Just yesterday we found ourselves wondering if the new Universal Pictures take on the Snow White fairy tale, titled Snow White and the Huntsman, could cast known actors in all seven dwarf roles.

The reports yesterday were that Ian McShane (Deadwood, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) had been cast as the lead dwarf, Caesar, and that Oscar nominee Bob Hoskins (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Enemy at the Gates), Eddie Izzard (Shadow of the Vampire, Cars 2), Toby Jones (Harry Potter, Captain America: The First Avenger), Stephen Graham (Boardwalk Empire, Snatch), and Eddie Marsan (Sherlock Holmes, V for Vendetta) were all in talks for other dwarf roles.

This left one more, which has now been filled.

Duke Nukem Forever
Xbox 360 | PS3 | PC
2K Games
Release Date: June 14, 2011

Duke Nukem Forever has had a wild ride. This game had been in development since 1996, herald at many an E3 convention as being the next “groundbreaking” game. The problem was, it never came out.

Developer 3D Realms would occasionally release some pictures or game play footage, but always staved off finishing the game by trying to put whatever was new and popular into it. Imagine someone you know is writing a book. For 14 years they would change it around adding whatever was hot at the moment: zombies, vampires, robots, the book would be a mess, right? This is the situation I imagine Gearbox Software was in when they inherited the unfinished game after 3D Realms was sued by its publisher. The very fact that this game was able to be pieced together into something releasable is a miracle. And that’s exactly what we got, something that feels 14 years old and pieced together. If you think about the game’s history, why would you expect anything less?

Each week, MK2Fac3 and Henchman21 read a lot of comics. Seriously, a lot of comics. Maybe too many comics. They look forward to some more than others, I mean, who doesn’t? So, let’s take a look into the depths of their pull list, grab some issues, and we’ll let YOU know what the top books to look forward to are for the week of June 22, 2011. Single issues and trades, they’re all here.

This week, expect to see some All Nighters, intrepid girl reporters, one of the best comic books on the shelves, the death of an icon, mysterious men, and a really fast youngster. Not to mention some collections about spooky fairy tales and some of the best ongoing manga today. So, brace yourselves, and hit the jump to see what our most anticipated books of the week are!

I’ve often said this to fellow metalheads, but it’s pretty much true: Bruce Dickinson can make anything interesting. Not only is he the air raid siren vocalist for Iron Maiden, but he is also an accomplished solo artist, professional fencer, author (he wrote a kids’ book!), and of course, a qualified pilot.

In fact, for those who haven’t seen the Iron Maiden: Flight 666 documentary, Dickinson actually pilots Ed Force One, a customized 757 that carries the personnel and crew and gear for Iron Maiden when on tour. It’s pretty mind-blowing seeing that stuff all set up in one single plane, watching Dickinson pilot it out into the skies, land it, and then change into his stage gear to scream it out loud on top of the very gear he just flew across the world. Seeing this in action in the Sam Dunn documentary is damn impressive.

Anyway, Dickinson recently recorded a training video called Safety in the Balance for the UK Civil Aviation Authority. The premise of the clip is to discuss the precise requirements in load and balance on aeroplanes, and emphasizes the importance of the mathematical precision to ensure that aircraft, ground staff, crew, and passengers are kept safe.

When looking at the multiple Snow White projects in the works, one might assume that not all of the seven dwarf roles would be filled with a known actor. One or two, maybe, but all seven? Pretty doubtful. But one project looks to be trying to prove that assumption wrong with the announcement of six possible well–known and respected actors taking on dwarf characters.

This particular Snow White project seems to be the biggest of them all (thus far, anyway), and is called Snow White and the Huntsman. The movie already has its stars locked up with The Twilight Saga‘s Kristen Stewart set for the lead, a princess who escapes her evil queen of a stepmother (played by Charlize Theron) with a huntsman who was sent to kill her but ends up joining her and seven dwarven warriors, and training her how to fight instead. The huntsman is will be played by Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth.

Which brings us back to the seven dwarfs, who sound like they’ll pass up on being lovable little workers and instead be ready for battle.