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Today's pitch is sort of a last chance grab at any possibility of Warner Bros. not rebooting the Superman franchise yet again and instead letting Bryan Singer, or someone else, simply move forward from the underrated Superman Returns. I'm sure to be in my own boat here, especially since all the geeks are celebrating Christopher Nolan's reported involvement with version 3.0 of the superhero on film (if we're talking theatrical releases, isn't this version 5.0? And if we're talking all adaptations it's like version 10.6.2). Still, I'm going to once again make the case for...

Superman Returns 2

Of course it wouldn't be titled that. What an awkward title. But my point is that I'd like to see Singer's installment get a follow-up rather than another reboot. As I noted in my take on the pseudo Mr. & Mrs. Smith reboot yesterday, and as some commenters agreed, sequels are usually more desirable than reboots. I know, go on about Nolan's Batman franchise reboot. Well, a sequel can go in a new direction, too, without the lame connotations of a reboot. Or, it can be a combo like Singer's movie was. Superman Returns continued the original Superman series while also rebooting it. I'll admit I'm a wee bit torn on the idea, as I'd like to see Brandon Routh return but I could certainly do without Kate Bosworth -- though, if Nolan can switch it up with the female lead in his Batman films, they can do it with this, as well.

It's a bird, it's a plane ... it's Warner Bros. asking Christopher Nolan to pretty please resurrect their Superman franchise and do something cool with it! According to Deadline Hollywood, Nolan has been asked to come in and sort of "mentor" the next Superman movie, and it won't be a sequel to Superman Returns, but instead the beginning of a brand new franchise. Furthermore, DH says Nolan probably won't direct -- especially since David Goyer, Jonah Nolan and Chris Nolan are all busy planning and writing the next Batman installment as we speak -- so what will he do, exactly, when it comes to the new Superman? That's not clear yet, and DH stresses that the film is still in its real early stages of development (ahem, I think they're bringing him in to lay the groundwork for a Justice League movie, but we'll see ...)

Still, knowing Nolan is somehow involved in the rebirth of Superman should at the very least breathe some excited life into a franchise that a lot of folks have kinda lost faith in because, let's face it, the fans feel Warner Bros. had lost faith in it, too. One insider told DH, "We know what we don't want to do. But we don't know what we want to do. We learned a lot from the last movie, and we want to get it right this time." Obviously Nolan has success in rebooting a DC Comics franchise, as evidenced by the work he's done with Batman. But Superman is a different beast all together, and one imagines they'll start with trying to ground the franchise a bit more with a freakier set of villains and perhaps a more relatable, down-to-earth storyline. Not that we need Clark Kent making MySpace references for 120 minutes, but I could see them focusing more on the burden Superman is carrying -- that "weight of the world" angle -- and less on his little romance with Lois Lane.

What do you think? What would you like to see them do with the new Superman?

As you may have realized by now, the main villain of The Green Lantern isn't going to be Sinestro, but will be Peter Sarsgaard's Dr. Hector Hammond. Sinestro will be there, lurking in the wings, but it's all about Hammond and his big, bad, psychic powers this time around. But like all bad boys, Hammond has turned to the dark side because of deep seated issues in his childhood. So, you need a father figure to menace our poor doctor, and THR's Heat Vision reports that Tim Robbins has volunteered for the job.

Robbins will play Senator Hammond, the disapproving father of Hector. Despite that Hector has become a brilliant pathologist, the Senator remains unimpressed. Presumably, the senator would rather his son follow him into politics, and reap the benefits of wealth, power, money, and women. When Hector stumbles upon a meteor that gives him overwhelming psychic powers, I'm guessing Daddy Dearest becomes enemy #1. The Senator's going to live to regret never playing catch with his son.

Sarsgaard and Robbins should play very well off each other. Both of them excel at playing despicable people. It might be more fun watching them go at each other than seeing the eventual showdown between Hal Jordan and Dr. Hammond. Therein lies the danger of a great cast filling out those supporting roles!

Meanwhile, over at CHUD, Devin Faraci learned that The Invaders will be Cap's costars. The Invaders were a WW2 superhero team that boasted Cap and Bucky as members, but the Marvel movie version will be a European team that fights alongside them. The goal is to make First Avenger more of an international film instead of a purely American spectacle. It's not yet known who among the Invaders will be gracing the silver screen, but Johnston hints that they'll be six members strong. If I was a betting woman, I'd put my money on Union Jack being a lock for the team. He's English, he has a cool costume, and he'd be perfect for a spin-off.

Well, we've run the gamut from Rushmore to Revenge of the Nerds in this On-Screen Geek-Off Tournament of ours, and after your votes ruled out countless other endearing dweebs, dorks and dynamos, the final match-up seems as inevitable as it is personal. Why, it's a choice every bit as impossible and trying as Sophie choosing... whatever she did. (It's in the Queue!)

So, just before we jump into this, let me first thank our readers for making this a lively bit of fun, and a hearty thanks to Peter Hall for all of his help in keeping this thing alive.

And now, with no further ado or delay...

(After the jump...)

Speculation has been rife about the planned "reboot" (yeah, I hate that word too) of the Spider-Man movie franchise, now that Sam Raimi and Toby Maguire have departed that particular Marvel universe. Adding fuel to the fire, Logan Lerman tells Access Hollywood that he's been talking with Sony about playing Peter Parker.

Lerman, 18 years of age, stars in fantasy flick Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, which is due out next week. Previously he's had roles in the 3:10 to Yuma remake and Gamer. (I first saw him in the TV show Jack & Bobby; he was the younger brother and quite good.) Lerman says of Spider-Man: "There has been a few discussions, it's definitely something I'm looking into." He claims to be a huge fan of the character and the series. He acknowledges that talks are in the early stages, but says: "I'd love to focus on the human element a bit more."

Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios have said the next film in the series will focus "on a teenager grappling with both contemporary human problems and amazing super-human crises," though it's not clear if the new, high school Peter Parker will take cues from the original Spider-Man universe or perhaps display influences from Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate version of the comic. Somehow, I don't think Logan Lerman will be the last we hear of possible Peter Parkers in the coming weeks, and possibly months, as the picture gets ready for its 2012 release.

Update: The Hollywood Reporter adds that both the studio and Lerman's reps have denied there's anything to this story, adding there are currently no ongoing discussions with Lerman for the role and that no offers have been made.

When people throw out the "write it yourself" argument, I always shudder on the inside, thinking of the writerly pains associated with Hollywood. Stories get ravaged, nipple-ized, Ratnerized, sequelized, and every bad "ized" you can think of. Not even Watchmen is sacred.

CHUD reports that according to comic industry gossip Rich Johnston, Paul Levitz is stepping down from his post as DC Comics Publisher and President, and Executive Editor Dan Didio, "already hated by fanboys across the globe, has apparently made it his personal mission to ride off the continued sales success of Watchmen with prequels, spin-offs, and possibly sequels." Spoiler alert...

So, I guess Rorschach will just pick up his splattered brains and go back to the world of vigilante justice? Manhattan will just fart around with no one to have blue orgies with (unless he makes a stop at Smurf Land)? Laurie and Dan spawn and start a little soccer team of a crime-fighting family? A romantic, historical drama on the big heart hidden beneath the Comedian's muscles? I shudder to think of the possibilities...

Devin Faraci writes: "You can't be too surprised. What you can do is promise to not buy this," and he's dead on. At some point we have to take some responsibility and stop buying into the crap shoveled to us. We can't expect these things to stop if we hand over our money in curiosity and buy into this schlock. Alan Moore refused to even watch the movie. I wonder how he'll react if Watchmen spin-offs and sequels become a reality.

Doomsday, the return!

Update: Deadline Hollywood says there's "not a chance" of a film sequel, but with the comics, "anything is possible." So really, that means anything is possible for the big screen too, just not right now.

So it's the penultimate round of this On-Screen Geek-Off Tournament of ours, and we're down to two inevitable nail-biters after a series of increasingly close calls last week. We've got Ghostbusters, The Goonies, Back to the Future and Ferris Bueller's Day Off represented, but at the cost of beloved characters from Real Genius, Wayne's World, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Office Space.

Alas, there can only be one, so let's get this fiendish round of voting underway and bring us all one step closer to having a crucial bit of closure in our lives.

I don't know if the image of Daniel Craig in chaps left too many speechless, or if it was that no one was interested in Cowboys & Aliens once Robert Downey Jr. rode off the range, but few had much to say when the rumor mill put Craig in the saddle. Well, what do you say to the news that Craig is officially in, and that he'll be joined by Olivia Wilde?

According to THR's Heat Vision, Wilde will play Ella, a woman who joins Craig's mysterious gunslinger to fight off the aliens. (Is the gunslinger now mysterious and no longer named Zeke Jackson? Curious.) I'm not sure if Ella appeared in the original graphic novel / web-comic. There was a female gunfighter named Verity who traded bullets with the Apache right alongside Zeke. Perhaps she'll be a variation on that character, or she'll be a pioneer woman with a rifle, or she'll be one of the West's soiled doves like Megan Fox in Jonah Hex. (Cue the fervent wishing of many male readers for Wilde in similar attire.)

Jon Favreau is directing, and Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci of every-script-under-the-sun-fame have penned the screenplay with Damon Lindelof. Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, and Brian Grazer are producing alongside Scott Michael Rosenberg, the author of the graphic novel. Shooting is expected to begin this summer. Between this and Tron: Legacy, I think Wilde may be destined to be summer's geek goddess.