THE FANDOM ZONE 283: "Glorious Purpose (2023)" Is Up!

 
"Most purpose is more burden than glory, and trust me, you never want to be the guy who avoids it, 'cause you can't live with the burden."
"How do you live with it?"
"Scar tissue."
-- Mobius M. Mobius and Loki Laufeyson, Loki -- "Glorious Purpose (2023)"

Hello again, everyone! We're back for another new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  This time, DJ Nik and I discuss "Glorious Purpose", the final episode of Loki Season 2, featuring Tom Hiddleston as Loki Laufeyson, Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius, Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie, and Jonathan Majors as Victor Timely!

In this episode, DJ Nik and I talk about things like my wife and I moving ten minutes down the street, Nik's Inter Milan team taking a break for the Nationals, the Loki Season 2 finale title being the same as the Season 1 premiere title, hoping some of the Loki supporting characters appear elsewhere in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Loki quoting T.S. Eliot's poem "Little Gidding" and William Shakespeare's Richard II, Loki making my Top 10 Series Finales list, our hopes that the Loki creative team does more MCU projects, more on Loki's transformation from the God of Mischief to the God of Stories, Loki's Yggdrasil-like tree connecting all the various timelines, Loki sacrificing his friendships and personal happiness to save time and space as the new He Who Remains, wondering if this will be the last we see of Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Loki and He Who Remains having a sit-down to discuss the destruction of the Time Variance Authority, Loki's realization that he has to be the one to go out and face the Temporal Loom instead of Victor Timely, Loki's sacrifice being similar to Disney's Hercules, wondering if Tom Hiddleston will replace Jonathan Majors as Kang, running down the epilogue with the TVA, Revenge of the Jedi changing its title to Return of the Jedi, how Mobius can continue with his life as Don, wondering if Sylvie went back to Broxton, Oklahoma to work at McDonald's, some speculation for what Ravonna Renslayer saw off-camera in The Void, more of what Physical Media still matters in the age of streaming services, our favorite quotes of the episode, missing the Loki and Mobius bromance, Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy movie adaptation, my needing an echo sound effect for our upcoming Echo discussions, and more!

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Be sure to come back in January when DJ Nik and I discuss the first episode of Echo, the next Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series, featuring the return of Alaqua Cox as Echo/Maya Lopez and Vincent D'Onofrio as The Kingpin/Wilson Fisk, on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

THE FANDOM ZONE 282: "Science/Fiction" Is Up!

 
"So, you're traveling to a place that doesn't exist anymore. It's equally impossible, and therefore it's something you might be able to do."
"Sure, excellent. Yeah. Makes total sense. Doesn't sound like science."
"No, but it does sound like fiction."
-- A.D. Doug and Loki Laufeyson, Loki -- "Science/Fiction"

Hello again, everyone! We're back for another new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  This time, DJ Nik and I discuss "Science/Fiction", the fifth episode of Loki Season 2, featuring Tom Hiddleston as Loki Laufeyson, Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius/Don, Sophia Di Martino as Sylvie, and Ke Huy Quan as Ouroboros/Dr. A.D. Doug!

In this episode, DJ Nik and I talk about things like Nik rocking his Inter Milan jersey, some comics background on Verity Willis, some real-life background on Frank Morris and the June 1962 Alcatraz escape attempt, Loki's worst nightmare, Loki needing a sense of belonging, Sylvie narrowing Loki down on his main issue, Mobius being a loser jet-ski salesman named Don in his real life outside the TVA, why Mobius is reluctant to return to his real life, Casey's surprising revelation that he was an escaped convict from Alcatraz in real life, Ouroboros being a failed science fiction writer in real life, my sympathy for A.D. Doug trying to sell his science fiction books, A.D. Doug becoming obsessed with creating a prototype TemPad, my offer to ghost write the real-life versions of A.D. Doug's books, why Sylvie remembered Loki when none of the TVA staff did, Sylvie helping Loki achieve his big psychological breakthrough, the great sequence of Sylvie listening to "Oh! Sweet Nuthin" by the Velvet Underground, Loki returning to the moment just before Victor Timely becomes spaghettified, my theory that Loki will become the next He Who Remains, Loki potentially having a new way to relate to Thor, our favorite quotes of the episode, Nik joining me on Next Stop Everywhere to discuss the upcoming Doctor Who 60th Anniversary specials, hoping the Loki Season 2 finale sticks the landing, and more!

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And if that isn't enough for you, you can pick up an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt that all the cool kids are wearing from TeePublic HERE as well! Feel free to post a picture on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come back next week when DJ Nik and I discuss "Glorious Purpose (2023)", the final episode of Loki Season 2, on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

THE FANDOM ZONE 281: "Heart of the TVA" Is Up!

 
"It would just be easier to burn this place down and start from scratch!"
"Sure, burn it down, easy. Annihilating it, easy. Razing things to the ground is easy. Trying to fix what's broken is hard. Hope is hard."
-- Sylvie and Loki Laufeyson, Loki -- "Heart of the TVA"

Hello again, everyone! We're back for another new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  This time, DJ Nik and I discuss "Heart of the TVA", the fourth episode of Loki Season 2, featuring Tom Hiddleston as Loki Laufeyson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Ravonna Renslayer, Jonathan Majors as Victor Timely, and Tara Strong as the voice of Miss Minutes!

In this episode, DJ Nik and I talk about things like Nik celebrating his 41st birthday, my inventing the word "spaghettification", Miss Minutes' parting shot that Victor Timely will never be He Who Remains, Loki being the Gold Standard of the MCU TV shows, Ouroboros giving an homage to Doc Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy by apologizing for his models, Victor Timely's Throughput Multiplier being the prototype for Kang's time ship, Ravonna being revealed as He Who Remains' peer during the Multiversal War, He Who Remains having Miss Minutes wipe Ravonna's memory, confusing General Dox with General Zod, Ravonna being a control freak by nature and wanting her free will at the expense of everyone else's, Ouroboros' great line about a snake eating its own tail, Victor Timely being amazed by a hot cocoa vending machine, the loss of Loki and Sylvie's romance in Season 2, Sylvie calling out Mobius for not bothering to look into his real life outside of the TVA, Loki noticing the change in Thor after being exiled on Earth, the great cliffhanger of Team TVA being helpless to prevent the temporal wave coming right at them, wondering how much the temporal reset will affect the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Homer Simpson traveling through time using a broken toaster in "Time and Punishment", our favorite quotes of the episode, and more!

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And if that isn't enough for you, you can pick up an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt that all the cool kids are wearing from TeePublic HERE as well! Feel free to post a picture on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come back next week when DJ Nik and I discuss "Science/Fiction", the fifth episode of Loki Season 2, on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

THE FANDOM ZONE 278: "Ouroboros" Is Up!

 
"You heard about how if you fall into a black hole, you turn into spaghetti?"
"No."
"Good. The less you know about that, the better."
-- Ouroboros/O.B. and Loki Laufeyson, Loki -- "Ouroboros"

Hello again, everyone! We're back for another new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  This time, DJ Nik and I discuss "Ouroboros", the first episode of Loki Season 2, featuring Tom Hiddleston as Loki Laufeyson, Owen Wilson as Mobius M. Mobius, Wunmi Mosaku as Hunter B-15, and introducing Ke Huy Quan as Ouroboros/O.B.!

In this episode, DJ Nik and I talk about things like the recent passing of my Mom, talking Loki again after over fifty episodes of The Fandom Zone, this Loki episode feeling a lot like a Doctor Who episode, what the word "ouroboros" means and how it connects to the concept of time, the Easter Egg of Casey listening to the "Staying Awake" podcast from Moon Knight, some comics background on Broxton, Oklahoma, the poor girl in the elevator horrified by Loki's Time Slipping, getting a tease of future events, the transformation of Loki into a protagonist you root for from an antagonistic villain, Mobius having some "skin" in the game, Mobius probably getting to use a jet ski at some point, Mobius putting so much faith in Loki, my love for the retro decor of the Time Variance Authority, why Miss Minutes should hook up with Mr. DNA from Jurassic Park, my being a fan of Ke Huy Quan as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and as Data in The Goonies, Ke Huy Quan hitting it out of the park in his debut as O.B., the Bill & Ted moment of Present O.B. pulling out out a Temporal Aura Extractor he just invented as Past O.B., the very suspicious flickering lights in the TVA, being grateful that Ouroboros isn't just a "socially awkward nerd" stereotype, Liz Carr as Saraqael in Good Omens 2, Hunter B-15 being vehemently opposed to pruning timelines, nobody paying attention to the Sleeping Judge, wondering if Hunter X-5 is General Dox's son, Sylvie wanting a life as a worker in the McDonald's in 1982 Broxton, our favorite quotes of the episode, and more!

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Be sure to come back next week when DJ Nik and I discuss "Breaking Brad", the second episode of Loki Season 2, on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

GHOSTWOOD 115: "Time Bandits" Is Up!

 
"I have the map! I have the map! And the day after tomorrow...The world!"
-- Evil, Time Bandits

It is happening again...My amazing co-host Xan Sprouse and I are back with a new episode of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast!  This time, we pay tribute to the passing of David Warner and continue our retrospective of Twin Peaks Actors in Other Films by discussing Time Bandits, the 1981 fantasy adventure film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring David Warner as Evil, Craig Warnock as Kevin, David Rappaport as Randall, and Sean Connery as Agamemnon!

LET'S ROCK

In this episode, Xan and I discuss things like Xan having another migraine, child actor Craig Warnock acting with Sean Connery and then not doing much afterwards, Jonathan Pryce passing on the role of Evil for another film's higher fee, Terry Gilliam's "Trilogy of Imagination", David Warner having a tremendous work ethic, David Warner appearing on the RMS Titanic three times, Thomas Eckhardt on Twin Peaks, our favorite David Warner films and TV appearances, David Warner singing "Vienna" by Ultravox, the second Twin Peaks actor to appear in Time Bandits, the Time Bandits appearing in many of the same science fiction and fantasy films together, David Rappaport's tragic suicide, the classic TV series Soap, bad '80s TV movies trying to capitalize on popular sitcoms, Time Bandits being created while Terry Gilliam was working on Brazil, Ralph Richardson being cast as the Supreme Being because he was near God in the acting profession, Kevin packing a Go Bag with a Polaroid camera and supplies, Napoleon's obsession with size, John Cleese as Robin Hood, Kevin choosing King Agamemnon as his dad over his terrible parents, Kevin knocking out a giant by injecting him with sleeping potion using a fireplace bellows, the Time Bandits' impressive escape from a cage dangling over a bottomless pit, Evil being exploded into chunks of concentrated evil, the anticlimactic ending of Kevin losing both his bedroom with his stuff and his parents, Xan appearing on Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast to discuss "The Happiness Patrol", wondering what would've happened to Josie Packard and Audrey Horne if Thomas Eckhardt hadn't shown up, Xan wanting to discuss Electric Dreams in honor of Lenny Von Dohlen, and more!

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Be sure to come back in two weeks, as Xan and I continue our retrospective of Twin Peaks Actors in Other Films by discussing Electric Dreams, the 1984 science fiction romantic comedy film directed by Steve Barron, starring Lenny Von Dohlen as Miles Harding, Virginia Madsen as Madeline Robistat, and Bud Cort as the Voice of Edgar!

DRUNK CINEMA 031: "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" Is Up!

 

"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K."
-- Ted "Theodore" Logan, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Hello again, movie fans!  My wonderful co-host Xan Sprouse and I are back with a new episode of Drunk Cinema! This time, we watch Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, the 1989 science fiction comedy directed by Stephen Herek, introducing Alex Winter as Bill S. Preston, Keanu Reeves as Ted "Theodore" Logan, George Carlin as Rufus, and Dan Shor as Billy the Kid!

In this episode, Xan and I discuss things like why Xan wanted to discuss this movie, director Stephen Herek having an interesting CV, screenwriter Ed Solomon being John Cleese's son-in-law, Bill & Ted being the film that launched Keanu Reeves' career, how we got into George Carlin, Hal Landon Jr. being the Pencil Machine Operator in Eraserhead, Bernie Casey appearing in blaxploitation movies, Diane Franklin as Monique in Better Off Dead, the City of San Dimas embracing the connection to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Beck Bennett playing Deacon Logan in Bill & Ted Face the Music, Bill's Dad's dick move by having sex with Missy in Bill's bedroom, the scene that inspired Back to the Future Part III, Socrates quoting Days of Our Lives, Bill and Ted's history report being all over the place, Ted wearing too many clothes, the Three Most Important People in the World, 16 million people being descended from Genghis Khan, Napoleon being a dick, wondering how Beethoven heard the synthesizer sample audio, Sigmund Freud hitting on high school girls while holding a corn dog, Xan liking my basement shelving, Bill and Ted's introducing the concept of the Bootstrap Paradox, the guy conducting with his spoon, hipsters from the future, Bill and Ted being originally envisioned as 14-year-old skinny outcasts, the original spec script called Bill & Ted's Time Van, the screenwriters not intending Bill & Ted's phone booth to be a reference to the TARDIS from Doctor Who, DC Comics announcing my upcoming story for their DC's Terrors Through Time Halloween special, Xan hanging out at the old City Center mall in Columbus to watch cute guys, Spaceballs: The Podcast, and more!

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Be sure to come back soon for Episode 032, as Xan and I watch Spaceballs, the 1987 space opera comedy directed by Mel Brooks, featuring Bill Pullman as Lone Starr, John Candy as Barf, Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa, and Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet!

DRUNK CINEMA 030: "Back to the Future" Is Up!

 

"If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious shit."
-- Emmett "Doc" Brown to Marty McFly, Back to the Future

Hello again, movie fans!  My wonderful co-host Xan Sprouse and I are back with a new episode of Drunk Cinema! This time, we watch Back to the Future, the 1985 science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis, introducing Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, Christopher Lloyd as Emmett "Doc" Brown, Lea Thompson as Lorraine Baines-McFly, and Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen!

In this episode, Xan and I discuss things like Xan having to have another Lady Surgery, recording on the terrible day of June 24, 2022, Xan thinking there's nothing sexier than a nerd in a tuxedo jacket dancing to "Earth Angel", the movie High School U.S.A., Xan's love of Wendie Jo Sperber, Xan hearing Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero" while in Australia, Eric Stoltz not working out as Marty McFly, Universal Studios executive Sidney Sheinberg making terrible decisions, Elisabeth Shue replacing Claudia Wells as Jennifer Parker, why Xan doesn't like Back to the Future Part II, Doc Brown being a horrible person for putting Einstein in an untested time machine, Libya in 1985, calling out Lorraine Baines-McFly for her hypocrisy, wondering if Marty could've Butterfly Effected the weather, the Doctor Who episode "Blink", that awkward moment when you make out with your mom to keep your existence, Xan still getting anxiety over a movie she's watched dozens of times, my finding out there were going to be two new Back to the Future sequels while waiting in line for Back to the Future: The Ride at Universal Studios Florida, why we're not leaving America even after terrible recent developments, different generations knowing George Carlin for different things, and more!

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Be sure to come back in one week for Episode 031, as Xan and I watch Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, the 1989 science fiction comedy directed by Stephen Herek, introducing Alex Winter as Bill S. Preston, Keanu Reeves as Ted "Theodore" Logan, and George Carlin as Rufus!

Party On, Dudes! The First BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC Trailer Has Arrived!

Most outstanding news for Bill and Ted fans.

Orion Pictures has released the first trailer for Bill & Ted Face the Music, the long-awaited sequel to '80s cult classic Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey.  Stars Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter reprise their respective roles of Theodore "Ted" Logan and William "Bill" S. Preston, Esq., who are now enduring the monotony of middle-aged life and are warned by a visitor from the future of the need for them to create a song in 78 minutes that will save all life on Earth and the entire universe.

The one-minute, 15-second trailer opens with The Great Leader (Holland Taylor) telling Bill and Ted, "Twenty-five years ago, you played a concert in front of the entire world.  One month ago, you played in Barstow, California for forty people, most of whom were there for Two Dollar Taco Night.  Bill and Ted, what have you got to say for yourselves?"

"Be excellent to each other," replies Bill, repeating himself from the first film.

"And party on, dudes!" adds Ted, also repeating himself.

This time, however, the leaders from the future aren't buying it.  "You were supposed to unite the world," remarks the Great Leader in a voiceover, "and save reality as we know it."

We cut to a scene with Bill and Ted in a white room with their previous guitars hanging on the wall.  "Bill, we've spent our our whole life trying to write the song that will unite the world," remarks Ted.  "Why can't we just go to the future when we have written it?"

We get a quick glimpse of Bill and Ted's daughters, Thea "Little Ted" Preston (Samara Weaving) and Billie "Little Bill" Logan (Brigette Lundy-Paine), watching their dads offstage and Thea clutching her face in embarrassment at what she sees.

"And take it from ourselves!" Bill replies to Ted's question.

"But isn't that stealing?" asks Ted.

"How is that stealing, if we're stealing it from ourselves, dude?"

A quick glimpse of Death (William Sadler) air-guitar riffing with Bill and Ted follows, as Bill and Ted travel to the future, landing in a prison yard where the inmates are chanting "Death! Death! The end!" along with the future Bill and Ted, who are also tattooed and heavily muscled inmates.

The present-day Bill and Ted see their hardcore future selves and are typically stunned.  "No way!" they exclaim.

Future Bill asks the pair, "How'd you like our song?"

"It's a little on the dark side," replies Present-Day Ted with a shrug, "but, you know, that's cool."

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




Bill & Ted Face the Music is currently expected to arrive in theaters on August 21, 2020.

BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC is Most Official, Alex Winter & Keanu Reeves to Return

Strange things are afoot once again at the Circle K.

In a most triumphant article, The Hollywood Reporter has word that the long-discussed third Bill & Ted movie, Bill & Ted Face the Music, is officially in pre-production and will feature the return of Alex Winter as Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Keanu Reeves as Ted "Theodore" Logan.

According to the article, original creators Chris Matheson (Imagine That) and Ed Solomon (Men in Black, Mosaic, Now You See Me) have written the script, with Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest, Red 2, Fun With Dick and Jane) confirmed as director.  Scott Kroopf (Limitless) will produce the movie together with Alex Lebovici and Steve Ponce of Hammerstone Studios, with Steven Soderbergh serving as an executive producer alongside Scott Fischer, John Ryan Jr. and John Santilli.

Bill & Ted Face the Music will reportedly "see the duo long past their days as time-traveling teenagers and now weighed down by middle age and the responsibilities of family.  They’ve written thousands of tunes, but they have yet to write a good one, much less the greatest song ever written.  With the fabric of time and space tearing around them, a visitor from the future warns our heroes that only their song can save life as we know it.  Out of luck and fresh out of inspiration, Bill and Ted set out on a time travel adventure to seek the song that will set their world right and bring harmony in the universe as we know it.  Together with the aid of their daughters, a new crop of historical figures, and some sympathetic music legends, they find much, much more than just a song."

MGM owns the rights to the film and will release it in the U.S. under its Orion Pictures banner, while Bloom is handling international sales, which commenced in Cannes.

Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves said in a joint statement, "We couldn’t be more excited to get the whole band back together again.  Chris and Ed wrote an amazing script, and with Dean at the helm, we’ve got a dream team!"

Bloom's Alex Walton remarked, "Fans of Bill and Ted have been waiting for Reeves and Winter to reunite since their last Bogus Journey in 1991. This is excellent!"

Created in 1989 by Matheson and Solomon, Bill and Ted made their debut in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, where they attended high school in 1988 San Dimas, California as slackers and are told they will fail their high school history class if they don't achieve a good grade on their reports.  Ted's father threatens him with military school in Alaska if he failed, which would end Bill and Ted's dreams of success with their band, Wyld Stallyns.  In 2688, humanity has built a utopia thanks to the music and wisdom of Bill and Ted.  A man named Rufus traveled back in time to 1988 using a time machine disguised as a telephone booth to ensure that Bill and Ted pass their class.  Gathering various historical figures, they returned to the present to deliver their presentation that received a standing ovation and allowed them to pass the class.

In the 1991 sequel, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, the music of Bill and Ted's band, Wyld Stallyns, was detested by Chuck De Nomolos, who stole one of the time-traveling phone booths and sent two robots modeled after Bill and Ted back to the late 20th century to prevent Bill and Ted from winning the San Dimas Battle of the Bands.  Evil Bill and Evil Ted arrived eventually replaced Bill and Ted, killing them by throwing the two over the side of a cliff at Vasquez Rocks.  While posting as the real Bill and Ted, the robots behaved rudely to their fiancées and worked to ruin the duo's fame.  Bill and Ted's souls were met by Death, who challenged them in a game for their souls and eventually returned them to Earth.  After defeating De Nomolos and reuniting with their fiancées, they realized they were still terrible musicians and used the time booth for "an intense 16 months of guitar training plus a two week honeymoon".  Before returning to their original point of departure, they married the princesses and are raising young infants named "Little Ted" and "Little Bill".  They began to perform a stunning rock ballad, joined by Death, and Wyld Stallyns' music was played across the globe, creating harmony.

ARROW/FLASH Spinoff Casts Hawkgirl and Rip Hunter

The only question remains, which one's The Brave and which one's The Bold?

Deadline reported yesterday that the upcoming, still-untitled CW superteam series spinning off from Arrow and The Flash has cast Ciara Renée as Kendra Saunders, better known as DC Comics superhero Hawkgirl.  

The article describes Kendra as "a young woman who is just beginning to learn that she has been repeatedly reincarnated over the centuries.  When provoked, her ancient warrior persona manifests itself, along with wings that grow out of her back, earning her the moniker Hawkgirl."

Created in 1940 by Gardner Fox, Dennis Neville and Sheldon Moldoff, Hawkgirl first appeared in Flash Comics #1 as Shiera Sanders, a reincarnation of an Egyptian princess named Chay-Ara who fell in love with Prince Khufu, later reincarnated as archaeologist Carter Hall, the Golden Age superhero Hawkman.  Shiera later became his crimefighting partner Hawkgirl in All-Star Comics (vol.1) #5.

In 1999's JSA Secret Files #1, James Robinson, David Goyer and Geoff Johns reimagined the character as Kendra Saunders, the granddaughter of the Golden Age Hawkgirl's cousin, Speed Saunders.  Kendra committed suicide, which allowed Shiera Hall's soul to enter her body while still believing herself to be Kendra.  She debuted as Hawkgirl using the original Hawkgirl's equipment, which led to her meeting and joining the Justice Society of America.

In the current New 52 continuity, Hawkgirl is Kendra Munoz-Saunders, a professional treasure hunter on the alternate world known as Earth 2 that was hired by the World Army before an event in an Egyptian tomb grafted wings onto Kendra's back.

Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter has word that English actor Arthur Darvill has been cast as DC Comics' time master Rip Hunter, also known as The Traveler in the upcoming series.  Darvill, of course, is best known as companion Rory Williams on the BBC series Doctor Who, and as Revered Paul Coates on Broadchurch.

Rip is described as "a roguish time traveler who hides the strains of being responsible for history itself behind a facade of charm and wit."

Created in 1959 by Jack Miller and Ruben Moreira, Rip Hunter first appeared in Showcase #20 as an ordinary man who uses his invention, the Time Sphere, to travel through time in various adventures with his friend Jeff Smith, girlfriend Bonnie Baxter, and Bonnie's kid brother Corky.

In 2004, Rip was reinvented by Geoff Johns as a time traveler that assists the Justice Society in a battle with time-travelling supervillain Per Degaton.  The name "Rip Hunter" was revealed to be a mysterious alias, designed to hide the details of his history so that his enemies couldn't travel back in time and kill him as a helpless child.

Years later, Rip was revealed to be the future son of time-traveling superhero Booster Gold, and assisted his father in various exploits.  To protect himself and his own history, Rip forces Booster to turn down membership in the recently reformed Justice League and to continue to act like a self-absorbed gloryhound in order to make sure that his father's legacy is one of failure and is ultimately forgotten by history  This is done to ensure rogue time travelers cannot kill Booster in the past, erasing Rip in the process and the various works he and Booster will engage in to protect the timestream.

In the current New 52 continuity, Rip attempted to prevent his father from warning himself that the romance between Wonder Woman and Superman will erase the past of his future from existence.

DAMN Good Television -- THE FLASH: "Out of Time"

In the immortal words of Barry Allen (and Dr. Sam Beckett from Quantum Leap)..."Oh, boy."

Admit it, you watched last night's episode of The Flash and for a good while there, you thought it was another solid but not overly important outing for the CW series.  And then the last ten minutes happened.

In "Out of Time," written by Todd and Aaron Helbing and directed by Thor Freudenthal, we're finally introduced to Mark Mardon (guest star Liam McIntyre), the Weather Wizard and brother of Clyde Mardon, previously killed off in the series' pilot episode.  As you might expect, Mark isn't overly happy that his bro is pushing up the daisies and joining the bleedin' choir invisible, so he returns to Central City to get all revengey on Clyde's killer, CCPD Detective Joe West.

Our hero Barry Allen, meanwhile, is busy taking his girlfriend Linda Park to a bowling alley, where he just happens to run into the love of his life, Iris West, and her boyfriend Eddie Thawne.  Neither Linda nor Eddie are thrilled by Iris' suggestion that the two couples bowl together, especially when Iris starts wiping food schmutz from the corner of Barry's mouth and carrying on as if they are a couple.  Yeah, slightly awkward.

With the prerequisite CW Romance Angst addressed for the week, we then return to the Wiz, who has a much better handle on his powers than Clyde ever did.  He attempts to kill Joe with a lightning strike while he and Barry are driving around, but Barry is fast enough to rush Joe to safety just before the car goes all asplodey.  Joe gets benched by Captain Singh until Mardon is caught, but no worries, the S.T.A.R. Labs team is on it.

Cisco Ramon whips up a Wizard Wand device that looks rather suspiciously like an oversized Sonic Screwdriver from Doctor Who to short-circuit the Weather Wizard's control, which comes in handy when Mardon attacks CCPD headquarters (because hey, just about every supervillain in this series seems to as well).  The supercops who failed to notice Mardon riding up with them in the elevator easily get taken out by a gust of wind, leaving Mardon to attack Joe with another lightning strike.  Captain Singh jumps in front of the bolt to protect Joe, landing him in the hospital and introducing his gay fiancé to Joe and Barry in the process.

Meanwhile, Cisco is becoming increasingly suspicious about Dr. Harrison Wells' shady behavior, so he asks Caitlin Snow to keep Wells distracted at the local CC Jitters coffee shop while he runs some tests to find out what really happened to the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator.  And there's no possible way that could go wrong, right?

Joe and his partner Eddie go looking for Mardon and since the Flash is nowhere to be found, the search ends with Joe handcuffed to a pier and having a seriously broken leg. Instead of simply killing Joe right there, the Weather Wizard calls Iris to let her know he has her dad, although we're not really sure why unless Mardon wants to capture and torture her as well.

Caitlin proves to be absolutely horrible at subterfuge, so Wells finally says screw it and leaves his wheelchair behind at the coffee shop while he races back to S.T.A.R. Labs.  At this point, the episode steps its game up by showing that Wells' pretense is officially over at last.  Wells catches Cisco replaying the recording of the Reverse Flash from "The Man in the Yellow Suit" and confesses that yes, he's actually Eobard Thawne from the future and Eddie is his 21st century ancestor.  

It seems Eobard's been stuck in the past since killing Barry's mother Nora fifteen years ago and that Barry's super-speed is the key to getting him back to his own time.  And as Cisco looks on with sheer terror (rather convincingly acted by Carlos Valdes), Eobard vibrates his hand into Cisco's chest and kills him.  Well...for now, anyway.

Great ending, right?  Guess again, because just when you think you can't handle any more, Mardon creates a tsunami to level Central City, just as Barry and Iris finally have their first kiss.  This forces Barry to quick-change to the Flash right in front of Iris, officially revealing his identity and his powers to her.  And as Iris stands there going "Wait...what?", the Flash races off to counter the tsunami with one of his own, moving faster and faster.  So fast, in fact, that he ends up breaking the time barrier and travels back to see himself running earlier in the episode.

So.  Much.  Flash goodness.  The wait over the next six days is going to be ridiculously slow and agonizing.

THE FLASH's Greg Berlanti Discusses Grodd & Time Travel

During last night's episode "The Flash is Born," fans of the CW series The Flash finally breathed a sigh of relief when Barry Allen formally adopted the identity of "The Flash" instead of the rather embarrassing name "The Streak."  So the big question is, what's coming up next in the Scarlet Speedster's future?

TVLine spoke with executive producer Greg Berlanti about that very thing, discussing a number of topics including the introduction of Grodd, new super-speed abilities, time travel and more.  Here's the exchange...

TVLINE: Am I wrong in reading the situation as it just being a matter of time before Barry has to tell Iris either that he loves her or that he’s The Flash in order to salvage their relationship?

Berlanti: One hundred percent. I think that’s a fair assessment. One of those two things will be revealed soon enough.

TVLINE: You had a pretty juicy tease there at the end of the last episode about Grodd. Is that something that’s going to be more teased rather than introduced?

Berlanti: I wouldn’t say teased. I would say we’re going to deal with it this year. The comparison I make is a little bit to Slade the first year on Arrow in the sense of we started with the mask in the pilot and then we saw which way we were going. He was, ultimately, in the back half of that first season even more than we would ever do with Grodd this first year because…We’re going to have to get the technology right and all the stuff right to make it look and feel real. But a lot of times, we do this stuff not as a tease as much as a challenge to ourselves of, “Can we do it?” Grodd’s definitely one of those, so we hope we pull it off.

TVLINE: We saw so many different abilities with the last episode — running on water, running up a building, changing his voice. Are there other special abilities still to come?

Berlanti: Oh, he has tons. Definitely. We’re holding back on some big ones still. He famously can phase through things. We haven’t seen him do that yet.

TVLINE: And time travel?

Berlanti: That is the one that we deal with directly in the winter. We, obviously, hint at it from the pilot episode. That is a big — “theme” is the wrong word for it — but that is a big part of the DNA of who The Flash was, so we do deal with that.

TVLINE: And with his suit being destroyed by the bomb (in "Plastique"), is now the time when you’re going to evolve his costume?

Berlanti: We’ll keep evolving it and tweaking it as we go. I think people are waiting to see when it’s going to be a white emblem versus a red.

TVLINE: Are there any big crossovers with Arrow planned for the second half of the season?

Berlanti: We just started talking about that. It’s so much fun to do. They’re so hard to do. But I think they’ll be so rewarding for everybody, ultimately, that that’s our hope, for sure.

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

JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE FLASHPOINT PARADOX Trailer Debuts

"World War III...Maybe I could've stopped it, if I just ran a little faster..."

The trailer for Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox debuted on IGN earlier this week, giving us our first solid look at the upcoming animated film based on the DC Comics limited series Flashpoint.  When time travel changes an event for Barry Allen, The Flash, and his family, the event’s temporal ripples prove disastrous, creating a fractured, alternate reality where the Justice League never formed, and Superman is nowhere to be found.  Trapped in an alternate Earth being ravaged by a fierce war between Wonder Woman’s Amazons and Aquaman’s Atlanteans, Flash must team with a grittier, more violent Batman and government agent Cyborg to restore the continuity of Flash’s original timeline.

"The Speed Force allows the Reverse-Flash to travel through time," The Flash (Justin Chambers) tells Batman as we see the Reverse-Flash (C. Thomas Howell) detonating an explosive device.

An alternate Batman, voiced by Kevin McKidd, says to Barry Allen, "He changed something in the past."  Barry replies, "We have to find out what he changed and change it back before they kill everyone on the planet."  We then see Alternate Batman attempting to restore Barry's lost super-speed powers using an electric chair.

"In my world, I'm a hero," Barry says to his mother Nora Allen, who was never killed in this alternate timeline.  "You mean like Batman?" replies Nora.

"No matter how fast you run, you can't save everyone," remarks the Reverse-Flash, as we see quick images of Wonder Woman, Lois Lane, Captain Atom, Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Cyborg.

"War's over, everybody lost," remarks the alternate Batman as we see the Rogue known as The Top and the exterior of the Flash Museum.  "You'd be amazed the monsters this world can create..."

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is scheduled to arrive on DVD, Blu-Ray, On Demand and digital download on July 30, 2013.  If you'd like to see the trailer, you can view it below thanks to DC Comics on YouTube...

DAMN Good Comics -- AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #678

Amazing Spider-Man was a bit wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey this week...and that's definitely a good thing.

In the cheerily-titled "I Killed Tomorrow Part 1 of 2: Schrödinger's Catastrophe," writer Dan Slott gives Peter Parker just three hours to prevent the destruction of New York City.  This isn't the typical "ticking clock" story, though, because Peter only learns about New York's destruction by stepping through a Doorway to Tomorrow (Morrow...Morrow...).

It seems Grady Scraps, his fellow creative engineer at think-tank Horizon Labs, has invented a gateway field of chronoton particles with a 24-hour window.  When Grady shows off his new invention, Peter steps through only to discover that tomorrow's events have suddenly been altered and all of New York City has been completely demolished.  Peter quickly finds an abandoned wristwatch frozen at the exact time of the destruction, while Grady uses a newspaper from before Peter's presence altered the timeline to help Spider-Man fix the timeline and stop the devastation before it happens.

Everybody got that?

Slott indulges his love of time-travel stories here, even revealing that Grady, like Slott himself, is a fan of Doctor Who, adding another Whovian to the Marvel Universe.  (Hmmm...I wonder if Grady ever hangs out with Mr. Fantastic and his daughter Valeria...)  And as the story's title suggests, the quantum mechanics paradox known as Schrödinger's cat comes into play, with New York City being simultaneously undamaged and completely destroyed.  The story's real heart though, is the pairing of Spider-Man and the unconventional Grady, making it feel as if Spidey traveled to Lost Island and spent an entire episode teamed up with Hugo "Hurley" Reyes.

As for the art, Humberto Ramos turns in a mostly-solid issue of his distinctive exaggerated style.  He puts a great deal of effort into giving his characters individual hairstyles and specific fashion choices, but rushes a bit through scenes involving buildings and the devastation.  However, if you're a fan of Ramos on Amazing Spider-Man, as I am, you're probably willing to overlook this and concentrate more on the story instead.

The cliffhanger works nicely, giving Spidey mere seconds to identify what needs to be done (or not done) to avoid catastrophe.  Something tells me he'll figure it out, but that wait for the next issue to see what happens...Duuuuude...