So far, this is just a rumor (and wishful thinking) so don’t get too excited … take this with a grain of salt until we get the official word from Marvel Studios:

Now that The Avengers is out, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige is talking about different aspects of the film and the future of franchise. He noted that Tony Stark had an interesting relationship with the other characters in “The Avengers,” but for Iron Man 3, he will be separated from the Marvel universe.

“He can’t call Thor, he can’t call Cap, he can’t call Nick Fury, and he can’t look for the Helicarrier in the sky,” Feige said. Those comments are backed by the fact that Black Widow was taken out of “Iron Man 3″ after the studio confirmed that Scarlett Johansson will be reprising her role.

This leaves many to believe that despite everything Feige has stated that there’s a good chance that Bruce Banner/Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) will make an appearance. Stark and Banner got to know each other quite well in “The Avengers,” and since Ruffalo has a contract to appear in six Marvel films, “Iron Man 3″ may be a good place to show more of the character.

Meanwhile, Jessica Chastain (The Help, Take Shelter) has revealed that she will not be starring in “Iron Man 3,” stating: “Sorry to say that ‘Iron Man’ 3 isn’t going to work out. My schedule is jammed packed and I can’t fit anything else in. The press announced my possible attachment far too soon.”

We are keeping our fingers crossed! (Source)

GeekTyrant.com thought all of the Avengers represented in Joss Whedon’s The Avengers got their fair share of screen time. But lets face it, some got more screen time than others. Vulture went ahead and clocked the screen time of each character in the film just so we could know this useless bit of geek trivia. They also give a fun little breakdown of some other time stats of each character. Enjoy!

Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk
Clock time: 28:03
If you’re combining the double-duty Mark Ruffalo pulls as both Banner and the Hulk (and you really ought to, since the actor donned a motion-capture suit to play the latter). Still, Ruffalo’s unchanged mug gets 20:29 minutes of screen time, which is more than is afforded Renner.

Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye 12:44
Chris Hemsworth as Thor: 25:52
Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / Hulk: 28:03
Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow: 33:35
Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man: 37:01
Chris Evans as Captain America: 37:42

Marvel’s The Avengers opened as the top film in U.S. and Canadian theaters, kicking off the summer movie season with a record $200.3 million in sales this weekend for Walt Disney Co. (DIS) Revenue topped the previous best of $169.2 million set by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 last year, researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office said today in an e-mailed statement. Analysts had forecast sales of $150 million to $170 million for “The Avengers.”

Summer ticket sales are expected to surpass the record of $4.4 billion set last year, according to Jeff Bock, box-office analyst at Exhibitor Relations Co. Other films scheduled in the coming weeks include Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight Rises, directed by Christopher Nolan, and Sony Corp. (6758)’s Men in Black 3, a sequel that reunites Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as government agents managing Earth’s secret alien population.

The Avengers is the first Marvel movie Disney is distributing since buying the comic-book company for $4.2 billion in 2009. The movie provides Burbank, California-based Disney with a hit after the box-office failure of “John Carter,” the science-fiction film released in March that resulted in a $200 million loss for the company. (Source)

I’ve added scans from the May 2012 issue of Total Film Magazine. A fantastic muli-page article about The Avengers was featured in the May issue. Head over to the gallery for the latest additions.

Gallery Links:
- Home > Magazines > Scans From 2012 > Total Film – May 2012

Mark Ruffalo has got to be the most inspired casting in the superhero movie genre. Hollywood’s most underrated actor thinks his turn as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in The Avengers will finally give him some much-needed visibility – to do more of the quirky, indie films he loves

Mark Ruffalo has flown under the radar for most of his career. Appearing in indie films and playing character roles for most of his working life, Ruffalo appeared in box-office duds like In the Cut and a bunch of rom-coms before underlining his potential as an actor in films like Zodiac and Reservation Road.

In 2011, he received a much-deserved Oscar nomination for his role in The Kids are Alright. And now at 44, he’s got a starring role in the biggest superhero ensemble ever, The Avengers. Ruffalo plays Bruce Banner/The Hulk in a movie that also stars Robert Downey Jr, Samuel L Jackson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johansson. Here are some insights from an exclusive interview.

The Hulk captures a part of us

I don’t know what it is about The Hulk. He captures that part of us that wants to jump and scream. We are all so well behaved and we finally get to see the explosion of all of our feelings in all of their green glory.

My son relates to the character

My ten-year-old son has all of this power and force of nature rolling through his body, but at the same time, he’s expected to not let it get the best of him. He is at the cutting edge of the most horrible part of a young person’s life, when they have all of that going on but they are expected to have some control over it. I think that’s why young people love this character so much, that’s why they relate to it. I bought the box set of The Incredible Hulk TV show, to watch it again, because we talked a lot about it. After the third episode, my son turned to me and was like, ‘Papa. He’s so misunderstood!’. And I’m like, ‘That’s it buddy, that’s it.’

Ruffalo said his mother told him “The Avengers” is the best movie he’s ever been in.

Ruffalo does a great job as both the long-suffering Banner and his mayhem-happy alter-ego, so it should come as no surprise to learn that Marvel has tied him down to appear in a few more of their movies. Six to be precise!

We’re presuming that The Avengers was the first of those six, which would suggest that Ruffalo will be appearing in five more of the studio’s forthcoming outings. We’d guess that at least two of those movies are potential Avengers sequels, perhaps with a couple of cameos in one or more of Thor 2, Iron Man 3 and Captain America 2. Plus, also, a solo The Hulk movie, maybe?

Source: Total Film

While promoting The Avengers, Mark Ruffalo and Chris Hemsworth played a game of charades. Can you figure out which movie Mark was acting out? Take a look below: