The huge box office and critical success of the original Iron Man came as a bit of a surprise to everyone. Iron Man, while having a long publishing history, has never been one of those mainstream, iconic super heroes like a Batman or a Spider-Man. Despite that, director Jon Favreau and star Robert Downey Jr. absolutely nailed the character so perfectly that everyone fell in love with the film. And now that ol’ shellhead has had a feature film that was such a mainstream success, perhaps the argument could start to be made that he is a character on par with the Batmans and Spider-Mans of the world. So, a lot of people were understandably upset when it was announced that Favreau, a guy who did so much for the character, wouldn’t be returning to the director’s chair of Iron Man 3. The guy they got to replace him, however, has a pretty great pedigree, and it turns out that he’s already helped out on this series before. In a Q&A at the Hero Complex Film Festival, Downey tells a story about how he and Favreau went to the new director, Shane Black, when they had reached a stumbling point on one of the past Iron Man films: “I said, ‘We should talk to Shane.’ And I was like, ‘Shane, we can’t really pay.’ And he was like, ‘Bring me some salmon and some blueberries.’ And we went to Yoda’s house in Miracle Mile and it wound up coming in [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Want to hear something stupid? There’s a Joss Whedon horror film sitting somewhere, finished, with nobody watching it. If I had to crown someone the king of genre storytelling over the last 15 years, it’s probably Whedon’s head that I would place the crown on. The guy is beloved, is always working on things that appeal to nerd sensibilities, and is a great storyteller. He created Buffy, for the love of Mike. And here we have a horror film coming straight from his brain that’s been sitting around for a couple year’s now with nobody watching it. Or, more accurately, it came from the brains of Whedon and Drew Goddard, Whedon’s long-time collaborator who co-wrote and directed The Cabin in the Woods. But most of you probably know all of this already. It’s old news at this point. Fans have been clamoring to see this movie for a long time. The new news is that it finally looks like a distribution company will pick up The Cabin in the Woods and release it in theaters. Lionsgate has come to the rescue and is in the process of inking a deal to acquire the film. Originally it was going to be put out by MGM, but then it’s release got pushed back so that it could go through 3D conversion, and then MGM’s bankruptcy problems put an indefinite halt to its release. But it’s got Whedon’s soon to be Avengers related name on it, and it’s got Thor’s Chris Hemsworth in [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

With shooting under way for The Avengers, the world is one step closer to seeing Marvel’s ultimate plan come to fruition. To celebrate the occasion, Marvel shot out a press release featuring the first official photo from the set as well as an incredibly long synopsis that nonetheless doesn’t really say anything at all about the picture. However, it does confirm casting suspicions that have been floating around as common knowledge, and it highlights the creative staff in a great way. Plus, chairs!

What is Movie News After Dark? When it was first being written tonight, it was going to be a very silly column. Then some serious (and seriously awesome) links were found and you were saved from a fate far more ridiculous than usual. We’ll save that for another time. In this moment, on this night, Movie News After Dark presents you with all kinds of interesting things, words and doo-dads. But most of all, there will be fun. Aziz Ansari and Jesse Eisenberg are just around the building, ready to do something that will undoubtedly lead to hilarity in Ruben Fleischer’s 30 Minutes or Less, the film that will combine pizza delivery with the plot concept of Speed. Doesn’t that just make you urgently hungry? This new look is part of a slew of Entertainment Weekly magazine clippings found over at The Playlist.

Marvel’s Joe Quesada once called Maria Hill as “strong and imposing” as Nick Fury. Anyone who’s read much of her character knows just how true that is – she’s a vicious, strong-willed woman that ends up running SHIELD as interim Executive Director. That’s the role several actresses were vying for, and it appears that Cobie Smulders (from How I Met Your Mother, Slammin’ Salmon) might be stretching her dramatic chops for the role. According to Deadline Santa Monica, the deal to hire Smulders for The Avengers is nearly done. She was also apparently a top choice for director Joss Whedon when he was looking to do Wonder Woman. This is an interesting call, but it’s definitely not a bad one. Smulders has had to show more than comedy for How I Met Your Mother – a show that continues to toss in emotional roadblocks alongside its Slapsgiving celebrations. She’s a great, new talent, but it’ll be a real test to see how she marks up in stature next to Samuel L. Jackson. That would be the true crucible for any actress taking on the part. Morena Baccarin from V might have been a more obvious choice as a stoic bad ass with a pixie cut, so it’ll be interesting to find out what the casting team saw from Smulders that made them choose her instead.

From the moment Marvel announced The Avengers and their vision for it, we knew it would be massive. There’s a baker’s dozen of major actors involved, and a healthy stockade of them will have super powers (or super suits they invented in a cave). There is also a lot of ground to cover to bring all those heroes together. Now, Chris Hemsworth has spoken to MTV and revealed his thoughts on the script, getting used to his co-stars, and the two characters that spoiler-ily get their Irish up against each other.

While fans of the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie starring Kristy Swanson may be ready to rejoice, fans of the Sarah Michelle Gellar television series are slamming fists and shedding tears at the news that Buffy is on her way back to the big screen with one caveat – Joss Whedon will not be involved. Personally I think there are two kinds of Buffy fans: those of us who saw the movie in theaters back in 1992, liked it and then never watched the TV series and those whose fandom is almost entirely related to their enjoyment of the television show. I count myself among the former, having never seen an episode of the television show – a trait I plan on having the rest of my life. Is it a good idea to bring Buffy back sans the man responsible for her popularity? Yes and no.

On Friday, Warners sent out a twitter missive into the world thanking fans for sending them support for Veronica Mars – the erstwhile show about the plucky teenage detective solving cases while she solved her own. In return, the studio set up an email address where fans can write in (ostensibly to give numeric proof that the demand for a movie is there). Warners shouldn’t wait for that numeric proof. They’ve gone that route before by looking at ratings for a show that was on a network no one’s heard of and by looking at DVD sales. The numbers aren’t there, but the character is, and when good writing is staring you in the face, that writing should be reason enough to make things happen. Since that’s the least convincing business argument, here are three better reasons for why Warners needs to make a move on Veronica Mars.

If this Comic-Con teaser for Marvel’s The Avengers proves anything, it’s that you can’t successfully pull off the “voice-over only” teaser unless you have someone like Samuel Jackson narrating. The man makes everything sounds like it’s happening at the end of the world, right as humanity faces its greatest threats in its daring final hours. It’s appropriate in this situation, as Marvel would like us to see The Avengers as the ultimate moment in their cinematic landscape. It’s going to be big, gaudy and full of ripped muscles and even more flavorful egos. Whether it will all work out is still in question, as I explored in a recent editorial. But for now, at least we have the tantalizing voice-over teaser that you can watch just after the jump.

There’s been some pretty exciting news coming out of Comic-Con today… Guillermo Del Toro remaking Disney’s Haunted Mansion, a new trailer for Tron Legacy, a possible sequel to In the Company Of Men. Ok, so maybe it isn’t all that exciting. But now news has hit that trumps them all… Joss Whedon is directing The Avengers! Maybe you recall us reporting that same news a little over three months ago, but this time it’s for real. Whedon just confirmed those earlier reports at Comic-Con today during the Visionaries panel with JJ Abrams. He joked that the news hadn’t been confirmed previously because Marvel couldn’t afford to pay for a press release. Hit the jump for Whedon’s response to a couple probing questions…

Not so good, if my calculations are correct. The news this evening is that Edward Norton, star of The Incredible Hulk, has been ousted for the role of Bruce Banner, also known as The Hulk for the upcoming Joss Whedon directed Avengers film, due out in 2012. But it’s not just that he’s out. Like Lebron James kicking Cleveland and his legacy to the curb, it’s about how the situation is being handled that matters. Apparently not only is Marvel not using Norton, they are keeping The Hulk. And get this — they are looking to hire an unknown in his place.

When are you people going to learn? And by “you people,” I of course have no idea who I’m talking to here. We all know that rumors about The Hurt Locker star Jeremy Renner playing Clint Barton, also known as Hawkeye, in the Joss Whedon directed team-up film The Avengers.

In late November, early December of last year, a rumor began circulating around the web about The Hurt Locker star Jeremy Renner and his potential involvement in Marvel’s The Avengers, the enormous superhero conglomerate film that will drop in the year 2012. Now, that rumor is back.

Morgan Spurlock is teaming with Stan Lee, Thomas Tull, Joss Whedon and Harry Knowles to deliver a documentary…and they want you.

To be honest, we were just way too busy positing alternate actresses to replace Megan Fox in Transformers 3 that we had not time to think about who might actually end up in the movie. This and more in today’s B-Roll.

Like many people who think they are smart, I listen weekly to This American Life. And in a recent episode featuring tales of returning to the scene of the crime, Joss Whedon walked in and sang a song. Which got me thinking…

This week, on a very special episode of Reject Radio, tears are shed, feeling are shared, and you the listener will be very, very moved.

Kevin and Neil invite you to experience a milestone in Fat Guy history… both Fat Guys have seen the new films this weekend, and they pretty much agree. Get your fire-and-bimstone umbrellas ready!

It’s hard to believe it was just two days ago that our world was rocked with the news that Joss Whedon would (probably) be directing Marvel’s biggest and most anticipated movie, The Avengers. Well, maybe ‘rocked’ is too strong of a word, but there was definitely some tingling. As interesting as that news was though, things may have gotten even better…

Based on the track record of Joss Whedon in the world of television, film and other things that are visual and entertaining, it is likely that any project to which he becomes attached is going to go down in flames. It’s not a quality thing, of course. It’s a luck thing…