Sequel Bites: THOR: THE DARK WORLD, UNDERWORLD 5, FAST SIX, and SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR

THR is reporting Christopher Eccleston (known in the geek circles for his one season stint on DOCTOR WHO and villainous turns in 28 DAYS LATER, G.I. JOE: RISE OF COBRA, and SHALLOW GRAVE) has joined the cast of Alan Taylor’s THOR: THE DARK WORLD as Malekith the Accursed, ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim. This is the role Mads Mikkelsen (the bleeding eye dude from CASINO ROYALE) had to exit due to his commitment to NBC’s HANNIBAL.

Eccleston joins returning cast members Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Natalie Portman (Jane Foster), Anthony Hopkins (Odin), Stellan Skarsgård (Eric Selvig), Idris Elba (Heimdall), Jamie Alexander (Sif), Ray Stevenson (Volstagg), Tadanobu Asano (Hogun) and Zachary Levi who’s replacing ONCE UPON A TIME star Josh Dallas as Fandral.

During a recent interview with Collider, uber-hottie Kate Beckinsale revealed she probably won’t be returning for UNDERWORLD 5. "I think it's probably unlikely that I'll do one, but they may do one without me," she replied.

So much for finding out if Selene (Beckinsale) and her werewolf/vampire hybrid daughter Eve (India Eisley) found Michael after he escaped cryostasis during the cliffhanger finale of UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING. Producers could recast the role but considering how poorly the appearance of “Fake Michael” (a body double stood in for Scott Speedman in AWAKENING) and “Fake Selene” (Rhona Mitra played a Selene-esque character named Sonja in the prequel UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS) went over with fans I doubt they’re thinking of doing that.

My guess for the future of the franchise is either “Total Reboot” or “Back a big truckload of money up to Beckinsale’s house and beg her pretty please to reconsider”.

Variety has gotten word action star Joe Taslim (recently seen in THE RAID: REDEMPTION) and model Clara Paget have joined the cast of Justin Lin's FAST SIX. Taslim will play Jah, a cold-blooded killer who uses his martial arts and parkour skills. Paget will play a "gun-slinging action woman".

Taslim and Paget will be joining returning cast members Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Michelle Rodriguez and franchise newbies Luke Evans (THE RAVEN) and Gina Carano (HAYWIRE).

Mickey Rourke is in negotiations to reprise his role as hulking tough guy “Marv” in Robert Rodriguez’s SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR, according to Deadline. And in case you’re wondering how a character (SPOILER ALERT!!!) who died at the end of the first film, he didn’t. A DAME TO KILL FOR is a prequel. Mystery solved.