Here's some of our favorite Figueroa art. You can view the rest over at the link. Note: Figueroa removed a lot of art from his DeviantArt page, and we were asked to do the same, so we've replaced it with some other cool images. [Don Figueroa on DeviantArt, via Seibertron]

Behold Galvatron!
Bruticus Vs. Jazz
T.F. Joe Optimus concept art
T.F. Joe Megatron concept art
T.F. Joe Bumblebee
Transformers 5
Nova Prime
Megatron
Jetfire Vs. Sunstorm

Green Lantern:

Here are the first set pics from the filming of this movie in New Orleans. The main thing is that you can just make out a certain ring on Ryan Reynolds' finger. This is from the filming of a bar scene, where the bar has been refitted with the name Broome's. And the fact that Ryan already has the ring means (thank goodness) that this bar scene doesn't have anything to do with any "Hal is an alcoholic before he gets the ring" subplot. (I'm assuming they wouldn't show him drinking after crashing his car and meeting Abin Sur.) Also, I'm wondering if the much-ballyhooed car stunt is the thing where Hal almost crashes his car, but then it flies instead. My memory of Emerald Dawn is slightly hazy, but that sticks in my mind. Many more pics at the link. [Comic Book Movie]

Tron Legacy:

A few more details from Jeff Bridges: His makeup takes three hours. He has very few scenes with Bruce Boxleitner. He was present for the entire film shoot, but Sam Flynn is the protagonist, not Kevin Flynn. The lightcycles and discs have been taken "to the next level," and there's a cool new vehicle. And he's doing some motion-capture stuff. [Slashfilm]

And when Sam Flynn does get into the virtual world and meet his father, he's very impressed with everything his dad has accomplished. [MTV]

Reporters on set also got to see some production stills, including Kevin Flynn kneeling in his "safe house," in a white martial-arts robe. Plus four "sirens" in skintight white catsuits surrounding Sam Flynn, who's in a black catsuit. Sam standing on the bridge of a large ship holding a glowing disk, with orange hexagonal windows looking out behind him. [Sci Fi Wire]

Transformers 3:

There's a call for extras (paying $200 a day) and the most notable thing is Josh Duhamel isn't listed among the film's stars. Is he not coming back? Would you be able to tell? [CinemaBlend]

Real Steel:

Canadian actor Dakota Goyo will play Hugh Jackman's son in this film, "a street-smart, tough, charming kid with a hard, untrusting outer shell which hides a warm enthusiastic spirit beneath." The father teams up with his long-lost son to train an unusual robot to take part in a robot boxing match. [THR]

Let Me In:

The American remake of Let The Right One In isn't Americanized in the sense of dumbed down, says Matt Reeves — rather, the cultural context of the 1980s tale has changed to include Reaganism and the fear of the Evil Empire. And the idea that the scary Other is elsewhere and outside, and the main character's rage against bullies has no reasonable outlet. Reeves talks about his own childhood experiences with bullying, and how he had always wanted to tell a kind of brutal coming-of-age story about an 11-year-old boy who meets a girl in his apartment complex and has these sort of intense encounters, so this project turned out to be perfect. He also referred to the original novel a lot during the adaptation process. [Cinematical]

Toy Story 3:

Another character poster introduces you to a new toy, Sparks. [Slashfilm]

There's a mostly glowing review of this film, which contains no spoilers but does say it takes as many risks, and twists your heartstrings as much, as other recent Pixar films. But at the same time, it feels like Pixar is playing it a bit too safe. [Cinemablend]

Repo Men:

I just read the novel this movie is based on (review coming later today) and novelist Eric Garcia talks in an afterword about adapting the book to a screenplay with co-writer Garrett Lerner, while simultaneously revising the book — a process which happened over and over again, over several years. Similarly, he tells ShockTillYouDrop, "The Repossession Mambo novel was told in constant flashbacks, jumps in time, linked only by theme, etc. Hard to do a narrative that way, so it came down to figuring out a way through the story — 30 drafts or so later, I think we cracked it." (Among other changes, the novel gives the main character five ex-wives plus a current love interest, and the movie apparently gives him only two ex-wives, one of whom he re-meets and she becomes his current love interest.) [ShockTillYouDrop]

Fringe:

As you've no doubt gathered, the April 1 episode is an 1980s flashback in which we meet Peter's mother, learn what happened to him and why Olivia sees him glimmering. And why he owes the Observer his life. Almost all his backstory will be filled in. Plus, we'll get a pretty good idea why Nina lost her arm to "cancer." [TV Guide]

Also, we'll meet Walter's former lab assistant. (Wondering if that could be the same person as Peter's mother?) [Fancast]

Chuck:

Next week, Chuck brings up that fateful train station rendezvous in Prague with Sarah, and cue the waterworks. Also, it's really looking like the two characters leaving the show might be Awesome and Ellie. Ellie considers Awesome's idea of joining Doctors Without Borders, and her answer might make you nervous about their continued appearance on the show. [Fancast]

Smallville:

Here are some stills from the Amanda Waller episode, "Checkmate." [OSCK]

So in the April 16 episode, "Upgrade," Clark gets hit with red kryptonite, and as usual he makes a bad mistake — but this time, it involves the Fortress, Zod and Metallo, and could have huge consequences. Also, it sounds like Metallo might have some red-kryptonite problems too — but Zod is untouched. Also, Metallo gets some scenes with Lois that might make Lois-Clark shippers unhappy. [Fancast]

FlashForward:

Jack Davenport says it's not a foregone conclusion that Lloyd and Olivia are going to hook up. On Thursday, we'll see Olivia coping with Lloyd's abduction, and she's getting debriefed and having to explain matters to Mark. And Courtney Vance explains what to expect for his character, Stanford:

We'll start to find out about some of the threads that we laid in which were for my character the deal between the president and Senator Clemente. Mark goes rogue to figure out what happened to him. Supposedly his badge is turned in. There's some great action, motorcycle chases, great intrigue. People I think will be very satisfied.

[Fancast]

Lost:

We all know that Juliet's coming back, but Elizabeth Mitchell hints it may not be until the very final episode. [Sci Fi Wire]

So remember the set report we had a little while ago in which it seemed like both the L.A. versions of Ben and Locke were getting the crap beaten out of them, and the beater might be Desmond? And then Ben meets Rousseau? There are some pics of that scene now. Plus some new pics of what look like the bear cages. And Locke rolling around a parking lot. [SpoilersLost and SpoilersLost]

Let's start off with what may be turning into a regular feature: Marvel's Iron Man releases for the week. This week alone, the House of Ideas prepares for the upcoming Iron Man 2 with the following collections: Iron Man: Armor Wars Prologue (Collecting some great late-1980s work), Iron Man: Iron Monger (If you're wondering where the end of the first movie came from, look no further), Iron Man: The End (An alternate future finale for Tony Stark!) and Ultimate Comics Iron Man: Armor Wars (Warren Ellis continues his fun drunken take on the alternate-continuity version of the character).

Lest you think Marvel only publishes books about Tony Stark these days, they're also putting out the first issues of Hercules: Fall of An Avenger and X-Factor Forever (For those who loved Louise Simonson's 1980s run on the original X-Men, this is a sequel), as well as the one-shots Women of Marvel: Celebrating Seven Decades and X-23.

Further superhero thrills can be found in DC's Batman International (wherein the Dark Knight fights crime in countries other than the US), Superman 80-Page Giant (wherein writers who haven't done much - if any - work for DC tell short stories about the Man of Steel), the Superman: Nightwing and Flamebird collection (Continuing the New Krypton storyline, and recommended) and golden age reprint collection Wonder Woman Chronicles.

Dynamite continue to get into the costumed hero action with Green Hornet Year One (written by Grendel creator Matt Wagner), while similar pulp action thrills are offered up by two Flash Gordon collections, Mercy Wars and The Secret History of Mongo.

Elsewhere, IDW's Transformers not only get a new hardcover collection of movie-continuity comics (Transformers Movie Collection Vol. 1) but also a new series written by TF-meister Simon Furman: Transformers: Nefarious. IDW also have a collection of guilty pleasure extraordinaire, The Last Resort, which is a must for fans of slasher movies. For the more high-minded amongst you, Days Missing, the time-traveling series from Rod Roddenberry, gets a hardcover collection for your attention.

Despite all of that, we've still not gotten to the really good stuff, which is the following three Picks of The Week: Image Comics have what they're calling the Titan Edition of I Kill Giants, a 300-page hardcover collection of Joe Kelly and JM Nimura's masterful tale of a schoolgirl who either kills mythical beasts in her spare time, or thinks that she does; it's the entire series, plus new extras.

Meanwhile, DC's Wildstorm imprint have a collection of Mysterius The Unfathomable, Jeff Parker and Tom Fowler's severly underrated series that reads like Douglas Adams and looks like MAD Magazine and should be loved by anyone who has a taste for the unusual without managing to lose their sense of humor (Which is my way of saying, buy it, people), and their Vertigo imprint has the first, beautiful, issue of Scott Snyder and Stephen King's American Vampire; even if you're not interested in an alternate history of the US as populated by a new breed of bloodsucker, you owe it to your eyeballs to pick it up for the artwork of Rafael Alburquerque alone. Really, a spectacular-looking book.

All of those, and more, can be found in this week's shipping list right now, and then your local comic store tomorrow. As long as your list includes Mysterius, Giants and Vampire, we'll all be good.

Transformers 3:

Sam's dad, Ron Witwicky, may not be in the third movie! The Hollywood Reporter mentions that actor Kevin Dunn is in negotiations to reprise the role in Transformers 3 — but it's not a sure thing, because of contractual issues and the fact that Dunn is co-starring in a new HBO series. Is there even any point in making a third film without Dunn? I mean, it's really all about the characters. [THR via TLAMB]

Caesar:

This prequel to Planet Of The Apes includes tons of details to make it clear it's a prequel, specifically, to the 1968 film. There's a reference, in the beginning, to Col. Taylor's ship, the Icarus, going missing. There are also reportedly a ton of inside references and nods to the original films — too many to list here. As Caesar changes, his eyes turn green. He's sent to live in a monkey house, where he manages to unite the divided chimps, orangutans and gorillas. By the end of the movie, humanity's downfall is well underway. Caesar is determined to be non-violent, but he sits by while other apes go on a violent rampage. The film explains how Caesar's existence makes the other apes evolve, and why the apes in the POTA films are so much bigger and look nothing like chimps, gorillas or orangutans. More details at the link. [CHUD]

Toy Story 3:

Annnd... here's another new poster. This time showing the gang emerging from their storage box into their new daycare center home. [CinemaBlend]

Nikita:

So remember how Maggie Q was cast as the lead in this show, and there was much talk about this being the "highest profile" drama series role for an Asian-American star on U.S. television? Well, back up. Turns out, Maggie Q plays the old Nikita, the one who's gone rogue and is on the run. Lyndsy Fonseca (How I Met Your Mother) plays the new Nikita, a 19-year-old who's sentenced to 25 years in a federal penitentiary, then recruited by a secret government agency to hunt down Q's character. She's recruited because she's an "attractive, young, white female with virtually no personal ties or paper trail," which is an ideal profile for this sort of work. Melinda Clarke plays Amanda, an operative who's tasked with educating Fonseca's character on "how to use her femininity to her advantage." Aaron Stanford (aka Pyro) plays Birkhoff, a computer specialist who loves Red Bull, potato chips and watching skateboarding bloopers on YouTube. Sigh.

Update: The Hollywood Reporter is claiming that Maggie Q is still a new assassin in training, and Fonseca will merely play another trainee assassin. Let's hope THR is right and Futon Critic is wrong. Thanks to kofianna for the heads up! [The Futon Critic and The Futon Critic]

Doctor Who:

A new Telegraph article has literally a squillion details about Matt Smith's first episode. Including the strange fact that the producers originally wanted Smith's costume to be pirate-esque.

Smith's Doctor will continue regenerating throughout his first episode, and this will be a somewhat involved process by the sound of things. The TARDIS crashlands in the village of Leadworth, where he meets his "kooky" new companion Amy. And the world is threatened with destruction by the Atraxi, "thuggish galactic policemen," not to be confused with the Judoon. Leadworth has a duck pond, whose total absence of ducks sparks an argument between the Doctor and Amy. And as you'll no doubt remember from set reports, a red phone booth blows up. It rained a lot during filming, but new showrunner Steven Moffat may explain that away by saying the Atraxi are preparing to boil the planet.

In one key scene, Smith tries to attract the Atraxi's attention by using his sonic screwdriver (or rather David Tennant's) and then the sonic screwdriver explodes. The Doctor has 20 minutes to save the world, still wearing Tennant's raggedy costume — and he does it with two minutes to spare. Oh, and there are at least a couple "CGI monsters" in this episode.

The new TARDIS interior is probably three times the size of David Tennant's — let's just pause to let that sink in. There are multiple levels, joined by staircases. And the Telegraph adds:

Less grubby than its predecessor, with a transparent plastic floor on the main level, its walls are resplendent with polished copper and its central column features a blown glass decoration that could be straight from Tales of the Unexpected. There are old car seats and downstairs – downstairs! – a swing. With a nod to Paul McGann's Tardis, the central column features an old TV screen on an extendable trellis. It also has a 1980s-style computer keyboard, and a His-Master's-Voice style trumpet speaker. Viewers won't see this Tardis until the end of episode one, when the Doctor and Amy walk in for their first journey together.

And once again, we hear about the "fairy-tale quality" of episode one. Can you wait? If you can, there is something wrong with you. [Telegraph]

V:

New producer Scott Rosenbaum explains what to expect from this show:

"There will be three or four huge, oh-my-God, wow...I-didn't-see-that-coming [moments]," he promises. Plus, big things to come between Anna (Morena Baccarin) and Erica (Elizabeth Mitchell). "Those two are...circling each other, looking for each other's weaknesses and then-boom-the fight happens."

[E! Online]

Warehouse 13:

In case you missed it, we now know why Jewel Staite says her guest role is such a treat for Browncoats. She's co-starring with her former Firefly love interest Sean Maher. Only this time, the roles are reversed. Says the press release:

In "Mild Mannered," Maher plays Sheldon, a quiet unassuming guy whose exposure to a dangerous object brings about shocking physical change. Staite portrays Loretta, the object of his unrequited love. Staite starred as Kaylee Frye and Maher as Dr. Simon Tam in the hit series, Firefly, the award-winning 2002 drama from creator Joss Whedon.

[Sci Fi Wire]

Fringe:

A new promo for episode 2x15, "Peter". [FringeTV]

Betwixt:

Remember this CW show about teens who go to a rave and then discover they're changelings? Of course you do. David Gallagher (7th Heaven) will play Tim Bleeker, a changeling who's gone to the dark side — otherwise known as a Cutter. (Really?) He'll have a dark, androgynous look to him. [The Futon Critic]

Sharktopus!:

The first casting news for this Syfy movie is out. Eric Roberts will play the mad scientist who creates this "unholy hybrid," reveals Syfy's Karen O'Hara via Twitter. [Twitter via ShockTillYouDrop]

The Cape:

More casting news, this time for the NBC cop-turned-superhero show. James Frain (The Tudors) will play a supervillain:

Peter Fleming, the Chairman and CEO of the Blackwater-esque Lynx Corporation, who moonlights as "Chess," a murderous villain. Chess is described as wearing a tight black mask in which only his freakish eyes - contact lenses bearing a rook and knight emblem - are visible.

Also, Dorian Missick will play Marty Voyt, a friend of the main character, Vince, who tries to recruit Vince to join Lynx's security forces. [The Futon Critic]

Stargate Universe:

One promo pic for episode 16, "Human." [SpoilerTV]

Also, season two filming began today with "Pathogen," which will actually air fourth, and is directed by Robert Carlyle. [Twitter via Gateworld]

Chuck:

A Canadian promo for Monday's episode features new footage, plus an ultra-grating voiceover. [SpoilerTV]

FlashForward:

Seth MacFarlane had a brief cameo in the pilot as an FBI agent, and he'll reappear briefly in at least one more episode — before, probably, getting shot. [Sci Fi Wire]

Here's a sneak peek from the March 18 episode:

James Callis' character is named Gabriel McDow, and he has a unique spin on the "many worlds" concept. Sonia Walger explains:

Olivia meets this strange character who seems to know an enormous amount about her future, and is very definitive about what he knows – he's played by James Callis, who was in Battlestar Galactica amongst other things – and the reason he knows so much about Olivia's future is that it turns out he has had multiple flash-forwards. So he becomes integral to her believing and subscribing to the idea that there is an alternative, that there was another path that she might have gone on. He also becomes of huge importance to the FBI investigation.

And it sounds like McDow has experienced psychic damage from his multiple flash-forwards. [TV Overmind]

Lost:

The producers answer a question about Vincent's fate — and turns out, he's the only character guaranteed to survive. [Doc Arzt]

Filming, probably for the third-to-last episode, is taking place. In a scene at the school, both Ben and Locke look injured. Locke is still in his wheelchair, of course, and Ben has a broken arm. Ben is beaten up by a guy who gets out of a car — possibly Desmond. And the injured Ben walks out of the school with Alex and gets introduced to Alex's mother, Rousseau, in a scene that mirrors when Ben introduced Alex to her mother back in season four. [SpoilersLost]

Here's another clip from Tuesday's Sawyer-centric episode. [Doc Arzt]

Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

Artist Frankell Baramdyka posted two giant collections of Transformers concept art on his blog recently. And other sites mention that Barmadyka is working on the Transformers 3 tie-in game, and that he created this art for the game. (I can't find any such claim on Baramdyka's blog — he just identifies the art as "Transformers concept art." His LinkedIn profile does say he works for Activision, which is doing the Transformers 3 game though.)

In any case, with Transformers 3 scheduled to come out in the summer of 2011, it's not unreasonable to think the tie-in game would be well into the development process. The surprising thing about Baramdyka's art is that it doesn't depict an Earthbound storyline at all — instead, it takes place on a jungle planet and someplace called Lithos, which is apparently a city on Cybertron. There are ruins on the jungle planet where the Autobots seem to discover something, and there's also a temple on the "Mechanical Planet" (which I'm guessing is also Cybertron.)

We've had some hints lately that Transformers 3 would delve a bit more into the backstory of the Autobots and the Decepticons, possibly including some sequences on Cybertron. If this artwork does actually reflect what's in the game, and if that's closely tied in to the movie's storyline — two big ifs — then this could be our first hint as to how much time Michael Bay's third transforming robot epic will spend traveling through space.

Update: Some sites are identifying this art as coming from the War For Cybertron game instead, which would certainly make sense. Baramdyka hasn't identified it either way. In any case, seeing such cool vistas and alien worlds in the next Michael Bay movie is probably too much to hope for.

More art at the link. [Frankell Baramdyka via Shogun Gamer]

Captain America:

This 1940s superhero film is looking for extras in London, but is also doing casting in both L.A. and London. We already knew the film was doing most of its filming in London, so this is just a wee update. Filming begins June 28. [On Location Vacations]

Tron Legacy:

The studio released a second image, in the countdown to Friday's trailer release. It's another image of young Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) on his motorcycle outside Flynn's Arcade. [Cinemablend]

Tony Blair himself, Michael Sheen, hints that his singing, dancing nightclub-manager character is similar to the White Rabbit in some way, and will turn out to be something other than what he appears to be:

I play a character who runs a nightclub - an entertainer, showman... again sort of an ambiguous character. Without giving too much away he's a bit like an Alice In Wonderland character where you don't really know what's going on there and you think he's one thing and he turns out to be something else. It should be fun.

[Digital Spy]

Iron Man 2:

Some newly discovered covers of tie-in books for kids, which reinforce the sense that Iron Man and War Machine will be at odds. More pics at the link. [Comic Book Movie]

Transformers 3:

A pretty minor spoiler, but apparently Bumblebee and Optimus Prime will be redesigned for this film. "Bumblebee's matured a little bit, so I would just say look for subtle changes to his physique that have him look more mature," says animation designer Scott Benza. And Optimus Prime will have very subtle changes that only fanboys will notice, but they'll make him more heroic, and maybe easier to render. And yes, there'll be new robots in this movie. [Sci Fi Wire]

Toy Story 3:

Another new toy is unveiled:

Meet Twitch, the insectaloid warrior, where MAN + INSECT = AWESOME! This sturdy action figure stands over five inches tall, with more than 15 points of articulation, including ferocious chomping mandibles. Use his powerful wings and impenetrable exoskeleton to evade capture! Twitch is meticulously detailed and includes his signature magical battle staff and removable chest armor. For children ages 4 and up. Other insectaloid figures sold separately.

[Empire Online]

Death Race 2:

Supernatural's Lauren Cohan just joined the cast of this direct-to-DVD prequel, which just started filming in South Africa. And in case you missed it, here's the synopsis:

Death Race 2 takes place in the very near future, as the United States economy begins to decline and violent crime starts to spiral out of control. To contain the growing criminal population, a vast network of for-profit, private prisons springs up, creating a lawless subculture ruled by gangs, cold-blooded killers and sociopaths. The worst of these prisons is Terminal Island. Convicted cop-killer Carl Lucas arrives on the Island to serve his life sentence just as ruthlessly ambitious television personality September Jones launches the ultimate reality show, Death Race. A brutal prison yard demolition derby that pits prisoners against each other in steel reinforced, heavily armed vehicles, Death Race offers the winner the ultimate prize: freedom - if he can survive to enjoy it. When Lucas signs up to be a driver, the stage is set for the birth of a legendary racer.

[ShockTillYouDrop and Cinematical]

Doctor Who:

Comedian/actor James Corden confirmed he'll be in this show, and he's just starting filming. So is he in the "scary old people" episode? Or the finale? Or the Christmas episode? Your theories are as good as mine. [BlogtorWho]

V:

Here's the first promo photo for episode five. [SpoilerTV]

Also, we'll see more parts of the interior of the Visitors' ship in upcoming episodes, and we'll see the engine room in the season finale. Also, we'll see more of what they look like under their fake human skin — which will be gooier than it was in the 1980s version. There will be some surprising reveals about what Anna looks like without her human skin, and possibly other aspects of her being as well. [Sci Fi Wire]

Fringe:

J.J. Abrams says the second season finale will be just as "impactful" as the first-season finale was, but richer, deeper and better as well. And it may wrap up some storylines, but he's not saying exactly. Also, the upcoming April Fools episode is "retro and weird," and may spoof old science fiction shows as well as showing our heroes using retro technology. [Sci Fi Wire]

Warehouse 13:

Nolan Funk will have a four-episode arc in which he plays Todd, a tech-savvy local who takes a romantic interest in Claudia (Allison Scagliotti). [Digital Spy]

FlashForward:

A few new promos for this show, which returns March 18.

Lost:

Episode 15, the episode currently being filmed, is a crazy episode, says Michael Emerson:

It pushes the envelope, this one. It's set in a time and a place that you will never have seen on a network series before, I would venture to say. When was the last time you saw a network drama episode where none of the series regulars were in the episode? That's how kooky it is.

And don't assume that Ben is dying any time soon. Also, Damon Lindelof hints Ben might find a way to worm his way back onto the "Candidates" list. Meanwhile, Charlotte is coming back soon — and may have a major connection with one of the Losties in the L.A.-verse. In episode nine, the Richard Alpert episode, Jacob explains what the island is — and that four-letter word has an "O" in it. We also find out why Alpert doesn't age, and it has to do with a request. [E! Online]

Additional reporting by Josh C. Snyder.

Transformers 3:

Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner hints the sequel might show a bit of the original Autobot-Decepticon war, and life on Cybertron. Or at least, we'll delve back into the robots' roots, and include more elements from their established past:

What we're really doing is getting back to some of the core character development and storytelling. And I think there's some elements of the core story that the filmmakers, Michael in particular wanted to tell. He's really well-versed in the Transformers lore. So I think you'll see, you know, less bedlam, more characters.

And yes, Shia and Megan are back, of course. [MTV]

Avatar 2:

James Cameron still hasn't signed on to direct the sequel, but he says it shouldn't be called Avatar 2 at all, since Jake is no longer an avatar. "Maybe we'll call it Na'vi." He also says the sequel will emphasize the spiritual nature of the Na'vi even more than the first one did:

I think we can see that there's a greater receptivity to it on the part of the audience than certainly the studio originally imagined. We pared back on it a fair bit in the first film, and I think we can go farther in that direction and not alienate people.

And he says he wouldn't let anyone else direct the second movie, but he might use that film to train his replacement, someone who could direct Avatar 3 — except that it wouldn't be called Avatar 3, of course. [Sci Fi Wire]

Captain America:

A casting call gives a synopsis of this film, which is pretty much what you'd expect — but at least it doesn't mention anything about him being a USO entertainer:

Born during the Great Depression, Steve Rogers grew up a frail youth in a poor family. Horrified by the newsreel footage of the Nazis in Europe, Rogers was inspired to enlist in the army. However, because of his frailty and sickness, he was rejected. Overhearing the boy's earnest plea, General Chester Phillips offered Rogers the opportunity to take part in a special experiment... Operation: Rebirth. After weeks of tests, Rogers was at last administered the Super-Solider Serum and bombarded by 'vita-rays.' Steve Rogers emerged from the treatment with a body as perfect as a body can be and still be human. Rogers was then put through an intensive physical and tactical training program. Three months later, he was given his first assignment as Captain America. Armed with his indestructible shield and battle savvy, Captain America has continued his war against evil both as a sentinel of liberty and as leader of the Avengers.

[Coventry Telegraph]

Tron Legacy:

Five sequences from this film will be rendered in a 1.7:1 aspect ratio for Imax showings instead of the regular 2.35:1 ratio, allowing more of the picture to show up on the top and bottom of the screen. [Slashfilm]

Ghostbusters 3:

Once again, Bill Murray says he'll only be in this film if he's killed off in the first reel, and apparently the writers have found a way to make that happen. Mostly, he gives the impression he's not very interested in doing this movie. [Slashfilm]

Scott Pilgrim:

Edgar Wright explains how the movie will depart from the graphic novels:

It stays pretty true to volumes one and two. And three. After three volumes, it starts to take its own path, but very much within the spirit of the book - and approved by Bryan as well. ... There are some things that are in the film that are actually from Bryan's original ideas before he wrote the books. [So] there are some things in there that refer to older ideas which he didn't end up doing.

[MTV]

Doctor Who:

New star Matt Smith explains how he sees the Doctor:

He's an intergalactic genius, a superhero-ish, mad, fumbling, bumbling science geek. He's everything you can pluck from any universe and put into him.

And he says the Doctor is an "addict," because "if he stopped saving the world, he'd be in real trouble." [Telegraph]

Supernatural:

Max Headroom himself, Matt Frewer, will guest star as Pestilence, one of the Four Horsemen. Says Sera Gamble:

Our first brush with him in Episode 520 seems relatively innocuous and then unfolds into something more substantial. Put it to you this way: Horsemen on our show tend to think several moves ahead.

[TV Guide]

Caprica:

Here's the official synopsis for Friday's episode:

Rival industrialist Tomas Vergis arrives on Caprica demanding a meeting with Daniel, threatening to reveal proof that Daniel stole the chip that is key the U-87 Cylon, and Graystone's military contract. Vergis whirls up a publicity storm that steals the heart of the Caprican public, and surprisingly serves up a friendly offer to Daniel that could save Graystone Industries. But there's a catch to his proposal that could haunt Daniel for years to come.

Clarice, panicked that off-world STO leadership has been backing a rogue named Barnabas, steps up her plans to acquire Zoe's avatar program and may find her answer through befriending Amanda. Meanwhile, wanting to fulfill her own promise to Zoe, Lacy goes with Keon to meet the enigmatic Barnabas, opening herself up to a new world of danger.

After the revelation that the avatar of his daughter Tamara is still lost in V-World, Joseph starts his quest to find her in a virtual world he knows nothing about.

[CapricaTV]

You can see the first clip of James Marsters from Friday's episode, at the link. [Chicago Tribune]

Smallville:

here's another promo for upcoming episodes:

Chuck:

Another clue about who finds out Chuck's secret: It gives Awesome someone to confide in. But the secret is dangerous and could get this person killed. [E! Online]

Lost:

Michael Emerson teases Ben's flash-sideways, which we'll see more of next week:

You will see members of Ben's family in his flash sideways, but none of those relationships are the same as you're accustomed to them being," Michael explains. "Familiar faces, but everything's a little bit tweaked ... all the same puzzle pieces exist in both realities. They're just scrambled differently.

[Zap2It]

Doesn't sound as though Sarah (Julie Bowen) is the mother of L.A. Jack's son David, judging from Bowen's reaction to the question. And yes, the issue of the two timelines and how they connect won't be resolved until the very end, by the sound of things. [E! Online]

Here are some set pics showing a figure in a tunic sitting on the beach with a figure in black — plus a woman in a white Tshirt, who's believed not to be part of the actual scene, but an acting coach or something. Jacob and MIB? Hard to see from the blurry pics. [SpoilersLost]


And here's some video:

Here's another sneak peek from tonight's episode, which was shown at Paley Fest over the weekend. (Sorry for the shakey cam!) [The ODI]

Additional reporting by Josh C. Snyder.

Tron Legacy:

Director Joseph Kosinski (and original director Steve Lisberger) answered a ton of questions at the L.A. screening of new footage from this film. The video game Tron 2.0 is not considered "canon" in this movie. And Bruce Boxleitner doesn't just play Allan, he also plays Tron. (Since the movie is named after him.) Cindy Morgan's character is not in the new movie. Michael Sheen's cyber-nightclub-owner character is named Kaster. The MCP won't be in this movie, because it was destroyed, plus it's obsolete technology in any case.

And this film's equivalent of Bit is a character named Jarvis who is Clu's "right-hand information officer," and he's not just a geometric shape. Also, this new Clu is a duplicate of himself that Flynn created in 1988, and he's sort of Clu 2.0. Also, the same games from the first movie will be around, in a kind of "gladitorial games," but there'll be new ones as well. [HitFix]

Iron Man 2:

One fan has a theory about why Ivan Vanko is so mad at Tony Stark. Maybe Howard Stark, Tony's dad, stole the idea for the arc reactor from Anton Vanko, Ivan's dad. And maybe in the process, there was a test which killed a bunch of people in Russia, and Ivan's attempt at revenge got him locked in prison. Tony might have no clue about this unpleasant history, until he does a ton of research. Anyway, this is just speculation, but it seems at least somewhat plausible. [Comic Book Movie]

Transformers 3:

There's a report that Ray Park (aka Darth Maul and Snake Eyes) will have "a lead role" in this film. But whether it'll be as a human character or as the voice of one of the robot characters, it's unclear. The report originates with a blog called LeftLaneNews which interviewed Park, but the video interview doesn't mention Transformers. So, you know, grain of salt. [LeftLaneNews]

Michael Bay says this movie will be totally new and different. "You can't just rehash the old. We're adding a lot of new elements. We're adding new characters. We're adding a lot of twists." [MTV]

Avatar 2:

We've already reported a few times on Sigourney Weaver saying she'll be in the sequel, and she's saying it again. This time, she elaborates that Grace is "in the tree," lending credence to the idea she could be a kind of Obi-Wan, appearing to Jake when he needs guidance. [iFMagazine]

Survival Of The Dead:

A new one-sheet for George Romero's latest zombie film shows how survival can go on after life. [ShockTillYouDrop]

Doctor Who:

More scenes from the story where crowds of old people are stalking menacingly. In one scene, a group of elderly people converge on the Doctor, Amy and Rory. The Doctor says they're not looking themselves, and asks if they're okay. One of them chases Rory. The Doctor asks their leader, a woman, why they're controlling old people. And the woman opens her mouth, apparently to release some kind of creature or energy source. (Probably to be created using C.G. later on.) There's also a scene where an old person is trying to break into a red camper van, and reportedly this has something to do with the mind-controlled elderly people trying to get at the pregnant women of the town. [GallifreyBase]

Caprica:

Here's a new clip from this Friday's episode. [CapricaTV]

Patton Oswalt says you'll see him "pop up" throughout the season on televisions in the background and stuff, as it's obvious that people are watching the Baxter Sarno show. And he'll have some more major involvement towards the end of the season. Also, James Marsters (aka Greeley) will be in four episodes this season. [MTV and SciFiTalk via CapricaTV]

FlashForward:

Gaius Baltar himself, James Callis, will guest star in the last few episodes of the season, and it's a fairly major role. He especially has something to do with Olivia's journey, producers hint. [TV Guide]

Supernatural:

Not surprisingly, we'll meet Death, the last of the four horsemen, in some upcoming episode. [SpoilerTV]

True Blood:

Episode 3x06 will be called "What Do You Know About Love?" [SpoilerTV]

Chuck:

Here's the official synopsis for episode 3x10, "Chuck Vs. The Tic Tac":

Chuck AND Sarah MUST CLEAR Casey'S GOOD NAME- ROBERT PATRICK ("Terminator 2: Judgment Day") GUEST STARS –Casey (Adam Baldwin) carries out a side mission for his old commanding officer James Keller (guest star Robert Patrick) that leads to him committing treason. When Chuck (Zachary Levi) learns the dark truth about Col. Keller, he and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) set out to break Casey out of jail and clear his name. Meanwhile, Awesome's (Ryan McPartlin) plan to keep Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) out of danger gets more difficult when she gets her dream fellowship. Joshua Gomez also stars.

[ChuckTV]

And since that's a Casey-centric episode, complete with flashbacks, there's some speculation about what we'll learn. IMDB lists actors playing Kathleen McHugh as well as "Young Kathleen," meaning that Kathleen might appear in Casey's flashbacks. And there's also an Alex McHugh listed — could it be that she has a kid in the present? And maybe the kid is Casey's? Pure speculation at this point, of course. [ChuckTV]

It wasn't a joke when a producer tweeted that the show's 18th episode will be called "Chuck Vs. The Subway." But this doesn't refer to the sandwich chain, but rather to an actual subway. [TV By The Numbers]

Scott Bakula will be in the last three episodes of the season. A tiger will be an integral part of an upcoming storyline. Morgan doesn't have a permanent love interest on the horizon. The Hannah thing will contribute to Morgan's suspicions about Chuck's non-productivity at the Buy More. [ChuckTV]

Fringe:

Here are some behind-the-scenes pics of Walter's lab. [Facebook via SpoilerTV]

A new featurette illuminates the secrets of "the other side":

Smallville:

Here's a trailer for the April 2 episode, "Escape":

Lost:

Michael Emerson says there's a huge episode for Ben coming up in a couple of weeks, and "it may be the last one of the Ben episodes." Does he mean Ben is dying soon, or just that Ben won't be the focus of an entire episode after that? Also, he says the L.A. version of Ben is more of a regular guy, and he does form an important relationship with L.A. Locke, not unlike friendship. [E! Online]

Ryan's Transmission podcast has some pretty insanely detailed spoilers, based on filming reports and callsheets — so this is your last chance to scroll down to the comments. When Smokey comes to the Temple, he slits Lennon's throat, and throws a guy up against a pillar. He asks Sun where Sayid is.

In episode 13, "The Last Recruit," it sounds like Jack joines up with Locke's group, at least temporarily, and Jack and Locke catch up on stuff. Sawyer fills Jack in on his plan. (To double-cross Locke?) And Jack asks Claire if he trusts Locke. Locke asks Claire if she's seen Sayid, then Locke runs off to look for Sayid. When Locke catches up with him, Sayid reveals that he shot Desmond. (Nooo!)

In episode 15, "Across The Sea," we flash back to the world of A.D. 23. And both Jacob and the Man In Black are little boys, in a primitive village, with their mother, Claudia. Another woman kills Claudia, and she becomes their new mother. Later on, the boys argue about whether to go with the "other people," back home to their mother. "She's not even our real mother," the other boy responds. "You don't trust me, but one day you'll believe me," the first boy says. (Not sure who says what here.) Then, in A.D. 43, the adult Jacob is sent by the step-mom to go get some firewood, and when he returns, the village has been burned to the ground, and it's horrific, with body parts everywhere. (I wonder if M.I.B. has something to do with that?) Oh, and the little boy Jacob is played by the same actor who played the kid who appears to Locke/Smokey in the jungle in a recent episode. [Transmission via SpoilersLost]

And more sources confirming filming of scenes set in 23 A.D., with young versions of present-day characters. [The ODI and SpoilersLost]

We'll get a ton of answers about Smokey and the nature of his character in episode 7, and we'll learn all about Richard Alpert in episode 9, says Nestor Carbonell. [Zap2It]

A fan shot this video of Desmond filming an island scene with Smokey, and says episode 12 is definitely a Hurley-centric episode. [SpoilersLost]

The mystery of Smokey's relationship with Claire will be a "slow burn" over the course of the season, but we'll learn a lot in the near future, say Cuse and Lindelof. [Lyly Ford]

Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

In a recent TV interview, Bay explained that the origins of Transformers 3 lay in his sense of responsibility to his friends, AKA Paramount Pictures:

The true story is we went to Vegas to celebrate ['Revenge of the Fallen'] crossing the $400 million mark domestic. I said I'm excited to do my small little movie. They said, well we're here to talk about that. I've become friends with these guys that run Paramount and they [told me,] 'We're going to get fired if we don't have a 2011 franchise,' so I'm like you can't let these guys down." The economy's been so rough, it's kind of important. When you say yes to movie like this you automatically give 3000 people jobs. 1000 for the toys. 2000 for the filmmaking. I'm going to put [the small film] on hold and do it right after ['Transformers 3'].

We're sure that the massive payday that Bay will undoubtedly make from the third installment didn't hurt that much either, but somehow, we're not sure that plays so well into this particular narrative.

Meanwhile, if you're jonesing for new Transformers before 2011's new movie (which may or may not be in 3D; Bay said that testing is currently taking place to see how it'd look), there's always the upcoming tie-in videogame, Transformers: War For Cybertron, which lets you pretend to be either an Autobot or Decepticon before they decide that Earth is where it's at. Here's the latest trailer:

'Transformers 3' Director Michael Bay Testing 3-D, Promises 'New Characters,' 'A Lot Of Twists' [MTV Movies Blog]

Transformers 3:

Michael Bay's official blog says the next film will have major action sequences in Chicago and Moscow. [Michael Bay]

The Crazies:

A mostly positive review of this film gives away a lot of details. The guy who wanders into the baseball field with a shotgun at the beginning is the "town drunk," but analysis reveals no alcohol in his system. And then other people in the town start acting nuts too. The sheriff discovers a mysterious plane crashed nearby. But then the military start quarantining the town and killing all the infected, and possibly even just the exposed. The military is faceless, except for one fleeting encounter. [Toronto Sun]

And here's a new clip. [MTV]

Defendor:

Apparently this citizen-superhero film opens in L.A. this weekend, but is coming out on DVD in April. For now, here are some stills including Kat Dennings as an underage prostitute whom Defendor tries to help, only to tangle with her pimp, a crooked undercover cop (Elias Koteas.) More pics at the link. [MTV]

Repo Men:

Some cute new posters encourage you to embrace your bad habits. [Cinemablend]

Doctor Who:

There's a new, slightly shorter version of the trailer you've already seen, and you can view it here. [Blogtor Who]

More set reports, some of which Bluehinter mentioned in yesterday's comments. They're filming what's believed to be episode seven, in which a random gang of old people wander around a playground wielding walkers, umbrellas and various other things. Rory (Amy's fiance) is there, and some onlookers said Amy looks pregnant — which could mean it's set in the future, or that it's some sort of alien pregnancy like what happened to Gwen on Torchwood. Another theory is that if it's true that one episode is called "The Lodger," that could refer to Amy's baby. [Gallifreybase]

Caprica:

A few promo pics from episode six, "Know Thy Enemy." [Pizquita]

Supernatural:

Actor Samantha Smith posted on her Facebook page that Mary Winchester (the older version) will reappear "in a few weeks" when the show comes back. [SpoilerTV]

V:

Here's a sly new trailer for this show's return, in which Anna encourages us all to "embrace change." Heh.

Chuck:

So the season finale is going to feature kids playing seven-year-old Chuck and eleven-year-old Ellie, in a flashback. And this reportedly ties in with the return of Scott Bakula as Papa Bartowski, which will be the biggest thing the show's ever done. Fans are already formulating theories, including: We'll see Mama Bartowski in the flashback, and then at the end of the episode, we'll see her again in the present day — as one of the Ring's evil leaders. Or else: We'll see the night Papa Bartowski left. Or we'll see how Chevy Chase's character, Ted, lured Mama Bartowski into doing something that broke Papa Bartowski's heart. Or or or. What do you think? [EW and ChuckTV]

Lost:

Matthew Fox says Jack will (shockingly) embrace his destiny in the end:

I think in the end, after the wrestling he's gone through with this argument between reason and faith, finally coming up against the indisputable fact that his destiny does lie on this island will be a relief. Everything lies on Jack succeeding and accomplishing something there.

Also, it's official: Claire has only had contact with Smokey in the past few years. And Hurley isn't the only person who can see the dead. And yes, major character deaths are on the way. [People]

And here's another promo for Tuesday's Sayid-centric episode:

Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

Yeah, yeah, I know these are holodeck versions of Worf and Alexander. But I bet that in some household, many Christmases ago, some poor kid had to round out his Enterprise crew with Cowboy Worf because of some arbitrary parental edict about "needing only one of each figure."

PS: This figure is ugly as sin.

[via FigureRealm]

Ditto for Troi. Giddyup.

[via FigureRealm]

Double goes for this guy. You know there was some poor tyke out there who had Spockatello pulling a double shift in the New York sewers and deep space.

[via FigureRealm]

Is this gangster Data or Men's Warehouse Seduction Data? The holographic bubbly is throwing me off.

[via FigureRealm]

When Slalom Racer Batman became an Olympic cross-country skiing champ, Bruce Wayne greased some serious palms.

Batman's only a crime fighter on land. The laws of the sea don't apply to him.

[via FigureRealm]

Nothing screams "lurking in the shadows" like breath stinking of mead and a 70 lb. battle axe.

[via FigureRealm]

If modern Batman refuses to use firearms, shouldn't medieval Batman refuse to resort to archery? Just saying.

[via FigureRealm]

After Batman Begins, Samurai Batman seems so done. Yowling Kabuki Batman however is ripe for the picking.

[via FigureRealm]

When I clicked on Egyptian Batman, I was hoping something more along the lines of Italian Spiderman. Letdown City, occupation: me.

[via FigureRealm]

Meet Bandito Mike. His careers are "robber" and "stereotype."

[via FigureRealm]

I'm not sure what's more offensive - A.) that this is how our generation pays tribute to its servicemen; or B.) that Rocksteady is a good guy.

[via FigureRealm]

I'm not sure if "Wolfman" or "Having Horrific Gout" is a career, but once you start pouring on the adjectives, you get some great Ginsberg-esque poetry. Teenage Wolfman Mutant Ninja Gouty Turtles Cool Blue Yabba Dabba Doo...

[via FigureRealm]

Motorcyclist Hulk can only get out of his driveway before he needs a new one.

[via FigureRealm]

What was great about the Kenner Aliens toys was the they introduced all these absurd species of aliens that were never in the movies. My favorite was the Queen Face Hugger, which was just a normal face hugger the size of a cow.

[via FigureRealm]

At a certain point, G.I. Joe took their battle for world peace to deep space and battled aliens. It was a poor career move.

[via Toy Archive]

Spawn is one of the few superhero action figures with more careers than Barbie. There's medieval Spawn, shogun Spawn, pilot Spawn, etc. My favorite from my childhood was Future Spawn, who looked like a cyberpunk prune.

[via FigureRealm]

I'll never forget the day Han Solo turned into Howard The Duck.

Oh, Star Wars Transformers. Is Darth Vader moonlighting as a TIE fighter, or vice versa?

And finally here we have the infamous Transformers Kiss Players, whose sordid story I'll let you research all by yourself. Let's just say they're half Autobot, half underage girl.

[via Tokyo Hunter]

What's big for Hasbro? A whole slew of Iron Man 2 toys, a new Vintage line of Star Wars figures to commemorate the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, a remodeled Cobra H.I.S.S. tank, and the release of the Transformers: War For Cybertron video game. io9 was on the scene yesterday, checking out all this resplendence in plastic.

The crown jewel of the Iron Man 2 line is the remote-controlled Iron Man armor. It can walk, talk, shoot repulsors, charm the pants off of models, and scare the bejeezus out of your cat.

Tony Starch, the Invincible Iron Mash.

Armani suit + one of these detachable suction-powered arc reactors = easiest Tony Stark Halloween costume ever.

No Iron Man toy line would be complete without a helmet. This one flips open.

Mickey Rourke as Whiplash.

Iron Man Operation (liver transplant not included).

The Iron Man repulsor.

A 19" light-up, talking Galactus, for all your planet-consuming needs.

An RC flying Millennium Falcon. Again, another toy that will put your cat into conniptions.

I'm not going to lie - this Firefighter Droid action figure was my favorite toy of the show.

Team-up your Cloud Car Driver with C-3PO for an adventure of mildly thrilling proportions.

General Grievous' rotating lightsaber.

Mandalorians are so in this season.

I take it back, the Star Tours action figure set might have been my fave of the day.

The giant AT-AT walker for the ESB 30th anniversary.

The RC Hailfire droid.

The electronic Boba Fett helmet.

Bounty hunter Dengar and a very dapper Han Solo. Note the Vintage Boba Fett mailaway.

The remodeled Cobra H.I.S.S. tank.

Snake Eyes and his dog Timber.

Attendees saw gameplay from the upcoming Transformers: War for Cybertron video games.

Captain America:

Promoting his new film The Wolfman, director Joe Johnston dropped a few more hints about his upcoming Marvel movie. It'll be PG-13 like the other Marvel films. He just got a new draft of the script, which tightened it up and added a little more action and "more character stuff." Plus the new draft adds a new subplot, which Johnston didn't identify. Also, he says this film will look different than all the others:

We're definitely going to shoot it in a different way than any of the other Marvel pictures have been shot. What I'm trying to do is look at the comics, mostly the new ones, mostly the Brubaker series, and to interpret that sort of visual style into a film in a way that I think has been tried before but it always looks like it's a little too on the nose. It looks like, 'Oh, they're shooting a comic book movie.' I want to try something a little bit different.

[About.com]

Transformers 3:

Not surprisingly, Tyrese Gibson tweeted that he'll be back in this film. "Epps is here to STAY!!" [TFW2005]

The Crazies:

Here's another new clip from this crazy-town film. [Geek Tyrant]

The Wolfman:

The first reviews of this film are popping up, and they're mostly pretty damning — and full of spoilers. (It's compared to, among other things, Ang Lee's Hulk, and one reviewer urges you to watch a Syfy original movie instead.)

The film opens with the brutal murder of a traveler by a rampaging wolfman, in a grisly sequence. Then Larry Talbot (Benicio Del Toro), a New York actor doing Hamlet in London, gets contacted by his brother's fiancé, Gwen (Emily Blunt), who asks him to come home and search for the missing brother. Larry comes home to his dad (Anthony Hopkins) who occasions many daddy issues, and also tells Larry that the brother has been found ripped limb from limb, allegedly by gypsies. A flashback shows Larry finding his mother, dismembered and blood spattered, in his dad's arms. It takes Larry an hour to figure out that his dad murdered his mother, even though Larry's dad's eyes turn yellow early on.

There are various shocks, including some fake-out shocks involving a dog. There's a CG deer and a CG bear, alongside the wolfman who's done with practical effects. There's lots of running across rooftops, numerous flying body parts and spattering fluids, plus tons of werewolf inside references. (The people at the tavern melt their silver candles into bullets and keep wolfsbane around.) "There is side boob," says one reviewer. Lines of dialogue include the exchange: "I didn't know you hunted monsters." "Sometimes, monsters hunt you!" You can tell the wolfman's howl was recorded by an opera singer.

So Larry goes to visit the gypsies, and hears about an ancient curse that turns people into werewolves, and learns that the only answer is to destroy the uber-werewolf haunting the local woods. But on his way home he gets bitten by the werewolf himself. He's torn between the desire to live and the urge to kill himself before he hurts anyone. The townspeople come to take Larry away, but Larry's dad stops them. Meanwhile, Gwen tends Larry's wounds, which heal at an accelerated rate.

The gypsy woman says Larry can be cured by love, but then the next day when Gwen stops by to ask for more info, the gypsies say Larry can't be cured after all. Meanwhile, Larry's dad frames him for the murder of his brother, and he's sent to an institution for electric shock treatment and 19th-century-style waterboarding. At one point, he's surrounded by doctors who think his problems are all in his head — until Larry turns into a wolfman in front of all of them. Larry escapes and comes home to confront his dad — they both become werewolves, and the house catches on fire, into which Larry tosses his dad.

Hugo Weaving, playing Agent Smith, turns up to investigate and rally the locals to wave torches. Gwen is part of this posse, riding a white horse when everyone else has a dark horse, and she splits off from the group to go visit Larry. The posse goes after her, but never catches up to her — literally. We next see the posse in the forest, where Larry also turns up after having burned his dad, and where the final confrontation takes place. And it sounds like Gwen polishes off Larry. [H Monthly and Century City News and Comic Book Movie and Emanuel Levy and New York Observer and Seattle Times and the Contra Costa Times and Screenrant]

Director Joe Johnston says the movie ends with a big climactic fight (natch) and a "rampage through London." The studio almost cut the London sequence to save money, but the reshoots wound up putting it back in, he adds. And he says it's totally a retelling of the 1941 original, with only the character names held over. "It's a love story and a story about relationships set in the midst of these horrible things that happen. It's a story between a father and son and a man and a woman." [Below The Line]

Repo Men:

Here are a few more images of Jude Law from this film. And in case you didn't know from the trailer, Law's organ-repo dude gets an artificial heart of his own and then no longer has the "heart" for his job, leaving his friend and partner, Forest Whitaker, to track him down. [The Mirror]

Doctor Who:

So those pervasive rumors that the Silurians are turning up in the new season? Are confirmed, by actor Neve McIntosh. She tells the Perthshire Advertiser:

The stories have got a bit darker. I play twins, and they're big lizardwarrior women. They're one of the Silurian tribes that have been undisturbed under the earth. And of course we get disturbed. It's the first time I've worn prosthetics but I'm still recognisable if you know me well enough. But there'll probably be lots of people going, 'Who the hell is that?'

I'm a bit disturbed myself by the idea that we'll still be able to recognize the actor playing a Silurian. [Perthshire Advertiser]

Lost:

Here are some promo pics for next week's episode, "The Substitute". We'd heard LA-verse Locke was working at a school with Ben, but now here he is back in his same old cubicle job. [TV Overmind]

Terry O'Quinn says Flocke probably needs all of the main characters for his plan, whatever it is, to succeed — he's just going to start by trying to recruit Sawyer to his team. How will he win over Sawyer? By doing what the Devil always does: Giving him what he wants. [Doc Arzt]

Yunjin Kim says we'll see a very different side to Sun on the Island, and how she relates to one of the characters in particular. She's still searching for her husband. Meanwhile, in the LA-verse, her relationship with Jin is very different than we're used to. And there's a huge new threat that we don't even know about yet. [TV.com]

V:

There's a casting call for episode 6, for a resistance fighter named John May who is rugged and handsome, and has "leading man qualities." He may be a recurring character. Equally interesting is the fact that Jonathan Frakes is directing the episode (after having done a crackerjack job on Dollhouse) and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' Natalie Chaidez is co-writing. [SpoilerTV]

Chuck:

Here's a "mini-synopsis" for the March 1 episode, "Chuck Vs. The Fake Name":

Chuck must assume the identity of a dangerous assassin; Sarah tries to maintain a strictly professional relationship with Shaw.

[ChuckTV]

Flashforward:

There's going to be a computer crisis in episode 12, judging from a casting call:

[ED FIORE] 30s-40s, Open Ethnicity. Computer tech guy who knows his stuff cold, but isn't overly nerdy. Quick on his feet, he's called in to help his superiors solve an urgent issue and carries himself with aplomb...Co-Star

[SpoilerTV]

Survivors:

Producer Adrian Hodges says he sees the show's storyline as lasting three seasons (or a total of 18 episodes.) If he's asked to do more than three seasons, he'd use a different group of characters, because he sees these characters' story as only lasting three seasons max. [Premium Hollywood]

Here are some promo pics from episode 2x05 (or episode 11, for Americans.) [Film Review Online]

Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

Ghostbusters 3:

So now it's been confirmed (sort of) that Venkman will be a ghost in the film. And there are rumors swirling about the movie's villain. As recently as last summer, says Cinematical, the central mythology of the film was based around the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism, which features a war between good and evil. And evil is personified by Ahriman, the god of darkness and destroyer of good. Even if it's true that the film still revolves around Zoroastrianism, it's still not clear if Ahriman is actually the villain, but it's possible that Ahriman plays a similar role to Gozer in the first film, unleashing evil spirits. [Cinematical]

Transformers 3:

Tony Todd, who voiced the Fallen in the last movie, says he's already been told he'll be back in this one — but will he be playing the Fallen? Or a new character? [Den Of Geek via TFW2005]

The Wolfman:

Hugo Weaving says he's not sure if he'll be in the sequel — if any — but it sounds, at least, like his character doesn't die in this one. He says his character, Aberline, "is based, pretty loosely, on Detective Inspector Aberline, who headed up the White Chapel murders of 1889, which became known as the Jack the Ripper murders." And Emily Blunt says her character has a "forbidden" love with Del Toro's character, because she used to be with his brother. And because she couldn't save her fiance, she made it her mission to save the brother. [IESB]

Lost:

Nestor Carbonell says we'll find out who the Hostiles are, and explains what's coming next:

There are some amazing twists this season. You're going to see elements of characters that I never thought I'd play for my character and I think others didn't expect to play them in their own characters. There are going to be emotional highs and lows for people that you've never seen. With respect to alliances, there's going to be a lot of movement and fluctuations. There will be loyalty, but there's going to be a lot of shifting and power struggle, which is always at play. Everyone's mettle is tested in this final season. It's the payoff season where all of those loose ends, or most of them, will be tied. A lot of those big conflicts will be resolved.

And he says Richard Alpert's been insecure this whole time, always being an adviser rather than a leader and often being in conflict with the leaders he's served. He wants redemption for the atrocities he's been a part of, and he wants answers. [TV Guide]

In tonight's episode, Kate and Sawyer will share a heartbreaking scene on the end of a dock (probably right after Sawyer drops Juliet's engagement ring into the water) and another one inside a house, which might turn some Skaters into Jewelers. Kate will see how deep Sawyer's feelings for Juliet really go. Also, Jack tries to kill himself — sort of — but it may not be intentional. Also, Rousseau and "the Infection" become factors once again. Also, in the alt-universe, Kate and Claire spend some quality time together, and we see that Kate may be destined to be part of Aaron's life even without crashing on the island — but the same may be true of someone else. Also, an old "frenemy" will reappear. [E! Online]

Evangeline Lilly feels like Kate has exhausted her romantic possibilities with both Jack and Sawyer on the Island, but in the alt-universe, they've got a blank slate and can start all over again. And the "man of Kate's life now is Aaron. And I think he takes precedence over both of those men." (Really?) And Matthew Fox hints that we'll keep seeing alt-Jack having "glimpses or flashes of something forgotten." [Doc Arzt]

Hiroyuki Sanada explains that his character, Dogen, is a doctor, who's been on the Island for a long time, and now he's kind of a temple master. (And don't forget, Dogen was the name of a great Zen master, so he joins Locke, Faraday and various other symbolically named characters.) [IGN]

Two-thirds of the way through filming the season, there are already a lot of casualties, says Michael Emerson, who seriously doubts Ben will survive to the end of the series. [NBC Chicago via SpoilersLost]

Here's another promo for tonight's episode:

So you noticed the smoke monster didn't kill Ben when it killed everyone else inside the statue last week. Michael Emerson says there's a good reason that the smoke monster can't kill Ben. And Jacob's agenda is definitely more complicated than we know. [Fancast]

Chuck:

Christopher Lloyd will guest star as Dr. Leo Dreyfus, a CIA psychiatrist who provides therapy for spies and ex-spies, in episode 3x16. [ChuckTV]

Also, this show will have a two-hour season finale, as the last two episodes of the season air back to back from 8 to 10 PM on Monday, May 24. [ChuckTV]

Fringe:

Now that Olivia's seen the "glimmer" on Peter, that moment is going to weigh heavily on Walter, say the producers. He's going to owe Olivia an explanation, and sort of brings her up to speed in a "really great episode." The way Walter and Olivia agree to deal with the situation is really interesting and will intrigue the fans. Also, they hint strongly that Olivia won't tell Peter what she knows about him, and Peter may never find out — but this could be "another brick" between the two of them. [OliviaAndPeter]

Additional reporting by Mary Ratliff.

Batman 3:

Not sure if this is actually news, but Morgan Freeman says he's pretty sure they'll make a third Bat-movie. "I'm fairly certain that Warner Brothers is not going to let a billion-dollar franchise die. I expect there will be another. As for whether or not I will be involved, that depends on the writer." (I guess if you want to make something of this, there's the fact that Freeman isn't sure he'll be in the next one. But I'm sure he will, whenever it finally gets made.) [IOL]

Transformers 3:

This film could start filming as soon as May, providing a non-stop stream of ridiculous rumors and set pics. But for now, there's just the fact that James Avery (Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air) did an interview with Unscripted. And a blurb for the interview says Avery said he was playing a new Autobot called Silverbolt in this film — but there's no video of him saying it yet. So it's just a rumor for now. [TFormers]

Repo Men:

How much would an artificial eye set you back? A new poster clarifies. [Cinemablend]

The Crazies:

If you're not already pumped up for psychopathic diseased lunatics running wild in a small town, then here's a new still. Two more at the link. [HitFix]

Plus there's a new clip, plus a couple TV spots. One more clip is here. [ShockTillYouDrop]

Lost:

The psychic told Claire that she had to raise Aaron herself, and her child couldn't be raised by another, says Damon Lindelof. And that's "absolutely" significant for this season, since Kate has been raising Aaron. We won't find out anything more about the psychic, but we will see the importance of "who's going to end up being Aaron's mom: Claire or Kate." Also, Kate's two suitors (Jack and Sawyer) shouldn't both expect to go away empty-handed. And the writers have a really good plan for that triangle. [CNN]

So we started off last night's episode by seeing that Desmond was on the plane, and the Island was under water. And those things are significant. Explains Damon Lindelof:

What we're trying to do there is basically say to you, "God bless the survivors of Oceanic 815, because they're so self-centered, they thought the only effect [of detonating the bomb] was going to be that their plane never crashes." But they don't stop to think, "If we do this in 1977, what else is going to affected by this?" So that their entire lives can be changed radically. In fact, it would appear that they've sunken the Island. That's our way of saying, "Keep your eyes peeled for the differences that you're not expecting." Some of these characters were still in Australia, but some weren't. Shannon's not there. Boone actually says that he tried to get her back. There are all sorts of other people that we don't see. Where's Libby? Where's Ana Lucia? Where's Eko? These are all the things that you're supposed to be thinking about.

We should also be asking whether or how the timelines will intersect, if they're both viable, if they'll "resolve," and so on. We'll get mythological answers about the Island early in the season, but answers about the two timelines will be slow to arrive. [EW]

You shouldn't necessarily think of Jacob's death as murder — it's more like assisted suicide, says Michael Emerson, given the way Jacob taunted Ben into killing him with that "What about you?" question. And Emerson adds, "Jacob's agenda is more complicated than we can know. It's certainly not as simple as we thought." [Fancast]

Josh Holloway has a theory about the Island:

To me, it's a mirror to everyone's spiritual growth. It forces each character to face their demons, whatever they are, and come out the other side. Or die.

[USA Today]

Jorge Garcia hints that we will get "closure" on the Hurley-Libby relationship. [Zap2It]

Jin is a bit more active this season than last year, says Daniel Dae Kim. [Fancast]

With six episodes left to shoot, there are still many questions left unanswered, and Michael Emerson still has no clue how it'll all end. [Zap2It]

This one's a bit more spoilery: The show was filming a street scene involving Desmond and a pregnant Claire. (Somehow I thought alt-universe Claire was having her baby in the next few episodes, but maybe not?) Also, there was a scene being filmed at a downtown office building, featuring Jack, Claire, Ilana, Desmond and a character named David, who's believed to be Jack's son. [SpoilersLost and SpoilersLost]

Doctor Who:

The Sun, easily one of Britain's 100 or so most reliable tabloids, says Sophie Okonedo will appear in the new season as a character named Liz Ten. Okonedo, of course, already co-starred in the audio adventure "Scream Of The Shalka," with alternate Ninth Doctor Richard E. Grant. Anyway, believe this only if you believe everything the Sun reports. [The Sun]

V:

In case you missed it, this is the promo that aired during Lost last night:

Jane Badler, who played Diana in the original series, reportedly met with the producers of the new series about possibly returning to the show in some capacity. I'm guessing cameo, but you never know — it could be a Tom Zarek-type deal. [The V Files]

Caprica:

Here are a couple clips from Friday's episode, "Reins Of A Waterfall":

And some new promo pics:

Chuck:

Kristin Kreuk and Yvonne Strahovski aren't sharing any big scenes together before Kreuk leaves the series in a few weeks. [Fancast]

Smallville:

Lois doesn't witness the big Zatanna-Clark kiss in the Feb. 12 episode "Warrior," but she does find out about it, and she reacts in a typical brash Lois fashion. [Fancast]

Here's another clip from Friday's big two-hour episode, which I'm pretty sure is new.

FlashForward:

A new promo for the next episode, airing March 18:

Heroes:

It's the season (series?) finale on Monday, and the studio released these photos, perhaps hoping that more ridiculous images of Samuel and the carnies would help drag the show's ratings back up from the 4-million-viewers basement it's been wallowing in for the past few weeks. (And I'm going to refrain from mentioning that Journeyman's ratings were better than this when NBC pulled the plug.)

And now Masi Oka is hinting that this episode could be re-edited to serve as a series finale. [Fancast]

And there are six clips from the episode:

And here are even more carny pics. [SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Josh C. Snyder.

The Avengers:

So the Hulk will definitely be in this film according to Kevin Feige, but will Ed Norton? Louis Leterrier, who directed Norton's Hulk film, doesn't think so, unless there's a dramatically new spin on the character.

It depends... It's not a Marvel/Edward thing, it would be really be about, well... We told the story of the fugitive, what's the next step in the story? It can't just be 'Don't make me angry, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.' That would be a problem if you do the same thing over and over again. Edward's never done the same movie twice, so I don't think he would do that... If you find something interesting - yeah, I'm sure he would [be back].

[MTV]

Avatar 2:

Joel David Moore, who plays Norm Spellman, says he'll definitely be back among the Na'Vi in the second film. Unfortunately, his Avatar dies late in the first movie. So how are they going to deal with that? Moore hints that the tons of equipment in the RDA laboratory at Hell's Gate could be used to cook up another blue version of Norm. [MTV]

Mad Max: Fury Road:

A fan claims to have spoken with Patrick Stewart, who says he's going to be in Australia filming a movie with George Miller — and it's not Happy Feet 2. So assuming Stewart actually said this and the fan didn't mishear, then it sounds like he'll have some kind of role in the new Mad Max. [AICN]

Dune:

Director Pierre Morel is once again talking about the approach he wants to take with his movie version:

I want to stay true to the book. Saying that, I also think that there's a lot of scenes that are not described in the books — it's just mentioned, like the bad guys attacking something — and it might make sense to include those in the movie, not just by mentioning it but showing them, and that would maybe [call for] some action scenes, yes. It's not about action. It's not the point. It's not about [making] an action movie. It's just doing Dune. It's like a huge universe thing, and there's such a fanbase, like guys who have been reading that forever-you can't mess with that.

[Tribeca Film Blog]

Also, Morel would love for this film to be in 3-D, and he's definitely not using the screenplay that formerly attached director Peter Berg was going to use. He adds that he's got to put his own stamp on it:

It's tricky. Everybody refers to both the book and to David Lynch's film, which was in a way a monument to the '80s. It became a huge event. It didn't do well theatrically, I think, but in a way it kind of marked and printed an image on Dune. Everybody now who reads Dune reads it with David Lynch's images in mind. So we have to get away from that. It's not a remake of David Lynch's movie. We're doing a re-reading, a brand new approach on the book, a very true approach to the book, the original material. So we will have to deal with trying to erase the image that David Lynch did so we can propose our image.

[IGN]

Transformers 3:

Michael Bay already blogged that Chicago is one of a few cities where he was considering filming this sequel, and now there are reports he's set up a filming office in the Windy City. So it's the Transforming World: Chicago, then. (At least, if this rumor is true.) [Seibertron]

Captain America:

This film will take place in 1942 or 1943, and then jump to the present day, says director Joe Johnston. Not surprisingly, they'll skip over all of Cap's comic-book adventures from the 1960s and 1970s, so don't expect to see the "Nomad" identity in there. [Film Journal]

Hot Tub Time Machine:

A new poster goes some way towards explaining the concept of this film. [Cinemablend]

Lost:

The first hour of tomorrow night's two-hour premiere has already shown in a special preview event on the beach, and summaries are already popping up online. I'll try and keep this brief. So we're back on Flight 815 and the plane doesn't crash. After Bernard gets back from the bathroom, Jack goes to the toilet and notices a weird blotch or hematoma on his neck. When he returns to his seat, Desmond sits nearby. Jack struggles with deja vu, and the camera swoops down into the water and we see a statue foot deep underwater — the island was sunk in this alternate reality!

Meanwhile, in the "original" reality, the bomb's gone off, and Kate wakes up in a tree at night. She finds Miles and together they find Jack and Sawyer. Sawyer pushes Jack into the crater, and Jack admits Juliet's death is his fault. They find Jin, Hurley and Sayid — who's in bad shape. Kate hears Juliet, still alive, crying out in pain. Hurley goes out into the jungle and meets the ghost of Jacob, who advises him on how to heal Sayid.

On Flight 815, Kate's with the marshall, and Sawyer says one word to her. Doc Arzt talks to Hurley. Jack gets called to help a medical emergency, which turns out to be Charlie with a bag of drugs down his throat. Jack saves Charlie's life.

Back in alt-reality, there's chaos at the statue as Ben leaves the temple and discovers the corpse of the real Locke. Bram drags Ben back inside the statue, and Flocke tells Bram that Jacob is dead. So Bram shoots Flocke, who falls but then gets up unharmed, and they find a bullet on the ground. The smoke monster appears and kills Bram and his men, despite Bram's efforts to protect himself by drawing an ash circle around himself. Then the smoke monster disappears and Flocke reappears. "Sorry you had to see me like that," he tells Ben.

Sawyer reaches Juliet just in time to kiss her before she dies, and Sawyer gives Jack an angry look. Flight 815 lands safely, and Charlie's arrested for drug possession. Jack gets up and smiles at Locke. (Bear in mind, this is just the first hour of the two-hour premiere.) [Lost-Spoilers and SpoilersLost]

Oh, and Evangeline Lilly says the new term for this season is "flash-sideways" instead of flashback of flash-forwards:

Kate, on the island, she's sort of the standard of normalcy. And back in these flash-sideways — it's very exciting that I can talk about it finally! — she's a fugitive again. She's on the run again. Only this time, instead of being tormented by it, she's digging it. She sort of gets her kicks from it.

I think the idea that Kate could be "the standard of normalcy" is the most disturbing thing I've read lately. Oh, and "our" Desmond is definitely coming back to the island at some point. [IGN]

Here's another promo with a bit of new footage, which seems to be showing via some sort of portal thingy:

And here's a screenshot from that new promo, showing what's in the guitar case that Jacob gave Hurley: A giant wooden ankh. (Which is associated with healing, so maybe it heals Sayid.) [TV Overmind]

People always ask about the final image of the show, as if that's what's really revelatory, but really what's revealing is everything that happens during the show's final hour, say Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. And there's going to be a huge cascading series of events between episodes 12 and 14 that will shock and amaze fans. Also, click the link for their complicated feelings about Ewoks. [Chicago Tribune]

Also, in the first four minutes of the episode, already leaked, it's significant that Cindy gives Jack one bottle instead of two, as in the original pilot. [IGN]

J.J. Abrams says you'll know by the end of the first episode if the invisible monster is a dinosaur, and if you don't see a dinosaur on Tuesday, you'll know there was definitely no dinosaur. And he explains about the season's pacing and whether there will be "fireworks" in every episode:

We only have so much room left in our stomachs for the big bang so we'll be trying to modulate the show. Viewers will be getting little meals all the way along and then, finally, there will be one big meal. You will probably be getting a little more than you were expecting a little sooner then you were expecting.

And he says you'll still be arguing about the show after it ends: "We don't want to keep explaining what our intention was. After a certain point it really doesn't matter anymore. The work has spoken for itself but we do want the fans to continue to vigorously debate it. It wouldn't be Lost if five years from now people were not still arguing about what they wanted it to be." [Total SciFi Online]

And Evangeline Lilly doesn't think Kate should wind up with either Jack or Sawyer. And do you think they're joking when they call Locke "Devilish"? [LylyFord]

In this season, says Josh Holloway, "You'll laugh, you'll cry, everything. Pretty much every episode this season is a stinger. They're pulling out all the stops, both emotionally and physically. There's a lot of action, a lot of stuff going on." [Lyly Ford]

Hurley and Libby were filming some scenes at a Mexican restaurant that seemed to have been re-dressed as a Denny's, and meanwhile, Locke and Desmond had some scenes on the beach together. Here's a video of the Hurley/Libby filming. [SpoilersLost]

And here are some new promo pics of Locke and Jack. [Doc Arzt]

Says Matthew Fox:

About midway through [the season], Jack will absolutely know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that his whole life has brought him to this point in time, and that he is meant to do something very, very important.

Also, Hurley's first line in the new episode was actually given to fans during Comic-Con last July. The two-hour premiere answers a mystery that's been around since the pilot. [People]

There's a new area called "Locke's camp" on the island where there a bunch of banyan trees. And it's a fairly primitive looking campsite. Also, there's a new pic of Dharma-ville. And someone witnessed the filming of a new scene involving Sayid standing over a shaft, wearing his typical on-island garb and possibly holding a gun. [SpoilersLost]

Supernatural:

The Winchesters meet their young parents, thanks to time travel, in two clips from Thursday's new episode.

Smallville:

Your first glimpse of Michael Shanks as Hawkman, plus Chloe and Ollie in action, in two clips from Friday's big two-hour JSA extravaganza.

There's also an ass-ton of promo photos. [OSCK and Comics Continuum]

And here's the official synopsis for the Valentine's Day episode, "Something Blue" — I mean, "Persuasion". [SmallvillePH]

LOIS MOVES IN WITH CLARK - It is Valentine's Day and while Clark (Tom Welling) is out on a date with Lois (Erica Durance), he unknowingly becomes infected by gemstone kryptonite, which has magical wish-fulfilling properties. Clark mentions to Lois that he wishes they had a more traditional relationship,so Lois quits the Daily Planet, moves in with Clark and starts planning their wedding. Still unaware of his new power, Clark also casually tells Chloe (Allison Mack) he wishes she would spend more time watching out for him, so an infected Chloe takes his wish to heart and sets her sights on a new target – Lois.

Justin Hartley says Oliver and Chloe will definitely get together romantically, but he's not sure how long it'll last. And Tess Mercer "threw a knife at me the other day." [TV Guide ]

Caprica:

We'll be seeing more of the virtual world, says producer David Eick:

[B]y episode 5 there's this whole other layer about a game within the virtual world, and the whole idea is that you can create a different persona and it almost becomes a world within the world, and there's even the question of what happens if you get killed in that world, could you die then in the real world? The challenge, though, with this kind of storytelling is that the stakes because far more ambiguous and more intellectual in that context. So the stakes become more: You don't want to get shot in the video game because then you could never play the game again. You have to readjust the goals. In the pilot, yes, we were careful about things, but we found a way to set up the stakes so that it becomes a major part of the series.

I love the idea of a virtual game where the main threat isn't "if you die in the game, you die in real life," but rather, "You'll get locked out of the game." [Techland]

Oh, and it's official: the plotline from the draft scripts about Amanda Graystone having an affair with someone else in the wake of her grief over her daughter's death has been dropped. The only person she'll be making nookie with is her husband. [Sci Fi Wire]

Chuck:

Fred Willard and Swoozie Kurtz will guest-star as a Hart To Hart-style spy couple who are over the hill, but still in the game. [EW]

We'll be meeting the psychiatrist to the spies, judging from a casting call for episode 3x16, "Chuck Vs. The Tooth":

[DR. LEO DREYFUS] 45-60.. Caucasian, brutally deadpan, inscrutable and dour, he's a top CIA psychiatrist who provides therapy for spies and ex-spies…GUEST STAR (6)

[DR. MARTIN KOWAMBE] 40-45.. African American, Africa's most respected scientist, he accompanies President Kuti to the symphony. He's hiding a sinister secret or ten…GUEST STAR (21)

[MERLIN] 30ish.. submit all ethnicities, with a twitch, this ex-spy is a mental patient who expresses curiosity about the facility's newest patient…GUEST STAR (29)

[PRESIDENT JAKAYA KUTI] 50-60.. the President of Zamibia, this esteemed African man with an entourage is traveling to Los Angeles for diplomatic meetings and a trip to the symphony…ONE-DAY GUEST STAR (16)

[ChuckTV]

Sarah wears a "Frak Off" bellyshirt in this sneak peek at tonight's episode. [ChuckTV]

The Survivors:

There's a pretty spoilery synopsis for season 2 episode 5, from the BBC:

Reunited and on the road, the Family travel south on the lookout for a new home, as the series charting the struggles of a handful of survivors in a post-virus apocalypse continues. They encounter a small but thriving community of survivors and, after some initial trepidation, decide to take up their offer of hospitality, but tragedy strikes when a member of the Family suddenly dies.

While Al and Sarah enjoy their new romance, Tom simmers as Anya makes friends with the new community's leader, Judy. But Tom's anger is short-lived when his relationship with Anya takes a dramatic twist. Greg and Abby leave together to follow up Greg's suspicions about a mysterious postcard, which lead him to an abandoned airfield. Meanwhile, a member of the Family discovers an elderly couple dying from a new, mutant strain of the virus…

[SurvivorsBBCTV]

And here are some new publicity photos of episode three, airing Tuesday in the UK. [Film Review Online]

And here's a clip from the episode:

Additional reporting by Josh C. Snyder and Mary Ratliff.

Transformers 3:

Michael Bay says he's been scouting locations in Chicago, Detroit and Washington, D.C., for the third film, and once again he hints it'll be more introspective. "The script is feeling very different than the other two," he says. [Michael Bay via Den Of Geek]

The Avengers:

Marvel's Kevin Feige seems to confirm that the Hulk will be in this film:

It's not just a team super hero movie with a bunch of characters with powers, its three people, four including Hulk, five including Nick Fury-who you have seen before in other movies, coming together for the very first time.

And he says that the comic books have paved the way for this kind of crossover, even if the way the dots get connected may be different. [SFX via World Of Superheroes]

Predators:

Someone noticed that the Wikipedia entry on this film has had a lot of updates lately, and one of them includes the notion that the current script includes a space for a cameo by Arnold Schwarzenegger, reprising his role as Dutch from the first movie. (I think this comes from Latino Review's script review, which we linked to a few months back.) Is there any chance whatsoever that Arnie, who only appeared digitally in Terminator 4, would take time out for a day's shooting for this film? Probably not, but it's an amusing notion. Take with extreme grain of salt, though. [Wikipedia via AVPGalaxy]

Thor:

Idris Elba plays Heimdall, the guadian of the Bifrost Bridge between Earth and Asgard, and he says he starts filming in February (long after principal photography's started — so he's probably not in the film that much.) "I've got a big sword, a real big sword!" He exults. Meanwhile, Anthony Hopkins says that when he puts on his long wig to play Odin, he looks like Billy Connolly. [Flicks And Bits and Bleeding Cool via Screenrant]

Kevin Feige insists that this movie is about straight-up science.

We're doing the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby/Walt Simonson/J Michael Straczynski Thor. We're not doing the blow the dust of the old Norse book in your library Thor and in the Thor of the Marvel universe there's a race called The Asgardians, and we're linked through this tree of life that we're unaware of. Its real science, but we don't know about it yet. The Thor movie is about teaching people that.

[SFX via World Of Superheroes]

Green Lantern:

How much of this movie takes place in space? Director Martin Campbell explains:

I don't know what the percentage is, but there's quite a bit in space. The initial trip up there, the training sessions he has to go through in order to become a Green Lantern. And there, of course at the end, he goes back up to Oa again. And there's a couple bits in between. There'll be enough, I think, to satisfy anybody.

[MTV]

Scott Pilgrim:

Here are a couple of images, which I'm not sure if we've shown you before. The "light saber" one definitely looks familiar. [IGN]

Brandon Routh describes his character in this film:

The seven exes basically challenge Michael, and I play one of them. I'm a vegan rock star with a blonde wig. Because I'm vegan, I have these special powers, the power of telekinesis. So, I end up having this huge bass battle with Michael Cera, as we're playing dueling bass guitars, and I throw him around telekinetically threw walls and such. And my blonde wig becomes a faux-hawk whenever I use my powers, and then flattens back down when I'm not using them.

[IESB]

Dead Of Night:

Brandon Routh discusses the relationship between the original comic and the movie:

There are really good similarities. I certainly tried to do as much as I could within the scope of the script, and the fact that we were filming in New Orleans and not able to film in London, where the comic actually takes place. I think we have a really similar tone. Dylan is, at heart, a hero. Some people would call him a womanizer, but it's not that. Dylan falls in love in every episode of the comics. He's not willy nilly, sleeping with women. He falls in love and then something tragic happens to the woman, in almost every episode.

So, that theme continues. And, even though we don't have Felix, from the American version of the comic, we have Sam Huntington playing my sidekick. It's a really nice relationship and it really gives Dylan an opportunity to have some comic relief and just be who he is.

[IESB]

Real Steel:

Another article about this Hugh Jackman film filming in Michigan offers a different plot synopsis, although I'm not sure if it's just a matter of people playing telephone. According to this version, in the future robots have replaced human boxers. Jackman plays a struggling fight promoter who builds robot boxers with his 11-year-old son. [MLive]

Lost:

Emilie de Ravin says she has a lot of scenes with Evangeline Lilly this season, and she thinks Claire really is alive. (But which one?) [TV Guide]

More pics of the Hurley/Libby picnic, and random other filming from the past weekend. [Hawaii Weblog on Flickr via SpoilersLost]

Matthew Fox says the final image of the series will be beautiful and powerful, and he can't wait to see how we get there. Press him for more specifics, and he gets cagey.

Do you know what the temple is? "No."

Do you know about the smoke ­monster? "Er, yeah."

Can you say anything about it? "Er, no."

Did they really need to be down in the hatch pushing the button? [Long pause] "Yes."

Do you know what the numbers mean? "No."

Will we find out how Jack's dad is connected to the island? "I do ­anticipate some resolution in that."

Do you know who the Others are and what they were doing on the island in the first place? "I don't know the ­answer to that one, but I'm sure we will. I haven't been informed."

[Guardian]

Some new promo pics show Sawyer back in the cage. Is this a hint for something to come? [Lyly Ford]

Doctor Who:

A new jigsaw puzzle gives us a possible glimpse at the return of the Weeping Angels. Also, it sounds like they're filming some scenes at Stonehenge. [GallifreyBase]

The Walking Dead:

Corona Coming Attractions has a review of the pilot script by Frank Darabont, which is full of horror, both extreme gore and psychological horror. It makes some pretty sharp departures from the source comic.

Our hero is Officer Rick Grimes, a deputy for a small Georgia town outside of Atlanta. About 15 pages into our story Grimes is involved in a police incident where he receives a near-fatal injury. After being taken to the hospital and falling into a short coma, our law enforcement man awakens to find the hospital empty and the telltale signs that something very bad has gone down while he was out...

Grimes tries to find his family, his wife Lori and their young son Carl. He returns to his home and finds the neighborhood deserted, his wife and son gone. Still not fully comprehending what's happened, Grimes is saved by another father and son who have taken up shelter in a neighbor's house. From these two survivors Grimes learns about the zombie plague... Grimes is told that his family may have decided to head into Atlanta where the government was setting up a safety zone. With that info, Grimes heads off by himself and makes his way into the city.

More at the link. [Corona Coming Attractions via Comic Book Resources]

Fringe:

Something huge and inevitable will happen at the end of the season, but then the season will have a huge surprise at the very end, says J.J. Abrams. Also, he explains the apparent contradiction between the alternate universe looking so nice at the end of season one and then turning out to be deeply troubled and messed up in season two: "there is this sort of growing problem" and "there is something brewing between these two places." [Crave Online]

Caprica:

Things are heating up for Amanda Graystone in Friday's new episode, judging from a new clip:

FlashForward:

The Lloyd/Olivia/Mark triangle will heat up in some unexpected ways when this show returns, and the reasons why Lloyd and Simon triggered the flashforward in the first place will turn out to be really cool. Also, we'll be seeing Simon's bar-car hookup, Camille, again. [Fancast]

Chuck:

Lester is going to be looking to hit on the newcomer, Hannah, in an upcoming episode. [Fancast]

Brandon Routh's original four-episode run was expanded to eight, but he's not sure if he'll ever reappear after that. [IESB]

Smallville:

A Canadian trailer gives more of a glimpse of the Justice Society in the huge two-hour event coming soon.

Clark won't be able to handle Zod without some help from Green Arrow. Says Justin Hartley:

Oliver and Clark, instead of butting heads about everything, team up and find the usefulness in each other and the power of unity. They spend so much time griping at each other that it's fun to see them work together.

[TV Guide]

In the upcoming episode "Persuasion," Clark's exposed to a Kryptonite stone which gives him the power of mind control, so that everybody has to do whatever he says. A casual remark to Lois leads to her moving in with him and playing housemaker, and an off-hand comment to Chloe about her recent priorities has more serious repercussions. Also, one character toting a bow and arrow has his sights set on Chloe. (Possibly the new Black Archer?) And we'll be seeing more of the Martian Manhunter besides just in the "Absolute Justice" two-parter. [Fancast]

And here's a new "Absolute Justice" promo. [OSCK]

Heroes:

It's the countdown to the season finale, in a new promo:

Additional reporting by Josh C. Snyder.

It's not all about heavy (and reasonably light) metal, however; our friend the superhero gets plenty of play with the first issue of the fourth chapter (I know, I know) of Kurt Busiek's awesome Astro City: The Dark Age, the debut of Fall of The Hulks: Red Hulk, new mini-series Ultimate Comics: Enemy and the alternate-Batman anthology Batman: Under The Cowl (including Grant Morrison's great demonic future Batman from Batman #666 as well as the first issue of Batman Beyond), and only someone who hates white-haired monsters from the frozen north could find themselves entirely untempted by Wolverine: Wendigo. Of course, the superhero book of the week for most may be The Incredibles: City of Incredibles, spinning out from the Pixar movie, and we wouldn't necessarily disagree with that, particularly with Mark Waid's smart writing.

For those who don't like the superheroes and wish the figures from their childhood had grown along with them, IDW's GI Joe: Cobra series returns for a second series called, unsurprisingly, GI Joe: Cobra II; you can consider that well and truly worth your time and attention. Otherwise, you're left with the tech crowd... Although, admittedly, that's pretty good company to be in this week: Besides the launch of a new Transformers series, Transformers: Last Stand of The Wreckers, a new collection of Ashley Wood's beautifully-painted World War Robot and, surreally, a comic book adaptation for the two-year-old Iron Man movie (with the unusual title of Iron Man: I Am Iron Man. Maybe titles stating the obvious are "in" now? I can never keep up with these things), there's a new Robocop series from Dynamite Entertainment that looks set to bring back the satire of the first movie instead of the... not-so-satirical sequels:

As is always the case, your complete list of comics shipping from Diamond Distributors is here, and your easy-to-use guide to local comic retailers (As long as you're in the US) can be found here. Transform and roll out at your earliest convenience.

All these costumes are at Costmue Craze, if you can handle the mental scarring.

Via Costmue Craze

Via Costmue Craze


Costmue Craze

Costmue Craze

Costmue Craze

Costmue Craze

Costmue Craze

Costmue Craze

Some of the inclusions for bad science won't surprise you too much. There's The Core, of course, and there's the classic "man freezes instantly upon exposure to vacuum" sequence in Mission To Mars. But Plait, who writes the Bad Astronomy blog, also has some very cogent arguments about what's wrong with the basic premise of Transformers, and a key moment in Star Wars Episode II. Also, he can't seem to single out one thing wrong with Armageddon — the whole movie is a litany of science-fail so terrible, he has to list several elements.

The list of movies with good science also includes some reliable favorites, like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Carl Sagan's Contact. But you'll be surprised that last year's Star Trek gets singled out for good science. And you'll have to see for yourself why Deep Impact makes it on to both the "good" and "bad" lists. It's definitely worth reading through the feature, to prepare for the next round of the "science in science fiction" discussions.

Armageddon fan art by Colej_uk on DeviantArt. [Discover Magazine]

At an event to discuss the sound engineering behind these films, Bay said the third movie will still have a "crescendo ending." He adds:

It gets much more into the robot character. The last time you kind of met a few of the robots; this time you're gonna get a much cooler landscape.

[L.A. Times]