SHH has heard from their sources that the brother/sister duo will be younger than the rest of the Avengers. Whedon may even have an actress in mind as he writes the script. According to the site:

Although Joss is still writing and probably not ready to send anything out to actors, for the two roles, they’re generally looking for actors in their 20s and we’ve heard word that the “prototype” for their Scarlet Witch is none other than Irish actress Saoirse Ronan. Except something to note is that they’re going “British” for the role rather than trying to have actors playing Eastern Europeans.

Ronan, who you probably know from films like The Lovely Bones and Hanna, is 19 right now. If my math is correct, and I double checked, she’ll turn 20 during filming of the movie which is set to kick off production next year. If she is the ‘prototype’ for the role it would be pretty silly for Marvel to not talk to her about actually taking on the role. Another interesting rumor is that the siblings will be played as British. No prototype for Quicksilver was reported on, but the site said he is described as “euro and edgy.” I don’t really know what that means, but knowing the character it means he’ll probably be a jerk and get on some of the team member’s nerves. Of course you need some salt for now, but what do you think about the possibility of Saoirse Ronan bringing the Witch to life?

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Rumor: Is Joss Whedon Modeling Scarlet Witch Off Of Saoirse Ronan?

For a couple years now, there have been two rumors floating around concerning Zombieland, with the most logical being that a sequel was in the works, which is kind of has. Writers have been trying to come up with something, but it doesn’t look like anything will actually come of it. The second rumor is that a television series was being worked on for CBS and oddly enough, that’s the project that may be moving forward, as a casting call just went out.

According to I09, the call went out to cast the series main characters, which would carry over from the film. There are some minor spoilers ahead, so read on with caution. Below are some abbreviated descriptions for the characters, which also includes a couple of new characters. the series looks to delve into the back story of our four heroes.

Tallahassee is still kind of a snarky weirdo, but he seems to have a much less spiky relationship with Columbus. He and Columbus have a pretty amusing thing where they riff on the fact that Steven Seagal movies always have three-word titles like “Marked for Justice” or “May Cause Diarrhea.” But Tallahassee also dispenses homespun wisdom about how to feel happy with your life. He also tells a weird story about being in a trailer park with a perpetually nude Matthew McConaughey. He also has a somewhat heartwarming scene where he tells Columbus that he’s been wandering aimlessly for a long time, but maybe he’s been put here for a reason — to help Columbus and the others.

Columbus is much the same, except that he tracks down his grandma and grandpa (Bubbie and Peepaw) only to find them recently zombiefied. Also, Columbus is trying to deal with his new-found relationship with Wichita, after their first kiss. He has started calling her “Krista,” her real name — but there are some problems, especially after she finds him reading a book about fatherhood. He tries to organize a romantic scavenger hunt for her in the IKEA they’re camping out in, but it goes kind of horribly.

Wichita is still trying to look after Little Rock, trying to teach her math with problems about someone stealing from a liquor store and jumping on a train going 42 miles per hour, with a cop chasing in a car going 88 miles per hour. We also learn a lot more about Wichita’s backstory, including how she ran away from her father after he had her stealing people’s Christmas presents — and later, she found out she had a sister who was also being a grifter with her dad.

Little Rock seems actually kind of excited about meeting Columbus’ grandparents, before they turn out to be zombies. And she shares some of her own backstory, about how her dad parked her at a school while he went off grifting on his own — and then yanked her out of school right before a dance that she was looking forward to.

Fred and Ainsley are two office workers at the start of the zombie apocalypse, obliviously complaining about problems with their iPhones and getting the wrong order at Starbucks, which they admit are “first world problems” with a hashtag — while people are being disembowled just outside the window they’re not facing. Tallahassee shows up to bring them their lunch orders, wearing a green polo shirt.

As you can see, the writers plan to keep much of the same tone to the series that helped make the movie so enjoyable. Not unsurprisingly, they seem to be making the relationship between Columbus and Wichita the main focus, but also seem to be making a family out of the group. Not a terrible concept, especially considering they series will be a half-hour comedy. Things look promising!

__________

UPDATE! It’s been revealed by Broadcast that this series will actually end up streaming on Amazon, rather than be a traditional aired TV series, much like the resurgence of the cult favorite Arrested Development. No mention of time frame, but as with Netflix, it can be expected that Amazon won’t be restrained by the usual “seasons” as with traditional television series.

Josh "ecksmanfan" Johnson, Updated! Zombieland TV Series Begins Casting Process

IDW is releasing a comic book prequel for Star Trek Into Darkness, called Countdown to Darkness, written by Mike Johnson with a story by Roberto Orci. It is an official prequel comic to the movie and works to bridge the gap between the first film and the second. The cover to #4, the final in the miniseries, shows a Klingon warrior with the much debated helmet. The comic comes out in April and the film in May. Could it be setting the Klingons up for a big role for Into Darkness? Time will tell. What do you think?

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, IDW Seems To Hint At Klingon Involvement In Star Trek Into Darkness

It’s quite likely that a new Heroes for Hire comic is headed our way this year, with the classic duo of Luke Cage and Danny Rand- Power Man and Iron Fist-, which will be written by Brian Bendis. However, this run will also feature Jessica Jones and her child, who is fathered by Luke Cage. But what about a film based on the duo? It’s been rumored for some time now that a Luke Cage film may be in production, with several actors throwing their names in the hat to play the lead role. There have also been some very minor rumblings of a movie based on Iron Fist as well, but nothing that has really gained much traction.

While talking with BuzzFeed, Marvel’s TV head honcho, Jeph Loeb, talked about the the Ultimate Spider-Man series and the different characters involved with that show, including Luke Cage and Danny Rand. Loeb had this to say:

“Just like we just announced Guardians of the Galaxy, we are certainly looking at the Heroes for Hire franchise which is Luke Cage and Iron Fist…”

Does this mean we are getting a movie centered on the Heroes for Hire? Possibly, but at least we know that Marvel is certainly considering the concept, and maybe more so that we all originally thought. Obviously, I’d suggest a bit of salt to go with this news. Would you rather see a Heroes for Hire film or introduce each of the character individually first and team them in a later film? I have to say, it may be a better option to combine the two and get a kick-ass action flick from this odd, but awesome pairing.

Josh "ecksmanfan" Johnson, A Heroes for Hire Movie from Marvel?

Cheadle knows that expectations are extremely high for the first post-Avengers film, but it sounds like he and the cast are ready for the challenge:

I hope that it performs to those levels. We did a little piece of it at Comic-Con and people went crazy. It looked great. The script is good. We’re doing a couple re-shoots next week, but I’m encouraged.

Iron Man 2 was directed by Jon Favreau whereas 3 will be handled by the aforementioned Shane Black. Cheadle praises the new director saying he had a good time with a really good cast. He said the director came up with “an interesting script” that was “a lot of fun.” When asked how he would shake things up in Iron Man 3, the actor may have let a spoiler out of the bag:

I’m not supposed to say that he kills Robert Downey Jr.’s character.  Is that a spoiler?  That would be a spoiler.  You knew that was coming.  You read the comic books.  No.  I will just say that the buddy relationship that these guys have gets tighter.  The third act set piece for the big finale is bigger and badder.  It’s just a lot more.

OK that wasn’t really a spoiler. It would be an incredible shock though you have to admit. The actor did confirm what we had only heard rumors of, that some re-shoots will take place next week in Manhattan Beach. With the stills and clips we’ve seen from the film it does look like the Rhodes/Stark relationship will be explored even further than the second film. To read the rest of the interview where Cheadle talks about his TV show, production company, and family click right here. Everything he said about Iron Man 3 and the third act set piece being “bigger and badder” sounds incredibly promising. What do you think?

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Don Cheadle Says Iron Man 3 Is “Bigger and Badder”

The Avengers is still making massive amounts of money. Men In Black 3 took the number one spot this past weekend, but Earth’s Mightiest continues to smash records across the board. With The Avengers success, people are excited to see what Marvel’s next steps are as they work their way toward the sequel. Kevin Feige spoke with Empire Magazine about The Avengers success. He says he was just hoping it could top Iron Man 2′s opening, which was Marvel’s biggest opening weekend at the time. He talks about how Avengers is just a stepping stone to bigger and better things:

The Avengers was not the finale for us. It was a giant, giant marker, but it was never the finale. We are already well into the plan for the next phase of our little cinematic universe.

Next up for Marvel is Thor 2 which will begin shooting very shortly. Feige touches on what we can expect in the sequel as well as confirming what Chris Hemsworth has stated in previous interviews. We will see more of Asgard as well as different parts of the realms. Like the first film, we can expect a split between earth and Asgard:

We’re going to see the other side of Asgard. It’s not all polished and golden in this film. And the events of Avengers will have affected Thor for sure. His relationship with Loki will continue to evolve, and the biggest part is Natalie and Thor returning with Jane Foster.

With the recent casting news that Mads Mikkelsen is going to be a baddie, probably in addition to Loki, and the rumors of The Enchantress popping up we can expect Thor to face a lot of danger. At the end of The Avengers we saw a huge threat in the form of the mad titan Thanos. Hemsworth himself said that Thanos would not be showing up in Thor 2 as the threat, and Feige confirmed this.

No, future, future. But there will be a major new villain. A major, major new antagonist.

Now I would say there will probably be some hint or easter egg to keep all the movies tied together, but it’s safe to say Thanos will not be showing up. We’re still taking bets on who Mikkelsen is playing, but there will be a huge threat in Thor 2.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Kevin Feige Talks Thor 2: More Asgard, Bigger Villain

A Tweet from Twitch Films yesterday has reignited the Ant-Man speculation. According to them there were “rumblings” that it has already been greenlit, as you can see. The Cannes film festival would be a logical place for an announcement, even an unofficial one at that, to hit.

Rumblings in #Cannes are that @edgarwright‘s ANT MAN has been greenlit. #rumor

— TWITCH (@TwitchFilm) May 19, 2012

Let’s look at all the evidence we have to add to that tweet. Kevin Feige had already stated that it was closer than it has ever been and Edgar Wright, who is writing and directing the film, has added fuel to the fire over the course of this month. Earlier he tweeted the below picture with “Received this in the mail. What can it mean?”

Probably most promising of all are these juicy quotes from /Film from his appearance on the Empire Podcast. He was flat out asked about how Ant-Man was coming along. He had this to say:

Things are happening, and other things are happening on other things as well. There’s some interesting plates spinning and I ideally hope I’ll be shooting this year.

He is also working with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on the third movie in the so-called Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy, World’s End. If you were curious the first two were Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. When asked by /Film if this would affect his hopes for Ant-Man:

So as not to jinx things, I am going to remain spectacularly vague on this. Let’s just say I hope to shoot some Antman & World’s End this year.

As you may well know, Wright has been working on Ant-Man for quite a while. On the same podcast where he said he hoped to be shooting by the end of this year he talked about the development of these types of films he works on:

I get quite superstitious because I don’t feel like anybody reading magazines and websites and stuff — quite understands how hard long it takes. Because the film websites update hourly, it’s like ‘What’s the f-ing hold up? Just make it. Why isn’t it coming out tomorrow?’ But every film that I’ve made has taken like three years. Each one, it’s been three years between movies. I would love for that gap to be shorter, but the truth is there’s — it’s almost like a holding pattern. There are planes in the air and you have to figure out which one is going to land before they all crash like Die Hard 2.

Now very little is actually known about Wright’s work on Ant-Man, but given the character’s history it is probably safe to assume that Janet/Wasp will pop up sometime either married to Hank Pym or as a love interest. There are also rumors that Ant-Man will be more of a spy or secret agent character instead of the scientist we’re used to seeing. And most disheartening of all is the word that it probably won’t tie into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as per Thor/Cap/Iron Man for The Avengers. Now these are all just speculation and rumors so don’t get too worked up. There are many people who have taken on the mantle of Ant-Man so there’s not even a promise the Ant-Man we see will be Hank Pym. I’m sure there will be more about this in the coming months, so we’ll be bringing you all the latest developments.

Cody "The Thorverine" Ferrell, Ant-Man Could Start Shooting Later This Year