We’ll dedicate more time to this topic after the jump, but in just a few sentences I want to share a quick thought I had while watching Netflix’s House of Cards last weekend. It’s not just that I think the show is great. When you involve talents like Kevin Spacey and David Fincher, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where quality work is in short supply. It’s that this level of material was birthed by and is only consumed via the Internet. I’ve been in debates where the question was whether or not the web would foster an age of amateurs. A future in which the training and dedication required to further perfect one’s craft would fall by the wayside leaving audiences with less than stellar work produced by those made lazy by the eased production and distribution technologies afforded by the Internet. While the fact that I’m writing to a considerable audience today via this site is evidence to that very argument, the overall quality of HOC is a strong rebuttal against those concerned about the quality of entertainment work in a digital age.

All thinking out loud aside, this week’s Top 5 features an editorial response to Disney’s announcement that Star Wars spinoff films are in the works, Side Effects interviews with Steven Soderbergh and more, a word about Hulk’s movie future, Matt’s editorial on Netflix and the affect time shifting has on viewing habits, and the latest news out of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 camp. As you’re probably expecting, a brief recap and link to each waits after the jump.

As part of the team nominated for Best Visual Effects at this year’s Academy Awards, Jeff White was the Visual Effects Supervisor at ILM on Marvel’s The Avengers, having worked on a little over 700 shots in the film.  After working as a Creature Technical Director on such films as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and Lemony Snicket’s: A Series of Unfortunate Events, White served as Digital Production Supervisor on Transformers, and then was elevated to Association Visual Effects Supervisor on the subsequent sequels Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon.

During this recent exclusive interview with Collider, Jeff White talked about how incredible the Oscar recognition is, which sequences ILM was involved with, collaborating with director Joss Whedon and Marvel, how he ended up working at ILM, and the shots that he’s most proud of pulling off.  He also talked about starting pre-production on Transformers 4, which he says has some really exciting stuff in it, his hopes to be involved with The Avengers 2, and what it’s been like to be involved with Transformers: The Ride, which is at Universal Studios Hollywood.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk in last year’s The Avengers was certainly a highlight of the superhero assembly movie, but fans were left wondering what Marvel’s plans are for the green meanie going forward.  We already know that sequels to Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers are slated for release over the next two years (Marvel’s Phase Two) as well as new properties Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange and Ant-Man.  So where’s the Banner love?  We’ve previously reported that Marvel’s Kevin Feige has stated that no new Hulk standalone movie will take place until after The Avengers 2 has opened and that popular comic arcs Planet Hulk and World War Hulk are not off the table.  Now, some intrepid reporting from a reliable source has shed some possible details on the future of the Gamma Giant.  Hit the jump for more, but consider this your spoiler warning. 

In a recent interview, Kevin Feige confirmed that Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man would be the official starting point of Marvel’s “Phase Three.”  What other films will be included in the post-Avengers 2 grouping?  For starters, none other than the long-rumored Doctor Strange adaptation.  Feige mentioned Doctor Strange in the same sentence as the “Phase Two” film Guardians of the Galaxy, since both pictures will be somewhat outside of the normal realm of core characters we’ve come to know and love.  Hit the jump for more on “Phase Three” from Feige and an update on Iron Man 3 and Avengers 2.

Phase Two of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe is set to kick off this May with the release of Iron Man 3, and fans are understandably eager to see what’s in store for this next set of superhero films.  In addition to the excitement of seeing sequels to Iron Man, Thor, and The Avengers onscreen (as well as the addition of Guardians of the Galaxy), we can also take comfort in knowing that there’s one highly talented man overseeing the creative side of it all: The Avengers writer/director Joss Whedon.

Following the ridiculous success of The Avengers, Marvel signed Whedon to write and direct The Avengers 2 and to act as a creative consultant on all of the studio’s other upcoming comic book films.  If that wasn’t enough, Whedon is also writing and directing the pilot for ABC’s S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series.  The incredibly busy Whedon recently spoke a bit about all of the aforementioned projects, offering an update on the status of the Avengers 2 script, when S.H.I.E.L.D. starts filming and his goal for the series, and his involvement on the other upcoming Marvel films.  We also have news regarding when and where Guardians of the Galaxy will be filming.  Hit the jump for your Marvel fix of the day.

The reason all The Avengers 2 stories at this point have likely been bullshit is because there was nothing on paper.  It’s difficult to get a scoop without evidence, and while unnamed sources might leak particular bits of info, the info may quickly turn false.  So when you read that actresses are being eyed for the role of Ms. Marvel, it’s a rumor that should be taken with every grain of salt in the world.  But at least today, there is an outline for The Avengers 2.  Obviously, a lot changes over the course over the entire filmmaking process, and Joss Whedon‘s first outline for the film might have no resemblance to the finished feature.

Hit the jump for more.  The Avengers 2 opens May 1, 2015.

Iron Man 3 has become so exclusive that even Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) isn’t allowed in. The “No Avengers Allowed” production directed by Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) is locked down as a Tony Stark-centric experience after the fallout of the events in The Avengers. While Robert Downey Jr. won’t have to share any screen time with his heroic teammates this time around, you can be sure to expect some sort of end credits tag linking it to Thor 2, aka Thor: The Dark World. Surprisingly, Jackson may not appear in that film either, but will next play Fury in Captain America 2, aka Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Hit the jump to see what Jackson had to say. 

Joe Wright’s adaptation of Leo Tolstoy‘s classic novel Anna Karenina is now playing in theaters.  The film takes place in late 19th century Russian society, and stars Keira Knightley as an adulterer who questions her happiness.  In true Wright fashion, this isn’t exactly a straightforward adaptation; the director has set much of the film in a lush theater that uses over 100 interconnected sets to allow the action to move fluidly through various settings.  The film also stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Matthew Macfadyen, Kelly Macdonald, Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, and Olivia Williams.  For more on Anna Karenina, here’s Matt’s review, five clips, and all our previous coverage.

The other week, I spoke on the phone with cinematographer Seamus McGarvey.  We talked about when he found out Joe Wright was changing the way he wanted to tell the story, his thoughts on the change, collaborating with Wright, the pre-production process, film versus digital, and more.  In addition, with McGarvey having worked with Joss Whedon on The Avengers, we talked about what it was like to work on that project, if will he return for the sequel, when he will be shooting Godzilla with director Gareth Edwards, and more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

Plenty of Marvel fans were disappointed when the massive “Phase One” box set containing Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Avengers hit a snag over a legal issue regarding the design of the case.  The set now has a new case, new date, new features, but the same glowing Tesseract cube in the middle.  The new “Phase One” box set will be available for pre-order later today, and will hit shelves on April 2, 2013.  Marvel will also make up the delay to fans by adding features like new deleted scenes, and more importantly, a sneak peek at the upcoming “Phase Two” films, Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, and The Avengers 2.

Hit the jump for more and click here to pre-order the box set.

The name Seamus McGarvey may not be one that you’re incredibly familiar with, but you undoubtedly know his work.  The cinematographer is responsible for the photography in such varied fare as Atonement, High Fidelity, and We Need to Talk About Kevin, and he also handled the cinematography on a little movie called The Avengers that you may have seen earlier this year.

Steve recently got to speak with McGarvey about his work in director Joe Wright’s upcoming romance drama Anna Karenina, and the cinematographer provided brief updates on a couple of highly anticipated upcoming projects.  He revealed that the Godzilla reboot starts production this coming March, and he strongly suggested that he’ll be returning for Joss Whedon’s sequel The Avengers 2.  Hit the jump for more.

The Avengers 2 doesn’t open until May 1, 2015, but it’s never too early for some good, old-fashioned rumor-mongering.  The Daily Mail, which is a reliable source when it comes to set photos or movies that are about to start filming, is reporting that Emily Blunt and Ruth Wilson (Luther) are being considered to play the role of Ms. Marvel in Joss Whedon‘s The Avengers 2.  I’m surprised that Marvel is already as the casting stage considering that the film probably doesn’t have a finished script yet, and that the movie preceding it, Guardians of the Galaxy, hasn’t even begun casting.  While I supposed it’s possible that Marvel and Whedon know they want Ms. Marvel, and they’ve got two front-runners for the role, I find this rumor incredibly difficult to believe.

If you’d like to know a bit more about Ms. Marvel, hit the jump.

With Joss Whedon‘s The Avengers hitting Blu-ray and DVD this week (click here to buy in on Amazon), I recently got to visit ILM in San Francisco to talk with some of the visual effect supervisors. While many movies have amazing effects, it’s only when you combine them with a great story and interesting characters that you get something special, like The Avengers.

During my interview with Animation Director Marc Chu, we talked about what it was like to work on The Avengers, creating the Hulk transformation, Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean, what Hulk effects they will be able to do in The Avengers sequel that they couldn’t accomplish in the first film, the length of time he spends on a project, deleted scenes, and more.  Hit the jump to watch.

With Joss Whedon‘s The Avengers hitting Blu-ray and DVD this week (click here to buy in on Amazon), I recently got to visit ILM in San Francisco to talk with some of the visual effect supervisors.  While many movies have amazing effects, it’s only when you combine them with a great story and interesting characters that you get something special, like The Avengers.

During my interview with Visual Effects Supervisor Jeff White, we talked about how they brought this version of the Hulk to life, whether they spent any extra time on the Hulk/Loki or Hulk/Thor scenes, how much the project and effects changed during production, what Hulk effects they will be able to do in The Avengers sequel that they couldn’t accomplish in the first film, and more.  Hit the jump to watch.

While one of the standouts from this year’s The Avengers was Mark Ruffalo’s version of the Incredible Hulk, Marvel fans will be without another Hulk movie until after The Avengers 2.  However, future Hulk movies are definitely under consideration.  Marvel executive Kevin Feige recently spoke about the plans for movies after The Avengers sequel and said that Planet Hulk and World War Hulk adaptations were not out of the realm of possibility.  Hit the jump to see what Feige said about future Hulk movies, why the Hulk worked in The Avengers and what Ruffalo and Joss Whedon had to do with creating the character.

Marvel stuck one hell of a landing when Joss Whedon’s The Avengers hit theaters this past May and brought the studio’s “Phase One” of films to a close.  The tag at the end of the superhero juggernaut—a glimpse of supervillain Thanos—made for quite the tease regarding Phase Two, and over the past few months fans have been speculating as to how the purple guy will factor into the studio’s upcoming slate of films.  The most recent rumors have Thanos coming into play towards the end of Phase Two in Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers 2, which will likely bring Phase Two to a close and usher in a new slate of films for Phase Three.

Though Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is remiss to make any confirmations, he’s always happy to geek out about the Marvel universe and what’s coming up.  He recently spoke a bit about the studio’s plans for Thanos and how that factors in to not only Phase Two, but also Phase Three, and he addressed the possibility of recasting the role.  Hit the jump for more.