So, why bother doing an entire post about speculation? The stakes are high, if you've been hoping for more Marvel heroines on the big screen, especially one with superpowers who could also be in The Avengers 2. It's also just so irresistibly old-school Marvel. Let's look at some of the evidence that might just point to the Wasp.

As I said, these are all theories and rumors, based on tidbits of information that may or may not be related. Not to mention that all we really have to go on is that Stephanie Szostak is a female actor in a Marvel movie. There are tons of characters she could be playing -- but the Wasp is looking pretty good.

Rumor Patrol: Iron Man 3 To Introduce The Wasp? [Screen Rant]

Photo credit: Marvel

Yesterday brought the exciting, but not at all unexpected news that Joss Whedon will return to write and direct the sequel to this year's superhero success The Avengers. While that's basically the gist of it, there is a little bit more information coming out about his involvement in not just Avengers 2, but also a live-action Marvel TV series for ABC and further contributions to other Marvel movies. I think this is what happens when you make a bunch of cult shows that get canceled before they should, and then karma repays you generously. Or shawarma. One of those things.

Here is the official statement from Marvel Studios:

“Joss Whedon has signed an exclusive deal with Marvel Studios for film and television through the end of June 2015. As part of that deal, Whedon will write and direct Marvel’s The Avengers 2 as well as help develop a new live action series for Marvel Television at ABC. He will also contribute creatively to the next phase of Marvel’s cinematic universe.”

It's probably safe to say that the Avengers thing was a given. But now Whedon will be involved with the other Marvel movies? Like Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, the sequels to Thor and Captain America? Maybe his contributions will only serve to tie everything together, like the post-credits scenes that led up to The Avengers. Or maybe he'll be in charge of a series of "one shot" short films, like Item 47, which will be on the Blu-ray for The Avengers. Whatever he's doing, it's reassuring news that Whedon is officially on board.

Now, about this live-action TV series. It just so happens that there is already a Marvel TV series in the very early stages of development -- Guillermo del Toro's Hulk series. It also just so happens that del Toro was hinting at a very big name writer for this show following a meeting with Marvel:

I had one meeting with Marvel after Avengers and we had a very, very good chat. We have a writer that we want to bring on board, a very, very concrete name. I can't reveal it, but we want to wait for that writer. It's a writer who is otherwise engaged. So right now we are in a holding pattern until that writer becomes free. Then we're going to do a new draft of the script.

Well, that's curious, isn't it? It's pure speculation, so don't take it as any species of fact or truth, but it's certainly interesting. It's also probably more likely that Whedon has been marinating his own ideas for a while now (::coughcough::Black Widow series::coughcough::), and now he has all this Marvel clout (and money) to make it happen.

As of right now, all we know for sure is that Joss Whedon is Marvel's right-hand man until June 2015. And I doubt anyone will be complaining about that.

Joss Whedon on board for 'Avengers' sequel, working on Marvel-based TV show [EW]

According to The New York Post, Scarlett Johansson will become Hollywood's highest-paid woman, snagging a cool $20 million paycheck for assembling for the sequel to this spring's humble, low-budget sleeper hit The Avengers. This will mean that for her supporting role -- because there was no official lead in the ensemble superhero flick -- she will receive one million more dollars than Angelina Jolie made for her lead role in The Tourist, which was a colossal flop and a running joke at the Golden Globes in 2011. Does this mean more screen time for the Black Widow? Does it mean shawarma every night of the week? Is she making anywhere near what Robert Downey Jr. will make? (Answer to that: No, but no one is, really.)

E! is saying this might just be a rumor, that such a paycheck has not been confirmed by Johansson's reps. But that doesn't necessarily mean that $20 million is that unreasonable, at least by Hollywood standards. For one thing, Scarlett Johansson is what the kids call "like, super famous." And people who are super famous make super amounts of money. Think back to the mid-1990s when Jim Carrey was super famous, at the apex of his career, and became the highest paid comedy actor in Hollywood by getting $20 million (in 1995 dollars!) for The Cable Guy. (A movie that is excellent, by the way.) People thought that was insane! But $20 million now is practically pocket change for The Famous, except when it isn't. Sometimes it's a big deal, like when it's breaking records. Julia Roberts broke that record-slash-glass ceiling after she kicked all that ass in Erin Brokovich back in 2000.

Mostly, if this $20 million paycheck is true, it's a generous raise from the $400,000 Johansson received for her first appearance as Black Widow in Iron Man 2. "We liked you that much, and we also made that much, so let's go ahead and make sure you come back so we can recreate all the good times we had." [Not an actual quote, just an imagined scenario.]

For a comparison, Robert Downey Jr. will probably end up with over $50 million for the first movie (that's including box office bonuses, backend compensation, etc. not just the initial paycheck). The rest of the cast -- Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, and Chris Hemsworth -- all agreed to relatively small salaries plus bonuses and will make $2-3 million each. Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson actually got about twice that much, plus bonuses. However, in addition to Johansson, everyone will likely get themselves a hefty, hefty raise for the sequel.

But if you really want to stick someone with the bar tab, make it Johnny Depp, who made an estimated $250 million on all the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

(New York Post via Blastr)