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Fans may recall a tension in the air last year right before San Diego Comic Con, when it was revealed that Edward Norton—by no choice of his own, it seemed—would not be reprising his role as Bruce Banner" for "The Avengers" movie. In fact, there would be a new Hulk actor and yet another “Hulk” film—the third in less than 10 years.

The discomfort was palpable and its source multi-dimensional. Critical reception of Norton’s take on The Hulk was positive, but no sooner did rumors rise of the actor’s participation in future Hulk endeavors (including “The Avengers”), than Marvel Studios’ chief Kevin Feige released a statement saying they had made the decision not to bring Norton back.

It’s been almost a year since the actor’s agent and Norton himself released outraged, and more measured, fan-reverent reactions (respectively) regarding the surprising turn. And as it turns out, Norton now has more to say about the whole ordeal. Read more...

Tags edward norton, kevin feige, the avengers, the hulk, the incredible hulk

We’ve caught plenty of visual snippets from Matthew Vaughn’s “X-Men: First Class” thus far. But while most actors don a period-appropriate costume or computer-generated accessory to portray their mutated comic counterparts, one performer has to do much more.

With her steel-blue skin and bright red hair, Mystique may bear the blessing of being one of the most recognizable “X-Men” characters ever, while the actress assigned to play the classic sometimes-villain bears the burden of hours in scaly body paint.

After only the briefest of glimpses within the “X-Men: First Class” trailer, we now have—courtesy of fansite JenniferLawrenceDaily—an (almost) full body photo of actress Jennifer Lawrence as mutant vixen Mystique. Read more...

Tags Jennifer Lawrence, mystique, x-men: first class

Well, it's finally official: Marion Cotillard and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have officially joined the cast of "The Dark Knight Rises," Christopher Nolan's third (and possibly final) Batman movie. And while today's casting announcement from Warner Bros. confirmed the pair's long-rumored attachment to the film, it also cast doubt on the roles each actor was reported to be playing over the last few months.

According to the studio's official statement, Cotillard (pictured) will play "Miranda Tate, a Wayne Enterprises board member eager to help a still-grieving Bruce Wayne resume his father’s philanthropic endeavors for Gotham." Gordon-Levitt will take the role of John Blake, another character that doesn't appear to hail from the comics world, described as "a Gotham City beat cop assigned to special duty under the command of Commissioner Gordon."

So, were all the early casting rumors wrong — or just some of them? Read more...

Tags joseph gordon levitt, Marion Cotillard, The Dark Knight Rises

A new "X-Men: First Class" poster has arrived online featuring many of the mutants showcased in Matthew Vaughn's upcoming "X-Men" origin story.

Posted over at Empire, the new poster sports the tagline "Witness The Moment That Will Change Our World," with 10 of the film's mutants — good and bad — in various poses. From left to right, we get another look at Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender), Emma Frost (January Jones), Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne), Havok (Lucas Till), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Azazel (Jason Flemyng), Angel Salvadore (Zoe Kravitz), and Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon).

Unfortunately, the absence of Banshee, Darwin, and some of the other mutants we know have a role in the film isn't the only thing people are complaining about regarding the new poster. Read more...

Tags photo, x-men: first class

Not every Marvel superhero is a God. That title belongs only to Thor—the Avengers team member set to hit the movie circuit on May 6. What that deity status means—among other things—is that even Thor’s product tie-in commercials get Stan Lee cameos.

As Bette Midler said, “God is watching us from a distance” — and Thor knows you like to get your quench on with some Doctor-approved cherry cola drink. So when a soda machine just won't cough up the sweet stuff for the unlucky sap in this Dr. Pepper spot, an off-screen Thor blasts it open with a bolt of divine intervention. Read more...

Tags destroyer, stan lee, thor

You could pretty much spot the exact moment when most of the Twitter users in our feed finished downloading "Portal 2" today. A few tweets complaining about long download times popped up, but the consensus among those who've squeezed in a few minutes with Valve's new sequel thus far seems to be positive.

In other discussions, Gabriel Hardman and Andy Kuhn broached the topic of creepy commissioned art requests. Being an in-demand artist comes with its blessings and curses, and the piece Kuhn described definitely fell into the latter category. Find out what that was about down below, along with Bryan Lee O'Malley's birthday note to Edgar Wright and who's picking up bees at the post office.

I'm @brianwarmoth, and this is your Twitter Report for April 19, 2011. Read more...

Tags andy kuhn, bill amend, brian reed, bryan lee o'malley, gabriel hardman, jeph jacques, mike oeming, neil gaiman, skottie young, Twitter Report

For Chris Hemsworth, getting big and buff enough to play the god of thunder in "Thor" wasn’t a simple task. It took strenuous weightlifting... and major overeating.

Speaking in the May issue of Men’s Health, Hemsworth said, "I feel as if I've been busy, but all I've been doing is eating all day. Eating when you're not hungry and taking in that amount of food is exhausting."

According to the actor, eating so much was an important factor in getting him to gain the necessary 20 pounds to look more Thor-like. He also lifted weights during this, something he hadn’t done before “Thor.” Read more...

Tags chris hemsworth, thor

A pair of new television spots for "X-Men: First Class" have found their way online, and the previews offer a little more footage of some of the mutants everyone's asking about.

Posted over on YouTube, the video features two versions of the same TV spot — one with dialogue and one without. What they both include, however, are some cool scenes of Angel Salvadore (Zoë Kravitz) fluttering around a room, Havok (Lucas Till) letting loose with a blast of energy, and Banshee flying through the air.

There's some other new footage in the spots, too — as well as another look at that scene with Azazel dispatching a group of armed individuals using his teleportation powers. (Confession: I never get tired of watching brawls involving teleporting mutants.) Read more...

Tags x-men: first class

FROM MTV MOVIES: "Thor" made landfall in Australia over the weekend, as Chris Hemsworth and the cast of this Marvel adaption arrived for the film's premiere in Sydney on Sunday. Coinciding with the flick's debut is the release of the first wave of reviews from around the globe.

The early word is very good for fans of the Asgardian superhero.

"The Marvel universe moves into the cosmic realm with 'Thor,' a burly slab of bombastic superhero entertainment that skitters just this side of kitschy to provide an introduction befitting the mighty god of thunder," writes The Hollywood Reporter in a typically positive review. "It's a noisy, universe-rattling spectacle full of sound and fury with a suitably epic design, solid digital effects and a healthy respect for the comic-book lore that turned a mythological Norse god into a founding member of the superhero team known as The Avengers.'"

Continue reading 'Thor': The Early Reviews Are In! at Movies.MTV.com.

Tags thor

The casting news for "The Dark Knight Rises" keeps rolling in. Last week we reported that Daniel Sunjata, Diego Klattenhoff, and Ben Gorman were in talks to join Christopher Nolan's next Batman flick, and this week it looks like Nestor Carbonell will be returning to Gotham City for his role as Mayor Anthony Garcia, too.

The casting report comes courtesy of Variety, and indicates that we'll be get another look at the actor predominantly known for his work on "Lost" and other TV shows, as well as "The Dark Knight."

Read more...

Tags nestor carbonell, The Dark Knight Rises