DOOM PATROL Casts Alan Tudyk as Mr. Nobody

He's a real nowhere man, sitting in his nowhere land...

Deadline has revealed that the upcoming DC Universe series Doom Patrol has cast Alan Tudyk as Eric Morden, better known to DC Comics fans as the supervillain Mr. Nobody.

According to the article, Mr. Nobody is described as "After exposure to unknown experiments by ex-Nazis in post-war Paraguay, the man formerly known as Eric Morden emerges as a living shadow able to drain the sanity of others as the enigmatic, and totally insane, Mr. Nobody."

Doom Patrol is a spinoff from the DC Universe series Titans and is a reimagining of one of DC’s strangest group of outcasts: Robotman (Brendan Fraser), Negative Man, Elasti-Woman (April Bowlby) and Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero).  Led by the mysterious Dr. Niles Caulder, they’re called into action by the ultimate hero for the digital age, Cyborg (Joivan Wade).  Banding together, these rejects find themselves on a mission that will take them to the weirdest and most unexpected corners of the DC universe.

Tudyk, 47, is best known as Hoban "Wash" Washburne in the Fox series Firefly and its film sequel, Serenity, and as the voice of the droid K-2SO in the film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.  His other films include Deadpool 2, Justice League: War, 3:10 to Yuma (2007), A Knight's Tale, Moana, Zootopia, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, Big Hero 6, Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Astro Boy, Ice Age, I Robot, and Patch Adams.  In addition, he's appeared on episodes of the TV series The Tick (2017), Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Powerless, Rick and Morty, Adventure Time, NTSF:SD:SUV::, Napoleon Dynamite, Suburgatory, Family Guy, Young Justice, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Dollhouse, V (2009), Arrested Development, and Frasier.

Created in 1964 by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premani, Mr. Nobody first appeared in Doom Patrol (vol.1) #86 as Eric Morden, a master criminal who once stole one of the Chief's lunar exploration droids, Rog, to impress the Brain in hopes of joining the Brotherhood of Evil. 

The character was reinvented in 1986's Doom Patrol (vol.2) #26 by Grant Morrison and Richard Case as Mr. Nobody.  Morden's former teammates the Brain and Monsieur Mallah had a fallout with him and promised to kill him returned.  Morden preferred to flee rather than face their wrath, so he hid for years in Paraguay.  Morden was already somewhat unstable, and allowed a Nazi scientist to expose him to a device called the White Room, which drove him irredeemably insane and converted his body into a mass of living virtuality that could drain the sanity from other humans.  He now looked like a two-dimensional artistic representation of a shadow and had an empty space on his chest in the shape of a heart.  The experience also convinced him the universe was "a drooling idiot with no fashion sense".  Calling himself the man of the twenty-first century, the first true virtual man, he rechristened himself Mister Nobody and organized the rebirth of a Brotherhood that shared his ideals.  Because of this, he chose not to reform the Brotherhood of Evil and instead initiated the Brotherhood of Dada, a group of lunatics that followed Morden's ideas to change the world.

Mr. Nobody recruited several bizarrely-powered individuals to form the first Brotherhood of Dada, including Sleepwalk, who has vast strength only when sleepwalking; Frenzy, a large, garishly-dressed dyslexic Jamaican man who can transform into a whirling cyclone; Fog, who can absorb humans into his being when in his gaseous form; and the Quiz, a Japanese woman with "every super-power you've never thought of."  The Brotherhood stole a psychoactive painting and used it to absorb the city of Paris, France, along with several members of the Doom Patrol.  They also unwittingly unleashed "the fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse" from the painting.  Forced to help the Doom Patrol stop it, Patrol member Crazy Jane harnessed the power of the painting to transform the Horseman into a hobby-horse, releasing her teammates and the city of Paris, and trapping Mr. Nobody and his Brotherhood within the painting.

Mr. Nobody later escaped from the painting with the help of four members of his new Brotherhood of Dada -- Agent "!", Alias the Blur, the Love Glove, and Number None.  They stole the bicycle of Swiss scientist Albert Hofmann, and used its lysergic resonance to power Mr. Nobody's presidential campaign.  The US Government, unwilling to let Mr. Nobody become president, sent a super-powered agent named John Dandy after him, a man whose face is blank but has six other faces floating around him.  Dandy killed almost every member of the Brotherhood, including Mr. Nobody.  He threw one of his faces at Nobody, rendering the latter powerless and defenseless.  Dandy then impaled the now-human Mr. Nobody on a broken pole and removed what was revealed to be a mask.  Cliff Steele attempted to place the semiconscious Mr. Nobody back inside the painting, but it was apparently destroyed by gunfire from government agents before Steele could do so.  Mr Nobody then seemed to disintegrate.

Doom Patrol is expected to debut on DC Universe sometime in 2019.

GHOSTWOOD 039: "Cooper's Dreams" is Up!

"What did you see that night?  The night Laura Palmer was killed."
"Shhhh, (pats the log) I'll do the talking.  Dark.  Laughing.  The owls were flying.  Many things were blocked.  Laughing.  Two men, two girls.  Flashlights pass by in the woods over the ridge.  The owls were near.  The dark was--was pressing in on her.  Quiet then.  Later, footsteps.  One man passes by.  Screams far away.  Terrible, terrible.  One voice."
"Man or girl?"
"Girl.  Further up, over the ridge.  The owls were silent."
-- Dale Cooper and Margaret "The Log Lady" Lanterman, Twin Peaks: "Cooper's Dreams"

It is happening again...My co-host with the most Xan Sprouse and I are back with a new episode of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast!  This time, we continue our commentary tracks as we watch "Cooper's Dreams," the sixth episode from Twin Peaks Season One, featuring Jacques Renault's cabin in the woods, Julee Cruise music in the air, and introducing Don Amendolia as Emory Battis!

LET'S ROCK!

In our latest episode, Xan and I discuss things like my being able to breathe again, Emory Battis' vacuum fetish, David Patrick Kelly in The Crow, Cooper learning that Audrey is 18, Xan getting Dunkin' Donuts, the sticky copy of Flesh World magazine, nobody being able to decorate in Twin Peaks, Ed and Norma not getting what they want, James cutting his own hair, Maddy not drinking the Cherry Coke James bought her, Norma and Shelly's Day of Beauty, Dr. Jacoby dressing like Dougie dresses, Basement Five-O, Bobby's attitude being a facade, Jacques Renault's cabin being a time share, the Log Lady's tea party, wondering who put the poker chip in the cuckoo clock, the Icelanders singing "Home on the Range", another round of "Bob or Leland?", Jerry and Nadine being a good match if she wasn't into Dr. Amp, Shelly dropping out of high school, some Twitter feedback from Sebastian, Ghostwood being "hilarious as fuck", Xan's shitpost curation, and more!

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Be sure to come back in two weeks as Xan and I continue our commentary tracks as we watch "Realization Time," the seventh episode from Twin Peaks Season One, featuring Cooper and Big Ed going undercover, Audrey's cherry stem trick, and the introduction of Victoria Catlin as Blackie O'Reilly!  Look for more of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast on iTunes, YouTube, Libsyn, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 116: "The Twin Dilemma" is Up!

"I would suggest, Peri, that you wait a little before criticizing my new persona.  You may well find it isn't quite as disagreeable as you think."
"Well, I hope so."
"Whatever else happens, I am... the Doctor.  Whether you like it...or not."

-- The Sixth Doctor and Perpugilliam "Peri" Brown, Doctor Who: "The Twin Dilemma"

Back in the TARDIS once again, my partner in time Jesse Jackson and I have returned with a new episode of Next Stop Everywhere!  This time, we review "The Twin Dilemma", the seventh serial of Doctor Who Season 21 in 1984, featuring Colin Baker's controversial first story as the Sixth Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri Brown!

In this episode, Jesse and I discuss things like Jesse not missing me, "The Twin Dilemma" being the epitome of bad decision making, wondering why the hell producer John Nathan-Turner thought making a new Doctor intentionally unlikable was a good idea, needing a Venn diagram of Doctor Who and James Bond film connections, the Sixth Doctor's facepalming penchant for strangling people, Colin Baker salvaging the Sixth Doctor in Big Finish audio adventures, JNT's love of press attention, the Sixth Doctor and Peri finally getting their chemistry right in Season 23, the need for balance against the Sixth Doctor's "alienness", changes to Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor, the Sixth Doctor not caring if fans like him or not, Mestor the Gastropod being cross-eyed, wondering how the slug-like Gastropods turned Jaconda into a wasteland, Mestor's ridiculous plan to launch Gastropod eggs across the universe using an exploding sun, Azmael getting drunk by the fountain with the Fourth Doctor, Romulus and Remus' game of Space Backgammon, my Reverse the Reverse the Polarity segment, new listener feedback from Paul from Australia David K. Proctor, and Holly from Wisconsin, the new Series 11 writers and directors, the leaked new TARDIS console room, and more!

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

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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 in two weeks as Jesse and I go back into the TARDIS and review "Time and the Rani", the first serial of Doctor Who Season 24 in 1987, featuring Sylvester McCoy's first story as the Seventh Doctor, Bonnie Langford as Melanie "Mel" Bush, and Kate O'Mara as The Rani!  Look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Google Play Music, YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

JOKER Casts Alec Baldwin as Batman's Father, Thomas Wayne

Remember that brief time in the '90s when Alec Baldwin could've been Batman and he became The Shadow instead?  Well, as it turns out...

The Hollywood Reporter has word that Todd Phillips' upcoming Joker origin movie starring Joaquin Phoenix has cast Alec Baldwin as DC Comics character Dr. Thomas Wayne, the father of Batman himself, Bruce Wayne.  In addition to Phoenix, Baldwin joins a cast that includes Robery De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Marc Maron, and Frances Conroy.

According to their sources, this version of Thomas Wayne will depict him as "a cheesy and tanned businessman who is more in the mold of a 1980s Donald Trump."

Baldwin, 60, is currently best known for his recurring impersonation of Donald Trump on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live and for his appearances Alan Hunley in the action movies MIssion: Impossible--Rogue Nation and Mission: Impossible--Fallout.  Some of his other notable films include Beetlejuice, The Shadow, The Hunt for Red October, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Cooler, Ghosts of Mississippi, Pearl Harbor, The Aviator, The Departed, and The Good Shepherd.  In addition, he's known for playing Jack Donaghy on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, and has appeared in episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Will & Grace, Johnny Bravo, Friends, Clerks: The Animated Series, The Simpsons, and Knots Landing.

Created in 1939 by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson, Thomas Wayne first appeared in Detective Comics (vol.1) #33 as a gifted physician and philanthropist to Gotham City, who inherited the Wayne family fortune after Patrick Wayne.  In the maxi-series Batman: The Long Halloween, a flashback revealed that Thomas Wayne saved the life of gangster Carmine Falcone.  Falcone's father, Vincent Falcone, came to Wayne Manor and begged Thomas to save his dying son, who had been shot by rival gangster Luigi Maroni.  Thomas wanted to take the younger Falcone to the hospital, but Vincent insisted that nobody know about the shooting.  After saving Carmine's life, he was offered a reward or favor, but refused to accept any form of payment.

One night, when exiting a movie theatre, Thomas and his wife Martha Wayne were murdered by a mugger named Joe Chill, right in front of their son Bruce. This tragedy shocked Gotham and led to Park Row, the street where the murders occurred, being labeled Crime Alley.  The Wayne murders were the main cause of much of the corruption and crime in Gotham City.  Once it became clear that even wealthy, important people could be murdered so easily, citizens began to lose faith in the police, and the police themselves started to lose faith in their importance, leading to corruption within the force.  More importantly, however, the murders deeply affected Bruce as a child, later serving as the motivation for Bruce to eventually to fight crime as the superhero Batman.

Baldwin will be the sixth actor to portray Thomas Wayne on screen, after David Baxt in the 1989 film Batman, Michael Scranton in the film Batman Forever, Linus Roache in the film Batman Begins, Grayson McCouch in the Fox series Gotham, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Joker is currently expected to arrive in theaters on October 4, 2019.

THE FLASH Casts Troy James as Rag Doll

Yeah, getting a contortionist to play a contortionist supervillain sounds like a good idea.

TV Insider has revealed that The CW series The Flash has cast Troy James as Peter Merkel, better known to DC Comics fans as the creepy supervillain Rag Doll.  James will appear in the fifth episode of the show's upcoming fifth season.

Rag Doll was previously described for the series as "an incredibly emotional damaged criminal who has the power to bend out of shape and fit his whole body into small spaces. As he is enjoying his criminal activities, Team Flash will be challenged by the Rag Doll in shocking ways as his sick plan is revealed."

James is a contortionist and best known as a contestant on NBC's talent competition series America's Got Talent.  In addition, he's appeared in episodes of The Strain, Channel Zero, and Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments.

Created in 1942 by Gardner Fox and Lou Ferstadt, Rag Doll first appeared in Flash Comics #36 as Peter Merkel, a native of the Midwestern United States, who was born with a unique condition called "Triple-jointedness".  Like the more common "double-jointedness", Merkel's condition was characterized by extremely extensible ligaments and tendons, though to a significantly extended degree.  The son of a side-show barker, Merkel found work in a small local carnival as a contortionist and eccentric dancer.  In the early 1940s, the carnival fell on hard times and Merkel found himself out of work.  Wandering the streets, Merkel despaired of having money.  Seeing large boxes of toys being loaded into a department store, Merkel hit on the idea of hiding himself in one of the large rag dolls and then robbing the store after closing. Going unnoticed among the toys, Merkel carried his idea one step further and decided he would rob while still hidden in the Rag Doll suit.  In these earliest days of costumed villains, the idea seemed novel and Merkel decided that no one would believe that a Rag Doll could commit crime.

In 1943, the Rag Doll moved his operation to Keystone City and had his thugs deliver him as a gift to a young heiress named Geralda Cummins.  The young girl was holding a much-touted party for her circle of socialites and the Rag Doll aimed to take advantage of the situation.  To coordinate the event, Cummins had selected Joan Williams, who had recently begun a party and festival business.  It was decided that each of the wealthy guests would donate $10,000 in defense bonds to serve as a prize in a treasure hunt.  Whoever solved the hunt first, won the prize.  As the guests departed, the Rag Doll signaled his thugs to follow them to the museum while he stayed to interrogate Joan Williams.  His ploy was delayed however, by the untimely arrival of Williams' beau Jay Garrick, the superhero known as The Flash.  While the Rag Doll remained in hiding, Williams and the Flash departed for the museum to provide the next clue.  On their arrival, they were attacked by the Rag Doll's thugs.  While the Flash made short work of the henchmen, the Rag Doll himself drugged Joan with chloroform and stole the remaining clue, allowing him find the treasure himself.  With the henchmen wrapped up, The Flash returned to find Joan amnesiac from the chloroform and with no recollection as to the location of the bonds.  Taking the first clue, the Flash then began to solve the puzzle at super-speed and intercepted the Rag Doll on the fourth clue, at a local aquarium.  The Rag Doll got the jump on Garrick with a swift blow to the skull and dumped the hero into an aquarium containing a giant octopus.  He then raced quickly back to the Cummins estate to solve the treasure hunt with the fifth clue.  The Flash came to and after a tussle with the octopus, hotly pursued Rag Doll.  He arrived just in time to see the Rag Doll pull the defense bonds out of their hiding place in the Cummins' grand piano.  Quickly, and literally, tying the villain in knots, the Flash returned the gift and carted the outlandish criminal off to the Keystone City Jail.

By the late 1980s, the Rag Doll was well into his sixties and hyper-elastic ligaments had begun to collapse and over-extend, causing the villain great pain.  He was no longer able to even affect the lifestyle of the minor criminal and soon became senile and raving.  As he did, the lost, the homeless and the disenfranchised gravitated toward him, soaking up his words and in time, became a cult of followers blind to his every indulgence and desire.  And, after a life of defeat and despair, what the Rag Doll desired was revenge.  He rallied around him a cult that took over the streets of Opal City, which ran red with blood.  The original Starman, Ted Knight, was unable to stop the madman, so Justice Society of America members Green Lantern, Flash, Hourman, and Dr. Mid-Nite joined the hunt.  Eventually, the heroes thwarted Rag Doll's plans and captured the villain.  Restrained, Rag Doll taunted the heroes, telling him that he would command his horde from prison.  He threatened the lives of the JSA's families.  While the JSA listened to the Rag Doll's discourse, the villain strained his limbs to slip free of his bonds and made a quick break for the door.  The aftermath was never officially recorded, but in an explosion of cosmic energy, the Rag Doll was found blasted to a painful death.  It has since been largely concluded that Starman, fearing for the safety of his sons, had slain the villain, a fact disputed by witnesses Flash and Green Lantern.  The next afternoon, Rag Doll's body disappeared from the morgue.

Exactly how the Rag Doll survived is unknown, but his body was retrieved by his followers. Some years later, Rag Doll was approached by Neron and in exchange for Rag Doll's soul, Neron restored the villain's youth.  He also instructed Rag Doll to remain hidden until approached by a man named Simon Culp.  Years later, Culp came looking for Rag Doll's help. Ted confronted Doctor Phosphorus in the streets of Opal and defeated his radioactive foe, but was soon ambushed by the Rag Doll.  Ted turned to face Rag Doll, challenging the villain to kill him, sparing him a suffering death from Phosphorus' radiation poisoning.  Rag Doll then turned and left.  He later rejoined a reformed version of the Secret Society.  During an assault against the Secret Six, he battled his son Peter Merkel, Jr., who had taken over the Rag Doll name and identity. Their battle was cut short by other attacking villains.

Soon afterward, Merkel died while in mission with the reformed Injustice Society. The team was attempting to retrieve the Cosmic Key, which would return Johnny Sorrow, but they were betrayed by The Society.  In the midst of the battle, it appeared as if that Rag Doll and the Gentleman Ghost betrayed their comrades and ran away with the Key.  However, Tigress witnessed the return of Johnny Sorrow, whose sudden emergence killed Rag Doll. Sorrow and the rest of the Injustice Society escaped to safety in the Crooked House, the former abode of Prometheus.  It was then revealed that Gentleman Ghost, Wizard and Icicle were expecting Rag Doll to turn on them, so they set him up to die.

This will be the first time Rag Doll will appear in live-action, although the character has appeared in the animated series The Batman, voiced by Jeff Bennett.

The Flash returns to The CW for Season 5 on October 9, 2018.

DOOM PATROL Casts Brendan Fraser as Robotman

The World's Strangest Heroes have a new robot, man.

Deadline has revealed that the upcoming DC Universe series Doom Patrol has cast Brendan Fraser as Cliff Steele, better known to DC Comics fans as the superhero android with a human brain, Robotman.

According to the article, Fraser will provide the voice for Robotman and will appear in flashback scenes as Cliff Steele.  Riley Shanahan will provide the physical performance of the character in full body costume.

Robotman is described as "A former race car driver, Cliff Steele was in a horrific accident that left his body uninhabitable.  Cliff’s brain was saved by the mysterious Dr. Niles Caulder and he lives on in a powerful robotic body."

Doom Patrol is a spinoff from the DC Universe series Titans and is a reimagining of one of DC’s strangest group of outcasts: Robotman (Fraser), Negative Man, Elasti-Woman (April Bowlby) and Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero).  Led by the mysterious Dr. Niles Caulder, they’re called into action by the ultimate hero for the digital age, Cyborg (Joivan Wade).  Banding together, these rejects find themselves on a mission that will take them to the weirdest and most unexpected corners of the DC universe.

Fraser, 49, is best known as Rick O'Connell in The Mummy trilogy, and has appeared in the movies Encino Man, School Ties, George of the Jungle, Dudley Do-Right, Gods and Monsters, Monkeybone, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Crash, Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and The Nut Job.  In addition, he's appeared in episodes of such TV series as The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Scrubs, Texas Rising, The Affair, Trust, and Condor.

Created in 1963 by Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani, Robotman first appeared in My Greatest Adventure #80 as Clifford "Cliff" Steele, a race car driver who had an accident that destroyed his body (a later retcon had the accident intentionally caused by Niles Caulder).  Caulder subsequently placed Cliff's intact brain into a robotic body which had superhuman strength, speed and endurance. After the operation, Cliff suffered from frequent depression because he viewed himself as less than human.

Cliff was approached by Caulder, who offered him a place among fellow "freaks" attempting to use their powers for good.  As Robotman, he joined Caulder's team, the Doom Patrol.  Eventually, tragedy struck when the Doom Patrol's enemies, the Brotherhood of Evil, threatened a small New England fishing village.  The Patrol members opted to sacrifice themselves to save the innocents, and were killed in an explosion.

Although initially believed to have been killed by Madame Rouge, Cliff's brain had survived. Will Magnus, the robotics expert who created the Metal Men, recovered Cliff's brain and built him a new body.  Cliff then joined a new Doom Patrol headed by a woman claiming to be Caulder's wife, Arani.  Refusing to believe that Niles was dead, she formed this new team to search for him and took his place as leader, calling herself Celsius, due to her heat-and-cold-based powers.  This new Doom Patrol was eventually almost all killed in action, with the exceptions of Cliff, Tempest, Negative Woman, and Rhea Jones (who remained comatose).  Caulder had turned up alive by this time, and denied having been married to Arani, although he admitted having known her.

Cliff voluntarily committed himself to an asylum, having fallen into a state of depression due to his condition and the loss of his teammates.  In particular, he was angry about being in a metal body and unable to enjoy the feeling and senses that humans take for granted. Caulder sent Magnus to try to help Cliff, and he introduced Cliff to a person with "worse problems than [his]", a woman called Crazy Jane.  Forming a new incarnation of the Doom Patrol, Cliff became Jane's guardian, and eventually fell in love with her.  Later, his human brain was revealed to have been replaced with a Central Processing Unit (CPU), making him a robot in reality.

In the current DC Comics continuity known as "The New 52", Cliff Steele is an adventurer and daredevil who agrees to be injected with experimental nanomachines designed to improve and repair his body.  After he's involved in a fatal car crash during a high-speed race, the nanomachines respond by creating a robotic body in order to encase and protect his still living brain.  Though initially distraught over his condition, the nanomachines prevent Cliff from being able to kill himself.  After coming to terms with his new body, he becomes a freelance hero, later joining the latest incarnation of the Doom Patrol.

Fraser will be the second actor to portray the character in live-action, after Jake Michaels in the upcoming DC Universe series Titans.  In addition, Robotman has appeared in various animation projects, including Teen Titans (voiced by Peter Onorati), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (voiced by Henry Rollins), and in the DC Nation Doom Patrol shorts (voiced by David Kaye).

Doom Patrol is expected to debut on DC Universe sometime in 2019.

WATCHMEN TV Drama Gets Series Order from HBO

Who watches the Watchmen?  HBO says you will.

Deadline has word that HBO has given a series order to Watchmen, showrunner Damon Lindelof's drama series based on the classic DC Comics maxi-series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

According to the article, Watchmen is "set in an alternate history where “superheroes” are treated as outlaws", and "embraces the nostalgia of the original groundbreaking graphic novel while attempting to break new ground of its own."  In a letter to fans, Lindelof revealed the series isn't an adaptation of the comic series, but an original story set in its fictional world.

The cast will include Regina King, Jeremy Irons, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Adelaide Clemens, Andrew Howard, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, Lily Rose Smith and Adelynn Spoon.  It's not yet known which characters they will be playing.

Lindelof will serve as executive producer with Nicole Kassell, who directed the pilot episode, and Tom Spezialy.  Stephen Williams will serve as director and executive producer.  Watchmen is produced for HBO by White Rabbit in association with Warner Bros Television.

HBO also released the below teaser graphic for the series, using a quote from the comic series where Doctor Manhattan tells Ozymandias, "In the end?  Nothing ends, Adrian.  Nothing ever ends."

Created in 1986 by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Watchmen was a 12-issue maxi-series set in an alternate reality that closely mirrors the contemporary world of the 1980s, but with the presence of superheroes that has altered the outcome of real-world events.  In keeping with the realism of the series, the costumed crimefighters of Watchmen are commonly called "superheroes", but only one, Doctor Manhattan, possesses superhuman powers. The war in Vietnam ends with a U.S. victory in 1971 and Richard Nixon is still president as of October 1985.  When the story begins, the existence of Doctor Manhattan has given the U.S. a strategic advantage over the Soviet Union, which has increased tensions between the two nations. Eventually, superheroes grow unpopular among the police and the public, leading to the passage of legislation, the Keene Act, in 1977 to outlaw them.  While many of the heroes retired, Doctor Manhattan and a veteran superhero known as The Comedian operate as government-sanctioned agents.  Another, Rorschach, continues to operate outside the law as a vigilante.

In October 1985, New York City police investigate the murder of a man named Edward Blake.  With the police having no leads, Rorschach decides to probe further.  Discovering Blake to be the face behind The Comedian, Rorschach believes he has discovered a plot to terminate costumed adventurers and sets about warning four of his retired comrades -- Dan Dreiberg (formerly the second Nite Owl), the emotionally detached Doctor Manhattan and his lover Laurie Juspeczyk (the second Silk Spectre), and Adrian Veidt (once the hero Ozymandias), a successful businessman.

After Blake's funeral, Manhattan is accused on national television of being the cause of cancer in friends and former colleagues.  When the U.S. government takes the accusations seriously, Manhattan exiles himself to Mars.  As Manhattan is one of the United States' greatest military powers, his departure throws humanity into political turmoil, with the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan to capitalize on the perceived American weakness. Rorschach's concerns appear vindicated when Adrian Veidt narrowly survives an assassination attempt, and Rorschach himself is framed for murdering Moloch, a former supervillain, and imprisoned.  Nite Owl and Rorschach work to uncover the conspiracy surrounding the death of The Comedian and the accusations that drove Manhattan into exile.

Watchmen is expected to debut on HBO sometime in 2019.

IRON FIST Season 2 Trailer Teases Danny's Mask & The Steel Serpent

The Living Weapon vs. The Steel Serpent, Round Two.

Netflix has released the first full trailer for the second season of Iron Fist, based on the Marvel Comics character.  The two minute, fifteen second trailer teases the long-awaited arrival of Iron Fist's traditional yellow mask and the return of Davos, the villainous Steel Serpent.

The trailer opens in New York City, with Iron Fist/Danny Rand (Finn Jones) taking over as the city's guardian following the presumed death of Daredevil in the final episode of The Defenders crossover miniseries.  "You have not been home for days," says Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) in a voiceover as we see Danny in a hoodie and a mask covering his lower face taking on several armed criminals.  "You barely sleep when you are home.  How many times a night you light that fist up?"

In a separate scene, we see Colleen and Danny talking.  "I see how much you're pushing yourself," she tells him.

"Just trying to keep the peace," replies Danny.

In another exchange, Danny tells someone, possibly Colleen, "What am I supposed to do?  I didn't ask for the Iron Fist."

"I'm fighting for what I believe in, whatever the cost," Colleen remarks to Danny before we see her fighting an unknown woman.  "What are you fighting for?"

"I'm trying to do what's right," replies Danny.

We cut to another scene, where Danny meets Davos (Sacha Dhawan) at night.  "I didn't expect to see you here, brother," says Davos.  "We have family matters to discuss."

A different scene has Colleen telling Danny, "You and Davos, you will train together."  We see a sequence in a temple, where Danny and Davos are facing off against one another and wearing yellow Iron Fist masks.

"I fought my brother," Danny says in a voiceover.  "There is no changing what happened."

Davos tells Danny, "You feel that you can just walk through this world as if it belongs to you.  The Iron Fist...It's not a weapon to be held, it's a weapon to be used."  We see Davos training several disciples as Joy Meachum (Jessica Stroup) watches, followed by Danny and a hooded woman finding the decayed corpse of another Iron Fist.  We then see the hooded woman attacking Danny in the subway.

"Now you'll give me what's mine, brother," Davos tells Danny.  "You...will suffer."

As we Davos and Danny fighting in a separate scene, Colleen remarks to Danny, "The Iron Fist...that was one of them."

Davos is shown having a glowing red Iron Fist of his own, which he uses to punch through a brick wall.

"We can stop him," Danny responds to Colleen, "but I need help."

Enter Misty Knight (Simone Missick), now rocking a bionic arm after the events in Luke Cage Season 2.  "You're not alone," Misty tells Colleen as we see Misty and Danny sparring, "but you can't save everyone."

"I can't just sit here and do nothing," Danny says in a voiceover as we see him and Davos fighting once again.

"I have become the thing you never had the strength to be," a bloodied Davos tells Danny, who lies on the ground before him.

"History doesn't decide what happens next," Colleen remarks in a voiceover as we see the masked Danny use his Iron Fist on an armored car, totaling it.  "We do."

In the trailer's final scene, we see Danny and Colleen having dinner at a Chinese restaurant.  "We should do this more often," Danny remarks as we see fleeting images of both of them fighting bad guys.  "Dinner out, a movie.  Date night."

"Mm-hmm," replies Colleen as she sips her coffee.

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




Iron Fist returns to Netflix for Season 2 on September 7th.

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY Casts Ethan Peck as Spock

May he live long and prosper.

Deadline is reporting that the CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery has cast Ethan Peck as legendary character Spock.  Peck will be the third actor to portray the character as an adult, after Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto.

Spock's appearance on the series was teased last month in the first trailer for the show's second season.  In the trailer, Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) talks with Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green).  "We have someone in common," he tells her.

"My foster brother," replies Burnham as we see a blue Science uniform similar to Pike's.  "Mr. Spock."

"He took leave," says Pike.  "It's as if he'd run into a question he couldn't answer."

Later, Burnham tells Commander Saru, "Spock is linked to these signals...and he needs help."

Peck, 32, is the grandson of legendary actor Gregory Peck and has appeared in the films The Curse of Sleeping Beauty, Eden, Nothing to Fear, In Time, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and Passport to Paris.  He's also appeared in episodes of the TV series Madam Secretary, Gossip Girl, 10 Things I Hate About You, That '70s Show, and The Drew Carey Show.

Discovery executive producer Alex Kurtzman said, "Through 52 years of television and film, a parallel universe and a mirror universe, Mr. Spock remains the only member of the original bridge crew to span every era of Star Trek.  The great Leonard Nimoy, then the brilliant Zachary Quinto, brought incomparable humanity to a character forever torn between logic and emotion.  We searched for months for an actor who would, like them, bring his own interpretation to the role.  An actor who would, like them, effortlessly embody Spock’s greatest qualities, beyond obvious logic: empathy, intuition, compassion, confusion, and yearning."

Kurtzman added, "Ethan Peck walked into the room inhabiting all of these qualities, aware of his daunting responsibility to Leonard, Zack, and the fans, and ready to confront the challenge in the service of protecting and expanding on Spock’s legacy.  In that spirit, we’re thrilled to welcome him to the family."

Created in 1966 by Gene Roddenberry, Spock first appeared in the original Star Trek pilot episode "The Cage."  Born to the Vulcan Sarek and the human Amanda Grayson, Spock had a troubled childhood due to his mixed heritage.  On his homeworld, he was repeatedly bullied and tormented by full-blooded Vulcan children, who wished to incite the emotions of his human nature.  For a time, he grew up alongside his older half-brother Sybok, until the older brother was cast out for rejecting logic.  After Sarek and Amanda fostered a human child, Michael Burnham, Spock was betrothed to T'Pring, in accordance with traditional Vulcan marriage procedure.

After Burnham's graduation from the Vulcan Science Academy, Sarek was forced to choose between Burnham and Spock on who should join a Vulcan Expeditionary Group.  Sarek chose Spock over Burnham, but he came to regret this decision, because Spock joined Starfleet instead.  Sarek had given Spock his first lessons in computers and had set him on a path of science, so Spock's preference to pursue a scientific career in Starfleet caused a rift between him and his father that kept them from speaking to each other for eighteen years.

Spock was commissioned as a Starfleet officer in 2250 assigned to the USS Enterprise four years later.  As a science officer under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, Spock was wounded in the leg when Pike's landing party was attacked on Rigel VII in 2254.  As the ship proceeded to the Vega colony for medical care, a radio wave distress call forced Pike to divert the ship to Talos IV.  Still limping, Spock joined a landing party that transported to the barren surface of the planet, where Talosians captured Pike.  He was the first of the ship's crew to realize that the Talosians had powerful illusory abilities.  Spock's final report, along with Pike's, recommended a ban on visitation to the planet.  After Pike's promotion to fleet captain, James T. Kirk assumed command of the Enterprise in 2265, with Spock as his First Officer until the completion of the Enterprise's five-year mission of exploration.

Star Trek: Discovery returns to CBS All Access for Season 2 in Early 2019.

THE FANDOM ZONE 149: "Colony Collapse" is Up!

"You are Tyrone freakin' Johnson!  Baller, lady killer, master of space…if not time.  You don’t need a cloak for all that."

-- Tandy "Dagger" Bowen to Tyrone "Cloak" Johnson, Cloak & Dagger: "Colony Collapse" 

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:

Preacher 3x06: "Les Enfants du Sang"

Cloak & Dagger 1x10: "Colony Collapse"  (Season Finale)

Luke Cage 2x07: "On and On"

Wynonna Earp 3x03: "Colder Weather"

In this episode, Karen and I talk about things like Karen's Wonder Woman Pez dispenser, my copy of Hellblazer (vol.2) #24, why it's okay to be optimistic for the new Supergirl movie, Terry Jones' really fat guy in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, ranking the Monty Python films, Eccarius and the Children of Blood, Cassidy being freaked out by Eccarius' vampire powers, Jesse and Tulip's soul heist, gross saliva security devices, T.C.'s petting zoo distraction, Karen being surprised by Herr Starr's head looking like a penis, Herr Starr's awkward dinner with Allfather D'Aronique, Brigid O'Reilly becoming Mayhem, the history of the Divine Pairings, Cloak & Dagger's shoutout to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, finally getting a taste of Tyrone & Tandy as Cloak & Dagger, Chocolate Frosted Shredded Cloaks, getting a piranha tank for a guy nicknamed Piranha, Shades taking his best friend Comanche off the board, Luke and Misty both thinking the other is their sidekick, Phil Hartman's drawn-on mustache, Waverly being upset that Officer Haught wants to be eaten by vultures after she dies, what happens to us after we die, Dolls' mini-casket, new feedback from Justina, my special shoutout to Justina, my jumbo nasal polyps, Karen's WarCraft role-playing blog post, Patrick Stewart returning to Star Trek, our upcoming 150th episode, and more!

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Be sure to come back next week for our big 150th episode, as Karen and I are joined by my Next Stop Everywhere and TitanTalk co-host Jesse Jackson!  We'll review new episodes of Syfy's Wynonna Earp, AMC's Preacher, and Netflix's Luke Cage, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

THE FLASH Casts Kiana Madeira as Spin

The Flash is about to enter the Spin zone.

Deadline has word that the CW series The Flash has cast Kiana Madeira as Spencer Young, a new version of DC Comics supervillain Spin.  The character was originally male in the comics, but producers reportedly decided to change it to a recurring female role for the TV series.

According to the article, Spin will be introduced in the fourth episode of the show's upcoming Season 5, and is described as "a young aspiring social media influencer who seizes the opportunity to make herself famous when she discovers there is a new hero in Central City."

Madeira is a Canadian actress probably best known as Poppy on the Syfy series Wynonna Earp and as Lyra on the Syfy series Dark Matter.  In addition, she's appeared on episodes of Taken, Sacred Lies, Barbelle, The Other Kingdom, Really Me, and My Babysitter's a Vampire.

Created in 2008 by Tom Peyer and Freddie E. Williams II, Spin first appeared in The Flash (vol.2) #238 as a man known only as Mr. Auerbach, the son of a media mogul whose holdings included the cable news network KN News.  He pursued a career in journalism, hoping to work his way up in his father's company. While working on a story, he met Edwar Martinez, who was capable of sensing the fears in others and making them a reality.  Auerbach eventually was put in charge of KN News, where he had a hand in determining much of the content that the network covered.

He also led a double life as the villain Spin.  He kept Edwar captive in the basement of the news building, hooking him up to machines and forcing him to watch news coverage.  In this setting, Spin was able to channel and direct Edwar's amazing ability.  His first caper was a robbery of a Fabergé egg from a local auction.  He created a distraction by summoning earthquakes, which had been in the public's mind due to a recent quake in Hub City.  He took advantage of a comment made on television by the third Flash, Wally West, expressing his financial woes.  After the citizens of Keystone City started to feel some doubt about their local hero, Spin lured him to the Keystone City Salamanders stadium and forced him to steal many valuables from the fans there.  This caused a massive public outcry against the Flash, which Spin enhanced with his powers, even turning the original Flash, Jay Garrick, against his successor.

When Spin and Edwar realized that the third Flash had identified the source of the disturbances as emanating from KN News, he used his abilities to summon Gorilla Grodd, the Rogue which Edwar sensed would make the speedster most anxious, to Keystone.  Grodd, however, was not pleased with his sudden teleportation, and a massive battle ensued.  In the chaos, Edwar was released from his machinery and his powers went completely out of control, causing citizens to act out nearly every situation being mentioned in the media.  Spin was no match for Grodd’s more powerful mind and was quickly defeated.  Afterwards, Edwar died from the physical shock of the battle.  His last moments were surrounded by the Flash’s compassion, which he used to calm Keystone’s population.

The Flash returns to The CW for Season 5 on October 9, 2018.  Spin's first appearance should be on November 6th.