News of the week: Green Lantern, Superman, Captain America, plus Bella's wedding dress

First of all, Warner Brothers has done it again and announced another casting decision for the Superman film on a Sunday (guys, you're getting predictable up in here). The villain is none other than General Zod, who will be played by Oscar-nominated (uh, did I say you're getting predictable, WB?) actor Michael Shannon. Well, I'm glad casting is moving right along. It seems they're doing the same thing Richard Donner did with the original Superman film (starring Christopher Reeve) and surrounding a little-known actor in the main role with tons of better known and Oscar-nominated actors in supporting roles. I will choose to take that as a good sign...

Have you checked out the official website for the Green Lantern film starring Ryan Reynolds? It's still a work in progress, but you can watch the extended trailer that was shown at Wondercon 2011. Check it out. I'm psyched to see this movie, although I can't help but think it reminds me, perhaps too much, of the animated Green Lantern film that was released last year.

Captain America: The First Avenger film has also launched its official site, and you can check out the trailer for it online now, as well as download wallpaper, and iPhone app and an entire comic book. I was iffy about this movie, and while I find a shrunken Chris Evans very creepy (how did they do that?), I have to say, this movie looks better than I thought it would.

Stephenie Meyer's Official guide to all things Twilight comes out Tuesday, and EW released a sneak peak at Bella's wedding dress. What do you think?

Finally, the CW released a 15-second teaser trailer for the finale of "Smallville." It's only 15 seconds, but it gave me chills (in a good way). I think it's seeing the Superman emblem combined with John Williams' theme song combined with Tom Welling's words. Either way, it's hard to believe only one month of "Smallville" remains before the show ends, for good. I need to go stock up on Kleenex...

Hutcherson and Hemsworth cast in "Hunger Games" - please say it ain't so!

If you heard a loud, gut-wrenching “Nooooooooooooooooooooo!” today at, around, oh, 2 o’clock Eastern time, it was probably me, having just seen the headline “Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth cast in The Hunger Games.”

Seriously. If I hadn’t been at work, I might have fallen to my knees and started sobbing. Pounding my fists against my keyboard. Pulling out my hair. Throwing myself off of a building somewhere…

Let me get this out of my system, and I promise I will be OK. I will be Team Supportive from here on out when it comes to this movie. I promise. But first…

Josh Hutcherson is Peeta Mellark? Are they crazy!!!

I have to preface this by saying I love Josh Hutcherson as an actor. I always have. I adored him in “Firehouse Dog” and “Bridge to Terabithia.” He’s a young actor whose movies I would see just because I like him and think he’s cute.

But he is not what I pictured for my beloved Peeta. Not. At. All.

Oh, Peeta, who I love more than even Edward Cullen as a character. Peeta, with his golden blonde locks and manly tallness. Josh Hutcherson has short, dark brown hair and is (according to the Internet) 5’ 7”. How is that tall!?! Isn’t Jennifer Lawrence taller than that? Not to mention she’s older than Josh Hutcherson, and Peeta is supposed to be older than Katniss, right?…

Oh, my world feels so off kilter right now.

Breathe, Angie. Breathe.

As for Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne, well, granted, I don’t love Gale as much as I love Peeta, but come on now. Liam Hutcherson as Gale?!? Didn’t these people see that godawful movie with Miley Cyrus, “The Last Song,” in which I discovered I know doorknobs who can act better than Liam Hemsworth? And Gale is an important character! Not to mention, Gale has black hair, dark eyes and olive skin. Liam Hemsworth — nope, not even close.

Noooooooo!

Why are you people at Lionsgate ruining my book-to-movie adaptation? I swear, in my mind, it was going to be so good…

My only hope, at this point, is that the angels will come down, the heavens will align, and Robert Downey Jr. will miraculously land the role of Haymitch. Please God, give me something?

OK.

OK.

I think I’ve got it out of my system now.

Breathe, Angie. Breathe.

I will now try to look on the bright side. I will remind myself — wisely so — that I cannot fairly judge this casting decision without having seen their auditions myself. I will also remind myself of the colossal negative feedback Robert Pattinson received when he was originally cast as Edward Cullen in “Twilight,” and that turned out OK, didn’t it?

I will push aside my thoughts that this casting has been part of a strategic formula to recruit popular, up-and-coming young actors rather than actors who are actually right for the roles. Nope, I will not let myself think that way again.

(Gritting my teeth) Congratulations, Josh and Liam. I wish you the best with these roles and look forward to seeing this, er, interesting dynamic play out on screen. I am putting my faith in you boys to do justice to these awesome characters. Please don’t let me down. Seriously, if you let me down, I will kill you.

Breathe, Angie. Breathe.

Well, at least it has been confirmed that “The Hunger Games” is filming in North Carolina (my neighbor state). Can anyone say road trip? (And that bit about killing anyone … ha ha ha, I was joking. I wouldn’t take a road trip to kill anyone. Please.)

Why I haven't written off the Superman reboot film quite yet

We just learned who will play Lois Lane in the "Superman" reboot film, and rumors of filming in Chicago beginning in May are flying around faster than a speeding bullet. Pre-production on the Superman film is heating up, and most fans are happy. After all, it only took decades for us to finally get a new Superman film off the ground the last time around.

When I heard Warner Bros. was going ahead with a new film for 2012, I was overjoyed. Then came the news that Zack Snyder would direct. OK, my enthusiasm waned somewhat. Not the biggest Zack Snyder fan here. But I'll give anyone a chance to prove himself. Finally, we got our new Superman, Henry Cavill, and I was on the fence again. I would have much preferred Brandon Routh retain the role, but I like Cavill, and again, I'm willing to give him a chance. Then came word of casting Diane Lane and Kevin Costner as Martha and Jonathan Kent. Odd choices, but OK. I admit, my enthusiasm for this movie has taken a nosedive pretty much every week news comes out about it. For a Superman fan who LOVES anything Superman, that's really saying something. After all, it's the character I love more than the actors who have portrayed him.

My biggest bone of contention has been with Zack Snyder's comments about his version of the film. He seems to be on the "let's make Superman dark" bandwagon from the beginning. Maybe I'm dead wrong, but I think you can pretty much tell each time he opens his mouth about this character that he isn't really all that familiar with the canon, or with the character of Superman himself. That really irks me.

I reluctantly dragged myself to the theater this weekend to see Snyder's newest film, "Sucker Punch," because I'm curious about his style of filmmaking now. It wasn't that I didn't want to see the movie -- hey, I'm all about girl empowerment stories -- but I feared I would absolutely hate it and, therefore, collapse in cardiac arrest over thoughts of what Snyder plans to do with Superman.

"Sucker Punch" wasn't a bad movie. It wasn't great, but I've seen worse. It actually reconfirmed that I should give Snyder a chance to have a go at Superman, especially after his comments at the premiere.

"Superman will be a documentary compared to this," Snyder told The Hollywood Reporter, comparing it to "Sucker Punch."

Well, OK then. That's somewhat reassuring.

The truth is, I am still holding out hope for this Superman film. Call me an eternal optimist (or a sucker). I'll wait with baited breath until the first trailer premieres, and I might change my tune then. Until then, though, I'm encouraged by the fact I like Henry Cavill and Amy Adams, and am hoping I will like them in the roles I have loved so much when played by other great actors.

The true test will be the script. Without a good story, all of the best acting in the world won't save this movie. But my fingers are still crossed.

It's official! Amy Adams is the new Lois Lane

It seems Warner Brothers is making a habit of announcing major casting for the "Superman" film on Sunday. The Hollywood Reporter announced earlier that Academy Award nominee Amy Adams has been cast as Lois Lane in the upcoming reboot film.

Finally!

A statement from Zack Snyder, director, reads like this:

"There was a big, giant search for Lois," Snyder told the LA Times. "For us it was a big thing and obviously a really important role. We did a lot of auditioning but we had this meeting with Amy Adams and after that I just felt she was perfect for it."

Now, I was pretty shocked by this selection since Amy Adams is just about the only actress I haven't heard connected with the role since casting began. While I love, love, love Amy Adams, I just don't know how I feel about this. I mean, will she dye her hair? Lois is dark-haired, not red headed. And I worry that Amy just doesn't have enough spunk to play Lois Lane. I wish her the best, though. She has made a habit of surprising me with her role choices, and nailing them.

Still, I have to admit, there were many other actresses I was rooting for; Olivia Wilde, for example, has become my top choice in recent weeks. I have never torn my hair out over casting for a film like I have with this one, folks. Zack Snyder, I hope you know what you're doing, but quite frankly, I am skeptical.

Finally, "The Hunger Games" officially casts Katniss! (and all the news surrounding it)

Apparently while I was on vacation, there was a lot of casting news released! The one that I'm most invested in, of course, is Jennifer Lawrence winning the lead role of Katniss Everdeen in the "The Hunger Games."

At first, I wasn't thrilled. JL is too old. She's too tall. She's blonde, for crying out loud. And, she's too -- dare I say it? -- fat (Katniss is literally starving in most of these books, so I'm truly not being mean here). Then again, I saw "Winter's Bone" and JL can definitely act, which is incredibly reassuring. I can get over physical differences if it means getting someone with talent. And then I read interviews with JL, director Gary Ross and the book's author, Suzanne Collins, and now I'm behind JL 100 percent!

Director Gary Ross spoke exclusively with Entertainment Weekly about why 20-year-old Lawrence is the right actress, at the right age, to bring Katniss to life on the big screen.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: There’s already quite a bit of hand-wringing that, no matter how good an actress Lawrence is, at 20 she’s simply too old for the role.

Gary Ross: First of all, I talked to Suzanne extensively about this. Suzanne saw every single audition. And not only did Suzanne not have an issue with Jen’s age, she felt you need someone of a certain maturity and power to be Katniss. This is a girl who needs to incite a revolution. We can’t have an insubstantial person play her, and we can’t have someone who’s too young to play this. Suzanne was incredibly adamant about this. Far from being too old, she was very concerned that we would cast someone who was too young. In Suzanne’s mind, and in mine, Katniss is not a young girl. It’s important for her to be a young woman. She’s a maternal figure in her family. She’s had to take care of Prim, and in many ways her mother, since her father’s death. She’s had to grow up pretty quickly.

Suzanne Collins, who created Katniss, told MTV.com this:

"Jennifer's just an incredible actress," Collins said. "So powerful, vulnerable, beautiful, unforgiving and brave. I never thought we'd find somebody this perfect for the role. And I can't wait for everyone to see her play it."

Jennifer Lawrence finally released her own statement to the fans, which was awesome, and gave an interview to EW, too. After reading it, I truly heart this girl. She's gonna kick butt as Katniss! Here's what she said to the fans:

“I couldn’t be happier about being a part of Hunger Games and to play Katniss. I have a huge responsibility to the fans of this incredible book and I don’t take it lightly. I will give everything I have to these movies and to this role to make it worthy of Suzanne Collin’s masterpiece.”

Plus, she loves Peeta as much as I do.

EW: What character besides Katniss are you fondest of, and what is it about them you love?

JL: Peeta. He’s good and nice in a world that’s harsh and unkind.

Now, the search is on to cast Peeta and Gale. I expect we'll be hearing news soon. The movie starts filming in a couple of months! Yay!

Photo Credit: Fanmade artwork found on the fansite The Hob. Check it out. It's my favorite Hunger Games site out there.

Kevin Costner cast as Jonathon Kent in new "Superman" film

First we learned Diane Lane would play Martha Kent, and now we know Kevin Costner will play Clark Kent's adoptive father, Jonathan Kent, according to a Warner Bros press release.

Still, no Lois Lane announcement? Obviously, with both Martha and Jonathon having roles in the new movie, we can deduce that the film will be taking a look at Clark's younger years, which could mean no Lois at all (remember "Smallville," the show that began with Clark's first girlfiend, Lana Lang, overload?). I'm hoping the script jumps into Metropolis and has plenty of Lois Lane, but I guess we will have to see.

First Look at the New "Wonder Woman"

NBC and Warner Bros. Television finally released the first photo of Adrianne Palicki as Wonder Woman for the David E. Kelley-produced television remake.

My first thoughts? It looks as though they have done a hybrid costume of the new costume in the comics (long, leather pants and less skin) and the classic costume most people recognize. I honestly doubt anyone outside of the comic book fandom will complain about the costume. I think I like it. It is kind of shiny, which I could do without, but I look it, and I know it's Wonder Woman. Adrianne Palicki looks great. Glad she dyed her hair. I was really dreading a wig.

What do you think? Love it or hate it?