Marvel Studios has delivered some news about its upcoming slate.  Following on the heels of this year’s The Avengers, they have on deck Iron Man 3 with a  May 3, 2013 release date, as well as Thor 2 on November 15, 2013. Signs are pointing toward Captain America 2 in early 2014, but nothing’s been confirmed yet.

I know it seems like it’s been ages since we got any The Avengers goodies from Marvel, but today we have (thanks to ComicBookMovie) five hi-res official stills, including Sam Jackson’s Nick Fury, up close and personal.  (That is some vicious looking scar.)

From Marvel’s press release:

Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”–the super hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel super heroes Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins.

Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, & directed by Joss Whedon from a screenplay by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble on May 4, 2012.

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More shiny new images of everyone's favorite gang of super heroes, The Avengers! Yay! *demented poodle dance* Joss Whedon's eagerly awaited tie-in with Marvel's Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Captain America and Thor movies arrives in theaters next May, but in movie promotion terms, that's right around the corner. We have another new batch of character posters for Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Bruce Banner aka The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Captain America (Chris Evans) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), not an actual super hero, but rather the director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D.

We also have a couple of the Russian versions of the posters as well as a few new stills.

The premise:  An unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security. Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D., finds themselves in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster.   (dun dun DUN!)

The Avengers hits screens everywhere in 3D and 2D on May 4, 2012. (For reasons unknown to me, the 3D is a post-conversion.) Isn’t it about time for a new trailer? A clip? A tv spot maybe? C’mon Joss, you know you want to. 

It’s been two months since we saw the first trailer for The Avengers, the eagerly anticipated film about the ultimate superhero supergroup. Today’s German trailer is  almost identical to the original with the exception of a few new shots…and the German dubbing. (I don’t understand the concept of dubbing. Why wouldn’t you want to hear the original actors voices, even if you don’t understand the language? Otherwise, doesn’t at least half of the performance you’re watching belong to the actor dubbing the dialogue?  Subtitles are NOT that difficult people! But I digress…)

The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon from a script by Whedon and Zak Penn, will assemble the “superhero team of a lifetime” including Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Iron Man (Tony Stark), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) as they unite to battle Thor’s evil brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and the extraterrestrial threat he unleashes upon the Earth, is in theaters 27^th April in the UK and May 4 in the US.

By the way, I have to thank Screenrant for that cap of Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye above. I saw Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol yesterday and I’m kinda crushin’. Yes, I’ve heard the rumors. Trust me, that is in no way a deterrent. I’m kinda a magnet.)

We have some new posters and new images from We Bought a Zoo. The film is currently a hot topic, at least among people who care about such things, since 20^th Century Fox held advance screenings in select cities all over the country last night.

The Twitterverse blew up after people saw Cameron Crowe’s latest in which Matt Damon stars as Benjamin Mee, a widower who…you guessed it, buys a zoo. The consensus seems to be that it’s a pretty good family film. Audiences laughed and cried in all of the right places. It’s not an awards contender, but it’s enjoyable and will probably make the producers some dough. There’s nothing wrong with merely being entertaining, it’s what every movie should strive for on some level and people do need something to take the kids to see during the holidays besides The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

The synopsis is simple: Set in Southern California, a father moves his young family to the countryside to renovate and re-open a struggling zoo. It’s also based on a true story.

We Bought a Zoo stars Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, John Michael Higgins, Elle Fanning, Patrick Fugit, Angus Macfadyen and Colin Ford. It opens December 23 in the US and Canada but not until 16^th March in the UK.

Avengers assemble! And apparently they have! The cast of Joss Whedon's The Avengers may be the best ever put together for a comic book movie and they’ve all been given their own character posters and then those were combined into cool looking banners.

I swear this movie is just bursting at the seams with testosterone filled goodness and they’re all just teasing me.  Chris Hemsworth as Thor with his hair rippling in the breeze, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Chris Evans as Captain America and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, all looking at the camera and giving it the sexy ‘Victoria’s Secret, over-the-shoulder (well, Evans is peeking out from behind his arm) come hither stare’. Jeremy Renner who plays Hawkeye and Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man looking at nothing and exuding macho, Mark Ruffalo who plays The Hulk (in Bruce Banner mode), he’s touching those glasses so we remember that smarts is sexy, right before he rips them off and goes all Hulk-like, Oh and then there’s Scarlet Johannson as The Black Widow in her skintight black leathers and big guns. I’m sure there’s someone out there stoked about that.

I’m still unclear on just what this movie’s about, other than “The S.H.I.E.L.D. agency brings together a team of superhumans to help save the Earth from annihilation by extraterrestrial invaders.” Oookay… Oh well, just keep giving us pretty pictures to look at and we’ll stay interested.

The Avengers is set for release on May 4, 2012 virtually everywhere. 

It’s been almost two months since we saw the US trailer for Cameron Crowe's We Bought a Zoo and I’d say the first half of this one for the UK market is the same. The second half does give us some new material (although if you’ve been to an AMC theater lately, you’ll have seen it in their “First Look” series.  A new phenomenon I think, but not exclusive to this movie.) The premise of We Bought a Zoo is this: Single dad Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon), in a desire to change his life and improve the lives of his children, moves his family to a rural part of Southern California to renovate and re-open a struggling zoo. Scarlett Johansson plays his fledgling zookeeper and from what little we see here, it looks like they'll have some sweet chemistry.

After films like Jerry Maguire and Say Anything, if there's one thing you can count on with a  Cameron Crowe film, it's heart. I think that given the grin I was sporting while watching this trailer, we can count on it here too. I think that Thomas Haden Church probably sums it up when he says "I like the animals, but I love the people."

Damon, Johansson and HadenChurch star with Elle Fanning, John Michael Higgins, Angus Macfadyen (yum!), Peter Riegert and Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous).  We Bought A Zoo opens on December 23 in the US, Canada and the UK