Marvel makes it look easy. That’s what kept running through my head while watching Iron Man 3 Thursday night. Pumping out one solid standalone film after another with the overall goal of creating a whole that is equally, if not more, entertaining than its formidable parts can’t be that easy. And yet, Marvel makes it seem that way. In a medium outside of their native reach no less. Granted, Iron Man 3 isn’t without its flaws. But it doesn’t have to be. It succeeds on the exact level it’s meant to: in moving both the individual character and universal stories ahead in an entertaining and logical way. If “Marvel makes it looks easy” was my primary takeaway from IM3, “DC has their work cut out for them” isn’t far behind.

But enough Marvel love for one opening paragraph. In this week’s Top 5 we’ve got Iron Man 3 interviews with director Shane Black and more, a video blog review for Star Trek Into Darkness, the Pacific Rim trailer from WonderCon, Fox’s courting of Michael B. Jordan the the role of Human Torch in its upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, and the new trailer for Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx‘s White House Down. A brief recap and link to each is a “Continue Reading” click away.

Yesterday, we reported on the interesting possibility of Marvel Studios and 20th Century Fox possibly trading comic book characters for the benefit of both studios.  In short, Fox’s rights to Daredevil are set to expire on October 10th unless the movie goes into production before then (which is highly unlikely to happen).  Marvel would extend Fox’s rights to the character, if Fox allowed Marvel to use Galactus and Silver Surfer from the Fantastic Four universe.  It would be a neat trade, and hopefully open the door for Marvel being able to use some of the characters they licensed off before the studio could develop movies independently.

However, Deadline is now reporting that this trade is far from a reality.  Hit the jump for more.

Fox has moved a step forward on one superhero franchise and a step back on another.  First up, Deadline confirms that Josh Trank (Chronicle) will direct the reboot of Fantastic Four.  The studio is trying to get all of its superhero franchises back up and running, but right now X-Men is the only one with any gas.  The Wolverine is due to start filming next month, and the sequel to X-Men: First Class will shoot in January once Jennifer Lawrence has wrapped on The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  Progress on Fantastic Four could mean that the studio has at least one new superhero movie every year.

However, the studio may not have much time left for Daredevil.  Hit the jump for more.

As the superhero franchise boom shows no signs of slowing down, 20th Century Fox is looking to get moving on their Fantastic Four reboot. We knew the reboot was coming, as Fox is in danger of losing the property if they don’t produce a Fantastic Four film every few years. Now the studio has apparently honed in on their choice for the film’s director: Josh Trank. The director is set to make his feature debut with the found footage superhero movie Chronicle, which has been generating a good deal of buzz ever since the first trailer debuted online. The studio won’t make a final decision on Trank until after seeing how Chronicle fares once it hits theaters, but Variety says insiders at Fox are very keen on the young director. Hit the jump for more.

Ever since 2008′s Iron Man, Marvel Studios has carved out a profitable niche in Hollywood independently financing the film adaptations of the Marvel comics.  However, because of the nature of film rights, a few of Marvel’s most popular properties are housed at other studios.  Fox has three: X-Men, Daredevil, and Fantastic Four.  In a recent interview, Fox executive Tom Rothman stressed the studio is eager to continue development on the next chapter in those respective stories—a sequel to X-Men: First Class and reboots for Daredevil and Fantastic Four.

Hit the jump for the interview clip (plus quotes) to see what Rothman had to say.

Last week, we reported on the rumor that Fox was talking to a few actors such as Adrien Brody and Jonathan Rhys Meyers about coming on board for their planned 3D Fantasic Four reboot.  Now, a week later, we are starting to hear about the names of potential directors for the film.  According to the latest rumors [via CBM], the studio has directors Joe Carnahan (The A-Team), David Yates (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), and James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) on their short list to helm the film. More on what we know about the film so far along with details about Bruce Willis voicing The Thing after the jump.