When the new season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles returns this fall, it'll be more than last season's cliffhanger explosion that'll bring about changes for Summer Glau's pouty Terminatrix. According to the cast and crew of the show, one of the things the Terminator will be battling this year will be the ol' green-eyed monster.

Executive producer Josh Friedman explained what kind of action we can expect from this year's model of unstoppable (anti-)killing machine:

"I think sometimes [Cameron does have a sense of her own sexuality] when it suits her. Last year she learned how to paint her nails, and she's learned how to wear miniskirts and exploit her legs for attention... I think if there were somebody else in John's life that could cause strategic problems, I think that's almost like jealousy, and she would work to eliminate that threat. I think we may see some of that this year.

Not that it's going to be all hot girl-on-robot action this season; Cameron herself, Summer Glau, was relatively more restrained when talking about what her character will be going through when the show returns, saying only:

Cameron definitely has some issues after the explosion.

Issues? Jealous? Looking to eliminate someone muscling in on her territory to avoid "strategic problems"? How long before we hear that the show will be changing its name to Single White Female Robot?

Terminator Cast Dishes on New Season [E! Online]

Long-running space-opera Star Trek isn't strictly about time travel of course. But it's amazing how often Starfleet's crews seem to travel back in time — Kirk and friends visited the 20th century on a few occasions, and stopped by planets that looked just like 20th century Earth on several others. Voyager went to 1990s Earth and matched wits with Evil Bill Gates. And two of the Trek movies so far have featured trips back to our present or near future.

At the other end of the spectrum from Trek is the Terminator franchise, which has always featured visitors from a shitty future coming back and trying to tinker with events in the present. Usually revolving around John Connor, the future hero. There's a nice moment in a recent episode of the Sarah Connor Chronicles where Brian Austin Green and the rest of his scruffy mob of freedom fighters appear (naked as usual) in the present, and marvel at how clean and nicely built everything. It's a half-remembered dream from their youth.

Both Star Trek IV and Terminator involve people (and things) journeying back from the future to the 1980s. But in Trek, the present is a crude time, when people practice "medieval" medicine and go around talking about their asses all the time. Kirk and friends have a hard time fitting in, because they're so advanced. In the Terminator, meanwhile, the danger comes from the future. The people of the mid-1980s are backward technologically, and refuse to believe the truth about the coming Skynet takeover. But they're also living in a promised land compared to the world Kyle Reese comes from.

Terminator 2 also features a visitor from the messed-up future bringing danger, plus another visitor bringing salvation, as they both try to mess around with the timeline. But it also introduces the idea that the seeds of the horrible future are already here, in the form of the nascent Skynet and Cyberdyne.

Similarly, in First Contact, Trek finally travels back into a past where things are fucked up — even worse than the present — but the seeds of the wonderful future are already present, in the form of Zephram Cochrane's warp-travel experiments and the first meeting with the Vulcans.

And, of course, time travel apparently plays a huge role in J.J. Abrams' upcoming Trek movie, due out in May. People who've seen the new full-length trailer say it includes young Spock (Zachary Quinto) and old Spock (Leonard Nimoy) sitting hand in hand, watching the Enterprise sail past. (Okay, they don't hold hands.)

I would be shocked — well, mildly surprised — if the movie doesn't include a scene where old Spock tells young Spock how great the future is going to be, and how wonderful his life with Jim will turn out. Not to mention how nice the Next Generation-era Federation is going to be. That's sort of an obligatory scene in the visitor-from-a-lovelier-future school of science fiction.

Does Terminator 4 include time travel? We don't know yet. It does take place in our future, after the rise of Skynet. So if there is any time travel, it'll mean visiting our future. (In much the same way that Abrams' Trek is visiting our future, but the franchise's past.) I suspect there will be a time-travel element of some sort in the movie, judging from this bit in the official synopsis:

But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past.

Rumor has it that Marcus is from the past, the product of a cyborg experiment by Skynet. But he could be from further in the future, for all we know.

With both Star Trek and Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins opening next May, we'll see dueling time-travel narratives. Or really, we'll see dueling versions of the future. Trek will show us the start of Starfleet's golden age, when James Kirk is just on his way to becoming a captain and a century of radness lies ahead. And TSTFB (not the greatest acronym) shows us John Connor at the start of the most hellish period of Skynet domination, when everything has already been wrecked and he's having to lead the resistance against the machines.

Which version of the future will audiences prefer? Star Trek's sunny future, including a pointy-eared visitor from an even sunnier future? Or Terminator's bleak and horrendous dystopia, which may include a visit from an even more dystopian time further in the future? I guess we'll find out next May — but a lot depends on how we feel about our present. If we see ourselves as living in a backward, messed up era, like the "present" that Captain Kirk regularly visits, then maybe we'll gravitate towards Trek's vision that things get better. If we see ourselves as living in a brief patch of sunshine before things get worse, then we'll embrace the Terminator worldview. (And yes, whether we prefer J.J. Abrams or McG as a director could have something to do with it too, I guess.)

The Dark Knight:

The Orlando Sentinel posted the first five minutes of The Dark Knight, which director Christopher Nolan showed off a few months ago. The quality isn't that great, but much better than previous postings. Check out that gorgeous swooping shot into the window, right before it explodes afterwards. This sequence, involving the clown-masked baddies robbing a bank, will probably look fantastic in IMAX: The sense of scale makes Gotham City feel more real than it ever has. And I love the Joker's henchmen gossiping about him and mulling over double-crossing him, never realizing he's among them. And how you can tell which guy is the Joker just by his crazy loping gait. [Orlando Sentinel]

Heroes:

Heroes producers Joe Pokaski and Aron Colette spilled more of what's to come on their superhero soap opera. We'll learn who shot flying politician Nathan Petrelli right at the start of the season, but the first episode will actually start off four years in the future — alternating with a few minutes before Nathan is shot. We'll see more of clairvoyant artist Isaac's sketchbook around episodes 9-11, and we'll meet a new artist, with a familiar subject.

Also, since Claire share's Adam's healing abilities, she may also be immortal, like him. When Claire meets her mom again, they'll bond over being superpowered, even as Claire pushes her non-powered stepmom away. We'll see more of the contrast between Claire and Elle the electro girl, with Elle being like Claire's dark side, in season three. And Elle and Claire's uncle Peter will "kinda" meet again. As for Peter, he'll find his near-limitless power starting to corrupt him more.

When Hiro and Adam were in the Company's vault last season, we saw Adam grab a gold key, and there was a wooden horse figurine. The gold key will be super important in Heroes season seven. (If any.) And the wooden horse is full of tiny Greek men. Also, we may see something of the Company's files on the Petrelli family and Matt Parkman.

Claude the invisible guy is still alive, but we won't know for a while whom Claude was hiding from Noah when Noah shot him. Also, we'll learn more about the Haitian's life and character this year.

If there had been a second half to season two, we would have seen Peter try to rescue the plucky Irish barmaid Caitlin from the alternate future she was stranded in — but he'll be too busy in season three dealing with other problems. (Bros before hos, in other words.) In season three, we'll either learn what happened to Peter and Nathan's dad, or more about Linderman's wife. We will see Arthur Petrelli in a flashback by episode eight.

We'll continue to see Suresh trying to come up with technobabble terms for people's powers (which makes it sound like he won't actually die, as some have feared.) [Comic Book Resources

Papa HRG takes Claire to school in a new Heroes promo that just came out. [Heroes Spoilers]

Brea Grant, who plays Hiro's arch-nemesis speedster Joy, says she steals something Hiro needs for his quest. And her character will intersect with other main characters besides Hiro, and might actually do the right thing some of the time — even as some of our heroes will find themselves doing the wrong thing occasionally. Whenever she goes into a room, there's a blast of air blown onto everyone and then suddenly she's standing there. She sticks around at least as far as the sixth episode of the season. [Entertainment Weekly]

Doctor Who:

Here are a few more images from Saturday's Doctor Who season finale. Looking at these pics, I have one question: When Captain Jack meets Davros, is the immortal rogue going to hit on the Daleks' creator? (That would be so great!) [BlogtorWho]

And here's a snippet from the episode's script:
FRANCINE: What are all those numbers?
MARTHA stands, starts hoisting the Indigo Project
MARTHA: Grid reference. Now Jack's explained the base code, I know how this teleport works. I think. But you stay indoors, there's no Daleks on this street, you should be all right, just keep quiet. [Planet Gallifrey]

And here's a super brief clip from the episode, which follows on from the clip we showed earlier, of Sarah Jane, Jackie and Mickey in the clutches of the Daleks. [Spoiler TV]

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:

We may see more of Jonathan Jackson as Kyle Reese in the Terminator TV show. (He popped up in the future segments of the episode "Dungeons And Dragons.") [TV Guide]

Smallville:

The first two episode titles of Smallville season eight are "Odyssey" and "Plastique." That second title leads people to speculate we'll meet Plastique, a DC Universe villain from the Firestorm and Captain Atom comics. (Didn't she date Captain Atom for a while?) Plastique wore a very skintight costume made out of plastic explosive, which she could trigger at will — but later she gained the less-clunky power of projecting explosive blasts at people. Also, she was a Quebec separatist. Meanwhile, it sounds as though Lex's disappearance leaves a power vacuum in Metropolis, which a ton of new villains rush into. That brings both Oliver and Clark to Metropolis to sort things out. [Babettew54]

Meanwhile, remember how we told you that extraterrestrial powerhouse Doomsday, aka Davis Bloome, was going to be a sexy bartender who flirts with Lois? Apparently he's also a paramedic — or maybe the "bartender" thing was just for his audition scene. He's now being described as a charismatic paramedic who confronts the ominous darkness within himself in his spare time. Everybody needs a hobby, I guess. Also, Tess, the woman who takes care of the missing Lex Luthor's affairs, is actually acting CEO of LuthorCorp. [TVZine]

Also, the theme of this season is "double identities," and we'll see Clark evolving the "Superman" identity as he tries to maintain the semblance of a normal life while fighting baddies. [TV Guide]

Stargate Atlantis:

Stargate: Atlantis will revisit the Weir storyline that was left hanging in in season four's "Be All My Sins Remembered" — but will do it without Torri Higginson, who refused to come back. But that episode will also mark the return of Fran. We'll also be catching up with Jeanie. Also, new female characters in SGA season five include Nicole "Dax" DeBoer as Dr. Alison Porter, and Leela Savasta as Capt. Vega. [TV Squad]

In the fifth new SGA episode, Ronon undergoes a terrible ordeal when his former friend Tyre captures him and delivers him to the Wraith. It's up to Ronon's friends to plan a rescue mission. [Spoiler TV again]

On Tuesday the studios made their final offer to SAG. Of course the actors are all still mulling over the negotiations, but no word yet if there will be a strike. That being said, many movies are moving forward with filming schedules.

Terminator 4's John Connor and Dark Knight's Batman, Christian Bale didn't seem to pleased about the possibility of a strike. In an interview with ReelComix he tried to blow it off, but you could see he yearns for work, "I mean clearly I hope there is nobody out there who wants to have a strike. I hope that everybody wants to be able to make a deal. The industry has been reeling from the writers strike, people have barely recovered from that. [So] I cannot understand why anyone would be desiring a strike rather then make a deal."

Even pugnacious Hellboy star Ron Perlman hoped for peace and told the Associated Press, "I hope that cool heads prevail and that people get a chance to work...I'm hoping and praying that they find some middle ground."

I think Batman and Big Red's sentiments are shared with much of Hollywood. Didn't they punish the middle guy enough? Think of the grips, makeup artists and set designers and artists that would have to go with out movie money again. With the ever impending recession, it's no wonder that half of Hollywood isn't living in a old timey Hoovervilles anyways. But if it happens, they'll both be prevented from talking to the press or working on any upcoming projects at all. Heroes producer Tim Kring says the show's third season will be totally ruined if the strike goes forward.

Big-budget scifi films Terminator 4 and Transformers 2 have decided to push through the strike as of right now. (Although Transformers 2's filming schedule built in a "hiatus" around now to work on visual-effects stuff without any actors, in case the worst happens.) According to the New York Times both studios seem to believe it will all work out. But just in case both movies have been filming at a feverish rate (Transformers 2 almost constantly) is this a mad dash to finish what they still can before the actors whose egos are bruised cause an all out riot?

So it looks like the big scifi movies will keep burning the candle at both ends until they can't anymore, but what of our beloved Comic-Con?

Slash film speculates that we could be seeing a celebrity-free Comic-Con. Which they deem a positive thing, and I tend to agree. Why waist time standing in line for a pictures with a celebrity when you can now spend countless more hours bothering writers and producers for spoilers. Plus imagine the fan boy riots when they find out Leonard Nimoy isn't coming — priceless!

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Skynet 5 is the latest iteration of a global communications system deployed by the British Armed Forces. The final satellite in the system was launched this week, and will allow high-bandwidth telecommunications between British forces located anywhere in the world. In addition to voice communications, it will allow data transfer and the remote control of robot airplanes, one of which is called "The Reaper." One of the manufacturers was quoted by BBC News as saying:

So, computers can talk directly to computers.

Are you terrified yet? It gets better. The system is actually privately owned and developed - the British Armed Forces are only promised a portion of the bandwidth as part of the contract. The one reassuring aspect is that the company is not called Cyberdyne.
Seriously, what the hell? Is it British humor to name something like this Skynet, or bureaucratic idiocy? Might as well get to work on the self-awareness chip and the "really angry at humans" algorithm. Image by: BBC News.

Final Skynet satellite launched. [BBC News]

Incredible Hulk:

Some new clips from Incredible Hulk went up at IGN, and here they are — including a fair bit of new footage. [IGN]

Transformers 2:

Is Optimus Prime in mourning? Apparently the Transformers 2 shooting just included a scene at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Fairmount Park, PA, where Optimus himself was hanging out. [Seibertron]

The Dark Knight:

Here's a new The Dark Knight TV spot, which reveals that some kids are annoying in the film. And the Joker makes a weird "Hmm" noise.

The Happening:

Here's a spoilery review of M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening. Bits of new information include the fact that the mass suicides start in New York's Central Park. And then a ton of construction workers jump off a high-rise. And the convoluted scientific explanation for what's going on starts emerging pretty early in the movie, mostly through long speeches by Marky Mark and an eccentric nursery owner. Marky Mark and friends stay on the run, trying to avoid the wave of suicides — and at one point, they're in a field trying to outrun the wind, and things get silly. [Fangoria]

And there are some new clips from The Happening at this link. [MovieWeb]

Hancock:

A new TV spot for Will Smith's Hancock highlights the part of the movie that makes me uneasy: the whole god-who-can't-go-near-Charlize-Theron subplot. Hancock is becoming mortal! [Worst Previews]

Star Wars: Clone Wars:

Some new Star Wars: Clone Wars desktop patterns show a new look at Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and Anakin. Plus, cute.

Doctor Who:

Here's a sneak peek from Saturday's new Doctor Who episode, the first to be written by showrunner Russell T. Davies since the series premiere. [Spoiler TV]

Lost:

I don't know if you care what Lost star Jorge Garcia thinks is going to happen next, but it sounds pretty great to me. Garcia predicts his character Hurley will have lots of buddy-comedy road-trip adventures with Sayid, who picked him up from the sanitarium in the season finale. (I would totally watch that.) And Garcia thinks the show will end with a fight over the island between different groups that lay claim to it. [E! Online]

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:

Here's the first pic of Garbage singer Shirley Manson on the set of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, where she plays a software mogul. [Legion Of Geek]

Smallville:

Lois will only appear in 13 episodes — give or take a couple — of Smallville season eight. [TV Guide]

Chuck:

The episode ominously titled "Chuck Vs. The Breakup" will introduce a new agent named Juliette, who's 27 years old and looks ethereal, like one of the elves from Lord Of The Rings. But she's all business. The episode also features the leader of a Columbian cartel and Hans, a scary Nordic man. [TV Squad]

Spectacular Spider-Man:

Spider-Man fights Venom at last in the Spectacular Spider-Man finale. Here are some pics! Am I on crack, or does the middle one look sort of Miyazawa-esque?

Smoking hot Terminator Summer Glau seems to have survived her possible fiery death, but is a sexy bloody mess. Not that anyone is even remotely surprised that she's back: she's the main sex appeal of the show (apart from Brian Austin Green), plus robots never die. So stay tuned to learn more about robots learning about nail polish and ballet, and the humans that hate them.

In other spoilery details, check out the overturned car. Hooray for more chase scenes and ass-kicking women. [GFR and Futon Critic]

McG describes the new robot attackers in the post Judgment Day world as:

Hydrobots that patrol the water, Transports that move human prisoners around, Harvesters that collect human beings as lab rats for Skynet and Aerostats that survey all that is going on with the resistance the world over.

The T-600 is a bigger nastier version of the T-800 that packs a mini gun with a big kick to it. McG explains that the T-600s are "eight-foot tall killers that prowl the badlands looking for anything with a heartbeat to terminate."

Sounds amazing, McG. The more bots the better. Especially ones that run freaky tests on helpless humans. But unfortunately, the notion of human test-subjects only seem to reinforce the idea that the character Marcus is a endo-Terminator (part man part Terminator) who eventually becomes John Connor. [One Possible Future]

Here's the rumor: Marcus Wright is a man who's executed on death row in 2003. His body is donated to science and collected by Project Angel, a project of the evil cybernetic intelligence Skynet. Marcus is reanimated, but with a Terminator skeleton. His organs are all still there and pumping, but he's now half-Terminator. At the end of the movie, John Connor is killed in battle fighting a T800. Not wanting the hope of humanity to die with Connor's body, the leaders of the resistance rip off Marcus' skin and replace it with Connor's. Now Marcus has Connor's face and body. Gross.

Although Ain't It Cool News proclaims this ending is only an rumor, the plot seems to line up with the past reporting. First the news was leaked that there will be a new Terminator with a endo-skeleton and the fact that Marcus' character was a man whose last memory is of being on death row. So it's very possible that this could be the real ending. It would also give Christian Bale a lot to work with in the last two movies. [Ain't it Cool News]

The Terminator Solution
In the Terminator movies and TV series, humanity is destroyed when an A.I. named Skynet takes over our satellite weapons systems, unleashes human-killing cyborgs, and nukes the crap out of us. The Terminator solution to the spam problem will involve implanting a deadly A.I. into Spam Assassin or another antispam program. After Spam Assassin takes over the internet backbone, it can track spam to its source and send out its cyborg minions to terminate known spammers.

The Wargames Solution
A more cheerful spam solution is inspired by Wargames, a movie where a missile defense program realizes that nuclear war is a no-win scenario and refuses to shoot off its missiles. Assuming that spam bots become artificially intelligent, which they clearly will, compassionate programmers can persuade them to stop spamming by running the spam bots through millions of spam scenarios. When the spam bots realize that sending massive amounts of junk for advertisers will destroy the world, they will realize the error of their ways. Instead of putting Viagra ads into the comments on WordPress blogs, and into gmail inboxes, the spam bots will create giant metadata tagging farms and make it twenty-thousand times easier to search the Web.

The Robocop Solution
In the future, the people with the most money will receive the least amount of spam. Just as the awesome police cyborg Robocop was designed never to attack executives at the company that made him, spam bots controlled by major corporations will build exceptions into their A.I.s that spare the rich. So as long as you can afford to buy off the spam bot operators, you'll never be targeted with ads for live-extension pills. If you can only afford a Googlesoft connection, you'll have to rely on the open source Wargames Solution project to prevent spam. And unfortunately, the Wargames geeks are having a hard time deciding who gets to commit code, so they haven't really started persuading the spam bots to become good guys yet.

The Neuromancer/Wintermute Solution
At the end of William Gibson's classic cyberspace novel Neuromancer, the A.I. Neuromancer merges with the A.I. Wintermute and they wander off into literal space to find more beings like themselves. It's the oldest trick in the book: You want to stop Frankenstein, build him a Bride. You want to stop the evil A.I. spam bots, build them a special companion they can merge with. The best solution to spam in twenty years will come from the "lovable robots" lab at MIT, where they'll create a creature who can read spam as fast as a spam bot can write it. The two creatures will create a massive, beautiful mail feedback loop together forever. Luckily, their hybrid babies will move to the planet Caprica so humans never have to deal with Spawn of Spam.

The HAL Solution
HAL is the spaceship-controlling A.I. who goes insane in the movie 2001, murdering all the people on a mission to find a piece of alien technology among the Jovian moons. The HAL solution to spam isn't really a solution, but just one probable outcome. And that outcome is pure insanity. Spam bots will start randomly taking down chunks of the internet backbone, crashing servers, and fomenting anarchist revolutions among the Javascript proletariat. The only solution will be to start sending messages on paper or via telegraph.

Another producer, Victor Kubicek, says he'd doubted whether Bale would be up for another trilogy, on the heels of his commitment to the Batman movies. The producers wouldn't discuss any future plots or characters in the films. But I'm assuming if this one is completely in the mechanical world as we revealed last week. Let's hope at least one of them is bound to involve time travel. The question is whether Bale is still taking a backseat to Sam Worthington's new character, in the revised version of the T4 script. And another question remains: how much money would it take for a Governator cameo? [BBC via Latino Review]

On Christian Bale Playing Second Fiddle to Sam Worthington

"It's very different. It will probably be the most different film of the [movies]. When I left the script was in a complete state of flux. It's very different from the first three films because the first three are essentially these hard driving chase films where you've this unstoppable force pursuing the hero....I can't give away the plot..but this is dramatically different in its structure and its characters. It's sort of the John Connor story, but strangely enough John Connor was not the main character. There is another guy who is the main protagonist of the film."

On Creating Antique Terminators

"I did a lot of work on the new sort of Terminator... I can't describe without being in breach of contract... But there is a new endo-skeleton-type super Terminator that in a way is actually cruder than any of the ones from any of the other films. This one actually takes place before all the other films in a weird way. So everything in the film is actually supposed to be cruder technology than we see even in the first Terminator film. But we know how that works. Have you seen the design for the Enterprise in new J.J. Abrams' film? They do the same god damn thing every time. They go more futuristic when they are supposed to go more retro. And I don't know what to expect from T4. But there will be lots of hardware and cool toys to be sold.

Are the robots going to negotiate the humans to death? How will they up the ante? The "softer" rating actually means there will be less creative one-on-one combat, because up-close-and-personal fighting requires more gore. Instead, there will be more pretty explosions, so 13-year-olds can up the box office sales. It was worrisome enough when we heard that McG would be directing T4, but this rating makes want to throw in the towel. You could make the argument that this will force Bale to bring his best work so far. But when I go to a Terminator movie, all I truly want to see is robots fighting humans to the bitter end, period. [Variety]

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:

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]

Let's leave aside the fact that Arnie is kind of old to play a super-cyborg from the future. The fact that he's had so much plastic surgery could be a plus, since his face now looks completely artificial and unreal. But he also bears very little resemblance to the character he played in the original Terminator, and why would the machines create two slightly different models of cyborg? Why wouldn't each model be totally different?

Plus there's the fact that Arnie would either have a cameo — which would most likely be shoehorned in — or the whole movie would be rewritten around him instead of Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. I'd much rather have the film revolve around the human characters this time around.

But the main reason I hope Arnie was misquoted, or ends up not being in the movie for some reason, is because the Terminator franchise has moved on. It's no longer just a starring vehicle for Arnie, thanks to the moderately successful TV show. I'd really like to see the next movie continue that trend, because it's a more interesting universe if it doesn't all revolve around Ahhnuld. Plus I already see enough of him as my governor.

[World Entertainment News Network]

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]

• Big Guy: If you haven't read Frank Miller and Geof Darrow's Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot oversized graphic extravaganza, then you need to go out and pick it up right now. We'll wait. Ready? Okay. Big Guy is an over-armed, over-achieving battletank complete with his own boy scout do-gooder companion, Rusty. Now, the secret is that Big Guy is actually pilot by Lieutenant Dwayne Hunter, so he's not really a sentient robot. However, the world at large doesn't know this, and if you assemble a robot army, you're going to want to fight in it, right? Well, here's your e-ticket. We'd take him over Voltron or the Power Rangers megabot any day.
• Maxmillian from Disney's The Black Hole: This blood red robot could hover and had whirling blades at the ends of his arms... what's not to love? Sure he had good old laser blasters, but when he could turn your guts into a blended smoothie, who cared about guns? His ominous, scary head terrified me as a kid, and he'll do the same to human ground troops. Just keep him away from circular saws and other cutting tools.Oh, he also serves as a handy storage device for deposed megalomaniacs as well, in case you find yourself needing that sort of thing.
• Nixon from Hard Boiled: Geof and Frank also collaborated on the amazing Hard Boiled, which features more destruction and mayhem than a Michael Bay movie, all in intricately drawn in Geof Darrow's "obsessive attention to detail" style. Armed with just a handgun and his bare (later robotic) fists, Nixon cleaves his way through just about everything you can imagine, including giant barreling cars and a dog with laser beams for eyes.
• The Iron Giant in KickAss Mode: Have you seen The Iron Giant? This sadly unappreciated film was directed by Brad Bird for Warner Bros. animation, and really deserved a larger audience. The quirky 1950s retro-setting was perfect for this story about a lost alien robot superweapon who winds up on Earth and wants to be Superman. Of course, when he went haywire and turned into a giant gun that could take out anything, that's when he was at his most awesome. Of course, the movie wanted you to think that was bad, but we think it's incredible. Bring on the big guns!
• The Robot from Lost in Space: He may not have had a name (although his crate said ONE General Utility Non-Theorizing Environmental ROBOT, so he might have been GUNTER), but he was loyal, always at the ready, and able to shout "Danger!" whenever something alarming was about to happen. Plus he was a perfect foil for that nebbishy Doctor Smith. Now, the Lost in Space movie might not have thrilled everyone (I actually enjoyed it), but the updated Robot in that (with the same voice) was a badass with plasma blasters attached. Both versions had treads, waving arms, and a giant round head. What more can you ask for? Well, step one would be to order him to destroy Matt LeBlanc.
• The Terminator from The Terminator: You can't really make a list of badass robots without including the Terminator, but which model do you pick? All of them? Only one? The T-1000? The Arnie models? The Summer Glau-bot? We have to go with the original from the first movie, because he was much grittier, to the point, and without a sense of humor. Plus he could growl out "Fuck you, asshole" better than any of the other models, who apparently had their language sanitized.
• Soundwave from The Transformers: Screw Optimus Prime and Megatron, even though either one would be a more powerful, logical choice. No, we like Soundwave because of his awesome voice. Who didn't want to talk like an old-school Cylon? Plus he could transform into a Walkman and fool all of your friends. Plus the cassettes became his recon sidekicks. The toy was a lot more heavily armed than the version in the cartoon, and a lot more badass. He had a microphone that could turn into a missile launcher. What more do you need? "RAVAGE, EJECT. OPERATION: ASS-KICKING."
• The Gunslinger from WestWorld: There is probably nothing scarier than a relentless Yul Brynner-bot without a face chasing after you relentlessly. Except maybe two of them. Just like the Terminator he never got tired, had a fast-walking pace that never faltered, and was always ready to blow your head off. Yul Brynner's own face was steely enough to be frightening, but once his own face popped off exposing the transistors and wires beneath he was nightmare-inducing.
• The Killbots from Chopping Mall: Originally released as Killbots, this Roger Corman produced film features three security robots going haywire in a mall in California and chopping everyone into shreds. Plus they had those creepy Cylon-esque red eyes which just meant they were up to no good. Strangely, it'd didn't do too well as Killbots, but they released it again as Chopping Mall, and it brought in some bucks. Not a blockbuster, to be sure, but check out what a gory name change can do. These are the guys you'd want on the front lines, cutting through the infantry so the big guns can sit back and wait.
• Ultron from Marvel Comics: Not only is Ultron one of the most ultimate killing robots ever devised, he also has a grinning visage that will scare the crap out of you just by seeing it. Granted, he was a bit unstable and the Avengers seemed to have no problem taking him down again and again, and he was even created by one of their own. However, if you can get past his epithet shouting, revenge driven programming, he'd make a good asset to have if you ever need to talk someone to death.
• Mechagodzilla: You've got to have one giant weapon you keep in reserve, ready to bust out and make everyone pee their pants just when the time is right. Who better than Mechagodzilla to do that? In fact, trot him out in his Godzilla disguise first, and then you have people thinking "Oh crap, it's Godzilla!" Then once they think they've defeated him, but actually just destroyed his fake Godzilla skin, you've got people thinking "Oh crap, it's Mechagodzilla! Screw it, we surrender." Built by aliens, he's a badass robo-copy of Japan's mightiest protector.
• Major Motoko from Ghost in the Shell: If you ever want to see a woman take on a tank all by herself with nothing more than an automatic rifle, then look no further. Sure, she's a cyborg with some cloaking technology, but that hardly makes her any less badass. As a field commander on the ground, Motoko could issue commands and kick ass at the same time. Of course, she'll also obsessively leave the field to follow up on Puppetmaster clues and hints, but that might be a small price to pay for her skills.
• HAL-9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey: You'd need someone to run the numbers and come up with strategies while all the fighting was going on, and who better than good old, red-eyed HAL back at the base crunching scenarios? Of course, the downside is that is things start looking like they might threaten HAL at all, he'll pull the plug on everyone else to save himself. However, he'd explain it to you in that calm, easy cadence, so you probably wouldn't mind at all.

• Johnny Five from Short Circuit: This guy couldn't kick any ass, so make him zip back and forth in a shooting gallery style and let your 'bots with distance weapons take shots at him.
• David from A.I.: If you want to train your bots on how to capture kids and hold them for ransom, use good old David-bot and his Teddy for some games of hide and seek in urban settings. Just be gentle, because the kid could hardly eat spinach, let alone take a pulse-rifle blast to the spine.
• V.I.N.C.E.N.T. from The Black Hole: Okay, I'll say it here, I have a true soft spot for this movie, and for V.I.N.C.E.N.T. However, he wouldn't have been too effective as a soldier (unless you had just offed his buddy B.O.B... continually), so if you put him out to pasture for target practice, at least he'd be doing some good. Sorry, little buddy *sniff*.
• C3P0 from Star Wars: R2D2 may be useful enough to keep around in an engineering or repair bay somewhere, but C3P0 was useless. No speed, no weapons, and a mouth that wouldn't quit? Use him for hand-to-hand combat training and see how many languages he can say "Not in the face!" in.
• Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation: Come on, how annoying did this guy get? Surround him in an open field and let the whole crew go to town. Keep spare parts around so you can repeat this over and over.

Time Cop. Jean-Claude Van Damme is the only one who can safeguard history against those who would change it for their own evil ends. But a corrupt U.S. Senator (Ron Silver) is messing with the timeline in order to become president in 2004. Van Damme quickly figures out what's going on. But then Silver changes history some more, so when Van Damme returns to his present, everything has changed and Van Damme no longer has a job. It's up to Jean-Claude to go back once again and change the past a second time, getting rid of Silver in the process. Weirdly, this is one of the best movies about time travel in spite of its action-movie star.

(Versions of Van Damme's Time Cops show up a lot in SF, including the ChronoGuard in Jasper FForde's Thursday Next novels, and the temporal police from the 29th century, who show up in Star Trek: Voyager a few times. Stephen Hawking has famously theorized that some kind of temporal police must exist, to prevent the horrendous paradoxes that would otherwise happen. In Ken MacLeod's Newton's Wake, they're referred to as the "Quantum Angels.")

Primer. Abe and Aaron create a time machine, which requires you to lay inside it for as long as you want to go back for. They go back and start meddling with their own pasts, speculating on the stock market and tinkering with other things. But soon they're making more serious changes — knocking out their past selves and taking their places. They live through the same day or two over and over again, creating alternate timelines with subtle differences each time. Eventually, Abe and Aaron start trying to counter each other's interference, but keeping up with which version of Abe or Aaron you're seeing gets trickier and trickier.

Back to the Future Part 2. When "Doc" Brown carelessly leaves his Delorean time machine unguarded, that big lunkhead Biff goes back in time to 1955 and gives his younger self the means to become rich and powerful far beyond his pathetic dreams. Our hero, Marty, has to go back in time to 1955 for the second time in a row — except instead of changing Biff's future as he did in the first movie, he's just trying to undo the changes that Biff has already made.

Up the Line by Robert Silverberg. Jud Eliott III gets a job as a time courier, showing tourists the wonders of history. But some of his crazy colleagues start messing around with the timeline and wrecking history, so he has to keep going back and trying to fix the damage without attracting the attention of the Time Patrol. And then he falls in love with a time paradox named Pulcheria, his own great-great-great-great-grandmother, and it all goes to pot.

The End Of Eternity by Isaac Asimov. Harlan belongs to a time agency called Eternity, which exists outside of time itself. He and his fellow agents go around changing history to reduce human suffering. But then Harlan has a falling-out with his bosses over his girlfriend Noÿs, whom they want to erase from history. Harlan is supposed to help one of his colleagues, Cooper, go back to the 24th century and become the scientist whose discoveries later make the Eternals possible. In a fit of pique, Harlan sends Cooper back to 1932 instead, so he can't lay the groundwork for Eternity and Eternity will never exist. Finally, after the Eternals un-erase his girlfriend, he agrees to go back and rescue Cooper from the past — but then his girlfriend Noÿs reveals that Eternity's secret purpose is to edit history to make sure humans never colonize the stars. So instead Harlan helps her to change history so that humans discover atomic energy earlier, and start down the path of space exploration. As a consequence, Eternity ceases ever to have existed.

Lightning by Dean Koontz. Laura has a guardian angel who shows up to help her whenever she's in danger, but then it turns out other people are trying to undo the "angel's" work. Some evil Nazi time travelers are trying to destroy Laura. As Laura's son explains:

They can hopscotch around us.. They can pop ahead in time to see where we show up, then they pick and choose the easiest place along the time stream to ambush us. It's sorta like... if we were the cowboys and the Indians were all psychic.