New toy packaging and Iron Man 2 figures have appeared online, the most exciting of these is a ‘Mark VI’ armor, seen below. Pictures come via Marvelous News.

French TV station Canal have posted an extended 7 minute behind the scenes look at Iron Man 2. The video starts off in French but the interview with director Jon Favreau is in English; you’ll here him talk about Stark’s home made particle accelerator. There’s also an interview with Robert Downey Jr., talking about the challenges of filming a sequel. An insightful look at the Iron Man sequel and definitely worth the watch.

In a German GQ interview with Matthias Schweighöfer (Valkyrie), the actor reportedly (we haven’t seen a copy of the issue and the news hasn’t been published online) announced he’s in the running for a role in Thor, whilst revealing that Robert De Niro and Jude Law have also been cast. The rumor was originally posted to AICN.

I’ve classified this as rumor for now, there’s no hard proof and the article might well have been mistranslated. However, both Law and De Niro have worked with Thor director Kenneth Branagh in the past, which gives some credence to the claims.

Which characters would these actors play?

In other casting news, Stan Lee has confirmed to Collider that he’ll be taking up his cameo role for Thor, though he doesn’t yet know the details.

From the bumpy golf buggy, Jon Favreau shared some Avengers information with MTV. First up, he will not be directing The Avengers movie. Secondly, Ed Norton will not have a cameo appearance in Iron Man 2.

“We want to reinforce a lot of the stuff we started to tip off,” Favreau told MTV News. “‘The Avengers’ is a much larger concern for Marvel and Kevin Feige, who runs Marvel. They’re going to be doing ‘Thor’ and ‘Captain America,’ and the way we might start to tease those things in this movie, some of it is stuff that we’ve discussed [and] some of the stuff you do last-minute as you figure out how that stuff is coming together.”

“It’s an evolving, amorphous thing,” he explained. “If we decide and commit too early, the secret always gets out.”

“They’ll have to [find a different director], because I’m not going to be available,” he explained. “It’s something I’m being the executive producer on, so I’ll definitely have input and a say.”

“It’s going to be hard, because I was so involved in creating the world of Iron Man and Iron Man is very much a tech-based hero, and then with ‘Avengers’ you’re going to be introducing some supernatural aspects because of Thor,” he continued. “How you mix the two of those works very well in the comic books, but it’s going to take a lot of thoughtfulness to make that all work and not blow the reality that we’ve created.”

“That’s why it’s good that you have the guys from Marvel like Kevin Feige, who knows the books well and has been involved with the making of all the movies, and he’ll be very involved with ‘Thor’ and ‘Cap,’” said Favreau. “You need somebody who has the perspective of all the different franchises to bring them together. I have the myopic vision of just knowing and loving Iron Man.”

This opens up the question, who should direct the Avengers movie?

In talks with MTV, Sam Raimi has revealed that “Saving Private Ryan” writer Robert Rodat will be penning the World of Warcraft movie adaptation. The storyline will be an original effort, set in the Warcraft universe but not following the Lich King book (which had been rumored as a subtitle).

“We would choose… something that encompasses lands and characters and storylines, and we would be true to it. But our story may or may not be about one of those central characters.”

“We want to be really faithful to the game. We would have our writer, Robert Rodat, really craft an original story within that world that feels like a ‘World of WarCraft’ adventure. Only obviously it’s very different ’cause it’s expanded and translated into the world of a motion picture.”

“[The hope is to properly capture] the Horde and the Alliance and the mythology that takes place in the game, and the archetypes that the game presents. I think we would try and find touchstones within the game to make it accurate and true and choose one or some of the lands that are portrayed in the game with as much accuracy and authenticity as possible.”

Speaking with MTV, Sam Raimi gave some Spider-man 4 updates, revealing that the script is currently undergoing some small rewrites whilst production is preparing for a March 2010 start, aiming for a May 6th 2011 release date. Casting hasn’t started yet, but it is set to get under-way shortly.

We’re hoping that it’s the first week in March,

At the moment, pre-production is in full swing, even as screenwriter Gary Ross continues to work on the script.

He’s working on a draft, I just gave him some notes and he’s doing a rewrite right now.

The production is starting to come together. I’ve got a production designer who is starting to design the sets and the environments that the picture will take place in. We just brought aboard Scott Stokdyk as one of the two visual effects supervisors, and I worked with him on all three ‘Spider-man’ pictures.

None of the casting has really taken place, but we’re starting to think about that now.

SpoilerTV has posted a casting call for the Thor movie, asking for

[WARRIORS] A fearless warrior race, where size, strength and ferocity define a member’s rank in both the social and military hierarchy. Warriors born in this society face the harshest ecological conditions imaginable and thrive in environments where lesser creatures, including humans, quickly perishes. Theirs is a world created to cull weakness from the universe to ensure their supreme sovereignty spreads across the stars. MUST BE 6′2 OR TALLER sptv050769, NO BODYBUILDER TYPES. SAG ROLE BUT NO LINES. MUST BE COMFORTABLE WEARING PROSTHETICS.

Cinematical speculate that this is a casting call for the Skrulls,

You can’t really get any more militaristic and conquest driven than these guys, and one definitely needs prosthetics to pull them off. But what the heck would Skrulls be doing in Thor? Even Loki hasn’t had much to do with those creeps until recently. The obvious answer would be to have them come in and set up The Avengers, but with two villains and two love interests, you’d think there was enough crazy to go around. Anyone out there have a better guess as to who our prosthetic-heavy warriors might be?

Fans have also suggested they could be the Kree, a warrior race that have reached their evolutionary peak or Frost Giants. However, another rightfully points out, it is likely they will just be Asgardian extras.

Ernie Hudson, now 63, has been speaking with IESB about movies, acting and his thoughts on the third Ghostbusters movie.

IESB: When you hear all the rumors about the possibility of a Ghostbusters 3 for all these years, is that something you hope will eventually happen, or have you just become indifferent about it because you’ve been waiting for so long?

Ernie: We did the first Ghostbusters, and that was really trying for me, in a lot of ways. I worked really hard on the movie for four months, and then the movie came out and was very successful, but work didn’t necessarily come for me, as a result of it. And then, it took five years to get the second one ready, and that was a challenge, too. Now, it’s been 20 years since the second one.

I knew Bill Murray really loved the franchise, but he was the hold-out. The discussion with him has always been that he really wants to do something exceptional. We tapped into something that was really creative and different with the first one, so you want to be able to bring that challenge to it. The whole economic thing becomes an excuse to do nothing, so the tendency with studios is, “Okay, let’s just do something.” And then, because we have the audience out there, even if we do something bad, by the time they realize it’s bad, we’ll have made the money. But, I know that’s not what Bill Murray wants to do, and that’s certainly not something I want to do.

It’s a real catch-22 because you really would love to do another one, since the fans have been asking for it, but you also want to be able to stand by the work that you do. I’m really happy to have been a part of the movie. A lot of actors work for years and never find [something that special]. Ghostbusters is nice to have in my filmography. Wherever I go, people have seen the movie and love it, so that’s really nice.

IESB: So, you’d be happy to return for another film, if they get a script together?

Ernie: I would love to do the movie, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that I’d love to get paid. So, when Bill Murray says, “I only want to do it if it’s something really extraordinary that we can really commit to,” it’s a little bit different than my thing. I’m saying that I only want to do the movie for that reason, unless they pay me a lot of money. I’m probably more conscious of that. But, the fans are there. Wherever I go, people are always asking about it. I think the studio wants to do it, but hopefully the script will be really good.

Harold Ramis is taking the lead in it, from what I’ve been reading. I hear about it like the fans do. I saw Harold at the opening of his film Year One in New York, so I know that he’s been putting together a script that everyone will be happy with. I talked to Bill recently, and I know that Danny [Aykroyd] has been wanting to do it since the day we finished the second one. We’re all up for it. It just has to be something we can be proud of and stand by. I’d love for it to happen. I think it would be very, very cool. But, it really needs to be something that makes sense. I don’t want to just do a cameo. If we’re going to do it, I want to be involved.

IESB: Did you enjoy returning to the character for the recent video game?

Ernie: I really was very happy with the game because the characters were very much there. My character was totally involved. It was a lot of fun to do the voice-over, and having all the guys back to do it was really cool. So, I’m hoping the movie happens, but I have not heard from Ivan Reitman or the studio, or anybody who signs checks. Until that happens, it’s still just speculation. They also came out with a whole new series of toys. Wherever I travel, or when I was doing the play, people show up with the toys for me to sign.