It’s no surprise that DC Comics and Warner Brothers are increasing their domination of the TV comic adaptations, with news coming from different networks about new series like Supergirl and iZombie to join the already successful Gotham, Arrow, The Flash, and to a lesser extent, Constantine. Marvel has been playing catch-up with Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter, plus the four Netflix series currently in development (You didn’t miss the first Daredevil trailer, did you?), but DC still holds the advantage. Especially with news of the most recent adaptation in development.
Now TNT is producing a live action adaptation of the Teen Titans simply titled Titans, with Akiva Goldsman and Marc Haimes acting as writers and executive producers of the series (or at least the pilot). The team have had a place in the animated world for years, with two related Teen Titans series, as well as the fan favorite Young Justice series that also focused on the sidekicks of the DC Universe.
Marvel and Netflix provided us a quick tease yesterday, presenting us with our first look at the upcoming series Daredevil. The teaser effectively had fans chomping at the bit, waiting for the full trailer reveal to follow the next day. We’ve been following the production of Marvel and Netflix’s four limited series very closely, with Daredevil hitting our screens first in April.
Fans of the AMC series The Walking Dead have been waiting for the second half of season five since the mid-season finale “Coda” in November, and that wait is nearly over.
The trailer, while certain to amp you up for what’s to come, leaves so many questions unanswered.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead.
When last we left our merry band of zombie survivalists, they lost another of their own; Beth. After proving herself throughout the series to be more than a pretty face, Beth fell victim to yet another insane survivor. Sadly, it remains that in this post-apocalypse, it’s the other survivors who are the real bane of our heroes existence.
After learning that Eugene’s promise of a cure was shown to be little more than a fairy tale for self-preservation, the loss of Beth will send the group back into the unknown with no destination. Their hopes of a cure dashed, base survival instincts are now the only thing keeping them going.
After the credits rolled on the first half of season five, Rick’s old friend Morgan, who we last left in the throes of insanity, makes his way out of the woods, witness to the carnage and horror left at the once quiet church. Will Morgan prove himself to be friend or foe? In the world of The Walking Dead one can never really tell, but his brief scene, in which he sets up an altar of sorts, certainly had a rather ominous feel to it.
Questions remain about the fate of Eugene, whose lie about a cure was the driving force of the last season, pushing the group toward Washington D.C. Can the group forgive him, and even if they do, is he going to be alright after that royal beating doled out by Abraham? How will Daryl take the loss of Beth, with whom he had grown so close? And how the hell do they keep that baby so darn clean?!
While you await the answers to all these burning questions, the internet has a treasure trove of Walking Dead related entertainment to distract you. First, if you haven’t already been watching or taken the week or two to binge watch and catch up on the zombie phenomenon, here’s a quick break down of the first four seasons.
For those zombiephiles up to date, some bad lip-reading takes you back to season four, while adding a laugh to a few otherwise disheartening scenes.
Moving in to the real world for a minute, we lost Andrea in season three, but Laurie Holden has still kept busy. Aside from being an actress, Holden spends her time as a human rights activist with the group Operation Underground Railroad. In 2014 Holden joined the group in an undercover sting operation that rescued 55 young girls from being sold into the sex trade. Her zombie killing days may be behind her for now, but it seems like the world is getting a real hero in the trade-off.
Now with only a few more days till the show returns, remember what really matters…
And if you’re interested, the first 2 minutes of the next episode…
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On a scale of 1-10, how pumped are you for the second half of season five? Let us know in the comments below, or visit Grizzly Bomb’s Facebook page.
It leaked Friday afternoon, but the official trailer for Game of Thrones‘ fifth season was properly released on their Facebook page just a few hours later
The television landscape has seen radical changes over the last few years. The days of network television being a source of water cooler talks are getting fewer and fewer. New competitors in the programming market have chipped away at the once dominant share that network television held. Look, for example, at the rise in popularity in cable television programming. Once an afterthought and home of countless hours of Full House reruns, both basic cable channel and shows like AMC’s The Walking Dead or Breaking Bad as well as premium cable services like HBO’s Game of Thrones dominate the populations’ television discussions.
The newest era of contenders in the television game comes from streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime or Hulu. Look at the rise in popularity of programs like Orange is the New Black or House of Cards on Netflix as well as Transparent on Amazon Prime. There is money to be made and execs know it.
And what’s en vogue right now? Comic book properties. Not only is there a record number of comic book based shows on television right now (Flash, Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., TheWalking Dead, etc.), but there are new properties coming down the pike. Netflix for example, has partnered up with Marvel to bring the likes of Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, and The Defenders to the streaming screens. Now Sony Pictures Television is hoping to tap into this interest in comic properties by releasing their own show. Enter: Powers.
Powers is based off the Marvel/Icon comic of the same name, and created by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, the comic is about two homicide detectives and the cases they solve in a world filled with superhumans. The show will follow the same concept.
Along with the comic’s creators acting as executive producers, the show will be overseen by Charlie Huston (writer of Moon Knight and Wolverine: The Best There Is) and Remi Aubuchon (Falling Skies, 24). The show will star Sharlto Copley (District 9, Elysium) as Det. Christian Walker and Susan Heyward (The Following) as Det. Deena Pilgrim. Other notable actors set to appear on the show are Michelle Forbes (BattlestarGalactica, The Killing) as Retro Girl and Eddie Izzard (VelvetGoldmine, Hannibal) as Wolfe. The first season consists of ten episodes.
Sony is banking heavily on the show, hoping that by introducing the show to video gamers, it will translate into ratings. Let’s be honest, while not all video gamers are comic book readers, a lot of comic book readers are video game players. It’s this audience that Sony is attempting to court. That’s why Sony has a rather bold plan to get viewers to tune in.
Starting March 10, PlayStation Network users will be able to watch the first episode for free. For those without access to the PlayStation Network, the first episode will also be available through YouTube and Crackle. Also on that day, viewers will be able to watch 2 more episodes. New episodes will then debut every Tuesday until all 10 episodes are released. Sony is so sure you’ll support the show that they will allow PlayStation Plus subscribers to watch the complete first season as a part of their membership.
PlayStation Plus is the premium online membership that allows subscribers access to many privileges like free games every month, automatic game updates, and special deals and discounts. At CES this past January, Sony announced that over 18 million units of the PlayStation 4 have been sold worldwide. Of those, over half of the users are also PlayStation Plus subscribers. Sony is hoping that those nine million plus users will tune in.
The question is, will the audience tune in? While there is an interest in shows based on the properties of the Big two publishers, Marvel and DC, is there interest in a relatively unknown indie property? Another question is: with so many other online services (like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc.), will the customers stand for one more source for programming in an already cluttered field?
Is there really a market for original programs, at least where the video game market is concerned? Microsoft was originally planning on joining the original programming space but back in July 2014, they shuttered the doors of their original programming division. While plans were made to have programming based on their Fables and Gears of War franchises (as well as others), the only original program that survived was Halo: Nightfall. Will Sony succeed where Microsoft failed? So far, Sony has not announced any other shows in development.
Check out Powers on the PlayStation Network on March 10.
Images: Sony Pictures Television, Image Comics, Marvel Icon
Fox has actually done an awesome job getting the X-Men movie franchise back on track. The respectability garnered from fans thanks to the first two films may have been tainted by The Last Stand, but First Class and Days of Future Past have done a great job of restoring Marvel’s mutant back to their prominent state.
It now looks like Fox is ready to bring the X-Men to the small screen. The Hollywood Reporter first got wind of this news, as they reported that preliminary discussions have already begun regarding the show’s development. This live-action TV series seemingly has some credible names already looking to bring this show to life – 24 producers Evan Katz and Manny Coto are said to be in talks, along with the current Star Trek 3 writing duo of J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. Katz and Coto are said to be the main frontrunners for the show’s development, but Payne and McKay will receive creation credits for their work with the show.
Marvel’s suite of superheroes are currently dominating movie theaters and TV, thanks to shows such as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter and the upcoming Netflix show Daredevil. Simon Kinberg previously offered up some comments on the odds of an X-Men TV show coming to fruition:
We’re still in this place of figuring out what the future of the franchise will be, but when you look at S.H.I.E.L.D. to some extent and what Marvel is doing now with Daredevil and other shows on Netflix, it makes sense to tell some of these stories in TV partly because there’s just not enough screens to do all these characters, and also because the serialized format of comic books is better suited for TV. Because that’s it, every week you come back to the same characters different story, and in comic books every week it’s the same characters, different story. I think what [Fox is] seeing now is with the proliferation of new kinds of visual and special effects, there’s a way to make these stories that doesn’t cost $300 million every time you have to make a huge movie.
We’re interested in seeing the X-Men hit the small screen again. If it’s half as good as the previous animated interpretations of Professor X and his world saving crew, then we have high hopes for this show. We’re slightly worried about the negotiations that will undoubtedly go down between Fox, ABC and Marvel. But we think cooler heads will prevail and this live-action X-Men show will soon become a reality.
Grizzly Bomb 