Comic-Con '12: Thomas Jane & Ron Perlman Unveil Unofficial 'Punisher' Short Film; 'Star Trek 2' Footage Revealed...Kind Of...

A brief little update on various bits and bobs from San Diego over the weekend so here we go...The last time we heard anything about the future of Marvel's "The Punisher" was last fall when Fox committed to a TV pilot that would bring the character to the small screen...and that's about it since then. But Thomas Jane, who played the character in the modestly received 2004 movie, has gone ahead and made his own short film without Marvel's approval. Described as a "fan film," the project was written by Chad St. John ("Motor City") and directed by Phil Joanou ("Gridiron Gang," "U2: Rattle And Hum"), features a cameo by Ron Perlman, and finds Frank Castle waking up in a van in the midst of gang warfare, going off to do his laundry before dispensing justice the way he knows best. And whaddaya know, the short is now online -- watch it below. [Collider]

“Elysium” and “X-Men: First Class” producer Simon Kingberg provided a brief update on the 'First Class' sequel: “The Charles-Erik relationship [is] obviouslyl incredibly resonant and James [McAvoy] and Michael [Fassbender] did such an amazing job as those characters. Jen[nifer] Lawrence and [Nicholas] Hoult, that’s a really interesting relationship between Raven and Hank, so we’re really going to be focusing on character and personally I really liked the period aspect on ‘First Class’ so we may well do that.” So, just to clarify, the sequel to the successful "X-Men” reboot will feature the same characters and will still be in a period setting. There’s your news, folks. [Coming Soon]

Meanwhile, Christopher Mintz-Plasse revealed during the “ParaNorman” panel Friday morning that the long-talked-about (mostly by noted blowhard Mark Millar) sequel “Kick-Ass 2” will actually happen with some of the characters from the first film, Aaron Johnson and Chloe Moretz included, and is likely to begin shooting in September. [CinemaBlend]

All weekend rumors ran rampant that some kind of footage from "Star Trek 2" would be unveiled at Comic-Con. Rumors were sparked further when Bones himself, Karl Urban, guaranteed something was going to be unveiled by Sunday, which was news to writer Damon Lindelof. But alas, a preview has emerged of some kind, with Urban dropping the transparently titled "Star Trek Comic Con Sneak Peek" to his YouTube channel. Yes, he has a YouTube channel. It's actually mostly video of Urban surfing to "Shake Me Down" by Cage The Elephant. But if you fast forward to 3:46, you'll see a very brief on set video of J.J. Abrams wrapping the shoot of the film, with two mysterious globes -- one silver, the other grey -- being held up. Clues? A waste of time? Both? Watch below. [/Film]