Hey Towelites! I’m still on a high after that AWESOME Iron Man 3 trailer that debuted the other day! I’m really excited because I think it’s going to set a tone of how Phase 2 will be overall….DARK. So let’s get to it as we look at all the latest news and rumors surrounding Phase 2!!  

CAUTION: MAJOR SPOILAGE AHEAD!!!

 

We’ve been waiting for some kind of announcement on additional villain(s) that Captain America would be taking on besides his old sidekick and from the looks of it we an answer. Frank Grillo (The Grey, Warrior) is apparently up for the role of Crossbones according to his official Twitter:

See Ya LA. It was a a good trip. Marvel was a lot of fun. Be cool if it works out. #CaptainAmerica.

WOW. Badass fans that Marvel has. Fierce muthas. #bones

 

After that comedian and talk show host Matthew Aaron Tweeted this!

Once again, just wanted to tell you and I’ll be talking about it all week… Frank Grillo has tested for Crossbone in the new Marvel movies

@BRIANMBENDIS Have it on reliable authority that Frank Grillo is THIS CLOSE to getting the role of Crossbones in the Marvel movies

We’ll keep you updated when and if this actually announced, but I would say it is about 99% true seeing that Crossbones played a pivotal part in the original comic book story line.

Another small RUMOR being passed around the intrawebs, since the Iron Man 3 trailer hit, is that the Mandarin will have ties to Captain America 2. I’ll let you all speculate on this one! The tatoo could have been photoshopped by some nerd who is just playing us as a fool, I honestly haven’t had the time to go back and look! Someone let me know!

 

Casting calls have already begun for the HIGHLY anticipated Ant-Man movie by Edger Wright’s company Big Talk Productions and Avi Arad of Marvel, and we are looking at a start date of January 2013, leaving plenty of time for Wright to get the shots right and to get the visual effects to work the way WE ALL want them to. Looks like we may know who Ant-Man will played by and which representation he will be sooner than later!

 

The second film of Marvel’s phase two may be shaping up to be as dark as Iron Man 3 if the following rumors turn out to be true. Also some of our questions about Loki’s role may have been answered!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!

“Thor becomes reunited with Jane who becomes possessed by a Dark Spirit, which is connected with the Dark Elves; a race the Asgardians have fallen out with many years beforehand […] The Dark Elves attack Asgard, and they take a huge hit. So Thor has to rebuild Asgard by putting together an army to go and take the battle to the Dark Elves and defeat them. But the only way he can do this is – he needs to cross over to the Dark World, and the only person who has access to the dark side of Asgard is his old brother Loki, who at the beginning of the film is locked up in prison. So what happens is Thor basically has to negotiate this truce with Loki, and he goes on this great trek with Jane, all three of them. They go to this far side of Asgard, which is being shot in Iceland, where they train and assemble an army to go and attack the Dark Elves’ world. But the exclusive twist…is that one of the things that happens during the Asgardian attack is that Thor’s mother gets killed. So it becomes like a vengeance thing. And they were keeping very tight-lipped about what actually happens with Loki, you don’t know whether he redeems himself or he’s still the bad egg.”  

 

The next big casting announcement for Joss Whedon’s SHIELD TV show has arrived and actress Ming-Na Wen (ER, Stargate Universe) will play a “soulful” and “damaged” pilot named Melinda May.  May is described as “an ace pilot, a weapons expert and a soldier who can – and has – gone beyond the call of duty.” And apparently she’s the character who was originally named Special Agent Althea Rice, aka the Cavalry, in the first casting breakdown. Also, judging from some of the reports out there, it sounds like Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) might only be in the show’s pilot, not an ongoing character. Take that with a grain of salt of course because Marvel loves itself some Agent Coulson and I’m sure he will be a recurring character all along the way! Kinda like the mentor role he takes on in Ultimate Spider-Man.

Catch up with all the news and rumors from Marvel’s Phase 2 here !

Stay tooned 😛

~CynicNerd

Via: Deadline, ScreenRant, ComicBookMovie