Has The Dark Knight Rises already started filming? Plus The Avengers might have added another new SHIELD agent!

The Dark Knight Rises doesn't start filming in earnest until the Spring, but they might actually be shooting some key location shots this week. A bizarre press release might have revealed a new Avengers character. Plus Roberto Orci talks bringing Ender's Game to the screen, Jamie Bell explains the voice of Tintin, we have some updates on werewolf love from True Blood, and more!

Spoilers ahead!

The Avengers

A purported press release that was accidentally sent out advertises the opportunity for New York area fans to meet the various agents of SHIELD. As you can probably guess, a lot of the details surrounding this seem a bit sketchy, but, if we can assume for the moment that the release is real, it does confirm Cobie Smulders as playing Maria Hill and name Kevin Pennington as playing Agent Wendell Vaughn, which we haven't heard before. Vaughn ultimately became the superhero Quasar in the comics, although it seems unlikely that will be a plot point in the movie, if ever. Pennington is pretty much a newcomer, although his name has floated around a couple earlier casting rumors. Anyway, take this all with a grain of salt for now, but it's such a minor casting detail that it's not exactly impossible. [ComicBookMovie]

The Dark Knight Rises

There's a report circulating that Christopher Nolan is doing some very early pickup work, filming a couple helicopter shots in, of all places, New York City:


It seems strange that any snow shooting would be taking place in New York, considering Nolan's Gotham City has generally been played by Chicago. And, of course, the Windy City is known to experience snowfall occasionally. In any event - yes, it's possible there may be some snowy weather in the latest Batman movie, but even that I wouldn't exactly considered confirmed. Of course, there's also some absurd speculation that this means Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be playing Mr. Freeze, but I'm not even going to dignify that with a debunking. [Batman-on-Film]

Ender's Game

Co-producer Robert Orci offered this status report on the latest efforts to adapt Orson Scott Card's classic, and why he thinks it's really going to happen this time:

"The first thing is to set it up somewhere. The last 48 hours I've been running around trying to sell the damn thing, and someone needs to get some guts, and get in here and buy it. Like 'Cowboys and Aliens,' it was in development for a long time so I think it became somewhat of an institutional feeling that somehow it can't be done. This is one of those books, since it came out in '85, it turned into a classic, but there was always this feeling that somehow you can't be faithful, because the audience isn't sophisticated enough. We're finally in the year when an audience is sophisticated enough. And they crave original stuff, and that is why we decided right now to take it out, and hopefully we'll have good partners."

[MTV Movies Blog]

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn

Star Jamie Bell describes the voice he gave to the title character:

Tintin is a native of Belgium, and we obviously couldn't do it in French, although I would have loved to. So we kind of found an English sound that won't distract people so much. You know, it's very easy to upset people quickly when you're taking on such a beloved character, so we want to remain as neutral as possible and not go too, too strongly in another direction. If Tintin had an American accent, I'm sure the rest of the world would be very upset!

There's more at the link, including some details on how far Bell got in the Spider-Man reboot casting process. [Vulture]

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

Just to update yesterday's story, newly cast Famke Jannsen is indeed playing a witch - specifically, the leader of the witches that the traumatized fairy tale characters spend their time hunting. [Deadline]

Highlander Reboot

Twilight screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg has reportedly signed on to write the reboot script. [The Hollywood Reporter]


Here's a promo for the show, featuring some clips from the next two episodes: [SpoilerTV]

True Blood

Joe Manganiello says it's not looking great for a full-on Sookie-Alcide romance:


To complicate things further, Alcide will have a new boss who wants very different things from Sookie, which will divide his loyalties. This new boss will be Raoul, "a tough, intense white dude in his early 40s who also happens to be the werewolf packmaster of Shreveport." [TV Guide and TV Line]

Kevin Alejandro's Jesus will be getting a flashback arc next season, which includes "flashbacks to the mid-80s when he was living in the Chihuahuan desert with his protective mother and terrifying, intimidating brujo of a grandfather." [TV Line]


Here's a quickie synopsis for episode 17, "Chuck vs. the First Bank of Evil":

Chuck encourages Vivian (Lauren Cohan) to get in touch with her inner villain for a mission; Morgan's search for a new roommate has unexpected results.

[Zachary Levi Fan]

No Ordinary Family

Next week's episode will reportedly involve the shapeshifting Victoria Morrow (Rebecca Mader) transforming into Jim and trying to take his place permanently. I really hope they write evil Michael Chiklis so that he's pretty much just The Shield's Vic Mackey, but I pretty much know for a fact that the series is not that awesome. [TV Guide]

Wonder Woman

Jeffrey Reiner, who has worked on shows like Friday Night Lights, The Event, and Caprica, is reportedly directing the pilot. McG was in talks, but he reportedly had scheduling conflicts. [Deadline]


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Here's some new set photos. [Susan Gittins's Flickr]

Supernatural Anime

The upcoming, 22-episode anime version of the show will at least sound partially familiar in its English dub. Jared Padalecki has reportedly signed on to voice Sam Winchester in all the episodes, but Jensen Ackles will reportedly only
be reprising Dean in the two-part finale, with a soundalike handling the rest of the duties. [Zap2It]


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Here are some more photos from the third episode. [Den of Geek]


Here's a promo for the next episode, "Siege": [SpoilerTV]

Here's a sneak peek at the upcoming episode "Birth Pangs": [SpoilerTV]

In this interview, Laura Vandervoort discusses whether Lisa is good or evil, and she also talks a little about playing Supergirl. [MultipleVerses] Click to view

Elizabeth Mitchell leaves open the possibility that Ryan could ultimately betray the Fifth Column:

"His motivation for [working undercover] is the biggest: parent to child. It's a worry because Erica trusts him so completely."

[TV Guide]

Additional reporting by Katharine Trendacosta and Charlie Jane Anders.