Richard "The Snake" Hatch has slithered back to try and outwit, outplay, and outlast your other favorite Survivor alums.

CBS has announced the cast for its highly anticipated Survivor: All-Stars edition, wherein some of the most popular rogues, including a number of previous champions, will once again duke it out for the title of the "Ultimate Sole Survivor."

Out of the 112 adventurers that made up the reality game's first seven installments, 18 were lucky enough to be invited back by Survivor mastermind Mark Burnett for the tournament of champions.

Among those returning are Hatch, the bearded, naked fire-dancing weasel who won the original Survivor: Pulau Tiga and mesmerized viewers with his take-no-prisoners strategy. The corporate trainer-turned-reality superstar will be joined by a couple of former island cronies, including finalist Sue Hawk, ex-Navy SEAL Rudy Boesch and nice gal Jenna Lewis.

Hatch, who earned a rep as public enemy number one thanks to his arrogant conniving ways, says he wasn't stressed about playing the game again despite the fact that most people desperately don't want to see him advance, including, admittedly, host Jeff Probst.

"He's one of the few people whose torch has not been snuffed and probably the guy who needs it most," Probst told CBS' The Early Show.

But confident as ever, Hatch says don't count him out just yet.

"I thought it would be tougher initially," Hatch told CBS' The Early Show. "And, you know, I have no ego. But I'm thinking maybe I'm wrong, maybe the game is going to be even easier because at this point, I know the contestants. I know those little game pieces that I'm going to be pushing around the board."

Conspirators from the second season, Survivor: The Australian Outback, will also be back, including champ Tina Wesson, runner-up Colby Donaldson, Amber Brkich, Alicia Calaway and scheming temptress, Jerri Manthey, who confessed that "the last time I didn't know what I was into and I got cranky."

Contestants from around Survivor: Africa's campfire include its winner, curly-headed soccer player Ethan Zohn, along with one-time partners Lex van den Berghe and "Big" Tom Buchanan, whose alliance ended acrimoniously.

Making the tribal council cut from Survivor: Marquesas were finalists Kathy Vavrick O'Brien and Rob Mariano. Notably absent, however, was that edition's million-dollar victor, bible-thumping office manager Vecepia Towers.

Towers is one of three winners not coming back. Survivor: Thailand's Brian Heidik and the most recent champ, Survivor: Pearl Islands's Sandra Diaz-Twine, are MIA, as are Survivor cuties Colleen Haskell (Pulau Tiga) and new View cohost Elisabeth Filarski (Outback), both of whom turned down invitations.

Standing in for Survivor: Thailand will be Shii Ann "She-Devil" Huang, while representing the hardbodies from Survivor: Amazon will be bikini-babe champ Jenna Morasca and Rob Cesternino.

Last but not least is Rupert Boneham from Survivor: Pearl Islands.

"I went into it wanting to show I was the best Survivor. This might be the platform for me to show them all," said Boneham of his prospects.

Since the reality Gilligans know what to expect this time around, Probst told the Early Show, producers decided to put them in a familiar location off the coast of Panama where Survivor: Pearl Islands was set.

Added the host: "Well, the whole season for the All-Stars is about familiarity, so we're going to have familiar challenges, obviously familiar survivors, so we picked a familiar location. This is one of our favorites."

To keep things lively, Probst said they'll toss a few new rules into the mix and keep some old twists as well.

All-Stars will be played during the island's unpredictable rainy season, and like Pearl Islands, players will be divided up into three tribes, not the usual two. Tribal names are Chapera (red), Saboga, (yellow), and Mogo Mogo (green).

Also, they're likely to see more of the type of modifications Burnett and company have made in the past few Survivors, including bringing back people originally snuffed and switching out members of tribes.

The games begin on CBS following the Super Bowl on February 1 and will likely prove to be a ratings juggernaut for the network.