Big comic book cinematic universes seem to be where all the action and attention is these days, following the immense success of Marvel’s ongoing shared universe with their Avengers flagpole title. First, DC Comics took the leap with their in-production Batman vs Superman title that will launch off several DC mainstays into a shared universe, and recently Sony announced big plans to create a huge cinematic universe around the Spider-Man property.

Now, rumors are beginning to surface that 20th Century Fox may be doing the same thing around the two big franchises they still control – X-Men and Fantastic Four.

When you have a world as expansive as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you have a plethora of characters at your disposal. Heroes and villains can be in the solo films, but they can also be in the ensemble ones like The Avengers: Age Of Ultron. Joss Whedon‘s upcoming sequel will feature Ultron, a sentient robot who will have a brand new origins story never introduced in the comics. But there is a rumor now that The Avengers will have to contend with another villain. One of which comes from a faction we have seen before.

The rumor is that Hydra leader Baron Von Strucker is the film’s second villain. Described as a character who is in his 40s-50s, Strucker is a physically augmented human being who appears to be ageless. Though he has died more times than anyone can count, the Nazi officer has risen from the dead just as much, and vowed to rule the world or wipe it out via genocide. And apparently he won’t be alone. Hit the jump to see who Disney/Marvel is interested in filling the role, and which characters will join him in his fight against The Avengers.

We see rumors like this come and go with every big name blockbuster—some of them end up being real; some of them end up being fake. This one, however, happens to come from Variety. So it’s at least worth sharing.

According to the trade, after delivering a strong performance for Warner Brothers in Her, a new movie that’s receiving much praise and garnering plenty of awards chatter, Joaquin Phoenix could be the studio’s choice to play a villain in their upcoming megaflick Batman vs. Superman. Details are not yet known and nothing is official, but it’s thought that this role would be a one Mr. Lex Luthor.

Almost immediately after it was revealed at the San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year that the sequel to Man of Steel would feature Batman, it was unofficially dubbed Batman vs Superman based on some key dialogue read from the graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns which featured Batman and Superman in an epic battle. The film has yet to receive an official title from Warner Bros; however, a recent slate of website domain registrations by Warner Bros may point to a possible official title.

Check out the full list of possibilities after the jump!

With Star Trek reboot director J.J. Abrams jumping over to the other side to take on Star Wars: Episode VII, obviously he was not going to have the time to make Star Trek 3 for Paramount.

But who will replace Abrams? That’s a question that still exists, but according to a report, Paramount is looking at Attack the Block director Joe Cornish for the job.