Television

Final Trailer for ‘Stranger Things 2’ Turns It up to Eleven

The last trailer for Stranger Things Season 2 has arrived, and it features the triumphant return of superpowered girl hero, Eleven.

The new season shows the gang from season one reunite to combat a new menace from the Upside Down– giant tentacled shadow monsters that threaten to tear apart the entire town. Will, still recovering from his time in the Upside Down, appears to be the only person who can see the monsters. But after the events of last season, no one is doubting his visions this time.

“These are not nightmares,” David Harbour’s Hopper says. “It’s happening. And it all leads back to here.”

Stranger Things Season 2 debuts on Netflix on October 27th.

First Trailer for The Last Jedi Debuts Tonight

Trailer will debut during halftime of Monday Night Football

Tickets are also on sale now. You should go buy some.

Tonight, despite great personal aversion, I will be watching as little of Monday Night Football as possible while waiting for the debut of the first Last Jedi trailer.

We’re guessing that halftime will be about about 7 pm PST / 10 pm EST.

Black Superhero Drama ‘Raising Dion’ Series Greenlit at Netflix

Creator Dennis Liu will help write and direct. Michael B. Jordan set to produce.

Two years ago,music video director turned comic-book writer Dennis Liu made a bit of a splash by directing a trailer for his self-published comic Raising Dion. The trailer focused on the exploits of a single black mother trying to raise her 7-year-old son after learning he has superpowers.

The trailer was exceptionally well-made, and the comic got picked up for the creator-owned athology IF. Now Netflix has announced a 10-episode series based on the comic has been ordered straight to production vial Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society Productions.

 

The series follows the story of a woman named Nicole Reese, who raises her son Dion after the death of her husband Mark (Jordan). The normal dramas of raising a son as a single mom are amplified when Dion starts to manifest several magical, superhero-like abilities. Nicole must now keep her son’s gifts secret with the help of Mark’s best friend Pat, and protect Dion from antagonists out to exploit him while figuring out the origin of his abilities. The ten-episode series will premiere on Netflix in more than 190 countries around the world.

By using the idea of “superheroes” as a setting rather than a genre and moving the point of view to Nicole, Liu was able to turn the traditional tropes and narratives on their head and gave us a story that was refreshing and honest. The series also smartly sidestepped a series of stale tropes. Nicole is not superwoman, keeping up with Dion is clearly taking a toll. On the other hand, she is not to be pitied — downtrodden and crushed by the world.

The challenges that single mother Nicole faces as she struggles to keep her son safe from harm and make sure he becomes a good and moral person are the same struggle that every single mother faces.

“I started this project many years ago because I wanted to see more diverse representation on film and television,” said Liu. “More than ever, we need more stories told from different points of view and my hope with Raising Dion is to create a cinematic experience for all families that will lift your spirits and make you laugh and cry.”

No release date has been set yet, but late 2018/early 2019 seems likely. The original comic, which explores Nicole’s relationship with Dion’s father is available for free download on Liu’s website.

First Teaser Trailer for Marvel’s Runaways Drops

Right before a select few people get to see the sneak preview of the pilot at New York Comic Con, Hulu has released the first teaser trailer for their upcoming adaptation of Marvel’s Runaways.

Like the comic book before it, the television series will focus on the six kids who discover that their parents are supervillains plotting to destroy the world. Stealing powerful items that unlock their hidden powers and abilities, the kids go on the run seeking to stop their parents’ evil schemes.

Marvel’s Runaways premieres on November 21s on Hulu.

Comic Book
Television Show

 

Gal Gadot Hosts SNL This Weekend

The actress demonstrates just how much she’s like Wonder Woman in first promo spot.

Gal Gadot is hosting the grand-daddy of all sketch comedy shows, Saturday Night Live, with musical guest Sam Smith. The first promo for the show featured Gadot bursting through a wall like Wonder Woman while cast member Leslie Jones consistently mispronounces her name. A second series of short spots feature Gadot, Smith and cast member Kenan Thompson.

It’s Gadot’s first time hosting the show, but we are willing to make a few predictions:

  • There will be a play on “Waiting for Gadot” at some point.
  • A Wonder Woman sketch is obvious and mandatory.
  • At least one sketch will be focused on her being oblivious about how drop-dead gorgeous she is. The male characters

The episode airs on Saturday, October 7. Check your local listings for times.

 

Lynda Carter To James Cameron ‘Stop Dissing Wonder Woman’

Considers him a “poor soul” who doesn’t “understand the character.”

Director James Cameron made headlines earlier this summer when he targeted the movie Wonder Woman for criticism, calling the film “a step backwards” for women in Hollywood, and compared the character unfavorably to Terminator‘s Sarah Connor.

“Sarah Connor was not a beauty icon. She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit,” Cameron said. In contrast, he insinuated that Wonder Woman was “an objectified icon.”

Wonder Woman director Patti Jenkins hit back at Cameron’s slighting of everyone’s favorite Amazon. “If women have to always be hard, tough and troubled to be strong, and we aren’t free to be multidimensional or celebrate an icon of women everywhere because she is attractive and loving, then we haven’t come very far have we?”

Thursday, Lynda Carter, the original Wonder Woman, had her say.

To James Cameron -STOP dissing WW: You poor soul. Perhaps you do not understand the character. I most certainly do. Like all women–we are more than the sum of our parts. Your thuggish jabs at a brilliant director, Patty Jenkins, are ill advised. This movie was spot on. Gal Gadot was great. I know, Mr. Cameron–because I have embodied this character for more than 40 years. So–STOP IT.

Even though she hung up her tights 40 years ago, Lynda Carter is still showing us what it means to be a hero every day.

 

 

New Member of the Powerpuff Girls Will Be Black

Townsville can sleep a bit better at night now knowing that it has not a trio protecting it, but now a quartet, in the new Powerpuff Girls five-part special event, “The Power of Four”.

South African musician Toya Delazy confirmed rumors last week by announcing that she will be voicing the newest member of the crime-fighting squad. Though the character has yet to be named, Black culture website Afropunk, shared a leaked photo of all four girls together.

“I have always dreamed of being the voice of a cartoon character. Never did I think I would be recording a voice-over as the new Powerpuff Girl for Cartoon Network, though!” Delazy said in a statement to Animation Magazine. “In a nutshell, Cartoon Network was my childhood. The shows were always quirky, expressive, creative and cool! I have always appreciated how creative the channel is, even to this day.”

This isn’t Delazy’s first taste of the Powerpuff Girl world. Previously, she’d worked with Turner to create a theme song for Powerpuff Girls specifically for the African market.

The Powerpuff Girls “The Power of Four” and the big reveal of our newest crimefighter is set for September 17, 2017 on Cartoon Network at 5:30 p.m.

 

‘The Greatest American Hero’ Is Ready to Soar Again with an Indian-American Woman as the Lead

ABC commits to pilot from from an all-star female production team.

According to an article by Deadline, ABC has given a “put pilot*” commitment to a reboot of early-’80s cult-classic The Greatest American Hero. Rachna Fruchbom and Nahnatchka Khan’s Fierce Baby Productions will produce the pilot, based on a script written by Fruchbom. Fruchbom  previously worked on NBC’s Parks and Recreation and is currently a writer-producer on ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat which was created and executive produced by Khan.

(*A “put pilot” means that the network is committed to put the pilot on air as a special, even in the unlikely case the series is not picked up. -Ed.)

The original Greatest American Hero was created by legendary television producer Stephen J. Cannell (The A-Team, 21 Jump Street) and starred William Katt (House, Carrie) as substitute teacher Ralph Hinkley who is chosen by aliens to defend the word. He is given a superhero suit that grants its user amazing powers … and promptly loses the instruction manual, leaving him to discover his abilities through trial and error. (In a running gag, he learns to fly — but never masters landing.)

He is aided by an FBI agent Bill Maxwell (Robert Culp) and attorney Pam Davidson (Connie Sellecca). The show is perhaps best known for its theme song, “Believe It or Not,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Pop Charts.

The reboot is being written by Fruchbom and centers on “Meera, a 30-year-old Indian-American woman from Cleveland whose talents include tequila drinking, karaoke and not much else. Then some aliens entrust her with a super suit to protect the planet, and the world has never been in more unreliable hands.”

Sunita Mani

Mindi Kaling’s name was immediately bandied about in the press, but we would like to suggest up-and-comer Sunita Mani (GLOW, Mr. Robot) as another excellent choice.

Fruchbom executive produces the reboot with Fierce Baby’s Khan and Mandy Summers, as well as Cannell’s daughter, television director Tawnia McKiernan.

This is the fourth attempt at a reboot of the series. After the series ended, Cannell actually filmed a pilot for The Greatest American Heroine where Hinkley’s secret identity is compromised, and the aliens instruct him to give the suit to a successor. Over Maxwell’s objections, he chooses a woman, Holly Hathaway. The network passed, although the pilot was folded into the original series for syndication.

In more recent times, the show was attempted twice — in 2015 and 2016 — by producers Phil Lord & Chris Miller (The LEGO Movie, 21 Jump Street) and McKiernan, but neither version made it to air.