As I was watching the new Eclipse trailer, out of sheer boredom and a hint of curiosity, I found myself wondering why in the world two super-powered boys would fight it out over a girl clad in American Apparel who’s a hell of a downer.

How is there an entire film series devoted to one girl’s delusional obsessions of a fairy tale ending with a born-again killer? Sparkely vampires want to kill you, strapping werewolf shape-shifters want to keep you safe.

Do these Edward fans have a death wish and a yearning for abandonment? Is Bella Swan so heavily marketed as mesmerizing that it erases the history of the brazen blonde that came before her?

A long time ago, otherwise known as the 90’s, there was a series called Buffy the Vampire Slayer where a feisty girl from the southland slayed Urban Outfitted demons. This legendary show paved the way for multi-tasking girls who cheer by day, slay by night, and every once in a while hook-up with a tormented blood sucker.

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When I first heard Hawaii Five-O was getting the remake treatment I wasn’t that interested. I only vaguely remembered the original series and it was one step closer to rebooting Magnum P.I. (how sacrilegious would will that be?) in my opinion. However, I’ve begun to shift in the other direction regarding this series as more casting news comes out.

The most recent addition is James Marsters. Probably best known as Spike from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Marsters also played Brianic on Smallville and Barnabas on Caprica.  As exciting as it may be to have him on the new Hawaii Five-O it doesn’t sound like he’ll have a continuing role, at least not yet. Marsters will be in the pilot and appear, “as the nemesis of lead character Jack McGarrett.”

At this point it seems producers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek, Transformers, Fringe) are trying to capture the geek community for the new show.  Marsters joins a cast that encapsulates geek programming; Grace Park (Battlestar Galactica), Daniel Dae Kim (Lost), Jean Smart (24), and Alex O’Loughlin (Moonlight) are already on deck.  With Scott Caan on board as well suddenly Hawaii Five-O is a show I can start to get behind.

After long month of waiting since the news first broke, tonight fans of Buffy and Angel finally get their wish as James Marsters makes his debut on Caprica. Taking on the role of terrorist Barnabus Greely, Marsters will bring the crazy and definitely up the tension even more on this great show.

In the clip we’re introduced to Greely and from the first moment we know he’s not messing around. He’s here to make a difference and will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. It’s great to see Marsters, one of my favorite characters from Buffy and Angel, become a part of my favorite new Sci-Fi show. Now, all things are as they should be.

Check out the preview for tonight’s episode after the break. Caprica airs at 9/8C on Syfy.

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Welcome to another edition of The Pull List Comic Reviews! This week, the Blackest Night event takes center stage, Bendis and Oeming make a triumphant comeback and Archie gets married (again). As always, WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

PULL OF THE WEEK:

Blackest Night #5 [of 8]
DC Comics – $3.99 US
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Ivan Reis
Score: 9.0

The mastermind behind the dead rising stands revealed as the Blackest Night prophecy inches towards becoming true, but will the unified heroes of the world have enough to stop it? Not if a late dinner guest bearing gifts has anything to say about it.

Geoff Johns welcomes you all to hell. How could he not? In the thirty plus years that I’ve been reading comics, I can’t remember a time when things looked so grim in a story thanks to this issue. The big guns of the Justice League arrive in time to assist the Flashes – Barry Allen and Wally West – in confronting Nekron as the Black Lanterns’ power battery reaches full charge. Fast forward to the end of the issue and only two heroes remain standing while the rest are chomping at the bit, dying to feast on some good, old fashioned heart muscle. And this is only the fifth issue in an eight-issue series?!? Wow.

Johns, along with artist Ivan Reis, are obviously toying with us and giggling madly along the way. The re-emergence of “Bruce Wayne” – his name was in quotations in the issue as well – signaled that the next phase was about to begin, but what he did to heroes like Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, etc I don’t think anyone saw coming, characters and readers alike. The sixth issue cannot get here fast enough, if you ask me.

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DreamWorks Studios, with plans for a Fright Night remake, have signed Mad Men writer-producer Marti Noxon to write the script about a horror-obsessed teen who thinks his neighbor means something altogether different when sipping some red.

Noxon, no stranger to vampires herself since she was a writer-producer for both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it’s spin-off Angel, will keep the comedy/horror vibe the original had when it was released in 1985, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film went on to be a surprise box office hit, trailing only A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge in the horror department that summer.

Producers Michael De Luca, Michael Gaeta and Alison Rosenzweig had signed onto the project back in May of this year, while overseeing the project for DreamWorks will be co-president of production Mark Sourian. No word on a potential release date or casting as of yet, but we’ll keep you posted.

As we’ve done previously, we’ve got a preview of the brand new Marvel motion comic Astonishing X-Men: Gifted. Featuring the talents of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday, this project offers fans a cool way to enjoy a great comic story on their favorite portable device like an iPhone or iPod Touch.

Even though I’m a fan of reading paper comics and I hope they don’t go away any time soon, this is just another way in which new fans can potentially be brought into the fold. Which is a good thing. Plus, with this kind of story and the talent involved, you have to expect this to be a pretty big success for Marvel. Hopefully, that will mean more comics will be getting the “motion” treatment.

So, check out this preview and enjoy it. Also, as we agreed to do in order to bring you cool things like this, following is Marvel’s “official” info about this project and this preview.

Marvel is proud to unveil your first look at episode 2 of the Astonishing X-Men Motion Comic! Based on the acclaimed story by superstars Joss Whedon (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) and John Cassaday (Captain America), the X-Men are faced with a mysterious new villain and a possible cure for the mutant gene! Now Cyclops, Wolverine and all your favorite mutants must face the greatest threats of their lives and, before it’s all done, experience one of the most jaw-dropping moments in Marvel history!

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This week on The Flickcast, Chris and Matt go it alone with Chris on location in Austin, Texas for the Fantastic Fest film festival. Among the topics the duo cover this week are Fantastic Fest in Austin, the new A Nightmare on Elm Street trailer, Corey Feldman returning for Lost Boys 3, the elements that make a horror film, Zombieland, Gentlemen Broncos, the future of 3-D, the potential Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles DVD movie, the new Predators movie potentially begin in 3-D and much more.

Plus, Chris and Matt make some great picks this week including Matt’s pick of the Freddy’s Nightmares TV series and Chris’ pick of Michael J. Bassett’s as-yet unreleased film Solomon Kane.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter and at Facebook, MySpace or via email.

Thanks for listening.

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If you’ve been a fan of Joss Whedon and his various creations such as Firefly, Angel, Dollhouse and Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, you’re most likely aware that several of these creations have lived on in comic book form after their untimely demise on television. One of the ost popular of these comic book continuations is Buffy: Season Eight, Exec. Produced and occasionally written by Whedon and published by Dark Horse Comics.

With Season Eight scheduled to conclude its run with issue 40, fans are growing concerned that this could be the end of Buffy in comic form. Well don’t worry because Whedon has got you covered. In a recent interview, the creator assured fans of Buffy comics everywhere that he will, indeed, be doing a Season Nine. Although, it might not run quite as long as Season Eight.

“I have had for a long time a conception for Season Nine that is very different from Season Eight,” said Whedon. “It may not run as long, because 40 issues sounds great until you realize that it’s four or five years.” Feel better? Good.

Buffy Season Eight is is comic book stores now.

We’ve been following some of NBC’s new Fall shows pretty closely here at The Flickcast. One of the ones that seems pretty interesting is a hostpital show called Mercy. What makes this one more interesting than the crop of other medical shows out there? Good question. Read on.

Mercy has a couple interesting things going for it. First, its told from the perspective of nurses. And not just any nurses, but a trio of brash, confident and compassionate babes including Iraq war vet Veronica, played by Taylor Schilling, and newcomer Chloe, played by the delightful Michelle Trachtenberg of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Plus, the show is created and exec. produced by Liz Heldens of Friday Night Lights and Gretchen Berg & Aaron Harberts of Pushing Daises, two other quality shows.

Does all this mean Mercy will be a sure-fire hit? Not necessarily. But with all these elemets in place, it sure has a good chance. Mercy premieres on Wednesday, September 23rd at 8/7C. Until then, be sure to check out this latest promo after the jump.

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The Caprica casting office seems to be working overtime lately and is snagging a bunch of great new people to take on key roles in the show. Previously, we told you about Battlestar Galactica alumni Luciana Carro joining the show as well as comedian Patton Oswalt recently being cast. And now, word comes today that everyone’s other favorite former vampire James Marsters is joining the show as well and taking on what is described as a “sizable role.”

No word yet on exactly what Marsters will be doing on the show and who, or what, he will be doing it to but we do know, according to EW, that he will be pretty much doing what he does best and playing a dangerous and unpredictable bad guy driven by his carnal and moralistic desires. Marsters will play a terrorist leader named Barnabus Greele in at least three episodes of the upcoming Syfy series.

As a fan of Buffy and all of Marsters’ work, I’m always glad to see him make an appearance on any show. He always brings something special to the table and raises the level of any show he’s on. The fact that he’s going to be in Caprica makes me even more excited for its debut on Januray 22, 2010. Not that I really needed a reason to watch the show.