It's been a while since the last announcement that simultaneously rocked the comics and movie worlds. "Spider-Man 4" getting canceled was a real downer, so it's nice that this time around the big news involves a project moving forward.

As we told you earlier today, Warner Brothers has reportedly put "The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan in charge of the "Superman" movie franchise, with plans for yet another relaunch of the Man of Steel's big-screen adventures. While there's been no official confirmation or response to MTV's calls for comment thus far, the report doesn't seem completely out of line given Nolan's success with the Batman franchise.

So, with that in mind, here are some of the biggest questions surrounding Nolan's potential involvement — and the information that might lead us to some answers. Read more...

Following the last "Fantastic Four" film, Michael Chiklis was seemingly done with superhero properties completely. However, Chiklis has just traded one superhero family for another.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chiklis has been cast in a pilot called "No Ordinary Family" as the father of a family that has superpowers. The pilot was created for ABC by Jon Feldman and Greg Berlanti — who is also one of the screenwriters of the "Green Lantern" feature film. While Chiklis has previously portrayed The Thing in two "Fantastic Four" films, he is best known for playing Detective Vic Mackey for six seasons on "The Shield." Chiklis reportedly received several pilot offers before accepting the lead role in this project.

Additionally, Chiklis is releasing a comic book series called "Pantheon" through IDW in April. Read more...

You've seen trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender." You've seen the promotional posters for "The Last Airbender." So, what's left?

How about the toys?

Nickelodeon Consumer Products debuted the upcoming line of toys based on "The Last Airbender" today, including various waves of 3 3/4-inch action figures, as well as larger, action-enabled figures, costumes and other props based on Shyamalan's adaptation of the hit anime/manga series. Read more...

Call me crazy, but I think it's going to be a long time before the cheap shots at a "Watchmen" sequel subside in the Twitter Report feed. I'm tightening the retweet spout for now (unless they're ridiculously funny) — and besides, "Secret Avengers" commentary is all the rage now. Just ask Ed Brubaker.

There was a also a healthy amount of mentoring going on today, with Neil Gaiman educating his daughter through "The Big Bang Theory" and Todd McFarlane holding up some artwork to illustrate an inking demonstration. Check it all out after the jump along with some thoughts on "Smallville," the iPad and why you shouldn't do hard drugs.

It's all in the Twitter Report for February 9, 2010. Read more...

Over the weekend, affable veteran actor Anthony Hopkins was haunting the hallways at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons, shaking the hands of various journalists as he showed off a new grey beard. When a couple of journalists asked him who he was playing in his next movie, he responded “I’m God!” and then burst out laughing.

Moments earlier, the Oscar-winner sat down with MTV to explore a few of the finer points of his character in Marvel’s now-filming blockbuster.

“It’s for ‘Thor’,” he said of the beard. “It has a great director in Kenneth Branagh. So, I’m lucky. In the past year I’ve worked with [‘Wolfman’] filmmaker Joe Johnston, Woody Allen and Ken Branagh.” Read more...

"The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan is making room for another superhero franchise — none other than the Man of Steel himself, Superman.

A report from Deadline Hollywood states that Warner Bros. has tasked Nolan with a "godfather" role in shepherding a "Superman" relaunch following the poorly received "Superman Returns." The site also reiterated its report from yesterday that Nolan is currently working on the third "Batman" screenplay with David Goyer and brother Jonah Nolan.

According to the report, Nolan isn't likely to direct the new "Superman" film, which won't be a followup to "Superman Returns." Curiously, the report mentions that "Returns" collaborators Brandon Routh and Bryan Singer aren't officially off the relaunch yet. Read more...

As a lifelong comic fan, Nic Cage has previously been linked to Superman and the Green Goblin before finally starring in a comic book movie in "Ghost Rider." Later this year, Cage gets another opportunity as Damon Macready — better known as the vigilante Big Daddy — in Matthew Vaughn's adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s "Kick-Ass."

"I always fantasized about what would happen if you could become a superhero," Cage told Empire Magazine (the text of the interview is posted on Comicbookmovie.com ). "As a child I was Kick-Ass. I would call myself The Spirit and I had a white t-shirt with a black ‘S’ on it. I strapped a boomerang to my chest and I would prowl the alley at the back of my house between one and two in the morning. When I got the script, I loved the concept because I think it’s something that speaks to all of us."

Cage also acknowledged that Adam West greatly influenced his portrayal of a "thinly veiled take on Batman." Read more...

Hector Hammond's got daddy issues coming his way in the form of Oscar-winning actor Tim Robbins.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tim Robbins has joined the cast of "Green Lantern," Martin Campbell's film adaptation of the DC Comics property. Robbins will play Senator Hammond, the disapproving father of Doctor Hector Hammond, played in the film by Peter Sarsgaard.

Robbins is the latest notable actor to sign on for "Green Lantern," joining the likes of Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, Blake Lively as love interest Carol Ferris, Mark Strong as the traitorous Sinestro and the aforementioned Sarsgaard as the telepathic Hector Hammond. Read more...

As close as Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr., Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale, and any other superhero director/actor team might have worked together to develop their successful franchises, the “Deadpool” flick seems likely to be the most collaborative of the genre. As fans know, star Ryan Reynolds has been the driving force behind getting the movie made — and as the project’s writers recently confirmed to us, they do indeed speak with him everyday.

“We’re outlining it pretty seriously right now,” explained Rhett Reese who — along with partner Paul Wernick — is red-hot after writing “Zombieland,” which just hit DVD. “We’re in the early stages.”

“We just absolutely adore the character and the comic,” explained Wernick. “And tonally, it’s right up our alley. He’s the unstable, smart-ass, self deprecating guy — and they say write what you know, so [we’re perfect for it]." Read more...

Just a day or two after we asked readers to pick their favorite actor to play Peter Parker in Marc Webb's upcoming "Spider-Man" reboot, the InterWebs were buzzing with word that "Percy Jackson" actor Logan Lerman could be up for the role.

While Lerman seems to have pulled back a bit in his Spidey talk since then, there was no shortage of readers willing to add his name to the pool of potential webslingers via write-in vote — but he still fell short of the mark when the polls closed. With 27 percent of the total vote, Webb's "500 Days of Summer" actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt was chosen by readers as the favorite for the coveted role.

However, it wasn't a big jump to the runner-up, with a fairly close grouping of actors receiving the lion's share of the votes. Read more...