’s amazing accomplishments, what it took as a producer to bring it all together, and hiring director Joss Whedon to bring it all together, while White talked about Whedon’s contributions to the film, designing the Hulk, and how it feels to be nominated for an Academy Award. 

Well here's a slice of fried gold: Marvel Studios and director James Gunn have chosen Chris Pratt to star in the interstellar adventure Guardians of the Galaxy.  Yes, that's right.  Agent Bert Macklin is starring in a Marvel movie.

Opening in theaters on January 18th is the new action film The Last Stand starring former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, which marks his first leading role in a movie since Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. The film was helmed by South Korean director Kim Ji-woon (I Saw the Devil) and in addition to Schwarzenegger also stars Johnny Knoxville (The Dukes of Hazzard), Rodrigo Santoro (There Be Dragons), Jaimie Alexander (Thor: The Dark World), Zach Gilford (Answers to Nothing), Genesis Rodriguez (Casa de Mi Padre), Luis Guzman (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island), Peter Stormare (Dylan Dog: Dead of Night), Harry Dean Stanton (The Avengers), and Academy Award-winner Forest Whitaker (A Dark Truth). 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had the pleasure of sitting down with the beautiful Jaimie Alexander to talk about her work on The Last Stand. The talented actress discussed her new movie, meeting Arnold Schwarzenegger for the first time, shooting guns with The Terminator, what he's like on set, and working with a director who needs a translator. 

Scheduled to open in theaters on November 8th is the highly anticipated sequel to Thor entitled Thor: The Dark World, which will mark the second film released in Marvel Studios' Phase Two. The new installment was directed by Alan Taylor (Kill The Poor) and based on a screenplay by Captain America: The First Avenger scribes Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and popular Marvel Comics writer Christopher Yost. The sequel features returning cast members Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Natalie Portman (Jane Foster), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Stellan Skarsgard (Dr, Erik Selvig), Idris Elba (Heimdall), Kat Dennings (Darcy Lewis), Ray Stevenson (Volstagg), Tadanobu Asano (Hogun), Jaimie Alexander (Sif), Rene Russo (Frigga), and Anthony Hopkins (Odin), as well as new cast members Christopher Eccleston (G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (The Thing), and Zachary Levi (Tangled). 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had the pleasure of sitting down with the beautiful Jaimie Alexander while she was promoting her new movie The Last Stand, which opens on January 18th and also stars Arnold Schwarzenegger. While we will run our interview with Alexander regarding The Last Stand closer to the films release date, we wanted to let you know now what the actress had to say about her work on Thor: The Dark World. The talented actress discussed the upcoming sequel, when she finished shooting, where we find the characters after the events of The Avengers, the darker tone of the film, more character development for Sif, exploring her possible romantic relationship with Thor, returning to the franchise without Thor director Kenneth Branagh, Marvel Comics scribe Christopher Yost's contributions to the project, and the addition of actor Zachary Levi as Warriors Three member Fandrai.