And the Internet sat up and went, "Seriously?"

CHUD's Devin Faraci is one dedicated researcher. Like a man possessed, he's been determined to unearth Djimon Hounsou's comic book project. (We reported on what it could be earlier this week as well.) It would now seem that he has, and the news is a bit disappointing. One of CHUD's reporters was at the Never Back Down junket and pressed Hounsou further. The actor reluctantly revealed that it was a comic "that used to be part of the Conan comic book."

Faraci spoke to NuImage, the people behind the new Conan movie, and they are only in talks with Hounsou -- and do not even have a director, so the project is far from definite. There are some other Robert E. Howard projects in development, notably Solomon Kane, but it is already filming, and Bran Mak Morn.

It is all a long way from Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg's Tintin or the Black Panther. Faraci is still consumed with the story and trying to get a definite answer. Pop on over and read his article, which includes audio of Hounsou's Conan quote.

There has already been plenty of talk surrounding the casting of John Singleton's big- screen version of Luke Cage. But so far, there hasn't been much attention paid to Singleton's other superhero project, The Black Panther. But now, ReelzChannel has interviewed Singleton and the topic of Panther came up. In talking about actors who could tackle the role, Singelton told ReelzChannel "Chiwetel Ejiofor could do it". Eljiofor is a British actor of Nigerian descent, who has been landing some relatively high-profile roles recently. With American Gangster and David Mamet's Redbelt on the way, Ejiofor has already signed to star in the historical epic based on the life of Toussaint Louverture.

Panther was published by Marvel comics and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The hero first appeared in an issue of Fantastic Four back in 1966. The story centered on T'Challa, a superhero with a birthright to guard his homeland. As well as being a member of the super group The Avengers, he is the leader of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. Battling your usual assortment of comic book villains, the story also slipped in some occasional political commentary -- even pitting the Panther against the Klu Klux Klan. The social undertones of the comic seem like a perfect fit for the politically outspoken director.

But, Panther could still be a long way off. Christopher had already given us the news that Singleton was going to direct the Halle Berry drama Tulia first, and then he is on to his other comic book adaptation Luke Cage. But Singleton has not entirely forgotten about Panther, since he at least seems to be thinking about casting. According to Reelz, gossips had already put forward Djimon Hounso as the lead contender for the role, and long before Wesley Snipes became Blade, he had also been interested in playing the hero. But since Singleton doesn't appear to have made up his mind yet, fans should probably speak up now -- don't you think?

The last time we heard about Luke Cage, back in February, director John Singleton (Boys n the Hood) said the comic adaptation is developing slowly because of the main character's skin color. Sure, such a statement makes little sense after the popularity of the Blade franchise, but then again, for every Blade movie, there's a Spawn or Steel or Meteor Man to make studios wary about black superheroes. Apparently, though, it may be even worse for a black superhero movie that also deals with black issues. Black Panther, which for years was said to be in the works with Wesley Snipes (before he became Blade), is another project that couldn't seem to get the greenlight, possibly because its main character deals with problems in Africa.

The person most rumored to play Luke Cage in Singleton's pic is Tyrese Gibson, and in a new interview to promote Transformers, the actor has confirmed that he's set to fill the character's shoes. He also says the movie is continuing development, with the script (by Ben Ramsey) currently in a rewrite stage. Gibson will be meeting with Singleton and others soon, though, to present the project to Sony and see if they can move forward. Personally I was hoping the project would add Cage's old partner Iron Fist in order to widen the appeal, but otherwise I'm excited about the progress, and I hope Sony is into what they have. Between his Shaft remake and 2 Fast 2 Furious, Singleton is losing a lot of credit as a good filmmaker, but if he can at least make a hit with Luke Cage, if not a great film, then he might be able to save himself from becoming a hero director for hire in the future.

When the "Wesley Snipes as the Black Panther" rumors were reawakened (by none other than Wesley Snipes himself), I was more than a bit nervous. I enjoy Snipes in a number of roles, but I personally have trouble picturing him as the Marvel hero. However, given the NEW rumors regarding the lead character for the film, Snipes suddenly looks like solid gold. From the lips of Jamie Foxx comes the suggestion of -- are you ready for this? -- rapper/actor LL Cool J as the king of Wakanda. Stop laughing, I swear I'm not kidding. C'mon, stop laughing! Click here if you need further proof. Apparently, Foxx and J have mended whatever fences they broke while filming that prison football movie, and Foxx is now championing LL Cool J for the long rumored Marvel project. According to Foxx, he told J "My man, you the only cat that can really pull this off. There's this black superhero called Panther."

Foxx is apparently serious about this, as he went on to comment "We're trying to get this Panther production set up, because I think he'll smash that." Oh yay, it is a match made in heaven. Just think -- if they follow through to sequels, we could see an LL Cool J/Halle Berry love story! The sheer thought of such a film sends shivers of despair down my spine.

Now I know what you're thinking after you read that headline, but no, Wesley Snipes will not be playing a member of the African-American Nationalist/Civil Rights group. Neither, in fact, will he be playing an Israeli Mizrahi Jew, a member of the Chinese Rock Band, or British serial killer Donald Neilson. No, the Black Panther we are looking for here is the member of Marvel superhero team The Avengers, and is most notable for being the first African-American superhero in mainstream American comic books. T'Challa (The Panther's real name) is the king of African nation Wakanda, and has been known to spend significant amounts of time with X-Men member Storm.

Anyway, Snipes recently reminded us of a Black Panther project which has been on the vague rumor horizon for some time now. Snipes told Men's Fitness magazine: "We're actually talking about doing Black Panther -- he was the first African American superhero. He was around before Blade. He's the original. We've already done a lot of work on it. We hope to have a director soon."

If this happens, we can add it to the crazy number of Avengers titles on the horizon -- we've got Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, more Incredible Hulk, and even a silly old Ant Man picture on the way. If all these titles actually fall into place under the new Marvel war chest we are looking at serious combination potential for an Avengers film.