First Look at Brenton Thwaites as TITANS’ Robin

Brenton Thwaites Robin Titans

Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow…

With so many of us hugely looking forward to next year’s live-action Teen Titans show – Titans – we’ve finally been given our first look at one of the show’s main heroes. And not just any hero, but the beloved Dick Grayson in his Robin garb.

Is it just us, or does this just look all kinds of awesome?

Pirates of the Caribbean’s Brenton Thwaites is the man tasked with playing Grayson in the series, and we’ll see the character progress from the Robin mantle to the moniker of Nightwing as the show progresses.

As for the suit shown, that was designed by the brilliant Laura Jean Shannon, who has previous for her work on the likes of Iron Man, The Jungle Book and the upcoming Black Lightning.

In Titans, Thwaites will be joined by 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 Detective Amy Rohrbach.

The early word on the show reads:

Titans follows a group of young soon-to-be Super Heroes recruited from every corner of the DC Universe. In this 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. Titans is a dramatic, live-action adventure series that will explore and celebrate one of the most popular comic book teams ever.

Titans will premiere next year on Warner Brothers’ new on-demand streaming service.

STRANGER THINGS Confirmed for a Third Season

Stranger Things Poster

With its two seasons to date, Stranger Things has been pretty special, right? Well, get ready to celebrate, for Netflix has moved to confirm the much-loved genre show for a third season.

Details are obviously very scarce at this stage, although the show’s key cast are all expected to return. Similarly, executive producers and directors Shawn Levy and the Duffer Brothers will be back.

Earlier this year, Stranger Things received a whopping 18 nominations at the Emmys, nabbing five of the coveted gongs, not to mention a whole host of other awards and nominations elsewhere.

As ever, expect a whole lot more on the third season of Stranger Things as we get it.

Kevin Williamson’s “Psychological Thriller” Series Picked Up By CBS

Kevin Williamson Tell Me a Story

Kevin Williamson is a huge favourite of many a genre fan, largely due to his work penning the likes of Scream, Scream 2, Scream 4, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Faculty and for co-creating The Vampire Diaries. And now, his next project has been revealed.

CBS All Access has put in a series order for Tell Me a Story, a fantasy-psychological anthology thriller series that Williamson has put together.

The early word on the show reads:

The first season of the anthology series, which takes the world’s most beloved fairy tales and reimagines them as a dark and twisted psychological thriller, will interweave The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack and the Beanstalk into a subversive tale of love, loss, greed, revenge and murder.

Expect more on Tell Me a Story as it continues to develop.

Adam David Thompson Joins Shyamalan’s GLASS

With M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable and Split sequel Glass currently shooting, the film has moved to bring in a new cast addition.

As per Tracking Board, Goldess’ Adam David Thompson has joined Glass in an undisclosed role. He joins the returning Bruce Willis as David Dunn, James McAvoy as the Beast, Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price, Anya Taylor-Joy’s Casey Cooke, Spencer Treat Clark as Joseph Dunn, Charlayne Woodard as Price’s mother and a fellow new addition in the form of American Horror Story’s Sarah Paulson.

The current early blurb on Glass reads:

Following the conclusion of Split, Glass finds David Dunn pursuing Keven Wendell Crumb superhuman figure of the Beast in a series of escalating encounters, while the shadowy presence of Elijah Price emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men.

At this stage, Glass is set for a January 18th, 2019 release.

Netflix’s THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY Adds Five Cast Members

The Umbrella Academy

With last month seeing Netflix announce Ellen Page as headlining The Umbrella Academy, now comes word on who’ll be joining the Juno star in this small-screen adaptation of the popular Dark Horse Comics property.

As revealed by the on-demand streaming service, Tom Hopper, Emmy Raver-Lampman, David Castaneda, Robert Sheehan and Aidan Gallagher have been brought in to join the action.

The official word on these new additions and who there’ll be playing reads as follows:

  • Tom Hopper (Luther) – “Luther” was groomed by his father from an early age to be the leader of The Umbrella Academy – a responsibility that has always weighed heavily on him. He is resilient, a workaholic, and possesses the ability of heightened physical strength. Upstanding to a fault, Luther always tries to do the right thing, even if that means putting others before himself.
  • Emmy Raver-Lampman (Allison) – “Allison” is beautiful, elegant, and a formerly world-famous movie star who possesses the power of suggestion – anything she says aloud comes to pass. Her life seems perfect from the outside, but her ability has undermined every relationship she’s ever had. With her career on the decline and her marriage in shambles, she refuses to use her power as she seeks a more authentic life.
  • David Castañeda (Diego) – “Diego” is a skilled, intense vigilante who has a real problem with authority. He isn’t as naturally strong or smart as his siblings, so he’s worked three times as hard for everything. Believing he should have been the leader of his family instead of his brother, he carries a massive chip on his shoulder that makes him hostile to just about everyone.
  • Aidan Gallagher (Number Five) – “Number Five” appears to be a thirteen year old boy, but in actuality he is a fifty-eight-year-old man trapped in the body of a child. He doesn’t suffer fools and is the smartest person in the room. He’s haunted by the things he’s seen and done, and is on the verge of losing his grip on reality.
  • Robert Sheehan (Klaus) – “Klaus” is a drug addict and lovable mess of a human being and yet, if you ask him, any day now his life is going to turn around. He’s a classic “middle child” – a disarming pleaser who is seemingly everyone’s friend, but will rob you blind without thinking twice.

The early word on this adaptation of Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba’s famed series – currently pegged for a ten-episode debut season – reads:

Based on the popular, Eisner award-winning comics and graphic novels, the series follows the estranged members of a dysfunctional family of superheroes (The Umbrella Academy) – The Monocle, Spaceboy, The Kraken, The Rumor, The Séance, Number Five, The Horror, and The White Violin – as they work together to solve their father’s mysterious death while coming apart at the seams due to their divergent personalities and abilities.

The Exorcist’s Jeremy Slater has penned the pilot episode, with Fargo’s Steve Blackman to serve as showrunner.

As ever, expect more on The Umbrella Academy as it continues to develop.

David S. Goyer in Talks to Direct MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

From a time of insta-catchy theme tunes, one of the hardest to ever get out of your head – even to this day! – is the classic He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ditty. Now while a new live-action take on Adam of Eternia has been spinning its wheels for a fair few years, it looks as if the film could finally be getting set to bring in a director and get moving forward.

Previously, G.I. Joe: Retaliation‘s Jon Chu was on board to direct, but he departed the project a good while ago now. After that, the infamous McG was signed on for the directing gig before similarly leaving the project. Since then, all has been quiet on this Masters of the Universe reboot, but now comes word that David S. Goyer is in talks to helm the picture.

As per The Wrap, Goyer is in negotiations with Sony Pictures to helm the film, with him having actually been responsible for the most recent draft of the movie. Goyer, of course, is best known to genre fans for having written the likes of The Crow: City of Angels, Dark City, Nick Fury: Agent of Shield, the Blade trilogy, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and TV shows such as Flashforward and Constantine. In terms of directing, Goyer’s main highlight has been helming 2004’s Blade: Trinity.

Masters of the Universe will follow the story of Adam, Prince of Eternia, who has the ability to transform into the ever-smiling uber-hero He-Man as he battles to protect his world from the nefarious threat of Skeletor. Of course, these bitter rivals have most recently been seen shilling financial products for MoneySupermarket.com…

Expect more on this as we get it.

Release Date Set for HELLBOY Reboot

Hellboy David Harbour

With its core cast now assembled, Lionsgate’s Hellboy reboot has finally been given a release date.

To be directed by The Descent’s Neil Marshall, Hellboy is now set for a January 11th, 2019 release. Additionally, the film seems to have completely dropped the Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen title, instead now going by just simply Hellboy.

As for the cast, it’s quite the impressive ensemble so far. Playing the titular Big Red is Stranger Things’ David Harbour, with Ian McShane as Professor Broom, Sasha Lane as Alice Monaghan, Penelope Mitchell as Ganeida, Daniel Dae Kim as Major Ben Daimio and Milla Jovovich as the nefarious Blood Queen.

Expect more on Hellboy as it continues to develop.

‘Arrowverse’ Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg Fired

Andrew Kreisberg The CW DC

For so many genre fans out there, The CW’s DC-driven output of Arrow, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl is part of their must-see weekly viewing habits. Well, the network has now moved to fire one of the key minds behind this shared televisual realm.

Executive producer Andrew Kreisberg, who helped develop all four of the aforementioned shows from the get-go, has been fired by Warner Bros. TV Group following investigations into multiple allegations of sexual harassment. Recently, Kreisberg had been suspended by the network, and now the decision has been made to terminate his contract after fifteen women and four men across the various DC shows made allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate physical contact.

In a public statement, the network said, “After a thorough investigation, Warner Bros. Television Group has terminated Andrew Kreisberg’s employment, effective immediately. Greg Berlanti will assume additional responsibilities on both The Flash, where he will work closely with executive producer/co-showrunner Todd Helbing, and Supergirl, where he will work closely with executive producers/co-showrunners Robert Rovner and Jessica Queller. We remain committed to providing a safe working environment for our employees and everyone involved in our productions.”

Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter also released a statement, adding, “Warner Bros. Television Group recently concluded its investigation into the allegations against Andrew Kreisberg. We encouraged and supported this investigation, we believe and support the individuals who came forward, and we agree with the studio’s decision. Nothing is more important to us than the safety and well-being of all our colleagues – co-workers, crew and staff alike.”

Showrunners Depart AMERICAN GODS

American Gods Ian McShane Mr Wednesday

This year’s American Gods adaptation was a bit bonkers, wasn’t it? Bonkers yet brilliant, of course. Well, with the Starz show long confirmed for a second season, it looks like the series will have to find a new showrunner or two for its return.

As per Deadline, showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green have departed the Neil Gaiman adaptation. No reason has been given for the departures at this time, although one interesting piece of speculation is that the legendary Gaiman himself may actually become co-showrunner for the second season. That’s merely speculation and wishful thinking right now, so we’ll just have to wait and see how this all develops. For whoever does take over the reins, it’s believed that the majority of the season’s scripts have already been written.

Expect to hear a whole lot more on this as we get it.

Kathryn Newton in Talks for DETECTIVE PIKACHU

Kathryn Newton Detective Pikachu

Following the recent addition of Justice Smith, the upcoming Detective Pikachu is in talks to bring in another new face in the form of Kathryn Newton.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, the Big Little Lies actress is in advanced negotiations to play the role of Lucy, a journalist character who will help Smith in his adventure.

Goosebumps’ Rob Letterman is on board to direct, with Nicole Perlman and Alex Hirsch having penned the screenplay.

This new movie will follow Detective Pikachu, who is a relatively new character to the Pokémon world, and comes in the aftermath of the huge success of last year’s Pokémon Go.

All that we know right now about Detective Pikachu is that it will follow the titular character as he attempts to solve various mysteries in a live-action setting. Universal Pictures will distribute the movie outside of Japan, with Toho handling duties in Japan.

As ever, expect more on all of this as it develops.