STAR TREK: DISCOVERY Casts Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike

The Enterprise has a captain once again.

Deadline has revealed that the CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery has cast Anson Mount as Starfleet legend Captain Christopher Pike for the show's second season.  

Pike will be captain of the USS Enterprise, which appeared at the very end of the show's first season.  In the Season One finale, after the USS Discovery warped to Vulcan to pick up its new captain, the crew received a distress call from the USS Enterprise.

Mount, 45, is best known as Black Bolt on the short-lived ABC series Inhumans, and as Cullen Bohannon on the AMC series Hell on Wheels.  His film work includes the movies Visions, Supremacy, Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden, Straw Dogs, The Battle of Shaker Heights, Crossroads, and Urban Legends: Final Cut.  He has also appeared on episodes of LOST, Dollhouse, Smallville, Red Widow, Law & Order, Conviction, CSI: Miami, Sex and the City, and Ally McBeal.

Created in 1966 by Gene Roddenberry, Christopher Pike first appeared in the original Star Trek pilot episode "The Cage."  Introduced as the captain of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 in the year 2254, Pike led a landing party to the planet Rigel VII.  On this mission, the group was attacked by Kalar warriors, in what seemed to be an abandoned fortress. Three crewmen, including Pike's own yeoman, were killed, while an additional seven, including Spock, were injured, some severely.  The loss weighed heavily on Pike, and with all the strain and work that followed, he began to question remaining as starship commander. The Enterprise then set out for Vega colony to hospitalize the sick and injured.

En route to the Vega colony, the Enterprise intercepted an old-style radio-interference distress call carrying the call letters of the SS Columbia, a survey expedition from the American Continent Institute which had been lost in the Talos star group in 2236.  At Pike's reluctant command, the Enterprise diverted and traced the signal to a crash site on Talos IV.  After an initial encounter with supposed survivors, including an out-of-place young beauty named Vina, it was revealed that the native Talosians had used telepathy to create the illusion of an encampment and all the survivors except Vina were dead.

Pike was overpowered and kidnapped, and placed in a Talosian menagerie.  There, the Talosians attempted to manipulate him into mating with Vina, to create a population of illusion-controlled Human servants.  Due to the Talosians' telepathy, Pike was forced to relive old memories and placed in illusory scenarios of lives he could have, if he abandoned his career as a starship captain.  The scenarios included reliving the fight on Rigel VII, a picnic in parkland near Mojave with his two horses, and an illusory day in the life of an Orion slave-trader dealing in green animal women.  Pike refused to mate with Vina, so the Talosians began to take steps to convince him to breed with other females of his crew.  As a result, Yeoman J.M. Colt and Pike's first officer, Number One, were captured.

Inside his cell, Pike managed to capture and hold captive The Keeper.  Pike then threatened to break the Talosian's neck if he resisted, and all the illusions ceased from that point forward.  Escaping with the others to the outside of the Talosian complex, Pike had Number One set a laser to overload, in an effort to make a statement to the Talosians about holding Humans captive.  The Talosians believed this violent reaction made humans unsuitable for breeding.  Vina's true appearance was then revealed, and Pike convinced the Talosians to restore her illusion of health and beauty while letting him and his crew members go free. Although the experience with the illusory worlds restored Pike's confidence in his command, it was recommended that all contact with the Talosians' powers be restricted.  General Order 7 was enacted, threatening the death penalty should anyone travel there, for fear of the Federation falling to illusory indulgence.

Mount will be the fourth actor to portray Christopher Pike, after Jeffrey Hunter in "The Cage," Sean Kenney in "The Menagerie," and Bruce Greenwood in the films Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness.

Star Trek: Discovery is expected to return for Season 2 sometime in September 2018.

THE BOYS Casts Karl Urban as Billy Butcher

Four Boys down, one to go.

The Hollywood Reporter has word that the upcoming Amazon series The Boys, based on the Dynamite Entertainment comic series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, has cast Karl Urban as Billy Butcher.  Urban joins Karen Fukuhara as The Female, Jack Quaid as Wee Hughie, Laz Alonso as Mother's Milk, and Erin Moriarty as Starlight.

According to the article, Billy Butcher is described as "mysterious and brutal with a personal but secret agenda.  He approaches Hughie, claiming to be a shadowy government operative.  Butcher capitalizes on Hughie's rage over his girlfriend Robin’s accidental death at the hands of superhero A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) and enlists Hughie as part of his plan to bring down the superhero system."

In a world where superheroes embrace the darker side of their massive celebrity and fame, The Boys revolves around a group of vigilantes known informally as 'the Boys,' who set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue-collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty.

Urban, 45, is a New Zealand actor best known as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the three most recent Star Trek films, and as Éomer in the second and third installment of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.  His other films include Thor: Ragnarok as Skurge the Executioner, Dredd as Judge Dredd, RED, The Bourne Supremacy, Priest, Doom, and The Chronicles of Riddick.  He also starred in the short-lived Fox TV series Almost Human and appeared in epsiodes of Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

Created in 2006 by Ennis and Robertson, Butcher first appeared in The Boys #1 as William "Billy" Butcher, who grew up in London's East End and witnessed his father physically abusing his mother on a daily basis.  He developed an overwhelming hatred for the older Butcher that almost led him to murder.  Persuaded against this action by his brother, Butcher went on to serve in the Royal Marines and was wounded in the Falklands War.  Following his deployment, Butcher became self-destructive, drinking excessively and assaulting friends and strangers for little reason (even being court-martialed at one point).  This changed, however, on the day he met his future wife Becky.  Following that, there was no record of any assaults, with Becky's presence having a calming effect on Butcher.

One day, he woke up to find his wife disemboweled on their bed, with her prematurely born, super-powered child crawling out of her.  After it attacked Butcher with its heat vision and permanently scarred his arm, Butcher killed it by beating it to death with a lamp stand.  After reading Becky's diary, he learned the identity of his wife's rapist, the world's premier superhero The Homelander.  Butcher took the job of leading a team called the "The Boys" that were charged with watching and keeping the superheroes in line, and bringing them down when needed.  He was injected with a special chemical called Compound V that increases strength, reflexes, stamina and durability and gives the ability to heal wounds faster than normal humans. 

At the beginning of the series, Butcher worked to reassemble the old team with a new member, Wee Hughie, filling in for a former member named Mallory.  He also chose Hughie because his wife and Hughie's girlfriend were both killed by superheroes and he always wanted a little brother.  A bulldog named Terror was his constant companion and he trained Terror to fornicate on command.

During a final clash with The Seven in Washington, Butcher learned that it was Black Noir who had killed his wife, rather than the Homelander, and he finally gained his revenge. However, it was revealed that Butcher had secretly been making more of the modified Compound V so that, if he survived, he could kill vast numbers of superhumans.  The battle for Washington was won because Butcher had information about how to guide missiles towards the neurons in superhuman brains.  This information and the Compound V made Butcher's teammate Mother's Milk suspect that Butcher had faked a death and was using him.

After Washington, Butcher murdered their ally Vas (Love Sausage) to cover up the Compound V plan, then murdered The Legend to prevent any information from reaching Hughie.  Butcher suddenly announced a three-month leave for the team and then revealed his intention to make Hughie his second-in-command, in order to damage the group's relationship with one another.  It was also revealed that he deliberately terrified Mother's Milk's daughter in order to influence M.M. to journey to Los Angeles to deal with her.  When all this came out, Butcher and Mother's Milk had a brief fight, ending when Butcher (with expressed regret) killed him.

Butcher was later confronted by Hughie in top on the Empire State building and, after a brief fight, they both fell onto a lower platform, whereupon Butcher's back was broken, making him paralyzed from the neck down.  After a brief conversation with Hughie where Butcher acknowledged his past and admitted to having killed Mother's Milk, Frenchie and the Female, a police helicopter showed up.  Knowing he would be locked away for life as an invalid, Butcher deceived Hughie into killing him by (falsely) claiming he had murdered Hughie's adoptive family.  Hughie, in a fit of rage, rammed a metal spike into Butcher's chest, killing him.  True to his character, Billy died smiling.

The Boys is expected to debut on Amazon sometime in 2019.

THE FANDOM ZONE 133: "Krypton" is Up!

"I come from a planet called Earth, a time centuries from now, and I've come here to warn you -- Someone from the future is coming to destroy Krypton."
"Okay, right...Why?  Why would they do that?"
"Because where I'm from, your grandson becomes the greatest hero in the universe -- like, ever -- unless somebody changes things to make sure that he's never born."
"You all right?"
"I'm running out of time.  Take this.  You have to find the Fortress.  You have to save Superman."
-- Adam Strange and Seg-El, Krypton: "Pilot" 

With Karen still unavailable this week, I'm joined by Phil Perich from the Capes and Lunatics Podcast for the 3rd Anniversary episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Legends of Tomorrow 3x15: "Necromancing the Stone"

Black Lightning 1x09: "The Book of Little Black Lies"

Krypton 1x01: "Pilot"  (Series Premiere)

Gotham 4x15: "The Sinking Ship, The Grand Applause"

In this episode, Phil and I talk about things like Karen still being unavailable, Matt Ryan's John Constantine becoming a regular cast member of Legends of Tomorrow Season 4, Constantine making a Doctor Who reference, a great Easter egg nod to the NBC Constantine series, Caity Lotz back in her Black Canary costume, more on Kid Flash assimilating to the Legends, wondering who will eventually end up as Black Canary, the CW Seed Constantine animated series, the contrast of Jennifer freaking out about having superpowers while Annisa embraces being a superhero, the Pierce family liking and getting along with one another more than the Queen family, Vixen and Supergirl existing on Black Lightning's Earth, wanting to see Metamorpho and the Outsiders, trying to round up Jesse Jackson, Adam Strange serving as a replacement Rip Hunter or Booster Gold, Daron-Vex and The Voice of Rao creating a theocracy on Krypton, that awkward moment when your military commander mother stabs you through the hand with a knife, Krypton having extreme climate change, the ticking clock of Superman's Back to the Future cape, Phil's theory of Seg-El and Lyta-Zod becoming the Kryptonian Nightwing and Flamebird, looking forward to finally getting a proper Brainiac, the neverending cycle of Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock butting heads and making up, the Penguin and the Riddler making up, Gordon's superpower being able to survive multiple gunshot wounds, that awkward moment when the Riddler goes to recruit Solomon Grundy only to find that Butch's personality has returned, some new feedback from Justina, John Byrne's limited series The World of Krypton, the movie adaptation of Ready Player One, 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 a special guest host and I review new episodes of Fox's Lucifer, Syfy's Krypton, and The CW's Black Lightning and Arrow, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

GHOSTWOOD 031: "Eraserhead" is Up!

"Well, Henry...What do you know?"
"Oh, I don't know much of anything."
-- Mr. X (Bill) and Henry Spencer, Eraserhead

It is happening again...My co-host with the most Xan Sprouse and I are back with a new episode of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast!  This time, we explore the roots of Twin Peaks and review David Lynch's first feature-length film, the surreal 1977 cult classic Eraserhead, starring Jack Nance as Henry Spencer and Charlotte Stewart as Mary X.

LET'S ROCK!

In our latest episode, Xan and I discuss things like Bruce McCulloch's song "Eraserhead," notable Twin Peaks actors in Eraserhead, Xan watching Eraserhead over fifty times, Jack Nance keeping his Henry Spencer hairstyle during the film's extended hiatus in production, David Lynch's connection to Sissy Spacek, my favorite Die Hard films, the mysterious death of Jack Nance, Eraserhead not being an audience participation movie, what Xan loves so much about the movie, wondering if the film's setting is post-apocalyptic, dystopian or something else entirely, Henry's constant furrowed-brow expression, the Twin Peaks Red Room decor, Mary X's weird seizures, Henry's insanely awkward dinner with Mary X's parents, David Lynch's fears and anxieties of becoming a new father, Henry and Mary's creepy-ass mutant baby, the Lady in the Radiator, that bizarre moment when there's a big milky hot tub in the bed where you're having sex, the song "In Heaven, Everything is Fine," that bizarre moment when your detached head is sold to a pencil eraser factory, that awkward moment when your sickly, pustule-covered mutant baby is laughing at you, and more!

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Be sure to come back in two weeks as Xan and I continue exploring the roots of Twin Peaks and review David Lynch's 1986 neo-noir mystery film classic, Blue Velvet, starring Kyle MacLachlan, Laura Dern, Isabella Rossellini, and Dennis Hopper!  Look for more of Ghostwood: The Twin Peaks Podcast on iTunes, YouTube, Libsyn, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE 108: "Infamy of the Zaross" is Up!

"Fame and fortune?  Ughhh, who wants that?  I’ve got the TARDIS, I’ve got you.  What else does a wandering Time Lord need?"
"Good cup of tea?"
"There is that, yes.  It’d never have worked anyway, eh?  Who wants to watch a TV series without me?"
-- The Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler, Doctor Who: "Infamy of the Zaross"

That's right, 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 review "Infamy of the Zaross", the 2017 Doctor Who audio adventure from Big Finish Productions, starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, Billie Piper as Rose Tyler and Camille Coduri as Jackie Tyler! 

In this episode, Jesse and I discuss things like Jesse helping out on The Fandom Zone Podcast, why "Infamy of the Zaross" may have worked better visually, Peter Davison's nephew George Watkins, the return of Billie Piper as Rose Tyler, Jesse hearing a new adventure with "his" Doctor, getting to hear the dynamic of the Tenth Doctor and Rose once again, Jackie going into Earth orbit and being able to understand a little of what Rose experiences, Rose talking Jess down from thinking that she would rather be dead and famous instead of alive and ignored, Jackie with a BFG, the Forzel's extreme makeover into the Zaross, "scripted reality" being an euphemism for fiction, a new Torchwood easter egg, new feedback from Paul from Australia, and more!

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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 in just two weeks as Jesse and I review "The Sword of the Chevalier", another 2017 audio adventure from Big Finish Productions, starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose Tyler!  Look for more of Next Stop Everywhere on iTunes, Google Play Music, YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Stitcher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN Animated Film Cast Announced

Brace yourselves, the death of Superman is coming...again.

TV Insider has revealed the principal voice cast for The Death of Superman, the latest DC Comics animated movie, the first part of a two-part epic that adapts the popular '90s Superman comics storyline "The Death and Return of Superman."  The second part, Reign of the Supermen, is expected to arrive sometime in early 2019.

According to the article, Jerry O'Connell will once again voice Superman/Clark Kent, following his previous three animated films as Superman in Justice League: Throne of Atlantis, Justice League vs. Teen Titans, and Justice League Dark.  

Rebecca Romijn will provide the voice for Lois Lane, while Rainn Wilson will voice Superman's arch-nemesis, Lex Luthor.

Other cast members include returning DC animated movie actors Jason O'Mara as Batman, Rosario Dawson as Wonder Woman, Christopher Gorham as The Flash, Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Matt Lanter as Aquaman, and Shemar Moore as Cyborg.  Rocky Carroll will provide the voice for Cyborg's father, Dr. Silas Stone, while Patrick Fabian will voice Cyborg Superman/Hank Henshaw.

In "The Death of Superman" story arc, Superman battles an immensely powerful and seemingly unstoppable creature of unknown origin named Doomsday across the United States.  In the fight's conclusion in Superman (vol. 2) #75, both combatants apparently die from their wounds in the streets of Metropolis.  The world reacts to Superman's death in the following arc, "Funeral for a Friend," until four superpowered individuals emerge, each claiming to be Superman.  This eventually leads to the original Superman's return in "Reign of the Supermen."

The Death of Superman will be the second DC animated film to adapt "The Death and Return of Superman," after the 2007 film Superman: Doomsday, which starred Adam Baldwin as Superman, Anne Heche as Lois Lane, and James Marsters as Lex Luthor.

The Death of Superman is expected to be released on blu-ray, DVD, and digital sometime in Fall 2018.

THE FANDOM ZONE 132: "The Book of Revelations" is Up!

"This attempt at framing me.  You know what it proves?  I'm getting under someone's skin."
-- Jefferson Pierce, Black Lightning: "The Book of Revelations" 

With Karen unavailable this week, I'm joined by my Next Stop Everywhere and TitanTalk co-host Jesse Jackson for another new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Legends of Tomorrow 3x14: "Amazing Grace"

iZombie 4x03: "Brainless in Seattle, Part 1"

The Flash 4x16: "Run, Iris, Run"

Black Lightning 1x08: "The Book of Revelations"

In this episode, Jesse and I talk about things like sending all our love to Karen, the Legends meeting Elvis Presley, not having Elvis songs in an Elvis episode, Nate being an Elvis fan, Elvis' stillborn twin brother Jessie, Legends of Tomorrow making up an uncle that Elvis never had, Kid Flash quickly clicking with the Legends, the current best CW superhero shows, Ray's tiny lock box that can be easily carried away, Elvis' love of peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwiches, Liv's brain recipes of the week, iZombie handling comedic moments better than Gotham, Liv dragging Peyton to Human/Zombie Night at the Scratching Post, "The Trial of Barry Allen" storyline in both the comics and the TV show, the Thinker storyline running on way too long, Caitlin and Killer Frost being a Jekyll and Hyde character, Iris getting her soopah suit and running on water, Harry Wells' ominous intelligence cap, more on Mystery Girl, Jefferson passing on what he's learned as a superhero to his daughter Anissa, Gambi in the Lightning Cave, Jefferson geeking out that Annisa saved his life, finally getting some background on Peter Gambi, Mitchum Huntzberger on Gilmore Girls, Jennifer getting her Lightning powers, John Constantine becoming a regular character on Legends of Tomorrow Season 4, and more!

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

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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 special guest Phil Perich and I review the series premiere of Syfy's Krypton, along with new episodes of The CW's Legends of Tomorrow and Black Lightning, and Fox's Gotham, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

THE BOYS Casts Karen Fukuhara as The Female

And yes, she's deadlier than the male.

Deadline has word that the upcoming Amazon series The Boys, based on the Dynamite Entertainment comic series by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, has cast Karen Fukuhara as The Female.  She joins Jack Quaid as Wee Hughie, Laz Alonso as Mother's Milk, and Erin Moriarty as Starlight.

According to the article, The Female is described as "a young Asian assassin with blistering fighting skills who happens to have superpowers, and uses them for explosive evisceration. When The Boys find her, she’s savage, doesn’t speak and is a complete mystery.  She later learns what it means to be human through her relationship with Frenchie."

In a world where superheroes embrace the darker side of their massive celebrity and fame, The Boys revolves around a group of vigilantes known informally as 'the Boys,' who set out to take down corrupt superheroes with no more than blue-collar grit and a willingness to fight dirty.

Fukuhara, 26, is best known as the DC Comics superhero Katana in the DC Extended Universe film Suicide Squad.  Her other roles include the 2017 movie Stray and the Cartoon Network animated series Craig of the Creek.

Created in 2006 by Ennis and Robertson, The Female (of the Species) first appeared in The Boys #2 as a presumably mute Japanese girl whose mother had taken her daughter to work for the day, only to have her daughter crawl away and expose herself to dangerous and toxic chemicals, including Compound V.  Falling into a bucket of the dangerous drug, researchers at the facility found themselves overwhelmed and killed by the small child, as the situation quickly escalated with many bodies left at the hands of the Female.  Although only an innocent child, she would prove very deadly and lethal.  She was eventually caught and treated like an animal.  Heavily drugged and tranquilized, the young Female managed to escape her confines every so often, escaping to the outside world where she would get glimpses of what an ordinary life might entail.  Her nickname was derived from the Rudyard Kipling poem of the same name.

Butcher Baker reassembled the anti-superhero team the Boys, tracking down the Female in the United States where she was doing violent hired muscle work for the Mafia.  The Female was introduced to Wee Hughie at the first team meeting and already knew the rest of the team from past experience.  Presumably hired by former contacts, The Female soon began to stalk men again and targeted the ones identified in photos given to her.  The Frenchman was aware of the Female's extra curricular activities and attempted to intervene by both appealing to the Female directly and threatening and intimidating one of the criminals hiring her to kill.

After a successful mission with the Boys where the Female ripped off the hands of one Supe and the face of another, the Female continued her side work as a hired arm. Unfortunately she was lured into a trap by powerful Payback member Stormfront. Considered by some to be the second most powerful superhuman in the world after the Homelander, The Female found herself in the unusual position of being the underdog.  The Female managed to tag Stormfront across his face, shredding his skin with her fingernails. The Female is overpowered regardless, and Stormfront delivered a vicious beating, with only the Female's ferocity allowing her to gouge Stormfront's right eye out before he beat her unconscious.

Later, during a meeting discussing how The Boys were going to stop Butcher, Hughie brought up the idea of including the Female, since she had not spoken for herself.  The Frenchman disagreed, saying this would halt or even reverse her positive development and Mother's Milk voiced his opinion she deserved the opportunity to walk away more than anyone else.  Hughie concurred, then told the Female it was okay to stay behind.  However, as the others started to walk out the door, she said to them "I hate mean people," the only time she had ever spoken a complete sentence.  She then puts on her trench coat and joined them against Butcher.  In The Boys #69, she and The Frenchman were seemingly killed when Butcher bombed The Boys' headquarters, the Flatiron building.

The Boys is expected to debut on Amazon sometime in 2019.

TITANTALK 004: "Rockin' Robin" is Up!

"And swear that we two will fight together against crime and corruption and never to swerve from the path of righteousness!"
"I swear it!"

-- Batman and Dick Grayson, Detective Comics (vol.1) #38: "Robin the Boy Wonder"

That's right, my fellow TitanTalker Jesse Jackson and I are back with another new episode of TitanTalk: The Titans Podcast!  This time, we're joined by special guest Phil Perich from the Southgate Media Group podcast Capes and Lunatics.

In this fourth episode, Jesse, Phil and I discuss Phil being too busy to sleep, Dick Grayson the first Robin, Burt Ward as TV's Robin, Dick Grayson and Wally West being best friends, Robin becoming Nightwing, Dick Grayson being the definitive Titan, Nightwing's name honoring Superman, Jesse's rant about the various Superman origins, Jason Todd the second Robin, Jason having the pressure of following Dick Grayson, the fine line of changing characters' histories, Tim Drake the third Robin, Batman having a favorite type of Robin, DC learning its lesson with Tim Drake, counting Stephanie Brown as the fourth Robin, Damian Wayne the fifth Robin, Grant Morrison making Batman: Son of the Demon canon, Dick Grayson as Batman, Jesse not being able to stand Damian, Batman's relationship with his son, Jason as the Red Hood, the casting of the Doom Patrol on the Titans TV show, speculating on some possible upcoming Titans TV characters, my meeting Cyborg (Ray Fisher) at Wizard World Cleveland, sending some love and condolences to my Fandom Zone co-host Karen Lindsay, and more!

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Be sure to come back next month for Episode 005 as Jesse and I discuss more news from the upcoming DC Universe series Titans!  Look for more of TitanTalk: The Titans Podcast on iTunes, Google Play Music, YouTube, Libsyn, and the official Southgate Media Group website!

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW Conjures Matt Ryan's Constantine as Season 4 Regular

Well, it's not Constantine Season 2, but it's close.

Deadline has revealed that The CW series Legends of Tomorrow is making Matt Ryan's occult detective character John Constantine a full regular for the show's upcoming fourth season.  

According to the article, Ryan’s promotion from a recurring role to series regular is contingent on the show's Season 4 renewal. The article states The CW hasn't yet made renewals for next season but Legends and the rest of the network’s DC Comics series are fully expected to come back.

Ryan, 36, began appearing as John Constantine in the short-lived (but fondly remembered) NBC series Constantine, which ran for 13 episodes from 2014 to 2015 before being cancelled.  After appearing in the Arrow episode "Haunted" later in 2015, he returned to voice the character for the 2017 DC Comics animated movie Justice League Dark.  He then reprised Constantine in the Legends of Tomorrow Season 3 episodes "Beebo the God of War", "Daddy Darhkest" and "Necromancing the Stone", and voiced the character for a Constantine animated web series for CW Seed.

The character of John Constantine first appeared in The Saga of the Swamp Thing #37 in 1985 and was created by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette and John Totleben.  Based physically on the musician Sting, Constantine proved popular enough in 1988 to be spun off into his own VERTIGO series Hellblazer, which ran for an impressive 300 issues until earlier this year.  The replacement series Constantine immediately followed, after Constantine was brought back to the relaunched DC Universe as part of "The New 52" to lead the supernatural team Justice League Dark.  In DC's "Rebirth" era, Constantine currently appears in his latest monthly series, The Hellblazer, which just reached its twentieth issue.

THE FANDOM ZONE 131: "The Real Deal" is Up!

"That other thing we talked about.  I want you to promise me that you'll do that, no matter what happens."
"No.  No, no, it's not important, especially now.  It's...That's...It's just symbolic.  It wouldn't even change anything."
"Symbols are important.  Institutions are important.  People need things to believe in, Fitz, especially now.  People need hope."
"Okay."
-- Phil Coulson and Leo Fitz, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: "The Real Deal" 

Finally back in The Fandom Zone, Karen and I have returned with another new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Lucifer 3x16: "Infernal Guinea Pig"

The Flash 4x15: "Enter Flashtime"

Gotham 4x13: "A Beautiful Darkness"

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 5x12: "The Real Deal"  (Episode #100)

In this episode, Karen and I talk about things like Karen's naturally curly hair, my meeting David Tennant, Ray Fisher, Ezra Fisher, and Matt Ryan at Wizard World Cleveland, Karen's recent migraine issues, our new review format, Charlotte being a big ol' control freak, wanting an episode of Lucifer like The Office, Cain and Abel not being the Cain and Abel from The Sandman, Mazikeen still being pissed off that Dr. Linda and Amenadiel hooked up, the Roy Orbison song "Mystery Girl", wondering why Barry didn't just run back through time only eight minutes to prevent a nuclear weapon from exploding, the return of Jay Garrick and Jesse Quick, Harry telepathically sharing the memories of his dead wife with his daughter Jesse, my shared moment with Sean Pertwee over bad karaoke, Poison Ivy's plant chestbursters, Bruce experiencing a vision of his future Batman self, Alfred as Secret Agent Man, the Joker dressing the Penguin up in a clown suit, the Michigan J. Frog Alien from Spaceballs, Deke trying way too hard to be cool, the long-awaited return of Deathlok, Ghost Rider's brother Ghost Runner, everyone being pissed that Coulson didn't tell them that he's dying, waiting for Yo-Yo's bionic arm replacements, expecting Fitz & Simmons' wedding to go horribly wrong, a sick Justina making for an unhappy Fandom Zone Podcast, teasing Karen's secret project, 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 soon as Karen and I review new episodes of The CW's iZombie, The Flash, and Black Lightning, and Fox's Gotham, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

Final AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Trailer Teases Captain America vs. Thanos

Avengers Reassemble!

Marvel has released the final trailer for Avengers: Infinity War, giving us a look at the Black Order and what appears to be major confrontation between Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and supervillain Thanos (Josh Brolin).

The two minute, fifteen second trailer opens with an upside down view of Manhattan as we hear a voiceover from Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Thanos' adopted daugher, who says, "The entire time I knew him, he only ever had one goal...to wipe out half the universe.  If he gets all the Infinity Stones, he can do it with a snap of his fingers.  Just like that."

"Tell me his name again," replies Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.).

"Thanos."

We then see images of Peter Parker (Tom Holland) leaving his school bus, putting on his Spider-Man mask, and web swinging off a bridge.

"We've got one advantage," Iron Man says in a voiceover as we see him flying after a spaceship.  "He's coming to us."

"We have what Thanos wants," Iron Man continues as Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) activates the Eye of Agamotto, "so that's what we'll use."

Steve and the other Avengers arrive in the African nation of Wakanda, where Steve shakes the hand of Black Panther/T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), who is accompanied by his Dora Milaje bodyguards.  We then see T'Challa's sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) looking down at a hologram of The Vision (Paul Bettany) in the palm of her hand.

The trailer cuts to a different scene, where Star-Lord/Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is talking with Iron Man, Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) and Spider-Man.  "Let's talk about this plan of yours," he says to Tony.  "I think it's good, except, it sucks, so let me do the plan and that way, it might be really good."

Tony rolls his eyes and replies, "Wow."

We then see Black Panther and Steve Rogers on a flying craft, leading the Wakandan forces into battle alongside Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and Steve's longtime friend The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan).

"The end is near," remarks Thanos in a voiceover as we see Thor (Chris Hemsworth) briefly blinding Groot (Vin Diesel) and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) with a burst of lightning, "and when I'm done, half of humanity will still exist."

We glimpse the larger Thanos squeezing Thor's head in the palm of his hand, causing his agony as Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and the Black Order look on.  Thanos then crushes the Tesseract in the palm of his other hand.

As the battle in Wakanda begins, Thanos remarks in another voiceover, "Perfectly balanced, as all things should be."  We see Corvus Glaive torturing Doctor Strange, followed by Thanos saying "I hope they remember you."

This is immediately followed by Thanos' large Infinity Gauntlet coming down on Steve, who blocks it and struggles to hold it back with everything he has, much to Thanos' surprise.

A final scene has Spider-Man awkwardly meeting Doctor Strange, with Peter offering his hand, saying "I'm Peter, by the way."

"Doctor Strange," replies the Sorcerer Supreme.

"Oh!" exclaims Peter.  "Using our made-up names.  Then I am Spider-Man."  This is followed by a brief shot of Spider-Man swinging into the chaotic battle from before.

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




Avengers: Infinity War will arrive in theaters on April 27, 2018.