No AI Samuel L. Jackson. period.

Tonight we're back from Smallville. Gunn finds his new Clark and Lois, samuel L Jackson wants no MFing AI in no MFing contracts and remember, actor Alan Arkin. All that and more on this edition of Multiverse tonight. Books, sci-fi, fantasy and more. If you're looking for a roundup of geeky news, you're in the right place. This is Multiverse Tonight, and here's your host, thomas Townley. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 192 of Multiverse Tonight, the podcast about all your geeky multiverses. Well, we're back from Smallville. We had a good time. It was part of a nine day vacation for me, so a little bit more relaxed, i guess. The truth is, i'd rather be on vacation permanently When you reach your upper 40s. I want to be on vacation permanently. I want to stop this working jazz. Just get on the retirement already. Trust me, retirement is only a good thing if you have something to do. If you have nothing to do, retirement Retirement is an awful thing. But anyway, getting back on Subject of Smallville, i had a good time. I brought my Venom Sorus inflatable costume And, after having a little issue with batteries on Sunday, i got to wear that roundup. It was a hit. People really liked that. What I need to do is I need to make a t-shirt or something for that, so I can advertise the podcast, or even a little handheld sign that says listen to Multiverse tonight. I think that would be a good idea. Other than that, we connected with some people, got some people to take cards. I sold an action figure I've held since 1999. So I sold that for $2.50 and sold it for $10. So, hey, there's appreciation. It's not a million dollar sale, but it's good enough. Anyway, let's get to talking about this past weekend's box office. Now, of course, this is an extended weekend, so they'll put out a box office report for everything, including July 4th. Thank you, probably next week. But let's start at number 10, guardians of the Galaxy, volume 3. It shows up there after falling from number 8 to number 3. Now Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 has made 354.8 million domestic. That so far gives it a grand total worldwide of just under a billion dollars 835.7 million dollars. Now, up from that is Asteroid City, wes Anderson's new flick, and that goes from number 6 to number 9. The Flash falls from number 3 to number 8. It's made 99 million domestic, 245.3 million worldwide. So still, it's not what they hoped for, but I think it's better than what they wished. The little mermaid stays at number 7, it's made 280.9 million domestic. Debuting at number 6 is the new Ruby Gilman Teenage Kraken animated movie with 5.2 million. Transformers Rises Beasts stays at number 5. It's so far brought in 136.1 domestic. A No Hard Feeling stays at number 4 with 29.3 million total domestic. Elemental falls from 2 to 3, bringing in 11.3 million this week for a total of 88.7 million gross. Now, elemental this is Disney Pixar's latest and it's not doing what they hoped. This continues to have this slide on Pixar movies as of late, but I'm sure it's a great movie. I'll just wait till it hits Disney Plus, though It's just the way things are now. Spider-man Across the Spider-Verse falls from number 1 to number 2, with the 11.5 million this week, bringing its total gross to 39.8 million. Worldwide it's brought in just over half a billion dollars, just 607.2 million. Debuting at number 1 is the new Indiana Jones movie. Indiana Jones, on the big apology of making The Dial of Destiny, brought in 60 million, which is softer than what they wanted. They wanted the doors ripped off, but 60 million, that's good. May, 152 million worldwide for the first three days of release. It's okay Again, not one-on-one, but it'll work. Anyway, let's get on to the DC Comics News, and we begin the DC Comics News with appropriate music, because Warner Bros and DC Studios have found their new Clark Kent and Lois Lane for James Gunn's new Superman movie, superman Legacy, david Corn's Suite. A relative new face will play Superman. The film will mark his first major leading role in a major studio film, having previously appeared in projects like Pearl The Politician and We Own the City. I can't say I've heard of any of those, but we'll see how he does And joining him will be Rachel Brosnahan, late of the Marvelous Mrs Maisel, who will play Lois Lane. Now, with those two roles filled, james Gunn is looking for his Lex Luthor and his Jimmy Olsen. Superman Legacy has been set for a worldwide release on July 11th 2025. Now let's go to some Marvel news, and we begin Marvel News with Secret Invasion stars Samuel L Jackson and Olivia Coleman, who are thrilled to be a part of a very different kind of Marvel story with Secret Invasion. Now their mature espionage thriller dives deeper into Nick Fury's background, grappling with the Avengers Founder's age and his post-blip blaze. His decline is also noticeable that Fury's inner circle have considerable doubt about if he can do anything to stop the Skull Rebellion that the Kingsley Ben Adair's graphic is leading to devastating effect, jackson told a Hollywood Reporter quote The bad guy actually referred to Fury as vapors of himself, which is harsh. So it's time to reassess and re-evaluate who you are, what you're doing and how you're doing it. And throughout the course of this series he finds ways to strengthen himself so that he can be up to the task at hand. Coleman, who had been lobbying to join the MCU for years, now made her debut as Sonya Fallsworth, a high-ranking MI6 agent and longtime frenemy of Nick Fury. She too wasn't holding back that Fury seemed washed up, coleman said with a laugh quote She does it in a weird way, out of a sort of love. Please be careful, her sort of love is a funny old thing, but I think she generally does mean it. Meanwhile, mr Jackson says that he's become well aware of the growing role and impact of AI in Hollywood, which is why he doesn't sign contracts that let projects use his likeness in perpetuity. In a recent air view with Rolling Stone, the star and recent Tony nominee opened up about his support for the writer strike why Secret Invasion isn't exactly the thing he was pulling for in the MCU and working with Bre Larson, who is quote a stronger person than people give her credit for, amid online harassment from in-cell dudes who hate strong women. During the conversation, jackson opened up about the sag-aftred negotiations and the role of AI in Hollywood, knowing that it was a topic he had already been thinking about since his Star Wars prequel days. Quote. People just started worrying about it, about that. I asked about that a long time ago. The first time I got scanned for George Lucas as the fan of Menace, i was like what's this for? he said George and I are good friends, so we kind of had a laugh about it because I thought he was doing it because he had all those old guys in episode one and if something happened to them, he still wanted to put them in the movie. Now Jackson know that he's had similar experiences throughout his time playing Nick Fury in the MCU performances that came amid a number of studios using the aging technology. Quote. Ever since I've been in the Marvel universe, every time you change costumes in a Marvel movie, they scan you. Ever since I did Captain Marvel and they did the Lola project, where they de-aged me and everything else, it's like well, i guess they can do this anytime they want to, if they really want to Unquote. Now that is saying something that has something the actor says. Quote could be something to worry about. Jackson has made him more careful about the language that comes in his contracts quote Future actors should do what I always do when I get a contract and has the words in perpetuity and known and unknown on it, i cross that bleep out. He says it's my way of saying no, i do not approve of this Unquote. Now, jackson's comments came a day before Polygon published statements from the Secret Invasion director, ex-ex-producer Ali Salim, confirming that the show's title sequence, which was made by Method Studios, was created using AI. The studio did not respond to Polygon's request for comment. Now, on other news, el Murato, the Spider-Man spinoff starring Bad Bunny, is dead, at least for the time being. The feature project, which had Hona Caron, the son of filmmaker Alfonso Caron, in the director's chair, was slid for a January 12, 2024 release date, but Sony announced this past Wednesday that it had taken the title off the release schedule. Murato was, half to been said, the first live action Marvel project to star a Latino star, latino character, and El Murato is an anti-hero, the son of a Luchador, or aka Mexican wrestler. So yeah, and Bad Bunny is in shape to do Mexican wrestling. He's in shape to do any wrestling. You've seen him do a little bit in WWE. Composer Benjamin Walfish is staying in the comic book space. Walfish will compose the score to Craven the Hunter, the Sony Columbia Pictures feature films starring Aaron Taylor Johnson as the Marvel anti-hero. Now, walfish is a veteran of the comic book genre, with his recent scores for the Flash being heard in theaters at the moment. He's also behind the scores for 2019's Shazam and Hellboy. Outside the comic realm. Walfish scored the Flash director Andrew Machetes and Machetes to IT films released in 2017-2019, as well as Ron Howard's 13 Lives, 2021's Mortal Kombat, 2020's The Invisible Man and Blade Runner 2049, which got him to work with Han Zimmer. Craven the Hunter, which hails from director JC Chandoor, is due out in theaters on October 6. And, frankly, i'm kind of not interested with the first trailer. The first trailer, it's like really, Why would I want to see this? Yeah, it gives me nothing that really draws me in. They're trying for machismo and all that, but anyway, let's go on to the Star Trek news. Star Trek Projie, the first children's anime series set in the Star Trek universe in decades, has been canceled And has been removed from Paramount Plus altogether. The Star Trek project has been removed from Paramount Plus as a series of four series, along with the game Greece Rise of the Pink Ladies and Queen of the Universe, which will disappear from Paramount Plus as a streamer makes adjustments to its programming. Now, with the studio just created the Paramount Plus Showtime Bundle, the game, the Star Trek project and Greece Rise of the Pink Ladies are all out to be shopped to other networks and they're not being written down or scrubbed from the internet, which is something that's become disturbingly common Now. It's the note that the Star Trek project also aired on Nickelodeon until its finale in December And, according to Variety's report, the series will also be pulled from that network as well, ensuring that until and unless CBS tells you as the chance to shop around, there will be no reruns of the series At Paramount Plus. Spokesman Persepence stated The Paramount Plus series, greece Rise of the Pink Ladies, star Trek Projie, queen of the Universe and the game have completed their runs on Paramount Plus and will not be returning to the service. We want to extend our thanks to our tremendously talented cast and crew and our producing partners for their passionate work and dedication to these programs and we wish them all the best on their future endeavors". Now Dan and Kevin Higman, star Trek producer, star Trek Projie's creators, took to Twitter to share comments about the show on their shared account, saying Hashtag Star Trek has taught my brother and me to strive for a better future. While news of Hashtag Star Trek Projie not returning to Paramount Plus is disappointing, we have faith the show will be picked up by a new home to help grow our fervent fan base and inspire the next generation of Star Trek fans. Our talented and passionate team of artists are working tirelessly to complete season two and we are staying positive and hopeful their amazing fans will get to see it soon. Janeway would never give up, so why would we? Let's follow her orders and go boldly Now. So far, the DVD and Blu-ray of the first and seemingly only season of Projie has been selling like hotcakes. It's seemingly out of print almost everywhere. But I'd also like to remind folks that there's a video game out there on many platforms, including Switch, which I believe it's on sale right now. So you know, if you want to help Projie and those DVDs are sold out why not pick up the game? Yeah, show some love to it, show Paramount Plus that we want to save this. I mean, this is our Bijou Trimble Trimble Minute. If you don't know who that is, look her up. But yeah, this is. This is a big moment for for Trek fans that get behind the franchise and say, hey, you know you didn't finish the story. Don't cut it off right after the first season, after they fly off in a brand new ship to go go find Shikote and then we never finish the story. So you know, get on with Trek fans. Andrew J Robinson is returning to his beloved character of Edelman Gehrig for Star Trek TV. Swiss Nine Robinson will read the. Let's try that again. Andrew J Robinson is returning to his beloved character of Edelman Gehrig in the new audiobook adaptation of Star Trek East Face Nine, a Stitchin' Time, which is the Star Trek novel that Robinson wrote And that's Simon Schuster's, first published by its pocketbooks in print back in 2000. Since then, a Stitchin' Time was written by the Star Trek actor from a point of view of the character that they played. Now, star Trek fans have long been clamoring for an audiobook at an audiobook edition read by Robinson, even launching a changeorg petition that requested it back in 2020. Now Simon Schuster seems to have decided that Star Trek Deep Space Nine is 30th anniversary and 2023 is a perfect time for fans to get what they asked for. Andrew J Robinson said in a statement to StarTrekcom quote Never reading the book for the audio version and revisiting Gehrig for his story was a true labor of love. It made me realize just how much I missed the rascal, but not the makeup. I hope that people, including those who have read the book, enjoy listening to Gehrig's remarkable story, remarkable journey, as much as I enjoyed taking it again. Unquote. Now, chris Lynch, president and publisher of Simon Schuster Audio's division, has long said that this has long been near the top of May Star Trek fans' wish lists And he said, quote We are thrilled to enter. J Robinson will fulfill those wishes and give voice to his classic Deep Space Nine tale. unquote. Yeah, it's a good book, you know. If you haven't read it, you know, i think you know listening to to Gehrig written narrate his own life story, you know, is probably a good book And I need to pick this up myself. Now let's go on to the Star Wars news. Roger. Roger Bioware has today announced that it will be passing off the ongoing development of the Star Wars MMO Star Wars The Old Republic to a brand new studio And a new blog post. On Bioware's official website, studio GM Gary McKay explained that he believes the Old Republic has the best opportunity to grow and evolve if given to a new publisher. As such, broad Sword will be stepping in to take over the ongoing work on the title. Previously, broad Sword has worked on other MMO titles such as Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot. I have been working closely with Keith Kennegg, who leads the SWTOR team, to give the game and the team the best opportunity to grow and evolve, and so, while EA will remain the publisher, development of the game will move to our partner and friends at Broad Sword, a boutique studio with expertise in managing online games. In the long run, though, we are confident that this is the best decision for the game and its community. We at Bioware will miss being a part of SWTOR's story going forward, but we also know that that will be in very good hands Now. Mckay also made clear that this shift in developers doesn't mean that anything will play on. The player side will be changing with Star Wars The Old Republic, and EA will serve as the publisher of the project and some individual devs that have previously been on the old Republic team, while the option to jump ship the Broad Sword. So while this marks the end of Bioware's time being the lead developer on the lead long run running MMO, it doesn't seem like this move will have a negative impact on the players. That is at the present We'll see. The dress worn by Carrie Fisher at the end of the original Star Wars in 1977 was recently found in an attic and put up for auction by PropsterOctioncom. However, the dress went unsold this past weekend. Now, the highest bid was $975,000, which was shy of the reserve price for the auction at one million. So, as press time right now, this has not sold. So if you've got a million dollars and want to carry a princess's lace dress, anyone Tell you what. If you give me a million dollars, i'll do something better than just buy a dress with it. I'll help this podcast. So head on over to multiversetonightcom and find out how you can support the show. Now let's get on with the geek news, and we begin geek news with the ongoing SAG. Aftra and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have officially announced plans to extend their contract until July 12th, delaying a possible actors strike. The news was broken on late Friday night, with both parties confirming that the decision was made to allow bargaining to continue. Part of this SAG Aftra's contract was initially set to expire on this past Friday, june 30th, at midnight Pacific time, with many wondering if the strike would occur soon after. This decision mirrors what both parties did during the 2014 and 2017 talks, in part to account for the 4th of July holiday. In those previous instances, the new deal was reached between SAG Aftra and the AMPTP by early July, but it's unclear at this point if that will happen this time around, especially as the writer's guild of America has been on strike for several months now. So will we see the actors go on strike And, if so, what's left for 2024 and 2025? Stay tuned. Anyway. Evan Peters, star of Domour Monster, the Jeffrey Dommer Story and Mayor of Easttown, is joining Jared Leto in Tron Aries, the third film in the extremely long-lived cyberspace adventure franchise. Joachim Rodinink from Maleficent Masters of Evil will direct the film from a script by JC Wugutu Wugutau. Production is set for August, actor strike, of course, not withstanding, and joining him will be Jody Turner Smith, who starred in 2019's movie Queen and Slim, while the two previous movies were largely set in the world of computers and programs. The script for Aries, written by Jesse Wogatau and Jack Thorne, is said to focus on the emergence of a singe program that crosses over into the human world that is not ready for contact. Are you ready for Tron on the streets? Leo, who has been attached to the project for several years, is to play Aries, the manifestation of the program. Lee is playing a video game programmer and tech CEO, which is described as the leading role. Now it's not clear who Turner Smith is playing. The San Diego Comic Con will most likely be without Hollywood panels this year. Sad if you have tickets. Deadline has confirmed that Universal Pictures, marvel Studios, lucasfilm, sony Pictures and Netflix are among those companies not playing to attend in any major way. It comes as the writer's guild of America is currently on strike, having failed to reach a deal, and SackAFTRA is still negotiating with studios. so, given this uncertainty, the studios have decided against planning a major presence in case the actors as well as the writers are unwilling to attend. However, it does look like the directors will ratify their deal. So just a director's panel Now. This is the list blow for Comic Con, which canceled its main event in 2020 and 2021 as part as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is why I like small conventions. What can I say? Chris McCarthy, the president and CEO of MTV Entertainment Group, continues to slim down Showtime's content pipeline. The premium cable network has passed on four projects the reboot of Gatica well, there's that Seasoned, the comedy inspired by the lives of Matt Ptankin and Catherine Groty, and passing on two projects that had been Development, split and Sweetness. Now Sony Pictures Tells You which produced Gatica and Sweetness plans to shop both projects around, and you know if they already have those projects complete on the can they have a good chance, you know, just in case SAG goes in strike, the Dune spin-off Tulsion series has undergone yet another major change. On Friday, a report revealed that the Crown Star, olivia Williams, and the Witcher's, jodie May, have joined the series, which is currently operating under the working title of Dune, the Sisterhood. Those will be portraying the role of Tula Harkonnen, after Shirley Henderson stepped away from the part in February of this year. May, meanwhile, will be replacing Game of Thrones and Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi star, idira Varma, who was cast as Empress Natalia but has reportedly stepped away from the part due to a scheduling conflict. And now some sad news of course. Alan Arkin, the longtime screen and stage actor who won an Academy Award for his role in the 2006 film Lilith Miss Sunshine, has passed away. He was 89 years old Now. Arkin, who won a claim for his role as the Foulmouth grandfather in Lilith Miss Sunshine, began his career in theater before breaking into Tulsion and film roles. He starred in films including Edward, scissorhands and Argo, and series like Bujak Horseman. His most recent role was on Netflix's The Kominsky Method, where he earned two Emmy nominations for supporting actor in the comedy series. He also voiced Wild Knuckles in the last Minions movie, the chief in the movie version of Get Smart, and was John Cusack's character's shrink in Gross Point Blank. Now, during the course of his career, arkin earned two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a Tony Award, in addition to the Oscar and British Academy Film Award, for which he collected. For Lilith Miss Sunshine, he also received multiple Oscar nominations, including for his first film, the Russians Are Coming. Arkin was married three times and has three children. He has first wife Jeremy. He has first wife, were wed for six years and had two sons, adam and Matthew. The pair divorced in 1961. From 64 to 1994, arkin was wed to screenwriter and actress Barbara Dana, for whom he had the son Anthony Dana Arkin. After divorce, he married Suzanne Newlander and during his career Arkin worked with all three of his sons, including Adam Arkin's character's father in the series Chicago Hope. Now, if you want a good Adam Arkin movie to watch, i highly recommend watching him in the 1979 version of The In-Laws, in which he plays opposite Peter Falk. I saw that years and years ago and it is a very funny movie, having to play off Peter Falk's kind of rumbled demeanor. And with that note, that brings us to the end of this edition. Now be sure to check us out on social media. We're at Twitter, at Multiverse Tom, also on Facebook and Instagram as well. We're also on T2 and Mastodon as well. You can find us at Multiverse Tom over there as well, and if you found value to the show, please feel free to contribute. Check out the show notes, visit the T-Public store and so much more at the brand new MultiverseTonightcom. Every time I publish something, it's brand new, isn't it? Now, if you're a subscriber, thank you very much. Be sure to share it with friends, family, people you like, people you don't like. We're not picky here, and if you're brand new to the show, please be sure to subscribe. And if you want to leave some feedback, that'd be great too. Head on over to again MultiverseTonightcom, or usually the pod player might have something. Anyway, special thanks to Shane Ivers for the intro music and Lobo Loco for the outro theme music. Thanks for watching this edition of MultiverseTonight. We'll be back in two weeks for more sci-fi and comic book news, and watch this feed for another edition of the Spinner Act coming soon. I just spoke with. I spoke with him this past weekend and we'll get we're going to get on more episodes Now, please. X to see universe in orderly fashion. Goodnight.