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.

A few minutes before DC Comics Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns was scheduled to sign at Golden Apple in Hollywood on Comic Book Day, we sat for an exclusive interview.  During our wide ranging conversation we talked about his run on Green Lantern and when he first realized it was coming to an end, Aquaman, his thoughts on digital comics, The CW’s Arrow, future DC properties on TV, his reaction after watching Man of Steel, future animated movies, the reaction to The New 52, the status of the Booster Gold TV series, future Green Lantern plans, his most prized comic book,the status of 100 Bullets, Wonder Woman, favorite DC Collectibles, and so much more.  Hit the jump to either watch the interview or read the transcript.

As the two biggest comic companies, Marvel and DC Comics have always been rivals.  They have huge stables of superheroes and decades of history.  But when it comes to movies, Marvel has taken a gigantic lead having been able to crank out seven hit superhero movies in the last five years while Warner Bros. (which owns DC Comics) has been stuck trying to create a bankable movie superhero who isn’t named “Batman” or “Superman” despite having other recognizable names like Wonder Woman and The Flash.  Warner Bros. has been trying to figure out how to get to their own Avengers-like movie, Justice League, to the big screen but their most recent effort was sent back to the drawing board, and the studio’s superhero hopes now rest on Man of Steel.

Steve recently sat down with Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige, the guiding force behind the Marvel Movie Universe.  Since Feige found a way to get his superheroes to The Avengers, Steve asked the Marvel chief if he has any advice on getting Justice League to the big screen.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

Last night I had the opportunity to check out a late showing of Pain & Gain during which I encountered a few thoughts that I couldn’t shake: 1) I wish Michael Bay would make more films like this and less of the transforming car variety. 2) Why can’t Dwayne Johnson be in every movie? 3) This is probably the craziest “Based on a True Story” movie I’ve ever seen. I’ve heard Bay say that some of the most extreme elements of the plot are also the most true to the original story. This is good to know because had someone written a lot of what shows up in the film I would likely call it too farfetched for my suspended disbelief to withstand. Make no mistake, this is a wild, entertaining ride that utilizes layers of action, crime, comedy, sex, and even a touch of sadism to keep you invested from beginning to end.

My mini-review aside, this week’s Top 5 includes the first trailer for Thor: The Dark World, Pain & Gain interviews with Michael Bay, Mark Wahlberg, and more, a recap of our visit to Pixar for Monsters University, news that Zack Snyder could take the helm of Justice League pending Man of Steel‘s success, and the first entry in a new interview series from Steve: “Breaking Down the Movie” with The Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance. As is customary, a brief recap and link to each of the above is ready and waiting after the jump.

Much is riding on the success of this summer’s Man of Steel.  Not only is Warner Bros. hoping the film launches a new Superman franchise, but it is also the key to moving forward with other DC properties in the wake of Marvel’s immense success (ie. The Avengers grossing $1.5 billion).  The early buzz on Man of Steel is incredibly positive and the film’s latest trailer was rather remarkable, so expectations are quite high.  We know that Warner Bros. is developing a Justice League film with a potential 2015 release date, but further details about the pic have been rather unclear.

In a new interview with director Zack Snyder, though, it was revealed that the current plan is to ask Snyder to helm Justice League should Man of Steel take off.  Hit the jump for more.

Warner Bros. has a potential goldmine with the DC Comics license, but their attempts at moving forward on superhero projects have stalled.  Films featuring The Flash and Wonder Woman are stuck in development hell, and the recent script for Justice League had to be scrapped.  So it’s all going to fall on the broad shoulders of Superman.  In a recent interview, Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinov says that Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel is “setting the tone for what the movies are going to be like going forward. In that, it’s definitely a first step.”

Hit the jump for more including a dismissal of a recent rumor regarding Christopher Nolan and Justice League.

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.

The guys over at Latino-Review have decided to spend this fine evening dropping an atomic-bomb-level rumor that will send fanboys into a tizzy.  The site is reporting three major developments when it comes to Justice League and Warner Bros. trying to figure out how they’re going to combat Disney’s one-two franchise punch of Marvel and Star Wars.  So far, Warners has been struggling with their superheroes.  They’re all out of Batman, and while there’s some very early positive buzz on Man of Steel, their highly-anticipated Justice League movie reportedly had to go back to square one early last month when Will Beale‘s script was tossed out.

But Warner Bros. isn’t giving up, and according to Latino-Review, Christopher Nolan is coming to the rescue.  And so is Zack Snyder.  And they want Christian Bale to put the cape and cowl back on.  Hit the jump for more.

Ever since Marvel stuck their landing with the $1.5 billion grossing Phase One-capper The Avengers, a number of other studios have been making moves to try and mimic the studio’s “Cinematic Universe” model.  One of the most notable reactions to The Avengers came by way of the announcement that Warner Bros. was going to finally try to mount their Justice League movie for a 2015 release.  When a major update on Justice League first broke last summer, we learned that WB had enlisted scribe Will Beall (Gangster Squad) to tackle the screenplay.

The studio has yet to nab a director since then, and a few weeks ago we learned that WB was waiting to see how Man of Steel does this summer before giving Justice League a greenlight.  Now it appears that WB is having an even harder time with JL than we previously thought, as a new report claims that Beall’s script is being entirely tossed out.  Hit the jump for more.

Last week, we reported that Justice League‘s team would be comprised of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and The Flash.  But before those five superheroes can team up, Warner Bros. needs the granddaddy of all superheroes to step up.  Buried in an article about Warner Bros. President Jeff Robinov, Variety makes the somewhat unsurprising report that a greenlight on Justice League is dependent on how well Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel does at the box office.

Hit the jump for more.  Man of Steel opens June 14th.

As you can see from the above image, not everyone who’s historically been in DC’s Justice League will make it into Warner Bros. Justice League in 2015. The only confirmed creative type on the picture is screenwriter Will Beall (Gangster Squad) as no director or cast is in place yet, but it looks as if we might have a solid core of characters we can expect to see on screen.  We posted an extensive list of possible superheroes a couple of weeks ago, along with the rumors of the movie’s villain and source material.  That list has been whittled down considerably.  Hit the jump to see who made the cut, who missed out and who might pop up as a cameo.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt had a pretty good year in 2012 and is currently being offered/rumored to star in everything under the sun.  He recently passed on the Godzilla reboot and Guardians of the Galaxy, but has been confirmed for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.  Perhaps the hottest rumor of late is that Gordon-Levitt will be appearing in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel in a Batman cameo or in Justice League as the Caped Crusader.  This was apparently news to Gordon-Levitt, who had a good, if calculated, reaction to this question during a recent interview.  He also talked about working with director Robert Rodriguez in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.  Hit the jump to watch the interview.

Opening this weekend is director Ruben Fleischer’s (Zombieland) Gangster Squad.  The movie is set in 1940s Los Angeles and stars Sean Penn as real-life gangster Mickey Cohen, who became the target of special task force known as the “Gangster Squad” made up of Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Peña, and Robert Patrick.  The film also stars Emma Stone, Nick Nolte, and Mireille Enos.  For more on the film, be sure to check out our set visit coverage here, and watch six clips.

At the Los Angeles press day, I landed an exclusive interview with producer Dan Lin.  During our wide ranging conversation we talked about making Gangster Squad, editing, the test screenings, improv on set, and more.  In addition, with Lin producing a number of other projects, I got updates on Sherlock Holmes 3, The Lego Movie, Suicide Squad, the ACME movie, Brotherhood, Moses, and much more.  Hit the jump for the interview.

Welcome to 2013, folks. If you’re reading this it means that you survived the Mayan Apocalypse, the first Dick Clark-less New Year’s Rockin’ Eve celebration in like four decades, likely some sort of mandatory holiday time with your extended family, and incessant political jabber about some sort of “fiscal cliff”, all in a matter of about two weeks. Congratulations on a job well done. In spite of all these accomplishments, though, odds are you still haven’t spent any part of 2013 hanging out with Arnold Schwarzenegger and his tank. So, to this point, our Dave Trumbore still wins 2013.

All tank envy aside, let’s keep our heads up and focus on the first Top 5 installment of the new year. This week’s recap includes Brendan’s editorial plea for giving 48fps the old college try, Justice League rumors, Matt’s Warm Bodies set visit and ensuing zombie transformation, news of Jay-Z being brought on to score Baz Luhrmann‘s The Great Gatsby, and the results of our first ever readers poll that asked for your top movies of 2012. Brief recaps and links to all of the above are dying for your attention after the jump.

And the Justice League rumors keep flowing.  Last month, we reported that the villain might be Darkseid, and that the storyline could be based on the issues #183 – 185 of Justice League America, which “involves Darkseid planning the destruction of Earth by blasting it with a ray that’ll move Apokolips (Darkseid’s planet) into the Earth’s place.”  Today, a new rumor has emerged about who will be in the League aside from the obvious choices (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern).  The list also includes brief character descriptions and cameos.

Hit the jump for the possible line-up, brief character descriptions, and cameos.  Justice League opens in 2015.