Towelites! It’s time once again to round up the latest news and rumors surrounding Marvel Studios’ Phase 2!

Guardians-of-the-Galaxy-2014-Movie-Title-Banner-650x240

This is the movie I am truly waiting for in Marvel Studios’ Phase 2. Now don’t get me wrong I am MORE than excited for Cap, Thor, Avengers, and all of our familiars, but GOTG will be the true test of how obscure Marvel can get with their stable. One character in particular, if you don’t count the Raccoon, is a big mystery as we’ve only seen early footage from the teaser and we still aren’t sure that Vin Diesel is actually playing Groot. Check out a couple of  various interviews with stars Chris Pratt (Star Lord) and Michael Rooker (Yandu) below!

guardians-of-the-galaxy-concept-art-final

Rooker talks with Forbes about Groot and the themes of GOTG

[box_light]“Groot is not a tree, he’s a different being from a different universe. And he’s not like a tree the way we have trees. We use it for cordwood, for cooking and heating our homes. Groot is a whole different being from a whole different galaxy, somewhere you don’t even know where he’s from. I don’t even know where he’s from. He just happens to look like bark. It’s a great series, I love the old series and the new one’s pretty cool, too. So I think it’s helping people go back and look at the series if they haven’t seen it yet. Then they get all high about it, and it’s awesome.”[/box_light]

Pratt talks Vin Diesel’s Groot

 

 

Thor 2 the dark world banner

So with Thor: The Dark World already crossing the $100 million mark overseas, this Friday can’t come soon enough! I am really looking forward to see director Alan Taylor’s vision for the world of Thor, and after his stellar work on Games of Thrones we should be in for a real treat. In a recent interview Telegraph UK, Taylor had the following to say about his work on the film and also gives us a little tease of Doctor Strange!

Alan Taylor Thor the Dark World BTS still

[box_light]

Following the work of Kenneth Branagh

“The scariest part was talking to these actors who are so good at what they do, knowing they’d done these characters with, you know, him (Branagh). Ever since Henry V he’s been a hero and he’s an actor so he speaks their language more than I ever will.”

On Filming in London..

“They’re very sensitive about St Paul’s. You can’t destroy it because it survived the Blitz so they really don’t want superheroes to smash it. So we had to negotiate how many roof tiles we could take off when something hits it.” In Greenich“I like the formality of the environment, it’s a brilliant place to shoot chaos,” he muses. “We got to blow up the Painted Hall, one of the most beautiful places in London.”

On the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe..

“I do like the weirder ones….What’s cool about them is they can now start exploring the weirder ones because they had so much success with the mainstream ones. So Ant Man is coming along, Guardians of the Galaxy, you know a raccoon is one of the main characters and that’s nuts. And then Doctor Strange. They’ve got lots of places to go.”

[/box_light]

 

Cobie Smulders

I love Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill and I am really looking forward to seeing her again in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and it was great to see her in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as it really helps to tie the whole universe together. But will we see Smulders in any upcoming episodes of AOS, and what will her role be in the upcoming Cap sequel? Check out these two video interviews below for some answers!

 

 

Iron Man 3 78

Here with a special report on Marvel’s next One-Shot we have a report from Towelite, Danya Tapolcai!

It looks like MARVEL isn’t finished with Ben Kingsley just yet. Kingsley’s character is most likely next in line to get a full upgrade. As we’ve seen with Thor’s villainous brother Loki (played by Tom Hiddleson), comic book and movie fans alike are nuts for their villains. In a recent interview on his Enders Game circuit, Kingsley announced he’s working on a “secret Marvel project.” He refused to say anymore which leaves fans to speculate what it could be.

Iron Man 3 5

Kingsley’s portrayal of The Mandarin in Iron Man 3 wasn’t all the comic book fans had hoped it would be. Instead (SPOILER ALERT) Mandarin was really just a puppet and Kingsley’s real character was British actor Trevor Slattery who was recruited to play a terrorist leader (END SPOILER ALERT).

mandarin-iron-man-3-villain

Even Marvel’s President of Production Kevin Feige refuses to talk about Kingsley’s next Marvel role. This can only mean one thing: It’s going to be good. So what’s Kingsley and Feige up to? A reprisal of Trevor Slattery in the next Captain America (my vote is for this)? A place in the next Avengers movie? Voice-over work for any number of Marvel movies in the work? A recurring role on Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D? Or just maybe, he really is The Mandarin and it’s yet to be revealed! Even though the suspense is killing us, we’ll just have to wait and see.

 

So get ready Towelites for the next chapter in Marvel Studios’ Phase 2 when Thor: The Dark World hits theaters this Friday!

Stay tooned 😛

~CynicNerd

thor-dark-world-odin-new