ScreenCrush’s Comic Strip is a weekly roundup of the hottest superhero movie news items. From Marvel to D.C. and points in between, if it pertains to costumed comic-book heroes, we’re covering it here, bringing you our expert analysis. Check out below updates on 'Ant-Man,' 'Captain America 2,' 'Man of Steel,' Wonder Man, Black Panther and more.

’Iron Man 3’

Most major Hollywood studios took advantage of the eyeballs tuned into the MTV Movie Awards Sunday night by sneak-peeking clips and teaser trailers for this summer’s top blockbusters. We saw new ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ footage, a ‘Hangover Part III’ clip, and a longer trailer for ‘The Heat.’

But comic-book fans received the richest visual treasures, thanks to Marvel dusting off an exclusive ‘Iron Man 3’ feature, which took us inside Tony Stark’s crumbling Malibu mansion.

This scene is just the latest in the stream of footage from Shane Black’s upcoming sequel that we have been sharing as of late. Click here for a laundry list of new clips that have landed over the past week, from Mandarin featurettes to Iron Patriot action.

While we’re on The Mandarin, I stumbled across a great interview between Black and Sir Ben Kingsley about their approach to the classic Iron Man villain. They spoke to Total Film Magazine about the sequel, and shared:

We decided very early on we liked the idea of taking Michael Crichton type elements and mingling them with a real world Tom Clancy environment. It's funny, I look at these blogs and some people are saying, 'What about The Mandarin's magic space rings? They should shoot lasers.' I almost want to apologize in advance to the people who want to see lasers shoot out of his rings because it's not going to happen.

Kingsley, meanwhile, opened up about the villain, explaining that there are what he calls "demonic layers" to his interpretation of The Mandarin.

He's in a state of solitude a lot of the time, and there's nothing to give him a boundary. I go crazy. You can put him in quite a different category from Whiplash, who's reliant on brute force. The Mandarin is reliant on manipulation of the media. He's an all-pervading presence through modern technology. He'll hack into your cell phone. He'll broadcast across the nation on TV."

What else are we learning about ‘Iron Man 3?’ Let’s see:

- We’ve received the official run time for ‘Iron Man 3.’ It’s probably longer than you think.

But don’t stay through the credits waiting for ‘Ant-Man’ footage, because Edgar Wright says it won’t be there.

- You might, however, come across another cameo that could be a MAJOR spoiler, so only click this link if you are dying to know.

DC Comics

I swore we were going to get a new ‘Man of Steel’ trailer during the MTV Movie Awards. Now it sounds like the clip will drop on Monday, April 15, at 5:15 p.m. Specific enough for you?

That reveal was part of a lengthy viral video campaign that continues to set up the plot of Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot. In the clip that aired during MTV’s telecast Sunday night, General Zod demanded that the citizens of Earth turn over Kal-El, warning us humans, “You are not alone.” Check it out for yourself.

- Meanwhile, an up-and-coming female action star continues to express interest in playing Wonder Woman on screen. Which beautiful actress told Total Film this about being interested in the role: “Actually, I think that would be fascinating if done correctly, if they did it more in a way where they're humanizing her. She comes from an all-female planet - something the world hasn't seen. I just think there's so much story there."

- However, if Wonder Woman is in the eventual Justice League of America movie, she will NOT be directed by Christopher Nolan, who officially passed on the project.

Black Panther

Speaking of “passing” on a project, Morris Chestnut has come out and denied he’s going to be in Black Panther, despite a Tweet that suggested he might be reading up on the character to possibly play him in a future project.

Hollywood.com does a good job of backtracking through the misdirections laid out by Chestnut and his publicity team. Basically, he places the blame on a faceless organization named The MCCamp, which may or may not occasionally handle the duties of posting news to Chestnut’s Twitter feed. So shady. Be careful what you believe on a celebrity’s Twitter feed, folks. It could be the ghouls at MCCamp playing tricks.

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Marvel
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’Captain America: The Winter Soldier’

Now that ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ has begin production, many of those involved in the sequel are going on record to let fans know that they can expect.

Collider participated in the ‘Pain & Gain’ press junket in Miami, where they interviewed screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely about their work on the ‘Cap’ sequel. It’s a very interesting listen, with tons of great details, so while it’s long, it’s definitely worth your time.

- Georges St. Pierre also opened up in a recent interview about talks his villainous character, Batroc the Leaper. The interview was captured by SportsNet, but you can listen to it below:

- And take this with a grain of salt, but ComicBookMovie has a description of the new suit Steve Rogers reportedly will wear in the sequel. They had concept art that they were told to take down. They say that the new suit likely will look like this.

’R.I.P.D.’

Collider has the first poster, snapped at CinemaCon, which is getting underway in Las Vegas. Expect plenty of news items flowing out of Las Vegas in the next few days.

RIPD Poster
Collider
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We have a plot synopsis for the adaptation, which opens on July 19.

The Dark Horse comic R.I.P.D. is adapted by Universal Pictures with this fantasy crime film focusing on a newly deceased cop (Ryan Reynolds) who's drafted into a squad of zombie cops that battle the supernatural. Red's Robert Schwentke directs, with Jeff Bridges co-starring as his partner and Kevin Bacon playing the villain.

And Entertainment Weekly had a still shot in their Summer Movie Preview. Bloody Disgusting gets credit for the scan:

RIPD Still
EW
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Daredevil

So many different directors were interested in resurrecting Marvel’s ‘Daredevil: The Man Without Fear’ that I’m simply stunned we haven’t seen a better version of the hero’s story since Ben Affleck buried him back in 2003. Joe Carnahan recently shared a sizzle reel he’d assembled to help get a new ‘Daredevil’ movie off the ground. It focused heavily on The Kingpin, with a distinct ‘70s vibe.
Now we’re learning more about director David Slade’s vision for the hero, which would have gone back to the character’s earliest days, including a stint in the trademark yellow suit. Slade tells Film School Rejects:

[I saw it as] really complex and exciting. It was complicated [Laughs], and in the most unimaginable Fox way possible. I was really, really excited about it . . . It’s funny, I remember Joe Carnahan went after it hard when the rights were about to go. He cut together that thing that was great and exciting, but it was kind of sad, in a way, because everything in that trailer we had attempted to do [Laughs]. Every single thing.

’X-Men’

If you haven’t seen the latest poster for ‘The Wolverine’ yet, the mutant hero with claws jetting out of his fists apparently also needs a sword.

- Then there’s Bryan Singer, who adores social media. When he isn’t posting photos of Patrick Stewart or the reconstructed Cerebro to his Twitter account from the set of 'Days of Future Past,' the director’s making Vine videos from the set of ‘Days of Future Past,’ showing us silverware, bowls and a winking Sir Ian McKellan.

’The Amazing Spider-Man 2’

No conversation about directors who abuse social media would be complete without mentioning Marc Webb, who continues to document each step of the production on his anticipated sequel, ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2.’

Webb tweets photos. Often. Most are vague, but some are revealing. We covered this one earlier. It came with the message, “This is what happens when you try to give Electro a ticket.” And it’s so cool, we had to share it once again.

Electro
Sony/Marc Webb
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