Uh oh, Pepper looks pissed. And Tony looks alone. What happened to all his friends?

Garry Shandling makes his big debut as Senator Stern, so Tony mocks him, naturally.

See Tony is alone. Empty chairs. Empty soul. It's lonely at the top.

But wait, it's Rhodey, he's back...and he looks pissed. And who's that to Rhodey's left? It's Sam Rockwell, as Justin Hammer. Did they walk in together? And where did Pepper go? Where's Happy?

Same sexual chemistry between Pepper and Tony, check. But then again I think RDJ is so charming he could have chemistry with a lamp post... lucky lamp post.

Iron Man is America, and a rock star. And look in the background — it's the Iron Man dancers, thus proving the slutty Halloween rule to be true: any outfit can be made whorish.

These gloves could very well be the best little party favors ever. Please hand these out at Comic Con!

Whiplash is obsessed. See? See? He has newspaper clippings. And newspaper clipping are to stalkers what glasses are to shy mousy girls with a hot girl dying to get out inside: stereotypical. But let's assume that since he's spent so much time cataloguing the family story, that this grudge may go way, way back. Since he's had time to make a scrap book.

Who hit Tony?

The garage is all cleaned up and stocked with new rich guy toys. Bruce Wayne who?

What is happening to Tony's neck?

Yikes it's spreading. Tony is literally turning into an Iron Man. Also, he could be turning into a human computer, which has happened in the Iron Man comics before.

More Justin Hammer, and in perfect timing with Whiplash's "shark" comment.

Nick Fury just wants to get motherfucking Tony onto the motherfucking team.

More Iron Man-ettes. I suspect this may be a banner year for the cosplay fans.

Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff in her Black Widow "business casual" attire.

War Machine prototype!

Is the Black Widow working for Rhodey? Is that her in the background?

Black Widow in her ass kicking attire, is she beating up Happy? I bet Jon Favreau just loved that.

Whiplash finally shows us what his lightsaber whips can do — which is break Tony's car.

Which he does.

I'm still not sold on the Whiplash outfit, but it does look pretty bad ass from behind.

Uh oh — will Tony be Whiplashed in half, or will the bad guy just show off some more? Answer: Show off.

Whiplash has nasty metal mouth.

What is this flying contraption? It looks like it's shooting at Iron Man? Multiple Mecha suits?

A first look at War Machine, and Tony's new suit, with a triangle chest plate. Is this due to the metal veins? Also the background is filled with power suits, almost like an Armor War...

War Machine and Tony fight other mechas and you get a faceful of War Machines shoulder gun, and Tony's fully reconstructed suit, Mark VI. Very nice. So who thinks they are filming the Armor Wars story?

1. In the nerd equivalent of heaven, James Cameron and Peter Jackson attended their first Comic-Con, and did a panel together where they talk about the future of film-making and Jackson reveals that a script for The Hobbit, his Lord of the Rings prequel, will be finished in a month. [Zap2It]

2. Lost isn't known for parting with information easily, but they did have some good tidbits at their panel. Characters Juliet and Daniel Faraday will be back for the final season. Also in season six: no more time travel, the return of Charlie and Boone, the backstory for the enigmatic Richard Alpert, and some allusions to what may be alternate timelines. Damn, that shit makes our brain hurt. [EOnline]

3. Warner Bros. tried to roll out the new Patricia Heaton comedy The Middle at their Mom-A-Con. No one showed for the counter programming. Everyone said, "Mom, stop embarrasing me!" [THRFeed]

4. Hayden Panettiere is going to get some girl-on-girl action for the new season of Heroes. Yeah, cause that is what is going to fix this show. [io9]

5. Two scenes from the upcoming Twilight sequel, New Moon, were screened. Lots of girls screamed. [CelebrityCafe]

6. Iron Man 2 is going to fucking rule. Fans were excited by footage that shows Samuel L. Jackson's return as Nick Fury, Mickey Rourke playing new villain Whiplash, and a bunch of awesome special effects. Robert Downey Jr, director Jon Favreau, and new additions Scarlett Johannson (who plays sexy spy Black Widow) and Don Cheadle (replacing Terrence Howard) were all in attendance. That's either an A-List Comic-Con panel or a night at The Waverly Inn. [EW]

7. Ok, Iron Man gets two entries because the sequel is laying the foundation for Marvel's much anticipated (among comic geeks) Avengers movie (not the crappy Uma Thurmond one, this one has Captain American and shit). [EOnline]

8. We haven't seen the last of Battlestar Galactica, Edward James Olmos' career to continue. [io9]

9. You're probably not going to see Family Guy's "Abortion Episode," at least on the air, but it will probably be on DVD. What? Fox suddenly has standards? [LAT]

10. Alien invasion drama Vis back and the geeks love it. Is there anything left from the '80s for us to bring back? Alf, maybe? [THRFeed]

At least, that's what Star magazine hears. Via The Sun:

[Johansson] has reportedly lost over 14lbs since she began working out with her Iron Man 2 co-star in preparation for the movie.

A source told Star magazine: "The pair have been doing daily workouts with Gwyneth's personal trainer TRACY ANDERSON."

Maybe Johansson can complain further about the extreme weight loss plan (as she did a couple of weeks ago in London) on Paltrow's website Goop, cementing its position as the definitive online shop of body-image horrors.

Mere months after Marvel had to sub in Don Cheadle for Terrence Howard when the latter found Iron Man 2's War Machine suit not sufficiently baby-wiped, Samuel L. Jackson has announced that he may not be returning as Nick Fury. The character was introduced in a quick scene after the original Iron Man's closing credits, but Marvel had big plans to keep Fury (whose comic-book redesign was actually based on Jackson) around for the sequel and, ultimately, its superhero crossoverpalooza The Avengers. Now, not so much, Jackson tells the LAT:

"I saw ['Iron Man' and 'Iron Man 2' director] Jon Favreau at the Scream Awards and we had a conversation. He said, 'I hope things are working out for you because we're writing stuff for you.' Then all of a sudden last week I talked to my agents and manager and things aren't really working that well."

"There was a huge kind of negotiation that broke down. I don't know. Maybe I won't be Nick Fury. Maybe somebody else will be Nick Fury or maybe Nick Fury won't be in it. There seems to be an economic crisis in the Marvel Comics world so [they're saying to me], 'We're not making that deal.'"

Still, like I told the actor, he has a big advantage on his side: Who else wants to wear that patch, especially since the character is based on Jackson? Jackson laughed. "Maybe nobody will wear it. Maybe they'll decide Nick Fury won't be part of it."

We were always curious how Marvel planned to budget an Avengers movie that would include the well-compensated Downey Jr., plus Cheadle, Jackson, Edward Norton as the Hulk, and the yet-to-be-cast stars for Captain America and Thor. Now, we feel we're getting the picture: Downey Jr will no doubt return, but Marvel will enact its third recast for War Machine (how about that kid from 90210?) and fill out the rest of its dirt-cheap Avengers with the entire cast of Gossip Girl. Westwick SMASH!

• Nick Fury no more? Samuel L. Jackson says 'Maybe I won't be Nick Fury' [LAT]

In addition to playing a sadistic game of peekaboo with Sin City fans desperate to see him reprise his role in the sequel, he's officially joined the dick-swinging dream cast of Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables.

But were that all! The trades are now reporting that Rourke is close to playing a villain (alongside Sam Rockwell) in the Iron Man sequel—THR says it's Whiplash, Variety, the Crimson Dynamo.

Rourke is in discussions to play a villain described as Tony Stark's Russian alter ego, a heavily tattooed bruiser who is in the arms trade and battles Iron Man in his own nuclear-powered armored suit. [...]

The script — which is still being written — is a guarded secret, but speculation is that villain is likely comicbook nemesis Crimson Dynamo.

What a difference one astonishing performance in a brilliant comeback vehicle makes. Not since Tina Turner escaped Ike's clutches have we seen a career revival of this magnitude, with Rourke too shaking off decades of skull-pounding uppercuts and right hooks to once again become the lumpy toast of Hollywood.

• Mickey Rourke sizes up 'Iron Man 2' [Variety]
• Rourke, Rockwell circle 'Iron Man 2' [THR]

When asked if he had anything to do with the Howard/Cheadle switch, Downey immediately responded, “I had nothing to do with that decision. I love Terrence very very much. That’s all I’ll say because I haven’t talked to him yet.”

Furthermore, the Iron Man star makes it clear that he will not play favorites between the two equally talented actors, so if you’re looking for a juicy “good riddance” quote from Downey [...] you won’t find it here.

“I’ve always admired Don [Cheadle],” said Downey. “It’s one of those situations where I still don’t quite know what happened or why. Here’s what happens too: things happen and you wind up commenting on them before you’ve actually talked to the people and it’s in poor taste.”

Of course we're nothing if not helpful, so here's Howard's account, and here's Marvel's (we think). Please file your response in the comments below; we have a rally to get to!

• EXCLUSIVE: Robert Downey Jr. On Terrence Howard/Don Cheadle ‘Iron Man 2’ Swap [MTV]

Those with intimate knowledge of the situation suggest a far more dramatic backstory: Howard was the first actor signed to the film and, on top of that, was the highest-paid. That's right: more than Gwyneth Paltrow. More than Jeff Bridges. More than Robert Downey Jr. And once the project fully came together, it was too late to renegotiate his deal. It didn't help that, according to one source, Favreau and his producers were ultimately unhappy with Howard's performance, and spent a lot of time cutting and reshooting his scenes.

...As such, when Favreau and screenwriter Justin Theroux went to map out the sequel they found themselves minimizing Howard's story line. Once Marvel learned that Favreau was thinking of curtailing the role, the studio went to the actor's agents with a new and drastically reduced offer — a number that's similar to what supporting cast members were paid for the first movie. The agents, according to sources, were so taken aback by this new figure — estimated at somewhere between a 50 and 80 percent pay cut — that they questioned it.

Yes, it's hard to believe Howard wouldn't take Marvel up on their awkward offer. "Hey, uh, Terrence! So, we're going to start the sequel with you already in the War Machine suit. And, uh, you never come out of it. Plus, no musical number. So, how about $500 grand and a few net points?"

• 'Iron Man 2': How Terrence Howard Lost His Metal [EW]

ARE YOU A FAN? THEN YOU SHOULD BE OUTRAGED AT MARVEL! [...]

Marvel is under the impression that just any person can play Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes. They are sadly mistaken. Marvel asked Terrence Howard to be Rhodey. He signed on to play Rhodey. Terrence Howard became Rhodey.

We were under the impression that when you signed a contract with someone, it was their word. "That's how Dad did it. That's how America does it. And it's worked out pretty good so far."

Signed,

Future Ticket Holders

And outrage is mounting at the petition site, where nearly 900 of those angry FTH's have stormed the barricades with pickets screaming, "Marvel you're going to pay for your wretched treachery," "I support this petition With all my power and right to the death," " Ya lol i agree! down with Cheadle! Up with Howard!" and — in the equivalent of a dirty bomb thrown in Marvel's lobby — "Terrance [sic] Howard o nada! mejor cancelen Iron Man 2." Surely whenever the SWAT team is finished over at MGM Tower, they'll be on the spot in Beverly Hills.

• Terrence Howard as War Machine in 'Iron Man 2' [HowardNotCheadle.com]

TH: It was the surprise of a lifetime, you know? It really was. I was like, "Wait a minute, How did this take place?" There was no explanation, but it was gone. It was gone like life; it up and vanished. Then I read something in the trades that implicated it was about money or something. But apparently the contracts that we write and sign aren't worth the paper that they're printed on. [...] And now the challenge is not to be angry, but you just keep moving forward. You keep moving forward. Like a lot of Americans, I lost my 401(k), basically, because that was a very promising thing. But to have to keep working, that's even more promising.

NPR: You've played pimps. Is there a difference between their business principals and the ones in Hollywood?

TH: No. Promises aren't kept, and good-faith negotiations aren't always held up. You know? Even friendships, people you support. When it comes down to it, the only true support you have is the work that you've done — the laurels of your work and the ethics by which you stand.

For Marvel's part, president of production Kevin Feige first offered no comment to MTV News, later implying that even Cheadle isn't necessarily booked for the sequel: “As is the policy with most people, when you talk about dotting I’s and crossing T’s, certainly that isn’t the case yet on a number of things we’re doing. But that [Hollywood Reporter story] was not an announcement. That was, as it tends to happen in the business, is rumors and leaks and things like that. I do think there will be clarity soon.” No rush, Kev — only 18 months until Iron Man 2 opens, and Justin Theroux was desperately hoping to cut Howard's climactic, contractually obligated musical number anyway.

• Terrence Howard Talks Tunes, Family, Science [NPR]

• Terrence Howard Calls ‘Iron Man’ Casting Switch A ‘Surprise’ [MTV News]

You know, I tremulously went and watched The Dark Knight myself, but it's a totally different movie, like, you know that Tom Cruise movie where he played the race-car driver? What was that movie called … anyway. It's like comparing that movie to Talladega Nights — it's two totally different animals. We have a leading man who can sort of relish being a cad, and that's a fun character to write for. We feel like we're in the clear.

Fair enough, Theroux — war is war, but face it: If Jon Favreau would simply bother to rival Tony Scott's Day-Glo Days of Thunder diapers, the best of both visionary worlds could be yours.

• ‘Tropic Thunder’ Writer Justin Theroux on ‘Simple Jack,’ ‘Iron Man 2,’ and Stupid Actors [Vulture]