The Week In Geek: February 3, 2010

Tags:

Geek Chic,Dollhouse,Eliza Dushku,TV,Robert Downey Jr.,Thor,Marvel,Samuel L. Jackson,Iron Man,Joss Whedon,More Tags...

enlarge

1/2

Getty Images
Eliza Dushku attends the ‘Dollhouse’ event at the ArcLight Cinemas on April 15, 2009 in Hollywood
Getty Images
Zachary Quinto attends the ‘Star Trek’ Japan Premiere at Shinjuku Milano One on May 12, 2009 in Tokyo, Japan

FIRST PUBLISHED: February 3, 2010 8:27 PM EST

By Jim Kiernan

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

THE DOOR CLOSES ON ‘DOLLHOUSE’

FOX finally closed the door on Joss Whedon’s Eliza Dushku-starring edgy action drama “Dollhouse” on Friday night. Despite a loyal but small fan base and strong iTunes and DVR numbers, the show was never a ratings hit for the network despite managing to — to just about everybody’s surprise — be renewed for a second season.

Unfortunately, fans saw it sentenced to a Friday night timeslot for its sophomore season, and it delved deeper into darker territory in its storylines. FOX announced it was finally pulling the plug on the show in November, but to the network’s credit, remained committed to producing and broadcasting its 13-episode commitment for the second season, thus allowing creator Joss Whedon to bring the series to the proper conclusion he envisioned.

Whether this was seen a years-too-late apology to Whedon for the swift cancellation of his last series on FOX, “Firefly,” remains for debate in the television history books. The network has however, by even the biggest fans’ admissions, given the show more than a fair run despite its unfortunate under-performance in the ratings. And in an unorthodox move, FOX has allowed Whedon the freedom to end the series with a final episode that continues its story from the first season’s season finale. It’s an unorthodox move because that finale never actually aired on FOX and was only available on the Season One DVD box set, truly making Friday’s final hour of “Dollhouse” a private farewell party for the most loyal of fans.

QUINTO TO KEEP ON TREKKIN’

The internet was abuzz last week over this quote from “Star Trek” star Zachary Quinto that made to Wired.com: “I’m stepping away from ‘Star Trek’ for at least two years - no movies, no conventions, no anything for a while.” Concern for the future of Spock appearing again in the newly rebooted franchise spread like wildfire from his admission of a two-year break from all things “Trek,” especially if the next film were to start shooting within that time.

We do know that the story for the follow-up to JJ Abrams’ film is being worked on by screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman for a planned 2012 release. While Quinto’s words may seem distressing at first to fans, it’s safe to assume that each of the key cast members of the new Enterprise crew were signed to multi-picture deals. Paramount, which produces the “Star Trek” films, would not let a possible lucrative franchise break continuity by having to constantly recast their principal actors, especially Spock.

And Quinto apparently got word of what was making the rounds and quickly took to Twitter to clarify any misinterpretation from his interview.

“Obviously, i’ll be a part of any upcoming films, reprising my role as spock. what i meant was that in the meantime i won’t be making appearances related to the franchise or doing auxiliary projects in trek universe. i’ll be focusing my efforts on other projects & preparing to shoot the next film, which will be released in june of 2012… 2 yrs from now,” he Tweeted.

MARVEL HEAD CONFIRMS “THE AVENGERS” LINE-UP

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has revealed to SFX Magazine some of the heroes to appear in 2012’s “The Avengers,” which is shaping up to potentially be the biggest and baddest of all superhero films ever made.

What began with a surprise cameo by Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury at the end of the credits in “Iron Man” continued on in “The Incredible Hulk” with Robert Downey Jr.’s appearance as Tony Stark, not to mention numerous references to the Super Soldier serum that transformed army runt grunt Steve Rogers into Captain America. Buzz has been building steadily for Marvel’s Mightiest Heroes to someday all share the spotlight on the silver screen together in one (gigantic) film. Expect more groundwork to be laid down soon enough in “Iron Man 2,” “Thor,” and “The First Avenger: Captain America,” which will hopefully seamlessly bring these characters together.

Feige confirmed to SFX regarding the Avengers’ lineup, “It’s three people - four including the Hulk; five including Nick Fury - who you’ve seen before in other movies, coming together for the very first time.”

So we can look forward to appearances from Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Nick Fury, and the Hulk. It has been widely speculated that the Hulk may actually be the villain at the outset of the film and stopping the Green Goliath is what brings the team of heroes together.

“The Incredible Hulk” director Louis Leterrier told MTV News earlier this month he believes it will take something special to get Ed Norton to reprise his role as Bruce Banner. He thinks Norton is not interested to come back to any role to just rehash something he has done before. But even if Norton doesn’t sign on to return for “The Avengers,” one has to wonder how much screen time he, as Bruce Banner, could possibly have anyway with all of the other Marvel characters included in the film. And presumably the CGI Hulk would be on screen more than Norton. Similarly, the same could be said for how much face time Robert Downey Jr. would have as Tony Stark as opposed to being buried in the Iron Man armor or as a full-blown CGI’d special effect. There definitely will be some egos checked at the door for the team-up film for some of the actors involved, as the still uncast Captain America will be also spending much of his time under a mask, too. However, stars Chris Hemsworth and Sam Jackson should be fairly recognizable as Thor and Nick Fury.

We’ll find out soon enough!

Copyright 2009 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Keep your Access to everything in Hollywood! Breaking news and personal commentary from Billy, Tony, Shaun, Maria & all of our producers! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter now!

2010 Sundance Film Festival: Samuel L. Jackson - ‘Maybe I Am’ In ‘Thor’

Tags:

Samuel L. Jackson,Thor,Sundance,Geek Chic,Rumors,Sci Fi,Iron Man,TV One

Samuel L. Jackson talks with Access’ Scott “Movie” Mantz about his role as Nick Fury in “Iron Man 2,” and addresses whether or not he will be making an appearance in the upcoming 2011 movie, “Thor.”