GOTHAM Casts B.D. Wong as Professor Hugo Strange

Let's just hope dinosaurs aren't involved.

USA Today reports that the Fox series Gotham has cast B.D. Wong as Batman villain Professor Hugo Strange.

According to the article, Strange is described as "a brilliant professor and psychiatrist tapped to head up Gotham City’s notorious Arkham Asylum.  He’s hired to help the city’s criminally insane, but Strange has a nefarious streak as well: The professor is also conducting experiments on inmates and testing extraordinary abilities in order to create superhuman folks for Indian Hill.  The underground Wayne Enterprises black-ops program was introduced in this week's episode of Gotham as the secretive place where a badly burned Firefly (Michelle Veintimilla) was taken after being captured by the GCPD."

Wong, 55, is probably best known as Dr. Henry Wu in Jurassic Park and Jurassic World, and has appeared the films Mulan, Seven Years in Tibet, Father of the Bride, and The Karate Kid Part II.  He's also had several notable television appearances, including Mr. Robot (as White Rose), Madam Secretary, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Chicago Hope, The X-Files, All-American Girl, and Simon & Simon.

Created in 1940 by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, Professor Hugo Strange first appeared in Detective Comics (vol.1) #36 as a scientist who uses a stolen "concentrated lightning" machine to generate a dense fog every night, allowing his gang to rob banks unseen, though he knows Batman poses a threat to him.  Batman, who already knew of Strange's experiments, began investigating him after one of his henchmen killed a man.

Having survived his earlier "death" at the hands of Batman, Strange later ran a private hospital for Gotham's wealthiest citizens — where he held them to ransom and changed them into monsters. When Bruce Wayne checked into the hospital to recover discreetly from radiation burns he sustained while fighting Doctor Phosphorus, Strange found out that Wayne was Batman and proceeded to wreak havoc on his personal life. Strange then attempted to auction the identity of Batman to Boss Rupert Thorne, the Penguin, and the Joker.  Thorne had Strange kidnapped and beaten to reveal Batman's identity, but Strange apparently died before he could tell them.  Strange's "ghost" came back to haunt Thorne, driving the council boss insane.  Thorne confessed his long career of corruption and was sent to prison.

As revealed in 1983's Batman #356, Strange actually survived the beating from Thorne's men, by using yoga to slow his heartbeat to an undetectable level.  Strange created the "ghost" that haunted Thorne which drove him to confess to the authorities.  Subsequently Strange attempted to weaken Bruce Wayne through the use of drugs and robots, with the ultimate goal of usurping the mantle of Batman.  The plan failed, and Strange apparently died once more when he blew up a replica of Wayne Manor.

This will be the first time Hugo Strange has appeared in live action, although the character has appeared in several animated projects, including Batman: The Animated Series (voiced by Ray Buktenica), The Batman (voiced by Frank Gorshin and Richard Green), Young Justice (voiced by Adrian Pasdar), and the short film Batman: Strange Days (voiced by Brian George).

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

THE FANDOM ZONE 030: "JSS" is Up!

"You know, Shel, I could teach you how to make pasta with your own two hands, but you'd have to promise not to smoke in the house.  It's just a disgusting habit and it kills you.  If you ask me, there are too many things trying to do that already, right?"
-- Carol Peletier to Shelly Neudermeyer, The Walking Dead: "JSS"

After another slight posting delay, Karen Lindsay and I are back with another big episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

The Walking Dead 6x02 -- "JSS"
Gotham 2x05 -- "Scarification"
The Flash 2x03: "Family of Rogues"
iZombie 2x03: "Read Dead Housewife of Seattle"
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3x04 -- "Devils You Know"
Arrow 4x03: "Restoration"

We talk about things like Back to the Future now existing entirely in the past, Enid dining on a turtle, Carol shutting down her smoking neighbor, Carol flipping the switch to Battle Carol mode, the moral debate between Morgan's pacifism and Carol's practicality, Morgan's total Wolf fail, shipping Eugene and new doctor Denise, Firefly as Gotham's Cinderella, the shopping for C-4 explosive fail, the history of Gotham's elite families, the fondue dinner party with the Riddler, Iris West as Lois Lane, incorporating Captain Cold's abusive father from The Flash (vol.2) #182, Caitlin's crush on Jay Garrick, the new Firestorm matrix, Major's neverending self-destruction spiral, Vaughn doing Tai Chi, the Tracksuit Draculas from Matt Fraction & David Aja's Hawkeye, Hunter making a serious enemy of Melinda May, Lash's secret identity as Lobot, the so-called destruction of the Lazarus Pit, some background on Double Down, Felicity scolding Oliver and Diggle, Genesis being planet forbidden, another weekly review from Justina, some comics on TV news, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

Be sure to come back next week as we review the series premiere of Supergirl, along with all-new episodes of The Walking Dead, The Flash, iZombie, Arrow, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, and Gotham, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 Casts Pom Klementieff as Mantis

We have ourselves a new Guardian.  You know, of the galaxy.

Just one day after The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Pom Klementieff has been cast in a major role for James Gunn's upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Deadline now reports that Klementieff will be playing Marvel's celestial madonna Mantis.

Marvel reportedly held a wide casting search for Mantis, which called for an Asian actress, and did several rounds of chemistry reads.

Klementieff, 29, is a French actress of Korean and French-Russian descent, best known as Haeng-Bok in the 2013 version of Oldboy.  She will also be appearing in the upcoming film Hacker's Game.

Created in 1973 by Steve Englehart and Don Heck, Mantis first appeared in The Avengers (vol.1) #112 as the half-Vietnamese, half-German daughter Libra, member of the Zodiac.  During her childhood, Mantis' father left her in Vietnam at the Temple of the alien Priests of Pama, a sect of the Kree.  The Kree believed she might become the Celestial Madonna and mate with the eldest Cotati on Earth to become the mother of the Celestial Messiah, "the most important being in the universe."

Mantis excelled in her martial arts studies, but when she reached adulthood, her mind was wiped and was sent into the world to gain life experience.  She became a prostitute and barmaid in a Vietnamese bar, where she met the Swordsman.  She helped him regain his self-respect and followed him when he attempted to rejoin the Avengers.

She soon witnessed the death of the Swordsman at the hands of Kang, only realizing the depth of her love for the Swordsman just as he died.  She then buried the Swordsman, learned the origins of the Kree-Skrull War, the Cotati, and the Priests of Pama.  Mantis then formally joined the Avengers and was revealed to be the Celestial Madonna.  She married a Cotati in the reanimated body of the Swordsman, leaving the Avengers and the Earth to mate with him.

Later, after being a prisoner of the Kree, Mantis took up residence on the Knowhere station with the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy.  She assumed the role of counselor for the group, using her knowledge of the mind to maintain a balance with their various personalities.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is scheduled to be released on May 5, 2017.

John Constantine Returns in ARROW: "Haunted" Trailer

Constantine returned to TV last night, only for less than a minute, but it was glorious.

After last night's episode of the CW series Arrow, Hellblazers finally saw the return of Matt Ryan as John Constantine in the trailer for next week's episode "Haunted."

The 25-second trailer begins with Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and Team Arrow still struggling with the return of Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) to the world of the living thanks to the Lazarus Pit.  "I looked Sara in the eyes," laments Oliver.  "She wasn't there."

Meanwhile, Season 4 Big Bad Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) advises Sara's father Quentin (Paul Blackthorne) to return Sara to the grave.

So hey, what better person for Green Arrow to phone up for help than John Constantine, right?

"What your sister needs is the restoration of her soul to her body," explains Constantine.

"What if something goes wrong?" asks John Diggle (David Ramsey), understandably.

"If things go wrong, then we'll all be too dead to care," Constantine replies as we see flashing images ot Sara wreaking havoc in her feral state.

Constantine then flicks his trademark lighter open and grins ominously, "On with the show."

If you'd like to see the trailer for "Haunted," you can view it below thanks to Television Promos on YouTube...


"Haunted" will premiere on The CW Wednesday, November 4th at 8 p.m. EST.

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 042: "The Woman Who Lived" is Up!

"You remember Clara, don't you?"
"Of course.  I take particular note of anyone's weaknesses."
-- The Twelfth Doctor and Ashildr/Me, Doctor Who: "The Woman Who Lived"

Episode 42.  The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.

After a slight recording delay thanks to Jesse's Dallas Cowboys, my good friend and co-host Jesse Jackson have returned with another episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!

This time, Jesse and I discuss things like MacGuffins, the Ron Perlman/Linda Hamilton Beauty and the Beast, another Bruce Springsteen anecdote from Jesse, Ashildr meeting Captain Jack Harkness, the rise of Doctor Who fans into writing Doctor Who professionally, Big Finish Productions, Series Nine being half-full or half-empty, Ashildr's memory dump, whether Ashildr is someone the Doctor should worry about, the advantages of being immortal, why the Doctor didn't let Ashildr join him in the TARDIS, our theories about what happens to Clara, Neil Gaiman's Sandman story with Dream and Hob, my Reverse the Polarity segment, what we want from the next companion, our picks for the next companion, David Tennant and Catherine Tate reprising the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble for Big Finish, 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?

Be sure to come back next week for our review of the seventh Series Nine episode "The Zygon Invasion," and look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

GOTHAM Casts Nathan Darrow as Mr. Freeze

Winter is coming to Gotham City.

Deadline reports that the Fox series Gotham has cast Nathan Darrow as Victor Fries, better known to Batman fans as the supervillain Mr. Freeze.  According to the article, the role will be recurring, while TVLine has word that Mr. Freeze will first appear in December, followed by a major Freeze story in episodes 12 and 13.

The official character description reads, "Though ferociously smart and eminently capable in his work as one of Gotham’s preeminent cryogenics engineers, Victor struggles to make meaningful connections with others.  The one exception is his wife, Nora (casting TBA), who has tragically fallen ill with a terminal disease.  Victor’s love for Nora knows no bounds, so as her condition worsens, he goes to extreme measures to figure out a way to freeze her before she dies.  This harrowing journey leads to his transformation into the legendary DC villain, Mr. Freeze."

Best known as Edward Meechum, Kevin Spacey's bodyguard on Netflix's House of Cards, Darrow has also appeared on the television series Blue Bloods and Billions, as well as the TV movie Ambrose Bierce: Civil War Stories.

Created in 1959 by Bob Kane, David Wood and Sheldon Moldoff, Mr. Freeze first appeared in Batman (vol.1) #121, as Mr. Zero, a rogue scientist whose design for an "ice gun" backfires when he inadvertently spills cryogenic chemicals on himself, resulting in his needing subzero temperatures to survive.

The producers of the 1960s Batman television series renamed the character Mr. Freeze, which carried over to the comics in 1968's Detective Comics (vol.1) #373.  Paul Dini revamped the character once again for Batman: The Animated Series in 1992, which introduced his terminally ill, cryogenically frozen wife Nora and explained his obsession with ice and need to build a criminal empire to raise research funds.

The current New 52 version of the character was introduced in Batman Annual #1, giving him another revised origin.  Victor Fries' fascination with cryonics began when he was a boy and his mother fell through the ice of a frozen lake.  The ice was able to keep her preserved long enough for help to arrive, thus sparking his lifelong obsession with the cold.  It was later revealed that the accident left Fries' mother in constant pain, and Fries ended her suffering by pushing her into a lake.  In this new origin, Nora was never Fries' wife.  Her name was Nora Fields, a woman born in 1943.  When Nora was 23, she was diagnosed with an incurable heart disease, so her family placed her in cryogenic stasis hoping that a cure would be found in the future.  Fries, having written his doctoral thesis on Nora, took on a position as a cryogenic researcher and technician at Wayne Enterprises, the facility that housed Nora's body.

Eventually, he fell in love with Nora and became dedicated to finding a reliable method for slowly thawing cryogenic subjects.  However, Bruce Wayne ordered the project to be shut down, as he began to feel uncomfortable with Fries' obsession with Nora.  Furious, Fries hurled a chair at Wayne, who dodged the attack.  The chair smashed into an array of cryonic chemical tanks, the contents of which sprayed onto Fries and transformed him into Mr. Freeze.

Darrow will be the fifth actor to portray the character in live action, after George Sanders, Otto Preminger and Eli Wallach on the 1960s Batman television series, and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1997 film Batman & Robin.  The character has also appeared in numerous animated projects, including The Batman/Superman Hour (voiced by Ted Knight), The New Adventures of Batman (voiced by Lennie Weinrib), Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond (voiced by Michael Ansara), The Batman (voiced by Clancy Brown), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (voiced by John DiMaggio), and Young Justice (voiced by Keith Szarabajka).

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

DOCTOR WHO: The Tenth Doctor & Donna Return for Big Finish!

Go on, say it, you know you want to...Allons-y!

Big Finish Productions has officially announced the return of David Tennant and Catherine Tate in their roles of the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble for a series of Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures audio dramas in May 2016.  The three stories will be called Technophobia, Time Reaver, and Death and the Queen.

Tennant is the first modern era star to reprise his Doctor for Big Finish, although he previously appeared in the Big Finish audio dramas Colditz as Kurtz, and Medicinal Purposes as Daft Jamie.

Is there an official press release from Big Finish?  OH, YES!

David Tennant is returning as the Tenth Doctor alongside Catherine Tate as his companion Donna Noble in three Doctor Who Audio Dramas!

David Tennant portrayed the Doctor on screen from 2005 until 1 January 2010, returning to play alongside Matt Smith and John Hurt in the 50th Anniversary special The Day of the Doctor in 2013. Catherine Tate made her debut as Donna in December 2006, and after a series and two festive specials she made her last appearance alongside David on 1 January 2010. Their on-screen partnership is generally regarded as one of the great high-points of the enduring science fiction phenomenon.

'I still remember the sense of joy I had when I heard that David had been asked to play the Doctor,' says Big Finish executive producer Jason Haigh-Ellery. 'We were all so pleased for him — as we knew how much Doctor Who meant to him. And now David comes full circle, back doing Doctor Who with Big Finish — except that this time he’s playing the Doctor! It’s the same but different — it’s wonderful to have him back!'

The series opens with Doctor Who – The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Technophobia by Matt Fitton, which is set in a London slightly in the future, where mankind is gradually losing its ability to use everyday technology. Could there be an evil force at work?

In Doctor Who – The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Time Reaver by Jenny T Colgan the Doctor and Donna arrive on Calibris - ‘An entirely mechanical planet. Catch, hitch, fuel, fix, buy, pretty much any kind of transportation in existence.’ It’s also a world full of scoundrels, where a deadly black market has opened up in a device known only as the Time Reaver.

Finally, in Doctor Who – The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Death and the Queen by James Goss, Donna is swept along in a fairytale romance and meets the man of her dreams in the beautiful land of Goritania. What can possibly go wrong? And why has the Doctor never heard of Goritania? 

'I’ve enjoyed working with all the Doctors on TV, but David is the only one I’d known before he became the Doctor,' says executive producer Nicholas Briggs. 'I’d worked with him on our Dalek Empire series for Big Finish and had such fun. So along with the excitement of directing new Tenth Doctor adventures, I’m so happy to be working with an old chum again.'

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures is produced by David Richardson, script edited by Matt Fitton and James Goss and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

'This is one of those dream projects where I’ve spent months pinching myself. I’m covered in bruises,’ says David. ‘With two major international stars in place, and the legacy of this era of the TV show to live up to, we’ve worked our socks off to try and make some very special stories for this box set. Expect adventure, fun, scares... and some tears too.'

Doctor Who – The Tenth Doctor Adventures will be released in May 2016 - exclusively on the Big Finish website. Each of the three titles are available to pre-order separately today for just £10.99 on CD or £8.99 to download. A bundle of all three titles is also available for £25 on CD and £22 to download! 

All three stories are also available in the Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures Volume 1 – Limited Edition set. Limited to just 5,000 copies and available exclusively from bigfinish.com, and the lavish book-sized box set includes exclusive artwork, photography, articles and a one-hour documentary featuring interviews with the stars and production team. You can pre-order the set today at the special price of £30 on CD or £25 to download – offering a £5 discount against the standard price!!

First JESSICA JONES Full-Length Trailer Released

Alias Investigations is almost open for business.

Netflix has released the first full trailer for Jessica Jones, based on the Marvel Comics character and starring Krysten Ritter.  The two and a half minute trailer gives us our first good look at the upcoming 13-episode series, teasing David Tennant as Kilgrave (a.k.a. The Purple Man).

The trailer opens with a voiceover from Jessica as we see the familiar door of Alias Investigations.  "A big part of the job is looking for the worst in people," begins Jessica as someone is tossed through the door.  "Turns out I excel at that."

We then see the first meeting of Jessica and Luke Cage (Mike Colter).  Luke is tending bar somewhere and asks about Jessica being a private investigator.  "I'm just trying to make a living, you know," remarks Jessica.  "Booze costs money...usually."

Meeting somewhere else later on, Luke asks Jessica about her superpowers.  "Can you punch through a wall?  Stop a moving car?"

"A slow moving car," replies Jessica.

"The way I see it," Luke continues, "being a hero just puts a target on your back."

"Yeah, I've been there, done that."

The song "Thousand Eyes" from Of Monsters and Men begins to play as Jessica talks to Luke in a voiceover about Kilgrave.  "What if there was someone else out there?  But his ability was to make people do whatever he wanted."

"You mean like mind control?" asks Luke.

"You have no idea what I've done...what he made me do."

Jessica's best friend Trish "Patsy" Walker (Rachael Taylor) tries to reassure her about Kilgrave, saying he isn't here now.  "Yeah, well, he's always here," Jessica counters, pointing to her head before leaving.

We see Kilgrave mentally commanding a man to let him into his apartment, apparently to prey upon the man's young daughter.

Erin Moriarty appears next as Hope, sharing her experiences of being controlled by Kilgrave with Jessica. "Kilgrave leaves a trail of broken people behind him," Jessica says in a voiceover. 

"He made me jump," says Hope, "for hours, as high as I could.  He said I was never as good as you."

"He's back," Jessica then says to Trish.  "He's coming for me."

"Let's start...now," says Kilgrave as we see Trish putting a gun up under her chin.  We see an entire police station of cops under Kilgrave's control, aiming their weapons at themselves or someone else.  "Jessica," says Kilgrave over the phone, "I'm the only one who matches you.  We're inevitable."

"God didn't do this," Jessica remarks over a montage of images, "the Devil did.  And I'm gonna find him."

Lastly, Jessica enters a room filled with pictures of herself, several blown up to create a large collage image of her face.  "Come on, Jessica," Kilgrave continues over the phone, "don't play the hero with me."

If you'd like to check out the trailer, you can view it below thanks to Comic Book Resources on YouTube...




All thirteen episodes of Jessica Jones will premiere on Netflix on November 20, 2015.

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 041: "The Girl Who Died" is Up!

"I don’t mean the war.  I’ll lose any war you like.  I’m sick of losing people.  Look at you! Your eyes, you’re never giving up to anger.  No, kindness.  And one day, the memory of that will hurt so much that I won’t be able to breathe, and I’ll do what I always do, get in my box and I’ll run and I’ll run.  In case all the pain catches up.  And every place I go, it will be there."
-- The Twelfth Doctor to Clara Oswald, Doctor Who: "The Girl Who Died"

You guessed it, my good friend and co-host Jesse Jackson have returned with another episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!

This time, Jesse and I discuss things like whether two parters are justified, Vikings not having horns on their helmets, Field of Dreams, the total hypocrisy of sports fans in silly costumes making fun of cosplayers, the Tenth Doctor story "The Fires of Pompeii," Clara turning into the Doctor, the almost deaths of Clara, the Doctor speaking baby, reversing the polarity of the neutron flow, the return of the Doctor's yo-yo, Boots Randolph's "Yakety Sax" (a.k.a. the Benny Hill theme), Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as Ashildr, explaining the Twelfth Doctor's face, the Doctor edging into the Time Lord Victorious territory, the Doctor's 2,000 year diary, my Reverse the Polarity segment, Jesse's Bruce Springsteen podcast Set Lusting Bruce, 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?

Be sure to come back next week for our review of the fifth Series Nine episode "The Girl Who Died," and look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

THE FANDOM ZONE 029: "Flash of Two Worlds" is Up!

"Where I came from, I was a speedster like you.  They called me The Flash."
-- Jay Garrick, The Flash: "Flash of Two Worlds"

With Karen mostly recovered from her evil cold, Karen Lindsay and I are back with another big episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

The Walking Dead 6x01 -- "First Time Again"
Gotham 2x04 -- "Strike Force"
The Flash 2x02: "Flash of Two Worlds"
iZombie 2x02: "Zombie Bro"
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3x03 -- "A Wanted (Inhu)man"
Arrow 4x02: "The Candidate"

We talk about things like a quarry full of zombies, Planet Hell on Star Trek: The Next Generation, whiny millennials hating black and white TV, Rick's shutdown of Father Gabriel, Morgan being all over Rick's ass, blaring truck horns, Clobberin' Time in Gotham City, Alfred's incredibly inappropriate WTF Selina face punch, Silver St. Cloud, The Riddler's first date with Kristen Kringle, Jay Garrick donning his Flash helmet, Patty Spivot as Ms. Flash, Earth-1 and Earth-2, Ravi wearing glitter eye makeup and having a brain fart, the correct pronunciation of GIF, Blaine as the new Spike, subtitles for drunk Brits, Simmons having her Jack from Lost moment, the Terrific addition of Michael Curtis Holt, the long-awaited death of Stephen Amell's wig, digging up your dead sister, another weekly review from Justina, some comics on TV news, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

Be sure to come back next week as we review all-new episodes of The Walking Dead, The Flash, iZombie, Arrow, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, and Gotham, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

First Full STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS Trailer Debuts

Are you sold yet?  I know I am.

As movie tickets site Fandango blew up like Alderaan from Star Wars fans scrambling to buy tickets for J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the Force was strong for those who sat through a sloppy first half of ESPN's Monday Night Football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants.

The first full trailer for the film, a glorious two minutes and twenty seconds, debuted during halftime, finally giving us our first glimpse at the storyline.

It opens with Daisy Ridley as Rey, covered in wrappings and protective gear on the desert planet of Jakku.  She appears to be exploring the wreckage of a downed starship, swinging downward on a long rope into the bowels of the ship.

"Who are you?" a female voice asks as we see Rey and her droid BB-8 walking across the desert, feeling very reminiscent of a young Luke Skywalker on Tattooine.  "I'm no one," Rey replies as we see her watching a spaceship leave orbit, and see her apparently longing for something more than the life she currently leads.

We then see the new First Order, followed by John Boyega as a stormtrooper named Finn, removing his helmet.  "I was raised to do one thing," he says, "but I've got nothing to fight for."

The scene shifts to Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, a dark warrior strong with the Force and originally a member of the Knights of Ren, now a commander of the First Order.  "Nothing will stand in our way," he begins with an electronically distorted voice, looking down at the battered helmet of Darth Vader.  "I will finish what you started."

We then get Rey talking to Harrison Ford as Han Solo aboard the Millennium Falcon. "There were stories about what happened," she remarks as Finn looks on.

"It's true," Han replies.  "All of it.  The Dark Side...The Jedi...They're real."

We see Finn joining up with a Resistance X-Wing group along with Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, followed by glimpses of Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma, Han and Chewbacca being captured along with Finn, Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa resting her head on Han's chest, and Finn having a lightsaber duel with Kylo Ren.

"The Force," says the female voice from earlier, "it's calling to you.  Just let it in."

Okay, here's the trailer, thanks to the official Star Wars account on YouTube...Enjoy!



Star Wars: The Force Awakens arrives in theaters on December 18, 2015.

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 040: "Before the Flood" is Up!

"Because you know what, if all I have to do to survive is tweak the future a bit, what’s stopping me?  Oh, yeah yeah yeah!  The ripple effect!  Maybe it will mean that the universe will be ruled by cats or something in the future, but the way I see it, even a ghastly future is better than no future at all.  You robbed those people of their deaths, made them nothing more than a message in a bottle.  You violated something more important than time.  You bent the rules of life and death.  So I’m putting things straight.  Here.  Now.  This is where your story ends."
-- The Twelfth Doctor to the Fisher King, Doctor Who: "Before the Flood"

After a slight recording delay, my good friend and co-host Jesse Jackson have returned with another episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!

This time, Jesse and I discuss things like sticking the landing, evaluating the Fisher King, Clara becoming more like the Doctor, Jesse laying off his employees, The Martian, whether having deaf character Cass was a cheat, shooting down Jesse's theory that Steven Moffat kills off every potential companion, my explanation of the Bootstrap Paradox, the Doctor breaking the Fourth Wall, Peter Capaldi playing guitar for the opening theme, background on the Fisher King, mail from two former Next Stop Everywhere Special Guest Companions, O'Donnell being a fangirl, my Reverse the Polarity segment, Jesse's crazy insane belief that Bruce Springsteen is better than Peter Gabriel (Pfffft, please!), 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?

Be sure to come back next week for our review of the fifth Series Nine episode "The Girl Who Died," and look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

X-Men TV: FX Orders LEGION Pilot, Fox Developing HELLFIRE

Typical.  You wait years for a X-Men TV show and two come along at once.

Deadline has word that Marvel and Fox have agreed to move ahead with two drama series based on Marvel's X-Men characters, both executive produced by X-Men movie director Bryan Singer, producer Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg, along with Marvel Television’s Jeph Loeb and Jim Chory.

According to the article, FX has given a pilot order to Legion, written and executive produced by Fargo creator Noah Hawley, while Fox has closed deals to develop the long-rumored Hellfire (working title), created by Evan Katz (24: Live Another Day), Manny Coto (24), Patrick McKay (Star Trek Beyond) and JD Payne (Star Trek Beyond).

Legion is based on the mutant character Legion, a.k.a. David Haller, the son of Professor Charles Xavier and Gabrielle Haller, who was created by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz, and first appeared in 1985's New Mutants (vol.1) #25.

Since he was a teenager, David has struggled with mental illness.  Diagnosed as schizophrenic, David has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years.  But after a strange encounter with a fellow patient, he’s confronted with the possibility that the voices he hears and the visions he sees might be real. 

Hawley will write the pilot and serve as an executive producer with Shuler Donner, Singer, Kinberg, Loeb, Chory, John Cameron (Fargo) and Steve Blackman.  The pilot for Legion will be produced by FX Productions and Marvel Television, with FXP handling the physical production.

"Legion is just the sort of ambitious story that Noah excels at," FX’s Nick Grad said.  "His adaption of Fargo for television was one of the most acclaimed television events in recent memory.  It’s also an honor to partner with Marvel on Legion and to enlist such an accomplished team of executive producers to create this pilot."

Hellfire, meanwhile, is based on the group of X-Men villains known as The Hellfire Club, which were created by Claremont and John Byrne, and first appeared in 1980's X-Men (vol.1) #129.

Set in the late 1960s, Hellfire, produced by 20th Century Fox TV and Marvel Television, with 20th Century Fox handling the physical production – follows a young Special Agent who learns that a power-hungry woman with extraordinary abilities is working with a clandestine society of millionaires – known as “The Hellfire Club” – to take over the world.  A different version of The Hellfire Club was previously seen as the primary antagonists of X-Men: First Class, led by Kevin Bacon’s Sebastian Shaw.

"We are thrilled to partner with Marvel to bring this world to television and build upon the Fox Logovibrant mythology that has captivated fans for years," said Fox Entertainment president David Madden.  "These powerful and dynamic characters are complicated and larger-than-life, the pace and visual imagination are unrelenting, and the story takes place during one of the most explosive eras in recent history."

McKay and Payne will write the pilot script, based on a story by Katz, Coto, McKay and Payne.  Shuler Donner, Singer and Kinberg executive produce with Marvel Television’s Jeph Loeb and Jim Chory will executive-produce the pilot, alongside Katz and Coto, who will serve as showrunners.

THE FANDOM ZONE 028: "The Man Who Saved Central City" is Up!

"That light was perfect bait.  What made you think of that?"
"I don't know.  I think I saw it in a comic book somewhere."
-- Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon, The Flash: "The Man Who Saved Central City"

Still a bit sidelined from Karen's evil cold, Karen Lindsay and I are back with another big episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Fear The Walking Dead 1x06 -- "The Good Man" (Season 1 Finale)
Gotham 2x03 -- "The Last Laugh"
The Flash 2x01: "The Man Who Saved Central City"
iZombie 2x01: "Grumpy Old Liv"
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 3x02 -- "Purpose in the Machine"
Arrow 4x01: "Green Arrow"

We talk about things like running down the new show format to cover six shows in a single podcast episode, Travis finally having his Rick Grimes moment, Stately Strand Manor, Madison's pact fail, the Court of Owls and the Talons, Theo Galavan playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers, the great twist of Cameron Monaghan's Jerome not being The Joker after all, Earth-CW, the Flash Signal, Henry Allen abruptly deciding he needs to leave Central City the minute he's finally released from prison after 15 years, the white emblem bootstrap paradox, wondering why Atom Smasher is a suddenly a bad guy, Major being a total douche to Liv, Karen's love of Ravi, Disney's Hercules, finally getting Star City, nowhere being worse than Detroit, former badass Oliver Queen now baking soufflés, wondering why no one thinks Oliver is Green Arrow, speculating on whose name is on the mystery gravestone, the mini-reunion of Disney's Mulan, Peter MacNichol in Ghostbusters II, another audio review from Justina, the return of Karen's Thea Queen impression, and more!

You can check out the episode HERE and for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us! If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well. In addition, we have The Fandom Zone show page on Facebook, which you can check out HERE. And we're also on Twitter using the account @FandomZoneCast.

Be sure to come back next week as we review the Season 6 premiere of The Walking Dead, plus more of The Flash, iZombie, Arrow, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, and Gotham, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

SUPERGIRL Casts Chris Vance as Non

Ah, but will this Non be as without thought as he is without voice?

The Hollywood Reporter revealed yesterday that the upcoming CBS series Supergirl has cast Chris Vance as the Phantom Zone criminal Non.  The role will be recurring, and Non will make his debut in the series' eighth episode.

According to the article, Non is described as "as a former scientist in league with the House of El.  Non is a brutal Kryptonian military officer who is sinister, powerful and angry.  He's the antithesis of all things Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) stands for.  Non will quickly become Supergirl's greatest threat."

Vance, 43, is an English actor best known as the television version of Frank Martin on TNT's Transporter: The Series.  He's also had roles on the series All Saints, Prison Break, Burn Notice, Dexter, Rizzoli & Isles, and Crossing Lines.

First appearing in the 1978 Richard Donner film Superman and played by Jack O'Halloran, Non was introduced as a mute, brutish strongman that aided General Zod and Ursa in their attempted coup d'etat of the Kryptonian government.  The three were sentenced to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, sent inside shortly before the planet Krypton was destroyed.  Non was the most docile of the three, not even having the ability to speak, though he occasionally whined and grunted.

Non, Zod and Ursa returned in the sequel Superman II, when a hydrogen bomb that Superman hurled into space destroyed the Phantom Zone portal, allowing the three to escape.  After reaching Earth, they discovered that, due to their Kryptonian physiology, the Earth's yellow sun gave them each the same powers as Superman.  Later, during a confrontation in Superman's Fortress of Solitude, Superman tricked Lex Luthor into operating a reversed molecule chamber, so the rays affected those on the outside of the chamber, stripping Non, Zod and Ursa of their powers.  Non, being the stupid one, attempted to fly at Superman and fell into a deep pit, killing himself.

In 2007, the character was introduced into the DC Comics Universe in Action Comics (vol.1) #845, written by Donner along with Geoff Johns and art by Adam Kubert during the storyline "Last Son."  In Action Comics Annual #10, Non was revealed to be one of Krypton's greatest scientific minds, and a mentor to Jor-El.  Together, they discovered that Krypton only had ninety days before it would explode.  The Kryptonian Science Council refused to listen to such sensationalized analysis and accused them of committing acts of heresy, sending the military defense officers under the command of General Zod to arrest them.  The council let them off with light sentences and warned them against speaking further of Krypton's alleged destruction.  

Non however, became more active and began holding public forums, warning people of the planet's imminent demise.  General Zod and his mate, Ursa, discovered that Jor-El and Non's research was true, which led to them defecting from the Kryptonian Defense Council and joining Non's cause.  The Science Council captured Non and lobotomized him, turning him into a mute, brute savage.  This cowardly and brazen act was the last straw for General Zod, embarking him upon an ambitious campaign to take control of Krypton, if only to save it from itself.  He pleaded with Jor-El to join his cause, but Jor-El refused.  Eventually, Zod and his followers (along with Non) were captured.  The Science Council wanted to sentence them to death, but Jor-El convinced them to instead exile the insurrectionists into an alternate dimension known as the Phantom Zone.

Supergirl debuts Monday, October 26 at 8:30 p.m. on CBS.

Paul Reubens to Reprise Penguin's Father on GOTHAM

Was Gotham's version of Baby Oswald sent up the river as well?

During the Warner Bros.' Television Takeover panel at the 2015 New York Comic-Con, Gotham actor Robin Lord Taylor, who plays The Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot, revealed that Paul Reubens will be reprising his Batman Returns role as the Penguin's father in an upcoming episode of the Fox series.  Carol Kane currently plays The Penguin's mother, Gertrude Kabelput.

"We just found out that I do have a father and he will be showing up very soon," said Taylor, "and he will be played by none other than Paul Reubens!  Pee-wee Herman is playing my dad!  What the hell!  Oh, my god!"

Reubens, 63, is best known, of course, for his character Pee-Wee Herman, and has appeared in a number of notable films including The Blues Brothers, Cheech & Chong's Next Movie, Nice Dreams, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Big Top Pee-Wee, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Mystery Men, and Reno 911!: Miami.  In addition to his Pee-Wee's Playhouse series, Reubens has also appeared on episodes of Mork & Mindy, Murphy Brown, Reno 911!, 30 Rock, Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!, Batman: The Brave and the Bold (as Bat-Mite), Tron: Uprising, The Blacklist, and Star Wars: Rebels.

In the 1992 Tim Burton film Batman Returns, Reubens played Tucker Cobblepot, part of a wealthy family that had almost as much money as the Wayne family.  His first son was Oswald, who was treated poorly on account of his deformity.  Tucker and his wife Esther (Diane Salinger) had trouble accepting him, and they did not believe Gotham's high society would approve of Oswald.  Oswald's abuse of the family cat confirmed Tucker's belief that Oswald had the mannerisms of an untrained animal, and got rid of him by pushing his baby carriage into a river.  The carriage proceeded to float into the Arctic World exhibit of the Gotham Zoo, where Oswald was carried off by huge emperor penguins.  Tucker, along with his wife, had died by the time the adult Oswald began his assault on Gotham City, presumably of old age or natural causes.  Oswald made a public show of placing roses on Tucker and Esther's graves in order to show he had forgiven his parents.

Gotham airs Mondays on Fox at 8:00 p.m. EST.