NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 049: "The Husbands of River Song" is Up!

"Oh…my…GOD!  Hah, it’s bigger!  On the inside!  Than it is!  Out the outside!  My entire understanding of physical space has been TRANSFORMED!  Three-dimensional Euclidian geometry has been torn up, thrown in the air, and snogged to death!  My grasp of the universal constants of physical reality has been changed…forever.  Sorry, I’ve always wanted to see that done properly."

-- The Twelfth Doctor, Doctor Who: "The Husbands of River Song"

We know, we've been slacking for the holidays, but my good friend and co-host Jesse Jackson and I are back with our final 2015 episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!

This time, Jesse and I discuss things like one of my Twitter posts appearing in a commercial for the upcoming BBC America special Doctor's Notes, Jesse's Bourbon Bowl, Jesse's friend Brandon rocking an officially official Next Stop Everywhere t-shirt, Steven Moffat's final story (or is it...?), running down the River Song episode timeline, River Song as a "Mary Sue," wondering why River doesn't figure out who the Twelfth Doctor is earlier, wondering if the amount of comedy was appropriate, the Twelfth Doctor's chemistry with River, whether we've seen the last of River Song, my Reverse the Polarity segment, explaining the difference between Oswin as a Dalek vs. Clara inside a Dalek, our post Series Nine plans for 2016, and more!

And for those who still aren't aware of this yet, we're available on iTunes RIGHT HERE as well as Stitcher RIGHT HERE, so please subscribe and tell your friends about us. If you're looking for direct MP3 downloads, you can find them RIGHT HERE as well. Oh, and don't forget we have an officially official Next Stop Everywhere Facebook page and Twitter account, so be sure to Like and/or Follow us, okay?

And hey, if you'd like to pick up the officially official Next Stop Everywhere t-shirt, you can find it on TeePublic right HERE!  Help support the show!

Be sure to come back soon for Episode 50, featuring our review of the 50th anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor," and look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

THE FANDOM ZONE 039: "AKA The Sandwich Saved Me" is Up!

"Jewel is a great superhero name!"
"Jewel is a stripper's name.  A really slutty stripper.  And if I wear that thing, you're going to have to call me Camel Toe." 

-- Patricia "Trish" Walker & Jessica Jones, Jessica Jones: "AKA The Sandwich Saved Me"

You guessed it, Karen Lindsay and I are back with another episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Jessica Jones 1x05 -- "AKA The Sandwich Saved Me"
Jessica Jones 1x06 -- "AKA You're a Winner!"

We talk about things like Karen's new John Constantine action figure, Karen abandoning her one Jessica Jones episode per week restraint, Karen's World of Warcraft marathon, Jessica Jones in Office Space, Officer Simpson being an ass and an asset, Jessica's first meeting with Kilgrave the Purple Man, Kilgrave being anal-retentive about his photos, playing poker with Kilgrave, luring criminals with prizes, watching the trainwreck of Luke and Jessica, Kilgrave going house shopping, comparing Daredevil with Jessica Jones, some new Justina feedback, my review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

And hey, if you're interested in an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt, you can get those on TeePublic HERE as well!

Be sure to come back next week as we review the seventh and eighth episodes of Jessica Jones, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

First Official Photos of Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange

The Doctor will see you now.

Entertainment Weekly has revealed the first official photos of Benedict Cumberbatch as Marvel Comics' sorcerer supreme, Doctor Strange, in the upcoming film by Scott Derrickson.

In their upcoming January 8/January 15, 2016 issue, EW features Cumberbatch on the cover and gives us our first look at the film's characters and psychedelic effects that made the original Doctor Strange comics by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko so memorable.  Here are the photos revealed so far...

Doctor Strange is scheduled to arrive in theaters on November 4, 2016.

Matt Letscher Returning to THE FLASH as the Reverse-Flash

The Reverse-Flash is coming back...but from which Earth?

Entertainment Weekly revealed yesterday that Matt Letscher will reprise his role as the original Eobard Thawne, better known as the Reverse-Flash, in an upcoming episode of The Flash.

Titled "The Reverse-Flash Returns," the episode will be written by Aaron and Todd Helbing, who wrote the spectacular Season One episode "The Man in the Yellow Suit."  According to Todd, the Reverse-Flash's "impossible return to Central City puts a member of the S.T.A.R. Labs team in unexpected danger, forcing Barry to make a life-changing decision."

Hailing from the future and claiming to be born in the year 2151, Eobard was somehow able to gain access to the Speed Force and became an evil speedster known as the Reverse-Flash.  The Reverse-Flash traveled back in time to a period when the Flash was still alive and formed a bitter grudge against the hero as his archenemy.  For a long time, neither one of them was strong enough to defeat the other, clashing time and time again with neither speedster ever winning.  Eventually, Eobard learned the Flash's secret identity of Barry Allen, and traveled back to the year 2000 to kill his nemesis as a child.  

But when the Flash followed the Reverse-Flash back in time and brought the younger self to safety, an angered Reverse-Flash murdered Nora Allen and framed Henry Allen instead, hoping that a childhood tragedy would traumatize Barry so he wouldn't become the Flash. However, the Reverse-Flash somehow lost his connection to the Speed Force, leaving Thawne unable to travel back to his time.  He then killed and impersonated Dr. Harrison Wells via a genetic modification device, knowing that the scientist was responsible for giving the Flash his powers in the year 2020.  Fifteen years later, Eobard (as Wells) founded S.T.A.R. Labs and created a particle accelerator with Catlin Snow and Cisco Ramon.  As planned, the particle accelerator exploded, killing civilians and creating metahumans as well as achieving Barry Allen's destiny seven years earlier.

Eventually having his true identity revealed, Eobard assisted Barry in traveling back in time to save Nora and Henry in exchange for a time machine to return to his own time once the Speed Force wormhole was open.  However, Barry chose to not save his mother and returned to destroy Eobard's time machine, enraging the villain and leaving the two speedsters fighting each other.  After a brutal fight, the Reverse-Flash once again overpowered the Flash and prepared for the kill, but Eobard's ancestor Eddie Thawne heroically sacrificed himself, causing Eobard to be erased from existence.

Letscher is shown as the Reverse-Flash in a brief 20-second promo for the second half of Season Two, which also features Danielle Panabaker as Killer Frost and Earth-2 versions of Barry Allen and Iris West.  If you'd like to check out the promo, you can view it below thanks to Television Promos on YouTube...



The Flash returns to The CW for the second half of Season Two on Tuesday, January 19, 2016.

THE FANDOM ZONE 038: "Hostile Takeover" is Up!

"Kara, this is war, and to win a war, sometimes the enemy has to die.  But can you look me in the eye and tell me that you're prepared to kill?"
"Superman doesn't kill."
-- Alex Danvers & Supergirl, Supergirl: "Hostile Takeover"

You guessed it, Karen Lindsay and I are back with another episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Jessica Jones 1x04 -- "AKA 99 Friends"
Supergirl 1x08 --"Hostile Takeover"

We talk about things like the new Lucifer comic book series from DC Comics/VERTIGO, Jessica's door metaphor, Jessica catching heat for the Avengers, the Marvel event Civil War, the TV show Friends, Karen's love of beards, the Kilgrave support group, Winn's totally unrealistic magnetic hacking chip, my love of the DC Comics series Starman by James Robinson, speculating on whether Winn will eventually become the Toyman, Karen flipping from Team Ward to Team Hunter, improvements on the Supergirl fight sequences, the Kevin J. Anderson novel The Last Days of Krypton, Kara uses heat vision on a hologram, wondering where Astra hid her communicator device while imprisoned by the DEO, the sudden creative decision to make Hank Henshaw a surprise, some new Justina feedback, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

And hey, if you're interested in an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt, you can get those on TeePublic HERE as well!

Be sure to come back next week as we review the fifth and sixth episodes of Jessica Jones, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

DAMN Good Movies -- STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS

There has been an awakening.

You guessed it, it's time once again for another of my movie takes, this time on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the latest in the Star Wars film series.  As always, if you haven't seen the movie yet and you don't want it spoiled for you, then please step back from your computer or whatever electronic device you're reading this on and stop reading now.  If, however, you're wise enough to know that movie reviews with spoilers are always more interesting than the ones without them...well...May the Force be with you...

In October 2012, Star Wars creator George Lucas did the unthinkable by selling his production company Lucasfilm, and more importantly the Star Wars franchise, to The Walt Disney Company.  It was a move that rocked Star Wars fandom, or actually, woke it up from its traumatized, self-imposed coma, after Lucas' prequel trilogy that started so horribly with The Phantom Menace in 1999, only to improve slightly with each successive film.

With the announcement that Lucas would only serve as a creative consultant on Episode VII, hope returned as names of possible directors included David Fincher, Brad Bird and Guillermo del Toro.  J.J. Abrams ended up with the gig, setting a firestorm of interwebz rants from so-called "fans" that loathed him for rebooting Star Trek into a mainstream (and yes, more commercially successful) franchise.  Michael Arndt's script became the victim of "creative differences" that saw him replaced with Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi writer Lawrence Kasdan along with Abrams, when the film's direction shifted toward blending the return of classic characters Luke, Leia and Han with the next generation of heroes.  Over time, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill were announced as returning, along with Harrison Ford -- somehow -- after decades of grumpiness that Han Solo was a one-note character that failed to interest him.

The film opens roughly thirty years after the events of Return of the Jedi, with Luke Skywalker missing and a rebranded Empire now calling itself the First Order, opposed by General Leia Organa and her New Republic military force called the Resistance.  As John Williams re-energized score covers us like a comfy fleece blanket, the action centers around the new desert planet Jakku.  Resistance pilot Poe Dameron meets with village elder Lor San Tekka (Max Von Sydow) get a map to Luke's location, but Stormtroopers under the command of Darth Vader wannabe Kylo Ren destroy the village and capture Poe.  Poe's droid BB-8 takes off into the desert with the map, coming across a scavenger named Rey at a junkyard settlement.  Stormtrooper FN-2187, unable to kill for the First Order, frees Poe and they escape in a stolen TIE fighter, as Poe decides FN-2187 is a pretty craptastic name and dubs him "Finn" instead.  They crash on Jakku and Finn appears to be the only survivor.  He encounters Rey and BB-8, but the First Order tracks them and launches an airstrike. Desperate to escape, the three come across an old hunk of junk spaceship, which --Surprise! -- turns out to be the Millennium Falcon.

So, right off the bat, we're introduced to our new central characters, all of whom are instantly likeable, and thrust into an exciting desert junkyard battle sequence.  Early on, we learn that Rey is more than just a simple scavenger, as her impressive technological and piloting skills remind us of two other young heroes from 1977 and 1999.  She, Finn and BB-8 are soon stranded in space, however, setting up the long-awaited meeting of two generations as Han Solo and Chewbacca reclaim their old ship.

Some exposition from Han follows, explaining that Luke went into self-imposed exile after one of his Jedi apprentices flipped to the Dark Side and destroyed his new Jedi order.  The story soon shifts to the planet Takodana, where we're introduced to Maz Kanata, who's able to hook BB-8 up with the Resistance and also just happens to have the blue lightsaber that belonged to Luke and his father Anakin before him.  How Maz ended up with Luke's lightsaber after his hand was chopped off in Empire remains a mystery (for now), but it seems to call to Rey, giving her disturbing visions that understandably freak her out and send her running into the woods outside.

Things escalate quickly as we learn the First Order has a new planet-sized superweapon called Starkiller Base (Starkiller, Death Star...Get it?) that can take out multiple planets at a time.  If it feels like a lot of this is familiar, that's because it is -- deliberately.  Abrams opts for a "back to basics" approach with his film, taking story elements he loved from the original Star Wars, shuffling them around, and giving them a fresh coat of paint.  This is his love letter to the saga, which some may dismiss as mere fan service, but ultimately serves to reassure everyone that Star Wars is Star Wars once again.

As Rey awakens to her strong connection with the Force while being held on Starkiller Base, the Resistance comes up with a plan to destroy the planetary shield so that Poe's squadron can attack.  This leads to a confrontation between Han and Kylo Ren, whom we find out is actually Han and Leia's son, Ben Solo.  It's here that Harrison Ford gets his fondest wish at long last, as Han is killed by his son while trying to turn him away from the Dark Side.  With Kylo Ren's internal conflict seemingly resolved (for now), it's now up to Finn and Rey to stop him.

Finn battles Ren, using Luke's lightsaber as teased in the trailers, only to end up gravely wounded.  And as we suspected, it's Rey who steps up to the plate to claim her destiny, taking Luke's lightsaber at last as John Williams' Skywalker theme brings a smile to longtime fans in the process.  Just as Rey gets the upper hand, however, the battle is interrupted by a large fissure and the awkward realization that they're standing on a planet that's about to go kablooey.  

And then, it's time to set up Episode VIII.  Han is mourned, R2-D2 wakes up just in time to reveal where Luke's been hiding out, Chewbacca allows Rey to take Han's place inside the Falcon's cockpit, and we're off to an island on a distant planet.  Rey climbs the steps of a Jedi temple and finds Luke, now looking like Sir Alec Guinness as Ben Kenobi.  Offering Luke his old lightsaber, Rey extends her arm...and waits...and waits...

...for two years, apparently, until we finally return for the sequel.

So what about the performances from the cast and the characters they portrayed? Well, as you might expect, I have a few thoughts...

REY -- Daisy Ridley is going to become a star.  As lead character Rey, she's intelligent, resourceful, charismatic, and strong in the Force.  You can forget about all that poodoo from Max Landis dismissing Rey as a "Mary Sue," because she has flaws (her initial fear of Luke's lightsaber, abandonment issues, etc.) and still manages to overcome them like any good hero.  And yes, it seems more than likely that Rey is a Skywalker, although whether she's Luke daughter or someone else entirely remains to be seen.  I can't wait to see where Rey's hero's journey takes her next.

FINN/FN-2187 -- As Rey's partner in crime, or perhaps the Ron Weasley to her Harry Potter, John Boyega is entertaining and often intriguing as Finn.  We still don't know the reason why his First Order "conditioning" failed to take hold, or why he had no actual name prior to meeting Poe.  After he recovers from the severe back injury at the hands of Kylo Ren (or rather, his lightsaber), I'm curious as to how his friendship with Rey will change once she returns from Jedi Training Camp.

BB-8 -- Man, what a home run they hit with BB-8.  This electronic soccer ball has all the charm R2-D2 had in the original Star Wars, without feeling like a cheap knockoff.  And most importantly, he/she/it/whatever feels like an actual character.  If you weren't sold on this little droid when he was first appeared on screen with Poe Dameron, that moment where BB-8 give Finn a "thumbs up" by quickly flashing his concealed blowtorch widget definitely had you.

KYLO REN/BEN SOLO -- Adam Driver, please keep your mask on.  No, really.  I get that Abrams and Kasdan wanted to show that Ren wasn't just a straight Darth Vader clone by having him remove his helmet at various times, but all it did was remind me of how Driver looks absolutely nothing like Harrison Ford or Carrie Fisher.  And while his murder of Daddy Solo locked in his Dark Side status (at least until Episode IX), does this finally complete his training for Snoke or is there something worse to come?

HAN SOLO -- Speaking of Han, ol' Captain Grumpy Harrison Ford finally got his wish, didn't he?  As soon as Han and Chewie parted ways to plant the detonators, I pretty much guessed that Han was going to meet his end, and sure enough, it happened.  On the bright side, at least we got to see Han and Chewie in action together one last time, and there was enough closure with Leia even though they never got the happy ending they deserved.

CHEWBACCA -- Bad knees and all, it was lovely to have Peter Mayhew return as Chewie. His dismissal of Han being a war hero, telling his sob story to the medical aide treating his wounded shoulder, and best of all, his subtle acceptance of Rey as Han's successor aboard the Falcon helped make this movie work.

GENERAL LEIA ORGANA -- Carrie Fisher was kept pretty much to extended cameos as Leia, and maybe that was a good thing.  It felt disheartening to see how sad and lonely this sassy princess became after thirty years and her separation from Han, but it felt more real to know that she became more comfortable with Resistance work than fancy diplomatic missions.  But will she play a important role in her son's eventual redemption?

C-3PO -- Anthony Daniels was also relegated to extended cameos, but you had to laugh at his abrupt interruption of Han and Leia's reunion by yammering on about his red arm.  And what the hell is up with that red arm, anyway?

POE DAMERON -- I gather Oscar Isaac's character Poe was originally intended to be killed off, but I'm glad that decision was reversed.  If Kylo Ren is the son of Han and Leia, Poe almost feels like the son of Han and Wedge Antilles.  His bromance with Finn was fun to watch, but I'm not entirely sold on his sudden return to the Resistance after being presumed killed on Jakku.  What if Poe endured some First Order conditioning prior to his return, hmmm?

MAZ KANATA -- Lupita Nyong'o is unrecognizable as the voice and MoCap of thousand-year-old pirate Maz, coming off like this trilogy's Yoda in all the right ways.  Her introduction in the Cantinaesque scene on Takodana complements her character perfectly, as she teases future mysteries while getting Rey closer to her true path.  The big mystery, of course, is what happened with her and Chewie that she considers him her "boyfriend"?

GENERAL HUX -- Domhnall Gleeson fulfills the Aryan Brotherhood role well as the leader of the First Order soldiers.  He comes off just as arrogant and pompous as Tarkin did back in the day, but savvy enough to know when hit the eject button before things go boom.

SUPREME LEADER SNOKE -- As the new Emperor Palpatine, Andy Serkis is also unrecognizable as the voice and MoCap of Snoke.  It seems unlikely that the ginormous hologram shown in this film is the character's actual size, and really, how hilarious would it be if Snoke turns out to be just three or four feet tall?  Snoke has his work cut out if he wants to be as memorable as Palpatine though, so we'll see what he's got up his holographic sleeve next.

CAPTAIN PHASMA -- If I continue to do comparisons to original trilogy characters, Gwendoline Christie's Phasma has to be Boba Fett.  She's cool to look at, has minimal screen time, never takes her mask off, doesn't say a whole lot, and doesn't really do much of anything.  Providing she survived her time in the Starkiller trash compactor, I wonder where or if we'll see her again.  

R2-D2 CAMEO -- Original gangsta droid Artoo spent most of the film out of commission under a blanket until he's needed to play deus ex machina and reveal where Luke's been hiding out all this time.  At least Artoo left with Rey and Chewie to get Luke, so I'm guessing he has a far larger part in Episode VIII.

LUKE SKYWALKER CAMEO -- One thing that surprised me was how little screen time Mark Hamill got, maybe a couple of minutes at the very end.  Sure, he was missing from most of the trailers, but I thought his return would factor in about halfway through so we could see Luke, Leia and Han together again.  And if Luke has finally completed his character arc to become the new Obi-Wan, that certainly doesn't bode well for his fate in Episode VIII.

All in all, Star Wars: The Force Awakens actually lives up to the insane amount of advance hype.  After the prequels by George Lucas mostly disappointed, this film needed to reassure original trilogy fans that the saga could continue, while giving a new generation of fans the same thrill my generation got back in 1977.  Most important of all though, we're actually looking forward to the next Star Wars film, instead of dreading it.  And thankfully, Episode VIII is only two years away...

And for those who may be wondering, here's my ranking of Star Wars films:

1. Star Wars (1977)
2. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
4. Return of the Jedi (1983)
5. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
6. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
7. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)

Your friendly neighborhood movie reviewer,

Charles

TWIN PEAKS Production Trailer Teases the Return of BOB

Wow, BOB, wow.

As Peaks Freaks anxiously await the long-awaited revival of Twin Peaks on Showtime, the series has provided a brief production teaser that emphasizes the importance of the show's location, and hints at the return of its most dangerous villain.

"Location sometimes becomes a character," says narrator Michael Horse (who played Deputy Hawk on the original series) as we see an impressive assortment of Pacific Northwestern imagery while the familar theme music from Angelo Badalamenti plays. "There's a lot of holy places up here, a lot of sacred places.  I can’t put my finger on how I would describe it.  It just touches something in the psyche."

"It’s almost like being in a moving painting," remarks Horse as we get our first look at the iconic Twin Peaks town sign.

And then, the serenity of the moment is abruptly lost as blurred, fleeting images of what appears to be Ray Wise as Leland Palmer...or more likely now, the Black Lodge demon known as BOB.

If you'd like to check out the 50-second teaser, you can view it below thanks to the official Twin Peaks account on YouTube...



Twin Peaks returns for Season 3 on Showtime sometime in 2017.

THE FANDOM ZONE 037: "Dark Waters" is Up!

"Honestly, Oliver...It's even easier to break in here than it was at your last lair."
-- Malcolm Merlyn, Arrow: "Dark Waters"

You guessed it, Karen Lindsay and I are back with another HUGE episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Jessica Jones 1x03 -- "AKA It's Called Whiskey"
Supergirl 1x07 --"Human for a Day"
The Flash 2x09 -- "Running to Stand Still"
iZombie 2x09 -- "Cape Town"
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3x10 -- "Maveth"
Arrow 2x09 -- "Dark Waters"

We talk about things like Jacques from Finding Nemo, Jessica and Luke having lots of superhero sex, people not taking Kilgrave the Purple Man more seriously, having your own creepy stalker room filled with photographs, wondering why Supergirl doesn't lay out in the sun to recharge her solar-powered abilities, the truly outrageous Jemm, that big Martian Manhunter revelation, Karen inventing the word "sleem," the increasingly annoying Winn, Mark Hamill being awesome once again as the Trickster, Captain Cold having cocoa without marshmallows, Phoenix Jones and the Rain City Superhero Movement, Ward on the blue filter planet, another rant on the pointless Arrow flashbacks, Mama Smoak finding Oliver's engagement ring, Damien Darhk in a cornfield, Oliver's On Her Majesty's Secret Service moment, one-year warranties on TV purchases, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

And hey, if you're interested in an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt, you can get those on TeePublic HERE as well!

Be sure to come back next week as we review the fourth episode of Jessica Jones, along with the midseason finale of Supergirl, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 048: "Hell Bent" is Up!

"Is this a story or did it really happen?"
"Everything ever told really happened.  Stories are where memories go when they’re forgotten."

-- Clara Oswald and the Twelfth Doctor, Doctor Who: "Hell Bent"

After our first attempt at recording ended up corrupted (Shakes fist at Skype), my good friend and co-host Jesse Jackson are back with another episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!

This time, Jesse and I discuss things like our first attempt to record "Hell Bent" becoming corrupted, our mutual Skype frustration, Gallifrey being found at the end of time, why the Doctor has not lived 4.5 billion years as a result of the Confession Dial trap, wondering if the Doctor has more than twelve remaining regenerations, some background on ol' Rassilon, the Doctor's dick move of shooting The General, some background on the Gallifreyans living in the Dry Lands, why the War Doctor needed to forget that Gallifrey survived the Time War, feeling bad for a Dalek, some background on the Cloister Room, Rassilon's soldiers respecting the Doctor more than Rassilon, the Doctor realizing he and Clara aren't good for each other, why the Doctor tried to save Clara from death and not Adric, Ashildr's restaurant at the end of the universe, the TARDIS' default setting, that moment of fear that the Twelfth Doctor was going to regenerate, Clara playing fast and loose with the Doctor's timeline, the four knocks for the Doctor, my Reverse the Polarity segment, and more!

And for those who still aren't aware of this yet, we're available on iTunes RIGHT HERE as well as Stitcher RIGHT HERE, so please subscribe and tell your friends about us. If you're looking for direct MP3 downloads, you can find them RIGHT HERE as well. Oh, and don't forget we have an officially official Next Stop Everywhere Facebook page and Twitter account, so be sure to Like and/or Follow us, okay?

And hey, if you'd like to pick up the officially official Next Stop Everywhere t-shirt, you can find it on TeePublic right HERE!  Help support the show!

Be sure to come back soon for our review of the 2015 Christmas special "The Husbands of River Song," and look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

First X-MEN: APOCALYPSE Trailer Teases The Four Horsemen

The Apocalypse is almost nigh.

20th Century Fox has revealed the first official trailer for the latest X-Men film from director Bryan Singer, X-Men: Apocalypse.  Since the dawn of civilization, Apocalypse, the first and most powerful mutant from Marvel’s X-Men universe, was worshiped as a god and amassed the powers of many other mutants, becoming immortal and invincible.  Upon awakening after thousands of years, he is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto (Michael Fassbender), to cleanse mankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign.  As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) with the help of Professor X (James McAvoy) must lead a team of young X-Men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction.

The two-minute, thirty second trailer opens with young Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) waking up from a nightmare of apocalyptic visions.  "I saw the end of the world," she says to Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy).  "I could feel all this death."

"Jean, it was just a dream," Xavier reassures her.

The song "The Hunted" by Snow Ghosts begins to play, as we're introduced to Apocalypse himself (Oscar Isaac).  "I've been called many things over many lifetimes," he begins in a voiceover.  "Ra, Krishna, Yahweh..."

The scene abruptly shifts to CIA headquarters, as we get the return of Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert.  "Ever since the world found out about mutants," she says to Xavier and Havok (Lucas Till), "there have been secret societies who see them as some kind of second coming or a sign of God.  They believe that tens of thousands of years ago, an ancient being was born, the world's first --"

"Mutant," finishes Xavier as he realizes the implication.

"You are all my children," Apocalypse remarks in a voiceover as we see fleeting images of the various X-Men.  "And you're lost, because you follow blind leaders.  But I am here now." Apocalypse steps into view and removes his hood.  "I am here...for you."

"Wherever this being was," continues Moira, "he always had four followers he would imbue with power."  We see images of Apocalyse's Four Horsemen -- Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Archangel (Ben Hardy), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), and Magneto (Michael Fassbender).

"Like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," Havok remarks, making the obvious reference.  "He got that one from the Bible."

"Or the Bible got it from him," Moira replies.

We see Xavier using Cerebro, remarking to Beast (Nicholas Hault), "Oh, God.  He can control all of us."

Apocalypse and his Horsemen show up in the X-Mansion's underground level, as Magneto uses his powers to levitate Xavier in his wheelchair across the corridor away from the X-Men.

"The world needs the X-Men," Beast says to Mystique.  "That's why I'm here," she replies. "To fight."

We see the X-Men suited up in new grey and black armored uniforms that look less 1980s and more like the suits from the movie G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.  "Not all of us can control our powers," Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) remarks to Mystique.

"Then don't," she replies.  "This is war."

Fleeting glimpses of Xavier facing off against a giant-sized Apocalypse follow.  "Everything they built will fall!" shouts Apocalypse in a voiceover and we see Quicksilver (Evan Peters) running at super-speed, Archangel spreading his metallic wings and firing their blades as weapons, Storm calling down lightning, and Magneto creating a maelstrom of metallic debris.  "And from the ashes of their world, we'll build a better one!" he continues, as all kinds of destruction takes place in 1980s New York City.

"I've never felt power like this before," Xavier remarks as he continues to use Cerebro.  

Lastly, we see Xavier appear dramatically from behind closed doors, now with his traditional bald head and looking exactly as a younger version of Patrick Stewart from the original X-Men film.  

If you'd like to check out the trailer, you can view it below thanks to 20th Century Fox's official YouTube account...




X-Men: Apocalypse is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 27, 2016.

THE FANDOM ZONE 036: "Legends of Today" is Up!

"It's just -- the rules keep changing.  One day I have to run through time, the next I'm fighting a telepathic gorilla, and now we're what?  We're chasing down an immortal madman on a rampage against a reincarnated warrior priestess?  I just never thought I had superpowers and feel more powerless than I ever have in my entire life."

"That part I understand."

-- Barry Allen and Oliver Queen, The Flash: "Legends of Today"

You guessed it, Karen Lindsay and I are back with another HUGE episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Jessica Jones 1x02 -- "AKA Crush Syndrome"
The Walking Dead 6x08 -- "Start to Finish"
Gotham 2x11 -- "Worse Than a Crime"
Supergirl 1x06 --"Red Faced"
The Flash 2x08 -- "Legends of Today"
Arrow 2x08 -- "Legends of Yesterday"
iZombie 2x08 -- "The Hurt Stalker"
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3x09 -- "Closure"

We talk about things like me getting my new Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt, the silliness of "midseason finales," Morgan and Carol at the debate podium, Eugene's skill set, Jason Alexander's hair game, loving Lil' Asskicker, Jessie enabling Sam, Flowers in the Attic, Alfred in a refrigerator, Gordon and The Penguin lounging on a couch eating Cheetos, teasing Professor Hugo Strange, Leslie being pregnant with James Gordon, Jr., Red Tornado looking like a Power Rangers villain, Sam Lane being a one-note jerk, Grant Ward's mutant superpower to snipe someone from a ridiculously far distance, Coulson going all Greg Louganis, Liv's annoying jail roomate, Gilda sexting Major, Felicity domesticating Oliver, wondering why there aren't two Barry Allens after his traveling through time, Malcolm Merlyn using a Dustbuster on Vandal Savage, Jessica's creepy and annoying neighbors, Kilgrave the Purple Man mind controlling his kidneys, another weekly review from Justina, Season 2 of Powers, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

And hey, if you're interested in an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt, you can get those on TeePublic HERE as well!

Be sure to come back next week as we review the third episode of Jessica Jones, along with new episodes of Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, iZombie, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

POWERS Season 2 Trailer Asks "Who Killed Retro Girl?"

Who killed Retro Girl?

The PlayStation original series Powers has released the first official trailer for the show's upcoming second season, following up on the events of the Season 1 finale that revealed the murder of Retro Girl (Michelle Forbes).

The one-minute, forty-five second trailer opens with Mayor Victor Robles speaking at a press conference about Retro Girl's death, which threatens to send the city into chaos.  "The world has been dealt a devastating blow," he begins as we see Retro Girl's corpse positioned on a white tarp with the words Kaotic Chic written in graffiti spraypaint, "Retro Girl has been murdered.  The city of Los Angeles will spare no expense in bringing those responsible to justice."

Christian Walker (Sharlto Copley) naturally doesn't take the news well, kicking over a chair and throwing it around before breaking down and crying.

"Dig into the case, see how far this goes," orders Walker's boss Captain Emile Cross (Adam Godley).  "You do whatever you need to do."

A riot appears to break out among pro and anti-Powers protestors, and a local news anchor warns that with Retro Girl no longer protecting the city, Powers are now free to rampage the streets.

Calista Secor (Olesya Rulin) goes to visit her estranged father, played by William Mapother, and then uses her new abilities to hurl him dozens of feet into the air.

"This is bigger than we ever imagined," Walker remarks to Cross and his partner Deena Pilgrim (Susan Heyward).

"Kids, we have our new Retro Girl!" bellows Wil Wheaton as Calista takes over for her deceased idol and suits up in costume.  

"Bad things are gonna start happening," Walker says to Michael Madsen.  "We could use SuperShock more than ever."

We then see Walker getting busy with Tricia Helfer as FBI Agent Lange.  "Is there a problem?" asks Walker.  "Actually a big problem," Lange replies, "ever since you became a suspect."

When Walker threatens to hit Lange's superpowered partner, she quips, "That's the Christian Walker I used to know, always thinking fist first."

The city descends into chaos, with Lange telling Walker, "It's open season on Powers worldwide."

"Here comes a full-blown Powers gang war?" asks Pilgrim.

We then see Madsen in costume as SuperShock, telling a rioting crowd, "This...must...STOP!"

Finally, we see Walker getting the drop on a teenaged girl, who warns "Please!  We have to go!  He's coming!"

Walker asks "Who?" and we see a sinister figure in a black fedora and overcoat, touching a lamppost and curling it over as a car explodes.

If you'd like to check out the trailer, you can view it below thanks to the official PlayStation account on YouTube...




Powers returns to The PlayStation Network for Season 2 sometime in 2016.

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 047: "Heaven Sent" is Up!

"If you think because she’s dead I’m weak, then you understand very little.  If you were any part of killing her and you’re not afraid, then you understand nothing at all.  So for your own sake, understand this -- I’m the Doctor.  I’m coming to find you.  And I will never, ever stop."
-- The Twelfth Doctor, Doctor Who: "Heaven Sent"

After another frustrating posting delay, my good friend and co-host Jesse Jackson are back with another episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!

This time, Jesse and I discuss things like my childhood trauma of losing original Marvel Star Wars comics in a basement flood, pimping the Next Stop Everywhere t-shirt, wondering why the Azbantium wall didn't reset, millions of Doctor skulls, the Bootstrap Paradox of the Doctor's clothes, why the Confession Dial trap was designed to torture the Doctor, Jesse not recognizing the Capitol on Gallifrey, why the Doctor considers each of his companions to be his best friend, the Grimm fairy tale "The Shepherd Boy," the Doctor going home the long way around, wondering how Ashildr is connected with whoever trapped the Doctor, more of the Hybrid mystery, my theory on how Missy is involved, how to start watching Babylon 5, my Reverse the Polarity segment, David Tennant as Kilgrave the Purple Man on Jessica Jones, and more!

And for those who still aren't aware of this yet, we're available on iTunes RIGHT HERE as well as Stitcher RIGHT HERE, so please subscribe and tell your friends about us. If you're looking for direct MP3 downloads, you can find them RIGHT HERE as well. Oh, and don't forget we have an officially official Next Stop Everywhere Facebook page and Twitter account, so be sure to Like and/or Follow us, okay?

And hey, if you'd like to pick up the officially official Next Stop Everywhere t-shirt, you can find it on TeePublic right HERE!  Help support the show!

Be sure to come back soon for our review of the Series Nine finale "Hell Bent," and look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!