Today Marvel, held a special twitter chat event wit The Avengers writer/director Joss Whedon and stars Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, and Clark Gregg. After the event, which was pretty uneventual to say the least, the movie studio unveiled a new 10 second teaser that can be seen during the Super Bowl festivities. The twitter exchange didn’t reveal any detailed plots about the movie itself just that there will be no Spider-Man and that the film has also been digital remaster for IMAX screens. This basically confirms that the movie was not shot on IMAX cameras. But the teaser did reveal some of the alien forces that Loki has recruited to fight alongside him against The Avengers.

Check out the 10 second teaser for Joss Whedon’s The Avengers.

The Avengers, the highly anticipated movie of the summer, stars also Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Stellan Skarsgård.

“Marvel’s The Avengers” is 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, NickFury, 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.

The Avengers opens in movie theaters on May 4th, 2012.

With The Avengers release in May, Marvel Studios is planning the next stages of production schedule. We already know that Thor 2 and Iron Man 3 will head straight into filming after The Avengers’ release. Thor 2 has finally settled on a writer and a director, now the movie studio is looking to get to work on Captain America 2. But here is the current release schedule for Marvel Studios:

• The Avengers on May 4th, 2012
• Iron Man 3 on May 3rd, 2012
• Thor 2 on November 15th, 2013
• Untitled Marvel 1 on April 4th 2014
• Untitled Marvel 2 on May 16th 2014

While we have yet to find out what those two untitled Marvel movies are, we might have an idea what one of the two movies may be. In an interview with IMDB (via joBlo) actor Neal McDonough (who played Dum Dum Dugan in Captain America: The First Avenger) was asked about the Captain America sequel and revealed that he may be donning that bowler cap sooner rather than later:

“They’re planning [to go into production] for the end of this year, because Marvel does one film at a time. So they’re going to do Thor 2 and as soon as Thor has wrapped, they’ll do Cap 2. Hopefully right after that, we’ll jump into Nick Fury because that’s the one I’m looking forward to more than anything.”

So if we are going on the basis of MCDonough’s quote, it would seem that Captain America 2 would be one of those untitled movies. But as great as start date for Captain America 2 sounds, he did talk about the Nick Fury movie. A S.H.I.E.L.D. movie has been in the works for quite some time, and only makes sense to get into the inner workings of the organization who brought The Avengers together. So it could be that the S.H.I.E.L.D. movie is the second of those untitled movies.

Here’s what Tom Hiddleston had to say about Loki:

“He knows who he is now, and what his powers are. In order for The Avengers to come together, Loki has to be more menacing, and all of his malevolence is founded in a completely delusional dream.”

It has been confirmed that Loki will not be the only villain that will be appearing the movie. President of Marvel Studios production Kevin Feige set the record straight with Empire regarding what villains we will and won’t see in The Avengers.

Feige had this to say about Loki’s army in the movie:

“Who said they were aliens?… It’s not Skrulls, I’ve been clear about that. Beyond that, we want to hide it. The identity of the alien race is not impactful. It exists in the comic books, but we’re not setting up the Kree-Skrull war or anything like that.”

I guess this should set the record straight about the Skrulls being the villain. But who could Loki’s army be? And could we see the Kree-Skrull war in the future?

Feige also followed up on the rumor of Red Skull’s appearance in the movie:

“Was [Red] Skull vaporised at the end of [Captain America: The First Avengers], or thrust into another realm? That remains to be seen. It would be fun to see Skull in future, but he’s not in this one.”

Yet another villain that could appear in the very possible sequel to The Avengers. But does realm mean another world or another planet? We will have to see.

Check out these images from The Avengers below.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we were going to see a new trailer for The Avengers sometime soon. All the international trailers that were released last month and the promotion images lead me to believe that we will be seeing one very soon.

Again, thanks to Marvel for dropping these images online. The Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hiddleston, and Stellan Skarsgard. The movie opens in 3D on May 4th.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Avengers:

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.

Marvel Studios has finally put Brian Kirk and Patty Jenkins behind them and will count on Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor to bring the world of Thor 2 to life. Of course many were hoping that Jenkins was going to be the one to direct the tentpole sequel, but we all can’t get what we want. Still Taylor’s take on the movie might not be so bad.

With shooting expected to begin this summer, Marvel is doing what it can to polish the script to make Thor 2 better than its predecessor. According to Deadline, the movie studio has hired Saving Private Ryan to do the rewrites to the script. Quite a big name considering what the film has gone through before shooting. We don’t know anything about the script or how Rodat’s rewrites could affect it. But what Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige wants to see is Thor explore more worlds.

But the events that happen after The Avengers could have an impact on Thor 2’s story. There is also the chance that the movie could be a stand alone story.

Hopefully Natalie Portman will come back to reprise her role as Jane Foster. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston will return to reprise their respective roles as Thor and Loki. Thor 2 will open in theaters on November 15, 2013.

Marvel Studios and newly appointed Thor 2 director Alan Taylor doesn’t seem to be wasting any time getting production moving forward on the tentpole sequel. The movie studio had finally settled on Taylor after Patty Jenkins and Brian Kirk had to leave the project for being unable to agree on a vision for the sequel to the hit summer movie. Speaking to Empire, Tom Hiddleston said that production for Thor 2 would begin this summer. Here is the exact quote.

“All I know about Thor 2 is that we’re supposed to film it in London in the summer and that it is being directed by Alan Taylor.”

That’s it for right now, all we know is that a majority of the cast is expected to return to reprise their respective roles and that the movie would explore more realms and worlds. Thor 2 is scheduled for a November 15th, 2013 release.

Normally actors would put a lot of hype behind the films they were involved with no matter how good or bad they are. The Avengers, which looks like the former for now, is getting ready to do a couple of reshoots in Los Angeles, but that isn’t the juciest part of the story.

Mark Ruffalo, who plays as Dr. Bruce Banner and as the Hulk, talked to The Wall Street Journal and talked about the deeper meaning behind the film. Here is a snippet from the article.

“The Avengers,” is an allegory for Americans.”

You have all these disparate egos, superheroes in this and that, and they refuse to give up some of their positions in order to make a more perfect union and to join the team,” Ruffalo says.

“That’s really what the whole movie is about: subjugating your own best interest momentarily to further that of the whole.”

That is an interesting thought, no one could have predicted that we be in this situation a year ago, but here we are. We will have to wait and see if what Mark Ruffalo is saying is true when The Avengers opens on May 4, 2011.

Earlier we posted that Marvel would be shifting a couple of dates for their movies in 2014. But we also learned that the studio confirmed that The Avengers would be released in 3D as well. Now before you give out a sad sigh we do have some good news. What we know is that Whedon did not shoot The Avengers in 3D, which pretty much confirms that the movie itself would go through a 3D post-production process. And given that movies that go through the 3D post-production process have negative to mixed reactions, one would think that The Avengers dare not go through it themselves. However 3D is the hottest gimmick around, and Joss Whedon spoke to JoBlo about the post production 3D issues.

“There’s no, ‘Oh look, we’re going to spend 20 minutes going through this tunnel because it’s in 3D!’ And no one is pointing at the screen the entire time. But it’s an action movie. Things tend to hurtle toward the screen anyway.” … “I’m not a big fan of extreme long lens, talky movies – I like to see the space I’m in and relate to it, so 3D kinda fits my aesthetic anyway. And the technology has advanced so far in the past couple years.”

I for one am not a fan of any movie that goes through the conversion, if you are going to make a 3D movie, then shoot it in 3D. However, some directors may not understand how to use the 3D cameras properly which is why they opt to use the post-production process and with technology continuing to improve, there is a chance that The Avengers in 3D could be the best 3D conversion of them all.

On a lighter note, Marvel didn’t force Whedon to shoot The Avengers in 3D. Instead Whedon had full control of filming movie and will be heavily involved in the 3D conversion process.

Walt Disney Pictures is making some considerable scheduling shifts before the start of the 2012 new year. Looking ahead, Marvel has The Avengers opening May 4th, 2012, Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 on May 3rd, 2013, and Thor 2 opening in theaters on November 15th, 2013. Following Thor 2 are two Marvel Mystery movies released in 2014, and some have surmised that it could be Ant Man and Dr. Strange. While we cannot make any absolute confirmations that they will be either of them, we can confirm that Disney will be moving two Marvel movie dates for 2014.

It would appear that one Marvel movie is from June 27th 2014 to April 4th 2014. A stated above we cannot be sure what movie it will be. We already know that Captain America: The First Avenger will be getting a sequel, so its quite possible that it could be released April 4th. But I doubt it since a film like Captain America is generally reserved as a summer tentpole film. My guess is that it could be the Ant-Man or Dr. Strange movie, seeing how those two are still getting their scripts worked out.
Here’s the current schedule of Marvel movies:

• May 4th 2012 – Joss Whedon’s The Avengers (3D)
• May 3rd 2013 – Shane Black’s Iron Man 3
• November 15th 2013 – Thor 2
• April 4th 2014 – Untitled Marvel Movie #1
• May 16th 2014 – Untitled Marvel Movie #2

Check out the international promotional banners for The Avengers below.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Avengers:

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

When Marvel Studios announced that Patty Jenkins would be directing Thor 2, everyone was surprised. The fact that a female would be helming a sequel tentpole was unheard-of. But having Jenkins directing Thor 2 was exciting nonetheless.

Weeks later, we heard that Jenkins wouldn’t be directing Thor 2. The Monster director cited “creative reasons” as the cause that lead to her departure and while that may seem like a generic answer, there was no bad blood between the director and Marvel Studios. Well the next few paragraphs will seem to contradict with the original report.

THR says that Jenkins didn’t leave on her own terms, but rather Marvel Studios fired her. As aforementioned, this would seem to contradict with the original reports that Patty Jenkins had left Thor 2 on amicable terms. But the firing seemed to have caused a rift between a studio and a Thor co-star. Natalie Portman, who was the one who campaigned for Jenkins to be hired, is apparently infuriated by the fact that Marvel Studios fired Jenkins.

Given that Portman had given birth to a baby boy in June, the actress was considering retiring from acting entirely. However Portman is contractually obligated to appear in Thor 2, and Jenkins’ involvement has said boost her enthusiasm for the project. Even Chris Hemsworth said Jenkins had a grasp on the story for Thor 2. Now that Jenkins has been let go, Portman is up in arms, and Marvel is working overtime to smooth things over with the Thor co-star by involving her in the discussion process.

But as to the reason why Jenkins was fired, the trade cites four possible reasons:
• Marvel fired Jenkins because they were concerned she was not moving swiftly enough toward the November 2013 release.
• The company felt Jenkins showed “a lack of overall clarity in her choices.”
• Marvel were initially convinced by Portman’s enthusiasm, but second guessed their choice when they started talking to writers.
• “Marvel had certain things they needed to achieve. There were constraints on what [Jenkins] could do creatively.”

It’s hard to believe any of the reasons above without having any hard evidence to support them. Whether or not the reports are true have yet to be seen. But Jenkins did say that she would like to work with Marvel Studios again, in fact she is looking forward to hit. Here is the exact quote:

“I have had a great time working at Marvel. We parted on very good terms, and I look forward to working with them again.”

I was really hoping that Jenkins would be directing Thor 2, since it’s a genre that is extremely overpopulated by white men. So I share Ms. Portman’s sentiments in being disappointed that Jenkins won’t be directing Thor 2. Regardless of what I may think, Marvel is trying to move forward. Not only is the studio is notoriously picky; they are irrefutably cheap. But considering that they were willing to hired Jenkins proves that they will not sacrifice quality of the story. At least I hope so. Currently Marvel Studios is considering Game of Thrones vets Daniel Minahan and Alan Taylor to direct Thor 2, both are men.

Marvel’s search for a Thor 2 director isn’t going as originally planned. Patty Jenkins was on tap to direct the sequel to the summer blockbuster, but left the project citing the generic “creative differences” bit as the reason why she is departing from directing Thor 2. The latest events have left Marvel scrambling to find someone to direct the movie before its November 15, 2013 release date.

According to THR, Marvel head to familiar ground but is coming back with some very unfamiliar names. The trade reports that Game of Thrones’ helmers Alan Taylor and Daniel Minahan are in the running to direct Thor 2. Marvel’s first choice for director was Brian Kirk, who also has Game of Thrones experience.

Some of Taylor’s credits include 1996’s Palookaville, but he has become a huge cable TV helmer, directing episodes of HBO’s Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire and The Sopranos and AMC’s Mad Men, among others. He also directed the pilot for NBC’s Playboy Club. Minahan has episodes of Game of Thrones, True Blood, Deadwood and Grey’s Anatomy on his resume and no movie to credit to his name.

THR adds that Marvel was about to hire a new writer just as Patty Jenkins was exiting the door. John Collee (Happy Feet, Master and Commander), Robert Rodat (Falling Skies, Saving Private Ryan), and Roger Avary are all being considered to write the sequel to the hit summer movie. The writer, who is hired, will work on a script drafted by Don Payne. Sheldon Turner was amongst those being considered to work on the rewrites, but it seems like his name is no longer on Marvel’s list.

Given that Marvel Studios is notoriously cheap, I can’t say I am completely surprised to see two TV directors possibly helming the movie.

Considering the release date is just under two years away, Marvel has just enough time to figure out who will direct Thor 2. Who should direct the movie?

Thor 2 has made some thunderstorms of its own when Game of Thrones’ helmer Brian Kirk was tapped to direct. However that didn’t exactly worked out as planned. So Marvel turned to Patty Jenkins (Monster and The Killing pilot episode). Unfortunately the first female director for a Marvel property has also exited. According to Deadline (via Slashfilm), Jenkins is leaving due to creative differences. We’ll update you more on this as the story develops. But for now, the movie is, once again, without a director. Who do you think should direct Thor 2?