When the first public trailer dropped for Joss Whedon’s upcoming Avengers film, it was met with a collective sigh from many, including yours truly. It wasn’t very exciting and the only thing it had going for it was some pedestrian banter that relied solely on the charm of Robert Downey Jr. Even on a visual level, the trailer failed to deliver the scale expected from an Avengers movie. It’s with that attitude that I entered the IGN theater at the New York Comic Con this past Saturday. When the panel started, moderator Chris Hardwick walked out to a crowd that was already coming down from the high of The Walking Dead panel and introduced the film’s producer Kevin Feige. Feige commented on how the teaser just recently dropped, but that it was on the computer and then proceeded to ask the audience if they would like to see it played on the three giant screens in the theater. This was met with great enthusiasm.

Work on getting a Thor sequel in production seems to be well underway. It was just yesterday the news broke that Monster director Patty Jenkins was getting looked at very closely to direct the hammer-wielding god’s second movie, and now Entertainment Weekly has some quotes from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige about what direction the plot will take. Once this sequel goes into production, Thor will already have furthered adventures here on Earth alongside his Avengers buddies, so according to Feige, it’s time to “take Thor literally to other worlds.” In the Norse mythology that Thor plays around in there are nine different worlds. When I looked up the nine worlds over at Marvel, I learned that three of them share the same planet as Thor’s home Asgard, one of them is where we live (Midgard), and the other four are called Jotunheim, Svartalfheim, Hel, and Muspelheim. That’s a whole mouthful of words, and a whole heap of worlds full of elves, demons, and who knows what for Thor to smash with his hammer.

It’s been a rocky road for The Hulk on the way to next summer’s The Avengers. He started out being portrayed by Eric Bana in an art-film-in-disguise that Ang Lee made called Hulk. That was weird, and boring, and it didn’t go over so well. Then he showed back up looking a lot like Edward Norton in the Louis Leterrier directed The Incredible Hulk. Well, when he was in his human form he looked like Ed Norton. When he was The Hulk he still just looked like The Hulk. Leterrier’s film was more action oriented and in the wheelhouse of what comic book fans were expecting, but something must have gone wrong because now the green goliath suddenly looks a lot like Mark Ruffalo. And this time, he looks a lot like Mark Ruffalo both when he’s a normal guy and when he gets big and green.

If you’ve  followed our coverage of Marvel Junkets in the past (Iron Man 2, Thor) then you know that those press events and I have a long and useless history. Generally speaking, everyone spends a lot of time learning very little, and sometimes things break and fall down. It seems as though Marvel may be on the upswing in terms of getting these junkets really pumping out information – or maybe we journalists are asking better questions – who the heck really knows why it happened, but somehow the Captain America junket was interesting and had stuff to learn you might actually care about. So much so, in fact, that I’ve got 15 cool tidbits right here.

The other night I had the pleasure of seeing the newest Marvel Studios film, Captain America: The First Avenger, and while I don’t yet have the pleasure of telling you about it, I can tell you about other people who told me about it. Say what? I’ll tell you what: today was the press junket for Captain America where I was afforded the chance to partake in a press conference with the filmmakers and studio heads and sit at round-tables with a few of the stars. Unfortunately Chris Evans declined my arm wrestling invitation. Rewinding to the night of the screening, as the film ended I, like most of those in attendance, stayed seated, ready to pop my 3D glasses back on for an after-credits sequence. This is, after-all, a Marvel Studios film. They’ve got a strong history (recently) of teasing us, at least a little, with something after the credits. Surely we’d have to see some little tidbit of The Avengers, right?

I may love most Marvel movies, but if there has been one bone of contention between them and me, it would be lackluster final battles. If there was a second, it would be completely useless press junkets. Now, press conferences are often boring no matter what the movie, but for some reason Marvel and I have never really gotten along in terms of not sucking. Unfortunately the conference for Thor was no different. While I enjoyed the movie (Rob Hunter gave it a B-) the conference failed to turn up many interesting things. Well, at least not interesting things about the movie. Here’s what I learned (with potential spoilers that you already know for The Avengers):

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a sad Doctor Who fan tonight, that’s for sure. With the premiere of a new season less than a week away, tragedy has struck. We must press on, but we must also remember fondly Elisabeth Sladen. There will also be a slew of interesting news, but first, some sadness… Elisabeth Sladen — best known as Sarah Jane Smith of Doctor Who fame — has passed away this week at the age of 63. For those who are not familiar with her work, she was one of the most famous companions in the long history of Who. She was the show’s heart and soul for a time, and reprised the character many times over the course of 38 years. That’s one hell of a run. She will be missed.

Three days ago, Marvel Studios assembled its team of Avengers. And right there on the stage in Hall H of the San Diego Convention Center, they lit fires in the hearts of 6,500 fans present and countless others as word began to ripple across the internet. I’m sure that it was a sight to see. And from a distance, even I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of anticipation for the superhero team-up — one that will put Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans) and The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) on screen together. The 2012 film will be a cinematic event unlike anything ever attempted before. There’s no doubt about that. Never has a studio embarked on a comic adaptation quite so ambitious. Then again, there’s never been a studio making comic adaptations quite the way young Marvel has done. It all seems as if planets are aligning, deities are smiling and harmony between the world of comics and the world of movies has finally come to pass. But when we wipe away all of the manufactured bliss created on stage by Marvel Studios on Saturday, we realize quickly that there are still plenty of questions on the road ahead. In fact, there are more than questions — for Marvel, there are giant speed-bumps in the form of two films yet to be finished and released, and an entire team-up film to be planned and executed. It’s no small task. And even though the [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]

When director Edgar Wright is done promoting Scott Pilgrim vs. the World later this year, he will return to Marvel to talk about the future of his Ant-Man movie. This, according to Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige.

If you ever wondered what kind of stuff happens at a press conference, this is the article for you. Plus, we learn a few things that are actually about the movie, too!

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…

West Coast editor Robert Fure checks in with his own video blog reaction to the panel that blew the roof off Comic-Con’s Saturday line-up, Marvel Studios presentation of Iron Man 2.

According to Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke, Marvel Studios has finally found their man for Thor. And while you might not recognize his name, you may have just seen him in a recent summer blockbuster.

Marvel Studios has rounded out their directorial team for their next three movies this evening, signing Joe Johnston to direct the ‘period piece’ known as The First Avenger: Captain America.

With The Incredible Hulk making its way onto DVD today, it has got all the various deciders at Marvel making the press rounds. And with that, of course, comes plenty of questions about the plans that Marvel has for its green behemoth.

Marvel Studios could be throwing us a curve-ball, as they have engaged in talks with thespian Kenneth Branagh for the directorial gig on Thor. An interesting choice, indeed.

After the emotionally draining experience that was Iron Man in early May, the fanboy inside of me was sure that there was no way that Marvel Studios could go two-for-two in the Summer of ’08. Go figure, I was wrong.

After being in comic books, on television and in a feature film in 2003, the Hulk franchise is getting rebooted. Like the television series, this film finds Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) on the run, trying to discover a cure for the gamma radiation that turns him into the Hulk when he gets angry.

From the set of his new acting gig, a supporting player on I Love You, Man, Jon Favreau talks about the future of Iron Man, his role, and what summer movies he is looking forward to.

Jon Favreau sat down with EW.com to talk about the surprise critical and opening box office success of Iron Man, the risk of casting Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, and what the future hold for Favs, Iron Man, and The Avengers.