SUPERMAN

Tons of news about the Man of Tomorrow, starting off with a bit in Australia's Daily Telegraph about Lex Luthor personnel choices. "Former 'NRL' star Ian Roberts, cast as henchman 'Riley' to Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor, has completed his first week of filming alongside the megastar on the superhero set. The big guy's villainous character -- described as having more brawn than brain -- is one of Lex Luthor's two sidekicks, with local actor Vincent Stone winning the other role. 'He might not be the sharpest tool in the shed but he's no bowling ball either,' the one-time TV dancer said of his alias. Roberts will spend the next two months on the Fox Studios set."

There's also a better resolution photo of actress Kate Bosworth in character as Lois Lane.

Finally, Dark Horizons has a story about filming around Australia's famed 12 Apostles rock formation. According to a publicity spokesman for Fox Studios, Joe Everett: "They might not look exactly like the rocks in the movie." Mr. Everett said he could only say the 12 Apostles were this week being filmed for the "Superman Returns" movie. "I can't tell you how they will be used. All the plot line stuff we're not allowed to speak of." About 20 "visual effects unit" crew spent Wednesday, Thursday and yesterday shooting the 12 Apostles from a helicopter.

FANTASTIC FOUR

According to Comics Continuum, legend Stan Lee thinks "it's thrilling ... Fox has wanted to make this movie for a long time. I'm glad they waited for the right story and the right technology. They certainly got the perfect cast and it's all going to be up there on the big silver screen ... the humor, the drama, the adventure, the action, the fun ... all the things that make them so fantastic." In the film, Stan will play mailman Willie Lumpkin in his most extensive film role to date.

USA Weekend has a poster drawn by artist Bryan Hitch, which includes six "Easter eggs" of villains in the background.

Meanwhile, Yahoo! Movies has posted eleven clips and five featurettes from the Tim Story-helmed adaptation. There are also featurettes at iFilm and FilmForce as well.

To prepare for Friday's opening, the studio had skywriters tag up the wild blue yonder. Finally, composer John Ottman has posted three snippets of the score on his website.

SPAWN

Action is heating up on the new animated series, with an update on the official website about voice casting. "Over the last couple of weeks, we have been knee deep in voice casting for the animated show, which is no easy task. In animation, the voice of the character is extremely important as it must convey many of the subtleties that are difficult to portray in the animated body language of a character. It's not easy to get the subtlety of a raised eyebrow or a snide look; sometimes those similar emotions can be delivered more easily through verbal expression."

MIRRORMASK

Ain't It Cool News has a less-than-enthusiastic early review of the Neil Gaiman project.

BATMAN 2Batman On Film has some new rumor nuggets, including more traffic around the still-standing Gotham City sets at Britain's Cardington Hangars and a rumor that actress Isla Fisher will be the next love interest for everyone's favorite rodent-themed billionaire.

There's also a new rumor at Cinescape that Gotham DA and future super villain Two Face will be played by ... wait for it ... none other than ... brace yourself ... pop singer Justin Timberlake.

Meanwhile, Comingsoon.net reports that the film we can see now is doing well, with a worldwide box office tally of $268.1 million.

NICK FURYMoviehole is reosting the rumor from SFX Magazine that action star Bruce Willis is in line to slide on the eyepatch for an alleged 2007 release.

SMALLVILLE

Kryptonsite has the goods with a scan of a new issue of SFX Magazine, with quotes from stars Erica Durance and Kristin Kreuk. They also have done some minor updates on their spoilers for the season premiere.

SPIDER-MAN 3

Superhero Hype has some updates on the crew for the third web-spinning sequel, with a possible hint on who Spidey will be facing. "Design extraordinarre Harald Belker ('Spider-Man,' 'Minority Report,' 'Stealth') said the following in a great article (date June 17, 2005) on the Batmobile: Mr. Belker, who is currently developing gadgets for 'Spider-Man 3.' What's interesting about this? This is the same person who designed the pumpkin bombs in 'Spider-Man 1' and also came up with (unused) designs for the Goblin glider. I think this fits into a post on his official site about his work on the first film: 'My time spent on 'Spider-Man' was only 3 month in the beginning of pre-production. We all had shots at the glider and other gadgets. At that time everything was not comic book, more real technology. In the end it all turned to a total comic book based design, and the only contribution of mine that made it into the movie was the Pumpkin bomb. Which apparently will celebrate a comeback in the 3rd installment.'"

WORLD'S FINEST ANIMATED SERIES

According to the Boomerang schedule, you'll once again be able to see episodes of "Superman: The Animated Series" and "Batman: The Animated Series" as of ... well, yesterday.

INDEPENDENT'S DAY

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, expect news about my first published novel soon, and "don't blame me, I'm drunk too!"