Tag Archive: SDCC 2015


First look–Awesome iZombie returns for second season on the CW

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September 19, 2015

iZombie season 2 poster

To quote Major Lilywhite: “Zombies?  C’mon.”

Spoiler alert:  iZombie is a big contender for multiple top honors at this year’s borg.com Best of the Year awards.  Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas did the unthinkable this year by putting together a big hit for Warner Bros. on par with both his own tale of a butt-kicking young woman but also the ultimate series of the genre, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  The writing, the characters, and the actors make for a surprising hit show.  The other unthinkable bit?  After much kicking and screaming, Thomas finally sucked us into the zombie genre and even The Walking Dead was unable to do that.

Happily audiences and the CW agreed with us and quickly renewed iZombie for Season 2.  It’s “in the can” and ready to air next month.

iZombie season 2

Where we last left Rose McIver’s medical-resident-turned-morgue-dwelling zombie-police aide Liv Moore, Liv had made her life into a complete mess in classic TV cliffhanger style.  What’s to become of boyfriend Major (Robert Buckley) now that he knows she’s a zombie?  It’s not really the end for fan-favorite evil zombie Blaine (David Anders), right?  What about the fate of Liv’s poor brother, and will her roommate ever talk to her again after she witnessed Liv in full-on zombie mode?  Will Liv finally get a taste for brains and throw out the hot sauce?

We can hardly wait to find out.  Meanwhile, check out this preview of the premier episode of iZombie Season Two, followed by a San Diego Comic-Con panel from this summer, and if you’ve missed Season One, a great 3-minute catch-up reel:

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Untold Tales and Alternate Timelines–New Back to the Future series coming from IDW

Filed under: Comics & Books, Movies, Retro Fix, Sci-Fi Café — Leave a comment
September 17, 2015

BTTF banner IDW

Great Scott! 

IDW Publishing announced during this year’s San Diego Comic Con a new series spinning off from the classic Back to the Future movies, timed in honor of the series’ 30th anniversary.  The original movie creator/screenwriter Bob Gale is behind the new series.  Joining Gale in alternate timeline stories are IDW writers John Barber (Transformers) and Erik Burnham (Ghostbusters).  The artistic duties will be split between Brent Schoonover (Batman ’66) and Dan Schoening (Ghostbusters).  Each subsequent issue will feature rotating artistic teams.

“We’ve subtitled this ‘Untold Tales and Alternate Timelines’ because for years, fans have asked questions about things that happened before the events of the trilogy, in between the events of the trilogy, or in our alternate realities,” said Gale in the IDW news release.  “In this series, we’ll finally answer some of those questions, with our focus squarely on the characters everyone loves.”

BTTF var 1    BTTF var 6

In the first tale of the debut issue, readers are taken back to 1982 and witness the very first meeting between Marty McFly and Doc Brown.  Then the story heads back even farther to 1943 with a younger Doc Brown.   This first issue will feature three standard covers, by Schoening, Schoonover, and Amy Mebberson (My Little Pony).  Additionally, Back to the Future #1 will join in on Artist’s Edition Month in October with an original art styled cover by Schoening.  And all four standard covers form the banner image above.  Check out all these great covers for Issues #1 and #2:

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Blindspot–Next new action/thriller coming in September to NBC

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August 27, 2015

Blind Spot NBC

This year’s San Diego Comic Con netted many interesting trailers, and one of those we haven’t yet discussed is NBC’s next new series beginning next month, Blindspot.  It is also billed as featuring a “female Jason Bourne,” and a pile of unique previews indicate we might have the next new kickass female genre character coming our way.

Jaimie Alexander plays a Jane Doe–left in a duffel bag in the middle of Manhattan, she awakens with no memory, covered over her entire body with tattoos.  One of those is the name of an FBI agent, played by Australian native Sullivan Stapleton.  He and acclaimed actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste co-star in the series as they try to piece together her secret past.

blindspot_firstlook

NBC has created plenty of previews for Blindspot, including one specifically for Comic Con.  Each gives another angle to attempt to get us interested–enough that we’re sure to at least give this one a try.

Check out several of the previews for Blindspot, after the break:

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History Channel previews bloody fourth season of Vikings

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July 22, 2015

Ragnar Lothbrok

Last year I interviewed two stars of Vikings here at borg.com just before the premiere of Season Two of the landmark series.  It’s hard to believe a show this good, and as historically and culturally focused as Vikings has managed to survive this long when so many other good series get cut from the network and cable line-up.  Season Four has been filmed and will premiere next year, but we have a first look at what’s to come.

Three new major players will enter the scene in Season Four: Peter Franzen (The Gunman), Jasper Paakkonen (Frozen Land, Secret Lives), and Dianne Doan (Once Upon a Time).  Franzen plays Scandinavian King Harald Finehair, a threat to series lead Ragnar (Travis Fimmel).  Paakkonen will play Halfdan the Black, Finehair’s younger brother.  Doan will portray Yidu, a new Chinese character who, along with Ragnar’s growing sons, will have a big role in the next season, which skips ahead a few years after the events in last season’s stunning finale.

Vikings season 4

Historians also know the role Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) is destined to have in the series.  How the series writers reveal her role, the fate of Ragnar, and the subplot with Alyssa Sutherland’s Aslaug, is plenty reason to watch this coming season.

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Josh Holloway tries to escape from L.A. in USA Network’s Colony

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July 19, 2015

Colony USA Network

A new TV series is coming to USA Network this Fall that looks very similar to the claustrophobic, post-apocalypse Wayward Pines, but without all the Pacific Northwest charm.  Colony, previewed last weekend at San Diego Comic-Con is a look at a family trying to escape from Los Angeles when the future of America goes bad.

Call it dystopian, call it post-apocalyptic, it also looks to pull from past science fiction themes found in Alien Nation, Haven, Red Dawn, Wicker Man, and Under the Dome.  Oh, yeah, and Lost.  And speaking of Lost, the draw for many will be star Josh Holloway, known for his role as Sawyer on Lost and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

Colony clip

Another actor co-starring in Colony is The Lost Room and House, M.D.’s Peter Jacobson, who looks particularly good as the apparent puppetmaster of the show.

Here is the trailer released at Comic-Con for USA Network’s Colony:

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SDCC 2015 News–Capaldi and Coleman preview dark trailer for Doctor Who Season 9

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July 17, 2015

Jenna Coleman season 9 Doctor Who

The best month of the year for news about new TV series and movies is July, thanks to all the buzz started at Comic-Con 2015 last weekend.  We have a few more previews in the coming days.  To continue the dark theme started by Batman v. Superman, the BBC previewed the next season of Doctor Who, featuring our newest Doctor played by Peter Capaldi as well as companion Clara, played by Jenna Coleman.

And yes, it really looks like a darker Doctor Who, but it has been getting darker especially since The Day of the Doctor.  As much as we like Capaldi’s 12th Doctor, it’s still difficult to understand some of the motivations of the Doctor’s latest incarnation.  After a year of episodes, Capaldi and Steven Moffat still seem to be tinkering with and exploring the essence of the 12th Doctor–how much of Matt Smith and David Tenant’s Doctors are we getting and what is truly unique about this Doctor?

Doctor Who ring Capaldi

Anyone else notice his wedding ring before?

What we want to know the most is whether we’ll see more of the Paternoster Gang, who doesn’t appear in the Comic-Con trailer.  We’re betting they find their way back.  Check out this preview for Doctor Who, the ninth of the modern seasons of the show:

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SDCC 2015 News–Fox trailer previews the new Fantastic Four team in action

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July 16, 2015

new Fantastic Four

With 20th Century Fox’s own Deadpool and X-Men: Apocalypse previews released this weekend at San Diego Comic-Con, the studio will be hard-pressed to gin up significant support for its efforts to reboot the Fantastic Four brand with next month’s release of the third film to feature the classic Marvel team.  But the studio at least has put the final trailer for the movie into the fans of the masses with this release, after giving an early look to panel attendees at Comic-Con.

The new team of “kids” as the preview calls them also will be up against the buzz generated this weekend for other 2015 and 2016 films, including superhero flicks Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad.

Check out this new trailer for Fantastic Four:

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SDCC 2015 News–DC/Warner Bros. Suicide Squad trailer release catches up to the Internet

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July 14, 2015

Suicide Squad crew

Now that you’ve watched it at a 45 degree angle through the lens of a fuzzy cell phone camera in the dark, it’s time to see what you missed.  It’s the motley band of DC Comics’ own Dirty Dozen (give or take), the Suicide Squad.  The trailer premiered at the DC Entertainment/Warner panel this past weekend at San Diego Comic-Con, and millions watched it before Warner Bros. & Co. decided to go ahead and release the real thing Monday.

If a little make-up throws you off a bit, here’s the line-up:  Jai Courtney (Terminator Genisys) is Captain Boomerang, Cara Delevingne (Anna Karenina) is Enchantress, Will Smith (Men in Black, Independence Day) is Deadshot, Joel Kinnaman (RoboCop) is Flagg, Margot Robbie (Pan Am) is Harley Quinn, Jay Hernandez (Grindhouse) is El Diablo, Adam Beach (Cowboys & Aliens) is Slipknot, Karen Fukuhara is Katana, and our favorite, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost, G.I. Joe, Thor: The Dark World), is Killer Croc.  Oh, right, and Jared Leto (Urban Legend, My So-Called Life) is The Joker.

Suicide Squad clip

A pretty diverse group for a superhero universe hive of scum and villainy.

Here’s the trailer for Suicide Squad:

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SDCC 2015 News–AMC releases preview of season six of The Walking Dead

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July 12, 2015

Walking Dead clip season 6

People are scared.

Five seasons in the can and AMC’s The Walking Dead shows no signs of letting up, if the four-minute sneak look at Season 6 previewed at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend is any indication.

As we recently saw with Star Wars Rebels, The Walking Dead will have an insert episode outside the regular season.  AMC announced in the Hall H Comic-Con panel that the series will return Sunday, Oct. 11 with a special 90-minute episode.  The second half will be aired in February 2016.

Walking Dead season 6

Here’s the preview from SDCC 2015:

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SDCC 2015 News–On CW’s Arrow, McDonough crosses over to DC, Amell gets a new supersuit

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Green Arrow Stephen Amell SDCC 2015

DC Entertainment and the CW released a first look at the new costume for Oliver Queen’s superhero incarnation the Arrow at the DC panel at San Diego Comic-Con Saturday night.  This suit was crafted by Maya Mani, who also crafted supersuits for Arsenal (Colton Haynes), Black Canary (Katie Cassidy), Speedy (Willa Holland), and Ray Palmer’s Atom.  The original costumes for the series had been designed by Academy Award winning costumer Colleen Atwood.

The new look seems to pull more from the New 52 look at the Smallville supersuit more than any classic look for the character.  Those football pad shoulder pieces are going to take a bit to grow accustomed to.

Sunday the cast appeared again, this time with Amell in the new garb claiming the “Green” in the Green Arrow title, and mentioning the change from Starling City to the classic Star City.

New Arrow costume from Stephen Amell

The panel showed a video (below) recapping the series highlights from 2015 so far.  What it really does is emphasize that Ra’s Al Ghul has the worst name in comicdom and that no one at Warner Bros. must have any idea how it is intended to be pronounced (your guess is as good as ours, but just look at each cast member to see how many different ways it can be said).

Neal McDonough joins CW’s Arrow this season as villain Damien Darhk (sometimes DC Comics seems like it attended the George Lucas school of character naming, doesn’t it?).  McDonough crosses the divide from the Marvel universe, formerly playing the awesome Dum Dum Dugan in Captain America: The First Avenger, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Agent Carter.  We’ve also been fans of his work in everything from Quantum Leap to Star Trek: First Contact, from The X-Files to Timeline, and Walking Tall to RED 2.

Oliver Queen Arrow new supersuit SDCC 2015 costume panel shot

Here’s the video montage from the panel at Comic-Con:

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