Jax Motes – ScienceFiction.com

Laurence Fishburn Definitively Reveals Whether Or Not He Will Be In ‘The Matrix 4’

Jax Motes — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 12:00:45 +0000

Production on ‘The Matrix 4’ began in February, but as was the case with all movies and TV shows, that ground to a halt when the coronavirus pandemic broke out. Though this project is mostly hush-hush, it is known that Keanu Reeves (Neo), Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity), Jada Pinkett Smith (Niobe), and even Lambert Wilson (Merovingian) are returning from the original trilogy. But what about Neo’s mentor Morpheus, played by Laurence Fishburn? When asked about his involvement, Fishburn told New York Magazine (via The Wrap): “I have not been invited. Maybe that will make me write another play. I wish them well. I hope it’s great.” Welp. That answers that. Although considering that Fishburn was flat-out lying in part of this statement (“I wish them well. I hope it’s great.”), it’s possible the whole thing is a lie. Okay, kidding. It’s clear that Fishburn/Morpheus will not be back in this sequel. Fishburn is more laid back in his response, which seems to indicate that he’s fine with not being invited. Joe Pantoliano, however, was still actively campaigning for his character, Cypher, to be resurrected for the new flick. “Yeah, I’d be interested. I doubt they’re going to be bringing me back. […]

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Dominique Fishback Is “So Thankful” For Her Unique Character In ‘Project Power’

Jax Motes — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 11:00:22 +0000

Netflix’s latest original movie, ‘Project Power’ debuted over the weekend and was a huge success. (Netflix doesn’t release streaming numbers, but it was #1 for all three days.) The film stars Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but it seems that the breakout performance came from Dominique Fishback, who portrayed aspiring rapper/drug dealer, Robin, who gets dragged into Foxx’s character, Arthur’s vendetta against the pharmaceutical company that is flooding the streets with a designer drug called Power, which gives users superpowers for a limited time. Fishback previously co-starred on the Emmy-nominated series ‘The Deuce’, sketch comedy series ‘Random Acts of Flyness’, and the period miniseries ‘Show Me A Hero’, all of which were released by HBO. She also appeared in the films ‘The Hate U Give’ and ‘Night Comes On’. But she seems particularly connected to her role as Robin, telling Variety: “I was so thankful to [screenwriter] Mattson Tomlin because she was really on the page already — we knew what she cared about, we knew who she loved, we knew her passions, we knew her fears. We really got a chance to see her heart on the paper so that just made it even more exciting for me to […]

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‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Will Return To ‘TOS’ Optimism And Stand-Alone Stories

Jax Motes — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 00:39:37 +0000

Viewers of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ were charmed by the Season 2 introductions of Ethan Peck as pre-‘The Original Series’ Spock, Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, and Rebecca Romijn as Number One, and immediately began clamoring for them to get their own spin-off show. Finally, in May, CBS All Access announced this would become a reality, entitled ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’. Alex Kurtzman currently oversees the entire ‘Trek’ universe on CBS All Access, and he recently spoke about ‘Strange New Worlds’ during a Deadline Contenders panel: “I think Strange New Worlds, under the guidance of Henry Myers and Akiva Goldsman, it’s going to be a return in a way to TOS [Star Trek: The Original Series]. We are going to do stand-alone episodes. There will be emotional serialization. There will be two-parters. There will be larger plot arcs. But it really is back to the model of alien-of-the-week, planet-of-the-week, challenge-on-the-ship-of-the-week. With these characters pre-Kirk’s Enterprise. I think what people responded so much to in all three characters is this kind of relentless optimism that they have. And that they are at the young phase of their careers.” That is one thing about ‘Discovery’ that turned old school fans off […]

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Apple TV+’s ‘For All Mankind’ Has Resumed Production On Season 2

Jax Motes — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 23:51:25 +0000

Production on Apple TV+’s alternate history, Cold War on the moon series ‘For All Mankind’ on Monday, August 17. The show films in Culver City in Los Angeles County, CA. Reportedly, there are only two more episodes that remain to be filmed. Apple TV+ still managed to cobble together a trailer, which debuted at SDCC@Home in July. Before the first season even debuted, Apple TV+ ordered a second season last October. The series hails from the mind of ‘Battlestar Galactica’s Ronald D. Moore. The first season consisted of 10 episodes, and the second is expected to be the same length. In ‘For All Mankind’, the Soviet Union beat the US to the moon, devastating morale, forcing NASA to up its game to catch up. When the Soviets include a woman in a subsequent moon landing, the US must also up its game there, incorporating women and minorities in the space program, when as we all know, it took decades for women and other minorities to be integrated in reality. As Wrenn Schmidt, who portrays Margo Madison on the series stated during the show’s SDCC@Home panel: “I think when you lockout 50% of your population from bringing all of their talents […]

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The CW Announces Return Date For The Final Episodes Of ‘Supernatural’

Jax Motes — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 22:48:51 +0000

The CW has set a return date for ‘Supernatural’ which was in the midst of its 15th and final season when COVID-19 forced the show to stop filming with just two more episodes left to go. There are five additional episodes that are completed, but that The CW has held on to, so that the last batch can air uninterrupted. Now fans can breathe a sigh of relief as The CW has announced that new episodes will begin airing in October! The first new episode arrives on Thursday, October 8 at 8 pm EST. The series finale will air on Thursday, November 19 at 9 pm, preceded by a retrospective special, ‘Supernatural: The Long Road Home’. According to a report by Deadline, production on the last two episodes will begin tomorrow, Tuesday, August 18. ‘Supernatural’ has lasted an astounding 15 seasons and has remained in The CW’s Top Five pretty much the whole time. It’s one of the rare shows that has built its audience the longer it went on. The announcement of ‘Supernatural’s return came as The CW announced its fall lineup, which includes the DC Universe series ‘Swamp Thing’ which will begin airing on Tuesday, October 6. You […]

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Jensen Ackles Joins Season 3 Of ‘The Boys’ (Updated)

Jax Motes — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 22:04:03 +0000

Jensen Ackles has landed his first post-‘Supernatural’ gig. He will portray Soldier Boy on Season 3 of ‘The Boys’, Amazon Prime Video’s darkly hilarious superhero spoof. Amazon announced that the series had been renewed for a third season during the show’s SDCC@Home virtual panel. The second season premiers on September 4. Ackles made the announcement via a video on Instagram: View this post on Instagram I keep wondering what I’ll do….when @cw_supernatural finally ends this year. Then it hit me. *volume ⬆️ A post shared by Jensen Ackles (@jensenackles) on Aug 17, 2020 at 9:04am PDT ‘The Boys’ is based on the comic book by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, and was developed for television by ‘Supernatural’ creator Eric Kripke. In a statement, Kripke announced: “When I was a child, I had a crazy, impossible dream — to provide Jensen Ackles with gainful employmen. I’m happy to say that dream has come true. Jensen is an amazing actor, an even better person, smells like warm chocolate chip cookies, and I consider him a brother. As Soldier Boy, the very first superhero, he’ll bring so much humor, pathos, and danger to the role. I can’t wait to be on […]

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Jurnee Smollett Would Love To Play Black Canary Again, Possibly In A Project With ‘Lovecraft Country’s Misha Green

Jax Motes — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 13:00:25 +0000

Jurnee Smollett starred in the TV series ‘Underground’ created by Misha Green. Now Green acts as showrunner of HBO’s new horror hit ‘Lovecraft Country’, on which Smollett also stars. Earlier this year, Smollett was seen as Black Canary/Dinah Lance in the DC Comics film ‘Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)’, and while the flick wasn’t a huge smash (COVID-19 caused theaters to shut down almost right after it opened), Smollet admits that she would return to play Black Canary in a future film, while Green revealed that they had a past connection that concerns the comic book hero. Smollett says: “It’s no secret how much I love Black Canary. It’s a dream character and was a dream to play her. If [the] dynamics fell in the right way, I would absolutely do it in a heartbeat, and Lord knows, I follow Misha wherever she leads me.” Green admitted that she often played as Black Canary against Smollett in the video game ‘Injustice’. “And I just would just do the ‘canary scream’ to win all the time, which would frustrate [Jurnee]. So, it was like, ‘It’s kind of kismet and funny that you’re now Black Canary […]

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‘Project Power’ Tackles The Tricky Subject Of Police Corruption With A Superpowered Edge

Jax Motes — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 12:00:10 +0000

Netflix’s latest original film, ‘Project Power’, completely slipped under my radar, but it arrived this weekend, to strong streaming numbers (it’s currently #1), and is the latest example of a movie that was made prior to most of the current events of the last several months, yet somehow managed to perfectly tap into timely issues. Following the murders of African Americans George Floyd and Breona Taylor, among many others, at the hands of the police, rallies have called for the police to be defunded and dismantled. ‘Project Power’ filters that through a superhero lens, in a world where a corporation has flooded the streets with a designer drug that gives people superpowers, appropriately called “Power.” But the effects are unpredictable and don’t last long, so as in the case of most illicit substances, users have to keep going back for more. One such abuser is a cop himself, Frank Shaver (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). When he takes Power, it makes his skin impenetrable (see: Luke Cage). Thanks to Power, Shaver gets to be the “I play by my own rules” renegade cop that has been glamorized in films for years. But “Power” doesn’t just refer to superpowers or the drug itself. The […]

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David Arquette Calls Neve Campbell “The Heart And Soul Of The Scream Franchise”

Jax Motes — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 11:00:04 +0000

It has been confirmed that Courteney Cox and David Arquette are returning for ‘Scream 5’, to be directed by ‘Ready or Not’s Matthew Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. That means the only original star that has yet to be signed is Neve Campbell, the lead in all four past ‘Screams’. She starred as Sidney Prescott, a teen (originally) who was targeted for psychological torture and attempted murder by a pair of demented classmates. And despite her efforts to leave her bloody past behind, she found herself drawn back into copycat killing sprees three more times. Hopefully, there will be a fourth (and fifth overall), as it’s hard to imagine a new ‘Scream’ without her. Arquette shares that opinion. As he told ET Online: “We have to get Neve, that’s the real thing. She’s the heart and soul of the Scream franchise, so to get Neve would be a really tremendous thing. Like, I’ve seen her at conventions and stuff and it’s just almost like family. We all have gone through this experience together and it’s — we’re all really sad about the loss of Wes…I would love for her to be a part of it. I mean, she’s such an important– she’s […]

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“We Are The Guinea Pigs”: Here Are The Precautions Being Taken On The Set Of ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ To Prevent COVID-19

Jax Motes — Sun, 16 Aug 2020 23:02:58 +0000

‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ is the first big-budget Hollywood film to resume filming after the coronavirus shut every movie and TV show down in the spring of this year. The cast and crew have returned to Pinewood Studios outside of London and filming has resumed. Universal is spending $9 million dollars and holding its breath that this film can complete filming to make its original release date of June 11, 2021. Everyone was given a 107-page safety manual, “that details everything from the infrared temperature scanners the cast and crew encounter upon arrival to the vacuum-sealed meals provided by masked workers standing behind plastic partitions in the takeout-only cafeteria.” (via the New York Times) Bryce Dallas Howard (Claire Dearing) says that shooting the movie has become something of a DIY process, in order to maintain social distance, and curb the chances of a COVID-19 breakout. She revealed that she now attaches her own microphone with the help of her costumer, while a boom operator, wearing a mask and shield, maintains a safe distance and offers instruction when needed. Another precaution, Universal has rented out an entire luxury hotel just for the cast and crew– roughly 750 people. Howard knows the specific […]

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Heroes Of The CW Suit Up In 10 New DC Fandome Posters

Jax Motes — Sun, 16 Aug 2020 20:00:37 +0000

Next weekend, DC Comics (an AT&T/WarnerMedia subsidiary) will hold its first-ever virtual fan convention, DC Fandome, and in anticipation of that event, The CW has released posters showcasing its slate in DC shows. Newcomers ‘Stargirl’ (Brec Bassinger) and ‘Superman & Lois’ (Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch) are included along with Cress Williams (Black Lightning/Jefferson Pierce) from ‘Black Lightning’, Grant Gustin (The Flash/Barry Allen) and Candice Patton (Iris West-Allen) from ‘The Flash’, and Melissa Benoist (Supergirl/Kara Danvers) and Nicole Maines (Nia Nal/Dreamer) from ‘Supergirl’. It’s interesting that Patton and Maines get their own posters, when they are supporting castmembers, while The CW’ real ensemble show, ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ only gets one poster, depicting Caity Lotz as White Canary/Sara Lance. But the strangest inclusion is the poster for ‘Batwoman’. In May, the show’s lead, Ruby Rose, quit the show. She has since been replaced by Javica Leslie, but due to COVID-19, it doesn’t appear that production has resumed on any of these shows, and Leslie may not have even done a costume fitting yet. So instead… the poster depicts the Batsignal. Mmmm-kay. They could have just not done a ‘Batwoman’ poster. Each poster is trimmed with artwork from the comics, to remind […]

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BBC America Reveals A New Cast Photo From ‘The Watch’ And Fans Of Terry Pratchett’s ‘Discworld’ Are Not Pleased

Jax Motes — Sun, 16 Aug 2020 18:56:53 +0000

BBC America has released a photo of the cast of its upcoming fantasy series, ‘The Watch’, based on Terry Pratchett’s ‘Discworld’ book series, and unfortunately, many are unhappy. During a time when many sci-fi and fantasy shows are presenting more diversity– and many different kinds of diversity– some feel that this new image indicates that ‘The Watch’ is actually taking a step backwards in that regard. Lara Rossi depicts Lady Sybil Ramkin, who in the books, is an older/middle-aged woman, who is heavyset. She breeds swamp dragons, so her natural hair is singed off, and she wears wigs at nearly all times. Rossi is almost none of those things. She is young, beautiful, and slender. Her hair could be a wig, but if so, it’s a fairly natural-looking one. Meanwhile, Jo Eaton-Kent portrays Constable Cheery Littlebottom, who in the books, is a dwarf, and sports a long beard, despite identifying as “she/her.” (All dwarves have beards, according to Pratchett, and gender is optional.) Here is another look at Eaton-Kent in the role: The basic sentiment from upset fans is that these roles could have gone to a middle-aged woman, and a little person, two groups who don’t normally have many roles to […]

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Jim Lee Confirms DC Universe Content Is Moving To HBO Max

Jax Motes — Sun, 16 Aug 2020 00:57:05 +0000

Well, we all knew it was coming, but it appears to be official. DC Universe will continue to provide digital comics and a platform for fans to interact, but its original TV projects are moving over to HBO Max. HBO Max already offers the animated ‘Harley Quinn’ and live-action ‘Doom Patrol’, but according to Jim Lee, DC Comics’ sole publisher after the departure of Dan DiDio earlier this year, it sounds as though the remainder of DC Universe’s original continent will also shift over. That includes the live-action ‘Titans’ and animated ‘Young Justice’. Just weeks ago, DC Universe quietly stopped offering annual memberships. ‘Stargirl’, meanwhile, was moved over to The CW, where it has performed strongly. It was already announced that Season 2 would only be released via The CW and not DC Universe. The CW is also airing ‘Swamp Thing’ a live-action series that only lasted for one shortened season, and there have been faint rumbling that a second season could be in the cards if it performs well. Here is what Lee said (via The Hollywood Reporter): “The original content that is on DCU is migrating to HBO Max. Truthfully, that’s the best platform for that content. The […]

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Jon Favreau Talks ‘The Mandalorian’s Stripped-Down Approach And Pleasing Hardcore Fans

Jax Motes — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 17:06:04 +0000

There is no denying that ‘The Mandalorian’ was a huge smash when it debuted on Disney+ late last year, but as popular as the show was, it wasn’t seen as being particularly high-brow. So it came as a shock when the series was nominated for 15 Emmy Awards, including the prestigious Outstanding Drama Series, possibly the top award of the night. As part of the Emmy campaign, series creator Jon Favreau discussed the approach that he took with the series and how that may have led to its incredible success. “We wanted to really wind it back to the things that inspired the original Star Wars and really get it small in scale and tell simple stories, because part of what you inherit when you’re going to see Star Wars now is this whole history, because the stories have been told for decades, and it was nice, with the new medium, to be able to start with a new set of characters to introduce a new audience. “But we always knew…and this is something I learned from…over at Marvel and working with Kevin Feige, is you always want to keep the core fans in mind, because they have been the ones that’ve been […]

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Super Saturday: ‘X-Men’ Season 1 (1992)

Jax Motes — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 11:00:42 +0000

This column has been in the works since I started writing Super Saturday. While I will get into the issues with ‘X-Men’– and there are quite a few– I will go on the record as saying that this might be the most IMPORTANT cartoon in Saturday morning history. (It’s debatable, I admit.) But I fully believe that the first ‘X-Men’ movie probably never would have been made had it not been for the massive success of the cartoon. And if the first ‘X-Men’ movie hadn’t been made, the steady deluge of superhero movies that followed wouldn’t have happened. If those movies hadn’t been made, it’s very likely that Marvel Comics would have gone out of business, as it was already facing bankruptcy before licensing these movies saved their bacon. And of course, had that happened, there wouldn’t be a Marvel Cinematic Universe. Is that overselling the ‘X-Men’ cartoon? No, I actually don’t think so. Had this show not existed, it would have set off a chain of events that would have resulted in a pop culture landscape far, far different than the one we know today. So, speaking of ‘X-Men’… let’s get to it! (If you want to read about […]

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