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Tag: TV News

  • Keeley Hawes Tapped to Co-Lead in ‘Orphan Black: Echoes’

    Keeley Hawes Tapped to Co-Lead in ‘Orphan Black: Echoes’

    Orphan Black: Echoes is continuing to paint a picture of the series it will develop into with the announcement that Keeley Hawes is set to co-star alongside Krysten Ritter in the series. This comes after the recent announcement that Amanda Fix and Avan Jogia will also be joining the cast in lead roles for the series. Echoes’ showrunner is Anna Fishko and she is working closely with director and executive producer John Fawcett, who is the co-creator of the original series. This show will serve as an offshoot of the AMC’s main Orphan Black and is currently set to premiere AMC+ in 2023.

    Orphan Black: Echoes is set in the near future of the Orphan Black universe with the themes of human manipulation through science being ever-prevalent. It will follow a group of women struggling with the mysteries of their identities that brings them to unexpected turns and surprises involving love and betrayal. It has been confirmed that this mysterious group of characters will include Krysten Ritter’s and Keeley Hawes’. For Hawes specifically, her character has been described as a scientist with a strong moral code that she must come face to face with due to an unforeseeable choice. 

    Keeley Hawes is best known for her BAFTA-nominated performances in Mrs. Wilson, Line of Duty, and Bodyguard, respectively. Most recently she has starred in the British sci-fi series The Midwich Cuckoos. While the actress has an extensive career in the world of television, it can be argued that this role has the potential to serve as her “big break” through being in a marquee franchise of Orphan Black.

    Source: Deadline

  • Michael Jackson Wanted to Play Morpheus in ‘The Sandman’

    Michael Jackson Wanted to Play Morpheus in ‘The Sandman’

    Michael Jackson is, without a doubt, one of the most famous people to ever live. Yet, with all his success, there also came a hefty amount of failure. The pop icon was best known for his career in music, but also famously attempted to make a name for himself in the world of acting. While Jackson did land a few roles during his lifetime, in films like The Wiz and Men in Black II, his on-screen filmography has quickly become more well-known for the projects he couldn’t make happen. Legend tells of numerous occasions when the Thriller star tried using his fame and fortune to cast himself as characters that creatives didn’t necessarily see as a good fit. This includes the time he thought of purchasing Marvel so he could wear Spider-Man’s mask, and when he told George Lucas he wanted to play Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

    Now, over a decade after Jackson‘s death, writer Neil Gaiman has revealed the singer also made a play for the lead role in an early attempt at adapting The Sandman. Speaking with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Gaiman explained that a live-action television series based on his acclaimed graphic novel was being developed in the late 1990’s, and Jackson wanted in:

    By 1996, I was being taken to Warners, where the then-president of Warner Bros sat me down and told me that Michael Jackson had phoned him the day before and asked him if he could star as Morpheus in ‘The Sandman’. So, there was a lot of interest in this, and they knew that it was one of the Crown Jewels, and what did I think? And I was like, ‘Ooh.’

    Neil Gaiman

    Obviously, this version of the show never came to fruition, and it would take almost another 30 years before The Sandman saw the light of day. Tom Sturridge would ultimately be the one to bring Morpheus, Dream of the Endless, to life on screen, as the series finally found a home on Netflix earlier this month. Jackson ending up away from the role might have been best for the project as well, as the musician was arrested on charges of child molestation only a few years after his bid for Morpheus ended. Despite an eventual acquittal, the accusations against him never quite went away, and a career in film and television went completely down the drain.

    The Sandman is now streaming on Netflix.

    Source: Variety

  • Ben Kingsley to Reprise Role of Trevor Slattery in ‘Wonder Man’

    Ben Kingsley to Reprise Role of Trevor Slattery in ‘Wonder Man’

    After serving as a surprise return in Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Ben Kingsley is officially slated to make another return to the character of Trevor Slattery in the future. The actor has been announced via Variety to be returning for the Disney+ series Wonder Man. Not much is currently known about what this series will entail, but his return is logical as Destin Daniel Cretton, the director of Shang-Chi, will serve as co-creator and executive producer on the series.

    The inclusion of Kingsley in this series plays into rumors that Wonder Man will serve as a satirical look into the Hollywood lifestyle. Being as Simon Williams is a character that has had comic experience as an actor and stuntman, it would make sense for him to interact with a character best known for his oblivious performance as the mysterious Mandarin in Iron Man 3. This plot thread was continued in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in being further established as a Shakespearean-esque actor caught in the high intensity of the plot. It is currently unknown how much of a role Kingsley will have in the series. Both Marvel Studios and Ben Kingsley‘s representation declined to comment on the story.

    The character of Simon Williams a.k.a. Wonder Man has a storied history within the lore of the Marvel Universe. Between being a nemesis for Tony Stark on the business and superheroics front, a member of the Masters of Evil, and ultimately a reformed member of the Avengers, there is a large swath of ground that Marvel Studios could choose to cover for a Wonder Man series. Though as mentioned above, the inclusion of Trevor Slattery lends credence that the Disney+ series will lean more towards his era as being based out of Hollywood.

    Wonder Man is set to have Andrew Guest of 30 Rock and Community fame serve as the head writer. Meanwhile, this series serves as part of Destin Daniel Cretton‘s overall deal with Marvel Studios that includes Wonder Man, the sequel to Shang-Chi, and his direction of 2025’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘House of the Dragon’s Viewership Grew With Episode 2

    ‘House of the Dragon’s Viewership Grew With Episode 2

    Now this isn’t something you see every day but it looks like the second episode of House of the Dragon has seen an increase from its processor. That isn’t something you usually see with ongoing TV shows; the norm is normally for them to start losing viewership as the season goes on. To top it off, the increase follows HBO and HBO Max’s biggest debut ever which stood at 10M. It even went on to grow to 20M according to the network.

    The difference isn’t a large one, as it’s a 2% increase from the premiere episode but it is still 10.2M viewers. To put that into comparison, the Game of Thrones premiere was at 4.2M back in 2011 and highlights just how big this franchise has become over time. It’s not quite close to the Season 8 viewership which stood at 17.9M when it first premiered but that was also after the show continued to build up momentum going into its final season.

    That did see a decrease down to 10.3M in its second episode. So, an actual increase shows that viewers are quite happy with House of the Dragon so far. It’ll actually be interesting to see if that viewership number continues to grow over time, especially once we near the season finale. The series has already received an early season 2 renewal which isn’t a surprise given just how large its debut was but no matter what, it looks like more Game of Thrones is a sure thing moving forward.

    Source: Variety

  • Marvel Studios Has a Supervisor for the MCU Timeline

    Marvel Studios Has a Supervisor for the MCU Timeline

    There’s an ongoing curiosity about what exactly the timeline looks like for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There was always the question of someone responsible for keeping an overview on how exactly every new entry fits into the timeline, especially with the newly added Disney+ series adding even more new heroes and possible timeline windows. Well, She-Hulk head writer Jessica Gao has revealed that they do have someone who keeps the timeline in check.

    In an interview with The Direct, Gao reveals that there is someone who is responsible for tracing the timeline of the MCU. It seems that they had to repeatedly check in with them to ensure where exactly their show takes place, which she reveals is a few years after Avengers. Endgame.

    It’s definitely after– post-Endgame. There actually is a Marvel person whose job it is to trace the timeline of everything. And we checked with him a lot about where the timing is. And so it’s like… the show is a few years after Endgame.

    Jessica Gao

    It’s definitely a curious reveal and great to know that Marvel Studios are keeping a close eye on how exactly these projects fit on their timeline. With the expansion into the multiverse, it seems their job must’ve gotten quite a bit more complicated but sadly it seems unlikely we’ll ever get to see it. Spider-Man director Jon Watts has also pointed out that he was presented with a scroll. Maybe one day we’ll get to see it as well.

    Source: The Direct

  • ‘Power Rangers’ 30th Season Will Be a Third ‘Dino Fury’ Season

    ‘Power Rangers’ 30th Season Will Be a Third ‘Dino Fury’ Season

    There are quite a few franchises that manage to stay relevant decades later. This year alone, many iconic franchises from across the world are celebrating their anniversaries, be it Persona, Final Fantasy, One Piece, and more. Yet, there’s one other big franchise that is getting ready for a massive shake-up as it hits its next milestone. Power Rangers is about to enter its 30th season soon and while the Netflix series is still in development, Hasbro has not forgotten the franchise that put it on the map. As such, they have revealed that the 30th season is in development and they are mixing things up.

    Unlike previous entries, the Power Rangers teams would get replaced after two seasons. Now, they have decided to keep the Dino Fury team together as they’ll return for a third season, which is now titled Power Rangers: Cosmic Fury. It marks the first time a team has remained for more than two seasons since Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Simon Bennett is also set to return as executive producer.

    It’s definitely great to see them give the team another go and who knows if it’ll end with a third season if they are following the original trajectory of the Mighty Morphin era. Perhaps this season acts as a tribute to the many storylines that came before, especially if they are including the wording “cosmic” in the name, perhaps we’ll get some Power Rangers In Space callbacks throughout or any other cosmic. Whatever they may include, it’s going to be exciting to see how it comes together.

    Source: Twitter

  • Hulu’s ‘Futurama’ Episode Titles Revealed, Teases Storylines and Returning Characters

    Hulu’s ‘Futurama’ Episode Titles Revealed, Teases Storylines and Returning Characters

    Futurama is back, baby! Well, at least again as Hulu has given the series another season exclusive for the streaming service. The former Fox series went through quite some growing pains when the voice of Bender, John DiMaggio, didn’t sign on yet to return but luckily things ended up working out contractually. So, the entire cast is set to reprise their iconic roles once again in the returning series.

    While we haven’t gotten many details on how they’ll approach the new season, especially with how the last season wrapped up, Hulu has shared the official episode titles. ScreenRant was able to share them with us and offered a little insight into what stories we might expect in the Hulu continuation.

    Check out the list of episodes right here:

    • “The Impossible Stream,”
    • “Rage Against The Vaccine,”
    • “Zapp Gets Cancelled,”
    • “The Prince And The Product,”
    • “Related To Items You’ve Viewed,”
    • “Children Of A Lesser Bog,”
    • “How The West Was 1010001,”
    • “I Know What You Did Last Xmas,”
    • “Parasites Regained,”
    • “All The Way Down.”

    The titles definitely tease the usual self-referential nature of the project. “The Impossible Stream” definitely sounds like they’ll play on the fact that the series returned through a streaming service while “Rage Against the Vaccine” will definitely talk about current issues that are raging. Zapp Brannigan’s episode also sounds quite timely and it’ll be interesting to revisit the character with a more updated perspective. It’ll definitely be fun to see what the team has cooked up for us.

    Source: ScreenRant

  • Alaqua Cox Has Wrapped Filming on ‘Echo’

    Alaqua Cox Has Wrapped Filming on ‘Echo’

    Late Friday night, Alaqua Cox took to her Instagram stories to share that production has officially wrapped on Echo. The actress shared a photo of her texting her late father in celebration of wrapping principal photography. She texted, “We just wrapped up Echo! I did it dad!!” She shared a screenshot of the text and added, “I know you’re so proud of me, dad. I love and miss you so much.” The actress lost her father in November 2021 and has been open with fans about her grieving process as she navigates headlining her own series.

    Filming on Echo kicked off back in April, with Cox once again using Instagram to share the news. The actress posted flowers she received from her co-star K. Devery Jacobs (Reservation Dogs) to celebrate the start of production. Marvel Studios would later confirm production had started by revealing some of the cast of the series and a still shortly thereafter.

    Echo, of course, is a spinoff from Hawkeye. Not only will Cox be returning as the titular hero, but she’ll be joined by Vincent D’Onofrio‘s Wilson Fisk, who we saw briefly in Hawkeye. Also joining her in the series will be Charlie Cox, who will be appearing as Matt Murdock/Daredevil.

    Echo is slated to hit Disney+ sometime next year. With production officially wrapped, perhaps we might hear about a proper release date during the Marvel Studios presentation at D23 next month.

  • Jack Quaid Says He Isn’t In ‘The Boys’ Spin-Off ‘Gen V’, Teases ‘The Boys’ Future 

    Jack Quaid Says He Isn’t In ‘The Boys’ Spin-Off ‘Gen V’, Teases ‘The Boys’ Future 

    The Boys, Amazon’s massively popular antihero series, is about to begin filming it’s fourth season. Returning for another round of violence and chaos is star Jack Quaid, who has grown to prominence on the show playing the timid-turned-tenacious vengeance seeker Hughie Campbell. The end of the third season left Quaid’s character in a unique place, with Hughie now recovering from the effects of using an experimental temporary “V” – a drug that grants people superpowers – and working to make amends with his romantic partner – Erin Moriarty’s Starlight. With so much to do in The Boys’ next season, it doesn’t seem like Campbell would have much time to appear anywhere else in the franchise, and according to Quaid, he really won’t be.

    Speaking exclusively with Variety, the former Hunger Games actor was asked if fans should expect to see Hughie cameo in The Boys’ upcoming spin-off, Gen V. Set concurrently with the flagship series, Gen V follows a group of young college-age “Supes” as they attend the Godolkin University School of Crimefighting and are tested in deadly challenges. Last month, series creator Eric Kripke teased that the two shows would feature crossovers, but Quaid says he hasn’t yet been involved in Gen V in any capacity. However, he did spend an afternoon with the spin-off project’s cast in a pretty endearing way. Answering the question, he explained:

    Not at this point. I haven’t really talked about that with anyone, but I’d love to be. I actually can talk about this now, because it was happening when I was shooting “Strange New Worlds” in Toronto, and that was just as the cast of “Gen V” was starting production. So I took them all out to brunch one day. I got to know a bunch of them. They’re awesome. They’re so talented. They’re so cool. I can’t wait for that show to come out. I wish them all the best. They’re gonna knock it out of the park.

    Jack Quaid

    Before he left, Quaid fielded one final question. While his character successfully avoided a lethal dosage of the “Temp V”, his partner-in-crime Billy Butcher, played by Karl Urban, wasn’t so lucky. In the third season finale, Butcher learns he only has a year left to live, something he hides from his companions. When asked how Hughie will respond when he finds out, Quaid said:

    Man, I mean, we’re gonna have to find out, but it’s not gonna be good. Butcher is like his best friend and an older brother. So that’s pretty devastating news, when Hughie finds out but we’re just going to have to wait and see how that plays out. I haven’t read all the scripts for Season 4 yet. I don’t really know, actually. This is my time to be a fan and just kind of let things come to me and react to them genuinely as I’m reading them. But I was really happy with the way the writers teed everything up for this next season.

    Jack Quaid

    Neither The Boys’ fourth season nor Gen V, previously titled The Boys Presents: Varsity, have a current release date. The former has just begun production in Toronto, while the latter has been filming for most of the past year.

    Source: Variety

  • Netflix Eyeing Scrapped ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ Animated Series

    Netflix Eyeing Scrapped ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ Animated Series

    Some good DC news after a slew of bad ones all month; there is hope for the scrapped Bruce Timm/Matt Reeves animated Batman series, Batman: Caped Crusader, as multiple streaming services are looking to acquiring the show. Netflix, Hulu, and Apple+ are among the few streamers interested.

    This report comes after the massive culling over at WB/Discovery as CEO David Zaslav scrapped, outright canceled, and delayed multiple projects on deck. Batman: Caped Crusader was one of the upcoming projects removed from HBOMax with the hopes of being shopped elsewhere. The studio believes that a buyout of such a project will net them more profits than if they aired it themselves.

    Source: THR