Good Friday SF News Round-Up

Is Joss Whedon in line to direct Avengers movie? Kenneth Branagh on Thor . Captain America ’s Bucky cast. And more…

Open up that Easter Alien Egg for a brief round-up of news sweeties (oh God, this has all gone a bit The Day Today ):

• IESB is boasting the exclusive that Joss Whedon is on the shortlist to direct the Avengers movie, and, even though the story went up yesterday, states in capital letters: "THIS IS NOT AN APRIL FOOL'S JOKE".
• The second half of Stargate Universe ’s first season has only just started airing and already Syfy is bigging up season two. The US network has announced that Robert ( Heroes , Prison Break ) Knepper and Julie ( Supernatural , Mad Men ) McNiven have been signed up as guest stars to the second season of the hit series. Knepper will portray Simeon, a member of the Lucian Alliance, in a six-episode arc. McNiven is set for a five-episode arc, portraying Ginn, also a member of the Lucian Alliance. Season two of Stargate Universe kicks off in the autumn.
• The Captain America movie has cast its Bucky, the World War II sidekick of the star-spangled superhero, according to The Hollywood Reporter 's Heat Vision Blog . He is Sebastian Stan, who actually auditioned for the starring role that went to Chris Evans. Stan is best known for his role in the TV show Gossip Girl , and has also recently appeared in Hot Tub Time Machine .
• Director Kenneth Brannagh has been talking to The LA Times about how he's handling the contrasting locations – Earth and Asgard – in the Thor movie: “Inspired by the comic book world both pictorially and compositionally at once, we've tried to find a way to make a virtue and a celebration of the distinction between the worlds that exist in the film but absolutely make them live in the same world. It’s about finding the framing style, the color palette, finding the texture and the amount of camera movement that helps celebrate and express the differences and the distinctions in those worlds. If it succeeds, it will mark this film as different.... The combination of the primitive and the sophisticated, the ancient and the modern, I think that potentially is the exciting fusion, the exciting tension in the film.”