WillemDafoe

Welcome to Captain's Log -- your (semi) daily round-up of sci-fi randomness from around the web. Here's what's happening:

While trying to see if Willem Dafoe was in the running to play the Joker in Tim Burton's Batman, MTV learned that he almost had a much bigger gig: The Caped Crusader himself.

Screen Daily reports that Xavier Gens, the man behind Hitman, will helm a new post-apocalyptic action thriller called The Fallout.

Green Hornet is one of those projects that could easily be so very bad, but Seth Rogen told SciFi Wire that's he's doing everything he can to make sure it doesn't suck.

io9 calls Battlestar Galactica: The Plan a fan-only release that feels like "a gussied-up clip show."

An Irish martial arts fantasy with drool-worthy visuals? Check out the trailer for The Cup of Tears over at Twitch.

Meanwhile, Felicia Day has shared two pieces of awesomeness: a short where she schools a clueless filmmaker about the truth behind exploding and colliding galaxies for NASA, and a Guild Halloween bonus.

Quiet Earth reminds us that Toronto fell victim to zombies again on the 24th. I wonder if anyone was punched?

By: Elisabeth Rappe

I was slightly disappointed with the initial casting of John Carter of Mars, but as Andrew Stanton keeps bringing the wonderful with every addition to the roster, I just have to trust him when it comes to his choice of Taylor Kitsch. But Stanton is sending more impressive talent to Mars, as according to The Hollywood Reporter, James Purefoy, Thomas Haden Church, and Mark Strong have joined the cast.

Purefoy will be playing Kantos Kan, the captain of the Xavarian, the grand flagship of Helium. Carter meets him in the prisons of Warhoon, and they're forced to battle in a gladitorial match. They become allies as only former gladiators can, and Kan assists him on his quest to save Mars / Barsoom. I found it difficult to picture the secondary characters in Princess of Mars, so I feel lame in saying "Purefoy is perfect as Kan!" but he'll fit the part of a seasoned naval captain. He'll be quite dashing, even. (Actually, I think Purefoy would have made a good Carter.)

Church will be playing Tal Hajus, who THR calls "a vicious Thark warrior who is determined to become king." In the books, he's a Jabba the Hut type who lusts after Princess Dejah Thoris, and is happily ensconced as a leader, so this might be one of the first big changes you'll see in the story. It would probably make things a lot more interesting to have Church play him as a capable bastard than a slobby wreck.

All of this Twilight/New Moon nonsense has really dulled my excitement for vampire movies. Vampires, especially teen vampires, are "hot" right now, and it seems like Hollywood is green-lighting every dull script or project that features a pair of fangs. But here comes the trailer for Daybreakers to shatter my comfortable pessimistic point of view.

There's a lot to like here. The film is set in the near future where most of the world's population have become vampires. Unfortunately, no more humans means no more blood, and the survival of the vampire race is at, er, stake. Enter somber vamp Ethan Hawke, who joins a group of crossbow wielding vamp slayers, including Willem Dafoe, to try to save the human race by blowing a bunch of sh*t up.

View the trailer after the jump.