Tons of Marvel announcements last weekend, so I’m going to bullet point all the major ones and there will be links at the end if you want to read all the fine details about each. Facts are, all of these bit of info can easily be summed up in a few lines, so why bother will all the filler? Let’s just cut to the chase and deliver the good stuff.

– Mark Ruffalo is officially in as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in THE AVENGERS, making him the third actor in less than ten years to play Marvel’s Big Green Guy. The word was initially broke by Deadline and was confirmed on-stage at the AVENGERS panel by director Joss Whedon. While Ruffalo is a good choice, I really wish that Marvel had settled it’s differences with Edward Norton and brought him back.

– Also in is HURT LOCKER star Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye. This bit had been rumored for months now, but was officially confirmed by Whedon. Any who’s been following this guy (I remember him way back in NATIONAL LAMPOON’S SENIOR TRIP), knows that Renner is pretty much awesome in whatever he does and that he’ll, no doubt, do a good job as Hawkeye.

For those keeping count, the line-up for THE AVENGERS will be Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury, Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Renner as Hawkeye and Ruffalo as Hulk. This is THE AVENGERS line-up, meaning that Ant-Man and Wasp are apparently NOT going to be in the flick (at least not as part of the main team).

Oh, and here’s a pic of the entire line-up on-stage at SDCC (courtesy of AICN). If you’re wondering who the two at the far right are that’s writer/director Joss Whedon and Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige.

– Speaking of Feige, dude revealed that the character of The Punisher has fallen back into the hands of Marvel Studios and that they are planning yet another reboot of the character. For those keeping count, this new version marks the FOURTH time the character has been brought to the big-screen. The first was the 1989 take with Dolph Lundgren, the second was the Thomas Jane VS John Travolta version back in 2004 and the last one was PUNISHER WAR ZONE which hit theaters back during Christmas 2008. Personally, I dig all three takes and I really wish they’d just stick with a Punisher and go with it. How many different times do I have to see this guy’s origin? (via CinemaBlend)

– Both the Cosmic Cube AND the Infinity Gauntlet are going to be integrated into the Marvel film-verse. The Cube is featured prominently in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, reportedly giving the film a HELLBOY-esque vibe. As for the Gauntlet, no official word yet on which film it will show up in (or if Thanos will be the one wielding it), but Marvel rolled the prop out onto the SDCC floor in the closing moments of the AVENGERS panel. Here’s a pic (courtesy of /film):

One has to assume that maybe the Gauntlet will be the centerpiece of THE AVENGERS and that Thanos might be the big bad. This is all speculation, of course, but I could definitely see Whedon going this. It makes sense and the fact that there is a Infinity Gauntlet prop just lends credence to this thought.

– Natalie Portman has signed on to do more than one THOR film, but she won’t be appearing in THE AVENGERS. Not a giant announcement, but since I really dig Portman, I figured it was worth noting.

– Oh and since Ant-Man won’t be appearing in THE AVENGERS, that means that Nathan Fillion won’t be playing him. Whedon himself confirmed this, scope the video below:

[via CinemaBlend, AICN, /film, CHUD, Deadline, Topless Robot]