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

We’ve been given our first look at Jack Bannon as Alfred Pennyworth in the Batman prequel Pennyworth. The series follows Alfred’s pre-butler days after his run as a soldier in the SAS and is expected to premiere later this year.

Meet Alfred Pennyworth like you’ve never seen him before. 🇬🇧 #Pennyworth #TCA19 #JackBannon @EPIXHD pic.twitter.com/xrsL7jZnFF

— PENNYWORTH (@PennyworthEpix) February 10, 2019

The Walking Dead will bid farewell to Michonne during its 10th season with the announcement that fan favourite Danai Gurira will be exiting the show. Set to reprise her role as Okoye in Avengers: Endgame this year, Gurira is reportedly departing to focus on other projects.

Marvel has confirmed that classics M.O.D.O.K., Hit-Monkey, Tigra & Dazzler Show, and Howard The Duck will all receive animated series via US streaming service Hulu, with the likes of Kevin Smith, Patton Oswalt, Chelsea Handler and more serving as writers.

BREAKING! M.O.D.O.K., Hit-Monkey, Tigra, Dazzler, and Howard the Duck get animated on @Hulu as “Marvel’s The Offenders”. Learn more about their individual shows and the team-up event: https://t.co/eI19VVjngk #TheOffenders pic.twitter.com/Ond9g5t7HA

— Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) February 11, 2019

Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat have conjured a cast for their upcoming Dracula series, with John Heffernan stepping into the lead role and inviting Dolly Wells, Emily Mortimer, Joanna Scanlan, and Morfydd Clark as support. Dracula is expected to land on Netflix in late 2019.

The Children of the Night! Some of the cast and crew assemble for #Dracula It begins! pic.twitter.com/7KRjITaZOP

— Mark Gatiss (@Markgatiss) February 11, 2019

First look images into Fear The Walking Dead’s upcoming fifth season reveal a crossover, with Morgan running into Dwight (played by Austin Amelio). No air date is set for the upcoming season, though production is well and truly underway.

Here’s a first look at some old, some new and some dead faces from the NEW season of #FearTWD. pic.twitter.com/ASzMK5oio5

— FearTWD (@FearTWD) February 12, 2019

The recently announced Child’s Play TV series has this week revealed a working title and further details. Simply titled Chucky, the SyFy series is reportedly a new take on a classic mythology.

FILM

Some good local news for Aussie film director and rising star Grant Sputore, whose new sci-fi film I Am Mother has been wowing audiences at the Sundance Film Festival in the US. Streaming giant Netflix has stepped in to acquire North American streaming rights to Sputore’s debut feature length film.

Starring Dylan O’Brien (Maze Runner, Teen Wolf), upcoming post-apocalyptic thriller/romance Monster Problems has been confirmed to shoot in Queensland.

The past week has seen a treasure trove of new trailers hit the net, promising an action packed 2019 on the silver screen. Disney finally gave expectant audiences their first glimpse of a blue Will Smith in a new trailer for Guy Ritchie’s upcoming Aladdin adaptation.

Disney also released the first trailer for Frozen 2, which indicates a deeper exploration of Elsa’s mysterious powers.

Everyone’s favourite killer doll is back, this time in a reboot which changes up Chucky’s origins from a possessed toy to an AI gone wrong. The new Child’s Play reboot arrives in June.

Academy Award-winning director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting) is tackling the music of one of the world’s greatest bands ever, in a film where no one remembers who they are. In Yesterday, Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) is a struggling musician who is involved in a freak accident and wakes up to discover the Beatles never existed and he is the only one on Earth who knows their music.

From the X-Men to Middle Earth, Nicholas Hoult is swapping his role as Hank McCoy, aka Beast, to that of Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien in a biopic charting his early years and the influences on his seminal fantasy works.

Jared Leto is returning to the comic book fold, this time taking on Marvel’s Morbius the Living Vampire in another Spider-Man spin-off film from Sony. Leto has teased the beginning of production by Tweeting a video of himself… shaving?

And so it begins…#MORBIUS ✂️✂️😂😂 pic.twitter.com/79mzOGEdOZ

— JARED LETO (@JaredLeto) November 15, 2018

He-Man and Skeletor are finally making their return to the big screen, with a new live-action Masters of the Universe reportedly set to begin filming later this year with brothers Adam and Aaron Nee (Band of Robbers) taking on directorial duties using a script from Iron Man and Men in Black: International screenwriters Art Marcum and Matt Holloway.

GAMING

The latest World War Z trailer has showcased multiplayer carnage involving two teams and, of course, heaps of zombies. The adaptation is brought to the gaming world by Saber Interactive, the team behind Quake Champions and TimeShift. The game is set for release in 2019 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Super Mario Maker 2 has been announced for release on Nintendo Switch in June. A trailer posted during the week promises a variety of new functions available to players, including new tools and equipment, so fans will have the opportunity to let their imagination go wild and create their own Mario levels in whole new ways.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses will be released on the Nintendo Switch on July 26. The trailer provides an in-depth look at the Three House mechanics of the game, introduces players to the Officer’s Academy they will be teaching at, and the House Leaders they will be commanding, and gives players a look into the combat they can expect from the game.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening will be making a return this year after its initial release in 1993. Though with an updated design for the Switch console, the release trailer proves that the game hasn’t lost its classic charm. Players are taken on a familiar journey; guiding Link as he must find a way off the perilous Island of Koholint.

COMICS

Conan the Barbarian himself, Hollywood legend Arnold Schwarzenegger, took to Twitter to celebrate the Marvel relaunch of Arnie’s popular character from the 1982 film. The humorous video sees Arnie admiring the new issue #1 from Jason Aaron and Mahmud Asrar and ends with the movie star hinting that he’d love to return to his breakout role.

Conan is back. I was so pumped to get this new special edition comic book. They’ll be available at the @ArnoldSports or you can get yours now.: https://t.co/s5DzorEITd pic.twitter.com/UXbC3ZOUj9

— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) February 11, 2019

The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman has doubled down on the decision to controversially kill a lead character in recent issue #186. After the shocking death of a popular character, Kirkman and his editor were flooded with outraged fan letters but he has defended the decision.

IDW has announced they will officially be adapting Netflix hit series Narcos into a comic book series. Due to hit shelves in April, the four-issue run written by Ryan Ferrier and with art by Vic Malhotra, will be an original story set within the continuity of the first season and follow agents Steve Murphy and Javier Peña.

THIS WEEK’S PICKS

The Flash #64 (DC) – The Heroes in Crisis tie-in and Batman/Flash crossover continues with the second issue of the four-part mini-series! Wally West, Jason Todd, Gotham Girl… what do all these players have in common? Bruce and Barry clash heads while resurrecting cold cases from each other’s past! Written by Joshua Williamson with art by Rafael Sandoval and Jordi Tarragona.

Wonder Twins #1(DC) – The Wonder Twins are back in this hotly anticipated DC reboot which sees Zan and Jayna juggling being alien heroes with the stresses of high school! Written by Mark Russell with art by Stephen Byrne.

Army of Darkness/Bubba Ho-tep #1 (Dynamite Entertainment) – It’s an all-star horror-comedy crossover where Bruce Campbell’s two icons face off in comic book form! Written by Scott Duvall with art by Vincenzo Federici.

Old Man Quill #1 (Marvel) – An epic quest for redemption, Ethan Sacks (Old Man Hawkeye) introduces us to a Quill that has put the life of spacefaring adventure behind him to take up his father’s crown as Emperor of Spartax. Haunted by tragedy, Quill is the shell of the ‘80s pop loving rogue space cowboy we’ve come to know and love. But, just as the weight of responsibility and regret are about to get the best of old man Quill the former Guardians of the Galaxy turn up for one last mission – the heist of a lifetime. Written by Ethan Sacks, art by Robert Gill.

Hit-Girl Season Two #1 (Image) – Hit-Girl is back and she’s written by none other than the legendary Kevin Smith with art by Pernille Orum. Your favourite foul-mouthed, pint-sized vigilante assassin has a vendetta against Hollywood in this meta and bloody new story arc!

Savage Sword of Conan #1 (Marvel) – Conan’s return to Marvel continues in this new five-issue mini-series from writer Gerry Duggan and artist Ron Garney.