June
17 'Hulk' does well, but is it a hit?

"The Incredible Hulk" smashed its way to the top of the box office last weekend with a domestic gross of $55 million. What's especially interesting is that the film is being hailed as a success all around when compared to the 2003 Ang Lee version, which opened with $62 million. Seems like it may be a bit early to declare victory on the b.o. front, even though the new film is fun, engaging and easy to watch in a way that Lee's more complicated version was not.

The story behind the movie continues to fascinate, with Anne Thompson setting the record straight on the matter. Turns out while there's something there, it's far less salacious than most sites have made it out to be.

Meanwhile, "Incredible Hulk" director Louis Leterrier says that the eventual Blu-Ray DVD release of the film will include 70 minutes of additional footage, including the cut Captain America scene. As for a sequel, Leterrier tells MTV that he'd like to leave it up to the fans to decide whether a sequel would feature the Leader or Doc Samson as the villain. Fans over at ComicBookMovie.com are voting in an impromptu poll, with the Leader way out in front, followed most closely by the option for "both."

In other Marvel movie news: Fans' joy over the success of "Iron Man" has turned to worries about director Jon Favreau not having been signed to direct the sequel. Word went out a while back that Marvel had not signed the director to helm a second film for the Golden Avenger. Reports have since surfaced that talks have begun. Favreau appears up for it, though he's questioned on his MySpace group whether the planned release date of 2010 isn't pushing it. He also talks about possible villains for a sequel, with The Mandarin being a likely candidate.

As for the rest of the Marvel movie lineup, the most recent oddball-unlikely rumor concerns a report from LatinoReview that Leonardo DiCaprio sits atop Marvel's wish list to play Captain America.

And lastly, new pics from next summer's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" have been showing up online, confirming the film will follow the comics' lead in turning Logan onto a meaner, mutant version of Forrest Gump — i.e, a really old guy who's been involved in every historic event of the 20th century.