Thursday, March 21, 2002

X-MEN: EVOLUTION UPDATE

X-Men: Evolution story editor Greg Johnson told The Continuum that voice recording for the third season has begun.

"Episode 31 recorded last week," Johnson told The Continuum. "I'm not sure when 32 goes, but probably later this week."

Thirteen episodes are being produced for Season 3 on Kids' WB!.

"Boyd Kirkland, Craig Kyle and I have hammered out the season arc, and I have four scripts final, with two in various stages of development," Johnson said. "So nearly have the season is underway already -- with every story generated in-house. Getting a late start, we kind of hit the ground in a full-on sprint."

Four new episodes remain in the second season, including "Operation: Rebirth," featuring Captain America, on Saturday, March 30. The other three episodes will likely air in May.

BLADE II UPDATE

In Blade II, which opens in theaters on Friday, Blade must team up with a group of vampires to take on a greater threat: The Reapers.

The Reapers are, according to Blade II director Guillermo del Toro, a "super race" of vampires. The Reapers hunt both humans and vampires.

"These vampires are more like leeches, just a thing that is there to take your blood," del Toro said. "There's no erotic exchange. There's no subtext. They just want to drain you. They are not giving you the keys to eternity. They are not giving you nights in the moonlight. They just want to suck you dry."

The Reapers have unique feeding apparatus that has been drawing a lot of attention in the film's reviews.

"What would happen if a leech in it function is not worried about its features," del Toro said. You cannot see a handsome leech or an ugly leech; they're all just there to do what they do, extract blood.

"So we came up with a concept for a creature that would keep its feeding apparatus hidden and protected until it was time to feed."

Look for more on Blade II on Friday here in The Continuum.

DC COMICS FIRST LOOKS

For a first look at DC Comics titles arriving in stores on Wednesday, CLICK HERE.

Titles include JLA #64, Batman #601, Catwoman #5, Flash #184, Action Comics #789, 100 Bullets #34, and Hellblazer #172.

SPIDER-MAN MOVIE UPDATE

Sony has provided details about the new Spider-Man trailer, which will debut exclusively on the Internet on Wednesday.

The trailer, which includes new footage, will be premiered at www.sony.com/Spider-Man beginning Wednesday at noon ET/9 a.m. The trailer will be available in three sizes, including full-screen, exclusively through Apple's QuickTime technology.

The trailer shows Spider-Man patrolling the city below by using his webshooters to swing from rooftop to rooftop, performing aerial acrobats and crawling on buildings.

"By placing this trailer exclusively online, we are giving fans everywhere an opportunity to get caught in Spider-Man's world wide web," said Geoffrey Ammer, president of marketing for Columbia TriStar Marketing Group. "This Internet exclusive is also our way of saying 'thank you' to the online community that has so enthusiastically followed and supported the development and production of 'Spider-Man' over the past several years."

SPIDER-MAN ANIMATED UPDATE

Audu Paden, producer of MTV's upcoming Spider-Man animated series, told The Continuum that the show will take Spider-Man's abilities to a new level in animation.

"Imagine the pod race from Star Wars and your adrenal glands are being squeezed even tighter with this one," Paden said of the computer-generated web-swinging.

"We watched every animated and even the live-action Spider-Mans. We've been screening for the crews down at Sony just to get a sense of what had been done before. The thing that it gave us the most was just how new, fresh and exciting our take on it was."

"We can push it to more extremes," said Steve Wendland, a producer at Mainframe Entertainment.

Look for more on the Spider-Man animated in Comics Continuum #1, on sale on May 1. You can order the magazine through your local retailer or by CLICKING HERE.

SMALLVILLE RATINGS

"Nicodemus," Tuesday's episode of The WB's Smallville, scored some of its best ratings of its first season.

Smallville placed No. 1 in its time period persons 12-34 (4.0 rating/12 share) and women 12-34 (4.5/13) and No. 2 in men 12-34 (3.6/11). The show also finish second in its time period in adults 18-34 (3.7/10) and women 18-34 (4.3/11), while placing third in men 18-34 (3.1/9).

Smallville, which attracted 6.7 million viewers, was also tops in its time period across the teen demos - teens (5.1/18), female teens (5.2/19) and male teens (5.0/18).

The show's momentum is illustrated by the fact that its ratings in women 12-34 and women 18-34 were its third-best ever, and its best since November. It also achieved its second-best rating in male teens, equaled its second-best mark in teens and scored its third-best female teen rating, all of which were the best since November.

"Nicodemus" was the second consecutive new episode of Smallville. The next two episodes will be rebroadcasts: "Metamorphosis" on Tuesday; and "X-Ray" on Tuesday, April 2.

MARVEL'S THE CALL OF DUTY

The Call of Duty: The Brotherhood is the six-issue mini-series spinning out of the five-part serial running in half of Marvel Comics' May titles.

The mini-series is written by Chuck Austen, with art by David Finch and Art Thibert.

Here's how Marvel describes the book:

"Meet James MacDonald, a lieutenant fireman in Brooklyn, stationed right across the bridge from where the Twin Towers used to stand. MacDonald knows that, even with super heroes flying overhead, someone has to put out fires and respond to everyday emergencies. With modern-day gods making headlines, ordinary people must still put their life on the line for others. But what happens to these heroic individuals when that other world, the world of superpowered, supernatural beings touches the lives of these brave citizens? What happens when MacDonald must confront forces beyond his normal experience? Find out when all-new heroes step forward to answer The Call."

The first issue will be 48 pages, including a new 23-page story and 25 pages from the serial that ran in Marvel's May titles. It will cost $2.99.

BRIEFLY