As more stills and film clips from the upcoming Paramount lucha libre comedy "Nacho Libre" become available, the similarities between Jack Black's character in the film and The Immortal Count Dante only become more undeniable. Jack Black not only wrestles animals in the film, as Dante did when he fought both Macho Sasquatcho and a lion, but he even plays bass.

"Out of all the instruments he could play, this is truly astonishing," notable Count Dante expert L. P. Thundertrout gasped from his government funded pop culture think tank in Chiloquin, Oregon. "They could have had Black play a more comedic instrument like a tuba or a bassoon or they could have had him play the guitarron, a far more common instrument in mariachi bands, but for some reason the director and producers of this film had him play bass!"

"I was skeptical at first," Thundertrout added, "but now I am convinced. Jack Black is definitely copping The Count's image. The proof is irrefutable."

Count Dante, who earlier issued a "Trilogy of Terror" match challenge to Jack Black, has now upped the ante with a contest held in something he calls "The Pagoda of Punishment."

"I am having the General use his little-known engineering and carpentry skills to erect an imposing structure that I have dubbed 'The Pagoda of Punishment,'" Dante announced during yet another hastily conceived press conference.

If Black agrees to enter this "Pagoda of Punishment," he will face the previously laid down gauntlet of the hotdog eating contest on the first floor, the essay writing contest on the second floor and the bass solo contest on its third. Now as the release of "Nacho Libre" grows closer, The Count has maniacally added two more tiers of potential doom.

"Black, because the fans have demanded it, on the fourth floor of my pagoda, you will face me in a no-holds-barred wrestling match." Count Dante cackled. "You may have a had a few days of lucha training during the pre-production of your film, but now you will be facing a noted master of submissions who has gained the mount on success in the boardroom and the bedroom!"

But what will the comedy star face on the fifth and final floor?

"The unknown," Dante said glibly.

Some, such as Thundertrout, have theorized that Count Dante has now taken the form of a warrior spirit guide and may not be exacting revenge on Jack Black but may instead be ushering the actor into some state of higher consciousness where his mind and body will become one.

But if Dante has truly transcended his earthly greed, he did little to indicate this during his press conference.

"Jack Black, there will be no craft services workers to eat those hotdogs for you!" Dante remarked as the opening salvo to an extended rant.

"There will be no team of Hollywood screenwriters to rework your essays for you! Billy Sheehan or Geddy Lee will not play your solo for you. There will be no sound editor there to overdub the soloing of professional musicians over a scene where your hands ineptly match the notes on the fret board. On the fourth level there will be no team of Hollywood stuntmen there to take the falls for you. There will be no CGI to propel your body beyond its limited athletic means!"

While Dante has focused his campaign solely on Black, others take "Nacho Libre" director Jared Hess to task copping The Count's character and image. Hess, who supposedly turned "geek into chic," with the sleeper hit "Napoleon Dynamite," started as out as an assistant cameraman on such zany Mormon comedies as "Baptists at our Barbecue" (2004) and "The Returned Missionary" (2003). Hess' involvement in Latter Day Saints cinema explains the strange chasteness of "Dynamite" and why so many secular humanist film buffs have been somewhat apprehensive about the film after seeing it.

"Back in the 1980s jocks used to knock out my teeth for having a Black Flag sticker on my binder," Count Dante fanclub founder and honorary Black Dragon Fighting Society member Pilar Vae said during a recent phone interview. "Now because of Jared Hess and 'Napoleon Dynamite' the struggles of my youth have been reduced in the public mind to nothing more than cutesy celluloid images."

"Mr. Hess, you have taken our youth from us, please don't take Count Dante from us."

"Nacho Libre" opens nationwide on June 16th.

Discuss the erupting controversy on The Count's Myspace page!!!

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COUNT DANTE: Fat Power Martial arts magnate and motivational sensei Count Dante is back with two tons of two-fisted fury that combines the heaviest rock with the deadliest grappling.