Wednesday, 22 June 2016

Wonder Woman Lynda Carter is Supergirl's President



Lynda Carter, beloved by generations of DC Comics fans as TV's Wonder Woman in the 1970s, joins the cast of Supergirl from next season.

Carter will play the President of the United States in the series headlined by Melissa Benoist. She appeared in Smallville as a metahuman in 2007.

This news follows the casting of Tyler Hoechlin (Teen Wolf) as Superman/Clark Kent. Carter joins fellow DC Comics live-action alumni John Wesley Shipp (The Flash), Dean Cain (Lois & Clark) and Helen Slater (Supergirl) on The CW.

As many fans (myself included) suspected after that jaw-dropping season finale, The Flash will officially be depicting the seminal DC Comics storyline 'Flashpoint' in season 3. This will directly impact CW stablemates Arrow, DC's Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl.

Thursday, 16 June 2016

Anthony Daniels at Star Wars Celebration Europe



Star Wars Celebration Europe is a month away and more actors from the Star Wars franchise have been announced.

Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) and Daniel Logan (young Boba Fett) will be joining confirmed guests Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (General Leia) and Warwick Davis (Wicket) at the ExCel, London.

The cast will be autographing all 3 days in the Celebration Autograph Hall. In addition to this exciting news. A New Hope and The Force Awakens will be screened on 15th and 16th July respectively.

Here's hoping Harrison Ford (Han Solo), John Boyega (Finn), Daisy Ridley (Rey), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron) and Adam Driver (Kylo Ren) will be announced soon.

In related news. Sky Movies rebrands as Sky Cinema in the UK this July and Star Wars: The Force Awakens premieres in August with subsequent films in the franchise appearing each summer, starting with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in 2017.

I'm looking for suitable partners to run exciting competitions and giveaways around the event, which I be will be attending. Interested? Please get in contact here.

Saturday, 11 June 2016

John Williams to score new Indiana Jones movie



Legendary Hollywood composer John Williams will score the soundtrack for the fifth Indiana Jones movie. Director Steven Spielberg confirmed this during an AFI Life Achievement Award honouring John Williams.

Spielberg paid tribute to Williams' considerable contribution to cinema.

“Without John Williams, bikes don’t really fly, nor do brooms in Quidditch matches, nor do men in red capes,” said Spielberg, who has worked with Williams since Sugarland Express. “There is no Force, dinosaurs do not walk the Earth, we do not wonder, we do not weep, we do not believe.”

Whilst Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull fell far short of expectations in 2008, Williams' soundtrack was its saving grace and fans will be delighted to know he's returning to the franchise and studio stablemate Star Wars for Episode VIII, if he's able.

Williams told Variety that he's keen to score Episode VIII when the time comes. "If I can do it, I certainly will," The Force Awakens composer said. "I told Kathy Kennedy I'm happy to do it, but the real reason is, I didn't want anybody else writing music for Daisy Ridley."

I wouldn't want anyone else writing music for Daisy Ridley, either.

Creative collaborators lauded the Oscar-winning composer's achievements.

“I had so many ideas for other movies, but I never got to them, because you ensured that Star Wars would endure forever,” George Lucas, creator of Star Wars and Indiana Jones, said in admiration of Williams.

“‘Oh Angel, I just hope this cue is good enough.’ These are the kinds of preposterous things that John Williams says at his own scoring sessions,” Lucas' Star Wars successor JJ Abrams said. “It’s like he’s never read his own résumé. He’s the sweetest superhero of all time.”

The fifth Indiana Jones movie is scheduled for release July 2019.

Tuesday, 7 June 2016

Supergirl welcomes Superman to the Arrowverse



Superman will officially fly into action next season on Supergirl. Variety reports casting is underway for the role of Clark Kent who will appear in the season 2 premiere this Fall.

Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg expressed his excitement at the prospect of having Superman on the show. "Greg, Ali and I are beyond thrilled to welcome Clark Kent and his slightly-more-famous alter ego to the world of Supergirl," he said. "Superman will be appearing in the first two episodes of the new season and we cannot wait to see who next dons the red cape!"

Dean Cain played Superman in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and is Kara's adoptive father in the series, and the Arrowverse's Brandon Routh played the titular role in director Bryan Singer's much-maligned Superman Returns.

It's worth noting the Arrowverse and DC Cinematic Universe are not connected and that's a good thing in my book. Hopefully, Warner Bros. will stop imposing limitations on the former. Most notably having Deadshot disappear and mothballing Harley Quinn's planned debut due to Suicide Squad on the big screen.

Who would you like to see play Clark Kent? Should Smallville's Tom Welling reprise the role? Let me know in the comments below.

Sunday, 5 June 2016

Flashpoint!



A roundup of DC Comics' small screen adventures:

The season finales of Arrow and DC's Legends of Tomorrow were... disappointing. The former has been patchy and (mostly) directionless since season 2. The latter has been inconsistent, but it's had a fair share of memorable moments too. At this point I'm watching out of (misplaced) loyalty and in the hope of crossovers with The Flash...

The Flash and Supergirl show the most potential going forward with a healthy dose of comedy and drama. The Flash exceeds everything else in the genre space: from Earth-2 to THAT finale - the charismatic cast have had a blast mixing it up with their doppelgängers - even if casual viewers could be alienated by the complex continuity. The Flash crossed over to Supergirl with the promise of things to come as the series moves to The CW.

In a year without a new Doctor Who series, the DC Universe (DCU) is serving up a timey-wimey masterclass. If the 'Flashpoint Paradox' rumours are true, then all four series could become unmissable as an alternate timeline unravels in the wake of Barry Allen's actions.

May the speed force be with you. Always.

Saturday, 4 June 2016

Hasbro's toys combine in IDW's Revolution



A generation grew up playing with Action Man, Rom, G.I. Joe, Micronauts, M.A.S.K. and Transformers toys. Now IDW combines Hasbro's beloved toy and animated properties into a comic book universe beginning this September.

Here's the official IDW press release:

IDW Publishing has unveiled its most ambitious comic book publishing venture in its history revolving around its fan-favorite titles based on Hasbro properties.

The “Revolution” event marks the birth of a comic book crossover that will be comprised of not only the TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE properties, but also all-new properties MICRONAUTS, ROM, and ACTION MAN, as well as the launch of a long-awaited M.A.S.K.: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand series.

This is not a reboot—rather, the Revolution series takes many of the building blocks of what has come before from IDW and builds on them anew, bringing all these elements together in an epic event that results in an all-new status quo for all involved. Everything fans have enjoyed up to this point remains intact as part of this ongoing continuity. The ramifications of Revolution will extend well beyond the event, as all of these iconic characters will henceforth exist in the same universe, altering the scope of IDW editorial in all the Hasbro series from this moment onward.

Revolution, the bi-weekly five-issue event series that launches this initiative, will be co-written by Cullen Bunn (MICRONAUTS) and John Barber (TRANSFORMERS) with art by Fico Ossio (MICRONAUTS). The event kicks off with a world-shaking threat that brings all opposing factions together in a storyline that just might see the destruction of the universe before it can truly begin!

“The Revolution series builds out of a detail that was introduced in IDW’s first-ever issue of TRANSFORMERS in 2005,” said IDW’s Chief Creative Officer, Chris Ryall. “So to finally be able to build upon the various story elements we’ve seeded over the years, and which come into play in a big way starting with July’s ROM #1 even before the launch of Revolution, is a blast. We’ve been working toward a full-fledged universe for some time and it’s great fun to be able to finally bring it to vivid life, especially since it allows us to give the world new titles like the very-requested M.A.S.K., as well as some exciting new books still to be announced.”

“We’ve done plenty of crossovers in the past,” said Michael Kelly, Head of Global Publishing at Hasbro, “but nothing near this scope or scale. Our heroes, whether they are from Earth or from distant reaches of the galaxy, all have one thing in common: their powers and abilities are based primarily on technology. We have been able to use this fact to build a natural and believable link between all of these disparate characters. The result is a complex and dynamic world where all manner of conflicts and team-ups can and will exist. If you are a fan of Hasbro’s brands, your time is now.”


Are you excited for IDW's crossover? Let me know in the comments below.

Wednesday, 1 June 2016

Disney demands Rogue One reshoots to lighten mood



Disney has ordered a month's worth of additional filming for director Gareth Edwards' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story to add levity to a tonally dark war movie this summer.

Purportedly the film isn't testing well with execs and the studio wants to capitalise on the success of JJ Abrams' The Force Awakens. It's worth noting JJ Abrams film also underwent reshoots weeks from release.

Reshoots are not necessarily indicative of a film's failure and it can be to its benefit as seen in the success of Jaws, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Avengers.

Personally, I'd welcome a different tone for the standalone Star Wars movies. Give creatives a chance to mix things up in the sandpit so long as they're not swallowed whole by the studio system Sarlacc.

Edwards, best known for Monsters and Godzilla, will direct the reshoots over the summer and appear at Star Wars Celebration with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will be released in December 2016. Felicity Jones leads the Rebellion's death-defying raid to steal the Empire's Death Star plans and incurs the wrath of Darth Vader.