THOR: THE DARK WORLD"Thor: The Dark World" launches today in the United States -- be sure to check out the "Thor: The Dark World" review by CBR's own Albert Ching -- and Ain't It Cool News spoke with director Alan Taylor about a number of topics, including the collaborative effort put in to the script and bringing in Joss Whedon to do a little work.

"It's funny, I say that quite openly, and I'll say it again, even though I got in trouble for saying it the first time, and I'll say it again. I want to be clear, it wasn't like we had a script that was finished and I'm criticizing the writers by saying Joss came in to save it; that's not the impression I meant to give," Taylor told AICN. "It's that we were all hands on deck, all doing the best we could to work with the script, and luckily, Joss came in and became part of the all hands on deck and contributed what he could contribute very quickly. So, it was all in the spirit of collaboration, which was how the script was made. It's a positive thing to see what he does."

Comic Book Movie interviewed Chris Hemsworth about his return as Thor to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the actor discussed the important aspects in approaching the sequel.

"I think what's important in these films is how you separate the characters and their worlds," Hemsworth told Comic Book Movie. "Now that we've done 'The Avengers,' it's how you justify, 'Well, where's the rest of the team now?' if they're in some sort of battle. It's nice Thor is off world for a lot of the time, and does come back to Earth, but we really get to see where he's from. It's a place, it's relatable and Alan Taylor injected the 'Game of Thrones' feel, that organic, Viking kind of feel to it."

Now in theaters

MARVEL ON NETFLIXYesterday, it was revealed that Marvel Television will develop five new live-action television series for Netflix, and Bloomberg spoke with Disney CEO Bob Iger about the deal about the financial significance of the deal.

"There are numbers, I promise you," Iger told Bloomberg. "This is a really smart deal, we think, for Netflix because they've done well with investments in some original programming, and turning to branded programming is a smart and big step for them. Marvel certainly provides that. This gives us an opportunity to create and own four new series that Netflix will have exclusivity for for a period of time, starting in 2016 when the series are made available to them. We're obviously getting paid a price that makes sense for us. We're not going to be specific about what that is, but these will be well-produced series that will take production investment to deliver the kind of quality we've promised to Netflix. From an economic perspective, the kind of money we'll be getting paid is something that makes sense to us given what will be the investment in production."

Iger also noted there's "another [Marvel series] being developed for ABC," but didn't expand on it further. Let the speculation begin.

STAR WARSLucasfilm has announced the release date for "Star Wars: Episode VII": December 18, 2015.

"We're very excited to share the official 2015 release date for Star Wars: Episode VII, where it will not only anchor the popular holiday filmgoing season but also ensure our extraordinary filmmaking team has the time needed to deliver a sensational picture," Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn said in a statement.

J.J. Abrams spoke with Deadline about why he and Lawrence Kasdan took over writing duties from Michael Arndt, saying it was a matter of time more than anything else.

"It became clear that given the time frame and given the process and the way the thing was going that working with Larry in this way was going to get us where we need to be and when we needed to be," Abrams told Deadline. "Working with Larry Kasdan, especially on a Star Wars movie is kind of unbeatable."

However, the change in scriptwriters for "Episode VII" doesn't preclude working with Arndt in the future, and Abrams referred to the screenwriter as "one of the best writers around."

For a blast from the past, an enterprising YouTube user has posted 30 minutes of lost footage from "Return of the Jedi." Definitely worth watching for "Star Wars" fans.

Opens December 18, 2015

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRONThe Calgary Herald spoke with actress Cobie Smulders about the possibility of her appearing in "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

"I think I'm in 'Avengers 2,' but it is very top secret," Smulders told the Calgary Herald. "I hope I'm in Avengers 2. I didn't get my invitation yet. Well, actually, they know I'm in it but they don't know to what degree I'm in it."

It looks like Maria Hill will have some kind of place in the current iteration of the film, though it's unknown as to the extent of her participation.

Opens May 1, 2015

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIERSuperhero Movie News (via Comic Book Movie) has posted a snapshot from the extended "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" preview paired with "Thor: The Dark World" -- a low-quality photo of a first look at actress Emily VanCamp as Agent 13.

Opens April 4, 2014

iZOMBIEThe CW has put another DC Comics television show in development with "iZombie," with "Veronica Mars" creator Rob Thomas and collaborator Diane Ruggiero onboard to write and executive produce. According to Deadline, "iZombie" is "a supernatural crime procedural that centers on a med student-turned-zombie who takes a job in the coroner's office to gain access to the brains she must reluctantly eat to maintain her humanity. But with each brain she consumes, she inherits the corpse's memories, and with the help of her medical examiner boss and a police detective, she solves homicide cases in order to quiet the disturbing voices in her head."

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