The Happening:

The secret of The Happening, M. Night Shyamalan's newest movie, is that it's a virus produced by plants and trees to fight back against humanity. It spreads through the air and makes people kill themselves. And the main characters, a family fleeing from the disaster, finally kill themselves at the movie's end. [Edward J.R.]

Smallville:

Someone claims to have casting sides for two new characters who will appear in Smallville season eight. There's a twentysomething bartender at Ace Of Clubs named Davis Bloome, who meets Lois when he serves her whiskey, and seems to read her mind as she's musing about a friend. It's a "weirdly sexy" moment. They snark back and forth, but then the conversation gets too weird for Lois. In a second audition scene, Lois seems to know Davis much better, and she finds him with blood on his hands. He says a waitress broke a tray of glasses and cut herself, but Lois doesn't believe him. And then it turns out Davis has blackouts where he can't remember anything he did. Lois offers to help, but Davis just begs her not to tell anyone. And she suddenly feels afraid.

The second character is Tess, who meets Clark in his barn, where she's wearing a pencil skirt and high heels. She tells Clark she's moving into Luthor Manor in Lex's absence. And she baits Clark about the fact that he was the last one to see Lex alive, and asks why Lionel Luthor would take a farmboy under his wing. Clark says Lionel was just a family friend, but Tess thinks Lionel lusted after Martha Kent. And her second scene involves Jimmy sneaking into the Daily Planet archives. Tess has been looking for Jimmy, but he's a hard guy to find. Jimmy tells Tess he didn't work for Lex, but she knows better. She tells him to spill what he knows about Lex's last trip... or else.

So... Lex is being replaced by a woman. And Lois is getting a new creepy love interest. [Notes... Written On Water]

Battlestar Galactica:

Battlestar Galactica just recently filmed a scene that started to explain how Starbuck came back from the dead. And "it's not an uplifting understanding," says star Edward James Olmos. "It's as dark as everything else. You sit there and you go, 'You guys are sick!'" [Boston Globe]

Doctor Who:

Once again, Digital Spy has a bunch of spoilers for Saturday's Doctor Who episode, three of which are fake. Off the top of my head, I can believe Donna tries to fit in with the 1920s by saying "spiffing" and "chin chin," Agatha Christie hits on Donna to no avail, Chief Inspector Smith shows up, and Donna thinks that Enid Blyton's "Noddy" is real and that "Murder On The Orient Express" is a song. [Doctor Who Insania]

Lost:

Time travel is definitely happening on Lost, say producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. And you shouldn't be asking if Claire is dead, but rather "What happened to Claire?" And we should be asking, "What is dead?" (Whoah.) Richard Alpert will be more prominent in the future of the show. Some of the show's mysteries, like the numbers, will never be explained, for fear of cheapening them the way the Force was cheapened on Star Wars after we learned about midichlorians. By the season's end, you'll have a sense of where the Penny-Desmond storyline is going. [E! Online]

Someone who's on set says the last week of filming includes scenes in the jungle, in a church, in a rescue plane and on the studio lot. And the "extra babies" (doubles for Aaron?) are girls. Significant? Or just random? [Lyly Ford]

Stargate: Atlantis:

Stargate: Atlantis will have a big two-parter halfway through its fifth season: "First Contact" and "The Lost Tribe." Dr. Daniel Jackson (from Stargate: SG-1) will visit Atlantis to do research on Janus, the scientist who invented a time-traveling puddle jumper, and who also saved Dr. Weir when she traveled back in time 10,000 years. Daniel and Rodney McKay discover a research laboratory on another planet, which belonged to Janus. But the other Atlanteans did not look favorably upon Janus' work. And Jackson and McKay aren't alone there.

Meanwhile, "Todd" the Wraith seizes control over the Earth battlecruiser Apollo, and only Ronon and Keller remain at large. Todd threatens to start killing people unless Ronon and Keller turn themselves in. Todd is heading to Janus' laboratory, to shut down the "Attero device," which threatens his new alliance. But Col. John Sheppard and Dr. Zelenka have joined up with a Traveler ship led by a captain named Katana, and they're are rushing to get to Janus' lab first. Sheppard and Zelenka work with a 15-year-old engineer, Mila to upgrade the Traveler ship's engines, because if they don't make it to Janus' lab before Todd, Jackson and McKay may be dead. [Gateworld, via Leliana McKay]

Firefly:

An upcoming Firefly comic book series, The Shepherd's Tale, will detail more about the mysterious pastor, Shepherd Book. According to actor Ron Glass, we'll learn that Book found God in a soup bowl, something about Book is artificial, Book's greatest victory was his worst defeat, and Book took the name of someone he killed. [Firefly Fans]

Star Wars: Legacy Of The Force:

More spoilers for Star Wars: Invincible, the Legacy Of The Force book that comes out on Tuesday: Jaina kills Jacen, after injuring him severely. Jacen has gone totally batshit, but really is trying to save Tenel Ka and Allana from some sort of danger. But Jaina doesn't believe him. Daala becomes chief of state. And Luke Skywalker is "around" but doesn't do much. His son, Ben, fights Tahiri and captures her. [Jacen's Heart]

Indiana Jones:

Aintitcoolnews has the first obligatory grouchy reviews of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which is suspense-free according to one person who saw an early screening. Some spoilers: Yes, (duh) Shia is Indy's son. Indy is a colonel now, having been a World War II hero. That was a snake Shia was using to save Indy from quicksand. Cate Blanchett actually has psychic powers, (which I bet is true in real life also.)

And here's the crux:

The storyline is basically about an alien corpse from some crash in some town call Roswell, that has magnetic properties that may or may not be the ultimate weapon in the future. The Nazi's are replaced by the Soviets who are obviously bad and want said weapon to do bad things with. The alien corpse prize is replaced with the crystal skull from the corpse (the actual skeleton of aliens is crystaline, and the Crystal Skull is literally an alien's remains) and chases and such ensue as they try to figure out how to 'Return' the skull to the Lost City of Gold and let it's supernatural abilities run rampant.

Hancock:

And Aintitcool also has another damning early review of Will Smith's drunken superhero movie Hancock. The movie starts with Hancock drunk and asleep on the roof of a building while the radio talks about what a public menace he is. Then he stops some robbers and causes tons of property damage (including putting the robbers' car on top of a building.) He picks up a hot woman and takes her back to his two smushed-together mobile homes. He tells her to get away when he ejaculates — and then the girl gets thrown across the room and Hancock's sperm punches three baseball-sized holes in the roof of the trailer.

Hancock saves Jason Bateman's PR agent when his car is stuck on the train tracks with a train coming. Bateman offers to help fix Hancock's image, and the first step is turning himself in to the cops for all that property damage. In prison, Hancock shoves one inmate's head up another inmate's ass, and this is shown quite graphically. Then there's a huge hostage situation in a bank and the city calls for Hancock's help, which he gives. Meanwhile, there are confusing flashbacks about Hancock and a small child that are never explained.

Hancock has a weird vibe with Bateman's wife, played by Charlize Theron. Hancock doesn't remember anything earlier than waking up in hospital 80 years earlier with two tickest to Frankenstein in his pocket. And then the truth comes out:

Charlize later reveals that she and Will are descendants of Gods or Angels... she was at one time Isis. She also reveals that they were once husband and wife! We also find out that they are each others respective kryptonites. The more time they spend together, the weaker and more mortal they become... so they need to stay apart. She was at the movies with Hancock 80 years ago. They were on the road to mortality when Will saw a man getting mugged. Will intervened and got clocked in the skull. He lost his memory and Charlize decided to disappear from his life because the world needs one hero— Hancock!

Then the hostage-taking bank robber (from earlier) shows up at the hospital. The bank robber shoots Charlize, and then Hancock gets his powers back as Charlize gets weaker. (And yes, it makes no sense.) Hancock beats the bank robber and his cronies, with some help from Bateman. And then Hancock realizes Theron is dying, and he has to get as far away from her as possible so she can regain her immortality. The film ends with Hancock living as a superhero in New York, while Bateman and Theron are happy together in L.A. [AintItCoolNews]

And now that you're all excited to see Hancock, here are some new pics. [IESB]

Batman: Gotham Knight:

More info has come out about another segment of the animated Batman: Gotham Knight DVD. The penultimate segment, Brian Azzarello's "Working Though Pain," is less violent than his usual work. The segment "explores an early chapter of Bruce Wayne's training as a mysterious and exotic Indian woman named Cassandra introduces Batman to techniques that would help him to conquer the physical and spiritual consequences of what he does." And yes, the synopsis actually says "exotic Indian woman." I know. Here are some stills:

Wolverine:

The Wolverine solo movie, which already has a pretty massive cast of mutants tromping through it, now also guest-stars the young Scott Summers aka Cyclops. How does Cyclops fit into the storyline of Logan's early years in the Weapon X military taskforce? [Superhero Hype]

Heroes:

Bruce Boxleitner will play a new character in Heroes season three, one who was originally modeled on Sen. John McCain, but who may have been reconceived now that Bruce is playing him. In any case, this new character shares many scenes with one of our female regulars. (Angela, maybe?) This makes me think the new season will be way more political than we'd been led to expect, with that "supervillains" theme. Also, even though we're hearing about lots of new characters in season three, the focus will be on our core characters from the show's original pilot. [Ask Ausiello]

Battlestar Galactica:

Here's a pretty carefully constructed chronology of all the spoilers about upcoming Battlestar Galactica episodes that have come out so far. The only ones that may be news to me are that Tigh gets onboard a baseship, and there's a "powerful scene" between Tigh and Admiral Adama, possibly about President Roslin's capture by the rebel cylons. [Leliana McKay]

Doctor Who:

Here's a snippet from the script and a clip from Saturday's episode, "The Doctor's Daughter":
Jenny picks herself up, unharmed, excited, grinning. The Doctor is furious with her.
The Doctor: Why did you do that?
Jenny: They were trying to kill us!
The Doctor: But they've got my friend
Jenny: Collateral damage. At least you've still got her. He lost both of his men. I'd say you came out ahead. [Planet Gallifrey]

Some kind soul has scanned in some pages from some British magazines that include a few spoilers for the rest of the season. The Doctor's "daughter" is related to him but is necessarily his daughter daughter — it's complicated. So how does he end up with a daughter? According to one article, he sticks his hand into a machine that spits out grown-up offspring a moment later. In the season finale, there's a segment on a fake talk show where the "lights in the sky" are discussed. And one of the companions appearing in the finale may not survive. (My money's on Rose, actually.) [Loftio]

Remember those incredibly suspect spoilers we posted yesterday for the end of the season? The ones where Donna dies, and then the Doctor undoes her death, and then he wipes her memory? The guy who posted them has been banned from Digital Spy, where he posted them, and has become the laughingstock of the Doctor Who forum. Poor guy — he was just trying to keep us entertained. [Boards.ie]

Lost:

Some more preview photos have come out from the season finale, showing the Oceanic Six in mid-escape.

And here are two more short clips from tonight's Lost episode. It looks like Locke meets a ghost from the Dharma Initiative, and Sayid has a plan to save everyone on the island. [Spoilers Lost]

Final Crisis:

Entertainment Weekly has a five-page preview of Final Crisis, with script pages from writer Grant Morrison. It looks very much like 52 part two, or maybe "53." In a nutshell, Dick Turpin (from Metropolis Special Crimes Unit) finds Orion in a dumpster, half dead. And then he has a conversation with ex-cop Rene Montoya, who's become a superhero called The Question. Meanwhile, the sky turns red and freaks out, and John Stewart, who's a Green Lantern (a space cop with a magic ring) gets called to a "1011" emergency. Oh, and old Justice League villain Libra is behind everything, but uber-villain Darkseid also plays a major role. [Entertainment Weekly]

Moon:

Remember Moon, the movie directed by David Bowie's son Duncan Jones, and starring Sam Rockwell (Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind)? Now that it's in post-production, a few more details have leaked out. The reason Rockwell is stranded alone on the Moon for three years: he's mining a gas that Earth needs to solve its energy crisis. And while he's stuck up there, he has an encounter that will change the course of human history. Even though Rockwell is alone on the Moon, he has costars in the movie: Matt Berry (The IT Crowd) and Kaya Scodelario (Skins). Are they playing aliens he meets, or other people who turn up? Or the people waiting for him back on Earth? [Slice Of Scifi]

The Dark Knight:

In the new Batman movie, part of what drives Harvey Dent over the edge into becoming Two-Face is that his fiancee is killed. This is presumably Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). This will also give Batman something else to angst over, since she's his old flame and his "hope for a normal life." [Comic By Comic]

Battlestar Galactica:

Someone posted a ton of spoilers for episode 9 of Battlestar Galactica season four, "The Hub," which airs June 6. Roslin and Baltar are in the hands of the rebel Cylons (the Leobens, the Sharons, the Sixes) who are planning an attack on the "Resurrection Hub," without which no Cylon can resurrect anywhere, even with a resurrection ship. The humans have an uneasy alliance with these rebel Cylons. And some human pilots help with the attack, including Helo, Seelix and "Gonzo" Pike. The humans also decide to help the rebels to retrieve D'Anna (Lucy Lawless) so they can learn the identity of the Final Five within the fleet. D'Anna is un-boxed and immediately starts being manipulative and playing mind games again. The battle to destroy the Hub is "insane."

Helo feels very threatened when he realizes that when "his" Sharon died and was resurrected over the algae planet, her memories became available to all the other Sharons.

Baltar does the one thing that could surprise me at this point: he confesses his role in the destruction of humanity to Roslin — leaving her with a tough moral quandary. We see Roslin's death in a flash-forward, and the "L-word" is finally spoken between her and Adama. Elosha puts in an appearance as Roslin's spiritual adviser. [Battlestar Blog]

Star Wars: Clone Wars:

Here's our first look at Asajj Ventress, one of the main villains of the Star Wars: Clone Wars movie (coming this August) and TV show (coming this fall). As with previous versions, she's bald and venomous-looking. [USA Today]

And more story details about the movie have come out. Jabba the Hutt's son has been kidnapped, and the Jedi agree to rescue him in exchange for access to shipping routes, but this may be a plot to divert the Jedi to the remote planet of Teth. Anakin, his student Ahsoka, and a Clone squadron, travel to the B'omarr monastery on Teth to find Hutt Jr., but they find themselves surrounded by General Grievous' battle droids and hunted by Asajj Ventress. R2D2 helps them find a way out, and Obi-Wan brings much-needed reinforcements. [Jedi News]

Lost:

Lost's Sonya Walger (Penny) was spotted in Hawaii. Does that mean Penny's coming to the island? Or just that she's going to appear in an upcoming episode? Also, there are hints another one of our "favorite castaways" will die in an upcoming episode. [Spoilers Lost]

Smallville:

Here are some pics from the Smallville season finale, where Lex finally gets into the Fortress of Solitude. [The TV Addict]

And this week's episode, "Quest," follows Lex to Zurich, where he keeps trying to learn about the "Veritas" mythology. Lex gets attacked by a monastic-robed stranger with Kryptonian symbols carved into his chest, which seem to be a message for Clark. Meanwhile, Jimmy takes an interest in the symbols carved in the Kawatche caves, and Clark thinks about their symbolism. Clark and Chloe team up to investigate and learn that a member of the Veritas clan has survived and is hiding out in a church. Clark and Lex race to be the first to find this Veritas member, who holds the key to Clark's survival. [Buddy TV]

Doctor Who:

Here's a possibly spurious summary of the last two episodes of the current Doctor Who season. Former Prime Minister Harriet Jones is consumed with hatred for the Doctor, especially after she finds out her successor as prime minster was a member of the Doctor's own species. She managed to get aboard the Valiant and witnessed the entire year of Harold Saxon's reign of terror which "never happened." It was Harriet who stole the Master's ring from his funeral pyre, and uses it to help an army of Daleks, led by Davros, to escape from beyond reality.

This causes Rose's alternate universe to unravel. As head of her universe's Torchwood London, Rose knows what's going on, but doesn't know how to stop it. She desperately tries to reach the Doctor. Meanwhile, Donna has read her own life story in that future library (the one from the Steven Moffat two-parter) and knows she'll be killed by the Racnoss, the spider-creature that ruined her wedding day.

Donna is left alone inside the TARDIS, hurtling out of control, and doesn't know what to do. Then Rose appears on the screen, having managed to get a signal through a fracture in reality — after the Doctor has already completely vanished from our universe. Donna and Rose try to use the TARDIS to bring the Doctor back. They keep colliding with alternate realities, including their own lives if they'd never met the Doctor. Finally, they manage to bring the Doctor back. He's confronted Davros and Harriet, who's now the Red Dalek.

Realities collide, bringing Jackie and Mickey back to our universe. And then the Daleks kill Donna's mother and grandfather. And then Donna is controlled by the insect on her back, by means of a Racnoss Empress from an alternate reality, which came to our universe through the hole the Daleks have made. The alternate Empress joins forces with Davros and Harriet. The only way to stop Donna's evil back-spider is to kill Donna, which the Doctor refuses to do. Meanwhile, all the universes are threatening to collide, destroying everything. The Doctor reaches the Medusa Cascade, but the only way to close the rift again is to sacrifice a human life. The Doctor falters, unable to sacrifice anyone. But then Donna chooses to sacrifice her own life to save everything.

But after Donna is gone, the Doctor decides to break his most sacred rule for her, and goes back in time 24 hours to change his own past, so the Daleks and Harriet can be stopped without sacrificing Donna's life. Then Captain Jack erases Donna's memory so she has no clue what's happened and won't try to find the Doctor again. She won't remember him at all. This restores everything to the point it was before, with Rose, Mickey and Jackie once again sealed in their alternate universe. [Planet Gallifrey]

Transformers: Animated:

Here are some screencaps from an upcoming episode of Transformers: Animated called "SUV: Society For Ultimate Villainy," which already aired in the Middle East but won't air in the U.S. until June or later. It features a Decepticon called Swindle, and a villain who fires a time-freezing blast, using a pocket watch. The "clockwoman" teams up with Nano and the Angry Archer to build a time-control machine for Swindle. [TFW2005]

Spectacular Spider-Man:

And meanwhile, Spectacular Spider-Man is unaccountably airing its Halloween episode this Saturday. Here's the blurb:

"The Uncertainty Principle"... presents a number of perplexing situations for Peter Parker and Spider-Man as they both try to find clarity amid the masks, mysteries and menace of Halloween. While Colonel John Jameson struggles to land his damaged space shuttle, Spider-Man continues his ongoing battle with Green Goblin, who also threatens Hammerhead and Tombstone. Still, Peter's greatest challenge will be facing the awful truth when he finally learns the Goblin's "true" identity.

Iron Man 2:

Iron Man 2 will be about Nick Fury recruiting Tony Stark to help battle the super-terrorist known as the Mandarin. And the Mandarin will have super-dragon Fin Fang Foom on his side, according to sources familiar with the movie's storyline — but there's no script yet. [Cinemablend]

Batman 3:

And the third Batman movie will feature a lot more of Two-Face, the villain who debuts at the end of The Dark Knight. But the Joker won't be in it, largely due to Heath Ledger's death. And the story will be based on the graphic novels "The Long Halloween" and "Dark Victory" — especially the second one, which charts the rise of Two-Face and introduces Batman's sidekick Robin.

Indiana Jones:

Here's a new TV spot for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, with a bit of new footage. In particular, Shia tells Indy: "Get on, gramps!" [ComingSoon.net]

Doctor Who:

The first (lukewarm) review of Saturday's Doctor Who episode "The Doctor's Daughter" is online. Jenny, the Doctor's you-know-what, has amazing abilities and challenges the Doctor at every turn. Martha gets captured by the fishlike Hath, while the Doctor and Donna fall in with the humans, who want their help in continuing their war against the Hath. The Doctor tries to stop the fighting and explores "what makes a person a person." Martha and the Doctor hardly have any time together, making their farewell at the episode's end a bit hollow.

And there's the usual mixture of spoilers and red herrings from Digital Spy, including Martha helping to set a fish's dislocated shoulder, the Doctor putting a gun to someone's head, Donna calling the Doctor's daughter "G.I. Jane," and the Doctor being surprised what he finds when he puts a stethoscope to Jenny's chest. [Doctor Who Insania]

The Doctor-less episode, "Turn Left," happens in a bombed-out looking Leeds with corrugated tin covering people's windows. And Donna has some kind of animatronic insect on her back, and people keep commenting on it. Soldiers (including UNIT soldiers) are running around, and one soldier tries to arrest Donna because of her back-insect. The Racnoss spaceship (from Donna's first appearance in the 2006 Christmas special) is attacking Earth. Towards the end of the episode, Donna runs out in the street carrying something that looks like a "vortex manipulator" and gets hit by a car. Rose appears and kneels next to Donna's body.

Rose is in a relationship with someone in the alternate universe, and it's not Mickey. And there are more rumors the Daleks recruit former Prime Minister Harriet Jones to become a new Supreme Dalek. The Supreme Dalek is red and has three head-lamps instead of the standard two.

Also, more details on the final scene of the fourth season, which we reported on a while ago. Donna falls down, and the Doctor and Grandpa Wilf help her to her feet. Then Wilf and the Doctor have this parting moment as the Doctor is leaving:
Doctor: Get a lot of this. Atmospheric disruption. (The rain stops.) Bye, Wilfred.
Wilf: What about you? All those friends of yours....who have you got?... Next time, at night, when the stars come out... I'll look up and I'll think of you... out there on your own... on her behalf...
The Doctor turns, walks sadly across the road, gets out his key, opens TARDIS and goes inside... Also, the Doctor shouts "You can never tell her!" at Wilf right before this exchange. The person watching filming surmised that maybe Donna has lost her memory of him.

And it's rumored the Chrismas special is based on the "One Doctor" audio play, in which a con artist pretends to be the Doctor. And those bronze Cyber-Shades are fakes cooked up by the fake Doctor (David Morrisey.) But then the real Doctor and the real Cybermen show up. (I think this is a bit dodgy, actually.) [Doctor Who Forum]

Lost:

It turns out Sawyer isn't in that scene of the Oceanic Six getting on the raft after all — that was Desmond's stand-in. And Desmond is definitely in the scene. [Lost.sc]

Both Sawyer and Locke are still alive and on the island in the future "Oceanic Six" timeline. And it sounds as though the finale's "spectacular kiss" may be between Sawyer and Kate. Also, the next two seasons will include more stories about the Oceanic Six's adventures off the island. And here's another new preview clip from Thursday's episode. [E! Online]

Smallville:

In the tail end of Smallville season seven, Lana gets better and then decides to leave town, which is why she's not in next year's episodes. [E! Online again]

Speed Racer:

On the heels of its featurette about Racer X, IGN Movies has a 3-minute clip featuring Speed Racer himself. It's mostly footage we've already featured, but I think there might be a teeny bit more of it. [IGN Movies]

X-Files: I Want To Believe:

X-Files 2 features a scene between Mulder and Scully in the FBI offices. And Scully is struggling with the conflict between her rational scientific outlook and her faith (as a Catholic.) Mulder is still struggling with his faith in the paranormal. [XFilesNews]

Hancock:

That scene in Hancock where the slovenly superhero has sex with an underage girl? It's been cut, to try and get the film a PG-13 rating instead of an R rating. Apparently there was a scene where he gets drunk and fools around with a 12-year-old too, but that was mostly a "bargaining chip" to try and convince the ratings board to let a similar scene involving a 17-year-old stay in. But now all the underage girls are gone. The movie is about "why Superman can't get a date," and involves Hancock being physically unable to spend the night with a woman he meets at a party. (Because of the "woman of tissue paper" thing, or something else?) [New York Times]

The Happening:

M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening is a 90-minute paranoia movie, which pays tribute to Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. A group of people are trying to get out of an area affected by some other-worldly threat, and they understand the situation better than everyone around them... but nobody else will listen. [LA Times, via Defamer]

Doctor Who:

The title of episode 12 of Doctor Who's current season is still a mystery, but fans are speculating it could be "War On Skaro." (Skaro is the name of the evil Daleks' home planet, which has been destroyed a couple of times.) After all, British toymaker Play.com has started taking preorders on a "War On Skaro" playset, which goes on sale in October. And the playset includes a Davros action figure. [Room 515]

In next week's episode, "The Doctor's Daughter," the daughter in question says "Hello, Dad!" to the Doctor. And she wields a machine gun. And the aliens in the episode, the Hath, are half fish, half human, and communicate using bubbles. [SciFiPulse]

Heroes:

Heroes' Noah Bennett, aka HRG, is currently imprisoned at the bottom of Level Five in the Company's secret facility. "I think there may be an escape in the offing, but at a cost," says actor Jack Coleman. And HRG will probably be hunting those escaped psycho villains who are like a dozen Sylars. Meanwhile, Mohinder is getting a lot less mild-mannered, and Claire wants to use her powers for a greater good instead of just blending in. And I'm not sure what to make of Coleman's prediction for Hiro:

"He's firmly planted in Yakamoto Industries now," says Coleman. "I think Hiro's more the guy who starts out wealthy and comfortable and is very unhappy taking over his father's business and needs the quest. That's his destiny."

Smallville:

Even though Michael Rosenbaum just announced he's through with Smallville, the producers are still dropping hints he may be back for the eighth season finale, which may be the show's finale episode ever. Also, all the signs point to the show's new female villain being Maxima, the alien queen who wanted to marry Superman in the comics and wasn't willing to take no for an answer. And apparently this time around, Clark may not want to give no for an answer anyway. [ComicBookResources]

Lost:

Castaway drama Lost just filmed a scene for the season finale in which the Oceanic Six (plus Sawyer, and some person who's not moving) swim onto a life raft. (And it looks like Desmond might be there too.) [Ryan's Flickr page, via Approaching Lost]

Also, in Thursday's episode, Claire goes into Jacob's Cabin with Locke, and we learn more about why we saw her dad (and Jack's) in there. We see Ben's father figure Horace Godspeed (who got Ben's dad his job and died in the purge) back from the dead. And Michael and Frank argue on the freighter. [Nicole's Lost]

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:

We will see some more of the mysterious girl at John Connor's high school, Cheri, again at some point in TV's Terminator spinoff. But season two of the Sarah Connor Chronicles will move towards having one plot per episode, instead of juggling three or four plots every time. And the show's second season will flip some of its character dynamics on their head, as John becomes more of a man instead of a boy. [IGN]

Eureka:

Do any of you guys watch the Sci Fi Channel's Eureka, the show about a town full of supergeniuses and weirdos? If so, then you'll be happy to hear that Sheriff Jack Carter may actually get a girlfriend in the new season. Also getting lucky in love may be Sally, the Smart House and possibly even Fargo. The new season will also include a Biodome-themed show, a Groundhog Day riff involving "2 AM and ice water," a "robot mangy dog show," and maybe more disappearing pizza guys. Eight episodes of the new season will air starting in late July, with the rest airing later. [Monsters And Critics]

Star Wars:

The blurb for the upcoming Star Wars novel Millennium Falcon gives some spoilers about what happens in the earlier novel, Invincible. The brief-but-brutal rain of Darth Caedus (worst "Darth" name ever) comes to an end, and the formerly evil Imperial Admiral Daala unites the galaxy to forge a lasting peace. Luke Skywalker tries to chart a new future for the Jedi Order and tries to understand why his nephew Jacen Solo turned to the Dark Side. Leia and Han, grieving for both their dead sons, adopt Jacen's force-sensitive daughter Allana, at the request of her mother, Queen Tenel Ka of Hapes. The newly formed family goes off to research the history of Han's ship the Millennium Falcon, but then they stumble on a new threat to the Jedi Order — and maybe to the Force itself. [The Force.net]

And the blurb for the first graphic novel based on the new Clone Wars movie/series has gone up on Amazon: In "Shipyards of Doom," Obi Wan and Anakin lead a mission to destroy the Separatists' shipyards, but the enemy finds out. They're forced to rely on their new wet-behind-the-ears padawan, Ahsoka, who must face the droid armies of General Grievous. [Amazon]

Iron Man:

I know I said we weren't going to talk about the Samuel L. Jackson cameo in Iron Man ever again, but then people started posting cameraphone copies of it on YouTube. Here's our version. [Thanks, Greg!]

X-Files: I Want To Believe:

X-Files 2 is a return to the "horror genre X-Files started in," says David Duchovny. Also, Scully is working in a Catholic infirmary called Our Lady Of Sorrows Hospital, which is really an abandoned mental hospital in Vancouver. One scene involves Scully, a bed-ridden boy, and a "vulture-like priest." And there's a scene which takes place in the hospital's chapel. Also, that rural house where Mulder is living at the start of the movie? He's hiding out there, because he's still a fugitive. [X-Files News]

Indiana Jones And the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull:

A memorabilia site has photos from Indiana Jones And the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull for sale, and some of them are quite spoilery, including some pics of Indy handling the eponymous skull of crystal. Plus, Indy in quicksand! (Is Mutt using a snake to get him out, or a big stick?) And Indy getting choked by soldiers! And Indy in a weird 1950s pastiche with plastic kids. Huh? [Worst Previews and Slashfilm]

Batman: Gotham Knight:

Warner Home Video released some new images for Batman: Gotham Knight, its direct-to-DVD animated anthology that comes out July 8. And Alan Burnett, who edited all six of the scripts, revealed some new details about the sixth segment, which he wrote. Titled "Deadshot," it features the gunman with perfect aim from the Bat-comics. Says Warner, "The segment ties together threads from all the film's chapters as Batman must thwart an unerring assassin whose love of guns and disregard for human life lets him cross lines that even a Dark Knight shies away from." Burnett, who worked on the seminal Batman: The Animated Series says he was never allowed to use Deadshot in the TV cartoon because they weren't allowed to show real bullets. In the DVD, Deadshot's first murder takes place against a backdrop of fireworks and balloons. [Warner Home Video]

Amazing Spider-Man:

On the heels of that picture we showed you of Anti-Venom, who's like the antifreeze to Venom's engine oil, more details about this summer's Amazing Spider-Man storyline have come out. "New Ways To Die" runs from ASM #568-573, and features Norman Osborn, current Venom Mac Gargan and original Venom Eddie Brock... who is now Anti-Venom.

Besides totally radical fashion sense, these villains have one thing in common: they knew Spider-Man's secret identity long before he unmasked in the "Civil War" storyline. Now that the timeline has changed in the wake of Spider-Man's deal with the Devil (don't ask), suddenly these three villains don't know his identity any more. The storyline crosses over with Thunderbolts, where Norman Osborne is in charge, and culminates in one of the most asked-for battles of all time. Oh, and it's written by Dan (She Hulk) Slott, who's quite good when he's allowed to be fun. [Comic Book Resources]

Speed Racer:

Here's a featurette that IGN Movies posted, showcasing Matthew Fox's Racer X character from Speed Racer, including a few snippets of footage we haven't seen before. It looks as demented as everything else I've seen from the film. [IGN Movies]

X-Files 2:

There's a rumor whooshing around the web that Mulder and Scully are still a couple in X-Files 2... but Scully "has someone on the side." After searching all over, I tracked the rumor to the movie's IMDB FAQs, which cited co-writer Frank Spotnitz as a source. (The item has since been removed, but here's the Google cache.) [IMDB]

Iron Man:

Iron Man comes out today, which means this may be the absolute final chance to obsess about whether Samuel L. Jackson has a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo. Now MovieHole is claiming there definitely is a moment of Jackson as pirate-eyed spymaster Nick Fury after the credits of the theatrical release (but not the version screened for critics). Says MovieHole:

At the end of the credits, Stark comes home and finds Nick Fury in his living room -staring towards the window. He then turns to tell Stark he's the not the only superhero in the world. Stark asks who he is, and Fury turns and says he's "Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D, and I'm here to talk to you about The Avengers Initiative".

Incredible Hulk:

Here are some new Incredible Hulk stills that came out on the heels of that new trailer. I have to admit, the more I see of the CGI in this movie, the more it feels like it belongs in a 1990s haunted house movie. [MovieHole again]

Doctor Who:

One viewer has an absolutely airtight theory about what's going to happen on this Saturday's Doctor Who:

I think that the gas isn't actually gas, but really it is a teleporter device where 1 particle of gas teleports 50 sontarans. Then they will shoot the humans and afterwards, get out a shotgun. Then they will shoot the humans heads off, take their heads and put them on their feet. Then they will go ice-skating and fall in love with the doctor. They get married and have a child; hence 'the doctors daughter'

Also, some guy who knows someone says that David Tennant's Doctor will make a cameo appearance in the second season of Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. [TenMartha4Ever]

And Alex Kingston (ER)'s character in the upcoming Steven Moffat super-library two-parter "Silence In The Library"/"Forest Of The Dead" is named Professor River Song and may have her own sonic screwdriver. And "Turn Left," this season's Doctor-lite episode, may take place in an alternate universe where military rule is in force and everyone has a strange insect-like creature on his/her back. (Is this the alternate universe where Rose lives, or another one?) In the final two-parter, Dalek creator Davros may do a "Borg Queen" style entrance. And there will be tons of different Daleks, including some fitted with claws. [Death Ray, via Keith]

In this Saturday's episode (really) the Doctor shepherds Donna into the TARDIS for safety, but then the Sontarans teleport the TARDIS aboard their ship. With the world's sky turning poisonous, the nations of the world unite to launch a nuclear strike against the Sontarans, in spite of the Doctor's warnings that it'll do no good. After the adventure is over, Martha's ready to go home to her fiance, but she's physically restrained from doing so. And here's some dialogue from the episode, plus a new clip:
Donna: God, the air's disgusting.
Doctor: Its not so bad for me - go on, get inside the TARDIS —
(holds out key)
Oh. Never given you a key. Keep that, go on. That's yours. Quite a big moment really.
Donna: Yeah, maybe we can get sentimental after the world's finished choking to death. [Planet Gallifrey]

DC Universe 0:

The 50-cent DC Universe 0 comic which goes on sale today (possibly by the time you read this) ends with Barry Allen, the fast-running superhero known as The Flash, coming back from the dead. Which means almost everyone who's ever died in DC Comics is now alive again. Good for Marvel Comics leaving Spider-Man's Uncle Ben dead — except for that alternate universe version a couple years ago, but that hardly counts. I think. [Superhero Times]

Iron Man:

As you've probably heard, Iron Man doesn't feature the rumored cameo by Samuel L. Jackson as eyepatch-wearing superspy Nick Fury. At least, not the version shown to preview audiences. But some people are claiming the final version released to theaters will have an extra added scene that was left out of the preview version, in which Jackson shows up as Fury, recruiting for a group called the Avengers. Whether this is towards the end of the film, or after the end credits, I'm not sure. [JoBlo]

Also, director Jon Favreau has a slight cameo in the film as Happy Hogan, a supporting character from the comics who will be much more important in the second film, if any. And the DVD of the first movie will include a deleted scene at a party in Dubai where Tony meets Ghostface Killah and they know each other. [Superhero Hype]

Robert Downey Jr. says he thinks the Iron Man sequel will deal with Tony facing his newly godlike power, and Tony will turn to drink as he contemplates the enormity of what he's done. And Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts gets a boyfriend, and Tony says he's happy for her while taking a drink to console himself. Then Tony gets drunk and shows up at Pepper's place during her date, dressed in his Iron Man suit, demanding to know what the boyfriend has that he doesn't. [Sci Fi Wire]

Superman: The Man Of Steel:

And speaking of actors who aren't named Edward Norton but still have script ideas, Brandon Routh has some hints about the sequel to Superman Returns, which seems to be officially called Superman: Man Of Steel. Routh says this time around, Superman will have a "good villain that we can actually have physical altercations with." Because Superman didn't get to punch anyone/anything in the first movie, so it'll be good to have more punching this time. And there'll be more humor from Clark, plus more funny Clark/Jimmy interactions. And maybe things between Superman and Lois will be more smoothed over, and Lois "can afford to be nicer to Clark." Routh still believes Superman and Lois will end up together. [Superhero Hype]

Wolverine:

The new Wolverine-focused X-Men prequel movie, due out in 2009, is much darker than the X-Men trilogy, and is more along the lines of Batman Begins, promises star Hugh Jackman, who could star in another 10 or 11 Wolverine movies. [MTV Movies]

Star Trek:

The new Star Trek prequel movie starts with the crew going off on the start of their five-year mission, says Uhura actor Nichelle NIchols. [TrekToday]

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is scouting for two new recurring characters: Becky, a "hot teenaged hipster" who may be John's new girlfriend. And Catherine, an "unusually earthy" business leader in her early 40s, who's sort of a female Bill Gates. [Ask Ausiello]

Battlestar Galactica:

On Battlestar Galactica, the search for Earth may not take as long as you might think this season. [Ask Ausiello again]

Lost:

Here are two more clips from tomorrow night's new Lost episode, in which Jack needs medical attention. [Spoilers Lost]

Doctor Who:

More about those Doctor Who spoilers from Death Ray magazine: Gwen and Ianto from Torchwood are definitely in the season finale, the magazine says. And maybe they recruit Mickey and Martha into the depleted Torchwood team? Also, Martha is in episode six, "The Doctor's Daughter" — where the Doctor meets his daughter. And faces aliens called the Haff. Oh, and Death Ray speculates that his daughter really does come from stolen DNA. [Thanks to Keith]

Smallville:

Here are some more new images from Thursday's Smallville episode which takes place in an alternate universe, featuring Lex Luthor as president of the U.S. and Clark as the bespectacled version from the comics. And in an upcoming Smallville episode, another regular character is going to die. [Buddy TV]

Also, in the season finale, Clark's cousin Kara tells Lex that he's destined to defeat the Traveler, and offers to take him to the Fortress of Solitude to learn how. Clark is shocked that Kara would go to Lex, but she turns out to be Brainiac in disguise — the real Kara is trapped in the Phantom Zone. Chloe gets arrested by the Dept. of Domestic Security, and Lana awakens from her coma. And then Clark and Lex face off in the Fortress, and Lex learns Clark's secret. [Turkey Whisperer]

Amazing Spider-Man:

The Amazing Spider-Man comic will feature a new character named Anti-Venom, who's sort of an inverted version of the old Venon symbiote, who sported a white-on-black version of Spidey's costume. (Image below by John Romita Jr./Marvel.) Another image reveals some more upcoming stories: A shadow falls over Kraven the Hunter's grave, and Mary Jane is back. Also back are Eddie Brock, the original Venom, and Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin. [Entertainment Weekly]

X-Files 2:

Here are some new stills from July's X-Files: I Want To Believe, including a canoodly looking moment between Mulder and Scully. So much for the official "the-kissing-scene-was-fake" line. Unless this is just more misinformation, which I doubt. [Slashfilm]

Synecdoche, New York:

Here's one new pic from Charlie Kaufman's new film Synecdoche, New York, featuring Catherine Keener and Philip Seymour Hoffman. [Slashfilm again]

Heroes:

That new character on Heroes you heard about? The impulsive girl named Joy? She's a villain whose superpower is super-speed, like The Flash. She meets Hiro in an art museum. He asks her if she has a superpower, and whether she's trying to steal some art. She convinces poor gullible Hiro that she's legit... and then runs off with a bunch of paintings. [E! Online]

Dollhouse:

Dollhouse did a two-day location shoot, mostly at night, at a Spanish Mission Revival-style house in L.A.'s Miracle Mile district, which doubles as FBI agent Paul (Tahmoh Penikett)'s apartment, where he first meets Eliza Dushku's Echo, and they have their first fight scene. Paul is obsessed with finding out about the Dollhouse, and becomes a sort of love interest for Echo. [E! Online again]

Lost:

The first installment of the three-hour Lost finale, airing May 15, features the beginning of "the face-off between the survivors and the freighter people." [Spoilers Lost]

Also, there's a super-secret scene coming up involving Sawyer, which is the "game-changer" that leads to the end of those flash-forwards. And Kearny survives at least until the first part of the season finale. Also, Charlotte has a "big, crazy scene" with someone interesting in the next episode. [E! Online again]

And here are some photos from the season finale. Looks like Sun and Kate take turns holding Aaron. [Doc Arzt]

Doctor Who:

The Doctor Who season finale will not only feature returning companions Rose, Martha, Sarah Jane, Captain Jack, Mickey and Jackie — it'll also co-star Gwen and Ianto from Torchwood. That prediction is supposedly included in the new issue of England's Death Ray magazine, but I can't read it online. (If you're in the UK and have a copy, can you email me?) Also, the magazine claims that Davros is back, and we'll visit the Dalek's homeworld of Skaro (which has been destroyed, like, twice now.) [Science Fiction Fantasy Chronicles]

And once again, Digital Spy is releasing a mixture of real and fake spoilers for Saturday's episode. I'm guessing it's true that Donna's mom wields an axe, we see some of the Sontarans' arch-enemies (the Rutans) in a flashback, UNIT prepares a nuclear strike, Donna punches the real Martha thinking she's the fake one, and Sergey Brin has a "mating program" for his baby geniuses. [Doctor Who Insania]

Spectacular Spider-Man:

Here's what Doctor Octopus will look like on this Saturday's Spectacular Spider-Man:

Miscellaneous:

Empire Magazine has new stills from Batman: The Dark Knight, Hancock and Star Wars: Clone Wars. [Empire]

Wanted:

In Wanted, James McAvoy plays Wesley, who's apathetic and "nearly clinically depressed," having been manipulated by the government, his family and his bosses. He shares one "epic snog" with Angelina Jolie during the film. [Ohnotheydidnt]

Iron Man:

More Iron Man reviews have turned up online, and they include some plot details for the movie, which opens Friday. (The overall consensus: It's a fun movie, but suffers from the common problem of having to do an origin story and then include a tacked-on final battle.)

Empire says Tony Stark is shot down (ironically) with his own military hardware, and then imprisoned in a cave by Afghan terrorists who want him to build a missile capable of leveling cities. Stark instead builds his first Iron Man armor, which looks nothing like the missile he's supposed to be building. The terrorists have him under video surveillance, but somehow don't notice the substitution. The film rushes to get Iron Man into his armor, and then flounders around a lot. A lot of the plot deals with how those terrorists got their hands on Stark's weaponry in the first place.[Empire]

When Tony comes back from Afghanistan and announces he wants to change the direction of Stark Industries away from weapons, it's not just bad-guy Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) who's resistant — Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts also digs in her heels at first. There are lots of scenes of Tony working day and night on his improved armor in his workshop. The "global conspiracy" that Tony has to fight at the end of the movie sort of comes out of nowhere, and involves those terrorists from the start of the film. [Emanuel Levy via Rotten Tomatoes]

Also, those Afghan terrorists (the "Ten Rings") get their hands on what's left of Tony's original armor after he escapes, and they start putting it together. They also use some of Tony's weapons to terrorize the locals. The terrorists' leader Raza wants to be the next Genghis Khan. Tony's self-appointed "international enforcer" role pisses off the U.S. military, who send those two fighter jets you've probably seen after him. And then, as you probably know, the climactic battle is between Robert Downey Jr. and Jeff Bridges, both wearing armor that seems sort of clanky. [Variety]

And here are some new Iron Man stills. [Slashfilm]

Heroes:

The first episode of Heroes season three will include some new characters:

• Jesse, a "mean-looking SOB" with an explosive temper.
• Two reporters, covering the news in Odessa, Texas.
• An E.R. doctor working Odessa, Texas.
• A commentator on a national TV news program
• Two "scary thugs" preying on innocent people in New York City.
• A paramedic administering emergency care to a seriously injured patient (Nathan?).

Also, we'll learn more about the mysterious group of older heroes who included Angela Petrelli and Kaito Nakamura. As for how we'll learn more about these characters' pasts, says producer Allan Arkush, "We are going to play with time and we are playing a lot with space and where people are on the planet." The new season will focus on "Villains," including Sylar and some new characters, but also on morally grey characters like Angela and Claire's dad Bennett. Matt Parkman will be exploring his new psychic power and will be "flashing someplace," which will be a "cool surprise." We may see more different versions of Hiro, along the lines of his badass self from the alternate future. And we'll see more of Niki/Jessica/someone.

Another huge storyline in season three: the "genetic essence" of these characters' powers, and how they got them in the first place. And the fact that the first episode is called "The Butterfly Effect" is significant, because a major theme of the new season is that whole "chaos theory" thing about stepping on a butterfly and "changing the flow of the universe." [Heroes Revealed]

Doctor Who:

The official Doctor Who site includes season four wallpaper art, and a section on the fat-people-infesting Slitheen is "coming soon." Does that mean they'll be farting their way across our screens again soon? [CoolSciFi]

And there are more details of the Christmas special filming. The normal-looking Cybermen are leading some children away, along with an Undertaker who's mind-controlled by a flashing blue earpiece. The children try to run away but some "cyber-shades" (those cyber-ghosty things) hiss at them. And then the undertaker yells, "Enter the court of the Cyber-King! March!" And the children go in.

Meanwhile the Doctor and his new companion "Rosita" (Velile Tshabalala) are watching the cybermen lead the children away. The Doctor says the cybermen's lair will be too well-guarded to try and sneak in. They run away, but two cybermen sneak up on them. Which the Doctor says is "cheating." "Did you put your legs on silent?" And then Mrs. Hartigan (played by Dervla Kirwin) shows up, standing between the cybermen. The Doctor tries to convince her to move away from the cybermen before they can attack her, but Mrs. Hartigan says she has nothing to fear from her "shining knights." The Doctor says Mrs. H. hasn't been converted into a cyber-woman, so she should still have her own free will, and she replies that she's with the cybermen of her own volition, and "no-one can make me change my mind."

Later, the Doctor discusses Mrs. Hartigan's evil plans, which involve something dreadful happening on Christmas, which will affect the whole British Empire. She asks who the Doctor is, and how he knows so much about the cybermen, and he tells her his name. They cybermen say his appearance doesn't match their visual records. (Which would mean they're not the same cybermen he met in the alternate universe?) The cybermen are about to kill the Doctor, who asks Mrs. H., to let him die happy by telling him what she wants the children for. She replies, "What does anyone want children for?" The Doctor throws something at the cyberman, who catches it and tells the Doctor it's ineffective against the cyber-race. And then David Morrissey (the "other Doctor") jumps out and shoots the cybermen with some sort of weapon. And here's a video. [Doctor Who Forum]

Lost:

In this Thursday's Lost episode, Jack has appendicitis and Jin gets a gun. Sawyer, Claire and Aaron run into Frank Lapidus, the helicopter pilot, who tells them to hide because Kearny is still alive. They hide, but then Aaron starts to cry. All of the Oceanic Six, plus Sayid's wife Nadia, are at the funeral of Christian Shepherd. Sayid actually storms out of the Oceanic Six's press conference because he doesn't like telling lies about what happened. There's a party at Hurley's mansion. [Nicole's Lost Blog]

But other sources suggest the party at Hurley's Mansion takes place in the season finale, not this week's episode. (And possibly that press conference as well.)

Indiana Jones:

Here are a bunch of stills and production photos from Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, some of which are new and some of which are just much higher resolution than before. Not terribly spoilery, except that there's quicksand. And skeletons who aren't crystal. [Slashfilm]

Iron Man:

There's a scene in Iron Man where inventor Tony Stark's best friend Jim Rhodes looks at the Mark II Iron Man armor and says to himself, "Next time, baby." This is fueling speculation that the next movie would see Rhodes suiting up as War Machine — or, more likely, replacing Tony as Iron Man for a while first. And you won't see the way the movie introduces superspy organization S.H.I.E.L.D. coming, either. And there are tons of hints about uber-villain The Mandarin, who's not in this film. Also, the movie's end credits include animations that reference War Machine. [Rotten Tomatoes, via Cinematical]

And there are tons of hints that the next two movies in the would-be trilogy will address Tony's alcoholism (a big theme in the later comics) and Rhodes' arc on the way to becoming War Machine. [Moviefone]

And here's an incredibly boring behind-the-scenes video about Iron Man, in which director Jon Favreau points at a bunch of empty rooms and said, "this was where we shot the cave scenes, but we already took those sets down. This was his workshop, but it's been dismantled now." It includes some footage from the movie, but it's mostly stuff you've seen before. [MySpace]

X-Files: I Want To Believe:

World's most minor spoiler: Someone got a copy of the X-Files: I Want To Believe script and said the following three words appear on page 17: "believe," "visions," and "cigarette." [Thanks to Ewan]

Battlestar Galactica:

Nana Visitor (Kira from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) talked a bit about her role in episode six of Battlestar Galactica, as a fellow cancer patient who drives President Roslin nuts. "I'm dying and losing my hair. Talk about looking bad." She's not a Cylon, but her character does give "a glimpse of the other side, [what happens] when you die." [Jonja.net, thanks Chris]

Spectacular Spider-Man:

Here are some stills from this Saturday's Spectacular Spider-Man, which introduces the Green Goblin, and includes a big role for Mary-Jane Watson.

Lost:

At least one of the stars of Lost was in an "altered state" when E! Online visited the set recently. And Charlie puts in an appearance in next week's episode.

Meanwhile, the show just filmed the scene where the Oceanic Six arrive back in civilization, via a military transport plane. (And it sounds like they land in Honolulu, so Hawaii can actually play itself.) In another scene, the Six hold a press conference and are confronted by a very skeptical group of reporters, who have lots of questions and get some misleading answers. Also present at the press conference: Margo Shepherd and David and Carmen Reyes. The press asks:

Ms. Austen, how old is Aaron? Ms. Kwon, what happened to your husband? Mr. Reyes, what of your fortune, and this hefty airline settlement?

And here are more stills from the May 8 episode, showing Locke (and Claire?) in Jacob's Cabin, plus some goings-on on the freighter. [Spoilers Lost]

And here are two clips from next week's episode, "Something Nice Back Home":

Kyle XY:

Mark, that cute DJ who's been making a move on Kyle's step-sister Lori, is actually working for Latnok, the morally suspect group of scientists. And Kyle is going to get shot in season three. [Spoiler TV]

Also, Jessi XX, Kyle's female counterpart, will be back in season three and learning more hard lessons. Her biological mom Sarah (Ally Sheedy!) may also be back. And Kyle will come face-to-face with the scientists who created him, and have to deal with the fact that they're "not working with him." Kyle's relationship with his biological father Adam will be "doled out in pieces." Kyle's whole story arc has been planned out in advance, and may take him all the way through college. [TV Week]

Caprica:

The TV Addict got hold of the script for Battlestar Galactica's prequel TV movie Caprica, and spilled a ton of spoilers. From what I can make out of that blurry image of the script's first page, the movie starts with two boys amongst a bunch of other kids on a bus. A woman warns them that they're on Caprica now, and they should speak the common tongue, not their mongrel nonsense — but they don't understand what she's saying. (I'm guessing this is when Joseph Adama first comes to the planet Caprica and leaves behind his Tauron roots.)

Some of the story details are similar to the ones we've featured before. But there are some new details. Our artificial intelligence whiz, Daniel Graystone, invents something called the HoloBand, which is akin to Star Trek's Holodeck. Daniel is an inattentive husband and father, because he's worried his company is about to lose the big government contract for the robot super-soldier and the meta-cognitive processor, after billions of cubits in development costs.

Because Daniel is such a self-absorbed guy, his wife Amanda seeks comfort in the arms of his chief rival Tomas Vergis, who's a Tauron instead of a Caprican. And his daughter Zoey gets involved with the Soldiers of the One, a monotheistic cult that wants to drive out Caprica's many gods. And "Act One" ends with Zoey's boyfriend Ben carrying out his act of monotheistic terrorism, killing Zoey as well as wife and daughter of attorney Joseph Adams. (Admiral Adama's father.)

And that's when Joseph Adams and Daniel Graystone find each other, and start working on downloading their dead daughters' minds into new robot bodies. (And Zoey, the monotheist, becomes the first Cylon.) But after they succeed, Joseph and Daniel have opposite reactions and end up being bitter opponents. And here's the final scene of the TV movie, between Joseph and his son the future Admiral, according to the TV Addict:

JOSEPH
Our family will survive this, we're going to put our lives back together. Your mother is gone and Tamara is gone. They're not coming back.

Suddenly, without warning, tears begin to stream down William's cheeks. Joseph takes his son in his arms and they hold each other tight as Joseph struggles with his own emotions.

JOSEPH
I want you to know who you are, William. We come from a long, proud line of Tauron peasants who knew how to work the land and still stand proud. You're named after your grandfather, did I ever tell you that?

WILLIAM
No.

JOSEPH
He was killed in the Tauron uprising fighting for what he believed was the right of all the Children of Kobol — to live free. It's a good name William and you should wear it proudly. And our last name isn't Adams - I changed it when I arrived on Caprica.

(beat)
Our family name is... ADAMA and it's a good, honorable Tauron name.

Doctor Who:

This Saturday's new Doctor Who episode includes the following snatch of dialog:

Private Gray: Greyhound Sixteen to Trap One. We've found something - basement corridor, northside, grid thirty-six. Request backup, over.
Military Voice Oov: Trap One, sending assistance, over
Private Harris: Like something boiling inside...
Private Gray: Don't touch it.
Private Harris: C'mon Steve, we get first rights on this. That means promotion!

Stargate: Atlantis:

The ninth episode of Stargate: Atlantis season five is called "The Queen." In it, Teyla joins "Todd" the Wraith (guest star Christopher Heyerdahl) on a visit to a Wraith ship which Todd is allied with. The hive enters hyperspace to conduct its meeting, while Sheppard, McKay and Ronon watch it jump away. Teyla has to disguise herself as Todd's queen, to give him authority to carry on negotiations with the other hive and its own queen. But they soon come under suspicion, and have to work hard to keep the "queen" ruse going, without seeming weak. [Spoiler Geeks]

Lost:

In tonight's Lost episode, as we've mentioned, Doc Ray's dead body washes ashore on the island. But thanks to time-warp shenanigans, we may see him alive on the freighter and dead on the island at the same time. At least that's how fans are interpreting some cryptic hints. [Lost Spoilers]

Also, in an upcoming episode (maybe tonight's), Ben travels to a hot middle-eastern country, but for some reason he's wearing a parka with the Dharma Initiative logo on it. Also, the two-hour season finale, airing May 29, will serve as a "pilot" for the show's fifth season... which will be much more slow-paced than season four has been. Producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof are already warning that fans may find season five draggy and unnecessary filler on the way to the good stuff in season six. (Way to dampen expectations.)
[Entertainment Weekly]

And here are some stills from "Cabin Fever," the May 8 Locke-flashback episode, where our heroes find Jacob's cabin again. They don't give away much plot info, except that Jack survives his injuries next week. (Duh.) [Doc Arzt]

Superman

One of the producers of the Batman and Superman movies told some students that he hopes the sequel to Superman Returns will portray Superman more as an "angry god." [Comics2Film]

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:

Sarah Connor Chronicles producer Josh Friedman talked to reporters for a conference call, and was customarily tight-lipped. He did say season two would be "more action-packed," and we won't be seeing any more of that mystery about the high-school prankster and the girl who committed suicide at John Connor's school. (Which is too bad, because that was my favorite part.)

Summer Glau will be back "full force" in spite of that car bomb in the season finale. And Brian Austin Green will be a series regular.

This will be John Connor's "growing up year," and he'll need his mother less than before. Sarah Connor's ex-boyfriend wlll be back, and so will Agent Ellison, who is starting to be less of a "doubting Thomas" when it comes to Terminators. We will not see Michael Biehn (who played Kyle Reese in the original Terminator movie.) And Friedman is hoping to show more of the "future war" at some point, but those episodes are expensive to make because of the large amount of CGI. You can read a complete transcript here: [The TV Addict]

Lost:

As we already heard, Lost recently shot a funeral scene involving all of the Oceanic Six. And the two-hour season finale, besides featuring Greg Grunberg as the pilot of the crashed Oceanic 815, also introduces a new character, a "Top Gun"-esque hotshot pilot who doesn't like it when his copilot brings a lucky charm aboard. [Ask Ausiello]

Oh, and the kid who played Dan Vasser's son on Journeyman will also play the young Locke in his upcoming flashback episode. Also playing a teen Locke is Caleb Steinmeyer, who was on Veronica Mars. That's the episode where Nestor Carbonell turns up, and is supposedly present at Locke's birth. [Doc Arzt]

Doctor Who:

Digital Spy is doing that annoying thing once again, where they list real spoilers for Saturday's Doctor Who episode, along with a couple of fake spoilers thrown in. It's gotten to the point where I don't even want to link to it. Plus, all of the spoilers for this Saturday's Sontaran episode, whether real or fake, make the episode sound a bit pants. Here they are anyway. [TARDIS Newsroom]

Meanwhile, Rose's die-hard fans are freaking out that Rose appears not to be in the Christmas special. They're coming up with all sorts of wild theories to explain her absence, such as that she's temporarily off in her alternate universe but will be back real soon. Or she and the Doctor are about to get married, but he's taking one last trip without her. Or she's in the episode, but isn't on set right now, so they're using a "hand double" for her. Feel free to come up with your own ideas. [Sunny Tyler 001]

Battlestar Galactica:

In the Battlestar Galactica prequel TV movie/possible series Caprica, we learn that the Caprican mafia funded the education of Joseph Adama (Admiral Adama's dad) and they expect a little something in return occasionally. [Ask Ausiello again]

Somebody posted a scene from episode 18 of Battlestar Galactica's final season on a closed Livejournal community, and somebody else was kind enough to email it to me. I'm not sure if this is an actual scene from the episode, or a "casting side," written for auditions. (It is of course possible it's just a fake.) But anyway, it answers our questions about the piano-playing devil that Starbuck finds herself opening up to... and thank the gods it's not Leoben. Instead, it's a new character named "Slick," who plays the piano in Joe's Bar and philosophizes about the meaning of music and destiny and stuff. He's surprised by how much Starbuck knows about music, thanks to her musician dad. [Livejournal, via the Booted Lady]

Transformers:

Here are two concept sketches of the Transformers movie version of Optimus Prime, with a special trailer attachment that combines with his cab/body in robot mode. This is either concept art for Transformers 2, or kewl fan art. [Seibertron]

Indiana Jones:

Some guy posted tons of info on Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (supposedly from an unreleased press kit) on his MySpace page. It could even be true. Here's the gist, along with an image that could be from the press kit, or could be cheesy fan art.

The movie starts in the desert Southwest in 1957, and Indy and his sidekick Mac (Ray Winstone) have just escaped a close call with some evil Soviets on a remote airfield. (And the big warehouse scene from the trailer is part of the film's opening set-piece.) Indy comes home to Marshall College, only to find out from the dean (Jim Broadbent) that his recent activities have made him the object of McCarthyite suspicion, and the college is under pressure to fire him.

Indy heads out of town, but runs into the rebellious young punk named Mutt (Shia LaBoeuf) who holds a grudge against him, but also has a proposition: if Indy helps Mutt on a mission with "deeply personal stakes," Indy may be able to score one of the greatest archeological finds in history: the legendary Crystal Skull of Akator. But the Russkies also want the Crystal Skull, because they think it'll help the USSR dominate the world.

Indy and Mutt head to the remotest part of Peru, an area of "ancient tombs, forgotten explorers and a rumored city of gold." (And we'll see the little red line going across the map, superimposed over the plane, etc.) But the Soviets, led by Cate Blanchett's Irina Spalko, are there too. There's a jungle chase sequence where Blanchett sword fights, and then another chase where she does a karate chop. Spalko has a muscley sidekick, Col. Dovchenko, played by Igor Jijikine, a former trapeze artist.

And John Hurt plays Professor Oxley, a recluse, who's been on his own for a couple of decades, and has become "possessed" and sort of insane, because of the skull.

Besides a Peruvian cemetery, and a local village near the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, an important location in the film is a military bunker in New Mexico. (Hopefully related to the whole "Area 51" alien plot.) There is one gigantic snake in the movie, an Olive Python, which menaces Indy. [The KOTCS Fan Page]

Doctor Who:

They're still filming the Doctor Who 2008 Christmas special, and here are a couple of pics. The TARDIS arrives in a Victorian marketplace, and the Doctor appears to be alone. But he also has a scenes with Velile Tshabalala, who appears to be his new companion. (No Rose, not surprisingly.) And David Morrissey is playing the character referred to as the "other Doctor" on the actors' trailers. At one point, Morrissey says to Tshabalala, "The Doctor's companion will do what the Doctor says. Now go!" Oh, and the real Doctor looks quite cheerful on arrival, which doesn't seem consistent with one or more of his companions having died horribly. (But he's a resilient chap.)

And then the Doctor attends a funeral, while the Cyber-wraiths spy on him from a discreet distance. [Spoiler TV and Planet Gallifrey]

Lost:

The Lost fourth season finale will show us what happens after that flash-forward scene involving Jack and Kate, in the third season finale. In an upcoming scene, Sawyer, Miles and Claire find a dead body and an extra dismembered arm in the jungle. And Sawyer turns all protective towards Claire. Actress Emilie de Ravin says she hasn't yet heard anything about her character dying. And in the May 1 episode, Juliet has to perform emergency surgery on Jack after he collapses on the beach, and she realizes she loves him... but his flash-forward in that episode is all about Kate. Also coming up: Future Hurley delivers a "chilling message" from Charlie to Future Jack. And Christian Shepard reaches out to both of his children.

And the season finale will include some scenes involving Sun's father, the powerful mogul Mr. Paik, set in his business office. [Spoilers Lost]

Greg Grunberg, who plays the pilot of Oceanic Flight 815 who was killed by a monster in the first episode, was spotted in Hawaii filming some scenes for an upcoming episode. We'll finally see the Orchid Station, and it'll be a big set going into the fifth season. [E! Online]

And here are three new sneak peeks for Thursday's episode, including a longer version of a scene we featured yesterday. [Doc Arzt]



Heroes:

Heroes season three will introduce a new character named Jesse, who is "mean, angry and out of control." [E! Online again]

Smallville:

Here are four new stills from the May 1 Smallville, which takes place in an alternate universe where Clark never came to Earth. Lois is a Pulitzer-winning journalist, who wears a really shiny (pleather?) skirt. [Devoted Fans Network]

Indiana Jones:

Here are some new pictures from Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull — including a lot of detail of an elaborate temple-like set. [Slashfilm and TrekMovie]

The Happening:

And here are three new stills from M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening. [TrekMovie again]

Heroes:

Heroes vol. 3, "Villains," will take up only the first 13 episodes of the 25-episode third season. And the good guys will save the world at least twice next season, which will have a much faster pace than the sluggish season two. Actor Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder Suresh) is "thrilled" with what's in store for his character next season. Also, we'll learn what Mama Petrelli's power is, and she'll play a super-important role in the season. And we'll learn more about "the evolution of powers." [HeroesTelevision]

Lost:

In the eleventh episode of the current Lost season, Locke finds out where Jacob's cabin is, while life on the freighter becomes dangerous. And in this Thursday's episode, we'll learn something about the smoke monster. We'll know who shot Karl and Rousseau. (But we haven't seen the last of Rousseau.) And we'll find out why Mrs. Hawking was with "that monk." And in this episode, a few minor characters die in the first 15 minutes — and then a major character is shot in the head, execution-style, later on. And it's not who you think! And here are some new pics from this Thursday's, um, explosive episode. [Spoilers Lost]

Doctor Who:

In the upcoming Doctor Who two-parter featuring the Sontarans, the potato-headed clone warriors have a plot to choke the Earth to death. To make matters worse, the paramilitary organization U.N.I.T. has a traitor in its ranks. And the Doctor has to choose between Martha and Donna. (Choose Martha! Choose Martha!) Oh, and the second half's description asks whether the Doctor will be forced to "make the ultimate sacrifice." (Answer: probably not.) [SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

Here are some new spoilers for this Saturday's Smallville, courtesy of some cellphone-only clips. Jimmy tries to cook Chloe the "Wholesome Olsen" breakfast, but she's running late. So Jimmy whines about wanting to put the spark back in their relationship. Chloe says it'll just take a little time. And then in another scene, Vanessa has Chloe tied up and is roughing her up, asking about how Chloe accessed the power grid exactly when/where there were power surges. Jimmy sneaks up behind Vanessa as she starts tasering Chloe. [Operation Save Clark Kent]

And here's a new trailer showcasing the next few episodes — including Lex finding a certain cold stronghold:

Battlestar Galactica/Caprica:

The title of the Caprica pilot TV movie is "Revolution," and it's an allegory for the American Revolution, says Sci Fi Channel executive vice president Mark Stern. [Wired]

Iron Man:

That metal thingy in the middle of Tony Stark's chest? It doesn't just keep his heart beating, it actually replaces his heart, claims one guy who's seen the movie. And part of Tony's transformation when he returns home from his harrowing captivity in Afghanistan is that he starts seeing more in Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) than just a lowly assistant.

Tony decides to stop making weapons, but his mentor Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) disagrees and cuts Tony out of all decision-making at his own company. So Tony puts o