Monthly Archives: July 2017
Netflix’s ‘Bright’ Blends Fantasy and Cop Thriller
Netflix followed up tonight's Death Note panel at SDCC with a second panel focused on their next original film, Bright. Unlike Death Note, Bright appears to have all of the pieces in place for a blockbuster movie. Will Smith and Joel Edgerton are reuniting with their Suicide Squad director David Ayer, for a story that unites fantasy with a contemporary Los Angeles cop drama. Both Smith and Edgerton got a big reception from the Comic-Con crowd, as they joined Ayer, cast members Lucy Fry, Noomi Rapace, and Edgar Ramirez and moderator Terry Crews.
In the first trailer for the film, we meet Smith’s character, Scott Ward, a police officer who beats a fairy to death in full view of his neighbors after it repeatedly causes mischief on his lawn. Ward is soon partnered up with Edgerton’s Nick Jakoby, the first Orc to serve on the LAPD. Over the course of the trailer, they come across an elf girl named Tikka (Fry), who has stolen a powerful magic wand from Rapace’s elf villain. As Smith later noted, it is “rated R grime smashed with Lord of the Rings.” Smith was also beyond excited to explore racial issues through the lens of fantasy, and noted that his character shows prejudice against Jakoby.
We’ve Seen 4 Scenes from Marvel’s Inhumans
Direct from the Comic-Con panel for Marvel's Inhumans, moderated by Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb, comes our rundown of four new scenes from the upcoming series - which premieres September 1st on IMAX screens (which will show the first two episodes) and then September 29th on ABC (where the first two episodes will have some added footage).
The first scene is an action sequence involving a young blonde woman running through a jungle in the rain, pursued by armed soldiers. Mike Moh’s Triton appears to the scared girl, takes off his hood and tells her “You’re safe.”
“I’ve been looking for you, you’re one of us,” he says. Triton has been sent to Earth because Inhumans have been popping up in record numbers. He tells her there’s a place where she could go where everyone is like her, the city of Attilan. She’s afraid she’s a freak but then while he tries ot calm her the soldiers open fire. They run and she’s killed.
How Inhumans Fits Into the MCU
In an interview with IGN at San Diego Comic-Con, the Inhumans showrunner Scott Buck revealed that Inhumans does acknowledge the terrigenesis events from Agents of Shield.
"This exists all in the same universe," Buck said. "Even if we don't cross paths with, say, Agents of Shield or characters from other shows, they are still out there. We all live in the same world. The same things that applied in other shows and occurred also apply to Inhumans as well."
While everything exists within the MCU, some portions of the universe have focused on their individual storylines rather than worrying into tying intricately together. Still, Buck also confirmed that some of the royal family members are aware of the terrigenesis that took place in Agents of Shield.
Wonder Woman Star to Have Major Role in Legion Season 2
At San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday, it was revealed that Saïd Taghmaoui will appear in Season 2 of Legion as Amal Farouk — better known as the Shadow King.
Executive producer Noah Hawley stated that Tagmaoui will join Aubrey Plaza and Jermaine Clement, culminating in a horrific trio for David Haller (Dan Stevens) and the gang to deal with. He also broke down the Season 1 finale and his plans for the characters moving forward.
Hawley was quick to reference the original battle between Professor X and the Shadow King as it played out in the original comic. Since this is Legion, it's safe to say Farouk's backstory will be an interesting one. According to Hawley, things will get quite subversive.
COD: Nazi Zombies Will Be the ‘Most Terrifying’ Yet
During the Call of Duty: WW2 Nazi Zombies Reveal panel today at San Diego Comic-Con, Sledgehammer officially revealed the next iteration of their zombies mode calling it "probably the least campy and most terrifying" yet.
The panel opened with a finished version of the previously leaked trailer, showcasing an intensely gory, horror-themed take on the zombies formula.
"The number of times we think you’re going to maybe pee a little is going to be more than what you’ve experience before," Sledgehammer co-founder Michael Condrey said, who was joined by creative director Cameron Dayton and senior director of development Jon Horsley.
The team stressed their goal is to keep it grounded and avoid that natural desire to "dial everything up to 11," while Condrey drew parallels between lessons he learned from a previous game he developed, Dead Space.
Stargate SG-1 Webseries Prequel Announced
A new Stargate SG-1 prequel series called Stargate Origins is in development, MGM announced today at Comic-Con 2017.
The 10-episode webseries follows a young Catherine Langford as she tries to solve the mysteries that lie beyond the Stargate in order to save Earth from impending doom.
Stargate Origins will be directed by Mercedes Bryce Morgan (Virtual Morality), written by Mark Ilvedson and Justin Michael Terry, and produced by both MGM and New Form.
Stargate Origins logo, courtesy of MGM
Netflix Drops a Death Note on Comic-Con
For the first time ever, Netflix films held court in Comic-Con’s Hall H, as moderator Terry Crews welcomed the cast and creative team of Death Note. He was joined by director Adam Wingard, producers Masi Oka and Roy Lee, as well as stars Nat Wolff, Margaret Qualley, and LaKeith Stanfield.
To start things off, the trailer for the film was played, and it depicted Light (Wolff) as he obtained the Death Note and decided to begin wiping out criminals as Kira. In the footage, Qualley’s Mia told him that he wasn’t crazy enough, and encouraged an expansion of his crusade against evil. Stanfield’s L had a few bizarre appearances in the footage as he confronted Light.
After the footage played, Wingard noted that they took the preexisting manga by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, and breathed new life into it while exploring various themes including good vs. evil. Wolff noted that in preparation for the role, he made his own Death Note. He said that he was slow to start, but then “names were just flying off of my pen.” He said that the power is very tempting.
Grant Morrison Announces Arkham Asylum Sequel
Nearly 30 years ago, writer Grant Morrison and artist Dave McKean united for Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, which became one of the seminal Batman stories of the ‘80s. On the first day of Comic-Con International, Morrison dropped by to deliver a bombshell announcement: he is working on Arkham Asylum 2 with Batman Incorporated artist Chris Burnham.
Morrison revealed the project when he joined Dan DiDio and Jim Lee’s "DC Publishers" panel midway through its run time. Morrison told the audience that when he and Mark Millar used to be friends, they would joke about how Arkham Asylum 2 would be the sign that Morrison’s career had jumped the shark. Now, Morrison is embracing the shark jump, and setting the new tale far in the future. The sequel will feature an adult Damian Wayne as Batman, the same alternate future version Morrison first introduced in 2007's Batman #666. He also mentioned that the will be 120 pages in length.
Legion Creator Working on Fox Marvel Movie
After stepping into the world of Marvel with FX's Legion, showrunner Noah Hawley is working on another Marvel project for Fox — and he's teased one of the characters involved.
During the San Diego Comic-Con Legion panel, Hawley teased he is developing a movie for Fox by specifically hinting at one character.
"Because I’m at Comic-Con, I wanted to let you know about a movie I’m developing for Fox. The first word is ‘Doctor.’ And the second is ‘Doom,'" Hawley said on stage to close out the panel.
The Fargo and Legion showrunner didn't elaborate on whether the film would focus solely on Doom or be a Fantastic Four film. Fox released its first Fantastic Four in 2005, which starred Julian McMahon as Victor von Doom/Doctor Doom, while Toby Kebbell played him in the 2015 Fantastic Four reboot.
Godzilla vs. Kong Director on the Monsters’ Size Differences
In an interview with IGN at San Diego Comic-Con 2017, the director of the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong film shined some light on the upcoming battle of the beasts.
Adam Wingard, who previously worked on the Blair Witch sequel as well as the upcoming Death Note Netflix adaptation, explained where they were in development with Godzilla vs. Kong. "It's been a pleasure already in the first stages of it, having an excuse to go back and watch 30 Godzilla movies and justifying it to yourself. For me, it's about taking the series to the next level."
When asked about the similarities in the way both the monster films as well as Death Note deal in shades of grey, Wingard continued, "I think they're very similar in a lot of ways. It's easy to demonize Godzilla on one hand, but I have a lot of emotional attachment to both monsters." In regards to the size difference between the two beasts, Wingard added, "They gave us a good out in Kong when they mentioned that Kong is still growing, but that'll be a challenge we have to deal with, and we're very aware of that issue."