A couple of pieces of Superman casting news leave me conflicted. First off, apparently Viggo Mortensen, Aragorn from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings adaptations, is in talks—or may even have signed—to play Zod, the villain for the Superman movie being produced by Christopher Nolan and directed by Zack Snyder. Now, I like Mr. Mortensen. He was an excellent Aragorn, and he’s been excellent in other movies like A History of Violence. What I have not seen is the kind of bad-ass authority that Terence Stamp brought to the role in Superman II. Frankly, my love of the Zod character is much more about Stamp’s delivery and presence than anything integral to the character. The closest I can think of for Mortensen is his Command Master Chief Urgayle from GI Jane, and that isn’t good enough.

I like Viggo and I like the thought of Zod in the movie, but the two just don’t fit together in my mind.

Second is Diane Lane as Martha Kent. This conflict is something a little different. I have no doubt that she can play the role, but she really is far too hot for my conception of Martha Kent. No matter how much they “dowdy” her up, unless she’s going to pull a Charlize Theron Monster trick, I just can’t picture her as Mommy Supes.

I saw the article about an unsold pilot for Lost in Space directed by John Woo, so I had to go check it out. Much like Blackjack (for the love of sanity, won’t somebody please think of the Woo-fans?), it not only failed to impress, it failed to hold my attention longer than 5 minutes. Total cardboard cut-out opening, with nothing to distinguish it.

Starring as the young Judy Jets . . . er Robinson was an actress whose name I had heard but knew nothing about. Adrienne Palicki.

And then it turns out she’s going to be the new Wonder Woman for the David E. Kelley NBC series.

Weird how these intersections work.

I can’t say that she looks the part of Wonder Woman, at least not to me. Wonder Woman is the product of a warrior society, and perhaps the finest warrior from that society. She is also a diplomat and a kind of royalty. That’s a pretty tough job. I honestly don’t know who I would want for the role—maybe Gina Torres—but Ms. Palicki certainly isn’t it. Maybe they’ve got her on a massive training regime that is going to buff her up before filming. Who knows.

Also? Everything I’ve read about the Wonder Woman TV series leads me to believe it should suffer the same fate as that Lost in Space revival—disappear for six years only to surface on YouTube—to no acclaim.

If you want to read about the John Woo Lost in Space project, go here.

If you want to read about the new Wonder Woman, go here.

I will not Google image search for you.

What character could Alice Eve, Diane Krueger and Rosamund Pike be vying for in the new Superman movie? Well, apparently—and, of course, it’s all just rumours—it ain’t Lois Lane, though she is in the pic. Nope, this very attractive trio are vying for the role of Ursa, General Zod’s right hand.

I remember her very well from Superman II. I have no idea if she’s been in comics, cartoons, or other Superman properties since that movie. I don’t really follow Superman. However, the possibility of Ursa brings about the possibility of Zod, and we all know daddy likes his General Zod.

Of the three, I’d go for Alice Eve or Rosamund Pike. Diane Krueger as Helen was a very painful part of Troy. I’m not looking to see her again any time soon.

Now, bring on Zod. And for extra points, get Terence Stamp to play him again. That man is fukin’ Golden.

My previous Zod gushing here.

Okay, this is totally just a rumour, and one that I actually have a hard time believing, but it is so infused with awesome I just had to share.

Apparently, after the release of the Dark Knight Rises, Warner Bros. is going to produce a TV series based on Nolan’s Batman franchise–well, based on the comic book, of course, but the rumour indicates the suit running this show would keep it in line with Nolan’s movies–except for one important caveat. The bad guy for this TV series is going to be the Joker.

Now this sounds interesting, but it is not enough to get me excited, especially since what made Batman Begins and the Dark Knight so amazing was Christopher’s Nolan vision of the character and his ability to shield the production from tampering. Moving it onto the small screen without that protection means all bets are off. This could be all kinds of awesome or all kinds of suck.

The part that gets me excited is the name attached to play Batman/Bruce Wayne: Karl Urban. I’ve been a fan of Karl Urban’s since seeing him as Eomer in the Two Towers. I even endured Pathfinder because it gave him a starring role–only the inclusion of Clancy Brown allows me to mention that movie without beating my head against the table. Having him as Batman is an inspired choice. He’s got the look, he’s got the chops, and he’s got the physicality to deliver.

Get this production a good show runner and a slew of good scripts, and you might have a real winner.

More likely than that, though, is that this will all evaporate like dream vapours shat out the ass of pessimism.

See the original article here.

So Christopher Nolan says no 3D for the next Batman movie, given that he wants it to be faithful to what had come before.

Thank you, sir.

I almost want to tack on a “for now,” given that I man sure the studio will apply a fair amount of pressure (read: dump truck full of money) to try to get him to change his mind. If he does not, he proves himself a man of integrity. If he does, well, he’s just another cool dude in Hollywood.

He’s also said the title of the movie will be the Dark Knight Rises, so I assume there will be plenty of yeast. That or porn. Either makes me happy it won’t be 3D.

It’s also possible that this will be Nolan’s last Batman movie. And while that would be a shame, better to go out on a high note.

Did you hear that, Raimi?

One thing that I forgot to mention regarding the Snyder-helmed, Nolan-produced Man of Steel is the purported identity of the villain. For me, the choice of villain is inspired, in that I was of the right age to really get jazzed with Superman II.

That’s right, you guessed it: Zod.

Kneel before him, son of Jor-el.

Now I’m not a Superman comic afficienado, and I haven’t followed Smallville, so I know nothing of Zod save what I saw in Superman II. And, let’s face it, you’re most of the way to an awesome villain when you cast Terence Stamp in the role.

Who will they get to step into those shoes? Good question. As I’ve said so many times before, any single element—such as a cool villain—isn’t enough if the other elements fall down around it. Knowing that WB is more interested in getting this out by 2012 than putting out a good movie does not fill me with hope.

This is old, old news now, by Zack Snyder is going to be the man who will helm Man of Steel, the new Superman movie that will be produced by Chris Nolan.

This could be cool, if the script from which Mr. Snyder works is quality. I think Snyder can do the visuals, can do the action, but I think he’s going to need help bringing something more than “the awesome” to the screen. With Nolan on board as producer, I think that help will be provided. I don’t know how close Nolan will be to the production, but I hope he is totally riding shotgun on this.

Don’t get me wrong, 300 was cool, the Watchmen was good, but I can imagine this turning into another Superman Returns—I don’t hate it, but I sure as hell don’t own it on DVD.

There’s also some talk out there that Snyder got the job only because Warner Bros believes he can bring the movie in on time, that he won’t get too fussy with it. Apparently the screenplay by David Goyer isn’t exactly perfect. It may, in fact, be a bit of a mess. But WB doesn’t give a shit about that. They want their Snyder-helmed, Nolan-produced movie released by 2012 in order to maintain the rights. So they may have chosen not the director they consider the best, but the one that is good enough and can deliver on schedule.

Not really the kind of shining accolades one would hope.

I think my admiration of Natalie Portman is out there in the open. I think she is a great actress, I think she’s an intelligent person, and I think she is damn hot. Therefore, I registered my vote for her as Lois Lane in Man of Steel, the planned Superman movie.

What, we don’t get a vote in this? Well that sucks.

But what doesn’t suck is that Ms. Portman is indeed being considered as the next Lois Lane. This likely has something to do with Darren Aronofsky being included in the running as a possible director for the Christopher Nolan produced movie. Aronofsky and Portman have created quite a buzz of Black Swan, a movie about ballet which I therefore am incredibly unlikely to see . . . at least until my oldest daughter is old enough to watch it and has not grown out of her ballerina obsession.

Whomever does end up directing, Portman would be an amazing Lois Lane. She could bring real strength and gravitas to the role. Heck, might even make her something more than eye candy or the Ms. Maguffin that gets Superman flying.

Again.

Christopher Nolan has confirmed that he’ll be directing Batman 3 (cool title TBA). It may start filming in May of next year, but who knows what kind of release date we’re looking at.

I willing wait quietly for more Nolan coolness.

So apparently the script for a Flash film is moving forward, as is only suitable. However, it might take a direction that might surprise a few people.

Apparently, the Flash movie is going to be darker, and the comparisons made are to Se7en and the Silence of the Lambs.

Seriously? This is a guy who can break the speed of sound wearing a red body glove as tight as a Speedo. No one sees the disconnect there?

I am not a particular fan of the Flash, so maybe there is some aspect of the comics that have led the script down this dark—and might I add odd—path, but for me this just sounds goofy.