Is it even news that “Iron Man 2” dominated the box office this weekend, pulling in $133.6 million in North America and an additional $57.2 million internationally? No, probably not.

The most interesting conversation to be had about “Iron Man 2” isn’t about the money, but about the movie itself, and what it represents for the genre. Matt Zoller Seitz has written a piece for Salon about his frustration with the limits of superhero movies, which is echoing through the blogosphere like Christopher Reeve’s mighty wail at the end of Richard Donner’s “Superman”. Jim Emerson tracks the more interesting responses and adds his own thoughts over at Scanners; you might want to take a look at that.

Me, well, I’m just happy for Robert Downey, Jr. “Iron Man 2” may have a few problems, but he isn’t one of them, and he richly deserves all the credit he’s reaping for its success.

Oh, and speaking of superheroes: Tom Cruise is telling people Brad Bird is directing the next “Mission: Impossible” movie. Now, Tom Cruise says a lot of things, but if that’s true … well, Bird did make “The Incredibles”, one of the very best superhero movies ever, so that could be something worth getting excited about. You know, once it’s confirmed.

With recent Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke cementing his comeback as Whiplash in “Iron Man 2”, my latest MSN Movies gallery looks at other actors who’ve made for great comic-book villains.

And yes, I know I left out Jude Law as the seedy photographer-assassin of “Road to Perdition”, but his character wasn’t actually in the original graphic novel. So there.

What do you think? Any other glaring omissions?

One ginormous studio picture arrives surrounded by a few much smaller titles; yup, summer’s officially here. And yes, you can all go see “Iron Man 2” this weekend without worrying about getting stuck with a turkey. But let’s not overlook the other stuff, shall we?

“Babies”: Four babies — born and raised in America, Japan, Namibia and Mongolia — gurgle and coo for our amusement in Thomas Balmes’ globetrotting documentary. I missed the Hot Docs screenings, but Susan and Jason both liked it.

“Exit Through the Gift Shop“: George Carlin once observed that if you nail two things together that have never been nailed together before, some schmuck will buy it. Banksy’s street-art documentary proves that maxim, among other things. You should check it out.

“Iron Man 2“: Robert Downey Jr. returns as Tony Stark in this decent enough sequel to a movie that looks more and more like the greatest freak accident in the history of superhero movies. Yes, there’s something after the credits. No, it won’t kill you to miss it.

“Please Give”: Nicole Holofcener’s fourth movie is very much of a piece with her first three, “Walking and Talking,” “Lovely and Amazing” and “Friends with Money”. This is as it should be; now that Woody Allen’s sunk into naked self-parody, someone out there needs to be chronicling the contemporary upper-middle-class American experience with the same perceptiveness and wit. (Susan and Jason liked it, too.)

Nice, huh? A pleasantly light week. But things will get crowded again soon, just you wait and see …

I don’t have much in this week’s NOW — hey, you try landing an interview with someone as secretive as Banksy sometime — so instead, I’d like to direct your attention to the AV Club’s amazing Random Roles segment with Oliver Platt. It’s like a master class in character acting, from a guy who’s built a career out of being quietly, unassumingly great.

Someday I hope to do an interview that’s half as entertaining as this one, and just as comprehensive.

Campbell Scott would be good. Or Samuel L. Jackson. Any other thoughts?

My MSN DVD column has yet to go up, but there’s a good reason for that — all of our resources have been devoted to assembling this year’s expansive Summer Movie Preview, which is currently dominating the site.

Jump on in, and see the wealth of entertainment coming your way in the next four months … and the DVD column will be live before you know it.

“A Nightmare on Elm Street” was the domestic box-office winner over the weekend, grossing $32.2 million in North America, but “Iron Man 2” — released a week earlier in the rest of the world — filled its overseas coffers to the tune of $100.2 million.

So … that’s impressive. And a bit of a gamble, since foregoing a simultaneous worldwide release just means exposing yourself to piracy. Camcorder copies of “Iron Man 2” are already circulating online, and I’d wager you’ll be able to buy them on the street in certain North American markets ** cough hack Canal Street snort cough ** well before the film opens there on Friday.

We’re not talking about another “Wolverine” thing here, where a studio screener was released online, but still. The movie’s out there, and if I’ve learned anything from living in Toronto’s Chinatown, where sidewalk vendors sell dodgy pirate discs to tourists from sidewalk blankets, it’s that people don’t worry too much about quality. They just want to own something they’re not supposed to.

Me, I’m waiting for the press screening. And I’m jealous of all those European critics who saw the film last week. Come to think of it, I’m jealous of all the Europeans, full stop; I’m really looking forward to “Iron Man 2”.

If you used one page of this week’s NOW as a statistical sample — page 70, to be specific — you could reasonably conclude that (1) this week’s movies are terrible, or (2) I hate everything. But neither of those conclusions would be correct. That’s the problem with samples.

The truth of it is that there are three really terrible movies opening this week — four, actually, if you include the movie Rad reviews on page 71. (We’ll get to that.) But they’re balanced, somewhat, by one really good little film and a horror remake that was much better than I expected it to be. Let’s see if you can figure out which is which as we go down the list:

“English Butler Masala Chai”: The daughter of a stodgy Indian mogul tries to hide her love connection with an English royal by enlisting a gay friend as her beard. Rad is not amused.

Furry Vengeance“: A bunch of CG-enhanced animals declare war on hapless corporate tool Brendan Fraser in this awful, awful eco-comedy. The fact that it’s arriving a week after Earth Day should tell you something about the distributor’s confidence in the film’s message.

“Gunless“: I’m just thinking out loud here, but given the current hostility towards the arts in Ottawa, is it really the right time to make a movie this terrible with four million dollars of federal funding? But then, is it ever?

“A Nightmare on Elm Street“: Samuel Bayer preserves the core values of Wes Craven’s 1984 creeper with an update that’s low on jokes and big on ugliness — and Jackie Earle Haley is a really nice choice as the new Freddy. I was pleasantly surprised, if you can use that term in relation to a movie where teenagers are eviscerated by the truckload.

“Passenger Side“: I’ve been batting for Matthew Bissonnette’s delicate little study of two brothers (fully realized by Adam Scott and the director’s brother Joel) driving around Los Angeles on a vaguely defined mission since August. Isn’t it about time you see the damn thing?

“The Perfect Game“: A bunch of plucky Mexican urchins go all the way to the 1957 Little League championships — and learn valuable life lessons along the way — in this insipid family film from director William Dear. Worth watching for Emilie de Ravin’s appearance as the broadest period journalist since Jennifer Jason Leigh in “The Hudsucker Proxy” … you know, if you’re high.