/detectives

The guys over at /film should moonlight as private investigators - they really scrutinized the two official Iron Man 2 pictures that have been released so far and have come up with some theories on how the two pictures might be related. Nice work guys! [Warning: if their theories are correct, the article contains some mild spoilers]
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MMB: IRON MAN

Sam Rockwell aka Justin Hammer

Sam Rockwell is one of my favorite actors. I've enjoyed his work ever since first seeing him as 'Wild Bill Wharton' in The Green Mile. He was interviewed recently and touched very briefly on Iron Man 2. He mentions in the interview that he received the Iron Man 2 script only one week before shooting (which seems like a crazy short amount of time to prepare to me), and that one way Iron Man 2 production differs from that of other big studio films is that director Jon Favreau really likes to improvise, which he says allows the actors to 'play' more than usual. Rockwell is already a star and I'm hoping Iron Man 2 vaults him into mega-star status. The guy is great.
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MMB: IRON MAN
MORE: SAM ROCKWELL ON IMDB
MORE: SAM ROCKWELL ON WIKIPEDIA

No Burger King Iron Man 2 marketing initiative

Wow. I never gave one second of thought to how these things happen. Evidently the 'franchisor' (sort of Burger King 'corporate', I guess?) floats marketing ideas to the 'franchisees' (individual restaurant owners), who then vote on those ideas. Looks like the Burger King franchisees didn't like whatever Iron Man 2 marketing plan the franchisor had proposed, and voted it down. Yeah, I don't really understand what I just wrote either, but if you're into that kind of stuff, you can read about it here.
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MMB: IRON MAN

What those tattoos on Rourke/Whiplash say (well, some of them)

So we've all seen the picture of Mickey Rourke as Whiplash - the one where we can see that his body is covered in tattoos. I was wondering what the tattoos said, so I asked my friend to ask his friend, who is from Russia, what she thinks they might mean. Here's what he came back with:

ok - its hard to make out - but this is what she thinks...

under the boat is the clearest - "will make me free" - but she said it is future tense and the phrase implies that many people "will make me free"....as in, the conjugation of the phrase...

the curved sentence on top of the boat, she said it could be many words so she isn't sure at all...the only word she can make out is the word "boat" which is the last word in that sentence - left side of his body, right side of the picture....

but right above what looks like "bro" in that curved sentence above the boat - as in, on the right side of HIS body (left side of the picture) are three letters that she says are common is a phrase used for praying - "save"...like saying to God "save me" - she said it is written on many crosses, including the one she wears....

then on his arm, above the strap (above the strap in relation to his arm - but "below" the strap in relation to us looking at the photo - as in, between the strap and the medal on his arm) - it says, "to live" - but she couldn't make out the other word on the other side of the strap....

then she couldn't make out what it says on his neck...

So there you have it (at least some of it)!
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MMB: IRON MAN

First pic of Mickey Rourke as Whiplash

Click here for the pic! Here for the USA Today article about it.
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MORE: EMPIRE ONLINE
MMB: IRON MAN

Kevin Feige updates

Firstshowing.net was at the "Produced By" conference over the weekend and has posted a summary of Kevin Feige's comments from that event. I'm not 100% sure if these comments are the exact same ones he made on the Iron Man 2 set last week (comments that were reported on, and then pulled, by most websites), but they do seem to cover some of the same ground. Some highlights:

• No Donald Blake in Thor
• No Shakespearian-style dialogue in Thor
• Samuel Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston are signed on for..."multiple franchises" (read: crossovers)
• Captain America will be a period piece
• Bucky will appear in Captain America
• Captain America will be involved in the Avengers 'from the get-go'
• Another new movie will be announced in the next few months

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MMB: KEVIN FEIGE

Looks like Dunst is back for Spider-Man 4 after all; no Morbius the Living Vampire

Kristen Dunst is a fine actress but I never thought she was right for the role of Mary Jane Watson and was hoping we might get a new spin on the character in Spider-Man 4. No such luck, according to a NY Post blog entry featuring and interview with Spider-Man 4 producer Todd Black. The blog entry also mentions that Black says there is no truth to the rumor that Morbius the Living Vampire will be the villain in the film.
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MMB: SPIDER-MAN