IRON MAN

Variety is reporting that actress Gwyneth Paltrow will join Robert Downey Jr. and Terence Howard in the Jon Favreau directed Marvel adaptation. The trade stated, "Paltrow will play Virginia "Pepper" Potts, personal assistant to an industrialist who develops an armored suit to battle bad guys. Production begins in March in Los Angeles." The movie is slated for a May 2008 release.

Meanwhile, there's a concept drawing of what the armor will look like at Screen Rant, while IGN has confirmed that the Stan Winston Studio will be building a live, mechanical version of the armor. Stan Winston Studio previously worked with director Favreau on his sci-fi pic "Zathura."

SIN CITY 2

The rumors are swirling that director Robert Rodriguez won't wait for Angelina Jolie to be "A Dame To Kill For," and will be replaced by either "Constantine" vet Rachel Weisz or "Charmed" sister Rose McGowan, depending on which rumor monger you find more credible.

TRANSFORMERS

The robots are coming! The robots are coming! TFW2005 has images for the toys of Decepticon Blackout, and prototypes of both Megatron and Optimus Prime in vehicle and robot modes.

SUPERMAN RETURNS 2

Screenwriter Michael Dougherty is quoted at Sci Fi Wire as hinting at possibly more than one villain for the Man of Steel to face. "We're talking," Dougherty said. "We're bouncing ideas around with Bryan. Big ideas. Action-packed ideas. I think it's going to be a more action-oriented film. Again, the easy comparison to make was ['X-Men'] to 'X2,' or 'Star Trek' [The Motion Picture] to 'Star Trek II.' I mean, I know that Bryan has said he's going to 'Wrath of Khan' it, and by that he means, 'Let's take what we've already establishedÑwe've gotten that out of the wayÑand let's just make it shorter, tighter and more action-packed."

SMALLVILLE

TV Guide's Mark Ausiello has his weekly dose of spoilers including chatter about Lois and that the upcoming death may not be permanent. Meanwhile, Kryptonsite has screen captures for the trailer to this week's anticipated event episode, "Justice."

SPIDER-MAN 3

Spoiler-haters beware: Film Ick claims to know exactly how the movie will end, and they'll be happy to tell you.

HEROES

Herosite has an interview with former Dr. Who, Christopher Eccleston. "What attracted me to 'Heroes' is that they came in for me," the British actor said, "and I appreciated that. We talked about two roles, and it was Claude that I decided on, the second role ... there's a possibility that we'll be giving away plot points, but what I will say is that the first role was a villain, and I didn't want to play a villain. I think that it's somewhat of a cliche for European actors to play villains in American culture, and I didn't want to be part of that."

GHOST RIDER

Yes, the film is due any day now, but director Mark Steven Johnson told Sci Fi Wire that he's not done yet. "I literally came from the Sony mixing stage, but I wanted to give a good introduction to the fans," Johnson said at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention in Los Angeles on Jan. 14. "There's still some rough stuff. There's some old footage on the Internet with some early effects, and this is a huge step up."

Finally, if you thought the idea of seeing Ghost Rider dealing with his taxes was funny, you can check it out online courtesy of Superhero Hype.

THE CASTING COUCH

We can't do this without you. The rumors, the scoops, the set photos -- they're all fueled by passionate fans emailing in the goods. The ones who ask, "What do you mean your sister's dating somebody who works for Miles Millar?" The ones who know the code names of movie projects and scour city permit filings for them. The devoted, the involved. Fans, just like you. Whatever you know, we wanna know, and whether you want your name shouted to the web's rafters or kept closer than a classified report, we've got you covered like a comforter. Broadcasting live from Los Angeles, this is your humble scribe Hannibal Tabu (web site, MySpace blog) saying thank you for your time and indulgence, happy birthday to my dawg Craig, and "enough talk -- let's go make with the 'biff' and the 'pow' already."