UPDATE: Read HERE for newer information about Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises

Tom Hardy, known for his portrait of infamous British convict Charles Bronson, has agreed to take a role in the next Batman film.

Deadline reports that Hardy will reteam with director Christopher Nolan after the highly successful Inception. The role itself is being kept secret, its unknown if he’ll play a villain or hero but it will be a lead role. Begin speculation!

This news comes just days after Rhys Ifans was cast in Spider-Man, again in an secret role. At least the Spider-Man folks had the decency to tell us what side of the law Ifans will be on. Though I suppose considering Nolan’s Batman franchise, the good and bad guys are never quite so starkly portrayed.

Hardy also becomes the first person of note cast in the movie, though Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Cane, and Morgan Freeman are all expected to reprise their roles.
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As we previously reported there was an on set accident which occurred while filming Transformers 3 where the Bumblebee Camaro smashed into a police vehicle. Powet.tv has received exclusive footage which features never before heard audio of the actors’ reactions to the crash, most notably a very upset Shia LaBeouf who is clearly very dedicated to the film.

News has been flying across the tubes, that during the filming of a scene for Transformers 3, a real police vehicle raced through the set on his way to an emergency, unwittingly putting himself in the path of the Camaro.

3rd St SW is closed for most of the week for filming, but that doesn’t prevent emergency vehicles from traveling through the area. An ambulance passed through the set shortly before the Autobot convoy went into action. A District police SUV trailing the ambulance less than a minute too late collided with the custom Chevrolet that’s used for Bumblebee in vehicle mode. The damage to the front end of Bumblebee is massive and its likely they’ll have to use a double to finish filming this week. No word on if either driver is injured but it appeared to be a relatively low speed hit. Crew quickly covered the stunt car, but not before many tourists and film fans caught photos and video of Bumblebee in bits.

Director Michael Bay was likely uninvolved with the accident, as neither car went airborne or exploded.

Additional clips of the wreck after the jump. Read more from WTTG in DC

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Marvel.com had news that Rhys Ifans will be joining the cast of the forthcoming Spider-man film from Sony. He will be playing the part of the villain, but it is not clear just who that is currently. You may remember Rhys as the kicker from the Replacements among many other films.

From the article:

The filmmakers prefer to not reveal which character Ifans will be playing in the forthcoming film.

Webb added, “What sets the Spider-Man villains apart is the complexity of their relationships with Peter Parker. Rhys’ incredible ability to embody both warmth and rage makes him the ideal choice for this character.”

Based on this clue, I’m taking a wild stab in the dark and calling that the villain is going to be one Dr. Curt Connors. Have a guess of your own? Leave it in the comments below!

Here’s the current line-up for who’s on board with this film so far:
Spider-Man/Peter Parker: Andrew Garfield
Gwen Stacy: Emma Stone
Villain: Rhys Ifans
Screenplay: James Vanderbilt
Director: Marc Webb (punny Webb of Spider-man jokes go here)
Producers: Avi Arad and Laura Ziskin

The film is expected to start production in December and release to audiences on July 3rd, 2012.

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Zack Snyder, director of comic adaptations 300 and Watchmen will take on Superman as soon as he’s done Sucker Punch. Exclusive report came in tonight from Deadline.

Christopher Nolan, successful director of the last two Batman films will produce with a script by Batman Begins and Blade writer David Goyer.

If the selection of the next director of Superman isn’t enough, Snyder’s direction is slowly being revealed. He told Variety that Brandon Routh “isn’t likely” for the lead role, which is described as a reboot.

THR casually mentions that General Zod, the protagonist from Superman II, will be the primary villain. In the same sentence they call it a “connection” to Richard Donner’s 2 Superman movies staring Christopher Reeve.

Get the whiskey, because if we’re buckling in for another redo of the Donner years, we might as well have kept Routh and Bryan Singer as director. I fully support all the stuff they talk about in these interviews about “Modernizing” and “Staying true to the character” but that does not include remaking a movie from the 70s. Superman is a classic, but its a product of the era and duplicating it is as silly as remaking the Tim Burton Batman from 1989.

When people bring up Zod in articles about another Superman movie, they always act like he’s some classic villain. Well he’s not, and stop fooling people into thinking so if you’re one of those bloggers. He’s a b-level Silver Age threat popularized in Superman II. He’s largely absent from the DC canon since, with more reboots and history changes than Power Girl. I still hope that Superman can face a worthy villain in either Lex Luthor who can fight in a powersuit or Metallo who can match Superman’s power. You don’t have to go to Doomsday or Darkseid, in fact Superman alone is enough aliens for one movie. Skip Zod, give us a human who works.

Snyder is a highly skilled director, who can and will deliver a stylized action epic. I just hope its right for Superman and not a disaster all over again.