While this week ended on a somber note with the deaths of both Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, there were a few positive notes in this week’s headlines.

But that doesn’t mean everything was rosy on the comic book movie front, though.

- In our top story of the week, Christian Bale expressed some doubt about the likelihood of seeing another Batman movie, depressing legions of Bat-fans everywhere.

- Even though other movie media outlets keep proclaiming that there’s no interest in another “Unbreakable” movie, M. Night Shyamalan’s comments regarding his interest in a sequel generated a lot of interest from readers, too — to the tune of our second most popular story of the week!

- Bad news, guys — Megan Fox will only have a cameo in “Jonah Hex.” However, she will still be wearing that outfit.

… But wait, there’s more! Read more…

FROM MOVIES BLOG: Over the years, the Transformers have occasionally crossed over with other fun franchises. There have been Transformers/”Star Wars” toys. The Autobots teamed up with Marvel’s New Avengers team. There have been several comics in which the Transformers worked against or alongside the G.I. Joe team. In one of the early comic issues, the Autobot called Cliffjumper even teamed up with the amazing Spider-Man.

In the movie world, plenty have enjoyed similar team-ups. Look at “Freddy Vs. Jason” or “Aliens Vs. Predator.” With “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” freshly released in theaters, why not push the envelope a bit further? Here’s a list of some crossovers that I think would be a lot fun to watch, each supplied with my own idea of how the story could bring the characters together. Enjoy!

Check out the full list of “Transformers Crossovers We’d Like To See” over at MoviesBlog.MTV.com.

FROM MOVIES BLOG: It’s the bold news that all of Hollywood is still buzzing about, as well as weighing its implications: 10 movies will be nominated for Best Picture at the next Oscars, double the usual amount. But when I caught up with Zack Snyder this week, he had yet to hear the news.

“10?” marveled the “Watchmen” and “300” director, who had been tied up all day doing interviews for those films’ upcoming Blu-Ray releases. “No way!”

Continue reading about Zack Snyder’s thoughts on the new Oscar “Best Picture” pool over at MoviesBlog.MTV.com.

While there wasn’t a lot to highlight in this week’s Swag Report, every one of the books in this week’s post is something I’m extremely excited about checking out — but for very different reasons.

Read on for some thoughts about each book. Read more…

It’s official, Spider-Man fans: Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming will both be joining the cast of “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark,” the upcoming Broadway musical directed by Julie Taymor and featuring music by U2’s Bono and The Edge.

“Evan is unique: she is a young actress with incredible depth for both serious and comic drama in films and theater, and on top of that, she has an extraordinary lyrical voice,” announced Taymor in a press release issued today. “We are thrilled to have her as our Mary Jane.” Read more…

Last year, Hugh Jackman announced that he had created a series called “Nowhere Man” for Virgin Comics. In what sounded like a logical investment in the comet tails of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” the story about a future world without privacy was being primed to become at least one movie, and possibly a video game.

When Virgin Comics disbanded, however, half of the property’s ownership fell into uncertainty, and even the comic’s scribe, “Resurrection” writer and “Green Lantern” co-writer Marc Guggenheim, doesn’t know if “Nowhere Man” has a clear destination for the time being. Read more…

FROM MOVIES BLOG: It’s one of our most highly anticipated movies, and now we’ve got another first look at the gloomy animated flick “9.”

Following nine ragdolls in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, we’ve already given you an exclusive two minute scene from the film. Now we’re back with a brand new poster which you can see below. “9” stars Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau and Christopher Plummer, and hits theaters September 9.

Check out the new poster for “9″ over at MoviesBlog.MTV.com.

Yesterday evening I offered a brief overview of Michael Jackson’s relationship with the world of comic books in the wake of the pop icon’s death. Along with his status as a notable collector and fan of comics, Jackson nearly became a publisher a decade ago when he met with comics legend Stan Lee and his newly formed company Stan Lee Media to discuss a potential purchase of Marvel Comics.

Over at The Comics Reporter, Tom Spurgeon directs readers attention to a set of home videos created during meetings between Jackson and Lee, as well as a video that follows Jackson and Lee on a tour of the headquarters for Stan Lee Media. Read more…

A movie based on Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” stories has long been a topic of discussion among fans — and even moreso lately, given the success of Gaiman’s recent film projects like “Coraline,” “Beowulf” and 2005’s “Mirrormask.”

While the likelihood of “Sandman” being turned into a film is largely dependent on whether rights-holder DC Comics wants it made into a film, there’s been no shortage of fans arguing that both “Sandman” and some of its various spin-off titles (most notably, “Death“) deserve the big-screen treatment. But who could get behind the camera to bring “Sandman” to (figurative) life? The popular author recently offered his own answer to that very question. Read more…

According to late-breaking reports, pop icon Michael Jackson died today after suffering cardiac arrest. While various outlets have already posted remembrances of the star’s prominent place in the worlds of music, movies and so many other elements of pop culture, it’s worth noting that Jackson was also known to have a fondess for comic books that rivaled even the most obsessive fanboy.

From trips to the comic shop to a collection of some of the most impressive comics-related memorabilia around, Jackson made no secret of his affinity for comics — going so far as to almost buy Marvel Comics in the late 1990s. Read more…