Thor

Stan Lee has been tweeting about his cameo:

Due to Thor, I must start rehearsing my thee's and thou's. So, if thou objecteth not, I wish thee well! 'Nuff saideth.

He could be yanking our chains, but perhaps Lee won't be walking amongst the modern mortals. [Twitter]

John Carter of Mars

We get a casting call for several human characters and one Martian:

Synopsis: A damaged civil war veteran finds himself mysteriously transported to Mars where his involvements with warring races of the dying planet force him to rediscover his humanity.

[STABLE BOY] 9 yrs old, Mestizo – a mixture of European and Native American or Mexican decent, no lines, 1 scene

[DIX] The storekeeper, 40's – 50's, built like a lumberjack/longshoreman, strong & husky, 5 lines, 1 scene

[1ST ROWDY] Late 20's – early 30's, rough and dirty, worn looking, 1 line, 1 scene

[2ND ROWDY] Late 20's – early 30's, rough and dirty, worn looking, 1 line, 1 scene

[CAVALRYMAN/SERGEANT] Early 30's, clean cut, 2 lines, 1 scene

[US STOCKADE PRISON GUARD] Mid 20's – early 30's, clean cut, 4 lines, 2 scenes

[APACHE LEADER] 40's - 60s, Native American, must speak Apache, wise and experienced with a weathered face. Multiple lines, 1 scene

[TWITCHY CORPORAL] 20's - 30s, a shifty bad guy, not to be trusted. 1 line, 1 scene.

[YOUNG THARK WARRIOR] 20'S, tall (6' PLUS), athletic, experience working on stilts, MOTION PICTURE CAPTURE ROLE

[SpoilerTV-Movies]

Deadpool

Rumor has it that Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick will pen the Deadpool script. [Cinematical]

Green Lantern

Ryan Reynolds wants to quell fears that he'll play the Green Lantern too close to Deadpool:

"I think there was some concern that I would make Green Lantern some kind of wise-cracking Wade Wilson-type, and that's not the case at all," he explained. "If that's what they wanted, why would I have screen-tested for the movie?"

[MTV]

Avatar

The final poster gives us more floating heads. [/Film]

Lesbian Vampire Killers

New images give us some busty bloodsuckers. [ShockTillYouDrop]

The Wolfman

The werewolf movie has earned itself an R rating from the MPAA "for bloody horror, violence and gore." [ShockTillYouDrop]

True Blood

We'll be seeing more of vampire Pam next season. Kirstin Bauer is being upgraded to series regular, and Pam is getting a "meaty" storyline — and maybe a girlfriend. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Lost

Jin and Sun have been filming scenes set in the alternate reality at the Turtle Bay Hilton. In those scenes, we'll also see Keamy, Omar, and Russian Other Mikial. [DarkUFO]

Striptease workout entrepreneur Sheila Kelley will be in at least four episodes this season, but won't be playing corporate spy Kendall. As for whether her stripping skills will coming into play:

"Once you see what I'm doing on Lost, you'll get the humor in that. I guess you can say I'm bringing some of the skills onto Lost, but not as obviously as you might think."

She also says she (Kelley, not her character) is "obsessed" with Sayid, leading to speculation that she'll have some scenes with Naveen Andrews. [E!]

And a set spy grabbed a photo of the new submarine. Larger image at the link. [DarkUFO]

Fringe

Walter's wife and Peter's mother has been cast at last. Irish actress Orla Brady will play the smart and likable third member of the Bishop family. [EW]

Better Off Ted

Creator Victor Fresco says that we'll see some progress in Linda and Ted's relationship by the end of the season, and the relationship between Linda and Veronica will begin to thaw. The two women will have a few adventures together and will develop a grudging, but mutual, respect. Ted's wilder brother comes to town, played by Eddie McClintock. Ted's brother hasn't had a lot of luck with Jobs, so Ted gets him a job at Veridian Dynamics. But his brother screws up one too many times, so Ted lands him a job selling lab equipment. Phil and Lem end up being his best customers, buying all sorts of stuff they don't need, including a cadaver supply membership. Key line: "Every day we get a new dead body whether we're finished with the old one or not." The show also gets a new cast member in Merrin Dungey. She appears in three or four episodes, including one episode where Linda tries to comfort her and ends up accused of sexual harassment. But Veridian deals with its sexual harassment problem by having it reclassified as a disease so that no one can sue for it. [E!]

Heroes

This season's 19th episode is titled "Brave New World." [Spoiler TV]

Additional reporting by Josh Snyder.

Doctor Who:

In an interview with Bullz-Eye.com to promote Pirate Radio, fifth series writer Richard Curtis revealed who will be playing featured guest star Vincent Van Gogh:

Well, we've got a brilliant guy playing Vincent van Gogh – which is who it's about – who you should look up on YouTube. He's a guy called Tony Curran, who really could not look more like. He's a wonderful actor who was in this brilliant movie called "Red Road" that came out, a rather serious movie.

He also mentioned they start shooting the episode in about a month. [Blogtor Who]

Elsewhere, a very Scottish-sounding John Barrowman appeared on GMTV with Lorraine to promote his new concert DVD and talk about "The End of Time." Skip to 2:15 as he slips back into his American accent to discuss his role, which apparently is just "an appearance." [Planet Gallifrey]

Dollhouse:

I think it's been fairly well reported that Alan Tudyk is coming back as Alpha, but now we've got a photo of him and a description of episodes 2.7 and 2.8, in which he appears:

DOLLHOUSE season 2 episode 7 and 8 "Meet Jane Doe/A Love Supreme" - Echo struggles to control her multiple memory downloads; Topher discovers the dangers of science that will have devastating effects on the future; the Dollhouse fears Alpha has returned to seek his revenge; the Actives turn against their handlers.

And here's that picture. [Spoiler TV]

Michael Ausiello reports English actor Adam Godley, probably best known to American audiences for his role as Father Ybarra in The X-Files: I Want to Believe is joining the cast as Clyde, "a genius who holds secrets to the Dollhouse." The role is recurring as any role can be when there are less than ten episodes left in the series. He also has a complete breakdown of the air dates for the remaining episodes: [EW.com]

Dec. 4: two episodes
Dec. 11: two episodes
Dec 18: two episodes
Jan 8: one episode
Jan 15: one episode
Jan 22: one episode (series finale)

Finally, here are a bunch more promo pics for the next four episodes. [Spoiler TV]

Thor:

Another day, another casting possibility for Kat Dennings. Apparently, Dennings twittered something about "loving Hell", which naturally means she will play Hela, the Asgardian goddess of death. [Spoiler TV]

Meanwhile, Variety reports she's playing "Darcy, who works with Natalie Portman's Jane Foster character." That's probably the same person as the previously reported Marcy Lewis, but who really knows? At this point, it's probably just safe to assume Kenneth Branagh has actually turned Thor into a one-woman show, starring Dennings in all the parts, including Thor. [IGN]

Chuck:

Here's a six-minute preview of the third season, complete with clips from the first five episodes:

According to Michael Ausiello, co-creator Chris Fedak says Anna Wu won't be in the first thirteen episodes, but she could be in the newly ordered last six, if only because they haven't been written yet. He also notes that her character's absence from the Buy More will be mentioned early next season. Finally, Fedak says the extra six episodes forced them to either slow down the story they were already telling or expand it. They opted to expand it, and are treating those last six as "Season 3.2" of Chuck. [ChuckTV.net]

And, last and sort of least, here are a couple photos tweeted from a season 3 photo shoot.

Fringe:

Here are three promo pics for episode 2.10, "Grey Matters", in which Walter gets a glimpse of the past: [Spoiler TV]

Heroes:

Here's a sneak peek and a promo for episode 4.11, "The Fifth Stage": [Spoiler TV]

For those who prefer to keep their audio and their visual separate, here are some promo pics:

And here's a scoop from Adam of TV Guide Mega Buzz: [Spoiler TV]

Todd Stashwick (The Riches) kicks off his guest role in Monday's episode. He plays Eli, who fills the void as Samuel's right-hand man now that Edgar (Ray Park) has split from the carnival. Also, expect to see a lot of Eli: He has the ability to replicate.

Smallville:

Michael Ausiello has the scoop on whether Warrior Angel is really going to be Chloe's love interest:

He is, but per exec producer Brian Petersen, "There's a wink behind it." And what about a real, non-winky love interest? "I have promised that we're going to give Chloe a relationship this year, and rest-assured, that was not just a tease. She will have a relationship this year." Does this guy have a name? Teases BP: "We'll know [who he is] in ‘Warrior.'"

Also, there will be Justice Society members seen in the upcoming movie Absolute Justice beyond Hawkman, Doctor Fate, and Stargirl, but these will be only glimpses. Brian Peterson does promise there will be several of them, though. Let's hope Ma Hunkel finally gets her due. [EW.com]

Finally, though V is on a break, there's apparently no chance Laura Vandervoort will return as Supergirl, much as she might like to. [Spoiler TV]

Green Lantern:

Ryan Reynolds spoke to MTV about his next big movie, and he mentioned how awesome the constume is: [IGN]

"Seeing the prototypes for the Green Lantern costumes was a huge moment," he says. "It was a moment when I was like, 'This is happening, and it's happening in the right way.' That's a pretty cool, definitive moment for me."

Deadpool:

Reynolds also talked about what he wanted to see in his upcoming Deadpool spinoff movie: [IGN]

"Everyone is always looking for that one line, 'What is that character?' and for me it's kind of like, 'There's a guy, and he's in a highly militarized comedic fame spiral,'" the actor explains. "That's not an easy thing to write — an entire screenplay, let alone a franchise. I had a blast playing Wade [in Wolverine]. Every line I had in that was stuff I thought he would say. It wasn't something that a writer said to me. It was fun to really create that character, including everything he spits out of his awful mouth."

V:

As the series heads into hiatus, star Morena Baccarin talked to E! Online about the dynamic she has with Scott Wolf's character, the conflicted newsman Chad Decker: [E! Online]

The relationship is definitely going to keep going in whatever strange direction it's going now. You don't really know if they're going to fight each other, love each other, or if she's going to eat him. You don't know what's going to happen! It gets really interesting in the episode that comes out on Tuesday. Something happens to his character that makes him very dependent on us. He has to sort of battle with his will to see what he's going to do. It's a very interesting dynamic.

Lost:

A tweet-sized filming update for season six. Apparently, "characters Sun, Locke & Claire spotted at Manoa trail head yesterday." [Lyly Ford Blog]

Avatar:

Here's a new Norwegian poster that's all about the disembodied heads.

Wolfman:

Benicio Del Toro's upcoming Wolfman movie has a new international poster:

The Book of Eli

Denzel Washington's post-apocalyptic thriller has a new poster out that is long on Denzel Washington, short on the post-apocalyptic:Cinema Blend

Unsurprisingly, the second Wolverine movie was considered the furthest along in terms of pre-production, with Donner saying,

What's cool about this part of the saga is that Wolverine will be fighting in a different style to what we've seen before. Mariko's father has this stick-like weapon, so Wolverine will have to fight against that. There'll be samurai, ninja, katana blades, different forms of martial arts - mano-a-mano, extreme fighting. We're going to come up with a new style of fighting. It's going to be awesome.

When it came to Wolverine's spin-off, Deadpool, however, Donner offered up a surprising bit of news:

I want to ignore the version of Deadpool that we saw in Wolverine and just start over again. Reboot it. Because this guy talks, obviously, and to muzzle him would be insane... We're right in the thick of talking to writers right now, and hopefully by November we'll have decided who's going to do it. We need someone really imaginative because we want to do some really innovative, ambitious stuff. Ryan's mentioned this in an interview already but there are parts where he's going to break the fourth wall and talk directly to the audience in the cinema. We have to work out how to do that. I don't know that Fox will agree with all our decisions, but we'll see!

Equally surprising was her take on the delay in making the long-discussed X-Men Origins: Magneto:

I'm not sure that film is going to be made. The studio has a wealth of potential stories, and they have to stand back and decide which ones to make. And Magneto, I think, is at the back of the queue. Maybe it'll get made in five years - who knows? I can tell you that Ian McKellen won't be playing the character the whole way through. We used Lola technology in X-Men 3 to de-age Ian and Patrick for one scene, but it's very expensive. To do that for a two-hour movie would be prohibitive financially.

Meanwhile, Gossip Girl and The OC creator Josh Schwartz's X-Men First Class may be heading in a different direction to what we'd been expecting:

Harry Potter is a bit of a role model for us, absolutely. But we want it to be like the recent, darker Potters. It should not be a kiddie movie - we're in the X-Men world so you can't suddenly change the tone... We want to make this a franchise, following these kids at the school, so the casting of the child actors will be all-important.

No more Magneto movie, and seven years of First Class? Here's hoping Donner manages to convince Fox of her plans...

The Future Of The X-Men Franchise [Empire Online]

Perhaps because Marvel were worried that we'd be bored otherwise, the House of Ideas is putting out a star-studded week of new releases this week, with the special Deadpool #900 issue, a new Spider-Man anthology series (Web of Spider-Man), the one-shot Iron Man: Iron Protocols (written by Surrogates creator Robert Venditti!) and the collected edition of long-running-but-that's-only-because-it-was-horribly-delayed-in-the-middle Ultimate Wolverine Versus Hulk, as written by Lost's Carlton Cuse.

IDW keeps the big name action going: The publisher puts out Star Trek: Countdown (the surprisingly enjoyable prologue to the JJ Abrams movie, starring the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation.) Also, there's Star Trek: Crew (Another surprise, as John Byrne follows the early career of Number One - from "The Cage" - and makes it work.) Plus Seduth 3-D from Clive Barker (as previewed yesterday) and Left Undead, a new take on that old "cop-killed-then-brought-back-by-voodoo" idea from Lost writer Paul Zbyszewski.

If you'd rather read some George Lucas-inspired comics, Dark Horse has a special #0 issue prologue for Star Wars: Invasion, as well as the deco noir of Dean Motter's Mister X: Condemned.

DC, meanwhile, corners its own version of the horror market, with the massive Absolute Death slipcovered collection of Neil Gaiman's goth avatar of release, a new collected edition of Judd Winick's vampire story Blood And Water, and the fun House of Mystery Hallowe'en Annual, showcasing some of Vertigo's current and upcoming series.

All of that, however, is just an appetizer to the Act-I-Vate Primer, a hardcover collection of work from the self-styled "premier webcomics collective". Offering 16 original stories by some of webcomics' brightest and best, it's easily the best of a strong bunch this week.

As usual, you can see the full list of everything reaching comic stores tomorrow here and then find your local comic store here. Just remember to support the internet in your analog purchases, if you know what I'm saying.

Hancock 2:

So much for those reports that the sequel would focus on Jason Bateman's character developing his charity project, and working on his relationship with his superhuman wife. Bateman says he hasn't been contacted about being in the sequel, and it's implied that he may not be in it. (Of course, he may get a call next week, but it's still surprising.) [Collider]

Deadpool:

Rob Liefeld Twittered about his meeting with the producers of this spin-off film, including Lauren Shuler Donner. And Ryan Reynolds, to nobody's surprise, is on board. Also:

Deadpool movie checklist- DP in costume-check! Breaking 4th wall-check! Loads of killing-double check!

And he was excited to talk to the producers about the possibilities of featuring Cable in future X-films. [Twitter via Cinemablend]

The Box:

Here are a few more stills from Richard Kelly's Twilight Zone-esque movie set in the 1970s. [Sci Fi Scoop]

Planet 51:

A new poster for the movie about The Rock accidentally invading an alien planet. [Teaser-Trailer]

2012:

And here are some new stills from Roland Emmerich's latest disaster film. [Movies-Spoilers]

Dollhouse:

Fox released three clips from tomorrow night's season opener, "Vows." [Fox via Whedonesque]

Lost:

More set pics and reports — here's a pic of Jack and Kate at the LAX airport set, plus Claire looking very pregnant. And one pic shows the construction of an elaborate temple set, and another shows the construction of a "rugged rock face." One scene being filmed today involved three gunshots ringing out and a bunch of extras, many of them dressed in the distinctive garb of the Others, running out of the temple. More pics at the link. [Hawaii Weblog]

A source claims both Juliet and Sawyer get "closure" on the island in the season premiere. And the cab driver whom Kate car-jacks is played by David H. Lawrence XVII, the "puppet-master" from last season of Heroes. (And yes, the number 17 is really part of Lawrence's professional name.) [SpoilersLost]

Warehouse 13:

It's not too soon to talk about season two of this hit show, which will air in 2010. Producer Jack Kenny says he's already got some ideas about how to deal with the huge cliffhanger at the end of season one — Leena has been made into "some sort of sleeper agent" and we'll have to "unsleeper her" or use her to trap McPherson. We'll find out where Claudia went and what she's doing, whether trying to clear her name or find McPherson. And we'll deal with the apparent death of Artie.

And then in season two proper, we'll mix it up some more. We may see Pete and Artie go out on a mission together, or Myka and Artie. We'll explore the core foursome (Pete, Myka, Artie and Claudia) in greater detail. We'll find out more about Pete's past alcoholism and possible drug addiction, and the lingering effects of Claudia's instituationalization. And both Pete and Myka will date people — maybe we'll see more of Jeff Weaver, Joe Flannigan's character from "Elements," and Myka can date him. And we'll see their reactions to each other's dating. Also, Claudia will possibly date a "local kid in the town," and maybe Pete, Myka and Artie will have different reactions to him. And we'll see more of the Regents, but maybe not all of them — maybe they'll have a spokesperson.

Also, Kenny says he wants to do an episode about "Hitler's microphone." [iFMagazine]

FlashForward:

Speaking of recovering alcoholics, apparently FBI agent Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) is one. And his nanny is a devout Christian, who's making out with her boyfriend on the couch when the "flash forward" happens — so she takes the "flash forward" as a sign of divine retribution. [NY Times]

The Benfords' daughter Charlie says "I had a bad dream. I dreamt that there are no more good days." (And that's where the episode's title comes from.) By the end of the first episode, we get our first hint as to who/what is responsible for the flash. [Boston Herald]

Sonya Walger's surgeon character, Olivia, is put out that the entire surgical team flops to the floor in the middle of an operation. And her fellow doctor Bryce, played by Zachary Knighton, has gone to a pier to contemplate suicide when the flash happens. [Washington Post]

Here's the official synopsis of episode four, "Black Swan":

Olivia struggles to accept Bryce's suggestion that a patient's flashforward holds the key to a correct diagnosis and treatment. Meanwhile, Demetri accuses Mark of waiting for the future he saw in his flashforward to come true without incident, while Mark feels Demetri is letting his fear of what he witnessed envelop his life; and Nicole returns to work as Mark and Olivia's daughter's baby-sitter, and discloses her shocking future vision - involving a murder.

And some pics. [TV Overmind]

House:

In episode nine of this season, House tells someone he loves Cuddy. [EW]

True Blood:

And it's not too soon to talk season three of this show. Alan Ball says he's currently seeking someone to play Talbot, the "trophy husband" of the queer "vampire king of Mississippi" (played by Denis O'Hare). [EW]

Chuck:

Emmy winner Armand Assante guest stars as a Castro-esque dictator whom Casey has tried to assassinate numerous times. [EW]

Viktor Sakhay says that there will be more tension with the management at Buy More. And Lester will temporarily change something drastically about himself. [E! Online]

Sanctuary:

Here's a new trailer for season two of this Syfy show:

Smallville:

In his new quest to become the perfect hero, Clark is pretty icy to everyone, but especially to Chloe, for whom he refuses to go back in time and save Jimmy. But he does come to Lois in her hour of need. And Lois has sex on the brain — at least when she's sleeping. [TV Guide]

More on that: Lois has a scary/sexy dream sequence at the end of tomorrow night's season premiere, full of sweat, sex and blood. And death. And Jor-El tells Clark the reason he still can't fly is because he still thinks he's human. [E! Online]

We'll learn exactly where Lois went when she was missing for three weeks — and it'll look remarkably similar to the red dust storm sweeping over Sydney. [EW]

Here are two sneak peeks from tomorrow night's season opener:

Eastwick:

Rosanna Arquette will play Greta Noa, a New York gallery owner who's connected to Darryl Van Horne. She'll appear in two episodes, and there's more to her than we realize at first. [TV Guide Magazine]

Kelly describes the issue as "a big, baroque comic book story that devolves into a 'yo mama' fight." A nefarious third party pits the two wise-asses in red against each other, to distract Spidey's attention from some other evildoings. But mostly, the plot is just an excuse for Spider-Man's light-hearted banter style to clash with Deadpool's meaner humor and fourth-wall-punching. If only Sam Raimi would grab Kelly's script and use it for a big chunk of Spider-Man 4...

Spider-Man Vs. Deadpool art by Skottie Young. [MTV via Newsarama]

We've all been there. Watching our favorite show when we realize that the situation we find our main characters in is completely and utterly ridiculous. The characters are stepping into plot holes so deep, you can't help commenting on it from the sofa. It's actually a relief when someone on screen points out the absurdity of what everyone else is struggling to take seriously. So it's a good thing modern science fiction has a particular talent for giving the audience a surrogate in the storylines.

Joss Whedon, in particular, has a great talent for lacing his shows and movies with smart-aleck rebels who provide a running commentary. His characters are often hyper-aware of the weird, outlandish situations they find themselves in. Take this scene from the pasted together Firefly pilot, "The Train Job." The great "villain doesn't care about money" cliche is turned on its head at the hands of the great Mal Reynolds:

The Whedonverse's most emo couple, Buffy and Angel, come in for their share of mockery as well. Most famously, there's the great scene involving Spike providing his own voice-over for Angel's superhero run. But there's also this barely remembered Cordy/Wes gem instead. The point is, it could just as easily be Topher, Spike, Wash or even Boyd on a good day making the observations that we seem to yell at our tv screens.

And then there's Heroes, which gave us Hiro Nakamura serving as the next best thing to an audience surrogate, the fan who becomes part of the action, for most of season one. He goes out of his way to break down the comic book rules of the Heroes world and even sneaks in a few Star Trek references along the way. But perhaps the most self-aware character on Heroes is Sylar, who manages to keep a sense of irony about his own actions long into the show's decline. One of the few pleasures of the past two years has been those moments when Sylar practically smirks at the camera.

But even a deadly serious show like Battlestar Galactica serves up a voice of audience mockery in the form of Gaius Baltar, who regularly comments on how goofy everything is. The Baltar syndrome can enable the audience to swallow a lot of bizarre and nonsensical plot twists, because at least Gaius is admitting it's all a bit silly.

Then there's the character who's both the ascended fan (like Hiro) and the audience surrogate. A perfect example of this dynamic combo is Venture Brothers' Henchman 21:

He is us, and unlike Hiro, he didn't have any awesome superpowers to distinguish himself from any other random dude who wears tights and butterfly wings. His jokes don't come from a generic fan P.O.V. (which is what Hiro's jokes devolved into) but came from someone who truly knew nerd culture.

Futurama's Fry has a similar position. He's unapologetically below average in every way, and his voice represents the audiences' most basic observations about the "future." What really makes that show shine, however, is the reversal of the surrogate's role with the main cast. Fry's seemingly logical observations are ridiculed and laughed off as a caveman's ramblings. And then, the caveman is told that he's the most important person in the universe. I don't know about you guys, but it's definitely this fangirl's dream to be told that she's destined to defeat a race of glowly brains for fun, glory and profit.

1999's Galaxy Quest was a whole movie built around the premise of teasing the Star Trek and Star Wars cultures. What made that film great wasn't merely the laughs (or Rainn Wilson's role) — it was the fact that it could make fun of itself while respecting the genre fans who would inevitably go and see it. It wasn't a "look how stupid geeks are" representation (like, say, Big Bang Theory), but had a message more akin to "geeks are pretty weird, but they've got a heart of gold."

Lost also takes a stab at the ascended fanboy with Hurley. He plays the part of the not-insanely-good-looking castaway that seems the most like the guy that works at your local video store. And whenever there's a bizarre time-travel plot or mysterious hatch, Hurley is the guy who asks the questions you wish you could ask the writers:

It's not easy for genre shows to have a surrogate who accurately represents the main audience, but when it's done right, they're most often our favorite characters. I know Ryan Reynolds has a lot on his plate right now, but he should seriously take this all into consideration before the Deadpool film comes out.

The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that the producers of the movie have narrowed the choice of cinematic Hal Jordan down to Bradley Cooper, Ryan Reynolds and Justin Timberlake, adding that a decision is expected soon as Warner Bros.' holding deal for the actors expired earlier this week, making them available for other projects. The comic fanboy in us hopes that Timberlake's out of the running just because he looks too young, and wouldn't be surprised if Ryan Reynolds makes himself unavailable considering that he already has Deadpool in his superhero movie portfolio - although we could definitely see him as wise-cracking test pilot Hal Jordan, if he's willing to think about it. Does that mean that Bradley Cooper is the best one for the job?

Call us nostalgic Alias fans if you want, but we think yes; Cooper's The Hangover has shown that he can lead a movie - and, more importantly to Warner, that he can lead a successful movie - but he's still looking for that role that can make him a star... and we think that Green Lantern stands a better chance of doing that than playing Faceman in the A Team revival.

Plus, you know, he was never a member of NSync. That counts for a lot.

We'd be willing to start a Give Cooper The Ring campaign right here if it made a difference, but are we wrong? Who would you like to see slip on the green uniform and power ring before bringing justice to the skies?

'Green Lantern' has three in ring [Hollywood Reporter]

Boutte writes in his blog:

I liked this version of Deadpool and wish it had made it into the movie but it was very early on in development and the character's face had to be seen

He also has early concept art of Sabretooth that looks a bit more bad-ass and less campy than the version we saw in the film.

And separately, concept artist Jerad S. Merantz posted his own concept art for Weapon X (who turned out to be a verison of Deadpool in the movie) plus Beak and the Blob. Again, it's quite a bit more striking and bizarre than what ended up on screen, as is so often the case with concept art.

Here are Boutte's early designs for Deadpool and Sabretooth, plus Merantz's images of Beak and Weapon X. More pics at the links.

[Modus Maleficum and Jerad S. Merantz, via Mania]

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen:

Michael Bay, showing he really does love giant robots, went to a convention called Bot-Con and showed off some footage. There was a clip of John Turturro and Sam's new college roommate standing in a construction zone. A group of construction vehicles surround them. Then you see Mixmaster's Decepticon symbol, and realize these are Constructicons! ZOMG! The Constructicons move closer together to form Devastator. And apparently you can tell that Scavenger has the ability to force the other Constructicons to form Devastator, whether they want to or not. Oh noes! (Apparently this is sort of like a movie that Scorpion does in Mortal Kombat?)

Meanwhile, Sam and Mikaela are running away from Rampage. Then Rampage starts chasing Sam's dad, so Sam jumps out in front of him to draw his attention away from his father. Sam says, "Wait, it's not them you want. It's this, the Matrix!" He waves an item, and keeps luring Rampage away, until Bumblebee shows up. The bots fight, with Bumblebee gaining the upper hand when Ravage joins the fight too. Ravage blasts Bumblebee with his hip cannons, and jumps on his back. Rampage lunges for Sam, but Bumblebee throws him to the ground. And then Bumblebee tears Ravage apart — meaning, hopefully, that we never have to keep track of the difference between Ravage and Rampage again. [Seibertron]

And here are some new pics from the film. [Celebutopia]

Star Trek 2:

This is barely a spoiler, but it's early days yet. Zoe Saldana hints that she'd quite like to see Uhura ditch Spock and get with Kirk in the next movie. She, of course, is not actually writing the script. [Trek Movie]

Deadpool:

Ryan Reynolds says early discussions with the studio are leaving him confident that they want the Deadpool solo film to be as close to the comic-book material as possible. He adds, "I will husk-fuck a herd of cattle to bring Wade Wilson to life as the real deal." And no, I don't know what that means either. Is it a corn thing? And he adds that there's no reason that a Deadpool movie would need to have much connection with the Wolverine movie, where he got decapitated. The biggest villain in a Deadpool movie will always be Deadpool, Reynolds says, and the movie should be pop-savvy and self-aware, like the comics. [IGN]

Thor:

British actor Tom Hiddleston talks Loki:

Loki's like a comic book version of Edmund in King Lear, but nastier. Loki's skilled in black magic and scorcery. He's a shape-shifter and has all sorts of super powers from the dark arts. He can turn clouds into dragons, things like that.

And he says Loki will have "a lean and hungry look, like Cassius in Julius Caesar. Physically, he can't be posing as Thor." (Did you get the impression this movie will be Shakespearean? I can't imagine how.) [IGN]

The Book Of Eli:

Sci Fi Wire visited the set of this post-apocalyptic thriller about a man named Eli (Denzel Washington) who has a world-saving book, and the small-town dictator named Carnegie (Gary Oldman) who wants to take it away. They witnessed the filming of some scenes at the farmhouse of George and Martha (Michael Gambon and Frances de la Tour) an old couple with a big secret.

Apparently, George and Martha's farmhouse is a two-storey dingy gray house, with dead trees encircled by tires. Towards the end of the movie, there's a shootout involving Eli, the old couple, and Solara (Mila Kunis). Eli is inside the farmhouse, and Carnegie is shooting at him to get his hands on the book. Eli tosses a Claymore mine out, which blows up a Cadillac and scatters bad-guy body parts on the lawn. Eli tosses out a second explosive, then Carnegie fires a rocket-powered grenade at the house, blowing part of it up.

Then George runs to a window and shoots his machine gun, killing two guys before he runs out of ammo and ejects his magazine. Carnegie yells "Cease fire! Cease fire!" and then we see Eli and Solara looking out the window. An armored truck backs up towards the house. It opens up in back to reveal sandbags and a man and a woman, seated at a massive gatling gun. Eli hits the floor and pulls Solara down with him, just as the gun tears into the house. [Sci Fi Wire]

Doctor Who:

It wouldn't be Monday without some batshit Who rumors. Someone posts that his/her aunt just recorded a brief scene for David Tennant's final episode, in which she played a Time Lord at some kind of trial. And Timothy Dalton was there! (Let's start a rumor that Dalton is the Valeyard! That would be kind of awesome!)

Meanwhile, there's also a rumor that the show is looking for a male companion to travel alongside Matt Smith and Karen Gillan for five or six episodes in 2010. Supposedly Sam Troughton auditioned for the role and didn't get it — but now it's narrowed down to Dean Kelly (who played Shakespeare in season three) and someone named Liam Boyle. As usual, these are just rumors, and should be taken with several salt mines' worth of grains of salt. [Doctor Who Forum]

Lost:

Matthew Fox (who supposedly knows something about how this show ends) says he's sure Jack will die at some point. But it'll be cool to see where Jack and Locke end up in the final moments of the series. [Lyly Ford]

Dollhouse:

Now that the show's established itself, you'll be seeing the show Joss always wanted to make, says Eliza Dushku. There are stories that the writers didn't get to tell in year one, that you'll be seeing in year two. And Echo may be showing off more specialized fighting techniques, for her different imprints. And she'll be spending more time with former Agent Ballard next season. [E! Online]

V:

A couple more promo pics of this remake of the 1980s classic. [SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

Our first promotional poster for season nine... and it still names Sam Witwer as a regular castmember. An oversight? Or a clue? [OSCK]

Chuck:

There will be some kind of internet presence, like webisodes, between now and when this show comes back in March 2010. (And it may come back sooner, if other stuff falls through.) As we mentioned, a new romantic interest will come between Chuck and Sarah. And there will be new characters, along with all the existing castmembers. Chuck will get more physical. The show's mythology will deepen, and the new season will not lack for romance. [Sci Fi Wire]

Stargate Universe:

The show's fourth episode, "Fire," written by co-creator Brad Wright, has been split into two episodes, "Darkness" and "Light." The episode was tightly plotted, but was running about 20 minutes overlength. And Wright had already cut a ton of scenes at the script stage for fear it would overrun. The expansion means the show's mid-season two parter, "Space" and "Divided," will be episodes 11 and 12 respectively. [Gateworld]

Heroes:

A writer Twittered a picture of the script for the fourth season opener. Apparently it contains scenes with HRG, Angela and faux-Nathan in Japan. Tracy is still at Kent Harper's apartment, and Angela wanders a city street. Also, Claire, HRG and "Annie" are on campus together. [Twitpic via SpoilerTV]

Also, the season opener will feature Prudence, a young girl who's odd-looking and was brought up in the carnival, and Ernie, an old carnie who's on his last legs. [SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Alasdair Wilkins.

Wolverine may be packed with fanservice introductions of many familiar faces, whether or not they make sense for the plot (Emma Frost? Really?), but you shouldn't expect them to show up in the already-announced X-Men: First Class, according to franchise producer Lauren Shuler Donner:

First Class is the original first class at Xavier's School for the Gifted, but... if it works, and there's a First Class number 2 or 3, yes, of course, we could weave [Gambit] in, sure, absolutely. He has a relationship with Storm.

But who is the movie version of Xavier's first class? In the comics, it's always been Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Iceman and Marvel Girl, but the movie versions of both Angel and Iceman are too young to have been part of that class (despite Iceman actor Shawn Ashmore being contracted for another X-Film somewhere down the line). Judging from the first three X-Men movies, we can assume that Cyclops, Jean Grey and Storm were probably three of the first students, and X-Men: The Last Stand put Beast in that mix, as well. For some reason - probably the presence on the project of Gossip Girl and The OC creator Josh Schwartz - I wouldn't be surprised if Wolverine's Emma Frost made an appearance, as well; out of the various Wolverine characters who would make sense in the movie, she's the most obvious, and not least because of her comic history with Cyclops.

(Personally, I'd like to see Juggernaut in there as well, just to amp up the soap operatics a little more. If we're going to have to sit through two hours of badly-CGI-youthened Patrick Stewart, after all, at least give him an evil step-brother to deal with so that he's got more to do than smile benignly and tell Scott that self-control will lead to a better life a lot.)

(I may just have proven why I would never be able to make a living planning big-budget blockbusters.)

Shuler's also dropped hints about potential other X-Men movies, spinning off from Wolverine:

There's internal discussions about all [what spin-offs may happen] . We're gonna resolve that soon... Nothing would please me more than to bring Bryan [Singer] on for another movie. And, if it's like the first Deadpool or the first Gambit, I think... I mean, I would hope he would be interested.

Whether or not Fox would be interested is the main question, of course; chairman Tom Rothman's comment earlier this week that "if [X-Men Origins:Wolverine] works out well, and we think it will, then we're going to be hard at work on [the rumored spin-offs]" was much more definite than his more guarded reply to the same question last October, although whether that's the difference between trying to appear positive on the red carpet compared with a more considered, honest response remains to be seen.

One thing is for sure, though; if X-Men: First Class can be made for a comparable budget to Wolverine and be as successful without the Hugh Jackman factor, Fox will definitely do their best to keep the franchise going. But, given their history with Daredevil and Fantastic Four, is their best really going to be good enough?

Update: Videos removed at the request of Fox.

I apologize for the migraine-inducing cameraphone video. Plus the guy who added his own voiceover to the first clip. (Ack!) The first clip involves Deadpool's decapitated body laying in the ruins after the final battle. His sword/arm slides in and out, and then his head comes to life, and says "Shhhh." The "merc with a mouth" now has a mouth once again.

And the second clip shows Logan in Japan, drinking to remember. [Thanks Federico!]

The First ending comes from Comic Book Movie (who gave the film a glowing review). They reveal that after a few seconds of credits, we find Stryker facing some sort of repercussion for his somewhat ridiculous murder of an Army general. And then Wolverine deals with losing all his memories:

I don't know whether this is in fact true or not but in the cinema that I saw this film in after about 30 seconds of credits there was a scene with Stryker walking down a road and being stopped by several soldiers in regards to him killing a general earlier in the film. After the entire credits there is then the scene that I had previously heard about, of Wolverine sitting in a bar and speaking in Japanese saying that he is drinking to remember

But the really exciting ending is the return of Deadpool, found on the The Slumz message board (so take it with a grain of salt, of course):

Basically they zoom in on the rubble of the destroyed nuclear plant. We see Deadpools hand out of the rumble and then we see his head on the floor. We then see a guy in a long black over coat with his hood up, kneel down and pick up the head. We then hear dialogue as the camera pans around, " who the hell are you supposed to be?" and as it pans around we see its Wade Wilson. (Ryan Reynolds). then the screen fades to black. BTW its after the credits.

so Wade is alive and well... Weapon XI was a Wade Clone.... DEADPOOL lives

Update: A commenter below submitted this ending:

I got the Deadpool ending. No one in a black coat. The hand moves and we see that "Weapon XI's" head is sitting there and his mouth is now open and he says. "Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

Thanks for the update!

So a much happier ending for DP, and the spin-off gods are pleased. Here's hoping that's a real ending.

MTV has a collection of character videos from the new Wolverine movie. I'm most surprised with Reynolds super serious delivery.

Taylor Kitsch as Gambit (Plays For Keeps)

Ryan Reynolds As Wade Wilson (Loves His Job)

Hugh Jackman As Wolverine (Gets New Jewelry)

Liev Schrieber As Sabretooth (Is An Animal)

Will.i.am As Wraith (Wants To Give His Gift Back To The Devil...sigh)

Wolverine will be in theaters May 1st.

Star Trek:

Leonard Nimoy talks to SciFi Now, and explains that the Spock he plays in the new movie is not the same one he last played 17 years ago in Star Trek: TNG.

Spock has evolved in the sense that a lot of personal experiences have affected him. On the other hand, you've got Zachary Quinto coming into this movie, who is even slightly before the Spock I played in the original series. You're seeing him even before the place I was playing the character on the original series, and you're seeing me giving a performance that's totally after all of that. This movie contains a very broad spectrum of the Spock.

And Nimoy says he has a scene with Zachary Quinto that's a "mind twister." Also, he hints that he could come back as Old Spock in another film, if the producers wanted. [Trek Movie]

Also, Star Trek Magazine talks to designer Scott Chambliss, who explains the military transport shuttle has the air of a real military bus. "It's got the textures, it's got a little bit of peeling paint, the safety bars and the seatbelts that you just know makes sense in the world now, so will makes sense 200 years from now." Also, the Narada interior is "minimalist, with excessive detail, and brutalist." (No, I have no clue what that means.) And Spock's time-ship is called the Jellyfish. The containment field inside the Jellyfish is a "big red ball"; apparently every project Chambliss does with J.J. Abrams has to have a big red ball in it. [TrekMovie]

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen:

Co-writer Roberto Orci answered more fan questions. Apparently, it's not too far off to speculate that the Fallen enslaved the ancient Egyptians and forced them to build the pyramids, which are actually "space bridges." Very few Autobots can fly in the film. Also, the Fallen will have dialogue in the movie. And he hints that Leonard Nimoy might voice the Fallen, if Frank Welker doesn't do it. [TLAMB]

X-Men Origins: Wolverine:

It's been a couple of days since Ryan Reynolds tried to explain how the movie version of Deadpool relates to the comics version. In his latest interview, where he says the movie "really does trace the origins of the character. You really see his birth, his evolution from Wade Wilson to Deadpool, and really he is more or less the creature that becomes Deadpool later on, but we see his kind of, you know, humble beginnings." Probably the only time the words "humble" and "Deadpool" will ever share space in a sentence. [MTV]

Avatar:

Time Magazine saw a bit of 3-D footage from James Cameron's epic movie. The planet Pandora has a "lush jungle-aquatic environment" and includes a "nine foot tall blue, dappled dude." (Who abides. I'm just guessing.) [Time]

Monsters Versus Aliens:

Variety has an early review of Friday's animated 3-D smackdown. A few new details: apparently Derek (Paul Rudd), the weatherman that Susan is supposed to marry before she becomes giant, is a preening moron and Susan is lucky she's spared marriage to him. After she becomes giant, she's tied down like Gulliver and carted off.

The film focuses on Susan to the point that the other monsters often don't have much to do, and it becomes a "rote female-empowerment story." When Susan returns home for a brief visit, Derek summarily dumps her. And Susan does sexy James Bond-style silhouette gymnastics during the end credits, to appeal to male viewers.

The alien would-be invader, Gallaxhar, can create an army of identical clones of himself. The monsters must "creatively pool their talents" to defeat his army. Also, nobody dies in this movie, because it's utterly kid-friendly. [Variety]

Doctor Who:

We already mentioned that Jessica Hynes, who played the Doctor's girlfriend, Joan Redfern, when he became human, would be back in the final episodes of David Tennant's run. But now it's official, thanks to these set pics. But it's the present day, not pre-World War I England. And Hynes appears to be playing someone named Verity Newman (a play on Doctor Who's creators, who included Verity Lambert and Sydney Newman.) She's written a book called A Journal Of Impossible Things, apparently based on the journal the humanized Doctor left behind. (Note the pocket watch on the cover.) And she's doing a book signing, where the Doctor shows up to have words with her. The Doctor is stern but sad, then he turns and walks away. Photos by Alun.Vega, Scooty and ViveLeSteve. As always, you rule! [Planet Gallifrey and Den of Geek and SunnyTyler and TARDIS Newsroom]

Also, someone saw a trailer for the Easter special, "Planet Of The Dead," during a rugby match, and it included shots of London (Cardiff) and a desert planet (Dubai). And Christina (Michelle Ryan) doing a "Mission Impossible" style break in with wires and a harness, and then being chased by the cops. UNIT troops shoot at something after Col. Mogambo announces a "Code Red." A smoking, burned corpse appears in the tunnel. The Doctor and Christina are aboard the bus. And the Doctor, in another scene, asks Christina if she's ready. And a woman says "We're dead" over and over. [Planet Gallifrey]

Torchwood:

The five-part miniseries allows for more character development and a larger canvas, says director Euros Lyn. Also, the story's crux, of every child on the planet stopping dead still, happens in the very first scene. [Comic Book Resources]

Fringe:

Here's the official description of episode 1x15, "Inner Child":

Just seconds before a building is demolished, a mysterious mute child that has been living alone underground is discovered. When the FBI's Fringe Division investigates, the boy forms an unspoken connection with Agent Olivia Dunham. Meanwhile, an especially gruesome serial killer resurfaces and showcases his "artistry" by displaying his work publicly. As the boy gradually assimilates into a new environment, Olivia and the team must race against the clock to prevent the mad man from further macabre.

And here are some pics from the episode. [Fringe Television]

Lost:

Here's a pic of Daniel's Oxford PhD graduation, funny robe and all. [SpoilersLost]

Actor William Sanderson will be playing a Hunter S. Thompson-esque character in an upcoming episode. And here's our first glimpse of Sayed Badreya, playing Young Sayid. [SpoilersLost]

And apparently the show is shooting a big wedding in its season finale, which could be a major plot point. [E! Online]

Chuck:

Ryan McPartlin, who plays Captain Awesome, says his character gets more action at the end of the season. He gets worried about Chuck, so he starts following him around. He asks questions he shouldn't be asking and pokes his nose into places he shouldn't. And this leads to some "fun stuff" and some "emotional stuff." But we may have to wait until season three (if any) to see if Awesome gets thrown into Chuck's "other life." And stuff goes wrong (of course) with Awesome and Ellie's wedding. [Sci Fi Wire]

And here's a promo that includes footage from Chuck and Heroes:

Heroes:

Good news! IMDB says Christopher Eccleston will be back as Claude in the show's season finale, the appropriately titled "Invisible Thread." [SpoilerTV]

And here's the official description of episode 3x23, "1961":

THE HAUNTING SECRETS OF ANGELA PETRELLI'S PAST CAN'T STAY BURIED FOREVER

As Nathan (Adrian Pasdar), Claire (Hayden Panettiere), Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) and H.R.G. (Jack Coleman) help Angela (Cristine Rose) uncover her past, she reveals the dark secrets that have haunted her for years. Meanwhile, Mohinder (Sendhil Ramamurthy) learns of his father's involvement in a long forgotten government operation.

[Heroes The Series]

Additional reporting by Alasdair Wilkins.

Those reshoots? Are all about Ryan Reynolds' incarnation of the wisecracking, Bea Arthur-loving merc with a mouth, according to reports at IESB. Tipsters claim Fox is filming lots of new scenes involving Deadpool, including a bunch of scenes between Deadpool and Logan himself. Somebody must have taken a look at an early cut of the film, and realized it was lacking the crucial ingredient of Wade Wilson antics. Now if only his face actually gets hideously scarred at some point during the film — which I sadly doubt — we'll be good to go. In either case, signs are looking more positive for a long-awaited Deadpool solo movie. [IESB]

Don't wait for X-Men: Origins to see Deadpool moving about — Hulk Vs. delivers the red suited menace next month.

Hulk Vs.is released January 27, 2009.

Fox, which is making some Marvel Comics movies including next year's Wolverine, has a few other projects on the slate. One possibility is Young X-Men, a movie following the main X-Men characters as teenagers studying at Professor Xavier's school — similar to the X-Men: First Class comic or the animated X-Men: Evolution. (Which would be cool, but couldn't include Wolverine, thus possibly halving its commercial potential.)

Another possibility is a solo film for Deadpool, the wisecracking deformed mutant mercenary played by Ryan Reynolds in the Wolverine

And a third possiblity would be a "reboot" of Daredevil, who only just had a movie starring Ben Affleck five years ago. Given how well that worked out with the Hulk, I'm not sure if people are really clamoring for a reinvention of the blind lawyer who's sort of like Batman but not quite.

Meanwhile, what's up with Wonder Woman? Talking to io9 contributor Nisha Gopalan over at MTV, producer Leonard Goldberg hinted that the Wachowskis might still be interested in working on a Wonder Woman film. At one point, the Matrix auteurs had been working on a WW picture at one point, but then they got diverted to another project. But they could still come back to the Amazon Princess with their own take on her story.

Meanwhile, writers Matthew Jennison and Matt Strickland are retooling their WW spec script, which Goldberg and Joel Silver bought a few years ago. It takes place during World War II, and Goldberg wouldn't go into specifics about what needed tweaking. He did say that he doesn't want to spend too much time on the same old story of Col. Steve Trevor crashing onto Paradise Island and almost getting executed, since it's been done to death. If it appears at all, it'll be in "an abbreviated fashion." Also, Goldberg says he doesn't want to see Wonder Woman too "sexed up," since she's an icon, and she's not meant to be Catwoman.

(And yes, we know Wonder Woman isn't really scifi, except when she's traveling into outer space, wielding the purple death ray, flying in her invisible jet, or joining a crew of aliens and scifi characters in the Justice League.)

[MTV