Captain Phasma Confirmed for STAR WARS EPISODE VIII

So much for the trash compactor.

People has confirmed that Gwendoline Christie will reprise her role as Captain Phasma in Star Wars Episode VIII, despite her character's apparent off-screen death.

"I will be in the next Star Wars movie," said Christie to People's Deputy Editor JD Heyman on Saturday's red carpet preshow for the 2016 SAG Awards.  "I think that's an exclusive, actually."

When last seen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Phasma was introduced during an attack on a Jakku village in search of coordinates to find the missing Luke Skywalker. After the battle was won, Phasma and a squad of Stormtroopers executed the villagers at the order of Kylo Ren.  Back on the First Order's base, she ordered Stormtrooper Finn to report for reconditioning.  Instead, Finn fled and betrayed the First Order in favor of the Resistance.  When Finn, Han Solo, and Chewbacca infiltrated the Starkiller Base later in the film, they took Phasma hostage and forced her to remove the base's shields, before dropping her in a trash compactor to supposedly meet her end.

Christie, 37, also spoke about being cast for the role, saying, "I was very overexcited.  I made no secret of the fact that I really campaigned for the part for a long time.  And then I was delighted when J.J. Abrams wanted to have me in the film and then wanted to cast me in this role that had originally been designed for a man."

On the subject of her character's chrome-plated costume, Christie remarked, "I thought the costume was incredibly striking.  I also just liked this notion of a female stormtrooper,  I felt it encouraged diversity, and it was doing something new, and it was an interesting bit of casting for women, and I hope that in something that was such a mainstream success it would breed more of those kind of opportunities for other women."

Star Wars Episode VIII will be directed by Rian Johnson and is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on December 15, 2017.

Are You Ready for Some Deadpool at Super Bowl 50?

Looks like chimichangas will be big at this year's Super Bowl parties.

The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that the upcoming Fox movie Deadpool will have a big presence at Super Bowl 50 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, and not just in terms of a likely TV spot.  According to the article, numerous publicity events are being planned for the film, just days after the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers compete for the NFL championship.

Star Ryan Reynolds will commandeer a food truck on Friday night to hand out chimichangas, Deadpool's favorite food.  And on Saturday, Fox will take over a bar near the stadium, renaming it Sister Margaret's Bar, after the one from the movie, for the official press junket.  While doing interviews and other things, Reynolds and co-star T.J. Miller will play darts and serve drinks.

On Friday night, Deadpool will be screened at the IMAX AMC Metreon in downtown San Francisco, with THR's sources saying that football players and other sports figures will be in attendance.  Fox will also promote Deadpool heavily on social media throughout Super Bowl weekend, including taking over Snapchat on Sunday.

The article also claims that Deadpool isn't the only Fox film using the highly-watched game for publicity.  The cast of Independence Day: Resurgence (June 24), including Liam Hemsworth and Jeff Goldblum, will attend the Super Bowl, while one or two actors from X-Men: Apocalypse (May 27) could be on hand.

In addition, Disney will also have a major presence during the Super Bowl and pregame show, and could advertise multiple films.  Disney's upcoming release slate includes Captain America: Civil War (May 6), Zootopia (March 4), Alice Through the Looking Glass (May 27), Finding Dory (June 17), and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (December 16).

The article states that the asking price for a 30-second spot this year is more expensive than ever, $4.6 million to $5 million.  According to sources, Fox has bought two 30-second spots during the game, Universal has bought a 60-second spot, and Paramount, a 30-second spot.  Sony and Warner Bros. are sitting this year out, according to insiders.  In addition, there will be several movie ads during the CBS pre-kickoff show.

Super Bowl 50 will air on CBS on February 7th at 6:30 p.m. EST, while Deadpool will premiere in theaters on February 12th.

AMERICAN GODS Casts Ricky Whittle as Shadow Moon

American Gods has found its Shadow.

Deadline reports that the upcoming Starz series American Gods, based on the 2001 novel by Neil Gaiman, has cast Ricky Whittle in the lead role of the mysterious Shadow Moon.

According to the article, with Shadow Moon cast, the series will begin shooting in April.  A number of scripts have already been written, and Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said at the Television Critics Association earlier this month that the network brass are happy with what they've read so far.

The television adaptation will focus on the mysterious Shadow, a man who is released from prison a few days early after serving a three year sentence for bank robbery when his beloved wife Laura is killed in a car accident.  Flying home for the funeral, Shadow is seated next to a man who introduces himself only as Mr. Wednesday, and this man knows more about Shadow's life, both past and present, than is possible.  Shadow comes to learn that Wednesday is, in fact, the god Odin of Norse mythology and that all of the gods that mankind has ever believed in are alive in human form and live among us.  Shadow is soon thrust into a gathering conflict between the Old Gods and the so-called "New Gods," the gods of money and technology, who believe there is no longer room on Earth for the Old Gods.

Whittle, 34, is an English actor best known as Lincoln on The 100.  He's also had roles on the series Mistresses, NCIS, Single Ladies, Hollyoaks, and Dream Team.  In addition, Whittle plays running back for the Manchester Titans American Football Club.

The article also reports that Albrecht and American Gods executive producers Bryan Fuller and Michael Green had repeatedly stressed the importance and challenge of finding the right actor to play the lead character in the adaptation because of Shadow’s unique heritage and look in the books, with the prototype being a younger Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Whittle was among the actors who tested for the role last September, but Starz apparently held onto him while exploring other options, with more testings and retestings until Whittle was cast.

American Gods is produced by FremantleMedia North America.  Bryan Fuller and Michael Green are writers and showrunners.  David Slade (Hannibal) is directing the pilot and additional episodes.  FMNA’s Craig Cegielski and Stefanie Berk are executive producers on the series along with Fuller, Green, Slade and Gaiman.  FremantleMedia will distribute the series worldwide.

American Gods is expected to debut on Starz sometime in 2017.

THE FANDOM ZONE 043: "Legends of Tomorrow" is Up!

"I can't believe you're hooking up with the Englishman.  We're thieves.  Crooks.  Criminals.  I have no desire to save the world.  Especially one hundred years after I'm dead."

"He said across time, Mick.  What about the years before?  Before fingerprints and surveillance cameras and DNA analysis.  Why did we become criminals?"

"Because we hate working and we love money."

– Heat Wave and Captain Cold, Legends of Tomorrow: "Pilot, Part 1"

That's right, Karen Lindsay and I are back with a big episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Supergirl 1x10 -- "Childish Things"
The Flash 2x10 -- "Potential Energy"
Agent Carter 2x01 -- "The Lady in the Lake"
Agent Carter 2x02 -- "A View in the Dark"
Arrow 4x10 -- "Blood Debts"
Legends of Tomorrow 1x01 -- "Pilot, Part 1"

This time, we talk about things like Karen vs. Winter Storm Jonas, the cheering for eating Robin's minstrels from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Toyman and his son Toyboy Winn, some background on Cameron Chase, Green Lantern's nephew Air Wave, the soap opera "The Young and the Kryptonian," the Martian Manhunter's total mind-reading fail, dumbing down The Flash science for the Idiocracy, Barry Allen's missing friction aura, our huge Wally West rant, the Strategic Scientific Reserve becoming a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise, Peggy and Souza's Unresolved Sexual Tension (UST), Howard Stark as Quagmire from Family Guy, the Secret Empire, Edwin and Ana Jarvis' S&M dungeon, Peggy Carter vs. 1947 racism, Egghead from the 1966 Batman TV series, crossing Felicity off the list of Mystery Grave suspects, Rip Hunter becoming the DC Comics version of The Doctor from Doctor Who, another new Justina review, 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 series premiere of Lucifer, and new episodes of Legends of Tomorrow, Agent Carter, Supergirl, The Flash and Arrow, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

THE FLASH Casts Allison Paige as Trajectory

The speedster population of Central City keeps going up.

TVLine revealed yesterday that the CW series The Flash has cast Allison Paige as obscure DC Comics speedster Eliza Harmon, better known as Trajectory.

Trajectory will first appear in Episode 16 of Season 2 and is described in the article as "Having arrived in town intent on creating maximum chaos, Trajectory’s antics are misinterpreted as having been perpetrated by the Flash himself.  Barry thus must— quickly! — uncover the mystery of who is the girl under the mask, as well as what is driving her mad desire for speed and destruction."

Paige, 26, is probably best known as Bev Walters on the soap opera Days of Our Lives, and as Gigi Darcy on the series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Domino: Gigi Darcy and Welcome to Sanditon.  She's also appeared on the television series Heroes and Baby Daddy.

Created in 2006 by Geoff Johns, Mark Waid, Grant Morrison and Greg Rucka, Trajectory first appeared in 52 #9 as Eliza Harmon, a young girl from Manchester, Alabama, who was a fan of local hero Impulse, the Flash, and the Teen Titans. The summer she turned 18, Lex Luthor announced the Everyman Project, a synthetic metagene treatment that could give anyone superpowers.  She signed up immediately, determined to become a speedster.  Eliza became one of the first subjects, and a founding member of LexCorp’s new team of superheroes.

Unfortunately, Eliza wasn't prepared for the psychological impact of living life at super-speed. While the team was still training, she turned to taking a drug called "The Sharp" to slow herself down.  One day, angry and frustrated with what her life had become, she threatened Luthor and ran out on the team.  Ashamed, she spent the next month detoxing herself.  Finally, she asked her friend and teammate, Natasha Irons, to plead her case.  She apologized, and Luthor let her back on the team.  Thrilled at the second chance, Eliza was determined to do everything right this time, become a "true superhero," and ask the Titans to make her the new Kid Flash.  As the team was given the name Infinity, Inc., Eliza took on the identity of Trajectory.

Sadly, the team’s debut ended in tragedy.  They battled the new Blockbuster in Las Vegas, and just as they subdued him, the Teen Titans arrived.  Blockbuster soon escaped, but Trajectory chased the villain down and nearly caught him. However, her speed abruptly failed her at a critical moment, giving Blockbuster the opportunity to kill her.  It was soon revealed that Luthor could shut off any of the group's superpowers remotely, cutting off Trajectory's powers at the most dramatically appropriate time.  Eliza Harmon was mourned by her hometown, with the rest of Luthor's Infinity, Inc. and the Titans attending the funeral, and Luthor himself giving the eulogy.

The Flash airs Tuesday nights on The CW at 8 p.m. EST.

MARVEL'S MOST WANTED Casts Delroy Lindo as Dominic Fortune

Entertainment Weekly has revealed that the upcoming ABC pilot Marvel's Most Wanted has cast Delroy Lindo in the role of Marvel Comics adventurer Dominic Fortune.

The proposed spinoff from ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. starring Mockingbird (Adrianne Palicki) and Lance Hunter (Nick Blood) was confirmed to be in the pilot stage by ABC chief Paul Lee at the Television Critics Association.  Marvel’s Most Wanted was created and written by S.H.I.E.L.D. executive producer Jeffrey Bell (Angel, The X-Files) and S.H.I.E.L.D. writer Paul Zbyszewski (Lost, Hawaii Five-0). 

"Dominic Fortune carries with him a cunning and charm but also a dangerous edge that only Delroy could bring to life," said Executive Producer/Head of Marvel Television, Jeph Loeb. "We're thrilled to have him join the show."

Lindo, 63, is perhaps best known as West Indian Charlie in Malcolm X and as Arthur Rose in The Cider House Rules.  He's also appeared in the films Point Break (2015), Romeo Must Die, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Devil's Advocate, Broken Arrow, Ransom, Get Shorty, Clockers, and Crooklyn.  His television roles include episodes of Believe, Robot Chicken, The Chicago Code, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Kidnapped, The Simpsons, A Man Called Hawk, and Beauty and the Beast (1987).

Created in 1975 by Howard Chaykin, Dominic Fortune first appeared in Marvel Preview #2 as Duvid Jerome Fortunov, who spent the 1920s until just after the Wall Street Crash in 1929 on New York City's Lower East Side lying, cheating and stealing his way through life.  Sometime after ratting out New York gangster Olga Cimaglia, Fortunov relocated to Los Angeles, California where he changed his name to Dominic Fortune and became a costumed adventurer for hire and a mercenary.  

By 1934, he was involved in the Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay, fighting as a pilot for both sides before returning to Los Angeles, where he took a job guarding three out of control and drunken film stars. Trying to unravel a plot to kill him, he traveled to Berlin for the 1936 Olympic Games, and eventually foiled a plot by American Fifth Columnists to kill President Roosevelt and his wife and gain important funding from the Germans and Italians to support Nazi sympathizers in the U.S.  Not long afterwards, he fell in with Sabbath Raven, the owner of the Mississippi Queen, a floating casino moored just outside U.S. territorial waters, where he enjoyed a romantic relationship with her and they shared many of his adventures.

Eventually, Fortune returned to America and resumed being David Fortunov.  He established himself as a Pontiac salesman in Nassau County, New York, where he married and had two children.  He eventually retired to Restwell Nursing Home, NY after the death of his wife, but came out of retirement to battle Turner D. Century alongside Spider-Man, after which he vowed to take back up his search for Sabbath Raven.  Some time after this he left the rest home, then alongside Spider-Man battled the Shocker, who was working for Simon Steele, an old adversary of Fortune's who he had been investigating in the hope of finding clues to the fate of Sabbath.

Later, Fortune found and replicated a flawed Super-Soldier serum that Mockingbird helped create.  After ingesting it, he was de-aged and lost his memory for a short time.  In 2006, the newly de-aged Dominic Fortune joined forces with Silver Sable to stop the plans of traitors from within Silver Sable's own Wild Pack.  At that time Fortune worked as a P.I., but was also shown to be working with a government black ops group called the Vanguard.  After he regained his memory and aged overnight, he decided to join Mockingbird's organization, the World Counter-terrorism Agency to stay close to her, making sure the Super-Soldier serum's creator was there to help him if the side-effects got worse.  In 2015, he was revealed to have again aged (although still younger than his actual 100+ years) and living back onboard the Mississippi Queen, left to him by the deceased Sabbath Raven.  He enlisted the help of S.H.I.E.L.D. field director Phil Coulson to help him reacquire the ship after losing it while gambling with Hydra agent Tug Freehand.

Chris Chibnall to Replace Steven Moffat as DOCTOR WHO Showrunner, Series 10 in 2017

So, will this finally silence disgruntled Doctor Who fans?  No, probably not.

Radio Times has revealed that controversial Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has decided to step down after the show's next season.  According to the article, BBC1 will air Series Ten with Moffat's final twelve episodes in Spring 2017, with only a Christmas special airing in 2016.  The news has been confirmed on the BBC's official Doctor Who site.

Moffat will be followed as head writer and executive producer by Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall in 2018 for Series Eleven, presumably with a new Thirteenth Doctor.as well.

Chibnall is no stranger to Doctor Who, after writing the episodes "42," "The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood," "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship," and "The Power of Three," as well as the mini-episodes "Pond Life" and "P.S."  He also wrote several episodes of Torchwood and two episodes of the original UK version of Life On Mars.

Moffat commented on the decision, remarking, "Feels odd to be talking about leaving when I’m just starting work on the scripts for season 10, but the fact is my timey-wimey is running out.  While Chris is doing his last run of Broadchurch, I’ll be finishing up on the best job in the universe and keeping the TARDIS warm for him.  It took a lot of gin and tonic to talk him into this, but I am beyond delighted that one of the true stars of British Television drama will be taking the Time Lord even further into the future.  At the start of season 11, Chris Chibnall will become the new showrunner of Doctor Who.  And I will be thrown in a skip.”

Chibnall added his remarks as well, saying, "Doctor Who is the ultimate BBC programme: bold, unique, vastly entertaining, and adored all around the world.  So it's a privilege and a joy to be the next curator of this funny, scary and emotional family drama.  I’ve loved Doctor Who since I was four years old, and I’m relishing the thought of working with the exceptional team at BBC Wales to create new characters, creatures and worlds for the Doctor to explore.  Steven’s achieved the impossible by continually expanding Doctor Who's creative ambition, while growing its global popularity.  He’s been a dazzling and daring showrunner, and hearing his plans and stories for 2017, it’s clear he’ll be going out with a bang.  Just to make my life difficult."

BBC1 controller Charlotte Moore explained the decision to hold Moffat’s last series until 2017, saying "I have decided to schedule Steven’s big finale series in Spring 2017 to bring the nation together for what will be a huge event on the channel.   2016 is spoilt with national moments including the Euros and Olympics and I want to hold something big back for 2017.  I promise it will be worth the wait!"

Moore takes over as super controller at the BBC next month, thanked Moffat and welcomed Chibnall.  "I want to thank Steven Moffat for everything he has given Doctor Who," she said. "I’ve loved working with him, he is an absolute genius and has brought fans all over the world such joy.  I will be very sad to see him leave the show, but I can’t wait to see what he will deliver in his last ever series next year with a brand new companion.  I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Chris Chibnall, a wonderfully talented writer who I know will bring something very special to the hit series."

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 051: "School Reunion" is Up!

"Oh, mate...The missus and the ex.  Welcome to every man's worst nightmare!"

-- MIckey Smith to the Tenth Doctor, Doctor Who: "School Reunion"

Re-recording after another Skype fail, my good friend and co-host Jesse Jackson and I are finally back with a new episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!  

This time, Jesse and I discuss things like Jesse being dense, some thoughts on writer Toby Whithouse, why K-9 is awesome, the importance of Elisabeth Sladen returning as Sarah Jane Smith, Russell T. Davies' Seventh Doctor novel Damaged Goods, Mickey Smith deciding he doesn't want to be the Tin Dog, Anthony Head, the companion catfight between Rose and Sarah Jane, wondering what if Elisabeth Sladen had lived to be be in "The Day of the Doctor," why more Classic Who companions haven't be reintroduced on NuWho and why the Doctor doesn't go back to visit old companions, "School Reunion" as a backdoor pilot for The Sarah Jane Adventures, 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 Christopher Eccleston episode "The End of the World," and look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

THE FANDOM ZONE 042: "Method Head" is Up!

"You know what would be fun?  A zombie show where a zombie is the star."
– Zombie High Extra, iZombie: "Method Head"

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:

iZombie 2x10: "Method Head"
Jessica Jones 1x11 -- "AKA I've Got the Blues"
Jessica Jones 1x12 -- "AKA Take a Bloody Number"
Jessica Jones 1x13 -- "AKA Smile"

This time, we talk about things like fun with action figures, Karen's favorite number, pushing Christmas episodes off until January, the death of Brandon Lee during the filming of The Crow, deaf people rants in sign language, Dawson's Creek, free-range zombies, the awkwardness of telling Liv & Major they can have zombie sex after they broke up, the usefulness of Saran Wrap, Trish being the Rain Man of bathroom sinks, setting up Jessica Jones Season 2, the mystery of IGH, the crossover appearance of Rosario Dawson's Claire Temple, teasing a Purple Man who's actually purple, another new Justina review, an update on Karen's reading challenge, 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 series premiere of Legends of Tomorrow, the Season 2 premiere of Agent Carter, and new episodes of Supergirl, The Flash and Arrow, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

New SUICIDE SQUAD Trailer Brings on the Bad Guys

They're bad guys.  It's what they do.

The second trailer for the upcoming Warner Bros. film Suicide Squad debuted last night as part of the DC Films Presents: Dawn of the Justice League special on The CW. Directed by David Ayer, Suicide Squad focuses on a group of dangerous, incarcerated supervillains, sent off on a mission to defeat an enigmatic, insuperable entity.  U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller has determined only a secretly convened group of disparate, despicable individuals with next to nothing to lose will do.  However, once the Suicide Squad realizes they weren’t picked to succeed but chosen for their patent culpability when they inevitably fail, it's up to them to die trying, or decide it’s everyone for themself.

The two-minute, thirty-second trailer opens inside Belle Reve prison, as we listen to the sounds of Freddie Mercury ask if this is the real life, or is it just fantasy in the classic Queen song "Bohemian Rhapsody."  We then hear Boomerang (Jai Courtney) shouting at the guards and begging to be released.  Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) calmly sips tea while reading a book, and we see glimpses of Deadshot (Will Smith), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and El Diablo (Jay Hernandez).

"I wanna assemble a task force of the most dangerous people on the planet," says Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) at a dinner with military brass before referring to her proposed task force as "The worst of the worst."

The various Squad members are brought together by some rather extreme measures as we hear Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) browsing through their files, referring to Harley Quinn as "just crazy." 

"What was that?" asks Harley.  "I should kill everyone and escape?  Sorry...It's the voices. I'm kidding!  That's not what they really said."

"This is the deal," Flag informs them.  "You're going somewhere very bad and do something that'll get you killed."

We then see Jared Leto as The Joker, who pats the face of someone and says "I can't wait to show you my toys."

"Let's do something fun," remarks The Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) as we see The Joker laughing on the ground while surrounded by a circle of knives and guns, and Katana (Karen Fukuhara) holding up her sword Soultaker after claiming her latest victim.  As "Bohemian Rhapsody" really kicks in, we see Boomerang quickly sipping a beer as a fast montage of various explosions and action follows.

Lastly, we see Harley Quinn breaking into a storefront window to steal a fanciful item, while Rick Flag looks on, appalled at her actions.  "Seriously?" he asks.  "The hell is wrong with you people?"

Harley rolls her eyes at Flag and smiles.  "We're bad guys," she explains.  "It's what we do."

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

 


Suicide Squad is scheduled to arrive in theaters on August 5, 2016.

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW Casts Johnathan Schaech as Jonah Hex

Jonah Hex is ready to claim his bounty.

Deadline has revealed that the upcoming CW series Legends of Tomorrow has cast Johnathan Schaech in the role of DC Comics western antihero Jonah Hex.  According to the article, Hex will appear in the series' eleventh episode and the role has a possibility to be recurring.

Schaech, 46, has recently appeared on the television series Quantico as Michael Parrish and on Sleepy Hollow as Solomon Kent.  He's also had roles on the series Star-Crossed, The Client List, Ray Donovan, CSI: Miami, Cold Case, and Arrested Development.  He's also appeared in the films Hercules: The Legend Begins, Phantom, Quarantine, Prom Night (2008), Road House 2, Judas, Houdini, Finding Graceland, That Thing You Do!, and Poison Ivy II: Lily.

Created in 1972 by John Albano and Tony DeZuniga, Jonah Hex first appeared in All-Star Western (vol.1) #10.  Raised by his alcoholic father Woodson Hex, Jonah was a regular victim of physical abuse as a child.  His father eventually stopped supporting him and sold him into slavery with an Apache tribe at the age of 13, in 1851. They worked him constantly until one day when he saved their chieftain from a puma, and he was welcomed as a full-fledged member of the tribe.  The chief took Jonah in as his own son, but his adopted brother Noh-Tante grew jealous.  Noh-Tante shared Jonah's affections for a young girl named White Fawn, so he betrayed his brother during their manhood rite at the age of 16 and left Jonah for dead with their enemies the Kiowa.  He was rescued by a Cavalry patrol, although they shot him in the gut when he tried to stop their slaughter.  Left for dead a second time, he was nursed back to health by an old trapper in the woods.  Returning to his tribe's camp, he found them long since gone.

Eventually returning to his village in 1866, Jonah found that Noh-Tante had since married White Fawn.  He declared Noh-Tante's betrayal to the chieftain, but the accusations were denied and it was decided that they would deliberate through trial by combat.  Noh-Tante sabotaged Jonah's tomahawk, forcing him to cheat and end the fight with his knife.  For breaking the rules of combat and killing his son, the chieftain declared that Jonah would be branded with the mark of the demon and exiled under penalty of death.  Years later when he returned again to rescue a kidnapped white woman, Jonah was captured and White Fawn was shot dead by the chieftain for trying to help him escape.  Jonah killed his adopted father in return, and gunned down half the tribe who went after him with the help of Henri d'Aubergnon.

Jonah Hex was inspired to become a bounty hunter after murdering his first criminal, the outlaw Lucas "Mad Dog" McGill.  He gunned down Mad Dog while the man was beating his wife outside of a saloon.  In his inebriated stupor, Hex believed him to be his own father, Woodson Hex, abusing his mother, Virginia Hex.  The local deputy insisted that even drunk it was the fastest draw he'd ever seen, and gave him the massive bounty on McGill's head. Hex accepted the money and scattered it on the streets as he left town by horseback.  His first bounty poster was in 1866 on an old army buddy named Eddie Cantwell.  The manhunter Arbee Stoneham stole Hex's reward by murdering Cantwell and then humiliated him by taking his guns.  Eight years later they met again while Hex was bringing down the Jason Crowley gang, and he intended to take revenge on Stoneham but found him wheelchair-ridden, so the two men went for a drink instead.

The Lord of Time assembled a team known as the Five Warriors from Forever when he believed that his time machine the Eternity Brain would end all existence.  This team included Jonah Hex alongside Black Pirate, Enemy Ace, Miss Liberty and the Viking Prince; to make them powerful enough to become a threat, they were each energized with a special force.  Their purpose was to fight the Justice League and Justice Society to strengthen their resolve through defeat, which they succeeded in doing.  Eventually the Five Warriors rebelled against their master and assaulted the Palace of Eternity.  Hex got into a gunfight with a T-Rex, but they were defeated and eventually returned to their own times using the Cosmic Treadmill.

He later encountered the Justice League separately, with several other Western heroes including Bat Lash, Cinnamon and Scalphunter.  The Lord of Time sent members of the League back to the 19th Century in an absurd plot to rule the world.  Jonah met an amnesiac Hal Jordan in the desert and nursed him back to health.  They teamed up with Elongated Man, Flash and Zatanna to take down some robotic gunfighters while the League dealt with an anti-matter asteroid that threatened to destroy the Earth.  In the present, Superman defeated the Time Lord and restored things to normal.

Schaech will be the second actor to portray Jonah Hex in live action, after Josh Brolin in the 2010 film Jonah Hex.  The character also appeared in the animated short DC Showcase: Jonah Hex, voiced by Thomas Jane.

Legends of Tomorrow premieres on The CW on Thursday, January 21st at 8 p.m. EST.

Adam Driver Reprises Kylo Ren for SNL STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS Sketch

What happens when Kylo Ren goes Undercover Boss at Starkiller Base?

That was the joke premise of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens sketch on last night's Saturday Night Live, hosted by star Adam Driver.  Reprising his role of the villainous Kylo Ren for the four-minute, forty-second sketch "Star Wars Undercover Boss: Starkiller Base," Driver was joined by SNL regulars Taran Killam, Bobby Moynihan, and Leslie Jones in a mashup of The Force Awakens and the CBS series Undercover Boss.  


The sketch opens at Starkiller Base, the planet-sized weapon of the First Order.  Kylo Ren is the group's commander and is described as going undercover among Base personnel as "Matt, a radar technician."

"You get so caught up in restoring the galaxy to its rightful state that you miss what's going on behind the scenes," explains Ren to the camera.  "I'm looking forward to having some real talk with some real folks."

With hidden cameras in an employee common area, "Matt" engages his fellow Base personnel.  He sits down with Tim the 501st Legion Stormtrooper (Moynihan) and Zack, a First Order Lieutenant Colonel (Killam) and asks them if they like working at Starkiller Base and what they think of Kylo Ren.  "Do you guys believe when he says he's going to finish what Darth Vader started?"

"What exactly has he started?" asks the Stormtrooper.

"You know, I will say this for Kylo," remarks Zack, "I think he gets a bad rap.  Yeah, he's trying to accomplish something that's never been done in the history of the galaxy.  You know, rule everything?  That's impressive, I admire the guy."

"Yes!" Matt exclaims.  "Exactly!  Exactly!"

In the next scene, Ren is given the task by his supervisor (Jones) to rewire a calcinator. The task appears difficult for Ren to accomplish, incurring the anger of his supervisor.

"Okay, now can we rewire it, please," Ren's supervisor tells him, "so I can go have my muffin?  I haven't had my muffin yet, Matt!"

Matt returns to the common area and asks Zack and Tim if they've seen Kylo Ren's cross-hilt lightsaber.

"Yeah, man," replies Tim.  "That thing's weird looking."

"No, it's not, it's awesome," Ren counters testily.  Matt returns with Kylo Ren's lightsaber and activates it, holding it right up to Tim's face.  "Look at it up close!" Ren shouts.

"That thing looks dangerous, man, poorly made, a little kid made it."

"Then you don't have to look at it anymore!" Ren snaps, hurling the lightsaber across the room until it crashes into a wall.

"I'm 90% sure Matt is Kylo Ren," Zack tells the camera in a separate interview.

Zack tells Matt about his rough year after losing his son in the Stormtrooper program, which affects Ren.  He tells the camera, "Hearing that Zack lost his son really struck a nerve with me...especially since I'm the one who killed him."

Matt approaches Zack, saying that he ran into Kylo Ren in the bathroom.  Matt gives Zack a card from Ren, which says "After the rain comes the rainbow," with a note from Ren that reads "Sorry I killed your son!  :( -- Kylo"

Back in the common area, Matt, Zack and Tim are having lunch once again. "A buddy of mine saw Kylo Ren take his shirt off in the shower," Ren says.  "And he said Kylo Ren had an 8-pec.  Kylo Ren was shredded."

Tim snickers at the suggestion, remarking "What?  Your friend's a liar, man. Kylo Ren is a punk bitch.  That guy looks like he weighs thirty pounds soaking wet underneath that little black dress."

As Tim begins laughing, he suddenly starts choking uncontrollably.  "Oh, no...He's choking on food," Ren remarks dryly.  Ren raises his hand, using the Force to lift Tim up into the air. "I see what's in your mind," he says to Tim.  "It.  Is.  Stupid!"  All at once, Tim goes flying across the room into a nearby soda machine.

"Dude, Matt straight up sucks," Tim tells the camera privately.  

"I have a bombshell announcement to make, guys," Ren remarks to everyone in the common area.  "I'm not Matt.  I'm --"

"You're Kylo Ren," reply Zack and Tim.  "I knew when you threw me through the soda machine," remarks Tim.  "I knew from 'Hi, I'm Matt,'" says Zack.

"We really connected today," Ren says to Zack.  "I'm promoting you to Superior Officer."

"I had a blast today," Ren tells the camera, now fully garbed in his mask and hooded cloak. "I really learned a lot, and people are gonna love the new me."  As Kylo Ren walks away from the camera, we see the lifeless body of Zack slumped against the wall behind him.

If you'd like to check out the full sketch, you can view it below thanks to the official Saturday Night Live account on YouTube...

WONDER WOMAN Casts Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta

Wonder Woman just found her mom.

The Hollywood Reporter revealed yesterday that the upcoming Warner Bros./DC Comics film Wonder Woman has cast Connie Nielsen in the role of Hippolyta, the mother of Wonder Woman and Queen of the Amazons.

Nielsen joins Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman/Princess Diana, Chris Pine as Captain Steve Trevor, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, and Ewen Bremner.  Pine recently confirmed that the movie is set during World War I.

Nielsen, 50, is a Danish actress best known as Lucilla in the 2000 film Gladiator, and has also appeared in the films 3 Days to Kill, The Ice Harvest, Mission to Mars, Soldier, Rushmore, and The Devil's Advocate.

Created in 1941 by William Moulton Marston and H.G. Peter, Hippolyta first appeared in All-Star Comics (vol.1) #8, the first appearance of Wonder Woman.  Hippolyte (as she was originally named) and the Amazons once resided in "Amazonia" in the days of ancient Greece, until they were beguiled and bested by the demi-god Hercules, who had been sent after her by the God of War Ares, now named Mars.  She was able to beat him using the girdle, but he seduced her, and tricked her into allowing him to see the girdle, allowing him to steal it.  This caused them to lose the favor of their patron goddess, Aphrodite. Eventually she and the other Amazons were forgiven, but had to wear bracelets to remind them of the chains which once bound them.  To regain their status, the Amazons were forced to leave the mortal world and relocate to Paradise Island.  There they established their own society, free from the evils of man's world.  So long as they remained there and Hippolyte retained possession of her magic girdle, the Amazons would be immortal.

In 1987, George Pérez revised Hippolyta's origins in 1987 for the relaunched DC Comics continuity.  Hippolyta and the rest of the Themysciran Amazons were first created by a select few of the Olympian gods, which included Artemis, Athena, Hestia, Demeter and Aphrodite.  They took the souls of women slain throughout time by the hands of men and sent them to the bottom of the Aegean Sea.  Hippolyta was slain 3,200 years ago while carrying a child.  The souls then began to form bodies with the clay on the sea bed.  Once they reached the surface the clay bodies became living flesh and blood Amazons.  The first one to break surface was Hippolyta and because of this, she was given the title as Queen of the new race.  The second Amazon to break surface was her sister Antiope, who ruled as a second to Hippolyta in all affairs.  Each of the goddesses that created the Amazons blessed them with personalized gifts, including hunting skills (Artemis'), wisdom (Athena's), warm homes (Hestia's), plentiful harvests (Demeter's), and beauty inside and out (Aphrodite's). As a symbol of their leadership titles, the gods gave Hippolyta and Antiope each a Golden Girdle of Gaea which enhanced their strength and abilities significantly.  The Amazons eventually founded the city of Themyscira in Anatolia, and became known as fierce warriors of peace in Turkey, Greece and Rome.

The jealous and vengeful god Ares soon tried to discredit their name by having his half-brother demigod Heracles invade the Amazons and demean their standing by stealing their Golden Girdles of Gaea.  Once in their stronghold, Heracles and his men drugged the wine the Amazons were drinking and took them prisoner. After the theft of Hippolyta's Golden Girdle and abuse and rape of the Amazons, Hippolyta cried out to Athena to help them escape their bonds.  Athena said that she would only aid them on the condition that the Amazons not seek retribution against Heracles and his men as that would be beneath the ideals the Amazons were created to stand for. Hippolyta hastily agreed and the Amazon's bonds were broken and the effects of the drugs they had been given wore off. Once out of their drugged state, the Amazons were filled with hate and revenge. Breaking Hippolyta's oath to Athena, the Amazons began slaughtering their captors but were upset to find that Heracles and his general Theseus had returned to their homelands.  After the slaughter Athena reprimanded the Amazons for disobeying her orders. She demanded the Amazons serve penance for their actions.  Though Hippolyta agreed to the goddess' wishes, her sister Antiope scoffed at Athena for being angered at them for killing their rapist captors.  Antiope then denounced all ties to the Olympian gods and said goodbye to her sister Hippolyta, giving Hippolyta her Golden Girdle of Gaea to replace the one stolen by Heracles.

Hippolyta and her remaining faithful Amazons then went to the sea shore, where the Olympian Gods told them their punishment for going against their ideals.  They were to be given immortality so that they would forever safeguard a doorway to the underworld called Doom's Doorway, preventing anyone from entering, and vanquishing any evils that tried to escape.  The doorway was located on an isolated island and to guide their way, the god Poseidon cleared a pathway for them across the seas.  Once they arrived at the island, the Amazons created a new city and named their new home Themyscira, after their previous fallen city.  The Amazons continued to live on the island guarding Doom's Doorway, and paying homage to their gods, for three thousand years.

Queen Hippolyta eventually began to ache for a child of her own.  She prayed to her gods her secret wish and they responded, telling her to go to the sea shore and form the figure of a baby with the island's clay, which she did.  The original goddesses again united to create a new Amazon for Queen Hippolyta.  It was revealed that in her previous life, Hippolyta was a pregnant cavewoman who was killed by her mate, thus her longing was for the child she had been denied.  The goddesses used the soul of this unborn child to fall into the clay body of the infant and, just as with the previous Amazons, the clay was changed into flesh and blood.  Hippolyta named the child Diana, after a stranger who was washed ashore on the island and helped the Amazons defeat a creature escaping Doom's Doorway with her life. This Diana was later to be revealed as the love interest of Steve Trevor.  When she reached adulthood, Princess Diana became the superheroine Wonder Woman.  To aid her in her mission, the Olympian gods transformed the Golden Girdle of Gaea that Antiope gave to Hippolyta into the Lasso of Truth.

Nielsen will be the fifth actress to portray Hippolyta in live action, after Charlene Holt in the 1974 Wonder Woman TV movie starring Cathy Lee Crosby, and Cloris Leachman, Carolyn Jones and Beatrice Straight in the 1975 Wonder Woman television series.  The character has also appeared in a number of animated projects, including Superman (1988, voiced by Pat Carroll), Justice League and Justice League Unlimited (voiced by Susan Sullivan), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (voiced by Tippi Hedren), and the 2009 direct-to-DVD Wonder Woman movie (voiced by Virginia Madsen).

Wonder Woman is expected to be released in theaters on June 23, 2017.