Daybreakers

We get a human-vamp encounter in a new clip. [via CinemaBlend]

Thor

Apparently, there was a rumor that Jude Law was going to be in the movie. He's not. [MTV]

Inglourious Basterds Prequel

Quentin Tarantino has written 40 pages of the prequel to his history-shattering slaughterfest, but he's working on a "less epic" picture first. [MTV]

30 Days of Night: Dark Days

Producer JR Young talked about the sequel to the vamps-in-Alaska adaptation, which takes the widowed Stella Olemaun to Los Angeles to try to expose vampires to the world:

I think the second film definitely stays within the world of the first film and it stays true to the second graphic novel in the series for those fans out there. The story is within that world but there are differences and a lot of that is due to the graphic novel. The first film is very much a survival film and this next one is all about revenge. There's an action component. The last one is a western, this one is more of a war movie. It's taking the battle to the vampires.

[ShockTillYouDrop]

True Blood

Alan Ball has confirmed that he's looking at a Latino actor in his 30s to play Lafayette's boyfriend. [EW]

Lost

Apparently, one of the following spoilers is false, and the other is true:

* We find out John Locke is related to C*****s *id**re [Charles Widmore] and J*** ***ph*** [Jack Shepherd] in a way you would never ever expect-yes, "related" as in by blood!

* Terry O'Quinn does something bat-poop insane involving a character we have known since the very first episode of Lost's first season, then says: "I'm sorry you had to see me like that."

[E!]

Dollhouse

Eliza Dushku's real-life boyfriend Rick Fox will have a brief cameo in the January 8th episode. He'll be one of dozens of Dolls imprinted with their original personalities and then released from the Dollhouse. We'll also Summer Glau return during that episode. [EW]

Fringe

We've mentioned that Fringe is filling some of its second season gap with an unaired episode from season one. That episode, "Unearthed," features a girl who, after being pronounced dead, is taken off life support only to wake up and star screaming alphanumeric code. And, for those who miss Charlie, Kirk Acevedo will be in the episode. [MTV]

And here's a promo that appears to contain footage from the episode. [via Spoiler TV]

After "Unearthed," the next two episodes will be titled "Edina City Limits" and "Jacksonville." [Spoiler TV]

Chuck

Michael Ausiello has seen the first three episodes of the season and says they're phenomenal — and there's nary a Subway sandwich to be seen. The first episode picks up six or ten months after last season's finale, and we'll see a recurring character die. We'll also find out that a recurring character is secretly a fan of Wilson Phillips. And we'll get a look at Morgan's huge collection of something. We'll be seeing lots of Awesome in the third episode — and his bare chest will apparently guest star. [EW]

Zachary Levi explains Chuck's connection with Kristin Kreuk's chracter Hannah:

They're both tech geeks. They're both into that world where they know how to reboot servers off of backup script.

Kreuk has filmed three episodes so far, but may be back for more. [Fancast]

The latest promo focuses on Chuck's choice between being a spy and being with Sarah. [via ChuckTV]

Heroes

According to Deanne Bray's Facebook account, Emma will appear in at least five more episodes, including the January fourth winter premiere. [Spoiler TV]

The puzzle pieces fall together in a trailer for the January return. [via Spoiler TV]

One of the things I like best about comics is they require no restraint. Most methods of story-telling benefit from some moderation. Comics are like the car pile-up scenes in the Blues Brothers movies. The more you add, the better it gets. No matter what the problem, it can be fixed by piling on a little more.

Problem One: Unpopular Subject
Let's start at the bottom of the barrel: Nazis. From the Batfamily to the Von Trapp Family, everyone hates Nazis. There is just no way to make them work. Or that's what you'd say if you didn't work in comics. If you did, you would see that Nazis are a starting point, a good, golden-age foundation that you can build up into something extraordinary.

Step One: Make them bigger. At first glance, this seems like the wrong way to go. All it does is make giant Nazis. That's no fun.

Step Two: Make them robots. Robots improve everything. Cops, rebellions in galaxies a long time ago and far, far away, Elmo dolls: there's nothing that can't be spiced up by adding robots. And yet, a giant robot Nazi still doesn't have the kick we need. What else can be done?

This. That's what. You take that giant Nazi robot, and you make it into an octopus. A land octopus. In a graveyard. Because, that's why.

Problem Two: A Plethora of Lame Concepts

Start with a shaky base: literally. When is the last time you saw someone on stilts? If you can remember, then I applaud your memory. Stilts are things that provide no value and make the act of walking both harder and more dangerous. They're a terrible concept all on their own.

Now take that terrible concept and make a supervillain out of it. Stiltman has terrorized the Marvel Universe since the sixties, presumably by nearly falling on people and then suing them for damages. Sure, the stilts are electronic and look like high-rises, but a crappy villain way, way up in the air is still a crappy villain.

Now rip off crappy villain with a sadass tribute character. A few weeks ago we saw the debut of Lady Stiltman. For those of you not paying attention, I will repeat the name: LADY StiltMAN.

This is bad piled on bad piled on bad. Nothing can save it. Except something worse.

I don't know how adding a pair of novelty high heels saved this concept, but it did. Some things just need a cherry on top to turn out delicious. I'm the last person in the world to champion putting more comic book women in heels, but when I see this I can only sit back in wonder. Touché, Marvel. Touché.

Problem Three: Gimmicks That Have Been Done to Death

"Who would win in a fight," is the kind of tired speculation that wasn't even fresh in Stand By Me. Now it's torturous. We've seen Batman versus Superman a thousand different times. We've seen Batman versus Captain America, and Captain America versus Iron Man and Iron Man versus Wolverine, and Wolverine versus the Punisher, and the Punisher versus Everydamnone. At this point, the horse is dead.

In comics, there is only one solution to that: Zombie Horse.

When Marvel pitted The Incredible Hercules against Thor for the second time, they just kept trying things until it worked. Last time they had to lift up the entire city of New York. This time, they just had the two heroes switch outfits. I don't know why that's even cooler, but it is. Last time it was a lot of pyrotechnics. This time there was more banter. Again, for some reason it worked. But it needed something more.

And this is why comics will always triumph over other media. When you see that literal purple nurple, splayed gloriously across the page, movie sound effects pale in comparison.

Problem Four: It's Not Crazy Enough Yet

You see, there's this thing called the Green Lantern Corps. They're space cops with battery-powered laser wish-rings. Sound good? No?

But wait! They're actually part of a larger Rainbow Corps, in which each color represents a particular emotions. Now is it good? No again?

The red ring is for rage. Red Lantern Corps members have rings that are powered by anger. And they can spew something that looks like blood but burns you like lava. And even though they are aliens, some of them just happen to look like earth creatures.

And so, without further ado, I present to you the crowning achievement of graphic novels to this date:

Ruffles the Rage Kitty.

Keyboard Cat, Ceiling Cat, and the entire population of I Can Has Cheezburger can go to hell. Nothing can match the genius of this. Nothing.

Variety announced Rene Russo would be playing the role as Frigga, whose husband Odin, to be played by Anthony Hopkins. Frigga is the stepmother to both Thor and Loki, and Loki will become the central villain in this tale, played by Tom Hiddleston.

In other Thor news, the folks over at IGN noticed that Joseph Gatt has a special announcement on his personal website, that he is

"prepping for his most prominent job to date: a (secret) role in the forthcoming Marvel Studios film Thor, slated for release in 2011."

He doesn't say who he is playing, but already the internet is guessing it's for the role of Skurge the Executioner, which he does have the build for. And at least now we know there will most likely be more than one bad guy.

Launching next March with a reprint of 2008's Invincible Iron Man #1, Marvel's Greatest Comics will reprint first chapters of critically-acclaimed series or storylines for just a dollar. According to Marvel's VP of Sales, David Gabriel:

We're proud of the books Marvel publishes and now not only are we giving retailers a great way to promote our top collections, but also giving consumers a chance to sample some of our top comics, maybe for the first time and at an unbeatable price.

After the Iron Man reprint (which, as a special launch promotion, will actually be free), the line will move onto the first issues of Ed Brubaker's Captain America run, Marvel's (incredible) new Wonderful Wizard Of Oz adaptation, J. Michael Straczynski's Thor and Garth Ennis' Punisher Max. Given the crossmedia opportunities afforded by all so far, we'd expect Spider-Man and X-Men before too long.

Start Here with Marvel's Greatest Comics For Only $1.00 [Marvel]

Ghostbusters 3:

So you might have heard that Sigourney Weaver says that Venkman (Bill Murray) will be a ghost in the new movie? And that her character's son, Oscar, will have grown up to be a Ghostbuster? People who've been paying attention to the rumors and chatter around this film are pretty sure she's just repeating old rumors — like Bill Murray reportedly told someone four years ago that he would only be in the movie if he played a ghost. And Weaver probably hasn't actually seen a script, since nobody else has yet, either. On the other hand, Murray playing a ghost could be sort of fun. [Screen Rant]

Transformers 3:

People have been circulating a draft script for this upcoming masterpiece. I don't for a scond believe that this movie has a script yet, and even the people who are reposting the script thinks it might be a fake. On the other hand, apparently a similarly rough draft script of Revenge Of The Fallen popped up online long before it came out, and was viewed as similarly wild — but turned out to be real. Plus, it's always entertaining to read these things, and it's probably better than the real script will be.

So apparently this draft script includes the Aerialbots, the Combaticons, Perceptor, Wheeljack, Ultra Magnus, and Shockwave, and is a big love letter to fans of the 1984 animated series. As it begins, hostilities between the Autobots and the Decepticons have gotten worse, and calls for the Autobots to leave Earth have gotten more shrill. Sam (who's now an intern at the Large Hadron Collider) finds another fragment of the Allspark, which could give off enough energon to power all the Transformers forever, if bombarded with the right kind of particles. Optimus sends for the Ark, and Sam invites Mikaela to come join him there for a romantic evening, or something, and then proposes to her. Sam and Optimus Prime are all set to examine the Allspark fragment aboard the Ark, when Megatron attacks, but then Starscream betrays him. And somehow this leads to everyone traveling back in time to 1982, where Starscream steals the Allspark and kills Megatron "twice in one day," has he puts it.

This means that all of the Autobots have to disguise themselves as period cars (would GM even allow this?) meaning Optimus becomes a Peterbilt Semi, and Mirage becomes a Pontiac Trans Am, but also sometimes a Formula 1 race car. And Sam meets his own grandfather, and realizes that he can erase the Autobot/Decepticon war from history by getting rid of the Cube. But yeah, it's almost certainly a fake. Click here to read the whole thing. [Comic Book Movie and Allspark]

Iron Man 2:

Robert Downey Jr. says the thing that made the first movie work was that it was grounded in reality, and the high tech looked like something out of Popular Mechanics rather than a galaxy-spanning saga. And with the Marvel Universe as crazy as it is, it would be easy for the next movie to be too wild, but he and Jon Favreau want to keep it grounded. And he explains how they'll avoid sequel-itis:

My take - Jon [Favreau] was in agreement, and Marvel supported us - was that once you tell an [origin] story pretty well, that's usually where things start to get dull, and one or two or three things start to happen over and over again," Downey explained during an interview with Rotten Tomatoes. "So, we made Tony Stark's challenges very much outside the usual realm of activity. As much as anything else, it's much more of a side job for him the second time around.

[Rotten Tomatoes]

Remember how we reported the first movie was totally improv, with almost no script to speak of? Olivia Munn (who's admittedly not one of the film's main actors) says it was much the same this time around. "There's a bunch of improv, over and over." And apparently Munn improv-ed so well, Downey Jr. stopped the filming to give her a round of applause.

Thor:

Ray Stevenson, who plays Volstagg, says he wears a fatsuit, but he's got muscles and isn't the "weeble-shaped" figure from the comics. And he says the character has a ton of "Falstaffian vigor," which makes sense given that Branagh is directing. [Superhero Hype]

The Sorcerer's Apprentice:

Apparently we first meet the apprentice as a young boy (Jake Cherry) and then later as a young adult (Jay Baruchel). And producer Jerry Bruckheimer explains why we should be excited:

"He's more like a rock star," producer Jerry Bruckheimer tells PEOPLE about the film, due in theaters July 10. Like the animated version, this Sorcerer's Apprentice will also feature those dancing brooms. "We did it in a realistic way," Bruckheimer says. "The [brooms] are really dancing and doing their thing."

How could it be bad? [People]

Daybreakers:

Here's an international trailer, which I don't think we've shown you before — it includes a bit more footage from this vampire-dominated future dystopia. [Reelz Channel]

The Wolfman:

A new international poster shows that the wolfman's powers include causing people's heads to float randomly and to be eaten by unnatural shadows. [ShockTillYou Drop]

Spider-Man 4:

Some have speculated that Bryce Dallas Howard could be back as Gwen Stacy, but she hasn't been contacted yet, which makes it seem less likely. Meanwhile, don't hold your breath for her to return as Kate Connor in Terminator 5 or 6 — she's not signed up for any further installments. (But she would defininitely consider it.) [Coming Soon]

Avatar:

The New York Daily News review has a pretty good summary of the film:

Sam Worthington is Jake Scully [sic], a paraplegic Marine in 2154 assigned to a deep-space moon called Pandora, where his consciousness controls an avatar, a clone of Pandora's indigenous, humanoid Na'vi people. As Jake lies in a high-tech tanning bed, his mind is in his blue Na'vi, which is 10 feet tall with pointy ears, cat eyes and a tail.

A scientist (a tough Sigourney Weaver) created the process to aid diplomatic relations with the Na'vi, since the air is poisonous to humans and space suits, apparently, get in the way. It's the last chance for the peaceful aliens - who know what the avatars really are - since a corporate goon (entertainingly weaselly Giovanni Ribisi) wants a valuable element buried deep under the "hometree," the Na'vi's spiritual center. And if diplomacy fails, a gung-ho sergeant (Stephen Lang, overdoing it) will get it at any cost.

Cameron counts too much on the connection we'll have to his goofy-looking blue man group, or with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), the Na'vi warrior princess who helps Jake's heart go on. Saldana - Uhura in last summer's "Star Trek" - delivers a remarkably full-bodied motion-capture performance, but the mystic-tribal clichés around her suggest every Netflix queue on Pandora includes "Dances with Wolves" and "The Last of the Mohicans."

[NY Daily News]

And there's a new Czech TV spot, plus a big Panasonic tie-in commercial that you may actually have seen.

Harry Potter:

Tom Felton says Deathly Hallows will be truer to the book than any of the previous films. [Movies-Spoilers]

Doctor Who:

So Alexandra Moen, who plays the Master's wife Lucy Saxon, says she wasn't the one who picked up the Master's ring at the end of "Last Of The Time Lords." Since we last saw her, Lucy has been locked up in a big ominous castle-like prison, and it just got a new governor. And it sounds like she breaks out of there. She's decided to try and go straight, but she's not at peace — she's full of anger. And her scenes are mostly with the Master and a few other actors. [Digital Spy]

Lost:

Some more filming details: episode nine is definitely Alpert-centric, and the Black Rock is definitely a prison ship. Also, we see an Ilana scene taking place at an old hospital in Russia, suggesting that Ilana is tied in with Alpert's backstory somehow. Separately, there's a scene with Jin working in a hotel, and Sun was there too. Also filming in the same location was a Keamy/Omar scene, and Mikhail was there and spoke Korean. There was also a Jin scene involving the same community college where Hurley's asylum was filmed. And a scene at a nice house with Hurley and Alpert. [The Transmission via SpoilersLost]

Also, Sayid was filming a scene with a large group of the "temple Others," including Zoey, and probably Cindy and Zack. Also present: seven to 10 scientists, for some reason. [SpoilersLost]

The show is casting an E.R. doctor making rounds, an MRI tech, and an African American female lawyer who won't be pushed around, for its eleventh episode. [SpoilersLost]

And there's an extended version of the season six promo:

Fringe:

I really like these new wallpapers, which emphasize the "passing between universes" theme as well as more of Walter's oddness. [SpoilerTV]

Remember that set video we showed you last week that included Anna Torv getting blown around? Now it's her, plus a bunch of extras:

Supernatural:

I know we mentioned that Cupid would be showing up (along with Famine, one of the Four Horsemen) in the Valentine's Day episode "My Bloody Valentine." Apparently, he'll be doughy, out of shape and naked, and constantly giving everybody bear hugs. [TV Guide Magazine]

And we'll be meeting a holy man in episode 5x16, "Dark Side Of The Moon":

[JOSHUA] This benevolent — dignified, very Zen man in his 50's-70's is inflappable, simple, but not insincere. A Morgan Freemen type vibe. PLEASE SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES. GUEST STAR.

Could that actually be God? [SpoilerTV]

And after the rerun of "The End" the other day, they showed a new trailer for the next episode, coming January 21.

And here's a set video for 5x15, "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid", in which all you can basically see is Sam and Dean walking inside a house:

True Blood:

The show is looking for someone to play Alcide, who's described as "rough looking but articulate and basically decent," and he takes a liking to Sookie and may even have some mutual attraction with her. It sounds like he takes her out, given that we meet a giant nightclub bouncer who knows Alcide but is suspicious of his guest, Sookie. Also, an old-school Ob/Gyn examines Arlene with an ultrasound, and a pastor officiates at Eggs' funeral service. [EW and SpoilerTV]

Chuck:

As you've probably heard, we're done with Chuck's "reluctant spy" act. He's now a fully gung-ho spy, but he's also aware of how much his career puts his family at risk. And Awesome will get drawn into Chuck's espionage world to a much greater extent — and we'll get to see how awesome Awesome really is. As season three starts, we'll realize something awful has happened between Chuck and Sarah in the mean time, and eventually we'll learn just what that is. We'll also learn how crucial Sarah is to whether Chuck makes a good spy. Carina, Sarah's old partner from season one, will be back. And Jeffster will perform again in a very special episode. [TV Guide]

Also, Casey is going to have a lot to deal with this season — a secret from his past is going to come to light, and it'll make his life complicated. Also, he'll get more responsibilities at the Buy More, and will start to discover that Buy More may actually be his future. Meanwhile, Lester has a "Fight Club" episode where he goes nuts. And we'll get to see Lester's bedroom and his pajamas. [ChuckTV]

FlashForward:

Episode 13 will be called "Better Angels." [SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

Here's a new trailer for the next batch of episodes, starting January 22:

Heroes:

It's the death that sticks — for now, anyway. Tim Kring says we definitely won't be seeing Nathan again for the rest of season four. [Fancast News]

Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

Thor

Stan Lee has been tweeting about his cameo:

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

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

John Carter of Mars

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[SpoilerTV-Movies]

Deadpool

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

Green Lantern

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

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

[MTV]

Avatar

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

Lesbian Vampire Killers

New images give us some busty bloodsuckers. [ShockTillYouDrop]

The Wolfman

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

True Blood

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

Lost

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

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

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

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

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

Fringe

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

Better Off Ted

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

Heroes

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

Additional reporting by Josh Snyder.

Ain't It Cool offers this surprising tidbit:

[W]e contacted a 100% tested and solid source, someone intimately familiar with the movie Kenneth Branagh is making, and he or she tells AICN [Thor's comic book alter ego] Donald Blake is definitely NOT in the movie.

Stay tuned.

To which we say: Wait, what? Our first reaction is, that has to be wrong. For one thing, we know that Natalie Portman has been cast as Jane Foster, who's long been Donald Blake's love interest in the comics. For another, Variety has described the movie as

center[ing] on a partly disabled med student who discovers his Norse god alter ego, the hammer-swinging Thor.

If that doesn't describe Donald Blake - who, admittedly, was a partially disabled doctor, not a med student, in the original comics - then we have no idea what it's meant to describe. But if AICN's source isn't wrong, then are we to look forward to a movie Thor similar to, but not, either the regular or Ultimate universe Thors? Stay tuned, indeed.

Will Alter-Ego Donald Blake Be In Thor Or Not?? [Ain't It Cool]

Talking to Comic Book Resources about a recent trip to Marvel Studios to discuss Thor, Quesada said,

We are incredibly confident [about the movie]. And there isn't much I could say to convince people beyond, "Look at these designs! Look at this script! Look at the moments in this story and tell me it won't be a huge success." But, that's obviously something I can't do, so the one thing I can say – and I've said as much to Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige – is that people are going to go into this movie with a preconceived idea about what it will be. If you're a comics fan, you'll have a preconceived notion of what you're going to get. If you're a non-comics fan, you'll have another notion of what the movie is all about. And what's really amazing is that both groups will walk away going, "I've never seen anything like this before within the super hero genre." It's so cool, and I don't want to use the word unusual, but it is unusual in the sense that it redefines what a super hero movie can be. It's not the expected story or settings. That part of it is incredibly exciting to me.

Thor is set for release on 20th May 2011.

Cup O' Joe [Comic Book Resources]

Thor and The Avengers

Someone posted a ton of rumors about the plot of these upcoming Marvel movies. Thor apparently starts with six warriors in Asgard: Thor, Loki, the Warriors Three and Sif. Loki, Odin's adopted son, usurps the throne and Thor is cast down to Earth. Thor crashlands in the desert, where he's run over by a PhD cosmology student (Natalie Portman) and her Norwegian professor (Stellan Skarsgard), who are driving out to study a strange cloud in the cosmos through a telescope.

When they realize that Thor really is the Norse thunder god, Skarsgard, who grew up with Norse mythology, can't deal with it and he goes on a drinking binge.

The screenplay ends with a five-page battle, showcasing Thor's and Loki's contrasting fighting styles — Thor is all about raw power, but Loki is all about the fluid grace and slipperiness. And the closing battle is the first thing they'll film.

But Loki survives the end of that movie, to become either the main villain in The Avengers, or one of the main villains. The Avengers opens with twenty minutes of Loki mind-controlling Bruce Banner and sending the Hulk on a murderous rampage, thus causing Captain America, Iron Man and Thor to come together.

Bear in mind, these are Internet rumors, so the usual wheelbarrow full of salt is indicated. [Comic Book Movie Fansites]

Elsewhere, fresh off being unspeakably awesome in The Hurt Locker, Jeremy Renner is apparently in serious talks to play Hawkeye in both Thor and The Avengers. Apparently he would cameo in two movies before The Avengers, and then have a proper role in that one. Considering Iron Man 2 has almost finished production, that would likely mean appearances in Thor and Captain America. [Slashfilm]

Lost:

EW.com has a status report on the show's final season. The first episode is definitely "LA X" and the key question fans should ask heading into the season is whether Juliet succeeded in changing history, pointing to that famous continuity-rewriting Oceanic Airlines safety video from ComicCon as a key clue. The article confirms Claire is coming back for a big arc, after haunting Kate's dreams and hanging out in Jacob's shack, while Charlie, Boone, and Charlotte will all be putting in somewhat inexplicable reappearances. Juliet is indeed dead, but that doesn't mean Elizabeth Mitchell won't come back in some capacity, and in fact she's set to return at least twice.

Richard Alpert is now a regular, although Desmond Hume isn't. Still, we'll probably see some more of him, too. New faces this season include Hiroyuki Sanada, a Japanese actor best known stateside for his work in Speed Racer, as Dogen, John Hawkes of Deadwood as Lennon, along with Sheila Kelley and William Atherton. [EW.com]

Here's another Twitter-based filming update:

Lost film production on North Shore of Oahu near Turtle Bay beach scene with Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Matthew Fox (Jack) & Terry O'Quinn (John Locke) filming on Tue, 11/24/09 & Wed, 11/25/09

[DarkUFO]

The title of episode 6.9 will be "Ab Aeterno." [Lyly Ford]

Caprica:

Sci Fi Wire has a preview of one of the five behind-the-scenes videos SyFy is releasing over the next couple of days to promote Caprica. In this one, Esai Morales and Eric Stoltz discuss the complex relationship their two characters share: [Sci Fi Wire]

Chuck:

NBC has released a couple more promos for the upcoming season of Chuck:

[ChuckTV.net]

FlashForward:

Here are five sneak peeks for the upcoming tenth episode "A561984", set to air on December 3: [FlashForward.PL]

V:

Robert Englund of Nightmare on Elm Street fame revealed he might make a cameo appearance in an upcoming episode. Englund played the good-hearted alien Willie in the original 1983 miniseries. [HeyUGuys]

Stargate Universe:

A press release is out with more details of "Justice", the tenth and final episode of this half of the show's first season:

Everyone is shocked when a member of the crew is found dead from a gunshot wound. While at first glance it appears to be suicide, the gun is nowhere to be found. The crew is confined to quarters while a search is performed and when the gun shows up in Col. Young's (LOUIS FERREIRA) quarters, he becomes the number one suspect. Fearing a mob scene, Young agrees to a trial and cedes command to Camile Wray (MING-NA).

Dr. Rush (ROBERT CARLYLE) convinces Wray to give him control of the science team and carte blanche with the new Ancient interface, previously kept under guard. But before Rush can unlock its secret, or Young's trial can conclude, both are needed to explore a planet hiding a secret that threatens the Destiny and her crew.

The episode is set to air December 4. [Spoiler TV]

Wolfman:

Two more new international posters have been released: [Shock Till You Drop]

Additional reporting by Charlie Jane Anders.

Doctor Who:

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

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

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

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

Dollhouse:

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

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

And here's that picture. [Spoiler TV]

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

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

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

Thor:

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

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

Chuck:

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

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

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

Fringe:

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

Heroes:

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

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

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

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

Smallville:

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

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

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

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

Green Lantern:

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

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

Deadpool:

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

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

V:

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

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

Lost:

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

Avatar:

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

Wolfman:

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

The Book of Eli

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

Thor

Although initial speculation had Kat Dennings playing the Enchantress, some folks think it's more likely that she'll be playing college student Marcy Lewis based on the previously mentioned casting call:

[MARCY LEWIS] (20) Is a college student. Aloof, jaded beyond her years, she thought her internship with scientist Kate Spelling would be an easy 6 college credits. However, she's been stuck for months in this small New Mexico town and relegated to a wide range of unglamorous activities. Kate has been particularly hard on Marcy, making it her personal project to see that Marcy lives up to her potential. Marcy deals with her situation both by using subtle irony and by being an overt wiseass.

After all, Dennings is known for playing overt wiseasses. [Cinema Blend]

Iron Man

The latest issue of Empire Magazine has our hero on the cover. It looks like the new Iron Man is essentially the same as the old Iron Man. [via Cinema Blend]

Avatar

We get another good look at Pandora in CNN's feature on the film. [CNN]

And, in case you didn't get enough of him on 60 Minutes, CNN does an interview with James Cameron. [CNN]

Zoë Saldana says that to prepare for the role of Neytiri, she had to study wushu, a Shaolin kung fu that bases its stances on wild animals. [Details]

The Wolfman

The latest behind-the-scenes featurette plays on our nostalgia for old Universal horror flicks. [via Cinema Blend]

The Hobbit

Peter Jackson says that the studio has seen the first script for Guillermo del Toro's The Hobbit, and they're happy with what they've seen so far. [/Film]

Zombieland 2

Sony is very interested in making a sequel to the hit zombie comedy, and it looks like we'll see it in 3D, with zombies, weapons, and teeth flying around the screen. [Cinema Blend]

The Lovely Bones

Two new clips from Peter Jackson's heavenly movie introduce us to the soon-to-be-murdered Susie Salmon and the man who kills her. [via Collider]

Doctor Who

The TV magazines take a quick look at David Tennant's last episode. [Blogtor Who]

More significantly, we get a fresh image from "The End of Time." Is this one of Tennant's final scenes with the TARDIS? And notice the book Tennant is holding — Finding The Future by Joshua Naismith. You might recall the bus in "Planet Of The Dead" had ads that mentioned Naismith's telecommunications company, Neon by Naismith. Naismith turns up as a character in "The End Of Time." [Den of Geek]

Clone Wars

Uh-oh. It looks like that Geonosian zombie infection might be catching. The Galactic Senate has issued the following health warning:

Lost

More confusing comments are emerging about these darned alternate timelines. Although everyone's been seeing tons of spoilers about the timeline where Oceanic 815 lands safely, supposedly something necessary for he alternate timeline to occur doesn't happen. Is that vague enough for you? Also, it's not a coincidence that the season premieres on Groundhog Day. [E!]

Fringe

After February 11th, the producers are apparently going to leave us hanging for a seven-week hiatus. Bah. [E!]

But before that happens, we get a whole mess of interviews from Lance Reddick, Anna Torv, John Noble, Michael Cerveris, and executive producer Jeff Pinkner. [Fringe Television]

V

Morris Chestnut talks a bit about being a human-aligned Visitor and audience feedback.

And Morena Baccarin explains a bit about Anna, and why she's drawn to science fiction projects.

Chuck

We get a four-minute preview of the new season, and witness how Chuck's new Intersect powers can make Sarah swoon. [via Screen Rant]

FlashForward</>

Joseph Fiennes creates a hostage situation in this clip from "A561984."

Heroes

Peter tries to save Nathan in this still from the November 30th episode, "The Fifth Stage." Incidentally, the fifth stage of grief is acceptance. [Spoiler TV]

The season's sixteenth episode is titled "The Art of Deception," and the seventeenth is "The Wall." [Spoiler TV]

Outer Space Astronauts

Syfy's new quasi-animated series premieres December 8th, but you can watch the first episode in its entirety below. [via Cinema Blend]

Additional reporting by Josh Snyder and Charlie Jane Anders.

Thor:

Natalie Portman let slip that her friend Kat Dennings (Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist) will be in this film with her — and speculation is, she'll play Enchantress. [MTV via Cinematical]

Spider-Man 4:

No real news about this movie, which starts shooting early next year, but Tobey Maguire says he likes the idea of the Lizard as the main villain, because the Lizard has a history with Peter Parker, and "we often will go towards that kind of stuff." And he echoes Sam Raimi's comments about not knowing much about Carnage, who came to the wall-crawler's supporting cast much later on. He also likes Mysterio. [MTV]

Star Trek:

Continuing with the always-awesome vein of "actors making random predictions," Leonard Nimoy says he doubts J.J. Abrams and friends will call him to ask him to be in the sequel. He'll be happy to talk to them if they do call, but he figures he's already served his purpose. (And I bet J.J. is a lot more desperate for Nimoy to come back and do more Fringe appearances, something he's seemed a bit leery of doing lately.) [TrekMovie]

Doctor Who:

The Beeb released official summaries of David Tennant's final two parter, coming soon but not soon enough:

Part One: It's the Tenth Doctor's final journey – but his psychotic nemesis the Master has been reborn, on Christmas Eve. With both determined to cheat death, the battle ranges from the wastelands of London to the mysterious Immortality Gate, while the alien Ood warn of an even greater danger approaching, as a terrible shadow falls across the entire Universe.

Part Two: The Doctor faces the end of his life as the Master's plans hurtle out of control. With the sound of drums growing louder, and an ancient trap closing around the Earth, the Doctor and Wilf must fight alone. But sacrifices must be made, and the deadly prophecy warns: "He will knock four times."

[BlogtorWho]

Meanwhile, remember the filming a while back, from Matt Smith's first story, which takes place in the idyllic fictional village of Leadworth? Apparently they needed a few extra shots for that story, because Leadworth was resurrected the other day for a bunch of minor pick-up shots. (And they had to make it look like summer, which can't have been fun.) Scenes included Smith running in his Chaplin-esque way, and poking his head out of a window. Karen Gillan was there in her oddly sexy police uniform, with her little red car. More pics at the link. [Alun_Vega on Flickr]

Lost:

Are the alternate timelines making you dizzy yet? The show was filming a scene by a lovely scenic waterfall, featuring Sayid, Locke, Jin, Cindy and a bunch of others — all decked out as "Others." Have our gang joined the Others? (One eyewitness thought Kate was among them, but apparently not.) Also on set, but not filming yet, Sheila Kelly, the L.A. Law vet who will play Kendall, who's caught committing corporate esipionage and has to lie her way out. And meanwhile there are more set pics showing Miles and Sawyer as cops in L.A. [The ODI]

Supernatural:

As we mentioned, the 100th episode will focus largely on Dean. But it'll also fill in a lot of pieces of the puzzle, says Eric Kripke:

We're aiming for it to be a big mythology episode. The Archangel Michael plays a very large part as we explore his relationship with Dean

[EW]

Heroes:

Some new set pics actually look pretty intriguing — Claire is running, and Sylar is minus an eye. If they make Sylar a cyclops permanently, I might have to start watching again. Just so I can call him Cylar. (Or SyClops?) [SpoilerTV]

And of course, because this is Heroes, Masi Oka hints that "you never know" if Nathan will come back from the dead. [Zap2It]

Chuck:

And there are some new promos:

Additional reporting by Josh C. Snyder.

Thor

Idris Elba, whom fans of The Wire know as Stringer Bell, has been cast as Heimdell, the Asgardian who stands guard at BiFrost Bridge, always ready to defend Asgard from intruders. [/Film]

Iron Man 3

We haven't even seen Iron Man 2, but there are already rumors for the third movie. Faran Tahir, who played Raza in the first movie, was asked about the third film and mentioned that Favreau and the producers want to introduce the Mandarin as a villain at some point. Since both Raza and the Mandarin are leaders of the Ten Rings, that affects whether Tahir will return to the franchise. [Moviefone]

Star Trek 2

Karl Urban would like to see his character, Bones McCoy, become more the third part of the Kirk-Spock-Bones triumvirate. He also wants Bones to be a bit preachier:

"I would love to play scenes being essentially Kirk's moral compass or point of conscience. The way McCoy was written he really sort of verbalized the war going on in Kirk's conscience, and I certainly would love to see more arguments of passion versus logic with Spock because they're always fun. So it's going to be really interesting to see what they come up with."

[IGN]

Daybreakers

Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe prepare to take on the vampires (and the vampire virus) in two new stills.

Legion

Shock Till You Drop saw 20 minutes of the angel apocalypse, and they're still a bit on the fence about the film. In one clip, the archangel Michael crashes to Earth, slices off his wings, breaks the halo (as known as the heavenly LoJack system) from his neck. Then he heads off to a gun shop to load up on weapons and ammo. When a pair of cops try to stop him, we get to see the unpleasant effects of angelic possession: the possessed cop goes all twitchy, his eyeballs turn black, and his teeth sharpen. Another clip comes straight out of the trailer, with Gladys, the old lady who quickly transforms from sweet to demonic when she tells Charlie that her "fucking baby is gonna burn," and then starts scuttling across the ceiling. In another scene, the protagonists drive into a storm of flies (the first plague of Egypt), and a group of diner patrons head to the roof to take out a group of possessed folks, including the frosty treats man. [ShockTillYouDrop]

Doctor Who

It's official: the title of the first hour of the Christmas special is The End of Time Part One. No surprise there. [Den of Geek]

Lost

Season six officially has a premiere day: February 2 at 9pm. Lost now airs on Tuesdays. Adjust your DVRs accordingly. Also, Richard Alpert, Miles, Frank Lapidus, and Ilana are now series regulars, and Claire is back full-time. Desmond, however, is not a regulat this season. [E!]

Carlton Cuse confirmed via Twitter that Rebecca Mader who plays Faraday's deceased love Charlotte, has been filming, though he offered no indication of what context we'll be seeing Charlotte in. [Cinema Blend]

However, a source at Dark UFO claims to have the scoop on Charlotte's reappearance. Sawyer is trying to run his usual con on Charlotte, knowing that she has been to the island. However, Charlotte catches on to Sawyer's act and calls him out on it. Sawyer tells her everything: that she knows she was raised on the island and that everything connects back to Charles Widmore. He says he wants "on the boat," but Sawyer isn't acting alone; a man he talks to on the phone gives him instructions and seems to be in charge. Throughout their conversation, Charlotte keeps looking toward an Asian man, something Sawyer notices. Apparently, there is a fight scene in a different location involving Sawyer and the Asian man. [Dark UFO]

Michael Emerson described the final season as "very dark and bloody," and said of the episodes:

"I thought I would be able to see the ending that was coming, but I can't," he says of the series finale. "It's still so opaque."

As for Ben himself, Emerson said we will see Ben at his manipulative best, and that he will surprise the audience. [Starbulletin]

At yet another Lost shoot, fans spotted Sawyer and Charles Widmore filming a scene at the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum in Pearl Harbor. Is someone planning an underwater voyage, or is Widmore the one pulling Sawyer's strings? [Hawaii Blog]

Fringe

John Noble says that there have been discussions about Walter meeting his alternate self toward the end of the season. [Korbi TV]

Anna Torv also talks about what's in store for Olivia's family and her love life. [Korbi TV]

Chuck

The new season premieres Sunday, January 10th, with two back-to-back episodes. A third episode will air during its regular timeslot on Monday, January 11th, at 8/7c. Here's a promo to that effect, plus a new clip:

And here's the Season Three poster:

[Chuck TV]

V

Morena Baccarin talks about Anna and Chad's evolving relationship, and what happens when one of the Visitors is murdered. [Spoiler TV]

And we get a promo for the year's last episode, Tuesday's "It's Only the Beginning."

Heroes

A two-hour "event" airs Monday, January 4th, a 8pm EST; after that, the show's regular time slot will be Mondays at 9pm. [Spoiler TV]

FlashForward

The actors ask their questions about the show's mysteries, and manage to get some answers. [Spoiler TV]

Additional reporting by Josh Snyder.

Right after Zachary Levi admitted that he wouldn't be joining Thor's warriors, the news came out that Stuart Townsend, Ray Stevenson, and Tadanobu Asano will be playing Fandral, Volstagg, and Hogun. Also known as the Warriors Three, who have Thor's back in any scrap. Not that we have anything against Chuck — it's just that these brutes seem more apt for the job.

Marvel confirmed these three actors are signed on and ready to bring us the bloody spectacle of godlike war. Which will be in theaters May 20, 2011. This is a very good thing. Here's a look at the warriors from the comics:

Although his name may be unfamiliar to many, D'Esposito has been "President of Physical Production" for Marvel Studios since the beginning, overseeing the budget and timeline of Iron Man, Incredible Hulk and the upcoming Thor, Captain America and Avengers movies (Feige has called D'Esposito an "incredible friend and collaborator" in the past; we hope he still feels that way now that the two share job titles and responsibilities).

The most interesting part of this story is probably the questions it raises: Why does Marvel need a second Studio President now? Is Feige looking to take on more responsibilities elsewhere, or are we about to hear of an increased slate of post-Avengers plans already?

Marvel Studios appoints new co-president [Hollywood Reporter]

Thor

Bad news for Brian Blessed fans: Anthony Hopkins is in negotiations to play Odin, Thor's father and the ruler of Asgard. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Avatar

We posted an international version of the official trailer the other night, but here is the high quality version:

The official Avatar website has launched with a set of high quality images. A few we've seen before, but most are new:

Mad Max: Fury Road

We told you earlier that Charlize Theron was being considered as the lead for the latest Mad Max movie. She'll be co-starring with Jean-Luc Picard's clone, Tom Hardy. [Cinema Blend]

New Moon

Tonight, MTV will air its special Ulalume: Howling at New Moon, which will include a new clip from New Moon. Naturally, MTV already has said clip and shared a few screen grabs from the clip. [MTV Movies Blog]

Doctor Who

The Tenth Doctor flees monsters with Super Soaker hands in the latest clip from Waters of Mars:

True Blood

Fans of the Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries have wondered whether the werewolf Alcide Herveaux would appear next season, and Alan Ball has finally answered them. Alcide will appear, probably by the third episode, although he hasn't been cast yet. Alcide will already come into the searies with a love interest, a very bad woman named Debbie Pelt. We won't be seeing a Sookie-Bill wedding this season, but, while the couple will have some rough patches, their connection won't disappear. As for Eric, he lost some hair last season and this season he'll lose his clothes. We'll see Eric nearly naked in the season premiere. Everyone else is exploring their identities this season. We already know Sam is seeking out his biological family, but we'll also see Sookie closer to understanding why she has supernatural abilities and Jason doesn't. Plus, Jessica will explore her vampirism and experiences a dangerous identity crisis. [E!]

Powers

Brian Bendis has an update on the live action adaptation of his comic about police detectives in a superpowered world:

"We're making a cop show with superhero elements to it, not a superhero show with other elements to it," he continued. "It's a cop show-a dark one, hopefully in the same vein as 'The Shield'-and it really seems to be shaping up that way. Fingers crossed for the green light!"

He also says that it will be akin to Dexter in terms of faithfulness to the source material (which is to say, there will be some deviations), but that the first arc will involve Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim solving the murder of Retro Girl. And the first arc will also set up all the mysteries Walker and the other officers will be solving in the series. [MTV]

Lost

The new promo teaser is up, and, as promised, it contains no new footage. [via Lyly Ford]

Looks like Juliet is indeed dead. Damon Lindelof said the decision to kill her was "brutal," but she did go up with the hydrogen bomb. Of course, on Lost, dead doesn't necessarily mean gone, and we'll see Juliet in a few episodes this season. [NY Mag]

The producers are looking to cast the possibly recurring role of Kendall, a beautiful and intellectual woman in her mid-30s with a sharp wit. She gets caught committing corporate espionage and has to lie her way out. [EW]

Fringe

We get a glimpse of the Observer in the promo for the return of Fringe on November 5th (if the World Series doesn't go to Game Seven). [Fringe Television]

Stargate Universe

Water levels are low on the Destiny in tonight's episode, "Water."

V

With just a few days before the Vs arrive, ABC releases a new promo:

The Sarah Jane Adventures

We're going ghost hunting in these images from "The Eternity Trap." [The Doctor Who Image Archive]

And in the 11th and 12th episodes, the two-part serial "The Gift," the crew will face off against the green Slitheen once more. Once the Slitheen have been foiled, however, the Blathereen, rivals of the Slitheen, will appear on the scene to declare piece between the planets. They offer Sarah Jane a civilization-changing gift, one that quickly runs amok. Soon Sarah Jane will be battling for her own son, Luke. Clyde, Rani, and K9 become trapped in a school under siege, London is facing yet another alien threat, and there will be a final showdown in the attic, one that could end someone's life. [Blogtor Who]

Thor:

Here's a new casting call, which gives another hint about where the bulk of this film takes place:

[ISABEL ALVAREZ] 50's/60's A sweet small town gal who has lived her whole life in the same little town where she grew up. She's faced plenty of ups and downs in her many years but has everything she's ever wanted or needed in the small slice of Americana, family, friends and the best little restaurant in town

Avatar:

A new pic shows Sully looking at a cool display. [IGN]

Lost:

The show is going to offer us an answer to one of the show's "oldest and most confounding" mysteries, and it's going to be an answer none of us expected to get. [EW]

The show's focus will remain on the characters rather than the mythology, says Damon Lindelof, and season six will explore their relationships (including romantic ones) — just not in the way you expect. And yes, we'll get an answer to the mystery of the numbers, but it may not satisfy us. Also, we may be reading too much into the hieroglyphics on the new poster which seem to say "Who is the leader?" [E! Online]

But talking to USA Today, Lindelof hints that nothing in the show's posters is accidental. Also, the mystery of why Walt was so special, and why the Others wanted to study him, will be addressed in the final season, and will attain a new significance — even if Walt himself doesn't come back. There's still a chance that Cynthia Watros may come back as Libby, but it's up to Watros. Also, Frank Lapidus has been promoted to "series regular" this season. (Yay!) We won't have to wait until the very final episode to start getting the big answers. [USA Today]

Someone sneaked around the show's filming locations, and they found a bunch of new stuff. Out in the jungle near where Claire gave birth, there's a crude lean-to with animal skins on it. At the beach camp, there are those lean-tos made of airplane wreckage and sticks that we showed you a while back. And there's that crude grave we showed you as well. Otherville is looking run-down and destroyed. The Flame has been fixed up and has an updated Dharma logo on it. And there's a new pic of the back of the Temple. [SpoilersLost]

A supposed inside source says Locke is a "man about town" on the island, reconnecting with a bunch of the original Losties, including a gun-toting Claire... and he finds time to get stabbed by a genuine Iraqi. [SpoilersLost]

The Box:

Did you realize this Richard Kelly Twilight Zone-esque movie is coming out a week from Friday? I feel like we've barely heard about it. But fear not, there are TV spots airing on network TV, and here they are:

And a new poster. [ShockTillYouDrop]

Dollhouse:

Eliza Dushku Twittered about the ongoing filming:

We're shooting way outside LA in an underground bunker w/ methane meters, exit plans (one way in & out w/ a 100+ crew!), firearms. G.I.Jane.

Could this be a return to the post-apocalyptic universe of "Epitaph One"? Fingers crossed! [Twitter]

Fringe:

Seems like the show will keep playing with the tension of everybody getting clues that Peter is from an alternate universe, but Peter being unaware, for the rest of the season. [EW]

Leonard Nimoy has one more appearance on the show that he's already filmed — but he hints that he may not come back at all after that. The producers want him to come back, to deepen the "alternate universe" mythology, but he's waiting for them to come up with a story arc, and he'll see if it's compelling. [MTV]

Sarah Jane Adventures:

Here are some more pics from the wedding episode, in which the Doctor shows the kids the TARDIS. [BlogtorWho]

Doctor Who:

Another interview about the animated story "Dreamland," this time with the animator. [BlogtorWho]

Supernatural:

Sam and Dean swap bodies in episode 5x12. (I want to mail Kripke a copy of that Quantum And Woody TPB, but it's probably too late for a shout-out.) [EW]

And here are some pics from the upcoming episode "The Real Ghostbusters". [SpoilerTV]

And a casting call for episode 5x12, "Swap Meat":

[GARY] 17 years old (would prefer 18 and overs), puny, gawky, bespectacled, smart and geek (think "McLovin" from "Superbad"), he's a naive, amateur Satanist who works at a fast food joint and longs to break free from his wealthy, stifling parents. He's granted one of his wishes, and starts to live the life he's always wanted. Please denote age next to your suggestions. GUEST STAR

[NORA] 16 years old (would prefer 18 and over), she is a cute, smart, alternative girl (in the vein of Thora Birch in "American Beauty") who is a naive, conflicted high school student, she's an amateur Satanist, she's not really interested in hurting anyone; she's mostly going along with Gary and Trevor's plot because she has a crush on Gary. Nora's follower-type nature is squelched when she becomes possessed by a dark force. Please denote age next to your suggestions sptv050769. Please submit all ethnicities. GUEST STAR

[SpoilerTV]

V:

Here are a couple of new promos, teaching how you can join the "Peace Ambassador" program:

Also, episodes three and four will be called "A Bright New Day" and "It's Only The Beginning." [VisitorSite]

FlashForward:

Here's a new awesome promo for tonight's episode, featuring Dominic Monaghan:

Paula Newsome (Women's Murder Club) will be joining this show as a doctor, for an arc starting in early 2010 — speculation is, she plays an Ob-GYN. [EW]

Smallville:

Kelly Souders talks about the Lois/Clark relationship:

They both have a few issues, so things never go as smoothly as you think. But what's great about the relationship, because it's sort of more adult, mature relationship, is it actually brings their issues up to the forefront, and makes them start dealing with them instead of being the younger versions of themselves, where they might not have been that conscious of it.

And in episode 9, "Pandora," we go to the future and deal with the fallout from Lois' sex dream, and there is some Lois skin. That episode plays like a finale, and we'll see an alternate ending for everyone in the cast. Also, in the next few episodes, Clark may contemplate wearing glasses. Chloe will have an unexpected love interest, and on a related note, she'll meet a superhero who's not all he's cracked up to be. (Booster Gold? That's my guess.) [EW]

Also, not only will the Martian Manhunter be back, but so will Zatanna. And — this feels like a spoiler at this point — the producers are still talking about Clark eventually turning into Superman. [MTV]

And here are a ton of promotional photos of the upcoming episode "Kandor," on top of the handful we showed you yesterday. [SpoilerTV]

Heroes:

Greg Grunberg Twittered a picture of himself wearing "scary" makeup for an upcoming scene — and it looked sort of zombie-ish. (The pic is down now, alas.) [Twitter]

Also, there are five clips from next Monday's episode, "Once Upon A Time In Texas," but I can't find them in an embeddable format. If you really care, they're here: [TV.Com]

And here is the synopsis for the following episode, "Shadowboxing":

Claire investigates the sorority attacks, which may have a link to Noah. Elsewhere, Peter finds his job performance improved after gaining a new ability, which also provides a means to help Emma, and Sylar escalates his assault on Matt.

[TV Guide]

Chuck:

Here's a casting call for episode 3x10, "Chuck Vs. The Tic Tac":

[COLONEL JAMES KELLER] (55) but needs to be able to play younger in flashbacks. Military man for life, yet relatable and casual despite his rank. GUEST STAR. All ethnicities

[SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Josh C. Snyder and Mary Ratliff

Inception

Cillian Murphy has apparently read the Inception script. His thoughts? Excited but vague:

"It's conceptual. It doesn't fit into any genre," he explained. "There are elements of different types of things in it but it is all from Chris' imagination. I've never read anything close to it before."

[MTV Movies Blog]

Thor

An eagle-eyed reporter noticed Dominic Cooper was reading casting slides for Thor. Although Cooper cautioned that nothing has been finalized, the part he was reading for is Fandral the Dashing, a member of the Warriors Three, a team of Asgardians who fight alongside Thor. So we might be seeing the trio (and Cooper) in the movie. [Movieline]

Stan Lee is disappointed that Kenneth Branagh didn't consider him for the role of Odin, though he will have a cameo in Thor. [Collider]

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

The TV Obsessed has another spoilerific review of The Plan, including the fact that the Simon who has a wife and kid on one of the ships in the fleet airlocks himself rather than destroy the ship or be revealed as a Cylon — but he gets found out anyway. And Cavil sets off Five's explosive suicide vest himself. Also, we see the beginnings of Leoben's Kara obsession as he sits alone and listens to the fleet traffic. Cavil randomly stabs a little boy for no reason, just so we'll know how evil he is.

And there are some cool apocalyptic images of the Cylon attack on the Colonies. [The TV Obsessed]

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

Interviews with Terry Gilliam and the cast offer a few more glimpses of the trippy fantasy movie:

2012

If the latest stills from Roland Emmerich's disaster porn teach us anything, it's that the apocalypse will be wet. [IGN]

X-Files 3

David Duchovny would like to do a third film, but if it happens, he'd like to focus on the aliens and conspiracy that were central to the show's mythology. [IGN]

Eclipse

Kirsten Prout has been cast as Lucy, a vampire who appears only in flashbacks. A vampire named turns Jasper Hale into a vampire during the Civil War and recruits him for her vampire army. Jasper eventually betrays Maria and two of her soldiers, including Lucy. [MTV Movies Blog]

Dollhouse

It looks like Paul Ballard and Echo are going to lock lips in an upcoming episode, but that doesn't mean Paul has completely given himself over to the Dollhouse. Tamoh Penikett says that although Paul's been drinking the Kool-Aid a bit, he's going to have more issues with his new corporate role. [E! Online]

And we get a better look at Summer Glau and her poor, poor (left) arm in November 6th's episode "The Left Hand." [Spoiler TV]

Supernatural

In the November 19th episode, "Abandon All Hope," Lucifer will capture Castiel while the latter is on a recon mission in Missouri. Lucifer interrogates Castiel by trapping him in a burning ring fueled by holy oil. [TV Guide Magazine]

Heroes

Executive producer Adam Armus drops a few more hints as to which male original cast member will die:

"We always pull surprises on Heroes. That's all I have to say. It is an epic battle. It's an epic struggle between two very well-loved characters, and it's going to be really compelling."

So, who will be involved in this epic struggle? Hiro and Ando? Parkman and Sylar? Nathan and Sylar? [SCI FI Wire]

FlashForward

In the November 5th episode, "The Gift," the apparent connection between a Blue Hand club and some recent suicides leads Mark, Demetri, Gough, and MI6 agent Fiona Bands to investigate. Aaron will receive a surprise visit from an army buddy of his late daughter's. While Demetri reveals his lack of flashforward to Zoey, Nicole will help Bryce solve the mystery of his while volunteering at the hospital. [Spoiler TV]

Smallville

Lois throws some punches in this preview from Friday's episode "Roulette." [via Spoiler TV]

The Justice Society is assembling on Smallville and three of the members have been identified. Stargate SG-1's Michael Shanks will be playing Hawkman, Andromeda's Brent Stait will play Doctor Fate, and Aliens in America's Britt Irvin will play Stargirl. [IGN]

The Sarah Jane Adventures

This Thursday marks the beginning of the two-part serial "The Mad Woman in the Attic." We get an early glimpse of Donald Sumpter as Erasmus Darkening, Suranne Jones as Mona Lisa, and Eleanor Tomlinson as Eve. [Blogtor Who]

And in the second part of the serial, we'll see a pair of very familiar faces: the Third and Fourth Doctors. Granted, we'll be seeing Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker in flashbacks using archival footage, but we'll also see Sarah Jane's future — one featuring another familiar Doctor. The vision of the future will involve the phrase, "He is returning, he is coming back," and we'll see the TARDIS appear in the Bannerman Road attic. In another flashforward toward the end of the episode, where we'll encounter none other than the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant. Sarah Jane's robotic sidekick K9 will also be back, supposedly for good. [Den of Geek]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown and Charlie Jane Anders.

The rumor hit the internet when Ain't It Cool reported that actor Matthias Schweighöfer had mentioned the two were newly attached to the movie in an interview with the German version of GQ magazine. Who would the two big-name actors be playing?
DeNiro's stature leads us to two possible suggestions: he'd be perfect as Odin - Thor and Loki's father and king of all the Norse Gods - but Brian Blessed is already reportedly down for that role. And we wouldn't be surprised if Branagh was tempted to take him in the other direction and make him into Skurge The Executioner, Norse God enforcer and all-round bad-ass. As for Law, there's really only one role we'd want to see him in: Balder the Brave, Thor's annoyingly-handsome best friend and occasional sidekick.

Of course, without confirmation from Branagh or Marvel, we'll have to assume that it's just a rumor. But we can dream, can't we...?