LEGENDS OF TOMORROW Casts Patrick J. Adams as Booster Gold (Maybe)

The Greatest Hero You've Never Head Of has been cast.  Maybe.

Entertainment Weekly has revealed that the CW series Legends of Tomorrow has cast Patrick J. Adams as "surprise DC character," which is more than likely Michael Jon Carter, better known to DC Comics fans as Booster Gold.

According to the article, the mystery DC character will appear in the Season One finale, "Legendary," as well as the Season Two premiere, with the potential for more.

Adams, 34, is best known as Mike Ross on the USA Network series Suits, and has appeared on the television series Orphan Black, Pretty Little Liars, FlashForward, Lie to Me, Ghost Whisperer, NCIS, Lost, Without a Trace, Numb3rs, and Cold Case.  He also appeared in the movie Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

Two weeks ago, TVLine reported that Legends of Tomorrow was going to introduce a "beloved superhero from the DC canon" whose mysterious agenda serves as "a launching off point for Season 2."  However, another article from TVLine now claims that they "since learned that one possibility can be ruled out: time traveler Booster Gold."

Regardless of this, Booster Gold makes the most sense, given Adams' physical resemblance to the character. Booster's significant relationship to Arthur Darvill's character, Rip Hunter, and the recent tease of a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring on an episode of The Flash.  In addition, during the red carpet premiere of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, DC Comics Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns remarked on Booster Gold, saying "You’ll see [Booster Gold] very soon, and there’s talks about…There’s actually a lot of plans for Booster Gold, one of my favorite characters.  But yeah, Booster Gold fans, you will definitely be happy with what we’ve got coming up in the years ahead."

Created in 1986 by writer/artist Dan Jurgens, Booster Gold first appeared in Booster Gold (vol.1) #1 as Michael Jon Carter, a gifted athlete who had a twin sister named Michelle and attended Gotham University in the 25th century on a football scholarship.  Michael was a star quarterback until his father reentered his life and convinced him to deliberately lose games for gambling purposes.  He was exposed, disgraced and expelled.  Later, he was able to secure a job as a night watchman at the Metropolis Space Museum, where he studied displays about superheroes and villains from the past, particularly the 20th century.

With the help of a security robot named Skeets, Michael stole devices from the museum displays, including a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring and Brainiac 5's force field belt.  He used Rip Hunter's Time Sphere, also on display in the museum, to travel to the 20th century, intent on becoming a superhero and forming a corporation based around himself to make a comfortable living.  Carter's nickname as a football player was "Booster", but his chosen 20th century superhero name was "Goldstar."  After saving the life of United States President Ronald Reagan  Carter mangled the two names, causing President Reagan to introduce him as "Booster Gold" and the name stuck.  He soon joined the Justice League and quickly became friends with fellow member Blue Beetle.

Booster eventually During the event known as Brightest Day, Rip Hunter revealed that the future version of Booster Gold was not only his father, but also watched Rip training the young Booster Gold, aiding him when needed.  Future Booster also revealed that he was still married to Rip's mother, and that Michelle was with them in some unknown time.

If Adams does indeed turn out to be Booster Gold, he will be the second actor to portray the character in live action, after Eric Martsolf in the Smallville episode "Booster."  The character has also appeared in various animated projects, including Justice League Unlimited and Batman: The Brave and the Bold (voiced by Tom Everett Scott), and Justice League Action (voiced by Diedrich Bader).

"Legendary," the Season One finale of Legends of Tomorrow, is slated to air on Thursday, May 19th at 8:00 p.m. EST.

THE FANDOM ZONE 053: "New York's Finest" is Up!

"People don't have to die."
"Come on, Red.  You believe that?"
"I believe it's not my call, and it ain't yours, either."
"Somebody ask you to put on that costume or you take it upon yourself?  You know what I think of you, hero?  I think you're a half-measure.  I think you're a man who can't finish the job.  I think that you're a coward.  You know the one thing that you just can't see?  You know you're one bad day away from being me."
– Daredevil and The Punisher, Daredevil: "New York's Finest"

Celebrating our one year anniversary (!), Karen Lindsay and I are back with another huge episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

The Walking Dead 6x14 -- "Twice as Far"

Supergirl 1x17 -- "Manhunter"

Gotham 2x15 -- "Mad Grey Dawn"
Lucifer 1x09 -- "A Priest Walks into a Bar"

The Flash 2x16 -- "Trajectory"

iZombie 2x15 -- "He Blinded Me...with Science"Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3x13 -- "Parting Shot"
Arrow 4x16 -- "Broken Hearts"

Daredevil 2x03 -- "New York's Finest"

This time, we talk about things like Karen's birthday, anniversaries galore, Baldrick from Black Adder, wondering why there are no zombie babies on The Walking Dead, Eugene's "Stage Two" dick biting, The Riddler being self-destructive, speculating on The Penguin coming into a bunch of money, Bruce Wayne making himself complete by beating up criminals, everyone being smarter than Lucy Lane, Siobhan needing to be a bit more skeletal, Lucifer yelling at God, Daffy Duck and Donald Duck playing pianos in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, the secretary disavowing all knowledge of Mockingbird and Lance Hunter, some background on DC Comics character Trajectory, teasing Jesse Quick, Vaughn Du Clark leaving his daughter Rita to become a zombie, more of not caring about Arrow's flashbacks, Captain Lance rising in the Mystery Grave death pool odds, The Punisher (vol.5) #3 by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, Daredevil and The Punisher discussing morality, the spectacular stairwell fight, the return of Claire Temple the Night Nurse, 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, you can Like us on The Fandom Zone Facebook show page, 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 Episode 4 of Daredevil Season 2, along with new episodes of The Walking Dead, Gotham, Supergirl, Lucifer, The Flash, iZombie, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

DAMN Good Movies -- BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE

That's right, I'm back once again with another movie take, this time on the movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, based on the classic DC Comics characters.  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...the Red Capes are coming, the Red Capes are coming...

A few years ago, Warner Bros. and director Zack Snyder unleashed their Superman reboot film Man of Steel, hoping to make everyone forget their disappointing Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds that was supposed to launch the DC Cinematic Universe in 2011. The film was a financial success, bringing in over $668 million worldwide, but was met with mixed reviews from both critics and fans.  Actually, that's something of an understatement, because the film's controversial third act, with an overload of Metropolis destruction porn and Superman's decision to snap General Zod's neck to save a family of innocents, effectively split fandom into hostile "Loved It" and "Loathed It" warring factions on the interwebz.

Regardless of what diehard Superman fans and grumpy old comics pros on Twitter thought, the film still made Warners a lot of money so a sequel was inevitable.  Snyder and screenwriter David S. Goyer were announced to return, with the promised story that Superman and Batman would finally meet one another on the big screen, with hints of Frank Miller and Klaus Janson's '80s classic Batman: The Dark Knight Returns as a major influence.  In December 2013, Chris Terrio was brought in to rewrite Goyer's script, an interesting result of Ben Affleck, who worked with Terrio on the film Argo, being announced as the new Batman. 

Six months later, the film's title was officially announced as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a clunky mouthful that a number of fans mocked for sounding more like a legal drama than a superhero film.  And as additional casting was announced, it became apparent that the promised Man of Steel sequel had transformed into a backdoor pilot to spinoff Justice League films and (re)launch the DC Extended Universe.

The movie opens with the first of a number of dream sequences, retelling the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents, even though we've seen it all before in Batman (1989), Batman Begins and the first episode of Gotham.  It plays out as you'd expect, although Thomas and Martha Wayne now die in 1981, as evidenced by the "Excalibur Coming Soon" theater marquee sign.  This means 34 years pass to the movie's setting of 2015, effectively making Batman roughly 44-46 years old.

And sure enough, we see a Bruce Wayne with graying temples waking up to life eighteen months after the devastation in Metropolis from Man of Steel.  We learn that Bruce arrived in Metropolis when everything went down (rather conveniently, Gotham is right next door as a twin city of Metropolis), only to witness the total collapse of the Metropolis branch of Wayne Enterprises.  Snyder makes a deliberate attempt to echo September 11th imagery, showing Bruce running into the cloud of smoke and ash from the building's destruction as if he were a first responder.  He rescues a man named Wallace Keefe, who ends up a pawn in Lex Luthor's game of supervillain chess, and glares angrily at Superman flying above to set the film's grimdark tone.

Bruce later attends a fundraiser hosted by the mentally erratic Luthor to retrieve data from LexCorp's mainframe, encounter Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent and a mysterious antiques dealer named Diana Prince.  It's here in the film's Second Act, where non-comics fans start feeling numb and overwhelmed, as Diana learns that Luthor has files on herself (teasing the Wonder Woman spinoff set in World War I), as well as other metahumans -- one with superhuman speed (The Flash), one who gets a cybernetic body (Cyborg), and one who can breathe underwater (Aquaman).  Bruce, meanwhile, keeps having strange nightmares that convolute the story unneccessarily, one involving a time-traveling Flash abruptly arriving by Boom Tube to warn Bruce about Dark Superman, and another of Dark Superman allied with stormtroopers in black and a swarm of Parademons to tease another supervillain, Darkseid.

Everybody got that?

Okay, so Bruce gets the drive back from Diana, learning about her and the other metahumans, along with Luthor's fun little experiments with Kryptonite.  Batman attempts to steal Luthor's Kryptonite, but gets intercepted by Superman, who shrugs off a Batmobile attack like bumper pool and declares "The Bat is dead."  And as if this isn't enough for the audience to deal with, U.S. Senator Finch summons Superman to a Congressional hearing at the U.S. Capitol to highlight public resentment of his actions, where Luthor masterminds a bombing that kills dozens of people, including Finch.  The public blames the bombing on Superman, even though it's reported someone else was responsible, so Superman flies off to Kansas to see his mom.

Things pick up in the Third Act, where Snyder gets to indulge himself with all kinds of CGI destruction and gritty camera filters that his heart desires.  And it's here, as Batman and Superman head into their hyped superbrawl, we get a strange hybrid of The Dark Knight Returns with 1992's "The Death of Superman," with a climax that doesn't really satisfy fans of either saga.

Batman finally gets his hands on the Kryptonite and trains like Rocky Balboa in Rocky IV for his showdown with Superman, building a familiar set of armor with a Kryptonite-powered arsenal.  Luthor, becoming totally unhinged by this point with rampant xenophobia, use the Kryptonian scout ship left over from Man of Steel and splices his own DNA with Zod's corpse, because comics.  And after learning Superman's true identity, he goes after Lois Lane to lure Superman to LexCorp Tower and blackmails him into duking it out with Batman by holding his adoptive mother, Martha Kent, hostage at a location unknown even to him.

Superman tries to explain this to Batman, who can't be bothered with actual criminals (like Luthor) and nearly kills Superman with a Kryptonite spear.  It's only Superman's plea for Batman to "Save Martha," reminding us that both of Superman and Batman's moms have the same first name, that snaps him out of being a total douche and realize that maybe Superman isn't the real threat here.  And since nobody's paying attention to Luthor, he unleashes his pet project Doomsday that Superman and Batman join forces to stop.

At this point, the film's only true sense of...um...wonder...takes place as Diana suddenly joins the fight in a great entrance, now fully garbed as Wonder Woman.  With the DC Holy Trinity now united on the big screen at long last, we get another superbrawl that demolishes another good chunk of Gotham City (thanks in part to Batman, who deliberately lures Doomsday back to Gotham so he can use the Kryptonite spear, instead of -- oh, I don't know -- getting the spear and bringing it back to use on Doomsday?).  Thankfully, Superman gets a moment of actual heroism as he retrieves the Kryptonite spear despite the harm to himself and sacrifices himself to impale Doomsday with it, while Doomsday stabs Superman with a bone protrusion, apparently killing him.

And at the end of this two-hour, thirty-minute sensory overload, things are tied up rather neatly.  Luthor is arrested off-screen, after Lois exposes his various crimes, and his annoying mop of hair is finally shaved off while in prison.  A memorial is held for Superman in Metropolis, and another for Clark, who is also declared dead, in Smallville, Kansas.  After the funeral, Bruce reveals to Diana he plans to form a team from Luthor's file subjects to protect the world in Superman's memory, so yes, Justice League.  

That, of course, means we need a faint heartbeat from Superman's grave to tease his return, as the dirt atop his coffin begins to levitate, because Mostly Dead as Opposed to All Dead Superman somehow causes dirt to levitate.  Yeah.

There was a lot going on in this film, with various DC Comics characters finally interacting with one another at long last.  Here are some of the things that stood out:

BATMAN/BRUCE WAYNE -- For all the fanboy resistance to Ben Affleck as the latest Dark Knight after his 2003 version of Daredevil, Affleck (or BatFleck, take your pick) actually turns in a solid performance here.  The problem with this Batman, however, isn't Affleck but this specific version of the character.  As an older Batman who's fought crime in Gotham for twenty years, he feels like Batman at the end of his run.  Stately Wayne Manor is in ruins, Robin (any Robin) is nowhere to be found and presumed dead, and Old Man Wayne is more concerned about the guy who saves astronauts from exploding orbital rockets than he is about muggers in dark alleys.

SUPERMAN/CLARK KENT -- Henry Cavill is considerably more grim and humorless in his second outing as the Man of Steel, although I chalk most of that up to the script and director than I do him.  Thankfully, Superman comes to life in his scenes with his scenes with Lois, showing good screen chemistry with Amy Adams.  And as trivial and superficial as it may sound, yes, Cavill's receding hairline is getting to be a bit of a problem.  I don't suppose we'll get a hairline filler with that resurrection in Justice League Part One...?

WONDER WOMAN/DIANA PRINCE -- The real winner of Batman vs. Superman?  Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.  Her debut as the Amazing Amazon introduces the character well, giving her a sense of mystery and teasing the solo Wonder Woman film in the process. But it's in Wonder Woman's standoff with Doomsday alongside Batman and Superman that becomes the film's biggest moment, with Gadot giving WW a smile of enjoyment as she throws down with Doomsday. 

LEX LUTHOR -- When Jesse Eisenberg was first announced as the new Lex, a number of comics fans shuddered at the idea, and I'm sad to say they were probably justified in doing so.  Eisenberg gives his Lex Luthor a squeaky, weasally voice, heightened by this version's runaway xenophobia and mental instabliity.  This isn't the intimidating, dangerous Lex Luthor fans are used to, but a troll who gets quickly blocked on Twitter for his nonstop and tiresome rants.  Near the end, he hints at a possible alliance with Darkseid, meaning we'll probably see him return in Justice League Part One.

DOOMSDAY/GENERAL ZOD -- Michael Shannon returns as Zod, albeit Dead and Naked General Zod.  In the Third Act, Zod's naked corpse ends up replaced by Doomsday, who really deserved better for a movie reported to be made for $250 million.  At first, Doomsday starts off looking like Cave Troll from the Lord of the Rings films, until he starts juicing on energy and eventually grows some traditional bone protrusions.  Both incarnations, however, are poorly crafted CGI that looks great in a Batman v Superman videogame, far less so on the big screen.

LOIS LANE -- After Man of Steel was criticized for not giving Lois much to do, Amy Adams thankfully has a more meaningful presence here.  Her relationship with Clark has progressed to the stage of showing a carefully-edited nude scene in a bathtub, she gets to do her reporter thing with a known terrorist, she talks Batman down from killing Superman, and she stands with Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman after Doomsday is brought down.  And more interestingly, the Flash warns that she's key to whatever happens in the two Justice League films.

PERRY WHITE -- Laurence Fishburne returns as Perry, playing the gruff editor of a great metropolitan newspaper that nobody reads in 2015.  He tries to keep Lois in check and gets some good lines, particularly one about Clark clicking his heels together to go back to Kansas, but that's about it.

MARTHA KENT -- Diane Lane returns as well, in a lovely scene where Martha tries to reassure Clark after public starts hating on him.  She disappears until the Third Act, ending up as little more than Luthor's hostage to get Superman to do what he wants, but does a get a funny moment when Batman introduces himself to her as Clark's friend.

ALFRED PENNYWORTH -- As the new Alfred, Jeremy Irons serves as BatFleck's right hand, but without any of the grace and charm of previous actors in the role.  No, this Alfred is pretty much tech support, tinkering with Batman's voice modulator and manning an ops room that isn't even located in the Batcave.  He tries to be Bruce's moral compass, but ends up being largely forgettable.

MERCY GRAVES -- Tao Okamoto, who was terrific in The Wolverine and Hannibal, is the first live-action version of Lex Luthor's henchwoman, but doesn't get to do much apart from follow Bruce Wayne around Lex's fundraiser and look up ominously from a tablet device.

SENATOR JUNE FINCH -- Portraying the Senator from Kentucky heading up a Senate investigation into Superman's actions, Holly Hunter plays up the Southern for all it's worth as she stonewalls some of Luthor's machinations.  You don't really care about her character, though, so it's no big loss when she dies in the Capitol explosion.

SECRETARY CALVIN SWANWICK -- Harry Lennix is another Man of Steel vet, whose character apparently ended up with a promotion to Secretary of Defense.  He's essentially Lois' inside man here, but at least he gets a first name this time.

JIMMY OLSEN CAMEO -- After the grumbling that Jimmy wasn't in Man of Steel, it was great to see Michael Cassidy debut as the character...until he's quickly killed off in a cheap, throwaway moment.  (Insert Price is Right Fail Music here)

JONATHAN KENT CAMEO -- Kevin Costner returns as Clark's bizarrely paranoid (and deceased) father in some form of hallucination or dream or I don't know what.  How this scene made Snyder's final cut, I have no idea.

THOMAS & MARTHA WAYNE CAMEO -- Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan are the latest Waynes to meet the wrong end of a gun in Crime Alley.  Morgan, I get, because he was The Comedian in Snyder's Watchmen, but Cohan?  Well, she does know Morgan from The Walking Dead...

AQUAMAN/ARTHUR CURRY CAMEO -- As part of the Justice League teases, Jason Momoa debuts as the King of Atlantis, where we see Khal Drogo Aquaman underwater in the bowels of a sunken ship until he swims off...somewhere.

CYBORG/VICTOR STONE AND SILAS STONE CAMEO -- Our first official look at Ray Fisher as Cyborg shows Vic at some point after his accident that leaves him little more than a head and a torso.  And then we have a pretty horrific moment, as Vic's father Silas (played by Joe Morton) brings over some strange, swirling technology to fuse with his son, who screams right out of a horror film.

THE FLASH/BARRY ALLEN CAMEO -- Ezra Miller debuts as Barry Allen, even though he's the Barry Allen nobody wants.  He first appears in clunky, ugly armor by way of time travel and a Boom Tube, warning Bruce that he was right about Superman and how Lois is the key...to something.  Later, we see him as part of Luthor's files in footage from a convenience store, sporting hideous long hair and a skeevy thin goatee that's mercifully been done away with in recent photos of the actor.

All in all, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice isn't as bad as some critics think it is, but not as good as some fanboys believe it is.  It's primarily a vehicle for Zack Snyder to address some criticisms made about Man of Steel, while setting the table for Warner Bros.' DC Extended Universe shared film franchise.  There are moments of greatness, sure, but the film doesn't really know what it wants to be and as a result, often comes off as forced and emotionally hollow.  Snyder's already slated to return for Justice League Part One, which starts filming next month, but unless significant changes are made, I'm looking forward to Wonder Woman -- directed by Patty Jenkins -- a lot more.

And for those who may be wondering, here's the updated list of my Top 20 Comic Book Films:

1. Superman (1978)
2. The Dark Knight (2008)
3. The Avengers (2012)
4. Batman Begins (2005)
5. Man of Steel (2013)
6. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
7. Spider-Man (2002)
8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
9. Iron Man (2008)
10. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
11. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
12. Watchmen (2009)
13. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
14. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
15. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
16. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
17. X-Men: First Class (2011)
18: The Wolverine (2013)
19. X2: X-Men United (2003)
20. X-Men (2000)

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 055: "The Innocent" is Up!

"It’s not about causes, Rejoice.  I’m steeped in the blood of it all.  It’s my reason for being – to do the unthinkable, to do what is necessary to bring this whole sorry chapter of cosmic history to an end, one way or another.  In short, I’m a monster."
-- The War Doctor to Rejoice, Doctor Who: "The Innocent"

Returning from the farthest reaches of time and space, 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!  We're reviewing the first audio adventure from Big Finish Productions' first War Doctor set Only the Monstrous, "The Innocent" starring John Hurt!

This time, Jesse and I discuss things like producing on the fly, our impressions of John Hurt returning as The War Doctor on audio, Time Lords choosing their identity as a rite of passage, Time Lords being total hypocrites, the War Doctor being a missing puzzle piece, Lucy Briggs-Owen as Rejoice, Jacqueline Pearce as Cardinal Ollistra, why the Tom Baker era story "Genesis of the Daleks" is so important, why the Doctor's regeneration into a warrior didn't change the Doctor as much as he thought, pondering if the War Doctor is really the monster he says he is, my Reverse the Polarity segment, Peter Capaldi's recent announcement that the new companion has been cast, 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 second War Doctor audio adventure from Big Finish Productions, "The Thousand Worlds" starring John Hurt, and look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

THE FANDOM ZONE 052: "Bang" is Up!

"It’s not underwear, Foggy.  Underwear is comfortable."
– Matt Murdock to Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, Daredevil: "Bang"

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:

The Walking Dead 6x13 -- "The Same Boat"

Supergirl 1x16 -- "Falling"Gotham 2x14 -- "This Ball of Mud and Meanness"
Lucifer 1x08 -- "Et Tu, Doctor?"
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3x12 -- "The Inside Man"
Daredevil 2x01 -- "Bang"

Daredevil 2x02 -- "Dogs to a Gunfight"

This time, we talk about things like DC's new Legends of Tomorrow comic, when The Fonz stopped being cool on Happy Days, the greatness of a female-centric episode of The Walking Dead, Carol going into BatCarol mode, Carol and Paula taking different roads, fun with Red Kryptonite, Kara making a supervillain out of her office rival, CBS' gratuitious use of The Talk on Supergirl, the resetting of Cigarette Tar Kryptonite Evil Superman from Superman III, the Second Rule of Gotham Fight Club, the greatness of Lori Petty, the greatness of Jim Rash, teasing the arrival of Eden Fesi a.k.a. Manifold, Daredevil having no time for Turk being Turk, the Punisher being smarter than the NYPD, the Daredevil issue of The Punisher maxi-series by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, 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, you can Like us on The Fandom Zone Facebook show page, 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 for our One Year Anniversary (!!!), as we review Episode 3 of Daredevil Season 2, along with new episodes of The Walking Dead, Gotham, Supergirl, Lucifer, The Flash, iZombie, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Arrow, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

SUPERGIRL Casts Eve Torres Gracie as Maxima

The Girl of Steel is about to run into a myriad of problems.

CBS has revealed that Supergirl has cast Eve Torres Gracie as DC Comics supervillain (and occasional superhero) Maxima.  Maxima will be featured in the series' nineteenth episode, "Myriad," written by Yahlin Chang and Caitlin Parrish.  Here's the official episode synopsis from CBS...

“Myriad” – Kara must find a way to free her friends when Non (Chris Vance) and Indigo (Laura Vandervoort) use mind control to turn National City’s citizens into their own army, on SUPERGIRL, Monday, April 11 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

RECURRING CAST: Laura Benanti (Alura/Astra), Jenna Dewan-Tatum (Lucy Lane), Chris Vance (Non), Peter Facinelli (Maxwell Lord), Laura Vandervoort (Indigo), Briana Venskus (Agent Vasquez), Glenn Morshower (General Sam Lane) and Dr. Eliza Danvers (Helen Slater) GUEST CAST: Eve Torres Gracie (Maxima)

Torres Gracie, 31, is best known as a former WWE wrestler and Divas Champion.  She has also appeared in Chancara in the 2015 film Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power, and on the television series Matador, Stars Earn Stripes, Attack of the Show, Sunset Tan, and The Best Damn Sports Show Period.

Created in 1989 by Roger Stern and George Pérez, Maxima first appeared in Action Comics (vol.1) #645 as the hot-tempered, oldest child of the Royal family of the planet Almerac, who came to Earth in search of a suitable mate to sire her heir, leaving behind Ultraa, her betrothed.  A simulacrum of Maxima arrived on Earth brought to Earth by her servant Sazu, who took it upon herself to convince Superman to be her mate.  The simulacrum was destroyed and Sazu ended up imprisoned.  The real Maxima then appeared to free Sazu and came face to face with Superman.  She and Superman, she argued, were genetically compatible and she could give him what no Earth woman could -- children. She was infuriated when Superman rejected her offer, saying he had no desire to father despots.

Maxima later found herself reluctantly working with Brainiac, who attempted to destroy Almerac with the Warworld.  She turned against him, and helped Earth's heroes defeat him, subsequently joining a reformed Justice League for her own reasons. As a Leaguer, she helped in the fight against Doomsday, and when that version of the League disbanded, she became a member of Captain Atom's Extreme Justice team.  She considered Captain Atom as a potential mate, but he was also not interested.  She later had a brief fling with another teammate, Amazing-Man, which lasted until the team was dissolved.  While part of the Extreme Justice team she joined with other heroes on a trip to Hell itself, mistakenly believing that Superman was trapped there.  During the battle, Maxima fell and was lost, but was sent back to Earth when Neron, the current ruler of hell, was subdued.

Maxima eventually conceded her position when Almerac's rendezvous showed up using a Boom Tube.  She explained that she was leading her people to safety from Imperiex, the force that conquered her world.  To save her people, she allied herself with Darkseid's son, Grayven, who took them to regions unknown.  She and a myriad of heroes and villains formed alliances with Earth and Apokolips in an effort to destroy Imperiex.  Maxima ultimately met her demise placing her ship between the destructive beams of Brainiac 13's Warworld, which would have resulted in the destruction of the entire universe.

Torres Gracie will be the second actress to portray Maxima in live action, after Charlotte Sullivan on the CW series Smallville.  The character has also appeared on Superman: The Animated Series, voiced by Sharon Lawrence.

Supergirl airs on CBS Monday nights at 8 p.m. EST, with "Myriad" slated for Monday, April 11th.

GOTHAM Casts Brian McManamon as Clayface

Looks like Blackgate prison is about to get more crowded.

ComicBook.com has revealed that the Fox series Gotham, which was recently renewed for a third season, has cast Brian McManamon as Basil Karlo, the original version of DC Comics supervillain Clayface.  The character was announced for Gotham Season 2 one year ago at WonderCon, along with Mr. Freeze and The Mad Hatter.

McManamon is an actor and writer who has appeared on the television series Gossip Girl and Project Beth.  He confirmed his appearance on Gotham last week via his official Twitter account showing him bald in a motion-capture suit, although he did not specifically mention his character.

Psyched to be guest starring (& bald!) in an upcoming episode of @Gotham with the gracious & talented @ben_mckenzie pic.twitter.com/g2huWocQbx

— Brian McManamon (@BrianMcManamon) March 11, 2016

Created in 1940 by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the first Clayface first appeared in Detective Comics (vol.1) #40 as Basil Karlo, an actor driven insane with anger after hearing that a remake of the classic horror film he had starred in, The Terror, would be shot without him acting in the film, even though he was to be one of the advising staff.  Donning the costume of the film's villain he once played, Clayface, he began killing the actors playing characters he killed in the order and way they died in the film, until he was defeated by Batman and Robin.

Decades later, the character was brought back,with Karlo stuck in a prison hospital, until the fourth Clayface, Sondra Fuller, visited him out of curiosity. Karlo proposed an alliance of all living Clayfaces to kill Batman.  The group, calling itself "The Mud Pack," was defeated,  but Karlo injected himself with samples from his successors, Matt Hagen, Preston Payne and Sondra Fuller, giving him the abilities to shapeshift and melt with a touch.  He became the self-declared "Ultimate" Clayface, but was defeated by the combined efforts of Batman and Looker of the Outsiders by overloading his abilities, making him melt into the ground.  He literally sank into the Earth's crust after losing control of his powers.  He survived, however, but his body sported crystals similar to quartz that endow him with greater powers.

In The New 52 reboot of the DC Comics universe), Poison Ivy broke Basil Karlo out of Arkham intent on marrying him, which turned out to be a ruse, with Poison Ivy messing with Karlo's mind.  Karlo later returned with a new plan to use his DNA-duplication abilities to impersonate Bruce Wayne and take control of Wayne Enterprises.  He even guessed that Wayne is Batman's true identity, but Batman planted false evidence to suggest that he anticipated Karlo's attempt to take his DNA and tricked him into taking a fake sample. Batman eventually stopped him by trapping him in a security system that could only be deactivated with Karlo's original DNA, reasoning that Karlo has changed too much for his original DNA to be present in his system.

McManamon will be the second actor to portray Clayface in live action, after Kirk Baltz on the WB series Birds of Prey.   Clayface has appeared in a number of animated projects, including The New Adventures of Batman (voiced by Lou Scheimer and Lennie Weinrib as Matt Hagen), Batman: The Animated Series,The New Batman Adventures and Justice League (voiced by Ron Perlman as Matt Hagen), The Batman (voiced Wallace Lagham and Lex Lang as Basil Karlo), Young Justice (voiced by Nolan North as Matt Hagen), and Batman Unlimited: Monster Mayham (voiced by Dave B. Mitchell as Basil Karlo).

Gotham airs Monday nights on Fox at 8 p.m. EST.

THE FANDOM ZONE 051: "A Dead Man Feels No Cold" is Up!

"I should have died with Nora.  This all should have ended."
"Then take this opportunity, Victor.  Pretend you did die.  Death is not an ending.  Death is a new beginning."
– Victor "Mr. Freeze" Fries and Professor Hugo Strange, Gotham: "A Dead Man Feels No Cold"

You guessed it, Karen Lindsay and I are back in our regular format with another big episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

The Walking Dead 6x12 -- "Not Tomorrow Yet"
Gotham 2x13 -- "A Dead Man Feels No Cold"
Lucifer 1x07 -- "Wingman"
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3x11 -- "Bouncing Back"
Legends of Tomorrow 1x08 -- "Night of the Hawk"

This time, we talk about things like being a likeable weird as opposed to an annoying weird, damn good Bitch Slap Coffee...and hot, being environmentally friendly by recycling zombies, kill counts with living people instead of zombies, the understatement of Negan's arrival, Carol's cookie guilt over Sam, Karen's cougaring of Lucifer and Amenadiel, more of Karen's theory that only Chloe can physically harm Lucifer, my Amenadiel masterplan theory, how Alfred is responsible for Selina becoming Catwoman, speculation on when Bruce will start hating guns, hoping that Fish Mooney isn't brought back from the dead, the mystery foreshadowing of Yo-Yo's cross necklace, some background on The Hive from Secret Warriors, director Joe Dante, sly San Diego Comic Con Hall H references, the awkwardness of being black and lesbian time-travelers in 1950s America, speculation on the real identity of Chronos, another new Justina review, giving props to Karen, 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, you can Like us on The Fandom Zone Facebook show page, 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 Season 2 premiere of Daredevil, along with new episodes of The Walking Dead, Gotham, Supergirl, Lucifer, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

INDIANA JONES 5 Announced with Harrison Ford & Steven Spielberg

If desperation has a name, it must be Indiana Jones.

The Hollywood Reporter has word that Disney has officially announced a fifth Indiana Jones film for 2019, featuring the return of Harrison Ford as adventure hero Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, Jr. along with director Steven Spielberg.  Creator George Lucas is reportedly not involved with the project.

According to the article, Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilms, and her husband Frank Marshall will produce the film.  Kennedy previously worked on the original film, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), as an associate to Spielberg, while Marshall was the producer.  Both were involved with the next three films, all of which Spielberg directed.

The last film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, was released in 2008 to mostly negative reactions from fans and critics, although it still made over $786 million worldwide.

The article also claims that Disney and Paramount reached an agreement in 2013 giving Disney control over all future films.  Paramount retains rights to the first four films and will receive a financial participation on any future films that are produced and released.
"Indiana Jones is one of the greatest heroes in cinematic history, and we can’t wait to bring him back to the screen in 2019," said Disney chairman Alan Horn.  "It’s rare to have such a perfect combination of director, producers, actor and role, and we couldn’t be more excited to embark on this adventure with Harrison and Steven."

Ford, 73, seems to be taking advantage of a career resurgence of late, after reprising his role of Han Solo in last year's Star Wars: The Force Awakens for presumably the last time. In addition, he's expected to reprise his character of Rick Deckard in a sequel to Blade Runner for 2018.

Indiana Jones 5 is slated to arrive in theaters on July 19, 2019.

Animated BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE Cast Revealed

"All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy."
-- The Joker, Batman: The Killing Joke

Comic Book Resources has confirmed that Batman: The Animated Series stars Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill will reprise their respective roles of Batman and The Joker for the upcoming animated movie adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland.

In addition, CBR has revealed that Tara Strong will voice Batgirl/Barbara Gordon and Ray Wise will voice Batgirl's father, Commissioner James Gordon.

"The chance to work once again with Kevin Conroy, my favorite Batman, in what some consider the definitive origin of this iconic villain is a dream come true for me," said Hamill in a statement.  "I am beyond thrilled to return as The Joker in The Killing Joke!'"

"I’ve had the great privilege of voicing Batman for more than two decades, and some of my favorite moments in the recording booth have been alongside Mark Hamill," added Conroy. "Mark always enables me to be a better actor.  I’m thrilled that we’re both back to bring these characters to life in one of the most heralded Batman/Joker stories of all time."

According to the article, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will host the world premiere of Batman: The Killing Joke this summer at Comic-Con International in San Diego and the film will arrive in stores later this summer.

Created in 1988 by writer Alan Moore and artist Brian Bolland, Batman: The Killing Joke is a one-shot graphic novel that provides an origin for The Joker as a failed stand-up comedian who agrees to aid a gang of criminals and is thwarted by the superhero Batman before being disfigured.  In the process, he is driven insane and adopts his supervillain persona. The story is also notable for The Joker shooting and paralyzing Barbara Gordon, which forced her to give up her Batgirl identity and later adopt the new alias Oracle.

Conroy, 60, debuted as Batman/Bruce Wayne in 1992 with Batman: The Animated Series, and continued voicing the character with the 1993 animated film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, The New Batman Adventures, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, The Zeta Project, Justice League, Static Shock, Justice League Unlimited, Justice League: Doom, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, the Batman: Strange Days animated short, and several videogames. 

Hamill, 64, also debuted as The Joker in 1992 with Batman: The Animated Series, and continued voicing the character with the 1993 animated film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, The New Batman Adventures, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Static Shock, Justice League, the live-action TV series Birds of Prey, and several videogames.

Strong, 43, provided the voice for Batgirl in numerous television series, first on The New Batman Adventures, Gotham Girls, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and Super Best Friends Forever. She's also provided the voice for Harley Quinn on the TV series Arrow, and in videogames such as Injustice: Gods Among Us, the Arkham series and LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham.

Wise, 68, is best known as Leland Palmer on the ABC series Twin Peaks.  He also voiced Perry White in the animated film Superman: Doomsday, and has appeared in the films RoboCop (1987) and Swamp Thing as Dr. Alec Holland.  In addition, he recently appeared on the ABC series Agent Carter, along with the TV series Reaper, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: Voyager.

THE FANDOM ZONE 050: "The Day of the Fandom Zone" is Up!

Karen Lindsay and I are back with our HUGE 50th episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  And joining us in our celebration is our fellow Southgate Media Group podcaster (and occasional meme master) Phil Perich!

Breaking our traditional format, we discuss the current comic book TV show landscape, including Karen's special 50th episode theme music, the Robert Kirkman TV universe, the VERTIGO TV universe, the DC Comics TV universe, the Marvel ABC TV universe, the Marvel Netlfix TV universe, The Walking Dead launching the modern wave of comic book TV shows, Fear the Walking Dead not explaining the zombie apocalypse, looking forward to Outcast on Cinemax, wanting John Constantine and the DC supernatural heroes for Legends of Tomorrow Season 2, bingewatching iZombie, Karen cougaring over Tom Ellis and D.B. Woodside on Lucifer, wondering why Preacher's Arseface isn't called Assface, former Green Arrow Justin Hartley feeling really screwed over, giving Stephen Amell props for lobbying for Constantine on Arrow, Grant Gustin winning over fans on The Flash, why Supergirl is a great show for young females, wanting to swap Earth-1 Iris with Earth-2 Iris, the Joker as a concept on Gotham, the moment when Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. found its voice, wondering why Warner Bros. keeps its TV and movie universes separate, wondering why the Marvel Netflix shows avoid referencing the Marvel Cinematic Universe, trying to convince Karen into bingewatching Daredevil Season 2, wanting to see the Immortal Weapons on Iron Fist, wanting to see Moon Knight on Netflix, 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 in a few days, as we review the midseason premiere of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., along with new episodes of The Walking Dead, Gotham, Lucifer, and Legends of Tomorrow, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!