What better way to kick off the holiday season than with a cavalcade of Marvel Cinematic Universe news? Since you’re likely doing things like drinking your body weight in eggnog and preparing to brave the horrors of holiday travel, let me serve as The Watcher for you and take you on a fantastical voyage into the world of the MCU.

Ant-Man

Every time a piece of big time fanboy casting news gets dropped, I’ve been tempted to make a “Christmas came early” joke, but never has it been more sincere than in the case of Paul Rudd officially getting cast as Marvel’s Ant-Man in the Edgar Wright-directed film of the same name. Earlier this week we reported that Rudd was in talks with Marvel about the role, but now it’s official, perhaps aided by the fact that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be taking on The Sandman for DC.

And it gets even better because Jason Segel will play Hank Pym’s surly sidekick, Thorax the Trusty Talking Ant! Wait, sorry, I had my fan fiction still pulled up instead of my notes. While Marvel remains mum about other casting for the film, many Internet sleuthsters are pointing to Rashida Jones as a likely candidate to play Janet Van Dyne, better known to True Believers as The Wasp.

Amazing Spider-Man 2

After last week’s cavalcade of villain-filled trailers and villain-filled sequels, it’s no small wonder that there’s anything left to talk about before Marc Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man 2 hits theaters on May 2, 2014. Moviefone spoke with actor Chris Cooper about his upcoming role, explaining that “this is a very strange introduction for Norman Osborn.” The actor “can’t reveal why it’s that way,” but he notes that “this is not the beginning of Norman. It is the introduction, but it’s not the beginning, and I think that’s as far as I can go.”

When pressed on whether he did any green screen work for the sequel, he confirmed that he did not, but “maybe in the Spider-Man 3, that’ll be, that’ll be a big part.” He also said that he “was under the impression that this was going to carry on” in regards to doing future films.

And if that wasn’t enough for you, Comic Book Resources shared this new teaser poster of Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborn looking like he’s ready for the X Games or, at the very least, a Pitbull concert.

X-Men: Apocalypse

Even before X-Men: Days of Future Past could make its way to movie theaters, director Bryan Singer blew up the Twittersphere with the announcement of 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse. Last night, we got a small update on the process in the form of another Singer tweet.

Late night #XMen #Apocalypse story session. #SimonKinberg @DanimalHarris @Mike_Dougherty It’s snowing in Egypt! pic.twitter.com/GtJs3VgZ3M

— Bryan Singer (@BryanSinger) December 19, 2013

Ah, so these are the Stepford Cuckoos behind the X-Men. To give you a sense of their pedigree, Kinberg is a screenwriter on Days of Future Past, and both Dougherty and Harris were writers on X2: X-Men United. As for that cryptic “It’s snowing in Egypt!” comment, that could be a reference to the recent real world weird weather in Egypt, but it could also refer to Apocalypse’s Egyptian origins. Either way, progress is being made.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Speaking with At Tha Movies, Guardians of the Galaxy star Michael Rooker talked about the process of getting into character for Yondu, which included spending six hours in a makeup chair.

And, lucky for us, he’s beyond pleased with the results:

“In the end, at the end, we did a huge photo session and I saw the end result in some of the lighting we we’re using and I was just blown away. I saw the photograph and it was really… I mean I had seen it in the mirror with really bad lights and I’ve seen myself on a video you know, little feedbacks and replays, but on the set. Now I finally see myself a photo of myself with a real camera, a real lens and real lighting and brother… It… was… beautiful. The first time I saw what real people are going to see and it was stunning, stunning, it just… I can’t describe it… it just looked like real skin. It was so believable, it’s amazing, it amazed me and it totally blew me away, stunning, beautiful and I couldn’t believe it. It made me think that I was working with real artists.”

In case you’re curious what he looks like, earlier this year, SuperheroHype managed to snag some set photos of Rooker in costume. I’d say between Jamie Foxx and himself, Rooker’s winning the battle of the blue by a mile. Sign them both up for a gritty Smurfs reboot, I say!

Avengers: Age of Ultron

While we’re all waiting with bated breath to hear James Spader make us squirm in our seats as power-hungry murderbot Ultron in Joss Whedon’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Latino Review is reporting that another villain will be entering the fray. El Mayimbe noticed that a casting breakdown was making the rounds in which Marvel was looking for a “PHYSICALLY IMPOSING MAN, age range 40-50, Caucasian, for a supporting role”. As it turns out, that supporting role is none other than Baron von Strucker, the monocled former Nazi-turned-leader of HYDRA and general pain in the ass for S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers.

Just how will the bald Baron fit into Marvel’s plans? This is a bit of a spoiler, but the article notes that when we first meet Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, they are working for Baron von Strucker, which raises the question of whether they’ll be part of HYDRA or part of the Masters of Evil. In any event, when ex-Nazis are involved, it’s never a good sign.

According to the article, Marvel has shown an interest in actors Dougray Scott (Strike Back, Hemlock Grove) and Martin Csokas (Noah, The Amazing Spider-Man 2). It’s important to note that they haven’t entered into talks yet; it’s just an interest.  That being said, who would you like to see in the role?

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And there you have it, folks. What do you make of all this? Who else would you like to see in the Ant-Man film? Let us know in the comments below!