Sci-Fi Storm

Browncoats beware…do not read on if you wish to be surprised at Nathan Fillion’s cameo role in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy 2…but sorry ladies, the character is not “Captain Tightpants”…
(continue reading…)

Sorry for the lack of updates lately…we had to attend to a family emergency this past week and returned home late last night, and we have a lot of decompressing to do while attending to an event this week with its own bit of drama attached…but here is a bit of catch up for this past week…

The big news yesterday is that we know who the next companion is on Doctor Who. West End stage actress Pearl Mackie, most recently appearing in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time for the National Theatre, will play a character named Bill in the 10th season, which will not air until 2017. This will be Mackie’s first major role on television.

While we await renewals for a few shows (notably Supergirl), some others did get the nod this week. Grimm will return for a sixth season on NBC, but the network ordered a base of 13 episodes instead of 22 – but that could still increase. NBC has a lot of shows competing for the schedule next Fall, several of which are serials done in 13-episode chunks, and the shorter order will allow them to have more options in scheduling them. If things don’t work out for one of the other shows, Grimm could see the order increase. Also on the renewed list is MTV’s freshman fantasy series Shannara Chronicles, which had so-so live ratings, but picked up heavily in the L+3 and L+7 rating plus lots of social media buzz and digital downloads making it their best new show.

Syfy has given a green light for a pilot for the long-in-development David S. Goyer project Krypton. The series intends to see what life was like on Superman’s home planet years before its destruction, and follow the house of El and in particular Kal-El’s grandfather who seeks to bring hope and equality to a planet in disarray.

And finally moving from the small screen to the large one with a couple of Marvel tidbits…it appears that Iron Man/Tony Stark will be making an appearance in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming film starring Tom Holland as the webslinger in Sony’s reboot of the franchise. Whether this is an attempt to bring Spider-Man closer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe following his upcoming appearance in Captain America: Civil War, or it is just a courtesy crossover for Sony allowing Spidey in the Avengers universe, who knows. But it can only be a plus.

And lastly, Marvel’s Inhumans film, planned for 2019, has been taken off the release slate – at least temporarily. While this could put the production in doubt, it may just be a scheduling matter – the new Indiana Jones movie was scheduled to release just a week later which would have a Disney/Lucasfilm likely overshadowing a Disney/Marvel film. Plans are still in place for the movie, but they just don’t have a release window picked out yet.

I have seen the future – and it is changing.

What started out as a Syfy TV series remake of the Terry Gilliam movie of the same name, where a traveler from the future goes back to the present day in an attempt to stop the release of a deadly virus that wipes out most of humanity by a mysterious group called the Army of the 12 Monkeys, 12 Monkeys the series appears to be on the verge of bursting out of it’s original bubble.

Season 2, which starts tonight at 9/8c, shifts gears to place more focus on the time travel, and the consequences of altering the timeline. With James Cole (Aaron Standford) changing things at various points prior to the plague being released, those changes have repercussions on the future where Project Splinter and the time machine exist – and things are changing even for Katarina Jones (Barbara Sukowa), in rather unexpected ways. And lots of people want to control the time machine.

While all of this time-twisting is going to be hard to keep a head around, it does fortunately hold together enough for a compelling story for its characters. We will also learn more about the blue guys called the Messengers, and it looks like we’ll find out that some of the incoherent rambling of Jennifer Goines (Emily Hampshire) might have more meaning.

Witness the power of the Sorcerer Supreme in the first teaser for Marvel’s Doctor Strange starring Benedict Cumberbatch, in theaters November 4th!

Welsh actor Gareth Thomas, best known among genre fans as rebel leader Roj Blake in the BBC series Blake’s 7, passed away yesterday at the age of 71.

Thomas trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, after which he became an associate member. He made many television appearances, receiving two BAFTA nominations. He also appeared on stage in several Royal Shakespeare Company productions, including Twelfth Night and Othello, and many other productions, including 2010’s Desire Under the Elms.

On his Blake’s 7 role, he’s often said that he never watched an episode, and even left the show after the second season, apart from a couple of guest appearances. However, he would later turn back to the role in several Big Finish audio productions.

However, I remember him most from a role just prior to Blake – from a series called Star Maidens. While staying a few weeks with family in England I caught this series, and the memory of it stayed with me for a long time…you can read my Retro Review of the show from 2008.

Is this another step back to its roots when it covered more of the world of sci-fi fans? Syfy will invade the world’s largest pop culture convention this summer with Syfy Presents Live From Comic-Con, a three-night telecast directly from the heart of San Diego Comic-Con. The special – Syfy’s first-ever live broadcast from Comic-Con – will air on the network Thursday, July 21 through Saturday, July 23 at 8/7c.

Each night, Syfy Presents Live From Comic-Con will bring the Con’s non-stop action directly to viewers across the country, featuring celebrity interviews, breaking news and behind-the-scenes reports. The hosted live broadcast will highlight the biggest stars, top franchise reveals, panel news, exclusive sneak peeks of the hottest films, as well as audience interaction, games, party coverage and much more.

“For nearly two decades, Syfy has been a mainstay at Comic-Con,” said Chris McCumber, President, Entertainment Networks, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. “Each and every year, we can’t wait to get to San Diego to share our mutual fandom and passion for all things pop culture with our viewers. And this year, we’re thrilled to extend that immediate, first-hand access to those at home as well.”

“Our goal with Syfy Presents Live From Comic-Con is to give everyone the experience of being on the convention floor, at the events, or just walking through the frenzied streets of the Gaslamp District … with hundreds of thousands of their closest friends,” said Heather Olander, Senior Vice President, Alternative Series, Development and Production, Syfy.

In addition, starting Sunday, July 17, Syfy will kick off a Comic-Con celebration on-air, online and across its social media platforms, offering fans customized, exclusive content to fuel their excitement throughout the entire week. Syfy’S 7 Days Of Comic-Con will start Sunday, July 17 and continue through the 23rd.

Syfy Presents Live From Comic-Con is produced by Wilshire Studios, with Corin Nelson serving as executive producer/showrunner.

DC’s cinematic universe may have gotten off with a limp, given the critical response to Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, but with it still pulling in plenty of money Warner Bros. isn’t shying away from their superhero slate or their flagship characters.

BvS star Ben Affleck had a pitch for a standalone Batman movie he talked about last year, and Kevin Tsujihara, Warner Bros. chairman and CEO, confirmed today at CinemaCon that the movie will move ahead with Affleck’s movie, in which he will star and direct. “I’m also excited to know that we will be working with Ben Affleck on a stand-alone Batman movie,” Tsujihara said.

Affleck will also appear as the caped crusader in at least two other films already on the docket – Justice League Parts One and Two.

The current list of DC universe movies, in order of release, are:

Suicide Squad – Aug. 5, 2016
The Justice League Part One – Nov. 17, 2017
The Flash – March 16, 2018
Wonder Woman – June 2, 2017
Aquaman – July 27, 2018
Shazam! – April 5, 2019
Justice League Part Two – June 14, 2019
Cyborg – April 3, 2020
Green Lantern Corps – June 19, 2020

The trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was revealed by star Eddie Redmayne last night at the MTV Movie awards…

Opens November 18th!!

It appears there is something beyond the Edge Of Tomorrow…Deadline broke the news yesterday that Frankie and Alice writing duo Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse have been named for a sequel to the Tom Cruise sleeper hit, and that director Doug Liman would return to direct. Original writer Christopher McQuarrie would be involved in some capacity.

No details on any sort of plot were given, but it is expected for Cruise to reprise his role.

Edge Of Tomorrow is set during a time when aliens called Mimics have invaded and control continental Europe, while NATO’s forces struggle just to hold the line. It follows a relations officer Major William Cage (Cruise), who has no combat training, and after defying orders to cover a major assault against the Mimics, wakes up on a base demoted to private and assigned to a combat squad. During the assault, he is killed covered in alien blood – and then wakes up back at the base, reliving the same day. From then on, any time he is killed, he returns to that very moment.

He teams up with Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), a famous soldier who recognizes his abilities as she had the same ability, until she was injured and received a blood transfusion which removed it. The two through trial and error work on ways to defeat the Mimics, with any failure resulting in Cage’s death in order to reset time.

“I rebel.”

It’s here…the first official teaser for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – and now we see when it takes place…and some familiar characters, and not-so-familiar characters but familiar faces…

In theaters December 16th, 2016.

And also check out below the new Force for Change campaign announcement from Kathleen Kennedy and a staring-intensely Mark Hamill…