Monthly Archives: July 2020
A Quiet Place Part 2 Has Been Delayed to September 2021
Update (1/22/21) - Paramount Pictures has delayed A Quiet Place Part II from April 23, 2021 to September 17, 2021.
Original story follows.
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Paramount has shifted the release of both A Quiet Place: Part II and Top Gun: Maverick to 2021.
A Quiet Place: Part II was scheduled to arrive in September but has been moved to April 23, 2021. Top Gun: Maverick was set for launch on December 25, 2020 but it’s been grounded for another six months; it’s now slated for July 2, 2021.
[ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/16/top-gun-maverick-official-trailer-2]
Paramount has also nudged 2021's Jackass a couple of months, from July 2, 2021 to September 3, 2021.
Both films were initially postponed in April but have been pushed back again as uncertainly surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
“We truly believe that there is no movie-viewing experience like the one enjoyed in theatres,” said Paramount’s President of Domestic Distribution Chris Aronson and President of International Theatrical Distribution Mark Viane in a joint statement provided alongside the delay confirmations. “We are committed to the theatrical experience and our exhibition partners, and want to stress that we are confident that, when the time comes, audiences everywhere will once again enjoy the singular joy of seeing Paramount films on the big screen.”
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The news comes hot on the heels of confirmation Disney is pushing back the release of all its upcoming Star Wars and Avatar films by a year, and has also removed Mulan from 2020’s release schedule.
Sony Pictures has additionally just confirmed that the untitled Spider-Man: Far From Home sequel has also been shifted from November 5, 2021 to December 17, 2021.
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Luke is Games Editor at IGN's Sydney office. You can find him on Twitter sporadically @MrLukeReilly.
MST3K Creator Discusses Show’s Post-Netflix Future
When hopes for a new season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Netflix were dashed last November, creator Joel Hodgson assured fans, “[While] this might be the end of the first chapter of bringing back MST3K, don't worry: It's not the last chapter.” Shortly after that, Hodgson took MST3K on the road with a new cast which wrapped in March -- just before the global pandemic hit the US and most of the country shut down.
Despite the interruption, the MST3K team got to work right away on a charity special (the MST3K LIVE Social Distancing Riff-Along) and, of course, got to work on resurrecting MST3K. Again!
[caption id="attachment_2383835" align="aligncenter" width="720"]
MST3K cast members Jonah Ray and Felicia Day with Joel Hodgson at San Diego Comic-Con, 2017.[/caption]
Hodgson had just arrived home from the recent live tour, mere days before widespread shutdowns were enacted. Like many other things, the global pandemic interrupted the next steps necessary for bringing Mystery Science Theater 3000 back. “We were planning on recording our six live shows ... How do you do that remotely? So we're really thinking through that and we're really going to start talking to the fan base about that. What does that look like? How do we do that? ... That's what we were going to do when we got back, is just get ready for that, get ready to do a Kickstarter. And we want to proceed really thoughtfully, because it's such a weird time. So we just are thinking about it, figuring it out right now.”
While the live shows and the Netflix series featured different cast members, some combination of recent players and puppeteers could show up in a future MST3K incarnation. Hodgson says, “If we do these live shows, it's a composite of Jonah [Ray], and people from the cast from Netflix, and it's me, and it's Emily [Marsh]. So it's really going to be a mix. For example, the first tour we did [the Watch Out for Snakes Tour] was Jonah, right? That's Jonah and the cast and Cynthia, who's Rebecca Hansen. So that was those two. And then we did [The 30th Anniversary Tour] ... And that one, it was kind of split between Jonah and me. So we kind of took turns riffing. And then the third one was me ... And then in success, if we raise more money, if people want more, then we're going to let Emily start doing some on her own ... My impression is it's kind of rotating with hosts. I'm going to phase myself out probably.”
[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=The%20narrative%20is%20really%20important%20to%20me.%20What%20is%20the%20story%20of%20Mystery%20Science%20Theater%3F%20How%20does%20Gizmonic%20Institute%20fit%20into%20it%3F%20What%20was%20the%20purpose%20of%20Gizmonic%20Institute%3F"]Of course, MST3K cast transitions have generally been given the lore treatment -- longtime fans will remember Joel’s handoff to a new host, Mike Nelson, nestled in the host segments of 1993’s Episode 512: Mitchell. How could a cast shakeup fit within the current show’s structure? Should we just relax?
“It was so funny because we spent all this time [and came up with] a really great narrative as to why all this works, and how it all intersects ... 'What's going on? Why is Jonah there? And why is Joel with Jonah? And then why is Joel with Emily?' And so we did a whole narrative arc on that. And it's funny because I know I put that [‘You should really just relax’ lyric] in the theme song for a reason, so I wouldn't have to work that hard on it. But the narrative is really important to me. What is the story of Mystery Science Theater? How does Gizmonic Institute fit into it? What was the purpose of Gizmonic Institute?”
“The thing you get to do after a show's been around for 30 years is you get to go in and kind of fit everything together and figure out, what is the story ... It's kind of getting to do speculative fiction on your own fiction.”
[caption id="attachment_2383833" align="aligncenter" width="650"]
The MST3K comic series kicked off in 2018.[/caption]
Despite the pandemic and the move away from Netflix, the many creative elements of MST3K are still working together on current and future projects. Hodgson explains, “Alternaversal Productions is my production company. And we really do all the intellectual property for Mystery Science Theater. [We're] the ones who did all the creative work for the new shows. We wrote and produced the shows. And have proceeded with that for the 20 feature-length episodes on Netflix, but also the three live tours, comic book, etc. So we really generate that internally.”
“And that's a mix of using writers from the show, but also internally there's Sharyl Volpe who's our operations manager and she's a writer-producer. Same with Matt McGinnis. He's a writer-producer. And we really worked together almost daily, working on these creative elements. And then once we get them in a good spot, then we can start bringing in the rest of the writers for projects.”
Hodgson intends to involve fans as much as possible in any future MST3K interaction, saying, “I think we have to have a really clear idea of what everything is before we offer [a Kickstarter] to the fan base. And so we'll be doing that in the next few months and just talking to them -- and basically the vehicle to do that is MST3K.org, where we're going to promote the charity we're working on. But also it'll be a place where we can talk about it, and kind of just do fan engagement on a really old-fashioned roots level with just forums and stuff like that, so people can talk and we can start to survey them about 'where is Mystery Science Theater in the year 2020?'”
That fan interaction and transparency was a sticking point with Netflix. “My only frustration I think was they had an embargo on when we were making the show that we couldn't really keep people abreast of the making of it. We did that afterwards, you know what I mean? But that [was] really frustrating, and our fans were really gracious about it ... I think that's the thing that I would like to do over if possible is be able to bring people in on it as you're making it.”
The overall Netflix experience was positive for Hodgson, especially in bringing attention to MST3K, “It's amazing having 20 shows on ... the biggest platform in the world? [Editor’s note: Netflix is indeed the biggest streaming platform at 183 million subscribers] ... But again, I don't really have any complaints because [it’s] grown our fan base so much more. When you think about [the way] their algorithm works, so anybody who likes Patton Oswalt, suddenly they're getting shown MST, and then all the movies and all the content that we have in there. It really helps ... It's totally worth it. Again, it's just so many people are getting to see it, that I just can't see a downside at all.”
But as the gears turn in the background on a Mystery Science Theater 3000 comeback, another special has just been announced at the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Panel Panorama during IGN’s Comic Con@Home livestream to tide over fans -- and raise money for a charitable cause, MIGIZI (from the press release: “MIGIZI is a Native American nonprofit organization whose main facility was heavily damaged during the violence that coincided with the George Floyd protests.”).
[caption id="attachment_2383869" align="aligncenter" width="720"]
Cast of MST3K: The Gauntlet. (Courtesy of Shout! Factory)[/caption]
“I'm really lucky because I got J. Elvis Weinstein and Bill Corbett to reprise their characters [as Tom Servo/Gypsy and Crow T. Robot, respectively] and so we're going to riff. We're going to raise money for MIGIZI, and if we raise $10,000, we're going to riff a short as Tom Servo and Crow and Joel Robinson ... You'll see at the end a sketch, and a doorway sequence. You'll see us all running out of the theater … And then we'll do a short, just like we did back in the day over 20 years ago. And have silhouettes too. So we're going to recreate an old MST for a short. And obviously there's stretch goals and stuff. Where we hope to raise more money.”
“I think if people pledge they get to go to have a VIP virtual screening. And then we'll have a world premiere screening on MST3K.org that'll be another way to raise more money. We'll hopefully churn more money for MIGIZI on that night as well. And have stuff like that. But I'm really excited about it, and I'm really so grateful to J. Elvis and Bill Corbett for wanting to help and come back and reprise their roles.”
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/24/mystery-science-theater-3000-a-panel-panorama-official-panel-comic-con-2020"]
Until then, be sure to watch the full Mystery Science Theater 3000 Panel Panorama on IGN's Comic-Con@Home livestream (embedded above!) and check out our full Comic-Con 2020 panel schedule. And until Mystery Science Theater 3000 (hopefully) returns: Keep circulating those tapes!
Joel and the 'Bots. (Courtesy of Shout! Factory)[/caption]
On watching weird old movies for fun in 2020 (sans riffs):
"You know, I've got kids now, they're teenagers. And it's like, with a society that is so drenched in the moving image, it's really a rite of passage to understand the idea of an ironic viewing. Every kid goes through it. Every kid has a moment where they go, 'Wait a minute, this movie is funny, but this movie that wasn't meant to be funny could be even funnier.' So I think that I've noticed, it's just kind of an age where kids, it happens to them, you know? Where everybody kind of has that moment."
On riffing over old MST3K episodes:
"I noticed this interesting thing about the first season ... I think we were probably getting about three or 400 riffs a movie, and the usual Mystery Science Theater has six or 700 riffs. And so I thought, I think we could lay another layer of riffs on this. And so we did, and we added probably 150 other riffs over the top of it. So they watched it. It was really wild." [Editor's note: You can watch this in the MST3K LIVE Social Distancing Riff-Along which you can watch here]
On inventing:
"Last year at this time, last summer we had a workshop that we maintained for about six months prior to going out on the road … I do love that stuff [but] I'm not particularly great at it, I love hot gluing things together and shooting spray paint on them, but I can't really make things roadworthy so they can travel on the road and be at 100 performances and function every night … For that you need really good mechanical people who know how to build stuff ... So I was really grateful to have a couple of people like that."
On naming the Xbox:
"Yeah, “Xbox” was a version of [a 1995 pilot Hodgson worked on] The TV Wheel. But the Xbox was the pilot. I trademarked everything except the option for games. I trademarked it for apparel, I trademarked it for TV. I just didn't trademark it for games. But yeah, the first pilot was called Xbox… Because when you look at [the rotating stage that formed the basis of the show] from the top, it looks like an X."
[poilib element="accentDivider"]
Samuel Claiborn is IGN's Managing Editor and both fixes and breaks pinball machines in his garage. TCELES B HSUP to follow him @Samuel_IGN on Twitter.
MST3K cast members Jonah Ray and Felicia Day with Joel Hodgson at San Diego Comic-Con, 2017.[/caption]
Hodgson had just arrived home from the recent live tour, mere days before widespread shutdowns were enacted. Like many other things, the global pandemic interrupted the next steps necessary for bringing Mystery Science Theater 3000 back. “We were planning on recording our six live shows ... How do you do that remotely? So we're really thinking through that and we're really going to start talking to the fan base about that. What does that look like? How do we do that? ... That's what we were going to do when we got back, is just get ready for that, get ready to do a Kickstarter. And we want to proceed really thoughtfully, because it's such a weird time. So we just are thinking about it, figuring it out right now.”
While the live shows and the Netflix series featured different cast members, some combination of recent players and puppeteers could show up in a future MST3K incarnation. Hodgson says, “If we do these live shows, it's a composite of Jonah [Ray], and people from the cast from Netflix, and it's me, and it's Emily [Marsh]. So it's really going to be a mix. For example, the first tour we did [the Watch Out for Snakes Tour] was Jonah, right? That's Jonah and the cast and Cynthia, who's Rebecca Hansen. So that was those two. And then we did [The 30th Anniversary Tour] ... And that one, it was kind of split between Jonah and me. So we kind of took turns riffing. And then the third one was me ... And then in success, if we raise more money, if people want more, then we're going to let Emily start doing some on her own ... My impression is it's kind of rotating with hosts. I'm going to phase myself out probably.”
[poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=The%20narrative%20is%20really%20important%20to%20me.%20What%20is%20the%20story%20of%20Mystery%20Science%20Theater%3F%20How%20does%20Gizmonic%20Institute%20fit%20into%20it%3F%20What%20was%20the%20purpose%20of%20Gizmonic%20Institute%3F"]Of course, MST3K cast transitions have generally been given the lore treatment -- longtime fans will remember Joel’s handoff to a new host, Mike Nelson, nestled in the host segments of 1993’s Episode 512: Mitchell. How could a cast shakeup fit within the current show’s structure? Should we just relax?
“It was so funny because we spent all this time [and came up with] a really great narrative as to why all this works, and how it all intersects ... 'What's going on? Why is Jonah there? And why is Joel with Jonah? And then why is Joel with Emily?' And so we did a whole narrative arc on that. And it's funny because I know I put that [‘You should really just relax’ lyric] in the theme song for a reason, so I wouldn't have to work that hard on it. But the narrative is really important to me. What is the story of Mystery Science Theater? How does Gizmonic Institute fit into it? What was the purpose of Gizmonic Institute?”
“The thing you get to do after a show's been around for 30 years is you get to go in and kind of fit everything together and figure out, what is the story ... It's kind of getting to do speculative fiction on your own fiction.”
[caption id="attachment_2383833" align="aligncenter" width="650"] The MST3K comic series kicked off in 2018.[/caption]
Despite the pandemic and the move away from Netflix, the many creative elements of MST3K are still working together on current and future projects. Hodgson explains, “Alternaversal Productions is my production company. And we really do all the intellectual property for Mystery Science Theater. [We're] the ones who did all the creative work for the new shows. We wrote and produced the shows. And have proceeded with that for the 20 feature-length episodes on Netflix, but also the three live tours, comic book, etc. So we really generate that internally.”
“And that's a mix of using writers from the show, but also internally there's Sharyl Volpe who's our operations manager and she's a writer-producer. Same with Matt McGinnis. He's a writer-producer. And we really worked together almost daily, working on these creative elements. And then once we get them in a good spot, then we can start bringing in the rest of the writers for projects.”
Hodgson intends to involve fans as much as possible in any future MST3K interaction, saying, “I think we have to have a really clear idea of what everything is before we offer [a Kickstarter] to the fan base. And so we'll be doing that in the next few months and just talking to them -- and basically the vehicle to do that is MST3K.org, where we're going to promote the charity we're working on. But also it'll be a place where we can talk about it, and kind of just do fan engagement on a really old-fashioned roots level with just forums and stuff like that, so people can talk and we can start to survey them about 'where is Mystery Science Theater in the year 2020?'”
That fan interaction and transparency was a sticking point with Netflix. “My only frustration I think was they had an embargo on when we were making the show that we couldn't really keep people abreast of the making of it. We did that afterwards, you know what I mean? But that [was] really frustrating, and our fans were really gracious about it ... I think that's the thing that I would like to do over if possible is be able to bring people in on it as you're making it.”
The overall Netflix experience was positive for Hodgson, especially in bringing attention to MST3K, “It's amazing having 20 shows on ... the biggest platform in the world? [Editor’s note: Netflix is indeed the biggest streaming platform at 183 million subscribers] ... But again, I don't really have any complaints because [it’s] grown our fan base so much more. When you think about [the way] their algorithm works, so anybody who likes Patton Oswalt, suddenly they're getting shown MST, and then all the movies and all the content that we have in there. It really helps ... It's totally worth it. Again, it's just so many people are getting to see it, that I just can't see a downside at all.”
But as the gears turn in the background on a Mystery Science Theater 3000 comeback, another special has just been announced at the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Panel Panorama during IGN’s Comic Con@Home livestream to tide over fans -- and raise money for a charitable cause, MIGIZI (from the press release: “MIGIZI is a Native American nonprofit organization whose main facility was heavily damaged during the violence that coincided with the George Floyd protests.”).
[caption id="attachment_2383869" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Cast of MST3K: The Gauntlet. (Courtesy of Shout! Factory)[/caption]
“I'm really lucky because I got J. Elvis Weinstein and Bill Corbett to reprise their characters [as Tom Servo/Gypsy and Crow T. Robot, respectively] and so we're going to riff. We're going to raise money for MIGIZI, and if we raise $10,000, we're going to riff a short as Tom Servo and Crow and Joel Robinson ... You'll see at the end a sketch, and a doorway sequence. You'll see us all running out of the theater … And then we'll do a short, just like we did back in the day over 20 years ago. And have silhouettes too. So we're going to recreate an old MST for a short. And obviously there's stretch goals and stuff. Where we hope to raise more money.”
“I think if people pledge they get to go to have a VIP virtual screening. And then we'll have a world premiere screening on MST3K.org that'll be another way to raise more money. We'll hopefully churn more money for MIGIZI on that night as well. And have stuff like that. But I'm really excited about it, and I'm really so grateful to J. Elvis and Bill Corbett for wanting to help and come back and reprise their roles.”
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/24/mystery-science-theater-3000-a-panel-panorama-official-panel-comic-con-2020"]
Until then, be sure to watch the full Mystery Science Theater 3000 Panel Panorama on IGN's Comic-Con@Home livestream (embedded above!) and check out our full Comic-Con 2020 panel schedule. And until Mystery Science Theater 3000 (hopefully) returns: Keep circulating those tapes!
Shorts!
Here are some additional tidbits Joel Hodgson provided in our interview. Enjoy! On early robot prototypes: "The funny thing was is a lot of people don't know this, but I've made about 60 or 80 robots out of found objects before I did the Mystery Science Theater robots. I used to sell them in a store in Calhoun Square called Props. I used to just make them. I made them for friends, it just was my gig. I collaged robot sculptures. And sold them. And so that was the one part of the show that I knew I could do. It didn't take a lot of thinking. Like the other parts of the show, which is just figuring out the concept." On the all-nighter Hodgson pulled to create the first MST3K set: "Long story short, the last thing I left on my list was to make the robots. And I think I pulled an all nighter to make [them]. I remember I had that moment where I saw Crow on the workbench, and it was like Pinocchio. I go, "Oh, that's a good one. That's definitely going to work." Then I made Gypsy, and I made another robot that we called Beeper, or I called Beeper, which was a baby robot. And after we did the proof of concept, it's like nobody really sparked to it. And so I brought it home and popped its head off and put a gumball machine on and that became Servo. So Servo wasn't on that first proof of concept -- but the next show we did, he was there." [caption id="attachment_238386" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Joel and the 'Bots. (Courtesy of Shout! Factory)[/caption]
On watching weird old movies for fun in 2020 (sans riffs):
"You know, I've got kids now, they're teenagers. And it's like, with a society that is so drenched in the moving image, it's really a rite of passage to understand the idea of an ironic viewing. Every kid goes through it. Every kid has a moment where they go, 'Wait a minute, this movie is funny, but this movie that wasn't meant to be funny could be even funnier.' So I think that I've noticed, it's just kind of an age where kids, it happens to them, you know? Where everybody kind of has that moment."
On riffing over old MST3K episodes:
"I noticed this interesting thing about the first season ... I think we were probably getting about three or 400 riffs a movie, and the usual Mystery Science Theater has six or 700 riffs. And so I thought, I think we could lay another layer of riffs on this. And so we did, and we added probably 150 other riffs over the top of it. So they watched it. It was really wild." [Editor's note: You can watch this in the MST3K LIVE Social Distancing Riff-Along which you can watch here]
On inventing:
"Last year at this time, last summer we had a workshop that we maintained for about six months prior to going out on the road … I do love that stuff [but] I'm not particularly great at it, I love hot gluing things together and shooting spray paint on them, but I can't really make things roadworthy so they can travel on the road and be at 100 performances and function every night … For that you need really good mechanical people who know how to build stuff ... So I was really grateful to have a couple of people like that."
On naming the Xbox:
"Yeah, “Xbox” was a version of [a 1995 pilot Hodgson worked on] The TV Wheel. But the Xbox was the pilot. I trademarked everything except the option for games. I trademarked it for apparel, I trademarked it for TV. I just didn't trademark it for games. But yeah, the first pilot was called Xbox… Because when you look at [the rotating stage that formed the basis of the show] from the top, it looks like an X."
[poilib element="accentDivider"]
Samuel Claiborn is IGN's Managing Editor and both fixes and breaks pinball machines in his garage. TCELES B HSUP to follow him @Samuel_IGN on Twitter.MST3K Creator Discusses Show’s Post-Netflix Future
When hopes for a new season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Netflix were dashed last November, creator Joel Hodgson assured fans, “[While] this might be the end of the first chapter of bringing back MST3K, don't worry: It's not the last chapter.” Shortly after that, Hodgson took MST3K on the road with a new cast which wrapped in March -- just before the global pandemic hit the US and most of the country shut down.
Despite the interruption, the MST3K team got to work right away on a charity special (the MST3K LIVE Social Distancing Riff-Along) and, of course, got to work on resurrecting MST3K. Again!
[caption id="attachment_2383835" align="aligncenter" width="720"] MST3K cast members Jonah Ray and Felicia Day with Joel Hodgson at San Diego Comic-Con, 2017.[/caption]
Hodgson had just arrived home from the recent live tour, mere days before widespread shutdowns were enacted. Like many other things, the global pandemic interrupted the next steps necessary for bringing Mystery Science Theater 3000 back. “We were planning on recording our six live shows ... How do you do that remotely? So we're really thinking through that and we're really going to start talking to the fan base about that. What does that look like? How do we do that? ... That's what we were going to do when we got back, is just get ready for that, get ready to do a Kickstarter. And we want to proceed really thoughtfully, because it's such a weird time. So we just are thinking about it, figuring it out right now.”
While the live shows and the Netflix series featured different cast members, some combination of recent players and puppeteers could show up in a future MST3K incarnation. Hodgson says, “If we do these live shows, it's a composite of Jonah [Ray], and people from the cast from Netflix, and it's me, and it's Emily [Marsh]. So it's really going to be a mix. For example, the first tour we did [the Watch Out for Snakes Tour] was Jonah, right? That's Jonah and the cast and Cynthia, who's Rebecca Hansen. So that was those two. And then we did [The 30th Anniversary Tour] ... And that one, it was kind of split between Jonah and me. So we kind of took turns riffing. And then the third one was me ... And then in success, if we raise more money, if people want more, then we're going to let Emily start doing some on her own ... My impression is it's kind of rotating with hosts. I'm going to phase myself out probably.”
Of course, MST3K cast transitions have generally been given the lore treatment -- longtime fans will remember Joel’s handoff to a new host, Mike Nelson, nestled in the host segments of 1993’s Episode 512: Mitchell. How could a cast shakeup fit within the current show’s structure? Should we just relax?
“It was so funny because we spent all this time [and came up with] a really great narrative as to why all this works, and how it all intersects ... 'What's going on? Why is Jonah there? And why is Joel with Jonah? And then why is Joel with Emily?' And so we did a whole narrative arc on that. And it's funny because I know I put that [‘You should really just relax’ lyric] in the theme song for a reason, so I wouldn't have to work that hard on it. But the narrative is really important to me. What is the story of Mystery Science Theater? How does Gizmonic Institute fit into it? What was the purpose of Gizmonic Institute?”
“The thing you get to do after a show's been around for 30 years is you get to go in and kind of fit everything together and figure out, what is the story ... It's kind of getting to do speculative fiction on your own fiction.”
[caption id="attachment_2383833" align="aligncenter" width="650"] The MST3K comic series kicked off in 2018.[/caption]
Despite the pandemic and the move away from Netflix, the many creative elements of MST3K are still working together on current and future projects. Hodgson explains, “Alternaversal Productions is my production company. And we really do all the intellectual property for Mystery Science Theater. [We're] the ones who did all the creative work for the new shows. We wrote and produced the shows. And have proceeded with that for the 20 feature-length episodes on Netflix, but also the three live tours, comic book, etc. So we really generate that internally.”
“And that's a mix of using writers from the show, but also internally there's Sharyl Volpe who's our operations manager and she's a writer-producer. Same with Matt McGinnis. He's a writer-producer. And we really worked together almost daily, working on these creative elements. And then once we get them in a good spot, then we can start bringing in the rest of the writers for projects.”
Hodgson intends to involve fans as much as possible in any future MST3K interaction, saying, “I think we have to have a really clear idea of what everything is before we offer [a Kickstarter] to the fan base. And so we'll be doing that in the next few months and just talking to them -- and basically the vehicle to do that is MST3K.org, where we're going to promote the charity we're working on. But also it'll be a place where we can talk about it, and kind of just do fan engagement on a really old-fashioned roots level with just forums and stuff like that, so people can talk and we can start to survey them about 'where is Mystery Science Theater in the year 2020?'”
That fan interaction and transparency was a sticking point with Netflix. “My only frustration I think was they had an embargo on when we were making the show that we couldn't really keep people abreast of the making of it. We did that afterwards, you know what I mean? But that [was] really frustrating, and our fans were really gracious about it ... I think that's the thing that I would like to do over if possible is be able to bring people in on it as you're making it.”
Despite that minor frustration, the Netflix experience was positive for Hodgson, especially in bringing attention to MST3K, “It's amazing having 20 shows on ... the biggest platform in the world? [Editor’s note: Netflix is indeed the biggest streaming platform at 183 million subscribers] ... But again, I don't really have any complaints because [it’s] grown our fan base so much more. When you think about [the way] their algorithm works, so anybody who likes Patton Oswalt, suddenly they're getting shown MST, and then all the movies and all the content that we have in there. It really helps ... It's totally worth it. Again, it's just so many people are getting to see it, that I just can't see a downside at all.”
But as the gears turn in the background on a Mystery Science Theater 3000 comeback, another special has just been announced at the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Panel Panorama during IGN’s Comic Con@Home livestream to tide over fans -- and raise money for a charitable cause, MIGZI (from the press release: “MIGIZI is a Native American nonprofit organization whose main facility was heavily damaged during the violence that coincided with the George Floyd protests.”).
[caption id="attachment_2383869" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Cast of MST3K: The Gauntlet. (Courtesy of Shout! Factory)[/caption]
“I'm really lucky because I got J. Elvis Weinstein and Bill Corbett to reprise their characters [as Tom Servo/Gypsy and Crow T. Robot, respectively] and so we're going to riff. We're going to raise money for MIGIZI, and if we raise $10,000, we're going to riff a short as Tom Servo and Crow and Joel Robinson ... You'll see at the end a sketch, and a doorway sequence. You'll see us all running out of the theater … And then we'll do a short, just like we did back in the day over 20 years ago. And have silhouettes too. So we're going to recreate an old MST for a short. And obviously there's stretch goals and stuff. Where we hope to raise more money.”
“I think if people pledge they get to go to have a VIP virtual screening. And then we'll have a world premiere screening on MST3K.org that'll be another way to raise more money. We'll hopefully churn more money for MIGIZI on that night as well. And have stuff like that. But I'm really excited about it, and I'm really so grateful to J. Elvis and Bill Corbett for wanting to help and come back and reprise their roles.”
Until then, be sure to watch the full Mystery Science Theater 3000 Panel Panorama on IGN's Comic-Con@Home livestream and check out our full Comic-Con 2020 panel schedule. And until Mystery Science Theater 3000 (hopefully) returns: Keep circulating those tapes!
Joel and the 'Bots. (Courtesy of Shout! Factory)[/caption]
On watching weird old movies for fun in 2020 (sans riffs):
"You know, I've got kids now, they're teenagers. And it's like, with a society that is so drenched in the moving image, it's really a rite of passage to understand the idea of an ironic viewing. Every kid goes through it. Every kid has a moment where they go, "Wait a minute, this movie is funny, but this movie that wasn't meant to be funny could be even funnier." So I think that I've noticed, it's just kind of an age where kids, it happens to them, you know? Where everybody kind of has that moment."
On riffing over old MST3K episodes:
"I noticed this interesting thing about the first season ... I think we were probably getting about three or 400 riffs a movie, and the usual Mystery Science Theater has six or 700 riffs. And so I thought, I think we could lay another layer of riffs on this. And so we did, and we added probably 150 other riffs over the top of it. So they watched it. It was really wild." [Editor's note: You can watch this in the MST3K LIVE Social Distancing Riff-Along which you can watch here]
On inventing:
"Last year at this time, last summer we had a workshop that we maintained for about six months prior to going out on the road … I do love that stuff [but] I'm not particularly great at it, I love hot gluing things together and shooting spray paint on them, but I can't really make things roadworthy so they can travel on the road and be at 100 performances and function every night … For that you need really good mechanical people who know how to build stuff ... So I was really grateful to have a couple of people like that."
On naming the Xbox:
"Yeah, “Xbox” was a version of [a 1995 pilot Hodgson worked on] The TV Wheel. But the Xbox was the pilot. I trademarked everything except the option for games. I trademarked it for apparel, I trademarked it for TV. I just didn't trademark it for games. But yeah, the first pilot was called Xbox… Because when you look at [the rotating stage that formed the basis of the show] from the top, it looks like an X."
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Samuel Claiborn is IGN's Managing Editor and both fixes and breaks pinball machines in his garage. TCELES B HSUP to follow him @Samuel_IGN on Twitter.
MST3K cast members Jonah Ray and Felicia Day with Joel Hodgson at San Diego Comic-Con, 2017.[/caption]
Hodgson had just arrived home from the recent live tour, mere days before widespread shutdowns were enacted. Like many other things, the global pandemic interrupted the next steps necessary for bringing Mystery Science Theater 3000 back. “We were planning on recording our six live shows ... How do you do that remotely? So we're really thinking through that and we're really going to start talking to the fan base about that. What does that look like? How do we do that? ... That's what we were going to do when we got back, is just get ready for that, get ready to do a Kickstarter. And we want to proceed really thoughtfully, because it's such a weird time. So we just are thinking about it, figuring it out right now.”
While the live shows and the Netflix series featured different cast members, some combination of recent players and puppeteers could show up in a future MST3K incarnation. Hodgson says, “If we do these live shows, it's a composite of Jonah [Ray], and people from the cast from Netflix, and it's me, and it's Emily [Marsh]. So it's really going to be a mix. For example, the first tour we did [the Watch Out for Snakes Tour] was Jonah, right? That's Jonah and the cast and Cynthia, who's Rebecca Hansen. So that was those two. And then we did [The 30th Anniversary Tour] ... And that one, it was kind of split between Jonah and me. So we kind of took turns riffing. And then the third one was me ... And then in success, if we raise more money, if people want more, then we're going to let Emily start doing some on her own ... My impression is it's kind of rotating with hosts. I'm going to phase myself out probably.”
Of course, MST3K cast transitions have generally been given the lore treatment -- longtime fans will remember Joel’s handoff to a new host, Mike Nelson, nestled in the host segments of 1993’s Episode 512: Mitchell. How could a cast shakeup fit within the current show’s structure? Should we just relax?
“It was so funny because we spent all this time [and came up with] a really great narrative as to why all this works, and how it all intersects ... 'What's going on? Why is Jonah there? And why is Joel with Jonah? And then why is Joel with Emily?' And so we did a whole narrative arc on that. And it's funny because I know I put that [‘You should really just relax’ lyric] in the theme song for a reason, so I wouldn't have to work that hard on it. But the narrative is really important to me. What is the story of Mystery Science Theater? How does Gizmonic Institute fit into it? What was the purpose of Gizmonic Institute?”
“The thing you get to do after a show's been around for 30 years is you get to go in and kind of fit everything together and figure out, what is the story ... It's kind of getting to do speculative fiction on your own fiction.”
[caption id="attachment_2383833" align="aligncenter" width="650"] The MST3K comic series kicked off in 2018.[/caption]
Despite the pandemic and the move away from Netflix, the many creative elements of MST3K are still working together on current and future projects. Hodgson explains, “Alternaversal Productions is my production company. And we really do all the intellectual property for Mystery Science Theater. [We're] the ones who did all the creative work for the new shows. We wrote and produced the shows. And have proceeded with that for the 20 feature-length episodes on Netflix, but also the three live tours, comic book, etc. So we really generate that internally.”
“And that's a mix of using writers from the show, but also internally there's Sharyl Volpe who's our operations manager and she's a writer-producer. Same with Matt McGinnis. He's a writer-producer. And we really worked together almost daily, working on these creative elements. And then once we get them in a good spot, then we can start bringing in the rest of the writers for projects.”
Hodgson intends to involve fans as much as possible in any future MST3K interaction, saying, “I think we have to have a really clear idea of what everything is before we offer [a Kickstarter] to the fan base. And so we'll be doing that in the next few months and just talking to them -- and basically the vehicle to do that is MST3K.org, where we're going to promote the charity we're working on. But also it'll be a place where we can talk about it, and kind of just do fan engagement on a really old-fashioned roots level with just forums and stuff like that, so people can talk and we can start to survey them about 'where is Mystery Science Theater in the year 2020?'”
That fan interaction and transparency was a sticking point with Netflix. “My only frustration I think was they had an embargo on when we were making the show that we couldn't really keep people abreast of the making of it. We did that afterwards, you know what I mean? But that [was] really frustrating, and our fans were really gracious about it ... I think that's the thing that I would like to do over if possible is be able to bring people in on it as you're making it.”
Despite that minor frustration, the Netflix experience was positive for Hodgson, especially in bringing attention to MST3K, “It's amazing having 20 shows on ... the biggest platform in the world? [Editor’s note: Netflix is indeed the biggest streaming platform at 183 million subscribers] ... But again, I don't really have any complaints because [it’s] grown our fan base so much more. When you think about [the way] their algorithm works, so anybody who likes Patton Oswalt, suddenly they're getting shown MST, and then all the movies and all the content that we have in there. It really helps ... It's totally worth it. Again, it's just so many people are getting to see it, that I just can't see a downside at all.”
But as the gears turn in the background on a Mystery Science Theater 3000 comeback, another special has just been announced at the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Panel Panorama during IGN’s Comic Con@Home livestream to tide over fans -- and raise money for a charitable cause, MIGZI (from the press release: “MIGIZI is a Native American nonprofit organization whose main facility was heavily damaged during the violence that coincided with the George Floyd protests.”).
[caption id="attachment_2383869" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Cast of MST3K: The Gauntlet. (Courtesy of Shout! Factory)[/caption]
“I'm really lucky because I got J. Elvis Weinstein and Bill Corbett to reprise their characters [as Tom Servo/Gypsy and Crow T. Robot, respectively] and so we're going to riff. We're going to raise money for MIGIZI, and if we raise $10,000, we're going to riff a short as Tom Servo and Crow and Joel Robinson ... You'll see at the end a sketch, and a doorway sequence. You'll see us all running out of the theater … And then we'll do a short, just like we did back in the day over 20 years ago. And have silhouettes too. So we're going to recreate an old MST for a short. And obviously there's stretch goals and stuff. Where we hope to raise more money.”
“I think if people pledge they get to go to have a VIP virtual screening. And then we'll have a world premiere screening on MST3K.org that'll be another way to raise more money. We'll hopefully churn more money for MIGIZI on that night as well. And have stuff like that. But I'm really excited about it, and I'm really so grateful to J. Elvis and Bill Corbett for wanting to help and come back and reprise their roles.”
Until then, be sure to watch the full Mystery Science Theater 3000 Panel Panorama on IGN's Comic-Con@Home livestream and check out our full Comic-Con 2020 panel schedule. And until Mystery Science Theater 3000 (hopefully) returns: Keep circulating those tapes!
Shorts!
Here are some additional tidbits Joel Hodgson provided in our interview. Enjoy! On early robot prototypes: "The funny thing was is a lot of people don't know this, but I've made about 60 or 80 robots out of found objects before I did the Mystery Science Theater robots. I used to sell them in a store in Calhoun Square called Props. I used to just make them. I made them for friends, it just was my gig. I collaged robot sculptures. And sold them. And so that was the one part of the show that I knew I could do. It didn't take a lot of thinking. Like the other parts of the show, which is just figuring out the concept." On the all-nighter Hodgson pulled to create the first MST3K set: "Long story short, the last thing I left on my list was to make the robots. And I think I pulled an all nighter to make [them]. I remember I had that moment where I saw Crow on the workbench, and it was like Pinocchio. I go, "Oh, that's a good one. That's definitely going to work." Then I made Gypsy, and I made another robot that we called Beeper, or I called Beeper, which was a baby robot. And after we did the proof of concept, it's like nobody really sparked to it. And so I brought it home and popped its head off and put a gumball machine on and that became Servo. So Servo wasn't on that first proof of concept -- but the next show we did, he was there." [caption id="attachment_238386" align="aligncenter" width="720"] Joel and the 'Bots. (Courtesy of Shout! Factory)[/caption]
On watching weird old movies for fun in 2020 (sans riffs):
"You know, I've got kids now, they're teenagers. And it's like, with a society that is so drenched in the moving image, it's really a rite of passage to understand the idea of an ironic viewing. Every kid goes through it. Every kid has a moment where they go, "Wait a minute, this movie is funny, but this movie that wasn't meant to be funny could be even funnier." So I think that I've noticed, it's just kind of an age where kids, it happens to them, you know? Where everybody kind of has that moment."
On riffing over old MST3K episodes:
"I noticed this interesting thing about the first season ... I think we were probably getting about three or 400 riffs a movie, and the usual Mystery Science Theater has six or 700 riffs. And so I thought, I think we could lay another layer of riffs on this. And so we did, and we added probably 150 other riffs over the top of it. So they watched it. It was really wild." [Editor's note: You can watch this in the MST3K LIVE Social Distancing Riff-Along which you can watch here]
On inventing:
"Last year at this time, last summer we had a workshop that we maintained for about six months prior to going out on the road … I do love that stuff [but] I'm not particularly great at it, I love hot gluing things together and shooting spray paint on them, but I can't really make things roadworthy so they can travel on the road and be at 100 performances and function every night … For that you need really good mechanical people who know how to build stuff ... So I was really grateful to have a couple of people like that."
On naming the Xbox:
"Yeah, “Xbox” was a version of [a 1995 pilot Hodgson worked on] The TV Wheel. But the Xbox was the pilot. I trademarked everything except the option for games. I trademarked it for apparel, I trademarked it for TV. I just didn't trademark it for games. But yeah, the first pilot was called Xbox… Because when you look at [the rotating stage that formed the basis of the show] from the top, it looks like an X."
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Samuel Claiborn is IGN's Managing Editor and both fixes and breaks pinball machines in his garage. TCELES B HSUP to follow him @Samuel_IGN on Twitter.Spider-Man: Far From Home Sequel Delayed
Sony Pictures has announced that Spider-Man: Far From Home's sequel has been delayed from November 5, 2021, to December 17, 2021.
The still untitled Spider-Man: Far From Home sequel was originally set to be released in theaters on July 16, 2021, and Tom Holland was set to first shoot Uncharted before once again becoming Peter Parker.
Production on the Uncharted film, in which Holland will play Nathan Drake, has not yet begun, but a Sony representative has confirmed that preparations are underway and they're "hoping to start soon."
[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-delayed-movie-due-to-coronavirus-so-far&captions=true"]
This sequel to 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home will be followed by the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse on October 7, 2022.
In our review of Spider-Man: Far From Home, which was the first MCU film to release after Avengers: Endgame, we said it is "a grandly entertaining culmination of the MCU wall-crawler’s journey so far. Thanks to its sweet humor, clever commentary, and deft action set-pieces, Far From Home continues the journey of Peter Parker from kid hero to Tony Stark’s successor."
Spider-Man's delay accompanied the delays of both the upcoming Star Wars and Avatar films that will be released in theaters on December 22, 2023, and December 16, 2022, respectively. The follow-ups to these films have also been delayed by a year.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/01/all-spider-man-related-movies-are-now-the-sony-pictures-universe-of-marvel-characters"]
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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
Spider-Man: Far From Home Sequel Delayed
Sony Pictures has announced that Spider-Man: Far From Home's sequel has been delayed from November 5, 2021, to December 17, 2021.
The still untitled Spider-Man: Far From Home sequel was originally set to be released in theaters on July 16, 2021, and Tom Holland was set to first shoot Uncharted before once again becoming Peter Parker.
Production on the Uncharted film, in which Holland will play Nathan Drake, has not yet begun, but a Sony representative has confirmed that preparations are underway and they're "hoping to start soon."
[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-spider-man-movie-spin-off-in-development&captions=true"]
This sequel to 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home will be followed by the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse on October 7, 2022.
In our review of Spider-Man: Far From Home, which was the first MCU film to release after Avengers: Endgame, we said it is "a grandly entertaining culmination of the MCU wall-crawler’s journey so far. Thanks to its sweet humor, clever commentary, and deft action set-pieces, Far From Home continues the journey of Peter Parker from kid hero to Tony Stark’s successor."
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/01/all-spider-man-related-movies-are-now-the-sony-pictures-universe-of-marvel-characters"]
Developing...
The Boys Renewed for Season 3
The Boys has been renewed for Season 3 ahead of the show's Season 2 premiere on September 4, executive producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg announced during Amazon Prime Video's Comic-Con@Home 2020 panel for the twisted superhero series. The Boys panel was featured as part of IGN's Comic-Con@Home livestream - check out our full Comic-Con 2020 panel schedule for everything coming up over Comic-Con weekend.
"Because this show has fans and it is watched by people like you, they have decided to renew it yet again for a third season," Rogen said. "So if you like The Boys, you got more of it, thank God!"
"We never know if things we make are gonna keep moving on forward or get shut down," Goldberg laughed. "This one’s not shut down yet."
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/08/amazons-the-boys-season-2-official-teaser"]
As for when the show will actually be able to begin filming Season 3, given the global production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Rogen quipped, "Anyone’s guess - hope sometime this decade!"
He cheekily added, "Don’t be surprised if you see a lot of superheroes in what are essentially hermetically sealed outfits that do not allow any of their breath to interact with anyone else’s breath - it’s just a wardrobe choice, it has nothing to do with the current climate."
The panel also revealed that the series will receive a weekly aftershow called Prime Rewind: Inside the Boys, hosted by Aisha Tyler.
Watch the full Comic-Con@Home panel for The Boys below:
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/the-boys-season-2-official-panel-comic-con-2020”]
The release schedule for The Boys Season 2 will differ from its Season 1 release schedule, which saw the entire season premiere at once; instead, the first three episodes of Season 2 will be released on September 4, with the remaining episodes released weekly thereafter until the October 9 finale.
Showrunner Eric Kripke offered a tantalizing preview of Season 2 (along with a typically effed up sneak peek clip from the new season featuring a whale), promising, "When we pick up Season 2, it’s a lot more intense. We worked hard to make Season 2 crazier but also more emotional and higher stakes. Everyone’s in a really tight spot; The Boys are wanted fugitives coming off of last season, they’re hunted, they’re basically totally screwed and they’re doing their best to fight back at Vought however they can but Season 1 was a big loss for them. Conversely, Homelander killed the only person who could control him in Stillwell, so he’s increasingly out of control, he’s ascendant, he’s making Vought a scarier place, and Starlight is sort of trapped in this living nightmare, so I think everyone is pushed to the limits in Season 2."
For more from The Boys, read about the Billy Butcher short film debuting in the middle of Season 2, and head over to Amazon's VirtualCon hub if you want more content from the streaming service's Comic-Con lineup, which also includes Utopia, Truth Seekers, and Upload.
Check out the teaser trailers for Amazon's Truth Seekers and Utopia below.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/truth-seekers-official-teaser-trailer-reveal-comic-conhome-on-ign"]
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/amazons-utopia-season-1-official-teaser-trailer-comic-conhome-on-ign"]
The Boys Renewed for Season 3
The Boys has been renewed for Season 3 ahead of the show's Season 2 premiere on September 4, executive producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg announced during Amazon Prime Video's Comic-Con@Home 2020 panel for the twisted superhero series. The Boys panel was featured as part of IGN's Comic-Con@Home livestream - check out our full Comic-Con 2020 panel schedule for everything coming up over Comic-Con weekend.
"Because this show has fans and it is watched by people like you, they have decided to renew it yet again for a third season," Rogen said. "So if you like The Boys, you got more of it, thank God!"
"We never know if things we make are gonna keep moving on forward or get shut down," Goldberg laughed. "This one’s not shut down yet."
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/08/amazons-the-boys-season-2-official-teaser"]
As for when the show will actually be able to begin filming Season 3, given the global production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Rogen quipped, "Anyone’s guess - hope sometime this decade!"
He cheekily added, "Don’t be surprised if you see a lot of superheroes in what are essentially hermetically sealed outfits that do not allow any of their breath to interact with anyone else’s breath - it’s just a wardrobe choice, it has nothing to do with the current climate."
The panel also revealed that the series will receive a weekly aftershow called Prime Rewind: Inside the Boys, hosted by Aisha Tyler.
Watch the full Comic-Con@Home panel for The Boys below:
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/the-boys-season-2-official-panel-comic-con-2020”]
The release schedule for The Boys Season 2 will differ from its Season 1 release schedule, which saw the entire season premiere at once; instead, the first three episodes of Season 2 will be released on September 4, with the remaining episodes released weekly thereafter until the October 9 finale.
Showrunner Eric Kripke offered a tantalizing preview of Season 2 (along with a typically effed up sneak peek clip from the new season featuring a whale), promising, "When we pick up Season 2, it’s a lot more intense. We worked hard to make Season 2 crazier but also more emotional and higher stakes. Everyone’s in a really tight spot; The Boys are wanted fugitives coming off of last season, they’re hunted, they’re basically totally screwed and they’re doing their best to fight back at Vought however they can but Season 1 was a big loss for them. Conversely, Homelander killed the only person who could control him in Stillwell, so he’s increasingly out of control, he’s ascendant, he’s making Vought a scarier place, and Starlight is sort of trapped in this living nightmare, so I think everyone is pushed to the limits in Season 2."
For more from The Boys, read about the Billy Butcher short film debuting in the middle of Season 2, and head over to Amazon's VirtualCon hub if you want more content from the streaming service's Comic-Con lineup, which also includes Utopia, Truth Seekers, and Upload.
Check out the teaser trailers for Amazon's Truth Seekers and Utopia below.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/truth-seekers-official-teaser-trailer-reveal-comic-conhome-on-ign"]
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/amazons-utopia-season-1-official-teaser-trailer-comic-conhome-on-ign"]
Comic-Con Preview: Hip-Hop And Comics – Cultures Combining
The comic book industry and hip-hop music have a long and very intriguing shared history. That's been the inspiration behind San Diego Comic-Con's annual "Hip-Hop and Comics: Cultures Combining" panel. And even with Comic-Con going digital-only this year, fans of the two art forms can look forward to another star-studded panel.
"Hip-Hop and Comics: Cultures Combining" will stream on Friday, July 24 at 6pm PT, and IGN can exclusively debut a preview of the panel. Check it out in the video player above or embedded below:
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/comic-conhome-preview-hip-hop-and-comics-cultures-combining"]
This year's panel features a mixture of comic book creators like David F. Walker (Naomi), Vita Ayala (Morbius: the Living Vampire) and Ron Wimberly (Prince of Cats), hip-hop stars like Christopher "Play" Martin, Pharoahe Monch, Esoteric, and Mega Ran and graffiti artists like Gloria "Glow" Muriel and Erin Yoshi. The panelists will reflect on the intersection of comics and hip-hop and the way both are so often a platform for larger-than-life characters and unique forms of storytelling.
Martin should be an especially interesting addition to the mix this year. As one half of the hip-hop duo Kid 'n Play, his work actually spawned a Marvel Comics series in 1992, along with an animated series and the popular House Party films.
“I owe comics a gigantic debt of gratitude… My vocabulary has shot off like a rocket since the first time I turned the pages of an Amazing Spider-Man issue,” said Esoteric in a statement.
“Those early animated shows were a huge influence, and not just visually. The old Spider-Man and Iron Man and all those theme songs… The production and orchestration felt like Hip-Hop when we watched them in that era. And if you go back and listen to early Hip-Hop tapes, all those people got a lot of their fervor and gravitas from comic books,” said Monch.
The full list of panelists can be found in the image below:
As Comic-Con@Home gets into full swing, here are the 9 things we're most excited to see. And be sure to check out the full Comic-Con@Home schedule and watch IGN's Comic-Con livestream.
[poilib element="accentDivider"]
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
“I owe comics a gigantic debt of gratitude… My vocabulary has shot off like a rocket since the first time I turned the pages of an Amazing Spider-Man issue,” said Esoteric in a statement.
“Those early animated shows were a huge influence, and not just visually. The old Spider-Man and Iron Man and all those theme songs… The production and orchestration felt like Hip-Hop when we watched them in that era. And if you go back and listen to early Hip-Hop tapes, all those people got a lot of their fervor and gravitas from comic books,” said Monch.
The full list of panelists can be found in the image below:
As Comic-Con@Home gets into full swing, here are the 9 things we're most excited to see. And be sure to check out the full Comic-Con@Home schedule and watch IGN's Comic-Con livestream.
[poilib element="accentDivider"]
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.Comic-Con Preview: Hip-Hop And Comics – Cultures Combining
The comic book industry and hip-hop music have a long and very intriguing shared history. That's been the inspiration behind San Diego Comic-Con's annual "Hip-Hop and Comics: Cultures Combining" panel. And even with Comic-Con going digital-only this year, fans of the two art forms can look forward to another star-studded panel.
"Hip-Hop and Comics: Cultures Combining" will stream on Friday, July 24 at 6pm PT, and IGN can exclusively debut a preview of the panel. Check it out in the video player above or embedded below:
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/23/comic-conhome-preview-hip-hop-and-comics-cultures-combining"]
This year's panel features a mixture of comic book creators like David F. Walker (Naomi), Vita Ayala (Morbius: the Living Vampire) and Ron Wimberly (Prince of Cats), hip-hop stars like Christopher "Play" Martin, Pharoahe Monch, Esoteric, and Mega Ran and graffiti artists like Gloria "Glow" Muriel and Erin Yoshi. The panelists will reflect on the intersection of comics and hip-hop and the way both are so often a platform for larger-than-life characters and unique forms of storytelling.
Martin should be an especially interesting addition to the mix this year. As one half of the hip-hop duo Kid 'n Play, his work actually spawned a Marvel Comics series in 1992, along with an animated series and the popular House Party films.
“I owe comics a gigantic debt of gratitude… My vocabulary has shot off like a rocket since the first time I turned the pages of an Amazing Spider-Man issue,” said Esoteric in a statement.
“Those early animated shows were a huge influence, and not just visually. The old Spider-Man and Iron Man and all those theme songs… The production and orchestration felt like Hip-Hop when we watched them in that era. And if you go back and listen to early Hip-Hop tapes, all those people got a lot of their fervor and gravitas from comic books,” said Monch.
The full list of panelists can be found in the image below:
As Comic-Con@Home gets into full swing, here are the 9 things we're most excited to see. And be sure to check out the full Comic-Con@Home schedule and watch IGN's Comic-Con livestream.
[poilib element="accentDivider"]
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.
“I owe comics a gigantic debt of gratitude… My vocabulary has shot off like a rocket since the first time I turned the pages of an Amazing Spider-Man issue,” said Esoteric in a statement.
“Those early animated shows were a huge influence, and not just visually. The old Spider-Man and Iron Man and all those theme songs… The production and orchestration felt like Hip-Hop when we watched them in that era. And if you go back and listen to early Hip-Hop tapes, all those people got a lot of their fervor and gravitas from comic books,” said Monch.
The full list of panelists can be found in the image below:
As Comic-Con@Home gets into full swing, here are the 9 things we're most excited to see. And be sure to check out the full Comic-Con@Home schedule and watch IGN's Comic-Con livestream.
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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.New Mutants Director Reveals Characters and Story for the Trilogy That Will Never Happen
It may seem hard to believe now given the oft-delayed release of The New Mutants, but the film was once meant to be the first entry in a trilogy of movies spun off from 20th Century Fox's X-Men film franchise. But that was before the studio mulled extensive reshoots (which never actually happened) and all of Fox's film assets, including the X-Men franchise, were acquired by Disney.
With the X-Men now in the hands of Marvel Studios, any hopes for the continuation of a Fox creation like The New Mutants within the confines of the MCU appear dead. We asked New Mutants director/co-writer Josh Boone what his plans were for the now-scuttled New Mutants trilogy during our interview with him and actor Charlie Heaton (who plays Cannonball) the Comic-Con@Home livestream.
Boone revealed that if New Mutants 2 were to have happened it would have featured a strange Marvel Comics character who was deemed too prohibitively pricey to realize in the first film.
Watch the full New Mutants Comic-Con@Home panel below:
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"Earlier drafts of this had Warlock in it and he was just far too expensive for us to explore in the first movie. He doubled our budget in a lot of ways with what we wanted to do with him so we really stripped him back," Boone said. "Warlock was always the idea for the second one."
Created by New Mutants writer Chris Claremont and artist Bill Sienkiewicz, Warlock was a shape-shifting mechanical organism. But unlike other members of his alien race, the Technarchy, Warlock possessed compassion. He even served as a member of the New Mutants despite his own father being an enemy ruler who fought both the New Mutants and the X-Men.
Boone also revealed that the sequels would have introduced Karma, one of the New Mutants' founding members in the comics who didn't make it into the roster of the first movie. The director added that he and co-screenwriter Knate Lee wanted to "really use a lot of stuff from Chris and Bill’s run on New Mutants" in subsequent films.
The grandest plan for this unrealized New Mutants trilogy would have seen Boone adapt one of Marvel Comics' most notable crossover event seres of the late 1980s: "We sort of wanted to use Inferno because it was so horror-related and was like a big crossover series when I was young I really liked in X-Men."
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Taking place across several Marvel books including the mutant titles Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, X-Terminators, Excalibur, and The New Mutants, Inferno depicted a demonic invasion of Earth. New Mutants member Magik (aka Illyana Rasputin) was central to the saga because she could open portals between the dimension of Limbo and Earth. Illyana is portrayed in The New Mutants by The Witch and Split actress Anya Taylor-Joy.
"But that was different times back then and nobody knew about the merger, any of those things," Boone added.
For more on the franchise, watch the latest New Mutants trailer, read these 7 comics to prepare you for the film, and dive into our explainer on the film's Demon Bear and Soulsword.
Be sure to watch the Comic-Con@Home livestream for more coverage from this year's virtual show. Check out our full Comic-Con 2020 panel schedule.