Angel

While Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Sarah Michelle Gellar has decided to hang up her stakes, things are looking lively for her beau David Boreanaz. The hunky actor, who plays Angel in the popular series of the same name, has been signed up to play Superman in a new £80-million film about the comic book hero.

David, who you’ll also recognise from the movie Valentine, beat British heart-throb Jude Law to the role. The contract, which commits the native New Yorker to two sequels, is worth a total of £30 million.

The 31-year-old first rose to fame playing Sarah Michelle Gellar’s well-intentioned vampire beau in the original Buffy series. He proved so popular, however, that studio bosses decided to give him his own show, which also enjoyed great success.

The news of his new superhero incarnation comes in the wake of Sarah’s announcement that she is quitting Buffy to concentrate on her movie career. The phenomenally popular series will draw to a close at the end of the current season, with an epic final show which has Angel coming back into her life. "We’re gearing up to tell a fabulous, huge great arc," said Sarah, "It’s going to be pretty spectacular."

David will continue working on Angel, although he admits that simultaneously playing both Superman and a vampire may prove tricky.