Samuel L. Jackson, who made a cameo appearance as Nick Fury in Iron Man, tell the Los Angeles Times that talks about him returning to the role in future Marvel Studios have broken down:

“There was a huge kind of negotiation that broke down. I don’t know. Maybe I won’t be Nick Fury. Maybe somebody else will be Nick Fury or maybe Nick Fury won’t be in it. There seems to be an economic crisis in the Marvel Comics world so [they're saying to me], ‘We’re not making that deal.’”

I called Marvel Comics and they gave me a statement that suggested that they still want to see Jackson wearing the eyepatch. “Marvel does not comment on active negotiations,” was the boilerplate repsonse, but there was that emphasis on the word “active” in the voice of the spokesman who phoned me back.

After defeated Dr. Doom, the Marvel Ultimate Alliance is back at it again, facing their worst villain to date – Galactus!

Check out the trailer for the video game due out Summer 2009 below:

There was at least one good thing to come out of the high profile dismissal of actor Terrence Howard from the sequel to last year’s blockbuster hit Iron Man — the news that Don Cheadle would be taking over the part of Col. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes. The Oscar winning actor’s resume boast an impressive variety of roles, from serious dramas like Crash, Hotel Rwanda and Traffic to more lighthearted fare like Ocean’s Eleven and its two sequels. And while we were disappointed to hear that Howard would not return for Iron Man 2, we think Cheadle could do a lot with the role of Tony Stark’s confidant and the man destined to wear the War Machine armor.

Cheadle recently spoke with IGN about taking over the role, how he felt about replacing his friend and what we might expect from the character in the next film.

IGN: How did you get involved with Iron Man 2?

Cheadle: I got a phone call from my agent saying they were offering me the part. That was kind of it. It happened very fast, and I had a very short time to answer. Literally, overnight. I was unaware of what was happening with Terrence. And when they called me I asked what was going on with Terrence. I’ve worked with Terrence, I’ve known Terrence for a long time. And they said they were moving away from him. So it’s not like I was taking Terrence’s job, because the job was already gone. Someone else was going to do the part. I don’t know who the next person in line was, but that’s who they were going to. And I literally had a few hours to accept the job or not.

IGN: How much can you reveal about the story?

Cheadle: I can’t reveal anything because I’ve seen nothing. I have no idea. There’s no script yet. All I know is as much as you know, that Rhodey looked at that suit and said, ‘Next time.’ So I imagine I’m going to be in a suit.

To read more about Don Cheadle’s transition to War Machine, check out more at IGN.com.

20th Century Fox has now officially revealed the new trailer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine online which you can watch using the player below or in High Definition QuickTime by becoming a friend of the film’s MySpace page.

Opening May 1st, the Gavin Hood-directed action-thriller stars Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch, Will.i.am, Danny Huston, Dominic Monaghan, Daniel Henney and Lynn Collins. The prequel tells the story of Wolverine’s epically violent and romantic past, his complex relationship with Victor Creed, and the ominous Weapon X program.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD

Alfred Molina is no stranger to superhero film fans, having played Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2, but now he’s lending his acting talents, and voice, to an entirely different supervillain. Molina will be voicing Ares, the God of War in Warner Home Video’s animated feature Wonder Woman.

This isn’t the first time Molina has worked in animation, not is it his first time working in DC Animation working opposite the Amazonian Princess. He previously voiced King Gustav in the Justice League animated series.

Molina sat down for a Q&A session where he discusses the challenges of working in animation, what he loves about the work and what it’s like to have god-like cheekbones.

Alfred Molina voicing Ares, the God of War. That’s a nice title.

Alfred Molina: Yeah. I’m thinking of changing my name professionally to Ares, the God of War. I think I might just do that.

What is your favorite part of voice acting?

Alfred Molina: This is all about imagination. It’s like our director Andrea (Romano) likes to say, “Thank you for coming to play.” And that’s really what voice acting is. It’s play acting at its most childlike, it’s most free. There are no restrictions of costume or scenery or a set. It’s about what’s in your head, and that’s the fun part.

Were there any challenges of bringing this particular character to life?

Alfred Molina: The main challenge with doing a vocal performance is to find the way that the voice matches the image. Very often, in a sense, you’re working ahead of the image. The image hasn’t been finalized yet, so you get a vague idea of what the character’s going to look like, but you don’t see the character move, and you don’t see the character physically behaving in any sort of significant way. So you rely very much on the director and the writers to help you find that voice. The nice thing is that chances are they’ve called you in because they like something about the quality of your voice, and from there it’s very much a series of building blocks. You start off by some kind of generalized tone, some sense of where you might be, and then you just start refining it bit by bit. Less of a cry, more of a growl. With Ares, I initially placed the voice quite low, which made him sound rather rough, and Andrea (Romano) said, ‘Just make it a bit more suave.’ Sometimes all you need is that idea, the slightest of descriptions, like ’suave,’ and you adjust to something that’s going to work.

What was your reaction to seeing the sketch of Ares?

Alfred Molina: They gave me cheekbones! This guy’s really cut, so I was very flattered and delighted, but I must make sure that I’m never seen in public again. It’ll spoil the image [he laughs]. He’s very, very manly. Very manly chin. Strong jaw. I like all that.

You’ve had notable experience in villainous roles. Do you enjoy playing villains, and are there any tricks or challenges to assuming that role?

Alfred Molina: I enjoy playing villains – I’m very proud that I belong to a very honorable tradition of British actors who come to Hollywood to play the bad guys. James Mason, Claude Rains, Basil Rathbone, Anthony Hopkins, Michael Caine. At some point in American film, I think there was the idea that the British accent had a tone to it that’s a little bit naughty. We actually tried a more mid-Atlantic accent for Ares.

Playing villains is very liberating because unlike the leading man, nothing is expected of you. Leading men have to look good, they have to behave in a certain way, they have to fulfill an audience’s expectations. But as a bad guy, you have free license to take the audience by surprise. And that’s what audiences want – they want unpredictability from their villains. The villain’s job is to subvert it.

What was your first impression of the Wonder Woman script?

Alfred Molina: The language is really good in this film. There are a couple of speeches that are almost operatic, as they’re nice long sentences and, for Ares, they’re good, flowing tirades. And there’s this lovely notion of paralleling a modern storyline and modern contemporary characters with all these gods and characters from Greek mythology. Gods speaking in classic speech, while the younger set are speaking with a more contemporary approach. It’s an interesting idea and it strikes a great balance.

For more about this interview, please check out MovieWeb.com!

Alongside the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine film, Activision Blizzard is planning a game of the same name for release in May 2009.

Developed by Raven Software (Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Soldier of Fortune), the game “enlists players to experience the tormented origins of Wolverine, from his escape of the Weapon X facility to the jungles of Africa.”

Details on the actual gameplay are scarce, though the press release puts a huge emphasis on Wolverine’s mutant healing factor, going so far as to say it “heals him in real time right before the player’s eyes.”

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is in development for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Nintendo DS, Wii and Windows PC platforms.

When we last left Frank Castle, he was less than his old homicidal self with the 2004’s flick finding Thomas Jane in more of a spoof than an adrenaline fueled film. In Punisher: War Zone, Frank is now played Ray Stevenson and he kicks up that divine insanity up into a fevered pitch.

“Sometimes, I’d like to get my hands on God,” mutters Castle as he hasn’t lost that fearlessness to take matters to the top. On this go-’round, the Marvel Comics hero is up against two demented brothers – Loony Bin Jim (Doug Hutchison) and Jigsaw (Dominic West). With torrents of blood and gore, the violence is so awful and outlandish that a scene, such as when The Punisher punches a literal hole in the face of a baddie, it’s comedy.

The script written by first-timers to the series – Nick Santora, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway – pen a faux-humanist story for Castle to have his war waged upon after killing an undercover agent. As Castle tries to protect the agent’s widow and daughter, he has his hands full with baddies and an investigating nuisance Paul Budiansky – who at one point just walks up and arrests the “crazy” – easy as pie.

With too many loose holes and slapstick violence, this blood-drenched actioner is still guaranteed to draw fans of same senses to come pack the theater in excess like moths to the proverbial flame.

Previously: ‘New Writer Speaks On Iron Man 2′

Hitting theaters on July 15, 2011, Downey says, “…if we don’t get it right, it’s really going to suck. It has to be the crowning blow of Marvel’s best and brightest, because it’s the hardest thing to get right. It’s tough to spin all the plates for one of these characters.”

When asked if Iron Man 2 will start setting up his role in The Avengers, Downey Jr. added this.

“It seems natural that it would at least introduce that factor. My inclination is to bring it another step. The danger you run with colliding all these worlds is that Jon was very certain that Iron Man should be set in a very realistic way. Nothing that happened in Iron Man is really outside the realm of possibility. Once you start talking about Valhalla and supersized super soldiers and jolly green giants, it warrants much further discussion.”

Apparently the first draft of the script is already done, with Theroux and his fellow scribes discussing further ideas.

“I just got back from London where I was working with [Iron Man star] Robert [Downey Jnr.] and [producer] Kevin Feige,” he explained. “We were talking with Robert, who’s out there doing Sherlock Holmes, he was giving his input and his notes. We’re sort of there. It’s just sort of chugging along.”

He also said they hadn’t re-written the role of War Machine in response to Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard as Jim Rhodes, contrary to speculation. “No, that’s all nonsense,” he said. “We’re writing the thing, virtually the same for Rhodey that we would for any actor. We’re really taking what’s going to be the most interesting story for the fans, and what are they going to enjoy watching.”

They also apparently haven’t been making too many provisions for the future Avengers movie: “It is the Marvel universe, but… they haven’t given us any instruction as far as ‘we want you to do this or we want you to do that.”

“I think once we’re sort of locked on that we’ll be able to think about how we can thread things through. There’s a couple little things that we’ve been working on, but it’s not that we’ve been taking meetings with Avengers people.”