Welcome to The Rundown with Nerd Union (as gathered by Taryn Belle) for the weekend of October 8th, 2021.
MOVIES
Florence Pugh’s Yelena gets a Halloween costume snub. Posted on her Instagram account as she was passing a shop window, Pugh couldn’t help but notice that her MCU character Yelena was missing from the storefront window that included fellow co-stars and characters Red Guardian and Black Widow. Pugh makes a compelling case on why she should be included, quote “Halloween equals A LOT OF FREE SWEETIES. May I remind you that the vest has “A LOT OF HANDY POCKETS”..Costume plus vest plus POCKETS equals someone who came prepared” Here’s hoping trick or treaters make the right choice this Halloween and aren’t just a bunch of posers.
Per Deadline, Sam Raimi’s latest film, 65, has moved to a new date. The sci-fi thriller starring Adam Driver and Ariana Greenblatt, which tells the story of an astronaut who “crashes on a mysterious planet only to discover he’s not alone” has shifted its release date to Apr 22nd. This will help it avoid the logjam after Doctor Strange 2’s release, which is also directed by Sam Raimi, and give it a much better chance at the box office.
SHOWS & SERIES
Disney’s National Treasure series on Disney+ has found its lead in Lisette Alexis. Variety confirms that the recent film star of IFC’s We Need To Do Something, will be taking on the role of Jess, a young adventurer who goes on an adventure to save a Pan-American treasure and learn about her past along the way. The series is set to start production in 2022, bringing back many crew members and staff from the movie series, like Cormac and Marianne Wibberly, who wrote and produced the pilot, original producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and set to be directed by Mira Nair, with a 10 episode slate for the first season.
Netflix is on a roll with its marketing for the upcoming Cowboy Bebop live-action adaptation. After dropping teases in the form of the show’s updated intro, a “lost session” video featuring the titular characters chasing each other through comic panels, or the official trailer that dropped this week, the anticipation is steadily building for this show’s release. This Thursday, the official Bebop Twitter account dropped cast posters of main cast members Spike, Jett, and Faye, but also gave us better looks at Vicious, played by Alex Hassell, and Julia, played by Elena Satine, along with everyone’s favorite corgi Ein, with just the note BARK. Couldn’t have said it better myself, Ein.
Aida Rodriguez, known for her sharp comedic social commentary, has a trailer out, detailing her new special, Fighting Words. Deadline reports that Emmy-nominated cinematographer Nadia Hallgren (Becoming) and multiple SXSW Film Festival Jury Award winner Kristian Mercado (Pa’Lante) teamed up to direct the feature, which highlights Aida’s weariness from doing political comedy, coming to grips with her Puerto Rican / Dominican background, and reuniting with her estranged father. Rodriguez’s special will debut on HBO Max on Nov 4th.
****Hey Star Wars fans! A potential SPOILER for The Mandalorian Season 3 is below!!****
The Battle for Mandalore may actually be happening if reports can be believed. According to a scoop on Making Star Wars, a large casting call has gone out to fill 75 Mandalorian roles which could indicate that next season will address the elephant in the room caused by Din Djarin winning the dark saber in battle during last year’s finale, much to Bo Katan’s dismay. While details are being kept under tight seal over at Disney, this at least indicates that something large will happen between the Mandalorian factions, either against each other, uniting to retake their home planet, or some combination of the two.
****SPOILER Complete****
Good Omens season two filming has started off strong by honoring the late writer Terry Pratchett in a touching set photo. The new series, based on the book written by duo Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, and starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen, kicked off production this past week as Gaiman took to Instagram to celebrate his late friend stating quote “Terry is here in spirit and hat and scarf. When we shoot in the bookshop we will hang them in there but for now, they are here on his chair”. No release date for season two has officially been announced, but eager fans can expect a debut no later than 2022.
ACTORS
Reporting from Variety, Hamilton star Christopher Jackson has inked a first-look deal with CBS studios with his production company Honorific that will give CBS the right of first refusal over any projects Jackson chooses to produce, continuing their working relationship, as Jackson has starred in a variety of CBS backed projects over the years.
GAMING
BlizzConline 2022 is officially canceled. Engadget reports that Blizzard announced that the move was so the company could more adequately focus on quote “supporting our teams and progressing the development of our games and experiences”. However as we’ve extensively covered on our Monday night show State of the Nerd Union, this more likely has to do with pending state and federal litigation against the company after years of developing a culture of sexual harassment and assault and failing to make adequate changes after these issues were brought to light.
A new Smash Bros-style fighting game from Warner Bros may mash up all of their properties into a massive multiverse game. IGN reports that a leaked image circulating on Twitter shows a roster of characters from various WB properties including Rick Sanchez from Rick and Morty, Finn and Jake from Adventure Time, Batman, Harley Quinn, and many more. The further details about the leak were originally posted on Reddit, including a recent trademark for the game, titled Multi-versus, though most Twitter users have come to call it Warner Bros Multiverse. We’ll break down the leak in more detail this coming Monday on State of the Nerd Union.
TECH
This week, Facebook announced their new company name, Meta, to reflect the changing times and mission of their company. Debuted by Mark Zuckerberg during the company’s virtual Connect event, while the social media site will retain the Facebook name and branding, Meta will represent the whole landscape of products and services that Facebook provides, and aims to better position the company for a future that’s not solely based on social media usage. While the name change wasn’t directly linked to Facebook’s recent bad press, it certainly can’t hurt as the social media giant deals with increased pressure to regulate hate speech on the site and clean up its act on privacy issues, among other reported problems.
Meta logo
I don’t know about you, but as an active IG user, I’ve been frustrated many-a-times over not being able to include links in the Stories I share, unlike the ability Verified users have had access to. Well, Instagram has heard this frustration from the average user and is officially rolling out a feature under the Sticker icon within Stories so that clickable links can be included for any viewer to interact with, instead of just swiping along with their day. IG’s press release update also notes, “As part of our ongoing efforts to limit harmful content on Instagram, new accounts and accounts that repeatedly share things like hate speech and misinformation, or other content that violates our Community Guidelines will not have access to the Link sticker.” They also note that if you feel like you’ve been mistakenly excluded from this feature, there are a series of steps for appeal.
Apple is being sued by San Francisco resident, Theodore Kim for an oddly specific amount: One Thousand Three Hundred and Eighty-Three dollars and Thirteen cents…or the exact amount of an iPhone 12. Yahoo reports that the plaintiff, Kim, claims that Apple refuses to repair his device while under warranty due to evident “tampering” but would not disclose specifics of what that meant, while also apparently damaging the device’s SIM tray while under their care. Kim offered to pay to have the device repaired despite these issues and was still rebuffed. After exhausting all his options, Kim, taking inspiration from other successful lawsuits, aims to have his day in small court claims where he won’t need an expensive lawyer to support him.
Google aims to make your work and life balance much easier with the flip of a switch. The Work Profile tool for Android will allow users on enterprise-managed phones or devices issued by your company to toggle off the apps you regularly use for work so that they are out-of-sight and out-of-mind until you choose to turn them back on. As the pandemic increased the amount of remote work, this option will be surely welcomed by employees looking to strike the balance between their work/social lives once again. The Verge also reports on the security that this could provide for employees and companies alike, as the toggle could effectively wall off apps as needed by the company while also keeping employee personal details separate and protected, potentially eliminating the need for two devices. While this feature is currently limited to enterprise devices, and eventually Google Workspace, Google plans to eventually release this option to all android devices.
MERCH
There is a Stranger Things sneak peek hiding in plain sight…provided you go buy a cassette player – or dust off the one stashed away in your garage. A new bundle from Walmart and Netflix features a sticker set including a reference to the first episode of season 4 (The Hellfire Club), a Crosley stereo player, and cassette tape. The tape will tease some details about the show ahead of its release next year, though according to Collider, we’re not sure who or what exactly will be featured on the tape. Fans can pre-order the bundle now over on Walmart’s website with an estimated release date next month in November.
To all my Viper Nuggets out there, Battlestar Galactica ships are getting a well-deserved celebration. The company Hero Collector is releasing a compendium called Battlestar Galactica: Designing Spaceships that is an intensive collection of conceptual artwork that was developed across all of the franchise’s various iterations. In conversation with Space.com, Mark Wright (the author of this endeavor) says, “From McQuarrie’s design of the original Galactica and its Cylon counterparts, to the digitally rendered, more modern equivalents, we’ve uncovered the stories behind their creation, inside and out.” So Say We All.
SIGN OFF
Lastly, we’ll end the show with a touching moment for the Fast and Furious cast family.
Fast and Furious star Vin Diesel was photographed walking his goddaughter Meadow Walker down the aisle as she got married over the weekend. Meadow, who is the daughter of his late co-star and close friend Paul Walker, shared the touching moment on her Instagram account. When Dom said “Family” he meant FAMILY!
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