News Shotgun 9/22
- Ducktales renewed for a third season: After a fantastic first season, Ducktales has been renewed for a third season before the second season has even aired. No info on how many episodes or when the second or third season will begin airing, although for the former it will probably be sometime next year.
- Director of The Eternals announced: Chloe Zhao, director of The Rider, will direct a movie based around Marvel’s Eternals, a group of cosmic, god-like beings created by the Celestials, like Ego, who battle the Deviants, also created by the Celestials but twisted and evil. The Eternals will be part of MCU Phase 4, which will begin after next year’s Avengers 4.
- Diablo getting animated series at Netflix: Following in the footsteps of Castlevania, Diablo will arrive sometime soon on Netflix as an animated series. Andrew Cosby, who wrote the new Hellboy movie, put out in a tweet that he later deleted that he was in the running to write the series and that it would be “R-rated”. It’s not clear what Diablo it would be based on or if it would just be a mash-up of all three games and their mythology.
- Birds of Prey short list: Apparently testing to join Margot Robbie in the upcoming Birds of Prey movie are actresses like Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Cristin Milioti for Huntress, Gugu Mbatha-Raw for Black Canary and Justina Machado and Roberta Colindrez for Renee Montoya. No word on Cassandra Cain but WB is apparently looking for a young Asian actress for the role.
- Stargirl cast for DC Universe: Stargirl is getting her own DC Universe original series and Brec Bassinger has been cast in the title role. Bassinger has appeared in the School of Rock TV series and guest starred on The Goldbergs. Geoff Johns created Stargirl in 1999 and will be overseeing the TV series but it’s not clear when it would debut on the streaming service.
- Michael B. Jordan starring in two new Tom Clancy movies: Michael B. Jordan has signed on to star as John Clark for two new Tom Clancy movies at Paramount. Paramount is adapting Without Remorse and Rainbow Six, with the former being a sort of origin story/prequel to Rainbow Six. Liev Schrieber and Willem Dafoe previously portrayed Clark in The Sum of All Fears and Clear and Present Danger respectively.
- Veronica Mars officially returning on Hulu: Announced by Kristen Bell and then Hulu, Veronica Mars is officially returning for a new 8 episode season on Hulu and Hulu will also get the three prior seasons plus the Kickstarted movie in the summer of 2019 to their service.
- Jordan Peele will host the new Twilight Zone: Coming to CBS All Access, Jordan Peele will produce and host a new version of the iconic anthology series The Twilight Zone. The show will debut sometime next year on the streaming service but it’s not clear how many episodes it will be or if it will remake any iconic episodes.
- AMC looking into Walking Dead movies and more spin-offs: Despite falling ratings and a general air of most people hate watching it, AMC is still going ham on The Walking Dead, looking into possible TV movies and more spin-offs, including one set in a different country. AMC is also apparently working on their own streaming service called AMC Premiere and exclusive Walking Dead content could end up there.
- Female Marvel team-up show coming to ABC: ABC is apparently getting another Marvel show in the near future as they’ve put in a commitment for a show featuring lesser known, female superheroes teaming up. No word on what characters would appear but Wonder Woman writer Allan Heinberg will be behind the show.
- Daredevil Season 3 date revealed: The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen will be back much sooner than most fans expected, with the third season arriving on October 19th. Matt was presumed dead at the end of The Defenders but was revealed to have been rescued and nursed back to health at a convent. It seems like Kingpin and, hopefully, Bullseye will be the threats Matt will be taking on.
- Disney Play getting MCU original series: CEO Bob Iger revealed that next year’s Disney streaming service, Disney Play, will be getting limited MCU series focusing on specific characters, with Loki and Scarlet Witch specifically mentioned. It’s expected that if the characters are already established, like those two, that the actors would return to play them in the series and there could also be shows that focus on characters who have not appeared in the MCU yet.
- X-Men will go under Kevin Feige’s control: Once everything is settled in the massive Disney/Fox merger, the X-Men will most likely go under the control of MCU boss Kevin Feige to integrate them into the universe. Details are still being finalized and there probably won’t be any hint of when and how we can expect the X-Men or the Fantastic Four to appear until next year or beyond.
- Bond 25 gets a new director: After Danny Boyle left the project, MGM announced this week that True Detective’s Cary Fukanaga will take over Bond 25 as director. The release date has also shifted to Valentine’s Day 2020.
- Child’s Play reboot casting and plot details: MGM’s reboot of Child’s Play, which is in competition with an in-continuity TV series from creator Don Mancini, has cast Aubrey Plaza, Brian Tyree Henry, and Gabriel Bateman and revealed details of the plot. Plaza will play a mom who gives her son (Bateman) a highly advanced robotic doll that was hacked and it goes haywire. No word on Henry’s character but it’s rumored he may be a detective investigating the situation.
- Space Jam 2 still on the way with Ryan Coogler as producer: Black Panther’s Ryan Coogler has signed on to be a producer on the still happening Space Jam 2. The follow-up to the beloved by 90s kids Looney Tunes/Michael Jordan movie will star Lebron James teaming up with the Tunes for presumably another basketball game against aliens. Terence Nance, who created the currently airing HBO series Random Acts of Flyness, will direct the movie and it’s looking to go into production sometime next year.
- Sony announces PS1 Classic console: Following on the heels of the wildly popular NES and SNES Classic mini consoles from Nintendo, Sony announced their own version this week in the form of the PlayStation Classic. The mini console is modeled after the original PlayStation and will come with 20 games and two non-analog controllers and outputs via an HDMI port. Five of the games have been revealed as Final Fantasy VII, Ridge Racer 4, Tekken 3, Jumping Flash and Wild Arms. The console is out in December and will cost $100.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender getting rebooted to live action: Coming from the original creators, Avatar: The Last Airbender is getting rebooted into a live-action series for Netflix. The show will be a “reimagining” of the beloved animated series. Hopefully, it’s better than the last time Aang and the gang came to live action courtesy of M. Night Shyamalan.
- Red Sonja movie back in development: A new movie based on the Conan the Barbarian character is in development at Millenium with Bryan Singer signed on to direct. A Red Sonja movie has been in development since 2008 with directors like Robert Rodriguez and Simon West trying and failing to get them going.
- Zombieland 2 goes into production in January: Director Ruben Fleischer, who is gearing up for the release of Venom, said that the long-awaited Zombieland 2 will go into production in January as his next project, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, and Jesse Eisenberg are all returning and will travel to Washington DC and other locales and face off against new human survivors and evolved forms of the zombies.
- Patrick Stewart joins Charlie’s Angels: Sir Patrick has signed on to be Bosley, or at least one of many Bosleys, in the upcoming reboot of Charlie’s Angels from Elizabeth Banks. Banks is directing and will also appear as a Bosley and Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska are the new Angels. The movie is looking at a September 27th, 2019 release date.
- New Thomas Wayne cast for Joker: After Alec Baldwin was cast and then left the project almost immediately has been replaced by character actor Brett Cullen to play Thomas Wayne. When Baldwin was cast, it was rumored Thomas would be a Donald Trumpesque 80s businessman but it’s not clear if that is still the case. Todd Phillips is directing the movie with Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur/The Joker and Robert DeNiro, Zazie Beetz, Marc Maron and Frances Conroy co-starring and Martin Scorsese producing and it’s coming out in October next year.