Deadline has confirmed that God Friended Me star Javicia Leslie has been cast as the new Batwoman following Ruby Rose’s shock departure. As was previously reported, the actress will play a newly created character called Ryan Wilder, and is set to make her debut as Gotham City’s Caped Crusader when the show returns to The CW next January.

God Friended Me is a CBS series produced by Greg Berlanti, so he didn’t have to look far for his new star. 

“I am extremely proud to be the first Black actress to play the iconic role of Batwoman on television, and as a bisexual woman, I am honored to join this groundbreaking show which has been such a trailblazer for the LGBTQ+ community,” Leslie said in a statement.

The character of Ryan Wilder is described as likeable, messy, a little goofy and untamed. She’s also nothing like Kate Kane, the woman who wore the Batsuit before her. With no one in her life to keep her on track, Ryan spent years as a drug-runner, dodging the GCPD and masking her pain with bad habits. Today Ryan lives in her van with her plant. A girl who would steal milk for an alley cat and could also kill you with her bare hands, Ryan is the most dangerous type of fighter: highly skilled and wildly undisciplined. An out lesbian. Athletic. Raw. Passionate. Fallible. And very much not your stereotypical All-American hero.

Leslie’s previous credits include The Family Business and Always a Bridesmaid, though this is arguably her biggest role to date. Casting both a Black actress and an openly bisexual woman to play Batwoman definitely points to the series being committed to diversity, and fans will now no doubt be eagerly anticipating seeing her suited up as the Scarlet Knight.

The big question, however, is whether the show can successfully move on from Kate Kane, and if fans will be interested in a version of the series which potentially has fewer Batman connections.

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Kanye West is a strange, divisive figure, and his recent announcement that he plans to run for President of the United States was met with the expected mixture of praise from his fans and ridicule from everyone else. The rapper has been widely criticised for his decision, though, especially as it’s too late to register in key states and the fear is that he will take votes from where they should be going.

During a recent interview with Forbes, West laid out some of his plans for a possible four years as President, and explained that he’s using Wakanda – the fictional home nation of T’Challa in Black Panther – as a basis for how he would run things in the good ‘ol US of A. 

“A lot of Africans do not like the movie [Black Panther] and representation of themselves in…Wakanda. But I’m gonna use the framework of Wakanda right now because it’s the best explanation of what our design group is going to feel like in the White House,” he explained.

“That is a positive idea: you got Kanye West, one of the most powerful humans – I’m not saying the most because you got a lot of alien level superpowers and it’s only collectively that we can set it free. Let’s get back to Wakanda…like in the movie in Wakanda when the king went to visit that lead scientist to have the shoes wrap around her shoes. Just the amount of innovation that can happen, the amount of innovation in medicine – like big pharma – we are going to work, innovate, together.”

So, if by some miracle West does end up in the White House, we can expect…well, it’s hard to say for sure, but he clearly enjoyed Black Panther and is hoping to have his own Shuri helping out. 

It remains to be seen how serious the rapper is, but it does seem like he plans to start campaigning soon.

Will you be backing Kanye West for President?

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Jude Law is in talks to play the villainous Captain Hook in Disney’s live action Peter Pan adaptation.

According to Variety, the Captain Marvel actor hasn’t signed on to star just yet, but it sounds like it’ll soon be a done deal. If and when Law does commit to the project, he will follow in the footsteps of Dustin Hoffman, Jason Isaacs and, most recently, Hugh Jackman in bringing the hook-handed pirate to life on the big screen.

A rumor did the rounds late last year that Joker star Joaquin Phoenix was in contention for the part, but there’s no mention of that in the trade’s report. However, Justin Kroll does hint that none other than Will Smith was at the top of Disney’s wish-list to play Hook in a follow up Tweet.

Peter Pan and Wendy will be directed by David Lowery (Pete’s Dragon), who co-wrote the script with Toby Halbrooks. Alexander Molony (The Reluctant Landlord) and newcomer Ever Anderson will play the title characters, while Margot Robbie (Birds of Prey) is rumored to be the studio’s pick for Tinkerbell.

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Despite being in quarantine with the rest of us, the Russo Brothers have remained busy these past few months. Whether it’s the release of movies like Extraction or Relic, or Pizza Film School, the filmmakers continue using their momentum from Avengers: Endgame to make their mark on Hollywood. 

During a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, Joe Russo (who penned Extraction for director Sam Hargrave) shared an update on the status of the sequel. “I started writing the sequel (prequel?) three weeks ago,” he confirmed. “It’s a great character to write for, with a fantastic performance from Hemsworth. So it makes my job easier.”

“I think the mission is to up the scale on this one, both emotionally and physically.”

Russo was also asked to share an update on Cherry, his and brother Anthony’s next movie. While shooting finished a while ago, COVID-19 appears to have delayed its planned release date, but Joe remains optimistic that we could see it in the not too distant future. “It’s a complex question, given the circumstances,” he admitted. “But we are aiming for late fall.”

“Count me on the list of folks who are ready to start the awards campaign today,” Russo added regarding Tom Holland’s performance. “I think everyone will be blown away when they get a chance to see the depth and versatility he brings to Cherry. He is a generationally talented actor.”

You can check out our interview with the Russo Brothers by clicking here, but be sure to let us know your thoughts on both these Extraction 2 and Cherry updates down in the comments section.

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There have been rumors of a follow-up to the underwhelming, yet still fairly popular Tron: Legacy doing the rounds online for years now, but it sounds like Disney may finally be preparing to move forward with a third movie set in the mainframe “Grid” world established in the ’80s original.

The Disinsider reports that Tron 3 is still very much in development, and a director is currently being sought. Jared Jeto (Suicide Squad, Morbius) is said to be attached to star, but there’s also a chance that some or all of the cast of Legacy (Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde) will reprise their roles.

Some sites believe this is simply old news that’s been repackaged as an update, but The Playlist reckons it’s been able to independently confirm that a new Tron project was being shopped to potential directors this spring with Leto in line to play the lead.

In addition, President of Music & Soundtracks at Disney Mitchell Leib recently told the Light the Fuse podcast that he’s had discussions with Daft Punk (their music was easily the highlight of Legacy) about possibly returning to provide the soundtrack for the still untitled third movie. Leib also says that Disney is “hopeful that Joe Kosinski will come back and do another one… a lot of things gotta fall into the right places.”

So, it sounds like something is definitely brewing, but for now we’ll have to take this as another rumor. Would you be interested in another Tron movie? Sound off in the usual place.

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Press Release

July 7, 2020 — DreamWorks Animation has revealed that Wizards, the third chapter in visionary filmmaker Guillermo del Toro’s eight time Emmy-winning Tales of Arcadia trilogy, will debut on Netflix August 7. 

Following Trollhunters and the second series 3Below, Wizards marks the final chapter in the trilogy that brings together the three disparate worlds of trolls, aliens and wizards. In the newest installment, wizard-in-training Douxie (Colin O’Donoghue) and the heroes of Arcadia embark on a time-bending adventure to medieval Camelot that leads to an apocalyptic battle for the control of magic that will determine the fate of these supernatural worlds that have now converged.

Wizards features an all-star cast, including returning fan favorites as well as new additions. Returning are Colin O’Donoghue (​Once Upon A Time) as Merlin’s apprentice Douxie; Emile Hirsch (​Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood​) as Jim; Lexi Medrano (​Trollhunters​) as Claire; Charlie Saxton (​Hung, Bandslam​) as Toby; Steven Yeun (​The Walking Dead, Okja) as Steve; David Bradley (​Harry Potter, Game of Thrones​) as Merlin; Lena Headey (​Game of Thrones​) as Morgana; Fred Tatasciore (​Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles​) as Aaarrrgghh!!!; Clancy Brown (Billions) as Gunmar, Diego Luna (​Narcos: Mexico​) as Krel; Mark Hamill (​Star Wars​) as Dictatious; and Kelsey Grammer in his Emmy Award-winning role as Blinky.

Joining the series are Alfred Molina (​Frozen II​) as Douxie’s shape-shifting familiar Archie, Stephanie Beatriz (​Brooklyn Nine-Nine)​ as troublemaker troll Callista, James Faulkner (​Game of Thrones​) as legendary ruler of Camelot King Arthur, and John Rhys Davies (Lord of the Rings) as Galahad. 

Created and executive produced by del Toro, Wizards is also executive produced by Marc Guggenheim and Chad Hammes. ​Chad Quandt and Aaron Waltke serve as co-executive producers. 

Tales of Arcadia first launched in 2016 with the Emmy-winning series Trollhunters, including a first-ever Emmy win for del Toro and Rodrigo Blaas for Outstanding Directing, followed by the second installment 3Below in 2018. On the surface, Arcadia appears to be a slice of timeless Americana, but it is no ordinary town. It lies at the center of magical and mystical lines that make it a nexus for many battles among otherworldly creatures including trolls, aliens and wizards. 
 

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Raf Grassetti is best known for his work on the God of War video game series, but he’s now shared his own unique take on the X-Men. He picked out Cyclops, Colossus, and Nightcrawler to overhaul – three characters who we’ve seen both in Fox’s X-Men and Deadpool franchises. 

However, none of those appearances have been overly comic book accurate, though Deadpool did a pretty great job with Piotr Rasputin. Grassetti’s modern take on their costumes definitely wouldn’t look out of place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe when the characters are eventually rebooted by Marvel Studios, and we can only hope they end up looking this good. 

Grassetti was a longtime art director for the God of War franchise, and he’s made headlines a lot over the past few years for his take on a vast array of comic book characters. 

Kevin Feige, if you’re reading this, it might be time to consider giving him a job…
 

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