Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss reveal the schedule for Game of Thrones season four. Check out the latest set video and some casting news for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Asa Butterfield discusses the zero-gravity sequences in Ender's Game. Arnold Schwarzenegger says Terminator 5 is being written now. Spoilers!

Top image from Ender's Game.

Man of Steel

Here's the latest TV spot.

Antje Traue discusses her character of Faora, Zod's possibly psychotic lieutenant.

Here's an interview with costar Christopher Meloni about his experiences working with Henry Cavill.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Here's a video from the Cleveland set that shows the Winter Soldier — otherwise known as Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes — ripping the door off an SUV.

Robert Redford's senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Alexander Pierce — who may or may not be a traitor, based on what Redford has let slip in interviews — will reportedly be joined by a four-person support staff. Acclaimed British actress Jenny Agutter will appear, presumably reprising her small Avengers role as a World Security Council member, and she will joined by Lost's Alan Dale, The Dark Knight and Arrow supporting player Chin Han, and Bernard White, who played Rama-Kandra in the Matrix sequels. There's not much additional information on who they will play, although it's vaguely worth noting that IMDB credits White as "Indian Council Member." [Twitch Film]

X-Men: Days of Future Past

At a recent appearance at ComicPalooza, the great, great Patrick Stewart discusses the making and production of the ridiculously star-studded, time travel-centric new X-Men movie:

"My work on the movie is done, except I suppose for ADR and things like that, but I think my time in front of the camera is over. It was 4 1/2 weeks work, and it was very difficult for the production company because there is a large group of leading actors in this movie, many of whom you know and you would have seen before. But a number of us had other commitments, so they were continually having to, as we say, "shoot out" leading actors, that is do all their coverage and then pick up the rest of the work. It was kind of complicated for Anna Paquin, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, and myself. We all had to be somewhere else at a certain time, which is why the film continues in production without all of us and will do until some time in August I guess... others like Hugh Jackman, for example, of course is there for the duration of shooting.

He also confirms that his death in X-Men: The Last Stand will indeed be addressed:

"It's interesting, its possibly 6 or 7 years since X-Men 3 when you recall Charles Xavier was vaporized by… what's her name, Jean Grey. And you are asking yourself, ‘Well if you were vaporized, how can you be in the next X-Men movie?' Anybody got any ideas how that came about? There will be an explanation, but it was a little puzzling to me cause I thought my X-Men days were over, but not so. So something to look forward to, cause there's not much to look forward to these days really."

There's some more at the link, including Stewart's optimistic declaration that this movie will perhaps be "the blockbuster of 2014." [X-Men Films]

Pacific Rim

Here's the latest TV spot.

Ender's Game

Star Asa Butterfield discusses his experiences shooting the zero-gravity sequences:

It was really good fun. But yeah, wearing harnesses for nine hours, by the end of the day you're glad to get out of them. It's really tiring staying up there. And the chafing… it's exactly as you might imagine. All through rehearsals we would spend an hour each day on the wires. And then we spent a month and a half shooting the scenes. There was plenty of time flying around.

During their training, Ender and his unit take on a lot of other teams in the Battle Room. Any stunts you're particularly proud of pulling off?
There's a really cool sequence where I'm sort of spinning over backwards and I let go of my guns. They're floating by my side just going along. As I push myself through these two stars, I spin back over and grab the guns, then shoot the people around me. I loved doing that.

And here's how he describes his Battle Room outfit:

It's called a flash suit. It looks incredible, but wearing it was pretty uncomfortable, because they were tight and thick and didn't give you all that much movement. It's like wearing three wetsuits and then putting on body armour over that. We had a few versions: a normal one, and then a slightly bigger one which let you wear a harness underneath. You wouldn't want to wear one for more than an hour.

Here's a new photo to accompany the interview. [Empire Online]

Catching Fire

Here's a new image of Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket; click the link for a little extra in-universe context. [Coming Soon]

Interstellar

In news that is almost as unsurprising as the previous announcement that Michael Caine will be in the movie, Hans Zimmer has revealed that he will indeed be scoring Christopher Nolan's space epic. Zimmer previously composed the music for Inception and the Dark Knight trilogy. [Collider]

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Rise of the Planet of the Apes star Frieda Pinto confirms that neither she nor fellow human costar James Franco will be back for the sequel, even in a cameo capacity:

"The sequel's on, but we're not in it. It's a whole new cast. It would have been great to [do the sequel], but I don't know how they would bring our characters back in. But we'll do something else."

[Digital Spy]

World War Z

When asked about the possibility of a sequel, star Brad Pitt reportedly responded, "There's so much in the book, we've got a lot of ideas on where to take it." [@totalfilm]

Blade Runner Sequel

Here's the official announcement from Alcon Entertainment that Kings creator and Green Lantern writer Michael Green is working on Hampton Fancher's script for the Ridley Scott-directed sequel:

Writer Michael Green is in negotiations to do a rewrite of Alcon Entertainment's "Blade Runner" sequel penned by Hampton Fancher ("Blade Runner," "The Minus Man," "The Mighty Quinn") and to be directed by Ridley Scott. Fancher's original story/screenplay is set some years after the first film concluded.

Alcon co-founders and co-Chief Executive Officers Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove will produce with Bud Yorkin and Cynthia Sikes Yorkin, along with Ridley Scott. Frank Giustra and Tim Gamble, CEO's of Thunderbird Films, will serve as executive producers. Green recently completed rewrites on "Robopocalypse" and Warners Bros.' "Gods and Kings."

The most important news there is probably confirmation that this film will indeed be set a significant amount of time after the first Blade Runner, which would more easily allow Harrison Ford to return to the role of Rick Deckard. [Comic Book Movie]

Terminator 5

Returning star Arnold Schwarzenegger says the script is being written now, along with his other two big genre comeback projects, Legend of Conan and Triplets. [The Guardian]

World of Warcraft

Producer Charles Roven says Moon and Source Code director Duncan Jones will start filming his adaptation of the role-playing game sometime in early 2014:

"First quarter 2014 we're going to shoot that movie. We're moving forward; obviously Legendary is making that film and I'm having a great time with Duncan."

[/Film]

Monsters University

Here's a trio of sneak peek clips. [Coming Soon]

Doctor Who

There's some confusion about whether the 50th anniversary special will be 60 minutes long, 90 minutes long, or some other amount of minutes long. I'm sure this is going to shock you, but Steven Moffat offered a cryptic answer when asked about this:

"People keep asking how long the anniversary special is, and it's a fair question. I don't actually know, because the answer is, it's as long as it needs to be. The script is quite long though. I'm looking at it now. Ooh, that's quite long."

[Digital Spy]

In case anyone was wondering, last Saturday's BBC announcement about Matt Smith's departure did confirm that the Doctor will regenerate in the 2013 Christmas special, as opposed to just... I don't know, wander off, I guess? Anyway, just wanted to spell that all out.

Game of Thrones

Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss stopped by KCRW UpClose to offer this update on the status of season four:

"Right now we're writing Season 4. We start shooting July 8, and we have to have all 10 scripts ready before we start shooting, because we crossboard the entire season. So, scenes from the final episode might be shot the first week of production. And then we finish shooting, we go straight [into] post-production, and also outlining the coming season."

[Wet Paint]

The Walking Dead

The fourth episode of season four is reportedly called "Indifference" and will feature "a thin, friendly 20-something man and woman." [SpoilerTV]

Under the Dome

The ninth episode will reportedly see "Linda and Barbie find out about a powerful drug called Rapture." [SpoilerTV]

Once Upon a Time

Costar Colin O'Donoghue discusses the state of Hook's love life:

“It’s probably about time he sort of found another love in his life. But if it was a toss-up between [traveling companions] Regina or Emma, I’m not sure exactly who he’d go for. Maybe he’ll have fun with Regina, while he’s waiting for Emma. Who knows!”

[TV Line]

Defiance

Costar Jesse Rath discusses his character, Alak Tarr:

Alak has a very Oedipus-like relationship with his parents, Stahma and Datak. In a perfect world he would probably kill his father and marry his mother. He’s against his father’s sinister actions and is probably a little frightened by them, but at the same time he wants nothing more than his father’s approval and acceptance of who he is.

What do you hope for Alak in terms of character development?
Without spoiling anything, Alak will find himself at somewhat of a crossroads towards the end of the season. I have no idea where the show will take him in the second season but I can barely contain my excitement every time I think about where it may go.

[My Fanbase]

Teen Wolf

Here's a short description of the third episode of season three, "Fireflies:

Boyd and Cora are under the influence of the full moon; Scott and Derek seek help from an unlikely ally.

[SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Katharine Trendacosta and Charlie Jane Anders.

Benicio del Toro (and Lloyd Kaufman) join the ever-expanding cast of Guardians of the Galaxy. Check out a 13-minute Man of Steel featurette while Henry Cavill and Hugh Jackman discuss their superhero futures. Joss Whedon shares some hints for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Plus the latest World War Z and Pacific Rim videos! Spoilers!

Top image from World War Z

Star Wars: Episode VII

Leaving aside those who have already appeared in the Star Wars universe, I believe the only casting rumor — and a quickly debunked one at that — concerned Fringe star John Noble. Well, the British tabloid The Sun took one look at the Noble rumor — which, though utterly fake, at least made a certain amount of logical sense, considering Noble's awesomeness as an actor and his professional connection to director J.J. Abrams — and decided they could offer something way crazier than that.

To that end, they are reporting that Florence Welch, the English singer best known as the non-Machine half of Florence and the Machine, "is being lined up for a leading role in the new Star Wars movie trilogy." Welch's only acting experience thus far is in Terrance Malick's next film, so Star Wars would pretty much be her cinematic debut — indeed, given Malick's propensity for cutting actors out of his films entirely, there's every chance this would be her first ever appearance on-screen, assuming this rumor isn't bullshit, which it almost certainly is. In slight, slight fairness, it's worth pointing out that original Star Wars stars Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and (to a slightly lesser extent) Harrison Ford were all more or less unknowns when they took on their roles, but still... I'm not even sure it's worth wasting a grain of salt on this particular rumor. [The Sun]

Man of Steel

Henry Cavill address the much-rumored plans to eventually follow up Man of Steel with a Justice League movie. Keeping in mind that this isn't really his decision, Cavill outlines what he would like to see happen if Warner Bros. were to pursue such a plan:

If Warner Bros. were to come to me and say "we are planning this and how do you want to do it," - you have to introduce various characters, so it's just not like 'bam' the world is full of god-like superheroes. You would have to find them and introduce them through various movies, and then bring them all together with a major threat that happens. Whether that threat be Doomsday or Braniac or whatever, we don't know, but it would have to be a lot more storyline to have the audience be okay with an introduction to say Brainiac or Doomsday.

The mention of those particular villains is intriguing in terms of any Man of Steel sequels, but, again, this is probably all best taken as idle, if fairly cogent talk from the franchise's star. [Comic Book Movie]

Here's a 13-minute behind-the-scenes featurette. [/Film]

Lois Lane actress Amy Adams offers this summation of what to expect from the movie:

'It's more raw, a little less quippy. Hopefully you'll enjoy the banter and the relationship between Lois and Clark, but it's a totally new imagining of the story. I was shaking by the end of it. I realised that I hadn't seen a film with that much action in it since Avatar, so it overwhelmed my adrenal system. Not that it's all just action, but it is a lot of fun.'

[Elle UK via Daily Mail]

Guardians of the Galaxy

A couple years after almost taking on the role of Khan, Benicio Del Toro has reportedly finally found a space opera franchise to call his own. There aren't too many specifics, but the Usual Suspects actor has reportedly agreed to a "lead role," playing a character who could appear in several future Marvel movies — which means his contract provides for appearances in subsequent films. There's no word on exactly who he's playing, and speculation has ranged from Thanos to Adam Warlock, so really your guess is as good as mine at this point. [Deadline]

Meanwhile, in much more insane casting news, Troma mastermind Lloyd Kaufman has revealed that writer-director James Gunn is giving him a small part in the movie. Gunn, who got his start with Troma, previously cast Kaufman in cameos in Super and Slither, although Kaufman was ultimately cut out of the latter:

Yeah, he’s giving me a part. I’m going to be in his movie. I’m going to London at the end of June to play a small part.

Will we recognize you?
Well, did you see Super?

Yeah, I noticed you in that.
You never know. He cut me out of Slither. You have to look real [hard]. He cut my improvised line. But I did a whole behind the scenes thing there for him and they put it on the DVD... We’ll see what happens. James is a good guy. I think it’ll be interesting just to see what it’s like and I’ll shoot some behind the scenes.

[Crave Online]

The Wolverine

I don't particularly think this quote is much different from what Hugh Jackman has previously said about his future as Wolverine — basically, he'll do it for as long as he thinks it's worth doing — but if you hear chatter about Jackman saying he's retiring from the role, then this is the source:

I wasn't even sure after the first [stand-alone] film if I would do another. I won't say never, because I'm still loving it. But there would have to be a pretty compelling reason.

[EW]

Pacific Rim

Here's the latest TV spot.

World War Z

Here's a sneak peek clip. [Shock Till You Drop]

Here are some interviews from the London premiere with stars Brad Pitt and Mireille Enos.

Monsters University

Here's the latest sneak peek clip. [The Wall Street Journal]

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Joss Whedon stresses that this show will be proudly independent of all the big-budget movie franchises in the larger Marvel live-action universe:

"It's very important to me that the show stands on its own. The people that never saw any of the movies can tune in and enjoy it. We like being a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and we like having all of the mythos to play off of, but if the show was 'You just missed Tony Stark. Wow, he was JUST here' that would be the most unsatisfying show ever. We have an ensemble, a new ensemble — apart from Clark [Gregg as Agent Coulson], it's all people I've never worked with before but I'm really excited about them, I'm really proud of them. I think people will want to see them every week."

He also confirms that Agent Coulson's death will be addressed, and his resurrection will be something the show earns over time, because "that's not something you take lightly." Finally, he discusses Angel alum J. August Richards's guest spot in the pilot:

"I'm not going to say who [J. August Richards is] playing. But he's certainly cranky, as you can tell from the trailer. He's great, he came in to guest star and he tears it up. He's got that kind of energy, he's so much fun and [a] lovely guy, it's always nice when you get to see your old friends again."

[EW via Comic Book Movie]

Game of Thrones

Assuming you're still even capable of watching the show after last Sunday's nuptuals, here's the promo for the third season finale, "Mhysa." [Film School Rejects]

True Blood

Star Anna Paquin previews season six:

"Things left off in a pretty serious place in regards to where Eric and I leave Bill having just turned into this creature of the blood with these monster fangs-and who the hell knows what that is? So obviously, that situation has to [play] out. And we have new cast members this year, and that's always fun to have fresh blood, if you'll pardon the pun."

New showrunner Bryan Buckner adds:

"This season, the writers and I have been making a concerted effort to help Sookie grow up, become a little bit darker, more accepting of her fate, more self-knowing. [Paquin] is able to tell us so much with her eyes… I don't think there are very many actors out there who could pull off what we're asking of her this season… Her performances literally hold [True Blood] together as a show."

[Manhattan]

The Originals

The CW has put out another round of previews for its upcoming new series. First up, here's one for the Klaus-starring Vampire Diaries spin-off, which moves the action to New Orleans.

The 100

And here's the video and description for the post-apocalyptic, recolonizing Earth show.

After a nuclear apocalypse, civilization on planet Earth was destroyed. 100 juvenile prisoners will be the first to set foot on ground after 97 years. What will they discover? Don't miss the series premiere of The 100, coming midseason to The CW!

The Tomorrow People

Next up, the network's remake of the '70s British sci-fi show, which was also previously revived in the '90s.

Stephen is on the brink of becoming someone extraordinary, but he has no clue. Watch a preview from The Tomorrow People, coming this fall!

Star-Crossed

And finally...

When Emery was 6 years old, an alien spacecraft crash-landed in her small town. Did they come in peace or with more sinister intentions?

There's also a lengthier description of the show here.

Falling Skies

Here's a promo video for the imminent third season, entitled "Alien Propaganda."

Continuum

Here's a promo for episode seven, "Second Degree."

Warehouse 13

Here are short descriptions for the episodes airing June 17 and June 24:

Episode 4.17 - What Matters Most
When residents of a posh gated community start getting affected by a mysterious, versatile artifact, Myka and Pete investigate.

Episode 4.18 - Lost & Found
A lead on a cache of artifacts stolen from Warehouse 12 by the infamous pirate, Roaring Dan Seavey.

[SpoilerTV]

Teen Wolf

Daniel Sharman discusses his character Isaac's relationships with the rest of the cast heading into season three:

For Isaac, Peter is a really important person in his growth ‘cause he sees someone who is just a complete loose canon, and someone that he could be, if he allowed himself to give in to those urges of immediacy and anger and pain. I think he looks at Peter as a warning side of something that he shouldn’t be, but he also kind of admires him, in a strange way. With Derek, he looks at him as a flawed leader that he’s not entirely sure if he wants to follow. When this dynamic all comes together, it’s always a funny relationship between all of us. Being the youngest of the lot, Isaac is always watching and learning and figuring out which of these people he wants to follow, or if he wants to follow any of them.

What sort of relationship does Isaac have with Scott (Tyler Posey) now?
With Scott, Isaac sees somebody who does have a great moral compass. Scott really has something that Isaac admires, which is this idea of right and wrong. That relationship begins to build out of a shared idea of what is right. But then, as the season goes on, he sees the ability for Scott to be flawed. Isaac is picking and choosing what he can take from everybody, and figuring out what he wants from these new powers.

[Collider]

Beauty and the Beast

Here's an interview with star Jay Ryan about season two.

Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.

Check out new set videos for Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, plus new clips from World War Z, Kick-Ass 2, and This Is The End. The Twelfth Doctor could be announced by as soon as next month. Deborah Snyder and David S. Goyer explain the superhero physics of Man of Steel. Spoilers right now!

Top image from Man of Steel.

Man of Steel

Here's a Daily Planet-set clip featuring Amy Adams as Lois Lane and Laurence Fishburne as Perry White.

And here's another TV spot.

Producer Deborah Snyder discusses how her husband Zack Snyder's decision to shoot the entire movie with handheld cameras aided the realistic tone of the film:

I think it’s a whole different — again, the whole movie’s handheld. That’s something completely different. He just wanted to approach this film in a different way. I mean, so I think you are going to see something that’s new. I think you’re going to see something that’s more organic. Again, we’re shooting more on physical locations than we ever have before. It was very important to really put him in our real world, so that’s kind of — I think all those decisions led to how he’s operating the camera. It all kind of — when that’s your end goal, you make certain choices to get to that goal... He’s shooting the action in a different way on this one. I mean, it’s still going to be really awesome and a lot of the movie — I mean, listen, there’s a certain style to it. You know, I don’t think it’s going to be as handheld as say like, a Bourne, where it’s very messy. But, it’s definitely, I think you’ll be pleased at the action and what he’s doing, but he is doing different things.

Screenwriter David S. Goyer builds on that by explaining how the film approaches the more fantastical aspects of the character, all while staying relatively grounded:

Yeah, this is true to the Superman world. It’s just that, this is an attempt to depict a slightly more realistic take on it. That doesn’t mean that it’s going to be Goth Superman or something like that.

Well, was there anything that you were writing that you took out because you said, “This is too much, this is too cartoony, this is too something,” and you said, “This isn’t going to fit in my realistic way or portraying this character”?
No, only because that was the approach from the beginning. I mean, it was always just, if this kind of really happened in the real world, even in terms of how his powers work, I mean, Zack and his team did a really interesting sort of scale of power, and they did a sort of how much fire power each of the.. .a 40 caliber bullet, a .50, you know, these kinds of things, like a shell grenade would work on a human versus a Kryptonian. Like, you’ll get the physics on all of that, so that like, an M-4 would knock a human back this far. An M-4 would knock a Kryptonian back this far. You know, the fire power from the A-10 Warthogs would knock a human back this far. It will knock a Kryptonian back this far. So, we sort of did all the physics on it, or Zack’s team did all the physics, so that it’s that attempt. So there are rules and science rules within this movie and this universe that things have to apply to, so it’s not just like, magically do whatever. The Kryptonians can jump yea high in our gravity kind of thing. They can punch this hard, lift this much, that sort of thing.

There's still a ton more at the link. [Collider]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Here's a set video.

And here's the latest bunch of photos from the Cleveland set. They feature some great shots of Sebastian Stan as the Winter Soldier, Chris Evans as Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, and Anthony Mackie as Falcon. Check out the links for more. [Cleveland.com, Fan-Girl.org, and Comic Book Movie]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Here's a set video from the filming of the movie's high school graduation scene, in which Emma Stone's Gwen Stacy is Valedictorian.

And here's a set photo. Check out more at the link. [Coming Soon]

Interstellar

According to Heather Klimchuk, Alberta's Minister of Culture, director Christopher Nolan may shoot at least part of his upcoming sci-fi epic in the province:

“Alberta film has been working with Warner Bros. for the past few months, helping with location and things like that. It’s not green lit yet, but it is looking very positive.”

Nolan previously shot portions of Inception in Alberta. [Calgary Herald]

World War Z

Here's a TV spot.

Kick-Ass 2

Here's an international version of the latest trailer.

This Is The End

Here are four sneak peek clips from the celebrity-stuffed apocalyptic comedy.

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Star Jay Baruchel discusses the sequel to one of Dreamworks' best ever films:

It took us three bloody years to do the first one so it’s a piecemeal process. I’ve been working on Dragon 2, on and off, for the past year and a half now. And boy is it ever something special. I truly adore the first one. I think it’s one of the greatest flicks ever. Period. And one of my proudest moments. So it’s no hyperbole when I say we smoke the first one with number two.

It’s going to be pretty incredible in every way. The emotional content, the action sequences, it’s everything it’s supposed to be and then some. It’s really going to be a pretty incredible, beautiful flick. People will go buy tickets, see this movie, and be taken on a journey like they’ve never been on.

[/Film]

Doctor Who

This isn't exactly surprising, but the casting process is reportedly already underway for the Twelfth Doctor — based on the linked report, I'm not sure any actors have actually auditioned yet, but the preliminary wheels appear to be in motion. We may actually know the identity of the Twelfth Doctor within the next month, as it's quite reasonably thought that the announcement needs to be made before the Christmas special begins filming, as otherwise the secret would inevitably be revealed in set photos. The report also mentions that the next season will be 12 — rather than 13 — episodes long, and that the BBC hasn't ruled out casting a woman as the Doctor. [Radio Times]

True Blood

Alexander Skarsgård discusses what's ahead for Eric this season:

“Someone is introduced, a new character, into Eric’s life... there’s someone new who’s suddenly part of his inner circle... We’re wrapping up. We’re now [doing] the last two episodes of the season. I’m obviously not going to reveal what happens in those last two episodes but Eric has been busy this year because, up until now, the humans have been blood bags. Eric doesn’t really care about humans and they can’t really do anything. But this season, for the first time in a millennium, the humans can actually fight back. The governor of Louisiana has figured out a way to be a real threat and fight back. So it’s tough for Eric. It’s not as easy as it was before, dealing with the humans.”

[Inquirer Entertainment]

Arrow

Here are interviews with stars Stephen Amell, Colton Haynes, Susanna Thompson, David Ramsey, and Emily Bett Rickards.

Executive producer Marc Guggenheim discusses the decision to kill off Tommy and what it means for season two, as well as Oliver's continued evolution into a hero:

When you get to the end of a season and you know there's another following, you want to strike a delicate balance between making the audience feel like you've wrapped up their story and closed a particular chapter, but at the same time you want them leaning in and wanting to come back for Season 2. There's a whole bunch of different ways to do that. For us, our big question is always, "What's going to give us the best story and the most story?" and when we did the "creative map" on killing off Tommy, it made us realize all these different stories that can now be told, along with different character dynamics that can now be played. It really was a stone thrown in the pond of "Arrow" and the ripples continue to extend. They'll echo throughout Season 2. We didn't kill off Tommy just to end the season with a bang. We did it for all the long term effects it will have on Oliver and the rest of the cast.

Last time we spoke, you said how in Season 1 the journey of Oliver went from one of a man trying to get vengeance and cross names off a list to one of a man trying to save a city. In light of Tommy's death, what can we expect Oliver's journey to be in Season 2?

Actually, in the digital comic [that bridges the gap between seasons one and two] there's a moment we'll look back on as the very last time Oliver was the vigilante. Season 2 is all about him going from vigilante to being a hero. There really is a difference. Especially in comics, we tend to use those words interchangeably, but Season 2 really spells out the difference between what it means to be a vigilante and what it means to be a hero. That's something we grab by the throat and don't let go of starting in episode 1 of Season 2. The digital comic presents the final, final moment of Oliver truly taking the law into his own hands and being judge, jury and executioner as opposed to being a more inspirational figure in the form of a hero.

[Comic Book Resources]

Teen Wolf

Here's a promo for the next episode, "Chaos Rising."

Costar Ian Bohen explains where his character Peter's head is at as season three beings:

There has been a little bit of a time lapse, and Peter has worked hard to get back into the good graces of everybody. He wants to be a part of the pack again and, in my opinion, he doesn’t want to be killing people anymore or getting back into his bad ways. He’s trying to reform himself, and I think he likes these guys. Having said all that, he’s definitely up to something and he has a master plan that we don’t know of yet. He’s really sewing the seeds of whatever sort of chaos he wants to happen, later on. I don’t actually believe he’s sincere, so we’ll have to see how far they’re willing to let him get back in, before something happens... He’s a great villain. He’s charismatic, he’s charming and he does bad things, but you kind of want to forgive him. He’s like a little puppy or a small child that you want to scold and be like, “Don’t do that anymore! Stop killing people!” And he’s like, “Okay, I’ll try not to do that.”

There's plenty more at the link. [Collider]

Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.

It's hard to compare across eras, but I'd say that Peter Davison was probably the highest-profile actor to be cast in the role, followed by either Jon Pertwee or Christopher Eccleston. In Davison and Eccleston's cases, there were specific reasons why the series wanted to bring in more of a name actor — John Nathan-Turner felt that he needed someone with sufficient star power (not to mention a markedly different acting style) to follow on from Tom Baker, whose performance had become so iconic in the popular imagination. And, of course, with Eccleston, they were looking to revive the series after 16 years (TV movie excepted), so a recognizable name was a definite plus. I think there may have been some similar motivations in bringing in Jon Pertwee, who was quite well-known for his light entertainment work, at a period of major, multifaceted transition for the franchise.

So yeah, it's definitely true that a relatively well-known actor can be good in the role. It's also probably true that most of the names thrown around are of actors who are significantly more famous than Davison was in 1981 or Eccleston was in 2005. And it's probably true that Doctor Who generally casts unknowns, and the occasions in which it has cast bigger names were during difficult transition periods when a lead with star power could tangibly benefit the show. I'd say Who is currently operating from a position of strength, so I think the show could definitely cast a relative unknown, and the success the show has had in the last 7 years with David Tennant and Matt Smith suggests that's a sound strategy.

Then again, Peter Davison is one of my three absolute favorite Doctors, so I wouldn't be against casting whoever the Peter Davison of 2013 is. I've previously suggested that that might be Martin Freeman, but I've since been persuaded that he's too famous to really fit that bill anymore.

This is totally frivolous, but this seems like the sort of thing you'd have some thoughts on — how would one rank the Doctors in term of fame/notability when they were cast in the role? Going from 1 for most famous to 11 for most unknown, here's my initial stab at it:

1. Peter Davison (I'm giving him the nod as All Creatures was a popular hit in the UK when he was cast, whereas Eccleston's films typically more prestige fare and his big TV roles were about a decade previous...)
2. Christopher Eccleston (...although I'm willing to be convinced otherwise)
3. Jon Pertwee (Light entertainment and radio work probably makes him the other "name" actor to be cast in the role)
4. Paul McGann (Alien 3 might be the biggest movie a Doctor made before being cast, but I suspect he was more a familiar face than a really known name in 1996)
5.David Tennant
6. Patrick Troughton (I'd say Troughton and Tennant are toss-ups, in that they were both working actors with some moderately recognizable performances but who clearly hadn't broken through pre-Who. I'll give the edge to Tennant, just because he had Blackpool and Casanova shortly before Who, and I don't see the equivalent on Troughton's CV in the 1963-66 range.)
7. William Hartnell (People were probably vaguely aware of him, but "stardom" seems a particularly nebulous term when applied to 1963 — William Russell was the bigger name in the initial cast, right?)
8. Tom Baker (He was Rasputin in Nicholas and Alexandra, but that really seems to be the only role of particular note pre-1974)
9. Colin Baker (A working TV actor like Troughton, though I don't really see any notable pre-Who roles on his CV)
10. Sylvester McCoy (I'll roll with your judgment here — it seems like he was well-known in comedy circles, but I suspect that meant he was unknown in all other circles in 1987 Britain)
11. Matt Smith (Unless Party Animals was a bigger deal than I think it was — certainly possible! — then it seems like he's the closest the show has ever come to casting an unknown)

I believe the plan is to begin filming series 8 in the fall, which means there's really no way to keep the new Doctor's identity a secret until the Christmas special. It *might* be just doable if they were holding off on filming until the spring, but it's just not possible under the current schedule.

Tom Baker was nominated for a couple Golden Globes for Nicholas and Alexandra in 1971, but I really have no idea if that means *anything.* It seems like we can categorize the actors thus:
Star: Peter Davison (using your "instantly recognizable on a British street" definition)
Household Names: Christopher Eccleston (he might easily have been considered a star if he'd been cast in the TV movie in 1996 right after Our Friends in the North, Cracker, and Shallow Grave, but I think his indie/prestige-heavy career choices meant he was more of just a household name in 2005, 28 Days Later notwithstanding), Jon Pertwee
Recognizable Faces: Paul McGann, William Hartnell
Rising Star: David Tennant
Working Actors: Patrick Troughton, Colin Baker
Near Unknowns: Sylvester McCoy, Tom Baker, Matt Smith

And that particular order is meant to reflect the revised rankings. I think we've done the world a very useful service.

Oh, also, regarding post-Who career, I'm not so sure Troughton wins hands down. We'll save ranking the post-Who careers for some other time, but surely Davison has to be at least a very, very strong contender there. I don't think Troughton has a post-Who series with the critical acclaim of A Very Peculiar Practice (well, D. Troughton does, admittedly), and Davison has consistently found starring/regular roles on quite a few series since then, at least some of which are quite good (I have a huge soft spot for The Last Detective, for a start). He's never really done movies, but he's got to be considered one of the UK's most successful pure TV/stage actors of the last 30 years.

Fair point! He definitely wasn't a *total* unknown, but I think it's reasonable to say he was one of the least known actors when it came to the viewing public at large.

Check out a bunch of new interviews with the director and stars of Man of Steel. Russell Crowe explains why his Noah is no hero, while Evangeline Lilly describes her new Elf in the Hobbit trilogy. Stars Ming-Na Wen and Clark Gregg drop Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. hints while Jaime Murray talks Defiance and Warehouse 13. Spoilers now!

Top image from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

Man of Steel

Here's a clip from Amy Adams's appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live that features Henry Cavill as Superman and Adams as Lois Lane. [Collider]

Here are interviews with director Zack Snyder and Jor-El actor Russell Crowe.

And here's an interview with Amy Adams on Good Morning America.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Here's a new video from the Cleveland set. You can also check out some new images and videos here, here, and here.

The Avengers 2

Writer-director Joss Whedon says he's confident the currently unsigned Robert Downey, Jr. will be back as Tony Stark:

"He is Iron Man. He is Iron Man in the way that Sean Connery was James Bond. I have no intention of making Avengers 2 without him, nor do I think I’ll be called upon to do that. I don’t think it’s in my interest, Marvel’s interest, or his interest, and I think everything will be fine. But I know that this is Hollywood and you roll with things. You have to be ready for the unexpected. But I loved working with Robert, and everybody knows he embodied that role in a way no one else can. The day he was cast, I went up to [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige and said, “You brilliant son of a bitch.”

Comparing Downey's Tony Stark to Sean Connery's James Bond is some rather brilliant trolling on Whedon's part, since that's maybe the most famous example of a recast role in movie history, but still — Downey will probably be back for The Avengers 2. [The Daily Beast]

Noah

Russell Crowe discusses his title character in Darren Aronofsky's possibly post-apocalyptic biblical reimagining, and it instantly becomes a lot more clear why Crowe is the right choice for the role:

"The funny thing with people, they consider Noah to be a benevolent figure because he looked after the animals: 'Awww, Noah. Noah and the animals.' It's like, are you kidding me? This is the dude that stood by and watched the entire population of the planet perish. He's not benevolent. He's not even nice. At one point in the story his son says, 'I thought you were chosen because you were good?' And he goes, 'I was chosen because I can get the job done, mate.' I think people are going to be judging where their questions are coming from. I think they're going to be quite surprised what Noah actually means; what it means to be in that position."

Basically, Noah is the Wolverine of possibly post-apocalyptic, reimagined biblical figures. [ET Online]

The Hobbit

Here's how Lost alum Evangeline Lilly describes her newly created elf Tauriel:

“She’s a Sylvan Elf, which means she’s of a much lower order than the elves we all became acquainted with in The Lord of the Rings. She doesn’t hold the same kind of status that Arwen or Galadriel or Elrond or Legolas do — she’s much more lowly. She sort of goes against the social order of the elves a little bit. She will definitely have a love story. I can’t give away too much about it. It’s not a huge focus but it is there and it is important and it does drive Tauriel and her story and her actions. Tauriel’s relationship with Legolas is significant. They’ve known each other since they were children, and Legolas’ dad, [Elven king] Thranduil, has a soft spot for Tauriel and sees something very special in her. So if you grow up side by side, and your dad has a very special spot in his heart for this young woman who’s a fantastic warrior, I think it’s hard not to notice her. That’s probably as much as I can say.”

[EW]

Despicable Me 2

Here's a sextet of TV spots for the Despicable Me sequel. [Coming Soon]

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

ER and Stargate Universe actress Ming-Na Wen discusses her starring role as Agent Melinda May:

What can I say? I think what’s going to be interesting with her character is you discover her slowly. She’s a bit of a mystery, she’s a bit damaged, she doesn’t say very much. She’s slowly revealed — which means I don’t know who she is yet! [Laughs]

What do you think she makes of all these superheroes popping up?
I think if you’re part of that level, if you’re in that level being a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, you’ve seen it all, you know it all. There are things that still might surprise you, but at the same time, they have gone through that route before. It’s more about the task of, how do we fix a bad situation? How do we take care of this and make it a benefit for our country? I think those are our real mindsets — not so much “Holy... whoa! Look at what this person can do...!”, you know? Because they’ve seen aliens fly from a hole up in the sky. We’ve seen a semi-god, so it’s really about, how can we take care of this particular situation.

[IGN]

Clark Gregg confirms that Agent Coulson is the show's protagonist instead of just one member of an ensemble, or at least that's the plan:

"That's the theory of those involved, that Agent Coulson is driving the ship. But I'm surrounded by a particular ensemble of young S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, [as well as] the magnificent Ming-Na Wen who plays Agent Melinda May, who's a very notorious badass within S.H.I.E.L.D. I'm excited to shoot the show, we've only shot one. I'm excited to see where it goes. We shot the pilot, [ABC] picked that up, in about six or seven weeks we start shooting more of them and we will have just enough of them in the can that we'll be theoretically ahead of when they show them on TV."

You can watch the interview with Gregg below. [Comic Book Movie] http://https//www.youtube.c...

Under the Dome

Here's the official description for the new CBS summer series:

THE RESIDENTS OF CHESTER'S MILL FIND THEMSELVES TRAPPED UNDER A MASSIVE TRANSPARENT DOME AND SEALED OFF FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD, ON THE SUMMER SERIES PREMIERE OF "UNDER THE DOME," MONDAY, JUNE 24

Series is Based on the Bestselling Novel by Stephen King

"Pilot" - When the residents of Chester's Mill find themselves trapped under a massive transparent dome with no way out, they struggle to survive as resources rapidly dwindle and panic quickly escalates, on the series premiere of UNDER THE DOME, Monday, June 24 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

There's also a complete list of the regular and recurring cast at the link. [SpoilerTV]

In The Flesh

Here's a trailer for BBC America's upcoming zombie miniseries.

Defiance

Here's a promo and a sneak peek of the first four minutes of the next episode, "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times."

Star Jaime Murray discusses her character Stahma:

“You never know if what Stahma is saying is true... I don’t think it’s [necessarily true that] she and Kenya are buddies. I don’t think Stahma is close to anybody... I don’t think you ever really know what Stahma’s Need/Want is — and that’s one of the interesting things about playing her... [She's an] interesting mix of archetypes and complexity. She’s otherworldly yet also kind of strangely familiar, because there are cultural and time clashes going on in her make-up. Sometimes I feel like I’m in a Shakespearean play or something. She’s a steely woman, and though she behaves in a subservient way because it’s her culture, I don’t think that’s her nature at all — and that’s confusing for the audience.”

[TV Line]

Warehouse 13

Here's a promo and a sneak peek for the next episode, "Runaway."

Additional reporting by Katharine Trendacosta and Charlie Jane Anders.

Wolverine had to lose an essential part of himself for his latest solo movie. Zack Snyder explains how he avoided making Superman a god in Man of Steel. Joss Whedon muses on the internal struggles of The Avengers 2. Check out the latest images from the sets of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Godzilla. Spoilers now!

Top image from Man of Steel.

Man of Steel

Here's the latest sneak peek clip, featuring Christopher Meloni as Colonel Nathan Hardy and Antje Traue as Faora.

Here's a pair of interviews with stars Henry Cavill and Russell Crowe, courtesy of Hitfix.

Director Zack Snyder explains how he approached Superman as a character:

"I went into the movie trying to say, if we were Superman, how would we react in these situations? Because I always felt in the past Superman has kind of been this unrelatable character — we look at him like a god. And I felt like I understood the 'why' of Superman ... we understood his love of humanity and his morality and then we would 'get' the grown-up Superman... I was approached for the very first time after '300' and asked if I wanted to do Superman. I was doing 'Watchmen' and I thought it was difficult to take a sidestep there — it's like the opposite in a weird way. But I am a fan of the character, and I felt more after 'Watchmen' like I was ready to make Superman because I felt like I had broken the rules, and I could fix it... I don't think [producer] Chris [Nolan] knows how to discuss or would want a non-personal movie. And I don't know how to make a movie that's not personal — it's impossible. And I don't think Chris would ask me to do it if I was going to do it that way."

[MTV]

Composer Hans Zimmer explains how he scored one of the movie's most important scenes:

For instance, the scene where Krypton explodes — I don’t think it’s giving anything away, we all know that — the idea was huge, epic orchestral, because that’s what the images are, and I suddenly thought what if we go the other way. What if we stay focused on Mom. What is that? To save the world, to save your child, to give your child away, to send your child across the universe. What must you be feeling? I went for the smallest, just a single violin, middle e stradivarious, but that violin going for the epicness, we kept focusing in on the small, the personal. I try to just keep my eye on that, don’t ever let go of that, don’t ever let go of the characters. Quite honestly my way into this movie, having grown up with Superman and knowing that Kryptonite can kill him, I never thought about what else could kill him. I finally figured it out, it’s very simple: he has feelings. You can break his heart. That’s his vulnerability. He’s a decent man, or Kryptonian. This idea of wanting to be a part of the human race, that struggle that people have go through.

There's a ton more at the link. [Collider]

The Avengers 2

At the end of an interview about his take on Much Ado About Nothing, writer-director Joss Whedon gets in this joking exchange about the Avengers putting on their own Shakespearean production. While some of this is clearly facetious, there do seem to be a few things worth noting in his response:

So for Avengers 2, you have a draft done, you start shooting in early 2014. What will be the main conflict this time, now that they've formed a team? Trying to stay a team? Becoming their own worst enemy? Because these are not folks who can pull off making a movie out of a Shakespeare play in twelve days.
No, they're not. And actually, that's the middle of the movie, them trying to. It's the Avengers trying to do Measure for Measure, and it doesn't go well. It's very exciting, especially in 3-D. [Laughs] The rest of it, you're right about — it was necessary to build this team, but what happens to them and to the world when they actually exist as a team? How does that work? And I have until we shoot in February to make sure that I'm right.

[Vulture]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Here are some more set videos from the ongoing filming in Cleveland. [Comic Book Movie]

And here's a pair of images of Chris Evans's Captain America and Sebastian Stan's Winter Soldier locked in combat. Check out the link for a couple more. [Comic Book Therapy]

Thor: The Dark World

Here are five high-res images. [IGN]

The Wolverine

Here's an excerpt from an interview with director James Mangold in the latest issue of Movie Magic Magazine:

The concept that I brought in to the movie was a concept of kind of wanting to explore Wolverine at this place where he's lost everything. The original saga is so much about his own mortality and moving on and love and how Wolverine can't love or connect with people because in a sense he outlives them all and so many of them die on his watch. He's lost so many people he cared about in the past. The Wolverine we find in this movie is a guy who has given up. If living is defined by our interactions and intimacy with other people, it's a Wolverine who has given up on that. That's a really great place to start with a character, and then on top of that it was instinct working on the script that it just seemed like an impediment to have him be invulnerable. If anything, I wanted this movie to be about what happens when a god is vulnerable; when an immortal becomes vulnerable. This is everything he's been wishing for, but is it what he wanted? Meaning you find a guy who almost would pay money to be able to get off this boat and can't, because his mortal coil is immortal, then suddenly circumstances in the story actually make him vulnerable. Now he has to deal with what he wished for.

Check out the link for more. [Comic Book Movie]

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Here are some Montreal set photos featuring a watery fight between Michael Fassbender's Magneto and Nicholas Hoult's Beast. This is also the first good look at the movie's new Beast makeup. Check out a few dozen more set photos at the link. [Fan-Girl]

Here's an interview with Twilight actor Booboo Stewart, who plays Warpath in the movie.

Godzilla

Here's an official behind-the-scene image from the set of Gareth Edwards's Godzilla movie. [@Legendary]

Doctor Who

Implicitly confirming that she is indeed continuing on as Clara after Matt Smith's departure, Jenna-Louise Coleman discusses the prospect of a new Doctor:

“I am excited for the new doctor, but it’s so far off in the distance. We have so much still to get through including the goodbye... I’m sure whoever they pick will be amazing.”

That last quote was reportedly in response to being asked about a potential female Doctor. [Telegraph]

Falling Skies

Here are descriptions for this Sunday's two-part season premiere:

Season Premiere Part 1: “On Thin Ice” – Sunday, June 9, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) – TV-14-LSV
Season three of Falling Skies opens seven months after the 2nd Mass arrived in Charleston. In the interim, Tom has been elected to political office, but he has his hands full as the resistance continues to battle the alien invaders. Tom’s decision to have the rebel skitters fight alongside humans creates tension and raises suspicions that someone may be feeding secrets to the enemy. Meanwhile, Hal struggles with nightmares that seem so real, he has difficulty knowing if he’s awake or dreaming. And Tom and Anne prepare to welcome their baby. Terry O’Quinn and Gloria Reuben guest star.

Season Premiere Part 2: “Collateral Damage” – Sunday, June 9, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) – TV-14-LV
With hostilities escalating between the resistance and the alien invaders, Tom calls on a nuclear specialist (guest star Robert Sean Leonard) known as “The Rat King” to come up with a plan that will strip the aliens of their power. As suspicion continues to mount about a mole within the resistance, Tom and his leaders make a drastic decision that jeopardizes trust among the group. Anne, meanwhile, has a feeling that all is not right with her newborn. Gloria Reuben also guest stars.

And here's an interview with Sarah Carter, who plays Maggie on the show.

Warehouse 13

The show has begun production on its six-episode final season, and here's a quote from showrunner Jack Kenny to mark the occasion:

“Warehouse 13 has been my dream job these past four years. These last six episodes will be a gift from my brilliant writing staff and the best cast and crew in television to our amazingly loyal fans. I’m thrilled that we can build the climax of our Warehouse tale to a satisfying conclusion.”

[SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.

Although all birds rely on internal fertilization for reproduction, the males of just 3% of bird species actually possess penises —instead, males and females alike invert and bring together their cloacas, a basic opening through which all the birds' various bodily emissions pass.

That's particularly strange, because male birds do have the genetic coding necessary for a penis, and they do briefly have genitalia as embryos. But during their development, a genetic programs of sorts is triggered that cuts off the cell growth for the penis, and by the time the males are born, only a rudimentary vestige is left over. According to researchers from the University of Florida, the key gene here is known as Bmp4, which is active in species like chickens that do undergo this transformation but not found in the small number of bird species, such as ducks and emus, that retain normal penises. In a statement, team member Martin Cohn discusses the finding:

"Regulation of the balance between cell proliferation and cell death is essential for controlled growth and development. Too much cell division or too little cell death can lead to overgrowth or mis-regulated growth, as in cancer. If the balance is tipped in the other direction, deficient cell division or excess cell death can lead to underdevelopment or even absence of a tissue or organ. Our discovery shows that reduction of the penis during bird evolution occurred by activation of a normal mechanism of programmed cell death in a new location, the tip of the emerging penis.

"Genitalia are one of the fastest-evolving organs in animals, from mollusks to mammals. It is also the case that genitalia are affected by birth defects more than almost any other organ. Dissecting the molecular basis of the naturally occurring variation generated by evolution can lead to discoveries of new mechanisms of embryonic development, some of which are totally unexpected. This allows us to not only understand how evolution works but also gain new insights into possible causes of malformations."

But just why do the males of so many bird species lose their penises? There's no clear evolutionary advantage for this, but the researchers speculate that this provides the females far more choice when it comes to reproductive partners, and that in turn presumably makes for more successful species overall. However, that's only a preliminary explanation—for now, the simple fact that birds have genetic programs that shrivel away their penises seems like more than enough news for one day.

Via Current Biology. Image by Jim Bahn on Flickr.

Planets have to start out somewhere, and the leading theory is that they begin as dust particles clumping together to form larger and larger building blocks, before finally emerging eons later as full-blown planets. But the exact physics that would allow such clumps to form has long been frustratingly unclear.

That's why new research of Oph-IRS 148, a star located some 400 light-years away in the constellation of Ophiuchus, is so exciting to astronomers — that's an artist's impression of the system up top. Using the ALMA telescope at the European Southern Observatory, astronomers have discovered what's known as a dust trap, a safe haven for particles to collide and combine without being in constant danger of falling into their parent star. In this case, a vortex in a disc of gas surrounding the star creates a high-pressure region in which the dust particles can merge together without losing orbit and plummeting toward the star.

This particular dust trap is unlikely to form planets — indeed, it's probable that the gaseous disc is connected to a hidden planet or possibly a companion star hidden from our view behind all the dust, so this particular solar system probably won't unlock all the deepest mysteries of planetary formation. But it does at least help explain just how dust particles could begin the process of forming vastly larger bodies without obliterating each other or getting vaporized by their star. Lead author Nienke van der Marel of the Netherlands's Leiden Observatory explains further:

“At first the shape of the dust in the image came as a complete surprise to us,” says van der Marel. “Instead of the ring we had expected to see, we found a very clear cashew-nut shape! We had to convince ourselves that this feature was real, but the strong signal and sharpness of the ALMA observations left no doubt about the structure. Then we realised what we had found. It’s likely that we are looking at a kind of comet factory as the conditions are right for the particles to grow from millimetre to comet size. The dust is not likely to form full-sized planets at this distance from the star. But in the near future ALMA will be able to observe dust traps closer to their parent stars, where the same mechanisms are at work. Such dust traps really would be the cradles for new-born planets.”

For more, check out the ESO website.

Image credit: ESO/L. Calçada.

Joss Whedon may have found a kick-ass Quicksilver for The Avengers 2. A new rumor suggests Spider-Man will be fighting a whole crew of villains in Amazing Spider-Man 3. TV spots show off Pacific Rim and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Plus more videos and interviews for Man of Steel! Spoilers are on the way!

Top image from The Walking Dead.

Star Wars: Episode VII

Director J.J. Abrams offers a one-sentence encapsulation of his approach to the film, plus a relatively concrete update on the filming schedule:

“I think that the thing is so big and so massive to so many people that the key to moving forward is honoring but not revering what went before... Most likely we are going to be moving to London at the end of the year for the Star Wars movie."

That more or less confirms that production will begin in the UK in early 2014, as was previously rumored. For his part, Abrams indicated his preference would actually have been to shoot the film in Los Angeles, but Disney and LucasFilm apparently decided on Britain before he was brought on board. [Deadline]

Man of Steel

Here's a clip featuring a confrontation between Russell Crowe's Jor-El and Michael Shannon's General Zod. [Comic Book Movie]

Here's an interview with stars Henry Cavill and Amy Adams in which they answer questions from fans.

Producer Deborah Snyder discusses why this movie tries to emphasize character over action:

I think people expect the action, the spectacle, but the depth of the characters and I think the struggles that they go through, that they’re very modern struggles and they’re very relatable struggles. That was kind of our goal to make him as human and as relatable as possible. Because I think before, at least for me, because I can only speak for me, but I found that he was always so good and super-boyscout-ish that I couldn’t really get a feel – at least in the movies, because that’s how I come to him, not really reading the comics but from the movies, and I feel like there is a reason that this character has lasted 75 years. I think it is all these stories inside the cannon that different people can relate to. Whether it’s the two fathers – I think we touch on family and the struggle what it is to be good. I think for us when we read this script seeing Clark being bullied, and seeing him lost in the world, and seeing him try to find his place that was the most interesting aspect of the story for me, because it was a superman that I had never seen before.

She also discusses how she, director Zack Snyder, and writer David S. Goyer tried to translate the vast Superman canon to the screen:

Yeah, I think that was a collaboration. I mean, listen, David Goyer is the expert, whenever we were unsure – Zack has always been a fan of Superman and has read the comics, but by no means is he an expert on everything Superman, but Goyer knows a lot about it. So whenever we had a question we would go an ask Goyer, “Hey is that right?” Or, “We need the name of a character, find something,” because we really wanted to use a lot from the canon. I think then that’s how Zack came into play. Zack would try to add more things because respecting the canon, although we’re modernizing, it is something that was important to him. And getting those little tidbits, whether it’s the name of someone or a place – we created this Kryptonian language that in Krypton, on the walls, there’s this awesome calligraphy on the walls and its actually translated words and there’s phrases that are there scrolled on the walls. That’s not too spoilers because I didn’t tell you what they are.

There's more at the link. [Collider]

The Avengers 2

While Kick-Ass actor Evan Peters is reportedly the top choice to play the 20th Century Fox version of Quicksilver in Bryan Singer's X-Men: Days of Future Past, Joss Whedon is reportedly zeroing in on a different person from the Kick-Ass cast to play the Marvel Studios version of the character. Specifically, it's Nicolas Cage star Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who is reportedly the frontrunner for the role. Whedon has indicated that Quicksilver and his sister Scarlet Witch would be vital new characters in the sequel, whereas the current rumors indicate the X-Men version of Quicksilver is only slated to appear in one action sequence. [The Wrap]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Take this with a grain of salt, but there's a new report that cast member Colm Feore is playing Adrian Toomes in the sequel — Toomes, of course, being better known as the villainous Vulture. The report also indicates that Chris Cooper's Norman Osborn will don the Green Goblin gear for the climax, which would presumably feature the death of Gwen Stacy. And, since all good revelations come in threes, I guess, the final tidbit is that Feore's Vulture, Cooper's Goblin, Jamie Foxx's Electro, and Paul Giamatti's Rhino will come together to form 66.7% of the Sinister Six, who would then be the villains of the third film. [Comic Book Movie]

The Wolverine

Here's the latest promo photo. [Coming Soon]

Pacific Rim

Here's the latest TV spot.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Here's a TV spot.

The Walking Dead

Here's the first official behind-the-scenes look at the making of season four. [Coming Soon]

Daryl Dixon actor Norman Reedus praises the scripts for the fourth season:

“The scripts this season are just amazing. It feels like we’ve shot about three movies already. It’s super intense. They’ve introduced a way to make the zombies scary again,” he says. “They’re terrifying. The new threat is just unreal. The structure of the writing is a bit different. It’s so intense. These are our best scripts so far.”

Check out the link for more. [EW]

Revolution

The second season will reportedly introduce the possibly recurring character Jesse, described as "a 30-year-old fit, cool, handsome guy." [SpoilerTV]

Supernatural

Co-executive producer Jim Michaels reveals that the upcoming ninth season will be 23 episodes long. [@TheJimMichaels]

Falling Skies

Showrunner Remi Aubuchon discusses the overall thematic arc of the third season:

A lot of Season 3 is about taking action, and the theme that we’re actually playing with is “What price victory?” In other words, how much are you willing to sacrifice? And since we follow Tom Mason, it’s really his dilemma. Here he is now, “the President of the New United States,” whatever that means. He has decided to align himself with aliens [the Volm] who seem to have the technology and know-how to beat back [the Espheni]. But at the same time, his family is in a number of crises that he’s not really paying attention to. And his own moral compass is sorely tested also, because just out of revenge or whatever, he wants that final victory and seems to be using any way to get it.

He also discusses how the show might fill in some blanks created by the time jump, starting with Hal's paralysis:

We actually don’t do flashbacks on Falling Skies; it’s kind of one of [executive producer] Steven [Spielberg]’s rules. But we do allow the audience to catch up to what has happened. We know from the second season that Karen did something to Hal, and one of our last moments in the last episode is watching this thing crawl out into his ear. But what we don’t know is the consequences. What I’ve always loved about Hal as a character is that he’s quick to anger, quick to action and quick to love. He wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s decisive. He’ll step in front of a bullet for someone. He’s just a pretty good guy, and I loved the idea that he is suddenly faced with this horrible secret that he has inside.

What about Maggie’s respective journey?
Maggie is someone who has said she’s never been able to stay in a relationship more than a few months. But she’s done that with Hal, she cares about Hal. What her journey is, as Sarah [Sanguine Carter] put really well in one of our panels, is that she finally understands the value of love and what it means. And she’s going to be sorely tested throughout the season on that because not only is Hal going to be going through a lot but she’s going to be going through a lot with Hal.

He also discusses what Hellboy's Doug Jones brings to the role of the Volm emissary Cochise:

You have Skitters, who are weird and ugly, and Overlords who are imposing. But we wanted a character that was going to be interactive with our cast, someone who was going to be a real force throughout the season. I don’t think there’s anybody like Doug who can make a rubber suit come alive the way he can. What he does with that part of it, in my opinion, is magic. But he’s also a terrific actor, and he found in Cochise not just an alien but a thinking, feeling being who finds himself with a species that he’s never encountered before, and that starts to change him as a character. We were incredibly lucky to get Doug; I didn’t think we had a shot in hell.

There's still a bunch more at the link. [TV Line]

Star Noah Wyle explains how he justified to himself the idea of Tom becoming president:

“I was a little nervous about asking audiences to get their mind around so much so quickly. But the way that I justified it was this alliance with the Volm has been very successful, and you can’t argue with results, and if the people need to feel there’s a President in order to feel a sense of normalcy and calm, then Tom’s willing to play that part, but that’s all it really is at this stage. He’s just playing a role, knowing full well that any formation of a government structure is premature until the war is finished. In actuality, he’s the president of 20 square blocks, and more like the mayor of a small town than actually the President. But, on his arc to becoming a good leader, it’s an important step to start him off in a suit that doesn’t quite fit, and that he gradually grows into as the season unfolds.”

There's more at the link, including some thoughts from costar Drew Roy. [KSiteTV]

Teen Wolf

MTV tweeted out a photo of departed cast member Gage Golightly with the simple caption "Surprise," suggesting that her character Erica Reyes might show up in the third season after all. [@MTVteenwolf]

Additional reporting by Katharine Trendacosta and Charlie Jane Anders.

Jennifer Lawrence is back in blue in new X-Men: Days of Future Past set photos... but who's standing next to her? Check out the latest set videos for Godzilla and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, plus new trailers for World War Z and Carrie. David S. Goyer explains why fatherhood is so crucial to Man of Steel. Spoilers ahoy!

Top image from Game of Thrones.

Man of Steel

Director Zack Snyder discusses the role of Michael Shannon's General Zod:

I think that the cool thing about Zod is that he offers a real physical and emotional threat to Superman that is much stronger than any earth-bound threat. He’s able to not only match him physically, but he also represents his people. He’s a hard opponent, that way.

Was it important for Zod to have a real reason for doing what he was doing?
Absolutely, yeah! Michael [Shannon] and I talked, right at the beginning, about how we wanted Zod’s point of view to be pretty clear. If this was happening to your planet and you were trying to save the people that you loved, what lengths would you go to?

Screenwriter David S. Goyer discusses the pressures of taking on Superman, as well as why the film is all about fathers:

It’s a huge challenge. I remember, five or six years ago, someone asked me at the Batman junket about whether or not I’d ever want to do Superman and, at the time, I said no. It’s an enormous responsibility. People have a very proprietary relationship with Superman. It’s important to respect the iconography and the canon, but at the same time, you have to tell a story. Once you land on who you think the character is and what his conflicts are, you have to let that lead you. You have to throw all that other stuff away and not be worried about this epic responsibility, or it will just crush and paralyze you.

What do you think Superman’s ultimate struggle is?
For me, it was very simple. It’s a story about two fathers. While I was writing the script, I became a stepdad and a dad, and my own dad died. I never thought that my own experiences would find a way into something like this. But, if you boil it down to that, it’s a man with two fathers and he has to decide which lineage he wants to choose – his Kryptonian father or his earth father. In the end, both make him the man that he becomes.

There's some more at the link. [Collider]

Henry Cavill explains how he approached the early part of Clark Kent's adulthood, in which he wanders the Earth trying to figure things out:

As far as the conflict that he went through or the journey, it wasn’t about classic Superman material. When you see Clark traveling through the world, trying to work out what and who and why he is, I didn’t go to source material for that. I applied my own life to it. As actors, it’s quite a lonely existence, unless you have someone traveling with you, the entire time. You spend a lot of time by yourself, and you meet new people. You make a temporary family. You love them, and then you never see them again, apart from the odd press conference. And you just apply that to the character. That’s exactly what he experiences – new groups of people constantly, and then disappearing and having to introduce himself to these other people, and prove to them that he’s a nice guy and that he tries to do all the right stuff. And then, all of a sudden, he disappears again. So, it was just that lonely aspect that I applied to it, as opposed to any classic Superman material.

And here are some thoughts from Michael Shannon about Zod:

The important thing to remember is that, on Krypton, Zod does not have any superpowers. He’s just a general. He’s been training for a long time, and whipping butt for a long time, there in Krypton. And then, he comes to Earth, and he goes through similar thing that Kal-El goes through, when he comes through, which is basically just the acclimatizing to the environment. But, Zod has probably been doing those moves since he was a little boy.

There are also some thoughts from costars Russell Crowe and Amy Adams at the link. [Collider]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Here's a new video from the Cleveland set. This one features a bus crash, and you can check out more photos from this sequence at the link. [Comic Book Movie]

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Here's a set photo of Jennifer Lawrence in the full Mystique costume. She is standing next to an unidentified actress who appears to be dressed as Misty Knight. Check out more at the link. [Fan Girl]

The World's End

Here are character posters for Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost's followup to Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. [/Film]

Godzilla

Here's a trio of set videos, showcasing the intensity of the destruction in this film. You can also check out some photos at the link. [Comic Book Movie]

World War Z

Here's a pair of TV spots. [Coming Soon]

Carrie

Here's the latest trailer for Kimberly Peirce's new adaptation of the Stephen King story, starring Chloe Moretz and Julianne Moore. [Coming Soon]

Despicable Me 2

Here's a clip.

Game of Thrones

Co-showrunner David Benioff discusses in general terms how he and partner D.B. Weiss will approach the fourth book, A Feast of Crows, which features a largely new cast of characters and is generally considered the weakest entry:

"I don't think we want to answer specifically what we're keeping and dropping, but we do take your point. The series has already reached a point where there are so many characters, particularly in season three we're introducing so many new ones, we run the risk of bursting at the seams as we try to cram every single subplot and all the various characters and it becomes impossible on a budgetary level and it becomes impossible on an episode-basis to jump around every few minutes to 30 different characters and locations. We don't want to do that, and recognize that as a real risk and we will take steps not to fall into that trap."

And author George R.R. Martin says he's still optimistic the TV series won't reach the end of the story before he does:

"I think the odds against that happening are very long. I still have a lead of several gigantic books. If they include everything in the books, I don't think they're going to catch up with me. If they do, we'll have some interesting discussions."

[EW]

True Blood

Here's the latest trailer for the upcoming sixth season. [Shock Till You Drop]

Under the Dome

Executive producer Neal Baer reveals Justified and The Following actress Natalie Zea will show up later in the season:

"Once you're stuck under the dome, casting is fairly limited because people can't get in, but that doesn't mean there might not be somebody hiding out. We've cast the beautiful Natalie Zea as a woman who makes an alarming appearance in a few episodes beginning in Episode 9. She plays Maxine, and if you think [the show's big baddie] Jim Rennie (Dean Norris) is trouble, you haven't seen trouble yet. And she'll be connected to a number of our characters. She can play both tough and sexy, which are a unique set of requirements."

[TV Guide]

Falling Skies

Here's a promo for the next episode, "Badlands."

And here's an interview with the cast, conducted by Wil Wheaton. [EW]

Showrunner Remi Aubuchon discusses what's ahead in season three, starting with the new cast members:

It’s an amazing experience to work with Noah [Wyle], who’s amazing. He’s always up for a challenge, whether it’s physical or whether it’s emotional, and we put him through quite a journey this season. We certainly did that last season, too, but this season, it’s even more daunting, and he’s been really up to it. And bringing in some fresh faces, like Doug Jones who plays Cochise – and we actually don’t see his face, but we see him – and Robert Sean Leonard and Gloria Reuben, it’s really quite wonderful to see how they fit into the dynamics that we already established. And Stephen Collins, who I’ve known for awhile, is a terrific guy. He embodies the President, but he also brought something that, at the end of that encounter, makes you realize there’s this incredible mutual respect that both of those guys have for each other. Tom says, “I didn’t vote for you,” and yet they both realize the gravity of the situation, which is fun to play with. I thought Stephen did a wonderful job of finding his own character and who he was with that. Certainly, there’s the challenge for Tom to suddenly realize, “Oops, I’m not the President, am I?”

Were any of the storylines that you explore in Season 3, things that you had thought about early on, after you’d joined the show?
Well, we worked out the mythology and the basic general trajectory of the series, at the beginning of the second season, for sure. The challenge always is, “How much do you open up the world? How much do you expose of the mythology?” You don’t want to expose too little and have fans get nervous, and you don’t want to expose too much and have no story left. But, I will say that there are a couple big things in the third season that we actually even tried to have happen in the second season, but just couldn’t. One of them is the introduction of a new alien race, which almost didn’t even happen at the end of the second season. Now, we’ve got a chance to really explore that, which is fun.

There's more at the link. [Collider]

Continuum

Here's a promo for the next episode, "Second Listen."

Teen Wolf

Here's a promo for the next episode, "Shape Shifted."

Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.

There are more behind-the-scenes videos of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and World War Z. Joss Whedon explains how Guardians of the Galaxy will be like Star Wars: by trying not to be like Star Wars. Plus a Riddick banner and a new glimpse of Neill Blonkamp's Elysium. Spoilers!

Top image from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Man of Steel

Producer Deborah Snyder talks some more about the movie's approach to Superman:

He's straightforward and he's Superman. I think that's what's ironic about this particular film, making him more like us, and not necessarily seeing that character in that way before. I think people expect action and spectacle and all of this kind of stuff, but to see him struggle, and to see him confront issues that are more human issues, to see him lost and vulnerable in that way is not how he has really been portrayed in film — I know the comics have gone a lot further in different places, but if you're not a comic book fan, if you're a member of the general audience, I don't think you've ever seen this character this way. And I think that's what makes it different — that's your entry into him.

This feels sort of like the right time for a portrait of Superman where there are more shades of grey, as opposed to previous interpretations where audiences and filmmakers really projected their ideals upon the character. Do you think this story has cultural relevance or comments on where we are right now?
Look at our Smallville — look at small towns all over. It's not as idealistic as it has been portrayed before. Look at the state of newspapers — we hint at that [Lois Lane] goes and takes her story to the Internet. I think we are making a commentary on real life. Our film is ingrained in our world today, and our world isn't as idealistic as it once was.

There's more at the link. [Comic Book Resources]

Elsewhere, Deborah Snyder discusses Lois Lane and Amy Adams's performance:

Listen, I think Zack, in all the films he has these really strong women that… Sometimes we're making commentary about women's roles in society, sometimes it's very blatant. But I think the vision for Lois was always for her to be more proactive. On the surface in the past she's been this hard-hitting reporter but she's still always being rescued, and also we wanted her to be smart and you wanted to see that she was smart and proactive. I always say she saves him as much as he saves [her]. She saves him emotionally.

And physically!
And physically! She has a big role and we've not seen that before. Zack built on that. It was in the script initially but I know that was something that he built on as we went along in the process... [Amy Adams is] like this amazing actor. We knew it wasn't about the acting but we wanted to see just [her and Henry Cavill] together because there is that chemistry. There is that… Their relationship really has to work. Really, Zack wanted to just get in a room with the two of them and see what it was going to be like and how their dynamic would be. We didn't show it to anyone. It wasn't like we showed it to the studio. It was more for him being able to see that with them.

Again, there's more at the link. [Crave Online]

And here's a TV spot.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Here's a Cleveland set video depicting a chase sequence.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Joss Whedon, who just so happens to be Marvel Studios's creative consultant, explains why James Gunn is the perfect writer-director for this project:

I've talked to them about the story from the beginning, and the different drafts. One of the questions they asked me was "What do you think of James Gunn?" And I giggled like a school girl because I was like, "Oh, this movie is going to work."... When it comes to this, for me, my only piece of advice has been: I want to hear more of James. Let's pull out the formula. Give me more James. Make it weirder. The only way to achieve that "Star Wars" vibe is not to chase it — is to try to be an original universe and have all the fun and do all the stuff. And James is... he's perfect for that because even I said, "A raccoon?" And James's thing was, "Here's the deal. It's about the raccoon. This is why I love it: because of the raccoon and the tree." And I'm like, "Okay, that's the guy you need."

[Moviefone]

Elysium

Here's the first TV spot for District 9 director Neil Blomkamp's hard sci-fi epic.

Riddick

Here's a new banner. [Shock Till You Drop]

World War Z

Here's a bunch of behind-the-scenes B-roll footage.

Frankenstein

The Frankenstein project that stars Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe as Igor, is written by Chronicle's Max Landis, and is directed by Sherlock's Paul McGuigan has reportedly set a release date for October 17, 2014. [@ERCboxoffice]

The Purge 2

Producer Jason Blum has tweeted that a sequel to the Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey-starring dystopian film is in development. Whatever such a sequel's artistic merits might be, it's hard to argue with a $34 million opening weekend on a $3 million budget, so, sure, why not? [Deadline]

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Joss Whedon says he hopes to be as involved with the series as his schedule will allow:

I'll be as hands on [with Agents of SHIELD] as I can. I've stocked it with writers that I know and respect and trust because, obviously, I have this other film that I have to make. It's going to be on a case by case but I'll be in every story, every cut and all of that stuff.

[Bleeding Cool]

Elsewhere, he talks more about the show's overarching goals:

There's always the struggle between spectacle and a TV budget. What attracted me to "S.H.I.E.L.D." were the gadgets. But after the gadgets was humanity: The idea that there is an underside, a darker side, a more human context. Phil Coulson always represented the everyman, the schlemiel in the world of the fabulous or the mighty, gods and billionaires and legends. And that's what the show is for, it's for those people who, as remarkable as they may be, are not the supers, are not A-list.

What are the rest of us worth when there are people that are so extraordinary? That's a human story. We hired actors that I am so excited to welcome into our universe, and they're extraordinary, and they're going to bring so much to it. That's what I'm giving people every week; those actors, their stories, and the stories that they encounter. I know that we all share the same sensibility in terms of what makes it Marvel, what makes it that universe. I never worry about what the fanboys think because the fanboy is thinking it up.

[Moviefone]

The Vampire Diaries

Showrunner Julie Plec discusses what's ahead in season five:

"[There's] college, Paul Wesley playing two characters, a human Katherine... My god, like how great. Like the first time she catches a cold, how friggin' pissed is she going to be? You know, a new relationship with Damon and Elena trying to make it work and a villain in their midst that they don't know is a villain in the beginning. And Jeremy having to go back to school! Like what the hell cover story is that going to be? They had a memorial service for the kid, there were flyers! I think that there's going to be some great new characters and a great new world with the college thing. And some great romance and a pretty cool mythology in terms of Silas and the mystery of his past."

Plec also discusses the difficulty of writing compelling character deaths on a show full of immortal characters:

"We believe that death needs to have real stakes. But it wasn't until we created the ghost story and the idea of the Other Side that we started getting more of a glimpse of the people we had loved... And we debated a lot, and I go back and forth as a storyteller wanting to avoid breaking down the stakes of the story. If anyone can come back at any time, then you're really diminishing the power and the stakes. But on the flip side of that, losing a beloved character on a TV show, you feel a grief. There's a really powerful grief that comes attached to that. And sometimes I think we make the decision that it's okay to sort of break a rule and diminish the stakes after the fact because the joy of seeing this person is equally as powerful as having lost them."

[Zimbio]

Warehouse 13

Here's a promo and a sneak peek for the next episode, "What Matters Most."

Teen Wolf

Here's a promo for the next episode and third overall, "Fireflies." A short synopsis is below. [KSiteTV]

Boyd and Cora are under the influence of the full moon; Scott and Derek seek help from an unlikely ally.

And here's the description for the following episode, "Unleashed":

Scott tries to keep Isaac from confronting the twins in school; Stiles tries to prove his theory about the killings.

[SpoilerTV]

Teen Titans Go!

Cartoon Network has renewed the show for a second season. [TV Guide]

Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.

Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer discuss Justice League. Jamie Foxx explains why his Spider-Man villain sports a comb-over. Chloe Moretz explains how Hit-Girl grows up in Kick-Ass 2. (Hint: more swearing.) Director Noam Murro breaks down the 300 sequel trailer. Plus Denzel Washington is a sci-fi garbageman-turned-hitman. Spoilers!

Top image from Man of Steel.

Justice League

Here's an interview with Man of Steel director Zach Snyder and producer Deborah Snyder, in which the director cryptically discusses Justice League.

Man of Steel screenwriter David S. Goyer also discusses the possibility of future crossovers between different DC Comics characters, in the process absolutely confirming that the Dark Knight continuity won't be involved:

"The 'Dark Knight' films do not exist in the same universe. Zack [Snyder] has gone on record. The fact that we have Wayne Industries on the satellite, Bruce Wayne exists in this universe. Lex Luthor exists in this universe. Other metahumans do exist in this universe, so the hope is, depending on how the film does, that we'll be able to roll into some other films. If I were offered it, I wouldn't say no. Well, what are you going to do after Batman and Superman? How do you top yourself? I can't go back to Metamorpho after this."

Lest anyone take that as confirmation that Metamorpho will never show up in a movie — which, I mean, he probably won't, with all due respect to ol' Rex Mason — that last line can safely be considered a joke. [MTV]

Thor: The Dark World

Loki actor Tom Hiddleston offers some high praise for the sequel's director, Game of Thrones veteran Alan Taylor:

"Alan is amazing. He has this extraordinary breadth of vision about 'The Dark World' - just the scale of it, what he imagined Asgard to be, what the depth and the specificity of his imagination about extending the reach of the film and taking the audience into parts of the 'Thor Universe' that they haven't seen yet, I've found that really exciting."

Check out the complete video interview with Hiddleston below. [Flicks and the City]

The Wolverine

Here's a new TV spot.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Electro actor Jamie Foxx discusses the rather unimpressive appearance of the villain's alter ego, Max Dillon:

"I play Max Dillon, and this is me before I turn into the villain. My [real] sister is my hair stylist and she created the Django look, Ray Charles and things like that. So, I told her that, when I'm the nerd guy, I want to be the first black man with a comb over. I told her make me look like I would look if I never made it. I had a jheri curl and things didn't go right, so I Jimmy Mack it... What’s funny though is doing the voice. And the voice is like [growling], 'Yes, a world without mercy, a world without power.' But what’s funny is when I forget my line and I have to go back to my regular voice."

To actually hear a sample of that voice, check out the link. [The Tonight Show via Comic Book Movie]

Pacific Rim

Here are two more TV spots. [Shock Till You Drop]

RoboCop

Jay Baruchel, who costars in this weekend's This Is The End, talks about his role as OmniCorp marketing head Pope, a role that apparently means plenty of scenes alongside Michael Keaton's villainous CEO and Gary Oldman's RoboCop creator:

Oh shoot. Well, the film fan in me bent over backwards to get a chance to work with Gary Oldman and Michael Keaton, especially as it was in Toronto, which is only an hour flight from where I live, so it was a pretty quick, easy “Yes” to make. I have no idea how most movies I work on turn out until I see them, so I can’t speak to what this is going to be. All I can say is that I got to work with a director who I was a fan of. I went and sought out the Elite Squad movies under my own steam, on my own time, about two years before there was a RoboCop remake. So after already being a fan of Jose’s [Padilha]… when they said it was him and mentioned Oldman and Michael Keaton it was just, clearly, go pick the brains of people who I really, really respect. The film nerd that I am was a pig in shit. I got anecdotes from Beetlejuice for God’s sakes. I mean I have Commissioner Gordon on one side of me and Batman on the other, it was a wet dream, man.

[/Film]

District 10

Neill Blomkamp says he does want to make a District 9 sequel eventually, but he keeps coming up with other ideas he wants to make into movies first:

“I really want to make a District 9 sequel. I genuinely do. The problem is I have a bunch of ideas and stuff that I want to make. I’m relatively new to this – I’m about to make my third film, and now the pattern that I’m starting to realize is very true is that you lock yourself into a film beyond the film you’re currently working on. But it just doesn’t work for me. I don’t know if it works for other directors, but the amount of ideas and the amount of different places I want to go through the duration of making one film, means that I have no idea what else I want to do during that process. I only know at the end. So if I say I want to make District 10, and then I have 50 ideas while I’m making [next film] Chappie, and when I get to the end I don’t want to make it, it’s not a good place to be at. But I know I want to make District 10 at some point.”

[IGN]

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Here are eight new promo images from the second Hobbit movie. [IGN]

Kick-Ass 2

Star Chloe Moretz discusses the evolution of her character Mindy — alias Hit-Girl — and what that means regarding profanity:

“In the first one, you saw a lot more Hit-Girl than you did Mindy. I think you saw Mindy two times in the whole story. But in this movie, you see way more of Mindy than you do of Hit-Girl. You see this young girl struggling with who she is. In the last film, I only cussed six times in the movie - I counted! – but each time was really pivotal and it really meant something. And in this film it’s the same – it’s not like she just drops it all the time because she’s older. She only uses it when she’s Hit-Girl. She doesn’t use it when she’s Mindy.”

[Total Film]

Shovel Ready

Denzel Washington will reportedly play a "garbageman-turned-hitman" in an adaptation of an unpublished sci-fi thriller by New York Times culture editor Adam Sternbergh. Here's a description of the story, courtesy of Deadline:

In a bombed-out, near future New York City where most of the population escapes reality by tapping into a digital fantasy world, a contract killer is hired to kill the daughter of a powerful, maniacal evangelist. Ultimately, the killer becomes the girl’s protector.

[Deadline]

300: Rise of an Empire

Director Noam Murro explains how this movie is set concurrent to Zack Snyder's original 300:

"The idea of this movie was always that it takes place at about the same time of the first one. It's as if you zoomed out and saw a bigger time frame and told a bigger story of what happened in '300.' The first movie speaks to the detail of this sequel. I think '300' was wonderfully done in an operatic way, one location almost, and explore that. This is a much larger palette, historically and geographically. It is larger in scale, and it takes place on water."

He also discusses updating the look of the original film for this followup:

"I think that was the great thing about working with Zack and working with the studio. The idea was always to create a point of reference of the old movie, but technologically and visually push it further up the hill. It really is quite a difference in the way that it feels and looks. It does happen in water, and geographically, it is open. I think we've pushed it from a visual spectacle uphill, but the roots of this tree are grounded in the '300' world. We wanted to create different styles of battles, and there are very distinct ones in this movie. There's the fire battle and the fog battle."

There's more at the link. [MTV]

Tomb Raider

Buffy the Vampire Slayer writer and late-period showrunner Marti Noxon has reportedly been hired to write the script for MGM's new, rebooted Lara Croft movie. [Variety]

True Blood

Courtney Ford discusses her return as Portia Bellefleur in season six:

“After watching the Season 5 finale, which was pretty intense and crazy, things are getting a little heated in Bon Temps and it stands to reason that someone is going to need a lawyer... How much of Bill is in there? Is Bill still Bill? That's the big question mark. I think if she's afraid of Bill, she'd probably be double afraid of Billith. Billith is pretty scary."

[TV Guide]

Once Upon a Time

Here are some tidbits from Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis's recent panel at Austin's ATX Festival, courtesy of CarterMatt.com:

— Those people left in Storybrooke will not be forgotten. As a matter of fact, many of them could have larger roles when they are featured in the show based on who is not around.
— Some sort of reunion between the torn-apart Charming family … eventually.
— Two separate story arcs, one for the fall and one for the spring. There will be a longer hiatus than usual this coming season in an effort to keep that wonky schedule from happening again.
— Rumpelstiltskin trying yet again to redeem himself, but this time with trying to save Henry.

Check out the link for more, and there are also some additional spoiler-y tidibits over at Wetpaint and Latino Post. [CarterMatt]

The Originals

Executive producer says Hayley won't simply be a love interest for Klaus:

“Hayley is, by no means, the Cinderella in the Klaus love story. Hayley is a girl who’s pretty tough, fiery, independent … a survivor in her own right who got drunk, had sex and got knocked up. She’s going to have her own journey. She’s not really meant to be a threat to Klaus’ love life.”

[TV Line]

Orphan Black

Star Tatiana Maslany discusses why Sarah abandoned Kira:

“I think she left because she didn’t know how to be a mother. She just can’t handle that responsibility. For her, she’s always hustled and manipulated. That’s what she knows. And to have a little baby who’s reliant on her is the scariest thing that could ever happen to Sarah. I think she was in a relationship that led her down a road she wanted to get away from... [The identity of Kira's father] is a mystery still to be solved.”

[TV Line]

Additional reporting by Katharine Trendacosta and Charlie Jane Anders.

Plus Dominic Cooper is weirdly confused about the role Howard Stark plays in The Winter Soldier. There's a Pacific Rim featurette, an R.I.P.D. trailer, and a World War Z clip. David Goyer explains how Man of Steel could pave the way for Justice League. Harry Potter's Emma Watson may have found a new fantasy franchise. Spoilers!

Top image from World War Z.

Justice League

Man of Steel screenwriter David S. Goyer confirms that the new Superman movie provides the narrative basis for the introduction of more superheroes:

It is our intention that, in success, this would be the zero issue and from this point onward, possible films could expand into a shared universe. In our world, the Man of Steel world, Zack has gone on record saying that we’re implying there are other superheroes in this world. But I don’t know that they’ve come forward yet. The idea is that Superman is the first one. There might be people helping people, but not in costumes, and that Superman comes forward and announces himself to the world. In him announcing himself, he’s the one that changes things.

[Bleeding Cool]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Dominic Cooper remains pretty sure that he has filmed a return appearance as Howard Stark, but he's rather charmingly befuddled about what his role in the sequel actually is:

"Well, I kind of am, I never know what to say about this. But I have definitely put the costume on. I have worn the costume and we have shot something, but how it's going to enter into the next phase of what they are planning I don't know. I sound so dodgy, I don't even believe myself! I have shot some scenes. I went off and shot something, but I can't even work out how my character can be in it; wouldn't I be dead? But anything is possible. They are quite secretive about where they are going to go with the characters and how it will slot in, you have no idea. So you turn up, put your costume on and do as you are told."

Presumably, Howard Stark could quite easily appear in a World War II flashback, though Cooper's complete uncertainty — assuming this isn't just Cooper messing with everyone — might indicate he appears in a present-day sequence, perhaps as a hologram or a dream or a robot or something. That would be confusing enough to explain Cooper's quotes, but again, that's total speculation. [XPose]

Here's a bunch more Cleveland set videos featuring Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson. You can also check out a set report right here. [Comic Book Movie]

And here are some set photos of what appears to be a major action scene. [via Cleveland.com]

Pacific Rim

Here's the latest in-depth featurette exploring the movie's universe. This one is entitled "Robot Concepts."

World War Z

Here's another sneak peek clip.

Queen of the Tearling

Harry Potter star Emma Watson is re-teaming with franchise producer David Heyman in an adaptation of the currently unpublished fantasy trilogy by Erika Johansen. Here's the official description for the books:

Set three centuries after a small portion of the human race has populated a landmass that mysteriously emerged in the wake of an environmental catastrophe, the series follows nineteen-year-old princess Kelsea Glynn, who must reclaim her deceased mother’s throne and redeem her kingdom, the Tearling, from forces of corruption and dark magic of The Red Queen, the sorceress-tyrant of the neighboring country, Mortmesne.

[Coming Soon]

Transformers 4

Here's a set video.

R.I.P.D.

Here's the international trailer, which features a bit of footage not seen in the original domestic trailer.

300: Rise of an Empire

300 director Zack Snyder, who is co-writing and producing the Noam Murro-directed sequel, offers this update on its status and why a trailer has only just been released:

Yeah, they're working right now to finish it up. With visual effects, I mean, honestly we moved our [release] date to March because we literally had no materials ready to show because we were doing the visual effects and for how "300ey" it is — every single thing is green screen and there's just nothing… Now, a lot of movies you see early footage and a lot of the stuff there's real footage that they shot against whatever, but we just don't have any of that, so it was really lucky that we were able to move it back to March, which is the "300" date normally.

[Superhero Hype]

Terminator 5

Arnold Schwarzenegger offers this update on how his career is going, in the process confirming — in case there was any particular doubt — that he will again be playing a Terminator:

"I'm very happy that the studios want me to be in 'Terminator 5' and to star as the Terminator... we start shooting in January and I'm also going to do 'King Conan'. To play that role and also to do another 'Twins' movie. I feel very proud of that. I feel very happy and I'm looking forward to doing those films."

[Shock Till You Drop]

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

In an interview conducted in February but only published yesterday, Joss Whedon revealed that he actually shot some scenes in Paris for the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot, which I don't believe was common knowledge before now. He also offers another take on how the show expands the world of The Avengers:

It basically opens with the idea that since The Avengers things have changed. Now everybody knows that there are gods and monsters, and what is the world like? It's about being the people who aren't super and what it is like for them. There will be people with powers and there will be exciting otherworldly mysteries and all that good stuff, but it's all in the service of finding the humanity of the thing. And [Agent] Coulson was that in the movies; he was the voice of us, the one who says, "I don't know what's going on - these guys are super, they're from this other place… but we're dealing with it."

Clark Gregg, who plays Agent Coulsen in The Avengers and is also in Much Ado, is the star?
Oh yes. He is the star of the show. It was part of the genesis of it: you know what makes this tick is this guy. And then there was all the "but didn't you make him stop ticking?" But all will be revealed…

[GQ Magazine]

Once Upon a Time

Showrunner Edward Kitsis discusses things he and partner Adam Horowitz hope to explore next season:

How are they all going to influence each other? Emma has magic and some people on that boat wield magic, but they're not good influences. How are they going to work together? How are they going to get along?... It's about taking new lands, like Neverland, and using it as a way to open up our characters and dive deeper; taking the villains and heroes and throwing them together and forcing them to a common goal as a method for us to dig deeper and find out more about what makes them tick.

It's really about this journey and it's really about these characters and we really want to dive back into our core characters. There's things left to be explored. Like Emma last year found out she had magic. She's not had a moment to contemplate why. So for us, another question for Emma is: She saved everyone else' happy endings, but what about her own? We really want to dive into these characters. I want to know more about Prince Charming. He was really good with a sword, but he was a shepherd. Well, there's a chance he probably left home before he came back.

And here's something from Adam Horowitz about Peter Pan:

When someone as scary and menacing as Rumpel is telling you that someone is to be feared, you better listen. [Peter Pan and Rumpelstiltskin's relationship is a] slow reveal, but one that will come within those first 11 episodes.

[E! Online]

True Blood

Star Deborah Ann Woll discusses what's ahead for Jessica in the sixth season:

I would say for me the big difference I've noticed this season is we're kind of gathering into our story lines. I would say that circumstances have pulled a lot of people together. I work with a lot more people this year. The story lines are a little bigger, more focused, where more people are focused on the same plot.

What will happen to Jessica in season six for her? It seems like she's gone through some maturity in the last couple of seasons.
Even though she'll be 17 forever, time is what matures us. She certainly has a lifetime of experience in the last season. Yes, I think that she's evolving. I think that this season — while there's definitely still that youthful — I like to think of Jessica as irrepressible, that you can't really get her down. These terrible things happen, she does terrible things, she feels horrible about them, but somehow she's able to rally her spirits and start again. I find that to be a really admirable quality. I think [in] this season that comes off in a big way. She's gonna be really tested to see if she is mature enough to pick up the pieces and start again because every season she seems to be alone and looking for someone to be there for her and we'll see who it is.

[E.T. Online]

Under the Dome

Here's a three-minute preview for Brian K. Vaughan's summer series adaptation of the Stephen King novel.

Here are some tidbits for the tenth episode, courtesy of SpoilerTV:

The title of Under The Dome episode 1.10 is "Let the Games Begin." Some things that happen in the episode: Julia discovers more information about what her husband Peter did. Linda tells Junior his probationary period is over and now he's a full-duty police officer. Barbie is in a fight at the cement factory that some of the townspeople bet on.

[SpoilerTV]

Defiance

Here's a sneak peek at the first four minutes of the next episode, "If I Ever Leave This World Alive."

Continuum

Here's a synopsis for episode nine, "Seconds":

Alec’s mother is shot by a bullet meant for Julian while Dillon’s new Liber8 task force is put to the test when Kiera must decide how far she will go to stop Julian's murderous future.

[SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.

The existence of our solar system's innermost planet has been common knowledge since ancient times, but that doesn't actually mean we've always know much about it. Mercury's proximity to the Sun has allowed it to jealously guard its secrets, and so this NASA video offers an unprecedentedly detailed view of the planet's surface.

This video is based on images taken by the MESSENGER probe, the first spacecraft to actually orbit Mercury. It has allowed astronomers to get the first up-close view at the planet's geology; until now, the sum total of our knowledge was limited to a single Mariner flyby in 1975. Over the past year, MESSENGER has taken over 80,000 images with plans to take 80,000 more. That's allowed us to assemble this complete visual representation of Mercury's surface, with each pixel representing about a square kilometer; the video expands on this previously published image.

It's perhaps not quite enough detail to plan out a day hike, but it's a gigantic leap in our understanding. After all, it wasn't so long ago that it was mistakenly thought that the planet was tidally locked around the Sun, meaning one half of the planet would be bathed in searing, eternal sunlight, while the other half would be a forever frozen ice cube. Since then, astronomers have learned that Mercury actually rotates three times for every two revolutions about the Sun.

Courtesy of the MESSENGER website, here's a breakdown of what the various colors represent in the video:

This view captures both compositional differences and differences in how long materials have been exposed at Mercury's surface. Young crater rays, arrayed radially around fresh impact craters, appear light blue or white. Medium- and dark-blue areas are a geologic unit of Mercury's crust known as the "low-reflectance material," thought to be rich in a dark, opaque mineral. Tan areas are plains formed by eruption of highly fluid lavas. The large circular area near the top center is the Caloris impact basin, whose interior is filled with smooth, somewhat younger volcanic plains. Small orangish spots are materials deposited by explosive volcanic eruptions.

MESSENGER via NASA's Astronomy Photo of the Day.

Last year, NASA's Curiosity Rover confirmed something discovered by multiple previous Martian landers: the surface of the red planet is full of reactive chlorinated hydrocarbons known as perchlorates. That's great news for the search for life on Mars, but it could be a disaster for any new life hoping to travel there.

As Leonard David explains over at Space.com, perchlorates are frequently used as a food source by microbes on Earth, and the unusually high concentration of the chemicals on Mars could provide microbes with all the energy they need to survive on the barren world. But perchlorates can be toxic to humans, particularly with respect to the thyroid. David quotes the University of Arizona's Peter Smith, the principal researcher for NASA's Phoenix mission, who explains just why the presence of perchlorates could be so problematic for future human missions to Mars:

"Perchlorate is not a common word in the English language; all of us had to go and look it up. Perchlorate has become an important component of the soil … and half a percent is a fair amount... Anybody who is saying they want to go live on the surface of Mars better think about the interaction of perchlorate with the human body. At one-half percent, that's a huge amount. Very small amounts are considered toxic. So you'd better have a plan to deal with the poisons on the surface. It'll get into everything… certainly into your habitat."

It's not all bad news — some perchlorates are a component of rocket fuels, and they might even be used to obtain oxygen on the Martian surface. It's well worth checking out David's entire column, as he argues that this represents a real concern for future missions, but definitely not an insoluble problem. For more, head over to Space.com.

Top image via NASA.

This ten-minute video details the rediscovery of Mahendraparvata, a lost city that once thrived in the mountains of Cambodia 1,200 years ago. Hidden for centuries by the country's dense, remote jungles, the city was only rediscovered with the use of everyone's favorite archaeological tool: airborne lasers.

Archaeologists from Australia's University of Sydney used LIDAR — you know, like radar, except with laders — to reveal a city that had previously been buried deep within the jungle. The data revealed signs of multiple undiscovered temples, plus ancient canals and roads built by the inhabitants of Mahendraparvata. The actual physical confirmation of these discoveries was an adventure in and of itself, as the researchers and their guide had to traverse boggy, landmine-covered terrain just to reach the site. The video up top has all the details, but you can also check out Lindsay Murdoch's in-depth piece for The Age for the complete story.

The huge commercial success of Man of Steel has reportedly made Warner Bros. excited to build its universe. Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer discuss what's next for Superman. Joss Whedon drops a ton of Avengers 2 hints. Plus the latest from the sets of Amazing Spider-Man 2, Transformers 4, and Ninja Turtles. Spoilers!

Top image from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Composer Henry Jackman, who previously did the music for X-Men: First Class and Kick-Ass, revealed he will provide the score for the Captain America sequel. He also provides these intriguing impressions of the film, based on his reading of the script:

"What's interesting about the new Captain America movie is that he's now a fish out of water in a completely contemporary society. You know, the origin of Captain America is a superhero who can unquestioningly believe that the American government could be a democracy, and freedom could be spread without fear of contradiction; of course, the world correcting the ills of other evil and hideous regimes. If you would have done Captain America in 2013, it's a more politically confused landscape. And that comes through in the story; Steve Rogers is at odds with the society he lives in, he's at odds with some of the things he's being asked to do. He's more questioning, and there's a whole back story, which I can't give too much away, but it's emotionally haunting him. So, there's many more aspects which make [the film] more psychologically explorative, and darker and more morally ambiguous."

[Comic Book Movie]

The Avengers 2

Writer-director Joss Whedon offered this update on the status of the script, during an appearance on the Empire Podcast:

I've turned in a first draft, the story is very set, everybody [at Marvel's] on board with the exact movie I'm trying to make which is what worked the first time. [When making The Avengers] I said 'I want to make this movie, a Marvel version of this move' and they said 'Yay' and never looked back. Well they [actually] said 'Maybe the tone' or 'Maybe this structure' but once we had it, we had it. And I feel like we're there with [Avengers 2] which is really important... There's still 'very fine tuning' to do on the script. There are many thing that can be 'plussed' (sic) and be better and also, there's some science in it, which means I have scenes where someone says 'Science the sciency science'. So I'm like 'I'll fix that later.'"

He also confirms that despite the character's inclusion in X-Men: Days of Future Past, Quicksilver will still be in this film alongside Scarlet Witch:

"He's in our movie and he's going to be dope.' Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, very close to my heart because they were Avengers the whole time I was reading the book as a kid... Oh, and sometimes they were 'EVIL' but sometimes they were good. They're very textured, they're very different from everybody else in the mix. They're not there to make things easier on The Avengers but what we do with the group once we've got them is 'squeeze.' The fun I'm having doing that is probably unseemly."

When asked whether another rude old-timey word like "quim" would appear in the sequel, Whedon used that as an opportunity to pretty much confirm that Tom Hiddleston won't be back as Loki:

"Everyone is going to be looking for the Loki-Hulk smash moment and you'll be looking for 'quim.' No, first of all, imitating what I did before is the surest way to do it not as well. Second of all, Loki's not there to say those terrible things. Although I do think we should bring the word back, not as an insult, it's just a nice word."

[Comic Book Movie]

Elsewhere, Whedon says that he won't be taking too many cues from Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight for his superhero sequel, even though he has promised the requisite amount of death:

"No, Nolan has this thing and of it he is the master — [I'm] Tony Stark desperately trying to be Steve Rogers... I do not have Nolan’s thing. I can’t stop making jokes. In my vernacular there are two gold standards for sequels: The Godfather Part II and The Empire Strikes Back. They are darker films but they are not suddenly pretentious and losing the mission. The joy of the thing is important: the exaltation, the nobility, the humour and the humanity. But you do need to bleed with these people a little bit or you won’t want to spend another day with them."

[Metro]

Guardians of the Galaxy

Despite some initial confusion that suggested he was actually playing Ronan the Accuser, Walk Hard and Boogie Nights star John C. Reilly has now been confirmed as key supporting ally Rhomann Dey. [Deadline]

Man of Steel 2

It's definitely best to take this rumor with a generous heaping of salt, but some supposed insider reports claim that Warner Bros. isn't just trying to get the now confirmed Man of Steel sequel out by 2015; it's also trying to release a Wonder Woman movie that year as well in preparation for Justice League and a Batman reboot in 2016 or 2017. Indeed, there's even a report that Man of Steel 2 could be so ridiculously fast-tracked that it comes out in 2014, but I don't really think that's possible with modern production schedules.

There isn't too much to say about all that at this juncture, except that you should take all of the above with a massive grain of salt. Also, there was a report floating around over the weekend suggesting that David S. Goyer had hinted Batman and/or Wonder Woman could appear in Man of Steel 2, but that was based on this interview with Hey U Guys, in which he merely says that he and Snyder have had vague discussions about how to approach Wonder Woman and Batman, and you might see them as Warners creates "the beginning of a shared universe" in some other upcoming movies, including but not limited to Man of Steel sequels. [Comic Book]

Screenwriter David S. Goyer says he's at least thinking about how Superman might fit into larger geopolitical issues as he starts work on the sequel:

The challenge for us moving forward is how to depict Superman in a world like this, in a world where Twitter exists, in a world with social media. To me, the interesting challenge is “Could he solve hunger in the horn of Africa? What would he do with the Arab Spring? What would he do in Syria?” Partly you could argue “How could he not intervene in something like the situation in Syria?” but the other argument is “Is it a hornet’s nest if her intervenes? Does he have the wherewithal or the knowledge to intervene in something like this?” To me, that’s the interesting challenge. It’s easier for Batman because he just exists in this little pocket of the world, he’s not violating sovereign airspace every day.

He also discusses how subsequent films might deal with Superman's secret identity:

In our minds there are people in Smallville who know Superman’s secret as well [as Lois], Pete Ross seems to know, there’s probably a couple dozen people who know and we thought it would be interesting if they’re protective of him. We were able to sidestep the issue of the ludicrous glasses disguise in this film but going forwards, we’re going to find ourselves in a sticky wicket. Zack and I have definitely talked about “Okay, hmm, this will be interesting.” Clearly Perry White and Steve Lombard see Lois kissing Superman at the end of the film. Perry’s not an idiot. Moving forward, he’s probably going to say to Lois “What’s up with that?” We’re definitely going to have to go through some story gymnastics.

[Bleeding Cool]

Director Zack Snyder also discusses Superman's more global responsibilities:

Yeah. 100%… that was always a thing that would be in the evolution of Superman. He has no choice but to become global.

That would be the sequel.
Knock on wood. That literally has to happen. But for me I was really interested in – and maybe it’s because Barack Obama’s president now – it’s okay for Superman to be American. He’s quintessentially an American creature and creation. I wanted to pay homage to the superhero as coming from the heartland of America, and the “Why?” of that. I was really interested in just how American he was, and I think in the best possible way, the Kevin Costner cornfield kind of way. Which is why I really wanted Kevin and Diane Lane to play those parts [Ma and Pa Kent] because they really represent a believable America but an America that is also… we do it in the most realistic way we can but still all of the icons are very much represented in a way that I don’t know exists for real. But you want it to. Like a Norman Rockwell documentary… handheld Norman Rockwell.

[Bleeding Cool]

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Anna Paquin talks briefly about returning to the role of Rogue:

It was really fun. My scripts, however, came with a letter attached to it saying that when I'm not reading it, I had to lock it up in a safe and give it back when I was done with it. I had a really great time, but that's about as much as I'm allowed to say. [Laughs] It was nice to see my old friends, but anything other than that, look on Bryan Singer's Twitter page. He seems to be in charge of what information goes out there.

[TV Guide]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Here are some set photos featuring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Sally Field. Check out more at the link. [Just Jared]

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Here's a behind-the-scenes video focusing on the movie's New Zealand locations.

Transformers 4

Here's a set video from the filming in Austin. You can check out some accompanying set photos at the link. [TFLAMB]

R.I.P.D.

Here's a TV spot.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Courtesy of WENN.com, here's a trio of set photos that feature some good looks at non-turtle stars Will Arnett and Megan Fox, plus a guy referred to as "Radio Man."

Despicable Me 2

Here are some high-resolution stills from the upcoming sequel. Check out a ton more right here.

True Blood

Star Anna Paquin discusses what Sookie thinks of the new, Lilith-infused Bill:

He's this creature that we didn't really know much about and he's very dangerous. Who he is, what he is, what his powers are exactly are things that unfold over the season. There are a lot of questions even after the first few episodes.

Sookie gets a new love interest in Rob Kazinsky's Ben this season, but is she open to love yet?
Sookie usually starts out every season saying, "I'm not getting involved with anyone. I'm going to be my own person and stay away from trouble." But that doesn't make interesting television. [Laughs] She ends up in these situations with guys that usually end up being very complicated. Needless to say, it always gets more complicated than it should be. She always intends for things to be more simpler than they turn out.

Given that Louisiana has declared war on vampires, and Warlow is coming after her, how will she be handling that this season?
The world, as usual, is a very dangerous place for her. What's interesting this season is that she's a lot less naïve and wide-eyed about it all. She goes in with a — cynical is the wrong word — but she's not quite expecting the world to be a beautiful place, which, how could you be after all these odd and traumatizing things have happened to her? She's more mature and realistic about her situation.

[TV Guide]

The Walking Dead

Here are a few tidbits for season four, courtesy of SpoilerTV:

Episode 4.06 of The Walking Dead is called "Rise." There are 2 recurring roles currently being cast: a single mother and former nurse named Laura and a tough and funny woman named Melody. The guest star role of Don is also being cast; he's 50-70 years old, is kind but sometimes grumpy, and has a granddaughter.

[SpoilerTV]

Under the Dome

Here's a preview for the upcoming summer series. [Film School Rejects]

And here's an interview with author Stephen King, who wrote the novel that forms the basis for the series. [Buddy TV]

Arrow

The series is reportedly casting a major new series regular or recurring player. The character is named Lisa and described as "a mysterious woman with a tragic past [who] will wreak havoc on Oliver's heart and is equal to Oliver in every way." [SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Katharine Trendacosta and Charlie Jane Anders.

Check out new trailers and clips for Riddick and World War Z. Take a look behind the scenes of Despicable Me 2. The Sin City sequel got pushed back a year. Plus intriguing hints for what lies ahead on True Blood, Falling Skies, and Teen Wolf! Spoilers right now!

Top image from Riddick.

Godzilla

Here are some set photos from Vancouver featuring stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Bryan Cranston. This filming is believed to have taken place on a Japanese village set. Check out the link for the complete set of photos. [Just Jared]

Riddick

Here's an international trailer.

World War Z

Here's the latest sneak peek.

And here's an extended-length version of a previously released clip.

Transformers 4

Here's a bunch of set videos featuring stars Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, and Jack Reynor from the current filming in Taylor, Texas. Check out the link for a bunch of set photos, including some clear shots of the main cast.

Despicable Me 2

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the sequel.

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

Robert Rodriguez's long-awaited Sin City sequel will just have to be awaited for a little while longer, as its release date has reportedly been moved back from October 4 of this year to August 22, 2014. [Box Office Mojo]

True Blood

Here's a promo for next week's episode, "The Sun."

Here's a trailer previewing what's ahead in the coming weeks.

Lauren Bowles discusses her character Holly's story this season:

It’s entirely possible, but he’s got some work to do because she is none too happy with him at all, and I would say the stakes this year, no pun intended, are really high. So you gotta band together. The humans want to stick together this year, I’ll say that much. She’s going to need to rely on him for sure but I will absolutely say circumstances could throw them together, but it’s not that she’s exactly happy about it in the beginning.

With Andy being a father, is Holly going to be sucked into this fairy world drama?
I would say this season is truly more so than any other the season of survival, so whereas season’s past often there’s this outside big bad that comes, I would say there’s not really that this year. It’s sort of taking the existing world that we know and love and really amping it up on steroids.

She also discusses Holly's magical powers and another potential threat to Bon Temps:

I’m hoping that we will, but this year is certainly less about her Wiccan ways and more about her personal relationships. Circumstances are such that the humans really need to all stick together, really rely on each other. Holly really proves to be a Rock of Gibraltar for a lot of people this year. I would say it’s more focused on her personal life and relationships than it is necessarily on her Wiccan abilities.

Let’s talk about Warlow. Is he a threat just to Sookie or does he affect everyone?
I would say he’s a huge presence this year. What I think is fun about this year is that things aren’t necessarily what they appear to be. Things continue to morph and change, so just when you think “Ah this is what they’re setting it up to be,” it changes. So I would say he’s a huge force in Sookie’s world that she’s not quite sure what to do with.

There's still plenty more at the link. [EW]

Anna Camp discusses her return as Sarah Newlin in the June 30 episode:

"She's written a best-selling book about what it means to be a Christian fighting vampires. And she's working her way into politics, because she's craving more power and fame. Sarah is a very sexual lady who still has a soft place in her heart for Jason Stackhouse. There's a scene where I come over to his house after a long, hard day and things ensue."

[TV Guide]

Costar Carrie Preston discusses the transition to a new showrunner and what's ahead for Arlene this season:

It feels a little different. Luckily, there’s the consistency of having already done five seasons, which established the pace of the show, the tone and the characters. That’s all there. I think it’s kind of refreshing to shake things up a little bit, in a nice, fresh way. It’s a new look at the same story with a fresh perspective, and that’s been fun. We’re always used to having so many guest stars, and that’s the same. I feel like I don’t know half the people on the show, nearly as well as I know the ones that I work with. I’m on a show about a bar.

How are things for Arlene, this season? Will she ever catch a break in Bon Temps?
I don’t think anybody really catches a break on True Blood. I really don’t. What’s inherent in the show is that there’s gotta be drama and conflict and obstacles, and this season is no different. We will definitely pick up right where we left off, last season. The ramifications of what Arlene and Terry (Todd Lowe) did, and the killing of Patrick (Scott Foley), will definitely be present, and they will have to deal with that.

[Collider]

Falling Skies

Here's a promo for the next episode, "At All Costs."

And here's a synopsis for the episode:

After the people of Charleston defeat another alien attack with the help of new advanced weaponry, Tom is invited to meet with a powerful leader (guest star Stephen Collins). While Hal wrestles with an invasive evil, Ben struggles with his identity and the notion of being human again. And Anne uncovers startling new information that puts everyone in jeopardy. Robert Sean Leonard guest stars.

[KSiteTV]

Showrunner Remi Aubuchon discusses Anne's upcoming absence from the show, which was due to actress Moon Bloodgood's real-life pregenancy:

“Her disappearance is pretty well integrated into the story. Although we certainly kill off main characters if we have to, she’s too valuable. She’s also an important presence to the Masons, to the 2nd Mass and, overall, to the population of Charleston, so if she disappears, it’s a big deal. I knew we were going to have limited time with her, but I didn’t realize how limited it would be, to be honest. We had to do a bit of heavy lifting to figure out how to make that story coherent for the rest of the season, but I think we pulled it off — and it made it even more exciting in some ways.”

He also discusses what's ahead for Hal and Karen:

“When he realizes that he can actually walk, that Karen has really done something to him, it doesn’t actually help the situation but instead makes it worse. Because now he realizes, ‘I could actually be a time bomb about ready to go off’ — and that frankly brings Hal to the brink of insanity.... What makes Karen a really scary villain is that she still has a thing for Hal but she’s also become an Overlord, so she doesn’t see any problem using her old boyfriend for nefarious means. And that’s what’s so horrible about it. It’s like, ‘Oh my God, she’s seducing Hal — who’s going for it! — but really she just wants to destroy the entire world. There’s that part of her that believes she’s going to make everything all right with Hal, like, ‘If only you could see what it would be like for us to be together ruling the world!’ So… she’s got issues!”

There's some more at the link. [TV Line]

Teen Wolf

Charlie Carver discusses playing a twin Alpha alongside his brother Max:

Well, the Alpha pack is in town, and my brother and I are the youngest members. We’re the twin Alphas of the group. Our mission is to infiltrate the school and insert ourselves tactically into this group of kids to test things out and wreak some havoc.

How has it been to work with your brother, Max?
I like talking to [showrunner] Jeff [Davis] because he’s a twin. When I heard about the stuff we would be doing, I was like, “Oh, that sounds so complicated!,” but I trust him fully. He’s definitely writing my brother and I different parts. We each get our own things to do. I think he’s excited about it because he gets to put himself in there, too.

[Collider]

Here are short synopses for the next ten episodes:

3×03 – Fireflies: With Boyd and Cora on the loose and under the influence of the full moon, Scott and Derek must turn to an unlikely ally for help.
3×04 – Unleashed: While Scott tries to keep Isaac from engaging in a deadly confrontation with the Twins in school, Stiles attempts to prove his theory that the killings have nothing to do with werewolves.
3×05 – Frayed: During a bus ride to a cross country meet, Scott and his friends flash back to the events of a preemptive strike against the Alphas that has left several injured and possibly one or more dead.
3×06 – Motel California: Stranded at a motel for the night because of the postponed cross country meet, Scott and the others suffer strange experiences that cause them to believe members of their own group may the mysterious killer’s newest targets.
3×07 – Currents: As the danger begins to reach closer to Scott, threatening his trusted mentor and boss, Deaton, Kali and the Twins go after Derek.
3×08 – Visionary: Seeking answers, Scott, Allison and Stiles hear stories told by two unlikely narrators and discover a secret about the color of a werewolf’s eyes.
3×09 – The Girl Who Knew Too Much: As Allison begins to suspect someone dangerously close to her may be involved in the murders, Scott and Stiles conclude that Lydia’s rising talents may be their best bet to solving the murders.
3×10 – The Overlooked: Trapped inside an evacuated Beacon Hills hospital by a powerful storm, Scott and Derek must defend themselves against the Alphas while trying to figure out how to save Cora’s life.
3×11 – Alpha Pact: With the threat growing far more personal and time running out on innocent lives, Scott is forced to make a difficult choice in order to save both friends and family while, at the same time, Derek and Peter try to figure out how to save Cora’s life.
3×12: Under Deaton’s advice, Scott and his friends use an ancient but extremely dangerous ritual to help them both save the lives of the people they love and stop Deucalion from achieving his sinister goal.

[SpoilerTV]

Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.

Anthony Mackie reveals his approach to his Captain America: The Winter Soldier character, while Idris Elba says Heimdall the Gatekeeper has a story in Thor: The Dark World. Pacific Rim screenwriter Travis Beacham explains how the tie-in graphic novel fits in. Plus hints about Under The Dome from the show's stars. Spoilers now!

Top image from Elysium.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The Hurt Locker's Anthony Mackie offers some thoughts on his role as The Falcon:

"[He's] a really smart guy who went through major military training and becomes a tactical leader, he’s not some guy that fell into this. The most important thing I got from everybody at Marvel about the Falcon was the need to show that he’s a very righteous, man-forward kind of guy. He would do anything to protect the man next to him and to protect his country. That’s the integrity of the character and the integrity of the man and that that’s what I have focused on.... The biggest thing for me, the most exciting thing for me, is to come out on Halloween and see all the little black kids dressed up like the Falcon. There are so many parts of our society that are not catered to or represented fully and this will give a new generation of our society someone to look up to and identify with. That’s why I am so intensely focused on bringing the character to life in a special way."

[Coming Soon]

Thor: The Dark World

Idris Elba says that Heimdall will have his own story in the sequel:

“It’s a really interesting version of Thor. The director has gone for a really interesting perspective on the world that Thor comes from. But I am there, manning the gate. There is a story for Heimdall. I think it will be interesting to see what happens from the first film to this film – it’s a really interesting development.”

[SciFiNow]

Man of Steel 2

When asked if General Zod's body could be discovered and used by someone like Lex Luthor, screenwriter David S. Goyer discusses his approach to leaving material available for later:

I can neither confirm nor deny. But I will say that I did intentionally leave some loose ends, not as sequel bait, but just because I thought they were interesting. I don't know if anyone that's viewed the film has picked up on this yet, but when Clark goes into the scout ship, which sort of becomes the Fortress of Solitude, you see four cryogenic sarcophagi for the crew that piloted that ship 18,000 or 20,000 years ago. There's a shot there - and, it's funny, at one point Zack took it out, but I cried "Uncle!", and he put it back in. But you see there are four pods: three of them have skeletons in them, but one is open and there is no skeleton. Zack had missed it the first time he read the script. I pointed it out to him, and he was like, "Okay, that's interesting. That's an interesting loose end."

[Ain't It Cool]

Justice League

In the same interview, David S. Goyer discusses how the roster of a Justice League movie would be different from the heroes in The Avengers:

You can't force it. The DC characters are different than the Marvel characters. They've been around much longer, particularly the big three: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. The Marvel characters that Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko came up with, they came along, in some cases, thirty years later. The DC characters are deeper archetypes, and those Marvel characters were in reaction to these archetypes. My grandmother is ninety-six, and she has an emotional attachment to Superman. She doesn't have any attachment to Spider-Man or Iron Man. They have to be treated in a different way, particularly the big three. Done right, like Chris [Nolan] did with the Batman films, they can reach an even bigger audience. But I also think there are more pitfalls because people have more preexisting expectations.

[Ain't It Cool]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

It's been rumored but completely unconfirmed that British actress Felicity Jones would play Felicia Hardy, alias Black Cat, in the sequel. Jones herself may now have confirmed that casting detail after being asked the textbook trap question of whether she was "looking forward to everyone seeing [her] as Black Cat." The video of her rather confused response is below, in case you feel like doing some fine-level analysis of nervous stammering. [/Film]

Elysium

Director Neill Blomkamp explains why product placement has a role in his hard sci-fi epic, in which the incomprehensibly vast divide between rich and poor has led to the wealthy spending their days in what are essentially orbiting pleasure palaces:

“This film has been an oddity in the product-placement world because I am not looking for any money from the brands we are using. I really want them because I [can] make the film better... If you had a bunch of rich people living up there, they would have the equivalent of Ferraris and Bugattis that they fly around with. Basically, what I wanted to do was make a Bugatti that’s 150 years in the future, and those don’t come with wheels. The GT-R is one of the coolest high-performance cars for sale out there now. I wanted to make the GT-R the Earth’s version of a high-performance car.”

[/Film]

Pacific Rim

Here's the latest TV spot.

Here's an intriguing passage from an interview with screenwriter Travis Beacham, in which he discusses how some of the key revelations in the tie-in graphic novel crop up in the movie itself:

There’s also this beautiful moment in the graphic novel where the doctor, Caitlin Lightcap, figures out almost by accident that you need at least two minds to run a jaeger. That seems like such an important concept to the entire story. Do we have a similar moment in the movie, like this is your “Eureka” moment? Or is it just sort of alluded to in the backstory once we start the movie?
It’s a given once you get into the movie, but it is… That idea is critical to this story and the movie. I always feel like there just wouldn’t be a Pacific Rim without that idea. Like that idea is sort of at the heart of the entire world of Pacific Rim. I think I would still be walking around vaguely hoping somebody would make a giant monster versus robot movie if I hadn’t realized there were two pilots.

There’s an almost ethereal place when those two people meet in their minds. Is there a visual representation of that or is that similar to what we see in the film?
We don’t make much of it in the film. I think in the first draft there was a bit more stuff that took place like that, that head space, but I think ultimately for a first movie it was decided not to spend much time there or play around with it that much. It would be kind of a third buy for the audience to make in a big movie. I think we are going to get into that later, definitely if there are further incarnations of the story. That’s definitely part of the mythology we want to explore a bit more. With the graphic novel or hopefully sequels or that sort of thing. There is one part in the movie that really deals with it and it may by my favorite sequence I’ve ever seen Guillermo direct. I love, love this one bit in the movie. It’s where memories drift and I think it’s just really well done.

There's more at the link. [/Film]

World War Z

Here's a clip. [Coming Soon]

Doctor Who

Jamie Payne, who directed this season's "Hide" and has a number of credits on shows ranging from Ashes to Ashes to Da Vinci's Demons, will handle directing duties for this year's Christmas special, otherwise known as Matt Smith's final episode and the 11th Doctor's regeneration story. [Blogtor Who]

Under the Dome

Breaking Bad's Dean Norris discusses his new, villainous role as Big Jim Rennie in the upcoming CBS summer series:

Big Jim, he's a great character. He loves his town, but I think he's probably, at some level, psychopathic. He likes to be in charge. Stephen King told me I was Dick Cheney. [Big Jim's] reading Winston Churchill's biography in the story ... And everybody else is freaked out by the dome and Big Jim seems to be like, "Wow, my time has come.” He's fun because ... he's the only one that interacts with every other character. They have their own things, the groupings and people that interact, but Big Jim interacts with all of them and he interacts differently with all of them because he has a different personality ... He's lizard-like in his strategy; he's amoral. I don’t know if he's immoral, but he's amoral. He's a "The ends justify the means, keep the trains running," kind of guy. And it really comes out with his poor son, who has his own issues, and you can see why. He has a dad like me. We have this hug in the first episode and we talked about how it's maybe the first time he's ever hugged his son. It's a real awkward kind of thing and poor Junior's always waiting for his dad to say “I love you,” and his dad always says, "Toughen up, pussy.” He's that kind of guy. But it seems like he's the most evil or mean when he is with his son, because everybody else he's kind of charming with.

It sounds like Big Jim relishes the opportunities presented by being trapped under the dome, so what's his motivation at the beginning of the season? [The producers] have arced the show as "faith," "fear," and "fascism." And I think Big Jim's the fascism part. But he starts, early on, to co-opt people. He gets Barbie [Mike Vogel] on his side and he does it by complimenting them. “Man, we really need a guy like you to help keep the order.” He's not pounding anybody over the head. And Linda [Natalie Martinez], the deputy, he's very fatherly to her and trying to get everyone on his side. Right now, I think he sees this as an opportunity to start getting his ducks in order, at least start taking charge and getting people on his side. He's always talking to the townspeople and telling them, “Hey, listen to me. If we all work together, everything's going to be fine. I'm the guy.”

Check out the link for more. [Huffington Post]

And here are some thoughts from costar Mike Vogel on his own character Barbie:

Barbie is a great guy. I love him. He's a former Special Forces operator. He's gotten out of the military and since then, he's done a bunch of odd jobs, trying to find his spot and where he fits in. He finds himself basically collecting debts for a bookie and nine times out of 10, it's a nonviolent ordeal. He's not a heavy that's going around thumping on people, breaking kneecaps, [saying,] "Pay up. Pay up." Normally, everyone's willing. But he finds himself in some situations where he has to defend himself, which is sort of the catalyst which brings him into this town and he happens to find himself here when this event happens... So he finds himself stuck in a position of having had to defend himself after a rather nefarious deed and stuck in a small town where word travels fast and everyone knows everyone. There's a lot of stuff swirling in the first couple episodes, and what I like about the show is, judging by the opening of the show, someone might say, "Oh, Barbie, bad guy — Big Jim [played by Dean Norris], good guy." But that's not at all the case. And I enjoy that it takes time for everything to unravel here and that everything that you see is not what you're getting.

[Huffington Post]

American Horror Story: Coven

The third season is reportedly looking to cast two characters, "a male college student who's a jerk and a charming Asian doctor named David Zhong." [SpoilerTV]

Teen Wolf

Here's a promo for the next episode, "Unleashed."

Additional reporting by Amanda Yesilbas and Charlie Jane Anders.

The very funny Charlie Day explains why he isn't just comic relief in Pacific Rim. Patricia Clarkson joins the latest dystopian YA novel adaptation. BSG star Katee Sackhoff talks Riddick. Could a character more famous than Green Arrow himself show up in Arrow's second season? Plus Orphan Black hints. Spoilers right now!

Top image from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Thor: The Dark World

Composer Bryan Tyler discusses his latest Marvel assignment, creating the music for the Thor sequel:

"That's very recent. It's a great film in the Marvel franchise, it's coming out in November. And the great thing about Thor and Iron Man and all this is that it relates to The Avengers. I think it's just fantastic how they've kept that universe a contained universe. Of course, these characters, they all have the rights to them. But I think it's really clever how they do it. And yet they all have a different feel. The feel of Thor [The Dark World] is a very different than Iron Man. Yet they live in the same universe. For me, it's like somehow Indiana Jones showed up on the Enterprise; or something. It's just awesome! But it's great because, for me, I get to do something completely different and I'm really excited about that project."

[Comic Book Movie]

Pacific Rim

Here's the latest TV spot.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Charlie Day discusses his character Newt and whether his role is comic relief:

It is and it isn't. Certainly myself and Burn Gorman provide a little bit of much needed levity, it's a break from the monsters and the guys fighting. But then the character gets thrust into the story in a way that his life is seriously at risk and it becomes a little more action oriented and a little more horror movie-esque. So, he kinda bounces back between being humorous and also being real. He's not funny in the way that the guys from Sunny or the guys from Horrible Bosses are funny, ‘cause he has to be real. Because the movie - you have to buy the monsters and buy the world and you don't want to be taken completely out of it. It's been interesting, I was worried they were going to push me more towards comedy but Guillermo keeps pushing me more towards the dramatic stuff. So, either people will enjoy the difference or they'll crucify me, I'm not sure. We'll find out.

What can you tell us about your character?
He's sort of the ‘everyman' of the movie. Because the rest of these guys, they look really good in their suits and they've go abs, they can kick and fight and punch. Newt is sort of the ‘everyman' and he's flawed and he's arrogant... I basically go out on the streets to talk to Ron Perlman, to talk to a Black Market Dealer, get my hands on an actual brain and have a close encounter with a few of the Kaiju. So, it's really the only opportunity for the fans to see what happens to the ‘everyman' when he runs into one of these monsters. It's cool to watch the guys in the robot deal with them and fight them but it's the only opportunity the audience gets to say, "Well, what if I were walking down the street, what would happen?" In that sense it's great, he sort of the link to the common person.

There's more at the link. [Collider]

Godzilla

Here's an official set photo of an underground vault. [Coming Soon]

The Maze Runner

The great Patricia Clarkson, whose credits range from a grieving mother in The Station Agent to Tammy One on Parks and Recreation, has reportedly joined the cast of the adaptation of James Dashner's 2009 YA novel. She will reportedly play Chancellor Ava Paige. Here's a description of the novel's story, or at least its initial story before a series of twists and turns transform the story into something quite different:

Dylan O'Brien (TV's Teen Wolf) stars in the film as Thomas, the latest boy to emerge into The Glade with no memory of who he is or how he got there. A group of other boys his age welcome him into their makeshift society, and explain that they each found themselves in a similar situation. All around their little agrarian kingdom loom massive stone walls that open each morning to reveal an intricate maze, which changes shape at will. What lies at the end of it? No one has found out, though the fastest and most daring of the boys run into it every day hoping to find out. All they know for sure is that someone is watching them - and those who don't return before sunset never make it back at all.

[EW]

World War Z

Here's one more sneak peek clip.

Riddick

Battlestar Galactica's Katee Sackhoff describes her character Dahl and how this character matches up with Starbuck:

My character's this sniper. You see me most of the time with this sniper rifle that's just a head shorter than I am, pretty much, and then my handgun. In this one I was given an LOD, which is an electrical current gun. I was like, "Come on it's kind of girly, why do I have to fire that thing?" So I was trying to make it cooler and the director goes, "Well there's a three-second load-up, while you stand there." And I was like, "What if I shoot my handgun at the same time, while it's gearing up?" So, I'm standing there with this massive thing and firing at the same time and then sweeping with this big LOD. I found a way to make it as masculine as possible.

Would you say that Dahl is different than Starbuck or is there some Starbuck in there?
I think there's a little bit of her. Because there's a little bit of me in all of the characters I've played. I've never really had the opportunity to play something that's a complete departure from me yet. I am definitely a lot more girly that the characters that I play, but there's a lot of big differences between Starbuck and Dahl. Starbuck is extremely juvenile and she was very immature and she kind of grew up in that show. Dahl is very mature, very much a woman. My backstory, DT [David Twohy] and I pretty much made it up but she was thrust into a situation where she grew up really fast. She's kind of been taking care of herself for a while and she's extremely confident. Starbuck was confident to mask her insecurities, there's not an insecure bone in Dahl. She's by far the toughest, most deadly character I've ever played. There's not a moment where this woman would shed a tear, and not because she doesn't feel like it but because there's nothing that would make her cry.

There's more at the link. [Collider]

R.I.P.D.

Here's a TV spot.

Transformers 4

Here's a trio of new set videos from the filming in Texas. Some people believe the vehicle in question is the latest incarnation of Optimus Prime. You can also check out some set photos of the cast at the link. [Comic Book Movie]

Since Michael Bay seems only to communicate with the outside world these days in a series of angry denials, here's his latest angry denial about the film's name:

"There are rumors flying around from various media sites about the title of the next Transformers. I wanted you to hear from me directly that we have not yet chosen a title and anything being reported is absolutely not true. When we have a title to announce, I promise you will hear it from me first."

[TFW2005]

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Costar Chloe Bennet explains how her character Skye first encounters the S.H.I.E.L.D. team:

I can't say much about it. But I can say that she is this superhero-obsessed girl, in a way where she's just in awe of it, but she's also skilled in the sense that she can kind of get herself into these situations. You know, I think she's going to enjoy the ride, just like myself. I think she'll have fun.

You say she's superhero obsessed and obviously the show's about normal people in a world with superheroes. S.H.I.E.L.D. can be a little more jaded, I guess, but is Skye still basically going, "Oh my God! These people are really out there!"?
I think she would be more one to play it a little bit cool, but then have those geek-out moments. She's not quite a cosplay girl, she's not exactly a fangirl, but she gets really excited — but it's in here [tapping chest], just like all of us about the show, I think.

What does she make of Agent Coulson?
I think her and Coulson could get along. You will have to watch and see how they got on, but yeah... [Laughs]

[IGN]

Arrow

Star Stephen Amell suggests some DC Comics characters more famous than Green Arrow will show up in the second season:

"The thing that makes me most excited about the show is that when we were up shooting the pilot, Andrew Kreisberg and Marc Guggenheim came to me with ideas for Season One - 'Here's where we're looking at taking Season One.' All of these things happened, all of these fleshed out ideas ended up taking place. They sat me down [again] after my last post-production work for Season One back in Los Angeles and Andrew Kreisberg sat me down and gave me the big pitch and then after I got the pitch he went 'OK, here's the game-changer.' And the game-changer is a 'game-changer.' I can't say [specifics] but it's something and some people that aren't just familiar to DC Comics fans... they're like... more familiar than Green Arrow."

Logically, this game-changing character probably has to be a villain, because the only hero more famous than Green Arrow who could really fit in this universe is Batman, and it's really difficult to imagine that there's any chance Bruce Wayne is going to show up. Although I guess Dick Grayson is the vaguest of vague possibilities. [Comic Book Movie]

Orphan Black

Co-creators Graeme Manson and John Fawcett discuss what's ahead in season two:

Fawcett: To me, Alison is very much on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She's been drinking and pill popping and still puts on the happy face for everyone ... for the most part. For me, that's a character who will always be fun to play with. She's a paranoid, conspiracy theorist, gun-carrying, pill-popping alcoholic housewife in the suburbs — you can't tell me that in season two and beyond you won't have a blast with a character like that!

Can you say if season two will pick up where season one left off or if there will be a time jump?
Fawcett: We gotta hit the ground running. The bottom line is Kira's gone and that means there's a fire under everyone's ass. You won't come back into the season with a one month or six month time jump.

We got hints of Kira's specialness all season long — she can heal and is the first child of a clone. Will season two be about discovering what she is?
Manson: Yes. We're very interested in the biology that makes Sarah the one mother among the clones and what that means for her offspring. There's a long mystery to be followed there.

[ET Online]

Warehouse 13

Here's a promo and a sneak peek for the next episode, "Lost and Found."

Defiance

Here's a promo for the next episode, "The Bride Wore Black."

Additional reporting by Katharine Trendacosta and Charlie Jane Anders.