Digital Sky recently launched an audio/video hybrid podcast which utilizes a motion-comic approach to the animation for the series. We recently had thrilling chats with producer James Gavsie and voice talents Cooper Barnes (Henry Danger) and Julie Nathanson (Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay) in support of the new motion-comic series.

The latter is also the voice actress who plays the animated version of Yelena Belova, or the Crimson Widow, in Marvel’s Avengers Assemble. When talking to her about her different voice roles and voice demos, we asked for her thoughts on the upcoming MCU incarnation of the character she’s played for the animated side of Marvel over the past few years.

To listen to our chat with Julie, click the podcast player below. We have also included our conversation with Ride Share producer James Gavsie in the transcript for those who are interested in learning more about her newest series.

12m 39s – Comic Brooks: I noticed you were a part of Avengers Assemble as Yelena Belova. What are your thoughts on being someone who lent your voice to the role, and being one of the first to do so, now she’s going to be in a movie?

12m 53s – Julie Nathanson: I am so excited, and I’m unnaturally excited about it. I love Yelena Belova, and there’s a great graphic novel called the “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” which has both Black Widows together.

Whenever I got to play with Black Widow, who is voiced by Laura Bailey on Avengers Assemble, I loved that chemistry and excitement and loved their antagonism. And not to spoil the series, but there are some moments where they might have to work together.

And that to me was so exciting, and it’s an unusual matchup. I had in my calendar that Laura and I were going to go together to the theatrical release.

13m 46s – Literary Joe: You guys can do a zoom watch party. It’s Crimson Widow, right?

13m 54s – Julie Nathanson: Yes. Crimson Widow. She’s Black Widow, and I’m Crimson Widow.

13m 57s – Literary Joe: So we’re finally going to see her in the MCU, which is huge. And I think that this is going to be like a baton-passing thing, because when we finally get the all-female Avengers movie, Yelena Belova will probably be part of it. She’s going to be the new Black Widow.

What do you hope to see happen with that character after your experience with Yelena? You already mentioned that you liked that specific storyline, so what would you like to see in the Black Widow movie or going forward in the MCU with her?

14m 31s – Julie Nathanson: Well, I certainly have no idea where they will take her or the Black Widow crown next after this movie. But for me, I’m always curious to go back to beginnings, and the red room, and I’m still wondering if there’s something in the history that continues to need uncovering.

In terms of the mission moving forward, I’d have to see what they’re going to do with the movie. But, I think there’s always potential with Black Widow to play with both sides of who she is. And I love that.

15m 11s – Literary Joe: And the thing about her getting a lot more exposure now is that you’re just going to get a lot more chances to play her, which will be awesome.

15m 19s – Julie Nathanson: I hope you’re right. I like that plan. Let’s do that.

1m 38s – Literary Joe: I wanted to say, I like the little compilations you have, like of the retail voice and video games voices. I’m curious if you use those on your resume or send them in when applying for a specific role?

1m 56s – Julie Nathanson: In general, having a demo is an important thing for a voice actor. Sometimes an agent will be asked by casting, who would you like to send in on this? Or who might you want for this? And they’ll send a demo along.

I created a computer voice demo. That’s something that most people don’t have because it’s a bizarre area of specialization from me as a really animated and very human person. For some reason, I do a ton of computer voices. So I thought, let me throw that together. And it’s actually contributed to my getting some specific jobs knowing, “Oh, this is something that she does a lot, and here as a smattering of computer voices.”

Retail stuff, again, if you’re a person who does a lot of retail, which I have in the past, it’s not a bad idea to have. But you know, I like it. It might be a little overkill, but I love to be able to show variety when I’m up for a gig.

17m 3s – Literary Joe: I love your AI voice; it’s so awesome, mostly because we’ve been doing a lot of interviews for Artificial where there’s an AI, so the actresses talk like you.

And that’s what I was thinking about when I was watching your YouTube. You have this one YouTube, “Computer Voice Demo,” that was like two minutes of that. And I thought, “This is cool, this girl’s got it down.”

Do you look to any specific performances when you pull up a computer voice? I know you have a commercial voice. Are there any particular kinds of influence you pull for those things or your performance as Amanda in Ride Share?

18m 7s –  Julie Nathanson: For computer voices, you know, a lot of that gets dictated by how sentient they want the voice to be. So if you have a very static, very robotic, emotionless voice, there are times I will look up the way, what would it be?

I mean, when they say we want something that feels like Siri, I will dictate a text to myself using the copy and listen to how Siri would say it. Then I throw my phone down, and then I add my flair to it. There are times I’ve listened to Scarlett Johannson and her, but usually, that has so much humanness to it for me. Portal is a great example. There’s incredible AI voice work there.

But it varies. And I think because I’ve gotten to do so many different voices like I do on Dallas and Robo, which has been airing on SyFy lately. It’s a cool cartoon with Kat Dennings and John Cena. And I play the ship’s voice, and that’s “three two one launching.” But there are other times it’s “commencing retinal scan, but not scan complete. It appears you do not have clearance for this sector”.

And then, like for Mighty Number 009, it would be “Hello Dr. White.” So for me, it’s almost layering in what would feel like a programmed voice on top of what I feel the character could be, were she human.

*This interview has been edited for clarity. Audio is co-hosted by Comic Brooks.*

“At some point we all have to choose between what the world wants you to be and who you are.”

You can check out Ride Share on Youtube and all other podcast platforms, with new episodes releasing every Tuesday. Black Widow is scheduled for a tentative May 7, 2021 release date.

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Talk of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Conan the Barbarian revival seems to have fizzled out over the past couple of years, but we do have some exciting news about Robert E. Howard’s iconic warrior on the small screen.

Deadline reports that a new Conan series is in the works at Netflix. The show is being headed up by Fredrik Malmberg and Mark Wheeler’s Pathfinder Media, and the deal would give the streaming giant exclusive access to the vast literary history of the character, which stretches all the way back to 1953. It sounds like there may also be tentative plans in place for an animated series.

The search is now underway for a writer/showrunner to pen the script and a director to helm the series.

This is obviously a separate project to the Conan TV series that was being developed for Amazon from from Colony co-creator Ryan Condal and Game of Thrones director Miguel Sapochnik, which we haven’t had any updates on since 2018.

The last time we saw the vicious Cimmerian hero in action was in the 2011 Conan movie starring Aquaman‘s Jason Momoa. That adaptation was not very well received, however.

What do you guys make of this news? Who would you like to see in the lead role? Let us know in the comments.

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Orion Pictures and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment have officially announced that Bill & Ted Face the Music will arrive on Digital HD on October 20 and on Blu-ray and DVD on November 10.

No word yet on a 4K Ultra HD release.

Special features include “The Official Bill & Ted Face The Music Panel at Comic-Con@Home;” “Be Excellent to Each Other;” “A Most Triumphant Duo;” “Death’s Crib;” and “Social Piece (Excellence).”

BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC Exclusive Interview With
Star Alex Winter About The Sequel’s Long Journey To Theaters 

The film saw Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter return as the titular duo with a supporting cast consisting of Kristen Schaal, Samara Weaving, Brigette Lundy-Paine, William Sadler, Anthony Carrigan, Erinn Hayes, Jayma Mays, Hal Landon Jr., Beck Bennett, Kid Cudi, Amy Stoch, Holland Taylor, Jillian Bell, and George Carlin in a posthumous appearance through archival footage.

Get the full details below:

IT’S TIME TO SAVE THE WORLD WHEN

Bill & Ted Face the Music

ARRIVES ONTO BLU-RAY™, DVD

AND DIGITAL FROM

ORION PICTURES AND WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Own it Early on Digital on October 20

Own it on Blu-ray and DVD on November 10

Burbank, CA, September 29 – The future awaits when “Bill & Ted Face the Music” arrives on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital. Directed by Dean Parisot and written by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon, “Bill & Ted Face the Music” is the third film in the Bill & Ted franchise and a sequel to “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” and “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.”

From Metro Goldwyn Mayer’s Orion Pictures, Keanu Reeves (“The Matrix” films, “John Wick” films) and Alex Winter (the “Bill & Ted” films) reprise their roles as the respective title characters and William Sadler (“The Highwaymen,” “The Shawshank Redemption”) reprises his role as the Grim Reaper in “Bill & Ted Face the Music.”

The film was produced by Scott Kroopf, Solomon, David Haring, Alex Lebovici and Steve Ponce. Steven Soderbergh, Ray Bouderau, Courtney Chenn, Patrick W. Dugan, Scott Fischer, Grant Guthrie, Christian Mercuri, John Ryan Jr. and John Santilli served as executive producers.

“Bill & Ted Face the Music” will be available on Blu-ray and DVD on November 10. The Blu-ray disc features the film and special features in hi-definition and the DVD features the film and special features in standard definition.  Both versions feature a Digital version of the film.

SYNOPSIS

The stakes are higher than ever for the time-traveling exploits of William ‘Bill’ S. Preston Esq. (Alex Winter) and Theodore ‘Ted’ Logan (Keanu Reeves). Yet to fulfill their rock and roll destiny, the now middle-aged best friends set out on a new adventure when a visitor from the future warns them that only their song can save life as we know it. Along the way, they will be helped by their daughters, a new batch of historical figures, and a few music legends — to seek the song that will set their world right and bring harmony in the universe.

BLU-RAY AND DVD ELEMENTS

“Bill & Ted Face the Music” Blu-ray contains the following special features:

• The Official Bill & Ted Face The Music Panel at Comic-Con@Home
• Be Excellent to Each Other
• A Most Triumphant Duo
• Death’s Crib
• Social Piece (Excellence)

“Bill & Ted Face the Music” DVD contains the following special features:

• Be Excellent to Each Other

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After what’s described as a “long and hard search” by Deadline, it’s been confirmed today that Marvel Studios has found the lead of Ms. Marvel in newcomer Iman Vellani!

This marks the young actor’s first major Hollywood production, and, as far as we can see, she doesn’t even have an IMDb page! However, she’s been vocal in the industry, and was part of the “Next Wave Committee” at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival where she was among those tasked with adding a special tag to films with diverse casts and filmmakers they believed would resonate with their peers.

The trade notes that, “The plan always was to stay true to the character in finding the right actress to play the role, even if it meant offering a person that was not well known to the public.”

Vellani is likely to have a bright future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Kamala Khan, and this news comes shortly after it was revealed Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, and Meera Menon had all been tasked with directing episodes of the upcoming Disney+ series.

Marvel Studios has been making a lot of casting additions to its TV shows recently, a sign that production is once again ramping up despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Check out our interview with Marvel’s Avengers‘ Ms. Marvel below:
 

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It’s that time of year when some shows come to an end while other series return from hiatus with a fresh season. With Fall television such as The Walking Dead, Supernatural, The Mandalorian, WandaVision, and more, there will be plenty to keep viewers satisfied, but it’s still sad to see a season come to a close.

Twitch’s interactive scripted sci-fi series Artificial: Remote Intelligence is bringing its third season to a close this week, with the finale premiering on Thursday evening. We’re rounding out the rest of our chats with the cast, and tonight we have our exclusive conversation with actress Veronica Mitsuk to share with you.

We spoke with Veronica about her thoughts on how the trial of Dr. Matt Lin went, as well as her hopes for a potential Season 4 and her own beliefs on AI, as well as a number of other fun bits.

To listen to our chat with Veronica, click the podcast player below; otherwise, scroll down for the transcript. We’ve also included a few of our other Artificial interviews as well!

1m 12s – Literary Joe: Can you give me a little rundown on who Whitney Keen is for any audience members who aren’t familiar?

1m 18s – Veronica Mitsuk: Yes, Whitney Keen is the daughter of Nathan Keen. She is a very, I don’t know, I want to say vengeful [person], but it makes her sound so evil. And even though she kind of is, I get her pain, you know, but she’s very passionate about justice and all the different meanings of that word.

1m 40s- Literary Joe: What were your thoughts on the trial? It came close. Your character is really passionate about it, but personally, what were you hoping would happen? I know that Tohoru was going to be out of a job if it went a certain way, but I want to hear your thoughts on that a little bit more.

1m 57s -Veronica Mitsuk: Yeah, it was awesome; you’re right. It was 55 to 45. I’m invested in my character; I believe in Whitney’s argument. So it was like, okay, I’m rooting for her to win, but I knew that she’s the newest character, you know, and she’s coming off as, like a kind of crazy kind of overly whatever, you know?

And it’s like, I didn’t think the audience would side with her. And when I saw that it was so close, I thought that was really cool that, it’s not just me thinking she’s valid like I have, convinced other people that she does have a point, you know? And that’s awesome. I don’t play a lot of borderline villains, evil characters. So this is new ground, and it’s very fun.

And so I was worried that she just wouldn’t be liked because she so on the extreme of everything, you know? And I thought that was so cool that I was able to convince 45% of the audience.

3m 11s – Literary Joe: What are your thoughts on LifeScore and the music? I know that Jennifer Field said that you guys couldn’t hear it while you’re actually acting, but obviously when you watch the playback, what do you think of that technology?

3m 24s – Veronica Mitsuk: I think it’s so cool. I think the entire concept of the show is so different. Coming in, I didn’t know that – I knew that it was interactive to a certain degree. But, I didn’t know how much of it was interactive and audience input.

And I think that’s so cool. The fact that they really can put on this tone, you know, it’s not just the choices, it’s the feel of it to that they can contribute too. This show’s whole concept is so innovative.

And whenever my friends tune in, and they’re like, I didn’t know this existed. I didn’t know this could exist that the fact it could even work. And it’s really cool to watch things just kind of like play out live.

3m 58s – Literary Joe: Before you were on the show, did you ever watch it at all? I know you said you weren’t completely familiar with how interactive it was. Were you familiar with the show at all before you were cast?

4m 43s – Veronica Mitsuk: So originally, I auditioned for Elle before the beginning of Season 3. So I knew that it existed, but I didn’t watch it after that audition. And then when I went to audition for Whitney, it happened very fast and was very exciting.

Once I finally tuned in, I was very happy that I got Whitney, it’s such a fun character, and I was just blown away by it. I wish I tuned in before so that I wasn’t as like – it almost felt like it hit me like a bus, you know, once I had joined the team. And, if I watched it, I would have been a bit more prepared mentally because, to me, it relates to live theater, and it’s the closest thing to live theater that I’ve ever done.

6m 23s – Literary Joe: I’m curious about your personal AI beliefs. So what do you think about AI in your personal life?

6m 30s – Veronica Mitsuk: See, this is the part of the trial episode that I was intrigued about. Cause some of the arguments that Whitney made, I didn’t know if I agreed with a hundred percent, even though I understood what she meant, right? I don’t know yet if I can keep an open mind about the fact that something that was made by someone could still have sentience.

I don’t know if it’s possible yet, but a part of me is like, yeah, why not? Just because I’m the kind of person that’s like, why not? You know, until it’s proven that it’s not, then I’ll be like, Oh yeah, that’s a hard no. But before that, I’m like, yeah, anything can happen. So I’m a bit more lenient with the possibility of things being real, I guess. I don’t know if that makes any sense.

9m 49s – Literary Joe: I’m curious about your history with acting. When did you first start, or when did you first begin aspiring to be an actress?

9m 57s – Veronica Mitsuk: I started focusing on acting over two years ago. But, before that, I was always centered around the entertainment industry. So I went into college hoping to get a theater degree in theater set design like a technician, and then I switched to the film department, and then I switched to the acting department.

So I’ve been jumping around different areas in the entertainment industry and even doing the indie projects in town. I started behind the camera stuff. So PA, AC-ing, some people let me touch their equipment, and I was worried because I knew I’d break something If they’ll let me touch anything expensive. I did script supervising; I was trying to learn as much as I can behind the camera.

And then, we had to take an acting class for our theater tech program at UNLB. And trying that out, I found a bigger attraction toward it. Because before, I chose behind the camera stuff because I was always very shy, quiet, and sheltered in high school. So I figured, I love the entertainment industry, but if I could hide and not be seen, that’s preferable. I found out it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.

And so I really started focusing on it over two years ago. Before, I was very self-conscious about the existence of the camera. But now that I’ve been doing it more and through classes, projects, and learning how to connect with the person in the scene, it turned into not just, “Oh, something is recording me.” It turned into, “Oh, I wanna play out this scene with this person.” So I found a way to refocus my attention, which makes it more fun.

*This interview has been edited for clarity.*

Artificial is a Live and Interactive Science Fiction series where the audience changes the story. Co-creator and Showrunner Bernie Su walks you through what makes this series so unique. It is the first original sci-fi series on Twitch and was the winner of the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award for Innovation in Interactive Media.

You can catch the Season 3 finale of Artificial: Remote Intelligence on Twitch this Thursday at 5 pm PST.

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It’s been a while since we’ve had any updates on this one, but reports are now coming in that Universal and Blumhouse’s upcoming reboot of Stephen King’s Firestarter has cast its first major role.

According to THR, Zac Efron (Baywatch, The Greatest Showman) has signed on to star in the sci-fi drama, which will be directed by Keith Thomas (The Vigil). Efron’s role is not mentioned in the report, but it’s assumed he’ll be playing the male lead, Andy McGee.

King’s novel tells the story of a man with psychic abilities who goes on the run with his pyrotechnic daughter when a government agency known as The Shop targets them in order to harness their abilities. They soon find themselves being hunted by a lethal assassin named John Rainbird, and must go to extreme lengths to evade capture.

The script is being written by Halloween Kills and Rectify scribe Scott Teems, who will also executive produce alongside Jason Blum, Akiva Goldsman and Martha De Laurentiis.

Firestarter was previously adapted as a 1984 movie starring Drew Barrymore, David Keith, Freddie Jones, Heather Locklear, Martin Sheen and George C. Scott.

What do you guys make of this casting choice? Have you read King’s book or seen the ’84 film? Let us know in the comments.

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Back in June, we reported on a rumor that Marvel was searching for a “deaf female, Native American, First Nations, Indigenous or Latinx, 18 or older” actress to play an “independent, athletic and bright” 20-something character in an upcoming project.

Not many established Marvel Comics characters fit that description, so speculation understandably pointed to this being Daredevil supporting player Maya Lopez, aka Echo, and we may now have confirmation.

According to The Illuminderdi, Echo will appear in the Disney+ Hawkeye series as one of the main characters. No details about how she’ll factor into the plot have been revealed, but there’s a chance she may start out as an adversary of Clint Barton’s given their shared association with the Ronin mantle in the comics.

Created by David Mack and Joe Quesada in the late ’90s, Echo was first introduced as a Daredevil villain before switching allegiances and reinventing herself as a hero. She reemerged in 2005 and took up the mantle of Ronin for Brian Michael Bendis’ New Avengers run, before going on to befriend and work alongside the likes of Wolverine and Moon Knight.

What do you guys make of this development? Hawkeye is currently scheduled to begin shooting next month (barring any COVID-related delays), so we should learn more soon.

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We’ve known that Takehiro Hira would be playing the villain in Paramount’s upcoming G.I. Joe origins movie Snake Eyes for a while now, but not much has been revealed about his mysterious character, who is believed to be an original villain created exclusively for the movie. 

Speaking with Hira earlier this month while promoting his latest release Lost Girls and Love Hotels, the accomplished Japanese actor was generous enough to share details about his role in the Robert Schwentke-directed spinoff. 

“I’m playing the villain in Snake Eyes, the G.I. Joe film,” he tells us. “I think it’s an original character who’s not in the comics, so he’s brand new and that’s pretty much all I can say right now. *laughs*

He’s Japanese, he could maybe be Yakuza too, *laughs*, but yeah, it was a fun experience. You know, there’s Snake Eyes (Henry Golding), and then there’s another guy Storm Shadow (Andrew Koji)… I’m sort of his half-brother or something like that.“

His comments may essentially confirm an earlier report from That Hashtag Show, who revealed that the film would indeed introduce an original villain, then named Kenta.

They said in 2018, “Kenta is revealed to Storm Shadow’s brother who has long since left his family, the Arashikage, and joined with a rival ninja clan, the Kurayami. It is Kenta who attempts to lure Snake Eyes away from the Arashikage and into a terrorist plot being devised by Cobra.” 

While Hira wasn’t allowed to divulge much else, he did speak about the extensive training he and the entire cast received to prepare for the tough shoot. “We trained for about a month and a half in Vancouver, so hopefully it’ll be good.“

He isn’t a formally trained fighter, but admits to having picked up a few skills throughout his nearly twenty-year career that he’s more than ready to show off in the upcoming 2021 spinoff. “I haven’t been trained properly I guess, but along the way, I’ve learned things here and there and picked up a few tricks. I know some sword fighting, Japanese sword fighting, which is really cool.“

Henry Golding (The Gentlemen) will headline the feature with a supporting cast consisting of Andrew Koji (Fast & Furious 6) as Storm Shadow, Samara Weaving (Ready or Not) as Scarlett, Úrsula Corberó (The Secret Life of Pets) as Baroness, Haruka Abe (47 Ronin) in an undisclosed role, Iko Uwais (The Raid) as Hard Master and Takehiro Hira (Giri/Haji) in an undisclosed role.

Snake Eyes hits theaters October 22, 2021

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