New Trailer for 'The Avengers'

Quick declaration: I bow down to anything from nearly God-like creaotr Joss Whedon like any respectful fanboy would.  With that I have kept my impressions of his theatrical directorial efforts of The Avengers to a respectable aweing.  Certainly many comic book fans have been waiting for Marvel's long-gestating franchise culmination in The Avengers and we have a trailer to thank them for it.

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Marvel's Future Film Projects Post-'Avengers'

"Guardians of the Galaxy" one of Marvel's future moviesWe all know Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 will be heading to movie theaters, after Marvel introduces The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance blockbuster movies next year.  Now we have updates regarding a few more titles the comic book inspired production company has in the works that moviegoers may not recognize.

Reports are Marvel is still planning an Ant-Man feature film, which director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) recently turned in a revised script for.

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Licensing Expo Reveals New Promotional Posters For Anticipated Films

In the wake of the Licensing Internation Expo opening in Las Vegas on Wednesday June 15, fanboys are going to be seeing a lot creative materials for their anticipated film and/or franchise. Collider does clarify that these "images aren’t official marketing materials, these are some of the biggest properties around, so it’s pretty cool to get a look at some title/logo work." As seen above with next summer's hotly anticipated The Dark Knight Rises from director Christopher Nolan.

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Movie Review - 'Thor'

Thor Starring Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman Directed by Kenneth Branagh Rated PG-13

As a Norse god living in our modern society, Thor is a character caught between two worlds. In attempting to bring those two distinct worlds to life, director Kenneth Branagh ends of giving viewers two distinctly different piled on top of each other - one of which works much better than the other.

The less successful of the two is the one that takes place at Asgard, the magical realm Thor (Chris Hemsworth) comes from. The citizens of Asgard have been living in relative peace thanks to an uneasy truce with the frost giants. However, on the day Odin (Anthony Hopkins), Thor's father, is set to hand over the throne to his son, a group of frost giants sneak into Asgard and attempt to steal back their power source, which Odin seized from them during their time of war.

The costumes and sets in Asgard are lavish and impressive. It's clear that Branagh really went all out for these scenes. But the longer the Asgard story goes on, the more difficult it becomes to follow. Particularly problematic is Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor's "trickster" brother who is always scheming and switching alliances to such an extreme that it becomes unclear what his motivations and plans actually are. (Stopping to try to break down the logic behind any of Loki's plans is an exercise in futility.)

The storyline that works much better is when Thor is exiled to New Mexico and must live among the humans. Thor is banished by Odin for retaliating against the frost giants. Odin sends him to earth and strips him of all of his powers, but being a benevolent king, Odin sends Thor's hammer Mjolnir to earth too and enchants it with all of Thor's powers. The catch is that the hammer can only be wielded by someone who is worthy, something Thor is too immature and reckless at the beginning of the film to be.

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'Thor' and 'Captain America' Sequels Confirmed

In an interview with Disney's D23 magazine, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige revealed that plans are already in the works for Thor and Captain American sequels (even though neither film is actually out yet) and gave a glimpse into Marvel's plans for the foreseeable future - which essentially boiling down to giving every viable Marvel character their own film.

According to Feige:

"Thor will go off into a new adventure and Captain America will continue to explore the modern world in another film of his own. We hope that holds true for the characters appearing in that film - Black Widow, Hawkeye and the spy organization, S.H.I.E.L.D. - all of whom are more than worthy and capable of carrying their own films. And, we've got a lot of other characters we're prepping and getting ready for film debuts: the world of martial arts, these great cosmic space fantasies, Dr. Strange and the magic side of the Marvel Universe. There are many, many stories to be mined."

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