Author: Courtney

Fantastic Deadpools and Where to Find Them

Posted on by Courtney

Welcome to Week of the Geek! Thanks for sticking with us through our hiatus — my family went to Disney and we greatly enjoyed the break! Because I’ve been away for a bit, there’s quite a bit of news to cover, so let’s dive right in.

Movies

For this story, the tweet above really explains it all — we got our first cast photo from the next movie in the Fantastic Beasts series, along with a title: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Personally, I’m just really impressed with how much they made Jude Law look like the Dumbledore we all know and love.

Deadpool 2 meets Bob Ross in this teaser trailer for the upcoming movie. The movie debuts June 1, 2018. Along with the trailer, Fox also released this obviously accurate summary of the movie: “After surviving a near fatal bovine attack, a disfigured cafeteria chef (Wade Wilson) struggles to fulfill his dream of becoming Mayberry’s hottest bartender while also learning to cope with his lost sense of taste. Searching to regain his spice for life, as well as a flux capacitor, Wade must battle ninjas, the yakuza, and a pack of sexually aggressive canines, as he journeys around the world to discover the importance of family, friendship, and flavor – finding a new taste for adventure and earning the coveted coffee mug title of World’s Best Lover.”

Television

$250 million is a lot of money, but Amazon is gambling on it being worth it, and I’m hoping they’re right — that’s how much they spent on just the rights to produce a Lord of the Rings series. Rather, it would be more accurate to say a Middle Earth series, as the company claims it will take place before the events of the movies. Like most Tolkien fans, I’m anxiously waiting to see how this goes.

Other Stuff

Fans of Kick-Ass have a new reason to celebrate after a long break in the fandom — Millar has announced a new comic in the series, which will debut in February of 2018. The new series turns the titular character into a legacy, with a black mother taking up the mantle. There is no word yet on any television or movie plans for the series, but Millar recently made a deal with Netflix regarding other properties, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility.

There’s been a lot of buzz in the Labyrinth fandom recently, considering how old the movie is, but this is the biggest news yet — we’re getting a Labyrinth comic book! The series will cover Jareth’s origin story, as told by Jareth to baby Toby.

Niantic, who created Ingress and Pokemon Go, has announced their next game: a Harry Potter augmented reality game. We know next to nothing about it just yet, just that it will allow players to interact with the world around them much in the same way as Pokemon Go does. No release date has been announced.

Recommends

I’ve recently started playing a new co-op game that we are having a blast with: Overcooked. I was also lucky enough to recently get to do an interview with one of the creators of the game, which you can see here. I highly recommend the game if you have two or more players to work with!

That’s all we’ve got for this week! Stay tuned for all the upcoming geeky news and fun stuff we’ll be posting about throughout the holidays.

If you would like to receive Week of the Geek in your inbox each Saturday, use the subscribe box in the top right of this screen, or underneath this post if you’re on mobile.

Solo Things

Posted on by Courtney

Welcome to this Week of the Geek! This week we have some cool new trailers for you to catch up on, as well as some news about upcoming television shows and movies. Check it out!

Television

We got a deeper look into Stranger Things this week with the release of season 2’s final trailer. This season’s monster is revealed to be a shadow monster in the sky, with the sheriff taking a proactive role in helping the kids deal with the new threat. The show’s main cast is all returning, with the addition of Sean Astin, in the season premiere this upcoming Friday the 27th.

Movies

Fans have long been waiting for the title reveal of the upcoming Star Wars prequel featuring the dashing Han Solo, with many speculating that the long wait is due to a creative, possibly even spoiler-y title. This week, that title was announced — Solo: A Star Wars Story. Fans had mixed reactions to the somewhat lackluster title, but it doesn’t seem to have made anyone less excited for the movie.

The Black Panther trailer premiered this week, with fans clamoring to share and watch it over (and over and over) again. The trailer showed off the technologically advanced country of Wakanda, and showed the country’s new king in his element, with fantastic music running throughout. I think it’s safe to say most Marvel fans, myself included, can’t wait for this one.

The master of anime movies, Hayao Miyazaki, can now show off his work in higher definition than ever before. Gkids has licensed the Studio Ghibli movies and wasted no time in releasing these classics on Blu-Ray. Nerdists’ review claims there is a discernible difference in the art, making these a timely release right before the holidays, for those of you with Miyazaki fans as friends and family!

We have a director – Gore Verbinski – and we have a star – Channing Tatum – and it would appear that, for now, we have another release date: February 2019. Getting Gambit to the big screen has been a long, drawn-out struggle, but fans are hopeful that this time around we’ll actually get to see the movie about the fan-favorite mutant.

Recommends

This week’s recommendation is a web series by Nerdist called Because Science. If you’ve ever wanted an attractive man to explain the science behind all of your favorite fictional worlds, this series is for you. My favorite so far is when he calculated the density of Legolas to determine how he could walk on snow.

That’s all for this Week of the Geek! Come join us next week to learn all about the latest pop culture news.

If you would like to receive Week of the Geek in your inbox each Saturday, use the subscribe box in the top right of this screen, or underneath this post if you’re on mobile.

Raising Pacific Rim

Posted on by Courtney

Week of the Geek: 10/7/2017

Welcome to this week’s Week of the Geek! We have a few cool trailers and teasers to show you this week, but not a ton of news, possibly due to NYCC being this weekend! The big comic cons always seem to draw the big trailer releases now, so maybe we’ll get some new footage or news after the con is over.

Movies

This is one of those times where I have to admit I have no objectivity, because y’all, I just saw the new Pacific Rim: Uprising trailer and I am ready for it! I absolutely love Pacific Rim and the trailer for the sequel gives me hope that the second one will be just as great. Sadly, we have to wait until next year for it: the movie is slated for release on MArch 23rd, 2018.

Television

Last week we got to show you the first stills from Marvel’s Runaways, and this week we have a teaser! The show follows the children of supervillains. They happen to see their parents performing a human sacrifice, and end up working to bring down the group known as the Pride. The first season premieres next month, November 21st on Hulu.

Fans of Doctor Who have reason to celebrate, as it was announced this week that the BBC and Fathom Events are once more teaming up to bring the Doctor to the big screen! This year’s Doctor Who Christmas special, which will see both Pearl Mackie and Peter Capaldi saying their farewell to the series, will be screened in theaters across the country. Tickets go on sale on October 20th, and if you’re interested you can set up an email alert here.

If you saw the short Raising Dion that swept around social media last year, you’ll be excited to know that it is now slated for a Netflix series by the same name starring MIchael B. Jordan. There is no release date yet, but production is set to start next year. Check out the short film above for an idea of what to expect!

That’s all I have for you this week! See you for the next Week of the Geek!

If you would like to receive Week of the Geek in your inbox each Saturday, use the subscribe box in the top right of this screen, or underneath this post if you’re on mobile.

Doomsday Runaways

Posted on by Courtney

Week of the Geek 9/30/2017

Welcome to Week of the Geek! If you’re new, this is where we cover the latest geek news in television, movies, and more. If you’re a fan of pop culture, this is the newsletter for you! There’s definitely some cool stuff to cover this week, so let’s get going…

Television




While Netflix has been king of Marvel television shows so far, Hulu is looking to get a piece of the action with its upcoming adaptation of Runaways. The streaming service announced the collaboration with Marvel, and it’s looking like the series will in fact be an official part of the MCU. This week, we got our first look at some of the characters. Check out those images above!

Star Trek Discovery premiered this week to mixed reviews, but a large portion of the fanbase seems to be willing to give the show a chance. The biggest complaint so far is that it is only available on CBS’s new streaming service, meaning many people are paying a monthly fee just so they can watch this one show. The big news this week is that, according to executive producer Alex Kurtzman, if the new show is renewed for a second season, it won’t air until early 2019 at the earliest.

Movies

Fans have been begging for a sequel to Hocus Pocus for decades now, and for a brief, shining moment this week, it appeared we would get our wish, but then reality set in. The Disney Channel is making a new Hocus Pocus movie, but instead of a sequel, it’s a remake, with a new writer, director, and most importantly, a new cast. The announcement has sent the internet into an uproar, which was a surprise to no one except, presumably, the Disney Channel.

Anime film Your Name broke records last year, making it the highest grossing film in Japan and sweeping around the world in popularity. Now it’s been announced that the film is getting a live-action remake helmed by J.J. Abrams. Fans seem concerned about the remake, given the recent American adaptations of Japanese works like Ghost in the Shell and Deathnote, but some are cautiously optimistic. Of course, we’re all looking forward to plenty of lens flares.

While the upcoming Ant-Man sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, might otherwise have been a blip on the overall MCU, it’s placement between the two Avengers Infinity War movies has made it a piece of some interest. It’s now looking like the movie may in fact be in chronological order with the Avengers movies — as suggested by the fact that Wasp will not be in the first Infinity Wars movie, but is supposed to be in the second. This week, we got our first full look at the Wasp costume as worn by Evangeline Lilly. The suit has obviously undergone some upgrades since Janet’s gold-toned suit, putting Hope’s more in line with the modern-day Ant-Man suit.

Other

Anyone following DC Comics likely knows about the upcoming comic by Geoff Johns, Doomsday Clock, where the long-separated worlds of DC heroes and Watchmen will finally collide. DC released a preview of that comic in the video they released this week (above), along with some answers to questions fans have been wondering about. The comic is available for pre-order now, and will be available starting November 22nd. Take this opportunity to support your local comic shops with a pre-order!

Last week Critical Role released its first comic book, Vox Machina Origins, which quickly became one of the bestselling comics on Comixology. The comic, which follows twins Vax’ildan and Vex’ahlia and introduces the druid Keyleth, is only available in digital form for now, on Comixology, Dark Horse Digital, iBooks, Amazon Kindle, and Google Play.

My recommend this week is OrcPub’s new facelifted site, OrcPub2. This site is hugely helpful for both DMs and players of Dungeons and Dragons, as it guides you seamlessly through the process of creating characters and monsters. I’ve been working on an upcoming game and it’s been invaluable!

That’s all we’ve got for this week of the geek. See you next week!

If you would like to receive Week of the Geek in your inbox each Saturday, use the subscribe box in the top right of this screen, or underneath this post if you’re on mobile.

The Shape of Potter

Posted on by Courtney

Week of the Geek — 9/16/17

Hi guys! Welcome to this Week of the Geek. It’s been kind of a slow week for geek news, but there’s a few cool things to look at. Let’s dive in with…

Movies

A new trailer for Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming movie The Shape of Water has dropped, and has spread across social media like wildfire. Del Toro is known for his signature dark atmosphere and realistic monsters though in this case who the “monster” is might be debatable. The movie comes out this December.

Television

Any Star Trek fan knows that the music is integral to the series, with each one (okay, with the exception of Enterprise) having an easily recognizable orchestrated theme song. With Star Trek: Discovery’s premiere date sneaking up on us, CBS released a featurette where you can hear the opening music for the series. It is an original work that blends in some elements of the original series’ theme song.

If you’re suffering from Game of Throne withdrawals, don’t worry — HBO is here to make it a little easier with an animated history of the Targaryans. This is just the first part of a series of animations that will be included with the physical release of season 7 in December.

In other Game of Thrones news, HBO President of Programming Casey Bloys told an audience in Pennsylvania that the crew would be filming multiple endings to the final season so that no one will know which is the true ending. After the struggle against hackers releasing episodes early this past season, it’s really no surprise there are protective measures being taken.

Other Stuff

For those of us who never got our letters to Hogwarts but want to live out our wizarding world dreams anyway, Pottery Barn has made that a little easier. The store has released a line of Harry Potter-themed decor, including bedding, lamps, mirrors, and throw pillows. Unfortunately, many of the items are pretty pricey, but they certainly open up some beautiful decorating options.

This week my ‘recommend’ is a little different — I’d like to encourage you to go check out this fundraiser from My Angel with Paws. MAWP is a charity based in Deland, Florida that breeds and trains service dogs to those who need a little assistance in their everyday lives. Unfortunately, when Hurricane Irma came through, their training facility was heavily damaged by floodwaters. Any donation amount or a share on social media can help them get back to training these important dogs!

That’s all we’ve got for this Week of the Geek! Thanks for tuning in, and we’ll see you next week!

IT Wars

Posted on by Courtney

Week of the Geek 9/10/17

Welcome to Week of the Geek! This one’s a little short, and a little late, but I figure this way all the Florida folks will have some good news in their inbox when the power comes back on, right? What can I say, I live to serve… and also to procrastinate. Onto the news!

Movies

IT opened in theaters this weekend to record-breaking numbers despite many theaters in Florida being closed due to Hurricane Irma. The movie looks like it’s going to be the biggest fall release and September premiere, and could be well on its way to breaking even more records.

Star Wars made waves this week by letting go of its director for Episode IX, Colin Trevorrow. For many, the move came as no surprise, due to the director’s spotty success record and reputation for being very stubborn and opinionated about his projects — not necessarily a good thing on a Disney-controlled franchise. There is no word yet on Trevorrow’s replacement.

Television

At the end of season 3 of Gotham, we got to see the first glimpse of Bruce Wayne as Batman — or at least, as a masked vigilante who we assume will morph into the Batman we know and love over time. As part of the promotion for season 4 of the show, Fox has released a featurette about the transformation and other behind-the-scenes goodies. The show premieres on Fox on September 21st.

Everything Else

Sadly, the comic world lost another legend this week: Len Wein, creator of Swamp Thing and Wolverine, and editor of Watchmen. Wein spent decades working for DC Comics, Marvel, and Disney Comics, leaving an impression in the industry that won’t be soon forgotten.

With the west coast on fire, Texas underwater, and Florida dealing with Irma, we could probably all use some cheering up. To support that effort, please enjoy this video of Chris Evans being reunited with his dog after 10 long weeks apart:

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Stranger Empires

Posted on by Courtney

Week of the Geek 8/26/17

Welcome back to Week of the Geek! Thanks for bearing with me through my little GISHWHES break. I had a blast and my team accomplished so much! I’ll attach some of our more awe-inspiring items at the end of the newsletter. For now, let’s jump into the news!

Movies

While there has been no official announcement, during a Q&A on Facebook, James Gunn dropped hints that he might consider bringing in fan favorite Nova for a movie sometime in the future, if the MCU gods allow. The series seems well-positioned for it, as it continues to get a bit more galactic in scope.

Television

Coming as a surprise to absolutely no one, considering its phenomenal success, Stranger Things has already been renewed for a third season, with showrunners saying they expect it to end in season 4. Season 2, featuring Sean Astin in addition to the Season 1 cast, premieres on October 27th.

J.K. Rowling fans, rejoice! The first trailer for the latest adaptation of her work is here. Rowling began writing a murder mystery series under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith a few years ago, and now it’s getting a series on the BBC. The show premieres tomorrow on BBC One.

Right now everyone seems focused on The Defenders, but the first trailer for the next Netflix Marvel series has been released: The Punisher. The trailer is surprisingly lacking in violence, considering who we’re talking about, but features some decidedly ominous music. There is still no release date, but we can speculate that it’ll be out before the end of the year.

Games

This one may be a reach for your younger gamers, but for those of us who grew up with the series, this is exciting news: there is (FINALLY) an Age of Empires IV in development! The original game studio that made the series is defunct, which isn’t surprising since it’s been over a decade since the last installment, but Relic Entertainment is working to develop the new sequel. There are currently no details available, but we know it’s in development for PC.

Other

Everyone’s been enjoying the Voltron series that’s on Netflix now, with a fourth season about to drop in October. It’s gotten so popular that even Denny’s has gotten in on the fun, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. In response to fan’s demands, a new Voltron comic is coming out, also in October. The issues will drop twice a month, so update your pull lists now!

Recommends

If you enjoy Dungeons and Dragons (and shenanigans), check out The Adventure Zone! I’m not gonna lie — when I started it, I wasn’t crazy about it. I was just coming off of the emotional drama that is Critical Role, and the humor and shenanigans of TAZ were a shock, for sure. But Griffin McElroy’s masterful storytelling (seriously, if you stick to the end, you discover there’s no such thing as a minor character) drew me in and by the end I was left sobbing over these amazing characters. Give it a try!

That’s all for this Week of the Geek! As promised, enjoy the GISHWHES shenanigans below. See you next week!






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The Post-SDCC Dearth

Posted on by Courtney

Alright, here's the deal, WOTG-ers. As you all know, SDCC was last weekend, so every bit of nerd news there was to talk about was announced then, leaving us very little (nothing, if I'm being honest) to report this week. To fill the gap until we start seeing more news coming out again, I thought I'd do a brief 'cool things' special edition of Week of the Geek. These are some of my favorite things on the internet right now — hope you all enjoy!

Hands of Gold

If you enjoyed Ed Sheeran's appearance on Game of Thrones (I did, though apparently plenty of people disagree), you'll love this. Peter Hollens is known for his music covers, and he took the snippet of song we heard and expanded on it beautifully.

Pop-Culture Covers

If you enjoyed that video, you might like these guys — Jonathan Young and Caleb Hyle. I've been following Jonathan for a while, and his concert with Caleb at MomoCon was one of the highlights of our weekend there. They collaborate a lot on songs (like the one below) and both have an extensive catalogue of covers. They have a huge range, from more classical sounds to punk rock covers, and they're both also on Spotify!

News, Quickly

We're busy — that's why I started this newsletter, with quick chunks of info to make it easy for everyone to keep up with geek happenings. What about news out in the real world, though? News programs take too long, and what we see on social media is often biased based on who we choose to follow. It's all too easy to fall into the trap of only reading news that supports our own biases. That's where Philip DeFranco comes in. Philip does quick stories on the biggest news stories that you need to know about. I've found him to be incredibly well-researched and he works hard to remain unbiased. He doesn't shy away from giving his opinion, but he's decidedly neutral in how he actually reports stories, which has led to me changing my perspective on things more than once. You can find him on YouTube and Facebook.

Tabletop Horror

If you enjoy tabletop RPG-style games and horror, boy have I got a show for you. Geek and Sundry's Dread completely took me by surprise. The game mechanic is interesting — every time the characters want to do something, the GM makes them pull and replace a brick in the ever-growing giant Jenga game, adding an extra layer of suspense to an already out-there story. The characters and acting are fantastic, and the set is amazing, unlike anything I've ever seen for a gaming show. I'm not gonna lie, though, the story gets intense by the 2nd episode; this show is not for the faint of heart.

Now, the downside is that the show is only available on Alpha, which is a paid service ($5/month). However, the site does have a free trial, which I highly recommend everyone try!

That’s all I’ve got for recommendations this week. If you didn’t find me through it, check out the fandom-inspired soap I sell. Lots of cool new stuff coming soon!

If you would like to receive Week of the Geek in your inbox each Saturday, use the subscribe box in the top right of this screen, or underneath this post if you’re on mobile.

Week of the Geek: Special SDCC Edition!

Posted on by Courtney

Week of the Geek: 7/24/17

Welcome to Week of the Geek! You may have noticed this is a couple days late — I decided that with SDCC going on and geek news coming out of there like a tidal wave, it made more sense to wait until it was all out before posting. Here’s my breakdown of the biggest news to come out of the past week.

Television

Following the huge announcement last week from the BBC that the next Doctor is going to be Jodie Whittaker, the first female Doctor in the series, during the Doctor Who panel the trailer for the next special was aired, then released to the public soon after. The special will star the Twelfth and First Doctors (the latter played by David Bradley), and will also have an appearance by Bill, the Twelfth Doctor’s companion. The special will, as per tradition, air on Christmas of this year.

A new trailer premiered during the convention for Star Trek: Discovery, the new series coming to CBS. The trailer gives us a much longer look at the characters we’ll be dealing with, as well as our first look at the Klingons, who look a little different from earlier incarnations.

Those who were able to make it to the Marvel panel got to see the full first episode of The Defenders, Netflix’s teamup of Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Daredevil. For those of us looking in from the outside, we have a new trailer — and the assurance that those who saw the episode loved it.

Next in the growing list of anime live-action adaptations is One Piece. The announcement was made this week as part of the series’ 20-year anniversary that the anime and manga would be going Hollywood, with a live-action television series. It will be an American production and will be produced by the same company as Prison Break.

A new Stargate series is incoming, though the manner in which it is coming has some fans a little uneasy. Stargate Origins will be a ten-episode series following lead character Catherine Langford, whose father unearthed the first Stargate in 1928. It is yet unclear where in the timeline this series will take place, and whether or not it will retcon Stargate as we know it. What has some fans giving this new series some serious side-eye is that it will only be available on a new online home for Stargate — Stargate Command. Little is known about this new service other than that it will of course require a subscription, and we presume it will be the home to all previous Stargate shows as well.

Movies

During the Marvel panel, the studio released three posters that link up into one big poster for Avengers: Infinity War. Most notably, Cap has a beard, Natasha is blonde, and Vision and Wanda seem to be VERY close! Okay, maybe that last one is only notable to me. Either way, a trailer was also shown at the panel, but unfortunately that has not been released to the public yet. Some low-quality recorded copies have made their way around the internet, but they are being yanked pretty quickly. For now, we have these posters to enjoy, so click on the image above to be taken to the full size!

Sadly, for those of us unable to attend the convention, Marvel seems to be keeping mum about Black Panther to the outside world. However, those in attendance did a great job of taking notes. If you want to see what there is to know about this upcoming movie, go read this fantastic breakdown at Nerdist to hold you over until the next trailer. There’s certainly a lot to be excited about!

In yet more Marvel news, it was announced that Captain Marvel is going to be set in the 1990s, with the villains being the shapeshifting aliens, Skrulls. This has resulted in a lot of speculation about where Carol Danvers has been during the events of the MCU we’ve seen so far. Some concept art — seen above — was also released.

The newest trailer for Pacific Rim 2 was also released during ComicCon. The trailer gives us a great look at the jaegers, and we get to see John Boyega’s character speak for the first time. The movie comes out next year.

A new Justice League poster was revealed, with the strong poses and bright colors reflecting the well-known artwork of comic artist Alex Ross. Also: a new trailer!

Oh! And in case its success didn’t make it super obvious: Wonder Woman is officially getting a sequel! It’s worth noting, though, that Patty Jenkins is still not signed on to direct.

Whew…. That’s it for this week. I doubt we’ll see a lot more news this week after this glut of releases from SDCC, but I’ll be back Saturday with whatever news there is to share!

P.S. Hey! Hey you! This is your last chance to get in on grabbing a copy of Labyrinth of Bones. Only 4 days left!

Game of Doctors

Posted on by Courtney

Week of the Geek: 7/15/2017

Welcome to Week of the Geek, where we break down all the biggest happenings in the geek and pop culture world from the last week. Like last week, there’s not a ton going on due to SDCC being next weekend, but because of that the next two weeks should be HUGE. Check out what’s been happening below!

Television

Game of Thrones season 7 poster

Game of Thrones season 7 premieres tomorrow, July 16th, on HBO! The show airs at 8pm. If you don’t have HBO but still want to catch it, Hulu is currently running a special offer that gets you HBO free for a month.

The BBC announced late this week that they would be announcing the next Doctor to star in Doctor Who tomorrow after the end of the men’s Wimbledon. Moffatt has previously stated that this regeneration will be “slightly different“, and there’s a lot of speculation that the Doctor might be female this time around, but no one really knows anything for sure until tomorrow.

A teaser trailer was released this week for season 2 of Stranger Things, which will begin airing this October. The teaser is very minimal, with no real information revealed other than the air date.

Movies

Disney released the first trailer for its upcoming movie based on the popular book, A Wrinkle in Time. The movie stars Chris Pine, Oprah Winfrey, Mindy Kahling, and Reese Witherspoon, along with Storm Reid in the lead role of a girl trying to save her father from “the darkness”, and is set to come out in March of next year.

Also coming out of D23 were some exciting cast announcements, including that of the upcoming Aladdin live action movie. It was announced that newcomer Mena Massoud will play Aladdin, Naomi Scott of the recent Power Rangers movie will play Jasmine, and Will Smith will play the genie.

For those who may not know, D23 is a convention-like event put on by Disney, sort of the ComicCon of the Disney world. To follow other D23 news as it is announced, follow the Nerdist newsfeed here. As of this posting, the Avengers Infinity War trailer was just shown at D23, but it wasn’t available online yet.

There’s only 13 days left to support the Labyrinth of Bones on Indigogo! The project has been fully funded, so now we’re in the realm of cool stretch goals. Get in on this awesome indie comic while you can!