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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...

Marvel announced a new line of comics that will be set in Marvel's regular continuity, but accessible to new readers who aren't entrenched in the goings-on in the Marvel Universe. It's the Ultimate line all over again, except...not. The first "Astonishing" titles - Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine and Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis - should hit stands this May.

Marvel's VP of Sales and Circulation, David Gabriel, says, "They are firmly set in Marvel continuity but also accessible to new readers. If you're looking for big changes and character developments or a place to start reading if you are new to comics, this is where you come." My question is, if a reader is so unfamiliar with comics that he needs a fresh starting point, how is that same reader supposed to know that the Astonishing titles will serve that purpose? I can't imagine someone going into a shop for the first time and being able to distinguish Astonishing X-Men over Uncanny X-Men or Astonishing Spider-Man over Amazing Spider-Man.

This is what the Ultimate brand was intended for - a fresh start for new readers, free of years worth of backstory. The trouble is the Ultimate Universe created its own convoluted backstories, and now even those titles carry the burden of continuity. The Astonishing line seems confusing -- it's in-continuity, but ignores continuity; it's for brand new readers, but also old fans. Personally, I think monthly comics should be accessible to new readers all the time, but that's how the books were when I grew up reading. Seems like it's becoming more and more of a lost art amongst comic book writers and editors. Newsarama seems slightly baffled by the brand as well, and asks some obvious questions about it here.

(via Marvel)

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?

Stan Lee may be partly responsible for Marvel's most famous creations, but he hasn't been able to create the same kind of superhero magic since the late 60's when long-time collaborator Jack Kirby quit Marvel. With Kirby, Lee created the Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Thor, the X-Men, and many other icons. On his own, he's brought us She-Hulk (arguably his last important Marvel Universe creation), Ravage 2099, Mosiac, The Condor, Lightspeed, and Striperella. That's a pretty significant creative downturn.

Smilin' Stan is back with a new concept called "Super Seven", in which he stars as himself in the story of an aging comic book creator who talks seven stranded aliens into becoming an Earth-bound super-team. The comic book will be published by Archie Comics, with A Squared looking to develop the superheroes into a potential TV series.

Though the concept is interesting (if a bit cheesy), I don't expect Super Seven to be the next Spider-Man, just based on Stan Lee's track record for the past thirty years. I love the guy, but I wish he'd retire gracefully, instead of tarnishing his legacy with dozens of lame creations. Look for Stan Lee to continue to appear in every Marvel movie ever, at a theatre near you.

(Source: Hollywood Reporter)

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.

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)

After butting heads over Spider-Man 4 for what seems like the better part of the last month, Sony/Columbia Pictures and director Sam Raimi have parted ways on the project. The shift is so dynamic that the Spider-Man 4 movie has been canceled altogether in favor of a wholesale reboot of the entire franchise.

From Sony's official press release: "Peter Parker is going back to high school when the next Spider-Man hits theaters in the summer of 2012. Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios announced today they are moving forward with a film based on a script by James Vanderbilt that focuses on a teenager grappling with both contemporary human problems and amazing super-human crises. The new chapter in the Spider-Man franchise produced by Columbia, Marvel Studios and Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin, will have a new cast and filmmaking team."

Not long ago, Chud reported that Sony wasn't keen on the Vulture as the main threat for Spider-Man 4, but, today, Harry Knowles' sources at AICN told him the disagreements between Raimi and the studio may have had something to do with a storyline that would've seen Peter Parker and Mary Jane having a baby together. It certainly makes Peter and MJ a very adult couple, which, based on Sony's desire to kick Parker all the way back into his high school years, is not the direction Sony wanted to go at all. In Hollywood, teens are the epitome of sexy; parents, not so much.

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.

There are many reasons to hope the United Arab Emirates and Dubai can get its act together and deal with its $60 billion debt. And forgive me for having my world economic priorities out of whack, but I see reason no. 1 as, "Because comic book fans everywhere really need to have this Marvel Superheroes park built".

Back in 2007, Al Ahli Group (AAG) and Marvel Entertainment announced their partnership in bringing an innovative theme park to Dubai featuring the many characters from the Marvel Universe. The park had a direct investment of over $1 billion (USD) and was set to open in 2011. In April 2008, Dubai Holdings subsidiary Tatweer stepped in to take over the development of the project from AAG to incorporate the Marvel project as a part of the company's Dubailand attractions, at least at one point or another, was set to include a DreamWorks Animation Park, a Six Flags and Universal Studios Dubailand.

Today, our friends over at Cinematical dug up a blog post from Disney and More featuring concept art for the planned park and let me just say, better start saving up for your ticket to Dubai now, because this thing feels like it could be incredible.