DC TV Series Update: New Looks & Potential Future Shows In The Making

I was going to wait a little bit longer to do this one but with so much news coming out over the last few weeks in relation to DC TV and streaming content, I thought I might as well do a blog right now. Warning this may be edited tomorrow when other stuff emerges later today.

With DCFanDome disappointingly didn't give us a first look as to what Javicia Leslie's Ryan Wilder would look like as Batwoman, last month a nice series of photos emerged to unveil the new look that Ryan would have and if you spotted some set pics, it also looks like Ryan will have a Batmobile of her own as well. I like the bigger emphasis on red with the gauntlets and the cape compared to Kate Kane's look in the first season and the choice of wig works pretty well to boot. Viewers won't have much longer to wait as the show returns to the CW from January 17th with a brief trailer giving us a tiny glimpse of Ryan in action. 

First Season 2 Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5__G4rXil8

With the third season in production (and rumours of a fourth season also in the works), HBO Max didn't waste too much time in unveiling Curran Walters new look for Jason Tood as the Red Hood will be coming to Titans in quite a big way. The character will not only serve as the main antagonist for the first half of the season but Red Hood is also poised to get his own spin-off while Blackfire (Damaris Lewis) will serve as a main villain for the second half of the forthcoming season. Castings for new characters such as Barbara Gordon, Tim Drake and Scarecrow have yet to be confirmed but you can expect some new looks for Beast Boy (Ryan Potter) and Starfire (Anna Diop) as well as a more focused team when the show does return in 2021.

In an unexpected turn of events, the pace for Peacemaker has seriously picked up, almost out of nowhere.  Filming for the eight part spin-off of The Suicide Squad is set to start in January 2021 and the main cast will not only see John Cena reprise the role of the titular character but he'll be joined by his movie co-stars Jennifer Holland and Steve Agee, also reprising their roles as Dr Emilia Harcourt and John Economos respectively. Also joining the cast will be Chris Conrad as Adrian Chase/Vigilante, Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo and Robert Patrick as Auggie Smith. James Gunn has written all eight episodes for the upcoming HBO Max series and will direct some of them as well.

Meanwhile for those of you wondering if the CW were going to pick any more DC content, well you're in luck (depending on your standpoint with CW DC content) as there seems to be plans afoot for a Black Lightning spin-off, focusing on the character Painkiller ( Jordan Calloway) with a backdoor pilot being filmed as part of the main series upcoming fourth season. I stopped watching this show after it's first season, so this news slightly threw me off. I'm not against the character getting a spin off and I might watch the pilot episode out of curiosity, but don't expect much or any coverage on here. Black Lightning's fourth season will premiere on the CW from February 8th 2021. It also has been confirmed that this will be the show's final season as well.

If Painkiller getting his own series wasn't surprising, how about the CW giving a series to a character who has yet to make her debut in the comics? For a while there's been a lot of hype for Brazilian Wonder Woman, Yara Flor (created by Joelle Jones) in the upcoming Future State event series (January/February 2021) and the CW have decided to quickly get in there by commissioning Wonder Girl, which will focus on Yara Flor and will be done from Queen of the South executive producer/co-showrunner Dailyn Rodriguez and Berlanti Productions.

The synopsis for the upcoming series ....

Written by Rodriguez, Wonder Girl centers on Yara Flor, a Latina Dreamer who was born of an Amazonian Warrior and a Brazilian River God, learns that she is Wonder Girl. With her newfound power must fight the evil forces that would seek to destroy the world.

This is showing a lot of confidence for a character who DC readers have yet to meet and while it's potentially risky, I have to commend the CW for taking the risk though. It'll be interesting to see the casting for this upcoming series but with both this and Painkiller getting potential shows, I have a feeling that Supergirl might not be the only CW DC show we lose in 2021.

Wonder Girl Press Release: https://deadline.com/2020/11/wonder-girl-tv-series-latina-lead-yara-flor-dailyn-rodriguez-greg-berlanti-productions-the-cw-1234616503/

Meanwhile November 17th came and went and Zack Snyder held a breakdown of the trailer for fans on his Vero account for Zack Snyder's Justice League. The trailer was uploaded again with a few new scenes in black and white but we're still no closer to a confirmed date for the upcoming miniseries. It was confirmed a few weeks ago that Jared Leto will reprise his role as the Joker for the new cut. I'll provide a link for the new cut of the trailer below.

ZSJL Trailer (B&W): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3OyBdkrDTk

That's a rundown of some of the upcoming DC shows that both the CW and HBO Max will be producing over the next year. There's more info to come, especially regarding a certain Cut and a bunch of Green Lanterns. 

My Review of DC TV's Crossover: "Crisis On Infinite Earths: Hours 4 & 5" (Arrow/Legends Of Tomorrow)

Last month, we had the first three episodes of the Arrow universe's most ambitious crossover event with Crisis On Infinite Earths. There were a lot of surprise moments in those three episodes and the game certainly changed for a lot of our main heroes. Could these last two episodes do better? You bet they could.

Written by Marv Wolfman & Marc Guggenheim & Keto Shimizu & Ubah Mohamed
Directed by Glen Winter & Gregory Smith

Barry: "An end."
Sara: "And a beginning. Thank you, Oliver."

Last time we left our seven, well one of them got replaced with Lex Luthor and the rest of them were slowly beginning to lose confidence in their mission. New boy, Ryan Choi somewhat went to town on bringing us all up to speed on that one while Lex continued to scheme and generally get on Kara's nerves while Barry was feeling a bit out of sorts to boot. On top of that, we did get a bit of a trip into the Monitor's past, met his wife, Xeen Novu (Melanie Merkosky) while also seeing the formation of the Anti Monitor. Between Lex trying to blackmail the Monitor for his own schemes, the Paragons also took some trips in past events, which made for seeing certain events in an interesting new way but then we got this moment to boot.

In the first three episodes of this event we got nods to Burton's Batman movies, a continuation of sorts to Superman Returns as well as characters from Smallville, Lucifer, the 90's Flash TV series, Titans and Birds of Prey and Burt Ward for Batman 66. All of that in itself was ambitious and shocking that they pulled it off. However the fourth segment went one better and had Ezra Miller's Flash from the DCEU pop up in a brief cameo where he got to interact with Barry. Seeing the two Flashs fanboy each other while trying to figure out what was going on was absolutely amusing and I'm kind of hoping now that Grant Gustin makes a cameo in Miller's Flashpoint influenced movie that's coming out in July 2022. It's a credit that the producers managed to keep that cameo concealed when pretty much every other one leaked and it's by far the best we've had in this five episode event.

As for Oliver Queen, well his days certainly seem to be done. It took a little way but the former Spectre, Jim Corrigan (Stephen Lobo) got through to him and he helped the Paragons to fan the flame while he lit the spark and battled the Anti-Monitor. In the end, things took a big change but before getting into that, there was no denying that Oliver made the ultimate sacrifice and while you can argue that it should've been Diggle and Laurel at his side during his final moments but the inclusion of Barry and Sara worked just as well for me. Of course whether or not Oliver is truly gone considering there are two episodes of Arrow left though is the other thing.

As for the changes, I think we all knew that worlds were going to merges so having Earths 1 and 38 become Earth Prime was hardly a shocker. More shocking was Lex winning a Nobel prize, being loved by everyone and also being Kara's boss at the DEO but I loved Kara's joy at being on the same Earth as everyone else even if it were tempered by Oliver's death and the Anti Monitor still being at large though. Of course as various characters banded together and we did get a rather quick defeat for the Anti-Monitor but not strictly a death as such. Either way, he's out of the Paragons hair for the time being.

As for the last few moments, things have certainly changed. Oliver's dead but no-one will be forgetting him any time soon and Barry setting up a Paragon council with himself, Sara, Kara, Clark, Kate, J'onn and Jefferson definitely means we should be psyching ourselves up for another crossover event at the end of the year. I've wanted Kara's world to merge with everyone's for a while now and while I was disappointed that we didn't see more Legends in their segment of this part, I do think it worked not having them as the show forges into a new status quo. Worlds may have died but many came back and at least two merged. The DC Universe certainly got a lot bigger now.

- Cameos: Marv Wolfman who wrote the original comic and co-wrote the fourth segment appeared as himself in the fifth part of this event.
- Other cameos included Stargirl and her gang from Earth 2, more Titans from Earth 9, Green Lanterns from Earth 12, Swamp Thing from Earth 19, Doom Patrol from Earth 21 and of course, Superman again from Earth 96.
- Superman and Lois have two boys instead of one and both Diggle and Lyla have Sara back again. Is Ryan also a single parent now too?
- Sargon the Sorcerer (Raúl Herrera) appeared and tried to use Beebo to distract the gang while Weather Witch also crossed paths with Supergirl and The Flash.
- I still can't believe they managed to get the DCEU into this event in some capacity.
- Chronology: Months passed since the events of the third part of this event.

Well, this was certainly a stunning event series and Crisis On Infinite Earths is definitely the pinnacle of what the Arrow universe has managed to achieve in the space of eight years and multiple shows. It's a credit to the CW they were able to pull this whole saga off the way they did and between the various nods, cameos, character moments and game changing events, things have certainly gotten a lot more exciting in this part of the DC Universe.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of DC TV's Crossover: "Crisis On Infinite Earths: Hours 1-3" (Supergirl/Batwoman/TheFlash)

It's time for the biggest crossover event that the Arrow universe could come up with and while in years past, I would've reviewed the whole thing together, this time around, it's an event that has five episodes, spanning two months, so here's a review of the first three hours of Crisis On Infinite Earths.

Written by Robert Rovner & Marc Guggenheim & Derek Simon & Jay Faerber & Don Whitehead & Holly Henderson & Lauren Certo & Sterling Gates & Eric Wallace
Directed by Jesse Warn & Laura Belsey & David McWhirter

Anti-Monitor: "It is time to end the age of heroes and everything you hold close."

In last year's crossover event, Elseworlds, we knew this moment was coming and it's certainly been prepared for with the latest seasons of two of the shows in question. As we kick things off in the Supergirl side of things, worlds are being destroyed and Kara herself can do nothing to save her mother, Alura (Erica Durance) as Argo City is one of the first worlds to perish but the use of Lyla/Harbinger (Audrey Marie Anderson) does however mean that most of our players are not perishing as Kara is soon reunited with Superman, Lois Lane, Green Arrow, Mia Smoak, Sara Lance, Batwoman, The Flash and The Atom and in this first part, there's a mixture of recon with some of the group, getting Jonathan Kent back from Earth 16 in 20148 where Sara briefly reunited with an older Oliver while in the present day, our Oliver ended up a casualty.

Now this early in the game seemed a little too quick to have Oliver killed off and needless to say once we move into the Batwoman segment of things, this was something that wasn't going to stick. I did like Sara voicing concerns about bringing Oliver back from the dead even Mia wasn't so keen on listening to then. Then again, the second part did give us an interesting team up of Sara, Mia, Barry and Constantine as they managed to bring Oliver back from the dead but it took striking a deal with a certain someone in The Flash side of things and Diggle reaching out to his "brother" in order to get Oliver back on side. Of course the biggest highlight in the second part of this installment was Iris, Lois and Clark trying to stop Lex Luthor's (Jon Cryer) one man mission to kill as many versions of Superman as he could by setting the Earth 96 version of the character (Brandon Routh) onto our Clark before Iris and Lois managed to get one over on Lex. Having Routh get to play a role he played over a decade ago was great for the second and third parts of this crossover event. It's like he never left the role to begin with.

However while I was happy to see another Superman in the mix, the only Batman we got was in Earth 99 and had become a homicidal maniac that died a rather anticlimactic death to boot. On the plus side, he was played by Kevin Conroy who made the most of his limited screentime and aside from Ruby Rose, at least Cadmus Johnson was the only other member of Batwoman to appear in this episode, albeit as a more nihilistic and somewhat off putting version of Luke Fox. I did like the scenes that Kate had in these episodes with both Bruce and Kara and the fact that the she was getting her head around the bigger universal threats beyond Gotham.

An ongoing theme in the episodes was the fact that they are seven Paragons out there that are able to stop the Anti-Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) and throughout the episodes we learned that Supergirl represented hope, Batwoman courage, Sara destiny, Earth 96 Superman truth, Martian Manhunter honor, The Flash love while newly added into the mix, pre second Atom Ryan Choi (Osiric Chau) of course would represent humanity. Of course as a new father/husband, Ryan was somewhat reluctant to embrace his destiny until Iris was able to reach out to him and Ryan jumped onto the Waverider along with everyone else as the Anti-Monitor and Pariah (Tom Cavanagh) brought things to a rather interesting standstill.

By the end of this episode, it seemed that Oliver was about to become the new Spectre after the previous one, Jim Corrigan (Stephen Lobo) while Earth 90 Flash (JohnWesley Shipp) made a noble sacrifice to help save this Earth, along the arrival of Black Lightning in the third hour also helped matters to boot. It might have taken three seasons but it seems that Jefferson is now a part of this universe, even if he has lost his wife and daughters in the mix. I do get the feeling though that in the next two hours, both Jefferson and Kara are going to find their Earths merged in with Earth 1, assuming that all the deaths on the Waverider are of course reversed and can we talk about Lex Luthor replacing Earth 96 Superman so he could be a Paragon? Damn, that fella will do anything for attention.

- Okay cameos and there were a lot of them in these three hours, so let's break them down.
- Earth 9: Titans with both Curran Walters and Alan Ritchson appearing as Robin II and Hawk, then Earth 66 had Burt Ward as himself while Earth 89 had Robert Wuhl as a Gotham City citizen.
- Earth X saw a brief appearance of The Ray while Earth 75 showed us Lois grieving over a dead Superman.
- Earth 76 only gave us Mick but also a voice cameo from Wentworth Miller as the Waverider's Leo Snart.
- Earth 167 gave us Tom Welling as a retired/non powered Clark Kent and Erica Durance's Lois Lane as they both have daughters, live on the farm and Lex was not impressed with Clark being normal now.
- Earth 203 briefly gave Huntress (Ashley Scott) with a voice cameo from Dina Meyer's Oracle while Earth 666 also gave us Lucifer (Tom Ellis), who flirted with Constantine and Earth 18 also gave us a more sleazier version of Jonah Hex (Johnathon Schaech). We also got an appearance from Wil Wheaton on Earth 38 and Griffin Newman on Earth 1. I think that covers everything.
- Basically shows/movies such as Batman (1989), Smallville, Birds Of Prey, Lucifer, Superman Returns and Titans are now sort of a part of this universe.

Crisis On Infinite Earths has gotten off to a flying start and while this is the most ambitious and fan service driven event yet, there's definitely a sense of things being set up for the future (Mia's spin-off for a start) and the end of an era for other things. I loved so many moments, it's impossible to highlight them all and I certainly gasped at certain parts too. It's going to be a long wait for the remaining two parts of this event but I don't doubt it will be worth it though.

Rating: 9 out of 10

SCDD 2019 - DC TV Spoilers

Unlike the MCU, the DCEU sadly sat out SDCC this year (but I have no doubt they'll come back swinging next year though). However in terms of the television medium, most of the big players came out and we got some great spoilers.

Delving into the Arrowverse first though ....

Trailers for Arrow (October 15th), The Flash (October 8th), Supergirl (October 6th) and Black Lightning (October 21st) were all unveiled over the weekend and there are some interesting spoilers to behold. Batwoman (October 6th) and Legends Of Tomorrow (January 31st 2020) didn't get trailers but still had a presence at San Diego during the weekend. Things we can expect from the shows are ....

- Charlie Barnett will be a regular as the older version of JJ for the final season of Arrow as well as Ben Lewis (William), Katherine McNamara (Mia) and Joseph David-Jones (Connor).
- Both Oliver and Laurel will have new suits.
- Katie Cassidy-Rogers, David Ramsay, Caity Lotz, Danielle Panabaker, Melissa Benoist, Chyler Leigh and David Harewood will be directing episodes of their respective shows.
- Brandon Routh will be playing the Kingdom Come version of Superman for the Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover event while Tyler Hoechlin will be back as Superman, Bitsie Tulloch as Lois Lane and Jon Cryer as Lex Luthor.
- There's also rumours that both Tom Welling and Lynda Carter will play roles in the upcoming crossover as well.
- The Flash's main antagonist for the first half of it's sixth season will be Bloodwork, played by Sendhil Ramamurthy. The character will have a connection to both Barry and Caitlin.
- Keiynan Lonsdale will be returning as Wally West, Sue Dibney will debut this season, Killer Frost will have more to do, Tom Cavanagh will play another Wells as well as Pariah, Iris will delve more into her journalism and Cisco will be staying put.
- The Monitor will be popping up on various shows leading to the crossover event.

- Also appearing in the upcoming Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover event will be Batman 66 actor, Burt Ward in an undisclosed role.
- Supergirl will be saying goodbye to Mehcad Brook's Jimmy Olsen but it seems that Jeremy Jordon will be reappearing as Winn for a few episodes while Andrea Brooks will be a regular as Eve.
- Other additions to the fifth season will be Meaghan Rath as a female Brainiac 5, Staz Nair as journalist William Dey and Julie Gonzolo as Andrea Rojas/Acrata.
- Expect more relationship plots with Brainiac 5/Nia and Alex/Kelly as well as a battle for Lena's soul.
- Legends Of Tomorrow will see Sara getting a superpower, origin episodes for Constantine and Charlie, Astra as the main baddie, Ava on the Waverider and some of the worst people in history causing hassle for our motley crew.
- Batwoman will feature some of the Dark Knight's own rogue gallery members, including Hush for an upcoming episode while the first season itself is largely based on the Elegy arc.

And moving onto the DC Universe side of things ....

Titans second season is coming pretty soon. In fact, you can mark September 6th as the date the show returns for it's second season and it's cast is going to be pretty large this season. Not only are Brenton Thwaites (Robin 1), Anna Diop (Starfire), Teagan Croft (Raven) and Ryan Potter (Beast Boy) are back but regular wise, they'll be joined by Curran Walters (Robin 2), Alan Ritchson (Hawk), Minka Kelly (Dove), Conor Leslie (Donna Troy), Joshua Orpin (Superboy) as well. In recurring and guest roles will be Esai Morales (Deathstroke), Iain Glen (Bruce Wayne), Chella Man (Jericho), Chelsea Zhang (Ravager), Natalie Gumede (Mercy Graves) and Drew Van Acker (Aqualad), so this upcoming season is definitely going to be more eventful than the first one.

Keeping with the good news - Doom Patrol has also been confirmed for a second season and will air on both DCUniverse and HBO Max respectively. On the other hand though, Swamp Thing still seems to be cancelled and we got nothing new on Stargirl as of yet.

As for some animated content, you'll be delighted to know that Young Justice has been renewed for a fourth season while we finally got a trailer for the new Harley Quinn series, starring Kaley Cuoco in the title role and it's definitely going for the Deadpool approach. It looks gloriously daft as Harley schemes to become a member of the Legion of Doom after rejecting the Joker (Alan Tudyk), teaming up with Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) and occasionally being a pain in Batman's (Diedrich Bader) behind. Expect appearances from various DC characters across the board and plenty of swearing and violence in the series, slated to air on DC Universe from October 2019.

Harley Quinn Series Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhSj3PvDTfo

Meanwhile members who attended San Diego over the weekend were treated to pilot episode screenings of both Batwoman and Pennyworth (July 28th) and while the former show generated some rather mixed to dicey reviews, it seems that the latter series, focusing on Jack Bannon's younger Alfred Pennyworth was seen in a more favourable light. The pilot episode for Pennyworth is free to watch online now and I'll probably give it a go later in the week. It's unlikely that I'll be reviewing the show episodically, though it'll be covered on this blog in some capacity over the next few months though. HBO also made an impression with their recent trailer for Watchmen (October 2019), which aired during the weekend.

Watchmen Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yKq1PRvPJQ

While no DCEU movie news to go, these are the highlights in the DC Universe. Which shows are catching your eye the most?

SDCC 2018 - DC TV & Movie Universe Spoilers

It was certainly busy at SDCC over the weekend and for DC fans, there was certainly a lot to enjoy with various spoilers for the TV and movies to savour. However, I'll start with the movies first.

Aquaman: The movie made a splash with stars Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Amber Heard (Mera), Nicole Kidman (Atlanna), Patrick Wilson (Ocean Master), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Black Manta) and director James Wan showing up to promote the movie at long last. Apparently there was two trailers unveiled but only one released and it did a pretty solid job in promoting the underwater epic as Arthur and Mera work together to stop the former's half brother from bringing war to the surface by uniting the Seven Kingdoms. The movie is due for release on December 21st 2018.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDkg3h8PCVU

Shazam: Also getting it's debut at SDCC was of course, Shazam with stars Zachary Levi (playing the title character), Asher Angel (Billy Batson), Jack Dylan Grazer (Freddy Freeman) and director David F. Sandberg in attendance. The trailer released definitely revealed the fun of the DCEU (now being called Worlds of DC) with Billy getting to be superhero and having fun with his new powers while at the same time, having to go against Dr Sivana (Mark Strong). Think a superhero version of Big and you're pretty much there with what this movie is attempting to do. The movie will be released April 5th 2019.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go6GEIrcvFY

Wonder Woman 1984: Despite filming only beginning last month, SDCC still managed to bag an exclusive as stars Gal Gadot and Chris Pine (Steve Trevor) rocked up to the event with director Patty Jenkins as audiences got a little taster of what's to come with this movie. Sadly the footage hasn't been released online but it did involve Diana kicking some ass with people talking about how undeniably 80s the movie feels. The movie itself is being treated as another standalone adventure rather than a sequel and while we don't know why or how Steve Trevor is back, we do know that it's really him and he plays a big role in this movie. We also know that Kristin Wiig will be playing the main antagonist, Cheetah/Dr Barbara Ann Minerva and that Pedro Pascal has an undisclosed role. The film will be released on November 1st 2019 and it won't be the only movie with Diana to come out next year as an animated movie called Wonder Woman: Bloodlines will also be out too.

Birds Of Prey: For now this seems to be the title of that infamous Harley Quinn Girl Gang movie that's being bandied about for a while. Directed by Cathy Yan, the movie will see Margot Robbie reprise her role of former Joker henchwoman/current anti-heroine, Harley Quinn and if the rumours are correct, the movie will feature live action versions of Black Canary, Huntress, Cassandra Cain and Renee Montoya as well as a Batman antagonist who hasn't been on the big screen yet. Filming for the movie is due to start in January 2019 with a likely early 2020 release date.

Joker: Not connected to the franchise formerly known as the DCEU, this standalone movie starring Joaquin Phoenix as the titular Clown Prince Of Crime will begin filming in September with an October 2019 release earmarked. Yeah, I like Phoenix as an actor and the Joker is one of my favourite villains but I cannot muster any enthusiasm for this one at all. It just feels absolutely pointless. Anyways, there's rumours that Deadpool 2's Zazie Beetz might be joining the movie as well.

Other DC movies to look out for in 2019 but on the animated front are Batman: Hush, Reign Of The Supermen, Justice League vs. The Fatal Five as well as Wonder Woman: Bloodlines.

And now let's have a look at the TV and streaming gods have to offer DC fans ....

Titans: Well, the trailer for this one generated some controversy on Thursday when Brenton Thwaites not so retired Robin uttered the meme inspiring words "Fuck Batman". Aside from that, there's clearly a gritty approach going on with this show as we saw not only the former Boy Wonder but also Raven (Teagan Croft), Starfire (Anna Diop), Beast Boy (Ryan Potter), Hawk (Alan Ritchson) and Dove (Minka Kelly) in action. I'll admit that going for the Netflix Marvel series approach might generate mixed results but for the debut show to be launched from the DC Universe streaming service later this year, I still want to give this one a go.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIYzdBAxcM8

- Arrow's seventh season (October 15th) will feature the returns of characters such as Brick and Bronze Tiger as well as the introduction of the Longbow Hunters. We're also getting a new gay character named Daniel Porter and a few mercenary characters as well as a returned Roy Harper.
- The Flash (October 9th) has cast Chris Klein as season antagonist Cicada for it's fifth season. Nora will have a difficult relationship with Iris while Tom Cavanagh will direct the 100th episode and Barry will get his Flash ring this season.
- Supergirl (October 14th) will have Nia Nal/Dreamer (Nicole Maines), Agent Liberty (Sam Witwer), Colonel Haley (April Parker Jones) as regulars along with Manchester Black (David Ajala) as recurring threat. Journalism will play a bigger role and the show will do it's own version of the Red Son storyline.
- Legends Of Tomorrow (October 22nd) will have Maisie Richardson Sellers play magical fugitive Charlie this season as well as new regular Alaska Yu (Ramona Young) and recurring Hank Heywood (Tom Wilson). Oh and expect a Beebo return.
- The crossover focusing on Batwoman will exclude the Waverider team but a series for Kate Kane is in development for the CW.
- Black Lightning (October 9th) will have 16 episodes this season with Jordan Calloway's Painkiller promoted to a regular this season. Anissa will have a new love interest too.
- Krypton's second season will introduce Lobo and some of Adam Strange's people. UK viewers will be able to see the first season soon on E4.
- DC Universe streaming service will also have live action series of Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol and Stargirl.

That's all the best gossip from SDCC in relation to the television and movie universe from DC. Some exciting stuff ahead.

Festivities In March

A brief rundown on some of the show I've caught in the last few weeks and yes, there's some I do need to catch up with as well.

Arrow: A mixed bag of events here. To get the negative out of the way, I really don't care a great deal for Dragon being the main antagonist for the remainder of the season as he's a (so far) pretty cardboard villain to watch and the less said about the newbies acting like spoiled brats and Diggle wanting to be the Green Arrow, the better to be honest. On the other hand, I am enjoying the possible redemption arc with Black Siren and the returns of both Roy and Nyssa in the last few episodes to tie in with Thea's departure. That character will be missed.

Black Lightning: I'm about two episodes behind (will catch up within the next week or two) but I'm slightly losing interest with the show. The most promising villain they had with Lady Eve (who genuinely exuded menace) was killed off a bit too abruptly along with Tori, a character who also had promised and Lala, who I don't care about is back for whatever reason. I'm still not really compelled by Tobias as a baddie and Lynn does nothing really interesting either. On the other hand, Gambi has had his moments, I've enjoyed the Jefferson/Anissa teaming up and Jennifer discovering her own powers has been neat.

Once Upon A Time: So far not really a spectacular return considering we're into the last ever batch of episodes. A few backstories for Facilier, Naveen, Alice and Robyn aside, there doesn't seem to be a huge amount that's really happening. Even Victoria dying, Gothel building her cult and a mystery killer bumping off witches hasn't done much to ignite excitement here. Henry and Jacinda are still a lifeless couple and it's hard to get too invested in Regina/Facilier either, even if the latter is a more engaging antagonist than Gothel. The show seriously needs to pick up in it's remaining episodes.

The Flash: I've been liking the Thinker storyline this season but credit given where it's due, even the episodes that haven't focused on the guy and his constant body jacking have been enjoyable as well. The emotionally charged Enter Flashtime was a series highlight along with the following episode where Iris had Barry's abilities and made for a pretty awesome hero herself. Of course there has been some niggling bits with there being no further explanation for Cecile's current mind reading and Ralph being somewhat annoying and brooding in parts.

Will & Grace: This revival so far has been a lot of fun to watch and each episode has certainly proved that the show can work yet again, which is a relief. In the last few episodes we've a Victorian Christmas themed special, the funeral for Rosario (who I do miss seeing on the show), the introduction of Jack's grandson, the revived rivalry with Karen and Leslie, Grace meeting Leo again and even Will changing careers and dating younger guys for a bit. No wonder NBC seem more than happy to keep renewing this show, despite Season 9 not finishing airing yet.

- Netflix have renewed Queer Eye For The Straight Guy for a second season, which will be released later in the year.
- Will & Grace has been renewed for both tenth and eleventh seasons by NBC. Following it's huge ratings, ABC have also renewed Roseanne for an eleventh season while it's tenth one has started airing.
- Gotham will be tackling the No Man's Land arc for it's finale. E4 have the rights to the fourth season, airing from April 10th.
- Caity Lotz will be appearing in the sixth season finale of Arrow. Colin Donnell will appear in the 21st episode of the season.
- Jennifer Morrison, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Emilie De Ravin, Sean Maguire are among the many returns for Once Upon A Time's series finale.
- The Librarians has been cancelled after four seasons by TNT.
- Tobias Menzies will be succeeding Matt Smith as Prince Philip for the third and fourth seasons of The Crown.
- Humans third season will air on Channel 4 from May and on AMC from June 5th.

Stepping Out Of Retirement

This is mostly a superhero CW DC thread with one exception but two of the show I'm talking about do tie in with the title of this blog piece though.

Arrow: This season since it's return has been treading water a little bit. After a promising start, Michael Emerson's Cayden James has been something of a disappointing villain and the last episode just killed him off randomly to elevate Dragon guy as the Big Bad for the remainder of the season. Along with the newbies being on the outs with the original gang, not much has really stood these last few episodes. Black Siren's redemptive path on the other hand has been a bit of a highlight, even if it's largely wound up the obsessive Olicity fans but mainly it's been the only storyline that's really generated any good feeling for this season so far.

Black Lightning: The first five episodes of the CW's latest DC superhero drama series and while it's been doing it's best to distance itself from the Arrow universe (despite being as grounded as Arrow), it's still a worthy addition to this universe. Freeland feels every bit as alive a city as Star City, Central City or National City and Jefferson's journey to step out of retirement and resume his role as Black Lightning has been as compelling as Anissa's tentative journey towards becoming Thunder. Even Jennifer's own storylines have been worth watching while Gambi has made for an interesting if ambiguous ally for Jefferson. The weaker elements include Lynn, who needs better writing and Tobias, whom I don't find really that intimidating but at least characters like Tori and Lady Eve (who I do find genuinely menacing) add to his scenes.

Supergirl: Eh, the four episodes we've had before it's break to make way for the second half of Legends Of Tomorrow's third season have been a mixed bag in a way. Reign is still a decent villain with sympathy being shown for Samantha (unaware of her true identity) but the Worldkillers plot hasn't moved too much ahead even with the arrival of another in the shape of Purity/Julia. On top of that we've had more on the Kara/Mon El/Imra triangle, Alex brooding over Maggie while Wynn, Lena and Jimmy have been a little underused. Plus side, at least Brainiac has been fun to watch so far.

The Flash: Credit to the show where it's due. They did not drag out the trial of the Flash storyline too long and they certainly didn't go overboard with the angst either. They even found a clever way (via Ralph) to exonerate Barry while at the same time, maintaining that DeVoe is still around to hijack more meta bodies for his endgame plan. I did like all the sideplots with the Axel and his mother working together, Iris leading the team as best she could and Barry working with other rogues to escape getting auctioned to Amunet. Just a shame poor Becky came a cropper as she was getting a redemptive storyline though.

Will & Grace: I can't believe it's actually been eleven years since this show first ended and now it's back. I was a fan of the series back in the day but it also wasn't one of those shows I was clamouring to see return as I felt it had ended well enough and had ran long enough with eight seasons under it's belt. This first episode was a good return with the previous finale retconned as the title characters had a pillow fight in the White House along with Karen and Jack providing their own witty comments on things. Overall, a fun first episode for a series that didn't need reviving but at the same time, I'm kind of glad it's back nonetheless.

- Ben Platt will star in a musical series called The Politician for Netflix along with Barbara Streisland. The series is one of two created by Ryan Murphy, the other being Ratched, starring Sarah Paulson.
- Once Upon A Time will end after seven seasons. The remaining episodes will air from next month onwards.
- David W. Thompson will play Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow in another episode arc of Gotham. The show is certainly on a recast spree.
- DC's digital streaming service will be doing another prequel series - this time it's Metropolis which will focus on Lois Lane and Lex Luthor.
- Titans meanwhile will introduce the Doom Patrol in the fifth episode with Bruno Bicher playing the role of The Chief.
- Matt Ryan will reprise his role as John Constantine for the Legends Of Tomorrow third season finale if recent set pics are anything to go by.
- Jeanine Mason will star in the CW reboot pilot for Roswell.
- Keeping with reboots, the CW's reboot for Charmed will have the Pruitt sisters called Madison, Mel and Macy. Ser'Darius will play Galvin, the ideal boyfriend to one of the sisters in the pilot.
- Michelle Gomez, Lucy Davis and Chance Perdomo will play Mary Wardell/Madam Satan, Aunt Hilda and Ambrose Spellman in The Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina. Kiernan Shipka will play the title role.
- Alfre Woodard has been cast as Cookie for Empire's fourth season.

DC TV Shows - Some Updates

My first blog of 2018 and it's a DC TV related one. Anyways, some news about the three newest DC shows that audiences can expect pretty soon.

First of all, Black Lightning is coming very soon. In fact, less than a fortnight away as it's first season will be paired with The Flash for Tuesday nights with Cress Williams playing the title role on the show. For now, there will be no connection to the Arrow universe but I wouldn't be too shocked if that changes sooner than later. The CW have now also released a photo of Nafessa Williams as Thunder/Anissa Pierce, the daughter of the show's title character, Jeff Pierce, showing that heroism will be a family trait on the show. The show's first season will run for 13 episodes and also stars  China Anne McClain, Christine Adams, James Remar, Damon Gupton, and Marvin "Krondon" Jones III. Also LGBT fans will be delighted to know that Anissa will have a love interest in fellow hero, Grace Choi, played by Chantal Thu while Jill Scott will guest star as Lady Eve in the series.

Elsewhere Krypton will ensure that along with Supergirl, that the Superman universe will have a television medium in the run up to the character's 80th anniversary. The series, due to air on SyFy in the Spring sees Cameron Cuffe as Seg El, the grandfather of Superman with Georgina Campbell as Lyta Zod. The series will have versions of Adam Strange and Brainiac/Vril as portrayed by Shaun Sipos and Blake Ritson respectively along with Seg's father Ter-El, Doomsday and Hawkgirl also appearing in the series. The pilot episode is written by David S. Goyer and Ian Goldberg and directed by Colm McCarthy.

Meanwhile Titans have also released their first official image of Alan Ritchson and Minka Kelly's Hawk and Dove last month. The costumes seem faithful enough to the comics and with the previous release of Brenton Thwaites as Robin, it's nice that we're getting more on the upcoming series from DC's streaming service. A release date has yet to be confirmed as the series is still currently filming but hopefully it won't be long before cast shots for Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy and Amy Rohrbach are released.

Black Lightning Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z65EdJntX1U
Krypton Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE5prsMJAWc

Black Lightning will premiere on the CW from January 16th, with UK/Irish viewers getting to see the show on Netflix. Krypton will air on SyFy from March 21st and Titans release has yet to be confirmed.

SDCC 2017 - Highlights Part 2 (DC Special)

I did this last year - covering most of the DC related stuff at San Diego Comic Con and this year again, I'm also doing it because there was a lot of exciting stuff unveiled over the weekend.

- First of all, a brand spanking new trailer for Justice League was unveiled, giving us more details into the upcoming movie (November 17th, people) as well as hints that Superman fans will be pleased with the movie itself.
- There was also some footage from Aquaman but it's yet to be officially released.
- Ben Affleck also confirmed that despite, adamant media reports, he's not leaving the role of Batman just yet.
- Future movies announced as well include Shazam, The Batman, Batgirl, Justice League Dark, Green Lantern Corps, Flashpoint and sequels for both Wonder Woman and Suicide Squad.
- It's now been confirmed that the Wonder Woman sequel will be released December 13 2019.
- While I had wished that there was some new casting announced for some of these upcoming movies, it's nice that we have a definite slate coming up. We just need some filming and release dates though along with further cast announcements.

Justice League Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DblEwHkde8U
Comic Con Panel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ltriuluIhM

Meanwhile in the television universes ....

We got some obligatory trailers for the CW verse shows and a lot of spoilers to boot. Let's discuss, shall we?

- Michael Emerson will be joining Arrow's sixth season (October 12th) in a mysterious role. The trailer revealed a few survivors but not all of them as of yet.
- Danny Trejo will play Gypsy's father while Neil Sandilands will play the Thinker on The Flash's fourth season (October 10th). The Mechanic (Kim Engelbrecht) and Elongated Man will appear this season as well.
- Supergirl's third season (October 9th) will see Calista Flockhart reprise her role as Cat Grant in a recurring capacity while Adrian Pasder, Yael Grobglas, Emma Tremblay and Carl Lumbly have joined the cast as Morgan Edge, Psi, Ruby and M'yrnn J'onzz respectively.
- Legends Of Tomorrow's third season  (October 10th) will see returns from Leonard Snart, Damien Darkh and Rip Hunter in regular and recurring roles while Sara's bisexuality will be further explored. Matt Ryan may also be appearing as John Constantine in a later episode of the season. Kuasa (Anika Noni Rose) will be the main antagonist this season. Also expect a new hero not from any of the other shows to appear.
- Black Lightning (Spring 2018) has added both James Remar and Damon Gupton to it's lineup.
- Robert Knepper will be a regular for iZombie's fourth season.
- Tom Welling has joined the cast of Lucifer for it's third season.
- Krypton will feature versions of Brainiac and Hawkwoman in it's first season.

Meanwhile no new details have been given yet for the upcoming four way crossover, other than a reveal that it will happen properly in the Supergirl part of the show.

Arrow - Season 6 Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpCOMDpmJ28
The Flash - Season 4 Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CvhSFv1VaI
Supergirl - Season 3 Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy5JnzKZBr8
Legends Of Tomorrow - Season 3Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwGNep39atY
Black Lightning - Season 1 Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dM8dI_-P9o

Meanwhile Gotham's fourth season (September 21st) is certainly heading into darker territory as well. With the subtitle, Dawn Of Night, the trailer released over the weekend gave us plenty to mull over. First of all, there was seeing Bruce (David Mazouz) and Selina (Camren Bicondova) embracing their respective destinies while Oswald (Robin Lord Taylor) and Ivy (Maggie Geha) unveiled a frozen Nygma (Cory Michael Smith) as part The Iceberg Lounge's main feature. Other highlights in the trailer include a confrontation between Alfred (Sean Pertwee) and Zsasz (Anthony Carrigan) along with Tabitha (Jessica Lucas) facing off a not so dead Barbara (Erin Richards), Gordon (Benjamin McKenzie) facing off a clown thug and the arrival of Jonathan Crane's The Scarecrow (Charlie Tahan). Not shown in the trailer but confirmed on the panel would be that Barbara would be working with Ras Al Ghul (Alexander Siddig) this season as will Lee (Morena Baccarin) with Nygma and Solomon Grundy (Drew Powell) while Bruce will be getting armor and weapons for his vigilante lifestyle. Viewers can also expect to meet Sofia Falcone (Crystal Reed) and Professor Pyg (casting tbc) this season as well. The fourth season will also draw influences from both The Long Halloween and Year One. Benjamin McKenzie will also be writing the season's fourth episode too.

Gotham - Season 4 Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd3Dp4zVJmY

Last but not least, a preview of the CWSeed's upcoming animated series, Freedom Fighters: The Ray. Announced last year, the show will finally be making it's debut in the autumn and will see the titular hero (actor tbc) fighting evil versions of the Green Arrow, the Flash and Supergirl in an alternative universe. Touted as the first superhero show where the main hero is gay, the trailer does look promising and I'm hopeful at some point that like with Vixen, the character will eventually appear in a live action Arrow universe show. As in within this current TV season.

Freedom Fighters: The Ray Promo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-YfN_moK0k

That's a warp for all the DC related stuff, until another while folks.

2017-2018 TV Season: Shows To Watch

It's that time of year again. Amid the news of shows being cancelled and renewed, we also have a current selection of TV series waiting in the wings for the upcoming 2017-2018 television season.

1: 9-1-1 (FOX, mid-season)

Following the expected cancellation of Scream Queens, Ryan Murphy hasn't let go his association with FOX as both himself and Angela Bassett have teamed up for a mid-season show on the channel. The series will be a fast-paced exploration into the lives and careers of first responders – cops, paramedics, firefighters – the people who put their lives on the line to save others with Bassett herself taking on a leading role in the series. Whether or not this series will rule her out for the upcoming seventh season of American Horror Story, I'm not sure but here's hoping we'll see Angela in both shows.

Press Release: http://www.spoilertv.com/2017/05/fox-announces-2017-18-primetime-schedule.html

2: Black Lightning (CW, mid-season)

Adding to the CW's already packed DC TV roster, Black Lightning will also be making it's debut in early 2018. Starring Cress Williams in the title role, the series will focus on Jefferson Pierce, who retired from his superhero persona Black Lightning nine years ago, is forced to return when his daughter Jennifer (China Anne McClain), who is hellbent on justice and a star student, gets recruited by a local gang. Despite having the same producers and showrunners, the series will not be connected to the current Arrow universe, which is a pity as the trailer certainly impressed.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZpJeuXo2CY

3: Dynasty (CW, Wednesdays 9pm)

Another year, another reboot and following the likes of 90210 and Melrose Place, the CW are probably hoping their version of popular 80's soap Dynasty will be as successful as the former rather than the one and done of the latter (which I suspect is a fate that will befall this show). The trailer was a little better than expected, mainly due to wayward brother Steven Carrington (James Mackay) copping up with Sam Flores (Rafael De La Fuente) - a gay male version of the character Sammy Jo from the original series. The rest of the trailer sees a marriage between patriarch Blake Carrington (Grant Snow) and the scheming Cristal Flores (Nathalie Kelley) as well as a rivalry between the latter and daughter,  Fallon Carrington (Elizabeth Gillies). It looks okay but it feels like it should be on something like ABC rather than the CW if I'm being honest.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxacuu_vg8Y

4: Inhumans (ABC, Fridays 9pm)

Oh dear. This one really could be a non starter, couldn't it? First of all, like Once Upon A Time and Quantico, it's being dumped in the Friday night death slot as a precursor to Agent Of Shield's fifth season and there are only eight episodes. The trailer so far has only been a cryptic voice over of doom but at least the cast look with Anson Mount as Bolt, Iwan Rheon as Maximus, Serinda Swan as Medusa and Eme Ikwuakor as Gorgon: to name a few. The first two episodes will get an IMAX cinema airing before their television debut in September.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEVDBBaH6wM

5: Krypton (Syfy, mid-season)

Um, is this really a prequel anyone wanted? I know both Gotham and Smallville have shown that prequels can work for a good amount seasons and be pretty compelling in their own right but seeing as both shows had characters we generally knew and cared about, it made watching them a little easier at times. Krypton on the other will mainly focus on Superman's grandfather, Seg El (Cameron Cuffe) and Lyta Zod (Georgina Campbell) in the early days of the planet's life. Produced by David S. Goyer, there was rumours that the series was meant to have a link to the current DCEU but it seems that this will be a standalone series. It looks decent from the trailer but I kind of feel that Supergirl has us covered at the moment.

Trailer Description: http://tvline.com/2017/04/18/krypton-trailer-superman-prequel-series-syfy/

6: Roseanne (ABC, mid-season)

You didn't think Will & Grace was going to be the only sitcom to get revived this season, right? Well, there's also Arrested Development getting a fifth season on Netflix but it seems that ABC will also be bringing back 90's sitcom Roseanne in 2018 with nearly all of the original cast returning to the series. Sarah Chalke will play a different character and Johnny Galecki hasn't been confirmed yet.

Press Release: http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/roseanne-barr-reviving-roseanne-for-new-season-in-2018-w482626

7: Star Trek: Discovery (CBS/CBS All Access, tbc)

I know I highlighted this one last year when there were no cast members announced but with all the main players announced, Bryan Fuller stepping down and an increase from thirteen to fifteen episodes, it finally seems like we're on track here. Former The Walking Dead actress Sonequa Martin-Green takes on the role of USS Discovery officer Michael Burnham, the protagonist of the series along with Michelle Yeoh, Jason Isaacs and Rainn Wilson to name a few. It seems now that the series will be set ten years prior to Star Trek: The Original Series. The trailer certainly impressed and here's hoping it fares a lot better than Enterprise did at times. UK viewers will be able to see the show courtesy of Netflix.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rj4inzcAKk

8: The Gifted (FOX, Mondays 9pm)

And now we've got another X-Men linked series here. Following Legion on FX, Fox will be airing The Gifted, starring Stephen Moyer and Amy Acker as a couple - Reed and Caitlin Strucker with two mutant children, Lauren (Natalie Alyn Lynd) and Andy (Percy Hynes White) whom they will do anything to protect from the government. The pilot episode is also directed by Bryan Singer, who serves as an executive producer to the series.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTzW9rMcbzk

9: The Orville (FOX, Thursdays 9pm)

When he's not lagging with both Family Guy and American Dad, Seth Mcfarlane is back on the live action front with this Star Trek (more like Galaxy Quest) inspired space series, this is a one-hour science fiction series set 400 years in the future that follows the adventures of the U.S.S. Orville, a mid-level exploratory vessel. Its crew, both human and alien, faces the wonders and dangers of outer space, while also dealing with the familiar, often humorous problems of regular people in a workplace…even though some of those people are from other planets, and the workplace is a faster-than-light spaceship. I have to admit it looks funny enough.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy9sKeCE8V0

10: The X Files (FOX, mid-season)

Let's be honest - this one wasn't a shocker. While the tenth season wasn't the best (albeit an improvement on previous seasons) and a little too short for it's own good, it was however a success and proof that audiences still hungered for the truth and in particular, Mulder and Scully. With the 25th anniversary of the show looming in 2018, the show will return for an eleventh season of ten episodes and hopefully a strong resolution for that dicey cliffhanger we were left with last season.

Press Release: http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/the-x-files/257640/x-files-season-11-set-for-midseason

11: Will & Grace (NBC, Thursdays 8pm)

Following it's successful Election special scene from last year, the show is back once again for twelve new episodes and even in it's own original-ish timeslot as well. To really get things into motion, NBC have released a musical themed trailer as Will, Jack and Karen all do their best to persuade Grace to embrace the return. While I felt the show had ended well enough back in 2006, I am actually looking forward to seeing the gang once again.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaZS9_69KF0

12: Young Sheldon (CBS, Mondays 8.30pm)

Did we really need a spin-off on a younger Sheldon Cooper of all characters? I mean, I like the character enough on The Big Bang Theory but I wasn't clamouring for a spin-off with him and I imagine others weren't either. The trailer for this prequel series sees the young genius, played by Iain Armitage as a nine year old in Texas dealing with his religious family and the pressures of school as well. The trailer was a little better than expected but again, it feels a little unnecessary as a series though. The show along with it's parent show will move to Thursdays during November though. Jim Parsons will also be involved with the series.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11zpOOYAXD4

There's a list of the potential big hitters for the next television season. Now we just have to wait for some UK transmissions and see how they fare.