SMALLVILLE

Actor Michael Rosenbaum was interviewed by Smallville Magazine, and Kryptonsite has highlights. The clean-shaven thespian had some interesting things to say about his character. "I don't know if all of the fans are ready [for Lex to go bad], because some of the time when I see fans or bump into them, they're always telling me that they love Lex, and they don't want him to turn evil. And then there's the other side, the fans who can't wait for him to turn evil. But for me as an actor, it's fun to have a little taste of that ... Lex probably does have some ulterior motives, because there are a lot of ulterior motives in the Luthor family. Perhaps by putting his father away, he thinks people will see him in a different light. People will say 'He put this monster away. Maybe Lex isn't that bad.' -- but at the same time maybe they're thinking, 'Wow, what a monster? What kind of monster puts his father away?' There's a double entendre to everything."

Kryptonsite also has the network's description for the February 2nd episode, "Unsafe."

Devoted to Smallville caught an interview with actress Erica Durance, who talked about fan reaction to her playing Lois Lane. "I'm sure there are people who don't like my Lois too, but you're always going to get that. I'm my own worst critic. There's always stuff I feel. I need to learn. There are certain things that I've really like that have happened, and some things I don't. So I have to feed off of how I feel about my performance, how my bosses feel about performances and what I hear from the fans. Getting positive feedback from the producers [Al Gough and Miles Millar] and from the fans reassures me, but right now it's even more important coming from the creators because fans are always going to have their own personal reasons why they may not like something."

It should be noted that Los Angeles-area fans will not see the new episode "Unsafe" on January 26th. That day the WB's LA affiliate will air a basketball game between the Lakers and the Clippers, bringing "Smallville" back to the City of Lost Angels the following night at 8PM.

FANTASTIC FOUR

The story of Marvel's first family was all over the media this long weekend, including having screen captures at Comics Continuum, a fun list of toys that will soon be available at Amazon, a contemplative moment for Ben Grimm captured at Superhero Hype as well as an interview with director Tim Story, culled from Game Informer magazine, talking about everybody's favorite Latverian doctor. "There aren't a whole lot of villains out there who intentions are extremely pure." said Story.  "Dr. Doom just wants to get rid of Reed Richards. It's plain simple. He just hates Reed, and at the end of the day, it's not much bigger than that."

BATMAN BEGINS

Speaking of adaptations getting a ton of press, including new photos over at a German site and Comics Continuum, a scan from Entertainment Weekly over at Superhero Hype, showing the Bat getting his rescue on and finally another scan of an image from the Los Angeles Times.

GHOST RIDER

Everybody's interested in Superhero Hype these days -- director Mark Steven Johnson dropped by their message boards to give an update on the Nicolas Cage vehicle, slated to start filming in four weeks. "Mr. Cage will be Johnny Blaze. Take it from me. That's a done deal. And I could not be happier. Nic is in the shape of his life. Lean and mean, like a motorcycle stunt rider should. I've cast a few more parts but I should wait until the official announcements come (very soon) ... Nice to see that we've been 'upgraded' from a $40 million dollar movie to a $51 million dollar movie! Maybe that's enough for a 'Dazzler' movie but not for a 'Ghost Rider' movie! Seriously, this is an event movie. And Sony knows how to make them right. Rest assured. That is not the budget. Not by a long shot ... The great thing about making a 'Ghost Rider' movie is that I get to take the best from both the Johnny Blaze and the Danny Ketch versions of the comic. So even though I am telling the Johnny Blaze origin story, there are elements of the Danny Ketch stories that I love and will include in the movie (so don't worry, Flamehead! Your beloved Danny Ketch will be there in spirit!). Caretaker will be there. And Blackheart. But so will Mephisto and Roxanne and the Quentin Carnival ... People have mentioned the old David Goyer draft. Goyer wrote two really interesting versions of a 'Ghost Rider' movie. I'd go to see either one of them. But my version is my own. The script is much closer to the comic. But at the same time, it's much more of a Western. A Supernatural Western is, I think, about the coolest idea ever. The Ghost Rider needs that open road as well as the city. I feel that is what makes him unique -- that he's a rider. Think Mad Max. Unforgiven. We have huge battles in the city but, ultimately, they will end up out in the desert ... The Hellcycle. Well, it's simply unbelievable. It's sculpt is finished and it went into the molds last week. It's the Chopper from Hell. No doubt about it. This is the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life. The toys and the video game are already in the works and they are going to kick ass!"

Also, My Entertainment World may have a huge spoiler, letting slip the film's plot (about two-thirds of the way down the page).

SIN CITY

The NECA website has a cool in-depth look at the Marv action figure, including data on the ever-elusive Chase variants (what does that mean, anyway?).

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL

If you have the scoop on anything related to comic book movies, TV adaptations or just want to give us a briefcase full of cash, no questions asked, drop us a line and let's coordinate. You can choose an alias if you'd like, or be mentioned by name -- we honor requests for anonymity. Broadcasting live from Los Angeles, this is your humble scribe Hannibal Tabu saying thanks for your time and indulgence, I might get distracted warming up for my 32nd birthday on Thursday (I took Monday off to honor Dr. King and myself) and "don't blame me, I'm drunk too!"