DC Digital Service Orders Lois Lane & Lex Luthor Drama Series METROPOLIS

DC's digital service is becoming more powerful than a locomotive.

Deadline has word that the still-unnamed DC Comics digital service has given a straight-to-series order for Metropolis, a new live-action drama series starring the DC characters Lois Lane and Lex Luthor.

13 episodes have been ordered for Metropolis, which will go into production later this year for premiere on the service in 2019.  The series is described in the article as "Set in the wondrous and awe-inspiring City of Tomorrow before the arrival of Superman, Metropolis, based on the DC characters, follows Lois Lane and Lex Luthor as they investigate the world of fringe science and expose the city’s dark and bizarre secrets."

The series is the fourth DC Comics adaptation to receive a greenlight from the upcoming digital service, after the animated series Harley Quinn and Young Justice: Outsiders, and the live-action series Titans.  It's also the second Superman prequel series currently n production, joining Syfy’s upcoming drama series Krypton, from David S. Goyer, Damian Kindler and DC/Warner Bros. TV.  That series takes place on the planet Krypton approximately 200 years before the birth of Kal-El, who grows up on Earth as Clark Kent and becomes Superman.

John Stephens (Gotham, Gossip Girl, The O.C., Gilmore Girls) and Danny Cannon (Gotham, Nikita, CSI series) are the executive producers of Metropolis.  Danny Cannon will direct the first episode, from a teleplay by John Stephens, with story by Cannon and Stephens.  Based on characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, published by DC, Metropolis is produced by Warner Bros. Television.

First ANT-MAN AND THE WASP Trailer Teases The Ghost

You never knew Hello Kitty Pez dispensers could be so deadly, did you?

Marvel has released the first teaser trailer for Ant-Man and the Wasp, the upcoming sequel to the 2015 film Ant-Man starring Paul Rudd as Ant-Man/Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly as The Wasp/Hope Van Dyne.

The one-minute, 40-second trailer opens following the events of Captain America: Civil War, with Scott facing the consequences of his decision to stand with Captain America.  "I just have one question," Scott says to Hope.  "When Cap needed help, if I'd asked you, would you have come?"

"I guess we'll never know," replies Hope as we flash back to some images of Ant-Man as Giant-Man from Captain America: Civil War.  "But if you had, you'd have never been caught."

We then see Scott wearing an ankle monitor and having his place searched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  "I do some dumb things," he begins, "and the people I love the most pay the price."

We also see Hope and her father Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) being surrounded by armed FBI agents.  "Thanks to you, we had to run," Hope tells Scott, as we see a fun scene of Hank shrinking an entire office building down to the size of a small carry-on suitcase, pulling up a handle, and wheeling it away.  "We're still running."

Next, we get some fleeting images of Laurence Fishburne as Bill Foster, a gang of criminals in a car chase with Scott and Hope's van that suddenly shrinks underneath another car then expands to lift the car up off the ground, Scott as Giant-Man rising up from the water in front of a ferry filled with passengers, and our first look at Hannah John-Kamen as The Ghost.

"Maybe you just need someone watching your back," suggests Scott's daughter Cassie (Abby Ryder Fortson).  "Like a partner."

Suddenly, we see various images of The Wasp in action, as she dodges a series of hurled kitchen knives and using her wings.

"Hold on," Scott says to Hank, "you gave her wings?"

"And blasters," replies Hank.

"So, I take it you didn't have that tech available for me."

"No, I did," Hank says casually.

In the final scene of trailer, we see The Wasp opening up the back of the van and hurling a small Hello Kitty Pez dispenser at someone pursuing her and Scott on a motorcycle.  She quickly enlargens the Pez dispenser, creating a major obstacle that causes the rider to lose control of his bike and fall off.

I'd you like to check out the teaser trailer, you can view it below thanks to the official Marvel Entertainment account on YouTube...




Ant-Man and the Wasp is scheduled to arrive in theaters on July 6, 2018.

THE FLASH Casts Derek Mears as Dwarfstar

Central City is about to face a very small threat.

The International Business Times is reporting that the CW series The Flash has cast Derek Mears as Sylbert Rundin, better known to DC Comics fans as the supervillain Dwarfstar.

Dwarfstar will make his debut in tomorrow night's episode, "Honey, I Shrunk Team Flash," written by Sam Chalsen & Judalina Neira.  The official synopsis of the episode is "THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MEN — A meta who can shrink anything he touches battles Team Flash. Cisco (Carlos Valdes) and Ralph (guest star Hartley Sawyer) get caught in his crossfire and are shrunk to miniature versions of themselves.  Cecile (guest star Danielle Nicolet) realizes her pregnancy has caused her to have temporary powers and discovers she can hear other people’s thoughts, which unnerves Joe (Jesse L. Martin).  Meanwhile, Barry (Grant Gustin) meets someone with a mysterious connection to Henry Allen."

Mears, 45, is best known as Jason Vorhees in the 2009 reboot of Friday the 13th and as Renzo in the 2017 revival of Twin Peaks.  He's also appeared in the movies Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, and Predators.  His other television appearances include episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Comedy Bang! Bang!, Community, E.R., and The Shield.

Created in 2006 by Gail Simone and John Byrne, Dwarfstar first appeared in The All-New Atom #2 as Sylbert Rundin, a rapist and serial killer who preyed on the dormitories of Ivy University.  In his first appearance, he acquired a Bio-Belt similar to the one worn by college professor Ryan Choi and became the super-villain Dwarfstar.  This gave him the power to alter his size down to the subatomic level while retaining his natural strength level.  Dwarfstar is also keenly skilled with the use of his hunting knife that he uses to torture and kill his victims.

A master assassin as well as the shrinking nemesis of Ryan Choi. Dwarfstar was a constant thorn in Ryan's side during his tenure as The Atom. The two men were actually connected in ways they were unaware of.  A woman from Ryan's past was the reason that both men gained their shrinking belts, though Ryan was deceived to believe it was from Ray Palmer himself.  The woman, Jia, who was a former flame of Ryan's, would later turn to a life of crime and become the time warping villain Lady Chronos.  She referred to Dwarfstar as her "firstborn," probably referring to her connection to his acquisition of his power belt and not his actual birth.

Dwarfstar hired Deathstroke and his group of mercenaries, who called themselves Titans, to kill his nemesis Ryan Choi.  Deathstroke along with Cheshire, the Tattooed Man, Cinder and the recently resurrected Osiris carried out the sadistic mission.  After a horrendous confrontation at Ryan's home, he was beaten and stabbed.  Dwarfstar met Deathstroke the morning after the mission at Patriot Park so he could receive his trophy.  After Deathstroke confirmed the money was transferred, Dwarfstar was given a matchbox that contained Ryan Choi's dead body.

Ray Palmer, the previous Atom, began an investigation into Ryan's disappearance.  While investigating in his micro size, Ray discovered microbiological blood and informed the Justice League that Ryan was missing.  The League helped Ray's investigation into Ryan's whereabouts.  Later, Ray discovered evidence that Dwarfstar had a hand in Ryan's death, and vowed to find him and make him pay.  Ray eventually found Dwarfstar in a hospital, where he was recovering from severe injuries he sustained from his torture at the hands of Giganta (one of Ryan's girlfriends).  Believing it might lead to a lighter prison sentence, Dwarfstar confessed to hiring Deathstroke to kill Ryan.  Armed with this knowledge, Ray left to inform the Justice League, but not before informing Dwarfstar that Deathstroke would kill him for his betrayal.

This will be the first time Dwarfstar will appear in live-action, although the character appeared in a cameo in the animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold, in the episode "Sword of the Atom!"

The Flash airs Tuesday nights on The CW at 8:00 p.m. EST.

THE FANDOM ZONE 126: "The Resurrection" is Up!

"You should at least give a brother a moment to say something heroically clever.  Now you've just pissed me off."
-- Black Lightning, Black Lightning: "The Resurrection" 

Back in The Fandom Zone at last, Karen and I have returned with another HUGE new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  So huge, in fact, we're splitting it up in two parts!  This week's reviews of comics on television include:

The Gifted 1x12: "eXtraction"

The Gifted 1x13: "X-roads"  (Season 1 Finale)

Supergirl 3x10: "Legion of Superheroes"  (Midseason Premiere)

The Flash 4x10: "The Trial of the Flash"  (Midseason Premiere)

Black Lightning 1x01: "The Resurrection"  (Series Premiere) 

Arrow 6x10: "Divided"  (Midseason Premiere)

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 5x08: "The Last Day"

In this episode, Karen and I talk about things like Karen's move to Georgia, my routine being completely thrown off without Karen, Karen's identity being tied into being online, the Stepford Cuckoos manipulating everyone, Polaris being bipolar, The Gifted meeting Office Space, how The Gifted could cross over with Legion, wondering what will happen to Jace now that he left Sentinel Services, Jesse Rath being given the worst makeup and costume job as Brainiac 5, Supergirl in a coma, Smallville handling the Legion better than Supergirl, my theory on Reign joining forces with Supergirl against the Worldkillers, nobody liking James with Lena Luthor, some backrground on "The Trial of the Flash" comics storyline, Cecile providing an absolutely horrible defense for Barry Allen, the Elongated Man being the voice of reason, Vibe vibing Fallout to a "dead Earth" and maybe killing a whole bunch of people, Black Lightning doing more in the first 5 minutes for CW superhero shows than The Flash did in all 60 minutes, violence actually having consequences on Black Lightning, Jefferson Pierce being inspirational both in and out of his costume, the way to connect Black Lightning to The Flash, actually casting an albino African-American as an albino African-American villain, Annisa Pierce's Jessica Jones moment, wondering what the motivation is for Green Arrow's enemies to team up and work for Cayden James, Karen's rant about Curtis, Dinah and Rene being pissed off about trust issues, Thea Queen making a scrapbook photo album for Quentin Lance, Robin and her timey-wimeyness, May's relationship with Robin, a very long Justina feedback, Karen's neglected blog, 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 and I review new episodes of Fox's Lucifer, The CW's Supergirl, The Flash, Black Lightning and Arrow, and ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

KRYPTON Casts Hannah Waddingham as Jax-Ur

There's no shame in this casting.

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that the upcoming Syfy series upcoming Syfy series Krypton, based on lore from the DC Comics character Superman, has cast Hannah Waddingham as the classic Superman villain Jax-Ur.

According to the article, Jax-Ur is described as "Formerly one of Krypton’s greatest scientists with deep ties to Krypton’s past, Jax-Ur is now determined to bring radical change to Krypton as leader of the underground terrorist organization, Black Zero."

Krypton is set years before the Superman legend we know, when the House of El was shamed and ostracized.  This one-hour drama follows the Man of Steel’s grandfather (Cameron Cuffe) as he brings hope and equality to Krypton, turning a planet in disarray into one worthy of giving birth to the greatest superhero ever known.

Waddingham, 43, is an English actress best known as Septa Unella on the HBO series Game of Thrones.  In addition, she's appeared in the 2012 film adaptation of Les Misérables, and in episodes of 12 Monkeys, Agatha Christie's Marple, Doctors, My Hero, Footballers' Wives, and Coupling.

Created in 1961 by Otto Binder and George Papp, Jax-Ur first appeared in Adventure Comics (vol.1) #289 as an amoral and criminally deviant scientist on the planet Krypton.  He was imprisoned in the Phantom Zone for destroying Wegthor, an inhabited moon of Krypton with a population of 500, while experimenting with a nuclear warhead-equipped rocket.  His sentence for his act of mass murder was imprisonment for eternity.  He called himself "the worst criminal in the Phantom Zone".

Jax-Ur's intention was to launch a nuclear missile to destroy a passing space rock.  If this test proved successful, Jax-Ur would then commence the build-up of a massive, private nuclear arsenal with which he would overthrow the Kryptonian government, and place the entire planet under his dominion.  In the World of Krypton miniseries, his missile collided with a spaceship piloted by Superman's father Jor-El and went off-course to destroy Wegthor.  Because of this, space travel was banned on Krypton.

Jax-Ur escaped from the Phantom Zone and posed as a super-powered version of Superboy's adoptive father, Jonathan Kent.  Superboy eventually sent Jax-Ur back to the Phantom Zone.  He was often depicted plotting against Superman with fellow Phantom Zone inmates General Zod and Faora Hu-Ul.  Although he possessed typical Kryptonian super-powers when on Earth, the out-of-shape Jax-Ur was no match for Superman in combat.

Jax-Ur would later redeem himself somewhat by helping Superman defeat Black Zero, the alien saboteur who ensured Krypton's destruction under the orders of the Pirate Empire. It is shown he has a code of honor, as Kryptonian criminals swear by a master criminal who escaped a prison to help each other.  Struck by a red kryptonite bullet that Black Zero had created, Jax-Ur began mutating through a series of serpentine forms, until he became a Medusa-like creature, and turned Black Zero to stone with his gaze before the villain could destroy Metropolis in revenge for Superman foiling his plan to destroy Earth.  Jax-Ur then shattered Black Zero's body, avenging Krypton, and willingly returned to the Phantom Zone.

In the current DC Comics continuity known as "The New 52", Jax-Ur was among the Kryptonian criminals seen in the Phantom Zone and he claimed to have destroyed a moon.  Jax-Ur was depicted as a young military officer and Lara Lor-Van's partner and fiancé.  Lara called off their engagement when Jax-Ur revealed he supported Colonel Ekar, a commanding officer who deemed Krypton's Science Council weak and self-absorbed, and planned to overthrow it with a coup d'état.  When Lara tried to fight Colonel Ekar and was defeated and caught, Jax-Ur tried to convince her to join their cause in order to save her life, but failed.  General Zod intervened, killing Ekar and smothering the revolution.  Jax-Ur was imprisoned with the other surviving insurgents, promising Lara he tried to save her and reaffirming his love for her.

Waddingham will be the first woman to portray Jax-Ur, although the character previously appeared in the live-action film Man of Steel, played by Mackenzie Gray.  He also appeared in Superman: The Animated Series, voiced by Ron Perlman.

Krypton will debut on Syfy on March 21, 2018.

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 104: "The Hungry Earth" is Up!

"You’re not making any sense, man."
"Excuse me, I make perfect sense, you're just not keeping up."
-- Tony Mack and the Eleventh Doctor, Doctor Who: "The Hungry Earth"

You guessed it, my partner in time Jesse Jackson and I are back with a new episode of Next Stop Everywhere: The Doctor Who Podcast!  This time, we continue our Chris Chibnall retrospective and review "The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood", the 2010 two-parter from Series Five of Doctor Who, featuring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams, and the first appearance of the Silurians in the modern era!

In this episode, Jesse and I discuss things like more fun with Skype, the new CW show Black Lightning, the Torchwood episodes written by incoming showrunner Chris Chibnall, Neve McIntosh's first appearance as a Silurian before becoming Madame Vastra, parallels to the recent United States government shutdown, Ambrose's complete stupidity, Matt Smith's first year as the Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond being the alpha in her relationship with Rory, the first death of Rory Williams, the debut of the new Silurians, the Minbari from Babylon 5, my Reverse the Polarity segment, new feedback from Holly from Wisconsin and Paul from Australia, and more!

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

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Be sure to come back in two weeks as Jesse and I continue our Chris Chibnall retrospective and review the mini-serial "Pond Life" along with "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship", the 2012 episode from Series Seven of Doctor Who, featuring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, Arthur Darvill as Rory Williams!  Look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Google Play Music, YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

GHOSTWOOD 026: "The Final Dossier, Part 2" is Up!

"Are they cranking out these duplicate creatures in an alternate-reality Kinko’s, with some kind of Lovecraftian 3-D printer?  Pardon my French for a second, Chief, but what the fuck?"
-- FBI Special Agent Tamara Preston to Gordon Cole, Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier

It is happening again...My co-host with the most Xan Sprouse and I are back at last with a new episode of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast!  This time, we finish our review of Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier, the second Twin Peaks novel from co-creator Mark Frost!  

LET'S ROCK!

In our latest episode, Xan and I discuss things like Xan's correction about Audrey referring to Ghostwood as a prison, the connection between Project Blue Book and the Blue Rose Task Force, Windom Earle wanting Cooper to hook up with Caroline just to make his own self-fulfilling prophecy, the very sad and tragic fate of Annie Blackburn, Donald Trump dating Lana Milford and having the jade ring, Noel Neill in the 1978 Superman movie, glossing yourself being a douche move, Dr. Jacoby being in New York on 9/11, James having trouble staying in the same state, Large Marge in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, the funeral of the Log Lady, another Kimmy Robertson anecdote from Xan, my theory on how Major Briggs faked his own death, finally getting an explanation of what the hell Judy is, Tammy noticing there's a new alternate timeline, confirmation of our theory about young Sarah Palmer, wondering what happened to Chester Desmond, wondering which Diane had really bad sex with Cooper, and more!

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

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Ghostwood's Facebook page

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Be sure to come back in two weeks as Xan and I review the spiffy Blu-Ray set of Twin Peaks: A Limited Event Series!  Look for more of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast on iTunes, YouTube, Libsyn, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Receives 5 Oscar Nominations for 90th Academy Awards

"I always told you -- You're special.  Your history isn't over yet.  There's still a page left."
-- Joi, Blade Runner 2049

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has officially announced the nominations for The 90th Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, with a number of SF and comic book films receiving nods.  Blade Runner 2049 received five nominations, while Star Wars: The Last Jedi received four nominations.  Additional nominations included Logan, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, War for the Planet of the Apes, and Kong: Skull Island.

Blade Runner 2049 was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing, while Star Wars: The Last Jedi received nominations for Best Visual Effects, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.

Here's the full list of 2018 nominees...

BEST PICTURE

Call Me By Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape of Water Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST DIRECTOR

Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
Jordan Peele, Get Out
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread
Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

BEST ACTRESS

Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Meryl Streep, The Post

BEST ACTOR

Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Big Sick
Get Out
Lady Bird
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Call Me By Your Name
The Disaster Artist
Logan
Molly’s Game
Mudbound

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Mighty River,” Mudbound “Mystery of Love,” Call Me By Your Name
“Remember Me,” Coco
“Stand Up for Something,” Marshall
“This Is Me,” The Greatest Showman

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Abacus (Small Enough to Jail)
Faces/Places
Icarus
Last Men in Aleppo
Strong Island

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

“Eden and Eddie”
“Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405”
“Heroin/e”
“Knife Skills”
“Traffic Stop”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

A Fantastic Woman
The Insult
Loveless
On Body and Soul
The Square

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Mary J. Blige, Mudbound
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Darkest Hour
Victoria & Abdul
Wonder

BEST FILM EDITING

Baby Driver
Dunkirk
I, Tonya
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Blade Runner 2049
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
Kong: Skull Island
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
War for the Planet of the Apes

BEST SHORT FILM — LIVE ACTION

“Dekalb Elementary”
“The Eleven O’Clock”
“My Nephew Emmett”
“The Silent Child”
“Watu Wote/All of Us”

BEST SHORT FILM — ANIMATED

“Dear Basketball”
“Garden Party”
“Lou”
“Negative Space”
“Revolting Rhymes”

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Hans Zimmer, Dunkirk
Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread
Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water
John Williams, Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Carter Burwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Beauty and the Beast
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Mudbound
The Shape of Water

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Beauty and the Beast
Darkest Hour
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Victoria & Abdul

BEST SOUND EDITING

Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars :The Last Jedi

BEST SOUND MIXING

Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

The 90th Academy Awards will air live on ABC on Sunday, March 4, 2018.

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW Adds Kid Flash as Series Regular

There's a new Legend aboard the Waverider.

Entertainment Weekly reports that the CW series Legends of Tomorrow is bringing in Keiynan Lonsdale's Kid Flash as a series regular later this season.

According to the article, Kid Flash/Wally West will make his next appearance on Legends in Episode 11 on February 19th, with Wally will officially join the team in Episode 13.  The addition follows the recent departure of Victor Garber's Martin Stein and Franz Drameh's Jefferson "Jax" Jackson, whose characters fused together to become the DC superhero Firestorm.

Lonsdale, 26, is an Australian actor who made his first appearance as Wally West in The Flash Season 2 episode "Running to Stand Still", before gaining powers in the episode "Rupture" and finally debuting as Kid Flash in the Season 3 premiere, "Flashpoint."  He later appeared as Kid Flash in the Legends of Tomorrow Season 3 premiere, "Aruba-Con," and on the Supergirl  episode "Crisis on Earth-X, Part 1."

"We loved working with Keiynan in our series premiere — the episode in which we learned that in between Seasons 2 and 3 he had been fighting crime in Central City with Nick Zano’s Nate Heywood," said executive producer Phil Klemmer.  "So when his character stepped away from Flash to go on walkabout, after being dumped and feeling somewhat estranged from his family and team, we knew that Wally West would fit in perfectly on Legends.

"After all," continued Klemmer, "our show is about a collection of unlikely heroes who all began their journeys questioning who they are and where they belong — only to find those answers while traveling through time and having wacky adventures.  So now, Wally West is not only back in the company of old friends from the Arrowverse, he’s fighting alongside a former enemy and career arsonist Mick Rory/Dom Purcell.  By the end of this season, Wally will learn that the Legends have a different definition of what it means to be a hero."

Legends of Tomorrow returns to The CW on Monday, February 12th, in the episode "Daddy Darhkest," with Lonsdale beginning as a series regular in the following episode.

THE FLASH Solo Movie FLASHPOINT Finds New Directors

Third time's the charm?

Variety has reported that Warner Bros. is in negotiations with directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein to helm the DC Extended Universe film Flashpoint, the Flash solo movie starring Ezra Miller based on the DC Comics limited series.

Daley, 32, is known as playing Sam Weir on the NBC dramedy Freaks and Geeks and as Dr. Lance Sweets on the Fox series Bones.  With Goldstein, he co-wrote last year's Spider-Man: Homecoming, Horrible Bosses 2, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatlballs 2.  The two also co-wrote and co-directed the 2015 Vacation remake, and co-directed the upcoming movie Game Night.

According to the article, Warner Bros. attempted to bring in Miller's Justice League co-star Ben Affleck to direct, but he passed on the project.  Flashpoint's previous director Rick Famuyiwa left the project in October 2016, citing "creative differences" as the reason.  Famuyiwa had replaced Seth Grahame-Smith, who also left the project in April 2016 and also cited "creative differences" as his reason.

In addition, Warner Bros. decided to take the Flashpoint script in a different direction, with Joby Harold turning in a new draft after a page-one rewrite.  Reportedly, the studio took its time finding a new director because Miller is about to shoot Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, the second film in the Fantastic Beasts franchise.  Earlier this month, Warner Bros.' promoted Walter Hamada to oversee DC-based film production.

The five-issue limited series Flashpoint was released in 2011, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Andy Kubert.  In the series, Barry Allen wakes up to discover everything and everyone around him has changed.  He's not the Flash, nor does he have powers, his mother Nora Allen (deceased in his own timeline) is alive, while his father, Henry Allen, died of a heart attack three years ago.  Captain Cold is Central City's greatest hero, the Justice League is never established, and even Superman is seemingly nonexistent.

Barry Allen drives to the Batcave, where Batman attacks him.  Batman is revealed to be Thomas Wayne, who in this timeline, lost his son, Bruce, along with his wife.  At Wayne Manor, Barry tries to explain to Thomas about his secret identity as the Flash and his relationship to Bruce Wayne.  Barry's memory begins to spontaneously realign itself to the altered timeline and Barry realizes that the world of Flashpoint is not a parallel dimension, but an alternate reality.  Barry's ring ejects Eobard Thawne's Reverse-Flash costume and causes Barry to believe that his enemy is responsible for changing history.  Barry decides to recreate the accident that gave him his powers in a bid to undo the damage caused by Thawne, but his initial attempt fails and leaves him badly burned.

A second attempt at recreating Allen's accident restores his powers and health.  He concludes that the Reverse-Flash changed history to prevent the formation of the Justice League.  He also learns that Kal-El was taken by Project: Superman.  Flash, Batman and Cyborg join the cause to stop Wonder Woman and Aquaman, who are on opposite sides of the Atlantean-Amazon war.  The Marvel Family transform into Captain Thunder, also transforming Tawky Tawny. Captain Thunder attacks Wonder Woman and appears to be winning until Enchantress reveals herself as the Amazon spy in the Resistance and uses her magic to restore the Marvel Family to their mortal forms. Penthesilea (who was secretly one of the conspirators of the Atlanteans-Amazons war, along with Orm) kills Billy Batson, causing a massive explosion that cripples the opposing forces.

In the wake of the devastation, Thawne appears in front of the Flash.  The Reverse-Flash reveals that Flash himself created the Flashpoint timeline by traveling back in time to stop him from killing Barry's mother.  Barry pulled the entire Speed Force into himself to stop Thawne, transforming the timeline by shattering the history of his allies.  Thawne resets Barry's internal vibrations, enabling him to remember this.  According to Thawne, these actions transformed him into a living paradox, no longer requiring Barry to exist and allowing him to kill the Flash without erasing his own existence.  Thawne continues to taunt Barry with this knowledge until Batman kills him with an Amazonian sword.  Thomas insists that Barry puts history back to normal to undo the millions of deaths.  Now knowing the point of divergence, the Flash restores the timeline.  As he enters the timestream, a dying Thomas thanks him for giving his son a second chance and gives Barry a letter addressed to Bruce. Barry then meets with his mother and bids a tearful farewell to her.

Traveling back in time, Barry merges with his earlier self during the attempt to stop Thawne. While traveling through time, Barry realizes he can see three different timelines — DC (New Earth), Vertigo (Earth-13), and WildStorm (Earth-50).  A mysterious hooded figure (later revealed to be a cursed immortal Pandora) tells him that the world was split into three to weaken them for an impending threat, and must now be reunited to combat it.  The DC, Vertigo, and Wildstorm universes are then merged, creating a brand new DC Universe. Barry then wakes up in a similar manner to the beginning of Flashpoint, also retaining all his memories from the alternate timeline.  Believing that everything is over, Barry remembers Thomas' letter and gives it to Bruce, who is still the Batman in this timeline.  Bruce, deeply touched by his father's sacrifice to ensure his son's life, cries and expresses his gratitude to Barry for informing him of the events that transpired before the timeline was reset.

This will be the third time Flashpoint has been adapted, after the 2013 animated film Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, and the Season 2 finale and Season 3 of The CW series The Flash.

THE WALKING DEAD Gets Season 9 with New Showrunner Angela Kang

The Walking Dead refuses to die.

The Hollywood Reporter has word that the AMC series The Walking Dead has been renewed by the cable network for a ninth season.  Writer/co-executive producer Angela Kang has been promoted to executive producer and showrunner, replacing Scott M. Gimple, who will now serve as chief content officer and oversee both The Walking Dead and spinoff Fear the Walking Dead, as well as gaming and future brand extensions on multiple platforms.  Kang becomes the fourth showrunner on The Walking Dead, after Frank Darabont, Glen Mazzara and Gimple.

The move follows the controversial decision by Gimple to fire Chandler Riggs, who plays Carl Grimes, and a signficant drop in ratings, which saw the midseason finale viewing drop from 10.58 million in Season 7 to 7.89 million in Season 8.  A Change.org petition for Gimple to be fired as showrunner has currently reached over 82,000 signatures.

"The Walking Dead is a special show which started in an entirely different era of TV," remarked Gimple, "and continues, in this new era, to confidently take chances to tell compelling stories that excite audiences and make them deeply connect with its characters, adapting Robert Kirkman’s brilliant comic book.  As the show closes in on its tenth year, I’m honored to keep working with the talented, dedicated people behind and in front of the camera to make it all it can be, while expanding the world of The Walking Dead with new narratives like Fear the Walking Dead and a whole host of truly cool stories ahead.  Angela is a big part of the heart and soul of The Walking Dead, and I’m thrilled to help facilitate her vision of the show’s next era."

"I am beyond thrilled to be stepping into this new role with The Walking Dead," said Kang.  "Working on this series and having the opportunity to adapt Robert Kirkman’s amazing comic has been a fangirl dream come true for me.  I’m excited to continue working with Scott and the wonderfully supportive folks at AMC, and can’t wait to share the next chapter of the story with our fans next fall."

"This is an enormously important day for the entire The Walking Dead television universe," said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios.  "We are proud to acknowledge Angela’s significant contribution to the series and to set a clear path forward for a ninth season under her direction.  Further, with gratitude and admiration, we also recognize Scott’s broad impact on, and leadership of, the content that fuels our TWD universe.  Together, we will dream bigger and more broadly than ever before.  I know I speak for Angela, Scott and everyone at AMC when I say thanks most of all to the fans and the many talented people who have helped AMC play Dead."

According to the article, Gimple's deal comes after he added oversight of Fear the Walking Dead.  Created by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and Dave Erickson, Fear saw Erickson leave as showrunner at the end of Season 3.  Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg will take over as showrunners on Fear and report to Gimple,  Keeping Gimple in-house at AMC Studios became increasingly important after Kirkman chose to move his overall deal from AMC to Amazon.

The Walking Dead returns to AMC for the second half of Season 8 on February 25th.

SUICIDE SQUAD: HELL TO PAY Animated Film Cast Announced

If you're a Suicide Squad fan, there's going to be hell to pay. 

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed the voice cast for Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, the upcoming Warner Bros. Animation film based on the DC Comics antihero superteam. 

According to the article, Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay "sees Amanda Waller's secret team Task Force X (consisting of Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, Killer Frost, Captain Boomerang, Harley Quinn and Copperhead) sent to retrieve a powerful mystical object that they will risk their lives to steal. Unfortunately for the Suicide Squad, there are other villains who want the prize, and they must win a race to get it, in order to stay alive."

And here's the full cast list:

Deadshot - Christian Slater
Bronze Tiger - Billy Brown
Captain Boomerang - Liam McIntyre
Killer Frost - Kristin Bauer van Straten
Copperhead - Gideon Emery
Harley Quinn - Tara Strong
Amanda Waller - Vanessa Williams
Zoom - C. Thomas Howell
Scandal Savage - Dania Ramirez
Professor Pyg - James Urbaniak
Silver Banshee - Julie Nathanson
Vandal Savage and (Count) Vertigo - Jim Pirri
Maxum Steel - Greg Grunberg
Blockbuster and Tobias Whale - Dave Fennoy
Knockout - Cissy Jones
Dharma - Natalie Lander
Punch - Trevor Devall
Two-Face - Dave Boat

 This will be the third time the Suicide Squad will appear in an animated project, after the Justice League Unlimited episode "Task Force X" and the animated film Batman: Assault on Arkham.

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay is expected to be released on blu-ray, DVD, and digital sometime in Spring 2018.