MICKEY ROURKE IN "IRON MAN 2"?: In a testimony to the benefits of clean, good living, Mickey Rourke may join Robert Downey Jr. in the armor-plated 2010 blockbuster "Iron Man 2." At least that's the rumor that Michael Fleming is floating in the trades, a tidbit timed to land right before the Golden Globes this weekend, where Rourke might put a headlock on the best actor trophy after his career-reviving turn in "The Wrestler." Even if the casting decision is a myth, it's a fact for the next few days and will be repeated a million times. Here's what Fleming writes: "In what would mark his first studio film since resurrecting his career with 'The Wrestler,' Mickey Rourke is in talks to play the heavy in 'Iron Man 2,' the Marvel Entertainment sequel that director Jon Favreau begins shooting this spring. Rourke is in discussions to play a villain described as Tony Stark's Russian alter ego, a heavily tattooed bruiser who is in the arms trade and battles Iron Man in his own nuclear-powered armored suit. The script -- which is still being written -- is a guarded secret, but speculation is that villain is likely comic-book nemesis Crimson Dynamo." (NOTE: I think we should assume that when Fleming wrote "alter ego" he actually meant "counterpart," but he works hard so let's all let it slide.) [Variety]

GEORGE LUCAS PERFECTS MIND CONTROL: In a startling development, George Lucas has apparently figured out a way to harness The Force in everyday settings, a development that may signal the end of the world's energy crisis. But first, of course, Lucas is using the breakthrough to make an expensive toy. Mike Snider has the story: "The Force Trainer (expected to be priced at $90 to $100) comes with a headset that uses brain waves to allow players to manipulate a sphere within a clear 10-inch-tall training tower, analogous to Yoda and Luke Skywalker's abilities in the 'Star Wars' films. No, you're not tapping into some 'all-powerful force controlling everything,' as Han Solo said in the movies. But you are reaching out with mind power via one of the first mass-market brain-to-computer products. 'It's been a fantasy everyone has had, using The Force,' says Howard Roffman, president of Lucas Licensing.  Mind-control games may be the coming thing: Mattel plans to demonstrate a Mind Flex game (also due this fall), which uses brain-wave activity to move a ball through a tabletop obstacle course, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Thursday. In the Force Trainer, a wireless headset reads your brain activity, in a simplified version of EEG medical tests, and the circuitry translates it to physical action. If you focus well enough, the training sphere, which looks like a ping-pong ball, will rise in the tower." [USA Today]

HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF: (UPDATED) Congrats to Taylor Lautner (who will forever be Shark Boy to me). He had been angling to stay aboard the "Twilight" box-office express by reprising his role as Jacob Black in the second film, "New Moon," but there was some doubt because of a rather hairy situation -- the baby-faced Jacob of the first movie becomes big-scary-werewolf Jacob in the second film. But "Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer posted this announcement today quoting "New Moon" director Chris Weitz saying that Lautner, who has bulked up for the role, will indeed be back: "I'm very happy to announce that Taylor Lautner will be playing Jacob Black in 'New Moon' and that he's doing so with the enthusiastic support of Summit Entertainment, the producers, and Stephenie Meyer. The characters in Stephenie's books go through extraordinary changes of circumstance and also appearance; so it is not surprising that there has been speculation about whether the same actor would portray a character who changes in so many surprising ways throughout the series. But it was my first instinct that Taylor was, is, and should be Jacob, and that the books would be best served by the actor who is emotionally right for the part. I think that fans of Twilight the book and the movie will be surprised by the Jacob Black that Taylor will bring to the screen in New Moon; and I'm looking forward to working with him and the rest of the cast in realizing the film." [Stephenie Meyer's website]

THE ECONOMY IS MY FOE!: I buy many of my comics (and a lot of my son's "Star Wars" toys) at Amazing Comics in Long Beach and I was distressed when, on a recent visit, I found the huge store had been reduced to half its previous size and learned that its stock of back issues is now in storage. I didn't get a chance to talk to the owner but I assume that's not a positive sign of the store's health. Then I read this story by business journalist Muhammed El-Hasan about another Southern California store: "Not even Superman could rescue Third Planet Comics & Games from this recession. The popular Torrance comic book and gaming store at 3631 Pacific Coast Highway will shut its doors Monday after about 13 years in business. 'The deciding factor in this decision is that sales have fallen to a level where we can no longer meet our obligations,' owner Robert North wrote to customers in an e-mail the day after Christmas. In the message, North said his employees 'fought valiantly over this past year' to keep the shop in business." [The Daily Breeze] (Sad stuff. Are you folks hearing about similar situations out there?)

CLINT EASTWOOD, MY FAVORITE: OK, he's never played a superhero and I guess the closest he ever came to making a sci-fi movie was (gulp) "Firefox," but anybody who loves movies has to love Clint Eastwood. And even though we journalists must forever keep our impartiality about the people we write about, I have to say he might be my all-time favorite person to interview. In today's Los Angeles Times, we have a special issue of The Envelope on the Golden Globes this Sunday and I'm happy to say I wrote the cover story, an interview with Eastwood about his great new film, "Gran Torino," and if you have a moment to read it, I think you might enjoy it. I also did a big story with Eastwood on the enduring impact of the "Dirty Harry" films and the misunderstood legacy of the first film, if (like me) you can't get enough when it comes to the most thoughtful tough guy in Hollywood history.

ON THIS DATE: Oh, what a golden day it was in Honolulu on this day in 1950 when Erin Gray was born. The vivacious actress was perfect as the strong, smart and brave Col. Wilma Deering on "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" and, sorry Lynda Carter, she replaced a certain star-spangled amazon as my childhood ideal of heroic womanhood. Oh, if only she had been given a chance to play Lois Lane! To celebrate her 59th birthday today, let's all watch out for space vampires. (To see some video of Erin Gray as Wilma Deering and during a Hero Complex interview this past summer, keep reading to the bottom of this post)

Sorry for the skimpy blog this week! I'm trying to finish up some long pieces for the upcoming 2009 Film Sneaks Issue of the Los Angeles Times and also keep pace with assorted holiday doings. Anyway, here is a two-day edition of Everyday Hero, your roundup of handpicked headlines from the fanboy universe ...

MAJEL B. RODDENBERRY DIES AT 76: One of the signature faces -- and voices -- of "Star Trek" through the decades has died. Majel B. Roddenberry, the widow of "Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, died Thursday in Bel-Air after a battle with leukemia. My colleague Dennis McLellan has written a fine obituary, here's an excerpt: "'She was a valiant lady,' Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr. Spock on 'Star Trek,' told The Times. 'She worked hard, she was straightforward, she was dedicated to 'Star Trek' and Gene, and a lot of people thought very highly of her.' Once dubbed 'The First Lady of 'Trek'' by the Chicago Tribune, Majel (sounds like Mabel) Barrett Roddenberry was associated with 'Star Trek' from the beginning. In the first TV pilot, she played a leading role as Number One, the first officer who was second in command. But at the request of various executives, changes were made, and she did not reprise her role in the second TV pilot. Instead, she played the minor role of Nurse Chapel when the series began airing on NBC in September 1966. Roddenberry had another distinction: Beginning with the original series, she supplied the coolly detached voice of the USS Enterprise's computer -- something she did on the various 'Star Trek' series. She also was the voice of the Starship Enterprise for six of the 10 'Star Trek' movies that have been released, as well as the 11th, which is due out next year. Roddenberry also played Dr. Christina Chapel in two of the "Star Trek" movies, 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' and 'Star Trek: The Voyage Home.' And she played the recurring role of the flamboyant Lwaxana Troi on 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' and 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.' Roddenberry, whose pre-'Star Trek' acting career included guest appearances on series such as 'The Untouchables' and 'The Lucy Show,' had no idea she was establishing a career path in science fiction when she took her first 'Star Trek' role. 'Not at all,' she said in a 2002 interview with the Tulsa World. 'I certainly didn't have any idea that I'd be doing it this long, for so many different shows and films -- especially as a product of a series that was a flop. The original was only on for three years. It wasn't considered a success by anyone's standards.'" [Los Angeles Times] ... ALSO: Here's a photo gallery of the actress in various roles.

VAMPING AT THE MUSEUM: It's been a big year for fangs and pierced arteries and now there's an exhibit titled "Gothic: Dark Glamour" (running through Feb. 21) at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. Critic Karen Rosenberg has written an especially vivid review, here's an excerpt: "Organized by Valerie Steele, the director of the Fashion Institute of Technology’s museum, the show unfolds in a nightmarish mise-en-scène conceived by the British artist and set designer Simon Costin. The clothes have been installed in a labyrinth of haunted palaces, ruined castles and cemetery-gate enclosures. Naturally it all takes place in F.I.T.’s cryptlike basement galleries. The gloom and doom can be overpowering, but Ms. Steele and Mr. Costin understand that too much is never enough for the goth devotee. And it’s impossible to upstage the clothes, with their capes, corsetry and fetishistic hardware. As uniformly macabre as it is, 'Gothic: Dark Glamour' resonates with several groups. Fashionistas will relish the chance to see famous creations by Oliver Theyskens, Ann Demeulemeester and other avant-garde designers. Readers of Poe, Shelley and other Romantic literature will enjoy seeing gothic characters and settings come to life (or undeath). And the eager consumers of adolescent vampire fantasies, from 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' to 'Twilight,' will thrill to the clothes’ sex-and-death subtext...At F.I.T. an antechamber to the main gallery displays fashions representative of three gothic muses: the victim, the widow and the vamp. In the victim category are filmy gowns that could have been worn by the swooning subject of Henry Fuseli’s 1871 painting 'The Nightmare.' (A reproduction is on view.) In the widow category is Victorian mourning dress: suffocatingly high-necked, monochromatic black ensembles. In the most spectacular category, that of the vamp, is a scarlet dress by Eiko Ishioka made for Francis Ford Coppola’s film “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Its cascading bustle suggests spilled blood...Also in the show’s first section is a fascinating curio cabinet of gothic accessories, among them a bat-shaped belt buckle, a brooch made from a pigeon’s wing and a bottle of laudanum. Some objects date from the Victorian era, others from current collections; it can be difficult to tell which is which." [New York Times] MORE: You can find the museum's website and info on the exhibit right here.

THE "BUCK" STARTS HERE?: A few weeks ago I met up with Gabriel Macht, the star of "The Spirit," for coffee and he told me that he wants to make as many films as he can with Frank Miller. He would like, in fact, to become the director's on-screen muse, a la Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro (or, these, days, Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio). Well, Macht might want to start diving into some old Buster Crabbe movie serials. Why? Here's the story in the trades today by Steven Zeitchik and Borys Kit: "Frank Miller and Odd Lot Entertainment, the creator and production company behind the upcoming comic-book adventure 'The Spirit,' are close to teaming again on the classic sci-fi property 'Buck Rogers.' Odd Lot, the shingle run by Gigi Pritzker and Deborah Del Prete, is in negotiations to option the rights to 'Rogers' from Nu Image/Millennium, which obtained those rights this year from the Dille Trust. Millennium is expected to get a credit on the movie but won't be involved in day-to-day production. John Flint Dille, a friend of Miller's, operates the trust, which may have partly prompted rumors at the time of the Millennium acquisition that the comic auteur-turned-filmmaker might come aboard to direct. But Miller was not attached at the time; he only became involved when Odd Lot entered the picture. Miller will write and direct his own big-screen take on the comic serial; while the creator has only begun to sketch ideas, it's expected to be a darker take, with many of Miller's signature visual elements and themes, such as corruption and redemption. It's likely to be a priority project for Miller, though he has been mulling a 'Sin City' sequel." [The Hollywood Reporter]

HOW WILL THE WOLF SURVIVE?: Director Joe Johnston will be bringing Captain America to the screen but first he has "The Wolf Man" next November. Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro will be handling the hairier parts of the script while Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt will be the characters looking for a leash. Del Toro talked to MTV and explained that for his research he went back much further than "Teen Wolf": 'I definitely looked at what Lon Chaney Jr. did in the original ‘Wolf Man’ and the movie,' Del Toro told MTV News. “I also looked at the ‘Werewolf of London,’ the Henry Hull movie, which was made maybe 6 years before in 1935, and looked at ‘Curse of the Werewolf’ with Oliver Reed.”  While they are staying faithful to the aforementioned 1941 Chaney Jr. version (generally accepted as the 'classic' Wolf man movie), he notes that there will be some minor deviations from the story that center around actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, who plays his father in the film. He spills some background details on the characters and notes that he and the legendary thespian won’t be playing very nice together either. 'Anthony Hopkins’ role was [originally] played by Claude Rains and the relationship between Rains and Lon Chaney Jr. was a good father and son [relationship]. In [our version], it's definitely fractured, I’m like the prodigal son, I’ve been gone, he sent me away when I was a child and I haven’t seen him in twenty six years and I come home again to visit my brother who’s missing, but I [also play an] actor too which is also different.' Don’t expect other monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein or the Mummy to walk into the frame either. 'You mean, the guy named Dracula waiting in the taxi outside?, Del Toro cracked. 'No, there’s no other monsters coming into play, that’s maybe down the line.' [MTV Movie News]

HERO COMPLEX, FOR REAL: Reporter Joshuah Bearman and photographer Stefan Ruiz went around the country visiting with people who dress up in costumes and fight crime. The result is a truly loopy look at a cultural curiosity. An excerpt from Bearman's article, which is in the newest issue of Rolling Stone: "Like other real life superheroes, Master Legend is not an orphan from a distant dying sun or the mutated product of a gamma-ray experiment gone awry. He is not an eccentric billionaire moonlighting as a crime fighter. He is, as he puts it, 'just a man hellbent on battling evil.' Although Master Legend was one of the first to call himself a Real Life Superhero, in recent years a growing network of similarly homespun caped crusaders has emerged across the country. Some were inspired by 9/11. if malevolent individuals can threaten the world, the argument goes, why can't other individuals step up to save it? 'What is Osama Bin Laden if not a super villain off in a cave, scheming to destroy us?' asks Green Scorpion, a masked avenger in Arizona. True to comic-book tradition, each superhero has his own aesthetic. Green Scorpion's name is derived from his desert home, from which he recently issued a proclamation to 'the criminals of Arizona and beyond,' warning that to continue illegal activities is to risk the 'Sting of the Green Scorpion!' The Eye takes his cue from the primordial era of Detective Comics, prowling Mountain  View, California, in a trench coat, goggles and black fedora featuring a self-designed logo: the 'all-seeing' eye of Horus. Superhero -- his full name -- is a former wrestler from Clearwater, Florida, who wears red and blue spandex and a burgundy helicopter helmet and drives a 1975 Corvette Stingray customized with the license plates that read SUPRHRO." [Rolling Stone] Want to read the rest? You'll have to buy the magazine now on the stands, the article isn't available online at this time.

ON THIS DATE: Today, Dec. 19, is the 34th birthday of Takashi Sorimachi, the star of "Great Teacher Onizuka" and "Fulltime Killer" and an actor that some call the "Tom Cruise of Japan"... Also, the great Robert B. Sherman is 83 today. He and his brother, Richard Sherman, are a vital part of Disney's history as the songwriters behind charming classics such as "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," "Chim Chim Cher-ee," "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers," "It's a Small World (After All)." To celebrate, let's all get a song stuck in our head today.

Majel B. Roddenberry photo courtesy of the Roddenberry Archives. The bat top hat was made by milliner Justin Smith and the image is courtesy of Museum at F.I.T., which has the headwear on display in "Gothic" exhibit. The image from "The Wolf Man" is courtesy of Universal Pictures. Tigger image courtesy of Disney.

Today's handpicked headlines from the fanboy universe...

Wrapped in the flag: The Captain America movie, which will be a World War II tale and lead up to the hero's appearance in the modern-day setting of the "The Avengers," will be directed by Joe Johnston, who has experience with the vintage-style screen adventures with "The Rocketeer." Johnston also directed "Jumanji," "Jurassic Park III" and the upcoming werewolf revival, "The Wolf Man," which stars Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins. Borys Kit interviewed Marvel Studios executive and "Cap" producer Kevin Feige for this morning's announcement story in the trades: "Johnston first met with Marvel two years ago. When the two parties clicked, general talks turned into Captain America-specific meetings, with much of the project's current direction resulting from those early conversations. 'This is a guy who designed the vehicles for 'Star Wars,' who storyboarded the convoy action sequence for 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' Feige said. "From 'Rocketeer' to 'October Sky' to 'The Wolfman,' you can look at pieces of his movies and see how they lead to this one' ... Kicking off with 'Iron Man,' Marvel Studios' slate of movies -- including 'Thor' and the 'Iron Man' sequel -- is building toward an 'Avengers' movie set for release in 2011, in which the characters from the films team for one big adventure. 'Captain America' is scheduled for release May 6, 2011." [Hollywood Reporter]

"Skim" at the top: The New York Times Book Review section on Sunday was devoted to the Children's Books Fall Special issue, which (somewhat jarringly) includes Elizabeth Spires' review of the graphic novel "Skim," which is a tale of 16-year-old girl nicknamed Skim who attends a private girls school where she is treated as an outcast. The story, written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, touches on sexual identity, suicide and a romantic yearning between a student and her teacher, all of which is handled with a painful honesty and nuance that impressed the editors of the special section. Spires writes: "'Skim' — a winner of a 2008 New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books Award — is a convincing chronicle of a teenage outsider who has enough sense to want to stay outside. In the final section of the story, titled appropriately 'Goodbye (Hello),' Skim defies the shallow, popular clique and walks out of a school dance with Katie. She’s cast off her nickname and is 'Kim' now, a name more true to the person she is slowly becoming. And Katie is slowly beginning to heal, too. All in all, 'Skim' offers a startlingly clear and painful view into adolescence for those of us who possess it only as a distant memory. It’s a story that deepens with successive rereadings. But what will teenagers think? Maybe that they’ve found a bracingly honest story by a writer who seems to remember exactly what it was like to be 16 and in love for the first time." [New York Times]

Buck up, little buddy: Will we see Buck Rogers back in some new film or television revival? There was talk of Frank Miller directing a movie for a 2011 arrival at theater but that is more rumor than real at this point, according to "The Spirit" director himself. Either way,  Lewis Wallace has written a quick appraisal of the hero's history along with a 14-image photo gallery marking his 80th anniversary in pop culture: "Anthony 'Buck' Rogers first burst from writer Philip Nowlan's imagination in 1928, when the intrepid spaceman appeared in "Armageddon — 2419," a story published in Amazing Stories magazine. From his pulp roots, the character developed into an influential American hero on the airwaves and the silver screen. Subsequent space swashbucklers like Brick Bradford and Flash Gordon took a cue from Buck Rogers' sci-fi adventures. Buck took to the radio Nov. 7, 1932, with the first broadcast of 'The World in 2432'. The radio show launched Buck and his female co-pilot, Wilma Deering, into the nation's living rooms, introducing such sci-fi staples as spaceships and death rays." [Wired]

Brett Ratner? By Crom!: After the success of "300" it was really only a matter of time before a revival of Conan the Barbarian picked up serious steam. The name of Brett Ratner ("X-Men: The Last Stand") has been associated with the project quite a bit in recent months and recently Jay Fernandez and Borys Kit had this story in the trades on appraising his interest in the Cimmerian: "Ratner has been considering signing on to direct a 21st century update of 'Conan,' co-produced by Nu Image/Millennium and Lionsgate Films, even as he pushes another high-profile project -- a fourth installment of the 'Beverly Hills Cop' franchise -- toward a greenlight at Paramount, where he recently set up shop. While the 'Conan' development deal puts the brawny brigand on Ratner's docket, 'BHC IV' is still likely to go into production first. Ratner jived to the 'Conan' script by Gersh-repped Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly, who looked to Robert E. Howard's original pulp stories of the 1930s to create their take on the character. The writers are doing a quick polish to incorporate some of Ratner's ideas, with an eye toward releasing the film in 2010. ... Millennium and Lionsgate are eyeing a potential franchise and envision a very R-rated approach in the $85 million budget range. "The story opens on the battlefield where Conan is born and tells the origin story that sets the stage for what will be the first of multiple films,' Lerner said. [Hollywood Reporter]

-- Geoff Boucher

Captain America image drawn by Steve Epting and courtesy of Marvel Comics.

Though it's still early in the convention, the autograph area can sometimes be a lonely place for celebrities.

Tens of thousands will walk by with either a look of worship, a slight tinge of recognition, a glance of bewilderment as they try to figure out who that person is, or even a quick peek of pity for those stars who may have burned brightly, then fallen out of orbit because of time or fickle crowds.  The list includes former wrestling stars, obscure artists, semi-popular film and TV stars, and recognizable names and faces that give us pause -- maybe even stirring a memory or two.

Erin Gray is probably one of the latter.  A '70s and '80s star for her work in "Buck Rogers" and "Silver Spoons," she frequents the convention circuit looking to give back to fans.  In a pretty empty session, she had time to take a few minutes for a few questions.

We'll keep you updated on who sets up camp in the open space.

-- Jevon Phillips