Welcome back, Studio Coffee Folks (and thanks to Samantha Puc for Tuesday’s coverage)! Building on the news from Super Bowl Sunday, Disney announced release dates for three of its upcoming live-action shows, including a certain Mandalorian and his bebe’s season 2 return. Then, we’ve got the word on Tom Hiddleston in a Netflix political thriller, the streamer’s recent six-figure acquisition and plenty of casting news, including additions for the Matrix sequel, Superman & Lois and Picard. We’ll wrap with a few trailers, per usual.
Let’s get started!
Mandalorian season 2, The Falcon & the Winter Soldier and WandaVision all get release dates
It’s a big week for Disney+ in a lot of ways, considering how tight lipped the streamer’s been on the live-action shows prior to Sunday.Following a short Super Bowl teaser, Disney announced release dates for Mandalorian season 2, The Falcon & the Winter Soldier and WandaVision.
Disney CEO Bob Iger made the tease himself on Tuesday, following an earnings call. The Baby Yoda-lead bounty hunter show is preparing for an October launch of its next season and, potentially, even a few spin-off shows based on its side characters. The official quote goes like this: the show will keep coming, “including the possibility of infusing it with more characters and taking those characters in their own direction in terms of series.” For now, we can cross our fingers for more Cara Dune and, if you haven’t already, you can check out our thoughts on The Mandalorian before season 2 hits.
Over on the Marvel side of D+, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan will premiere The Falcon & the Winter Soldier in August, picking up after the events of Avengers: Endgame. Meanwhile WandaVision, starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, lands a December debut.
On top of this, Iger also teased seven more Marvel series currently in “various stages of development or preproduction. Of Star Wars, the CEO added simply that TV and features are being developed – though of course streaming will take precedent in the near future. After all, the company’s only scrounged together a measly 28.6 million paid subscribers in three months.
Remember that comic where Loki ran for president?
After filming wraps for Disney’s Loki series, Tom Hiddleston will play a trickster mortal (otherwise known as a politician) for Netflix. He takes on the role in a 10-part thriller called White Stork. Initially named Spadehead and snatched up by AMC, the series follows a woman who’s hired to vet political candidates. But, Hiddleston’s character (James Cooper), the charismatic guy with a dark secret, puts her neutrality to the test following their interrogation.
White Stork has stewed in development for a number of years now; it’s written and executive produced by Chris Dunlop (Jericho) and directed by Kristoffer Nyholm (Taboo). Specifically, the series comes from Netflix U.K., which recently began to produce content to compete with local broadcasters.
Netflix drops six-figures for the sci-fi flick, Endurance
A team of newcomers including Dalton Leeb and Nicholas Jacobson-Larson, with help from The Martian and New Mutants producer Simon Kinberg, to landed a six-figure deal with Netflix for their sci-fi script, Endurance. Commercial actor Leeb and composer/conductor Jacobsen-Larsen were shocked to see their first sale nearly break into the seven-figure range during a bidding war.
Naturally, no one has anything to say about the plot of Endurance at this point in the game. All that’s been confirmed is it’s an original concept, it’s got franchise potential and it features a strong female lead.
It’s also worth noting that, following this deal, writing team Leeb and Jacobsen-Larsen fired their agents because of the ongoing disputes between the Writers Guild of America and agencies including their own CAA, as well as WME and UTA.
Over in the casting corner…
The Matrix cast grows by one
- The fourth entry in the Matrix series adds another to its cast this week with iZombie’s Andrew Caldwell. As with several others, his role is TBA, though he joins Keanu Reeves (Neo), Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity), Jada Pinkett Smith (Niobe) along with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who rumors say will take one the role of Morpheus, and Jessica Henwick as a female Neo.
Amirah Vann joins Picard this week
- How to Get Away with Murder regular Amirah Vann is packing her bags for the final frontier as she joins the Picard cast in a surprise reveal. She’ll play Zani; a member of the group of Romulan women called the Qowat Milat. Deadline reports that her character played a major role in Picard’s absence – but we’ll have to wait to see more until her February 13 debut.
Superman & Lois are having twins
- The upcoming CW series starring Tyler Hoechlin as the boy in blue and Elizabeth Tulloch as the renowned reporter casts Jordan Elsass and Alexander Garfin as the couple’s teenage sons. Elsass plays Jonathan, the clean-cut and modest charmer, while Garfin plays Jordan, who’s super smart and socially anxious. Flash showrunner Todd Helbing writes and executive produces Superman & Lois, which will tdepict all the struggles and joys of being a working super-parent following the events of “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”
Doom Patrol finds its Chief
- Doom Patrol, the last bastion of the DC Universe shows, casts Abigail Shapiro as Dorothy Spinner; Niles Caulder’s 11 year-old daughter who also goes by The Chief. The character was teased at the end of the show’s previous season, but didn’t reveal her face. According to a character description, now that Dorothy is no longer hidden from the world, Niles hopes to shield her will only be intensified. Doom Patrol season two has no premiere date as of yet, but will also land on HBO Max.
Take a stroll down memory lane with Elle Fanning
Elle Fanning, Salma Hayek and Javier Bardem explore memories with Roads Not Taken. The Bleecker Street production follows Bardem as an aging father struggling to anchor his chaotic mind. His daughter (Fanning) travels with him, learning how to cope with his state in her own way, and trying to consider her own future. Roads Not Taken hits theaters on March 13.
In the far flung future, teens rediscover hip-hop; that’s the pitch of Utopia Falls. We’ll get to the cast in a second, but, the show features music from Snoop Dogg, KENDRICK LAMAR, ALESSIA CARA, THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G., DANIEL CAESAR, JESSIE REYEZ, BILL WITHERS and THE ROOTS. Whew. Anyway, on the acting side, we’ve got Robyn Alomar (Riot Girls), Akiel Julien (American Gods), Robbie Graham-Kuntz (Full Out) and Phillip Lewitski (Supernatural). It all goes down when Utopia Falls hits Hulu on February 14.
Also out on Valentines day is ALTER’s teen zombie rom-com, Eat, Brains, Love. Jake Cannavale, and Angelique Rivera star as a young couple amidst the zombie apocalypse, with a twist on what we’ve come to think of as the norm. Instead of the constant need for flesh and guts and the total loss of brain activity, zombies only occasionally feel the need to cannibalize. So, the solution is to stay undercover, only eating people who really really deserve it.
That’s a wrap for this week! I’ve gotta go mentally fortify myself for the Oscars, but we’ll catch you back here on Tuesday. See you then!
