April 6, 2026

Spaceballs Returns, Dungeon Crawls, And An Animorphs Revival

Send us Fan Mail I run through a packed set of sci-fi and pop culture headlines, from major franchise follow-ups to streaming adaptations that could define the next wave of geek TV. I also pause for the human stories behind the news, including a serious accident, a public apology, and a farewell to a beloved character actor. • Spaceballs follow-up details, including cast and release timing • Peacock greenlighting a live-action Dungeon Crawler Carl adaptation • Eugene Mirman ...

Send us Fan Mail

I run through a packed set of sci-fi and pop culture headlines, from major franchise follow-ups to streaming adaptations that could define the next wave of geek TV. I also pause for the human stories behind the news, including a serious accident, a public apology, and a farewell to a beloved character actor.
• Spaceballs follow-up details, including cast and release timing
• Peacock greenlighting a live-action Dungeon Crawler Carl adaptation
• Eugene Mirman recovering after a fiery toll plaza crash and rescue
• Project Hail Mary box office success and Andy Weir’s Star Trek apology
• Warner Bros shifting the release date for Animal Friends
• Disney Plus developing an Animorphs television series and what the books set up
• James Tolkan remembered for Back to the Future, Top Gun, and a long career
Please be sure to check us out on social media. We're on blue sky at multiverse dom, threads, Facebook, and Instagram at multiverse tonight. And if you've gotten some value out of the show and would like to pay it back, head on over to multiverstonight.com and there you can find our Patreon and Kofi links. Check our show notes and uh our Tea Public store, leave some feedback and so much more. Uh go on, hit that subscribe button, share it with others.

Support the show

Thanks for listening! Come visit the podcast at https://www.multiversetonight.com/

00:05 - Cold Open And Welcome

01:57 - Geek News Kickoff

02:33 - Spaceballs Follow-Up Film Details

03:21 - Dungeon Crawler Carl Goes Live-Action

04:29 - Eugene Mirman Rescued After Crash

06:11 - Project Hail Mary And Weir Apology

08:41 - Animal Friends Gets New Release Date

09:31 - Disney Plus Developing Animorphs

11:54 - Remembering James Tolkan

16:13 - Wrap-Up And Where To Follow

WEBVTT

00:00:05.200 --> 00:00:09.519
Tonight, space bottles, oh babe, there goes the intro.

00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:14.480
Plus, remember James Token, all then more on this edition of Multiverse Tonight.

00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:18.559
Welcome to Multiverse Tonight, your source for Geek News.

00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:24.960
We dissect films, games, comics, and much more, bringing you insightful commentary on topology.

00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:27.519
This is Multiverse Tonight.

00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:30.399
Now here's your host, Thomas Townley.

00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:36.399
Well, hello and welcome to episode 262 of Multiverse Tonight.

00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:38.560
I'm of course your host, Thomas Townley.

00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:43.280
And well, I've gotten into the exciting world of 3D printing.

00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:46.640
Well, exciting is a long long term.

00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:52.560
It's uh more like just something the something that amuses me.

00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:57.200
Um spring is sprung here, of course.

00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:06.079
And you know, the weather's warming up storm season's upon us.

00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:18.640
And right now, around the moon, or at almost to the moon, the Artemis 2 space mission is in approach to swing around to the back side of the moon.

00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:30.799
They've already uh passed surpassed uh Apollo 13's record or farthest distance from the Earth by man's manned spaceflight.

00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:42.159
So uh good luck to the Artemis II crew, and we'll go back and land on the moon in two years on Artemis IV.

00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:50.000
Artemis III will be an unmanned mission that will basically just test the test the equipment.

00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:57.200
But uh we don't have very much news today, but we do have news, but it's all geek news.

00:01:57.280 --> 00:02:00.079
So let's go on to the geek news.

00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:37.520
The film's late April debut places it in a historically lucrative box office window.

00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:49.439
This specific weekend has previously hosted blockbuster launches for major titles such as Fast Five, Avengers Infinity War, and Endgame, as well as the current year's release of Michael from Lionsgates.

00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:57.439
Directed by Josh Greenbaum, the new production serves as a follow-up to the 1987 Cult Favorite, originally helmed by and starring Mel Brooks.

00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:04.960
Although the specific storyline is being kept confidential, the screenplay was developed by Josh Gadd, Dan Hernandez, and Vinji Samit.

00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:21.120
The project features a blend of franchise veterans and new cast members, including Mel Brooks, Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman, George Winder, and Daphne Zaniga, with uh who are joined by Josh Gadd, Kiki Palmer, Lewis Pullman, and Anthony Kerrigan.

00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:30.560
Anyway, Peacock has officially greenlit the development of a live-action television adaptation of Dungeon Crawler Carl, according to variety.com.

00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:45.759
Uh, based on Matt Deniman's popular ill-lit RPG novels, the series was first picked up by Universal International Studios in early 2025 before finding its home at the Streamer.

00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:53.840
The creative team involves writer and exec producer Chris Yost, alongside Seth McFarlane, who will exec produce through his Fuzzy Brand Production Company.

00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:55.919
Fuzzy Door production company, it is.

00:03:56.319 --> 00:04:04.080
Joining them as exec producers are Dinneman and Fuzzy Door's Erica Huggins, with uh Rachel Hargreaves held overseeing the production.

00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:27.600
Now the series follows Coast Guard veteran Carl and his ex-girlfriend's highly sophisticated cat, Princess Donut, the Queen and Chunk, after an alien invasion, Dustmates Humanity, forced to compete in the brutal intergalactic game show known as Dungeon Crawler World, Earth, the pair must battle extraterrestrial threats and a rogue AI for the entertainment of a galactic audience.

00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:37.279
Comedian and Bob's burger's voice actor Eugene Merman is recovering from severe injuries following a fiery car crash at a New Hampshire toll plaza.

00:04:37.839 --> 00:04:44.800
Merman was rescued from the burning vehicle by a state trooper from the governor's security detail and two bystanders.

00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:52.240
The accident occurred just before noon on Tuesday when Merman's northbound electric vehicle collided with the Bedford Toll Plaza and ignited.

00:04:52.480 --> 00:05:00.720
New Hampshire State Police Colonel Mark Hall reported that Republican Governor Kelly Ayott and her security team arrived at the scene shortly after the impact.

00:05:00.959 --> 00:05:05.120
A trooper and two individuals pulled Merman through a car window to safety.

00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:11.279
Although Governor Ayott exited her vehicle to retrieve a fire extinguisher, Colonel Hall confirmed she was never in danger.

00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:18.720
Colonel Hall described the rescue efforts as heroic, knowing that the responders risked their own safety without hesitation to save someone in need.

00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:26.399
In a statement released Wednesday, Merman's agent Jay Glasner confirmed the very scary accident and stated that the actor is currently on the mend.

00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:37.040
Quote, he wants to thank the bystanders, state police, first responders, and hospital staff who saved him, Glasner said, while requesting privacy for Merman and his family during the recovery process.

00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:43.759
The driver was identified by state police as 51-year-old Yevnee Meerman of Massachusetts, born in Moscow.

00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:54.480
Merman is a prolific performer, best known for voicing Jean Belcher in the animated series Pop's Burger and the feature film, along with appearing in Flight of the Concords, Archer, and Delocated.

00:05:54.639 --> 00:06:04.959
Governor Ayod expressed her gratitude for the brave lifestanding efforts of her security detail, and the bystanders adding that she and her family are praying for Merman's full recovery.

00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:10.240
The investigation of the crash is ongoing, and no charges have been filed at this time.

00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:31.279
Amazon MGM Studios is currently seeing massive returns from Project Hail Murray, which has grossed 300 million at the Global Box Office in less than two weeks, starring Ryan Gosling and based on the best-selling novel by Andy Weir, who also serves as exec producer, the sci-fi feature follows the success of Weir's 2015 hit The Martian.

00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:42.560
Despite his self-proclaimed status as a Star Trek enthusiast, Weir recently addressed a wave of controversy regarding his critiques of the modern franchise, issuing a formal apology on April 5th.

00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:48.079
The friction originated during Weir's appearance on the Crackle Drinker podcast, hosted by Will Jordan.

00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:56.639
While discussing his history with the original series, Weir offered a pointed critique of the brand's current landscape, paraphrasing a sentiment regarding the franchise's influence.

00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:05.120
Quote, all modern science fiction TV shows and movies have been heavily influenced by the original Star Trek except for the current batch of Star Trek shows, unquote.

00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:11.120
Later in the episode, Weir and Jordan discussed the reported conclusion of Starfleet Academy.

00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:21.680
While Jordan advocated for removing all post-enterprise entries from the canon, Weir expressed a preference for Star Trek Strange New Worlds and Lure Decks while discussing our contemporary series.

00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:24.639
All the others, they can go, Weir remarked.

00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:30.639
The conversation took a personal turn and Weir revealed he had personally pitched a series to franchise head Alex Kurtzman.

00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:36.399
While Weir praised Kurtzman's character, describing him as a quote, a really nice guy, unquote.

00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:38.399
His assessment was blunt.

00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:41.040
I don't like a lot of the new track.

00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:45.680
These shows are bleep, he jokingly added, they didn't accept my pitch, so bleep.

00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:47.759
No, I don't know.

00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:52.480
Now, these comments gained significant traction following a report from the Hollywood reporter.

00:07:52.639 --> 00:08:02.959
In response, Weir issued an open letter to Kurtzman via Facebook clarifying that his salacious sound bites were intended as humor, but acknowledged they appeared disrespectful and mean in retrospect.

00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:11.920
Reflecting on the creative process, Weir attributed the success of Project Hail Mary to the autonomy granted to directors like Phil Lord and Chris Miller by Amazon Studios.

00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:19.680
He noted that unlike legacy projects such as Star Wars, the studio avoided the typical interference that often plagues long-running franchises.

00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:23.839
Quote, the studio just let the artistic people do their job, unquote.

00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:29.439
Weir noted that the project was not encumbered by 50 years of legacy expectations.

00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:39.759
While Weir did not disclose the specifics of his Star Trek pitch, the revelation underscores the diverse array of creative voices that have engaged with the franchise over the last decade.

00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:46.799
Warner Brothers has announced another schedule adjustment for the live-action hybrid film Animal Friends.

00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:58.399
Directed by Peter Atencio from a screenplay by Kevin Burroughs and Matt Mitter, the Road Trip Adventure is now slated for a theatrical premiere on January 22nd, 2027.

00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:05.679
This marks the third date for the project, which was previously moved from October 10th, 2025 to May 1st, 2026.

00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:15.519
The production features an ensemble cast including Ryan Reynolds, Jason Momoa, Aubrey Plaza, Addison Ray, Dan Levy, Lil Ray Howard, and Ellie Bamber.

00:09:15.679 --> 00:09:25.919
A collaboration between Legendary Maxim Effort and Premium Focus Studios, the film moved to Warner Brothers in 2024, following an initial setup at 70 Pictures.

00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:38.960
Disney Plus is exclusively reporting that to be in the early stages of developing an Anamorph television series.

00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:57.759
The adaptation features Bay and Walcott as writer and executive producer, joining the executive production team of Ryan Kugler, Sev Ohan, and Zinzi Kugler for Proximity Media, alongside Illy Lechis and Caitlin Friedman, representing the book's publisher Scholastic.

00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:06.080
The project will be produced by Tony Television with Proximity Media's Simone Harris and Desi Galegos providing oversight.

00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:09.919
The original book series was created by Michael Grant and Catherine Applegate.

00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:18.960
The story centers on five teenagers, Tobias, Rachel, Cassie, Marco, and Jake, who learn that Earth is being targeted by the Yerkes, a parasitic race of aliens operating in secret.

00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:26.080
The group encounters the dying warrior of the Andelite race, a species currently at war with the Yerkes across the galaxy.

00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:31.519
The Andelite grants the teens the power to absorb animal DNA through touch and morph into those creatures.

00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:37.200
Utilizing these abilities, the group forms a covert resistance to protect the planet from the Yerk invasion.

00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:42.000
They are eventually joined in their efforts by Axe and Andelite youth who have become stranded on Earth.

00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:53.519
Spanning from 1996, the invasion, to 2001 as the beginning, the Animores franchise consisted of 54 primary novels, each narrated in the first person by one of the lead characters.

00:10:53.759 --> 00:11:01.519
The series, which includes companion works like Visser and the Andelite Chronicles, has achieved global sales exceeding 35 million copies.

00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:09.519
Olcott's recent credits include writing for FX's Class of 09 and serving as the supervising producer of Hulu's The Testament.

00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:14.639
His previous work includes Impeachment, American Crime Story, and The Samurai Turned Pretty.

00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:23.200
He and Proximity Media and Ryan Kugler are currently bound by a television overall agreement with Disney.

00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:30.879
Under this partnership, Kugler is also developing an X-Files reboot pilot, double-star Himish Patel and Danielle Deadweiler.

00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:40.320
Kugler regained uh recently garnered acclaim for his move for his film Sinners, which earned four Oscars, including a best screenplay win for Kugler.

00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:43.440
Should go forward.

00:11:43.600 --> 00:11:46.320
This would be the second An Morse TV series to make it air.

00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:51.519
A live action series aired on Nickelodeon for two seasons between 1998 and 2000.

00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:58.000
Finally, tonight, James Tolkien, who played the slacker-hating Mr.

00:11:58.080 --> 00:12:16.080
Strickland in the Back to the Future films, the carrier air group command officer Stinger Jardin in Top Gun, and who was part of the original Broadway cast of Glen Gary, Glenn Ross, during a 55-year film, tele TV, and stage career, died this past Thursday in Sarnak Lake, New York, at the age of 94.

00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:23.279
The news was announced on the official Back to the Future website, which note that Tolkien passed away peacefully but did not provide a cause.

00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:29.360
Born on January 20th, 1931, in Calumet, Michigan, Tolkien did a short stint in the U.S.

00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:32.960
Navy during the Korean War before going to acting school in New York City.

00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:44.720
He started out in local theater and eventually would appear in nine Broadway shows, notably playing salesman David Dave Moss in the original cast of Glengarry Glenn Ross in 1985, 1944, 1985.

00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:55.440
Tolkien's first screen credits were guest turns in such 1960 TV series as The Naked City and NYPD, along with films including The Three Sisters and Stiletto.

00:12:55.759 --> 00:13:12.639
He also worked regularly in the 70s, pairing with Al Pacino and Sidney Lemmett's 1973 cop drama Serpico, and then played a dual role as Napoleon and a Look Like opposite Diane Keaton and Alan in the filmmaker's 1975 Russian lit satire Love and Death.

00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:16.399
He was also a crooner in 1979's The Amityville Horror.

00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:26.960
Tolgan also had roles in such 1980s films as Wolfman, Prince of the City, author-author again with Pacino, and War Games, before laying his signature mid-80s roles.

00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:31.840
He was cast in Robertson X's wildly popular 1985 action comedy Back to the Future as Mr.

00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:40.639
Strickland, the high school principal, a vice principal who had a node spite for slackers, as he called George McFly and later Marty McFly.

00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:48.080
He reprised the role in 1989's Back to the Future 2 and Strickland's Wild West Ancestor in Back to the Future 3 the following year.

00:13:48.320 --> 00:14:02.799
Then came another role for which Tolkien would be widely recognized, playing Tom Stinger Jardian, commander of the USS Enterprise carrier air group, who barks at Maverick and Goose early in the 1986 Tony Scott directed Blockbuster.

00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:07.679
Stinger Lair briefs the recently graduated Top Gun pilots on their first mission.

00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:15.600
Late in the movie, he gives Maverick his choice of duty and feigns honor with the pilot when the pilot tells him he wants to be a Top Gun instructor.

00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:18.159
God help us, he replied.

00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:31.279
Around that time, Tolkien landed his first series regular TV role, playing the possibly mobbed-up fiance of star Mary Tyler Moore's neighbor in the CBS sitcom Mary, which lasted only one season in 1985-1986.

00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:36.320
His next regular role was as Captain Mike Ragland in CBS cop drama The Hat Squad.

00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:43.279
He was a career cop who raised three foster children, who eventually also became police officers, and Ragland was their captain.

00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:46.480
Edger aired for just one season in 1992.

00:14:46.799 --> 00:15:00.720
Dol Kindler had two more TV roles, playing a number of characters as part of a repertory cast in 2001-2002's AE period drama Nero Wolf, also directing two episodes and as a series regular on the Syndicate Adventure series Cobra.

00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:10.159
In the latter, he played Dallas Cassell, boss of the ex-Navy SEAL Scandal Jackson in the Ultra Secret Cobra, which aided crime victims who were wronged by the system.

00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:13.759
The series ran 22 episodes in 1993, 1994.

00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:26.399
Along the way, Tolkien also continued to guest on TV in such popular series as Hill Street Blues, American Playhouse, Miami Vice, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Tales from the Crypt, The Wonder Years, Early Edition, and The Equalizer.

00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:34.639
He also had big screen roles in dozens of films, ranging from Prince of the City, Masters of the Universe, and Iceman to Family Business.

00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:40.080
Operating Knox and playing numbers in Warren Beatty's 1990 Dick Tracy.

00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:54.320
Tolkien's final screen roles came in the 2013 TV movie Phil Spectre, playing the judge in the disgraced Wall of Sound Producer's Murder Trial, and a pianist in the 2015 Kurt Russell Warren Bone Warren Bone Tacum, Tomahawk.

00:15:54.639 --> 00:16:00.399
Tolkien is survived by his wife, a 54 years Parmella, and three nieces.

00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:08.639
His families asked for donations to the uh memorial be made to a local animal shelter, animal rescue organization, or a humane society chapter.

00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:12.639
Again, James Tolkien was 94 years old.

00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:18.559
And with that, uh we come to the end of the uh show for today.

00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:20.720
Please be sure to check us out on social media.

00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:25.360
We're on blue sky at multiverse dom, threads, Facebook, and Instagram at multiverse tonight.

00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:34.559
And if you've gotten some value out of the show and would like to pay it back, head on over to multiverstonight.com and there you can find our Patreon and Kofi links.

00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:40.720
Check our show notes and uh our Tea Public store, leave some feedback and so much more.

00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:43.679
Now, if this is your first time listening, thank you very much.

00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:46.720
Uh go on, hit that subscribe button, share it with others.

00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:52.320
Special thanks to Shane Ivers for the intro music and Lobo Loco for the outro theme music.

00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:54.720
Thanks for watching this edition of Multiverse Tonight.

00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:58.320
We'll be back in two weeks with more sci-fi and comic book news.

00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:01.519
Now, please exit the universe in an orderly fashion.

00:17:01.679 --> 00:17:02.799
Good night.

00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:10.400
Multiverse Tonight is production of Half Baked Media Productions.

00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:11.839
Copyright 2026.

00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:13.359
Alright, reserve.