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. 

During a recent interview for his take on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Joss Whedon also fielded some questions on comics-related projects.  At the forefront of that discussion was the upcoming ABC series Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D., but The Avengers director also addressed his consulting work for Marvel and just how the eventual stand-alone Hulk movie could work.  Whedon also commented on films in the DC universe, including his work on a Wonder Woman feature and just how far he progressed with it.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say. 

Rumors have been flying around that there are/aren’t plans for Marvel to make a stand-alone Hulk movie some time in the near future.  Marvel’s own Kevin Feige put two potential source materials for a Hulk film on the table last year.  Then we got news on possible plot details for not only a stand-alone Hulk film after The Avengers 2, but what may turn out to be a Hulk-centric plot for The Avengers 3.  About a month after that, writer/director Joss Whedon (The Avengers) put the kibosh to the rumors.  Now, the face behind the Hulk himself, Mark Ruffalo, has taken to the Tweets to comment on the state of Hulk.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

Last month, it was rumored that The Avengers 2 would involve the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) being deemed too dangerous to live on Earth and he would get shipped into outer space.  From there, Hulk would get a solo Phase 3 movie based off Greg Pak‘s comic book arc Planet Hulk.  In the comic, Hulk becomes enslaved on the planet Sakaar, is forced to participate in gladiatorial games and eventually becomes a hero of the rebellion against the Red King.  Then the rumor continued that The Avengers 3 would have Hulk and his subjects returning to Earth and wreaking havoc, which would be based on Pak’s World War Hulk storyline.

At some point, it’s difficult to tell how carefully Marvel Studios has mapped out their movies and at what point it’s just fanboy dreaming masquerading as a serious possibility for future films.  Since Joss Whedon is one of the Marvel Movie Universe overseers now, IGN asked him about the Planet Hulk rumor.  Hit the jump for his response.

For our final Toy Fair image article, we’re doing a huge roundup of NECA toy images.  While they’re making figures/toys for all the regular movies and TV shows you’d expect, the highlight of NECA’s 2013 lineup is the 60′s Batman featuring Adam West!  The reason it’s taken so long to get an Adam West Batman is lawyers.  From what I’ve been told, Warner Bros. owns Batman, while 20th Century Fox owns the show.  For years the two companies have been trying to work out an agreement to release DVDs/Blu-rays and new merchandise with little success.  However, late last year, the two companies finally worked out a deal and 2013 should see a lot of new toys and hopefully a home video release.  Which is great news for the fans.

In addition to checking out the first 60′s Batman toy in quite some time, you can also see new toys for Aliens, A Christmas Story, Captain America, Michael Keaton’s Batman, Carrie, Gremlins, E.T., Harry Potter, Hulk, Iron Man, Pacific Rim, Predator, Prometheus, Scarface, Rambo, The Hobbit, The Hunger Games, Thor, and a lot more.

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.

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. 

It’s tough making one cool superhero poster.  But making ten of them, each one is as cool as the last, that’s almost impossible.  But that’s what Marko Manev has managed to do with his new black and white superhero noir posters featuring Batman, Hulk, Captain America, Spider-Man, Silver Surfer, Thor, Iron Man, Superman, Dr. Manhattan, and Wolverine.  As you’ll see after the jump, every poster captures an iconic scene for the superhero featured.  And while all of them are extremely well done, I think the Silver Surfer is my favorite.   Let me know which is your favorite in the comment section.

Stan Lee, arguably the greatest single contributor to comic book movies, is celebrating his 90th birthday today.  Although most of Lee’s executive producer credits on feature films have come within the last decade or so, he’s been in the TV and movie business since the late 80s.  Oh and he dabbled in comics for a little while too.  Lee boasts co-creator status on the likes of Iron Man, Hulk, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Thor, Daredevil and many others.  As a figurehead, Lee led the transformation from Marvel Comics into the multimedia conglomerate it is today.  So send him a birthday wish over @TheRealStanLee and hit the jump to check out all of his cameos in Marvel movies over the years. 

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.

Hot Toys is back with yet another fine-looking collectible addition to the Avengers line.  We’ve already seen a ridiculously detailed Loki as well as Iron Man’s Mark VII armor, but now the collectible line is going green.  The 1/6th scale Hulk Limited Edition Collectible Figurine is modeled after the Hulk design from The Avengers; in other words it’s very Mark Ruffalo-y.  You can put this Hulk into a number of different poses with his articulated arms, including “impending Hulk Smash.”

Hit the jump to check out images of the collectible or click here to pre-order on Sideshow Collectibles.

Like Marvel’s What If…? comic series, today’s installment from my epic hour-long interview with Guillermo del Toro is going to make you wonder what might have been.  That’s because when I asked del Toro about comic book movies and his interest in directing another one, he revealed that back when Avi Arad was running Marvel, they met to talk about del Toro directing Thor!

But that’s not all.

When 20th Century Fox was putting together The Wolverine, del Toro met with Jim Gianopulos and Hugh Jackman about directing it!  While I’m incredibly excited to see James Mangold‘s take on the character, I’ll admit a del Toro helmed Wolverine movie sounds incredible.  Hit the jump for more…including an update on ABC’s live-action Hulk series which he’s executive producing.

Hot Toys and Sideshow Collectibles have done it again!  This time, they’ve released new images of three separate figures.  We’re bringing you looks at the Hot Toys Gary Oldman’s Lt. Jim Gordon in full S.W.A.T. uniform, plus Sideshow’s Hulk from The Avengers and even our old pal Galactus.  The Devourer of Worlds will set you back $799.99, but also comes with a scale version of Nova and Silver Surfer.  The Sideshow Exclusive Gordon figure comes in at a modest $224.99 while the Hulk is a beefed up $649.99 and is available for pre-order here.  Hit the jump to check them out!

Reboots have been all the rage in Hollywood for years, but until this morning I don’t think I had ever seen or heard of a reboot of a Comic-Con panel.  Last time on Marvel Animation Panel, Jeph Loeb took to the stage and made hammy joke after hammy joke as he showed off previews of a slew of upcoming Marvel-branded animated programming for Disney’s popular XD lineup.  This year he returned to the Con and brought pretty much the exact same shows, in almost the exact same order.  Only now, there’s footage.  And as with the new The Amazing Spider-Man film, even without the novelty of a first time experience, this reboot panel was better than the first take.

Loeb showed off footage from Marvel Mashups, Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., Avenger’s Assemble, various Marvel Knights projects and even a full episode of Ultimate Spider-Man.  Hit the jump for details on the footage, a recap of the panel and Spider-Ham!

Not content merely to dominate the box office and the comic book world, Marvel is now setting its sights on TV. On the heels of Disney XD’s announcement that the Ultimate Spider-Man (the network’s highest rated animated series) would be picked up for a second season, the new Marvel Animation Studios is gearing up for an ambitious lineup of comic-inspired series, including Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. and Marvel’s Avengers Assemble.

For more on the project and an interview with the Marvel’s head of television, hit the jump.