Veronica comes back from Mars and dons a cape and tights (not really).  Kristen Bell will be joining the cast of NBC's Heroes, Variety reports.  Bell's been pretty busy since the final death knell of Veronica Mars, including a stint on competition series Lost.

Show creator-exec producer Tim Kring said, "This was not easy to pull off.  But since we’re an ensemble show, with many arcs playing out through the year, we found a way to jump into a small window in her schedule.”

Bell is going to play the "sexy and mysterious" Elle, whose motivations aren't clear at her introduction but who has connections to Peter, H.R.G., and Claire.

Speaking of SF television, Japan is getting its own SF channel via Fox.  The channel will be called Fox Movie -- SF & Horror, and will start out with broadcasts of overlooked SF staple The 4400, Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital, and movies such as "It," "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," and "Halloween."  The new newtwork starts broadcasting in October, and really, how long can it be before Heroes and Torchwood start showing?