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VOYAGER Stars Join Animated STAR TREK: PRODIGY Series

Star Trek: Prodigy unveils first look at animated series

The upcoming animated series Star Trek: Prodigy has added Daveed Diggs (Hamilton, Snowpiercer, Soul), Jameela Jamil (The Good Place, and the upcoming She-Hulk), Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) and Robert Beltran to its voice cast, ahead of season one’s premiere later this month. The series also showcased a first-look trailer at New York Comic Con this weekend, which features Kate Mulgrew’s return as Captain Kathryn Janeway.

Set after the events of Voyager, Star Trek: Prodigy follows a ragtag crew of young aliens, exiled on a mining colony outside Federation space. When they find an abandoned Starfleet ship, the team must band together to take possession of the vessel and escape to the Alpha Quadrant. Captain Janeway will appear as the ship’s Emergency Training Hologram and, considering none of these teens have Starfleet training, she will likely receive her fair share of screen-time.

The show is part of executive producer Alex Kurtzman’s expanded Star Trek Universe, though Prodigy is aimed at younger audiences than, for example, the other CG-animated series Lower Decks. It is the first Star Trek series ever to be aimed specifically at younger viewers. Bring on a new generation of Trekkies!

Diggs will voice Commander Tysess, Jamil will be Ensign Asencia, Alexander joins as Doctor Noum, while Beltran will reprise his Voyager role as Chakotay. They join the existing cast of Rylee Alazraqui as Rok-Tahk, an eight-year-old Brikar; Brett Gray as Dal, a 17-year-old maverick; August Imrie as Zero, a Medusan whose appearance induces madness; Jason Mantzoukas as Jankom Pog, a 16-year-old Tellarite; Ella Purnell as Gwyn, a 17-year-old Vau N’Akat whose dream is to travel the stars; Dee Bradley Baker as Murf, an indestructible blob who enjoys snacking on ship parts; John Noble as the Diviner, Gwyn’s father and a tyrant who controls the asteroid Tars Lamora; and Jimmi Simpson as Drednok, the Diviner’s robotic enforcer.

Star Trek: Prodigy premieres on Paramount+ on October 28th with a one-hour episode entitled “Lost & Found”.

Star Trek: Prodigy

DOCTOR WHO: FLUX To Begin On Halloween

After a frankly bizarre stunt in which all of the show’s social media channels disappeared for a day (or are we being generous in assuming it was a stunt and not an accidentally unpulled plug?), the BBC have finally given us some solid information on the upcoming Series 13 of Doctor Who, a six-part story now known to be titled Flux.

This series will begin on BBC One on Sunday 31st October, and it’s safe to assume it will continue over the following five Sundays. A video posted to the show’s now-regenerated Twitter account sees the Doctor warning us of the approaching ‘Flux’, a danger bringing with it a bunch of monsters. This includes the Sontarans and Weeping Angels, long rumoured but now confirmed to be returning, as well as new villains named Ravagers.

The series will see Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor and Mandip Gill’s Yaz joined in the TARDIS by newcomer Dan, played by comedian John Bishop. After this, the Thirteenth Doctor will appear in three more specials across 2022, which will be a farewell tour for Whittaker and lead writer Chris Chibnall. Chibnall is set to be replaced by the returning Russell T Davies from 2023.

WHEEL OF TIME Fans Get a Sneak Peek of New Show

Exciting new sneak peeks of the keenly anticipated Amazon Prime adaptation of Wheel of Time were revealed today as part of New York City Comic-Con.

The panel included various insights into the production of the show, including how the deep and complex lore of the series has been adapted for the screen. We also got to see a small excerpt of the show itself, which featured Rosamund Pike’s magic using Moiraine making an understated entrance. Pike also discussed her characters use of the ‘One Power’ and how she was able to bring such a complex and esoteric character to the screen.

The first three episodes will premiere Friday, November 19, with new episodes available each Friday. There will be a total of 8 episodes, which means the last episode of season one will drop on Christmas Eve. Season Two is already in production.

The Wheel of Time is the latest set of novels to get the adaptation treatment courtesy of Amazon, following in the footsteps of the likes of American Gods, Good Omens and the impending new take on The Lord of the Rings.

James Oliver Rigney Jr. wrote the first Wheel of Time novel, The Eye of the World, under the pen name of Robert Jordan back in 1990. Before his death in 2007 at the age of just 58, Jordan had written eleven further books including a prequel. Brandon Sanderson completed the series.

VOX MACHINA Opening Titles Unleashed

Critical Role and fantasy fans will be delighted to learn that the opening titles for The Legend of Vox Machin are now online. Amazon Prime Video debuted the sweeping opening title sequence for The Legend of Vox Machina as part of a virtual New York Comic Con panel with the creators and cast of Critical Role, who also serve as executive producers on the series.

The animated series began life as a joke on the regular D&D live-stream (available on YouTube and Twitch). As a prove that cast member Sam Riegel can’t leave a good idea alone, the gag ran and ran until it became a Kickstarter for a 22-minute animated short. The crowd-funder was so sucessful that rather than a simple test reel, we have got a 24-episode series, currently in production via the award winning studio Titmouse and Amazon Prime.

The Legend of Vox Machina follows a group of neophyte adventurers on a quest to save the realm from terrifying monsters and dark magical forces. Throughout the first season, our characters will face undead giants, overthrow a sinister necromancer, and confront a powerful curse that has taken root inside their own group.

The series stars Critical Role founders and cast members Laura Bailey (The Last of Us: Part II), Taliesin Jaffe (Final Fantasy XIV), Ashley Johnson (The Last of Us), Liam O’Brien (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Matthew Mercer (Overwatch), Marisha Ray (Final Fantasy XV), Sam Riegel (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), and Travis Willingham (Marvel’s Avengers). The Critical Role cast also serves as executive producers alongside Brandon Auman (Star Wars: Resistance) and Chris Prynoski (Metalocalypse).

The adult animated fantasy-adventure series will be available in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. The show will be on Amazon Prime from February 4, 2022.

Sense8’s Jamie Clayton To Play Pinhead In HELLRAISER Reboot

Pinhead in Hellraiser films, as portrayed by Doug Bradley

Sense8 actress Jamie Clayton is taking over the iconic role of Pinhead in the upcoming Hellraiser reboot, an adaptation of Clive Barker’s work from director David Bruckner (The Night House).

In addition to Clayton, the cast includes Odessa A’Ziona, Brandon Flynn, Goran Visnjic, Drew Starkey, Adam Faison, Aoife Hinds, Selina Lo and Hiam Abbass in unconfirmed roles. With Clive Barker on board the reboot as producer, the Hellraiser reboot is worked from a story concept by David S. Goyer, from a script penned by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski.

The 1987 original was written and directed by Barker, based on his ’86 novella The Hellbound Heart. The supernatural horror involved a mystical puzzle box, the Lemarchand Configuration (renamed as the Lament Configuration in the films), with the power to summon the Cenobites, a group of formerly human-turned-demonic sadomasochistic beings – the leader of the Cenobites, later referred to as “Pinhead”, was portrayed by Doug Bradley between 1987 and 2005.

Cenobites reappear in the novel sequels, The Scarlet Gospels and Hellraiser: The Toll, as well as the ten Hellraiser films (four theatrical films, six straight-to-home video films). Later depictions of Pinhead were played by Paul T. Taylor and Stephan Smith Collins, with Fred Tatasciore providing the voice.

Despite the many films spurned from the original, there’s particular reason to be excited about Bruckner’s reboot: Barker himself states that “having seen some of the designs from David Bruckner’s new Hellraiser film, they pay homage to what the first film created, but then take it to places it’s never been before. This is a Hellraiser on a scale that I simply didn’t expect. David and his team are steeped in the story’s mythology, but what excites me is their desire to honour the original even as they revolutionise it for a new generation.

The release is planned for 2022, the 35th anniversary of the original film.

Hellraiser

It’s Been Agatha All Along! Kathryn Hahn To Return For Solo Show

Agatha Harkness in Wandavision finale played by Kathryn Hahn

A potential Marvel show centred on Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness is in development at Marvel! Hahn is already set to reprise her role as the powerful witch from Salem, who featured in Disney+’s WandaVision opposite Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and Paul Bettany’s Vision.

Agatha was a fan-favourite breakout character, earning Hahn an Emmy nomination and spurning endless amounts of memes – including takes on the oh-so-wonderful song, “Agatha All Along!” from episode 7.

Few details yet on what/when/where the show will be, other than it will be executive produced by WandaVision’s head writer Jac Schaeffer and will take form as a dark comedy – suitable considering Hahn’s history playing deliciously funny roles with bite (not least as the child-hating, political sabotage-loving, PR master manipulator Jennifer Barkley in Parks and Recreation).

It’s unclear whether the spinoff show would take place before or after the events of WandaVision. [SPOILERS AHEAD] The show finale saw Scarlet Witch use chaos magic to strip Agatha of her powers and condemn her to live out her life as Agnes in Westview; however, Hahn’s overall deal with Marvel Studios suggests Agatha might well get her powers back in future, or at least become involved in the MCU’s wider events. Centuries of magical knowledge is sure to prove useful at some point, right? Like, when Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch start using magic to mess with time and reality, creating the Multiverse of Madness? Then would be a good time.

Agatha Harkness WandaVision

Mike Flanagan To Direct THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER

Gothic poet and writer Edgar Allan Poe wrote short story The Fall of the House of Usher

The Haunting anthology series creator, Mike Flanagan, has lined up his next Netflix project. Having recently launched the horror miniseries Midnight Mass, he has also just received an eight-part series order for The Fall of the House of Usher, a standalone project.

The show is based on various works by Edgar Allan Poe and, although Netflix hasn’t revealed much in the way of plot details, we do know that Poe’s Gothic short story of the same name features themes of madness, isolation, familial relationships, and metaphysical identities.

Though there’s nothing to indicate that this show will stick to the short story’s narrative, The Fall of the House of Usher has been adapted a number of times: as a 1928 silent French film, another silent film from 1928 released by James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber, then in 1960 from Roger Corman, then again in the 2006 film from Australian director Hayley Cloake.

Flanagan and Michael Fimognari will each direct four episodes. Though the latter’s feature directorial endeavours have so far been limited to To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You and To All The Boys: Always and Forever – which, granted, doesn’t scream arthouse horror – Fimognari worked as the cinematographer on a number of Flanagan’s projects, including Midnight Mass, Doctor Sleep, The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Ouija: Origin of Evil.

This show will mark Flanagan’s fifth project at Netflix, including the upcoming The Midnight Club.

Mike Flanagan The Fall of the House of Usher

Classic Monsters Return on Horror Channel this Halloween

Some of the most famous monsters return to our screens this Halloween weekend as Horror Channel present a pair of daytime marathons featuring classic Universal Horrors that are not to be missed.

Classic Horror Weekend starts on Saturday, October 30th till the big day itself, October 31st. The full line-up is:

Saturday 30th

1pm – Dracula (1931)

2.30pm – Frankenstein (1931)

3.55pm – Bride of Frankenstein (1935) – Channel premiere

5.25pm – The Wolf Man (1941)

6.50pm – Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman (1943) – Channel premiere

Sunday 31st

1pm – The Invisible Man (1933) – Channel premiere

2.25pm – The Mummy (1932) – Channel premiere

3.55pm – The Mummy’s Hand (1940) – Channel premiere

5.15pm – Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

6.50pm – Revenge of the Creature (1955) – Channel premiere

Two afternoons packed with the legends of fear – Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Lon Chaney, Jr – what more treats could you ask for? These films are also great for introducing the younger ones to our favourite genre.

For more information, head over to http://www.horrorchannel.co.uk/ Tune in on Sky 317, Virgin 149, Freeview 68, Freesat 138.

Kristen Stewart & Steven Yeun To Star In Bizarre Sci-Fi

Kristen Stewart in science fiction thriller Underwater

Kristen Stewart is finally getting the attention she deserves and, with the incoming release of Spencer (and its associated Oscar buzz), a David Cronenberg-written and directed film coming soon (Crimes of the Future, co-starring Viggo Mortensen), and plans to direct (an adaptation of The Chronology of Water, based on the 2011 memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch), the star once best known for Twilight is showing no signs of slowing down.

While doing press for Pablo Larraín’s daring new Princess Diana drama, Stewart told Entertainment Weekly of a high-concept science fiction drama in her future. She is set to star opposite Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead, Minari, and the upcoming Jordan Peele movie Nope), and describes the project in the most intriguing way possible:

“It’s actually a love story between a satellite and a buoy; it’s hard to explain. I hope I don’t botch it, because it’s a really revolutionarily written script.” Who the script is by, who will be directing, and every other detail beyond this very tempting morsel is unknown.

Though Kristen Stewart is now best known for a mix of indie dramas and light-hearted comedies, she also recently tackled the sci-fi genre with the Lovecraftian horror film Underwater.

We hope to find out who the creative team behind this mystery project will be, but the bringing together of two such talented actors is certainly cause for excitement.

Kristen Stewart Steven Yeun

Leak Or Mistake? Marvel Reveals BLADE Release Date

The official (and very verified!) Marvel India Twitter account may have accidentally revealed the Blade reboot’s release date – and it could well be coming to screens sooner than we anticipated. According to the since-deleted tweet, the MCU feature starring multiple Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali as the infamous vampire hunter will supposedly release on October 7th, 2022.

The movie was first announced in July 2019, with Watchmen writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour on board as writer and Bassam Tariq (best known for Mogul Mowgli) directing.

The post had also listed several other upcoming Phase 4 Marvel projects with their already confirmed release dates; if October 7th proves to be the official date, this would slot Blade between the releases of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on July 8th 2022 and The Marvels on November 11th 2022.

October would arguably prove surprisingly early for Blade, since this follows the announcement that filming was pushed back to July 2022 in order to further work on the movie’s script.

So, is October 7th an old and since-delayed release date, a random mistake, or is Marvel about to pull the film through the fastest post-production process the studio has ever seen?

Blade MCU