IronMan2

Last month, we heard the news that Angelina Jolie was looking to star in Gravity, a science fiction film to be directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Only a few days later, it was revealed that Jolie had passed on the project so she can adopt more third world children, leaving the film star-less and possibly in trouble.

Well...Iron Man to the rescue!

Deadline is reporting that Robert Downey Jr. is in talks to headline this nifty-sounding movie, which will, of course, by in "Eye-Popping, Mind-Belting, Ball-Busting 3D!" Before you think they're pulling a reverse Flightplan and rewriting the role that was offered to Jolie, hear this:

"[Downey] will play the leader of a team posted at a remote space station. While he and a female colleague are traveling outside the space station, the other team members are decimated by debris from an exploded satellite."

Interesting. The previous reports had suggested that this movie was a real one-woman show, think Moon with a sexy star instead of a disheveled Sam Rockwell, so it's interesting to know that while "much of the film is devoted to her struggle to get back to Earth and her daughter," there will be a male counterpart and/or foil to bounce off. In my previous report on this project, I commented that Jolie needed to get back into the A-Game and find roles that justify her fame and popularity. I honestly think an intimate but exciting 3D science fiction adventure opposite the genuinely beloved Robert Downey Jr. would have been the way to go.

The Academy Awards just happened. I should be writing about who won, why they won and what can be expected from the winners and losers in the near future. But no. I'm here to tell you that the new trailer for Iron Man 2 has hit Apple Trailers and it's about sixty seven times more amazing than a golden statue of a naked man given out at at Hollywood's annual We're-So-Awesome-Have-A-Self-Congratulatory-Back-Rub-We-Love-You-Athon (with apologies to the excellent The Hurt Locker, congrats to Bigelow and company).

I don't like to be the typical online fanboy who sweats hyperbole and cries tears of hype, but this trailer compelled me to watch it three times. In a row. And when I'm done telling you about it, I'm going to go watch it again. Three times. In a row. So go watch it now, preferably three times in a row, and report on back.

What stands out to little 'ol me:

-Director Jon Favreau has apparently taken some criticism to heart and it looks like the action in Iron Man 2 has been increased ten-fold. We see a lot of flight, a lot of fire, a lot of explosions and a lot of energy-whip-on-racecar destruction. This trailer also shows that this Tony Stark adventure will have 100% more scenes showcasing Iron Man punching robot drones. This is a good thing. A great thing, even.

We're definitely seeing the resurgence of the sword-and-sandals movie. Except that instead of swords and sandals, you have swords and sexy guys and tons of beasties and fantastic creatures. If this bothers you, go shake your first at the ridiculous success of 300 and the even more ridiculous success of the God of War video games. Clash of the Titans and Neil Marshall's Centurion are on the horizon. Greek myth is back, baby!

We're also seeing the resurgence of Mickey Rourke, whose work in the seriously incredible The Wrestler has has made him a major player again. And he's finding plenty of love from sci-fi and fantasy filmmakers: Iron Man 2, Conan and now, Tarsem Singh (director of The Cell and The Fall) has cast him in War of the Gods. Like so many movies in this new trend, it won't be a strict retelling of ancient myth, but a mish-mash of various elements. Says Variety:

"Story follows a young warrior Theseus who leads his men into battle with the immortal Greek gods to defeat evil elder gods of the Titans in order to save mankind."

Rourke will play the movie's villain, King Hyperion. What King Hyperion wants or does is unknown. I can presume he stands in the hero's way in at least a few scenes.

I'm always down for more Greek mythology on screen and I'm always down for Mickey Rourke getting to work. I'm especially down to see Tarsem Singh, one of the most talented visual filmmakers working today, direct what sounds like an epic adventure story. Let's see what happens.

Another day, another Iron Man 2 tidbit. Another day, another key aspect of a major film revealed/spoiled by toy companies! This time it's Tony Stark's Mark VI suit, which we can safely assume is faster, stronger and more intense than the suit we saw in the first film. We can also safely assume that this new suit exists so youngsters will be compelled to lay down their meager allowances so they can have everything Iron Man. And by youngsters, I mean grown adults who collect toys.

But I'm not here to judge! Let's talk about this new suit, shall we?

The most obvious update is the triangular chest piece while everything else is a little more subtle. To my untrained eyes, it seems a little more streamlined and a little less bulky, but other than that, it's friggin' Iron Man. Any Tony Stark aficionados out there want to let me know what else is new here?

Iron Man 2 (or Iron 2 Man, as the trailers insist) is only a few months away. In terms of sheer summer fun, it's feeling like the movie to beat. Head on over to Marvel's official site to check out a nice big version of the armor.

Sam Rockwell may not have gotten a fancy teaser poster for his character like Mickey Rourke did, but he's still a major bad guy in Marvel's upcoming Iron Man 2. He plays unscrupulous industrialist Justin Hammer -- sort of the anti-Tony Stark -- and the details of his involvement with the film's plot have been scarce.

Apparently, he creates an army of Iron Man-like drones to battle the hero and his new sidekick War Machine. It's not exactly a spoiler -- you can see Iron Man and War Machine fighting back-to-back against hordes of something in the trailer. Those somethings are the Hammer Drones, whose designs, as far as I know, haven't been revealed by the filmmakers.

The Hammer Drones can be seen for the first time in upcoming Iron Man 2 Mini-Mates toyline, in a slightly disproportionate form, in keeping with the line's Lego-like look. Figures.com has pictures of the first wave of Iron Man 2 Mini-Mates, which also include Pepper Potts and a cute, squatty rendition of War Machine.

Iron Man 2 arrives in theatres on May 7.

Welcome to Captain's Log -- your (semi) daily round-up of sci-fi randomness from around the web. Here's what's happening:

Go Team Venture! We're finally getting Venture Brothers toys, according to Entertainment Earth.

"When the aliens come, they will eat the fatties first." -- A line BoingBoing shares from a new health club ad campaign.

Michael Cera has become a light-saber wielder! [Cinematical]

Geekologie shares a tutorial on how to Photoshop yourself into a Na'vi.

Science is so cruel: Science Blogs reports that researchers use a laser to shave the barbs off fly penises to see what function they serve.

Superhero Hype reports that we should get ready for a line of Iron Man 2 spy gear for kids. Closing the door might not be enough to rid yourself of the watchful kid eye.

Did you know that Dell now has "Alienware"? [The Awesomer]

I promise the drool-inducing above image of War Machine from Iron Man 2 is not meant to throw off the voting. There's just a metric ton of great-sounding genre stuff coming out in 2010, and I'd really like to know if there's one film, more than any other, that folks are dying to see.

The movie I'm the most curious about is Tron Legacy -- though I don't know that it's my most anticipated. I have high hopes for Iron Man 2 (of course) and Clash of the Titans (ohgodpleaseletitbeawesome), but there's something about that upcoming Tron reboot/sequel that makes me get weirdly geeky. Maybe it's because the first one is one of those films that I want to love more than I actually do. It's looks so damned cool, I often forget how the plot is slower than a 300 baud modem. I think there's only room for improvement with a new Tron, and the images are, frankly, blowing me away. I don't know if I can hold out for a whole year...

What sci-fi/fantasy films are you most anticipating in 2010?

Disney's 4.2 billion dollar purchase of Marvel Entertainment is expected to close this week. With that kind of price tag, Disney's latest acquisition, announced back in August, is heftier than originally planned as Marvel's stock rose by 40% since the announcement, according to a Hollywood Reporter article.

Some of the Marvel properties, such as Spider-Man, are already locked into long term deals with rival studios, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of potential in Marvel's vault.

Disney's doing good, and with that 40% bump in the sticker price, Marvel's healthy, too. So now the question is which one of Marvel's 5,000 plus characters is going to the big screen? Iron Man's first movie took in $572 million, despite being considered a B-list superhero, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Based on the response to the Iron Man 2 trailer debut at Buttnumbathon earlier this month, the sequel will likely do just as well, if not better.

So which will it be? Ant-Man? The Runaways? Dr. Strange? What Marvel superhero would you most like to see brought to the big screen? Inquiring minds want to know.

"There will be blood in the water, and the sharks will come."

So says Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) in the just-released Iron Man 2 trailer (available on Apple's website in glorious QuickTime) and man oh man does it look like Jon Favreau and Co. outdid themselves. They don't hold much back in the chock-full 2 minutes and 28 seconds, but still, there's nothing too spoiler-ish going on, especially if you've been keeping up on your Iron Man 2 news. The correct one word response: totallyf-ckingawesome.

Since the end of Iron Man (i.e. "I am Iron Man"), Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has gone full-blown rock star to the next degree. The sin of hubris attracts a lot of attention, mainly a pair of Ruskies, Whiplash (who we get a lot of) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson filling out that leather outfit nicely). Only a glimpse of Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), but hey, cars flip, things explode, and yes, the oh so appropriate Black Sabbath song is back.

Did I forget to mention...War Machine (Don Cheadle replacing what would have been Terrence Howard)? Please just do yourself a favor if you haven't already and let this thing kick your ass all over the place. Or watch it again. Ahhh, May 2010 can't come soon enough.

No word yet if Marvel Studios has decided to release this thing in 3D, although I've got a gut feeling that that's going to be a big fat negative.

It's no secret that War Machine was going to rear his metallic, butt-kicking head in Iron Man 2 (presumably to shoot missiles at Mickey Rourke and crack wise), but now that Yahoo has debuted the first poster for the highly-anticipated film, we can stop wondering what War Machine is going to look like and start complaining about what he looks like. Such is the way of the internet!

My layman's knowledge of the Iron Man universe prevents me from going into extensive detail about this particular exoskeleton-o-destruction, but I'll go on the record with saying it looks pretty cool. Far bulkier than the sleek, agile Iron Man armor, it looks ready to karate chop it's way through a tank while on the way to throw a boat at a terrorist (and with that gatling gun arm, War Machine certainly ain't got time to bleed).

Of course, new toys and armors aside, it's important to remember that Don Cheadle will be inside the suit and unless he's murdering the British accent alongside George Clooney, Cheadle is always a joy to watch perform (I have a gut feeling that no one is going to miss Terrence Howard in the role). It's funny to think that a tentpole summer release will feature Cheadle, Robert Downey Jr., Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell all trying to destroy/one-up/defeat each other...with a cast as talented as that and with armor as cool as this, Iron Man 2 has a lot of high quality ingredients on its plate. I expect nothing less than greatness come summer 2010.