SMALLVILLE

Ah, corporate synergy -- according to the WWE Insider, wrestler Batista will make an appearance on this season's ninth episode, which remains untitled at this point. Devoted to Smallville was the first to post the official network description of the season premiere, simply titled "Zod," but their archrivals at Kryptonsite have production stills from the episode, as well as a promotional gallery of photos sent from the network.

30 DAYS OF NIGHT

The fifth behind-the-scenes clip has been posted at Ghost House Pictures, while actor Josh Hartnett was interviewed by Comingsoon.net about the movie and said, "It's less of a horror movie. You saw 'Alien,' right?" Hartnett asked. "It's like that. It's kind of a supernatural, but kind of a western, you know, in that genre. It's all about being on the edge. The outskirts of society. Having to create your own society with an outside element creating massive fear and panic. Most of the film you don't even know they're vampires." Finally, the Hollywood Reporter chimes in with a bit saying, "Danny Huston is sharpening his teeth for '30 Days of Night,' Columbia Pictures' adaptation of the horror comic book ... Huston will play the leader of the vampires."

TRANSFORMERS

Why would a mechanoid be sunbathing? There's no telling, but that sure looks like what Bumblebee's doing in this photo, which Ain't It Cool News pointed to, alongside a street mock up intended to show the differences in size for the many motorized members of the cast.

FANTASTIC FOUR: THE RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER

There's a couple of set reports at Superhero Hype, looking behind the scenes of the Canadian shoot. One scooper wrote, "I saw some people "discreetly" handling a prosthetic mask of the Thing! Then I saw Michael Chiklis, the Thing himself. He wasn't 'Thing' at the time, just in his street clothes. The man is short! Then I saw a silver/grey Dodge Ram truck being hoisted into the air by a crane." Another wrote of his experience, saying, "They started with a clip of Johnny Storm and The Thing coming out of a cake shop with two wedding cakes. The Thing's car is blocked by vans in front and behind so he hands the cakes to Johnny and lifts the car out of the spot and tosses it onto the road. It took a few hours to film all of this but it was definitely quite a sight to see The Thing in full costume, it looks like they've make his brow thicker."

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES

The official site has been launched by Kids WB, and Comics Continuum has an interview with voice actor Yuri Lowenthal, who brings life to the Teen of Steel.

HELLBOY ANIMATED

The same page at Comics Continuum has an update from producer Tad Stones on the development of projects for Cartoon Network and DVD. "He (Hopps) came to Mike [Mignola]'s house," Stones said. "We basically told him the story. He basically pitched the story back to us with index cards, and we talked more."

"In the case of both films, Tad and I came up with the general idea and some of the moments," Mignola said. "And then a writer came in and kind of put it in order. And then we went back in and said, 'Well, he wouldn't say this or do this.' Tad and I were kind of there at the beginning and the end."

THE DARK KNIGHT

Heath Ledger made the rounds, talking first to the Toronto Sun about what he expects to do as the Clown Prince of Crime. "It's definitely going to stump people. I think it'll be more along the lines of how the Joker was meant to be in the comics, darker and more sinister." He then told the Toronto Star, "I wouldn't have thought of me, either. But it's obviously not going to be what Jack Nicholson did. It's going to be more nuanced and dark and more along the lines of a 'Clockwork Orange' kind of feel. Which is, I think, what the comic book was after: less about his laugh and more about his eyes."

BLADE

Speaking of nocturnal avengers, we've got a five-minute video recap of the season thus far in Windows Media format. Large, high quality here (28 Megs) and a smaller, medium quality version here (15 Megs).

BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY

Here's where you get in on the action. Did you see a link we didn't catch? Have you snuck into a closed movie set, and have inside data? Maybe your cousin is dating somebody who knows something, and they had to tell you? Whatever it is, we wanna know it all -- fire off an email and let us know whether you want your name used or your contributions to geekdom to go down anonymously. Broadcasting live from Los Angeles, this is novelist/karaoke host/all-around lunatic Hannibal Tabu saying thanks for your time and indulgence, comics reviews are late, but they're done, look for a note on a new movie coming out this week in tomorrow's column, and [tagline sent back to development hell until something hipper can be dreamed up].