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March 29-30, 2025
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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
“It’s about time!” Whovians were treated to a brand new trailer for Doctor Who Series 11, ahead of next month’s premiere. Episode 1 is scheduled to air on Australian TV on 8 October.
The 2018 Emmys celebration hosted some surprises alongside some predicted outcomes. Game of Thrones expectedly won big, taking out the awards for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and recognized for the Special Visual Effects.
With Disney curating their own streaming service in the future, Variety has released reports of Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen reprising their roles as Loki and Scarlett Witch for their own series. No confirmation has yet been announced, though this may be the start for the next generation of the genre.
More casting news for the Arrowverse has been teased with the release of a casting notice for the 2018 crossover. Cassandra Jean Amell has been cast as Nora Fries, recognized as the wife of Gotham City villain, Mr. Freeze. We may have our first clue for this year’s threat, though we will have to wait for more information to emerge.
A reimagined live-action Avatar: The Last Air bender series has been announced. Coming to Netflix, the series was conceived by the original creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.
Finally, fans prepare to travel through another another dimension (a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind), as the first teaser for Jordan Peele’s reboot of The Twilight Zone is released.
— Jordan Peele (@JordanPeele) September 20, 2018
FILM
Crazy Rich Asians actor Ken Jeong is headed down under, this October, to star in the Occupation sequel entitled Occupation: Rainfall. The Australian sci-fi production will be filmed at multiple locations including the Gold Coast and the Hunter Valley. He joins already announced cast members Temuera Morrison (Aquaman), Dan Ewing, Stephany Jacobsen (Battlestar Galactica), Aaron Jeffery (X-men Origin: Wolverine), Zac Garred, Izzy Stephens and Trystan Go with Luke Sparke returning to the director’s chair.
Another local production making waves, thriller Reaching Distance has dropped their final BTS video amid positive reviews from the world premiere at CinefestOZ. The video details the production’s final days on set focussing particularly on visually experimental scenes. The film stars Wade Briggs, Morgan Griffin (San Andreas), Matt Day (Muriel’s Wedding), Tara Morice (Strictly Ballroom) and Sophia Forrest (Aquaman) and is directed by David Fairhurst set for an October release.
Meanwhile back in Hollywood, trailers abound from Disney and Marvel. First cab off the ranks, Mary Poppins Returns with a teaser trailer and new poster bringing back the musical and magical nostalgia the way only Disney can.
Following up on that, Captain Marvel’s teaser trailer landed on the internet with booming praise and great anticipation for the 2019 release, featuring a young Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and even a young Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg).
Speaking of landing, Star Wars Identities: The Exhibition has been announced to arrive at The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney starting this November, and will there through to June 2019. The exhibition will feature over 200 original items from the Star Wars franchise.
Universal Pictures Australia announced that the Halloween star Jamie Lee Curtis will be the guest of honour at the Australian premiere of the latest Halloween film on 23 October. The film will then open across Australia on October 25th.
The new Joker film is currently in production and has revealed some production stills of actor Joaquin Phoenix in the title role. At this stage, there is no white makeup in sight, never-the-less Phoenix crafts a perfect Joker smile and has got the creepy factor down pat.
It looks like Joaquin Phoenix has started filming as the Joker for the standalone #Joker movie! https://t.co/0uwG4l34o0
— JustJared.com (@JustJared) September 16, 2018
On a related note, Suicide Squad 2’s script has a completed draft. Todd Stashwick, David Bar Katz and director Gavin O’Connor have been hard at work penning the script. Stashwick revealed that he was quite “proud of it” in an interview with Discussing Film.
GAMING
IGN Australia has this week announced the Assassin’s Creed challenge in Sydney, celebrating the upcoming release of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Fans are expected to take part in six different challenges, all of which include running, climbing, swinging and balancing. The Assassins Creed Challenge will take place on 5-6 October at Metcalfe Park in Sydney.
The biggest Rainbow Six esports events in Australia and New Zealand has been announced, taking place in Sydney on Saturday 27 October in the PAX Arena at PAX Australia 2018. The best performing teams will compete for a combined prize of $25,000.
Telltale’s The Walking Dead is expected to return this month, continuing the final chapter in Clementine’s journey. The game premieres on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on 25 September.
ANIME
Pop Team Epic’s getting a TV special! Aside from its broadcast date in April 2019, very little has been revealed for the next adventures the pair will go on. It was announced this week at the end of the Pop Team Epic Special Event- Pop Cast Epic event.
COMICS
MCU villain favourite, Killmonger, is getting his own comic book miniseries. The five-issue series will debut in December and will be written by Bryan Edward Hill with art by Juan Ferreryra. Marvel have announced a new Miles Morales headlining web-crawler series entitled Miles Morales: Spider-Man due to arrive in December. The ongoing title will be helmed by the creative team of writer Saladin Ahmed and artist Javier Garron. Winter Soldier has also been given a new miniseries to be written by Kyle Higgins with art by Rod Reis.
DC have announced a Martian Manhunter 12-issue series from writer Steve Orlando and artist Riley Ross, while Dark Horse Comics are bringing a The Witcher mini-series written by Aleksandra Motyka and illustrated by Marianna Strychowska to comic shelves on December 1.
The next instalment of the Vision series has been cancelled this week. The six-issue series was set to focus on Vision and his daughter Viv, written by Chelsea Cain with art by Marc Mohan and Aus Koch. The sudden cancellation was a huge shock for fans and the creative team, as confirmed by Cain in an official statement. In similar news, Nightwing writer Benjamin Percy has announced that October’s Issue #50 of Dick Grayson’s exploits will be the scribe’s last issue.
To celebrate the release of Sony’s Venom on 5 October, Marvel have released a digital one-shot tie-in to introduce audiences to the cinematic version of the symbiotic anti-hero. Serving as a prequel to the film starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, the digital comic is now available and is written by Sean Ryan with art by Szymon Kudranski, coloring by Ian Herring, lettering by Joe Sabino and with cover art by SKAN.
Beloved celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who was also an accomplished comic book writer, wrote a final graphic novel before his tragic death and will be published by Dark Horse in October. Anthony Bourdian’s Hungry Ghosts will be a collection of Japanese horror stories with artwork from Sebastian Cabrol, Venesa Del Rey, Francesco Francavilla, Irene Koh, Leonardo Manco, Alberto Ponticelli, Paul Pope and Mateus Santolouco with coloring by Jose Villarrubia.
THIS WEEK’S PICKS
Go Go Power Rangers: Back to School #1 – The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are on Sping Break in this oversized on-shot special edition which celebrates 25 years of the Rangers on Air! Written by Marguerite Bennet with art by Jim Towe, Derek Charm, Jordan Gibson, Xiao Tong Kong and Ilaria Catalani.
Batman: Damned #1 – DC’s brand new imprint DC Black Label launches with a dark tale by the all-star creative team of Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo. The Joker is dead…. and Batman doesn’t know if he did or not… in steps John Constantine!
John Wick #3 – It’s not too late to jump on board this prequel series which follows John’s first mission! Written by Greg Pak with art by Giovanni Valletta.
Dick Tracy: Dead or Alive #1 – It’s the return of an American detective legend Dick Tracy in the 21st century thanks to IDW PUblishing and the all-star team of Michael Allred, Lee Allred, Rich Tommaso and Laura Allred.
Return of Wolverine #1 – Weapon X is back! Written by Charles Seoule and art by Steve Mcniven.
SUPA-NEWS
The wait is over, Cosplayers! Registration for Supanova’s all new cosplay competition, the Supanova Cosplay Odyssey, has opened! This is a true Hero’s Journey for cosplayers. Entrants will compete at a national level, and go into the running to win a share in $15,000 worth of cash and prizes, including an all-inclusive trip to Dragon Con!
Adelaide and Brisbane Supa-Fans can register here now!
