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

Fresh off the press this morning, US television series Preacher will film its fourth series in Melbourne, and around regional Victoria. Secured by the Victorian government via Film Victoria, Preacher is set to be the biggest budget television production to come to Victoria since Steven Spielberg’s The Pacific (2007), with pre-production set to commence at the Docklands Studios before the end of the year.

While new details are being released every week for the annual Arrowverse crossover event, a shiny new trailer has dropped online. The episode will see the return of Supa-Star Tyler Hoechlin as Superman, and the introduction of Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois Lane, while also exploring the newest addition to the line-up with Ruby Rose as Kate Kane. Rumours also point to a Mr. Freeze origin story and the villainy behind bars at Arkham Asylum. The Arrowverse crossover, titled Elseworlds, begins on December 9.

New set pictures have arrived for the Doctor Who New Year’s Day special, welcoming back a favourite Whoniverse accessory. The traditional Christmas episode will be no more, instead ushering in an era of change with the episode set to air on January 1 (New Year, New Who).

More Details Revealed – As the New Year begins, a terrifying evil is stirring, from across the centuries of Earth’s history. As the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz return home, will they be able to overcome the threat to planet Earth? #DoctorWho . pic.twitter.com/NVJtr9fidS

— Doctor Who Official (@bbcdoctorwho) November 27, 2018

Adding to an already packed line-up, The CW is currently developing a dramedy based upcoming graphic novel Super Clean, according to Deadline.

Netflix has unveiled plans for a Roald Dahl animated series, featuring the likes of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, Matilda and more. The ambitious project is expected to set sail in 2019.

FILM

The poster and teaser trailer for Artemis Fowl also arrived on the web from Disney this week. The film is based upon the popular children’s novel series by Irish author Eoin Colfer and is set for release next year.

In an interview on The Tonight Show, Keanu Reeves revealed to Jimmy Fallon that he is in the latest instalment of Toy Story. Whilst his character remains under wraps, Reeves has confirmed that the film has a wonderful plot and an emotional ending.

Entertainment Weekly broke the news that Julie Andrews has a role in next month’s Aquaman film. Andrews plays the part of Karathen, a mystical sea creature that is the key to Arthur Curry’s quest.

Reports are emerging that the Sony animated Spidey Universe will be expanding. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio has apparently started moving forward on developing a sequel to the upcoming release as well as a female-centric Spidey-Verse film.

Empire released an exclusive production still of Stranger Things’ David Harbour as Hellboy this week and interviewed director Neil Marshall about the reboot. Marshall commented that the new interpretation is “more violent and more bloody” and spoke of going back to the original comic source material.

Zombieland 2 has announced a new survivor (or zombie?) to their cast this week in actress Zoey Deutch (Set It Up, The Politician). While her character remains a mystery, the film is currently scheduled for an October 2019 release in time for the first film’s 10th anniversary.

The Kingsman franchise will be getting not one, but two new films. As well as the previously reported prequel taking place in World War 1, there are also talks of a sequel following up on Kingsman 2 with Taron Egerton and Colin Firth expected to return.

Gaming

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part was given the trailer treatment last week, but news follows that it will be accompanied by a game adaptation early next year. Available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC and Nintendo Switch, the game will inevitably be released alongside merchandise including Lego building sets.

Canadian video game journalist Geoff Keighley has released some cryptic images that may suggest the announcement of Alien: Blackout at the 2018 Game Awards. With the awards set for December 6, the announcement of the long-awaited project is expected, though not promised.

WORLDS // WILL // CHANGE on December 6 #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/2b8ZPZCTbv

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) November 2, 2018

ANIME

Awesome anime classics are heading to Netflix next year including the original series and original sequel films of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac and 7Seeds. Evangelion particularly has been out of print on DVD in Australia for several years so this is fantastic news for those who haven’t been able to get in the robot yet.

Meanwhile, also headed to Netflix, is the live-action series adaption of Cowboy Bebop. Netflix is producing the 10 episode series with production company Tomorrow Studios, however, no date at this stage has been announced. The original anime’s director, Shinichiro Watanabe, is on board as a creative consultant for the production.

Guess it’s time to announce that Cowboy Bebop, the live-action series, is heading to @Netflix. pic.twitter.com/bKe0d8EKoH

— NX (@NXOnNetflix) November 28, 2018

Kakegurui season two has released a new image introducing 11 new characters to the series and is scheduled to premiere this January. Its live-action film adaption will be released in Japan later on in May.

Fan-favourite shoujo series Fruits Basket will return with an all-new anime adaptation, Funimation have announced. Featuring an entirely new cast, this upcoming series will follow the full plot of the manga, which had not been completed during production of the original 2001 animation. This new Furuba series is currently slated for release in 2019.

COMICS

Recent solicitations for Batman #64 and #65 listing Josh Williamson as the writer sent fans of Tom King into a frenzy, paranoid the current Dark Knight scribe wouldn’t finish his 100-issue run on the title as promised. But King took to Twitter to clarify he will still deliver as promised with two additional epilogue issues after the ending of his Batman arc in #100.

Solicits show me not writing Batman 64, 65. What happened? A while back, I needed 2 weeks off to work on #the secret TV stuff. @Williamson_Josh and I were already planning this Bat-Flash crossover, and he kindly agreed to write the whole thing to give me this time.

— Tom King (@TomKingTK) November 20, 2018

Marvel and DC have unveiled a swag-load of covers for their January solicitations, including the first looks at Wonder Woman #61, Action Comics #1006, Amazing Spider-Man #14 and Fantastic Four #6 among many others.

DC Nation, the publishing house’s behind-the-scenes magazine, will go on hiatus after the recently published issue #6 but will re-launch soon.

Marvel’s advanced solicitation list for February 2019 includes the eagerly anticipated relaunch of Guardians of the Galaxy and promises a new version of Thanos, with the cover by David Marquez and variant cover by Matteo Scalera being unveiled this week.

Netflix’s third comic book series as part of Millarworld by Mark Millar and Simone Bianchi has been announced. The newest release as part of the deal between Image Comics and the streaming service is due in February. Sharkey the Bounty Hunter is an action/sci-fi comedy which follows a bounty hunter and his 10-year old sidekick scouring the galaxy in an ice-cream truck.

Amidst the excitement of Toy Story 4, Dark Horse have announced an anthology graphic novel as a companion piece to the anticipated fourth entry into the beloved children’s film franchise. Written by Haden Blackman with no artists formally announced, the 72-page book will hit stores on May 7, just over one month out from the film’s current release date of June 20.

THIS WEEK’S PICKS

Hellboy and BPRD 1956 #1 (Dark Horse)

Writers: Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson

Artists: Yishan Li, Mike Norton, Michael Avon Oeming

Colourist: Dave Stewart

Cover Artist: Dave Johnson

Hellboy and the BPRD enter the world of espionage in a five-issue arc which combines three storylines including the Soviets and Big Red’s Mexico adventures.

Aquaman Justice League Drowned Earth #1 (DC)

Writers: James T Tynion IV

Artists: Howard Porter

Variant Cover Artist: Frank Cho:

Cover Artist: Howard Porter

Get hyped for the Aquaman major motion picture with this special which sees Earth invaded by ancient sea gods The Ocean Lords who have an axe to grind with Aquaman and Wonder Woman!

Dead Man Logan #1 (Marvel)

Writers: Ed Brisson

Penciller: Mike Henderson

Cover Artist: Declan Shalvey

The last story for the beloved Old Man Logan sees the dying and ageing Wolverine pitted against Mysterio in this hotly anticipated send-off for the character.

Jim Henson Labyrinth Under Spell #1 (Boom! Studios)

Writers: Shane-Michael Vidaurri

Artists: Various

Cover Artist: Rebekah Isaacs

A brand new collection of short stories set inside Jim Henson’s adored Labyrinth universe including Sir Didymus origin story.

Marvel Action Spider-Man #1 (IDW)

Writers: Delilah S Dawson

Artists: Fico Ossio

Cover Artists: Fico Ossio

Ahead of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse comes a new crossover series for young readers which teams up web crawlers Peter Parker, Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy amongst others.

LEAD IMAGE: Disney’s Artemis Fowl