Welcome to The Rundown report (as gathered by Taryn Belle) with Nerd Union for April 23rd, 2021.
MOVIES
ComicBook.com reports that Godzilla vs. Kong’s success has opened up the MonsterVerse! In China, “Kaiju News Outlet shared the brand new poster for Legendary Pictures’ MonsterVerse, highlighting most of the major names in the universe of Godzilla and Kong that have helped to make a successful new telling of the monsters that have become a staple thanks to Toho Studio. A new entry into the world of the MonsterVerse has yet to be confirmed … leaving many giant monster fans wondering if this crossover might be the last time we see these new interpretations of the lizard king and the ruler of Skull Island. Even if the next entry into Legendary Pictures’ franchise might not be a direct sequel, there are plenty of other giant monsters from Toho’s universe that have yet to make an appearance in the film series created in the West.”
ComingSoon.net reveals that The Flash has finally started production in London: “The production start comes after over six years since the Ezra Miller-led superhero film was first announced in 2014. Throughout its development, the project has suffered multiple setbacks regarding its creative team.”
And Michael Keaton WILL be making an appearance! The Wrap reports that “Michael Keaton’s talent agency, ICM Partners, has confirmed the actor will return as Batman in The Flash … But Keaton set the fandom on fire last month when he hinted in an interview with Deadline that he might not do The Flash because of his concerns about COVID-19.” Seems like the concerns have been addressed to Keaton’s satisfaction.
Yahoo! Entertainment, via San Francisco Trans March’s official Twitter, has confirmed that Pixar is seeking “a transgender performer to provide the voice of a transgender girl in an upcoming animated project … Jess is described as a 14-year-old transgender girl who is ‘compassionate, funny and always has your back.’ The notice goes on to say that Pixar is looking for an actress between 12 and 17 years old who is ‘enthusiastic, outgoing, funny and energetic’ and ‘can authentically portray a 14-year-old transgender girl.’”
CinemaBlend has some exciting news from James Gunn’s Twitter feed on all the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise filming schedules: “It was already announced that The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which will hit Disney+ in 2022, will be filming alongside Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but now James Gunn has confirmed that one other project will also be shooting this year, one assumes right alongside the other projects, the live action sequences of Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, the upcoming Walt Disney World roller coaster, will also be filmed very soon.”
The Illuminerdi has noted that a new logo for Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness has been released.
Over at The Direct, Elizabeth Olsen has teased “the MCU sequel as a “bonkers” movie while also pointing out that the crew is “going for that horror show vibe” during an interview with Glamour.
Christian Bale has been spotted on the set of Thor: Love and Thunder with a shaved head for his role as Gorr per ComingSoon.net. “In the comics, the supervillain grew up on a barren planet. After his family died due to the cruel conditions, Gorr lost his belief in gods and eventually vowed to kill them all after learning of their existence…In a chat with Waititi in 2019, the director wasn’t sure if the film would go with the storyline of Foster battling cancer.”
Russell Crowe may have let the god out of the bag for his role in Thor: Love and Thunder! The Direct reports that “Russell Crowe sat down with Australia’s Joy 94.9 to talk about Thor: Love and Thunder. During the interview, the veteran actor may have accidentally revealed that he will play Zeus in the upcoming MCU flick: ‘I’m gonna get on my bicycle. I’m gonna ride up to Disney Fox Studios, and around about 9:15, I shall be Zeus! It’s for Thor. It’s my last day of Zeus-ing about, and I’m going to enjoy it.’”
SHOWS & SERIES
The Force is strong with Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Direct reports that Noah Outlaw of Kessel Run Transmissions posted set photos to Twitter of the Lars’ Tatoonie homestead being built, while Deadline has announced that PEN15 star Maya Erskine “will have a supporting role in at least three episodes”.
Hulu has ordered a 10-episode run of How I Met Your Father according to Yahoo! Entertainment. This sequel to HIMYM has cast Hilary Duff in the lead role. The show’s premise is: “Set in the near future, [it] will follow Sophie (Duff) telling her son the story of how she met his father back in the year 2021 … created by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger (This Is Us) … original HIMYM creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas will executive produce alongside them. The series will be produced by 20th Television, which also produced the original series under its previous name. Duff is a producer as well.” So basically, it’s going to be Lizzie McGuire all grown up?
LeVar Burton is officially going to host Jeopardy! and I think we’re all just as excited and overjoyed as he is! Yahoo! Entertainment reports that LeVar will be the guest host for the shows airing July 26-30. Being the last scheduled guest host, maybe this can change into a permanent gig for such a beloved host.
GAMING
Dungeons & Dragons is having a good 2021! ComicBook.com has confirmed D&D is planning to release five products before the end of the year, including three unannounced products. In total, the five products include: “the already released Candlekeep Mysteries, the previously announced Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, the traditional summer adventure book (similar to last year’s Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden) and two additional products.”
GameInformer has some exciting news for Star Wars fans: the “beloved adventure Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic … is reportedly getting a remake with port studio Aspyr at the helm. During a recent podcast with … Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier [he] reiterated a previous rumor that has been circulating for a while now: a Knights of the Old Republic remake.”
PLATFORMS
CNBC notes that Netflix has experienced a dramatic slowdown in subscribers. The company now expects only 1 million new subscribers in the current quarter.
Discord has ended talks with Microsoft, according to The Verge. Ultimately, it seems like there is more harmony with Discord remaining its own boss, having “decided to stay independent [to] consider a potential public listing to build on its succes.”
Everybody is trying to join the club … or at least compete with Clubhouse. TechCrunch has noted RedditTalk is in a test period and The Verge reports that Facebook officially announced Live Audio Rooms that will “roll out to groups and public figures as a test, but it will eventually make its way to Messenger.”
Google Meet has an updated UI, according to TechCrunch. The updates include “several user interface tweaks for desktop users, as well as quite a bit of new functionality, including multipinning so that you can highlight multiple feeds instead of just one, as well as new AI-driven video capabilities for light adjustments, autozoom and a new Data Saver feature that limits data usage on slower mobile networks.”
TechCrunch has also posted a study on “Zoom Fatigue” and how it’s a very real thing. The study recommends taking at least a 10 minutes break between video meetings to keep stress rates lower.
D&D Beyond has a new consolidated App “You can now use one app to access all of your characters, read books you own on D&D Beyond, and more.”
THEME PARKS
Disney Look Book has gotten an Inclusive update for Cast Members. During the pandemic, Disney announced it was adding a 5th Key of Inclusion alongside the well know Four Keys of Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency. WDWInfo has a nice summary of the change: “The newest (Key) was added at the request of cast members when asked how the company could ‘better cultivate a culture of belonging.’ As detailed by Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Josh D’Amaro, cast members will now be able to have appropriate visible tattoos, and ‘greater flexibility’ will be shown toward cast members in the areas of gender-inclusive hairstyles, nail styles, costume choices, and jewelry. According to D’Amaro, ‘We’re updating them to not only remain relevant in today’s workplace, but also enable our cast members to better express their cultures and individuality at work.'”
As someone who worked five years at Disneyland Resort Anaheim, while wearing long sleeves to cover my tasteful tattoos, I’m happy that Disney is finally realizing that personal expression does not distract from the show – and in fact some of the Disney Look Book rules were prejudice to natural and cultural presentation.
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