A new featurette for the Shane Black-directed sequel Iron Man 3 has been released online.  Its primary focus is to explain Extremis, the technology used by Ben Kingsley’s The Mandarin to pull off his terrorist tactics and inflict chaos in the world of Tony Stark.  Black and producer Kevin Feige explain the basics of Extremis and how it works in the human body to generate a new breed of unstoppable human beings.  We also get a bit of insight from James Badge Dale on why this new technology appealed to him in relation to his character.  Robert Downey Jr. seems particularly amused by the concept, citing it as one of the things he’s most excited about in the film.

Hit the jump to watch the new featurette.  If you missed the first two clips, you can check them out here and here.  The film also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce, Don Cheadle, Rebecca Hall, and Jon Favreau.  Iron Man 3 opens in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D on May 3rd.

If I know our readers, you want to see as much of you can of Iron Man 3.  You are in luck: Marvel has released six minutes of behind-the-scenes footage from the superhero sequel.  It is nice to see Robert Downey Jr. play with all the different suits (although there is a notable amount of plainclothes action) and do some of his own stunts.  But for me the big revelation is that Tony Stark appears to spend a good deal of bonding time with a young kid (Ty Simpkins).

Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau, and Ben Kingsley co-star.  Directed by Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Iron Man 3 opens May 3.  Watch the B-roll after the break.

Robert Downey Jr. is about to have another hit on his hands when Iron Man 3 opens in a couple weeks.  Iron Man is the franchise that took him back from the brink to the point where his past failures—the flops, the drug addiction, the prison time—become somewhat forgettable.  He’s now one of the biggest stars in the world, and has the freedom to choose projects.  However, he knows that at age 48, genre movies are becoming a little too much.  He learned that lesson the hard way when he injured his ankle while doing a stunt on Iron Man 3.

In a new profile for GQ, Downey talks about how that’s leading him to possibly put away the armor in the near future.  He also mentions some projects beyond the Marvel Universe.  Hit the jump for more.

A new international TV spot has been released for Iron Man 3, and MTV just aired a clip from the upcoming superhero flick.  Thankfully, neither the clip nor the TV spot are big on spoilers.  It’s just selling the hell out of the action, and that really can’t be spoiled since it’s going to be far more effective on the big screen than it is on your computer monitor or television.  My larger concern is if the 3D will help or hinder the picture.

Hit the jump to check out the clip and the TV spot.  The film stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau, and Ben Kingsley.  Iron Man 3 opens in 3D on May 3rd.

Marvel has released a new featurette for director Shane Black’s sequel Iron Man 3, and this one focuses on the film’s large cast of characters.  In addition to a fair amount of new footage, we get to see nearly the entire cast (including Jon Favreau) discuss their characters and how the film stacks up against the first two Iron Man pics.  Naturally everyone has great things to say about the film, but Ben Kingsley appears genuinely enthused about tackling The Mandarin and Robert Downey Jr. claims that it’s the most emotionally satisfying and entertaining Iron Man film yet.

Hit the jump to watch the new featurette and click here if you missed the first clip from the pic.  The film also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, and Rebecca Hall.  Iron Man 3 opens in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D on May 3rd.

Marvel has released the first clip from Iron Man 3.  Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has always had an odd relationship with the press, whether he’s sleeping with them asking them to sit down on the ground, or telling them he’s Iron Man.  This time around, he uses the press to deliver a direct threat to the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) with the promise of “good, old-fashioned revenge.”  I assume it’s lawful to threaten someone with murder as long as that person is a known terrorist?  I’ll have to check the Patriot Act.

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  The film also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Rebecca Hall, and Guy Pearce.  Iron Man 3 opens in 3D on May 3rd.

Marvel finally released the massive Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One box set earlier this week, and included in the collection is a bounty of extras from the studio’s past and future films.  We’ve already shared a collection of images, video, and concept art for a few of the Phase Two films, and today quite a few deleted scenes from The Avengers and Iron Man 2 have surfaced online.  The Avengers scenes are minor bits and pieces that were nipped out of the finished film, but the Iron Man 2 footage is fascinating because it reveals an alternate ending for the film that involves Mickey Rourke’s Whiplash kidnapping Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper.  It’s rather anticlimactic and it’s not hard to see why Jon Favreau went back and reshot the ending that now concludes the final iteration of the film.

Hit the jump to watch the deleted scenes from The Avengers and the alternate ending for Iron Man 2. [Update: We've added the "And Then Shawarma After" featurette after the jump, which takes a brief look behind the scenes of the Avengers tag.]

I’m surprised Marvel hasn’t released an online app where you can mash-up your own Iron Man 3 poster.  The latest official posters for the film have been photoshopping previous posters together, and a new international poster keeps that trend going.  The new international poster brings together the final poster with the character posters for Iron Patriot (Don Cheadle), Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce).  The result looks like Pepper looking down on tiny Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and saying, “Don’t worry.  I have your helmet.”

Hit the jump to check out the poster.  The film also stars Rebecca Hall and Ben Kingsley.  Iron Man 3 opens in 3D on May 3rd.

An international TV spot for Iron Man 3 has gone online.  The spot still has the grim tone of almost everything we’ve seen so far, but it also has the same amount of action.  It also has a very cool ending, and fans of the comics will enjoy the reference even if the reference will probably be unnamed in the actual film.  That’s all I’m going to say because some might consider what happens to be a minor spoiler.

Hit the jump to check out the TV spot, but again be warned that it contains a minor spoiler.  The film stars he film stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, and Ben Kingsley.  Iron Man 3 opens in 3D on May 3rd.

It’s been more than twenty-four hours since our last Iron Man 3 update, so here’s a brief peek at a new TV spot for the film that features Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) suiting up.  It’s a fun sequence that focuses 100% on Stark as Iron Man and his Mark XLII armor without the explosions or firepower brought in courtesy of The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley).

Also starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce and Rebecca Hall, Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 opens in 3D on May 3rd.  Hit the jump to watch the TV spot, which will air in full during the 2013 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards on March 23rd.

Films with an IMAX release usually get a separate IMAX poster, and Iron Man 3 is no exception.  IMAX has released a new poster for the upcoming superhero movie, and it’s like the recent U.S. poster except with way more stuff.  I understand that IMAX is bigger, but that doesn’t necessarily make the picture more crowded.  They’ve crammed multiple posters together, and the result is less than aesthetically pleasing.

Hit the jump to check out the poster and judge for yourself.  The film stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall and Ben Kingsley.  Iron Man 3 opens in 3D on May 3rd.

We’ve got a couple of exciting casting stories to share this afternoon.  First up, Robert Duvall is signing on to co-star with Robert Downey Jr. in the dramedy The Judge.  The folks at Variety report that Duvall is in final negotiations to play Downey Jr.’s father in the pic, which centers on an attorney who returns home for his mother’s funeral where he learns that his estranged father, a judge who suffers from Alzheimer’s, is suspected of murder.  Last fall we heard that Warner Bros. was attempting to coax Jack Nicholson to take on the father role and Tommy Lee Jones was apparently also in the mix, but Duvall won out in the end.

Hit the jump for more, including who’s in the running for the female lead and casting news for Alejandro González Iñárritu’s star-studded comedy Birdman.

I realize that it’s a little too March to be discussing my favorite holiday gifts, but I only recently had the opportunity to dive into one of mine and, as a result, I feel the need to share it’s greatness with our readers. The ESPN 30 for 30 Collector’s Set Blu-ray is an outstanding collection of sports documentaries that is rife with social commentary and almost sure to have something for sports and/or documentary fans alike. Before I get accused of paid programming, I’ll disclaim that all thirty of its films aren’t home runs (that’s right, a sports pun). Moreover, I’m fairly sure that all of the series’ entries are available to watch instantly on Netflix right now making the physical collection redundant for some. Regardless of how you partake, I encourage you to sift through the series, find a topic that interests you, and give it a shot.

All recommendations aside, this week’s Top 5 features a healthy portion of Iron Man 3 coverage (including the new trailer), Oz the Great and Powerful interviews with Sam Raimi, James Franco, Mila Kunis, and more, the first trailer for The Hangover Part III, a sizable Justice League movie rumor, and the new trailer and poster for Will Smith and Jaden Smith‘s After Earth. As you may be expecting, a brief recap and link for each of the above waits after the jump.

Earlier today, Marvel unveiled this fantastic new trailer for Shane Black’s Iron Man 3, but now a new international trailer is also available online.  It’s the same basic trailer seen earlier today with bits of new footage revealed.  The scenes appear to be skewed toward the Chinese audience as actors Wang Xueqi and Fan Bingbing are featured.

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Guy Pearce and Ben Kingsley, Iron Man 3 opens stateside on May 3rd.  Hit the jump to watch the new trailer.

One of the biggest question marks regarding the future of the Iron Man franchise is how much longer Robert Downey Jr. will be playing Tony Stark.  When Downey first signed his deal with Marvel, it was for almost ten movies and he was still considered a big risk given his unproven status as the leading man of a major tentpole property.  Cut to now.  Downey is known the world over as Tony Stark and his amazing portrayal as the genius billionaire is one of the main reasons Marvel movies have exploded in popularity.  I honestly can’t see another person playing the role.  Thankfully, it seems that Downey is still having fun playing the character as he told me during a recent group interview that:

“the agents and the lawyers are having a bit of a ball right now.”

Meaning they are working on a new contract!  In addition to talking about a possible new contract, Downey discussed what fans can expect from Iron Man 3, what working with director Shane Black has been like, the action sequences, what Joss Whedon‘s Avengers did for the Iron Man franchise, how Jon Favreau‘s Happy Hogan character is an integral part of the story, and so much more.  Hit the jump to read or listen to what Downey had to say.