As the Marvel movie juggernaut thunders on, we’re beginning to realize how carefully they’ve thought all this out. Kevin Feige and Co. have built their franchise for the long haul, which means pausing to take a breath every now and then instead of constantly trying to top the previous entries (and eventually crashing to the earth as a result). Captain America: The Winter Soldier shows us how that equation can expand this universe in unexpected directions, but the process also creates its share of placeholders: solid movies that nonetheless do little more than entertain us while their creators ramp up for the next mindblower. Case in point: Thor: The Dark World. Hit the jump for my full review of the Blu-ray.

Initial filming is currently underway on Marvel’s highly anticipated sequel The Avengers: Age of Ultron, and the production is so large that some of the actors aren’t even showing up until two months into production.  That’s what Chris Hemsworth revealed this weekend while at Wizard World Comic-Con, where he briefly discussed writer/director Joss Whedon’s follow-up.  While the actor obviously didn’t reveal any plot specifics—or anything of substance, really—he offered up some obvious yet still enticing nuggets about the superhero team-up and talked a bit about his shooting schedule.  Read his comments after the jump.

A deleted scene has been released from the upcoming Blu-ray/DVD for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire as well as another deleted scene from Thor: The Dark World.  The Catching Fire scene has Sam Claflin explaining how his learning to tie a noose in less than ten seconds ultimately went to waste, and while this scene does show more of his character Finnick Odair being charming, I can understand why it was left on the cutting room floor.  As for the scene from Thor, it’s a brief fight between Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and some Asgardian guards, and that’s about it.

Hit the jump to check out the deleted scenes.  Click here to pre-order The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which will be released on March 7th.  Thor: The Dark World is now available to own, and you can click here to go buy it.

With Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World arriving on Blu-ray and DVD later next month, we here at Collider are happy to offer an exclusive preview of a deleted scene that will be included on the home video release.  This is a scene that takes place towards the beginning of the film in Asgard, as Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Volstagg (Ray Stevenson), and Fandral (Zachary Levi) sit around a large table while Volstagg recounts some close battle encounters to a group of eager-eyed children.  It’s a nice scene that serves to flesh out the world of Asgard, and there’s plenty more fascinating material from the film included on the Blu-ray release.

Hit the jump to watch the clip.  Thor: The Dark World will be released on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Download on February 25th.  Click here to pre-order.

Thor: The Dark World will soon be on Blu-ray, and so Marvel is releasing a peek at some of the special features.  Among them is a behind-the-scenes featurette talking about casting Tom Hiddleston as Loki (it contains the full video of his audition for Thor; we previously posted GIFs), a gag reel (they had fun!), and a deleted scene where Freya (Rene Russo) explains why Loki, an adopted child, has her powers.  It’s solid material, and I hope there’s more of this good stuff on the disc.

Hit the jump to check out the special features.  Thor: The Dark World will be released on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Download on February 25th.  Click here to pre-order.

As a director, Ron Howard has always described himself as a journeyman who put the story first.  He’s never embraced a particular visual style, which means he can make something great, or something less than, but it’s always going to be determined by the material and the performers.  2013’s Rush is one of his better films, though it didn’t catch on domestically.  Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl star as ultra-competitive Formula One race car drivers who approach the sport differently, but eventually come to respect each other.  My review of the Blu-ray follows after the jump.

Although I hate to naysay, I’ve gone on record several times with my lack of excitement for the upcoming RoboCop remake (here’s one example although I’m sure there are more). This past week MGM and Sony released the new trailer for the film and while I think the cast has the potential to be great, in general the movie just keeps digging itself into a bigger hole with every bit of new footage that I see. Whereas Paul Verhoeven‘s original was laced with social critique that was often ahead of its time if not at least skillfully deployed, this latest trailer goes out of its way to show that it too has something to say about social issues with on the nose references to the idea of using American resources to promote peace abroad rather than at home and the invasive nature of corporate marketing/branding. You keep up with current affairs, we get it. Speaking of marketing, probably my biggest beef with this latest cut comes in its final seconds when it shows RoboCop making a grandiose landing that essentially says “You guys liked the Iron Man movies, right?! You should definitely check this out then because it has a guy in a futuristic suit too!”. Thanks but no thanks, MGM and Sony.

Now that I’ve levied more criticism on a 2:30 trailer than is likely fair, let’s move on to something more positive. This week’s Top 5 features Thor: The Dark World interviews with Tom Hiddleston and more, Dallas Buyers Club interviews with the likes of Jared Leto, the news that Marvel will bring live-action series to Netflix featuring Daredevil and others, a recap of Steve’s 47 Ronin set visit, and a farewell to the once massive video rental chain, Blockbuster Video. If I haven’t lost you yet, a brief recap and link to each of the above can be found after the jump.

The biggest hurdle of 2011’s Thor wasn’t getting audiences to believe that a Norse god/space alien was just as convincing as a wealthy inventor with technologically advanced armor or a guy whose body turns big and green when he gets angry.  The challenge was leaving Earth and taking us to a new world, and while Kenneth Branagh’s film didn’t hold up for me on repeat viewings, I was still taken with his vision of Thor’s homeworld of Asgard.  Thor: The Dark World is a case of being careful what you wish for and being grateful for what you have.  Alan Taylor’s sequel becomes far too enamored with the design of otherworldly realms and the supernatural machinations of the villain than with its eponymous hero.  But when the story finally turns its attention to the God of Thunder and his scene-stealing adopted brother, then The Dark World hits with the force of Mjolnir.

There are many strange recesses of the Internet, and one of them belongs to slashfic writers.  “Slashfic” is like fan fiction except it involves putting together any characters together in a sexual relationship.  It doesn’t matter what their relationship is in the official version; if they’re characters, you can make them bump uglies.  With that in mind, Thor/Loki slashfic writers must be ecstatic to see this Shanghai poster for Thor: The Dark World.  The imgur poster says they’ve used the wrong poster, but I couldn’t disagree more.  Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has far more chemistry with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) than he does with Jane Foster (Natalie Portman)

Hit the jump to check out the poster.  The film stars 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.

Last weekend I checked out director Kimberly Peirce‘s Carrie remake and found it to be a perfectly solid retelling of Brian De Palma‘s 1976 classic. With a solid lead performance from Chloë Grace Moretz and a downright terrifying turn by Julianne Moore, I found more than a few things to like about the pic. I also thought the opening scene was terrific and was surprised to hear Judy Greer tell Steve that it wasn’t in the original script. Although I knew how the story would play out, I found myself wanting so badly for Carrie’s prom night to go smoothly which I think is a credit to Peirce’s direction and the time she takes setting up the obstacle-laden road Carrie traverses on the way to her first date. Ultimately, is there anything extraordinarily fresh and/or updated about the remake? Not really. Nevertheless, it’s a solid movie that proves Stephen King‘s tale is just as relevant and effective today as it was nearly four decades ago.

With my paragraph review of Carrie in the bag, this week’s Top 5 highlights the first trailer for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Adam’s Divergent set visit, Steve’s Thor: The Dark World video interviews with Chris Hemsworth and more, two new trailers for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, and Evan’s look at superhero movie casting decisions that nearly came to fruition. Much like in the past, a brief recap and link to each of the above is waiting after the jump.

With director Alan Taylor’s Thor: The Dark World opening around the world next week and in North America on November 8th, I was able to interview the cast and filmmakers in London this past weekend.  As most of you know, Chris Hemsworth returns as Thor, who reluctantly teams up with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to fight off the villainous dark elf Malekith the Accursed (Christopher Eccleston).  The film also stars Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins.

During my interview with Hemsworth, he talked about how the sequel is very funny, how he gets to have some fun with Mjolnir in the film, if Joss Whedon has told him anything about The Avengers: Age of Ultron, if London is his second home since he’s filming so many movies there, his character in Michael Mann’s Cyber and what the movie is about.  Hit the jump to watch.

Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World opens in theaters next month, and as we’ve seen with Iron Man 3 and The Avengers, Disney’s marketing campaign is about to go into full-on saturation mode.  A pair of new clips from the pic have now landed online, teasing an action-centered sequence involving Jaimie Alexander’s Sif and the first reunion between Chris Hemsworth’s Thor and Natalie Portman’s Jane.  I’m interested to see how The Dark World fits into the larger pantheon of Marvel films post-Avengers, and the promise of exploring worlds beyond Earth and Asgard are certainly intriguing.

Hit the jump to watch the two clips.  The film also stars Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins.  Thor: The Dark World opens in 3D on November 8th.

A new featurette for Marvel’s upcoming sequel Thor: The Dark World has landed online.  Directed by Alan Taylor, the film finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) reluctantly teaming up with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to fight off the villainous dark elf Malekith the Accursed (Christopher Eccleston).  In this new featurette, Hiddleston and Hemsworth discuss the complicated relationship between Thor and Loki and how the two are drawn together after the events of The Avengers.  One assumes some bitterness and backstabbing ensues.

Hit the jump to watch the featurette. and if you missed Steve’s set visit coverage check out 50 things to know and his interviews with Taylor, Tom Hiddleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and producer Craig Kyle.  Thor: The Dark World opens in 3D on November 8th.

As someone who has never considered 3D films to be more than a gimmick, here is something I never thought I would write: Alfonso Cuarón‘s Gravity in IMAX 3D is a stunning achievement that is not to be missed. You’ve probably read this advice over and over already, but seriously, do whatever you can to watch the film in this format. I honestly can’t imagine seeing it any other way and, while I understand not everyone has access to an IMAX theater, I have to believe that any other presentation type will do the pic a disservice. It’s the most awe-inspiring, immersive moviegoing experience I’ve ever had; the type of thing I’ll tell my kids about one day. I can heap praise its way all day, but speaking as concisely as possible, Gravity is science-fiction perfection.

Any guesses what our lead topic is this week? This installment of Top 5 features even more Gravity love, a recap of Steve’s Thor: The Dark World set visit coverage, a new trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, more science fact-checking of Breaking Bad as well as a breakdown of our favorite series moments, and the first trailer for Chris Pine‘s Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. As protocol states, a brief recap and link to each of the above is waiting after the jump.

Marvel has released the first clip from director Alan Taylor’s Thor: The Dark World.  The film finds Thor (Chris Hemsworth) reluctantly teaming up with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to fight off the villainous dark elf Malekith the Accursed (Christopher Eccleston).  In this first clip, we see Thor approaching Loki for his help, though things aren’t exactly straightforward given that Loki just tried to blow up Earth and all.  I’m really interested to see how the events of The Avengers are addressed in Thor: The Dark World, since one of the principal characters in the film was the villain in Joss Whedon’s team-up pic.  It feels like a pseudo-sequel of sorts to The Avengers, in which we follow the antagonist’s imprisonment and subsequent shaming amongst his kin.

Hit the jump to watch the clip, and if you missed Steve’s set visit coverage check out 50 things to know and his interviews with Taylor, Tom Hiddleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and producer Craig Kyle.  Thor: The Dark World opens in 3D on November 8th.