WAR MACHINE MOVIE SPIN-OFF HAS A WRITER

MTV talked to Iron Man 2 co-star Don Cheadle at the Sundance Film Festival and got an update on the possible War Machine spin-off at Marvel Studios.
"They're developing it now, they're working on that," Cheadle said. "I think they've hired a writer, so we'll see how it goes. It would be a lot of fun."

He doesn't think James "Rhodey" Rhodes will appear in The Avengers, however.

"I don't think he shows up in ['Avengers']," Cheadle added. "I think he's kind of a lone wolf."

You can watch the interview segment using the player below...


http://www.superherohype.com/news/articles/114150-war-machine-spin-off-has-a-writer

CHRIS HEMSWORTH OFFERS AVENGERS MOVIE UPDATE

Though he admits that there have been only very brief discussions between him and fellow Avengers cast mates since they all took the stage at last year's Comic-Con, Thor leading man Chris Hemsworth offered a few additional updates on the ensemble flim to MTV News."I saw a very early draft and, yeah, it's incredible," Hemsworth said of the screenplay, "...Look, everything about the story in the comic books is huge. You have these huge, big superheroes and these huge, big egos kind of crammed into one small space. Reading the script, it was massive. I said to Joss [Whedon], 'I don't know how you're going to shoot this thing, but I'm excited to be onboard and let's give it a go.'"He added that there will be, on screen, a lot of friction between Thor and his fellow Avengers, hinting that Thor and the Hulk, especially, will come to blows onscreen.When asked about the rumored cameo of Jeremy Renner in Thor, Hemsworth played it coy, neither confirming nor denying the actor or the character's appearance. If Hawkeye, does appear, though, it won't be in a scene with Hemsworth."He wasn't on set when I was there," Hemsworth did confirm.Thor is slated to hit theaters on May 6th of this year with The Avengers following on May 4th of 2012.

BLUE BEETLE, BOOSTER GOLD CAST IN SMALLVILLE

Entertainment Weekly reports that Jaren Brandt Bartlett has been cast as Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle in the 17th episode of "Smallville," titled "Booster." Eric Martsolf ("Days of Our Lives") is set to play Booster Gold.

UPDATE: TV Guide adds that Sebastian Spence has been cast to play inventor-turned-superhero Ted Kord. He will also appear in the Geoff Johns-penned episode, "Booster.

NBC PICKS UP WONDER WOMAN TV SHOW AFTER ALL

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that NBC has picked up David E. Kelley's new "Wonder Woman" pilot after all! The network was the final one to pass on the show over a week ago, but that was before the new regime headed by chairman Robert Greenblatt was officially in place in light of the impending Comcast takeover. The magazine reports:

One factor that seemed to have sunk the Wonder Woman project the first time around was the price of rebooting the series, with the studio requiring a rich license fee to bring the iconic character back to life. But then, NBC has been down this road before: It rebooted Bionic Woman. Kelley’s take incorporated the superhero’s signature lasso, cuffs, and plane in the script, and insiders said it was a serious, non-campy take on the DC Comics character.
Now the big question is who should play Wonder Woman?

MARVEL STUDIOS HIRES BLACK PANTHER MOVIE WRITER

Marvel Studios has hired Mark Bailey to write the script for The Black Panther, reportsHeat Vision.

Bailey hails from the documentary film world and his credits include HBO documentaries such as "Pandemic: Facing AIDS" and "Ghost of Abu Ghraib." The trade says his latest project is a feature adaptation of the non-fiction book "The Last of the Tribe: The Epic Quest to Save a Lone Man in the Amazon," to which Doug Liman is attached to direct.

The Black Panther first appeared in the pages of the "Fantastic Four" comic in 1966. The character is the king of a resource-rich fictional African country who becomes a superhero.

Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige is producing.

Dark Knight Rises Casting – Tom Hardy As Bane, Anne Hathaway As Catwoman

Here’s the full press release:

Warner Bros. Pictures announced today that Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. She will be starring alongside Christian Bale, who returns in the title role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.
Christopher Nolan stated, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Anne Hathaway, who will be a fantastic addition to our ensemble as we complete our story.”
In addition, Tom Hardy has been set to play Bane. Nolan said, “I am delighted to be working with Tom again and excited to watch him bring to life our new interpretation of one of Batman’s most formidable enemies.
Nolan will direct the film from a screenplay he wrote with Jonathan Nolan, from a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. Nolan will also produce the film with his longtime producing partner, Emma Thomas, and Charles Roven.
The Dark Knight Rises is slated for release on July 20, 2012. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

New Image Of Chris Evans In Captain America Costume

First Image Of Andrew Garfield In 'Spider-Man' Costume

BUCKY FROM CAPTAIN AMERICA MOVIE

Appearing this past year in both Black Swan and Hot Tub Time Machine, actor Sebastian Stan is set for one of his most prominent roles to date come this July: Steve Roger's "sidekick" Bucky Barnes in Captain America: The First Avenger.

MTV had the chance to chat with Stan about the role and about what we can expect from the character's first big-screen appearance.

"Steve Rogers and Bucky are both orphans and kind of like brothers," Stan said, professing that he was unfamiliar with the comics before getting cast, "They kind of grow up together and look after each other. It's a very human, relatable thing. And growing up in the Army is a very specific thing. There's a certain way these guys carry themselves, there's a certain etiquette, a certain body posture, the way that they interact. So I went back and read the comics and watched a lot of documentaries on World War II. "Band of Brothers" was very helpful."

Though the film looks to set up Barnes as a teammate soldier of Rogers, the character was, in the comic book continuity, a teenage orphan too young to join the army and who instead was brought to the battlefield as a mascot. After learning the identiy of Captain America, Barnes became his sidekick until he was presumed killed in action (alongside Cap). It was revealed decades later that Barnes had been captured by Soviet forces and reprogrammed into an assassin known as the Winter Soldier. Following Marvel's Civil War, Rogers was again believed dead and Barnes inherited the mantle of Captain America himself.

"There's a lot of CGI stuff and working with a green screen," Stan added of the effects work so far, "I hadn't done that too extensively before. That was very challenging, because you're just there surrounded by green walls, but there's explosions going off around you, so you have to factor that in and maintain that in your imagination."

Head over the MTV's Splash Page for the full interview.

CLIP: Conan O'brien Joins Young Justice Cartoon as The Flaming C

STEPHEN SOMMERS WILL NOT DIRECT G.I. JOE 2

The news comes courtesy of the Los Angeles Times, who also claim that Paramount is searching for a new director for the action sequel which is currently in the scripting stages with Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick working on the first draft.
Sommers, who directed 2009's G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra, is meanwhile said to be attached to the Dean Koontz novelization Odd Thomas.

RON PERLMAN DETAILS CONAN MOVIE ROLE

Though Ron Perlman will be appearing on the big screen in this Friday's Season of the Witch, fans of the actor are also looking forward to his turn in the Hyborian Age later this year when he plays father to Conan the Barbarian. In an interview with The Examiner, Perlman went into details about the role.
"I play Conan’s father," Perlman said, "There’s big-time sword action. But I’m only in the movie for 10 minutes. I can’t tell everything, but the first sequence is huge. It’s epic. All I can tell you is that I work with the Conan who’s 11 years old. And there’s a jump cut to Conan the adult, and I’m no longer on the scene... I never worked with [Jason] Momoa, who’s the adult Conan. I only worked with this kid [Leo Howard], who’s a phenomenal actor. And he’s like a North American champion of swords since he was 4 years old. He had a black belt [in martial arts] by the time he was 4. He’s a swordsman and he’s mind-boggling. He made me look like a piker."