Alex Kurtzman wants Star Trek to get “much weirder.” Yahya Abdul-Mateen is getting his Black Manta look together for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Plus updates from The Mandalorian, The Lord of the Rings, and great news for Tuca & Bertie fans. Spoilers are dropping in 3...2...1...
Blue Beetle
Xolo Maridueña confirmed to Variety he has indeed been cast as Jaime Reyes in the upcoming Blue Beetle movie.
The only thing that is on my mind right now is just the fact that he’s Latino. I have so much pride in getting to be a part of this project with Angel, someone like him,” he said. “I think it’s so important, and I don’t want to stand on the soapbox for too long but representation is so important. Luckily I have a background in martial arts and training in that kind of realm but this is a whole different game, this is like the big boys, so I’m ready to pack on a couple pounds and hit the gym.
The Three-Body Problem
Deadline reports Eiza González (Godzilla vs. Kong) is now “in talks” to join Netflix’s adaptation of The Three-Body Problem from producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. Details on her character are not available at this time. Don’t forget it’s going to be a podcast also!
The Mandalorian
In a recent interview with WRAL.com, Giancarlo Esposito revealed Disney has “just finished shooting Boba Fett and soon they will start on season three” of The Mandalorian.
Sesame Street
According to producer Shawn Levy, the proposed Sesame Street movie starring Anne Hathaway is now “trying to claw [its] way back to a new iteration of a greenlight” at a streaming service.
We were about to make it the first time and Anne got pregnant. We were about to make it the second time in [the] spring of 2020, and COVID shut us down. We now are still at Warner Brothers, and Warner Brothers, as we all know, is a very different landscape now. They’re pushing a lot of their content towards HBO Max. So we are figuring out the path forward and whether it will be a streaming gambit only [or] whether it will be a hybrid, and just kind of trying to claw our way back to a new iteration of a greenlight.
[Collider]
Starfleet Academy
During a recent interview with The New York Times, Alex Kurtzman confirmed Paramount+ is still interested in making that previously announced Star Trek series set at Starfleet Academy.
I think we’re just getting started. There’s just so much more to be had.
Later in the interview, Kurtzman stated he “wants to get much weirder” with the Star Trek franchise and begin “pushing the boundaries much further than I think most people would want.” He adds, “I think we might get there. Marvel has actually proven that you can. But you have to build a certain foundation in order to get there and we’re still building our foundation.”
The Walking Dead
According to Deadline, Ian Anthony Dale has joined the cast of The Walking Dead’s final season as Tomi, “a long-time member of a group recently discovered by our heroes” whose “existence continually impacts them in ways none of them could imagine or avoid.” Laurie Fortier has additionally been cast as Agatha, a character whose details are “being kept under wraps.”
Thor: Love and Thunder
Set photos from The Daily Mail have our first look at Christian Bale as Gorr, the God Butcher.
The Lord of the Rings
Filming has apparently wrapped on the first season of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV series.
Evil Dead Rise
Director Lee Cronin revealed the upcoming Evil Dead Rise will introduce a pizza restaurant referencing Evil Dead II’s Henrietta Knowby.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Yahya Abdul-Mateen is ready to reprise his role as Black Manta in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom writing, “Black Manta Back Under Construction!”
Disenchanted
Director Adam Shankman confirms filming has officially wrapped on Disney’s sequel to Enchanted, Disenchanted. He wrote, “Myself and Giselle…errrr….@amyadams would just like to say: And that’s a wrap.” and said to expect a 2022 release.
Free Guy
We also have two new Free Guy posters—one with a mech similar to the Mantis exo-suit from Halo 4.
Double Walker
A young woman’s ghost avenges her own mysterious death in the trailer for Double Walker coming to VOD November 12.
Lightyears
Deadline also reports Beth Lacke, Stephen Louis Grush, and Cass Buggé have joined the cast of Amazon’s Lightyears. Lacke will play Chandra, “a former student of lead protagonist Irene York (Sissy Spacek) who is dissatisfied with her job as a caregiver at a local nursing home and with life in general” while Grush has been cast as Nick, “a socially awkward loner who operates the family drapery business and who boasts his own strange charisma.” Buggé is Jeanine, a woman “married to Byron (Adam Bartley) for seven years and newly arrived in Farnsworth. She works as a customer service rep for a travel company and is trying to build a social circle. While she still loves her husband, she’s finding it increasingly difficult to tolerate his suspicions about their elderly neighbors, Irene and Franklin (J.K. Simmons).”
Our Flag Means Death
Variety also has word both Leslie Jones and Nat Faxon will appear on Our Flag Means Death in recurring roles.
Prisoners of the Ghostland
Bloody-Disgusting reports Sion Sono’s highly anticipated Prisoners of the Ghostland is now scheduled for a simultaneous theatrical and VOD release on September 17, 2021.
Tuca & Bertie
Coming Soon confirms Tuca & Bertie has been officially renewed for a third season at Adult Swim.
The Last of Us
New photos from the set of The Last of Us reveal post-apocalyptic Calgary.
Y: The Last Man
FX has released another quick teaser for Y: The Last Man.
What If...?
Jeffrey Wright introduces the series’ concept in a new Marvel What If featurette.
Yellowjackets
Finally— Christina Ricci, Melanie Lynskey, Juliette Lewis, and Tawny Cypress star in the trailer for Yellowjackets, a new series about the survivors of a high school soccer team’s plane crash in the Ontario wilderness who find each other later in life and well, you’ll see.
Banner art by Jim Cook
DISCUSSION
I just hope that isn’t code for “I want to make Star Trek even darker than I did with Discovery and Picard.”
And am I reading that last part wrong, or is he saying explicitly that he wants to make things that most people won’t want to see? Like, pre-alienating potential viewers?
I always push back against the whole “this isn’t Star Trek” thing because I believe a franchise as rich and robust as Trek can take a lot of different forms, including having shows that aren’t ensemble-driven and content that’s not as bright and optimistic as what we’re used to. But that quote reads like “I want to purposely piss people off.” Which can work, I guess? But I’m not necessarily confident that Kurtzman is a guy who can pull that off.