Disney’s acquisition of Marvel Entertainment has given the Internerds a lot to think about today. We have already shared a list of crossover movies we’d like to see, while Twitter users suggested other team-ups and battles to the hashtag meme #disneymarvel and other blogs have speculated that one day we could get a Pixar-produced Marvel movie. Not that we really need one of those after The Incredibles, but it could still be a cool thing to see.

Then there are the seriously curious and worried who wonder what will happen to the Marvel attractions at Universal Studios. Will Wolverine and Spider-Man begin walking around Disneyland alongside the classic Disney characters? And will Northstar only be allowed out during the annual Gay Days? Will the Mouse House do any damage to the Marvel movies already in the works or have any adverse effect on the comic book titles?

It will be a while before we know the answer to any of these questions, but the blogosphere was hot today with speculation, so let’s see what some of them had to say specifically on the subject of movies. Check out the film blog responses to the news after the jump:

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It’s a pretty slow news day for movies, with everyone’s concentration on last night’s Tony Awards (congrats to Billy Elliot for making up for the Oscar snub eight years ago), but there is one bit of geek movie news that I’m really intrigued about: the hint of yet another Marvel comic book adaptation due in 2012. Among much information concerning the upcoming films Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Thor and The First Avenger: Captain America, Alex Billington at First Showing brought word this morning from a conference at the Sony Pictures lot that Marvel Studios will be announcing this secret title within the next few months.

What could it be? And what do you want it to be? Personally, I’m hoping that Scarlett Johansson has impressed the studio so much with her portrayal of Black Widow in the Iron Man sequel that she’s been given her own solo film. That is pretty unlikely, though, considering all the other ideas Marvel has floated over the years. So, will it be Doctor Strange? Luke Cage? Black Panther? S.H.I.E.L.D.? Another Hulk reboot tied to the Avengers movie? Let’s see what the film blogs think, after the jump:

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The Internet seems eerily quiet today, which is probably due to all the blog writers being miles above wifi signals, flying towards Austin for SXSW. Of course, there are some posts here and there discussing rumors about Jon Favreau directing The Avengers and continued commentary on Watchmen’s box office future and Joaquin Phoenix’s “brawl” in Miami, but there’s not much new news to get excited about.

So, I’ve decided to highlight some recent SXSW-related posts from other blogs in anticipation of the festival. I won’t be there this year, and the Bloggery posts will be taking a week off in order to let SpoutBlog focus on film reviews, interviews and other SXSW goodies, so this is my one chance to be a part of the SXSW fun, albeit from a very cold, very jealous perspective up here in NYC.

I wish everyone down in Austin a good time and, more importantly, a lot of good movies.

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• Celebrity death cult where were you? Soul Men, featuring the final performance from Bernie Mac, underperformed over the weekend, placing only sixth with $5.6 million. I guess you preferred his other final film, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, which achieved the best debut of 2008 for an animated film with $63.5 million. The other big opener was Role Models, which did better than expected with a second-placing $19.3 million. All thanks to Jane Lynch’s bagel dog trick, I’m hoping.
• Meanwhile, Quantum of Solace, which doesn’t open in the States until Friday, has already passed the $100 million mark overseas.
• Despite YouTube video being possibly the worst format in which to watch movies online, MGM is licensing some of its titles (no 007 movies, unfortunately) to the site for full-length streaming.
• Joe Johnston, who has a Best Visual Effects Oscar for work on Raiders of the Lost Ark, has been hired by Marvel to direct First Avenger: Captain America. And I’m probably the only one who’s now hoping the comic book adaptation is reminiscent of the Johnston-directed The Rocketeer.
• Terrible news: the Brokeback Mountain opera is no longer happening.

• Robert Downey Jr has signed on to star as Tony Stark in Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, and The Avengers. This, plus his starring role in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, will put the Less Than Zero survivor in at least one summer tentpole per year through 2012. Say it with me: poor, poor Andrew McCarthy.
• Mike Nichols will direct a David Mamet-scripted remake of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low. Martic Scorsese comissioned the script from Mamet; he’ll now executive produce.
• In an unusual deal, Janus and sister company Criterion Collection have acquired theatrical and DVD rights to Revanche, the Austrian Foreign Language Oscar contender which premiered in Berlin and went on to Telluride. Janus, known for its library of classic art films, hasn’t handled a first-run theatrical release in 30 years.

• Marvel Studios has signed a three-year deal with Raleigh Manhattan Beach Studios to shoot Iron Man 2, Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America and The Avengers at the Southern California facility’s soundstages. But hopefully it’s only the interiors of the latter two movies that will be filmed there. Despite my support for Hollywood productions to shoot locally in the Los Angeles area, particularly in these hard economic times, The Avengers better be set in New York City or else feature a team led by Hawkeye.
• Steve Carell will officially be back as Maxwell Smart in a Get Smart sequel for Warner Bros., where the actor has just signed a first-look deal to develop projects he’ll produce, write and/or star in under the name Carousel Productions. Partnering with him are a couple of old friends and collaborators, including fellow former Daily Show correspondent Vance DeGeneres.
• For those Americans becoming impatient with the wait for Election Day, the president of Lionsgate suggests they “vote with their box office dollars three weeks before they vote at the actual ballot box” by seeing Oliver Stone’s W when it opens October 17.
• After disappointing at the box office, TV’s episodic continuation of Star Wars: Clone Wars seems to be a hit for Cartoon Network. Yet the viewership for the series was technically less than the amount of people who saw the movie (not taking into account all the multiple tickets purchased by hardcore fanboys) and contrary to what Variety’s headline seems to indicate, it didn’t even give Cartoon Network its best ratings ever.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about all the mutant cameos appearing in the X-Men spin-off X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but we haven’t heard much about any characters set to show up in the other spin-off, X-Men Origins: Magneto. Until now. According to George “El Guapo” Roush at The Latino Review, the Magneto film will feature either Beast or Nightcrawler. The uncertainty over which lies in the fact that, while on a visit to a creature effects shop, Roush saw a photo (or rendering) of a blue-costumed character who he was told is a young Beast (played by Kelsey Grammar in X-Men: The Last Stand). Yet the character is described by Roush as having a tail, which suggests that the effects person was mistaken and that it’s really a young Nightcrawler (played by Alan Cumming in X2: X-Men United). Roush has printed an update acknowledging the Nightcrawler possibility but doesn’t understand why the effects guy would have had it wrong.

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It’s not always worthwhile to jump on rumors like this, but the idea that Brad Pitt could be cast as The Mighty Thor in Marvel’s upcoming movie adaptation (due June 4, 2010) is too good an idea to be left alone. The word comes from Latino Review that Marvel is simply tossing the actor’s name around, though apparently the role hasn’t even been suggested, let alone offered, to Pitt.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to imagine that Pitt would be interested in playing a superhero. He’s still a big enough star and a talented enough actor that he might feel he’s above such a thing. However, if he wants to continue making great films like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which don’t make him much cash, he’s going to need some mainstream hits, and he could do much worse for a paycheck than wear a cape and helmet and fight evil as the Norse God of Thunder.

So, I’ve come up with five reasons for Pitt to grab Thor’s hammer. Hopefully he’ll find the list convincing.

1. Lucrative Franchise Potential - Without the security of more Ocean’s movies and the chance that your star power will wane (it’s happened to your friends and peers), now is the time to suit up for a comic book movie. It’s not like this would be that different from your only other recent hits, Troy and Mr. and Mrs. Smith, neither of which can be proven to have been successful because of you.

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Now that we’re sure there’s an Avengers movie on the way, and that it will be tied into the movies Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, Ant-Man and Captain America (full title: The First Avenger: Captain America), it’s time to begin speculating on what other characters will be cast to fill out the team’s roster.

In addition to the four characters starring in their own preceding titles, as well as cameo-man Nick Fury, there’s a good chance we’ll see Vision and Black Widow rounding out an even six team members. Yet I speculate on the basis that I haven’t picked up an issue of any Avengers title in at least a decade.

Still, I’m excited about the film and have hopes of seeing at least one of my favorite, deserving superheroes end up on the big screen in The Avengers since none of them will likely get their own movie. Plus, a bunch of them allow for more Marvel movie tie-ins. So, I ask that Marvel Studios feature a lucky seven teammates and showcase at least one of the following come 2011:

1. Ms. Marvel – Neither a favorite nor too familiar a character for me, but seeing as comic book movies are so lacking in female superheroines these days, I feel The Avengers needs at least one other woman besides Black Widow. And as a bonus, there could be a post credits cameo from Anna Paquin, as X-Men’s Rogue. Then, if there’s ever an X-Men 4, or if Rogue gets to appear in a Gambit movie — or god forbid her own solo release — the girl could finally fly (at Ms. Marvel’s expense, of course). …Read more

• Iron Man 2 has a release date! Also, as hinted in the first film’s post-credits scene, and Avengers film is in the works, set to team up Robert Downey Jr’s character with the Incredible Hulk (Edward Norton’s Hulk? Let’s see how much money it makes!), Captain America and Thor.
• Rapper Common has been cast as “a freedom fighter and member of [John] Connor’s inner circle” in that new Terminator sequel where Christian Bale plays a grown-up John Connor.
• It Might Get Loud, a documentary about the history of the electric guitar directed by Davis Guggenheim (the director/producer of An Inconvenient Truth) and featuring appearances from Jack White and Jimmy Page, will make its debut in the market at Cannes.
  
• Milos Forman and Arthur Penn are among a group of major directors who have protested the newly-elected mayor of Rome’s proposal to shut Hollywood films and stars out of the budding Rome Film Festival.

In case you were like me and didn’t stick around after the credits of Iron Man this weekend, you may be in luck. If one of a number of YouTube clips is still up by the time you read this post, then you can kind of see (in a bad quality video capture) Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. approaching Tony “Iron Man” Stark about something called “The Avengers Initiative.” (If the clip above is down, try this one, or try Movieweb’s video, or else find one I’ve missed … or, of course, go see the movie again).

Some non-comic fans who may have stuck around may have wondered who this guy is and what he’s talking about. So, just in time to coincide with the box office news this morning, Marvel Studios officially announced its lineup of adaptations through the next few years. And The Avengers is among the titles, coming to theaters in July 2011.

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• Twenty days after Lionsgate was rumored to be working out a deal with the WGA, the studio has finally reached one. And Marvel Studios has too! Comic book fans everywhere rejoice as Lionsgate’s Punisher: War Zone and Iron Fist and Marvel’s Captain America, Thor, Ant-Man, The Avengers and others are free to continue being written and/or re-written.
• But hey, if the strike doesn’t end soon — the WGA and moguls meet informally again today — Hollywood can just release 3D versions of old movies in 2010. That’s what Disney has planned so far (even if not directly because of the strike) with at least Toy Story and Toy Story 2. I’m fine with it; I love digital 3D, and I think The Incredibles should be next.
• With Sundance just about done, we can look back and say the star-studded films weren’t all that appealing to buyers. Or even well-received by the critics. Now, aren’t you glad you check out the star-less foreign films like I told you to?
• Meanwhile, as part of the trend of buying less-hyped titles, Slamdance has been selling some movies too.