NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 077: "The Armageddon Factor" is Up!

"We have the power to do anything we like, absolute power over every particle in the universe, everything that has ever existed or ever will exist as from this moment.  Are you listening to me, Romana?"
"Yes, of course, I'm listening."
"'Cause if you're not listening I can make you listen, because I can do anything.  As from this moment there's no such thing as free will in the entire universe.  There's only MY will because I possess the Key to Time."
"Doctor, are you all right?"
"Well, of course I’m all right, but suppose I wasn’t all right."

– The Fourth Doctor and the First Romana, Doctor Who: "The Armageddon Factor"

That's right, my partner in time Jesse Jackson are back with a new episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!  In this episode, Jesse and I review "The Armageddon Factor", the sixth and final serial from Season 16, a.k.a. "The Key to Time" season, starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Mary Tamm as the First Romana, and John Leeson as the voice of K-9!

This time, Jesse and I discuss things like the confusion of Lalla Ward as Princess Astra before she becomes the Second Romana, Romana burning a regeneration just for the sake of fashion, Valentine Dyall as Deep Thought on the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy TV series, the Chuck Berry classic "School Days", the Fourth Doctor's power trip gag on Romana, how the Doctor and Drax probably knew one another at the Academy on Gallifrey, wondering why the White Guardian never returned in Season 16, the Doctor caring more about innocents in his earlier incarnations, crediting "The Doctor" instead of "Doctor Who", Drax's confidence in lining up his next gig, the debut of the Randomizer, my Reverse the Reverse the Polarity segment, the upcoming return of John Simm as the Sixth Master, and more!

If you'd like to check out our latest episode, you can find us on...

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Next Stop Everywhere's Facebook page

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And hey, if you'd like to pick up the officially official Next Stop Everywhere t-shirt, you can find it on TeePublic right HERE!  Help support the show and feel free to post pictures on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come in just one week as Jesse and I review "The Pilot", the long-awaited first episode from Series Ten, starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts, and Matt Lucas as Nardole!  Look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Google Play Music, YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

DEADPOOL 2 Casts Josh Brolin as Cable

The Merc with a Mouth just signed up for Cable.

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Deadpool 2, the upcoming sequel to Deadpool, has cast Josh Brolin as Nathan Summers, better known to X-Men fans as the time-traveling, gun-toting, mutant superhero Cable.

This ends a long casting search, with actors Michael Shannon, David Harbour, Russell Crowe and Brad Pitt reportedly up for the part.  THR's sources say that Brolin's deal is for four movies.

Brolin joins returning Deadpool actors Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson, Morena Baccarin as Copycat/Vanessa Carlyle, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Stefan Kapičić as the voice of Colossus.  Zazie Beetz will debut as Domino.

Brolin, 49, is best known as the supervillain Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Guardians of the Galaxy.  He also starred in the DC Comics film Jonah Hex, and has appeared in the films Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Men in Black 3, Grindhouse: Planet Terror, The Goonies, Sicario, Oldboy, Gangster Squad, Milk, W., American Gangster, No Country for Old Men, Hollow Man, The Mod Squad, Nightwatch, and Mimic.

Created in 1990 by Louise Simonson and Rob Liefeld, Cable first appeared in The New Mutants (vol.1) #87 as an adult, after debuting in 1986's Uncanny X-Men (vol.1) #201 as the infant son of Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor, created by Chris Claremont.  In his first appearance, Cable came into conflict with Stryfe's Mutant Liberation Front, the United States government, and Freedom Force.  The New Mutants intervened and he asked for their help against the Mutant Liberation Front, seeing them as potential soldiers in his war against Stryfe.  He became their new teacher and leader, coming into conflict with Wolverine, noting that the two had an old feud between them.  Cable and the New Mutants teamed up with Wolverine and Sunfire against the MLF, before the group went up against the Genoshans.

With the aid of Domino, Cable reorganized the New Mutants into the group known as X-Force.  Cable eventually revealed that he was from the future and that he had traveled to the past with the aim of stopping Stryfe's plans as well as preventing Apocalypse's rise to power.  Cable traveled between the 1990s and his future with his ship Graymalkin, which contained a sentient computer program called Professor, the future version of the program built into X-Factor's Ship.  

The 1994 miniseries The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix provided further information on the character's back story.  In the future, Mother Askani, a time-displaced Rachel Summers, pulled the minds of Scott Summers and Jean Grey into the future where, as "Slym" and "Redd", they raised Cable for twelve years.  During their time together, the "family" prevented Apocalypse from transferring his essence into a new body, ending his reign of terror.  It was established that Mister Sinister created Cyclops' son Nathan (who became Cable) in order to destroy Apocalypse.

Deadpool 2 is scheduled to arrive in theaters sometime in 2018.

First THOR: RAGNAROK Trailer Teases Hela and the Hulk

Guardians of the Yggdrasil, anyone?

Marvel has released the first teaser trailer to Thor: Ragnarok, the third film in the Thor series directed by Taika Waititi and starring Chris Hemsworth as everyone's favorite God of Thunder.

The one minute, fifty second trailer opens with Thor lowered into a deep, dark cavern while imprisoned in chains.  "Now, I know what you're thinking," he says in a voiceover.  "How did this happen?  Well, it's a long story..."

As the sounds of the Led Zeppelin classic "Immigrant Song" begin to play, we see Hela, the ruler of Hel and Niflheim (played by Cate Blanchett), catch Thor's hammer Mjolnir in the palm of her hand and shatter it.

"Asgard is dead," she declares to a legion of Asgardian warriors just before we see fleeting images of Thor being caputred in a net by aliens, and Thor's fellow Asgardian warrior Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) charging into battle with Hela while riding her winged horse Aragorn.

Valkyrie brings Thor to see the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), ruler of the planet Sakaar. "What have you brought today?  Tell me," he asks.

"A contender," replies Valkyrie.

More fleeting images follow, including Heimdall (Idris Elba) smashing a warrior's face with a new sword, Skurge the Executioner (Karl Urban) using some form of assault rifle, and Loki (Tom Hiddleston) twirling a pair of blades.

"It's main event time," announces the Grandmaster as Thor enters a large gladiatorial arena, now sporting a distinctly shorter hairstyle.  "And now," continues the Grandmaster, "I give you...your incredible --"

All at once, the Hulk smashes through the opposing door, wearing the armor from the "Planet Hulk" comics storyline.

Initially stunned, Thor quickly smiles and cheers at his opponent, shocking the entire arena into silence.  "We know each other!" Thor tells the Grandmaster.  He's a friend from work!"

The Hulk, possibly remembering his rivalry with Thor from the first Avengers movie, charges after Thor and the two leap high into the air at one another.

If you'd like to view the trailer, you can see it below thanks to the official Marvel Entertainment account on YouTube...




Thor: Ragnarok is scheduled to be released in theaters on November 3, 2017.

THE FANDOM ZONE 098: "Chapter 8" is Up!

"I was just wondering...What am I without you?" 
– David Haller to The Shadow King, Legion: "Chapter 8"

Beginning our third year in The Fandom Zone, Karen Lindsay and I are back with another HUGE episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  So huge, in fact, we're splitting it into two parts!

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

The Walking Dead 7x15: "Something They Need"

Supergirl 2x17: "Distant Sun"

The Flash 3x18: "Abra Kadabra"

Legends of Tomorrow 2x16: "Doomworld"

Arrow 5x18: "Disbanded"

Legion 1x08: "Chapter 8"  (Season 1 Finale)

Iron Fist 1x03: "Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch"

This time, we talk about things like Phil Perich's birthday, the new Iron Fist #1, long-distance dedications from Casey Kasem, being really disappointed by Eugene, Gregory's epic zombie-killing fail, Rick leaving the Oceanside community with no way to defend themselves, Alex trying to be cool with Maggie's ex even though Maggie wants nothing to do with her, Mom-El being an evil frog clone, the Martian Manhunter's constipating telepathic fight, Chameleon Boy and the Durlans, wondering why Caitlin becomes evil as Killer Frost, more of my "Abra Kadabra is H.R. Wells" theory, Clifford DeVoe the Thinker, the Fantastic Voyage episode of Archer, why you shouldn't wear douchey backwards baseball caps, the joy of watching Felicity Smoak die on screen, the Hall of Doom, the Batusi, Oliver staging his rescue from Lian Yu, Diggle screwing up Oliver's plan to have the Bratva murder Prometheus for him, Helix telling Felicity they know everything about Team Arrow's secret identities and Felicity doing nothing about it, the return of Mystery Science Theater 3000, the origin of Clark the Interrogator, David facing off against the Shadow King, Legion relocating to Los Angeles for Season 2, Legion's big post-credits cliffhanger teasing Season 2, Joy and Ward trying to screw Danny out of his family's company, the return of Jeryn Hogarth and Madame Gao, some feedback from Justina, a quick Jesse Jackson update, and more!

You can now check out episodes of The Fandom Zone using...

Google Play Music -- HERE 

iTunes -- HERE

Direct Download MP3s/Libsyn -- HERE

The Fandom Zone on Facebook -- HERE

The Fandom Zone on Twitter -- @FandomZoneCast

And if that isn't enough for you, you can also check us out on YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!  Oh, and if you're interested in an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt that all the cool kids are wearing, you can get those on TeePublic HERE as well!  Feel free to post a picture on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come back next week, as Karen and I review the season finales of The Walking Dead and Legends of Tomorrow, the Season 3 premiere of iZombie, Episode 4 of Iron Fist, and a new episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

John Simm to Return as the Sixth Master in DOCTOR WHO Series 10

In 1985, there was "The Two Doctors".  In 2017..."The Two Masters"?

The official Doctor Who site has confirmed that John Simm is reprising his role as the Sixth Master in Doctor Who Series Ten.  The specific episode(s) was not revealed, although the two-part Series Ten finale written by Steven Moffat seems most likely.

"I can confirm that it’s true," said Simm, "thanks to the power of time travel, I’m back.  It’s always a pleasure to work with this great team of people and I can’t wait for you all to see what the Master gets up to in the next series."

Added Moffat, writer and executive producer, "Nothing stays secret for long on Doctor Who, but you'll have to wait a little bit longer to see exactly what the Master is up to and how he makes his return to face the Doctor.  It’s been a huge pleasure to have fan favorites John Simm and Michelle Gomez face to face in the same role!  It’s not often you get to see a solo personality clash."

Simm debuted as the Sixth Master in 2007 at the end of the Series Three episode "Utopia", having regenerated from the Fifth Master, played by Sir Derek Jacobi.  The story continued in "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords", where the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) made his way back to Earth to find the Master became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom under the alias of Harold Saxon.  As Saxon, the Master remained haunted by a constant drumbeat in his head and he enslaved the world, forcing the Doctor's companion Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) to spend a year working on an elaborate plan to defeat him.  After being fatally shot by his human wife, Lucy Saxon (Alexandra Moen), the Master refused to regenerate, knowing it would haunt the Doctor.

The Sixth Master returned again in 2010, as part of the final Tenth Doctor story "The End of Time", when his disciples attempted a resurrection ritual using a surviving piece of the Master's body.  However, Lucy interrupted the ritual, bringing the Master back as a manic undead creature, hungry for human flesh and leaking electrical energy.  The Master proceeded with a plot to transform the entire human race into his own clones, and using their combined presence, triangulated the "drumbeat" inside his head to its source -- The Time Lord President Rassilon (Timothy Dalton).  The Time Lords, having set up the signal as a means to escape the last days of the Time War, returned to the universe.  Confronted with Rassilon, whose drumbeat was the cause of the Master's insanity, the Master teamed up with the Doctor to destroy them.  As a result, he was also sent back to Gallifrey with the Time Lords, who were locked away in the Time War and trapped once more.

Doctor Who Series Ten will also feature Michelle Gomez returning as Missy, the Seventh Master known as the Mistress.  Other returning foes include the Daleks, the Ice Warriors and – returning for the first time in over 50 years – the Mondasian Cybermen.

Doctor Who returns to BBC One and BBC America for Series Ten on Saturday, April 15th.

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 076: "The Power of Kroll" is Up!

"Stretching’s good for the spine.  Well, up to a point."

– The Fourth Doctor to Romana and Rohm-Dutt, Doctor Who: "The Power of Kroll"

At long last, my partner in time Jesse Jackson has returned to join me for a new episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!  In this episode, Jesse and I review "The Power of Kroll", the infamous fifth serial from Season 16, a.k.a. "The Key to Time" season, starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Mary Tamm as the First Romana!

This time, Jesse and I discuss things like Jesse's recovery and upcoming cancer treatment, well wishes from Jesse's friends and fans, Jesse's new War Doctor look, Calibos from Clash of the Titans, John Leeson appearing as Dugeen instead of voicing K-9, "The Power of Kroll" cosplay, the Fifth Doctor's cool question mark suspenders, the creeper vine trap, when story ambition exceeds the production reality, the horrible Swampie makeup and costume design, my Reverse the Reverse the Polarity segment, the news about new companion Bill Potts being openly gay, more on the Twelfth Doctor's upcoming regeneration, and more!

If you'd like to check out our latest episode, you can find us on...

Google Play Music -- RIGHT HERE

iTunes -- RIGHT HERE

Stitcher -- RIGHT HERE

Direct MP3 downloads/Libsyn --  RIGHT HERE

Next Stop Everywhere's Facebook page

Next Stop Everywhere's Twitter account

And hey, if you'd like to pick up the officially official Next Stop Everywhere t-shirt, you can find it on TeePublic right HERE!  Help support the show and feel free to post pictures on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come in just one week as Jesse and I review "The Armageddon Factor", the sixth and final serial from Season 16, a.k.a. "The Key to Time" season, starring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, Mary Tamm as the First Romana, and John Leeson as the voice of K-9! Look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Google Play Music, YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

BATMAN AND HARLEY QUINN Animated Film Cast Announced

Fans of the classic Harley Quinn rejoice!

Empire has revealed the principal voice cast for Batman and Harley Quinn, a new DC Comics animated movie direct to home video, executive produced by Bruce Timm and in his classic animation style that began with 1992's Batman: The Animated Series.

According to the article, Batman and Harley Quinn will feature "the reluctant team-up of Batman, Nightwing and Harley Quinn to try and stop a global catastrophe caused by Poison Ivy and Jason Woodrue, AKA the Plant-Master."

Kevin Conroy will once again voice Batman, after his previous work in Batman: The Killing Joke.  Loren Lester will reprise his character Nightwing, whom he originated as Robin with Conroy on Batman: The Animated Series.

"So many fans have asked when there will be another Batman: The Animated Series," said Lester, "and this film really captures that sensibility and essence that people loved about the original series.  That makes perfect sense when you know Bruce Timm was at the helm of both.  The difference is we're not restricted by the networks for this film, so we can take the story and characters in more mature areas, and explore more about them as three-dimensional human beings with human feelings and human desires that we often couldn’t explore in the series."

As for Harley Quinn herself, she will be voiced by Melissa Rauch.  Rauch is best known as Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory and appeared as Summer on the HBO series True Blood.

"I love that Harley is a badass and, beyond that, that she uses her humor as another weapon in her arsenal," said Rauch.  "She knows just how to diffuse a situation with her humor, and how to incite a situation with her sarcasm.  It's a dream role."

Regarding Harley's voice, she added, "I knew Harley had a higher pitched tone, and a bit of a New York accent — and I come from a New Jersey family where everyone could be former gun molls.  So I wanted to give a nod to my background without being as shrill.  In all honesty, I used to speak exactly like that — my acting school professors really worked the accent out of me.  So it was fun to find those tones and accent again."

Paget Brewster will voice Poison Ivy, after previously voicing Lana Lang in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Lois Lane in Justice League: Gods and Monsters.  

Additional cast members include John DiMaggio, Eric Bauza, Rob Paulsen, Robin Atkin Downes, Mindy Sterling, and Trevor Devall.

Batman and Harley Quinn will be released on digital download, Blu-ray and DVD sometime this summer.

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY Casts Rainn Wilson as Harry Mudd

Is this Star Trek: The Wrath of Con (Man)?

The official Star Trek site has announced that the upcoming CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery has cast Rainn Wilson as original series character Harry Mudd.  It's not yet known how many episodes of the new series will feature the character.

Wilson joins Jason Isaacs as Lorca, the captain of the U.S.S. Discovery, Sonequa Martin-Green as Rainsford, a lieutenant commander and the show's lead character, Doug Jones as science officer Saru, Anthony Rapp as fellow science officer Stamet, James Frain as Sarek, a Vulcan astrophysicist and Spock's father, Terry Serpico as Starfleet Admiral Anderson, Maulik Pancholy as chief medical officer Nambue, and Sam Vartholomeos as junior Starfleet officer Connor.

Wilson, 51, is best known as Dwight Schrute on the American version of TV comedy series The Office.  He also appeared in the films Super, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Galaxy Quest, Monsters vs. Aliens, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Baadasssss!, House of 1000 Corpses, Juno, Smurfs: The Lost Village, The Last Mimzy, Sahara, and Almost Famous. His other television work includes episodes of Backstrom, Adventure Time, Reno 911!, Saturday Night Live, Entourage, Numb3rs, Six Feet Under, Monk, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Dark Angel, Charmed, and One Life to Live.

Created in 1966 by Gene Roddenberry and Stephen Kandel, Harry Mudd first encountered the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise in the Star Trek episode "Mudd's Women".  As a con artist using the illegal Venus drug, Mudd attempted to sell Eve McHuron, Ruth Bonaventure and Magda Kovacs to a group of lithium miners led by Ben Childress on Rigel XII.  The drug gave the impression that the three women were beautiful, when in fact they were not. Childress and the other miners married the women anyway, as they were more interested in companionship and the benefits that having three practical, intelligent women around could provide, and the women were happy to escape their previously lonely existence.  Before leaving Rigel XII, Mudd asked to remain on the planet, saying it would be adequate punishment, though this request wasn't granted by Captain Kirk. Criminal charges were later pressed against Mudd for his actions and he spent at least some time in jail.

In his second encounter with the Enterprise crew in the episode "I, Mudd", Mudd "borrowed" a spaceship and escaped the planet Deneb V before a death sentence for fraud could be carried out.  He ended up fleeing to a previously uncharted planet, one that was populated entirely by androids, programmed to adapt the planet for productive use, who became interested in studying Mudd as a specimen of humanity.  This meant that while the androids attended to his every need, and even made him the titular ruler of the planet (later named Mudd in his honor), Mudd was not allowed to leave.  Mudd then attempted to broker a deal where he would be allowed to escape, if he provided the androids with other prime human specimens to study. 

Therefore, Mudd identified the starship Enterprise to the androids as a likely source of exceptional examples of humanity.  Subsequently, the android known as Norman, posing as a member of the Enterprise crew, successfully took control of the ship and took it to the planet Mudd. The crew of the Enterprise, however, was able to escape captivity by identifying Norman as the control for all of the planet's androids.  The crew proceeded to confuse Norman with illogical behavior, causing him to break down.  After the androids were reprogrammed, Mudd was left behind on the planet as an example of a human failure, along with 500 uncontrollable android replicas of his shrill wife Stella for company.

Wilson will be the second actor to portray the character in live action, after Roger C Carmel on the original Star Trek series and in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "Mudd's Passion".

Star Trek: Discovery is currently scheduled to debut on CBS sometime in Fall 2017, with the remainder of the episodes airing on CBS All Access.

New DOCTOR WHO Companion Confirmed as Openly Gay

Doctor Who has its first openly gay companion and it's about time.

According to BBC News, incoming Doctor Who co-star Pearl Mackie has confirmed that her character, new companion Bill Potts, is openly gay.  Bill Potts's sexuality will be revealed in her second line of dialogue in the first episode of Series Ten, "The Pilot".

Speaking to the BBC in an interview, Mackie said, "It shouldn't be a big deal in the 21st Century.  It's about time isn't it?  That representation is important, especially on a mainstream show."

She added, "It's important to say people are gay, people are black.  There are also aliens in the world as well, so watch out for them.  I remember watching TV as a young mixed race girl not seeing many people who looked like me, so I think being able to visually recognize yourself on screen is important."

"[Being gay] is not the main thing that defines her character," she continued, "it's something that's part of her and something that she's very happy and very comfortable with."

This will be the first time the series has featured an openly gay companion.  Previous Ninth Doctor companion Captain Jack Harkness, played by John Barrowman, was revealed to be omnisexual, and recurring character River Song, played by Alex Kingston, was revealed as bisexual.

This will be Peter Capaldi's last season as the Twelfth Doctor, and Steven Moffat's last season as showrunner before he's replaced by Chris Chibnall, so it remains to be seen if Mackie will return for Series Eleven in 2018.

Doctor Who returns to BBC1 and BBC America in "The Pilot" on Saturday, April 15th.

THE FANDOM ZONE 097: "Fellowship of the Spear" is Up!

"Piece of cake."
"You thought that was easy?"
"No, I want a piece of cake.  And a beer."
– Mick Rory and Jefferson "Jax" Jackson, Legends of Tomorrow: "Fellowship of the Spear"

Celebrating our second anniversary, Karen Lindsay and I are back with another HUGE episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  So huge, in fact, we're splitting it into two parts!

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

The Walking Dead 7x14: "The Other Side"

Supergirl 2x16: "Star-Crossed"

The Flash 3x17: "Duet"

Legends of Tomorrow 2x15: "Fellowship of the Spear"

Arrow 5x17: "Kapiushon"

Legion 1x07: "Chapter 7"

Iron Fist 1x02: "Shadow Hawk Takes Flight"

This time, we talk about things like having Robotman Head, celebrating the Second Anniversary of The Fandom Zone, "Kapiushon" vs. "Kapushon", Sasha and Rosita having their Thelma and Louise moment, speculating on Eugene's plan, Dwight creeping on Rosita, Die Hard and Die Hard with a Vengeance, killing off Gregory, the CW promoting crossovers that aren't crossovers, why Mon-El should've come clean earlier about being a prince of Daxam, the correct pronunciation of Van Gogh, why having Glee cast members shouldn't be the reason to have singing and tap-dancing superheroes, Barry Allen being so uncool he's cool, Barry's cringeworthy second proposal to Iris, wondering why the Music Meister had no motivation as a character, Cisco's perfect execution of the superhero team-up, Tolkien getting way too bogged down in details as a writer, The Fellowship of the Ring as the Star Wars of fantasy movies, not being able to clone Jesus, wondering why Prometheus' torture is more effective than all of Oliver's previous torture, John Barrowman's CW hat trick, all the bad guys being named Simon, less Felicity making for a better Arrow episode, being proven right about the Shadow King, the big "silent movie" sequence with uber-creepy Aubrey Plaza, British David explaining everything to American David, Danny Rand being held for psychiatric evaluation, Harold being indebted to The Hand, Danny convincing Joy of his identity with brown M&Ms, The Last Dragon, some feedback from Justina, an update on Jesse Jackson's cancer battle, and more!

You can now check out episodes of The Fandom Zone using...

Google Play Music -- HERE 

iTunes -- HERE

Direct Download MP3s/Libsyn -- HERE

The Fandom Zone on Facebook -- HERE

The Fandom Zone on Twitter -- @FandomZoneCast

And if that isn't enough for you, you can also check us out on YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!  Oh, and if you're interested in an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt that all the cool kids are wearing, you can get those on TeePublic HERE as well!  Feel free to post a picture on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come back next week, as Karen and I review the Season 1 finale of Legion, Episode 3 of Iron Fist, and new episodes of The Walking Dead, Supergirl, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Arrow, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

Joss Whedon to Write & Direct BATGIRL Solo Movie

Gotham City is about to have another hero on the big screen.

Variety has revealed that filmmaker Joss Whedon is nearing a deal with Warner Bros. to write, direct and produce Batgirl, based on the popular DC Comics superhero.

According to the article, the project, which was formed last month, will also feature other characters from the Batman mythos.  Toby Emmerich, president and chief content officer of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, will oversee the movie with Jon Berg and Geoff Johns.

The movie will be the second DC Extended Universe to feature a female DC superhero in the lead role, after this summer's Wonder Woman.  In addition, the studio is also developing a Suicide Squad sequel and Gotham City Sirens, a spinoff to Suicide Squad with Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn character.  Other upcoming projects include The Batman, starring Ben Affleck with Matt Reeves directing, a Shazam film and a Black Adam spinoff starring Dwayne Johnson, and projects based on The Flash and Cyborg.

Whedon, 52, is best known as the creator of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.   His previous films include The Avengers (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Serenity, and he directed the popular internet miniseries Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.  Whedon's writing credits include Toy Story, The Cabin in the Woods, X-Men, Twister, Speed, The Getaway, Titan A.E. and Waterworld.

Created in 1967 by William Dozier, Julius Schwartz and Carmine Infantino, Batgirl first appeared in Detective Comics (vol.1) #359, and later that same year on the Batman television series episode "Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin", as the daughter of Gotham City's Police Commissioner James Gordon.  In her debut story in the comics, while driving to a costume ball dressed as a female version of Batman, Barbara Gordon intervened in a kidnapping attempt on Bruce Wayne by the super villain Killer Moth, which gained Batman's attention and led to a crime-fighting career.  Although Batman insisted she give up crime-fighting because of her gender, Batgirl disregarded his objections.

In the controversial 1988 graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke, writer Alan Moore had Batman's arch-enemy The Joker shoot and paralyze Barbara in an attempt to drive her father insane, thereby proving to Batman that anyone can be morally compromised.  One year later, writers John Ostrander and Kim Yale gave Barbara Gordon new life in Suicide Squad (vol.1) #23 as Oracle, a mysterious computer expert who assisted and supplied information to various DC Comics heroes in their fight against crime.  The character's popularity led to the creation of the series Birds of Prey in 1996, where writer Chuck Dixon partnered Oracle with Black Canary and a rotating cast of female DC superheroes.

In 2011, DC Comics rebooted their continuity in The New 52, effectively making the character younger in a modern timeline where she became active again as Batgirl.  In the new continuity, the events of The Killing Joke took place three years before current events, but it was established she was paraplegic during that time.  Barbara Gordon regained her mobility after undergoing experimental surgery at a South African clinic.  In recent months, Barbara has a new life as a PhD student in the hip Gotham borough of Burnside, in between adventures as Batgirl and with the Birds of Prey.

New SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING Trailer Showcases Iron Man & The Vulture

Looks like Peter Parker needs to earn his Spider-Man suit.

Sony Pictures has released a new trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming, the upcoming Spider-Man reboot film starring Tom Holland as Spider-Man/Peter Parker, Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man/Tony Stark and Michael Keaton as The Vulture/Adrian Toomes.

The two minute, thirty second trailer pretty much lays out the movie's plot and opens with Peter changing into his spiffy new Spider-Man costume designed by Tony Stark, which vacuum-conforms to his physique.  

We cut to Peter and Tony sitting in the back of a limousine, where Peter asks Tony, "So, to become an Avenger, are there like, trials or an interview?"

"Do me a favor," Tony replies in exasperation.  "Can't you just be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man?  Just stay close to the ground."  We see Peter swinging around said friendly neighborhood and sliding across someone's backyard swimming pool.

Peter's best friend, Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), discovers Peter's secret identity.  "You're the Spider-Man from YouTube!" he exclaims after dropping a mechanical device onto the floor.

Curious, Ned keeps pestering Peter with questions about being Spider-Man.  "Can you summon an army of spiders?" he asks, with Peter replying no.  

We then see a cameo by Chris Evans, reprising his role of Captain America, in a PSA captioned "Captain America's Fitness Challenge" for gym class.  "Do you know him, too?" asks Ned.

"I stole his shield," whispers Peter proudly.

Ned then asks to try the suit on, which Peter agrees to, and we see Ned wearing Peter's Spider-Man mask.

We cut to The Vulture, who has somehow acquired one of Tony's Iron Man helmets.  "The rich and the powerful, like Stark," he says to his henchmen, "they don't care about us.  The world's changing, boys...Time we changed, too."

Folllowing some footage of The Vulture causing destruction, Peter says to Tony, "His weapons are crazy dangerous."

"Listen, Peter," replies Tony as we see a shot of Avengers Tower, "forget the flying monster guy.  There are people who handle this sort of thing."

Being all about the great power and great responsibility, however, Peter confronts the Vulture's men aboard the Staten Island Ferry.  "The illegal weapons ferry was at 2:30," he quips.  "You missed it."

All at once, however, the Vulture attacks with a powerful energy weapon, which blows out the entire front of the ferry and splits the vessel in half.  Spider-Man frantically webs the two halves of the ferry together and struggles to hold both halves together to save the passengers and crew.  Iron Man arrives at that moment, using his boot jets to push the ship back together.

Tony confronts Peter about the incident.  "What if somebody had died," he scolds.

"I was just trying to be like you," replies Peter.

"I want you to be better.  I'm gonna need the suit back."

Peter pleads, "But I'm nothing without this suit."

"If you're nothing without this suit," Tony counters, "then you shouldn't have it."

Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) tries to reassure Peter, "You need to stop carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders."

We then see Peter, now wearing a homemade Spider-Man costume, facing off against the Vulture in an old warehouse.  

"I want you to understand," says the Vulture, "I'll do anything to protect my family.  I know you know what I'm talking about, so don't mess with me, 'cause I will kill you and everybody you love."

We see an explosion high atop the Washington Monument, with Peter's classmate Michelle (Zendaya) telling Spider-Man "My friends are up there!"

As Spider-Man climbs the Monument, his spider chest emblem detaches itself and flies off before Spider-Man backflips over a police helicopter and rescues a falling elevator.  

"The guy is still out there," Peter tells Ned.  "I just gotta do this on my own."

Next, we see Spider-Man in the homemade costume once again, battling the Vulture atop a passenger airplane in mid-air.

"Just...don't do anything stupid," quips Tony as we return to the limousine scene again.

Lastly, we see Spider-Man struggling to steer the crashing airplane away from a Manhattan skyscraper.  "I got this," he says to himself.

If you'd like to check out the new trailer, you can view it below thanks to Sony Pictures' official YouTube account...



Spider-Man: Homecoming is expected to arrive in theaters on July 7, 2017.