BEN AFFLECK TALKS DAREDEVIL

As the beginning of weeklong reports from the Daredevil press junket, The Continuum presents an edited transcript from Ben Affleck's press conference in Pasadena, Calif., on Sunday.

Affleck talked about some potentially controversial aspects of the film, how he at one time was interested in playing Bullseye, his Daredevil co-stars, and, of course, his relationship with Jennifer Lopez.

For the transcript, which contains some spoilers, CLICK HERE.

In other Daredevil movie news:

* The movie was screened to fans and the press over the weekend. Among those in attendance were director Mark Steven Johnson, who introduced the film, producer Gary Foster and Marvel Studios' Avi Arad (producer) and Kevin Feige (co-producer).

After Saturday night's screening, Foster told The Continuum that thoughts are already turning to a Daredevil sequel and an Elektra spin-off film.

* A subplot involving a character played by Coolio was cut from the film. Johnson said it would be part of the DVD release.

* Affleck is on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, and Access Hollywood will be devoting a bulk of one of its episodes this week to Daredevil.

* Coming Tuesday: An interview with Jennifer Garner.

DINA MEYER TALKS BIRDS OF PREY

Dina Meyer, star of The WB's Birds of Prey, said that something drastic will happen in the series finale.

Birds of Prey closes its 13-episode run with two episodes, "Feat of Clay" and "Devil's Eyes" on Wednesday, Feb. 19.

"There are some changes to the Clock Tower at the end," Meyer, who played Oracle, said Sunday during an appearance at the Comics & Pop Culture Convention in Pasadena, Calif. "We don't blow it up, but neat stuff happens."

Meyer said playing the wheelchair-bound Barbara Gordon was a challenge.

"Especially since I'm so physically active," she said. "There are times when you instinctively want to throw your hands up and walk away from someone during a scene. If you're in a wheelchair, you can't do that.

"My problem with the whole being in the wheelchair all the time wasn't the sitting, but that I wasn't able to use my arms. They wanted to have this really fancy, high-tech, Batmochair kind of thing. They wanted it to look really cool, and I'll give it to them, it did.

"But I always thought thing that was so cool about Oracle was that even though she was using the wheelchair, she wasn't confined to the wheelchair. She was still very physically active. When I read the comics, I got the impression she was still quite active even though she couldn't use her legs. She was always working out.

"I would have preferred to use a regular, manual chair. But they were like, 'Love the chair, love the chair.' They wanted that super-charged chair made specifically for my butt."

Meyer said she wanted her character to be more active.

"You read the comics, you see Barbara working out," she said. "The fact that I was always stuck behind this monitor, and I think it was done more for a time issue because it took so much time for the stunts with the Huntress and they had only eight days to shoot each episode. With me, they could shoot 30 scenes at once. I found that a little monotonous and boring as an actress."

Meyer said she trained in Philippine stick fighting for the role.

"But I never got to use it," she said. "Because they were spending all the time with the Huntress fight scenes. I think it would be cool to kick ass from the chair."

Yvonne Craig, who played Batgirl in the 1960s Batman series, sent Meyer an autographed photo. "And she said my version of Batgirl rocked," Meyer said. "Which was so cool. And that was a highlight of working on Birds of Prey."

While Meyer said she gratified to the fans' efforts to save the show after the network announced its cancellation, she said Birds of Prey won't be coming back.

"All of the actors have kind of moved on," Meyer said. "We've come to terms with the fact that we're not coming back."

LADY DEATH ANIMATED UPDATE

Carl Macek, writer/producer of ADV Films' Lady Death animated movie, provided an update on the project at the Comics & Pop Culture Convention in Pasadena, Calif., on Sunday.

"The animation is in the works," Macek said. "The storyboards are done, the layouts are done and the backgrounds are done. It's just a matter of having the animation come through.

"It's a unique opportunity to do something that's anime in concept, but not in design. So it's going to be a violent, dramatic world that we plop our characters into. You know, they go to Hell and kill Lucifer. It's pretty wild."

As for the film's release, Macek said, "It will probably go to DVD, but we're trying to get it put on television with the premium cable channels. This one is good enough to go one of those premium channels."

Macek said the film will be approximately 70 minutes in running time.

DAMION SCOTT TO DRAW SPIDER-MAN

Former Batgirl artist Damion Scott told The Continuum he will be one of the artists for the Paul Jenkins-scripted Spider-Man title.

Marvel Comics has not announced how its Spider-Man titles will shake out with writers Jenkins, J. Michael Straczynski and Kevin Smith, but Scott said his book might be titled Spectacular Spider-Man.

"Humberto Ramos and I are going to go back and forth on the book," said Scott, who announced his new gig at the Comics & Pop Culture Convention in Pasadena, Calif.

Scott indicated his first issue will likely come after a Ramos arc of about five issues.

"One of the reasons I got into comics is that I wanted to draw Spider-Man," Scott said. "I'm happy as hell."

Although he hasn't spoken with Jenkins yet, Scott said he's looking forward to working with him.

"I've read one of his scripts, and it's really good," Scott said. "It's going to be fun."

Scott's last issue of Batgirl is #37. He said working on the art-driven Batgirl was a "great learning experience" for him.

"If I can work on a book with just 10 balloons in it, I can work on anything," he said.

BRIEFLY

Coming Tuesday: Daredevil movie news -- and much more!!!

E-mail the Continuum at RobAlls@aol.com

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