NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 081: "Knock Knock" is Up!

"You don’t have to go to outer space to find monsters.  There’s plenty of things that wanna kill you right here on Earth!"

– Nardole to The Twelfth Doctor, Doctor Who: "Knock Knock"

You guessed it, 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 "Knock Knock", the fourth episode from Series Ten, starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts, and Matt Lucas as Nardole!

This time, Jesse and I discuss things like lame Doctor Who jokes from the '70s, Jesse's son Chris being sucked into watching Doctor Who, yet another Agatha Christie connection to Doctor Who, referencing Bill's sexuality without dwelling on it, more speculation on the possible return of the Doctor's granddaughter Susan, the Doctor trying to be hip with The Kids, more speculation on the Mystery Vault, being surprised at how little Nardole is being used in Series 10, wondering if the Doctor knows his regeneration is coming, Fourth Doctor companion Harry Sullivan, wishing a series featuring Bill's housemates was the Doctor Who spinoff instead of Class, my Reverse the Polarity segment, and more!

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Be sure to come back next week as Jesse and I review "Oxygen", the fifth 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!

THE FANDOM ZONE 102: "I Know Who You Are" is Up!

"You know how we said we were going to keep you safe?"

"Yeah..."

"Now I need to ask you to do something dangerous."

– H.R. Wells and Tracy Brand, The Flash: "I Know Who You Are"

With Karen sadly unavailable this week, I'm joined by special guest host with the most Phil Perich for a shortened new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Supergirl 2x19: "Alex"

Gotham 3x16: "These Delicate and Dark Obsessions"

The Flash 3x20: "I Know Who You Are"

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 4x20: "Farewell, Cruel World!"

This week, Phil and I talk about things like Phil not being the poor man's Jesse Jackson, Nightwing needing to update his real name from "Dick" to "Rick", the Supergirl Defense, Dick Malverne from classic Supergirl comics, J'onn's plot selective telepathy, Rhea's "I'm not being a supervillain, honest" proposal to Lena Luthor, the Court of Owls wanting to destroy their city they control, throwing people into Gotham River to die always failing, the Talon killing everyone in sight, the Penguin and Poison Ivy teaming up, wondering if Bruce is going to get accelerated training from the Court of Owls, wondering if Tracy Brand is Caitlin's replacement, Killer Frost's really cool ice slides, wondering when Team Flash will get around to freeing Jay Garrick from the Speed Force, the big Savitar reveal, Simmons killing Fitz's father, the awkwardness of trying to escape a virtual reality through a molten vat, Mack choosing to stay with his virtual daughter, some new Justina feedback, not being able to discuss this week's Arrow episode, some Fred Firestine feedback about our Episode 100, Phil's big podcast news, and more!

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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 returns to help me review Episode 7 of Iron Fist, along with new episodes of Supergirl, Gotham, Lucifer, The Flash, iZombie, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Arrow, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

NEW MUTANTS Casts Maisie Williams as Wolfsbane & Anya Taylor-Joy as Magik

Remember, don't call 'em X-Babies.

The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed rumors that the upcoming X-Men spinoff film New Mutants has cast Maisie Williams as Rahne Sinclair and Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin, better known to Marvel Comics fans as Wolfsbane and Magik.  Reportedly, director Josh Boone has wanted the actresses for these roles since last year "but was only able pull the trigger on them once the movie was greenlighted earlier this year."

According to the article, New Mutants will "focus on the angst-driven adventures of a diverse group of teens that include Native American Danielle Moonstar, Scots girl Wolfsbane, Brazilian ladies man Sunspot, a Kentuckian code-named Cannonball and Russian teen Magik.  Also in the mix will be an alien named Warlock."

Williams, 20, is best known as Arya Stark on the HBO series Game of Thrones and as Ashildr on the BBC series Doctor Who. Her films include The Falling, The Book of Love and iBoy, while her other television appearances include The Secret of Crickley Hall, Robot Chicken, and Cyberbully.

Created in 1982 by Chris Claremont and Bob McLeod, Wolfsbane first appeared in Marvel Graphic Novel #4 as Rahne Sinclair, a Scottish orphan raised by an abusive pastor named Reverend Craig, who beat religion into her from an early age.  When she was revealed as a mutant able to shift her form between human and wolf, Reverend Craig led an angry mob, intending to burn her at the stake.  Rahne was rescued and later adopted by Moira MacTaggert.  Later, when she confronted Reverend Craig as an adult, she learned that Reverend Craig was actually her biological father and that her mother had been a prostitute.  She was recruited by Professor X to become a student at his School for Gifted Youngsters, and to join the original New Mutants.

Taylor-Joy, 21, is probably best known as Casey Cooke in the movie Split and as Morgan in the movie Morgan.  Her other films include The Witch, Vampire Academy and Barry, while her television appearances include episodes of Atlantis and Endeavour.

Created in 1975 by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum, Magik first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men #1 as Illyana Nikolievna Rasputina, the younger sister of the X-Man Colossus, who was born in the Ust-Ordynski Collective farm, near Lake Baikal, Siberia.  At six years old, Illyana was called to the Limbo dimension by Belasco, who sought to bring forth the Elder Gods to rule Earth. She was raised there and frequently tormented by Belasco's underling S'ym.  Later, she was rescued and tutored in the practice of white magic by that dimension's version of Storm (who turned to magic when her mutant powers waned).  After getting Illyana back under his control, Belasco instructed her in the art of black magic in the hopes that it would further corrupt her soul.  Illyana eventually created the Soulsword and took over Limbo as its new ruler, banishing Belasco from Limbo and claiming S'ym as her servant.  She then returned to Earth, now a decade older, although very little time had passed on Earth since her kidnapping. Soon afterward, she joined the New Mutants.

This will be the first time the two characters will appear in live action, although Wolfsbane has appeared in the animated series X-Men, X-Men: Evolution (voiced by Chantal Strand), and Wolverine and the X-Men.  Magik has also appeared in the X-Men animated series, voiced by by Tara Charendoff.

New Mutants is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on April 13, 2018.

KRYPTON Gets Series Order from Syfy

Krypton is ready to explode at last.

Deadline has word that Syfy's Superman prequel series Krypton has received a full series order.  The move seemed likely, after a trailer announcing the series was coming in 2017 was leaked onto the interwebz last month.

Krypton is set two generations before the destruction of the legendary Man of Steel's home planet and will follow Superman's grandfather — whose House of El was ostracized and shamed — as he fights to redeem his family's honor and save his beloved world from chaos.  The cast includes:

Cameron Cuffe as Seg-El -- Superman's grandfather; athletic, quietly confident, and in his 20s.  A younger version of the "grumpier" character from the comics.

Georgina Campbell as Lyta Zod -- A reluctant cadet and warrior in the Kryptonian military, in a clandestine, forbidden relationship with Seg-El.

Ian McElhinney as Val-El -- Seg's grandfather, who defied death by going to the Phantom Zone and is a staunch believer in space exploration.

Elliot Cowan as Daron-Vex -- The chief magistrate of Kandor, charged with defending Krypton's oligarchy.

Ann Ogbomo as Alura Zod -- The Primus of the Kryptonian military guild and mother of Lyta. Alura shares her first name with Alura Zor-El, the mother of Supergirl.

Rasmus Hardiker as Kem -- An engineer and Seg's best friend.

Wallis Day as Nyssa-Vex -- A junior magistrate and the daughter of Daron-Vex.

Aaron Pierre as Dev-Em -- A "chiseled, twenty-something bad boy".

Krypton is from Warner Horizon Scripted Television and is executive produced by David Goyer through his Phantom Four banner.  Damian Kindler will serve as executive producer and showrunner.

The pilot teleplay was written by Goyer and Kindler, from a story by Ian Goldberg and Goyer, with Colm McCarthy serving as director and co-executive producer.

BLACK LIGHTNING Gets Series Order from The CW

Black Lightning is large and in charge on The CW.

Deadline reported late yesterday that The CW has picked up Black Lightning, based on the DC Comics superhero, and given the drama a series order.

Black Lightning centers on Jefferson Pierce, who hung up his suit and his secret identity years ago, but with a daughter hell-bent on justice and a star student being recruited by a local gang, he’ll be pulled back into the fight as the wanted vigilante and DC legend Black Lightning.  The cast includes:

Cress Williams as Jefferson Pierce / Black Lightning, who was described in a previous casting description as a "former 3-time gold medal decathlon winner who is now principal of a high school in South Central Los Angeles.  A father figure to his student and hero to the local community.  Jefferson is charming, charismatic, smart, and has both warmth and humor.  He is devoted to his two daughters and remains deeply in love with his ex-wife Lynn.  He also has a great passion for justice and a quick temper that he has spent years learning how to control."

Christine Adams as Lynn Pierce, Jefferson's ex-wife.  Lynn was described as "exudes confidence and intelligence.  Beautiful, but not to be trifled with.  Can exhibit both great emotional depth as well as a flirtatious, mischievous side."

China Anne McClain as Jennifer Pierce, who becomes the superhero Lightning in the comics.  Jennifer was described as "Jefferson’s younger daughter.  Jennifer is a scholar athlete; beautiful with a lean, athletic runner’s build.  She is the entitled feminist of the Pierce family.  Independent and outspoken with a wild streak."

Nafessa Williams as Anissa Pierce, who becomes the superhero Thunder in the comics. Anissa was described as "Jefferson’s elder daughter.  Beautiful, quick-witted and intelligent; intense and passionate.  Anissa has a great respect for her father.  Anissa balances the demands of medical school with her duties as a part time teacher at Jefferson’s school." 

Black Lightning was developed by Greg Berlanti (famous for the four DC Comics series currently on The CW), Mara Brock Akil and her husband Salim Akil (The Game, Being Mary Jane).  The series is from Warner Bros. Television, Berlanti Productions and Akil Productions.  Salim Akil and Mara Brock Akil will serve as executive producers with Berlanti Productions' Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter.

The new series makes the fifth DC Comics series on The CW from Berlanti Productions, including Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl.  Riverdale, based on the Archie Comics titles, makes six comic book series from Berlanti Productions now on The CW.  In addition, iZombie, based on the DC Comics/VERTIGO series, was just renewed by The CW for Season 4, bringing the total to seven.

Fox's X-Men Drama THE GIFTED Gets Series Order & Teaser

Get ready for the X-Men to hit network TV.

Deadline reported yesterday that the X-Men drama series The Gifted has received a series order from Fox for the 2017-18 television season.  

Written by Burn Notice creator Matt Nix and executive produced by X-Men movie director Bryan Singer, who also directed the pilot, The Gifted focuses on a suburban couple whose ordinary lives are rocked by the sudden discovery that their children possess mutant powers.  Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family joins up with an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive.  The full cast includes:

Stephen Moyer as Reed Strucker, a father trying to balance his family responsibilities with his job as a district attorney.

Amy Acker as Caitlin Strucker, a mother struggling with her split from Reed and "increasingly challenging" teenage children.

Natalie Alyn Lind as Lauren Strucker, a "perfect" kid.

Percy Hynes White as Andy Strucker, a sensitive loner who keeps to himself.

Emma Dumont as Polaris/Lorna Dane: A brave and loyal mutant who can control magnetism.

Blair Redford as Thunderbird/John Proudstar, a strong-willed mutant and leader of the underground community.

Jamie Chung as Blink/Clarice Fong, a "sarcastic, lively" mutant with teleportation powers. The character was previously portrayed by Fan Bingbing in Singer's film X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Sean Teale as Eclipse/Marcos Diaz, a rebellious mutant who can absorb and manipulate photons.

Coby Bell as Jace Turner, a man struggling with the cold-blooded requirements of his job.

In addition, Fox has released a 20-second teaser trailer for The Gifted, with a full trailer arriving five days from now.  You can view it below thanks to the official Fox account on YouTube...

HELLBOY Reboot RISE OF THE BLOOD QUEEN in Negotiations

Here's hoping that David Harbour likes pamcakes.  Mmmmm...pamcakes... (drools)

The Hollywood Reporter revealed late yesterday that Mike Mignola's demonic superhero Hellboy may finally return to the big screen, only without fan-favorite star Ron Perlman and director Guillermo del Toro from the first two Hellboy films, Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army.

According to the article, Millennium Films is in negotiations with producers Larry Gordon and Lloyd Levin for a new installment that would reboot and relaunch the property.  Mike Richardson of Dark Horse Entertainment is also producing.  The project, which currently has the working title of Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen, has director Neil Marshall attached, with a script by Andrew Cosby, Christopher Golden and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola.

Marshall is best known as the director of the epic Game of Thrones episodes "Blackwater" and "The Watchers on the Wall", as well as episodes of Hannibal, Constantine, Westworld, Timeless, and Black Sails.  His films include Dog Soldiers, The Descent and The Descent Part 2.

The article also states that David Harbour is in talks to star as Hellboy.  Harbour, 42, is best known as Chief Jim Hooper on the Netflix series Stranger Things, and has appeared in the films Suicide Squad, Quantum of Solace, The Green Hornet, War of the Worlds (2005), Black Mass, The Equalizer, Revolutionary Road, Awake, and Brokeback Mountain.  His other television appearances include episodes of Banshee, State of Affairs, Elementary, The Newsroom, Pan Am, Rake, and Manhattan.

Created in 1993 by Mike Mignola, Hellboy first appeared in Next Men #21 as a well-meaning demon whose true name is Anung Un Rama ("and upon his brow is set a crown of flame"). Hellboy was summoned from Hell to Earth as an infant demon on December 23, 1944 by Nazi occultists, creating his hatred for them.  He was discovered by the Allied Forces, including Professor Trevor Bruttenholm, who formed the United States Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD).  In time, Hellboy grew to be a large, red-skinned man with a tail, horns (which he files off, leaving behind the signature circular stumps on his forehead), cloven hooves for feet, and an oversized right hand made of stone.

As an adult, having matured physically within years and aging slowly while having a teenaged mind, Hellboy beame the primary agent for the BPRD, alongside other human and quasi-human agents that include Kate Corrigan, a professor of folklore at New York University; Abe Sapien, an amphibian humanoid (Ichthyo sapiens); and Liz Sherman, a young pyrokinetic.  Things changed for Hellboy during the events of Seed of Destruction, when he found Professor Bruttenholm after he disappeared in an expedition in the Arctic, witnessing his adopted father killed by a frog monster.  The search took Hellboy, Abe and Liz to the Cavendish Hall mansion, which was a trap established by Rasputin to have Hellboy embrace his destiny with the assistance of Sadu-Hem, one of the spawn of the Ogdru Jahad.  Controlled by the spirit of one of the ancestral Cavendish men, Abe impaled Rasputin.  Liz's firestorm incinerated Rasputin's body alongside Sadu-Hem's, and destroyed Cavendish Hall.

DAMN Good Movies -- GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2

Yep, time once again for another of my movie takes, this time on the film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the sequel to the hit Marvel Cinematic Universe film Guardians of the Galaxy.  As always, if you haven't seen the movie yet and you don't want it spoiled for you, then please step back from your computer or whatever electronic device you're reading this on and stop reading now.  If, however, you're wise enough to know that movie reviews with spoilers are always more interesting than the ones without them...well...get ready for something good, something bad, a bit of both...

Three years ago, Marvel Studios rolled the dice hard on a big-screen adaptation of their comic series Guardians of the Galaxy, which turned out to be one of the big hits of 2014 and brought in a nice little $773 million worldwide, with a reported budget of $170 million.  James Gunn, who co-wrote and directed the original movie, was contractually obligated to return if asked, and wrote and directed this film as well.  In addition to the new character Mantis, Gunn originally planned to introduce Adam Warlock, but ended up cutting him because he thought the film was "getting too busy."  A good call, in my opinion, because the film is still too busy without him.

Set in 2014 shortly after the events of the first film, the Guardians of the Galaxy are recruited by Ayesha, the leader of a bunch of gold aliens called the Sovereign, to protect valuable batteries from an inter-dimensional monster in exchange for Gamora's eternally pissed-off sister Nebula, who was caught trying to steal the batteries.  After Rocket steals some for himself, the Sovereign attacks the Guardians' ship with a fleet of drones that have remote controls that use classic '80s videogame sound effects. The drones are destroyed by a mysterious figure, but as a result of the attack, the Guardians are forced to crash-land on a nearby planet.  Said mysterious figure reveals himself to be Peter's father, Ego, who just happened to be looking for his long-lost son from Earth.  Ego invites Peter, Gamora and Drax to his home planet (or is that the planet's home?), while Rocket and Baby Groot stay behind to repair the ship and babysit Nebula.  Lucky them.

Ayesha, meanwhile, is really not happy that Rocket stole the batteries and hires Yondu Udonta and his crew, who were exiled from the Ravagers for child trafficking, to go after the Guardians.  They capture Rocket -- eventually -- but when Yondu is reluctant to turn over Peter, Yondu's second-in-command Taserface (Yes, that's right, Taserface) leads a mutiny with some help from Nebula.  Taserface imprisons Rocket and Yondu aboard Yondu's ship and shoves everyone loyal to Yondu out an airlock, while Nebula quickly bails to kill Gamora, whom she blames for all the horrible crap in her horrible cyborg life.

As if that's not enough to deal with, Ego explains to Peter, Gamora and Drax that he's a god-like Celestial, an eternal consciousness that formed a planet with itself at the core. Feeling lonely and because Tinder hadn't been invented yet, Ego created a human body to travel the universe and interact with other species, eventually meeting and falling in love with Peter's dead mom Meredith.  Ego hired Yondu to collect Peter as a boy after Meredith's death, but Yondu never delivered Peter and Ego has been searching for him ever since. And yes, it turns out that Peter has Celestial power, too.

See, I told you this film was too busy.

And just when Peter starts feeling happy about finally being able to play catch with his dad, Ego drops the bomb on Peter that while exploring the universe, he planted seedlings upon thousands of worlds that can terraform them into new extensions of himself, but they can only be activated by the combined power of two Celestials.  So in order to make another Celestial, he knocked up countless alien women and hired Yondu to collect the children, only to kill them all when they failed to show Celestial power.  Losing tons of "Father of the Year" votes by the second, Ego forces Peter to activate the seedlings, which begin to consume every world they're on.  And then, just when you think things can't go any worse, Ego kicks Peter right in the teeth by revealing that he deliberately caused Meredith's death because his love for her distracted him from his true purpose.  Oh, hell no.

The film heads into the Third Act, with Gunn cranking up his latest classic rock mix tape and throwing everything he can at the screen.  The reunited Guardians fight the Sovereign's drones in the skies above while trying to reach Ego's brain at the planet's core and detonate a bomb Rocket made out of the stolen batteries.  The bomb naturally explodes just in the nick of time, killing Ego and causing the planet to go all Krypton.  And to help Peter cope with all of his new daddy issues, Yondu sacrifices himself to save Peter, who realizes Yondu didn't deliver him to Ego because he was saving him from being killed like the other Ego Juniors.  Yondu was Quill's real "daddy" after all!  Awwwww!

And thankfully, the film's cast give some great performances with a lot of entertaining character moments. Here are some of the things that stood out:

STAR-LORD/PETER JASON QUILL -- In his second outing as Star-Lord, Chris Pratt gets some serious emotional character development.  He finally meets his father Ego, discovers he has superpowers, tries to figure out what the hell he and Gamora are to each other, learns Ego is a major space douche, loses said space douche father and his superpowers, realizes Yondu was his unofficial father all along, and then loses Yondu as well.  As a result, Peter isn't nearly as fun this time and the film suffers a little because of it. 

GAMORA -- Zoe Saldana gets sidelined for a good portion of the sequel, pretty much reduced to playing "Will they or won't they?" with Peter, except for working out her issues (sort of) with her adopted sister Nebula.  The sequence where Gamora picks up a BFG and just unloads on Nebula is a particular highlight that just makes you smile.

DRAX THE DESTROYER -- Dave Bautista, the surprising comedic weapon of the first film, returns as Drax and thankfully hasn't changed at all.  Well, he does get a romance of his own with Mantis, whom he keeps referring to as physically ugly despite having apparent feelings towards her.  But don't worry, Drax's greatest trick of laughing hard at really inappropriate moments is still there.

ROCKET -- With all these emotional humanoids, you'd think Bradley Cooper's Rocket wouldn't be affected, but nope, nope, nope, he also goes through the emotional wringer. After a great spotlight sequence where Rocket pretty much owns the Ravagers before he ends up captured, he realizes he and Yondu are pretty much Angry Jerk Bros, and is genuinely affected by Yondu's death.  

BABY GROOT -- Vin Diesel reprises the voice of Groot, although you'd never know it because after the events of the first film, Groot is now a cute little tree toddler fresh out of the flower pot.  Baby Groot is pretty much all kinds of adorbz throughout the film, and you find yourself feeling really bad for him when the Ravagers turn him into their mascot and treat him like crap.  In a fun mid-credits scene, Groot starts growing back to his normal adult size, exhibiting typical sulky teenage behavior in the process.

EGO, THE LIVING PLANET -- The always entertaining Kurt Russell is Ego, a planet-sized change from Peter's father in the comics, J'Son, the emperor of the planet Sparta.  I'm sure a lot of diehard Marvel Comics fans were concerned about Gunn making The Living Planet a human, but the explanations provided work nicely, and we do get to see the comic version when everything goes to hell in the third act.  And hey, how about those Kurt Russell de-aging special effects during the flashback scenes with Meredith?  I think we need a new Snake Plissken Escape movie, don't you?

MANTIS -- Ditching the whole Celestial Madonna thing from the comics (for now at least), Pom Klementieff is a bit of a scene-stealer as the empath Mantis.  Her social awkwardness makes for great pairing with Drax, although I wish she wasn't quite so naïve at times.  It's nice to see another female character join the team though, especially as a contrast to Gamora.

YONDU UDONTA -- Speaking of scene-stealing, Michael Rooker comes dangerously close to stealing the entire movie as Yondu.  Rooker's "good ol' boy" charm comes through once again as he shares some great moments with Pratt and Cooper, as well as going through his own character arc of having his command taken away by disloyal mutineers.  He also gets the best line of the movie, after Yondu rescues Peter with the help of a rocket pack and lowers him slowly to the ground, proudly proclaiming "I'm Mary Poppins, y'all!"

NEBULA -- Returning as the cyborg sourpuss Nebula, Karen Gillan gets some character development of her own with the strained relationship between her and Gamora as adoptive daughters of Thanos.  Her best moments, however, are when she becomes the sci-fi version of Burt Kwouk's Cato from the Pink Panther movies and just shows up out of nowhere to try and kill Gamora.  Their battle on Ego's planet is truly epic.

AYESHA -- Looking like a victim of James Bond villain Auric Goldfinger, Elizabeth Debicki portrays Ayesha as a high priestess and leader of the Sovereign people and spends most of the film trying to kill the Guardians because Rocket stole the Sovereign's valuable batteries. In a mid-credits scene, Ayesha creates a new artificial being in a familiar cocoon with whom she plans to destroy the Guardians, naming him Adam.  If you're a Marvel Comics fan, you should recognize "Adam" as none other Adam Warlock.   

STARHAWK/STAKAR OGORD CAMEOS -- Making a couple of "Hey, it's Sylvester Stallone!" cameos in the film, Sylvester Stallone's Starhawk is the guy who saved Yondu from years of slavery by the Kree.  He later appears in a mid-credits scene, where he's inspired by Yondu's sacrifice and reunites with his former team, the original Guardians of the Galaxy.

MARTINEX CAMEOS -- Michael Rosenbaum appears as the crystalline Martinex, here a member of Stakar's team of Ravagers, who visits Yondu along with his leader to remind him that he is in exile.  After Yondu sacrifices himself, Martinex is also moved to bring the rest of the original Guardians back together to honor him.

CHARLIE-27 AND ALETA CAMEOS -- Ving Rhames and Michelle Yeoh turn up in the mid-credits scene where Starhawk and Martinex reunite with Charlie-27 and Aleta in a great nod to the original Guardians of the Galaxy team from the comics.

HOWARD THE DUCK CAMEO -- Steve Gerber's creation returns with Seth Green's voice once again.  Howard is shown having a drink with his date in the Iron Lotus on Contraxia, where Yondu Udonta was exiled for breaking the Ravagers Code.  In the scene, he flirts with his date by saying "You're out of luck until you've got duck." 

OBLIGATORY STAN LEE CAMEO -- Stan "The Man" turns up in a great post-credits scene as an informant to the Watchers, discussing previous adventures that include Stan's cameos in other Marvel Cinematic Universe films. This is a great nod to the popular fan theory that Stan was actually one of the Watchers in his various cameo appearances.

All in all, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a worthy sequel to the original, even though it's not quite as good.  James Gunn makes another fun summer movie with the morally dubious Guardians, once again filled with lots of old-school songs you never knew you liked, snappy one-liners, and a ton of sci-fi action goodness.  But if you thought this film had a lot going on, just imagine how crazy things are going to get when the Guardians turn up next in Avengers: Infinity War to help take on Thanos...

And for those who may be wondering, here's the updated list of my Top 20 Comic Book Films:

1. Superman (1978)
2. The Dark Knight (2008)
3. The Avengers (2012)

4. Batman Begins (2005)

5. Logan (2017)

6. Captain America: Civil War (2016)

7. Man of Steel (2013)

8. Doctor Strange (2016)

9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

10. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
11. Spider-Man (2002)
12. Iron Man (2008)

13. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
14. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
15. Watchmen (2009)
16. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

17. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

18. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

19. X-Men: First Class (2011)

20. Deadpool (2016)

TORCHWOOD Returns for Series 5 in ALIENS AMONG US

Captain Jack, Gwen and Rhys are back!  Are you ready?

Big Finish Productions has announced that the Doctor Who spinoff series Torchwood is returning for Series 5 in a series of audio adventures titled Torchwood: Aliens Among Us.

Set after the events of the 2011 Starz TV series Torchwood: Miracle Day, Torchwood: Aliens Among Us will feature the return of John Barrowman as fan-favorite Captain Jack Harkness, Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper, Kai Owen as Rhys Williams, and Tom Price as Andy Davidson.

New characters include Paul Clayton as Mr. Colchester, Alexandria Riley as Ng, Jonny Green as Tyler, Sam Béart as Orr.  These characters were co-created and overseen by Torchwood creator and former Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies.

According to the announcement, in Torchwood: Aliens Among Us, "Captain Jack and Gwen Cooper have restarted Torchwood in Cardiff, home of the original Torchwood Three.  But it's in a very different Cardiff.  Something terrible's happened to the city.  With every day getting darker, will Torchwood need to adopt a whole new approach?"

The new series of Torchwood will be released in three boxsets from BigFinish.com, with Series 5.1 being out in August. Torchwood Series 5.2 will follow in October, and Torchwood 5.3 will complete the season in January 2018.

The episode titles for Series 5.1 are:

EPISODE 1: Changes Everything by James Goss

EPISODE 2: Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy by James Goss

EPISODE 3: Orr by Juno Dawson (who recently wrote Torchwood’s The Dollhouse)

EPISODE 4: Superiority Complex by AK Benedict (writer of Torchwood’s The Victorian Age and Outbreak)

Producer James Goss remarked, "Russell's been wonderfully involved in the continuation of Torchwood.  We came up with some characters and ideas and he very kindly, very politely said 'Marvelous, but no.  How about...?'.  And that's what lead to Jack and Gwen being joined by Mr. Colchester, Ng, Tyler, and the enigmatic Orr.  Who are they?  What part do they have to play in the future of Torchwood?  And can they save Cardiff from an invasion that's already been lost?"

Goss added, "This is an ambitious series for Big Finish -- an entire season of Torchwood! There are some great scripts by some new writers, but there are also some familiar old faces.  Of course Rhys and Andy are in it, but there'll be a few other surprises, including an appearance by someone who just has to be, has to be dead..."

First Look at INHUMANS' Royal Family Revealed

Get ready for the most uncanny heroes of all!  (No, not those uncanny heroes...)

Entertainment Weekly has revealed the first official cast photo from ABC's upcoming series Inhumans, based on the Marvel Comics superteam.  The Inhumans are a race of hybrid alien-human superbeings who have undergone a transformative "terrigenesis," a process that unlocks sometimes strange, but uniquely powerful gifts.  After a military coup, the Inhuman Royal Family escape to Hawaii, where they must save themselves and the world.

The photo of the Inhuman Royal Family includes, from left to right: Eme Ikwuakor as Gorgon, Ken Leung as Karnak, Anson Mount as Black Bolt, Serinda Swan as Medusa, Isabelle Cornish as Crystal, and Iwan Rheon as Maximus.  Here's the full version of the photo above...

In addition, the article features a Q&A with showrunner Scott Buck, the person behind the Netflix series Iron Fist.  Here are some of the highlights...

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Inhumans is a comic that, while beautiful on the page, seems almost impossible to bring to life. How daunting was that task when you took on the role of showrunner?

SCOTT BUCK: Actually, it was an exciting proposition. I had just finished Iron Fist and was looking for a little time off. Then, Jeph Loeb called me and pitched the idea of the Inhumans, the idea of doing a show basically about this family. We discussed each one of the characters, who they are, their personalities, their journeys. I always approach these things through the characters — what’s the story we can tell about Black Bolt, about Medusa and each one of these members of the Royal Family? It may have been daunting, but I think I was, more than anything, just excited about jumping in.

EW: Are there any storylines from the comics that you’re inspired by?

BUCK: I was so curious to see what their origins were, so I started at the very beginning. Obviously if you look at those comics from the early ’60s, they’re a very different tone than what we’re doing. It was fun to see how it all began, but I just continued to leap forward. I have not read all of them, but I continue to look through some of them. There were so many different incarnations of the Inhumans, though, so it was more a matter of figuring out, what’s the story we want to tell? Going back and then reading the whole backstory of them all was very helpful, but from that, we just pretty much moved forward.

EW: Are you planning to lean into the more fantastical elements of Inhumans’ powers, or are you trying to ground the series?

BUCK: To a certain extent, yes, but again, we approach these all as real people who just happen to have these abilities, so they’re all very grounded people. We try to write them as real as possible, and then have fun with the powers when we can. We want their powers to seem like a very natural part of their personality.

EW: Can you say anything about the story we’re going to be seeing with Black Bolt and the Royal Family?

BUCK: Basically we’re telling a story about a family at a very critical juncture in their lives. When we meet up with them, we’re going to find that pretty much everything they’ve ever known is at risk.

EW: Can you say where the show takes place: On Earth or Attilan?

BUCK: I think we’re on both.

EW: Attilan moves, so is Attilan currently on Earth in your story?

BUCK: Not when we go to Attilan, no.

EW: Does Inhumans live in the same universe as Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., considering on Earth there was this explosion of Inhumans?

BUCK: We all inhabit the same universe, so things that have happened on S.H.I.E.L.D. will potentially affect our show as well.

EW: Have you thought about crossover at all?

BUCK: Not at this point. [Laughs] We’re just trying to get this launched.

EW: A show like S.H.I.E.L.D. has a procedural element. Is that the case here or is Inhumans doing more serialized storytelling?

BUCK: I don’t think we’re likened to a procedural show in any way. We’re more of a family drama with one big story leading us through the season.

EW: What do you hope to achieve with the IMAX release?

BUCK: Hopefully, just to get people really excited. I think it’s something that absolutely stands on its own, but hopefully it’ll intrigue people enough to make them want to watch the rest of the show.

EW: Turning to the characters, Black Bolt is such a stoic leader in the comics. How does that translate to screen?

BUCK: Black Bolt is a very difficult character I would think for Anson, but for any actor to play. But Anson is tackling it in a hugely fantastic way. It’s a little bit difficult to write him, because Black Bolt does not speak, but yet he is our hero and he is the center of the show, so it does certainly present challenges in how you tell his story, but fortunately we came up with a really good story. Anson is terrific. I think everyone’s going to be very pleased and excited by his Black Bolt. We’re not doing voice over. If you read the comics, you see Black Bolt does find a way to communicate to people, but he’s also a very enigmatic character as well, and he keeps a lot inside. That’s part of what’s so fascinating about him is that a lot of times, we don’t know what he’s thinking.

EW: What made Iwan Rheon the perfect Maximus?

BUCK: We were so thrilled to get him because he’s such a super talented actor. Obviously we knew him well through Game of Thrones, but he can do a lot more than that. We didn’t want to create just a simple villain who’s evil for the sake of being evil. He’s a very real, three-dimensional character. Iwan is more than capable. Every time we watch dailies of him, we’re just more and more excited about what he’s bringing to the screen.

EW: We all expect this character to be the villain, but are there ways you’re going about to subvert expectations?

BUCK: I think our Maximus is a different, more complicated, more real, more compelling version of Maximus that has been seen in most of the comics, and it’s just because we have the opportunity to do so much more on the screen than you would in a comic book.

EW: How difficult is it to bring Medusa’s hair to life on film?

BUCK: It is very difficult. Even now, it’s still a process. It takes quite a long time in post to make that effect work. We have some of the best visual effects people available working on our show. We still haven’t seen the final version of it; it’s very much a work in process.

EW: Are characters like the fish-like Triton motion capture?

BUCK: Oh no, they’re all actors.

EW: Another character people are curious how you’re going to bring to life is Lockjaw.

BUCK: Lockjaw is probably going to end up being the audience’s favorite character. We certainly enjoy working with him. He’s fun to write, he’s fun to shoot. There’s not too much more detail than that that I can give, but he is going to be a standout on the show.

EW: We know basically nothing about Ellen Woglom’s character.

BUCK: She’s not a character in the comic books. She’s someone new who we have brought in.

EW: Marvel was planning to do an Inhumans movie and then it got delayed. Is this meant to be a primer before the movie? How do these things connect?

BUCK: I have no knowledge of the movie or anything other beyond this. People high up at Marvel may have some sense of what’s going on there, but for me, I’m just working on this TV show, so I have no connection to any movie.

The first two episodes of Inhumans are set to debut on IMAX screens on September 1, 2017, and run for two weeks, before premiering on ABC on September 26, and airing all eight episodes with additional exclusive content that can only be seen on the network.

First Full Trailer for THE DEFENDERS Gets the Team's $#!% Together

Defenders...Dissemble!

Netflix has released the first full trailer for their upcoming miniseries The Defenders, based on the Marvel Comics superteam and uniting the characters of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist.  

The two-minute, ten-second trailer opens with opens with Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) handcuffed to a table inside a police station interrogation room.  As guitar notes from the Nirvana song "Come As You Are" begin to sound, we hear the voice of detective Misty Knight (Simone Missick) tell Jessica, "You have interrupted a citywide investigation.  You stole evidence from my crime scene.  And you got my one lead killed."

"I was trying to help him," Jessica responds.

"But you didn't," counters Misty.

All at once, Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) enters the room and tells Jessica to stop talking. When Jessica asks Matt who the hell he is, he responds with a smile, "My name is Matthew Murdock. I'm your attorney."

We cut to Luke Cage (Mike Colter), who is having an intimate moment with Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson).  "How does being Harlem's hero allow you to have an actual life?" she asks him.

"Right now," Luke replies, "I just wanna help people."

"I think there's someone that you need to meet," says Claire.

We see Danny Rand (Finn Jones) stopping a guy and throwing him up against the wall, only to be stopped from punching him by Luke.  "Who are you?" Danny asks.

"Who are you?" replies Luke as Danny attempts to hit Luke and gets quickly knocked down in the process.  

"How come you can't be hurt?" asks Danny in a voiceover as we see his right hand glowing with the power of the Iron Fist.  

"What's the deal with that fist?" asks Luke in a voiceover as we see Danny decking Luke hard in the jaw with the Iron Fist.

"I'm the immortal Iron Fist," Danny replies as we cut to the actual scene.  

"You what?" asks Luke.

"You're on the same side," Claire says to both of them.

We then hear the voice of Stick (Scott Glenn), Daredevil's blind mentor, speaking in a voiceover as we see fleeting images of the four lead characters.  "You four..." he begins, "...the devil of Hell's Kitchen...the smartass detective...the righteous ex-con...and the kid with the glowing fist.  The war for New York is here...so get your shit together."

We cut to a scene of Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver), the big bad behind The Hand, confronting the four heroes.  "The more connections you have," she tells them, "the easier it will be to break you."

Next, we see the Defenders confronting Alexandra and The Hand in office building, with Matt concealing his identity with Jessica's scarf.  "You look like an idiot," Jessica tells him as we see fleeting images of Matt fighting the resurrected assassin Elektra (Élodie Yung) in a hallway.

"It's your scarf," replies Matt as we see him and the other Defenders teaming up to fight Alexandra's men in the hallway.

Lastly, we see a dinner scene of the Defenders discussing the idea of teaming up.  "We make quite a team," Danny says, only for Jessica to shut him down with a quick "No."

Danny looks at her incredulously as he begins gesturing to the others.  "What are you talking about?  Bulletproof...blind ninja...whatever it is you are..."

"Classy," replies Jessica with dripping sarcasm as Luke chuckles at her response.

If you'd like to check out the new trailer, you can view it below thanks to the official Netflix US & Canada account on YouTube...



All eight episodes of The Defenders will be released August 18, 2017 on Netflix.

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 080: "Thin Ice" is Up!

"Human progress isn’t measured by industry, it’s measured by the value you place on a life. An unimportant life.  A life without privilege.  The boy who died on the river, that boy’s value is your value.  That’s what defines an age.  That’s…what defines a species."

– The Twelfth Doctor to Lord Sutcliffe, Doctor Who: "Thin Ice"

You guessed it, 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 "Thin Ice", the third episode from Series Ten, starring Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor, Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts, and Matt Lucas as Nardole!

This time, Jesse and I discuss things like Tony Orlando, similar themes in Doctor Who episodes, the Frost Fairs and their various Doctor Who connections, elephants on ice, fish pies and fish poop, the Doctor needing to be reminded that racism exists, the Doctor's issues with aristocrats treating the lower class poorly, whether the Doctor chose the TARDIS or the TARDIS chose him, Bill worrying about the Butterfly Effect, the Doctor being able to tune out death to focus on the task ahead, more of Nardole and the Mystery Vault, social media outrage rarely turning into action, my Reverse the Polarity segment, looking forward to the American Gods TV series, teasing our upcoming podcast project, and more!

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

Google Play Music -- RIGHT HERE

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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 back next week as Jesse and I review "Knock Knock", the fourth 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!