Marvel Studios

While Marvel still searches for the right person to play the Star-Spangled Avenger Captain America, they've also got to find someone to play his arch-nemesis, The Red Skull, in the upcoming Joe Johnston film. The right man should be able to play cold and frightening, not be afraid to tackle one of fiction's most heinous Nazis, and be ready to spend some serious time in the make-up chair.

While some fans may have declared Christoph Waltz the perfect choice (a little too on the nose if you ask me -- save him for Dr. Doom in that eventual Fantastic Four reboot, I say), the folks at Marvel Studios may have their sights set on British actor Hugo Weaving, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

I think Weaving is a very good choice for the part, although it might ruin my fanboy armchair casting of Weaving as The Riddler in Christopher Nolan's third Batman film. The role would reunite Weaving with his Wolfman director, and would be the second comic book film for the actor (he also appeared behind the mask as V in V for Vendetta). The First Avenger: Captain America is currently scheduled for Summer 2011.

When I posted the rumor of Chris Pine being in the running for Captain America, I got an interesting response from an unnamed source that claims Pine was considered but is out of the running. According to that source, Marvel has all but locked down someone younger, not-yet-a-star, as Steve Rogers aka Captain America for Joe Johnston's Captain America: The First Avenger and the Avengers team movie. If the source is correct, Marvel has someone who isn't exactly an unknown, but a bit of a cool, unexpected choice. (A rumor over the weekend pegged Robert Buckley, but so far there's been no confirmation.)

Here are my guesses at who those contenders might be...

I like this rumor a lot, but it is just a rumor, and CinemaSpy evens says so in their exclusive - Chris Pine is on the short list to play Captain America in the live-action Joe Johnston film of the same name.

I'm sure he's been talked about, whether he's on a list or not. He's got the look, the charisma, and the right amount of up-and-coming star power to play the role. Remember, the person that plays Captain America will need to lead the team of Iron Man and Thor in the eventual Avengers film. This means he needs a comfortable command presence; you need to be able to buy that Robert Downey Jr. (as Tony Stark) would take orders from this man. I think Pine has that quality - certainly in a way that Sam Worthington (also rumored for the role) does not.

We'll have more as it develops - Captain America: The First Avenger should be assembling its cast in the coming weeks. What do you think of Pine as Cap?

As Marvel Studios ramps up production on Thor and puts the finishing touches on Iron Man 2 -- all for the purpose of an eventual Avengers film -- Marvel Comics is canceling all four of its monthly Avengers titles.

The monthly books, New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Dark Avengers, and Avengers: The Initiative, will all cease publication in April 2010 at the end of Marvel's multi-part Siege crossover. Siege is the culmination of several years' worth of stories from writer Brian Michael Bendis that sees the villains of the Marvel Universe (including Dr. Doom, Loki, and Norman Osborn) forming an alliance to manipulate the Avengers into invading Asgard.

One would assume, based on Marvel's publishing history, that they're streamlining the brand down to one single Avengers title after April and starting fresh with a new issue one. As a matter of fact, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if that new title featured Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America front-and-center as the core of the team, to make the book more recognizable to the general public. There's no word yet from Marvel on what their post-Siege plans are for the Avengers, but I wouldn't dare count the team out for good.

(via IGN)

I love my superhero movies, but I'm not exactly drunk with anticipation over Kenneth Branagh's Thor flick. I have nothing against Branagh. I think he's an inspired choice to direct the movie. But I've never been a big fan of Marvel Comics' God of Thunder. I like my superheroes to come packaged with plenty of real-world quirks: Spider-Man is an angsty put-upon teen, Iron Man is a womanizer and an alcoholic, and Batman is ... well ... a crazy person. Thor? He's an indestructible Norse god with Fabio hair who uses the word "thou" a lot. He's got no chinks in his armor, which makes him a bit boring.

OK, maybe I'm being a little too harsh on Thor. He's obviously one of Marvel's most beloved heroes, and I'm sure the movie will at least deliver some dazzling visuals and cool fight scenes. It's also got a great cast, and it's reportedly gonna set up Marvel's next big dream project – an Avengers movie. (Hmm ... I'm starting to anticipate the thing a whole lot more as I write this.)

Here's one reason I might show up to the theater for Thor on opening weekend: The film is co-scripted by Ashley Miller, one of the scribes behind two of my favorite sci-fi shows, Fringe and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Speaking to our pals at Airlock Alpha, Miller compared the Thor flick to Batman Begins.

Let me get this out of the way first: I am a huge Hawkeye fan. When I was a pre-teen I'd pick up Solo Avengers (the Hawkeye solo title) and West Coast Avengers (the team where Hawkeye was the leader) every month while my friends were buying Wolverine or Uncanny X-Men. He may just be a guy that shoots arrows, but there's something about his personality that just clicks with me. He's the Han Solo-type--a rogue and a scoundrel--but with the quick tongue of Spider-Man.

Forgive me then if I geek out a little more than usual at the news (from Empire Online) that Jeremy Renner is talking like it's all but official that he'll be playing Clint Barton aka Hawkeye in Marvel's upcoming Avengers-related films. Renner tells Empire, "If I was a betting man, I would bet that Hawkeye would probably show up in Thor, and then be in The Avengers, but do I know for sure? I can't say. But I'd love for that to happen. It'd be fun." He admits he was considered for the role of Captain America, but Marvel screenwriter Zak Penn would like to work Renner into the stories as Hawkeye instead.

Thor's cast is already stuffed with characters, so I don't know how they'd fit in just one more hero (or villain...Hawkeye started as a bad guy, then changed his ways). Can we expect a cameo from Renner in Iron Man 2 in much the same manner as Downey Jr. showing up as Tony Stark at the end of Incredible Hulk?

Comic book casting rumors seem to happen on a daily basis lately , and, obviously, nothing is set in stone, but I think Renner's an inspired choice. I'm pretty excited. What do you guys think?

By: Elisabeth Rappe

There's big news from Asgard tonight! According to The Hollywood Reporter, the legendary Sir Anthony Hopkins has joined the cast of Thor. This isn't one of these tightly kept casting announcements either, as THR reports that he and no one else is playing Odin. (Incidentally, there's no mention of Robert DeNiro and Jude Law among the confirmed cast members, so I'm guessing that was just a fever dream of a rumor.)

If you're not up on your Thor or Nordic mythology, Odin is the father of Thor and the ruler of Asgard. He's your typical white-bearded god sort, fond of wine, women, and wisdom. He's not immortal (none of the gods of Asgard are), but ages slowly, and possesses amazing powers of strength and wisdom. He famously sacrifices his eye for the foresight to prevent Ragnarok, a sadly futile act, but you can't blame a god for trying.

While a lot of people were hoping that the Brian Blessed would be Odin (and my own money was on the recently signed Stellan Skarsgard), you can't really get much better than Sir Hopkins. He'll add just the right amount of gravitas, but he's an actor who can still have fun in a role. I can't wait to see him go up against Loki, and watching him smack down Thor for his arrogance is going to be pure theater. Cheers, Kenneth Branagh!

This post originally appeared at Cinematical

By Elisabeth Rappe

We're entering into a frustrating trend with Thor news now. Excellent actors continue to sign on, but we have no idea who they are playing, which certainly keeps things interesting, but hurts when it comes to the geek discussions we could be having. The latest to reportedly join the cast is a Skarsgard, but not the one who you might expect.. According to Swedish news site Ystands Allehanda, Stellan Skarsgard has joined the cast of Thor in an unspecified role.

As you Thor fans undoubtedly remember, Stellan's son Alexander was in the running to play Thor. Skarsgard confirmed that he was so close as to have tried on the costume, and was one of the last contenders cut before Kenneth Branagh chose Chris Hemsworth. (Every episode of True Blood I see, I think Hemsworth has to be something really special if they cut Skarsgard, who would have been my pick.) If the elder Skarsgard is indeed part of the cast, I would like to be a fly on the wall for that family phone call.

My immediate guess (or my biggest hope) as to who Skarsgard might be playing would be Odin. While Marvel's version of Odin is a very beefy one, Skarsgard would be more in tune with how the god is usually portrayed in Nordic art and mythology. It would certainly be more interesting to have the crafty, American Gods version of Odin over one that just looks like an older Thor. Otherwise, your guess is as good as mine. Hopefully, we won't have to make too many guesses, and Skarsgard will not only be confirmed through official channels, but those official channels will reveal just where he fits into Asgard.

[via Empire]

(Looks like Sony finally found a way to weave that much-discussed two-film arc for Spider-Man, which was a story Cinematical first broke wayyy back in May of 2008. Here's Elisabeth Rappe reporting)

The Spider-Man franchise might just be heading down the road for a divorce from Sam Raimi and all his players, if I'm interpreting Variety and its sources right. Sony has "quietly" hired screenwriter James Vanderbilt to pen the fifth and sixth installments of the web-slinger franchise. Nothing wrong with that at all, of course. Vanderbilt has good work to his name, and a superhero franchise could do a lot worse than hiring the Zodiac screenwriter. However, Raimi didn't care for Vanderbilt's take and replaced him with David Lindsay-Abaire. He's currently having Gary Ross rewrite that script. However, Sony / Columbia and Marvel Studios loved Vanderbilt's ideas, in part because they form a big, interconnected storyline. (I can see Marvel all over that, can't you?) In fact, that was the original plan for Spidey films 4 and 5 which were to be shot back to back, but the idea was scrapped.

But here's where things could get really ugly. Raimi, Tobey Maguire, and Kirsten Dunst are reportedly not signed to installments 5 and 6, and with Raimi boarding World of Warcraft, the studio is even more uncertain that he'll return. So Vanderbilt's scripts are being eyed not as sequels but as a blueprint for a franchise "reboot." Obviously, there's no further details on what that would mean beyond a new cast and crew.

Read the rest at Cinematical

By Elisabeth Rappe

I'm going to sound like a broken record with all the "Oh my gosh, he / she was so nice" remarks, but the happy truth is that all the ComicCon talent I encountered this year was ridiculously nice. Sam Rockwell was no exception. He's exactly as you think he would be: quiet, friendly, low-key. One of my finest moments was having my druthers enough to compliment him on Moon, and he was so flattered it was if he had never been complimented on it before. Call it good acting, call it being humble, whatever. He's a cool guy, and I feel so bad for being leery of him after his creepy turn in The Green Mile.

Coming up is Don Cheadle and Jon Favreau, so keep reading, they should be up by midweek.

[On whether or not it was fun to be out in Hall H and part of Iron Man 2 -- not sure which, impossible to hear. Sorry readers.]

No, it's exciting to see that trailer, you know? That's an exciting thing, because we just wrapped a week ago.

So you haven't seen dailies or anything?

No, it was really wild to see that. It was really exciting.

One of the cool things looking at this cast, and the people who are making this movie, is that everybody comes from a sort of indie background. I don't want to disparage, but it's real actors and real filmmakers working on this. Does that create a definite vibe on set, a sort of small, indie environment as a result?

It is. It really feels like you're a part of the All-Stars, you really feel like you're there to do something cool. You're right, it's not just a big studio movie with thrills and chills. It's very actor friendly, and cinematically it's just phenomenal. It's big filmmaking, and yet it is very accessible to actors in a way that independent film is. It's very actor friendly for sure. It's cool.

Read the rest at Cinematical