CAPTAIN AMERICA 3 to Adapt CIVIL WAR with Robert Downey, Jr.

You can't keep a good Iron Man down.

Variety revealed yesterday that Robert Downey, Jr. is close to reprising his role as Iron Man/Tony Stark for Captain America 3, which will feature will adapt the Marvel Comics event Civil War and begin Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

According to the article, Captain America 3 "will pit Stark against Captain America’s alter-ego Steve Rogers, played by Chris Evans, as they feud over the Superhero Registration Act, which forces anyone with superhuman abilities to reveal their identities to the U.S. government and agree to act as a police force for the authorities.  Stark supports the program, but Rogers does not, saying it threatens civil liberties, causing sides to be taken and Rogers, among others, to go on the run to avoid arrest.  The moral question and battle with his Avengers teammate essentially makes Stark a villain of sorts in Captain America 3, providing Downey with a meaty role he could play out into future Marvel films, including a fourth Avengers."

It seems Marvel originally wanted Downey for just a small role in the film, which would have required just three weeks of work, but Downey wanted Stark to have a larger role, which would give him more screen time and naturally a bigger payday.  This reportedly angered Marvel Entertainment head Ike Perlmutter, who ordered the screenwriters to write Iron Man out of the script entirely.  Even though the deal appeared dead, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and Downey’s representatives continued talks in hopes of working out their issues.

The article claims that Downey, who earned $50 million for The Avengers alone, will collect around $40 million plus backend participation for Captain America 3, and will get an additional payday if Captain America 3 outperforms Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s $714 million worldwide total.

Anthony and Joe Russo, directors of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, will return for Captain America 3 and the brothers are currently working on the script with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

In addition, Marvel Comics also teased yesterday that there will be a new Civil War #1 sometime in Summer 2015, presumably so that a collection can be out in time for Captain America 3.  It's not yet known if this will be a direct sequel to the original 2006-07 limited series by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven or some form of reboot.

Captain America 3 is scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 6, 2016.

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 008: "Mummy on the Orient Express" is Up!

"You know, Doctor, I can't tell if you're a genius or just incredibly arrogant."
"Well, on a good day, I'm both."

My good friend Jesse Jackson and I have returned with another episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!

This time out, we give our thoughts on "Mummy on the Orient Express," the eighth episode from Doctor Who Series Eight, including things like Agatha Christie, the running theme of soldiers and war, sentient computer acronyms, Clara's inconsistent behavior, the series Castle, the polarizing Twelfth Doctor, Queen's song "Don't Stop Me Now," Doctor Who haters hating, our popular Reverse the Polarity segment, listener email, the revival of Twin Peaks, 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?

Have fun watching "Flatline" on BBC America this Saturday, then keep checking iTunes, Stitcher and the Southgate Media Group website for our next Doctor Who review!

ARCHER Drops ISIS Name for Rather Obvious Reasons

Yuuuup, phrasing.

The Daily Beast has word that in light of recent world events involving the militant Islamic organization once called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the FX animated spy comedy series Archer is dropping the spy organization name ISIS (short for International Secret Intelligence Service) from the show starting with the upcoming Season 6. 

During the season premiere, Malory Archer (Jessica Walter) is shown talking on the phone with her son Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin) and explaining to him that the CIA are now their overlords.  In the background, you can see two movers rolling out a large, circular sign featuring the ISIS logo.

Creator Adam Reed along with executive producers Matt Thompson and Casey Willis made the decision after initial concerns from FX.  "We were waiting for it to go away — at least I was," said Reed.  "Back in Season 5, FX said, ‘This might be a thing,’ and I thought, ‘Maybe it won’t be?  Maybe it’ll be the mole that I’m gonna ignore and nothing will happen.’  We got sort of lucky and could organically make a merger with the CIA, so we went back and retroactively painted out the ISIS logos in parts of the show, and we just don’t talk about it in dialogue."

"We won’t say ISIS anymore, and the only visual representation of it will be that sign rolling off the show," added Thompson.  "It’s just the most awful thing, and we didn’t want to have anything to do with it.  There were people online saying that we should address it and say, ‘Oh, I can’t believe these guys have co-opted our name.’  That’s the way South Park would do it, coming after them and saying, ‘These assholes stole our name,’ but that’s not the way the Archer universe works, where it’s all our own creations.  In our universe, they don’t exist."

The name and logo won't be retroactively removed from Seasons 1 through 5, however, so any repeats on television will still feature ISIS.  In addition, there's still the matter of all that ISIS-related merchandise to address.  "I’m one of the few people that has the white ISIS cup and it’s mixed in with all my other cups," said Walter.  "The other day, I was looking at it and thought, ‘Should I throw it out?  But it reminds me of Archer.’"

Added Reed, "I gave my Dad one of the ISIS hats and he said, ‘You know son, I’m not going to be able to wear the hat anymore.  I’m gettin’ looks at the hardware store.’  I was at a meeting with the FX execs and I said, ‘You know, with all this extra ISIS merchandise, you should just make the bad guys buy it.’  Dead silence.  And then they said, ‘We have a lot of ISIS merchandise.’  So I guess that’s all going to a landfill somewhere."

Archer is expected to return to FX for Season 6 sometime around January 2015.

THE FLASH Casts Andy Mientus as Pied Piper

Flash news...Flash news EVERYWHERE...

TVLine is reporting that the CW series The Flash has cast Andy Mientus as Hartley Rathaway, better known to DC Comics fans as the Pied Piper, one of the Rogues who join forces to plague the Fastest Man Alive.

The Pied Piper will make his debut in Episodes 11 and 12 and will be openly gay, as he is depicted in Flash comics.  Piper is described in the article as "One of DC’s original Rogues, Hartley is a bona fide genius who used to work at S.T.A.R. Labs until a falling out with his mentor, Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh).  The particle accelerator robbed Hartley of his hearing, but inspired him to create a series of sonic weapons that he uses in an effort to punish Wells by destroying his new protege: The Flash."

The 27-year-old actor, who is openly bisexual, is best known as Kyle Bishop on the NBC series Smash and is slated to appear as a regular on the ABC Family series Chasing Life. 

Created in 1959 by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, the Pied Piper first appeared in The Flash (vol.1) #106 as Hartley Rathaway, who was born deaf but was cured as a result of researched funded by his wealthy father.  He became obsessed with sound and experimented with sonic technology, eventually inventing a technique of hypnotism through music and a way to cause deadly vibrations.  Growing bored of his lifestyle, he turned to crime as the Pied Piper and frequently clashed with Barry Allen, the second Flash.

In 1991, William Messner-Loebs and Greg LaRocque had Piper come out as gay in The Flash (vol.2) #53.  Having reformed as a supervillain, Piper became friends with Wally West, the third Flash, and revealed his sexual preference during an opening sequence in the issue where Wally asks Piper if he's heard rumors that The Joker is gay.  Wally reacts to the news awkwardly at first, but quickly adjusts and remains good friends with Piper.

In the current New 52 continuity, Hartley is now the conductor of Central City's orchestra and is described as a "reformed vigilante."  He is dating Director David Singh, Barry Allen's superior at the Central City Police Department Crime Lab, and later assists the Flash and former Rogue teammate Captain Cold against the newly united Rogues.

This will be the character's first depiction in live-action, although a female version of the character was rumored to be planned for a second season of the 1990-91 Flash TV series that never happened.  He was seen in the Justice League Unlimited animated series episode "Flash and Substance" in a bar where the Rogues hang out.

The Flash airs Tuesday nights on The CW at 8:00 p.m. EST.

THE FLASH Also Casts Victor Garber as Firestorm

So, can we have a Firestorm spinoff series now?

The Hollywood Reporter has word that the new hit CW series The Flash has cast Victor Garber as DC Comics character Dr. Martin Stein, who becomes one half of the superhero Firestorm.

According to the article, Dr. Stein will be a recurring character and will debut in the series' twelfth episode.  Stein is described as "a brilliant but arrogant nuclear physicist who has sacrificed everything, including a marriage, for his work in transmutation.  After he discovers the particle accelerator fused him with the younger, more impulsive Ronnie Raymond (Robbie Amell), he races to find a way to separate the two before it's too late."

Best known as the badass spydaddy Jack Bristow on the ABC series Alias, the 65-year-old Garber has appeared in a number of notable films and television series, including Argo, Legally Blonde, Titanic, Sleepless in Seattle, Sleepy Hollow, Charlie's Angels (2011 series), Flashpoint (!), Stargate Universe and more.  He also voiced the DC Comics supervillain Sinestro in the animated film Green Lantern: First Flight.

Created by Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom, Professor Martin Stein first appeared in 1978's Firestorm, the Nuclear Man (vol.1) #1. In his original incarnation, Firestorm was created during a nuclear accident that allowed high-school student Ronnie Raymond to fuse with Stein into a nuclear-powered superhero that soon became a member of the Justice League of America. The character went through a number of iterations over the years, including Russian nuclear technician Mikhail Arkadin, Stein as a Fire Elemental, and a teenager from Detroit named Jason Rusch. In the current New 52 continuity, Ronnie and Jason became Firestorm after Jason used one of Professor Stein's creations called "The God Particle" to transform them.

Although Martin Stein has appeared in the animated series Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (voiced by Olan Soule), this will be the character's first depiction in live-action.

The Flash airs Tuesday nights on The CW at 8:00 p.m. EST.

DAMN Good Television -- THE FLASH: "Pilot"

 

After a hiatus of only 23 years, fans of the CBS series The Flash finally have a second season of their favorite Fastest Man Alive.  Although the thing is, John Wesley Shipp has been replaced as The Flash by a much younger Grant Gustin and the show is now on The CW as a spinoff of the series Arrow.  Apart from the overall improvements in special effects, costuming, lighting, camerawork, etc., it's...basically the same show.  Well...um...sort of.

This 2014 version was first announced in July 2013, with the idea of debuting Barry Allen on two episodes of Arrow followed by a third episode later in the show's second season where he would become The Flash.  This was going to essentially serve as a back-door pilot for a Flash spinoff series, until the decision was made to film a proper standalone pilot episode instead.  And having learned lessons from making Arrow, executive producers Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg and Geoff Johns chose to fully embrace the DC Comics Universe right off the bat, exploring the concept of strange superpowers the way Arrow often avoids in favor of a more realistic approach.

The first episode, directed by Smallville and Arrow pilot veteran David Nutter, opens with a brief taste of Barry Allen racing through Central City as The Flash before flashing back to his childhood at the age of eleven.  We see the return of Shipp now playing Barry's father Henry Allen, and the loving relationship he has with his wife Nora before everything goes to hell.  Waking up to a weird sight of water floating up from a nearby fishtank, Barry goes downstairs to find his mom caught in the middle of a strange, yellow blur racing back and forth.  Unable to reach Nora because of the blur, Henry tells Barry to run and suddenly, young Barry finds himself blocks away from his house...in a flash.

Jumping ahead about twelve years or so, we see the adult and constantly late Barry Allen arriving at a crime scene that introduces his former legal guardian, Detective Joe West (Jesse L Martin), and his boss, Captain David Singh (Patrick Sabongui) of the Central City Police Department.  As forensic assistant Barry examines the crime scene with mental observations texted across the screen for viewers similar to the BBC series Sherlock, we learn that a pair of criminals called the Mardon brothers (Clyde and presumably, the more important Mark) have caught the attention of the CCPD.

Gustin picks up right where he left off after his two Arrow episodes earlier this year, continuing to show Barry's awkward but well-intentioned charm, making him quickly likeable and relatable to the audience.  And with the tragic murder of Barry's mother under mysterious circumstances yet to be explained and his father's false imprisonment for said murder, Gustin gives Barry a vulnerability that makes you instantly sympathetic to the character.

We then meet Iris West (Candice Patton), Joe's daughter and Barry's future love, and get a glimpse of Barry's unrequited crush that is pretty much the norm for any male superhero.  Even with Iris seeing Barry as just a friend (for the moment at least), Patton and Gustin have a good chemistry that wants you to see these two hook up despite the somewhat skeevy notion that the two grew up together in the same house as foster siblings. 

Barry and Iris end up going to S.T.A.R. Labs to hear Dr. Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh) speak about his exciting new particle accelerator that we know from Arrow is destined to go completely FUBAR.  Iris' laptop is stolen during Wells' speech, forcing Barry to give chase and also show us how slow he currently is.  After sucker-punching Barry with a laptop to the stomach, the thief is quickly caught by Eddie Thawne (Rick Cosnett), who was given the nickname "Detective Prettyboy" and immediately becomes Barry's rival for Iris' attention.

Barry returns to his spacious loft apartment, returning us to a very important scene from the end of the Arrow episode "Three Ghosts."  Essentially, we get an expanded version this time, as Barry is caught in the particle accelerator energy wave and is struck by lightning, which sends him crashing into a nearby rack of chemicals.  He wakes up nine months later in S.T.A.R. Labs, syncing the series up with the start of Arrow's Season 3, and meets tech geek Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) and the frosty Dr. Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker).  Together, they provide the necessary expository explanation that Barry's accident has placed him in a constant state of cellular regeneration, which Barry sums up as "Lightning gave me abs?"

As the pilot episode progresses, Barry discovers his super-speed stopping an arrested criminal reaching for a cop's gun and after a brief sprint in a nearby alley, we're literally off and running.  Harrison (now in a wheelchair), Cisco and Caitlin quickly form Barry's science support for his newfound abilities, testing his speed on an abandoned Ferris airfield that possibly foreshadows a Green Lantern connection.  During the test, Barry suddenly recalls seeing a blurred yellow figure during his mother's murder that makes him wonder if the man who killed his mother had the same powers as he has.  (Spoilers for anyone who hasn't read the DC Comics limited series Flashpoint -- he does.)

On top of all this, Clyde Mardon has returned with spiffy new weather-controlling abilities, Iris is now secretly dating Eddie Thawne without telling her father, and Joe flat out tells Barry that all the strange stuff he saw as a kid never happened and he needs to accept that Henry Allen murdered his wife.  As a result, Barry runs off to Starling City and has another meeting with special guest superhero The Arrow for advice.  Stephen Amell has a nice cameo role here as his character Oliver Queen, who tells Barry that "You can inspire people" in a way that he can't and that he's able to "save people -- in a flash."  (Say, that's catchy...)

So naturally he does, after obtaining a spiffy scarlet suit from Cisco and Caitlin that's supposedly aerodynamic, but looks a bit loose and leathery instead.  The inevitable superhero vs. supervillain showdown ensues that ultimately hints at Mark Mardon's appearance somewhere down the line and reveals Barry's new identity and powers to Joe in the process.  Later on, Barry visits his father Henry in Iron Heights prison and reassures him that he knows Henry didn't kill his mother.

That pretty much sets up Season One, teasing a number of possible supervillains for the future (Don't blink or you'll miss a certain busted cage) along with a number of character conflicts that should prove interesting.  However, there's a very important epilogue that you should be playing very close attention to that I won't spoil here apart from saying someone is far more than he seems and we may get to see a rather huge DC Comics event at some point.

All in all, The Flash left the starting position strong and with some solid storytelling and great special effects to showcase superpowers, has the potential to become bigger and better than Arrow.  The series should provide a fun, brighter change of pace from the gritty crime and corruption on Arrow and Gotham, with far more depth and creativity than Smallville had during its 10-year run.  And with the show's willingness to bring in Shipp along with his co-star Amanda Pays, fans of the original Flash series should be in for a real treat. 

Anyone else up for a Mark Hamill episode after he finishes filming Star Wars Episode VII...?

TWIN PEAKS' Mark Frost Talks 2016 Revival & What Fans Can Expect

"Harry, I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange."
-- Special Agent Dale Cooper to Sheriff Harry S. Truman

Hot on the heels of yesterday's announcement that Twin Peaks will be returning to Showtime in 2016 for a 9-episode continuation of the original series set 25 years later, TVLine sat down with Twin Peaks co-creator and executive producer Mark Frost for a Q&A session that teased what fans might be able to expect in two years.  Here are some of the highlights:

TVLINE: For about two years now, rumors have been circulating about a Twin Peaks revival being in the works. How long have you and David (Lynch) been formulating this?

FROST:  David and I stayed in touch and remained closed friends throughout all these years. It was about three years ago this summer we were having lunch at [famed Hollywood eatery] Musso & Frank, where we often used to go. And we were just kicking stuff around and we started getting some ideas in our heads about Twin Peaks. Suddenly, it felt like a place we wanted to visit again. And that was the kickoff.

Was Showtime the first place you went?

We didn’t go to anybody else. Showtime was the first and only [network] we spoke to about this. There was a nice sense of continuity there, because Gary Levine, who’s the right-hand man to [Showtime president] David Nevins, was our [creative] representative on the show when we were on ABC. We’ve known Gary a long time. We trust Gary. We like Gary. We had a really great meeting with them. And David [Lynch] really loved the artwork on David [Nevins]‘ office walls. And they loved the show. And that’s how it all came to be.

Just to confirm, this is not a remake, correct? It’s a continuation, like TNT’s Dallas?

It is not a remake. The story continues. The seeds of where we go were planted where we’ve been.

In the series finale, Laura Palmer tells Agent Cooper in the Red Room, “I’ll see you again in 25 years.” That can’t be a coincidence, can it?

When you see it, you’ll know.

Are you looking at this as Season 3 of Twin Peaks?

Not really, but just because my brain doesn’t work that way. I’ve always said that Twin Peaks to me was like a novel we filmed every page of. So this is more like we found another volume of the saga, and now we want to bring that to life too.

Will the nine episodes revolve around a new mystery?

If I told you that I would have to give the Kill command to the Predator drones that are circling your house now. And that wouldn’t be cool. [Laughs]

Will the world of Fire Walk With Me be considered a part of the “Canon”?

I think it should be. It’s definitely part of the mythology of the show, and it reflects the work that was done before and it will have some bearing on the work as we go forward.
 
Is it your goal to bring back as many of the original cast as possible?

Those who want to see old faces, and those would like to see new faces, none of them will be disappointed. It’s far too early to talk specifics about people. We’re not at that stage in the process.

In the past 25 years, several cast members have passed away, most notably former set dresser turned scariest TV character ever, Frank Silva (AKA Killer Bob). How will you handle that loss?

I can’t really say. That’s a tough one to go into without giving away too much.

Will Angelo Badalamenti do the score?

Too early to say.

If it’s a success, could there be more?

We’ve learned never to say never. Anything is a possibility.

The second season was rather polarizing, and some fans felt let down by how the story ended. Are you looking at this as an opportunity to bring the story to a more satisfying conclusion?

It’s our hope that these episodes will give the fans everything they felt they hadn’t gotten the last time we left off.

Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask, how’s Annie?

[Laughs] Funnily enough, I just showed the second Austin Powers movie to my son last night, who asked me about [Heather Graham]. And I said, “Oh, that’s Annie.” And he said, “Who’s Annie?” And I said, “No, no. The question is How’s Annie?” And judging by how Annie looked in that movie I’d say Annie’s fine.