Nerd Alert! X-Files shooting begins in Vancouver; remembering Christopher Lee

Your weekly round-up of news from the world of science fiction, fantasy, comic books, and all things nerdy.

AS ADRIAN MACK HAS already noted, shooting of the reboot/reunion/whatever of The X-Files got under way in Vancouver this week. Images from the set of the forthcoming six-episode miniseries (which is scheduled to air on Fox in January 2016) have begun popping up everywhere. The one above was posted to the show's official Twitter account. It shows series creator Chris Carter watching a scene with Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) on a monitor. You can tell it's Mulder and not Hank Moody because Duchovny's wearing a grey T-shirt, not a black one. Other returning cast members include William B. Davis as Smoking Man and Mitch Pileggi as Walter Skinner. 

ACTOR CHRISTOPHER LEE has died. He was 93. (Click here for a longer obit.) Needless to say, this news has hit Nerd Alert! HQ pretty hard. While it might seem dismissive to characterize Lee as a "genre" actor, he did spend much of his career in the realms of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. With his sonorous voice, his imposing height, and his powerful screen presence, Lee brought gravitas and serious acting chops to every role he sank his teeth into. As Count Dooku, he even managed to bring a bit of class and some high-calibre thespian firepower to the Star Wars prequel trilogy, which was otherwise lacking in both of those areas. To an earlier generation, though, Lee will be remembered as another count, thanks to his starring roles in Hammer Films' Dracula series, in which he appeared alongside his real-life bestie, Peter Cushing.

In more recent years, Lee revived his career thanks to his performances as the aforementioned Count Dooku, and as Saruman in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Lee was one of Tim Burton's favourite actors (and, as Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter could tell you, Burton likes to keep his favourites gainfully employed). Burton cast Lee in on-screen roles in Sleepy Hollow and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and in voice roles in Corpse Bride and Alice in Wonderland. 

In 2013, IGN put together a video showcasing what it considered Lee's best films. The top two, at least, are spot-on. Do you agree? Feel free to start a heated debate in the comments!

REMEMBER "TROOPS"? A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away—by which I mean 1997, on the pre-YouTube Internet—Kevin Rubio's short film, which was equal parts Star Wars tribute and Cops parody, was one of the Web's earliest viral videos. Rubio has returned to the mashup game, this time combining Admiral Ackbar's Battle of Endor briefing from Return of the Jedi with Danny Ocean's casino-heist pitch from the 2001 remake of Ocean's Eleven. Enjoy, but remember: many Bothans died producing this parody film.

While you're at it, you might as well watch "Troops". This is the best-quality version I could find, but it doesn't have the actual Cops theme ("Bad Boys") and is therefore at least 10 percent less hilarious than the original. (Which you can find here if visual quality doesn't matter to you.) But it's still funny.

IT'S POSSIBLE THAT I spend entirely too much time discussing Star Wars for my own good (and for everyone else's), but we're already talking about Stormtroopers, so what the hell. Today we got our first official look at some First Order Stormtrooper toys. Consider this the first wave in the inevitable tsunami of merchandise related to Episode VII: The Force Awakens. This advance peek comes courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. I won't bother trying to link to the original article, because last time I checked it was down, no doubt due to heavy traffic. (And I am totally not jealous!) Instead, I offer you a look at this Stormtrooper by Lego, which is part of the company's new Buildable Figures line. Don't bother asking Santa Claus to bring you one, though; they won't be available until January.

AXEL BRAUN HAS ESTABLISHED himself as the porn world's resident geek. I wouldn't ordinarily cover the world of skin flicks in this space, but trust me, it's relevant this time. The extremely prolific producer and director has made a large number of videos whose titles I can't even bring myself to type (this is a more-or-less family-friendly blog, sort of), but one of his specialties is making X-rated versions of superhero and sci-fi flicks. To date, Braun has produced porn parodies of The Terminator, Avatar, The Avengers, Iron Man, Man of Steel, Barbarella, Star Trek, and The Smurfs. (For the sake of my inner seven-year-old, and my continued sanity, I'm going to pretend that last one doesn't exist.) Braun has also made a couple of Batman-themed productions, and he has returned to Gotham for his latest.

The real Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, starring Ben Affleck as the Dark Knight and Henry Cavill as the Last Son of Krypton, isn't due to hit theatres until next March, so, unless Braun somehow got his filthy paws on a copy of the script, his new Batman Vs. Superman XXX isn't so much a parody as a speculative riff on the Hollywood version. Porn films don't usually generate much in the way of advance buzz, but judging by the trailer, this one has more than one kind of action in it. Besides the horizontal kind, I mean. Apparently Giovanni Francesco, who plays Batman, is a "highly trained martial artist" of some variety, which means that he can kick ass, as well as, um, doing other things to ass. (Sorry.) One thing he can't do is act well, but that never stopped Adam West.