Mads Mikkelsen, perhaps best known as the baddie in Casino Royale, is in talks to play the villain in next year's Thor 2. As for who Mikkelsen will be playing, that's still an open question.

Despite the appearance of a certain space titan in an Avengers post-credit sequence, word on the street -- okay, word from Chris "Thor" Hemsworth himself -- is that Thanos won't be Thor 2's main antagonist.

"We need a bigger fish," Hemsworth said, with typical God of Thunder swagger. He says Thanos as a villain would be "too easy."

Meanwhile, Iron Man 3 has picked up Ashley Hamilton as Firepower, a villain who creates a suit to rival Tony Stark's, and later finds himself in the employ of Stark's archnemesis, The Mandarin.

It's not yet clear whether the Mandarin himself will appear in the film, but Variety has confirmed rumors that the plot will borrow elements from Warren Ellis' six-issue Iron Man: Extremis story arc, which involves the spread of a nanotech virus.

Thor 2 hits on November 15, 2013, and Iron Man 3 arrives May 3, 2013.

[slashfilm.]

The upcoming Steve Jobs biopic, Jobs: Get Inspired, has found its Steve Wozniak to Ashton Kutcher's Steve Jobs: Book of Mormon star Josh Gad.

Gad will likely have a big part in the film, which covers the period from 1971-2000, including Jobs and Wozniak's co-founding of Apple Computer, Inc. (Un?)fortunately, it doesn't include the latter-day, Segway-riding, Star-dancing Wonderful Wizard of Woz.

No word on whether Gad got the part by being first in line at the audition.

[gizmodo.]

Marvel is reportedly looking at actress Jessica Chastain for the role of "a sexy scientist every bit as smart as Tony Stark" in Iron Man 3.

Chastain, recently seen in Tree of Life and The Help, had previously been offered the part, but had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts. In the meantime, Marvel reportedly talked to Isla Fisher, Gemma Arterton and Diane Kruger.

What the addition of Chastain's character means for the relationship between Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) remains to be seen.

[deadline.]

Square Enix has announced that John Delancie, known to geeks as Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Q", will star in Portal co-creator Kim Swift's dimension-bending puzzler, Quantum Conundrum.

Delancie plays Professor Fitz Quadwrangle, the protagonist's uncle and inventor of a glove that allows players to hop into dimensions like "fluffy," "slow motion" and "reverse gravity" at will.

"I sort of know that character pretty well," Delancie says, "He's a completely self-absorbed, somewhat arrogant, very effusive, funny sort of guy."

Sound like anybody Captain Picard knows?

[joystiq]

AMC's The Walking Dead has cast Danai Gurira (Treme) as Michonne, the sword-swinging, zombie-slaying heroine who plays a major role in Robert Kirkman's comic series. The character made her debut in the show's season finale, and Kirkman says she'll be a big part of season three.

Walking Dead showrunner Glen Mazzara says the TV version of Michonne won't be exactly the same as she was in the comics.

"We know that she's a loner, we know she kicks ass. But we have some other traits about that her that are not in the comic book that we'll deviate," he said, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

Mazzara said Michonne would be sticking around as a major character, presumably to help the group battle the evil Governor (who, it was recently revealed, will be played by David Morrissey).

Kirkman has also published a 6-page comic telling Michonne's origin story in the April issue of Playboy, which came out last Friday. The first two pages are online.

Season 3 of The Walking Dead begins production this spring.

[hollywoodreporter]