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

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

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

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

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

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

[MTV

Although Hughes - whose work has appeared on the covers of Wonder Woman, Catwoman and Star Wars comics - is currently unable to draw thanks to a hand injury, he's using his downtime to continue to write his WW reboot:

It’s her origin story... To me, Steve Trevor plays an incredibly huge part in the story. He’s essential to the story. Diana is this princess from this foreign country. And Steve Trevor, to me, is the Marlboro Man. He’s this iconic American test pilot. I would watch a whole movie just about their relationship. It’s sort of like ‘Roman Holiday.’ It’s people from two different worlds, who don’t have a lot in common. The romance and the gentle comedy come from the fact that they are two extremely disparate personalities but they get along so amazingly. And they understand each other more than anybody from their own world understands them. I couldn’t tell the story without Steve.

And how does Hughes understand Steve's understanding of Wonder Woman, you may ask?

The thing that grabs me about her is what would compel a person to leave a perfect place and come to a flawed place. Paradise Island, there is nothing wrong there. They have no crime. They have no war. All they have is art and beauty and everything that is great in life. Why would she want to come to man’s world? Is she a missionary? Does she want to go to the deepest, darkest corners of the world and preach the gospel to the heathens? Does she just have insatiable curiosity? Does she want to just see what’s over the next hill? That’s the hook for me.

Whatever is over the next hill, it's definitely not a supervillain, according to the creator:

There is no villain in the story. Don’t worry. There is tons of action. I have written myself into a horrible corner because there are levels of action that Bryan Hitch and Michael Bay would say, ‘Adam, calm down. Why don’t you tone it down a little bit?’ But there isn’t an actual supervillain in the story that is the focus of the conflict.

An action-packed romance based around a complex heroine without someone for the audience to root against? On second thought, Hollywood would never go for that.

The series is aimed at a 2009 launch.

Hughes Says All-Star Wonder Woman Coming Soon [Comic Book Resources]

This footage was taken with someone's video camera, so it's obviously not perfect, but it is the only gameplay footage available of Champions Online. Cryptic has indicated that this demo represents a game still in development - the UI in particular is a work in progress. The robot cowboys are pretty cool, though. They totally ripped off Wonder Woman's golden lasso. Maybe they're riding invisible horses?

Image by: Cryptic.

Four Champions Online gameplay videos surface. [Massively]

Watchmen:

G4 was on the set of the Watchmen movie, and posted a video showing a few more details of the sets, and a look at director Zack Snyder's storyboards. More importantly, they managed to film Jackie Earle Haley being made up as the unmasked version of Rorschach, and interview him in his Rorschach makeup. [G4 via Cinemablend]

And here's an eye-wrenchingly horrendous copy of the footage shown at Comic-Con. As we described previously, you can see a nice view of Rorschach's mask changing shape, a more graphic version of Dr. Manhattan blowing up Vietnamese villagers, Rorschach in the Comedian's lair, and Nite Owl at home. [Comic Book Resources]

Terminator: Salvation:

We reported a while ago that Linda Hamilton might be back in one, or all three, of the new Terminator movies as John Connor's mom Sarah. But apparently Hamilton still hasn't been approached. And sources say the Hamilton cameo would probably just consist of John and Kyle Reese looking at a photo of Hamilton, and the production may not even ask for Hamilton's permission to use her image until the editing stage. [Arnold Fans via CinemaBlend]

Dragonball:

Here are some new high-res images from the Dragonball movie. I like Chow Yun-Fat's T-shirt. [IGN]

Iron Man 2:

Rumor has it a member of the Avengers will turn up in Iron Man 2. But it won't be the Hulk. [Ace Showbiz]

Star Wars: Clone Wars:

Here's a new TV spot and a new featurette for the greatest Star Wars movie coming out this week.

Igor:

Here are a bunch of new stills from Igor, the mad-scientist animated movie that comes out in September. It has such a great cast, but these images from the film are so ugly it hurts to look at them. Maybe after an hour or so, you'd get used to how this film looks? [IGN]

Doctor Who:

Catherine Tate says she'll "probably" not be in the Doctor Who special airing this Christmas. (It's already filmed, so it's pretty definite that she's not in it, actually.) But maybe that means she will be in one of the 2009 specials? As she says, "anything can happen." [Blogtor Who]

Heroes:

NBC released a press release describing the two-hour premiere of Heroes season three:

EPISODE 3.01 “THE SECOND COMING” – Sept. 22

“VOLUME 3: VILLAINS” MAKES A TWO-HOUR SPECIAL DEBUT WITH REVELATIONS THAT WILL REDEFINE FAMILIAR CHARACTERS AND SHAKE THE SERIES TO ITS CORE — The first chapter of “Volume 3: Villains” kicks off moments after shots rang out, as the shocking identity of Nathan’s (Adrian Pasdar) assassin and the reasons why the Texas press conference had to be cut short are revealed — immediately throwing Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) and Matt (Greg Grunberg) into unexpected, uncharted territory. With his powers partially restored, Sylar (Zachary Quinto) decides a visit to Claire (Hayden Panettiere) could give him a boost. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, Hiro (Masi Oka) and Ando (James Kyson Lee) are charged with safeguarding a family secret that could split the planet apart, and discover that the path to a grim future starts with shady speedster, Daphne (guest star Brea Grant). In New York City, thanks to Maya (Dania Ramirez), Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) makes a startling breakthrough that could change the world — or just destroy his. And who is Tracy Strauss? Ali Larter, Cristine Rose and Jack Coleman star. Noah Gray-Cabey, Ashley Crow, Randall Bentley, Jimmy Jean-Louis, George Takei, Malcolm McDowell, Carlon Jeffery, Jamie Hector, Bruce Boxleitner, Francis Capra and Blake Shields guest star.

EPISODE 3.02 “THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT” – Sept. 22

A DOZEN VILLAINS WITH UNIMAGINABLE POWER ARE UNLEASHED AFTER THE COMPANY IS ATTACKED — SYLAR VS. ELLE (KRISTEN BELL) — ANGELA PETRELLI (CRISTINE ROSE) TAKES CONTROL AND REVEALS A JAW-DROPPING SECRET — WRITTEN BY CREATOR TIM KRING AND DIRECTED BY EXECUTIVE PRODUCER GREG BEEMAN — In the shocking second chapter of “Volume 3: Villains,” Angela (Cristine Rose) clashes with her much-changed son, Peter (Milo Ventimiglia), over how best to avert a seemingly inevitable worldwide catastrophe. First, Sylar (Zachary Quinto) declares war on the Company by attacking their main facility, and finds even more than he bargained for on Level 5. During a devastating battle with Elle (guest star Kristen Bell), a dozen savage criminals — all with terrible abilities — escape. Meanwhile, Claire (Hayden Panettiere) discovers something new and unexpected about her abilities. Determined to reclaim his family’s terrible secret, Hiro (Masi Oka) and Ando (James Kyson Lee) track Daphne (guest star Brea Grant) to Paris. After a fateful night, Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) is thrilled to find his research, his life and his relationship with Maya (Dania Ramirez) evolving in leaps and bounds. Stuck in unfamiliar territory, Matt (Greg Grunberg) finds a guide (guest star Ntare Mwine) to help him. Ali Larter, Adrian Pasdar and Jack Coleman star. Ashley Crow, Jessalyn Gilsig, Malcolm McDowell, Stephen Tobolowsky, Bruce Boxleitner, Francis Capra, Blake Shields, William Katt, Ken Lally, David H. Lawrence XVII, Andre Royo and Kiko Ellsworth guest star.

So it looks like the reporter chasing Tracy aka Niki/Jessica, played by the Greatest American Hero, William Katt, shows up in the second hour of the two-hour premiere. And that Aboriginal storyteller we're all bracing ourselves to be annoyed by is Matt's guide in the desert. And here's another new Heroes promo pic, this time showing HRG. [Heroes Spoilers and Heroes Spoilers]

Also, Elle (Kristen Bell) is a big part of the evil future we travel to this time around. (There's always an evil future.) And apparently when we find out who Future Elle hooks up with, we'll squee. There will be squeeing. (I just had a weird thought. We reported the other day that HRG gets a new life partner. Could it be? But no, because Elle is only in five episodes this season. Plus, I think HRG's new life partner is in the evil present, not the evil future.) Also, Mama Petrelli reveals something that changes the dynamic of many of the characters. (Could it be that Sylar is her third son, as some have speculated?) [E! Online]

So you know how we mentioned that Sylar moves into the Bennett family's old house and has a little kid of his own? Turns out Sylar uses his ability to paint the future, and discovers that he'll have a normal life at some point. And the name of this spawn of Sylar? Noah. Same as HRG. Whoah. And Sylar actor Zachary Quinto says that "certain people" have power over Sylar this season, and they give him orders that put him in situations that "force him to employ a kind of restraint that you haven't seen him necessarily need to employ." [Comic Book Resources]

Fringe:

Here are a couple of new TV spots and a Fox News segment on Fringe, J.J. Abrams' new really-not-the-X-Files show. There's some cool new footage in there, along with stuff you've probably already seen. I like the main characters all saying "I never should have..." in one of the TV spots. [Fox News via Fringe Television]

Sarah Connor Chronicles:

There will not be any human-robot sex involving Summer Glau's Cameron any time soon on the Terminator TV show. [TV Guide]

Smallville:

The sixth episode of Smallville season eight is called "Prey" and includes the Martian Manhunter. [Kryptonsite]

Also, Impulse (Smallville's version of the Flash) won't be among the Justice Leaguers in the season premiere, but there's a lot of League in this season, so there's a chance he'll show up at some point. [TV Guide]

Wonder Woman:

The new direct-to-DVD Wonder Woman movie retells Wonder Woman's origin in the present day, including the whole Paradise Island test sequence. It includes all the classic supporting cast, including Steve Trevor (Nathan Fillion), Etta Candy, Hades, Ares, fellow Amazon Artemis, and of course Wondy's mom Hippolyta. [Comic Book Resources]

Gail Simone opened up to the audience — and her fellow panelists, the podcasters behind Raging Bullets — to applaud the support for Wonder Woman, and discuss that and other projects. We've included some of the best questions and answers below:

Why are you so awesome?
It's the red hair, you know. It affects everything.

Any chance you'll be writing for the new Deadpool comic?
Not super-soon, since I'm doing Wonder Woman, and we're launching the new monthly Secret Six comic. I'm working with the mighty, mighty, mighty Nicola Scott — it's very delicious. We're devising many ways to get Catman topless. Also, Welcome to Tranquility is going to continue on in six-issue increments, and will be bringing back a dead character ....

Any clues?
Dead. [laughs] I've also got this picture to show you: yes, a certain Dark Knight and a certain savage Catman will be bumping heads. It's going to be very cool and very sexy and very wrong.

What is your favorite character that you've written and why?
That is such a hard question to answer just because the way I am and the way I write, I can't really write a character unless I try to get into their heads. So I have to find something about them that is my favorite in order to do it. I really loved the journey — as they put it — of Black Canary in Birds of Prey. I always loved her character. I didn't love her being the wet blanket to Green Arrow and how she always had to go, "ohhh, Green Arrow, don't!" I know people were going "oh my God" in the beginning that I had her bound and everything, but the goal was to tear her down and then build her up again. She was the heart of that book for me — she wore her heart on her sleeve, and was witty and sarcastic and loyal and all of the things that I love.

I love Wonder Woman and the Amazons — do you have any set Amazon Code out there that you're going with?
First of all, I love the Amazons, I think it's a really important piece of DC history and DC comic-dom, but I don't like to only see them in togas reading poetry and stuff. If you really think about it, you have an island that's basically been sequestered from the rest of the world, and it's all women and a warrior tribe. They would have their own rituals and cultures that they would have developed in and of themselves. We've been reading along and doing new things, going into stuff that maybe has been touched upon and maybe haven't. I don't think that an entire island of humans, let alone women, would entirely be of the same mind all the time — I want to make it a little more primal.

Can you please convince DC to add another WW title?
I do think DC is definitely looking at that. They do see that that is an important part of the whole DC Universe and I wouldn't be surprised at all if you guys see that. There's some new stuff coming out of the upcoming storyline I'm doing for Wonder Woman that will create a LOT of new characters in the DC Universe that will be very interesting and different from what you've seen before. It'll open up a whole new world. I'm very excited about it.

Any hints about the upcoming Rogues appearances?
I don't want to give too much, because I really am into people discovering the story themselves and bringing into it what they want. Basically, there's going to be a group of worldwide scientists who believe they've found the mathematical equation to bring down Wonder Woman. In that is going to come something as evil and bad and horrible as a dark side for Wonder Woman. They're going to get soil from genocides around the world and create this horrible thing.

How do you get to know a character?
In my years before I went to hairdressing school, I did a lot of theater and wrote little mini-screenplays, starting as young as sixth grade. I learned how to build a character from theater. When you're playing a character on stage, you really need to build them up from the ground and learn where they were born, what their family is like — even if you're only onstage for 5 minutes. When I'm building a character I really like to go back to ground one. That comes back to choreographing fight scenes and stuff — how would somebody like Wonder Woman fight compared to someone like Doctor Psycho? They have completely different worldviews and completely different upbringing. One has some handicaps and disabilities, the other one has what we perceive as all the gifts she could possibly have ... That's how you to do a character that's more three-dimensional. A character would talk in these speech patterns depending on if they came from the Deep South, or the North, or England, or outer space, or whatever. If you're going to write a good character, you have to think about these things, and that's where most of my time writing is still spent.

You've been quoted as saying that you've contacted some of the past Wonder Woman creators when you had certain questions. What's the balancing act like of trying to be a steward and also putting your stamp on the character?
I think approaching a character like Wonder Woman — as opposed to a character that I've created, like Black Alice — is different because she does have a 60+ year history. I do not want to undo any of that. I do have storylines that were my favorites and also treatments I didn't like as much, but that is her history, and I am not a big fan of coming in and wiping out everything. I spent probably a good seven months thinking about Wonder Woman before I ever really wrote much. Once we got to that first issue, I had a very clear vision of where I thought her character should go and what we needed to do for today and honor the past at the same time. I'm not undoing any of her creation, but I'm just adding to the lore of it.

Now that all the gods are freed, how long will it be before we see Athena again in Wonder Woman?
I don't know. You're going to have to keep reading to find that out. Sorry! We do have a lot of stuff with the gods coming out — it's going to be handled a bit differently than in the past, and it's not going to be bogged down with mythology and stuff like that. Athena does not really have a favorable reaction to the fact that Diana pledged herself to another god, the Polynesian god. So we're going to be hearing about that.

Is the Polynesian god expecting something?
Definitely.

I love your characterization of the Mad Hatter in Secret Six.
Oh, you dirty, dirty boy!
Will we see him again?
Not immediately. We're busy with a lot of other characters: Catman, Ragdoll, Scandal, Savage, Batman, a character I created that Nicola designed — they're all there.

Working as a woman in what is predominantly a male area, do you find it hard to balance trying to fit in to this world? And do you think that fans hold you to a stricter guideline on your own treatment of what being a woman is like?
I don't know if the fans do or not — I can't write with these kinds of things in my mind, I have to just do what makes the best story and what makes the most sense. As far as being a woman in what we're considering a predominantly male occupation ... First of all, it's changing a lot right now — there are a lot of women working in the industry right now. I only think about it when people bring it up; that's the truth. I was so preoccupied worrying about other things, like "am I good enough writer? will people like it?" I encourage anyone going into a creative career — don't let whatever you are enter into it in a bad way.

Are we going to see more of the little quirks like the dating ritual and Diana, the secret identity behind Wonder Woman?
I think at first I wrestled with the fact of whether or not I felt comfortable with her having a secret identity, because she's all about truth and honesty and everything. But if you were her and you were this gorgeous Amazonian princess, and you were walking down the street and everyone knew you were Wonder Woman and knew everything about you — that would be exhausting. For one thing, having a secret identity is a different kind of warfare, in her mind. And it's a chance for her to not be in the spotlight and gives her a chance to explore humanity. She was raised on an island of women, and now she's out in the world and exposed to lots of things. This is a chance for her to explore that without being Wonder Woman.

Will we see more talking apes?
You guys are going to see so much crazy stuff, you're not going to know what to do with it.

One of the great things about you is so accessible — you do blogs, you do podcasts. How important do you think that is to get new readers, and do you think the industry is doing enough of that?
What I think is so great about now, and I think you guys can all see — is that this industry is growing. Everyone was really worried about whether manga would overtake comics, but the internet has really leveled the playing field — that's why we're getting more diversity in comics, creators. There are more ways to break into the format, and more ways to see comics than there ever have been. There are so many people doing blogs and commentary and reviews, and it's all helping. A lot of people complain about it too — there's lots of negativity — but I don't look at it that way. There's a lot more good than negative. I started out on the internet, and I think there's a lot of bonus in freedom of speech and communication, and it's enhanced the medium.

Tell us about your forum community.
We all do a messageboard at Comicbookresources.com. We talk about comics and joke around and do lots of things. I'm from a small town, I didn't know that many people who read comics — and that's how I talked to people about comics. I did that a long time before I ever started doing parody columns and stuff. It brings us as a comics community closer together as well, like if you're not close to a comics store or anything.

How would you feel if DC and/or Warner Bros. came to you and asked you for a script for Wonder Woman? It's way past time. And we don't have any female superhero movies out there.
Without Wonder Woman, I don't think there would be Xena. I don't think there would be Buffy or Alias. This is the difference between my generation and my son's generation — he doesn't even think about it, he just thinks it's normal that we have these strong women in television and film and books and everything. And if they asked me for a script, well, I would be completely honored and scared at the same time if that happened.

It seems like the rest of DC isn't quite catching up to what you're doing. There are so many projects going on in the DC Universe, and it seems like Wonder Woman gets left behind a lot.
We're talking about that a lot, but other writers are working on projects that have Wonder Woman, they've been coming up to me and saying that they really like the take on her, and they want to use that take. I think we're going to see the changes happening over time and that there's going to be more Wonder Woman product out there.

You've worked with amazing artists with a lot of variety. I hear Aaron Lopresti is coming on board now ....
Aaron Lopresti is the new penciller for Wonder Woman, and it's absolutely stunning. The first arc that he's drawing is a very kind of Beowulf-y one — it is very gorgeous and very detailed, and every time I see a page in I'm so excited. I can't wait for you guys to see it. I'm very excited. I couldn't be happier!

Is Huntress really going to teach Catman how to waltz again?
Catman needs so much help.

Since Secret Six is going to be ongoing, are the characters going to be rotating?
I don't know. I mean, I know, but I don't want you guys to know — I don't want you guys to always think there's only going to be one character that bites the dust, because there might be three or four at some point. This is a team that gets involved in some very shady dealings, and have a little bit of moral problems. The very first story that we're doing, the Secret Six is hired to transport a major villain from San Francisco to Metropolis, so the entire DC Universe wants to stop them. Who knows who's going to make it out of that and who isn't?

So they're not gonna turn good on us?
You love to hate 'em, don't you? Or you hate to love 'em, or something like that. No, they aren't gonna turn good, trust me. This is going to be the ballsiest DC book ever, and the greatest thing about it is that it's going to be written by me.

According to Sci-Fi Wire, Silver said:

Maybe after I saw Spider-Man or whatever, I thought that it should be a genesis story. And then I had to kind of go back to the drawing board, because I had a version that the studio wanted to make that was not a genesis story . . . [But] I've got to find a way to tell it. Because whenever I got into the stuff, you know, Paradise Island and stuff, it was kind of goofy. But I've got to find a way to do it where it's effective. I mean, I thought some of the stuff they did in 300 was great. I don't know if I want to make it that way, but, I mean, I think there's a way to do this where the audience is going to accept it. But I've got to figure it out.

Gail Simone, the comic-writing goddess behind Wonder Woman, had to leave early, but not before announcing that a new Secret Six book was coming up, featuring Catman, Deadshot, Scandal, Ragdoll, an A-list Batman villain, and a new character, Jenet, who has a secret even the rest of the Secret Six won't know about. Simone said that it will be literally "the most ballsy DC comic out there," written and drawn by two red-headed women.

Collins further hinted about the upcoming Wonder Woman storyline: scientists in the DC Universe think that they have found the exact mathematical formula to bring down Wonder Woman. Meanwhile, someone feels that the Amazons are a failed experiment, and starts one of their own: a new Wonder Woman will be created — and will be male. Originally dubbed a "Manazon" (though Simone liked "Olympian"), the Wonder (Wo)man is as of yet unnamed, though Simone added another suggestion: "Wonder Weenie." DiDio thought that might bring up some strange web-searches.

More news:

• Catwoman has been canceled, which was unceremoniously announced at last night's DC panel.
• DiDio promised an entire "repositioning" of the DC universe with the upcoming Final Crisis series. What can writer Grant Morrison tell us about the series? "They're all dead!" he told the crowd, cheerfully. He was probably joking.
• DC's next weekly comic, Trinity, will actually be one you want to buy every week. The series, focusing on Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, will be character-driven, "about who they are." The essential natures of the characters, and how they affect the DCU, will be explored. Astro City's Kurt Busiek will write 12 pages every week for 52 weeks, with a rotating team of artists.
• Rann/Thanagar: Holy War will tie together several years' worth of storylines about the battles between the planet of fin-headed guys and the planet of the bird people. It'll also set up what's going on for the next few years for DC's "science fiction characters."
• Batman R.I.P. Asked what that title means, Grant Morrison says: "It means Rest In Peace. But it doesn't. There'll be no peace for Batman." The Joker will be the scariest new Joker we've ever, drawn as 1/2 "a road accident"), plus a bunch of new Batman villains: "If you miss this you miss your chance to say goodbye."
• Other upcoming comics: Action Comics will have a scarier Brainiac, and James Robinson is taking over soon. Birds of Prey writer Sean McKeever has "learned to love Misfit," the teleporting superhero-wannabe. The Joker's Asylumwill have the "best rogue's galleries out there." There are no plays for any kind of Batman Beyond comic at this time. In the Justice Society of America annual, Power Girl is going to Earth 2, will meet with the Huntress and Batman's daughter there, but is in for a difficult return. Booster Gold will meet Peter Platinum, who is ten times the jerk Booster used to be, and find out who time-travel svengali Rip Hunter is. An upcoming Green Lantern story, "Massacre of Sector 666," will feature the worst disaster in the universe, leading into new series Blackest Night, in which all the dead rise up and kick ass.
• DC is also launching several titles with an eye toward capturing a younger audience. Editor Jann Jones announced the upcoming Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade, with art that features a flat-chested, prepubescent Supergirl. The upcoming kid-friendly line also includes Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam. DC is excited about recreating the entry-level comic experience, no doubt anticipating the the kids who will grow up to fill future Con audiences. As for Supergirl, the first to be released, it'll have "all the fun of life in Junior High," Jones promised, which to me sounds menacing. DiDio added, for the benefit of the room: "And no boobs."

One of the major launches for this week is Image Comics' adaptation of the upcoming EA video game Dead Space. With art by 30 Days of Night's Ben Templesmith and writing by friend-of-Alan-Moore Antony Johnston, the six-issue series gives you the backstory of just how the game's mysterious alien race (which possesses and transforms human beings into lumbering killer monsters) got loose in the first place. Murky art and murkier morality will undoubtedly come into play in this one.

For those who prefer their morally-compromised heroes to be much shinier, perhaps you'd be interested in Marvel's Iron Man: Demon In A Bottle, a new hardcover collection of the classic, overwrought 1980s storyline where industrialist-turned-armored avenger Tony Stark comes to terms with his alcoholism and realizes that 12-step programs are harder when you have boot jets. If there's a better way to prep for the upcoming Robert Downey Jr. movie, then it's not coming out this week.

Speaking of morally compromised heroes, DC's Wonder Woman lost some of her satin-tights sheen after she executed a baddie a few years ago. But she burst back onto the comics scene after a few months' absence in 2006, with a delay-plagued storyline from TV writer Allen Heinberg (The OC, Gray's Anatomy) that tried to redefine the character and remind you of why you liked her in the first place. The final result is collected in tomorrow's Wonder Woman: Who is Wonder Woman? hardcover, and — you'll be happy to know — it does include her changing identities by spinning around. Also, Darwyn Cooke returns to his most popular creation with a special one-off Justice League: The New Frontier issue, to promote last week's DVD release.

Marvel's big release of the week isn't actually the Iron Man book; instead, some guy called Stephen King is putting his stamp of approval on The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home, a new mini-series based on his series of novels. It's also a follow-up to last year's hyper-successful The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born mini-series. This one's by the same creative team (writers Robin Furth and Peter David with artists Jae Lee and Richard Isanove), and undoubtedly about to sell as many copies to eager King fans.

Marvel's also launching a new series starring your favorite time-traveling cyborg, Cable (written by novelist Dwayne Swiercynski). And a new Wolverine mini-series called Logan is getting attention due to the involvement of Brian K. Vaughan (Y The Last Man.) If all that new stuff bothers you, though, you could just pick up Secret Invasion Saga and get the background on that whole alien invasion thing they have going on over there.

As usual, you can read through the official list of books shipping to comic stores on Wednesday here and find out where your local comic store is here. Just watch out for spacemen trying to eat your brains.

The Warner corporate suits told us about the plans for this year's DVD releases, Warren Beatty told a few stories about meeting Rita Hayworth back in the day (and he shamelessly hit on the two female representatives from Amazon and Best Buy), and Richard Schickel showed off 10 minutes from his in-progress, five-hour documentary about the history of Warner Bros.

However, the real highlight was the party in the Warner Bros. Museum afterwards. Of course, we geeked out and headed straight to the superhero junk, like Wonder Woman's costume (with dress cape!) from the television years, although the bright blues have faded to purple. Plus we never realized just how generous that crotch was until we got close. It almost outshines Batman's codpiece, seen above.

They also had Superman's suit from Lois & Clark on display, as well as the Batman Begins batsuit and Superman's duds from Superman Returns. Did you know those super-boots have the S-shield on the heel? We didn't. Plus there are lines of satin-like piping running down the arms of the costume, which we also didn't know about. If only the public knew! It could have saved the film.

We also spoke with McG who talked about his upcoming Terminator Salvation film. He says he "wants to do what they did with Batman Begins, which is respectful of the previous movies, but is also something wholly new." He wants the film to explore "Asimov ideas and the Phillip K. Dick ideas. In a day and age where we can clone sheep and give someone a titanium shoulder, science fiction is becoming reality."

He also wouldn't spill on who his dream Terminator would be, although he admitted he loves Robert Patrick, whom he cast in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and We Are Marshall. He also loves actors like Eric Bana, although "at the end of the day, he's just not the right guy for it. That's a masculine role, and you really need someone to step in and fill those shoes." He promised us a sit-down sometime in the near future, although we could tell he wanted to punch us in the back of the head when we asked him to pose with the Superman Returns suit. Such missed opportunities.

It's a good week for fans of 1960s manga, as IDW launches a new series called Speed Racer: Chronicles of the Racer ahead of this summer's big budget Wachowski siblings remake. Written by Mad Magazine's Arie Kaplan, the new four-issue miniseries promises thrills, spills and wide-eyed characters who just want to go go go. Absent from the series, thankfully, is any sign of Matthew Fox (sadly, the same can be said for Christina Ricci).

If your nostalgia runs to something slightly more recent, then perhaps the 464-page hardcover collection of four separate GI Joe Versus The Transformers series (none of them the original Marvel comic series from the '80s, unfortunately) may be your thing. You played the scenario out plenty of times in your bedroom, of course, so why not read the way it happened in someone else's imagination? Heavy Metal carnage from another country can also be found this week in ABC Warriors: Hellbringer, a collection of 2000AD's chaos magic-influenced robot strip that has to be seen to be believed.

Meanwhile, as Marvel spends this week recovering from the recent mainstream media coverage of single sexy Spidey and brand new gun-slingin' Captain America, DC Comics steals the week with two well-chosen reprint books. First up, Diana Prince: Wonder Woman, Volume 1 reprints, for the first time ever, that strange period in Wonder Woman's career where — trying to make the character "relevant" to the 1960s — she renounced her Amazon heritage to become an Emma Peel-esque secret agent crime-fighting Mod, complete with zen mentor I-Ching. It's actually weirder than it sounds, both in terms of dated visuals and anything-goes plots, but surprisingly kept going until Gloria Steinem stepped in to complain. Worth reading, and for more than just rubbernecking, however.

Even stranger is the first story collected in the Countdown Special: OMAC , the latest in DC's long line of cheap reprint books tying in with their latest big event. Ignore the second and third stories in this $4.99, 80-page comic; the real meat of the issue is in Jack Kirby's first story, introducing the world to the One Man Army Corps and a version of the future that transcends its initial goofiness, to become one of the strangest, most wonderful sci-fi comics ever made. Consider it a taster for the full-length collection of Kirby's entire run on the series that's coming later this year.

A full list of the week's releases can be found here and, as always, you can find out just where to buy each and every one of those releases by entering your zip code here.

• The budget: According to several different sources, the budget on the film was spiraling out of control. Although we wonder what "out of control" really means, because the effects powerhouse Weta was onboard to do the costumes, and "maybe" some digital effects... if they had time. If a studio waves a $25 million dollar check at you, we have a feeling you'd make the time.
• The rumblings from the Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman camps: Christian Bale was not happy that they were making a movie that would feature another Batman in it, saying it'd screw up what they'd been working on as part of the whole Batman Begins / The Dark Knight series. Plus with the constant rumors that Warners wants to return to basics with a new Superman movie (sans Bryan Singer and Brandon Routh), and a Wonder Woman flick, then it doesn't make any sense to populate a big budget film with other actors playing the parts of the Big Three members of the JLA.
• The cast: Director George Miller wanted this film to be huge, which could account for the budget being pushed up, but his cast was cast with a slew of B-list actors, at best, and didn't feature a name that would draw masses of people to the theaters. Did you want to shell out $12 bucks to go see some unknown amateur magician play Batman, or would you rather wait for Christian Bale? That's what we thought.
• The script: Apparently everyone and their mom thought the script needed work, and this will probably be the ultimate reason for the movie coming to a dead stop. Due to the strike, no rewrites can happen no matter how hard anyone begs. It's the kryptonite to this project, and maybe that means we'll get a quality JLA movie sometime down the road. Probably after Marvel releases The Avengers and it rakes in a boatload of cash.

The New Frontier DVD follows Hal Jordan from the Korean War to the Kennedy era, and he becomes Green Lantern along the way. Jordan and the Martian Manhunter are the stars of the new DVD film, according to the screenwriter. Putting "Silver Age" characters back into the 1950s and 1960s makes them seem less dated, and also lets Cooke comment on issues like racism and McCarthyism. The movie hits multiple DVD formats on February 26th, 2008.

But The New Frontier isn't the only classic graphic novel to use this technique. James (Starman) Robinson won plaudits for The Golden Age, a graphic novel which followed a group of classic 1940s heroes as they coped with (once again) McCarthyism in the early 1950s. His comic starred Starman, Robotman, the original Atom and Johnny Thunder.

And then there's John Byrne's underrated Superman & Batman: Generations, which showed both heroes starting their careers in 1939, the year they originally appeared. Byrne placed the heroes in a classic setting (at the 1939 World's Fair), then showed them aging in real time. Both Superman and Batman deal with aging and handing over their responsibilities to their kids and sidekicks. (Later installments follow them into the present day and beyond.)

DC has also published several "Elseworlds" stories taking place in alternate universes, featuring Batman in the 1930s and 1940s. These include Detective 27, Citizen Wayne (a Citizen Kane riff), and Gotham Noir.

If you're a mad scientist with cloning technology at your disposal and you're hell-bent on cloning someone to represent your organization, Hitler would probably be at the top of your list. Just rest assured that you wouldn't be the first to try it. Check out the list of some of the better-known Hitler clones.

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• They Saved Hitler's Brain: This 1966 film features Nazi scientists removing Hitler's brain and sending it to South America so he can later be cloned. Too bad the movie didn't deliver on the promise of the title. it features numerous scenes of men talking. And talking. And talking. In fact, you don't even see Hitler's still-living head until the film is almost over. Talk about your wasted opportunities.
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• The Boys From Brazil: This 1978 film features a real gem of a plot. Dr. Joseph Mengele, the Angel of Death of Nazi concentration camps, has survived and has been feverishly working to clone Hitler himself. In fact, he's created 94 of them. These clones have been placed around the world and raised by families. However, in order to mirror Hitler's childhood, each of the clones fathers have to be killed when they reach age 14, since Hitler lost his own father at that age. The film features terrific performances from Gregory Peck and Sir Laurence Olivier, but the Hitler clone is only a background device, and we never get to see an adult Hitler tromping around.
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• Wonder Woman: In the Wonder Woman episode Anschluss '77, Wonder Woman stumbled onto a ring of Nazis in the 1970s trying to clone Hitler. They manage to pull it off, although the scene where Hitler's body rises up to fill his old uniform is laughable at best. While we love sci fi gadgets that can pump out clones at the flick of a switch, the ghostly resurrection of Hitler looks more like magic than quasi-science. Check out the episode below: the cloning happens about 28 minutes in.
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• The Hate-Monger: Marvel comics offered up this Hitler clone who used a "Hate-ray" to make love and other emotions turn into hate. Hoo-boy. He even wore a huge "H" belt-buckle, just to make sure you knew he wasn't a loving kind of guy. He also wore a Ku Klux Klan style hood and often exchanged fisticuffs with Captain America.

• Sadly, we haven't seen a good book or movie that nails the Hitler clone storyline. In fact, the most evil clone movie that Hollywood has given us was 1996's Multiplicity, featuring Michael Keaton as multiple clones of himself. It's been eleven years, and we're still not able to wash the taste of it from our mouths.

What exactly is the Circle, and what deadly secret do they hold about Diana's birth? What familiar face from Wonder Woman's past returns with a mission to spy on Special Agent Diana Prince? Why is the Department of Metahuman Affairs on a collision course with the wounded remnants of the Society of Super-Villains? All this plus monkey assassins in a story that spans the globe and shakes Diana to her core!

For the record, those clues were: "Society of Super-Villains," and "monkey assassins." Maybe we'll finally see the twisted "Villains United" Simone united with the pulpy "All-New Atom" Simone. We can only hope!

Actually, The Brave One did way better than Kevin Bacon's competing revenge flick Death Sentence. Maybe the problem is with War-On-Terror gun porno?

You can spend hours dissecting Robinov's idiocy, but the fact is it's bad for science fiction. As Slashfilm points out, the danger is that we'll end up with characters like Sue Storm in the Fantastic Four movies, who's a bride and not much else. Science fiction needs well-rounded, interesting women in challenging situations — not just mindless fluffers for the male hero.

Warner Bros. Says "No More Female Lead Characters" [Slashfilm]

It features the seven founding JLA members, including John Stewart as Green Lantern and Barry Allen as the Flash. We get to see how the A-list and B-list supers founded the League. Superman has "epic battles" with both Batman and Wonder Woman. Rich bastard Max Lord turns up. So does the One Man Army Corps, which transforms regular people into killer cyborgs. It sounds as though we won't have to wait for JLA 3 to see subplot overload rivaling Spider-Man 3 and X-Men 3.

More Justice League Plot Details [/film] Image by AbbyNormy

Famous names: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons

Crunchy goodness: 5

Spinoffs/Sequels/Copycats: The animated show Justice League Unlimited adapted this story pretty much note-for-note into an episode.

Quotable: "Think clean thoughts, chum." — Batman to Robin, who's checking out Wonder Woman's amazonian bathing suit.

Life lessons: It's easy to idealize your birth family — until you invite your friends over for the holidays. That's always when you realize your super-scientist dad isn't perfect, he's a fascist nutjob.

Victoria Wayne summarizes the story.

Crunchy goodness: 2

Spinoffs/Sequels/Copycats: Joss Whedon was supposed to write and direct a movie, but now it's stuck in development hell.

Stunt casting: Chloris Leachman as Queen Hyppolita, Wonder Woman's over-protective mother, who's worried about letting Wonder Woman visit the unhygienic outside world.

The shit: When the boogie-woogie theme music plays and Carter spins around to create a burst of light and don her spangly costume, you can't help believing in Amazons.

The Wonder Woman Pages