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

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

Talking to Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello, Levi addressed the rumor that Subway's sponsorship deal with the show will change the content of the show itself, and answered one question that I've always wondered about the series' BuyMore setting:

There's a couple of ideas that're being kicked around, and one of them is that the [secret spy HQ] Orange Orange will become a Subway... That's, I think, what everybody's expecting is going to happen. Obviously, we're not too precious about keeping the store one particular thing. It was the Wienerlicious, then it was the Orange Orange... I think it's perfect integration. Keep something a standing set, that way you don't have to constantly be worrying about, how do we work it into dialogue, just let it be what it is. That's why I was so astonished when Best Buy didn't jump on the opportunity to be our big box store.

A change to Sarah's cover isn't the only difference in the thirteen episode third season - although, as Levi pointed out, there is still the potential for NBC to up the season order until December - and Levi also teased the second season cliffhanger of Chuck's new intersected kung fu skills:

It doesn't change the everyman scenario. It doesn't work perfectly. There are snags with this intersect. And so, where one might think that, oh, Chuck knows kung fu... Maybe he doesn't. Maybe he has experiences within certain physical abilities that may or may not last. I can neither confirm nor deny these allegations.

Does this mean more slapstick opportunities, or will Chuck's new (lack of) abilities lead to more dramatic consequences? We'll find out when Chuck returns next year on NBC.

ATV video: 'Chuck' star Zachary Levi answers your burning Qs [Entertainment Weekly]

Trying to drum up support for a third season of NBC's Chuck, Levi and fellow star Adam Baldwin ended up treating 400 British convention goers to lunch at a local Subway this weekend. UK blog End of Show was there to eat... I mean, report:

[F]an Wendy Farrington had the unique idea of getting fans to follow the money and show the sandwich franchise Subway that the show they were sponsoring had an audience. She presented the idea to Zachary Levi who plays the titular character Chuck Bartowski at Starfury conventions T1 event in Birmingham, UK. Levi and Adam Baldwin (Casey) then asked the hundreds of con attendees to follow them on en masse to the local Subway.

Levi, who described the show as "On the good side of the bubble", even got behind the counter and helped out the besieged staff of the outlet in the Birmingham NEC exhibition centre, staying until the very last fan was served.

On the one hand, that's very generous of Levi and Baldwin. On the other, they'd really better hope that the show gets picked up for another season if they're going to keep pulling stunts like that in future; $5 footlongs may seem like a bargain at first, but not when you're buying 400 of them at a time.

Chuck's season finale airs on NBC tonight at 8pm.

Chuck stars lead 400 fans to Subway to save show [End of Show]

Talking to the Washington Post, Levi teased what to expect about Chuck's double life:

What I will say is one character will find out the truth this season, but I won't tell you who, and I think the plan is that next season there will be at least one more character that finds out the truth...

You know, someone discovering Chuck's secret spy secrets does sound kind of gamechanging... especially if it leads to someone else making the connection in the (still to be confirmed) third season. But which character finding out would change the game so much? The involvement of a second discoverer leads us to suspect Awesome (with Ellie following), but we have to admit that we'll be surprised if the writers could really pass up the chance to let Morgan in on a little spy action every now and again...

Nerd, Spy, Nice Guy [Washington Post]

Star Zachary Levi knows what the show is up against, in terms of the way it left viewers:

The last episode that was aired really wasn't a finale. It didn't tie up anything. So we're starting fresh in many ways... We're coming back with a clean start and a fresh slate.

Creator Josh Schwartz agrees:

[W]e've designed the season premiere almost like a pilot... Our attitude is, forget worrying about a sophomore slump. We've got to treat this as a network launch. We come out swinging. In terms of action, this is as big as a pilot.

But how many people will be watching the show's second pilot? Depending on who you ask, NBC's Olympic coverage - which was carpeted with trailers for Chuck, as well as shows like Knight Rider and Heroes - was either incredibly successful, raising people's awareness of NBC shows by 59% or a failure, producing only a "slight bounce in awareness" of the shows. Will Chuck's relaunch bring in enough new viewers to keep it from facing a fate worse than Bionic Woman?

NBC's Chuck intends to come out swinging [USA Today]

Maya will realize that (duh) Sylar is evil. Nikki has to rescue Monica from that street gang that stole some comic books. (It's a gang thing. They love those obscure Ditko comics for their Ayn Rand messages.) Peter and Nathan finally get reunited, but then they have to deal with that whole "Adam wants to wipe out humanity" thing. Elle has to make some tough decisions. Oh, and a couple of good guys are going to bite it. And Claire will try to blow the whistle on her dad's old company, as you can see in this clip:

Want more spoilers for the episode? These seem like they could be credible.

Tonight's episode of Chuck might also be the last one for a while. NBC still has two more Chuck eps in the can, but it's not clear when they'll air, says Reuters. "Chuck vs. the Crown Vic" doesn't sound particularly climactic: Chuck has to go undercover as Sarah's wife to deal with a "counterfeiting yachtsman with strong political ties." Seeing the downtrodden Chuck confronting evil rich people sounds sort of entertaining in a Veronica Mars-y way.

Also tonight: part two of Tin Man, the Sci-Fi channel's re-noodling of Wizard of Oz. Tin Man
concludes on Tuesday with another two-hour installment. If you don't have a TiVo or some other device that lets you tape two channels at once, don't worry. Sci-Fi will re-run Monday's segment before Tuesday's.

Monday night movies: X2: X-Men United on FX, and Being John Malkovich on IFC.

Tuesday night sees the season finale of Beauty and the Geek, in which a LARPer and a science-fiction fan compete to win the admiration of hawt girls who can tie cherry stems with their tongues. All of the show's teams return, for the maximum concentration of cringe-inducing stereotypes.

Wednesday night movie: The Brother from Another Planet on TMC. If you haven't seen it, you really should check it out. You'll barely notice that Bionic Woman is off.

Thursday's Smallville is a rerun where he meets his cute cousin.

Friday has a Flash Gordon rerun, but a new Stargate Atlantis, the last new episode until January. A "strange drone" crashes into Atlantis, and it could mean the Replicators have found Atlantis. (The Replicators are self-replicating machines, sort of like the Borg except without any human parts.) More spoilers than you can shake a stick at are here.

Which one will win the Monday night ratings showdown? We'll find out January 14, when Connor launches. (As long as the strike doesn't ruin everything, of course.)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Premieres in January [GiveMeMyRemote]