Following James Gunn's firing by Disney last year after old, offensive tweets resurfaced, the rumor mill has been incessant regarding speculation about who could replace him for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It's a franchise Gunn built from the ground up and, as Marvel Studios' first cosmic foray, it garnered major plaudits for its visual aesthetic and retro soundtrack.

Iron Man 3 includes a subtle Easter egg that hints at JARVIS' transformation into Vision.

It’s midday and Samuel L. Jackson has had a long morning battling the shape-shifting Skrulls on the set of Captain Marvel. “I’m tired,” the 70-year-old says slumping into a folding chair on a soundstage in Culver City. Motion capture dots line his face. They’ll be used to give his character Nick Fury a makeover. When it opens next month, Captain Marvel might be introducing Brie Larson as Marvel’s strongest superhero. But it’s also going to reintroduce comic book fans to a younger version of Jackson’s Fury — a character Jackson’s playing for the ninth time.

Of all the many, many questions surrounding Fox’s move under the bajillion-dollar Disney umbrella, one of the more intriguing concerns what exactly will happen to the Deadpool franchise. Ryan Reynolds‘ Merc with the Mouth broke the mold when it debuted with an R-rating and nabbed $363 million domestically on a $58 million budget. (Its sequel, Deadpool 2, brought in $318 million, while a PG-13 cut garnered little interest.)

"I could tell you so much," Pratt said. "I am a vault of information that would break the internet. But all I really should say is it’s coming out this year and everyone in the world is going to see it...and everything it promises in the previous movie, it delivers on and so much more." In another interview, Pratt said he's not worried about any repercussions from Star-Lord's questionable behavior in Avengers: Infinity War.

Marvel Studios

Marvel Studios

Chris Pratt braved the rainy Los Angeles skies Saturday to attend the “Lego Movie 2” premiere, where he assured fans that they will get a third “Guardians of the Galaxy” film. When Variety‘s Marc Malkin asked if a third film could be made without James Gunn, Pratt said, “I promise there’ll be a third movie, I don’t know exactly what that’s going to look like, but I know everyone on board is just eager to give the fans what they want and wrap up a trilogy in a meaningful way.”

One of the reasons I enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy so much was because I got to explore a world in which I had no expectations. Take that crazy city Knowhere, which is inside a giant Celestial head, I didn't even know it existed, let alone know what it "should" look like. Here's the VFX reel showing how the city was built.

Bill Maher is once again going after fans of the late Stan Lee, at least when it comes to their insistence that comic books “are literature.” Two months after he drew fanboy fury following Lee’s November death, Maher revisited the subject for the episode-closing New Rules segment during tonight’s Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO.

Black Panther is the first superhero movie to earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, a move that many critics, industry members, and fans have deemed a watershed moment. It wasn’t too long ago that debates sprung up around Hollywood about whether a superhero movie could or should earn a Best Picture nomination when standing alongside more stereotypical dramatic films.

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Remember all those times men said that women-led superhero movies didn’t have an audience? Well, get ready to laugh in their big dumb faces: Captain Marvel, the first female-led film of the MCU, is on track to earn an estimated $140-$180 million its opening weekend. Within the first 24 hours of advance ticket sales, Captain Marvel was already one of Fandango’s top three MCU pre-sellers, trailing Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War.

Something superhero movie fans have criticized the MCU for over the years is “playing it safe” by always aiming their releases at the PG-13 crowd when the likes of Fox’s X-Men franchise and even DC have made R-rated comic book films such as Deadpool, Logan and Watchmen. It’s possible, though, that Marvel Studios might be ready to branch out into more mature fare with one of their upcoming projects, and it could be the Black Widow movie.

Marvel Studios really knows how to build up its audience for a film. They had a massive year with major Box Office hits in Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther. Ant-Man and the Wasp also left a great mark on the companies’ Box Office success by outpacing its predecessor and leaving a great mark on an incredible year. Now, all eyes are on 2019 and if it could top last year’s success.

The first season of The Punisher saw the Marvel vigilante going up against a corrupt CIA...

Properties such as the X-Men , Deadpool and the Fantastic Four -- characters that have lived at 20th Century Fox for decades -- will be brought under the Marvel banner. And that means it's almost certain they'll enter the MCU in the future. Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios boss, didn't quite put a solid timeline on when that might occur. But he suggested on Variety's "Playback" podcast Thursday that although he hasn't yet put any time into the Fox-owned characters, development on the properties could begin as early as next year.

IMAX hit a record $1 billion global box office in 2018, bolstered by Marvel Studios’ Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, Deadline reports. Its global tally, expected to reach $1.002 billion by the end of Christmas Eve, marks the first time in its 50-year history that IMAX has bypassed the $1B milestone.

Avengers: Infinity War featured the return of Red Skull — an archnemesis of Captain America that first debuted in Marvel Studios' Captain America: The First Avenger. Although the studio approached Hugo Weaving to give him the shot to reprise his role, the actor ended up turning it down. Enter: The Walking Dead star Ross Marquand. Marquand — a well-known impressionist — lent his voice to Marvel Studios to provide a picture-perfect replication of Weaving's The First Avenger portrayal.

Marvel Studios has granted permission for Iron Man to appear on a deceased fan’s gravestone. One year ago, Ollie Gardner, a 13 year-old-boy from Aston Clinton, passed away after losing a two-year battle with cancer. Diagnosed with brain tumors, he and his family received tremendous support from their community who helped raise the necessary funds for his family to afford one final treatment.