IRON MAN

You could probably use a friend, and so could billionaire industrialist Tony Stark, which is why you can buddy up with the newly-launched official MySpace page

SMALLVILLE

TV Guide's Michael Ausiello is back after a brief hiatus, featuring a small spoiler about a returning (kind of) Jane Seymour.

ALIENS VS. PREDATOR: REQUIEM

The first five minutes of the Strause brothers film can be found online at Yahoo! Movies' UK site.

The sibling directors are quoted at Sci Fi Wire talking about the plot and their ambitions for the future. "What we've kind of told them is, I think, ... to us, this is the end of the Earth story," Colin Strause said. "The next one has got to be in space. You know, the way we kind of end this it's like, 'We're kind of done here.'" The film opens up on December 25th.

HELLBOY 2: THE GOLDEN ARMY

ShockTillYouDrop has a new photo of the very well-armed title character.

THE SPIRIT

Creator Frank Miller has some new entries on the Flash-based blog at the official site.

THE BATMAN

Comics2Film has new images from this weekend's Joker-centric new episode, the last one for the year.

JUSTICE LEAGUE

Where'd that "American Heroes" title rumor get started? Right from the mouth of Christian Bale, according to reporting at Ain't It Cool News. A scooper wrote in saying, "Christian Bale was on Nova (FM) today in an interview (pre-recorded I assume) for 'Yuma' and said he has "nothing to do with 'AMERICAN HEROES,' and their Batman will be different to our Batman.'" It's also been noted that the Justice League was branded as "American Heroes" in some international markets, which may be the name that stuck in Bale's head.

WGA STRIKE WATCH: DAY THIRTY-EIGHT

CBR News has the scoop on Friday's Joss Whedon-led strike rally, with approximately four hundred supporters at Fox Studios.

The bottom line has already been affected, as noted in this Reuters story which said, "faced with ratings declines since the start of the fall TV season, three major networks are compensating advertisers with extra commercial time, and at least one, NBC, is taking the rare step of giving back cash, media buyers said on Tuesday ... 'Some of the networks owe advertisers because the ratings delivery came below what they guaranteed, but NBC couldn't make it all up in units, so it's paying it back in cash,' said one executive for a major media buying firm." Ow!

Speaking of hitting where it hurts, the AMPTP is keeping a running tally of how much writers have not been paid (or how much the studios have saved, depending on your point of view) on their website.

Reuters also noted that what the networks do have is reruns and reality shows, while the annual Television Critics Association winter tour has been cancelled, which will further negatively effect ad dollars. However, probably due to the solidarity shown, the Screen Actors Guild Awards has gotten an exemption from the WGA and will go on, with scripted quips, January 27th. The Golden Globes and Oscars are reported to be scrambling to try and get waivers too, but mum's the word on that for now.

The Los Angeles Times claims that the guild's leadership is under pressure to stay focused on new media, noting that Directors Guild of America talks could change the landscape of the struggle.

Meanwhile, Fabiani & Lehane, the publicity firm hired by the AMPTP, is feeling the heat as many of their clients are going elsewhere in solidarity with the WGA. "I've learned that F&L was responsible for naming the studios' and networks' offer to the WGA that 'New Economic Partnership,'" Finke wrote. "They also offered the suggestion that the CEOs stop calling the writers' side 'negotiators' and start branding them 'organizers' because it sounds more Commie. They wrote Friday's strongly worded and downright menacing press release to satisfy the moguls apparent craving for combat not conciliation. But, so far, that's it. An AMPTP insider insists F&L is only being paid a 1/3 what anyone thinks 'but it's not necessarily money well spent.'"

Everybody's doing what they can to make it through -- Nikki Finke also reports that Creative Artist Agency handed out bonus checks company wide to assistants, which is normally done on an ad hoc basis by each assistant's individual boss.

Finally, to Brian Rubin and others who have written in, we're happy to provide strike coverage as long as it happens, because aside from bringing you the stories, we're fans too, so we're watching and waiting as well.

YOU'LL NEVER WORK IN THIS TOWN AGAIN!

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 saying thank you for your time and indulgence, and [tagline redacted until the WGA strike is resolved].