Smallville, X-Men 3, Superman, Spider-Man 3: February 4th Comic Reel Wrap

CBR

By Hannibal Tabu

Published Feb 4, 2005

Among the "Smallville" shenanigans, Lex Luthor laughs it up in late night and Clark beats up college students. Plus Fox is carrying a grudge for Bryan Singer's actor poaching, Supes gets a release date, Sam Raimi warms up the cameras and you can see a Man-Thing, all in the last summary of the week.

SMALLVILLE

The battle of the fan sites continues, as Kryptonsite has a newly released image from the college-themed episode "Recruit." Meanwhile, Devoted to Smallville fires back with a transcript of actor Michael Rosenbaum's hilarious appearance on "Last Call with Carson Daly." Staying above the fray, the WB posted a Random Rant (all formats) with Erica Durance, talking about being Lois Lane.

X-MEN

Apparently there's fallout from Bryan Singer jumping ship -- according to a columnist at MSN, "Unless a miracle occurs, James Marsden has already been removed from consideration as Cyclops after he took a smaller part as Perry White's son in 'Superman Returns.' We'll see if Marsden's loyalty to Singer was a smart career move. Fox is telling actors who have options for the third, untitled X-Men film that it will begin shooting June 20th. That conflicts with 'Superman Returns' spring shooting schedule, which is anticipated to go through July 30." Apparently, loyalty to Singer is seen as a betrayal of Fox, which is why "Iceman" Shawn Ashmore isn't going to be Jimmy Olsen, and if Famke Janssen takes a part (she's headed down under to talk to Singer), she could be kaput as well. All of a sudden, having Halle back as Storm seems more plausible, as screenwriter Zak Penn is hard at work on a new draft.

SUPERMAN

Speaking of the Bryan Singer-helmed Super-film, Superhero Hype reports that the studio has listed a June 30th, 2006 release date, which currently has no major competitors for the slot.

SPIDER-MAN 3

In a cagey interview with Comingsoon.Net, director Sam Raimi said, "I'm actually going to start shooting tests next month. Tests, experiments with costume and the characters, movement, new CG types of technology that we're going to develop, combinations of existing technologies that are put together in new ways to make it seem new but that stuff already exists. Our stunt people are going to be working in a month also, shooting tests, mechanical effects tests."

MAN-THINGComics Continuum has twenty new still images from the direct-to-TV horror movie from Marvel.

THAT'S A WRAP

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, look for this week's comics reviews online by 7PM EST despite me being drugged by a beautiful woman, and "don't blame me, I'm drunk too!"