Variety reported on Friday that Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro is director J.J. Abrams’ choice for the villain of the much-anticipated Star Trek sequel.

The trade magazine says that Del Toro has met with Abrams about the part, which is currently being kept a secret — perhaps, even to Del Toro. Now, the natural speculation is that the role wouldn’t be kept a secret unless it was someone that fans would identify — with the obvious implication being Khan Noonien Singh, previously portrayed by the late Ricardo Montalban and one of the most recognizable Star Trek foes thanks to 1982′s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (the second film in that franchise). If true, this would make good on our two-and-a-half-year-old request to make Khan the villain of the Abrams-helmed sequel. Of course, there’s every chance that Del Toro is being targeted to play someone else from the Star Trek mythos or an entirely new character, so feel free to speculate as wildly as you feel is apt.

Odds are the details of this situation will shake out sooner rather than later — the sequel is expected to start production early next year.

Somehow, I entirely missed this at the end of last week, but Mark Millar has formed his own television and movie production company, and as is usual with everyone’s favorite analog creator (As in, one who creates analogs, not one who doesn’t work digitally), he’s aiming high:

It would be easy for me to take off and just set up base in Los Angeles. But I feel passionately about doing [in Scotland] what the director Peter Jackson achieved in New Zealand. He’s as far away from Hollywood as we are but proved geography was no barrier by creating one of the biggest movie franchises of all time with Lord Of The Rings. The scenery is stunning but we can more than match that. Over the next five years in Scotland I want to do the same here.

The first project the company is working on is American Jesus, AKA Chosen, but he also promises some brand new ideas for television down the line:

I just want to make TV shows that I actually want to watch. I can’t stand all the low-end reality shows. I know a lot of the guys making those programmes and they hate them as much as I do. I just want to do real quality here and that can be high-end documentaries or brand new formats as much as quality dramas like The Sopranos or Mad Men. I know the stations’ hands are tied because there isn’t a lot of money around and so in the long-term I’d like to arrange co-productions with American companies and try to get things rolling again. The studios trust me as long as my movies make money and as long as I don’t drop the ball they’re happy to invest.

No mention in the story about Miracle Park, surprisingly; you’d think that with its Scottish setting and Millar’s writing and directing the project it would’ve at least rated some kind of comment. Whatever happened to that movie? Did I miss some announcement or something?

Ed Brubaker’s first Criminal story arc – “Coward” — is in the works as a feature film, Variety reports.

Brubaker is adapting the story himself, which he produced in print with frequent artistic collaborator Sean Phillips in issues #1-#5 of Criminal. David Slade is attached to direct, with a resume including Hard Candy, comic book adaptation 30 Days of Night and last year’s The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Earlier this year, Slade was announced as director of a new Daredevil film at Fox, though news has been slow on that front as of late.

The movie will be produced by Jamie Patricof’s Hunting Lane Films, which was behind the 2010 Academy Award-nominated romantic drama Blue Valentine. In the Variety piece, Brubaker names Blue Valentine star Ryan Gosling as a potential ideal choice to play Coward‘s main character Leo — had he not starred in this year’s critically acclaimed Drive, also a story in the crime noir genre.

X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn hasn’t yet decided on his next picture, but according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, there’s a good chance it’ll involve Mark Millar.

Vaughn, of course, directed the film adaptation of Millar’s Kick-Ass in 2010 — and he also co-created The Secret Service with Millar, a recently announced series, illustrated by Dave Gibbons, scheduled for February 2012. Vaughn holds the movie rights to both that and Superior, Millar’s Icon series with artist Leinil Francis Yu, and either one could end up as his next movie.

Speaking of Millar, he’s currently auctioning off the right to name The Secret Service‘s bad guy, with proceeds going to the “St. Bartholomew’s Primary School Pantomime Fund,” in the hopes of paying for a school trip. The auction is here.

It’s official: Patty Jenkins will direct Thor 2.

Marvel Studios confirmed rumors with the announcement that Jenkins, whose experience includes directing the movie Monster as well as episodes of AMC’s The Killing as well as Entourage and Arrested Development, will helm the second installment of the movie version of the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby character. Chris Helmsworth, Natalie Portman and Tom Hiddleston were also mentioned in the announcement, with all three returning for the movie, due for release November 15, 2013.

Should we consider Hiddleston’s involvement to be an Avengers spoiler…?

Mark Millar would like you to know that he loves comics, and that movie adaptations are just an added benefit:

I’ve been very lucky to have my books picked up as movies as often as they have. Like Stan Lee and Stephen King, I’ve got a very fortunate track record in these things and a particular bunch of story ideas that execs seem to like. I see nothing to be ashamed of in this. In fact, I see it as a massive, massive boon. Creator-owned projects used to be done as side gigs, creators working at Marvel or DC doing projects they often didn’t like to pay the bills while their real labour of love didn’t really bring them in enough cash to live on. The Hollywood options and adaptations have meant that, like a couple of friends before me, I’ve been able to strike out on my own and afford to do my own thing. As a comic book creator that’s everything I’ve ever wanted. Jack Kirby, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster would have KILLED for the opportunities we have right now, where a creator-owned book like Kick-Ass can outsell established characters and the writer and artist get to keep all the rights and all the money. This is a GOOD thing.

He’s writing in response to this article at IGN, which is based around a theory that comics becoming optioned while still mid-publication (or even pre-publication, in some cases) is “doing a disservice to the medium and the potential it offers.” (more…)

Pictures have leaked online of Russell Crowe as Jor-El, Superman’s father in Man of Steel, 2013′s movie revival of DC’s original superhero, and judging by the look of him, Krypton has become much more forgiving of shaggy hair since Richard Donner’s original movie:

Also interesting: Doesn’t it look as if he’s wearing Henry Cavill’s Superman outfit underneath that robe? Perhaps the new movie is hewing closely to the New 52 idea that the Superman costume is actually Kryptonian ceremonial armor…

And as if that wasn’t enough, other pictures from the set reveal another shocking change the movie is making from its comic roots: Amy Adams’ Lois Lane has red hair.

Backlash expected in 3… 2… 1…

Ever since the first cast portraits from next year’s Avengers movie were released last week, I’ve been mildly obsessed with Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner pic. It’s not just his hilarious, I-can’t-believe-they-actually-released-that-picture, Blue Steel expression that hypnotized me so, however. Instead, it was this realization: Every subsequent Bruce Banner has bigger hair. Don’t believe me? Look:

Every single time they replace an actor as Bruce Banner, his hair gets bigger. I refuse to believe this is coincidence for many reasons, not least of which being that both Ed Norton and Mark Ruffalo normally have flatter hair than they have in their Banner roles. Clearly, there’s some weird Samson thing going on behind the scenes – Perhaps a reference to Doc Samson, in some weird Easter Eggy way? – but it does give me hope that the Avengers movie will feature the world’s first CGI bouffant-toting gamma-irradiated monster. And in 3D, too!

That Avengers-centric issue of Entertainment Weekly proved to be more newsworthy than one might think. A sidebar in the cover story — titled “What’s next for Marvel?” — saw Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige comment on five potential projects, including Guardians of the Galaxy and Inhumans.

Guardians of the Galaxy has been rumored since August, but this would be the first official confirmation that a film is in development. Says Feige: “There’s an opportunity to do a big space epic, which Thor sort of hints at, in the cosmic side of the [Marvel] Universe.” Of Inhumans, which is a bit of a curveball, not much information is disclosed than “expect an X-Men style ensemble, a la The Avengers.” (Which sounds kind of redundant, but there you go.) Of course, that’s not equivalent to either of these actually for sure getting made, just a statement that they’re at the very least being considered. (And for our list of unlikely comic book properties that somehow made it to the big screen, click here.)

Two obvious ones, Iron Man 3 and Thor 2, with no real updates beyond what’s already been announced (IM3 is slated for May 2012, Patty Jenkins is in talks to direct T2). Ant-Man remains in flux, which Feige saying that Edgar Wright has “developed an excellent draft recently.”

The Avengers is, of course, the next Marvel Studios film to hit theaters, scheduled for May 4, 2012.

Get your fatalities ready folks, Mortal Kombat is making it’s way back to theaters.

The Hollywood Reporter says New Line cinema has tapped the creators of the Mortal Kombat digital series, made earlier this year.

“The movie deal marks the end of a journey for Kevin Tancharoen, who will direct the new movie,” says THR, “Tancharoen, a choreographer for Madonna and Britney Spears who directed the 2009 remake of Fame and more recently the Glee concert movie, directed a short film Mortal Kombat: Rebirth as a proof of concept for a Kombat movie he tried to pitch.”

Released by Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, Mortal Kombat: Legacy proved very popular in part to stars like Star Trek: Voyager’s Jeri Ryan as Sonya Blade and Spawn star Michael Jai White as Jax.

“The short was viewed more than 10 million times on YouTube, and although no movie deal materialized, he was asked to direct the 10-episode web series, which debuted in April, attracting more than 15 million unique visitors,” writes THR.

The original Mortal Kombat movie, based on the popular video game franchise, was directed in 1995 by the now well-known Paul W.S. Anderson. It did fairly well at the box office but its sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, directed by John R. Leonetti 1997, flopped.

THR says writer of the digital series Oren Uziel will write the new movie but that there is no actor attached and the story will not be a continuation of the video game or series.

The new Entertainment Weekly is out this Friday, and on the cover is the cast of the Avengers movie (including the film’s Bruce Banner, Mark Ruffalo, who is looking kind of like a Las Vegas mentalist).

The brief write-up about the article on EW’s website plays up the film’s tension between the superhero cast, quoting Jeremy “Hawkeye” Renner as saying, “Just because they’re super heroes doesn’t mean they’re super friends.” (So that “some assembly required” tagline may end up being surprisingly literal.)

The Avengers is scheduled for release on May 4, 2012, and much sooner than that is the Avengers panel at New York Comic Con, to be held 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the IGN Theater on Oct. 15 and featuring as-yet unnamed “special surprise guests.”

If screenwriter Jane Goldman and director Matthew Vaughn have made it sound in various interviews as if Kick-Ass 2 isn’t going to be happening, then there’s a reason for that, according to creator Mark Millar: It’s because they won’t be the ones making it. Talking to the LA Times, Millar explained that Kick-Ass was a victim of its own success:

The thing about the first movie is that it kind of exploded all our careers. People forget, but this was a $28-million indie movie made in the UK. It grossed $100 million at theaters and made the same again and more on DVD and Blu-ray and got amazing reviews. So everybody involved suddenly got hired for a million different things, and re-forming the band again would be impossible. Hopefully, we can use the same actors if and when we do a sequel, but getting Matthew [Vaughn] to direct or Jane to write a movie at this budget would be very difficult because they’re superstars now and they have projects of their own. I’d imagine, if this happens any time soon, that Matthew will produce and possibly co-write, like George Lucas did with “The Empire Strikes Back,” and hire a new director. But there’s a window because the actors are all supposed to be in high school and if this came out after 2013, for example, that window would have closed. I obviously know more than I can say, but I think people will be pretty happy with the conversations we’ve been having.

Hasn’t Chloe Moritz already grown past the point where she’d play a believable 11 year-old?

A last minute casting change has happened on Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. Actress Julia Ormond will no longer be playing Superman’s birth mother, Lara. The role will now be played by Ayelet Zurer.

You’re probably saying, “Who?” but you may have seen her before. She played opposite Eric Bana in Munich and Tom Hanks in Angels & Demons. ”I was unable to find out why director Zack Snyder made the last-minute change, but I’ve confirmed that Zurer will start filming this week,” wrote Deadline in their report. Ormond was never officially cast but she was the only person named to be in talks for the role before now.

Production is already underway on Man of Steel and Zurer will be starring alongside Russel Crow as Suprman’s biological father, Jor-El

The first candidate to emerge as a potential director of the 2013 Thor sequel is a bit of a surprise — Patty Jenkins, who wrote and directed the award-winning 2003 film Monster.

Deadline reports that Marvel Studios is “getting close” to naming a director (with Jenkins as the apparent front-runner), and notes the rarity of a female helming a superhero film. By our count, the most prominent one we can think of is 2008′s Punisher: War Zone, directed by Lexi Alexander — and this would be a much more high-profile production. Kenneth Branagh, who directed the first Thor, won’t be returning for the sequel as a result of a “mutual and amicable” split, but is said to likely be involved in a producing capacity.

This would be only the second feature for Jenkins after Monster, which starred Charlize Theron and was based on the life of executed serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Jenkins has also directed episodes of Arrested Development and Entourage, plus the acclaimed pilot of AMC’s remake of Danish crime series The Killing.

The Thor sequel is slated for July 26, 2013, with Chris Hemsworth returning in the title role and Don Payne, who worked on the first one, writing the script. Before that, Hemsworth’s Thor will be seen in next May’s much-anticipated Avengers film.

Evangeline Lilly, best known for her role as Kate on ABC’s Lost, hasn’t done a whole lot since the hit series went off the air. Her followup is set to hit theaters next month but she’s already stepping out onto shaky ground with her next job – the newly created elf Tauriel in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit. The actress herself is quite concerned how she’ll be perceived by fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic.

“I am very concerned to this day that people will watch the film and I’ll be the black mark on the film. I know how adamant the purists are and I’m one of them,” the actress told SFX. Lily will play a character named Tauriel in the films, an elf that Tolkien did not create.

“When the original came out in theatres, I swore up and down that I would not see them because I thought it was sacrilege that anyone would adapt Tolkien’s work. I didn’t think anyone would justify films by making them as good as they should be. Then my entire family when I was visiting went to see the movie and so I relented and went. We were all fans of the books and we were all blown away! It was a little piece of magic what Peter Jackson accomplished because it was truly a homage to the books rather than an offense,” she said.

Lilly told the magazine she’s been a fan of the literary tale since she was thirteen. “That said, upon reading The Hobbit again, as an adult, I can see why additional characters were needed to round out the story as an adaptation – especially female characters,” she said, “The Hobbit didn’t include female characters at all and was a very linear story, a book for children, really. What Peter, Fran (Walsh) and Philippa (Boyens) have done is all in perfect keeping with Tolkien’s world, while adding a third dimension to an otherwise very two-dimensional story.”

The actress is currently in New Zealand filming and will be for at least a year. “For a lot of actors, being that tied down would be problematic for their careers because they wouldn’t have the freedom to take any other part in the meantime. For me it’s perfect because I want to have time to spend with my family and relax and focus on my writing. This role gives me a framework within which to do that because I’m not working all the time but I’m working enough.”

With most roles there is a certain amount of training that goes on and for Lily, The Hobbit quite unlike her past experiences. “With every film, you have to educate yourself on the material and it’s often things you don’t know a lot about. Right now I’m studying Elvish and having conversations with people about learning how to be an archer, a swordsperson and how to fight like an elf instead of a gritty convict.”

The actress can next be seen starring opposite Hugh Jackman in Real Steel. The first half of Jackson’s Hobbit films, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, hits theaters in 2012.

The animated adaptation of Eric Powell’s The Goon may not be anywhere near theaters yet but the creator tweeted yet another video of what it will look like when it eventually gets there. The video warns, “This is early rough test animation for the David Fincher / Blur Studios / Dark Horse Entertainment produced film THE GOON. Based on the Dark Horse Comic’s series by Eric Powell. THIS IS NOT INDICATIVE OF THE FINAL PRODUCT.” The action finally starts 30-seconds in.

Clancy Brown, who voiced Lex Luthor in several DC animated properties and Paul Giamatti voice The Goon and Franky respectively and are planned to take on the full-length roles whenever the film actually happens. As the videos preamble states, this is test footage and while it looks great, isn’t nearly as polished as Blur’s proof of concept trailer. The film, originally announced in 2008, is apparently still looking for funding. With stuff like this floating around I’m surprised it’s taking so long. Director Fincher has said it’s difficult because it’s “adult animation.” Powell lamented that he wished he sold as many comics as this video got views and also said, “Even though there’s probably no way in hell to raise 50 million, I might start a Goon film Kickstarter just for shits & giggles.”

There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel lately thanks to some on-set shots of Superman himself, Henry Cavill, but what of his nemesis General Zod? Well the actor playing him, Michael Shannon, has a few words on what we can expect from one of our favorite villains, including a possible hint at the plot of the film.

Recently, a questionable shot made it’s way around the web showing what looked like Shannon in a motion capture suit on set. He confirmed to MovieFone that that was indeed him in the suit, “It’s one of the most humiliating garments that exists in the known universe, yes.” Shannon also mentioned he felt like a court jester in the getup. “It’s funny because when I met with Zack [Snyder] we were talking about it before it started and he mentioned that there was going to be a lot of CGI, or whatever. I said, ‘Just don’t make me wear one of those silly suits,’ he told the site, “Then I showed up and he’s like, ‘Dude, I swear to God, it’s going to be so bad ass when we’re done. Trust me, it’s going to be wicked.’”

The Boardwalk Empire actor told IndieWire Man of Steel is going to have a different look to it visually than the Richard Donner films and that, in turn, affects his approach to the classic role Terrance Stamp made famous in Superman II. “I found his performance so powerful that I would be overwhelmed by it if I tried to incorporate it into what I’m doing. There’s no reason to try and replicate it cos it’s perfect the way it is. I’m just trying to go down a different road with it, the script’s a little bit different than the original script.”

On a press junket for his latest film, Take Shelter, he also spoke to MTV about the comparisons or lack thereof in the role. ”I’m not going to impersonate Terence Stamp. I’m not going to have a British accent or anything. All I can say is it’s very well written and there’s a lot of great opportunities to reinvent it for myself. The challenge is for me to do that. There’s nothing holding me back. I think they’re counting on me to give my interpretation. I’ll do the best I can.”

Shannon of course couldn’t give any details as to the plot of Man of Steel but did perhaps hint at what we’ll be seeing of the good General. ”Being a general, to me, that’s a fascinating, iconoclastic character. I can’t imagine being a sergeant, let alone a general,” he said, “He’s in charge of the entire military of Krypton. That’s going to take every little shred of imagination that I have. It’s a good challenge because it’s a big distance to have to go.”

A CGI costume, different visually from the past Superman films and a mention of actually leading a Kryptonian army. Hmm, could we be getting a film that takes place partially in space, pre-Krypton demise?

We still only have one official shot of The Dark Knight Rises actress Anne Hathaway in her Catwoman costume for the film yet tons of other regular costume shots have been showing up recently.

These first two images come from a few Celebuzz.com caught. I’m definitely getting a Catwoman: When In Rome vibe off of them as well as an Adam Hughes/Audrey Hepburn style Catwoman feeling.

The next two come via JustJared.com who caught both Hathaway and Christian Bale filming at night in Los Angeles. She’s in black again (will she wear anything but in the film?) but still not the Catwoman costume.

Looks like Mr. Wayne made Ms. Kyle angry.

She was also seen filming a fight scene earlier this week as well. I’m beginning to wonder if all the rest of her “Catwoman” scenes are being shot on closed sets. Sigh.

This may be the single greatest thing to happen to my generation. I’ve been waiting since 1989 for Nike to come through with the power lacing high-tops Marty McFly wore in Back to the Future II. It’s been teased a lot over the years but…the future is now. Sorta.

I give you the Nike MAG, a replica of the sneakers from Back to the Future II. One catch, they don’t actually power-lace, they only look like the real deal and light up. They also aren’t designed or intended for normal wear and use as footwear. Still interested? If you aren’t rich, you probably aren’t going to get a pair. Not because they are so expensive to produce but because these babies are incredibly limited in quantity and are being auctioned off on Ebay instead of sold in stores. Don’t yell foul just yet – the proceeds from the sales of the Nike Mags are going entirely to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

“It’s about time,” reads the Foundations’ website. “For 22 years they have existed only in the year 2015 on Marty McFly’s feet. Today they finally become a reality. Famed Nike designer Tinker Hatfield and footwear innovator Tiffany Beers have returned to recreate the footwear legend. Based on an original movie prop used in Back to the Future Part II, the 2011 Nike MAG shoes have been rebuilt to the exact specifications of the originals. It features an electroluminescent outsole, space-age materials and a rechargeable internal battery good for 3,000 hours.”

Starting today, 150 pairs of 2011 Nike MAG shoes will be auctioned on eBay and the fact that they aren’t quite the futuristic item we’d like them to be hasn’t dampened anyones mood. As of publishing this piece, a pair of size 11s are going for $75,100. Holy. Crap. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these shoes went upwards of $100,000 when all is said and done. (See the full list here) UPDATE: Those size 11s have now been bumped down to $8,200 and a size 10 is in the lead with $11,100. I wonder if those bidders didn’t initially read the fine print of them not actually being power laces and they let them out of the bids.Bidding is still restricted to pre-qualified bidders only.

The Foundation is also using the Back to the Future auction to help meet the $50-million Brin Wojcicki Challenge. “Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, and his wife Anne Wojcicki, co-founder of personal genetics company 23andMe, are matching up to $50 million in funds raised by the Foundation between now and December 31, 2012. Net proceeds from the 2011 MAG auctions on eBay will be matched, so please bid generously,” asks the Foundation. Indeed they are.

Even if the shoes won’t tie by themselves, this was still a great idea to raise money. My only problem is there aren’t any women’s sizes. Not that I could afford a pair anyway but my tiny feet aren’t fitting in a men’s 7, which is the smallest they’re offering, 13 is the largest. Guess I’ll just wait for my hoverboard. The real one Mattel.

Christopher Lloyd never ages, I swear to god.

The Avengers, Man of Steel and The Dark Knight Rises are three of the most highly anticipated movies of next year and with the advent of their filming, lots of pictures have surfaced online. Some feature the famous cast members in action, while others show them having fun in their downtime on set. Well, artist Noelle Stevenson has been following the leaks closely, specifically The Avengers, and finally shows us what it’s doing to her.

Stevenson, also known to her fans as Ginger Haze on Tumblr, has a penchant for highlighting the way fans (herself in particular, but I can totally relate) perceive our favorite film or literary characters. Here we have delightfully ridiculous depictions of Loki and Thor, Tony Stark and Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow and of course, the artist herself.

Stevenson also showed us what she saw in her mind after viewing video and shots of Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth filming this scene together recently.

Seriously though, the footage was almost exactly like that.

I love all of Stevenson’s work but I must also direct you to her recent series having fun with X-Men: First Class and, if you’re a Lord of the Rings fan you should also check out her Broship of the Rings. Keep them coming Noelle, you aren’t alone in your superhero world views.