One of the biggest hopes for fans at D23 was a glimpse of any additional footage from The Rise Of Skywalker. While no full trailer was shown, there was this sizzle reel that blended moments from the previous films in with new glimpses at Episode IX.
A red-eyed Threepio? More Palpatine dialogue? Ships coming out of lightspeed in an atmosphere? REY WITH A RED SABER?!? December cannot come fast enough!
The first day of Disney’s D23 Expo has come to an end. A lot of programming for Disney+ was revealed. While many were expected, there were a few surprises.
Official Trailer | The Mandalorian | Disney+ | Streaming November 12 on Disney Video
Disney did reveal the first official trailer for the highly anticipated series The Mandalorian, which will depict a bounty hunter guild shortly after Return Of The Jedi.
Untitled Obi-Wan Kenobi series – As we talked about before, an Obi-Wan Kenobi spin-off has been rumored for quite some time. Disney finally made their first official public reveal of the show on Friday. As expected, Ewan McGregor will reprise the role. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and Ewan himself were present at the reveal.
The premise has generally been expected to be about Obi-Wan’s time on Tatooine guarding Luke. While that was not specifically confirmed, the show will take place a few years before A New Hope, which means it will be in approximately the same time frame as Rebels.
Ms. Marvel – Another rumored series to be confirmed was that of Ms. Marvel. Specifically, this will involve the current incarnation, Kamala Khan. No casting was announced, nor was there a release date given. With several Marvel series on tap for 2020, it’s unlikely that we will see this before 2021.
Moon Knight – One of the surprise announcements is Moon Knight. He has been one of the characters rumored going back to the Netflix days to get a series. Moon Knight may not be one of the first Marvel characters fans might think of, but that’s what makes a streaming service a perfect platform.
She-Hulk – Perhaps the biggest surprise announcement is She-Hulk. Again, no casting or premiere date announced. It will be interesting to see how Jennifer Walters will be handled in live-action form. Could we see a Rbuce Banner cameo?
It’s a pretty safe bet that more content will be announced over the next two days. Even if there isn’t, that still leaves at least 30-40 episodes worth of material to come in 2021.
Some thought it was too good to be true, and that may have turned out to be the case. Sony and Disney/Marvel were unable to close a deal to keep Spider-Man in the current Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Deadline reports that meetings between the two entertainment giants to co-finance and co-produce more Spider-Man films ended with no agreement. This takes Disney and Marvel’s Kevin Feige out of the picture when it comes to any future plans with Spidey.
The split comes at a very odd time. Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame recently became the highest-grossing movie of all time, while Spider-Man: Far From Home became the highest-grossing Spider-Flick, as well as the highest-grossing Sony movie ever made.
According to Deadline, Disney proposed a 50/50 deal that would have seen both companies split the costs and earnings, and presumably would include movies involving Venom, Carnage, Miles Morales, and others. Sony refused and made a counter-offer that Disney turned down.
What this means for the future remains to be seen. But for the time being, everybody’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man will be swinging solo unless immediate changes happen. The sequel to Venom is in production, and actor Tom Holland is attached to at least two additional films. It is only a matter of time before Venom and Spidey cross paths onscreen. Will Sony keep the billion-dollar income without the rest of the Marvel MCU attached? We may not have to wait too long to find out.
Marvel announced back in June that famed Hollywood writer/director JJ Abrams will be writing his own Spider-Man comic this fall. This week, they released a trailer for the project. Not only does it feature interviews with JJ and his son Henry, but it also has input from Marvel Editor Nick Lowe.
As hinted for the last month, the series will introduce a new villain for the web-headed hero in the form of Cadaverous. While the full nature of his powers is not yet revealed, it does seem like he is a techno-organic mishmash that really cranks up the Creep Factor.
Spider-Man #1 drops on September 18th. It is written by JJ and Henry Abrams with art
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After literally YEARS of rumors, Star Wars fans have confirmation that Ewan McGregor will finally be reprising the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi for Disney+. Disney will likely make its official announcement at the upcoming D23 Expo.
Other rumors persist that McGregor will not only star in the yet-untitled series, but will also direct a few episodes as well.
An Obi-Wan Kenobi spin-off feature film has been rumored ever since the announcement of standalone Star Wars movies was made. However, the less than stellar performance of Solo played a factor in those projects getting put on hold.
The format change to a series could be an
In addition to the Kenobi series, McGregor will be portraying the villain in two upcoming feature films, Doctor Sleep,
Actor Henry Golding is rumored to be portraying Snake-Eyes in a spin-off film. This casting seemingly goes against the history of the popular GI Joe Character. In the franchise lore, Snake-Eyes was the lone American student in the Arashikage Clan and did not have Asian heritage.
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.
The Arrowverse crossover Crisis On Infinite Earths continues to get more epic and amazing.
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.
Here is the list of guest characters we know
Rumors persist that another Arrowverse show may be added in the 2020/2021 season. While nothing has been confirmed, there are several rumors.
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 House joins 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?
The five-part mini-series will begin in December. However, do not be surprised if there is a cliffhanger as the show will take a holiday break and conclude in January.
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.
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.
Currently, the complete story is available in an awesome hardcover collection that includes artwork from all the variant covers.
And yes, Batman does fight Shredder.
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?
Comic Grade: A-
Blu-Ray Grade: B+
*A separate comic, Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures was produced specifically to use the DCAU Batman.
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In our previous episode, we discussed the revelations for Marvel’s Phase Four of
Each trailer is listed below with the appropriate timestamp in the show discussion.
We recently got reviewed by Dave Jackson’s Podcast Rodeo Show. Thanks for the kind words!
