Newstime: The Stories You Might Have Missed This Week

From film to TV, gaming to comics and everything in between, here’s what you might have missed in pop culture news this week.

TV

With Chris Chibnall’s Doctor Who series fast approaching, a team of fresh-faced writers and directors have been revealed, including BAFTA-nominated Ed Hime, playwright and screenwriter Vinay Patel and five-time Writers Guild Award nominee Pete McTighe joining the crew.

The animated Star Wars Resistance series has confirmed the appearance of Princess Leia, though it is undetermined how big of a role she will have. Voiced by Rachel Butera, the actor took to social media to thank Lucasfilm and the late Carrie Fisher. Star Wars Resistance is out this October.

I can finally announce that I have the incomprehensible honor of voicing the role of Leia Organa in the new Star Wars Resistance out this October. Thank you ⁦@CESDTalent⁩ ⁦@DisneyLucasfilm⁩ @sternshow + Carrie Fisher. Sneak peak trailer here: https://t.co/4bVZW4Nvf6

— Rachel Butera (@RachelAButera) August 18, 2018

Amazon Studios is reportedly looking at shooting their upcoming Lord Of The Rings series in New Zealand. Established as Middle-earth by Peter Jackson in previous films, there is still potential to use the original sets. Helmed by Star Trek writers JD Payne and Patrick McKay, the series is expected to debut in 2021.

A weird and wonderful Rick And Morty season four teaser has been unleashed via Twitter. While it doesn’t really give anything away, fans are going crazy.

#RickandMorty pic.twitter.com/YDbPxjZVMg

— Rick and Morty (@RickandMorty) August 21, 2018

DC’s upcoming live-action series of Doom Patrol has added Brendan Fraser to the cast. Well known for his roles in The Mummy and George Of The Jungle, Fraser will be providing the voice of Robotman and will appear in flashback scenes as Cliff Steele. Fraser joins the cast alongside Joivan Wade, Diane Guerrero and April Bowlby, the series is expected to begin production later this year.

FILM

The gates of hell will be opened come next year, with the new reboot of Hellboy given a January 11 premiere date. The title role is being played by David Harbour, aka Stranger Things’ Jim Hopper, battling Milla Jovovich as Nimue the Blood Queen.

Danny Boyle has left the directing chair for Bond 25, due to creative differences. The film’s release date is unmoved at this stage by the change and as of yet, no replacement has been announced.

To a different corner of the galaxy, Kelly Marie Tran has responded to online trolls this week, through the form of the written word in the New York Times. The article, entitled I Won’t Be Marginalised by Online Harassment, details her experience and emotions dealing with the negativity online. The tone isn’t one of a victim however, it is one of a determined survivor.

Hans Zimmer will be bringing his music prowess to Wonder Woman 1984. He previously created the Wonder Woman theme in Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. Whilst, Zimmer didn’t compose for the first Wonder Woman film, his theme was used in the film’s key moments by the composer, Rupert Gregson-Williams.

Netflix has announced that their original film adaption of Death Note will be spawning a sequel. The film had been considered by Netflix CCO Ted Sarandos as a “sizeable” success for the streaming service. The script is currently in development by Greg Russo, who is also working on the Resident Evil reboot.

GAMING

With Gamescom 2018 in full force, a steady stream of news, announcements and trailers has made its way online. Concept art for Cyberpunk 2077, new trailers for Battlefield 5 and Fallout 76 and the remake of Resident Evil 2 were the highlight, though the news extends across all gaming systems.

A Kickstarter campaign in 2015 helped fund Shenmue III, a sequel to the 1999 and 2002 games. This week, news made it official that the game will release on PS4 and PC on August 27, 2019.

Overwatch and Lego appear to be teaming up in a teaser from the Lego Group. The teaser outlines six Lego figures, each stylised after one of Overwatch’s heroes. Neither company has commented further, though the news has received mixed reviews.

HEROES WANTED. ???? Some building required. @PlayOverwatch @Gamescom #LEGOOverwatch #Overwatch #Gamescom pic.twitter.com/hO9rT99WQV

— LEGO (@LEGO_Group) August 21, 2018

Pokémon Go has added six new Pokémon to the game. In a tweet, it was revealed that both shiny Natu, Sunkern and Pineco have been added, all of which evolve into shiny versions of Xatu, Sunflora, and Forretress respectfully.

ANIME

Classic anime, Saint Seiya has a spinoff in the works. Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho will premiere in December this year and is based on spinoff manga of the same name. Along with the announcement of the broadcast date and key visual, voice cast actresses; Suzuki Aina, M.A.O, Minase Inori and Nakajima Megumi were added to the initial cast list.

COMICS

Before Captain Marvel collects her intergalactic pager amidst the ash of Avengers: Infinity War (and pays a universe culling service bill), Carol Danvers will get her very own prelude ahead of her 2019 cinematic debut. Marvel’s Captain Marvel #1 will hit comic racks in November with Will Corona Pilgrim and Andrea Di Vito handling creative duties.

Mark Millar has unveiled the cover for Hit-Girl: Golden Rage Of Hollywood, which itself will hit comic aisles near you in January 2019. Illustrated by Pernille Ørum with a cover by Francesco Francavilla, the four-part mini-series is written by the legendary Kevin Smith who penned the script during recovery from his recent dice with death. The topical story-arc will see Mindy McCready unleash her wrath on Hollywood predators…

Embargo be damned, Batman: White Knight creator has thrown caution to the wind, effectively blowing his own whistle by essentially confirming a sequel to his hit series in a Twitter post of some art which suggests Jack Napier is donning the Dark Knight’s cowl.

Secret project. (I don’t care if this book is the worst kept secret in comics, I’m going to keep showing you guys progress and to hell with the consequences) pic.twitter.com/nEXgxeZ38O

— Sean Gordon Murphy (@Sean_G_Murphy) August 17, 2018

Hot on the trail of announcing a revamp of Marvel Knights at SDCC 2018, the publishing house has revealed the relaunch will be a six-issue miniseries and not a full line-up of titles. Donny Cates is still attached as the creative lead.

Taking full advantage of the popularity surrounding Wolverine’s recent return to comics, Marvel has announced Dead Man Logan, suggesting everybody’s favourite elderly adamantium beast will meet a timely end in the 12-issue arc.

THIS WEEK’S PICKS

Batman: Kings Of Fear #1 – The legendary Kelley Jones returns to the Caped Crusader for this six-issue mini-series which pits the Dark Knight against a rioting Arkham Asylum led by Scarecrow. Written by former Batman editor Scott Peterson!

Die! Die! Die! #2 – Last month, Robert Kirkman dropped this brand new series out of nowhere! So if you missed it, jump on board now in this ultra-violent tale of elite government assassins from Kirkman, Scott M Gimple, Chris Burnham and Nathan Fairbairn.

Hit-Girl #7 – Written by Eisner Award nominee Jeff Lemire with art by Eduardo Risso, Mindy McCready’s latest solo adventure sees the foul-mouthed middle school vigilante shacked up in a woodland cabin while taking on a gang of brutal local hunters.

The Punisher #1 – Fresh out of the War Machine armour, Frank Castle is back to his usual jacket wearing vigilante self in this new ongoing series written by Matt Rosenberg with art by Szymon Kudranski.

West Coast Avengers #1 – They’re back! And they’ve got a fresh line-up in two Hawkeyes (Kate Bishop and Clint Barton), Fuse, America Chavez, Gwenpool and Kid Omega. Written by Kelly Thompson with art by Stefano Caselli.