Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth launch the Avengers in Hollywood

by Cindy Robinson

Actors Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Hemsworth launched MARVEL’s the Avengers in Hollywood Wednesday night. This May, Marvel Studios brings to life the super hero team up of a lifetime featuring iconic Marvel super heroes with Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins to assemble the ultimate super hero team.

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The star-studded premiere brought out the cast of the Avengers along with Clark Gregg and Jennifer Grey, director Joss Whedon, producer Kevin Feige, Jon Favreau, Dancing With the Stars cast members Karina Smirnoff and Chelsie Hightower, LOST and Lord of the Rings star Dominic Monaghan, Alexander Skarsgård, Harry Dean Stanton, Aisha Tyler, Seth Green,  Chris Cornell and Soundgarden who wrote the original song for the movie “Live to Rise”.

Directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963. Look for this blockbuster by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures to break box office records on May 4th.

For more information on the Avengers please visit Marvel’s the Avengers to view trailers, grab exclusive downloads and buy your movie tickets.

Iron Man 2 Now Available on DVD & Blu-Ray

by Cindy Robinson

Paramount Pictures & Marvel Entertainment’s Iron Man 2 starring Robert Downey Jr is out on DVD and Blu-Ray today! Look for an alternate beginning to the film and nearly three hours of bonus features.

Iron Man 2 DVD courtesy of Marvel

 

Follow up to Marvel’s 2008 smash hit Iron Man, the sequel also features Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson , Don Cheadle and Sam Rockwell. The sequel wasn’t quite as great as the first film, feeling a bit choppy in places but there’s no denying that Robert Downey Jr put on a stellar performance with his usual sarcastic wit & charm. Mickey Rourke’s brief appearance as Whiplash was strong.

Iron Man 2 picks up six months after the end of the first movie, where Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) has used his Iron Man armor to bring about a negotiated peace treaty between the major super powers of the world, and his immense popularity with the general public is only furthered when he fulfills his father’s dream by opening the “Stark Expo”, to showcase all the latest inventions that will benefit the world. Stark is, however, still vilified by the United States government, and Senator Stern (Gary Shandling) in particular, who demands that he hand his armor technology over for military application. Stark refuses, publicly shaming rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) in the process by highlighting his own failed attempts at recreating the technology. All is not well in Stark’s life, however: he has discovered that the palladium in the arc reactor keeping shrapnel from penetrating his heart has begun to poison his body, slowly killing him, and all attempts to find a substitute element have failed. Slowly going off the rails as a consequence of what he believes to be his impending death, he appoints his former personal assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) CEO of Stark Industries, replacing her with Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson).

Robert Downey Jr premieres Iron Man 2 in Hollywood

 

We’ll next see Iron Man and Scarlett Johansson’s character, Natasha Romanoff (the Black Widow) in the upcoming Joss Whedon directed Marvel mastermind, the Avengers due out in 2012.