Now that Smallville has come to an end on the youth-oriented CW network, execs have been scrambling to find a replacement for the hero oriented series. Earlier this year, the CW introduced Arrow, a gritty and darker take on the Green Arrow, who played a major role in Smallville, though the two series are not connected. With that series proving to be successful, the network is looking to add one more DC character in Wonder Woman.

The new series, which has yet to be green lit for a pilot is said to be centered on a younger Diana, currently being called Isis, before she becomes the famed hero. CW President Mark Pedowitz recently stated that Amazon would be  “an origination story in the sense that Smallville was an origination story.” take that for what it’s worth.

Casting for the series has been underway for a few weeks now, despite not having a pilot ordered. But the fact they are moving forward with casting shows they are fairly confident in the project. Today, STV have learned that Amy Manson is being eyed for the lead role in the series. Manson has had roles in several “geek” shows, including Torchwood, Being Human and Misfits.

I think most would agree that this series is fighting an uphill battle with fans of the character and casting will play a major part in whether this show is successful. Is Manson right for the role? Is she enough to keep this series from collapsing like the most recent failed attempt with Adrienne Palicki? Only time will tell.

Josh "ecksmanfan" Johnson, Torchwood’s Amy Manson Up for CW’s Amazon

Berkeley, CA – 28 December 2011 – Top Cow Productions announced today that they would be extending the first round of Pilot Season voting through the end of the year. The enthusiasm and volume of votes in the first two weeks of voting overwhelmed the servers at topcow.com and as a result the company’s site was down for several days last week.

Every year, Pilot Season pits a number of original concepts and creative teams in a head-to-head battle for fan votes to see which one title will continue. This year eight single, self-contained “pilot issues” were released and voting began at topcow.com on December 5th. The competition quickly became heated and despite Top Cow increasing their bandwidth with their hosting company, voting overwhelmed the company website and exceeded its bandwidth.

“This is just another great example of the excitement and passion fans bring to Pilot Season,” commented Top Cow Publisher Filip Sablik, “The number and velocity of votes completely exceeded our expectations and this is the sort of high class problem you don’t mind solving. All of us at Top Cow are eager to see which Pilot Season competitor emerges victorious.”

The publisher’s website has now been restored and migrated over to a new more substantial server capable of handling the additional traffic. In the interest of giving each competitor the full allotted time, Top Cow has also extended the first round of voting until Saturday, December 31st at 11:59pm PST. The second round of voting will begin on Sunday, January 1st at midnight PST. As a reminder, the second round will be narrowed down to the top four vote-getters and will be limited to one vote per person per day. The second round of voting will run until Saturday, January 7th at 11:59pm PST and the final round will commence on Sunday, January 8th at midnight PST (limited to one vote per person per day). The top two vote-getters will compete until Saturday, January 14th at 11:59pm PST and a winner will be announced the following week.

Additionally, Top Cow has announced that beginning January 2nd, the top four vote-getters will be available in their entirety for free through Top Cow’s digital distribution partners and on topcow.com for fans to read and make an even more educated voting decision. Top Cow’s distribution partners include comiXology, Graphicly, iVerse, Wowio, DriveThruComics, MyDigitalComics, and others. The titles will be free until the end of the voting period.

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Agent Burgos, FIRST ROUND OF PILOT SEASON VOTING EXTENDED!