Make no mistake: It’s not that Joss Whedon doesn’t like The Empire Strikes Back. When recently asked a question about doing a sequel to one of his own works, he cited the fan-favorite entry in the Star Wars saga along with The Godfather Part II as sequels that got it right. But The Avengers writer-director does have an issue withEmpire‘s ending – or its lack of one, to be exact.

“Empire committed the cardinal sin of not actually ending,” Whedon noted during his 10-page deep-dive interview with Entertainment Weekly in this week’s issue. “Which at the time I was appalled by and I still think…

Ben Affleck is set to star as Batman in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel sequel, Warner Bros. has announced.

As reported by The Wrap, Greg Silverman, President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production at Warner Bros. made the following statement earlier today:

“We knew we needed an extraordinary actor to take on one of DC Comics’ most enduringly popular Super Heroes, and Ben Affleck certainly fits that bill, and then some. His outstanding career is a testament to his talent and we know he and Zack will bring new dimension to the duality of this character.”

“Ben provides an interesting…

EDIT: Mike Fissel, friend of the site and who has been on The MovieByte Podcast with me more than once had something to say in the comments below that I thought was worth bringing up to the top.

So, The World’s End, the BEST thing you can see this weekend (probably this month). This movie is the final installment in “The Blood and Ice Cream” trilogy from Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright. The trilogy included Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz - both incredibly clever and brilliant comedies. It’s already been out for nearly a month overseas and now we’re finally getting our shot.

For anyone looking…

I don’t know, could be interesting, but first I’ll have to get over the fact that Selena Gomez is in it. She’s seems like nothing more than a teen idol up until this point and I admit that I’ve never actually seen her in anything. So maybe she’s good and I just don’t know it.

We’ll see because I’m willing to give this film a chance, even if it does look like it has elements of inspiration from ‘Taken’. The film hits theaters on August 30^th.

Hayley Atwell—probably best known to nerds as Peggy from “Captain America: The First Avenger” and the upcoming “Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter”—has tweeted today, “Shooting Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella in Pinewood this week.” No word yet on her role, but she joins an already impressive cast for Disney‘s live action reboot, that includes Lily James in the lead, Cate Blanchett as the Evil Stepmother, and “Game Of Thrones” star Richard Madden as the prince, along with Holliday Grainger and Sophie McShera as the stepsisters. Maybe Atwell is rounding out that trio? We’ll find out soon enough. The…

Created by a scientist in the Marvel comics, Ultron is a self-aware robot who develops a lust for power. He has a laundry list of abilities — super-human strength, speed, stamina, durability, flight, mind control, a coma ray and a genius intellect. For Avengers: Age of Ultron, Whedon reveals to Entertainment Weekly in this week’s cover story that he’s stripping back some of Ultron’s abilities and will find a way to humanize — to some degree — the angry bot.

“I knew right away what I wanted to do with him,” Whedon says. “He’s always trying to destroy the Avengers, goddamn it, he’s got a bee…

According to my sources, Saoirse Ronan has passed on the role of Wanda Maximoff, The Scarlet Witch, in The Avengers: Age of Ultrondespite being, at some point or another, Joss Whedon‘s top pick for the role.

Unfazed, however, Whedon and Marvel then moved their attentions on to Elizabeth Olsen.

I always feel awkward reporting on these “second choice” moments, but then I remember how Harrison Ford probably hasn’t ever woken up in a cold sweat from a Tom Selleck nightmare and I feel a bit better about it.

Olsen is a great choice, I think, because she’s a pretty good choice for anything. The…

If you’ve seen a single second of Abrams’Star Trek you know the film is stuffed with audience blinding lens flashes. J.J. Abrams admitted he got a bit carried away, but explained why they’re there.

At the Star Trek press conference this weekend, J.J. Abrams addressed the press and when it was io9’s turn, we asked him the one thing that had been plaguing us since the first shiny Trek clip was released:

I’m curious to hear more about why you decided to use so many lens flares, and exactly when you decided to use them?

[Smiles] I don’t know what you’re talking about. [Laughs] I’m kidding. I…

TJ and Joe are reunited! First they exchange some banter and inside baseball. Then they talk about a few trailers that have come up since the last episode including ‘Closed Circuit’, ‘Squirrels’, and ‘The Counselor’. Then, before getting to the two main topics in review, they discuss the idea of Mark Wahlberg wanting to play ‘Iron Man’, Ewan McGregor and ‘Star Wars’, and the ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ honest trailer. In review this week is the new film ‘JOBS’ in which Ashton Kutcher does a fantastic job portraying Jobs. This is the film the two spend the bulk of their time on. But they do spend a little time talking about ‘Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters’ which TJ liked well enough, and Joe didn’t like at all.