Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, confirmed that the upcoming The First Avenger: Captain America will be a World War II period piece, like the comic book on which it is based, and he shot down a rumor that Matthew McConaughey was in line to play the hero.

Feige, speaking to online journalists at Universal Studios on May 21, added that Captain America would help set up the eventual Avengers movie, which follows six weeks later. (Feige also confirmed what many fans have speculated: that the star-shaped object in Tony Stark’s workshop in Iron Man is indeed part of Cap’s famous shield.)

Feige also talked about the upcoming Thor movie, confirming that it will take place mostly in Asgard, the mythical Norse realm of the gods, and not in the contemporary real world. “The film is not all Asgard, but it will be a big chunk in Asgard, yeah,” Feige said.

Feige promised an announcement about a director for Thor “later this summer.” Mark Protosevich (The Cell) is drafting a script, which should be submitted in a couple of weeks, he added.

Feige also confirmed release dates for Marvel’s future slate of superhero movies: Iron Man 2 on April 30, 2010; Thor on June 4, 2010; The First Avenger: Captain America on May 6, 2011; and The Avengers on July 1, 2011.

As for a second Iron Man movie, Feige said that talks are underway with director Jon Favreau to return and that he hopes to wrap them up soon.

Feige spoke at a preview of footage from Louis Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk, which opens June 13; look for a report about the preview next week on SCI FI Wire

As far as Highlander is concerned, I propose a new quote for the Immortals: “There should have been only one.” The original movie doesn’t need a remake, because its already outstanding. Nothing like it had been filmed before. It was a rare, rare thing – a completely new story told in a business of constantly regurgitated garbage. No wonder it failed at the box office; I doubt the studio had any idea how to market it. And no wonder it did so well with fans and has lasted so long. It still holds up to this day, hand-drawn animated effects and all. Its just too bad all the sequels are crap. In all honesty, I don’t see how a remake could be any worse than what they’ve already done, but then again the first movie is the only one that doesn’t need to be remade.

Highlander To Live Again

Summit Entertainment is developing a reboot movie of 1986′s SF cult hit Highlander, with Iron Man co-writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway on board to pen the reimagining, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The original Highlander starred Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery and Clancy Brown as immortal beings battling among humans, hunting down one another and collecting more power. The film went out to spur several sequels and TV series, as well as games, books and other spinoffs.

Summit acquired the remake rights from Davis/Panzer Productions. Peter Davis, one of the original producers of the 1986 film, also will produce the new film.

Transformers 2 Secrets Revealed!

Transformers co-writer Roberto Orci told SCIFI Wire that the soon-to-shoot sequel will build on the first film, delve deeper into established characters and devote screen time to a favorite Transformer from the original animated TV series. (Possible spoilers ahead!)

Orci and his longtime writing partner Alex Kurtzman scripted the first Transformers movie and have written the story for Transformers 2; Ehren Kruger (The Ring) drafted the screenplay, and Michael Bay is set to return to the director’s chair.

“We want to follow some of our lead characters, which we thought were so successful,” Orci said in an interview in New York while promoting the upcoming Fox SF TV series Fringe. “Shia LaBeouf’s character, [Sam Witwicky, was] amazing. Where is he two years later? His girlfriend, [Mikaela, played by Megan Fox,] where is she two years later? But for fans–I guess I’ll address this more to fans– … I think if you didn’t know Transformers at all and you liked the first movie, you’ll like the second one.”

Orci added that some of the diehard franchise fans may have wanted the film to be less light-hearted and have more science fiction. “I think the second one will deliver on a true Transformers story,” he said. “You know, the first one, we had a limited budget for what it was. Every second of Transformer time is $1 million or whatever the heck it is. So this time, because we were able to prove, thank God, through the whole thing that it’s a viable live-action movie, we have a little more freedom this time to actually learn about the Transformers, to see them, hear them. … It’s a better balance between the humans and the Transformers.”

Orci was coy at first about the identity of the Transformer character he felt most compelled to include in the sequel. But he relented after a moment. “I’ll tell you, man,” he said. “We had to get Soundwave in there.” Where Soundwave goes, Ravage will follow? “Perhaps,” he said. “You know, we had Ravage in an early draft of the first movie, and Soundwave, and we couldn’t do it right. I think this time, hopefully, we’ll have the ability to do it.”

Separately, Transformers star Tyrese Gibson told SCI FI Wire that the sequel will do things that haven’t been done before. “There’s going to be some real, one-of-a-kind things going on in this,” Gibson (Tech Sgt. Epps) said in an interview on the New Mexico set of Legion, which he is currently filming.

Gibson added: “Michael Bay is really going to try and up the ante on round two and take it to a whole other level. I can’t go into any detail, but it’s going to be some real one-of-a-kind things going on in this movie that no one has ever visually seen in their life. Michael Bay is really fired up and trying to outdo what he did on the first round.”

The Allentown, Pa., Morning Call newspaper, meanwhile, contained a report about future location shooting for the film in the old Pennsylvania steel town. Transformers 2 will open June 26, 2009.