The internet made things easy on us today. Although Iron Man 2 opens in the US on May 7, it had its L.A. premiere last night ahead of its international releases this week. And in true Tony Stark form, it hogged the limelight.

Scarlett Johansson tells MTV Splash Page the obvious – that there’s no current plans for a Black Widow spin-off, nor is there a roster spot for her in the upcoming Avengers movie. We say, her action-genre resume prior to Iron Man 2 was solely comprised of two stinkers – The Island and The Spirit - so it’s probably good Marvel didn’t lock her in for the full package until after they got to see the finished product. We’re anxiously awaiting to see if she can successfully pull of the role, but we’ll be honest; we don’t have high expectations.

Iron Man 2 is getting an IMAX release day-and-date with the standard theatrical release, but High-Def Digest warns us to beware of imposters when choosing an IMAX theater for the big night. Here’s something we didn’t know – there are more than a few theaters claiming to be IMAX when they’re just souped-up standard screens:

“Teaming with cinema chains including AMC and Regal, they retrofitted existing non-IMAX theatres. Ladies and gentlemen, the birth of “fake IMAX.” Apparently these retrofits were almost called “Digital IMAX” or “IMAX Digital”, but executives were worried the “Digital” moniker would hurt “older” (real) IMAX15/70 screens. And who knows, marketing people are occasionally right about these things. But here’s the truth: the digital IMAX screens are only 28 feet x 58 feet. Sure, that’s still a nice-sized screen, but with a minimum $5-per-ticket surcharge for the IMAX brand, you’re not getting the same spectacle, quality, or size.”

There’s just one problem here. Iron Man 2 was not shot in IMAX, but rather in traditional 35mm format. What does this mean? It means it will be blown up to meet the 70mm standards of IMAX film. This is the equivalent of buying a standard DVD and upconverting it on your 1080p HDTV, but paying a Blu-ray premium price. Our advice? IMAX is cool when it’s used correctly, but here you’ll just be wasting the $5 surcharge for the IMAX theater. Save that money and buy a movie tie-in toy for your kids instead.

But with the Iron Mania approaching ludicrous speed, one question remains with the droves of Marvelites eagerly awaiting May 7 – is it any good? A few outlets are already publishing their reviews. Variety says it “the new pic feels more duty-bound and industrial”, a reversal from the original film’s “boyant and occasionally inspired” tone. The Hollywood Reporter writes, “everything fun and terrific about Iron Man, a mere two years ago, has vanished with its sequel”. Both early reviews make mention of the script’s odd pacing, lack of focus and absence of the character’s apparent motivations.

We think it’s too soon to call it, but consider us worried. Will this end up being the Spider-Man 3 of the young film franchise, albeit one sequel early? By strategically interweaving all of their produced films within the same celluloid universe, did Marvel show their seams of being a relatively green studio hot off a lucky streak?

If Iron Man 2 fails to capture the audience of the first film, there could be major fallout. Thor and Captain America are in production but could definitely use some momentum from Marvel’s tentpole film franchise. Thor is a relatively obscure superhero with an unknown cast in the lead and a story that’s half modern-day, half Clash of the Titans. Captain America went young and booked Chris Evans for the lead role when it could have gone established with popular choices Jon Hamm and Aaron Eckhart. On top of that, Marvel hired director Joe Johnston, fresh off the box office bomb The Wolfman, to helm the film which is being pitched as a WWII period piece.

Then to top it off, there’s the payoff – The Avengers - which we could see not even happening if the next three movies are strikes. If it goes that way we’d bet Marvel would replace fan-favorite Joss Whedon with a more established, explosive marquee director to get the wind back behind the company’s sails. And then you can go ahead and forget about those proposed smaller films like Ant-Man and Doctor Strange, ’cause they ain’t happening.

But we’re getting way ahead of ourselves here. The doomsday scenario we are proposing is enough to start a new crossover event, so let’s just see what happens after opening weekend, okay? Deep breath, deep breath…

MDIAG! Assemble…the other big stories of the day:

Watching R-Rated Films Linked to Early Alcohol Use [/Film]

Dreamworks Making Sequel to How To Train Your Dragon; Will Be In Theaters In 2013 [/Film]

How Game and Movie Ratings Work [Kotaku]