From film to TV, gaming to animation and more, here’s what you might have missed in pop culture news this week.
STOP THE PRESS! Robert Pattinson’s new batsuit has been officially revealed by Matt Reeves. As Variety notes, the teaser is accompanied by ” an ominous score by composer Michael Giacchino”. Earlier this month, we reported that principal photography with the main cast of The Batman had commenced.
#TheBatman#CameraTesthttps://t.co/M1tAE2aTA1
— Matt Reeves (@mattreevesLA) February 13, 2020
The trailer has dropped for Wes Anderson’s new film, The French Dispatch Of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun, which features an insane ensemble of stars, including Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Timothée Chalamet, Saoirse Ronan, Elizabeth Moss and more. The film is scheduled for release in cinemas on July 24.
In local news, Alex Proyas, the director of The Crow, I, Robot, Gods of Egypt and more, has named his new Sydney film studio Heretic Foundation. Speaking with IF, Proyas noted: “I want to smash the mould and build a new system to enable indie Aussie filmmakers.”
Next month we have a massive line-up of The Walking Dead stars set to appear at Supanova Melbourne and Gold Coast, including Ross Marquand, Cooper Andrews and Cassady McClincy, and now we have a new look at the remaining episodes of season 10. The new teaser even hints at a possible exit for a fan favourite.
Novelist and die-hard Whovian Joe Hill, son of the legendary Stephen King and creator of Locke and Key, recently shared the story of his rejection from Doctor Who producers when he pitched them some story ideas for some new episodes. According to Hill, who even had his episode ideas polished by friend and fellow writer Neil Gaiman, the response he received was, “We have never let an American write Doctor Who, and if we were going to, we wouldn’t start with you.”. Hill took the reply with good humour though and remains a big fan of the show regardless.
In other Doctor Who news, current showrunner Chris Chibnall has recently confirmed that the mysteries surrounding the Lone Cyberman and the Timeless Child will both be explained in the season 12 two-part finale. A new trailer for the remaining season 12 episodes also teases a glimpse of the design for the Lone Cyberman as well.
Actor Jennifer Tilly has recently confirmed her return to the role of Tiffany, a.k.a. the Bride of Chucky, in the upcoming SyFy Child’s Play series. She is set to return alongside the original voice of Chucky, Brad Dourif, who voiced the character in all the previous films except last year’s franchise reboot. Rumours are this new series will start off with Chucky being sold at a yard sale, before a string of brutal murders rocks a sleepy town.
Supernatural’s Jared Padalecki, who is currently preparing to take on the role of Walker, Texas Ranger once made famous by Chuck Norris, now has a new co-star. Star of The 100 and Supanova alumna Lindsey Morgan has reportedly been cast as Walker’s partner Micki, one of the first women in Texas Rangers’ history.
Me & all my emotions celebrating!!!! Sooooo sooo excited for this 🙈😆🙈😆🙈😆🙈!!!! https://t.co/Vlk2Fx93x7 pic.twitter.com/dam1m6iHHM
— lindsey morgan (@linzzmorgan) February 6, 2020
Fans of Netlix’s hit series Stranger Things will be pleased to hear that the show’s upcoming fourth season will be a little longer than we’re used to. New reports are that season four will have nine episodes, one more than the usual 8 episodes, and that the extra episode will serve as an ‘origin story’ for a fan-favourite character. Season two was the only other season to have nine episodes, with the extra episode devoted to “The Lost Sister” story, which saw Eleven meet her fellow Hawkins Lab subject, Kali.
Also from Netflix, the streaming service has dropped a trailer for the second season of their sci-fi series Altered Carbon. In this season the lead role of Takeshi Kovacs played by Joel Kinneman in season one is being taken over by Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s Anthony Mackie.
In other Netflix news, Carmel Laniado, who recently starred alongside Robert Downey Jnr. in Dolittle, has reportedly been tapped to join the cast of The Witcher season two ahead of filming which is planned for later this month.
DC Universe has reportedly cast the role of 11-year-old Dorothy Spinner, daughter of Timothy Dalton’s Niles Caulder, for the second season of Doom Patrol. Newcomer Abigail Shapiro will assume the role, which is likely to be a fairly substantial addition to the cast in season two. In the original comics, Dorothy was given up for adoption when she was a baby and suffered from a malformation which gave her the appearance of an ape.
In other DC castings, new reports are that the upcoming CW Superman and Lois series has found their teenage sons. Long-term child stars Jordan Elasass and Alexander Garfin have been cast as Johnathan and Jordan Kent respectively.
Over to gaming, season two of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare launched earlier this week, bringing with it a heap of new maps, weapons modes and operators. The most notable additions to season two are the iconic multiplayer map, Rust, and operator Ghost, both of which originally appeared in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.
BioWare’s space shooter Anthem is getting practically re-invented in an attempt to breathe new life into the title. While Anthem faced huge criticisms for its many technical issues and crashes upon release last February, its developers have tried to keep the game up and running with regular updates and in-game events. In a blog post from General Manager at BioWare, Casey Hudson promises players they’ll be reworking Anthem’s core gameplay, player progression and rewards system.
An update from @CaseyDHudson https://t.co/Z2DkEMNLnr
— BioWare (@bioware) February 10, 2020
Sony has finally launched its website for the Playstation 5, though it offers no new information on the console. Visitors to the site are encouraged to sign up for a newsletter, while details such as price, release date and launch games are finalised. There have already been a few leaks for the next-gen console, but nothing is yet set in stone besides its 2020 release time frame. Hopefully, Sony will have more news for us soon!
The third season of Dragon Ball Fighter Z isn’t far away now, and Bandai Namco released a sneak peek trailer of the new FighterZ pass earlier this week. Ultra Instinct Goku seems like he was bound to be released sooner or later, but the surprise fighter announced is Kefla, a fusion character made up of the Saiyan’s Kale and Caulifla. Three more fighters are yet to be announced for the season, so we’ll just have to hang tight for those reveals.