Comic Book Movie Bits: C. Thomas Howell And Stan Lee In 'Spider-Man,' First Photo Of The Cosmic Cube In 'Captain America'

Tons of tidbits regarding the upcoming batch of comic book movies broke this weekend and here's what we've learned. C. Thomas Howell, yes, the star of Soul Man, is reportedly going to be in Marc Webb's Spider-Man reboot along with Stan Lee in one of his patented cameos. Plus a new photo from Captain America: The First Avenger has revealed our first look at the Cosmic Cube. Read about each of these details, in detail, after the break.

First up is Spider-Man. Comic Book Movie reports that C. Thomas Howell of The Outsiders, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial and Red Dawn fame posted on his (private) Facebook that he's been cast in Spider-Man and starts shooting on January 25. No word on who or what he's playing but let the speculation begin.

When it comes to Marvel movies, one of the best bits of speculating is how and where Stan "The Man" Lee is going to make his cameo. While we don't know exactly what it's going to be in the new Spider-Man, Lee himself just found out and gave us a sneak peak via his Twitter stream (thanks to CBM for the heads up).

It's been an exciting week for me, but I got a phone call last night that really flipped me out! I'm bustin' to tell you about it. My pal Avi Arad, producer of the new Spider-Man movie, called to tell me how excited he is about the film. Then came the surprise — Avi told me my cameo is all set for Spidey 4, and when he described it, I realized it's the best, most unusual one yet! I wish I could tell you what my cameo is, but that would kill the surprise. But I'll tell you this much—I'm finally in an action scene! Since it's common knowledge that people go to the movies just to see my cameos, I don't know why EVERY movie doesn't have one for me. After we save the world, our next mission will be to convince Hollywood to have an Oscar for Best Cameo. Till then—Excelsior!"

We also don't know where, or if, Lee will appear in Joe Johnston's Captain America: The First Avenger but one thing we already knew would be appearing is The Cosmic Cube, which is described by Marvel's official site as the following:

Few items in the universe could ever compare to the sheer power of a Cosmic Cube. The power within the Cube allows whoever wields it to literally reshape reality around him. Virtually anything is possible, from the raising of mountains and commanding the power of the elements to opening dimensional portals and transforming your enemies.

As previously reported, the item plays a huge part in the film as it's one of the relics the Red Skull is after and Captain America must stop him from getting. From the looks of this photo, it doesn't look like Captain America is doing a very good job. Thanks to io9 for the heads up and head over there for a bigger look.

Any thoughts on who or what C. Thomas Howell could be? And why is Stan Lee so excited about being in an action scene, wasn't he in one in the first Spider-Man?