Comic, Comic, Comic, Comic, Comic, Chameleon.

As most of y’all likely already know, this past weekend was Comic-Con 2006 in San Diego, which means an exceedingly large amount of news in the fanboy department. To wit:

Regarding perhaps the most anticipated comic-to-film property nearing post-production, Sam Raimi’s Spiderman 3, the attending panel offered a number of new shots of the main characters, including an iconic poster of Thomas Haden Church as the Sandman and — at right — That 70s Show‘s Topher Grace, a.k.a. Venom, having a painful-looking first run-in with the black suit/symbiote.

Also in Marvel’s wheelhouse, Jon Favreau premiered the teaser poster for his take on Iron Man, and confirmed the villain of his film, the Mandarin.

In other Marvel news, Louis Leterrier’s Incredible Hulk has picked a villain, too, that being the Abomination.

On the DC side, Bryan Singer is looking to revisit Superman in 2009, even though the jury’s still out on Superman Returns.

The inimitable Peter Jackson, via remote (and still not making The Hobbit) showed off a scene from his extended DVD version of King Kong (my love of the extended LotR versions notwithstanding, count me among those who thought Kong needed tightening more than anything else.)

Not Comic-Con news, per se, but worth mentioning here: Former Jedi Samuel Jackson and Hayden Christensen may reunite for the film version of Steven Gould’s Jumper, a surprisingly solid little take on the hoary old teleportation meme, to be directed by Doug Liman of Swingers and The Bourne Identity.

J.J. Abrams of Lost, Alias, and M:I:III brought along a teaser poster for his Trek reboot, which, word has it, puts young Kirk (Matt Damon?) and Spock back at Starfleet Academy.

In other sci-fi television news, J. Michael Straczynski announced he’ll be revisiting the world of Babylon 5, albeit in straight-to-video spinoffs.

Also regarding sci-fi on the telly, Battlestar Galactica‘s Ron Moore showed up to kick some more k-nowledge about BSG Season 3, due in October (which complement the recent spoilers here.)

And lots of other news, including Kurt Russell in Quentin Tarantino’s half of Grindhouse, a look at Zack Snyder’s 300, talk of the Star Wars spinoffs, teaser posters for Michael Bay’s Transformers, and descriptions of clips from Neil Gaiman/Matthew Vaughn’s Stardust. Yep, Comic-Con seems like good fun…perhaps I’ll make it out someday.

He is Legend.

“When you thought it had to be over, that your nerves couldn’t stand any more, that was when Matheson turned on the afterburners. He wouldn’t quit. He was relentless. The baroque intonations of Lovecraft, the perfervid prose of the pulps, the sexual innuendoes, were all absent. You were faced with so much pure drive that only rereadings showed Matheson’s wit, cleverness, and control.” By way of Ed Rants, Stephen King pays tribute to Richard Matheson’s I am Legend, soon to be a Will Smith/Johnny Depp movie near you.

Alpha Lyra, Omega Depp.

In fanboy casting news, Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass is a go at New Line under director Chris Weitz, with newcomer Dakota Blue Richards cast in the role of Lyra. Also, Johnny Depp joins Will Smith in I am Legend (a.k.a. The Omega Man, for those who haven’t read the Matheson novella), likely as Smith’s neighbor, and head of the vampires. That casting should significantly increase the fun factor.

Coming Back to Lyra.

The needle of the Golden Compass takes another spin…Anand Tucker is out and Chris Weitz is back in as director of His Dark Materials.

Last Man Standing.

The long-stalled film version of Richard Matheson’s I am Legend (or third version, if you want to count Last Man on Earth and Charlton Heston’s The Omega Man) moves forward with Will Smith in the lead and Constantine‘s Francis Lawrence at the helm. Hmmm. Will Smith can be a good actor at times, but the fact that hackmeister Akiva Goldsman penned the script suggests to me that this’ll be a forgettable adaptation.

Aslan times 3.

Walden Media announces its film plans for the rest of the Narnia books: Apparently, they’re taking a page from PJ’s LotR and shooting Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair back to back, with the next installment (Caspian) due out Xmas 2008.

A Handful of Dust.

I’m a few days behind on this one: Layer Cake‘s Matthew Vaughn is writing, producing, and directing an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, which will star Charlie Cox, Sienna Miller, Claire Danes, Robert DeNiro, and Michelle Pfeiffer. I haven’t read Gaiman’s book, but all signs point to this being a very interesting project.

Jana’ata Says.

The Fountain may have run dry for him, but it seems Brad Pitt has procured the rights to another heady sci-fi epic, a film version of Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow. ” He’s definitely not who I pictured as Father Sandoz, but if it’s true that “Pitt has a longtime interest in the project” than I’ll be curious to see where he goes with it.

Scanner Horizon.

Almost a year after the teaser, AICN points the way to the new trailer for Richard Linklater’s version of Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly, with Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey, Jr., and Woody Harrelson.

Princes kept the view.

With The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe still raking it in, the next Narnia movie, Prince Caspian, moves forward. Apparently, all four Pevensies are on board and shooting will begin this autumn. “If we don’t make it now we’ll never be able to, because [the kids]’ll be too old.” (Via WebGoddess.)