Pretty much every actor who portrayed a popular character in director Peter Jackson‘s epic Lord of the Rings trilogy has been rumored to be coming back in one aspect or another for the two-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s earlier classic, The Hobbit.

Many of the characters who are said to be returning had absolutely nothing to do with Tolkien’s Hobbit, and were only introduced later on in Rings. Nevertheless, one must understand that in addition to making a strong adaptation of The Hobbit, Jackson also must try and secure the fanbase he had from LOTR“”including those who never read the books from which these movies are made.

And so, Jackson made one of the rumored names official today with the announcement that Orlando Bloom has signed on to reprise his role as the elven archery master, Legolas.

The Rite
Blu-ray | DVD | On Demand
Directed by Mikael Hafstrom
Starring Anthony Hopkins, Colin O’Donoghue, Alice Braga
Release Date: May 17, 2011

The ability to actually frighten has been celebrated in very few films over the last decade. There has been a succession of horror films that induce nausea and sickness rather than soul-tormenting images that plague the brain long after the nightmarish vision has vanished from the screen. To come in contact with true horror one needs to dismiss all films in the Saw franchise, along with films such as Hostel and Turistas. These types of movies construct their entire existence around disgusting images of decapitations, the tearing of human limbs, and the devouring of human body parts. All of this is perverse, lacking any ingenuity that is necessary when trying to craft a potent and adequately effective horror film. Horror films with a singular reliance on gore wind up producing nothing of substance or distinction. They just exist — and maybe they are content with that existence — as being a film with a perverse fascination with violence.

Doctor Who
Series 6, Episode 4: The Doctor’s Wife
Directed by Richard Clark
Written by Neil Gaiman
Starring Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Suranne Jones, Paul Kasey, Adrian Schiller, Elizabeth Berrington, and Michael Sheen
BBC America
Air date: May 14, 2011

Neil Gaiman‘s much-awaited and long-postponed episode of Doctor Who highlights of the great aspects of the show that fans know and love: a mysterious place with unusual people in which our heroes arrive to solve a mystery and fix the problem.

Check out Episode 67 of Comics of Doom, the official comics podcast of Geeks of Doom. Click HERE to open the podcast player in a new window.

The $10 t-shirt deal of the day over at RIPT Apparel is a mash-up of Doctor Who and Superman called “Super Who” by artist Bamboota.

The sale at RIPT began today, Friday, May 27, 2011, at midnight CST, and will continue for 24 hours from then, and once it’s over, it will not be sold on the site anymore.

Of the design, the artist said, “I thought it would be funny to make it seem as if Superman was in a haste to defeat evil and didn’t realize that he stepped into the TARDIS instead of a phone booth by accident!!”