Superhero Bits: The Dark Knight Rises, Green Lantern, Captain America, Man Of Steel, Spider-Man Live

[No photo]

Where was Russell Crowe spotted recently? What does Chris Evans think would be a good alternate title to Captain America: The First Avenger? Want to see video of an old-school Spider-Man musical? What does the rebuilt Wayne Manor look like in The Dark Knight Rises? And what might Deadpool think of Green Lantern's box office failure? Find the answers to these questions and more in today's Superhero Bits.

On Location Vacations reports that Russell Crowe has been spotted in Illinois. Must mean that Zack Snyder's Man of Steel is about to start shooting.

[No photo]

The Dark Knight Rises continues filming and we've now got our first look at Wayne Manor, 'rebuilt' after the Batman Begins fire. Head over to Batman-News for even more pics including one of the new features on the grounds of the Manor.Chris Evans told Comic Book Resources that a better title for Captain America: The First Avenger could have been "Captain Good" because it's "not a flag waving movie."

I'm not trying to get too lost in the American side of it. This isn't a flag waving movie. It is red, white and blue, but it just so happens that the character was created in America during war time, when there was a common enemy, even though it is Captain America. I've said before in interviews, it feels more like he should just be called Captain Good. [Laughs] You know, he was created at a time when there was this undeniable evil and this guy was kind of created to fight that evil. I think that everyone could agree that Nazis were bad and he, Cap, just so happens to wear the red, white and blue.

Ryan Reynolds is probably pretty conflicted when it comes to being in both characters in the Marvel and DC universe. Here, in this toy video by ItsJustSomeRandomGuy, it gets discussed. That's part one.

The effects crew on Captain America: The First Avenger spoke to Superhero Hype about bringing the Red Skull to life. Here's a small sample:

It took a while to get to what we really needed. I think it was a question of it being a, not an ugly kind of look. It had to be kind of slick and clean, but also menacing. It had to have all these different feels to it, but it didn't need to look gory in a way. It has a kind of clean finish to it, and that in itself, to get together and make sure all the lines were sweet and smooth, without all the wrinkles and too much visceral attention to muscles and veins... it's more difficult to do a cleaner, smoother look.

We've all heard of Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark, but Topless Robot reminds us that Universal Studios Hollywood previously put on Spider-Man Rocks! That's Part One above, they also have Part Two.

Kevin Feige, on the set of Captain America: The First Avenger last year, spoke about the tone, supporting characters and placing Captain America in the larger Marvel universe:

This is where it all starts. There are a number of things that were reconnected over the years, like Howard Stark's participation around that same program that they did in the books, decades later, so it was almost laid out for us. We've tied in Skull's MacGuffin, and given it a cosmic, so to speak, origin, that you don't necessarily learn in this film, but again most of that is right out of the books. In that sizzle piece we talk about how the movies connect, not that we'll do that in the marketing at all, of the movies, but to retailers, people who think "Iron Man sold on my toy shelves last year, this is connected to that, this'll sell too. Buy the toys." I think all the movies will stand on their own.

Due to the amount of graphics and images included in Superhero Bits, we have to split this post over TWO pages. Click the link above to continue to the second page of Superhero Bits.

The great thing about a new superhero movie being in theaters is that it gives various websites the opportunity to dig into their geek vault and bring out old comic book information. Geeks of Doom do it with Green Lantern, discussing the characters, myth and more. A really fun read.

Green Lantern's second week at the box office was abysmal. Deadline has got the details.Geeks of Doom have also listed the four essential Green Lantern trades a fan must read: Two are Secret Origin and Rebirth. Head there to see the rest.Comic Book Movie talked to Captain America: The First Avenger director Joe Johnston about the heart of the film.

When Green Lantern premiered in Hollywood a few weeks back, who knew that Abin Sur showed up in a spaceship? The Examiner has a great photo gallery.

Here's part two of the ItsJustSomeRandomGuy Green Lantern/Deadpool video.