Smallville and Superman News Roundup

Thanks to Andreas on LJ- here are some bonus promo photos from episode 8.07 Identity. View them full size in the MV Gallery.

To start this roundup we have some big fat spoiler scoop on the Tori Spelling episode Infamous coming after Lana has left town in February.

From Ask Ausiello on EW:

Question: I’ve been reading all sorts of nutty things about the Tori Spelling episode of

Art by OSCK member Cazman

Smallville. I can’t believe that Clark comes out to the world as an alien! Is this going to stick, or are we looking at another case where time travel/mind wipes fix everything? — Robbie
Ausiello: I can confirm that Clark does, in fact, come out as an E.T. during an interview with Lois. I can also confirm that said revelation causes mass chaos.

From TV Guide:

Do you have any Smallville scoop? I think I saw Clark flying in the preview of the January 15th return…. — Laxmi
Matt: Flying? Or was he perhaps just dynamically leaping onto the roof of a tall building, in a single bound…? That’s what I’m thinking. Watch again. Oh, and check back later this week for a new Smallville video treat….

From Kristin on E last week ( one I missed – oops!)

Bobby in Grenada, Miss.: Any chance John Glover will return to Smallville?
“I doubt it,” John himself tells me, but he will return to Numb3rs to reprise his role as Samuel Kraft, and you can also catch him on Brothers & Sisters later this season, playing Henry, Saul’s (Ron Rifkin) new lover. Glover says, “They work through their difficulties, but it’s only an arc, so I don’t think it can last for long.” Theater-nerd note: Glover and Rifkin previously played lovers on stage in The Paris Letter, directed by Jon Robin Baitz, who happens to be the creator of Brothers & Sisters.

More on the Justice League’s return to Smallville from a recent interview with Alaina Huffman
What acting roles are working on at the moment?Right now I have a recurring character in Smallville. It’s called The Black Canary and she is part of the DC Comics franchise. The season premier for Smallville was aired on CW, September 18th 2008. I just finished guest star roles in CSI Miami which was aired this month. In addition I have a role in a movie called: Jack Hunter. Ivan Sergei also stars in Jack Hunter. The film is about an ancient Egyptian culture, sort of like Indiana Jones type of adventure movie. Jack Hunter was shot in Turkey which was a lot of fun.
What’s next for Alaina Huffman?
I’m talking to a couple of producers right now about a movie shooting in South Africa in January 2009. I returned to Smallville in October to shoot another episode for season 8. ( This should be Bulletproof airing in January, 2009)

Source: Excerpted from her interview on beautyinterviews.com

From this summer- here is an interview with Geoff Johns talking DC comics and Smallville with CBR

The speculation about Tom Welling playing Superman on the big screen is back up and going again….right in time for his contract negotiations …hmmm….can these things be related?

‘Green Lantern’ Co-Writer Marc Guggenheim On Casting Superman’s Cameo And Script Changes

Excerpt- click HERE for full article from MTV.

And while there’s already a lot of speculation over who would play Green Lantern — Ryan Gosling? Matthew Settle? David Boreanaz? — what about Clark Kent, who will make a small cameo? Will the part go to someone already established on film or television to be the Man of Steel, like Brandon Routh or Tom Welling?

“There were rumors that Tom Welling would have a cameo in ‘Batman Begins’ as a young Clark Kent, to meet up with a young Bruce Wayne,” Guggenheim noted. “But you have to be careful when you do things like that, because it sounds great in concept, but when you sit down to watch it, it poses the danger of pulling you out of the film.”

But as a self-proclaimed “sucker for a good Easter egg,” Guggenheim said, “The fanboy in me would love that. Robert Downey, Jr. in ‘The Hulk’ was awesome. I love that stuff in general, and I think the fans would enjoy it. Brandon Routh or even Tom Welling [in 'Green Lantern'] would be awesome. And anything is possible. The beauty part of being the writer, though, is that I don’t actually have to make that judgment call.”

Geoff Johns ‘Would Love A Crack At’ Writing Live-Action Superman, Flash Movies

Read the complete article on MTV Splash

Now that he’s done “Smallville,” comics scribe Geoff Johns told MTV he wants to take a flying leap and do more adaptation work of his favorite comics… much more.

“I love the DC universe,” he professed — which is no surprise to comics fans, of course. Johns has either written himself or had a hand in the scripting of many of DC’s most popular series, events and reboot projects of the last few years.

If “Smallville” extends into a ninth season, he’d love to write for that, he told us. If the CW had gone ahead with plans for “The Graysons” television series he would have been happy to write for that, too. But if the Superman or Flash filmmakers would just knock on his door, “I would love a crack at Superman or the Flash for a feature,” Johns said. (And he already has Richard Donner in his corner for the Man of Steel.)

According to Johns, he has tons of ideas to share… but with them, not us.

“I’d rather keep my ideas in a drawer, in case I get a chance,” Johns explained. “But I would love to be involved. It was my dream job to see the Legion come to life on ‘Smallville,’ to get to work with the director, to work with the actors, and I would love to do do more of that, just to introduce more DC characters to the world.”

Johns said that by doing more adaption work for TV or film or video games (such as he’s doing for DC Universe Online), you’d be exposing the characters to a much larger audience than the comic book readership ever could.

“You get to capture the magic and get that on film and show other people,” he enthused. “If I could do what I did with ‘Smallville’ on a bigger level, and bring it life beyond the comic books in various ways, that would be my dream.”

‘DC Universe Online’ MMO Writer Geoff Johns Talks Parallel Earths, Secret Identities

Geoff Johns spoke to MTV about the upcoming multi-player DC Universe Online game. He gave them the basics on the game:

“Lots of gamers create their own characters. Everyone knows Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, but this game gets you more entrenched in the universe. You meet the Metal Men, or Doom Patrol, and everyone gets a chance to embody something different. I like the idea that your secret identity is really outside the computer. You’re a normal guy, and then when you log on to the game, you become the superhero.”

How about alternate universes in the game?

Said Johns:”Each player represents a parallel Earth in a way. I like that idea, when you’re entering it for the first time. There are some major storylines that you can play out and live.”

And how about an update about the game’s release and his progress in the assignment?

“It launches I think in early 2010, it could be late 2009. I’ve written the overall story and the path that gets you into the game and the areas of the universe and how to explore them, but not every line of dialogue. That’s a fulltime job, it’s too frigging big, too intense to write every line of an MMO. I’d probably jump off a building.”

Source: MTV Multiplayer Blog

Final Comics news for this roundup- Dan DiDio from DC Comics sat down with Newsarama last week and talked about the plans for a new modern Superman Origins story.

Excerpt:

Getting back to one of your announcements – Superman: Secret Origin. You called it the “definitive origin,” and I’m sure that already has some fans rolling their eyes. Superman: Birthright was a few years back and said to be the same thing, and there have been tweaks and adjustments in the line before that. Can you give us some clues on what makes this origin “definitive?”

DD: With the Superman books following Infinite Crisis, we made some suggestions as to some of the changes that might be occurring within Superman’s origin and who he is. There were a lot of things that have been changed over a period of time, and what Geoff has done, what Geoff always does so well is that he incorporates so many of the various aspects of Superman’s origin to what I feel is really a clean, definitive take on the character as he exists today, and more importantly, how we will continue to present him in the years to come.

The John Byrne changes were important and strong when they occurred back in the ‘80s, and I feel that Geoff’s origin is going to make that same imprint now, for 2009 and past that.

Read the rest at NEWSARAMA- the interview touches on the El family and all kinds of Kryptonian action planned for the next couple of years.