This summer may be confusing to some less blog-literate moviegoers thanks to two recast roles. In both The Dark Knight and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, a prominent character is played by a new actress. In the former sequel, "Rachel Dawes" will be played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, replacing Katie Holmes, who had the role in Batman Begins. In the latter, "Eveyln Carnahan O'Connell" will be played by Maria Bello, subbing for Rachel Weisz, who appeared in both The Mummy and The Mummy Returns.

This certainly isn't the first time characters have been recast with different actors, and over at The Onion, the A.V. Club has listed 20 such memorably jarring switcheroos, which they're calling The Darrin Effect (after the famous character replacement on TV's Bewitched), in television and film. Surely everyone recalls when Sarah Chalke took over the part of "Becky" on Roseanne; the writers even occasionally even slipped in some reflexive jokes about it. And let's not forget the glaring problem of recasting Jodie Foster's Oscar-winning role of "Clarice Starling" -- Julianne Moore played the part in Hannibal. Or the tragic yet surprisingly respectable replacement of Michael Gambon for a deceased Richard Harris in the Harry Potter movies.

The ensemble cast for the highly-anticipated live-action G.I. Joe flick is starting to come together, and IESB reports that Arnold Vosloo has just landed the role of Zartan in the film, who's described as a "mercenary who works with Destro and Cobra. He is one of the main villains in the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic and animated series." The name might not automatically ring a bell, however you should remember Vosloo from his role as High Priest Imhotep (aka The Mummy) in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. He's also starred in a number of films; most recently as Colonel Coetzee in Blood Diamond. Vosloo joins Sienna Miller (The Baroness), Ray Park (Snake Eyes), Marlon Wayans (Ripcord), Channing Tatum (Duke), Byung-hun Lee (Storm Shadow), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Heavy Duty), Rachel Nichols (Scarlett), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Rex) and Said Taghmaoui (Breaker) in the film, which will be directed by Stephen Sommers (The Mummy) and is due out August 7, 2009.

I'm not very familiar with Zartan, but IESB says the character is "a bit of a chameleon and can imitate anyone to an exact physical and vocal likeness. In the cartoon and comics his chameleon-like abilities were done through a mix of holograms, illusions and hypnosis. Zartan is also fluent in twenty languages and dialects, a ventriloquist, an expert martial artist, master archer and the leader of the biker gang known as the Dreadnoks who also suffers from Paranoid Schizophrenia and Multiple Personality Disorder." I imagine this casting choice came from Sommers himself, who's worked with Vosloo on both Mummy films. The guy was creepy as all hell in those films, so I imagine he'll fit in well here. What do you think?

Looking at this new promo still for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, I now realize what the first two Mummy movies were missing: martial arts! Never mind the fact that Jet Li looks awesome in this shot. I'm just excited because there's no possible way that Brendan Fraser (aka "Rick O'Connell") is going to get out of this fight alive. Imagine how great this sequel would be if Fraser got his ass kicked. Yeah, unfortunately, Fraser probably does win the battle somehow. Or if he does get served in this scene, he will win out in the end. In that case: poor Jet Li. How could he ever live with himself if he's seen on the big screen defeated by the guy who played George of the Jungle and Dudley Do-Right?

The photo comes courtesy of Rob Cohen, the sequel's director, who has been blogging the production ever since shooting began over a month ago. Since, we have seen a photo of "the Terracotta Army" and a photo of Maria Bello, who took over the part of "Evy" after Rachel Weisz dropped out. There have also been some videos on the blog, including footage of Fraser shooting at a river, falling out of a tree and throwing himself in some mud. And if you are really excited about the martial arts, you will want to check out the video about the stunt team, which doesn't feature any actual fighting but is still interesting enough. Say what you will about Cohen's directorial skills, he may in fact be better than Stephen Sommers at least, and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is sure to be the coolest installment of the series. Unless, that is, they decide to follow tradition and give us some really terrible CGI at the end. Pray that Jet Li doesn't end up rendered out of sand in the end.

One of the great things about an art history education is that it can lend to the appreciation of bad movies. Take, for instance, the "Terracotta Army", which I happened to learn about in an introduction to art history class. The ancient statues are featured prominently in the second Mummy sequel, titled The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. And since my class made me interested in the statues -- figures of warriors and horses that were buried near the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor in the Shaanxi province of China -- I am actually somewhat interested in seeing this movie, even though I'm neither a fan of the first two Mummy movies nor of director Rob Cohen, who took over the franchise from Stephen Sommers. Whether or not you too are familiar with the statues, you can see the ones reproduced for the movie in a great looking photo over at Cohen's blog (yes, he's blogging the production). Of course, if you are a cynic like myself, you will dismiss the coolness of the pic and continue your skepticism until the movie is released (and you'll probably not see it). But if you are also an artsy fartsy dork like myself, you might curiously attempt to at least see the movie for free when it arrives in theaters, if nothing else than to see how the art is presented on screen.

In other Mummy 3 news, Maria Bello, who has replaced actress Rachel Weisz as the character of Evelyn, spoke with SCI FI Wire recently about the role. She told them the character is the same person but she's now portrayed differently, as a "bad-ass action chick". For this, Bello had to train in the martial art of wushu, as well as in kickboxing, sword fighting and rifle shooting. Also, while rehearsing for the movie, she got a black eye from the butt of a Winchester. Those of you who thought she was sexy all beat up in that staircase scene in A History of Violence (I know you're out there) may hope she gains some more sightly bruises -- real or applied with makeup -- for the actual filming. As for me, I preferred Bello in the more-innocent cheerleader scene, so I'd rather its only the bad guys who get the bruises -- though as I said, I'll mostly just be looking at the reproduced art work. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor will be in theaters August 1, 2008.

I've always thought if you wanted a textbook example on how to ruin a viable movie franchise, then you need not look further than The Mummy Returns. The Mummy was a great summer flick that won audiences over (myself included) with it's enthusiasm and charm. So despite my trepidation when it comes to sequels, I was all for the idea of a second film. That is...until I saw The Mummy Returns. It seemed thrown together, and since the principles involved weren't coming back for another go round it felt like they just crammed everything into those two hours. The situation didn't improve when the third installment, The Scorpion King landed in theaters with a bit of thud. But Universal has always been keen on the idea of resurrecting the franchise.

CinemaBlend.com had posted rumors that the Mummy 3 production was struggling not only with getting Brendan Fraser back into the lead, but also with a script that was dead weight and the issue of director Stephen Sommers being replaced by Stealth's Rob Cohen. Our own Erik Davis pulled Fraser aside on the Inkheart set and tried to wrestle a few more details from him. Now, Universal has responded to all the rumors and confirmed that the principles are all in negotiation to return, and the script will be undergoing a re-write. Universal also went on to say that while Sommers would not return as director, they had every confidence in Cohen's ability to get the franchise back up and rolling. Considering what most critics thought of Stealth, it looks like Universal's faith in Cohen could be a little misguided.