Tonight! The Why of Picard, The Child makes waffles and we remember the Man who brought Ming The Merciless to life! All that and more on this edition of Multiverse Tonight!
Welcome to Episode 66 of Multiverse tonight. I have some sad news to start this episode. I’ve had a death in the family. Our dog Fanny has passed away. She stopped eating and drinking a few days ago and then on Sunday she passed away. It hurts, but I know I’ll get over it. To quote George Carlin, “Life is a series of dogs.” unquote And Fanny was a very good dog.
Star Trek
So you’ve been watching Star Trek Picard, but you have concerns about the violence in darkness especially the recent scenes in the episode Stardust City rag where we saw poor Icheb getting unwanted surgery and Seven of Nine deciding to go all Dirty Harry on the person who killed her friend. Some fans have even taken their concerns to Showrunner Michael Chabon on his Instagram. His answer quote “I am not unambivalent about the violence, myself,” Chabon writes on Instagram. “The choice was not made lightly, though it was made collaboratively, and therefore with a good deal of conversation and debate among the creators. And so I assure you that it is not there simply ‘because we can,’ or because we are trying, as you somewhat uncharitably put it, to be ‘in.’ My partners would all have their own reasons for its presence in this story, as some of us had our own reasons for shying away from it. For me, it came down to this: there has always been violence (and even torture) in Star Trek. Sometimes that violence has been implicit, sometimes explicit, according to the dictates of censorship, the nature of the situation being depicted, the aesthetic of individual creators, or technical and/or budgetary limitations. And the reason that there has always been violence in Trek is that Trek is art, and there has always been violence—implicit and explicit—in art. It belongs there. It belongs in any narrative about human beings, even human beings of the future. Violence, often, *is* the narrative. Its source. Its engine. The question of whether it’s “too much” or not is ultimately a matter of taste. Personally, I come out closer to the “less is more” end. But that is just me. In the end, I saw how little time and space we had to convey a sense of Seven’s history post-Voyager, and the things that drive and haunt her. I decided, with my partners, that intensity was warranted. Seven lives outside the rationale confines of the Federation, because that is where she finds her sense of purpose. But life is hard, out there. If it wasn’t, people wouldn’t need her help so badly. And she wouldn’t have found such a compelling reason to carry on, in spite of her history of trauma. But, I hear you.” unquote
In other words, it was a necessary evil in order to tell the story
However Mister Chabon wasn’t finished, he also talked about the show’s tone and how it reflects our current reality. Quote “First of all, I think that the phrase (or a version of it) ‘Star Trek has always reflected its time” is open to multiple, potentially conflicting interpretations,’ he writes. “It can mean, ‘Individual Star Trek series have always (consciously) reflected thematically many of the most pressing issues of the time when they were made.’ I think that’s the sense intended by people involved with making the two current series, and it’s pretty obviously true—starting with persistent themes of nuclear annihilation, racial prejudice, mechanization, totalitarianism vs liberal democracy, on TOS, through DS9 with its themes of individual vs group identity, chosen family, reason vs faith, and the inevitable moral compromises of war. (That’s only the *conscious* ways in which Trek has reflected the times in which it was made.) But the phrase could also be taken the way (I think) you take it: that the world, the milieu depicted by Star Trek—the characters and their interactions, their capabilities and limitations as individuals, the social institutions and mores and technologies and economics and culture—reflects the world and era in which it was made. I think you’re saying that this is wrong, that here is exactly where Trek doesn’t, hasn’t. and *shouldn’t* reflect the world and times. That it has always presented its crews, Starfleet, and the Federation as improvements, as realizations of our best potential, as aspirational. If Trek has reflected our world, it’s in a kind of utopian funhouse mirror, where everything looks better. I would say that by and large that has been true, though possibly not as to the degree that many Trek fans claim, or feel. But there’s another side to the world—the people and society—depicted in Star Trek, which is all the characters, planets, cultures, mores and interactions that take place outside of Starfleet, the Federation. Many of these “outside” cultures and characters—the empires and alliances and unions— *have* deliberately reflected aspects of our world, with its all imperfection, intolerance, brutality, its humiliations and injustices, its evils. I don’t mean just in a thematic sense, but in the behavior of individual non-Federation, non-Starfleet characters, in the construction of societies around prejudices and inequalities, violence, lust for power, etc.
“That brings us to Picard. In the one, long, ten-part story we’re telling, we’re asking two questions about the greater world of Star Trek (i.e, the Federation *and* everything outside the Federation). One—a venerable Star Trek question, with a long pedigree in previous series and films: What happens when the Federation, the Roddenberry Federation with all its enlightened and noble intentions, free from want, disease, (internal) war, greed, capitalism, intolerance, etc., is tested by forces inimical to its values? What happens when two of its essential principles; (security and liberty, say) come into conflict? The answer has to be—at first, it buckles. It wobbles. It may, to some extent, compromise or even betray its values, or at the very least be sorely tempted to do so. If not, there’s no point asking the question, though it’s a question that any society with aspirations like ours or the Federation’s needs to ask. If nothing can ever truly test the Federation, if nothing can rock its perfection, then it’s just a magical land. It’s Lothlorien, in its enchanted bubble, untouchable by the Shadow. And, also, profoundly *inhuman*. To me it’s the humanity of the Federation—which means among many admirable things, its imperfection, its vulnerability and the constant need to defend it from our own worst natures—that makes it truly inspiring. The other, related question we’re asking is: What about the people who live outside, at the edges (or even within) the Federation but who, for various reasons, aren’t quite *of* it. Ex-Starfleet officers, refugees, people like Seven who served on a Starfleet ship but was never actually in Starfleet. People who have fallen through the cracks, or fallen victim to their own weaknesses. What is life like for people who, for whatever reason, live beyond the benevolent boundaries of the Federation—where, for example, post-scarcity is a dream, and there is a monetary economy? Again, there is precedent for this kind of story on Trek, but the fact that our story only resolves over ten episodes, not one, or two, or four out of a season of 23, might make it feel, sometimes, that there is more darkness, more trauma in our characters’ lives. More *struggle.* This show unquestionably has darker tonalities than some others (DS9 is the standout exception). It lives more in the shadows, where the Federation’s light can’t always reach. That isn’t to condemn, criticize, undo, break or, god knows, betray the Federation or Gene Roddenberry’s vision. Shadow defines light.
Every new Trek series since TNG has sought to escape what can feel like the confines of previous series, not simply of canon (which can also be a strangely liberating force) but of the kinds of stories, about the kinds of characters and societies, that have already been told. Each new series has expressed this impulse to “light out for the territories” in a different way. TNG went a century into the future of TOS. DS9 went onto a station full of aliens that was both beyond the edge of the Federation and next to a wormhole that led to the Gamma Quadrant. VOY put 70k light-years between it and its predecessors, and introduced a raft of new species and worlds. ENT went deep into the early past of the Federation. Next season’s DIS goes to the Trek universe’s far-future.
“The space we found for Picard is not ‘dark Federation.’ It’s one of people who live and work at or beyond the margins of the Federation who travel beyond its boundaries to find the truth.” unquote Well we can definitely say he’s a writer, that was a lot of words.
He also had more to say on Twitter when asked if there was a connection between the state of the Federation in Picard and the state of the Federation in the 32nd century that Discovery season three will take place in. Mister Chabon replied quote “‘Federation downfall?’ What Federation downfall? The Federation is still very much alive and well and home to trillions (quadrillions?) of safe, housed, fed, educated citizens with the potential to lead fulfilling lives,” Chabon said. “There was a crisis 15 years ago, in the wake of the costly Dominion War and the Romulan emergency, which had a negative impact on the lives of many people, including most of our principal characters, in one way or another, during which Starfleet (and by extension the Federation) did not acquit itself well – in Picard’s eyes. From Admiral Clancy’s viewpoint, which is likely the mainstream view, Picard’s attitude was unrealistic, quixotic, and even dangerous. She may be right! They may both be right, and both wrong. But that was fifteen years ago, and the Federation is still going strong. Perhaps in the eyes of some it lost its luster, its air of invulnerability, its claim to the moral high ground, a process that began during DS9 times. That is hardly a ‘downfall’, though.” unquote
As to another fans question as to why Picard doesn’t make reference to the Dominion War in the show Chabon answered that he had planned to originally but was convinced not to by colleagues that doing so might confuse newer fans. Bad move Chabon, for one. Fans know about it. New fans will go back and watch DS9 to find out about it or they’ll find out about it from the internet. It’s all right to have continuity that not everyone has seen. People are adaptable. You’re kinda telling us that we’re not smart enough to do the homework. Again, bad move. Trust your audience.
Robert Picardo says that he’s in talks to appear in season two of Picard. He could either appear as the EMH creator Lewis Zimmerman, an EMH, or The Doctor. He’s quoted as saying “I am pleased that they (CBS) have expressed interest in me,” “They have reached out to my agent about next season. So I’m looking forward to seeing what it is. As you know I play two characters, primarily the Doctor but also Lewis Zimmerman. Lewis Zimmerman, the engineer who created the Doctor’s program, certainly would have aged. He’s in the same timeline as Patrick Stewart and all the [Star Trek: The Next Generation] folk. The Doctor, of course, like Data doesn’t age, but there are ways to address that, as we all know. I joked the other day that my daughter does visual effects, that’s exactly what she does is digitally correct actors so I said, ‘If they hire the two of us, she could make me look 25 years younger. Anyway, it will interesting to see when something happens, if something but, but I might have a chance to be onscreen with Jeri again. It would be an honor and a delight, obviously, to have scenes with Patrick Stewart so, you know, we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”
Star Trek Voyager is turning twenty five, so far we’ve seen Jeri Ryan return as seven of nine on Picard and a group getting a monument erected in Captain Janeway’s hometown of Bloomington Illinois. Now 455 films is producing a documentary about the series. 455 films has previously done the Star Trek documentaries, the Captains, Chaos on the Bridge and For the Love of Spock. Studio president David Zappone hinted about what was coming on twitter saying quote “Okay. Who likes Star Trek Voyager, and thinks it deserves to have a documentary to commemorate its 25th anniversary?” unquote He also confirmed that they will be filming during Star Trek : The Cruise IV filming testimonials from Voyager fans. The cruise this year has a Voyager theme and guests on the cruise include Kate Mulgrew, Jeri Ryan, Robert Picardo, Roxann Dawson, Ethan Phillips, Tim Russ, and Garrett Wang. No word on when the documentary will be out, but I’m guessing this fall.
So, have you ever been watching the classic episode The Trouble with Tribbles and wondered how long it would have taken to fill up the ship with the cooing balls of fur? No? Well someone has to answer questions like this. So a group of undergrads at the University of Leicester in the UK calculated the growth rate of the tribbles and published a paper on it. It was a relatively simple calculation involving an exponential formula. Spock gave the initial set of variables in teh episode estimates that each tribble (born pregnant) can give birth to ten more tribbles in 12 hours and puts the number of tribbles on board after just three days at 1,777,561. The students, assuming that Spock’s assessment was correct and presuming that no tribbles died. They came to the estimate that it would take 18.4 x10 to the 9th power and also estimated that it would take 18.4×109 tribbles to entirely fill the USS Enterprise. That’s 18 billion, 400 million tribbles. So under those conditions, they came to the conclusion that it would take 4.5 days for tribbles to completely fill the ship. That’s a lot of tribbles. Of course, in the episode the tribbles had been poisoned to death by contaminated quadrotriticale. In that case the authors proposed a further paper saying quote “A further calculation including a ‘death term’ could be done, to find out how long it would take for the population to become extinct, if there was an unlimited supply of toxic grain,” unquote
Some sad news. Star Trek Discovery actor Kenneth Mitchell, who has played three different Klingons in Discovery’s first two seasons: Kol, Kol-Sha and Tenavik has revealed that he has been diagnosed with ALS aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease. He was originally diagnosed back in 2018. A few months ago in October, he was forced to use a wheelchair. In an interview with People magazine he said quote “The moment that they told us it was [ALS], it was like I was in my own movie,” “That’s what it felt like, like I was watching that scene where someone is being told that they have a terminal illness. It was just a complete disbelief, a shock.” “I’ll never forget, one of my Star Trek co stars told me, because they had dealt with some trying times with illnesses and stuff, and I remember them communicating to me, saying, ‘You have a choice. You can look at this in many different ways, but maybe try to look at this like a gift where you get to experience life in a way that most people don’t,” unquote However, he’s not going to try to be down about it, he told People that he and others are looking into new roles with his diagnosis in mind.
Star Wars
Are you gonna be in Las Vegas anytime soon? If you are, hop on down to Immersion Vegas at Fashion Show mall. To see “Fans Strike Back” a 10 thousand square foot exhibition showcasing superfan Daniel Prada’s collection that includes more than 600 collectivles, figurines,costumes, models and light sabers. The exhibit will also showcase a sixteen foot Jabba the hutt and a recreation of an Imperial I – class Star Destroyer main bridge. No opening date for it yet. But tickets will be priced at twenty nine dollars plus taxes and fees for adults and fifteen plus for kids 11 and younger. I’ll have a link to it in the show notes. https://thefansstrikeback.vegas
Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo has a new baby daughter. Joonas and his wife Milla Pohjasvaara welcomed their second child on Friday the twenty eighth. The man who took over the role of Chewy during the final movie in the sequel trilogy posted an announcement on Instagram with a caption on a photo of his daughter saying quote “We have some exciting news: we were blessed to welcome the newest member of our family!”“Our little princess (or senator, or general, or whatever she wants to be!) was born this week and is doing great. Unquote He went on to thank the hospital staff. And ended it with quote Welcome to the world Princess Bacca! Unquote He would later clarify that she has not been named yet and that Bacca is just a nickname. When her and her brother are older, maybe they should all go trick or treating as the Chewy family…or show up at Star Wars celebration in costume….or film an all new Star Wars holiday special….nah.
One of the complaints about the rise of skywalker was the feel of missing scenes. By the way, as an old timer, as someone who’s been around the block, the one thing I can tell you if you want different takes of scenes or missing scenes, check out the novelization of the comic adaptation. And sure enough, the novelization for The Rise of Skywalker has something that was missing when Ben Solo passed away. His last words. According to the book it goes like this quote “A voice came to her through the Force, clear and strong. I will always be with you, Ben said, “She smiled. Let the truth of it wash over her. ‘No one’s ever really gone,’ she whispered.” unquote Bly the way, if you’re wondering if Ben’s force ghost “shows” up in the book? Nope. It’s been confirmed that there’s not a ghost of a chance of that. The novelization of Star Wars the rise of Skywalker comes out on March seventeenth The comic adaptation which sounds like it will have some added material as well, will come out this summer in June and the movie comes out on digital on that date and the disc versions hit shelves on March thirty first.
The Mandalorian will be premiering on ProSieben in Germany on MMarch 22nd prior to the launch of Disney Plus on March twenty fourth. The First episode will air as part of a Star Wars night on the broadcaster that ends with the German Free t premiere of The Last Jedi. However there is bad news for Amazon Fire users in germany as according to German tech News Site Heise Onlinen, Disney recently removed the Amazon media player from it’s supported device list. If that changes before launch I’ll let you know.
The Mandalorians Visual Production Supervisor for ILM Visual effects Ian Milham gave some behind the scenes explanations of how some of the scenes were brought to life. On twitter he wrote quote, For space fights, we populated the scene with lasers and explosions in different quadrants and distances, hooked them up to custom buttons on the iPad, and let the director go to town. Like playing X-Wing vs. TIE on a 70 ft screen. Season two of the Mandalorian comes out in October.
By the way there is now an official The Child Waffle Maker, although since it prints The child and The mandalorian logo on it, it looks more like a pancake than a waffle. A relatively flat waffle is always a pancake. If you want one they cost about 40 dollars and can be preordered from Gamestop. Gamestop, it’s still a thing.
Lucasfilm is preparing to launch new adventures in an old point in Star Wars history. Star Wars The High Republic takes place at the Galactic republic and Jedi Order’s high point some 200 years before the events of The Phantom Menace. Since this unexplored section of Galactic history is untapped the creators have free reign to make what they want. New adventures, new characters and new merchandising. In a statement Lucasfilm Publishing creative director Michael Siglain about this new venture said quote “Star Wars: The High Republic features the Jedi as we’ve always wanted to see them — as true guardians of peace and justice. This is a hopeful, optimistic time, when the Jedi and the Galactic Republic are at their height. But of course, into this glorious new era something wicked this way comes,” says Lucasfilm publishing creative director Michael Siglain. “This initiative will give readers young and old a new corner of the galaxy to explore through rich, meaningful stories. Plus, readers will learn what scares the Jedi.”
The first books and comics are set to debut at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim in August with Star Wars The high republic ight of the Jedi being a massive interconnected story that’s told across various formats by various publishers. Including Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray, Star Wars: The High Republic: A Test of Courage by Justina Ireland, Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures by Daniel José Older (IDW Publishing comic book series)Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures by Daniel José Older (IDW Publishing comic book series), Star Wars: The High Republic by Cavan Scott (Marvel comic book series) and Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule (Adult novel,
Geek
Syy has announced that the Magicians will be ending this April. THe show’s fifth season will be it’s last. The show, based on the series of novels by the same name, premiered back on Syfy in January of 2016 and has been one of the most consistent shows Syfy had on it’s schedule. In a statement the channel said quote “‘The Magicians’ has been a part of our Syfy family for five fantastic seasons. As we near the end of this journey, we want to thank John McNamara, Sera Gamble, Henry Alonso Myers, Lev Grossman, and our entire brilliant cast, crew, writers and directors for their beautiful creation. But most of all, we thank the fans for their tremendous support and passion. Because of you, magic will be in our hearts forever,”
SYFY is definitely on a streak now, they’ve also canceled the third annual Leprechaun St. Patrick’s Day Marathon. The past couple of years, the network has aired all the Leprechaun movies back to back, this year it will just show Leprechaun’s Revenge and Leprechaun Returns. Well I guess you can always stream the rest.
Jason Blum would love to build himself a Frankenstien….movie. Talking with the Evolution of Horror Podcast the producer said quote “I’d love to do Frankenstein. I’ve tasked our filmmakers with trying to figure out just straight Frankenstein,“”Again, I don’t know if someone else is doing it, I don’t know anything about it, but I would love to try and I’m waiting for the great idea. The Invisible Man, I agree, the best ideas feel like, ‘My gosh, it’s so obvious, why didn’t that happen before?’ If we could come up with something as good for Frankenstein, I’d love to try that.” unquote
Octavia E. Butler’s novel Dawn will be made into a tv series for Amazon. The drama has been given a direct to series order will be written and directed by Victoria Mahoney who was the second unit director on The Rise of Skywalker, she will be teaming up with Ava DuVernay, the director of Disney’s big budget A Wrinkle in Time adaptation. The novel was published in 1987 and follows s
around an African American woman who works with aliens to resurrect the human race some 250 years after a nuclear war. There is no word on when it will be produced or aired.
The tenth season of American Horror Story will have Macculy Culkin joining the cast for the new story. Ryan Murphy shared the news of the casting with an instagram video of what resembled the opening credits to the tune of Orville Pecks’ Dead of Night. Season ten will premiere in the fall of 2020.
Stranger things Finn Wolfhard is set to star in the thriller movie Rules For Werewolves based on a short film of the same name that also started Finn. The film will be based on writer Kirk Lynn’s debut novel which he also adapted for the screen. Deadline reports that the film quote “investigates the rituals and rhythms of a pack of wild teens as they break in and loot a new home, leaving someone (or something) behind for the cops to find.” unquote/ It’s also being reported that the movie will be done in one single take, mostly.
Well we’re gonna have to wait to find out about the new shows coming out in the Fall 2020 season. Due to fears about the spreading CoVid 19 corona virus, a lot of upfronts have been either cancelled or postponed. Also the new James Bond film No Time To Die has been pushed back from April to November and Peter Rabbit 2 has been pushed back from April to August. I’m guessing we’ll have to learn about what will get quickly cancelled some other way.
Actor Max Von Sydow has passed away. The man born Carl Adolf von Sydow was born on April 10, 1929 in Lund Sweden He grew up to star in more than 100 films and tv shows, including eleven films by famed director Ingmar Bergman including The Seventh Seal which saw him playing a chess game with death. Modern movie fans might know him as Father Lankester Merrin from The Exorcist and The Exorcist II, Ming The Merciless from Flash Gordon, King Osric in Conan the Barbarian. Doctor Kynes in Dune. The voice of Vigo the Carpathian in Ghostbusters II, Judge Fargo in Judge Dread, Director Lamar Burgess in Minority Report and Lor Saan Tekka in Star Wars The Force Awakens and many many more.
He was married twice and had two sons. Max Von Sydow died on March eighth at the age of 90.
Well that brings us to the end of another sci fi edition of Multiverse Tonight
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Multiverse Tonight is a production of Half-Baked Genre Productions. Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved.
Epidsode 67
Tonight! Lucifer’s sixth season might be reality, The Sandman becomes an audio drama and Etch A Sketch goes variants. All that and more on this edition of Multiverse Tonight!
Welcome to Episode 67 of Multiverse tonight. I’ve had quite a month. Got my tax refund, bought a second monitor for my studio, grieved over the loss of a favorite dog, now I have Planet Comicon in Kansas City in a week. I don’t exactly know what I’ll get from Planet Comicon, some photos, definatly an interview with Author Dayton Ward, maybe an interview with an author or comic book person or two. We will see. This Con isn’t just a work thing for me, it’s really the only true vacation I get. Now if you’d like to see me go to more cons, you have to help fund me. Just go to my website Mutiversetonight.com.
DC
It looks like Lucifer might just get that sixth season. TV Line is reporting that Tom Ellis finalized a new deal for season six and a couple of weeks ago co showrunners Ildy Modrovich and Joe Henderson have inked season six deals. Netflix is currently in talks with Warner Bros TV to bring about one more season of the show. The show was rescued by Netflix back in 2018 after three seasons on Fox. Come on Warner Bros, just one more time!
Nathan Fillion is well traveled. He’s been in lots of franchises. Firefly, Buffy, the MCU and animated green lantern, etc. His upcoming appearance in the Suicide Squad will be new franchise. So why join the DC Universe easy. Two words quote “James Gun.” Nathan told ET Canada quote “James Gunn (is) one of the people in my life that when he calls I just pick up the phone and say ‘yes to whatever you’re about to say, it’s yes, the answer is yes,'” “James Gunn is an amazing storyteller, that guy understands story and he loves to tell story. So when he wants to do something you know it’s gonna be fun, you know it’s gonna be satisfying… So here he is with Suicide Squad 2, he asks me to come down. What can I say about it? It’s so secret, I get stressed when people talk about it. Here’s what I can tell you though, huge scope. I’ve never done anything so big.” unquote.
The movie is still filming, having wrapped the Panama part of its production and is scheduled for release August sixth 2021.
Also wrapped work on the movie is actor David Dastmalchian. That news came via James Guns instagram saying quote “And that’s a wrap on @dastmalchian who gave me this amazing art by @lukas.ketner as a wrap gift! I happened to be wearing my @countcrowley T-shirt (Dave and Lukas’s great comic series). Thanks David – you’ve been amazing to work with in every way. I can’t wait for people to see what we’ve cooked up. ❤️,” unquote
Police in Moscow towed a homemade Batmobile. The replica on the Batmobile from Batman v Superman. According to a Moscow interior ministry spokesman, the vehicle was too wide for the city streets and had not been certified as roadworthy. The vehicle and it’s 32 year old driver was stopped in Moscow on a Saturday in western Moscow and towed away wrapped in tape and black plastic. The cost of the vehicle was about 842,100 american.
The Batman has moved along the past couple of weeks. A photo of a batsuit has leaked as well as a pic of the batmobile. Too say I’m just not impressed yet….eh. Well now a new member has joined the cast, Gill Perez-Abraham is in another unknown role. Gil has appeared on Orange is the New Black and Pose and he will also be seen in The walking Dead’s NEW spinoff The Walking Dead World beyond. Yep. Dear Warner Bros, I need more info than that. And while we’re on it AMC? STOP IT WITH THE WALKING DEAD, we’re tired of it already. Anyway.
FX’s Y The last Man is still around and it has a new Yorick Brown. Variety has learned that Ben Schnetzer will be taken over the role. Originally Barry Keoghan was slated to star in the show based on the DC Comics series of the asme name. But he left earlier this month. Mr. Schnetzer joins a cast that includes Diane Lane, Imogen Poots and Amber Tamblyn. The show will start production in April.
Statues of Batman and Wonder Woman have been erected in London’s Leicester Square. To commemorate the three hundred fiftieth anniversary of the London landmark, bronze statues commemorating various cinematic icons have been put in the area. Batman’s statue depicts him on a rooftop standing triumphantly as he looks down at the ground below. Wonder Woman showcases the warrior princess charging forward and busting through a wall. Leicester Square have become synonymous with the british film industry for years. Movies have premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square Cinema, the Prince Charles Cinema has become famous for screening various cult favorites. Other statues include Paddington Bear, Mr. Bean, Mary Poppins, Laurel and Hardy, Bugs Bunny and Don Lockwood from Singin’ in the Rain. The statues will stay there until June.
Jim Lee says Dan Didio is irreplaceable. During his panel at C2E2, by the way for coverage of that, head on over to Scifi4me dot com. Jason and his wife were there all weekend and have some interesting takes, so go check it out. Anyway, at the panel DC last publisher standing and Chief Creative officer Jim Lee indicated that Didio will not be replaced quote “There’s continually new things going on, and I look at being sole publisher now and the team I’m working with. Much more in trenches now than ever before.” “We’ve been with Warner Bros. for decades,” “The actual strategy for DC is to put publishing at center of what we do. It’s the engine of all the movies, TV, cartoons, we do. And so its my intent going forward as the Publisher, to lean into the collective years of my team.” unquote.
By the way, those who have been concerned about DC’s demise. Lee said quote “To address some of the stuff that is out there, there’s rumors… speculation,” Lee explained. “I wouldn’t put any credence into it. DC has been around for 85 years, and we’ll be around for another 85 years. I hope to be doing this panel in 85 years.” unquote. Unless he’s a head in a jar, my guess is no.
DC’s The Sandman will be adapted into a multipart audio drama for Amazon’s Audible. The series will be narrated and executive produced by Sandman co creator Neil Gaiman and written and directed by Dirk Maggs. In a statement Neil said quote “Almost 30 years ago, Dirk Maggs approached DC about adapting The Sandman into audio form,” Gaiman said in a statement. “I’m glad it didn’t happen, because we are in a Golden Age of audio drama right now, and Dirk and I are much better at what we are doing. This is a rich audio adaptation of The Sandman graphic novels, brilliantly crafted by Dirk Maggs, with an all-star cast.” The audio drama is scheduled to come out this summer with plans for French, German, Italian and Spanish editions soon after.
Marvel
Production on any level is demanding. But it’s really demanding if you’re making an action packed series like The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Star Anthony Mackie spoke with The Daily Beast about the demands on Marvel’s newest series and if there was any pressure. He told them quote . “Not at all. I feel like, if we’re going to fail, we should fail 100 percent. Don’t fail halfway,” Mackie said with a laugh. “But it’s been fun, man. There’s so much stuff going on in the Marvel Universe since Disney has gotten involved, and we have a really supportive team. It’s Victoria [Alonso] and Louis [D’Esposito] and Kevin [Feige] and all the other guys over there—we always have people we can talk to if we feel like stuff isn’t going right. So it’s been great. We’ve definitely stumbled a few times, but we’re running full steam ahead to get these shows done.” unquote The Falcon and The Winter Soldier comes to Disney Plus this August.
Speaking of the Disney Plus family of Marvel shows. Moon Knight is still a ways away…and it looks like it might be much later. According to Geeks WorldWide dot com, the filming date for the series has been pushed back to mid november at Pinewood Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. The lead has also not been casted yet for the role of Marc Spector, apparently they’re looking for a Zac Efron type.
Checking in with the She Hulk Show. Mark Ruffalo has confirmed that he’s in preliminary talks to appear in the show, which makes sense since Jennifer gets her powers because of a blood transfusion with her cousin. Marvel hasn’t cast She Hulk Jennifer Walters yet, but they are looking for an Alison Brie type. I don’t know maybe just hire Alison Brie?
Whoops. I’m guessing Vin Diesel wasn’t supposed to talk about this, but the actor in an interview to promote the Bloodshot movie, said quote “I am waiting and excited for my friend James Gunn to knock this next one out of the park,” Diesel said during an interview in promotion of his upcoming Bloodshot movie. “He took The Suicide Squad so he’s about to embark on it. Thor will also, the director talked to me about Thor will incorporate some of the Guardians of the Galaxy.” “That’ll be very interesting, nobody knows, maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.” unquote Now, yes, the news isn’t too much of a surprise as Thor did leave Earth with the Guardians, the question becomes how much of the Guardians we will see as the story is supposed to surround Jane Fosters gaining the power of Thor. Thor Love and Thunder comes out on November fifth, 2021.
The latest issue of Production Weekly reports that Spider-man Three will shoot under the title Serenity Now. Which is apparently taken from the sitcom Seinfeld. Which is appropriate because Homecoming shot under the title Summer of George, while far from home shot under the title Fall of George. Co Producer Eric Hauserman Carroll has said that the pick code names that make them giggle. Production is set to get underway in July.
Tom Holland,on the press tour for Pixar’s Onward has revealed to MT International that Sony had a contingency plan in case Sony and Marvel Studios did take Spiderman from the MCU quote “The future of Spider-Man was still very bright with Sony we had a really, really wonderful idea of how we could sort of transition into a Spider-Man without the MCU,” “Tom Rothman and Amy Pascal were really confident they were going to do justice and make a film that was the caliber that Spider-Man requires.” “But that said, I’m really glad to be back in the MCU and to have the team back together because I kind of feel that’s where he belongs now. I’m really grateful that Bob Iger and Tom Rothman allowed me to be a part of the process of bringing him home. It was a pretty cool experience and also the best bragging rights ever: I saved Spider-Man.” unquote Don’t give yourself a big head Tom. You won’t be able to fit in your Spider suit. Stay humble.
Black Panther was a huge success, not only was it a great movie, but it had a great soundtrack and a real chart topper thanks to the song Pray for Me by Kendrick Lamar and The Weekend. However, they’re in trouble now as TMZ reports that a lawsuit has been filed against Kendrick and The Weekend for an alleged eight count of illegal sampling in the track with quote intent to conceal the infringement”” unquote. The lawsuit was filed by Yeasayer which claims that the samples were taken from their 2007 song Sunrise. The band claims that Sunrise uses a distinctive choral performance that incorporate the bands own voices in a high falsetto. Yeasayer are asking for all the profits from Pray for me, Damages and an injunction blocking further sales and airplay of the song.
In a big announcement, Marvel Entertainment announced their creative team for a new comic series based on Tsuburaya Productions Ultraman. Riters Kyle Higgins and Mat Groom will be co writers with Francesco Manna and Ed McGuinness on art. No launch date for the series has been given yet, but more info is due in the near future.
Geek
The Silence of the Lambs sequel series pilot Clarice has found it’s lead. Rebecca Breeds from The Originals and Pretty Little Liars will play the FBI Agent. The series is being shepherded by Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet. The series will take place in 1993 and will tell the story of Clarice as she goes into the field to pursue serial murderers and sexual predators while navigating the high stakes political world of washington.
The Boys is coming back and it’s not the tv series, it’s the comic. It’s been eight years since the last issue and now Garth Ennis is teaming back with Russ Braun for The Boys: Dear Becky. CBR dot com asked Garth how getting back into the series has been. He said quote Terrific. I hadn’t quite realized what an appalling mood I was in about the state of the world until I began to write about it in this series, and of course, there’s no better character for me to write when I’m pissed off than Billy Butcher. He’s even better than Frank Castle, whose problem is that he doesn’t know how to enjoy life. Billy does. Unquote . By the way Garth has no involvement with the second season of the Amazon show except reading the scripts. The Boys: Dear Becky #1 from Dynamite Entertainment goes on Sale in April.
The Official Pokemon Youtube channel has released this years top ten Pokemon, according to Pokemon fans. This year’s top Pokemon went to Greninja, a water/dark type Pokemon that first appeared back in 2013 in Pokemon X and Y.
So, did you see the Sonic the Hedgehog movie? It looks like redoing the look of Sonic did the trick as it’s generally gotten good reviews. Now you might ask yourself, why was it just Sonic and Dr. robotnik? Why not say a character like Knuckles is a part of the movie? Comic book dot cm had an interview with director Jeff Fowler. He told them quote “For this first film, we really were just looking at the 1991 game and just see where it all started and just keep it simple,” “Just really try to nail Sonic and Robotnik and just set up their rivalry because you don’t … I mean, I love … There’s a lot of great characters in Sonic universe, but it’s the most important thing is just to get Sonic set up and just tell a little bit of an origin story with him, and just do it in a way that really makes everyone fall in love with him as a character and just be rooting for more. And then, if all that goes well, then we can kind of open it up and bring in some of these other characters that fans know and love. And yeah, I mean, no one’s more excited than me to have that opportunity.” unquote Which you gotta admit, it’s the right approach. Knuckles or Tails can always show up in the sequel.
Monopoly has done well with it’s umpteen different versions of Monopoly, so I guess it’s etch a skech’s time At New York Toy Fair 2020, Spin Master announced a series of limited edition etch sketches to celebrate the drawing toys sixtieth anniversary. There’s the diamond edition with black diamond contoured frame and clear diamond knobs, a Stan Lee edition with a colorful comic border and stan lee face knobs, the monopoly edition with a game board frame and go and go to jail square knobs, a nasa edition with a space themed border and planet knobs and a rubiks cube edition with a mosaic border and rubik’s cube shaped knobs. They will cost between 21 and 29 dollars and will ship in June.
Boom Studios has announced that Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance, a twelve issue miniseries based on the netflix series will have a new creative team series. With issue number nine comes writer Matthew Erman and artist Mi-Gyeong Jo. The comic is designed to introduce the untold histories of key characters from the show. The new arc will give the origin story of All Maudra Mayrin, the Gelfling leader. In the story, Mayrin takes her place as the leader of all Gelfling clans, but she feels unprepared for the great responsibility before her. When whispers of a Gelfling rebellion reach her, she must decide who she can trust—and if she herself is truly worthy of this responsibility. The print comic will be on store shelves on May 27th.
Paramount is making a movie based on the cartoon series MASK. F. Gary Grey will direct and they have tapped Chris Bremner, who co wrote the latest Bad Boys movie to write it. MASK was a toy and cartoon from 1985. MASK stands for Mobile Armored Strike Kommand, an elite strike force that fought crime and terrorism. Their opponents were VENOM which stand for Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem. No possible release date has been given.
Dark Horse comics has announced a Prequel mini series for The Umbrella Academy. The six issue series titles You Look Like Death will focus on Seance aka Klaus and will be written by Gerard Way and Shaun Simon with art by INJ Culbard. Garbriel Ba will draw covers. The official blurb reads quote “Roughly ten years before the events of Apocalypse Suite, 18-year-old Séance gets himself kicked out of the Umbrella Academy. With his allowance discontinued by Hargreeves, he takes to a place where his ghoulish talents will be appreciated––Hollywood. After a magical high on a vampire-drug-lord’s stash, Klaus needs help, and doesn’t have his siblings there to save him.” unquote In a statement Gerard Way said quote”For a long time, I had wanted to tell the story of Klaus Hargreeves’ life after the Umbrella Academy disbanded and before the events of Apocalypse Suite,” Way said in a statement. “I imagined a pretty wild decade for Klaus– full of ups and downs, seedy places, supernatural excursions, and internal battles within himself. I am thrilled to finally be able to tell this story with my co-writer Shaun Simon, who sees the world of the UA as clearly as I do. Also thrilled to work with such an amazing art and lettering team in I.N.J. Culbard and Nate Piekos.” unquote
The first issue of You look like Death comes out on June seventeenth 2020 and season two of the Netflix series comes out later this year.
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