Early reviews for Man of Steel are mostly positive as expected, because it looks like a great movie and it was made by a guy who makes pretty great movies (here’s one bad review, though). Plus, the film has already grossed a ton of money based on its promotional tie-ins for companies like Dodge, Subway and, I think, Trojan Condoms, so it isn’t much of a surprise that the film’s writer, David Goyer, is already hard at work on a sequel, which is being fast-tracked by Warner Bros.

Goyer already had a three-picture deal in place with WB, so the sequel was practically a given – especially since, you know, the movie looks awesome – and the only remaining question was, “Hey bro, what’s that third movie gonna be?” Let’s just all go ahead and assume that it’s Justice League, because it’s probably Justice League and Goyer really likes talking about Justice League.

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Other than the revelation that the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are joining Marvel’s The Avengers 2: On The Move, we’ve been a little light in the super awesome comic book movie rumors and news in the past week or so. That’s why it was good that Entertainment Weekly asked the question – is this the end of Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man?

RDJ has completed his contract as the billionaire playboy Tony Stark, and he’s not actually under contract to play Iron Man again in the Avengers sequel. Add to that the fact that Gwyneth Paltrow recently told Kevin McCarthy that she doesn’t believe there will be an Iron Man 4 – “I think we’re done with Iron Man” – and there’s not currently a fourth film on the extensive Marvel docket. So what does that mean for Avengers 2?

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Parks and Rec will feature two episodes tomorrow night, and Vince won’t watch them because he hates America, but our favorite stand-up comedian and nerd god Patton Oswalt will make a cameo in the second episode as yet another insane Pawnee resident with a problem that has nothing to do with the greater good of the fictional city.

Parks producer Dan Goor apparently told Oswalt just to improvise a filibuster about Star Wars, and the result is the greatest rambling mash-up of Star Wars, The Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men and Clash of the Titans that anyone could ever pull out of thin air. Seriously, this is f*cking beautiful and I’m going to watch it at least 600 times this week.

All of the pieces seem to be falling into place rather nicely for Marvel’s giant sci-fi space epic, Guardians of the Galaxy, which will of course be tied into the ever-expanding Avengers universe. With Parks and Rec star Chris Pratt signed on to play the lead character, Star-Lord, they’re just trying to fill in the supporting characters, specifically the voices of the CGI Guardians like Rocket Raccoon and Groot, the giant talking tree.

There was a rumor back in January that Marvel Studios had reached out to Adam Sandler for the voice of Rocket and Jim Carrey for Groot, and while those aren’t exactly the most ideal casting decisions, based on both actors’ recent bodies of work, they at least showed that the studio was devoted to adding serious star power to this comic book’s transition to the big screen.

But just like Jason Momoa, who turned down the role of Drax the Destroyer, we can cross Carrey off the list, too. Promoting The Incredible Burt Wonderstone at SXSW (where Vince is currently trying out pickup lines on Twilight actresses) Carrey shot down that January rumor with authority.

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With Justice League and Spider-Man news and rumors out of the way, I wouldn’t be doing my nerdly service if I didn’t whip up some Avengers HOTT GOSS, and fortunately there’s quite a bit for us today. The first bit of news involves some insight into the mood and focus of The Avengers 2, and director Joss Whedon offered up a very telling quote during an appearance at the Glasgow Film Festival, which ran from February 14th through the 24th.

While Whedon was short on details, when asked about the return of the superhero’s union, he said fans could expect “Death, death and more death. I can’t do any bigger, so I’m trying to do better.” (Via Yahoo!)

I assume that he means that one of the core characters is going to die – perhaps half of the Marvel Universe dies like in the Infinity Gauntlet series??? – but if I had to start making some odds, I’d have Nick Fury at the bottom of my list, because Samuel L. Jackson has that huge deal with Marvel Studios. At the top of my list, maybe Black Widow or Hawkeye, because Scarlett Johansson can’t be sticking around this hero party much longer, and Jeremy Renner has the Bourne franchise to run now.

But maybe it’s one of the bigger guys. Perhaps it’s even the unstoppable Incredible Hulk, whom Whedon said might not get his own movie now, despite some serious rumors to the contrary.

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