SPIDER-MAN 3

Villain-to-be Thomas Haden Church is the focus of a profile in the Houston Chronicle, where he's very coy about some o the changes he's had to adopt in his life for the third Sam Raimi-helmed web-spinning movie. After his oenophile turn in the Oscar-nominated "Sideways," he noted that he personally prefers beer to wine, but "given my physical training for Spider-Man, they only want me to drink light beer," he told the newspaper. The paper reports, " Church has been in Los Angeles lately for wardrobe fittings and 'being in the mud all day. They did plaster casts of my body for prosthetics. They also wanted to cut my hair to get an idea for (computer) animators (to determine) what my look will be.'"

All's not smiles and chuckles in the world of Peter Parker, since Superhero Hype has a source saying, "Looks like Elfman will follow suit with John Dykstra (who left 'Spidey 3' earlier this year) and take his leave from the 'Spider-Man' franchise. Composer Danny Elfman has cued up much work for 2007 (the year of 'Spider-Man 3's' anticipated release), including the rumor of scoring the movie adaptation of the adventures of the superheroine 'Wonder Woman.' After much creative differences between Sam Raimi and Danny Elfman during the post-production of 'Spider-Man 2,' Raimi brought in other composers to complete the unfinished score. One of those composers was Christopher Young, and according to sources close to Raimi and Elfman, it appears that Young will be hired for the job."

SUPERMAN

According to the Hollywood Reporter, "Actor Frank Langella, who once chilled moviegoers as Count Dracula, has stepped into the role of Superman's boss, Perry White, in Bryan Singer's upcoming comic book adventure 'Superman Returns' for Warner Bros. Pictures. Hugh Laurie originally was cast in the role but bowed out because of a scheduling conflict with the Fox television series on which he stars, 'House.'"

MAN-THING

Moviehole has the Australian art for the upcoming Marvel thriller.

SMALLVILLESacre merde -- a little bit of Kansas in the land of croissants and poodles? That's right, following the tattoo storyline's origins, Smallville creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, actors Erica Durance (Lois) and Allison Mack (Chloe), and two members from the theme song's band Remy Zero will all be heading to the Jules Verne Film Festival in Paris, which takes place April 6-11.

In other news, Kryptonsite has some highlights of John Glover's feature article in Smallville Magazine, and the team at Devoted to Smallville have scans of Kristin Kreuk's feature in The Magazine (that's the name of it, honest).

SUB-MARINER

Latino Review has a video interview (Windows Media only) is reporting that actor Ryan Reynolds is likely to be putting on the lyrca to play DC's fastest man alive, but apparently he's also been contacted about playing Atlantis' hotheaded avenging son Namor. "Avi Arad, who owns Marvel, bought it up to me ['The Sub-Mariner'] and that would be something I'd be keen on," said Reynolds. "From what I've learnt from Avi, it's quite an undertaking, so it's's going to be a pretty big movie."

FANTASTIC FOUR

According to Hollywood North Report, "Director Tim Story is now in Vancouver to film re-shoots with the whole lead cast assembled. Scheduling conflicts have pushed the re-shoots back from early March -- to late March -- and now into April. According to an HNR scooper:

From Tuesday April 5th in the early AM to the 8th. Setup on the Burrard and Hastings location already began over the weekend. They will also be re-shooting the X-Games scene at the Plaza of Nations during the daylight hours this week. Both the scenes are featured heavily in the trailers out now. We also hear that filming might have already started in-studio over the weekend."

TRUST IS THE BIGGEST LIABILITY OF ALL

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, yes, I might slip a Rule of Acquisition in at the end now and then, and "don't blame me, I'm drunk too!"