SMALLVILLE

The dueling websites continue their eternal struggle with one another. Venerable veteran Kryptonsite has highlights of an interview with Smallville go-to guy Jeph Loeb. Of course the team at Devoted to Smallville isn't gonna take that lying down, so they fire back with screen captures from last week's episode "Krypto."

TRANSFORMERS

According to Toon Zone, yet another generation of Robots in Disguise will come to the Cartoon Network this summer, in conjunction with a new toy line. "The new universe-spanning storyline finds the Transformers home planet, Cybertron, in danger once again. To save the planet from certain destruction Optimus Prime leads the Autobots in their search to find the four Cyber Planet Keys. However, Megatron and his nefarious Decepticons also want the Keys in order to harness their power for evil."

Meanwhile, following up on last week's story about screenwriter John Rogers stepping away from the wheel for a bit, FilmForce reports that Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman ("Alias," "Mission: Impossible III") have signed on to tackle the second draft.

Producer Tom DeSanto was interviewed in Toyfare magazine, and there's a scan of it over at the Spawn Message Boards. DeSanto said, "The same way Wolverine took us into the world of mutants, humans have to take us into the world of Transformers. ... You can't have it where Transformers are talking to Transformers at the start of the movie. The fans will get it, but we're going to lose the uninitiated. But we're gonna stay true to the heart of it. It's about someone who wants domination and [someone who wants] everyone to live together and respect all life. Any time you get a property that speaks to a deeper thematic level – that's why people aren't still talking about GoBots. It's character-driven science fiction. You remember the characters and have to care about them."

Finally, Superhero Hype reports that the film will debut November 17, 2006.

HE-MAN

Rope of Silicon has a rumor that "Alias" and "Elektra" star Jennifer Garner is up for the role of She-Ra in the John Woo-directed adaptation. "Plus our insider tells us that rumors of Jason Lewis and Nicolas Cage being involved are false ... shooting is expected to begin before the year is up."

FANTASTIC FOUR

Superhero Hype also reports that "The fan4 team left last week for Vancover BC to do reshoots for the film--par the course for 100m+ film."

Also, CBR's own Dave Sikula reports on Julian McMahon talking about being Victor von Doom to a capacity crowd.

WONDER WOMAN

Hollywood bigwig Joel Silver spent the weekend in San Fran working on making deals -- he told Sci Fi Wire that he's after Joss Whedon to helm the project. I'm trying," Silver said. "I'm trying to work a deal with Joss... I was just in the other room [where Whedon was talking about his upcoming SF movie, 'Serenity']. I don't know if I could work that out. It's a complicated deal to do, but I would love him to do it. It would be great if he could do it." Silver said that Whedon came to him with a new twist on Themyscria's finest.

V FOR VENDETTA

Speaking of Silver, only Comics Continuum seems to have caught the director talking about the Wachowski's Alan Moore adaptation. "They've captured the concept," Silver said. "The setting is 2040, but it looks like 19th Century -- like the comic book."

BATMAN BEGINS

In a final bit of news from San Francisco, CBR's own Sam Arroyo reports that actor Christian Bale made a surprise appearance, answered questions and showed six minutes of footage from the film.

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL

Despite Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas eating up way too much time, the Comic Reel marches on. 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, go pre-order some titles from Speakeasy Comics' Hawke Studios (Beowulf: Gods & Monsters, The Grimoire) and "don't blame me, I'm drunk too!"