IRON MAN

Actor Robert Downey Jr. is quoted at Superhero Hype talking about how he's not afraid of hard work. "The suit for 'Iron Man' is so complex and does so much stuff that except for once or twice or from the chest up, I'm not required to do all that much," Downey Jr. said. "What I will do is a lot of motion capture so that the movement isn't just some random stunt guy. A lot of time I look at CGI and I'm like 'What's the reference for this? This looks like a cartoon reference not a person." So I said I want to do all the motion capture work, which is like eight months after finishing shooting, but as much as it as I can do, I will."

Was Downey approached, or did he make overtures to get the part? "I went after it like a greyhound after a rabbit," he said. "I loved Marvel and 'Iron Man' to me is the goods. To tell you the God's honest truth, I'd thrown them all away for 'Sgt. Rock,' because I really grew up on 'Hogan's Heroes.' I'm still addicted to the History Channel and the Military Channel is my thing, but Tony's the best because I could never be Sgt. Rock. He's a little bigger and more butch and has a cigar, I don't see it. Tony's a perfect fit for me, and if I was ever going to do this type of thing, I thought, you know, like early '40's. Great, because when you hang up your 'macho hat' and start directing or doing other stuff, it's not an embarrassment to be doing this in your late '40s still if we wind up doing three of them." Downey also said two casting announcements would happen soon, including Pepper Potts.

WANTED

CBR's own Arune "The Real Steel Deal" Singh has posted a note announcing actor Morgan Freeman joining the cast of the Mark Millar adaptation.

HULK 2

Also here at CBR, we have the announcement of the date we'll next see Ol' Green Jaws smash his way into theaters and multiplexes.

SMALLVILLE

If you wanna avoid two huge spoilers about a relationship and a DCU character coming to the show, don't click here, which would send you over to Kryptonsite to learn the truth.

QUIET ON THE SET

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, I really wanna get that new "Vice City Stories" game, and "enough talk -- let's go make with the 'biff' and the 'pow' already."