Wow, Comic-Con 2009 is already less than three weeks away. Seems like only a couple of months ago since we were there. Last year was a ton of work but also a blast (click here for our wrap up of the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con), and this year we’ll be providing even more extensive coverage for you with additional staff to cover the event.

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MTV caught up with the new Nick Fury actor, Samuel L. Jackson, at an event for the 20th anniversary of Spike Lee’s film Do The Right Thing and discussed with him his role in Iron Man 2.

The star actor of seemingly every movie revealed that his role in the sequel to Iron Man will be limited to him pulling strings behind the scenes and not getting directly involved in any sort of combat.

Thor is arguably the toughest character and film to sell out of the upcoming slate of movies in development at Marvel Studios, but it is the one I’m most excited for.

Besides my interest in the character, what really grabs my interest is the man in charge: Kenneth Branagh.

Marvel Studios has made one of the biggest splashes into the film industry in recent years with them become a full-fledged independent studio that finances its own films.

You no doubt have seen the results of this in mainstream media in recent times with the two big summer movies last year, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, and the success that ensued.

Now we have an ever-growing list of films on Marvel’s production slate with talk of expansion to a production capacity of four big budget features a year in the not too distant future.

For now, we’ll have to settle with the massive upcoming origin films for Thor and Captain America, the sequel to last summer’s hit Iron Man, and the eagerly anticipated and almighty team-up film that will bring them all together: Avengers.

[UPDATE: Check out what might be the first promo poster for Iron Man 2!]

Today we got a tip from a local California resident by the moniker of “FASTBACK67,” who was out and about around the Encino Hills area - “NW of intersecting freeways 101 and 405″, according to our Screen Rant “Bruce 2.0 GPS system” - where he stumbled across something VERY interesting and, being a smart cookie, connected the dots to Iron Man 2, which is currently halfway into its shooting schedule.

And just what did Mr. FASTBACK67 discover? A huge outdoor set complete with a massive green screen, built into the famous Sepulveda basin - but what is it for?

Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada has been talking a lot lately about upcoming Marvel projects - he recently discussed some of the upcoming comic book developments for The Rebirth of Captain America, and more recently, about Iron Man 2 and Thor.

Quesada posted some comments on his web column about both projects, such as what direction the movies are being taken in and a bit about what it’s like working with directors Jon Favreau (Iron Man 2) and Kenneth Branagh (Thor). Check out this hot info poured straight from the Cup ‘O Joe:

The First Avenger: Captain America is one of the four big budget summer blockbusters on Marvel’s official slate of upcoming films. Along with the Iron Man franchise, The Incredible Hulk and Thor, Captain America is getting his own origin film to establish his character in Marvel movie continuity all culminating to the main event: The Avengers.

It’s fantastic timing for Marvel to be doing this with their own fast-growing studio during the era of comic book films, but for Captain America, the timing seemed a little off in terms of lining up with the comics since the character the movie is based on is dead - and has been for over two years.

Well, that’s not going to be the case for long and it’s no coincidence in timing.

For months there was speculation as to which character Mickey Rourke would play in Iron Man 2. Since it was revealed that the character would be Russian, fans of the comic (myself included) speculated that he would play an armored nemesis of our favorite armored Avenger - either Titanium Man or The Crimson Dynamo. So when word came that Whiplash would be in the film, people thought maybe Sam Rockwell would play that character and we’d have a double-villain scenario.

There is a lot of new info about the major Marvel superhero movies floating around the Web right now, and because we at Screen Rant believe in a lifestyle of convenience, we’ve pulled together all the bits and pieces into one cohesive Marvel Movie Update.

If you’ve been wondering what’s the latest with Iron Man 2, Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America or the much-anticipated grand-slam finale, The Avengers, then be sure to keep on reading. Oh, and not to be left out of the club, we’ve got some quick recaps on what’s going on with  Spider-Man 4.

[UPDATE: Check out the Promo Posters for Iron Man 2 and Spider-Man 4!]

It’s an exciting time for film buffs and comic readers alike as we have entered the era of comic book movies with no end in site. Today, we’ve got a little tease to keep that excitement up!

With films based on Marvel’s vast collection of characters and stories being created regularly by a multitude of studios over the years, we saw the genre grow even more with the comic publisher creating its own film production company, Marvel Studios, back in the nineties.

The logos after the jump…

The folks over at Empire had a little chat with Jon Favreau, director of Iron Man 2 and its super-successful predecessor, as well as Mickey Rourke, that other famous comeback actor in the movie.

Favreau hinted at the story arc for Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark character and little about Don Cheadle sporting some cool tech as the eagerly anticipated War Machine. About the plot, Favs says that Mr. Stark is under a ton of pressure and that he needs an outlet for that (alcohol?). As for Jim Rhodes, Favs had this to say:

[UPDATE: Check out the first real look at Mickey Rourke as Whiplash in Iron Man 2.]

Latino Review recently posted a pic of what many are speculating is concept art of the armor Mickey Rourke will don in Iron Man 2 to become the whip-wielding villain known as Whiplash.

Just so we’re clear: no one from the Iron Man 2 production has yet confirmed that this pic is in any way the official armor design for Rourke’s Whiplash character, but we thought you’d like to have a look at it anyway, just for fun:

Hey gang, we’ve got a new image from the set of Iron Man 2. Just a few days ago we showed you the first official photo, showing Tony Stark working in his lab with a variety of Iron Man armors in the background. Call me a geek, but that was enough to put me back into full Iron Man 2 anticipation mode.

Sam Rockwell spoke to MTV recently about his upcoming Sci-Fi movie Moon, and they were wise enough to sneak in some Iron Man 2 questions.

We already knew that Sam Rockwell was playing Justin Hammer, and it was obvious from casting that there would be a different spin on Tony Stark’s business rival - but today we get our first bit of insight into director Jon Favreau’s approach to the character.

The first official image from Iron Man 2 was supposed to be released tomorrow, but USA Today jumped the gun and posted it online tonight (thanks to /Film for the alert). The coolest thing about the image is that it seems to highlight Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr., of course) “Hall of Armor” from the comic book. It’s a room where he keeps all the different versions of his Iron Man armor.

Robert Downey Jr. is riding a career that is only comparable to the one that is currently sweeping Mickey Rourke through Hollywood. Quite ironic considering that the two are starring in Iron Man 2 together. While The Soloist may not have set the box office alight last weekend, the upcoming Sherlock Holmes should assure some bums on seats. Downey may have the pick of scripts but the comeback kid appears to want to work with only one man - Sylvester Stallone.

The Oscar nominated star has stated that he’s interested in Stallone’s biopic of Gothic writer Edgar Allan Poe.

This week:

Beyonce is Obsessed with being number one; Tony Scott and Denzel Washington are Unstoppable; it’s all Greek to Warner Bros. with Odysseus; James Marsden hassles the “Hoff” in Straw Dogs; will DiCaprio Beat the Reaper? Catherine is Keener for Jackson.

It’s been a while since we’ve given you guys an update on Iron Man 2, so here’s a little “catch up” for you…

First up is Scarlett Johansson addressing rumors about her physique and the fact that she supposedly has to lose 14 pounds to get into “superhero shape.” She’s not exactly “Twiggy” and leans more towards the voluptuous, but she’s by no means overweight:

[UPDATE: According to Gary Oldman's manager, Douglas Urbanski, Gary Oldman is NOT in the film.]

Yesterday, news hit the web that two actors with the first name Gary could be in Iron Man 2: Garry Shandling and Gary Oldman. It’s nice to have some positive casting news to balance out the negative - The negative being Terrence Howard’s removal from the film and his feelings about it.

Shandling reportedly was on set Tuesday shooting a big scene (filming for Iron Man 2 began Monday) and according to IESB, he’s playing Senator Stern. His character apparently appears in a scene that helps bridge the two movies together.

For those who have been following along with news and updates surrounding Iron Man 2 since the movie first went into development, you’ve no doubt come across the many issues involving actors’ contracts for the sequels.

You could say that this all started last fall when out of nowhere, Marvel announced that Terrence Howard would not be back in the sequel and James Rhodes/ War Machine would instead be played by Don Cheadle. That’s not all though – director Jon Favreau had some issues in trying to get re-signed for the sequel and then there were the infamous low-ball offers handed out to Mickey Rourke and Samuel L. Jackson.

Screen Rant has some brand new set images from two highly anticipated upcoming films: Iron Man 2 and The Expendables. Iron Man 2 just started shooting yesterday, and The Expendables has been shooting for about 10 days now.

Here’s  how things are looking on set:

Well Jon Favreau let folks know that today was the first day of shooting on the set of Iron Man 2. These days he’s keeping fans up to date on his Twitter page instead of on MySpace (thank goodness!).

Yesterday he said it was Robert Downey Jr’s birthday and they spent the last part of the evening going over the script one more time before shooting began.

Here are a couple of pics he posted just for fun (nothing Earth shattering):

A while back I talked about how the global economic slow-down was affecting Hollywood (How Is The Economy Affecting Movie Studios?).  Now as new films go into development or production, studios are looking for ways to keep costs down. It looks like the recession has hit Hollywood, too.

Yes, you read that right, Don Cheadle as Tony Stark’s best buddy in Iron Man 2 will be donning the War Machine armor.

Our friends over at TrailerAddict.com have an interview from EW where they talk to Robert Downey Jr. briefly about transitioning from his Sherlock Holmes movie back into Iron Man mode. During the interview he was asked if he could reveal a tiny tidbit about the movie, and he talks about the characters - and he lets slip a nugget about Don Cheadle as Rhodey.

Last December Screen Rant reported on the rumor that Tim Robbins would be playing Tony Stark’s father in Iron Man 2. It was said that Robbins would play Howard Stark in an important flashback scene in which Tony was just a boy.

I must admit when I first heard this rumor I thought it was a good idea. Robbins has proven before, specifically with The Shawshank Redemption, that he has some serious acting talent, and adding that to a superhero flick like Iron Man 2 isn’t at all a bad thing.

With Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen getting ready for release, the Diablo Cody penned Jennifer’s Body already in the can and Jonah Hex and Fathom on the way, it looks like Megan Fox is getting ready to take over cinema screens across the globe.

The actress has now signed on to star opposite Mickey Rourke in Passion Plays, a 1940’s set dramatic thriller. The Transformers star’s character is described as “a slender beauty with wings who is part of a carnival.”

Jon Favreau, the mastermind behind the Iron Man films is a regular user on Twitter and this week, he’s been creating a lot of buzz by posting images from a “geek tour” of his personal at-home collection of goodies (which of course included some cool Iron Man collectibles).

But that’s not all - Favs is using Twitter to keep his 20, 000+ users up to date with where they are in production of Iron Man 2. This week he’s been reporting on rehearsals of the main cast and he was kind enough to share a picture from last night’s rehearsal with us.

When Scarlett Johansson was announced as the actress to play the Black Widow in Iron Man 2 and other Marvel universe films, fans were NOT happy. If you look at the image above, it’s pretty obvious why.

But at least as far as visually, things are looking up - When she recently showed up in London at Moet and Chandon: A Tribute to Cinema party, Scarlett was looking considerably more like the Russian spy that we’ve come to know.

Check out her new look below:

A couple of months ago, it seemed that The Devil Wears Prada star Emily Blunt was going to fully breakout and become a household name when it was reported that she may be playing the Black Widow in the upcoming comic book movie sequel Iron Man 2. But then in a cruel twist of fate, she was officially announced as “out” of the film because of scheduling conflicts with her starring in the upcoming Gulliver’s Travels film.

So what does Blunt have to say about her losing what would have been a very widely seen role in Iron Man 2 in lieu of another film? Well, in a recent interview with MTV she shared her thoughts on the matter:

One of the favorite things about Star Trek to any bonafide Trekkie is the gadgets. We love to examine, obsess over and collect prop replicas from every iteration of the franchise in TV and film. One of the (many) concerns of long time Star Trek fans has been: What will the phaser, communicator and tricorder look like? How will they compare to the iconic designs of The Original Series?