Monday, April 29, 2002

KIRSTEN DUNST TALKS SPIDER-MAN

Kirsten Dunst, who plays Mary Jane in the Spider-Man movie, said she could connect with her character.

"With the way the script and the comic books, she's had a very rough childhood and she's always had to put up many masks," Dunst said. "Part of this story and me in the movie is a lot of growth. So, since she comes from a hard childhood - her father has always put her down, her mother is a very weak character and her father is an alcoholic - she's gone though stuff that I haven't experienced. My mom has always been very supportive.

"But everyone can identify with feeling weird in school. Especially with the job I do, I always felt a little weird in high school because I was different in a way. So I'll be able to relate as much as I can. I always try to connect emotionally to my characters."

For the complete feature on Dunst, with photos from the film, CLICK HERE.

In other Spider-Man news:

* The Dr Pepper tie-in television promotion has begun.

* MTV premiered its Spider-Man special on Sunday. The 30-minute program chronicled the history of the character and its progression toward a feature film.

Among those interviewed were Dunst, star Tobey Magiure, director Sam Raimi, executive producer Avi Arad, creator Stan Lee, Marvel Comics editors Joe Quesada and Axel Alonso and artist John Romita Sr. and John Romita Jr.

Click on the thumbnails below for larger images from the special.

Look for coverage of the Spider-Man world premiere here in The Continuum on Tuesday.

SPIDER-MAN ANIMATED UPDATE

Audu Paden, producer of MTV's upcoming Spider-Man animated series, told The Continuum that the show will start out with a fairly small cast and build as the season goes on.

"In computer animation, it's accumulative, so we start with a few characters in each episode and as the budgets permit to sort of move forward and create a few more," Paden told The Continuum.

"So we're literally working with the writers, saying, 'You get three main characters in this show and you can work with everyone who has been created before.'"

In addition to Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson and Harry Osborn will be key characters in the early episodes, as well as another student.

MTV's Spider-Man special, which debuted Sunday night, gave a very brief glimpse at the series, including sequences of Spider-Man swinging and the development of the series' first villain.

"We want to be able utilize the Spider-Man body as the Peter body," Paden said of the character's look. "The difference is going to come from the performance and the acting and the keyframe acting performance."

In other Spider-Man animated news:

* After some early bumps, executive producer Brian Michael Bendis reports "smooth sailing" on story development.

* The series is still being targeted for a fall start, although it might premiere after the original hoped-for October date.

* Click on the thumbnails below for larger images from MTV's special.

MUTANT X SEASON FINALE

Howard Chaykin, executive story consultant, has written "A Breed Apart," the season finale of Mutant X set to air in syndication the week of May 13.

The episode introduces the character Gabriel Ashlocke, the most powerful of all mutants who is also known as Patient Zero and is played by Michael Easton.

"He's an interesting new character and a lot of fun," Chaykin said. "He's a seductive, dark character who is a one-man match for all of Mutant X."

Gabriel is released from a pod at Genomex that he has been encased in since a child. He then becomes involved with a group called The Strand.

Meanwhile, the members of Mutant X begin to lose control of their abilities.

Kim Schraner guest-stars as Kelly Rice, a mutant with the ability to start fires. Karen LeBlanc plays GSA agent Morgan Fortier.

"A Breed Apart" was directed by Brad Turner.

Look for more on the episode soon, and click on the thumbnails for larger images from the episode.

SMALLVILLE UPDATE

A new episode of Smallville, "Obscura," is scheduled to air on Tuesday, May 14 on The WB.

Here's how the network describes the episode:

"Clark (Tom Welling) and Lana (Kristin Kreuk) race against time to find a kidnapped Chloe (Allison Mack) after a kryptonite explosion gives Lana the ability to "see" through the kidnapper's eyes and she watches Chloe being buried alive. Meanwhile, Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) discovers evidence that a spaceship landed in Smallville during the meteor shower."

Terrance O'Hara directed the episode, with a story written by Greg Walker and teleplay by Michael Green and Mark Verheiden.

BRIEFLY

Here's a first look at the covers to Detective Comics #772, Harley Quinn #22 and Young Justice #47. All the issues will be on sale in July.

GIVE'EM A CLICK