Geek News Brief

Host: Rob Logan [Twitter] [Twitch]

WandaVision spinoff featuring Agatha Harkness is in the works

A WandaVision spinoff starring Kathryn Hahn is in development at Disney Plus from Marvel Studios.

Hahn would reprise the role of Agatha Harkness in the series, which is described by sources as a dark comedy, though exact plot details remain under wraps. Should the spinoff go forward, WandaVision head writer Jac Schaeffer would serve as the writer and executive producer, with this being the first project Schaeffer has set up with Marvel since she signed an overall deal with them and 20th Television in May.

Star Lord T’Challa spinoff was in development before Boseman passed

Marvel’s What If…? head writer A.C. Bradley and director Bryan Andrews discussed the first season of the animated Disney+ series and plans for Season 2 during an interview with Variety, including that the creators were initially planning to spin off the Star Lord T’Challa character into his own show.

Said Andrews of the plans, “Chadwick had recorded his Star Lord T’Challa stuff early. But we had those later episodes that he appeared in sporadically, and it was a long stretch before we got him again. And it was not long after the final recording that he passed. But we got him in time to have everything for Season 1. I think he was also trying to make an effort because T’Challa was so important to him — and also this new version of Star Lord T’Challa was so important to him. He dug it.

I don’t know if he knew this, but there was planning to have Star Lord T’Challa spin off into his own show with that universe and crew. We were all very excited. We know he would have loved it, too. And then, you know, he passed, and so all that’s in limbo. So, who knows? Maybe one day.”

Marvel’s What If… producer talks about Season 1’s lost episode

Spoiler warning if you haven’t seen the season 1 finale of Marvel’s What If…?

While the season finale of Marvel’s What If…? brought back many of its previous heroes, there was one new addition: Gamora, The Destroyer of Thanos.

During a recent interview, What If…? executive producer and writer, A.C. Bradley, explained why the episode featuring this Gamora wasn’t completed in time for season 1.

What happened with the Gamora episode, there was originally supposed to be – early on in the season – a Tony and Gamora-centric episode. However, due to COVID and production delays, one of our amazing, amazing animation houses around the globe got hit pretty hard by the pandemic. And we were left with two choices: push the entire season to later this year, or push this one episode to season 2. We made the choice to push that episode to season 2, and hoped that seeing Gamora in the finale serves as a teaser for what is to come. In season two, it’ll almost be like a little bit of a prequel. We’ll see how Tony and Gamora became friends, because those two don’t even interact in the main MCU universe.”

When fans do get that episode, it apparently will be tonally in line with the more comedic offerings like the Party Thor episode.

Host: Rob Logan [Twitter] [Twitch]

Sora from Kingdom Hearts is the final Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighter

Nintendo has finalized the roster of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate by revealing the final DLC fighter, Sora from Kingdom Hearts.

Sora is nimble and a skilled airborne fighter, but he’s very light, so it’s easy to launch him. His special abilities include fire, lightning, and ice magic attacks and a vertical spiral move that’s a bit like Link’s spin attack.

The new stage that will arrive alongside Sora is Hollow Bastion, in which you can see Maleficent’s castle from the first Kingdom Hearts in the background. Rather than including music with close ties to certain worlds in Kingdom Hearts, the team decided to pick central themes from the series for the nine song list additions. Also, if you have Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory save data on your Nintendo Switch, you’ll get “Dearly Beloved – Swing Version” as a bonus song.

Sora, Hollow Bastion, and the song list will be available on October 18th. The content is part of the Fighters Pass Vol. 2, but you can also buy it separately.

The Kingdom Hearts trilogy is coming to Nintendo Switch

Square Enix has announced that all three Kingdom Hearts main titles will be making their way to Nintendo Switch.

In celebration of the iconic franchise’s upcoming 20th anniversary, Square Enix will be releasing cloud versions of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, and Kingdom Hearts III + ReMind on the Nintendo Switch in the future. All three titles will be available to purchase individually or as an all-in-one Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece collection. No official release date or pricing has been confirmed as of yet, although fans will likely get more information as it gets closer.

It’s worth noting that since they’re cloud versions, you’ll be streaming the games, so an online connection is required to play.

Ubisoft announces free-to-play battle royale Ghost Recon Frontline

Ubisoft has announced that they’re working on a new battle royale game set within the Tom Clancy universe. Ghost Recon Frontline will be a free-to-play game that will pit you and two other teammates against more than one hundred other players.

Frontline will move the series away from its traditional third-person perspective to a first-person one. In its signature Expedition mode, you and your team will need to find three pieces of intel scattered across an island map. You’ll then later need to extract that information by calling in an airlift. Other teams can ambush you during this crucial moment and steal the data you fought so hard to obtain. Unlike other battle royales, the playspace won’t get smaller as the match progresses.

No launch date has yet been shared for Ghost Recon Frontline, but the game will release on Xbox Series S & X, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Stadia, Luna, and PC with full crossplay.

Host: Rob Logan [Twitter] [Twitch]

The Umbrella Academy Season 3 will arrive in 2022

In celebration of the Hargreeves siblings’ birthday, Netflix has released a brand new promo for the third season of The Umbrella Academy, confirming that the superpowered family will make their return in 2022.

It’s also been confirmed that some episodes of the new season will take place at Hotel Oblivion, which was the title of Gerard Way’s third volume in The Umbrella Academy comics. Further details about Season 3’s plot are still being kept under wraps, but given that they’ll be featuring Hotel Oblivion, the episodes might potentially cover some of the material from that book.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl adds Aang, Korra, and Toph

The final three characters of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl have been revealed. Rounding out a roster of popular Nickelodeon fighters are Aang and Toph from Avatar: The Last Airbender, as well as Korra from The Legend of Korra.

With the addition of those three characters from the Avatar universe, the confirmed roster for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl is now 20 characters deep and features other favorites like Leo and Mikey from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ren & Stimpy, Reptar, SpongeBob SquarePants and many more.

The game launches on October 5 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S&X, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Seinfeld hits Netflix, but aspect ratio change crops out some jokes

Classic ‘90s sitcom Seinfeld has arrived on Netflix after a six-year run on Hulu. Given that the show was filmed years before HD was a thing, it was originally displayed in a 4:3 aspect ratio on TV and the DVD sets that followed.

On Netflix, however, the show has been cropped into a 16:9 widescreen format to fit modern TVs, and as a result, some of the visual jokes have been cropped out.

A significant example has been pointed out by some Twitter users for the episode titled “The Pothole.” In the episode, George and Jerry are trying to find George’s lost keys, which were dropped into a pothole that was then paved over. In Netflix’s version, the pothole is completely cropped out, which leaves George yelling in the direction of a pothole that no one can see.

This isn’t a new problem for older shows coming to streaming services. A similar thing happened in 2019 when the entire run of The Simpsons hit Disney+. After a large number of complaints, Disney eventually released the seasons that aired in 4:3 in their original aspect ratio. Hopefully Netflix will do the same.

Host: Rob Logan [Twitter] [Twitch]

The Book of Boba Fett series premiere date revealed

Disney has officially announced the release date for Lucasfilm’s newest Star Wars series, The Book of Boba Fett. Starring Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen, The Mandalorian spinoff is scheduled to make its debut on Wednesday, December 29.

The series is described as a thrilling Star Wars adventure that finds legendary bounty hunter Boba Fett and mercenary Fennec Shand navigating the Galaxy’s underworld when they return to the sands of Tatooine to stake their claim on the territory once ruled by Jabba the Hutt and his crime syndicate.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 game will be a “little darker”

While not much has been revealed about Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2, Marvel has now made comments suggesting the sequel will be a darker follow-up to the original game.

Speaking on a recent This Week in Marvel podcast, Marvel’s creative vice president Bill Rosemann said, “If the first Spider-Man game was Star Wars, Spider-Man 2 is kind of our Empire. It gets a little darker.”

Rosemann also said that this game will have some new and old threads. The new threads are literal in that Insomniac has updated Miles’ and Peter’s suits just a little. The old threads are related to the story as the game will continue beats from those prior two games and will be the next big chapter.

Oreo Cakesters are returning in 2022… for good

A decade ago, Nabisco decided to pull Oreo Cakesters from store shelves, much to the dismay of customers. In the years since, the company has been flooded with messages begging to bring them back. Now, Nabisco has announced that Oreo Cakesters are back, and they’re here to stay.

The company is bringing back Cakesters in two varieties. The first is the familiar Oreo Cakesters that customers already know and love, and the second are Nutter Butter Cakesters featuring peanut butter creme in the middle.

Both offerings will be permanent additions to Nabisco’s extensive lineup of desserts, and will be available nationwide in the United States beginning sometime in 2022.

Host: Rob Logan [Twitter] [Twitch]

Babylon 5 reboot in development at The CW from J. Michael Straczynski

A Babylon 5 reboot is in development at The CW with original series creator J. Michael Straczynski onboard to write and executive produce.

The new iteration of the sci-fi series is described as a “from-the-ground-up reboot.”

Straczynski commented about the approach they’re taking with the reboot, saying, “In the years since Babylon 5, I’ve done a ton of other TV shows and movies, adding an equal number of tools to my toolbox, all of which I can bring to bear on one singular question: If I were creating Babylon 5 today, for the first time, know what I now know as a writer, what would it look like? How would it use all the storytelling tools and technological resources available in 2021 that were not on hand then? How can it be used to reflect the world in which we live, and the questions we are asking and confronting every day?”

“So we will not be retelling the same story in the same way. There would be no fun and no surprises. Better to go the way of Westworld or Battlestar Galactica where you take the original elements that are evergreens and put them in a blender with a ton of new, challenging ideas, to create something fresh yet familiar.”

The Boys spinoff series ordered by Amazon

The Boys spinoff is moving forward at Amazon. The streamer has handed a series order for its college-set spinoff from Eric Kripke’s breakout superhero drama. As part of the pickup, Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters, who previously oversaw Marvel’s Agent Carter, have boarded the untitled series as showrunners.

In the works for more than a year, the untitled series is set at America’s only college exclusively for young-adult superheroes run by Vought International. It’s described as an irreverent, R-rated series that explores the lives of hormonal, competitive superheroes as they put their physical, sexual, and moral boundaries to the test, competing for the best contracts in the best cities. It’s part college show, part Hunger Games — with all the heart, satire, and raunch of The Boys.

Said Kripke of the show, “Much like Mork & Mindy spun off from Happy Days, which is an insane and true fact, our spinoff will exist in the Vought Cinematic Universe, yet have a tone and style all its own. It’s our take on a college show, with an ensemble of fascinating, complicated, and sometimes deadly Young Supes.”

Netflix buys Oxenfree developer Night School Studio

The team behind hit indie game Oxenfree is joining Netflix, marking the first time the streaming giant has acquired a game developer. Netflix didn’t share many details about what it plans for the Night School team, but at very least it sounds like the studio will continue work on Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, and that its previous games will be available through the streaming platform.

Night School Studio said of the acquisition, “Our explorations in narrative gameplay and Netflix’s track record of supporting diverse storytellers was such a natural pairing. It felt like both teams came to this conclusion instinctively.”

Host: Rob Logan [Twitter] [Twitch]

Russell T Davies to return as Doctor Who showrunner

BBC has announced that Russell T Davies will make his return to Doctor Who for its upcoming 60th Anniversary in 2023. The announcement comes after it was confirmed last July that current showrunner Chris Chibnall will be leaving the series after the upcoming thirteenth season and three 2022 specials.

Responsible for Doctor Who’s revival in 2005, he is credited with propelling the show into a global phenomenon and making it one of TV’s biggest hits. His tenure on the show oversaw a surge in popularity enjoying huge acclaim and success, enough to lead to two spin-off series, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures during that time.

The Witcher Season 3 and more spin-offs announced

Netflix has announced that their world of The Witcher is expanding. At their Tudum event, they announced a third season of the hit series is on the way. Additionally, a second anime feature is coming, and a kids and family series is in the works.

So far, no specific details have been revealed for any of those upcoming projects, but Season 2 of The Witcher is set to premiere on December 17th.

Marvel seeking legal action to maintain rights to some of its key characters

Marvel is currently suing to maintain full control of Avengers characters including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Falcon, Thor, and others. The new lawsuits are directed at the heirs of their creators, including Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and Gene Colan.

Under current U.S. laws, the author of a given work (or their heirs) can usually reclaim the rights to that work for themselves after a certain period of time. However, Marvel is seeking declaratory relief, claiming that because these characters were created as works for hire, they are ineligible for copyright termination. The work-for-hire defense has been Marvel’s go-to strategy in the past, most notably in cases against Jack Kirby and his family.

If Marvel loses, Disney would have to share ownership of characters worth billions. Ultimately, this isn’t a threat to having any of Marvel’s characters taken away from them, simply that they would share ownership and profits with those characters’ creators.

Host: Rob Logan [Twitter] [Twitch]

Hulu announces The Orville’s Season 3 premiere date

Fans of The Orville can breathe a little easier as Hulu finally revealed the premiere date for the series’ long-awaited third season.

With a teaser that brings viewers back on deck, Hulu shared that the Seth MacFarlane dramedy, now dubbed The Orville: New Horizons, will debut March 10, 2022.

The Orville moved from Fox to Hulu in 2019, but the pandemic heavily disrupted plans to debut new episodes in late 2020. Fortunately, the new premiere date announcement means that fans won’t have to wait much longer.

If you’d like to revisit the show or enjoy it for the first time, you can watch the first two seasons on Hulu and listen to Quantum Drive, my podcast where we discuss every episode of the series.

Mario animated movie coming 2022 from Illumination

A new Super Mario Bros. animated movie from Illumination has revealed its cast, along with a release date of December 21, 2022.

The cast will be led by Chris Pratt as the iconic plumber, along with Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike. The longtime voice of Mario, Charles Martinet, is also set to appear in unspecified cameo roles.

Disney Classic Games Collection is back with Jungle Book and SNES Aladdin

Previously, a games bundle titled Disney Classic Games: Aladdin and Lion King was released which included both of those titles, but now, a new version has arrived titled simply the Disney Classic Games Collection. The new collection includes three classic Disney games, including different versions of Aladdin, The Lion King, and The Jungle Book.

The bundle adds a few new toys to the collection of beloved Disney games. The Jungle Book is the only completely new game in the collection, and players can choose between the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis versions. It also adds in the Super Nintendo version of Aladdin, where the prior bundle only offered the Genesis version.

Additionally, it will include versions of these games released for handhelds, additional behind-the-scenes content, additional music, the ability to watch playthroughs of each game, and the ability to rewind time if you make a mistake.

The Disney Classic Games Collection will come to Switch, PS4, PC, and Xbox on November 9th for $29.99. For those who own the previous bundle, you can upgrade to the new version with a DLC pack called “The Jungle Book and MORE Aladdin” for $9.99.

Host: Rob Logan [Twitter] [Twitch]

Disney+ Day schedule revealed, including Shang-Chi streaming date

Disney is set to celebrate Disney+ Day on Friday, November 12, 2021, by releasing a ton of brand-new movies, TV series, and other presentations to the service.

Two movies that will hit the streamer on that date are Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings, as well as Disney’s Jungle Cruise.

Other content scheduled for release that day are:

Fantastic Beasts 3 reveals official title and new release date

Warner Bros. Pictures has officially changed the release date for the upcoming third installment of the Fantastic Beasts films, which has now been titled Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

Originally scheduled for a July 15, 2022 release, the sequel has now been moved up to three months earlier, and is currently slated to arrive in theaters on Friday, April 15, 2022.

With many of the cast returning from prior films, the movie is also set to introduce Mads Mikkelson as the new Grindelwald, the villainous character first portrayed by Johnny Depp.

Hailee Steinfeld and Ella Purnell lead voice cast for Netflix series Arcane

Netflix has announced the main voice cast for the upcoming animated series adaptation of Riot Games’ League of Legends video game, titled Arcane. Leading the series are Hailee Steinfeld and Ella Purnell, who are lending their voices to the characters of Vi and Jinx, respectively.

The announcement comes with the release of new Arcane posters featuring a look at the characters. The full trailer for the animated event is slated to debut this Saturday, September 25th during Netflix’s Tudum event.

Arcane will be available for streaming sometime this Fall.

Host: Rob Logan [Twitter] [Twitch]

Marvel’s Hit-Monkey series will premiere in November

Over two years ago, Marvel TV announced a deal to bring Hit-Monkey, M.O.D.O.K., and two other animated series to Hulu. However, Howard the Duck, and the Tigra and Dazzler animated series were cancelled while in development. Hit-Monkey survived the axe however, and will soon join M.O.D.O.K. on Hulu, debuting on November 17th.

In the series, which takes some liberties with the character’s origin, the Japanese snow macaque destined to become Hit-Monkey lives peacefully until he encounters a wounded hitman named Bryce. After nursing Bryce back to health, Hit-Monkey is unable to prevent his demise. Therefore, Hit-Monkey decides to become an assassin, while Bryce’s ghost remains in this world to advise him.

THQ Nordic announces SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake video game

SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star will stumble through a Rick and Morty-esque multiverse in an upcoming adventure game, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake. Announced by developer THQ Nordic, the game is coming soon to Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and Windows PC.

The game follows SpongeBob and Patrick after the two unintentionally open up portals to other universes. In the game, you’ll be able explore seven different worlds and dress your characters up with 30 skins.

Netflix’s nonlinear heist series Jigsaw casts Giancarlo Esposito in lead role

Netflix has officially given a series order to a brand-new heist drama series titled Jigsaw, which is being described as an innovative and suspenseful crime thriller. The series is developed to take a nonlinear approach to storytelling, allowing viewers to watch the first seven episodes in any order leading up to the finale.

Emmy-nominated actor Giancarlo Esposito has signed on for the leading role of Leo Pap. He joins a cast of Paz Vega, Rufus Sewell, and Jai Courtney, among others. Esposito will play a veteran thief who can’t stay away from a life of crime.

Jigsaw is loosely based on a real story in which $70 billion in Wall Street bonds were at risk due to flood waters caused by Hurricane Sandy. The story spans 25 years, from decades before the heist to a year afterward.

Host: Rob Logan [Twitter] [Twitch]

Anthony Mackie cast as the lead in Sony’s Twisted Metal TV series

A Twisted Metal television show is officially in development and Anthony Mackie will serve in the lead role as well as executive produce the series.

Twisted Metal is a high-octane action comedy based on an original take by Deadpool scribes Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick about a motor-mouthed outsider offered a chance at a better life, but only if he can successfully deliver a mysterious package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland. With the help of a trigger-happy car thief, he’ll face savage marauders driving vehicles of destruction and other dangers of the open road, including a deranged clown who drives an all too familiar ice cream truck.

Mackie will play John Doe, a smart-ass milkman who talks as fast as he drives. With no memory of his past, he gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make his wish of finding community come true, but only if he can survive an onslaught of savage vehicular combat.

Disney is remaking Flight of the Navigator

Disney Studios is developing a reimagining of its 1986 sci-fi film Flight of the Navigator with a female lead. The project has Bryce Dallas Howard attached to direct and produce for Disney+.

The original children’s sci-fi adventure starred Joey Cramer, Paul Reubens, and Sarah Jessica Parker, and told the story of a 12-year-old boy who gets abducted by an intelligent UFO named Max. Eight years later, he is returned to Earth at the same exact age with no memory of what happened. When NASA officials spot a connection between the boy and a recovered UFO and try to capture him, the kid attempts to unravel the intergalactic mystery while trying to reunite with his family.

Disney tried reimagining the title in 2009, but lost the rights to Lionsgate in the 2010’s. Lionsgate was unable to develop the property, which is now back at Disney.

Twins sequel Triplets add Tracy Morgan to star with Schwarzenegger and DeVito

Director Ivan Reitman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Danny DeVito are officially working on a sequel to the classic comedy Twins.

The sequel, titled Triplets, will reportedly enlist Tracy Morgan to play the third long lost sibling of both Schwarzenegger and DeVito. Rumored to be in development for the last several years, the film was initially supposed to star Eddie Murphy, but Reitman mentioned that following his recent success with Coming 2 America, he was too busy to join the film.

Reitman also shared the premise, saying that secretly, there was a third baby born, a black baby, who hasn’t been in touch with his siblings. They don’t know each other and very early in the movie they meet and it’s how they achieve a bond together after all these years. It’s really a film about family and, no matter how different we all are, we have to learn to get along.