Category: Television News

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‘X-Men ’97’ First-Look Trailer: The Beloved Mutant Animated Series Returns March 20 On Disney+

While we’re going to have to be patient for Marvel’s hard reboot of the “X-Men” franchise, we do have a couple of mutant-focused projects on the horizon. This July will see Wade Wilson return to the big screen in “Deadpool & Wolverine” an R-rated Multiverse romp that is already planting seeds for “Avengers: Secret Wars” (Although, to what extent is clearly unknown). But before that, Marvel is resurrecting an old favorite with the Fox Kids animated series via a continuation called “X-Men ’97” which will debut March 20 on Disney+. Alongside that date confirmation, they’ve released a first-look teaser trailer (See Below) giving us a minor glimpse at the animation style and look of the revival.

The trailer connects the new show to the old one as it had Magneto overseeing Xavier’s school and the new de facto head of the X-Men. Magneto, of course, is well known to many as one of the main antagonists of the franchise but has a conflictive streak that doesn’t make him “all that bad.” Will he be a great mentor to the team or revert to his dastardly plans? I guess we’ll have to watch and find out for ourselves.

It’s unclear despite being a series coming from Marvel Studios and the newly formed Marvel Animation, if the animated show is going to have any impact on how they conduct their upcoming “X-Men” reboot and we’re unsure if it’ll have any genuine influence other than the character/costume designs (The iconic Jim Lee/Chris Claremont era being one of the most popular versions of this Marvel team). They could always jump to a live-action incarnation here, but given that a heap of storylines already used up was either skipped over entirely or mangled during the Singerverse years at 20th Century Fox, it would feel odd to brush over those events given that Marvel can now start with a clean slate.

Marvel Animation is also behind “Marvel Zombies” and the upcoming Spidey show “Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man.” Although, I’m still a little surprised they didn’t attempt a revival of the 1990s animated “Spider-Man” series alongside “X-Men ’97.” Perhaps, it was simply too much of a headache or a cameo for “X-Men ’97” is in the cards?

The teaser trailer features an article from The Daily Bugle questioning if Spidey is a mutant himself (There were crossovers between the two Fox Kids shows in the 1990s, so that version of Spider-Man exists in “X-Men ’97”). Also, it mentions Eddie Brock, aka, Venom in that paper as well. A crossover cameo wouldn’t be all that shocking since “Spider-Man: The Animated Series” had Parker running into X-Men remembers in a couple of episodes. This paper could suggest that Brock and Peter will be showing up to the Hellfire Gala, as the Hellfire Club are expected to be villains in the new show.

Pin by Geek King on 90s Spider-Man | Marvel cartoons, Barbie cartoon, Marvel animation

Also, to chime in on the question that the paper asks: “Is Spider-Man A Mutant?” In comic book lore, Peter Parker and Bruce Banner are considered mutates, not mutants. That simply means their DNA/genetics have been mutated but through technology and not by birth. So, technically, their children like Banner’s son Skaar would be mutants because their mutations would have been passed down genetically. Namor is actually considered Marvel’s “first mutant” and we’ll see if that angle is ever explored in the future. The mutant gene is likely going to play a HUGE role in the MCU moving forward and oddly enough is connected to the Celestials, last seen in “The Eternals.”

Anyways, you can watch that brand-new trailer with our first real look at the show’s animation below.

SOURCE: MARVEL STUDIOS

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EXCLUSIVE: Noah Hawley’s Earthbound ‘Alien’ Series Adds ‘Foundation’ & ‘I Am Mother’ Cinematographer Steve Annis

FX/Hulu, 20th Century Studios, and Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions have come together alongside creator/showrunner Noah Hawley (“Legion,” “Fargo”) to make a series set within the “Alien” universe. Filming has been underway in Thailand after a production pause due to last year’s strikes and we have a small tidbit to share.

The Ronin can confirm that director of photography Steve Annis (“I’m A Virgo”) is part of the show’s crew working on the Earthbound series that takes place before the events of the mainline film franchise. Annis is best known for the Apple TV+ series “Foundation,” the Netflix movie “I Am Mother,” the Nicolas Cage sci-fi horror flick “Color of Space,” and recently worked on Lionsgate’s remake of “The Crow.” We previously revealed that “Fargo” director Dana Gonzales would be helming an unknown number of episodes alongside Hawley and that production designer Andy Nicholson (“Captain Marvel,” “Gravity”) would be working on the show as well.

The “Alien” series has a cast that consists of Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Kit Young, Essie David, Samuel Blenkin, David Rysdahl, Adarsh Gourav, Babou Ceesay, Jonathan Ajayi, Erana James, Lily Newmark, Diêm Camille, Moe Bar-El, and Adrian Edmondson. One of the more recent additions has been Timothy Olyphant (“Justified”) who is said to be playing an android character. “Synthetics” in the “Alien” franchise have been both friends (Walter, Bishop, Call) and foes (Ash, David) to our human leads.

This isn’t the only “Alien” project on the horizon with Fede Alvarez’s “Alien: Romulus” being released on August 16, 2024, that will focus on a group of young human colonists on an off-world facility. Actress Cailee Spaeny confirmed that “Romulus” takes place between the events of the first two movies within the franchise timeline, suggesting a potential link to “Aliens” and the Hadley’s Hope outbreak on LV-426.

We also got some promising news about the “Predator” franchise as director Dan Trachtenberg (“Prey”) is set to return for a future-set film called “Badlands“ with a bunch of other projects in development including “Prey 2.” Hopefully, “Badlands” and “Romulus” end up planting seeds for a faithful feature/series incarnation of “Aliens vs Predator” that takes place in a futuristic off-world setting for that fray with the return of Colonial Marines. The lackluster “AVP” movies were some of the less interesting entries due to their contemporary Earthbound settings and the thinking is that 20th Century Studios may attempt to resurrect the comic book/video game crossover down the line.

Earlier this month it was revealed that the “Alien” series is aiming to debut sometime in 2025.

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‘The Acolyte’: New ‘Star Wars’ Series Set During The High Republic Coming To Disney+ This Summer

Yesterday, it was announced by “Andor” star Diego Luna that the second season of the “Rogue One” spinoff series has wrapped filming giving us confirmation that the “Star Wars” show is heading into the post-production process alongside things like “Skeleton Crew” and “The Acolyte.” Speaking of the latter it sounds like we might have an early idea of when that The High Republic-era series is expected to be ready to air.

Without an actual release date or even month, Collider now claims that “The Acolyte” is aiming to begin airing on Disney+ sometime this summer. While we would rather get more concrete dates, a release window for the streaming series is better than nothing. Hopefully, Disney+/Lucasfulm will give us a better idea of when those episodes will begin dropping soon.

A mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers in the final days of the High Republic era. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.

“The Acolyte” hails from showrunner Leslye Headland (“Russian Doll”) with an ensemble cast led by Amandla Stenberg that includes Lee Jung-Jae (“Squid Games”) as a Jedi Master, minted Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo returns to the franchise as a new Wookiee Jedi named Kelnacca, Dafne Keen (“Logan”), Rebecca Henderson (“Russian Doll”), Carrie-Anne Moss (“The Matrix”), Dean-Carles Chapman (“1917”), Jodie Turner-Smith (“Without Remorse”), Manny Jacinto (“The Good Place”), and Charlie Barnett (“Russian Doll”).

Headland is expected to have directed episodes alongside Kogonada (“After Yang”) and Alex Garcia Lopez (“Cowboy Bebop”).

This news would suggest that “Skeleton Crew” will be next with online rumblings of a winter release later this year and then the second season of “Andor.” All three streaming shows have yet to be formally dated by either Disney or Lucasfilm.

SOURCE: COLLIDER

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‘Andor’: Diego Luna Announces Season 2 Of ‘Star Wars’ Series Has Finally Wrapped Filming

“Andor” originally had some skepticism involved with its development as it would attempt to explore the origins of Rebellion spy, Cassian Andor. However, the streaming series starring Diego Luna and overseen by showrunner Tony Gilroy after being behind the extensive reshoots of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” The show ended up becoming quite the espionage thriller and felt like true character-driven storytelling with excellent writing/performances. Luna has now announced that the second season which had been paused during the Hollywood strikes has finally wrapped filming and likely means we’ll get a release window shortly.

Here is what Luna said in a social media post on Instagram about the show finishing up filming today:

“Today is the last day of filming ‘Andor.’ I could not be more thankful to the entire crew for this amazing experience and the years of hard work. More than 700 people have worked on this production, and it is impossible to say goodbye and thank you to everyone individually, which is why I write here. Thank you for the love and the wonderful experience. See you soon.”

If you’re not aware, “Andor” focuses on the early days of the Rebel Forces working behind the scenes to fund/enact various missions to attack The Empire’s outposts when a bunch of the leadership is in the public view of that fascist regime on Coruscant. This adds to the show’s major push to explore wartime paranoia when it comes to spies working behind enemy lines.

Other cast members expected to return for the second season include Genevieve O’Reilly (Mon Mothma), Stellan Skarsgard (Luthen Rael), Kyle Soller (Syril Karn), Denise Gough (Dedra Meero), Faye Marsay (Vel Sartha), and Adria Arjona (Bix Caleen).

You can view that Instagram post made by Luna today below.

SOURCE: DIEGO LUNA

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‘Shōgun’ Trailer: New Red-Band Trailer For FX’s Ambitious Mature Samurai Series Debuting On Hulu & Disney+ This February

Yesterday, FX released a new trailer for their remake of the samurai drama series ‘Shōgun‘ that showcases the mature nature of the remake of the 1980s network incarnation that skews more violent and will feature sex scenes. A sign this show, debuting February 27 on Hulu,, will be a much more accurate take of the era of Shogunate, the brutal rulers of Japan.

In various regions like United Kingdom and Canada, that don’t have access to Hulu, the series will be available for Disney+ subscribers.

FX’s Shōgun, an original adaptation of James Clavell’s bestselling novel, is set in Japan in the year 1600 at the dawn of a century-defining civil war. Producer Hiroyuki Sanada stars as “Lord Yoshii Toranaga” who is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him. When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, its English pilot, “John Blackthorne” (Cosmo Jarvis), comes bearing secrets that could help Toranaga tip the scales of power and devastate the formidable influence of Blackthorne’s own enemies — the Jesuit priests and Portuguese merchants. Toranaga’s and Blackthorne’s fates become inextricably tied to their translator, “Toda Mariko” (Anna Sawai), a mysterious Christian noblewoman and the last of a disgraced line. While serving her lord amidst this fraught political landscape, Mariko must reconcile her newfound companionship with Blackthorne, her commitment to the faith that saved her and her duty to her late father.

The show’s full cast consists of Ako as Daiyoin ‘Lady Iyo’, Anna Sawai as Lady Mariko, Cosmo Jarvis as John Blackthorne, Fumi Nikaido as Ochiba No Kata, Hiro Kanagawa as Igarashi, Hiroto Kanai as Kashigi Omi, Hiroyuki Sanada as Yoshii Toranaga, Moeka Hoshi as Usami Fuji, Nestor Carbonell as Rodrigues, Shinnosuke Abe as Toda Hiroshige ‘Buntaro’, Tadanobu Asano as Kashigi Yabushige, Takehiro Hira as Ishido Kazunari, Tokuma Nishioka as Toda Hiromatsu, Tommy Bastow as Father Martin Alvito, Toshi Toda as Sugiyama, Yasunari Takeshima as Muraji, Yoriko Doguchi as Kiri no Kata, Yuka Kouri as Kiku, and Yuki Kura as Yoshii Nagakado.

You can watch that brand new trailer below.

SOURCE: FX

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‘The Last Of Us’: Isabel Merced & Young Mazino Nab Roles Alongside Kaitlyn Dever In Season 2 Of Acclaimed Post-Apocalypse Series

The acclaimed series adaptation of “The Last of Us” is quickly helping to shape Hollywood’s new obsession with video game adaptations. This takes us to a post-apocalypse setting where the United States has been plagued with a fungus outbreak that has turned the human population into a mindless horde of zombie-like creatures. Survivors find a glimmer of hope when a young girl named Ellie (Bella Ramsey) is discovered to be seemingly immune after being bitten but not being affected by it and a resistance group assigns smuggler Joel (Pedro Pascal) to get her to proper people who can potentially use Ellie to create a cure/vaccine. One of the more compelling aspects of the show has been the dramatic scenes alongside excellently written character moments that elevate the horror elements into something extremely special given the lackluster track record of projects being based on video games.

A second season is finally gearing up to begin shooting soon which means casting is in full swing. This week it was reported that Kaitlyn Dever (“Last Man Standing”) is set to play the role of antagonist Abby with more recent updates via Variety adding that actors Isabel Merced (“Sicario 2,” “Alien: Romulus”) will play Dina and Young Mazino (“Beef”) has taken the part of Jesse in the next run of episodes.

Other actors that appeared in the first season included Gabriel Luna, Anna Torv, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett, Nick Offerman, Melanie Lynskey, Storm Reid, Merle Dandridge, Jeffrey Pierce, Lamar Johnson, Keivonn Woodard, Graham Greene, Elaine Miles, Ashley Johnson, and Troy Baker.

“The Last of Us” isn’t the only widely popular PlayStation exclusive game that is being given the live-action treatment as “God of War” is getting a series at Amazon Prime Video, Netflix landing a show based on “Horizon Zero Dawn,” and “John Wick” franchise director Chad Stahelski is aiming to bring the samurai adventure game “Ghost of Tsushima” to the big screen for Sony Pictures. There are also plans to make a sequel to the Tom Holland-led feature adaptation of “Uncharted.”

SOURCE: VARIETY

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‘Alien’ Series: Timothy Olyphant Reportedly Playing An Android In New Earthbound Show From Noah Hawley

As production on the new “Alien” series is expected to resume in the new year according to creator/showrunner/director Noah Hawley, a big casting addition has been revealed by Deadline. The outlet reports that veteran actor Timothy Olyphant (“Justified”) has joined the sci-fi horror series that had been shooting in Thailand and is said to be playing an android character. Synthetic characters in the “Alien” franchise have been both friends (Walter, Bishop, Call) and foes (Ash, David) to our human leads.

Olyphant and Hawley previously worked together on the fourth season of “Fargo.”

The rest of the cast consists of Sydney Chandler, Alex Lawther, Samuel Blenkin, Essie Davis, Adarsh Gourav, and Kit Young.

While we’re waiting on more concrete plot details the show is expected to take place in the events of the original “Alien” from 1979 and specifically is set on Earth, the first installment of the main franchise to do so. Outside of Paris scenes in “Alien Resurrection” and the opening of “Prometheus.” There is an expectation it will focus on the greedy and evil corporation Weyland Industries/Weyland-Yutani, who act as the secondary antagonists that throw various expendable crew members into the meat grinder in an attempt to secure the Xenomorph for their biological weapons program.

Meanwhile, on the film front, we’re expected to have “Alien: Romulus” by director Fede Alvarez released on August 16, 2024. That pic is said to be focused on a young group of off-world colonists that are forced to confront the Xenomorph/Xenomorphs.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

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Noah Hawley’s Earthbound ‘Alien’ Series Will See ‘Fargo’ Director Dana Gonzales Tackle Episodes

The “Alien” franchise is undergoing a bit of a stress test since the reigns have moved over to Disney post-merger and with a new feature film heading to theaters next summer it does certainly feel like the brass running 20th Century Studios actually is trying its best to reinvest into the sci-fi horror genre. We’re not only getting a new movie but FX/Hulu and Scott Free are behind an Earthbound prequel series as well that had been filming in Thailand earlier in the year. With the strikes resolved, it was recently revealed to The Wrap by the show’s creator/director Noah Hawley (“Legion,” “Fargo”) that the show is aiming for release sometime in 2025 with the production expected to ramp back up in February.

The Ronin can share a small update on the untitled “Alien” series. Executive producer Dana Gonzales had been previously linked as one of the show’s cinematographers (latest credit being “The Toxic Avenger”) and will direct an unknown amount of episodes alongside Hawley. His directing credits include “Legion,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Changeling,” and two upcoming episodes from Season 5 of “Fargo.”

We’re still waiting for more concrete plot details about the sci-fi horror series but it is expected to take place before the events of the original 1979 film and out-of-character for the franchise will mostly be set on Earth with the potential of Weyland Industries/Weyland-Yutani (the secondary villain of the franchise) being at the core of it. The cast of the “Alien” series includes Sydney Chandler (“Don’t Worry Darling”), Alex Lawther (“Andor,” “Black Mirror”), Samuel Blenkin (“Black Mirror,” “The Sandman”), Essie Davis, and Adarsh Gourav.

This is how Hawley described the show to Esquire back in 2022:

“It’s set on Earth of the future. At this moment, I describe that as Edison versus Westinghouse versus Tesla. Someone’s going to monopolize electricity. We just don’t know which one it is … In the movies, we have this Weyland-Yutani Corporation, which is clearly also developing artificial intelligence but what if there are other companies trying to look at immortality in a different way, with cyborg enhancements or transhuman downloads? Which of those technologies is going to win?”

On the film front, director Fede Álvarez‘s “Alien: Romulus” has a tentative release date of August 16, 2024, and according to the filmmaker, his director’s cut of the pic got the seal of approval from producer Ridley Scott. There is an expectation that the movie will focus on an off-world colony inhabited by a group of young human colonists. Given that a director’s cut is already being put together we shouldn’t be that shocked if some teaser images or footage is released by 20th Century between now and CinemaCon 2024.

When exactly the new “Alien” series will drop in 2025 remains to be seen as we’ll likely get a release window closer to when the show actually completes filming.

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‘Echo’ Trailer: Marvel Studios’ First TV-MA Series Coming January 10 & Releases Under New Marvel Spotlight Banner

While “Loki” season two ends next week, Marvel Studios is looking toward the next series coming to Disney+ with “Echo.” A direct spinoff from “Hawkeye” focusing on the villain Maya Lopez and expanding/exploring her “Daredevil” adjacent solo series that has been now confirmed as Marvel Studios’ first TV-MA show since taking the reigns of Marvel TV Studios (formerly Marvel Television) and should lead to a string of other mature-focused projects. They’ve released a new trailer (See below) highlighting Maya’s complex relationship with The Kingpin and highlights the violence in the upcoming show that will debut in January.

“Echo” is also going to be the first entry in Marvel’s new banner called Marvel Spotlight.

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“Marvel Spotlight gives us a platform to bring more grounded, character-driven stories to the screen, and in the case of Echo, focusing on street-level stakes over larger MCU continuity. Just like comics fans didn’t need to read ‘Avengers’ or ‘Fantastic Four’ to enjoy a ‘Ghost Rider Spotlight’ comic, our audience doesn’t need to have seen other Marvel series to understand what’s happening in Maya’s story,” Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum said in a statement announcing the new banner.

We previously hoped that Marvel would resurrect the Marvel Knights banner used for “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence” and “Punisher: War Zone” for projects like these. However, using Marvel Spotlight instead feels like a decent compromise.

Here is the show’s official logline via Marvel/Disney:

Marvel Studios presents “Echo” in which Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) struggles to reconnect with her Native American roots while balancing aspirations tied to a life of crime as successor to the brutal legacy of Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) aka Kingpin. In the first episode, we are introduced to Maya Lopez and her struggles.

Other cast members include Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, aka, Daredevil (spotted in the teaser footage), Chaske Spencer as Henry, Tantoo Cardinal as Chula, Graham Greene as Skully, Cody Lightning as Cousin Biscuits, Devery Jacobs as Bonnie, and Zahn McClarnon as William Lopez.

All 10 episodes of “Echo” are set to debut on Disney+ and Hulu on January 10, 2024. You can watch that brand-new trailer below.

SOURCE: MARVEL STUDIOS/DISNEY+

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Marvel’s Revamped ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Series Adds ‘Moon Knight’ & ‘Loki’ Directors

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Studios has officially secured new directors for their revamped “Daredevil” streaming series titled “Daredevil: Born Again.” The shake-up on the project stems from an aim to retool the show during the pause in production over the last couple of months in the wake of both the writers’ and actors’ strikes, as filming had been underway in New York City.

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, the duo known for Marvel’s “Moon Knight” and the recent string of episodes of “Loki” in season two have been tasked to complete the series alongside the new showrunner Dario Scardapane (“Jack Ryan”). The latter is an alumni of the Netflix wave of Marvel Television produced series with “The Punisher,” and potentially a welcomed sight as Jon Bernthal is expected to reprise the role of Frank Castle in the MCU show alongside Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio.

While the recent string of episodes of “Loki” isn’t exactly action-packed, there were plenty of fight sequences in “Moon Knight” that should make fans happy the new directors being called in have experience already within the world of MCU streaming shows.

Chris Ord and Matt Corman had been previously acting as “head writers” before their exit from the Marvel series earlier this year as the studio looked toward a new vision and it remains to be seen what the final episode count will be. Originally, “Daredevil: Born Again” was aiming to get 18 episodes completed for this new series.

Kevin Feige had recently indicated in a book focusing on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s canon that the previous Marvel Television shows like the ones made for Netflix won’t be considered mainstream canon. With that in mind, “Daredevil: Born Again” is expected to do its own thing rather than being a continuation of the previous incarnation but will keep a handful of cast members in their roles and others likely won’t be reprising their roles anytime soon.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER