This week we talk about The Avengers again, Buffy, Jay and Silent Bob, Bond, Travelers, Tomb Raider and some overpriced television. Sadly we also have to say goodbye to one of the greatest scientific minds of ours or any time.
So it's a bit odd that one of the original Avengers hasn't shown up in any of the marketing, trailers, or even cast lists for the upcoming sequel Avengers: Infinity War. Hawkeye has never been a fan favorite, and he is probably the most under developed of the original Avengers. Yet it's surprising he isn't a part of this final act. The directors of the film have been cagey about his appearance, not entirely confirming he's in the film but not being explicit about it either. Also we're getting Peter Dinklage in an unspecified role out of nowhere. No matter, the film is already selling so many tickets it's breaking records.
Sarah Michelle Gellar shared a lovely Instagram post and some nice new photos of the cast and some behind the scenes photos for the 21st anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer this week.
While not exactly playing Jay and Silent Bob, Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith will be in an upcoming episode of The Flash as security guards, and Jason will have all the dialogue, while Kevin will remain silent.
The extended trailer for The 100 season 5 might show too much, but it does confirm a few things about the season (mainly returning characters and set up). It’s fun to watch, but I’m putting a SPOILER WARNING in front of it.
The third game in the well received Tomb Raider series reboot (starting with the 2013 game Tomb Raider that was just adapted for film and released this week) will be titled Shadow of the Tomb Raider and should be out in September.
The latest Bond film has been in development hell for a few years now, with different directors on board and even Daniel Craig wavering on the project. Now they have just locked in Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire) to helm Bond 25 which should begin filming soon and release in late 2019.
Going for more artistic, this is a character teaser for Fear the Walking Dead featuring Morgan and other new and returning characters.
The wave of revivals is real, from X-Files to Will and Grace. Even Murphy Brown is coming back. So in the latest bit of news/not news it turns out that Fox has been making noise about reviving Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Of course they are tempering expectations by saying, “Buffy is probably the most ripe show we have for bringing back. It’s something we talk about frequently, and Joss Whedon is really one of the greatest creators we ever worked with. When Joss decides it’s time, we’ll do it. And until Joss decides it's time, it won’t happen.”
Travelers, a time travel show that airs on Netflix, is getting a third season (thank god), and will now be a Netflix exclusive (the show had previously released on the Canadian Network Showcase first).
A little while back it was reported that Amazon had purchased the rights to the Lord of the Rings and had planned on creating a series for its streaming service. Now the numbers have been released and they are kind of absurd. Reportedly they spent $250 million dollars for the rights, and plan on spending another $500 million on the production (which should be for around two seasons). That’s nearly three times as much as Peter Jackson spent on his entire trilogy.
Comic Book Bits
Spawn is coming back, and MacFarlane is going to be writing, directing and producing the film. The reboot is going to be a hard-R rated film, and shooting is supposed to start in May.
Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel is also set to begin filming in May and may include a James Bondesque femme fatale… not sure how that fits with the character but I guess we’ll see.
Deadpool 2 drops fairly soon, and one of the new characters Domino (Zazie Beetz) has apparently signed a three picture deal with Fox to appear in at least two more films as the character.
Marvel has finally released the last Avengers: Infinity War trailer. It doesn’t tell us much, except for setting a tone that seems down right dark.
Movie Releases for March 16, 2018
Tomb Raider (2018) - This reboot/adaptation of the game series (specifically the rebooted game series mentioned above) starts Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft in an origin story about how she becomes a bad ass.
Love, Simon - A self-discover story about a teenager named Simon coming to terms with his sexuality as he tries to discover the identity of the boy he's been having an online romance.
7 Days in Entebbe - Starring Rosemond Pike (Gone Girl) and Daniel Bruhl (Captain America: Civil War) Based on the real events of the 76' hijacking of an airplane that was diverted to Entebbe, the main airport in Uganda. What followed was one of the most daring rescue attempts ever made.
In Memoriam
Earlier this week, Stephen Hawking died at the age of 76. It's hard to encapsulate how much he accomplished and how influential his presence was on the world in just a few sentences. He was a leader in developing theories relating to black holes, string theory and quantum mechanics (which is so far above my head that even just mentioning those theories is the dumbed-down version of his work).
He published A Brief History of Time, and there was even a biographical film (The Theory of Everything) based on his life made starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones. His real voice was taken from him years ago, and the artificial replacement that was given to him was relatively primitive. Instead of upgrading it to a more human voice later on, he felt that it had become his own and he kept it.
He also had an interesting relationship with science fiction and media. He guest starred in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and several episodes of The Simpsons, Futurama and The Big Bang Theory. My personal favorite was an interview he gave with John Oliver a few years ago. Few people affect the entire world, and Dr. Hawking was one of them. He will be missed.
That's all I have this week. Until next time.
Samantha M. Quinn spends most of her time in front of a computer typing away at one thing or another; when she has free time, she enjoys pretty much anything science fiction or fantasy-related.
Well, at least they got smarter after the last Buffy revival was announced. Not without Joss Whedon. :)
ReplyDeleteYay for Travelers!
Yes, yay for Travelers! I was worried Eric McCormack was too busy working on Will & Grace.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Marvel are planning to release a series of Where's Wally-style tie-in books and that's why we can't find Hawkeye anywhere.
ReplyDeleteSo hyped after the Infinity War trailer. I didn't even notice that Hawkeye was missing! That seems strange that people are being so cagey about it.
ReplyDeleteI also saw the Venom trailer for the first time last night. I adore Tom Hardy, so I'm excited to see how he and the studio handle the character.
Love the Hawking interview. How incredible that a man that brilliant also had such a great sense of humor. I'm guessing Hawkeye will either die in the first few minutes of IW or not be in it at all and make an appearance in Avengers 4 instead.
ReplyDeleteMe after reading about this Buffy revival thing: "No, no, never. Buffy is too unique, it wouldn't work, just leave it alone."
ReplyDeleteMe after reading this tweet and this other tweet from Joss Whedon: "Oh my god, Joss is totally signalling to SMG that he wants to bring Buffy back. Yes, god, please, make it happen!"
A Buffy revival would be interesting. I don't feel like something is missing from the old show. It said what it needed to say at the time. But a revival could be a vehicle to update the message. Our society changed a lot in 20 years with respect to feminism, civil rights and LGBTQ. Mostly for the better, but not always.
ReplyDeleteAnd even if it sucks, it would make a proper HD remaster of classic Buffy a lot more likely.
In terms of the Buffy revival, I would personally be up for them tapping into the Buffyverse and creating a whole new character arc. It’s such a rich world of mythology ready to be mined. Maybe a new slayer journey with some of the original characters popping in. You could even make one of them a regular. That way we avoid the issues surrounding the vampire characters looking 20 years older and Buffy’s own arc potebtially getting tarnished, but we still get to check in.
ReplyDelete