There have been lots of rumors flying around about two potential films on Marvel’s upcoming Phase Three slate: a standalone Hulk film and a Doctor Strange origin story.  Marvel’s Kevin Feige recently talked about plans for a number of upcoming films, including these two standalone projects.  In short, Feige said that there are no current plans for a solo Hulk movie, but they are talking about it and he isn’t opposed to keeping Mark Ruffalo in the role.  For Doctor Strange, the property is expected to be a top priority for the studio and will feature the first film fully devoted to “a world of pure magic.”  Hit the jump for much, much more from Feige. 

Last night I turned to Xbox Live to check out Shane Carruth‘s Upstream Color for the first time. While not quite as impenetrable after one viewing as its predecessor, 2004′s Primer, Upstream still demands the utmost attention of its viewers in exchange for the slightest hint of clarity. The dialogue is sparse, the setting is ever-changing, the editing is heavily dependent on juxtaposition as a way of creating meaning, and the sound design/foley work is turned up to “11″ at times. Whereas Primer played more to the intellect behind making time travel a reality, Upstream is an extremely visceral experience that is more interested, or at least more successful, in eliciting an emotional response than explaining how a rare organism can be harvested, used as a method of mind control, and ultimately link humans to pigs. The exact degree to which it succeeds will vary from viewer to viewer but it’s ultimately an experience I recommend taking in.

Of course a movie like Upstream lends itself to more than a few lines of my humble analysis, but that’s not actually why we’re here. In this week’s Top 5 you can check out the first trailer and poster for Alfonso Cuaron‘s Gravity, a generous number of set pics from director Jonathan Liebesman‘s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot, Steve’s exclusive phone interview with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, the first trailer for Ender’s Game, and a look at Iron Man by the Numbers. A brief recap and link to each will greet you after the jump.

When you get to talk to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, you never have enough time.  After all, he knows everything that’s going on behind-the-scenes at the studio, including which projects are getting ready to be announced.   So when I recently landed an exclusive phone interview with him for Iron Man 3, I tried to use the time to find out about a million different things.

During the wide ranging conversation, we talked about how long he’ll be staying at Marvel, how the studio goes about choosing directors, whether The Avengers sequel be called The Avengers 2 or if it will have a subtitle, whether they have considered casting Dwayne Johnson in a Marvel movie, the status of the Doctor Strange movie, if anyone is currently working on a Falcon or War Machine spinoff movie, whether they have cast Thanos yet, if they be at Comic-Con, D23, or both, and so much more.  If you’re a Marvel fan I promise you’ll enjoy reading this interview.

As Marvel kicks off Phase Two with a bang this weekend with the release of director Shane Black’s excellent Iron Man 3, the studio is now looking ahead to the end of Phase Two and beyond.  Over the years, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has frequently talked about the possibility of a feature film adaptation of the comics character Doctor Strange.  While Marvel was focused on introducing audiences to their new approach to superhero movies with Phase One, Thor and The Avengers opened the door to more cosmic-geared stories, and Phase Two is heavy on the otherworldly with Thor: The Dark World and Guardians of the Galaxy.  As such, the inclusion of Doctor Strange—a practicing sorcerer who wields magical powers—seems like a swell fit in the near future.

Steve recently sat down with Kevin Feige for an extended interview, and during the course of their wide-ranging conversation Feige offered a promising update on the impending Doctor Strange movie.  Feige said that they are now actively working on the film, and it should be one of the next Marvel movies following the beginning of Phase Three.  Hit the jump to read on.

In addition to recently talking about Iron Man 3, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige also spoke about Phase Two and Phase Three of the upcoming Marvel Movies.  First, he talked about how Phase Two and The Avengers 2 will be about taking these characters deeper.  Speaking to SFX Magazine, Feige says “Almost whatever the heck else is happening is gravy in that franchise, because all I care about is Bruce and Tony, Tony and Steve, Widow and Bruce – and how Thor fits into it, because he’s always the outsider amongst outsiders. So I think that’s where the value lies. And going deeper amongst those characters in those relationships.”  So it looks like when we finally come back around to The Avengers in 2015, we’ll be seeing the same team but with a different mood based on what happened to the characters earlier in Phase Two.

However, we might be seeing some new members on the team as well.  Hit the jump for more including what we might see from Doctor Strange.

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.

Of the many cool things that Marvel did at Comic-Con, I was most intrigued by the Ant-Man test footage.  The basic premise of Ant-Man (a man who can shrink to the size of an ant fights crime) is not guaranteed to work on film.  But the word on the street says director Edgar Wright nailed out the big/small transition effects, and I want to see for myself.  Marvel executive Victoria Alonso implies that I will probably get my wish.  Alonso told our partners at Omelete (roughly translated):

“What we showed at Comic-Con was a work in progress.  We’re working on finishing it, and I think you might see it.  Not sure where, but we always listen to the fans.  And if the fans demand it we make sure they get it.  I don’t know if we are going to post it online, but I don’t have [any reason] to believe we may not.”

So please demand it.  For my sake.  Hit the jump for more from Alonso, including confirmation that Wright will direct and a comment on the Viggo Mortensen/Doctor Strange rumor.

It’s rumor time!  As Marvel Studios launches further into “Phase Two” of their film slate, we’re likely to be vetting quite a few rumors over the next few years.  While most of these turn out to be false (look over the long road to The Avengers), a few here and there are solid.  A rather tantalizing rumor has now surfaced with regards to director Alan Taylor’s (Game of Thrones) sequel Thor: The Dark World, and we figured it was worth sharing.

Production on that film is currently underway in London and we already know that Christopher Eccleston is onboard as villain Malekith the Accursed, but now murmurs are making their way around the interwebs that Thor: The Dark World could also see an appearance from another major Marvel character: Dr. Strange.  Hit the jump for more.

Opening this weekend, in limited release, is writer/director J.C. Chandor’s Margin Call. Starring Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Paul Bettany, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley and Simon Baker, Margin Call is a very smart economic thriller that revolves around the key people at an investment bank during the 24-hour period before the 2008 financial crisis. As the film unfolds, we learn who knew what and when, and what lines people are willing to cross to stay ahead.  While Hollywood often glamorizes or exaggerates real events, Margin Call makes you feel like a fly on the wall and it never feels forced.  Definitely recommended.  For more on the film, watch the trailer here.

A few days ago I did a phone interview with Simon Baker.  During our extended conversation, Baker talked about making Margin Call, his thoughts on Occupy Wall Street, and what’s coming up on his very popular CBS show The Mentalist.  In addition, he talked about his favorite actors and his favorite films, if more people know him from The Mentalist or The Devil Wears Prada, and I asked him his thoughts on comic book movies as I’ve seen some online folks saying he’d be a good Doctor Strange.  Hit the jump for more.

As the Summer of Superheroes comes to an end with the release of Captain America: The First Avenger, audiences are starting to look to next year and beyond to see what costumed good-looking people will be gracing our theaters in the coming summers. While we expect more sequels to superheroes we’ve already been introduced to (and reboots of superheroes we’ve grown tired of), there may be a couple new superheroes on the way as well.

We’ve known that Marvel has been developing films based on lesser-known characters for a while now, but we’ve recently seen some movement on these “in-development” titles. Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish just turned in the latest draft for Ant-Man, and now word comes that a script for the Doctor Strange movie has been completed and Marvel is currently looking for a director. Hit the jump for more details.

With Marvel’s Thor getting released in America next weekend, earlier today I got to sit down with Kevin Feige (the President of Production at Marvel Studios) at the Los Angeles press junket for Thor.  While I could have asked about how Thor came together and what it was like to make the movie, I previously posted a huge on set interview where he discussed all of those subjects.  So I decided to use my time to talk about the future of Marvel and what are some of the cool Easter Eggs in Thor.

Of course that’s not all that we talked about, as we also discussed Iron Man 3, The Avengers, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, why did they cut out a mention of Hank Pym in Thor, what exactly is in Odin’s Vault (and what’s missing), what is Marvel doing at Comic-Con, was the filming last week in Times Square for Captain America or The Avengers, why did Thor get released internationally a few weeks early, and he reveals “there will be a Marvel animated movie at some point.”

Trust me, if you’re a fan of Marvel movies, you really want to hit the jump.

Not long ago, once Marvel Studios had proved itself as a major player in the summer tentpole game, a slate was released for all of the upcoming films from the new studio. Fans relished the thought of seeing Thor, Captain America and The Avengers on the big screen. Well, after this summer only one new film on that slate will be left (The Avengers) and audiences are left wondering: what will Marvel do next? Thankfully, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recently talked about the future of the studio and what flicks are on the horizon.

In addition to confirming sequels for Thor and Captain America (set in modern-day, no less) he discussed possible spinoffs for Black Widow, Hawkeye and S.H.I.E.L.D as well as the long-talked-about Dr. Strange movie. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

Even though they merged almost a year ago, Disney and Marvel are now moving forward with their first in-house property: Dr. Strange.  Deadline reports that Marvel has hired Conan screenwriters Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer to pen the adaptation of the “Sorcerer Supreme”/Greenwich Village resident.  Strange is a standout in the Marvel Universe due to his use of magic and his range of trippy powers that don’t rely on physical strength.

Dr. Strange has been trying to reach the big screen for quite some time.  It’s been through Savoy Pictures, Columbia, Dimension and Paramount.  It’s attracted writers and directors including Guillermo del Toro, Stephen Norrington, David Goyer, and Wes Craven.  Donnelly and Oppenheimer are now part of that line and maybe they’ll be the last ones if this merger works like the two companies hope it will.  The two writers are also responsible for the adaptation of the video game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and they also turned in a draft of Jon Favreau’s Cowboys & Aliens.  Hit the jump to learn more about Dr. Strange.