Star Trek Movie Electronic Phaser
We've always been suckers for the phaser, whether it's OG Trek, Next Gen or even Enterprise. No wonder we want one of these awesome toy phasers from this summer's movie, especially with its "authentic lights and sounds" (We're not convinced that it's as "realistic" as they claim, however). For extra authenticity, you can also pick up a communicator and Tricorder to complete the set... Although we think we prefer the original series model on that last one.

LEGO Star Wars: The Clone Wars Fan's Vote Anniversary Edition - Home One Mon Calamari Star Cruiser
It's an irrefutable fact that all LEGO is awesome, but this insane 789-piece set goes the extra distance to become uber-awesome: Rebuild the command deck of the Mon Calamari from Return Of The Jedi, complete with an A-Wing and six figures including Admiral Ackbar, Mon Mothma and Lando Calrissian. There's no way that you can't want this already unless you have a fear of bricks.

Transformers Constructicon Devastator
The movie may have defied things like logic or story, but there's no denying that the robots themselves looked cool, and the giant Devastator (made of six different Constructicon vehicles) may be the coolest of all the toys, especially with his snapping jaws and "construction sounds." It's the next best thing to being chased around the world with Megan Fox!*

(* This is, in fact, untrue.)

Superhero Action Figures
Tried and true, there are enough different variations of superhero action figure that anyone who's ever shown even the slightest interest in Batman is sure to find something they'll appreciate. From DC Direct's upscale figures to Marvel Legends, your choice of characters go from obvious (Wolverine is, unsurprisingly, well represented in the toy world) to obscure (Blackest Night supporting character Saint Walker?). Because we're fans of the old Star Wars figures, we'd plump for the similarly-sized DC Universe Infinite Heroes and Marvel Universe lines to make your choices from. And, if you're looking to get something for us, we'd love a Professor Zoom, thanks.

Marvel's president of worldwide consumer products Simon Philips spoke to MTV last week about the game, and gave a 2012 date for the game's release, citing advances in technology as the reason why all the original work on the game (from the publisher's failed Microsoft partnership) had to be dumped:

Every day, every week, and every month, there is a new element of technology that comes about, [s]o whatever plans we had for an MMO two years ago have now evolved to embrace that new technology... [2012] sounds like a long way away, but it's not... We've got to create, together with [game publisher] Gazillion, that environment that is going to be a totally immersive experience and a perpetual storytelling experience as well.

Not that he's concerned about the wait, however. After all, the longer he waits, the more familiar Marvel's movies will make the characters, as he explained:

[E]ach of our upcoming movies and each of our animated shows, each of those just creates the awareness and adds to the whole experience... Marvel is all about the synergy between each of the different areas we're involved in - from the comics to the movies to the animation to the merchandising, all of them work together. And the ['Marvel Universe' game] is going to play off all of that.

If this means the game is going to be a mix of Sam Raimi whimsy, Robert Downey Jr. wit and no-one knowing what to do about the Hulk, then I'm ready to sign up right now.

Although no release date has been announced yet, Newsarama.com writes that Marvel's partner in the MMO, Gazillion Entertainment, have been quietly staffing up for this project for more than a year - although as recently as yesterday interested parties could still find jobs available on Twitter, of all places.

This is Marvel's second attempt at an MMO after its failed Microsoft partnership that died last year, and yet another example of how strongly Marvel feels about its Super Hero Squad line, which already has a toyline, comic strip and upcoming cartoon series to its name. Fans of Marvel's regular superheroes, and not their more-kid-friendly counterparts, shouldn't worry too much, however. Marvel and Gazillion also plan to release Marvel Universe, based upon the classic versions of the characters, at some unspecified point in the future. Given that Sony has been working on a DC Comics MMO for years, it may be time for the rivalry between the two publishers to move to the online game space, and see which project can take the longest to get to market.

Marvel Gets Back Into MMO Game with Gazillion [Newsarama.com]

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.