Geekville Radio #244: Q&A Clips from Wizard World Chicago
NOTE: The wrong episode was previously uploaded,
Wizard World Chicago took place on the last weekend of August, the same weekend as Disney’s D23 Expo. Several celebrities participated in panels and Q&A sessions for fans.
First up, Jeff Goldbum talks The MCU, Thor: Love and Thunder, tooth decay, and Buckaroo Banzai.
Kevin Conroy quotes about (what else?) voicing Batman, working with Mark Hamill, and getting in front of the camera again for Crisis On Infinite Earths.
Dean Cain answered questions about playing Superman and gives his opinion of Henry Cavill.
Teddy Sears tells about what he knew ahead of time when playing Jay Garrick in The Flash.
Conroy took part in several panels during Wizard World Chicago. One panel, which also featured Lois and Clark actor Dean Cain, asked the inevitable question about what this Bruce Wayne will be like.
“Well, I can’t tell you anything because I don’t know anything,” Conroy began “I just know that it’s an older version of Bruce Wayne. I haven’t seen the script. I haven’t seen any sketches, so I don’t know. But I am doing it.
“I think they [the producers] are nervous about actors releasing information,” he speculated.
“Who would you tell?” joked Cain, motioning to the audience.
“They won’t let us see scripts,” Conroy continued, “I honestly don’t know what it’s going to involve.”
One member of the audience asked what it was like to finally be playing Batman in a live-action project.
“I don’t know, it’s a little intimidating,” Conroy began. “I started out in theater in New York, you know. And then I did on-camera television work, and then I sort of stumbled into voice work. Batman was the first animated character I ever auditioned for, and that was in ’91.”
“How’d it go?” joked one audience member, which got a laugh from the crowd.
“But I haven’t done anything on camera… anything really since the late 90s. So a little intimidating. I don’t know what it’s going to be like, to be honest with you. I’ll just approach it like I do any other character. As an acting job.”
Later, when asked about Batman Beyond, in which he voiced an aging Bruce Wayne, Conroy did mention he suspects that he’ll be playing something similar to that version.
“Again, I don’t know because I haven’t seen the script, but I kind of suspect, from what they’re talking about me doing in this, it’s going to be very much like the older Bruce Wayne that I did in Batman Beyond. I think that’s the concept of what the character is going to be, but I don’t know.”
Crisis on Infinite Earths will air on The CW this winter, beginning with the December 8th episode of Supergirl.
That said, like with so many other remakes and rebrandings, the original lore is still there. It won’t get erased from existence if a retelling of Snake-Eyes happens.
Airdates will be Supergirl 12/8, Batwoman 12/9, Flash 12/10. Then Arrow and Legends Of Tomorrow on 1/14. So that’s five episodes in two parts, meaning it will also double as the mid-season cliffhanger.
Batman: Hush, the animated movie adaption of the fan-favorite story from Batman issues #608-619, is currently available on Digital Download and DVD/Blu-Ray. This official clip showcases Catwoman, voiced by Jennifer Morrison on Once Upon A Time fame.
Batman: Hush is part of the ongoing DC Animated Universe and will start streaming next week on DC Universe.
Morrison joins the regular DCAU cast of Jason O’Mara as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Jerry O’Connell as Clark Kent/Superman, and Rebecca Romijn as Lois Lane.
Batman: Hush is the latest story to be adapted into the DC Animated Movie Universe. You can check out a clip below that shows Batman rumbling with a possessed Superman.
Hush was a story by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee that originally appeared in Batman #608-619. It brought a classic Batman villain to the limelight and featured one of the few in-continuity confrontations between Batman and Superman.
Like most movies in the DCAMU, it features Jason O’Mara as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Jerry O’Connell as Superman/Clarke Kent, and Rebecca Romijn as Lois Lane. Jennifer Morrison of Once Upon A Time and Housejoins the cast as Catwoman/Selina Kyle. It is available in stores, and on the DC Universe streaming service.
One of the longest tenured voices in DC animation is at last going to step in front of cameras to reprise the role.
Kevin Conroy, who first began providing the voice of Bruce Wayne/Batman in 1992 for Batman: The Animated Series, will be portraying Bruce Wayne in CW’s hotly-anticipated Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover event. This marks the first time Conroy will play the character in a live-action production.
Conroy is no stranger to onscreen acting, having had roles on various TV shows throughout the years including Tour Of Duty and Murphy Brown.
The five-part series includes an already staggering list of actors who will undoubtedly play variations on their characters from different universes (or Earths as they are called in the series). That list includes Tyler Hoechlin (Superman), Burt Ward (Robin in the 1966 Batman TV series), Brandon Routh (The Atom AND Superman), Jon Cryer (Lex Luthor), Elizabeth Tolluch (Lois Lane), as well as the regular casts from the ongoing “Arrowverse” shows.
While it has only been announced that Conroy will be Bruce Wayne, it’s hard to imagine a Bruce Wayne that doesn’t come with a Batman attached. Could we see Bruce from Batman Beyond? Dark Knight Returns? Or could we see even see a Kingdom Come counterpart to Brandon Routh’s Superman?
Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Two franchises that have been around for decades and seen countless variations reach amazing levels of mainstream success. A meeting of the two seems like a natural step doesn’t it?
That’s just what happened in late 2015 when IDW joined forces with DC Comics to present the first official pairing. Two more crossovers followed, as well as an animated movie adaption.
I’ll still give a mild spoiler warning. I won’t give away massive plot points, but if you want to be completely spoiler-free read the comic and watch the video first.
Limited Series/Hardcover Adaption
Hardcover collection of the first series
Originally published as a six-issue crossover, Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles saw the Turtles brought into the DC Comics world. Ever since DC vs. Marvel, it seems every crossover has to be done with the premise of one side coming from a different world.
Veteran Batman writer James Tyrion IV handles the story, with Freddie Williams II doing the artwork. The pairing absolutely works. Batman looks just as he always has, while the Turtles still manage to have the classic Mirage Studios look without feeling out of place next to The Dark Knight.
The premise is simple. Krang sent The Turtles, along with Shredder and his Foot Clan minions, to another world so he could be evil without their interference. See, in this incarnation, Shredder and Krang aren’t besties so they’re prone to sabotaging each other’s plans.
The rest of the story, for the most part, can easily be figured out. The two groups of heroes do not initially trust each other but learn to respect one another when push comes to shove. The interaction between Batman and Raphael is particularly good, given Raph is the hothead of his family and Bats has a history of dealing with hotheaded teenagers.
The Blu-ray adapts the first mini-series. However, the subplot of alternate worlds is left out, probably for simplicity’s sake. There are also characters in the comic that do not appear in the comic and vice versa. Plus the ending is completely different as it takes place at an Ace Chemical factory instead of Arkham Asylum like the comic.
The animation almost seems like a hybrid of Cartoon Network’s The Brave And The Bold crossed with the TMNT style of the early 2000s syndicated series. If you were hoping for a return to the 90s DCAU look, you might be a little disappointed*.
As far as the voice acting, none of the past TMNT voice actors reprise any roles. Fortunately, the actors who do appear perform the roles admirably and the voicing is top-notch as always.
That said, it really would have been that extra topping on the pizza to have the known voices like Rob Paulsen, Cam Clarke, or Kevin Michael Richardson in the mix. It’s very possible there are production reasons why it didn’t happen, but it still would have been cool.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is Troy Baker taking a shot as Batman. I have said before that I literally hear Kevin Conroy’s voice in my head when I read Batman comics. Baker has previously filled in for Mark Hamill as The Joker and pulled it off so well even Hamill himself was impressed. He manages the same feat here with uncanny accuracy to Conroy’s Batman.
While there is nothing shown explicitly, there is a good deal of violence in the movie. An example of this is when Shredder and Ra’s Al-Ghul infiltrate Arkham Asylum. A security guard is shown trying to stop them and you see a flash of a blade. Moments later, the guard’s severed hand is used to open the security door that leads to The Joker’s cell. Another is when Shredder kills by throwing a shuriken into the back of a head.
There is no word yet, as of this writing, whether there will be additional movies. Based on this first outing we certainly hope there will be. Each franchise still has villains that haven’t been used yet, and with two more comics stories, there are easily two more movies worth of material.
Now, how about that long overdue TMNT/Daredevil crossover?
In our previous episode, we discussed the revelations for Marvel’s Phase Four of The MCU. Here we talk a lot of the other news coming out of The Mecca Of Geekery that is San Diego Comic-Con!
Each trailer is listed below with the appropriate timestamp in the show discussion.
One of the many fun things with San Diego Comic-Con is the plethora of trailers released. While the days of exclusive trailers are mostly gone, it’s still a big marketing day for the entertainment industry.
Here are several of the trailers that premiered over the weekend.
Netflix’s The Witcher starring Henry Cavill
HBO’s Watchmen, inspired by the classic comic book miniseries
A sizzle reel for Arrow gives a glimpse of Season Eight
The Flash Season 6
Flash Season 6 introduces the new villain Bloodwork
Top Gun: Maverick, the long-rumored sequel to the 1986 classic
Terminator: Dark Fate
Terminator: Dark Fate welcomes back Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor
Dark Crystal
Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance still uses puppetry like its predecessor
Jay & Silent Bob Reboot is a sequel to 2003’s Jay & Silen Bob Strike Back
Star Trek: Picard looks to be an absolute treasure to TNG fans
What were your favorite trailers from Sand Diego Comic-Con? Sound off below!
Fans have been speculating how the Arrowverse creators will handle Crisis On Infinite Earths since its announcement almost a year ago. At San Diego Comic-Con fans were finally given some answers.
Perhaps the biggest bombshell revealed at the Arrow panel is that Brandon Routh will play two characters. His regular character, Ray Palmer/The Atom, and Superman.
Routh, of course, portrayed The Man Of Steel in 2006’s feature film Superman Returns. Released as a direct sequel to 1980’sSuperman II, which is widely considered the best of the Christopher Reeve films, Superman Returns established that Routh’s Superman and Reeve’s Superman were one and the same.
As if that wasn’t enough, Routh came on stage during the panel to reveal his costume.
Brandon Routh reveals a Kingdom Come Superman shirt
Routh will indeed be playing Superman as he appeared in the epic 1996 comics story Kingdom Come, which takes place in the future. In it, Superman is older and more of a grizzled veteran than the current day one.
Superman as he appears in Kingdom Come #1. Art by Alex Ross
This would also seem to imply that this aging badass Superman is that same Reeve/Routh movie version. How he will fit into the Crisis story was not revealed, but it sure whets fans’ appetite for the series when it airs this Fall.
As DC Comics fans know, Crisis On Infinite Earths was an epic universe-wide crossover event that rebooted the DC Universe continuity. All of the “other universes”, or Multi-verse as they might be called now, were streamlined into one congruent universe.
Arrow will be ending its eight-year run this season and will be part of the annual crossover event.
