EDINBURGH COMIC CON 2018 Preview

Deadpool Colossus

Edinburgh Comic Con will be back again for its fifth year, cementing its home in the Edinburgh International Conference Centre as it pitches tents there for the third time over the weekend of the 14th and 15th of April.

The event’s dauntless high heidyin James Lundy has assembled another collection of individuals from various corners of nerd-dom, and the current line up of guests is as varied as ever.

From the world of comics we have Fabian Nicieza (co-creator of Deadpool, New Mutants, X-Men, X-Force, Cable & Deadpool), Andrea Tamme (Rick and Morty, Adventure Time, Black Light: District 6), Robbi Rodriguez (co-creator of Spider Gwen, FPB, Maintenance, Uncanny X-Force, New Mutants), Ben Herrera (Cable, X-Force/Cable, X-Man, Freex), Jorge Fornes (Wolverine and the X-Men, Amazing X-Men, Doctor Strange, Guardians of Infinity) and Drake Tsui (SIN, Riot Games), all of whom are making exclusive UK appearances. Other guests, with the audacity to also appear elsewhere, include Gary Erskine (Frontlines: Requiem, The Unwritten, The Authority, Star Wars, The Massive), Fernando Dagnino (Justice League: Generation Lost, Wonder Woman, Batman and the Outsiders), Gainluca Gugliotta (Secret Warriors, Klaws of the Panther, Mister Terrific, G.I. Joe), Mark Texeira (Black Panther, Ghost Rider, Jonah Hex), Monty Nero (Death Sentence, Amazing X-Men, Hulk, X-Men Gold) and CAFU (Avengers, Black Panther, Action Comics, Unity).

From film and TV land there is Rob Morgan (Stranger Things, Daredevil, Luke Cage, The Punisher, Defenders) and Briana Venskus (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, The Walking Dead, Supergirl, Outcast, The Vampire Diaries) as the exclusive guests, along with Stefan Kapicic (Deadpool, Counterpart, 24), Daz Crawford (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Blade II, God of War), Dominic Keating (Star Trek: Enterprise, Heroes, Sons of Anarchy, Diablo III), Paul Amos (Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, Lost Girl, Warehouse 13, Designated Survivor) and Joshua Herdman (Harry Potter, Thunderpants).

Vying for your time and attention over the two day event will be numerous panel discussions and interviews; a plethora of familiar faces from the indie comics scene flogging their past works and new titles; exhibition bouts from the Scottish School of Wrestling; prop and vehicle displays; an exhibition from professional Lego display designer Warren Elsmore; demonstrations of board and card games; a Nerf shooting range; free-to-play arcade machines; and a cosplay contest capping off the weekend.

A new feature this year is free workshops where industry professionals discuss the practicalities of independent comics, including the above mentioned Gary Erskine, who will be talking about designing characters and bringing them to life on page, and John Farman (The School of the Damned, Royal Decent) who will discuss the comic creation and publication side of things.

You can buy tickets online from the con website, and if you need any extra convincing you can read our coverage of the events from 2016 and 2017 to get an idea of the kind of time you’ll have.

Christopher Nolan Rules Himself Out of BOND 25

Christopher Nolan

With Daniel Craig now confirmed to reprise the 007 mantle for the upcoming Bond 25, there’s been regular talk of who could direct this next outing for the famed spy. One name that you can seemingly rule out of filling the director’s chair, though, is Christopher Nolan.

The Interstellar director has been regularly linked to the Bond gig, even talking up how he’d love tackle 007 at some point in the future and put his own stamp on the character. Now, he’s moved to shut down any hope of Bond 25 being the moment that he finally oversees a Bond effort.

Speaking to Digital Spy, Nolan explained, “I won’t be the man. No, categorically. I think every time they hire a new director, I’m rumoured to be doing it.”

As to who does helm Bond 25, we guess we’ll just have to wait and see right now.

Plot Details and Premiere Date for SHARKNADO 6

Sharknado Global Swarming

With Sharknado: Global Swarming now in the books, Syfy has released the first information on the upcoming sixth – yes, sixth! – entry in the series.

Following some new EFM poster art revealing that Sharknado 6 will swim to the small screen on July 25th, 2018, there’s also now news that Ian Ziering, Tara Reid and Cassie Scerbo will be returning once more. For a better look at said poster, click on the image below:

Sharknado 6

As for plot details, the early blurb reads:

All is lost, or is it? Fin unlocks the time-travelling power of the Sharknados in order to save the world and resurrect his family. In his quest, Fin fights Nazis, dinosaurs, knights, and even takes a ride on Noah’s Ark. This time, it’s not how to stop the Sharknados, it’s when.

Yup, talk about jumping the shark. But then again, this is a movie franchise that gleefully jumped the shark before the first picture had even been screened.

Given how we’ve had such well thought-out subtitles as The Second One, Oh Hell No!, The 4th Awakens, and the aforementioned Global Swarming, expect this sixth Sharknado effort to get a likely awful addition to its full title before it premieres in July.

Four More Join THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY

The Umbrella Academy

Hot on the heels of Mary J. Blige joining The Umbrella Academy last week, now comes news on four further new additions for the hotly anticipated small screen adaptation of Gerard Way’s Eisner Award-winning work.

As per Deadline, House of Cards’ Colm Feore, Mindhunter’s Cameron Britton, Breaking Bad’s Adam Godley, and Revenge’s Ashley Madekwe have join the series.

In terms of their roles, Feore – who genre fans will also likely know for having a pivotal role in the sadly turd-tastic The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – will be playing Sir Reginald Hargreeves, the adoptive father of the seven supernatural-powered children at the centre of this tale. Elsewhere, Britton will be playing time-travelling hitman Hazel, Godley is taking on the motion capture gig of genetically engineered chimp Pogo, and Madekwe has the task of playing Detective Patch of the local police department.

Already on board for the series are Ellen Page, Tom Hopper, Emmy Raver-Lampman, David Castaneda, Aidan Gallagher, and Robert Sheehan.

Fargo and Altered Carbon’s Steve Blackman is serving as executive producer and showrunner on the show, with it set to premiere its ten-episode first season later this year.

Lucy Davis to Play Aunt Hilda in New SABRINA Series

Lucy Davis

With Netflix’s upcoming Sabrina series continuing to flesh out its core cast, the series has moved to bring in none other than Lucy Davis.

As per Deadline, Davis – best known to genre fans for the likes of Shaun of the Dead, Wonder Woman, and, of course, The Office – will be playing Sabrina’s Aunt Hilda in the show. For those familiar with the Melissa Joan Hart-starring Sabrina the Teenage Witch series of the ‘90s, you’ll remember Hilda as being played by Caroline Rhea.

Already on board for this to-be-titled Sabrina show are Kiernan Shipka as the titular teenage witch, Jaz Sinclair as her bestest bud Rosalind, Chance Perdomo as warlock cousin Ambrose Spellman, and Michelle Gomez as Madam Satan.

To be based on the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina comic book, the current blurb on the upcoming series reads:

Sabrina is based on the comic book Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which reimagines the origin and adventures of Sabrina the Teenage Witch as a dark coming-of-age story that traffics in horror, the occult and, of course, witchcraft. Tonally in the vein of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, this adaptation finds Sabrina wrestling to reconcile her dual nature – half-witch, half-mortal – while standing against the evil forces that threaten her, her family and the daylight world humans inhabit.

Expect more on this new show as we get it.

Jung Byung-gil to Direct Gerard Butler’s AFTERBURN Adaptation

Afterburn

With Gerald Butler having been looking to get an Afterburn movie off the ground for a little while now, the film has taken a huge step forward by bringing in Jung Byung-gil to direct.

Deadline broke the news, with the director of The Villainess to helm the big-screen adaptation of the Red 5 Comics miniseries created by Paul Ens, Scott Chitwood, and Wayne Nichols. Butler has made no bones about talking this up as a passion project of his, and he will take centre-stage as the hero of the day, Jake.

For those not aware of Afterburn, the official blurb on the tale reads:

Afterburn tells the story of a massive solar flare hitting the Earth and wiping out of Europe, Africa, and Asia. But amid the chaos, there’s profit to be made as former oil roughneck Jake turns treasure hunter and retrieves valuable items from the burn zone. Along the way, he must face rogue armies, rival treasure hunters, and mutated survivors.

The movie adaptation is pegged as a “futuristic action adventure” set in a world where all of the technology across Europe has long been on the blink. Skipping forward five years, and Butler’s Jake will be on a mission to find the Mona Lisa. It goes without saying, of course, that this task won’t be quite as simple as it may sound.

As is ever the case, the hope is to spin this off in to a silver screen franchise, with a whole plethora of valuable artefacts perfectly in place for further outings.

With Into the Blue’s Matt Johnson currently working on the screenplay, the plan is for Afterburn to start filming in the second half of this year.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Joins KUNG FURY Sequel

Arnold Schwarzenegger

With the hugely popular King Fury currently having a sequel being developed as a full-length feature film, the follow-up has moved to bring in none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger.

As announced by Bloom, Das Arnold has signed on to play the President of the United States in the picture. The Governator joins Michael Fassbender and David Hasselhoff in the David Sandberg-helmed effort.

The original Kung Fury was a 2015 half-hour crowd-pleaser from Sandberg, with the writer/director also taking on the role of the titular hero. In this sequel, Sandberg will again be back to star in addition to writing, directing, and producing.

If for some reason you’ve never seen Kung Fury, sit down, give yourself 30 minutes, and check out the brilliance in the player below:

As ever, expect more on this Kung Fury sequel as it continues to develop.

Bruno Bicher is TITANS’ Chief

Bruno Bichir Chief Titans

With Titans standing out as one of the most hotly anticipated new shows of 2018, the series has now moved to add Bruno Bichir to its ranks.

As announced by Warner Brothers and DC Entertainment, the Absentia actor will be playing Dr Niles Caulder, aka the Chief.

Earlier this month, we reported that the oddball hero team known as the Doom Patrol would be a part of Titans, and the Chief is the leader of this ragtag group. The character description for Doc Caulder has him pegged as “a pioneer in medical science who is searching the world over for those on the edge of death in need of a miracle. Brilliant, but controversial, Dr Caulder will stop at nothing to help those he believes are in need, including his collection of strange heroes known as the Doom Patrol.”

Bichir joins quite the impressive ensemble, with Brenton Thwaites playing Dick Grayson, Anna Diop as Starfire, Teagan Croft as Raven, Ryan Potter as Beast Boy, Alan Ritchson and Minka Kelly as the Hawk and Dove duo, and Lindsey Gort as Police Detective Amy Rohrbach.

The official blurb on this live-action Teen Titans effort reads:

In the action-packed series, Dick Grayson emerges from the shadows to become the leader of a fearless band of new heroes, including Starfire, Raven and many others. Fans can expect Titans to be a dramatic, live-action adventure series that will explore and celebrate one of the most popular comic book teams ever.

Titans will debut later this year on Warner Brothers’ impending DC streaming service.

Two More Join the New SABRINA Series

Michelle Gomez Chance Perdomo Sabrina

Following last week’s news that Jaz Sinclair will be joining Kiernan Shipka in Netflix’s upcoming new Sabrina series, now comes word on two further new additions for the show.

As per Deadline, Doctor Who’s Michelle Gomez and newcomer Chance Perdomo have joined the series. The official blurb on what roles the duo will be playing read as below:

  • Michelle Gomez as Sabrina’s favourite teacher, Mary Wardell: When she is possessed by the Devil’s handmaiden, Madam Satan, Ms. Wardwell turns into a sultry, cunning manipulator, always trying to lure Sabrina down the Path of Night.
  • Chance Perdomo as Sabrina’s warlock cousin, Ambrose Spellman: Placed under house-arrest by the Witches Council, Ambrose is forbidden from leaving the funeral home where he lives with the Spellman women. Witty, puckish and pan-sexual, he is one of Sabrina’s partners in crime, always up for mischief.

The early word on this to-be-titled Sabrina series reads:

Sabrina is based on the comic book Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which reimagines the origin and adventures of Sabrina the Teenage Witch as a dark coming-of-age story that traffics in horror, the occult and, of course, witchcraft. Tonally in the vein of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, this adaptation finds Sabrina wrestling to reconcile her dual nature – half-witch, half-mortal – while standing against the evil forces that threaten her, her family and the daylight world humans inhabit.

With Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa on showrunner duties, the aforementioned Kiernan Shipka is playing the titular teenage witch, with Jaz Sinclair playing her bestest bud, Rosalind.

ISSUE 446 – OUT NOW!

446

STARBURST gets ready to welcome both TOMB RAIDER and READY PLAYER ONE to the big screen by taking a look at video games in the movies!

As well as previews of both big films, we look at the previous attempts to bring LARA CROFT to the screen and countdown the Top 20 game-to-film adaptations.

There’s also a look forward to the Kaiju sequel PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING starring John Boyega and a catch up of everything you need to know about JESSICA JONES before she returns for a second season.
That’s not all! We barricade the doors against home invaders in anticipation of THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT and chat to PRIMEVAL star ANDREW LEE POTTS about his web series WIRELESS.

In our regular features, we take a look at Michael Winner’s shocker THE SENTINEL, heading to HORROR CHANNEL, and Independents Day talks to Tony Newton, the producer of 60 SECONDS TO DIE.

Plus all your favourite COLUMNS, NEWS, REVIEWS and much MORE from the worlds of SCI-FI, HORROR and FANTASY!