And Phase Two is off and running.  With the release of Iron Man 3 just over a week away, Disney and Marvel unveiled the first teaser trailer for this fall’s sequel Thor: The Dark World this morning.  While Marvel dipped its toe into the fantastical realm with the first Thor, it’s clear from this debut trailer that director Alan Taylor’s (Game of Thrones) follow-up is very heavy on the fantasy.  We’ve gone through the new trailer and screengrabbed a batch of images, giving us a better look at the world of Thor 2 and its characters.  Christopher Eccleston’s villain Malekith looks especially sinister, and I can’t get enough of Tom Hiddleston’s Loki reveal.

Hit the jump to check out the images, and if you somehow missed the trailer click here.  The film also stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Jaimie Alexander, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins.  Thor: The Dark World opens in 3D on November 8th.

Marvel has released the first trailer for director Alan Taylor’s (Game of Thrones) sequel Thor: The Dark World and it looks great.  Like every well cut trailer, it showcases a ton of impressive looking action, while revealing new details about the story.  I especially liked the reveal of how Loki (Tom Hiddleston) will be involved in the sequel.   If you dug the first Thor, you’re going to love this trailer.  Hit the jump to watch and let me know what you think in the comments.  

Thor: The Dark World stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christopher Eccleston,Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins.  Thor: The Dark World opens in 3D on November 8th.

Though Phase One of Marvel Studios’ film slate came to an end just a few months ago with The Avengers, production on Phase Two is already well underway.  The studio is currently in the midst of filming two upcoming sequels at the same time: Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World.  The Iron Man production is winding down to a close ahead of that film’s May 2013 release date, but filming on Thor: The Dark World is still going strong in London and today the first official synopsis for the Asgardian pic has been revealed.

The logline essentially tells us what we already know: Thor (Chris Hemsworth) must fight against Maleketih (Christopher Eccleston) and his race of Dark Elves, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is back, the fate of the universe is in the balance, etc.  However, the synopsis does tease the film’s epic scope and the fact that Thor is forced to “sacrifice everything” in order to save us all (Thor dies?!).  Hit the jump to check out the full synopsis, which includes the full cast list.  Directed by Alan Taylor, Thor: The Dark World opens on November 8th, 2013.

We’ve got a few exciting casting stories to share this evening.  First up, though many believed her character would be left out of the sequel, Deadline reports that Kat Dennings is indeed returning for Thor: The Dark World.  Details are thin, but apparently her role of Darcy Lewis has been expanded for the follow-up opposite Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth.  I thought Dennings’ comic relief was spot-on in Thor, so this comes as welcome news for the follow-up.  Production is set to begin imminently with director Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones) at the helm, Christopher Eccelston as the new baddie, and Tom Hiddleston returning as that pesky Loki.

Hit the jump for casting news concerning Terrence Malick’s upcoming drama Knight of Cups and the Arnold Schwarzenegger thriller Ten.

The first image and set photo from Nathan Frankowski‘s drama Renee have gone online.  The film is based on the story of a young woman who inspired the religious charity To Write Love on Her Arms.  Kat Dennings plays Renee Yohe and the movie follows the imaginative but tortured life of its eponymous 19-year-old protagonist.

Hit the jump to check out the images.  The film also stars Chad Michael Murray, Rupert Friend, Mark Saul, Juliana Harkavy, and Corbin Bleu.

Hot on the heels of Fox picking up New Girl and NBC ordering full seasons of Whitney and Up All Night, now CBS is chiming in with their first vote of confidence with a full season order for 2 Broke Girls, the comedy series starring Kat Dennings and Beth Behr. The two actresses play young, financially strapped waitresses working in New York and getting into adventures. Hijinks usually ensue. Ironically enough, this show was also co-created by comedian Whitney Cummings (star and creator of Whitney), but it sounds like this show may not be painfully mediocre (though I haven’t yet seen it for myself). Either way, early fans of the show should be glad to have the series sticking around between How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men on Mondays.

The new comedy series 2 Broke Girls, premiering on September 19^th, is about two young women who waitress at a greasy spoon diner and strike up an unlikely friendship in the hopes of launching a successful business, if they can ever raise enough cash. Sassy and streetwise, Max Black (Kat Dennings) works two jobs just to get by, while uptown trust fund princess Caroline Channing (Beth Behrs) is having such a run of bad luck that she finds herself picking up shifts at the retro-hip Williamsburg Diner. At first, Max sees Caroline as yet another in a long line of inept servers that she must cover for, but she’s surprised to find that Caroline has as much substance as she does style, and the two girls from entirely different worlds become friends.

During a recent interview, actress Kat Dennings talked about what led her to make a weekly series commitment, that she loves how real her character is, how lucky they are to have such strong comedic forces behind the show, and how being in a business as risky as acting had often led her to wonder where her next paycheck was coming from. She also talked about playing a bi-polar girl in the indie drama Renee, and how her TV contract will allow for her to go do the sequel, if she ends up in Thor 2. Check out what she had to say after the jump:

The stars of Thor were out at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood to celebrate this week’s opening of the latest Marvel superhero movie. The street was shut down and the Asgard throne even made an appearance, while the cast arrived in cars with the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo on the side, and happily greeted fans and signed autographs.

Joining cast members Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Jaimie Alexander, Kat Dennings, Renee Russo, Clark Gregg, Colm Feore, Ray Stevenson, James Dallas and Tadanobu Asano were director Kenneth Branagh, screenwriter Zack Stentz, story writer J. Michael Straczynski, Disney Chairman Bob Iger and, of course, Stan Lee. Other celebs who made appearances on the red carpet included Colin Farrell, Liam Hemsworth, Fright Night co-stars Anton Yelchin and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Gillian Jacobs from NBC’s Community, Jennifer Grey, Grey’s Anatomy star Jesse Williams, The Twilight Saga star Peter Facinelli, Kyle XY star Matt Dallas and director Edgar Wright, among others. Check out all of the exclusive photos after the jump.

With Thor finally arriving in America next weekend (it’s already playing around the world), Paramount/Marvel have released the EPK and included are four clips and ten minutes of behind the scenes footage.  While the clips have all been previously released, this is the first time we have all four in one place.  In addition, if you’re curious what it’s really like on a movie set, the behind the scenes footage is great to watch.  However, if you are trying to avoid spoilers, you might want to check it out after you’ve seen the movie.

As I said when I posted my review/video blog on Thor, I thought the movie was great.  Also, while Thor is not an easy transition from comic books to movie screens, director Kenneth Branagh made it work and I cannot wait to see everyone together in The Avengers next summer.  Hit the jump to watch the clips and look for new interviews next week.  Thor stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo, Stellan Skarsgard, Jaimie Alexander, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Josh Dallas, Tadanobu Asano, Idris Elba, Clark Gregg and Colm Feore.

We’ve been sent an exclusive clip from the upcoming film Daydream Nation.  The story centers on a young woman (Kat Dennigns) who moves to a small town and strikes up a romance with both her teacher Barry (Josh Lucas) and her troubled classmate (Reece Thompson).  In the clip, Barry, frustrated with the papers his high-school students have turned in, asks them to write a three page essay on the historical or religious figure they most admire.  Because if there’s anyone teenagers admire, it’s historical and religious figures.

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  Daydream Nation opens in select theaters on May 6th.  If you’re not near one of those select theaters, you still won’t have to wait long to see it.  The movie hits DVD and Blu-ray on May 17th.

Marvel has released some more new images from Kenneth Branagh’s Thor.  Among the new images we have a good look at Rene Russo as Frigga as well as a nice photo of the Warriors Three (Tadanobu Asano, Josh Dallas, and Ray Stevenson).

Hit the jump to check out the new images.  Thor stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgard, Jaimie Alexander, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, Clark Gregg, and Colm Feore.  It opens in 3D on May 6th.

With the film set to hit theaters on May 6^th, Paramount has released a number of new images from Kenneth Branagh’s Thor. To make it easier for those of you who may have previously missed an official image and/or poster from the film, you can find the new images as well as all of the film’s previous materials (for a total of 22 images and 10 posters) after the jump. Thor stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo, Stellan Skarsgard, Jaimie Alexander, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Josh Dallas, Tadanobu Asano, Idris Elba, Clark Gregg and Colm Feore.

Yesterday, Marvel released a clip from Thor giving us a very brief glimpse at Hawkeye. Today, another clip has been released. This one’s a bit lighter, and features Natalie Portman, Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgard vising Thor at the hospital. Hit the jump to check out the clip for yourself. Thor hits theaters in 3D on May 6^th.

A trailer for the indie flick Daydream Nation has gone online.  The film stars Kat Dennings as a bored teenager who starts a fling with a fellow classmate (Reece Thompson) and then begins an affair with her teacher (Josh Lucas).  Drama and dark comedy ensues.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  Daydream Nation briefly hits theaters on May 6^th before landing on DVD and Blu-ray on May 17^th.

Marvel has released the first clip from Thor that centers on the Asgardian god of thunder’s arrival to Earth.  The clip expands on a scene from the trailer in which Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard, and comic reliever Kat Dennings discuss what to do with the disoriented Thor (Chris Hemsworth).

Tom Hiddleston, Rene Russo, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Clark Gregg, Jaimie Alexander, Ray Stevenson, Joshua Dallas, Tadanobu Asano, and Anthony Hopkins also star. Thor opens on May 6.  Watch the clip after the jump.