Dick Cook, the now-former chairman of Disney Studios, left the position this weekend after 38 years at the company; in his seven years as chairman, he was one of the more vocal early supporters of the now-popular digital 3-D format, and in large part responsible for both the creation of Guillermo del Toro's Double Dare You and the acquiring of Marvel.

Deadline Hollywood's Nikki Finke is reporting that not only was Cook fired from the position due to the recent lackluster performance of Disney movies at the box office, but that a possible frontrunner for his replacement is Marvel's Feige:

There's been a lot of talk that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige spent a lot of time with Disney CEO Bob Iger during the dealmaking to buy the company, and Feige impressed the hell out of Iger.

If Feige takes the position, it'll validate the talk of the Marvel/Disney deal being close to the Pixar/Disney deal even more; just as Pixar's John Lassetter became Disney's Chief Creative Officer, bringing Pixar culture to the parent company, so would Marvel culture become part of Disney's core operations with Feige's appointment.

Kevin Feige talked about the interlaced comic book plots that are tied to Iron Man 2, spurred by the Nick Fury cameo by Samuel L. Jackson, and Tony Starks cameo in the Hulk movie.

Do you know what heroes are we going to be putting in The Avengers? How close are you to discovering who the core characters are?

I think we know. I think it's going to be Iron Man and Thor, Captain America and Nick Fury. I think it's safe to assume that there will be some members of the Hulk universe in the film as well. In terms of the additional I think Black Widow, sure. The SHIELD organization for sure. What's exciting, for me, about The Avengers movie is seeing those four characters interact with each other. I think anywhere from the first issues of The Avengers to Civil War the dynamic between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark is just awesome, it's fascinating. It brings out sides in others that won't be brought out in the other franchises. Going forward with the mix is a whole other thing, I think it will be cool. So to pile on another 15 or 10, frankly more than four would be too many.

Is the Hulk in it?

Zak Penn is outlining it as we speak, so we'll see.

Are you going to test potential Captain America people against Robert knowing they'll have work together at some point?

We've already been doing a little bit of that, to an extent. We're certainly casting all of the actors knowing that they need to carry, whether they are the good guy or the bad guy or a small part, not only their own franchise but playing an important part in the Avengers franchise. We are definitely keeping that in mind as we are casting.

Has Chris Hemsworth [Thor] said that he would met with Robert?

Oh yes, that was the first meeting of Thor and Tony Stark, it was pretty cool.

We're being played by Jon Favreau and friends, and we kind of love it. As Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige told Marvel.com,

What's more difficult in shooting a sequel is that expectations are much higher for this film and we really want to top what we did on the first film... Every day involved working extremely hard in order to improve upon what we did on the first film.

But his comment in EW's latest issue suggested just how they're planning on lowering those expectations:

I liked when the first Whiplash photo came out and people were like, 'What is this? Is that just a prototype suit?'... I'm like, Good! They're doubting us! That's my comfort zone.

So, that really might've been a foiler photo, after all? Although, you have to admit: If they really released that pic so that we'd doubt them on IM2, they know exactly what they're doing.

Iron Man 2 Wraps on Schedule [Marvel.com]

Perhaps the biggest revelation was that, despite the lackluster performance of last year's The Incredible Hulk, the character will indeed be returning for The Avengers. Considering the Hulk is a major player in almost every big Avengers story, from their sixties origins to Ultimates, his involvement had long been suspected, but this marks the first official confirmation. Feige also said another standalone Hulk movie is a possibility, but it would need to be more clearly linked with the other film franchises than the last one.

Indeed, with so many of their preceding projects in the newly dubbed Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) underway, Feige is now ready to begin serious work on The Avengers. He explained why the Hulk is returning and what progress has already been made on the movie:

It will have been four years since he was in a movie by that point. By 2012. I'd like to see him in it. I'm not being coy. We're just starting the story. I was on the phone with Zak Penn this morning. He's coming in next week and he's going to work on the outline this summer. It's so intertwined with what we're doing before it. I almost wanted to get done with production on Iron Man 2, and the scripts to Thor and The First Avenger: Captain America well underway, before we even started The Avengers.

Moving further afield, Feige confirmed that director Edgar Wright's Ant-Man project is still in the works. As would be expected from the co-writer and director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Feige emphasized the comedic aspects Wright looks to bring to the movie:

"I want to make Ant-Man one of these days. I think that'll be surprising and funny. I love Edgar Wright. What he likes about it is that when he says he's doing Ant-Man, people go, 'Ant-Man? What the hell is that?' I think that's funny."

It would appear absolutely no part of the Marvel Universe is off-limits for the films. In particular, Feige is hopeful Thor will open the door to the more mystical parts of Marvel:

"I think Doctor Strange would kick ass. I think we've done very well at this street level superhero aspect of the Marvel Universe. I think with Thor, you'll see us cracking into the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe in a very good way that's never been done before in our movies. I'd love to get into that supernatural element. I think that Doctor Strange could be a good lynchpin into that universe with 'Werewolf By Night'. Maybe with Blade again someday. I would like to see that side of the Marvel Universe on screen."

And he confirmed that the Thunder God's alter ego, Donald Blake, won't be appearing in Thor.

As for The First Avenger: Captain America, Feige focused on the casting rumors. He noted that there are very few actors that are both American and well known enough internationally to pull in foreign box office. At the same time, he noted the success of hiring a brilliant but previously non-blockbuster actor, like Robert Downey Jr., or having the freedom to choose an unknown from Australia, like Thor's Chris Hemsworth.

It would however appear that Will Smith is not in the running to play Captain America. Acknowledging the "Truth" storyline, which posited the existence of a black Captain America before Steve Rogers, Feige explained why they wanted to stick with the more iconic version of the character:

"I love the 'Truth' storyline. I think that's very cool. I wouldn't do that as a first Captain America movie though. I think that arc came about four or five hundred issues into the "Cap" run. I don't see us launching with that particular comic."

Finally, Feige touched upon what sort of movie The Avengers will be:

"I think The Avengers is going to have it's own vibe. It'll have a different tone than the other Marvel movies. It is about saving the world, because there's no other reason for characters that powerful to band together. I think the scope and the scale will feel like a much bigger thing."

And he said that Marvel aims to ramp up to putting out four movies a year, drawing on the company's diverse cast of characters. Iron Man 2 is due out May 7, 2010, while Thor and The First Avenger: Captain America are on track for May 20 and July 22 of 2011. The Avengers, which may or may not be the greatest thing in the history of cinema (not that I'm getting my hopes up or anything), is currently scheduled for May 4, 2012.

[Superhero Flix]

Perhaps unsurprisingly, a lot of fans had a lot of questions about the upcoming Marvel movies, but answers weren't always forthcoming; when asked for a hint as to who will play Captain America in the upcoming The First Avenger movie, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige teased the audience with "You guys want to see Ben Affleck play Captain America?" only to be faced with a room full of boos. More seriously, he replied, "We've had ideas, there've been discussions, but we're going to hire filmmakers before we start making those decisions. But I guess it won't be Ben Affleck."

Will the success of the movies mean that Marvel's publishing operations will move to the West Coast? Joe Quesada isn't sure:

I never gave it any thought, I don't know. There are so many people key to us in publishing... to relocate several hundred people, you'd probably end up losing lots of key people. But the weather's nice out here, so you never know?

Marvel's publishing president Dan Buckley:

I'm not saying anything's impossible, but I don't think it's just an operational or business decision, but it would affect the books, New York is such a character in our books.

In a less physical sense, will future movies stay as close to their comic sources as Iron Man? Kevin Feige says yes, kind of:

We always try to stay true to the comics, but we do make changes. I mean, Obidiah Stane didn't work for Stark Enterprises in the comic books. We try to stay true to the core aspects of each character.

On a similar note, Carla Hoffman, a Southern Californian retailer, asked why none of the Hulk comics out at the time of the release of The Incredible Hulk seemed to reflect what people could see in the film. Joe Quesada admitted that that had maybe been a misstep:

If you look at our track record, we normally do a good job of that. We can't bat a 1000 all the time.

Dan Buckley was less forgiving:

With Iron Man, we didn't have to change a lot with what we were already doing, and we thank Matt [Fraction, writer of The Invincible Iron Man] for that. With the Hulk, we've been publishing that kind of story for years and years, so we'd point people back to the trade paperbacks for that... We don't want to get to the point where we're corporately dictating to people what they're writing.

Did The Incredible Hulk movie live up to expectations? Feige:

It did, it absolutely did. We were very pleased with the response. We always said that if it made one dollar more than the last one did, it would be a success, and it made more than one dollar more. The Hulk will return.

Will he return in the Avengers? And, more importantly, who else will show up in The Avengers movie? Feige wasn't sharing:

We have [all the cast lined up], and you'll see them pop up together. That's the idea.

Could anyone confirm Jon Favreau was definitely working on Iron Man 2? Feige:

I can't comment on that. But it comes to, do we want fans back for Iron Man 2? There'll be an announcement soon.

On the comic side on things, apparently suggesting that Spider-Man made a deal with the Devil to retcon his marriage away in One More Day isn't something that makes people at Marvel happy. When a fan brought up the subject, Dan Buckley interrupted:

I think it's unfair to burden this all on Joe. I think it was incredibly brave of Joe to [draw it]. First of all, that story's not over... The consequences of happiness versus unhappiness haven't been dealt with. He didn't do a deal with the devil, [Mephisto] isn't the devil, he's a supervillain in the Marvel Universe.

Joe Quesada disagreed:

Go back and reread One More Day and tell me who made the deal with the Devil. Peter didn't make the deal with the Devil, Mary Jane did. This was a story that we HAD to do to get Peter to a particular place. The idea of a Faustian pact... This is a classic part of literature. I think it's great to bring up a conversation, if you have a 5 year old, it brings up a great conversation. They're all morality plays that bring up different ideas for you to deal with as you raise a child. I think it's a matter on how you deal with it.

For people looking forward to the upcoming Wolverine And The X-Men cartoon, producer Craig Kyle was happy to talk it up:

It's 21 episodes of continuity and five specials. The pay-off lasts four episodes, it's a really, really big show. I'm very proud of the show, it works the only way the X-Men works: Like the comic book. My plan was to kick the hell out of [the '90s cartoon].

The last question of the panel also proved to be the biggest surprise to the audience; asked if the Thor movie would play up the Norse God aspects of the character more than the superhero trappings, Kevin Feige said that, well, Thor isn't actually a god at all: He and all the other citizens of Asgard are actually just interdimensional beings. So now you know: According to Marvel, neither gods nor devils are anything more than interdimensional beings in supervillain outfits. I expect the new Mighty Marvel Age of Revised Aethiestic Morality to overwhelm America immediately.