TAGGED AS: AMC, Disney, streaming, television, The CW, TV
Star Wars and X-Men actor Oscar Isaac has learned some new moves as a Marvel superhero, get a look at the Powerpuff Women, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan hints at The Walking Dead Negan spinoff. Plus, new trailers and more of the biggest TV and streaming news of the week.
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It probably shouldn’t come as a total surprise that mercenary with multiple personalities could become quite violent. But a new video chronicling Moon Knight star Isaac’s training for his role as the lead in the upcoming Disney+ Marvel series suggests the titular character may be a real killer, something that could potentially the family friendliness right out of the MCU story.
The video reveals some impressive fight moves during Isaac’s training, several sequences of which end with what appears to be throat-slitting knife work. The video was posted to Instagram by Mad Gene Media, the New York–based production company founded by Isaac and Elvira Lind.
Whatever Isaac’s character is getting up to in the series, it definitely seems like there’s plenty of action-packed drama ahead … for viewers whose mommies and daddies deem it appropriate viewing, anyway.
(Photo by James Acomb/The CW)
If you were a little underwhelmed last week at the sight of the Powerpuff girls in costume on the set of The CW’s upcoming live-action reboot of the Powerpuff Girls cartoon, we’ve got news and an important update. The literally cartoon-y look of the costumes was intentional; the scenes being filmed were flashbacks to Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup Utonium in action during their teenage years.
This week, The CW released the first official photo of Powerpuff stars Chloe Bennet, Dove Cameron, and Yana Perrault as adults, and they’re wearing some colorful, but still all grown up, stylin’ duds. The pilot, in fact, will be largely focused on the women as adults, and their angst about having spent their younger years as world-saving heroines.
In other Powerpuff news, Robyn Lively joined the cast as Sara Bellum, the mayor’s assistant, while original series narrator, Tom Kenny, will return as the narrator for the reboot..
With season 10’s finale – the season-best “Here’s Negan” episode of The Walking Dead that featured Jeffrey Dean Morgan and his real-life wife Hilarie Burton playing Negan and his wife Lucille – setting up the inevitable showdown between Negan and Lauren Cohan’s Maggie in TWD’s upcoming final season, fans are facing the end of the line for most TV versions of TWD’s characters.
But during Morgan’s appearance on Conan this week, he provided hope for fans of his performance of Negan, confirming to Conan O’Brien that there have been discussions about a spin-off series revolving around the bat-swinging killer who’s trying to redeem himself.
“I think they’re thinking of a couple different ideas, but I’ve definitely had conversations about possibly continuing the story of Negan,” Morgan said.
(Photo by AMC)
Future TWD projects already announced include a spin-off starring BFFs Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride) and a series of movies featuring the return of Andy Lincoln as Rick Grimes.
And speaking of Rick, who disappeared from the series when Lincoln left the series, but was killed off in the comic book, he’s going to be resurrected for a special issue of the book.
Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman announced this week he’ll celebrate the 10th anniversary of his company Skybound with a five-issue, limited edition comic book series called Skybound X, with one non-canonical issue featuring Rick Grimes and revisiting a bonus ending story from the comics (issue #75) that revealed aliens to have a hand in the zombie apocalypse.
The Underground Railroad is Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins’ moving series that imagines an alternate timeline in which the network of abolitionists is an actual railroad, based on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Stars Thuso Mbedu, Joel Edgerton, Chase W. Dillon, William Jackson Harper, and Damon Herriman. Premieres May 14 (Amazon Video).
More trailers and teasers released this week:
• In Treatment returns with season 4 and new lead the Emmy-winning Uzo Aduba, as observant, empathetic Dr. Brooke Taylor, a Los Angeles therapist who will help her patients tackle topics like the global pandemic and recent major social and cultural shifts, while she also deals with the complications of her own personal life. Also stars Joel Kinnaman, Anthony Ramos, Quintessa Swindell, and John Benjamin Hickey. Premieres May 23 (HBO).
• Ziwe is the new variety series from the titular comedian and Desus & Mero writer, featuring sketches, musical numbers, and interviews that challenge America’s discomfort with race, politics, and other cultural issues. Stars Ziwe, and guest stars like Bowen Yang and Phoebe Bridgers. Premieres May 9 (Showtime).
• Cruel Summer is a new twist-filled teen mystery set in Texas and sparked by an abduction. Stars Sarah Drew, Chiara Aurelia, and Harley Quinn Smith. Premieres April 20 (Freeform).
• In Mythic Quest season 2, the Raven’s Banquet gang is back in the office post-quarantine, except for C.W. (F. Murray Abraham), whose advanced age means it’s safer for him to continue working remotely. Stars Rob McElhenney, Jessie Ennis, Charlotte Nicdao, Danny Pudi, David Hornsby, and guest star Snoop Dogg. Premieres May 7 (Apple TV+).
• Shrill is the third and final season of the comedy starring delightful Saturday Night Live star Aidy Bryant. Premieres May 7 (Hulu).
• The Sons of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness is the docuseries about the story behind the story of the investigation of the 1970s “Son of Sam” murders in New York. David Berkowitz was convicted of the serial killings, but a journalist named Maury Terry became obsessed with the idea that Berkowitz had not acted alone. His obsession eventually cost him everything. Premieres May 5 (Netflix).
• Headspace Guide to Sleep is the animated series that sheds health-changing light on just how important sleep is to the human body, and the things we can do – and shouldn’t do – to ensure we get it. Premieres April 28 (Netflix).
• A Black Lady Sketch Show returns for Season 2 with guest stars Gabrielle Union, Miguel, Jesse Williams, and Skai Jackson. Premieres April 23 (HBO).
• Pet Stars is a reality series about an animal talent agency revolving around the biggest social media animal influencers. Premieres April 20 (Netflix).
For all the latest TV and streaming trailers, subscribe to the Rotten Tomatoes TV YouTube channel.
(Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
Jamie Lannister is coming back to television … or rather his portrayer, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is. The Game of Thrones will star in and executive produce The Second Home, a series adaptation of author Christina Clancy’s debut novel of the same name. The story follows the Gordon and Shaw families, and the two generations of the families whose lives are unraveled by a secret that began during a fateful summer in Cape Cod. No network is yet attached to the series. (Variety)
Fabien Frankel (Last Christmas) has been cast in the Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, where he’ll play Ser Criston Cole, a common-born man with serious sword-swinging skills who is a member of King Viserys I Targaryen’s Kingsguard. (George R. R. Martin’s Blog)
Oscar winner Common has joined the season 2 cast of Mindy Kaling’s YA Netflix hit Never Have I Ever. In a recurring role written just for him after he proclaimed the series one of his pandemic watch favorites, Common will play Dr. Chris Jackson, a dermatologist with a list of celebrity patients, who works in the same building as Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan). Season 2 is scheduled to premiere in July.
Another Oscar winner, Natalie Portman, is staking more claim in TV land. Portman, who recently signed a first-look deal with Apple TV+, will star in and executive produce The Days of Abandonment, an HBO movie adaptation of author Elena Ferrante’s book of the same title. Portman will play Tess, a woman who gave up her dreams to be a wife and mother, only to be abandoned herself when her husband leaves her and throws her world out of control.
Arrested Development alum Michael Cera will make his first return in a regular TV role since Arrested, playing a farmer and chef who brutally honest in the upcoming Amy Schumer Hulu comedy Life & Beth. Schumer, who stars in, executive produces, directs, and writes the 10-episode series, plays Beth, who seems successful to everyone around her, but is shaken when a sudden event makes her rethink her teen years and who she really wants to be.
Justin Timberlake will play The Gong Show host Chuck Barris in an Apple TV+ series about Barris’ life. The series will be based on the late Barris’ 1984 memoir Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, in which he claimed his gigs as game show host and creator of game shows The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game were actually covers for his other job: as CIA assassin. The book was already adapted as the 2002 George Clooney–directed movie adaptation of the same name, with Sam Rockwell playing Barris. (Deadline)
(Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for FIJI Water)
Renée Elise Goldsberry, star of Hamilton and Tina Fey’s upcoming Peacock series Girls5Eva, will also star in the Disney+ Marvel series She-Hulk, playing a character named Amelia. The series, starring Tatiana Malany in the title role, started filming this week in Atlanta. (Deadline)
Christine Elise McCarthy and Alex Vincent are the latest Child’s Play franchise stars who will join their titular creepy doll co-star in the upcoming USA/Syfy series Chucky. McCarthy (Beverly Hills 90210) will again play Kyle, which she also played in Child’s Play 2 and Cult of Chucky, while Vincent will play Andy Barclay, a role he played in the original 1988 Child’s Playmovie, as well as Child’s Play 2 and Curse of Chucky. Original movie star Brad Dourif is returning as the voice of Chucky in the series, while Dourif’s daughter Fiona will reprise her role as Nica, which she played in Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky. Jennifer Tilly (Bride of Chucky, Seed of Chucky, Curse of Chucky, and Cult of Chucky), Barbara Alyn Woods (One Tree Hill) and her daughter Alyvia Alyn Lind (The Young and the Restless), and Devon Sawa (Final Destination) also star. (EW)
District 9 star Sharlto Copley has joined the upcoming second season of Natasha Lyonne’s Netflix hit Russian Doll. No details have been released about the storyline or new characters for season 2 of the dramedy. (Deadline)
All-American star Jordan Belfi will join the cast of NBC’s Good Girls for a recurring role this season. He’ll play Z, who Dean (Matthew Lillard) meets when he gets mixed up with a multi-level marketing group. (Deadline)
New Amsterdam star Anupam Kher, one of the series’ original cast members as Dr. Vijay Kapoor, has left the series to spend more time with his wife, actress Kirron, as she battles cancer. (EW)
Rob Delaney will co-star with Chiwetel Ejiofor in Showtime’s The Man Who Fell to Earth. Catastrophe alum Delaney will play Hatch Flood, the black sheep of a wealthy tech family who becomes involved with Ejiofor’s titular alien character.
Andrew Dice Clay and Pepi Sonuga (9-1-1) are joining the cast of Hulu’s Pam & Tommy limited series about the infamous sex tape made by former marrieds Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee. Clay will play a shady loan shark character, while Sonuga will play Anderson’s best friend. (Deadline)
(Photo by Dave J Hogan/Getty Images for Entone)
Hulu is developing a limited series adaptation of the classic 1915 John Buchan thriller novel and 1935 Alfred Hitchcock movie The 39 Steps, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Reteaming with his Patrick Melrose director Edward Berger on the project, Cumberbatch will play Richard Hanney, a man who becomes a pawn in a global conspiracy to change the world, via 39 steps. The actor and Berger are also executive producers on the limited series. (Deadline)
Magic Mike star Channing Tatum and director Steven Soderbergh are among the executive producers of The Real Magic Mike, an upcoming HBO Max reality series in which 10 men will compete for cash and a shot to perform in the Magic Mike Live stage show in Las Vegas.
Kenan co-star Don Johnson confirmed he’s set to begin production in San Francisco on a Nash Bridges reboot that may be a full reboot or a two-hour movie, airing on NBC or Peacock. He’ll be joined by original co-stars Cheech Marin and Jeff Perry. (TVLine)
EPIX has greenlit the 10-episode sci-fi horror series From, created by John Griffin (Crater). The cliffhanger-packed drama “unravels the mystery of a nightmarish town in middle America that traps all those who enter. As the unwilling residents fight to keep a sense of normalcy and search for a way out, they must also survive the threats of the surrounding forest – including the terrifying creatures that come out when the sun goes down.” Game of Thrones and Lost director Jack Bender directs the first four episodes of From, which begins production in May in Nova Scotia for a planned 2022 premiere.
(Photo by Russ Martin/CBS)
Star Trek: Picard and upcoming Strange New Worlds co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman says the new series, which stars Anson Mount as original Trek captain Christopher Pike, will be more episodic, like the original series that launched the Trek universe, with stories jumping from horror to “hard sci-fi” to more comedic turns, like the classic “The Trouble with Tribbles” installment. (THR)
Ron Howard and his character-actor brother Clint are writing a joint memoir about their lives as child actors. The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family will be released on October 12 from William Morrow, and will unfold a story “by turns confessional, nostalgic, heartwarming, and harrowing” that “lifts the lid on the Howard brothers’ closely held lives. It’s the journey of a tight four-person family unit that held fast in an unforgiving business and of two brothers who survived ‘child-actor syndrome’ to become fulfilled adults.”
VAX LINE: The Concert to Reunite the World will air and stream on May 8 as a concert to try to inspire vaccine confidence around the world. Selena Gomez hosts and performers include Foo Fighters, Jennifer Lopez, Eddie Vedder, J Balvin and H.E.R. for the special, which will air on ABC, CBS, FOX, YouTube, and iHeartMedia.
Demi Lovato may be doing double duty for NBC, as the network ordered pilots for her comedy Hungry and romantic comedy Someone Out There. The autobiographical Hungry stars Lovato (who also executive produces) as the member of an eating disorder group, and the romantic comedy stars the singer and actress as one half of a stubborn duo who are inspired by strangers to change their ways and potentially find love (and possibly with each other).
Netflix will be the home for the live-action movie adaptation of the 1979 TV series Gundam, which Brian K. Vaughn (Y: The Last Man) will write and Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts will direct.
Colton Underwood, star of season 23 of ABC’s The Bachelor, announced he is gay during an interview on Good Morning America on Wednesday, and on Thursday Variety reported he is filming a reality show for Netflix about living as a gay man.
The original cast of NBC’s ER, including George Clooney, Noah Wyle, Laura Innes, Anthony Edwards, Paul Crane, Ming-Na Wen, Gloria Reuben, Julianna Margulies, Goran Visnjic, Yvette Freeman, CCH Pounder, and Alex Kingston, are reuniting on April 22 in a live, virtual gathering on Stars in the House, in a benefit for the Waterkeeper Alliance, the global nonprofit focusing on clean water. Reuben is the president of Waterkeeper Alliance, and the reunion will stream on People magazine’s social media platforms at 8 PM ET on April 22.
