Today's spoilers may actually rock too much: DiCaprio channels Bale in Nolan's Inception. More details on Iron Man 2's Whiplash armor, and another Megan Fox poster. Dollhouse's weirdest plot yet. Plus 2012, Lost, Fringe, V, Supernatural, Smallville and True Blood.
Inception:
We've already shown you some set photos of Leonardo DiCaprio looking troubled on the set of this Christopher Nolan thriller, but in this new batch of photos, he's in a scuffle with a mysterious opponent, in an African or Middle Eastern setting. And apparently DiCaprio is on a crash diet to lose tons of weight to film one action scene in which he has to be severely emaciated. (Shades of Christian Bale in The Machinist.) More pics at the link. [Radar Online]
Iron Man 2:
Stuntman Garrett Warren stands in for Mickey Rourke, and he describes how the "double whips" (one in each hand) will look in the finished product:
I don't know if I'm at liberty to say what the whips will look like, but they're going to be these super whips that have an awful lot of power. They can cut through cars, they can do an awful lot of damage. And when the movie comes out, you'll see that he doesn't do just whip-cracks and grabbing people. He lays waste to an awful lot of vehicles and street pieces and other things.... At one point, Whiplash had to get hit by a car, and Mickey did the lead up to the stunt, and I did the stunt where the car came in and hit me and took me to the fence.
And he says the Whiplash armor is uncomfortable because there's one big metal piece, and also that Whiplash is shirtless (the whole time, by the sound of things) with his whole body covered in metal rods. [Movieline via Cinemablend]
2012:
How do you say "disaster porn" in Japanese? Find out with this new Japanese trailer, which also includes some new footage.
The Spanish poster for this slut-horror film features Megan Fox looking slutty, and possibly horrifying. [Audillos]
Dollhouse:
We already showed you some pics from the season opener, in which a pre-programmed Echo marries Jamie Bamber's character. But now Fox has released more pics from the episode, showing Bamber and Eliza Dushku getting a little more intense. [Fox]
And it sounds as though Echo and Victor will trade places, in episode two, judging from the episode descriptions Fox gave the Chicago Tribune:
Episode 1, "Vows": Picking up a few months after the Season 1 finale, Echo (Eliza Dushku) is the new bride of a charismatic businessman (guest star Jamie Bamber), who is tied to an old FBI case that Paul (Tahmoh Penikett) was unable to close. Meanwhile, Dr. Saunders struggles with her discovery that she is a Doll and targets Topher. Written and directed by Joss Whedon.
Episode 2, "Belle Chose": "Michael Hogan guest stars as a client of the Dollhouse who comes to Adelle (Olivia Williams) for help with a psychotic family member. Topher (Fran Kranz) accidentally crosses Echo and Victor's (Enver Gjokaj) imprints while there[sic] are on different assignments."
Also, Fox says Miracle Laurie (Mellie/November) will be back in season two — which is not something I had heard before. Did I miss that being announced? [Chicago Tribune]
Lost:
Here's a casting call for a new character who will be in episodes two and three of the new season, Paul:
Male, 30s to 60s, any ethnicity. Overworked, harried from a long day and many hours, faced with a highly adrenalized situation that forces him to remain calm and tests his ability to keep his wits about him - a test he fails as panic wins out.
Fringe:
Peter has no significant scenes with Olivia in the season opener, but he does get some quality time with Olivia's sister, as well as the new character Agent Jessup. [TV Guide]
V:
How is Elizabeth Mitchell's new character on this show, Erica, similar to her Lost character Juliet? Allow her to explain:
What I'm enjoying about Erica, which is one of the same things I love about Juliet, is that she, every day of her life, believes if she is not fully on, not fully functioning, she is going to let people down and the world will come to an end. She actively puts herself in the line of fire. I think it takes a special kind of person to do that, and that, combined with Erica being a mother, is very interesting to me.
And she says originally Juilet wasn't supposed to be back this season on Lost at all — until the producers changed their minds for some reason. [Boston Herald]
And here's a new character we'll be meeting in episode three:
[HENRY MARLOW] Male. Late 30s. Open Ethnicity. Scruffy but fit. Brilliant. Has a good sense of humor and an adventurous spirit. He's British.
Supernatural:
There are no plans for either of the Winchester boys ever to have a meaningful relationship with a member of the opposite sex. [EW]
Another thing there are no plans for? A return by Genevieve Cortese, playing New Ruby. (Which people are taking to mean Ruby is gone for good as well.) [E! Online]
Smallville:
if you're a Clark-Lois shipper, you should watch to the very last second of the first episode, to catch something exciting. And apparently when Lois returns from the future, she thinks she has amnesia, and keeps catching flashes of something — but it's actually something more sinister haunting her, which comes to a head in episode nine, "Pandora." And it gives Clark a clue as to how he can defeat Zod.
As for Clark, he doesn't exactly go dark — he just has to grapple with the responsibilities he's taken on, and figure out how he can still have a life. And his relationship wtih Chloe will keep suffering, because he's busy and she's upset over her lost love. Meanwhile, Ollie will get a "very sympathetic sidekick" who may be familiar to comics fans. And finally, someone from the future is trying to kill Clark — not one of our regular castmembers, but someone closer to home. [E! Online]
True Blood:
In the final episodes of the season, you'll see an interesting division between the characters — in particular, keep an eye on those characters for whom the supernatural events are "not quite as super," because those people are different from the other characters. And those differences will be explored in the following seasons. [TV Guide]
We won't learn what Sookie's new power is this season. As for who saves Sam from Maryann, rumor has it he takes refuge with Eric and Pam at Fangtasia in Shreveport. And Maryann finally gets vanquished by a "group effort." And apparently vampire queen Sophie is hooked up with Sookie's cousin Hadley Hale. [E! Online]
Here are some pics from episode 11, "Nevermore". [SpoilerTV]
Heroes:
Even though Tracy is believed to be dead and is also going around being a serial killer, she's also working in politics again. Says Tim Kring:
Tracy goes back to her old life working on the Hill, only to discover that she's no longer driven by the same shallow rewards. She wants to make a difference in peoples' lives.
She can't make a difference by being a serial killer? [EW]
We've mentioned that Matt Parkman has Sylar in his brain thanks to that botched mind meld at the end of season three, but apparently there will be lots of scenes of Matt seeing a "ghost" Sylar that nobody else can see. And Matt yells "Shut up!" at his imaginary Sylar, and everyone else thinks he's nuts. And as we mentioned, Sylar kidnaps Matt's son to get his body back.
Also, at some point, Sylar is running from the cops (having gotten his body back?) and winds up at the carnival, where they shelter him. He does some menial work, but then gets into a pissing match with Edgar (Ray Park) who throws knives at him using super-speed. So Sylar has to whip out his own abilities. [IGN]
Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.