Presenting our weekly round-up of the big news stories from the world of movie superheroes… 
After giving us a sneak peek at
The Dark Knight Rises back in
November, Britain’s Empire Magazine has now turned their attention to
The Avengers, delivering plenty of Marvel goodness within the pages of their latest issue. Along with individual covers featuring new shots of Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) – the latter giving us our first glimpse of Stark’s new Mark VII suit – and a special subscriber-only
cover depicting said heroes assembled, the magazine also includes some interesting quotes from the cast and crew of the $300m blockbuster. Among the highlights was confirmation from Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige that the Red Skull will not make an appearance, with Feige also going on to touch upon the
identity of Loki’s (Tom Hiddleston) mysterious army: “It's not Skrulls, I've been clear about that. Beyond that, we want to hide it. The identity of the alien race is not impactful. It exists in the comic books, but we're not setting up the Kree-Skrull war or anything like that." Check out
ComicBookMovie for a summary of all the info contained in the issue, and head on over to
Marvel.com for five new images from the hotly-anticipated ensemble.
Meanwhile, in one final bit of news from
The Avengers, English actress and 70s pin-up Jenny Agutter (
Logan’s Run,
An American Werewolf in London) spoke to the
Radio Times about working on the film, with the article indicating that ‘Spider-Man and Iron Man’ were present on Joss Whedon’s set. Now, before everyone gets too excited, you’d have to expect the Spider-Man reference to be a slip of the tongue on Agutter’s part, especially considering that Sony have the movie rights to the character and have
The Amazing Spider-Man set for release just two months later. However, seeing as that’s a brand new reboot of the character, is there a chance that Marvel could have thrown a boat load of money Sony’s way for a fan-pleasing cameo from the web-crawler? Sadly, if I was a betting man, I’d have to go with no…
Sticking with the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a moment, we already know that the studio are gearing up to go into production on
Iron Man 3 and
Thor 2 for release next year, but this past week has brought forth some details that may give us an idea of the two mystery movies they have scheduled for 2014. First up came reports that the proposed
Doctor Strange feature is about to become a reality, with
Joblo posting the following synopsis: "
Doctor Strange centres around a New York surgeon, who stops running his practice after suffering injuries in a car crash. He then becomes a drifter and heads to the Himalayas, where he meets a healer and discovers that he has a great psychic power to fight against evil. Doctor Strange boasts powers that includes telepathy, teleportation, energy and astral projection." Meanwhile
Captain America: The First Avenger star Neal McDonough told
IMDb TV that
Captain America 2 will go into production as soon as
Thor wraps, while he also said he hoped to follow that up by reprising the role of Dum Dum Dugan alongside Samuel L. Jackson for the long-rumoured
Nick Fury solo movie.
While it's unlikely that we'll be seeing Spider-Man in
The Avengers, the friendly neighbourhood web-crawler will of course be swinging onto screens this July and
The Times of India have posted a new synopsis for the Marc Webb-directed reboot, which reveals that Oscorp will play an important role in the story: "
The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents' disappearance - leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), his father's former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors' alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero." So, if Oscorp is present, does that mean we'll also get a quick cameo from Norman Osborn...?
Now that young actress Joey King has let that cat out of the bag and confirmed that Talia al Ghul is present in
The Dark Knight Rises, it would seem that Liam Neeson has thought 'what the hell?' and decided to follow suit by
admitting that he'll be back as Ra's al Ghul: "I can tell you nothing about
The Dark Knight Rises, seriously. I was on set for maybe an hour-and-a-half and the director didn’t tell me anything of what it’s about. So, I’m being very honest when I say I have no idea what’s going to happen." Meanwhile star Christian Bale has also been speaking about his on-screen alter-ego, explaining to the
New York Daily News how he takes inspiration from the
Batman: Year One incarnation of the character and - most intriguingly - revealing to
Empire that TDKR may not be his final outing under the cape and cowl after all: "All I know is the likelihood that this will be the last one [but] if Chris goes, 'Hey, I've got another story I think could be interesting,' then yeah, great, I'd go do that. I always assumed it would be three, but I could be wrong." Nolan has of course previously stated that
The Dark Knight Rises would be his final Batman feature, although he is expected to remain involved in the franchise in a producing capacity for future installments. Could that be enough to tempt Bale back for a fourth time..?
Wrapping up the best of the rest......Having settled their legal dispute over the movie rights to
The Crow, Relativity Media and The Weinstein Company are pushing on with their plans to reboot the series, with
reports emerging that the two studios have hired screenwriter Jesse Wigutow and director Javier Gutiérrez to tackle the remake.
The Crow was previously in the hands of
28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, with Bradley Cooper signed up for the lead role, although there's no word yet as to whether
The Hangover star is in the frame once again...
...In a case of 'what might have been', David Bowie's ex-wife Angela Bowie revealed that she was granted the TV rights to
Daredevil and
Black Widow for a proposed television series during the 1970s, even going so far as to pose for
photographs in character (yes, that really
is meant to be the Man Without Fear), while the former model was also considered for the role of Wonder Woman prior to Lynda Carter's casting in 1975...
...Last week it was rumoured that Fox were turning their attention to
Chronicle director Josh Trank to helm their proposed
Fantastic Four reboot, but according to an interview with Trank in
HeyUGuys, he could also be in the frame for the
X-Men: First Class sequel, should Matthew Vaughn pass on the project. Asked if he'd be involved in either, Trank refused to deny the speculation, stating that "I have been working on some original ideas and things are being talking about, but nothing’s a signed deal yet..." Be sure to check out the full interview for the director's thoughts on his debut feature, which arrives in UK cinemas on Wednesday...
...Attending the premiere of Daniel Radcliffe's latest film,
The Woman in Black, screenwriter Jane Goldman has officially confirmed that neither she nor director Matthew Vaughn will be returning for the sequel to 2010's
Kick-Ass: "Matthew is not directing [
Kick-Ass 2] so it looks like someone else will write and direct which will be exciting." Could this open the door for Mark Millar to make his directorial debut? He seems to be the only person convinced it's even going to happen...
...In addition to the news that child actors Dylan Sprayberry (
Land of the Lost), Jadin Gould (
Battle Los Angeles) and Jack Foley (
30 Minutes or Less) have joined the cast of Zack Snyder's Man of Steel as young versions of Clark Kent, Lana Lang and Pete Ross respectively, the
MoS Facebook page also posted a snap of Henry Cavill posing with a young fan, giving us a pretty good look at his revamped costume...
...The marketing machine on
Ghost Rider: Spirt of Vengeance has moved up a gear as the clock ticks down to the arrival of Nicolas Cage's second outing as Johnny Blaze, with Sony releasing a whole host of
new images featuring the likes of Cage, Violante Placido, Ciarán Hinds, Johnny Whitworth, Christopher Lambert and Idris Elba, along with a number of
TV spots and a short
behind-the-scenes feature...
...DC Comics CCO Geoff Johns has
spoken briefly about the status of the rumoured
Captain Marvel /
Shazam movie, stating that there's still hope it could see the light of day: "There's always a possibility for
Shazam.... and I can't get into the specifics on that, but yeah, there's hope for
Shazam." Something tells me that if the likes of
Wonder Woman can't get off the ground, such 'hope' is probably very slim...
...
The TV Addict has acquired a casting breakdown for the upcoming
Green Arrow - sorry,
Arrow - pilot, which includes a couple of familiar names including Dinah Lance, a.k.a. The Black Canary, as well as the following description of the Emeral Archer: "Oliver Queen: A 27-year-old reformed bad boy, who after having spent five years shipwrecked on a tiny, brutally dangerous island in the South China Sea returns to town a different man. Or to be more specific, a tortured, thoughtful master of the bow with a ferocious determination to make a difference..."
...And finally, fans of DC Animation may want to check out this clip from the upcoming direct-to-video animated movie
Justice League: Doom, along with the following short from Aardman Animations, which features DC superheroes done in the style of
Creature Comforts and will soon be arriving on television as part of Cartoon Network's DC Nation...
Gary CollinsonHoly Franchise, Batman! - Arriving this June.
Rumours of Harrison Ford's potential return to the character of Deckard in Ridley Scott’s forthcoming sequel/reboot/remake of seminal 80s sci-fi Blade Runner have again been flatly denied by Alcon Entertainment, Deadline reports. 
After earning rave reviews at the London Film Festival last October, the heart-warming family crime-drama Wild Bill is gearing up for release in the UK and the first trailer has just been released courtesy of distributors The Works. The directorial debut of English actor and former child star Dexter Fletcher (Bugsy Malone, Press Gang, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Band of Brothers, Kick-Ass), Wild Bill features a strong cast of British talent including Charlie Creed-Miles (Hereafter), Will Poulter (Son of Rambow), Liz White (The Woman in Black) Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Jaime Winstone (Anuvahood), Jason Flemyng (X-Men: First Class), Olivia Williams (An Education), Leo Gregory (Tristan & Isolde), Iwan Rheon (Misfits), Sammy Williams (Attack the Block) and newcomer Charlotte Spencer.
Yesterday, Sony gave fans an early look at six minutes of Marc Webb's upcoming 
We were promised that he'd return and now 
Following his comeback in the Planet Terror portion of the Robert Rodriguez / Quentin Tarantino collaboration Grindhouse back in 2007, cult actor Michael Biehn - star of 80's classics The Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss - now seems to have a taste for exploitation flicks. Having made his directorial debut last year with the suspense thriller The Victim, 
Not content with returning to the 
It was a nail biter... Separated by only a few hundred thousand dollars, the superhero movie pulled 
The Super Bowl takes place this Sunday and despite the fact we won't be getting any advertising spots for 
Turning now to 
…As Sony prepare to unleash a 
…Warner Premiere’s latest DC Universe Animated Original Movie, 
Ben Gazzara, the veteran actor of the stage and screen, has passed away on Friday at the age of 81 after battling pancreatic cancer. Born in New York City in 1930, Gazzara studied acting at the Dramatic Workshop in New York before joining the celebrated Actors Studio and began his career with a number of acclaimed Broadway roles during the 1950s, gaining the first of three Tony Award nominations in 1956 for his work in 
After returning to 
With less than two months to go before it arrives in cinemas, Lionsgate have just released a second theatrical trailer for 
The winners of the Richard Attenborough Film Awards 2012 were announced in London earlier this afternoon, with Oscar front-runner The Artist continuing it's run of awards success as it was named Film of the Year, while director Michel Hazanavicius also collected the gong for Filmmaker of the Year. Now in its sixth year, the Richard Attenborough Awards consist of thirteen categories, with six decided by UK film critics and the remaining seven open to public vote. 
Ridley Scott (
It may not be the front-runner for the Best Picture Oscar, but Steven Spielberg's 
Liam Neeson leads 
The Directors Guild of America's 2012 Career Achievement Awards were presented at the Grand Ballroom at the Hollywood & Highland Center last night, with Michel Hazanavicius the recipient of the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film, further cementing 