Oct. 11, 2022

Picard III: The Wrath of Who?

Picard III: The Wrath of Who?

Tonight! Wolverine returns! Lots of Star Trek news from New York Comicon and we remember Comedian Judy Tenuta and Hip Hop's Coolio. All that and more on this edition of Multiverse Tonight!

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 Multiverse Tonight is a production of Half-Baked Genre Productions. Copyright 2022  All Rights Reserved

Transcript

Tonight! Wolverine returns! Star Trek news from New York Comicon and we remember Judy Tenuta and Coolio. All that and more on this edition of Multiverse Tonight!

Episode 174
-What’s been going on.
- What have we been watching

Marvel
Well, BIG news broke last week when Ryan Reynolds announced that Deadpool 3 will have Hugh Jackman returning to the role of Wolverine for Deadpool 3. The film will be directed by Free Guy and The Adam Project's Shawn Levy with a script written by Bob's Burgers' Wendy Molyneaux and Lizzie Molyneaux-Loeglin. Deadpool and Deadpool 2 writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick reportedly are also contributing to the script. Deadpool 3 is currently set to open in theaters on September 6, 2024.

Cobie Smulders thinks that Secret Invasion will change the way fans see Nick Fury and his top agent Maria Hill. Cobie talking to TVLine said about the Phase Five Disney PLus mini-series quote "It looks so good," Smulders raved, "and it's a very different tone than I've seen [in the MCU]. I mean, having Sam [Jackson] in anything is just a thrill to watch, but I think it really sets his character up in a really interesting way that I've always wanted to see."

"It's the most depth I've been able to show of Maria Hill," "That's the beauty of these series that Marvel is doing, you're able to really get the backstory of these characters. What are the conversations that happen when they're just sitting around drinking coffee? It's not like, 'We've gotta get the bad guys! We've gotta get the thing! We've gotta save the world again!' It's like, 'Let's just have a chat, let's go for a walk.' We get to see those kinds of moments and be a bit more intimate with the characters." THe miniseries sees Fury and the good Skrull Talos dealing with an invasion of a group of bad Skrulls invading earth. It’s set to be out in early 2023.

Marvel Studios’ Blade will no longer have director Bassam Tariq at the helm.

Blade, which has a release date of Nov. 3, 2023, was gearing up to begin shooting in November in Atlanta. It is unclear how Tariq’s departure will impact the production start of the vampire action-thriller, which has Oscar winner Mahershala Ali in the title role, with the cast also including Delroy Lindo and Old actor Aaron Pierre.

 Marvel said in a statement to THR quote “Due to continued shifts in our production schedule, Bassam is no longer moving forward as director of Blade but will remain an executive producer on the film,”. “We appreciate Bassam’s talent and all the work he’s done getting Blade to where it is.”

Jonás Cuarón is set to direct Sony Pictures’ El Muerto, which will star Grammy-winning artist Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio, Martínez Ocasio. Cuarón, the son of filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón, made his directorial debut with the immigration thriller Desierto. Gareth Dunnet Alcocer (Blue Beetle) is writing the script for El Muerto, about a wrestler with superpowers passed down from generation to generation in a single family. Bad Bunny does have wrestling experience having wrestled in WWE, becoming a 24/7 Champion, and was the runner-up in the 2022 Royal Rumble match. Sony Pictures will theatrically release the pic on Jan. 12, 2024.



DC
A “Harley Quinn” Valentine’s Day special is coming to HBO Max.
Titled “Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentine’s Day Special,” the new installment of the popular adult animated series will debut on HBO Max in February 2023.

The description for the special reads quote, “The special will feature Harley and Ivy celebrating their very first Valentine’s Day together, while also revealing how the rest of the ragtag crew spends the gushiest, mushiest, most romantic day of the year.”

“Harley Quinn” recently concluded its third season, with HBO Max commissioning the fourth season in August.


Star Trek
IDW Publishing has officially announced Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – The Illyrian Enigma, the first Star Trek: Strange New Worlds comic book series. The miniseries debuts in December and occurs between the first and second seasons of Star Trek: Strange New World. The four-issue series comes from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds co-executive producer Kirsten Beyer and veteran Star Trek author Mike Johnson, who have previously collaborated on series including Star Trek: Discovery – Adventures in the 32nd Century and Star Trek: Picard – Stargazer. Megan Levens (Star Trek: The Mirror War–Troi, Star Wars Adventures) provides the artwork with Charlie Kirchoff (Star Trek: Year Five) coloring the series.

Paramount had removed the next Kelvin verse Star Trek movie from the schedule.
The film had initially been set to hit theaters on June 9, 2023, before being delayed to December 22nd of the same year. Now, the movie is on the shelf for the foreseeable future.WandaVision and Game of Thrones director Matt Shakman was originally tapped to helm the project, but he recently left in order to direct Fantastic Four for Marvel Studios. The search is now on for a replacement. Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet wrote the screenplay.

Lower Decks update. Producer Mike McMahan told TrekMovie quote 
"In season 4, the writing is pretty much done," McMahan said. "We're seeing animatics come in, which is the black-and-white version of the episodes before they're animated. And it's awesome. We're recording the actors. They're getting to see how the season arcs are going. It's really cool."

McMahan did touch on how early renewals affect the process for Lower Decks. "Well, there's always overlap,". "So, the sooner we get to pick up the better because then we can start hiring the directors we like and the writers that we like, and make sure that people can carve the schedule out. The best thing for us is to get a pickup by the end of this year to start writing at the beginning of next year. But I'll take a pickup right now if CBS is handing them out. But we've got all [season] 4 to work on, we are hoping for [season] 5."

At the “Star Trek”panel at New York Comic Con teasers for “Discovery,” “Prodigy” and “Picard,” were revealed. 

“Discovery” star Sonequa Martin-Green joined the NYCC panel to introduce the teaser for the Paramount+ series, which provides fans a first look at new characters played by Callum Keith Rennie, Eve Harlow and Elias Toufexis.

Rennie plays Rayner, a weathered Starfleet captain who’s at home in the battle. Harlow portrays Moll, a cunning outlaw that faces off with the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery. L’ak, Moll’s partner, is played by Toufexis.

Paramount+ also premiered a new trailer for its animated children’s series, “Star Trek: Prodigy,” introduced by executive producers Kevin and Dan Hageman. The duo announced that Ronny Cox would join the voice cast of the series in a recurring role, reprising his “The Next Generation” performance as Edward Jellico, now ranking as an Admiral in Starfleet.

“Prodigy” voice stars Kate Mulgrew, Brett Gray and Jameela Jamil were joined by the Hagemans, Kurtzman and Roddenberry, as well as executive producer Ben Hibon, to introduce the new footage from the animated series.

“Prodigy” will make its mid-season return on Oct. 27, debuting the first of its 10-episode-long second half to Season 1.

A new trailer for the third and final season of Paramount+’s “Star Trek: Picard” launched out of New York Comic Con Saturday, revealing new additions to the Patrick Stewart-led show’s cast — including the return of some iconic villains from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

Brent Spiner will be back on “Picard,” not as Data, but as his brother  Lore” —  Additionally, Daniel Davis will return as Professor JAmes Moriarty from “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” the Holodeck personification of a fictional character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be an enemy for Sherlock Holmes, who gained sentience and almost bested the crew until being outsmarted by them and put in a small holodeck of his own.

But that’s not all: The New York Comic Con panel for “Picard also unveiled Amanda Plummer — whose late father, Christopher Plummer, once played “Star Trek” villain General Chang — has joined the cast in the recurring role as Vadic, “the mysterious alien captain of the Shrike, a warship that has set its sights on Jean-Luc Picard and his old crewmates from his days on the Enterprise.”

And last, but not least in terms of big “Picard” casting news was the reveal that Mica Burton (“Critical Role,” “Vampire: The Masquerade: L.A. by Night”) and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut (“Cruel Summer”) have also been cast in recurring roles. Chestnut is playing Ensign Sidney La Forge, the eldest daughter of Geordi La Forge (famously played by LeVar Burton)and helmsman of the U.S.S. Titan, while Mica Burton (LeVar Burton’s real-life daughter), is taking on the part of Ensign Alandra La Forge, Geordi La Forge’s youngest daughter who works alongside her father.

The final season of “Star Trek: Picard” premieres on Thursday, Feb. 16 on Paramount+. New episodes of the 10-episode-long season will drop weekly on Thursdays.

During the panel, Stewart teased how he and the “TNG” cast could “still make a movie,” for all the Paramount Global execs listening in the room — and the eager crowd cheering the idea. Matalas also confirmed that fans will “definitely” see a passing of the baton from the “TNG” cast to the “Star Trek: Discovery” stars in the final season of “Picard.”

Star Wars
Lucasfilm Publishing had some big reveals to share during their panel today, including the fact that the beloved Star Wars character, Sana Starros, is getting her own comic.

"Finally! The fan-favorite rogue (who has  (a complicated) history with both Han Solo and Doctor Aphra) steps out in her first solo comic, written by Justina Ireland and coming in February 2023," StarWars.com shared after the news was announced. A human woman from Nar Shaddaa, Starros lived during the time of the Galactic Civil War and has had a good run in other Star Wars comics. She was a big part of the Doctor Aphra series and even claimed to be married to Han Solo at one point.

In addition to Sana Starros, it was also announced today that Star Wars Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade, is an upcoming novel by Delilah S. Dawson. Set for release in 2023, Rise of the Red Blade follows Iskat, a Jedi survivor of Order 66. She turns to the dark side and joins the Inquisitorious, similar to Reva's story in Obi-Wan Kenobi. By becoming an Inquisitor, Iskat hopes to discover the truth about her past. While Lucasfilm Publishing announced Rise of the Red Blade alone, the title formatting suggests it could be the start of a new Star Wars Inquisitor series.


Geek

AMC and Cartel Entertainment are making a game based on Shudder’s Creepshow
THe game based on the streaming series will be released next year. The game is being developed by DreadXP, an indie horror and production label responsible for games such as The Mortuary Assistant, Sucker for Love: First Date, and the Dread X Collection series. The Mortuary Assistant developer Brian Clarke (also known as Darkstone Digital) will serve as the creative director on Creepshow. In a press release, Clarke shared his passion for the brand and his excitement about getting the opportunity to bring Creepshow to the video game format.
"I'm extremely excited to be a part of such a fun project. I've always loved Creepshow's format, and the idea of driving the cohesion of multiple perspectives on horror is really compelling to me," said Clarke. "I feel honored to have been asked to be a part of this. I can't wait to jump in and bring the best I can to such a great IP."

Creepshow is a Shudder original series based on the 1982 film by George A. Romero. Three seasons of the anthology series are currently available on the streaming service, with a fourth set to debut in 2023.

Alice Braga and Jimmi Simpson are the latest additions to Apple’s series adaptation of the Blake Crouch novel “Dark Matter.”

The pair join previously announced leads Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly. The nine-episode series was ordered at Apple back in March.

Per the official description of the show, it follows “Jason Dessen, (Edgerton) a physicist, professor, and family man who – one night while walking home on the streets of Chicago – is abducted into an alternate version of his life. Wonder quickly turns to nightmare when he tries to return to his reality amid the multiverse of lives he could have lived. In this labyrinth of mind-bending realities, he embarks on a harrowing journey to get back to his true family and save them from the most terrifying, unbeatable foe imaginable: himself”

Braga joins the show as Amanda, a psychiatrist, while Simpson will play Ryan, described as “a brilliant neuroscientist and friend of Jason’s.”

The new Planet of the Apes movie, the first under the 20th Century Studios banner has a title. Kingdom of the Planet of The Apes.Starring “The Witcher’s” Freya Allan, Owen Teague, and Peter Macon, the next chapter of the “Planet of the Apes” saga will pick up several years after the conclusion of 2017’s “War for the Planet of the Apes.”

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” will be helmed by Wes Ball, director of “The Maze Runner” trilogy. The screenplay is by Josh Friedman, Patrick Aison, and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is slated for release in 2024. Production will begin next month.

After three years, Google has added Stadia to its graveyard of dead projects. The internet search giant, which launched the streaming games service in November 2019, announced that Google Stadia will be winding down over the next few months. Players will continue to have access to their games library and be able to play through Jan. 18, 2023. Google said it will refund all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, as well as all game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia store.

All 25 James Bond are now on Amazon’s Prime Video library. The 25 films coming to Prime Video in the U.S., U.K., Australia, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, Southeast Asia, Mexico, and other regions of Latin America, excluding Brazil, for a limited time are Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights, Licence to Kill, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, Spectre and No Time To Die. The Bond series was the crown jewel of Amazon’s $8.5 billion purchase of MGM, which closed this year.

Velma, the HBO Max series based on the classic cast of Scooby Doo characters is filling up the cast. Joining Mindy Kaling’s Velma is Sam Richardson, Veep star and scene-stealing guest on I Think You Should Leave and Ted Lasso, is stepping into the role of Shaggy for the new Velma series. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-creator and star Glenn Howerton will be voicing Fred, while Crazy Rich Asians star Constance Wu takes over the role of Daphne.

The four Mystery Team members will play large roles in the show, but Velma has also cast more than a dozen other actors for characters that haven't been announced yet. The rest of the cast includes Jane Lynch, Wanda Sykes, Russell Peters, Melissa Fumero, Stephen Root, Gary Cole, Ken Leung, Cherry Jones, Frank Welker, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Fortune Feimster, Yvonne Orji, Sarayu Blue, Nicole Byer, Ming-Na Wen, Shay Mitchell, Debby Ryan, Kulap Vilaysak, and Karl-Anthony Towns. The animated series is an adult animated series and will have a rather unique look. Since it’s gotten this far, let’s assume that the series will survive the recent bloodletting.

Solar Opposites is staying in Hulu’s galaxy for even longer than anticipated.

The Disney-backed streamer has handed out yet another early renewal for the animated comedy from creators Justin Roiland (Rick & Morty) and Mike McMahan (Star Trek: Lower Decks). The news, which was announced Thursday at New York Comic-Con, comes after season three of the series wrapped in July and days after its Halloween episode, A Sinister Halloween Scary Opposites Solar Special, dropped on the platform.

Season four, announced in June 2021, will consist of 12 episodes and debut in 2023. An episode count for season five and a premiere time frame have not been revealed.

Moonlighting series creator Glenn Caron announced via Twitter that Moonlighting will finally come out on streaming. Moonlighting hasn't been available to stream anywhere over the years, and Caron recently revealed that the issue with streaming has been the music used in the original series. The rights aren't in place for all of the music featured in the show all these years later. The series which launched Bruce Willis’ career, featured Bruce alongside Cybil Shepard running a detective agency.

Danny Boyle is set to direct a dance adaptation of the 1999 sci-fi blockbuster “The Matrix.”

Titled “Free Your Mind,” the Warner Bros. Theater Ventures-licensed project is set to debut next October at Factory International, a new arts venue in Manchester, U.K. The production, described as a “large-scale immersive performance,” will serve as the venue’s inaugural show.

“Combining the hip-hop choreography of hundreds of dancers with the latest immersive design, ‘Free Your Mind’ will take audiences on a thrilling journey through ‘The Matrix’ and into a new realm of possibilities,” reads the logline.

“This eye-opening production will stretch across the building’s ultra-flexible spaces, responding to them and harnessing the collective energy of the moment.”
Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante is composing the music for the dance show while Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy is choreographing. Boyle’s longtime collaborator Tracey Seaward will produce. Poet playwright Sabrina Mahfouz (“Noughts & Crosses”) and artist Es Devlin are also on board to write and provide large-scale sculptures, respectively.

Four years ago, Taika Waititi was announced as the director for the Apple+ TV adaptation of Terry Gilliam’s 1981 out-of-this-world sci-fi comedy Time Bandits, Now, almost the entire cast has been revealed, and it’s a doozy, led by Lisa Kudrow as Penelope and Kal-El Tuck as main character Kevin, a geeky kid who discovers a time warp in his closet.

Charlyne Yi (Steven Universe), Tadhg Murphy, Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, and Rune Temte will also star—along with Rachel House, the incredibly talented comedic actress that has been in many of Waititi’s productions, including Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Thor: Ragnarok, and Eagle vs. Shark (Waititi’s first directorial venture). Waititi will direct the first two Time Bandits episodes; he also co-writes the pilot. The series is described as “a comedic journey through time and space with a ragtag group of thieves and their newest recruit: an 11-year-old history nerd.”

Sony Pictures has picked up the film rights to “Tarzan” from Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc., according to an individual with knowledge of the project.

The studio is looking to do a total reimagining of the intellectual property for modern audiences. According to an insider with knowledge of the property, “Tarzan” has been in the public domain since January 2020.

Paramount+ has given a series order to the long-developing revival of the series, with Kelsey Grammer once again playing the title role. The series pickup comes some 19 months after the streamer announced it was developing a follow-up to the 1993-2004 NBC series.

Prior to that, Grammer and CBS Studios began fielding ideas for a revival back in 2018. The new series will find psychiatrist/radio host Frasier Crane (Grammer) beginning the next phase of his life in a new city. The surviving members of the original cast — David Hyde Pierce’s Niles, Jane Leeves’ Daphne, and Peri Gilpin’s Roz — aren’t expected to be regulars, though they could make guest appearances (John Mahoney, who played Frasier and Niles’ father, Martin Crane, died in 2018). The cast will feature new characters who populate Frasier’s life in his new hometown.

Death by animatronics will hit the big screen as Blumhouse’s adaptation of the popular horror video game Five Nights at Freddy’s has landed its director.

Emma Tammi, who made her feature debut with the 2018 horror Western The Wind, is set to direct the horror thriller, which is in pre-production for an early 2023 start of principal photography, Blumhouse announced Wednesday.

Jim Henson’s Creature Shop is already working alongside Blumhouse to bring the game’s favorite animatronic characters to life.

Created by Scott Cawthon, the game follows a troubled security guard as he begins working at the family-friendly Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza joint. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the night shift at Freddy’s won’t be so easy to make it through.

Blumhouse’s Spawn movie is getting a new jolt of creative energy, with the film based on Todd McFarlane’s comic book character adding a trio of writers.

Joker’s Scott Silver, Falcon, and the Winter Soldier’s Malcolm Spellman and rising scribe Matt Mixon are teaming up on a new script for the feature, which has been in development at Blumhouse since 2017. Jamie Foxx remains attached to star as the antihero, who was first introduced in the comics in 1992, with McFarlane among the film’s producers.

Stand Up Comic Judy Tenuta has passed away. Judy was big in the 1980s and was Known for her acerbic humor, expletive-laden jokes, raspy voice, and accordion, she was among the performers who fueled the popularity of live comedy in clubs, including the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, Laff Stop in Houston and Caroline’s in New York City. Tenuta co-starred with Bruce Vilanch in the indie “Sister Mary,” and had small roles in “Gibsonburg” and Hillary and Haley Duff’s “Material Girls.” Her TV work included appearances in “General Hospital,” “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide” and “Corey in the House.” In addition to playing minor characters on “The Weird Al Show,” she was a regular in Al Yankovic’s comedy shorts and music videos. Tenuta was the first female stand-up comic to be named best female comedian at the American Comedy Awards. She was a two-time Grammy nominee for best comedy album for “Attention Butt-Pirates and Lesbetarians!” and “In Goddess We Trust.” She wrote the books “Full Frontal Tenudity” and “The Power of Judyism.”

Tenuta is survived by her life partner, Vern Pang, five brothers (Daniel, John, Steven, Thomas, and James), and sister Barbara. Judy Tenuta was seventy-two years old.

90’s rapper Coolio has died. Coolio is best known for his 1995 hit Gangsta’s Paradise, which was in the Michelle Pfeiffer movie Dangerous Minds. It quickly became one of the most popular rap songs of all time, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks and ending 1995 as the No. 1 single of that year in the United States. In 1996, “Gangsta’s Paradise” was nominated for record of the year and best rap solo performance at the Grammy Awards, with Coolio winning the latter.

The song was soon spoofed by “Weird Al” Yankovic, who satirized it as “Amish Paradise,” though Coolio was adamant that he did not give Weird Al permission to do so. However, Coolio later said in interviews that the two made amends.

Coolio appeared in dozens of films and TV shows throughout his career. Starting with a guest spot as himself on “Martin” (1995), Coolio’s credits include the “Dangerous Minds” TV spinoff (1996), “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” (1996), “Batman & Robin” (1997), “The Nanny” (1998), “Tyrone” (1999), “Midnight Mass” (1999), “Charmed” (2002), “Star-ving” (2009), “Futurama” (2001, 2010) and “Gravity Falls” (2012).  Coolio was fifty-nine years old.

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