Noelene Clark

“Doctor Who” star Jenna-Louise Coleman has been warned. She knows that two months from now, fans at Comic-Con International in San Diego will line up in the thousands, camping overnight outside the city’s convention center to secure seats for the annual panel devoted to the BBC TV sensation. Many will wield sonic screwdrivers or wear Dalek costumes, and more than a few will come dressed as Coleman’s character, Clara. But back in March, the hype hadn’t caught up with her. “Everyone wants to know, ‘Has your life changed since joining the show?’” Coleman said over a lunch of baby beets and tangerine at downtown Los Angeles’ Lazy Ox Canteen. “And I’m like, ‘No, not really.’ I just go to Cardiff, and I do mad things and experience mad stuff on set, and then I come back to my London life, […]

A new ad from Audi pits classic Spock against new Spock, capitalizing on the hype surrounding “Star Trek Into Darkness,” which opens in theaters May 16. The car commercial features Leonard Nimoy, who played the pointy-eared Vulcan for two decades in the original series as well as in half a dozen movies (not including his 2009 cameo in J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek”), and newcomer Zachary Quinto, who took the reins in the reboot. In the ad (watch it above), Nimoy schools Quinto on a game of chess, and Quinto challenges the victor to a round of golf and a race to the country club. “Whoever gets to the club last buys lunch,” Quinto says. “Stand by to have your wallet emptied by a tractor beam,” Nimoy retorts. During the car ride, Nimoy treats fans of “The Lord of the Rings” […]

“Fringe” star John Noble left his eccentric character Walter Bishop behind at the show’s finale, but he’s returning to the mad-scientist realm for DC’s latest animated feature film, “Superman: Unbound.” Noble lends his voice to Brainiac, a brilliant alien-machine hybrid with sinister intentions and one of the Man of Steel’s most powerful arch-villains. The film, which is being released for home video Tuesday, is based on the “Superman: Brainiac” story in the 2008 comic by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. In addition to Noble, the film features the voice talents of “White Collar” star Matt Bomer as Superman and “Castle” actresses Stana Katic and Molly Quinn as Lois Lane and Supergirl, respectively. Watch an exclusive clip from the movie in the video below. Though he’s most recently known for his role on J.J. Abrams’ long-running sci-fi series “Fringe,” the Australian-born Noble […]

“Iron Man 3″ pits genius billionaire Tony Stark, played with panache by Robert Downey Jr., against a terrorist plot that threatens to bring the most powerful people in the world to their knees. But that threat is not quite what it seems. Reader beware: Spoilers lie ahead. Ben Kingsley’s Mandarin may be the face on the posters and the focus of the movie trailers, but lurking in the background is Aldrich Killian, another visionary genius like Stark, but one whose circumstances led him down darker paths. Killian, played by Emmy-winning actor Guy Pearce, is the founder of the private brain trust AIM, which helped develop the Extremis virus. Extremis imparts superhuman strength and regenerative powers to its subjects, and Killian takes full advantage of the effects. In many ways, Killian is a foil for Stark, using his mind (and the […]

“Star Wars” fans have dubbed May 4 as “‘Star Wars’ Day” (as in “May the fourth be with you…”), and Hero Complex is celebrating with a look to the future of pop culture’s favorite space saga. Disney announced last month it will release a new “Star Wars” film every year beginning in 2015 with “Episode VII,” the first installment in a planned trilogy. In between those movies, Disney is releasing two standalone “Star Wars” films not part of the overall saga, penned by Simon Kinberg and “The Empire Strikes Back” scribe Lawrence Kasdan. “I’m trying to start fresh,” Kasdan told Hero Complex in February. “There are certain pleasures that we think the saga can bring to people that they’ve been missing, and we’re hoping to bring them that, and at the same time, have them feel that it’s all new.” […]

The Hollywood hype machine is kicking into gear for “Ender’s Game,” the upcoming film adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s bestselling sci-fi novel. The first “Ender’s Game” trailer premieres Tuesday at 1 p.m. PDT, but a teaser offers a brief glimpse to whet fans’ appetites. Asa Butterfield, who plays protagonist Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, and Harrison Ford, who plays Col. Hyrum Graff, introduce the footage in the YouTube teaser released Friday. What follows is about 10 seconds of footage, including what appears to be a scene from the battle room, where young Battle School pupils train for war against an alien threat. “You’ll be the finest commander we’ve ever trained,” Graff tells Ender in the footage. Also featured is “Iron Man 3″ star Ben Kingsley as war hero Mazer Rackham, whose face is covered in tattoos — a departure from the book. […]

“Iron Man 3″ brings several Marvel characters to the big screen for the first time, among them Dr. Maya Hansen, a brilliant biologist whose scientific research has yielded Extremis. We won’t spoil the details of Extremis here, but suffice it to say that it’s no small innovation. Playing Dr. Hansen in “Iron Man 3″ — due out May 3 — is Rebecca Hall, an English actress whose work onstage and in independent films won her acclaim before her performance in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” earned her a Golden Globe nod and her role in Ben Affleck’s “The Town” made her a more common name this side of the Atlantic. Hall joins a star-studded cast for “Iron Man 3,” not least of which is leading man Robert Downey Jr. as genius billionaire Tony Stark, in addition to Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau […]

The final season of the fantasy adventure series “Merlin” resumes on Syfy Friday evening after several weeks hiatus and the new episode, “With All My Heart,” focuses on Queen Guinevere. “Merlin” has been massively popular in the U.K., where it rivaled “Doctor Who” in ratings, wrapping up last Christmas with a tragic, two-part season finale. In the U.S., the fifth and final season is airing on Syfy. In the show, Gwen, played by Angel Coulby, is in many ways the moral compass of Camelot, influencing the decisions of her husband King Arthur Pendragon (Bradley James) and the secret sorcerer Merlin (Colin Morgan). She began as a maidservant to Morgana, now an evil sorceress, and now rules Camelot alongside Arthur. Hero Complex caught up with Coulby to talk about Gwen’s journey and the success of “Merlin.” Warning: Spoilers lie ahead. HC: […]

Col. James “Rhodey” Rhodes has been a minor, though important, character in the “Iron Man” films, but in “Iron Man 3,” he finally gets to step into the spotlight, thanks to a star-spangled paint job, courtesy of the president. Portrayed by Golden Globe-winning actor Don Cheadle, Rhodey is one of Tony Stark’s few trusted friends and the liaison between Stark Industries and the U.S. Air Force. Cheadle took over the role from Terrence Howard, who introduced Rhodey to the big screen in 2008′s “Iron Man.” In “Iron Man 2,” Rhodey got his own suit, dubbed War Machine, and fought alongside Tony Stark. In “Iron Man 3,” the president orders a red, white and blue redesign for the War Machine armor and recruits Rhodes to take out the villainous Mandarin. In his new Iron Patriot getup, Rhodey fights the terrorist threat […]

Tony Stark actor Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle and more Marvel actors are scheduled to walk the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of “Iron Man 3″ Wednesday evening. Hero Complex readers can watch the premiere live, streamed from Disney’s El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood at 6 p.m. PDT, in the video below. The film, which opens in theaters May 3, pits Downey’s genius billionaire superhero against the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) — one of the archvillains in the Iron Man comic books — and introduces several comic characters to the big screen for the first time, among them brilliant biologist Dr. Maya Hansen (played by Rebecca Hall) and Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), the founder of the brain-trust organization AIM. “Iron Man 3″ is directed by Shane Black (“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”), who takes the reins from “Iron Man” […]