Frank Miller‘s The Dark Knight Returns isn’t just a must-read for Batman fans or comic-book fans.  It’s a must-read for everyone who wants to understand the current state of superhero books and movies.  While its influence has been far-reaching, it wasn’t directly adapted until Warner Premiere took the title and turned it into a two-part animated feature.  The first part was released earlier this year, and now The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 is due out in 2013.  New York Comic-Con 2012 hosted a panel for the film, and Warner Home Video’s Gary Miereanu, voice casting director Andrea Romano, and executive producer Bruce Timm were on hand to show off some clips, talk about the voice cast, what will and won’t get your animated film an R-rating, a surprising cameo, and much more including other films Warner Home Video has on tap for 2013.

Hit the jump for the recap, and click here for all of our 2012 New York Comic-Con coverage.

Warner Premiere has released the trailer for the upcoming animated film, The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2.  Based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller, the story continues with Superman (Mark Valley) being tasked to take down an elderly but still resourceful Batman.  This trailer shows off their fight along with Michael Emerson‘s take on the Joker.  Of course, no one beats Mark Hamill, but this Emerson isn’t bad.  He’s certainly far better than John DiMaggio‘s take on The Joker from Batman: Under the Red Hood.  Our own Gil Kellerman liked The Dark Knight Rises, Part 1, so Part 2 should be a solid finish to the adaptation.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 hits Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Download in 2013.

Person of Interest is one of the biggest hits to premiere last year.  The show centers the partnership between John Reese (Jim Caviezel), an ex-CIA operative, and the mysterious, millionaire computer engineer Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) who develops a machine that can predict crimes.  After a cliffhanger season finale, the second season will premiere September 27^th on CBS.  We sat down with series creator/producer/writer Jonathan Nolan, series writer Greg Plageman and cast members Caviezel, Emerson, Taraji P. Henson, and Kevin Chapman to discuss where the new season picks up, the challenges of working on TV, and living in a society where all your information is public.  Hit the jump for highlights from the interviews and our full interview with Jonathan Nolan.

Woody Allen looks to have finalized the cast for his next film, and a few exciting additions have been announced.  We already knew that Sally Hawkins and Cate Blanchett would be leading a cast that also includes Alec Baldwin, Michael Emerson and Bobby Cannavale, and now Variety reports that Louis C.K., Peter Sarsgaard and Andrew Dice Clay will round out the cast.  Bradley Cooper was mentioned as a possible addition at one point, but he may have run into some scheduling issues.  Max Casella and Alden Ehrenreich are also listed in the announced cast.

Though story details are under wraps, Louis C.K.’s casting is interesting for a number of reasons.  First off, C.K. has great comedic timing as well as dramatic talent so he’s a welcomed addition, but he’s also been hailed as a bit of a successor to Allen with his New York-centric, critically hailed series Louie.  I’m beyond eager to see how he fits into Allen’s next film, and the writer-director has assembled an unsurprisingly impressive ensemble for his next effort.  The untitled film will shoot this summer in San Francisco and New York City.

Some quick casting updates for you today.  Here they are at a glance:

• Michael Emerson (Lost) has joined the cast of Woody Allen’s next film, an untitled picture that he plans to shoot in the US.
• Big Bang Theory co-star Melissa Rauch will join the romantic dramedy, You Are Here, the directorial debut of Mad Men creator, Matt Weiner.
• Ben Schwartz (House of Lies) joins Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake in the gambling drama, Runner,Runner.

Hit the jump for more info on each of these projects and an update on Taylor Kitsch’s status on a possible role as Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire.

Since CBS has already given a full season order to their new comedy 2 Broke Girls, it’s time to bring in some new drama for a whole season as the network announced today that both Person of Interest, from executive producer J.J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan, and the new crime drama Unforgettable have both been given full season orders. While the former series starring Jim Caviezel (Passion of the Christ) and Michael Emerson (Lost) has caught my interest as a unique, crime procedural with the potential for an interesting over-arcing story, the latter isn’t currently on my radar (though it’s apparently the #1 new drama with an average of 14 million viewers). Usually CBS doesn’t bring much to the table each season, but I’m at least pleased with this new offering from Bad Robot. Hit the jump for a brief press release announcing the full season orders.

I’ll come right out and say it: save for How I Met Your Mother, CBS’ television slate rarely offers anything that catches my attention. As a result, I was completely caught off guard by how much I enjoyed the pilot for its upcoming drama Person of Interest. Starring Jim Caviezel, Michael Emerson (Lost), and Taraji P. Henson, the series follows John Reese (Caviezel), an expertly trained killer who teams up with a scientist (Emerson) who has created an algorithm that is capable of predicting crimes before they occur. While the series pilot leaves more questions than answers (check out Bill’s review and panel recap by clicking here), it is also features solid writing, convincing performances, and some top-notch action sequences. In short, I’m looking forward to checking out more when the series debuts this fall.

All of this in mind, during the series’ press day at Comic-Con, I had the opportunity to discuss the show with series creator/executive producer/writer Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight) as well as the aforementioned cast of Caviezel, Emerson, and Henson. During the interview, each cast member talked about their respective character while Nolan touched on his writing approach and the strangeness of modern surveillance techniques. Hit the jump to check out what they had to say.

A first impression can go a long way, which is why I think people will truly be impressed by CBS’s Person of Interest. Last night I attended the pilot screening and panel in Room 6BCF and the crowd was electric. Produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot (Lost), the series is based off of Jonah Nolan (The Dark Knight) and Abrams’ writings that focuses on paranoia, thrills, and drama. Jim Caviezel (Passion of the Christ), Michael Emerson (Lost), and Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) star. The show seemed to get a huge response and was followed by the accustomed too-short Q&A session. Hit the jump for my brief review of the pilot along with a recap of the panel.

Continuing our romp through upfronts this week, CBS has just unveiled their 2011-2012 schedule complete with their line-up of new series, and confirmed renewal of several of their running series. First up, series returning for another series will be The Big Bang Theory, Blue Bloods, Criminal Minds, CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, The Good Wife, Hawaii Five-0, How I Met Your Mothers, The Mentalist, Mike & Molly, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, Rules of Engagement and Two and a Half Men (now with Ashton Kutcher). Some of these shows will be shuffled from their regular times, the most notable being The Good Wife moving to Sunday with Rules of Engagement taking a a timeslot on Saturday (which is just plain weird). You can see the full new schedule after the jump.

That means that Chaos, the spin-off Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, The Defenders, Mad Love, Medium and $#*! My Dad Says will not be returning for another season. Surely fans of those series will be disappointed, but room must be made for the new series. Speaking of which, in addition to confirmation of their pick-up of J.J. Abrams’ new series Person of Interest (which I can’t wait to see), the network also snagged Unforgettable starring Poppy Montgomery, A Gifted Man starring Patrick Wilson, 2 Broke Girls starring Kat Dennings, and How to Be a Gentleman starring Kevin Dillon. Synopses and the first images from these new series can be found after the jump.

Though we’d heard J.J. Abrams was looking to reunite Lost stars Michael Emerson and Terry O’Quinn with Odd Jobs, the series has apparently been pushed back until the next development season in 2012. However, it looks like Emerson will still be working with Abrams this season as Deadline reports the actor will lead Bad Robot’s drama Person of Interest which has been set up at CBS. The proposed series is said to follow an ex-CIA agent, presumed dead, who teams up with a mysterious billionaire (Emerson) to prevent violent crimes in New York City. David Semel (Heroes) will direct the pilot which we’ll hopefully be seeing later this year.

For news on other TV casting with James Van Der Beek and Maria Bello, hit the jump.

Wonder Woman will not die.  David E. Kelly is a bizarre choice to run the show, and the networks seemed to realize this when they passed on Wonder Woman in unison.  But where there’s a will (and a deeply troubled network), there’s a way: NBC has picked up Kelley’s Wonder Woman reboot.  I hope to see a live-action Wonder Woman in my lifetime, but not like this.  Not like this at all.

This report comes among a flurry of pilot season news involving such talent as Steven Spielberg, Conan O’Brien, Ethan Hawke, Rob Thomas, Tim Kring, and more.  Hit the jump for a recap.

Just a few hours ago I was able to talk to Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse on the red carpet at the 2010 Scream Awards in Hollywood.  If I’d known I was going to speak to the creators of Lost tonight, I would have prepared a number of questions.  However, it was only a moment before they walked up to me that I realized I’d actually get time with them. Saying that, I still worked in a number of things I think you’ll like:

• Was the Lost Complete Series Blu-ray box set the final release of Lost or do they have more material that could make it into another box set
• Would they be willing to work on the new Michael Emerson/Terry O’Quinn TV project
• Is it too soon to get them working together on another TV show
• I also asked Lindelof what is it like to have so many people talking about his Alien prequel script and how is Star Trek 2 coming along

Hit the jump for the interview.  It’s time indexed so you can watch the parts that interest you:

We’ve already mentioned these projects each independently, but since both of these new J.J. Abrams projects just found their network homes, we figured we’d point it out. Deadline reports Alcatraz, the second mysterious island drama from J.J. Abrams and Elizabeth Sarnoff, was picked up for a pilot from Fox. Still no plot details have been uncovered but Sarnoff wrote the script (with previous versions by writers Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt) and will serve as showrunner on the series in addition to sharing executive producing duties with Abrams.

Meanwhile, Vulture reports Abrams other highly anticipated series with Lost stars Terry O’Quinn and Michael Emerson has landed at NBC. Though it was previously referred to as Odd Jobs, the series remains untitled but it sounds like it will see Emerson and O’Quinn in a comedic drama as former black-ops agents. Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec (Alias) are writing and also executive producers alongside Abrams. Combine these two shows with Bad Robot’s collaboration with Jonathan Nolan for Person of Interest as CBS, and the only network that needs a fancy new show from Abrams is ABC. But they did have Lost for six years, so I guess it’s just time to spread the wealth.

Back in August we heard that Lost stars Michael Emerson  and Terry O’Quinn were shopping around some sort of new series with both of them attached. At the time no details were revealed and the project didn’t seem like it was a sure thing, but Emerson hoped it would be a bit lighter than Lost with somewhat of a focus on age and frailty. Well the potential series has just been given a huge push into becoming a reality as Vulture reports J.J. Abrams, along with Alias collaborators Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec, has been pitching a comedic drama that would see the two actors as former black-ops agents. Sold!

Details are sparse but apparently the working title for the series is currently titled Odd Jobs and will no doubt have a sense of humor therein. This is just one of several new TV projects being shopped around town with Bad Robot at the wheel. Abrams just had a mysterious Alcatraz project with Lost writer and executive producer Elizabeth Sarnoff picked up at Fox as well as another secretive project with The Dark Knight writer Jonathan Nolan which has since been revealed to be called Person of Interest that just got picked up at CBS. Stay tuned as all these projects from Bad Robot continue to develop.

Whether you loved or hated the finale, everyone can agree that Lost is over (even if that 12-minute epilogue is on the way), but certain members of the cast need to get back to work soon. Fortunately, two of the highest profile cast members from the series are currently shopping around ideas for a new TV show. Michael Emerson (who played Benjamin Linus) told The Associated Press (via Yahoo! News) that he and Terry O’Quinn (who played John Locke) are both taking ideas around town but are looking for something a bit lighter than Lost. Specifically, Emerson mentioned “age and frailty” being an element they’re looking to have in the series. More after the jump.