It's official: Robert Downey Jr. to return as Iron Man

Marvel.com announced today that Robert Downey Jr. has signed a two picture deal to return as Iron Man/Tony Stark for Avengers 2 & 3. It's good news for Marvel fans, even if this news implies that no more Iron Man solo films are in development. I really can't imagine an Avengers film without RDJ, though I hope the future films don't focus on Tony Stark as heavily as the first Avengers did. The Avengers 2 is scheduled to start production in March 2014 and open May 1, 2015.

First look at Evangeline Lilly in "The Hobbit"

Entertainment Weekly has the first official look at Evangeline Lilly from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (unless you bought the Lego set) She's playing Tauriel, an elf invented by Peter Jackson and company to make the film a little less sausage-fest (and my math still puts this at 15:1). Of course, you probably remember Lilly as Kate from Lost, unless you've repressed that memory. Still she looks great as an elf, though I'm concerned about the fact that the arrow looks like bad CGI.

Review: The villains of Iron Man 3 and Star Trek 2

Time for a couple of quick movie reviews. Two big May sequels: Iron Man 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness (aka JJ Abrams' Star Trek II). Both films are continuations of successful franchises, both heavily advertised their villains, both use insane amounts of CGI, and both have a fairly controversial twist, which means that most of everything I want to say is incredibly spoiler heavy. On the spoiler-free side, both films strike a fine balance action and humor, and well neither is perfect (and both make questionable decisions) both are excellent summer movies. Okay, spoilers now.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Official Trailer

ABC has released a full-length trailer for this fall's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It covers the "isn't Coulson dead?" issue, and shows off the various cast members, seemingly including Angel's J. August Richards. Is he Luke Cage? Probably not. Rage? Maybe. A one episode guest star? Likely. More importantly, does Lola fly? So many options. So long to wait. In related news, Joss Whedon is now on Twitter.

Movie News: New suit for Captain America and more!

Lots of news on the movie front, especially from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Get a look at some revealing concept art after the jump. Plus, a Star Trek actor joins Guardians of the Galaxy. Click on.

First look at Captain America 2

Captain America: The Winter Soldier has begun filming, and Marvel has released the first official image, along with a press release confirming many rumors about the film. Anthony and Joe Russo are directing from a screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (Captain America: The First Avenger). Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” Chris Evans returns as Steve Rogers/Captain America, along with Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) and Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury). Robert Redford has joined the cast as Alexander Pierce, a senior leader within S.H.I.E.L.D. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is set for release in the U.S. on April 4, 2014, a month earlier than the norm for Marvel films, but the first weekend in May has been claimed by Amazing Spider-Man 2.

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” will pick-up where “Marvel’s The Avengers” left off, as Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world and teams up with Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, to battle a powerful yet shadowy enemy in present-day Washington, D.C.

The supporting cast includes Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon, Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, Frank Grillo as Crossbones and Georges St-Pierre as Georges Batroc, with Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Toby Jones as Arnim Zola and Emily VanCamp as Agent 13.

Pepper Potts to the Rescue in new Iron Man 3 TV spot

Fully revealing a rumored plot point from the LEGO sets, here's the latest TV spot for Iron Man, showing Gwyneth Paltrow getting into the action (via ComicBookMovie).

News: Jurassic Park, Norman Osborn and more!

There's some awesome news this week for several franchises, starting with one of my childhood favorites: Jurassic Park 4 has finally found a director. Plus, Guardians of the Galaxy has cast another character and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has added yet another major character, and we can finally see Amy Adams as Lois Lane. It's after the jump.

New Iron Man 3 trailer confirms the awesome

The theatrical trailer for Iron Man 3 is here, and it confirms, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the presence of the many rumored suits of armor. Heartbreaker, Hulkbuster and more. Not only that, but they seem able to fly autonomously (or Tony found a shit-ton of trusted pilots somewhere). Less than two months until release.

Christian Bale rumored to return for Justice League, potentially sets fans up for massive disappointment

It's the mother of all rumors for the long-suffering Justice League film. After failing to get Ben Affleck to direct the film (a move that would also have seen Affleck take over as Batman), a new report from LatinoReview (via ComicBookMovie) has Warner Bros. trying to secure the return of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne, and bring back Christopher Nolan as a producer (Zach Synder too, so this would clearly depend on the success of Man of Steel). Bale has previously said he'd consider returning provided Nolan was on board, while Nolan has said he wasn't interested. However, Warner would probably be willing to move Heaven and Earth to get this done, as such a move would allow the film to overcome the hurdles that other options would face. Basically, this would let the Nolan films serve as setup for the Justice League, instead of requiring audiences forget everything they've seen in those films. Unfortunately, even if rumor is true, it doesn't mean Warner is going to be able to pull off the deals, as they'd likely be be looking for a long-term commitment from both Bale and Nolan. There's a spoiler for the end of The Dark Knight Rises below. You've been warned.