COOLTIDBITS: July 2009

Smallville ComicCon Panel Highlights

Somebody saaaavvvee meee! This morning's ComicCon highlight HAD to be the Smallville panel featuring Tom Welling in his first ComicCon appearance. Jeph Loeb, Callum Blue, Cassidy Freeman, Allison Mack, Justin Hartley, Erica Durance were also on hand.
The bullet points:

Clark is finally in some version of a Superman suit, with a black shirt bearing the S-shield and a flowing black overcoat, in preview footage shown at the panel.
Geoff Johns will write a Justice Society episode.
The season premiere will touch on the flight issue.
Green Arrow will be in more episodes this season, as will Lois Lane. Lois will be in 18 episodes.
Lex is absolutely not dead (as if we didn't know that)
Tom Welling is directing two episodes this season; Allison Mack will also direct.
A possible Green Arrow sidekick story is being explored (Speedy, anyone?)
In the first eight episodes this season, we’ll see Green Arrow hit “rock bottom.”
Smallville is moving to Fridays this fall, debuting Sept. 25. The DVD and Blu-ray of Season 8 hits Aug. 25 so we'll all have a month to re-watch it before season 9 begins.

Chuck and Jeffster Rock ComicCon

From TV Guide:
Following a video clip in which show bosses Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak and star Zachary Levi pretended to be blindsided by Chuck's renewal, Jeffster — aka the micro-band formed by Buy More buds Jeff and Lester — ignited the event with a most unexpected and thoroughly rousing live performance of Queen's "Fat Bottom Girls," says SciFiWire.com. (Watch a video below.)

The entire cast paraded on stage and joined in, with Levi air-guitaring to the music. Once the commotion came to a close, the Chuck creators and cast proceeded to tease the coming season ("Something very emotional and dramatic will have happened between Chuck and Sarah," said Schwartz), joke about the rumored budget cuts ("This year, we can only afford for Adam Baldwin to grunt"), and unveil a new web hub — ChuckMeOut.com — that will keep fans entertained until the new season arrives.

The ensemble also took time to send love to those who partook in the Subway/grassroots campaign that got the show picked up for a midseason — if not sooner, hint-hint-hope — return.

The fast-paced panel served up a smattering of intel. As hinted at season's end, Chuck's bro-in-law, Awesome, will get sucked into the spy world; Carina (played by Mini Alden), the rogue agent who struck Morgan's fancy, will return; and Chuck's new kung-fu skill set will be (as we always suspected) glitchy at best.

SyFy ComicCon Photo Feed

Tron Legacy Trailer Released at ComicCon

ComicCon 2008 Look Back

On the eve of this years Comic Con International, a look back at last year's preview night courtesy of Mahalo Daily.

Ryan Reynolds cast as Green Lantern

via Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
After an intense months-long search, Warner Bros. has chosen Ryan Reynolds to play the title character in "Green Lantern," the studio's live-action movie based on the DC Comics hero.

Reynolds and his representatives entered negotiations for the part Friday, after the studio held two rounds of screen tests for the actor, Bradley Cooper and Jared Leto. Justin Timberlake also did a screen test.

The film is being directed by Martin Campbell and produced by Donald De Line and Greg Berlanti.

One reason for the lengthy search process was that De Line, Campbell and the studio each had a different favorite among the finalists, making it difficult to come to a consensus.

If the deal is completed, it would make Reynolds the only actor to have played heroes for both Marvel and DC. He recently starred in a comic-book movie, 20th Century Fox's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," in which he played Deadpool, also known as the Merc with a Mouth. The character is being developed for a spin-off in which Reynolds will star. He also played Marvel's vampire hunter Hannibal King in "Blade: Trinity."

"Lantern" is Reynolds second stab at a DC Comics hero. A few years ago, he was reportedly attached to play DC's "The Flash."