THE FLASH Casts Stephen Huszar as Plunder

Get ready for the first Rogue of 2017.

ComicBook.com has word that the CW series The Flash has cast Stephen Huszar as Jared Morillo, better known to DC Comics fans as the supervillain Plunder.  According to the article, Plunder will make his television debut in the midseason premiere, "Borrowing Problems from the Future."

Huszar has appeared as Eben in the direct-to-video 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, and on episodes of Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments, Fringe, Continuum, Supernatural, Smallville, Backstrom, Paradise Falls, and Cashing In.

Created in 2000 by Geoff Johns and Angel Unzueta, Plunder first appeared in The Flash (vol.2) #165 as the mirror world version of Central City Police Detective Jared Morillo, the exact opposite in personality and occupation to his counterpart. The third Flash, Wally West, journeyed to the mirror world and fought Plunder, who was out to kill him for money. The Fastest Man Alive managed to escape from the mirror world, but unknown to him at the time, Plunder also managed to make his way out. 

Once in the real world, Plunder joined Blacksmith's Rogues and his objective was to help ruin Flash's life by attacking his loved ones.  His first target was Flash's best friend, Chunk, whom he shot with a special bullet that made Chunk's powers flare and turned him into a living black hole.  Flash saved his friend, and Plunder went after his next victim, his counterpart, Jared Morillo.  He attacked and killed Jared, replacing him and taking his job as detective.

Plunder was successful in his role for quite some time until Morillo's partner, Fred Chyre, realized he wasn't the real Jared.  Plunder then revealed himself to be the doppleganger of Jared and incapacitated Chyre, bringing him to where he had buried the other Jared. Just as Plunder was about to kill Chyre, Jared emerged from the grave, having acquired a heightened healing factor after being stabbed by the villain, Cicada, and together with Chyre, they managed to defeat Plunder. 

Plunder returned soon after, this time with his ally, Murmur, helping him.  Plunder disappeared for a time, until he returned with the rest of the new generation of Rogues under the control of The Top.  They fought the older Rogues and the Flash in an all out war for Central City.  The Top was killed by Captain Cold, and his control over them wore off but Plunder and the others continued to fight the Rogues for old grudges.  Zoom arrived and told Plunder that he didn't belong in this world and that he should go home.  He crashed into Plunder, shattering him and supposedly returning him to the mirror world.

The Flash returns to The CW for its midseason premiere on January 26, 2017 at 8:00 p.m. EST.

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 071: "The Return of Doctor Mysterio" is Up!

"You are completely out of your mind!"
"How is that news to anyone?"

– Nardole and the Twelfth Doctor, Doctor Who: "The Return of Doctor Mysterio"

That's right, my partner in time Jesse Jackson and I are back once again with a new episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!  In our last episode of 2016, we review "The Return of Doctor Mysterio", the 2016 Christmas Special starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and Matt Lucas as Nardole!

This time, Jesse and I discuss things like surviving the long 2016 hiatus, how we spent Christmas Day, Jason Kellerman on Orphan Black, Doctor Mysterio being the Mexican name for Doctor Who, the Doctor's grief over losing River Song in "Silence of the Library/Forest of the Dead", how I got into Doctor Who, the Ghost as a Superman archetype, the various Superman and Spider-Man references in this episode, the annoying Mr. Huffle, Jesse switching over to Team Nardole, wondering how Nardole knows how to pilot the TARDIS, wondering about the return of Osgood, my Reverse the Polarity segment, speculating about the possible return of the Flood and the Movellans in Series 10, Jesse pleading the case to cover The Middle Man on Next Stop Everywhere, teasing Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast, and more!

If you'd like to check out our latest episode, you can find us on...

Google Play Music -- RIGHT HERE

iTunes -- RIGHT HERE

Stitcher -- RIGHT HERE

Direct MP3 downloads/Libsyn --  RIGHT HERE

Next Stop Everywhere's Facebook page

Next Stop Everywhere's Twitter account

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 and feel free to post pictures on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come back soon as Jesse and I review "The Ribos Operation", the first serial from Season 16, a.k.a. "The Key to Time" season, starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Mary Tamm as the First Romana, and John Leeson as the voice of K-9!  Look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Google Play Music, YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

DOCTOR WHO Series 10 Trailer Teases the Flood & the Movellans

Merry Christmas, Whovians!  A new Series 10 trailer at last!

Following the transmission of the 2016 Doctor Who Christmas Special, "The Return of Doctor Mysterio," the first trailer premiered for the long-awaited Series Ten, which airs sometime in spring of 2017.

The 50-second teaser trailer opens at a university, with Bill (Pearl Mackie) introducing herself in the form of a voiceover.  "I'm Bill, I serve chips," she says, as we see the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) delivering a lecture to a group of students.  "He's a professor, or a lecturer, or as I call him...Doctor What.  And now we go everywhere..."

We see Bill's first reaction to the TARDIS interior, as she remarks "It's like a..."

"Spaceship," interrupts the Doctor.

"...kitchen," finishes Bill.

Bill unloads a series of questions at the Doctor, including "Which way is Earth?" and "Can I use the toilet?" as we then see fleeting images of Bill and the Doctor in Victorian era garb, a bald, blue alien (perhaps the same species to Dorium Maldovar?), 

"...any space...any time..." continues Bill's voiceover as we see a woman with a face dripping water like the Flood from "The Waters of Mars" along with a pair emoji-faced robots.  "...and now I see everything differently."

As we see the Dalek from the "Friend from the Future" trailer from April, Bill asks the Doctor where they are.  "Basically," replies the Doctor as we see what appears to be a Movellan from "Destiny of the Daleks" blasted into a bulkhead, "in the middle of a war...and it's not as bad as it sounds."

We cut to a different scene of the Doctor, Bill and Nardole (Matt Lucas) wearing some form of spacesuits.  "I'm the Doctor," says the Time Lord, "I will save all your lives and when I do, you will spend of the rest of them wondering who I was."

We then see a suited figure jumping into a hole of ice-covered water and the Doctor punching out someone in the Victorian era.

"Are you out of your mind?" asks someone in a similar spacesuit.

"Yes, completely," replies the Doctor, "but that's not a recent thing."

If you'd like to view the new Series 10 trailer, you can check it out below thanks to the official BBC account on YouTube...

THE FANDOM ZONE 087: "Hearts Still Beating" is Up!

"And then there's you...The guy who waited for Rick to be gone so he could sneak over and talk to me to get me to do his dirty work, so he could take Rick's place.  So I got to ask -- if you wanna take over, why not just kill Rick yourself and just take over?"
"What?  No, no.  I didn't -- I don't --"
"You know what I'm thinking?  'Cause I have a guess...It's because you got no guts.  Oh, how embarrassing, there they are.  They were inside you the whole time.  You did have guts.  I've never been so wrong in my whole life!"
– Negan and Spencer Monroe, The Walking Dead: "Hearts Still Beating"

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

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

The Walking Dead 7x08: "Hearts Still Beating" (Midseason Finale)

Luke Cage 1x11 -- "Now You're Mine"

This time, we talk about things like Karen singing The Star-Spangled Banner, Carl from Caddyshack wanting a little something for the effort, being called out by our listeners for running long, Negan having way too many rolls on his dinner table, what Negan would be like on Twitter, my getting stuck in a Star Trek vs. Star Wars debate while waiting in line for Rogue One, Spencer finally getting what's coming to him, differentiating the hardcore Negan worshipers, wondering why Rick and Aaron didn't reinforce the leaky boat first before going out into a lake filled with zombies, snapping Carol and Morgan out of their pacifistic stances, Shades being let down by Diamondback, Diamondback becoming a one-note villain, wondering why Ridley ignores Misty's assertion that Luke is innocent, wanting to see Misty get her bionic arm, some feedback from Ruthie Rink, my traveling to Cleveland in December for work, and more!

You can now check out episodes of The Fandom Zone using...

Google Play Music -- HERE 

iTunes -- HERE

Direct Download MP3s/Libsyn -- HERE

The Fandom Zone on Facebook -- HERE

The Fandom Zone on Twitter -- @FandomZoneCast

And if that isn't enough for you, you can also check us out on YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!  Oh, and if you're interested in an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt that all the cool kids are wearing, you can get those on TeePublic HERE as well!  Feel free to post a picture on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come back next week, as we review the final two episodes of Luke Cage, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 070: "The Power of the Daleks" is Up!

"Life depends on change, and renewal."
"Oh, so that's it, you've been renewed, have ya?"
"I've been renewed, have I?  That's it, I've been renewed!  It's part of the TARDIS.  Without it, I couldn't survive."

– The Second Doctor and Ben Jackson, Doctor Who: "The Power of the Daleks"

After Jesse's Brucegasm and my recent trip to Cleveland, my partner in time Jesse Jackson and I are finally back with a new episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!  In this episode, we review "The Power of the Daleks", the classic story from 1966 recently recreated in animation starring Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor, Anneke Wills as Polly, and Michael Craze as Ben Jackson! 

This time, Jesse and I discuss things like Jesse finally getting to meet Bruce Springsteen in person, the Big Finish audio adventure The Peterloo Massacre, changing the reconstruction animation style to make it more cost effective, the Doctor Who anime project on YouTube, the Second Doctor's lost character traits, Patrick Troughton taking over for William Hartnell, Ben and Polly as the audience's POV characters in accepting a new Doctor, why it's a good thing Twitter didn't exist in 1966, Lt. Columbo as the Doctor, the Daleks being sneaky and playing everyone, my Reverse the Reverse the Polarity segment, the annual Jackson tradition of watching the Doctor Who Christmas Special, teasing Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast, and more!

If you'd like to check out our latest episode, you can find us on...

Google Play Music -- RIGHT HERE

iTunes -- RIGHT HERE

Stitcher -- RIGHT HERE

Direct MP3 downloads/Libsyn --  RIGHT HERE

Next Stop Everywhere's Facebook page

Next Stop Everywhere's Twitter account

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 and feel free to post pictures on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come back soon as Jesse and I review "The Return of Doctor Mysterio", the 2016 Christmas Special starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor and Matt Lucas as Nardole!  Look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Google Play Music, YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

DAMN Good Movies -- ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY

Are you ready to go rogue?

You guessed it, it's time once again for another of my movie takes, this time on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the first spinoff film in the Star Wars movie franchise.  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...

The film opens just before the events of the original Star Wars film (retroactively branded A New Hope), with the traditional opening crawl replaced by a pre-title sequence showing research scientist Galen Erso and his family in hiding.  We're introduced to the movie's Big Bad, Imperial weapons developer Orson Krennic, who forces Galen to return to work on the unfinished Death Star, even though we know that's going to be a huge waste of everyone's time.  Galen allows himself to be captured so his wife Lyra and young daughter Jyn can escape, but Lyra ends up getting herself killed by going after Krennic.  Jyn manages to avoid capture by hiding in a secret underground shelter beneath a fake rock, and is later taken into safety by Rebel extremist Saw Gerrera.

So once again, we have a Star Wars protagonist that loses her parents as we jump ahead fifteen years to see Jyn as an adult.  It turns out she's a bit of troublemaker, and has to be freed from Imperial captivity by the Rebels, who want to use her to track down her father. Jyn is brought to Yavin IV to meet Mon Mothma and the rest of Team Rebel, who tells her they will extract Galen, even though the real plan for him is something else entirely. Understandably, Jyn is eager for any chance to see her father again and she's no fan of the Empire, so this is a win-win for everyone, right?

Jyn is introduced to Rebel officer (and potential love interest) Cassian Andor, and his snarky, reprogrammed Imperial droid K-2SO and then we're finally off to the races.  The Rogues head to Jedha, where the Empire is mining Kyber crystals that can power lightsabers or, you guessed it, a superweapon the size of a moon.  With the help of blind Zen master Force believer Chirrut Îmwe and mercenary Baze Malbus, Jyn finds Gerrera, who is holding an Imperial defector named Bodhi Rook.  Gerrera shows Jyn a hologram from her father that Bodhi smuggled, in which her father expresses his love for her and explains he's the one who came up with thermal exhaust port design flaw that Luke Skywalker uses to destroy the Death Star in the Rogue One sequel.  The hologram directs them to find the plans at an Imperial high-security data center on the planet Scarif.

In another change for the Star Wars film franchise, Michael Giacchino replaced John Williams as composer, after the movie's reshoots reportedly changed the post-production schedule and Alexandre Desplat (Williams' original replacement) was no longer available. With only four and a half weeks to compose the music, Giacchino turned in a worthy score that incorporated Williams' themes without being slavish to them.  You have to wonder, though, how much better the score would've been if Giacchino had more time. 

Things bog down a bit in the film's Second Act, even though the original generation of fans gets to geek out at seeing Grand Moff Tarkin again as he meets with Krennic on the Death Star.  In an attempt to reassure Tarkin, Krennic uses a low-powered shot from the weapon to destroy Jedha's capital and crush Gerrera's insurgency, forcing Jyn and her group to flee in Bodhi's shuttle, while Gerrera decides to remain behind and die because he's all clunky with a robot body and useless.  Tarkin congratulates Krennic, but then uses security breaches under Krennic's command as a way to take control of the project.  Krennic travels to seek support from Darth Vader and the Emperor, which brings another geeking opportunity for fans, but Vader kicks his appeal to the curb.  The Rogues track Galen to an Imperial research facility on Eadu, but Cassian's real mission turns out that he's supposed to assassinate Galen, making things slightly awkward with Jyn.  Cassian ends up refusing to kill Jyn's father, which sounds great to Jyn, but Galen ends up dying anyway when a Rebel bombing raid begins.  D'OH!

Thankfully, director Gareth Edwards hits the film's Third Act hard, which ends up feeling like one really long, intense action sequence.  Jyn comes up with a plan to steal the Death Star schematics from Scarif, but the Rebel leadership doesn't trust her report and can't agree on what to do next.  Frustrated at their indecisiveness, the Rogues and a number of Rebels use Bodhi's stolen Imperial shuttle to raid the data center.  Jyn, Cassian and K-2SO pose as Imperials to search for the plans, while the other Rebels mount a distraction attack on the resident Imperial garrison.  Bodhi contacts the Rebel Alliance fleet, which engages the Imperial forces in space in an attempt to breach a shield surrounding the planet that prevents the plans from being transmitted.  

From there, the film's body count begins to rise as K-2SO is destroyed holding off a bunch of stormtroopers, allowing Jyn and Cassian to recover the Death Star plans from the data vaults.  Bodhi, Chirrut, Baze, and several Rebels end up dying in the chaotic battle, which looks great as AT-ACTs emerge from a tropical forest along the beach.  As Jyn attempts to realign a giant DIRECTV satellite dish on top of the data center, Krennic confronts her and declares the Empire's victory.  Cassian shoots him, but doesn't kill him, and Jyn transmits the Death Star plans to the Rebel command ship.  Meanwhile, Tarkin uses his favorite catch phrase "You may fire when ready" and has the Death Star destroy the compromised Imperial base.  Krennic finally dies in the blast, and Jyn and Cassian huge one another on the beach just before being killed by the shockwave.

That's right, everyone dies.  This movie is more suicide squad than Suicide Squad.

And then, there's an impressive -- most impressive -- final sequence where an Imperial fleet led by Darth Vader intercepts some of the Rebel ships before they can make the jump to hyperspace.  Vader boards the command ship to retrieve the plans, cutting down everyone in sight, only to watch a familiar small starship escape with the plans at the very last moment.  Aboard the fleeing ship, Princess Leia Organa declares that the plans will provide hope for the Rebellion.  

At this point, you find yourself dying to rewatch the original Star Wars film to see what happens next...even though you already know what happens next.

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

JYN ERSO -- As the film's lead, Felicity Jones was more than capable of driving the film, but her character -- like most of the characters in this screenplay by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy -- feels less fleshed out than recent Star Wars characters like Rey or Finn.  Jyn is sympathetic due to her desire to reunite with her captured father, and she can be inspirational at times when talking about rebellions being built on hope, but sometimes comes off as too no-nonsense to be relatable as a hero. 

CASSIAN ANDOR -- Diego Luna felt horribly miscast to me as Cassian.  His bland, unremarkable performance resulted in some bad on-screen chemistry with Felicity Jones, and there wasn't enough emotional impact with the revelation that Cassian was ordered to assassin Jyn's father.

K-2SO -- One of the more memorable new characters was Alan Tudyk as the voice of K-2SO.  He's a complete opposite of C-3PO -- snarky, moody, and formidable -- and actually elicits more emotional response during his destruction than most of the other Rogues.  And unsurprisingly, K-2SO has better on-screen chemistry with Jyn than Cassian does.

CHIRRUT ÎMWE -- My other favorite new character was Donnie Yen as Chirrut.  As a fan of martial arts films, I already knew what Yen could bring to the table and was glad to finally see some Asian representation in Star Wars at last.  Chirrut essentially serves the old Obi-Wan Kenobi role here, but his belief in the Force without actually being a Jedi is what makes him interesting, and ultimately tragic, to watch.

BAZE MALBUS -- Jiang Wen acts as the team's badass and Chirrut's close friend...and possibly something more. Baze spends most of the film as a sceptic of Chirrut's beliefs, only to abruptly accept them when Chirrut is killed.  It's been argued online that since we know so little about these characters, Chirrut and Baze could've had an unspoken relationship, but it's handled so ambiguously that you can read whatever you want into it.

BODHI ROOK -- As a former Imperial pilot who defects to the Rebellion, Riz Ahmed gets considerable screen time as Bodhi, but he's only there to drive certain moments of the plot forward.  After getting his brain zapped during interrogation by Saw Gerrera, Bodhi could've been a lot more interesting if written properly.

ORSON KRENNIC -- Ben Mendelsohn is Rogue One's Big Bad, even though he's easily overshadowed (literally and figuratively) by Darth Vader.  Krennic ends up being little more than another Imperial weasel, but he does get some good scenes, such as the pre-titles sequence and later forcing Galen to admit responsibility for leaked information.

GALEN ERSO -- After years of watching Mads Mikkelsen play villains in Casino Royale, Doctor Strange and the Hannibal TV series, I kept expecting Galen to turn out to be a willing sympathizer to the Empire instead of someone forced to complete the Death Star against his will.  Regardless, Mikkelsen is always fun to watch and he doesn't disappoint here.

SAW GERRERA -- Forest Whitaker gets some minor screen time as the live-action version of a character originally created for the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  He's given an interesting backstory as Jyn's mentor and leader of an extremist faction of the Rebel Alliance, so it's a bit disappointing when Gerrera simply stays behind and checks out in the Jedha shockwave.

DARTH VADER -- With Rogue One set immediately before Star Wars, what better reason to bring back James Earl Jones as the voice of Vader, with Spencer Wilding and Daniel Naprous supplying the physical performance.  I'd forgotten how much more intimidating Vader could be when not bogged down in Skywalker family drama, and the terrific final scene where he cuts down Rebels left and right makes me want a Darth Vader: A Star Wars Story solo film sooner rather than later.

GRAND MOFF WILHUFF TARKIN -- Returning Tarkin voice Stephen Stanton and Guy Henry combine to recreate Tarkin for big screen, with obvious help from some CGI botox to resemble the late Peter Cushing. Once again, Tarkin is his old ruthless self, seizing control over the Death Star project one moment and toasting an Imperial base the next.  Never change, Wilhuff...Never change.

MON MOTHMA -- Genevieve O'Reilly returns as Mon Mothma after last playing the character in deleted scenes from Revenge of the Sith.  Once again, Mon Mothma proves weak and uninspiring as the leader of the Rebellion, making us wonder how they managed to achieve as much as they did against the Empire.

C-3PO & R2-D2 CAMEO -- Anthony Daniels keeps his Star Wars movie streak going in a brief appearance as Threepio with Artoo inside the Rebel base on Yavin IV.  The scene is a fun bit of fan service, but could've easily been taken out to feel less distracting.

PRINCESS LEIA ORGANA CAMEO -- As the CGI botox version of Carrie Fisher, Ingvild Delia turns up at the very end of the film to connect things with the opening moments of Star Wars.  Another bit of fan service, perhaps, but at least this cameo provides continuity.

All in all, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a worthy addition to the Star Wars universe and the best prequel so far.  Gareth Edwards does a solid job with a more serious war film than the main saga, although the story isn't always as strong as it needed to be.  Regardless, the film did what it needed to do, establishing that you could make Star Wars movies outside the main saga, and fans can take comfort in knowing that they'll have something to look forward to every year for the foreseeable future.  The Force, it seems, is now forever.

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

1. Star Wars (1977)
2. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
4. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
5. Return of the Jedi (1983)
6. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
7. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
8. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)

Your friendly neighborhood movie reviewer,

Charles

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Teaser Trailer Debuts First Footage

The old Blade Runner is back.

The first teaser trailer for Blade Runner 2049, the 2017 sequel to Ridley Scott's 1982 science fiction/noir classic Blade Runner, has been released, giving us our first look at the new movie from director Denis Villeneuve and co-producer Scott.

According to the film synopsis from Entertainment Weekly, Blade Runner 2049 is set thirty years after the events of the first film, and focuses on a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K (Ryan Gosling), who unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what’s left of society into chaos.  K’s discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.

The one-minute, 45-second teaser opens in 2049 Los Angeles, as we hear a voiceover from Rick Deckard saying "Replicants are like any other machine -- They're either a benefit or a hazard.  If they're a benefit, it's not my problem."

We then see Officer K crossing a barren, orangish-yellow landscape and coming across a seemingly empty building.  Going inside, Officer K finds a familiar piano inside a lavish apartment and hears Deckard from behind.

"I had your job once," begins Deckard as he steps out of the shadows into view aiming at a gun at Officer K.  "I was good at it."

"Things were simpler then," replies Officer K.

If you'd like to view the teaser trailer, you can see it below thanks to ComicBook.com on YouTube...




Blade Runner 2049 is scheduled to arrive in theaters on October 6, 2017.

THE FANDOM ZONE 086: "The Present" is Up!

"Barry, this is a big step."
"Not for me.  I don't know what's gonna happen in the future.  All I know is, right here, right now, I want to spend every moment I can with you.  You're the first thing I want to see when I wake up, and the last thing I --"
"I love you, Barry Allen."
"I love you, Iris West."
– Iris West and Barry Allen, The Flash: "The Present"

That's right, Karen and I are back with our last HUGE episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast for 2016!  So huge, in fact, we've decided to split it up into two parts!

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

The Walking Dead 7x07: "Sing Me a Song"

The Flash 3x09 -- "The Present"  (Midseason Finale)

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 4x08 -- "The Laws of Inferno Dynamics"  (Midseason Finale)

Arrow 5x09 -- "What We Leave Behind"  (Midseason Finale)

Legends of Tomorrow 2x08 -- "The Chicago Way"  (Midseason Finale)

Luke Cage 1x10 -- "Take It Personal"

This time, we talk about things like losing John Glenn, what we're doing while all the shows are on hiatus for the holidays, Foghorn Leghorn, Carl faking out Jesus, Negan showing Carl around, Negan's move of stealing your woman and burning your face, Negan busting on Fat Joey for bringing him Lucille, Negan putting the moves on Olivia, Julian being revealed as Doctor Alchemy, my annoyance with Barry constantly revealing his secret identity to everyone, speculating about Savitar's prophecies, why Wally shouldn't be faster than Barry, Barry and Iris finally moving forward in their relationship, Jeffrey Mace pointing out that making A.I.s is a really bad idea after Ultron, Slingshot getting her own web series, Wendy Mericle being right twice a day like a broken clock, the return of Felicity's red pen, the Member Berries from South Park, Artemis pulling a Kreiger from Archer, Oliver being suckered into killing Felicity's boyfriend Billy, Oliver actually talking to people instead of keeping secrets, wondering why Mr. Terrific's boyfriend Paul leaves him forever because he can't handle if Mr. Terrific dies and leaves him forever, our revised Prometheus speculation, more of my H.R. Wells is Abra Kadabra theory, how White Canary could easily take out The Atom and Citizen Steel, Heat Wave hallucinating Captain Cold, wondering why the Legends stand around posing while Elliot Ness is drowning, the annoying one-uppance between The Atom and Citizen Steel, the awkward moment when Luke realizes the woman he loved volunteered him for the Seagate Prison experiment, Diamondback's resentment over Luke Cage, some feedback from Justina, the convoluted comic book story of Iris Allen's death, and more!

You can now check out episodes of The Fandom Zone using...

Google Play Music -- HERE 

iTunes -- HERE

Direct Download MP3s/Libsyn -- HERE

The Fandom Zone on Facebook -- HERE

The Fandom Zone on Twitter -- @FandomZoneCast

And if that isn't enough for you, you can also check us out on YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!  Oh, and if you're interested in an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt that all the cool kids are wearing, you can get those on TeePublic HERE as well!  Feel free to post a picture on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come back next week, as we review the midseason finale of The Walking Dead, and the eleventh episode of Luke Cage, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY Casts Sonequa Martin-Green as Lt. Cmdr. Rainsford

Star Trek: Discovery finally has its star.

Entertainment Weekly and Deadline are reporting that the upcoming CBS All Access Series Star Trek: Discovery has cast Sonequa Martin-Green as Lieutenant Commander Rainsford, also known as the first officer Number One, the lead character in the new Star Trek series. 

Martin-Green joins Doug Jones as Lieutenant Saru, a Starfleet Science Officer; Anthony Rapp as Lieutenant Stamets, an astromycologist, fungus expert, and Starfleet Science Officer; Michelle Yeoh as Starfleet captain Georgiou; and Chris Obi, Shazad Latif and Mary Chieffo as Klingons.

Martin-Green, 31, is best known as Sasha Williams on the hit AMC series The Walking Dead.  According to the articles, she will continue as a series regular, although her character's fate certainly seems to be up for speculation.  Her other television work includes episodes of New Girl, Once Upon a Time, Gossip Girl, The Good WIfe, Army Wives, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

She'll be the first African-American actress to lead a Star Trek series, and the second lead to not start the series as a Captain, after Commander Benjamin Sisko (played by Avery Brooks) on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

According to previous reports, Rainsford is a "Lieutenant Commander — with caveats," said former showrunner Bryan Fuller.  "We've seen six characters from the captain's point of view.  In order to understand something that is so completely alien from her, she must first understand herself.  That's part of our journey on this planet to get along, and that's part of our journey in this first season."

Star Trek: Discovery is currently scheduled to premiere on CBS in May 2017, with the next 12 episodes airing on CBS All Access.

Margot Robbie & David Ayer Return for GOTHAM CITY SIRENS Movie

Harley Quinn is back...and she's bringing her director with her. 

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Suicide Squad star Margot Robbie's next appearance as DC Comics character Harley Quinn will be in Gotham City Sirens, a feature film starring the top female villains from the DC Universe.

The project, first reported in May, will be directed and produced by David Ayer, who directed Robbie in this year's movie adaptation of Suicide Squad.  According to the article, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, writer of the Tomb Raider remake and Sherlock Holmes 3, is writing the screenplay.  Robbie is also executive producing the film, and DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns and Jon Berg will also serve as producers.

The article also claims that Warner Bros. is still developing a Suicide Squad sequel as well as looking into a spinoff featuring Deadshot, the assassin character played by Will Smith.

Created in 2009, Gotham City Sirens was an ongoing series written by Paul Dini, co-creator of Harley Quinn, and drawn by Guillem March that explored the characters of Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and Catwoman.  When Catwoman fights a new villain named "Boneblaster", it was revealed she still had physical limitations from her ordeal in the Batman storyline "Heart of Hush" and was almost easily beaten by the two-bit thug.  However, Poison Ivy arrived to save Catwoman and offered the two return to her new hideout, which was actually the Riddler's hideout, whom Poison Ivy had seduced and drugged.  Catwoman also discovered Harley Quinn was also living with them, and proposed that the three women join together to protect one another as a team.

Gotham City Sirens currently doesn't have a release date, but the project is nreportedly on the fast track at Warner Bros.

AQUAMAN Casts Patrick Wilson as Ocean Master

The King of the Seven Seas just got himself a brother from another mother.

Deadline revealed today that the upcoming DC Extended Universe film Aquaman has cast Patrick Wilson as Orm Marius, better known to DC Comics fans as the supervillain Ocean Master.  Wilson joins Jason Momoa as Aquaman/Arthur Curry and Amber Heard as Mera in the film directed by James Wan.

Wilson, 43, is best known as Nite-Owl/Dan Dreiberg in the 2009 Zack Snyder film Watchmen, and recently voiced the President of the United States in Snyder's 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which featured Momoa's Aquaman in a cameo.  His other films include The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2, Insidious and Insidious: Chapter 2, Prometheus, The A-Team, and The Phantom of the Opera (2004).  Wilson's television work includes Fargo, Girls, and A Gifted Man.

Created in 1966 by Bob Haney and Nick Cardy, Ocean Master first appeared in Aquaman (vol.1) #29 as Orm Curry, the fully human half-brother, the son of Tom Curry (Aquaman's father) and a woman named Mary O'Sullivan.  Orm grew up under the shadow of his heroic half-brother and resented the fact that he had none of Aquaman's powers, being fully human, and he was already a petty criminal when he was stricken with amnesia and forgot all about his former life, disappearing shortly afterwards.

Several years later, the self-named Orm Marius reappeared as the Ocean Master, a high-tech pirate who initially attacked ships, but quickly moved on to causing natural disasters in order to hold the world at ransom.  Aquaman and Aqualad were captured by Ocean Master but managed to escape.  Aquaman was unable to fight Ocean Master, after having seen behind the Ocean Master's mask and realizing that he was his half-brother Orm, although he did stop his plan.

Ocean Master's origin was changed in the 1994 limited series Aquaman: Time and Tide by writer Peter David.  In this version, Orm was still Aquaman's half-brother, but since Aquaman was no longer the son of Thomas Curry, Orm was the son of Atlan the wizard (Aquaman's true father) and an Inupiat woman.  The series told how one of his early encounters with humans was when he rescued a girl named Kako from a polar bear.  Her family were all traditionalists, except her cousin Orm, who had no time for the old ways. When Kako and Orin/Arthur (the future Aquaman) began a sexual relationship, Orm attacked her in a jealous rage. Although she survived, she did not recall what had happened to her.  As in pre-Crisis continuity, Ocean Master desired the throne of Atlantis, having learned that his father was an Atlantean wizard.

In 2011, Ocean Master's origin was once again revised by writer Geoff Johns as part of the new DC Comics continuity known as The New 52.  According to the Atlantean advisor Vulko, the queen of Atlantis, Atlanna, left her first child, Arthur Curry, to live with his father on the surface world, thus protecting him from the effects of Atlantean tyranny.  Atlanna was later forced to marry a member of the Atlantean Guard and gave birth to her second child, Orm.  Twelve years later, Orm's father was killed and Atlanna died under unknown circumstances, making Orm the new king.  Vulko accused Orm of killing Atlanna, but failed to produce evidence and fled.  When Vulko was later confronted by Arthur (who was searching for Atlantis), he explained his brother's origins and told him that Arthur was the rightful heir of Atlantis's throne, and therefore, must overthrow Orm.  Aquaman allowed Orm to remain the king of Atlantis, on the condition that he would not invade the surface world.

Wilson will be the first actor to portray Ocean Master in live action, although the character has appeared in various animated projects, including Justice League (voiced by Richard Green), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (voiced by Wallace Langham), Young Justice (voiced by Roger Craig Smith), Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (voiced by James Patrick Stuart), Justice League: War (voiced by Steven Blum), and Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (voiced by Sam Witwer).

Aquaman is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on July 27, 2018.

THE FANDOM ZONE 085: "Invasion!" is Up!

"Back on my Earth, it's just me and my cousin.  Between the two of us, we're more powerful than..."
"Yeah, everybody in this room combined."
"No, no.  That's the point.  That's what you've all proven here.  Metahumans or not, superpowers or not, you are Earth's mightiest heroes."
– Supergirl and The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow: "Invasion!"

That's right, Karen and I are back with another HUGE episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  So huge, in fact, we've decided to split it up into two parts!

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

The Walking Dead 7x06: "Swear"

Lucifer 2x10 -- "Quid Pro Ho" (midseason finale)

Supergirl 2x08 -- "Medusa" (midseason finale)

The Flash 3x08 -- "Invasion!"

Arrow 5x08 -- "Invasion!"

Legends of Tomorrow 2x07 -- "Invasion!"

Gotham 3x11 -- "Beware the Green-Eyed Monster" (midseason finale)

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 4x07 -- "Deals with Our Devils"

Luke Cage 1x09 -- "DWYCK"

This time, we talk about things like the Imperial March Theme from The Empire Strikes Back getting so much play in 2017, The CW hyping Supergirl as part of the "four-part crossover event", being reminded that Heath is still alive, Rick leading the inevitable resistance movement against Negan, Tara finding out that Denise is dead, why The Walking Dead needs to scale back the finales, the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations", the awkwardness of Lucifer's mom defending the murderer of Chloe's dad, wondering why Amenadiel is so easily manipulated by Charlotte, finally learning what the deal is with Chloe Decker, the awkwardness of Lillian Luthor telling her daughter Lena that Lex is her favorite, the awkwardness of Lena sabotaging her mother's missile to kill all the aliens in National City, wondering why Superman, Mon-El, Miss Martian and the Martian Manhunter weren't part of the "Invasion!" crossover, Alex raiding the fridge for booze, more of my theory that Mon-El is really the Daxamite Prince, finally learning what the deal is with the secret message from Future Barry, why Barry needs to start stepping up and stop relying on his S.T.A.R. Labs support, Supergirl asking Heat Wave how he got his name, 100 episodes getting you a sweeter deal of syndication money, what DWYCK stands for, the welcome return of Karen's Whiny Thea impression, the convenience of having your superhero uniforms waiting for you when escaping an alien spacecraft, why Mr. Terrific deserves better, Citizen Steel in the Millennium Waverider, a new Arrow drinking game, the classic TV series Soap, Barry being a better person than Cisco, finally getting to see Firestorm using his transmutation power, wondering how Bruce's puny arms can support Selina's weight on a tightrope, Penguin being super clingy, my fondness for Giacomo Puccini, the awesomeness of Ghost Rider Mack on a motorcycle with his shotgun axe, AIDA going all Westworld, Shades getting called out by Diamondback, Misty's big psychological breakthrough, some feedback from Justina, the upcoming FX series Legion, the greatness of Baby Groot, and more!

You can now check out episodes of The Fandom Zone using...

Google Play Music -- HERE 

iTunes -- HERE

Direct Download MP3s/Libsyn -- HERE

The Fandom Zone on Facebook -- HERE

The Fandom Zone on Twitter -- @FandomZoneCast

And if that isn't enough for you, you can also check us out on YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!  Oh, and if you're interested in an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt that all the cool kids are wearing, you can get those on TeePublic HERE as well!  Feel free to post a picture on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come back next week, as we review the midseason finales of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,The Flash, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, the tenth episode of Luke Cage, and a new episode of The Walking Dead, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!