IRON MAN

With just days before the release of the film, director Jon Favreau is dropping interviews like crazy. At Superhero Hype, Favreau said, "How do you present a comic book movie that reflects that backdrop of the times enough so that you can still feel the cathartic escapism that comic books offer, but don't make it so realistic that you feel like you are facing a reality that doesn't allow you to relax and escape as you go to the movies? I just tried to borrow a lot of the imagery from what you see in the news, set it in Afghanistan versus Vietnam, which is where it was set originally in the sixties, so it wasn't shying away from politics even then. He was captured by Vietcong, and that was pretty hardcore stuff to be doing aback in the sixties. I didn't want to shy away from that. Once you get past the initial imagery of the mountains of Afghanistan and the caves and the convoys and the people, the sense that America was involved in a military conflict in the Middle East, once you sort of peel that layer back, you see that we then borrow all of the background of the comics. We really went out of our way to try to avoid make it polarizing as far as what the politics represent, but instead try to maintain an emotional reflection of the fear of our times, and then to have Iron Man step in and not be somebody who could offer a simple solution, but instead be a guy who seemed singularly suited for the challenges of our day. A guy who didn't represent overwhelming military might, but also didn't represent pacifism or isolationism, instead a guy who could go in as a one-man army and separate the good guys from the bad guys and attack the people who are bringing the justice to the world while preserving innocent human life and leaving a very small military footprint where we're involved, so it's sort of an unrealistic fantasy. It's sort of our special forces to the Nth degree."

Over at IGN, Favreau was talking trilogy. "I thought about it," he said. "I have one, two, and three in my head, because if you don't then it seems like you're just re-treading the same ground. No, the way the Mandarin fits in, the way War Machine fits in, whether or not Obadiah [Stane] pops up again… There's a lot. The relationship of Pepper. So we're really thinking and I'm watching the horizon as I do these movies so that it all makes sense as you watch them altogether. I mean, look at how well 'Lord of the Rings' works. It builds to a climax, compared to movies where it just feels like you're redoing the same thing over and over again to diminishing returns."

You can check out a new video clip with or without commentary from Favreau) at Yahoo! Movies.

Where does actor Robert Downey Jr. think the property should go next? He told IGN, "Well, if you ask me, the next one is about what do you do with the rest of your life once you've completely changed," the actor said. "You've created this thing which has the power to take life. Essentially you have been made into a god. You've been made into a god, and a human being who metaphorically has been made into a god is not going to turn out so well. And their conscience is going to come to bear, and I think he should do something wrong. I think that would be a good reason [to get into] the 'Demon in a Bottle.' I think the drinking and all that stuff would be a good way to confront his age, to confront his doubts, to confront the fact that maybe Pepper gets a boyfriend."

Finally, actor Faran Tahir is quoted at Sci Fi Wire talking about adding nuance to a potentially cliched character. "What I love about the movie is that it doesn't try to paint the characters as black and white," Tahir said. "The movie plays with the shades of gray, and that's what is interesting to me. Tony Stark is not just a good guy. He has his own problems, and you get to see this man dealing with all of that. I tried to find ways to show that although he may be the bad guy, there might be a moment or just a hint of vulnerability at times, where he hasn't made the right calculations or there's a certain amount of doubt. Jon [Favreau] was very receptive to that kind of layering, and it's in there."

THE DARK KNIGHT

CBR News has a spoiler filled special report about Joker-themed viral events happening in New York and Los Angeles.

Elsewhere, somebody apparently snuck a recording device in and took this video ...

The trailer will apparently be online here this Sunday. There's also a series of posters in a a slideshow at Yahoo! Movies (even though Omelete had them first).

HELLBOY 2: THE GOLDEN ARMY

Actor Ron Perlman was certain a sequel would happen, according to quotes (with some spoilers) at Sci Fi Wire. "I was a little worried," Perlman said. "But of all the people involved in 'Hellboy,' I think I was the only one that knew there would be a second film. Everyone I spoke to said it was a long shot, and it didn't look good. But I said, 'It's going to happen. [Guillermo's] over there doing 'Pan's Labyrinth,' and when he's done, the stars will line up, and we are going to do 'Hellboy 2.' I was actually slightly intimidated at the second one when I read it, because Hellboy is really out of it emotionally in this movie. He is very vulnerable and in intense pain, because his relationship with Liz [Sherman] ... . They are in that part of the relationship where there is no longer the heat, and the honeymoon is over."

I CAN'T WORK UNDER THESE CONDITIONS

We can't do this without you. The rumors, the scoops, the set photos -- they're all fueled by passionate fans emailing in the goods. The ones who ask, "What do you mean your sister's dating somebody who works for Miles Millar?" The ones who know the code names of movie projects and scour city permit filings for them. The devoted, the involved. Fans, just like you. Whatever you know, we wanna know, and whether you want your name shouted to the web's rafters or kept closer than a classified report, we've got you covered like a comforter. Broadcasting live from Los Angeles, this is your humble scribe Hannibal Tabu saying thank you for your time and indulgence, and "never place friendship before profit."